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Mario had been hoping that Luigi would forget about the pie incident during the third ultrasound, but to his dismay, Luigi had immediately taken Mario up to his room as soon as Dr. Toadley had dismissed them. Closing the door, Luigi sat Mario on the bed and then sat next to him.

"Alright, Mario, tell me what happened with Harold in the dining room," Luigi said promptly, getting straight to business.

The little wolf looked down at his hands. He felt utterly ashamed for what he had done to the Toad, and he could definitely feel the blush of fire on his cheeks. "I-I...I just got mad," he whispered in a tiny voice.

Luigi raised an eyebrow in surprise. It was very rare for Mario to be moved to anger in his wolf form, as he was always so happy and naïve. What on earth had happened for such a thing to happen?

"Harold...h-he was making f-fun of me...all the time...b-because he thinks that I-I'm...fat," Mario continued, feeling hot tears brim in his eyes. "He says th-that I disgust him...and that I'm letting m-myself go. H-He says I'm weak."

Luigi was astounded. He had no idea that Harold was saying all these things about his brother. The Toad's "sob story" in the dining hall was seeming more and more unbelievable.

"He kept saying th-these things to m-me...and then I-I lost it. I took the pie a-and I threw it at his f-face!" the little wolf continued, feeling a note of contempt rise in his voice. His hands shakily rolled into fists.

"How long has he been saying these things to you?"

"About a week..." Mario said quietly.

"What?! Mario, why didn't you tell me sooner? He was bullying you!" Luigi burst out unexpectedly.

The little wolf reared back and whimpered in shame. "I-I'm sorry, Weegee..." he whispered, hanging his head. "I thought I could handle it myself...I didn't w-want to bother you..."

"No, telling me will never bother me," Luigi reassured, placing a hand on his brother's shoulders. "If anyone is bullying you for any reason, never stay silent."

Mario tried to answer, but all he could manage was a small nod. The tears in his eyes slipped down when he blinked.

Luigi exhaled and stood up. "Come on, let's go talk to Harold again," he said in a quieter voice.

Mario immediately let out a frightened whine. "I-I don't want to..." he whispered. He remembered the look of death that Harold and the other Toads in the dining hall had given him. It still sent cold chills up his spine.

"Well, we have to, okay? I'm not gonna let him hurt you anymore," Luigi said firmly, taking Mario's hand. "Those Toads also need to know that Harold was deceiving them. But don't worry, I'll be with you."

+++

It took a little while, but Luigi confronted Harold in the dining room again and made him apologize to the little wolf, though the apology itself sounded too saccharine and staged to be sincere. Mario nodded anyway and forgave him.

Though Luigi couldn't exactly inform everyone about the pregnancy, he did make sure to explain that all of this was just a big misunderstanding and that no one should question Mario about his distended belly any further because it was a sensitive subject to him.

The whole time, Mario hid shyly behind his brother. Even though Luigi said no more questioning, he could still feel those accusing eyes on him. Worst of all was Harold, whose steely-eyed look seemed to burn right into him, the look of revenge.

The fact that the baby was wriggling inside him again didn't help at all, either. Luckily, the fetus was moving less and less now, but when it did move, it would still hurt, as if someone had struck a blow to his stomach. He wondered how things would go once the water broke, as Dr. Toadley had put it. Would that hurt, too?

+++

In the heart of the Dark Lands, Bowser was pacing back and forth in his castle, listening intently as a Koopa Troopa read off the agenda for kidnapping Peach.

"Okay, so by heading west, we can fly the airships over the mountains. It would be best to fly on a cloudy day, since the clouds would serve as a cover for us and..." the Koopa Troopa was saying.

Bowser nodded, listening until the minion was finished. "When would the next cloudy day be?"

"Um, let's see," the Koopa Troopa said as he dug out the weather report from under his stack of papers. "The report says that there would be a series of cloudy and stormy days during the early days of June, a few weeks from now. With your permission, your Awesomeness, if we assemble the troops now, we could gather up the units and the equipment and be ready when the cloudy days arrive."

"Hmm, sounds good. And when those clouds come in, there's no way we'll be spotted until I have the princess!" Bowser laughed. "Alright, Jeff, round up all the minions and get them ready!"

"Yes, Lord Bowser, sir!" Jeff said attentively as he turned and ran down the hall.

Bowser smiled smugly to himself as he kept walking in the opposite direction. But he only got a few steps before Kamek, his right-hand man, came whizzing by on his broom. He was flying so haphazardly that he nearly hit Bowser.

"Hey, watch it!" Bowser snapped.

"Pardon me, your Grouchiness," Kamek apologized, "but I have something of utmost importance to tell you."

"Well, hurry up! I'm a busy guy here!" Bowser said, tapping his foot impatiently.

"There has been something detected on the Power Radar," the robed Magikoopa said.

Bowser raised his eyebrows. That got his attention. "You mean, there's a new kind of power out there that I can steal?"

"Precisely."

+++

Kamek then led Bowser into his lab full of potions, spells and whatnot. In the corner was a large radio screen that looked exactly like the ones submarines use.

The Magikoopa pointed to a large red beacon that beeped on the right side of the radar screen. "Right there, your Awfulness. It appeared about thirty minutes ago."

Bowser nodded and took a look at the beacon. But what interested him was the color.

"Hey, Kamek, I remember when you showed me the power of the Sprixies. It was a blue dot. But this one's red and glowing. Why?"

Kamek adjusted the black rim of his glasses. "Well, your Majesty, this type is what I'd consider an Alpha Star. It is the best kind you can get your hands on."

"What's so special about it?"

"Alpha Star-types are totally pure. It's not influenced by anything. You can either use it for good or for evil. And it's got tremendous energy and power. Only bad thing is that it's so rare..."

Kamek started mumbling to himself. "Of course, I know Mario in that wolf-ish form of his is a dead-on Alpha Star, but that power is so deeply contained, I don't know how to extract it. It's like it's sealed away. And then there's that cursed spell that revolves around him..."

"Hey! Listen up!" Bowser snapped. "You said it was a pure power, right?"

Kamek turned back to the Koopa King and nodded. "Yeah. Totally world-dominating if you get it."

Bowser thought about all of this. "Where is it located?"

Kamek turned towards the screen and typed in a few keys. The radar screen zoomed out a little. "Hmm, it's surprisingly close to us, King Bowser. It's in the Mushroom Kingdom, somewhere in Toad Town."

"Really, now?" Bowser asked, his eyebrows raising in delight. "Well, this is perfect! In about two weeks or so, I'm setting out to kidnap Peach again! While I'm there, I may as well grab that power source, too! Kill two birds with one stone, right? Mwahaha!"