Toad Town

Alex was walking aimlessly when none other than Lucio himself jogged by, seeming rather flustered. He didn't stop him (the young man likely had someplace to be) but his curiosity was definitely piqued. With a inquiring glance, he back-traced the jogging orange figure to the pier. An odd place for a prince, no doubt, and thus an odd place for Lucio, but not so odd a place for Marino. If he knew the other prince well enough, he would be setting out on some sort of adventure. At this prospect, Alex smiled, because he too was looking for the excitement of battle and the dangers of the "unknown". He casually began to walk toward the docks, stopping to buy a 1-up mushroom along the way, which he subsequently gobbled down. Feeling rejuvenated and with his wristwatch spinning up to 8x lives, he couldn't help but to think it was worth the one hundred coins. Of course, maybe if he didn't constantly "misplace" his lives, he'd be in better shape for these escapades.

Hopping down onto the sturdy wooden dock, which was completely devoid of ships, save one, he hailed the boat, "Ahoy, Sailors! I'm looking for a man by the name of Marino, because I heard he's a big wuss!" A usual greeting for the two. Despite their joking and antagonistic nature, they were very good friends.

"Alex, do you have to be so obnoxious all the time?" Bobber asked at his side, the young green bob-omb tired from following his friend all day.

Alex only grinned, waiting for Marino's response, "Of course! Otherwise who would I be? Besides, Marino's probably been hanging out with his cousin, and needs a good trouncing. It'll keep him on his toes." At this Bobber only shook his head, his fuse hanging down to his right side. "Come on, Marino, you gonna keep me waiting all day, or are you scared!? It's been too long since we exchanged blows!"

Bobber shook his head, "If you insist, Alex, but just remember what happened last time..."

Anger briefly rose to Alex's face, but it quickly disappeared, "Let's NOT bring that up with him, alright?"

Alex all but threw Bobber on board, the timid bob-omb sailing through the air and landing with a thud on deck, "Alright! You know I always love an adventure, especially one where I could be saving your backside from trouble! Trust me, the only swabbing I'll be doing will be with your face!" Alex said cockily, "Wait...I feel like I'm forgetting something..." What was it? Something important, definitely, and something pertaining to the Prince, but what it was he couldn't remember. He hesitated before jumping on board, trying to remember what it was he had forgotten.

"Princess Ivy, Alex?" Bobber pipped, looking cautiously over the side of the boat at the crystal blue water below.

Alex snapped his fingers as recognition flashed in his eyes and across his face, "Oh! Yeah! Right, your sis, Rino. I was coming back from Goomba Grotto on one of Goombarret's caravans and your sis pulled us over. Dragged me out on my tail and gave me this long speech about how if I saw you I was supposed to tell you to write home more often. Man, I can understand why you left, all she does is nag! But...she is kinda cute." Alex laughed, remembering that time a little too fondly.

"That sister of yours is going to have a thousand wrinkles by the time she's thirty...But don't tell her I said that," He added that last part quickly, blushing a little, "Speaking of which, when was the last time you talked to her? She seemed a little worried about you. Hmmm...I suppose I should probably write to my folks over in Mushroom Village. Been a while since I last went home..."

Bobber vacated the deck in favor of a more enclosed space, passing Yumi on the way, "Good day, Miss Yumi. You don't mind if I make myself at home in the hold, do you? I rather dislike boat travel. Seasickness like nobodies business." The green bob-omb was pale already, thinking about the rocking and tilting of the waves. He shuddered. Why did Alex always drag him along on these escapades?

The blue shell Koopa walked with a beat to his step. Every now and again, Koop would spin around on his heel, and point upward as if in some kind of dance. A closer look at the Koopa would reveal that he was in fact wearing headphones, apparently listening to music as he walked. In fact, a faint beat could be heard coming from his ears, indicating the high volume at which the music was cranked up. In his other hand, Koop carried a slice of pizza. Evidently, he had picked up a slice once he entered town.

Koop had munched down the last bite of his pizza slice when the dock came into view. There was ship getting ready to set sail. However, the ship was not what piqued Koop's curiousity. There was quite a bit of bustle over the passengers, and as Koop got closer he found it to be one of the Mario kids themselves. If there was one thing anyone in the Mushroom Kingdom had learned, it was that the name Mario usually meant excitement. This may be exactly what Koop needed.

Deciding that he simply HAD to make a cool entrance, Koop withdrew into his shell and tossed it foward. The shell sped up as it bounced off the pillars that held the dock up. Finally, Koop skidded his shell to a stop in plain veiw to the ship's passengers, doing a flip as he popped out of his shell. As soon as his feet touched ground, his arms shot up and he made a rockstar gesture. If this wasn't cool, nothing was.

"Whazzup Toad Town?" he asked in the style of a rockband being introduced in a concert, "And what is up my Mario Brothas! You got an awful lotta eyes watching you sail away, and that can only mean something awsome! Am I right or am I right?"

Alex shook his head, "Nah, like I said, she stopped us as we were coming back through Sarasaland. As far as I know, she's still there, but I suppose you could ask Lucio when he gets back." He watched the silent battle between Marino and Yumi with a slight smile. And then, as if to punctuate the battle's closing, a blue shell suddenly shot onto the deck. Alex was ready for anything, but then the Koopa inside the shell popped out. It was a face he recognized but didn't know personally, "Hey, I know you. You're Koop, the Pro Shell Tosser, am I right? Heard a lot of things about you. Cool entrance by the way."

Alex had always been a little envious of the way Koopas could move so powerfully and yet so artfully. Though, he supposed he preferred his own body to that of a Koopa. He turned back to Marino, "Maybe you should elaborate a little more on this adventure of ours. How many Koopalings are we dealing with this time? They actually stand a chance at beating us if they all group up, but if there's only two or three then that'll be a cakewalk."

Alex shook his head and let out a grunt. Marino was too pigheaded to understand the fact that his parents were dead. And no amount of searching would bring them back. Of course, Alex and Marino had gotten into fights over this very subject on multiple occasions, so Alex simply let it lie. If they were going to start pounding on each other before a fight with Koopalings, he was going to make sure it was over something else. If they started in on that, they'd argue until they were both blue in the face, and then they'd start wailing on each other. Eventually they'd get tired and pass out on the deck, only to wake up in a couple of minutes to start all over again. Besides, Marino knew Alex's opinion on the matter. Although, Alex couldn't help but to let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like "goose chase".

He grabbed the netting leading up to the crows nest and began to hoist himself up to the platform. It looked unoccupied from below, but he would see when he got there. The sun, which was almost perfectly centered over the ocean, shone brightly on the surface of the calm water. Like diamonds. He couldn't help but feel relaxed, suspended there momentarily on the web of rope. He breathed in the salty air and relished the taste. He averted his gaze from the ocean back toward Toad Town, looking for Lucio, "Jeez, your cousin sure likes his goodbyes."

Koop was not so surprised someone had heard of him. The only surprising part, was that it was a human. For the most part, Koop's reputation remained among the Koopas. Still, it was nice to know that at least part of the world knew his name. For Koop, though, that wasn't enough. He wanted the whole world to know his name. He wanted Koop to become a household name. To do that, Koop would have to do something huge.

Just then, he overheard talk about finding the original Mario Brothers. Opportunity was knocking, and for once, Koop was home. If he found the Mario Brothers then he, like them, would become a legend. Since the Mario kid ignored him, he decided to play the "celebrity" card with Alex. He took a step toward them, knowing he could cut the tension with a knife if he had one. He first tried to lighten the mood by changing the subject.

"So you've heard of me?" he asked, trying to sound modest, "Does my reputation precede me?" he asked after turning around to face the docks, only to quickly spin around again and strike a daredevil pose, "Or maybe I was too quick for it? Either way, I do believe I can help you dudes out!" Koop knew for a fact there was Koopa activity, after all, he had been kicked out of that troop not too long ago. If those Koopalings were still on Yoshi's Island, then Koop would know what to expect.

"You see, ol' Koop here used to be in the one and only Koopa Troop." he said with a confident smirk, "But those Koopalings just cramped my style, so I went splitsville and opened up Madtown." admittedly, he was exaggerating that part. He didn't exactly quit, per say, and was more like kicked out. Still, he knew he could be of use, which would help his chances at getting in on this action.