"Luigi.....shut up...."

"Mario!"

"I don't care....you're dumb anyway...."

"Hey!"

"I said I didn't care...."

"You're talking in your sleep again, oh great idiot."

So saying, Luigi kicked Mario, just enough to cause discomfort, and watched as his brother slowly woke up. Mario yawned loudly, and rubbed his eyes.

"Whadja kick me for?" He asked sleepily.

"Because it's fun. Get up, we hafta go to the palace today."

"For what?"

"To play poker with the mushroom retainers."

"Really? But I lost all my money playing with you and Yoshi last time..."

"Never mind. Peach wanted us to come over to help clean up the palace for the Lord of Water Land."

"Lord?"

"Yeah, the one from Water Land. You know, the one with the atomic purple mushroom hat."

"Oh..."

Mario and Luigi then proceeded to make the necessary personal grooming efforts required before they would be allowed in the palace. As Luigi was finishing up his shower, Mario decided he was hungry. He promptly began to eat the leftover pieces of pepperoni pizza Luigi had asked him not to eat. After deciding that it tasted pretty good, he neatly placed the empty pizza box on the floor outside the bathroom, so Luigi would be sure to see it. Then he switched on the TV, and after a while began to drool.

Sometime after that, a crunch was heard from the direction of the bathroom. Mario immediately focused his attention there.

"Mario! Did you eat my pizza?" Luigi yelled.

"No, that's why there's an empty box there." Mario retorted.

"You fat bucket of lard, I'll kill you!" Luigi howled, then he tackled Mario.

This delay caused the Mario Brothers to be late for the great party set up. By the time they were able to recover from the various wounds inflicted in the pizza dissagreement, they were already an hour late. So by the time they reached the Mushroom Palace, they were an hour and a half late. The guards at the door greeted them as they arrived.

"It's about time you two got here!"

"The princess is really mad. You better get in there before she kills someone."

"Oh boy... This is all your fault, Mario."

"It is not. You're the one who wanted to fight about it."

"Well if you wouldn't have been so inconsiderate I never would have had to resort to violence."

"Yeah, well-"

"Uhhh... Mario? Luigi? No one cares."

"Yeah. You better get in there and put the princess back in a good mood."

"Do we have to?" Mario asked, looking at the interior of the castle with an apprehensive look on his face.

"YES!" The guards confirmed, as they shoved them into the castle.

When the doors were shut, and there was no longer any hope of escape, Mario and Luigi began to trudge as slowly as possible toward the throne room, where Peach would be. They reached the door about ten minutes later. Mario opened the door a little bit, and stuck his head inside. When he didn't see anyone, he stepped in the room. When he still didn't see anyone, he motioned for Luigi to come inside.

"Is she here?" Luigi asked, as he stepped in the large room. It was spotless, which indicated that someone had been there, but there was no one in sight. When suddenly, just as Mario and Luigi were beginning to relax, the door burst open with a loud bang, which nearly gave them a heart attack.

"Geez, Peach! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Serves you right. You're over an hour and a half late!"

"Yeah, well it's his fault," Mario claimed, pointing at his brother, who was still in shock over the surprise of Peach bursting into the room so unexpectedly.

"I bet. You guys go help out the yoshis in the kitchen."

"Oh, c'mon, cooking is so boring!"

"You leave the cooking to the yoshis."

"Then, what..."

"I'm sure they can use some help washing the dishes."

"Awe, but Peach..."

"No ifs, ands or buts, Mario. I told you to be here at ten o'clock and it's nearly twelve. You did it to yourself."

After a bit more arguing, Mario and Luigi shuffled to the kitchens, and Peach and her mushroom retainers returned to cleaning up the castle.

Anyway, in the kitchens, yoshis of all different colors were walking around, preparing several succulent dishes, and, of course, tasting them. Mario and Luigi stood by the door, trying to look inconspicuous, but their cover was soon blown by a familiar voice.

"Mario! Luigi! Hey, how are you guys doing?" Yoshi yelled, despite the Bros. frantic "shut up" motions. "Haven't seen you in a while! So, are you here to help make food for the welcome party, too?"

"No, they're not, Yoshi." This was stated by a purple yoshi with orange hair. She stood in a defiant stance, with her hands on her hips. "Where have you two been? Princess Toadstool informed me of your lateness, and you have a lot of dishes to wash!" She claimed, gesturing toward a mountain of dishes with various colored particles stuck to it.

"Oh, c'mon Zina, they can cook great Italian food!"

"Sorry Yoshi. Orders are orders. Move out, boys!" Zina then herded Mario and Luigi toward the mound of dirty pots and pans. As they washed, they argued over whose fault it was.

"Gosh, Zina, sometimes you're really mean." Yoshi said, looking sympathetically at his friends. Just as Zina was about to reply to Yoshi's statement, a loud crash was heard at the back of the kitchen. Zina turned toward the sound, and rolled her eyes when she saw who was to blame.

"Abba! Don't you know that you're supposed to take the dishes from the top of the stack?" Zina yelled, as she made her way toward the yellow yoshi. Soon enough, Abba had joined Mario and Luigi in washing the dishes.

And that's how things stood when a mushroom poked his large head in the room and yelled, "The ambassador's been sighted just over a mile away! Get the food out, now!"

These words caused a full fledged panic attack among the yoshis, and they began to frantically transport platters of food from the kitchen to the buffet table in the party room. To avoid being crushed by the yoshis, Mario and Luigi stood back and watched the stampede pass. A little red yoshi was sitting next to them, playing with a pot and a wooden spoon. After a while, the yoshi got bored and ate the wooden spoon. This caused Mario to laugh. This caused Luigi to look at him with an expression that clearly stated "you're weird." Then, Abba ran from the stampede, picked up the young red yoshi, and started off toward the dining hall with everyone else.

"What have I told you about eating wooden spoons, Zabba?"

"Well, they taste good!"

"Brothers...." Abba sighed, then he dissapeared out the door.

"No kidding," Luigi commented, as he looked at Mario with an amused expression on his face.

"What?"

"Nothing," Luigi retorted, as he walked out of the ransacked kitchen to join the party. Mario shrugged, then followed.

In the throne room, Peach sat on her throne, talking with her favorite mushroom retainer, Toad. Mario and Luigi stood close by, with Yoshi, talking about food. The other guests stood on the floor, in various groups.

"So, what do you think about Zina's new recipe for spagetti sauce?"

"Well, it sounds pretty good, except for the berry part."

"Well, everyone knows that all the vegetables on Yoshi's Island are used as weapons against Bowser's army."

"But I still think tomatoes work better in Italian food than berries."

"Well, I like berries."

"Mario, you'll eat anything so you're opinion doesn't matter."

"Yeah, well, Luigi, at least I can look on the bright side of things every once in a while."

"What do mean by that?"

"I mean that you're an idiot."

"That didn't make any sense at all."

"So?"

"Well, anyways, how about those little sugar cakes?" Yoshi asked, hoping to stop the argument. It worked.

"Yeah, those look good."

"Yeah I'm gonna eat a million of them!"

"But then you'll get a sugar high and be hyper all night."

"So?"

"Just look at it this way, Luigi," Yoshi remarked, "at least afterwards he'll sleep for two days."

"Yeah, that's right. We'll just have to tie him down during the initial sugar rush or something."

"Yeah."

"Hey!"

"What?"

This went on for a a while, until suddenly Mario said something smart, for a change.

"Hey, shouldn't that Lord be here by now?"

"Uhhh..."

"Hey, that's right!" Luigi said in surprise. "Hey Peach, where's that Lord?"

The princess looked up in surprise, and a thoughtful look appeared on her face.

"I don't know!" She said, "and his name's Souse!" then she dialed the number of the lookout on the telephone convienently placed near the throne. Everyone watched, anxious looks on their face. Peach waited for fifteen rings, then hung up. She looked at Mario and Luigi, and said solemnly, "something's wrong."

"I knew something like this was going to happen!" Luigi announced.

"Yes, but why does it always happen before we get to eat?" Yoshi complained, following Mario and Luigi dutifully out the door.

"Wait!" Peach yelled, standing up. "I'm going, too!" But Mario and Luigi were already out the door. "Come on, Toad, let's go!" She cried, grabbing his hand and starting toward the door.

"Hold on, I need to go to the bathroom!" Toad yelled, but was ignored.