Where the Tide Ends

"Where the Tide Ends" aired on July 19th, 2013, it is the 10th episode of the overall series.

## **Plot**

Mario and Luigi are taking a walk talking about the incident with Peach that happened a week ago. Mario asks Luigi if he really did love her and he decides to confide in him and tell him the truth that he did. Mario assures Luigi that he will find someone where the feeling is mutual to which Luigi could only scoff. They sit down on some rocks near a waterfall but notice weird inscriptions on them. They decide to take them back to the castle for further inspection and once Peach sees them, she becomes surprised. Toadsworth also becomes surprised and explains that the inscriptions had a logo synonymous with a boy scout group that went missing in the late 1980s. Mario and Luigi question more about what happened to the scouts to which nobody ever knows what happened to them, believing they more than likely perished under mysterious circumstances but were said they were last spotted near a waterfall. They also learn that apparently there was a woman named Judy Lambert that decided to take it upon herself to search for the boy scouts but instead she herself went missing on the search. Toadsworth mentions that reports indicate the last location she was seen was also near a waterfall. Mario and Luigi realize that they were also near a waterfall when they found the rocks. Toadsworth assures them that even if that was the same waterfall, there is no way they or Judy would still be alive. Mario becomes even more determined to find out the truth behind what happened to the group.

He and Luigi go out to the waterfall to investigate. Luigi is a bit more timid and anxious that they might find something sinister or something they don't want to find out. Mario assures him that they'll be fine but they both become shocked once they find that the waterfall has stopped running. Suddenly, two figures appear from behind some bushes and begin attacking the bros with spears and bow n arrows. Luigi takes note that they are using weapons associated with a much older timeframe than the one they are currently living in. Mario, under extreme stress from trying to reason with them, snaps and uses his fireballs to strike them, narrowly missing them. They take off their masks to reveal that they are toads and question how Mario was able to shoot fire out of his hands. Mario and Luigi are shocked that they are toads and inquire them about who they are. Mario suddenly realizes that they have the same logo associated with the boy scout group, whose name is revealed to be, "The Scavengers". They become overwhelmed with emotion and realize that the bros are not enemies, but friends willing to save them. Both of the toads are named Barry and Axel, who mention that their entire group is still alive but their oldest mentor, Fung had died due to an illness. They take the bros to the sanctuary they had built, and it is revealed that they're the ones who turned off the waterfall using an old mechanism to stop the rushing water and instead let it flow another direction. They stop the waterfall to avoid drawing attention to the area. Mario asks them if they would be willing to return back to the kingdom, as they can help them return. The group immediately turns down the offer, saying they have already built their own sanctuary and are not willing to return back to a monarchy where crime is ridden and danger is imminent. Before they could reason any further, a shriek is heard and a large bird snatches one of the team members away. Mario and Luigi instantly team up and track down the bird. When the bros prompt the others to help track them down, they stand down and say that once a team member has been taken, they must go on. As like their mentor, they ignorantly left Fung to rot due to his illness instead of trying to find a cure. Mario becomes furious with this and says that as a team, nobody should ever be left behind.

It takes the toad to a nearby peak full of large man-eating birds. Mario and Luigi combat the birds and use their fire powers to hurt the bird and weaken them. The bird grabs ahold of Luigi and before it could consume him, the boy scout group shoots arrows at its eye, allowing it to drop Luigi. The group fights alongside the bros and they manage to free the captured toad and instead feed the birds some decomposed waste from their own trash. Once Mario asks them why they helped, they respond that they're a team, reiterating what Mario had said to them. Mario and Luigi see that they are better off where they are and decide to keep their discovery a secret, they thank them and even offer to help them if they ever need anything. Before they leave, they ask if they have ever heard of Judy Lambert to which none of them say that they have. The camera pans over to a bush, to which a warpipe is seen.

Once the bros return and Peach and Toadsworth ask if they found them, they shoot a look at each other and answer with a blunt "no".