Rifts Apart

## **Plot**

3 months after the events of Bowserland, the Mushroom Kingdom is almost ready for completion after being destroyed. It is now summer vacation for the Mushroom Kingdom. Toadette is deciding to take a break from relationships and starts to focus on her career goal in her life, wanting to become a famous fashion designer. Richard and Squirt have begun to bond more with each other, albeit with little brotherly fights. Toadsworth then has a talk with Peach about the coming responsibilities that comes with becoming Queen as he mentions he will not be around much longer. The bros have also been adjusting very nicely to the castle, even upgrading their rooms more and saving the kingdom from daily crimes. Mario and Luigi suddenly hear calls of a wailing citizen and jump towards the action together to stop a burglary. Mario calmly shoots the robber with a fireball, telling Luigi to finish him off. Luigi is about to finish him off but suddenly sees a faded memory get brought up in his mind showing a woman holding him dearly telling him how much she loves him. Due to this, he falls on the floor, unable to stop the man who Mario quickly takes control of and stops him instead, successfully stopping the robbery.

Later that day, Mario questions Luigi on what happened earlier with the robbery save attempt. Luigi explains that he saw something he can't explain but knows it was important. Mario doesn't understand and tries to provoke more from him but Luigi isn't sure on what exactly he saw. Toadsworth then comes to their talk and tells them to observe a strange sight outside the castle. On the site of the battle that took place between Mario and Bowser now lies a giant chasm with dark energy emerging from it. Not wanting anything to do with it, they decide to patch it up with some objects but find the noise radiating from the site too alarming to bear. They then decide to leave it as is and hide it with a large dresser, completely obscuring the view of what it could be. When the team leaves, more energy briefly escapes, leaving an ominous aura in its wake.

Luigi asks for Mario to talk with him again to ask him why he thinks their parents abandoned them. Of course with Mario being just as young as Luigi was, he replies that he can't really answer that but doesn't want to nor has really given it any thought. Luigi begins to have an epiphany on why he saw what he saw and decides that maybe the Yoshis back at the island know something they don't.

That night, Luigi sneaks out to head to Yoshi Island to find out more information on what happened on the day of their arrival. Luigi spots the old raft that got both him and Mario on the island and quietly snickers to himself. He then has a memory of the event taking place echoing in his mind. Luigi rebuilds the raft and uses more upgraded technology added onto it to make it more durable and fast. He successfully traverses across the ocean toward the island and meets up with the Yoshis who are overjoyed to see him. He begins to talk with them asking them he came for an important question. Once he asks them, they go silent and say they aren't comfortable enough to tell them everything that happened. Luigi begins to argue with the Yoshis, telling them both he and Mario deserve to know the truth and that he knows he wasn't born on the island like they told him since he saw a vision. They give in and tell him that they both came from the sky, from their perspective it seemed they were a direct gift from the heavens. Luigi doesn't buy this but the Yoshis bring him the old diapers the brothers were brought in and realizing there was no way the yoshis could have made them, he slowly rakes in the truth of their whereabouts.

The next morning, Mario and the team wake up to find Luigi missing. Mario enters his room to find a note saying he is going to find the truth and that he went back to where they grew up, hinting at the island. Once Mario realizes where he has gone, he dashes toward the direction of Yoshi Island but finds Luigi at the door, sobbing. When asked what is wrong, he only replies that he knows how they got on the island, before the episode dramatically ends.