''How long do we have to walk?'' Shawn tiredly asked me.

''I don't know.'' I sighed and looked at Luigi who was walking behind me. ''How're you holding up?''

He stared down at the ground with sad eyes. ''I... I don't know.'' He replied in a tiny trembling voice. I tried to comfort him by putting my hand on his shoulder, but it didn't really do anything.

''When we get back to the base, I will make sure that you feel as welcome as possible. There's a lot of lovely people there.''

''Sounds nice.'' He simply answered.

''Right?'' I said, trying to get the conversation going. ''They'll get you some nice clean clothes and some good food and your own room.''

''Okay...'' He shortly replied.

I gave up on trying to talk to him. He clearly didn't want to talk right at this moment.

''Rosalina, I can hear something.'' Shawn alarmed me quietly.

We all went quiet and stopped walking. I tried to listen closely to hear the thing that Shawn had heard. And indeed I could hear something, it sounded like someone was running... and it was closing in on us.

''I think someone's following us,'' I whispered.

Luigi quietly gasped and looked behind us. After a few seconds, he nervously started to shake and back away, I looked back too and saw what I had hoped not to see: a green koopa running right towards us. I didn't know if it was an enemy but judging by its speed and determined expression, I think it was an enemy.
I quickly looked back and was surprised when I saw that Luigi was gone, only a small cloud of dust and dirt from the road was visible where he once stood. I looked forward and saw that he was running away for his dear life.
Shawn and I started running too, trying to catch up with Luigi. He was surprisingly fast, maybe his fear gave him the adrenaline he needed to run away as fast as possible. The koopa was trying to catch up to us.

''Hey! Wait! Come back!'' It yelled.

''Never!'' Shawn yelled back. ''Up yours!''

''No, wait! I'm your friend! I've been sent by Blue Flame!''

I and Shawn stopped dead in our tracks and turned around, the only one who would know about Ludwig's fake name would be someone from the resistance. The koopa caught up with us, he was wheezing and took off his green cap from his head to use it as a fan. I felt like I had seen this koopa before...

''Wait, I know you!'' I said. ''You're Koopa the Quick! Has Blue Flame sent you?''

''Yeah, and it's been hell trying to find you, dammit!'' He grumpily told me. ''Blue was worried, so he sent me and some paratroopas here to keep a lookout for you. I saw that you had found Luigi.''

''Oh yeah!'' I said, totally forgetting that Luigi was still running for his life. ''Luigi, come back! It's safe!'' I yelled as loud as I could in hope that he would hear me from so far away.

I could barely see him in the darkness of the woods, but I don't think he heard me.

''Dammit, I'll have to use my magic to catch up with him, don't I?'' I sighed.

''I think you do,'' Shawn replied. ''That green plumber looks impossible to catch without it.''

''Fine.'' I groaned and backed a few steps to get a head start.

I took off like a rocket from my position, gaining speed fast and getting closer and closer to Luigi. The spell I used made my magic run out fast, but it would be enough to grab Luigi and go back to Shawn and Koopa.

''Luigi! Stop right where you are!'' I yelled. 

I needed him to stand still to get the best chance to grab him. He looked back at me with terrified eyes. I too would be scared if an almost two-meter tall space woman was running towards me at an incredible speed.

Luigi got paralyzed by the sight, good for me at least. I managed to grab him as I went by and quickly made a U-turn and went right back to Shawn and Koopa the Quick again. I slowed down and tried to catch my breath. 

''Goddammit, living without magic is so hard!'' I groaned.

Shawn cleared his throat and crossed his arms while looking up into the sky with annoyed eyes.

''Alright,'' I said. ''I get it. But I'm just more used to having it all the time.''

''That was four years ago,'' Shawn said.

''Four years is nothing for me. I'm somewhat immortal, remember?''

''Yes, yes, whatever.'' Koopa interrupted us as he helped Luigi up from the ground. ''Pleasure to meet you again, Luigi. You remember me?''

''You're Koopa the quick,'' Luigi said with a small smile. ''You used to race with my brother.''

''That's right! And I'm here to help you.''

''How?'' I asked.

Koopa took out something from his shell, it was a small blue block. It grew bigger and bigger until it was as large as an ordinary question block. On all six sides, it had a picture of a green pipe. 

''This will take you back to the base again in just a few seconds!'' He triumphally said.

''A warp block?!'' Shawn exclaimed. ''I thought Bowser had them all!''

''Well, Blue is living with him, so he can get a hold of a few things,'' Koopa explained. ''But that's enough chit chat, let's get you all home again.''

He took out a phone from his shell and started calling someone. ''Hey, I found them... yeah, Luigi is secured. Just hit the block and we'll arrive... good, see ya in a second.''

He put the block on the ground and asked us to stand around it in a circle. The block started growing even more, and soon it had engulfed us completely. It was dark on the inside, but before I knew it I got shot out of a green pipe inside of Toadsworth's office together with the others. The green pipe disappeared shortly after and I could hear Toadsworth happily exclaim our names. I stood up, a little dizzy from the quick transportation, and looked around me to ensure that everyone was here.

''You're home! And you found Luigi! I've been so worried about you!'' Toadsworth said and hugged me.

Luigi anxiously looked around us and held himself close to me like a scared puppy. I looked down at him and smiled. ''It's okay, you're safe now.''

He suddenly let out a yelp and quickly hurried behind me, cowering in fear. I looked straight ahead and saw Ludwig come towards us. He still had some of the bandages left but looked over all fine.

''Luigi, it's alright.'' I ensured him. ''He's on the good side.''

''Like heck he is!'' Luigi replied and stared at Ludwig from behind me. ''He's one of the Koopalings!''

''I can understand your fear and aggression towards me, dear Luigi,'' Ludwig said calmly with his arms behind him. ''But you do not need to fear me. I ensure you that I am done with evil schemes and will do everything to get this world back to normal again.''

Luigi slowly walked up to him, trembling but trying to stay calm. ''Y-You will?''

Ludwig nodded. ''Even if it means I'll have to die for it.''

While everybody wanted to talk to Luigi about all kinds of things, I had other things to do. Mainly finding Waluigi and Polari. I walked out of the office and wandered around for a bit until I arrived at the training hall. There, I could hear two very familiar voices.

''Come on! You can do it!'' Polari cheered.

''I know I can do it, you don't need to tell me!'' Waluigi sharply replied.

They were standing together around some kind of training dummy, Waluigi had a fire flower powerup equipped, anyone could see that since his clothes had changed color. His purple hat and shirt were white and his pants were purple. It actually suited him. I leaned against the doorway and crossed my arms while watching them, with a smile, behave like little children towards each other. Flamy was in the background watching them and soon stepped in to end their little argument they were having.

''Okay, guys, time out, you need to stop being so polar opposites.''

Waluigi sighed. ''I don't need someone to tell me how good I am at things. I know I am the greatest!''

He shot a fireball at the dummy and managed to hit it right on its head.

''Good job!'' Polari said happily.

''Eh, shut up.'' He mumbled and got ready to head to the doorway I was standing in, but stopped as soon as he saw me. He was completely starstruck, same with Polari and Flamy.

''Missed me?'' I chuckled, their faces looked very funny.

Waluigi quickly headed towards me and we immediately hugged each other. It felt so nice doing it, Polari joined the hug shortly after.

''I've missed you so much!'' Waluigi said. ''I'm so glad to see that you're alright!''

I kissed his cheek and then ended the hug. ''I've missed you too.''

''Rosalina, did you find Luigi?'' Polari and Flamy asked.

''Yeah, he's with Ludwig right now but you can meet him later,'' I said. ''So what have you been doing while I was gone?''

''Training,'' Polari said. ''Waluigi is very good with fire flowers.''

''I mean... yeah, I'm the best at it!'' Waluigi said, clearly flattered, he just didn't want to admit it.

''Well, you look good in your fire flower clothes,'' I said and winked at him.

He blushed a little and tried to pretend that he didn't. ''Of course!'' He said. ''Waluigi looks good in everything!''

''Honey, you're speaking in third-person again.''

''Oh, sorry.'' He quickly said.

''I want to hear what happened on your adventure!'' Polari said excitedly.

''Alright, I'll tell you then, since you all look very eager to hear it.''