Chapter 9 - The Beanstar

I stared, mouth agape, at the platform. If by chance the man on the platform was me, was I dead or something?

“Is there something on my shoe?” the man asked. He had a deep, rich voice and spoke in a heavy Italian accent.

“Woooaaah!” Mario said, smiling. He approached the platform, face turned to me. “Is this what you’re going to look like when you’re old?”

“Are you calling me old?” the man asked, smirking.

“Are you Luigi?” he asked, ignoring me.

“Yeah,” the man replied. “And boy, do I remember when I was you today.” he pointed at me.

“When you were me?” I asked. “What, are you from the future?”

“What year is it?” he asked.

“2004,”

“Then yes,” he said. He put his hands on my shoulders.

“Listen,” he said. “Don’t you dare take Daisy to Teehee Valley. Got me? She’s going to ask if you want to go. Say no, go to the castle town instead.”

“Why?” I asked, eyes narrowing.

“You’ll see. And go to the Castle town meeting in three years. Believe me, you’ll enjoy it.”

“Okay,” I said, mouth curving into a smile. “Do you know where the Beanstar is?”

“Sure,” he said. “You’re the one who’s going to find it, anyway.”

“Where is it?” Wario asked.

“In the fifth floor closet,” my future self replied. “And Cackletta isn’t what you think.”

“I’ve got so many questions,” I said. “How old are you?”

My future self frowned. “Seventy-six,” he whispered. “The best year of your life will be when you’re twenty-eight.”

“Okay,” I said. Duh… that’s why the platform said 76.

“How long will this hurt?” I asked, and pointed at my side.

“Until tomorrow,”

“Is it fun ruling Sarasaland?” Mario asked.

“Sure,” he said, smiling, showing all of his teeth. “But you have a better time ruling the Mushroom Kingdom.”

“Really?” Mario asked, smiling just as wide.

“Do I still hate you?” Waluigi asked.

“Sort of.”

“Is Daisy okay when she’s 78?” I asked.

“Yeah,” My future self said with a small sigh. “Though having two forty-eight year old kids with teenagers of their own is tough on yo-“ His hands clapped over his widely grinning mouth. I felt my jaw drop.

“Oops… wasn’t supposed to tell you that.” he said quickly. My face was burning. I could imagine that it was as red as Julie’s hair. Mario was laughing hysterically.

“Hey, hey, don’t laugh, you’ve got three of ‘em.” Mario shut up abruptly, and his face went red too. He stared at the floor.

“Well, it was nice talking to me,” my future self said with a chuckle. “Remember, the Beanstar is in the northern closet on the fifth floor. And Wario… don’t get that beard when you turn 45.” And with a quick blink, he was gone.

“Woah,” I said, exhaling loudly. “This story really is 100% fiction. Is it even possible to have a conversation with yourself like that?”

“No,” Waluigi said. “That’s why this story is based on video game characters.”

“Right,” Mario said. “Still, that was pretty neat. I want to try!”

Wario grabbed his arm just before he shot forward and set his foot on the platform.

“Let’s go get that Beanstar so we don’t have to come back tomorrow.”

“Fine,” Mario said, disappointed. “Okay. How do we get to the fifth floor?”

Waluigi pointed at a staircase leading up.

“Okay…” Wario said, and walked in front of us. He climbed one stair, and paused.

“What?” I asked.

“Creating dramatic tension,” he said with a laugh. He set his foot down and made his way up to the second floor.

“The staircase ends here,” Wario said. “It doesn’t go up three more floors.”

“Then we need to find another,” Mario said. “It shouldn’t be too hard.”

“There’s a bunch of doors around here,” Waluigi said. “We ought to split up.”

“I’m with Mario,” I said quickly. But I didn’t really need to say that, because Wario had grabbed Waluigi’s sleeve in an almost protective manner.

“Okay,” Mario said. “You guys go through that door, we’ll go through this.” Mario turned briskly past me and left. I followed him.

“You said it was in a closet on the fifth floor,” Mario said.

“No I didn-“ I began, but stopped. “Right.”

“There-“ Mario said. It was getting dark, there were no windows, and so I lit a spark at the tip of my index finger and illuminated the room.

“There’s a staircase. Come on.” Mario grabbed the handrail and with a small “Ahh!” quickly retracted his hand.

“It’s burning up,” he said. I remembered that the doorknob yesterday had been so hot.

“Wonder what caused that,” I said. “Yesterday, there was a doorknob that was really hot.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter.” Mario said. “Just don’t touch the handrail.” He took a step up the staircase.

“Watch your step, “He warned. “It’s pretty creaky.”

This staircase conveniently winded up all the way to the fifth floor. Mario planted his foot on the wooden floor of the fifth story, and didn’t move for a second.

“What’s wrong,” I asked, not making that a question.

“I think the floor is hollow or something,” he said. “I’m just making sure it’s sturdy enough to walk on.”

“I think it is,” I said, and walked past. It was, but very creaky.

“So it’s supposed to be in a closet,” Mario said. “There’s a bunch of small rooms here. Let’s look around.”

I slid open the door to an empty, dusty room. It was very small. A single window was on the opposite wall. Other than that, it was completely empty.

I left the doorway of that room and went to the next. This was a sliding door, too. I poked my head into the room and looked around. This room was the opposite. It was full of trinkets and toys, and in the corner, a small, floating star.
“I’ve got it!” I yelled to Mario. “I’ve got the Beanstar!” My future self was right… I was the one who found it.

I coughed from the large amount of dust I kicked up by rummaging through some of the boxes and brushed myself off.

“Hey…” I said, looking around and noticing that Mario was gone. “Where’d you go?”

I heard footsteps behind me and whisked around.

“Mario?” I asked. But it wasn’t him… well, it could have been, but I didn’t see anyone.

“Where did you go?” I asked in exasperation.

I felt warm air down my neck. I turned around and saw a phantom, one that was a head taller than me, draped in a long, black cloak.

“AUUUGHHH!” I screamed, and dropped the Beanstar.

Flash.

“Hey, Waluigi was right,” Mario said. “That was fun!” He pulled the cloak off his head and there he was, standing on a cinder block.

I tossed the Beanstar at him. “You loser!” I pulled off my wristband and put it back on.

He laughed. “Well, good you found it. Let’s go find Wario and Waluigi.” he paused for a second and looked at the floor.

“It’s awfully damp in here,” he said after a second. “Is there a mist fountain nearby or something?”

But a horrible feeling rose in my stomach. The last time the room was this misty and damp was when…no way…

“The mansion,” I whispered.

“Pardon?” Mario asked, now bored and clutching the Beanstar loosely.

“The mansion! The haunted mansion! The last time the room was like this was when I had to brave that haunted mansion!” I wailed.
`
A little of the color drained from Mario’s face. “But this is Cackletta’s fortress.” He said, “Not a haunted mansion…”

“I know.” I mumbled, staring at my feet. “I suppose I’m being paranoid again.” Mario chuckled.

“Again, you got that right. Now, where do you think Wario and Walu-“

His eyes widened to a huge size, though it seemed like it was in interest rather than horror. His mouth was agape.

“Luigi, I think you ought to move,” he whispered.

“Move?” I asked, feeling my breathing rate rise. “Move from what?”

He raised his finger, slightly trembling. “Just turn around.”

Slowly, shakily, I turned my head and made eye contact with the horrible ghost of Cackletta.

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