**This entire chapter will be about how Mario and company are doing back at Bowser's Castle. I made this, 'cause, well, you might all be thinking I'd forgotten about them.**

In Bowser's Castle:
"Hurry up, captives," a Hammer Bro said, "it's time to your dinner!"
"I don't like this," Toadsworth muttered, "I wonder if what they're going to feed us is actually clean."
Mario, Princess Peach, Toadsworth, and the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom Castle captives were in chains; only their hands were partially free to be able to get a tray and pick up their dinner. Princess Peach looked at the table where they were obviously going to pick their food, and made a disgusted face at the menu.
"Ugh," Princess Peach muttered, "don't they have anything good?"
Mario followed Princess Peach's gaze, and shook his head. "It's always the same old thing in Bowser's place."
"I'm not allowing this," Toadsworth mumbled low, his voice with the same level of disgust as with Princess Peach's voice. "And to think that Bowser considers himself 'royalty.' " He snorted.

"Well, um...," Luigi fidgeted, "something like a-that might take a lot of explaining to do..."
"Don't worry," Yoshi insisted. "I can handle the long explanation. Besides, it's not like Lakithunder will somehow emerge from the ashes and come back for us, right?"
Luigi gave Yoshi a look that clearly responded to the possibility of Lakithunder rising from the ashes like a phoenix.
Yoshi made a gesture with his fingers that prompted Luigi to explain.
"I'm listening, Luigi."
"A-well, um, you see..." Luigi took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. "When we were back-to-back, all tensed up for Lakithunder's wild lightning...I considered...this a-was sort of like a storm, right?"
"When there's a storm, lightning isn't far behind, and...?"
"In every storm, there's usually lightning along those lines..."
"And what else...?" Yoshi just seemed more confused with all Luigi was talking about.
"There's always the sound that follows after the lightning."

Luigi and Yoshi tensed themselves, sure that Lakithunder would conjure another string of lightning any moment now.
"Give it your best shot," Luigi seethed.
In response to Luigi's words, Lakithunder directed a more lethal string of lightning toward the thin Mario Brother, which, somehow more agilely than from his previous quests, Luigi managed to dodge. He practically back-flipped out of the way.
"I can a-dodge with class," Luigi bragged.
Yoshi widened his eyes. "Whoa, who knew Luigi had the skills?" he whispered under his breath.
"Who's talking to you?" Lakithunder roared at Yoshi; it was easy to tell that the grumpiness in his voice was from the fact that Luigi managed to dodge his "best shot."
"That's easy to answer—you are," Yoshi said with a taunting voice, thinking that somehow pricking at Lakithunder would make him lose his cool and care about nothing but hitting.
Lakithunder gave out an angry roar. His hands surged with twice as much electricity from his so-called "best shot."