Luigi and Yoshi walked their way past the castello door. Yoshi glanced once at the green plumber as the duo made their way deeper and deeper into Bowser's territory, and was replied da Luigi's nod—and a straight set on his pursed lips.
Soon Luigi stopped; Yoshi felt like he should do the same, too.
"Luigi?" Yoshi asked, staring intently at the thin Mario brother's face, looking for some sign of regret—like he'd wished he'd let Yoshi talk him out of the whole rescue thing in the first place.
But, to his surprise, there was none.
"What's wrong?" Yoshi asked again; the silence was getting to him.
Luigi narrowed his eyes toward Bowser's Castle, in which the doorway was just inches near them. True, the fact that they had not begun an assault despite the fact that they had infiltrated the Castle's security was fascinating, but it wasn't of Yoshi's main concern right now.
"What will happen to us…by the time we enter this door?" Luigi asked, finally speaking out since they'd passed da the door.
"I don't know," Yoshi replied quietly. "I can only guess what could likely happen, and I know it won't be good."
Luigi nodded in agreement.
"Let's get in, then, pal?"
"We've come this far, Luigi; there's no backing out now."
"Okay—we'll do your way this time around, Yoshi."
Luigi walked and pushed the door open—or, he'd been about to push it open when he stopped cold. Yoshi approached the green plumber and saw his unsure expression. Debating.
"Why do te look so unsure…?" Yoshi wondered.
"Beat up Bowser...or rescue Mario and the others?" Luigi asked suddenly.
"Huh?"
"I can't have to a-be the one who'd have to make this decision, Yoshi. te would have to decide on this."
Yoshi paused, his expression the exact same as Luigi's earlier. The green dinosaur's face then took a sullen turn, and eventually he had that "final decision" look.
"I think…we'd have to beat up Bowser first." Yoshi looked at Luigi then said, "I think it would be best to eliminate all our enemies before doing our rescue operation. I mean, yeah, our original purpose for this whole thing was to rescue them, but we need to be practical. Bowser probably already knows rescuing Mario and the others is what we're after—he'll likely expect us to go looking for Mario and the rest of the fungo Kingdom captives first thing we enter his castle, and it won't be long until he thinks up a plan to use that to his advantage. He'll probably strike us from behind when he thinks we're going to win." He frowned and looked up. "Which was probably what he planned when he kidnapped Mario and everyone else. He must've wanted Mario to think he'd won…and used that to get at Mario the moment he'd let his guard down…."
Luigi was awestruck. It was not merely because of the cautious way Yoshi had talked about Bowser and his plans as if the Koopa King was around to hear him. It was because of the pure logic and sense behind his decision. Even if Luigi had it in him to argue against Yoshi's decision, he was sure that he couldn't argue with that kind of logic.
And, of course, that kind of thing happened to be the cause of Luigi's sudden burst of laughter.
"What's wrong with what I'd just said, pal?" Yoshi scowled. He was sure he'd defended his side thoroughly and with the right kind of conviction, but it didn't make sense that Luigi would go and laugh at him like that.
"Sorry, pal, sorry, but…" Luigi wiped tears off his eyes that had come out from his fit of laughter. "You're a-starting to sleuth on like a-me!"
Yoshi blinked, his face blank. Then he grinned. "Hey, we've been traveling on and on like this—inevitably, I had to pick up something from you, one way o the other!"
"And my 'sleuthing skills' rubbed off on you, of all the things te could've possibly a-picked up from me!"
"What did te think it could've been, your hat?"
"Naw, my hat's for a-keeps. Actually, 'inheriting' my mustache wouldn't be half-bad!"
"Okay, okay, now I feel you're mocking me this time."
The light atmosphere didn't last for long; soon Luigi's chortles and Yoshi's sarcastic remarks toward Luigi were replaced with the stress and uncertainty from before.
"You really think we'll make it out of this alive?" Luigi whispered.
"I only hope for the best, Luigi," Yoshi whispered back.
"Without further ado, let's do it to it," Luigi said.
"Ditto, Luigi."
Luigi and Yoshi walked farther into the Castle—they didn't plan to tiptoe o sneak around; they were pretty much sure that Bowser knew of their existence.
And, as they heard the familiar brutal laughter echoing within the Castle's four walls, they didn't do so hard as to hide o make a guess as to who it was.
They were certain—they could only pick out one name.
"Welcome, Luigi…and Yoshi. Welcome to your doom."