Super Mario Bros.
Dimensions and Darkness
Prologue: Joker Doom Reincarnate
"How long has it been since I had flesh and bone?"
"A full two, maybe three years, sir…"
"Hmm. Earlier than expected. Status on the Negative Energy?"
"…Destroyed, sir…"
"…But still predictable. You save the world, the game ends happily, credits roll, blah blah blah… heroes. And yet you still aren't satisfied since the world's still going to be in danger this next game."
"We have reason to believe that Mario is much more a challenge than before. He's gained more powerful allies since he defeated you. He –"
"He had allies before, and it took the power of the Pure Hearts for them to destroy me. And their score never rises from a final boss, ever. Do remember that, minion."
"Shall we deploy our returning surprise?"
"Yes. Let's let the universe know I've returned. Set it to level…"
"D."
It was another beautiful day in the Mushroom Kingdom. The sun shined brightly in the sky, the clouds were smiling as usual, toad children played within the streets… a beautiful day, especially for the heroes Mario and Luigi, who usually had to deal with the constant threat Bowser gave to the kingdom and its princess.
"Quite a fine day, isn't it, Mario?" Luigi said to his friend, lounging by the castle pool. Despite wearing sunglasses, Luigi was still his old self, talkative, cheerful, but a tiny bit worrysome to deal with dangerous situations, especially those involving Boos. And why not – tomorrow was the twin's birthdays, and everyone in the kingdom was coming to wish them a happy birthday, with even visitors from Nimbus Land bringing thier specialty Cloud Cake.
"Sure is, Luigi! It almost makes it feel like home…" Mario wasn't at all talkative, but was certainly enthusiastic. For a while, Luigi thought Mario was feeling homesick… though why would he rather return? Surely their world was facing its own share of crisis while the Mushroom Kingdom got only better and better.
"Hey, cheer up, Mario! Our birthday's-a tomorrow, right?" Even if Mario did feel like returning home, it would take years to find the exact warp pipe he came into here from.
"Yeah, sure, Luigi. But I can't help- "
"Hey, you two! What'cha talking about?" The Mario Bros. were surprised by Radian's intervention into their conversation. Radian was a bit edgy at times, but he was still only a younger and inexperienced Toad Retainer.
Luigi nearly fell out of his chair in surprise. "Whoa, Radian! You nearly scared me to death there!"
"Sorry…" Radian said. "It's just that Azure hasn't been talking to me, he keeps saying he's got other business and-"
"Azure!" Mario intervened in near shock. Even though he was technically way out of Radian's league in terms of status, the two were still Toad buddies.
"Yeah." Radian continued. "Something to do with a Goomba infestation in the sewers. But, no really, I talked to the Princess about it-"
Just then, all three of them heard a loud noise coming from the sewers.
"…Well, whatever Azure's doing down there, he must be in a real pickle!" Radian was quick to respond.
"No kidding!" Luigi replied. "I wonder what he's doing down there!"
"Well, this is no time to stall!" Mario started, "We have to see what's happening down there!" Even though the most of them thought the sewers were mildly dangerous, there was no ignoring the trouble Azure was having in there…