Mario sipped his coffee. A welcome respite from the mushroom tea he had been enduring for years. It wasn't home, but this Pokemon francophile cafe was the closest thing to New York he could find. A growlithe ran past. Or maybe it was an arcanine, what did it matter. Mario's mind was in the past.

Mario let himself into the E Gadd's lab. No one locked their doors in the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Luigi! Good, you're here. I've got a new Poltergust, I wanted you to..."

"It's me, Mario. Red outfit. Lower jumps. Luigi said you had been working on something new."

"Oh, yes. Sorry. He told me you were excited about it. The E-Gate. Some of my best work. Walk in one portal, come out the other." Gadd continued to fiddle with the Poltergust as they talked.

"Where do they go?"

"Uh, mostly haunted mansions."

"What if I wanted to go somewhere else?"

"Sure, we could set some others up around the kingdom. I haven't been to Dinosaur Land lately."

"No, further."

Gadd stop fiddling. "How far are we talking here?"

"Home."

Pauline. It was always Pauline. He had been with princesses. She was a queen. All the thrills of fighting Bowser and racing go karts couldn't match the feeling of saving her from Kong and holding her in his arms. Had she waited for him? How long had it been? Did time even pass at the same rate here? He was going to find out. He had to find out. For her.

"Is it ready?" Mario asked impatiently. Gadd had been working for months. Mario would have liked to help, but even though he was many things, he was no scientist.

"Question is, are you ready?" Gadd finished the last screw.

"What do you mean?"

"I wasn't entirely honest with your brother when I sent him through these the first time. There can be some side effects."

"Side effects? Like what?"

"Brain damage. With Luigi, the short trips he was doing, it was barely noticeable. If you want to take one all the way to Earth, you might not come back yourself. You'll be changed."

Luigi had been acting odd since he had gotten back from his last ghost hunting trip. No matter, Mario thought. Pauline was too important. "I'm sure I can handle it. I got here through magical pipes, they didn't phase me."

"You're the boss."

Gadd flipped the switch. The E-Gate ignited. Before Mario could say his good-byes, a small pink ball with eyes and feet came out of the gate. This wasn't a gate back to New York.

"Haiiiiii!" The pink ball said, waving it's stubby arms.

Then another pink ball came out. "Jiggly puff, puff, puff!" it declared proudly. Then without a moment's notice it ran up to the first ball and fell asleep. Suddenly, the first ball flew out of the room, seemingly launched by the second ball's falling asleep. The sound of the explosion left Gadd and Mario sure that the ball did not survive.

Then, five anime looking guys with swords showed up. A dragon poured through the gate. A robot. Some eskimos. And Kong himself. But this wasn't the Kong he remembered. He was bigger. Faster. And stronger too. Kong saw Mario and an intense look came over him, one that he had never seen back on Earth. Mario recoiled as Kong started to wind up his arm as if to charge his punch.

That was all so long ago. The kingdom was now in ruins. Whole other worlds had sprung up where castles and donut plains used to be. Beings from other dimensions running around smashing everything in sight. The world was on the brink of destruction and it was all his fault.

Mario paid for his coffee and got up. A siren blared. A new challenger was approaching. It was another Mario, but in a doctor's outfit. Was he from a dimension where he followed Pauline's advice and became a doctor? Was he still with Pauline in his world? Were they happy? He would never know. Those that came through the portal were usually only capable saying a few catch phrases and some grunts. Driven mad by madness that surrounded them. Even Luigi succumbed to it. They used to be brothers. The Mario Brothers. Now, they were nothing but Super Smash Brothers.