Notes: this was, originally, supposed to be a simple fix-it fic to bring Mario back after he was seemingly killed off in the E3 Ridley trailer, but the idea expanded into what will eventually be a multichapter endeavor. Though the focus will be on the Mushroom Kingdom characters, some of the other Smashers will have important supporting roles, and more will have cameos.

Additionally, I have the Koopalings as Bowser's kids along with Junior; I know it's been retconned, but I grew up when the Koopalings were considered Bowser's kids, and since Nintendo retcons and re-retcons stuff all the time, I'm just sticking with them as his kids, too, and Bowser just gives Junior extra special treatment since he's the youngest.

Luigi found the welcome banquet for the new Smash tournament more like a big reunion dinner than anything else; old faces he hadn't seen in the last tournament were back again—catching up with the Ice Climbers had made it feel as though barely any time had passed, and Red was back from adventures in Alola (with his friend Leaf in tow), having returned with new Pokémon to participate in the matches as Pokéball summons.

Both Luigi and Peach were taking the time to introduce Daisy to everyone. Daisy was very much getting into the spirit of things, and as Luigi found himself sidetracked by hanging out with Ness and Dedede (with whom he was still close friends with after their adventures together in Subspace during the Brawl tournament), Peach continued giving Daisy the tour.

Luigi was deep in conversation about his latest adventures when the doors of the banquet hall suddenly burst open. Samus Aran, looking as though she had been in a brutal fight, rushed in to the hall. Luigi blinked in surprise as she ran to R.O.B., spoke with him for a moment, and then indicated something outside. R.O.B. took a look and zoomed out the door as everyone in the banquet hall began to whisper upon seeing Samus's condition; Pikachu ran up to her, concerned.

"What's going on?" Ness wondered.

"I don't know…" Luigi said. "Mario went with her and Mega Man to check out a disturbance at some abandoned reactor. I wonder what could have happened…"

…

It had been only hours ago, soon after the brothers had arrived at the banquet hall, making a beeline for the food; they had been distracted by Pit eagerly running up to greet them, who had stayed and gushed over seeing them again—at least until Link had walked over to them, upon which Pit, not being too fond of Link, had cleared out.

Finally, though, the brothers had made it to the food—only to have Samus arrive with Mega Man in tow, explaining about the disturbance she had heard about and asking whether or not they wanted to help her take a look.

Mario, after giving a long look at the buffet table, had sighed and agreed to help; he had known that the other Smashers held him in high regard (no small feat when he and his brother were maintenance men sharing company with royalty, seasoned warriors, and bounty hunters), and had also known that a hero was never to refuse a request for aid.

Mario had turned to Luigi at that moment.

"Well, what do you think?" he had said.

"Er… Well…"

Luigi had been spared by Snake showing up and greeting him loudly—to Samus's annoyance, somewhat. Mario, on the other hand, hadn't seemed too bothered by the interruption, and, instead, gave Luigi a thumbs-up.

"No worries," he had said. "Peach will be bringing Daisy by soon, anyway; you can help show Daisy around. Save me a plate of tortellini, huh?"

"Of course, Big Bro!" Luigi had replied. "Good luck!"

…

Luigi snapped back to the present as Samus approached him.

"What happened?" he asked, and his nervousness grew as he saw the pained look on Samus's face.

"We were… waylaid by Ridley," she said, her voice mostly calm, but with a very slight quiver, almost unnoticeable.

"Ridley!?" Pit exclaimed. "You mean he was the disturbance?"

"Yes," she replied. "He must have wanted to lure me out there; he was banking on the fact that I would investigate."

Luigi didn't like where this was going—especially when she had returned alone after going there with Mega Man and Mario.

"And…?" he prompted.

"He impaled Mega Man with his tail," she said, an edge now growing to her voice. "He attacked him from behind; I managed to find him and bring him back here. R.O.B. says he can repair him."

"…And… my brother…?" Luigi asked, dreading the answer.

Samus hesitated, but then shook her head. Gasps filled the banquet hall as those who could hear the news passed it along to the rest of the fighters—Pit dropped the plate of food he was holding in shock as Peach held back a cry, covering her mouth with her hands as Daisy paled. Even Bowser looked taken aback, though Ganondorf remained absolutely deadpan.

"I couldn't find him," Samus said, as gently as she could. "I'm sorry, Luigi. I think he fell into the reactor core when Ridley attacked him. Ridley went for me next, but I managed to get away after we'd fought for a while…"

She didn't dare to tell him about how Ridley had been taunting her with Mario's cap—that would be more than the sensitive younger brother would be able to handle—perhaps it was a good thing that she hadn't been able to retrieve the cap; even as Luigi stood there, shaking, it seemed that this was too much for him, too. The cap would have likely worsened things…

"He… he fell…?" Luigi managed to say, at last.

"That doesn't mean he's dead!" Pit blurted out. "Maybe he grabbed onto something on the way down! Maybe he used his cape to slow his fall! Mario wouldn't go down that easy! I mean, he's gotta be okay-!"

"Pit…" Palutena said, gently.

"We've gotta go find him, Lady Palutena—if he is alive, he'll still need our help!" Pit insisted. "I'll help Luigi look for him!"

"I…. Si, we've got to find him," Luigi said, holding onto the hope that his brother had gotten out of impossible situations more than once. He wanted to believe that Pit was right—that his brother was alright, just in need of help… "Samus, you have to take Pit and me there-I've gotta help my big bro."

"And me, Samus," Peach said, her voice quiet, and somewhat resigned. "I need to find out for myself."

The oldest Link stepped forward now and nodded to indicate that he was coming, as well; Pit was too absorbed in his worry for Mario to even voice his annoyance at that.

But it was as Daisy volunteered that Samus put her foot down.

"Our search party shouldn't be larger than five—any larger, and it will be difficult to keep track of everyone. And besides that…" Samus scowled. "Ridley will likely attack here next; he'll assume I've retreated here, and he's already shown that he doesn't care who he kills to get to me."

A worried mummer swept across the crowd.

"I want everyone here to prepare their defenses in case Ridley attacks," Samus continued. "Zelda, you are going to be in charge of the defenses here."

The Hylian princess gave a nod.

"What can you tell us about Ridley?" she asked.

"He doesn't know the meaning of the word 'mercy,' and he gets a thrill out of causing collateral damage," Samus replied. She glanced pointedly at Ness and Lucas, and the Inklings. "Keep the kids out of the way; they aren't ready for this."

Bowser drew back, ushering Junior and the Koopalings to follow him; the young turtles reluctantly obeyed. As they gathered the necessary supplies they'd need and left with Samus, the search party caught a glimpse of Charizard, Ivysaur, and Squirtle arguing with Red and Leaf about joining them.

This was soon pushed from their thoughts as they headed for the reactor where Ridley had ambushed Samus, Mario, and Mega Man earlier. There was certainly a lot of damage from the battle that Samus and Ridley had fought, but there was no sign of Ridley now—and no sign of Mario, either.

"Maaaaaaariooooo!" Luigi called. His cry for his brother echoed around the reactor, but he didn't get a response.

"That ladder will take us down to the core, but stay alert," Samus said. Knowing Ridley, she had no hopes for Mario's survival, but knew that she owed it to him to retrieve his body from this place.

"I'll fly down-" Pit began.

"No; we need to stay together," Samus insisted. "You and Peach float down beneath us and keep your eyes open; Link and Luigi will climb down the ladder after you, and I'll cover you all from just above them.

The climb down was long and tense, expecting to be attacked by Ridley at any moment. But they heard no sound and saw no sign of him—perhaps he had left to attack the banquet after all…

Peach and Pit hit the ground first, followed by the other three. The core was dark; no light was able to filter down.

"We're sitting ducks down here," Samus muttered.

"I've got this," Pit said, and he concentrated on his telepathic connection to Palutena. "Lady Palutena…. Can you grant us some light?"

"Yes, Pit, but be careful…"

A beam of her Heavenly Light surrounded them, illuminating the area.

"Oh!" cried Peach, pointing ahead.

Palutena's light now reached a figure clad in red and blue lying motionless on the ground. And the cry of anguish from Luigi broke every heart that had traveled here with him.

"NO!" he cried, running over to Mario's side.

The others followed behind; Samus frantically looking around, expecting an ambush now while they were distracted. Pit looked as though he was in complete denial, unable to grasp that this horrible fate had befallen his hero; Link stared in stunned shock. Peach was torn between her own grief and how sorry she was feeling for Luigi, who was now kneeling by Mario, gathering his fallen brother in his arms.

"Svegliati, fratello mio! Per favore…!"

He trailed off, horrified, as Mario's neck remained in an unnatural angle from when Ridley had seized his head; his brother's eyes were open and blank, and his face still registering the shock of being ambushed—likely his last coherent thought.

Pit's bow slipped from his hands with a clatter as Luigi tried in vain to keep himself together; the green-clad plumber now pulled a one-up mushroom, broke a piece off of it, and placed it in his brother's mouth.

"C'mon, Bro…" he pleaded, now in English. He tried to tilt Mario's head back so that he would swallow the mushroom piece, but his neck was too severely injured to allow that to happen. "…Please…!"

"…Lady Palutena…" Pit choked out. "Isn't there anything you can do…!? The Rewind Spring was able to heal me when my wings burned up; why can't we-?"

"You were still alive—albeit barely—when you were taken to the Rewind Spring. I'm sorry, Pit," the goddess replied, forlornly. "Raising the dead is beyond my powers."

"Then… then maybe Thanatos or Hades could…?" But Pit trailed off; neither of them would be willing to help—if anything, Hades would seek out Mario's spirit just to torment him further.

Peach, silent all this time, now sat down beside Luigi, placing one of her hands on Luigi's shoulder and taking Mario's cold hand in her other one, wishing there was something she could do, as well—something that could bring Mario back and heal Luigi in the process. Mario had been a hero to her kingdom, and to her, as well—but she would have to put aside her grief for now, sharp and painful as it was, and guide others through this tragedy.

And she would start with his brother, who was now breaking into sobs as the realization of how hopeless it was if even the Goddess of Light was confessing that there was nothing she could do.

"Luigi," Peach said, gently. Her voice was threatening to crack, but she kept it under control. "Luigi, I promise you, Ridley will not get away with what he did. I'm not going to make any false claims that things will be alright—because you and I both know that… that it won't be possible."

Luigi gave a hollow nod.

"Mario was there for me from the very beginning," he managed to say, between sobs. "When Kamek took me, he mobilized all the Yoshis to save me… Since then… always… He was there for me when I needed help. …You were there, at the last tennis tournament—you saw how he saved me from the Legendary Racquet when it was controlling me…!"

"Yes, I saw," Peach said. "He cared for the both of us very much, and never hesitated to help us."

"…Then why wasn't I here for him when he needed me most?" Luigi asked, sounding absolutely haunted. "He asked me to come along, but I think he sensed that I didn't want to come here…. So he let me stay back at the banquet." He broke down into sobs again. "I should've been here for him!"

"Luigi, this isn't your fault," Peach insisted. "There are… were… things I should have done—and said—too…"

Link now knelt on Mario's other side, across from Peach; he was still quiet, but was looking upon the fallen hero with respect—as well as with an expression that suggested that he was trying to think of something.

Whatever it was, Samus decided, they didn't have time for right now.

"Princess," she said to Peach. "We can't stay here any longer; we need to take Mario back with us-"

A loud, unearthly screech echoed around the reactor. Samus cursed and now aimed her weapon around, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. Pit stood in front of the mourners, having retrieved his bow.

Another screech echoed through the reactor as Ridley himself now descended in front of them, his glowing eyes fixed on Luigi and his mouth forming an unmistakable smirk as he twirled Mario's cap around a claw again.