Authors Notes: Nice title ay? Short and to the point :D

I'm going to add small hints of the more violent comic mask into this story as well but nothing too extreme, yet.

Unlike some of my other mask stories where the mask is passed around the main characters this one brings a primary Mask wearer, as in someone who usually wears the Mask while other characters get either one or two turns with it.

Also this is my first fan fiction for the Mario brothers, so I hope I've done the characters justice.

Anyway, enough of the authors notes.

-enjoy.

MARIO AND LUIGI

THE MASK

By TimeLordParadox

(Aka Ross Pickering)

Prologue

Many centuries ago...

A sea of thousands and thousands of Koopa's moved through the valley, tall turtle like creatures who marched perfectly in time with each other. Stamp, stamp, stamp, stamp. It was music to his ears. But what spoilt it for him was the additional sound of smaller footsteps trying to march along side them. This other marching sound was made by shorter creatures called Toads.

King Krewel Koopa was proud of his Koopa's. They were the ultimate fighting force ever created, they efficiently battled their rivals, the Mushroom Kingdom almost into submission.

King Krewel Koopa was a larger looking version of the turtle like Koopa's, only with spikes sticking out of his shell, and burnt, yellow hair sticking up from his scalp and down the back of his neck. He also possessed two mighty looking horns which stuck out of his head like a bulls that made him look the part of a ruler of the Koopa's.

The empire of the Koopas and the Toads of the Mushroom Kingdom had always been at war with each other. The turtle like Koopa's and the Mushroom like Toads. They couldn't remember what had started this rivalry all those years ago and they no longer cared, all they knew was that they were supposed to hate each other and fight each other.

So it was unexpected when the leaders of these two mighty factions came together to forge a temporary alliance. An alliance born out of necessity, because there was something far more dangerous than the Toads and Koopa's combined lurking these lands. A monster who had been terrorising both empires for weeks.

King Krewel glanced at a small, green box, made of exotic materials. They were protecting this box with their lives because of what it contained. The box was decorated with strange patterns and covered in spells to keep the evil inside at bay. On each side there was the face of a demon. A representation of the evil contained within. A face of mix emotions, both joyful, and evil.

The creature within been impenetrable to their attacks and much more deadly than anything they could throw at it. But they had noticed one weakness with this creature. It hated the daylight, whenever they battled this creature it always retreated with the rising sun and today they had used this weakness to their advantage. They had caught the creature in a pincer movement that would effectively surround and trap it and they had forced it into this box and sealed it inside. It was now trapped in here and they were taking the box somewhere where it could be safely sealed away.

"Careful with that box, you clumsy fools." Krewel roared "I will personally flog whoever allows that evil to escape again!" He was getting edgy. He'd seen the terrible power this creature had. It could massacre thousands of their kind and not suffer a single scratch or break a sweat. Their last battle was a truly terrible sight to witness. Almost half his entire army had been wiped out by this one single creature. It must be sealed away once and for all or it would be the end of all of them.

"I do fear that, that box will not be adequate to contain that power." Said a well spoken voice next to him. So calm and collected and he hated it.

The massive lizard form of Krewel turned to look down at the little man next to him. Compared to Krewel the old man was short. He only came up to his knee, but he was a similar height to most Toads in the Mushroom Kingdom. This was King Toadstool, the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. A great leader that represented everything Krewel despised. Decency, charity, generosity all of it he despised with every fibre of his being. He put those prejudices aside for the moment, but he wouldn't have this old fool criticise the efficiency of his Koopa's and his magics.

"Mind your tongue Toadstool," Krewel barked at his temporary ally refusing to use the title 'King' "Koopa Magic is just as powerful as Toad Magic!"

"I meant no offence to you, nor your magic King Krewel." King Toadstool was reasonable, calm and collected, and he hated that about him.

"Be mindful that this alliance only last while this 'curse' remains within our world." Krewel said. King Toadstool was sitting in a chair being carried by several toad pole barriers, while King Krewel walked. He made the excuse that he was just ready for battle, in reality it was because he knew his Koopas could never carry his bulk. He was all muscle and fat, which made him very heavy, and very powerful.

A cold shiver went through the reptiles body as he looked back at the box. He could feel it. The object with in. The Curse. It calls out for someone, anyone. This thing wanted, needed, a host. The thing granted such power but at such a dire cost to whoever used it.

They had arrived. A clearing where there was but a single warp pipe. The pipe had been disused and was broken in their battles. Which made it the perfect place to hide the curse. All they needed to do was cast a few extra spells and it will be lost forever.

To make sure no one looks for it or digs it up, all knowledge of it shall be erased from the history books. Better that even the legend of it was destroyed utterly rather than allow it to surface again.

Their army approached and with a great heave the Koopas and Toads lifted the green box up and pushed it close to the edge of the warp pipe. It teetered on the edge and began falling back. This spooked the Toads and Koopas who scattered as it did.

"YEAAA! IT'S AFTER US!" they all screamed. But the box settled, sitting on the edge of the pipe.

"GET BACK THERE" Krewel shouted. "THIS MUST BE FINISHED!"

Some other Koopas and Toads gathered and together they forced the box down the pipe. It went down with a 'glug, glug, glug' noise.

"Excellent" King Krewel said. "Now burry it. And we..." he refering to himself and King Toadstool "...shall ensure no one shall ever dig it up again."

And Koopas and Toads began to shovel tones of Earth into the pipe to fill it in and seal it away.

"I must protest" King Toadstool said "This is a rather harsh curse you want to cast on it..." But King Krewel interrupted him.

"Do you want to risk this curse returning to our land again?" Krewel argued.

"No, but..." But Krewel wouldn't hear it.

"Then cast the spell. Anyone wishing to break it deserves the ultimate penalty." Krewel said.

"Oh, very well, very well." King Toadstool said, a worried look in his eyes. The fear of this curse was greater than his fear that some innocent might be destroyed if they disturbed this things resting place.

King Toadstool held up his magic sceptre. His eyes rolled up into his skull as his magic cast the very dark spell they knew was necessary.

"Ooooh, Loki!" he said in the voice of a magician casting a spell "Evil lord of mischief, we seal your power forever inside this pipe of pure iron and forever banish you from the mortal world with this seal of earth. You will remain entombed and your power will remain sealed away from us mere mortals..."

The other Koopa's and Toads helped bring more and more earth from the surrounding plains to help fill the deep pipe. As they buried it and King Toadstool continued to cast his spell. The area started to get darker and darker. Mysteriously, storm clouds were ominously creeping out from nowhere. The rumble of thunder echoed from high above as Toadstool came to the end of the incantation and the last spots of earth fell into place, burying the thing alive. It began to rain.

"...Now sleep demon sleep!" He commanded of it pointing the sceptre at the pipe "and may the gods have mercy on the fool who finds you!" At these words a loud crack of thunder echoed around the valley making all the Koopa's and Toads jump in fright. The heavens opened up and within seconds the rain became a down pour.

With the job finished and the creature finally sealed away forever the two halves decided to go their separate ways. They both agreed that the name and location of that warp pipe must remain a secret and that everything about the creature and the artefact should be erased from the history books so no one ever went looking for the thing and its terrible power.

King Toadstool left the valley and headed back to the Mushroom Kingdom with his army as King Krewel and his Koopa's finished with the task of removing the rest of the pipe from the ground. They'd used saws and hammers and bashed at the pipe until it gave way. They forced it to break and buried what remained of it. If you didn't know there was once a pipe there you'd never have suspected there ever was one.

Krewel then made a questionable order. One which most of his Koopa's didn't expect. He ordered the remains of the pipe taken back to the castle and for all his forces from every corner of this land to withdraw back to Koopa Castle.

"But sir?" one of his Koopa's had asked. "Isn't this land ours?"

Krewel had replied. "Not anymore, this land is now cursed. Let King Toadstool and the Mushroom Kingdom have it."

As the centuries past the two empires rose, fell and rose again a number of times. Their boarder shifted and their alliance's with each other always fell apart almost immediately, allowing everything to fall back into war. As the face of the landscape changed, the dead and buried curse remained mostly undisturbed, mostly in that people had walked over it, maybe felt a cold shiver, but otherwise forgot all about it.

A town was built over its remains and as time progressed still, an entire Kingdom was raised on top of it. Toad Town and the castle of the Mushroom Kingdom.

So many things have changed throughout the Mushroom Kingdom since those days. The Toads and the Koopa's still have a rivalry of sorts but it's not as serious or as bloody as it was. The Koopa's now have a new leader, King Bowser Koopa. The Mushroom Kingdom is now under the rule of Princess Peach Toadstool and the defence of the whole kingdom often rested on the shoulders of two moustached plumbers with strange powers. Things have changed but the tomb of the creature remained completely undisturbed, until today.

Deep beneath the Mushroom Kingdom lay a very complex sewer system which runs from every house in Toad Town to a river on the other side of the valley. However something odd has been found as David and Robert Packer, a couple of Koopa plumbers inspected the sewer system. They were there because the Toads had planned to extend Toad Town into another region and the two plumbers were called in to assess and build the drainage system to channel the waste into the sewer.

However on digging through the soft rock they'd found something. It looked like the end of a long forgotten warp pipe in the middle of the sewer, one which wasn't even on the map. It had been buried and sealed away behind a brick wall, one they had just smashed through and found the dirty, old warp pipe.

They now had to unblock it and shift the dirt to see where this pipe came out before they could legally remove it. However the going had been tough because it was full of soil and stones.

"This pipe's been blocked for, who knows how long!" Robert complained in a slightly whiny voice. "Why do they want it clearing now?" It didn't make sense to have this pipe here at all in the middle of the sewer, where could it go that would be useful? But still the Mushroom Kingdom planning office demanded they dig into it and find out where it led before they would allow them to continue with the work.

"Who knows and who cares?" said David, his older brother. Yeah a couple of Koopa brother plumbers like the Mario's, Robert had thought when David had suggested the idea. No one will think we stole that idea from somewhere.

They were both highly trained plumbers but they often had a problem getting work because of another pair of brother plumbers who already existed and were regarded as the best. Mario and Luigi, the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom. The best of the best, not content with just making sure the Mushroom Kingdom's drains were clog free they went as far as to protect the Mushroom Kingdom from the sinister King Bowser Koopa.

"Either way it's paying work" David said concluding his last sentence. "Now get in there and get digging" he called, pointing at the blockage.

Robert hauled an old jackhammer over to the blockage and intended to start digging.

"Come on!" he yelled at Robert "Don't just stand, help me!"

"I'm the manager Robert" David said, "I'm doing a manager type stuff."

"Yeah, like sitting on your bone-idle backside while everyone else does all the work." Robert grumbled. As he started up the jackhammer and started breaking apart this weird seal.

Robert didn't want to argue with his older brother. He was insufferable enough when they were at home.

Robert hadn't been at it for long when he felt the soil plug starting to move. Why did his shoes suddenly feel wet?

Robert looked down at his black work shoes and found that they were wet because there was water running over them. Where the heck had that come from? Wait, the water over his shoes was running and moving out of the pipe, not into it. Tracing it back he saw where it was coming from. Around the plug, and it looked like it was starting to be pushed out. He stopped the jackhammer.

"Oh, no" Robert said, "Oh no." he backed away further "No, no, no, no, no, no no no no no!" He began to say very fast. David looked in to see what was going on and was just in time as the plug burst out. They were both caught up in the torrent of water that pushed them down the sewer system.

Robert held his breath as he tried to swim madly towards the surface again and didn't want to think about what he was actually swimming through. He surfaced and took a great gulp of air, it tasted as bad as it smelled but it was air at least. David had surfaced just ahead of him. The soil plug had broken up as it impacted the water and debris littered place and began to be carried by the flow of the sewer canals.

From the pipe a great deal of dark brown coloured water was flowing out. Most of it appeared to be full of old leaves, stones and twigs thankfully because Robert didn't want to think what that brown liquid might otherwise have been. They were in a sewer after all.

"I got it unblocked at least" David said. Robert turned to him and incredulously said "'You' got it unblocked?" he complained as they both climbed out of the flowing water. "I'll have to take a shower when we get back, and have you seen all that water! We've probably drained the castle moat!"

"Robert, you idiot." David said, changing his tune and denying any credit at the possibility they'd done some damage they could get sued for. Robert decided to not press the issue further. David had a knack for talking his way out of problems, and sometimes into more of them.

"I wonder what caused that blockage anyway" Robert wondered. Why did they, –whoever they were,- pile so much soil and stones into the pipe? What were they trying to do?

"I don't know, but it's gone now." David said as he clapped his hands together for a job well done "That's the main thing. Come on, let's go for a coffee break while the water drains."

True, Robert supposed, they weren't going to find out where the pipe went until that water stopped flowing, and by the look of the rate the water was coming out that might be some time. Which probably meant it was going to flood the entire sewer for a couple of hours before its finally drained out. So they might as well go for a coffee break as David suggested and wait for the waters to drain, and so they left the pipe unattended.

Which means no one was looking when something flowed out of the pipe with the rest of the soil and muck. There were bits of a broken object that would've made a box if you collected all and stuck them back together. But what would've been most curious was one object in particular. Unlike its brown, water logged surroundings this object was much more solid. It bobbed up and down in the water as it dropped from the pipe into the sewer system, and began flowing with the rest of the waste water.

It had been waiting for so long, trapped at the bottom of that pipe for centuries, now it was free again.

The object that centuries ago had been called 'the artefact' was in fact an old green, wooden mask. There was nothing particularly remarkable about it, just a piece of mouldy wood with a solid metal bar running halfway down the front of it, riveted into place.

It looked like something which would belong in a museum, or to some just a piece of junk. But maybe those people would reconsider if they noticed it start to glow a slight shade of green as it floated away deeper into the dark sewer system.

It didn't matter where the sewer took it. It was free at long last, free to do what it's been doing for centuries. Terrible things because the wearer of this mask is cursed with a power no one can ever hope to tame or control, and it unleashes something equally untameable on the wearer... themselves.

The Mask had returned.

To Be Continued...

Authors notes: The main inspiration for this story was in the game manual for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the manual mentions that Luigi is capable of producing a 'Negative Zone' that slows enemies down, and that its caused by a lifetime of Luigi constantly being living in the shadow of his brothers much more impressive reputation and I thought that was the perfect subject for a Super Mario/Mask crossover.

The prologue is based on a deleted opening scene from the Mask movie.

The two Koopa plumbers David and Robert are characters I've created for this story and are based off Del Boy and Rodney from 'Only Fools and Horses.'

I'm intending to do something very special with this story, so don't touch that dial, or the backspace key ;)