The air seemed to stand still as Mario stared on in horror, his mouth gaping at the massive void ripping open before his eyes. Peach held his arm in her tremblimg hands, gripping him tightly so that they could spend their last moments together. Luigi took a step back, pulling Daisy with him. His eyes opened wide and gazed into Daisy's as he searched through the depths of his mind to find a way to express his feelings for her. His mouth opened, but no sound escaped. Daisy wrapped her arms around him, burying her head in his chest as she whispered, "I know."
Memeories of her mother whirled through Rosalina's head and she stared emptily at the void before her.
"I know what to do..."
2 Weeks Earlier...
"They want athletic games," the boss explained, standing before a table of creative artists for Nintendo's next game.
Standing, his assistant remarked, "I believe," he then realized the rudeness of his interruption and glanced at the boss, "If I may," the boss nodded, and he continued, "That what we need is a swan song to honor famicon, to prepare players for the boldness of systems to come. And of course, what is bolder than an athletic game?"
"I agree," began the boss, "And judging from how the public devoured Donkey Kong, I believe it would be a smart choice to make Mario the protagonist of this game."
It was now a programmer's turn to speak, "But, sir, Mario Bros. wasn't nearly as successful as expected."
"I believe that was a result of poor advertisement," the boss responded.
Another programmer stood, "What we need is a publicity stunt. Something to get the public involved with this. We could host a contest," everyone stared at him, unsure of what to think, "Or a competition…. Yes, a competition could be a perfect stunt to get our game out into the world. Go to America and host a contest, in which the contestants enter the world of the game, and whoever wins gets a cash prize. Who knows, it might even help inspire some ideas for our new game." With that, he sat down, rather satisfied with the following silence.