This is a an AH, AU Mario Kart Wii fanfic. If you don't know what AH means, it means "all human" and AU means "alternative universe". I want to make that very clear because I edited a few characters to fit the storyline and the world they live in is my version of Mario's world (which has an extra dose of reality while still being fantastical along with a dark twist). I did research on all the characters, so I am fully aware of all the details of them, so if I didn't include something or changed it, it's because I wanted to or it fit the storyline better. (I've been flamed before when I didn't make this clear, so I want to make it as clear as humanly possible.) Now that I've made that clear, please enjoy this fanfic. I tried really hard on it and I think it turned out amazing.

By the way, even though I put the main character as Luigi and Baby Mario; Baby Peach, Mario, and Bowser Junior also play a good deal into the story. (In fact, the main characters are more like Luigi and Baby Peach, but there oddly isn't a Baby Peach option even though there are options for characters I have never even heard of.)

Disclaimer Mario Kart Wii and all its characters belong to Nintendo

Chapter 1

How It All Started

Tears ran down Mario's round cheeks in big blobs as he held his father's hand in a vice grip with both of his own hands. His father's other hand lay on his stomach, trying to stop the rapid bleeding in vain. Luigi held their already dead mother in his arms as he cried softly.

"Now you take care of your brother, Mario, and you two remember that I love you both very much," their father wheezed.

Robbers banged about their store, stealing their wares and money as Mario said, "Yes, Father."

"Come closer, son. I have to tell you something." Mario leaned in so their father could whisper something into his ear so the robbers wouldn't be able to overhear him. "There is a secret cabinet under my desk. I hid your brother's and your birthday present there. When the robbers leave, go there and get them. Happy Birthday, Mario." When Mario leaned away, their father looked over at Luigi and said, "And Happy Early Birthday to you, Luigi, since yours is next week."

Luigi began to cry harder into their mother's black locks. It was a few moments later when their father stopped talking and his silvery-blue eyes dimmed, announcing his death. Mario stroked their father's hair as he cried. Mario didn't get up until hours after the robbers had left. It took a lot of prying and convincing to get Luigi to leave their mother.

Mario held his hand as they walked through the store to go to their father's office, which was normally forbidden. The store was oddly bare and the things that were there were scattered about and turned every which way. The same went for their father's office. Even his desk was turned sideways, but thankfully, the robbers hadn't noticed the latch that went to the cabinet in the floor.

Mario opened it and inside were two boxes with their names on the lids. Mario could read enough to recognize his own name and his brother's. He handed his brother the box with his name on it while he opened the one labeled "To Mario". Inside was a red (his favorite color) hat with a giant "M" on the front. Luigi had the same thing in his box except his hat was green (Luigi's favorite color) with a giant "L" on the front.

"These are beautifully made; as expected by our father, the best hatter in the kingdom," smiled Mario sadly as he inspected the hat before he put it on. It was a little too big, but he would grow into it. He looked over at his brother who had already put his hat on. "Come on, Luigi. Let's go."

"Where are we going?" he whispered.

"I don't know yet."

Mario took Luigi's hand again and led him out of the hat store that had doubled as their house, ignoring the blood stains and their dead parents in the corner who had tried to stop the robbery from happening, but had failed. Mario was only four years old and Luigi just a year younger, but despite their age, they were on their own now.

Bowser sat at a table chatting animatedly with his three brothers. One of them was wearing a miniature four-point crown made of silver that adorned jewels of onyx and amber. The brothers' conversation instantly halted when it suddenly fell off his head, clattering to the ground. They stared at the crown, barely breathing.

"No," whispered the youngest, Koopa, who was seven, as he began to cry, fully knowing what that meant.

The second youngest, Para, who was twelve, placed a hand on his shoulder as he held his tears in. The oldest, Dry, who was fourteen, picked up his crown as he told his younger brothers to follow him. They followed him to the Queen's bed chambers. They entered her room where a doctor sat with her frowning and a soldier stood beside him looking depressed. When they saw them, they shook their heads sadly.

Bowser, who was thirteen, looked down at their mother, the Queen. Her skin had always been almost as white as snow, but when she had become sick, it had become impossibly whiter. Her long green curls were spread along her pillow and tangled around her crown that had fallen off. It looked just like Dry's except it was larger and had more points and jewels. They had known she was going to die soon, but it still hurt to see her go. She had been so kind and loving. First their father and now her.

Dry walked over to their mother. He didn't even look at her as he took her crown and tossed his own over his shoulder at Bowser. Dry placed the Queen's crown on his head while Bowser placed Dry's on his. They both attached to their heads by the magic of the royal blood. Now that the Queen was dead, Dry was the owner of her crown. Bowser got Dry's crown because Dry was no longer the heir to the throne. Dry was the ruler of the Koopa Kingdom now, while Bowser would get his spot if he died before he had children since Dry was the first born and Bowser the second.

Bowser glared at Dry as he smirked and laughed about his new position. Bowser dreaded what he knew he had to do because his older brother wasn't very stable.

Bowser, now at the age of fifteen, watched Dry, now sixteen, walk down the hall. When he saw it was vacant, he began to follow him down and slowly slip the knife that he had stashed into his sleeve into his hand, but Koopa caught his wrist.

"Bowser, please. Dry is our brother. You can't kill him," he pleaded then turned to Para who was standing behind him. "You agree, don't you?"

"I don't know. I'm neutral. On one hand, he's our brother, but on the other, he's cruel," Para replied.

"Para! You're not helping!" Koopa whined.

Bowser placed the hand that wasn't hiding a knife in his sleeve on his youngest brother's shoulder as he said, "I'm sorry, Koopa, but some things that have to be done aren't pleasant. You'll understand when you're older."

"But I want to understand now."

Bowser looked at him sadly before kissing his forehead and said, "I have to go."

As Bowser walked away, Koopa hugged Para and cried into his shirt because he didn't want to lose another family member, but he had to. Bowser walked along the streets of the kingdom, trying to locate Dry. It didn't take him too long to find him and thankfully, he was away from the guards and even the citizens. Bowser took a deep breath and reminded himself why he was doing this; It was because Dry ruled the Koopa Kingdom cruelly and Bowser should be King.

Bowser walked up slowly behind Dry and lifted the knife, bringing it down swiftly to get it over with. It was as if everything was happening in slow motion. As the blade descended, a boy who looked no older than ten dashed in between them while carrying food in his arms. Before Bowser could even register him, the blade stabbed him where his throat met his shoulder, killing him almost instantly. Bowser backed away from him, horrified, while Dry simply turned around and glanced at him indifferently before walking away.

"Luigi!" screamed Mario, now at the age of eleven, as he dropped to his knees in front of his brother and pulled him into his arms.

Four children in tattered clothes holding food in their arms formed a circle around him and cried. The oldest, who was fourteen, by the name of Wario, turned to Bowser and glowered at him.

"How could you do this to him? That was the last of his family! He's the only one of us who has any family left!" he screamed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," Bowser whispered brokenly.

"What were you trying to do? Kill someone else and miss?" accused another one of the four children that had formed around the two brothers, Yoshi, angerly.

Bowser didn't know how to answer that because it wouldn't ease the pain of their loss. Even the kingdom guards that had been chasing them, since it seemed they had stolen some food, had stopped and were checking on Luigi to see if he was still alive, which he wasn't.

"Why is everyone always dying? What's the point?" cried Mario loudly.

That's when a man who was beyond gorgeous who sat on a small cloud wearing a billowing white cloak with long glossy black hair that flowed around his head appeared before them. His eyes that were like pitch black pits of nothing had a subtle curve to them and his skin had a perfect light tan tone to it.

"My thoughts exactly. I am tired of seeing all these pointless deaths, too. You humans kill each other for war, for the throne, for money, for possessions, for hate, for love, and many other reasons. You die so easily. Whether it's from being stabbed or disease. I am tired of watching it and I refuse to. From here on out, you are incapable of dying early. The only way you can die is from old age and only old age even if you are decapitated or blown to bits, you will regenerate and continue on living. In other words, you are invincible," announced the immortal god, Lakitu, as he cast the spell to make it so.

"If you can do all that, can you bring my brother back?" asked Mario through his tears as he held Luigi tightly in his arms, smearing blood all over himself.

"I suppose, but be warned. Bringing someone back from the dead tends to bring bad luck to whoever wished for it. For the universe tries to balance itself. Maybe not now, but one day. The spell I just cast isn't the same because the spirit won't even leave their body when your brother's already has for he is dead."

"I don't care. I just want my brother."

"Very well."

With a simple flick of Latiku's hand, Luigi's stab wound instantly healed and his eyes began to blink slowly.

"Luigi! You're alive!" squealed Mario in relief as he hugged him tighter.

Bowser gaped at Lakitu and Luigi, the words starting to settle in. They can't die. That means it was too late to kill Dry and the Koopa Kingdom was stuck with him as their King.

After Latiku's intervening, wars became a thing of the past. There was no point to them because no one ever died. The five kingdoms were forced to make peace with each other. There began to be more population because no one was dying of disease or being killed by war, crime, accidents, or other things. People still got sick, but they no longer could die from it. It didn't take long for people to discover if you died with a sickness, you came back to life perfectly healthy. It became the new treatment for getting rid of them because it was the most effective way.

People began to become more friendly with each other because there was no fear of death in their lives anymore. Strangers were no longer much of a danger. Crime became more tricky because who was killed didn't stay dead. It only took a mere few minutes for someone to come back alive. That's not to say everything was perfect. People just had to find loopholes. Like Dry who tortured and imprisoned instead of killed.

"Mario!" screamed Luigi, now fifteen, in horror as he watched a man stab Mario in the stomach and steal the food he had been carrying.

Mario, now sixteen, fell to the ground as he clutched at the wound. He was losing a lot of blood and it reminded him vaguely of the way their father had died. Luigi raced over to Mario, not even caring about the thief who ran off with their meal.

"Don't die, brother. Please don't die," Luigi cried.

"I don't see why you're making a big deal out of this. It would be better if he died. Then he could be reborn into a healthy body instead of walking around with a healing wound," said the only girl in their group, Birdo, who was seventeen, as she calmly walked up to Mario.

"But, Mario has never died before."

"I have. Twice. It's not so bad." She went onto her knees and looked into his dying silvery-blue eyes. "You're in pain, aren't you? Here, lemme help you," she said as she pulled a knife out of her pocket and stabbed him.

Luigi's eyes widened before he pushed her to the ground to stop her from stabbing Mario again. "What the hell are you doing?" he shrieked.

"Helping him die so he can be healthy again."

"You're insane!" he shouted.

"Am I the one that's insane? Or is it you?"

Luigi quickly let go of her and rushed over to Mario when he heard him collapse. Birdo got up and checked his pulse.

"Good. He's dead. Now he can come back to life."

"What the hell is your problem?" Luigi screamed at her.

"My problem? What's yours? Because of you, he was in pain so much longer. He could have been healthy by now. Dying and coming back to life is completely normal, Luigi," she yelled back.

"No it isn't. It's only been like this for five years!"

"Well it is now and you better adapt."

Luigi didn't think he would ever adapt to such a lifestyle even though he was one of the people that had started it in the first place. He looked away from her just in time to see Mario open his eyes and begin to sit up.

"Mario! You're okay?" asked Luigi worriedly.

Mario looked at his palm and watched himself open and close his hand a few times before he looked at Luigi and smiled a stomach churning grin.

"I was dead, but now I'm alive and that is utterly amazing," he breathed, exhilarated.

That was how it had started. After that, Mario became fascinated and obsessed with being reborn. He began to kill himself for the fun of it. He would jump off buildings several stories up to feel the wind in his hair. He would slit his wrists to see if any marks remained when he came to. He would drown himself by trying to swim to the bottom. Yoshi, Birdo, Wario, and Waluigi weren't all that worried about him. Dying and being reborn was normal and they saw no risk behind it for no one was yet to die and not come back, so to them, it had to be impossible. But for Luigi, that behavior frightened him immensely and Mario wouldn't listen to him.

"I want to make a game out of dying, but it won't be the objective. It would be something that could happen during the course of the game and could slow you down if it does. And I want this game to become big and popular. So popular that it spans out to other kingdoms. Not just the Koopa Kingdom," explained Mario one day to Luigi while they sat on a building that was ten stories up. It was a building Mario frequented to jump off of.

"Good luck with ever thinking up such a game. We are barely at peace with the other kingdoms as it is. Let alone able to play a game with them. Besides, I've told you before, you shouldn't make a sport out of dying," replied Luigi.

"I'll have to really think about that one. I haven't figured out the details of it yet. I'll get back to you on it." Once again, he had ignored Luigi's worries and kept going on with his thoughts.

It wasn't until a week later that he did get back to him.

"Luigi! I got it! I got it! The dying game! I'm going to make these insane tracks that you could possibly die on and people are going to race on them! I call it Mario Kart because I thought of it!" Mario shrilled with happiness to his brother with a proud smile.

And there's the end of the first chapter. It was all background. The next chapter is going to have the storyline. This chapter was just showing how horrible their world was before Lakitu intervened and made it impossible for them to be able to kill each other anymore. But as you can see, they are taking advantage of the fact that they can't die. As for making Lakitu an immortal god, you have to see it isn't too far from the truth. He sits on a cloud and in Mario Kart, he's always dragging you out of the places you fell. He's practically bringing you back to life! :O

P.S. I was originally planning on making this a short story, but then I finished the introduction and it was six pages long and I realized it was just going to be too long for a short story, so I should split it into chapters.

P.S.S. If you couldn't figure it out, I shortened a few names. Dry is Dry Bowser, Para is Paratroopa, and Koopa is Koopa Troopa.

P.S.S. I'm really sorry about not updating City of Hellish Fire for the longest time. I've sorta lost inspiration for it. But don't worry. I refuse to abandon it forever. It will be updated one day. Probably in a month or two. Thing is, I have a job now and school along with other works to do, so it's going to take awhile.

~Camille Cayden