Chapter 1: Of Course They Made Luigi the Bad Guy. OF COURSE.

It was a beautiful day in the Mushroom Kingdom, or wherever the hell this story takes place. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming… And on days like those, readers like you…

Should be burning me at a stake for making such a shitty and forced reference.

It was an exciting day at the Marina Stadium. Don't know where that is? Me neither. It was the finals. On one side stood Bowser and his son, Bowser Jr., and on the opposite court was Mario and Peach. Odd; you'd think Luigi would be in Peach's place. At least Bowser had the dignity to play alongside his son. It's like people say. It's the literal opposite of bros before…. Hmm…

I could easily write Luigi in if I really wanted too, but not only am I trying to stay true to the game, I already established Peach as a character, so… Then again, I wrote a forest area in Stupid Mario Run, so I could do it if I really wanted to, but now, I'm kinda talking out of my ass. Moving on.

"We have officially entered the final round of the tournament!" a Toad announced. "We have reached a critical point in this match! Victory hangs in the balance like space hangs onto time! Or something…"

"The team of Mario and Peach reigns supreme, to no one's surprise!" a Blue Toad interjected. "I even have an idea for a name they can go by! Team Mareach! Good, right? I thought of it myself!"

"That's a stupid name," the other Toad bluntly replied.

The Blue Toad instantly got miffed, pounding a fist onto the table. "Well, I don't see you coming up with anything better!"

The other Toad pounded a fist onto the table as well. "Well, SOR-RY! It's just that I'm actually commenting on the game, and you're here making up names for them as if they were some kind of couple!"

The two shared banter back and forth before the two broke into a huge fight. By that point, the audio had already been cut off.

During their arguing, Mario and Peach were already at match point. All they had to do was score another point to claim victory. It was a close match, each of the four players pulling off different techniques in an attempt to score a point. Then, Bowser hit the ball up high into the air. Mario readied himself and jumped up super high. You could even say he jumped high up in the sky.

...Please shoot me.

He jumped up high into the air, and with a gleam in his eyes and a smack of his racket, the tennis ball came crashing down, barely giving Bowser or Bowser Jr. any time to react. The crowd exploded with cheer as the two winners high fived and waved to the crowd. Soon enough, a voice called out of them. They looked behind them to see Toad struggling to carry a trophy.

He placed it down, panting from fatigue before looking up at Mario and Peach. "I saw everything! Congratulations, you guys! Your teamwork was amazing!"

Mario couldn't help but to sheepishly grin and rub the back of his hair, modestly. Peach simply just giggled.

Toad picked up the trophy again. "Best of all, you get this cool trophy!"

As he handed it to the plumber, loud footsteps began to boom, causing Toad to drop the trophy on his foot, causing him to scream and yelp in pain. As he lay on the ground, Mario looked around to see who was causing the noise. Soon enough, he saw Wario and Waluigi, though they seemed kind of… off…

They stopped in front of Mario and Peach, allowing the two to get a closer look at their now fuschia-ish sclera. You'd think they had been smoking… something… You know what? I'm just gonna stop now.

Wario slowly clapped his hands. "Congratulations," he bellowed before letting out his signature laugh.

Waluigi flipped his hair back with one hand. "We knew you'd steal another win. Your teamwork matches no other." The two Wario Bros. let out a wicked laugh in unison as a sweatdrop fell down Mario and Peach's head. They looked at each with confusion and uncertainty before facing Wario and Waluigi again.

Wario cleared his throat. "Anyway, being the nice guys we are, we'd like to offer you a reward. Think of it as a gift to honor you two."

Waluigi held out the racket that he had been holding. By looks alone, it was absolutely stunning, if a bit tacky and dated.

Wario gave a snide grin. "This here is the most powerful racket in the world. The whole galaxy even!"

During that moment, elsewhere, a certain woman from space felt a cold chill go down her spine.

"Something wrong, Mama?" a Luma asked.

Rosalina shook her head, proceeding to set down her tea. "I'm fine. It's just that… I sense a disturbance."

Back on Earth, or whenever the Mario universe takes place in, Wario and Waluigi were still showing off the racket to Mario and Peach.

Waluigi flipped his hair again. "It's only suitable for the best." The two Wario Brothers let out another laugh, though it seemed more… devious.

Toad pushed Mario and Peach out of the way, a stern and suspicious look on his face. "Ok, what's going on here?" he reprimanded. "You two are acting mighty suspicious. More so than usual. So SPILL IT!"

Wario turned towards Mario. "Don't you like your gift, Mario? This racket comes straight from the Temple of Bask!"

Toad immediately froze. "Temple of Bask? You don't mean…"

That's when Luigi shoved Toad out of the way to grab the racket. Toad got to his knees to see the plumber getting the racket handed to him. "Luigi, NO!"

But it was too late. Not a second after Luigi took hold of the racket, sparks began to fly from the handle. Before he could even attempt to put the racket down, it began wrapping him up in some sort of rune-like tape.. stuff. He let out a scream of agony as dark clouds rolled in, the racket refusing to show mercy. Eventually, a tall shadow emerged from Luigi, almost forming the shape of a cross. Almost.

Mario had practically stopped dead in his tracks. He desperately wanted to try and stop what was now seemingly controlling not only Wario and Waluigi, but also his own brother. However, his feet were telling him something else. Without thinking, he tried to flee the scene. He didn't get to far, with Peach stopping him. The two looked back, seeing Wario and Waluigi fully enveloped in the same type of stuff Luigi was in, shadows of their own emerging from their bodies.

The wind became increasingly fierce. By now, everyone else was trying to run for their life, some becoming victim to the wind, itself. Mario and Peach took cover by the net post, hoping not to get blown away, too.

Then, there was silence. Almost everyone had evacuated from the stadium, the whole place being left in shambles. Toad peeked out from a corner to see the mess that had been caused. His eyes widened in horror as he took in the scenery. He slowly walked towards Mario, a feeling of rage and despair looming over him.

Mario slowly got up to his feet and dusted himself off, taking a good look around the now dismantled stadium. Okay, well, dismantled isn't exactly the correct word, but I like how it sounds.

Mario turned his attention to the mushroom retainer whose lip was quivering. Without a moment's notice, Toad began to lash out. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" he exploded."WE JUST HAD THIS PLACE RENOVATED A COUPLE WEEKS AGO JUST GO WE COULD HOLD THIS TOURNAMENT, BUT NOOOO! WARIO AND WALUIGI HAD TO GO AND RUIN IT! I SWEAR WHEN I FIND THOSE TWO, I'LL SHOVE THIS RACKET-" He stopped when he saw Mario's concerned expression. He cleared his throat. "Ahem… Sorry for my sudden outburst, Mario, but can you believe it? Geez, I'm probably going to have nightmares now…"

Toad glanced around the stadium for a bit. "I don't see them anywhere. Luigi seems to be missing, too. Where could they be?"

Mario just looked around before giving a despondent sigh, though his musing was briefly stopped by the sound of footsteps. The two turned around to see Princess Peach and Princess Daisy.

Princess Peach sighed as she held her hands to her heart. "It's a good thing you two are alright. That was really intense."

Daisy just huffed as she crossed her arms. "Leave it to Wario and Waluigi to screw something up," she huffed. "Especially Waluigi."

Peach put a finger to her chin. "Call me crazy, but I believe it was the racket that wrapped poor Luigi up."

Daisy nodded at her sister-in-arms before facing Toad. "Hey, Toad. You seems to be lost in thought. Anything on your mind? Do you know anything about this?"

Toad jumped slightly before clearing his throat again. "Ok, it may surprise you, but I know a lot about geography and archeology. I'm a total sucker for them! Anyway, though just a rumor, it's said that this island was once home to the Kingdom of Bask.

Peach placed her fist into her open hand. "Of course! I heard that archeologist recently came here to research the Bask Ruins."

Toad nodded. "A fine statement, my dear." He placed his arms behind his back and began to pace left and right. "Anyway, the ruin walls are filled to the brim with paintings of people playing tennis. However, there's one painting feature people bowing down to a racket that looks suspiciously like the one we just saw, almost as if people were worshipping it as if they were in some kind of cult." Toad stopped in his tracks to face the other three again before pointing at them. "If that's the case, then there's no doubt in my mind that that racket is controlling Luigi!"

The others flinched back a bit on surprise. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up!" Daisy interjected. "Are you trying to imply Luigi is being mind-controlled by some sort of tennis racket?"

Peach looked at Daisy worriedly before facing Mario. "Then I suppose we should we off."

"NO!" Toad suddenly shouted, startling everyone.

Daisy looked at Toad crossly. "No? What do you mean no?"

Toad flinched. "Um, I mean, no, thank you. I think we're good. This seems pretty dangerous. Y-You know, for important diplomats like you, and all." Daisy continued to shoot Toad a glare.

"He's absolutely right!" an elderly voice huffed. The other four turned around to see Toadsworth, surprisingly alive and well.

"Toadsworth?" Peach quietly asked out loud. "I thought you were staying at the castle.

"Nevermind that!" the elderly Toad interjected, shaking his head. "Princess, this task seems very dangerous! I'm not letting you go!"

Peach shot Toadsworth an annoyed look before sighing. "Okay, Toadsworth," she huffed. "I already decided I would stay here at the stadium in case Luigi and the others show up.

"Splendid!" Toadsworth beamed. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to see if there's a sauna around here." With that, Toadsworth came as soon as he left, leaving the others to be in a standstill of awkward silence.

Toad felt fear rising within him. "L-Listen! I'll go with Mario! That way, in case Luigi and the others come back, you'll be there to stop them! ...Right?"

Daisy's stern look faded slightly as she sighed. "Ok, I guess… You do have a point, I suppose."

Peach nodded happily. "Ok, then. It's settled. We will leave this important task to you, dear friends."

Toad bowed. "Thank you! We won't let you down! Come on, Mario! Let's go!" That's when Toad noticed Mario was frozen in place. "Uh, Mario?" he asked before snapping his fingers.

Mario came back to his senses and looked at Toad. "Huh? Sorry, did you say something?"

Toad sighed and shook in his, but couldn't help but to give an annoyed smile. "It's nothing. Let's just head to that desert!"

As the walked got ready to walk off, Peach spoke again. "Mario? Toad? Please don't put yourselves in danger. We'll be awaiting your safe return."

Daisy nodded. "I know you two aren't really any strangers to danger. J-just make sure you bring back Luigi safely, okay?"

Mario gave a determined nod and gave the two princesses a thumbs up before getting ready to walk off with Toad again.

"Hey, guys! Can I join, too?" A not-so-distant voice asked. Mario and Toad turned around to see the voice came from Toadette.

Toad looked at her with confusion. "Toadette? What are you doing here?"

Toadette flipped her plaits. "Isn't it obvious? I'm here to help you guys." She began spinning her racket, doing her best to show off. "Two is better than one, after all, so by that logic, three is better than two!"

Toad shot a stern, yet blank look at Toadette. "Sorry; no girls allowed."

Mario's face turned to that of tranquil fury as he stamped on Toad's foot. "I think we're good. Sorry, Toadette."

Toadette gasped before huffing, her cheeks puffed out wide. "Fine, then! Have fun going on an adventure ALONE!" With a flick of her nose, she strutted off.

Mario shot Toad an aside glance. "Toad, you didn't have to talk to her like that."

Toad puffed his cheeks out. "Well, she was going to get in the way of us! I had to do something!" Toad paused for a moment before becoming red in the face. "U-uh… Wait! I didn't mean it like that! I just mean that she might end up getting in the way of the adventure. B-by that I mean she might want to take a detour and force her to come with us! If I know one thing about her, it's that she can be pushy! T-that makes sense, right?"

Mario continued to shoot Toad a glance before sighing. "I mean, I guess, but you didn't have to be so harsh to her."

Toad looked down at the ground and pouted before darting his attention back to Mario. "Wait, Mario!" he exclaimed. "Don't you have some sort of weird telepathy powers with Luigi, or something? You guys are twins, right? Maybe you can use them to track him down!"

Mario looked at Toad worriedly. "Um, okay. I'll try." Mario closed his eyes and focused his attention on trying to scope out Luigi's location. He stood still for several seconds, not responding to any distractions.

Toad looked at Mario before trying to talk to him. "So, uh, what's the verdict."

Mario looked at Toad with a dumbfounded expression. "I have no idea." Toad facefaulted at this response before jumping back to his feet.

"Aw, geez. That bites," Toad huffed. "No matter, though! We'll just find him without psychic powers!"

Mario couldn't help but give a small laugh. He then took a deep breath and pointed in the direction of the Bask Ruins. "Well, the Bask Ruins are this way, aren't they? Should we go?"

Toad gave the plumber a determined nod. "Yeah! Let's do this!"

With a small handshake the two went off. The two weren't sure where Wario, Waluigi, or Luigi were, but they knew they'd find them eventually, along with the possibility of clues as to what exactly caused them to become mind-controlled. Well, aside from the racket probably being cursed, or something. It's best not to sweat things like that.