This week's new characters:

Hero – Name here (Nintendo character)

Peter Petrelli – Mario Petrelli (formerly Mario Mario)

Simone Deveaux – Joanna Deveaux (formerly Joanna Dark)

Charles Deveaux – Daniel Deveaux (formerly Daniel Carrington)

Mohinder Suresh – Diddy Kong (same)

Nirand – Dedede (formerly King Dedede)

Evil Glasses Man/Mr. Bennet – Evil Glasses Rabbit/Mr. Bennet (this one is obvious though)

Niki Sanders – Zelda Sanders (formerly Princess Zelda)

Micah Sanders – Pit Sanders (formerly Pit)

Claire Bennet – Peach Bennet (formerly Princess Toadstool/Peach)

Zach – Waluigi (same)

Nathan Petrelli – Luigi Petrelli (formerly Luigi Mario)

Mr. Linderman – Mr. Ganondorf (formerly…Ganondorf, duh)

Hiro Nakamura – Marth Nakamura (formerly Prince Marth)

Ando Masahashi – Roy Masahasi (formerly Roy)

Angela Petrelli – Samus Petrelli (formerly Samus Aran)

Tina – Navi (same)

Sylar – Mewtwo (same)

Isaac Mendez – Captain Douglas "Falcon" Mendez (formerly Captain Douglas Jay Falcon)

Sandra Bennet – Vivian Bennet (formerly Vivian Hare…oops! Did I give it away?)

Mr. Muggles – Yoshi (same)

Lyle Bennet – Slippy Bennet (formerly Slippy Toad)

Super Smash Brothers depicted: 12/27. That's 3 less than the 30 characters up to and through Brawl due to the absence of Dr. Mario, Young Link, and Zero Suit Samus, who are just different versions of existing characters.

You could argue, since Peter is a nurse, I've kind of included Dr. Mario…but who wants to argue?

Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes, Super Smash Brothers, Nintendo, or anything contained herein.

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(Open on a rooftop in the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario Petrelli, an Italian of medium build and dark hair, wearing blue overalls over a red shirt, stands on the edge of a building, eyes shifting. The ground behind him reads "Chapter 1: Genesis".)

Where does it come from, this quest? This need to solve life's mysteries when the simplest of questions can never be answered? Why are we here? What is the soul? Why do we dream? Perhaps the answers lie in not looking at all. Not dreaming. Not yearning.

(Mario very slowly leans forwards, arms out, and falls off the edge of the building.)

But that's not human nature. Not the human heart. That is not why we are here.

(The ground swiftly approaches, but then a bright flash occurs. Cut to Mario, waking up wearing scrubs, while seated in a chair in the main room of an apartment. A large man is in the bed, surrounded by medical equipment. Joanna Carrington, a tall brunette wearing a dark print blouse and pants, enters.)

Joanna: Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.

Mario: It's fine. I was just having this amazing dream…I've been having a lot of them lately. He looks over at his patient, Daniel Carrington and Joanna's father, in bed. Daniel is asleep, wearing a black bathrobe. I'm sorry that he only has a few more days left.

Joanna: (smiling) Thanks for all you've done.

Mario: Hey, it's my job.

Joanna: No, you really have a gift. You're like a son to him.

Mario: Well, that would make us like brother and sister. Which would be weird if I, you know, wanted to ask you out some time…

Joanna: (forcefully) I'm dating someone at the moment.

Mario: Oh…well, anyway, I need to change his I.V. now…

He goes to change it. Cut to Kong Isle. Diddy Kong, a small chimpanzee in a suit and red tie, is teaching in a classroom at the University.

Diddy: Us characters are quite narcissistic. We think that, just because we've colonized all the different realms of the planet, that we are the highest life forms. This is not true; in fact, the pinnacle of evolution is…the cockroach. They can live without food for months, exist without a head for weeks, and they're resistant to radiation. If God did in fact make something in his own image…maybe that means God is a cockroach. (Laughs) I mean, they say we only use a fraction of our potential brain power. My father's work with the Character Genetics Project has shown tiny variations in our genetic codes are taking place at increasingly rapid rates. Teleportation, levitation, tissue regeneration, is this outside the realm of possibility? Or are characters entering a gateway to a new evolution? Are we finally standing at the threshold of true character potential? (He sees a tall blue duck in a suit at the back of the classroom. Several emotions flicker across his face.) That's all for today. (The class leaves and the duck approaches him.) I know I sound just like my father, Dedede. The university can fire me too, if they want, but there is some truth to my father's research. There are true heroes on the planet.

Dedede: Diddy…it's your father. He's…dead.

Diddy: I…have to go then. (Leaves)

Dedede: (Following) Look, driving a taxi in the Mushroom Kingdom is dangerous. He probably just met up with some lowlife Koopas…

Diddy: No way! He said he thought someone was following him. He died because of his theories. I'm going to use his papers – he said he was close to finding the first of them, his "patient zero." He tracked him to a part of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Dedede: (Stopping at base of apartment complex) Look, Diddy…don't follow in your father's footsteps.

Diddy: I have to know why he died, that he didn't die for nothing.

(Cut to inside the apartment. There's a pair of large glasses on the table, which Diddy is confused to see. He finds a bunch of files labeled "Genesis." As he reads through them, he looks at a large map in the room. He looks at the different push pins in the map. A cell phone rings from the next room. Diddy hears it, looks frightened, and goes to get his camera out of a drawer.)

Intruder: (On phone) Yeah…No, everything's here except his computer. Have a team come in and bag-and-tag it.

(Diddy takes a picture of the map and removes the pin in the Mushroom Kingdom. He runs out the door as the intruder comes into the main room. He's a tall tan rabbit. He puts on the glasses. Cut to a house in Hyrule. In a garage is a setup including a laptop attached to a camera, pointing at a bed. Zelda Sanders, a tall, pretty blonde, lays on the bed, clad in a tight white t-shirt and denim shorts. She dances sexily for the camera before playing with her shirt. As she turns and starts to remove it, the computer beeps. Zelda jumps up and throws a robe over her clothes. She sees a message on the screen:)

Royboy25: All right, more!

HyruleZelda: It's another $19 for the next 30 minutes.

Royboy25: Come on, I already paid for that first bullshit!

HyruleZelda: You can pay it or not.

Royboy25: You bitch!

(Zelda sighs. She gets up and leaves. As she passes a full-length mirror, her reflection seems to shift slightly. Noises like a voice whispering are heard. Since nothing else happens, she goes into the house. Her son, Pit, is in the living room. He is about 10, short with wavy brown hair, and a small t-shirt and jeans. He is messing with a computer on the floor.)

Pit: (hearing her enter) I have to build a new logic board for it.

Zelda: That's great honey, but you have to get ready for school. (picks up a cardboard box) What's this?

Pit: It's a pinhole camera. So we can watch the eclipse.

Zelda: Well, we can do that later. Right now you have to finish getting ready.

Pit: I've already packed my bookbag and lunch. What have you been doing?

Zelda: Work, to help pay all the bills! (Doorbell rings.) Get your stuff and go wait by the back door, OK?

(She looks out a window and sees two large thugs on the front step. Zelda runs to the back door, grabs Pit's hand, and they jump in the car and drive off, just as the thugs knock down the front door. Cut to a water tower in Corneria. A hand holds a video camera as Peach Bennet, a blonde in her cheerleading outfit of about 17, climbs up the water tower. The hand belongs to Waluigi, also 17, a tall kid with jet black hair and long overalls over a long-sleeve purple shirt.)

Peach: Are you set?

Waluigi: Yeah! (Zooms out camera) Look at this; it's at least 80 feet up! This is unreal!

Peach: I'm ready!

Waluigi: (Zooms back in on her, on the outside of a railing) All right!

Peach: Aaaaaahhhhhh!! (She falls off the tower and hits the ground. As Waluigi runs up to her, she gets up though. She grunts and shifts her broken arm back into place. A large cut on her face begins to close as she speaks directly into the camera.) This is Peach Bennet, and that was attempt number six. (The cut disappears.)

(Cut back to the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario repeats his falling off the building from before, but seems to fly through the buildings instead of hitting the ground. As he flies close to the ground, he sees his brother, Luigi. Luigi is a taller and more serious version of his brother, wearing a suit. Mario once again wakes up from a dream, this time in a taxi cab. He looks at the bus next to them, with a banner that says "Vote Petrelli for Kingdom Senator" on it with his brother's face. Mario smiles, pays the cabbie, and heads inside Luigi's campaign headquarters.)

Luigi: (Into phone, sees Mario approaching) Good. Mr. Ganondorf, I'll have to call you back. (To Mario as he approaches) I'm real busy, Mar. What's up?

Mario: I…(leans in close) Luigi, I think I can fly. I keep having dreams about it. Sometimes you're in them too. (Luigi turns to walk away) Like this morning, my foot hovered when I got out of bed! I really think I can fly!

Luigi: Well then, why don't you jump off the Mushroom Bridge?

Mario: That's too dangerous; I should probably start with something easier…

Luigi: Look, go to a doctor, get some drugs. Just do not pull a Nathan Koopa on me, OK?

Mario: (with power) Look, I think something's happening to me and only you can understand it. (Luigi's cell phone rings. He answers, says "Uh huh" a few times, then hangs up.) Who was that?

Luigi: It's Ma. She's been arrested for shoplifting.

(Both quickly exit. Cut to Corneria. Peach and Waluigi walk home along a railroad track, Waluigi pushing a bike.)

Peach: I'm so depressed.

Waluigi: What are you talking about? This is the coolest thing to happen here in, like, ever!

Peach: Not if no one finds out, it isn't.

Waluigi: Well, why am I taping it if you don't want anyone to know?

Peach: I have my reasons.

Waluigi: It's not like you won't be popular anymore.

Peach: Are you kidding? My life is over! I've got the game this Friday, homecoming in three weeks and I'm a total freak show! I've broken every bone in my body, stabbed myself in the chest, shoved a two-foot steel rod through my neck and I don't have a single scratch on me.

Waluigi: Uh…then what's that? (Points at her stomach)

Peach: Huh? (Notices two ribs sticking out) Ugh. (Pushes them back under the skin, wincing. The wound then closes over. Waluigi looks terrified.) Look, can I have the tape?

Waluigi: Sure. (He hands it to her. She starts to walk away.) Hey, I can give you a ride on my handlebars if you want…

Peach: (Sighs, turns to him) Look…thanks, okay? I'll talk to you in front of other people at school tomorrow. Promise.

(He smiles. They walk off. Cut to an office in Japan. A tall nerdy guy with blue hair, work attire, and glasses, Marth Nakamura, looks intensely at the clock on his desk. Nothing happens for some time. Finally, he appears to concentrate very hard, and the clock ticks backwards one second.)

Marth (translated): I did it! (He runs down the row of cubicles) I did it! (He stops at the desk of his friend, Roy Masahashi. Roy is shorter with flaming red hair, also wearing work attire. He is on a website but quickly minimizes the window.) Roy, I did it! I broke the space-time continuum!!

Roy (translated): Uh, great. Want to go get lunch soon?

Marth (translated): (unswayed) I made the clock go back one second. THAT explains why the subway was late this morning. I have discovered that I have powers beyond any mere mortal.

Roy (translated): (pretending to agree) Right, right. Like Spock!

Marth (translated): (excited) Like Spock? All right! (A large man, presumably his boss, comes by then. He grabs Marth and drags him back down toward his cubicle.) Ow!

Roy (translated): (calling after him) Use the Vulcan Death Grip, Spock! (He maximizes the window, showing Zelda's web site.) Now then…

(Cut to Hyrule. Pit reads a comic book while Zelda meets with the school headmaster, a plain looking guy with a suit and tie on.)

Headmaster: Ms. Sanders, your son is very talented, it's just…

Zelda: (fidgeting) Look, I know his dad isn't around, and I'm working nights, and he needs a stronger hand…

Headmaster: It's not that. I just don't think the school is the right fit for him.

Zelda: Sir! Please! He needs this!

Headmaster: I'm sorry, we just can't do that.

Zelda: But I wrote this school a check for 25 grand! And that's on top of tuition!

Headmaster: Actually, your last 3 tuition checks bounced…

Zelda: Then take it out of the 25 grand!

Headmaster: But, you see, that was a donation…

Zelda: (getting angry) Then I want my money back.

Headmaster: But the money already been spent…

Zelda: I don't care, I WANT MY MONEY BACK.

Headmaster: I'm sorry, that's just not possible. Now…(He gets up to show her out.)

Zelda: (Grabs his tie and pulls him close. She speaks quietly but threateningly) I want my money back. (Waits, but the guy doesn't do anything) Fine. (Pushes him back.) Come on Pit, we're leaving. (As she leaves, she passes by an aquarium. In her reflection, she sees herself, but with shorter hair. The reflection looks angry.) LEAVE ME ALONE!!! (She runs out. Cut to a police station in the Mushroom Kingdom. A tall blonde woman in a royal blue suit waits as Luigi and Mario enter. This is Samus Petrelli, Mario and Luigi's mother.)

Luigi: Ma! What were you thinking? Shoplifting?

Mario: (kisses her on the cheek) Are you OK?

Samus: (smiles) The store dropped the charges. All I have to do is sign a form. No big deal.

Luigi: NO BIG DEAL? Ma, I'm a politician! Do you have any idea what this could do to me if this gets out? With our family's past?? (sighs) Look, what could you possibly need so much that you had to steal it?

Samus: (simply) Socks.

Luigi: (explodes) Socks? SOCKS? Dad left you a fortune! What are you thinking? You know, it's been one ridiculous stunt after another over the last six months. Dad's gone! Just get over it!

Mario: Leave her alone. She's OK, that's all that matters.

Luigi: (taking out PDA from suit pocket) I have to stop this from getting out to the press.

Mario: (sighs, opens door) You know what? Just get outta here. Go worry about your image. I'll handle this.

Luigi: Yeah, sure. (exits)

Mario: (kneels in front of Samus, speaks softly) Ma, what were you thinking?

Samus: (softly) I just wanted to feel alive again. (Touches her forehead to his. They get up and begin to leave.)

Mario: I'm sorry that Luigi only cares about himself.

Samus: Your father was the same way. Alpha dogs, both of them. You, in the meantime, for all your selflessness, and sitting with dying people…what? You gonna retire on what you make?

Mario: Maybe I'll shoplift my socks.

Samus: (lightly smacks him in the stomach) Don't get smart with me. When you put everyone else first, you end up last. You put Luigi first, and he took advantage.

Mario: You were just pushing Luigi right out in front of me.

Samus: It's because Luigi took up more space than you. You allowed Luigi to take the spotlight.

Mario: (insistent) Luigi's my brother and I love him.

Samus: (dismissing) Love is overrated.

Mario: Luigi loves me too, we've always been close.

Samus: You always just wear rose-colored glasses and don't look at the situation as it is.

Mario: (sighs) Thanks, Mom. Can't you just…edit what you're saying a little more? Geez.

Samus: Sorry. It's just, you hero-worshipped Luigi, and those feelings were never returned.

Mario: You're wrong. It's biological. We're…we're connected. I never told you this, but when Luigi had his accident, I knew it.

Samus: Mario, we all got the same phone call.

Mario: No, I knew before the call. I woke up, 300 miles away, and I knew that Luigi had been hurt.

(She turns to look at him and lightly smacks his cheek. They both exit the building. Cut to a small house in Hyrule. Zelda and Pit approach.)

Pit: I hate this place. There's no books to read here.

Zelda: I'll be right back, honey. I just have some things to take care of.

Pit: Can't we go see Dad?

Zelda: (knocking) No, sweetie. Your dad's not in any position to help us right now.

Pit: What'd you do?

Zelda: (avoiding him) Pit, I would never let anything happen to you; I love you more than anything in the world.

Pit: Mom? Why'd you look at yourself like that in the fish tank?

(Before Zelda can answer, the door opens, and a small fairy comes out.)

Navi: (sighs) How long?

Zelda: Just a couple of hours.

Navi (to Pit): Hey, there's ice cream in the fridge. (Both enter. Navi grabs Zelda's arm, and they begin whispering) What were you thinking, borrowing $30,000 from the mob? Have you been gambling again?

Zelda: No, I needed to pay the bills and get Pit into private school. I'm two weeks overdue with the payback and I thought I could handle it, but I'm under a lot of stress right now. (Near tears) I feel like I'm losing it a little bit. I'm seeing things and I think someone's watching me.

Navi: Well, YEAH, the mob's watching you! They're gonna put you in the hospital!

Zelda: No, besides them. Someone else…

Navi: You need to come up with the $30,000 plus interest, like, NOW, or they're gonna slit your throat!

Zelda: (nods) Just watch Pit, OK?

(She exits. Cut to Corneria. Waluigi and Peach come upon a burning train wreck. They stop to watch.)

Waluigi: Cool, huh?

Peach: (thinking) How hot do you think it is in there? (As he's about to respond, she hands him the tape) Just put this in and tape me, OK?

(She runs into the fire as Waluigi puts the tape in his camera and turns it on. She stands in a burning train car, realizing she's not being burned. Then she sees a man trapped in the car. She grabs him and helps him get out. A firefighter comes over and throws a fire-retardant blanket on her. He starts looking at her for burn marks, but she has none. As he's about to ask her something, she gets up and runs off. Cut to outside an apartment in the Mushroom Kingdom. An older guy lets Diddy in. The room is absolutely destroyed, items everywhere.)

Landlord: I can get this cleaned up for a hundred bucks.

Diddy: No, my father wasn't a slob…They've already been here and ruined it.

Landlord: We rent by the week…How do I know you can afford it?

Diddy: I have a job as a taxi driver.

(The guy nods and leaves. Diddy sees a cockroach walking across the floor. He looks angry and steps on it. He looks through some of the files on the desk, duplicates of the ones on Kong Isle. He looks at a large map and starts putting thumbtacks in it. Then he sees and picks up a cassette tape that was on the floor, labeled "Mewtwo." Cut to an artist's studio. Inside is a man in a former flight suit. His nametag reads "Capt. Douglas Mendez" and he has disheveled brown hair. The back of the flying suit reads FALCON, his call sign from the war. He is crazily throwing black paint over the many canvases in the room. Joanna enters. Douglas sees her, pauses, and then resumes destroying the paintings.)

Joanna: Doug, what the hell are you doing? (Seeing him about to throw paint on the painting of an eclipse, she steps in front of it. He stops.) Doug, what is going on?

Douglas: Look, I don't even remember painting half of the canvases in here. I was high at the time. I've been chasing for a month.

Joanna: Doug, just get yourself into a program. Get clean. The latest paintings are…fantastic.

Douglas: (laughs) They're evil.

Joanna: What the hell are you talking about?

Douglas: What the hell am I talking about? (Grabs a painting of a bus on fire and puts it on the table) You see this? Suicide bombing in Venom. I painted it. Three weeks ago.

Joanna: OK, so…?

Douglas: (picks up a newspaper) Look at the number of the bus in this story. (She does, and realizes it's the same as in his painting) This happened yesterday. There's something…wrong with me.

Joanna: Look, we can get you help. (She puts her hand on his arm) There's only one way to handle this: you have to go cold turkey. I'll help you through it, Doug…I love you.

Douglas: I'll just drag you down with me. I don't want to be a party to that, Joanna.

Joanna: Look…

Douglas: (breathing heavily) Just get outta here!

(She looks angry and confused, but she leaves. He then sees on his TV a story about the train wreck that day in Corneria. He pauses and grabs another of his paintings, of a train on fire. His eyes widen. Cut to Luigi's campaign headquarters in the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario enters and Luigi motions him over with the phone to his ear.)

Luigi: (Hangs up phone) Well, her rap sheet is buried.

Mario: Look, Mom and Dad were married for forty-one years. This is just a plea for attention.

Luigi: (Ignoring him) Hey, do you want a job? I trust you, and you're good with people. I need someone to coordinate the volunteers. (Off Mario's look) I'm a shark, Marr. Everybody knows it. And now it's starting to show up in the polls. I bring you on, it kind of reflects well on me…

Mario: Oh, come on, man. I make you look good so now you want to bring me on to watch your back, huh?

Luigi: Yeah. This makes me look like I put family first. I'm eight points down in the polls, I need this.

Mario: You didn't hear anything I said earlier today, did you?

Luigi: What, about how you can "fly?" (He flaps his arms like a bird) Yeah, I'm going to pretend for both our sakes you didn't say anything like that. I'm offering you the coordinator job for your own good.

Mario: I already have a job.

Luigi: Yeah, watching old people die? There's a career. It's not cute anymore, man. Your "dreamy kid, back of the classroom, staring out the window" thing has gotten old. (Touches his arm) It's time for you to grow up. I know you're walking in my shadow, and I'm just trying to do right by you.

Mario: (shrugs his arm off) I don't want your pity, Luigi.

(He leaves. Outside, he sees Joanna across the street hailing a cab, and he looks like he wants to call out to her, but he doesn't. He gets in a different cab, driven by Diddy.

Mario: Corner of Main and Canal, please.

(Diddy nods and heads out into traffic. Mario looks up into the sky and sees the eclipse starting. Diddy sees this too.)

Diddy: Solar eclipse.

Mario: Yup. I wonder if it'll be a total eclipse.

Diddy: It will in some other parts of the world, but not here. It'll be a global event. Kind of makes you realize just how small our planet is. How small we are. (Mario looks at him, slightly confused)

Mario: What's your name?

Diddy: Diddy Kong. Yours?

Mario: Mario Petrelli. Let me ask you something, Diddy. You ever get the feeling you were meant to do something extraordinary?

Diddy: (laughs) I'm driving a cab.

Mario: No, I'm not talking about what you do. I'm talking about who you are. I'm talking about being special.

Diddy: Well, everyone is special.

Mario: (irritated) That's not what I meant.

Diddy: (notices his reaction) Some individuals, it is true, are more special than others. This is natural selection. It begins as a single individual, born or hatched, like every other member of their species. Anonymous, seemingly ordinary. Except they're not. They carry inside them the genetic code that will take their species to the next evolutionary round. It's destiny.

(Mario seems to agree with this. Cut to Corneria. Waluigi and Peach are still walking)

Waluigi: I can't believe you saved that guy's life! That's so cool!

(In Japan, the company does calisthenics in the park. Marth pauses and looks up into the sky. In Hyrule, Zelda goes into her home, looking for the thugs from earlier. In the Mushroom Kingdom, Diddy and Mario look up at the sky. In Corneria, Peach looks up as the eclipse happens. So does Marth. Douglas looks at a needle. Zelda uses the pinhole camera and looks at the eclipse. A thug walks through the kitchen behind her, but she doesn't see him. As he opens the pantry, she hears him and starts to run out of the house. The other thug grabs her, though, and they go into the garage. He throws her on the bed.)

Thug: (looking at his hand) Fifty grand sure is a lot of money.

Zelda: Fifty? Try thirty.

Thug: (grins) I don't think we have to stick with the original amount that you… "borrowed."

Zelda: What about Pit? I have him, you know I can't run.

Thug: Nah, that's OK. I think I know a way you can lower your debt a bit…(motions to her shirt)

(She looks angry, but sees no other way, and starts removing her shirt fitfully. She rubs her face as the thugs laugh, the other one taping with the camera. Zelda starts to unbuckle her jeans, but notices her reflection in the mirror, shaking her head. The thug, angry at her stopping, yells "Hey!" and pushes her down.)

Zelda: (As she gets up) Screw. You.

(The thug sighs, then punches her hard in the face. She falls back on the bed. Cut to a subway station in Japan. Marth and Roy exit the train.)

Marth (translated): I can do it! I can bend time!!

Roy (translated): Great. If you do have the power, what are you going to do with it? Join the circus? No one ever got laid by stopping the second hand of a clock.

Marth (translated): (as they go up an escalator) As I learn to use my powers, I'll learn to bend space too. Then I can teleport myself anywhere on the planet.

Roy (translated): Like on Star Trek?

Marth (translated): Just like Star Trek! Every hero must learn his purpose. Then he'll be tested and called to greatness. (He holds his fists to his hips in a "Superman" pose.)

Roy (translated): (sighs) I need a drink. Or five. (Fake enthusiastically) Beam us up, Scotty!

(Cut to inside a bar. Marth and Roy sit at a table, Roy a few drinks gone. Marth draws on a napkin.)

Marth (translated): Most people think time is a line, the shortest distance between two points. But time is really more like a circle with a line through it.

Roy (translated): How do you know all this?

Marth (translated): X-men issue number 141, when Kitty Pryde time travels. Look, every ten-year-old dreams that they have magical powers, and now I actually have them! I'm not a loser anymore!

Roy (translated): So, what are you doing to do with these powers – make lots of money?

Marth (translated): A super hero doesn't use his powers for personal gain.

Roy (translated): (scoffing) What's it good for, then? I mean, can you teleport yourself into the girls' bathroom?

Marth (translated): (looking at the long line of women waiting outside the bathroom) If I had to, I could teleport into the girls' bathroom just fine.

Roy (translated): Well, why don't you do it, then? I'm gonna grab more beers.

Marth (translated): I'm going to do it.

(He closes his eyes, breathes, and opens them again. He stares hard at the women's bathroom. Cut to Hyrule. Zelda is passed out on the bed and the phone is ringing. As the answering machine picks up, Pit is heard saying he hates Navi's house and he wants her to come get him. Zelda rises, wincing as she feels her cheek. She then sees one of the thugs on the floor, covered in blood and obviously dead. The other thug is dead, too, with a big piece of glass sticking out of his neck. Zelda notices the camera is still on, so goes over to it. As she picks it up, she sees her reflection across the room, again with shorter hair. The mirror is shattered, but the reflection stands with her arms folded and is covered in blood as well. She then brings her finger to her lips and says "Shhhh." Cut to Diddy's cab in Mushroom Kingdom. Mario's cell phone rings.)

Mario: Hello?

Joanna: (panicked) Mario, it's Joanna. Can you meet me at my dad's? It's important.

Mario: Uh, sure. I'll be there soon. (hangs up) I'll just get out here. (He hands Diddy money and gets out. A rabbit with large glasses gets in the cab.)

Diddy: Where are you headed?
Rabbit: The airport. I'm heading home to my kingdom. I miss my family. (long pause) So what kind of name is Kong, anyway?

Diddy: What? How do you know my name?

Rabbit: It's right there on your license. I'm sorry to hear that your father isn't teaching any more. (Diddy looks freaked out.) That is, if it's your father. Probably lots of "Kongs" where you're from, like "Smith" or "Anderson."

(Diddy pulls the car over and jumps out. He starts running away as the rabbit gets out of the car and grins. Cut to a house in Corneria. A slender rabbit, Vivian Bennet, sits at a table, holding a small green dinosaur. A short frog, Slippy Bennet, also sits at the table.)

Vivian: Anyway, Yoshi will be all set for the show next week, I think. (as Peach puts food on the table) So, kids, what did you do at school today?

Slippy: Well, me and my friends saw a homeless wolf-guy that we thought was dead.

Peach: (looking at her mother) I walked through fire and I didn't get burned.

Slippy: (after a pause) What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Vivian: (nodding) Wow, Peach, that's really profound. We come up against all sorts of fires in our lives and when we test ourselves and face our fears, we usually don't get burned. (Peach looks at her like she's crazy. She baby-talks to the dinosaur) But Yoshi wouldn't get burned, will he? No, he has a show to attend…

(Cut to Japan. Roy returns to the table, only to find it empty. There are women screaming over by the girls' bathroom. Marth is being dragged out by security guards. They pass by Roy.)

Marth (translated): (seeing Roy) YAHOOOOOO!! (gives him a thumbs-up. He gets tossed onto the street outside. Roy follows him) I teleported into the girls' bathroom!

Roy (translated): Enough of that! (Marth turns and walks away, unfazed) Why do you want to be different?

Marth (translated): Why do you want to be the same? (Roy follows him)

Roy (translated): That's what I am.

Marth (translated): That's what everyone is. Homogenous. Yogurt. I want to be special.

Roy (translated): We're not special, we're Japanese.

Marth (translated): I don't care. I want to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Roy (translated): That's right, you're special! You're Super-Marth!!

(Cut to Daniel's room in the Mushroom Kingdom. Joanna and Mario enter, and Joanna starts throwing things around.)

Joanna: You have to have some morphine around here, right?

Mario: What? Your father's not going to die yet. Why do we need morphine?

Joanna: I need you to come with me.

Mario: (confused) But we just came here. Look, Joanna, I have to tell you something. (as she continues searching, not listening to him) I don't know…what my destiny is. What I'm supposed to be.

Joanna: OK, Mario, seriously? We need morphine. Aha! (She picks up a needle.) We've gotta go now! You're a nurse, you can give someone a shot and help him, right?

Mario: (still confused) Help who?

(Cut to the kitchen in Corneria. Peach does the dishes as her mother brings napkins in.)

Vivian: So I was thinking we could go to the movies on Saturday, then spend some time at the mall.

Peach: (ignoring her) I love you, Mom.

Vivian: …But?

Peach: No, that's just it. I love you.

Vivian: Look, I know you think I'm trying to be your best friend again, and how much you hate that, and, I'm sorry…

Peach: No, we can go to the movies together, it's fine.

Vivian: (going back into the dining room) I want to be close again, and you might push me away, but…

(Peach absentmindedly drops her royal ring into the running garbage disposal. She goes to grab and back and then reacts painfully. She brings her hand out and it's twisted and mangled. The fingers begin to straighten out. Vivian returns and Peach turns to her, hiding her hand behind her back as it drips blood on the floor.)

Vivian: …I mean, I can be a cool mom, even though I'm a queen. (smiles) Look, Peach, honey. You should know who you are and that it's enough. Because who you are is special.

Peach: About that. There's something I need to say. Something I've never talked about because it would upset you and dad… I think I'm old enough for you to tell me who my real parents are.

Vivian: (pauses, hugs her) Of course you're old enough. (Peach embraces her mother, worried, and looks at her hand. She sees that it's completely returned to normal. A male voice off-screen says "I'm home!") Oh, that will be your father.

(Vivian goes to the door as Peach turns. She sees Yoshi licking up the blood and goes to push him away. As her dad enters, she goes to greet him.)

Peach: Hi Daddy!
Rabbit with glasses: Hi, sweetie. (Hugs her)

(Cut to a subway in Japan. Marth rides under the clock (which reads 11:55), looking slightly downtrodden. He sees a poster for the Mushroom Kingdom. Marth looks at it and closes his eyes. He appears to concentrate and suddenly the clock time starts speeding forward. He opens his eyes and, in a flash, the subway car is gone, replaced by people walking by him. Marth is standing in the Mushroom Kingdom with the Royal Castle visible in the background.)

Marth: (looks around and throws arms up) YATTA!!!! HEH-ROHHH, MUSH-LOOM KINGDOM!!!

(Cut to Douglas' loft. Joanna and Mario approach. They enter and she tries to turn the light on, but nothing happens. Mario turns on a flashlight and starts walking in. He steps on a syringe. The two find Douglas on the floor, shaking and obviously overdosed.)

Mario: Call 9-1-1!

(She gets out her cell phone and dials. Mario moves to the side as he notices a painting. It appears to be him, either flying or falling off of a building.)

Douglas: (suddenly speaking) We have to stop it. (The two look down and realize that he's made a painting on the floor: the Mushroom Kingdom's Royal Castle surrounded by an explosion and with a nuclear mushroom cloud over it. Douglas speaks more forcefully) We have to stop it.

(Cut to the rooftop from the beginning. Mario stands and looks determined.)

This quest, this need to explain life's mysteries, in the end, what does it matter when a character's heart can only find meaning in the smallest of moments? They're here. Among us. In the shadows. In the light. Everywhere. Do they even know yet?

(Below the building, a cab pulls up. Luigi exits and pays the driver. He speaks into his phone.)

Luigi: All right, Mario, I'm here. What do you want?

(The only response is another phone falling from the sky and smashing next to him. Luigi looks up to see his brother on the edge of the building.)

Mario: I've been up here all night! Thinking about this, thinking about my destiny. It's my turn to be somebody now, Luigi!

Luigi: Mario, will you quit screwing around?

(Mario calmly centers himself and looks up at the sky. He raises his arms, smiles, and drops off the building. Nothing happens as he continues to fall. He begins to look worried. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Luigi flies up and catches him. They begin to soar away.)

Mario: Luigi? You're flying!

Luigi: (tightly) I know! Weird, huh?

Mario: How are you doing this?

Luigi: No idea.

(As Mario goes to shift his weight, suddenly Luigi begins to lose his grip.)

Luigi: Oh no!
Mario: LUIGI!!

(Mario falls. Slam to black.)

oOoOoOoOoOoO

A/N: That's it! Genesis is outta here. I altered a few small details slightly…creative license? Please:-) Anyway, R/R please. Let me know if you want me to keep going…the "action" picks up around Chapter 4, unfortunately, so there's a bunch more exposition to get through. So sorry! Love you guys!