Part 1:
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The blast of energy pierced Mario's skin, and pain exploded in his senses.
He resisted crying out as the force knocked him backwards into the air. He turned his body with jerking movements, trying desperately to land on his feet. The motions, however, only sent even more painful jolts through his bones. He winced, and then let the cry he'd been holding in burst out when he landed hard.
The impact made him crumple to the ground in agony. He clenched his teeth and attempted standing upright, only for his legs to give way and him to fall once more.
"Come on! We can't-a rest!" Mario mentally scolded, "He'll destroy us if we let up! We have-a to - !"
It was then that the plumber noticed a gloved hand – an exact replica of his own – lying near him, attached to a green sleeve, and fought the urge to scream.
His brother lay there, unmoving. His clothes were spotted with dirt stains and tiny rips, looking as if he'd suffered a war. Like he'd broken every bone in it, he lay with his body twisted at an awkward angle. But Luigi's face was what ultimately destroyed Mario's heart: it was pale, frozen in a look of pure terror.
Mario's eyes welled up. "Is he…? He-a can't be…" He couldn't bring himself to say it, not even in his personal thoughts.
He let his eyes wander beyond his mangled brother and saw something far more horrifying.
All his friends, the team who'd joined together with him to defeat a tyrant and his otherworldly army to protect their beautiful cross-world, had met the same cruel fate as Luigi. All had fallen victim to Tabuu's Off Wave, and the aftermath was horrible to even look at. Mario kept glancing around, horrified at the cases: Link's shield had been wrenched out of his grip and crushed his head, Kirby was more still and flat than a fish plucked from the water, a trickle of blood streamed from Solid Snake's mouth, Marth and Ike's chests had been sliced open, R.O.B was reduced to parts… it was too much.
Mario waited for them to become trophies, to prove his thoughts wrong. He waited for it, so he could revive them and finally be rid of the Leader of Subspace.
They stayed motionless.
They stayed beaten.
They stayed dead.
Upon the confirmation, several tears streamed down Mario's face. His friends - these innocents – were dead. Because Tabuu was too strong. Because they couldn't stay in their own universes. Because they're camaraderie wasn't enough.
They were dead because he couldn't lead them properly.
Mario heard a screech from above. He turned his tear-stained face to see Tabuu, merciless as ever, conjuring a golden, glowing chain in his hand. The chain ended with a huge arrowhead, pulsing with destructive energy. Tabuu swung it around his head like a lasso, preparing a final move.
As the arrow of light headed towards his face, Mario silently begged Master Hand to forgive him for failing to protect his friends.
"Bro? Brother! Mario, wake up!"
Mario's eyes flew open, still stinging from crying. He sat up, gasping, just as he received another shove to the shoulder. He yelped and looked up, ready to pummel Tabuu's forces…
`What he found was Luigi, alive and well, staring down at him with a concerned expression.
"Bro, what-a happe- uh!?" Luigi was cut off by Mario leaping from his spot and gripping him in a bear hug.
The red-clothed plumber's eyes stung with unshed tears once more. "Oh, thank the-a Toadstool famiglia, you're-a okay, Luigi!"
Mario continued to squeeze his brother in relief until he felt a gloved finger poking his back. "Er… Mario?" Luigi sounded confused, "What-a happened?"
In an instant, it all came crashing down on him. Mario released Luigi and took in his surroundings.
Light red walls with white ceiling and floor. A collection of spare mushrooms, flowers (fire and ice), and other power-ups stacked in a glass case on one wall. A small bedside table; a lamp residing on its surface. A single-person bed, the one Mario realized he was sitting on. All were elements of his bedroom.
He'd been dreaming. Tabuu was still gone. They were safe.
Mario felt his face grow warm with embarrassment. He traced a circle in his bed sheets and bit his lip. "Um…" He sighed, squeezing his eyes shut. "I'm-a sorry, Luigi. It was-a just a dumb nightmare."
Luigi raised an eyebrow, looking both curious and worried. "What was it this time?"
"What do you mean-a, this time?"
"Well," The green plumber said, rubbing the back of his head and looking to the side nervously, "you've been-a really stressed lately, and you keep-a waking up from weirdo dreams." He glanced back at his brother. "Is it-a the same one every night?"
Mario stared at the floor, unwilling to answer. He didn't want anyone, especially not his younger brother, to worry about him. "Erm…"
Before he had a chance to respond, the door swung open, making both brothers start. Standing there, tiny shoe tapping rapidly and face twisted in an annoyed scowl, was Toad.
"Mario! When are ya gonna get up!?" the tiny mushroom man demanded. Mario supposed he was trying to sound professional, though his high-pitched voice failed that goal miserably.
"The princess is almost ready to go, so why aren't you!?" he continued impatiently, "You're the big cheese there, right? The leading man?"
Toad's words made zero sense to Mario until a gleaming object on his bedside table caught his eye. It was a small ball, just big enough to barely fit in one's palm. On all sides was a pattern of two lines, one thin and one thick, intercepting each other in the lower left of the ball. It was a deep, dark purple in color, and within it, a dark pinkish light swirled, giving the ball a spiritual appearance.
A Portal Ball, the only method of reaching the Crossverse at will.
In a split second, the day's plans flooded back into Mario's brain: it was the same day Tabuu and his Subspace army was taken down. On this day for the past seven years since their victory, the many fighters who'd battled then participated in an epic, all-out tournament to celebrate said victory.
Mario blushed in embarrassment once more. "S-Sorry, Toad, I just-a… overslept." He chose his words with heavy care; he didn't want them to realize that he'd forgotten. He addressed both Luigi and Toad and continued, "Go and-a wait with-a Peach and Yoshi. I'll be out in un momento, okay?"
Toad jumped up, smiling wide and pumping his tiny fist in the air. "Yes!" He sped off, quick as a flash.
Luigi, however, was far more reluctant to leave. He hovered in the doorway, looking back at his brother worriedly. "You-a sure you're okay, bro?"
Mario leapt out of bed. "Don't worry yourself, Luigi," he assured his brother. To convince him further, he smiled at him. His heart sank when he realized it was his first in a while.
Luigi said nothing. After one last glance behind him, the younger plumber shut the door and left.
Mario's half-baked smile faded, giving way to a guilty frown. The plumber sighed and began to prepare for the day's event.
"Omigoshomigoshomigosh!" Toad skipped around Princess Peach happily, barely able to contain his excitement, "I'm actually going! I'm actually gonna see everyone! I've really only dreamed about it, but now it's actually happening! I can't believe - !"
"Yoshi!" The green dinosaur himself grabbed the mushroom man mid-skip, letting his tiny feet dangle.
Mario, standing nearby, quit straightening his shirt to grin a little. He had no idea why, but he always found it funny whenever Toad ceased his 'Princess's Right-Hand-Shroom' masquerade and succumbed to his childish tendencies. He was so much of a little kid that he needed someone to hold him back once he got out of hand.
Toad was far from impressed, though. He wriggled around until Yoshi dropped him. He glared at the dinosaur, annoyed. "Yoshi! What was that for!?"
Yoshi tried his best to explain, "Yoshi, Yoshi yosh."
Toad cocked his head. "Huh?"
Luigi laughed and knelt beside the little man. "He just-a told you to calm down. It's-a better to release all your-a excitement once you actually get-a there."
"I can't help but be excited, Luigi!" Toad replied, "I always listen to your guys' stories about the crossverse, that it's so beautiful, that the battles you have with the other universe-guys are awesome, that… that it's so great there! Now I finally have a chance to see it for myself!"
Mario gave a laugh. "It is a pretty great place…" "…all the more reason to-a protect it…"
Princess Peach, decked out in her signature pink gown, seemed absentminded. She kept glancing around, as if looking for something.
"Hey Mario?" she called, "Don't you think Wario should be here by now?"
The plumber, in the midst of reaching into his pocket, felt her words like a freight train. He did as she did and looked around. Sure enough, there was no sign of his yellow-clothed arch-rival.
He felt his heart beat quicken; a feeling of panic threatened to spill over.
"You are-a so paranoid," he told himself, "There's no need to worry at all."
Mario took in a deep breath and released it. "Don't-a worry, Peachy," he stated, "He's probably a bit-a late. He has his own Portal Balls, anyway, just like Bowser. He'll-a catch up."
Peach opened her mouth to say something else, and then closed it. She still appeared troubled, but ceased voicing it.
Mario sighed and pulled out the Portal ball. The hypnotic entity within it swam quicker when he put it close to his mouth and told it, "Floating Stadium". He shut his eyes and threw it.
Mario was certain he'd never get used to the sound of the Balls activating. It was reminiscent of panes of glass shattering onto each other, a loud crash that burned the eardrums. After the nails-on-a-chalkboard phase, the Ball released a swirling blue vortex. The Portal itself gave off a sound like a ghost moaning, giving Mario chills.
The plumber called back to his friends – "Jump in!" – right before leaping into the vortex himself.
If Mario ever got over the noise of the Portals opening, he would still never come close with the feeling of actually entering them.
An invisible force pulled and slashed at every nerve, giving the vibe of a tornado. It whipped past him, his body spinning with no hope of stability. He always needed to remind himself what it was before he embarrassed himself and cried out for help.
Finally, the force released him. He plummeted downward.
He was not expecting multiple sharp stabs in his back when he landed. Mario winced, squeezing his eyes shut. "What the heck…? What is this?"
Much to his shock, whatever had stabbed him squirmed beneath his weight. Then the shock turned to dread when it spoke, muffled and pained.
"Hey, fatty!" a teenage voice complained, "Get offa me!"
Mario looked down and spotted a familiar peach arm attached to a furry blue body. With an alarmed squeak, he leapt up, letting Sonic the Hedgehog take a much-needed breath.
"Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry!" Mario rattled apologies off as if handing out free candy. "Seriously, Sonic! I'm-a really sorry about that!"
The blue hedgehog picked himself up, giving Mario an unamused look. "Its fine," he said, "Just reprogram your Portal next time so you'll avoid all warm bodies!"
Mario silently cursed the Portal Balls; they never quite spat them out in the exact right place.
"The right place…"
Forgetting his plight with Sonic, the plumber looked around and realized they were in the right place.
It was a small, town-like area, small buildings lining the street. On the front of each, a white outlined symbol was enclosed in a red circle, each one representing a different universe; a mushroom (Mario's, naturally), a pattern of three triangles, a planet, a rounded star, and a Pokéball, among many others. At the end of the long path, a much larger building stood, bearing the crossverse's Smash Ball symbol.
The Preparation Village, where the fighters get themselves ready for any battles or tournaments in the…
Mario looked up, and there it was: the Floating Stadium, directly above the Smash building, in all its glory.
"Hey, bro!"
Mario jumped at his brother's voice. He swiftly turned around, and found that the rest of his group had taken a tumble out of the Portal as well. Peach and Toad were currently brushing themselves off, Yoshi shaking off any dirt. Luigi seemed the only one who had managed to arrive feet first.
The green plumber was grinning. He pointed. "You gave Sonic a good beating before-a the tournament even started?"
Mario glanced behind him, and watched Sonic straighten his back, clenching his teeth while doing so. He shot the plumber another glare.
Mario smiled sheepishly. "No, Luigi," he said, "he was just-a in the wrong place at the-a wrong time."
As soon as he finished talking, more and more Portals began to pop up, spitting out his alternate universe companions.
Mario felt an overwhelming joy flood his chest as he recognized faces. It was similar to the feeling he got whenever he rescued the princess, or anyone he cared deeply for, but far stronger. Seeing his friends again – no matter what universe they originated from – gave him a happiness he could not replace.
"This," he thought, "is why I dreaded Tabuu so much."
As he received greetings and hugs, he paid attention to how the Portals dropped off his friends. Some were normal and simple – Marth and Ike walked through the vortex as if exiting a doorway.
Some were troublesome – one had spawned on the dirt ground, preventing the soul inside it from crawling out. Samus Aran, body completely obscured by her armor, reached into the Portal and pulled out a grateful Captain Falcon.
And some, such as Mario and Sonic's, were very problematic.
The third came into question when a Portal spawned directly above the Hylian warrior Link, who'd just arrived . He was so focused with adjusting his forest-colored cap that he never noticed it. Before Mario could issue a warning, another teenage character tumbled out, landing squarely on top of the unsuspecting Link. He briefly heard him grunt – "Oof!" – as he got crushed.
Both Mario and Sonic turned their faces away from the scene, grimacing and smiling at the same time. Sonic opened one eye to look at his rival and laughed slightly. "I'm feeling the pain again," he said jokingly. Mario snickered.
His laughter quickly morphed into an "Oh no" when he heard Luigi gasp, "Not him…"
The character who'd fallen on Link wore a pure white tunic, brown sandals, and a golden wreath in his messy chestnut hair. A pair of equally white wings sprouted from his back, covering most of Link underneath him.
Pit, the goddess Palutena's right-hand angel. A.K.A, Link's biggest rival in the crossverse.
Upon seeing Pit's feathers, Link groaned and roughly shoved the angel off. "Oh, sure," he snarled, "drop right in, why don't you, chicken boy!"
Upon hearing this, Pit did not apologize. He did not even greet anyone else. His surprised expression quickly became enraged. He stood up and growled back, "Hey! How was I supposed to know your butt was going to be there!?"
"You have wings! And Skyworld is even in the crossverse! Why can't you just forget the Portals and fly here!?"
"I don't want to waste Lady Palutena's powers on just a flight from one location to another! I only fly in dire situations."
By now, Mario was certain sparks of electricity would emanate from the quarrelling fighters if possible. He slapped a palm to his face and groaned. As soon as Link unsheathed his sword, though, the plumber acted swiftly.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, guys!" Mario held his hands out, stopping the two from doing anything risky. "Come on. You're in the-a middle of the village." He pointed towards their respective prep buildings. "You can-a be at each other's throats on the battlefield."
"Hopefully not," he added silently.
With last burning glares, Link and Pit abandoned their argument and headed for preparations.
Every battler in the village collectively stopped socializing and went to their own prep buildings. As they dispersed, Mario counted and named every fighter he spotted. "…Donkey Kong, Diddy, Pikachu, Lucario, Fox, Olimar – wait a minute."
An unsettling realization hit him with the force of a bull: at least five fighters were missing. Falco, Ness, Mr. Game and Watch, and Jigglypuff, just like Wario, had failed to turn up for the tournament.
That same panic he'd held down before threatened to resurface.
"They're late," he told himself firmly, "They're just-a late. Don't-a worry about it. They'll arrive soon enough."
But as he walked through his prep building's door, an unsettling feeling continued to nag at him.
OH MY GOSH THAT WAS A LONG CHAPTER *dead*
Yeah, I spent most of my Friday and Saturday working on this, so I hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter most likely won't be as long, but I still hope you're looking forward to it.
Now, before anyone says anything, I must speak up for my characterization of Mario in this fic. He's not his normal happy self, but very worrisome with so much on his mind. Anyone notice how in Brawl and SSB4, Mario is frowning/scowling, and seems really serious instead of happy? To me, this connects into the events of Subspace Emissary, and maybe those events affected him to make him a much less optimistic person. If you look at the details in the artwork/cutscenes/trailers for Brawl and SSB4, this characterization is there. I promise to make him happy by the end of the story, though!
Also, for anyone who's wondering, I try to update at least once a week.
Reviews are greatly appreciated! See you guys next time!
~Pixel
