Act 7: Long Time No See (Part 5)
Rejoining Link, Mario, and Samus...
In no time at all, the three made it to Sonic's home planet of Moblius, setting their landing site to the Green Hilll Zone. Once they touched down, the three were almost amazed by the complete contrast in atmosphere. While everything on Zebes seemed dull, dank, and lonely, Green Hill Zone felt overwhelmingly happier and more hopeful. The sun was shining bright, the skies were blue, animals were playing... It was an all-around friendly and inviting environment.
"It's hard to believe your brother was killed here, of all places." Samus admitted. She had earlier powered-down her Varia suit and dressed in a tight-fitting, dark-blue flight suit with her hair tied back into a pony-tail.
"I know." Mario agreed.
There was a brief pause. Mario knew this could quite possibly be the last time he'd see Samus before the next Smash tournament. After all they'd been through together, it was a bit hard for him to think of saying farewell.
"Well... I guess this is it." Mario started. "You have no idea how grateful I am for you bringing us here, Samus."
"Think nothing of it." Samus said. "After everything you two have done for me, I couldn't even consider not assisting you."
Mario warmly smiled. "Thanks for everything. Hey, next tournament, bring your A-game."
"So you noticed I was slacking last time... I won't disappoint this time around. I refuse to lose to Link in the semi-finals again." Samus said, turning to Link and giving him a competitive grin and a playful shove.
Link only replied with a weak smile, then turned around to gaze out of the windshield. Neither Mario nor Samus had to ask; they already knew what was troubling him.
"I think I should leave you two alone." Mario concluded, finding his way out of the ship's cockpit.
Samus moved her hand to Link's back, rubbing it, consolingly. A meaningful smile crept onto Link's face as he turned around to face her, slowly wrapping his arms around her waist. They gazed into each other's eyes, losing themselves in each other's bright blue pools of emotion.
"Link..." Samus began, but immediately found his finger over her lips.
His eyes slowly wandered from her eyes down to her lips; those sweet, soft-looking lips he had fantasized about kissing for so long... His hand found its way up to Samus's cheek, caressing it softly as Link slowly bought his face closer and closer to Samus's. He was about to act out one of his greatest fantasies.
Refusing to be kept waiting, Samus pulled in Link the rest of the way, locking him in a deeply intimate kiss. For that passionate moment, Link cared about nothing else. All he wanted to do was stay there with Samus in his arms for all eternity, just like that. Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end. After sharing their deep sentiments for each other, Link embraced her one last time, holding her tightly in his arms and kissing her on the cheek. There were things they actually wanted to say to each other, but after the love they just shared, words just seemed too weak to properly convey what they felt.
Finally breaking their loving embrace, Samus and Link exited the cockpit, making their way to the starship's exit, with Mario following. Mario and Link boarded the elevator, taking one last look at Samus's bittersweet visage trying to keep up a smile as it lifted them out of her starship.
They were finally greeted by the comfortably warm air of the Green Hill Zone. They hopped off of Samus's ship and turned back to watch it fly up into the sky.
"And then... there were two." Mario said, viewing the ship pick up speed and disappear as a twinkle in the clear, blue sky.
Link let out a deep sigh. "Let's save your brother, Mario." He said, wanting to quickly get back into his quest and preoccupy his mind. "Where'd he get murked?"
There may have been no warp-pipe to serve as a land mark, but Mario knew the way as if it was a calling. They quickly made it to the scene of the crime. So many adorable animals were playing around the area, no one would ever believe that this was once the spot of a brutal massacre.
"You sure this is it?" Link asked, making sure.
"I'm positive. I'd never forget this place." Mario assured him.
"Alright." Link pulled out the fabled Ocarina of Time and put it to his mouth. "OH!!" He suddenly remembered something. "While I'm playing the Song of Time, hold me."
"...hold you?" Mario made a slight grimace.
"Yeah. If you wanna come back in time with me, you're gonna have to. Otherwise, you'll just be standing here wonderin' where the hell I went."
"Oh..." Mario understood, grabbing hold of Link's shoulder. "Why didn't you just say so? I thought you wanted to dance with me or something."
"Nah..." Link shook his head. "We'll do that to the Minuet of Forest."
"Just play your flute." Mario said.
"It's an ocarina, man... Get it right!" Link said, finally playing the mystic notes that created the Song of Time.
Immediately, the entire environment became distorted, blurring out into blackness. Obviously used to the effects, Link continued to play his instrument. Mario, on the other hand, was beginning to find it difficult to stay conscious. His vision kept slipping in and out of focus. His head began to throb as he started feeling woozy, fighting to keep a firm hold on Link's shoulder. He didn't even want to think about what would happen to him if he let go... As hard as he fought, Mario just couldn't fight it, fainting just before a world blurred back into focus.
A few seconds later...
"Mario...?" A voice was heard calling his name.
He stirred, partially opening his eyes, but quickly closing them shut when the blazing sunlight poured into his sensitive pupils. That didn't help his still-pounding headache in the least bit.
"Mario, man... you okay?" He recognized Link's voice of concern.
"Uunnngh... My brain feels like it's about to explode..." He complained.
"Yeah... sorry about that." Link apologized. "I guess I'm used to time-travel. I didn't think it'd affect you like that."
"It's alright. I'll live." Mario assured him.
"You... still might wanna get yourself checked out, though... You look kinda funny..." Link hesitantly admitted.
"Huh?" Mario's heart skipped a beat. "What are you--" Mario began rubbing his eyes, but stopped immediately after realizing that his eyes felt... different.
Mario finally opened his eyes, letting them adapt to the bright environment. The first thing he saw was Link, but not the way he remembered him.
"OH!!" Mario gasped, hastily jumping to his feet. "What the hell happened?!"
It seemed as if everything lost a lot of detail, as well as an entire dimension, since the last time he had his eyes opened. There was no easy way to describe how the Green Hill Zone now looked. To put it as simply as possible, Green Hill Zone had somehow reverted to its two dimensional, 16-bit graphics form, while Link (and even himself, Mario presumed) had attained their 8-bit designs.
"Link..." Mario started, his 8-bit heard pounding rapidly from the shock. "You went way too far back in time..."
"...whoops..." Link muttered. "My fault... Time flows differently, here. I still need to get a feel for it. I catch on quick, though. We'll get it right, this time."
"I hope so..." Mario said, gripping Link's pixilated shoulder.
Playing the Song of Time in all its dot matrix glory, the environment once again blurred into obscurity, beginning the time-traveling process anew. Mario once again felt the wooziness, but was able to stay conscious this time around, actually able to watch the world fade back into reality.
It seemed Link wasn't lying about his ability as a quick-learner. Not only were they, as well as the world, the way Mario remembered them, but he caught a glimpse of the infamous warp-pipe he and Luigi first arrived in. And standing right in front of the warp-pipe was none other than his little brother staring up into the sky; a stunned and horrified expression engraved in his face.
"No!" Mario shouted, knowing exactly why Luigi's expression was so terrified. "We won't make it in time!"
"Eff that idea!" Link begged to differ, darting at the helpless Luigi, in a race to reach him before the murderous Super Sonic did.
Mario's legs felt like lead. He couldn't even comprehend moving toward his brother in need. All he could do was watch as Link and Sonic inched closer to his prone sibling.
As Link ran, he caught a glimpse of Sonic swooping down, preparing for nothing else other than vicious decapitation. Link knew he wouldn't be able to make it in time unless he gave himself an advantage. Reaching behind him, Link whipped out his bow and armed it with an ice arrow. If I shoot him hard enough, Sonic will fly off course in a frozen block of ice, Link determined. Skidding to a stop with his bow in shooting position, Link prepared to let the arrow off in Sonic's path of flight. Unfortunately for Link, he was completely unaware of the hidden rock lying right in the path of his skidding trajectory. Right when he was about to shoot...
"AHH!!" Link's foot crashed right into the rock, causing him to trip nastily and tumble on the ground.
"Oh my god!! NOOOOOOO!!!"
That was all that was heard from Luigi before his screams were silenced by Sonic plowing straight through his head. Wishing he didn't watch that, Link covered his face, uttering a sickened and disappointed groan.
Mario, on the other hand, was left in shock. This was the first time he actually witnessed Luigi being killed. Those feelings of sadness and self-pity resurfaced briefly as Mario watched himself emerge from the warp-pipe and deal with the loss of his brother.
Link finally rose to his feet, taking one last look at the grieving Mario of the past mourn the loss of his only brother, angry with himself for failing to save Luigi for such a clumsy reason. He slowly walked back to where his partner was standing.
"I was right there, Mario. RIGHT THERE!!" Link shouted. "And a fuckin' rock screwed up everythin'! I coulda saved him if that damn rock wasn't there! I know it! DAMN IT!!"
"Link, take it easy. No one's blaming you. History just repeated itself, that's all." Mario said, trying to calm his companion down.
Inexplicably, Link wielded his Megaton Hammer with fire in his eyes.
"Where's that godamn rock? I'm takin' it out." Link threatened.
"Don't waste your time." Mario held him back. "You're acting like the rock did it on purpose. Think about that for a minute. The thing's not even alive."
Breathing out deeply, Link finally calmed down. "Okay... I'll handle it later, then. We can still save Luigi. Grab on; I'm goin' back in time again."
Mario listened to Link, taking hold of his shoulder, once again, while Link played the Song of Time. Unbeknownst to them, a very mischievous and very pleased rock evilly chuckled to itself.
"Mwa ha ha... No one ever suspects the inanimate rock." The rock indiscreetly laughed, rolling away into a tall patch of grass.
This time, when Mario and Link arrived in the past, once again, they were greeted by the words of a very banal theme song.
...too fast for the naked eye!
Sonic the Hedgehog!
Sonic!
He can really move!
Sonic...
"What the hell are we listenin' to?" Link groaned with an irritated grimace.
"It's the corniest song you'll ever hear. That's all you need to know." Mario simply said. "The only good thing about this is that I know we're early."
"Great. I know you don't wanna repeat what happened earlier, so let's think of somethin'." Link suggested.
Before they could even lay down a plan of action, a new portal to what seemed to be another dimension opened up, with three new group of three hopping out.
One seemed to be a normal teenage boy donning a turquoise karate gi, with a white bandana wrapped around his spiky red-orange hair.
One was dressed in a medieval cape, wearing a breastplate over his white shirt, and trousers. The thing that made him stand out immediately, though, was that he a human-sized frog!
Although the last character seemed human, judging from his long white hair, pale skin, and glowing red cape, he seemed mystically powerful. The powerful aura surrounding him definitely didn't deter from that assumption, either.
"Where couldst we have ended up?" The frog asked.
"It looks as though we've traveled too far into the future, but no further than 2300AD. This place hasn't felt the wrath of Lavos, yet." The mystic said.
The spiky-headed teen simply nodded.
"Who are you guys?" Link spoke up, slightly wary of this new group of people.
"And what's all this about 2300AD and 'Lavos'?" Mario added.
"I am beknownst across the land as simply Frog." Frog answered.
"I am Magus. That is Crono." Magus said, looking toward the spiky-headed kid.
"Can't he talk?" Mario asked.
"He hath heldeth his tongue for the entire journey. I believe him to be a silent protagonist." Frog explained.
"A journey, huh? What are you guys doin'?" Link asked.
"There are actually seven of us; the other four are waiting at The End of Time. We all met by fate under different circumstances during different time periods. Although we are all from different eras, our ultimate goal is the same: we must defeat Lavos before he sends our world into an inescapable apocalypse." Magus answered.
"Ah..." Mario nodded.
"That kinda sounds like me and Mario, but we don't really have any apocalypses to worry about. Fate hooked us up, too; puttin' us together so we can save our princesses, Zelda and Peach. But before we handle that, we were right in the middle of somethin' else." Link explained.
"Alloweth me to make a scholarly conjecture. Wouldst thou be attempting to rescue your dear brother from certain doom?" Frog asked, first looking to Mario, then gazing past the two, seeing inevitability on the horizon.
Mario and Link just looked to each other, astounded by Frog's accurate guesswork.
"Yes..." Mario eventually responded.
"I foresee his unfortunate decapitation by a golden hedgehog." Magus added, also seeing certain doom for Mario's green-attired sibling.
"Are you people psychics? If you know all that, then you know we have to save my brother before that happens!" Mario said, urgently, not noticing that they were watching Luigi about to get decapitated.
"We're far from clairvoyant, but we're sorry to say that it's too late for him." Magus stated.
"No it--" Link began, but was immediately interrupted by Luigi's terrified scream.
"Oh my god!! NOOOOOOO!!!" He shouted, immediately with the sound of his decapitation following afterward.
Everyone watching could only turn their heads away as Luigi's head was once again violently claimed by an overpowered Super Sonic.
"...tough luck..." Crono muttered.
Mario was shocked by Crono's decision to finally share his first words. First, he and his team suddenly appeared right as Mario and Link were about to develop their plans to save his brother. Then, instead of allowing them to jump in to stop Luigi's death, they'd rather give them the play-by-play of what was happening. And finally, just to put the icing on the proverbial grim cake, Crono finally opens his mouth to mutter "tough luck", as if nothing could be done from the start.
Mario hadn't felt a rage like what he was feeling since he was personally pitted against Sonic. His blood boiled in his veins as he glared at his new teenage opponent.
"You finallyopen your mouth just to utter 'tough luck'? I'll show you tough luck!!" Mario raged on, charging at Crono with his hands a-blazing.
Unfortunately for Mario, Crono was a very powerful warrior despite what his teenage appearance suggested. He very slowly floated into the air as he shined an electric yellow. Mario skidded to an intimidated stop while Frog, Link, and Magus backed away, knowing no good could come from this. Suddenly, Crono released an overwhelming blast of pure electric energy which consumed Mario completely, leaving him in a smoldering, unconscious mess on the ground.
"...wow..." Link muttered, bewildered by Crono's unlikely power.
Magus then noticed the royal blue ocarina in Link's hand.
"What is that instrument in your hand?" Magus inquired.
Link quickly looked down to his left hand. "This is the Ocarina of Time."
"A time-traveling device?" Frog wondered.
Link simply nodded. "I use it all the time."
"I see..." Magus nodded, a very subtle hint of disappointment was heard in his voice. "I should not have to tell you this, but it is imperative that you understand the risks of fondling the fabrics of time. A legend being told from generation to generation is prone to change as the story is constantly retold. As with a legend, a scene in time being replayed so frequently will be at risk of changing in ways you cannot even begin to fathom." Magus warned.
"Whatever you say." Link arrogantly said, failing to heed Magus's words. "Just so you know; I'm the Hero of Time." His intrepid fanfare blared throughout the relative silence of the grassy knoll. "I think I'd know the risks of runnin' though time over and over again."
"Very well. Just know that you have been warned..." Magus said, motioning Crono to open the dimensional rip once again with his time-traveling device, the Gate Key.
"Fare thee well!" Frog said as his group, including himself, jumped into the time portal.
"I guess we should get movin', too." Link suggested to himself, hoisting an unconscious Mario onto his shoulders and singing the Song of Time on his trusted ocarina.
After traveling through time for the fourth time, Link and a newly awakened Mario found themselves watching the fierce battle between Sonic and Mario's past-self.
"Good. We're still early. There's no way we can screw up this time." Mario asserted.
"Third time's a charm." Link stated. "What's the deal?"
"I would just run in there and keep Luigi from ever finding himself in that position, but I don't know how I'd handle seeing myself steal away my only brother." Mario speculated. "We'll wait until I get turned into ball, then we'll snatch Luigi. Sonic won't be looking for revenge if Luigi never landed that Super Jump Punch."
"...but what'll happen to you?" Link wondered.
"Oh yeah... Chao Kindergarten..." Mario remembered. "Okay... we'll have to wait for Luigi to land that Fire Punch, then. But as soon as that happens..." He emphasized. "...we need to grab Luigi and jump down that warp-pipe. That's the same pipe that took me to Hyrule."
"Nah..." Link shook his head. "Too many things can go wrong with that plan. One I see right off the bat is you might not turn back to normal because things we might've changed a crucial element just by bein' here. If we stand back and watch everythin' go down like they were supposed to, though, we'll be better off."
"But when I turn back no normal, Luigi immediately starts talking to me." Mario let out a sigh of frustration. "Urrrgh... The only chance we have left is to wait until I jump into the warp-pipe without Luigi."
"That's... no good, either..." Link slowly muttered.
Mario was obviously getting upset with every plan he came up with getting shot down time after time.
"You'll already be in the warp-pipe, right? So how are we gonna get back to Hyrule without passing you in there?" Link continued with an explanation.
"Then why don't we just wait a while until we're sure I'm out of the picture?" Mario suggested through gritted teeth.
"I don't think that's gonna happen. You were travelin' with Luigi, so you're gonna wonder what's takin' him so long to follow you into the warp-pipe and you'll come back up to check things out." Link pointed out. "Besides, Sonic's gonna be out for blood and he might consider us. I definitely don't wanna deal with him."
"Then how about this..." Mario started. "We'll keep Luigi with us and wait until I come back out of the warp-pipe to check on him. When I come out, we'll jump in. Simple."
"Nope." Link simply stated, shaking his head.
"DAMN IT!!" Mario was losing his mind. "WHY NOT?!!"
"You said the warp-pipe disappeared after you backflipped into it, right? What if the same thing happens when we jump in?" Link asked. "You'll be stuck in the Green Hill Zone with a pissed-off Super Sonic. I know you're strong and all that, but you already lost once to normal Sonic. I don't think you'll do too good against Super Sonic, man..."
"HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO SAVE MY BROTHER?!!" Mario screamed in pure frustration. "Every possible thing I can think of won't work!"
"That's true, so let my brain gears spin, man." Link reminded his aggravated companion. "Don't forget who I am. I'm supposed to think of every good and bad scenario. Now that we murked all the bad ones, we can think of the good stuff."
"So what's your plan, then?" Mario eagerly wondered.
"I actually don't have one, yet..." Link admitted. Mario's eyes went wide with uncontrollable fury. "I'll definitely think of something before Luigi gets killed again, though!" He hastily promised, trying to keep Mario from killing him.
But with four terrified words sent screaming through the air, Link knew it was a promise he wouldn't be able to keep.
"Oh my god!! NOOOOOOO!!!" Luigi's pre-decapitation phrase sounded off seconds before he literally lost his head for the third time that day.
Link could only bury his face in his hands, refusing to even look at Mario's face. He knew there was a look of sheer discontent just waiting to burn its image in his brain.
"Link..." Mario called to his disheartened Hylian counterpart.
Link still couldn't bring himself to look at Mario after letting him down, once again. It was his idea for them to come back here and play the Song of Time. After all the pain, heartache, and toil they went through to finally make it here, Link felt worthless to continuously fail at attempting to save Mario's brother from an untimely death.
"Link, look at me for a sec." Mario said, patting Link's hand with the back of his.
Hesitantly, Link lowered his hands from his eyes, making out a face on Mario that seemed far from disappointment or discouragement.
"It's probably better that you saw the flaws in all my plans instead of going along with them." Mario admitted. "We'd end up having to worry about what'd happen to me instead of my brother. Let's dry those eyes and try this again." He suggested, noticing Link's glossy eyes.
"I don't cry, Mario." Link reminded him, quickly turning around and wiping his eyes dry.
"Those tears I saw are sending a different message. It's alright to admit it, Link." Mario said.
"Yeah, whatever. I know what cryin' is, and that's somethin' I just don't do." Link stubbornly asserted.
"If you say so." Mario sighed, knowing the truth all too well.
With Mario grabbing Link's shoulder once more, he played the mystic melody known as the Song of Time, though not as upbeat as he did before. Both of them had to admit: after hearing the same song over and over again, they were getting pretty tired of it.
With the arrival of the duo in the familiar scene, they found Luigi in front of the warp-pipe once again, too helpless to even defend himself. Both of them knew exactly what was going to happen next...
"Oh my god!! NOOOOOOO!!!" Luigi screamed, subsequently having his head cleared off his shoulders yet again by Super Sonic.
"Wow... We didn't even get a chance to move." Mario muttered.
"Something's different..." Link noticed, not even reacting to the grisly scene just replayed for the fifth time.
"What?" Mario wondered, trying to figure out what Link was thinking.
Link watched Super Sonic gain altitude after he committed the deed. His rise wasn't as fast as it usually was, but not because he was voluntarily moving slower than he was used to. It seemed as if he was moving that slowly because of a restrictive flow of time...
"Damnit..." Link muttered to himself. "I played the song too slow. We may be able to move normally, but everythin' around us is movin' at half its speed."
"I don't think that's the only thing wrong." Mario pointed to a two-tailed fox named Miles Prowler, or simply Tails, cheering on the violent efforts of Super Sonic as he reverted back to his normal self.
"Yeah, Sonic! You sure showed that green guy who's boss!" Even though time was moving at a slower rate, Tails still managed speak remarkably fast. "Now, we can race again! And pick flowers, and sing songs, and save the world, and this, and that, and blah blah blah blah--"
"SHUT UP, YOU ANNOYING LITTLE KID!!" Sonic boomed, simultaneously throwing a devastating back-handed blow to the head of Tails as he attained his Super form once again.
Mario and Link could only flinch at how vicious the hit was. They actually felt sorry for the kid. Even if he was overly annoying, that attack was undeserved. The move sent Tails spiraling through the air and ended with him face-down and unconscious.
"That was messed up..." Link admitted, appalled by what he just saw.
"Let's get out of here." Mario suggested, grabbing Link's shoulder.
Suddenly, for the first time in any reality they traveled to, Super Sonic looked in their direction; his icy-blue eyes frozen upon what he thought to be his latest casualties.
"Oh my..." Mario could only stammer. "Link... He's looking right at us..."
The shocked duo watched as Sonic gradually levitated higher and higher into the sky. Then, he began his threatening decent toward them, sending their hearts plummeting to their feet. The flow of time didn't seem to apply to Sonic as he came down faster than what should've been possible.
"PLAY THE SONG!! PLAY IT FAST!!" Mario frenetically shouted, involuntarily tightening his hold on Link's shoulder.
Literally heeding his partner's words, Link blazed through the notes of the Song of Time, throwing them out of that hostile reality just before Sonic was within a body's length of them. Once they arrived in their new location, they found Mario and Luigi just exiting the warp-pipe and surveying their surroundings.
"This is the earliest we've been. There's no way we can mess this up." Mario believed, looking from Link, back to his past self.
He was left with a visage of bewilderment as he found his past counterpart already fighting with Sonic, and at a surprisingly rapid rate.
"Link!" Mario could only shout; his shock temporarily robbing him of the ability to form complete thoughts.
"DAMNIT!!" Link shouted at himself, nearly pulling his hair under his hat out in anger. "I played to song too damn fast!"
All they had to do was look in Luigi's general direction to realize it was too late, yet again.
"Oh my god!! N--" Luigi wasn't even able to finish his shouts of horror as he was unexpectedly blindsided from behind and losing the entire right-side of his head before Sonic swooped down to claim what was left.
Mario and Link's respective breath was lost when they saw their predicament in this reality. Not only did they have Sonic in his super-form to deal with, but he now had an equally powerful companion: Shadow the Hedgehog, also in his platinum-blonde super-form. And just to remind them how utterly high the odds were stacked against them, time was flowing four times faster than normal.
Before either of them could even blink, they were suddenly roughly grabbed by the arm and pulled into flight with the super hedgehog duo. They looked as if they were going to take them right into space!
"LINK!!" Mario screamed out, stretching his arm out in an attempt to somehow grab on to Link.
Perhaps the only good thing they had going for them at the moment: Sonic and Shadow flew side-by-side, making it easy for either Mario or Link to grab onto one another. Stretching out his leg for Mario to latch on to, Link began putting his tightly-gripped ocarina to his mouth, praying that Mario would grab on before he began playing. Just as Link sounded off the first note, Mario managed to get a sub-decent hold on rim of Link's boot. That was all that was needed for both of them to escape the clutches of Sonic and Shadow, mere seconds from exiting the planet's atmosphere.
Mario and Link landed clumsily in yet another variation of the Green Hill Zone reality, catching Luigi in the all-too-foreboding position of standing in front of that infamous yellow warp-pipe.
"I'm not letting this happen again!" Mario jumped up and broke out into a full sprint toward his brother.
"NO, WAIT!!" Link shouted, barely able to even rise to his feet before Mario was already within diving distance of Luigi.
Luigi was frozen in terror, wanting so badly to attempt to dive to the floor but couldn't even move. Finally, he was able to bend his knees, but he realized it would be too late.
"Oh my g--" Luigi only got out those two words before he was blindsided from his right, rolling along with another body before he could realize what was going on, leaving Sonic to swoop through nothing but clear space and begin his ascent back into the air to reformulate his plans.
Finally, when his rolling came to a stop, Luigi felt another person on top of him. The sudden tackle knocked his vision into a blur, but the figure coming into focus before his eyes left him in shock.
"Mario?!" Luigi gasped, as if he couldn't believe it.
"Mario! What the hell?!" Link shouted, running up to a floored Mario who was just rising to his feet.
"Link...?" Luigi gasped once again, his heart pumping hard from the triple shock from the attempt on his life, and the sudden appearance of his brother and Link.
"I saw Luigi die too many times, today, Link. You heard me say it earlier: I was not about to let it happen again." Mario repeated from earlier.
"...I... died?" Luigi was barely able to utter, gripped in utter awe.
"You died five times." Mario said, holding up all five fingers on his hand. "And it would've been number six if I didn't do something about it."
Luigi just stayed silent, letting Mario's words sink in.
"What are we gonna do when you come back to check on your brother?" Link asked with an upset tone.
Just before Mario could give an answer, an evil laughter perked up their ears, turning their attentions to the source. Someone else, other than Sonic, was also flying in the air above them, assisted by some type of hovering pod. His most obvious feature was his bushy mustache, which stuck out about three inches of either side of his cheeks.
"Mwa ha ha! With my latest creation, there will never be another intruder in the Green Hill Zone again!"
It was none other than Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik. The aircraft he was flying in had a long arm on the bottom of it, complete with a five-fingered hand. The hand of the craft was also carrying a cork, and with that cork, Eggman plugged the entrance of the warp-pipe shut, making it impossible for anyone or anything to exit or enter through there. Needless to say, Mario and Link no longer had to worry about Mario's past-self coming back to check on Luigi.
"That's your latest creation, Buttnik? And you wonder why I always beat you..." Sonic said, rolling his eyes.
"Shut up, you fool, and destroy the intruders!" Eggman spat out in an order.
"Damnit... That Magus-guy was right..." Link muttered.
"What do you mean?" Mario wondered.
"He said us constantly runnin' through time would mess things up like crazy. I didn't think it'd be that bad." Link said.
"If Sonic and Eggman are working together, then you screwed up real bad. They're supposed to be enemies like me and Bowser!" Mario said.
Just then, Super Sonic slowly levitated near the captivated trio. They backed up until their path was obstructed by the blocked-off warp-pipe. Mario and Link looked to each other, hoping one of them would suddenly come up with a miraculous plan of escape. Luigi, on the other hand, had a fearless glare fixated on the golden hedgehog. Sonic returned an equally intimidating look, his eyes flashing a cold blue as he bore a hole through Luigi's face.
Mario and Link, along with Robotnik, all took notice, feeling almost paralyzed by the intensity of Luigi and Sonic's staring contest. If looks truly could kill, this story would be at its end because the protagonists of this grand tale would have suffered an unexpected and horrible death.
Fortunately for the author of this narrative, Mario and Link still lived on. Mario neared his intense sibling, wondering what he could possibly be thinking about at the moment. Whatever it was, he didn't like it at all.
"Luigi, you're scaring me." Mario said to his brother. "You look like you're going to do something completely crazy."
"It's not crazy if I have no way of losing." Luigi confidently stated, turning to look right into his concerned brother's face.
Below his field of vision, Mario noticed a sudden bright shine coming from where Luigi's hands would be. As he looked down, all of his doubts and uncertainties were washed away, leaving him with a new feeling of hope and confidence, and his first smile in a long time. Luigi had, in his hands, the ultimate weapon of the Mushroom Kingdom: the Invincibility Star.
Even Link was in awe as he immediately recognized the fabled item, watching Luigi hold it to his chest so it could take effect. And took effect, it did, suddenly blessing him with a pair of overalls that frequently switched between all colors of the rainbow, as well as giving him the trademark, unforgettable invincibility theme song.
The Invincibility Star's power truly was well-known, as even Sonic, in his super-form, lost his cold and fearless demeanor once he heard the star's music. He slowly glided backwards, knowing far too well that he was outclassed in every single way.
"Sonic, what are you doing? Get back over there and take care of him!" Eggman demanded, sorely overestimating Super Sonic's power in comparison to an invincible Luigi.
"No way, Eggman! I may be super, but he's invincible! You can take care of him yourself!" And with that, Sonic bolted away, miles out of sight in mere seconds.
...but that wasn't far enough to escape the wrath of Luigi. With a deep breath, he suddenly exploded into trail of sparkling star dust, jetting straight ahead of Sonic's flight path and halting right in front of him, acting like a stone wall blocking the passage to not only Sonic's escape, but also the rest of his life.
"Nnn-no way! NO WAY!!" Sonic yelled repeatedly in sheer astonishment. "You can't be faster than me! I'm the fastest thing on two legs!"
Luigi simply replied with a snapping karate chop to Sonic's head, literally knocking the power out of him as he fell to the ground, reverting back to his original, blue self. Sonic gripped his head in throbbing pain after he landed, but his hands slowly slipped away from his head as he saw Luigi gathering a massive amount of energy in his hands. He noticed the Smash emblem shimmering brightly in his palms as Luigi continued to gain power. Then, he touched his wrists together with his palms facing outward. They sparkled brilliantly as Luigi slowly chanted the name of his attack.
"Kaaaa-meeee-haaaa..." He slowly sounded out; the power in his hands taking the shape of a bright, golden orb.
Sonic's breathing rate involuntarily quickened to a pace beyond hyperventilation. It was funny how Sonic was once the one being feared; leaving his opponents to think of nothing else but how painfully their life would come to an end. Now finding himself in nearly the same exact position Luigi was once in, he could think about how unforgivably ironic life could be.
"...meeee-HAAAA!!!" With that final shout, Luigi forced all the energy he built up out of his hands into an almighty and unstoppable beam with no other purpose than to annihilate Sonic.
"HHHHHUUUUUAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!" Sonic's screams were quickly consumed by the beam's power, leaving behind an enormous dome of blinding light and a deafening explosion that would put any supernova to shame.
Once the light finally faded into obscurity and the smoke cleared the area, nothing was left but a smoking crater. Nothing was left but a smoking crater. There wasn't even a trace of Sonic to be found. He had been wiped off the face of Moblius.
Mario, Link, and Eggman, viewing all the previous events from a safe distance, were left speechless. Even Mario had no idea the Invincibility Star could provide that much power.
Returning to the stunned trio as suddenly as he left, Luigi reverted to his old self. Even though he wasn't nearly as intimidating as he was, just seconds ago, he left a lasting impression on Eggman; able to defeat one of his greatest enemies in one swift blow where he failed time after time, contraption after contraption.
Suddenly snapping out of his confounded mind-frame, Dr. Robotnik began formulating a plan to escape before the other three could remember he was their enemy. He thought about this a little too late, though, for Mario and Link not only snapped out of their awestricken state, but they were staring right at him, along with Luigi. Eggman could easily read the cruel intentions in their eyes. Despite his incredibly low chances of escaping successfully, Eggman about-faced and bulleted away from the threatening trio.
"Should we get him?" Luigi wondered.
"...let him go." Mario decided, looking to his brother.
Suddenly, a powerful wave of relief swept over him. Finally... Finally, he had succeeded in what he set out to do: he risked more than just his life to return to the Green Hill Zone, and saved Luigi, against all odds. He pulled in his brother and held him in a tight, affectionate hug, overflowing with brotherly love. Although he was happy to see his brother showing so much love, he still found it awkward. This wasn't like the Mario of the night before at all...
"Yeah... Long time no see, Mario... I'm glad to see you, too..." Luigi unsurely said.
"Not as glad as me." Mario assured him, still holding on to him.
Luigi let out his first laugh in a while as he finally returned Mario's embrace. Link could only look on, admittedly feeling left out.
"...yeah, don't worry about me." Link said, speaking to no one in particular, but loud enough to be heard. "All I did was help Mario go back in time so savin' Luigi was actually possible. No one needs to show me love. It's alright."
With a smile, the brothers each raised an arm, opening a spot for Link in their circle. Link put a warm arm around both of the Mario brothers. They just stood with each other for a while.
"Alright, guys, I'm all hugged out." Luigi said.
The three of them finally relinquished their holds on each other.
"So... now what?" Luigi wondered.
"We gotta find a way back to Hyrule." Link answered. "Mario said that warp-pipe woulda taken us there in a heartbeat."
"We're going to Hyrule because that's where Peach and Bowser is." Mario said to Luigi. "They're both at Ganondorf's Castle."
"I know." Luigi nodded.
"Alright. Any leads on where to get started?" Mario inquired, looking at both Luigi and Link.
He noticed something wrong with the way Link was looking, though. All he was doing was staring at Luigi with ridiculously wide eyes, completely dumbfounded.
"...what's wrong, Link?" Mario asked, confused as to why Link seemed so stunned.
Luigi turned to Link, noticing him staring. "...there's something on my face, isn't there?" He inquired, wiping his face and looking at his hand.
"Mario... you didn't catch what Luigi just said?" Link questioned.
"He didn't say anything crazy. He just answered my question." Mario shrugged, failing to see where the problem lied.
But then it suddenly hit him like an oversized truck. Luigi knew that Peach and Bowser were at Ganondorf's castle. Mario saw a huge problem with this fact, being that Luigi was clinically deceased when Mario found out this information. Even further, he'd technically be finding this out in the future, so even his past-self wouldn't know this yet. None of this was making sense to Mario.
Mario stared at Luigi with a face just as appalled as Link's once was. Luigi just looked back at him as if he didn't say anything out of the ordinary.
"What?" Luigi wondered, now slightly wary of Link and Mario's awe.
"How..." Mario couldn't get over enough of the shock to complete his question. That's all Luigi needed to hear in order to give an answer, though.
"Oooohhhh... I wasn't supposed to know that..." Luigi suddenly remembered, lightly knocking on his head as if to punish himself.
"How the hell do you know that?" Link demanded. "That shouldn't be possible."
"It's complicated." Luigi started. "You guys want the long version or the short version?"
"Tell us everythin' you know." Link replied.
"...it'll take over a hundred years to explain all that..." Luigi muttered, leaving Link in a mind-blown state once again, while Mario's expression somehow grew even more outraged. "...there's no time-flow in Heaven, so I that's how I was able to sit through everything."
There was dumbfounded silence in response.
"I guess I'll tell the short version." Luigi decided with a sigh. "Basically, I know I died, and I know just about everything that went on with you two between then and now. When you grabbed my past-self and told me I died, you basically bought me back to life. That let me come down and take over."
"Okay..." Link finally managed to say after his long silence. "I think can deal with that."
"I can't." Mario said, breaking his silence, as well. "We traveled back to when you were alive. How can you know you died when you never did? Even though we told you, you should still be refusing to believe us, not explaining how you know you died!"
"This is why there's a long version of what I just told you." Luigi sighed. "You need to know a bit of supernatural quantum mechanics. I'm in a superposition of living and not living. Eh... everything just gets weirder from there."
"What... the... hell..." Mario stammered in deep befuddlement. "You know what? I don't want to know anymore. I'm just happy to have you back, even if you are some new breed of zombie or something."
Luigi chuckled. "It feels great to be back. OH!!" He suddenly remembered something. "The guys up in Heaven gave me a going-away gift!" Luigi began searching his overall pockets. "By the way, Pit says he hopes to see you soon, Mario."
"Not too soon..." Mario shook his head. There's only one way he'd be seeing him, and Mario wasn't planning on going anywhere anytime soon.
"Here it is!" Luigi happily announced, holding yet another invaluable item in his hands.
"I didn't know you could play the flute, Luigi!" Link exclaimed, happy that he found another potential woodwind player. "We should hook up after this journey's over, man. We could start a band!"
"Sorry, Link, but this isn't a flute." Luigi admitted, effectively wiping the smile off of Link's face. "It's better than a flute! This is a Warp Whistle!"
"YES!!" Mario exclaimed, letting his utter glee take over and performing backflip to display his happiness.
"It's gotta be good if Mario's jumpin' around like that." Link guessed. "What's it do?"
"You'll see." Luigi held out, putting the whistle to his lips and playing the mystical notes.
The entire environment flashed white. Suddenly, a large whirlwind literally appeared from out of nowhere and swept up the three-man team, taking them high beyond the sky. Once the whirlwind dissipated, Luigi, Mario, and Link found themselves in a new dimension; a dimension riddled with warp-pipes as far as the eye could see.
"Wow..." Link uttered.
"I guess this is where my usefulness stops. I don't even know what warp-pipe to jump in. They just told me if I ever needed a quick escape, use it." Luigi recalled.
"Don't worry about it. You were only with us for maybe fifteen minutes and you've already done so much." Mario said, warmly. "Guys... there's a good chance that we won't end up in Hyrule. But wherever we do end up, I'm sure we'll be more than fine. We've all been through more hell than we've ever been through before, but we're still going on strong! Not only will we make it back to Hyrule, we're going to take Bowser and Ganondorf out, and we're going to save Peach and Zelda no matter what the odds are!" Mario said, instilling his confident optimism on his two companions.
"Damn right, Mario! Nothin's gonna stop us! I'm ready for damn-near anythin'!!" Link held up a fist of determination. "YEEEAAAHH!!!" He cried, performing a side-somersault into a randomly picked warp-pipe.
The Mario brothers blinked twice, stunned by Link's spontaneity.
"I love how gung-ho Link is." Luigi sarcastically said.
"You'll get used to it the same way I did." Mario assured him.
With those words, the two followed Link into the green warp-pipe he jumped in to. Seconds later, they jumped out of the other end, ready for anything their new environment could throw at them. Unfortunately, none of them were ready to fend for their lives so soon after arriving, for they immediately found, in the distance, a stampeding hoard of machines violently attacking each other as if they were fighting for a position in the front. At the same time, these machines were speeding straight toward the terrified trio at speeds of at least 1100km/hr. Shock clasped their hearts as they could only wonder how they were going to get out of this one.
