Blinding light flashed from the eyes of the Link statue. Mario raised his hands in defense. Alright, plan B. Break the fucker.

He took a step forward. The bust was only a few yards away. It's still just a statue. There's no way it can-

FWOOOSH!

Escape?

Mario opened his eyes. Holy shit.

The yellow-orange glow that swayed back and forth around him. The crackle of flames consuming steel. Every snap of another beam and wire seemed to pop off in his ear even louder The heat. Dirty clouds of smoking rising past him, with more and more shooting up each second.

Back here. He looked down between the steel girders of the construction site. The fire below was practically climbing up to get him.

Just as he remembered it.

This isn't real. I can't be-

"Gah!"

He jerked his head to the side as the sweat from his brow dripped into his eyes. Fucking stings! A quick wipe against his forehead kept the sweat back. For now.

I gotta get outta here quick. Just like last time. Mario clenched his fist. Channeling the power of the Bit through his body.

And that's when he realized the Bit was gone.

Wh-what? He opened his hands.

Nothing was there.

NO. Nononono. He dug through every pocket of his overalls.

Nothing.

"FUCK!" His head shot around in all directions. Did I drop it? Did fall down into this fire? No. No there's gotta be some mistake! No this can be hap-

"OOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Every muscle in Mario's body tensed up as the roar echoed through the smokey air. A quick whoosh of air came from overhead, getting closer, and closer and closer.

An absolute behemoth of a creature came crashing down on Mario's girder. The vibrations of the impact knocked him off his feet; he grabbed the girder bars and clung to them with everything he had. With his face pressed into the girder; Mario was left gazing as the inferno below. The ravenous consumption of the building wasn't enough. It wanted more. It needed more.

It needed him.

And the flames were swarming up at him; fast as they could. It wouldn't be too long now.

He could feel himself in Donkey Kong's shadow. Each angry snort stamped repression on his entire body.

Come on. I gotta get up. I gotta face this fucker down and get outta here. I gotta move!

Gripping the girder, Mario lifted his chest off the beam. He got about two inches off the metal before plopping back down again.

Huh? What the hell? He looked at his arms. They were shaking in place; practically vibrating.

Oh no.

The sweat was dripping off of him again, a droplet going down his nose and plunging below.

Son of a bitch has me pinned. I can't even...I can't even move. I need a plan. I need a plan. I need a plAA-

With one hand, the gorilla lifted Mario up by the back of his overalls.

Mario found himself face-to-face with the beast.

Mario did the only thing he could think up.

He hocked a loogie right into the ape's eye.

Donkey Kong seemed to...waver, for just a second?

What it didn't do was blink. And it tossed Mario high into the air. As he looked up, a girder was getting closer and closer to his face.

Perfect. I'll turn the tables on him real quick.

Mario reached out his hand. His ascent was getting closer and closer to its peak. He just had to keep going a little more...

His fingertips brushed against the bottom of the girder. Right before he started falling. Mario looked down at Donkey Kong. It was already winding up its fridge-sized fist. Mario could feel himself going into freefall; rocketing towards the ape like a fastball to home plate.

Oh no.

With one punch, Mario went skyward. Crashing through the girder, Mario spiraled. One crash after another, his body shattered through metal and concrete.

He was now laid out, flat on his back. His sights were now on the full moon high above him. Fingertips bounced on his palm.

I...I m-mus...I mus be on roof...

His eye closed up with an intense twitch. Sweat. At a time like this. He could barely believe his luck.

Wait.

Something was sliding past his nose. It seemed a little too thick for sweat.

Mario reached up with his still-twitching hands. A knuckle brushed up against his nostrils.

A patch was red was splotched on his glove. Clear as day.

Huh. I'm bleeding. His hands fell back to the ground. Guess this is real after all.

"Mario!"

That voice.

Her voice.

Mario sat up. A mistake, really. His entire upper body locked up as he tried to sit upright. He leaned over to the side in a wince. He rolled over on his side.

And that's when he saw her. Huddled up against a couple of stacked girders.

"Pau-gyack!" The oxygen in his lung shot out. My...chest. The sharp pain in his abdomen was just daring him to take a heavy breath.

Clutching his shirt, Mario pushed off his legs. I'm gonna get you outta here Pauline. I don't- I don't know how, but I'm going to-

"Get away from me! Look what you've got me into!"

"W-what?" He froze. Complete disbelief.

"This is all your fault!" "Look at you! You can't help yourself out! Much less anyone else! All you do is go from one boneheaded thing to another, making everything worse all the while! Look at what's going on! You don't solve problems, you just help them evolve!"

"Pauline-"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The floor burst open as Donkey Kong shot through. The thud the sounded aloud seemed to indicate the roof was dangerously close to giving way.

"So how are you gonna get out of this?" Pauline looked on as Donkey Kong picked Mario up and carried him to the edge. "All you've done is dig your own grave."

Mario looked down. Flames shot out through the windows of the site. But they only strayed out so far in comparison to the blanket of snow called the ground.

"I can't."

Donkey Kong flung him into the open air.

"G i v e. I n. T o. Y o u r. F e a r."

And to think; all of this started with opening a plumber shop.

His father had worked in a pizza restaurant his whole life. His grandfather had worked in a pizza restaurant his whole life. All that work. All that time. And that shop didn't get once inch bigger. He wanted more. He needed more. He needed it so bad he'd roped Luigi into helping. They started a plumbing business. They got Mac. They got pets. He'd never admit it, but having Hiro and Kiyo around to boost everyone's spirits was kinda nice. Four mouths to feed on a daily basis. But they got through it. Mac was the student of motherfucking Doc Louis. Things were looking up.

He roped Luigi into a feud with the Wario Bros. Luigi got shot.

He didn't.

And along came the Bit. Luigi could walk again. And then came Watcher. And suddenly, a couple of New York shmucks were after 8 Bits. Mario had dragged everyone, not just his friends, not just his family, the entire world had been frozen. All because of him stumbling from one calamity to another. Everything Pauline had said was true. At worst; Mario was just a disaster waiting to happen. At best; he brought his disasters back to net-zero.

What the fuck was he doing? There's no way he could pull off getting the Bits. And there was the whole dealing with Link...

"G i v e. I n. T o. Y o u r. F e a r."

Mario blinked, giving out a sudden gasp. Shit. Almost lost myself for a second there. He looked around. His ascent was getting slower. The sky was getting blacker as the stars faded, the air around him seemed to get...purplish.

This is what the statue wanted. He realized. Throw me in for a loop, and then finish me! Pauline, Donkey Kong, everything. None of this is real!

He started squeezing his left hand. Bit, I know you're there. So if you could get your ass out here before I hit the ground; it'd be nice. I got my family depending on me. So it's about time I get outta this.

He could feel himself starting to fall. He squeezed his hand harder. Any day now.

He was falling faster. BIT! I'M NOT GONNA SAY IT AGAIN. YOU. MY HAND. RIGHT. NOW.

It was faint at first. But there was no mistake. That feeling. That power. Power unlike anything Mario had ever felt before, was in the palm of his hand. Mario gripped that feeling as hard as he could. No matter what that statue did to him; as long as he had that Bit, he had a chance.

And really, that's all he needed.

Only two ways outta this. Die, or see it through. Dig my own grave, huh? Well then, guess I better keep digging all the way to China and come out the other side.

As his body was in a free-fall plummet to the ground, Mario gave one last burst of effort to tap into the Bit. What dam the damn statue had placed cracked and cracked- and in a flood of force, the Bit's energy poured through and the surge of energy coursed through his body. Turning himself to face the ground, Mario roared as his fist slammed into the snow.

Instead of the plopping of cold snow, a few cracks were splintered out on the area of impact. And then the grew. In size and number. He watched as they started running up the building. All along through the flames and the girders. He looked up to the roof. Donkey Kong and Pauline were looking down at him. The cracks ran up through their bodies.

"Sorry this is the last way I gotta see you, Pauline," he whispered. "I don't know where you'll be when I get back, but I promise I'll come back."

Everything broke apart. Mario was left standing in an empty black void.

The statue not far in front of him.

"Miss me?"' Mario raised his fist, the Bit's light shining out between his knuckles. "I promise, I ain't gonna miss you."

"G i v e. I n. T o. Y o u r. F e a r."

"Getting old real quick." He sauntered forward. "You think you're gonna take me down with crappy reruns of everything that's already happened to me? Why the fuck should I listen to a thing you say, even if its true? It's not like you're doing it for my benefit."

The Link statue flashed its eyes pitch black. Whatever force it was using slammed into Mario like a wall.

"Hnng!" Every step was harder than the last. The bust's power was pushing him away, anything to keep Mario at a distance. But with the Bit leading him on, Mario got closer and closer, and closer. "I knew it was all bullshit the moment I spit in the ape's eye! It didn't react because you never expected it! Fuck you!"

Surging through, Mario leaped into the air and came down upon the statue.

"G i v e. I n. T o."

"Stay outta my head." Mario smashed his fist right into Link's face. Chunks of marble went flying into the air.

The void dissipated. He was back in the hallway. Right in front of the stairs. Right where he was when he started.

Didn't even take another step. All of that took place in my mind. Wonder how long I was gone? He took a step and felt a hearty crunch under his feet. It was a bit of Link's head. What? He looked up at the bust had definitely been destroyed. But it was quite a few steps from being able to touch it; much less throw a good punch.

I gotta figure out how those things work.

He shook his head. Wait, no I don't. I just gotta smash 'em before they can get started. I didn't give the first one any time before I broke it apart. So next time I see one; I'm rushing it. No questions asked.

He looked up at the hall's right door. I still gotta get to you, don't I? Ugh, I'm exhausted.

"Getting ran roughshod on by a statue. I feel like such a pussy right now I swear to God."

"MARIO!"

"The hell's he doing up there?" Luigi's foot came down on the bottom stair. He started drumming his fingers on the banister. "I been around this place twice now, and he ain't done checking around yet?"

Mac shot him a look of concern. "Do you think he's in trouble?"

"Did you hear him call out or anything?"

"No, it's totally silent. It's kinda scary how quiet Mario's been."

If only he could always be this quiet. Luigi reached into one of his jacket pockets and pulled a few cassettes, along with his yellow cassette player and headphones. He probably coulda been through half an album at this point. "Shit, I'm getting anxious. Mac, what do you wanna listen to? I grabbed a few MJ and Queen albums before we left. Don't tell Mario I brought my Walkman with me. He'll probably be pissed."

A crash erupted from upstairs, its echo traveling down the staircase and around the halls. Hiro yelped in alarm. Kiyo jumped up and started flapping about.

"Mario?!" Luigi whipped his head back up and shoved the Walkman into Mac's chest. I gotta get up there!

He took a few steps up before pausing. Damnit I can't go up with nothing on me! "MARIO?! ARE YOU OKAY?!" Shit. He looked around the hall. Coulda sworn I saw a sword or something around here somewhere...

"MARIO!"

"I'm fine! Mario's voice called out from above. "Just knocked something over on accident!"

"Jesus Christ, man!" Luigi shot back. "What's taking so long? Can we go up yet?!"

"Not yet. I'm just being thorough, Luigi! Just wait!"

"I'm trying to get outta here! Quit screwing around!" Luigi leaned against the banister. "Fucker's giving me a heart attack. Mac," Luigi reached out. "Gimmie back my Walkman. I gotta cool down. Can't fucking stand Mario sometimes..."