Mario

Mario awoke to find himself chained to a wall, clearly in the dungeon. To his right was Peach, her head hung in defeat. Luigi was to his left, but his expression was unreadable. Anger? Sorrow? Regret? If he thought this was a dream, then all really was lost.

"What happened?" Mario finally asked Peach. She turned to look at him.

"Apparently, Bowser survived the volcano. The majority of his soldiers returned to his side. Only a handful remained, but by the time they could warn me, it was too late..." She looked back at the ground. "They stormed the castle, captured me, and began searching for the pipe. Clearly, they were able to find it..." She began to sob, and Mario turned his attention back to Luigi.

"Well, bro? You still think this is just a dream? Or a prank?"

"Can you not?" Luigi snapped, catching Mario off guard. "Right now, we need to figure out how we're going to escape."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so quick to think that's possible..." A voice boomed from outside the cell. The door opened as Bowser stomped into the room. He looked a little different though. For starters, he had a new crown. Mario was certain it looked familiar, but he couldn't place it. Luigi, on the other hand, stared wide-eyed at the crown. The eyes, however, were what really grabbed Mario's attention. Now, they glowed a bright red, unlike anything else Mario had previously seen. "Ah, Mario, so glad we get to finally meet." Mario cocked his head.

"Finally? I killed you in the volcano! How did you survive?!"

"Who said Bowser survived? Or that I even was Bowser?" As he said this, a white figure rose out of Bowser's body, and Mario was finally able to connect the dots.

"King Boo..." he muttered.

"Ding ding ding! We finally get to meet in person!" King Boo turned to Luigi. "And you must be Luigi. Aren't you typically the one that beats me in your world? What a joke! My minions said they found you asleep! And you, princess, didn't even put up a fight! I expected at least some resistance, especially from the legendary Mario Bros., but this is pathetic!"

"Why don't you cut the chatter and kill us already?" Mario asked.

"Now, now, let's not be too hasty. I know someone that wants to play with you, specifically, Mario. Says you killed his dad, and now he wants revenge. Oh, this will be fun." King Boo descended back into his body and shouted, "JUNIOR!" Almost immediately, Bowser Jr. ran into the room.

"I've waited a long time for this, Mario. You took everything from me...and now I'll take everything from you." With a nod from Junior, "Bowser" stomped over to Peach and tore her chains from the wall. "I'm going to be taking her for a while, so that I can watch you wallow in despair. Then, it'll be our brothers turn." They let out a laugh as the slammed the door behind them, Peach's protests slowly fading away. Soon, Mario and Luigi were alone, hanging in silence. Mario started to say something, when suddenly the door was blown off its hinges.

"Kamek?" Mario questioned as the Magikoopa marched into the room, followed by two Koopa Troopas.

"The one and only. Now, do you want my help to get out of here, or not?" He waved his wand, and the brother's chains loosed, letting them free.

"Since when are you helping us out?" Kamek simply rolled his eyes.

"I don't really want to help you. But trust me, we've got bigger problems then our little feud. If you want to escape, you'll follow us." He marched out of the room, and Mario turned to face Luigi.

"Should we trust him?" Luigi simply shrugged.

"I dunno, you're clearly the expert here," he replied, an almost bitter tone in his voice. Mario figured he could question it later. For now, he simply followed Kamek out of the cell, with Luigi right behind him. After running up some stairs, they hid behind a wall while waiting for some guards to pass.

"How did you even get in here?" Mario asked.

"These two helped me," Kamek explained, nodding to the Koopas. "These are the two that attempted to warn the princess about the attack. When that didn't work, they ran to find me, before pretending to be simple minions taking a prisoner to the dungeon. Now, shut up before we're found." Suddenly, a loud voice boomed over a loudspeaker hidden in the castle.

"ATTENTION! THE PRISONERS HAVE ESCAPED! DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO LEAVE, OR YOU'LL BE THROWN IN A CELL TOO!" The guards they were trying to hide from suddenly turned around and spotted them.

"Run," Kamek ordered. The group ran for the exit, only to find it was surrounded by soldiers. Knowing they were out of options, Kamek turned to Mario.

"I'm going to send you somewhere you can get help. When I tell you to, jump, okay?"

"What about you?" Mario asked.

"I'll hold them off. Ready? JUMP!" At that moment, Mario and Luigi leapt as high as they could while Kamek launched a spell at them, sending them soaring into the sky. The brothers, both visibly terrified, could only scream as they were literally launched into the stratosphere. Before long, they finally began to come back down.

"So, it was a trap..." Mario thought, knowing he was about to die. Suddenly, though, they were being pulled in another direction. The brothers quickly went from being terrified to confused, and they were set down upon a glass platform that Mario immediately recognized. Because of this, he wasn't surprised when the woman in front of them turned to reveal herself.

"Hello, Mario and Luigi, and welcome to the Comet Observatory," said Rosalina.