Stone.

The first thing Luigi saw was a canvas of rock. That he was currently falling face first towards.

OH FUCK THAT! He put his hands in front of his face and bent his elbows right before crashing into the ground.

SMACK!

"Ugh...that stings." He rolled over onto his back and blew on his hands. Well, at least I didn't break anything.

"WOOF!"

Hiro jumped out of the portal and flopped right down on Luigi's stomach.

"OOF!" Air came flying his mouth. He turned back over on his chest as he's left hyperventilating oxygen back into his body. "Well...at least we made it, huh Hi-"

"QUACK!"

Kiyo flew out of the portal and her bottom drove Luigi's head into the stone floor.

"ACK!" A bruise was quickly forming on his forehead. "Ah piss! How is this gonna get worse..."

Mac jumped out of the portal, and his feet came stomping down on Luigi's back.

CRACK!

"GYACK!" Luigi rolled around in pain. "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"

Mario calmly walked out of the portal to see his brother on the ground in agony. "The HELL-" He jumped back with his head on a swivel.

Mac took a quick look around before snatching up Hiro and Kiyo's leashes. "I just got here. I have no idea what hit him."

"Maybe if you guys didn't treat me like a damn runway!" Luigi was in the fetal position at this point.

"Well don't just rush through a portal like a madman and maybe you won't wall over next time!" Mario pressed the Bit against his brother's back. The effects of the rough landing evaporated from his brother's body after a few seconds of much-needed healing and reprieve.

Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I forgot the class of motherfucking portal walking. "Thanks."

"Please don't be fucking around, Luigi." Mario got back to his feet. "We ain't got no time for no bullshit. We gotta move. In, and out."

"I wasn't...fine. Whatever." He stood up and looked around. "So guys; where the hell are we..." His voice trailed off.

Lanterns were burning along the walls to illuminate the area. This place was huge. Identical, smooth light-gray stone tiles paved the walkway in between stretches of long red rugs with brown and red trimmings decorating the floor. At the end of the hall, A large golden cross was high up on the back wall. White chandeliers were hanging high in the air. The candles inside them revealed the ceiling overhead was much higher than even that.

"If we know where we are, we can start figuring out where to go next." Mario walked around, pawing at the crosses on the wall. Crosses. Where they in some kind of church? Maybe a cathedral? "Look for anything important. Map. Something written down; we could use the language."

Luigi just shook his head. "Mario, I don't think any of that is gonna help here. As crazy as it is...we're not on our world anymore. We have nothing to reference."

Mario stopped, his head turning to the floor. "Y-Yeah. I guess you're right. Really is fucked up when you say it out loud."

"So this doesn't matter?" Mac's back was turned to them, but he was clearly pointing at something. The brothers looked up.

It was a picture-no, a portrait, of a man sitting on a chair. Numerous crests and jewels decorated his clothing. His chin was resting on his fist with a wide grin.

But the most jarring part portrait was that the...man, was green. With flaming orange hair braided back.

"Yep. We really ain't in Kansas anymore." Luigi noticed the golden banner underneath. "Wonder what that says."

Mario squeezed down on the Bit. I want to know this language. So I can read it.

"Frod Dragmire. Savior of The Common. Ally To The Throne."

"Holy shit. Luigi whipped his head to his brother. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "You can read that?"

"Bit comes through again." Mario twirled it through his fingers. "But we don't have time to deal with the Jolly Green Giant." Don't know if this is supposed to be cute or what, but this guy seems hella smug to me.

"So this means we're in some kind of lord's house, right? I mean, check this out." Luigi walked over to a counter table next to a wall. A white sculpture was placed in-between two ferns. The bust was carved out to be the man from the portrait. Copious amounts of hair were braided in the back of his head. "Bet this is the guy that owns this place."

Mario turned around. "Lemme s-"

He froze.

The busts' eyes were glowing a dark purple. Looking right at Luigi.

Then at Mac and the pets.

Then at him.

"GET AWAY FROM THAT THING!"

Mario dashed forward. Bit in hand, he threw his entire arm into the punch, smashed the bust dead on. Chunks of marble went flying. The eyes ricocheted off of the walls before spinning out and settling on the ground, taking one last look at Mario before turning white.

"Dude!" Luigi jumped back. "What the hell was that for?"

"You didn't see that?" Mario kept his eyes locked on as many pieces of it as he could. "You didn't see its eyes?"

"What? What about the eyes? Mario, what are you talking about?"

He turned away from the debris to Luigi. "Wh-what? You didn't see how its eyes were lit?"

"What?" Luigi cocked his head and squinted. "Mario, are you okay?"

"Am I okay? Don't you think you should be careful around shit like that? When we don't even know where we are?"

"Man...there was nothing wrong with that statue. What do you mean its eyes were lit?"

"They were fucking black. Is that normal to you?"

Luigi looked around the debris scattered around. "None of this is black. Look for yourself. Everything around here is pretty light-colored. If something was black, we'd notice.

"Well not anymore! I fucking smashed it. But it was! And it was looking right at you. How did you not see that?" He turned to Mac. "Mac, tell me you saw what I did."

Mac was currently standing away from the brothers with Hiro and Kiyo. All three visibly unnerved. "...I mean, I really didn't get a close look at it before you broke it. But I didn't see anything wrong."

"If it was staring me in the face, I would have noticed it." He glanced at Mario's fist. The Bit's light was peeking out of it. "Is that thing getting to you, Mario?"

"I-I..." He opened his fist. The Bit was passively glowing in his palm. The Game Watcher did say the Bits could have an effect on me...

He closed his hand with a deep sigh. "Let's just get the Bit and get out of here. The less I'm in a stranger's home. The better."

"And I hope nobody heard that." Luigi walked to a window. "Let me see if anyone is coming..."

While the sun seemed to have gone down, the lanterns on the outside made the immediate area visible. There was a stone road in his viewpoint. And past that off in the distance...

"Something big's looking orange out in the distance." He unlocked the window frame and pushed it up. Don't tell me what I think it is.

Mario was opening up a door when it hit him. That rush of tainted, clouded air choking out his lungs. The crackling of flames echoing in his ears. The heat. Oh god, the heat. If he wasn't gonna burn, he would surely down in his own sweat. Where? He looked left. Nothing. Where is it? He looked right. Where are they? Nothing. I know they're here. I can hear the fireballs. I can hear them crackling in my ea-

BURN.

FUCK! He shot his head up. Were they coming down on him? No...but the sound of pure incineration had to be coming from somewhere close. It was a fever pitch, roaring in his ear. Where? WHERE THE FUCK ARE THEY?! I CAN HEAR THEM! I-

"Yep. That's smoke. And where there's smoke there's fire." Luigi closed the window rather timidly. "And that sounded like some kind of music. Oh...this can't be good..."

"You think some kind of battle is going on?" Mac looked back and forth between the brothers. Luigi was still looking out the window while Mario was mumbling to himself about...something.

"At least, we better act like a battle is going on. And get the hell outta here. If whatever town we're in is getting sacked, you best believe they'll come for the rich guy's house sooner than later. Mario, where's the second Bit. Mario? Mario!"

I CAN HEAR THEM! I-I-I...

"MARIO!"

Mario shook his head. "Yeah? The hell you shouting for?"

"Are you going to answer me or not?! Where's the second Bit! I think we're caught up in the middle of an invasion. So we need to go, now! The Game Watcher said he'd send us to the next Bit. I don't see it around here. Where is it?!"

"I'm working on it! Damn!" He shook his head a little more. Gotta focus. Gotta get this Bit. Gotta get outta here.

"Yeah..." Mario sighed, looking at the Bit. "And it ain't gonna end until we get 8 of these. So Bit, lead me to the next one."

The Bit flashed. The D lit up in a shimmer of rainbow colors. The rainbow enveloped the Bit in full.

"What's it doing?"

"Something." Mario waved it around. It seemed to glow brighter in the direction of a stairwell leading upstairs.

"Okay. Let's play Hot and Cold then. This way."

Walking closer to the stairs, the Bit shone even had to close his hand to snuff out the light. Beams of rainbow emerged from between his knuckles. Definitely on the right path. He started walking faster. Something's definitely up there. Something...

or someone.

As he reached the first stairstep, Mario held his hand up. "Wait, stop walking behind me."

"Way ahead of you man."

"What?" Mario turned his head around. Everyone else was still quite a distance away.

"How are you guys so far behind?"

"How are you so far ahead? If you always walked that fast you wouldn't have that gut on you."

"I-" He remembered his chase with Donkey Kong. That's right. I ran through a whole forest and the ape couldn't catch up to me. He couldn't do it, no way anyone else can. So this Bit definitely makes me faster.

"Well, just stay where you are. I'm only up alone."

"W-Why?"

"If anyone's up there. I'll deal with them."

"Feel like they would have heard you if anyone was up there."

"Yeah, that just means they'll be extra prepared. They could have a sword, an ax, a lance, hell, maybe the whole damn trifecta. "

Luigi crossed his arms and looked away. "Fair point."

"Just be on the lookout for anyone down here."

"Hey, Mario?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

He flashed the Bit. And a grin. "With this, I don't need to be."

"That's what I'm worried about..."

Luigi's reaction made Mario turn his head around in disgust. Swing and a miss. Getting morale up was gonna take some doing. But I bet getting the second Bit would go a long way.

With his Bit at the ready, Mario made his way up the stairs. The lanterns on the wall illuminated half his face. Even though the flames lit up the path quite clearly, Mario was still gripped the railing with every step.

He walked past a shield with a cross framed onto it.

He paused. Looking for a reaction. The statue definitely did something. If anyone was going to set something in this place off, it'd better be him. So let's get it over with.

The shield simply hung in place. As a shield should.

Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he was just jumpy. Maybe he was in over his head.

Fuck that. His teeth clenched together. I know what I saw.

He pressed forward, now tracking with Bit with irritation. The shimmer was starting to give his hand a buzz. It was getting faster.

Faster.

Faster still.

Getting close. Reaching the top of the stairs, Mario found himself at a crossroads. There was a door at both ends of the wall. He held the Bit up to the right side. It was glowing with a quick beat. He moved it over to the left.

It was flashing even faster.

Welp. Going left anyways. He looked right. Let's see what's behind door #-

Another bust was sitting on a table against the wall.

1. One more of those things. Wait...I know that face.

Link.

The guy Watcher wanted them to 'eliminate.'

So, this is your home? He froze, gripping the banister ever tighter. Not him. Not this early. Not when he only had one Bit. Didn't Watcher say they he was sending them to the easiest Bit to get? Did the fucker change his mind? His thoughts went back to the statue downstairs. No one said they saw the statue move. If Link was the one that animated the statues...

He looked at his Bit. Did he do it... using a Bit? He-he'd've had to! That's why I'm the only one that noticed!

His sights were now firmly on the Link statue. Can't set that thing off. Not without a plan of how to deal with it. Shit. Shit shit shit shit.

Link had used a Bit to create a remote security system. He was working on levels Mario could never dream of.

And Watcher wants me to take this guy out?

The Bit was still flashing in his hand. He looked at it with more apprehensiveness than normal.

There's no way I'm gonna be able to take Link on if we have the same amount of Bits. But there should be a Bit around here. He eyed the room to the left, where the Bit had reacted stronger.

And the statues being here, only activating to my Bit, confirms it. Since they're all the same energy, maybe I can use my Bit to take control of the statue. I'll just smash it like the last one if I can't.

The Bit was still glowing in his palm. Maybe I'm just overreacting. Let me test out the statue. It's colors went more vibrant as he waved it near the left door. It went dimmer as he pulled his hand away.

He pointed it at the statue.

It turned blue. Almost instantly.

What?

The D was a light blue, but the overall prism was a darker shade.

He moved it away from the statue. It went back to the rainbow.

"Okay, that's definitely something." His foot came down on the hallway floor. "Let's see if this works."

The Link bust slowly turned its head to him. Its eyes went purple.

Mario held the Bit up.

And then he'd noticed it had gone red.

"Uhh...shit! What does that mean?!" He pointed it at the statue. "Turn off! I command you. You're under MY control now!"

The statue's eyes flashed; the dark purple went darker and darker... all the way black.

SHIT! Mario waved the Bit around more. Turn off! Turn off! Turn off! Why isn't this working?

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