Mario wiped sweat from his brow, dropping the large wrench in his hand. He'd just finished tightening a particularly stubborn bolt. He and Junior were both helping Gadd build the machine that would hopefully lead them to wherever Larry was. At this point, it was almost done. It was pretty incredible how simple the machine was to build with what Gadd already had lying around. Of course, Gadd was handling all the complicated science-y stuff.
"All right," Gadd said, slamming a hatch shut on the back of the machine, "Did you get those bolts in, Mario?"
Mario nodded affirmatively, giving Gadd a thumbs-up.
"Good!" Gadd exclaimed, "We've got this guy ready to go, then!"
"Really?" Mario asked.
"Yes sirree!" Gadd replied, throwing a switch on a nearby control panel. At that moment, the machine roared to life, an enormous portal appearing between the two electrically-charged poles on either side of the machine. Mario marvelled at the vortex of swirling colors.
"It's already programmed with the coordinates Lemmy left behind," Gadd explained, "You're all set."
Mario bit his lip. Just past the portal he was staring at now was some unknown place. Undoubtedly, questions would be answered there. That much was undeniable. What had Mario worried, though, was the question of whether or not he wanted to know any of it.
BAM! BAM!
Mario jumped, his shoulders stiffening up. He turned to the door, where the banging had come from.
"P-Professor?"
Mario relaxed slightly. That was definitely Luigi's voice. What had that banging been, though? Luigi wouldn't have been that forceful with-"
"Open up, you old prune!"
Mario grit his teeth. There was his answer. That one was definitely Bowser. Mario quickly glanced to Bowser Junior, who stared blankly at the door. There was a look in his eye that sent a shiver down Mario's spine. Something wasn't right here.
"You boys can come in!" Gadd called. Almost immediately, the door slammed open, an angry Bowser practically steaming on the other side. Behind him was a trembling Luigi.
"Y-you didn't need to-"
"Junior!" Bowser interrupted Luigi as he noticed Junior, "There you are! What in the world are you doing?!"
"Mario?" Luigi then piped up, obviously staring wide-eyed at the portal, "What's going on here?"
"Well," Mario began hesitantly, "We-"
"Don't follow me."
Mario froze, turning just in time to see Junior dart back to the portal.
"Junior!" Bowser shouted, "Stop!"
Mario tensed up, turning on his heel and racing toward Junior to try to stop him. He was too late, though, as Junior stepped through, disappearing from sight.
"Mario!"
Mario yelped, unable to stop himself quickly enough. His continued momentum sent him stumbling through the portal right behind Junior. Immediately upon falling through, Mario's senses were assaulted by such a vibrant, violent flurry of colors that it began to make him physically sick. He fought to keep his eyes open against the rush that threatened to knock him unconscious. The only thing he knew was that he was falling. His body trembled and he slowly started growing weaker.
Finally, it all stopped when he hit the ground and rolled to a stop, his eyes shut tightly. He winced, pushing himself up. He opened his eyes to find himself in a ruined city. The roads were cracked and some of the buildings around him looked as if they were just barely able to stand. It was almost as if some kind of earthquake had hit the place.
Just then, he heard a breathy whisper. He looked up to see Junior standing beside him, shaking like a leaf. Mario couldn't see Junior's face from where he was, but he knew there was definitely something wrong.
"Hey," Mario said, standing, "Are you okay?"
"Metal...steel...stone...cold..."
Mario took a deep breath, placing his hand on Junior's shoulder.
"4̷͍͊͑̍4̸̮͍͕̈́4̷̠̆̋͘F̵̲͖͔̊4̴̢̱͈̾Ɇ̵̠͎̀̇ƻ̸̻͐͌̒7̵͉̣̈͗5̷̫̄4̴̨̨͈̇ƻ̷̥̏̃0̸̞͝5̸͚̥̟̊4̶̩̆̈́̈4̸̮͙͑͑F̴̯̩̑̾͝ͅ5̷̢̩̻͒̈̓5̵̧͙̍̿̈́4̴̢͇̱͌̌͛3̷̬͍͂4̵̼̪̩̏̚͝8̴̮͙͋ƻ̵̲̱̓̋̊0̷̭̹̖̾̇4̵̭̰̖̾̓Đ̸̩͍̽̓̃4̵̢̼̆̀5̵̭̍̐̚!̵͈̀͜!̸̤͓͈́͂́!̷̨̞͋!̵̘͖͇̊!̵̨̢̛͔͋!̷̢͚̆ ̵̛̜̦̗"
Mario screamed, lunging backward. The sound that Junior had just made was horrific. It left Mario speechless, his mouth agape.
"Don't leave," Junior finally said, his voice cracking severely, "Don't leave me. Please don't leave. Help me, please. Don't leave."
"I-I..I.."
Mario had no idea what to say. What was he supposed to say?
"Leave me alone. Don't leave me. Please just leave me alone. Don't leave me. I don't—I don't—I don't...Please don't leave me alone."
"I-I'm not...I'm not leaving," Mario finally stuttered, forcing himself to speak. Junior then broke down, falling to his knees and sobbing. Mario didn't know what to do. Should he try to comfort Junior? What would happen if he touched Junior again?
"What happened?" Mario settled on asking, "What's wrong?"
"I'm not...I'm not...I'm not...I'm not...I'm not...I'm not...I'm not...I'm not..."
"Junior?"
Junior sniffed, breathing heavily.
"Who's...Junior?"
Mario gawked.
"What do you mean? You're Junior, right?"
"I...don't...I'm not...I don't know..." Junior replied, hunching over further, "I don't know...who I am..."
Mario shuddered. Somehow, something about that portal had messed with Junior's memory...At least, that's what Mario hoped had happened, as opposed to the alternative of there being something about this place...
"He...he..."
"He?" Mario asked, "He what? Who is he?"
"Can't remember," Junior said, "He's...he...He hates me..."
Mario was thoroughly confused. He started to slowly approach Junior again.
BANG!
Mario yelped, scrambling backward. A bullet had just whizzed by inches from his face. He glanced down the previously empty street and spotted someone ducking behind an overturned car, gun in hand. His face paled.
"We can't stay here!" Mario exclaimed, "We have to run!"
Junior didn't move. Finally, Mario decided to take a risk, lunging forward and grabbing Junior by the waist. He hoisted the child under his arm and began to run as fast as he could. Gunshots rang out from behind him and, every few seconds, a bullet raced by, instilling even more dread into the already terrified plumber.
Just then, he tripped, having not noticed a significant crack in the road in front of him. He dropped Junior just before he hit the ground, skidding to a stop against the unforgiving asphalt. He let out a sharp hiss, his fresh injuries burning agonizingly. Before he could even try to get up, though, a heavy boot hit his back, keeping him pinned to the ground. He then heard the distinct sound of a gun being cocked. He shut his eyes tightly, tears forming at the corners of his squinted eyelids as he braced himself for what he knew was coming.
The sound of gunfire pierced through the air. First one shot, then another. Mario braced himself for a half second...then realized that neither shot had hit him. In fact, after the first shot, the boot on his back had pulled away, freeing Mario. Hesitantly, Mario pushed himself to his feet, turning to see what had become of his attacker.
They were dead, splayed out on the ground in a pool of blood. Mario covered his mouth with his hand, trying to keep himself from vomiting. Suddenly, he heard something hit the ground behind him. He immediately whirled around, taking an unsteady step back.
"You're okay."
Mario's eyes widened.
"L-Larry?!"
"You know me?" Larry asked, staring curiously at Mario, "You're the first person I've met in a long time that knows me."
"Knows you?" Mario asked, desperately trying to relax his own nerves, "Do you...not know me?"
"You seem familiar," Larry said, shifting the revolver Mario just noticed he had about in his hand restlessly, "I wouldn't doubt I knew you once. Something in the back of my head tells me you're important...maybe..."
Mario bit his lip, quickly scanning over Larry's current appearance. He was wearing a strange black and white outfit with accents in red and gold. Around his head just under his hairline were bloodstained bandages. There was even a small trickle of blood running down the center of his forehead, though, strangely, it didn't actually seem to be moving. His eyes were strange as well, as his left was a much duller, lighter color than the right, most likely due to onset blindness.
"What happened to you?" Mario asked, growing worried.
"Oh. This, you mean?" Larry replied, wiping the blood from his forehead with his hand, "I don't remember how I got this, to tell you the truth. All I know is I got hurt at some point. My brothers say that's why I have amnesia and I forget things a lot."
"Brothers?" Mario asked, stunned by Larry's response, "What brothers?"
"You don't know my siblings?" Larry said, eyes widening, "Ludwig, Wendy, Morton, Iggy, and Lemmy?"
"Wh-what?! They're here?!"
"Of course they are!...Are they not supposed to be?"
Mario felt his head start to spin.
"Th-there's no way that's true," Mario stuttered, "Th-they...th-they're..."
"Mario?!"
Mario immediately turned, recognizing the voice immediately. Sure enough, his suspicions were correct, but that didn't make the revelation any less shocking. There he was, standing just down the street, gawking at Mario with bright green eyes shrunk to pinpricks.
"Lemmy..."
"Mario?" Larry asked, "Is that what his name is?"
"Wh-what?! How?!" Lemmy stammered, ignoring Larry and approaching Mario. Mario couldn't help but notice that the left side of Lemmy's face was marked almost completely by scarred flesh, charred to a crisp. Even so, the eye that sat amidst it seemed just fine besides just a slight bit of redness and irritation.
"Y-you..." Mario began before trailing off. There were so many things he wanted to say that he couldn't figure out what to say first.
"Junior too?!" Lemmy exclaimed. Mario jumped, immediately remembering Junior. He turned to see Junior lying unconscious on the ground.
"Junior?" Larry asked, also looking down at the unconscious child, "Who's that?"
"He-"
"Don't worry about that right now," Lemmy said quickly, cutting Mario off, "We can't stand around here like this. It's not safe here."
"Right," Mario replied shakily, remembering his close encounter a moment ago. He didn't dare glance back at the body of his attacker, though. He didn't think he could take looking at it again.
"We'll head back to home base," Lemmy said, sounding more authoritative than Mario had ever heard him before, "We can talk there."
Mario placed his hand against the doorframe of the boxcar he and the others were currently in, watching the scenery whizz by in front of him. Lemmy had told him that this train would take them to where they needed to go and Mario was inclined to trust him. Thankfully, their journey to the train went without incident. Larry and Lemmy were now tending to Junior, who was still out cold. Mario sighed.
"What have I gotten myself into?"
"Hey."
Mario jumped, turning around to see Lemmy standing slightly behind him, staring intently at him.
"Is Junior okay, you think?" Lemmy asked, concern evident in his voice.
"I don't know," Mario replied, "I mean, he'll probably wake up, but I'm more worried about his memory."
"His memory?"
"He's got a pretty bad case of amnesia or something. He doesn't even remember his own name and he keeps mumbling about random things I can't understand."
"That's bad," Lemmy said, shoulders tensing, "Really bad. Do you know what happened?"
"No," Mario answered, "I have no idea. Do you?"
"No."
Mario sighed.
"He asked me not to leave," Mario explained, "Then, he told me to leave him alone...then to stay, then to leave, then to stay...and I really don't know what's wrong with him."
"It...It's gotta be..."
Lemmy trailed off, biting his lip contemplatively.
"Marie?"
Lemmy's eyes widened significantly at Mario's mention of the girl.
"Y-you know Marie?!"
"He knows Marie?!" Larry piped up from across the boxcar.
"Y-yes," Mario replied shakily, stunned by Lemmy and Larry's response, "She-"
"Hold on."
Mario stopped at Lemmy's command. Lemmy then gently pushed Mario back from the doorframe before vaulting himself out of the car, much to Mario's immediate terror. Mario quickly noticed, though, that Lemmy was deftly scaling the outer wall to the roof. Once he was up, he peeked down through the doorframe, reaching his hand out to Mario.
"We can talk up here. Okay?"
"Aw. What about me?" Larry whined.
"Just stay here," Lemmy responded, "You need to be here for Junior if he wakes up. Can you do that for me?"
Larry huffed dejectedly.
"Fine."
"Thanks, Larry," Lemmy said with a cheerful smile, "Mario?"
Mario hesitated for a moment before slowly reaching up for Lemmy's hand, which was covered by an abnormally long sleeve. Once within range, Lemmy grabbed Mario with both of his hands, pulling him up with an absurd strength that startled Mario, causing him to let out a yelp of surprise.
"Come on, you big Italian baby," Lemmy teased, helping Mario onto the roof.
"How are you suddenly so strong?!" Mario exclaimed.
"Oh, that?" Lemmy replied, "I've always had that. How long have we known each other now? I mean, how else do you think I do all those crazy stunts I do all the time?"
Mario opened his mouth to reply, but quickly realized he didn't actually have a response.
"Come on," Lemmy said, strolling past Mario.
"Where are we going?"
"Farther up the train," Lemmy asked, "You don't mind that, right?"
Mario sighed lightly, following after Lemmy. The strong gusts of wind generated by the speed of the train were certainly threatening, but Lemmy didn't seem bothered by them in the slightest. Mario, though, was still worried, especially when it came time to jump from one car to the next. It wasn't like he hadn't done this before, but it still took him a moment to gather his nerves.
Finally, the two of them stopped, now three cars ahead of the boxcar they'd just come from. Lemmy sat down, motioning for Mario to sit beside him.
"Sorry to take you all this way just to talk," Lemmy started as Mario sat down, "If we'd been with anyone else, it wouldn't have mattered so much, but Larry..."
Lemmy trailed off, biting his lip and taking in a deep breath.
"Well," he continued, "Larry's a bit of a special case."
"So, Marie..."
"I'm honestly surprised you know her," Lemmy replied, "I mean, I'm also surprised you're here in the first place. How did that happen?"
"Junior and I found the blueprints you left behind before you..."
Mario trailed off. He wasn't sure if saying Lemmy died was even accurate, considering he was currently speaking to him.
"Oh. Those," Lemmy replied, growing solemn, "So that really happened, then..."
"What?" Mario asked, "What happened?"
"Sometimes, I wonder if that whole 'us going home' thing actually happened or if I just dreamed it all one night. I had a feeling though..."
"Going home? What do you mean?"
"It's a really long story," Lemmy began, "A long story that has a lot to do with Marie. In short, we were here before all that Roy stuff happened, if you know about that."
Mario nodded slowly.
"We were here for a little while, then we went home...not like anybody remembers that part but me. All they remember is what happened here, but that's an entire other can of worms. I want to know about you, though. What happened with you and Marie?"
Mario thought for a moment, then sighed.
"After...what happened with you guys, Roy came to the Mushroom Kingdom and started killing a bunch of people there. Bowser even came to try to help and he brought Junior with him."
"I don't blame him," Lemmy said, fidgeting nervously.
"Well," Mario continued, growing uneasy, "We actually caught Roy soon after."
"You did?" Lemmy interjected, perking up. Mario nodded in affirmation.
"We did. The princess wanted to try to rehabilitate him, but Bowser demanded an execution."
"I don't think rehabilitation would have worked anyway," Lemmy stated solemnly.
"Why not?"
"There's something...unnatural about Roy," Lemmy explained, "One thing's for sure: Marie's definitely been messing with his mind somehow. She's the one making him act this way."
"You really think so?"
"I know so."
A chill ran down Mario's spine.
"H-how?"
"Something happened during our time in this world," Lemmy started, "I talked with Roy. I think...he almost came around."
"What?"
"It was slight, but I saw it. He was shaking and then, well, he started to cry. It didn't last long, though. His eyes went straight black and blood started pouring out of them. That's not natural."
Mario shuddered, his eyes widening.
"Marie has to be doing something to him," Lemmy stated once again, balling both his hands into tight fists, "I never believed for a minute that Roy would actually do anything like this. He...he couldn't..."
Lemmy paused, sniffling. Mario could notice the Koopaling's eyes begin to water.
"S-sorry," he finally said, his voice cracking, "It's just...been hard..."
"I can only imagine..." Mario muttered in reply. He couldn't imagine Luigi dying or turning on him in a murderous rage or any of that. Just the thought was repulsive. It made him want to throw up.
"You and Junior shouldn't be here," Lemmy finally declared, vaulting to his feet, "Once we get to the others, I'll have Iggy help me work up a way to get you two home."
"What about you?" Mario asked, also getting up, "You guys should come back with us."
Lemmy stared at Mario for a moment, almost seeming frozen in time. Finally, he clicked his tongue, turning away.
"I don't know how well that would work," Lemmy admitted, gazing solemnly downward, "I don't know if you've seen Larry's condition, but the rest of us aren't really much better off. We're alive, but...we really shouldn't be, if you get what I'm saying."
"Shouldn't be?" Mario inquired, brow furrowing, "You mean...like how you were..."
"We died," Lemmy stated plainly, turning back to Mario with a sidelong glance, "then, we were brought back to life, but not in the right way. We're like zombies, if we're making comparisons, and the injuries that killed us are kind of...frozen in time? I don't know. Does that make sense?"
"Kind of..." Mario admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"If we went back, there's no guarantee that we wouldn't just drop dead or something," Lemmy continued, "It's not a risk I want any of us to take."
Mario nodded slowly, letting his eyes wander to the vast plains the train was speeding past.
"I wanted to ask about Larry," Mario said, "He didn't seem to remember me or Junior, but you did. Do you know anything about that?"
Lemmy bit his lip, tensing up slightly.
"Larry is...kind of a strange case," Lemmy started, "When we all found ourselves back here, Larry was the only one that didn't remember anything. We've been kind of selective with what we've been telling him. He knows he died—Ludwig revealed that much when he broke down crying after finding out Larry was back with us—he knows Roy was responsible for his death, and he knows Lud, Wendy, Iggy, Morton, and I are his siblings, but he doesn't know much else. We never told him anything about our old lives and he has no idea that Roy is our brother too."
"Why not?" Mario asked, "Shouldn't he know?"
"He doesn't need to," Lemmy answered, "It wouldn't help anything. It'd only be painful for him. He doesn't need that. He doesn't have to suffer the same way the rest of us do."
Mario grit his teeth, letting out a shallow breath. He wasn't sure what to think of all this. At best, it made his head spin.
"Right," Mario finally said, massaging the bridge of his nose, "I guess so."
"It's the best thing we can do for him," Lemmy added, turning away again, "He doesn't need to know what really happened."
"What really happened? Wha-"
Mario was suddenly interrupted by a piercing shriek that caught both him and Lemmy by surprise.
"That's Larry!" Lemmy shouted, immediately darting back across the train cars. Mario followed close behind, a knot forming in his stomach. Junior was in that train car too. Larry had that revolver of his, but Junior was completely defenseless, if he wasn't still unconscious. If the boxcar was under attack…
Finally, the two reached the boxcar, Lemmy quickly swinging inside straight off the roof while Mario took a more careful approach. What Mario saw inside, though, was downright horrific. Larry stood in front of Junior, who must have at some point woken up. The blue-haired Koopaling had his revolver pointed straight at Roy, who stood across from him with an intimidating glare.
"R-Roy…?"
Roy immediately turned his glare to Mario. Blood flowed in constant streams down his cheeks and, even through his sunglasses, Mario could see glowing red pupils surrounded by bright red rings. Roy's attire was entirely black, complete with a tattered cape and hood, and in his right hand was an enormous scythe. What Mario noticed most prominently, though, was the partially hidden wound on his neck, stitches all around it making it look as if his head had haphazardly been stitched back onto his body.
"You..."
Mario shrank back, shaking wildly. He'd suddenly become acutely aware of the fact that he was also rather defenseless at the moment. Roy had a stark advantage with a longer-range weapon like a scythe and, if his killing streak back in the Mushroom Kingdom was any indication…
"Stand down, Roy!" Lemmy snapped, stepping forward. Mario then noticed that Lemmy now had a set of extremely long metal claws, which, coming out from his oversized sleeves, were quite the sight.
" n ʇ ɐ..."
Mario perked up again, quickly turning to Junior. The child's brothers focused their attention on him as well as he pushed his way past Larry. He stared Roy directly in the eyes without fear.
"It's...you..."
"Junior!" Lemmy cried, "Get back behind Larry! He and I will take care of this!"
Roy, though, didn't move. Instead, it seemed like he was...trembling?
"N... ѰЖѸЁ ..."