"Ciao...Mr. L!"

Flashes of fire. Screams of pain. No way out.

The next thing he knew, the man in green was in a dark, mysterious place. The sky was violet with hues of blue and green while the plant life was overgrown. Tall trees, large bushes, and brown grass all contributed to a thick, unpleasant smell. The air was humid, but the man in green seemed to be the only one to mind; shadowy creatures with milky white eyes walked by casually, not paying any attention to their environment.

"W-What is this place?" The man in green whispered.

"Heh. I remember reacting like that when my game ended," A voice said. This creature had an appearance that was the inverse of the others: pitch black eyes and white skin.

"H-Hi...Who are you?" The human asked, shaking.

"Relax. I'm not gonna hurt you. Nothing can hurt you anymore," The creature said with a laugh.

The man in green furrowed his brows. "Wh-What do you mean by that?"

"So, how'd you get here? Did you run off a cliff by mistake? Eat a poisoned shroom?"

He thought for a moment, but couldn't recall any of that happening. He tried to remember how he got there, but he couldn't. He had the memory just a moment ago and now it had slipped through his fingers.

He tried to think of who he was with at the time. When he couldn't remember that either, he tried to think of people who were close to him. The man in green eventually remembered one person from his life: another man wearing a red shirt and blue overalls, smiling at him. He wondered who he was and just as quickly got his answer. It was his twin.

The man's eyes widened. The creature furrowed its brows. "What's that look? Did you just remember what happened to you?"

"How do I, um...know if friends or family ended up here too?"

"Isn't it obvious? You'd have to look for them. If you can't find 'em right away, try seeing if they're on the other side of the river Twygz. The ferryman only charges 4 coins for one trip across."

Dazed, the man in green nodded. "O-Okay...Thank you…" He walked away, too deep in his own head to even ask where the river Twygz was. There was a chance that his brother was not here, but he didn't want to entertain that thought. That would mean admitting that he was lost in an unfamiliar place without his brother. Something told him it had been that way for a long while and he was tired of it.

The walk to the river was surreal, as if he was living in a dream. Even so, he was cautious as he skipped past spikes, dry bones, ledges, and tubes. The worst part was when he reached cracks in the ground, where tiny flames would shoot up in the air every few seconds. The man in green had to time his next few jumps so he wouldn't get brushed by the flame, or worse. He quivered after every leap, but the thought of his brother kept him going.

When he found the river, the human saw the ferryman waiting and couldn't help but feel intimidated. His teeth were long and sharp. He wore an orange hat and matching tunic, glowing green eyes staring straight at him. A chill went up his spine, but forward he went. "H-Hello," The man in green stammered. "I-Is this the river Twygz?"

The ferryman nodded. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and haunting. "For 4 coinsss...I will ferry you to the other sssidde." The human nodded and searched his pockets. He found four coins and handed them to the ferryman, who stuffed them in his own pocket. "Thankssss, now we depart."

The man in green hopped in and the ferryman began to row them across the purple, murky water. He sat down in the boat and wrapped his arms around his legs, holding them close to his chest. He tried to remember details about his twin and he did recall a few things. His name was Mario and he was five minutes older. He was joyful and loud and he did feel jealous of him at times, but he still loved him.

However, the man in green had trouble remembering the important details. He knew that he and Mario were separated somehow, but couldn't remember how that happened. He didn't know what he had been doing before ending up here. Who had he been with all this time? Why had it taken him this long to grow concerned for his brother?

That was when he heard whispers. The human listened to them, not having much else to do. They spoke over each other, overlapping, and it sounded like gibberish to him. And then he heard a name, one that he was quite familiar with. "Luigi!"

The man in green straightened when he heard that. "Huh?" He turned to the ferryman. "Did you hear that?"

"Ssssoulsss of the restlesss…ignore them…" The ferryman muttered, not even glancing at his passenger.

"But I thought…One of them sounded familiar."

That was when he heard it again, louder this time. "Luigi!"

"There, I heard it!" The man in green said, pointing out to the river.

The ferryman frowned. "The river can be deceitful…telling ssscared sssoulsss like yourself what they want to hear…Don't lisssten…"

He frowned. "I know what I heard! It was him. My twin!"

Suddenly, the whispers from before stopped and the river became quiet. Almost too quiet. "Luigi! Over here!" The man in green turned back to the river, and that was when he saw his twin floating in the water nearby. Mario smiled and waved at him.

The man in green-Luigi-gasped, not quite believing his eyes. There he was! He found him! "Mario!" He cried, tears of joy in his eyes. Without thinking, he leaped out of the boat. The ferryman called for him to come back, but he ignored his cries. Luigi swam over to his brother and gave him a hug.

Mario chuckled softly, returning the embrace. Luigi closed his eyes, letting out a content hum. However, before he could truly enjoy the moment, the grip on his waist tightened. His brother's arms squeezed at him, making it hard to breathe.

The younger man opened his eyes. To his shock, Mario only offered a vacant stare in response. Then the man in red vanished with a burst of purple smoke. In his place were a pair of long white arms that seemed to have no body other than just that. The man in green squirmed and cried out for help, but a pair of bony hands covered his mouth. Next, the hand creature plunged into the river below, taking Luigi with it. The light became a distant memory as they got deeper and deeper into the twisted waters.

Luigi tried to fight off the creature's grip. Every time he managed to break free, even a little, it tightened its hold on him even more. Left with no other option, Luigi summoned his thunderhand power and blasted it with bright green electric shocks until it shriveled away.

He realized too late that he was running out of breath. Luigi felt a sudden flood of panic. He tried to swim up towards the surface, but fog clouded his brain and his vision became unfocused. Black circles danced around the edges of his line of sight until he lost consciousness.


When Luigi came to, his face was pressed against hard concrete and he felt a steady stream of water pouring onto his back. He sat up, coughing and sputtering, then looked around and realized that he was lying in a fountain. Not only that, but the water wasn't water at all. It was a misty, orange liquid that somehow made Luigi feel warm inside.

Luigi stood and walked out of the fountain. He looked up ahead and realized that there were two more fountains like the one he was in, but each had water that shot out even further than the one that came before. Luigi used his super-jump to reach the next couple of fountains and found that this liquid had magical properties that would allow him to stand on top of the water's surface for a while, which made reaching the ledge easier.

Once he made it, Luigi felt the magic liquid's effects wear off in an instant. He had the worst headache and his mind was riddled with fear and worry. He felt so sick and weak. So tired. He sat down and held his knees close, shaking.

"Ugggghhh...How'd I end up in this stinky place? Count Bleck's underlings grabbed me, I remember that...Then...And then…" Luigi groaned. "Oh, FORGET IT! I just wish somebody would help me!"

He didn't notice the pitter-patter of footsteps. However, he did notice the quiet voice that followed. "Luigi?"

Luigi spun around. There was his brother, Mario, standing right in front of him. He had a confused look on his face, as if he was trying to work out a difficult puzzle in his mind.

"Buh...Bro!?" Luigi whispered. Mario nodded, a small smile appearing on his face. Still skeptical, the man in green looked into the other man's eyes. Instead of the blank gaze he saw at the river, these eyes were warm and alive. It was him. Really him. Luigi beamed, a few happy tears escaping from his eyes. "OH YEAH! I missed you, bro!" With that, he stood and hugged his brother.

"I missed you too…" Mario said. "Wait, why are you here?"

Luigi let go, wiping the tears from his eyes. "What? Huh? Why am I here? Well, I don't really know...I mean, where am I, exactly?"

Mario frowned. "We're in the Underwhere…"

"What? The Underwhere? The land of ended games? Bro, what are you SAYING!? What does it all MEAN!?"

So, Mario took a moment to explain. After interfering with their home dimension, Count Bleck had created an interdimensional hole in the sky called the void. It was dormant in the last dimension his brother had been in, but it was growing bigger by the day and soon it would suck the life out of the Mushroom Kingdom. Out of their home dimension. Of all worlds. That is, unless someone put a stop to it.

That was why he agreed to help find magical artifacts called Pure Hearts with the help of Peach and Bowser later on, but the count hadn't made it easy. He had been sending his minions to put an end to them, and up until that point, their efforts had been unsuccessful. Until now.

"The next thing we knew, that crazy jester, Dimentio, came and sent us all here…I haven't been able to find Peach and Bowser yet, but I found you at least…" The man in red explained.

"Uh huh…" Luigi nodded. For some reason, the jester's name sounded familiar, but he brushed the thought aside. "Okay, I gotcha. So my game is over. Great. I guess one of Count Bleck's baddies must've done me in, just like you guys, huh? Well, everybody runs out of extra lives sometime, right? So what should we do now?"

Mario sighed. "I don't know. Right now, I'm supposed to be looking for this girl named Luvbi but I don't know where to even start…"

"...Luvbi? You're looking for someone named Luvbi?" Luigi asked. Mario nodded, and despite the circumstances, the younger twin quickly became excited. Another adventure, no matter how short-lived. He knew how to help his brother on adventures, at the very least. "Hey, sounds good to me! I'm loaded with free time! After all, my game's over! I was feeling pretty low, bro, but now that you're here, I wanna jump for joy!" With that, Luigi turned back to the road ahead with a new found sense of confidence. "This looks like a job for Luigi!"

Mario laughed. "Wait! I'm coming too!"

The two left that area, continuing on with their search. On one hand, Luigi was joyful. He was in an unfamiliar place, but he had his brother, and now he had something to keep his mind occupied. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was not quite right.


A/N: Just wanted to post this short chapter to prove that this fic is still on my mind, even though the previous update was about two years ago. I plan on finishing it soon, because I feel ready to move on from my Mario phase, but I also want everyone who kept up with this story to have a satisfying conclusion. I'm wanting the next few chapters to come out in a month or two, but we'll see.

-Free