Eventually, the car stopped at a gas station. The second Calvin and his mom got out, Mario climbed through the car's window. He found Hobbes pacing on the back seat.

"What have I done?" moaned Hobbes. "It doesn't matter if I took his place! I could tell how disappointed Calvin was when he had to take me instead of some hero! And now all the other toys hate me! What am I gonna..." he looked up. "Mario!"

Hobbes grabbed Mario in a deep embrace. "You're alive! That means I'm alive! We can go home, we'll say it was all an accident, 'cause it pretty much was, and then..."

Mario interrupted him. "Don't touch me." Surprised, Hobbes backed off. "You know," continued Mario, "I once had to spin Bowser around by his legs and hurl him into the distance. Let's see if I still remember it!"

Mario did the move on Hobbes, sending him flying out the window. He tried to stomp on Hobbes, but the tiger grabbed him. "You wanna fight!" growled Hobbes. "Well, here's a move that I use on Mr. Jones!"

Hobbes and Mario bounced around fighting as Calvin's car drove away. Hobbes looked up too late. "What...? NOOOO!" Hobbes ran after it, but was tackled by Mario again. "Get off of me!" hissed Hobbes. "Don't you realize that we're trapped here! I'M LOST! I'M A LOST TOY!"

"So we are. If I could find a Warp Whistle and play the right tune..."

"Forget the items!" exploded Hobbes.

Mario looked amused. "Please, this is no time to panic. I'm sure there's a mystery box behind something here."

Hobbes was frantic. "This is the perfect time to panic! I'm lost, Calvin is gone, they're going to move from their house in two days and it's all your fault!"

"You pushed me out the window!" exclaimed Mario.

"YOU pushed ME off of MY bed!" Hobbes shot back.

"Oh yeah? Well, all my mushroom friends are in trouble now!" Mario looked ominously to the stars. "Right now, somewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser Koopa has once again kidnaped Princess Peach and plans to use her to take over. Only I and my brother Luigi can put a stop to it. And you, tiger, are the reason that I'm not there right now to aid him in battle."

Hobbes stared at him for a few seconds. "YOU ARE A TOY! You're not a video game hero! You're an action figure! A child's plaything!"

"You are a sad strange little furball and you have my pity."

Hobbes sighed and walked away. He saw a truck from Mushroom Pizza Kingdom. "That's where Calvin is! But I can't go back there without Mario! Hey! Mario! I...uh..." Hobbes saw a fake Warp Pipe on top of the truck that gave him an idea. "I found a warp pipe!"

Mario dashed over. "Finally! Let's go!" Mario climbed up the truck and into the warp pipe. "Hey...this doesn't go anywhere!"

"Right," Hobbes said, playing along. "We...have to go inside the truck...I mean pipe."

Mario hopped down. "Weird pipes around here. Well, if it works."

Mario and Hobbes climbed in the back of the truck. Mario looked around. "Wait a second! I grew up in Brooklyn! This is just a truck!"

Hobbes saw the driver getting in. "Relax. We'll warp right about..."

Blaring rock music started. The truck took off and Mario and Hobbes were plastered against the back of the truck.

"Now?" Mario said weakly.

"You guessed it."

Eventually, they stopped. Mario pulled himself down. "I'll stick to normal pipes from now on..."

They climbed out of the truck to see the Mushroom Pizza Kingdom restaurant in all its' glory. The exterior looked like Peach's Castle, with two animatronic Hammer Bros. guarding the door.

Mario's eyes lit up. "It worked! I'm home!"

Thinking of his owner, Hobbes pulled Mario towards the doors. "Soon we'll be at your real home. Let's find Calvin and..."

Mario jumped back. "Stop! You can't just waltz in while those two Hammer Bros. are there! I'll bet Bowser has the entire Kingdom crawling with Koopas!"

Hobbes thought about it and agreed (sort of). "Well, I guess we sure can't run in with all these people around...wait, I have an idea!"

Hobbes and Mario put on cups and burger containers and ran inside. "Ha!" laughed Mario. "That worked almost as good as the Tanooki Suits!"

They took off the disguises to see a massive arcade room full of classic Mario games. It was decorated like the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario was delighted. "I'm home! But everyone's huge! What if Bowser brought in everyone from Giant Land? I can't deal with them like this!"

"Uh...well, there's some items in Calvin's bag," lied Hobbes.

"Calvin? What's he doing here?"

"He's an amazing kid, I'll tell you that!" Hobbes said quickly. "Let's find them, jump in, and..."

"I have a better idea! Look at that!" Mario pointed at a huge claw machine that looked like a Mushroom House. "Mushroom Houses always supply items!" he exclaimed. "I can get a Super Mushroom AND see my buddy Toad again!" Mario jumped into the prize slot.

"You're not making this easy for me!" growled Hobbes. He crawled in after him to find Mario surrounded by identical mushroom dolls.

"Which one of you is Toad?" asked Mario.

"We are all Toad," the huge group said slowly in unison.

"Great," grumbled Mario. "Has Bowser brought back his cloning machine?"

"We know no Bowser," one of the mushrooms said. "We only know..."

"The Claw," they all said slowly. They pointed to a large claw hanging ominously above them. "It is our master. It chooses who will go and who will stay."

Hobbes sighed. "It's always the isolated ones who are crazy. I knew sheltering toys was a bad idea."

Hobbes heard deep laughing. It was Moe, who was apparently there. Hobbes shoved Mario under the mushrooms to avoid the bully.

"The claw..." repeated the mushrooms. "It moves..."

One little mushroom was plucked from the group and lifted upwards. "I have been chosen!"

Unfortunately, the removed mushroom revealed a hiding Hobbes and Mario. Moe quickly grabbed them in the claw, too. Hobbes soon found himself being held by the child he feared the most.

"C'mon, guys," said Moe. "Let's have some...fun."

It's sadly obvious that I got lazy at the end, making the claw scene less climactic. Also, I think Mario is too naive, seeing as his character grew up in Brooklyn and should recognize the real world.