A/N: Happy anniversary, MGT fans! Today marks a year since I posted the first three chapters, and boy did that time fly! So, to celebrate it, here's a collection of three interlude-type stories set around the MGTU. I've got a couple notes to make about the MGTU, but I'll save those for the end. For now, enjoy the story!

I do not own Super Mario.

Part 1: The Future of Mario Kart

This morning we Designer Toads began another hard day of work planning this year's Mario Kart tournament. We've been working on it for over two weeks and we've hardly gotten anywhere. All of us have been drained of any ideas for new courses, and we've been stuck in an endless debate over which retro courses we should bring back. We can hardly find anything to agree on.

So this morning we were in the middle of another such debate.

"GCN Rainbow Road is the best!" I yelled.

"GCN Rainbow Road sucks ass!" John the Blue Toad shouted back. "Wii Rainbow Road is the best! It's awesome!"

"Both of you, cut it out," Dave the Yellow Toad jumped in. "We can bring back more than one Rainbow Road. We brought back both the SNES and N64 ones last time."

Across the room, Mary the Green Toad was unleashing a tirade at Harry the Red Toad.

"So…you're serious? Of all the races available to us, of all the circuits and raceways and deserts and snow courses and whatever else we've churned out over the years, the one course you really want to bring back is Excitebike Arena? Excitebike Arena?! What exactly do you find fun about that course? Oh, the layout changes? The changes aren't even noticeable! You know what other courses change their layouts? Sydney Sprint! New York Minute! Even that Incendia Castle one that never made it past the planning stage a few years back! Why don't you resurrect that idea, huh? Anything other than that ever-loving dumpster fire we call Excitebike Arena!"

Harry burst out in tears and ran past Mary. He opened the door, but as soon as he did so, Interim Princess Peachette entered the room. Oh my. This was the day of her first check-in on us, wasn't it? Yep. June 11th.

"Harry, what's going on?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

"Mary's b-b-bullying me!" Harry blubbered. "She keeps getting m-m-mad at me for wanting to bring back Ex-ex-excitebike Arena!"

"It's okay, Harry," the Interim Princess said. "You know what? Take the rest of the day off. I'll talk to Mary."

"Th-thanks." Harry ducked past her down the hall.

The Interim Princess turned to Mary. "Mary, I get you don't want Excitebike Arena back. Okay, none of us want Excitebike Arena back, but that doesn't mean you get to yell at Harry because of it. Just let it go. If the majority of us don't want it, it'll get struck down anyway."

Mary rolled her eyes.

The Interim Princess continued, "So, everyone, how's it coming? Tell me what you've got so far. Start with the nitro courses. Any ideas?"

Melvin the Green Toad spoke up. "Well, Interim Princess, that's the problem. We come up with so many of these each year, and I think we're just running out of inspiration. The only idea we've got so far is for an antigrav course set in the sky on giant ice cream and other frozen candy and stuff like that. We're debating between either Sky-High Sundae or Pie in the Sky for the title – it'll depend on whether the giant pie makes it into the final cut or not."

"That giant pie sucks ass!" John said.

"Man, stop saying 'sucks ass'," Dave said. "It just sounds stupid."

Melvin continued, "And we're tired of making up new basic, introductory circuit courses that no one even likes and just end in us getting sent death threats because other Toads hate them so much. Not to mention we aren't gonna have a Bowser's Castle course this year, and that's the one that never required any legwork from us to create."

Yeah, because this year we're boycotting Bowser's Castle in protest of the rampant creature rights violations that Lava Lands expats have reported Bowser partaking in. Not that that'll send a message or anything, since it's widely known that Bowser has always hated his contractual obligation to host a race in his castle ever since he glossed over his contract back in Super Mario Kart. I personally was in favor of instead still holding the race there and just vandalizing the castle while we're there, but that was shot down.

"Okay…," the Interim Princess said, "how about the retro courses? Is planning them out going better?"

"More or less," I said. "All of us are in favor of bringing back Toad Circuit…all the Toads just love finally getting a track named after them. In fact, we're considering bringing it back in every future Mario Kart tournament from here on out. Dave and John want to bring back N64 Wario Stadium just since it's never gotten the chance to be a retro track, but none of the rest of us want that. We've got unanimous support for Waluigi Pinball. Airship Fortress is a maybe since we're not sure where that stands in relation to our Bowser boycott."

"We've been going back and forth on whether we want to go with Snow Land or Frappe Snowland," Mary said.

John spat on the floor. "Snow Land sucks ass."

Vanessa the Pink Toad jumped in. "We're in almost complete agreement that the final retro course should be Luigi Circuit from Mario Kart Wii. Figure-8 Circuit's our backup if Airship Fortress falls through."

I cringed; punches were thrown over the Figure-8 Circuit debate just two days ago.

"Oh, and we're also probably gonna bring back Electrodrome," Melvin said. "So remember how last year we wanted the music for that course to be 'Neon Lights' by Demi Lovatoad since there's neon lights all over the place in Electrodrome? Right, but then we couldn't get the rights to use it in time and when we tried to use it anyway, we got that cease-and-desist order and there was that whole legal kerfuffle and everything? Well, we finally got the rights secured, so now the version of Electrodrome we all always wanted is ago."

"Okay, well…this is sounding pretty good so far," the Interim Princess said. "Lots of other Toads throughout the kingdom that I've polled seem to look forward to retro tracks more than nitro tracks anyway, so how about you just worry about the retro tracks for now? I'll consult with the Mushroom Senate about Airship Fortress, but Figure-8 Circuit is as good a substitute as any if it doesn't work out. Now, what about racers? I'll need to know soon who to send invitations out to."

"We're thinking about keeping most of the roster from last time," Vanessa said, "but with a few minor tweaks, based on the kingdom's reactions to the last roster. We'll probably be bringing Birdo and Diddy Kong back and getting rid of Waluigi and Pink Gold Peach."

"Okay, I get Pink Gold Peach, but why Waluigi?" the Interim Princess asked.

"Because everyone got sick of his antics last time," I volunteered. "After he was snubbed from Mario Kart 7, remember all those stunts he was pulling, hogging the Wild Wiggler in every single race and being completely obnoxious to other racers? So we're doing this to teach him a lesson."

It'll probably just inspire more obnoxiousness from him if he's ever invited back in the future. Lowlifes like him never learn.

"I'm gonna miss Pink Gold Peach," Dave said.

"Pink Gold Peach sucks ass!" John said.

Which seemed to be the consensus of the entire kingdom after the last tournament. The Metal Mario robot had been so popular the time before that we decided to introduce a similar one modeled after Peach. Not sure who exactly started calling her Pink Gold Peach since she wasn't even made of gold. I guess it's a bit like Iron Toad; a name that wasn't technically accurate, but stuck anyway for some reason.

Just like I'm not sure exactly why everyone hates Pink Gold Peach, but they do. None more so than Nathaniel Bandytoad, but that's a story for another time.

"Well, we've gotten word that Toadtech Industries has started building another robot called Green Bronze Luigi," Melvin said. "He definitely won't be ready for this tournament, but…maybe next time people will have outgrown their hatred of Pink Gold Peach and will be open to Green Bronze Luigi being there."

"Maybe," the Interim Princess said. "Well, I've gotta be going. Keep up the good work, Toads!" With that, she left and closed the door behind her.

"Okay, everyone," I said. "You heard the Interim Princess; let's keep working. Now, I know we haven't decided which haunted track from Mario Kart: Super Circuit we want to bring back: Boo Lake or Broken Pier? What are our thoughts on that?"

"Broken Pier sucks ass!" John spat.

Part 2: The Lady of the Shooting Stars

Well, I'm not sure what to make of the recent events on Starship Mario. Once a week, while Mario's asleep, the Baby Luma comes to the Comet Observatory to fill me in on developments there. Mario didn't take it well the time our check-in happened in the middle of his mission to the Flip-Swap Galaxy, so after that we arranged for them to always take place at night.

Apparently Lubba has seriously lost his way since I knew him years ago. That, or he's just more respectful when he's in my presence. Because from what I hear, he's become a bit of an – there's no nice way to put this – ass. He's rude, disrespectful, feeds Hungry Lumas his own vomit, trashes Mario's bedroom (I've lost track of what the heck that stupid fight was even about, but the two of them have been at each other's throats ever since), and locks other residents of Starship Mario in the bathroom.

Not saying Mario's much better. He has the exact same anger issues he had on the Comet Observatory seven years ago, unloaded the Toad Brigade's septic tank all over Starship Mario, tried to hand Lubba over to Bowser, etc., etc.

It's a never-ending cycle with them. Part of me feels bad for Mario having to put up with that, but…not often. I'd instructed Lubba to help him out on this adventure because I just didn't want to put up with him again.

He always left the toilet seat up.

He incessantly tried to flirt with me, despite me making it crystal clear that I wasn't interested.

He constantly whined about having to pitch in with chores around the Observatory…and I only insisted he do his fair share. I didn't tell him to do laundry for me or Luigi or the Toad Brigade, or make him refill the sanitary napkin dispenser in the Observatory's bathroom.

So if he was suffering a bit having to put up with Lubba…well, serves him right. Now maybe he has some idea what putting up with him was like for me.

This afternoon I was meditating in my bedroom, reaching out across the universe with my mind. Everything felt as it usually did…wait, something was different. It felt like something I'd sensed a few times before.

Suddenly, Polari flew into the room. "Mama, sorry to disturb you, but I just…sensed something. Something strange."

"So did I." I got up. "Assemble the Lumas. Tell them to join me in the library in five minutes."

Of the three previous times I sensed this specific energy, it had only been strong enough for us to pinpoint its source once. Eleven days ago, during my daily meditation, I sensed an identical surge of energy coming from across the universe. Like the energy that holds the universe together, but different somehow. Foreign. The Lumas pinpointed it as having originated just beyond the Mushroom Planet's atmosphere. We flew the Comet Observatory there to investigate, and found what looked to be a fortress of Bowser's creation floating in space. But it was abandoned (and, from the look of things, one of its planets had exploded entirely), and the energy was long-gone by then.

And now it was back, only this time it was laced with a streak of dark magic, powerful dark magic.

So five minutes later I met with all the Observatory's Lumas in the library. "We've managed to pinpoint the source of the magic," Polari said. He pressed a button on the wall of the library, filling the room with a hologram of the universe. He floated to the far end of the room. "It came from the exact same location as last time, in that abandoned Bowser base floating above the Mushroom Planet."

I sighed. "Then it's obviously not abandoned."

"And we don't believe it's Bowser's doing either," Polari said. "I mean, in theory it could be, but usually magic we detect that gets traced back to Bowser is, like, party trick-level spells cast by Kamek. This sort of energy is more powerful that what a Grand Star emits. It's gone now – it only lasted a few seconds – but, I mean, it's no secret that Kamek's an idiot by our standards. I doubt he managed to conjure up a spell that powerful."

That's true; I'd bet half of Kamek's "magic" isn't even real. When I took Mario to the center of the universe seven years ago, while he fought his way through the level, I tried to distract the rest of the airship fleet guarding the galaxy. Kamek was commanding the fleet during the battle and teleported onto the Comet Observatory at one point, where he tried to psych out me and the Lumas by claiming to be casting a spell to summon some sort of demonic creature from another dimension.

All he was really doing was reciting the binomial nomenclatures of different plant species.

Suffice to say, he deserved that Infinite Knuckle Sandwich spell I cast on him with my wand. Unfortunately, the spell was nullified when the universe got reset by the supermassive black hole created by Bowser's Galaxy Reactor, and I haven't gotten around to re-casting the spell.

"What do you think it is, Mama?" one of the other Lumas asked.

"I'm not sure. But we should go investigate. Polari, set a course for the Mushroom Planet. Lumas, go to your stations. Be prepared for whatever we may be flying into."

"Yes, Mama!" they all said before flying out of the library.

That energy…I'd been considering what its source might've been for the past week and a half. Energy shouldn't be able to be created or destroyed, but it couldn't be denied that energy had definitely been created by whatever happened near the Mushroom Planet. And it had come from somewhere beyond my knowledge and the knowledge of the Lumas. And if it was similar in nature to the energy that holds the universe together, there was only one theory I had about what it was.

Energy from another universe.

Maybe this journey would finally prove that the multiverse exists.

I grabbed my wand and prepared to cast a forcefield around the Comet Observatory. If we really were dealing with the multiverse here, then none of us had any idea what to expect. We'd need all the protection we could get.

Part 3: Hunt for the Murk

Bowser Jr. here again, recounting my daily adventures for your enjoyment!

So Mario's been in World 3 for several days now, but he's nowhere close to being done with it; he still has to get several more Power Stars before he can make it to my Fearsome Fleet. It takes him forever to get anything done under normal circumstances, but now this time it seems like he's dealing with a never-ending bout of infighting on Starship Mario. too.

Anyway, this morning Dad summoned me and Kamek to his private quarters in the Galaxy Generator.

"Okay, you two," he said. "I'm off to arrange our deal with Cad Bane today, but while I'm gone, I want the two of you to head back to the Fiery Flotilla and look for any clues about who the heck that guy 'the Murk' is. I don't think Mario's gonna let it go, no matter how much we tell him we had nothing to do with the incident in the Fiery Flotilla. So I figure the next best thing we can do is track him down and…I'm not really sure yet. Maybe hand him over to Mario in exchange for that puny plumber leaving us alone for the rest of time?"

Ugh. Not this stupid Murk thing again. And I'd have to spend the whole day with Kamek? He's a good wizard and all, but he can be a bit…annoying.

"So get to work!" Dad said, before teleporting away with his Grand Star power.

"Alright, Junior," Kamek said. "I'm looking forward to this. A whole day of quality time between us."

"Shut up and get in the Robot Cockpit," I said.

Shortly thereafter, we neared the Fiery Flotilla. Which was now mostly abandoned, seeing as how its entire population except for the Dry Bones had been massacred by Mario. Oh, and the fact that the lava planet inside the castle had been blown up by Mario punching that Tip Network into the lava. I don't know who the heck decided to put those Tip Networks throughout these levels, much less who approved them, seeing as how our goal here is to stop Mario, not help him.

I took in our surroundings as we approached the Flotilla. At first I hated having it and the Fearsome Fleet positioned right above the Mushroom Planet like nothing else, but it's grown on me a bit now. If nothing else, if Mario defeats Dad again, I can get revenge on that plumber by killing the planetary thrusters holding the galaxies in orbit, and sit back and watch them hurtle to the Mushroom Planet. Bwahaha!

We landed the Robot Cockpit in the secret meeting room behind the left wall of the castle. I got out and brought up the galaxy's security feeds. "Okay," I said. "Let's rewind this to the day Mario arrived here…doo-dah-doo…ah, here we go." I stopped the feed.

Just like I had seen in real time, a spaceship appeared high above the galaxy before crashing onto the wooden area in front of the castle. Mario and the Murk exchanged words, then the Murk hit Mario in the nuts with the hilt of his sword, got back in the spaceship, and flew away. The spaceship vanished into thin air.

"I'm not sure what exactly we're supposed to be doing here," I said. "Like, how do we find this guy? We know nothing about him, where he's from, or even how he got here."

"Wait, rewind it again," Kamek said. "There's something I want to see more closely."

I have no idea how he can see at all in those opaque glasses he wears, but whatever. I rewound the feed.

"Stop!" Kamek said just as the Murk's ship appeared. "There. It didn't just appear out of thin air, see? It came through something…." He pointed to the corner of the screen where the ship appeared. I squinted at it, and…huh. He was right. It looked like there was some purple crack in space itself that the ship slipped in through.

"What is that?" I asked.

"It looks like a crack in the fabric of the spacetime continuum. I once created one by accident in my lab, and it…it was a purple crack like that. And this talking cricket named Jiminy came through before I could shut it again. The guy freaked my out so I torched him with my scepter. But who knows what other stuff could come out of these things?"

"You think you can make another one that homes in on the Murk and brings him here?"

"Maybe." Kamek grabbed his scepter from his cloak. "I think I had to pop the top on my scepter here and insert a vial of Dragoneel saliva, an eye of Micro Goomba, and a hair from Diddy Kong. Be right back." He vanished.

I never even knew the top of his scepter could be popped and magic ingredients mixed together in it.

A few seconds later, he returned. "Okay, now I've never done this before on purpose, but maybe if I think about the Murk, the spell will home in on him."

"Well, were you thinking about crickets last time?"

"No, I was trying to remember if I washed up after I last used the bathroom. But this is how great scientific discoveries happen: through trial and error. Now, stand back. I'm about to put the Diddy Kong hair in here."

I took a few steps away from Kamek as he dropped the hair into the scepter. He dropped the top of the scepter back down and swirled it around. Purple magic emanated from it. "Show me the Murk!" Kamek yelled before flicking his wrist. A purple rip appeared in the air right in front of us, followed by a blinding white light and a shockwave that knocked me out.

Ten minutes later…

"Okay, so to sum up," I said. "In the not even two seconds you had that portal open, we got eight visitors from wherever that portal leads, and none of them are the Murk?"

"Correct," Kamek said.

I stood atop the Flotilla's left wall and looked down at the translucent pink forcefields Kamek had trapped all the "visitors" in. Well, it wasn't entirely accurate to say none of them were the Murk, since he could've looked like anything under that costume he was wearing. A few of the visitors had the right stature to potentially be him, but none of them had his specific costume on. Although one of them, apparently named Harley Quinn, did have a red-and-black costume, so for all I knew, there might've been a connection there.

For that matter, some of them looked suspiciously familiar, but not exactly right. Like, there was another guy calling himself Batman, who looked a lot like Battoad…except being a human instead of a Toad. Same thing with Wonder Woman instead of Wonder Toadette, the aforementioned Harley Quinn instead of Harley Shroom, and Bugs Bunny instead of Fungus Bunny. But basically everyone else looked completely unfamiliar.

"Give me the full rundown again," I said.

"Yes sir," Kamek said. "We've got Bugs Bunny, Tom Cat, Jake Dog, Arya Stark, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, Batman, and Shaggy Rogers."

Where did they all come from? And did any of them know the Murk?

"What should we do with them, sir?" Kamek asked. "Try opening another portal to send them back, or…?"

"No, we can't risk that," I said. "Send them back through another portal, and who knows how many others are gonna come through? I can't see a way to send them back right now, but maybe they can serve a purpose to us here."

"How?"

"By helping us destroy Mario, that's how. Offer them work, good pay, other stuff like that to foster loyalty, tell them Mario has teamed up with all of their greatest foes or something and that we brought them here to help counter his evil plans…something like that. And then if this Cad Bane guy is a phony or fails for some reason, we'll send these guys after Mario instead. Eight on one…there's no way they'll fail." I looked out over the visitors again. "I think all of us could team up to…do some evil."

"Intriguing…," Kamek cackled.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it, and please R&R!

In case you're wondering, I came up with the eight characters that Kamek summoned by randomly choosing half of the roster from this other video game Multiversus. Some of them I'm not familiar with, so I'll do some reading up on them before I write anything else with them. But sorry in advance if I end up messing up their characterizations down the road.

Also, an update on this year's Halloween Mario story, "Mario and SonicEXE at the Olympic Games." This will also be set in the MGTU, a little over a year before MGT itself starts. Just like I did with "Killer Mario" last year, I'll post that in five weekly installments throughout October. The first one will be on October 3, and it will wrap up on Halloween.

Thanks for reading!