"Devastation" was the understatement in describing both Luigi and Peach after Mario had been pulled through the portal by the mummified hands. It was all too much—they had only succeeded in bringing Mario back to life after losing him less than twenty-four hours ago, and now…

"He's gone again…" Peach said, not bothering with trying to stop her tears this time—she wasn't able to, with this being far more than she could take. "Ganondorf knew that he had to separate Mario from us since we'd be sticking close to him this time. We've lost him again!"

Daisy held her close.

"I tried…" Luigi said, his expression haunted as he stared at his empty hand. "I had him by the hand… And they made me let go… I couldn't save him…"

"It's not over yet!" Pit yelled. "This isn't like what happened with Ridley; Mario knows what's coming this time, and he's gonna keep fighting! Both of you, c'mon! Mario needs us! We just have to find him in time!"

"But we don't even know where he is!" Luigi cried. "Ganondorf has been using Subspace to hop through space and time—Mario could be anywhere!"

"I'm afraid Luigi has a point," Rosalina said, solemnly. "Time and space are virtually infinite."

"Wait…" Bowser growled. "…You! Luigi! You can find Mario!"

"If I could, don't you think I'd have been on my way by now?" the younger brother replied, miserably.

"I'm telling you, you can! Kamek told me!" Bowser retorted. "I was a hatchling myself when it happened… when he took you, I mean, so I don't really remember it firsthand. But Kamek told me all about it—how your brother started pestering us even then by getting the Yoshis to take him to right where Kamek was holding you! He somehow knew exactly where you were—some kind of telepathic connection or something. If he could do that way back then, I don't see why you can't now!"

Luigi blinked, and then looked to Yoshi, who was nodding fervently.

"Luigi, you have to try," Peach encouraged him.

"I will," he promised. "But even if we find out where Mario is, how can we get to him? We can't open portals to Subspace like Ganondorf can!"

"Ganondorf used his Triforce of Power to do it," Zelda said. "Perhaps if Link and I combine the magic of the Triforce of Courage and the Triforce of Wisdom, we, too, can open the way forward. But it will require some trial and error."

"And that's time we just don't have!" Pit said. "There's gotta be another way!"

"There is," a voice echoed through their minds.

The other fighters turned to Mewtwo, who had now arrived on the scene.

"Mewtwo, can you help us?" Peach asked

"I believe so. Latias heard what had happened and spoke to me about something she called the Teleport Gem—it was an item that had been created from Teleport's psychic energy by a Xatu and an Alakazam. Using it allowed Pokémon who could not learn Teleport to transport her out of a deep valley after she had injured herself and could not fly out. Upon hearing this, I then met with Abra, Mew, and Lunala, and the four of us put all of our Teleport energy together to create this." Mewtwo held out a hand, and a glowing gem hovered above it. "With further assistance from Dialga and Palkia, we have created a Teleport Gem powerful enough to travel through time and space. However, even with this assistance… its power is still limited, and very unstable. It can only be used for one round trip before it will shatter, and it will not be able to transport more than two people—meaning that only one can take it to wherever Mario is, if both of you intend to return." Mewtwo sighed. "We did endeavor to make it stronger, but we were pushed to the limits of our strength as it was; I fear I will need time to recover before I am battle-ready again…"

"We are forever in your debt," Peach said, taking the Teleport Gem. "Thank you, Mewtwo."

Mewtwo nodded in acknowledgment, and Peach now turned to Luigi, holding the Teleport Gem out to him.

"You know that Mario has always believed in you," she said. "Well, so have I. If there's one person in this entire mansion who can bring Mario back safe and sound, it's you."

Though clearly anxious, it was with a confident nod that Luigi accepted the Teleport Gem from her.

"And don't you listen to Ganondorf, either—'cause you know he's gonna try to pull the whole 'you gotta awaken the darkness to save him from me' bit," Daisy added. "Just go in, get Mario, and get back here. We'll take that big creep out together once Link and Zelda figure out the Subspace portal!"

"Right," Luigi nodded. He held the Teleport Gem in his hands and concentrated, trying to sense Mario's presence. Where are you, Big Bro?

He was suddenly less aware of his surroundings; instead, a blurred vision was coming into focus—the halls of an old castle, dimly-lit. He saw Mario in one of the castle hallways, fighting furiously against a group of mummies that were still trying to grab him. He punched and kicked, forcing them back, as he then stood his ground and struggled to catch his breath.

"I know where he is!" Luigi exclaimed.

"Where!?" Peach asked.

"A castle… It's all dark and creepy…!" Luigi said. "There are mummies there—that's what pulled Mario through the Subspace portal!"

"Sounds like Dracula's Castle…" Pit said. "That friend of mine I mentioned—Simon Belmont! He fights against Dracula and his minions! Lady Palutena, can you put me through Simon with your telepathy? Simon can help back Luigi up in saving Mario!"

"Yes, I can," Palutena said. "But Luigi shouldn't wait—he should go right now!"

"Right!" Luigi exclaimed, squeezing the Teleport Gem as he concentrated again. Take me there—to Dracula's Castle!

The Teleport Gem glowed brightly, surrounding Luigi in a bright light. The other fighters gaped as Luigi then vanished.


"HEEEEE-YAAAAH!"

Desperation had allowed Mario to unleash a subsequent Mario Finale, clearing out the group of mummies attacking him. Mario now glared at Ganondorf, who was standing at the other end of the corridor with Veran off to his side; behind them was a man in dark clothes and a cape—and noticeably long teeth.

The mummies were quickly reorganizing themselves into an attack formation, and Mario struck a fighting stance again.

"You can't kill the undead with brute strength," the vampire said. "Though I suppose I admire your tenacity."

"It won't stop him from trying," Ganondorf said, plainly. "He is notorious for never knowing when to quit. But, I suspect he will learn soon enough. Mario, it would be wisest for you to surrender to the inevitable. I cannot be slain without the Master Sword. Dracula and his legions of the undead cannot be slain by any of your attacks, either. You have no such protection of immortality—though you do have an incredibly annoying knack for returning from the dead, as your encounter with Ridley proved."

"And I'll do it again if I have to," Mario retorted. "We're at a stalemate."

"Oh, it's not a stalemate at all," Veran purred. "You see, Dracula here has a sure-fire way of ensuring that your tricks of coming back will fail."

"Death himself wanders my halls, Mario," Dracula agreed. "And he is most frustrated at your abilities of eluding him again and again when he attempts to harvest your spirit. Even after Ridley had dispatched of you, you still found ways to elude Death!"

Mario froze, suddenly recalling a vision from the time he couldn't previously remember—wandering on the ethereal plane near the reactor, and suddenly coming face to face with the skeletal spectre. He had fled—what else could he have done? He had kept dodging Death, until he heard Luigi and Peach calling for him, guiding him back to his body…

"You've cheated Death enough times that he no longer needs to wait for you to drop," Ganondorf smirked. "Once you're sufficiently weakened, he will claim your spirit at last. But that isn't the end for you!"

"Just what do you mean by that!?" Mario demanded.

"He means that one of my abilities is to control spirits of the dead and have them serve me as servants of darkness," Dracula said. "Ganondorf here explained to me about the prophecy, and I assured him that I would use my powers of the night to see it fulfilled. Once you have fallen and have become my servant, we will take you back to the others. When your brother sees you, dead and a slave to the darkness, his own darkness will awaken soon enough—wouldn't you agree?"

Mario's defiant expression faded as he paled. Poor Luigi would be devastated by thinking he had failed him as it was… Seeing Mario as a servant of the darkness would be too much; Luigi would surrender without a fight, for he would never be able to turn the Poltergust against Mario like that.

Mario regained his fighting stance; he would stay alive for his brother's sake—he had to! Even if that meant resorting to retreating, which was something he hated to do.

As the mummies drew closer in a circle, Mario leaped up into the air with a double jump, grabbing onto the chandelier as the mummies lunged. As they collided, Mario swung from the chandelier, over the three villains' heads, let go, and took off running as he hit the ground.

Dracula looked unconcerned by this, but Ganondorf and Veran gave chase. Mario darted from passageway to passageway, trying to elude them. Mummies and other creatures of the night hid in the shadows of each hallway; Mario knocked them out of the way and kept running. The way out had to be somewhere…

He turned a corner and let out a yelp as he ran headlong into Ganondorf—and a Warlock Punch. He was launched backwards, right into a bundle of webbing created by one of Veran's shadow spiders. He struggled to move, but couldn't free himself from the webbing.

"You didn't really think that would work, did you?" Veran scoffed, as Ganondorf approached again, readying another Warlock Punch.

Despite himself, Mario let out a cry as the attack connected a second time. Stars exploded around him, but he struggled to stay conscious.

"You will be witness to something truly great once your spirit becomes Dracula's servant," Ganondorf promised. "Once your brother's darkness awakens, I will use the Triforce of Power to merge the two of us together, much like Dimentio did to Paper Luigi. My reign—our reign will last for all eternity."

"N-No," Mario returned. He was so weakened that even speaking was a struggle. "He'll resist… Every step of the way… Luigi will fight you… He'll find a way to save me…"

Ganondorf scoffed.

"He can't save you—now or any other time!" he bellowed, drawing back his fist for one more, final Warlock Punch.

Mario shut his eyes, bracing for the impact, but his eyes snapped open upon hearing a familiar—and absolutely furious—voice.

"Wrong!"

Mario watched as both Ganondorf and Veran were caught up in a familiar vortex, drawn into the Poltergust. Luigi the aimed the vacuum at one of the ornate, glass windows, and sent them both crashing through it.

Mario let out a quiet sigh of relief, slumping against the webbing restraining him as Luigi now ran to his side, panic rising in his voice.

"Mario!? Big Bro!?"

A handful of green flames melted away the webbing, and Mario fell forward into his brother's arms.

"Mario, talk to me! Say something!"

Mario weakly managed a thumbs-up.

"Don't know… how you made it…" he managed to say. "But… Glad to see you, Fratellino…"

Luigi hugged him, gently.

"Me, too," he said. "C'mon, let's go back before-"

He was cut off as a furious roar echoed from outside the castle. The entire segment of wall—windows and all, gave way as Ganondorf, now in his primal Ganon form, burst through the wall.

"Luigi… run…!" Mario pleaded.

"Not this time!" the younger plumber declared. He fumbled in his pocket for the Teleport Gem and placed it into his brother's hand. Send us back!

But as the Teleport Gem began to glow, Ganon's giant hand reached out to seize Mario.

"NO!" Luigi cried.

He did the only thing he could do—leave his brother's side and stood between Mario and Ganon, resulting in Ganon grabbing him instead of Mario. Luigi looked back, seeing the light of the Teleport Gem surrounding his horrified older brother.

"Luigi!" Mario cried, reaching his free hand out to him, despite how futile an effort it was. "Luigi-!"

And then he vanished, transported by the Teleport Gem. Luigi's relief was short-lived as he glanced back at Ganon, still holding him with a murderous expression in his glowing eyes. He let out a nervous gulp.

"L-Look," he stammered. "Y-You can't awaken my darkness if you kill me…!"

Ganon snarled and threw Luigi to the ground; he yelped painfully as he tumbled across the ground, but froze in place once he came to a stop at Dracula's feet.

"…Yipe…!" he squeaked.

He tried to scramble away, but Dracula seized him by the collar, hoisting him up and then drew closer to Luigi's exposed neck.

"No!" Luigi gasped, going pale. "No, no, no, no! Please—don't!"

"What are you doing!?" Veran hissed, as Ganon roared again. "We need him alive!"

"You needed him alive—for me, he is more useful dead. The spirit of the Man in Green of the Dark Prognosticus, working as my servant? That is a prize far greater than his brother! Under me, his darkness will grow far greater, and then I will be the one to rule for all eternity with his power working for me!"

"TRAITOR!" Ganon roared.

He struck Dracula, which sent Luigi flying. Luigi wasn't about to stick around; he got to his feet and took off down the network of halls and passageways as fast as his legs could carry him, as Veran and Ganon now battled Dracula.

But Dracula wasn't about to let Luigi go that easily, even when preoccupied; the mummies, which had previously been after Mario, now turned on Luigi, chasing him down as he sought shelter in the other rooms and corridors.

Okay… Okay… Luigi thought to himself, trying to stare them down with the Poltergust. I got this… I got this… He attempted to blind them with the Poltergust's Strobulb, which didn't seem to have any effect. When that failed, he struck the nearest mummy with a plunger launched from the vacuum.

It had no effect whatsoever.

I don't got this. I DON'T GOT THIS! Luigi mentally screamed as he now took off running. Please… Someone… Anyone…! Help me!

His only consolation was the relief of knowing that, no matter what happened to him, Mario would be safe.


Mario, on the other hand, was far from consoled as the Teleport Gem, upon sending him back to the mansion, in front of the other fighters, shattered in his hands.

"Mario!" Peach exclaimed, hugging him again. "Oh, you look terrible! But at least you're alright! …Where's Luigi?"

"He's… he's still back there…!" Mario gasped, barely reacting as Young Link handed him a Heart Container to heal him. "We have to go back!" He held up the shards of the Teleport Gem helplessly.

"I warned Luigi that the Teleport Gem would only last one round trip," Mewtwo sighed. "My energy has not recovered sufficiently to allow me to help make another."

"Hey! Link! Zelda!" Daisy called to them. "How's that Subspace portal coming!?"

"We haven't gotten it yet," Zelda said, helplessly. "We need more time!"

"We don't have time!" Mario cried. "Luigi is in trouble now, all because he sacrificed his chance of getting back to make sure I made it here!"

"Simon Belmont has just reached the castle," Palutena said, after contacting him telepathically once more. "He hasn't found Luigi yet, but he knows where to look. He can, er… hear him."

She didn't want to say it, but Mario had a feeling—it was Luigi's screams of fright that Simon was hearing. He knew his brother hated the undead and ghosts more than anything—and now, he was in the thick of them, and all because he had stuck his neck out for him!

Luigi… Little Bro, just hold on-!

His train of thought screech to a halt as a Subspace portal opened in front of them—but Link and Zelda looked baffled; clearly, they hadn't opened it.

A harrowed-looking Ganondorf, no longer in his final form, and Veran emerged from the portal.

"You!" Mario fumed, instantly leaping to attack Ganondorf now that he was back at full strength. "Where is he!? WHERE IS MY BROTHER!?"

Ganondorf didn't make an attempt to fight back; he was too weak, and as Mario sensed this, he stopped his attack.

"Back at the castle…" Ganondorf grunted. "Dracula betrayed me; he wants your brother for himself to fulfill the prophecy—only Dracula wants him dead, with his spirit a servant like I had wanted you to be! He's hunting him down now in the castle." He indicated the Subspace portal. "Go to him. I still need him alive!"

Mario glared at Ganondorf with a look of absolute hatred.

"Once my brother is safe, you won't be," he promised, and he dashed into the portal.

"Mario, wait!" Peach called, running after him.

"You're not leaving me behind!" Daisy insisted, dashing after her.

Pit, Link, and Bowser also followed Mario and the princesses inside; the others, however, now surrounded Ganondorf, determined not to let him or Veran escape this time.

Back in Dracula's Castle, Mario was leading the others through the halls, trying to find Luigi.

"Simon's around here somewhere, too," Pit reminded them. "Hopefully, he's found Luigi already."

"Instead of running around like this, how about Mario use that brotherly telepathy thing and take us to exactly where Luigi is?" Bowser snarled.

"Huh?" Mario asked, stopping in his tracks.

"How do you think he found you so fast?" Bowser said. "He used the same method you did when you looked for him after Kamek took him."

"That's right…" Mario said. "I almost forgot we have that power…"

It was his turn to shut his eyes and concentrate, and his eyes snapped open again after a moment.

"This way! I can sense him! He's over this way!"

He was in a full-on sprint.

I'm here, Luigi! You know I wasn't going to let you face these things alone! he mentally transmitted.

Luigi, however, was in too much of a blind panic to receive the transmission at that moment, having been scared out of his wits by a statue of Medusa coming to life; he had tripped and fallen in a dark hallway, and looking up had allowed him to catch sight of the skeletal spectre of Death himself leering down at him, raising a scythe.

A scream of pure fright escaped the younger plumber as the scythe was brought down.

And then, several yards away, Mario stopped in his tracks, an expression of dawning horror growing on his face.

"Mario…?" Peach asked, her voice quivering as she knew she would dread the answer to her question. "Mario, what is it?"

"I… I can't sense Luigi's presence anymore…" he said, looking back at Peach with a devastated expression. "We're too late…"


Notes: there's one more chapter left in this; I don't think it was a surprise that I was going to bring in what happened to Luigi as part of this, seeing as though I've been foreshadowing this for a while now. And since this whole thing started as a fix-it fic for the Ridley trailer, the Belmonts' trailer dropping midway basically will let me do two fix-its with one fic. And yes, Pit claiming to know Simon is indeed a wink and a nod to the Captain N cartoon, as well as acknowledging that they share a common enemy in Medusa and probably would know each other that way, anyway.