Author's Notes: I actually managed to get this one written ahead of scheduele, which is good for me. Anyway, not much to say on this one, other then there's a break in the action, followed shortly thereafter by a twist. Without another moment to spare, please enjoy.

Chapter 19: Time-Space Mishaps

"And that's as far as we know, folks." the TV announced continued. "The mysterious climate changes have suddenly vanished around the area. Locals are being interviewed, but so far, no major leads have been reported."

Beldam, aka Nazz, watched the broadcast while inside of a café. She gave a scowl at the TV.

"We're currently in day two since the bizarre crashes." the announcer went on. "Since the incident, we have been getting very odd reports. Those include the strange climate change discovered earlier today. We have also had reports of very odd sea currents near Peru. Local sailors there are urged to stay away from fishing for a while, as they are certain sailing out in these conditions means disaster. Odd enough, the kinetic energies that surveillance satellites are picking up are very similar to those discovered by researchers about 4 years ago off the western coast of the US. Even more stories are being heard about the other crash sites. Governmental activity has also picked up, and some theories range from biological attacks to miniature black holes."

"The fools… they don't know the half of it!" Beldam thought.

The proceeded girl got up from her seat, after talking a sip of the coffee. She still had the medallion, of course, which she hid underneath her black shirt.

"That idiot." Beldam said. "Masque was supposed to finish the job. …well, at least he's out of the way."

She peered back at the television. "The closest anyone has gotten to the area was within 200 yards. One helicopter has spotted an unidentified ship in the direct danger zone. It is believed that this ship is headed north. According to witnesses, this ship has been here since the night of the "meteor shower." Thus far, all attempts to hail the ship have failed."

"So…" Beldam thought. "The second star has fallen down in the coast somewhere off a place called Peru. And the ship that they found… definitely from another world then here, that's for sure. I must find that ship at once!"

Beldam walked up to the counter, and grabbed one of the nearby customers by the collar of their shirt.

"Point me to Peru, now." Beldam commanded.

The customer gave a raised eyebrow. "You can't just walk to Peru."

"Then how do you get there?" Beldam asked with a tone of anger in her voice.

"G-g-g-go to the airport! You can take a flight there!" The customer shouted.

"Good, good." Beldam said, throwing him to the ground.

"Hey 'mam, you can't act like that in my café!" the manager shouted from behind the counter. "Pay for your coffee and get out!"

Beldam shot the manager an angry look. With that, she turned around and walked toward the door. "By the way…" She said as she reached the door. "You're drink was awful."

With one arm, she gave a thumbs down, and with the other, she tipped the cup upside down, pouring the steaming hot drink. A few nearby customers gave a shout of surprise, before Beldam let the empty mug drop on the floor and crash.

"Consider that your pay." She stated boldly, before walking out of the door and slamming it shut.

She peered up into the 10 o'clock skies. People were walking out and about in the city, going about their daily business. She turned her head toward her right. She caught a quick glimpse of the Foster's Home building in the distance, with a few news crews gathering around the building.

"…well, I could go to Peru, but they will just follow me like before." She said. "So… this time, I should leave them all a little… surprise before I go."

"WHOO! Are we there yet!" Ed shouted.

Everyone aboard the Black Skull all looked up. They had been sailing for two full days now. At long last, there was a patch of land coming up ahead.

"Ed… if I had the energy to attack you, you'd just wait." Sarah scowled.

"Calm down." May said. "We made it."

"At long last, too." Bobbery said. "Ed, Sarah, Jonny, May, and Lee: allow me to be the first to welcome you all to Toad Town."

"Toad Town?" Lee asked. "I'm just wondering, what's with all the alliteration?"

"Captain." Ralph T said, walking toward Cortez. "The dock is coming up, and we're going at 24 knots and decreasing exponentially. We should arrive at Toad Town in two minutes."

"Ah, good, good!" Cortez said. "Amigos, prepare to disembark!"

It had been a long two days since they had been sailing. Sarah was too angry about being sent to this strange world, Jonny was still morning the loss of his beloved Plank, and Lee was mad as ever at Beldam. Ed didn't have anyone to talk to and fun with, except May, who didn't seem too down. However, Ed was a little to nervous around May, so he ignored her for the most part.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Flurrie asked.

"Toad Town is the Mushroom kingdom's capital town." Bobbery said. "We're going to go to Princess Peach's Castle. Obviously, she isn't there."

"Yeah, she's back with Mario over at Peach Creek or wherever." May said.

"Right." Bobbery replied. "But we sent a call over to some of the locals there. I've gathered a few at the castle who will rendezvous with us and try to help us out."

They were coming upon the town now. It looked like your typical little castle town, houses looked like regular suburban houses, to the relief of the crew of the boat.

"So, have we stumbled upon the most normal town in the kingdom?" May asked.

"Well, it's mostly inhabited by toads. The majority of them are upper-class, especially the ones that live near the castle." Flurrie commented. "Now look over there, over the smaller buildings. See that big opulent tower?"

May looked over the smaller buildings. "…hm… yes, I see it." There was a tall structure, peaking over the other small buildings. The peak must have been well over 5 stories, and on it's side were 4 other towers, yet not as tall in height, each with red roofs and white marble walls. Pictured in stained glass, right on the front of the highest tower was Princess Peach herself, large enough to be visible for miles on end.

"That's the castle, alright." Lee said. "Nice digs. I finally get why she complained so much about not being home when we saw her last."

"The best is yet to be seen." Ralph T said. "In fact, we're pretty lucky to be going. Nobody gets to go in there unless it's for business or a party."

"'hoy, sailors, we're here!" Cortez shouted. "Lower the anchor and get yourselves off the ship now."

"Aye!" His crew shouted.

Jonny was the first off the ship. He said nothing the whole way, but gave a small, saddened look. Sarah was the next one off. She had a steaming mad expression, but at this point, this was quite normal for her. Flurrie and Lee got off at the same time, both in awe of the town itself. May walked off the boat next in a slightly graceful manner, followed by Ed, who of course, tumbled out of the ship with a playfully confused chuckle. Bobbery and Ralph T were the last off the boat, to tie it up to the docks.

"You all stay with the ship." Bobbery ordered to the remaining crew of the Black Skull.

"Aye." they all replied.

A few toads walked towards the team that had just left the ship. They were dressed in armor, each carrying fancy spears and capes as well.

"We're the royal guard." one of them said. "Here to escort you all to the castle."

"Thank you." Bobbery said. "Alright, come on."

The castle area was just as amazing. The front yard was huge. To the right was a huge, white painted fountain spewing crystal colored water, which gave a reflective glow in the near-noon sun. The lawn was freshly cut, though there were no mowers in sight. A few hedges were planted around the premises as well, trimmed in a fashion to make a small little maze. Small little purple and blue butterflies flew near some fresh smelling flowers and mushrooms. The moat that flowed underneath an elegantly designed bridge ran from a flowing waterfall to the left of the castle, all the way around the castle, and into the right area, where a miniature, artificial lake was. A few tall trees decorated the outer area of the castle grounds, each trimmed to look identical to one another. There were a few toads walking about the area, most of whom were guards or gardeners attending to the yard. The sun shone over it at an angle, making a small shadow that provided a cooling comfort as opposed to the otherwise warm air.

"Whoa…" Sarah said, gawking at the enormous and very luxurious place.

"What better place for a princess?" Flurrie asked. "Imagine the days out in the garden, sunsets by the lake, nights star-gazing at the balcony. It must get very romantic around here."

"Please, come this way." One of the guards said, directing them toward the door.

They were led over the bridge, where the main doors were. They were relatively small doors, painted red with gold framing. Two royal guards reached the handles, pulled the doors open, and stepped aside. They each had a faithful servant's smiles and held their free hands toward the inside of the castle in an "after you" stance.

"Oh wow, how hospitable." May commented, walking inside first. The first chamber was amazing all on it's own. It was a very large foyer, the floor lined with red carpeting. In the back end of the room was a grand staircase, reaching all the way to a balcony in the higher point of the foyer. A huge set of doors at the top of the stairs led deeper into the castle itself. On either sides of the staircases were smaller balconies. Although not as high, these had their own doors as well, presumably leading into smaller rooms. On the walls themselves, there were a few tall windows in which sunlight flowed in, with adorning blue curtains. Above it all, a huge chandelier hung from the ceiling, shimmering a bright gold color. Even though it's lights weren't turned on, the reflection of the sunlight on the polished surface of the chandelier was more then enough to make the room shine.

"Cool!" Ed shouted, rushing into the room. "Look, it's shiny!"

As he rushed into the room, his laugh grew more into an echo.

A few of the caretakers popped out of every door to see what the commotion was. They were all toads, of random colors.

"Look!" one of them exclaimed, pointing at May. "The princess, she's returned!"

"Princess?" May asked questioningly.

"Princess?" Lee and Sarah both asked in disbelief.

The toads rushed to surround her.

"Wait, I'm not Peach." May said. "Honestly, my name's May, May Kanker."

All of the toads smiles turned to frowns. "Oh, right. Sorry, you just looked like her."

"Alright, alright." an older voice said. "Nothing to see here, get back to work."

At the top of the stairs emerged an older toad. He had brown mushroom spots as well as a fancy brown coat and a white mustache. The old one walked slowly, holding a cane as he did.

The toads had all walked to the side, to allow their elder down the grand staircase and to the guests.

"Please pardon the rudeness of these caretakers. Judging by your hairstyle, height, and graceful entrance, they had assumed you were Princess Peach." the toad said.

"Heh, they were more far off then they knew, huh?" Lee asked, giving a playful elbow to Sarah.

"Meh." Sarah and Jonny both responded.

Lee sighed. "It's not as easy to make fun of someone when Marie's in a different dimension."

"So then, I say, I haven't seen you lot in a while." the old one said. "Not for nearly 4 years, if I'm not mistaken."

"…sorry, I can't remember you." May replied.

"My name is Toadsworth. I was with the princess during your little adventure a while ago." the old one spoke. "While you were at Rogueport, I never did learn your names."

"I'm May." May stated.

"Lee."

"I am Madame Flurrie."

"Ralph T, first mate aboard the Black Skull."

"Admiral Bobbery, pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Sarah, don't forget it either."

Sarah peered over to Jonny, who still wasn't in the mood to talk. "He's Jonny… and that idiot who's running in circles over there is Ed."

Everyone turned to spot Ed, who was playfully doing laps around a small area. His laugher echoed throughout the foyer, causing some raised eyebrows from the royal guard.

"…quite." Toadsworth replied. He looked back to the others. "Anyway, I have been called and told of the entire dilemma. The Princess and Mario are both in the other dimension, yes? You see, with the leader and the hero gone, our kingdom has been under pretty hard times. Some of our nemesis's have been making attempts to gain control of the area. Secondary heroes are out there, trying to fend them off, but we won't fair that well if we don't get Mario back soon."

"So then how do we do it?" Sarah asked.

"Well, the only way I see it, we would have to go over into your world and get him." Toadsworth said. "Lucky for us, I have gotten one of this worlds most esteemed scientists on the case."

"Who's that?" Flurrie.

Toadsworth turned to the large set of doors at the top of the stairs. "I say, professor!"

The doors burst open, revealing an old man. Oddly enough, he looked like a human. He was a relatively short person, wearing huge thick, perfectly circular glasses. He had a single strand of hair which pointed strait up from his otherwise bald head. The ld mad sported a white lab coat and oddly pointed shoes, likes those of an elf.

As he walked down the steps, they could hear his shoes making odd squeaking sounds. Everyone stopped to gawk at the man, even Ed, who was frozen in a running position.

Toadsworth spoke up as the man reached the end of the stairs. "Everyone, please allow me to introduce you to Professor Elvin Gadd."

"Hey, Elvin." Lee said.

"Please, y'all can call me E. Gadd." he replied.

"…uh, Egad?" Jonny asked curiously.

"No no no." E. Gadd said. "You don't pronounce it like that. You have to put a space. See? E. Gadd."

The group replied with arisen eyebrows.

"My, such an odd group." E. Gadd replied.

Toadsworth tried to keep the conversation going. "Anyway, I have told the professor about the entire predicament. He's prepared something in the backroom that might be the answer to our problems."

"Yes yes, come and see. I think you'll find it a doozy of an invention." E. Gadd replied.

They were led into a less-them-majestic room, a storage area in the basement. The entire room was a bit messy, with a few tables and desks laying about. Disorderly papers were placed on the tables, whereas a few odd-looking mechanical machines were left laying about.

There was only one other person in the room. He looked resembling to Mario. However, this man was taller, and much thinner then Mario. He wore a green shirt and cap as opposed to a red one, as well. Instead of Mario's trademark "M", he had a big "L" instead. He also appeared younger, too. He had, what appeared to be a vacuum cleaner, with the main , red body of the cleaner on his back, and the hose and nozzle in his hands. He was going about the chamber, cleaning it all up.

"Oh, hello there." he said, raising one of his gloved hands and curiously lifting his green cap.

The others waved. Lee, however, walked toward E. Gadd. "Who's that guy?"

"He's Luigi, Mario's brother. Don't mind him, he's just sprucing the place up." E. Gadd said.

"Oh, I'm sure Mario told you all about me during your adventure." Luigi said.

"…sorry, never heard of you." May said.

"Seriously? His loving brother? The one who's risked his life to save Mario multiple times? The guy who would tag along with him on trips? The man who has a five novel series written about him?" Luigi asked.

"Nope." Sarah replied simply.

Luigi sighed with a bit of disappointment. "Of course."

"Anyway…" Toadsworth started. "The professor would like to unveil his invention."

"Oh, right!" E. Gadd said. He walked over to a tall machine, veiled by a white sheet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you are the first in history to see this machine, the machine that will forever change the face of long distance travel!" E. Gadd said. He grabbed the edge of the sheet and gave a tug. "BEHOLD!"

They all gawked at the machine. It looked similar to a telephone booth, but with worries running everywhere across the machine. There was the sound of electrical pulsing, and a few lights on the machine blinked on and off in random colors.

"COOL!" Ed shouted.

"…uh, what is that?" May asked.

Ed gave them a look of incredulity. "Do you all have gravy in your eyes?" (everyone cringed at the thought.) "This is a time-space machine!"

"Ah, I see this one is good with technology." E. Gadd said.

"I learned all about it on the Sci-Fi channel!" Ed shouted. "This machine can send anyone at any place in any time period! Oh, oh! Can we please visit the planet of bacon men?"

"…er, what?" E. Gadd asked.

"Oh you know!" Ed shouted. "The bacon men, they'll suck out the marrow from your bones!"

Everyone in the room went silent, except for Luigi, who gave a startles gasp. "They do?"

"Oh, yes they do!" Ed shouted dramatically, with hands shaking for dramatic effect. He got right in Luigi's face, who now looked a little nervous. "They devour your marrow and then leave your soul to drift in space while-"

He was quickly cut off by a prompt and strong whack by Sarah. "Moron…"

"Yes…" E. Gadd said. "We'll be avoiding that planet."

"Aw…" Ed sighed, sounding a little disappointed.

"Anyway, please go on, Professor." Bobbery said.

"Righto." E. Gadd said. "Now, all of you look at this chart."

He took out a huge sheet of paper, and slammed it violently onto a table, making everyone else jump.

Everyone else walked over to the table.

"Now, this is a star chart." E. Gadd said. A few of them realized it looked identical to the star chart they found in the Palace of Shadow years back. "Now, this is us right here." E. Gadd said, pointing to a small star-filled area to the bottom of the chart. "And after a lot of searching on a telescope, your planet is was over here, in some very odd galaxy called the milky way, or some other odd name."

"Right." Jonny said.

"So what we're trying to do is get you all from point A, this world, to point B, your world. My machine can cross over this universe in a few minutes. Phew, let me tell you, it wasn't easy figuring out the right frequency to send complex matter across the universe 700,000 times faster then the speed of light, but I did it!"

They all walked toward the machine.

"However…" E. Gadd said.

"…however?" Bobbery asked.

"The machine can only send one person across the universe right now." E. Gadd said.

"What?" May asked. "But why?"

"Do you think I can send multiple people across the universe? Don't be crazy, now." E. Gadd said. "But I'll work on it… but in the meantime, which one of you shall be… the one?"

Everyone else silent after he spoke in his odd new tone.

"Heh, sorry." E. Gadd chuckled. "Can't we scientists be a little dramatic now and again?"

"Wow, they're all morons." Sarah thought.

Well, we technically could send you all across the universe at once, but you'd be killed in the process." E. Gadd said.

Everyone else gulped.

"Well, it can only handle one person's mass. Otherwise, it's a very violent trip. Perfectly safe if only one goes. "I'm trying to figure out how to send everyone there safely, but this is the best I can do for now."

"You mean this thing could kill us?" Sarah asked.

"Not is only ones goes." E. Gadd said. "But this is why there can be one, and only ONE!" he shouted.

"THE ONE!" Ed shouted from behind the others.

"Right." E. Gadd said with a nod. "All of you choose who's going to go."

"I should go!" Sarah shouted. "Jimmy's probably a wreck without me!"

"Step aside, sister!" Lee shouted. "I say, I should go!"

"No!" Jonny exclaimed. "I need to find Plank! I have to go, now!"

"Can I go?" Ed asked.

Everyone else looked at him angrily. "NO!"

"Hey, step off!" Lee commanded, shoving Sarah off.

Sarah gave a growling noise. "Make me!"

She gave a shove back, making Lee growl even louder.

"Now everyone, please calm down." Toadsworth said in a futile effort to calm everyone down.

"Cut it out, you dork!"

"Make me, whimp!"

Bang! Boom! Crash!

"Oh dear." Luigi said, as he turned off the vacuum to watch the battle. The peach creek kids were all thrashing about (minus May, who was standing to the side). They knocked against a few tables and chairs, sending papers everywhere in the room.

"My lab!" E. Gadd shouted.

"Hey, I said I was going!" Sarah shouted, who was currently grappling with Jonny.

"No way, it's my turn!" Jonny said, shoving Sarah off him.

As Sarah flew, she bumped against Luigi. The startled man stumbled across the room. He tried to maintain balance, but couldn't seem to come to a safe stop. He tripped, and fell into the booth machine, coming to a slam on it's ground.

Instantly, the Time-Space machine sprung to life. The electrical pulse turned into a loud humming around, and the lights on the machine grew brighter. The main door of the machine automatically closed shut. Luigi gasped and got on his feet, trying to break out of the machine.

Everyone stopped arguing and peered over to the machine, which was beginning to shake. Smoke was rising from the top, and it's overall illuminating glow was growing to a near blinding point.

"Get him out of there!" Bobbery shouted.

"I can't, like I said, if anyone else goes near that thing when it's activated, they could be killed!"

With a very sudden zapping sound and a quick flash, everything vanished. They all looked again, but where the machine and Luigi once were, there was nothing but a bit of smoke.

"…he's gone." Toadsworth said.

"…anyone had the chance to go across the universe." May said. "So you sent the janitor."

E. Gadd smiled. "Actually, he's a plumber-"

"Whatever!" Lee shouted.

E. Gadd now looked at the now empty spot. "…oh well, back to square one."

"So it was said! Let the records show that just a minute ago, fate chose Luigi as the one… to travel across the universe!" Ed shouted, pointing into the sky.

"…But what about Luigi?" Sarah asked. "Is the guy going to be ok? And where on Earth is he going?"

"I don't know." E. Gadd said. "I only know where Earth itself is, I was never able to chart out the planet. I'd have to go there and see for myself."

"He could be anywhere on Earth." Jonny said. "That's good…"

"Well, I'm sure Luigi will be fine." E Gadd said. "Well, I hope. In the meantime, we better get the rest of you settled here."

"AAAAAIIIIIAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Luigi was backed into the corner of the machine. Most of the walls of the machine were clear, so he could see everything. Stars and amazing lights passed by. He passed by a few space rocks and planets of all sorts of colors. The entire craft was shaking as it shot across the universe.

All of the while, the very frightened plumber was huddled in the back, making a few shouts, but keeping a curious eye out at the universe all the while. It was amazing and horrifying at the same time.

He turned to look back at where he came from. His planet was already gone from sight, as the sun itself had already gotten lost among the other various stars. The odd thing was that he could hear no other sound. He assumed since there was no air in space to carry the sound, the machine was completely silent.

Seconds passed, then minutes. After the first 10 minutes, Luigi quieted down and looked out of the windows some more. Boredom quickly overcame fear. To try and pass the time, he looked out of the windows and tried to point constellations. Though he was going too fast to point them out, because he'd pass them by after a minute or two.

Finally, after a half hour, he spotted a familiar planet rush by.

"Was then Neptune?"

Before he could find out, the machine rushed by a green-ish planet. "Wow." he said.

Then came a series of enormous chunks of rock and dust. He ducked down, thought it didn't effect the outcome of the flight. He turned around to look back at what he passed through, to be surprised that the machine had just flown through Saturn's rings.

For some odd reason, it sped up even faster. Another huge planet quickly rushed by in a quick blur. A few more rocks passed by the time-space traveler, followed by a small red planet.

Luigi finally spotted the destination, a little blue and green sphere right in front of his vessel.

"Uh… this thing is going too fast… how am I supposed to land?"

The machine breached the stratosphere of the planet. There was sound again, and the entire machine began to shake violently as it pierced through the atmosphere air. In a panic, he began to scream.

It was now noontime. Kevin was sweating hot. He had pedaled on his bike from Peach Creak for nearly two days nonstop. His plot to track Beldam quickly failed, and now he himself had become lost.

Kevin was in a desert somewhere in southern USA. Temperatures must have been around 100 F.

"Whew…" Kevin sighed. He looked up into the sky, spotting the harsh sun.

The path he had chosen was just a dirt road in a seemingly endless field of sand, with the occasional crowing cactus. Aside from that, nothing.

Nonetheless, Kevin was still pedaling, though much slower. He seemed to have no possessions on him other then those he took the night he ran away. Him, his cloths, and his bike.

"Stupid desert." he said as he traveled. "Stupid weather…"

At long last, the tired boy jumped off his bike, landing on the sand. Though he was wearing shoes, he could feel the heat of the desert the moment he set foot on it. To his luck, he spotted a small set of buildings nearby. It looked like an old village one would find. No oasis in sight, though. He figured it was odd to find a village in the midst of a wasteland.

"…oh well." he spoke. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

The red-capped boy walked toward the main gates of the town. There were a few people walking about that town, none of which too noteworthy. They didn't seem to notice the weary traveler walking in from the desert as he towed his bike.

Kevin reached an old bench, and came to a stop. He was too tired to care that much for the bike, as he didn't put up it's kickstand. It quickly fell with a cloud of sand, landing sideways on the ground.

"…I need water… and maybe a hotel."

The desert wind howled at him in response. "But I need a nap first."

There was a strange noise, something very distant. It sound like a huge object whistling though the air. It seemed to be merely the wind picking up at first, but the whistling didn't quit. Whatever it was, it was coming, out nowhere and very quickly.

Kevin began to get a little concerned. Some of the townsfolk had stopped to try and find the location of the noise. Louder and louder it grew. It had become apparent after a while that this whistling noise was being accommodated by a scream.

"….aaaaaaaaAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH-"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!

A large item crashed from the sky, smashing on the ground right in front of Kevin. Sand was thrown everywhere, as a few villages that were too close to it were sent flying. Kevin sprung to his feet, taking a wrench out of his back pocket.

"Beldam's attacking!" Kevin thought.

It seemed like none of the villagers of the town were seriously hurt, but they all wanted to run away. Kevin kept his eyes open, waiting for the sand to subside. It took s minute for it to do so, and Kevin was surprised to see what it revealed.

There was a big machine in the shape of a telephone booth, about half-buried in the sand. It was wedged tightly in it's own little crater. All of the lights on it were broken, wires were hanging out of random spots, all of which were releasing sparks.

"Beldam, what are you up to now?" Kevin asked. He began to approach the machine, taking his wrench and gripping it tightly.

The door to the front burst open; Kevin didn't wait another moment to see what was beyond it; he rushed forth, wielding his wrench, jumped forth and slammed it down as hard as he could on the passenger of the machine.

"OOOWWWW!"

Kevin's eyes widened as soon as he realized that the voice didn't belong to Beldam. The very confused boy looked down to see his target. It was a man, one bearing semblance to Mario. His shirt was green as was his cap, not to mention he was taller, skinnier, and had an "L" on his cap as opposed to an "M".

"Oh… wow." Kevin said. "Sorry."

The man growled and jumped upward. "What's the big idea, attacking me like that!"

Kevin gave an equally frustrated expression. "What's the big idea, flying an UFO?"

"You're insane!" Kevin and the man both shouted at each other.

Kevin tried to regain calmness. "So, what are you supposed to be? A Mario impersonator?"

"No!" the man shouted. "My name is Luigi!"

"Never heard of you."

"Figures…" Luigi sighed.

"So dude, you mind telling me what the deal is with this… this thing?" Kevin asked, pointing to the shattered machine.

"Well, I could, but you might not believe it." Luigi said.

"Trust me." Kevin said, trying to form a smile. "I've been thought a lot of unbelievable things in my life. Try me."

Luigi briefly explained everything, starting from the point where the strange visitors, leading up to the accidental arrival.

"Those idiots." Kevin said.

"You know them?"

"Yeah, they're from my neighborhood. As a matter of fact, they and I, with a bunch of other guys from your world and mine went with Mario once."

"Oh, so that was you?" Luigi asked, stunned. "Imagine the chances of us meeting like this."

"They were probably at a clichéd low." Kevin said.

"So now I have to find a way back, as well as all the others." Luigi sighed.

"You're in luck. I might be able to help." Kevin looked down. "I'm looking for Beldam, who's currently kidnapped Nazz. If we find her, we might find your brother."

"Good idea." Luigi said. "So until we find them, we're a team?"

Both of them exchanged a quick handshake.

"It's only temporary, though." Kevin said. "As soon as this is done, you're on your own."

Author's Notes: I'll probably write more chapters like this one between story arcs, just to keep with the action and such. Expect to see more cameos and such in future chapters. The next chapter, however, will officially end the first star quest and move onto the second. Go ahead and guess what's crossover's intended next. While I won't make perfectly clear in the next chapter, I'll give several hints as to what it is. Until then, please review, like always!