Luigi awoke in a cold sweat. Little beads of it trickled down his temple. He glanced at the clock and groaned. It was a little past one in the morning. He listened closely and could hear his only relative snoring in the other room. So, pleased that his dream had not come true, he rolled out of bed and went to the window. Floorboards creaked underneath his toes. The floor was cold and hard.

The stars dotted the sky like drops of spilled milk. He let his mind wander to the night before. He had gone to bed early after a quick dinner because Mario wanted to impress Princess Peach with his meatball and spaghetti cooking skills. The two had laughed and had a good time while Luigi tried to sleep. Luigi shuffled his bare feet on the wooden floor. Was it going to be another one of these restless nights? He hoped not.

The snoring stopped abruptly. Luigi silently crossed the room and threw open his brothers door at the other end of the narrow hallway. Mario was lying on his bed with his head hanging over the side. Smirking, Luigi tried to decide what exactly he would stuff in his brother's nose when a loud and annoying knock came from downstairs. Who would need to come over at one in the morning? Luigi ran from the room to the stairs. He slid down the banister and opened the door.

There stood a toad. Now, this was no unordinary occurrence. In fact, this happened quite often, but what surprised the man in green was that the toad standing before him had, instead of spots, little swirling galaxies. Oh, and that the toad was female, which was rare. Toadette was the only female toad that Luigi had ever met.

"Mario and Luigi?" she asked. Her voice sounded far off. Like it wasn't coming from her mouth, but the aura around her. Luigi nodded, quite confused at this peculiar happening. "The Princess has been kidnapped."

"Darn it, Peach," grumbled Luigi. Always getting kidnapped. Was it her job or something?

"Not the fair Princess Peach, sir, but the Princess of another, and I was sent to come and get the legendary heroes from which endless legends tell. No, you are asked to rescue Princess Aurora Borealis."

"Princess-what now?"

"Just come, there isn't much time. Where is Luigi?" The little toad shifted and looked around Luigi and into the dark and dim house.

"You're talking to him. I'll fetch Mario, if that's what you mean." He grumbled and shut the door. Another awesome prank ruined by some princess or other getting kidnapped. Couldn't they get a break? Luigi continued up the stairs and finally shook Mario awake, telling him to get off his butt and get dressed, there is some princess they have never heard of in trouble.

When both brothers were dressed and ready, they opened the door and the toad smiled.

"Grab my hands," she told them. They looked at each other skeptically, but did as they were told. As soon as they did, light streaked around them and made Luigi thank the fact he had nothing in his stomach right now. They lurched and spun. Just as Luigi felt his grip slipping, they were on a solid metal floor, dazed. This floor had nothing on his bed.

"Welcome, boys, to the starship Orion."

"Why am I here again?" groaned a boy from the corner. He had his face and hair covered in a thick brown cloth. Scratch that, he was covered in brown from head to toe, but his eyes were a vibrant blue. And the portion Luigi could see of his face was really pale.

"You all are needed for this task." Came a simple reply. The toad, as it turned out, was just a disguise for the beautiful alien women that looked like angels. They had wings that shone with the stars and long flowing fabric like black holes for dresses. They had explained that the princess was taken into a black hole, and legend told of two guys with facial hair that would save them. So, of course, the dude in the corner was questioning why he was here, since he claimed that he had no facial hair underneath a mask.

The boy groaned once again and flipped over, tucking a loose lock of auburn air into his mask before glaring at the two men that stood before him.

How old is he? Luigi wondered. Maybe late teens or early twenties? The boy picked at some sand in his boot. That meant he was from a desert, and the only desert that Luigi knew of anywhere close by was Sarasaland, and Luigi had never seen this boy before in his life. He spent enough time there, though.

"What's your name? I'm-"

"I know who you are, Luigi. Mario, too. I guess you can call me, uh, Beetle." The boy said. Surprised, Luigi could merely nod, but Mario stood, brushed off his sleeve, and pointed at the boy.

"Who are you?" Mario demanded. His mustache bristled. The boy was probably smirking underneath his mask. The red plumber was in no mood for games, though. A blood vessel stood out prominently on his forehead.

"All in due time, Mario."

With that, Beetle stood and walked away, fists at his side. An alien came over, this one known as Andromeda, and helped him and Mario to their feet. Her eyes shone like little starts in themselves.

"We are due to be arriving momentarily at the black hole, mustached ones. You will jump ship and be sucked into it, then we will be here awaiting your return with the princess!"

Luigi jumped and started to shake his head. This sounded dangerous. He could get seriously injured! He could be wiped from existence or crushed into nothing at all. This was not the way to go. There had to be another way. Someway safer.

But, before Luigi could even open his mouth, he was shoved off into space where he felt the unforgettable tug of the black hole on him. It seemed to pull at his very soul. The dark expanse of emptiness just seemed to stretch forever, but still nothing. It was soundless and sightless, and that frightened him indeed. He tried look around to find his brother or even Beetle for help, but the black hole kept his head firmly in place.

Surely there was a look of pure horror on his face.

Nextthing he heard was Beetle screaming "YEEEAAAAHHHHH!" and Mario yelling "MAMA-MIA!" over and over again. Figuring he would follow suit, Luigi racked his brain for a sentence, but couldn't think of one.

Finally, he thought of the perfect solution.

"MOUSTACHE!"

*line*

"Yo, Luigi!"

"Uh…"

"Wake up twinkle toes!"

Luigi groaned and turned over again. Wait, he was alive?

HE WAS ALIVE!

But, wow, was his body sore. What would Mario do? Well, for starters, he would open his eyes. Luigi cracked an eye open to find Beetle looking over him and yelling at him, furious. There was gravel beneath his hands, and something was digging into his back. That something turned out to be a rock. And quite a pointy one at that. As he registered the black and inky sky, he also noticed what Beetle had said.

"Twinkle Toes?"

"Yah, problem?" Beetle retorted, angry. He was sitting criss-crossed in the gray rocks beneath them. Mario was jumping and testing his weight on multiple objects. Most trembled and fell into the chasm that separated them from what seemed to be the larger side. Beetle snorted as yet another rock of some kind fell with a mighty thump.

Luigi sat up and watched as his older brother jumped across the chasm to a rock, then, unbalanced, waved his arms frantically until he took a step and a jump across. He landed on the other side called out "HEY!"

As Luigi sighed and went to stand, Beetle didn't even bother with the stones. He just ran towards the chasm and leapt. A light flashed around him for a moment, blinding Luigi, but he landed on the other side unscathed. Great, now it was his turn.

Luigi was a great jumper so that was no problem. What was the problem were the, um, inhabitants of the settlement they found.

The houses were normal enough. Blocks of stone and brick, with little doors and windows. It seemed to be the time that the settlement was quiet when they arrived. Beetle kept on leaping ahead, incredibly nimble. Maybe he should be the one called Twinkle Toes.

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