Mario fell out of an orange portal into the Fraxinus, greeted by Luigi and Peach.

"MARIO!" Luigi and Peach screamed as they ran to hug him.

"oh... Hah hah..." Mario looked around. In the medbay. Away from Kerubiel. "I'm-a here... What-a happened while I was-a gone?"

"Oh, hah hah!" Luigi chuckled. "It was pretty uneventful. I dare say it was a slice-of-life!"

"Oh, Mario." Peach put her hands together. "I'm so glad you're safe. Where were you?"

"..."

Luigi noticed Mario's silence, and was now worried.

"..." Peach glanced at Mario. "What. Happened."

Mario finally spoke. "The Megabug returned."

Luigi turned, and GLARED at Mario.

Peach narrowed her eyes and GLARED at Mario.

Luigi was the first one in disbelief. "T-The Megabug? Our first adventure with the Rabbids? THAT Megabug?"

"Uh huh..."

Everyone remained silent at the fact, and then Peach spoke up. "But how? The Megabug dissipated with our team blaster combo..."

Luigi thought. "Unless it reformed after it's fragments scattered..."

Peach continued Luigi's thoughts. "And then came to this world..."

The door opened, revealing the red twin-tailed commander, Kotori. "Hey. I saw Shido come back, so I assumed Mario came back. Looks like my assumption was right."

Mario gave a thumbs up. "I'm-a back. Why...-" Mario's tone sunk. "- ... do you sound-a so serious?"

"Mario." Kotori put a hand to her hip. "I need to speak to you in private. Commander's orders." Kotori secretly reached for her earpiece and crushed it so nobody could interrupt her - and doing that made her miss the incoming Spatial Quake alarm.

Luigi IMMEDIATELY stuck up for his bro. "Uhm... Private as in... us BROTHERS, right...?"

"No. Just you. I-"

Kannazuki burst in. "Spacequake alert! Commander, there's really a-"

Kotori thought of a plan. "Alright, I have a plan. Lozenge, you go with Shido to the Spirit. He should be rushing to the scene as we speak. Princess.. you... hang on." She raised her hand and snapped her fingers, with Kannazuki arriving right on schedule. "Go with Kannazuki. He has to show you something."

One by one, the members agreed with Kotori.

Mario. "Mama-mia... What is our-a private discussion even going to be..."

Luigi. "It's not LOZENGE! It's LUIGI!" He growled as he walked off to the teleporter.

Peach. "Very well." She walked to Kannazuki.

And that just left Mario and Kotori.

"So..." Mario and Kotori were in a hallway now. Mario braced himself. Spirits can be scary. "What did you-a want to discuss?"

Kotori suddenly grabbed Mario by the collar and pinned him to the wall. Barely any effort. Again, Spirit power.

"Ghck-" Mario spat. "What-a gives?"

"Alright, enough dodging the truth." Kotori stared daggers into Mario. "Explain everything. This Bowser creature, why he has MY SPIRIT POWERS AND NAME. Out with it. I'm usually fine with letting things go, but that Spirit - Efreet - is DANGEROUS. Where did it come from."

"A-ah?! That?! I don't-a know! Bowser attacked us in-a our own world and suddenly a vortex opened-a up and we got sucked into your-a world! That's all I-a know, so I'm-a sorry!"

Kotori's grip remained tight, but loosened a little when she heard a little kid shout. "Leave Mario alone, you bad woman!"

They both turned, and for once, Mario was happy to see the two. "Bowser Jr.! Kamek! You're both-a here!"

Kamek adjusted his glasses. "Young Bowser Jr. was right. Master Bowser is certainly not himself. He's been possessed by this Efreet spirit. So the young master suggested a temporary truce, until we get Bowser back to his senses."

"So that's-a it, then." Mario blinked. "He's-a fully gone until we beat his Spirit-a power out of him?"

Kamek sighed. "It seems to be the case. I don't wish to see your father get beat up in front of Bowser Jr. AGAIN, but we have no choice anymore. Wait until he appears and do the right thing."

Junior jumped to exclaim something. "I don't even mind if you beat him up in front of me! That fire Spirit is making my dad a mindless puppet! So I'll think of it as you beating up that Spirit! And it'll be SOOOOOOO satisfying, hohoho!" Junior giggled.

Kotori just adjusted her eyebrows. "You're both bad guys."

Bowser Jr. slammed a fist to his palm repeatedly. "The fire spirit corrupted my dad and I want him back. Simple enough?"

Kotori paused... then let go of Mario. "Fine, fine. You brought in the mess, you can surely clean it up..."

Mario gripped his own collar to adjust it. "Phew... so... what do we-a do now?"

"First? Radio in with Shido and see how the Spirit is doing - " She tapped her earpiece and then remembered - she destroyed them.

For the love of...

Luigi suddenly BURST through, startling everyone in the party. "MAAAAARIO! And... And you two?!" He looked at Bowser Jr. and Kamek.

Bowser Jr. quickly shut him up with his previous statement. "We have a truce."

"Oh, okay." He calmed down, then immediately went back to freaking out. "MARIO! It's super bad! We had a run in with Natsumi-"

"Natsumi?" The others questioned all at once.

"Right." Luigi cleared his throat. "That's the new Spirit's name. And she basically was like..." He jumped to Mario's side and proceeded to talk in Italian gibberish.

Mario responded. "Pecoponestacorratopoconotopoquesorrapacrato?"

Luigi. "Iunno, istabaladingolaringdanayo."

Mario. "Wah! Mama-mia!"

Luigi. "Patonie toonakananadanarabahabahdalalasayo."

Mario was REALLY alarmed. "MAMA-MIA!"

Meanwhile, at school, Shido yawned. The absolute worry in Kotori's voice had lectured him until LUNCH.

"Ugh, I've been held back way too much... I'll just... try to make an excuse for absence..."

He opened the classroom door to find numerous students staring at him in disgust - including Tohka.

"Wh-what?!" He was flabbergasted at the situation.

Ai immediately ran up to him with an anger-filled face. "How DARE you show your face here, Shido?"

Mai. "Don't you know what you've done?!"

And suddenly, Mii jumpscare. "That's so lame!"

Shido took all the time to process - he ran into a witch, he got held back by bunny creatures, and now everyone's thinking he's sus. Meanwhile Ai kept interrogating further. "You took everyone's body and humilated all of us - including Tohka!"

"That's so lame!" Mii finished.

Shido gripped his own tie and tried to reason his way out of it. "H-hold on a second! I was busy with other stuff and JUST got into school!"

"What's done is done!" The three friends stepped closer - including Tohka. "But you shouldn't pretend it didn't happen! Next time..." She blushed as she rubbed her fingers together. "g-give me a heads up." Shido gawked as she continued. "That way I can prepare my heart first..."

"I'm really telling you I didn't-" Shido's shoulders were gripped by a white-hair supergenius. "Origami -?! Wait, don't tell me I did something heinous to you too..."

"Nothing."

Shido breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good..."

"So I'll have you do it now." Origami spouted out a bunch of really not-safe-for-work remarks while the three friends were just out of their mind at what they were hearing.

Tohka barged in. "HOLD UP! Shido really hasn't done any of THAT to anyone yet!"

"Do it, Shido."

Before it could get any BETTER, the Yamai twins stepped into the class, with Kaguya starting. "If there's one thing you are, Shido, is that you're ballsy to come into this property after what you've done!"

"Warning: You'll pay for what you have done."

"...and that's what I suspect what's goin' on!" Luigi finally finished his essay-like explanation.

Kotori took a few moments to process that. "What... does... that mean?"

Kamek raised his glasses. "Allow me to translate... it seems that this 'Natsumi' character plans to absolutely ruin this 'Shido' character's life. Not by physically, but... mentally?"

Bowser Junior stepped in front of the entire group, staring at the teleporter, then staring back at the group. "Hey! I got an idea!" He went back to looking at the teleporter, slammed his fist into his palm (again) twice, and then staring back at the ground with a grin - so hopefully they get an idea.

Mario put his hand in front of Junior. "Nuh uh. We're-a gonna solve this peacefully. Hopefully. I really hope. The only-a Spirit we're gonna punch is-a Bowser!"

"Speaking of Spirits." Kotori reminded. "I'm getting readings of one on the school rooftop. Looks like it's this 'Natsumi' character."

"Great!" Mario ran to the teleporter. "Time to-a go punch her!"

Junior reached out but was too late before Mario vanished into thin air. "But... I thought you just said..."

Shido blasted open the door and saw an exact clone of himself.

The doppel spoke. "Yo. That was quick."

Shido wasn't having any of it, however. Instead, he decided to get straight to the point of the farce. "Who... are you?"

"Oh, me? I was having SO much fun while you were away. Too bad you had to come on by to SCREW IT UP."

"WHAT are you?" Shido demanded further. "What are you trying to get by impersonating me?!"

"Kh..." The clone laughed, then let it all out. "KAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Oh, you find that FUNNY?!"

"But it is! After all." He gripped his own head and decided to let HER voice come loose. "You haven't figured it out yet, have you?"

"That voice." Well done, Sherlock Shido. "Natsumi?!"

"Ding ding! You got it right!" She lowered her hand. "Surely you know why I'm in this guise."
"I really don't but carry on."
"I'm doing all sorts of crazy things as you to absolutely ruin your life. Even if only ONE of us exists, it'll break everyone to the absolute point of confusion." She walked up to him. "So I'm going to take over your life and role. Nobody will notice you're gone."

"Natsumi... you... you...!"

The door BURST open, revealing Tohka and Origami. And of course, tackling each other.

Tohka started. "Mmmgh! Origami! You look soemwhere else! I'll find Shido!"

"I can't leave him up to you."

They both turned and spoke at the same time. "Double Shido?"

"Tohka?! Origami?! Listen..." Shido pleaded.

Mario landed on the school rooftop, his knees shaking. "Oh, mama-mia! Shouldn't jump down from a large height again!"

"Mario?!" Shido gasped.

"Who's Ma-" Natsumi genuinely asked, but tried to cover it up. "Heeey, Mario! I can exp-"

By that point, everyone was looking at him.

Tohka stated the obvious. "Come on, Mario was at the sidelines when I got sealed!"

Then Origami. "Mario is an annoying pest who seems to rub off Shido."

Mario walked up to Natsumi with a smug face... pulled out his hammer, and smacked her in the gut, losing her guise and back to a skimpy jade-hair witch.

"My perfect guise?!" She looked down at her hands. "Ruined, because of a simple mistake..."

Luigi burst out the door, catching his breath. "M-Mario! Don't run off like that..."

Natsumi growled and looked at Luigi. "YOU."

Mario side-eyed to Luigi. "Okay, what was-a your first meeting like?"

Luigi sighed and bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Mario! I botched it! I came out of hiding when things got tough! I thought I could save Shido... when, really, all I did was add my own name to Natsumi's victim list..." Luigi never felt this useless before.

"You! Yoooou!" Natsumi summoned a broom - her Angel - and sat on it. She floated to the sky, glaring down on everyone. "This isn't over! I got one NASTY trick left up my sleeve! Shido, you two girls, and especially YOU TWO PEABRAINS..." She glared at the Mario Bros, who in return glared back. "...will get my PAYBACK!" She flew off into the unknown.

Everyone crowded around Shido, with the two girls being the most curious, and Tohka starting up once again. "Shido... who is that?"

And Origami, always with the details. "What's your relationship with her?"

"No... that's... mmm..." Shido couldn't find the words.

Mario silently looked up into the sky, speaking only in his mind. "Luigi botched it? No, I know that's not my bro! He's a superstar, better than I'll ever be! I got a bad feeling about something, but I know us brothers can pull it off together!"

Luigi woke up in his bed - late start. He never started late. His bro always woke him up. At least, back in the original world. He always said something like "A promise is a promise." and "The pipes won't get fixed themselves." But... still. He slowly rolled out of bed - in the Spirit Mansion, no less. He finally spoke to himself. "Huh. I thought I was... Why am I...? Eh...?" Luigi slowly crawled out.

He peeked out the door and called out. "H-hello? Mario? Tohka? Kotori...?" He slowly crawled out of the door, taking massive but tiny steps. "...Heck, even Kamek?!" He looked downstairs, only to see a young turtle watching TV, although his eyes seemed to be distant. He stepped down the stairs. "Bowser Junior?"

Jr. looked at Luigi. "Oh, morning sleepyhead. There was no Kamek to babysit me so I'm just watching TV as much as I want!"

"No Kamek..." Luigi quietly said to himself. "News on Mario?"

Junior turned around his whole body to face him. "No Mario either? Sweet! It's like paradise for me!"

Luigi simply lowered his expression. "Except you're gonna fight a flame-powered Bowser. Alone."

"...No Mario either? No! It's like the Underwhere for me!" Junior quickly switched up. Then he tapped his little fingers on the sofa. "When I woke up, I heard NOBODY! I was in the Spirit Mansion! I never SLEEP here! And I'm supposed to be doing more productive things!"

Luigi could only lower his gaze further. "Productive things."

"Would YOU do nothing when Mario is missing?"

"Fair point."

Junior continued. "Regardless - not even the annoying twintail commander answered! I was completely alone, honestly!" He buried his face into Luigi's chest and sobbed a little. "And papa's still mind controlled..."

Luigi looked at the side - where a sudden brown hair girl was there. "WAAAAH-!" He accidentally kicked Junior and both landed on the floor in sheer shock. The cowardly plumber just kept screaming. "WHO BROUGHT IN THEIR CRAPPY SELF-INSERT?!"

Junior groaned and looked at the commotion. "Oh, hey, it's Aiana!"

"YOU TWO MET?!"

Aiana pouted. "Way to call me a self-insert. And yes, I have met Bowser Jr. It seems you are both in a dire situation. Allow me." She gripped her hands onto thin air and tore open a time portal window, showing a certain witch.

Luigi immediately gasped. "Natsumi! Does that mean-?!"

"That's right." She closed the time portal. "Natsumi took everyone except you two. I 'locked' Bowser Jr. into a time portal so that he wasn't visible to Natsumi, then he asked me to lock you."

"Why me? Why not Mario?" Luigi was confused.

Bowser Jr. folded his arms. "It seems you have a grudge against her. It seems I made the right choice, ah hah!"

Luigi turned back to Aiana. "Well, if you're so powerful, when why not just send us both back in time to stop Natsumi!"

"Right, that." Aiana coughed. "None of you are strong enough to stop an experienced Spirit. Bowser is an exception since he's less experienced. And second off, timeline altering can just make the Megabug WORSE."

They both gasped. "You know of that?!"

"In my own world, it's starting to take hold. The sheer amount of timelines with depressed and overpowered male readers has caused a complete reality collapse. Defeat the Megabug and it should all go back to normal."

The whole world weighs on Luigi and Bowser Junior.

No pressure.

"Well, we should find Natsumi, get our friends back!" Luigi was the first to take initiative.

Bowser Junior immediately followed up. "And since when were you so insightful and brave?" Wait, that's not a follow up, that's an insult...

"A-ah hah." Right back to nervousness. "It's for my brother, I gotta save him."

The air rippled and a broom appeared out of nowhere. The 'broom' part faced the duo as it revealed some glass, as the witch appeared. "Hello, boys. Who are you talking to?"

Bowser Jr. looked to Aiana only to realise she vanished without a trace.

Luigi clenched his fists together. "Natsumi! Let Mario go! A-and the rest..."

The witch giggled. "You and your identical red self have an inseperable bond! What is his end goal if you support him so much, hmm?"

Bowser Jr. looked around, nobody willing to give an answer, so he just answered himself. "...it varies. Sometimes it's a flagpole, sometimes it's a space-themed collectable with eyes..."

"Hah. Funny. I mean, what do you fight for?"

Luigi firmly answered. "For everyone! To stop bad guys! Now let him go or I'll curse at you in Italian!" He grumbled.

"How rude. Is THAT how you seal Spirits? Nonetheless, I propose a little game! I've trapped everyone in this continent in my Angel, Haniel. I am out in the world somewhere. See if you can find me!"

"..." Luigi once again deadpanned. "What's stopping you from turning into a tree or a bush or something?"

"Oh, good point! I should note that down! The point is, you're alone and it's all your fault! Hee hee hee, it's a little witch's punishment. The game starts now!"

Oh, mama-mia.