Happy New Year everyone!

What better way to celebrate the holidays that with the next chapter of this fic! Now that the two prologues are out of the way, we can now finally get to the real bulk of the story! You could say that this chapter is where the story TRULY begins.

I think it's about time we find out how our heroes are faring after the previous events, am I right?

So, without further ado, let's get started!

Act 1: Chapter 1

A Strange New World

Things were pretty quiet at the Mario brother's house. This of course was expected. Mario and Luigi lived far from Toad Town, so apart for the waste collector and the postman, there wasn't a lot of "traffic". This Give a certain someone the opportunity to enter inside the house and start cleaning up the place.

That someone was Toad, who was now enthusiastically putting garbage inside a trash can, happily singing the whole time. He then grabbed the can and rolled it outside the house, putting it next to the porch.

"And that was the last chore! All done!" He proudly proclaimed as he removed some sweat on his forehead.

The things is, he and the Mario Bros had an agreement. Every time the brothers were away, Toad would come to their house and do a few chores, clean up a few things, throw away what was spoiled, the usual stuff. And in return, they would pay him with some gold coins.

But in truth, Toad actually liked doing this sort of things. He always found something strangely relaxing in it all. He would have gladly done it for free, but in the end, one needs money to, you know, live, so he accepted the compensation.

All in a day's work, as he always said. Sometimes, he wondered if he should start doing this as a second jobs.

His contemplation's however were interrupted by the loud groaning of his belly. Good thing no one was there.

"Hehe. It's true what they say. Nothing like a full day of work to spark someone's appetite." A thought came to him. "Now that I think about it, Mario must have probably freed the princess by now. They should be here pretty soon." He snapped his fingers as an idea sparkled in his head. "I could cook a delicious lunch for all three of us as a celebration!" He said ecstatically as he patted his own head. "Toad, you are a genius!" He complimented himself as he grabbed his personal frying pan to help him with this task.

However, before he could enter the house and start cooking, he was interrupted.

"Wait. What's that noise?" He asked himself as he started hearing a strange sound from afar.

He could have sworn that it was getting… closer.

"….wwwwwaaaaaaAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Realizing where the noise was coming from, Toad immediately looked up in the sky… and was subsequently shocked to see none other than Mario himself falling toward the house at high speed.

Before he could properly process what he was seeing, Mario fell right in the opening of the chimney, and crashed inside the house, a loud crash sound accompanying it all.

Toad didn't say anything. He just stood there in silence, as if he was having a hard time processing what he just saw. After a few seconds, he snapped back from the stupor as he rushed inside the house to give aid to his friend.

To his surprise, the place was still perfectly intact, with not a single broken or out of place object. He wondered how this was possible give the speed Mario fell inside. He immediately found out why.

He had no idea how, it was anyone's guess, but SOMEHOW Mario was currently hanging on one of the coat racks. Again, he had no idea how this was possible. He was pretty certain that numerous laws of physic had been broken that day.

"Mario! What the heck!? I get wanting to make a dynamic entry, but you could have just as easily used the door to do that!" He shrieked as he helped his friend get down from the coat rack.

"Believe me Toad… that wasn't even… close to be my intention." He told him weekly as he hold his arm in pain.

"I will take your word for it." Toad sighed. "Seriously though, are you okay?" He asked him worried.

"Don't worry Toad, I'm fine, surprisingly enough. Just a bit sore." He answered him.

This made Toad relieved as another thought then crossed his mind. "Oh speaking of which, since you are here, I'm going to assume that the princess is with you. Is she waiting outside?" He concluded that it was the only logical explanation. After all, Mario was here, and he always manages rescues the princess every time. So he must have succeeded once again, right?

"I can't wait to see her face when I tell her that today I will cook my fabulous Heavy Cake soufflé! She really loves it!" He started to direct himself out of the house, but first he, of course, had to congratulate the hero as always. "Oh, and congratulations Mario! Another successful rescue!" He told him with a really proud tone as he walked outside to greet the princess.

Mario in return didn't do anything. He didn't feel like he could do much at the moment. The truth is, his brain still hadn't properly registered everything that had transpired. All he could do was sit on his bed and replay everything in his head over and over again. And two particular thoughts hit him like a wall of bricks.

A Giant sword fell on Bowser's Castle.

The Princess was still missing.

With his eyes dilating so much that you would think they had disappeared, Mario immediately jumped out of his bed and dashed out of his house where Toad was waiting for him. "Hey, Mario. Where is the princess? Did she like, directly go to her castle or-" He didn't have the chance to finish his question as Mario put his hand in front of him, his face full of nothing but dread.

"TOAD! I would really like to clue you in! BUT I REALLY HAVE TO GO! NOW!" He yelled quickly as, without even waiting for Toad's answer, he dashed at full speed toward Bowser's Castle.

"What!? Mario wait! What's… going… on." He tried to ask him, but by the time he said the first two words, Mario was already long gone. All Toad could do at that point was simply stare in the direction Mario went to, all the while a million questions were floating in his head, and no answer was in sight. Though there was one question he felt the need to say out loud.

"… What the heck?"

The last thing Sasha Waybright remembers was being in a playground with her two best friends, Marcy and Anne. They had just… "Borrowed" a really fancy looking music box from a drift store and Anne was in the process of opening it. Then, the second she opened the lid, a massive flash of white appeared from the box and overwhelmed them.

And… that is the last thing she remembers.

Now, she and her two friends were currently on the ground, no worse for wear and in an unknown location. And the music box was nowhere in sight. All Sasha could do was wonder what the heck had just happened. And find a reasonable and sensible explanation to it all. Soon.

'Okay Waybright. Stay calm.' Sasha thought to herself. 'There is totally one hundred percent a reasonable explanation for all of this. Totally. I just have to think long and hard and it will come up.'

'… … Oooooooh. Now I get it.'

'This is all just a prank.'

'Anne and Marcy must have architected this whole thing together a few days earlier.'

'The three of us falling unconscious? Marcy and Anne are just faking it right now. Me tough? Anne must have used one of her Muay Thai moves to make me fall unconscious for real.'

'That clerk in the drift store? She was in it as well. Probably bribed or something.'

'And that whole white flash thing? It was definitely just a special effect that the music box does whenever someone opens it.'

'Yeah… definitely.'

'Well, I have to hand it to them. As far as pranks go, this one was really impressive. They actually managed to fool me for a bit. I'm actually quite proud of them. Goes to show I taught them right. Not that there was any doubt about it.'

Having made clear that everything was normal as always, Sasha decided to keep playing dumb. I mean, the two of them put so much effort in this prank. It would have being cruel to reveal to them that she already figured the all thing out. So, pleased with herself for having figured the whole thing out, Sasha stood to her feet and started stretching her arms and legs while observing the clearing of the forest. Being on the ground for too long can make your limbs go numb after all.

'… … Wait! Forest!?' She screamed internally.

Sasha immediately darted her eyes around her, only to realize that unfortunately, they were not playing tricks on her. The three of them were in fact currently standing in the middle of a large forest. The trees where in every direction. You couldn't look one direction without seeing one.

But that wasn't the most shocking thing she was witnessing.

Standing next to the trees was numerous gigantic mushrooms, which by all accounts, had physical proportions that were absolutely impossible. They were of different colors. Some red, some yellow, some blue and the list just kept going. The one thing they all had in common were the white dots covering their caps. And they were tall. REALLY tall. Some of them even managed to surpass the height of the trees.

And guess what? It still was not over.

From behind one of the mushrooms emerged another mushroom. This one was brown and it was much much smaller than the other ones. The same height as a dog to be precise. So this one was normal, right?

Yeah, it would be, if it wasn't for the fact that the brown mushroom had a FREAKING FACE. Like, an actual face, with eyes, mouth, eyebrows and everything. (Minus the nose). And it wasn't just the face. That thing also had legs. Two small stumpy legs that looked really difficult to walk on.

Really, that thing wouldn't look out of place in a Saturday night cartoon, but in real life? Yeah, that's where the problem was.

She and the creature stared at each other for a full minute, with neither side bulging. Eventually, the mushroom thing conceived defeat and left, leaving behind a very shocked Sasha.

And it was still not over.

After the creature left, different creatures emerged. This ones were by all appearances, a bunch of turtles with green shells. Again, if it wasn't for the faces and the human limbs, they would be normal. And walked in group, following after the brown mushroom that had left.

AND, right after them, from one of the trees came out something else. It was a giant caterpillar with a flower on his head. It had two small hands and numerous pairs of small legs and it had one cute smile on his face.

In the end, there was really only one reaction someone could have to this situation.

"… … WHAT THE HELL!?" Sasha screamed at the top of her lungs.

Okay forget being calm and collected. Sasha was now in the "screaming and panicking" phase.

I mean she heard of people going the extra mile to make sure a prank works. But this was getting to unbelievable even for her.

Being in an absolute need for answers, Sasha rushed to her two friends, who, as she kept repeating to herself in full denial mode, were just faking it.

"ANNE! MARCY! THIS PRANK ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE! WAKE UP! NOW!" She yelled at her two friends, downright ordering them to wake up and help her calm down. And it was then that she discovered another thing that put a wrench in the "It's just a prank" theory.

They weren't pretending. They were unconscious for real.

Even more dread kept rising inside Sasha as she tried desperately to stay calm. And failing. There were only two people that could have helped her in that situation. And they were currently out like lights.

Which left Sasha with only one method to wake them up from their slumber.

First Anne.

*Smack*

"Five more minutes…"

Then Marcy.

*Smack*

"One up Superstar…"

With the two of them now semiconscious, she started shacking Anne in an attempt to make her fully conscious.

"S-Sasha? W-What's going on?" She asked her weakly while rubbing her eyes, still a bit dazed from whatever the music box did.

"Anne. I need you to answer me truthfully now. Is this a prank?" She asked her, a hint of panic in her voice.

Anne winced as she hold her head in pain, having not understood the question. "W-What? What are you talking abou-" She didn't finish what she was saying as Sasha put both her arms on her shoulders and started shaking her again.

"Just answer me Anne! Is. This. A. PRANK?!" She screamed at her best friend, almost begging her to confirm that her original theory was correct.

"NO! No it's not! I don't even get what is supposed to be a prank! Seriously Sash, what's wrong?" Anne asked her friend flabbergasted.

"Just. Look." She exclaimed as she extended her arm toward… well, everything that was standing in front of them. The giant mushrooms, the strange creatures, everything.

Anne stared in shock at the strange creature, clearly not knowing how to process what she was seeing. "… … Okay! Now it's my turn to ask that! Is this some kind of prank Sasha?"

"Do I look like the kind of person that would pull a prank like this!?"

"Yes! One hundred percent! You would definitely pull something like this!

"Right! Like you aren't into this sort of thing too, Miss "Moral High Gro-"

"Oh. My. Gosh."

The two's arguments was interrupted by a third voice. They turned their heads to see Marcy, who was staring at the creatures with utter awe.

"I. can't. Believe it. How… when did… how is… what even… I… I…" Marcy wasn't able to finish her sentence as she did the only thing a video game fan would do in this sort of situations.

She fainted.

"MARCY!" Anne screamed as she and Sasha rushed to their unconscious friend.

Sasha gently slapped Marcy face to wake her up. She did after a few second. "Hey… Girls." She said weakly, trying to get back her faculties.

"Marcy! Are- are you okay?" Anne asked her friend worried.

"No Anne. I'm not okay… … I'M COMPLETELY ECSTATIC!" Marcy screamed, her face one of pure happiness.

This response left Sasha and Anne speechless as they stared at Marcy who was now giggling and jumping up and down like an exited school girls who was informed that she was the prom queen. Or like a kid who just drank a glass of sugar.

"Girls, don't you get what's going on?!" She asked them, tone full of enthusiasm.

"Not really no." Anne replied quickly.

"Me neither." Sasha followed.

"We are in the world of Super Mario!" She said to them, almost yelling it, tone full of nothing but the purest of happiness. She was also clearly expecting her two friends to react the same.

They didn't. Not even closely.

"… Eh?" Sasha blurted out.

"Say what now?" Anne followed.

"Oh come on girls, don't tell me you have never heard of Super Mario Bros! One of, if not, THE greatest video game franchise of all times!" Marcy said ecstatically, like she was a child in a candy store. "How can you not know about it? I mean, I talk about this series all the time!" She told them. However, it took her only one look at her friend's awkward and forced smiles to realize what the truth was. "… You girls never listen when I talk about this sort of things, don't you?" She asked them with dead pan look.

"What? No! Of course not Marcy! It's not that we don't' listen to you, It's just that we find what you usually talk about… boring! … That sounded bad didn't it?" She realized too late.

"Anne I got this. Mar Mar, believe me, this isn't about you. It's about the topics you chose. In fact, it's not just the Mario stuff we don't listen too." Sasha said, clearly not realizing that it sounded even worse. Anne of course realized it, and gently elbowed her in the rib.

"Not. Helping. Sasha." She angrily whispered to her.

"Well, whatever! I honestly don't care! What I really care about now is this wonderful wonder that's happening right in front of me!" She said ecstatically as she run toward those creatures, giddy like a kid during their birthday.

"Oh my gosh! Look at this Wriggler! How can something be both deadly and cute at the same time! And those adorable legs! And that flower! It's just as adorable as they always envisioned it!" She said with awe as she proceeded to let out a squeal of joy. She then run toward the green turtles. "Koopa Troopas! Oh, how many 1 Ups I've gained thanks to your shells! How many run they saved with those 1 ups!" She let out another squeal. Then she run toward the brown mushroom. "And here it is! One of the biggest stable of the Mario Franchise! The Goombas! You may be incredible easy to defeat but you little guys have made history! Be proud!" She said, her tone full of joy as she started to jump up and down in happiness, letting out another squeal.

Then, she run back to her friends, where she had one final piece of information to give them. "Girls! Don't you get it? We have been isekai'd to another world! A video game world!"

… You know, if the situation wasn't already pretty ridiculous as it was, Anne was certain she would have started screaming.

And yet she didn't know why, maybe it was the creatures she witnessed early, maybe it was everything Marcy was saying, or maybe it was just the utter insanity of everything, but instead of screaming, Anne started laughing.

It wasn't a sincere laugh mind you, it was the sort one had to force out of themselves to ensure you don't go crazy.

"Oh! Okay! Now I get it! Girls, this is all a dream! So, we should just play along until we wake up!" Anne suddenly blurted out, now sporting a fake and forced smile on her face.

"… A dream?" Sasha asked her puzzled.

"Yeah! Nothing but a dream Sasha!" She reaffirmed with the same fake smile plastered on.

Sasha took a deep breath as she processed what Anne had just said. "Okay, let's see if I get this straight. We are all just having a dream?"

"Yep!"

"… The same dream at the same time?"

"… Yeah!"

"And we are also somehow sharing this dream?"

"… Yeeeeeeaaaaah?" She said unconvincingly, now starting to really lose faith in her theory. Or, well, delusions is more appropriate.

Realizing that her friend was not faring well with all the information they had received, Sasha took another deep breath and put her hands on her shoulder, now looking at her with a face of compassion. "Anne, believe me, I would like nothing more than that to be true. But, I'm afraid we have to face the Truth. And the truth is that…"

Sasha then started pointing at everything that was surrounding them to further highlight that it was in fact all there. No trick of the eye. No hallucination. And no dream. "This. This is real."

Anne fake smile completely faded as she finally accepted the reality she was in.

While this was happening, Marcy was still geeking over everything that was around her. While she was doing so, a thought came to her. 'Wait, were is the...?'

A horrible feeling came to her as she started to look around the place. And unfortunately, that feeling was proven correct as, apart from their backpacks, she couldn't find that object anywhere.

"Hey, girls." The two looked at Marcy who had a grim look on her face. "This may not be the best time, but…" She started to think out to put it in a delicate manner, before deciding to just remove the band aid. "I'm afraid I can't find the music box."

"What?" Anne said shocked.

"The music box. I've searched everywhere but I can't find it. I'm… I'm sorry." Marcy revealed to them apologetically.

This latest news destroyed whatever hope Anne had for the situation as she sat on the ground, legs crossed. "Great. Just wonderful." She said in resignation.

Seeing no other option at the moment, Sasha joined Anne, sitting right next to her. "So let's recap. Stranded in "video game world" as Marcy put it, with no exit in sight, and the one thing that could have being our way out is gone. Peachy."

Having gotten out of her isekai high, it was now Marcy's turn to join them in the "no hope wagon", sitting right next to them.

"So, what do we do know?" Marcy asked them, genuinely hoping that someone would actually gave her an answer.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I don't think there is much we can do Marcy. All that's left for us to at this point it's to find someone to give the blame to." Sasha admitted to them.

"… Nice going Anne!" She suddenly said in an accusatory tone.

"WHAT!?" Anne yelled, being genuinely taken back by this accusation.

"If you hadn't stole that music box, none of this would have happened, and you know it!"

"Are you KIDDING ME!? Do I need to remind you that the only reason why I stole that stupid box in the first place is because you pressured me in doing it!?"

"Well, if you didn't want to do it, why didn't you just say so in the first place?

"I DID! And you followed that by guilt tripping me by saying how much this meant for Marcy and that I couldn't "ruin" her gift for me!"

"… Oh my god. Anne, you are right, this is not your fault."

"… Oh. …Well. …Okay. Glad that you were able to-"

"The fault is entirely on you Marcy!"

"WHAT!? What fault do I have in all of this?"

"You started this mess in the first place with your gift for Anne! You really couldn't have chosen something else, could you?!"

"I'm sorry, what are you blaming me for exactly!? Not knowing what that box was capable of? Not being able to see the future!?"

"I'm just saying! You could have searched a bit more into that object before choosing that to be your gift!"

"Hey! Don't you dare blame Marcy for this! Even she didn't want me to steal the music box. This is all on you Sasha!"

"Right! Said the one couldn't even speak up about her discomfort!"

"I WANTED to speak up! But I was afraid from what you would say!"

"Oh! So now you not having courage is suddenly my faul-"

"ENOUGH!"

The two's fight was interrupted by a loud scream. They were left quite shocked by the fact that it came from Marcy of all people, who was now looking at them with nothing but seriousness.

"Girls! Let's face it! Right now, it really doesn't matter who is at fault and who isn't! Because in the end, that still doesn't change the fact that we are still stuck here with no way of going back home in sight! And right now the two of you are not solving anything by acting like two giant babies! Yeah! I said it! Babies!"

Her face then softened as she continued. "Look girls, I get it. You are scared. You are stranded in an unknown place where everything is all so weird. You have no idea how to get back home, if there even is a way back, and you are afraid about what you might encounter while here. And the only other person that could understand what you are feeling is instead having the time of their life." She laughed but there was no humor in her laugh. "But acting like this will bring us nowhere. It definitely won't bring us one more step back home. But I will tell you what will." A confident smile appeared on her face. "We stick together. We work together and we face any adversity together. Because when the three of us put our minds together, there is nothing that can stand in our way!" She said fiercely as she looked at her two best friends. A stern look on her face. "But before we do anything, you two better apologize to each other, now."

Easier said than done. Anne and Sasha looked at each other and visibly winced as their fully realized everything they had said. After a few seconds of awkward silence, it was Sasha that finally broke the ice. "… I'm… sorry for having yelled at you Anne. That wasn't cool of me." Sasha apologized sincerely

"I'm sorry for having yelled too Sash. Definitely not one of our best moments." Anne did the same as she extended her hand to her for a hand shake. "Friends?"

Sasha looked at Anne for a few seconds before giving her a genuine smile. "Best friends." She said firmly as she shook d her hand.

The two then embraced, putting that nasty fight behind them.

"And here I am, being the third wheel." Marcy said jokingly.

"Come here you goof." Anne said happily.

"Yippee!" Marcy said happily as she joined the two in the group hug.

The three then broke their hug as they started look around. After a few seconds of silence, Anne spoke up. "So, what now? Where do we go from here?" She asked them.

Sasha thought about if for a while before answering her. "I think that first thing first, we should find any sign of civilization. Like a town or a village. Having some locals to talk to will help us to better get our bearings on this place."

"Well, to be fair Sasha, it wouldn't hurt to have some bearings right now." Anne admitted to them.

"True that. Oh, if only we had someone with us that had full knowledge of the not just the world we are stuck in, but also of all his inhabitants." Marcy said with a smirk, totally not implying that she should take this role for the team.

Sasha of course immediately caught on what she was doing, a smirk appearing on her face. "Marcy Wu. How would you like to be our official guide to this world?" Sasha asked her like she was a princess and she was about to make Marcy a knight.

"I would be honored!" She said as she bowed to her, more than happy to take this role.

Sasha then clapped her hands together as she looked at her friends. "Alright team! Let's grab our stuff and get ready to venture forth! Whatever this place throws at us, we will be ready! And we will face it together" She said with confidence to her team to pump them up.

Anne and Marcy nodded with determination as they did just that.

The three girls, back pack on their shoulders, ventured forth into the forest, intent on finding any place of civilization to help them on this quest. It was going to be tough journey full of perils, without a doubt, but as long as they were together, nothing was going to stop them. They will find that music box again, and they will find their way back home. That was a promise.

… … But before any of that, Marcy had to communicate one last piece of information.

"Oh by the way Anne, your left shoe is gone."

"WHAT!?"

Mario felt like he hadn't run this fast in his whole life. His entire mind was in hyper drive as he dashed around the forest, not caring one bit of what surrounded him or the possibility that he could have crashed. All he could think about was the princess and her safety. For the first time in a while, Mario was genuinely scared.

Eventually, after a few dreadful minutes, Mario finally made his way back to Bowser's Castle, reaching the bridge that led to the entrance.

… And just as he had feared, the gigantic sword was still there, standing still, menacingly on top of the castle.

Mario couldn't help but feel downright fear every time he stared at that thing. It wasn't like anything he had ever witnessed before. And that was saying a lot given the world he lived in. And now that he could give a better look at it, he realized that the sword had a face. And a pretty ugly one at that. It was like it was staring right at the heart of the Mushroom Kingdom, with the visage of someone that had just found his next hunting ground.

And unfortunately for Mario, the nightmare was not ending there as, much to his shock and horror, the sword proceeded to look right at him.

And then… it started talking.

"HALT! WHO GOES THERE? A TRESPASSER!" The sword demanded to him, his loud and high sounding voice downright piercing any other sound there was around. "THIS CASTLE NOW BELONGS TO US, THE SMITHY GANG! WE HAVE BIG PLANS AND THIS IS THE FIRST STEP IN THEM!" He declared as he then gave Mario one heck of a vicious glare. "IF IT WEREN'T FOR NOSY CHARACTERS LIKE YOU, WE'D PRACTICALLY OWN THIS WORLD!" He said, making his and the whole gang intentions pretty clear.

Well, there goes the chance of them being just traveling tourists. It was a very improbable and impossible guess, but hey, Mario could still have some hope, right?

And the sword was still not done, having one last surprise for him.

"SO LET'S SEE YOU DEAL WITH THIS!"

It was then that the sword started to open and close his mouth in rapid succession, his movement becoming faster and faster as it went on. Mario didn't have the time to wonder why it was doing this, as it became clear when an earthquake started to shake the bridge he was standing on. And in just a few seconds, to his horror, the bridge started collapsing. With his survival instinct kicking in, Mario started jumping out of the bridge as it was falling behind him,

In the end, Mario successfully escaped from that trap, but there was nothing to celebrate, because now, with the only access to Bowser's Castle cut from him, Mario couldn't enter inside and check if the princess was still there. All he could do was stare dejectedly at the now inaccessible keep. Anger rose inside of him as the sword kept staring at him from afar, almost like it was mocking him.

He knew of course that there wasn't anything he could do at the moment, so he decided to take a more tactical approach. Go back to his house, inform Toad of what was happening and then go together to Toad Town to inform Toadsworth as well, so that they could come up with a plan of attack against this invaders. And if the princess was still inside the castle, then it would have doubled as a rescue mission. Nothing new in that front.

Oh, but they were one hundred percent going to pay alright. This "gang" thinks it can just arrive out of nowhere, separate him from the princess and declare itself the new rulers around here and no one will bat an eye? Oh no.

Mario was going to teach them what he taught Bowser over and over again: You don't mess with THE Super Mario.

AND WE ARE DONE! FINALLY!

You know, originally this chapter was supposed to be longer, but since I hadn't posted anything in a while, once I finished writing the first half, I decided to split the original chapter in two parts. This being the first part and the the second being the next. Plus I wanted to post something to celebrate the new year, so here we are. I will admit, this chapter took me much longer than I thought to write. I fault anxiety and self doubt. They are horrible when mixed together. But believe me, I WILL finish this story. You have my word.

So with that out of the way, all that's left to say is Happy New Year everyone! Hope that it will be full of fun and excitement for all of us!

I will see you guys on the next chapter! SEE YOU NEXT TIME!