Luigi opened his eyes.

Wherever he was, it was immediately apparent he was not on the Superstar Shuttle. The shock of being alive at all sent him staggering into the dusty, brick wall to his side. Leaning against it, he examined his surroundings - red carpet, paintings lining the walls. Luigi had a gut feeling he knew where he was - but surely, it couldn't be..?

"The castle?" Luigi whispered to himself. He'd been here enough times to know it was, but it seemed to be in such a state of disrepair the likes of which Luigi had never seen. It was almost unrecognisable.

As he regained control over his legs and moved ahead down the hall, Luigi wondered if this was some kind of trick, an illusion devised by Kartra. Could this be some kind of alternate dimension - or even worse, his own world? Had he travelled through time? With each step he took, Luigi was still no closer to knowing for sure - but there was one thing that Luigi knew for sure would get him out of here.

The paintings of Peach's castle were no ordinary paintings. They had been enchanted long ago, allowing one to pass through the painting, leaving their world and entering the one beyond the frame. These worlds were confined and limited, but it was worth a try. Reaching forward to the painting to his right, Luigi pressed his hand against it - nothing, not a ripple. Whatever had happened here, the paintings no longer worked - at least, not this one.

Not one to be discouraged so easily, Luigi continued down the hall, pressing each painting he passed with no luck. He looked up at a portrait of two Goombas - one small, one large - and pushed hard against to it. Luigi only felt the dry canvas. As he went to move on, something stopped him from taking another step; Luigi could have sworn that he caught the eyes of the big Goomba following him.

Luigi stepped back, positioning himself in line with the middle of the painting. He stared up at the big Goomba, but its eyes were motionless. This was not enough to convince the lanky plumber; after all, he didn't entirely trust this place. Luigi stepped closer, staring intently at the big Goomba.

Its eyes jolted to meet Luigi's, wider than ever before.

Suddenly, a figure burst out of the painting with a loud wail, sending Luigi falling back with a yelp. Banging his head on the wall behind him as he fell, the figure revealed itself to be King Boo, cackling, immensely satisfied with the success of his prank.

"Gotcha, plumber!" King Boo's long, ectoplasm-coated tongue wagged as he found himself accompanied by a number of other Boos, materializing out of thin air and sharing in his amusement. "Boy, it's sure good to go back to scarin' the daylights outta ya - y'know, instead of racing around some far-out track over and over again!"

"Wha - King Boo?!" Luigi exclaimed, sitting up against the wall and nursing the back of his head. "What're you doin' here?!"

"I'm here for the same reason as you, pal!" King Boo answered. "You lost, plumber. That means you end up here!"

"Here..?" Luigi looked around. "What, back home?"

"Back home?" King Boo repeated before bursting into laughter. "Boy, you're a long way from home! This place just looks like it. I suppose I'd better take ya to the Princess - she'll explain everything!"

"The Princess? She's here too?" Luigi jumped up, at full attention.

"You bet, plumber! Everyone's here!" King Boo explained. "Ain't you caught on yet? This is where you go when you lose! Follow me!"

Feeling as if he were in some sort of bad dream, Luigi followed King Boo through the derelict halls of the castle. The phantom king led Luigi out into the main entrance hall of the castle. Looking down the stairs, Luigi saw a large group huddled together. King Boo really wasn't lying; Birdo, Pauline, Queen Bee, Diddy and Cranky, King Bob-Omb, and a number of other people Luigi thought were dead were suddenly right in front of him.

"Luigi!" a figure emerged from the middle, running to the bottom of the stairs.

"Princess Peach!" a smile spread across Luigi's face, overjoyed that the girl who his brother loved so dearly was alive and well. The two ran to one another, meeting in the middle of the stairway and embracing.

"Oh, no!" Peach pulled back. "If you're here - oh, Mario..."

And then the reality of Luigi's situation had sunk in; Mario and Daisy were still back on the shuttle, and he had no idea if, or when, he would see them again. He pitied them; to them, he was dead, and so was everyone else in the tournament - yet here they all are.

"He's gonna be okay," Luigi reassured Peach. "He's my big bro, he's always been the resilient type. Look, Princess, I've gotta know - what is this? We thought you were all goners!"

"Don't get your hopes up, Luigi," said Pauline. "We haven't exactly worked it out ourselves."

"But we have theories," Peach rebutted. "Wherever we are, it's almost just like our world, except that it's... decayed."

"But not everything works correctly," Diddy Kong squawked. "The pipes, the paintings - they're all busted!"

"Yeah, I figured that out already..." Luigi glared at King Boo. "But Kartra already copied so many things from our world - even this castle - and they were almost identical! How could that explain this place?"

"It's possible that this world is something of a test run," King Bob-Omb suggested. "Not everything is in as good a condition as this place, and that's saying something. It's possible that Kartra used this world as a playground."

"What d'you mean? Is this world a one-to-one copy?" asked Luigi.

"Some places are like this - messy, but close to our reality," Peach explained. "Other places, though... they're just like sketches."

"And some places are just empty," Pauline stared. "Nothing in them. Just blank."

"Oh, man!" Luigi sunk onto the step behind him. "This is trippy!"

"We don't know if anywhere is 'finished'," Peach sat on the step in front of Luigi. "I suspect Bowser Junior will find that out for himself."

"Junior? Is he not here?" Luigi looked confused.

"Oh, we've lost a few people, believe me!" King Boo hovered around Luigi. "As soon as Junior arrived, he took off with those other two Koopalings and some of Bowser's forces to find their old place! Who knows where they are now?"

"They aren't the only ones, unfortunately..." Pauline continued. "Goombboss also took off - apparently, he wasn't satisfied with sharing a castle."

"I don't blame 'em for leavin'!" Cranky Kong waved his stick in the air angrily. "This place is freezing! It's no place for an old soul like myself!"

"He's right," Luigi shivered a little. "At first, I thought it was just because I was around the Boos, but this place is really cold!"

"And gettin' colder!" Cranky groaned before muttering under his breath, loudly enough for the other to hear, "S'pose it's Kartra's way of gettin' rid of us!"

"Ignore him!" Peach scowled. "Anyway, as we were saying, this is us - Waluigi's around here too, I think. I think he's waiting for Wario to come back."

"Hey, he could be here!" said Luigi. "He was in the race with me - there should be about five other people around here somewhere!"

"Five?" Pauline furrowed her eyebrows. "But only one person is supposed to be eliminated per race!"

"Kartra was generous dishin' out punishment this time!" Luigi leapt up. "C'mon, let's find everyone! Maybe we can work out a way outta here!"

-Mario's Proposal-

As another batch of racers endured the fierce desert winds of their track, Mario, Daisy, and Lubba sat out in the same distant room where they had found Polari. Feeling more defeated than ever before, to be in one another's company was all Mario and Daisy felt they could do to ensure their mutual safety. Lubba, meanwhile, hovered somewhat awkwardly - his presence itself wasn't unwanted, but Lubba was clearly devoid of words of sympathy for the mourning pair. What could he possibly say to ease the tension even, let alone console Mario or Daisy?

"These're tough times," Lubba spoke at last, delivering an obvious message. "Tougher than before, maybe. But that don't mean we can't keep pressin' on. Kartra's game's gonna keep takin' people 'less we do somethin' about it-"

"Do you think this is what I need to hear right now?!" Daisy roared, bursting out of the ball she had been curled up in and stomping up towards the Luma. "How on Earth can you be serious right now? Luigi is gone, don't you understand?! Do you have any idea what that could mean to me - or Mario, for that matter?"

"Please, Princess, I'm jus'-"

"No!" Daisy interjected. "It don't matter how well-meaning you were! I'm in no frame of mind to think up another plan right now!"

An aggressive silence fell over the room. Daisy, shaking, held back from slinging any more put-downs and set herself down beside Mario, wiping tears from her eyes in an effort to collect herself.

Mario, who had kept his eyes firmly fixed to the ground since they arrived at the room, squeezed his hands together in a tight grip. The plumber let out a heavy sigh.

"I've got an idea."

-Mario's Proposal-

"You should have seen it!" Ludwig cackled proudly. "The Bob-Omb bounced right off of the goal post!"

"And better yet, we knocked out one half of the Mario Brothers!" Wendy sneered, her words bringing a great deal of amusement to Morton and Larry. They danced gleefully until their father stomped over to them.

"What are you celebrating for?" Bowser bared his teeth. "You haven't won - we've lost some valuable players because you guys couldn't hold back a grudge. Our feud with the Mario Brothers was over, don't you get it?!"

The Koopalings grew quiet as Ludwig and Wendy at last realised the weight of their actions. Bowser, frustrated and disappointed, could only shake his head.

"Find Mario," Bowser ordered. "And send him my condolences"

Looking at one another, the Koopalings unanimously nodded before heading off in different directions around the ship.

-Mario's Proposal-

All around the decrepit Peach's castle, Waluigi stomped, his long, branch-like legs driving him forward with unwavering determination. Knowing that the racers who lost could re-appear almost anywhere within the castle, Waluigi endlessly circled it, looking for one person only.

"Where is he?" Waluigi croaked. "I've walked 'round this castle so many times, I've lost count! C'mon, Wario - show up already!"

Then, there was a tap on his shoulder - Waluigi turned, hoping that his prayers were answered by some divine being. There was nothing there, though.

Then, another tap - this time, on his other shoulder. Waluigi turned again, only to be met with more emptiness.

"Grr... King Boo!" Waluigi stomped on the spot, waving his arms angrily. The spectre supreme materialised before him, giggling, holding a fin-like arm over its gaping, oversized mouth.

"Oh, it's just too easy to wind you up, Waluigi!" King Boo snickered. "Don'tcha get tired of wandering these walls?"

"Not until I find Wario!" Waluigi affirmed. "You wait and see, demon! Once me and my partner in crime are reunited, we'll find a way outta here and be heralded as heroes - and maybe get a cash prize!"

"I don't understand your obsession with material items, lanky one - but I suppose that's because I don't live in the material world!" King Boo wagged his tongue. "Anyway, wannabe-Luigi, I haven't sought you out just to get on your nerves, although it is very funny. Come with me!"

King Boo passed through Waluigi, sending a shiver down his spine. "Why should I trust you, freak?" Waluigi leered. "You'll just lead me through a door so a bucket of water can drop on me, or something!"

"If nine out of ten times I am being dishonest, Waluigi, this is the one time I am for real!" King Boo encouraged. "C'mon, now - I don't want to have to spoil it for you!"

Sceptical but willing, Waluigi pursued King Boo through the castle, following him up to the door to the outdoor courtyard. King Boo shot Waluigi a cheeky grin before disappearing through the wood door. Anticipating a trap, Waluigi carefully gripped its handle before turning it and bursting it open, adopting a fighting stance.

What Waluigi saw on the other side couldn't be further from what he expected. A dishevelled Wario stood by the fountain, gritting his teeth menacingly at the Boos hovering around him.

"Wario!" Waluigi cried, running up to the stout crook and wrapping him in his long, thin arms.

"Waluigi!" Wario sounded relieved, although he wasn't particularly thrilled by this warm display of affection. "Get off me! What am I do-ing here?"

"This is where you go when you lose, Wario!" Waluigi explained in a nutshell. "No one can find a way out - not yet! But they haven't seen what you 'n' me are capable of!"

"This place-a gives me the creeps..." Wario looked around at the ruined courtyard. "C'mon, partner - let's-a get outta this place!"

As the two cronies fled the courtyard, their destination undeclared, Luigi, Peach, and Pauline moved in the opposite direction. They were headed to a pipe, one that held much significance in the lives of the Mario Brothers, for it was the one which they found themselves unwillingly travelling through, from a bathroom in Brooklyn to the green pastures of the Mushroom Kingdom. A cold wind whipped them as they made it up the hill, finding the green pipe in all its glory.

"This is it!" Luigi declared. He leapt on top of the pipe, balancing his feet on the rim. The pipe, however, lead to nothing; at the bottom, only muddy grass.

"Just like the other pipes, it's not working," Pauline stated. "I guess we thought you, being a plumber, might know something about it - we thought you might be able to get it working again, that way we could get out of here."

"I know a lot about pipes..." Luigi climbed inside cautiously, feeling his way around, expecting something to give. "But these have always stumped me - these ain't normal pipes, y'know. Mario might have had a clue, but I've got no idea how to get this thing workin', especially not with my toolbox. Sorry to disappoint."

"Suppose we did get it working," Peach hypothesized. "Who's to say where it would lead? Given the state of this world, how do we know what it would be like on the other end of the pipe?"

"Maybe it's for the best this thing ain't workin'," Luigi climbed up and sat on the edge of the pipe, one leg inside and one leg out. "Considerin' what Kartra's done to us, what she might do to our world... I'm just hoping that in all the universes she's supposed to have conquered, my home wasn't one of 'em."

-Mario's Proposal-

Mario walked down the corridors of the Superstar Shuttle with intent. Daisy and Lubba speed-walked to keep up with him.

"What are you gonna do?" Daisy demanded, frustrated with Mario's lack of communication. "C'mon, are you really gonna give me the silent treatment?"

"If I told you, you'd stop me," Mario pressed forward. "I have a plan. It's dangerous, and bad things could happen if it goes wrong, but I've seen enough of Kartra to know that if it works, things could go spectacularly."

"C'mon, plumber - you owe it to us to tell us somethin'!" Lubba begged.

"Dangerous? How can we possibly be in any more danger than we already are?" Daisy scoffed.

The three reached the main area of the shuttle, where its slowly declining population often congregated - and where the locked door to Kartra's quarters could be found. Mario stomped over to the door, pounding on it relentlessly.

"Kartra!" Mario yelled imperatively. "Open these doors, witch! I've got a thing or two to say to you!"

Attracting the attention of the groups of racers around him, Mario didn't let the lack of response discourage him. "Hey, Kartra! What's the matter with you, huh? C'mon, I've got somethin' to say to you!"

The doors rapidly slid open and Mario found himself being launched back through the air, before being suspended in place. Kartra glided through the doorway, closing behind her, with her hand raised.

"I'm very busy planning the next races, plumber," Kartra snidely remarked. "I've got no time to listen to your irksome banging on my door. You'll get your turn to race soon, I promise!"

"How 'bout now, huh?" Mario gasped for breath, the invisible grip on him tight around his lungs. "You 'n' me?"

Kartra cocked her head. "Mario Mario, what are you asking of me?"

"I've got an offer for you," Mario declared. "A kind of proposal."

The grip on Mario loosed slightly, allowing him to breathe easier. "A proposal," Kartra repeated. "A proposal. Hm."

The witch let out a short cackle.

"Go on, then," Kartra entertained. "You've given me enough grief, Mario. I thought you might have finally learnt your lesson after losing those you keep closest to your heart. But I'll let you make your proposal. And if I don't like it, if I find listening to it to be a complete waste of my time, you're going to be very, very unpopular on this ship."

Mario paused for a moment to gather himself, readying himself to rehearse what he had been running through in his mind. "I'll race you. Just me. We'll race each other, one on one, three times. Best of three. If I win, you're gonna bring everyone back - everyone will be freed from the pictures, in this universe and every other universe you've conquered. But if you win, and I lose, then you get everyone on this ship, including me."

Kartra scowled. "I have everyone on this ship anyway, Mario. Sure, maybe the last man standing will better me, but given my track record, it's not likely. Everyone will be mine. Why bother entertaining your stupid offer, when I could just wait instead? I reject your offer, plumber-"

"Wait!" Mario exclaimed. He squeezed his eyes shut, already regretting what he was about to say. "If I lose, you get everyone. But before you take me, I'll show you another dimension you could conquer."

The edges of Kartra's lips curled slightly. "Another dimension?"

Unable to bring himself to look at those around him, Mario kept his eyes fixed on Kartra's. "Yes, another dimension. You don't know about Earth?"

"Mario!" Daisy protested before her lips were sealed.

"Quiet!" Kartra hushed. "Earth. What's Earth?"

"I wasn't born on that planet, down there," Mario explained. "Me 'n' Luigi, well, we just found ourselves there. We travelled there - not that we were trying to. If you let me back down there, I could show you the way we came here. That's a whole other world for you to take over. It'll save you a lotta time."

As much as it pained Mario, it was enough to change Kartra's mind. "Another world," Kartra paused. "Full of people like you?"

Mario nodded, a lump in his throat big enough to block words from coming out. After a few quiet seconds, Kartra pulled Mario closer, close enough to be within arms reach of her.

The witch extended her hand. Mario shook it.

A/N: Uni is starting again, which I fear may mean that updates to this story will be slow. Feedback is appreciated in the meantime!