Luigi was running. He wasn't sure what he was running from or what this thing would do to him if it caught him, but he ran nonetheless, Princess Toadstool slumped unconsciously over his shoulder.

Tearing through the main square and on to the dirt road that lead to his and his brother's secluded house, he stopped only fifty feet from the door when he heard a rustling noise from one of the bushes located to the left of the house, or rather to his right at the present moment.

Tiptoeing cautiously around the bush, he breathed a sigh of relief when nothing came bursting out of the overgrowth.

Unfortunately, that sigh would be his downfall as he was nearly flattened by a creature running at breakneck speeds through the foliage. Yelping, he placed the princess down and took the full brunt of the blow, his body twisting with the intruder's.

Slobber drenched his face, the creature drooling uncontrollably. Giving a deft double-footed kick to its belly, he ejected the beast off of his frame and sent it skidding a few feet away. The creature and man rose at the same time, the creature looking around, twitching every few seconds, Luigi taking in the beast more carefully now. He recognized Mario's old saddle almost immediately.

"Yoshi!" he cried, but it was more of a question than an accusation. The dinosaur yipped and ran around in a tight circle, his eyes still flickering in every direction possible. His body was slightly bruised, but the man-sized dinosaur's orange boots, red saddle and spines, and bright green body and white underbelly seemed fine despite these injuries. Yes, T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas seemed okay in spite of all of this.

The man approached the beast, his hands up in mock surrender. His brother's saddle, unfortunately, responded by pulling an egg out of nowhere and flinging it at the green clad hero. "Whoa Yoshi, calm down boy!" Luigi yelped as he ducked under a barrage of green-speckled eggs. He took a hold of Yoshi's hands when he was within a few inches of the dinosaur, steadying their shaking.

"What's wrong boy? You look like you were running from something as well…" Luigi trailed off as he noticed Yoshi's bulging cheeks, probably filled with a food or an enemy, which would soon be food anyway. More slobber escaped Yoshi's mouth and he gave off a low whine.

"Did you eat something too spicy, boy? Is it too spiky or rough? C'mon Yoshi, you're going to have to spit it out. I can't solve the problem if you hold in the food." Obliging with Luigi's plea, Yoshi spat up his uneaten meal.

Bananas. Bananas could mean many things. Maybe Yoshi was aiming to get more potassium in his diet. Maybe another yoshi was requesting these bananas for a snack and Yoshi didn't like carrying them around. Unfortunately, bananas were also the favorite food of a certain enemy, ally, and friend of the Mario Bros.

It was at that moment that a giant ape burst into the clearing, an inconsolable rage in his eyes. Taking notice of the bananas and the individuals close to them, he beat his chest and roared. He then charged directly at the green duo, the taste of vengeance as sweet as the bananas lying on the ground were- or had once been.

…

Mario and Ness warped into existence in the main plaza of the Mushroom Kingdom. Discombobulated for a few seconds, the two took in their surroundings. The friendly houses with holes in their roofs, the fountain that was eerily purple, and the ominous black and purple cloud above their heads, which covered almost the entirety of the kingdom and devoured a lot of the sunlight.

"So this is the place, huh Mr. Mario?" Ness asked. Mario simply nodded. The last time he had been here, he and his brother had fought their nemesis Bowser and some being that called himself "Nightmare." He also remembered falling into Nightmare's cloak and through space-time, a feeling of complete dread having washed over him. He shuddered at the memory, not too keen on suffering the same fate.

"We should probably start looking for… wait, what are we supposed to be looking for?" Mario asked, more to himself than to Ness. Ness stood beside the plumber, wide-eyed at the revelation that his new companion didn't even know what they were supposed to doing.

"The kingdom is in danger, and if we defeat Nightmare we might be able to set things right," the plumber muttered to himself. "But Master Hand's quest…" Mario scratched his chin for a few seconds before something went off in his head. He went over to a grassy area, Ness following.

From over the older male's shoulder, Ness could see him pulling up grass and drawing a rough circle, two lines going through it, perpendicular to each other. Ness raised an eyebrow at this, even more astonished when blue and red flames engulfed the lines of the mysterious symbol.

"Stand back," Mario warned, pulling the young Itoi away from the rising flames. As the flames rose they created a single hoop of fire perpendicular to the ground. In a way it was almost like a mirror with the exception that they could see through the hoop. However, the hoop's filling suddenly darkened and revealed a near empty void of blue, black, and purple hues, possibly growing nebulae.

As suddenly as the fire had appeared and created the "mirror", a shape formed, becoming the more distinct form of a white-gloved hand.

"I see you seek my help already Mario," the hand boomed, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Who's that?" Ness said, goose bumps erupting all over his body.

"That," Mario said with gritted teeth, "is Master Hand. He's the one who sent me on this crazy quest." Mario turned to address the giant. "Master Hand, we're a bit stuck. You only told me to retrieve Ness. I have no clue about the others."

"Ah, but you do," said the hand ominously. "There are three on your planet alone, duking it out right now. They're displaying exactly why I want all of you heroes for my contest."

Mario looked at the hand incredulously, not quite understanding what Master Hand was hinting at. The colossus simply sighed and said, "Your brother, Luigi, disputed ally, Donkey Kong, and your saddle, Yoshi. If you don't hurry, I may only have nine competitors! Or ten if Donkey Kong manages to defeat kill of them."

The hand began to recede into the gloom of his dimension but Mario called him back with a "Wait!".

"Where are they?" he asked, not feeling the need to go on a wild goose chase.

Master Hand contemplated his answer for a bit before saying, "Home is where the heart is. I shall send you where you need to go next after you recruit these three." He then completely regressed into the muggy bog of his dimension, leaving two confused humans to answer the question. And that's when a barrel came crashing on to the ground only seven feet in front of the unlikely duo.

…

Luigi was unsure how Donkey Kong had gotten ahold of barrels in the short span of time he and Yoshi had been fighting the Kong. He could only guess that the great ape had pulled it from the hammer space of his fur.

DK ran after the jade pair, surprisingly quick. Yoshi was doing his best to outpace the ballistic ape, but between his wounds and carrying Luigi on his saddle, he was failing quickly.

Suddenly he felt a brutish hand grab his tail and throw him across the clearing, sending Luigi tumbling on to the dirt path and him into the foliage again. Donkey Kong roared once more and at Luigi, the killing intent intensifying with the confirmation of his victory.

"PK FLASH!" a high-pitched voice yelled from behind Luigi. Glorious waves of multi-colored light rolled over his vision, engulfing him and his adversary. He was unsure if Yoshi had been caught in the blast, but the oncoming waves of nausea and numbness distracted him from further thoughts of his partner. Through the spots flashing in his vision he could see Donkey Kong on his back, bawling and rocking back and forth.

"What the…" the green-clad plumber muttered before a familiar voice called out "LUIGI!"

As he stood up, trying to regain his balance, hands grasped his shoulders, shaking him. Fortunately enough, Luigi was roused from his daze. On the downside, however, a flaming headache engulfed his skull.

Mario's faced filled his vision, and practically on impulse, Luigi returned the favor by nearly crushing his brother's spine in a bear hug, lifting him off of the ground and swinging him around.

"Okay Weegee, that's enough, that's enough!" Mario yelled, but he was practically laughing. Luigi set down his brother and backed away, a blush creeping into his cheeks and his eyes obscured by his now turned down hat brim. Mario flipped up his hat and clapped his brother on the shoulder, appearing ecstatic and happy.

"Luigi, I would like you to meet Ness. He's going to be going on an adventure with the four of us." Mario pointed to the shorter boy behind him, clad in a casual yellow and blue striped shirt, blue shorts, and a red hat turned to the right matching his red backpack and shoes.

Luigi nodded before focusing on the number of people Mario had said would be accompanying them. "Wait, the four of us? Usually there's only two of us, Mario. Unless you have some sort of magic fruit, namely a double cherry, that can multiply us, I don't see how we have four in our group."

Mario stalked over to the bushes Yoshi had fallen in and carried the dinosaur gently to the area Ness and Luigi were in. He then proceeded to walk over to DK and do the same, carrying the still-crying ape on his back.

Setting down the Kong, he said, "That's four. Now let me explain everything…"

I'm glad I could get this chapter done so quickly. I wanted to focus on the Mario Bros. and their reunion, so I stuck with Mario's perspective this time. However, next time there will be a change in scenery (most likely).

Thanks for those still reading after my five to six months of absence. See you in the next chapter.