Mario.exe

Luigi's eyes fluttered open, his body aching as if he had been torn apart and stitched back together. The last thing he remembered was the suffocating darkness of Xeno Mario's gaping maw, the sensation of being swallowed whole, and the overwhelming feeling of despair. But now, he was here—wherever here was.

He struggled to his feet, his legs trembling as he took in his surroundings. The space around him was vast and empty, a void that seemed to stretch infinitely in every direction. The air was thick with an eerie silence, broken only by the faint sound of his own labored breathing. The ground beneath him was neither solid nor liquid, but something in between, shifting and pulsating as if it were alive.

Suddenly, red words materialized in the air, glowing like blood against the darkness:

"Oh... you finally woke up... pathetic. It took you all this time to wake up... but the game is more fun now."

The voice was unmistakably Xeno Mario's, dripping with mockery and malice. Before Luigi could react, a massive hand emerged from the void, its fingers curling and uncurling as if testing the air. The hand opened, revealing a familiar green mushroom—a 1UP. Xeno Mario's voice echoed again, this time with a twisted playfulness:

"You want it... bro?"

Luigi hesitated, his heart pounding in his chest. The 1UP was a symbol of hope in his world, a chance to keep going, to survive. But here, in this nightmarish void, it felt like a cruel joke. Still, he reached out and took it, his fingers brushing against the cold, lifeless surface of the mushroom.

As soon as he touched it, a surge of energy coursed through him. His lives multiplied endlessly, the number ticking up rapidly until it became a blur. Xeno Mario's laughter filled the void, a deep, guttural sound that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

"And so we will play over and over... and over and over again... endlessly."

The laughter faded, leaving Luigi alone in the silence once more. He looked around, desperate for a way out, and spotted a yellow pipe in the distance. Without thinking, he ran toward it, his footsteps echoing in the void. He jumped into the pipe, the world around him twisting and warping as he was transported to another place.

Luigi emerged from the pipe into a world that was both familiar and alien. The sky was a soft blue, the grass a vibrant green, and the air smelled of flowers and fresh earth. It looked like the Mushroom Kingdom, but something felt... off. The colors were too bright, the sounds too sharp, as if the world were a distorted reflection of the one he knew.

As he wandered through the landscape, he spotted a Toad in the distance. The small, mushroom-like creature was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself. Luigi approached cautiously, his voice trembling as he spoke:

"Hey... Excuse me, where am I?"

The Toad turned to face him, his eyes widening in recognition. "This is the 12th dimension... Wait, are you Luigi?"

Luigi's heart skipped a beat. How did this Toad know his name? He nodded slowly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Yes... It's-a-me, Luigi. Also, I would like to ask about something called Xeno Mario. Did you—"

Before he could finish, the Toad interrupted, his voice rising in anger and despair. "Because of you, an omnipotent entity was created into existence!! Because of you... millions of worlds fell! And at what price? For you being the hero, you killed your brother, and now he's taking revenge—not just on you, but on everything!"

Luigi staggered back, the weight of the Toad's words hitting him like a punch to the gut. His hands trembled as he tried to process what he had just heard. "I... I didn't mean to... I never wanted this..."

The Toad's expression softened slightly, but his voice remained harsh. "It doesn't matter what you wanted. What's done is done. Xeno Mario is everywhere, in every dimension, in every timeline. He's unstoppable."

Luigi's mind raced, his guilt and regret threatening to consume him. He didn't ask how the Toad knew so much—entities in the 12th dimension were said to possess knowledge beyond comprehension. But that didn't make the truth any easier to bear.

As Luigi stood there, the Toad's words echoed in his mind: "Because of you... millions of worlds fell." He thought of Mario, his brother, his partner, his best friend. He thought of the moment he let go of Mario's hand, the moment that had set all of this into motion. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away. He couldn't afford to break down—not now.

"Is there... is there any way to stop him?" Luigi asked, his voice barely audible.

The Toad hesitated, then shook his head. "I don't know. But if there is, it won't be easy. Xeno Mario is more than just a corrupted version of your brother. He's a force of nature, a manifestation of betrayal and rage. To stop him, you'll have to face not just him... but yourself."

Luigi nodded, his resolve hardening. He didn't know how, but he had to try. For Mario. For the Mushroom Kingdom. For every world that had fallen because of his mistake.

To Be Continued...

The screen faded to black, leaving only a single line of text:

"The game is far from over..."