Pushed to the Brink

## **Plot**

Rosalina is training Mario to help channel his inner strength once more. Mario struggles to contain it and fumbles once again after what seems like many attempts. He becomes outraged but sees Rosalina's solemn expression, and calms down, taking deep breaths. Rosalina holds out her hands and Mario follows suit. She tells him not to focus on the powers themselves, but if he is strong enough to wield them again. Mario argues saying he never had to think about it before, saying he just used them to his advantage whenever he could. Rosalina answers back saying he has been taking them for granted if that's the case, saying when one is gifted with such power, they need to treat it as apart of themselves, not just a meaningless weapon. Luigi knocks on the door telling for both of them to come outside. They go outside to see a purple liquid leaking from the sealed rift. Rosalina is confused by this sight, pointing out that the rift was closed so the Macroverse should be unable to leak into their world. Mario and Luigi begin to wonder the same thing. Lizel and Fawful say that he may be trying to collapse the serum himself but Rosalina tells them that should that be the case; he is wasting his time, as nothing is known to destroy seal serum, magic or not. Mario heads back inside, with Bowser telling him not to stress out too much, jokingly saying he hasn't worried this much about his own schemes. Mario admits that this situation is different, also pointing out that Bowser isn't an interdimensional being who can take away one's powers for months on end. Bowser reluctantly agrees. He also takes this as the time to formerly accept Mario for everything that he has been doing, including protecting those who killed his father. Bowser admits that all this time, he was afraid to show weakness to him, saying it was because that's usually not what his reputation stands for. Mario tells him that reputation is "overrated", noting that he is usually known as the town hero, but now he lacks any power. Mario goes on to say that powerless or not, he will always be known as that, saying Bowser could be feared no matter what if that's really what he wants, or he could be soft and brittle. Bowser decides to hug Mario slowly, with the latter acknowledging how awkward that must've been for him. Bowser gets up and leaves, however, Mario begins to hear whispering around his mind. He walks around the castle to find the source, deciding to enter Luigi's old lab. He opens it to find nothing out of the ordinary but does see a mirage of a woman rocking a baby in a crib. She picks him up and they both begin to have a moment together. The woman then says a haunting name in the sentence, "My little Mario", which immediately catches Mario's attention just before he leaves. He realizes he is watching an apparition of his parents cradling both he and Luigi in their old home. Suddenly, both of his parents begin to panic, saying something is wrong before the vision disappears. Mario then begins to wonder how he is even seeing all of this. Suddenly, just before he could come up with an answer, Dimentio appears from the shadows and knocks Mario down. Mario gets up but finds that he is now in some dark void, completely alone. Dimentio begins to walk around, tormenting Mario with traumatic memories much like how Mr. Midnight did. He also monologues about how he will reshape the world to be a better one, one that will be filled with "chaos and screams 24/7, 365". He tells Mario that Rosalina was being truthful about his powers, and that he only saw himself as a superior being to others since he had them, even to Luigi. Mario tries denying this to him but Dimentio brings up past memories involving Mario telling Luigi to take "the back seat", as he goes and handles a certain danger alone, leaving Luigi visibly broken. He says that now that the roles have reversed, he is starting to learn how it feels like to be humbled, by one's own sibling, a brother. Mario begins to quietly tear up but tells him to get out of his mind.

Luigi enters his room looking for Mario but doesn't find him there. He then yells out for him, which Dimentio hears and smirks. He traps Mario with his chaos magic, with Mario pleading Luigi to not fall for his tricks. Luigi continues looking for Mario and hears his screams although not clearly. Luigi then hears faint baby crying in the distance, he then spots a baby cradle rocking back and forth in the corner of a room. He goes in closer to see himself as the baby and jumps back in fear. The cradle begins to levitate and a dark matter-like substance charges at Luigi, spewing him into a dark void. He hears Mario's cries from afar and calls out to him. Mario calls back but he seemingly cannot hear him. This is proven true by Dementia who says that he has defeaned them both, saying it is a fun game of "Marco Polo". Peach and Bowser overhear commotion upstairs and go to find neither of the bros there. Rosalina barges into the castle, saying that "he is here". Dimentio becomes sick of waiting for the bros to find each other that he whisks them both together on puppet strings. He then breaks into a tune telling them both about how much they are not good to each other in reality and how one needs to be more powerful for them to be kept afloat, (Chaotic Love). It ends with Mario running away into the endless void being haunted by the many clones of Dimentio being mirrored all around him. Luigi tells Mario to slow down but along the way he tells him that he has never felt the way Dimentio is saying, that he has always admired the way Mario has defeated evil. Mario insists that his way of defeating evil was still wrong as he should have at least given Luigi a chance to help him in time of need.

Lizel tells the others that she can "feel" Dimentio, saying he has this certain type of vibe that nobody else could replicate. Fawful also says he has felt that feeling, describing it as a feeling of knowing something really bad is about to happen. Suddenly, a burst of energy rips apart in front of the group, knocking everyone in the castle down. Tourists run away in fear while Squirt leaves Toadette, unfortunately having to leave their "moment". The castle begins to rattle violently with Dimentio making a mirage-like appearance, saying he is still in the Macroverse but is now able to channel himself to the real world. Rosalina threatens to get rid of him if he doesn't let the bros go but she becomes distracted by a vision of her mother in another room. The others tell her what is happening and to not fall for his tricks but Rosalina's mother tells her she is disappointed in her attempts to stop the great evil that was said to arrive on Earth. Rosalina tears up, saying she has tried her hardest but she tells her it wasn't enough. Bowser then sees his father, calling him a coward for siding with the very killers of their family. Bowser pleads with him to get out of his head. Lizel and Fawful look at each other and realize what must be done. Dimentio taunts them both, saying that they're too heartbroken to be traumatized anymore. Fawful ends his terror reign with a blast from his headgear, which only makes his mirage disappear, along with the illusions.

Mario and Luigi continue to talk about their feelings towards one another with Luigi saying that while he would sometimes feel jealous of Mario, he would still fight to protect him with his own powers. Mario tells him that he personally feels like if he can't protect Luigi, then how can he even protect himself., further saying he never wants to take his powers for granted ever again, that he would only use them the way they were supposed to; as a part of himself and for the good of the world. With this, Mario begins to glow and levitate, with Dimentio becoming shocked at the sight, saying that it's "impossible". Mario regains a burst of energy and suddenly becomes shrouded in an aura of fire, finally regaining his powers once again. Mario defeats an off-guard Dimentio, who says that he should enjoy them while they last before poofing away into the Macroverse. Mario and Luigi return to the real world and when asked what happened, Mario's eyes glow and says that things "have just gotten a bit more interesting".