Exhibit Toast

## **Plot**

Back on Earth, Squirt asks Peach if she thinks Mario will be okay. She honestly answers that she doesn't know herself but she hopes so. Bowser tells them not to worry as he has beaten him countless times in the past and has gone through so much more before. Toadette asks the others about Dimentio and what he actually is. Peach says that from her understanding, he is a chaotic being only bent on conquering whatever he can and spread his chaotic energy everywhere he goes. Squirt asks if he had a rough childhood and they all assume that isn't the case, saying he is merely just purely, "insane". Suddenly, a large boom occurs towards the town and the group realizes that both bros are not there to defend the town, thus leading to Peach to take initiative with Toadsworth supporting the idea. Bowser decides to help along with Daisy. Squirt tells Toadette he is going as well and tells her to get home, they share a kiss and he departs.

A group of thugs are robbing a convenient store and say that they are merely giving the police force a chance to actually do their job since the bros always do the heavy lifting. Peach demands that they stop their crime but they say for her to join them, saying that the bros are trying to have the entire kingdom on their side so they can have full control, believing that they had a plan to always arrive and take over their town. Peach becomes disgusted by their reasoning and the others follow suit, attacking them head on. Squirt tackles one to the ground but gets kidnapped in the process. The team tries to interfere but the robbers put down smoke bombs, obscuring their views entirely, resulting in them losing Squirt to them.

Squirt yells for the robbers to let him go but is surprised to see they are heading to E.Gadd's time machine, they press a button inside and perform mass technological activities, resulting in the machine disappearing and heading off into a different place. Squirt demands to know who they are, saying they are endangering their lives if they don't. The group leader, Raymond, says that they are "freedom fighters" who call themselves "The Fungis", going off the play-on words of "fun-guys". Squirt asks them what they want and he responds that they simply want him to join their cause, and he is going to show him why. They go outside and Squirt sees the Mushroom Kingdom but Raymond explains they are in a timeline where Mario and Luigi never came to the kingdom and changed everything. Squirt asks how they were able to work the time machine and they say that while they were fighting for their lives out in the open, they came across it and using one's brains and other's logic, they were able to make it work again. Raymond goes on to explain that before the bros came, their kingdom was at a stage of high monarchy and the government rules were so fair to the public that they thought their home was a dream come true. But that all changed once the bros came, the police force became less wanted, as everyone waited to see how the bros would handle the next danger. As a result, the homeland security decided to release all their clients due to the collapsing government in favor of an entirely new one. However, this in turn resulted in most losing their homes and were forced to find their own means of living and had to struggle to find a new home worth living. Squirt insists that they didn't mean for that to happen and wonders why this has never been brought up to him till now. Raymond tells him that the media likes to do one thing; cover up.

Mario continues finding his way towards the opening but sees that the oxygen tank still has time so he begins to relax a bit. Unfortunately, he sees an onslaught of asteroids heading his way and he does his best to avoid the storm but just as he thinks he avoided it, a small rock hits directly at his oxygen tank, resulting in oxygen being quickly depleted. Mario begins to freak out and swims faster towards the Macroverse, saying he will make it to Luigi if it kills him. He begins to tear up, becoming more and more angry as he is still far too slow. He begins to lose hope until it's revealed that Luma was hiding underneath his cap and he whisks him towards the opening extremely quick, just before the oxygen tank loses everything. Mario thanks it for its help but asks why it didn't just shoot him there this whole time. Luma tells Mario that it wanted to see how far he could make it on his own. Mario understands and heads off into Dimentio's castle.

The others wonder what happened to Squirt and Toadette begins to panic but Peach calms her down, saying he is a very strong kid and that they both deep down know he will be okay no matter what. Toadette cries in her arms with Peach silently beginning to worry about the bros. Bowser becomes furious that they can't do anything as they have no leads but then realizes that the time machine is missing. The others exclaim in shock and realize what has happened. Peach tells them they need to tell E.Gadd which they do. E.Gadd says it should have been practically impossible for the machine to work as he couldn't even find the right parts for it to work. He is able to check the status of the machine and luckily pinpoints their exact location, but is confused to see it say it's there in the Mushroom Kingdom. They then realize that it must be an alternate timeline. Peach puts the pieces together and realizes the after what they said about wanting a kingdom without the bros, they must be trying to convince Squirt to join their cause in favor of taking them down.

Squirt becomes more lenient and begins to let the fungis in without restraint. Raymond tells him that he has nothing to fear once he is with them because everything they do, they do together. Squirt sees the families living together peacefully in solitude and no sign of the brothers together. Suddenly, Squirt spots something truly disheartening, he sees himself with Lily and his dad. He says out loud that how would the bros not existing affect his how dad left his family, citing there is no correlation. He then begins to realize that everything he is seeing is once again, an illusion, saying they are all frauds and that they don't want a better future. They admit the truth after their lie being caught and say they are just a hate group, but insist they still call themselves the same name. Squirt tries to go back to the machine but is caught by them, with Raymond saying that he knows too much now, and as a result, they can't let him leave.

Back at the Macroverse, Mario sneaks past Dimentio's guards and makes it to the dungeon. Luigi, still sick to the core weakly moans for Mario to come for him. Mario reveals himself and Luigi immediately becomes escatci with emotion but demands to know if he is an illusion. Mario insists he is not, saying he is the real person, showing him the back scar he got from Dimentio. Luigi, still not convinced, says for him to prove it. Mario then holds his hand and says that 'Everything will be okay", this is enough for Luigi who is only able to hug him a little through the door. Mario then asks how Dimentio trapped him, saying that there is no way for him to open up the dungeon unless he has a certain key only obtainable through one of the guards. Mario stages a shadow coming in and the guard notices but doesn't see Mario behind him, leading him able to knock him unconscious and get the key, saying that was too easy. The key however disappears, with Luigi saying that it really WAS too easy. Dimentio comes down and asks Mario why he never told him he was coming over, saying it's rude to come uninvited. Mario barks for him to shut up and release Luigi, saying he isn't so powerful anymore now that he has his power again. Dimentio asks if he is challenging him to a duel to which Mario says he would never turn down one, especially against him. Luigi pleads for him not to but Mario tells him that he is going to help him escape, no matter what happens. Mario and Dimentio then go into a brawl head on, leaving destruction in their wake. Towards the end of the fight, Mario punches Dimentio extremely hard, to the point of breaking open Luigi's dungeon, Luigi using the last of his power breaks free and fights Dimentio alongside Mario. They both flame the castle, causing it to break into an inferno, crumbling by the second. Dimentio laments on his home being destroyed which the bros use as the time to escape.

E.Gadd wonders if there is a way he can bring back the machine back on command and realizes that there actually is by setting the settings on manual, then only realizing that was his mistake when he sent Peach on that voyage with Squirt and Toadsworth. E.Gadd then wonders if that is a good idea but the team demands that he does it anyway.

Squirt is then interrogated by the fungis who demand to know where Mario and Luigi are. Squirt tells them that even if he were to tell them, they would never find them. Squirt then hears a faint voice telling him to go to the time machine, realizing it's actually E.Gadd, saying he places a voice mic on him the time he sent them on the voyage, and it's revealed he actually still has it. Squirt asks him what he means but E.Gadd says there is no time to explain and to just find a way to get to the machine. Raymond asks who he is talking to but Squirt remains silent. Raymond tells him there is an easy way to handle the situation, or his way to handle it. Squirt doesn't budge, instead decides to spit on his face and says that he is the reason humanity is failing. Raymond chuckles and orders them to kill Squirt. The team press the time machine command button which causes the machine to violently vibrate and Squirt uses this as a distraction to tell them that Mario is right behind them, saying he thought he didn't exist in that timeline. This leads Squirt to jump high enough off his chair trap and knock down one of their guns, using it to break open the trap and causing the bullets to richochet, leading to them finding cover. Squirt heads for the machine, saying they wanted a universe without the bros, then they could keep it before blasting away back to present time. The team welcomes back Squirt and they ask if he is okay and he answers "Never better", embracing them all with a warm hug.

Mario and Luigi continue their way back to the opening with Dimentio hot on their trail. Dimentio then goes for his fatal attack once more and shoots it at Luigi but Mario, knowing what's going to happen, decides to take the fall once more, only this time he taps back into his "beast mode" again and reverts the attack back towards Dimentio who is extremely shocked and yells in despair. The attack completely obliterates his castle and the brothers make a run out of the Macroverse with Rosalina ready to pick them up and blast off back to Earth. The bros and Rosalina return to much fanfare from the kingdom and the others. Everyone embraces each other, especially Luigi and Daisy, who says she thought she would never see him again. Luigi shares a kiss with her but says he is extremely hungry, and Daisy says that she prepared a full meal for him much to his delight.