Okay, yeah, so. I must really REALLY apologize for the huge wait. I really don't know what happened. The fact is, I have started to go to driving school to get my license. That, added with writers block and the want and not want to write, I have been a little off with updates. Thankfully, I am back, and now it's time for the next part, the one in were our heroes meet eachother. With that out of the way, comments are appreciated, ENJOY THE STORY!

Review answers:

-VolcanicFlare: Yeah. The moment I started writing this re-write, I decided to give Luigi a character arc of his own. You will see how much he is going to change during this adventure (and hopefully, also during future ones).

Chapter 4

Two Universes Collide

The Stardust Fields were one of the most peaceful places of the Beanbean kingdom. Silents. Vasts. And that beautiful night sky.

It was also where the border of the two Kingdoms was located. If someone wanted to leave the Mushroom Kingdom and go to the Beanbean Kingdom, they had to walk through the fields.

However, just because they were peaceful, they weren't exactly safe to travel. In fact, they were a little dangerous. Various creatures walked among it, most commonly the Fighter Flies, nasty little creatures.

And, if the latest rumors were to be believed, someone had recently taken control of the Fields, forcing people to pay very expensive tolls to reach the Beanbean Kingdom.

But right now, we are not talking about that. What we have to talk about is the two new visitors that had come to the Fields.

Or to be more exact, the two unconscious visitors.

Those two, were the miko Reimu Hakurei and the witch Marisa Kirisame, who were both lying on the ground, unconscious.

The two looked… very peaceful. Like they were sleeping… and in fact they were. It seemed that the creatures of the Fields at least had decency, as they were leaving the two completely undisturbed.

Then, suddendly, a misterious figure walked torward the two. It was a very familiar misterious figure, dressed completely in white.

The person looked at the two sleeping girls for a few seconds. Then, he kneeled down and put a note right next to Reimu. Then he got up, and walked away from the two. Before leaving however, he looked back at them and talked. "Reimu… Marisa… I have faith in you. You two will stop whatever Seija is planning and get the Orb back. I just know it. … Good luck."

After those final words of encouragement, the figure left, leaving the two sleeping heroines alone with the note he gave them, sitting there next to Reimu, waiting for the two to wake up from their slumber.

"General Starshade! A massive explosion has been sighted!"

"Confirmation! I need confirmation!"

"General Starshade! Two meteorites of green and red color confirmed!"

"Impact in Stardust Fields! Initiate recon!"

"Emergency! Emergency!"

Darkness.

Complete darkness.

That's all Reimu is able to see at the moment. Just darkness.

The darkness is all around her; up, down, everywhere.

She walks onward, trying to reach… something… heck, anything. Anything with a different color at least. Buti t doesn't work. No matter how much she walks, the darkness doesn't end. It's unending.

Then, suddendly…

"Reimu?"

Reimu almost has an heart attack after hearing that voice. She has stopped completely. She is rigid like a statue.

She doesn't want to turn around. Because she knows who's voice is that. She knows very well. But she doesn't want to face it. She doesn't care if that was a dream or not, she absolutely did not want to face it.

… And yet, something still made her turn around.

And there she was. Standing there, staring at her.

Her mother Shizuko.

But there was something… off about her. Her face was completely distorted, like it was glitching or something. But her voice was perfect. The very voice Reimu remembers.

"There you are. My little Moonbeam."

Reimu could onlystare at what she was seeing with utter shock and terror. Tears formed on her eyes and rolled on her checks. A mild fit reached her body as she started to hold her heart, which was beating like crazy. Sweat formed all over her, and she was now having a lot of trouble to breath.

The figure then began to speak. "Reimu. I don't get it. You have come face to face with the chance to find me, your precious mother, and you still haven't done anything?" Shethen started to walk closer to her. "Don't you… care about me at all? Do you hate me that much?"

Reimu backed away slowly as she was getting more and more scared. "W-Wha… I-I-I… O-Of course not… b-but…"

"But what?"

Reimuthen swallowed as she backed away more. "Y-you see… M-Marisa said-"

The figure then laughed. A twisted laugh full of nothing but malice.

"Hahahahahaha! Really!? Now you are blaming your best friend for your ineptitude!? Hahaha… Guess I shouldn't be surprised. I mean, you don't really CARE about her."

Reimu backed away faster. "W-WHAT!? T-That's n-not true! I-I care about her!"

The figure started moving faste ras she laughed again. "Hahahaha! No! You don't. In fact, you don't care about ANYONE! That's not the type of person you are."

"I-I… I…"

"You are sad. Cynical. And mean. People like you think only about themself!"

Reimu started crying even harder.

"I guess it's no surprise that you don't miss me. I mean… if the roles were reversed, I DEFINITELY wouldn't miss you!"

Reimu wanted to say 'That's not true', but she wasn't able to. Her mouth was completely paralized in fear.

"… but you know what? We have soooooo much to catch on. So why don't you come here…" The figure then snapped their fingers, and out of nowhere, a sword appeared, and she grabbed it.

"… and we make up for all the lost time! HAHAHAHAHAHAAH!"

Reimu at this point couldn't take it anymore, and finally spoke again. "… leave me alone… LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Without wasting anytime, she turned around and started running…

…only to come face to face with the figure.

"Oh. Reimu, Reimu, Reimu. I though it was obvious."

They then smiled wickedly as they firmly grasped the sword.

"I. Am. Never. Going to leave my Moonbeam alone."

That was the last thing Reimu heard as the figure struck the sword in her stomach.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Reimu scream echoed through the entire plains. If anyone heard it, they would have though it was someone having got seriously hurt. And it was correct, though, not physically.

She then started to look around, to make sure that what happened was really a dream, all the while taking many breaths and sweating a little. She the instantly put an hand to her stomach, and took a huge sigh of relief when she didn't feel any wounds.

"Ok… Ok… It's good… I'm good… It was just a dream… just a dream…" She kept repeating herself like some kind of mantra as she was trying to calm herself, hugging her knees all the while.

"… Just a dream."

After a few minutes of silence, she managed to calm herself and get her bearings. She took one last deep breath and got up. "… Okay. I'm good now."

After that, Reimu decided that the first course of action was remembering what happened exactly, and how she got there.

Then she remembered: the visit at the Moriya Shrine, Seija sudden appearence, the chase after her, and of course…

"MY ORB!"

Immediately full of fighting spirit again, Reimu grabbed her blessing stick and went to look for Seija…

… at least, she would have, but in that moment she remembered that she wasn't alone, and that two more people had come with her.

"Marisa! Sanae!"

"Uggn…"

Reimu was a bit startled by the sudden noise, and so she turned around to see were it come from.

And when she did, she saw her best friend Marisa Kirisame lying down on the ground, with her hat covering her face.

"Marisa!" Reimu immediately went to her friend's aid, kneeling next to her. "Marisa?" She nudged her, trying to wake her up. All she got however, was hearing her friend talking in her sleep. "What… that's… ridiculous… I only… ate a soup… why do we… have to… split the check?"

Reimu was almost certain she was making a deadpan face in that moment after hearing that, and she even gave her a response. "… Because you never payed a check your entire life."

Surprising, that was enough to wake up the witch, who then looked at Reimu with her own deadpan face. "… Ha ha."

After that little banter, Reimu helped her getting up, and adjusted her hat to how it was supposed to be. "Phew. Thanks Reimu." Marisa thanked her with a grin.

Reimu cleared her throat before continuing. "So… that was quite the ride, eh?" Marisa immediately agreed. "Oh yeah! Tell me about it! I think my vision is still a bit blurry!" She then rubbed her eyes a little. "Seriously! How did that thief manage to go through that thing?" Reimu simply sighed at that. "I have no idea."

Marisa then started to look around. "Soooooo… where are we, exactly?"

Reimu gave a look around herself. Everything was… so different from what she was used. The ground was purple with a few stars lying around. The sky was mostly normal, however, there were some actual honest to god shooting stars happearing from it.

Reimu had no idea where they were. "… Yeah. Where are we?"

Marisa rubbed her head in confusion. "I never saw this place in Gensokyo before. I mean, I definetly would have remembered a place like this." Reimu added her own two cents. "I don't remember it either. Not even the Makai was this weird."

Marisa then realized something. "Hey, wait! Know that I think about it, how the heck are we looking at the sky right know!? Didn't that pipe bring us underground or something!?"

"You… are right. That is weird."

Both Reimu and Marisa kept thinking about how something like this was possible. And if they were even in Gensokyo anymore, which they had no idea how it would have been possible in the first place.

Reimu's thoughts began to flow. 'I mean, it's impossible to leave Gensokyo right? Because of the Barrier. Many have tried to cross it in some way, and they all failed. So that option is out of the table.'

…

…

'…wait.'

'… no no. That's impossible…'

'…Is it?'

Reimu kept thinking about it. It sounded insane, absolutely insane. And yet, the more she thought about it, the more she realized it actually made sense.

'…did… did she actually do it? Did Seija actually found a way to… leave Gensokyo?'

'… but… how?'

Now that was the question. How did she do it? Seija has always been a very resourceful individual, capable of many things and manipulations, but… was this possible for her? Would she really be capable of something like this? And if that was really the case…

… Where Reimu and Marisa not in Gensokyo right now?

While she kept thinking about this, Marisa was doing some thinking of her own… and came to a horrible realization.

"Reimu!" She yelled at her.

Reimu was startled by that as she looked back at Marisa. "What!? What is it!?"

"Reimu… where is Sanae!?

… The realization hit Reimu like a pack of bricks. She had spent so much thinking at where she was, that she forgot that there was another person that went with her in that pipe. Her Shrine Maiden colleague Sanae.

"OH SHOOT!"

Without missing a bit, the two heroine started searching the area where they landed, trying to find her.

Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful in their search. No matter how much they searched, she just wasn't in the area.

After searching for a few minutes, Marisa could only sigh in annoyance at the development of the situation. "… Well, I guess we should add 'Finding Sanae' to the list of our 'wonderful adventure'."

"Great." Reimu said with the same annoyed tone.

Marisa then clapped her hands together. "Okay. So. The first thing we should do is figure out exactly were we are!" She then pointed at the sky. "And for this, Marisa Kirisame is our woman!" She then smirked. "I will fly around the area to examine it properly!"

Reimu nodded. "Sounds good to me."

Marisa then prepared herself. "Alright! Here I come!"

Marisa put the broom between her legs, started running and then jumped to fly…

… Except things didn't go this way. Instead of flying, Marisa landed back down, slipped and fell… face first on the ground.

Reimu could only flinch at what she witnessed. "Oh! Oh god… that must have been… so so painful." She immediately went to her friend's aid. "Are you okay Marisa?"

Marisa didn't respond. She simply raised her hand and alternated between a thumbs down and a thumbs up.

"… Okay." Reimu simply answered.

After a few minutes of pain, Marisa eventually got back up. Reimu immediately inquired. "Marisa. What the heck was that? Something like that never happened to you."

"Hey! Don't blame me! I did the usual requirements! I have no idea what went wrong!"

"… Okay. Let me have a try then."

Reimu closed her eyes, and tried to channel her abilities to start flying.

But that moment didn't happen. "Eh!?"

Reimu tried. Tried and tried. But no matter how much time passed, nothing happened. She wasn't able to fly.

She had lost her ability to fly.

Marisa was getting worried as well. "Reimu. What's wrong?"

"… Marisa. I… I can't fly."

"WHAT!?"

"I can't fly! I'm trying all I have! But I just can't fly!"

"… I repeat. WHAT!?"

Marisa then tried herself again. Just as before, no luck. No matter what. Leaving her horrified. "Hey hey hey! Hold on! What kind of joke is this? WHY CAN'T I FLY?"

Reimu was really fricking out herself. Before completely losing it, she took a deep breath and remember what Yukari once told her.

If you can't understand something, calmly find an explanation to it.

Reimu thought of every possibility and explanation, and honestly, there was only one that made sense.

… Marisa. I think… it's something to do with this place."

Marisa stopped her moment of fricking out after hearing this. "… What?"

Reimu then looked right at her with a serious expression. "It's this place. I don't know how or why, but there must be… something with this place that is nullufying our flying ability. Or magic in general."

"But that's… we can't… this place… oh geez." Marisa didn't even know what to say anymore.

Our two heroine stayed in silence for a few minutes as they tried to process what they just learned.

Then, a horrible thought came to marisa. "… Wait, but if that's the case…"

She then looked at Reimu, with a worried expression. "You think that…?"

Without skipping a bit, Reimu grabbed her danmaku and tried to throw them like she always does.

But instead of the expected outcome, they fell on the ground like normal pieces of paper.

Marisa then grabbed her Master Spark and pointed it at a nearby hill.

"MASTER SPARKS!"

…

… nothing.

She tried again. "MASTER SPARKS!"

…

… again, nothing.

She was now losing her pacience as she screamed it again. "I SAID MASTER SPARKS GOSH DARN IT!"

If this was another moment, Reimu would have laughed at what she was seeing. But she was not in the mood.

However, while Marisa continued to scream and shake her Master Sparks, Reimu noticed a note next to her.

Without thinking, she picked it up, and read it.

Find the man in red and the man in green. They are good people, and they will be able to help you during this journey. Good luck.

E.

Reimu continued to stare at the note for a bit. She really didn't know how to feel. Putting aside all the stuff about her mother for a moment, why did Existence choose to leave a note instead of talking with them directly? Heck, he might even have explained to them what was going on with that place.

Shacking those thoughts off, she put the note in her pocket, and went next to Marisa, who had stopped screaming and was wheezing heavily. She put an hand on her shoulder. "… Come one Marisa. Things… aren't so bad…"

Marisa stopped wheezing and started screaming again. "AREN'T SO BAD!? AREN'T SO BAD HOW EXACTLY!?"

She then started to make a lot of exaggerated hand gesture. "In CASE you forgot Reimu, we are STUCK in a place we don't know! We have no IDEA where Seija is! AND we have LOST our main fighting abilities! AND YOU ARE SAYING THAT THINGS AREN'T SO BAD!?"

"Okay, first, we are not completely defenseless. You still have your broom and I have my blessing stick. Second, staying here in this spot is not going to change anything."

She then pointed at what seemed to be a road of some kind. "Come on. Let's see if we can find some sort of civilization, or at the very least, something that's going to help us understand this place more." She then proceeded to walk torward that road. "Let's go."

Marisa could only sigh heavily at this. After taking a deep breath, she soon followed her friend, whining all the while.

"… Uuuuugh. Unbelievable. What have I ever done to deserve something like this?"

"Want me to start the list?"

"OH, SHUT UP!"

…

…

…

… "UUUUUHHHHHHH!"

A loud gasp came from the wreckage of the Koopa Cruiser.

Mario started coughing and wheezing as he tried to come back to his senses.

After a while, he was able to breath properly again. He rubbed his head has a huge pain came from it. Heck, not just the head, his all body was hurting.

Fighting the pain, he managed to get back on his feets.

He looked around himself, and witnessed the wreckage that was surrounding him. Pieces of the Koopa Cruiser were scattered everywhere. Flames were covering a few of those. There wasn't one still intact piece of the Koopa Cruiser anymore.

Mario kept looking at the destruction surrounding him, utterly horrified. '… Holy smokes.' As he kept looking around, his eyes eventually fall on something that was lying on the ground.

Something green.

"… Luigi… LUIGI!"

Without even thinking or caring about the pain that was afflicting him, Mario immediately went to aid his brother.

Helping his brother. That's the only thing that mattered. He didn't care if he was in pain and that the pain got worse the more he run. All he cared about, was helping his brother.

Eventually, he reached him. He kneeled down next to him, to see if he wasn't hurt too badly. "LUIGI! LUIGI! Listen to me! Are you okay!?"

Mario waited for a few seconds before eventually Luigi answered him. He answered by giving him a long groan of pain.

"… Not okay then!"

Luigi groaned again.

Mario got up and gave his brother a determined look. "Don't worry Luigi! I'm going to look around and see if I can find any Mushrooms among the wreckage! It will fix you right as rain!"

Mario then started the search. He looked very carefuly, searching every nook and cranny. Unfortunatly, he wasn't able to find anything salvagable. He was starting to lose hope until he moved a piece of wreckage, and found something he never thought would have survived.

"THE SUITCASE!"

Without wasting time, Mario grabbed the suitcase and opened it. To his surprise and delight, everything that was inside the Suitcase had survived.

Including the Mushrooms.

"Whoa! This thing is much more resistent than I thought!"

Mario closed the suitcase, and immediately runned back to his brother, suitcase in hand. He reached him, and he was still groaning in pain.

"Don't worry bro! You are going to feel a lot better soon!"

Mario opened the suitcase, he grabbed a Life Shroom and put it on top of his brother.

After exactly a second, the Life Shroom disappeared, and so did all of Luigi's injuries.

"… Luigi?" Luigi was immobile and unmoving for a few seconds.

Then suddendly, Luigi got back up with a jump as he looked back at his brother and gave him a grin and a victory sign. "YAHOO! Good as new! Thanks bro!"

After seeing this, Mario hugged his brother. He was really happy seeing him full of energy again. "I'm glad you are okay Luigi. You had me worried there for a second." Luigi reassure his brother with a pat on the back. "Don't worry bro. It would take more than that to keep me down. I'm… kinda used to this sort of things."

"… That's worrying."

"I know."

A few seconds of silence. '… Okay then.' Mario thought as he coughed akwardly and continued. "Anyway. I'm glad you made it Luigi. That all thing was… terrifing."

Luigi shuddered as he remembered what happened before. "Yeah. Tell me about it. I think I actually saw my life flash before my eyes."

Mario rubbed his back as he looked around. "Anyway, were do you think we landed?"

Luigi looked at the wreckege and the purple plains surrounding him. "I have no idea. I mean, we definitely aren't in the Mushroom Kingdom anymore." He poundered about it for a few seconds. "Do you think that, we may be in the Beanbean Kingdom now?"

Mario considered the possibility. "I mean, yeah, it's possible." He then looked around again before sighing. "Well, we won't get our answers by just standing here. We should move."

Luigi was confused by this. "Move where exactly?"

Mario looked very around himself, with much more intensity this time. And he managed to see something.

Standing after a wooden bridge, was a small castle. A castle with two street lamps on the entrance and a few on the roof. It truly sticked like a sore tumb in that place.

Mario pointed at the it. "We can try to see if there is anyone in that castle." Luigi was a bit surprised by this. "Castle?" He looked where Mario was pointing and saw it himself. "… Wow. Talk about been convenient."

The destination was decided. "Okay then. However, before we go…" Mario opened the suitcase and took out the last of the two Life Shroom they had. He held it close and after a second the Mushroom disappeared, and so did Mario's injuries. "Aaaaahhh… much better!"

Then, with his fighting spirit restored, he gave his brother a determined look before pointing at the castle again. "Alright then! Let's a go!"

After that, the two brother went inside the castle, hoping to find someone that could give them some directions.

The inside of the mini castle had a certain charm to itself.

The walls were made of brown bricks, along with some lines of silver metal. There were green curtains in the angles of the room. In the center of the right wall, there was a painting. A very peculiar one. It was a painting that rappresented the first adventure Mario and Luigi ever went through. Rappresented there was the first fortress they went to, along with the flag they put after escaping from it. And next to the painting, there was a reproduction on scale of the "end of the level" flag they runned into during the adventure.

Mario was quite inpressed by the look of the place. 'Whoa. Not bad.'

A even bigger surprise was in front of them.

"Well, well! Talk about a nice surprise! Check it out Bro!"

The two brothers looked in the direction of the voice, and saw two Hammer Bros wearing black helmets and shells.

"It looks like the famous Mario Bros. have arrived!" Said The Hammer Bro on the right.

Mario looked at the two for a few second, before the realization dawned on him. "… Wait… Joe!? Joel!?"

The two Hammer Bros saluted. "That's right! Hammer Bros Joe and Joel at you service my friend!"

Luigi was pretty surprised himself. "Well, I will be! We haven't seen you two ever since our first adventure!"

The Hammer Bro on the left, Joel, chuckled at this. "Yeah! That really brings back memories, doesn't it?" He then looked at the painting with a nostalgic look. "Good times… Good times."

He then gave a smile to the two brothers. "So what's up, brothers M? Are you two heading off on a journey together?"

The brothers nodded.

The hammer Bro on the right, Joe, looked at the two. "Oh… So you probably want us to let you pass, huh?"

"That would be the idea. Yeah." Luigi added.

Joe put a hand on his chin. "Yeah, well, I'm sure you guys know this is the border of the Mushroom Kingdom."

The Mario brothers looked at each other. 'It is?... Huh. Luigi was right. This was really convinient.'

Joel pointed at himself. "That's right, it's the border, and since we're the border security, we can't let you in…"

… until you do some jumping worthy of the Mario name!" He concluded.

Our two heroes looked very confused at this request. "… jumping?" Mario asked.

Joe gave them a thumbs up. "Heck yeah! We called it the Border Jump!"

Mario had to ask a question before accepting. "Before we decide anything, could you two give us a shorth explanation of it?"

The Hammer Bros nodded. "Sure!"

Joel began explaining. "The rules are really simple! Just jump to avoid touching the royal Border line!" Joe continued. "And keep on jumping until that flag in the background reaches the top of the flagpole." Joel concluded. "But listen, if either one of you makes three mistakes, then the game's over. The end."

Joe patted his brother on the back. "Well said, little Border Bro! Anyway, we'll be nice and let you pratice first. Sound good?"

Mario and Luigi nodded.

"Sweet!" Joe exclaimed.

After that, Joe and Joel took out of a box a yellow and brow rope. They then position the rope in the center of the room, with both of them holding an extremity. Mario positioned himself on the right and Luigi on the left.

Joel prepared himself. "Ok, Mario, you go first. Jump!"

Mario did just that. He gave them the best jump he had.

The Hammer Bros nodded. "Okay. Next is your turn Luigi. Jump!"

Luigi followed his brothers and gave them the best jump he could do.

The Hammer Bros looked impressed. "Ok, Mario, try to jump the rope… Er… I mean, try to jump the royal Border line!" Joe sweatdropped as Joel gave him a dirty look.

The two of them moved the rope to Mario. As it was about to reach his feets, Mario jumped and avoided it.

Joel was impressed by that. "Man! That was incredible!" Joe continued. "Now it's your turn Luigi. Let's see you jump."

The same thing happened. Luigi jumped and avoided the rope.

Now Joe was impressed. "Awesome! Good job!" Joel continued. "All right, Mario, and you, Luigi! Try it together!"

The two of them made the rope reach both Mario and Luigi, who both jumped and avoided it.

Now Both of them were impressed. "WHOA! I missed seeing those jump in action!" Joel cleared his troath. "Okay! That's all the pratice you get!"

They then both looked at the brothers. "So, what do you say? Want to do the Border Jump?"

The Mario Brothers looked at each other as they contemplated the idea. But in the end, it didn't seems difficult at all, and their quest required them to reach the Beanbean Kingdom immediately. So the answer was pretty obvious as Mario looked at the Hammer Bros. "If it mean reaching the Beanbean kingdom, then the answer is yes!" He said full of confidence.

The Hammer Bros grinned at the answer. "Alright then!"

The two pair of Brothers repositioned themself to the positions of before to properly start the game.

The Hammer Bros holded the rope firmly. "Ready boys!?" Joel asked. Mario and Luigi nodded as Joe started the count down.

"Three! Two! One…"

"GO!"

"Uuugggh…"

That was already the fifth time that Reimu heard that groan.

After finding out that their magic was null in that mysterious place, including their flying, our two heroines were forced to explore that location completely on foot. Reimu didn't mind much. It was Marisa that was giving her a migraine.

"Uuuugggh…"

And with that is six.

The duo continued to walk for a while until Marisa decided to spoke. "This… is SO tiring… I have been flying for so long I completely forgot how so much walking felt like."

Reimu had already an answer for this. "You wouldn't feel like this if you walked regularly. You know… like me."

Marisa made an exaggerated gasp. "Oh my god! That's really low of you Reimu! Making fun of us lazies just because we aren't like you fit ones! That's racism!" She said as melodramatic as possible.

Reimu tried not to, but she still ended up chuckling at this. "Heh. Yeah, right. How could I? I'm such a bigot."

The two laughed at this. It was very reassuring knowing that, even in an unknown place, our two heroines could still have fun together.

Then, suddendly…

"Reimu! Look!" Screamed Marisa as she pointed at something.

"Huh!?" Reimu looked were Marisa was pointing… and was left speechless.

Standing infront of them, was an insect. But not a normal insect, at all. This insect was really big, reaching the lower half of Reimu's legs. It had blue eyes and a green and orange complexion. But the really creepy aspect of that thing, was his smile. A wide and unnatural smile that seemed to never falter no matter what.

Our two heroines continued to stare at that… thing. They really didn't know how to process this.

"… Ok. I'm 98-99% sure that we have never run into that… thing in Gensokyo." Marisa stated matter of fact.

"No… we haven't." Reimu said, uneasiness in her voice as she kept staring at it. She started to back away. "We should leave this thing alone. Now."

Marisa was surprised upon hearing this. "What!? Come on Reimu! Don't tell me you are actually scared of that thing!? It's so… tiny."

"Considering that it's supposed to be an insect, that statement is not valid!"

"Ah, whatever. It's still tiny everything considered."

"That does not make me feel better!"

"Come on Reimu! Don't be like that!"

Marisa thinked for a bit before reaching a solution. "Okay tell you what: now I will walk torward that insect, and I will show you that it's him that fears us! Be sure to look very closely!"

With that said, Marisa walked torward the insect, making Reimu even more nervous. "What!? Come back here! Marisa? MARISA!"

It was too late. Marisa was standing next to it.

"See? I mean, take a look at this thing. It's ridiculous!... although, if you look at it in another direction, it's kinda cute." She then used her finger cuddle the insect chin. "Isn't that right? Who is a cute little insect? Yes you are! Yes you-"

Cleary it wasn't. As soon as it had a chance, the insect opened it's mouth and chomped Marisa's arm. Hard.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"MARISA!"

Reimu immediately went to her friend's aid. Marisa was shaking her arm violenlty as she tried to shake the insect off. It wasn't working.

"GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"

Without thinking twice, Reimu grabbed the insect, pulled it off from it's "biting time", and kicked it with all her strenght, sending it far and far away

Reimu took a big sigh after that. Then, she checked on Marisa. "Holy moly! Marisa, are you okay!?"

Marisa could only hold her arm in pain. "That… little… monster…"

"Here. Let me take a look at it." Reimu said to her friend with a with a compassionate tone.

Marisa obliged and showed her arm to Reimu, who started to look at it carefully.

"… Is it bleeding?"

"… A little bit."

The bleeding was indeed small, but regardless of how it was, it still needed to be dealt with.

"Hold on. I have some bandages with me." Reimu stated as she started to look in her pockets.

Marisa was a bit surprised by this. "Why do you have bandages with you?"

"Because you never know when they might be useful."

"… right."

Reimu eventually took some bandages out of her pockets. However, before she could apply them, she realized something, snapping her finger. "Oh! Right! I should apply some alcohol to disinfect the wound first!" Sh started to search her pockets again, but realized something. "… But I don't have any alcohol with me. Darn it. … unless…"

She then looked at Marisa. "… Marisa? Is there any chance that you might have stolen some alcohol? And if yes, are you carring it with you?"

Marisa was offended by what she said. "What!? Oh come on Reimu! Now you are taking things too far! I'm not some kind of hoarder that takes anything that isn't chained!"

"…"

"…"

"..."

"… It's inside my hat."

Reimu grabbed the hat and started searching in it. Sure enough, she found a bottle of sake inside it.

She opened the bottle and positioned it next to the injured arm. "… I'm not going to lie to you. This is going to hurt… a lot."

Marisa, of course, dismissed this warning. "Oh please Reimu. I am a powerful witch. I have clashed against very powerful opponets and triumphed! I'm not going to be troubled by a bit of paAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

After the screaming finally stopped, and it took a while, Reimu applied the bandages to the just disinfected arm, stopping the bleeding.

Marisa's arm would have healed properly with time. … Of course, the same thing can't be said for her pride, as she gave Reimu a very forced smirk while her eyes were full of tears. ".… See… sniff… what did i tell you… sniff… It was… nothing for me… sniff…"

Reimu was smirking during the all conversation. And unlike Marisa, that was a genuine one. "Really now? Then why are you crying?"

Marisa continued to try to save face. "What?... I'm not crying… sniff… this are… tears of victory!... sniff."

Reimu smirk grew wider after this. "Oh, but of course they are!"

"Can we please… just go?" Marisa pleaded her.

Reimu decided to stop teasing her. After giving one last check to her bandaged arm, they continued to walk among the plains.

They didn't walk for long however, as they came face to face with another green pipe.

Reimu and Marisa looked at each other after seeing it. It's like they were mentally asking theirself if it was a good idea to go inside it.

Reimu figured something after seeing it. "… So, it seems that this green pipes are common in this place. Heck, they might even be the main trasportation system."

Marisa took notice of that. "Really now? Wow. Couldn't have they chosen a better system like, I don't know, flying vehicles? Now THAT is a cool way to travel!"

They stayed in silence for a few second before Marisa continued. "… Okay Reimu. As I said once, you are the boss. So, what do you think? Should we take this?"

Reimu put an hand on her chin as she started thinking. It was a risk. That pipe might have taken them somewhere completely different or take them exactly were they wanted. It was a risk, but then again: Isn't the point of an adventure to take some risks?

"…We should take it. Since we can't fly, we need a way to travel fast, and this is the only way."

Marisa nodded at her suggestion. "Okay then. Let's do this!"

Without wasting time, for the second time that day, Reimu and Marisa jumped inside the pipe, ready for whatever that mysterious place might have thrown at them.

… completely unaware of who they were about to meet.

It was a long battle.

Full of determination.

Fear.

Strenght.

And hardship.

But in the end, the Mario Bros were victorious.

They had beaten the Border Jump.

Mario was taking small breaths after that challenge. He was proud that him and his brother had succeded.

Speaking of his brother, Luigi was lying face on the ground, having succumbed to fatigue.

Mario, having finally gotten his breath back, was the first to vocalize the situation. "… Unbelievable… It was tough… but we did it Luigi! … Luigi?"

Luigi didn't answer as he was still lying on the ground. However, after a bit, he eventually said something. "… … Just leave me here."

The Hammer Bros were paticularly impressed. "WELL DONE YOU TWO! You have officially beat the Border jump!" Joe started. "I will be honest. I knew from the start that you were going to make it!" Joel finished.

Mario helped Luigi to get up.

Joe looked at the two brothers. "Well, congratulations you two! By beating the Border Jump you have earned the right to cross the border!" Joel pointed at the door. "Just beyond here is the Beanbean Kingdom. You better be extra careful when traveling there." He paused beofre he remembered something. "Oh right! One more thing!" He then searched in his pockets before pulling something out. "Those that complete the Border Jump not only earn the right to cross the border. They also receive this."

He then handed over a map to Mario. He opened it and realized what it was. "This is…"

Joel answered for him. "Yep. It's a map of the Beanbean Kingdom! I mean, as long as you have a map, you'll feel safer in foreign lands, right?"

Mario nodded and put the map in the suitcase. "This will be very uselful. Thanks Joe. Thanks Joel."

Joe and Joel smiled at him. "Don't mention it! And hey, good luck out there!" Joe started. "The Stardust Fields ain't exactly a "safe place" to travel in!" Joel fished.

Mario gave the two one last nod before going torward the exit. "Come on Luigi! We have a job to do!"

Luigi nodded and, after slapping his cheecks to recharge himself, waved at the Hammer Bros as he followed his brother. "Bye Joe! Bye Joel! It was nice seeing you two again!"

Joe and Joel waved at the two brothers as they left the room.

"… Man. It really brought back memory seeing them again, didn't it?"

"It sure did bro. It sure did."

The two brothers left the fortress and walked over a wooden bridge. After that, it was official.

They reached the Beanbean Kingdom.

"So… we did it bro. Finally… the Beanbean Kingdom." Mario proclaimed proudly as he looked around.

Luigi also looked around himself. "I must say, this place as a certain beauty to it."

After hearing what Luigi said, Mario's expression became more serious. "It might be, but we still must be careful. Remember what Joe and Joel said. This place isn't safe, so we have to keep our eyes closed."

Luigi understood what Mario was talking about and nodded. "Yeah. You are right bro. I guess in this adventure, the word "safe" disappeared the moment our transport was destroyed."

"Exactly. So, we can't let anything take us by surprise. Otherwise, we will… Eh?" Mario stopped talking as he looked around.

Luigi noticed that. "Eh? What is it bro?"

Mario continued to look around. "Did… you hear that?"

"Hear… what?"

"I could have sworn I heard something."

"I… didn't hear anything. I don't think that… Eh!?" Luigi stopped hiself as he realized there was actually a sound. "Holy cow! I can actually hear it too! What is this sound!?"

Mario followed the sound and realized were it originating from. "It's coming from… that pipe."

The Mario Brothes started to look at that pipe very closely. And as they did, the sound started to get louder and louder.

"Wait… what the-!"

Luigi didn't have the time to finish that sentence as, at an allarming speed, something came out of that pipe.

That something, was two girls.

The two girls, came from the pipe at full speed, and landed right on the ground. And it wasn't a soft landing either.

The two girls were now lying on the ground, groaning in pain.

Mario had truly no words to describe what just happened. 'What the!? Who are this two girls!? And why are they dressed like that!?'

The girls dressed in black slowly got up as she removed dust from her dress and her hat. "… Well! It's official! I! Hate! PIPES!" She put emphasis in that last statement by stomping on the ground. "I swear! Once we get out of here, when I go home, I'm going to dismantle every single PIPE IN MY HOUSE!"

The girls in red got up as well as she gave the other girl an annoyed look. "… I think you are exagerrating a little."

The girl in black continued. "OH NO! I! AM! NOT! And tell you what! NOT just my house! I will dismantle the pipes of EVERYONE'S HOUSES! THAT WILL TEACH THAT Stupid…"

The girl stopped her rant as her and the other girl came face two face with Mario and Luigi.

The two group stared at eachother very akwardly, and none of them had any idea what to say.

Eventually, it was Mario that broke the ice. "… … Hi."

The girls stared at the two, unsure how to answer that.

But eventually, the girl in red realized there was only one way to answer.

"… … Hi."

Omake

Its' a beautiful sunny day. And Suwako and Kanako are sitting next to the Shrine drinking Sake. Then Suwako starts a discussion. "Hey, have you seen that VHS Existence gave us?"

Kanako nods. "I did."

"What was on it?"

"A movie called Stand and Deliver."

Suwako starts remembering it. "Oh man. That movie was so good."

"I know right?" Kanako agrees with her.

"Truly shows that we are losing a lot stuck in here."

Kanako takes a sip of Sake. "Yeah. And it makes you wonder whatever happened to Jacob James Olmos."

Suwako is left confused for a second by that. "… Eh, I'm sorry who?"

Kanako repeats what she said. "Jacob James Olmos. Whatever happened to that guy?"

"… He never existed. It's Edward James Olmos."

Kanako looks at her in silence for a second before laughing. "Hehehe. Okay, but seriously, I'm positive it's Jacob James Olmos."

"And I keep telling you it's Edward James Olmos."

Now Kanako was getting irritated. "I'm sorry, you- you are joking, right?"

Suwako started to get irritated as well as she got up. "No no no! Are you being serious!?"

"It's Jacob James Olmos!"

"It's Edward James Olmos!"

"Jacob James Olmos!"

"EDWARD JAMES OLMOS!"

"YES! JACOB JAMES OLMOS!"

So, ny dear friend. I would like to keep going, but I think we both know they went on for a while.

So, let's move to the next chapter.

AND SO, IT CONCLUDES! Our heroes have officially met each other, and now, the adventure will truly begin! Next time, introduction! And, the exploration of the Stardust Fields will begin! (Though, if you played the game, you probably know what will happen) However, I won't be able to work on this for the next five days since I will be going on vacation, so, wish me luck! And that is all I wanted to say. As always, comments are appreciated and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. SEE YOU NEXT TIME!