First, thank you so freaking much to all the people who reviewed and followed this. It makes me so freaking happy! :D Second, I'm so sorry this took so long. I didn't mean for it to. I was going to post this much sooner, but I ran into writer's block and some serious inspiration loss.

Also, remember that I'm putting my own spin into things, so characters may appear slightly different than how they are supposed to appear. I do that because I'm writing them how I see them instead of how the game tries to pretty them up and display them. Like how Mario is suppose to be modest and kind, yet he always seems to be the hero and barely ever Luigi and everything is always named after Mario. It gives me a sense of ego and love for the spotlight, as for Luigi, he seems a bit wary. Not necessarily a scaredy-cat, but wary of danger, but will still go into it if necessary, especially to help someone he cares about. And since I'm putting my own spin into it, things might not match up to the series. I just did that for the storyline. Wow this was a long note. XD

Disclaimer I do not own Mario or any of its characters.

Chapter 3

The Beginning of Something

"I wasn't sure before, but I am now. You are completely, utterly, irreversibly insane, Mario."

"Am not."

"Are, too."

Mario narrowed his eyes at his brother as he continued to trudge through the mud.

"Why can't we just ask our King? Why do we have to ask the neighboring King?" sighed Luigi.

"I told you before, Luigi. Because our King's brother killed you and murdering tends to make me not very fond of people, so we'll just ask a different one. I mean, there are four other kingdoms we could go to instead. We don't have to stick to our own."

"That was an accident, though. And I came back anyways," he pouted in vain.

They had been walking for hours while carrying heavy backpacks and his feet were starting to hurt. The Mushroom Kingdom was so far away and they had never been there before. In fact, they had never left their kingdom and he was a bit worried how it would go, but Mario refused to let it go and he wasn't about to let him go alone. Even though their father had told Mario to look after him, most of the time, it felt more like Luigi was doing more of the looking after part.

When they finally reached the Mushroom Kingdom, their jaws dropped at the sight they saw. It was nothing like the Koopa Kingdom where most of it was stricken with poverty. It was rather clean with stone streets and colorful houses. There were people running among each other and being friendly instead of causing pain and killing for morsels of food. They began to walk slowly through the village with their faces agape. They probably looked ridiculous, but they couldn't help it. It wasn't hard to find the castle, seeing how it was like a beacon. There were guards everywhere, looking stern and certainly like they weren't going to let them inside.

"So how do you suppose we get inside?" inquired Luigi.

"You could distract them while I sneak in," replied Mario.

"I don't think hamsters are guarding the castle, Mario. They'll notice."

"Fine. Maybe there's an unguarded window around here."

"Sure. Then we could have tea with the King and marry his daughters," Luigi muttered, earning him a glare from Mario.

"Come on. It's worth a try since we came all the way out here."

Luigi sighed as he followed Mario. They sneaked around hedges and pillars. There were many guards and not that many low hanging windows. Eventually they did find one, though, and sneaked over to slip into it. They weren't exactly quiet about it either. They plunked onto the ground loudly and groaned in pain. The floor was farther down than they were expecting.

"Okay. We're in. Now to find the King," grinned Mario as he jaunted down the hallway, tracking mud.

Luigi rolled his eyes before running after his brother. They weren't sure where the King was, but they took a wild guess, and went with the main, more grander hallways. They ran into a few guards and servants, but they only gave them an odd look before turning away. Security really lacked; probably because they didn't have to worry about anyone coming to assassinate the King or any of the other members of the royal family. When they saw huge, elegant doors, they were sure they had found the throne room. Oddly there were no guards guarding it. Lunch break?

They looked at each other with a determined expression before nodding and pushing open the doors with all their might. Inside, on his massive throne, sat the King of the Mushroom Kingdom with all his glory. He turned his attention to the two teenage boys who had just opened up the doors and narrowed his eyes.

"And who are you? No one told me that someone was going to see me right now," said the King with authority.

"I am Mario and I came all the way from Koopa Kingdom by foot because I wish to speak to you."

The King looked him up and down, taking in his muddy, torn, too big, and old, patched up clothes.

"I have no desire to talk to a savage little boy."

"Hey, I-"

Mario was cut off by Luigi putting his hand over his mouth to shut him up, but he knew that wouldn't last for long since Mario tended to bite his hand until he would let go, even if he bled.

"Oh, daddy. Why don't you listen to him? Maybe it's something interesting. I don't think anyone so cute could be as savage as you say they are," came a voice.

They turned to see a girl who looked to be about their age step into the room from a side door. She had long, wavy blond hair and gorgeous hazel-blue eyes. She seemed to be the Princess since she was wearing an elegant pink gown and the Crown of the Heir.

"Very well, Peach. I might as well hear them since they came from such a long distance to walk from. Go on."

"Well, King Toadstool, as you know, no one is capable of dying anymore and it's been this way for the past five years."

The King nodded, allowing Mario to continue.

"I think we should make the most of this. Right now, we are living with fragile peace treaties with the other kingdoms due to war is pointless. I think we should use this time to strengthen our bonds so we don't have to always feel like we are walking on eggshells with each other."

"What do you suppose?" requested the King, intrigued.

"The answer is very simple. A game that people from all the kingdoms compete in. And not just any game, but a game that takes advantage of the fact that we can't die. It will be a racing game where the competitors will make their own kart and race it on dangerous tracks that they could possibly die on, which could slow them down, but seeing how we are immortal, we will just get reborn and continue the race. There will be many tracks and, of course, the winner overall will get a trophy and a prize. Only thing is, I need a sponsor to make it happen."

The King seemed to be thinking it over and after a few minutes, he said, "Why didn't you ask your own King to sponsor you?"

"We are not very fond of our King's brother. We have a bit of history with him."

"Which one? He has three brothers. Though, you are probably referring to Bowser. I don't see why you wouldn't like Para or Koopa," piped up the Princess as she walked over to stand beside her father.

Mario just nodded in reply to her question.

"What do you think, Peach? Do you think I should sponsor them?" he inquired to his daughter.

"I think it sounds fun," she giggled.

"Then it's settled. I will sponsor you two."

Mario grinned widely, but his eyes were trained on the Princess while she smiled gently back at him. Luigi stood there in disbelief, both at the fact that they got a sponsor and at the fact that his joke might actually come true with the way she was looking at him.

*BREAK*BREAK*BREAK*

"Rosalina! It's been so long since I've last seen you!" shrilled Peach as she ran up to her.

"I know. It's been so long since I last participated in a Mario Kart tournament," she laughed.

"I heard you sponsored one more track than you usually do."

"I was just so excited about participating this year that I couldn't help it. I heard your two kids are participating this year, too."

"Indeed they are. You better watch out for them. They take after Mario."

"Well, you see, we all actually have been expecting Martin to take after Mario what with his name and the fact he looks just like him. I'm going to be on the look out for him. Why else would a five year old be competing?"

Peach gave a nervous laugh, but refused to doubt her own son's abilities. He was still very young. He could get better.

*BREAK*BREAK*BREAK*

"Hi. I'm Berry. This is my first year competing in a Mario Kart tournament and this is my brother, Martin. It's his first year, too," greeted Berry with a friendly smile with her brother into a group of competitor children all about her age.

"Ha! Newbs? This is my second year competing! We're going to smoke you!" laughed a boy with bone white hair who had to be a prince from one of the five kingdoms since he wore a silver crown on top of his head with onyx and amber jewels.

"Ignore, Bones. This is my third year. Nice to meet you. I'm Diddy. It's Junior's first year, too," grinned a boy with brown hair and tanned skin who looked a few years older than them.

"Who cares about Junior?" inquired Bones.

"You should, seeing how he's your cousin."

"Who cares about the cousin of the heir? He's never going to become King."

"Again. Ignore, Bones," sighed Diddy.

"Hi, I'm Junior," said a boy with short red hair in a ponytail that looked to be around Martin's age with his hand stuck out in front of him and a light blush on his cheeks.

"Nice to meet you all," smiled Berry as she shook his hand roughly.

"Yeah," muttered Martin as he looked as his shoes.

"Is this all the kids our age that are competing?" requested Berry.

"No. There are two more, but they are hiding behind their mom. I've never seen them before, so this must be their first year competing," answered Diddy while pointing at Berry and Martin's mother and two other queens who were talking together in a group. At closer inspection, she saw a little boy and girl hiding behind one of their gowns.

"Come on, Martin. Let's go meet them," she giggled before pulling her brother along with her.

When they got closer to the women, her mother stopped mid-sentence to look down at them and smiled.

"Rosalina, Daisy, you remember my children, Berry and Martin," said Peach.

"Oh yes. I expect to watch out for them on the track. Especially the one wearing Mario's old hat. I can almost feel how dangerously talented he is just by looking at him," replied Rosalina.

Martin smiled at her for the compliment, but he couldn't tell if she was joking or not.

"Hi, I'm Berry," she declared to the children hiding behind Daisy's gown, making them jump and peek around it.

"You have a hat like that mister," whispered the girl while staring at Martin.

"You like my hat?" inquired Martin while touching it.

"I think she's talking about Uncle Luigi. He's the only other person who has a hat like that," said Berry.

The girl stepped out from behind the woman's dress and walked up to Berry.

"I'm Lily," she said quietly.

Berry smiled at her and saw the boy step out to stand beside her.

"And I'm Louis."

"I wish you the best of luck on the tracks," said Berry.

"You, too," said the twins in unison as they held each other's hands.

From far away, Berry was unknowingly being watched by both Diddy and Junior.

The racing will actually start in the next chapter. I had to work up to it. Almost every chapter will start with a memory from the past and then show what's happening in the present. As you can see, the characters have pretty much been established. I hope it's interesting enough. As I wrote this, I felt the second half wasn't very interesting since it was just them standing around the first track before the race started, talking to each other and introducing themselves to the newcomers. I hope this was worth the wait.

~Camille Cayden