Chapter Fourteen: Homecoming
Mario
"Sir. Sir! This is your stop, sir!" I opened my eyes. I looked out at the bright blue sky, heard the sound of the water lapping against the shore. As I sat up, I saw that we had reached our final destination: Yoshi's Island. Seagulls squawked overhead and Yoshi children laughed playfully out in the rolling green meadows.
I smiled, sucked in a deep breath of air, and let it out. I stepped out onto the Beach and waved at the Yoshis. "Hi," I said.
The Yoshis stopped dead. There was a grisly silence. Nobody moved. You could hear a pin drop. As I walked in between the Yoshis, the children hid behind their parents, and even they looked a little worried. "So much for the welcome wagon," I said.
Then something really unexpected happened. The Yoshis started bowing. "Ma-ri-o! Ma-ri-o! Ma-ri-o!" They were chanting now and it was weirding me out.
"Okay, what in the world is going on?" I asked. I was answered by two familiar but hard to place voices.
"Mario! Son!" I gasped as two wrinkled people approached me. As they embraced me, I was confused.
"Who are you?" I asked. "And why did you call me son?" I stared hard at the slightly odd couple in front of me. They looked taken aback.
"Don't tell us you've forgotten your own parents!" they said.
"WHAT?!" I said.
~
"So that's how it all happened."
I put down my tea.
"So what your saying is, you're my real parents, and I wasn't born in Brooklyn, I was born here?!"
She paused and sipped her tea. "My name is Mary. Mary Mario. And this is Ryan Mario. So why did you come here in the first place?" she asked. I remembered for the first time my mission. I had nearly forgotten.
"Oh, I was looking for a type of relic, um... a silver cup? Know anything?" I asked. Her eyes widened.
"Yes. We do have something like that. But it is in the Crypt Of Heroes. You must reach the cup on the 50th floor. We can take you there."
~
I looked at the huge opening to the crypt. As I walked down the steps there was a sense of dread in the air. A cold mist washed over me. When I walked onto the stone ground, I saw my surroundings. It was not the best interior decorating. It was misty, with chains hanging from the wall. Yoshi remains lay strewn across the floor. I shuddered. I heard movement behind me. I whirled around to see two Dry Bones, as tall as an adult humans, and probably as strong.
I took out my Steel Hammer. One charged at me, but I jumped over it and smashed it in the ribs. HISSSS!!! It crumpled to the ground, but the other one slashed at me. I ducked and shot a fireball at its head. It fell. I smiled. "That'll teach you not to mess with me," I said, as I continued my journey...
Chapter Fifteen: Wrecking Crew
Mewtwo90
I was in a castle with lava-filled pools and dark corridors with screams echoing from deep within the decaying walls. I was following my reptilian friend to rescue his brother.
"Hey! Guys! Wait for me!" I spun around and saw princess Bow. "You guys wouldn't start the party without me, would you? GWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!" she said.
Slimer49'r looked angry. "How long have you been spying on us?" he asked. She shrugged. Two rather large Sledge Brothers then approached. "Duh... Intruadeers!!!" Slimer49'r dashed out between them and mowed one over with a sword.
"Tell Bowser, we're out for blood, suckers!" I focused and used my psychic powers to throw one into a wall.
"Take this!" Bow slashed a deep gash in one of their arms.
"RAAAAGH!" The two Sledge Brothers remained still.
We walked past ceveral cells filled with terrified people, eyes open, staring at us, blood-shot and filled with a glazed look. Some lay on the ground while others hung from chains. They smelled awful, none of them looked like they had eaten or bathed in weeks. "Slimer!" I said.
"What?" he asked.
"We have to save these people!"
He looked suprised, then turned toward me. "Hey, the mission is, rescue my brother, then leave!" he said.
"Please!" I begged him.
His face remained cold and stony. "I don't give crud about anyone else in this dump, and I ain't freeing anyone," he said.
"Well if you don't help, I will!" I focused my mental energy, and ripped the locks off the cells.
"We're free!" They all ran out. One Koopa girl went up to me. "Thank you for saving us!" She gave me a kiss on the cheek and I blushed. "My name is Sage." She smiled, revealing blackened teeth.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Slimer49'r came over to me and punched me in the face. I staggered back.
"What was that for?" I asked.
"NOW, BECAUSE OF YOU, WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH THESE PEOPLE!" He stormed off.
"Boy, he's grumpy," Bow said.
We finally made it to the throne room, where Bowser was lounging in his large throne.
"Bowser! I'll get you for this!" Slimer49'r said.
"Crud! Not you again!" he said. Bowser pressed an intercom, and shouted into it. "KOOPALINGS!!!"
Seven creatures entered the room, grinning. "Looks like ve got you right vere ve want you," one of them said.
Chapter Sixteen: Emperor's Fury
Luigi
"Now you fools shall see my true power!" Smithy roared. I readied my self, Yoshi by my side.
Smithy's body grew outward, with jagged spikes on his body. His head grew more pointy and his grisly hammer became a lot more grisly. He loomed over us, at least 20 feet tall. He had razor sharp talons that protruded over his feet, and his left arm became a cannon. His back was lined with long whip-like tenticles that crackled with electricity. Two mechanical wings sprouted from his back, ending in sharp drills.
"Woah," I said.
"A liitle awe-struck, eh, Luigi?" the beast said.
It was fast. It took no time in lunging at us. I just barely got out of the way. "We beat you before, Smithy!" I said.
It scoffed. "It actually wasn't you, or your dinosaur friend here, it was your petty friends. And I was weaker then. This time it's different."
CHEEEEWWWW!!! CHEEEEWWWW!!! He fired several cannon blasts at me. I jumped to the side and charged a bolt of lightning. CRACKLE!!! Smithy shrugged it off, then shouted, "SUBMARINE HEAD!" Smithy's head changed shape and became a blue submarine.
WOOOOOOSHHH!!! It shot two torpedoes at us. Yoshi jumped away. BOOOOOMMM!!! "What? AUGHH!!!" Yoshi dodged the blast, but was caught off-guard by a bomb that flew out of the torpedo. Smithy's head returned to normal.
"Haha! What? Tired already? This is only a mere sample of my strength!"
I picked up Yoshi and flew up to Smithy, then jumped and smashed him with my hammer. Yoshi fluttered to the ground and I flew down, waiting for the dust to clear.
"ACK! That... hurt... WHELP!!!" Smithy smashed into me with his cannon arm.
"Luigi!" Yoshi yelled.
"I'm okay!" I said as I spat blood from my mouth. "Now let's take this guy down, together!"
Smithy laughed. "You are nothing to
me, worthless nothings. And I will cause you so much pain, you'll beg to
be killed."
Chapter Seventeen
Mario
RAAAAUUGGGHHH!!! A Dark Bones swung a fist at me but I rolled away. Smash! Its head flew off and shattered into peices. "Urk!" Two Dark Bones grabbed me from behind. I charged a pyro in one hand and smashed one's rib cage, which fell to the ground and burned. The other one backed away. "Yahhhh!!!" I sliced the creature in two and it crumpled to ashes. I took a second to catch my breath. Who knows how far down I was? And I was tiring. I hope I didn't have to go much further. I trudged down the next flight of stairs.
"OOooOoOoOoOOOooooooOOooooOOOOOOoooOoooOooooooo..." A ghostly wail rose from the depths as I walked into the next room.
"Hey buddy, cut the act. I've heard it all before." I said.
"You have to spoil my fun, don't you!" The creature stepped out of the darkness to reveal... a giant Burt?!
"Burt the Bashful?!" I said in amazement. "Peach said she saw you here! What are you doing?"
He blinked incoherently. "My people need this artifact, and if you want it, you're going to have to take it!" WHOMP!!!
"Woah! Well, if that's how you want to do it, fine with me!"
I jumped onto his head, knocking him down. "OWWW!" I flipped off him and charged a sword of flame.
"BURNING IMPALEMENT!!!" FWOOM!!! SHUK! The sword stuck in him. He grinned at me. WHAM! I went flying into the wall. "Uhh... You're powerful."
He grinned and stepped closer. "You like it?" SHUK!
"AAH!" His teeth dug into my mucsle, and I staggered back, bleeding.
My vision was getting fuzzy. I had to think and act quickly! I looked around for something, anything, I could use to my advantage. We were in a fairly large room, and there were torches on the wall. And then... the floor! There were spots on the floor that cracked a little. I stood on one, charged, and threw a pyro at Burt, shouting, "Hey tubby! Over here!"
Just as I had hoped, he leaped towards me, landing on the spot I had been a second ago. "Grr... huh?" He paused, looked down, and then jumped away. "Ha ha ha, Mario. You are smart, but did you think the old, stand on top of a crack and then jump away so I could fall to my death routine would really work?" He chuckled.
"I was really hoping it would," I said.
"Let me show you how it is done, warrior!!!" Burt threw a punch that skimmed my head.
"Mamamia!" I had to think of another plan.
I jumped up to a torch, and snuffed it out. I repeated this process with the second torch. Burt looked curious. "What on Plit are you doing?"
I grinned as I snuffed out a third torch. "You'll see!"
When the third torch went out, I ran for the last one. The room was now dark except for a tiny glow. "Hey! I can't see!" he said, stumbling blindly.
As I picked up the fourth torch I said, "Bingo!" I stood prepared. "Hey, Burt! Over here!" He jumped blindly... right onto the torch.
"OWOWOWOWOW!!!" Burt stumbled backwards to the first hole he made, teetered, and fell in.
"Woohoo! Yeah! It's-a me Mario!"
I saw the cup float up from the darkness and illuminate the room. I grabbed it and went upwards, towards the surface.
~
"Hey, everyone! Mario's back!" A crowd of Yoshi children jumped excitedly around me.
My parents rushed over to me. "We new you could do it, son!" They stopped when they heard the ground rumbling. CRAAAACCCCCCKKK!!! Burt came out of the ground enraged.
"This isn't over, Mario!!!" he said as he dragged me into the darkness.
(Groovy Koopa Kids)
Chapter Eighteen: Koopaling Khaos
Slimer49'r
I stared around as the seven Koopalings surrounded us. "Err... I think I'm going to wet myself," I said. Bow and Mewtwo90 looked frightened too. I tried to act brave. "Bowser, we're gonna kick your spiky butt!!!" I said. Bow readied her fans, and Mewtwo90 entered a fighting stance.
"This is going to be interesting," Ludwig said.
"Daddy! I wan't a pony, now!" screamed Wendy.
"We're going to cream, murder, beat, smoke-"
Bowser roared. "SHUT UP! All of you! You're giving me a migraine! Just kill them!!!"
Ludwig lunged foward at Bow, breathing fire at her. She dove out of the way and threw one of her steel fans at Ludwig, who swatted it away. "Is that the best you've got?"
Meanwhile, Mewtwo90 was having problems of his own, dealing with Wendy, Morton Jr, Roy, Larry, Lemmy, and Iggy. "You make the Warculons of my home planet look like timid Ooogles!" he said.
Lemmy and Iggy grinned before hopping on each other. "We may be small, but we pack a punch!" POW!
I was taking on Bowser. "Slimer49'r, you fool. Did you come here hoping you would retrieve your brother?" he asked as I slashed the air between us with my swords.
"@##$$$*&$. No, Bowser, I KNOW!" I aimed my lazer cannon and shot at him. He dodged but barely.
"Woah! You are a formatable opponent, I give you that."
I grinned. "Thanks."
SLICE! SLICE! SLICE! Bow was hacking away at Ludwig, but he was blocking every blow with his hard shell. SLICE! POW! Bow sliced again, but when Ludwig hid in his shell, Bow smacked him with her fin, sending him spiraling into the wall and bouncing back. Then Bow flipped him up with her fan and then caught him in the face with her fan. "Augh!!!" Ludwig fell, unconcious.
Mewtwo90 was trying to remain standing. "Erk. Take this!" He took control of Lemmy and Iggy, who were still spinning, and became a formidable weapon to take down the rest of the Koopalings. Then, after spinning around Lemmy and Iggy, they fell over.
Bowser and I were still engaged in combat. "Urr... See ya!" Bowser jumped into his Clown Car and the ceiling opened.
"Get back here, Bowser!" I yelled. As he flew into the distance we heard his laughter...
(Super Mario Bros 1 Bowser)
Chapter Nineteen: Teamwork
Yoshi
TSEEWWW! TSEEWWW! Smithy fired his laser cannon repeatedly at us. "Luigi!" I shouted. TSEEWWW!
"Yeah? he called back.
"Focus your attacks on his cannon arm!" I said. TSEEWWW!
"Gotcha!"
CRACKLE TSEE-BA BOOM!!! Luigi had fired a bolt of electricity into Smithy's arm just as he was firing, making his arm explode. "Oh the pain, oh the agony!" Smithy cried.
"All right!" Luigi said.
Smithy grinned. "Just kidding." Before my very eyes his cannon arm regenerated. "Although I do enjoy toying with you, this must end, now!!!" He fired off another couple rounds.
"You're sure right, it has to!!!" I said. I took out a Bean Fruit, swallowed it, and then shot it at Smithy.
As the dust cleared we slowly saw a figure. "Do you think he's down for the count?" I asked.
My question was answered. Smithy was lying down, dead. To my surprise, Mario stepped out of the fog. "Wow, guys, you beat Smithy!" he said. "Congratulations!" He came over and pat me on the back. This was strange.
"Mario, what are you doing here?" I asked, puzzled.
He frowned for a moment but then said, "Why, I'm here to save you, of course! But when I came in, I saw you already handled yourself nicely," he said.
I blushed, embarrased. "Oh," I said, wiping away any ridiculous thoughts.
~
"Well, here we are, guys. Home!" Mario said.
Peach came up to us, and kissed me on the nose! "Gosh," I said.
Peach outstretched her arms. "In celebration of our heroes coming home, we have prepared a feast!" she said. I licked my lips, and thought of fruit. Nice, cold, juicy watermelons, plums, bananas, apples, and oranges!
"Another feast?" Luigi said.
Peach led us all into the main hall of the castle. Mushroom Retainers came in and opened platters of fruit. "YOSHI!!!" I said, beaming, and gobbled into every piece of food on my plate.
"Ohhh... I'm so stuffed I couldn't eat another bite," I mumbled.
The Mushroomers brought out more platters. "Who wants seconds?" Peach asked.
"OOH! OOOH! ME! I DO!!!" I said. I basically attacked the Retainer for the watermelon platter he had.
~
I went upstairs and brushed my teeth. I had been invited to stay a while so I was sleeping in a guest room with Luigi. I yawned, and crawled into bed. "Good night, Luigi," I said.
"Good night, Yoshi," he said.
Before I went to sleep I could've sworn I saw Mario outside the castle, far below. But, It couldn't be, could it? What was he doing?
Chapter Twenty: Home is Where the Heart is?
Luigi
I woke up, got of bed and yawned. I went doenstairs and greeted Peach in the main hall. "Hey Peach, got any Honey Nut Cheerios in this place?" I asked.
"Sure." She pointed towards a shelf. I poured the cereal into a bowl and sat down in front of the TV.
"Now with your paid purchase you can get a free can of rubber chicken heads! Just call 1-800-526-OMG!!! That's 1-800-526-OMG!!! Buy today!!!"
I frowned. "Stupid Commercials." I flipped through every channel I don't know how many times.
"Good morning, all," Yoshi said. I saw he had just woken up. He walked to the bottom of the stairs and then said, "Hey Peach, you think we could go for a picnic today?" Yoshi asked.
Peach smiled brightly. "That's a wonderful idea, Yoshi!" Peach said.
Yoshi frowned. "Actually I was kind of hoping me and Luigi could go together. Without you," he said.
Disappointment spread across Peach's face. "Oh, well, yeah, I guess. Have fun you two." Her face fell.
"It's nothing personal, It's just something..." Yoshi said. I was curious as to what Yoshi meant.
~
I was carrying the picnic basket over to a nice shady spot overlooking a river, under a tree. As I sat down beside Yoshi I saw his face deep in thought. "Yoshi, I know you didn't come out here just to have a picnic. Come on, what's really going on?" I asked.
He sighed. "Well, I think there's something weird about all of this. It just seems too easy, the way we defeated Smithy in a single hit. And everything here just seems so perfect." He shuddered.
"You do have a point," I said. "Yoshi!! Look!"
As Yoshi turned around, to his and my horror the ground collapsed beneath Yoshi. SPLASH! "Yoshi!!"
I shouted. Yoshi, as a non-Delfino-born, Yoshi could swim. But against these currents, he was no match.
I ran along beside the stream. I whipped out my hammer and stretched it out as far as possible. "Yoshi! Grab on!" I cried. As much as Yoshi struggled he could not grab onto the hammer. I looked further downstream. "Oh my God! A waterfall!" About a foot away from Yoshi was a huge waterfall, with sharp jagged rocks at the bottom.
Yoshi made one last attempt to grab onto my hammer but missed as he toppled over the edge of the falls. "YOSHI!!!" I cried.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Yoshi cried as he fell to his death...
Chapter Twenty-One: The Showdown
Mario
I braced myself as I hit the cold steel platform hard. It was a circular platform with lava beneath it.
"HAHA! Mario, you won't beat me this time!" Burt said.
I grinned. "Bring it!"
Burt came at me full speed, attempting to bowl me over. I sidestepped and tripped him, sending him sprawling. I jumped up with my hammer and sent it crashing down on the back of his head. "ARGH!" he shouted.
He leaped into the air and hit the platform, sending a shockwave. I jumped over it but failed to dodge Burt's ram a second time. "OOF!" I said, getting the wind knocked out of me.
I sent a barage of flames at Burt. "OWWW!!!" he shouted, running around.
"I see you're a lot weaker," I said.
He grimmaced. "Shut up." He jumped again, but this time I was ready. I jumped over the shockwave, and as he came forward I delivered a spinning back kick to his head. "Arggh!" I delivered a monkey punch, and then shot a bottom fist to the back of the head, followed by a vertical punch. "Arrrgh!!!" Burt stumbled backwards and fell down.
"Grr... You are quite a pain. Let's see how you fare with this!"
QWWWWAAAAMMMM!!!
"What the-" I started. "ARRRGH!!" I screamed in pain.
A wave of green light came out of Burt's mouth, and connected with me. "@#$%.. What is that?" I moaned.
"Ectoplasm. One of the perks of guarding the cup."
QWWWWWAAAMMMM!!! I jumped out of the way, but it followed me. I ran in front of Burt and backflipped, letting it hit him. "OWW!" He leaped into the air and came back down.
I jumped into the air and said, "Meteor Shower!!!" The darkness around us became red as multiple meteors crashed down upon Burt and the arena. I donned a Metal Cap. "Time to end this." I said.
Burt was being pelted by meteors, and didn't notice me as I crept up to him and punched him in the gut. "ACK!" Burt fell over, out cold.
I took a Feather out of my pocket, getting a cape just as my Metal Cap wore off, and flew up out of the chasm, with Burt in one hand and the cup in the other. I set Burt down. "You might want to get this guy to a hospital," I said. I walked to the edge of the beach and said, "HEY SMITHY!!! I GOT THE CUP! WHAT NOW?!"
I watched as a hologram flickered on. Smithy was seen. "Ah, excellent. You have the first item. Very good. Hold the item up in the air," he said. I did as he said, and a white light came down and the cup disappeared. "The next item is the Dark Crown. You can find it in Boo's Mansion." FZZZT...
The screen flickered off and I prepared for my next destination.
Chapter Twenty-Two: On the Run
Bow
We watched as Bowser flew away in his Koopa Kopter. Slimer49'r turned to me. "Hey Bow, can't you fly or something?" he asked.
"I can hover and float, but I can't fly," I said.
He walked over to Ludwig and picked him up by the collar. "Hey, hey punk! Wake up," Slimer49'r said.
"Huh, what?" Ludwig groaned and looked at Slimer.
"Do you have any rides here?" he asked.
Ludwig moaned again. "We have a spare Koopa Kopter in the basement, but it's not the greatest." He fainted.
"We'll take it!" Slimer said.
~
"This is crud," Slimer said. We were in a beat-down old Clown Copter, half crushed and dented. It was missing several gears and bumpers.
"Slimer, be happy for what we have." I said.
He groaned. "Women..."
I flapped my fin. "I HEARD THAT!!!" I did not hesitate to beat the fungus out of Slimer.
(Author's Note: Credit goes to Yoshi Stadium for that joke.)
~
An hour later, we had finally caught up to Bowser. Bowser looked behind him to see us catching up to him. He laughed. "You're actually riding that pile of junk?!" he said.
"Oh yeah?!" I replied. "Take this!" We pressed a button and a Bullet Bill shot out of vehicle and hit Bowser's. Boom!
"Ack!" Bowser pressed a button, sending
several bombs our way. We swerved upwards and avoided them.
I pressed a button that shot lasers
at his engines. ZZZAPP! BOOM!
Bowser started to fall. "WOOHOO!" We all cheered. Mewtwo90 said, "It is the birthday of me! It is the birthday of me!" Unfortunately, Bowser then zapped our ship. And we started falling. Right into PRINCESS PEACH'S CASTLE!!!