Prologue:
The monstrous-sized, purple Magikoopa stared upon his henchman, a cold, serious look on his face. “NOW SEE HERE!” the huge, dark figure bellowed to his winged henchman. “They all must be collected QUICKLY! If this task is failed, our chances of world domination will diminish!”
The henchman, a Paratroopa comparatively small in size to the huge Magikoopa, shivered. He simply hated seeing his master so tensed up. Anyone would know better than to tick him off. “Do not fear, Master!” the henchman reassured. “Our forces are already searching. We shall not fail!”
“Can I be sure of that?”
“You have my word.”
The Magikoopa still wasn’t very convinced. As with all evil rulers, he wanted one-hundred percent success from his minions. If that success wasn’t acquired, he’d have no use for them. The dark Magikoopa took a deep breath, making himself larger and much, much more intimidating than the tiny Paratroopa. “Well, just in case some fool tries to interfere, I want you to go out and assist. To add to that, you have the power to sense them over long distances. You should be able to find them before anyone else does. Besides, with the guardian of the Grand Gem now dead, this shouldn’t be hard at all!”
“In that case, I shall begin my search now.”
“Do not fail me, or I shall have your shell! Understand?”
The henchman swallowed hard. He, like any Koopa, treasured his shell very much. A Koopa simply wasn’t a Koopa without his shell. “Yes, Master.”
“Very good, now AWAY with you!”
“Yes, Master.” The henchman quickly flew away and exited the throne room. The dark master chuckled to himself. “Ah yes. Once I have all of those powerful jewels, the world will be MINE!” He let out an evil laugh.
***
His hat nearly blew off in the wind as Mario waited anxiously at the Mushroom City docks. Come on, already! he thought. When will that boat get here?! The plumber tapped his foot impatiently. It had been a long time since he had last seen his old friend. Today, he would finally see him again.
Suddenly…
*HOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNK!*
“It’s about time!” Mario groaned.
A small ship came into view. Mario watched as the small but sturdy ship slowly landed at the dock just in front of him. Then, there he was. The plumber’s green friend stepped off the ship with his large bag and waved back at the crew in a way that said “Thank you”. He then turned to the plumber, reaching his large, green hand out for a handshake.
“Ah, Yoshi!” Mario greeted. “Long time-a no see!”
“Likewise,” the green dinosaur said back.
“Ooh! Allow me to carry that for you!”
Mario picked up Yoshi’s luggage. To him, the bag was surprisingly heavy. “Mamamia!” Mario remarked. “What’s in here?”
“Six melons, eight apples, twelve oranges, ten grapevines, and twenty-two berries,” Yoshi listed. “Just so I won’t get too hungry.”
Mario tried to hold back his laughter. The two walked back to the road.
“TAXI!” Mario called. A taxi cab pulled up to them. Mario opened the door and shoved the heavy bag in. He then got in, as did Yoshi.
“Mushroom Kingdom Forest, please?” Mario said to the driver, who nodded and drove away.
“So,” said Yoshi, “how’s everybody doing?”
“Luigi’s doing well,” said Mario, “and the princess is as busy as ever.”
“I guessed…”
***
Arriving at Mushroom Kingdom Forest, the Taxi driver let Mario and Yoshi off.
“Six coins, please?” said a driver. Mario paid up. “Thank you.” He drove off. Mario and Yoshi walked down the long, dirt path to Mario’s house.
Arriving at the house, the two walked up to the door. Mario knocked. Seconds later, Luigi answered the door.
“Yoshi! You-a made it!” Luigi said. “Come in, and-a make yourself at home!”
Yoshi dragged his bag inside. Luigi eyed the large bag. “What did you pack?” he asked.
“Do I have to list it again?”
“So how-a has everything-a been on Yoshi’s Island?” Luigi asked.
“The usual,” said Yoshi. “Riding Dolphins, having beach parties on Friday nights, calming Boshi down…”
“Boshi?” Mario asked. “… Ah! The blue Yoshi with the sunglasses and-a open toe shoes. I remember him.”
“Well,” said Luigi, “how about-a we go eat out, then a game of-a golf?”
“Sounds good to me!” Yoshi said.
“Yeah!” said Mario. “Let’s-a go!”
***
In Dark Land, Blaze Koopa was leisurely taking a stroll outside Bowser’s Keep. Walking through the dead, leafless forest, the burly Koopa thought, Ah yes, nice day… as nice as it gets in this kingdom…
His thoughts were suddenly broken up when he felt himself step on something. He stopped, slightly groaning as pain rushed through his right foot. He looked down. The object under his foot glowed. He moved his foot to the right to see a strange, glowing green gem. What’s that? he thought. He picked up the gem and gazed at it. Hmm… Bowser might want to see this…
***
The King of the Koopas was sitting on his throne. As always, he was thinking of another plot to destroy the Mario Bros.
“Hmm… Let’s see…” he thought out loud. “I know! I kidnap the princess, and… Ah, who am I kidding? I’ve tried that hundreds of times and it STILL hasn’t worked…”
There was a knock in the door. Bowser jumped at the sudden knock. “ENTER!” Bowser called. The door opened, and his flame-haired friend came in holding a shiny object in his hand.
“Ah, Blaze!” Bowser greeted.
“Bowser,” said Blaze, “I’ve got something you really oughta see.”
“And what might that be?”
“This. Check it out.” Blaze held the shiny, green gem up. He handed it to Bowser, who examined it. Bowser was surprised. Never had he seen something like this before. “Impressive piece of treasure you have here…,” Bowser remarked.
Suddenly, staring at the gem, he developed a thought. “Hmm… This gives me an idea!”
“What kind of idea?”
Bowser stood up from his throne and walked over to the loudspeaker.
“I NEED ALL KOOPALINGS IN THE THRONE ROOM, PRONTO!” he yelled through the loudspeaker. “YOU, TOO, KAMEK!”
Thirty seconds later, Larry, Morton, and Roy all burst through the door. Next came Iggy and Lemmy, followed by Ludwig (whose hair was sticking in all directions after another failed invention) and Karma. Last was Wendy, with Kamek coming up behind her.
“Good timing!” Bowser said to them. “Okay, listen up! Blaze was out for a walk, and during that walk, he stumbled upon this!” Bowser held up the gem. Everyone else “oohed” and “ahhed”.
“… So… pretty…” Junior remarked.
“What do you plan to do with it, Father?” Ludwig asked.
“He’ll give it to me, of course!” said Wendy. Everyone rolled their eyes and groaned.
“Pfft! Whatever!” said Larry.
“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do with it!” Bowser interrupted. “We’ll have a contest!” Everyone else groaned. “Whoever can destroy the Marios first wins this gem! You will all take turns attacking.”
Everyone looked at each other. “In what order?” Iggy asked.
“Why, I’m going first, of course!” Wendy said. Everyone rolled their eyes and groaned again.
Bowser thought for a second. “I think I can settle this,” he said. “I’m thinking of a number between one and ten. What is it?”
They picked their numbers:
Morton – 6
Roy – 4
Larry – 10
Lemmy – 5
Ludwig – 2
Wendy – 8
Iggy – 1
Bowser Jr – 9
Blaze – 7
Kamek – 3
Karma – 4.5
“The number was one!” Bowser said.
“Hey! I go first!” Iggy cheered. “WHOO-HOO!”
“So what?!” Roy snapped. “It not like you’re gonna win or anything!”
“Oh yeah?!” Iggy retorted. “Just you watch! You’re gonna eat those words when I win!”
“Aw man!” Larry fumed. “I go last! This totally stinks!”
“Oh,” Bowser continued, “and since Karma has the whatyoumacallit with Ludwig, she’ll just have to go with him, but she’s not a part of this contest!”
“Aw come on!” Karma fumed.
“Just make sure you don’t foul me up when my turn comes!” Ludwig said to her.
Karma groaned. “Whatever…” she muttered.
“That Gem will be mine because I am simply the best fighter and I have the best chance of beating the Mario Bros and nobody can match me because anybody who tries to beat me will get beaten, and furthermore—” Morton was interrupted by Roy slapping duck tape on his mouth.
“Yeah… you’re not the best,” Roy said sweetly. Morton growled under his duct tape.
“Okay,” said Bowser. “Here’s the order you will attack: Iggy, Ludwig, Kamek, Roy, Lemmy, Morton, Blaze, Wendy, B.J, and Larry! You all have until tomorrow to gather what you need for your attack! Clear?” Everyone nodded. “Good! Dismissed!”
Everyone else (excluding Blaze) walked out of the throne room, still bickering over who would win the gem.
Blaze looked at Bowser. “Okay,” he said, “so you just decided to pick by 1 to 10?”
“Obviously yes…” Bowser answered.
“Bowser… That was cheap… but fair otherwise… I guess…”
***
A white Shy Guy charged across the Mushroom Kingdom Golf Course. In his hand he held a glowing object. He constantly looked back to see if he was being followed. When he was sure he had lost his pursuer, he stopped.
“*pant, pant* I think I finally lost him…” he said to himself.
“Think again, my little friend!” said a voice. The Shy Guy froze, chills running up his spine. A Paratroopa suddenly materialized in front of him. However, this was not just an average Paratroopa. This one wore a dark-purple shell and sunglasses. Adding to that, he had red eyes, one spike on his shell, and wore purple shoes… with small spikes on the bottom!
“Give up!” the Paratroopa spoke coldly. “You know I’ll eventually kill you!” The Paratroopa laughed evilly. He seemed to be more interested in killing this Shy Guy then snatching the shiny object he held; he considered the object as an added bonus if he were to kill the Shyster.
“I’ll make a deal with you!” the Paratroopa said. “You hand over that Power Gem, and maybe I’ll let you live… Maybe!”
The Shy Guy was all but not willing to give in, especially to this guy. “Not a chance!” the Shy Guy snapped.
The Paratroopa shook his head. “Too bad. You could’ve simply cooperated, yet you wanted to do it the hard way! Very well, if you won’t give me the Gem, I shall… eh… take it from you!” The Paratroopa made a ball with his hands. He then began to form a large ball of lightning! The Shy Guy nervously backed up.
***
Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi were enjoying a game of golf. They were at the seventh hole. Yoshi prepared to make a drive. He winded himself back, and swung. The ball went sailing high before falling into a lake.
“D’oh!” Yoshi said, slapping his forehead. “Sorry. I’m a little rusty. I haven’t played much since we did the Toadstool Tour.”
“Not to worry,” said Mario. “I brought a few extra balls-a just in case. Okay, Luigi, it’s-a your turn.”
Luigi set his ball on the tee and prepared to swing. Suddenly, an explosion was heard. All three jumped, dropping their clubs. The startled trio looked off in the distance to see smoke billowing into the sky.
“WOAH!” Yoshi cried. “What’s going on over there?!”
“Let’s-a go check it out,” said Mario.
Luigi shivered. The plumber in green really wasn’t in the mood for this. “Ah… I have a better idea. Let’s-a continue our game.” He was too late. Mario and Yoshi were already running towards the smoke. “Mamamia…” Luigi muttered. “WAIT-A FOR ME!”
***
The Paratroopa stared down at the Shy Guy, who was lying motionless. He grinned sinisterly. “Yes…” he said. “I’ve finally done what my father couldn’t!” He looked at the white gem he had acquired. Suddenly, he looked over to see two men in red and green and a green dinosaur. “Uh oh,” said the Paratroopa to himself.
Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi arrived at the site of the explosion. They could see a white Shy Guy lying motionless, a purple-shelled Paratroopa hovering above, and a huge hole in the ground.
“… What… happened…?” Luigi asked slowly.
“I think he knows…” said Yoshi, pointing to the Paratroopa.
“Excuse me,” said Mario. “Might-a you know what-a happened here?”
“Yeah,” said the Paratroopa. “I killed him. There’s your answer!”
Mario rolled his eyes. “Now don’t start-a with the sarcasm. What really happened?”
“If you don’t believe me,” said the Paratroopa, “then allow me to show you a sample of my power!”
“… Power?”
The Paratroopa grinned sinisterly, clutching his hands together. Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi watched as a ball of lightning began to form in the Paratroopa’s hands, slowly gathering energy and growing larger and larger. He then launched it at them. They jumped out of the way. Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi stared down at the huge hole made by the Paratroopa.
“Something-a tells me we’re not dealing with your average-a Paratroopa here…” said Mario.
“You don’t say…” said Yoshi.
“Okay you,” Mario said to the Paratroopa, “I don’t-a know who you are, but you’ve-a got to go!”
“Ah!” said the Paratroopa. “If it’s a fight you want, a fight you’ll get!”
MINIBOSS!!!: Parakoopa
Mario jumped up and tried to lay the punch on the Paratroopa, who hovered higher to avoid him. He immediately swooped downward at Mario and lay a swift punch to the back of his back. Mario stumbled forward, his hands on his head, but recovered. Luigi performed an excellent triple-jump forward flip towards the Paratroopa, ending the stunt with a hard kick into his beak. The Paratroopa nearly fell upon impact with the shoe, but was able to control himself. The Paratroopa swooped in on Luigi, who ducked to miss him. The Paratroopa whipped around, formed a lighting bolt, and launched it at Luigi. The bolt hit the ground in front of him and exploded, throwing Luigi back. He landed hard on his shoulder and winced.
It was Yoshi’s turn to try to attack, charging towards the Paratroopa and fluttering up towards him. Yoshi tried to lay a hit on him, even though punching wasn’t exactly his thing. The Paratroopa easily dodged him, then formed and blasted a lightning bolt at Yoshi. Yoshi spotted this out of the corner of his eye. He crouched, then backflipped, flying over the lightning as it hit the ground and laying a kick into the Paratroopa’s stomach. The Paratroopa gasped for air while Yoshi landed back on his feet. Paratroopa turned sharply and furiously to Yoshi and swooped down towards him. Yoshi was hit in the backside and knocked to the ground. He slowly stood back up to his feet and flashed the Paratroopa an angry look.
Luigi stood back up. While the Paratroopa’s back was turned, he ran towards him and jumped, attempting to tackle him in midair. However, the Paratroopa noticed this and stuck his spiky shoe out in Luigi’s general direction. Luigi gasped and put his hands up to guard his face (and particularly his eyes). He felt his hand scrape against one of the spikes. Luigi fell to the ground and yelled in pain. Mario, seeing this, growled and charged swiftly at the Paratroopa, leaving the Paratroopa with very little time to react. Mario jumped up and punched the winged turtle hard in the face, knocking him to the ground.
However, the Paratroopa was not down yet. He stood back up to his feet. Mario stared blankly. He had battled many Paratroopas in his past, but none were nearly as powerful as this one. “You’re-a pretty tough…” Mario panted.
“You guys aren’t too bad either,” the Paratroopa said, rolling his in a manner that said “You’re not so tough at all!” The Paratroopa laughed sinisterly. “But how’s about giving me a real challenge, eh?”
“Here's-a your challenge!!” The Paratroopa turned to the source of the voice, only to receive a charging punch from Luigi followed by a fluttering kick from Yoshi. The Paratroopa was knocked back onto his tail, but slowly stood back up. He hovered upward again and gave them a gesture that said “Come and get me!” Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi charged at him all at the same time and jumped up to him. The Paratroopa swooped in the opposite direction, turned, and fired a lightning bolt. The trio narrowly avoided the explosion from the lightning. The Paratroopa swooped down at the trio again. Yoshi charged while the Paratroopa flew low and jumped into his shell, but jumped right off after feeling the sharp spike on the Paratroopa’s shell. The Paratroopa went for Mario and Luigi. Luigi tried to jump and kick him, but jumped a little too high, going over the Paratroopa. Mario tried to halt the Paratroopa’s charge with a punch, but the Paratroopa veered past on his right. The Paratroopa whipped around and fired a swift, straight lightning bolt. Mario dodged it matrix style while Luigi jumped to the side and Yoshi quickly flattened himself on the ground, allowing the low-flying lightning bolt to fly over his head. The bolt hit a tree behind Yoshi, slicing easily through the trunk like a chocolate cream pie. The upper half of the tree began to tilt towards Yoshi, who gasped upon seeing this. The tree fell over towards him. Yoshi covered his eyes.
When he opened them he could see that the crown of the tree was at his feet. The tree had missed him by only a few inches. Yoshi sighed in relief, as did Mario and Luigi.
The Paratroopa groaned. “Lucky you…” he said. “But you won’t be so lucky when I’m through with you! Take this!” The Paratroopa swiftly blasted lightning at Luigi, who cried in pain and fell to the ground on his hands and knees.
“LUIGI!” Mario cried upon seeing his injured brother.
Luigi panted heavily. “I’m… I’m all right…” he said, wincing hard.
“We need-a to finish this guy off, and-a quick!” said Mario.
“Let me attack first!” said Yoshi. He stepped forward.
“I hope you-a know what you’re doing!” Luigi said, still wincing.
“This’ll fix him!” said Yoshi. He launched his tongue at the Paratroopa.
“WHAT THE…”
Yoshi swallowed him. He then strained hard, his face puffing red and sweating heavily until he managed to make an egg.
“Woah…” Mario remarked. “Nice-a move, Yoshi!”
“I should tell you,” said Yoshi, “that that’s very hard to do with a Koopa.”
“I don’t-a think it’s over yet!” Luigi cried. “Look at the egg!”
“Talk about being reborn…,” the Paratroopa muttered. “This Gem has amazing power. No wonder Dark Master wants it so badly.”
Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi looked at each other. “Dark Master?” Mario said. “Who is-a this… Dark Master?”
The Paratroopa turned sharply to Mario. “It’s none of your concern!” he snapped. “Anyway, that was a great workout. Now it’s time I ended this!” He clutched his hands together, gathering a large amount of energy in his hands. Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi all backed up.
“This could-a get ugly,” said Mario.
“I have to split now,” the Paratroopa snarled. “Dark Paratroopa says… farewell!”
“BRACE YOURSELVES!!!” Yoshi cried as the Paratroopa released his energy upon them.
***
“Mario…? Mario?”
Mario slowly opened his eyes. As his vision cleared, he could see Princess Peach standing over him. “Uh… Princess…” Mario groaned. “How did I-a get here?”
“Some people found you, Luigi, Yoshi, and a Shy Guy all unconscious on the Mushroom Kingdom Golf Course,” Peach explained. “They informed us and we brought you here.”
“Are the others okay?”
“Luigi and Yoshi are fine. I haven’t gotten word about the Shy Guy yet.”
“I want to-a see that Shy Guy.”
***
Luigi, Yoshi, and Toad watched as the Shy Guy lay on a blanket. Mario and the princess walked in.
“Is-a he okay?” Mario asked.
“We’re not sure,” Toad answered. “He hasn’t moved yet…”
“Wait!” Yoshi interrupted. “I think he’s coming to…”
The Shy Guy opened his eyes (though they couldn’t tell). The white Shyster slowly sat up.
“Are-a you okay?” Luigi asked.
“I… think so,” the Shy Guy answered. Suddenly, he realized something. “Ah! Where is it?!”
“Where’s what?” Peach asked.
“Oh no… NO! He stole it!” the Shy Guy cried. “Ooooooooh! That Dark Paratroopa!”
“Dark Paratroopa…” Mario thought out loud. “Excuse-a me, but might you be-a talking about a Paratroopa wearing a purple shell, shades, and-a spiky shoes?”
“… Yes…” the Shy Guy answered. “How did you know?”
“We found you unconscious and-a had a little… tangle… with this Paratroopa… It didn’t go-a very well…”
“What exactly was the ‘it’ he stole from you?” Yoshi asked.
The Shy Guy sighed. "It seems I might as well tell you the whole story. That object was one of the ten Power Gems. These gems hold amazing power within them. They have been scattered everywhere. I was sent to find them before they fall into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, the white gem has already been plundered. Anyway, the ten gems must all be collected. If all ten fall into evil hands… well, let’s just say an even greater evil will awaken.”
“Oh my…” said Peach.
“One question,” Mario asked. “Who are you?”
“I am Shine Guy,” the Shy Guy answered.
“Well, Shine Guy, Yoshi and I would be-a more than happy to-a help you find the Power Gems, right-a Yoshi?”
“Yeah!” Yoshi agreed.
“Wait!” Luigi interrupted. “What about me?!”
“You can stay here and keep an eye on things in the Mushroom Kingdom,” said Peach.
“I always have-a to stay!”
“Well,” said Peach, “it’s that time of the month again. Somebody has to make sure the Koopas don’t try anything.”
“… That’s-a true… Okay. I can-a handle it… I think…”
“Then it’s settled!” said Yoshi. “Let’s get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow… and maybe even a few more big days after that…”
“Thank you very much,” said Shine Guy. “Your assistance will serve me well, especially since I have a lack of combat skills…”
“Come with us, Shine Guy,” said Mario. “You can-a sleep with us for the night.”
“Much obliged.”
Unknown to them, a strangely-colored Hammer Brother and Goomba were eavesdropping on them. The Hammer Brother had scaled the castle wall on suction cups, with a Goomba riding on his helmet. The two were peering through the window.
“Great!” the Hammer Brother whispered. “That Shine Guy’s gonna ruin everything!”
“Shhh!” the Goomba snapped. “Do you want them to hear us?!”
“Well sorry, and your foot’s on my beak!”
“Who cares about your beak?! We must warn the Dark Master about this!”
“… Uh oh…”
“What?”
“I’m losing suction!”
“Hey! Hold it! Don’t fall!”
“I’m tryin’, and you’ve still got your foot on my beak!”
“I don’t care!”
The Hammer Brother lost his patience. He grabbed the Goomba and held him in front of his beak. “You don’t care, huh?” he said through his gritted teeth. “I suppose you wouldn’t care about gettin’ a hammer in the face!”
“Uh… You do realize you let go of the wall… right?”
“… Oops…”
The Hammer Brother fell backwards, still holding the Goomba, his feet still connected to the wall. Then his feet disconnected.
Inside the castle, a loud splash was heard. Yoshi went to the window and looked around. He saw nothing. “Hmm… I wonder what that was…” he said to himself. He decided not to worry about it. Shrugging, he walked away from the window.
The Hammer Brother reached the surface of the moat, gasping for air. The Goomba was again on the Hammer Brother’s head.
“Your foot’s on my beak again!”
“I’ll get off as soon as you get out of the moat. I can’t swim, you know?”
The Hammer Brother swam out of the moat and shook himself (and the Goomba) off.
“Now that that’s over,” said the Goomba, “shall we go warn the Dark Master?”
“Right. Let's go.” They teleported away.
***
“BLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!!! Excellent!” the dark master said to his henchman. “That’s one gem! You certainly are keeping your word, Dark Paratroopa! Now just nine more like that and we shall claim our destiny!”
“Our forces are still on the search, Master,” said the Paratroopa (I guess I should call him Dark Paratroopa now). “I should warn you, however, that that mettlesome White Shy Guy is also looking for the Gems…”
“Shine Guy! Ah… No matter, he is only one measly Shy Guy! There is no way he can stop us by himself.”
“I hope you’re right, Master.”
“No need to worry. I’m ALWAYS right! BLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!!!”
The door to the throne room (a HUGE door so that Dark Master could go in and out) opened. A purple-shelled and -helmeted Hammer Brother and Goomba walked in.
“Ah!’ the Dark Master greeted. “Have you found any more Gems?”
“Uh… Not yet…” said the Goomba.
“WHAT?!” Dark Master jumped from his throne. He stomped over to the Goomba and Hammer Brother and grabbed them both very tightly. “HOW DARE YOU RETURN EMPTY-HANDED?!” he bellowed. He squeezed tighter. The Goomba and Hammer Brother gasped for air, coughing and wheezing.
“*cough* Now don’t *wheeze* do anything rash, Master!” the Goomba croaked.
“He *wheeze* already is…” said the Hammer Brother.
“SHUT UP! *cough* As I was *gack* saying, we have *wheeze* news.”
Dark Master stared, then loosened his grip. “News?” he asked.
“It seems Shine Guy now has assistance.”
“From who?! Be specific, you fool!
“A mustached guy in red and a green Yoshi,” answered the Hammer Brother.
“Seriously?!” Dark Paratroopa said, wide-eyed. “I battled those exact two people… and someone else I can’t remember…”
Dark Master dropped his minions. “Is that so?” he said. “Well, continue searching for those Gems, and if you happen to find Shine Guy and his… assistants, CRUSH THEM!”
“Yes Master,” his minions and right-hand said.
“Very good. Dismissed!” His minions left the throne room. Dark Master walked back to his throne and sat down. He gazed down at the one gem his held in his hand. “One down…” he said to himself. “Nine left… They had better not fail me…”