Legal Disclaimer: Super Mario Bros. is copyright Nintendo. I do not own it, Shigeru Miyamoto does. It and all of its characters were created by Shigeru Miyamoto and is the property of Nintendo and their respective creators. This story is not for profit.

Super Mario Bros.:

Enter Kevin Koopa

Chapter 1:

It was a day just like any other for the young Koopa observing the battle on top of the hill away from the action, just as his father would have wanted if he had known that his son was there. The boy, or more accurately, the young adult since he was eighteen years old and had many of the same rights as full adults, stared across the battlefield from a nearby hill where the forces of the Koopa Kingdom and the Mushroom Kingdom battled it out once again. The Koopas were bi-pedal turtle-like creatures with yellow skin, wearing either green or red shells. Their enemies, the Toads, were more similar in appearance to human-like children, only with spotted mushroom-like caps on their heads. The Toads in the Mushroom Kingdom army, like most of their kind, wore a large diaper-like piece of clothing for pants, as well as a blue vest, and large brown shoes. Most of the Toad army was armed with simple spears with only a few being armed with musket-like guns and a couple with cannons.

As it was, the battle was less the Koopas versus the Mushroom Kingdom, and more like the Koopas versus the Mario Brothers and their dinosaur friend, Yoshi. At first, it actually had been the Koopas versus the Mushroom Kingdom, with the Mushroom Kingdom getting ruthlessly hammered by the numerically inferior Koopas. Over half of the army that had come out to meet the Koopas had been annihilated in the first minute of the battle with the Koopas suffering no casualties in return. Even the Goombas, short, brown mushroom-like creatures who were often joked about as being the worst of the worst in terms of the combat effectiveness of cannon fodder soldiers, had come through the fight unscathed. Afterwards, the Toads went into a full retreat. Bowser, in his foolishness, decided to follow, despite the fact that the Toads having lost more than eighty-five percent of their forces. Anyone else would have though of this as a tremendous victory…that is if the Mushroom army had been anything close to a combat trained army and not a collection of what could only be described as farmers and workers given spears to thrust towards the enemy, or on rare occasions guns or cannons. They were nothing really, but today, the slaughter had been all that much more one-sided. Usually the Toads had managed to inflict a few casualties or take out a tank with a lucky shot or two, but not today. And that only served to fuel Bowser's arrogance. The massacre had continued when suddenly, things had changed for the Koopas in a horrible fashion.

Three figures appeared behind the retreating Mushroom Army made their way towards the army. They soon stepped forward as the rest of the Toads continued to flee the battlefield. These weren't Toads simply coming to be slaughtered, though. Two of the figures were human, and the third was a green dinosaur not that much larger than the humans. One of the humans, the shorter, and more rotund one dressed in a red shirt and blue overalls, was riding on the dinosaur in much the same way one would ride a horse or pony. The taller one was walking along side the dinosaur and red and blue-clad human. He wore a green shirt with blue overalls. Without ever having battled them, or even having seen them before in person, the young Koopa knew who they were. The humans were the Super Mario Brothers, and the dinosaur was a member of the dinosaur species Yoshi whose name also happened to be Yoshi. From here on out, the battle had changed as the Toad army cowered behind their three saviors. Even without having fought or witnessed a battle first-hand, the young Koopa prince knew what the outcome of the battle would be. Now it was the Koopas turn to be massacred, and that is exactly what happened.

After a few seconds, one of the red-shelled Koopas, the leader of a squadron of green-shelled Koopas, charged Yoshi. That was a fatal mistake as Yoshi shot his tongue out at the red-shelled Koopa. The tongue stuck to the Koopa and immediately retracted, pulling the doomed Koopa into the maw that was Yoshi's mouth before he could react. The dinosaur immediately spat out a trio of fireballs, each with two black eyes, each far more powerful then even Mario's version of the attack. The fireballs scorched their way through the squadron, setting the other Koopas aflame, those that weren't instantly reduced to ash, and continued towards a Monty Mole Tank. The balls bored through the armor of a Monty Mole Tank setting off the ammunition stores of Bullet Bills and Bob-ombs and igniting the fuel inside. The tank exploded in a magnificent eruption of fire and death incinerating the unfortunate Monty Mole inside. A shockwave flattened the grass and kicked up dirt and stone in the battlefield. The wave expanded more than ten meters in all directions and managed to kill or injure the full compliment of two squads of Magikoopas that had been running alongside the tank when it erupted like a volcano. Shrapnel pelted those who were outside the initial kill range of the explosion.

After the tank exploded, the young Koopa saw the human warrior in red and blue, Mario, holding a lit Bob-omb in his hands. The Koopa had been too focused on the Monty Mole tank's annihilation to see how Mario had come to have a Bob-omb in his hands. But have one he did and, knowing that the fuse would soon go off, had quickly scanned the area to find a good target. It was probably a bit more difficult than it seemed since there were so many tempting targets to choose from, from the red-shelled Koopa Troopas leading squadrons of green-shelled Koopa Troopas, to the duos of Hammer, Fire, Ice, Boomerang, and Sledge Bros. The human found a more than adequate target in the form of a tank being piloted by a Rocky Wrench, a Koopa who was usually an engineer on Bowser's airship fleet, but could be pressed into service as tank drivers or pilots of other craft as well if the need ever arose. He tossed the Bob-omb to the Rocky Wrench and the disabled sentient bomb exploded the instant it struck the Koopa, the same way a rocket with an impact detonator warhead would, killing him and disabling the tank. Luigi, the younger Mario brother who was dressed green and blue jumped onto a Koopa, the force of the jump shooting said Koopa out of the back of his shell. Luigi then kicked it at an oncoming squad of Koopas who were carrying machine guns similar in appearance to old Earth World War Two machine guns, a rare weapon for warriors as common as mere Koopa Troopas. The shell raced towards them and barreled through the squad, bowling over any Koopa, including the previous owner of the shell, unlucky enough to not be able to jump out of the way. Many Koopas fell over themselves and collided with their comrades in order to try to escape the shell, only to be bowled over by the shell because they had nowhere else to go. It would have been comedic, and to the Toads and the Marios it probably was, if it had simply been a movie or a spoof. Unfortunately, this battle was very much the real deal, and a great many Koopas were dying on the field of battle. The Koopa Prince could only watch and grit his teeth. He had just returned from military school and was not yet allowed onto the battlefield, especially against enemies as formidable as the Mario Brothers.

The battle continued in a similar fashion for several minutes. With each minute passing, more and more Koopas and their allies fell to the advance of the three warriors. It was now the young Koopa understood what had been taught to him by his tutor, Kamek, when he was young. The Mushroom Kingdom had no real army. Their "army" consisted of two humans named Mario and Luigi, and their pet dinosaur Yoshi. At first, the young Koopa had scoffed at such a statement, saying that no one or two or three warriors could ever take on an army like the Koopa Kingdom's army and expect to win. Now, the Koopa Prince was beginning to see just how right his tutor had been.

It was fascinating for him. None of the fighting looked like it would reach the hill so he was safe from any harm; not that he would be in any real danger on the battlefield below him. He was, after all, Kevin, the Crown Prince of the Koopa Kingdom and the oldest son of Bowser, King of the Koopas. However, this was the first time he had seen the Super Mario Brothers fight in real life. He had seen videos before and heard the accounts from his parents and siblings, but their accounts did not do the Marios justice. His siblings had always said that the Marios relied on their powers and stars to defeat them in battle. They had also said that they were always caught off guard by the Marios or were sick when they fought them. Kevin had scoffed at that statement, and his thoughts were quickly being borne out as he continued to watch the battle from afar. If there was one thing that his siblings were good at it was distorting the truth. He now saw that the undeniable truth was that Mario was everything the Mushroom Kingdom and the rank and file soldiers of the Koopa Kingdom believed him to be, and then some. This made his father's decree of not allowing him to fight the Mario Brothers all that more absurd. In Kevin's mind, a good leader should use all of the troops at his or her disposal to defeat an enemy, especially one as dangerous and powerful as the Mario Brothers. But Bowser had his own reasons for not sending Kevin up against the Marios, and Kevin suspected that it wasn't because Bowser didn't want to see him get injured or killed fighting the humans.

The truth was that ever since he was ten years old, Kevin had been his father's equal when it came to all out fighting. While Bowser was physically stronger than Kevin, something to be expected considering his father's size and the fact that Kevin was still a child, Kevin had always had more magical power, which he often used to augment his strength and speed in battle, than his father. Add to that was the fact that he was younger, smaller, and more physically fit than his father so he was significantly faster than Bowser, in both running speed and in combat agility. Bowser's only advantages over Kevin were his battling experience, which recently only consisted of defeat after defeat after defeat, and his humongous physical strength, which would do little good if one did not have the speed to support it. And physical strength wasn't as important against the Marios as quickness and having a wide variety of powerful ranged attacks, something Kevin had in spades but that Bowser lacked, aside from his flame breath.

Still, all the Koopa Prince could do was watch the massacre unfold before him. The Koopas were already beginning to retreat when they saw Bowser approaching in a rickety old flying machine, resembling a smiling clown's face, with a single rotor on its underside, which was aptly named "The Koopa Clown Car." The King of the Koopas was a large, burly Koopa with a yellow and tan skin tone, green head and shell, and fiery red hair. His head jutted out of the machine's top hatch as he surveyed the battlefield, searching for the Mario Brothers. He quickly found his quarry, the human dressed in a red long-sleeved shirt with blue overalls, brown hair and a thick black mustache: Mario, Bowser's arch nemesis for more than a decade. In fact, their enmity had actually begun when Bowser was little more than a toddler, and the Marios were still infants. They were being delivered to the Mushroom Kingdom to their "parents" from lands beyond the Mushroom Kingdom by a stork. Some had said that the Marios were actually from another world, possibly even from another dimension, while others said that they were indeed from the Mushroom Kingdom, but that was only a passing curiosity for Kevin. What was important at the moment was the fact that after the Yoshis and Mario had rescued Luigi from Kamek and, along with the babies, had humiliated the then Koopa Prince Bowser in battle, Bowser had always hated the Marios with a passion, even though he had never really made the connection that the human plumbers that he faced this day were the same individuals he had faced as a baby and a little boy.

Yet here they were. Mortal enemies since childhood faced off with each other for the millionth time or so: Kevin had lost count of the many times Mario had humiliated Bowser. And this time, the Koopa King had not even made it to Princess Peach's castle before facing off against his nemesis. Bowser rumbled in excitement. Here, he had the advantage. Even with his Fire Flower's power, Mario had little chance of breaching the armored hull of Bowser's Clown Car. And the Koopa King was eager to show off one of the many upgrades and modifications that he had made to his Clown Car. The first upgrade was a pair of twin-linked Bullet Bill Cannons on the side of his flying monstrosity with flamethrowers mounted on top of the cannons. Two jets of flames erupted from the projectors, their target Mario. Mario, however, was too quick for such a mundane attack. The plumber jumped over the flames and landed a few feet to his right, the flames merely scorching a black path where lush, green grass had once been. Bowser was unconcerned; he had other tricks up his sleeve.

The next trick he used was mounted below the two flamethrowers. "You won't dodge these so easily!" the Koopa King laughed. Bowser pushed a button inside his machine and four Bullet Bills emerged from the two twin-linked cannons mounted on the sides of his lumbering craft. These Bullet Bills were unguided semi-sentient missiles, not the heat-seeking variety that he had used in his jaunts into outer space a couple of months ago, so Mario wouldn't have much trouble dodging the missiles themselves, it was the blast radius of the explosions that he would have to be careful of since the explosions of Bullet Bills were powerful enough to destroy tanks, even the stronger super-tanks used by Bowser's army. Mario, however, had no problem dodging the missiles, or the blasts produced by their explosions. Pieces of dirt and grass rained upon the field as a result of the explosion, with craters two meters deep and several meters in diameter having been gouged into the battlefield by the Bullet Bills' detonations. Mario felt the concussion wave of the explosions and the sting of shrapnel and pieces of clay and dirt striking him, but it was no real bother for him, and did nothing to slow his advance. It was not even enough to strip him of his Fire Flower. He was unstoppable. He charged towards Bowser's Clown Car, deftly weaving his around the subsequent Bullet Bills Bowser fired at him, being careful to avoid their explosions, and came out of the attack unscathed.

But that was not all that Bowser had in store for the annoying plumber. Immediately, two ports appeared on the front side of his Clown Car and opened. Two smaller cannons, probably anti-personnel cannons, emerged from the interior of the craft and angled themselves so they were aimed at the head of the rotund plumber. Mario gaped in disbelief. How Bowser could fit so many weapons onto his Clown Car and have it still fly? The Koopa King, of course, was unwilling to answer Mario's unasked question. However, he was more than eager to give Mario a fatal case of heavy metal poisoning. And he did his utmost to ensure that he did just that. The muzzles of the cannons flashed as Bowser fired a volley of gunfire at Mario. Dirt was kicked up by the impacts of the smaller rounds as the impacts and the rising dirt paths made their way towards Mario. Mario approached in a zigzag pattern, weaving in between the volleys of gunfire, doing his best to make himself a difficult target to hit. And his strategy was working, so far. Bowser was unable to get a direct bead on him and thus, exhausting countless rounds of ammunition in a vain attempt to somehow hit the plumber. But the King of the Koopas was not finished yet.

Bowser chuckled as Mario began to approach. He knew he'd get that upstart plumber this time. He ducked back into his Clown Car and pushed a few buttons on its control console. Just then, the sides of the Clown Car opened and an instant later it started raining Bob-ombs. The semi-sentient bombs fell from the Clown Car and carpeted the area, only leaving the area directly underneath the Clown Car, which was currently occupied by Mario, untouched. Upon falling, they did not move as other Bob-ombs would, nor did they detonate immediately. The Bob-ombs were littered across the battlefield around Mario just like a minefield. Unfortunately, for Mario, the blasts of the Bob-ombs made them more dangerous than any anti-personnel mines used in the Koopa Kingdom or the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser began to laugh as he saw Mario's predicament. "Whatcha gonna do now, Mario?" Bowser mocked. "There's nowhere you can run!"

Mario gave no answer. He eyes narrowed on a stretch of land where there were only a few Bob-ombs and he smiled. Kevin thought that Mario might have given a chuckle. The sentient bombs were arrayed in such a way that Mario could safely wait out their detonations should they explode prematurely. But that wouldn't be the problem. The problem was the Clown Car directly above Mario. Bowser could simply turn off the single rotor that somehow kept the massive machine in the air and let it fall on Mario, crushing him. Mario realized this and he quickly scanned the area for a new safe zone. Spying one a few meters away, he formulated a plan to get himself out of trouble. Wasting no time, Mario picked up one of the Bob-ombs and hurried over to the safe area. Time was short, and if this did not work, Bowser's dreams of killing him once and for all may finally come true. Upon arriving, he waited for Bowser to turn his Clown Car towards him and approach. Bowser slowly turned the Car to face Mario and began to approach the plumber, not realizing, or caring, that Mario had a plan. The Koopa laughed as he targeted the plumber with forward mounted cannons. He opened fire on Mario, but the human did not move a muscle even as little mounds of dirt flew up into his face, indicating that the fire of Bowser's cannons was hitting close to home. Then, with sudden quickness, Mario kicked the Bob-omb into the air. Bowser was incredulous. He couldn't believe that that was all Mario could do. Unfortunately for the Koopa King, Mario did have a plan, and Bowser caught onto it a moment too late. The trajectory of the flying Bob-omb was taking it directly to the front of Bowser's Clown Car. Bowser tried to raise the Clown Car, but it was too little, too late. The Bob-omb impacted with the single rotor underneath that kept the Clown Car aloft and detonated. The armor and the indirect hit of Bob-omb prevented the explosion from engulfing the Clown Car and immediately destroying it, but the explosion did manage to more than destroy the single rotor that kept the Clown Car aloft, as well as blow a hole into the underside of the vehicle.

Kevin watched in horror as the scene unfolded, for he knew what came next. Without its rotor, the Clown Car was nothing but a tricked out massively heavy deadweight, a deadweight that came crashing down to the earth. Bowser roared in rage as the Clown Car fell, Mario stepping back a safe distance away from the scene. The Clown Car hit the ground, sending up a plume of dirt, debris, and unexploded Bob-ombs, which detonated in mid-air as their fuses ran out. Unfortunately for Bowser and his beloved tricked out Clown Car, the unwieldy craft had landed on half a dozen lit Bob-ombs, all of which were programmed to detonate on contact with anything after a certain amount of time. They detonated as Bowser's Clown Car crushed them and explosions engulfed the disabled Clown Car, reducing it to shrapnel. Bowser jumped out of the stricken vehicle an instant before it was reduced to a flaming pile of debris and shrapnel being propelled in all directions, but he could not escape the shockwave of the explosion. The explosion flung Bowser from the crash site of his Clown Car and he landed several feet away from the remains of his Clown Car, tucking his head and limbs into his shell to protect himself from the shrapnel of the explosion. When he landed, the other Bob-ombs exploded, his shell protecting him from any additional shrapnel hits, and he skidded a few feet. However, the explosions of the Bob-ombs still inflicted damage to the Koopa King and he grunted with each blast.

Eventually, Bowser emerged from his shell and turned towards the flaming ruins of his Clown Car. He could barely contain his rage at the scene. His prized Clown Car was now nothing more than flaming wreckage, if that. He let out a roar of rage and anguish at the sight of his fallen vehicle. How could a mere human destroy his prized Clown Car with a single Bob-omb? All that time and work put into tricking it out to make it an unstoppable fighting force fit for a king, wasted! And what made it worse was that Mario had not been using any of his super powers in destroying it, but Bowser's own weapons. Bowser then saw a human figure walking through the flames. It was Mario, but his clothes were different. He now wore red overalls with a white shirt and hat. The Koopa Prince recognized this as Mario's traditional Fire Mario outfit. It would explain why the flames weren't giving Mario any trouble. "You're gonna pay for destroying my Clown Car," Bowser growled. He towered over the human plumber, his fiery orange hair billowing in the breeze.

Mario gave no response. He merely focused his attention on Bowser and grunted. He then began to fish inside of his pockets. Kevin had a bad feeling about what was about to happen. Bowser's rage was now uncontrolled. All he could think about was killing Mario as painfully as possible. To that end, he pulled his head back and after taking a deep audible deep breath, he leaned forward and unleashed a massive gout of fire towards his nemesis. The blast of fire was slow moving so Mario simply jumped out of the way of the fireball. The fireball traveled past Mario and exploded harmlessly several meters behind him. Bowser roared in rage as his fireball missed its mark. He then noticed Mario fishing in his pockets again. Bowser laughed at the sight and yelled over to Mario, "What do you think you're doing now? Don't you know that when you break my Clown Car, I'll break you?"

"Then break me," Mario replied calmly in a low voice that in the current situation was more terrifying than the screech of any nightmarish monster the Koopa King could have imagined. Mario then produced a Metal Cap. Despite being found only in Princess Peach's castle and in the Super Smash Brothers arenas (albeit in a weaker incarnation), it was still very well known among the Koopas. With the Metal Cap, Mario was all but invincible to any attack. While he was too heavy to swim in water, he was currently on land, so that was not a problem. Even worse was that, unlike many of his other power-ups the various caps could be combined with one another, or even with his standard power-ups. That meant that Mario would soon not only be a metallic being immune to anything Bowser's forces could throw at him, he would also be able to launch fireballs at Bowser; not that it would matter. Metal Mario's physical strength exceeded even that of Bowser's, and his speed and agility did not suffer from his heavy weight. Even the Metal Brothers, minions of the Master Hand and Crazy Hand from the Super Smash Brothers competitions, combined, were inferior to the real Mario with a real Metal Cap.

Bowser had no time to lose. He had to prevent Mario from placing the Metal Cap on his head, something that would be difficult since to Mario the Metal Cap was no heavier than a piece of paper. The King of the Koopas charged Mario, unleashing a massive blast of fire at the plumber. Mario danced out of the way of the fire, letting it singe a path to his right. Not wasting any time, Bowser curled his right hand into a fist and charged towards the plumber again. He then swung a right hook that would have decapitated a normal human, and caused significant damage to Mario had it connected. Mario swayed to his right and the fist sailed over his head to his left. Bowser's chance was gone. Mario placed the cap on his head and his body instantly turned completely to metal.

Bowser turned and saw the metallic plumber standing before him. The light of the morning sun gleamed off of the smooth surface of Mario's metal body. No breath came from Mario, for in this form, he did not breathe. Every one of his features: his face, his eyes, even his clothes, became metal, a metal that was unknown to human, Toad, Hylian, or Koopa hands, and was impervious to any known attack, even nuclear weapons. Mario began to walk toward Bowser, his footsteps heavy and audible to the Koopa King. Bowser's eyes widened with fear despite the fact that he towered over the human. Bowser knew that his end was near if Mario was not in a good mood. There was no way he could beat this metal monstrosity.

On the hill, not too far away, Kevin watched as Metal Mario approached his arch nemesis, Bowser. Kevin had heard many stories of how Mario had walked through fire launched by flamethrowers inside the painting worlds in Peach's castle a few years ago created by Bowser and his Magikoopas unscathed. Beneath the black hood of his robe, he began to sweat. The prince knew that Bowser did not want anyone to intervene, least of all his oldest son. He could not afford to look weak in front of his subjects or children. Still, even with the time limit of the Metal Cap's power, Kevin knew that this fight was over. Mario was stronger, faster, and more skilled than Bowser. The fact that the fight would be close quarters merely cemented the battle in Mario's favor. Kevin winced as the battle began.

Bowser, seeing that there was no way out, decided to make his brave, or foolish depending upon how one looked at it, last stand. He roared with anger as he charged the advancing Mario. Fool, Mario thought as Bowser swung a right hook at the plumber. Mario let the attack hit him without even trying to block it. The crack of breaking bones was audible to Bowser and he cried out an instant before his body registered that he had shattered his right hand trying to punch Mario. Bowser recoiled from his attack and cradled his stricken hand, gritting his teeth and blinking back tears, still yelling in pain. He then felt his chest cavity cave in as what seemed to be a massive weight impacted his chest, silencing his crying for the time being, forcibly expelling the air from his lungs and sending him flying. That "massive weight", however, was merely Metal Mario's fist striking his chest. Bowser landed on the ground almost ten meters away from his point of origin and bounced another few meters beyond that before rolling to a halt. Mario, however, was already standing next to him. He grabbed the Koopa King by the throat and pulled the monstrous turtle's head to him so the two of them were looking each other in the eyes. Mario's eyes were transformed into metal and had no expression in them, which only magnified the fear the metal plumber saw in Bowser's eyes. The human then delivered another massive punch to the monstrous Koopa's abdomen. The air in Bowser's lungs was violently expelled again as Mario's fist compressed the Koopa's chest cavity, forcing an audible grunt from the Koopa King. Bowser also heard and felt the bones that comprised of his ribcage crack and shatter. Bowser coughed for air as Mario let go of his throat, hoping that he had not suffered any internal injuries. He fell to his knees and coughed. He then looked at the ground to see if blood had issued from his cough. Fortunately, no blood was seen on the ground; his lungs were still intact. He issued silent thanks for small miracles. The Koopa King then fell to the ground and grunted in pain as he fell upon his broken ribcage, his knees no longer able to support him. There, Mario left him, moaning in agony. It was then that the plumber reverted into his human form. While his Fire Mario form was nowhere near as formidable as his Metal Mario form, the magic of the Mushroom Kingdom had made Mario far stronger than any ordinary human could dream of being. And Bowser was in no shape to fight a Real World child at the moment, let alone the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario gazed at the stricken Koopa. Bowser coughed, gasping for air, suppressing the urge to scream. Each breath was agony for the Koopa King. All he was doing now was praying for the battle to end. He was beginning to allow the thought of an all out retreat. Mario rarely, if ever, pursued the Koopas if they had not taken anything special, and the Koopas had not even gotten close to Princess Peach's castle before they had encountered him.

Bowser lifted his head and tried to exhale some flames, but his body was in no shape to perform such a taxing chore at the moment. Mario simply raised his right hand and pointed it towards Bowser. A ball of flame formed in the palm of his hand and grew until it was the size of a softball. Mario held onto the flame, which caused no harm to his gloved hand. "Leave now, Bowser," Mario said in a low voice, as if it were an offer to let him leave uncontested. "You've lost."

"Ne..ver," Bowser barely managed to croak. Even in obvious defeat, Bowser refused to surrender to Mario. However, with his injuries, any resistance may turn fatal, especially since Bowser Jr. would not be able to make a revival brew in time to revive the Koopa King should Bowser die here. Bowser then noticed two more recognizable figures making their way through the decimated lines of his forces: Luigi and Yoshi. Any hope that may have been left for Bowser had now vanished.

Kevin watched from the safety of the hill as he witnessed Luigi and Yoshi approach Mario and Bowser. He quickly scanned the battlefield and saw that, save for the sporadic Koopa that was fleeing, the evac units that were coming to rescue the wounded, and the Koopatrols that were there to guard them, there were no Koopas left alive on the battlefield. He knew that the Mario Brothers and Yoshi would easily be able to defeat the medical personnel and the Koopatrols protecting them had they wished to attack them. That was not standard operating procedure for the Marios, but Bowser was standing right in front of them. This was their chance to end the war between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Koopa Kingdom once and for all. All the Marios would have to do is kill Bowser, and a new king would take the throne, one who might be more open to peace. And Mario had killed before, seemingly without any hint of regret or remorse.

In the midst of what was happening down on the battlefield, Kevin stood there, wondering if things would have been different if he had participated in the battle. Time slowed down as the young prince watched the Marios and Yoshi approach his father. Was there anything he could do? The answer was yes, but he also knew that his interfering would humiliate his father in the eyes of the military and make his father resentful towards him. And there was also the fact that he might not be able to defeat all three of them, even with his own formidable powers. But he could hold them off until the medevac units had safely managed to take his father onboard and leave the battlefield. He then remembered that his robe had a hood that could cover his face if he needed it to, which he could use to obscure his identity. And since his robe was that of an Elite Magikoopa, he may be able to pass himself off as one if one did not look too closely. At the very least, he could try to convince his father to stop the fight since the Marios would not follow if Bowser ended the battle. With that, the boy disappeared.

Down on the battlefield, Mario still held his hand out towards Bowser, the ball of fire held in his palm. Mario narrowed his eyes at Bowser and said, "Leave now or die, Bowser."

"Go…ahead!" Bowser croaked in defiance. "I'll…still…kill…" Before he could finish, a figure clad in black robes and a hood appeared before him from out of nowhere, his arms outstretched and a magic wand in his right hand. Right, Bowser thought though his pain-clouded mind. And what does this upstart Elite Magikoopa think he's doing?

"Keep away from him," a low voice growled at the Marios and Yoshi. It sounded unnaturally low, as if its pitch was forced. For a second, Bowser thought that there was something familiar about that voice of the "Elite Magikoopa". He quickly banished the thought, though, much to the relief of Kevin. The "Elite Magikoopa" then pointed his wand at the Marios and Yoshi, a ball of energy forming above the head of the wand. The Marios and Yoshi felt a gust of wind blow into them as the Magikoopa funneled energy into the wand, and the wand struggled to contain it. The Marios and Yoshi quickly realized that this Magikoopa was different from the standard rank and file Magikoopas they were used to fighting. This one was extremely powerful, stronger even than the Elite Magikoopa Kamek, though the Marios probably did not know that at the time. They still felt the awesome power of this "Magikoopa" and realized that this battle could get very ugly, very quickly if they pushed the issue. "Take one more step towards King Bowser and I will kill you where you stand!"

Bowser's eyes widened. This Elite Magikoopa was stronger than he looked. Either that or he was more arrogant, or stupid, than Bowser. However, there was something in his stance and in the power that he radiated. Bowser was beginning to think that this guy might actually be able to make good on his threat and kill the Super Mario Brothers and their dinosaur pest if they forced the issue. And that was not necessarily a good thing, since this guy was supposed to only be an Elite Magikoopa, and he had already been defeated by the Mario Brothers. Realizing that something had to be done before this upstart Magikoopa released his attack and showed him up, he began to ponder what could be done. But, of course, in his current condition, there was only one thing that could be done. He croaked, "All…forces...retreat at…once!"

The "Magikoopa" turned and faced him, the sunglasses preventing Bowser from seeing his eyes and gauging his expression, and said, "Let me deal with the Mario Brothers my liege. The medevac units can heal you while I deal with them. I won't need any help against them. They are weakened since you forced them to use their Metal Cap when they engaged you earlier." Kevin added that in a vain attempt to convince his father to let him battle the plumbers and the dinosaur. "The paramedics will be able to focus on you and once you're healed, you can take over and beat them…"

"No," Bowser half-barked. "I… need… you to… cover my… escape," he managed to croak painfully.

"But my liege," the "Elite Magikoopa" pleaded, "the Marios won't go after you if you retreat now while I fight them. Let me deal with them while you and the others get out of…"

"Those…are…my orders!"

Seeing that Bowser's mind was set, Kevin replied, "Yes, my liege." He then bowed before his father and king. With that, the ball of energy disappeared and the "Elite Magikoopa" fell in next to Bowser, helping him into a medevac airship that had landed behind them while they had been talking. Mario also powered down his own fireball, and reverted to normal, his shirt and overalls now red and blue respectively once more. As Bowser and the others boarded the medevac airship, the Marios focused on the new arrival, wondering who he was, figuring that he was no ordinary Magikoopa or Elite Magikoopa.

After Bowser was safely aboard the medevac, Kevin turned back towards the Mario Brothers. If they had been able to see his eyes through his sunglasses, they would have seen nothing but hatred and rage over the pain that they had inflicted on his father. All Kevin saw in their eyes was a seriousness that mirrored his own. Only instead of defending their parents, they were defending the Mushroom Kingdom and Princess Peach, Mario's friend, possibly even his girlfriend. The Koopa prince began wonder if the two were actually all that different after all. But his musing ended as he began to move towards the airship. The Marios stared at the "Elite Magikoopa" as he took a few steps backward and boarded the ship. They could feel the power radiating from the young Koopa. Everyone near the Marios could. The ramp retreated, and the airship rose from the ground. As the ship rose, Kevin looked outside one of the view ports and searched for the shrinking Mario Brothers. True to form, the Marios and Yoshi did not pursue the Koopas, instead, retreating back to Princess Peach's castle in the distance, helping the wounded get to the Toad medics that were finally arriving on the battlefield, their job done. "Next time Marios," Kevin whispered, inaudibly to anyone around him, "Next time."