Super Mario: The Return of Smithy

by LauncesMechinist

Some time has passed since the infamous Smithy Gang destroyed the Star Road and nearly conquered the world. Since then, Bowser has been back to his old tricks and Mario right there to stop him. However, what if the Smithy they defeated was just a copy? What if the REAL Smithy arrived to pick up where his clone left off? Would Mario and the others succeed in defeating him again?

1. Prologue

Hello everyone. Well, strange thing, I was rumaging through a box with some of my old video games from the 90s and came across my old SNES. Well I still had the wires for it and hooked it up and wouldn't you know the first game I pick up was one of my favorites when I was little.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

I used to spend hours on end level grinding to face some of the stronger bosses. My brother, just for the sake of annoying me, hid this game CONSTANTLY yet I always found it.

After finishing it, I always longed for a sequal to be made but alas, it was apparently never to be. Nintendo and Square-Enix (then called Squaresoft) had a bad disagreement. Mario and regular Super Mario characters stayed with Nintendo while Square got the rights to Mallow, Geno, and characters THEY had created.

My Top 5 Moments in the Game:

1.) The Dodge Dodo Minigame in Cloud City.

2.) The scene from before Mario and Mallow fight Bowyer. (You don't have to be Bruce Lee to fight a boss you know...) (A Yoshi Cookie for those of you who got that XD)

3.) The Great Marrymore Item Race

4.) Croco Battle #1 (Hey, your tail's on fire...) (Another Yoshi Cookie to those who got that XD)

5.) Smithy's Interlude (That dude REALLY needs to watch his blood pressure...) (A final Yoshi Cookie to you guys, hey, now you have enough for a race! XD)

Well, now that I've found the game and played it through again, I've rekindled that desire. I shall be posting this story not only on Fanfiction but DeviantART as well.

So now, everyone, I give you the prologue of:

Super Mario RPG 2: The Return of Smithy

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING OR ANYONE IN THE SUPER MARIO UNIVERSE. THE MARIO BROTHERS, TOAD, PRINCESS PEACH, BOWSER AND OTHER SIMILAR CHARACTERS ARE OWNED BY NINTENDO; GENO, MALLOW AND OTHERS ARE OWNED (I BELIEVE) BY SQUARE-ENIX.

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Prologue: A Quite Morning...Or Not

Location: Mario's Home (The Pipe House)

Party: N/A

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The door to the small house opened without a sound. The field of flowers that surrounded the little place always put Princess Peach at ease. And why shouldn't it? She no longer had to worry about anything. Bowser hadn't been seen or heard from ever since Mario defeated him (again) all those months ago. In fact, he, his koopalings, and Bowser Jr hadn't come anywhere near the Mushroom Kingdom. To be honest, if she had to admit it, it was rather dull. Despite the times she had felt terror at being kidnapped time and again, she actually missed the excitement of it. Now the old Keep where she had been taken time and again stood empty with the exception of Dry Bones.

Her being swept away by Bowser, Mario coming through all manner of fiends and foes to rescue her from Bowser's scaly clutches...

(Okay, I'll admit it to myself, I'm bored out of my wits.) She finally thought to herself. (I wonder how soon Mario would be aware if I was gone...? Hmm...sometimes I can't help but imagining Bowser's Koopa Clown Car or one of his Doomships flying above...)

At that moment, a low whirring noise was heard. Peach gazed around but saw nothing but clouds.

Peach returned to watching the flowers and saw a small shadow flying over them. She heard the whirring again.

(Strange...am I really that bored? I'm starting to imagine hearing it...)

Suddenly, she heard a laugh on the wind. A laugh that sent chills down her spine but also lit a spark in her. She gazed up in a mix of mock and actual fear and, wonder of wonders, down swooped the Koopa Clown Car.

Bowser gazed at her, his face a snarl of triumph.

"Alright Princess. You're coming with ME!" On que, Bowser Jr leapt from the flying machine, grabbed Peach and proceeded to tie her hands together and, with a strength that betrayed his size, threw her over her shoulder and leapt from the rock into the Clown Car. Peach, knowing this was her chance, let out a shriek that actually stunned Bowser and Bowser Jr.

The door to the Pipe House was thrown open so forcefully the handle knocked a hole in the wall. Out came Mario, Luigi, and Toad, who started when they saw Bowser who, now recovered, growled and started to fly off, Peach screaming all the way. Mario turned to Luigi and Toad.

"Well, here we go again."

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Location: Vista Hill/ Bowser's Keep

Party: Mario, Luigi, Toad

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Lightning arced across the sky. Thunder boomed as the Koopa Clown Car floated onwards. All day, for some reason, Bowser Jr had felt uneasy. Maybe it was because Morton had done something with his breakfast, but... okay... he knew something was off...

If there was anything a Koopa could feel, it was whenever misfortune occurred... still... the feeling of unease was never this strong... Gazing up at his father, King Bowser, he could see that he felt it to. Peach had stopped screaming and now regarded them curiously.

"What's the matter Bowser? Having second thoughts?" Bowser sighed, an uncharacteristic thing for him to do.

"Sometimes I wonder... what is the point of all this? I've been doing the same thing for as long as I can remember. I kidnap you, you scream, Mario and Luigi come, bust through my Keep, defeat me, and rescue you... Bah! What am I saying?! Kidnapping you is the highlight of my day! Maybe I'm just having an off day..."

Bowser Jr gazed at his dad and then looked over the edge and saw three figures running for the bridge to the Keep.

"Dad! Dad! They're here!" Bowser looked at the hill and nodded.

"Right. Well, time to see if Ludwig and Lemmy's new ideas work..." Peach chuckled.

"You already know the answer to that don't you?" Bowser sighed and chuckled to himself. He knew. He knew all too well... The traps would work at first, but once the brothers realized how to overcome them, they would be unstoppable. No matter.

Bowser brought the Koopa Clown Car down in the spot where he always did, hopped out with Jr and Peach and then gazed up, as if seeing something amiss.

(Hmm... perhaps it's my imagination but... I could have sworn the clouds turned an ever darker red than normal... That's it... no more trusting Morton with making breakfast... In hindsight, should have expected that though... Heh, takes after his dad there...)

Though he never showed it publicly, Bowser was proud of his children. What parent wouldn't be after all? They took after him perfectly. They each had a trait of his. What irritated the scales off him was that they absolutely refused to work together unless they got something out of it and even then it was a half-hearted effort. Their individual personalities were like oil and water. They just couldn't mesh...

As he came through the back door to the throne room, he gazed upwards at a long skylight he had been forced to install. He never told the children about this. The time he was forced to cooperate with Mario to face a foe even viler than him.

That skylight was set to cover the collosal hole made by a giant sword named Exor, the second-in-command of a group known as the Smithy Gang. A gang of living weapons created and led by a madman named Smithy. With Mario and Peach's help, he had reclaimed his castle, defeated Smithy, and soon set about plotting his next scheme.

A moment later a Koopa Troopa came in, out of breath.

"Your Meaness! The Mario Brothers! They're in the Keep!" Bowser nodded and turned to Bowser Jr.

"You know what to do?" Bowser Jr nodded and ran off to one of the secret passages that connected the keep together. Bowser always did have a fondness for secret passages.

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Mario, Luigi, and Toad had came to the large, steel bar reinforced gate just as the Koopa Clown Car came down behind the Keep. Predictably, the doors opened seemingly of their own accord, the portcullis behind raised, and torches along the passage lit by themselves. Mario started forward but heard a strange noise. Turning back, he saw his brother's knees shaking nervously.

"Luigi, this is no time to be scared."

"I c-can't help it M-Mario. Y-You know Bowser uses Boos to guard some of the Keep and that I'm... I'm afraid of ghosts..." Mario sighed. Of course Bowser would use Boos and other creatures to stall them. Toad came forward, determined but also wary.

"Well, one thing's certain, the Princess isn't going to rescue herself. Let's get in there!" Without warning, Toad charged in. Mario nodded and followed, Luigi gazed around, apparently having second thoughts until he saw the portcullis slowly lowering and a clap of thunder right behind him made him jump and dive through the closing obstruction just as it came down with a loud BANG!

Coming through the hallway, the three of them gazed around, keeping an eye out for traps or ambushes. A small but of rubble fell from the roof and spooked Luigi but otherwise nothing happened. Mario motioned to the far door.

"There's the door! Let's go!"

As they approached the door, more rubble fell from the roof, making Luigi look up. When he did, his jaw dropped.

"Mario! Look out!"

Mario looked up and jumped back just as a massive Thwomp came down in front of the door. When he got to his feet, he saw the Thwomp chuckle in a half-menacing, half-good natured sort of way.

"Getting a little dull aren't you Mario?" Mario sighed as, predictably, hidden doors opened on either side opened and several goombas, troopas, and terrapins came out.

Luigi gazed at the group and sighed with relief.

"Well, at least there aren't any Boos. Goombas and Troopas I can handle!"

As the group got in formation, the first enemies attacked: three Goombas.

Mario, Luigi, and Toad used unarmed attacks against the Goombas, successfully knocking them out. No sooner had the last Goomba fallen than a group of three Troopas came at them. This time, Mario jumped upwards, landed on the closest reptile, forcing it into its shell. Luigi was right behind him to kick the shell at the next Troopa, knocking them both out. Toad and Mario then worked together to defeat the last of them.

That just left the two Terrapins and the Thwomp before them. Mario and Luigi attacked the two Terrapins, managing to launch them backwards into the Thwomp which toppled over without too much trouble.

"Whew...Guess I was wrong. You haven't lost your touch." Mario came up to the toppled Thwomp.

"Where's the Princess?" The Thwomp looked at Mario starightfaced and serious.

"Where do you think? She's in another castle! Har! Har! Har!"

Before Mario could reply, a chain came from the ceiling, hooked onto one of the Thwomp's stone spikes, and pulled it up through the hole in the roof. From the hole, laughter emerged.

"Well done! We've delayed them long enough! Now the rest of the traps are ready!" Mario looked to Luigi who looked at him, also recognizing the voice.

"Ludwig."

Ludwig Koopa, the self-proclaimed 'genius' of the eight siblings. Always tinkering wth something or another. If there was a complex trap somewhere in the castle, chances are Ludwig had a claw in making it... Still, if there was one thing to be said about Ludwig's traps, more often than not he spent so much time thinking about them he usually overlooked one small flaw which would unraval the entire plot.

As Mario, Luigi, and Toad walked through the door, Mario suddenly felt a sense of deja vu. The room before was lined with black and white tiles. Nothing seemingly out of the ordinary. For a moment, he tried to recall where he'd seen something like this before. Suddenly, he got an idea and tossed a loose rock nearby onto one of the black tiles.

It exploded in a brilliant flash, jogging Mario's memory.

"This is just like that room in Booster's Tower... Careful Luigi, Toad, only step on the white squares. The black tiles are trapped." Luigi and Toad nodded and followed Mario as he weaved his way across the floor, taking extra care not to lose his balance. Suddenly, they heard someone above them.

"Why aren't there more explosions? Roy, did you plant the bob-ombs like I asked you to?" The reply, from Roy Koopa, the bully of the family, was agitated.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. So what? Mario's probably already figured out the way past by now."

"Impossible. I designed this trap personally after getting a rather odd letter from a fellow named Booster that time I asked others for trap ideas." There was a stunned silence.

"Booster? That oddball who lives in that tower? Do you honestly think he'd have had any bright ideas?" Now Ludwig was irate.

"Better than YOU!"

Mario sighed as the sounds of two brothers fighting echoed throughout the room. Just as Mario and party reached the opposite side of the room, the ceiling came down and both Roy and Ludwig landed in the middle of the floor. Ludwig stopped long nough to stare at Mario with a positively thunderstruck expression.

"How? What? Where? When? H- HOW DID YOU GET PAST?!" Roy coughed.

"Easy, he made his way over the black tiles. All we got to do is follow and we can get him!" Ludwig was so stunned he barely registered what Roy said until he saw his older brother's foot come down on a black tile. Ludwig visibly paled.

"No! No fool! Not THAT one! Those are the tiles that are-" He didn't finish as the tile exploded, knocking Roy backwards onto ANOTHER black tile which (predictably) exploded, launching him time and again from one trapped tile into another. Chuckling at the two, Mario, Luigi, and Toad went through the door and into the next room.

The room they were now in was still, the only light was from the skylight above them. The group walked through looking this way and that. Then, for some reason, Mario felt a great unease and gazed upwards. There, on the balcony overlooking the room, was Bowser, Bowser Jr, and the Princess.

Noticing a Kinklink chandalier nearby, Mario leapt up onto it with Luigi and Toad in hot pursuit. Bowser laughed as he faced them.

"Last time we fought on chandalier's you got the better of me by attacking the chain, this time however, I've got YOU at a disadvantage!" Bowser Jr, ever mimicking his father, laughed as well but then seemingly realized something and stopped.

"Umm... Dad? What about the supports to the balcony here? They're still in need of repair after Wendy's tantrum..." Bowser stopped laughing and gazed at his son.

"You know what? I'd completely forgotten about that..." At that moment, Peach piped up.

"Mario! Luigi! Toad has a Fire Flower in his bag!" Toad, remembering it, pulled it and handed it to the brothers who felt the change as the flower's power coursed through them. Bowser couldn't help but groan. Mario and Luigi got ready, took aim at the wooden supports...

BANG!

Suddenly, a large bolt of lightning split the sky open. The skylight shattered, cracks appeared in the castle walls, Peach screamed, Bowser Jr gazed about in shock as the castle trembled. Mario looked up and caught a glimpse of something falling from the sky. To his shock, stars were falling, hundreds of them... but that wasn't the worse part...

An eerily familiar feeling came to memory as a large sword split the sky and came down onto the Castle. There was a tremendous explosion, the shockwave of which knocked Mario out cold.

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Well everyone, I hope you liked it. I hope to be posting this on both Fanfiction and DeviantART when I get the chance to update. I know I'm probably grating on your nerves with all these stories but to be honest, I can't help it. Jumping from one subject to another helps me rest my mind from other projects of interest and allow me the chance to refresh. So all I ask is that you put up with me.

If you like the story so far, please review, comment, fav, and/or follow the story. Until next time!

Next Chapter: A Long Way From Home