The Mushroom Wars

By TossingTheScissors

Based on a sprite comic by Jay Resop

Prologue

"Eat fireballs, Bowser!" Mario called out angrily, shooting a tiny ball of flame through his palm, straight towards King Bowser Koopa's forehead. Bowser dodge the tiny ball of flame and let out an enormous roar, and with it, a giant burst of flame breath, which Mario ducked to avoid.

Mario was battling Bowser for what seemed like the millionth time, because Bowser had, you guessed it, once again kidnapped the beautiful Princess Peach Toadstool. Bowser was no more difficult than usual, but Mario was a bit tired after battling through the army of Goombas that Bowser had recently hired to guard the door to Bowser's fortress, so the fight was running just a little on the long side.

Mario had managed to jump around, dodging Bowser's attack and emitting small fireballs from his palms, for quite some time now, but he knew it was only a matter of time before his instincts led him ni the wrong direction. Sure enough, one of Bowser's open flames managed to consume Mario when he had accidentally jumped the wrong way. The flame rid Mario of his powerful fire attacks, which left him defensless against Bowser. He collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"I've got you now, Mario! Finally, after years of waiting, I'll get to kill you!" Bowser yelled, then he let out a bellowing laugh that made Mario's whole body shake in fear.

Mario crouched in the fetal position as Bowser drew his breath for a finishing blow. But in the middle of Bowser's rather long inhale, he heard a cracking, chipping sound overhead. Bowser paused in order to look up at the ceiling, and saw, to his horror, a large chandelier falling straight towards him. Bowser tried to dodge the chandelier, but it was no use. The chandelier fell to the ground, crushing Bowser beneath it. Bowser managed to emit one pitiful spark of flame from his mouth before passing out.

Mario, unaware of Bowser's apparently accidental defeat, still crouched down on the floor, his eyes squinted shut in fear. "Please end it quick!" Mario cried out to Bowser, who he thought was still drawing his powerful flame breath. "Tell the princess I love her, okay, Bowser?" Mario called out.

There was a long silence, and Mario managed to muster up the courage to open one eye to look around. "Uhm – Bowser?" His eye landed on the chandelier and the unconscious Bowser that lay beneath it. "Hey, Bowser's… DEAD?"

Mario quickly jumped up, eager to take the credit of Bowser's defeat all for himself. "YES! I KILLED BOWSER! I AM THE MAN!" Mario did an odd little victory dance that strangely resembled the hustle.

"I can see it now…" Mario said, fantasizing as he often did. "I will long be remembered as some sort of powerful god – Koopas and Goombas and Bob-ombs from all over the Mushroom Kingdom will come to special temples set up to worship only me!" Images of Koopas bowing before a gold statue of his personage floated through Mario's mind before his mind landed back on an image of the kidnapped princess.

"But for now, time to go claim my prize!" Mario said, jumping over Bowser and the chandelier and opening the door to the back room where Princess Peach was being held hostage.

Meanwhile, a plumber much thinner than Mario, and with a green outfit rather than a red one, clung to the top of the ceiling of Bowser's fortress, clutching a pair of rather large looking scissors and gritting his teeth in anger.

"People will worship YOU as a God…" Luigi muttered as he carefully began to climb back down the wall of the fortress. "Who just saved your butt, fatso? Who just cut the chandelier that landed on Bowser, who opted t stay behind to fight most of that
Goomba army, who let you eat half of his lunch on top of your own, you greedy pig?"

Luigi was very tired of his brother always taking credit for everything. No matter how hard Luigi tried to accomplish things that might get him as much attention as his brother did, nothing seemed to work, because Mario was always given the credit for Luigi's actions.

But this time, Luigi had a plan. Luigi had been concocting it in his mind's eye for weeks, hoping he may never have to put it into effect. But Mario had finally crossed the line, and Luigi knew the time was ripe. As Luigi, landed on top the chandelier that had fallen to the floor on top of Bowser's unconscious body, he smiled and had an evil glint in his eye.

"It's payback time!" Luigi exclaimed under his breath as he hopped to the ground. Luigi was going to get even.