Boom! Zing! Zip! C-Crack! KRAKOOM!
The night sky over Toad Town is alive with the terrible sounds of battle, both on the ground and in the air. After an agonizing siege, the gates of Toad Town have fallen, and the Koopa Troop storms through the streets in unimaginable numbers, overwhelming and capturing every Toad, enemy Koopa, and Doogan they could. The giant Goomboss and his endless army of Goombas and Koopa Troopas swept the ground, while Kamek and her terrifying Magikoopa battalion flew overhead, quelling the oncoming resistance with crowd-controlling spells like freezing, transforming, and encasing in magic bubbles.
Just above Mushroom Castle, the abode of Princess Peach, monarch of the peaceful utopia, a violent firefight was occurring between two flying structures. On one end of the exchange was the Starship Mario, a rather large, metal facsimile of the head and face of its namesake. While normally bright and tranquil, the sassy starship was now armed, three cannons extending from the top of the starship's hat, while a single larger cannon reached out from the tip of the nose. The ammunition in these cannons were brave red Lumas.
On the other end was a much more imposing-looking structure, Magma Manor. Held aloft by several horizontal propellers was a large castle atop a bowl-shaped mass of earth. On the front end of the castle's rocky support was an unnerving orange clown face with a wide, malevolent smile. Armed just as well, if not better, than the Starship Mario, the menacing castle used the loyal Bullet Bills as ammunition, causing the stalwart starship damage when they were not intercepted by the Lumas.
"Keep firing, men!" screams the draconic and arrogant voice of the King Koopa, Bowser himself, standing at the pinnacle of his fortress. "I wanna see that ugly mug blown right out of the sky!"
The captain of Starship Mario was not quite as confident. Princess Rosalina wiped sweat from her brow with a handkerchief as she watched her chances at repelling the enemy fortress get slimmer and slimmer. A large purple Luma dressed, oddly enough, in blue pants to match his wide blue yes, wore a frown as he approached the stressed star-captain.
"Mama…" Lubba starts. "The other Lumas are getting tired. Many have been hit by Bullet Bills, but not all have come back up. There are some still on the ground…" he reports sadly.
Rosalina chews frustratedly on the raw nail beds of her right hand, furling her thin platinum-blonde brows. "…Let those who need it rest, but retain as many Lumas as you can. We have to hold out until they can make it to the castle…"
Directly underneath the desperate fight in the air, Princess Peach watches on sadly from her balcony as Rosalina and her Lumas were losing ground. Tears wet her eyes, and she flinched as a Bullet Bill hit the starship right in the eye.
"Mario…" she whispers under her breath, holding her hands to the ovular pendant on her chest. "Where are you…"
Above her, a Luma successfully intercepts a Bullet Bill and it goes flying around wildly with no clear path until it explodes against the wall of the castle, making Peach gasp and teeter unsteadily.
"Princess!" calls an elderly voice from inside Peach's quarters. The blonde, blue-eyed monarch turns to see her trusted steward Toadsworth beckoning to her. "Princess! Come inside! It's dangerous!"
Nodding quickly, Peach daintily lifts the skirts of her signature pink ball gown from the floor and runs as fast as one can in high heels toward the safety of her room.
"Oh, Toadsworth, where could he be? Mario is never far from the castle. Why hasn't he come yet to protect me?"
The tears that had threatened to fall before now freely poured down Peach's cheeks. Toadsworth frowns and shakes his head. "The streets are flooded with Bowser's troops, Princess. Mario might be-"
"Captured? Injured? D-D-D-" Peach blubbers, trembling in place.
"No, Princess, no!" Toadsworth quickly interjects. "Do not think like that! Mario is fine; of course he's fine! He's probably busy with- Oh! Princess! Princess, look who's here!"
Toadsworth points toward the balcony door. Peach turns, and her world brightens as she sees Mario stand up and dust himself off after landing on the balcony. He slowly saunters into Peach's room.
"Mario! Oh, I knew you would come to protect me from Bowser! I just knew it! I-"
Peach trails off as she witnesses something strange happen. Mario's lips upturn in a sly grin, and his bright blue eyes dim as they sink into his head and slowly become inky dark blue pits.
"M… Mario..?" Peach whimpers, backing away.
'Mario' continues walking casually toward the princess, and as he does, the rest of the color in his body begins to fade into the same shade of inky dark blue as his empty eyes. Out of 'Mario's' back pocket comes a plain-looking paintbrush, which swells to the length of a blade as he grips it.
"No…" Peach gasps under her breath, her eyes widening as she realizes.
"Yup. It's-a me…" the imposter says in a voice that's definitely not Mario's.
With a swift downward swing of his giant paintbrush, Shadow Mario sends a vertical wave of paint in Toadsworth's direction. The old Toad barely has time to gasp before he is smacked by the paint wave and thrown backwards, adhering to the wall and unable to break free. Peach turns quickly on her heel and runs away in a futile attempt to escape. Shadow Mario scoffs and extends his arm. A tendril of pain shoots from the tip of the brush toward Peach, growing fingers as it travels. Eventually, the paint tendril becomes a paint arm the wraps easily around Peach's waist and yanks her into the air screaming.
"You're ours again, Mama!" Shadow Mario chuckles, reaching for his face with his free hand. He pulls down the bandana that was not visible before, and was once an inky copy of Mario shimmered into his true form: Bowser Jr.
Meanwhile, the famed heroic brothers of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and Luigi, preoccupy themselves fending off surrounding Goombas and Koopas in the square of Toad Town. Both brothers valiantly launch fireball after fireball and throw punch after punch, kick after kick, but as many troops as they defeated, there are more and more waiting.
"It's-a no use, bro!" Luigi pants, swinging a mallet and sending a Goomba skyward. "There's-a just too many o'them!"
"Keep-a fightin'!" Mario grunts, kicking a Koopa shell and bringing down a whole line of combatants. "We've-a gotta get to that castle and save-a the Princess!"
"Oi…" Luigi groans, smashing the dome of another Goomba with his mallet. "What I'd give for a pair'o wings right about now…"
"Mail call! Somebody ask for wings?" squawks a Koopa's voice from somewhere above. Mario grapples with an enemy Koopa Troopa as he looks up and spots an old friend circling above.
"Hey, look! It's-a Parakarry!" he shouts. The named Parakoopa swoops down above Mario and grabs him under the arms, lifting him away from the ground. Luigi quickly scrambles away and latches onto Mario's ankles.
"Oof! Lucky for you, I've gotten stronger. I remember when I could barely carry one of you!" Parakarry chuckles as he flies higher into the air. The onslaught of Koopas and Goombas quickly fill the small circle that the brothers once occupied.
"Where to, champ? As if I don't already know." Parakarry snickers starting to fly toward Mushroom Castle.
"Oh, no!" Luigi gasps, pointing to the castle's western balcony with one hand, holding onto Mario's ankle tightly with the other. "Bro! Look!"
Mario looks to where Luigi is pointing and he squints as he sees one of Bowser's signature clown car taking off. As he gets closer, his eyes widen as he sees that it's Bowser Jr. in the clown car, and in his clutches is Princess Peach!
"Faster, Parakarry!" Mario orders.
"You got it, champ!" Parakarry responds determinedly, flapping his wings harder.
Bowser Jr.'s clown car hovers briefly around the pinnacle of Magma Manor before coming in for a landing right beside Bowser, who rubs his hands together.
"I got her, Dad!" Bowser Jr. announces proudly, waving his paintbrush in the air and gesturing to a restrained Princess Peach. "I got Mama for you! Can I have a little brother? I want a little brother right now!"
Peach's eyes widen and she screams again, fighting harder to free herself from the grip the powerful paint arm has around her waist. Bowser laughs and ruffles the tuft of her on his youngest pup's head.
"Patience, my boy, patience. We've gotta get Mama reacquainted with the family again! Make her feel special… Comfortable… The works!"
"The works!" Bowser Jr. repeats. "I'll get the hot tub warmed up!"
The little Koopa prince waddles toward the clown car again, but is blown back as a spiked blue shell flies from the sky and strikes the vehicle, causing it to explode. Even Bowser staggers.
Parakarry swoops overhead. Luigi, who threw the shell which he retrieved from Parakarry's storage pouch, drops down first, and Mario lands beside him.
"Not so fast, bignoses!" Luigi barks. "Release-a the princess!"
Bowser Jr. lands on the ground with an "Oof!" and the paintbrush flies out of his hand. The paint arm dissolves and Peach shrieks as she plummets to the floor.
Mario runs quickly to catch Peach, but is kicked aside by Bowser, who easily catches and holds Peach in his giant paw.
"Why is it then whenever I want to do something fun with the princess, you have to be there to ruin everything?" Bowser roars, breathing a large stream of fire toward Mario, who quickly leaps aside. No sooner than he does, Bowser Jr. retrieves his paintbrush and pulls his bandana over his face.
"It's go-time, punks!" the little Koopa growls before starting to swing wave after wave of paint at Parakarry, trying to knock him out of the sky. The Paratroopa and his powerful wings easily defy the Koopa prince's attempts, and while Bowser Jr. is distracted with him, Bowser Sr. focuses all of his might on trying to crush the Mario Bros.
With Peach in one hand, he uses the other to make wide, clumsy swings with his claws, which Mario and Luigi easily dodge, landing their own strikes, which were more or less effective in causing him to stumble and stagger.
A lucky swipe catches Luigi and he goes spiraling away, landing on the ground and groaning. Mario turns away from Bowser for a second to look at Luigi, and it is a second too long. Bowser snatches Mario up and laughs at his victory.
"Finally! Your head is my pre-dinner snack, plumber! I'd cook you first, but raw Mario sounds a whole lot more appetizing.
"M-Mario, no!" Peach yells as Bowser parts his jaws wide and prepares to fit Mario inside so he can crunch down and end the plumber once and for all. A moment before that can happen, something flies through the air and hits the Koopa King square in the gut. The forces is enough to make him let go of Mario, but retain his grip on Peach. Mario rolls away and looks to see what saved his life.
The curled-up object that struck Bowser turns out not to have been an object at all, but a person. Rosalina uncurls and stands up, glaring at Bowser.
"I fired myself from your nose cannon." Rosalina explains with a nod to Mario. "With Peach here, there was no use in us taking any more damage… The Starship Mario is retreating."
"That's alright!" Mario responds. "We'll assess the damage after we clean-a Bowser's clock!"
Bowser growls, shaking off Rosalina's blow and roaring. He starts to charge at Mario, who also charges, with Rosalina at his side, when a loud voice stops everyone in their tracks.
"ATTENTION!"
Everyone looks up to see who spoke and where the voice came from. It takes a few second for many present to realize that they recognize the voice.
There is a brief flash of light, and in an instant, a folded letter appears in the hands of everyone on the pinnacle of Magma Manor. In another flash of light, a giant, animate, disembodied hand appears, waving.
"Attention, attention!" the hand's commanding voice repeats. "Sorry to interrupt this lovely little event, but it is with the greatest of honors that I, Master Hand, invite and/or reinvite you, mighty heroes of your world, to the World of Trophies, where in a short month, you will compete in a glorious tournament for fame and prestige against each other, as well as the greatest heroes of other worlds! If my generous offer intrigues you, please tell me now that you accept, and-"
"I accept! I accept!" Peach squeals, wanting to do anything to get out of Bowser's grasp.
"…and you and your invitation will be immediately transported to the gates of the Smash Mansion." Master Hand finishes with less enthusiasm. "Please let me finish next time!"
He tsk-tsks, then aims a finger at Peach, firing a beam which causes her to vanish into thin air. Bowser gapes.
"Hey! I accept, too!" he growls. Master Hand fires a similar beam at Bowser and he, too, disappears.
"W-What? Dad?" Bowser Jr. gasps. "What did you do to my dad, you creepy hand thing?"
"Accept the invitation and you'll find out." Master Hand responds. If he had lips, he'd smirk.
"Fine! I accept!" Bowser Jr. growls.
"Excellent choice!" Master Hand cheers, teleporting Bowser Jr.
"Hm… Nah, sorry. Sounds too scary for me." Parakarry says with a shrug. The invitation vanishes out of his hand.
"I accept." Rosalina says with a nod. She vanishes.
"That jut leaves you two veterans!" Master Hand acknowledges. Mario and Luigi look at each other.
"We accept." they say together.
"Excellent! It'll be good to have you two back! Wouldn't be a tournament without you, Mario."
The two brothers also vanish, and soon after, Master Han vanishes as well, leaving no trace of his existence.
Kamek, who was floating nearby and observing, gawked as her king disappeared.
"…RETREAT!" the Magikoopa hag squawks, loud enough for every Koopa Troop in Toad Town to hear. On cue, every single Goomba, Koopa, and Koopa-variant begins to flee, screaming like little girls. Within a few minutes, the entire endless army has cleared the town and has fled back to their lair. Magma Manor follows close behind them, and Toad Town returns to its original state of operation, except for Toadsworth, who is still stuck to the wall…