THE QUEST
A Super Mario Bros. Story.
By: X (thextremeonex@hotmail.com)
(Disclaimers and Author's notes: O.K., first off, all characters in this story are property of Nintendo of America, Nintendo of Japan, and Shigeru Miyamoto. I'm just using them for my creative purposes. Second, this story is copyrighted to me, Chris "X" Waters. No money can be made off this story, so don't even try. Last, please send your comments to thextremeonex@hotmail.com. Enough talk, LET'S GET IT ON!)
CHAPTER 1: THE NEW EVIL
Lightning struck all around Bowser's Castle, giving the current battle between the Mario Brothers and the Koopa Pack a somewhat dramatic feel to it. As Mario and Luigi continued to finish off various Goombas and Koopa Troopas, Kamek watched on in fear. They were right in front of the door to Bowser's Castle, and if they got in there, Bowser would have his head for sure. 'There's got to be something that I can do to stop them!' Kamek thought as he looked around his small room for something to help him in his fight with the Mario brothers. 'I can't let them rescue the princess from Bowser again, it's not right!' After intensive searching through various piles of clothing and useless mystical concoctions, Kamek found what he was looking for. As he put it in his pocket, he chuckled and teleported himself to the front of the doorway to Bowser's lair.
In the hallway to the Lair, Mario Mario and Luigi Mario had just finished K.O.ing the last of the Koopa Troopas. As they watched the troops disappear, they turned to each other and gave each other a high five.
"All the troops down," Mario began.
"Now Bowser will know," Luigi continued.
"We're the best so HERE WE GO!" They both concluded at the same time. After they finished their little post fight speech, they both charged towards the door.
"So, the two plumbers think that they stop Bowser with me in the way?" an evil yet screechy voice without a body stated. "We'll just see about that." In a cloud of smoke, Kamek appeared, wearing a necklace with a black jewel dangling from it around his neck.
"Back off Kamek, you can't beat us alone." Mario stated.
"You're outnumbered and overpowered here!" Luigi added.
"Oh, I have no intentions of fighting you both alone!" With that, Kamek flashed his magic wand at Mario and made him disappear in a flash of red. Luigi looked around, obviously confused about what happened. He turned angrily to the Magikoopa.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" Luigi demanded to know.
"I simply sent him to fight Bowser. You, on the other hand, are going to be walking with the angels in a few minutes!" Kamek then used his magic wand at Luigi, which sent a bunch of bricks flying at the plumber in green. Luigi quickly jumped into the air, letting all of the bricks fly right under him. While in the air, he flew right towards Kamek with his foot extended, but Kamek simply teleported to the other side of the room. Luigi saw Kamek preparing to teleport, and let himself bounce off of the walls with his legs and tackled Kamek before the Magikoopa had time to teleport away. Luigi then grabbed Kamek's legs and threw the turtle into a wall. As Kamek hit the wall, the necklace flew off of his body and landed around Luigi's neck.
"Now, feel a new power!" With these words, Kamek seemingly died against the wall. With that, Luigi started for the door, but stopped when he saw Mario run out of there with the princess in close tow.
"Bowser's set a bomb to blow this place up, let's go!" Mario stated. With that, Mario, Peach, and Luigi ran out of Bowser's Castle. They made it out just in time to see Bowser's Castle fall down upon itself.
"Can it be?" Peach asked.
"Is it possible?" Luigi pondered.
"Is this real?" Mario wondered. All three of them looked at the castle and watched as no sign of life came out.
"Bowser is gone for good!" All three of them declared at the same time.
A few minutes later, at Peach's castle, a huge party was going on. Pretty much everyone in the Mushroom World was there, including Princess Daisy, Prince Mallow, and Geno. They were all celebrating the defeat of Bowser.
Everyone, except Luigi, that is.
In a guest bedroom of the castle, Luigi sat on the bed holding his head. Ever since he got a hold of this dark necklace, he had felt compelled to wear it all the time. However, a feeling of pain and hatred filled his body as he wore it. Many times, he had tried to take off the necklace, but each time he did the thing shot out a lightning bolt at him. Eventually, Luigi had had enough and he went to destroy the jewel in the necklace.
I wouldn't do that if I were you! a disembodied voice stated.
"Who said that?" Luigi questioned, obviously puzzled at the nothingness with a voice.
It is I, the spirit of the black crystal. Luigi, you have been chosen.
"Chosen for what?" Luigi asked, starting to gain interest.
To rule the entire Mushroom World.
Luigi was taken aback at this comment. He didn't know what to think about this except for one thing.
"No way! The Mushroom World is ruled by many different people, all of whom deserve to rule!"
Luigi, think about it. If you were to gain power, no force could stop you. Everyone would be under your power totally, anything you could possibly want would be yours!
"I don't work for evil!"
We'll just see about that!
As the black crystal finished speaking, a strange field of energy surrounded Luigi's body. It was black and white and seemed to be getting smaller by the second.
You see Luigi, it's quite simple. Either you embrace the powers of evil, or you die in a heartbeat.
Luigi looked all around him for a path to escape by, but to no avail. Luigi took off his glove, reached out his hand, and touched the black crystal. Feelings of hatred, bitterness, deceit, corruption, and villainy filled his body, replacing any good that was in him. The black crystal laughed as its power filled Luigi. Luigi, however, simply prayed to the stars above that he would be forgiven for his actions.
About an hour after the party had finished, Mario went up to Luigi's room to talk to him. But as he entered the room, he noticed something different than usual. Luigi's room was filled with many candles, all of which were lit. The electric lights were completely turned off, save for a few lights of red. On his bed, Luigi laid with his hands over his heart and a knife in his hands.
"Luigi, what's going on?" Mario asked, obviously confused as to what Luigi was doing.
"Brother, who is left in the castle?" Luigi asked in a colder version of his voice.
"Only the princesses and us, why?" Mario explained, still confused at his brother's current actions. With that, Luigi leaped out of his bed at lightning fast speed and stabbed his brother right in the heart. As Mario looked at his brother, who had an evil look in his eyes, he asked why did Luigi do this.
"You see, brother, it is my turn to be the numero uno bro!" Luigi laughed maniacally as he watched his brother die on the ground. Luigi then jumped out the window and gently floated down as Princesses Peach Toadstool came in to see her love disappear on the floor. From that point on, the future of the Mushroom World had changed forever.
CHAPTER 2: A NEW HERO'S STAND
2 YEARS LATER
Things had changed drastically since Luigi had taken over.
First, the new lord of evil had revived the diabolical Kamek, making him serve his every will. Unfortunately for him, this also revived Bowser and seeing what had happened, Bowser dedicated his life to removing Luigi from power.
Next, he found Mario's old girlfriend Pauline, transformed her into a cyborg, and made her the leader of his evil army. With her help, he took over the Mushroom Kingdom and reformed it into his own image, including renaming it Luigiland.
With little or no opposition, he also took over Nimbus Land, Sarasaland, Donkey Kong Island, Mario Land, and Subcon(in that order). Each place he named Luigiland then the number of order (ex.: Nimbus Land = Luigiland 2) The Kongs joined up with the evil lord quickly, and everyone else was imprisoned.
His most recent act was to destroy the Star Road and spread the pieces out into different directions.
Yes, the world had taken a turn for the worse.
And Wario hated every minute of it.
"How is a guy supposed to make a profit if this green clothed jerk keeps ruling?" he wondered out loud to his Genie. The Genie, whose power for wishes was blocked off by Luigi, pondered with his master.
"This is a most distressing problem, master. If only I still had my powers, I would be able to grant a wish for this place to be back to normal."
The Genie's mentioning of wishes gave Wario an idea. "Hmm, Luigi hasn't found any one of the 7 star pieces, right?"
"You are correct, master."
"If I find them, I might just be able to end Luigi's reign of terror!"
"But master, you might not be able to find them all alone. There are Soldiers of Luigi all over those parts. Why it would take..."
Wario smiled wickedly at the Genie.
"A madman to survive, my friend?"
"Why yes master a..."
Both of the people in the room smiled knowingly at each other. Wario grabbed his normal hat and turned to the Genie.
"You have control of the castle until I'm back." Wario began as he put his hat on. "If you hear word of my death or capture, I want you to use whatever powers you have to destroy the castle and make sure that any remnant of it is destroyed as well." Running down the stairs at blinding speeds, he made one last turn when he was out of the castle and held his hands up in the air. "LET IT BE KNOWN TO ANYONE THAT HEARS THIS. TODAY, I EMBARK ON A QUEST OF UNIMAGINABLE IMPORTANCE. I WILL RETURN THIS LAND TO THE WAY IT WAS, AND I WILL ONCE AGAIN LIVE WITH MY GENIE'S POWERS AT FULL!"
In the trees above Wario, a figure in black robes watched on happily. 'So, he's going to oppose Luigi, eh?' The figure laughed happily as he saw Wario set off. 'I have a feeling that he might just achieve his goal. I must help him though, because he just might need my kind of help in this battle. After all, I think I know Luigi's tricks better than he does.' With that, the figure in the black robes disappeared in a flash of black and red.
"So, this fat idiot thinks he can stop me, does he."
The bowels of Castle Luigi rumbled as Luigi spoke out loud. Luigi's voice had changed since two years ago. Instead of his tenor voice, he had grown a deeper one, partially because of the power of the black crystal totally controlling his mind, but also because of the dust that had filled his lungs over the past two years. Replacing his old outfit was a suit of armor of black with various green highlights all over it. Attached to the back of the armor was a long flowing black cape, which extended all the way to the floor. Around his neck was the black crystal, still controlling his mind, and on his head was a black version of his old hat. His eyes were pure red now, and his mustache was sharp at the points. In front of him in a large pot was set up, with the image of Wario walking off floating in the liquid. Luigi stood up out of his throne, turning to a shadowy image.
"Pauline, I want you to get all of the best soldiers we have to combat Wario. He must not regain those Star Pieces at ANY cost!" As he said this, Pauline stepped out of the shadows. The right half of her body and outfit were pretty much the same as when Donkey Kong captured her, but the left half of her body was changed drastically. A half-metallic helmet covered up her eye and hair. A type of body armor, tightly fitting on her body replaced the left half of her torso and her entire left arm. Her left leg was also completely replaced with a mechanical attachment. As she stepped forward with a clank of her left foot as it touched the ground, she faced her new master with a look of duty.
"Begging your pardon sir, but what do we do if he finds a Star Piece?"
"Pauline, simply take the thing from him you stupid..!"
The black crystal held Luigi back from fully using his powers. Luigi, are you forgetting, you need her for 'special purposes' later.
Luigi pulled back as he heard HIS master talk to him. Very rarely did the black crystal speak to him directly, but when it did, Luigi was obliged to obey without question. Once calmed down, Luigi watched as Pauline went off for her mission.
Inside of Luigi's mind, a battle was continuing to be fought. The soul of the regular Luigi, dressed in his normal attire, was fighting against this large black cloud. Every time the good spirit tried attacking, the cloud shot a lightning bolt at it.
"Someday, I'll defeat you." The good Luigi soul stated courageously "and when I do, you will be gone forever." With that, the soul continued its battle with the cloud.
CHAPTER 3: THE FIRST STAR PIECE
'Now, where could that first Star Piece be?'
Wario continued to look on his map as he walked away from his castle. 'There are so many local places that one of the Star Pieces could be at, but where to start is the big question.' As he walked forward, he tripped on something. Bending down to see what it was that he tripped over, he saw a small doll. It wore a blue outfit and looked a little raggedy. Wario inspected the doll closely, then put it in his pocket for some reason. 'Who knows, this may come of some use later.' Walking forward, he saw something that caught his attention.
A star embedded in the side of a mountain.
Wario quickly ran towards the mountain, totally ignoring the various eyes that were watching him in the trees.
"There he is, mistress!"
Pauline quickly shoved the Para-Troopa to the side as she took the binoculars that he held in his hands. Looking down, she saw the large human going towards Mt. Mushroom, where one of the seven star pieces was located. Pauline gave the binoculars back to the Para-Troopa and pressed a button on her left ear.
"Lord Luigi, we have found the traitor."
[EXCELLENT. BRING HIM TO ME AT ONCE!] Luigi commanded over the speaker system. When Pauline finished intercepting the message, she commanded her troops to go forward and make the capture.
In another tree across from the minions of Luigi, the black robed figure watched on at the goings on of the head of the evil army. 'Luigi needs to be stopped, and Wario is the only one that can do it. I just pray that his greed doesn't interfere in his mission.' Just then, the black robed figure noticed that Luigi's troops were watching Wario, seemingly with intentions of killing him. 'Now I KNOW he needs help!' Pulling a small star out of his robe, the figure in black looked to the heavens. 'I just hope that this is enough help for now!' With that, the figure vanished in a puff of black smoke.
As Wario entered the path to the mountain, he noticed various red rocks imbedded into the path. Flames protruded from these tiny rocks, but Wario was unconcerned as he just stomped out the flames with shoed foot. Over various ridges, Wario made his way closer and closer to the star. The gleam from its brilliance seemed to make the greedy Wario even more powerful. He reached out his hand, grabbed a rock...
...and had his hand stepped on.
Wario looked up to a sight that wasn't the one that he was looking for. Instead of the gleam of the Star Piece, a demonic half-metallic figure stared at him with a sinister half smile on her face.
"Well, well, well, what have we here? Looks like someone's trying to be a hero here."
Wario didn't reply to Pauline's comment. Mainly because the pain in his hands were really increasing with the metallic foot on one and the high heeled one on the other. Wario reached deep inside with all of his adrenaline to try to keep his grasp on the cliff, but the pain in his fingers was quickly increasing. Pauline smiled down at Wario, which sent chills up and down the deformed Mario clone's spine.
"You see Wario, you're rebellion ends here!" Pauline raised her mechanical hand to strike Wario down, but became distracted with something sudden and surprising. A quick flash of yellow streaked between Wario and Pauline, a strange theme playing as it passed by. The streak turned out to be a small star, and it stopped over Wario's head and started to circle over him. Eventually, the doll that Wario found earlier flew out of Wario's pocket and started to float into the air, the small star following the doll overhead. After about a few seconds, the doll began to grow about twice the size it was before. After a few more seconds, when the music was starting to die down, the doll started to move and it knocked Pauline off of Wario. The doll made sure to catch Wario before the man in yellow and purple fell to his death.
"Are you all right, Wario?"
As Wario regained his composure, he started to massage his very sore hands. Looking around, he saw Pauline in shock, her troops consoling her, and a strange, yet familiar figure in blue standing before him.
"Uh, yeah, but who are you?" Wario asked, confusion in his voice. The doll figure smiled at Wario.
"Just call me Geno." the doll figure stated as he extended his wooden hand to the anti-hero. Wario barely was able to shake Geno's hand, but he managed somehow and stood up to face the soldiers of Luigi.
"All right lady, get ready to be rocked!" Wario stated as he charged forearm first at Pauline, but the female cyborg simply grabbed Wario by the arm and lifted straight up over her head.
"Pathetic." Pauline stated as she slammed Wario hard into the mountainside. The female cyborg stared with a vengeance at Wario as the troops that she commanded started to gather around them. Wario's battered and bruised body laid on the ground as he looked up to Pauline. 'Well, if she was all female, this might be a pleasant sight.' he thought, just before Pauline raised her metallic foot over Wario's head.
"Die, rebel." she stated coldly. Wario simply closed his eyes as he prepared for his head to be crushed like a bug. However, after a few minutes, the attacks still hadn't come. Wario lifted his head to see Pauline being nailed in the stomach with a laser blast from Geno's fingers. Seeing this as an opportunity, Wario attacked the surrounding metallic Koopas and Goombas with a fury, using his brute strength to send the various troops of Luigi flying hard into the mountainside. Some troops tried to retaliate with laser blasts and various metallic spears, but they too were sent into the mountainside. With them out of the way, Wario turned his attention to Pauline and Geno, who were at a standoff. Pauline noticed that she was now outnumbered, but started to laugh for some reason.
"Oh, you fools! You don't know what you've gotten yourself into. Trust me, Lord Luigi WILL have his victory!" That being said, Pauline vanished in a black and green flash. Wario and Geno simply looked at each other, fatigue in their face, knowing somehow that this partnership was to be for the rest of this mission.
CHAPTER 4: UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT
"COME AND GET IT, SLAVES!"
The voice of the gruff guard rung throughout the bowels of Castle Luigi's underground prison. As the various enslaved peoples made their way to the kitchen that was set up for them to receive their small bowls of gruel, one slave didn't move from where she was. As she sat there, her once blonde hair full of dust and her dress torn to shreds, she looked out to the starry night outside, remembering a time before her enslavement. To a time where there was peace throughout the land, minus the evil ways that plagued this time. To a time when SHE ruled some of these lands.
"Oh Luigi" Peach whispered sadly to herself as she looked into the starry sky. "What happened to you? What could possess you from being a hero to so many like your brother, to a murdering insane jerk bent on universal domination?" As she thought about Luigi and remembered how he killed her true love, many tears form in her eyes. Though 2 years had passed, she still could not get over the thought of Mario being dead.
"HEY YOU!"
Peach quickly got up, her eyes still moist from crying, and turned to see whom it was that had called her. To her slight relief, it was her faithful friend Toad. He too had been captured with the Princess 2 years ago, and since then they have tried their best to stick together through all the harsh times. Peach walked over to her former worker.
"Toad, thank goodness it's you." Peach said as she hugged the small mushroom man tightly. "At least there's one person I haven't lost"
Toad hugged Peach back. Since the conquest that Luigi had led, both Toad and Peach had tried to stick together as often as they could, being the nearly the last remnants of a world almost totally destroyed. Now, with the help of a spy that they had never even met in person, they continued learning about the outside world, in the hope that some sign would come for them. "So," Peach began in a more serious tone "any news from the front?"
Toad gave Peach a big smile. "Oh yes, you could say that. Remember Wario?"
"Wario? What about Wario?"
"Well, news is that he and some strange looking ally in blue are going against Luigi's power."
Peach was literally taken aback at hearing this. "Wario? Actually doing something to HELP someone? Who've thunk it?"
Toad got a slight chuckle out of this, something he hadn't gotten in a while. "Well, it's true. He and his new ally just sent Pauline and her troops packing recently."
Peach settled back to sit in her area of the prison, surprised a bit by this news. "Wow...a hero on the outside."
Toad looked uneasy when Peach said this. "Majesty," he began. He had been calling Peach 'majesty' since as far as he could remember, and even with the new regime he continued to call her that. "How can we be sure that Wario isn't doing this to take control? I mean, remember this IS Wario we're talking about."
Peach shook her head while thinking. "Wario may be greedy and twisted, but he's greedy and twisted in just a minor bully way. I could never see him becoming what Luigi is now."
Toad nodded. "Perhaps you're right, majesty, but..."
The sound of a light banging against the wall stopped the conversation. The mushroom man and former princess moved closer to the wall to get a better listen. 3 taps, then 2, then 5. It was time for information. Toad lifted his Shroom dome and pulled out a small note-pad. Peach moved a set of bricks aside (actually, more of a 2 dimensional façade of bricks) and saw a small block come out. She knew that it was from the mysterious figure on the outside named Deep Tongue, and it meant some news was coming to them. After putting the wall back to it's spot, she opened the block, grabbed the scroll that rolled out of it, and smiled. Toad looked at her quizzically.
"What is it, majesty?"
Peach turned to him. "It seems that Wario is the next hero for us after all." she stated, showing a picture to him of Wario and Geno with 3 of the 7 star pieces in tow. 'Wario,' Peach thought as she showed Toad this, 'you may be the one to save the world.'