Super Mario Portals
He walked up the castle steps he had traveled many times before. They always led to a different looking castle, or a big planetoid in space. He was sick of walking up these steps. He'd done it for 25 years now. His joints were getting stiff, his brown hair was getting little streaks of grey. He slipped into the castle, slowly, then stretched, getting his sore joints and muscles ready for the big task ahead. A deep voice spoke.
"Welcome Mario. I'm happy to tell you your princess is NOT in another castle, but it'll be hell going through this one. It's unlike all the other ones you've faced before." Another voice, a female voice that went flat when it spoke, spoke up.
"Yes, Mario. In fact, I think you will need this." A long, white thing with metal prongs at one end dropped from the ceiling. He picked it up, unsure of what it was for. He looked up at the weird thing hanging from the ceiling that had just dropped the item.
"Who are you?"
"I am GLaDOS, the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System. I am here to help you on this task, as you will face many trials. The object you hold is the Portal gun. When you press the top trigger, a blue portal space will come out, but when you press the bottom trigger, an orange portal space will come out. You may only have 1 type of each portal at a time. If a blue portal is out, and you press the blue portal trigger again, the first blue portal shall diminish and the second will remain. Since we are not too unreasonable, we will allow you to test it out." The inside walls pushed away from Mario a few feet, where white and black panels dropped from the ceiling, molding to the original walls. The original walls slid back to their original places. Mario blinked a few times, as his eyes got used to the new brightness.
When his eyes adjusted, he slipped the portal gun onto his arm, and supported it with his other hand. He felt for the triggers, found none, adjusted a little bit more, and finally found them. He lightly tapped the top one. There was a small kickback, but not as much as he had thought there would be. A blue circle appeared in front on a previously white surface. He pointed the gun atop the stairs and lightly tapped the bottom trigger. An orange portal appeared at the target he had shot at. He walked to the blue portal, hesitated, then stepped through.
He appeared on the top floor. Out of nowhere, the main staircase shrunk into the floor.
"Oh dear, you hit a hidden button. You'll have to be careful of those. However, there are two buttons you DO want to push. The red one that is to your left, and the giant red one that is to the right, on the separate level. pressing that will open the door, but will close if it has no weight on it. This is where the first button comes in. Press the button, please, Mario."
He went over and pressed it, but was startled as a white cube dropped next to him.
"You need not worry, that will only help you along the way. Press the button that is next to your thumb." Mario looked by where his left thumb was, found the button, and pressed it. The cube floated a couple feet in the air.
"Good, now go back to the lower level and put the block on the giant red button. you may press the button again to put the block down, and will have to if you wish to shoot a portal." Mario looked to where the giant red button was. It was leading to the western door that at one time lead to the Bob-omb Battlefield. A door was where the door leading to that room had been. He put the block down and shot a blue portal right next to the button. It dissipated into little particles against the black back ground.
"Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that. You may only shoot portals on white surfaces. If you do not, the portal ray will dissipate like that." Mario contorted his face into a grim, thinking pose. He looked for the nearest white spot. It was next to the stairs, on a wall. He shot there, turned, picked up the block, walked through the orange portal to the blue portal, and walked up the short flight of stairs that lead to the giant button and the door. He walked up to the button and stepped on it to test it out. The door opened, just as GLaDOS had said. He put the block down and walked through the door. There was a small contraption, like an elevator. He stepped in. It felt his weight and moved automatically, spinning round and round and round. Amazingly, he didn't feel dizzy as it moved in circles...
A few seconds later he was in a black, white and grey version of Bob-omb Battlefield, though with other small changes around the area. The main one was the addition of 2 buttons, the small red one, and the giant red one. The things missing were the enemies, save one Bob-omb King on top of the plateau at the top of the mountain. He looked around, getting his bearings again. He wasn't sure where to go yet, as this was all new, but he'd try it. Just like his mid-life crisis brought him from the depths of you-don't-wanna-know-where, he'd try and succeed in anyway he knew how. He found the small red button, it was behind him, to the left. He pressed it. A companion cube had to be somewhere, but it hadn't dropped next to him. He looked around looking for a white cube on the grey ground. He found it in the gulley, down where he slid down if he went too far, or fetching a red coin in the old days. He ran over to it, pressed the button on the side to pick the cube up, and ran back over to the bridge connecting the high ground with the low ground.
As he approached the gate, he found that there was a wall about half way up, blocking his view. Well, of course, they couldn't make it too easy for him. He saw the wall next to it was white and the wall up above was white. Goodie, an easy part. He walked closer to the wall, but his foot gave a little. He heard a noise above and looked up. The white that had been there was now black, incapable of holding a portal. He looked to the right a little bit, and saw another white wall. It was harder to hit than the other, but still doable. He dropped the cube, shot an orange portal up to the top, failed, then tried again. Again and again he tried, missing by a small bit. Finally, he stepped back a few steps, re-aimed, and fired again. An orange circle appeared. He smiled, happy that he finally figured that easy puzzle out. He shot a blue portal on the lower wall, picked the block up, and stepped through it, exactly where he wanted to be. He walked up the slope that lead to the final plateau. When he reached the top, GLaDOS popped out of the fake sky above.
"You are allowed to beat bosses in your usual manner. There will be a spot for you to lay your Portal Gun down, and that is where you may drop it. However, some bosses may require the use of the portal gun, and there will not be a spot to put it down." He nodded, understanding. He looked around for a spot to put the gun down. There was none. This boss required the gun. He remembered back to when he had beaten this boss before. He had to pick it up. He put the gun down on the ground anyway, test if his muscles were what they used to be. He walked up to the approaching giant bob-omb in front of him. The bob-omb spoke, it's wheezing voice bringing back memories.
"You have reached this far, my dear plumber, but this is as far as you'll get." He laughed, his wheezing voice making it almost hard to distinguish. Mario thought he was having a heart attack till he stopped and looked square at the plumber. "Come at me, Bro."
Mario ran around him and tried to pick him up. His old bones creaked and groaned at the exertion of effort and he found the Bob-omb king too hard to pick up. Looks like he'd have to rely on the Portal Gun. He ran over, picked the gun up, and shoved it on. He went back behind the Bob-omb King and pressed the button usually meant to pick up cubes to pick the Bob-omb King up. once the Bob-omb King was lifted he swung the gun up and back down, bringing the Bob-omb king smashing to the ground. It broke in a million pieces, screws, bolts and other metal parts flying off, only to be picked up by little robots on the different floors. The floating island floated down to a better position, one that could be hit by a portal. A circle on the plateau he was standing on flipped around, revealing a red button. He walked over to the cube, picked it up, and placed it on the button. He then turned around, shot an orange portal onto the island and another on the ground in front of him, and finally jumped in, landing on the island. He tested his legs a little, they quietly creaked, and he walked through the now open door.
There was a room, just like before, with a small elevator in it. He walked inside and it went up. He found himself standing in the main room of Peach's Castle. The original portals were still there, but the button and door had moved. He emulated his original moves in this room, GLaDOS now made unnecessary. As he moved down he found himself in a black, grey and white version of Whomp's Fortress. After that, it all became a blur. As all of Bowser's attempts to make things hard, this was easy, till the ending. The Thwomp was a child's plaything. The Bully was a harder version of the Bob-omb King. Big Boo...Please, he was a joke. Klepto was harder, but was still easily beatable. And Chill Bully was a medium hard version of original Bully. It was the seventh boss came on to the scene he felt tired. He wasn't as old as he used yo be, and now he had to face a Wiggler on a grey scale Tiny-Huge Island. It was still pretty easy, but as he tired, it became a bigger chore, and Wigglers weren't the easiest thing to beat, anyway.
He eventually beat the 7, and when he reached Peach's Castle again, there was a new door, right where the stairs had been. It opened without a block. It was the last stage. Bowser waited at the end. Mario ran up to the stage Bowser was on and pressed the button by his left thumb, picking Bowser up. He looked for a mine and tossed Bowser in that direction. He hit and the mine blew up. Bowser picked himself up, shook his head, and turned back towards Mario. Mario ran back up to Bowser, picked him up again, and threw him toward another mine. Again, Bowser picked himself up, shook his head to clear it, and turned back towards the mustachioed plumber. Mario, being one step ahead, ran up, pressed the button again and tossed Bowser to the last mine. He hit and Bowser roared. Mario stood, panting at all the exercise he had just done.
"Bowser, I'm tired of this. What is your problem?" Before Bowser could speak, GLaDOS spoke up.
"He is no longer 'Bowser.' He is now a mind slave to me. The only way to reach him is to get through me."
"And where is that?"
"Look below you." Mario looked down and found a red portal five feet away from him. "Jump in it." He obeyed. He landed in a large, rectangular room full of wires and white plastic walls. As he looked around in awe, GLaDOS popped down.
"Like it?" Mario shrugged. "Fine," her voice went threatening. "I'll just have to get rid of you." Mario looked around for anything that might shut GLaDOS down. He saw some shiny things on the far side of the room, but a wall appeared. So much for doing it the easy way. However, he noticed that the walls above were white. He shot an orange portal up there and shot a blue portal on the wall closest to him. He ran toward the blue portal when his foot gave. A hidden button. Over the course of the 6 boss fights, he had missed them all and had forgotten about them. This one happened to be helpful, the wall dropped, but only for a few seconds, and he shot an orange portal on the definite other side of the wall before it closed. He ran through the blue portal and out the orange to find himself face to face with...Something. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was like a small, robotic dog. But it wasn't friendly. It was running at him. He shot the floor in front of the dog, and when the dog dropped through, shot high up on a wall. It came back through, trying to fulfill it's orders to "sic" Mario. It dropped to the floor and broke into multiple pieces. As soon as that had happened, a laser came on, and there was a sign above a little black dip that said "Get the laser here." He decided to try the shiny things first, but they wouldn't budge. Guess the laser would have to hit the "receiver."
Unfortunately, the laser was pointing left/right. The receiver was pointing up/down. He saw where the laser was hitting on the opposite wall, shot a blue portal, and shot an orange portal above the receiver. The laser hit and he ran to the shiny things, and pulled with all his might, his old muscles screaming in all the exercise he was making his body do. The shiny things came out, and it went dark. Not 'Dark, dark" just dark. Somehow, he was transported back to the final stage where Bowser still stood. He hadn't moved since Mario had left him last. Finally he started moving, slowly at first, but faster as he went along. Mario decided to try his earlier approach again.
"So, Bowser."
"Yes? What?"
"Please stop stealing the princess. If that is your only hobby, choose a different one. Like golf or something." Bowser thought about that for a second.
"But you have all the sports, golf included." Mario nodded.
"Then backgammon or Monopoly. SOMETHING other than princess stealing. Frankly, it's getting old. Same story, different looks." Bowser looked off for a minute.
"You know I can't do that, right Mario?" Mario looked at him, confused.
"Wha-why not?"
"Cause I want the princess," He sniffed. "I've never had someone who loved me. The original Koopalings' mother...well, she died soon after they were laid. And they all moved out 20 years ago. The only person I got is the junior." Bowser Jr. Mario nodded. Junior had caused as much chaos and trouble as the original Bowser. Mario saw some tears in Bowser's eyes.
"Wanna know what I would do?" Bowser nodded. "I would go back to Clawdia. She liked you." Bowser looked surprised.
"How'd you know about Clawdia?"
"Simple, I looked through your yearbook. It wasn't hard to find while you were out ogling Peach when she was at the Olympic games last year." The giant turtle with spikes hung his head.
"Fine, I'll see if Clawdia is open. But if she's not..." He let Mario finish.
"I know, I know. And I'll be fighting till the end." They both nodded, and Bowser jumped off the stage. Peach slowly descended from the sky and landed in the middle. Mario ran over to her.
"Come on, let's go." Peach nodded, and they spun around, getting smaller and smaller. They appeared outside the castle, spinning, getting bigger and bigger. Peach let go and stepped back.
"Thanks Mario." She said, then leaned over and kissed him on the nose. He blushed and kissed her back, then they stood, facing west, watching the sunset, the plumber's arm around the princess' waist.
(Author's Note: Clawdia can be found at: .com/List_of_Implied_Characters#Clawdia_Koopa She's not really a canon character, but she is at least somewhat existent)