All characters are owned by Nintendo
Mario, Luigi, Peach and Daisy were in an open field shooting cans and targets. Luigi set a soup can on a stump one hundred yards away from where they were shooting. He set up two boards in front of the can with a two inch hole drilled in each of them. He laid down and began lining up the shot.
"Wow" Mario said "you're pretty confident bro."
"Yeah" Peach said "you are a good shot but that is impossible."
"What do you think Daze?" Luigi asked.
Daisy smiled and said "I haven't seen you miss yet and I don't expect you to start now."
Luigi smiled and said "thanks."
He took a deep breath and slowly let it out as he squeezed the trigger. Mario, Peach and Daisy watched the can. When Luigi fired, the can flew off of the stump.
"Whoa" Mario said.
"I don't believe it" Peach said.
"Nice shot Sweetie" Daisy said smiling.
Luigi stood up and they began walking towards the stump. Mario looked at both of the boards and was amazed to see that there was no damage. Luigi had shot through the holes and not touched the boards.
"Ok" Mario said "I will admit, that was amazing. How did you do that?"
Luigi smiled and said "it's just a matter of lining up the shot and taking the time to get it right."
Suddenly, Peach looked up.
"What are you looking at?" Mario asked.
"I thought I heard something fly by" Peach said.
Then she pointed up and said "look."
They looked up and saw a piece of paper floating down towards them. When it was close enough, Peach reached up and grabbed it. She saw a message written on it.
She read it and said "oh no. It can't be."
"What does it say?" Mario asked.
Peach sighed and read "Congratulations on defeating my army, but you did not actually kill me. I was never in your jail. One of my clones came to Princess Peach's castle in my place after I captured it. I went into hiding on a transport ship. I knew the last of my clones to attack you to try to justify their losses. Your victories had demoralized my entire army. I allowed you to slaughter the remaining clones. Now I am able to build another army with no fear of you. I will give them better weapons and they will be better trained. Consider this note a warning and ultimatum. I will be ready to attack within the week. If you surrender Princess Daisy to me, no shots will be fired. If you do not, prepare for your deaths. Signed, Tatanga."
When she finished reading, she looked at the others and asked "what are we going to do?"
"Fight" Mario said "we've stopped them before and we can stop them again."
"But he said they will have better weapons" Peach said.
"It doesn't matter" Daisy said "I don't care if Tatanga his clones the best sniper rifle ever made, Luigi is a better shot. In other words, the gun does not matter. What matters is who is behind the gun."
"I guess so" Peach said "we better go get ready if he is coming this week."
"let's go" Luigi said.
Back on Tatanga's ship, he had four clones in a private room.
"Listen" he said "instead of sending an army in first. I am going to send you four in as the first wave in the attack. I will give you better versions of the weapons the plumbers and the princesses carry. I need a volunteer to carry a sniper rifle."
One of the clones stepped forward.
"Good" Tatanga said.
He picked up a gun case and opened it.
He looked at the clone and said "the green one carries a scoped M-14 rifle for sniping. I am assigning you a Barrett M98 sniper rifle."
He handed the rifle to the clone and said "you will practice with it until you can hit ten out of ten targets."
"Yes sir" the clone said.
"Next" Tatanga said "I need a volunteer for the shotgun."
A clone stepped forward.
"Alright" Tatanga said "Princess Peach prefers a SPAS 12 shotgun. You will carry an AA12 automatic shotgun. We are running low on ammunition so keep it set on semi-automatic fire as much as possible until I can get more shells."
"Yes sir" the clone said as it picked up the shotgun.
"Which one of you would like to be my machine gunner?" Tatanga asked.
One of the clones stepped forward.
"Ok" Tatanga said "Mario uses an M-60e2 light machine gun. I am giving you an M-60e6 light machine gun. It is much more advanced than Mario's weapon."
"Thank you sir" the clone said.
Tatanga looked at the last clone and said "you will carry the flamethrower, pistol combination. Unfortunately, I do not have anything more advanced than a M2a1 flamethrower. However, I will give you a better handgun. Princess Daisy uses a .357 magnum revolver. I am giving you a .44 magnum revolver. It is very powerful, more powerful than her revolver but it has a much stronger kick. Be careful. Now, begin your training. You will attack in five days. I will have a test to show me that you are ready before you leave."
The clones left to begin training. Back in the Mushroom Kingdom Mario, Luigi, Peach and Daisy were training too. Peach was shooting slugs for the first time, working on her aim. Luigi was shooting at dimes at one hundred yards. Mario was using the M-60 to cut targets in half. Daisy was shooting cans with her revolver. After four days of training Mario, Luigi, Peach and Daisy were ready. The clones were ready too. Tatanga had set up their tests. The sniper had to replicate Luigi's shot. Tatanga set up a target one hundred yards away and had set up two boards with two inch holes in them. The clone laid down and began lining up the shot. It pulled the trigger and the target was knocked over. Tatanga began inspecting the shot. The first board didn't have a mark on it. The second board had a scratch on the left side of the hole.
"It is good enough" Tatanga said "you are ready. Gather all the ammunition you need and board the transport ship."
The clone nodded and walked away.
He turned to the clone with the shotgun and said "your test is to eliminate that mannequin."
The clone raised the shotgun and shot the mannequin in the head four times.
"Good" Tatanga said "gather your ammunition and board the ship."
The clone left the room.
Tatanga turned to the clone with the machine gun and said "your turn."
He pointed to a large board and said "saw it in half."
The clone opened fire and slowly moved the barrel left to right. Cutting the board in half with a straight line.
"Excellent" Tatanga said "gather all the ammunition you can and board the ship."
The clone nodded and left the room.
Tatanga turned to the last clone and said "There is a fake machine gun emplacement, take it out."
The clone began crawling toward the gun emplacement. It sat up, put the nozzle of its flamethrower through the opening and fired a burst of flames.
"Very good" Tatanga said "board the ship."
"Yes sir" the clone said as it turned and left the room.
A fifth clone boarded the ship to pilot it and flew them to the Mushroom Kingdom. One of Peach's scouts saw the ship fly over and ran to the castle.
He ran into the castle and yelled "Princess! They are here!"
Peach ran down stairs and said "who?"
"I saw one of Tatanga's ships" he said "he must be starting his attack."
"Please call Luigi and Daisy and inform them" Peach said.
"Yes Princess" the scout said.
Peach ran back upstairs to change into shorts and a tee shirt and tell Mario. Luigi and Daisy were eating lunch when the phone rang.
Luigi stood up, answered it and said "hello?"
"Mister Luigi!" the scout yelled "Tatanga is here! Get ready!"
Luigi almost dropped the phone.
"O…Ok" he said "tell Peach we will be there ASAP."
"Yes sir" the scout said.
Luigi hung up the phone, turned to Daisy and said "Tatanga's clones are here. Gear up."
"Right" Daisy said.
It was Saturday, so Daisy was already wearing jeans and a tee shirt. They ran to the gun safe and gathered their weapons and ammo. They ran to Peach's castle and found Mario and Peach armed and ready.
"My scout said the ship went that way" Peach said pointing west "let's go."
They began walking west, soon they started walking through a forest. They heard a gunshot and a bullet hit a tree less than an inch in front of Mario's face.
"Cover!" Mario yelled.
They all ducked behind trees. Luigi took his hat off and held it out from the tree slightly. There was another gunshot and a bullet ripped the edge of his hat. He looked at the hole then put it back on his head.
He turned to Mario and said "I need you to fire a few bursts."
"Where?" Mario asked.
"Anywhere" Luigi said
"just get his attention long enough for me to spot him."
"Oh ok" Mario said.
He pointed his M-60 away from them and began firing. Luigi took his hat off and peeked around the tree. He saw a clone with a sniper rifle on a hill. It had its rifle pointed at Mario's tree.
"He has a much more advanced rifle" Luigi thought to himself "I've got to draw his attention away from the others"
He saw a line of bushes a few feet away between himself and the clone sniper.
He turned to Mario and said "I'll try to draw his fire. When I distract him, you get the girls to safety."
"What?" Mario asked.
"What are you going to do?" Daisy asked.
Luigi looked at her and said "something stupid. I love you."
He ran out from behind the tree and dove behind the bushes and began crawling behind them. The clone sniper began firing at the area Luigi dove behind. Luigi crawled about fifteen feet away and moved behind a tree.
"Hey!" Luigi yelled.
"What?" the clone replied.
"Let's make this interesting" Luigi said.
"What do you mean?" the clone asked.
"I know you have some friends nearby" Luigi said "and you know I do too. Let's let them go. Just you and me in the forest. Sniper versus sniper."
"You do know that I have a much better rifle" the clone said.
"Then I guess you have nothing to worry about" Luigi said "so what do you say?"
"You are on" the clone said.
"Good" Luigi said "let's have a five minute cease fire to let everyone else leave."
"Very well" the clone said "lay your rifle down and I will lay mine down."
Luigi reached his arm out from behind the tree and set his rifle down. He peeked out and saw the clone had laid its rifle down too.
"Ok" Luigi said "everyone leave."
Peach began pulling Mario and Daisy away. The other three clones left too.
"Ok" the clone said "everyone else has left."
"Ok" Luigi said "on three we grab our rifles and get to it. Deal?"
"Deal" the clone said.
"Ok" Luigi said "one, two, three."
He grabbed his rifle and pulled it back behind the tree with him. The clone grabbed its rifle and aimed at the tree.
"It is your move" the clone said.
Luigi saw a few large rocks near by. He took a breath and began running, firing his rifle at the hill as he ran. The clone ducked to avoid the fire. Luigi dove behind the rocks.
"Very nice" the clone said "but I am still on the high ground."
"It won't matter much once I kill you" Luigi said.
He tried to look over the rocks. When he did, the clone fired at him. Luigi ducked back down. He rolled a few feet to the right and tried to peek over again. Again the clone fired at him. Luigi ducked back down.
"What am I gonna do?" He said to himself "I can't make a move with out him seeing it."
Luigi took his hat off and looked at it. He tossed it up and to the right. The clone turned its rifle toward the movement. Luigi sat up and aimed at the clone. As soon as he did, the clone turned its rifle towards him. Luigi pulled the trigger as the clone aimed at him. The bullet hit the clone in the head, just above its scope. The clone immediately fell. Luigi stood up and walked over to his hat. He picked it up and hit it against his leg to knock the dirt off. Then he walked up the hill to the clone. He put his M-14 over his shoulder and picked up the M98 and began looking it over. He set it down and moved four M-14 clips to his right pocket and put the rest down. He filled his left pockets with spare clips and bullets for the M98, then he picked up the rifle and walked back down the hill. He took out his cell phone and called Mario.
Mario answered and said "Luigi! Are you ok?!"
"I'm fine" Luigi said "and I got a new toy."
"How did you kill him so fast?" Mario asked.
"He was a little too jumpy" Luigi said "Where are you guys?"
"We are hunting those other clones" Mario said "they split up and we did too. I'm going after the machine gunner. Peach and Daisy went after the other two."
"What?" Luigi asked.
"You heard me" Mario said "they will be fine."
"Where are you?" Luigi asked "I'm coming to back you up."
"No" Mario said "you sit this one out, I'll be ok."
"But" Luigi said "I can't just-"
"No" Mario interrupted "you just practice with that new rifle."
Then he hung up.
Luigi sighed and said "I hate it when he gets stubborn like this."
Meanwhile, Peach and Daisy were following the clone's footprints down an old walking path. Suddenly they heard several shotgun blasts. Peach saw a log beside the path. She grabbed one of Daisy's flamethrower straps and pulled her down, behind the log.
"Uh, thanks Peachy" Daisy said.
"No problem" Peach said "so, now what?"
"Well" Daisy said "from what we saw with the sniper, that shotgun is probably more advanced than yours. So we can't take it head on, and they have us pretty well pinned down. I need a way to get up and burn the area the shots came from."
Peach laid on her back, put the barrel of her shotgun on the log and fired it.
They heard one of the clones say "get down."
"It worked" Peach said.
"It could be a trick" Daisy said "try again."
Peach emptied the shotgun as Daisy peeked over the log. She saw the clones ducking for cover. She sat up and sprayed the area with flames. A clone with a flamethrower strapped to its back ran out screaming. Its back and neck were on fire. Daisy drew her revolver and shot it in the head. The clone with the shotgun came out of hiding firing its shotgun at them. Daisy quickly ducked back behind the log.
"How dare you!" it yelled "sit up again and give me one clear shot at your fuel tank so I can do to you what you did to my friend."
The clone kept walking toward them. Peach pulled a shell out of her pocket, put in in her shotgun and pumped it. When the clone was less then three yards away; Peach sat up and fired, filling the clone's chest with buckshot. The clone was thrown back a few feet from the blast. Peach and Daisy stood up and walked toward the clone. Peach picked up the AA12.
"This is a shotgun?" She asked.
"I guess so" Daisy said "and it sure is a fancy one. Can I see it?"
Peach handed her the shotgun.
Daisy looked it over and said "wow, drum magazine, semi or full auto. This is a nice one Peachy. It is better than your SPAS."
"Do you know how to load it?" Peach asked "because I don't."
Daisy looked it over. She found the magazine release and pushed it. The drum dropped a few inches. Daisy pulled it off and began sliding shells into it until it was full. She shoved the drum back into position and cocked the shotgun.
She set it to semi-automatic and said "like that."
She handed it to Peach and said "looks like Tatanga gave you a present."
Peach smiled and took all the shells she could and a spare drum from the dead clone. Daisy walked over to the clone with the flamethrower and picked up the .44 and drew her .357. She looked back and fourth between them.
She smiled at the .357 and said "I guess you can't beat the classics. However."
She put the .44 in her belt on the opposite side from the .357.
"Do you need both of those?" Peach asked.
"No" Daisy said "I like my trusty .357 more, but I can't pass up a free revolver."
Peach just smiled and said "come on, let's go find the boys."
Meanwhile, Mario was still looking for the clone with the machine gun. As he walked, machine gun fire broke out. He ran and ducked behind a rock. He put the barrel of his M-60 over the rocks and began firing in the direction the fire was coming from. He began firing short bursts.
"Luigi always said short bursts" Mario said to himself "but desperate time call for desperate measures."
He began firing continuously, soon the gun stopped firing. He pulled it back behind the rocks with him. The barrel was red and glowing and the gun was jammed. He began working the action and hitting the side of the gun with his fist. He opened the top and began trying to pull the belt out. After a few minutes, he set the gun down and ducked lower behind the rocks.
"Me and my ego" he thought to himself "I just had to do it alone, I wish Luigi was here. That's it."
He took out his cell phone and pulled Luigi's number up. He just sat there looking at his phone with his finger over the call button.
He sighed and said "come on, just swallow your pride and call him."
He pushed the button and put the phone up to his ear.
Luigi answered and said "hey, bro. Did you get him?"
"No" Mario said "I'm pinned down and my gun is jammed and overheated. Can you come give me a hand?"
"I'm already on the way" Luigi said "I'm coming toward the gunfire."
"Please hurry" Mario said.
"I'll be there as soon as I can" Luigi said.
Mario hung up and put his phone away.
A few minutes later, the gun fire stopped. Mario looked over the top of the rock, but didn't see the clone. Suddenly, gunfire began coming from a clump of trees to the right. Mario jumped over the rocks to take cover.
He heard someone whisper "Mario."
He began looking around to see who was calling him. He saw someone waving at him from behind a large bush.
"Who's there?" Mario asked.
Daisy stood up and said "catch."
She tossed the .44 toward him. He caught it and pulled the hammer back. He pointed it toward the machine gun fire and pulled the trigger twice. Then his cell phone rang, he looked at the caller ID and saw it was Luigi.
He answered it and asked "where are you?"
"On a hill about fifty yards out" Luigi said "I can see where the clone is, but I don't have a clear shot. Can you draw him out?"
"I'll try" Mario said.
He put his phone away and yelled "enough!"
"What?" The clone asked.
"I'll surrender" Mario said "you have out done me."
"Throw out that pistol" the clone said.
Mario threw the .44 out from behind the rocks.
"Stand up" the clone said.
"Will you give me your word that you won't shoot?" Mario asked.
"Yes" the clone said "as long as you do not try anything."
Mario slowly stood up and walked out with his hands up.
"What is he doing?" Peach asked.
"Shhh" Daisy said "he must have a plan."
"I hope so" Peach said.
The clone walked out of the bushes toward Mario. It smiled, raised its M-60 and said "forgive me, I lied. do you have any last words?" Mario smiled and said "gotcha." "What?" the clone asked. They heard a gun shot and a bullet hit the clone in the left eye. The clone dropped to its knees and fell over.
Peach came out of hiding and said "Mario, what just happened?"
Mario picked up the M-60e6 and said "I think this is a newer model than mine."
"Mario!" Peach said.
Mario looked at her and said "yes?"
"I asked you what happened" Peach said.
"That" Mario said pointing behind her.
She turned and saw Luigi walking towards them.
"Nice job drawing him out of hiding" Luigi said.
"I got the idea from you" Mario said.
"How did you know he wouldn't shoot?" Daisy asked as she walked over to them.
"Honestly, I didn't" Mario said "I just knew all I had to do was get him out in the open and he would be killed."
"How did you know it would work?" Peach asked.
Mario smiled and said "like Daisy said, Luigi hasn't missed yet so why would he start now?"
Peach sighed and said "Ok, I'll give you that one. Just don't do it again."
"I've got an Idea" Daisy said.
"What is it?" Luigi asked.
"Let's send Tatanga a message and the bodies."
"How?" Mario asked.
"They had to get here somehow" Daisy said.
She took the radio from the clone and said "Attention, we have killed the clones you sent. We will leave the bodies in a clearing in the forest that can be seen from the air. By the way, thanks for the weapon upgrades."
"Prepare to die" Tatanga said "I am coming to lead the attack myself. My army is now very well trained and I will not hold back."
Mario grabbed the radio from Daisy and said "bring it on!"
"Very well" Tatanga said.
Tatanga put the radio away and turned to face the clone army.
"Alright" he said "your training is complete and you have seen footage of Princess Daisy and the others in battle. We will attack tomorrow. I will lead them into a trap. We will kill them one at a time. Prepare the ship for travel."