Long ago, in a world that no one has ever been before…
There existed an age that has fallen into darkness. An age where tools have been constructed for the sole purpose of exacting dominance over the land. An age where blood has been shed, lives have been taken, and the land was engulfed in the fires of calamity. That… was the age of war.
Since the beginning of time itself, mankind was born without a single shred of knowledge of its purpose upon the land in which it resided. Despite lacking the knowledge of living, as time went on, mankind has discovered its ability to survive in the strange land, the land's strange environments and its inhabitants. Over many centuries, the development of mankind has continually progressed, as men learned that they have the power to survive, to live regardless of the obstacles that await them.
However, soon after, men desired more. They did not want only to survive in the land, but to rule it in its entirety. Each individual shared the same desire, but each of them want to take dominance for themselves. They soon saw one another as another obstacle to get rid of, and they eventually discovered a way to eliminate their living obstacles: the very same power that men has learned over the years.
Mankind had entered the age of war, an age where the land has been plunged into chaos, where men fought against one another to establish their strength upon the world. It was also the age where tools of survival became tools of war, tools for battle against another living being. It was an age where men revealed the darkness within their souls.
Their endless chaos spawned for many years. As darkness continues to spread over the land, as lives disappear one by one, their chaotic conquest soon awakened something that is far worse than even a single man. A phenomenon which would destroy the land with its fires of destruction.
There existed a single sword. An ordinary sword that was being forged to wage war against its enemies. There was nothing that distinguished it from any other swords that were made for the same purpose. However, one day, that very same sword, after it had slain countless of men, after it tasted the blood of numerous warriors, a soul has been awakened within it. A soul that was the result of the chaos created by men. A soul filled with darkness larger than any other souls. The ordinary sword became cursed, as it is capable of overwhelming the soul of its wielder, and used him as a host to create more bloodshed in the most inhumanly way possible. The wielder became a monster whose sole desire is to claim souls. The accursed sword was called by a single name:
Soul Edge.
The sword's very existence allowed men, who were hungry for more power, to seek it out, to become its wielder in order to become powerful enough to establish their dominance over the land. None of them were aware of its sentience, of its power to overwhelm their souls, and so, many fools fell victim to the sword's darkness.
When it was clear that Soul Edge is too dangerous to even exist, an unknown blacksmith decided to create a weapon that can counter the cursed sword. Using the shard of the Soul Edge, as well as using his own soul, the blacksmith succeeded in creating the perfect counterpart of Soul Edge. The newly-forged sword was known to shine as brightly as the heavens, was forged with crystals unlike any that one has seen before, and whoever wielded the sword was blessed with light that can smite any darkness that resided in the land. The holy sword was known by one name:
Soul Calibur.
The spirit sword, Soul Calibur, and the cursed sword, Soul Edge. Two opposing swords with equal strength from one another. It was no longer the war between power-hungry men. It was the war between the two most powerful swords in the world, to decide the fate of humanity as a whole.
One day, the two wielders of Soul Calibur and Soul Edge finally met in battle. It was the only instance in which the two opposing swords meet in combat. The battle took place in a giant tower, located at the very centre of the land. At the peak of their strength, Soul Calibur and Soul Edge both clashed with one another, as the energy of light and darkness radiated across the land.
It was said that the energy changed the state of the land, its environments, and its living inhabitants, for the better or worse. The swords' influences spread across the land, across the ocean, ensuring the proof of their existence to the people.
However, the moment that the two swords clashed with one another, they disappeared, along with the tower where the battle took place. The instant that everyone know of their existence, they completely vanished from the world. The two swords were never seen again.
While the swords have disappeared from the world, their influence still lingered. Living among mankind were animals that have gained human intelligence and achieved human characteristics, as well as beings with the ability to change from a man to another creature. Strange creatures suddenly appeared among mankind and they were said to have been created from the swords' influence. Some of them were already existing animals with special qualities, some were hybrids of two or more beings, some were mythical beasts that were long forgotten, some were inanimate objects given life, some were abominations. While some of them are either neutral or friendly towards other living beings, some are hostile and willing to strike on sight.
It was also said that some of the people who witnessed the clash of the two swords suddenly developed supernatural powers that expanded after each generation. There was no evidence of such things to exist, but few believed in their existence. And it was also believed that the people had potential to awaken such power. The only question was when and how.
After the final clash of the swords and their disappearance, the age of war was at an end. Now, mankind was able to live amongst one another, and they were even capable of developing civilizations with different cultures across the land. Remnants of the war still resided, but of a smaller scale compared to before and is well controlled. In this day and age, mankind discovered a life of peace and tranquility.
But even then, the two swords' influences still remained. Even when the people of today disregarded the existence of the two swords, there was no other explanations of the strange phenomenon other than the aforementioned battle. It was said that the reason why their influence still spread… was because the two swords still exist, somewhere within the land, waiting for someone worthy to claim them.
Transcending history and the world. A tale of souls and swords, eternally retold…
"Emergency! Emergency! We got trouble coming this way!"
Somewhere in the sky, shrouded in dark clouds that float over a mountain of lava, a single individual was seen flying in the air, in a desperate and agitated matter. That individual was best described as a turtle, however he was not an ordinary turtle.
The turtle's posture seemed more human-like than normal. Along with his green shell that covered the central part of his yellow-skinned body, he wore a pair of green shoes like an ordinary human. Furthermore, his ability to fly came from the wings that are attached to his green shell. To the inhabitants of one region of the world, he was a flight version of a species known as Koopa Troopa, specifically a Paratroopa.
The green-shelled Paratroopa was flying over the lava mountain, desperately on his way towards a large castle that stood over the lava at the very top of the mountain. The intimidating-looking castle was like any other ordinary castle, but it has an unique feature that was visible on the front gate, namely the sculpture of the head of a ferocious beast.
On top of the walls of the castle, numerous of turtles stood watch at each and every corner of the castle, each holding a spear in hand. Their appearance was exactly the same as the Paratroopa, except that some of them wore either red or green shells, and their shells lacked any wings. They were simply known as ordinary Koopas in that region of the world.
As the Koopas continued to watch over the area surrounding the castle, some of them that were stationed on top of the front walls noticed the Paratroopa flying towards them. The guards gathered around as the Paratroopa descended right in front of them, with his hands and knees on the ground, panting from exhaustion. "Hah…! Hah…! E-emergency…!" the Paratroopa gasped.
"Hold it!" stated one of the Koopa guards. "Who are you and what's your business coming here?" The Paratroopa continued to gasp for air, unable to offer an immediate reply to the guard
"Wait a minute…" said another of the guards, as he started to recognize the exhausted Paratroopa. "I know you! You're assigned to be on a lookout on one of the airship armadas!" This time around, the Paratroop quickly nodded in reply. "But what are you doing here? Did you abandon ship? Why did you come back here for?"
After a few breaths of air, the Paratroopa tries to speak to the guards as much as he could. "Hah…! Emergency…! Trouble…! We failed…! We couldn't stop…!"
The first Koopa guard noticed that the Paratroopa, on top of being covered in sweat, had a considerable amount of dirt and ash all over his body. Combined with his attempt to explain the situation, the guard put two and two together and realized the dire situation at hand. "Oh no…" he said, before he ran to the inner edge of the castle wall, as he exclaimed the danger that was about to come. "SOUND THE ALARM!"
"Alert! Alert! Get to your battle stations! The enemy is coming!" cried out a small person in a red robe, wearing a pair of blue shoes, brown belt, and a white mask, as he ran through every halls of the castle, ringing the bell in his stubby hand as loud as possible. That person is part of a group of people known as Shy Guys.
"I repeat!" yelled the Shy Guy, ringing his bell harder, "The enemy is coming! The big, bad, red guy is coming!"
Once the alarm was heard, numerous of soldiers of the castle came out of their quarters, as they ran into the halls to assume their battle stations. Many of these soldiers consist of many variations of the Koopas, some ordinary, some with wings, some with helmets armed with hammers or boomerangs, some with armour, some that were living skeletons, and some without their shells and were left with tank tops and shorts (though it may be because they forgot to wear their shells and/or they lost them along the way)
Another portion of the soldiers consist of a group of species that resembled small, brown mushrooms with brown feet, called Goombas. Unlike Koopas, Goombas were known to have only two types in particular: an ordinary Goomba, and a Paragoomba.
As for the rest of the soldiers, some of them were Shy Guys wearing different coloured robe, some of them were another kind of turtles, called Lakitus, who wore glasses over their more human-like faces while riding on clouds with a smiley face and carrying spiky turtle shells, called Spinies, some of them were Koopas carrying either pots of giant red plants that resembled Venus flytraps with sharp teeth, known as Piranha Plants, or a large cannon of sorts.
In one of the quarters where the alarm hadn't reached yet, A red-shelled Koopa, a Goomba, and a blue-robed Shy Guy were sitting under a round table, each carrying a set of cards in front of them (No one questions how a Goomba can hold cards without hands) and a stack of coins on their side.
The Koopa looked over his hand, before looking at his two opponents. The Goomba was seen looking over his own hand, before groaning and folding his cards, as he lost his trust over his hand. The Shy Guy was doing the same thing, except that he didn't fold his hand. However, he was visibly shaking on the spot. The Koopa smirked, as he showed his cards down on the table. "Straight Flush! I win!" he exclaimed, as his two competitors groaned in defeat while he grabbed the remaining coins to his side.
It was then that the alarm was heard and that the Shy Guy running through the halls went passed the quarters, still shouting out, "Alert! Alert! The enemy is at our door steps! Battle stations, everybody!"
The three card players groaned, as they were forced to get up and get out of their quarters, knowing fully well of what's to come. "Another day of work, eh?" said the red-shelled Koopa.
"Yep…" said the Shy Guy in the blue robe.
"I still have a headache from last time…" groaned the aching Goomba.
Time had passed, as the news came to every single soldiers in the whole castle, as all of them were assigned to their posts, setting up their weaponry, followed their strategies, and prepared themselves to guard the path that would lead straight to the very heart of the castle, where their master's precious prisoner resided.
A large group of Goombas were lined up directly in front of the still-closed gate, preparing themselves to fight against the enemy. The apparent leading Goomba turned around to look at his allies to give them some motivation. "Alright, guys! This is it! Remember what we've trained for! When the door is open, we're gonna charge in and overwhelm the enemy! He's just one guy, after all!"
"Are you kidding?!" cried out a distressed Goomba. "You know who we're dealing with! He can jump over us, or worse, he'll stomp on all of our heads!"
"That's right!" said another distressed Goomba. "I just got over a huge headache just yesterday! I don't want another one now! Can't we just keep it closed and hope that he'll leave?"
"But then, he's gonna smash the gate open with a hammer!" stated yet another scared Goomba. "We're doomed either way! There's no getting away from being stomped by him!"
"What are you, scaredy cats?!" yelled an enraged Goomba. "This is our chance to beat him at his own game! If we beat him here and now, his Majesty is going to reward us! So let's do this!"
"So… What are we supposed to do?" said a concerned Goomba. "Should we open the gate, or should we leave it closed?"
As the group of Goombas tried to decide which strategy to take against their enemy, trying to figure out how to beat him, a commanding voice suddenly called out to them. "Open the gate!" Hearing the voice, the Goombas all turned towards it and saw a floating, robed creature hovering behind them.
The person was an elderly-looking Koopa wearing a wizard robe and a matching hat, along with a pair of spectacles, and holding a sceptre in his hand. He was part of a Koopa species known as Magikoopa. But this particularly Magikoopa was the leader of the bunch, and was known as Kamek.
"Open the gate!" shouted Kamek at the group of Goombas. "This is the order coming from his Grumpiness himself! He said to settle this here and now!"
The Goombas all nodded at the orders given to them by Kamek, transmitted by their master. And so, as the soldiers all got themselves ready to fight against the enemy, the large wooden gate slowly opened, as light passed through the opening, illuminating the front entrance.
The gate continued to slowly open, as more light continued to shine through it. Just behind the gate, a black silhouette stood there in their view. The sight of the silhouette frightened a few of the soldiers, but they still remained, as per the orders given to them.
The gate was fully opened, as the silhouette was completely shown in their eyes. The bright light from the outside prevented them from seeing the full appearance of the person in front of them. As soon as their eyes began to adjust to the brightness, they were able to see their enemy fully.
It was a single man. A slightly fat man with blue eyes and brown hair, wearing a pair of brown shoes, white gloves, blue overalls and a red shirt under it. The distinguishing features of the man, the ones that everyone was familiar with, were that he had a round nose, wore a red cap with the letter M imprinted on it, and had a fancy looking black mustache on his face. Those features were enough for everyone to recognize who he was.
"Alright…" The man placed his fist on his open palm, as he smiled with confidence at his enemies. "… Let's-a-go!" said the famed hero of Mushroom Kingdom, Mario.
At the sound of his voice, the leading Goomba let out a battle cry, as all of the Goombas in front of the gate all charged in towards the man clad in red. At the sight of the charging group, Mario started to run towards them as well, still keeping a smile of confidence on his face.
The Goomba group and the mustachio man all charged in towards each other. However, just when the two forces were about to collide, Mario suddenly jumped at the last minute, showing his signature high jumping ability to go over the Goomba army. As the Goombas' eyes tried to follow Mario as he jumped over them, he ended up landing on a poor Goomba's head, before jumping off from it and landing on another Goomba's head, then again, and again, and again, until he finally landed on the ground behind the Goomba army.
Mario sprinted further into the castle, as the Goomba group started to chase after him, despite being clearly outrun by him. As he continued to run through the castle, the man in red soon stopped himself, as he saw a large group of Koopa Troopas running towards him, on top of being chased by the Goomba groups behind him.
One of the Koopas got close to him and lunged forward, attempting to catch Mario in his clutches. Mario easily dodged the lunge by jumping over him, as the two-footed turtle ended up kissing the floor.
Two other Koopas charged at him from different sides and did the same thing, one after the other. Like last time, Mario simply dodged their attacks by jumping over them, as the two Koopas ended up piling themselves on one another.
Mario then decided to run through the Koopa army, dodging each and every single Koopas' attempt to attack him, moving in a zigzag pattern within the group. He soon stopped himself once more, as he found himself surrounded by the Koopas, who were encircling around him and were moving towards him all together. "Don't let him get away!" shouted one of the Koopas in the group.
All of the Koopas that surrounded Mario jumped at him at the same time. However, Mario managed to jump away from the attack, leaving the Koopas to pile on top of each other. As Mario jumped over the entire group, a single Koopa just behind the group noticed the man and realized that he was going to land on him. With a short yelp, he shut his eyes closed, as Mario's feet landed on the poor Koopa's shell.
But instead of being crushed by Mario, the Koopa was suddenly ejected out of his shell and sliding to a stop in front of the group, leaving himself in his underwear. When he realized that he wasn't feeling any pain, he opened his eyes, blinked a few times, before looking to see himself out of his shell. "Ah! My precious! Where is it?!" he cried out, desperately looking for his shell around him.
When the Koopa finally found his shell, which was located behind him, he saw that Mario was standing behind it, and was pulling his leg back. It took him a second to realize what Mario was about to do, as he muttered "Ah nuts…" before Mario kicked the shell straight at him, and it proceeded to knock over a few rows of Koopas and Goombas in the back.
"Hah hah!" Mario chuckled. "Strike!" Before he could proceed to run deeper into the castle, a hammer was thrown over his head before hitting the ground. Turning himself around, Mario saw numerous of Koopas wearing helmets and arming themselves with hammers or boomerangs, called Hammer Bros or Boomerang Bros, standing on numerous of platforms made of brown bricks hovering over one after the other.
"Don't let him get passed here!" yelled one of the Hammer Bros. "Throw everything you got at him!" The helmet-wearing Koopas all proceeded to throw their hammers and boomerangs at Mario.
Mario dodged most of the weapons being thrown at him, but couldn't find a way to move forward without getting hit. Even as he took a few steps forward, the hammers and boomerangs were always thrown at him at that moment. All he could was dodge until he could find a solution. "Well, now what?" he said, as he dodged another set of hammers by moving to the side.
His eyes then perceived something up in the ceiling. A couple of Lakitus were riding their clouds above Mario and were holding Spinies in their hands, intending to throw them at him and joining the Hammer and Boomerang Bros in their barrage. "Let's drown Mario with all of our stuff! Come on!" yelled one of the Lakitus, as all of them began to throw their Spinies at him.
Not only did Mario had to dodge the hammers and boomerangs, but he also had to dodge Spinies being thrown at him by the Lakitus. However, after a couple of seconds of dodging and trying to move forward, Mario finally had an idea.
Pulling out his trusty hammer from wherever he pulled it out from, he steadied himself in position, holding the hammer up and still with his two hands, while he attempted to dodge the projectile weapons with as little movement as possible. Once a Spiny was thrown in his direction and was close in vicinity, Mario swung his hammer at it, sending it flying straight at the enemy.
The first casualty was a Hammer Bro, who received a deflected Spiny at his chest. Another Spiny was thrown at Mario, and likewise, he deflected it back at the moment, and the second casualty was a Boomerang Bro who fell off the platform when the block that he was standing on broke apart from the impact of the Spiny.
Mario kept on deflecting the Spinies right back at the enemy, knocking out most of the armed Koopas in the process. The Lakitus continued to throw their Spinies at him, hoping that one of them could at least strike him down.
Unfortunately, a Spiny was deflected right into the face of one of the Lakitus, as he fell off from his cloud. Another spiny was also deflected at another Lakitu, as the latter shielded his face with his arms. Though, when nothing happened for some reason, he slowly lowered his arms down, before realizing that the Spiny hit his cloud, causing it to vanish in thin air. Realizing that he had nothing to stand on, the Lakitu cried out as he fell straight to the ground.
Mario continued his counterattack, until there were few enemies that stood in his way. Then, he put away his hammer, and resumed running deep into the enemy territory. However, suddenly, a Boomerang Bro dropped from one of the platforms and stood in front of Mario, readying his boomerang in his hand. "I won't let you pass!" the armed Koopa shouted out, before throwing his boomerang at the running man.
Mario moved himself down and slid on the floor, dodging the boomerang which passed over his head. Moving himself back up, he continued to run forward, scaring the Boomerang Bro in front of him in the process. He jumped over his enemy when he got close, and kept moving on through the castle, leaving behind a group of defeated Koopas. "Better luck next time!" he shouted at his defeated opponents. The Boomerang Bro gazed at Mario as he ran further away from the area, until his own boomerang unfortunately knocked him out from the back of his head.
Mario continued to move forward, feeling that he had reached the halfway point into the castle. When his eyes perceived a large wall standing in front of him, but with a clear opening at the very top, Mario then jumped as high as possible to go over the large wall.
When he landed back down on the ground, however, just as he was recovering from the landing, he saw something coming straight at him. It was a large, black bullet with an intimidating facial expression, called a Bullet Bill. By instinct, he ducked down before the large Bullet could hit him, and the Bullet Bill ended up hitting the wall behind him, blasting a portion of it into bits and pieces.
Mario turned his head back to look at the result of the blast from the bullet. When he turned his head back towards the front, he realized that there were cannons lining up in front of him, being controlled by some Koopas and some Goombas. "See if you can dodge this, Mario!" shouted one of the Koopas, as all of the cannons were now aiming at the red plumber.
"Hehe! Looks like you guys up your game a bit!" said Mario, his confident expression never leaving his face. "But it's not something that I can't handle myself! Here we go!"
"Fire!" At the same time, all of the cannons shot out Bullet Bills at Mario, moving towards him all together. Mario positioned himself ready, having experienced dodging Bullet Bills countless of times before. As the Bullet Bills got closer and closer, Mario then performed a very high jump, going over all of the Bullet Bills at once. As he landed behind the bullets' trajectory, he could only let out a chuckle. "Heh! Is that all you got? No use using the same trick on me this time around!"
Mario continued to chuckle as he looked back to watch the bullets continuing to move straight, hoping for all of them to collide together for a big explosion. Instead, however, the Bullet Bills all move up from their supposedly linear trajectory, making a U-turn before going straight back at Mario. "Oh. Homing Bullet Bills. That's a first." he noted, before he sprinted away from the incoming group of Bullet Bills chasing after him.
Mario attempted to avoid the heat-seeking projectiles by moving in a variety of ways. Zigzaging, going over them, making a circle… But none of his tactics worked against them. All the while, his enemies at the cannons were laughing at him, watching him trying and failing to avoid the Bullet Bills.
"Hah hah hah!" laughed one of the Goombas stationed at a cannon. "What's wrong, Mario?! Can't shake them off your tail?! I bet you're regretting trying to save the princess now! She's ours now!"
Hearing the Goomba's statement, Mario stopped in his tracks and threw a glare at him, before his smile of confidence returned to him. "Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" he said, as he started to run towards the enemy stationed at the cannons.
As they noticed that he was charging at them, in a state of panic, one of the Koopas quickly fired a Bullet Bill at him. This time, Mario jumped off the ground and ended up landing on the projectile, using it as a spring to jump up once more. The soldiers all followed his movements, up until Mario landed behind the line of cannons, and essentially them as well.
Mario turned to look at his enemies and gave them a mischievous smile. "I would start running, if I were you." he said before he resumed his progress into the castle.
The soldiers were a bit confused on why he told them that, until, at the same time, they all turned back around and saw that the heat-seeking Bullet Bills were going straight at them. "Oh boy… Take cover!" alerted one of the Koopas. The Koopa that was right next to him suddenly grabbed him and used him as a shield against the incoming projectiles. "Not me, you idiot!" the Koopa yelled, before the Bullet Bills hit and blasted them all into next week.
As he continued to move forward, Mario climbed up a set of stairs in front of him, and when he reached the top, he stopped and turned around to gloat at his enemies that were defeated by his skills. "Hah hah! Mario is still standing! You guys should have reconsider your positions before you can take me on! I'm the best!"
The red plumber continued to gloat at his fallen enemies, until pieces of rocks fell onto his shoulder. As he noticed how weird it was for a rock to fall from the ceiling, he moved his gaze up to the ceiling.
He found that the "ceiling" was shaking strangely, and before he knew, it started to fall straight at him. "Whoa!" he yelled out, as he quickly moved forward to avoid the ceiling crashing into him. When the "ceiling" met the floor, Mario looked back and realized what it was. A large, spike-encrusted stone that had a very angry expression on it. It was known as Thwomp.
Another pieces of rocks fell on the mustachio man, as he moved his gaze back up and noticed another part of the "ceiling" shaking strangely. "Get crushed, Mario!" yelled another Thwomp, as it started to fall down at Mario.
Mario once again dodged the Thwomp's attack by moving forward. As yet another pieces of rocks fell on Mario, he did not think twice before moving forward to avoid being crushed by yet another Thwomp. Realizing that he was standing under a row of Thwomps, Mario started running as fast as possible, as each of them started falling towards the red plumber one after the other.
Mario thought that he could avoid all of the Thwomps by running continuously, hoping to get out of the row of Thwomps. During his running, he could see the end of the road for the Thwomps. However, his eyes found another thing located at the end of it.
A large rectangular stone with arms and feet stood at the end of the path, adopting a similar expression to the Thwomps, but with red eyes and crooked teeth. It was known as a Whomp.
"Yah har har!" The Whomp laughed. "End of the line, Mario! It's your turn to be squashed!" Once Mario was at its target zone, it jumped up from the ground with its small feet, intending to let itself fall forward to crush Mario, while he had no where else to go.
However, its jump allowed Mario to find a way to pass through the large living stone. He propelled himself forward and slid on the floor just in time to slip below its feet.
"Ah darn it!" The Whomp cursed, as it ended up falling face first into the empty floor. Before it could have time to stand up, the Thwomp that was just right above it already started to fall, as the large rectangular stone got crushed underneath the living cinderblock. "… Ouch…!" it groaned.
Mario had resumed his moving deeper and deeper into the castle, looking back as he smirked at the failed attempts of the Thwomps and Whomp. When he turned his head back in front, Mario quickly stopped himself dead in his tracks, his feet barely falling off the edge of the path, and beyond it was a sea of lava that overtook the path that Mario needed to take to reach his destination.
Looking at his surroundings, he tried to find a way to get across the lava floor, but there was nothing useful that he could use to keep moving forward. There weren't even any platforms to hop onto. "Great… What now?"
"Go home, that's what!" Mario heard a mocking voice calling out to him. Looking up, he saw a Patagoomba flying over the sea of lava, followed by a couple of more Paragoombas and a couple of Paratroopas. "You think we're dumb enough to put a platform over the lava for you to get across? Don't be ridiculous! Your only options are either to go home or get turned into a Mario barbecue! There's no way that you can get to the princess now!"
"No way I'm going back without her!" Mario retorted. "I'll find a way! You just wait and see!"
"Oh hoh! It'd like to see that!" The Paragoomba sneered. "What're you going to do? You can't jump far enough to get to the other side! You don't have any power-ups to fly over it! And you don't have any platforms to jump off from!"
"Hmm…" Mario started rubbing his chin, as he assumed a thinking pose. When the Paragoomba mentioned a 'platform to jump off from,' an idea got hatched from Mario's head, as he let out a sly smile on his face. "Actually, I do have platforms to jump off from."
"Wait, what?" asked the confused Paragoomba, along with his comrades floating behind him. "What platforms? There aren't any that you can…" Once he started questioning Mario's idea, he slowly came to a realization as to what the 'platforms' are. "Oh… Oh my…"
"Here we go!" Mario shouted out, as he jumped off from the ground before landing on the Paragoomba's head, before using him to jump off once more. The wings fell off, as the Paragoomba started falling from mid-air.
"AAAHH!" the Paragoomba yelled out as he fell down, before he got plunged into the lava below. He submerged out from the surface, as he struggled to get out of there, clearly in pain. "Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch! Oh man, I wanna go to a hot spring, but not like this!"
Mario used the same tactics on the other flying enemies, sending them plummeting down to the lava floor. After a couple more times of jumping and pushing his enemies down, Mario noticed a set of floating steel platforms at a distance away from him. Another couple of jumps afterwards, and he finally landed on one of the floating platforms.
"Phew…" Mario let out a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat off of his forehead with his arm.
But before he could start moving once more, a puff of smoke suddenly appeared in front of him, as he took a defensive stance. Emerging from the smoke was the leader of the magical Koopas, Kamek, hovering over the platform, with his sceptre in hand. "This is as far as you go, Mario!"
"You already said that the last umpteenth time I came here, Kamek." Mario said, his smile of confidence never fading from his face. "If you're here to stop me, then that means I must be close."
"Which is why you must be stopped here and now!" Kamek exclaimed. "I am the most powerful Magikoopa of all of Mushroom Kingdom! With my magic, I will turn you into a pitiful bee that will be singed by the flames of the almighty lord!"
"I'm pretty sure I can still beat you even when I'm a bee." Mario smirked, remembering the last time that he got turned into a bee for a purpose.
"Enough! You shall go no further, obese plumber!" Kamek shouted, before he disappeared into a puff of smoke. Mario started to analyze the area, trying to see where would Kamek reappear before the leader of the Magikoopa could launch an attack on him. Over the platforms in front of him, three puffs of smoke appeared above each one of them. Of course, Kamek emerged from the smoke over the platform on the far back, but there were also two other Magikoopas each appearing over the left and right platforms respectively, each wearing different coloured robes and hats.
"Come, my fellow Magikoopas!" declared Kamek, as he readied his sceptre by twirling it around, attempting to cast a magic. The other two Magikoopas followed suit. "Let us turn this poor excuse of a man into an ant that he truly is!" Kamek and the other two Magikoopas then swung their sceptres forward, as a beam of magic was shot out of them, heading straight at Mario.
Before the magic beams could reach Mario, he once again jumped off the platform, avoiding the beams. Mario attempted to stomp on Kamek with his feet, but before he could do so, Kamek once again disappeared in a puff of smoke, along with his two companions.
Once again, Mario tried to find out where Kamek would reappear. At some distance, Kamek reappeared in a puff of smoke, once again firing a magic beam from his sceptre at Mario. Just like last time, Mario jumped out of the way, and landed on another platform as a result.
Before he knew it, a Magikoopa reappeared right behind him and took hold of his arms. "Got you!" the Magikoopa exclaimed.
As Mario attempted to struggle out of the Magikoopa's grip, the second Magikoopa reappeared in from of him, preparing his magic from his sceptre. "I shall cast my magic on you to turn you into a feeble frog!" he exclaimed, before he shot out a magic beam straight at Mario where he was in a bind.
"Grr…! I don't think so!" Mario shouted out, before he suddenly spun himself around, dragging the Magikoopa holding him still along with him. Mario spun himself faster and faster, fast enough to force the Magikoopa to let go of him. When the Magikoopa finally lost his grip, he was sent flying straight into the magic beam, effectively turning himself into a frog.
The transformed frog landed safely down on the platform, as his sceptre fell right next to him. The frog croaked a couple of times, before he jumped away from the battlefield, presumably fleeing for his life.
"AH! How dare you!" exclaimed the remaining Magikoopa, before he disappeared into a puff of smoke yet again.
Noticing the dropped sceptre on the floor, Mario picked it up with his hand, examining it just a little bit and contemplating whether or not that he too can use it for himself. "Hmm… this could work."
As soon as he said it, from the corner of his eye, another puff of smoke appeared, this time, in the close proximity of him. The Magikoopa emerged from the smoke, as he started to prepare to cast another spell on Mario.
Mario, wanting to test and see if he could do it to, shouted out, "Turn into a paper airplane!" before swinging the sceptre and shooting out a magic beam at the Magikoopa.
"Eep!" The Magikoopa noticed the attack too late, and he ended up getting hit by it and was turned into a simple paper airplane, just as Mario wanted him to be. His own sceptre ended up falling into the lava, ensuring that no one else could ever use it. The transformed airplane could only float away from the battle, trying to save his own life.
"Heh heh! That actually worked!" Mario chuckled at his own accomplishments. He soon stopped praising himself and set his gaze at Kamek, who visibly looked irritated by the whole situation.
"Bah! You may have defeated my fellow Magikoopas! But you will not be so lucky against me, the grand master of all magic!" Kamek exclaimed, as he twirled his sceptre around to cast yet another magic at Mario.
Likewise, the red plumber did the same thing, twirling his rod around to cast a magic to counter that of Kamek. After a short while, both Mario and Kamek swung their respective sceptres, each shooting out magic beams at one another. The beams collided, and what resulted was a huge puff of smoke that enveloped the field around them.
Kamek coughed through the smoke, covering his beak with his free hand while waving the smoke away with his other hand holding the sceptre. "Cough! Cough! Argh…! Do what you like with that sceptre, foolish plumber! But you haven't seen what I am capable of! The next attack will be the most powerful one! Not even you have enough experience to counter such magic! Prepare to be destroyed!"
As Kamek yelled out his threats, the smoke started to clear. When Kamek turned his view back at Mario, to his confusion, Mario had disappeared from where he once stood. "Wha…?! Where…?! Where is he?!" He exclaimed, agitatedly looking around to locate his opponent.
In his desperation, he felt a small tap on his shoulder. Agitated, he quickly turned around to see Mario standing right at his face, adopting a wide smile, while holding his sceptre up over the elder Magikoopa's head. "Oh dear…" Kamek said, realizing what was going to happen before he could react.
"Turn into a bat." said Mario before tapping the sceptre on Kamek's head, turning him into a small bat with spectacles on his face, carrying his own sceptre with his feet. The bat looked down at himself, before letting out a scared screech and flying away from Mario.
The amused plumber watched as the bat flew away through the castle, waving him goodbye and chuckling once more at his accomplishments for a bit, before throwing the sceptre down into the lava. "Pretty cool trick. But people shouldn't play around with these toys." Mario said to himself, before he resumed his march, as he found himself going closer and closer to where he was supposed to go.
He succeeded in passing through the lava area, as his feet finally reached the solid, brick floor as he continued to move forward. While he was running forward, he spotted a large set of stairs that came with a red carpet over it. That was another hint that he was getting closer to his destination.
He climbed up the stairs as fast as he could, hoping that he could settle things as fast as possible. As he reached the top of the stairs, Mario found himself in a very wide area. An arena consisting of a large, circular platform hanging above a pool of lava by chains on four corners. The middle of the hanging platform bore the face of the demonic beast that resided in the castle.
Mario's eyes searched the place thoroughly, hoping to find anything significant that could clue him in. And he did, as he finally found the one person that he was searching for for the entirety of his journey, located just on the other side the area from where he was standing.
A cage was seeing swing slightly in the air, supported by chains. Inside of the chain was a very important female of royalty. Her thin, physical appearance consist of long, blond, thick hair with soft bangs and long, split ear-tails shaping her face, along with a pair of cyan eyes with multiple thin lashes. She wore a floor-length pink gown with puffy short sleeves, two panniers along her waist, a ruffle down the bottom, and a sapphire brooch attached to the chest area. She also wore a pair of white evening gloves that extend along the elbows, a pair of round sapphire earrings, and a gold crown with two rubies and two sapphires.
There was no mistaking it. It was Princess Peach Toadstool herself, being held captive inside of the cage by the ruler of the castle.
During her entire time as a prisoner, Peach had her eyes closed the whole time, with her hands clasping together, as if she was praying for someone to free her from her imprisonment by the cruel king of the castle. Once Mario stepped onto the hanging platform, she felt his presence and slowly opened her eyes. Her round lips spread into a relieved smile, as her eyes encountered her familiar, red clad hero. "Mario!"
"Princess Peach…!" Mario smiled in return, having found the Princess of Mushroom Kingdom herself.
He took one step forward into the circular platform, a step closer to finally reaching the beloved princess. When suddenly, both Mario and Peach's eyes noticed something coming from above. As both of them lift their heads up to see what it was, a large, orange blur fell from up above, crashing itself onto the platform, shaking it against its binds and creating a cloud of dust around the large being.
Mario shielded his eyes the moment the large being landed on the platform, protecting them from the dust that came flying at him. As Mario lowered his arms down, as the dust cleared, he got a clear view of who he was dealing with.
The being resembled a very large Koopa, but his appearance was unique in many ways. The Koopa had an orange-yellow skin, with a green head that sported two, small horns, red hair, a flesh snout and a pair of red eyes, as well as bearing claws and spikes along his tail. He wore a large, green shell with spikes all over, as well as spiked collars around his neck and arms.
His appearance alone was enough for Mario to remember his long-time adversary for several years. The large Koopa was known as King Bowser Koopa.
As Bowser's eyes met with Mario's, the large beast let out a terrifying roar in the air that could be heard even outside of the castle itself, as well as letting out a breath of fire from his snout.
Mario was not intimidated by that one bit, however. "So, Bowser," he spoke. "Up to your old tricks again, huh?"
"Mario!" Bowser roared, clenching his hands tight as his expression became fierce. "I have just about enough of you meddling with my stuff! You're always sticking your nose where it doesn't belong!"
"Sorry, Bowser. But you know the drill as good as I do. I'm here to save Princess Peach from your evil clutches. I won't let anything or anyone stop me from doing so!"
"Don't get cocky! You've pummelled me too many times, now! But this time, I'm finishing it! I'm going to beat you once and for all, and Peach will finally belong to me! Today is the day that I'll crush you for good!"
"Heh! Let's see about that, Bowser!" Mario took a fighting stance, as he prepared himself for another battle against the Koopa King.
The King himself was also prepared, and therefore, he made the first move. Clenching his teeth shut, fire began to form behind his jaws, as, with a swing of his head, he blew out three large fireballs from his mouth, all heading towards the red plumber.
Mario started to run forward during Bowser's attack, and when the fireballs were blown right at him, he jumped before any of them could hit him. As he landed behind the fireballs, he resumed his sprinting forward at Bowser.
The large Koopa, seeing that his attacks failed to hit Mario, jumped from the floor, turning his body into a ball as he spun himself around vertically. Mario stopped his march when the beast jumped, and as he watched Bowser spinning around in the air, the beast stopped his spinning and spread himself open, aiming his large feet at the plumber as he dived.
Before his fall could reach Mario, the latter jumped back in time just as Bowser fiercely landed on the floor, shaking the circular platform once more. The beast quickly recovered and was already preparing his next attack, by pulling his head back and swinging back forward, as flames came spewing from his mouth.
Mario jumped once more from the attack, as he landed right behind the Koopa King himself. However, the King followed his movements and turned around just as Mario landed behind him, still spewing fire from his breath. This time around, Mario started running around Bowser, trying to avoid his flames as the beast kept turning himself to follow the mustachio man's movements.
After a while, Bowser closed his mouth, as he stopped breathing fire and resorted to using his claws for a change. When Mario stopped running around the beast as he noticed that the attack was stopped, Bowser took a step forward at him and swung his claws at the plumber, who managed to dodge it by jumping back. Bowser made a couple more attempts at clawing at his enemy, all which were dodged by Mario jumping from all of them.
Bowser growled in anger, as he was unable to make a single scratch at the plumber. Moving his forearm in front of him, he then resorted to charge at the mustachio man, hoping to slam him right into the lava. However, Mario jumped as high as possible to dodge the Koopa King's charge attack and, when he was located directly above the beast, drew out his hammer and attempts to slam it right on Bowser's head as he was falling back down.
This time, however, Bowser noticed the plumber's attempt and blocked the hammer strike with both of his arms above his head, and, using one arm, swatted Mario away to the side. The plumber quickly recovered and was sliding along the platform with both feet on it before stopping himself from sliding anymore.
The plumber regained his posture, as he smiled confidently at his beastly opponent. "Heh heh! What's the matter, Bowser? Seems like we've done this several times already!"
"Rraaah!" Bowser roared. "I was just getting started! those attacks are nothing compared to what I'm gonna do to you next, Mario!"
"Really? 'Cause I'm just getting started too! Try as you might, because without some new tricks up in your sleeves, there's no way that you can beat me like that! I'm gonna beat you just like last time!"
As Mario continued to spout words of confidence at the Koopa King, the latter, instead of being irritated by that, simply grinned. "Hah! That's where you're wrong, Mario! Junior!"
Mario raised his eyebrow when Bowser shouted the word 'Junior' seemingly at his direction. Before he realized, a new voice was heard behind him. "You got it, Papa!" Mario quickly turned himself around, as his eyes encountered a new enemy.
The smaller being was best described as a younger version of Bowser. His skin was yellow in colour, he had a light green head bearing the same red hair as Bowser, but tied into a top-ponytail, as well as two, very small horns and a pair of black, beady eyes. He wore a green shell with spikes on it, a pair of collars around his wrists, and a bandana with a hand-drawn mouth with fangs around his neck. The smaller version of the Koopa King was his son, Bowser Junior.
Junior was seen piloting inside of a helicopter-like vehicle with a large clown face on the front, as well as a green propeller on the bottom. Before Mario had a chance to react, the clown face narrowed its eyes sinisterly, as it opened its mouth and a cannon was popped out from it. Using the cannon, Junior shot out a cannonball from it, and it hit Mario square in the stomach, sending him flying in the air.
"Argh…!" Mario groaned, as he found himself being launched in the air and unfortunately heading in Bowser's way.
The Koopa King caught the plumber by his red shirt and pulled him right in front of his face, laughing as he finally caught his enemy in his grasp. "Hah hah hah! Did you expect me to play fair this time? Don't think I didn't learn my lesson from last time, Mario!" Bowser laughed, as the plumber tried to struggle himself out of the beast's grasp. "Now, to burn you into a crisp, and I will finally win over you! You're done for!"
Bowser opened his snout, as the inside of it started to glow in bright, fiery orange. Mario continued to struggle against Bowser's hold, gripping against his shirt to try to slip himself off from the beast's large hand. "Ngh…! Come on, come on…!" Finding no hope in freeing himself that way, he tried searching around his person to see what objects that he could use to get himself free.
He pulled out a mushroom, then a leaf, then a can of meatballs, but none of them would help him get out of Bowser's hold. As the fires within Bowser's throat got closer and closer, Mario desperately searched around himself for a chance of freedom.
Then, from one of his pockets, he pulled out a mushroom that looked very dry. It used to be a regular mushroom, but months of being out in the open had shrivelled it into its inedible form, with a repulsive odour coming out of it.
Holding the dried mushroom in hand, Mario found his ticket out of there. "That's it!" Mario then proceeded to throw the mushroom directly into Bowser's mouth.
Bowser's eyes bulged out, as the dried mushroom went into his throat. Letting go of Mario, the Koopa King had his hands on his throat, choking on the repugnant object in his mouth, and it was sickening to him. "Aack…! Urgh…! So nasty…! What in the mother of Koopa did you feed me…?! Disgusting…! Kaack!" he coughed.
Mario landed safely on the ground when Bowser was forced to let go of him, as he dusted himself off after being gripped by the beast. He heard Junior's voice calling out to him, as he turned his head towards the direction of the child. "You won't get away from me, bad man!" Junior yelled out, as, just like last time, he fired a cannonball from the mouth of his clown vehicle.
This time, Mario had time to dodge out of the way, as he jumped as high as possible to escape the cannonball's trajectory. Unfortunately for Junior, the cannonball ended up heading straight at Bowser, while he was still recovering from swallowing the dried mushroom. "Oh no! Papa!"
Just as Bowser was finally able to get the taste out of his mouth, the voice of his son calling out for him made him look up in front of him, realizing too late that the cannonball was flying straight at him. The cannonball collided, as Bowser had his head pulled back, taking a couple of steps backwards from the impact. When his head was pulled back down, Bowser found that his mouth caught the ball, and the latter was presumably stuck within his jaws.
"Mmph! Mmmmph!" Bowser let out a muffled growl, as he tried to pull the cannonball from out of his mouth using his hands with as much force as possible.
Junior, on his side, was sweating furiously, as his attempt to strike Mario once more ended up putting his father in a very awkward position. "Oh geez…! Sorry, Papa!" he apologized, as he attempt to move by his father's side to help him out of his predicament. Before he could do so, however, he spotted something from above, and when he looked up, he gasped and pointed his father at the imminent danger. "Papa!"
While Bowser was trying to get the ball out of his mouth, he noticed too late that Mario was falling down straight at him, his hammer raised up above his head, before swinging down right at the beast's head, causing the King's eyes to bulge out and his jaws crushing the whole cannonball in his mouth, shattering a few fangs in the process.
After the attack, his jaws slowly opened, as bits and pieces of the cannonball fell from his mouth, as his upper body moved in a circular motion, having become dizzy in the process. "Ohhh…! Oh, look…! I can see seagulls flying around, carrying bags of babies… all wearing red caps…" Bowser moaned, before he fell flat on his stomach.
Bowser was about to start recovering from his head injury and his dizziness, when suddenly, he felt a pair of hands holding his tail and his body started to slide against the ground. Through his dizziness, he realized that Mario was spinning him across the floor by pulling his tail around.
Mario's spinning of Bowser continued, as he gained more speed and strength, just enough that he could lift the large beast from the ground while still spinning him around.
"Whoa! Whoa! S-stop this! Whatever you're trying to do, I demand that you-!"
"Let you go? Okey dokey!" Mario finished for him, as he let go of Bowser's tail, sending the big beast launching away from him.
Bowser cried out, as he was being sent flying in the air, far enough to bypass the edge of the circular platform. His body then descended towards the lava floor, where he plunged straight into it. After about a second or so, Bowser quickly emerged from the lava, flailing his arms like crazy, as he yelled out in pain. "AAAARGH! DANG IT ALL! NOT AGAIN!"
"PAPA! I'll save you!" Junior cried out, as he flew his clown vehicle over to where his father fell, leaving Mario behind in his moment of victory.
"Hehe! Have a nice bath, Bowser!" said Mario, sending the fallen Koopa King a salute, before he walked over to where the imprisoned princess was located.
Reaching the level which controlled the chains supporting Peach's cage, he pulled it down and the cage slowly descended down on the ground. Once that was done, Mario walked over to the front of the cage and opened it, freeing the captive princess in the process.
Princess Peach, now freed from the binds that hold her, stepped out of the cage. Her hands were still clasping together the whole time, still holding onto hope that the red plumber will save her from the clutches of the Koopa King, and that hope finally came.
Staring at Mario's blue eyes with her own cyan ones, she gave the red clad man a very warm smile of gratitude, a smile that could easily pierce the hearts of men, including Mario's. "Mario… Thank you so much!"
"Heh… You're welcome, Princess." Mario replied, as a slight blush was visible on his face upon receiving the Princess' gratitude. "Did Bowser hurt you at all?"
Peach replied by shaking her head, still keeping her warm smile. "Bowser was at least kind enough to leave me unharmed. But even so, the entire time that I was trapped here, I felt nothing but pain at the thought of my people, the people that I care about, worrying endlessly about me… Each time, I could only imagine how much they were suffering…"
"Well, you don't have to suffer anymore. You're finally free. And I'm gonna get you back there as soon as possible."
"Yes…" Peach gently lowered her head, as her hands went to grasp on each of Mario's hands, which surprised the red plumber. She pulled them up in front of them, as her gentle smile never faded. "I always knew that you would save me… Even after time has passed, I never lost hope… because you are always here for me, despite the dangers that you encounter. I cannot express my gratitude enough for all you've done for me…"
Mario's blush slightly deepened, as Peach's gratitude further pierced into his heart like an arrow. He could only chuckled shyly at her praise.
However, both he and Peach heard a series of barking from distance. They both looked back at the direction of the barking, and both identified it as the barking of a Chain Chomp. They both knew that Bowser's minions were trying to get to them, and with Bowser trying to pull himself out of the lava, there was no time to stand idly by.
"I don't think we have a lot of time to chitchat here, Princess." Mario said. "Let's get ourselves to safety, shall we?"
Peach nodded. "Yes. Of course."
With that, Mario took grasp of Peach's wrist, and the two started to run towards a safe place to escape from their approaching enemies.
Mario and Peach both climbed up the stairs leading to the roof of the castle, and continued to run forward until they reached the edge of the castle. Looking down, they watched as countless of Bowser's soldiers entered through the castle gate en masse, leaving no room for the two to jump down and get away from all of them safely.
"They're trying very hard to stop us from escaping…" Peach said, as she found no other way for the two to escape from their pursuers. "Mario, what should we do?"
"If I'm right, our escape route should be arriving at any moment." Mario spoke, leaving the Princess confused as what he meant by that.
However, when she lifted her head up, she noticed something large coming from a distance. She gasped, just as Mario followed her movement and smiled when he too noticed it. "And there he is!"
What they saw was a hot air balloon flying at a moderate speed to where the two of them were located, and within the balloon, they saw an individual riding it, as he waved his arm at the both of them.
That individual looked like a slimmer version of Mario, for his physical features and clothing were very similar to that of Mario. The man had a pair of blue eyes, a round nose, brown hair, and a black mustache whose style is slightly different from Mario's. He wore a pair of brown shoes, blue overalls, a pair of white gloves, a green shirt, and a green cap with the letter L imprinted on it.
To the majority of the people of Mushroom Kingdom, his name was always forgotten without any effort whatsoever. But to his loved ones, such as Mario, he was known as Luigi, the brother of the hero of Mushroom Kingdom.
"Hey! Big Bro!" Luigi exclaimed, waving his arm at both Mario and Peach, as the hot air balloon got closer to them.
"Luigi! Right on time!" Mario said, returning Luigi's arm wave with his own. "Glad that you can make it! I hope that the journey wasn't too dangerous for you?"
"Heh! Not in the slightest!" Luigi replied. "Bowser's goonies were too busy freaking out over you getting to his castle, that they don't even bother noticing me!" As the green plumber spoke of how he got to the castle unscathed, a slight realization had him to think back about what he said and what actually happened back there. "Or wait… Did they fail to notice me? Or did they just don't care enough to try…?"
"Well, either way, let's get out of here! It won't be long until Bowser and his minions get here!"
"Right!" With that said, once the hot air balloon got near the castle, Luigi lowered the balloon down until the basket was just low enough for both Mario and Peach to jump into it.
Once he had done so, Mario allowed Peach to get into the basket first, complete with motioning his arm over to the direction of the basket. Peach complied, and she jumped into the basket safely with Luigi's help, followed by Mario jumping in as well. "Alright! Let's-a-go, you guys!" Luigi exclaimed, as he activated the flames under the balloon at full throttle, just as the balloon itself moved up and away from the castle.
Just as they were starting to leave, Bowser, whose body was covered in bandages, was able to climb up to the rooftop and, once he noticed the hot air balloon containing Mario and Peach, he reached his arm out towards them, while weakly exclaiming, "Wait…!" before he collapsed with his stomach flat on the ground. "Dang it…! I said wait…!"
The trio all noticed Bowser as he attempted to stop them in his battered condition. In a moment of triumph, Mario did not hesitate to wave victoriously at the beaten Koopa King, and was joined by Luigi and Peach who did the same thing. "So long, King Bowser!"
Hearing Mario's goodbyes irritated the beast to no end, as he struggled to get himself off the ground and had just enough strength to shake his fist at the fleeting plumber. "Mario! You won this time! But the next time will be different! Next time, I'll definitely beat you once and for all, and Peach will finally be mine! As will all of Mushroom Kingdom! Yes…! The day that I beat you will be the day where I will finally have everything I want! Including you, Princess Peach Toadstool!"
As the balloon continued to fly away from the castle, Luigi shook in fear at the Koopa King's boast, as it was clear that Bowser would never give up, and he would continue to spread fear over the kingdom with his constant kidnapping of the Princess. "Whoa… This guy is really scary… I don't think there's anything that we can do to stop him from going after the Princess again…" Luigi said, as he shifted his gaze at Peach. "Don't you think that's scary, Princess Peach? To have Bowser kidnapping you every time without ever stopping?"
Peach turned to Luigi and, with her smile still kept in place, shook her head in reply. "No, Luigi. Even if Bowser will kidnap me countless more times in the future, never once will I ever feel fear by that…"
As both Mario and Luigi looked at Peach with an expression that was asking for questions, the black clouds started to clear up, and a small portion of the blue sky started to reveal itself, along with the bright ray of the Sun that illuminated the trio, as if it was showing the Princess' sincerity.
"After all…" Peach spoke, as her gaze shifted towards Mario, and her smile widened and her expression softened. "… As long as Mario is here with me, I will never be afraid. Because I always know that my hero will save me from danger. Just as he did for the past several years…"
Mario could not contain his blush any longer, and he was left laughing shyly at Peach's sincerity while scratching the back of his head. Luigi watched, as he could not help but smile at his big brother's reaction. He could only hope that a spark would finally unite Mario and Peach together someday, somehow.
"Now, let us go, Mario, Luigi." Peach spoke. "When we get back home, let's celebrate your victory by baking both of you a large cake!"
"YAHOO!" Both Mario and Luigi cheered at the thought of Peach baking a cake for them, as the younger brother adjusted the flames of the balloon so that they could return home as fast as possible.
The clouds have completely cleared up, and what was left was the deep blue sky and the Sun illuminating the land of Mushroom Kingdom, giving it life. It was a sign that peace was returned once more to the Kingdom ruled by the Princess herself, as the people would finally be at peace, knowing that their precious ruler was returned to them. Mario's journey to rescue her had come to a close once again.
… However, their adventure was not left unseen by the eyes of a trespasser.
The scene of the two plumbers and the Princess' escape from the castle of the beast was shown in a very large blue flame, sitting in a cauldron, surrounded by several standing chandeliers illuminated by flames of the same colour, inside of an ominous dark room that seemingly showed nothing else but the flames.
Standing in front of the large blue flame was a mysterious individual, hidden in black cloak with gold chains holding the collar close together, and the hood obscuring most of the individual's face.
The mysterious individual had been watching the journey of the mustachio man from the moment that he entered the castle, all the way to his escape with the Princess. He had seen all that happened during the timeframe, when the mustachio man charged in against the army of the beast, gone through the traps and obstacles that got in his way effortlessly, and his complete victory over the large beast in battle to save the captive Princess.
However, it wasn't the mustachio man himself that he was setting an important sight on. Rather, it was someone else of more importance.
As he continued to watch the trio drifting away from the castle and on their way home, the cloaked figure pulled out a mysterious crystal in his hand and moved it close to the flames.
A moment had passed, and the crystal suddenly illuminated in a bright, white colour that gave the mysterious figure an important information regarding what he was trying to seek.
"… I see." he spoke. "So this is where the Soul Crystal lies… Now, my next objective is finally clear to me…"
One by one, the chandeliers started going out, as the mysterious man's intention to depart towards his goal became known. Once the chandeliers were all blown out, the large, blue flame in the cauldron started to waver, as it was about to go out in its turn. Before the room was completely shrouded in darkness, the mysterious figure spoke one last time…
"… Very soon… The tale of souls and swords… will again be retold…."
Prologue:
Awakening of the Soul
End of Prologue
Hey, everybody! It's me! Anomynous Nin! And what you've just read is my latest Adventure/Fantasy story, Nintendo Legacy (I'll probably change it to a more fitting name in the future, possibly)! And this prologue chapter gives you what you will expect from this big story! Well... Not really. There are still a bit of stuff left to cover to offer you guys what to expect, but more on that later.
Now I just wanna say something about how this story came to be, and how I'll be approaching it in the coming months, maybe years, who knows. If you guys don't care much about the behind the scene stuff, then you're free to go. Otherwise, here we go.
I've been developing this story and its world ever since I was a teen. So it's sort of a childhood story for me, and it holds a special place in my heart. The concept of crossovers was the primary drive for me to create it. Now, I know that crossovers are a pain because of the huge differences between series in terms of characters, settings and whatnot, but I really love the idea of my favourite characters crossing over and interacting with one another in a world that is fusion of their own worlds, or in an original world with their own settings.
At the start, it was a crossover story between various characters in various video game and anime series. For example, imagine having Mario interact with Link, Goku, Naruto and Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia. Yeah, I know. Sounds pretty stupid. But as I develop the story more and more, big changes started to occur as well. So the current crossover will mostly focus on series from Nintendo. Mostly, because, as you can see from this prologue, it contains at least one non-Nintendo series. It's also part of the reason why it's in the Super Smash Bros. section, but it might change in the future. It also helps that I am a Nintendo fan, so being a fan also helps with developing the story.
During the development, I planned to include elements from Soul Calibur, as you can see here, and Kingdom Hearts, which you will probably see in the next few chapters. Later on, I decided to remove the Kingdom Hearts elements and just create something inspired by it. As for Soul Calibur... Well... The elements are so ingrained into the story that it would feel weird to replace them with something inspired by the series. So if you guys think that the series' inclusion is weird, I apologize. But it's gonna stay for the rest of the story.
As time went on, and as Nintendo continues to develop new games, some from existing series and some that are new at the time, more interesting ideas came to mind for the story, to make it more interesting and engaging. Well, at least, to me. In my head, there are so many ideas involving the characters and the world that they are interacting that, truth be told, I want to share my ideas to other people. Back then, I was shy and a nerd when it comes to that, but now, I feel like I am willing to share what I have with you guys. For better or worse.
Anyway, that's all I have left to say about the behind the scene stuff for now. I'll probably talk more about it in the next few chapters, depending on whether or not you guys decide to stay for the ride. But just to tell you, even though I published the prologue chapter, you probably won't see the next chapter anytime soon until I've written a few chapters that gives a better taste of what the story and the world is going to be. There are going to be some errors in grammar, syntax, whatever in what I've written, so feel free to point it out to me.
That's it from me. I hope you guys enjoy reading this story and looking forward for more. You're free to send me positive or negative comments. The purpose of me publishing this story now is to finally share my ideas to you all. And I'm not planning on stopping it. But who knows.
Either way, thank you for reading the start of my story! Until next time, guys! See ya!
