Author Note: Well, English is not my first language and this is the first story I've ever done in English, so if you find some grammar mistakes please let me know, I'm making this story because I couldn't get the idea out of my head and also because I want to improve my English farther than what it's now. I expect you like it, I try to make it kind of original, so the way Matthew (the main character) describes the surrounding and the facts might be different from usual first person narration. Also, and not for the least, I expect you enjoy the story and review =D.

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BoRn

My story started the same day Mario's story started. I know, it sounds odd, doesn't it? But it's true, anything before that is worthless to tell, after all, I had a normal life until the day he became me.

I was the typical, but strange red-haired teen, Matthew Stryder, tall and clumsy, shy and the first gamer of the class. I always had top grades in class, straight A+, and some relationships over by stupid fights. But that doesn't really matter. The fact is that now I became someone completely different, or at least that is what I think. It all started when Nintendo announced their sequel for Super Smash Bros Brawl. What can I say? I was a top class gamer, so I had to know everything, and then... it started.

I always known it was Nintendo's fault that the world today is somewhat crapped, maybe because I became a loner thanks to their games, or maybe because the first of April of 2010 while playing Brawl I suffered some kind of attack. I thought at first it was epilepsy, but the black out I suffered was short; it was more like if I were being electrocuted. Anyway, when I woke up I found up that I was Mario. The actual Mario, hat, red clothes, short, mustache (I freaked out a lot when I saw it!), and then I knew it. I was crazy. Or that's what I thought until I watched the news that night.

"Nintendo assures that the appearance of their characters in our world has nothing to do with their company, neither is some kind of publicity. Authorities are making deep investigations to reveal..."

And then I knew I was not crazy, but the world itself was crazy. Dazzling flashes all around Japan, lawyers of Nintendo yelling at the reporters, the instant image of Kirby in a TV camera.

"What kind of drug did I consume?" I wondered. This could not be true.

But it was. And now the story was unleashed.

For the next couple of days my classmates only talked about the news yesterday. Everyone had a different theory, except for me, I only listened what others told me, trying to negate what I became last night. I wanted to believe it was my imagination caused by stress and low self-stem, but deep inside I knew it. I was Mario. Or I was for a couple of minutes.

I didn't try to tell anyone, what would have happened? Being treated like a freak? Like a psychopath? No thanks, I already had enough when people thought I was a loser.

I thought everything would be done if the days just passed, but it wasn't. Even if the smash brother's characters were hidden and no one knew where they were, I was... how can I describe it? I was.... burning, literally, I could feel how my hand started to rise its own temperature, and then a spark on the air, forming a little fire ball. The worst part came down when I threw it, my television exploded! Oh! I remember when mom found out, she wanted to kill me, and of course she never knew how it really happened.

I could keep boring you by narrating the whole transformation process, but that would end nowhere, pages and pages about feelings and confusions, so let's skip it to the real matter.

After weeks of confusion, I finally accepted the power inside me, and started training to control it. That was the fun part of it; peeking at some neighbors, a really hot girl that lived next to my house. Jumping skills are useful at these times, and what can I say? The pervert was Mario, not me. Still, I was not good at holding Mario form, more like five minutes and then an electro-shower rushed toward my body, and I became Matthew again, and at those times I was the pervert who got slap. Bad luck I always ran out of time when she found out I was peeking at her window. Maybe the karma had something to do with it.

That was the first phase of it; practice. And I needed a lot of it. For the time being, I had only ten minutes to use Mario form, and luckily, people always believed I was perfectly done cosplay.

Then, the important things started to happen. Some of my classmates started glaring at me, because now I was overconfident about anything. I smiled, laugh and talked more often. This was the best ever happening to me. I got into a lot of fights with some bully's, but never loose, not anymore with a powered-up punches. All my body, even at my normal human like form, was now strengthened. I gained the title "Matthew heavy-fits" and I liked it. And as any super-powered teenager would do, I started to enjoy the life. But that would cost sooner or latter, because I had no intentions of becoming a hero, neither a villain, I just wanted to enjoy my new powers as much as they could be extended, but when a war is rushing in the world you are forced to take sides, so in some moment I would be forced to choose a side, to left the comfort of neutrality and start to work.

Walking towards the polluted, full of smoke, city of Santiago, I went for a walk around a nice park near to my house; I let my body relax and decided to sleep for a while over the grass. I opened my eyes, and watched the clouds move, until I felt someone kicking softly my waist. I turned around to see who was at my side, but there was no one. Anyone present in the whole park. I decided to leave a little bit scared, when I suddenly felt the change of the grass-ground to a platform! Now, I really thought I was either dreaming or getting out of my mind. And when I saw him, I swallowed and relaxed the tense of my body a little.

"And I thought it was some kind of supernatural entity! And it was just you!"

"You're kind of brave and kind of stupid" he answered (By the way, "he" was Fox. Yes, the actual hero from Star Fox. Who else could it be?)

"So, what are the platforms about?"

"I thought a human would be scared or would think he's freaking out"

"Well, I passed that stage long ago. So, what is this about? Is it some kind of game? Do I fight you and then clap if you win?"

"I think you don't get the idea"

"So, are you here to kill me? Are you part of revolutionary faction against the human race for creating such a complicated story for you and your smash brother's companions?"

"Now, what are you talking about?" he asked. I could see he was surprised at my theories, he didn't expect any "Revolution? In first place, if they didn't exist neither would I"

"So, what are you up for?" I asked "Oh! I know...!"

"Please, let me explain and reserve your crazy ideas for yourself"

"You're kind of bossy"

"And you're kind of noisy"

"Point taken" I laughed, it was so true that I couldn't lie about it.

I sat on the purple platform. It reminded me the final destination stage. Fox sat in front of me and made a heavy sigh.

"I'm here to ask you help"

"Do you need my help?"

"More Mario's help than yours, but yes"

"So, are you going to take me for training? Teach me everything I need to know and then I will become the hero who will save the world?"

"Is cliché anime all the things you have in your mind?" I could feel how angry was Fox at me, and I was impressed at his ability to keep his cool "Listen, there's a war in middle of the smash brothers characters, there are two sides. I rather call them the good and bad side"

"Well, that's creative"

"Thanks" an ironic answer, just what I hoped to hear from him.

"Ok, how do I know everything you will tell me is true?"

"Usually I would use the routine method when I recruit someone, but as you have such headstrong, I will let you see for yourself"

Well I expected something completely different when I started chatting with Fox, but however, nothing had changed yet. And I had free time; Friday had already arrived, so I could only do one thing. Enjoy the life, which was the only decision made by me. But my life was about to change, as you could guess, this is not the always hero-like story, but in the end, you have to do something, because everything you put a single care of is in risk at the top of a cliff, that is the curse bestow by power, and who would say the power was the one of a plumber with both jumping and fire skill? My story is really odd, out of the common; still it has to have something normal.

I still haven't given you a picture of the whole thing, so you may be clueless about why I'm taking such careless decision about what I have now. Well, I've always dream about possessing powers and then getting some fun, because my whole life was about study and comfort a family that is really in a bad shape, after my father's death. So I always had to take care of my mother and sister, I never had freedom, and now Mario was giving it to me. Just for playing a random game online (life is always surprising) I got the chance of living my life on a way I only could on dreams, was that bad to just forget about everything for once? Have I always to be the responsible and heroic guy who sacrifices himself in order to save the world? Who wanted that? I just wanted what I thought it was far, a little of entertainment that kept my head out of trouble, but again life is troublesome.

For the next past days, I really lived intense. My concentration was at is peak on classes, so my notes didn't decrease no matter how much I mess up later. Relationships were at their highest peak too, the best moments of my life were present, until it happened.

They rushed in the school. Who? MMM, I'll let you guess, if the story resolves around smash brothers, and I'm Mario, then, who could possibly want to mess with him? If you didn't get it right, why are you reading? Whatever, the answer should be obvious. A mutant giant turtle that is as slow as a Mustang from the 60. Yes, it was Bowser.

I was just shocked, not by his appearance, but because of my classmates ignoring it. I mean, come on, a giant villain turtle who lives to mess with the hero life appears, and people just walk pass as if he doesn't actually exist? Ok, now I considered to be losing my mind until I heard a particular word...

"Ghost!!!!!"

The girls screaming made me froze. Bowser has just destroyed our classroom door and everyone just freaked out. Why I was the only one seeing him? I mean, it was nothing like if he was a ghost, he was very solid to me, and a bit too big and slow to be hiding somewhere.

I just knew what I had to do and sighed. I may be only interested in getting fun, but I wouldn't let my classmates to get killed. But it was kind of fun seeing some bully's scared as hell for something they swore it was supernatural activity. Ok, so you may guess what happened. Nobody watched me, not like they would, they were too scared to react, but for me? It was a game for me! And it would be for a long time, that would unleash most of the tragedies in the story, but let's save that for later. Now, I turned into Mario again, feeling with no pain when the electric flashes ran through my body, making me shorter, but seriously powerful. I was Mario, and no one else could see me right now, I was in a battlefield that no one, but I could see. And Bowser saw me.

"There you are!" The clearness of his voice astonished me, I never thought he could talk that clearly "It's time for our showdown, Mario!"

"Oh, believe me, since I was little I always wanted to kick your ass by myself"

He didn't understand what I meant, I saw that in his face, but he never gave it importance, he just rushed through me and before his horn ever could touch me, my fist just hit his face making him fly back crashing against the blackboard. Everyone was at panic and rushed out of the classroom, while I had fun dancing with Bowser. It was so easy, and it felt... so good to be brawling, like if I let out every kind of secret skills I never got to develop, and I fought with any trouble. He started breathing fire out, and I just jumped and in a mid-air action, I kicked him so hard that he was knocked out. And then he became a trophy.

It was easy and I felt how arrogance, self-confidence and a really high ego went through my whole body. "I just might enjoy it. Brawling in real life" That was the choice I made and that would led me not to the game I thought I was into, but it would lead me to the front of a war that would end the world. Now, is my story a tragedy, a parody, a drama or a comedy? Well, that's what we are about to see.