Title: Bravest of Them All

Fandom: Super Smash Bros.

Rating: T

Genre: Tragedy

Summary: It happened so suddenly. At first, Mario was fine: happy and cheerful. Now he's gone from this world. At the funeral, Bowser gives a eulogy about how he felt about his arch-nemesis. And it was a eulogy that no one expected. Dedicated to Satoru Iwata. Idea by Paradigm of Writing. Character death.

Pairings: None

A/N: Yeah…I heard of the news yesterday…I'm so heartbroken. So I tried to brainstorm for a story in dedication to the late Iwata, and Paradigm of Writing gave me this idea. Credit goes to PoW for it! So here it is…

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in the SSB fandom.

Enjoy…

Bravest of Them All

It happened so suddenly. At first, Mario was fine; he was happy and cheerful, always bringing a smile to everyone's faces in the Smash Mansion. Now he was gone from this world from an unknown illness, and he passed away the next day. He was only thirty years old.

The Mansion was in mourning. The people who were most affected by Mario's sudden death was Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, and Rosalina.

Luigi, Mario's younger brother, was the first one to hear of Mario's death. Heartbroken, he ran to his room, crying his eyes out. He barely left his room, not even for meals, and Little Mac had to drag him out of his room so the younger Mario Brother could eat something.

Peach broke down sobbing when the news spread. She couldn't believe it; she claimed that the doctors were lying and hoped that it was just a sick prank. Sadly, it was all true, and her grief turned her into an absolute mess.

Yoshi grew depressed over his best friend's death. He hardly ate any food (which was his favorite thing to do), and he barely slept. If he was lucky enough to fall asleep, dreams of Mario tortured him, and crying in his sleep whenever he dreamed of his pal, became the norm.

Rosalina was in tears, holding her small Lumas. The Lumas were also crying, and one of them always asked their 'mother', "Momma? Is Mario coming back?" It was hard for the motherly princess to explain death to her children, and she had no idea what to say to them.

However, out of everyone who mourned Mario's death, there was one individual that people did not expect to come to the funeral.

At the funeral, most of the Smashers stared at Mario's casket, tears streaming down their faces. There were others who tended to stay stoic and hold back tears, like Ryu and Ike, but the rest of the group knew that they were also hurt by Mario's sudden passing.

Peach was the first to come up for the eulogy. Speaking of how much she loved Mario, all the times he had saved her, and the times they had spent together as a couple…it brought even the toughest fighters to tears.

Luigi was next. He spoke of Mario being the best big brother he could've ever asked for, and how much the late Mario Brother had taken care of him when their parents had died, long ago.

Then, it was Yoshi's turn. He reminisced about how they met and became friends, and all of the journeys they embarked on together, stuffing their faces and Mario riding on him for fun.

Rosalina, along with her Lumas, stepped up. They talked about how great of a person Mario was, saving the world and even galaxies, and one of the Lumas— a Baby Luma who had accompanied Mario in a couple of his adventures—spoke of Mario being 'the best papa ever'.

Once they were done with their eulogies, someone unexpected walked into the funeral home. Everyone turned, and their eyes widened upon seeing who it was.

Bowser. He was wearing a black suit with a black tie, and there was an intense frown on his face. He looked at Mario's casket and sighed deeply.

Luigi jumped up from his seat. "MAMA MIA! What are you doing here?!" he screamed.

The other Smashers got into an uproar.

"He's Mario's enemy! He's not supposed to be here!"

"GET OUT!"

"You don't belong here, you ugly turtle!"

Bowser ignored the other Smashers, and in a low voice, he spoke. "Do not worry…I am not here to mock Mario's death. I am here to mourn him."

Shulk was furious. He narrowed his eyes at Bowser and grit his teeth before yelling, "YEAH RIGHT!"

"If you're causing trouble," Little Mac shouted, "I'll punch you all the way to next Tuesday!"

Bowser shook his head. "No. Now is not the time for all of that. Mario is gone. We need to respect him."

Silence.

Bowser walked towards the casket and stepped up the stairs. He pulled his glasses out of his inner coat pocket, and then pulled out some papers.

"What are you doing?!" Peach cried.

"I'm going to tell you my feelings about Mario," Bowser said.

"If you talk bad about him—" Luigi attempted to say, but Bowser shook his head.

"No, no. I'm not. Just listen."

Bowser looked over the papers, and he began:

"Mario and I were always at each other's throats, whether over the princess or just in general. However, each and every time, Mario came out triumphant. Over the years, the bitter taste of being defeated, time and time again by his hands, was difficult to swallow. But I…respected this man. We may not get along, but…"

He trailed off, wiping away a stray tear as he continued. "He was like a rival to me. We may be arch-enemies, but he's my enemy. No one, I mean no one, could ever replace him as my arch-enemy. There were times where we fought against each other, other times where we even fought together against bigger threats. And I've come to realize…

"…That he's a good man. He defeated me just to protect the Mushroom Kingdom, to protect Princess Peach…that is something I respected. He was determined, and even when he faced death, he never backed down. He stood up to me, to all the people who threatened his friends and family. And I respect that. No one will ever replace my nemesis: out of all the people I fought against, he was the bravest of them all. Mario, if you're hearing this, and if you're up there…"

Bowser looked up at the ceiling, tears falling down his cheeks. "Rest in peace, you brave man."

The Smashers were in tears from Bowser's speech. Even Ryu was crying, holding Little Mac as he sobbed on his shoulder.

Luigi felt guilty for ever thinking negatively of Bowser. He'd never seen this side of him before. He sobbed, tears streaming down his face as he cried, "Bowser…that was…beautiful."

Bowser nodded. "Thank you, Luigi…I'll never forget Mario's bravery."

Bowser walked off of the stage, taking a seat towards the back and after a few hours, it was time to bury Mario's casket. As they stood on the damp grass while the casket was being lowered, everyone threw roses down into the grave.

Bowser was the last one to throw in a rose, tears streaming down his face.

Once the funeral was over, everyone left…except for Bowser. He looked over Mario's grave, smiling. Looking up at the gray sky, he spotted a rainbow overhead, peeking out from between the dark clouds, and he whispered:

"You be good with Satoru Iwata, Mario…"

RIP Satoru Iwata. 1959-2015. You will be missed…

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