Super Smash Bros. Universe

Part One

The New Super Mario Bros.

Chapter Two

You Kongo

THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM…

The path to the Toadstool Mansion is now vastly different from what Peach remembers. She realized this when the road started to shake, the carriages were almost on their sides, and Toadsworth was clutching her waist. The carriage twisted and turned so much that the Luma burst at the impact. Midway through the rollercoaster ride she felt Toadsworth drift from her waist, he was knocked out. Then suddenly, after a fierce blow, Peach is knocked unconscious.

IN THE KONGO JUNGLE…

The inside of the carriage is in shambles; seat cushions are on the floor, the window is busted, and one of the doors is off. Peach wakes up to see the mess, there is a ringing in her head so she can't focus on anything. She looks at her dress which is a little torn. Her body hurts, she feels for injuries. The side of her chest has a deep pain as she sits up. The Queen looks around to find herself in the cabin. Then, Peach runs out the door for Toadsworth, almost ignorant of her energy. Peach exhales as she sees Toadsworth standing outside the cabin, hands behind his back.

"It's morning?" Peach looks at the sun rising behind the trees. They seem to be in a jungle.

"Seems you had a good nights rest," Toadsworth says.

"This…is this the Kongo Jungle?" Peach asks.

"Sure smells like it," Toadsworth ruffles his mustache and looks around.

"Where's the Luma?"

"I'm afraid we lost her to the impact," Toadsworth speaks quietly.

"Where is the Chancellor and Toad Minister?"

"I'm not sure Princ- Queen."

"Well then let's go!" Peach moves to the back of the carriage, she opens the trunk. "I just need to get my shoes…" The trunk is empty, so all she has is her slippers.

"You want to go?" Toadsworth creeps closer to her.

"Yes, let's go."

"Peach," Toadsworth hisses. "We do you expect we go? This is the jungle, we will die out there."

"And we will die standing here," Peach rips her dress, now it is more like a skirt. "I don't want to wait for something to find us."

"I think we find our way back to the castle, we must not be too far off."

"And neither is Donkey Kong, he can probably already smell my perfume."

"Please, I would not like to spend the first day of your reign preparing your will, Peach."

"And I would not like to spend the first day of my reign cowering like I did for the past few years."

"Listen," Toadsworth gets quiet. "I know you feel like you have something to prove-"

"I do have something to prove," Peach interrupts. "And I am not being reckless. The only problem we have in the Kongo Jungle is if we are left alone. Even King K. Rool won't hurt us."

"You have a lot of faith in these beasts."

"These beasts have become my friends over the years." Toadsworth has nothing left to say. Peach continues; "Right, let's go!"

AT THE NORTHERN END OF THE KONGO JUNGLE…

Yoshi creeps through the trees and expects to find the river that leads to Yoshi's Island. Instead, across the river, his native island is crushed against a long plains-like area. This must've been a result of the earthquake that happened throughout the jungle that night. Yoshi navigates his way through the trees to get closer to the new position of the island.

Yoshi can see movement as he is closer to the island. He then hears sounds coming from the island. He listens carefully and hears humans speaking. Next, screams from some of the yoshis! Next he smells smoke from a fire. These signs make him creep closer to the island in panic. Now that Yoshi can see better, he sees humans with swords and bows. He hears more screams from his own and from the humans. Yoshi stops. He turns the opposite direction and heads back to Peach's Castle in fear of what might be happening on the island.

AT PEACH'S CASTLE…

Mario and Luigi stayed up the whole night. Luckily, Captain Toad and Toadette appeared to help out. They rescued the prisoners from the flooding dungeons and put them in a separate room. Some of the toad scientists were working on a scuba diving oxygen tank so Mario and Luigi could breathe underwater. The whole first story and basement of Queen Peach's Castle is flooded. Everyone has been moved to higher floors, the furniture that could be salvaged has been, and the rest of the toads are camping out in the great hall.

Captain Toad brings Mario and Luigi out on his paddle boat. They coast outside of the main doors and into the long valley to the southeast point of the castle. Everything is flooded and now very muddy. They hear cries coming from the distance. There is a toad stranded on one of the hedges. Mario and Luigi paddle the boat towards him.

"Help!" the toad cries. "I can't swim!" The toad jumps onto the paddle boat with the others. "What happened!?"

"We don't know!" Luigi answers.

"Some of the other toads were able to climb the top of the castle wall, there is a huge lake covering the Mushroom Kingdom. They're calling it the Wedding Lake."

"What?" Mario asks surprised. "How'd ya get up there?"

"Come on I'll show ya!" The toad directs them to a part of the rampart where the vines are nicely placed for climbing. "Right here." Mario, Luigi, and Captain Toad start to climb the vines. "I'll just stay here, I'm afraid of heights too."

Then, Mario, Luigi, and Captain Toad climb the tall shrubbery rampart to the very top. Luigi makes the mistake of looking down; he feels his stomach drop. Mario and Captain Toad are mesmerized at the view of the castle from their height. The white castle and red roof shine in the sun, the flags are flapping only feet from them, and they are right next to the birds. The trio turns around to see water.

"All of the Mushroom Kingdom is…" Mario is astounded.

"Hey boss, any idea how this happened?" Captain Toad asks.

"Bowser maybe," But Mario doesn't believe that the Koopa King has the power to create a whole lake, right where the entire Mushroom Kingdom used to be.

"Boss?" Captain Toad looks back at the castle and the surrounding valley. He notices that there is a jungle that is awfully close. It never used to be that way before.

"Yeah?"

"Is that the Kongo Jungle over there?" Captain Toad asks.

"I guess it is."

"It smells like it!" Luigi grabs his nose.

"Gee boss, what is it doing so close?" Captain Toad asks.

"We need to get back to the castle and get Rosalina!" Mario commands.

"Hey M-Mario, do you think you could carry me down?" Luigi asks.

Luigi latches onto his brother's back Mario carries the both of them down. Mario is thinking that Rosalina will have some sort of perspective on what happened. She must've been able to see it all happen from the Space Observatory. They make it back to the boat and paddle back to the castle; returning the stranded toad back to safety.

Once back at the castle, Mario's finds his Luma so he can call Rosalina. Usually the Luma likes to hide in his office, so he leaps over steps, avoids as many toads as he can, and makes it to his office to find no one. He could check the garden, right –its flooded. Mario runs too his room, one of the toads –Horacitoad? Mario can't remember any of the governmental toads interrupts him. However, he runs past him anyway. Although Mario is rushing through the castle, he notices all of the goombas, koopas, and toads camped out. He asks them as he runs past them if they've seen a fat little star with a red hat on. One of the goombas tells him to check his room.

The doors to Mario's room burst open from his kick. Looking out the balcony is his Luma snuggling up to his mom; Rosalina. She doesn't seem to notice he walked in. Mario slows his pace so it seems like he isn't in a panic. "I knew you'd come looking for me," Rosalina is smirking. She turns around with the Luma mimicking her. "Seems like being the King Adjunct is a lot more work that you thought huh?"

"Yeah! Ima swamped!" Mario jokes. There is a pause in the room because the severity of the situation warrants a pause. "The whole Mushroom Kingdom is flooded."

"I saw," Rosalina responds. "I'm sorry this happened."

"Yeah, but how did it happen?"

"It was almost instantly. I was away from my computer at the time. When I felt the shaking-"

"Wait! You're saying you felt the earthquake too?" Mario asks.

"It seems to have been much more than an earthquake. Anyways, after…whatever happened, I looked at my computer and saw that most of the world had changed!"

"What is missing?"

"Everything, the Dry Dry Desert, New Donk City, and Delfino Ocean too!" Rosalina explains. "The only things left are Peach's Castle, the Kongo Jungle, Yoshi's Island, Sarasaland…"

"What else?" Mario is anxious, he looks a lot like his brother right now.

"Bowser's Castle," Rosalina states. "Birdo's Luma was just captured and destroyed by Kamek. I don't know what's happened to her."

"Do you think Kamek could've done this?" Mario asks.

"I don't think so," Rosalina is serious. "Which is why I have reason to believe that there may be a new threat!"

"Do you think Bowser may be back then? AGAIN?"

"I wouldn't be surprised."

Mario sinks in his chair. After years and years of trying to stop Bowser from tormenting them, Mario thought he finally won. Bowser has never been capable of flooding an entire kingdom. Some other force is at work and it scares the hell out of Mario.

"I'm sorry but there is one more thing I need to tell you," Rosalina admits. "While Peach was traveling to the Toadstool Mansion, her Luma warned me…there was a crash and her Luma didn't survive the impact."

Mario's eyes start to swell. Rosalina can see him holding back his tears so she goes to comfort him. "I need to go find her," Mario says. "I need to find her."

"Sure. I can help guard the castle."

"No." Mario snaps. He then wipes his tears and clears his throat. All he can think of are a few words. There are no other thoughts that Mario can convince him of the few words that are stitched in his mind. He says them; "Rosy, there's not much left to guard. The Mushroom Kingdom is completely flooded. No one is left besides us."

"Mario…"

"I think we leave Peach's Castle. Move the rest of the people to the Space Observatory. I'll try and find Peach with Luigi."

"I think that sounds like a great plan, Mario. I'll get everyone together and teleport them to the Space Observatory."

LATER IN THE KONGO JUNGLE…

The sun refuses to pass through the trees of the Kongo Jungle. Peach and Toadsworth are worried that if they travel for too long then they will be lost in darkness. They found some luggage on their journey, but didn't find Peach's shoes. She continues to walk in heels throughout the jungle and it is certainly the hardest challenge she has had to face yet. They are both certain that they traveled farther from the Mushroom Kingdom, so there is no turning back.

Toadsworth is worried about all the kritters and creatures that roam the jungle. They gather large leaves and sticks thinking believing that what they are doing is productive. As soon as they gather a fair amount of supplies, Toadsworth and Peach look at the pile. They don't know how they are going to survive the night. All they have is a few suitcases and a pile of scraps.

"Peach," Toadsworth whispers, almost defeated.

"Yes, Toadsworth?" she asks.

"If we don't survive the night-"

"Don't say that!" Peach tries to convince herself as much as she does Toadsworth.

There is a rustle in the trees. After being paranoid for so long in the jungle their senses have become heightened. Every slight movement in the trees doesn't slip past their ears. However, this has only made them more aware of their immediate danger, which puts them more into a panic. The rustling doesn't get louder but it gets clearer, whoever it is, is moving closer to them. The rustling draws nearer, until its right next to them, then stops.

Donkey Kong comes out of the bushes to see Peach and Toadsworth. There is a huge sigh of relief. Until DK nearly tackles them both, they're mutually glad to see each other. DK smells Peach and coos.

"I told you he'd smell my perfume," Peach laughs.

It seems as though DK has experienced some of the loss that the Toadstools have as well. The Kongo Jungle seems much smaller than it usually is. It has never backed up to Peach's Castle, the earthquake must've caused the land to redecorate itself. But the source of this shift is still a mystery.

DK takes Peach and Toadstool in his arms and starts jumping through the jungle. They swing on vines and glide under the jungle canopy. Toadsworth has never felt this kind of rush before. Peach laughs at his anguish because she used to be like him.

Toadsworth's stomach starts to turn as DK climbs down closer to the ground. He brings them to Kongo Falls, which has now been cut in half due to the shift. DK sees the terror in Toadsworth's eyes. He then takes them to his camp. There it is only him, Diddy Kong, and Dixie. The rest of the Kongs are nowhere to be found.

"Princess –I mean, your highness, we can't do this!" Toadsworth commands.

"Do what? Stay comfortably with our friends instead of out in the wilderness alone?"

Toadsworth ruffles his mustache again and quiets down. Peach climbs the vines into the tree house that the Kongs have built. As she disappears in the house Toadsworth looks around and realizes that he might as well compromise. Toadsworth climbs the vines and joins the others in the treehouse.

IN BOWSER'S KINGDOM…

Birdo climbs one of the spiral staircases to her room in Bowser's Castle. She dreads doing this every time. She once tried to get Bowser to put a window in her room but instead he clawed a hole in the roof. She is winding up the spiral staircase and getting just dizzy enough to know it is the end. Birdo gets to her room and plops down on the bed. It has been a long day of tending Bowser's wounds. Before she can even think about food she wanted to lie in her bed for a few minutes.

Birdo pulls out some food from her pouch that she smuggled for Luma. After placing it on the table she calls for her Luma. There is no response. Birdo calls again. But again there is no response. It's odd, even if Luma wasn't hungry she would come out from hiding. Birdo gets up to look around; the dresser and under the cushions are all empty. Suddenly, there is a poof! Birdo hears Kamek cackling.

"Kamek, what are you doing here?" Birdo asks.

"I'm coming to give you a message from Bowser," Kamek says.

"What is it?" Birdo snaps.

"What's in the dresser?" Kamek asks. He knows something is up with Birdo. "You don't wear any clothes besides that bow on top of your head!"

"What does Bowser need?" Birdo asks.

"He needs you to stop being a spy for the Mario Brothers!" Kamek says.

"I don't-"

"DON'T!" Kamek starts. "Try to deny it! I found THIS last night," Kamek shows Birdo her wedding invitation. "How was it? Lots of mushroom soup?"

"Where's the Luma?" Birdo asks frantically.

"Destroyed, I know Rosalina has taught those little stars how to whisper to each other."

"What are you going to do?"

"No, the question is what are YOU going to do?"

"What are YOU going to do?" Birdo quips.

"YOU are going to watch as we fly across the Wedding Lake then go straight to the dungeons!" Kamek laughs. Then with a swish of Kamek's wand, Birdo finds herself outside.

An airship floats in the sky above Bowser's Castle, the koopalings all prepare their clown cars as if for a battle. The canons are loaded, the hammer bros have sharpened their hammers, and the horde of goombas is ready to charge. Kamek flies up towards Bowser, who sits at the helm of the ship.

"We ready to go?" Bowser asks.

"Let's go," Kamek responds. With that Bowser commands the air fleet to charge forward. As they leave Bowser's Kingdom they see a great lake overstretch the horizon. "Kamek! What happened to the Mushroom Kingdom?"

"A lake appeared after the earthquake, they're calling it Wedding Lake. After Mario and Peach's wedding."

"Wedding!? Maybe we'll catch them before their honeymoon!" Bowser's jaw starts drooling with crave. He'll be able to challenge Mario once again. Any fatigue he has been feeling since has passed, now the excitement of fighting Mario has given him energy. Hammer brothers escort Birdo to her cell.

The airship reaches the brink of the Wedding Lake and see the flooded castle. Bowser jumps off the airship and crashes into the roof, he breaks the roof and lands in the great hall. No one is around, not a toad is in sight. The wedding decorations are still up too. Bowser walks down the main staircase and sees no one. The koopalings fly into the castle from the front entrance. They have seen no one either. There is a wave of realization that pours over Bowser. For some reason everyone in the castle is gone, the toads, Peach, and Mario have all abandoned the Mushroom Kingdom. Flames pour from Bowser's mouth and heats up the water in the castle. It now turns into a boiling hot spring.