Chapter 2

Mario awoke on a rocky surface, surrounded by clouds. His head throbbed, and his chest ached from where he was hit.

"Oh my..." He said, holding his head as he sat up, "Where'a am I?" A small groan escaped him as he managed to stand up. "Where'a is'a Peach?" A wave of panic washed over him as he began to frantically look around. Where was his beloved Princess? Was she harmed, or safe? The questions raced through his head as he quickly began running.

The plumber managed to trip over something as he ran. Mario face planted into the ground and twitched. Sitting up, he rubbed his face and muttered, "Mamma mia!". Looking back at what he tripped over, he saw a girl. His eyes widened as he shot up and ran back over to her.

"Are you'a alright?" He shook her gently, "Wake'a up'a!" The girl opened her eyes and looked up at Mario.

"Who are you?" She asked, quickly moving away from him, "Where am I?" She put her hands on her head tightly, and thought, 'Nice going Kusa! You got yourself in a huge mess just by going near that stupid hole!' She looked over at Mario, just to check if she wasn't dreaming.

"Is'a everything alright'a?" He asked her, obviously confused. "Could I'a ask your name'a?"

"My name is Kusa.." Kusa introduced herself politely, "It's nice to meet you...Uhh..."

"It'sa me! Mario!" Mario exclaimed with a small chuckle, "Nice to'a meet ya!"

"It's nice to meet you too, Mario." Kusa replied, feeling awkward. It was hard not to feel that way, considering the fact she was completely lost and had no clue where she was. That's always a normal feeling, right?

"What are you'a doing here?" Mario asked Kusa, feeling the awkward vibe from her, "Do you'a happen to know'a where we are?" Kusa shook her head and Mario sighed. "Oh...Great."

Meanwhile, a brown haired angel was fighting his way through countless enemies. He had a look of hatred in his eyes, as he slashed at the remaining few in his way.

"How dare you disturb Skyworld!" He snapped, "I will make you pay!" More enemies surrounded him, as he shot arrows through each of them, "I will rid the land of you scum!"

He had finished the area of monsters, and none of them were re spawning like he had thought. The angel shrugged and took a step forward, but quickly fell back. He looked up and saw a giant monster looming over him. Dodging the blow that it had swung at him, the angel shot arrows into it's back. The monster fell forward, and he took the opportunity to swing at the monster with his bows detachable blades.

"Good riddance." He muttered when the monster faded into purple dust. "We don't need monsters like you disturbing the Great Paletena*." He flapped his wings once and kept walking, still feeling enraged over the fact this was happening to his land.

But that made him stop and wonder. Why did his goddess only send him and not the rest of her angels? Did she know of the fate that was to befall Skyworld? The angel boy suddenly felt giddy, as he grinned. She had only chose him, because he was the best of the best! He fist pumped to himself, and chuckled.

"It's about time she realized that!" He thought out loud, "I am the best out of them!" He laughed before shutting himself up abruptly. He could have sworn he heard voices.

'They're close by.' The angel thought, 'They're not quiet, but yet their not loud...' He continued walking until he saw a girl with pink hair, and a man with a red hat. His eyes widened at the sight of the man with the red hat, as his mind filled with flash backs from the stadium. He had been watching from Paletena's lair, and was cheering him on.

"Hey! You two!" He shouted, "What business do you have here?"

"Oh, look'a!" Mario cheerfully pointed to the angel while looking at Kusa, "We have'a company!"

"O, oh.." Kusa chuckled nervously, "Greeaaat! Why don't you go greet them, Mario!" She patted him on the back, forcing him to go forward. He was familiar to the land and she wasn't. Why should she go first?

"Hi'a!" Mario held out his hand to the angel, "My name'sa Mario!" He gave the boy a grin. "Who are'a you?" The angel studied the plumber for a moment before smiling.

"My name is Pit." He replied, "It's nice to meet you, Mario." He shook hands with the plumber before looking over at Kusa. "Now, who are you?"

"U, uuhh..." Kusa laughed nervously, "My name's Kusa! It's nice to meet you, Pit!" Pit raised an eyebrow at her, confused on why she was laughing.

"Don'ta mind her." Mario whispered to Pit, "She'sa bit of'a strange one...She laughs a lot for no reason." Pit gave Mario a "Are you serious?" look as Mario nodded. "I'ma serious."

"I don't see what's so funny." Pit bluntly stated as Kusa stopped laughing, "Mind filling me in on the joke?"

"Don't mind me!" Kusa waved her hands in front of her, "I'm just confused at the moment! I don't even know where I am! I just..appeared here!"

"Same'a with me'a!" Mario added, "Mind telling us where we're'a at, Pit?"

"You're in Skyworld. My homeland." Pit replied, crossing his arms. "Have you noticed it's been getting attacked by monsters?"

"Monsters?" Mario was suddenly intrigued by what Pit had just said, "What do you mean?"

Kusa watched the two boys talk, as she sat in the background. It was weird seeing them talk about "monsters" as if it were a daily thing. She studied the two of them, as they talked. What kind of monsters were around here? What would they do about them? What are they here for? Questions zoomed through Kusa's thoughts like a race car. It was giving her a huge headache, which she didn't need at the moment.

'Are they thinking of fighting monsters?' Kusa thought, 'What if they try to get me to also? I don't have a weapon, and I don't know how to fight!'

"Looks like we'll have to get to the bottom of things." Pit crossed his arms, "For the sake of everything, and everyone on this planet. We will destroy these monsters of darkness...For good." Mario nodded and cheered.

"Yes, we'a will!" He cheerfully agreed, "We'll knock them'a into next'a Tuesday'a!" Pit chuckled at that comment.

"Nice one." He grinned, "I like that." Mario gave him a thumbs up and looked at Kusa.

"Kusa, are you'a going to go with'a us? Or are you'a going to'a stay here?"

"I'll go!" Kusa quickly responded, "I'm not staying here by myself!"

"Then it's settled." Pit smiled, "We'll all work as a team." He put his hand out in front of him, "Agreed?"

"Of course'a!" Mario put his hand on top of Pits, "We'll be a team'a! A great one!" Pit looked at Kusa, and motioned for her to come over. Kusa stood up and walked over, and looked down at the two hands in front of her.

"Yes..." She smiled slightly, "We'll work as a team." She put her hand on top of Marios. They all threw their hands up and cheered. There was a shadow of uneasyness in the back of Kusa's mind as they did so. She didn't know what she was getting herself into, and she prayed that it wasn't life threatening.

But they were going to fight monsters. That's what scared her the most. She didn't want to die.