Bowser and his troops were resting just on the opposite side of the canyon below. Bowser was unaware that he was being watched by his arch rival from above.
Mario just glared at his nemesis as a thousand thoughts raced through his mind. He wanted to not only fight Bowser, he wanted to kill the Koopa King! How could Mario let Bowser live after all the chaos, torment and damage that he had caused? Was it okay for Mario to take his life? Did he have the right to do it? Did he have the mental capacity to ever take any life?
With all his anger focused on Bowser a new chain of thought occurred: Could Bowser be responsible for the crisis in the Mushroom Kingdom? Was Bowser responsible for Luigi's illness? Does that mean Bowser already had the cure in his possession? Did Bowser even know that there was a cure? Too many questions...
It was all too much for the taxed hero to comprehend. Yoshi saw the anxiety building inside of Mario but there was nothing he could do to help his friend aside from staying with his friend.
From below in a booming voice Bowser proceeded to inform his troops of the invasion plan. Marching in perfect unison the troops hastily crossed the perilous ravine, they easily slide down the mountain side and continued march down the trail to attack the helpless Kingdom! With the Royal Guards incapacitated by the poison and with Mario fretting over Luigi, there would be no one and nothing to fight back. The Kingdom was surely doomed...
Once Mario heard these words a rage overtook him. Mario attempted to scramble over the cliff's edge and attack Bowser and the troops by himself! Reacting quickly, Yoshi wrapped Mario in his tongue and brought him back over the cliff out of harm's way. Annoyed at Yoshi's interference Mario immediately scrambled to his feet and tried to attack Bowser again. Yoshi reluctantly released Mario from his grip but then swiftly jumped on Mario's back with a quick Ground Pound, and held him down under his body weight. Mario fought to get free but soon exhausted himself and submitted to Yoshi's control.
Luigi was getting worse. His fever had reached a dangerously high temperature. He could easily die from the fever before the poison had a chance to take its toll. Daisy had gathered ice packs from the kitchen and placed them on Luigi's chest and forehead to try to keep him cool. It seemed to help, but not much. Luigi was breathing slower and each breath was shallow. It seemed that even if Mario did find the flower, he'd never be able to cure Luigi in time.
Worried, Daisy gently brushed her hand through Luigi's sweat drenched hair hoping that in some way she was comforting her weakened friend. Luigi remained unconscious, his only sense of reality came through his fever-induced nightmares.
Yoshi finally let Mario get to his feet. Angry at his friend for stopping him Mario just stared at the dinosaur companion. But Yoshi's eyes told the full story. Mario couldn't attack all those enemies by himself and live! Yoshi was keeping Mario from committing unintentional suicide through his uncontrollable rage.
Mario took a deep breath and calmly walked back to the cliff's edge with Yoshi following close behind. The troops were still below, resting. Their guard was down for a rare, opportune moment..
Mario knew needed to take them out before they could invade, but how could he take out an entire army by himself? Looking around the terrain looking for a spark of genius, Mario noticed there were several loose rocks and boulders resting precariously all along the cliff edge's above the oblivious troops. He had a plan!
Bowser ordered his troops to their feet. Taking a big lead his troops followed marching in unison.
If Mario didn't act now the troops would invade, and the Mushroom Kingdom would fall without a chance to defend itself.
From high above a strange rumbling stopped the invading army in its tracks. The rumbling grew louder and the earth began to shake under their feet. The confused minions looked all around, finally finding the source of the tremors: Avalanche!
Atop of the ridge Mario and Yoshi were running along cliff edge pushing against the loose boulders. Each push would send the heavy stones over the edge and cascading down onto their foes below. One by one the boulders slide down the rock face gaining speed as they tumbled uncontrollably. The plummeting force was impressive and unstoppable.
Nearly overwhelmed by the onslaught of falling stones, Bowser looked all around trying to find what set off the avalanche. While shielding his head with one arm he scoped out the surroundings. Bowser spied something red moving quickly along the cliff edge just prior to each landslide. He knew immediately that it was his enemy: Mario! Bowser let out a roar of anger in response to the attacks!
Mario stopped in his tracks knowing that Bowser had spotted him. In a way he was glad, now he had an opportunity to confront Bowser face to face. Mario stepped up on the cliff's edge and stared down at the Koopa King, a fearless glare in his eyes. Yoshi did not notice Mario staring down Bowser and continued his path of boulder-based destruction.
The troops below were defenseless as the boulders buried, crushed and pushed them off the trail. Thick dust filled the air. Despite the fog of dirt rising high into the air, Mario and Bowser never unlocked their eyes.
His anger finally getting the best of him, Mario leapt off the cliff with a FireBall in hand. Bowser instinctively pulled his claw back ready to slice at the hero as he came into range. Yoshi saw Mario leap down toward the chaos but was unable to stop the angry heroes attack. All Yoshi could do was watch the plumber fly through the air, ready to plant a FireBall into the face of Bowser despite the threat of crushing boulders below.
As Mario came closer to Bowser he unleashed the FireBall from his hand and burned the Koopa King's face and eyes! In an angry protest, Bowser unleashed his own fiery breath at the offending hero. Mario managed to change direction in mid-air to avoid the attack, but with the boulders still rolling down the hill Mario was unable to find stable ground to land on.
Mario's boots touched the shaking surface and with his best effort he jumped up high into the air again. At the moment Bowser was out of the path of the boulders but Yoshi did not dare to push more, he could injure Mario by mistake.
FireBall after FireBall rained down on Bowser while streams of fire shot past Mario, who managed to leap and dodge in mid-air avoiding each blow. However, Mario could not keep up his defense for long. He was too exhausted by lack of sleep and by traversing such a harsh landscape. Soon Bowser would overpower the weakened plumber.
All around the dueling adversaries the Goomba's and Koopa Troopa's had been buried and pushed away, unable to protect themselves from the avalanche. Mario and Bowser paid no mind to the creatures' demise. The only thing that mattered was their current conflict.
Even from the top of the cliff with heavy dust rising into the air, Yoshi saw Mario's movements getting slower and heavier as his FireBall's were growing less intense with each shot. Thinking quickly Yoshi laid and egg and hurled it all hard as he could at Bowser: Direct hit! Bowser stumbled back a few feet, his claw protecting the newly formed lump on his forehead as he lost sight of Mario. Falling to one knee from the pain in his head Bowser looked up through one eye in time to see the sole of Mario's boot come down and slam him in the face! The force of the kick was so powerful it send the Koopa King sailing backward and surely off the cliff. Bowser roared in anger!
With the ground still unstable Mario landed awkwardly on the uneven terrain and to his surprise, right next to Bowser near the edge of the cliff. Mario was tired and confused with the unfamiliar landscape and the thick dust had concealed Bowser from sight. Bowser, always looking for an opportunity for an attack, saw that Mario had let his guard down. As Bowser began his fall from the cliff he managed to land one final blow against his foe. Bowser reached out and clawed at Mario, slashing three deep gashes over the heroes chest! Mario fell back in pain his hand reaching to cover his wound, his white glove quickly stained crimson from his fresh blood.
Through the dust Yoshi watched as Bowser fell from sight off the cliff and Mario fell to the ground holding his bloodied chest in pain. Still high above on the cliff Yoshi attempted to race down the cliff side to his fallen friend. As Yoshi took his first step down the cliffside Bowser had reached the bottom of the canyon, the impact of his body had again, shaken the ground around the heroes. This time instead of breaking a crack into the ground, the impact knocked loose several more boulders and they came thundering down on the weak defenseless hero.
Yoshi turned his face away, unwilling to look at the inevitable carnage that was about to unfold.
Back in the Castle Library Peach and the assisting scientists had finally uncovered information and the supposed correct formula to create the cure. Apparently the "Remedial Bloom" has very unusual properties allowing it to heal all wounds and cure all poisons and ailments. Curious as to why such a wonderful flower would be forgotten, Peach dug further into the Castle Library Archives.
Peach was devoted to her Kingdom and friends. She looked through every book and file containing any information on the "Remedial Bloom". Peach felt her heart skip a beat as she read the newly uncovered information. Over one thousand years ago, even when this cure was abundantly available, the flower itself was extremely rare. To make matters worse the past denizens were ignorant and selfish, unnecessarily harvesting as many flowers as they could find. It was believed that the flower was driven to extinction from this greedy gathering.
A tear began to roll down her cheek. "Maybe everything Mario had worked for was all for nothing…"
At the scene of the rapidly ended battle on the mountainous trail, Yoshi had finished running down the cliff and began to pull and push boulders off the area he had last seen Mario. The only sound in the entire canyon was the echo of rock hitting rock. It seemed the only thing left moving on the spontaneous battlefield was Yoshi himself.
Yoshi dug desperately through the boulder pile, searching and calling out for his friend but there was no response. As Yoshi pushed a large boulder out of his way, something red caught his eye. Mario's arm had at last been uncovered. Adrenaline kicked in and Yoshi pushed more boulders out of the way unburying the bloodied hero. Mario coughed, catching his breath as mercifully less weight was pressing on his chest. After removing the heaviest of the boulders that had buried the injured plumber, Yoshi reached out his hand to his combat weary friend. Weakly, Mario grabbed hold of the offered hand as best as he could and Yoshi pulled him out of the pit of rocks and to his feet. His legs shaking harshly from fatigue and blood loss.
Freed from his rocky tomb Mario fell to the ground coughing up dust, still bleeding from his chest. Yoshi looked at Mario's wound with great dismay. Patches of his torn shirt were bloody an caked with mud. With a shaking blood soaked hand Mario took off his cap, knowing that map was still tucked inside. He slowly unrolled it and found the trail that they needed to get back on.
Yoshi couldn't believe the level of resilience Mario still had to keep going on their quest.
Peach arrived at the Mario Bros. home leaving a cloud of dust behind her as she ran. She quietly opened the door and walked inside. The house was uncomfortably silent and somber. Scared that something may have happened to Luigi she cautiously walked up stairs and into the bedroom. The first thing Peach saw was Daisy sitting on the edge of the bed, holding Luigi's hand. Peach walked in and she stared at the ill hero, still unwilling to accept that Luigi may never recover. Her heart sank further knowing that if Luigi died Mario would surely blame himself. She couldn't bear the thought of losing her two dearest friends in such a tragic manner.
Daisy sensed that Peach had walked into the room. She turned toward the doorway and stretched out her free hand, Peach took it and together they watched Luigi lay helplessly on the bed. Despite the best efforts of everyone who cared about him, Luigi seemed to be slipping away. His life fading before their very eyes.
...to be continued...