Anonymous Guest

I suggest to wait until the climax itself to find out.

Bloxxel64

You'll see what the final battle is like.

breath20k

Not just hot. It was fiery hot.

LiamTheYoshi

Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Alex have to go through Bowser's hideout first before battling him.

mariobroultimate

Learn for future reference: call someone a pushover, and he'll retaliate with more power.

Chapter 7

7A - I'm Not Scared

Rewinding to when Mario and friends entered Boom Boom's fortress, Bowser gathered his Boo army together for a meeting.

"My fellow ghosts, it looks like there's nothing we can do since Mario and his buddies are about to get the last Magic Mushroom," Bowser stated. "I have a feeling Boom Boom will fail me, which he promised he wouldn't."

"Even if Boom Boom gives up the final Magic Mushroom, that doesn't mean I'll be cornered easily. Rest assured that my Horrorific Castle has all the traps in the world to spook the daylights out of them. Luigi's not the only one, you know."

All the Boos nodded in agreement.

"I want all of you to scatter around the castle and guard every nook and cranny," Bowser ordered the Boos. "Some of you can check on the traps and make sure they're working before going back to your posts."

Nobody said or did anything for a few seconds.

"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Bowser demanded. "Begone and do what you were created to do!"

The Boos promptly disappeared all at once, leaving Bowser by himself again.

"S-stop s-staring at m-me!" Peach pleaded in a shaky voice. A different group of Boos circled her cage; they had angry demonic faces and their tongues moved up and down. "Y-you're making m-my s-skin crawl!"

"That's more like it!" Bowser's voice boomed from far away. "You think you can act like ghosts aren't your biggest fear? I knew you had a bit of Luigi in you!"

"Th-that's n-not true!" Peach yelled. "I'm j-just d-disgusted at th-their f-faces! I'm n-not s-scared!"

"You sound scared to me! Listen to yourself!"

"N-no! I-it's ch-chilly in here! I m-mean it!" Peach wrapped her arms around her torso.

"Princess Peach, I set the temperature to 76 degrees! How is that chilly for you?" Bowser asked.

"F-forget i-it! D-don't talk t-to m-me!" Peach trembled loudly.

"Okay. I'll just stand by and let my ghosts drive Mario, his brothers, and his dinosaur friend out of here. I expect them to report back as soon as possible."

The circle of Boos continued to creep Peach out no matter how many times she begged for them to go away.

Fast forwarding to the present, Mario and friends reappeared through another white light and found themselves standing in front of a giant castle's wood front door. The environment around the castle was a deep red sky with dark red clouds above. And the castle was stationed on a gray rocky hill with a bottomless pit surrounding it.

Alex took a second to look at the pit behind him and flinched with surprise.

"Oh gosh! I almost fell again!"

"What did I tell you at Booster Pass, Alex?" Yoshi reminded Alex.

"Sorry."

Alex looked back up at the castle and saw a metal sign above the door that read, "BOWSER'S HORRORIFIC CASTLE". Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi also gazed at the sign.

"'Horrorific'?" Mario wondered out loud. "That's a weird word. Since when did Bowser put that in his dictionary?"

"Uh… G-guys…?" Luigi stammered. He slowly backed up. "Th-this i-isn't…th-the right p-place… P-Princess P-Peach is s-somewhere…else…"

Mario grabbed Luigi's overall straps to prevent him from falling into the pit. He felt Luigi shaking with fear.

"Luigi, get a hold of yourself," Mario said. "We can't go back now for two reasons. One: Princess Peach IS in there, and two: That pit won't save you."

"B-but I'm…s-scared…! I c-can't do…th-this…!"

"I know, bro. I know your fear of ghosts comes back even after you've faced it, but at least try to confront it again this time."

"Please, Luigi? We need you to help us," Alex requested. "We're not the Super Mario Bros if there's no Luigi."

Luigi approached the door again.

"O-okay… I j-just don't…w-want us t-to s-split…up…" Luigi said in a shaky voice.

"We won't, Luigi. I promise the four us will stick together and not go off on our own unless it's absolutely necessary," Mario assured Luigi.

"Here, Luigi." Alex held Luigi's hand. "You stay with me."

"Th-thank you…"

Mario pushed the wood door open and beckoned Luigi, Alex, and Yoshi to follow him inside. The first area they entered was a medium-sized room with a red violet carpeted floor, black walls, and a black ceiling with dim lights. There were two Bowser statues on either side of the room and an old-fashioned elevator on the front end.

"Nice layout," Yoshi remarked while looking around the room. "With the exception of the Bowser statues. I'd rather there be potted plants instead."

"All right-y. Let's-a go in the elevator and see what horrors await us down below," Mario stated. He pushed open the gate blocking the elevator entrance and led Luigi, Alex, and Yoshi in the elevator. There was a 'Down' button on the bottom-left side that Mario pressed. At the same time, Yoshi closed the gate.

The elevator started lowering slowly, making Luigi shake a little more than before the group went inside the castle.

"It's okay, Luigi," Alex told Luigi. "You're gonna be fine."

Luigi only nodded his head since he couldn't get himself to speak.