Chapter 2: A Hero's Start
Mario suddenly woke up in a forest.
He was all alone.
He stood up. He could still feel the effects of what happened to him earlier that day. Looking around, there was nothing. No city, no people. Feeling that his hat wasn't on himself, he looked at the ground and saw his hat. He then picks it up and puts it back on his head.
"I need to get back to the tournament and see Peach." Mario thought to himself.
Mario started walking. Unfortunately, there were endless amounts of trees in sight. Mario felt uneasy as he continued to remember the creatures that fought in the tournament. He still felt worried about his friends. Even his mortal enemy, Bowser, Mario felt some sort of anxiety. All of his thoughts suddenly came to a halt as he paused and saw a Toad looking away from Mario. He runs up to it.
"Little Toadie! Oh, thank-a-god you're here," Mario asked with relief in his voice. "Can you please tell me how to get out of this forest?"
Mario waited for a response, but there wasn't any.
"Little Toadie? Can you please help me?"
It turned itself around to reveal Toad. But it wasn't what Mario was thinking. It had dark red circles on his eyes. The toad's mouth opened revealing the same unknown creature from the stadium crawling out of its mouth. Soon then, the creatures reappeared from the ground.
"Uh-oh…" he muttered.
Mario tried to run back to where he came from; however, the creatures were there too, blocking the route. They weren't just coming from that side either; they were also coming from his left and right side too. Mario had no choice but to prepare himself.
"Mama-mia… I guess I have to fight again." He took a stance, ready to fight.
Suddenly, in a flash of light, the creatures began to disintegrate. Mario looked to see a boy wielding a sword and shining particles coming from his hand. Mario wondered why this boy was helping him, but the confusion went out the window as more of the unknown creatures started spawning everywhere.
"We have to destroy every last one of them before they spread," the boy said.
Mario wordlessly agreed and looked at the creatures. Both of them posed their fighting stance and raced out of their positions. Two of the creatures lunged forwards, and Mario threw out a single flaming punch, disintegrating both of them. Another charged and he flipped his cape, turning it around, making it pause in confusion. And then, he jumped up with an uppercut, coins materializing every second. The creature fell back down, disappearing. Believing Mario to be vulnerable in the air, two more jumped up to try and catch him off guard. However, as he fell to the ground, he thrust both his fists outward, spinning in a tornado, dealing multiple punches to both of them. As soon as his feet touched the ground, the two creatures were sent flying, both disintegrating almost immediately.
The boy, on the other hand, was puncturing every single creature in the head with his sword. The ones behind him attempted to latch themselves onto the boy's back. But he turns around and slashes them open, spreading out dark particles.
During the fight, more and more of the creatures continued to spawn. Mario was trying his best by hitting every single one of them with his punches while the boy moves on to use his light magic to destroy the creatures. The group began to dwindle as more and more of the creatures continued to disintegrate from their combined efforts.
There was one more left that unfortunately latched itself on to Mario. The creature grabbed his neck and raised a single claw, intending to end his life. Weakly putting his hands up to block, he expected the worst. Thankfully, it was stabbed in the chest by the boy's sword. With a weak cry, it disintegrated again. The boy grabs Mario's hand and gets him back up to his feet.
"Thanks for the help," Mario expressed his gratitude, shaking the boy's hand. "I might have been in trouble there without your help."
"Don't mention it," the boy nodded with a small smile. "I've had to deal with these things all day too."
"Who are you anyways?"
The boy put away his sword and his magic dissipated from his hands. And with a bow, he introduced himself: "My name is Hiroto Kamiyama."
"Nice to meet you, my name is-
"Mario?" Hiroto interrupted.
Mario looked confused and asked him.
"How do you know my name?"
"I've heard of you before. You're that red plumber that was knocked out of the tournament."
Reeling in shock from the blunt comment, Mario stuttered, "W-were you watching the tournament?"
"Yes."
"Oh…"
Mario rubbed his head and looked away, clearly ashamed for having been unable to prevent Peach's kidnapping yet again.
"Mario, I need you to come with me."
"Wh-what?" he reeled back again, this time from the sudden change in topic. "Come with you…?"
"Yes. There's something important that I have to tell you."
Mario decided immediately. The creatures' appearance was surprising, but the sudden entrance of this strange boy was extremely helpful. After all, even he wasn't sure he'd have been able to take all of them down so easily. He nodded at Hiroto and both proceeded in forwards. However, along the way, they encountered more of the unknown creatures.
"Damn, there's still more!" Hiroto called out.
Mario spawned a fireball particle from his hands while Hiroto has his light magic in place. Both of them charge at the creatures. The creatures attempted to latch on to both of them once more, but they soon meet their fate. Hiroto casts spells from his hands which made the creatures fly back. He would also use his sword to slice all of them in half. Besides him, Mario would throw flaming punches towards the creatures. He would also use his cape to fling the creatures back. With one of the creatures, he ran up to it and jumps to hit them in the face. Another creature attempts to latch itself on to him, but Mario threw a fireball at it which made it burn into dust. Once again, the creatures disappeared.
Though more had replaced them…
Hiroto returned his sword to his sheathe, and Mario dissipated the fire from his hands. Immediately, the two made the decision to escape.
"What are these creatures anyway?" Mario asked as they ran.
"They're called Xenos."
"Xenos?"
"Yes. My father gave them that name, though I'm not quite sure why. All I know is that they're a threat."
After a while, both Hiroto and Mario pause for a moment to gauge how far the Xenos were behind them. That was their cue to continue running, further into the forest.
"Hiroto, wherever you're taking me, how far is it?" Mario asked.
"It's further ahead. We just have to keep running though."
Suddenly, they stopped running to see a Xeno standing before them, turned away. Hiroto pulled out his sword from his sheathe, pointing the tip of his blade at the Xeno. Slamming his fists together, Mario wreathed his hands in flames, taking another fighting stance.
"Mario, watch out." Hiroto alarmed Mario.
The Xeno turned around to see both of them. However, unlike the others, it didn't charge to attack. Instead, it lurched over, as if a great pain overwhelmed it.
"What's happening to it? " Mario said.
"I don't know, but don't get any closer," Hiroto said, warning Mario.
Screeching, black particles began to flood out of its body. However, the stream of black particles suddenly solidified. From below its arms, two more had formed. Atop its head, bull-like horns had grown. From its mouth, its semi-normal teeth had sharpened considerably. Finally, what looked to be an eye had sprouted in the middle of its forehead. Mario and Hiroto flinched at the new appearance of the Xeno. As its screaming ceased, it straightened its body, revealing that the black particles' had somehow forced this particular Xeno to grow nearly as tall as the nearby trees.
"Mamma mia! What is that?" Mario yelled in fear.
"How should I know?! This is new to me too!"
The large, deformed Xeno bellowed out a roar that caused Mario and Hiroto to stumble back, flinching. Momentarily stunned, the two looked up to see the Xeno's three eyes staring at them as if it had challenged the two to a fight. Looking to each other, they nodded and slowly crawled to their feet, regaining their previous stances. Mario quickly ran up to it attempting to punch its face, but the Xeno used its two left hands to aggressively swipe him away. He fell to the ground.
"Agh!" Mario screamed.
Hiroto then ran up to the creature and stabbed its mouth with his sword. He attempted to pull it out but it refused. Then the creature swiped him away with its left hand which made Hiroto fall to the ground. Afterwards, the creature ripped out the sword with a roar and immediately threw it back to Hiroto, intending to impale him with his own sword. Hiroto glanced up to see the sword going towards him. He quickly rolled out of the way and the sword embedded itself in the ground where Hiroto once stood.
He got back up on his feet and spawned light magic from his hand. Attempting to run to the creature, he gets smacked by it again. He slides back to his position.
The creature then looked at Mario who was trying to stand up and charged at him as quickly, similar to an incoming train. It attempted to bite Mario, but he quickly dodged which made the creature land on the ground.
It was now Hiroto's chance. He once again ran up to the creature. However, it quickly used its tail to whack Hiroto back to his position. He fell to the ground while Mario ran up to him and hauled him back up to his feet. The creature landed its eyes on them and unleashed another loud roar before running towards them. Both Hiroto and Mario threw themselves away from the creature which again made it land on the ground. Both Mario and Hiroto suddenly found themselves on separate sides of the Xeno.
"I see then," Hiroto muttered to himself. He then quickly got up and stared at the creature. "You're not fair aren't ya. Alright then."
"I guess I won't play fairly too."
He once again quickly ran up to the creature. It tried to swipe him away again, but he blocked the hit with his left hand. He cast a spell from his right hand which caused a flash to hit the creature's third eye. Hiroto subsequently pushed himself back to the ground. He looked up to see the creature clutching its forehead, lurching forward, similar to when they had first seen its transformation.
'Wait a minute…' Hiroto thought to himself. 'That's it! That third is its weakness.'
While the creature held its eye, it turned to see Mario who was trying to get back up to his feet again. It charged itself towards him again, but Hiroto ran up to Mario and snatched him away before the creature's impact. Both of them ran towards Hiroto's sword while the creature stood up.
"Shit, this thing's not giving up…" Hiroto growled.
The creature turned to both of them. Hiroto pulled out his sword from the ground while an exhausted Mario tried to recompose himself. As the creature screeched once more, both of them set up their fighting stance until suddenly, they saw a floating object that appeared to be a pink ball sitting on a star-looking kart. It struck the creature's right eye and it screamed in pain. The pink ball landed on the ground next to Mario and Hiroto.
"Poyo!" the pink ball said.
"Kirby," Mario exclaimed in excitement "I'm glad to see you!"
Kirby grinned at Mario and looked at the creature, eyes sparkling. Though baffled, Hiroto returned his attention to the creature as it glared back at all 3 of them. Mario ran and jumped up to the creature and used his leg to kick its left eye. Kirby took out his hammer and slammed it into the creature's legs. Hiroto also charged forward, puncturing its right eye with his sword. The creature was screaming in pain and tried to use its claws to push Mario and Hiroto off. However, Mario jumped up to dodge the hand while Hiroto used his sword to slice off its incoming hand. The creature lets out another thunderous scream, reeling in pain.
"Alright, time to finish you off!" Hiroto yelled out. "All together now!"
Mario, Kirby, and Hiroto once again ran up to the creature. Mario threw a fist, his hand writhed in flames, his target, its right eye. Kirby took out his sword and slashed the creature's left eye. After that, Hiroto jumped up and slashed the creature multiple times with his sword. And then, focusing on a spell, his sword began to glow in a bright yellow light. He slashed the creature one last time in the head in its third eye. The trio after that landed on the ground. The creature then burst. Massive amounts of black particles that were once the remains of the creature started withering away. Hiroto stood up straight while Mario was on the ground, very exhausted. Hiroto walked up to Mario and grabbed his hand to get him back up to his feet.
"Nice job. It's over now."
"Poyo!" Kirby cheerily called out.
"Man, I'm tired," Mario complained, panting in exhaustion.
"Don't give up now," Hiroto encouraged. "I'd say we did pretty damn well."
Mario took a few deep breaths. Both of them began to walk until they saw Kirby next to them, smiling happily.
"Kirby, you're coming?" Mario asked.
"Poyo!" Kirby nods.
"Well, if he wants to join us, he can," Hiroto said. "Let's go!"
Kirby nods in excitement and walks with both of them.
"Well, would you look at that? We're almost out of the forest," Hiroto noted with a little bit of an optimistic tone.
Mario, Kirby, and Hiroto started jogging towards the open grounds. They were finally out of the forest. And then, they met the land. Not many trees on-site and just blank grasslands. It had a few small hills but that was it. It was until they got further that they were able to see buildings. Not just any buildings, they were skyscrapers. It was even more surprising when they got even further to the point a few blocks away from the buildings. After that, they were greeted with a sign.
"Welcome to Michiya Metropolis?" Mario said.
"Yes, welcome to my city," Hiroto said.
All three walked past the sign. They stopped at what appeared to be a stoplight. While they waited, they saw a bunch of cars coming by from their left side. What was even more shocking was that they saw people walking in the other streets. After the stoplight turned green, the trio continued walking. During their trip, they spotted so many people. They also spotted so many buildings and skyscrapers.
"I never knew this place was as big as Super Tokyo," Mario muttered, awe evident in his tone.
"Well, we're just an hour away from that city so of course," Hiroto explained.
After a few minutes of walking around, they were greeted with a mansion-like palace. The trio walked towards it. Hiroto opened the doors to the mansion and held it open to let Mario and Kirby get in first. After that, he closed it.
"Father, we're home," Hiroto called out.
The trio looked to see the father of Hiroto coming down from the stairs. He looked extremely worried.
"You're home," his father sighed in relief. "I was worried you would not return."
"Sorry to worry you, father," Hiroto said. "We had some unexpected company."
"And you dealt with it quite wonderfully, I'm sure."
Hiroto's father glanced at both Kirby and Mario.
"Oh, I see we have some guests here."
"Yes, father," Hiroto responded. "The red cap is Mario and his pink friend is Kirby. You told me to bring them here."
"Of course. I had asked for Mario, but Kirby is a name that I am familiar with as well. I have also heard of his deeds, so it is best that he hears this too."
Hiroto's father looked away from them and began to talk
"Mario, I was watching your tournament and saw the unfortunate events that happened. As I'm sure you are aware, your princess was kidnapped just as you were sent out of the stadium. To clarify, the boy that has kidnapped your princess is Katsuro. He is Hiroto's brother… and he is my younger son."
Mario was shocked to learn the truth. He began thinking to himself.
"Peach," he muttered.
"However, there is far more to this than you might expect."
Mario looked up at Hiroto's father and began to wonder what the hell he was talking about.
Just as Hiroto's father began to explain, Hiroto interrupted him, "Father? Would it be okay if I explained the situation?
Nodding, his father gave his approval.
"Right then." Hiroto turns to Mario. "Mario, have you ever of the Smash Orb?"
Mario questioned him. "Smash… Orb?"
"Yes. The Smash Orb is a large sphere with incredible power. Whoever wields it is granted a special power from the goddess that created it."
"And why is this orb important?" Mario asked. "If we need a goddess, we could just ask Palutena-"
"Unfortunately," Hiroto's father suddenly interrupted, "it is not that simple. Goddess Palutena ranks below this particular goddess. The Smash Orb itself is the only one of its kind, and this particular goddess has made sure of it."
"Okay… Why can't we just ask her for the orb then?"
"It's not that easy though," Hiroto continued. "The Orb was shattered and the pieces have been scattered all over."
"S-scattered?!"
"Yes. Though we have a vague idea of where the pieces are, we can't be too sure. The universe is vast and wide, so we can't just go to those spots and check. Someone might check the other spots when we're not there."
Though Mario wanted to help, this problem seemed quite a bit different from when he'd helped out Rosalina. For starters, he wasn't even sure how many pieces made up the Smash Orb. "Then… how can we help? Kirby and I: it's just the two of us. We're not sure we'd be able to keep track of everything."
"We've taken that into consideration," Hiroto's father spoke up again. "The reason why I've asked for you wasn't just because we needed your help to find those pieces. No, your connections to the other tournament fighters are what we are asking for. If you could relay this message to them as well, we would greatly appreciate their assistance before someone dangerous reconstructs the Smash Orb for their own nefarious purposes. Please… lend us your strength." He finished his explanation with a bow.
Hiroto gave a bow as well, adding his own request, "Katsuro's my younger brother, but please make sure he doesn't hear about this. I love him, but we can't trust him. Not only do we not know where he is, but we don't know who he's working for."
"You don't know where he is? Are you looking for him?"
"…Yes."
Without much deliberation, Mario nodded, determination set his face, "Then, you can count on me to help you two out!"
"Poyo!" Kirby agreed, a bright smile on his face.
However, Hiroto's father interrupted the two once again.
"Thank you for agreeing to our selfish requests, but I must warn you if you truly intend to act on our behalves."
Curious, Mario and Kirby looked at each other and nodded before nodding at Hiroto's father.
Taking a deep breath, he began to talk again:
"These are only rumors, but keep your wits about you. A strange organization has come together with malicious intentions. The members are unknown, and their goals are unspoken. However, from the last I've heard of them, they had apparently announced an intention to 'reenact the beginning'. If my hunch is right, all of reality itself is in danger. They are likely after the pieces of the Smash Orb in the same vein as the two of you."
"Not a problem!" Mario thumped his chest, his grin optimistic. "I can take whatever they have to throw at me!"
"If I could only believe you, I would," Hiroto's father surmised. "I have heard of your accomplishments, hero of the Mushroom Kingdom. These new foes are vastly different from the enemies that you have conquered. Tread lightly."
Though the warning was ominous, Mario was hopeful. There wasn't a challenge that he was willing to back down from that he hadn't conquered quite yet. With vigor still present, he puffed out his chest and nodded once more.
"Your optimism is unexpected but not entirely unpleasant," Hiroto's father gave his appreciation. "Thank you once again for helping us."
Hiroto turned to his father. "All right then, Father. If you don't mind, I'd like for us to depart immediately."
"Of course," his father nodded. "Go ahead. I will send your friends your way. Expect to rendezvous with them eventually. Keep your wits about you, and stay safe."
Hiroto smiled lightly and turned to both Kirby and Mario.
"Let's be off, you two!"
Mario and Kirby grinned at him, and the trio walked out of the palace.
They opened the door, marking the beginning of their long and arduous journey…
Disclaimer: All characters presented in the series belong to their respective owners except the OCs created by UltraBlueKitsune.