The SSBM Chronicles – Chapter 29: Mario's Test
An SSBM Fan Fic, by Smoke_Rulz
srssbm.cjb.net


*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

A little change of plans, as well as a confession. The confession: I was not originally prepared for this chapter. When I looked at the original plans for it, I realized it was a very bad idea, so I renamed the chapter to Test of Darkness, and went to work on Chapter 28. When I finished, I decided to make a new plan for this Chapter. And now the change of plans: I have extended the story by several chapters. :D I thought up a very nice idea, and it just won't fit into this Chapter alone. So the Story will now officially end on Chapter 33. And the next couple of Chapters should be released rather quickly! (Although I won't release them all THAT fast. I'll give you time to R/R each one.)

Hope you enjoy... :)


Mario attempts to break away from the strange hands that hold him, but is unable. Soon, they remove their grasp of him and disappear into the surroundings. Mario stands up and glances around. He's in a small stone room. A stone passageway lies before him. "Well... It'sa the only way I have..." He says.

He begins his trek down the passageway. Barely a minute later, at the first turn, he comes upon a stone door. On it are pictures of what appear to be his and Luigi's hats, only silver-colored. He approaches the door, which suddenly opens on its own. Through the doorway, Mario can see a circular arena suspended above what looks like a bottomless pit. He hops over onto the arena. The stone door behind him closes. No way out now. He glances around, but doesn't see anything suspicious. Though it is a bit dark. But without warning, the whole room brightens up in an eerie shade of bright red. Mario stands alert, and notices 5 dark portals appear high above on a far wall. Figures then appear out of the portals, chained to the wall by purple chains. Mario is shocked by who they are: Peach, Toad, Birdo, Luigi, and Yoshi. "Mario! It's really you!" Yoshi yells out.

"What... isa going on?" Mario yells back.

"I'll be glad to tell you!" A booming voice says, whom Mario quickly identifies as Master Hand. "This is your Test of Darkness, Mario! Win, and your friends are out of the Void. Lose, and you will join them!"

"Please, Mario! Save us!" Toad yells out.

Mario looks, and realizes he has no way to leap to the others. He must endure the test. He notices 5 more dark portals appear, this time surrounding him on all sides of the circular arena. Out of the portals come 3 Metal Marios, and 2 Metal Luigis. "More of them?" Luigi says.

"This looks bad..." Birdo notes.

The 5 Metal warriors begin a quick, by their standards, advance toward Mario. Mario, in no mood for games, charges one of them: A Metal Luigi. The ML stops and prepares. When Mario gets close, it attacks, but Mario dodges and unleashes a big kick, which barely moves it an inch. It attacks again, but Mario backflips out of the way. The other 4 Metals are now close, and they dive toward Mario. Mario quickly jumps into the air, causing the 4 Metals to slam into each other. Two of them fly fast in the opposite direction they were diving. Mario lands. Hmm... Theira heavyness makes them hard to knock away, but they makea themselves fly when struck by one another. This isa an advantage for me... Mario ponders.

"Did you see that? They flew!" Toad says.

"I think Mario has an idea..." Yoshi notes.

Peach doesn't comment, and watches the battle, worried. The Metals quickly get back to the offensive. Mario jumps toward a Metal Mario and pulls out his cape, wrapping it up. He yanks the cape away, causing the MM to spin around in dizzyness toward the edge of the arena. One of the MLs charges a green missile maneuver and jettisons toward Mario. Mario quickly dodges, and the ML slams into the dizzy MM, knocking it across the gap and into the stone wall. The MM lets out a muffled "scream" and falls down the bottomless pit. Upon this happening, Mario glances up and notices the chain around Toad starting to break. It shatters, leaving Toad floating in midair. "I'm free! Thank you Mario!" He says, as he suddenly dissolves into white light particles and floats away.

Mario now realizes that each time he can take out a Metal, one of his friends is released. He springs into action, attacking one of the Metals. He is stunned when the ML suddenly grabs the punch mid-swing. He begins squeezing Mario's hand. Mario pulls back in pain, before the ML could crush his hand. He quickly notices the other 3 Metals jumping up behind him and charging. He jumps in the air, but this time the Metals don't collide. They instead stop, and jump up to the airborne Mario. Before he can react, Mario is slammed hard in the gut with an MM's metal fist. He hits the ground and grasps his stomach. "What isa this all about?" Luigi asks.

"It appears the Metals are incredibly stronger than before..." Peach answers.

"This really does look bad..." Birdo proclaims.

Mario gets to his feet, only to be met by the metal fist of the other MM. Mario staggers back, his face throbbing. He leaps into the air above the Metals and fires down a wave of fire, which engulfs them. He is pained to notice the 4 Metals jumping through the fire toward him. The 4 begin a midair assault. Mario, unable to defend, feels like he's caught in-between machine pistons. The 4 Metals then simultaneously strike Mario down back to the stone area. Mario lands hard on his back, and rolls over to his stomach. He is now unmoving. "No... The Metals are too much for him!" Yoshi says.

"MARIO! Get up!" Peach yells.

Mario moves a bit, but can't get up. The pain is too unbearable. The 4 Metals begin laughing, and slowly advance toward him. "It's over..." Luigi says.

"No... Mario... Please... You have to get up..." Peach says as she lowers her head, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Mario opens his eyes, and sees nothing but the cold stone below him. He can hear nothing but Peach crying. He can feel her sadness. As if reborned in new strength, Mario props himself up to his knees with his hands. The Metals stop advancing, puzzled. Peach... I won't fail you... I refuse to fail you! He thinks to himself, standing up, still looking down at the stone.

The 4 warriors chained to wall, as well as the 4 Metals, look on in astonishment. Mario clenches his fists, and suddenly becomes engulfed in flame. A ring of fire then ignites on the ground below him and fires out around him, like a ripple of water in a pond. The Metals look around to each other, surprised and confused. Mario glances up toward them, a whole new look of determination in his eyes. "Check him out!" Yoshi says.

The Metals stand confused, but one of the MLs decides to charge toward him. Mario does not move. The ML lunges toward him. Mario extends his hands and... catches the ML in midair. Started gasps can be heard from the 4 captured Smashers. Mario spins the ML around and grabs him by the legs. He then spins around twice and flings him straight into the other ML. The impact causes a rumbling shockwave, as the two MLs fly straight across the arena and plunge into the pit. Mario and the remaining 2 Metal Marios glance up toward the chained Smashers. The dark chains binding Birdo and Yoshi shatter. The two dissolve into white light, all the while cheering for Mario. The two Metal Marios look back at Mario, obviously angry. They begin to charge toward him, one behind the other. Then the latter jumps forward, slamming into the one in front of him, and causing him to fly rather fast toward Mario. Mario sidesteps with incredible speed, causing the MM to go right past him and down the pit. This frees Luigi from the Dimensional Void. Peach looks on, speechless. I can't believe this... Where did Mario get all this power? She thinks to herself.

The last Metal Mario pounds his fists on the ground, knowing he just took out one of his partners. He runs toward Mario in a blind rage. Mario extends his palm. When the MM gets close, Mario unleashes a vicious fire blast. The MM goes flying across the arena, slamming into the wall near Peach. Peach glances down and watches him fall to his doom. She then sees the chain around her shatter. As she begins dissipating, she looks over at Mario with a proud smile. Mario exchanges his own smile. Peach disappears. The fire aura around Mario disappears, and he falls to his knees, exhausted. He takes deep breaths. I did it... They're free... But if thisa was my test, that means the others also havea their own tests. I only hope theya can win. He thinks.

He then hears a high-pitched sound. He glances forward, and sees a beam of clear white light descend down to the middle of the arena. He smiles, and slowly walks into it. As he stands in it, he can feel his wounds and pain disappearing, and he begins to ascend upwards through the beam. He glances toward the top, and everything goes white...


THE END
Next: Chapter 30 - Link's Test

Note: Chapters 29 through 32 happen simultaneously.