Chapter 7: Mario vs. Shadow Queen! The loyal clones make their move!
In his head Mario threw this thought away. It was just the Queen being cocky. He knew it would be a sacrifice but he'd have to protect the world by going to the earth's core. "Kage Buushin no jutsu!" Mario called out as he summoned his army once again. "We're at our maximum powers so let's fight!" The Queen's voice echoed. Mario nodded and handed Peach to a clone who flew into a higher area, away from the fight. Instantly, two hands emerged from the planet and reached after Mario, destroying every clone in its path. Mario dodged it easily but they turned around after him. It's over! Mario though as he looked behind him and saw another pair of hands. Suddenly, a clone pushed Mario out of harm's way, taking the blast head-on. It disappeared in a puff of smoke. Mario took control of himself and decided on a game plan. "I've got an idea." Mario finally decided.
He summoned more clones and they spread out and taunted the Queen. "You can't touch me! You call yourself a Queen? More like a pauper!" Mario called out with several clones. In anger the Queen used the same hand attack except she sent out pairs toward each group of clones. Mario ducked under the hands with a small group of clones and cut them from the source with a fireball blast. The other clones took up the dead hands and held them upward where the Queen couldn't reach. The Queen screamed in agony. Mario knew the Queen had lost some mass and now he could dive through her crust easy. He flew upwards at a great speed as to build the energy needed to pierce the Queen's crust. Mario looked down in surprise as the Earth turned black and glowed a black color. Suddenly, a beam came out of it, black as pitch, and hit Mario with a sharp pain. The plumber fell to the ground in defeat. "Nice try." The Queen's voice echoed. She was done toying with Mario and dragged him into her demonic depths with several hands. The clones looked on in surprise. Mario was defeated so easily! He had lost and now the Earth was doomed.
"We still have to fight!" a clone spoke up. The Shadow Queen was ignoring them because she was tormenting Mario deep inside her core. The others looked at this clone in disbelief. "We have to for our master. Don't you want to help him?" Some clones agreed but most thought it was too dangerous. "Come on!" The clone said to the ones who agreed and they flew upward and dived down toward the area Mario tried to target. "I don't think so!" A pair of hands burst out from the earth and destroyed the attacking group of clones. The others looked at the event with sadness and despair. "We can't win." said one of the remaining clones. "She's too powerful." The clones looked down toward the Earth with an angered and surprised look when they saw their master, unconscious and sticking out of the earth like a scarecrow. This was the Shadow Queen's trophy. They looked on in disgust. "This can't go on like this!" a clone begged. "Wait" the clone noticed something on the ground. It sparkled and glowed with a bright light but apparently nobody else noticed. "Hey!" the clone called to the others "Help me get that! I know what it is!" The clones couldn't take anymore of this and agreed. Whatever this led to- death or success- it was better than watching Mario's soul being slowly absorbed by the Queen. All the clones (except the one holding Peach) charged forward. Multiple hands shot out from the ground and destroyed a lot of the group but they persisted. The one who started this movement was nimbly dodging a pair of hands when he reached the object. It was a golden star, the tip of the star rod. Mario had dropped it. "I wish- I wish Mario could defeat the Shadow Q-" The clone was destroyed by a hand slamming itself upon it. The star trinket was thrown in the air and caught by another clone. "I wish Mario could defeat the Shadow Queen!" It said quickly before being destroyed by a pair of hands slamming upon it. The star glowed between the hands and a bright flash appeared. Everyone was blinded, even the Shadow Queen.
"Where am I?" Mario asked while rubbing his sore head. He looked around and saw shooting stars in the distance. He looked down toward the floor which was light blue and strong. Also, the atmosphere was just a shade bluer than the floor. "Mario," Mario looked behind him, prepared for a fight. It was the Millennium Star! Mario got up and asked what was going on. "In the battle against the Shadow Queen, one of your allies wished for you to defeat the Shadow Queen. Of course you know, the Shadow Queen's power excelled far beyond yours, star or not. This is an arena where you will both have equal power and have a chance to defeat the demon." "Where's Peach?" Mario asked. The Millennium Star said nothing but just looked forward. Mario looked in the same direction to see the Shadow Beast, growling in anger. It barked and howled, shaking the whole arena. "Mario, this will be your most important fight ever!" said the Millennium Star. "The fate of Earth is in the hands of the winner!" It floated high above the arena, signalling the beginning of the fight. Mario ran forward with the Shadow Beast doing the same. Mario punched the creature before it bit him in the stomach. Then they jumped backwards and stared each other down. Mario then prepared a fireball and threw it toward the beast and it just swallowed it whole! Then it spit a stream of smoke toward out hero who was now deprived of his sight. "Mario, you were constantly a thorn in my side but this is a fight you cannot win! I will eliminate you once and for all and take the destruction of Earth as my prize!"
Two huge claws swiped at Mario but he jumped backwards to dodge them. Then he fired a fireball in that direction and heard a howl. Direct hit. The smokescreen subsided and Mario was standing above the Shadow Beast who was on the floor in pain. Then it grinned. Mario felt huge pains in him limbs and found there were smaller versions of the Shadow Beast biting down on each limb! Blood gushed out of them like a spring. Mario tried to fight them off but couldn't. "For Peach!" he said and used a fireball to flick them off. Once they were off of Mario they disappeared in a puff of smoke. "I don't have enough energy for a Kage Buushin no jutsu! This battle is going nowhere!" Mario said to himself. "If only I had-" "Wishing for a partner to help you out?" The beast seemed to have read his mind. Mario shook his head and charged the beast, hoping for a lucky punch. He did not get that. The Shadow Beast just clawed him and sent him to the ground.
"This looks hopeless." the Millennium Star said gloomily. "I guess I'll have to find a new planet to orbit around." Mario rolled backwards to avoid another assault. When he got up he was gripping his bleeding ribs. His breaths were shallow and quick like a hunted stag. His eyes reflected the hopelessness in his heart. How can I win? He thought. There were no allies or friends to back him up. He had no moves left to fight with. The Shadow Beast had every one of them ready to counter. "I'll just have to think up some new ones." Mario said and he hopped into the air and rained down a storm of fireballs. The Shadow Beast deflected them away with a stream of darkness from its mouth but by the time it was sure there were no threatening fireballs left it had lost Mario from its sight. The beast looked everywhere but didn't find its target. "Behind you!" Mario yelled as he shot a powerful stream of fire into the beast's anal area. It screamed and howled in pain and was thrown to the floor, a couple meters in front of Mario. The beast threw up some blood and began to speak. "Mario, that sneaky blast has burned my innards. I'm going to die but-" the beast suddenly leaped up and slashed Mario across the chest. Before Mario knew what was going on the beast had his heart in its claws. The organ continued to beat and Mario got a little dizzy. "So are you." The beast crushed Mario's heart and laughed. Mario collapsed to the ground, dead. The Shadow Beast also collapsed after its hearty laughter.
Mario got up in a dark room. He looked around then gave up looking for any light. The Earth was doomed. He sat down and begun to cry. He didn't save the kingdom or Peach. He failed at the last minute. "Yo, Mario" said a high pitched voice. Mario knew who that belonged to. "Toad?" Mario looked up with surprise. "Don't give up." said the mushroom. "You can still win." Mario was too angry. "Stop telling me what I can and can't do!" he snapped. "I'm dead! The Shadow Queen killed me!" "Things have been worse." Toadsworth came out of the shadows. "Well, maybe not but you always came through. How are you going to give up without trying?" "Yeah." This came from Luigi. "Go on, bro. Save the day." The dark room started to brighten and everyone Mario ever knew started to appear, cheering him on until finally he saw Peach's smiling face. "Win, Mario."
"I lost." said the Shadow Queen, floating in a dark vacuum. "What is keeping me from destroying this planet?" The answer came to her quickly. "Mario!" she said in rage. "I will not be defeated by a hapless plumber!" She burned in rage. "I've destroyed planets and killed heroes and I will be darned if I lose to a single, stupid plumber!"
In a huge flash of light, everything was as it once had been. Mario was in a fighting stance, his shattered heart in pieces beside him. The Shadow Beast growled after spitting out the last burnt and useless organ from its body. "Their spirits" the Millennium Star said in disbelief. "Are too stubborn to call this fight a draw." "Shadow Queen," Mario started. "This whole time, I've gotten here by my allies and dumb luck. I've always shared the weight of the world with someone else or let it stumble off my shoulders but now I'm taking the whole thing by myself." The beast nodded. "I won't hold back this time. For the first time in my life, I'm going all out!" "One final attack to end it all!" "Let's go!" The two spirits, Mario fuelled by his friends and the Shadow Beast fuelled by her rage, charged at each other. Mario was soon engulfed by fire and the Shadow Beast by darkness. In the collision, the arena shattered and the sky full of shooting stars shattered. The Millennium Star was blinded by the great light the resulted in the final confrontation