Ch 14 time. There was going to be more...but it got too long, so next chap maybe short.
There once was a valley within the mushroom kingdom, whose lush green environment put even grassland to shame as it housed several kinds of plants, trees, flowers, and animals, making it a popular site for picnics in the spring. In the center of it laid a proud village and farming community. At the heart of the village, stood the embassy, a proud and mighty tower that served as a base for both diplomats and some of the kingdom's greatest soldiers.
Sadly, those times came to an end when Darkland invaded. Now all that remained of the proud little town was a dry, barren landscape combined with the scorching heat, and decayed ruins, accompanied by several old floating blocks – most probably didn't contain coins or items anymore. The barren land was hence nicknamed the Mushroomy Kingdom because the area left a space in the citizens' hearts.
Mario couldn't help but think back to his first adventure – When both Mario brothers were 19 years old, lost in a strange world, and found themselves tangled up in a quest that began their hero careers. Still, it pained him that the area served as another pitiful reminder of what his wife and their people had lost when Bowser attacked. Part of him couldn't help but feel angry that this was where his nemesis took his brother. What better place then to hide, not only under their noises in the rubble, but in the exact area, the vile monster KNEW the citizens would feel most uncomfortable searching.
The king glanced around at the ruins of what was once someone's home, lightly fingering the stony surface. He had to keep going. Luigi's life depended on it. Mario followed the directions until he ended up at the tower that was once the embassy. This place brought back memories of the first time he entered, but he had no time to reminisce. He eyed the envelope taped to the door and swiped it. In blood-red letters, the message read:
WELCOME SUPER LAME-IO!
"Yep…" Mario said with a slight pop at the end, "This is the place." If the timing was better, Mario would have better "applauded" at Bowser's "subtleness." The plumber-King pushed the door open without hesitation and slowly made his way inside; he was ready.
Unlike the last time Mario entered, the entire building was deprived of traps and lava. The plumber guessed they were all dismantled after the bros drove the invaders out. Still, he couldn't lower his guard – traps or not, dangers still lurked in the area. Mario slowly walked down the room, maintaining his guard and keeping his eyes peeled for Bowser.
"Okay Bowser," Mario thought to himself "Where are you?"
A few minutes within, and the hero in red felt a chill climb up his spine. He glanced around the empty, cobweb-infested room, trying to deduce the source. Mario pulled out his hammer, ready to use it if someone tried to attack him. Which, didn't take long.
WHOOSH! SMASH!
Mario swung his mallet at his attacker before he had a chance to attack him from behind. It was a ninji! The little critter was sent straight into the wall, landing with a hard thud. Mario glared hatefully at the minion, who returned the glare. That's when Mario noticed the steely glint – More were on the way.
Once again, the plumber swung his trusty hammer, knocking back the other ninjis that came his way. Sensing more were on the way, Mario took down the hall, hoping to lead them somewhere he could have more room to fight. To his annoyance, there stood two chargin chucks, ready to trample him. With lightning-fast reflexes, Mario jumped over the two foes, who ended up skidding to a halt, only to ram into the other ninjis, sending them flying. As the two football-wannabes mulled over their knocked-out comrades, Mario pulled out an ice flower, transforming into Ice Mario. A dark, uncharacteristic smirk plastered his face; the two Chargin chucks didn't have time to react as the Mushroom King combined his signature firepower with the ice power-up sending a robust combination of the two elements their way. One of the foes was left encased in a block of ice, and the other ran around in circles trying to put out the flame. Mario only chuckled and strolled away into the next the room, Mario could see it was another hallway. Large, long, and spacious, but a hallway nonetheless: which pretty much irked him.
"If you're gonna have the room be a hallway, get rid of the door or at least make it look more presentable." He grumbled.
Mario glanced up and saw there was a balcony above the door frame. Figuring it would save some time, he would jump up there and pray it would be a shortcut to Bowser's throne room: a gambit, but better than dealing with rooms that most likely contained repetitive traps. Still, the king couldn't relax; quiet or not, the room could still be littered with traps, just waiting to happen. Oh, how wrong he wished he was.
BOOM!
Mario stopped dead in his tracks. Glancing around his surroundings, the plumber saw a charred spot on the carpet 6 feet away. He was surprised he wasn't affected by the blast, though judging on the size, it looked to be a small explosion – a warning of what was to the corner of his eyes, he saw something coming his way and dodged it fast. The object hit the ground and unleashed another burst. The burned mark on the ground showed to be larger than the previous one. Mario bit his lip. He freaking knew it, another ambush. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a familiar chuckle.
"Just now understanding the danger you're in lad?"
Mario looked up. There, on a balcony, stood an old foe the king hadn't seen in forever. A large Bob-omb wore a crown and a white mustache: King Bob-omb. The red royal's eyes narrowed at the explosive monarch, who only smirked at his nemesis's reaction.
"It's been a while, hasn't it boy," the evil king greeted with a chortle, "I heard you're the new king. Not surprising since the new queen seems to be attracted to peasants."
Choosing to ignore the insult to his wife, Mario spoke in a cold tone, "Let me guess. Old Koopy, made you an offer you couldn't refuse?"
The mustached bob-omb laughed, "You would be correct; defeat you, and not only would I receive riches beyond my wildest dreams, but I would gain control of new territories when Bowser takes over the kingdom. Though if I'm being honest, having another go at you is what swayed me."
"Too bad it'll end up like all of our encounters. You, picking up whatever's left of your dignity." Mario sneered.
"On the contrary, you horrid little excuse for a king," the villain countered with a steely glint in his eyes, "It'll be YOU picking up your remains." He clapped his hands together, and about four dozen of bob-ombs appeared behind him. Mario flinched momentarily at seeing how there were dozens of them behind their king. He quickly shook it off.
"Heh, big deal King Flab-omb," he smirked arrogantly, "I took on an army of these little dweebs before. I can do it again!"
"Confident as ever," King Bob-omb chuckled, "But I'm afraid that won't save you." The incendiary snapped his fingers, causing the lights in the room to turn on. They revealed an entire army of bob-ombs: including a purple Bob-omb, with a scar and eye patch, who eyed Mario darkly as he pulled out a dagger. Seeing all those explosive lightbulbs in the room, Mario remembered why he was usually a silent protagonist.
. . .
. . . . . .
"Mama mia…"
"ATTACK!"
The bob-ombs dropped down one by one in hopes of hitting the plumber king. Said monarch, for better words, ran like hell to dodge the oncoming bursts. Using the ice flower's powers, he froze some of the ones that got close. Those that didn't burst on impact instead charged at him, Mario launched numerous ice balls to keep them away. When Mario saw the Bob-ombs' shadows over him, he surrounded himself with ice, to protect him from the blast. For the most part, it worked – until a couple nearly exploded behind him, causing him to stumble but still maintaining his power-up. Soon more burst behind him, but he kept moving. It wasn't until one of the explosive little suckers rammed into him and burst on impact, did the plumber realize he could be in trouble, especially when he lost his ice powers when he hit the flower. Mario scrambled to his feet when he saw more heading his way, both above and behind.
King Bob-omb laughed at the sight. His hated nemesis was struggling against his army, trying to pass through the barrage of minions all intent on eradicating his worthless existence. A malevolent smile spread under is his mustache,
"It serves you right, Boy," He chuckled to himself "You should have walked away when you had the chance back in Bob-omb Battlefield's Mountain," the bob-omb continued to laugh as Mario continued dodging more of his comrades, fighting off the ones that had yet to explode, and growing flustered when they respawned. Still, as much as he enjoyed toying with the runt, he had a job to do. "Had enough?"
Mario didn't answer; he put all his focus on steering clear of the bob-ombs; he had to be careful, otherwise, it would cost him. The plumber King jumped, dodged, and even knocked a few of the walking time bombs out of the way, but the more he fought and maneuvered, the more the danger increased. Still, he wasn't about ready to give up, not while he kept up the momentum.
It all came to an end, however – Mario got a bit careless as he got closer to King Bob-Omb, determined to rip his mustache off his foe's smug face. He didn't notice one heading his way until he was knocked down by a charging bob-omb. Another one flew at Mario before he had a chance to get up. Soon more began slamming into him repeatedly. Mario covered his head to protect himself – he peeked through his arm to see King Bob-omb leering down at the human. The hero knew the villain was toying with him, that's why he didn't order any of the bob-ombs to explode on him yet. King Bob-omb raised his hand, causing the bob-ombs to stop attacking their victim, but kept their guard up as Mario glared up at the leader.
"It's over lad," King Bob-omb sneered, "you came so close to defeat the king, but now you're in check," he snapped his fingers, and the bob-ombs lit up a bit. Mario felt beads of sweat run down his forehead – they were igniting, "You may as well surrender," King bob-omb said bluntly, "You're surrounded by opponents who could explode at any time, and you're out of options. Just throw in the towel. You failed your mission, you failed yourself, and you failed your failure of a brother."
Being a hero, Mario was used to being insulted, especially by villains. He could take name calling, jokes about his figure, and he could brush off comments about his height – it all came with the territory. However, the man would never tolerate any insults towards his loved ones, especially his twin brother who always had self-esteem issues; so for King Bob-omb to even DARE call Luigi a failure, let's say the bob-ombs weren't the only ones ready to explode. The piercing glare Mario gave King Bob-Omb became proof of that. The mad king flinched but soon recovered. Just as he was about to order his minions to explode . . . BOOM! As if fueled by rage, Mario unleashed a burst of energy sending the minions back causing them to collide with only a few setting off. The purple one with the eyepatch, however, had been flung in the air, colliding straight into his boss's face, comically falling flat onto the floor. King Bob-omb rubbed his face ferociously, cursing the plumber, but his troubles weren't over yet.
To the King's horror, Mario managed to jump onto the balcony. He stared down at the villain darkly. King Bob-Omb realized too late he crossed the line. Seconds later, the entire room echoed with painful screams; it ended the moment Mario, with all his strength, threw the robust monarch off the balcony. King bob-omb laid on the floor in pain as his subjects surrounded him in horror. Mario looked down at the villains menacingly. Déjà vu washed over the explosive king, and he felt his fuse nearly light up.
"YOU THINK THIS IS OVER?" He snapped shaking his fist, "IT'S FAR FROM OVER YOU FILTHY LITTLE STREET URCHIN! I'LL BE BACK, AND WHEN I DO I- "
BOP!
Mario cut him off by throwing the same purple bob-omb at him. Furious, King Bob-omb carelessly tossed his loyal, but at the current moment, abused minion aside, not realizing he threw him at another bob-omb who was close to exploding until it was too late. Most of the minions became startled at their leader's defeat, lit up unintentionally – the outburst became the nail in the coffin for the unfortunate monarch. The soon-to-explode minions were unable to hold back anymore. The rest who managed to keep the fuses under control, quickly fled, leaving the stunned monarch to his fate.
"Oh F- "
KABOOM!
Mario was already at the end of the stairs by the time the eruption began. It was pretty surprising that the whole place didn't cave in, but then again, fortresses like these were almost indestructible, almost. Not that it mattered to him at the moment; he had more pressing matters to engage with.
I had a bit of fun with the last part; especially since at this point, Mario's SOOOO done with villain's crap. All characters belong to Nintendo.