Mario's Theatre (pt. 1): Back into the Mushroom Kingdom

So, we are finally down to the adventure itself, and I will be starting with Mario's theatre first. What will Mario and his group witness as they attempt to retrieve one of the staff's five pieces? Read to find out!

The black rose is a special object…

It contains beauty, but in a corrupted form…

Its essence has fallen prey to evil forces…

Many have shied away from it, seeking happier pleasures in life…

Only the heartbroken and the hopeless have taken solace in it…

It has been one of many objects represented in gothic stories…

It is a symbol of infinite sorrow…

It is a representation of beauty and death…

Dizziness.

Confusion.

Nausea.

Helplessness.

These words were occupying Mario's mind as he and his group soared through the portal to the Mushroom Kingdom. He had no idea on which direction was up and which one was down, at least not while he was being tossed around like a ragdoll. The violent motions were so frequent, so erratic that a nauseating feeling gripped his body tightly. It was profoundly sickening to the point where he felt like vomiting his recently eaten breakfast right now. He could easily hear the terrified Diddy Kong and Luigi, both of whom were screaming out of pure terror. Such screams blended in with a loud ringing noise that punctured his ears painfully.

This must be what torture feels like, he believed. How can anyone tolerate such an agonizing experience? Just when he believed that the horror would never end...

BLAM!

...he suddenly slammed into the ground with a loud thud. A sharp sensation of pain suddenly ripped through him as if he had been hammered by an automobile. His legs wobbled as he tried to stand up; what was originally a simple task became excruciatingly and unnecessarily difficult by virtue of the heavy landing. On top of that, the ringing noise that accompanied the travel still resonated in his ears, which left him inept to the groans of his group. His head cocked itself upward to examine the surroundings. The first thing that he noticed was that his group members were sprawled all around him. They were either unconscious or groaning loudly in pain from the impact. Bowser, the horned Koopa with red hair and spiked rings on his arms, was specifically lying unconscious on the back of his shell, piercing the earth with long spikes. Additionally, Diddy Kong was stretched across Donkey Kong's muscular form, while the latter ape groaned in agony from the former's collision with him. As strong as the massive ape was, the fact that he was visibly reacting to his pain from two impacts, as opposed to just one, was a surefire indicator that even he had limits imposed upon him. The second thing Mario noticed was that he and his group were inside a forest, filled with numerous trees of varying types. The winter snow that coated the area seemed to dull the colors present and had presented a form of scenery filled with potential confusion. The only clear indicator of where to go came in the form of a trail that was deeper than the rest of the ground, with one pathway that led to the north and another to the south. There were no visible footprints of any sort, a sign that it had not seen any use as of late, which only complicated the cluelessness trapped in Mario's mind. There was a clear trail present, but the question was:

Which way should the group go?

As the ringing in his ears died out, Mario refocused on his group. Despite the unconscious state of several of them, he needed his allies to assist him in the fight against the Lords.

"This is-a not going to be easy," he muttered to himself, "But we need to search-a for a way out of this area."

"Wah…" Yoshi moaned. He felt like his brain was about to explode from pain.

"Here, I'll-a get you up," Mario puffed. He extended his hands to Yoshi, who latched onto them feebly. As the plumber stood him up, the dinosaur was overcome by a strong form of erratic shaking in his legs. Even though he did not reveal any signs of it, worry occupied his mind. Since he was weakened from the impact, he feared that it was not feasible to stand or travel on his own. His tension, thankfully, disappeared when he noticed his ability to stabilize his posture by himself.

"You alright-a?" he heard Mario say.

"Yoshi dizzy…" As he groaned these words, the green dinosaur gripped his head tightly. Mario extended his right hand to the back of Yoshi's head and noticed a small bruise upon contact. The bruise was a faint maroon in color, reminiscent of a pair of curtains in a play or orchestral performance. The red-wearing hero grimaced slightly at this injury and reestablished eye contact with the disoriented dinosaur.

"Hold it together, Yoshi. We'll-a get to a place as soon as-a possible so that you may rest-a."

"My head…" Luigi croaked as he sluggishly lifted himself off the ground. A sharp pain was clawing its way inside the younger plumber due to a harsh blow to the head. This pain was so intense that he had difficulty seeing straight, and it did not help that his ability to discern one thing from another was heavily reduced. If Mario had the chance to examine how Luigi might have looked in his current state, he would have noticed that his younger brother was awfully close to vomiting the contents of his stomach and that his face was fading to greenness. Meanwhile, Donkey Kong, henceforth referred to as DK, painfully forced himself upwards while clenching his stomach tightly, and Diddy leaped off to avoid interfering with his cousin's recovery. A large red area was noticed on the larger ape's abdominal area by Mario, a clear and unpleasant indicator of the earlier collision. Nearby, Wario, clothed in his overalls, was completely unconscious, his overweight form stretched across the base of a nearby tree. As Mario stared at him and Bowser, a sudden thought zipped into his head.

We need to carry Wario and Bowser until we either reach our destination or they wake up, he pondered. Those two are heavy suckers, so I need stronger guys to give them a lift. I can get DK to carry Bowser, while Yoshi can carry Wario. Mario cleared his throat before proceeding to issue his commands.

"Yoshi, I need you to carry Wario until we arrive at-a Toad Town, or until he wakes up-a. Think you can do it?"

"Yoshi will try…" the dinosaur muttered nervously. The thought of having to keep Wario on his back left him trembling; not only was the greedy miser an obese character in a literal sense, but Yoshi himself was still recovering from the impact of launching out of the portal at high speeds. However, given the situation, the dinosaur had no choice in that matter. With Diddy's help, Yoshi heaved the overweight plumber onto his back. A crushing sensation zipped across his back almost instantaneously as he struggled to stabilize his legs.

"DK," the older plumber requested, "Can you carry Bowser?"

"Sure, though I might need a break after this…" the ape puffed. As he approached his assigned partner, he was still clenching his impacted area tightly to suppress his pain but ultimately chose to mentally ignore his pain and hoist Bowser over him. He had to carry the Koopa King face down so that the spiky shell would not scratch him. Unlike Yoshi, DK had no problem lifting heavier persons because of his great strength and despite the significant injury that he had sustained.

"Where do we go from-a here?" Luigi shivered. The chilling weather was gradually causing the green-clad plumber to shake in a subtle but rigid manner, something which Mario and the others failed to notice. Along with this, his arms were wrapped around his chest tightly, complimented by the slight chattering of his teeth. Meanwhile, Mario twisted his head toward both directions of the trail, with no clue on which way to go, before focusing on his brother.

"I'm not-a sure…" the red-clad plumber slowly replied. "The only indicator is-a the trail that we're-a seeing right now, but which-a way to go is-a beyond me."

"Well, we need to choose sometime today," DK puffed lowly, "Because us standing here in the cold isn't going to be a lot of help." As soon as the muscle-bound ape was finished, he noticed some of the snow bits that were firmly sticking onto his fur, which bestowed upon it a faint layer of soft white. Observing his left side, he immediately realized that Diddy was undergoing this gradual process as well.

Where to go… which way… Mario was almost clueless on the direction that he and his team had to go. Before he could delve any further into thought, however, a faint flash of light sparked from the northern side of the trail. This light was a burnt orange in appearance, which contrasted with the snow on the ground and in the air. It was like a mix of fire and ice in the hero's perspective. As an additional detail, a distant explosion was heard by almost all members of the party, which left them wondering about what was going in the distance. Was it a bomb going off, perhaps? Or was it something worse…? Regardless, Mario and his allies now had something on which they could rely.

"Let's-a investigate the northern path," he ordered. All party members—sans the unconscious Bowser and Wario, who were being carried—followed him with no hesitation. As they stomped through the snow, the frozen wind wrapped its arms around them to the point where the weather felt bitter; if it had not been that way before, it certainly was that way now. Yoshi desperately struggled to maintain his balance, which was required to sustain himself and avoid having Wario slip off his back. The winds seemed to slow DK down as he firmly tried to keep Bowser from flying off. The remaining three could feel their hearts race out of eagerness and danger, eagerness because they now had a lead and danger because they could be bumping into a possible threat.

Could it be…? No, there was almost no way; there was no way that it could be them, not here in the Mushroom World.

The thought remained etched into the minds of the two plumbers and the cap-wearing ape as the party continued down the trail. As the party progressed, another light illuminated the trail, accompanied by another faint explosion. This time, however, the light was more intense and remained illuminated for a longer time, while the sound of the explosion was significantly louder. Worry began to resonate in the minds of all party members; whatever was happening could be an indicator of something dangerous, and the thought of such a thing only intensified as the group approached the source of the explosion. The question was:

What is that dangerous thing exactly?

Mario suddenly halted when he caught a glimpse of a substance that had soaked into the snow. From where he was standing, the substance possessed a deep red color that contrasted sharply with the snow.

Someone spilled his juice while he was out here, he muttered internally. As the others froze in place, Mario strolled towards the liquid and proceeded to examine it further. Now under close observation, the substance's bright red color darkened significantly, almost as if it were trying to manipulate Mario's mind. When the plumber shoved a hand into it, it stuck onto his glove like tar. His eyes glancing further, he now realized what the substance was.

"Is that-a… blood?" Mario gasped silently. Out of disgust, he wiped his glove into the snow to remove the blood. Before he could even go so far as to relocate himself, however, a faint form of shivering was picked up by his ears. The plumber leaped up and sighted a figure wandering out of the thick mass of trees. This figure possessed vivid yellow skin, a long beak, green shoes, and, above all, a grass-colored shell. For attire, he was wearing a pair of darkened jeans and a gray, long-sleeved shirt, along with a burnt orange scarf. From these properties, Mario instantly recognized the creature to be a male Koopa. He also noticed that the turtle-like creature was pressing a hand over his chest and exhibited erratic breathing.

"Sir," Mario muttered, feeling a dark worry in his heart and mind, "What's-a the problem?"

The answer that he received was not what he had expected. The Koopa gradually removed the hand on his chest to reveal a frightening property. His shirt was heavily soaked with blood, and on the center of his chest was a gaping wound, the same type of wound that could be caused by a sharp object or a bullet. It was enough to force Luigi and Diddy to hop backwards in shock. Mario simply grimaced at this disturbing detail; this poor soul had been impaled in the heart and required urgent medical attention. There was no time to waste…

"What-a happened?" the plumber gasped.

"Something… attacked Toad Town…" the Koopa croaked, "It… was a… a group of figures… I couldn't tell… who they were… But they weren't… any of Bowser's… troops… Please, help… us…"

Mario felt his eyes widen as he considered the most vital detail of the comment. "Wait-a, who's attacking Toad Town?"

"They were… wearing black robes… with… hoods… You cannot see… their faces… I think… they're searching… for something…"

"You need to come with us-a. That-a wound of yours will kill you if we don't-a get you to a hospital."

"Ugh...!"

Before Mario could lend his support, however, the Koopa released a coughing fit that spewed drops of blood onto the snow, an action that forced the plumber to leap away to avoid ruining his clothing. The poor creature then collapsed to the floor almost instantly, hacking and wheezing uncontrollably while also letting loose a truly erratic instance of shaking that caused most of the group to cringe, all before the shadow of death ultimately consumed him. As the Koopa breathed his last breath, Mario was left in a state of shock; not only had an innocent being died right in front of him, but the Koopa's words reminded him of what he feared the most.

"Oh, shit…!" he puffed.

"What?" Diddy mumbled.

"The Orm's Lords. They're-a here in the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Are you serious?!" The smaller ape could not resist the urge to widen his eyes in fear. The fear was soon spread like a virulent flu across all conscious members; if the dreaded Lords were here, in this realm, then there was no telling what sort of damage they were capable of inflicting upon an innocent kingdom… Mario had always anticipated what sort of damage Bowser and his troops could do, but the Lords were a different matter entirely. Unknown enemies, they could be a lot worse than the Koopa Kingdom regarding their ability to wreak havoc.

"I'm not-a joking. We need to reach-a Toad Town and repel those guys before they wreak-a more havoc."

"Let's get a move on, then!" DK ordered. The group hastily sprinted towards the destination, and each active member's heart was now pumping at full speed. By now, the bright light now illuminated the area with a furious glow, and the explosion was much louder than before. It had gotten loud enough to the point where Wario and Bowser sluggishly began to stir themselves awake.

"Eh…" Wario grunted. His massive form stretched itself across Yoshi's back momentarily before contracting itself to lean upwards. As his eyelids peeled open, the first thing that he witnessed was that Yoshi was carrying him backwards at high speeds. "What's-a going on here?"

"We get to Toad Town," Yoshi squeaked, "Before it destroyed!"

"What do ya mean? I don't-a get this." The miser scratched his head in confusion, unaware of the panic that was overtaking the others. "Why should-a we be going to Toad Town?"

"The Orm's Lords are-a here," Luigi shuttered. "They're attacking the town right-a now, and we need-a to reach it before it's-a destroyed." Wario rotated his head in different directions to catch the sight of panicked expressions from all party members except for Bowser, mixed up with quick breathing. It was not long before he eventually grasped the true severity of the situation.

So, they must be referring to those robed losers, he wondered. Well, I guess we should go down to Toad Town and protect it, and I hope to get some sort of reward at the end… Before he could even open his widened mouth, however, Bowser suddenly forced his eyes open, only to notice that he was being carried by DK.

"Hey, stupid ape," he sneered, "Do you mind putting me down?"

"So, you're-a finally awake. Did you enjoy the nap-a, big guy?" Mario muttered semi-sarcastically. The others shot a confused glance at him; it was unusual for him to possess even a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice, even when he was battling fearsome foes. Why was he acting like that now? Bowser, however, refused to take note of this observation and unleashed a furious snarl at him. He truly despised it whenever someone, especially his most hated enemy, showed a disrespectful attitude towards him... and everyone close to him was aware of that fact.

"Mind your own business, sassy plumber! Hey, DK, can you get your monkey hands off me?"

"Okay, okay. Geez…" DK hoisted the Koopa King off his back and into the ground. The latter joined the others in the rush to Toad Town, albeit without a clue as to why the others were heading to that specific location.

"Hey, where are we going?" he asked.

"We're-a heading to Toad Town," Mario bluntly explained. "The Orm's Lords are-a here in the Mushroom World."

"Why should I care? I don't even wanna bother with the wimps that inhabit that place!"

The plumber remained firm in attitude, not deterred by his rival's remark. "If we don't-a stop these guys, the Svärtad Orm will be released… and you will have-a no kingdom to conquer."

That nearly set Bowser off. He had spent years in his attempts to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom and even the entire universe on two occasions, all to cast his iron-fisted rule over the innocent creatures that resided in his conquered land and, on a more personal note, snatch Peach away from Mario. And now, he was going to lose it all to the Lords if nothing was done soon…

It was beyond unacceptable to steal something that was, in his opinion, rightfully his. His face flared up to the point of fiery redness, reminiscent of a piece of heated metal. Meanwhile, his fists clenched tightly as if he were about to hammer something soon.

"Those stupid robed freaks… I will rip their heads off, one by one, for trying to steal something that's mine and I mean MINE!"

"You'll get your chance soon enough," DK puffed. Several meters later, the seven finally reached the edge of the beloved Toad Town. However, they were greeted with an unpleasant sight, one that almost paralyzed them all; even Wario and Bowser seemed truly mortified. For one thing, the cold but warm-colored light that they had witnessed was simply Peach's castle in flames. Mario also noticed that sections of the castle were missing. No doubt, the explosions were originating from the castle, and Peach would certainly lose her mind if her eyes were to establish contact with this mess…

The damage did not stop there, for the buildings in the square were in a ruined condition. Doors were either damaged or completely torn off. Numerous windows were smashed to tiny pieces, which made a barefooted stroll extremely dangerous. Roofs, whether flat or curved, had caved in to allow blasts of coldness to possess many buildings. Lights were decimated, which only served to darken the area despite the approaching light the morning phase. Some of the buildings were unlucky enough to even be ignited, and the snow did little to dispel the flames. To complete the wreckage, a statue of a Star, one of the most valued items in the Mushroom World, had toppled over, having lost its once-magnificent glory.

But perhaps the most terrifying aspect of the damage was the massive amount of bodies out on the streets. Most of them were stretched across the ground, with numerous wounds on their bodies. One Koopa was brutally slashed across the chest, which in a heavy amount of blood across the front of his torso. The wound was so deep that it almost exposed the internal organs underneath to freezing temperatures. Meanwhile, several more were roasted to a near-unrecognizable state, and others were missing several limbs, which did more than force Luigi to clasp his hands over his eyes. In fact, it delivered to him a horrific feeling in his stomach. Blood was splattered across the streets and on the bodies of the unlucky citizens. The carnage, in Mario's perspective, was a truly terrible sight to behold. In every single one of his experiences, he had not witnessed such an outrageously heinous act from Bowser and his troops, not even once.

"This is a nightmare," Mario whispered to himself. "I can't-a believe that the Lords would-a go so far as to slaughter people unworthy of-a death."

"Mario, can you hear me?" a voice resonated inside his head. The plumber suddenly leaped upwards and was now on full alert. Someone was speaking to him, and it was not any of his party members. He jerked his head in all possible directions, hoping to locate the source of the voice.

"Who are you?" he gasped.

"It's me, Lillian." Mario's tension soon faded away upon hearing the voice's identity. To believe that the voice was an unknown soul now sounded ridiculous… He had almost forgotten that Lillian had previously granted to the Smashers a telepathic link with her.

"What is it?"

"What is your status?"

Mario stared at the death and destruction surrounding him, not uttering a word during that moment. This was sure to be disturbing news for the maiden. He then cleared his throat before responding. "We're at-a Toad Town, but the Lords… They truly did a number here. I'm-a seeing devastated buildings and-a murdered citizens."

"Oh, my goodness… Any sign of the Lords?"

"No, I don't-a think so. We'll-a continue our-a journey to the staff piece."

"Alright, Mario, but be extra careful. The Lords are the type of enemy who will not hesitate to slaughter innocents, nor will they decline attempts to punish those who resist. If you must fight, fight to your maximum potential, because they will not mess around and can deliver agony to a person who makes even the slightest mistake. If they are too powerful for your group, then run."

"Okay. We'll-a be careful."

In a twilight-coated forest, somewhere in an unknown realm, was a river. Water smoothly flowed from higher ground to a darker segment of the forest below. This river was also bathed in a soft yet dense fog, which formed a beauty so mysterious, yet so comforting… An ordinary traveler would have given into the temptation of relaxing by this obscure place. The trees in the area were numerous and bestowed upon the view of the cloudy sky a grass-colored shade. A gentle wind swept through the forest, which rustled the trees and further fueled the calm and pleasant atmosphere of the area. On the ground, roses were present in surprisingly copious amounts; most of them were tinted the color of blood, but some of them were white, pink, or even black. It almost seemed that there was nothing out of the ordinary here because of the sheer beauty alone.

However, there was absolute worry in the mind of a young man who was wandering within the forest. His hair possessed the color of wheat while being short and smooth in appearance; it seemed to be a rather heavenly feature to behold. His eyes matched with the grass on which he was treading almost perfectly, with the only difference being that his eyes were slightly darker. His build was best describable as both lean and thin, with muscle counteracted by a smaller mass. Height-wise, he was a taller person. For a better understanding, it appeared that he was just barely shorter than Ganondorf.

His attire was vaguely reminiscent of what Lillian had on her delicate form, though it was otherwise entirely different. His dull white trousers reached towards the inside of each of his leather-fabricated boots, firmly and neatly tucked in to avoid coming loose. His shirt was decorated with an emblem, which was decorated with a lion surrounded by two brightly colored roses. The lion was facing upwards with its jaw wide open. The right side of the chest was home to a ruby-colored brooch, which was nearly identical to what Marth had on his uniform. This brooch had the potential to shine when exposed to bright lights, but it was currently not doing so due to the low lighting. To complete his attire, his hands were coated with leather gloves that appeared to have been recently polished, given its slight shine. On his left hip was a quicksilver-tinted sheath, and inside that sheath was a sword, obscured almost completely except for the handle. The man appeared to be the type of person who could make a young woman fall in love at will, but earning a mate was currently the least of his worries because of his search for someone more important…

"Lillian?" the man called. He possessed a Scandinavian accent in his voice, like Lillian. His face was tense; as the maiden was nowhere in sight, and with no means of establishing contact, he feared that she could be captured, or worse…

What about the Lords? They could be stalking nearby, silently pursuing his flesh to capture or even murder him. He would have to keep quiet, but if he did so, he would be condemning Lillian to death. Then, he would be ridiculed for indirectly causing the death of a valuable person…

He would never be forgiven, neither by himself nor by others…

Ex īnfernō venit serpēns

Plēnum odiī est cor suum

Eget misericordiā et amōre

Inter rēgnum suum terrōris, erat fūr animārum innocentium et dēstrūctiō societātum

Growing increasingly desperate, he raised his voice to a yell. As he did, his heart gradually began to sink out of fear. If she was dead or captured, he believed, the struggle to restore peace was going to end in disaster.

"Lillian! Where are you? If you can hear me, say something! I don't want to leave you here…!"

No response echoed throughout the forest. His breathing was no longer controlled, now deeply hectic. The urge to allow tears to stream from his eyes was now an untamed beast that was viciously clawing at him and threatening to tear him apart, limb by limb. Maybe the search was hopeless… No, he had to find her, no matter the cost. With all his strength, he unleashed a fierce yell that spread throughout the trees.

"LILLIAN!"

Sine strāge ultima, dēnuō veniet

Back at Toad Town...

Mario and his group wandered around the decimated town in search of any survivors. By now, the wind had vanished into nothingness, and the scenery soon became quiet and still. As they caught the dark sight of more bodies out on the streets, their hopes gradually began to darken.

What if there are no survivors…?

The thought alone almost sickened Mario. Aside from Ganondorf, who else would be this cruel to consume the lives of hundreds of innocent people? He twisted his head to examine the nearby lake, only to notice an abnormal red color and several bodies on its surface. The lake in the town had not been spared from Death, who had cast his mark via the Orm's Lords.

If only he and his group had been in the town when the Lords reared their hideous heads….

"No fair," Bowser grunted out of frustration, all while examining the bodies. "I wished to take these guys in as my slaves…"

"Um, Bowser," DK muttered, "If the Lords succeed with their plans, then you'll be converted to a slave yourself. That is, if they don't kill you first." The comment struck a chord in some of the members. No doubt, the ape was pointing out something important; failure could mean certain death or, worse yet, eternal slavery. If the latter fate was selected for them, it was going to be never-ending and relentlessly agonizing torture. They would be forced to work for long hours, non-stop, until they were out of energy or the Lords disposed of them.

It would certainly be the equivalent of being chained to Hell. The only way to prevent either deadly fate was to gather the staff pieces before… those robed figures do.

"Wait-a, did you hear something?" Luigi spat. His ears apparently picked up a rustle that echoed from the nearby trees. It would have been passed off as natural if there had there been any wind. Someone or something was lurking in the trees nearby, and Luigi was fully aware of it. Unfortunately, the others failed to take notice.

"Yoshi hear nothing," Yoshi piped up, scratching his head in the process. Was the green-clad plumber pointing out something important, or was he simply acting paranoid?

"Me neither," Diddy added, also doubting the veracity of Luigi's claim.

"What are you up to, green bean?" Bowser taunted. "I don't hear anything. If you're making stuff up, I'm gonna hammer you. No joke."

That nearly aggravated the green-clad plumber. "Wha…? I'm-a serious. There's-a something in the trees! We'd better go check it out-a in case it's-a something dangerous."

"I hope you're right-a," Mario replied, dusting his hat off. "If not, then we're-a going to simply be wasting time." He strode over to the nearby forest, hoping to discover what was creating the noise. As he did so, the other members followed him, also curious about the noise that Luigi supposedly heard. Approaching with cautious footsteps, they twirled left, right, up, and down to locate the source. For a while, there was no discernable sound. During the period of silence, Bowser's frustration started to boil up. If Luigi was lying about the noise, then there had to be a serious punishment for him. Mario was also becoming increasingly irritable, albeit to a lesser degree compared to his nemesis. Wario and the apes were simply indifferent to the claim, and they believed that Luigi was just hearing things in his mind. Just as the others were preparing to leave, however, a sudden rustle echoed from an distant location. Mario quickly whirled around, now fully alert in his attempt to locate the noise.

"I guess you were right after all-a, bro," Mario whispered. The rustling continued, and the party members continued to search for the noise's source. While this was occurring, nervousness took root within Luigi's mind. He feared that something might pop out in front of his face, which, given his less-than-courageous personality, would cause him to lose it completely. Diddy was also tense, now resorting to hiding behind DK. While they revealed no signs of it, the others were receiving chills down their spines. Even Bowser and Wario were legitimately jumpy at that point. The rustling increased in volume, louder and louder, until…

The scenery fell silent again. Nothing else was heard.

"Hm," Mario sighed, slightly confused by the change of events. "Whatever was-a producing that-a noise is-a gone. We must-a continue searching for survivors."

"Well," Wario grunted, "That was-a wei-"

Before he could say anything else, the forest was suddenly alight with a furious and bloody glow. By natural stimulus, the shakier members yelped and tripped backwards at this new scene, only to rush to the rear of the group. His eyes slowly adjusting to this newfound sight, Mario locked his eyes onto a group of figures that quietly still under the foliage of the trees; he perceived these figures to be garbed in blackened robes that blocked out most aspects of each member's individual persona. Performing a left-to-right visual sweep of the forest, he noticed that there could not have been more than forty of them. No matter how hard he tried, however, he just could not distinguish one member of the group from another aside from gender and, less potentially, age. What truly caught his attention, though, was the emblem adorned on each figure's robes. It immediately struck a chord in him that he had previously noticed this emblem via an image conjured by Lillian, way back at the Smash Mansion.

If the emblem was a snake, then there was only one logical conclusion…

"So," Mario spat, "You guys must-a be the Lords that I've-a been hearing about-a recently." As he spoke, a bright flame began to spread across his hands, a sign that he was ready for battle. "I don't-a what you were thinking when you murdered those townspeople, but I'm-a going to make sure that you won't-a harm anyone else."

For a while, both sides of the upcoming battle were silent, with no spoken word whatsoever. The only audible sound was the revived wind that flowed through the town, which only served to build up the tension in the atmosphere. It, in the minds of each party member, was appropriate for a battle to the death. Mario was fully aware that he and his group could die here if they were careless, but once each member entered a fighting stance, there was certainly no backing out now. They would either succeed or die here. But…

Lillian mentioned fleeing from the Lords if they proved to be too powerful, did she not?

Mario was suddenly taken aback. Anyone who was close to him personally would understand that he was never the type of person to decline a challenge. And yet, her comment was suggesting him to act otherwise. He grimaced at that thought, never one to be comfortable with turning down something difficult. Indeed, he was caught in a simple but highly consequential dilemma. What seemed like a minute faded into memory before he swore to himself and Lillian; he would only flee as an absolute last resort. While he was finalizing the vow, a voice echoed from the Lords. This unidentified voice was quiet, but there was also a haunting and hissing tone to it. It was screaming pure evil to the Smashers present. Luigi nearly shook out of fright, nearly covering his hat over his ears, while the others remained on high alert.

"The serpent will rise… A sea of darkness will usher in a new era for all the realms…" The party members soon realized that the voice was originating from a woman within the crowd. They also noticed that there was a distinct Scandinavian tone to it, much like Lillian's own voice, which led many of them to assume that she was from the same realm as the pure-hearted maiden. Before any of them could even react, one member of the cult stepped forward from the others. From where Mario was standing, he perceived this person to be a younger woman, perhaps no older than her late twenties. She possessed dark-colored hair, just several shades brighter than the uniform that she was donning and neatly tucked into her hood.

What truly separated her from the other cult members was that her serpent emblem was colored a bright shade of red; all other members had their emblems painted a dull gray. This difference indicated some sort of leadership role. Was she a captain of some sort, or could she be the cult leader? Mario and his group had no luck in figuring out the answer. Another thing that stood out was a sheath fixated on her left hip, which was carrying a sword inside it.

Wait a minute… She was the one who slashed that poor Koopa in the chest. No doubt, the horizontal wound etched across his chest could have only been created by a blade.

"You must-a be searching for more people to maim-a, eh?" Mario growled furiously. The flames on his fists intensified on cue.

"So," the woman replied, "You are here to prevent us from awaking the serpent… Ignorant beings, do you not realize that our savior must be awakened for the world to be shaped into its perfect form? It is necessary that we complete our plans. If we must kill you, then so be it."

"Hey!" Bowser shouted, "Your so-called "plans" just ruined my plot to take over this fucking place! Get over here so that I can slice your heads off!"

The malevolent maiden was unfazed by Bowser's spiteful comment. "Oh, you poor brute… I feel sorry for you. Did not your family members teach you proper manners? Oh, what am I saying? They certainly did not, but we will be more than glad to act as superior replacements for them."

"Rrrgh…!" The Koopa Kingdom's crown ruler could not help but allow a detesting rage to accumulate within him. Who even gave her the right to talk trash about my family, he pondered, MY family?! I'm really gonna tear her apart until there is nothing left of her.

"Please," Yoshi squeaked in a tone that tried to pass itself off as confident but ended up sounding unconvincing, "Leave place now and don't come back."

"Aww, is the wittle dinosaur scared?"

That snarling comment nearly sent Yoshi into shock. The woman had just exploited his newborn fear of her with that teasing comment alone. Just how crueler could she get? Only time would tell. He shuffled backwards to maintain a safe distance from the woman. In response, however, the redhead positioned herself closer to the party, which forced the dinosaur to stumble further away.

"If you want a battle," Mario grunted, all while creating a fireball in his hands, "We'll-a grant you your request."

CRACK!

With his final words, Mario hurled the fireball towards the dark-colored crowd, which resulted in the instant incineration of a member's robes. The man who was struck by the blow screamed in pain as he desperately attempted, albeit in vain, to extinguish the fire. On cue, both sides were soon battling each other in a heated battle, and most members of Mario's side utilized the trees as a form of protection. Bowser raised his claws into the air to slice up two cultists, and upon contact, both victims were sent flying backwards. Surprisingly, the two regained their composure with little effort on their part. Almost immediately, the fearsome Koopa suddenly noticed that their wounds were beginning to heal at an abnormally fast rate.

"Huh? How's that possible?" he grunted.

ZZ-CRACK!

His comment left him distracted long enough to receive a free hit from a cultist, who fired a beam of dark energy at the Koopa King. He was painfully forced into a nearby tree. Meanwhile, Luigi and Yoshi were surrounded by a group of ten hostiles. Just when it seemed that there was no way out, Yoshi bounced into the air to pound three of his assailants, while Luigi delivered a painful breakdancing kick to another two—all while avoiding magical attacks from the remaining five enemies. A cultist was strangling Diddy with only one hand while easily fighting the smaller ape's attempts at resisting. As Diddy slowly lost consciousness, he attempted to pinch his enemy's hands, but the man's sheer strength prevented escape. Just then, DK brutally smacked the foe with a dreaded Giant Punch, his signature attack; a loud crack echoed across the field upon impact, accompanied by the man's slow collapse to the ground. Diddy broke free and was soon pummeling another robed figure. Wario stretched his mouth far and wide to chomp on a foe. The cultist screamed loudly as rows of teeth slowly crushed him to a pulp, and it was not until the overweight Smasher was thrown backwards by another Lord that the victim quickly broke free of the painful attack, albeit with deep bite marks and a horrific stench of garlic. Elsewhere in the battlefield, Mario was now face-to-face with the group leader, ready for a one-on-one battle with her.

"Time to get this over with, whoever you are," he called, pounding his fists together. All during that moment, an expression of sheer confidence overtook his face. In his mind, he was ready to face her in combat, just like how he was ready to conquer any enemy that blocked the way to his objectives. Still, he would have to be careful, for he had never faced an enemy like her before and was without an indicator as to what she could do…

"Oh, how rude of me," she spat, slowly reaching for her blade in the process. "I forgot to introduce myself. I am Agnetha Lindgren, a devoted captain in the glorious organization of the Lords. You wouldn't dare to try and challenge me, would you? I'm exceptionally skilled with the blade, so if you have a death wish, then just try to fight me with your bare hands."

"Who cares if you have a blade and I don't-a? That doesn't-a mean that I can't-a defeat you. In fact, I should-a be taking you down right-a now… By the way, it's-a me, Mario!"

"Alright, then. Have at you!" Immediately, she jerked her sword out of its sheath, ready to spill blood upon the soil. Her blade was revealed to be decorated with a sapphire at the hilt, while the hilt itself appeared to be forged from silver. In a calmer situation, Mario would have glanced at the blade to closely examine its beauty, but now was not the time for distractions. He sprinted towards her, his right fist extended, to deliver a furious punch; it swiftly impacted her before she could impale him, but she was not launched far. She regained her composure and swung her blade at neck-breaking speeds, forming bright blue crescents that resonated with great intensity on each swing. These bright lights were enough to contrast sharply with the dark forest. Mario was, for someone of his body structure, agile enough to dodge most of the strikes, but a mistake eventually inflicted a cut on his right shoulder. As the battle continued, Mario launched several fireballs at her, hoping to deliver another blow, but the woman, now known as Agnetha, utilized rapid-fire slices to shred into tiny pieces all the fiery projectiles in an instant. He was almost at a loss of words upon witnessing that feature.

Her attacks are like a flow of quicksilver, the plumber pondered. Let's hope I don't waste my energy trying to beat her.

On the other side of the field, Bowser leaped up into the air to perform a bone-shattering butt stomp on three cultists; the ending result was a painful headache for the victims as well as a short snicker from the massive Koopa. Shortly after that, he aggressively grabbed a female member and launched her into Yoshi, who extended his tongue outwards to swallow her. The dinosaur soon encased the cultist in an egg and used that same egg to knock over several members like bowling pins; painful yelps and a sharp cracking noise echoed within the forest and did not escape the notice of the party. Luigi was hammered at the back of the head by a darkness-fueled fist from an out-of-sight aggressor, which resulted in the exacerbation of his head injury from before. As he struggled to push himself off the ground and crawl to a nearby tree, DK had to protect him with his famed Spinning Kong attack to repel all nearby enemies. Diddy also rushed to the rescue by firing peanuts from his popguns, and each peanut quickly bopped an unfortunate foe like a fired pellet from a BB gun. The area was soon cleared—if only temporarily—in a matter of seconds, and the temporary respite in fighting allowed DK to aid the sickened plumber in his struggle to stand up.

"Hey…" Luigi groaned as his face was again fading to a sick green color. "Thanks…"

"No problem," the ape replied. The next images that slapped him in the face, however, were Luigi's quick surrender to the bodily tormentor known as nausea and the splashing of the contents of his stomach onto the soil. DK, by his natural instincts, blocked out his eyes from glaring at the utterly disgusting mess; the food items previously consumed by Mario's younger brother were now half-digested and had decomposed to a near-unrecognizable mixture, complete with a significant amount of acid that was responsible for breaking down the consumed items. Besides that, a strong smell began to irritate DK's nose. It was truly a sickening sight to witness, enough to where the ape fled from the vomit pile to continue his battle with the Lords, all while leaving Luigi and Diddy behind. The smaller ape continued to shoot nearby cultists to protect his weakened ally and friend.

SL-SL-SL-SLASH!

"Take this!" Bowser yelled while retracting into his shell. He directed his attack towards a small group nearby, slicing all those present. Once the giant Koopa was finished, he twisted around to catch a glimpse of cultists with deep cuts on their bodies, the outcome of tearing flesh with his spikes. He also noticed blood on the nearby snow, but therein resided a strange attribute. The color of the blood was… black? If the color of each cultist's blood was pitch-black, then something was unusual about the vicious organization. What could the color mean…

Bowser had not the time to figure out just what the unusual blood color could represent, for his enemies were regenerating and at him again. A boiling rage was starting to root itself into Bowser's mindset; there was almost no way that a normal person would still be standing after having suffered horrible wounds. These figures were likely in possession of some type of magic that was granting them advanced regenerative abilities. No other explanation seemed to present itself.

"Won't you just die already?" he roared. Enraged, he began to hurl punches and claw swipes at a faster rate than normal. On the other side of the battlefield, Mario was still battling Agnetha, albeit with limited progress. His left cheek was cut open by her blinding swordplay, something that he had not witnessed from someone that was not Marth, Roy, Ike, or any of the Links.

She must have been training with that blade for years, he pondered. It was all that echoed throughout his head as he narrowly avoided a fatal stabbing blow. While the sword moved away from him, he gathered the strength to deliver a counterattack to the stomach. Letting out a minor yelp of pain, Agnetha was ready to prepare another attack, but her opponent quickly squeezed her wrists to interrupt the potential killing strike. The two were immediately forced into a stalemate as both characters fiercely struggled for control. Neither side was willing to crack under pressure.

"Give up while you still can," the swordswoman sneered in a sinister tone. But Mario's only response was a harsh glance directed at her. Being a man of determination, he was not going to allow this mistress to cleave him in half, not here or anywhere else. With one loud yell, he shoved Agnetha backwards before tackling her to the soil, preparing to pummel her. In the process, the sword soared into the air before firmly planting itself next to a nearby tree. Before long, the mysterious woman was receiving punishing blows from the enraged plumber, which caused her hood to slide off slowly. Each blow was like a hammer's blow against her skull, which amounted to real pain, no matter how minor it was.

WHAM! WHAM!

"Had enough?" Mario taunted, who was still retaining his assault on her. However, even with her injuries, Agnetha suddenly unleashed a burst of laughter from her mouth, which confused the plumber. Just what was so funny? Her behavior had to be referring to his comment, for there was nothing else to provoke that kind of action.

BZZZZZ-ZAP!

Before he could react, she conjured an electrical current throughout her body to electrocute him. A sharp bodily pain clawed into him during that brief but terrible moment. Truthfully, it was almost the equivalent of being roasted by Bowser's fire breath, which itself was something that he would rather not experience. Time slowed itself down for him by stretching mere seconds into minutes or even hours, but even this would not be the end of this damaging moment, for the captain then hoisted him up with unnatural strength to bury him into the confines of the grounded snow. As he tried to support himself, Agnetha fired a blast of dark matter from her palms to worsen his condition, on top of flinging him into a nearby building.

Wario, fueled by adrenaline, was engaging the cultists like a madman; his fists were soaring left, right, up, and down to ensure that he reduced all foes to bloodied and lifeless pulps. His luck would be stolen from him when an adversary kicked him right at the stomach.

CRACK!

While the subsequent flatulence quickly incapacitated an unlucky opponent behind him, Wario was painfully and instantly winded. As he sank to his knees, he desperately hurled his arms to repel his approaching antagonists, but his efforts failed when two of the Lords restrained him with minimal effort on their part. His struggling provided no help to him; instead, he was punished with a blow that shattered his nose. Upon impact, a cracking sound reverberated from Wario's nose, which was followed by drops of bright blood from his nostrils. It was enough to drive the miser into a state of fury.

"My nose-a!" he shrieked. "How dare you ruin the great-a Wario's nose-a! When I break-a free, I will-a so make you guys pay up!"

Yoshi was nearby when he overheard Wario's wrathful comment. Quickly tail-slapping two foes away, he sprinted to the overweight man's location. An egg constructed itself around him and, within the few seconds that slipped away, was ready to barrel through the robed hostiles. Yoshi first directed it at the two Lords that were physically restraining the fat miser, tripping them from underneath and allowing his ally to lay down a borderline non-stop combo on the cult member who had previously delivered the hard kick. The combo eventually ended with a rising uppercut that forced the selected victim into a slumber. Yoshi's next targets were the foes that formed a circle around the two apes. DK slammed his fists into the ground to produce a small earthquake that launched some of his enemies into the air, while Diddy utilized his acrobatic abilities to confuse and strike down any aggressor that threatened him. The latter ape was latched on a female cult member's head, smacking her repeatedly with his palms, when his eyes suddenly received a short-lived image of Yoshi's egg—ready to flatten a couple of the Lords, which included the one that he was currently pummeling. With a small reaction window by his side, Diddy leaped away to avoid suffering the same fate as the would-be victims. During that moment, DK provided some assistance to Yoshi by chucking some of the cultists into the egg's path. The result was a stream of stunned foes that surrounded the two apes; DK momentarily smirked at them, satisfied with his work, while Diddy clapped his hands three times out of temporary victory.

Luigi was still recovering from his bout of sickness. He barely had the strength and time to dodge an electrical shock from a cult member that was approaching him from the left. He retaliated with a grass-tinted fireball, which struck his opponent with a flame-filled impact. As he watched on, his opponent writhed and screamed in pure, unfettered pain. Despite the attempts to dispel the fierce heat, the cultist was ultimately doomed to die as a human fireball. The falling snow, mixed with the cold weather, was inadequate in blowing out the fire. To Luigi, it seemed that the flames were transcending scientific explanation to continue burning in this chilling environment. The villainous man finally sank to the ground, never to rise again. The so-called Eternal Understudy then realized something; earlier in the fight, Bowser was slashing at more those figures, and all of them could quickly regenerate to be able to withstand more punishment. And yet, as soon as that fireball struck its target, the cultist failed to regenerate, slowly dying of his injuries. That could only mean…

"They're-a vulnerable to fire," Luigi muttered. "I need to inform-a Bowser about this."

Closer to one of the now-abandoned buildings, Mario was close to blacking out completely. The energy beam, mixed with his collision into a wall, had left him with bruises and cuts all over his body. Struggling to sustain himself, he could barely notice Agnetha's approach from the distance. Through the mystical power of telekinesis, she had regained her blade and was prepared to shed blood with it while her victim remained frozen to the spot from which he could not move. Mario attempted to strike the swordswoman once more, but his attempted attack would be cut short when she caught his fist just several inches before impact. Using her sword, she tried to disembowel him, but his short hop backwards caused her to tear into his knees instead. In response, Agnetha's superhuman strength kicked in once again when she delivered a bone-smashing palm strike to crush him into a wall. Once his physical form was buried, Mario's mind was filled with one thought:

Just how powerful is she?

The answer was beyond him at that point. He was already knowledgeable about the strength of many foes that he had battled in years past, including the potential of Tabuu and the now-dissolved Subspace Army, but she was a complete unknown to him.

"Are you ready to perish, foolish man?" Agnetha's voice hissed.

"Not if I finish you off-a first…" was Mario's response. The next thing that he felt was Agnetha's free hand on his throat while she firmly pressed him against the damaged wall. His eyes soon glanced at a blade, which was fixated in a position that would pierce his chest if he remained immobile. Regarding the way that it was positioned, the blade was easily comparable to a stake—ready to tear through a vampire's heart. On top of that, he finally noticed the true nature of Agnetha's face with her hood removed. Her hair was revealed to have a smooth, dark tint of red to it, and its maximum length was close to the bottom of her ears. Her eyes appeared to have the same grass-colored tone as Lillian's. Additionally, her facial features were smooth in character, not revealing any signs of aging whatsoever. Admittedly, she was a true beauty to behold, but said beauty only served to masquerade her malicious intentions…

"…?" the plumber gasped. Without hesitation, Agnetha propelled her instrument of death forward, only for it to be frozen by his nimble hands.

"I'm not-a going down without a fight," the wounded plumber grunted, even as he was struggling to ignore his pain. The captain ignored the comment and continued to push her weapon forward, utilizing her overwhelming physical might. The sword crept towards Mario's chest, and the only thing that was slowing it down was his grip on the blade area. While this event was occurring, blood leaked from his hands; this was, without a doubt, due to the blade's creation of long wounds on his palms. After a minute, the blade was driven into the rightmost portion of his chest when he directed it away from his heart. It was slowly tearing through him, and the resulting wound created a sharp and burning pain that zipped to other areas of his injured and bleeding form. There was one haunting thought that overshadowed the pain he felt…

He was slowly losing the fight in one of the worst ways possible.

"Bowser!" Luigi called, ready to release vital information.

"What do you want?" the burly Koopa responded, impatient and ready to continue his quest in putting down robed cultists.

"I just-a realized something; these guys are-a vulnerable to fire! It-a stops their regenerative abilities! Maybe you can bring-a your fire breath into play and roast them alive-a."

Bowser did not resist the urge to chuckle loudly. He was surely going to enjoy incinerating the interlopers who ruined his lifelong plans of ruling the Mushroom Kingdom…

"Are you ready to turn up the heat-a?" the younger plumber muttered.

"Gladly. Let's see if they can withstand my wrath!"

FWOOOOOOMMM!

With the final words spoken, a stream of fire flowed out of the Koopa King's mouth in an instant. Not too far away, the two apes, Wario, and Yoshi separated themselves from the Lords so that Bowser could perform his job without any interference. Fire met blackened robes; the cultists were now subjected to the full mercy of the fiery inferno that was now sweeping through the battlefield, with no possible way out of this situation. Screams of pain filled the once-silent air. Human fireballs swept the ground in all directions, melting the snow that was glued to the soil. Strangely, the newly conceived water was ineffective in preventing the Lords from being roasted into a crisp. The other members, save for Mario, simply watched on out of horror and triumph, keeping a safe distance away from the field to not fall victim to Bowser's blazing fury. Within the minutes that breezed by, the robed figures finally succumbed to the fires that consumed them. The only thing that remained was a field filled with charred corpses, mixed in with the bodies of the good-willed townspeople. The party members could not believe it.

They had just defeated foes that they had originally deemed almost impossible to beat.

"Yes! We've-a kicked their behinds!" Wario cheered, slapping his bulging stomach in victory.

"Yes, we did," Bowser complimented, with a grin on his face.

"Wait a second, where's Mario?" Diddy interjected. He was the first to realize that the red-clad hero was not with the others. The other members shot confused glares at him before rotating their heads to search for their leader.

"Wait, what?" DK muttered. "Where did he go?"

"Oh, no," Yoshi suddenly shrieked, "Mario in trouble!" The others leaped at the sound of Yoshi's cry. When they noticed the dinosaur's pointing of a finger at one abandoned structure, their eyes were immediately hammered by a frightening scene. Next to an abandoned building was Mario, bloodied and in definite peril. He was attempting to prevent Agnetha, the captain of the hostile group, from harming him any further, but it seemed that he was about to collapse from his previous wounds, which could spell final doom.

"Guys, we need to help him!" DK shouted. As the others trailed behind, DK started to swing his left arm in a circular motion, preparing for a brutal attack. Fueled by adrenaline, the guardian of a massive banana horde sprinted with furious speed to rescue Mario before he was killed. Meanwhile, the plumber himself was still struggling to stop Agnetha from murdering him. His hands were beginning to tremble from the blood loss, and his vision started to fade away.

"Any last words?" Agnetha jeered. Her words were subtly muffled by his condition, but he still heard enough to offer a response.

"Yes," he, still struggling, shot back.

"What are those words, pray tell?"

A weak smile stretched itself across the plumber's mouth. "Look behind you."

POW!

It was too late for her to even react. A giant fist collided with her body, flinging her all the way to a nearby tree and causing her to lose her sword once again. This time, however, the sword remained stuck in Mario's wounded form. The plumber, with a painful groan, had to painfully slide it out of his body to free himself.

"Bro," Luigi whimpered, "Are you okay?"

Mario coughed a few drops of blood before finally responding. "I need-a some… treatment…"

"We'll-a get you some help soon. Can you stand-a?"

Mario's legs wobbled as he attempted to stabilize himself. His leg wounds were restraining him from achieving his intended objective. The blood loss only worsened this problem due to the reduced sense of balance in his head. While he limped away from the wall, the others, except for Bowser, only stared at him out of pure horror as they noticed his injuries. Meanwhile, Agnetha was stunned from the devastating attack inflicted by DK. As she dragged herself upwards, Bowser approached her with a tremendous anger shining from his eyes.

"There you are," he growled. "Really, I should have expected more from your precious Lords here. Green Bean just revealed to me that you guys are weak to fire. And do you understand why? Because it hurts your regenerative powers! Now, I've got an itsy-bitsy surprise for you. I was originally going to save this for Mario, but since you've really pissed me off, I'll just give it to you instead."

FWOOOM!

Without warning, he launched a massive fireball from his mouth. Before the malevolent captain could even react, her body was set ablaze by the hazardous projectile, along with the tree that supported her. With a victorious smile, he strode away from the burning mess to reunite with the others. It was there that he finally recognized the severity of Mario's injuries.

"Uh, Mario?" he grunted indifferently. "You look kinda beat there…"

"I'll-a be fine, Bowser…" his rival replied. The plumber kept a strong grip on his chest wound, hoping to reduce the pain.

"So, what do we do now?" Wario puffed, unsure of what to do next.

"We'll-a need to head to Smithy's old factory; the first-a piece of the Staff of Björn will-a be there…"

"But Yoshi don't know how to get there," Yoshi squeaked.

"Even though the dino's never been there, he has a point. How are we supposed to reenter the factory?" Bowser added. Before Mario could utter another word, a voice rang from several yards away.

"Master Mario? Is that you?"

Mario weakly shifted his head towards the source of the voice. A smaller figure was slowly bouncing towards the group's location; with his vision blurred, it was difficult for him to recognize who the person was at first. He had to wait patiently for the figure to approach him before his eyes could discern all the details. It was then revealed that the figure was an elderly Toad. He was distinguishable by his glasses as well as his kempt mustache. Another thing that separated him from the others was his attire; instead of the usual coat that most Toads wear, he was in possession of a more formal coat that was elegantly decorated with a reddish bowtie at the neck area. The final property that stood out was a cane in his right hand, something that was indicative of old age.

"T… Toadsworth?" Mario coughed. The elderly Toad approached him, only to stumble backwards at the sight of Mario's bloodied wounds.

"Good heavens!" he yelped. "What happened to you?"

"…difficult fight-a. What are you doing here?"

"I noticed a battle happening near the outer forest, so I exited the castle and realized that you and Master Luigi were among the participants; you were battling those robed fellows, weren't you?"

"Oh, yeah."

Toadsworth dusted his coat before continuing. "I had to stay inside one of the buildings so that they wouldn't do anything terrible to me like they did to those poor souls. Thankfully, you gentlemen have won the good fight, so I wanted to come out here to assist you. And it appears that you have some guests with you. I can recognize… err, Bowser, I believe? But I need to familiarize myself with the others. Care to give me your names?"

"Yoshi!" the green dinosaur chirped.

"Wario!" the yellow-clad man boasted.

"I'm Donkey Kong," DK sighed, "And with me is my cousin, Diddy."

"Alright," Toadsworth grumbled, seemingly oblivious to his reduced memory capacity, "I need you folks to enter the castle with me… or rather, what's left of it."

With no objections, the group followed the forgetful steward into the castle, which was a temporary haven that could keep them safe… for now.

The day was now closer to the later stages of morning; most of the sun's brightness was blocked by the dark clouds, but the scenery was nevertheless brighter than it was before. The horrible carnage within Toad Town's boundaries was more exposed, enough to where it was easily visible from several yards away. Among the bodies present were those of the Lords, including leading captain Agnetha Lindgren. The silence that accompanied the haunting scenery would have been enough to deliver massive chills down a person's spine. It all seemed normal for the aftermath of a grand massacre.

Except for one thing…

A dark form of energy sluggishly stretched itself across the swordswoman's body, resembling a lava flow on the sides of a volcano after eruption. Before long, she was completely coated in the darkness, with no trace of her body that was exposed to the outer environment. Seconds passed before the energy vaporized into thin air. Agnetha stepped out of it, completely revived and with no traces of burn injuries at all, although her clothing was irreparably damaged. After the retrieval her sword, she glanced at the charred bodies of her subordinates before rotating her head left and right to search for Mario and his party. After a minute of searching, she noticed that they were nowhere in sight. No matter: the next time that she crossed paths with them, she would kill them all.

"Do not think that you have defeated me yet, Mario…" she hissed before utilizing her magic to teleport out of the area.

After witnessing the dead bodies of the citizens, I just cannot believe it. There is no way that murdering those unworthy of death is justifiable. Lillian was right about those creeps; they will not hesitate to kill innocents and will punish those who screw up even once with death. Seeing that I was almost killed by Agnetha, I truly need to stop getting overconfident and listen to Lillian more. No joke.

-Mario

Finally, this chapter is up… Schoolwork, among other things, was keeping me terribly busy.

A/N:

-I originally had lyrics from an Opeth song in this chapter, but that is no longer the case. I have replaced them with some lines regarding the Svärtad Orm in Latin. This is my first time doing something in Latin, so a bit of constructive advice would be helpful.

-Agnetha's name is derived from a combination of Agnetha Fältskog (member of the now-defunct Swedish pop group ABBA) and Peter Lindgren (former guitarist for Opeth).