Super Smash Bros adventures chapter 4
After their battle, Mario and Link are walking the halls, discussing whether or not they had improved since the last Smash tournament.
"So, do you feel like you got stronger?" Mario asks his friend curiously.
Link nods enthusiastically. "My attacks feel stronger and more useful. My air spin attack also help me go higher this time, and I have a new dash attack." He replies.
Mario looks into Link's eyes. "For me, it feels like I got stronger also. But I feel like there's something more I need to learn." Their fight had been a close one, and though Mario had scraped a victory from the match, he still wanted to get stronger, not just to win more battles, but so he could help those who needed him.
Mario thought about the residents of the Mushroom Kingdom. Now that he had lost Peach, would they still need his services? Or would they find another hero? Saving the land would feel so much different without Peach as his girlfriend cheering him on.
"Hey! Look!" Mario was snapped out of his thoughts by Link's perplexed voice.
"What is it, Link?" the plumber asked. Then, he looked ahead of him and saw a massive bulletin board covered with pieces of paper in the main hall.
"What is this?" wonders Link, stepping up to the board and reading some of the bulletin posts silently to himself.
Mario peels one of the sheets of paper off the board and reads it. "A giant book is chasing after me. Reward, 1000 coins…" He stares at the message again. "This is a job post." He says, scratching his head in confusion.
"All of these are job posts…" muses Link, intrigued. "But, what are they for?"
"Well since we're going to be here most of the time, we should be doing some jobs to help pay off our rent here." says Mario.
Suddenly, the paper Mario is holding starts shining and the two Smashers are taken away in a vortex of gold light.
"How did we get here?" wonders Mario, staring around at the post office, item shops, and gardens that made up the main plaza of the Mushroom Kingdom.
"Maybe the job poster took us here." says Link, staring at the glowing piece of paper with confusion.
"Well, does it say where we're supposed to go?" Mario asks.
"Uh, yeah…" Link said, glancing down at the post again. "It says we're supposed to go to Princess Peach's castle."
Mario feels as if a rock dropped into his stomach. Well, he thinks, maybe I won't see the princess there and things won't get sad. He hopes that won't be the case, anyway.
Mario and Link enter the castle, the red clad plumber sadly staring at the exquisitely decorated walls and the checkered floors with their sections of red carpet, remembering when he had walked these very halls with his beloved princess.
Link, seeing his friend's downcast expression, pats Mario on the back. "Don't worry. You'll be able to move on." He consoles.
"I know." Mario says, sighing. "It's just sad sometimes to think of all these memories and that I won't be able to make more of them with her."
Link nods understandingly.
Suddenly, the two of them hear frantic footsteps in their direction and spot Toadsworth, running towards them.
"Master Mario, Master Link, please help me from this horrible book." screams Toadsworth, who is happy to see them, but frantic at the same time.
"Book? Are you the one who sent this job request?" asks Mario.
"That's right, please help Me." begs Toadsworth, who stops in front of them, completely out of breath.
"How horrible can a book be?" wonders Link.
Suddenly, a floating book as big as a tabletop and thick as brick appears behind Toadsworth and lets out a monsterous roar, its pages rustling wildly.
"See? This is why I don't like reading!" Link screams, momentarily caught off guard.
Mario, Link, and Toadsworth start running away from the giant book.
"I'll keep it busy, you take Toadsworth somewhere safe." Link instructs, regaining his composure and drawing the Master Sword from its sheath.
While Mario and Toadsworth start running for the castle entrance, Link jumps into the air, his sword aloft, and hits the giant book with a couple of well-aimed Sword Slashes. The giant book isn't phased, however, and rams Link into a wall. The swordsman, stunned from the crash, falls to the floor, momentarily dazed.
"Ha!" Mario cries, jumping through the air. He lands on top of the book and Punches with all his might. The monstrous book starts jolting back and forth, as if bucking to throw him off. Mario hangs on for dear life, but loses his grip and is sent flying, crashing onto the balcony of the stairs of the castle.
The monster book snaps its pages at the two heroes, as if daring them to attack it again then flies towards Link. Thinking that he wouldn't want to meet his end by paper cuts, the Hylian readies his shield to avoid the book's razor sharp pages, blocking the attack just in time.
Groaning, Mario picks himself up and sees that Link is struggling to fend the vicious book off. "Leave him alone!" Mario screams, clenching a fist and throwing some Fireballs at the giant tome.
The book shudders and lets out a high scream as the scorching flames come into contact with its cover and pages. Then Mario has a sudden idea.
"Link, use your Bombs on the book!" orders Mario, waving his arms frantically.
Link pulls out some Bombs and hurls them at the book, where they explode on contact. The massive monster is now thrashing around and emitting chilling screams, flapping its smoldering pages.
"Come on! One more!" Link cries triumphantly. Mario throws one more Fireball and delivers the finishing blow to the monstrous tome. The giant book screams and slowly fades into nothingness, leaving no traces of where it had been.
"Well that's done." says Link, sheathing his sword and catching his breath.
Toadsworth enters the castle again and rushes to Mario and Link.
"Master Mario, Master Link, thank you for saving Me." thanks Toadsworth.
"All in a day's work." Link replies casually.
"How is that book alive anyway?" asks Mario, confused.
"I don't know." Replies Toadsworth, shaking his head in perplexity at the mystery. "I was helping out some Toads, putting some books back at the Library. One of the books fell off the shelf, and when I went to pick it up, it grew to massive proportions! The Toads and I ran out of the Library and posted a job post as soon as possible."
"So you don't really know how it grew?" asks Link.
"No, it just grew giant and started attacking us. It caused quite a lot of trouble." replies Toadsworth. "But, I do remember hearing someone cackling when this happened. I can't help but think that one of Bowser's minions put a magic spell on the book."
"Don't worry. We'll try to find who did this." reassures Mario.
"Oh! I almost forgot, your reward. Let me get it," says Toadsworth. Toadsworth hurries into the castle treasury vault and retrieves two bulging sacks of gold coins, which he gives to Mario and Link.
"Thank you very much." Mario and Link acknowledge gratefully, taking their bags of money.
"Thank you! I'll call again if I need help." says Toadsworth, and the old Toad waved bye as the two Smashers exited the grand castle.
"Well, it was really great that we got to help out." says Link. "But, how are we supposed to get back to the mansion?"
Suddenly, as if Link's request had been heard, the job post began to glow again. Mario and Link are pulled into the gold vortex of light and transported back to the Smash mansion.
Sakurai, who had noticed they had been missing, hurries up to them. "Mario, Link, where did you guys go?" he asks curiously.
"We found a message board with job requests and accidently went on a mission." replies Mario. The Italian plumber stares at the Smash host, hoping he would explain things to him.
"Oh, sorry about that. I was planning to show that tomorrow," says Sakurai. "There are so many worlds connected by the Smash tournaments, and I figured that Smashers could help each other's worlds out in addition to befriending each other. Also, it's a great way to earn your keep when staying at the mansion."
"That's a great idea!" Mario exclaims happily.
"Yeah, but we're sorry for going on an early mission." apologizes Link.
"That's okay." Reassures Sakurai. "Since you went on a mission, how much did you make?"
"We both made 500 coins each," replies Mario, having counted the gold in his bag.
"Great! When it gets exchanged for Smash Coins, it will be enough to pay off your rent this month." Sakurai informs. "Would you like to pay off your rent?"
"Sure." Both Smashers reply, handing Sakurai their coins.
"Thank you for paying. I expect that you two will be doing a lot more missions?"
"That's right." Mario and Link reply in unison.
"That's the spirit." says Sakurai, and leaves the two friends alone to rest from their adventure.