…...Snap.

…..Crackle.

…...Pop.

Sounds like those cereal mascots way back when, right? Well, yeah, those are the names of cereal mascots, but those are also three sounds that persist in the heads of most of the Mushroomers now, and won't be forgotten anytime soon. Unfortunately, it's for no good reason.

If you want the reason….. Read on…..

Looking at the Mushroom Kingdom now, it's hard to believe that once (or ever), it was the model kingdom, the place that every video game location took tips from, wanted to be…. To put it bluntly, the Mushroom Kingdom today is nowhere near the vibrant, chipper happyland it was back in '85…

…..Ever since the king of the Mushroom Kingdom fell in battle to Bowser and his army of minions, everything went straight to hell. Crime, death, fighting, and jaywalking are just the half of it…

And if the ancient prophecies foretold in the Stars is anything to go off of, soon, not even that will matter (hell, nothing will matter anymore).

The Mario Bros and every character from that series belong to Nintendo.

I'm not cool enough to be copyrighted.

Mushroom Kingdom

Date: October 12, 2017

Time: 12:00 PM

"Welp, we're-a completely fucked-a."

For once in his life, Mario was in total agreement with his brother. While it was well too late for most people but insomniacs and night watchmen on a normal day, today was anything but a normal day. No, it would be a day that would forever change the fortunes of the Mushroom Kingdom, for the worse, one that would prove to be the worst Thursday they'd ever had.

Between the shouts of war and struggle, the cracking noises of cannons and other firearms rippling through the normally tranquil noises of nighttime, the generous heapings of thick, wide-spreading, dark-black smoke rising through the air, and the snarling, wise-cracking, plucky members of both teams now fighting with extreme spirit and horrifying efficiency, one thing was very obvious.

Bowser had attacked.

After over 30 years, that may not seem like such a major revelation. And for the most part, you'd be correct. After so long, Bowser's drawn out, elaborate, and relentless attacks and kidnappings had become known to the Mushroomers as Friday. Aside from the fact that today was a Thursday, another significant difference was present, and one that was becoming more and more obvious by the minute, as the sounds and gruesome sights of battle were starting to show.

"Yep-a," grumbled Mario. "We are-a so fucked-a."

As he was speaking, a severed, bloody, and frowning Toad head whizzed past their house, with a bright red streak glistening in the air right behind it before the unmistakable red substance splattered and spread on the floor with a grisly SPLAT, dying the floor a deathly red.

Indeed, the major difference between this and other Mushroom Kingdom VS Dark World confrontations was now pretty obvious:

Bowser's army was winning.

Maybe it was the fact the Mushroom army had been taken by surprise. Maybe they had simply upped their game. Whatever the hell the reason, the result was identical; the Mario bros were starting to doubt if the Mushroom Kingdom was gonna escape this one. And from the looks of it, and the blood splattering on the side of their house like a loose paint can sent flying, that was farfetched at best. With a heart-crushing sigh, Mario turned to Luigi and their pet/adopted son, Yoshi, with a mutual, easily-noticed despair in their eyes.

"Well-a, Mario, this might-a be the end-a."

Mario groaned and slumped in his chair, the soft cushion sagging underneath him, searching for something positive to say.

"Yep. It-a probably is." Judging from what Mario had just said, he seemed to have run out of confidence. Luigi mumbled and slumped down in the green chair next to Mario, staring at their clock, counting the almost mesmerizing tick-tock of the moving hands. Yoshi simply slumped on the floor in front of them.

"...And I-a never even-a got to-a third base-a," added the portly plumber. Even in his drooping spirits, Luigi managed an eye-roll.

Just how… Thought Luigi. How… did Bowser and his army of low-lives get this kind of power?

1 hour earlier….

"MEN!" The unmistakable voice of authority rippled through the eerie, chilling hallways of the aged, yet still towering and menacing landmark of the Dark World, the castle of the King itself. It was a voice that made even Bowser's most confirmed of slackers and the most traitorous, sharply awaken and snap their necks in the direction of the booming noise.

This was the voice of King Bowser Koopa.

This was no ordinary speech, though. For earlier that day, Bowser, on a normal, everyday nap in the backyard of his castle. Technically, it needed repairs, but Mario and co had blasted it to bits so many times that fixing it had become meaningless.

"Might as well enjoy myself before attacking the Mushroom Kingdom again," murmured Bowser, plopping his ass on his chair and snapping open a Koopa Kola and an issue of his annual pornography magazine, Booty Frenzy. He sniffed the relatively peaceful air, savoring it's hot, smoky scent. Life was good, and the familiar hissing and crackling sound of a freshly opened Koopa Kola Classik bottle would only serve to raise Bowser's spirits.

"To me!" As he said this, the King of Koopas kicked his feet back and did an imaginary toast with his bottle, and began spraying it in his mouth…..

…before proceeding with a sitcom-style spit-take, noisily splattering bizarrely crunchy, greenish liquid all over the floor, quickly getting absorbed in the ground. With a vicious snarl and grinding teeth, Bowser violently wiped the foul liquid off his mouth and then squeezed his kola bottle with his hand.

"Ugh, forgot how awful this shit tastes!" yelled Bowser, unclenching his fist to allow the destroyed bottle to hit the floor. He proceeded to fold his arms, expecting to hear an explosive CRASH on the floor.

Weirdly, one never came. Aside from a brief grunt in confusion and an arched eyebrow from Bowser, no reaction at first. Later, he began to get confused.

"Okay, what the hell gives?!" said Mario's most frequent adversary in an exasperated tone, throwing his hands up in the air as well. Furrowing his brow, he bent down low to examine.

"Holy…" Bowser never finished his sentence. For the remains of the doomed Koopa Kola bottle had landed on a fragment of a star buried in the ground, one that was glowing with unmistakable power.

Naturally, this wiped Bowser's miserable mood away like a broom wipes dust away. "Awesome!" yelled Bowser, swiping the fragment with one fell swoop.

The 30 years+ running villain picked up this star with the gentlest of hands, taking but a moment to marvel at it's sheer beauty.

"Now, let's give this a try." Putting words to action, Bowser shoved the star fragment into his chest, ignoring the pain and absorbing the star's power.

"YES, YES, YESSSSSSS!" manically chattered the Koopa King. The power of the star had now given him a brief yellow flashing glow… before it dissipated. The power? Still had it. You can just feel it when you have even greater power than you normally do.

"And that's why I'm sure we are going to show those Mushroom Kingdom smartasses whatfore this time!" yelled Bowser at the top of his lungs.

Now he had gotten his whole army in a frenzy, hollering/yelling at the top of their lungs, throwing bottles, etc.

"NOW ARE ALL OF YOU READY?!"

"YESSSSS!"

"ARE YOU SURE?!"

This time, the army's shouts of "YESSSSS!" were so high, only dogs could hear them.

"THEN LET'S GO!"

Back to the present…

The Mario Bros felt all but helpless. The only thing left for them to do was watch as their people kept getting slaughtered. Finally, the moment they'd been dreading came.

BAM! With a resounding explosion that rattled and shook the floorboards and sent heat and smoke hissing into their house, Yoshi ran and hid under a table while the Bros took cover behind their chairs as a large firewall swept through the house, like a big, yellow, ball of death incinerating much of what they called home for so many years. Even with their chairs to protect them, Mario and Luigi still felt the fiery heat and hot wind as it whizzed past their faces, causing them to shield their eyes with pure agony.

As the explosion died out, Mario dared to peek out.

Ruined.

Everything.

Gone.

Well, not quite. But most of the stuff that was still intact, was burning to a crisp and well on their way to destruction, consumed by unnaturally long, orange-yellowish flames that vividly seemed to hiss and snap at them. That description also applied to their whole house. The flames were so thick, they blocked off the sight of everything outside the house and even above the house. And yes, it was a scene quite comparable to that place you went when you died. Not heaven. The opposite, with all those smoky lava pits and suffering and torture.

"Hell," Luigi murmured, perfectly summing it up.

Even amidst all the flames, now 2 Sledge Bros were crawling through a gap in the hellish flames. Their purpose was clear, even before they announced it.

"Your time is up, Mario Bros."

They squinted underneath the table.

"...And your dinosaur…. Or dragon?"

While they were thinking, Luigi turned to Mario, a sense of renewed confidence on his face.

"So Mario-a, does it really-a have to-a end like-a this?"

It took the mustachioed Mickey mouse of gaming a second to catch his drift. When he did, though, all his fear dissipated, wiped out of existence and replaced with a smug grin.

"No-a."

Mario lifted himself out and with a swift "come here" wave, he motioned Yoshi over, and all three of them stood up and faced the Sledge Bros in a badass combat pose, ready to go.

"Not at all-a."

The Sledge Bros stopped worrying about whether Yoshi was a dino or a dragon and got into a similarly epic combat pose.

All was still for a few more seconds. The teams stared each other down. The hissing, snapping flames added a bit of atmosphere to the showdown, illuminating the combat scene.

A few more seconds passed.

"Yoshi Yoshi! (So, are we gonna fight, or not, Daddy Mario?)"

Mario sighed. "No-a."

The Sledge Bros were naturally overjoyed. They looked and nodded.

"Let's bum rush these fools!"

The two broke into a… surprisingly fast sprint.

"We are not-a going to fight-a."

The first of the Sledge Bros had reached Mario by now. Panting, that was clearly overridden by a feeling of pride, made all the more obvious by the knock-out fist he was currently winding up, with a more and more threatening spinning sound the faster he wound up. Finally finished, with a heave, he threw his fist at the legend's face.

"We are-a going to obliterate-a."

Not only was this line complimented by a Vegeta-esque smirk, but Mario lifted up his hand and swung out with a punch of his own, matching the Sledge Bro's.

The two punches solidly collided at the same time, shaking both off a bit (but creating an awesome sounding, if I do say so myself impact hit). Recognizing he couldn't overpower the Sledge Bro, Mario decided to press his superior speed, uncurling with a vicious flurry of punches.

Success. The Sledge Bro, not being fast enough, took a solid right cross to the temple. It was a perfect impact, one of those hard ones with an audible CR-ACK that made the eyes bug out. With but a single gasp and some blood splattering behind him to leave some lovely red marks on their burning floor, Bowser's hapless minion tumbled down, flat on his back.

Luigi and Yoshi, inspired by Mario's actions, decided to gang up on the 2nd Sledge Bro, the former jumping up with a charged up punch and the latter preparing to use a tongue attack.

All the other Sledge Bro could say? "Mommy…."

Yoshi struck first. Alternating positions with Luigi in a criss-cross formation, Yoshi stuck out with his signature, wrapping his freak-of-nature tongue around the poor Sledge Bro's body, pulling him up…

...and right into Luigi's charged-up fist, smashing his nose in with a CRUNCH, and coating his fist dark red with the Sledge Bro's blood.

The Sledge Bro flew downwards, until his dead body met the floor with a resounding KA-BLAM and a crater being formed.

Yoshi and Luigi, meanwhile, made a perfect landing, all leg on the floor, and faced the screen and gave some poses to the audience in celebration. Running up to Mario, the trio all gave a super high-five, celebrating their triumph.

"Yup. We're-a back in business-a," said Mario.

"Yoshi Yoshi yaa-shiiiii! (Okay, what's the next order of business?)"

Yoshi was interrupted by Luigi grabbing onto his saddle and swinging expertly on like it was a rodeo, plopping his ass on perfectly, causing Yoshi to briefly yelp and pop up in the air a bit, but he swiftly snapped his head to attention, staring at both his masters with a steely, yet obedient glare, showing how determined he was to listen and follow out his master's every order.

Luigi cleared his throat few times. In that time, Mario had thrusted himself onto Yoshi's back as well, except with a much uglier motion, finally landing hard on his saddle, causing the poor dino to begin struggling to hold up the weight.

"Next order-a: GET THE FUCK-A OUT!"

Those forceful words were Luigi's. And indeed, Yoshi kicked a blue shell from his vast collection of his memorabilia from past adventures, flipped up perfectly in the air, and spun around, catching it upside down.

Indeed, Yoshi went through a dramatic transformation, with an unmistakable bright glow emitting from his body, an intensely blinding one that made the brothers gasp and cover their eyes. (The glow also created a pretty cool silhouette. Yoshi was taking it all in, the smiling dino now forming his body into a T-shape as the transformation completed.

He was now able to fly. Yoshi floated around briefly, sighing at the memories from Mario World. With a gasp, he remembered what he had to do, and flew out just in time, as now, their house was completely gone. Just a big, hellish fireball.

"God. Damn." Luigi sniffed and got out a tissue. Years of memory, gone. Just like that.

"Well," responded the portly plumber with a sigh. "What's done-a is done. It's all over-a."

A hammer rudely interrupted the depression of the Mario Bros, swishing past them with a very loud WOOOSH, causing a big splash of air that caused the Mario Bros to nearly lose their balance.

The most iconic gaming character of all time decided to take a quick peek, squinting at the carnage below. The soon to be victims of the trio were a Hammer Bro, stretching his skinny arms back and forth, and a Shy Guy standing on his head, holding a bomb and fidgeting, sweating up a storm, and barely holding the bomb with his shuddering, pale hands.

The Hammer Bro was not scared, though. Quite the opposite, he was really exercising his vocal cords. "C'mon, Mario Bros! You gonna just take that, pussies?! This is our kingdom now, fools!"

That settled it. Mario and Luigi turned and nodded, in another moment of brotherly unison. Slowly, the former flipped direction, and prushed his finger hard upon Yoshi's chest. His message was clear. Attack. Leave not a survivor.

Yoshi didn't dilly-dally, either. He rose up for a very brief period, and flew down, hard. Some onlookers would later compare Yoshi's flight to that of a missile, a big, green, destructive missile. The Hammer Bro stopped speaking, but the smug grin was still present. He was still on the end of a losing battle…

But suddenly, a fireball crashed on the bomb the Shy Guy was holding just before impact, instantly exploding both the Hammer Bro and Shy Guy. The proving sign was the blood and limbs flying out of the deathly explosion.

Yoshi failed to notice, and he kept on going, finally crashing into the ground, headfirst, with a yelp signifying he realized too late.

Not very long afterwards, squeaky footsteps were heard approaching their direction. When the figure showed up, it's identity was revealed; it was their good friend, Toad himself, with a Fire Flower in his hands.

"Finally! Some more allies! What's up, Mario Bros?!" yelled Toad. Unsurprisingly, he had come up with the idea to fight well before the Marios did.

A bit of backstory here: Toad, the most well known of the shrooms, was the first person to greet the Marios when they came into the Mushroom Kingdom so many years ago, and had remained their best friend ever since.

He had always been the one to show the least amount of fear in situations that would otherwise scare the crap out of most people. He was far less forgiving, more willing to kill than the Bros, and always ready for a good fight.

This was all accompanied by a single, perpetual smug grin, the same he was flashing as he waltzed up to the brothers.

"I've been waiting for you two." He fidgeted, one foot behind the other, searching for more words.

Luigi stepped in for him. "Glad to see-a you well-a, Toad."

"How about-a we stop-a talking and keep on-a fighting?" suggested Mario.

Toad flashed a grin at the Mario Bros. "You know me so well."

They turned around, and rushed through the oncoming hordes of Bowser's minions, separating paths briefly.

Mario leaped over a Goomba's pathetic charge, grabbed the Goomba by the top of his head, and with an effortless, yet strength-exposing flex of his well-toned arms, the Goomba found himself face-first in the dirt, now stained with his own red, salty blood. That did not conclude the beating, as now, Mario followed it up with his signature Goomba-stomp, cracking all the bones of the downed enemy and crushing his back and skin into a deathly, red paste.

Toad dove towards a Koopa Troopa, the latter of whom could only utter a brief gasp before getting grasped in a chokehold. This was already quite nasty, but instead of following through with a choking, Toad settled on squeezing his prey's neck harder and harder, causing the Koopa's face to quiver more and more as his head swelled more and more, until finally, with a final squeeze of passion, the Koopa's head popped like a water balloon, flinging brain matter, blood, and skull fragments in all directions, including the mushroomer's face. Not that he gave a damn. Rather, he thought the dripping red body fluids splattered over his face added an extra layer of menace to his appearance. Indeed, with a cruel grin on his face, Toad now actually looked pretty scary, and many of the minions were backing away in horror.

Luigi and Yoshi, meanwhile, stuck together. On Yoshi's back, Nintendo's eternal whipping boy got out his hammer, and with a battle cry, he began timing his shots to clash with Bowser's aerial troops, akin to an expert display of polo. Try as Bowser's underling may, none of the Koopa Paratroopas, Paragoombas, Fly Guys, Bullet Bills, etc, would taste anything but a hard hammer to the face, blood in their mouths, and maybe the remnants of whatever weapon they were holding prior to their smackdown. As the last of the Fly Guys fell, Luigi turned to Yoshi and they cheered.

Right around then, all 4 of the heroes crossed paths again.

"I forgot-a how good-a it felt to fight-a." Luigi slapped five with Toad.

"Guess it helps this battle's a badass one that our future will probably depend on."

"True-a."

They turned towards all the minions, and in a back to back formation, Bowser's foolish minions were shut down by the bros, Toad, and Yoshi with little effort.

If you think someone's missing from this fight, though, you aren't the only one….

MEANWHILE….

Amidst all the struggling and chaos, there was one conspicuous absence from this not-so-joyous occasion, though everyone was much too preoccupied to take notice:

Bowser.

He didn't miss the party, though. Far from it.

In fact, the party was about to go into full swing.

While his troops were clashing with the Mushroomers, Bowser had snuck in, through the path of least resistance; right into the castle of the Toadstool castle, effortlessly sneaking through the doors, without so much as a raised eyebrow in the castle's direction.

In fact, none of the competent warriors were in the castle; they had all rushed out to join in the Great Mushroom War of 2017. Bowser smirked, unable to believe how easily he snuck in.

"Pathetic," he grumbled. At the same time, he wasn't stalling, as he immediately walked towards the throne room. He expected an easy stroll.

It was even easier than he thought. The only people in his way were some weak Mushroom Retainers who tried with no avail to shove him away. Their weak muscles bulged as far as they possibly could, with arms thrusting out, propelling the next Retainer in line further, to try to shove the Kingdom's biggest threat far away.

Ultimately, it was a wasted effort. (Not even that. That would be generous). Bowser would not be denied. The King grumbled and looked at his watch.

"Aye caramba." The Koopa King shook his sad, lumbering head, and deduced it was time to put an end to this party. He grasped the first Mushroomer with his head, who was so locked into his feeble attempt at offense that he didn't even notice his impending doom. Just as well.

Bowser turned around, grunted, and with a razor-sharp noise, and with the precision and accuracy only a seasoned expert could have, he launched a single spike out of his shell, landing squarely on the floor. He then squeezed the Retainer into the shape of a bowling ball with a sickly CRUNCH, shattering nearly every fragile bone in his body, and took a few steps, flinging it just like a bowling ball.

The Retainer rolled on the razor-sharp spike first, ripping through his skin in several places, killing him instantly and reddening the ball. The carnage didn't end there, for now, while his body left a flowing red trail of blood and intestines behind it, he would hit every other retainer in the line, knocking them over like bowling balls, before finally, the Retainer's horrifically mangled corpse fell down to a screeching halt, face-down, with the remainder of the blood bleeding out and forming a huge, red, thick puddle around the corpse. The king fist pumped in celebration.

"STRIKE!" Bowser chortled heartily at the mess in front of him.

"Normally, I suck at bowling," he murmured to himself. He advanced towards the roof of the castle.

By the time he reached the top, there were organs in his hand and his heads were stained red with mushroom gore. Those were the least of Bowser's concerns, though. Because now, he stood face to face with the Mushroom King.

If I could just kill him, the battle will be won. Those bastards will have no choice but to surrender! Echoed the Koopa Klan leader's thoughts.

Opposite of Bowser lay his foe, the Mushroom King. King Toadstool himself. Despite normally being quite ditzy and non-serious, the king was able to immediately understand that this was it, and assumed a vicious battle stance.

For a moment, all was still. The two kings glared at each other, nothing but pure hatred in their eyes.

The King took a few valiant steps towards the giant beast in front of him, seemingly unfaltered. A storm was beginning to brew up above them, as the cracking sound of thunder wasn't far off in the dark and gloomy sky.

"Y'know, I don't have to slaughter you in cold blood," said Bowser. "Just take the easy way out and surrender your sappy kingdom to me, the King of Awesome, or the hard way, and pay the consequences."

Now, you could ask just about anyone who knew the Mushroom King, and they would tell you he was scatterbrained, dimwitted, and several other nasty remarks other members of the Mushroom Kingdom made behind his back, all true.

In most cases.

But now, faced with mortal danger, the King seemed to be a different person entirely. All the fear that should have been there, did not exist. The opposite, in fact; he couldn't have possibly looked more confident, as he was still steadily approaching the mortal enemy of the kingdom, and now slowly reaching behind the back of his robe.

This was his kingdom. His land. He would do all he could do for it. And it was then, that the Mushroom King finally spoke.

"I don't believe in easy. Nor do I believe in surrender."

Without even giving Bowser time to process those awesome words, King Toadstool followed up with another shocking reveal; the item he had been grasping for was in fact, an antique samurai sword he kept hidden in a traditional sheath. He had been instructed by his father to use only for emergency purposes.

Well, if this wasn't an emergency, nothing was.

SWISH! At once, King Toadstool uncurled with a vicious upwards cut, which dug through Bowser's skin and ended right before his neck, a detail he would vividly (and unentusiastically) recall for a while afterwards. The gaping wound forced out a moderate quantity of gore, some of which splattered beyond the Mushroom King (except for some that splattered on the front of him). Bowser staggered backwards a bit, trying to regain his composure.

By this point, there were no sets of eyes on the ground that weren't now staring at the top of Princess Peach's Castle. Everyone previously occupied with a life-and-death battle temporarily relented, diverting their focus to the clash between the two kings.

"Holy shit-a." Mario looked up, wide-eyed. Although only the silhouettes of both Bowser and King Toadstool were visible, despite the frequent flashes of lightning helping somewhat to illuminate the duel, the movement between the two made it clear what was going on.

"No…" murmured fair Princess Peach, currently handcuffed by a Chargin' Chuck, with nothing to do but watch and pray.

Bowser, still clearly shocked and in pain, backed up a bit, now flailing close to the edge of the castle walls, and waving his arms and staggering.

"So, that's how it's going to be, eh?" Even in his current condition, Bowser hadn't lost the unmistakable arrogance in his voice.

The reply never came. The Mushroom King lashed out again.

Bowser parried with a rising claw.

BAM! BANG! CLANG!

Bowser threw a left hook.

And the King countered again.

The process repeated itself, bit by bit, until now they were both standing on level ground again. They both pressed on the offense, slashing, parrying, and neither were going to give in.

The King found an opening.

After a horribly whiffed uppercut, King Toadstool stabbed Bowser in the chest.

And cut upwards.

He removed the sword, and tackled Bowser to the floor.

Well, this it it, thought Bowser, now lying face down.

The King seemed to know it too. He was now readying the decapitation blow. Down below, Bowser's army seemed absolutely horrified, some already weeping. If their king was slain, there would be no more they could do.

This absolutely wasn't true in the case of the Mushroomers, who were cheering and whooping like they never had before.

Bowser felt just as hopeless as his minions. A whole lifetime of memories began flowing through his head...

...But were interrupted by a very clever brainstorm.

Quickly, he ducked into his shell as King Toadstool unleashed his murder blow.

The shell blocked it, and King Toadstool stumbled briefly.

And just like that, the Mushroomers stood jaw-dropped and Bowser's army looked up, fist-pumping and cheering.

Bowser swiftly pulled up the king by his collar, with a nasty rip down the front of the robe audible to both of them. Bowser paid no mind, and winded up his signature punch, smacking the king cleanly in his regal face, sending him weakly sprawling across the floor.

The Mushroom King struggled to pick himself up, regain his bearings. His vision was blurring, and he began to see a few more stars in the sky

He got kicked squarely in the side.

He tumbled across, to the side of the castle once again.

Groaning, he held up his hand on the back of the crumbling support pillar. This time, there was an even fainter attempt at recovery. It was clear the life was sapping from his body rapidly.

The Toads down below crossed their fingers, hoping for a miracle.

So far, Bowser was now knocking the Mushroom King around like a ragdoll, so the odds seemed limited at best.

Bowser grabbed him again, and pounded at his chest a final time, with a loud SNAP!

The bruised and bloody king had the taste of blood running across his mouth. He barely looked up as Bowser stood above him, with a gesture that made it clear the battle was over.

"Well, looks like it all ends here, paley-o." Bowser chuckled heartily and continued to advance.

"I'll try not to ruin your precious tie with this blow."

Bowser heavily slashed downwards, slicing through the king's shoulder, only briefly stopping at the first, second, and third ribs, with a resounding CRACKLE!

And that was that. The Mushroom King tried to inhale. No air came back out. Bowser ignored everything else, including the rain now splattering downwards and the storm now in full swing, lighting strikes everywhere, slowly pulled his bloody claw out from the king's body, dragging along some bloody flesh, with a brutal POP! To finish off.

"No!" gasped the Princess.

Before anyone else had time to say anything, Bowser wound up his most brutal slice of the night. It was a simple, short and sweet compact swing, one that everyone heard decapitate the former Mushroom King. In the dark of the night, King Toadstool's head rolled sideways on the top of the castle, a continuously gushing flow of blood spilling from it's neck, which ended up quickly washed away by the rain, which was absolutely pouring now.

Nobody spoke for a few seconds. Their brains were still processing, trying to remember the rules regarding a king's defeat in battle in the Mushroom world. Bowser recalled said rule before everyone else did.

"Looks like I rule you sorry pack of mother fuckers now."

At that, Bowser's army erupted into a series of cheers and dance moves to celebrate. They had finally done it. The Mushroom Kingdom was theirs.

As for the Mushroom Kingdom residents? None of them could possibly have looked more hopeless. Peach, Luigi, Yoshi and most of the members of the army (well, the 1/4th of the army that hadn't been horrifically killed) were already sobbing wrecks. Mario knelt down on one knee and stopped resisting. His hammer bounced weakly off the floor as his fist unclenched it.

And Toad? He just looked up, clearly saddened, and yet, looking like he still had a bit more fight left.

"This isn't over…" he murmured silently.

But it was.

Bowser relished the scene, sucking in all the joys for as long as he could. He could have said a particularly badass line. But for now, he was content with simply folding his arms and glaring down at all his mortal enemies, who only saw his badass silhouette staring down at them.

And that was it. On this very day, the history of the Kingdom we all know and love, was flipped around entirely. There was nothing more anyone in the Kingdom could do. And by now, on the blood and guts stained battlefield of suffering and total woe, as the worst rainstorm/thunderstorm combination to ever befall the land in a very long while, everyone had realized that.

Yup, cry my little lambkins.

Bowser got out his walkie talkie. "Everyone at the castle, come here. Bring the party equipment and the doomships. We've got another kingdom to add to our arsenal here, and we are going to celebrate as only the mighty Koopa Klan can! What kingdom? Why, only the fucking Mushroom Kingdom!"

For extra emphasis, Bowser slammed his walkie talkie on the ground, and resumed laughing.

Cry. It's all you can do.

This was his kingdom. His land. He would do all he could do for it. First step of order? Merging it with the Koopa Klan. After that, who knows? Bowser was grinning just at the mere thought.

No! It can't-a end like-a this! Thought Mario.

Not as long-a as there is-a still a breath-a in my body-a...

TO BE CONTINUED...

...

Well, it was great to finally be writing that down. Please, share your thoughts by making a review. I love reading them, and finding out how I cam improve my work further. (If you made it to the end, though, that's very awesome too.)