Sonic & Mario

Chapter 2

The Vision

"Mario! Mario!"

Mario's head popped out of the pipe he was in, looking for the source of the voice. He waited, but nothing happened.

"I guess I imagined it," Mario said and went back down the pipe.

Mario was very busy today with his technical career. He had received a letter from the mayor of Koopa Village last night, asking him to fix one of the large green pipes just outside of the small village. Apparently, there was a large crack in the pipeline that caused the pipe to leak water into the ground, making it muddy and hard to work on. What's worse, if the crack got any bigger, the whole pipe might explode and flood Koopa Village off the map. That was something Mario wasn't going to let happen, so the next day, Mario packed his plumbing tools and started to seal up the crack in the pipe.
He had no time for imagining things.

But just as he went back to work, he heard the voice again, "Mario! Mario"

Dropping his tools, Mario worked his body up the large pipe again and looked around. Nothing could be seen a mile away.

"Must be some kid trying to tease me out of my work," Mario replied grumpy and went back down the pipe, picking up his tools and heading for work.

"Mario! Mario!"

There it was again! Mario threw his tools to the ground and murmured a couple words as he headed back up the pipe. He was going to give that kid a run for his money when he finds him!

Mario once again poked his head out of the pipe and quickly looked around at all angles. This time he was rewarded as he saw Luigi walking along the fields, shouting out his name.

"Mario! Mario!"

"Luigi!" Mario answered back.

Apparently, Luigi didn't hear him and walked closer to the pipe in the ground.

"Luigi, I'm right here!" Mario yelled, trying to get his attention.

Whether he was daydreaming or not paying attention, Luigi didn't hear Mario's voice and walked closer towards Mario and the pipe, still calling out Mario's name in his Italian accent. If Luigi kept up with what he was doing, Mario was going to a fat plumber stuck in a pipe.

Luigi was right in front of him, not watching where he was going and ready to jump onto Mario's head. Not wanting to be a flat plumber, Mario yelled with all his might, "Luigi!"

Luigi, surprised by the volume of the voice so close to his ears, jumped ten feet in the air and crashed right beside Mario's head. Searching for Mario's voice, Luigi stood up and started to walk away from Mario.

"Not again," Mario said as he once more yelled, "Luigi! I'm over here!"

Luigi must have jumped twenty feet in the air before landing in front of Mario. Luigi shook his head and yelled out, "Mario, where are you?"

"Look down!"

Luigi looked down in front of him and saw Mario's head sticking out of a large pipe.

"There you are! I was looking everywhere for you!"

Puzzled, Mario asked "Didn't you see the note I left by your bed this morning stating that I was working on a pipe outside of Koopa Village?"

"Note?" Luigi asked, "I didn't even know there was a note!"

Mario let out a sigh. His brother was the best friend one could have, but sometimes it seemed that he had no common sense at all. Why one time, Luigi tried putting a puzzle together without looking at the directions! How stupid could he be? Mario cleared his head out of the nasty remarks of his twin brother and asked, "Well, what do you want?"

"Princess Peach wants to speak to you privately in her castle," Luigi blurted out.

All the frustration inside of Mario left him when he heard what his brother said. Princess Peach! Mario was always fond of Peach and went on many dates with her lately. He was always there to accomplish his duties in the Mushroom Kingdom for her sake. He blushed a bit but regained his ability to speak and asked, "What does she want?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

Luigi shrugged his shoulders. "She just ordered me to fetch you for her and that was it."

"Is something wrong?" Mario asked.

"I don't know, but the princess seemed to be really nervous when she asked me to fetch you."

Mario got his body out of the pipe but stopped before doing anything else.

"Luigi?"

"Yes."

"I know I'm supposed to report to the princess, but I need to fix this pipe before it explodes. I was wondering if you…"

Luigi silenced him.

"Of course I will!" he answered happily, "I'm almost as good as a plumber as you are. I'll take care of it while you are away with the princess."

"Are you sure?"

"Mario, we are brothers as well as friends. Brothers do things for each other."

Mario smiled at his younger brother and said, "Okay, I'll split the wages with you when I get back. Just finish sealing in the crack and take my tools home after that. I better get going. Bye!"

"Adios!" Luigi answered back as Mario disappeared in the horizon.

The sun shined over Princess Peach's castle as Mario crossed the drawbridge separating him from the castle door. The moat surrounding the castle was filled with crystal clear water that emptied itself into a waterfall not far from the castle itself. The blue bricks that created the walls protected its inhabitants from both enemies and sever weather, but it gave the castle real beauty that other castles fail to do. All in all, it was the most beautiful castle ever created in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario smiled to himself as he remembered the magic this castle has hidden away from many of the enemies who tried to conquer it. The castle was a portal to many unknown locations in the Mushroom Kingdom, some of them peaceful while others were downright dangerous. Only Bowser, the ruler of the Koopa tribe, had discovered the castle secrets and even tried to use them for his advantage to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom for his own empire. Of course, Mario couldn't let that happened and used the portals in the castle paintings and walls to save Princess Peach and her kingdom from the evil grasps of Bowser. Now, it was peaceful, and Bowser hasn't shown himself for months. Mario intended the kingdom to stay that way.

Reaching the giant doors of the castle, Mario knocked and waited. It didn't take too long for the door to open and a short mushroom shaped figure to appear in the doorway. Mario knew him well; it was Toad: the princess's most trusted servant inside the castle walls.

Toad bowed respectably to the legendary hero.

"Greetings, Mario. The princess has been expecting you. Please, follow me."

Toad let Mario in the castle and walked down the hallway to the throne room. Mario followed close behind him.

Toad led Mario into a large room decorated with paintings and flowers. In the center of the room was a golden throne and on the throne sat Princess Peach, still as beautiful as ever.

Mario was glad to see her again, but he quickly realized that something was wrong. Peach was usually a cheerful person with a smile always on her face, but today, a frown had replaced the smile and her eyes seemed to be full of fear. Still, she sat in her throne like only a princess could and was calm enough to not forget her manners. Mario was proud of her courage during the trials she had endured when she became princess of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario took off his red cap and bowed before the princess.

"No need for that, Mario," Peach said, "You are a guest in my house."

Turning to Toad, Peach commanded him to accomplish his daily tasks. Toad bowed his head respectively to the princess and left Mario alone with Peach in the throne room.

Mario arose and put his cap back on his head.

"I am so glad that you have come, Mario," Peach said in a beautiful yet sad voice.

"I am obliged to your duties, my princess. What have you fetched me for?"

"I called you for your help," said Peach and stood out of her throne and walked towards the door.

"Follow me, Mario."

Asking no questions, Mario immediately followed the princess up a fleet of stairs to the belfry of the castle. At the top of the stairs was a door with a lock on it to keep citizens out of the belfry. Peach reached the door and stopped to face Mario.

"Before we enter the room, I want you to promise me that if anything should ever happen to me in the near future, you will be in charge of the kingdom till you find someone worthy to govern the land."

Mario was shocked to hear this from the princess herself, but answered her, "As you wish, Princess Peach."

A small smile appeared on Peach's face when she heard Mario's answer but was quickly replaced by a frown as Peach took a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door in front of them. Unlocked, the door opened silently, and Peach and Mario walked in.

Mario followed Peach across the room. The room itself was rather dirty and old. It was the type of place to discover more magical secrets that had been hidden for eons. Mario, however, didn't have time to admire the room because the princess soon led him to another door at the far side of the room. There Peach stopped walking and turned and faced Mario once more. Mario stopped walking and stood beside the princess, waiting for her to tell him what was wrong.

Peach's voice broke the silence of the room.

"Mario, before I show you what is behind this door, I want to tell you what happened to me before I called on your service."

"I am listening, Peach."

"Three nights ago, I dreamed an awful dream. In the dream, I was lying face down on the ground right beside my castle. I didn't know what I was doing on the ground, so I quickly got up and saw the most terrifying sight I had ever seen."

She stopped and looked at Mario.

"Please, go on."

"Anyway, I saw my castle in ruins as if a shooting star had landed on it and blew up the whole castle. I then saw my people all lying there by the castle, dead as the cold winter night."

Peach stopped again and began to cry. Mario went and held her as she cried over and over again. It took her a couple of minutes before she regained her voice again and continued with her dream.

"I was running to the nearest dead person when I was stopped by a sudden blue streak that stopped and pushed me to the ground. I fell down but quickly got back up in time to see who had stopped me from helping my countrymen."

Peach stopped again. She looked cold and fearful as she was trying to force herself from crying again.

"Please continue with the dream, Peach."

"The figure was a bit taller than you, Mario, but it was blue and had spikes along its head. The best I can make out of it, I would say it was a big blue hedgehog!"

"The hedgehog glared down at me with the wickedest eyes I had even seen. Then, it disappeared in front of my very eyes! I woke up before the dream was finished and couldn't sleep the rest of the night."

Mario felt sorry for Peach and again held her as she began to cry once more.

"Don't worry, Peach," Mario said, "It was only a dream. Dreams don't come true."

Peach suddenly pulled away from Mario.

"Dreams don't come true, but visions do!"

Mario was shocked by her remark as Peach suddenly pulled out another key from her pocket and stuck it in the door.

"I had just discovered this room yesterday," Peach replied, "It should answer any questions that you have."

Peach turned the key sideways and unlocked the door. She opened it and walked in. Mario followed close behind.

The room was small with no windows in it. A torch was the only light that was in the dark room. Mario squatted his eyes under the narrow amount of light and looked at Peach. She didn't pay attention to Mario but was looking at the wall in front of her eyes. Mario turned to face the wall and got one of the biggest surprises in his life.

On the wall was a large dark painting that looked as old as the castle itself. Drawn on the painting was Peach's castle in ruins and dead bodies lying all over the place, but the most terrifying thing was a tall, dark blue shadow of a hedgehog with large spikes running along the back of its head. Mario gaped at the figure; never had he ever seen something so mysterious and deadly in his entire life. Mario quickly shook his head and faced Peach.

"Is this your dream?"

Peach nodded her head.

Mario looked again at the figure in the painting.

"Do you know when it is supposed to happen?"

Peach shook her head and said, "No, I woke before I got further into the vision, but I have a feeling that the vision is going to happen soon."

Mario looked at the painting one last time and then walked out the room.

"Where are you going?"

Mario stopped and faced Peach.

"To stop Bowser from accomplishing his plan to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom!"

"Bowser?"

"Yes, he is always trying to find some way to conquer the kingdom."

"Mario…"

"I won't let him destroy you or your castle…"

"MARIO!"

Mario stopped talking and looked surprisingly at Peach. She had never raised her voice at him before but now. Mario remained silent as Peach lowered her tone of voice.

"Mario, I'm sorry for yelling at you, but I fear that not even Bowser is clever or powerful enough to come up with a scheme like that."

Mario blinked at her.

"What are you trying to say?"

"We are not dealing with Bowser. We are dealing with a new enemy, an enemy that we have no knowledge of besides the painting and my vision."

"How are we to fight this new enemy?"

Peach became silent for a moment but came up with the solution.

"You, Mario, must make a new ally."

"What?" asked a stunned Mario.

"If you are going to fight a new enemy, then you must have an ally that knows your enemy well. Strength and agility will not always win the battle, but the knowledge needed to defeat your foe will."

Mario became silent once again and looked at Peach. He had always been loyal to her, and no new enemy was going to take away his duty.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to guard the kingdom from this new enemy," replied Peach, "But I also want you to find this new ally before the enemy comes. If you fail to do so, not even you can stop this monster."

Peach sighed and sat down in a chair in the room.

"Go, Mario and remember what I have said."

Mario bowed respectfully to the depressed princess and went down the stairs to the castle hallway.

Mario walked down the hallway to the front door of the castle. He had to prepare for yet another battle with an enemy. Perhaps his life was just full of war and no rest. Mario sighed to himself. If he kept this up, he was going to die at a young age.

Mario went to open the door when he heard a terrified voice call his name.

"Mario!"

Mario turned around and saw Toad running towards him as fast as he could run. Reaching Mario, Toad was out of breath and was too tired to speak.

"What is it?"

Toad managed to gasp enough air into his small body to speak.

"Bowser!" he said, "Bowser is here at the castle!"

Mario's temper became furious at the arrival of the bad news. So Bowser was after all making the plan to make the enemy already! Mario held Toad as he was trying to catch his breathe.

"Where is he?"

"On the roof!" Toad gasped.

Mario laid Toad down to the ground and ran down the hallway to the attic. If Bowser was going to start his new plan right now, Mario would be ready.

Mario made it to the attic and looked out the window. There on the roof was the huge Koopa lord himself: Bowser. He wasn't doing anything; just standing on the roof top, admiring the blue sky. Mario silently crawled out the attic window onto the roof top to meet his long time foe.

Bowser apparently didn't hear Mario walking behind him. Mario shrugged; he must be planning out his new scheme to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario walked up to Bowser and called his name.

"Hello, Bowser."

Hearing Mario's Italian accent, Bowser quickly turned around and saw Mario standing right behind him.

"Hello to yourself, Mario," the great Koopa lord said with a loud booming voice.

"I need to talk to you!"

Bowser walked towards Mario.

"About what?"

"About your new battle plan to take over the Mushroom Kingdom," Mario said without hesitation.

Bowser stopped in front of Mario, now towering over him with his gigantic shelled body.

"Really, and what plan may that be, Mario?"

Mario stood his ground underneath Bowser's towering shadow.

"You should know because you're the one who came up with it."

Bowser looked down at Mario with a puzzled look on his face.

"Just to let you know, Mario, I haven't come up with any new ideas yet to conquer your lovely princess!"

"Then why are you here on the roof top of Princess Peach's castle?" Mario asked.

"Just enjoying the view," replied Bowser with a grin on his scaly face.

Mario shook his head. He could tell when Bowser told a lie.

"You're lying, Bowser! I want the truth!"

"Are you calling me a liar?" Bowser asked with a hint of anger in it.

"Yes, I am, and I will still do so if you won't tell me the truth."

Bowser glared down at Mario but didn't say anything. Mario glared right back at him. He was not going to have all this lying from Bowser delay his mission.

Bowser stood still for moment before he spoke again.

"Okay, Mario. You win. I'll tell you everything."

Mario wasn't prepared for Bowser's fist in his face and flew several feet away from Bowser. When he recovered from the blow, Mario saw Bowser get in his flying balloon and take off into the blue sky. Mario got up quickly and went to stop him, but Bowser was already floating high above his head.

"He's not going to escape me!" Mario said and took out his flying cap and put it on his head. The wings on the cap fluttered rapidly as Mario jumped high up in the air and flew after Bowser's balloon.

Bowser, who was expecting Mario to follow him, shot out a big flame of fire out of his mouth at Mario. Mario ducked and barely missed the hot torch that passed on top of him. Grabbing the fire flower in his hand, Mario shot a multitude of fireballs back at Bowser but just glanced of his scaly body.

"Ha!" laughed Bowser, "Do you think that a little fireball is going to hurt me? Ha!"

Still laughing over Mario's useless attack, Bowser reached into his balloon and threw some empty Koopa shells at Mario. Mario, however, proved too swift for the flying Koopa shells and dodged them in the wind. The flying Koopa shells gave Mario an idea on how to stop Bowser.

Bowser took a big, spiky Koopa shell out of the balloon and threw it at Mario. Instead of dodging it, Mario caught it in thin and threw it back at Bowser. Bowser ducked in his balloon and laughed at Mario.

"Nice try, Mario!"

"Thank you, Bowser."

Confused by Mario's reply, Bowser suddenly felt his balloon stop in mid-air. A big hole in the side of the balloon was letting the air out of his balloon, and he was quickly losing altitude. Bowser glared up at Mario.

"You'll pay for this, Mario!" was Bowser's last reply as he disappeared behind the thick clouds.

Mario stayed in the air and looked for Bowser. He had disappeared from Mario's eyes! Mario sighed. He just had him and now he had just lost him! Mario shook his head and looked down to see where he was.

Thousands of feet below him was the great Atlantis Sea that separated the mainland from the thousands of islands surrounding it. Bowser must have fell into the sea instead of dry land. Served him right.

Mario was quickly approaching a huge island in front of him. He recognized it immediately: Yoshi's Island. Mario was too tired to travel back to the mainland, so he flew forward towards Yoshi's Island.

Mario had made it to the island when a bright light suddenly blinded his eyes. Blinded, Mario immediately stopped in mid-air, putting his hands over his eyes to protect them from the bright light. What was going on?

The bright light disappeared as quickly as it had came. With the light gone, Mario uncovered his eyes and looked around. Nothing seemed different about the island but it was best to check it out anyway. Mario didn't know what that light was and intent to see what caused it.

Flapping the wings on his cap, Mario flew over Yoshi's Island; searching for the source of the mysterious bright light. Unknown to Mario, however, was a pair of eyes watching his every move.