[X] A path

Stage 2- watch?v=pyXRV7wkeyo

Mario decided to go on the easier path to Princess Peach's castle, he couldn't afford to waste time, not when the Princess's life could be in danger. As he began to run down the yellow bricked path, he spotted three airships high in the sky aim their cannons at him. With a thunderous explosion, the ships canon balls hurtled at Mario who ducked under them. The canon balls landed in the ground with a thud before slowly opening with a hissing sound as the smoke blew away, revealing the "present" the ships had left him as they continued their course towards the castle.

The skin on the Goombas appeared as a pale shade of green as their fangs glinted in the moonlight, poison dripping from their open mouths and landed on a patch of grass, killing it instantly. Their eyes traveled up and down constantly as they stepped out of the cannonball, revealing the Shy Guys that had been behind them. The Shy Guys clothes were in tatters, grime and filth had coated their red clothes and their masks had various cracks. Their eyepieces had been destroyed entirely, exposing their manic yellow beady eyes.

The lead Goomba bellowed a deep war cry as it and its allies made a beeline towards Mario. Mario leaped over the first Goomba and stomped hard on the Shy Guy behind it. Grabbing the dazed Shy Guy, Mario tossed it at the pack of Goombas and Shy Guys, before leaping high into the air using the Shy Guy as a boost and kicked it back down at the nearest Goomba, killing it and the Shy Guy at the same time. He heard a growling sound behind and whirled around to see the lead Goomba leap at him, its fangs outstretched as it clamped down on his arm, making Mario revert to his normal state.

Yelling in pain, Mario tore the Goomba off his arm, causing its fang to stick to his arm, and stomped on it, killing the monster. Mario felt woozy on his feet as the other monsters charged at him, the poison rapidly making its way through his body. Shaking his head, Mario then leaped into the air yet again, and reached into his pocket, pulling out a fire flower and transforming into Fire Mario. Mario then pulled his arms by his side and charged up a fire blast, before releasing it onto the horde, setting them on fire.

The monsters stumbled blindly, screeching in pain as they tried to extinguish themselves, but it was for nothing as they soon stopped moving and fell to the ground, ashen and charred. Mario breathed hard, struggling to get in his lungs as he rooted around his pockets for an antidote. Felling the bottle in his pocket, Mario popped open the vial and hastily drank the liquid, wincing at the chalky aftertaste. Yanking the fang out of his arm, he wrapped his bleeding arm with gauze and continued to run down the paths.

The paratroopas had caught wind to his arrival and began to bombard him with their razor-sharp feathers. They had gone through a drastic change as well, their scales were constantly shedding as they continued to fly, and they appeared to have segments of their flesh and wings stripped off, the fragmented bone could be seen, and the smell of rotting flesh once again hit Mario's nose, nearly causing him to stumble as he gagged in disgust. Mario dodged their wing attacks by diving to the ground, getting dirt in his mouth as he raised his hands over his head as the feathers passed over him.

Spitting out the dirt, Mario sprung himself from the ground and landed feet first on the paratroopas heads, using them as stepping stones to get closer to Peach's castle. He stomped on the last paratroopa and then ground pounded on top of its head, forcing it down into its shell. Mario then picked the shell and threw it at the undead paratroopas, the shell drilled holes through their chest as it continued its path, eventually hitting a wall of one of the ruined homes killing the paratroopa instantly. The remaining paratroopas stood shock still, as if wondering what to do, as they collapsed on the spot, blood pooling on the ground.

Assuring himself of his kill, Mario turned to enter Peach's castle only to stop mid-step while he was crossing the bridge. The sounds of the three airships could be heard rather close, and he leapt back to avoid being gutted by the propellers of the airships. Spotlights of the airships flickered on, and Monty Moles aimed their cannons at Mario.

The largest Monty Mole he had ever seen walked to the stern of the ship, his fur was untamed, and he wore a captain's outfit with a pointy hat place on top of his head. The mole gestured his dirty claws at Mario and gestured for the moles to fire.

Boss- Airship Armada ( watch?v=rzIs4bEwFBo)

Bombs began to fire out of the canons as Mario began to run from the bridge. Mounds of dirt sprayed into the air as the bombs exploded, and Mario shielded his eyes from the debris. His ears were ringing nonstop from the explosions, and he was nearly impaled by one of the airships that tried to dive bomb him. Mario felt the rush of hot air pass by him as the captain of the Armada stomped his feet in anger at the lucky miss.

Barking out even more orders, the armada began its bombardment anew; however, there were something different about these bombs. Mario eyes widened as he saw a Bob-omb get launched from one of the airships. Dashing over to the Bob-omb, he winded up the key on its back and threw it onto one of the ships. The moles panicked and tried to escape from the ship, but it was too late, and the ship blew up, pieces of wood scattering everywhere.

This enraged the captain even more, and his ship and the second ship attempted to impale Mario again. Mario leapt over the first ship, his foot brushing against the captain's hat, as he leapt off the ship and stomped the pilot of the first ship. Another mole soon appeared and replaced the one that had been killed and made threw Mario off the ship by abruptly stopping. Mario landed on the ground as the two ships began their bombing anew.

Waiting for his chance, Mario dogged the bombs that were sent his way and grabbed a Bob-omb that had been shot out of a cannon. He rapidly winded the bomb up and chucked it at the ship that was behind the captain's ship, blowing that one immediately. The captain's skin changed into a purple hue as he directed the ship to impale Mario. Mario jumped over the ship yet again, and then ducked as the captain to impale him from behind. The captain then shot bombs out from his cannons and Mario grabbed the last Bob-omb, winded it up, and threw it at the ship.

The bomb exploded, and the captain screamed in rage as he was killed by the resulting explosion. A red orb fell to the ground in front of Mario and he picked it up before mulling over how he would get into Peach's castle. He could either go through the front door, but he expected that there would be much more resistance in the castle which could slow him down from getting to Peach, or he could enter the castle through the sewers and try a sneakier approach.

Decisions, Decisions…

[] Go through the front door

[] Go through the sewers