Icicle Mountain

Mario awoke on the wet ground, shivering. He stumbled to his feet on shaky legs, embracing himself as he looked around the deserted, snowy landscape. His teeth chattered as he opened his mouth to call for help, but only cold air left his mouth. The temperature was so low, an icicle hanged off the end of his moustache. Behind him was an ocean of slushy water and blocky ice caps. In front of him was a forest of white trees. He stumbled forward, falling onto his knees and back to the unforgiving chill of the snow.

Something broke through the water of the ocean. The big orange fish reached its ugly head out to land, narrowly missing Mario's legs with its wet blue lips. The fish grunted, slowly slithering back into the ocean. Mario buckled as he rose to his feet, knees trembling as he moved forward. He slipped and skidded towards the ocean, just stopping himself before he fell in the water. Of course, there was ice beneath the snow. He certainly was not wearing suitable shoes; not that the rest of his clothing was appropriate for the climate. Bubbles rose to the surface as a shadow lingered beneath the water. Cold, steamy tendrils poured out of Mario's mouth as he dragged his hands and knees across the freezing ground, clawing his way up the ice. The water splashed up into the air once more. The fish bounced on the surface, missing Mario by the skin of its teeth. The fish grunted once more, retreating into the depths of its freezing ocean.

A bead of sweat ran down Mario's forehead and froze to his hair. Perhaps his hat had not fallen off because that too was frozen to his hair. He crawled through the snow, not daring to try and stand again; he hardly had the energy to lift himself up if he wanted to. How did he get in this state? How did he even get here in the first place? No time to think about that right now. Only survival mattered.

Something warm and furry touched his hand. He thought it had just been more snow he had reached out for. Staring down at him was a polar bear dressed in black sunglasses and a pair of purple shorts. Mario held a hand up and tried to speak, but only more air came out of his mouth. The polar bear jumped, crashing down on Mario's back. Mario wheezed, coughing up ice as he held his shaky hand up. The polar bear jumped again, crashing down on Mario and burying his face beneath the wintery landscape. Mario struggled, choking on the snow that filled his mouth and nose. He summoned all his energy, rolling onto his front and firing a single fireball. The cool expression of the polar bear dropped, his sunglasses falling off to reveal panicked eyes as the flames enshrouded him. He dropped to the ground, a trophy that Mario rolled his eyes at as he had to crawl around it.

It seemed like hours before he finally reached the comforting looking canopy of the winter forest, which was not actually comforting at all since the snowballs dropping from the leaves were as cold as the snow showers out in the open. He came to a stump in the ground, when a twig snapped behind him. Well, that was it. Super Mario did not have the energy to lift another finger against anything. He dropped his head in the snow and shut his eyes.

He awoke in a tent, his clothes fine and dry. "Huh?" He lifted off his back, vigour and energy back in his body. Through the opening of the tent, he saw embers rising in the night sky. Slowly, he peeped at the fire then let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Mario."

"Captain Toad? Where are we?"

The captain was sat on a tree stump, smiling as he held a turnip on a stick over the fire. "To tell you the truth, I don't really know. All I know is that we were taken far away to this freezing land. I'm glad I followed you. They must have done something to you on that ship—you did not look like the Super Mario I know! Fortunately, I'd packed a load of mushrooms in my bag for our visit to the Town. I hope you don't mind, but I fed you a few whilst you were sleeping. You should soon feel like your old self. I, err… I also dried your clothes over the fire. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Mario took his hat off and scratched his hair. "I don't-a understand, Captain. Why are we here?"

Captain Toad took a bite out of his turnip. "Oh, that animal really must have beaten the toadstool out of you."

"Animal?"