Super Mario Bros. 6: The Mighty Tyrant

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 8: Search for the Shards

The Mushroom Kingdom had once been bursting with life and prosperity.  It was a wonderful time, when its citizens didn't have a single care in the world.  They had always counted on Mario to save the day, and he always did, up until now.  The darkened sky of the kingdom loomed above everyone like a giant cloud of depression that had filled up with everyone's gloom and broke into a storm of sadness that rained upon its desperate citizens.  Almost all of the Mushroom Kingdom residents had made it into the Secret Chambers, but there were a dozen or two that weren't so lucky.  Lord Shade hadn't discovered them yet, but it was only a matter of time before he decided to destroy the planet, anyway.  While the kingdom's unlikely band of heroes prepared for the battles that awaited them, two days had come and gone.  Two long and painful days of watching and waiting has passed, with no sign of hope for any of them, except for one.  One of them did stay positive.  Princess Peach.  She knew that Mario had made a silent vow to come back to them alive before he took on the Shadow Shrowds.  Even though she wasn't aware that Mario had escaped the starship's crash, she knew in her heart that he was alive.  It was her hope that kept everyone else alive.



"That was probably the hardest two days of my life," Wario sighed.  "But it was worth it, because now I'm as strong as Mario!  Now everyone can start giving the glamorous Wario Brothers the attention they deserve!  I'll be rich!"

"You four did an excellent job.  Just keep in mind that Mario was just as strong as you are right now when he was beaten by Lord Shade," Skulleon reminded them.  Don't expect to stand any more of a chance against him than you did before.  On the bright side, most of his minions should be much easier to beat.  Try your luck at finding the three shards of the Z Star.  If you're lucky, Mario might show up to help you.

Luigi stared into the dim, gloomy horizon.  Where are you, bro?

Waluigi waved his hand in front of Luigi's face.  "Hey, Luigi!  Snap out of it!"

Luigi blinked and turned to Waluigi.  "Huh?  Oh, I was just thinking, that's all.  Let's start looking for those shards."

Glaive stepped forward, his fists clenched.  "Oh, sure!  Go right ahead and find all three shards, because I'm sure we know where they all are!  Why don't we just sign a peace treaty with the Shadow Shrowds, while we're at it?!" he boomed in both sarcasm and rage.  "We don't have any idea where to start looking, and we could be ambushed by one of Shade's goons if we're not careful."

"Have a little hope," Skulleon chuckled.  "I know exactly where they all are."

Glaive whirled around to face Skulleon.  "Why didn't you say so?  Tell us, now!"

"You could've at least said please," Skulleon muttered.  "I live up in the clouds, so I see just about everything in the Mushroom Kingdom, and that includes where the shards are.  Now, where was the first one again?"

Bowser's Rage

"Ugh, I can't believe I lost to Mario AGAIN!  That no-good plumber always finds some way to beat me!  It's sickening!  How can a tiny plumber like him beat an enormous, good-looking Koopa like me?  It's just not right!" Bowser roared as he finally stomped back to his castle.  He had been grabbed by the tail and thrown out of Mushroom Castle after his most recent attack.  It had taken him quite a while to find his way back to his castle.

Kammy, of course, was by his side.  "Don't worry, your grumpiness!  I believe Mario has been taking lessons from gods of the Overthere.  That's probably why he was able to beat you even after you stole the Star Rod.  He didn't even need the Star Spirits."

"It's not fair.  I should be taught by the gods, so I can show everyone how weak Mario really is!" Bowser groaned.  "And why do these stupid idiots in armor keep attacking me?!"  A Sol Warrior spotted Bowser and charged at him.  Before he could reach the mighty Koopa King, Bowser had burnt him to a crisp with his fiery breath.  "Those morons are really starting to bug me, especially- Huh?  What's that?"

"What?" Kammy inquired.  "Another soldier?"

Bowser shook his head and pointed at a glowing object sticking out of the ground.  "No, that!"  He picked it up.  "Hmm... It looks sort of familiar..."

Kammy's face brightened.  "That looks like the Z Star!  But it looks like someone broke it apart..."

"That's it!  Gather up the entire Koopa Clan!  We're going after the other pieces to this baby, and then we'll kidnap the princess!" Bowser cackled.  "It's perfect!"

"I think the shards are attracted to each other.  That means that we'll start to feel the shard we have pulling itself toward another shard when we approach it.  So all we really need to do is walk around a bit!  Let's get going!"

[End Music]

Graveyard Theme

Wario, Luigi, Glaive, and Waluigi materialized in a colossal graveyard.  Luigi grimaced as his feet sank into the brown, soggy soil.  Hundreds upon thousands over tombstones lined old forgotten graveyard.  Occasional strikes of lightning illuminated the pale red sky that hovered above them like a cloud of loneliness.  Luigi shivered.  "Let's get out of here!  It's creepy!"

Waluigi looked around.  "For once, I gotta agree with the coward.  Where are we?  The only place that even slightly resembles this place is Boo Mansion, and I don't see any mansion here."

"Bah, I'm not scared," Wario boasted.  "You two can stay behind and let the real men handle this."

Glaive picked up a handful of dirt and carefully observed it.  After a minute or two of feeling its texture, he held the soil to his nose and inhaled.  "It smells of blood and corpses. Just as I thought it would.  We're in the Soulless Realm, no doubt about it.  It's the section of the kingdom directly above the Underwhere.  I've heard that the gloom and hatred that compose the Underwhere are so powerful that they've leaked up into this area, sealing it away in a realm of its own.  This is where restless souls of countless beings rest for eternity.  And deep within this realm is the Z Palace.  If Mushroom Castle is considered the good castle of the kingdom, then the Z Palace would have to be considered the bad.  Though you may not have realized this, the four Oracles of Power have a direct negative and positive link.  The positives are the Star Rod, which resides at the very top of the kingdom in Star Haven, and the Power Star, which normally rests in Mushroom Castle.  The negative version of the Star Rod, the Shadow Rod, resides at the very bottom of the kingdom, or the gate between this kingdom and the Underwhere.  The negative version of the Power Star, the Z Star, rests in the Z Palace at the strongest source of hatred in the kingdom.  When all four of them are brought together, the owner becomes nearly invincible."

"So, how do we get out of here?" Luigi asked impatiently.  "Something just isn't right.  I feel like I'm being watched."

Glaive nodded.  "You are.  By the thousands of restless souls beneath us."

"What?!" Luigi thundered as he toppled onto his back and began screaming wildly.  "Get me out of here!  I don't want to be here!  Get me out! Get me out! Get me out!"  Suddenly, a decrepit hand half covered with rotten flesh emerged from the soil and grabbed Luigi's leg.  That hand was followed by three more, each grabbing a corresponding limb.  "Ew!  Gross! Help me!"  Luigi burst into tears of fright as he was pulled down into the ground.

"Watch out!" Glaive snapped as he swiftly drew his sword and sliced the hands that had attempted to drag Luigi into the Underwhere.  "I forgot to mention that the restless souls I talked about earlier aren't exactly happy about the situation they're in.  They like nothing more than causing their pain to others.  So watch out!"

Luigi hopped back to his feet, his face damp with tears.  "Get me out of here!  Please!  I don't like it here!  Why did Skulleon warp us to this place?!"

"Shuddap, you crybaby!" Wario bellowed angrily.  "None of us like it here!"

"No, he has a point..." Glaive defended thoughtfully.  "Why did Skulleon warp us to this place?  My guess is that one of the shards is here.  Maybe the shard was attracted to its home and flew as close to it as possible.  It must be around here somewhere, but where?"

"Don't we at least get a map or something?" Waluigi inquired.  "Isn't searching this whole graveyard a little... time consuming?"

Glaive grinned.  "Can't you handle it?  Just look at Wario.  You don't hear him complaining."

Wario glanced back and forth nervously.  "Actually, you wouldn't happen to know how to get out of here, would you?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  First off, we need to find the Z Star shard.  Any ideas-" Abruptly, a scream rang out from the distance that made even Glaive jump.  But it wasn't the scream of a person.  It was the type of howl that you would only hear from the most terrifying creatures.

"Okay, at least we know that we won't be looking in that direction," Luigi sighed.

Glaive smiled.  "On the contrary.  That's the direction we'll look in first."



[End Music]

Alloy Team

"My lord, the Alloy Team has arrived," a Sol Warrior informed Lord Shade.  "They're looking pretty tough, too."

"Let them in," Lord Shade barked.

Without any further conversation, four warriors dashed into the room.  The first to arrive was a short, stocky, and circular fighter colored entirely in green.  Next, an average sized yellow soldier with two sharp horns on his head entered and stood beside his green ally.  Third, a tall, cobalt blue female warrior sauntered in and took a bow.  Finally, the leader of the group emerged and stood beside his comrades.  He was the most muscular out of the group, and was even taller than the blue Alloy.  After saluting Lord Shade, he spoke up.  "Lord Shade, to what do we owe the privilege of being in your presence of greatness?"

"Enough sweet-talk, Red," Shade growled.  "Have you heard of the Z Star?"  The four of them nodded.  "Good.  It's been split into three shards.  Find these three shards, or someone will have to find your corpses.  Got it?"

"Of course," they complied in unison.



[End Music]

"Come on, Mario!  You've been going at it for the past twelve hours!  I haven't even been timing you!" Raiden groaned.  "I think it's time for you to get some rest."

Mario shook his head.  "Remember how you stopped timing me because you knew I wouldn't get it for at least another few weeks?  Watch this!"

Raiden sighed.  "You expect me to believe that you can get a time better than ten seconds.  It took me years to gain my speed, and you think you can become faster than me in just a few days?"

"C'mon!  Please?" Mario begged.  "If I don't get it under ten seconds, I'll stop until tomorrow.  How does that grab you?"

"Fine.  Go ahead."

As Raiden began to keep track of Mario's time, he thought to himself about how nice it would be to finally get some rest.  He had been watching Mario for twelve hours now, and he really wanted to go to sleep.  Mario finished.  He asked the same question he had asked so many times before:  "What was my time?"

Raiden's eyes bugged out of his head.  He tried to make sense of the results of Mario's test.  Two words escaped his lips.  "Eight... seconds..."

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 9: Lost Soul

Graveyard Theme

"I- I'm not going over t- there..." Luigi protested weakly, his face pale.  "P- Please, let me o- out of here..."

SHRIEK!

Glaive slowly approached the direction that the cry rang out from.  He signaled for the others to follow him.  Skeptically, Wario and Waluigi joined him.  "Wait for me!" Luigi cried as he sprinted to catch up to them.

They walked down the dark and gloomy graveyard, their feet soaked with wet soil that smelled of blood.  After a few minutes of trudging forward, they came to a metal gate bolted to a wooden fence that surrounded the next area.  Luckily, the gate was entirely covered with rust, and the fence was rotting to the ground.  With one swift yank, Glaive removed the gate from their path.  He looked around.  "It looks like we're in a garden of some sort.  An old garden."  Tall, leafless bushes and shrubs were positioned to form some sort of labyrinth.

"It's just a bunch of weeds," Wario muttered.  "I can bash through these."

Glaive thought for a moment.  "Anyone could bash through these shrubs.  So why are they here?  There must be some kind of reason behind the maze-like appearance."

"Bwahaha!" Wario cackled.  "You think with your brain while I'm busy thinking with my fists!"  He smashed through the bushes with his fists and charged forward.  Before he took another step, he plummeted downward into the ground.  "Waaaah!"

Waluigi ran forward.  "What happened?!  How can you fall through solid ground?!"

Glaive reached his hand out to touch the ground Wario had fallen through.  It passed right through the soil as if there was nothing there.  "It's some kind of... illusion..."

Waluigi stared at the patch of soil his brother had just slipped into.  "Where is he?!"

Glaive shrugged.  "He's probably hit the Underwhere by now.  But judging by his weight, it might take him a bit longer to sink down that fair.  I'll bet that he's slowly drifting down the path between here and the Underwhere."

"How do we get him out?!"

"Hmm... I don't think it's possible...  Unless we can find someplace here that leads down, Wario is now a permanent resident of the Underwhere.  I warned him that there might be something up, and he didn't listen."

Waluigi's eyes did not shift from the dirt.  "What if I jumped down after him?"

"Then you'd go to the Underwhere too," Glaive answered.

"If that's true, why would we bother looking for another way down?" Waluigi inquired.

Glaive sighed.  "I don't think you understand what this 'maze' is all about.  What Wario stepped on was real, solid ground.  But below that solid ground was a high concentration of spiritual energy, the type of energy that converts matter into transparent figures.  Basically, it turns you into a ghost.  The spiritual energy must be leaking up into the areas above, turning anything that passes over it into a spirit.  Once you're a ghost, anything you touch- or anything that touches you- will pass right through you.  When Wario was exposed to the spiritual energy, he passed through the ground and is probably now heading straight for the Underwhere.  Those crafty spirits trapped here must have set up this maze to cause the same pain they've suffered to anyone who tries to conquer this maze."

Waluigi scratched his head.  "You know way too much...  Besides, what does that have to do with finding another way down below the soil?"

"If you went the same way as your brother, you'd also become a ghost and suffer the same fate as him.  Well, maybe there's some kind of stairway leading down toward the Underwhere.  If we took the stairway, we wouldn't become ghosts and we'd be able to return safely.  The only problem is, we still wouldn't be able to touch Wario if he's a ghost, let alone grab him and pull him back to the surface."

Waluigi glanced back at where Luigi had just been standing.  "Hey, where did Luigi go?"

Suddenly alarmed, Glaive scanned the area for any signs of Luigi.  "He's gone!  He must have been pulled down under the soil!  Or maybe he tried to get through the maze and ended up just like Wario!  That fool!"

"Now what?  We might be better off looking for the shard and worrying about them later," Waluigi sighed.  "We can always use the Star Rod to-"

"I've got it!" Glaive exclaimed.  "The Z Star is the only thing that can reverse the effects of the Soulless Realm!  If we found the shard, it would probably be enough to turn a ghost back to a real, live person!"

Waluigi's face brightened.  "So all we need to do now is find the shard and a passage that leads underground!  Then we can get out of this place!""

Glaive nodded.  "First off, we'll need to find a way to get through this labyrinth.  Keep in mind that there will probably be many different areas just like the one Wario fell into throughout the entire maze.  Watch out."

Waluigi solemnly stepped forward into the maze.  "Let's get going."



Luigi briskly weaved through the gravestones toward the area Skulleon had teleported them to.  "Sorry guys, but I need to get out of here.  But where's the exit?"  He stopped at a patch of dirt that seemed very familiar to him.  "This is where we started.  This has to be the exit!"  He observed the decapitated hands that earlier tried to pull him into oblivion before Glaive intervened.  "Gross!  This is definitely the place!  Maybe this isn't the gate to the Soulless Realm...  Maybe this is just the spot Skulleon decided to bring us to!  That would mean the exit could be anywhere!"

RUSTLE

Luigi whirled around.  "Who's there?!"

A bright, circular soul emerged from a cluster of underbrush.  "Boo!"  The thirteen inch tall, basketball sized spirit let off a translucent blue glow as it spooked the unsuspecting plumber.

Luigi let out a shrill cry as he fell onto his back, wailing and kicking his legs as if he were an infant.  When he realized that the ghost meant him no harm, he recovered from his fear and angrily leaped to his feet.  "What are you trying to do?!  You almost gave me a heart attack!"

The spirit danced around in the air with glee.  "Gotcha!  I just couldn't help it!  We rarely have any company in the Soulless Realm, so we still need to work on our social skills a bit.  Sorry to spook you, but it was worth it!"

Luigi scratched his head.  "Well, I guess I can forgive you.  So, what exactly are you?  You're a little different from all of the other spirits I've seen here."

"How so?"

"You're kind of friendly, for starters.  And you're... well... circular...  And you can talk in complete sentences..."

The spirit laughed.  "I never really thought about it that way.  I've always considered myself different because I'm only half of a soul.  I'm Oni."

Luigi's eyes bulged.  "What happened to the other half?"

"Not too long ago, an impact shook the kingdom and split me into two halves.  I've been unable to return to my former self ever since.  If only I could find my other half, I'd be complete again," Oni explained.  "So, what are you doing all alone in the Soulless Realm?  You don't seem like the kind of person that would hang around in a place like this."

Tough question.  Could Luigi trust Oni?  He was going to try.  "I came here with three other friends.  One of them fell in some kind of maze and I left before I ended up the same way."

Oni frowned.  "That's no way to treat your friends.  I'd be glad to help you find them and rescue the one that fell into the labyrinth.  But first, why did you and your friends come to this realm?"

Luigi thought before answering.  "Do you have any sort of idea what has been going on outside of this realm?"

Oni shook his head.  "I used to.  As soon as I was split into two, my powers have been severely limited."

"I guess I'll start from the beginning then," Luigi replied.



Mario Jr. and Luigi Jr. hopped off of the boat that the Yoshi Tribe had crafted for them.  They had finally made it to Toad Town Port.  They had spent over a year at Yoshi Island.  Mario had sent them there to protect them until he had taken care of all of the villains that were trying to kidnap Peach or otherwise rule the world.  Of course, at that time Mario had no idea that the Shadow Shrowds even existed.  Regardless, the two children had finally returned to the central area of the kingdom.  Mario Jr., now eight years of age, observed the dark red sky.  "The sky randomly turned red while we were sailing over here, and it hasn't gone back since.  Maybe the sky is different colors depending on where you are..."

Luigi Jr., only five years old, gazed up at the sky.  "I like blue better."

"Hey, it's Mario and his green brother!" a Sol Warrior shouted.  Three armored guards suddenly turned their attention to the two brothers.

"They think we're the Mario Brothers!" Mario Jr. exclaimed.  "Of course, technically we are considering our last name is Mario."

"Those guys look mean!" Luigi Jr. cried. "What do we do?!"

Mario Jr. thought for a moment as he watched the three guards charge at them with their swords raised.  "I never knew the people here were so mean!"

"Do you think we can beat them?" Luigi Jr. inquired.

Mario Jr. nodded.  "These guys shouldn't be a problem, especially after all of the things we learned on Yoshi Island."

Luigi Jr. sidestepped out of the way of a Sol Warrior's massive blade and countered with a piercing kick to the chest.  With a loud groan, the sentry fell onto his back with a THUD.  Mario Jr. took a great hop onto an approaching soldier's head.  Enraged, the guard attempted to swat the young plumber off with a swing of his sword.  Just before the swing connected, Mario Jr. jumped off of the fighter's head and drove his feet into the final warrior's head, temporarily stunning him.  The second Sol Warrior, whom Mario Jr. had used as a stepping stool to kick the third guard, rushed at the unaware Mario Jr. with his blade raised.  In one final swing he sliced at Mario Jr., who sidestepped out of the way at the last moment, causing the sword to unintentionally plunge into the head of the dazed guard.  Fed up with being beaten by a child, the second Sol Warrior sliced again at Mario Jr., who back-flipped behind him in mid-swing while Luigi Jr. also approached him from behind.  In one decisive blow, both Mario Jr. and Luigi Jr. punched the guard from behind in perfect unison, ending the battle.

"That was... easy," Mario Jr. sighed.  "I guess all of that time we spent on Yoshi Island really helped.  Let's go pay a visit to Mushroom Castle.  We can probably find out where dad is from there."

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 10: King-Sized Target

"You mean Lord Shade is after the Mushroom Kingdom?!" Oni thundered as Luigi finished explaining their entire encounter with the Shadow Shrowds.  "Will he ever be satisfied?!"

Luigi's eyes bugged.  "You know Lord Shade, too?!  I thought it was odd that Skulleon knew who he was, but this is a little too much!  How do you know him?"

Oni's Past

Oni grew serious.  "I once knew him.  The two of us were the best of friends.  We had our differences, but it didn't matter to us.  We thought nothing could ever shatter our friendship.  We lived our entire life together.  Shade was always there for me as we grew up, and I did my best to do the same.  But as they say, all good things must come to an end.  You see, we had very different heritages.  Because of this, our parents were completely against our friendship.  When we were just children, they didn't see any harm in allowing us to be acquainted.  However, as we aged into our teens, our parents had to intervene.

"I'll never forget that fateful day.  We were just talking with each other about old times and how great of a friendship we had.  That was when our parents tore us apart.  Without warning, we were forced to return home with our respective parents and were told we would never see each other again.  I'm sure we could have waited it out and thought of some kind of plan, but Shade was too heartbroken to wait any longer.  In an explosion of rage, he stole the forbidden book of his tribe, the Dark Prognosticus, and... and..."  Oni burst into tears.

Luigi attempted to pat Oni on the back, or at least wherever a circular spirit's back would be, but his hand passed right through him.  "You really had it rough, didn't you?  I never knew Lord Shade actually had such a sad tale behind all of his destruction, or that he had the Dark Prognosticus."

Oni shook his head, still pouring out tears.  "Not... anymore..." he managed between wails of sadness.

Luigi sat on the ground, puzzled.  "Hmm... There must be more to Shade than I thought.  And there must be even more of a story to him than what Oni has already told me.  What happened to the Dark Prognosticus?  How does Skulleon know him?  Is he related to Count Bleck?  How did Oni end up here?  It doesn't look like I'm going to get any more information from Oni.  I better change the subject."

Graveyard Theme

Oni's tears dried.  "I'm sorry.  I just can't help but think that I'm responsible for Shade's evil deeds.  If I never existed, Shade would have never been thrown into despair."

"That's not true," Luigi replied with a reassuring smile.  "Shade chose to be evil on his own, and we need to stop him."

Oni nodded.  "You're right.  Let's go look for my other half so we can get that shard and help your friends."



"What in the world happened here?" Mario Jr. wondered aloud, staring at the castle's wrecked structure.  From the outside, it had looked fairly normal. However, the castle's interior was completely demolished.  "I don't remember much about the castle, but I know it looked better than this."

Luigi Jr. tapped a large crack in the wall, causing half of the wall to cave in.  He fell backward, nearly avoiding the crash.  "The walls aren't very sturdy, either."

Mario Jr. rolled his eyes.  "Really?  I couldn't tell by the huge cracks," he remarked with heavy sarcasm. 

"Do you think Bowser attacked again?" Luigi Jr. inquired as they entered the library.  Most of the bookshelves had been thrown onto the ground during the siege on the castle.  Luigi Jr. approached a few bookshelves in the corner that were untouched by the devastation that had swept over Mushroom Castle and studied the selection of books.  As he flipped through the pages of several different books, many dust particles began to rise. 

Mario Jr. sneezed.  "This place is deserted.  Where did everyone go?"

Luigi Jr. shrugged.  "Maybe they all went out for lunch...  At least we have a shelf full of books to keep us busy while we wait for them to come back.  There are even some books that are at my reading level!  I can't wait until I can read as well as you, bro."

Mario Jr. smiled.  "You'll learn.  Since we have some time to kill, now would be a good time to practice."  With that, they sat down beside the bookshelf and began to read silently.  They lost track of everything else that was happening around them as they became enveloped in their books.  Although they were unaware of exactly how much time had passed, they knew it was at least a couple of hours.

Luigi Jr. looked out of the window.  "Bro, why hasn't it gotten any brighter out?  It's been dark and gloomy outside ever since we got here!"

Mario Jr. scratched his head.  "That is strange!"  Both of them paused and waited silently for something to happen.  Mario Jr. put his head to the wall.  "Do you hear... whispers?"

Luigi Jr. put his head against the wall beside his brother's.  "Uh-huh.  Who do you think it is?  And how did they get stuck in the wall?"

"I don't know," Mario Jr. replied, "but we're about to find out!" Abruptly, he jumped to his feet and shoved the bookshelf to the side, causing it to crash beside the other fallen shelves.  He searched the wall until he found a small depression that represented some sort of handle.  After pulling it, pushing it, and pounding on it, he finally figured out the he needed to slide it.  He gripped the crevice and pushed to the left with all of his might.  After a few seconds of effort, part of the wall slid to the side, revealing a hidden room.

Peach and the Toads immediately turned their attention to their visitors.  "Mario?  Luigi?  Is that you?" Peach asked hoarsely.

"You're the second person to mistake us for the Mario Brothers," Mario Jr. answered cheerfully, "but you're close enough.  We're his sons."

Peach ran through the mass of Toads to meet them.  "You two sure have grown.  I'm glad to see you've finally come back.  But I almost wish you hadn't."

Luigi Jr. frowned.  "Why not?"

Peach began to sob.  "Our kingdom is at the mercy of the Shadow Shrowds.  They're a merciless military of warriors that go from planet to planet, conquering everything in their path.  We're next.  I'm not sure how much time we have left before they exterminate the planet, but there is still hope."

One of the Toads stepped forward.  "Not that rubbish again!  The starship Mario was on crashed!  He's dead!  I don't know about you, but I've finally gotten over the fact that Mario is dead.  We need to be realistic here.  Our only hope was Luigi, and he hasn't returned in over a week.  He's gone.  They're all gone!"

"No," Peach persisted.  "I remember something Luigi told me a long time ago.  It was a dream he had.  Just about everything he described about the dream has come to pass, all except for the final part:

I dreamt that the world was cold and dark.  All you could hear were the occasional screams in the background.  It was a world where evil and wicked ruled, and that anyone who opposed them were killed.  Everyone had to hide, and if they were found, they would be brutally murdered on the spot.  But there was a blotch of light!  It was just one tiny spot in the darkness. And I swear on my life that that blob of light was Mario.  I was not afraid... Many survivors were hidden in a beat up area, guarding you and the two babies.  Yet you were not afraid...  You knew that the light would somehow overcome the dark...

"That's what he said.  That was just after the last time I saw Mario.  Just about everything in his dream matches what is happening now.  All we can do is hope that Mario is still alive; because if he is, you can rest assure that he won't stop fighting until our kingdom is safe."



"Gwaha ha ha!" Bowser chuckled as he stomped out of the deserted Vista Hill.  Behind him, a few hundred troops marched confidently toward their goal.  "When I find the other Z Star shards, I'll be unstoppable!"  With one final cackle, he hopped into the pipe that led to Mushroom Fields.  When he emerged, he stared blankly at the sky.  "Kammy, what time is it?"

With a wave of her hands, a clock materialized in her hands.  "Hmm... One o'clock P.M."

Bowser's eyes were glued to the sky.  "Shouldn't the sky be... uh... bluer?"

In a puff of purple smoke, the clock vanished.  "The sky is always red in Vista Hill, but never in the main areas of the Mushroom Kingdom.  What could've happened?"

"Halt!"

Alloy Team

The Alloy Team stood firmly before Bowser and his troops.  "That is one of the Z Star shards.  It is under the ownership of Lord Shade.  Hand it over," Red barked.

Bowser held the shard close to his body.  "No!  It's mine!  Go find your own!"

Red frowned.  "It belongs to Lord Shade.  Give it here!"

"You and what army?!" Bowser challenged.  "Get lost.  In case you haven't noticed, I've got a totally awesome army standing behind me.  They're not just standing there to make me look good, you know.  After all, why would I need to look better than I already do?"

Blue stepped forward.  "Get over yourself!  You have to be the ugliest turtle I've ever looked at!"  She turned to her team.  "We can take them, Red.  It doesn't look like he's going to hand it over."

"That's it!" Bowser roared.  "I'm a Koopa, not a turtle!  No one insults me like that!  Troops, attack!"

Red sighed.  "Very well.  Let's show them what we're all about!"

The four Alloys rushed forward to attack the charging army.  Bowser escaped to the rear of the battle, letting his troops do all of the fighting.  Green stomped on an entire row of Goombas, crushing them beneath him without touching the ground once.  Yellow rushed at a Koopatrol and pierced through its steel armor with the horns one his head, just as a bull would.  Blue slapped a Goomba across the face, sending it tumbling into another Goomba, which in turn hit another Goomba, starting a massive chain that closely resembled a pinball game.  Red took on several troops at once, relying on his elite combat skills.  One of his favorite maneuvers was to stomp on a Koopa, forcing it into its shell, and then tossing that shell into the fray.  In no time at all, the battlefield was littered with flattened Goombas and smashed Koopa shells.

"Have you reconsidered surrendering the shard?" Red inquired, his eyebrows raised.  "Or do you need to join your troops on the ground?"

"Never!" Bowser snapped defiantly.  "I'll have you know that the battle has yet to begin!"

Red clenched his fists.  "So, you're finally going to fight us?"

"Of course not," Bowser replied with a nervous grin.  "Kammy!  Fight them!  Now!"

Before another word could be spoken, Bowser and Kammy were on the ground, groaning in pain.  Red pried the shard from Bowser's hands.  "The Shadow Shrowds thank your kind donation."  He saluted them.  The four of them turned and walked off toward their next destination: Forever Forest.

"That was easy," Blue stated, purposely loud enough so that Bowser could hear her.  "If the other two shards are this easy to find, we shouldn't have any problems at all."

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 11: Two Pieces of a Puzzle

Graveyard Theme

"So, where should we look first?" Luigi inquired, brushing the soggy dirt off of his overalls with a grimace.

"This way," Oni began floating toward where Waluigi and Glaive were.  "It's somewhere in that direction."

Luigi shook his head emphatically.  "No way!  My friends and I heard a scream coming from over there!  It could be dangerous!"

Ignoring Luigi, Oni moved even faster.  "I'm picking up... Some kind of dark energy...  It must be Hades."

"Hades?!" Luigi parroted in fear.  "Sounds scary!  Who is he?!"

Oni stifled a chuckle.  "Hades?  Oh, let's just say he's my 'unfriendly' competition."

"Is he scary?"

Oni nodded nonchalantly.  "Everything here is scary.  Either you help me beat Hades, or you'll be stuck here forever.  I control the gateway that leads out of this realm, or at least I used to.  Now that I'm only half of my former self, I don't have the power to open up a gateway to the Mushroom Kingdom.  The only other person who has the strength to open a path out of here is Lord Shade, but that's another story entirely.  We'll need to find Ino, my other half, who has probably been captured by Hades."

Luigi almost cried.  "I don't want to fight a monster!  I want to go home!"

"Why don't you get your friends to help us?" Oni suggested.  "We could use some help."

Luigi's face lit up.  "Good idea!  They won't mind fighting him at all.  Let's go look for them."

Luigi described the area he last saw Waluigi and Glaive in.  Almost instantly, Oni knew the exact area Luigi was talking about.  "That's Hade's little maze.  He set it up to keep away trespassers.  If your friends tried to get through unguided, they've likely suffered the same fate as your greedy friend.  Either way, we'll have to get through the maze to reach Hade.  So-"

"Eeek!"

The scream had caused Luigi to jump to a height that would have made even Mario jealous.  Luigi let out a cry even louder than the one the preceded his.  Oni was alarmed.  "That's Ino!  We have to get going!"

Reluctantly, Luigi followed Oni a little further until they reached the familiar torn apart gate that led into Hade's territory.  Not a sound.  "Glaive?  Waluigi?" Luigi called softly.  "Guys!  Where are you?"

"They probably fell," Oni speculated.  "I'm the only one that knows the way through this maze besides Hades.  I've tried rescuing Ino before, and each time I had to pass through this labyrinth.  But I was never able to beat Hades.  I'm sure you can help me."

"I'll try," Luigi whimpered.

With that, Oni began making his way to Hades.  "Follow me."

Skeptically, Luigi trailed his new ally through the maze.  For each step that he took, Luigi grimaced.  He was worried that he would make a mistake and fall to his doom.  But he soon gained confidence in Oni as they traveled through a mindboggling combination of paths toward their goal.



Elemental God

Dawn arrived for Mario and Raiden in the Overthere.  In the Thunder Palace's guest room, Mario awoke.  "I slept like a baby," he said with yawn.  He rolled off of his plush, exquisite bed and admired the room's beauty.  His feet sank into the soft, cushiony golden carpet.  Although it was only the size of a standard household room, the guest room made up for its size with its opulence. The walls were covered from floor-to-ceiling with intricate golden designs that shined under the sun's warm glow.  From the ceiling hung four marvelous chandeliers, each with sixteen candles lit with a golden flame.  "I didn't notice how nice this place was yesterday.  I guess I was too worn out to care."  He began to stretch.  After some push ups, sit ups, and other mild aerobics, Mario stood up.  "This place is even more luxurious than Mushroom Castle!  I wonder who designed it."

He exited the room with a tall door that matched the room's vivid décor.  "Raiden!" Mario called.  "I'm ready to see the Thunder Orb!"  He dashed down a series of opulent corridors decorated similarly to the guest room and exited the palace.  Outside stood Raiden, his arms crossed.

"What were you doing in there?" Raiden inquired, obviously not pleased.

"Sleeping," Mario answered nonchalantly.  "How long have you been waiting for me?"

"Try two hours," Raiden replied gruffly.  "You were sleeping that entire time?"

Mario nodded.

"I'll never understand you humans," Raiden sighed.  "It's hard to believe fate could rely on such a lazy man.  But we have other matters to discuss.  It's the Thunder Orb.  You've proven that you're worthy to touch it, but I still need to warn you.  Thus far, you're body has accepted the elements of Ice and Fire with little difficulty.  Although you possess the Capacity of Elements, there is still a chance that your body will not be able to handle a third element.  I fear that you may die if you attempt to gain the Thunderball ability."

"Do I really need the element anyway?" Mario asked.  "I've already become a lot faster.  I could probably beat Shade without it."

Raiden's face displayed great urgency.  "That's the next thing I wanted to talk about.  Grambi, the ruler of Overthere, just sent me a message.  He told me that even though you've become a lot stronger, Lord Shade would have the advantage.  If you were this strong when you confronted Lord Shade earlier, it would be a simple task to have picked him apart.  But while you were training under me, Lord Shade obtained the remaining two Oracles of Power.  Thanks to your friends and some help from Skulleon, Shade has only three.  The Z Star was split into three shards and scattered across the kingdom.  As we speak, your friends are looking for those shards.  Even with three Oracles of Power, Shade is stronger than you are."

"Darn him!" Mario cursed.  "It doesn't matter!  I have to try!"

Raiden shook his head.  "You didn't let me finish.  Grambi wants to give you lessons.  If you trained with Grambi, there's a very good chance you'd be ready to take on Shade."

Mario groaned.  "More training?"

"There's a catch," Raiden continued.  "Grambi is only interested in training you when you have mastered all three elements.  That means you'd have to risk gaining the Thunderball ability."

Mario thought for a moment.  "Hmm... If I tried to fight him now, I'd die anyway.  So I guess I might as well try.  What do I do?"

Raiden pointed at a pedestal forged from solid gold.  Atop of this pedestal was a plush, red pillow.  And resting on top of this pillow was an orb the size of a baseball that emitted sparks of electricity.  "Touch it."

Mario approached the Thunder Orb.  "Here I go..."  He reached out his hand and placed it on the orb.

BZZZERP!!



Graveyard Theme

"Okay Luigi, Hades is at the end of this path," Oni whispered.

Luigi was shaking feverishly.  "I'm feeling kind of... sick.  Can we go?"

"We can't turn back now!  You can beat him!" Oni reassured him.

Luigi gulped and stepped forward.  "Come out Hades!  Give-"

A bulky, fifteen-foot-tall mummy wrapped in bandages from head to toe stepped forward.  The ground shook with each step he took.  The only parts of his body that were visible were the two piercing red eyes that were now staring Luigi down.

"I mean, uh... Sorry for the intrusion.  Would you mind if I took Ino for a little while to see a friend?" Luigi asked politely, his face pale with fear.

Hades took another step toward Luigi, causing the ground to tremor.

Luigi backed up.  "I mean... We just stopped by the say hello, but now we really have to be going!  See ya!  Bye!"  He turned around and made a sprint for the exit.  Before he could get anywhere, Hades scooped Luigi up and held him in his closed fist.

"You're not going anywhere!" Hades grumbled in a low voice.

"Put him down!" Oni screamed.  "And let Ino go while you're at it!"

Behind Hades stood a small cage that contained a being identical to Oni, except it was red.  "Oni!  Help me!" Ino pleaded.

Luigi broke free of Hade's grasp and delivered a powerful kick to Hade's face that sent him tumbling onto the ground.  Luigi dashed behind Hades, picked up the cage that imprisoned Ino, and brought it to Oni.  "That wasn't so bad."

"Look!"

Hades Attacks

Hades pulled himself back up and began chasing after them.  "Let's get out of here!" Luigi cried.  "He's too strong!"

"It's not his strength," Oni told Luigi as they ran full speed away from Hades, who pursued them at an unusually fast rate.  "He's already dead, so there's not much else we can do to him.  Hades is pretty much immortal."

Luigi dove out of the way as Hades slammed his fast on the spot where Luigi just stood, leaving a huge crater.  "So... how... do... we win?" Luigi asked between breaths as they ran blindly through the maze Hade had set up to prevent intruders.

"I'm... not... sure," Oni replied.

Ino squirmed in his tiny cage.  "I'm just surprised you can run down the right paths without even thinking about it!  You must have spent a lot of time memorizing the right way through this place!"

"We need to lose him!  Now!"

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 12: Escape from Soulless Realm

Escape from Hades

Oni and Luigi dashed blindly through the maze with the cage that held Ino captive.  Hades eagerly chased after them, causing the ground to shake with each step he took.  "Come back!  You can't run forever!"

"He's... right..." Luigi informed Oni between breaths.  "We need... to hide..."

As they began to lose Hades, they turned right at a fork in the maze and hid behind some dead shrubs that concealed a dead end.  "We need to open Ino's cage," Oni whispered.  "It's sealed shut with Black Magic.  It must have been cursed by Hades.  I'll work on opening it."

"Yikes!" Luigi shrieked as he leaped out of the way of a giant, mummified fist.  "He found us!"

Oni began to glow with White Magic.  "Good idea!  You distract him while I free Ino!"

"Gee, thanks!" Luigi called back as Hades began to pursue him.  "I have no idea where I'm going, so I've got to improvise.  This should do the trick!"  He whirled around and shot a Fireball right in the mummy's face.  Because Hades was covered in flammable bandages, he immediately began to catch on fire.  As Hades roared in agony, Luigi made his escape.  Everything in the maze looked the same.  It was all dead hedges and wet soil for almost a mile.  Gotta find a place to hide.  I'll bet Hades isn't too happy right now.

"I'm coming for you, you coward!  You're going to regret that!" Hades screamed from a distance.  Luigi knew he would catch up with him soon.  Without a second thought, Luigi threw his hands onto the ground and began wildly thrusting dirt into the air.  By the time he dug a decent-sized hole, his fingers were starting to bleed.  As the furious stomps of Hades grew closer, Luigi threw himself into the hole and piled the dirt over him.  Ordinarily, Luigi wouldn't ever want to touch the disgusting dirt with his hands, but the situation was serious.

This is gross!  I hope Hades falls for it!  Luigi listened as hard as he could, but all he heard was the sound of his heart beating.  Time seemed to stand still as he waited for something- anything- to happen.  Luigi didn't know how long he had been waiting, but eventually he felt the dirt press down against his face.  Hades was above him.  Seconds later, Luigi felt the weight above him rise and disappear completely.  He popped out of the dirt to see that Hades had run right past him.  He turned around to sneak back toward Oni.

Hades stopped.  "That coward wasn't that fast.  Something's not right..."  He sniffed the air around him.  "I smell fear."  He turned around.  "Stop running away!  The stench of the living is far too malodorous for you to hide from me!  I can smell where you are no matter where you may hide!"

Luigi's mind was racing. Now what?!  He sprinted down the familiar path that led toward the entrance to the maze, miraculously avoiding the traps.  Hmm...  I have one last idea...  With a few well placed Fireballs, Luigi burnt down a long row of dead shrubs.  As he had found out earlier, anyone that steps on the area of soil where the bushes are growing from will fall right through.  With the bushes gone, it looked like any other patch of soil in the realm.  Luigi stood firmly on the opposite side of where the bushes used to be.

"I've got you!" Hades shouted triumphantly as he dashed toward Luigi.  Just as he was about to stomp on the plumber, he fell right through the ground before him.  It happened just as Luigi had planned.

Luigi jumped for joy.  "It worked!  The same thing happened to Wario.  It's kind of sad that his own maze would cause his defeat."  The battle now over, Luigi began to make his way to Oni.

Graveyard Theme

Ino stood outside of his cage beside Oni.  "How'd it go?" Oni asked.

"I won," Luigi boasted.  "It wasn't so hard.  What do we do now?"

Ino and Oni floated side by side.  "Watch this!"  They began to swirl around in a circular motion, creating a vortex of red and blue in between them.  In a flash of blinding light, they seemed to be sucked into the vortex, leaving a single being when the light faded away.  No longer were two childish fairies floating before Luigi.  One elderly man stood in their place.

"Who are you?" Luigi inquired, almost frightened.

"I'm Inoni," the man replied.  "I am the ruler of the Soulless Realm."  Inoni was about five feet tall, with a mop of grey hair that matched his bushy grey beard.  His hairy face framed two small, beady, black eyes that seemed heavily weighed with despair.  Around his hunched back and covering his entire body was a dark orange cloak.  Inoni held a golden staff that also served as a cane, tipped with a fine sapphire that reminded Luigi of his brother's eyes.

"You look kind of sad," Luigi told him.  "I thought you'd be happy to be reunited with your other half."

Inoni paused for a long while before responding.  "True, I do receive many benefits from this form.  But now that I have both of my missing pieces, I have twice the stress that I did before.  You see, an old fellow that has experienced as much as I have cannot easily manage to be happy.  My best- and only- friend betrayed me.  He became so angry at the world that not even our friendship mattered anymore.  Even after I tried to help him one last time, he took advantage of me.  I've been stuck guarding this place from anyone similar to him ever since."

"You're not making much sense," Luigi responded, puzzled.  "What did he do to get you stuck here?  What do you mean by 'guarding' this place?  What's worth guarding here?"

Inoni took a few minutes to gather his thoughts.  At last, he spoke up.  "There is much for you to learn about Shade's past.  What I have told you is but one piece of a puzzle that will eventually be solved.  But we need to focus on the task at hand.  We must find the Z Star shard.  Now that I am whole, I can track it down with ease."

"Okay, can you lead me to it?"

"Just follow me."



Violent shocks emitted from the Thunder Orb and ricocheted throughout Mario's entire body.  He fell to his knees, his hand still desperately holding on to the orb.  Mario refused to let go, no matter how great the pain was.  If he failed now, how would he ever become strong enough to defeat Lord Shade?  "Must... hold... on..."

"You're doing it, Mario!  Just don't let go!  You'll be stronger in no time!" Raiden encouraged him.

Mario held on for dear life.  One of his hands was clasped onto the orb, while the other hand held his arm in place so the shocks didn't remove his hand from the Thunder Orb.  "Just... a little... more..."  Instantly, the sparks ceased.  One final shockwave sent Mario flying backward.  He landed beside Raiden.

Raiden gave him a nod of approval.  "Good job.  You've mastered the element of Thunder."

Mario aimed his hand at a cloud in the distance.  After focusing for a few seconds, a ball of electricity shot out of his hand and vaporized the cloud.  Mario grinned.  "It worked!"

"Astounding," Raiden whispered to himself.  "I didn't think he'd pull that one off."

Mario's grin widened.  "Time to really test it out."  Before Raiden could take cover, Mario unleashed a barrage of Thunderballs that flew in all directions, hitting clouds that expanded across the sky with extreme accuracy.

"Okay, okay!" Raiden bellowed.  "It looks like you're training is over."



"This is the spot," Inoni informed Luigi, tapping a patch of soil with his staff.  "The shard is right below us."

Luigi glared at his hands.  They were still sore from the digging he did before.  "Err... I'm not sure I-"

"Just sit tight," Inoni commanded as he raised his index finger.  His fingernail seemed to glow for a few seconds before the soil began to rise from the ground.  The dirt that buried the shard hovered above their heads.  Inoni gestured for Luigi to retrieve the shard.  Luigi complied.

"That's pretty cool," Luigi complemented as he jumped into the hole.  "Hey!  You were right!  It is here!"  He began to climb out of the hole, but he found it to be more of a challenge than he thought.  With one hand clutching the shard, Luigi attempted to pull himself up with the other.  Fed up, he took a great leap out of the hole that sent dirt in all directions.

"Agh!" Inoni shouted as the wet soil flew into his eyes.  He lost control of his telekinesis, causing the dirt floating above them to plop onto Luigi's head.

"Ew!" Luigi cried.  "Thanks a lot, Inoni!"  The two of them laughed.  "So how are we going to save everyone?"

Inoni grabbed the shard out of Luigi's hands.  "With this, I should be able to open a portal to the void between here and the Underwhere."  The shard began to glow.  A small vortex opened beside them.  "This shard should be able to help your friends become solid again."

"How do we get back up?" Luigi asked, still not convinced that Inoni could help.

"There's an old stairway that leads from the Underwhere to this realm.  We can use that," Inoni answered.  "We just need to make sure we grab onto the stairway before we fall too far.  Of course, the stairway won't do any good for your friends until we solidify them again.  Coming?"  He jumped into the portal.  Skeptically, Luigi followed.  Seconds later, they materialized in a deep pit that never seemed to end.  As they plummeted, Inoni revealed the rest of his plan.  "We can use the shard to actually pull them up toward us, like some sort of magnet.  Then I'll turn them back into living beings, and then we'll grab onto the stairway.  From there, we can finally get out of here!"  With a spark of the Z Star shard, Waluigi, Wario, and Glaive floated up toward them at an impressive speed.  Inoni quickly aimed the shard at the three ghosts.  Three beams shot out and struck them, causing them to become flesh-and-blood beings again.

"What's going on?!" Glaive thundered in amazement.  "How did you just do all of that?!"

"I'll tell you later!  Grab onto those stairs over there if you want to live!" Inoni instructed them.  "And make it snappy!"

They did what they were told without question.  They swam through the air toward a staircase that spiraled around the perimeter of the pit.  At last, all five of them landed.  Wario sighed.  "What just happened?"

Luigi grinned.  "We just saved your butts!  It looks like the great 'Wario Brothers' need a hand every once in a while."

"It'll take more than a hand to save you from me!"

Hades Attack

Hades rushed up the staircase, madly trying to catch up with them.  "I'm already dead!  You only slowed me down!  I'm still solid enough to climb this staircase to wring your necks!"

"He's insane!" Luigi yelped in fear.  "He can't be beaten!  We have to run!"

Glaive stood his ground.  "I'll never run from someone like him!"

"He's already dead!  You can't harm him!" Inoni persisted.  "We must retreat!"

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 13: Race for the Shard

Hades Attack

Glaive, Luigi, Waluigi, Wario, and Inoni sprinted full speed up the winding staircase that led back into the Soulless Realm.  Behind them, Hades was hot on their tails.  Every few seconds he would try and knock them into the pit with a large sweep of one of his enormous arms.  Luckily, the fleeing five ducked, dove, and jumped when necessary to avoid certain doom.  Glaive whirled around and tossed a shuriken at Hades, with no effect.

"Your weapons can't harm me, nor can your punches!  I am immortal!" Hades cackled maniacally.  "Soon you will be no more alive than I am, after I'm done pounding you into a pulp!"

"It's no use," Inoni warned Glaive.  "All we can do is run."  And they did just that.  It was a close shave, but the five of them made it out seconds before Hades.  But they didn't stop.  They still needed to escape from the Soulless Realm.

Luigi turned around to see that they had gotten enough distance between themselves and Hades to rest.  "How do we get out of here, Inoni?"

Inoni handed Luigi the Z Star shard.  "As the guardian of this realm, I can open a gateway for people to enter or leave.  That is what I will do."

"But you'll be stuck here with Hades," Luigi objected.

Inoni chuckled lightly to himself.  "That nut has been trying to get my job for years, but he hasn't succeeded once.  I usually deal with him myself anyway."  With that, he clasped his hands together.  After a few moments, he slowly pulled them apart, causing a great crackling noise to erupt from beside him.  A bolt of lightning struck the area where the sound originated, and a strange portal was formed.  "Go ahead."

Hades could be seen running toward them.  "I'm not finished with you yet!"

Waluigi sighed.  "I've had enough of this place.  I'm out of here."  He leaped into the portal.  Wario joined his brother without objection.

"I want a full explanation of what just happened when we get back," Glaive demanded gruffly before joining his two comrades.

Just as Luigi was about to jump after them, Inoni stopped him.  "Good luck.  Tell Mario that he will be in my prayers.  Explain to him exactly who I am, and what my relation to Shade is.  I feel he has the right to know about Lord Shade, considering he has the best shot at defeating him.  Also, tell him not to think of Shade as my friend, and that I want him to kill Shade just as much as everyone else does.  Otherwise, he might hold back.  Please take care."

Luigi was shocked.  "How do you know... about my brother?  You seem to know as much about my situation as I do."

Inoni nodded.  "Books, lips, and minds are all alike.  They're easy to read if you know how."

"Alright," Luigi replied.  "I'll tell him."  He jumped into the portal.

[End Music]

The four of them materialized in Mushroom Castle's courtyard.  Luigi looked around.  "I never knew such a creepy place could be accessed from Peach's Castle."  They emerged from a gateway that closely resembled the one that led to Flower Fields.  "I think I can find the Secret Chambers from here.  We should see if Peach is okay."



"That's everything that's happened so far," Peach concluded.  "At least, that's what Luigi told me.  Interesting, huh?"

"I want Dad..." Mario Jr. mumbled.  "He can save us.  I know he can."

"There's no way Daddy died in some stupid crash!" Luigi Jr. bawled.  "Daddy is the strongest person in the whole world!"  Everyone couldn't help but sob at the boys' faith in their father.  It was almost an emotional moment. 

Footsteps.  Footsteps were approaching the chambers, which they had forgotten to seal shut in their excitement over the return of the children.  They all huddled closely together, ready to face whatever was coming for them together.  "Hey, they're still alive!"

"Uncle Luigi!" Luigi Jr. cried out in joy as he ran to embrace him.  "I missed you!"  Mario Jr. joined his brother beside Luigi, bombarding him with questions and telling him how much they missed him.

"So, did you find out if Mario is alive?" Peach asked hopefully.

Luigi hung his head.  "Peach, you really shouldn't get your hopes up when it comes to things like these."

The room became quiet.  It was as if their last shred of hope had just died away.

Luigi chuckled to himself and continued.  "But, since Mario's practically Houdini's long lost cousin when it comes to escaping dangerous situations, Mario is perfectly fine!  Right now, he's training to stop Lord Shade!"

They all cheered.  "Don't scare me like that," Peach scolded good-heartedly.  Glaive, Waluigi, and Wario joined in.  It was a blissful moment.  It seemed as though all of their troubles had melted away.  That was before Skulleon contacted them. 

"Luigi, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, what's up?" Luigi asked.  "Still using telepathy, I see."

"Something terrible has happened!  Lord Shade has brought in the Alloy Team!  They're a band of Alloys so strong that they could thrash the type of Alloys you'd face in a Cruel Brawl.  And they're after the Z Star shards.  They have one, and you have one, and the last one is in Forever Forest.  They're on their way to Forever Forest as we speak, and if they get the last shard, they'll come after you next!  You must head to Forever Forest immediately, retrieve the final shard, and find a safe place to hide!"

"Guys!  This is important!" Luigi exclaimed.  "Lord Shade hired some kind of team to collect the shards.  I think they were called the Alloy Team, and they already have a shard.  They're going to Forever Forest to find the last one!"

Glaive's eyes widened.  "Did you just say the 'Alloy Team'?  They're some of the most feared mercenary groups in all of history!  Thousands of civilizations have fallen at the hands of the Alloy Team!  Many have disappeared without a trace, with no evidence as to why the madness had begun in the first place.  But I know who it really was.  It was them.  The Alloy Team has been a valuable part of Lord Shade's army for years."

Luigi was confused.  "But I thought Shade recruited the Alloys here in the Mushroom Kingdom.  How could they have been part of his army for years?"

"How do you think Alloys were created?  Lord Shade made them, and then he sent some over to the Mushroom Kingdom to conquer it.  They did the same with Metal Mario, correct?"

Waluigi eyed Glaive.  Who is this guy?  He knows so much about Lord Shade, but we know nothing about him except that he hates Shade.

Wario stepped forward.  "I say we stop running around and fight those morons head on!  After all, Skulleon's training made us a lot stronger!"

Glaive shook his head emphatically.  "No.  This isn't the time to think about fighting.  This is a battle we can't win.  We have to get that shard as soon as possible, and then lay low for a while."

Luigi started for the door.  "What are we waiting for?  We need to get to Forever Forest now!"

Mario Jr. and Luigi Jr. began to whine.  "Can we come?"

Luigi thought for a moment.  "Right now, we're not trying to beat the Alloy Team.  We're trying to outrun them, and avoid them at all costs.  The less people attempting to get the shard, the better our chances are of getting out of there alive.  So I'm going to have to tell you two to sit out, just this last time.  After we beat Shade, you can start coming with us on our adventures."

"Okay," the boys groaned in unison.

Luigi stroked his chin.  "Hmm... there was something else...  Oh yeah!  Bro managed to get this book from the starship."  He removed a rugged, almost decapitated book from his pocket and handed it to E. Gadd.  "See what you can find out.  We'll try to be back soon."



Shadow Shrowd Theme

"Lord Shade," Red said with a bow.  "We thought we'd stop by before heading to Forever Forest.  I'd just like to inform you that we have found the first shard.  Would you like to hold on to it?"

Lord Shade shook his head.  "No.  I want you to present the shards to me as a complete set.  What I do want, however, is to know why you are wasting time kissing up to me when you could be searching for the other two shards!"

The Alloy Team bowed.  "Of course, sir.  We'll go right away."  They turned and left for Forever Forest.

Lord Shade stroked his chin.  "Hmm... I have so much to think about.  Who are the remaining meddlers that are standing in my way?  Could they be those runts that tried to stop me at Mushroom Castle?  Who is the person they think will defeat me?  What will happen to the shards?  I have a complex radar that tells me exactly where every Oracle of Power is, easily pointing out the location of the three shards.  One of them was just in the Soulless Realm, but it just moved out to Mushroom Castle, and now it's very close to Forever Forest.  I can't help but think...  Inoni..."



Luigi, Glaive, Wario, and Waluigi dashed through Forever Forest, frantically searching for the shard.  "Where is it?!" Luigi cried.  "We need to find it, right now!"

Waluigi and Wario literally tore apart every shrub they encountered, looking for the Z Star shard.  Wario's approach was the most... aggressive.  Bushes soared through the air as Wario plowed down countless paths.  Finally, a strange object flew up above them.  Glaive leaped up and caught it, and his eyes glowed.

"It's the shard!  We found-"

They heard whispers.  "I heard something over there.  Let's check it out."

"Let's get out of here!  Now!" Glaive whispered with urgency.  Instantly, the four of them put all of their effort into retreating.  Never had they run so fast, or so hard.  It was as if their fear was the fuel that kept them going.

Their retreat did not escape the Alloy Team's eyes.  "So, they found the shard?" Yellow asked.  Let's just kill them from here.  Our Metal Beam should do the trick."

Red shook his head.  "No... One of them is... Glaive!  We couldn't just kill him off like that!  We need to make him suffer!  Let's catch up with them."

"Go!" Glaive barked.  "Faster!  Hurry!"

Alloy Team

A blur of red, blue, green, and yellow rushed past them.  "Hey, Glaive.  It's been a while, hasn't it?" Red sneered.

Glaive eyes reflected pure terror.  Luigi had never seen Glaive fear anything up until now.  Glaive's mind was racing.  We can't win... Can we?

"We still have hope," Waluigi stated, hoping to raise their spirits.

"Bah!" Glaive spat.  "From this point forward, hope is just a distant memory."

[TeChNiCaL DiFfIcUlTiEs]

It's been a long time since I've replied.  I've been so busy with school that I haven't even read any new chapters lately, until today.  I just read from Chapter 8 up through Chapter 13, and it looks like you've outdone yourself.  It seems like there's so much backstory behind some of your characters that has yet to be revealed.  I can't wait to see how everything turns out.  And it looks like Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and Glaive have their hands full with the Alloy Team.   :P

[shadowmarioguy]

It's been a long time since I've replied.  I've been so busy with school that I haven't even read any new chapters lately, until today.  I just read from Chapter 8 up through Chapter 13, and it looks like you've outdone yourself.  It seems like there's so much backstory behind some of your characters that has yet to be revealed.  I can't wait to see how everything turns out.  And it looks like Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and Glaive have their hands full with the Alloy Team.   :P

It's nice to hear from you again.  I've been pretty busy lately too, actually.  I think it's time I finally posted a new chapter, so hold tight.  ;)

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 14: Front Lines

Alloy Team

"How have you been, Glaive?  Are you enjoying your little rebellion?" Red laughed, clearly not worried.  "It's been so long since we've spoken to each other.  I was starting to think you were dead somewhere deep in space."

"I just needed to get away from your beloved 'leader' for a while.  I see you've been too busy kissing the ground Shade walks on to have gotten any stronger," Glaive shot back.  "You're just as arrogant as before."

Blue frowned.  "I think you, of all people, know that we have a reason to brag.  We've never lost a fight.  I never thought you'd be smack-talking us, even though you know what we can do."

"He always thought he was better than us!" Yellow spat.  "We didn't pay attention to his cocky attitude because we were on the same side.  Did you ever think we'd be after you?"

"Same side?" Luigi parroted.  "What do you mean?"

"Do you live in a cave?" Green snapped impatiently.  "Ever since Lord Shade came to be, there have only been two sides- two kinds of people- in the entire universe: Those who obey Lord Shade and those who do not."

"You used to obey Shade?" Waluigi whispered, puzzled.

Glaive shuddered.  "Yeah.  That's a story for later, though.  I'm picking at their only weakness, and that's their pride."

"Huddle up, guys!" Red barked.  The other three complied, and they formed a circle to discuss a plan of attack.

Luigi approached Glaive.  "I want you to be honest with me.  Do you think we have a shot at winning?"

Glaive glanced at their foes as they giggled and laughed as they discussed their plan.  He knew what they were talking about.  They were already focused on how they would kill him.  "I think we have a very small chance.  If we let the battle drag on, they'll annihilate us.  Each member of the team has his or her own unique abilities, making each of them deadly in a different way.  But if we attack in a sudden burst and end the battle quickly, we might win.  They know me pretty well, but they don't know about my training with Skulleon.  That gives us a slight element of surprise.  How we utilize it will determine the outcome of this fight."

Wario clenched his fists.  "Why can't we just bash those wimps?!"

"Because you'll be the one to get bashed," Glaive replied gravely.

Red coughed.  "Alright, we have made up our minds.  We'll take turns fighting you.  Green will go first.  You can all fight him at once if you want."

[End Music]

Waluigi's face brightened.  "That's great!  We can gang up on each of them, one at a time, and win!  This'll be easy!"  His eyebrows narrowed.  "What's the catch?"

Glaive chuckled to himself.  "The catch is that each one of them is strong enough to take us all out at once.  Red knows that, so he doesn't mind.  He doesn't know about my new strength, though.  The three of you should stay back.  Don't jump in unless I tell you to.  If I can take out Green quickly, I'll move on to Yellow."  He stepped forward.  "Okay, Red!  I'm ready!"

With Red's approval, Green stepped forward.  Green seemed to bounce up and down with glee.  "I haven't massacred anyone in a long time!  Killing you should be a delight!"

Alloy Battle

"Try and stay alive as long as possible!" Green requested, still bouncing happily in place.

"I should say the same to you!" Glaive cried as he took off, sprinting at full speed toward Green.  Green gasped as he saw a silver blur rushing toward him at amazing speeds.  His eyes boggled as he watched the blur dart back and forth with extreme agility, all while making its way toward him.

"You were never this fast!" Green squealed in fear as a powerful elbow jammed itself into his stomach.  Green stumbled back, clutching his chest in pain.  Glaive charged forward after him and released a fierce uppercut that sent the green blob soaring into the air like a volleyball.  As Green soared in the air, his opponent took a great leap into the air to catch up to him.  In midair, Glaive began viciously pounding on Green, not taking a moment to rest.  As they reached the peak of their ascent, Glaive turned around and performed a bicycle kick that hit Green with extreme accuracy.  With an earsplitting groan of agony, Green was sent plummeting down to the ground.  But Glaive wasn't done yet.

"A quick death would be too good for you!" Glaive declared as he withdrew a shuriken and hurled it at the tumbling Alloy.  It struck Green with as much force as the attacks that had preceded it.  Green smashed into the ground with a sickening CRASH, sending many clouds of dirt to rise from the ground.  "It was fun while it lasted!"  While Glaive slowly descended from his enormous jump, he began to formulate a dark orb of energy in his hand.  As the ball slowly began to grow, it became a deep purple color, with equally purple sparks emitting from it.  "And to top it all off, I'll throw in my Darkness Sphere!"  He landed beside his three allies and hurled the orb at the severely wounded Green.  It collided with its target, and a gargantuan blue shockwave shook the ground as debris and heavy clouds filled the battleground.

Red shielded his face as smoke billowed past him.  "Green!" he called desperately into the unknown.  Until the ashes cleared, they would have no way of knowing if Green was alive or not.

"He's done for!" Luigi cheered, moments before coughing up a mouthful of dirt.  "He could've been a little less destructive, though."

Glaive stood firmly in the middle of the rising smoke, breathing heavily.  I may have overdone it a little bit.  At least I took care of one of them.  Now I need to do the same for the other three.

"Keep it up!" Waluigi shouted with a wave of his fist.  "Only three more!"

"Yeah!" Wario bellowed.  "That was awesome!  Did you see that destruction?!  Do it again!  Bash some skulls!  Rip their heads off!"

Blue sighed.  "What a repulsive man!  I'd like to teach him a thing or two...  Hey!  The smoke's clearing!"

The ash that had covered the entire area moments ago had now thinned.  Glaive stood ready to take on his next opponent.  Yellow stepped forward.  "You'll pay for that!"

"Hey, Blue," Red whispered while Yellow and Glaive prepared to battle.  "Shouldn't you jump into action, now?  You've built up enough suspense."

Blue rolled her eyes.  "You're right.  The look on Glaive's face will be priceless!"



Elemental God Theme

"Remember Mario, the Thunderball technique is very different from the Fireball and Iceball," Raiden explained.  "The Fireball and Iceball are pure elements drawn from within your body in the form of a ball.  However, the Thunderball is raw electricity in its most primal form encased in an expandable nonconductive shell.  The electricity you must harness for the attack is so powerful that you cannot touch it, which is why the shell surrounds it.  When it hits the target, the shell will break and release the electricity.  Because the shell is expandable, you are not limited to just a Super and Ultra Thunderball.  You can put as much electricity into the attack as you want.  Unfortunately, it will drain your body's elemental energy if you put too much into it.  If you're still not satisfied with the Thunderball's size after your body is completely drained, or if you need a recharge, it is possible to actually absorb electricity from your surroundings.  But only use this method if you are desperate.  Do you understand?"

Mario nodded.

Raiden patted Mario on the back.  "You have learned everything I can teach you.  It is time for you to journey higher into the Overthere and seek further training from Grambi."

Mario frowned. "But before I go, I sort of made a promise to meet my friends.  I know I already broke it, but I guess it'd be better to seek them out now and see how they're doing.  Maybe I'll bring them here for some extra training."

"Actually, I received word from Skulleon that all four of them have completed the training program you went through after you died.  Had you not just learned under me, they would be as strong as you right now.  I'm sure they can handle my training.  But hurry back, and make sure you've already said your goodbyes," Raiden explained.  "From here on out, it only gets tougher.  Remember that well."

Mario grinned.  "I can't wait to see how much stronger I really am!  Can you tell me where everyone is?"

Raiden shut his eyes.  "Hmm... They are just outside of Forever Forest, and they are in some sort of battle."

Mario's eyes widened.  "You could tell all of that just by closing your eyes?!"

"I am the Thunder Guardian," Raiden replied with a hint of sarcasm.  "I'm don't just guard over little rainclouds, you know."

"Okay, I'll be on my way now.  I'll bring everyone back here.  You've really helped," Mario thanked him.  "Can you bring me to Forever Forest?"

Raiden extended his hand and fired a bolt of electricity out of his palm.  Instantly, Mario vanished.  "Good luck, Mario.  You'll need it."



Alloy Offensive

Blue raised her fingertip, causing a small blue spark to fire into the air.  It began to pick up speed until no one could trace where the spark would hit.  But every member of the Alloy Team knew its target.

"You're really out of your league.  I hope you don't let your victory get to your head," Yellow lectured him.

"So, do you think you can do any better?" Glaive asked his opponent, still struggling to catch his breath.  "What mistake did Green make when he decided to fight me?"  Glaive was about to answer by telling them Green had been too confident for his own good, but something stopped him.  His jaw dropped.

"Why don't you ask Green that question?" Yellow taunted the awestruck Glaive.

Green walked out of some of the still thinning haze, virtually untouched.  He brushed himself off.  "Luckily, Blue can heal anyone she chooses to.  Just in case we run into an unexpected situation, like the one I experienced just now, Blue can simply heal all of our wounds."

Glaive began to quake with fear.  "I forgot... all about... that trick..."

Green grinned as he slowly approached Glaive.  "Now that I know not to hold back, it's time to resume our little fight."

Glaive drew his sword.  "No... I can't give up!  If I attack Blue, they'll all jump at me.  I need to thrash Green, and then quickly take out Blue while she prepares to heal him.  But do I have the strength to beat him again?"

Green began to bounce up and down with joy.  "Now I get to show you my special technique!"

[shadowmarioguy]

Ugh.  My computer just caught a really bad virus, and my computer's hard drive had to be cleared fix it.  Luckily, I copied my SMB6 Word Document onto a CD before I wiped the hard drive.  Now I just need to wait for my dad to reinstall Microsoft Word.  Until then, I can't open up the document to post the next chapter I typed up.

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 15: Fast as Lightning

Alloy Battle

"You'll love this!" Green exclaimed with glee as he curled himself up into a ball.  A blue aura surrounded him as sparks began emitting from his roly-poly body.  And then, before Glaive's astonished eyes, Green began to grow until he became at least eight feet in diameter.

Glaive knew he couldn't handle another round with Green.  "That's your technique?!" he shouted with false mockery.  "I can stand a game of catch!"

"Then try and catch this!" Green invited as he flung himself at Glaive at a surprisingly fast speed.  The best way anyone could describe it was as one of Sonic the Hedgehog's spin-dashes.  As the colossal green orb was about to plow him over, Glaive dove to the side, barely avoiding being crushed.

Glaive scrambled to his feet.  "He's quicker than I thought he'd be."  He turned around to see Green rolling straight for him.  Knowing that he could not dodge in time, he held his hands out in front of him and stood firmly in the ball's path.  He was going to attempt to 'catch' Green.

"Bad idea," Green muttered to himself as he realized what Glaive was attempting.  He struck Glaive with deadly force, sending him flying backward into a tree.  He rebounded off of the tree and hit the ground face-first.  Without even stopping to see if Glaive was alive, Green hurled himself at the injured warrior.

Luigi grimaced.  "Glaive!  Watch out!"

Unable to get up in time, Glaive was plowed by Green yet again, flinging him up several feet into the air.  Green unrolled himself back into his normal- but still enormously tall- form.  Recreating the maneuver Glaive had pulled on him before, Green took a great hop into the air.  "How does it feel to be on the other end of the punches?!" Green taunted before smashing his fists on Glaive's midsection.  As Glaive landed from his agonizing descent, Green curled himself into a ball in midair.  "I call this move, 'The Cannonball'!  Tell me how you like it, if you're not dead afterward!"

"We've got to do something!" Luigi cried.  "He's going to kill Glaive!"

"You're right," Waluigi agreed.  "If we don't stop him from killing Glaive, we'll be next!"

Wario shook his head.  "Glaive told us not to jump in unless he told us too.  I'll stay right here."

Luigi sighed.  "He can't exactly ask us to help him if he's unconscious!  Let's go, Waluigi!"

Waluigi nodded.  "Distract Green!  I'll get Glaive to safety!"

Luigi stopped dead in his tracks.  "Uh...  Can we switch roles?"

"Fine," Waluigi complied.  "You're better at running anyway."

From hundreds of feet in the air, Green zipped downward like a meteor, and his target was Glaive.  When he was a mere thirty feet above his intended target, Luigi and Waluigi sprang into action.  Waluigi stood beside Glaive, aimed carefully, and shot an Ultra Fireball at Green.  He nailed his target with miraculous accuracy, causing Green to uncurl and greatly slow his descent.  Meanwhile, Luigi came to the rescue by pulling Glaive to his feet and dragging him out of the ominous shadow that marked the spot Green would fall in.

CRASH

Green fell onto his back, surprised not to hear a CRUNCH from under him.  Then he saw why.  "You moved him out of the way!  You'll pay for that!"

"Ungh... Why..." Glaive groaned.  It turned out he had been conscious the entire time, but unable to move.  Now he had finally recovered some of his energy.  "Why did you help me?!"  He pushed Luigi to the ground.  "Did I ask you to step in?!  I'd rather die than accept your help!"  But before he could face Green, he fell onto his back, exhausted.

"Fools!  You'll all die for that!" Green cursed.

Alloy Offensive

Green attempted to smash Waluigi with one of his hulking fists, but the purple plumber swiftly leapt out of the way.  In midair, Waluigi scored a powerful kick across Green's face.  "Come on, Luigi!  This guy isn't so tough!  Join in on some of the fun!"

Luigi shrugged.  "I'll try..."  He ran at Green from behind and released a barrage of Smash Attacks that sent the poor green blob flat on his face in the dirt.  "Hey, this is easy!"

Green rolled to his feet.  "Darn... I'm exhausted...  Hey Blue!  I could use some healing!"

"No problem," Blue replied with a grin.  She flicked a spark from her finger at Green, instantly healing all of his wounds.

"That's better!" Green exclaimed.  Before another word could be said, Green landed a powerful blow across Waluigi's face.  Waluigi staggered backward a few steps before falling onto the ground, out cold and with blood leaking from his lip.  Luigi pounced at him from behind, but Green whirled around and dealt a bone-breaking punch to his chest while he was still airborne.  Luigi landed on the ground with his hands clutching his stomach.  The wind had been knocked out of him, along with any will he had left to fight.

"Bwa ha ha!" Wario cackled.  "And now, it's up to me, the true leader of the group!  It's time for the great Wario to save the day!"  He charged straight at the gargantuan titan, determined to do some serious damage.  Even though Green had been perfectly prepared for Wario's attack, the headstrong plumber managed to score a punch in Green's midsection.  Green never expected such a fat man to run at such a great speed.  With a laugh of triumph, Wario followed his punch with a series of blows to Green's chest that would have left any other creature in agony.  However, Wario was not the only one who enjoyed the advantages of being overweight.  Green had quite a bit of weight as well, which actually nullified most of the punches Wario had thrown.

"Too bad!" Green roared as he countered by bouncing Wario backward with his enormous belly.  "These are the fools that have been in Shade's way this entire time?"

"Just grab the shards so we can get back to Lord Shade," Red barked.  "Blue did have to heal you twice before you finally beat them."

Glaive struggled to his feet.  "You'll never get these shards... until you pry them from my hands!"

"You're still alive?" Green questioned in amazement.  "Well, I can fix that.  Prying those shards from your hands should be easy, especially when you're dead."  He slowly approached Glaive, his fists clenched.  Glaive prepared for the worst.  This would be the final punch.  Green's fist reared back, and then jerked toward Glaive's head with one ambition- to end his life.  Glaive winced as he felt a rush of wind blowing as Green's fist drew near.

Just in Time

Glaive looked up to see why Green's punch had not done him in.  There, standing between Glaive and Green, blocking the punch that had been intended to end Glaive's life, stood Mario.

"Mario... It's about time you showed up," Glaive chuckled wearily.

"Better late than never," Mario replied with a grin.  "It looks like you guys could use some help."  He let go of Green's fist and walked toward the fallen Luigi.  "How are you feeling, bro?"  He gently slapped his brother's face a few times until he regained consciousness.

"Is it really you, bro?" Luigi asked in astonishment.  A teardrop streamed down his face.  "I'm sorry...  We couldn't even beat one of them..."

Mario patted Luigi on the back.  "Don't worry about it.  If he wasn't healed, you would have beaten him for sure.  But you don't have to fight anymore.  I'll take on all four of them."

Glaive whirled around to face Mario.  "Does he really plan to fight them all?  Do we even dare to hope that such a feat is possible?  How strong has he gotten?"

Mario approached Waluigi.  "It looks like you took a pretty rough beating.  I can tell you fought bravely.  I'll take over from here."  Lastly, he walked over to Wario.  "Even you fought with everything you had.  It would have been enough if they didn't have someone to restore their health.  It's time for me to take a stab at these guys."

"Who is this guy?" Red whispered to Blue.  "I didn't even see him block that punch.  It's like he came out of nowhere!"

Mario turned away from his friends to face Green.  "Are you sure you want to fight me alone?  Don't you want to gang up on me?"  Instead of responding, Green curled up into a ball and launched himself at Mario.  After a few seconds of rolling, Green stopped dead in his tracks.

"What?  Where'd he go?  Did I pass him?" Green pondered as he looked around.  Mario was nowhere to be found.  "Did I squash him?"  But before he could check, he felt a sharp pain in his back.  With a moan of pain, Green fell flat onto the ground.  He didn't move a muscle.  Behind him stood Mario with his elbow raised.

"He's fast," Blue informed Red.  "What should we do?"

"He's all show," Red answered, unimpressed.  "I've dealt with his kind before.  Give Green another shot at him.  I'm sure this new challenger just has some beginner's luck, just like Glaive did."

Alloy Offensive

Blue nodded and released a glint of blue light from her fingertip, instantly mending all of Green's wounds.  Green scrambled to his feet.  "That was a cheap shot!  Hitting someone from behind is a pretty dirty way to fight!  You may be fast, but how will you fair against 'The Cannonball'?!"  With that, he took a great leap into the air and once again coiled up into his spherical form.

"Watch out, bro!" Luigi warned him.  "He almost killed Glaive with that attack!"  To his surprise, Mario simply grinned and held out his hands above his head.  "If you try to block it, you'll die!  Glaive tried to catch Green, and he got hammered!"

Glaive's eyes were glued to the battlefield.  You're doing well so far, but don't let it get to your head.  I hope you know what you're doing, because trying to catch him while he's falling at that speed is folly.

At last, Green collided with Mario's outstretched hand.  But instead of smashing Mario to pieces, he stopped moving completely.  With extreme difficulty, Mario had caught Green!  "You're... heavy..." Mario complained as he struggled under his opponent's weight.  "I better... get rid... of you... before you... crush me..."  With all of his might, he thrust his hands upward, tossing Green several feet into the air.  Mario took a few steps backward and lobbed a Thunderball up into the air.  It struck Green, shocking him violently and sending him tumbling to the ground in a heap.  When his lifeless body hit the ground, Mario could still see smoke rising from Green's electrified body.

Red's eyes bulged.  "Not again!"

Mario smiled from ear to ear.  "Will I be fighting Yellow next, or do you still want me to pummel Green some more?"

Red's face reflected pure hatred.  "He's made a fool of us for the last time!  Blue, we'll give Green one last chance!"  In seconds, Green was back on his feet and madder than ever.  "That's enough fooling around, you dope!  If you don't finish him this time, you're off the team!"

Green yelped with fear.  "What?!  No!  I still have a trick up my sleeve!  He'll be dead soon enough!"

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 16: Mario Strikes Back

Alloy Offensive

Mario stood pensively before Green, ready to fight at any moment.  How am I going to beat him if Blue just keeps healing him?  The only thing that comes to mind is freezing him with an Iceball.

"You think I'm big now?" Green taunted gleefully.  "You haven't seen anything yet!"

Mario gulped.  "I'll bet my problem is about to get much... bigger..."

A blue aura surrounded Green, and sparks began firing out of his body in all directions.  Mario staggered backward in astonishment as Green's size increased at least twentyfold.  The roly-poly Alloy had grown to a size so large that one of his toes was the size of Mario.  "Now what are you going to do?" Green challenged, laughing maniacally.

Mario shielded his ears.  Green's voice seemed to be louder than a violent thunderstorm.  He looked up at the colossal Alloy's head, a sight almost too far above the clouds for him to even see.  "I'll still win!  Do your worst!"

"Ah ha ha!" Green cackled, causing the earth around him to rumble.  "And just how do you plan to win?  My finger is bigger than you!"  He threw a punch at Mario, who leaped to the side just before the enormous fist slammed onto the soil he just stood on.

"Increasing your size won't help you!" Mario warned him.  "It'll just make you easier to hit!"

"Is he crazy?!" Luigi thundered.  "He's too big!  We have to run!"

Glaive stared blankly at the towering Green.  Now we'll see if you really are who I think you are.

Mario dove out of the way of another hulking fist.  Instead of waiting for Green to pull his hand from the ground, Mario jumped onto his fist and sprinted up Green's arm toward his head.  The racing plumber ducked, weaved, and dove out of the way of Green's other arm, which was constantly trying to knock him off.  When he finally reached the top, Mario hopped off of the tyrant's shoulder so that he was right in front of his face in midair.  Time seemed to move in slow motion as Mario tossed a wave of Iceballs that all struck Green in the face.

"Gah!  Cold!" Green screamed as Mario landed safely on Green's other arm.  Just as Mario breathed a sigh of relief, the ice on Green's face melted into a thin stream of water.

Mario was unsure of what his next move would be.  He's too big to be frozen by an Iceball!  I don't even think an Ultra Iceball could get the job done!

Red rolled his eyes.  "Even as a giant, Green is still getting hit!  He's disgraced us for long enough!  Help him out, Blue!"

"What kind of help did you have in mind?" Blue inquired.

"Our red friend seems to know a few ice tricks.  Show him how to do them properly."

Blue nodded and stepped into the battle.  With a snap of her fingers, she began to glow an intense, chilling blue color.  It seemed as if a snowstorm had surrounded her and covered her in a thick sheet of ice.  "I guess it's time to cool our unwelcome guest down."

This did not escape Glaive's eyes.  "In addition to healing, she also has complete control over ice.  However, her powers are much more deadly than the ones you'd receive from Skulleon."

Meanwhile, Mario raced down Green's arms and legs while avoiding the usual attempts to knock him off.  At last, he reached solid ground, only to catch a glimpse of a light blue beam before being covered in a thick sheet of ice.  Mario struggled to break free.  "Gotta...escape..."

"You can still talk?  I'll have to make the ice's grip tighter!" Blue cackled as the ice holding Mario captive tensed its grasp.

Mario attempted to create a Fireball to melt the deadly ice.  He was shocked to find that his body had been numbed by the bitterly cold ice.  Now what?  I can't even create a Fireball!

"Now for the kill!" Blue cried as she prepared to squeeze the life out of Mario.

Mario Strikes Back

"Hey bro, look out!" Luigi exclaimed as he hurled a green Fireball at him.  Instantly, all of the ice surrounding him melted away.

"I owe you one, bro!" Mario thanked him.  That's it!

Blue fired another beam at Mario, who dodged it.  "That was just luck!  Next time that coward won't be able to help you!" she cackled merrily.

Mario immediately began scaling Green once again.  "Then just try and hit me again, and we'll see what happens!"  Seconds later, Blue shot another ray of ice at him.  Mario easily dodged, and the beam instead hit Green's leg.  He leaped from leg to leg, arm to arm, up and down Green's back, and up to Green's head, all the while evading Blue's frantic and repetitive ice beams.  At last, when the barrage stopped, Mario stoop triumphantly atop Green's head.  Green had completely frozen over!  "See?  I couldn't freeze him, but you could!"

"You tricked me!" Blue cursed.  "But I'll just heal him again!"  She fired a blue spark from her finger at Green.

Mario threw his head back and laughed.  "You can heal his wounds all you want; being frozen has nothing to do with injuries!"

"Ingenious..." Glaive whispered.  "Not only is he strong and fast, but he's also clever."

Mario climbed down from the colossal ice statue and quickly unleashed a Super Fireball at the unsuspecting Blue.  "And you're a lot more vulnerable to fire when you're powered up by ice!" he added.

"Eeek!  How could you?!  I've never felt this kind of pain before!" Blue whined in anguish as she was engulfed in flames.  But before she was burnt to death, Mario cancelled his attack with an Iceball.  Still severely injured, she collapsed onto the ground.

"Good," Mario said aloud with a nod.  "I don't want to kill them; I just want to stop them.  Deep down, they could be just like Mace was: innocent pawns in Lord Shade's twisted game."

Yellow stepped forward, his fists clenched.  "I've had it with you!  Who do you think you are?!"

Mario grinned.  "I'm Mario.  I'm sure Lord Shade has told you all about me," he remarked slyly.

"You bet," Yellow replied.  "He thought that you died in the starship's crash.  I'm sure he'll give me a raise if I bring you back to him."

"You can try," Mario taunted.  "But you'll have to be quicker than those other two."

"Are you kidding me?  I'm the second fastest person on the team, right behind Red!" Yellow boasted with pride.  "Just watch!"  In moments, he had vanished from everyone's sight and reappeared behind Mario.  With one final laugh, Yellow thrust his head forward with his horns aimed at his target.  When he was inches away from piercing Mario's skin, Yellow felt himself being lifted.  What's more, his attack had been stopped.  He looked up to see that Mario had grabbed him by the horn and raised him above his head.

"Relying on speed isn't very smart, unless you're sure that no one is faster than you," Mario lectured in his best imitation of Raiden's voice, a wide grin plastered across his face.  "At least, that's what Raiden told me."  With that, he used Yellow's horns to slam the Alloy face-first into the ground.

Red glared at Yellow's lifeless body.  He's not moving...  I guess I'll have to take care of things.  At least this idiot didn't kill them.  After Blue recovers, which shouldn't take longer than a few weeks, she can heal Green and Yellow.  And all I have to do is beat a plumber.  Still, I should be cautious.

[End Music]

All eyes were on Mario, who stood firmly with his gaze locked on the final Alloy, Red.  Glaive was speechless.  How? The skill Mario just demonstrated doesn't even compare to when we first met!  He was strong back then, but not this strong!  I don't understand!

Luigi stood by Wario and Waluigi, helping them to their feet.  Get him, bro.

Glaive's eyes widened.  It was something that Mario had said to Yellow:

"Relying on speed isn't very smart, unless you're sure that no one is faster than you.  At least, that's what Raiden told me."

"That must be it," Glaive concluded.  "Raiden... He must be the Thunder God.  Mario mentioned something about learning the Thunderball under the guidance of some kind of god.  This must all be the result of his training.  Astounding..."

"It looks like Yellow was holding onto the shard you collected earlier," Mario observed, talking directly to Red.  He reached down toward the unconscious Yellow and pulled up the third Z Star shard."

"What?!" Red thundered.  "Give that back!"

"Hey Glaive, catch!" Mario exclaimed as he tossed the shard to his mysterious ally.  "Now that you have all three, it's up to you to keep them safe."



Shade's Anger

"Grr... What's taking the Alloy Team so long?!" Shade roared, his shout of impatience echoing throughout the castle.  "That's it!"  He stood up from his throne.  Slowly, he approached a Sol Warrior guarding his post.  Without warning, Shade grabbed him by the neck and raised him up above his head.  "You!  I want a status report on the Alloy Team's progress immediately!"

"They... haven't... sent us... a report... yet..." the warrior informed him while struggling to break free.

"Really?" Shade pondered, instantly releasing the Sol Warrior.  His attitude had suddenly seemed to change from furious and impatient to kindhearted and optimistic.  "Oh well.  I guess we'll never know.  We can wait for a while."

"Lord Shade?  Are you feeling okay?"

In one swift maneuver, Shade grabbed the warrior's head and slashed it clean off of his shoulders.  A waterfall of blood streamed down the corpse as it fell to the ground.  The severed head flew into the air and landed beside Lord Shade.  "Fool.  We have no room for ignorance in this organization.  General?"

A Sol Warrior in white armor stepped forward and saluted him.  "Yes, my lord?"

"We're going to launch a full-scale assault on our rebellious pests.  Send every troop in the entire army to the southern area of Mushroom Fields.  We are going to retrieve those shards at all costs."

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 17: The Mighty Tyrant

Alloy Team

"You've defeated my entire squadron.  Impressive," Red complemented.

"Your next," Mario replied sternly.  "I assume you won't be leaving without a fight."

Red nodded.  "That's right.  Actually, I have a little proposition for you.  Why don't we head out toward the center area of Mushroom Fields and fight there, just the two of us?  That way, your friends and my teammates won't get in the way.  We can settle things the way true warriors should."

Mario grinned.  "Sounds good.  Let's go."  He turned to Luigi.  "I guess he doesn't want you to interfere.  Don't worry about me; I'll be fine.  Just don't let those shards fall into the wrong hands."

"Be careful," Luigi warned him.  "But from what I've seen so far, I should be saying that to Red."

"Are you done saying your goodbyes yet?" Red groaned.  "Follow me whenever you're ready."  With that, he dashed off into the horizon.

Mario shrugged.  "He's not very patient, is he?"  He gave his brother one final nod and sprinted after the Alloy Team's esteemed leader.



The two of them stopped in the exact center of Mushroom Fields.  "This is the place," Red informed his opponent.  "No one will bother us here."

Mario glanced back and forth.  They were standing in a flat plain that went on for miles.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  Why did he want us to fight here?  I'm sure it wasn't solely to prevent Luigi from jumping in.  If he's confident that he can beat me in a one-on-one fight, why would he worry about Luigi?

Mario vs. Red

Without warning, Red fired an energy ring at Mario, who promptly dodged it by rolling to the side.  Mario breathed a sigh of relief.  "Those rings are pretty fast.  Good thing I saw it coming."  He looked up to see a barrage of rings identical to the previous one hurling toward him.  Mario ducked and weaved through a storm of Red's energy discs until he finally made it to the source, Red himself.  Before he could be struck by any of the oncoming rings, Mario landed a right hook flat across Red's face, instantly ending the barrage.

Red fell onto his back.  "You're pretty good.  But it'll take a little more effort to beat me!"  He sprang to his feet and threw a punch at Mario, who sidestepped the attack and scored a powerful kick to Red's chest.  Once again, Red crumpled onto the ground.

"I don't understand why you're still trying to beat me.  You saw what I did to your teammates, and you haven't proved that you're any stronger than me.  Why can't you just give up?" Mario inquired.  "Mace turned out to be innocent.  Deep down, I think you're innocent too.  Can't you see that Lord Shade is just using you?  He's much stronger than anyone else enlisted in his army, and he knows it.  The only reason the Shadow Shrowds even exist is because of Shade's desire for power.  He knows how immensely powerful he is, but that means nothing to him unless he has power over others.  I saw it, and Mace saw it, but why can't you?"

Red struggled to his feet.  "Interesting speech...  It's too bad... I could care less.  Alloys were created by Lord Shade.  Whether you like it or not, we were programmed to do his bidding.  Even if he is using me, it is my primary instinct to follow his orders.  Moreover, I have no reason to give up.  You've fallen right into my trap."

Alloy Unison

"Alloy Rainbow Armor!" Red shrieked.

Green immediately shrank back to his former size and thawed out of his frozen imprisonment.  Blue and Yellow rose from the ground.  The three fallen Alloys shattered into thousands of complex mechanical pieces, which zoomed directly toward Red.

"What's happening?" Mario cried as the scrap parts of the defeated Alloys began to merge with Red.

"I'm about to show you our true form!" Red cackled.  Seconds later, lights of all different colors began shooting out of his body in all directions.  "You should feel honored!  I've never had to use this technique before!"  When the light died down, Mario saw a warrior that closely resembled Red.  However, he was about twice as large, and he had shades of green, blue, and yellow running down his body in addition to the classic red.

Mario clenched his fists.  "Fine!  If you're so bent on fighting, I won't waste any more time talking!" He dashed over to Red and threw his hardest punch directly at his upper torso.

BONG

"Ow!" Mario screamed.  "His armor is four times as thick!  There's no way I can pierce through that!"

"Not only that, but I can now use the moves of all of my teammates!" Red boasted.  "For example, I have Yellow's speed."

In the blink of an eye, Mario looked up to see Red towering over him.  He swiftly dove out of the way of one of Red's enlarged fists.  Before he could catch his breath, Mario found himself leaping out of the way of an ice beam.  Knowing that he couldn't beat Red up close, he turned around and ran.  "I need to get some distance between us," Mario told himself.  Now I know the real reason he brought me here.  He didn't want a one-on-one fight at all.  He wanted to bring me away from Luigi and the others, and then merge with his teammates.  Red could have combined with them before, but then Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and Glaive would have helped me.

"Running won't do any good!" Red warned him as he began to pursue the retreating plumber.  "But I don't blame you.  There isn't any conceivable way that you could ever pierce my armor!"

"Since punches and kicks won't work, why don't I try a Fireball?" Mario stopped and turned around and began to gather energy for an Ultra Fireball.  Red, running full speed at him, struggled to stop so he could defend himself.  Because of his enlarged size, Red was unable to stop the momentum he had gathered and ran right into Mario's Ultra Fireball.

ZWERB

The Ultra Fireball was nullified as soon as it touched Red's armor.  "My new armor is too powerful for your tiny mind to fathom!  I am Red, the leader of the notorious Alloy Team!  What did you expect?  The four of us were designed by the tag team of Lord Shade's brilliant imagination and his scientists' outstanding biotechnology!  We were created as four individuals who could merge into one ultimate machine when necessary!" 

Mario was running low on ideas.  Now what?  I could try putting most of my energy into an extra-large Thunderball, but then I'll be too worn out to fight Shade.  I have to pierce that armor somehow!

[End Music]

"It appears we have company," Red informed him.  "I didn't call for backup.  Why did he send his troops?"

Mario froze as he saw thousands of soldiers- Alloys, Wire Frames, Sol Warriors, even some of Bowser's troops- charging into battle.  "Are they all after... me?"

Red shook his head.  The army didn't even glance at them as they rushed toward their destination.  "They're after a much bigger prize."

Mario gasped.  "They're going after the Z Star shards.  If Shade gets the Z Star, there's no telling what could happen!"

"It looks like Lord Shade really wants those shards," Red chuckled.  "By the looks of it, he sent every single warrior enlisted in the Shadow Shrowds after them.  There's no way your friends could ward off that many of them."

"They'll never survive that kind of an assault!" Mario cried.  "I have to help them!  Can't this fight wait?"

Red grinned.  "Actually, I was just about to suggest the same thing.  The Shadow Shrowds have only served to make Lord Shade feel like he had power over others.  Now that he's found the Oracles of Power, he has an even better way to have control over others.  He can control their fear.  Once he has those, he will be impossible to defeat.  He will take charge of the universe, and rule it single-handedly from within the Dark Castle.  And from there... Anyway, my point is that Shade doesn't care about me or any other Shadow Shrowd.  Therefore, his orders mean nothing to me."

Mario's face brightened.  "You'll help me?"

Red's grin widened.  "Let's go take on an entire army."



The Mighty Tyrant

Luigi was suddenly alarmed.  "Whoa... Why is it so dark all of the sudden?"

Glaive glanced up.  "Don't look now, but the Dark Castle is floating right above our heads!  It looks like Shade is going to be making an unexpected appearance!"

"Look over there!" Wario thundered.  "It looks like there's an entire army charging straight at us!"

"What do we do?" Waluigi inquired, struck with fear.  "We can't take on a fleet that huge!  And with Shade about to attack, what can we do?!"

"Keep your cool!" Glaive ordered.  "We'll do exactly what Mario would do: improvise.  Mario entrusted us with the shards, and we can't let him down!  Don't forget that Shade will become near-invincible if he walks away from here with the Z Star."

The Shadow Shrowds instantly began a ruthless assault as they swarmed the foursome like bees.  Wario went all-out, bashing Sol Warriors left and right.  He almost looked like a professional wrestler, pile-driving anyone to come near him.  Waluigi constantly scattered Fireballs in all directions, keeping most of the incoming attackers at bay.  Any fighter lucky enough to make it past Waluigi's furious barrage was quickly disposed of in hand-to-hand combat.  Luigi's approach was a combination of Wario and Waluigi's strategies, except he wasn't as skilled in bashing skulls as Wario.  Glaive was dishing out some serious pain, slicing countless warriors in two with his deadly blade.  In mere minutes, the battlefield was littered with the corpses of fallen Shadow Shrowds.  However, even with all of the deaths, at least ninety percent of them were still alive.

Meanwhile, Mario and Red had just jumped into the fight.  The soldiers recognized Mario immediately, and sent half of their troops to keep Mario busy while the other half worked on obtaining the shards.  "There's so many of them!" Mario screamed, but it was impossible to hear over the yelling of the crowd.  Just as he was about to withdraw, he saw a familiar silhouette looming over where Luigi was fighting.  With all of his might, he cried into the abyss of warriors:

"LORD SHADE!!"

Filled with motivation, Mario barreled through the endless mass of ruthless soldiers.  Never had Mario been filled with such fiery determination.  He charged straight through the crowd, his mind set on reaching his friends before Shade.

Lord Shade landed beside Glaive.  "Did you miss me, Glaive?"  He shot a purple sphere of energy at Glaive, knocking him onto the ground and sending the three shards flying upward.  Shade swiftly leapt into the air and caught them.  They began to glow as they merged, forming the Z Star once again.

"Give those back!" Luigi demanded as he tossed a green Fireball at him.  But Lord Shade had already teleported away.

He reappeared beside the entrance to the Dark Castle.  "It's over, fools!  You lose!  With all four Oracles of Power in my grasp, I am now the single proprietor of the entire universe!  Now taste a sample of my power!"  Lord Shade fired an enormous red ball of energy that was large enough to cover the entire Mushroom Field.

Mario fell to his knees. "No!  I was too late!"

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 18: Goodbyes

Without another word, Lord Shade hurled the colossal ball of energy at Mushroom Field.  All of the Shadow Shrowds instantly ceased attacking.  One look at Shade's energy sphere sent them scattering in all directions.  Mario gazed up at the sky, too stunned to react.  "I can't stop that..."

"Get down!" Glaive screamed, but his voice could not overcome those of the thousands of soldiers surrounding him.

"I don't wanna die!" Luigi wailed.  "Somebody save me!"

BZZERP

There was an enormous explosion that covered all of Mushroom Field.  Flames shot out in all directions as a massive fire spread across the kingdom.  In the northern sector of the fields, the survivors breathed a sigh of relief.

Death of an Army

"We didn't die?" Luigi inquired.  Glaive, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and Mario looked up to see who had rescued them.  Before them stood Red, who was severely damaged.

"Red...  You saved us..." Mario said, a tear streaming down his face.  "Why?"

Red fell onto the ground in a heap.  Sparks of electricity covered his entire body.  "Lord Shade...  He controlled me the same why he controlled everyone else...  I needed to keep you alive...  You are the ones who will defeat him...  Besides, I let myself be manipulated by a maniac.  I deserved... to die...  He killed Mace... and now he has killed me...  Don't let it happen to... anyone else... After all, you are... the Mushroom Hero..."

Mario fell to his knees.  "No...  Red, wake up!  You can't be dead!"

Glaive put a hand on Mario's shoulder.  "He shielded us from the blast.  There's no way he could have lived after being hit by that.  In fact, we were the only survivors.  Shade was satisfied with the Oracles of Power, and no longer had any use for his army.  He killed them all."

Mario hammered the ground with his fists.  "I let it happen again!  Someone who had no choice but to follow Lord Shade was killed!  I've got to stop him!"  He stood up and glared at the Dark Castle, which still hovered above him.  "Do you hear me, Lord Shade?!  I'm coming for you!!"

Luigi began to tremble.  "But now he has all four Oracles of Power!  He'll be unstoppable!"

"No, not necessarily," Mario argued, wiping the tears from his eyes.  "Why don't we pay a visit to Raiden, the Thunder God?  He can make you as strong as I am right now.  Plus, Raiden told me I still had more training to do with Grambi, the ruler of the Overthere.  After all of that, we'll be ready for another round with Lord Shade.  How about it?"

"Yeah!  Then I can bash that weakling's skull in!" Wario bellowed with excitement.  "Let's get going!  Think of how famous we'll be!"

"But we should check on everyone at the castle, first," Mario suggested, pretending to ignore Wario.  "I want to make sure everyone is safe."  Everyone nodded in agreement.

[End Music]



E. Gadd's Theme

"I've done it!" E. Gadd cried out in triumph, startling everyone around him.  "Oops... Sorry to startle you.  But thanks to my scientific genius, I've deciphered most of the ancient Shadow Shrowd language in the book that Luigi gave me.  It's filled with plenty of interesting details, but most importantly I figured out what the hieroglyphics Mario saw on the Shadow Starship mean.  It's a repeating pattern of three different pictures.  I'll read them to you in just a moment."

"It looks like you're as sharp as ever," a familiar voice commented, causing everyone hidden in the room to shriek in fear.

Peach thought for a moment.  "That voice...  It's him!"

Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and Glaive entered the room.  "Everyone's still okay!" Luigi cheered.

"Good," Waluigi sighed.  "If they're safe now, they shouldn't have to worry about hiding anymore."

"Why not?" Peach inquired.

"All of the Shadow Shrowds are dead," Glaive answered nonchalantly.  "Now we just need to kill Lord Shade."

"Dad!  It's you!" Mario Jr. exclaimed, rushing through the crowd to embrace him.  "I knew you'd come to save us!"

Luigi Jr. joined his brother beside Mario.  "Peach kept telling us that you'd be here!  Everyone thought she was going crazy, but we believed her!"

Mario was puzzled.  "How did you get here?  Yoshi Island is pretty far from here."

But Mario didn't get his answer until his offspring had finished hugging him.  "We built a boat."

"Wow, you two really learned a lot on Yoshi Island."  Mario turned to E. Gadd.  "Anyway, what did you find out about those pictures?"

E. Gadd pulled out an incredibly stylish laptop.  Digital images of the hieroglyphics were displayed on the screen, with the meaning below each picture.  "Have a look."

A tyrant's rise,
a hero's fall.
A terrible being
slaughtered them all.
One hero rose,
both powerful and sane,
but his efforts were proved
to be in vain.



With no one to stop him,
the tyrant rose.
The life of this world
had come to a close.
The tyrant was not satisfied
with killing just one race.
He proceeded to exterminate others
at a dreadful pace.



Many more heroes
rose and fell.
None were left alive
to tell the tale.
The tyrant believed
he would never fall.
However, there is one more hero
who must rise up and defeat them all.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" E. Gadd boasted.  "It took a while to decipher, but I was determined to finish before Luigi got back."

"I think we knew most of that already," Mario informed him.  "It was basically three poems describing how evil Lord Shade is.  But that first hero did catch my interest.  He must have done something pretty special to get his own poem, while all the other heroes have to share the third one."

E. Gadd flipped through various pages of the book.  "Well, it does imply that this first hero almost won."

Mario scratched his head.  "That's weird... I wonder what went wrong.  And it's even more interesting that someone was able to hold his own against Shade.  But then again, it was probably one of Shade's earliest battles.  Back then, he must have been a lot weaker.  Through years and years of destroying planets, Lord Shade must have gained a lot of experience.  Not to mention he has all four Oracles of Power."

"I don't follow any of this," Wario groaned.  "I'll stick with my picture books.  You nerds can stare at a stupid book all day if you want, but I'm going after Shade."

"Actually, Wario's right," Mario agreed.  "Well, sort of.  Instead of thinking about who Shade is, we should be focusing on destroying him.  I think we're finished here, so we might as well visit Raiden."

"Wait!" E. Gadd shouted.  "I have one more thing for you!  Think of it as a going-away present."  He pulled out a mechanical belt with a red button on it.  "I call this the Gadd Insta-belt 6000!  Whenever you press the button, whoever is wearing the belt is instantly teleported to a preset area."

"We don't need a teleportation device.  We're perfectly capable of walking," Glaive refused.

E. Gadd shook his head emphatically.  "No, that's not what it's for at all!  The belt can only take you to one specific location, with the default area being this castle.  Whenever you press the button, you'll be brought back here.  It's not used to get you from one place to another without walking; it's used to get out of danger quickly.  Let's say you ran into danger against Lord Shade.  I'm guessing he wouldn't give you the chance to retreat from his castle.  All you have to do is wrap the belt around everyone, press the button, and presto!  You'll be back here!"

Mario's face brightened.  "That's great!  But I'd like to change the default location.  How do I do it?"

"First, you must go to the place you want to be your default location.  Then, flip the switch on the belt from 'teleport' to 'set default'.  Finally, press the red button and the belt will lock on to the location's exact coordinates.  Just switch it back to teleport and you can return to the spot with the press of a button," E. Gadd explained.

Mario nodded.  "Thanks for everything."

"Alright, let's go!" Glaive urged him.

Sadness

"You guys go on without me.  I have to finish saying goodbye, first," Mario told them.  His allies complied and left for Forever Forest.  Mario approached Princess Peach.

"Good luck, Mario," Peach told him.  "This has been so dreadful.  I've wondered for a while when this would finally end.  Please, finish Lord Shade."

"I'll do my best," Mario replied.  "Everyone's counting on me.  Just make sure that you don't get kidnapped by Bowser again." A faint smile could be detected on his face, but he was really struggling to hold back his tears.

"Don't talk like you won't be coming back!" Peach cried, tears streaming down her face.  "Promise me!  Promise me you'll come back!"

"Whether it is tomorrow, or years from now, you'll see me again.  I promise."  Mario turned and left.

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 19: Raiden Revisited

Elemental Guardian Theme

Raiden sighed, watching the events in the Mushroom Kingdom unfold.  "Oh, I just don't know.  Things are looking awfully bleak.  Lord Shade is practically invincible now that he has all four Oracles of Power.  We need a miracle."

"I'm back!" Mario called joyfully as he emerged from the teleportation device that was linked to the Mushroom Kingdom.  "I brought a couple of friends, if you don't mind."

Luigi's eyes widened with fear when he saw Raiden.  "We... wouldn't want to... impose..."  He jabbed his brother in the side.  "Are you sure he's friendly?"

Mario nodded.  "Skulleon is basically a living skeleton, so what did you think one of his buddies would look like?  A princess?"

"Well... okay.  It's not like I'm afraid of him or anything," Luigi said with a nervous cough.  He turned to Raiden.  "Uh... We came to... uh... well... ask for..."  Large beads of sweat began to stream down his face.  "We... wanted you... to... well... maybe... if you could... possibly... if it's not an inconvenience..."

"We want you to give us the same lessons you gave Mario!" Wario demanded, not an ounce of respect in his tone.

"I was going to ask him that..." Luigi muttered.  "But it might have been in a more polite way..."

Raiden folded his arms.  "Unfortunately, now is not the time for politeness.  Polite warriors are not going to defeat Lord Shade.  As much as I'd like to give the chubby one a lesson on proper respect, there is no time.  Why exactly have you brought these weaker beings, Mario?"

"I was hoping you could train them," Mario replied bluntly.

Raiden frowned.  "Hmm... Even the chubby one?  Are you sure they're ready?"

"They can do it.  I know they can," Mario answered with confidence.  "They may not have the Capacity of Elements, but they do have an intense hatred for Lord Shade.  Could you make them as strong as I am?"

Raiden pondered silently for a moment.  "Hmm... Mario, you have shown me great displays of courage and determination.  You truly are the Mushroom Hero.  If you have such confidence in these lesser beings, it is surly for good reason.  I will train them."  Everyone cheered except for Glaive, who merely grinned.

"There's just one thing that I can't figure out," Mario informed them.  "Raiden was the second person to call me the 'Mushroom Hero'.  What does that mean?"

Raiden stared blankly at the clouds above them.  "If I told you, you probably wouldn't understand.  You should ask Grambi.  He... well... it's best if you ask him face-to-face.  But I'm sure I can tell you a lot more about Lord Shade.  I'm sure that's what you've all been eager to hear about."

Luigi's eyes widened.  "Oh yeah!  I forgot!  Inoni told me about his childhood, and he wanted me to tell Mario!"

"Inoni?!" Raiden questioned skeptically.  "He's alive?!"

Luigi nodded.  "Uh-huh.  Why wouldn't he be?"

"Never mind that!  Tell me what Inoni had to say!" Raiden demanded.

"Alright," Luigi complied, frightened by Raiden's sudden anger:

Oni grew serious.  "I once knew him.  The two of us were the best of friends.  We had our differences, but it didn't matter to us.  We thought nothing could ever shatter our friendship.  We lived our entire life together.  Shade was always there for me as we grew up, and I did my best to do the same.  But as they say, all good things must come to an end.  You see, we had very different heritages.  Because of this, our parents were completely against our friendship.  When we were just children, they didn't see any harm in allowing us to be acquainted.  However, as we aged into our teens, our parents had to intervene.

"I'll never forget that fateful day.  We were just talking with each other about old times and how great of a friendship we had.  That was when our parents tore us apart.  Without warning, we were forced to return home with our respective parents and were told we would never see each other again.  I'm sure we could have waited it out and thought of some kind of plan, but Shade was too heartbroken to wait any longer.  In an explosion of rage, he stole the forbidden book of his tribe, the Dark Prognosticus, and... and..."  Oni burst into tears.
"And that's it," Luigi concluded.  "At the time, he had been split into two different beings.  I ended up helping him reunite with his other half."  Everyone hung there heads, utterly depressed by Luigi's story.

"Amazing," Raiden whispered.  "You really did speak to Inoni, didn't you?  That information is about as accurate as it could be.  But there's still... so much more..."

"Well, spit it out!" Wario thundered.  "We don't have all day!"

Lord Shade's Checkered Past

Raiden closed his eyes, recalling the events as they had unfolded.  "It's been so many years...  Lord Shade's story goes something like this:

"The world used to be a very different place than what it is today.  Today, three worlds exist: the Overthere, the Underwhere, and your world- usually referred to as the Universe.  But many centuries ago, only one world existed.  It was a vast kingdom filled with many wondrous and unique tribes.  It was in this kingdom that the friendship between Lord Shade and Inoni took place.  Their lives happened just as Luigi explained, but after Inoni's story was cut off by his tears... that is where this tale truly darkens.

"Shade was thrown into despair, and the only thing that could ease his pain was his tribe's forbidden book, the Dark Prognosticus.  He quickly became the most powerful man in existence.  Before everyone's very eyes, he slaughtered his parents, along with Inoni's parents.  But Inoni knew that one more person had died that day, and that was his old friend.  The kind and friendly Shade was replaced with the cold and merciless Lord Shade.  In a final act of rage, Shade opened the Void and attempted to suck the entire world into oblivion.

"Fortunately, Zeus- the wise ruler of this kingdom- did not give up.  He summoned the three most powerful men in all of the land, the three Elemental Gods.  Working together, the four of them began to blot out the darkness.  Skulleon and I immediately put our effort into sealing the Void.  The Fire God, Ember, fought Lord Shade with all of her might to prevent him from interfering with Zeus's work.  Determined to prevent another catastrophe such as this one, Zeus put all of his might into splitting the kingdom into three parts.  One would be the Overthere, where those who have proven themselves to be pure and benevolent would reside.  Another would be the Underwhere, where those that are not accepted into the Overthere lurk.  To decide which world one would go to, the Universe was created.  Everyone would start life in this world, and live for nearly one hundred years.  This life would give those in the Overthere enough time to decide who would go to the Overthere, and who would be sealed away in the Underwhere.

"Those who were accepted into the Overthere would enjoy eternal life in a kingdom similar to the one that existed before it was split into three.  This system of three worlds would ensure that only peaceful citizens would live in the Overthere, and someone such as Lord Shade would never pollute their world again.  Ember fought long and hard to keep Shade busy, and she was eventually killed.  By this time, Zeus had finished splitting the kingdom into three.  Lord Shade and his tribe were sealed in the Underwhere.  Feeling partly responsible for Shade's outburst, Inoni chose to go to the Underwhere along with them.  To commend him for his honorable decision, Zeus gave him the duty of being the ruler of the Underwhere.  He could weigh others' sins and decide if they were worthy to live in the Overthere.  The Overthere was still pending for a king, and it was decided that those who lived in the Universe should choose their own leader.  Zeus was to be in charge of all three worlds.

"For a time, this new system brought peace to the Overthere.  The Universe slowly became more and more civilized as years passed.  But things were brewing in the Underwhere.  Zeus had not confiscated the Dark Prognosticus.  For centuries, Lord Shade studied its secrets.  He grew steadily stronger until he had become even more powerful than the book's dark magic.  Meanwhile, Inoni had a child whom he named Jaydes.  She was a brilliant girl, who possessed a strong sense of justice.  As Inoni raised his daughter to take his place someday, he had no idea what Shade was planning.  Since Lord Shade and his tribe were put in the Underwhere by Zeus, they never actually died.  This meant that if they could find a way to the Universe, they would be allowed to live there.  As impossible as it seemed, Shade was determined to have his revenge.  Lord Shade returned the Dark Prognosticus to his tribe, feeling that he had outgrown it.  At last, it was time to escape.

"Inevitably, Lord Shade attacked.  In a terrible battle, Shade opened one final Void, threatening to end all worlds if Inoni did not give him permission to pass into the Overthere.  Shade believed that his power gave him the right to rule the Overthere.  Inoni agreed, and teleported him away in a puff of white smoke.  The Void's size had been reduced significantly, but it was not gone.  It still had enough capacity for one more person, and then it would finally close.  Feeling responsible for Shade once again, Inoni threw himself into the Void, saving his daughter and the rest of the Underwhere.  From then on, Jaydes took over her father's job and passed judgment on those who wished to travel to the Overthere.

"But it was Inoni who had the last laugh!  Lord Shade was not teleported to the Overthere!  Instead, he awoke on a deserted planet at the edge of the Universe!  He realized that he had been tricked, and channeled his rage into destroying planets.  If he could not rule the Overthere, then he would rule this new world!  By gaining control of the Universe, Shade hoped to prove to the gods of the Overthere that he was fit to rule.  And that is why Lord Shade created the Shadow Shrowds.  He wanted to show that he had power over others.  But what he really did was guarantee his eternal life in the Underwhere."

Elemental Guardian Theme

"I really thought the Void had done Inoni in.  It looks like he found a way to escape," Raiden concluded.

"That's a lot to take in," Mario breathed.  "To think Lord Shade used to be a normal person..."

"Don't let that make you feel sorry for him!" Raiden barked.  "Inoni tried to negotiate with him while he was staying in the Underwhere!  But Shade was bent on having his revenge!"

Mario clenched his fists.  "If you think I'll hold back, you're sadly mistaking.  It's not my fault Lord Shade turned into a jerk.  He's the reason our world was split into three.  We might all be living in a paradise right now if it weren't for him!"

"I'm glad I finally know about his past," Glaive mumbled.  "To be honest, it wouldn't feel right killing someone I knew nothing about.  Now that I know what made him who he is, I can murder him without regrets."

Wario scratched his head.  "Yeah... I completely understood that story!  Uh... Let's go bash him back into that Underthere place!"

"Very noble, but it's the Underwhere," Mario corrected him with a sarcastic grin.

"Whatever," Waluigi grumbled.  "I'm ready to start that training whenever Raiden is."

"Even I'm feeling excited about this!" Luigi exclaimed.  Well... Not really...