Super Mario Bros. 6: The Mighty Tyrant

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 20: Armageddon

"Such spirited warriors!" Raiden exclaimed, eager to begin.  "Now that I have told you about Lord Shade, it's time to begin my training course.  Move out!"  He pointed toward the same obstacle course Mario had been through, and everyone rushed to conquer it.  All except for Mario.

"What about me?" Mario inquired.  "Didn't you say something about Grambi giving me private lessons?"

Raiden grinned.  "Yes, I did.  He's up there."  He pointed up at a cloud that hovered miles above their heads.  "I'm sure you remember how high up Grambi lives.  The only problem is that Overthere Stair is only accessible through the Underwhere, and you have no way of getting there unless you're dead.  Luckily, each of the three Elemental Gods has a pedestal that can warp people to Grambi's castle.  But to use them, you need all three Elemental Orbs."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Mario asked.  "Can't you just zap me to Grambi's castle?"

Raiden shook his head.  "All you have to do is find all three Elemental Orbs, which are in the possession of each Elemental God.  I'll give you my Thunder Orb, and then you can go after the other two gods."

"But I don't have time to go on a big adventure!" Mario complained.  "I need to help them beat Lord Shade!"

"Let's assume they're all as strong as you now that they've begun my training.  To be honest, the five of you wouldn't stand much of a chance," Raiden whispered, careful not to be heard by the other four.  "I wasn't going to tell you this, but those four are just going to be a distraction.  Based on the size of the vortex surrounding the Dark Castle, Lord Shade will destroy this planet in exactly two days."

"What?!" Mario thundered.  "Two days?!"

Raiden nodded.  "I'll spend these two days training them to their limits, and then they'll challenge Shade at the last minute.  Hopefully, they'll keep him busy until you show up."

"But... you can't use my friends just as a distraction," Mario persisted.  "It's not fair...  They'll die..."

Raiden put his hand on Mario's shoulder.  "This is our only hope.  If a few of them have to die to save the millions of others in the Mushroom Kingdom, so be it.  But I wouldn't count them out.  Maybe they'll beat Lord Shade without you, or maybe you'll arrive before anyone is hurt.  We'll never know until it's over."

"Okay," Mario finally agreed.  "I'll make sure Lord Shade doesn't even get the chance to hurt my friends.  Where's the Thunder Orb?"

"Over there," Raiden informed him, pointing at an important-looking pedestal.  Sitting upon it was a yellow, translucent sphere with sparks constantly emitting from it.  Mario cautiously picked up the orb, half-expecting it to shock him.  However, unlike the first time he touched it, Mario was not overcome with an agonizing pain.  Raiden could tell what Mario was thinking just by looking at him.  "It didn't shock you because you have already mastered the Thunderball."

Mario nodded.  "But before I go, I still have a few questions.  First off, where can I find an entrance to the Ice Palace?"

Raiden thought before answering.  "Hmm... Skulleon chose not to have a gateway to his palace from the Mushroom Kingdom, but there still may be a way to reach him.  Recently, Skulleon visited the kingdom to save your friends in their first battle with Lord Shade.  Since there isn't a gateway from his palace to the Mushroom Kingdom, the only way he could have reached your friends is if he used teleportation.  Well, teleportation is kind of like making your own gateway from one place to another, usually in the form of a portal or vortex.  After a portal is created, it should stay intact for at least a few days.  This is why teleportation is mostly avoided.  You see, an ordinary human could accidentally wander into the Overthere.  But it was an emergency, and Skulleon had to act."

"If I go to Mushroom Castle and find the portal Skulleon made, I can get to the Ice Palace?" Mario inquired.

"Most likely," Raiden replied with doubt in his voice.  "Is that all you needed to know?"

Mario stared off into the distance.  "You said that the Fire God died in the battle with Lord Shade.  So... how am I supposed to find the Fire Palace?"

Raiden gave Mario a funny look.  "Easy.  All you have to do is find the new Fire God."

"You never told me there was a new Fire God," Mario complained.  "That would have helped.  Where can I find him?"

Raiden shrugged.  "I'm not sure.  I remember Skulleon telling me something about a new Fire God, and how you got your Fireball ability from him."

"But I never visited a Fire God," Mario protested.

"At the time you received your powers, the Fire God didn't even know who he was.  Chances are, you got your powers on accident.  You probably obtained an unstable version of the Fireball ability, and accidentally passed it on to all of your friends without even knowing it.  That would explain how you, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi can all throw Fireballs at will.  As for finding where this god is located, you'll just have to think about who you met around the time you learned to manipulate fire.  I remember Skulleon saying that he knows you pretty well."

"I'll give it some thought," Mario sighed as he pocketed the Thunder Orb.  "For now, I'll focus on visiting Skulleon.  But before I go..."  He took out the Gadd Insta-belt 6000 and set the default location to the spot he was standing in.  "I'll tell the other gods to meet you here.  It might come in handy to have them around."



Lord Shade's Theme

Lord Shade sat back on his throne, reflecting on how he had gained his amazing powers.  "No one in the entire universe will be able to stop me, now that I have absorbed the energy from the Oracles of Power.  I must admit, being the strongest person alive is going to be a tad boring.  This planet will be toast in two days.  Where should I go next?  It's been so long since I first arrived on this planet years ago; destroying any other planet won't feel as good as eliminating this one.  Hmm... Perhaps ruling this universe will finally show that I am fit to rule all three worlds...  Before I get rid of this pathetic world, I hope those pesky fools try and stop me once more.  It will make a fantastic conclusion to my stay in this world!  And when they lose, I'll unleash my own spin on the Void- the Vortex- and annihilate everyone!  Come to me, my rebellious pests!  I'm waiting for you!"



Elemental God Theme

"Wow...  The Ice Palace is the same as it was when I was killed by Metal Mario.  It's just as cold, too," Mario whispered with a shiver.

"I knew you'd come," a voice told him.  A tall, bony warrior that resembled a live skeleton stepped out of an enormous palace structured by blocks of ice.  "It's been a while, huh?"

"I could never forget that voice, Skulleon.  You're always contacting me through telepathy," Mario remarked with a grin.  "I usually have trouble getting your voice out of my head."

"Well, enough about my voice," Skulleon muttered, slightly irritated.  "We have more important matters to discuss.  Raiden told me you would come.  I warned you to stay away from Lord Shade at all costs.  Trying to drive him away from the kingdom was a mistake, but it's too late now.  If you can somehow beat him, the universe will be rid of him for good.  Mario, I want you to take the Ice Orb."

Mario nodded.  "By the way, I thought it would be a good idea to have you and the Fire God meet at the Thunder Palace."

"That's a good idea.  I think the three of us can construct a Universal Television if we work together."

Mario looked confused.  "A Universal Television?"

"It's a lot like the television you have in the Mushroom Kingdom, except we can use it to watch what is happening in any part of the universe," Raiden explained.  "It's like a giant flat-screen T.V., and we can watch your battle with Shade from the palace."



From that exact moment, forty-six hours had passed.  Raiden had brought the best out of Luigi, Waluigi, Wario, and Glaive.  They were now as strong as Mario, or even a tad bit stronger.  Skulleon arrived on the second day to give them extra practice, and to see them off to the Dark Castle.  Mario wandered about the Mushroom Kingdom, trying to learn more about the Fire God.  He also got some well deserved rest after fighting the Alloy Team.  Now he was ready to continue his search.  As the renewed Mario set out on his new adventure, his friends prepared to face their toughest foe yet.

"You have passed my tests of speed, skill, and endurance.  I commend you.  You are all truly brave warriors," Raiden congratulated them.  "I have the utmost confidence that you can put up a good fight against Lord Shade."

"Do your best, and remember to leave with the Gadd Insta-belt 6000 if things get dicey," Skulleon added.  "Be mindful and courageous.  Remember that Mario will arrive to lend a helping hand."  The four warriors nodded.

"We're ready to go to the Dark Castle," Glaive spoke up.  He hadn't uttered a single word since their training began.

Raiden nodded.  "Very well.  Good luck."  He snapped his fingers, and a cluster of clouds instantly merged into a larger, thicker cloud.  "There's no way you could reach the Dark Castle from the Mushroom Kingdom.  It's better off if you let this cloud guide you.  It'll take you straight to the castle.  So hop on when you're ready."

Departing For Dark Castle

"Alright, let's go," Waluigi urged them.  "I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel a lot stronger than before.  There's no way Lord Shade can beat us if we work together!"

Glaive grinned, and everyone else cheered.  With that, the four challengers boarded the cloud.  Instantly, it began floating toward the Dark Castle, which was barely visible along the horizon.

"Do it," Raiden whispered.

"You must win," Skulleon muttered to himself.



"We'll win for sure!" Luigi cheered excitedly.  I hope...

"I'm gonna bash that dork's skull in as soon as I see him!" Wario screamed in anticipation.  "DO YOU HEAR THAT SHADE?!  YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"

Glaive simply crossed his arms and remained silent, although a faint smirk could be detected on his face.  At last, we'll settle things.  Too bad these poor fools don't know what they're up against.

Dark Castle Theme

"We're here," Waluigi whispered as the cloud stopped at the entrance to Dark Castle.  "We're really here."

"Those designs... they're the same ones E. Gadd showed us on his laptop," Luigi observed, pointing to the carvings on the colossal double-doors that led inside.

Glaive stepped forward.  "I'm coming for you, Lord Shade."  He pushed the door open, and the four of them walked inside.  The interior was painted black with streams of gold and silver outlining doors and other objects of importance.  Thousands of golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling, row by row, lighting up the entire room with a blood-red glow.  In front of them stood a mammoth stairway which led upward so high that none of them could see what was at the top.  Not a word was spoken as the heroes marched solemnly up the endless stairway.  On either side of the stairway were statues of various gods and monsters, with doors placed in between them.  Minutes seemed like hours as they trudged upward to face their final foe.

"This... is it..." Glaive gasped as they arrived at the top. It's so... familiar...  In front of them was a door identical to the door that led them inside.  "Alright, if anyone wants to back out, they better do it now.  Once we walk inside, we can't walk out unless we win or use that disgraceful belt that Mario left us.  If we have no other choice, we can use it.  But we need to assume that this is for keeps.  Does anyone want to back out?"

The four of them exchanged glances, and suddenly all faced Luigi.  Beads of sweat were dripping down his neck.  Instead of speaking, Luigi's eyebrows narrowed as he placed his hand on the door and shoved it open.  They all stepped inside.  But who would walk out?

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 21: The Beginning of the End

Luigi, Glaive, Wario, and Waluigi stepped into the throne room.  They marveled at the enormous throne room, easily a football field long and three basketball courts wide.  Otherwise, the features of this room were much like the previous.  The room was painted entirely black, except for streams of silver and gold outlining doors, windows, and furniture.  The same blood-red glow as before was given off by thousands of chandeliers hanging several yards above their heads.  Luigi could faintly see a fountain in the center of the room, and two sets of stairways leading up to a balcony-like area that bordered the perimeter of the room.  At the other side of the room Lord Shade sat in his throne, eyeing his visitors.  Abruptly, he got up and began to approach the foursome.

The Invincible Lord Shade

"I've waited a long time for you to show," Lord Shade informed them with an evil glint in his eye.  "It just wouldn't be fun eliminating this world before a final battle.  Although you three aren't very strong, it's evident that you are the best this kingdom has to offer."

"Aren't very strong?!" Wario parroted, fuming with anger.  "I'll show you..."

"Cool it or he'll kill you first," Waluigi whispered.  "We need to attack him as a team."

"I see you're gravely underestimating us," Glaive shot back.  "That will be your undoing.  You don't have your facts straight at all."  He still thinks Mario is dead, too.  If we can't surprise him with our new power, he'll definitely be surprised when Mario shows up.

"I see Glaive has teamed up with these pests," Lord Shade observed.  "I didn't recognize you back in Mushroom Castle.  I would have probably killed you if I noticed sooner.  Don't think for a second I forgot what you did."

"Aw, he remembers me," Glaive mocked in a sarcastic tone.  "Good, because I'm through with you!"

"Would you mind telling me how you know Shade?" Luigi inquired.  "I feel like I'm missing something."

Glaive shook his head.  "Not now.  We don't need to make Shade any angrier than he already is."

Lord Shade took a step forward, and the four heroes took a step back.  "Now, which one of you should I annihilate first?  Hmm..."  He looked at Glaive.  "How about you, Glaive?"  His eyes shifted to Luigi, causing him to quake in fear.  "Or what about you, you sniveling coward?"  He glanced at Waluigi.  "Maybe I'll start with this snobby toothpick..."  He turned to Wario.  "Or how about you, chubby?  Hmm...  No matter who I choose, the end result will be the same.  Why don't I-"

"How DARE you call me chubby!" Wario screamed in rage as he charged directly at Lord Shade.



[End Music]

"Who could the Fire God be?" Mario pondered as he paced and forth at his bedside.  "Let's see...  I first learned to use a Fireball around the time I went up against Smithy.  I think it was just as I was helping Mallow get his money back from that thief, Croco.  It couldn't be Croco...  So who..."  A thought jumped into his head.  "Mallow!  He must have accidentally given me the ability to manipulate fire!  If he really is the Fire God, I need to get to Nimbus Land right away!"



Elemental God Theme

"It looks like the battle has already begun," Skulleon sighed.  "Without the Fire God, we can't even construct a Universal Television to see what's happening."

Raiden was staring below the clouds at the Mushroom Kingdom.  "Come on Mario... We need that Fire God!  Most of all, your friends need you!"

"By the way, did Grambi really offer to give Mario lessons?" Skulleon asked.  "That is probably the greatest honor anyone can ever receive!"

Raiden nodded.  "Mario is the Mushroom Hero.  He is the one that must banish Lord Shade from the kingdom.  His other friends will only be a distraction, I'm afraid."

"Speaking of his friends, who is Glaive?  I know Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi very well, but I know almost nothing about Glaive.  He wants Lord Shade dead, but why?"

Raiden shrugged.  "We'll find out in due time."



Nimbus Land

"It hasn't changed a bit," Mario whispered to himself as he reached the top of a tall vine that led up to Nimbus Land.  It was a village at the very top of the Mushroom Kingdom, which featured a castle and a hot spring.  All of this was resting on top of a cloud, thus giving the land its name.  "I can still remember the time I helped Mallow find out that he was actually the prince of Nimbus Land.  I wonder-"

"It's Mario!" a cloud-like creature cried, rushing to embrace him.  He was only half Mario's size, and had a belt wrapped around blue and white pants.  Atop of his head was a single pink curl.  "Haven't you heard?"

"Hey, Mallow!  What haven't I heard?"

"I'm the Fire God's descendant, and I'm supposed to take her place.  I know all about what Lord Shade has done, but you'll stop him!  I know you will!" Mallow shouted with joy.

"You bet!" Mario bellowed with confidence.  "You should meet Skulleon and Raiden at the Thunder Palace so you can watch me fight him."  He pointed off into the distance.  "You should know where that is, right?  Anyway, I had something to ask you.  Do you have the Fire Orb?"

Mallow nodded.  "Yup.  I'm training to learn how to throw Fireballs just like you!  I'm supposed to look after the Fire Orb, and make sure it stays in the right hands."

"Can I borrow it?" Mario requested.  "I need it to get to Grambi so he can help become strong enough to defeat Lord Shade."

Mallow's eyes bulged.  "You're going to see Grambi!?  If he requested an audience with you, it must be important.  Of course you can borrow it!"  He instantly removed it from his pocket and handed it to Mario.  "Besides, I haven't built a pedestal for it anyway.  Just keep it safe for me until you get back.  And make sure that you drive Shade out of this kingdom for good!"

"This is great!" Mario thanked him.  "I promise I'll do the best I can.  But for now, I need to find Grambi.  Raiden said all three gods should have a gateway to Grambi.  Do you have one?"

Mallow pointed at a smaller, nearby cloud with a stone platform resting on top of it.  On the platform were three spherical depressions that were meant to hold the Elemental Orbs.  "We didn't bother to secure it because no one could use it unless they had all three orbs.  If it was ever stolen, the thief wouldn't be able to use it anyway."

Mario approached the platform.  "That makes sense.  Well, I'd better get going."  He placed each of the orbs in a corresponding depression.  There was a flash of blinding light, followed by rainbow sparks emitting from the platform.  The sparks began increase in size until they formed a colossal bridge that extended into the sky.



Lord Shade Battle

"How DARE you call me fat!" Wario cried as he sent his fist hurling toward Lord Shade's head.

THWACK

Wario's blow connected, sending Lord Shade staggering backward.  Wario uttered an earsplitting battle cry and rushed after his opponent.  Without further warning, the hefty plumber unleashed a rain of blows directed at Shade.  Waluigi, Glaive, and Luigi watched in astonishment as Wario pummeled the most feared tyrant in the universe.

"Enough!" Lord Shade howled in fury, his eyes glowing red with hatred.  He cut off Wario's assault with a powerful kick to the ribs, knocking him onto his back.  "Did you really think you had that much of an advantage?  It's impossible to say how, but you've become much stronger than you were when we first fought.  It caught me off guard, but I assure you it won't happen again."

Waluigi charged forward.  "We'll see about that!"  He thrust his foot at Shade as if he was kicking a soccer ball.  Lord Shade easily sidestepped the kick, causing Waluigi to pass right by him.  Glaive leaped up into the air and threw a wave of shuriken at the tyrant.

"You can't defeat me with those silly toys!" Lord Shade taunted as he deflected them with a swing of his sword.  "Try these instead!"  He extended his arm toward Glaive, and an invisible shockwave erupted from his arm and struck the airborne warrior.  Glaive fell to the ground with a THUD.

Luigi jumped into the fray.  "How about a Fireball?!"  Charging his flames into a ball, he hurled an Ultra Fireball at Lord Shade.

"Tsk.  You never learn, do you?" Lord Shade muttered in disgust.  "A direct Fireball won't do you any good."  Using his blade yet again, Shade deflected the Ultra Fireball back at Luigi.

"Yikes!" Luigi shrieked as he prepared to be eliminated by his own attack.  Moments before impact, Wario got onto his feet and cancelled out the blast with a Fireball of his own.

Lord Shade whirled around to see Waluigi rushing at him from behind.  "Trying to sneak up on me, eh?  It won't do you any good!"  With a slash of his sword, a red beam fired out of the blade and directly at Waluigi.

"Watch out!" Wario warned him.

"Don't worry!" Waluigi called back as he sidestepped the beam, but continued to run at Lord Shade.

"There's plenty more where that came from!" Lord Shade hissed as he began to rapidly slash his sword, sending a barrage of energy waves at his charging enemy.  "By the way, each of those beams is as sharp as my blade!"

Luigi covered his eyes.  "He's going to be sliced into tiny pieces!"

Glaive's eyes widened.  "There's no way he can get out of the way in time!  It looks like we have to prepare for our first casualty!"

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 22: Out with a Bang

Grambi's Theme

"Ugh.  Why couldn't Grambi live a little closer to the ground?" Mario groaned as he reached the other end of the bridge.  He took a moment to rest and take in the palace's various features.  It was similar to last time.  On a solid cloud, the enormous castle built of pure marble towered above all who could admire it.  The two double doors that led inside were open.  In fact, the palace had not physically changed at all.  But Mario could feel a strong sense of gloom pervading the air he breathed.  "Why do I feel... sad?"

A short man with yellow skin stepped out of the palace.  His body could not be seen at all, due to Grambi's colossal white beard that concealed most of his features.  Covering even more of his body were his white, bushy eyebrows, each extending at least one foot from his head.  "Ah, welcome.  It's about time you arrived, Mushroom Hero."

Mario gasped.  He had seen those eyes before.  Even before the first time he met Grambi on his quest to stop Count Bleck, Mario had seen those eyes once before.  "They're filled with... sorrow and misery.  You must have seen terrible things in your lifetime."

Grambi nodded.  "I was once a human, like you.  When I died, Zeus decided that I was fit to rule the Overthere.  I married Queen Jaydes, and I've been here ever since.  You have quite an interesting story to tell too, don't you?  Ah, but you don't know even half of your story.  The true purpose of your existence dates back to even before your birth.  It goes back to your father."

"My father?!" Mario parroted.  "Do you know where he is?"

"I'm sure you know he left you when you were just a baby," Grambi assumed.  "You probably don't know that by leaving you, he saved your life."

Mario couldn't believe what he was hearing.  "How do you know so much about me?  What can you tell me?!"

Grambi sighed.  "I'll start from the beginning.  Well, about fifty years ago, Zeus could feel a great cataclysm approaching the Universe.  What he predicted actually turned out to be Lord Shade's uprising.  To try and prepare for it, Zeus created the Hero bloodline.  Your father was the first of these.  He was born just as any child would be, except he was blessed with a gift of outstanding powers.  Your father grew to be a normal man, not knowing of his unusual power.  Eventually, when he reached his adulthood, he discovered a small portion of his power.  He soon came to realize that he had much more hidden away.

"He knew there was no way he could master all of his immense power in one lifetime.  So he took twenty-five percent of it for himself, and the rest was passed onto his son.  That was you.  You have seventy-five percent of the power Zeus gave to your bloodline!  Each time you fought a powerful foe, or trained with an Elemental God, you gradually released more of it.  Now that you are training under me, it is time to master all of it."

"What about Luigi, my brother?" Mario asked with curiosity.  "What power was he given?"

"It is said that the younger sibling of a Hero possesses the equal potential of power the first-born child does.  However, there are a few differences.  First and foremost, the power will be harder to bring out for your brother, which would require intensive training far more brutal then what you will go through.  In addition, the younger sibling- in your case, Luigi- would not possess the Capacity of Elements.  Finally, the second-born child's power is not purified at birth.  The choice to be good or evil is theirs to make.  If he or she should choose to be tainted with evil, the effect could be deadly."



The Invincible Lord Shade

Waluigi dove to the right as the beams zoomed toward him, each as sharp as Shade's sword.  Wario, Luigi, and Glaive shut their eyes as they prepared for a brutal finish.

SLASH

SCRAPE

Everyone opened their eyes simultaneously, each of them filled with shock.  Waluigi was lying on the ground face-first with a deep gash running down each of his arms.  He had avoided most of Shade's blasts!  Waluigi struggled to push himself to his feet, but his arms began to bleed and he instantly fell back down.

"It looks like my aim is better than I thought," Lord Shade boasted.  "A slice like that is as rare as a seven-ten split in bowling.  Each of your arms is slashed to the point where you will bleed to death if you try to move them.  But you can't avoid using your arms forever!"

Waluigi rolled onto his feet, avoiding the use of his arms.  "We'll see..."  He fell to his knees.  "I'll get you... somehow..."

"It looks like he's out of the fight," Glaive whispered.  "We need to stick together.  He's going to attack."

"Which of you will be next?" Lord Shade inquired, half-expecting Wario to rush at him again.  "No volunteers?  I must have gotten under your skin.  The chubby one was more than willing to fight me before.  Do you want a turn Glaive?  Or how about the green coward, who has been shivering since I first saw him?"

The three heroes took a step back.  "Let's attack him all at once," Luigi suggested, hoping to avoid being targeted by Shade."

"You saw how that turned out the last time we tried it.  Waluigi lost the use of his arms.  I think we'd buy more time if we stayed put," Glaive refused.

Lord Shade began to chuckle.  "I've made my decision.  I have some unfinished business to settle, so I think I'll start with Chubby!"

"Bring it on!" Wario challenged as he clenched his fists, ready to fight.  Before he could throw a punch, Lord Shade had vanished and reappeared in front of him.  Wario instantly hurled his fists at his opponent, but it was too late.  Lord Shade's sword had already plunged into his chest before his fists went anywhere.  Wario let out one final scream before his life faded away.

Luigi and Glaive froze as Wario's blood spilled onto the floor, their mouths agape.  "This can't be happening..." Luigi muttered.  "This can't be happening..."



Training With Grambi

"Mario, the first step of your training is to hit me!" Grambi commanded.  "I may look old, but I've still got it!"

Mario clenched his fists.  "Okay, if that's all I have to do..."  He rushed at Grambi and threw a powerful right hook.  Oddly enough, Grambi vanished just as Mario's fist collided with his body.  "Where'd he go?"

"Over here," Grambi barked from behind him.  He flicked his wrist, and a Thunderball launched from his body and struck Mario, shocking him until he fell to the ground.

"You're fast," Mario complemented as he rolled to his feet, rubbing a bruise on his back.  "And you have the Capacity of Elements, too.  But how can you fare against an Ultra Fireball?"  Without warning, he shot a mammoth Ultra Fireball directly at Grambi, who merely deflected it with his finger.  Mario was awestruck.  "Why don't you fight Lord Shade?  You're much stronger than me!"

"To be blunt, Lord Shade is much stronger than me," Grambi responded grimly.  "To beat Shade, you'll first need to be able to beat me.  As you are now, your Elemental Energy is far too weak to be useful.  What you call an Ultra Fireball I'd call a regular Fireball.  If you want to have more control over your elemental abilities, you should try these."  Four rings materialized in his hand.  "I call them Elemental Rings.  They'll latch onto your arms and legs.  From that point until you take them off, they'll feed off of your Elemental Energy.  Elemental Energy will then become similar to oxygen- you need it to live.  If you can't supply the rings with more energy, you'll die.  The strain on you should either kill you, or help you tremendously."

"Wait a minute, that doesn't sound very safe!" Mario objected.  Grambi tossed the rings, and they instantly wrapped around each of Mario's limbs.

"Now, try to hit me again!" Grambi demanded.

Mario stared blankly at Dark Castle, which was faintly visible along the horizon.  I'm never going to make it out of here alive.



Wario's Death

"Such a pathetic waste," Lord Shade muttered as he ripped Wario off of his sword and tossed him to the ground.  In seconds, his corpse was surrounded by a pool of blood.

"Bro!" Waluigi cried, instantly rushing to Wario's side despite his injuries.  "Wake up!  You're not dead!  You can't be dead!  It's not true!  This isn't happening!"  He shook Wario feverishly.  "Get up!  Stop fooling around!"  Tears began to stream down his cheeks.  "It's not funny!  I know you're alive! Get up..."  He tried to listen to Wario's heartbeat.  He heard nothing.  "He's gone...  No...  You weren't... supposed to die... you big jerk!  Now what am I supposed to do after we beat Shade?"

"You shouldn't get so worked up over a piece of trash like him," Shade snickered.  "He was hardly worth my time."

Waluigi charged at Lord Shade, only to be backhanded back onto the ground.  Blood began to stream out of his wounds.  He fell onto his hands and knees.  "No... I can't let you down... bro..."

Lord Shade turned to Luigi and Glaive.  "It looks like it's just the three of us, now."

"What's taking Mario so long?!" Luigi shrieked.  "We're all gonna be slaughtered!"

"Now isn't the time to be a coward," Glaive reprimanded him.

Lord Shade now stood right in front of Luigi and Glaive.  "Let's see...  Should I kill the coward or the traitor?"

Waluigi wept silently behind his brother.  "I have to... make it up... to you...  Wherever you are... I'll be joining you soon...  This one's for you, Wario..."

Rage Unleashed

Waluigi stood up and began to charge a purple Fireball.  "Lord Shade!  You're going to pay for killing my brother!"  The Fireball had now grown to a size even larger than an Ultra Fireball.  "To avenge Wario's death, have this special gift!"  With all of his might, Waluigi hurled the gigantic Fireball at Shade, blood erupting from his gashed arms all the while.

"Get down!" Glaive screamed as he and Luigi dove out of the blast's range.

"He was already beaten!" Lord Shade roared.  "There's no way he could have created a Fireball that large!"  Without enough time to dodge, Shade took the blast head on.  It collided with him in a massive explosion of flames that shot out in every direction.

Exhausting all of his energy into one final blast, it could be said that Waluigi went out with a bang.

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 23: Demon of Flames

Training With Grambi

As the battle with Lord Shade reached deadly proportions, Mario continued to spar with Grambi.  "Hmm... You've become much stronger since we started," Grambi observed as he gave his opponent a powerful right hook that sent him staggering backwards.  "That punch would have knocked you out when we started.  This time, it just gave you a small bruise.  You've proved your endurance.  Now, let's see how you well you do against Elemental Attacks."  He snapped his fingers, and a bolt of lightning materialized above Mario's head.

"Too slow!" Mario taunted, diving to the side to avoid the attack.

Grambi nodded.  "Good.  Now I'll check your speed."  He warped behind Mario and threw a series of punches and kicks, all of which the plumber dodged.  Grambi ended the combo with a final jab, which Mario evaded.

"Not good enough!" Mario bellowed as he retaliated with a sweep-kick that knocked Grambi onto his back.

Grambi pulled himself up.  "Impressive.  Believe it or not, you've surpassed me.  Although it may not seem like it now, you'll see the true effects of your training when you remove the Elemental Rings.  When you take them off, I'd say you'll be about three-fifths as strong as Lord Shade."

"What?!" Mario thundered.  "Just how strong is Shade?!"

"Near invincible," Grambi replied grimly.  "Fighting him now wouldn't be a guaranteed victory.  But I have nothing left to teach you.  All you really needed was to spar with someone that was stronger than you.  There is nothing left for you to learn... unless..."

"Unless what?" Mario inquired.  "What are you hiding?"

Grambi hung his head.  "I could never put you through that...  On the other hand..."

"This is desperate!  Let me do whatever it is you're talking about!  Please!  I'll die against Shade anyway, so you don't need to worry about my life!"

"Very well...  Dimension C is our last hope," Grambi muttered.  "It's the homeland of Culex, one of the strongest beings in all three worlds.  He isn't quite as strong as Lord Shade, but he'll be tough to beat.  Not to mention the dimensions various side-effects.  Time will seem to move in slow motion.  A minute here will seem like an hour in that horrible dimension.  The demonic energy floating amongst that dimension will seem to pull you down, making it feel like you weigh twice as much.  This energy will also enter any cuts or wounds you have, amplifying the pain tenfold.  And... the only way to escape... is to defeat Culex."

"No sweat.  I defeated Culex in Monstro Town a while ago," Mario boasted.

"Yes, he did pay a visit to your world," Grambi admitted.  "But you'll notice several differences if you fight him in Dimension C.  First, you'll have all of the deadly side-effects wearing you down.  If that's not enough, Culex's power is strongest when he is in his own dimension.  In your world, his strength was greatly reduced.  Do you still want to go?"

Beads of sweat began to drip down Mario's face.  "And if I don't win... I can't come back?"

Grambi shook his head.  "In the unlikely even Culex spares your life, you will not be able to return."

"I'll win," Mario assured him.  "Take me there."

With a flick of his wrist, Grambi opened a small portal beside them.  "I won't stop you.  But it's unlikely that you'll ever return."



The Invincible Lord Shade

The smoke from Waluigi's final attack began to fade away.  Luigi and Glaive breathed a sigh of relief.  "That was a close one," Luigi whispered.  "I almost had to fight...  But Waluigi's gone..."

"We have more pressing matters at hand!" Glaive screamed.  "If you think that attack finished off Lord Shade, you're sadly mistaken!"

Lord Shade walked out of the giant mass of dust and smoke.  "That was quite an attack...  I haven't experienced an assault of that caliber in years.  It's too bad I'm familiar with that technique.  By forcing your Life Energy into an attack, you can do quite a bit of damage.  Unfortunately, your friend hardly had any Life Energy left.  Not to mention his aim was off, but that was probably because of those gashes in his arms."

"I can't believe they died for nothing!" Luigi shrieked.

"And now... it's down to just the three of us," Lord Shade announced with an evil glint in his eyes.  "Should I tear you apart simultaneously, or one at a time?"

"Uhh... Neither?" Luigi answered, quavering in fear.

"It might be a good time to get out of here.  Get out that stupid belt," Glaive barked.  "It's our only way out."

"Right," Luigi affirmed with a nod.  He pulled the belt out of his pocket and began to wrap it around himself and Glaive.

Suddenly, a grey blur rushed past them and the Gadd Insta-belt 6000 vanished.  "Did you really think I'd let you escape so easily?  You won't be leaving here unless you can defeat me!" Lord Shade hissed between clenched teeth.  On the other side of the room, Shade stood with the belt held smugly in his hand.

Glaive's Theme

"Oh, shut up!" Glaive spat.  "You think you're so tough now that you have the Oracles of Power, but you forgot one thing.  This castle is quite dark; perhaps dark enough for me to remove my armor!"

"What?  I thought armor was supposed to protect you!  Why would you take it off?" Luigi objected.

"My kingdom has a curse bestowed upon it," Glaive explained.  "All of its residents cannot bear to see the light of day.  The kingdom has been nothing but a dark shadow for as long as I can remember.  I was enlisted in Shade's army, but I would be required to visit planets with light.  That's why I devised this armor.  It completely blocks out all light, preventing it from frying my skin.  It took a ridiculous amount of training to be able to move around quickly while wearing this clunky armor.  This castle is dark enough for me to live without my armor on.  Imagine how fast I'll be with nothing weighing me down!"

"I wouldn't get your hopes up," Lord Shade sneered.  "He won't be fast enough to keep up with me."

"We'll see," Glaive retorted as he removed his helmet and threw it onto the ground, revealing his face for the first time.  To everyone's surprise, he almost looked like an ordinary person.  His skin was fair, and his dark brown eyes held back all signs of fear and sadness.  He had jet black hair that spiked up at the top, while his bangs hung down over his forehead and eyebrows.  As he stripped his armor off, his clothes became visible.  He wore a white t-shirt that seemed to be made of durable fabric, and baggy black pants that appeared to be created for fighting.  Tied to his waist was a sheathed katana, which Glaive gripped as soon as he had removed all of his armor.

"So, this is the real you?" Lord Shade asked.  "Not even I have seen you in this form."

"I never knew Glaive looked so much like a human," Luigi gasped.  "And I never knew he used to work for Shade, either.  What made you leave his army?"

"It's a long story," Glaive replied.  "Now, it's time I told you the other reason I wear this armor.  I used to be known as the Demon of Flames.  I was born with the unusual ability to manipulate the very flames of Hell.  The only problem is that I have trouble controlling my powers.  My armor helped restrain my abilities, but now it looks like I have no choice but to use them."

"Demon of Flames?" Shade parroted.  "You've got to be joking."

Demon of Flames

"You wish!" Glaive shot back as a wave of purple flames erupted from his palms.  Lord Shade quickly stepped to the side, narrowly escaping the blaze.  Glaive gestured toward Shade, and the inferno quickly darted in Shade's direction.  "You can't hide from my flames, Shade!  I can force those flames to go after you again and again, even if you continue to dodge them!"

"Perhaps he wasn't bluffing," Shade mumbled as he warped to another side of the room, avoiding the wave of flames yet again.  "I could do this for hours!  Your pathetic flames won't even touch me!"

"I'd expect nothing less from you," Glaive said with a grin.  "But I've got plenty of attacks to try out!"  He rushed at Lord Shade, who was occupied with dodging his persistent flames.  Glaive's hand began to burn up as it was surrounded with a ring of purple inferno.

Lord Shade rolled his eyes.  "You must really think I'm new to fighting.  A Flaming Punch won't work on me."

"Then you won't mind if I try!" Glaive cried as he threw a devastating Flaming Punch at his foe. When Shade effortlessly dodged it, Glaive merely grinned.  Lord Shade whirled around to see a tower of flames rushing toward him.  The Flaming Punch was only a distraction!

"You tricked me!" Lord Shade cursed.

"The flames are too close for you to dodge them!  You've lost!" Glaive declared.

Lord Shade swiftly slashed at the wall of fire, instantly vaporizing it.  "Not quite.  You did catch me by surprise, though.  You've proven to be stronger than the others, but not quite strong enough.  You shouldn't have betrayed me."

"Shut up!" Glaive snapped as he drew his katana.  "I'll show you!"  He sliced at Shade, who effortlessly caught the blade between his index and middle fingers.  By applying a small amount of pressure, Lord Shade snapped the katana in half, rendering it useless.

Luigi watched the battle from the balcony at the top of the room.  "Not even Glaive can stop him...  Mario, where are you?"

Glaive stared at his shattered blade, his eyes wide with terror.  "No...  I can still beat you!"  He threw his katana to the ground and began to blindly fire towers of flames at Lord Shade.  "You're mine!"

Lord Shade sighed and began to slash at the thousands of flames targeted at him.  Whatever his sword didn't vaporize was dodged with a simple sidestep.  Glaive has become frantic.  He's lost his calm and cool attitude.  Soon, he'll meet his end.

Luigi gasped.  "Lord Shade isn't even fighting back!  Glaive is just tiring himself out!  And when Glaive finally runs out of energy, he'll be at Shade's mercy."

[Retronintendodude7]

The story seems good so far. (Even though it looks like it's almost done. :P) You made a few spelling mistakes here and there, but everyone does that sometimes.

I just think some of the decisions were made kind of fast, though. Like how Red didn't care about the speech Mario gave him and then decided to team up with him after a few minutes.

It's pretty good, and I'll look forward to seeing how it ends. ;)

[shadowmarioguy]

The story seems good so far. (Even though it looks like it's almost done. :P) You made a few spelling mistakes here and there, but everyone does that sometimes.

I just think some of the decisions were made kind of fast, though. Like how Red didn't care about the speech Mario gave him and then decided to team up with him after a few minutes.

It's pretty good, and I'll look forward to seeing how it ends. ;)

Wow, you read through that pretty quickly.  :P  About the whole Red thing, there's actually a somewhat deeper meaning to his decision.  He wanted to be important to Lord Shade, and when Mario gave his speech Red still thought that Shade felt his army was important.  If he had betrayed Shade at that moment, he'd be hurting something that he thought was special to his leader.  When Shade sent his entire army though, Red quickly realized that Shade had found something else important to him- the Oracles of Power.  So since Shade's army was no longer important to him, Red had no reason to regret betraying Lord Shade.  I hope that made sense.   :P

Regardless, thanks for commenting and reading through all of that.   :)

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 24: Impending Doom

Culex Battle

Deep in Dimension C, Mario and Culex brawled.  It was a vast, empty void with occasional rocks and boulders protruding from the ground.  All that could be seen in the background was a swirling purple vortex.   "Maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea!" Mario cursed as he dodged a wave of ice that swept past him.  "Culex is a lot tougher than before!"

"It was foolish of you to challenge me in this dimension!" Culex roared as he unleashed a sea of flames at the helpless plumber.  "You'll never survive this battle!"

"Watch me!" Mario retorted as he ducked behind a boulder to avoid Culex's attack.  Once the fire died down, he popped out and tossed an extra-large Thunderball at Culex.

Culex only laughed and surrounded himself in a whirlwind, deflecting the Thunderball on impact.  "I scoff at your pathetic attacks!"  Several tornadoes spawned from the one surrounding Culex and began to assault Mario.  The rock Mario had taken cover behind was shattered to mere pebbles, and the plumber was hurled into the air.  With a snap of his fingers, a bolt of lightning shocked the airborne Mario.  He cried out in pain and fell lifelessly to the ground.

THUD

The Invincible Lord Shade

Glaive's fire ceased.  The warrior staggered backward in exhaustion. "I think I... overdid it... just a bit..."

"You could have done a lot more with the power you just wasted," Lord Shade criticized him as he walked out of a large cluster of smoke and ash virtually unharmed.  "If you hadn't left, maybe I could have taught you to control that power.  But it's too late for that.  You chose your stupid race of people along with this pathetic universe over me.  You were playing with the winning team, Glaive, and you deserted it."

Glaive's eyes widened with fear as Lord Shade's words pierced through him like thousands of tiny daggers.  "No...  Everything he's saying... is true..."

Lord Shade began to approach Glaive.  "You were a great second-in-command while you were still around.  Mace, your successor, betrayed me as well.  All of my life I've been turned on.  My own parents, Inoni, you, and then Mace all went against me.  I soon realized that to trust in others is to put your life out in the open for anyone to take.  That's why I eliminated my very own army.  Each and every one of them would have jumped at the chance to overthrow me.  The only thing that you can trust in is your own strength.  With the Oracles of Power, I know my trust is safely tucked away where no one can get at it."



"Oh my..." Skulleon gasped.  "Glaive has been a cutthroat warrior for most of his life.  But he has never suffered the same kind of pain he is about to go through.  His life will end, just as he feared, at the hands of Shade."

Raiden clenched his teeth.  "It's... awful...  The Wario Bros. have been done in, and now Glaive is about to die!  Can we really trust Luigi with this entire battle?"

"Hold on Luigi!" Mallow cried.  "You can't give in!"



Lord Shade's Wrath

"Your life as a warrior has come to an end!  Now you'll learn what I do to traitors!" Lord Shade hissed, a red aura glowing around him.  Glaive only staggered backward in fear, beads of sweat dripping down his face.  Shade landed a flawless punch right on Glaive's cheek, sending him onto his backside.  Lord Shade swiped at his former ally with his sword, but Glaive moved back just enough to avoid a fatal wound.  However, there was still a fairly deep cut stretching vertically from the bottom of his neck to his waist.  Shade threw yet another solid punch; this time directly at Glaive's wound.

"Ack!  Augg!" Glaive screamed in agony as blood spurted from his gashes.  Shade only chuckled menacingly and knocked his foe to the ground with a roundhouse kick.

"The price of betrayal will be... YOUR LIFE!" Lord Shade howled as he repeatedly stomped on Glaive's wound as hard as he could.  Shade only chuckled when he saw drops of blood flying from Glaive's chest.  "Now do you see what your actions have caused?!"

"Damn it!" Glaive cursed as he pulled a shuriken out from a concealed pocket in his pants and desperately hurled it at Shade.

"Your attempts to escape are fruitless!  My wrath will follow you to the ends of the universe!" Shade snarled, catching the shuriken and crushing it in his hand.  "Now DIE!"  Without another moment of hesitation, Lord Shade thrust his blade into Glaive's open wound, sending blood gushing outward in all directions.  Tears began to stream down Glaive's bloodstained cheeks.

Luigi watched the one-sided battle in horror.  "Glaive isn't even fighting back!  He knows he can't win!  I have to escape!"

"ACK!"

Luigi paused.  "No...  What am I thinking?  All my life, I've done nothing but run away.  Everyone must be ashamed of me for deserting them so many times.  Even now, as Glaive is about to die, all I can think of is escaping.  How many times have my friends needed me?  How many times have I let them down?  If only... If only I had my brother's courage...  Then he wouldn't need to come save us...  I have to be strong...  I need to fight...  I... need... to..."

Luigi Strikes

Luigi let out a chilling battle cry as he leapt down from the balcony and made a wild dash at Lord Shade.

THWACK

Luigi gave the unsuspecting Shade the hardest right hook he had ever thrown.  Lord Shade's sword was dislodged from Glaive's chest, and the tyrant tumbled onto the ground beside him.  "I'm tired of you!" Luigi shrieked as he tackled Lord Shade and began to wildly throw punches at his vulnerable opponent.

"Get off of me!" Shade roared as he pushed Luigi to the ground.  "You cowardly fool!"

Luigi rolled onto his feet and formed two Ultra Fireballs- one in each of his hands.  "Could a coward do this?!" he inquired as he launched two enormous green Fireballs at Lord Shade.

"Maybe... he... isn't such... a coward... after all..." Glaive murmured, blood still trickling from his cut.

Lord Shade's Wrath

Lord Shade pushed himself to his feet.  "You attacked me from behind... just as a coward would!"

"I'm tired of you hurting my friends!" Luigi screeched as he dashed at Shade once again.

"We've been through this," Lord Shade sighed.  "You can't possibly defeat me!  Darkness will overcome the universe!"  By rapidly slashing his sword, Shade created several beams of light identical to the ones he used against Waluigi.  Luigi carefully weaved past countless rays that could have easily ended his life.  Once he was close enough, Luigi dove at him, hoping to tackle him to the ground.  Lord Shade quickly countered by extending his fist toward him, sending out an invisible shockwave that knocked Luigi onto his back.  The blood-red aura surrounding Shade grew more intense.  "Your impudence will now come to an end!"  Violent winds began to emit from the tyrant's body.

"He's relentless!" Luigi thundered as he was tossed into the air by the powerful gusts of air.

"It's time I ended this with one of my favor techniques!" Lord Shade announced proudly, his eyes gleaming red with hatred.  "I call it the 'Storm of Anguish'!"

Luigi tried to fight against the winds, but to no avail.  "Wait a minute!  I can't touch the ground if the winds keep pushing me up!"

"Exactly!" Lord Shade exclaimed in pure delight.  "While in the air, your ability to dodge is severely hindered!  That's the beauty of this attack!"  That being said, he fired a golden ray of static electricity from his palm.  Luigi tried to swim against the brutal gusts of air that held him in place, but could only cry out in agony as he was violently shocked.  Unable to touch the ground, Luigi hung in the air, smoke beginning to rise from his electrified body.

"No!" Luigi bellowed defiantly.  "I've got to... break free...  I can't handle that attack again..."

"You would have been better off running like the true coward you are!" Lord Shade taunted him as he blasted yet another beam of electricity at the helpless plumber.  Luigi screamed out in absolute anguish as his lifeless body was tossed about the wind currents.  Shade, seeing that his opponent could no longer defend himself, ended the storm.  Luigi fell onto the ground in a heap with a sickening THUD.



"Oh no!" Grambi exclaimed.  "I can tell that Luigi is going through terrible pain!  The Wario Brothers are dead and Glaive is mortally wounded, so our entire existence is resting on that poor boy!  I should have never sent Mario to Dimension C!  If he hasn't returned already, he's not going to come back!  That overambitious fool is dead!  With him gone, all we have left is Luigi!"

The Invincible Lord Shade

"This is always my favorite part," Lord Shade informed his opponents.  "This is the part where my enemies are too injured to defend themselves.  That way, I can use them as punching bags for as long as I want!  And when I finally get bored, I'll suck this miserable planet into the Vortex!"

Luigi groaned in pain. Mario...  Help... us...  He attempted to get up, only to find that he couldn't even move his fingers.

"I'll start with Glaive," Lord Shade declared, walking over to the barely conscious warrior.  "It appears that I missed your vital organs and only landed major hits on your lower chest.  No matter; it will only give you more time to suffer before you bleed to death."  He picked up Glaive by his throat and began to asphyxiate his former assistant.  While Shade held him up with one hand, he began to slash at his wound with his blade.  After opening the gash even further, he threw Glaive to the ground.  "You should die soon.  You've lost too much blood."

"This is awful," Luigi whimpered, unable to cry because he had already lost all of his tears.  We're all going to die...

Lord Shade turned to Luigi, a wicked grin plastered on his face.  "Now that Glaive is out of the picture, it's just us.  Before we begin, I have a question I'd like to ask you.  What color is your blood?"  He waited for Luigi's response.  "Oh, I forgot that you were too weak to talk," Lord Shade told him, his voice heavily coated with sarcasm and a lust for blood.  "I guess there's only one other way to find the answer to my question.  I'll have to slice you open and find out!"

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 25: A Light in the Shadows

Tears began to stream down Grambi's wrinkled cheeks.  "How could I have been so heartless?  I sent Mario to his doom...  And now, all that his friends can do is sit around and wait for Lord Shade to kill them.  I'm sorry it had to end this way...  The Universe was created to help us decide who should live in the Overthere and who would be banished to the Underwhere.  Soon the Universe's entire population will be eradicated, and all will be lost..."  As Grambi continued to sob, the reality of their defeat had finally sunk in.  Suddenly, something struck him.  "What was that?"

Amazing Power

"It felt like a massive surge of energy!  But who could-" Grambi's speculation was cut off when he saw the universe's last hope standing before him.  "How did you..."

Mario stood beside a recently opened portal, a blue aura radiating from his body.  His clothes were ragged and torn, which was likely the result of brutal training.  "How are they doing?" Mario inquired, a firm confidence pervading his tone.

Grambi began to tremble.  Not only has he survived, but he's so much more powerful than before...  If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was an entirely different person.  He's so... confident...   "They're... dying..." Grambi answered, referring to the four heroes that had challenged Shade.

Mario stepped forward, and the blue aura surrounding him expanded.  "I'll take over from here.  They did well to keep Shade busy for this long."  He glanced at the Dark Castle.  "It looks like the Vortex is growing.  I'd better hurry."

Grambi stopped him.  "Wait!  How did you beat Culex?" he boomed in astonishment.  "You were no match for him when you entered Dimension C!"

Mario sighed.  "Culex got careless.  I remember what happened when I first got there.  Culex had me beat in every way possible."

"You are no match for me!" Culex boasted.  "Though I'd enjoy killing you now, you're the first person to challenge me for quite some time.  I'm not sure I want to give up on fighting you yet!  I'll give you some time to get used to this dimension, and then you can fight me again.  You should feel honored to be spared by me.  Usually I get carried away and finish off my prey with one strike."

"He wanted a good challenge," Mario explained, unable to hide that he wanted to be fighting Shade instead of talking with Grambi.  "So I set out on my own and started to put myself through rigorous challenges in preparation for our next battle.  The next time we fought, I removed my Elemental Rings.  I finally managed to get used to the dimension's bizarre side-effects, which made defeating Culex easy.  He let me escape the dimension after I promised to spare his life.  Now that I'm out if broad daylight, I feel refreshed.  I'm used to weighing twice as much, and aching every time I received a small cut.  I'm free.  I can feel something.  Some new power is surging through my blood.  I'm ready for Shade."

"Outstanding," Grambi gasped in amazement.  "Do you need transportation to take you to the Dark Castle?"

"No," Mario replied stoically.  "I'll get there myself."  He took a few steps back.  The plumber took a deep breathe and ran full speed at the edge of the cloud that kept Grambi's palace afloat.  "Yahoo!" he bellowed in anticipation as he took a great leap off of the cloud and into the horizon.

Departing for Dark Castle

"He's the one..." Grambi muttered in bewilderment.  "The final hero of the three poems..."

The light blue aura that encircled Mario was clearly visible in the blood-red sky.  Peach gazed at it from one of Mushroom Castle's windows.  "Mario... We're going to be okay, aren't we?"

Below Grambi's castle, the Elemental Gods had taken notice to the blue light in the sky.  "What an awesome power!" Skulleon exclaimed.  "It must be Mario!"

"Get him, Mario!" Mallow cheered.  "If anyone can beat Shade, it's him!"

Even Inoni could faintly see the ray of light among the shadows.  "Defeat him, Mario.  Don't hold back because you think he can change his ways.  This is one battle that will be fought to the end."

Mario landed on a balcony protruding from the Dark Castle's right wall.  "It's time to finally put an end to this."  He opened up a window and climbed in.

[End Music]

Lord Shade continued his merciless assault on the two defenseless heroes.  "It's just about time for me to kill you," Lord Shade announced.  "It's time I found out the color of your blood, Luigi."  He slowly walked over to the helpless plumber and raised his sword high above his head.  "Say goodnight."

Mario's Arrival

"Wait just a minute, Lord Shade!" a familiar voice screamed from the other side of the room.

Shade whirled around.  "What?!  Who's there?!"  Instead of receiving an answer, a red blur rushed past him.  "What was that?"  Lord Shade turned to face Luigi again, only to see another red blur and that Luigi had vanished.  There, twenty feet away from Shade, Luigi was on the ground with Mario kneeling beside him.  "He's fast."

"Your fight with my brother is over," Mario stated firmly, his fists clenched.  "Are you okay, bro?"

Tears began to stream down Luigi's cheeks.  "Bro...  You came...  I knew you would..."

"Of course I came," Mario replied softly.  "I'm always there for you, bro.  I'll finish the fight that you started."  Mario glanced at Wario's corpse, and then Waluigi's dead body.  He stood up and glared at Lord Shade.  "You have no shame!  You've killed so many people!  Mace, Red, your entire army, Wario, Waluigi, and countless other innocent people have been slaughtered for your own personal gain!  Enough is enough!"

"You...  I could've sworn that you died in my starship's explosion," Lord Shade informed him, recalling the events on the ship.

"I almost died, but I used one of those nifty Shadow Barriers to survive the explosion," Mario explained, grinning from ear to ear.  "You should have killed me then, because I've returned to beat you."

"You're going to beat me?!" Lord Shade cackled.  "Take a good look at your friends!  I defeated all four of them with ease.  If you're planning to fight me alone, you'll die in seconds!"

Mario walked over to Glaive, who was still bleeding from his battle with Shade.  "Even Glaive was no match for him...  It looks like Luigi was the only survivor..."

Glaive's Plea

Glaive's eyes fluttered open, and he reached out for Mario's leg.  "Please... Mario... you must listen to me..."

"You're alive!" Mario exclaimed in surprise.  "Don't talk, please.  Just rest for now."

"No... you've got to hear this..." Glaive pleaded, his face damp with tears.  "My world has a curse bestowed upon that does not allow us to be touched by light.  Lord Shade came to my kingdom when I was just a boy.  He told me that if I joined his army, he would lift the curse from my world.  Naturally, I agreed.  I became a cold-blooded killer to save my kingdom.  It would have been a worthy sacrifice if my people could live in happiness.  But years passed, and murder became part of who I was.  It would feel like nothing to destroy entire planets and slaughter civilizations.

"One day, something hit me.  It was just after I finished invading the Sol Warrior's planet and defeated Mace.  I began to reflect over what I had done.  Over a decade had passed, and Shade had not yet fulfilled his promise.  I noticed that Shade promised Mace the safety of his parents and his people if he joined the Shadow Shrowds.  But he killed Mace's parents and enslaved his people as soon as Mace agreed to join us.  I realized what Lord Shade truly was.  He found what was close to your heart and used it against you.  He'd say anything to get a strong warrior to join his forces.

"I was stunned.  The facts were in front of my face for all those years.  It was then that I left the Shadow Shrowds without warning.  I swore revenge on Lord Shade for what he did to me.  He changed me into who he wanted me to be.  I didn't get a chance at anything else...  Please...  Don't let him change anyone else...  Mario, beat Shade for the future that could have been.  I cannot carry out my final wish to defeat him, so I have to depend on you...  I beg of you, put an end to Shade.  Do it for all of the people that Shade corrupted...  Do it for all of the people that were killed just to give Shade more power...  Please..."  Glaive's eyes shut as he slipped into unconsciousness, his face soaked with tears of sorrow.

Mushroom Hero

"Glaive...' Mario murmured in empathy.  "You've been holding back your sorrow for most of your life.  I'm glad you finally opened up to someone else."

"His sorrow proves that he is weak!" Lord Shade spat in disgust.  "I'm glad he finally decided to shut up!"

Mario felt Glaive's pulse.  "He... might make it..."  He hauled Glaive onto his shoulders and carried him over to Luigi.  With great care, Mario placed the badly wounded warrior beside his fallen brother.  "Sit here for a sec.  I have something I need to do."  He whirled around to see Shade standing behind him, just beginning to execute a powerful slash with his blade.  Mario swiftly leapt to the right to dodge it and retaliated by trying to punch the tyrant.  Lord Shade barely evaded the blow and countered with a roundhouse kick that sent Mario flying toward the window he entered the castle from.

"You may have gained some skill, but not enough to defeat the mightiest tyrant in the universe!" Lord Shade hissed, an evil glint twinkling in his eye.

Mario quickly regained his momentum by performing a back-flip and wall-jumping off of the wall.  He landed beside Luigi, unharmed.  "Not bad."

"Impressive," Lord Shade commended him, "but you'll have to be able to do more than take a punch."

Mario only chuckled to himself.  "I'm having second thoughts about the 'mightiest tyrant in the universe'."

Lord Shade's eyes bulged out of his head.  Sweat began to trickle down the back of his neck.  There, in Mario's hands, was the Gadd Insta-belt 6000 that Shade had stolen from Luigi.  "How did he take it from me?  I didn't even see him grab it!  He must have swiped it during our little scuffle.  Is that why I was able to hit him?  He was focused on retrieving the belt all along!"

Mario wrapped the belt around Glaive and Luigi.  "You guys get some rest.  I expect to see you guys in good health when I get back."  He pressed the red button on the front of the belt, and the two heroes vanished in a flash of light.  He turned to face Lord Shade.  "Your reign of terror is over, Shade!  Here and now, I'm going to dethrone you!"

And so... the battle for the universe began.

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 26: Mario vs. Shade

Mario vs. Shade

Who is that man? Lord Shade pondered to himself. He reminds me so much of Him, but I know for a fact that he's dead!  Everything about Mario...  It gives me that same image in my head over and over again!  I must find out Mario's true identity.  I must find out where he came from and how he has such powers.  Powers so similar to that of Anthony's...

Lord Shade's thoughts were cut off as Mario charged straight at him.  Mario leapt up above Shade and performed a ground-pound that sent him hurling downward toward Shade's head.  Shade quickly sidestepped the unique attack and slashed at the grounded plumber.  Mario executed a backward somersault to dodge the slice and propelled himself to his feet.

"Ow..." Mario groaned, rubbing his sore posterior.  "I have to learn to make sure I hit my target when I try that."

"Don't mock me!" Lord Shade hissed, slicing at the air in front of him.  Red beams of energy shot from his sword and propelled themselves toward Mario.  The frantic plumber dove to the side, narrowly evading beams that could cut through his skin like butter.  He breathed a sigh of relief, only to see the rays spinning around to strike at him a second time.  "I thought I'd put a homing function on my sword's beams!" Shade cackled triumphantly.  "There is no escape!"

Mario crouched, wrapping his arms around his knees.  "It's been a while since I used this."  He began to give off an intense white light as his body collected energy.  "Super Jump!" he cried as he launched himself up into the air just before Shade's beams converged at the spot he was just sitting in.  As Mario hung up in the air, he prepared his next attack on Shade.  But the energy rays made another sharp turn and rushed up into the air to end the plumber's life.

"You're helpless while airborne!" Lord Shade sneered, greatly anticipating a brutal death.

"Not quite!" Mario retorted, scattering Iceballs at the approaching beams.  The rays froze on impact, and Mario effortlessly crushed them in his hands.  He landed safely on the ground, and saw Shade standing directly behind him with his blade raised.  Mario whirled around and took a quick step backward, only suffering a minor cut on his nose.  Shade had put all of his force into the slash, expecting to cut Mario in two.  As a result, his blade slammed into the ground, creating a violent tremor as his sword became wedged in the floor.  Mario hurled himself at Lord Shade, throwing a wild assortment of powerful punches and kicks.  Shade tore his blade from the ground and struggled to defend himself from the endless assault.

"He won't give up!" Shade cursed, struggling to block all of Mario's attacks with only one hand.  His other hand was replaced by a sword, rendering it useless for shielding against blows.

"Hya!" Mario cried as he threw one final punch, his fist engulfed in flames.

THWAM!

The punch connected with Shade's skull, sending him tumbling backward onto the cold, stone floor.  Shade pulled himself to his feet.  What has happened?  His power has grown to unbelievable heights!

"There's more where that came from!" Mario announced as he dove at the tyrant for another Flaming Punch.

Lord Shade threw himself backward, narrowly escaping the punch's range.  Mario, now hanging in the air in front of Shade, was completely defenseless until he touched the ground.  Shade took this opportunity to nail the plumber with a powerful left hook.  The punch struck him in the gut, knocking him to the ground with a THUD.  Shade raised his blade and prepared to stab the downed plumber.  Mario nimbly rolled out of the way of the stab and caught Shade's sword between his left thumb and forefinger.  He gave the blade a sharp tug, causing Lord Shade to tumble forward directly into Mario's right fist.  He jumped to his feet and unleashed a relentless assault on the stunned Lord Shade.

"I hate you!" Shade hissed with a scowl, realizing that he only had one arm to block with and was at Mario's mercy once again.  Gathering up energy into his sword, Shade ended Mario's chain of blows with a slash of his sword.  Mario's attack instantly ceased as he dove to the floor to avoid the blade.  Lord Shade then fired a purple energy sphere from his hand at the vulnerable plumber.  "I have you now!"

"We'll see about that!" Mario shot back as he responded by tossing a Thunderball at the energy sphere.  Electric sparks surrounded Shade's attack as it began to crackle and sizzle.  Finally, the sphere turned entirely yellow and turned around to hit Lord Shade, who backhanded it as if it were nothing.  The sphere began to disintegrate as soon as it touched Shade's hand, eventually dissolving in midair.

At this point, Lord Shade had begun to lose his breath.  Lord Shade and Mario stood silently, eyes locked, in a tension-filled standoff.  How did he get so strong? Lord Shade pondered.  It's inconceivable!  The first time we fought, he was no match for me.  Was he toying with me, or has he really gained all of that power in such a short amount of time?   That stare...  He has that same effrontery in his eyes as... Him...  He can even keep up with my strength...  I must know his identity!"Give up!" Mario commanded Shade, who had slowly begun to lose his advantage.  "With one arm, you can never hope to block all of my punches and kicks.  You know you can't win, so give up."

Lord Shade's frown quickly curled into a wicked smile.  "If you think I'm beaten, you are sadly mistaken.  But before we continue, I must know something.  Is Mario truly your real name?  Is it an alias of some sort?"

Mario shook his head.  "No.  Why would I lie about my name?"

"Surely that isn't the truth!  What is your true name?!" Lord Shade pried angrily, his eyes flashing red.  "Is it Anthony?!"

Mario's eyes widened.  "No...  But Anthony was... my father's name..."

Shade's wrath vanished into thin air.  "Your father, you say?  That explains it!  Your father must have passed down the majority of his power to you!"

Mario thought back to what Grambi had told him about his father:

Grambi sighed.  "I'll start from the beginning.  Well, about fifty years ago, Zeus could feel a great cataclysm approaching the Universe.  What he predicted actually turned out to be Lord Shade's uprising.  To try and prepare for it, Zeus created the Hero bloodline.  Your father was the first of these.  He was born just as any child would be, except he was blessed with a gift of outstanding powers.  Your father grew to be a normal man, not knowing of his unusual power.  Eventually, when he reached his adulthood, he discovered a small portion of his power.  He soon came to realize that he had much more hidden away.

"He knew there was no way he could master all of his immense power in one lifetime.  So he took twenty-five percent of it for himself, and the rest was passed onto his son.  That was you.  You have seventy-five percent of the power Zeus gave to your bloodline!  Each time you fought a powerful foe, or trained with an Elemental God, you gradually released more of it.  Now that you are training under me, it is time to master all of it."

"What about Luigi, my brother?" Mario asked with curiosity.  "What power was he given?"

"It is said that the younger sibling of a Hero possesses the equal potential of power the first-born child does.  However, there are a few differences.  First and foremost, the power will be harder to bring out for your brother, which would require intensive training far more brutal then what you will go through.  In addition, the younger sibling- in your case, Luigi- would not possess the Capacity of Elements.  Finally, the second-born child's power is not purified at birth.  The choice to be good or evil is theirs to make.  If he or she should choose to be tainted with evil, the effect could be deadly."

"What do you know about my father?!" Mario demanded, clenching his fists.

Lord Shade's Theme

"Oh, I know plenty about your father," Lord Shade snickered.  "You've always been searching for him.  He abandoned you as a child, am I right?  Hah!  You don't know the full story!  Sure, Grambi and the Elemental Gods told you what they wanted you to know!  But they didn't tell you that your father is dead!"

Mario's face reflected pure shock.  He didn't want to believe it, but he could feel it.  Whenever Mario had mentioned Shade's past, Grambi and the Elemental Gods had been careful not to say too much.  "No...  It's not true..."

"I'll tell you the story right from the beginning.  Well, after Inoni forced me out of the Underwhere and into this pathetic universe, I began to immediately conquer any planet within my grasp.  While I expanded my empire, I slowly collected powerful warriors to help me with my plans.  I also accumulated quite a few scientists who came in handy later on.  I heard rumors about a planet called earth, and how it had a gateway to a parallel dimension.  In this dimension, there were objects called the Oracles of Power.  I made it my personal objective to obtain these objects.

"I set out for planet earth, but I had no idea what was waiting for me there.  A quick scan of the planet showed that there was a being that possessed powers equivalent to my own, perhaps even stronger.  Keep in mind that my empire had just begun at that point, and I was rather weak back then.  Not only that, but no one in my army was fit to handle such a warrior.  I immediately opened project V.E.L.N.O., hoping that Velno could aid me with my work.  I was wrong.  As soon as Velno could think for himself, he left.  I tried to pursue him, but to no avail.  I took out my anger on the feeble earthlings.
   
"That was a mistake I regret to this day.  The being my radars had detected before I began my conquest of planet earth arrived and challenged me.  That being was your father.  Even though he had given you three quarters of his power before he sent you away, he was still a tough foe to beat.  Anthony defeated me with ease.  But he refused to kill me.  I can still remember his words. "Leave this planet now, and put your army to rest.  I don't want to take your life, but I will if I must.  Go, and never return."   Once I realized he didn't want to kill me, it was easy to manipulate his feelings and turn the tables on him.  I soon had him on the ground, unable to fight back.  "No!  You can't do this!  I've got to stop you!"

"Stop me?!  How do you plan on stopping me?!"

"I will, somehow!  You'll see!  One day, my actions will directly lead to your own death, you freak!"

"Me?  A freak?  I'll tell you who the real freak is!  The one who sealed me and the rest of the Tribe of Darkness up!  Well, no more!  I'm done with that silly book, the Dark Prognosticus!  I'm on to much bigger things!  Goodbye, you fool!"

"NO!"

"Yes, it was the end of your father.  I obliterated the rest of that miserable world, though I didn't have enough power to destroy the planet.  I assume the world was eventually rebuilt and returned to normal.  But that isn't the end of my tale.  I learned that Velno escaped into the earth's parallel dimension, the Mushroom Kingdom.  Once I traced his signal, it was easy to get into the kingdom myself.  My radars tracked another being of immense power, even stronger than Anthony.  I can only assume it was you.  Unfortunately, the battle with Anthony left me hardly enough energy to fend for myself.  I swore that I would return someday with an enormous army to obtain the Oracles of Power.  And I did just that.  For the next twenty years or so I built up my armed forces.  I recruited Glaive, who betrayed me.  He was replaced by Mace.  Everything happened as you know it did. 

"I finally decided it was time to attack the Mushroom Kingdom, so I sent a Metal Mario to do the job.  In case you wanted to know, I got the structure for Metal Mario's body from your father before I killed him.  He was so strong that I took some DNA samples from his remains before I left for the Mushroom Kingdom and had my scientists piece a clone together.  Sure enough, he was defeated by you.  You know everything that happened after that.  I decided to visit this kingdom myself after I saw that Metal Mario had been defeated, and you've been fighting for quite some time to try and stop me."

Mario began to quiver with anger.  "So... It was you that took my father away from me?  I swear... I'm going to make you regret killing him!"

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 27: Tricks and Techniques

Elemental God Theme

Raiden, Skulleon, and Mallow let out a great sigh.  They had been watching the decisive battle through the Universal Television.  "It seems that Mario is holding his own against Shade," Skulleon gasped.  "I never would have guessed he'd ever become that strong."

Mallow grinned.  "I would have.  He's so cool!  Mario's gonna win!"

Raiden shrugged.  "From what I can see, Mario has the advantage.  In a battle with Shade, though, it's never safe to get too comfortable.  I fear that Lord Shade may be holding back."

"Why would he do that?" Mallow inquired, his eyebrows raised.  "What would he gain?"

"The kind of power we're talking about can immensely reduce a person's life-span when used.  Despite his awesome strength, Shade is still a mortal being," Raiden explained.  "If he used his full potential, he'd die at a younger age.  I suspect he understands this, and won't fight with all of his power unless he has no other choice."



"Give up, Lord Shade!  With only one hand, you'll never block all of my attacks!" Mario declared with his fists clenched.  "Killing you won't bring my father back, so I'll give you a chance to get out of here."

The Invincible Lord Shade

Lord Shade grinned from ear to ear.  "You're telling me to give up?  Allow me to let you in on a little secret.  Think back to when you fought Metal Mario.  Think of one of his special abilities; the one I'm thinking of was one that he used quite often.  He was able to morph his hands into weapons such as guns and swords.  It's obvious that he didn't get that ability from you.  In fact, he got it from me!  I possess the ability to change my right arm into the weapon of my choice.  All I had to do was tell the scientists working on Metal Mario to scan my ability and integrate it into his structure.  I typically keep my right arm in the shape of a sword.  I'm usually too quick for my opponents, so I can easily slice them into pieces to finish the fight quickly.  I see that you're different.  On that note, I will fight you using two hands!"  The sword attached to his right arm melted into a strange gray liquid.  It streamed up and down his arm for a moment, and then began to mold into the shape of a hand.  To complete the transformation, the liquid solidified into a perfect arm that was identical to Shade's left one.  "Impressed?"

"It looks like the real fight is about to begin," Mario said with a gulp.  At least I have some tricks up my sleeve.

"Now I can start to use some of my favorite techniques," Lord Shade chuckled with anticipation.  "You know, I think this is the first time I've actually looked forward to a fight.  It's time to see if you can fill your father's shoes!"

Thrilling Battle

Lord Shade extended his arm, and a purple energy sphere erupted from his palm.  Mario, knowing that this was merely a distraction, did not attempt to dodge it.  Instead, he gathered up energy for a Fireball in his fist and gave the sphere a solid Flaming Punch, sending it hurling upward into the ceiling.  Mario saw Lord Shade coming at him from behind and slammed a Fireball into the ground beside him.  Smoke and ash billowed up from the ground as Shade stopped dead in his tracks.  He scanned his surroundings for the plumber, but only saw cinders and debris.  "Where are you?!" the tyrant hissed into the unknown.  He began to blindly fire red energy beams from his eyes, hoping he might hit the cleverly hidden Mario.

"Yikes!" Mario cried as he dove out of the way of the skin-piercing beams.  I'd better be more careful.  He may have blinded Shade, but he had also done so to himself.  How can I find him?  Wait a minute...  Those beams are coming from Shade, so all I have to do is follow them back to him!

"You can't hide forever!" Lord Shade screamed, firing twice as many beams as before.  His eyes widened as Mario emerged from the smoke, ready to attack.  Without a moment's hesitation, Shade flicked his wrist.  A purple ring launched from Lord Shade's arm and attached itself to Mario's left arm.  As if he had weighed a ton, Mario fell flat on his face.

"What did you do?!" Mario demanded as he pulled himself to his feet.  He found it especially hard to pull his left arm up.

"Once those rings attach to one of your limbs, it will feel like it weighs a thousand pounds!  Now you have nowhere to run!" Shade cackled, his eyes gleaming with a lust for bloodshed.  He extended both of his palms toward the plumber, and dozens of identical rings flung themselves at Mario.

Mario attempted to tear the ring from his arm, but to no avail.  "What are these things made- Uh oh..."  He used the momentum that the extra weight gave him to roll out of the other rings' range.  After missing their target, the rings collapsed onto the ground like thousands of dumbbells.

"STAY STILL!" Lord Shade howled, unleashing another wave of rings.

"Never!" Mario called back defiantly.  He turned to roll out of the way again, but realized that there was a solid wall behind him.  There was no way out.  He was trapped.  With nothing else to try, Mario jumped straight into the fray.  He knew that the rings attached to limbs, so he used his chest to shield himself from most of them.

CRASH

The room shook as Mario landed, a ring clinging to each of his legs and his left arm.  He now weighed a total of three thousand pounds, not to mention whatever he normally weighed on his own.  "I can't... budge..." Mario muttered to himself as he struggled to get up.

"It's time to put an end to this," Lord Shade declared, his hand once again transforming into a sword.  "You've improved, but I can't say I'm ready to be defeated by a plumber.  With all of that weight, it'll be impossible for you to move.  The only way to get rid of those rings is to cut them, but you don't have a sword, do you?  There's no way I'll accidentally cut those rings off, either, so don't try anything funny.  It'll just make your death more painful."

Mario thrashed violently about, rigorously trying to break free of the weights' grasp.  It was no use.  Three thousand pounds was too much for even the mightiest of heroes.  Mario's mind was racing.  What can I do? He's going to cut me into pieces, and I won't even get a chance to fight back!

"So long, Mushroom Hero!" Lord Shade squealed in delight as he unleashed a mighty slash that could slice solid steel to pieces.

Heroic Comeback

"WHAT?!" Lord Shade thundered in pure rage.

Mario had blocked the tyrant's blade with a sword of his own.  More specifically, he had blocked it with a Flaming Sword.  "I bet you weren't expecting that!" Mario chuckled triumphantly.  "I'll explain.  Leading up to this battle, I've been doing some preparation in Dimension C.  In addition to getting stronger, I made it a personal objective to extend my Elemental Energy to new heights.  One of the new techniques I taught myself was to manipulate the Fire Element to create a solid, tangible weapon.  The result was the Flaming Sword."  He swiftly sliced the rings that restricted him off.  Several loud THUDs filled the room as the weights fell to the ground.

"Why didn't you use that to cut the rings off in the first place?" Lord Shade inquired suspiciously.

Mario blushed.  "Well, to be honest, I forgot about it.  When you said only a sword could cut the rings off, I eventually started to think about swords.  Then, BAM!  I remembered!  I guess I owe you one for not finishing me off right away."

"Shut up!" the tyrant snapped angrily.  "All you've managed to prove is that you're a lucky fool, not a clever warrior!"  He channeled his rage into his swordsmanship as he slashed vigorously at the wily plumber.  Mario skillfully matched Lord Shade's slices blow for blow.  Flaming sparks shot in all directions as the swords of fire and electricity collided.

"Hya!" Mario cried as he ended the scuffle by parrying one of Shade's slashes and landing a powerful blow to his head. 

Shade staggered backward for several moments before finally regaining his balance.  He silently wiped blood from a gash on his cheek and grinned.  "That sword of yours is made of energy, not metal.  No matter how hard you swing it, it won't change the fact that it's meant to be used as a club.  It isn't meant to slice or stab people, like mine.  Of course, my sword is designed perfectly.  It's a standard beam sword, making it practically unbreakable, with all of the benefits of a metal sword.  It can slice through anything."

It was Mario's turn to grin.  "I have no intentions of killing anybody.  If I can prevent my opponent from fighting me, the battle is over.  I'd much rather pummel you until you can't fight anymore than kill you.  I'd be no different from a monster like you if I didn't consider my opponent's life when fighting.  If only you could understand that..."

"Your stupid morals sicken me!" Lord Shade spat in disgust.  "In a fight, there are two kinds of people: the winner and the loser.  I don't care what has to be done to determine who is who.  Whatever I have to do to win a fight, I'll do it."

"Of course," Mario replied with a hint of sadness.  "That's what you did against my father.  You begged for your life to catch him off guard!"

The Invincible Lord Shade

"Your father died a fool's death," Lord Shade denounced bitterly.  "However, I'm not interested in your father.  I'd much rather focus on putting an end to this battle.  Allow me to show you the attack that left your brother helpless, the Storm of Anguish!"  His entire body began to glow red as violent winds emitted from his body.

"How can he be generating all of that wind?" Mario wondered aloud, alarmed that he was being raised up to the ceiling by the powerful gusts of air.  "I can't move!  The wind is holding me in place!"

Sparks of electricity began to gather in Shade's hand.  "Let's see you get out of this one!  I held back against your brother, but this bolt of electricity has enough power behind it to annihilate an entire city!"

"No!  Why can't you fight me seriously instead of hiding behind cheap tricks?!" Mario screamed as he struggled to break free from Shade's windy grasp.

"In case you haven't noticed, I don't like to play fair!" Lord Shade answered, thrusting his palm toward the susceptible plumber.  A golden bolt of lightning erupted from his outstretched hand and zoomed into the air currents to end Mario's life.

Mario was frantic.  I've got to think of something!  It's just regular electricity, so there has to be something I can do!

BZZERP

Blinding lights pervaded the room as sparks of electricity scattered in all directions.  Lord Shade smiled victoriously.  "It's over!  The plumber has been defeated!"

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 28: Mario's Defeat?

Heroic Comeback

"Guess again!" Mario bellowed after the light from Shade's attack had finally died away.

"How did you evade the lightning bolt?!" Lord Shade demanded, shaking his head in disbelief.  He noticed that Mario was holding his shoes in front of him as if they were a shield.  "Don't tell me-"

Mario grinned.  "Well, I needed a way to defend myself.  Rubber doesn't conduct electricity, so I used the rubber soles in my shoes to absorb your attack.  I pulled my shoes off and blocked the bolt with less than a second to spare."

"Very resourceful," Lord Shade replied bitterly, his sword molding back into a hand.  "You're the first person to ever find a way out of those two techniques.  It's too bad I didn't learn them until after I fought with your father.  Maybe I wouldn't have had to beg for my life if I was more experienced back then."

Mario slipped his shoes back on to his feet. "Shade, you're still not treating me like a threat.  You're assuming that the tricks you used to slaughter millions of weaker beings will work on me.  If you don't stop underestimating me, you'll soon be begging for your life once again."  He took a few steps backward and bumped into a fountain.  Even though a decisive battle was being fought there, it was still a luxurious throne room.  He reached back and casually dipped his left hand in the water.

"You?  A threat?!" Lord Shade cackled.  "The only reason you're breathing right now is because I haven't decided to kill you yet.  I had plenty of chances in the past, but I spared you each time.  Still, you do make an interesting point.  It's time for me to stop being so merciful and finish you off for good!"

"You're dropping your guard again!" Mario informed him as he rushed forward at the tyrant.  He flung himself at Lord Shade and punched him with his wet left hand that had been dipped in the fountain.  Oddly enough, the blow was targeted at Shade's right forearm.  The water on Mario's hand soaked onto Shade's arm and solidified into ice instantly.  Mario's left hand was frozen to Shade's right arm, rendering both limbs useless!

"What did you do that for?!" Shade thundered, trying to shake Mario off of him.

Instead of answering, Mario began a vicious combo of punches aimed directly at Shade's head.  Lord Shade was right-handed, making it difficult to defend himself with only his left hand.  On the other hand, Mario's weaker left hand was restricted, allowing him to direct a destructive rain of blows on the tyrant's face with his stronger hand.

"Let go, NOW!" Lord Shade hissed, struggling to break his right hand free.  An aura of flames surrounded him as his eyes began to gleam red with hatred.  The blaze melted the sheet of ice restraining him instantly, and he quickly dove backward to escape Mario's range.

The Invincible Lord Shade

"Don't EVER do that again!" Shade admonished through clenched teeth.  "Learn your place, you impudent fool!  How dare you!"

"Stop whining and fight!" Mario shot back.  "This whole time you've been bragging about how strong you are.  I let myself slip a few times, but for the most part you're the one who's been taking a beating.  Why don't you learn your place?"

Lord Shade clenched his fists, struggling not to succumb to his rage. "Such insolence..."  Suddenly, his anger seemed to melt away.  His frown was replaced by a wicked smile.  "So...  Am I not a challenge for you anymore?  We'll have to fix that.  I must admit, I'm not using quite as much power right now as I could be.  You see, the Oracles of Power hold the balance of good and evil in this world.  To absorb all of that energy into one body is nearly impossible, and would risk the complete annihilation of the person's body.  I knew this, and only took a portion of the oracles' power.  I see, once again, that you aren't to be taken lightly.  It seems I have to take all of the energy that they have to offer."

"You'd be killed!" Mario warned him.  "Don't do it!"

Lord Shade only chuckled to himself as he approached a curtain at the edge of the room.  He pulled back the blind, revealing the Star Rod, Power Star, Shadow Rod, and Z Star.  He began to chant words in another language.  Mario only assumed it was in some kind of Ancient Shadow Shrowd tongue.  The Oracles of Power began to shine with a splendiferous light.  Shade eagerly grabbed them, and the light slowly faded from the oracles.  Seconds later, the same brilliant light engulfed Lord Shade.

"No!" Mario screamed as he dashed at the power-hungry lord.  "It's too much!"

An earsplitting roar erupted from Lord Shade's body as shockwaves scattered in all directions.  It was like an earthquake, except the tremors came from everywhere instead of just the ground.  The walls, the ceiling, the ground, and even the very air that the two of them were breathing exploded into thousands of violent ripples that could make even a deaf man cover his ears in agony.



[End Music]

Luigi and Glaive materialized beside the three Elemental Gods.  "Luigi!" Mallow gasped as he rushed to the fallen warriors.  He placed his hands above Luigi, causing a strange cloud to form.  The grey cloud began to produce sparkling blue rain that splashed onto the plumber's lifeless body.  Slowly, all of Luigi's wounds began to vanish.  The cloud faded away, and Luigi sat up in shock.

"I'm alive!" he shouted with glee.  "I thought that I was a goner!  Wait a minute... who are you?"

"I'm Mallow," the prince of Nimbus Land replied happily.  "You are Luigi, right?"  He waited for a nod of approval.  "Mario told me about you.  You're the one he always leaves behind to look after the house, right?"

Luigi sighed.  "Not anymore...  I helped him a lot on these past few adventures!  Anyway, I think Mario told me about you too.  Nice to meet you.  Could you heal Glaive, too?  He looks pretty-"

"AAGH!" Glaive cried, shielding himself from the sunlight.  "Can't... last..."

Raiden snapped his fingers, and Glaive was surrounded with a new set of armor identical to the kind he used to wear.  "I almost forgot about his sensitivity to sunlight," Raiden admitted sheepishly.  "He was a few seconds away from death."

Mallow repeated the same process to heal Glaive.  "What happened?!" Glaive demanded.  "Where's Shade?!"

Skulleon pointed to the Universal Television.  "All we can do right now is watch.  The last time I checked, Mario was doing fine.  Let's-"

BOOM!

A shockwave erupted from nowhere and knocked the five of them onto their backs.  "Oh no!" Skulleon yelped, his eyes wide with terror.  "Lord Shade has taken all of the energy that the Oracles of Power have to offer.  We are all doomed..."



Shade's Full Power

"This is the power that even gods fear!" Lord Shade exclaimed in triumph, his body glowing with a radiant purple light.  "I have obtained ultimate power!  My life may have been shortened, but I can still kill you and prove that I am meant to rule all worlds before I die!  There is no way you can hope to beat me in this form!"

Sweat trickled down the back of Mario's neck.  "I don't... think I can... stop him..."

"Now you will know your place!" Shade cried as he raised his arm, generating a powerful gust of wind that knocked Mario onto his back.  He flicked one of his fingers at Mario.  A tiny snippet of air launched at Mario and nailed him in the chest, leaving a tiny bruise behind.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Mario cursed.  "He hurt me by flicking his finger?  I better attack now before he gets serious!"  He charged at Lord Shade with his fists raised.  Shade saw Mario coming, but did nothing to defend himself.  Mario charged up a Fireball in his hands and executed a combo of Flaming Punches that would have burnt any foe to a crisp.  He desperately punched at the tyrant with all of his might.  It felt like punching a solid wall.

"Are you done yet?" Shade asked with a yawn, his face not registering one ounce of pain.  "Good.  It's my turn."  Lord Shade's aura grew larger.  A sudden, unidentifiable force sent Mario flying backward onto the ground. 

Mario pulled himself to his feet.  "Not good.  I hit him with everything I had."

"Weakling," Lord Shade whispered, slowly approaching Mario.

Mario staggered backwards.  "This is worse than anything I've ever seen.  I need to stop him now.  If I could just seal him in a tomb of ice, this could all end.  I have to put every drop of the Ice Element I have into one attack."  He cupped his hands together and began to form an Iceball.  He desperately tried to gather his energy before Shade reached him.

"Good idea," Shade snickered, beginning to pick up his pace.  "Let's see if it works."

"I don't care if I never fire an Iceball again.  Please, let this work!" Mario shrieked as if he was praying to the gods.  The Ultra Iceball grew to enormous proportions as the ground around Mario began to freeze.  The room grew cold, and even Lord Shade's fiery glare seemed to have cooled off.  "Please!  Let this work!"

"It's time to see the true strength of the Hero bloodline!" Lord Shade howled as Mario unleashed the Ultra Iceball.  The blast hit him dead on, without any resistance on Shade's part.  Ice shards scattered across the room as Mario's eyes gleamed with hope.

"It's over," Mario breathed as he fell to his hands and knees.  He stared at the colossal ice cube that contained Lord Shade.  "What a monster..."  His eyes widened with terror as steam began to emit from the ice.

"I... will..."

Mario struggled to his feet.  "No...  He can't..."

"I... will... never... die!!" Lord Shade bellowed as he was surrounded with flames.  It was a manifestation of the fire of hatred burning in the tyrant's heart, and the melting ice expressed the tears that would be shed over the trials that stood ahead of Mario.  The water soon evaporated and vanished without a trace.

Mario grinned.  It wasn't the grin of someone who had heard a funny joke, or who was having a wonderful day.  It was a smirk that solely belonged to Mario.  It was the same smile that Mario flashed every so often when he encountered an impossible challenge.  Despite the desperation of the battle that decided the fate of the universe, Mario couldn't help but grin wryly.

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 29: A World of Hope

Shade's Full Power

"Great...  Now what?" Mario whispered to himself. Large beads of sweat trickled down the back of his neck as he caught his breath.  "That Iceball should have finished him..."

Lord Shade slowly raised his right arm, and Mario staggered backward in fright.  "You're a bit jittery, aren't you?  My ear had a slight itch that needed to be scratched.  Now that I think about it, though, I have more power in my index finger than you do in your entire body.  My new power has opened up thousands of new doorways.  I have an abyss of painful deaths to choose for you.  I'll take my time and think about which would make you suffer the most."

Mario gasped as Shade vanished into thin air.  He glanced wildly about, trying to calculate where the tyrant would strike from.  Where is he?  One slash is all it would take to end my life...  He dove forward, feeling powerful gust of wind behind him as Lord Shade's sword skimmed the back of his left shoulder.  Mario rolled to his feet and leaped up toward the ceiling.  As he ascended, he tossed an array of Fireballs onto the battlefield without even bothering to aim.  Hoping the Fireballs had distracted Shade, Mario grabbed onto a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.  He scrambled to the top and held his breath.  How long could he hide?

"Trying to hide?  I thought you were better than that," Lord Shade whispered in mock lecture, standing atop of another chandelier a few feet away from Mario.  He sliced the chains holding Mario's chandelier to the ceiling.

Mario dove off of the chandelier and landed safely on the ground moments before it crashed beside him.  He fell to his hands and knees.  Breathing heavily, Mario considered his next move.  He's... unstoppable...  What if...  No... I have to stay positive!

"Hiding is useless," Lord Shade stated as he landed in front of Mario.  "I can hear your breathing and smell your fear.  It's strange, the emotion of fear.  You've never seemed afraid of me before.  I've gotten under your skin somehow.  Perhaps you weren't scared because you didn't see the depths of my power."

Mario remained on his hands and knees.  That's not it...  It's that same thought...  What if...

"Are you even listening to me?  Allow me to clean out your ears!" Lord Shade howled as he executed a deadly uppercut that sent Mario flying into the throne room's wall.  Without any resistance, Mario smacked into the wall and fell to the ground with a THUD.

Mario pulled himself to his feet and wiped a thin stream of blood from his chin.  His eyes were wide with fear.  "What if... I can't dethrone him?  What if I can't avenge all of the people he killed?  What if I can't save the universe from his wrath?  If I lose, so does everyone else..."



Elemental God Theme

"What's wrong?" Luigi asked worriedly, watching his brother's battle on the Universal Television.  "What happened?"

"Shade took all of the energy from the Oracles of Power," Skulleon replied grimly.  "Mario isn't the least bit familiar with this kind of power.  It looks as though I was right all along...  There is no man in the Universe that can take Lord Shade down.  Mario isn't even fighting back anymore.  He must be afraid of Shade's dreadful power."

"That's not what's bothering Mario," Glaive informed them matter-of-factly.  "He put all of this pressure on himself, and now he can't take it.  He's worried about what will happen if he loses.  He would fail to avenge the innocent lives Shade took away and leave the Universe unprotected from Shade's wrath.  That's why I fight for myself.  That fool put the weight of the world on his shoulders."

"He still has a chance, right?" Mallow inquired hopefully.  Instead of getting a response, everyone else hung their heads.

Mario in Peril

"Oh no!  Look!" Luigi screamed, pointing at the television.  "It's Mario!  He's dying!"



Lord Shade picked Mario up by the throat with one hand.  Shade began to mercilessly pound him with his free hand.  "WHY... WON'T... YOU... FIGHT... BACK!" the tyrant hissed between punches, his final blow knocking Mario from his grasp and onto the ground.  Shade approached the fallen Mario, who was sprawled lifelessly on his back.  He picked Mario up by his overalls and dashed at a nearby wall.  With a hateful cry, Shade smashed him face-first into the wall.  He ripped his prey from the Mario-shaped depression in the wall and tossed him to the floor like a piece of garbage. He placed his foot on the plumber's chest.  "Wake... UP!" he screamed, applying a great amount of pressure with his foot.

"It's... hopeless..." Mario moaned in a dazed voice.  It was as if he was in a trance.

"I can feel your ribs beginning to crack!  Is this going to be the end already?  I was hoping I could torture you some more, but I suppose I won't get anything more from a weakling like you," Lord Shade sighed.  "Too bad.  It'll all be over soon."

"It's... hopeless..." Mario repeated mechanically, his voice barely audible.



"Mario!  Snap out of it!" Raiden cried, wildly swinging his axe.

"It's awful!  He doesn't know what to do!" Luigi bawled.  "What can we do?"

Glaive thought for a moment.  "Fighting Shade ourselves is pointless.  No, we need some kind of plan to help Mario...  Wait a minute...  I think I might have an idea!  Skulleon, you can speak telepathically to other people, right?"  He hesitated for a nod of approval.  "How strong is your telepathy?  Can you open a telepathic link between two or more people?"

"I should be able to," Skulleon answered with a hint of uncertainty.  "I haven't tried it in a while, though.  Laws of Divine Intervention don't allow me to speak with people of your world very often.  What kind of plan do you have in mind?"

"You'll see.  If I've learned anything about Mario, this will definitely work."



Hope

"You really are a simple-minded fool.  Of course it's hopeless," Lord Shade sneered.  "What did you think would happen when you fought with me?  Fighting me has only been an exercise in futility."  He began to apply more pressure to Mario's chest with his foot.  "This castle will become your cemetery."

Mario stopped breathing.  His eyes shut.  His heart seemed to stop beating.  It's hopeless...  I failed them all...  Mace and Glaive begged me to defeat Lord Shade, but I couldn't do it.  Shade is going to suck the entire Mushroom Kingdom into the Vortex.  The entire Universe will come to an end...  I've only been in the Mushroom Kingdom for a few years, but I've come to love it even more than Brooklyn.  Now I have to say goodbye to it...  I have to die, and let all of those innocent people down...

"Spare me.  Quit being so dramatic and stop whining.  I can't believe I was counting on you to stop Shade in my place."

Mario found himself in a hazy white void that looked nothing like the Dark Castle.  "I must be losing it.  That sounded like...  Glaive!"

Glaive appeared and walked toward him.  "Luigi and I made a full recovery, thanks to you.  I begged and even shed tears in front of you.  If you lose, then I'll have made a complete fool out of myself for nothing.  Get killed by Shade and I'll pull you back from the dead just to beat you into the ground."

"He's so strong..." Mario defended. "There's no way I can win."

"Use your head.  The strongest fighter doesn't always win," Glaive replied unsympathetically.

"By the way...  How are you talking to me?" Mario inquired, looking around.  "This definitely isn't the Dark Castle."

"Well, I was getting to that," Glaive answered with a grin.  "I have someone who wants to talk to you."  Glaive faded away, and Skulleon appeared in his place.

"Skulleon!" Mario bellowed happily.  "You did this, didn't you?  You're using your telepathic powers!"

"It was Glaive's idea," Skulleon admitted.  "It looked like you could use some motivation.  So I set up a telepathic link between you and everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom.  All right, everyone!  Mario can hear you!"  Skulleon vanished into thin air.  Mario's eyes widened as thousands of Toads began to pop out of nowhere.

"Come on Mario!  You can do it!"

"Beat him for all of us!"

"You're Super Mario!  You can do anything!"

"They're all here..." Mario gasped.  Suddenly, Peach, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Mario Jr., and Luigi Jr. all materialized beside him.

"Come on, Daddy!  You can win!" Mario Jr. and Luigi Jr. cheered simultaneously.

"You've got this, bro," Luigi said with a nod.  "Don't let Shade get under your skin."

"Knock that jerk's block off!" Wario screamed, shaking his fists at Mario.  "If it was me out there, I'd rip the chump's head off!"

"Of course.  That's why you're dead now," Waluigi snickered.  "Your arrogance got you killed."

Peach stepped forward.  "Mario, you have to come back.  You promised."

"GO GET HIM, MARIO!" everyone thundered in perfect unison.

Mario couldn't help but smile.  "Everyone's still supporting me.  All this time I've been an idiot.  I was too busy wallowing in my own despair to try and stop Lord Shade.  I'm going to get back out there and beat Lord Shade or die trying!  For the future of the Mushroom Kingdom, and every one of its residents!  For Peach, to whom I promised I would return!  For everyone that cares about me, I've got to win!"

Everything went black.  Mario opened his eyes and found himself lying on the ground of the Dark Castle with Shade towering over him, crushing him to death with his foot.  A sudden rush of adrenaline engulfed Mario's body as he grabbed the tyrant's foot and hurled him to the other side of the room.  Mario leaped to his feet, eager to continue the fight.  I know that I'm still no match for him.  But Glaive pointed out something that I can't get out of my head.  It's not always the strongest fighter who wins.  One of my new techniques just might be able to put Lord Shade down for the count.

[Macawmoses]

This makes for a great read, even if I only do read it in bits.

Shadow, have you considered posting outside of this board?

[shadowmarioguy]

This makes for a great read, even if I only do read it in bits.

Shadow, have you considered posting outside of this board?

Thanks.  :)  I've been pretty busy with school and have only really had the time to occasionally visit and post a chapter. I'm starting to get a break, though, and will probably start increasing my activity.  ;)

[shadowmarioguy]

Chapter 30: Mario's Final Tactic

"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?"

"Alright, it's time I tried one last move," Mario announced readily.  "I hope it works..."  He opened his right palm and hurled a Thunderball at Lord Shade.

"I hope this isn't the best you can do," Lord Shade sneered as he effortlessly sidestepped the Thunderball.

Mario instantly closed his right palm, and the Thunderball stopped dead in its tracks.  It worked!  I learned how to have complete control over my Thunderballs' paths of motion.  Lord Shade would notice if I started to gather energy into a Thunderball just before firing it at him.  But he would never expect me to add energy to one that I already threw!  I can keep that Thunderball hovering up out of Shade's line of sight and send it hurling at him from behind as soon as it's strong enough to kill him.  If what Raiden says is true, I can add energy from my surroundings to that Thunderball.

"What are you smiling about?" Shade inquired, slowly approaching him.  "In case you've forgotten, you're about to die."

Cheering Mario On

"I'm going to need every drop of electricity in the Mushroom Kingdom," Mario muttered to himself.  "I just need some time..."



The world outside had begun to grow dark and cold.  The blood-red sky had rusted to a reddish-brown color, still shielding the planet from the bright blue sky and any possible precipitation.  The temperature had dropped to a level far below zero, and it would soon be too cold for life to be sustained.  Peach and the castle staff remained in Mushroom Castle, staring solemnly up at the gloomy sky.  "I hope Mario got our message," Peach whispered.

"Of course he did," Mario Jr. replied confidently.  "Now he's going to beat that monster and save us.  He has to!"

"Look up at the sky!" Luigi Jr. screamed, pointing his finger at a nearby window.  In seconds, everyone had clustered up against the window to look outside.  Their eyes widened as they saw thousands of golden sparks filling the sky, making their way towards a castle in the distance.  "That's where Daddy's fighting!"

"It's a miracle!" E. Gadd gasped.  "Look at all of that!  It looks like some kind of electricity!"

"We need to cheer Mario on!" Peach exclaimed suddenly.

"But he can't hear us anymore!" a Toad protested.  "That Skulleon dude turned off the telepathic link thingy!"

"We need to cheer him on!" Peach repeated, this time even louder.  "If we shout loud enough, he'll hear us!"

"YOU CAN DO IT, MARIO!"



Inoni glanced up at the sky and noticed tiny golden dots sparkling in the red sky.  "Is that all coming from... Mario?  Impossible!  If that is all being gathered in one place, he might actually be able to stop Shade!  Go, Mario!  Beat him once and for all!"



Lights in the kingdom began to flicker on and off.  Many residents had finally returned to their homes, only to find that their electricity wasn't working quite right...

"What's going on?!" Rawk Hawk thundered as he dramatically leaped on-stage for his next big fight.  "I heard that Gonzales was going to take Shade down, so I figured I'd get back to what I'm best at- bashing skulls in!  But NO!  Now the power is out!"

Jolene walked briskly up to Rawk Hawk and adjusted her glasses.  "Mr. Hawk, sir, you might want to see this."  The entire audience followed the two of them outside of the Glitz Pit.  They all gasped in amazement as they saw the mist of static electricity slowly drifting toward Dark Castle.  "Mario's in trouble...  I can feel it..." Jolene whispered, trying to maintain a business-like tone.

"What?!  Gonzales could lose!" Rawk Hawk bellowed with rage.  "How many times do I have to tell that jerk that the only person I'll ever let myself be beat by is him?!  If he lost to Shade, that would mean that there's another person out there that's stronger than me!  Don't just stand there like a bunch of idiots!  Let's give Gonzales the biggest shout-out he's ever heard!"

"LET'S GO, GONZALES!"



Bowser sat up and looked around.  "Ugh...  My head hurts...  What happened?"  He brushed some dirt out from between the spikes of his shell.  "Mario's in trouble...  Somehow I can feel it.  If that jerk gets beaten by anyone else but me, I'll...  Well...  I'll kidnap the princess!  He'd never see that coming!  YOU'D BETTER WIN, MARIO!"



"Is that all coming from Mario?" Skulleon gasped as electric sparks filled the sky.  "He must be collecting all of the electricity in the kingdom into one ball!  A force like that could eliminate us all!  We have to stop him!"

Raiden shook his head.  "That won't be necessary.  Mario will only do what he needs to do.  Nothing more."

"Do you hear that?" Luigi inquired, shielding his ears.  "It sounds like everyone in the entire kingdom is cheering him on!  DO IT, BRO!"



"Everyone....  They're still rooting for me..." Mario breathed in amazement.  I just hope that I can gather enough electricity before Shade decides to attack.

Struggle For Time

Lord Shade stepped forward.  "I think I've given you enough time to hear some words of encouragement.  It's time we ended this little game.  I'm starting to lose my patience with you.  If you don't attack me soon, you'll force me to make the first move.  I guarantee you that the pain will be unlike anything you've ever experienced before.  If I cease to enjoy fighting you, I'll simply eliminate you.  Keep that in mind."

Mario took a few steps backward.  No!  I'm not ready!  If I fight him, I'll lose my concentration and the Thunderball will be lost.  He stared at the Thunderball that hovered silently behind Lord Shade, close enough to the ceiling so that Shade would not notice it if he turned around.  The Thunderball had grown to the size of what Mario would consider an Ultra Thunderball.  It's still not strong enough...  Drawing all of the electricity in the kingdom is taking longer than I thought it would.

Lord Shade glared at Mario with cold, piercing eyes.  What is he doing?  Is he taking a break?  No... He seems to have regained his confidence, but he's also hesitant to attack me.  I find it strange... I can see eagerness in his eyes.  However, it's as if his feet are glued to the floor.  It's just as if he's trying to restrain himself, like he wants to fight me but he can't for some reason.

"Come on..." Mario muttered to himself.  It looks like Shade is starting to grow impatient.  Of all my battles... all of the fights I've been through... this is the greatest threat I've ever faced.  My father fought and died against Shade, but he left behind his legacy.  I understand now that my purpose is to protect this kingdom with all of my power, just as my father would have.

Lord Shade grinned wickedly. No matter.  I don't care what he's thinking.  I'll just attack him and see how he reacts.  He aimlessly tossed a purple energy sphere at Mario, intentionally missing him.  Mario flinched and raised one arm to block the attack, but did not attempt to jump out of the way.  "Just what do you think you're doing?  If I actually tried to hit you, that blast would have killed you."

Mario did not respond.  Oh no!  If he starts assaulting me, I won't be able to fight back!  If I do, I'll lose the Thunderball!

Lord Shade slowly approached Mario until they stood only inches apart.  After staring each other down for several minutes, Shade broke the silence by punching Mario dead in the face.  The plumber staggered backward and fell onto his back.  He clutched his bloody nose as he struggled to his feet.  "Why won't you defend yourself?" Lord Shade inquired angrily, clenching his fists.

"Don't worry... Shade..." Mario replied hoarsely, a faint grin spread across his face.  "Your patience will be rewarded soon enough..." He began to chuckle mockingly at the tyrant that towered above him.

"You insolent fool!" Shade hissed as he performed a swift roundhouse kick to Mario's chest.  Blood splattered from the plumber's mouth.  Mario was sent hurling into the wall, but he did not release his grip.  Through all of the pain, Mario held on.  Shade grabbed him by the throat and held him against the wall, mercilessly beating him with his other hand.



"Mario's not going to make it!" Raiden cried, angrily smashing his axe into the ground.

Skulleon stared hopefully at the horizon, waiting for more electric sparks to rush into Dark Castle to power up Mario's Thunderball.  "We have everything we need to beat Shade...  Everything except for time..."

"Bro... You have to hold on a just little longer..." Luigi whispered.



After viciously beating Mario into the wall, Shade tore him out and smashed him face-first into the ground.  "This is where your life ends.  Say goodbye!"  Lord Shade howled as he began to morph his hand into a sword.  Mario watched in horror as the blade drew closer and closer to his neck.  He closed his eyes, waiting for the stab to end his life.  He waited for that strange feeling he had only experienced once before- the feeling of death.  Seconds later, Mario opened his eyes to see why his throat had not yet been pierced.  His question was soon answered.  Lord Shade was staring up at the ceiling.  He was staring at Mario's enormous, unfinished Thunderball.  He was staring at the Universe's last hope for survival.