Super Mario Bros. 5: Rise of the Darkness ///6-20-08: Epilogue Posted!!!\\\

[shadowmarioguy]

Boy, do I have a surprise for you!  Get ready for the next- and last- chapter!

[shadowmarioguy]

Epilogue: Mace?s Plea



?Mario?!  What in the world do you think you?re doing?!? E. Gadd screamed at the image on his laptop.



Mace immediately regained his full strength.  ?You actually? helped me??



Mario nodded.  ?For some reason I trust you.  But why would you betray Lord Shade??



?I?ll tell you later,? Mace replied stoically as he started toward the starship.



?Gee, he sure is talkative,? Mario murmured to himself.  Just then, they both heard a high pitched noise; a sound that closely resembled that of a high-powered laser charging.  ?Shade must be preparing to fire that beam!?  A large cannon emerged from the base of the starship.



?We?re too late!? Mace cursed as he rushed at the cannon.  Just as a colossal orange beam came billowing out of it, he kicked the enormous weapon with all of his might, slightly changing its course.



The ?Annihilator Beam? struck the planet with great force, but not in quite the same manner that Lord Shade had planned.  Mace let out a triumphant sigh.  ?It may have hit the planet, but I was able to aim it away from the Mushroom Kingdom.  The beam took off a chunk of the planet that was completely uninhabited.?



Mario wiped off the several beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead.  ?Thanks Mace; I don?t know what would?ve happened if it wasn?t for you.  Now let?s go get Shade and beat him at his own game!?



The two burst into the control room where Lord Shade should have been.  But he was nowhere to be found.  ?Where is he??  Mace wondered aloud.



?Did he run away?? Mario pondered.



Mace shook his head emphatically.  ?I?ve sucked up to Shade for much too long to know that he would never run from a fight.  Even if the two of us work together, he still has a good chance of beating us.  If he were to even power himself up with the Power Star and Star Rod that he has right now, he could pick us apart without even trying.  That?s why we need to stop him now.?



?A wise speech, traitor,? Lord Shade hissed angrily from behind Mace.  As Mace turned around to attack, two red laser beams shot out from Shade?s eyes and pierced through Mace?s chest.  He fell to the ground in agony, clutching his mortal wound.



?Mace!? Mario gasped.  He ran up to the former Shadow Shrowd.  ?Are you okay??

http://blue-bomber.jvmwriter.org/media/music/X/ost_x_x1-6/disc4/30%20-%20X5%20-%20ZERO%20DEAD.mp3

?I?m afraid not, Mario,? Mace replied weakly.



Mario inspected Mace?s wound and realized that he was telling the truth.  Blood had already begun to soak out of the gash.  ?Just rest; I?ll take care of Lord Shade.?



?No?  I have to tell you?  What I?ve endured for years??  Mace persisted.  ?Years ago my planet and its people, the Sol, lived in peace and tranquility.  We were an unusually strong race, but we almost never resorted to violence unless it was mandatory.  I was just sixteen, living with my small family of three.  That was until an evil mechanical nightmare arrived on our planet.  His name? was Metal Mario?



?Metal Mario delighted in killing our people, but it wasn?t long until we were pitting our best fighters against him.  When the situation became bleak, I joined the fight and was able to put a stop to his wrath.  Given the title of the ?Strongest of the Sol?, my life had finally taken a turn for the better.  But no?  Lord Shade didn?t stop with Metal Mario?  He was so curious about our amazing strength that he himself paid a visit to our planet.



?Countless Sol Warriors challenged him and failed, but Shade spared everyone.  We later figured out why?  When he had finally made his way to me, my family and I gave it our all trying to beat him.  Needless to say, he beat us with ease.  That was when it became clear why he neglected to kill anyone.  The more warriors he murdered, the less he would be able to recruit.  After my family?s quick defeat, Shade offered me the position of second-in-command in his army of Shadow Shrowds.  I refused?



?Enraged, he asked me once more.  I turned him down?  And then? he? He killed my parents...  He told me that unless I wanted more dead bodies to pile up, I would join the Shadow Shrowds.  That was when I secretly made a plan for revenge.  I accepted, and the whole race of Sol became Shadow Shrowds.  He forced all of my people to undergo a brainwashing process, changing them from gentle, peace loving people, to mindless, cold-blooded warriors.  I was the only one who was excluded from the process, because Shade felt that killing my parents was the only persuasion I needed.



?After years of waiting, I stumbled upon you.  Ever since our first encounter in Mushroom Castle, I?ve been studying you and your great power.  Each time you were faced with a challenge, you rose up to it and succeeded.  Although my time is limited, I need you? to beat Shade.  I?ve waited for years for someone to help me overthrow Lord Shade, only to be killed at the last second.  But this experience has opened my eyes? you will beat Shade!  You possess the Capacity of Elements!  Somehow, you must seek out the Thunder Palace nestled deep within Forever Forest, and learn under the Thunder God.  Only then can you match Lord Shade?s godly powers.  I?ve already seen one race of people become slaves to him; don?t let it happen to? your race as well?  Defeat him, for me? for my people? for the universe??



Mace shed one last tear before leaving the battlefield for good.  Mario stood next to him in shock.  ?I never knew?  But now it?s all on my shoulders?  The hope and determination of an extinct race is resting in my hands?  Goodbye, Mace?  Hopefully, you and your people can rest in peace.?



[End Music]



?It was kind of a boring speech if you ask me.  It?s too bad he spent all of that time pretending to be my lackey, all just so I could kill him when he finally got his chance.  What a waste!? Lord Shade chuckled to himself.



Mario stood firmly before Shade, his fists clenched.  ?You won?t get away with this!  I?ll stop you!  I have to!?



?Actually, Mace was able to inflict some damage on the starship when he redirected the cannon.  As we speak, the starship is slowly heading down toward your puny little planet.  It?s probably going to crash within six minutes or so.?



?So, I guess Mace isn?t such a failure after all,? Mario snickered.  ?He did put a stop to your whole ?Dark Castle? scheme.?



?That?s where you?re wrong!? Lord Shade taunted.  ?The beam still cut into the planet deep enough to reveal some of its core.  And it has just enough energy to resurrect the ?Dark Castle?!  Not only that, but this starship is going to crash with you on board!  That only leaves me with those other idiots to deal with, and they?re not so tough.?



?What if I beat you?!? Mario challenged.



?Sorry, but I?m not going to stick around for the show!  I?ve already ordered some of my other troops to the Mushroom Kingdom, and I told them not to spare a soul.  Your people aren?t strong enough to make good warriors, so I decided to have them killed.  Soon I?ll find the Z Star and Shadow Rod, and then I?ll have all four Oracles of Power.  And you? will be dead!? Shade exclaimed with an evil glint in his eye.  With that, he snatched the Power Star and Star Rod from a nearby table and vanished in a purple puff of smoke.

The End

(Find out what happens, in Super Mario Bros. 6: The Mighty Tyrant)

[shadowmarioguy]

And... That's Super Mario Bros. 5!  As I promised earlier, I am going to post the first trilogy completely redone in the detail that 4 and 5 are written in.  At the same time or a little after, I will be starting off Super Mario Bros. 6!  Until then, see ya'!

[TeChNiCaL DiFfIcUlTiEs]

I did not see that one coming!  That was truly heartbreaking.  I almost cried, but then again I'm an emotional person  :P  I'm looking forward to seeing how the first three turn out after you redo them.  Good luck!  ;)