8th installment of the VGNU.
The time has come for the infamous Super Mario Brothers to begin their journey.
Lost in a foreign world, the fate of a great kingdom rests on their shoulders.
(Originally published 2020)
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"I wish I were as confident in your abilities as you are," the King clarified. "But what I ask of you... Rescuing my daughter from the Turtle King will be no easy task."
"Stop discouraging them!" Toadsworth warned.
The King nodded, but held his gaze firm and solemn, looking each of the Mario Brothers in the eye. "I do not mean to discourage you. But I cannot let you go without a fair warning."
"Just tell us this much," Mario said. "If we save yer daughter, y'll send us back home, yea'?"
"Yes," the King promised.
"Then we got a deal," Luigi grinned, cracking his knuckles. "Where do we go from here?"
"Toadsworth will take you through the first Warpzone," the King answered. "From there, you will enter a realm called the Wastes, and you shall be on your own. It was the last to fall to King Koopa's reign, so his minions will be waiting for you, but it should not be much of a challenge yet. However, the deeper you go into enemy territory, the more difficult your journey will become...
"Be wary, Mario Brothers," the King added before sending them off. "May luck be on your side. I hope you were gifted to us for a reason..."
___
In a flash of light and spinning colors, Mario and Luigi found themselves walking through another ancient and rusted copper pipe that was ten feet in diameter. The trip was a lot smoother than the pipe they traveled through to get to the previous world, and they wondered now if there was just something wrong with the one from their world. After all, the one they went through to get to The Wastes was the same one they came out of before, except this time it worked properly.
"Maybe that hole wasn't s'possed t' be there?" Mario wondered. "Maybe it broke, blew a hole in th' sewer?"
"Who put th' Warpzone there in th' first place then?" Luigi asked. He looked around at the strange building they appeared in. "I still think this's a dream."
"Yea'," Mario chuckled. "Just a coma induced fantasy."
The Warpzone pipe lit up again, and from it came Toadsworth, hobbling along on his cane.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, looking up at the big folk. Then he moved passed them, pointing out the door. "I've taken you a little bit farther from the castle King Koopa's holed himself up in-- should give you time to get used to how things work around here." He started packing up again. "And remember; we may no longer have magic tamed in these darker worlds under King Koopa's control, but magic is still out there. So, so long as you stay to that direction, you'll reach your destination." He waved them off as he stepped back into the pipes. "I wish you the best of luck."
"Wait wait!" Mario called out. "We still have a ton o' questions. And aren't y' comin' with us?"
Toadsworth gave them a sad look. "Regrettably... no. I'm afraid I, like our King, am getting too old for this adventurer's lifestyle. Were I but a few years younger..." He shook his head. "But there's no time for that now. You must rescue the princess, and bring her back here to undo this dark magic! You haven't time to waste!"
