Super Mario Bros. 2 - Across the Galaxy

Chapter 33: The Chase

In a different plane of Existence

Mario coughed up some soot and stood up. "Huck!! PFFT!! PFFF!!" he rubbed his eyes and asked, "Where the hell...???"

He looked around to see that he was in a dark and hollow forest surrounded by lava and also a ruined castle on the horizon. He gasped and said, "Am...Am I in the other half of the Darklands? The last thing I remember was getting hit by Discordia's beam and..."

Suddenly he heard footsteps boom and he gasped in horror at what he was witnessing. It was Bowser, alive and well, or what it seemed. Mario's heartbeat started to go crazy and he started to clench his heart. "B-B-Bowser?!? B-But you were burned to a crisp, you were nothing but bones!"

"Yes, Bowser's bones are somewhere out there. This is where people in the Mushroom World go whenever they die...Well, their physical bodies...your spirit comes here and challenges me. You and your brother were born in the Mushroom World, so you come here."

"None of this is real...Right? You're not Bowser...This is all in my head."

"Be careful, boy. Yes, I am not truly Bowser and this is not truly the Darklands. I am the long-forgotten god of death. Usually, people in this world call me, "Aeron" but you know this form as Bowser. Everything you see and this form are flickering images in your dying brain."

"So, Aeron..." Mario took a deep breath. "...What do we do now?"

"Well..." Aeron smirked. "...You must challenge me. Even if you win my battle, I will judge your soul and see if you are worthy of living, going to Heaven, or suffering the Fires of Aeron for eternity. I'm on for the fire..."

Mario sighed. "If...I must...I'm gonna fight you...FEAR ME IF YOU DARE!"

Aeron was flabbergasted but he enjoyed Mario's attempts to assert dominance. He sharpened his claws and chuckled. "This is gonna be fun. But, be aware that I WILL show you no mercy."

The god then charged at Mario and Mario did that as well. The plumber swung his fist at Aeron but the god caught him and started swiping at his face with his claws. Mario spat out some blood and then...Aeron kicked Mario and the plumber crashed next to a tree.

"I wish I had a Power-Up right now..." Mario uttered.

Aeron chuckled and released his fire breath which Mario quickly evaded and threw a couple of fireballs at the god...which did nearly nothing to Aeron. The god of death then retreated into his shell and slid toward Mario. Mario gulped and then Aeron slammed into him.

"...I didn't know Bowser could do that!" Mario shouted.

The god laughed some more and Mario attempted to unleash a few more punches. The plumber threw one more punch but Aeron caught it and grinned. Mario yelped in fear and then Aeron twisted his arm. Mario screamed in pain and then Aeron slammed him to the ground. The god laughed and said to the weakened Mario, "You've never stood a chance against the gods of this world! Your chances of survival against deities like me...ARE LOW!!!! YOU WERE DESTINED TO FAIL!!! YOU HAVE NO ONE!!!!!"

Mario gasped for air and Aeron laughed some more. "The time for Judgement...IS HERE!!!!"

Back in the Mortal Realm

Peach clenched Mario tight and sobbed. Discordia smiled and then Rosalina said, "I...I don't think there's anything we can do..."

Peach sniffled and uttered, "Mario...If you can hear me...Please know that you've helped us all become what we were meant to be. A leader..."

Suddenly, Peach's hand on Mario's back glowed and one of the Chaos Emeralds glowed in response. Rosalina gasped and then Sonic put a hand on Peach's shoulder and added, "A friend."