Super Mario Bros.

Chapter 9

Mario slid down a narrow pathway, screaming all the way. He found himself landing inside the castle's main hallway once again. He got up, brushing dust off his clothes.

"Heh, that wasn't so ba-" Mario was cut off when Luigi slammed right into him.

"Well, at least I landed on something soft." Luigi said.

"YOU LANDED ON ME!" Mario exclaimed. Yoshi launched out of the pathway just seconds later, getting his head and upper body stuck inside a wall while his butt was facing outside. Mario and Luigi quickly got up, glancing at the hole.

"We're out! Let's go rescue Peach!" Mario said, right as a large number of Koopa Troopas surrounded them. Mario and Luigi raised their arms up in alarm.

"You got any bright ideas now, Mario?" Luigi whispered.

"I got one." Mario replied, turning to the Koopa army.

"LOOK OVER THERE, PRINCESS PEACH IS IN HER UNDERWEARS!!" Mario yelled. All of Bowser's minions turned the other direction, giving the brothers time to grab Yoshi and sneak out. One Koopa Troopa turned around and spotted the trio sneaking off.

"HEY! THEY'RE ESCAPING!!! GET THEM!" The Koopa Troopa yelled. Mario and the others screamed as the Koopa Troopa army charged straight at them with their spears and hammers unsheathed. Mario grabbed Yoshi and aimed his butt at the army, firing loads of eggs at the minions. The eggs exploded on contact with the Koopas, sending them flying.

"Explosive eggs. Huh, who knew?" Mario said. Yoshi simply shrugged his shoulders. Suddenly, a Koopa weilding a Bomb-Omb ran into the room, yelling wildly as he threw it at the trio. Mario had unexpectantly caught the weapon, jumping up and down while frantically  juggling the Bomb-Omb.

"AAAHHH!" Mario yelled, throwing the Bomb-Omb back at the Koopa. The Koopa yelped and tossed it back at Mario again.

"NO THANK YOU, HOW ABOUT YOU KEEP IT?!" Mario said, throwing the bomb at the Koopa.

"SORRY, NO TAKE-BACKS!" The Koopa yelped, tossing the bomb again. Luigi caught it and screamed, throwing it back (again) at the Koopa.

"UH, PLEASE TAKE IT, I INSIST!"

"NO WAY, IT'S YOURS!"

"I REALLY THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE IT'"

"JUST KEEP IT, I DON'T LIKE BLACK! TOO GOTH FOR MY TASTE!"

For almost ten minutes, everyone kept throwing the Bomb-Omb to one another. After a while, Luigi handed the explosive over to Mario in a panic.

"WHY ARE YOU GIVING IT TO ME?!" Mario exclaimed, tossing the Bomb-Omb back at Luigi. The two brothers kept juggling the Bomb-Omb towards each other until the small weapon landed in Yoshi's hands. Yoshi screamed like a little girl and threw the Bomb-Omb onto the floor without any bit of thought whatsoever. Right then, the Bomb-Omb ignited, triggering a massive explosion that sent Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi flying outside of the castle. The trio landed on the hard ground, yelping as they fell on their faces.

"We're alive? We're alive!" Mario exclaimed, getting up. He turned to the castle, realizing his job wasn't finished just yet.

"We gotta go back for Peach! Come on." Mario said, walking towards the castle. He turned to Luigi, who was simply standing idle with his arms crossed.

"I'm not going." Luigi said.

"What? What do you mean "I'm not going."? We have a job to do." Mario said.

"No, we don't. We never did. I have been trying to tell you to stop going forward this foolish endeavor, but did you listen? No!" Luigi stated angrily.

"Luigi..." Mario gasped.

"Mario, we are not heroes! Get that through your thick head! We are just a couple of ordinary plumbers!" Luigi yelled. Mario frowned at the statement and balled his hands into fists.

"Luigi, we aren't plumbers anymore. Did you forget that we got fired from our job?" Mario retorted. Luigi's face suddenly softened at Mario's reply.

"Back in New York, we were nobodies. We were treated as nobodies. We had terrible jobs, we were barely able to pay our bills, no one gave us credit for the hard work we done each day, and nobody respected us even when we stuck out our necks for them and helped solve their problems. Back home, nobody cared about us! But here? Here, we're at least something. Here, the citizens believe we can do something. They believed in us. You're right, we're not heroes. We're good people who wanted to give something back to the Mushroom Kingdom. We're finally doing good for people and living a better life than the one we had before! And.... and here you are, being so negative about it. Ever since we got here, you've been negative about EVERYTHING! You keep complaining about the fact we don't have what it takes to save the princess. And yet we did it anyway! Luigi, I didn't come all this way so we can fail and go home." Mario ranted. He turned towards the castle, shaking his fist.

"Look, I'm going back and finishing what I came here to do. If you want to go home and go back to being a miserable nobody, then fine. Go ahead, Luigi. I'm not going to stop you. I just want you to know that even though you clearly don't believe in yourself.... Peach believes in you. And so did I." Mario said, running towards the castle. Luigi and Yoshi could do nothing but sorrowfully watch Mario disappear into the castle alone.

***

Mario snuck his way back inside the back entrance, walking down the hall. Nobody was patrolling the area so it was safe for the former plumber to walk around safely.

"Stupid Luigi and his stupid negativity. I'll show him. This isn't a joke! He wants to call me foolish, huh? Well, he's the foolish one, not me." Mario mumbled to himself. Right as he turned a corner, Mario bumped into Bowser.

"EEP!" Mario yelped.

"Well, well, well. Look what the Chain Chomp dragged in. Your luck has officially ran out, chump!" Bowser said, grabbing Mario. He brought Mario into a dimly lit jail cell, throwing him into a corner while laughing evilly.

"Enjoy your stay at Casa del Bowser, chump. You won't be checking out for a long time! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Bowser laughed, slamming the door shut. Bowser entered the airship docks, getting into a large warship that was filled with his minions.

"Onward to Mushroom Kingdom! Full speed ahead!" Bowser commanded. The warship lifted into the sky and sped off, disappearing into the clouds.