Super Mario Bros. 2 - Across the Galaxy

Chapter 28: Calm Before the Storm

Peach had been healed. Mario hugged her tight and Peach said, "It's okay. I'm perfectly fine."

"Well, since we have all seven Chaos Emeralds, we should head on over to where the Gods are, get rid of these stupid little gemstones, murder Discordia if we can, go back to Earth, and hope nothing changes due to Time Dilation since we've been going lightspeed for days, and also order pizza and finally have a well-needed vacation," Rohan said.

"Yes...I need some pizza in my life." Sonic said.

"Okay," Rosalina said. "The Center of the Universe, here we come-"

Suddenly, the heroes heard a cannonball and suddenly turned to see Discordia's ship firing at them. The villain's ship floated next to the Observatory and released its spiked anchors which slammed into the side of the Observatory. Discordia and the Deadly Demons walked out of the ship and Discordia smirked.

"I'M BAAAAAAAAACCKKK!!!!!" Discordia shouted. "Did you REALLY think that I'd be gone for good?"

"But...Peach scared you guys off!" Luigi said.

"Oh, I know. But as soon as Peach there was healed by the Phoenix Flower, OHOHO, the perfect time for an ambush!"

"Still, we're kicking your butt!" Sonic said.

"Attack!" K. Rool shouted.

The villains charged at the heroes and the two factions clashed. Donkey Kong tried to punch K. Rool but Krusha got in the way and punched the gorilla. Atlas tried to cast a spell but Razor kept evading and Audrey then wrapped the Koopa with Atlas' sash.

Mario encountered Discordia and the goddess smirked. "Care for Round Two?" she asked.

"If I can have the first dance." Mario snickered.

Discordia summoned her scythe. "You may."

Mario then charged at Discordia and leaped into the air. He threw a punch but Discordia countered it with her scythe and kicked him. Mario groaned in pain and recovered quickly. Discorida then formed a couple of fireballs and threw them which Mario evaded and threw his own fireballs.

"Cute." Discorida giggled at the fireballs tickling her.

The Goddess smirked and then swung her scythe some more. Mario evaded the swings and nearly lost a few hairs on his mustache. He conjured a bigger fireball and threw it at Discorida. She suddenly noticed it and nearly fell off the Observatory.

"Good. Muy bien." The goddess chuckled. "Try as you might, you'll never defeat a Goddess. So, haven't you had enough?"

(Note: "Muy bien" means "Very good" in Spanish)

Mario spat a little. "I've tanked hits from Bowser. I can do this all day."

He then ran to Discordia again and released a few hits which she managed to get hit by. She then summoned her scythe again and cut Mario's arm in one slice. He clenched his arm in pain and some blood came from it. At least it wasn't his forehead compared to last time. His throat suddenly was clenched by Discordia and she lifted him off the ground.

Discordia smirked and looked at Mario's feared expression. "I do love the smell of fear. It's intoxicating. Say...you remind me of your father. What was his name? Oh, Jumpman. He was a great hero and devoted father...Fun fact: You and your brother were born here in the Mushroom Kingdom, but someone was scared of your destiny as two of the seven Star Children. He managed to put you two adrift on a river to safety. Too bad, he isn't here to see what failure you've become. And also...that look on your face reminds me...Where have I seen it? Ah! What your father looked like before he died." she clenched his throat tighter. "And here's a little secret..." She then leaned closer to Mario's ear and whispered, "I killed your parents that day..."

Mario suddenly remembered the whole picture of how he and Luigi appeared in the Human World. He then roared and punched Discordia in the face. She let him go and he screamed, "MURDERER!!!!"

He yelled in a blind rage some more and kept throwing attacks at Discordia, but he was blinded by the rage of letting the goddess get to his head and was hitting nothing but air. Discordia chuckled and then kicked him in the stomach.

Mario slid to the ground and attempted to recover. Spike then laughed and boomed over him. "Looks like you ain't strong enough to beat a goddess and most likely me."

Mario grunted and uttered, "But... I and my family are gonna win..and I...I'm gonna make you regret mocking me and Luigi all those years ago."

"Oh, YEAH?" Spike then grabbed Mario by the overall straps. "Get this through your tiny brain, Mario. You're a joke, and you always will be."

"That's enough, dearest," Discordia said.

Spike growled in frustration that he wasn't going to kill his enemy, but he tossed Mario back to the ground again. Sonic then dashed at Discordia but she noticed him and threw him to the ground as well.

The Deadly Demons all captured the heroes and then Discordia flashed her palm at Mario and Sonic which made them float to her similar to how she used those powers to torture the heroes back at the trade earlier. Saw took the Chaos Emerald case and Discordia chuckled.

She smirked and looked at Sonic's ring pouch. With her mind, she slipped it over Sonic's arm and grabbed it with her free hand. "I originally wanted you two to have front-row seats for the destruction of this universe...but it seems more fun to banish you now."

"If it means getting the Stupid Mario Brothers out of our hair." Spike grinned.

The goddess looked at Sonic and took out a Ring from the pouch. "Did you know that these Rings can travel through several universes?" she asked the Hedgehog. "You just never learned to master its power fully!"

She then tossed the ring and it enlarged to reveal its portal to a planet that had rocky mountains and was raining. Discordia walked over to the portal and said, "Goodbye, Super Mario."

She then threw the two into the portal and they landed on one of the mountains. Mario recovered from the throw and attempted to make it back but the ring suddenly dissipated into nothingness but not before he could see the terrified expression on Peach's face and her crying out his name. Mario fell to the ground again and yelled, PEAAAAAAAAAACCCHHH!!!! No. No! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!!!" he slammed his fist on the ground.

Sonic stood up and said, "It's too late! We're BANISHED, genius! WE'RE IN ANOTHER UNIVERSE!!!!" Mario didn't look back and Sonic continued, "Oh, what a GREAT idea to think that we're in the all-clear when we cured Peach, but Rohan was right! We should've destroyed those DAMN EMERALDS AS SOON AS WE HAD THE CHANCE!!! All you had to do was listen to us! Just ONCE! But you DIDN'T, did you?!?" Mario still didn't look back and Sonic gasped. The hedgehog's fur glowed in anger and Sonic screamed, "YOU'RE STILL NOT LISTENING!!!!! AAARRRRRGHHH!!!!"

Sonic dashed and tackled Mario. The two rolled down the mountain, clashing and punching. Blow-for-blow, the two finally stopped rolling and Mario yelled, "Take that!"

Suddenly, the two stopped as soon as they heard a gun click and a person in red and gold armor aiming their arm cannon at them. "Who the hell are you?" The person asked in a tough feminine voice.