Book of One Shots

Winds of a Firestorm, Mario

It was another peaceful day in Mushroom Kingdom. Mario Gregory Manfredi Junior was laying down in the grass in the royal garden with his brother, Luigi James Manfredi. The two brothers were enjoying a nice, quiet sunny day. Mario was the hero of the kingdom and the protector of Princess Peach. He was also Peach's boyfriend. He was currently wearing a short sleeved red shirt, blue shorts, brown sneakers, and his usual white gloves. His signature hat was covering his tired sapphire eyes. Luigi was laying next to him, smiling wide. Mario placed his hat on his chest as he looked up at his baby brother. Luigi was the hero of Mushroom Kingdom too but he was less known than his brother. He was engaged Violet Calico, a girl from the Upper World, like them. Luigi was currently wearing a loose fitting green t-shirt, blue jeans, brown sneakers, and his usual white gloves. His signature hat was sitting on the grass next to him.

Violet was the same age as them and had the Aurora Nine. It was much like the Firebrand and Thunderhand that Mario and Luigi had respectfully. But it made violet ice whenever Violet had activated it. It had been a few months since Mr. L's death and Luigi's engagement to Violet. Mario was planning to purpose to Peach in the next few weeks, he was just saving his coins.

"It is such a wonderful day, Malleo." Luigi gushed, looking at the beautiful blue sky.

"Si, it is a nice day to rest, Weegie." Mario agreed.

Luigi looked at his brother and asked, "Do you ever think things might be different if Bowser was your best friend?"

Mario snorted at that as he answered, "Bowser as my best friend. That's a good one, Luigi."

Luigi shrugged, "If you ask me, anything is possible. After all, it could mean things would be quiet. Bowser wouldn't kidnap her anymore."

Mario started to close his eyes and mumbled, "That is true..."

As the red clad plumber closed his eyes and enter dreamland, Luigi's words echoed in his ears. Mario fell into a deep sleep, eventually waking up in mid-afternoon. He heard a familiar scream, jumping to his feet. There, in front of him was a green spotted Toad. Was his spots white and the rest of him green? Mario shook his head. Maybe he was seeing things?

"Princess Peach is in trouble!" He yelped.

"Sounds like it is showtime..." Mario gripped a bit, getting off the ground.

With that, Mario ran off, activating his Firebrand.

...

Meanwhile, in the creamed colored castle, a man with a red cape was throwing smoke bombs at a familiar blonde girl. She started to cough as she tried to see. As the man with the red cape threw a Bob-bomb, a powerful fireball forced it out of his hand and caused an explosion. The man coughed.

"H - he's here..." The man coughed.

"And here to kick your butt!" Mario declared, kicking the man out of the smoke.

The man was wearing a silver sparkling costume that had a red cape behind him. He had a silver mask, covering his brown eyes. It was a bit taller than Mario but was in good shape. The smoke cleared as Mario focused on getting rid of the man. As he kept his Firebrand activated, he failed to realize that there was a smoke bomb behind him. Mario was ready for anything as a fire ball came out of nowhere. It forced the smoke bomb away from Mario, pushing the man back. Mario looked to see whom had saved him and gasped. There, standing in front of him was Bowser. But Bowser looked completely different.

He had a huge, burly, blue shell with spikes, horns, and hair. His bushy eyebrows and mane are fittingly a dark red-orange and has bright light red eyes. He sports two small horns, many spikes on his shell with orange-brown spike-rings, as well as along his tail (minus the spike-rings). He wears several spiked collars around his neck and arms. He has three claws on each of his massive padded feet, four claw-tipped fingers including a thumb on each hand, and his arms are noticeably burly. While his face and his shell are blue, his plastron and muzzle are a light beige colored, and his tail and limbs are a yellow-tinged orange. Mario was stunned. Why did Bowser look so different? And what was going on? The man caught his attention as he glared at Bowser.