Mushroom Kingdom Anew - Book 1

Chapter Fifteen

"Hyaahhh!" Xavier turned midair and swung his heel at Mario, who surely blocked it with his forearm. He tried using his raccoon tail to strike afterwards, but the retired hero had ducked before he could get hit. "Gonna have to try harder than that!"

At that, another cry came from behind the plumber as an icy fist barely missed. Terry had come from behind, mystifying her other fist and attempting another strike at the plumber. Mario bent his back so as to avoid the fist, springing backwards to avoid the cluster of fighters he had trapped himself.

A redish-pink tongue then came out of nowhere, wrapping around the plumber's waist and pulling him away from the fight. Ace stood there, his glasses donned on his confident face as he pulled the plumber into his gaping maw. Mario had had his fair share of being nearly eaten, punching Ace in the face just before he was pulled into an egg, and slipping out of the now limp tongue.

"Mama-mia... You all need to stop working individually, and collaborate. There's three of you, aren't there?!" The plumber chastised. Peach sat on the sidelines, a pink laced umbrella hung over her to block out the sun. She had a calm smile on her face as she watched the battle go down, secretly cheering for the three newcomers to kick her husband's ass.

"Fine! Like last time, go!" Xavier signalled, sprinting forwards and dodging any punches Mario threw at him. Terry remained behind Xavier, waiting for the right moment to move forwards, while Ace bolted to the left. The brunet hopped into the air and delivered a heavy double kick into the plumber's stomach, causing him to reel and stagger backwards. Anticipating this move, Terry spontaneously sprinted forwards, aiming right for Xavier. Peach watched in confusion as the heroes bumbled about, their methods on how to defeat Mario unknown to her. As Mario staggered back, Ace came from the left, slipping to the floor and low sweeping Mario's leg. He cried as he began to fall backwards, but before he could recover or even block, he watched Xavier crouch down, knees bent at the ready. Terry hopped up onto Xavier's back, and the brunet responded by throwing his body upwards and sending the blonde on his back flying. She pulled back a right hook, her entire form falling directly at the tripped Mario. Just before Mario's body hit the dirt, Terry let her fist go, driving it directly into the large nose of the retired hero. The force sent him into the dirt much faster than he should've fallen, dust arising everywhere. The trio then surrounded Mario's momentarily weakened form, all preparing for the plausible case he got up.

As the dust settled, a noise could be heard where Mario was thrown. Clapping. By the time the trio could see again, Mario was in a small crater in the dirt, a joyful smile on his face. His hands clapped together as he lay there, making the heroes feel bashful.

"Very impressive!" He complemented, groaning a bit as he stood up. The three heroes lowered their offensive positions, knowing the fight was over. Mario continued, hands on his hips as he looked between the three. "I said before you lacked teamwork, but it seemed I was wrong. Develop more moves like that, and you'll be unstoppable."

"Thanks, Mario." Terry smiled. Ace just nodded excitedly in response. The dinosaur looked to Peach for confirmation of sorts, to which she answered with a simple nod. Ace ran off into the woods suddenly, leaving the four humans alone to gather their bearings and head home.

Two weeks have passed since Xavier, Terry and Ace had landed on Yoshi's island. Since then, Mario kept true to his previous promise of training them up to fight against the tyrant Vincent. Thankfully, Yoshi's island had a large abundance of Power Ups for the heroes to choose from. Ace just stuck to speed training, mainly because his genetics didn't allow for the use of Power Ups. But as for Xavier and Terry, they each found themselves a Power Up they could use diligently. For Xavier, and with hearty memories of their first fight with Captain, the Super Leaf was chosen. In a mere week, Xavier already learned to hone the speed and power boost given, as well as properly maneuver in the air with the help of his tail. He even stopped complaining about how stupid he looked, moresoexcited for how powerful he'd become. Terry, on the other hand, felt most comfortable with the Ice Flower. She had learned to skate freely without the need to use her hands to freeze the soles of her shoes. She also learned to belt out ice balls and beams at a faster pace, and with much more power, accuracy and focus. Finally, Ace's speed training had paid off. For even though the heroes had insane levels of power with their power ups, Ace was still far faster than them, not to mention agile. All in all, the heroes were looking to be in pretty good shape.