A Girl of the Future

by Vanessa Krowd

  "FIRE SMASH!" Mario cried, thrusting both arms forward in such a way that both wrists touched -fingers facing up and down as he nailed his opponent with a fiery charged

  thrust.

  "WAAH!" Waluigi whined, his slightly blackened body flying backward through the air.

  "Hoo!" Mario chirped, jumping high into the air above the backward soaring Waluigi.

  "Uh oh." Waluigi whined.

  "FIRE STOMP!" Mario cried, landing down on Waluigi's stomach with a flaming right boot, sending him crashing down to the ground -the lanky X-Naut Captain's arms and legs

  flying skyward so his form made a V, his eyes bulging from his head and cheeks puffed.

  "Ugh!" Waluigi grunted, as Mario jumped off of him -his slightly blackened body going limp as he lied on his back.

  Mario grabbed his left ankle with his hands, and proceeded to spin him around -Waluigi too worn out to flail about and cry as it happened.

  "KOOPA TOSS!" Mario cried, releasing Waluigi and sending him flying straight into the rock wall of Corona Mountain.

  Smoke accompanied the crashing of the X-Naut Captain, only this time multiple boulders collapsed from the mountain walls onto the defeated X-Naut Captain. The smoke

  eventually subsided, Mario standing there with his flaming fists clenched at his sides -arms relaxed. He watched as the smoke dissipated, a pile of rocks that fell from the mountain wall on top of the defeated X-Naut Captain. Mario said nothing, extinguishing his fists in calm victory. Mario then looked up into the afternoon sky, the sun quite

  distant from the noon position and getting closer to the horizon.

  "Damn, it's getting late." Mario cursed. "Must be at least 4:00 by now."

  Mario then directed his attention to the massive X-Missile at the summit of the colossal Corona Mountain, the explosive device appearing small from this distance.

  "If I don't hurry that things gonna launch before I even get up there!" Mario thought aloud, eyebrows narrowed. "I better get a move on."

  Mario then proceeded to run up towards Level 2 of Corona Mountain, leaving the defeated Waluigi beneath the rubble and the smashed -Naut Gate behind.

  One two three -cause we'reRunning

  ever faster, running ever faster,

  I know we'll catch up, -with, our, dreams -cause we'reRunning

  ever faster, running ever faster,

  I know we'll get there one, of these DAYS!

  SUPER MARIO: LEGEND OF THE CRYSTAL STARS (Corona Mountain Arc)

  Bowser has allied with General Grodus, and plans on helping him take control of the Mushroom Kingdom with the aid of an X-Missile, which is set to launch at sunset. After Mario's brave act against the X-Naut Captain Waluigi, Peach found the courage she needed to refuse to back down. Although the Mushroom Kingdom is safe from Grodus for

  awhile longer, if our heroes don't defeat Bowser and stop the X-Missile before sunset, Toad Town and much of the Mushroom Kingdom will be covered in the inner magma of

  Corona Mountain.

  Current Locations:

  Mario: Corona Mountain, Level Two

  Luigi & Link: Trans-Mushroom Highway

  Daisy, Toadsworth, & Peach: Outside Peach Castle

  Mario battles the X-Naut Captain Waluigi head on, trying out his new Goddess Powers for the first time!

  "You said something about Bowser having the power of the Goddess on his side?" Mario calmly rambled, examining his right clenched fist with a bored expression. "I guess that means he touched a Goddess Star, huh?"

  Waluigi sniffled and whimpered slightly as he got to his feet. Mario gave Waluigi a big grin as he ignited his fist with flames.

  "Well I've got news for ya, -so did I!" Mario laughed. "And I'm gonna have a hell of a time testing out my new ability on your scrawny ass!"

  "FIRE STOMP!" Mario cried, landing down on Waluigi's stomach with a flaming right boot, sending him crashing down to the ground -the lanky X-Naut Captain's arms and legs

  flying skyward so his form made a V, his eyes bulging from his head and cheeks puffed.

  "KOOPA TOSS!" Mario cried, releasing Waluigi and sending him flying straight into the rock wall of Corona Mountain.

  Mario defeats Waluigi! Wasting no time, he continues up Corona Mountain!

  "Damn, it's getting late." Mario cursed. "Must be at least 4:00 by now."

  Mario then directed his attention to the massive X-Missile at the summit of the colossal Corona Mountain, the explosive device appearing small from this distance.

  "If I don't hurry that things gonna launch before I even get up there!" Mario thought aloud, eyebrows narrowed. "I better get a move on."

  Mario then proceeded to run up towards Level 2 of Corona Mountain, leaving the defeated Waluigi beneath the rubble and the smashed X-Naut Gate behind.

  Chapter 10: Moving Forward! Peach's Plan Of Action!

  The crowd outside of Peach Castle was in high spirits. After Mario's virtuous act against the X-Naut captain Waluigi, the people of the Mushroom Kingdom have placed their

  faith in Mario and his friends, believing that they have the power to stop Bowser and save the Kingdom.

  The crowd was cheering loudly, Mushroom Kingdom News helicopter flying high around Peach Castle, filming the gathered citizens. Back at the Mushroom Kingdom News office,

  the anchor and reporter Peter Toad faced the camera as the 4:00 news begun. Peter Toad was a blue spotted Toad in a black suit and had a black mustache.

  -Mushroom Kingdom News (MKN) Anchor And Reporter- PETER TOAD

  Peter Toad: "Good evening, I'm Peter Toad. Our top story, the crisis in the Mushroom Kingdom continues! Reporting in live from Peach Castle is Veronica Shroom -hi

  Veronica."

  The screen split in half, the left half showing Peter Toad in the news room and the right half showing Veronica Shroom standing before the stone bridge before Peach Castle,

  Toad guards preventing her from reaching Daisy, Peach, and Toadsworth on the bridge -noisy citizens all around. The tag -LIVE (MKN)- was present in the top left corner of

  Veronica's half.

  "…"

  "Hello, Peter." Veronica greeted.

  "So Veronica what can you tell me about the situation at the castle?" Peter questioned.

  Veronica now took up the entire screen, talking to the world -the pink spotted Toad featuring blonde bangs.

  -LIVE (MKN)-

  Veronica Mushroom: "Yes, I'm here at Peach Castle and after yet another tapping into our systems by Bowser the world witnessed what can only be accurately described

  as an epic encounter between the X-Naut Captain Waluigi and the princesses love interest, Mario! Everyone is in high spirits now and it's all thanks to what Mario had said to

  the Princess. He said to her: "Don't you dare give up this country, because I'm going to keep our promise!". Now it's not exactly understood what he meant by "our promise"

  -the princess refuses to go public about it but it was enough to raise everyones spirits sky high, including the princess who seemed very defeated when she initially stepped

  outside her castle."

  The screen split in half once again, the left half showing Peter Toad in the news room and the right half showing Veronica Shroom, the tag -LIVE (MKN)- still present in the

  top left corner of Veronica's half.

  "She certainly doesn't seem defeated now." Peter Toad noted, a bit of a smile present on his face.

  "No she doesn't, it was truly an uplifting moment." Veronica smiled.

  "Yes, that's some powerful stuff." Peter Toad thought aloud, looking down and to the right briefly before directing his attention back to the camera. "So Veronica we

  understand that Peach is not stepping down, which is good, but there's still that elephant in the room -if she's not stepping down that means the X-Missile is set to fire at

  sunset tonight. What exactly is the princesses plan of action?"

  "…"

  "Peter I've actually had the chance to speak with the
princess and remarkably Mario charging into Corona Mountain like he did was not part of the original plan." Veronica

  started. "The princess says that Grodus may have powerful allies but so does she, and that herself and her allies will be heading to Corona Mountain immediately to address the

  situation themselves."

  "The princess herself, that's quite impressive." Peter Toad noted, with a impressed nod. "Now who exactly are these allies she speaks of?"

  "…"

  "The princess didn't go into detail about who exactly is involved with this mission but she said that on top of some "very powerful allies" she will be bringing the strongest of

  her Toad Brigade with her to "shift the pressure to the enemy"."

  "Wow, that's admirable determination. What exactly do the people think of her words?" Peter questioned.

  "…"

  "Admirable determination is right Peter and that's exactly what the people need from a leader. It's a stressful time, the pressure is certainly on, but Peach has managed to

  capture the faith of the people and considering there's less than 4 hours until sunset that's certainly an impressive feat." Veronica answered.

  "That's certainly impressive indeed, thank you, Veronica." Peter concluded, with a nod.

  "…"

  "Thanks Peter." Veronica smiled.

  CORONA MOUNTAIN

  Level Six: Summit -X-MissileLevel

  Five

  Level Four

  Level Three

  Level Two: Spring Hell -MarioLevel

  One: Foot

  Mario arrives at the second of the six levels that make up Corona Mountain. Remarkably, the four inner levels each experience a different season and therefore an entirely

  different environment. Eager to reach the summit, Mario rushes for level 3, the path a helix around the mountain, slowly but surely making it's way to the top in a spiral like

  fashion.

  The clock ticks and Mario rushes frantically, not taking the time to give attention to all of the strange and unique plants on the path and cliffside. Awakening as he neared was

  actually a grounded Piranha Plant, which took a quick snap at his head but missed as he ran past it. A strange green little creature called a Green Fuzzy peeked from behind a

  rock as Mario passed. Waiting around the bend were six X-Naut soldiers, strange looking troops with red outfits that had black X's on the front.

  "OOOOH AAAAAH!" Mario cried, running faster towards the enemy.

  "W-Who the hell is that?"

  "I-I don't know!"

  "Where's the Captain?"

  "Now Mario…" Mario started, running with his right palm forward and left fist brought back.

  "He's coming!"

  "We better fight!"

  "FIRE BALL!" Mario cried, firing fire balls from his open palm as he ran towards the incoming enemy.

  Four of the six X-Nauts were struck by the flaming projectiles, flying off of the cliffside upside down while waving their arms -their defeated bodies blackened and glasses

  cracked. Then, a red white spotted Piranha Plant rose from the earth and chomped at one of the two remaining charging X-Nauts from behind.

  "GYAAah!" One X-Naut cried, as it was dragged into the earth by the Piranha Plant.

  Mario grunted with slightly clenched teeth, stopping in his tracks and getting in a fighting position.

  "Dude!" The X-Naut cried as he turned back to where his buddy was, the Piranha Plant rising in front of him. The X-Naut faced forward, but before he could even scream the

  Piranha Plant chomped down on him and zoomed back into the Spring Hell of Corona Mountain.

  Mario's eyebrows narrowed as he stood there in a fighting position, cautiously waiting for the dangerous Piranha Plant to pop back up in the eerie silence.

  -Somewhere Along The Trans Mushroom HighwayLink

  and Luigi were still stranded somewhere between Peach Castle and Corona Mountain on the long and winding road that was the Trans Mushroom Highway -a lovely scenic

  route that could take one all the way from Toad Town to Starborn Valley, as well as various places in between. Link gave a large yawn as he stood there holding a flashlight

  for Luigi, who was bent over and working on some things under the hood of his green Wild Wing -support rods holding it up.

  "Aaaaaaah…" Link yawned, his eyes teary as he gave and another really big yawn. "Boy, this sure is taking awhile."

  "Just shut up and hold the flashlight." Luigi silenced.

  -Outside Peach CastleThe

  crowd was in high spirits, Daisy, Peach, and Toadsworth gathered on the stone bridge just before Peach Castle.

  "Peach, that was amazing!" Daisy praised. "You totally got the crowd pumped up!"

  "A-heh." Peach awkwardly laughed, shyly rubbing the back of her head. "Yes, well, I owe it all to Mario."

  "That sure was heroic of the boy, I say!" Toadsworth praised, with a hearty fist. "Way to give that Waluigi what he deserved indeed!"

  "Toadsworth, I need you to go to the third floor and talk with the Captain." Peach ordered, looking at Toadsworth on her left. "You understand what needs to be done, yes?"

  "Absolutely, your Majesty!" Toadsworth confirmed.

  "Great! Daisy, can I trust you to have everything under control here?" Peach continued, looking at Daisy on her right.

  "Oh yeah, I've got this!" Daisy laughed with a confident grin, thumbing to herself.

  "Alright." Peach nodded, turning towards the main doors of her castle. "Now I just need to find Rosalina and I'll be ready to go."

  "Hey Peach." Daisy called, stopping the princess in her tracks.

  "Oh?" Peach calmly barked, turning towards Daisy.

  "Kick some ass for me, K?" Daisy grinned.

  Peach stared at her for a very brief moment, giving a closed eyed cute laugh afterward.

  CORONA MOUNTAIN

  Level Two: Spring Hell -MarioA

  single drop of sweat slid down Mario's forehead as he stood there in the silence. Then, from behind, the Piranha Plant ripped up from the earth with great velocity. It wasted

  no time snapping at Mario's back, the hero in red giving a clenched teeth grunt as he performed a backflip. Time seemed to be in slow motion as Mario flipped backward over

  the dangerous lunging Piranha, which slowly opened its mouth as it made it's way back into it's normal position. Mario's eyebrows narrowed from above as time resumed speed.

  "FIRE STOMP!" Mario cried, his flaming boot smashing the Piranha Plant's head into the earth of Level 2, the slightly blackened and squashed head sticking it's tongue out in

  defeat.

  Mario jumped off of the Piranha Plant, landing a few feet past it with a single gloved hand against the ground -fingers spread. The defeated piranha shrunk down to a very

  small size before disappearing with a white cloud poof. Mario continued to sprint up the mountain, dust flying from his feet as he ran at an impressive speed of 64 kilometres an

  hour.

  "BOOOWSERR!" Mario cried, the hero barreling through Level 2.

  -Peach Castle, 3FAs

  previously stated, the third floor of Peach Castle was the Throne Room. The Throne Room, like the first floor, featured black and white checkered tile. The Throne Room,

  like the second floor, featured long and wide red carpet. This carpet went from the main doors of Peach Castle, up the stairs to the second floor, through the hallway that was

  the second floor (with the living quarters of the castle denizens in this hallway), up the stairs into the third floor, and continuing along the third floor until it arrive at a large

  pink cushion throne of mahogany wood. Above this throne was the famous glass mural of Peach that could be seen on the castle front. The ceiling of the throne room seemed

  endless, but it was really just the interior darkness of the castles central tower up above (a direct connection between the throne room and this tower). Finally, massive

&n
bsp; arched windows were located on either wall of the big room, the acoustics grand.

  Gathered in the royal room was the Toadsworth and the Toad Brigade -a large group of defensive soldiers that served the Toadstool bloodline.

  -A Brief Description of the Toad BrigadeThe

  Toad Brigade consists of three major groups. Red Class, Blue Class, and Yellow Class. The Red Class Toads wear a red cloak. They are plentiful in number but are the

  lowest ranking. The Blue Class Toads wear a blue cloak. They are the elite soldiers, and are much rarer in quantity. The Yellow Class Toads wear a yellow cloak. They are the

  executive forces of the Toad Army, and there are only three of them. The highest rank in the Toad Brigade army is the Toad Brigade Captain. In his younger years, the title of

  Toad Brigade Captain belonged to Toadsworth.

  "Alright men, listen up!" Toadsworth summoned, his tone much more strict compared to how he spoke with the princess. "The people are in danger and it's up to you to keep

  them safe! But, more importantly, the princess is in danger, and you bloody well better keep her safe!"

  Lana T., one of the three Toad Brigade executives, was an eighteen year old purple spotted Toad with a purple ponytail and bangs. She wielded a large lance with a fancy

  purple ribbon.

  -Toad Brigade Executive- LANA T.

  "So Peach IS coming after all?" Lana T. acknowledged. "Aww, yay! She's like, SO brave!"

  Swor T., one of the three Toad Brigade executives, was a middle aged black spotted Toad with a black mohawk. He had a sword sheathed by his side, his arms folded and

  expression cocky.

  -Toad Brigade Executive- SWOR T.

  "Tsk, what are you so cheery about? She's only gonna get in the way." Swor T. scoffed. "Am I right, Ax?"

  Ax T. was a very large Toad, about 3 times the size of a normal Toad, with a big grey beard. His weapon of choice was a giant double sided axe.

  -Toad Brigade Executive- AX T.

  "Hmm…" Ax T. growled, rubbing his beard with closed eyes in thought.

  "Captain!" Toadsworth summoned.

  The Toad Brigade captain was a red spotted Toad with a blue vest, his most key feature the brown headlight he wore on his head. He spun on one foot and gave a salute.