You have Acquired:
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An organic rifle whose internal organs generate potent charges of bioelectricity to accurately fry enemies at close or medium range. It unleashes 12 jolts per second in a continuous stream, with 72 jolts per charge and 6 seconds to fully recharge, though it won't fire while recharging. The weapon does not need to feed, but it should be cleaned.

Peach’s Castle - A Few Hours Earlier

As was so often the case it was a beautiful day in the Mushroom Kingdom. Above the sun and moon both hung in a bright blue sky dotted with only a few wispy skies, down below a light breeze whispered through the carefully kept gardens surrounding the caste which were filled with toads, all currently sporting a variety of colorful hats, celebrating the return of princess Peach from her second, and this time voluntary, trip around the globe. Having arrived via taxi, princess traveled up the path to her castle a wheeled suitcase bouncing along behind her that was stuffed with souvenirs and plastered with stickers from all the kingdoms she had visited. As she climbed the gentle hill heading for home she was slowed by the questions and conversation of several toads and one balloon toting Luigi who wanted to know how she was doing and how her trip had been. Peach responded with cheerful grace, more than happy to see familiar faces after her pst kidnaping vacation and was eager to ragale those she met with tales of the places she had been and the people she had met.

Eventually however she made it to the bridge to her castle and, after making promises about cake and holiday snaps she left most of the crowd behind her. She headed across the bridge with the skip in her step accompanied by the “clack clack clack” of her heels against the marble archway. The cheerful tapping was halted about stop half way across the bridge at hearing the all to familiar sound of vast propellers and moments later the sky darkened as the sun was blocked out by the arrival of Bowser’s airships. Dark storm clouds followed in the wake of the Koopa King’s fleet of ships, rolling in and blotting out the cheerful blue skies.

“Oh no...” peach gasped as they descended on her kingdom.

Along with Bowser’s usual ship there where 8 others. Seven of these had styled bows made in the image of the seven Koopalings who captained them and these spread out around the castle, dropping off bowser's minions who proceeded to terrify the local toads while they formed an "Anti-Mario" perimeter. The 9th ship was a miniaturized affair that bore Bowser Jr which accompanied Bowser's flagship as it descended down to the moat, the bow of the ship coming to rest just beside the bridge to the castle that Peach was on while Bowser jr’s smaller ship descended down to the other side behind her. The tiny koopa, who was smartly dressed in a ring bearer’s attire and carrying a newly acquired golden staff featuring a lightning bolt atop it, clearly visible commanding his mini vessel and poised ready to intercept peach if she attempted to flee in either direction. Bowser, who had clearly had not taken the time changed since he their last encounter, then appeared on the bow of his ship, accompanied by a flash of lightning conducted by his son.

“HAHAHA! YOU DIDN’T THINK YOU COULD DITCH ME THAT EASILY, DID YA PRINCESS?”



Of course, whenever Bowser made his grand appearance within the immediate vicinity of Peach’s castle, his archrival would surely not be far behind. Looking up at the events from down in Toad Town, the unmistakable mustached man angrily twittled with his facial hair as he observed the Koopa’s Armada storm towards the royal castle. Their last confrontation was just weeks prior - after enduring a odyssey across the globe and onto the moon of all things - and yet Bowser was already back up on his feet, ready to kidnap Princess Peach for the millionth time in a row! How many more times can that overgrown turtle take? To say that Mario was caught off guard by his sudden arrival would simply be unprofessional.

For he was always well prepared to foil any of Bowser’s schemes, no matter how big or small they were.

"Let's-a-go..." he simply muttered.

Without further delay, Mario flipped up his cap as he immediately dashed towards Peach’s Castle. Already he can see that the Koopa King’s minions were being deployed on the streets to disperse the toad populous. They were mostly comprised of the traditional goombas and koopas - spiced up with their para-units and shy guys. Overall, it seemed nothing out of the ordinary just yet. When the first goombas recognized the plumber’s intrusion however, they would be too late to run as a mighty brown boot squashed them into pancakes. The koopa troopas would immediately deploy multiple portable bullet bill launchers as they launched at the plumber with great speed. Mario would dodge and weave at the incoming bullets, even stomping on several to get more height in his strive, until he reached the green shells and punched them away with ferocious force. And to those farther away, he’d launch a volley of fireballs to deal with them

He would continue running the gauntlet to Peach’s castle, ruthlessly eliminating every opposition in his way as they attempted to stall Mario for as long as they could. But at the speed that the plumber was going, he’d surely be unable to reach Bowser before he could kidnap the Princess. He needed a way to get there faster - way faster in fact.

But one look up at the closest koopaling airship - Larry’s to be exact - told him that there was indeed a faster way towards his quarry. Seeing a squad red-shelled para-troopas approach from the deck, Mario took a running stride to one of the Toad houses and leaped onto the head of the closest troopa, knocking it into its shell as soon as his boot connect. There he would leap onto the next koopa and then towards the next - and the next - before he found himself on the miniature airship.

Once on deck, the troops on deck immediately were alerted to his presence and they proceeded to fire homing red bullet bills from the ship’s own cannons. Again, the resourceful plumber made use of these projectiles by leading one towards the main rudder that kept the ship mobile. Once the first bullet hit the main mast, the airship was unable to hold itself up as it slowly began to sink back towards the ground. But by that time, Mario utilized the rest of the bullet bills to get towards the next koopaling airship. He would jump from ship to ship before finally reaching Bowser’s own airship. And by the time he got up there, four koopaling airships had been immobilized by his own hand.

Once landing on the hard wooden deck, Mario faced his shell-clad nemesis and rose his fists to combat. He didn’t announce any introductory greetings or words of battle. In fact, he didn’t need to say anything. For he knew exactly how it was going to go down.

The koopa king roared at the sight of the mustached hero while behind him Peach, who was had only just been corralled by the Beast and his son, cried out for help, only to be snatched up by Bowser Jr and taken to his miniature airship. The ship, baring the princess and staff wielding boy then hovered up and around the site of the arch-enemies' showdown, freeing the two up to duke it out with no holds barred. Bowser took the initiative, launching himself at Mario one fist reaching back to wind up a titanic strike.

Mario figured Bowser’s son would take the chance to nab Peach while he was distracted, but at this point all that mattered was beating the Great Koopa King himself. He’ll deal with his son later. So once Bowser initiated the first strike, that’s when the battle finally began. However with the Koopa King’s slower speed and massive body language blatantly telegraphing his move, Mario would easily utilize his speed and agility to dodge his opponent’s massive, meaty fist, He ducked just below it before jumping up to issue a powerful uppercut to his opponent’s jaw, with coins dinging just above his head.

Bowser took the bow on the chin for even as his head was forced up by the strike he was inhaling deeply, flames wisping at the edges of his mouth. A moment later the king launched himself backwards, letting out a gout of flame as he made space for himself, before landing a little distance away from Mario. Above him, well out of reach Bowser Jr, and still keeping a tight grip on Peach, he waved the lightning staff at the rumbling sky. Sparks danced along its zig-zag head as the magic weapon began charging up.

As the large fireball approached him, Mario leapt straight over it as he sprinted towards the Koopa King. Yet as he approached him, he suddenly took a better look at the lightning staff that junior had in his possession. He had no idea what it is or where he even got it - although Mario would guess that he might’ve made a trip to Star Road or some other sacred place - but he knew that whatever Bowser had in his hands was assuredly going to cause major trouble. He’ll have to take it out of his hands quickly for it already seemed to be charging up.

That said, Mario launched a volley of fireballs to keep the giant koopa busy as he once again jumped at a specific angle in order to try and grasp the lightning staff from his son. He’ll not allow him to use anymore dirty tricks in an honest brawl. Not this time.

The young prince had no interest in cooperating however, or to be more exact his helmsman unseen did not as the ship lurched up and away from the incoming Mario. Escaping had thrown off Bowser Jr’s aim however and the charged up sparks lepet towards a random part of the ship rather than at the plumber himself. Where they struck they seemed to have no effect, up until a moment alter a mighty lightning bolt arced down from the sky and struck the deck. The boy began charging another blast as soon as the ship re-stabilized up in the sky while the king charged towards the landing zone of the now descending plumber, attempting to careen into him as soon as he hit the deck.

His mark was off by just a few feet, leaving Mario to descend back onto the deck. The lightning bolt that descended from the sky nearly hit the plumber, as his ‘stache felt the tingling sparks brushing off it. The staff seemed true to its looks - a lightning staff which had the power to summon lightning from the sky. It was not the worse thing he had seen Bowser holding - and god forbid the time he had a damn star rod in his possession - but he must still be extremely wary of its usage.

Meanwhile, Mario could see Bowser running towards him from below, just waiting to cream him once he landed. While normally he would be subjected to his ever increasing might, in this case Mario had earned a few new tricks up his sleeve over the years. Once he was just at the right height, he suddenly turned rapidly around into a living cyclone - producing the infamous “Mario Tornado” maneuver in order to counter his approach.

Having failed to hit the plumber Bowser’s charge continued forwards as the king was borne by his momentum. To right this he slammed a claw into the ship’s deck. His bulk dredged a wretched scrape through the wood but it did quickly bring him to halt. As Mario landed he breathed in once more, this time launching a flurry of fireballs, far greater than the plumber’s own in size if not speed, at Mario while his son finished charged up another lightning strike.

Mario quickly realized the giant fireballs coming in his direction and immediately attempted to bolt away from their massive size. He can feel the heat radiating off of each one, threatening to cook him alive if he wasn’t careful. However, when one particular fireball was heading straight for him, he had an idea spring into mind. Standing in place, he grasped his hand onto a yellow fabric behind him and spun it towards the giant flaming ball with all of his strength and speed to redirect it back at the Koopa King.

Following this, Mario began charging up his own fireball that brewed within his hands. Before he could launch it however, he noticed from the corner of his eye that the staff that Junior held began to glow. It was as if it was charged and ready to go. He knew what he must do. Once his fireball was charged, instead of launching it at Bowser, he launched it at Junior’s miniature airship. He knew it was a risky maneuver - especially with Junior holding his love hostage within - but he was confident that he will be quick enough to save her just in the nick of time.

The fireball struck true, blowing a hole in the tiny ship that began to leak smoke. The helmsman attempted to keep her steady, but it was no use. The ship rocked too and for, causing junior to lose his footing and stumble off of the failing craft. The princess, prince and staff all dropped like stones.

With Junior’s influence being utterly immobilized, Mario sprinted towards the side of the ship. Once he leapt off the deck, he immediately tied the yellow cape to his neck, causing him to earn the power of flight. He swooped as fast as he could towards the falling Princess first, clutching her with his mighty arms. Once she was out of immediate danger, Mario used his other hand to grasp the lighting staff and - being how he was a rather respectful person - used it to pluck Junior’s bib, locking it between both the cloth and the kid’s neck. Having the burden to carry this assortment of cargo, Mario would then make his way back to the castle balcony. He hovered in between the castle and Bowser’s airship, carefully placing Peach back on the marbled floor before turning his attention back to the Koopa King himself.

"It’s-a-over Bowser." the plumber finally spoke in his iconic italian accent as he tossed junior back onto the airship using the staff, "I have the high ground as-a-usual. How many more times are we-a-gonna keep-a doing this? Like it’s-a-been only a week or so since we fought on the Moon for mushroom’s sake! And you still failed!"

Bowser, had been left in the dust by the plumber’s flight and scrambled now to catch his son, a great claw reaching out and softening the boy’s landing. Bowser sighed in relief Jr picked himself up and then replied to Mario.

“DON’T YOU DARE UNDERESTIMATE ME MARIO. YOU MIGHT HAVE WON LAST TIME BUT WE ARE GOING TO DO THIS OVER, AND OVER AGAIN UNTIL I FINALLY BEAT YOU FOR ONCE!”

He roared and launched himself up at the plumber, taking his son along with him as together they tried to strike down their eternal foe. As they approached the mustached plumber, Mario raised the lightning staff - with electricity cackling through the tip - and pointed it towards both father and son, ready to smite them both.

But before the two would clash against one another~

”SPECIAL DELIVERY FOR MARIO MARIO, LUIGI MARIO, PRINCESS PEACH TOADSTOOL, KING BOWSER KOOPA, AND BOWSER KOOPA JUNIOR!”

It was then when the two parties ceased their hostile advance upon each other’s throats and looked over to who had called their names. A lone lakitu could be seen carrying a duffle bag upon its humble little cloud as it floated towards the two fighters. Mario dropped the staff onto the balcony as he was handed over a simple letter. At first, it seemed like only your average envelope - but upon looking at the red imprinted sticker - a sphere marked by a cross - he knew exactly where it was from.

It was that time of the year again.