<div class="floatleft">(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/e6/2d/bb/e62dbb31b55ed7de74d4dbea60b38e3e.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Mario<br/><strong>Title:</strong>Legend<br/><strong>Game:</strong>Mario Franchise<br/><strong>Time:</strong>January 18th, 0900<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Forest of Illusion to Kill Zone<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Group, Open<strong>Mentioned:</strong>NPCs, Dante, checking out the women, and Prinny.<br/><hr/><hr/><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: courier;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">Mushroom Kingdom</span></span><br/><strong>Forest of Illusion</strong><br/><br/><br/>The trees in the forest were its most noticeable characteristic. They grew tall to towering heights, their fresh leafy branches blotting out the crisp blue sky. Was it day? Was it night? No traveler knew for sure once they had chosen to traverse the treacherous woods. Overhead, riding on a smiling cloud, Lakitu sailed over the treetops like a plane flying low over an ocean of green. The arbors were smiling, which to most first-time visitors to the Mushroom Kingdom found creepy rather than cheerful. There was nothing cheerful about being in a mysterious forest full of feral Wigglers, Galoombas, Winged Koopas, and Chargin’ Chucks that wanted to harm you. Lakitu was on a quest, and as much as he didn’t wish to dive into the depths of illusion, he ducked back inside his cloud as it began to sink like a submarine beneath the boughs.<br/><br/>The forest was dim, but strangely not dark. It must have been pitch-black at night. Lakitu poked his head out of his cloud again and began turning about, looking this way and that, searching for the hero that his letter sensed. The letter was like a radar, the magic it was infused with causing it to tremble the closer he came to a hero and by the looks of it, he was close!<br/><br/>Out of all the letters that he had delivered so far, this was the one hero who he was most familiar with. In a clearing a few yards ahead, Lakitu saw a kneeling figure draped in a brown tattered cloak. His hand was clutching the handle of a massive hammer and his back was rising and falling with what could only be labored breaths. As he closed the distance, the man’s grip on the mallet tensed, and it was only sheer luck that the weapon that had been swung around with every intention to knock him from his cloud had missed him. The breeze from the swing blew Lakitu back and with a frightened cry, he dropped the letter on the ground and took off like a rocket back into the sky.<br/><br/>The man’s mouth fell open as he continued to pant. Drops of hot sweat rolled down the sides of his face and dripped from his chin. His barreled chest swelled and sank beneath a pair of blue overalls as he tried to calm his rapidly beating heart. From beneath dark, thick brows, he first peered down at the letter and then up at the tree canopy where the Lakitu had disappeared.<br/><br/>“Well, shit, he was deliverin’ a letter?” he thought aloud to himself. He was used to those creatures trying to lob spiked balls at him. The Forest of Illusion was no walk in the park. It was a dangerous place and so far every creature within it had tried to kill him. Mario had been using it as a training ground. The reason as to why he had vanished was in his muscular physique. Setting down the hammer with a wooden<em>thud</em>, he crouched before the note and picked it up. Eying the seal with zero recognition, he broke the wax and began to read over the summons. Midway through, Mario sighed in exasperation and bowed his head.<br/><br/>“I was really hopin’ that I was finally done with adventurin’,” he grumbled. Wiping some salty sweat and dirt that nearly rolled into his eyes, he stood and stared for a few seconds at the two responses: “Yes” or “No.”<br/><br/>Glancing at his current surroundings, he silently contemplated if he still wanted to be here. The adventure was tempting and who knows, there might be some more princesses to save? The corner of his mouth quirked at the thought and with his index finger, he touched the answer: “Yes.”<br/><br/>A magic circle then exploded beneath his feet. Its brilliant light made him squint as it stung his retinas. Raising his arms to protect his face from the glare, the atmosphere changed dramatically. No longer was he in the hot woods. Slightly lowering his arms, Mario stared suspiciously at his new environment. There were others standing before him, and it looked like…a castle!<br/><br/>“Yahoo!” Mario cheered, shaking his clenched fists in excitement. “It’s a castle, which means a hot princess babe. I lucked out.”<br/><br/>Resting his hands upon his hips, Mario laughed loud and merrily at his perverse luck. His laughter gradually fell quiet when an orange creature came out of nowhere and approached him and the group.<br/><br/><strong>@!#?@!</strong><br/><br/>“Eh?” Mario uttered with an arched brow.<br/><br/>What was it? He heard the silver-haired man call it a basketball and he couldn’t help but crack a grin of amusement. He would have never guessed that. With another blurb of noise, the creature started walking away and just moving along with the rest of the heroes, Mario followed. As they approached the warp elevator, Mario was discreetly checking out the few females in the group. They were all tall, dark and mysterious—mm! One of them was even clad in a skin-tight body suit with her curves hardly left to the imagination. Even though he had no idea what was going on…did he already say that he was glad that he made the decision that he did? Yes? Well, he thought it again. He was so glad that he made the decision that he did!<br/><br/>Soon, he and the heroes were crowded into the warp elevator and in a wink were carried to the 49th floor. Mario was a little unaccustomed to the instant rush, so while everyone filed out, he was leant over with his hands on his knees, trying to hold back those Mushroom Kingdom apples he had lived off of. Swallowing down his nausea, he muttered pathetically, “Mama mia…the last time I warped like that was when I was in space.”<br/><br/>He could barely mentally calculate how long ago that was. Once he got his insides to settle down, he trailed behind the group, stepping through the door and absently peering at the little orange dude that didn’t seem to be following them. Hm…it almost seemed like a trap.<br/><br/><strong>%!&amp;?@</strong><br/><br/>The door suddenly sealed behind them all. Yep, it was a trap.<br/><br/>“WHAT THE!?” Mario exclaimed when suddenly some science fiction bullshit started happening. There was a roar of machinery and a blinding light. Was he the only one freaking out about this!? “Why did I come heeereee~!?”<br/><br/>They were warped somewhere…again. Maybe. Opening one eye, Mario peeked at the island and the extremely disciplined individuals standing before them.<br/><br/><strong>WELCOME BITCHES! IT’S GAME TIME! WOOO!</strong><br/><br/>Except that guy. That guy was<em>not</em>disciplined.<br/><br/>Opening his other eye, Mario listened to the welcome brief, still feeling confused. He felt almost as lost as…was that a penguin? Mario’s focus then returned to the brief in time to hear Captain Price give his warning. The last kill instructor Angeal was introduced and then Guile kindly enlightened them of their missing gear and change of clothes. Mario’s brows shot upwards in surprise. What? He peered down at his camouflage clothes and boots.<br/><br/><em>Well…it’s better than overalls,</em>he thought.<br/><br/>As the other members began introducing themselves—he learned that the poor penguin’s name was Prinny…and that he was from the Netherworld—it soon came around to him. A large and confident grin expanded on his face as Mario puffed his chest out and egotistically curled his left arm to flex it. The muscle that swelled against the rolled sleeve of his jacket, causing the material to creak pleasantly—at least to his ears.<br/><br/>“I guess I’m hard to recognize now that I’ve shaved off some pounds,” he said. He then curled both of his arms beneath his chest, causing his chest, arms, and back muscles to flex against the dark camo material. “Yep, I’ve come a long way. No longer the ass of all fat jokes.”<br/><br/>Relaxing his muscles, he waited to see if anyone would recognize him still and he arched a brow at the silence. “’You serious?”<br/><br/>He glanced about at the heroes. “Is it really that dramatic of a difference?”<br/><br/>As he raised a finger to scratch what would have normally been his gorgeous full stache, his finger settled on a naked lip. Immediately a chill shot up the plumber’s spine and his eyes shrank in dread.<br/><br/><em>No…</em>Mario thought in horror, his heart plummeting. His finger dragged across a naked lip. His moustache…was…gone.<br/><br/>“AAAAAHHH!” Mario screamed, his voice resonating into the vast simulated space. He immediately dropped to the ground and began crawling about the dirt, raking some loose soil up with his fingers while hyperventilating. This wasn’t happening! He couldn’t be seen without it. Where had it gone? It was there a second ago! With some spit and dirt, he was able to make some mud and he dragged a smudge across his upper lip to simulate the beautiful growth of masculinity that had once been there. Rising to his feet with his back to everyone, Mario exhaled a sigh of relief.<br/><br/>“Now I understand why nobody recognized me,” Mario said and turned around, presenting his wannabe stache. “Itsa’ me, Mario.”<br/><br/><div class="floatright"><strong>Word Count: 1,526</strong> <strong>+5</strong></div>