"Gods are powerful beings. They can have a multitude of strange and mystifying powers. They could use these powers as keepers of the peace, or become creatures of rampant destruction..."

"Sometimes though, even the gods will find themselves challenged by the demons of hell..."

In the distant past, there was once a great war fought by the herald of Heaven, the Elemental Overlord, and a enigmatic being that is named by many as the "Dark King". Their armies of demons and angels fought a great war to control the balance of light and darkness...The minions fought in the reaches of space, but the two titans had to fight their battle on a lone, lifeless planet...

"GRAAAAH!" A loud and demonic voice screams in agony. The voice comes from a shadowy yet beastly looking figure, whose body appears to have been scarred deeply, with a pure black stream of blood flowing out of his hulking body. He finds it hard to stand on his beastly legs, and starts to wobble over. Clad in armor that could be described as been crafted by the heavens themselves is a middle aged man, who stands on the rocky structure of the planet with blade in hand. The beast stares at his holy foe, anger being the only emotion on his mind as he looks at him. He gathers enough energy to stand on his feet again, and growls at the man. "Why do you stand before me, Overlord?"

The warrior frowns, and points his sword at the beast. "I will not answer your question, for you already know the answer." The man says in a calm tone. He then quickly slashes his blade across the ground, sending a wave of light energy across the ground in an attempt to trip up his weak legged foe. The beast surprises the warrior by lifting his massive body off the ground and flying into the air to avoid the light wave. As the light travels below him, it leaves behind a road of energy on the ground. The warrior then swings his sword upward to cause the light road to fire a rain of light energy streams at the beast. The beast flies to the left to avoid the attack. Once he notices that his opponent is off-guard for this brief period of time, he opens his mouth. Two tentacles burst out from his back and move towards the sides of his jaw, their tips gathering dark energy from the depths of space above them to form a sphere of darkness in front of his mouth.

When the orb is around the size of his mouth, the beast inhales the energy into himself and fires it back out in the form of a massive beam of red and black energy. The warrior lifts his sword up to defend against the beam. This scene is frozen in the tablets of history, which is currently in the hands of a short old man with swirly glasses, a white lab coat, and a little bundle of grey hairs on his head that is shaped into the shape of an ice cream swirl. He is reading the contents of this tablet to a medium sized Italian man who is wearing a red shirt and blue overalls, a red hat with a red "M" imprinted on a white circle in the front, and two white gloves. He has blue eyes, a thick and wavy black mustache, and a large round nose on his face. "And that, Mario, is the tale of the Elemental Overlord. Oh ho ho ho ho ho." The old man says.

The portly Italian man crosses his arms and thinks. "So what a-happened to the a-guy after that a-battle?" Mario asks. "Oh ho ho ho, that's the fun part Mario." The old man says. "He managed to defeat the Dark King and sealed him away forever." "I guess that's understandable" Mario says. "I'm not done yet." The man says. "Sorry Professor E. Gadd." Mario says in an apologetic tone. "The Overlord ended up suffering grave wounds that put him at the edge of death. Wanting the world to still have a protector just like himself, he split his powers into seven separate stones and placed them in temples scattered across this very planet!" E. Gadd exclaims. Mario wonders about something. "What is with this a-planet and the number a-seven?" He says to himself. "Anyways, I have managed to find a giant tablet that details the exact locations of each temple! Unluckily though, I have to translate the passages to find out where each temple is located at. In the mean time though, I need you to go somewhere for me." The old professor says.

"Oh? Where do you want a-me to a-go?" Mario asks. "Planet Earth." As E. Gadd says this, and ominous latin chorus goes off in the background. Mario is quick to notice this. "Where did that a-come from?" Mario asks. "Oh, I seem to have gotten a call on my Shell Phone. Hold on a second Mario." E. Gadd then pulls out a small green turtle shell from his lab coat pocket and answers it. "Hello? Oh yes, this is Professor E. Gadd. Oh ho ho ho, so the parts will arrive four days from now? Excellent, thanks." E. Gadd turns his phone off and puts it back into the pocket of his lab coat. "Who was that?" Mario asks. "Delivery company, they are going to be delivering some hydraulic parts to me later that I will use to upgrade F.L.U.D.D. into a more powerful device. Oh ho ho ho ho." E. Gadd chuckles. "What about that a-chorus? Was that your a-ringtone?" Mario asks. "Oh heavens no. To be honest, I have no clue where that chorus came from. But there are more important things to worry about, so let me get back to what I was talking about." E. Gadd says.

"You see, there is a prophecy that states that a special boy shall inherit the overlord's sacred powers, and be reborn from the flames as the protector of all worlds. The prophecy states that he must be guided to the seven elemental temples and a stone must be taken from each one. Once all the stones are gathered, it is said the way to the Origin Temple will be revealed...The rest of the prophecy is chipped off from that point, but it seems like a pretty simple task." E. Gadd says. Mario nods his head in agreement. "Wait...Earth is a pretty big a-place last I a-checked. How will I find this a-boy?" Mario asks. "Oh ho ho ho." E. Gadd laughs in amusement. "Amazingly enough, the tablet I found contains precise coordinates that says where the child of prophecy is."

"That's seems a tad too convenient." Mario points out. "Well, they say the Overlord was also an oracle of sorts, with his ability to see the future, I wouldn't put it past him to know where his reincarnation would be born at." E. Gadd says. "Ok...So how will I get to a-Earth?" Mario asks. "Oh ho ho ho, I may be old, but that doesn't mean that I didn't think of this!" E. Gadd says. The old man walks over to a giant grey cloth that is hanging in front of a wall and tugs the corner of it. The cloth falls off an octagonal shaped, red and white striped gate. "Behold my latest invention... The STARGADD!" E. Gadd exclaims, the last part of his sentence carrying a much louder tone than the rest of his sentence. "Interesting..." Mario says. "I know right?" E. Gadd says. "This simple looking device will allow anyone to travel to any location in the known universe! As long as you know the name of the planet you wish to go to OR you know the name of a person or place on the planet, then you can travel anywhere your heart desires! For example, say you wanted to go to the Beanbean Kingdom quickly, you would just have to mention a part of the Kingdom like Jokes End or Teehee Valley, or a person that lives there like Lady Lima or Queen Bean. Here, let me show you."

E. Gadd types in some info into the Stargadd's control panel, and a multicolored swirling portal appears in the center of the metallic frame. "Be right back Mario." E. Gadd says. The old professor then walks through the portal. Mario watches in amazement, but he doesn't have to watch long for E. Gadd ends up coming back out of the portal a few seconds later with a Whacka Bump in his hands. "I set the coordinates for Pirate's Grotto. More specifically, I set them for the Whacka that lives there. This Bump is proof that I went to that exact location." E. Gadd then flings the Bump onto a nearby steel table. "So, got any other questions Mario?" E. Gadd asks. Mario shakes his head. "Ok then." E. Gadd walks over to the control panel and types in some new coordinates. The portal shows no signs of change, but Mario bravely steps into it to take a journey to Earth. Little did he know that this would be the start of the longest week of his life...

Clash of the Elements Part 1: A Flame Reborn

Chapter 1: The Chosen

On Earth, in a mountain range, we see a young brown haired boy jogging across the mountain range. He jogs until he reaches the top of the mountain. As he reaches the top, we can see the rest of his body. His eyes are dark blue, he's wearing a red short sleeved shirt, black jeans, and a red watch. His hair is medium length, and a bowl cut to it. His body is sweating, and the sweat that drips down his face flies into the air due to the cool yet subtle breeze that fills the mountain air. The boy's stomach growls. "Well, that was a nice jog and all, but it seems as though my body requires nourishment. It's almost noon too...That walk took about thirty minutes today." The boy turns around to head back down the hill when a wild billy goat crosses his path. "A wild billy goat? ...Oh cr-" The boy is cut off when the billy goat uses his massive horns to ram right into the boy's gut. The impact of the goat's horns sends the boy flying backwards off the top of the cliff.

At the bottom of this mountain range lies a medium sized two story yellow house with a brown rooftop. A swirly multicolored portal opens up a few feet away from the house, and our heroic plumber jumps out of it. He looks around, and a feeling of nostalgia rushes through his mind. "Ah, good ol' a-Earth. I remember when I used to live in a-Brooklyn, and I was a construction a-worker...Good a-times...Good a-times." Mario says. "AAUGHH!" A voice yells out from above. "Hmmm?" Mario says. He looks up, only to find the body of the boy rapidly descending towards his face. "MAMA M-" Mario exclaims, but is cut off when the boy falls down right on top of him. Both Mario and him are KO'd for a few minutes, but the boy regains his consciousness first. He grips his head tightly with his left hand. "Ugh, that hurt..." He says. He then gets up onto his two feet and looks around. "That's odd, I thought I heard a person yelling..." He looks around some more just to make sure that no one is stalking him, but only sees an indent in the ground where he landed, and the body of a fat Italian man that has filled in that indent.

"Ah, nothing unusual here..." The boy says, before proceeding to walk towards his house, then he freezes in place when he realizes that he just flattened a fat Italian man. Then he turns around slowly when he realizes that the person he is referring to is THE Mario, and upon realizing that he starts sweating like mad because he has no clue how to react to the fact that a supposed fictional character is lying on the ground away from him, though that doesn't last for long as the portly plumber awakens from his slumber and begins to lift his head up off the grass. "Ugh...Mama mia, what fell on me?" Mario weakly asks, before opening his eyes to see the boy staring at him with a happy expression painted across his face. "Hey, are you ok Mario?" The boy asks. "Yeah, I'm a-fin-" Mario suddenly wonders as to how the boy knew of his name. "Waaaaaait, how do you know my a-name?" Mario asks. "Oh? You don't know?" The boy says with a curious look on his face.

"No..." Mario says. "Well, you look pretty beat up. I'll carry you inside my house and we'll talk about both of our tales over a hot plate of spaghetti!" Alex exclaims. Mario, knowing that he has a mission to accomplish, is almost reluctant to follow this boy into his house, but he is curious about how he is know on Earth, AND the coordinates did bring him here, so this boy is probably the one he is looking for, unless other people are living in this house. "Ok, I suppose I will come in." Mario says. "Alright!" The boy excitedly says. He then carries the weakened Mario towards the front door of his house. A few minutes later, the plumber and the boy are sitting on some chairs in the living room with hot plates of spaghetti in front of them. "So, about how you know of a-me?" Mario asks.

"I do owe you an explanation. First off, let me get a couple things out of the way. Sorry for falling on you, first of all." The boy says. Mario just waves his hand around. "No a-problem." He says. "Second, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alex Whiter." The boy says, extending his hand out to properly greet Mario "Nice to a-meet you Alex." Mario says, extending his hand out as well so both of them can shake. After they are done shaking they retract their hands. "Alright, now let me talk to you about yourself. Or at least, how this world interprets you." Alex says.

Alex ends up spending the next hour explaining to Mario about the many wondrous video games that a company called Nintendo had produced. His brief descriptions of each game remind Mario exactly of the types of adventures he has gone through in his life. He is also thrilled to know that his games have had such a great and positive impact on not just gamers' lives, but the lives of the rest of the populace as well. When Mario hears that all this was possible thanks to a single man named Shigeru Miyamoto, he sheds a single tear from his left eye. Alex finishes up the tale of Mario's adventures on Earth by this point. "And that's the whole tale. To be honest, I'm surprised you are able to talk and all. Pretty much all the games have you as a mute for the most part." Alex says.

"Fiction and a-reality are very a-different." Mario says. "Indeed" Alex responds. "By the way, what are you doing here anyways?" Alex curiously asks. Mario flinches for a brief moment. He knew that this moment was coming, but during the time he spent in awe over Alex's tales he didn't come up with a way to break it to him, so he decided to stall for a bit by asking a question. "Say, do you have any brothers or a-sisters that live in this a-house?" Mario asks. Alex shakes his head. "Nope, only child." He responds. In this time Mario is able to figure out just what he needs to say. "Well, I have to a-tell you this then Alex..." Mario says. For the next five minutes Mario explains the tale of the Element Overlord that E. Gadd had talked to him about, along with the prophecy and how he got to Earth in the first place. When Mario is done, Alex's expression has changed from happy to surprised.

"M-m-m-me?" Alex says, his eyes lit up like a couple of firefly lights. "There must be some mistake, I mean seriously! There's no way that that could be possible!" Alex says. "Prophecy states a set of a-coordinates on Earth Alex, I find a-you here, and without any other a-kids living here, you are the only a-one that could match up the a-prophecy." Alex suddenly frowns. "Mario, there is something seriously wrong with that logic." He says. "Oh?" Mario asks. "First off, the guy predicted EXACTLY where the person who was going to become his reincarnation would live, yet never gave any details as to what he will look like, second, it doesn't sound like he specified a year when the person would be living here, so that means that the time period when the real reincarnation person might've lived around here could've already passed! It sounds too contrived to assume that I'm the Overlord's reincarnation at all..." Alex says.

"...Well, that is quite a-true Alex. Still, I've come all this a-way looking for a-person like a-you. Destiny comes knocking to a-those who least expect it after-a all." Mario says. "So will you a-come and at least a-try and see if this prophecy was a-meant for a-you?" He asks, tilting his head while waiting for an answer. Alex thinks about Mario's words, and comes up with an answer. "Ok, I will go with you Mario." He says. Mario readjusts his head back into it's normal position and smiles. "Alrighty then Alex. Let's-a go!" He exclaims with a feeling of intense excitement. "Okay!" Alex exclaims. The two of them then head outside of Alex's house, with Alex giving the old home a good ol' goodbye before he leaves. "I'll be back someday!" Alex says while waving at the house. Mario then realizes something. "Wait! What about your a-parents?" Mario says.

Alex stops waving, his body freezes up, and he starts sweating slightly. He turns around and nervously rubs the back of his head while his eyes are closed. "Well, you see...About that. They are off on an extended vacation to Paris. They won't be back for a week, so I'm good until then." Alex says, his body continuing to sweat. Mario glares at Alex in suspicion of his tale, but just shrugs. "Meh, I guess that understandable." Mario points out. Alex calms down and his body stops sweating. They then head through the swirly multicolored portal to head back to E. Gadd's lab. Behind a nearby tree, a mysterious person walks out from behind it. "Where are you going, Whiter?" The person says in a deep voice. Back in the Portal from Alex's perspective, you can see what the portal looks like on the inside. On the sides of the portal, you can see various events from old Mario Games, like the Minus World trick, Mario tossing Bowser into a spiked ball, the Galaxy Exploding, Mario vs. Super Dimentio, and various other events from the Mario series as well. At the very end of the portal journey, a bright light engulfs the both of them, leaving them back in E. Gadd's lab, even though the place now seems slightly torn up.

Alex looks a bit concerned. "This is E. Gadd's lab? I know the man's a bit of a mad scientist and all, but I expected him to keep a tidier workplace than this..." He says, his eyes shut slightly to show concern for the shape of the lab. E. Gadd comes crawling across the ground, his body beaten and bruised. Mario's eyes widen and he rushes over to check up on him. He's still alive, despite the wounds that have been placed on his body. Alex walks over to E. Gadd as well. E. Gadd slowly raises his head up and looks at Mario, his glasses cracked around the edges. "Mario..You came back..." E. Gadd weakly says. "What happened while I was a-gone Professor?" Mario asks. The Professor's body trembles with fear, and he finds it hard to say the name of the person who did this, but with what little energy he has left at this time, he is able to mutter a name that Mario thought he'd never hear again. "Cackletta..." The Professor then faints, Mario's expression changes to total shock, and Alex wonders whats going on. "Mario?" Alex asks in a timid tone. Mario gets up, and rushes for the exit of the lab. "Mario!" Alex exclaims as he rushes after him. "Wait up! What's going on? Mario!"

Next Chapter: The Witch Returns! The Mustard of Doom Tastes Sour!