Super Mario-kun Volume 4

Super Mario-kun Volume 4 is the fourth volume of the manga series, ending the Super Mario World (main) story arc that began in the first volume, but some chapters also include elements from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Mario Paint. In this part, Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi face the Valley of Bowser and finally have the final confrontation with Bowser. The Reznors (which briefly appeared in the second 4-koma of the first volume), Larry and Bowser are the bosses fought in the volume.

Stage One
とりつかれたルイージ！！　沈没船のわなを破れ！！ (Luigi is Possessed!! Break the Trap of a Sunken Ship!)

Mario, Luigi and Yoshi needs to return to the Valley of Bowser and save the real Princess Peach, but the cave entrance returned to the bottom of the sea. The trio notices a Sunken Airship not so far from the Chocolate Island coast and decide to check inside for some clues. Using Balloon Yoshi, the three reach the shipwreck, diving in it just as some flying enemies comes for them.

Inside the shipwreck, Mario and his friends find a bunch of Disappearing Boo Buddies. Using a giant painted sack to disguise as Big Boo, the heroes passes by. A skittish Boo tosses a coin on the ground and Mario jumps out to get it, revealing their disguise. The Boos attack them, but Mario and Yoshi manages to escape, leaving Luigi behind. When they notice this, Luigi comes back, but is much more angry and violent. Yoshi realizes that he got possessed by the Disappearing Boos.

Mario and Yoshi fights back, but each hit makes the possessed Luigi stronger and angrier. He grabs a ? Block and points to Mario and Yoshi: a vine sprouts out of the block and they two get tied and strangled by it. Mario notices an old ? Block and, making Yoshi hitting it, a Super Leaf comes out and Mario grabs it, becoming Racoon Mario. With one Tail Whip, Mario breaks free of the vine and hits Luigi, making him puke out all the Boos that possessed him. Luigi thanks Mario and the trio continues their exploring.

After entering a Warp Pipe, the three finds themselves in a tall and empty space, falling down whit Koopa Paratroopas and Floating Mines. In the middle of the enemy swarm, Yoshi notices a Super Star and Mario touches it with his tail, making it bigger and invincible. The three fall to the flooded bottom of the hall, where they find a Magic Ball. After grabbing it, the shipwreck shakes, and they go out to check, hoping to find the emerged Valley of Bowser entrance, not noticing that it's right under them.

Stage Two
危険なお札！！　クッパ神社で初もうで！？ (Dangerous talisman!! Bowser's New Year Shrine!?)

While traversing the Valley of Bowser, the trio finds Bowser's New Year Shrine. Yoshi starts feeling bad and informs the Mario Bros. that he needs to go to the bathroom, and goes behind a rock. In look for toilet papers, Yoshi finds a and, ignoring the sign warning not to, he removes it from the wall. Immediately after, the wall breaks and a dangerous Bony Beetle comes out from it. Meanwhile, Bowser is taking Peach to the shrine with the Koopa Clown Car, but seeing the heroes and the freed Bony Beetle, Bowser flees, not before mocking Mario and wishing him good luck with that terrible monster.

The Bony Beetle attacks Mario with laser eyes. Yoshi (returned from his bathroom break) tries to eat it, but it's too big for him. After almost getting impaled by its spikes, the trio tries to run for it, but gets trapped by the spikes shot at them, but Yoshi manages to free them all with a powerful fart. The "explosion" makes Mario bump on the shrine's offer box, making a Dragon Coin pop outside. Yoshi tries to eat it, believing it's a chocolate coin, but before he can gulp it, his tongue gets transformed into a longer tongue. Mario decides to use this and wraps the tongue around the Bony Beetle, then pulls the tongue, making the monster spin like a whirligig, defeating it.

The Bowser's shrine is renamed to Yoshi, who pleads Mario to pray that his tongue returns to its normal size.

Stage Three
お年玉争奪戦！！　マリオを倒すのはだれだ！？ (Lottery Competition!! Who Will Defeat Mario!?)

The entire Koopa Troop is having a New Year party at Bowser's Castle: Spinies are dress like Kadomatsu, Thwomps are mashing and Bowser is making silly dances to please Peach. Bowser then makes an announcement, he will give a to the one that will defeat Mario. Of course no one accepts, but Bowser shows that Mario, his friends and their power-ups are celebrating too, and are now tipsy from the. Everyone accepts and run to Mario's location: Valley of Bowser 2.

Kamek and the Troop initially fight each other to see who's gonna kill Mario, but Kamek calms everyone down, proposing to work together then he will duplicate the price and divide it between each other. That said, the Troop attacks Mario: first, a bunch of Bob-ombs dressed up like shuttlecocks are tossed at them, then a Monty Mole pretending to be a balloon, a Spike Top-dreidel and lastly a Charging Chuck tackles at Mario, decomposing his face. Mario tries to use the power-ups, but they're sleeping dead drunk.

Kamek orders the Troop to jump at them, but before they can get them, Mario, Luigi and Yoshi find themselves on a solid platform that raises up, making the Troop slam on the wall. Avoiding being crushed on the ceiling thanks to a hole, the heroes are now safe, but Kamek uses magic to destroy the walls, but keep missing them, crushing his allies with the debris instead. Kamek tries to appear in front of them and blocking the path, but gets hit by another solid platform and a diagonal lift, falling to the ground unconscious.

Seems to be over, but a late minion arrive: the Thwomp that was squashing the mochi (stuck in the ). Mario is not scared, but the Thwomp spills the mashed mochi on the three, trapping them in the sticky sweet. Mario tries to fly out and, thanks to Yoshi eating the mochi at his feet and flies towards the Giant Gate. Hitting the highest point, Mario obtains 50 Goal Stars and uses them to defeat the Thwomp, trowing them at it. Mario have won against the whole Troop, but a Big Steely sent by Bowser rolls and squashes Luigi and Yoshi. Happy, Bowser gives the otoshidama to himself.

Stage Four
マリオの伝説！？　ゼルダ世界(ワールド)で大暴れ！！ (The Legend of Mario!? Zelda World on Rampage!!)

The trio finds a natural hot spring. Luigi is, as always, suspicious and notices a sign: the sign states that it's the SNES Lake, a "Warp Zone to other games". Before Luigi can warn his friends, Mario and Yoshi have already dived in. Mario suddenly finds himself in a forest and, immediately after, a knight stabs him in the butt with a trident. Furious, Mario punches him, and only then he notices that he's holding a sword, the Kinoko Sword.

Someone else jumps at Mario, but it's just Yoshi, back in shield form. The two hear Luigi's voice: Luigi explains that he can see them and communicate with them from the Super Mario World side of the SNES Lake. Judging by the situation, Luigi realizes they are in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past side of the Lake: to return to their game, they need to find the Hyrulean SNES Lake.

While looking for it, Mario chops some bushes, collecting Rupees, but suddenly they are attacked by a group of Octoroks. Mario slashes at them with no problem, but he's then shot by two Zora. This decreases Mario's Life Gauge and an annoying beeping sound is heard by them. Luigi tells Mario he needs to revitalize his health bar to make it stop. A Fairy flies by to help Mario, but Yoshi eats her. Mario yells at him, but Yoshi points to another flying being and Mario catches it, but it's a Bee which stings Mario, increasing the beeping sound.

Yoshi finds a Fairy Fountain and drags Mario in it. Inside, they meet an ugly Bowser-faced Fairy which kisses Mario, replenishing his heart. Trying to forget this traumatic experience, Mario and Yoshi leaves and encounters an Armos that Mario defeats by squashing it with the Statue form. Right after, Mario gets strike by a lightning spell cast by Agahnim, the main antagonist of the game. Agahnim strikes again, but Yoshi eats his spell and tries to spit it back at him, but even if he got him, Agahnim is not at all hurt by it.

Being hurt, Mario's beeping sound resumes and the Cursed Fairy comes to aid. Too scared of another of her kiss, Mario pretends to be dead and Agahnim prepare the finishing blow. Quickly, Luigi takes out some Super Mushrooms and tosses them in the lake. The Mushroom falls on the Kinoko Sword, making it the Super Kinoko Sword. With a Spin Attack, Mario defeats Agahnim. The Cursed Fairy accompanies Mario and Yoshi to the Hyrule's SNES Lake, and the two dive in.

However, instead of going back to the Dinosaur Land, Mario and Yoshi (now back to normal), finds themselves on Mute City, right in the middle of the track, running away from the Blue Falcon, the Wild Goose and the Fire Stingray.

Stage Five
かぜに負けるな！！　ヨッシーどとうの大奮戦！！ (Don't Succumb To The Cold! Yoshi's Raging Big Fight!!)

Kamek just finished a secret weapon known as King Virus, a hybrid of all the three Dr. Mario 's Viruses, provoking a terrible and deadly Cold that only works on humans (but does cause a little cold to Bowser). The Virus is shot, via cannon, towards Mario, landing right in Mario's mouth. Mario starts feeling so cold that not even Yoshi's fire breath can warm him.

Suddenly, a Diggin' Chuck appears and Yoshi shoves Luigi and Mario, yelling them to run, but Luigi bonks his head and falls unconscious, while Mario is too cold to move. The Chuck starts digging out boulders that Yoshi eats and spit back at him, so the Chuck digs out a giant boulder that flattens Yoshi after he tries to, initially, run on it. The Chuck take advantage of the situation and tosses Yoshi in a hole that he then fills with dirt.

Between the rocks, Yoshi finds a flashing shell and eats it. With the power of wings, fire breath and earthquaking stomp, Yoshi escapes his grave and defeats the Chuck, trapping him in an egg. Meanwhile, Mario sneezes so hard that the King Virus (and a river of mucus) comes out from his nose, finally curing him of the strong cold. Meanwhile, a chilled Bowser has watched everything from hidden cameras and blames Kamek for his failed plan, while the wizard is curing him with Megavitamins.

Stage Six
クッパ城目前！！　スイッチ宮殿をさがしだせ！！ (Bowser's Castle in Sight!! Find the Switch Palace!!)

Bowser's Castle is in sight, but to reach it the heroes needs to pass over a cliff. Mario tries to fly over, but the ceiling has a bunch of hanged Parabombs, preventing to fly over the cliff without touching them. Luigi notices a bridge of Dotted-Line Blocks and Yoshi explains that they need to find their corresponding ! Switch, hidden somewhere in the Dinosaur Land in a Switch Palace. Using the Star World, the three return to the Forest of Illusion.

They come across a pond where a sign reveals it is. Mario tosses a Mushroom inside, but a text-box states that it's not enough, so Mario tosses all of their items. The fairy finally comes out and ask if they dropped their items or a pure gold Mushroom. Luigi tries to answer honestly, but Mario shoves him away and, driven by greed, replies they dropped both. Hating the liars, the fairy disappears, taking their items with her.

An old hooded man comes to them and asks if Mario can lend him his cape. Mario is about to refuse, but Luigi hits him with a hammer and gives him Mario's cape. To repay their kindness, the old man offers to guide them to "the Switch". They arrive to a clearing, where a light switch is present. Mario is angry they've been led to the wrong place. Just then the old man and the lake fairy reveals themselves to be a Koopa Troopa and a Sumo Bro respectively.

The two starts a TV quiz show in which Mario has to guess the silhouette of an enemy behind a curtain. After failing to guess, the two Koopas make the enemy enter: it's the Reznors, which the Sumo Bro sics to Mario. Mario shoves Yoshi into their wheel, making three of them fall. The last Reznor standing charges at Mario, unable to be helped (due to the TV show rules) by his friends, and gets send flying, landing right on the Blue Switch Palace. Mario enters in it, but inside he finds an army of Spinies. Scared, Mario backs off right on a Grey P-Switch. After activating it, the Spinies turns into Grey Coins and Mario collets them, obtaining many 1-UPs.

The Reznor comes to the Switch Palace and orders Mario to come out, but an army of nintynine Marios comes out and attacks him. Luigi and Yoshi reaches him and, after identified the real Mario with a coin, the trio returns to the Valley of Bowser, but when they reach the bridge, Mario realizes that he forgot to activate the ! Switch.

Stage Seven
ハックン軍団襲来！！　忍者の里で大激闘！！ (Ninji Army Invasion!! A Great, Fierce Battle at Ninja Village!!)

Now forced to take an alternative route to the castle, Mario decides to speed things up and use the Pegasus Boots he took from Hyrule (meanwhile, Link is having trouble in finding the boots). With Yoshi and Luigi gripped to his cape, Mario runs towards the castle, but he doesn't manage to stop and goes past the castle. Bowser and Kamek notice them and happily see that they've just crashed in the Ninja Village.

After tossing away the "useless boots", the dark falls on the trio. Mario and Yoshi mistake it for the night and goes to sleep, but the "darkness" are a Ninji army, led by the elder Hakkunsai, instructed to capture Mario and his friends. A net is tossed at them, capturing them. However, when the Ninjis uncovers the net, Mario and his friends are gone, and some logs are in their place, making the Ninjis think they used a substitution technique. Hakkunsai gives the order to find them, but then they see the logs start to sneakily escape: Mario and his friends just disguised as logs.

Mario, Luigi and Yoshi ditch the costumes and try to run for it. First, Mario triggers a trap and almost get stabbed by bamboo spears, but manages to block them. Mario grabs one of them and uses it to hit a Ninji in the head, causing a bump, but the Ninji substitutes the bump with a Pokey, that gets eaten by Yoshi. A female Ninji tries to avenge her friend by summoning a Blargg that eats and burns Luigi, however, Mario wet the Blargg with a watering can, making it small like a lizard. Angry, Hakkunsai summons a giant frog, but the frog it's an inflatable one and the female Ninji over exagerates with the pumping, making it explode.

Furious, Hakkunsai first trows a Grinder like a shuriken, but Mario manages to partially stop it, resulting in a little scratch. Then, Hakkunsai uses a Spinner and hits Luigi, sending him against a Hidden Block that was studying the Ninja way by spying the Ninji. Luigi asks him for help and it's turned into an invincible star. Mario tosses him against the Ninjis, defeating them and hurting his brother in the process.

Stage Eight
聖(セント)バレンタインの悲劇！！　マリオついに死す！？ (St. Valentine's Tragedy!! Mario Finally Dies!?)

The trio has reached Larry's Castle, but Mario can't help but feeling sad for not having received chocolate for St. Valentine. In the castle, Mario finds a heart-shaped box on a Snake Block, and jumps on to get it. The Snake Block takes him to Larry's floating platform. Larry commands the Snake Block to toss Mario in the lava. Mario is burnt, but it's still alive, but then the Snake Block's blocks repeatedly hit him and then squash him. Yoshi and Luigi takes the flattened Mario body and tries to help him, but it's too late: Mario is dead.

Mario ghost appears and tries to be noticed by his friends, but he can't. Some Eeries come and drags him in Hell. In Hell, Mario meets a giant bearded Bowser: he presents himself as Bowser's ancestor, and he was self-proclaimed to be his personal punisher for all the bad thing he did to Bowser's minions and the deceased Koopalings. Mario is tossed in a pit where he faces all of his victims, from the first Goomba he ever squashed to Morton.

Morton is the first one to torture him with a deaf-tone song that knocks out all the ghosts. Mario tries to burn them with a fireball, but it doesn't work on the dead. For the second punishment, Mario is tossed in a sea of spikes, but Mario saves himself with the Statue form. A chipped spike hits one of the ghosts, and Mario finally finds a way to hurt them, continuing to break the spikes and launching at them. Furious, Bowser's ancestor summons Wendy's ghost.

Wendy's punishment is giving Mario's St. Valentine chocolate. Mario refuses, but they're forced down their throat. Wendy then reveals those were Bob-ombs covered in chocolate. One of the fuses is stuck in Mario's teeth, and Wendy ignites it. The ghosts start shoving Mario to the others, like a hot potato, until Mario is passed to Bowser's ancestor, and he burps an explosion to his face. Having enough of this circus, Bowser's ancestor agrees that his successors can endure Mario a bit longer and kicks him out of Hell and the afterlife. Mario resuscitates, scaring Luigi and Yoshi and angering Larry in the process.

Stage Nine
食いしんぼうばんざい！？　ちびヨッシー大活躍！！ (Gluttonous Charge! Little Yoshi's Outstanding Performance!)

It's time to fight Larry, but the Koopaling teleports away, far in the depths of the castle. The trio chases him, avoiding Wooden spears and Spinners, but is soon blocked by a wall of blocks. Mario tries to smash the blocks using Yoshi as club, but the hit block transforms into Dry Bones: the work of Kamek. Kamek, once again, turns himself invisible and gives Mario a bad time. In the end, Luigi uses the Fire Flowers pollen to locate Kamek and Mario defeats him with a fireball.

The trio arrives at Larry's room. After being squashed by a Pillar, Mario is attacked by three Lava Bubbles but manages to barely grab to Larry's flying platform. Meanwhile, Yoshi finde the last of his eggs taken hostage by the Koopalings and reunites it with the other six eggs he kept in his belly. Larry orders the Fire Bubbles to burn Yoshi and his eggs. Yoshi puts himself in front of the eggs and manages to partially protect them from the Lava Bubbles.

The warmth helps the eggs hatch earlier and seven Baby Yoshis come out from them. The Babies eat the Lava Bubbles and then save Mario, after Larry tosses him down his platform, giving him Super Mushroom syrup. Larry activates some cannons, but the Baby Yoshis eat the cannonballs and Mario jumps at him and kicking down the platform, making him fall in the lava and he's then eaten by the Babies. The Yoshi's eggs have been saved, now only Peach is left to rescue.

Stage Ten
マウスは災いの元！？　怪獣マリオ出現！！ (Mouse of Death!? Monster Mario Appears!!)

While on their way to Bowser's Castle, the trio finds a big TV with a SNES and a copy of Mario Paint. Luigi starts to draw stuff and Yoshi tries to: Mario asks him to make him a portrait. The first version comes out bad, while the second one, Yoshi draws Mario like he sees him: like a big and ugly monster (complete with tail, fangs and fire breath). About to cancel the drawing, Yoshi notices a strange and new icon with Bowser's face on it. After pressing it, the Monster Mario jumps out from the screen.

As he later tests with a watermelon, Yoshi discovers that the Bowser icon makes their drawing come to life. The Monster Mario attacks them. Yoshi tries to wash him out with water, but doesn't work, then he runs to the mouse, but the Monster blocks him and pukes paint all over them. Mario tries to reach the mouse, but he's burned by the fire breath. Mario then trows a Super Mushroom to the mouse: this makes the eraser come out and Mario uses it to cut and defeat the Monster Mario.

At Bowser's Castle, Bowser is for once happy that Mario passed one of his traps: at least now he can get rid of the monsters he created with the Bowser icon.

Stage Eleven
クライマックス！！　マリオVSクッパ最終決戦！！ (Climax!! Mario VS Bowser, the Final Battle!!)

Part 1
Bowser's castle. After entering, Mario tries to locate the better door of the first hall, but an anthropomorphic Super Mushroom indicates to them a "good door": the one numbered "2.5". Mario however notices that it's too small for them, so the Mushroom makes them small, by hitting them with Fuzzies. The room, however, it's a trap: the Mushroom is revealed to be Kamek. Being small, the trio escapes from his spells and his newspaper roll.

Running away, Mario realizes that he lost all of their power-up (back in chapter 6), but luckily they come across a Goomba who sells power-ups. Mario tries to buy a Super Star, but has just one coin and the only thing he can afford is a yellow Koopa Shell. Kamek finds them and Mario, in order to avoid the spell, dives in the shell and becomes Shell Mario, then strikes at Kamek, defeating him. Defeated, Kamek accepts in giving them back their normal sizes (not before getting a bit of revenge by enlarging Mario).

The trio reaches the second hall of doors and enters the 7th Door, a choice that makes Bowser happy. The three come across many firebreathing Bowser Statues and a pair of a jumping variant. Even if with a bit of difficulty, Mario and his friends takes care of the statues. The Koopas are worried, but Bowser make a bigger statue emerge from a lava pool. Mario tries to break it with a punch, but it's too hard then the other statues, that's because it's the re-built Mecha-Bowser (repainted to be disguised as a statue). However, being badly re-built, the Mecha-Bowser ends up shattering by itself after a missed punch that hits the wall. After a cape twirl, the Mecha-Bowser is destroyed and Bowser's upset.

4-komas
ピーチとクッパの スーパークリスマス (Super Christmas with Peach and Bowser)


 * 1) クリスマスツリー (Christmas Tree): While making the Christmas Tree, Peach asks Bowser to help her to decorate it by passing her the streamers. Bowser accepts and rummages in the box, grabbing the first fuzzy and yellow thing he finds: doing this, Bowser gets shocked by grabbing Li'l Sparkies and Hotheads.
 * 2) クリスマスケーキ (Christmas cake): Peach's just finished baking a Christmas cake. Some Lava Bubbles ask her to have a little taste, but as soon as they get close, the cake melts, being an ice-cream cake.
 * 3) くつ下 (Socks): Peach is upset that she doesn't have a place to keep her gifts. Bowser consoles her by giving her his big sock, but she uses it as a warm sleeping bag.
 * 4) カメックショー (Kamek's show): Kamek is making a magic show, but Peach isn't impressed by any of the tricks. Furious, Kamek teleports her in midair.
 * 5) グースカショー (Rip Van Fishes' show): A shoal of Rip Van Fishes will do a Christmas chorus. On the stage there's a Mario cutout. Bowser removes it, but the Rip Van Fishes fall asleep: the cutout was needed to keep them awake.
 * 6) マリオからのプレゼント (A gift from Mario): Peach receives a gift from Mario, but Bowser confiscates it to check if there isn't something that can help her escape, but when he opens it, it's revealed to be a trap for him: after a giant explosion, Bowser and the whole Troop have fake Santa's beards attached to them. Meanwhile, Peach is laughing at this prank.

Puzzles
マリオスーパー迷路 (Mario Super Maze)


 * 1) It's a Super Maze using Mario's characters! Break through the bone maze and beat Dry Bones at the goal!
 * 2) The second Super Maze is a maze that uses Monty Mole as base for it. Let's go with Yoshi squeezing us and aim for the goal!

Trivia

 * The second 4-koma introduces, for the first time in the Mario franchise, Peach's passion to bake cakes.
 * Due to the Spinies infesting it, it is revealed that the Switch Palace in chapter 6 is the Forest of Illusion's one, the Blue Switch Palace. However, in the previous volume, Mario and his friends were still in the forest when they fought the brainwashed Rex and defeated it by pressing the ! Switch and raining ! Blocks on it.
 * In chapter 9, it is revealed that all the seven Yoshi's Eggs were rescued, even though Mario and his friends skipped Lemmy's Castle, and Roy was fought outside his castle.