Chapter Text
Mario took a glance over his left shoulder as he noticed that Princess Peach had gone awfully quiet for a while now. Beside him, he couldn't help but give a soft smile at what he saw.
The princess was resting her head against the arm of the couch as she curled up like an infant. Her eyes were closed and her pink lips were softly pressed together.
The two of them were watching a film together in Princess Peach's castle, but despite how it was only in the mid-afternoon, the princess must have fallen asleep. Mario didn't mind, of course. He knew that she must be exhausted with being a ruler and all. Including the times she's been kidnapped by Bowser, an overgrown and dangerous reptile that can breathe fire and cause destruction around him.
The movie had just ended, and the famous Italian plumber decided that he should probably head home. He didn't want to disturb Princess Peach and they could always hang out together another day.
Standing up, he was about to walk over to the princess and pick her up to take her to her room, when a sleepy voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Hm? Going so soon?"
"Oh," Mario smiled as he realized it was just the princess. "Y-Yeah, I was gonna head home because you fell asleep during the movie, but I can carry you to your room if you'd like."
The princess sat up and covered her mouth as she yawned. Stretching her arms, she shook her head and smiled back at Mario.
"No, thank you, dear. It's alright. I'll accompany you to the door."
"No need to, princess. You can rest."
"I'm awake now, so I may as well accompany you. Besides, I don't want to nap too much, anyways. I have things to take care of."
"I see," Mario bit his bottom lip as he gazed into the princess' eyes. He could feel his face grow warm a little and he hoped he wasn't blushing. He looked down at his big, dark brown boots a little as he continued to speak. "I hope I didn't wake you..."
"Oh, not at all! My couch doesn't get too comfy when I lay on it for too long." She laughed.
That laugh. It made Mario's heart flutter and his stomach do summersaults. Even though it was only an awkward laugh, it still sounded like a angelic harmony to him.
"M-Mario? Are you alright, love?"
Mario quickly shook his head to clear away his thoughts.
"I-I... Um, yeah, I'm alright, princess."
Princess Peach looked at him, skeptically and stood up to feel his forehead.
"Are you feeling alright?" She asked. "You do feel a little warm..."
It was probably from the blushing, but Mario didn't say that, of course. He resisted the urge to blush even more at the princess' gentle touch.
"I'm fine, princess. No need to worry about me. It's probably just the heat from outside. Since it's Summer now, the temperature is way warmer than usual."
"If you say so," Peach replied, even though she wasn't totally buying it. "Stay here, I'll get you a cold cloth, then. You should relax a bit more before you head home."
There was really no winning and getting out of this one for Mario.
"I-I'm alright, princess. Really! You don't need to worry about me. I'll be just fine. Besides, I'm used to the heat with my Firebrand and from Bowser and his kingdom. I've handled worse things and I'm strong enough to be able to bounce back from anything."
Peach knew this was true, but she still couldn't help but worry for him.
"I..."
But the princess was cut off as Mario began to speak again.
"Goodbye, princess. I'll keep in touch with you on when you'd like to hang out again."
The plumber waved behind him and gave one final smile at the princess as he began to head out of the castle.
Princess Peach sighed and bit her lip.
"Goodbye, Mario. Safe travels!" She called out, giving a halfhearted smile in return.
She didn't want Mario to go off like that so quickly, but she knew how stubborn he was, no matter how much help was provided for him. Besides, he was acting a little weirder than usual, so Peach decided that it would be best if she dropped the topic. At least, for now, anyways.
She stood frozen like a statue as she watched her beloved hero walk off and out of the main castle doors.
*******************************************
Mario hummed a tune as he began to head towards a far off warp pipe that lead the closest to his home.
That was way too close! He thought, embarrassingly.
He felt guilty about the way he walked out like that, but he didn't want the princess to worry about him. She seemed stressed enough and she would just keep on insisting things to him.
He wasn't a child anymore, so he didn't want to be treated like one. Although, he knew there was nothing wrong with people taking care of each other, he still didn't want to be a nuisance for the princess.
After all, she did say that she needed things to take care of, so he didn't want to bother her too much.
Just as he came close to the warp pipe, though, he heard frantic cries and screams for help behind him.
Whipping around, his eyes widened at what he saw in the distance.
Bowser's giant airship was attacking the castle! Toads were running around, screaming and flailing their small arms and legs everywhere in panic. The reptile's minions were scattered all over the kingdom, trying to attack any living thing they saw. It was just pure chaos.
All of a sudden, there was a loud, high pitched scream that momentarily drowned out the monstrosity that happened in Toad Town and at Princess Peach's castle.
Mario knew that scream anywhere. It was none other than Princess Peach's terrified shriek for help. Bowser was clearly trying to kidnap her again to marry her and claim her kingdom.
Balling his hands into fists and gritting his teeth, the moustachioed plumber pulled his famous red cap over his face, tightly and began to quickly sprint back towards the castle and to the mess that unfolded before him.
He just never learns, does he? Mario thought, sourly as he began to full on run, pumping his arms and legs ferociously as he gave it everything he got.
*******************************************
After quickly and easily defeating the enemies that were tormenting the poor mushroom citizens, (which also earned the plumber lots of somewhat-relieved 'Thanks!'), Mario hurriedly made his way towards the airship that hovered nearby. It wasn't very far from the ground, so Mario could easily jump onto it if he wished to.
Before the man could do so though, he noticed something felt off. Looking up, he realized the airship was... fancier?
It definitely was. Instead of the usual, dark gloomy airship that tormented him and the residents of the Mushroom Kingdom years ago, Mario noticed Bowser had his airship all shiny, as if it was brand new. Fresh wood that was painted white, splashed across the whole ship. The statue of Bowser's face at the front of the ship, gleamed in the sunlight. Purple curtains were hung along the sides of the aircraft, with little Piranha Plants as decorations to hold them in place.
Mario wasted no more time in admiring the new changes, as he was not here to sightsee and gawk at the new scenery stretched out before him.
Leaping in the air, the plumber landed roughly on his feet as he came upon the ship. It then started to ascend high into the air, but the plumber hardly noticed it. Looking around his surroundings, he easily spotted fancy, purple carpets that laid out underneath him and all over the ground of the ship. It perfectly matched the curtains he saw seconds ago. Gold trims traced around the edges of it. Giant, white sails floated above him as ropes were connected to them. Everything reminded Mario of a floating pirate ship, but less... gloomy and dull.
Everything was too neat for Mario, and it was starting to concern him.
This isn't like Bowser at all... What's with all this fancy stuff?
His thoughts were rapidly extinguished as he felt a huge throbbing pain in the side of his face. Totally unprepared, Mario cried out in pain and shock as he tumbled and flew backwards. He landed on his feet, then did a backflip as he pushed up his famous red cap to look up and see what may have hit him.
It was none other than Bowser's scaly reptilian fist that gave him a hard punch. A powerful one at that, but Mario was quite used to the reptile's abuse by now. After all, he's been dealing with him for repeated years on end. However, it still didn't make it hurt any less. Especially when it caught the poor plumber by surprise.
When Mario looked around, he didn't see Bowser or anyone for that matter. He then heard a quick sound of movement above him and looked up just in time to see a flash of green, yellow and a whole lot of white. It came crashing down in front of the hero, and out of surprise of the force, Mario launched forward, yelling loudly in shock.
Bowser then slowly turned around as a toothy smirk appeared into his scaly face. He was dressed in a white tuxedo that literally matched his whole airship, as a large, purple bow rested on his chest. Purple and gold trimmings traced along his outfit and on his white top hat, a small, golden Bowser face was etched on it in an act of decorative fashion. Silver spikes emitted on the rim of his hat as it did for his wrists as well. His white boots matched everything, too.
The wedding. Duh, of course that no-good reptile wants to marry the princess. That explains all the fancy decor, but isn't he taking this a bit too far by decorating his ship, too? Usually he doesn't care too much about that. Hmm, must have a bigger trick up his nasty shell this time... But whatever it is, I'm sure it's something I'll be able to put a stop to. I've always been able to put that Koopa in his place - right at the bottom of the food chain!
The plumber got back up and dusted himself off.
"Heh heh," Mario chuckled with a smirk. "For a slow-brained one like you that easily gets defeated every time by the same person, you really know how to clean up nicely. I'm shocked."
Bowser was not having his archenemy's sarcasm.
"Well, let's see if this cleans up nicely enough for you, faucet freak!"
With one menacing growl, Bowser charged up a large fireball in his mouth.
The heroic plumber in blue overalls unfortunately didn't see it coming in time, as the reptile gave it everything he got and shot the fireball out of his mouth.
The fireball rapidly soared towards Mario and it barely skimmed him as Mario jumped back. However, the hero still got a little burned.
"Ow, d**n it!" Mario cursed under his breath.
The fireball then soared past him as it didn't make direct contact. It flew up in the sky and shone brightly before disappearing and dissolving into thin air.
The plumber readjusted his signature cap with the red 'M' stitched onto it since it nearly fell off during the attack. He then noticed Princess Peach was not too far behind Bowser. Maybe South-West of him. She was standing on a large platform and clutching her chest tightly with both of her gloved hands as desperate pleas of help shone in her sky-blue eyes.
He wouldn't let any harm come to her. Ever. He'd make sure he got hurt or killed, first.
Bowser and Mario were now standing across the ship from each other just as two no-good cowboys in the Wild West would. Scowling at each other for a few seconds, Bowser then interrupted the intense silence by giving a deep chuckle.
Princess Peach wrapped her arms around herself and hugged herself tightly as she stood in anticipation. Tears welled in her eyes as she was being held against her will to do anything. All she could do was watch what was happening in front of her.
"So, Bowser," Mario snarled with his Italian accent. "Is that all you got? To think all these years you would finally give up or at least change your line of defence and attack? I don't know why I'm really surprised. I shouldn't expect any more from you."
"SHUT UP!" The giant Koopa king spat. "I literally burnt you with my fireball, so I don't know why you're trying to act all tough!"
"Only a little," Mario smirked. "But it mostly skimmed me. Not much harm really done. I mean, your attack was so lame and predictable, that my grandmother could've dodged that!"
"Says the one that got caught by surprise from it!" The reptile scoffed, rolling his eyes. "If I didn't know any better, I would say that you least expected it."
"And so what if I maybe did? It doesn't change the fact that I'll still rescue the princess safely and put you back to the bottom of the food chain!"
"Ha! You wish!"
"I don't have to wish, because I already know." Mario replied, flatly.
"Well, let's see if you know about this," Bowser growled, placing a large hand, tightly on the rim of his top hat. "Because this is the end... for you!"
With this being said, the Koopa king forcefully flung his hat towards the unfortunate plumber in red. It started sailing towards Mario at high speeds.
Gasping, Mario jumped back and was able to dodge it in time, as it flew back behind him. His famous red cap flew off of his head and twirled in the air for a few moments.
Mario laughed and then held up his gloved fists as an act of defence and preparation for battle.
"Predictable, like always!~" Mario chimed in a sing-song as he briefly tapped his temple with one of his gloved index fingers.
His teasing had no effect on the Koopa as he suddenly smirked and glanced behind the plumber.
"Think again!" The overgrown reptile grinned, evilly.
The white top hat came sailing back towards Mario like a boomerang. Princess Peach immediately saw this and gasped as she pointed to the flying headwear that soared towards her loved one.
"MARIO! LOOK OUT!" She screamed out, horrified.
Confused, Mario whipped around to see what they both were talking about. As soon as he saw it, his eyes widened and his mouth gaped open in terror like a fish. His feet suddenly became glued to the spot, so he was unable to move.
He tried to scream. To say something, anything for that matter, but no words or sound came out of his mouth.
With massive force, the top hat struck Mario, making him do a backflip and soar high in the air.
Mario finally managed to let out a scream of terror at what happened as he plunged far away into the sky and disappeared into the clouds.
"MARRRIIIOOO!!!" Princess Peach wailed loudly, stretching her hand out towards where the plumber had been merely seconds ago. "NOOOOOO!!!!!"
Atop her head was a tiara, but this one had big, magenta eyes with eyelashes on them. She seemed to squint in sadness as she held back her tears, too.
Just then, Mario's signature cap slowly floated down to the ground, peacefully, as if nothing had ever happened.
Noticing the princess staring at it in grief, the Koopa king lifted up one of his enormous and heavy feet, and brought it down, crushing his archenemy's long acquired possession.
He then snatched the princess up in one of his arms and smirked into where Mario had flown off of the ship.
"Time for my wedding with Peach!" He announced, proudly. "Jealous, Mario?!"
"No, stop it!" Peach screamed, banging her fists into the reptile's hand, which didn't hurt the Koopa in the least.
They looked at each other before the princess looked away in disgust. Bowser then gave a menacing laugh as Peach yelled out in terror and quickly covered her ears.
"Help me, please!" She faintly called out, even though she knew her hero couldn't hear her.
With one final hurrah of his capture, he took his hat off in glee, revealing his wavy red hair that was done up for the wedding. Placing the top hat back on his head, he walked away with the princess and the mysterious tiara in tow.
Because of the rapid winds, Mario's red cap fluttered wildly in the air and flew behind the ship. It hovered in the air above two overly large, silver propellors that helped the ship fly in the air.
For a brief moment, the cap stayed there before suddenly dropping down into one of them. The propellor quickly shredded the poor plumber's cap to bits as the ship continued to soar away farther and farther away from the princess' beloved kingdom.
Bits of the cap then scattered everywhere in the air until an unknown white, ghostly top hat with giant red eyes grabbed onto one of the pieces. He held it, firmly in one of his ghostly, stubby hands and examined it.
It seemed to be the front of the cap, since it was marked with the famous red 'M' symbol on it. Or, what was left of it, anyways.
The ghostly top hat then looked up as he watched the ship fly off into the distance before looking downwards and flying towards the fallen hero.
As Mario came close to the ground, he squeezed his eyes shut and braced for impact.
The last thought that he had was how he was incredibly sorry for now failing to rescue the love of his life this time.
Just then, Mario felt a hard and powerful force jolt everywhere on his body. Everything then became numb as he blacked out.