Disclaimer: I do not own the Nintendo-made characters, places, objects, etc. within this story.

Fall of Peach

It was a tense day for the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. Today was the day that she would present her State of the Kingdom Address. Though she had done this numerous times before, she always got nervous on the day of the speech. She was doing a last minute practice round in her private area upstairs to the three people most important to her. They were Toad, Toadsworth, and her grandmother. While she read, a few handmaidens brushed her hair and straightened her dress with painstaking attention to detail. Soon, the green-clad Minister cracked the door open.

"Princess," he said gently, rubbing his white mustache. "The Chancellor is just about to finish."

"Thank you," she replied. "I'll be out in a moment." He nodded and closed the door. She sighed as she looked at her speech.

"Oh, don't be so nervous, dear," said her grandmother.

"I just don't like how I worded the part about raising taxes. It seems so heartless, especially after that less than perfect vacation on Delfino Isle. And then, there was that situation in Beanbean Kingdom…"

"I'm sure the Mushroom people will understand," Toad said optimistically. "Taxes haven't been raised ever since Mario first arrived."

"Yes, you mustn't trifle over the facts of life," Toadsworth said, walking to the door with his cane. "Taxation is a necessary part of the government. Now, now; you've no time to trouble over this any longer."

"Thank you for the encouragement," she said sweetly, walking to the door.

"And without further ado," said the Chancellor, who looked like a slightly younger version of the Minister, "I present Her Highness, Princess Peach Toadstool." The lobby, filled with Toads, a few Dryites, and a small number of Bumpty penguins from Shiver City burst into cheering and applause for their beloved princess. She stepped through the double doors and took her place behind the altar.

"Ahem. I am here today to speak with everyone about the current state of our great kingdom. Despite almost regular attacks by the Koopa Clan, the Mushroom Kingdom is thriving. Poverty is almost nonexistent and our crime rate is equally so, only spiking when Bowser makes his attack. However, there remains one problem that persists even to this day. This past year, I was told that there is a serious pollution problem, specifically in Toad Town Tunnels. I'm afraid that the costs of cleaning the surprisingly filthy sewers have been projected to exceed…5 million coins. In any other land, this wouldn't be such a problem, but because of Bowser's persistent attacks, there is a drain on our treasury. So…I have no choice but to raise taxes…" Suddenly a trio of black Ninjis burst through the window, startling everyone. The star-shaped ninjas wasted no time in sprinting up the railing of the stairs and to Peach. Before anyone could stop them, they tossed a net on her, swept her up, and carried her out of the window from whence they came.

"Not again!" she cried as she was carried a short distance away from the castle. Fortunately for her, spear-wielding guards had been alerted and quickly surrounded the Ninji before they could get any farther.

"Release the Princess," the lead soldier commanded. One of the Ninji took out a bubbling potion and threw it to the ground. A red door appeared in a puff of smoke. They opened it and ran through, quickly closing the door behind them. The soldiers reached the door just as it disappeared in another puff of smoke.

"They got away," the leader said shamefully. "We have to get her back. One of you, get Mario."

Peach found herself tied up and locked away in yet another prison. This one was in a place she had been to before: the Dark Land. The walls were the usual grey stone, the carpet was the usual drab red, and the torches were either blue or red as usual. She was pretty much used to the whole routine by now. Next, she expected Bowser to walk through the door any second now and gloat for a few minutes. Sure enough, the King of the Koopas stomped right through the huge double doors and stood in front of her cage. He was quieter than usual, only staring at her with his fiery red eyes.

"What's the matter, Bowser?" Peach taunted irritably. "Did you run out of ways to say Mario will never rescue me? Why do you even try anymore? You know he'll come here like always and…"

"My dear Peach," he growled with his usual air of arrogance. "That's exactly what I'm counting on."

"Why? You know he'll trounce you and your minions just like always."

"You see, Peachy," he said, beginning to pace across the floor, "Mario and I have been at it for a long time. Ever since he first came on the scene, I've never been able to beat him or his friends. After I was beaten on Corona Mountain, a few things dawned on me. First, I realized that the source of my problems is Mario." Despite the obviousness of his statement, Bowser had a look of grim seriousness, something not often seen. "No matter what nasty little scheme I have, he always comes along and screws it up! No matter how many times I try, he always thwarts my plan…! But not this time."

"Oh, please!" Peach huffed. "That's what you always say. You'll never marry me and have my kingdom because Mario will always be there to stop you!"

"That brings me to the other thing I realized," he said, stopping in front of her and staring again. "For about the same time that Mario's been around, I've been trying to take your kingdom through marriage. But of course, you just can't have a wedding with Mario around. And no matter how much I try, no matter how nice I try to be, you'll never accept my hand."

"So, you have been thinking," she said, slightly impressed.

"With all that stuff in mind, I've come to two conclusions. Number one, get rid of Mario. That's the most obvious one. But the second came as shock of cold logic to me. I realized that I wouldn't only have to get rid of him…but you as well." Peach's eyes widened and she was at a loss for words. She stepped away from the bars, where Bowser stood enjoying her fright.

"But…"

"Once Mario arrives, you can consider yourself dumped," he snorted. "You'll make a nice dessert."

"Sir!" cried a Koopatrol, wearing standard black armor and a spiked shell. "The Mario Brothers are knocking us down like dominoes. We won't be able to hold them off…"

"Let them come," Bowser said, opening the cell door and grabbing the speechless princess. Bowser carried her out a secret door built into the wall.

Fire Mario and Cape Luigi arrived at the flat rooftop of the castle where Bowser was waiting. The sky was black like it always was in the Dark Land, except for the occasional lighting strikes on the horizon.

"Where's Peach?" Luigi called out to the Koopa King. The turtle dragon nodded to the edge of the roof, where a peg held onto a peace of rope that went over the edge.

"Mario! Luigi!" a shrill voice screamed as thunder could be heard in the sky.

"You fiend!" Luigi sneered.

"I'm a little surprised to see brother number two here," Bowser growled with a contemptuous smile. "Got tired of hiding under the bed, huh?" Mario threw a fireball that Bowser made no attempt to dodge it. Instead, he smacked it out of the way.

"I hope you've said your goodbyes," Bowser growled. He blew a cloud of flame that the brothers managed to dodge. Mario distracted him with fireballs while Luigi flew up into the air and over the edge to help Peach.

"Princess, are you alright?" he asked, flying her up to the roof and untying her.

"We have to get away from that monster," Peach said, shaken. Mario was knocked away by Bowser's tail as he tried to circle around him, negating his fire element. Luigi immediately took off, flying his fist straight at Bowser's face. Bowser caught the punch and swung him around in the air before tossing him into the hard roof surface. Just as Luigi's cape disappeared, Bowser blew a jet of flame into him. Luigi ran wildly around the rooftop, yelling until the flames went out. As Bowser laughed in amusement, Mario suddenly stomped on his head.

"That will be the last time you ever do that!" Bowser roared, slashing at Mario, missing by inches. He began to charge after the red plumber, who ran towards the edge of the roof. At the last moment, Mario turned around and somersaulted over and behind Bowser. Grabbing his tail, he off-balanced the giant Koopa and began to swing him around.

"Here we go!" Mario shouted as he swung Bowser around faster and faster. When he let go, Bowser sailed off the rooftop and far below. There was a large crash a few seconds later. "So long, eh, Bowser?"

"Whew, that oughta put him in traction for a while," Luigi said, wiping his brow. There was a snarl from below.

"Oh, no," Peach whispered. Bowser leapt from the ground up to above the roof and landed with another crash. Large cracks appeared all over the roof.

"You didn't think I'd go down that easily, did you?" Bowser cackled. "You're the ones that're taking the fall." After finishing his statement, he began to stomp on the roof, causing more and more cracks. As the castle began to rumble, he leapt off the edge. He rose once more in his Koopa Clown Car, the propeller-driven hovercraft with a clown face. The castle began to crumble as the three left on the roof ran back inside in a desperate attempt to escape. A few moments later the castle collapsed in a cloud of dust and debris. Only Mario and Peach dug out of the rubble. Before they could even think about Luigi, Bowser landed in front of them and blew another jet of fire. The debris provided just enough shielding for them to scamper away.

"Luigi!" they called out for the lost plumber.

"One down, two to go," Bowser spoke malevolently, smashing through the remains of his castle.

"You would never destroy your own castle," Peach said. "You're more powerful than usual… What's happened to you? Don't you even care about your followers?" He roared again and blew a jet of flame, this one actually singing them a bit. He had never hurt her before. Now she feared that Bowser was serious about getting rid of them. They ran through the rubble until they reached the edge of the cliff. Down below, there was a valley, with a river running through.

"Too far to jump," Peach said. Mario nodded in agreement.

"Just give up. There's nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Just hold still and let the flames take care of everything." Mario turned around defiantly to face him.

"You touch-a da Princess and I break-a you face-a," Mario shook his fist angrily, lapsing into his dialect as he always did when he got excited. As Bowser continued to approach, Mario ran for him and leapt to do a flying punch. Bowser took the hit painlessly in the face and body slammed him immediately afterward. Then he kicked the plumber aside and prepared to fry Peach.

"This isn't like you," she cried, stepping back carefully as she neared the cliff's edge. " Why do you want to hurt me? Don't you love me anymore?" She was forced to jumped over the edge of the cliff just in time to miss the wall of flames and hung onto ledge by one hand. "Mario! Help me!" Mario dived into Bowser and began to knock him back with a series of punches and kicks.

"Yah, wah, hoo!" he yelled, knocking Bowser back with two punches and a kick. He quickly ran to help Peach. "I've got you, Peach!" Just before he could grab her hand, Bowser stomped the ground once again, causing tremors throughout the cliff. Peach's grip slipped just before Mario could grab onto her.

"Mario!" Peach cried as she plummeted down the cliff.

"Peach!" Mario cried, stretching out his hand in futility.

"Too bad, so sad," Bowser said, grabbing Mario by the head and lifting him up and slammed him down, holding him down with his foot. "I've got something special in store for you." He somehow ripped open a black portal out of thin air and kicked Mario through it. "Finally, I'm rid of those stupid Mario Brothers and that useless princess. Now to start my war strategy. Why just take the Mushroom Kingdom when I can have the world! Bwa ha ha ha! Man, I've always wanted to say that!" As he laughed, a red aura briefly surrounded him. He hopped into his Clown Car and flew off into the distance.

"Oh, ow," a voice said from the rubble. "What happened?" Luigi climbed out of the debris, scratched up and dizzy. "Is anyone there? Mario? Peach? Anyone? Hello?" When he received no answer, he began to search the rubble for his friends. Finding nothing but the bodies of Bowser's minions, he looked over the cliff. "Nah. They probably just forgot me like they always do." He then began the long walk home.