Chapter 1

Mario and Luigi's house, 985 Koopa Lane

Mario prepared the finishing touches on his tuxedo. Straightening out the silky white bowtie, the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom examined himself in the mirror that was kept in he and his brother Luigi's room. Everything was in tip-top shape, and Mario was more than ready to finally head off to Princess Peach's castle, the location of the annual Winter Ball. It was also at this event that the mystical and ancient object known as the Crystal Shard would be on display, to commemorate its significance to the royal lineage. Mario smirked at his own reflection one last time before shutting the lights off and exiting into the cold snowy night. Heading down the driveway and towards his kart, he felt the vibration of his cell phone in his suit jacket's pocket. As Mario climbed into his kart, he removed his phone and saw that he'd received a text from Luigi.

Hey bro, the text read, the Winter Ball dance starts in 15 minutes! You've gotta get here quick! Daisy, Peach, and I are still waiting on you! Mario's eyes widened at this and he hurriedly put his phone away and pulled out of he and Luigi's driveway, and right into the local neighborhood's streets, speeding away into the night and towards the castle.

Mushroom Castle, 1600 Mushroom Avenue

The ballroom and dance hall of the regal Mushroom Castle was elegant in its own right- beautiful amber floors were decorated with silver, gold, and sapphire designs laid out by the finest artists within the Mushroom Kingdom, with the added edition of white and blue decorations strung out all around on this night. Paintings of the rulers that came before the current ones lined the walls, telling the story of one family that rose and then fell, with the Toadstool lineage taking its place. One of these paintings was of Theodore Toadstool, great-grandfather of Peach and former King of the Mushroom Kingdom. As the Princess stood at one corner of the ballroom, admiring her respectable ancestor, she felt a presence behind her, that of her two very best friends in the world, Princess Daisy of the neighboring Sarasa Kingdom, and Daisy's boyfriend, Luigi.

"Hey there, Peach." Daisy said calmingly as she approached her good friend, "I'm sure Mario will be here soon. He's always late to these kinds of things, anyway." Luigi spoke up as well. "Yeah, she's right, you know. When we were kids, Mario was always the late one to school, then to work as plumbers, and now to these fancy royal events! It's like he's allergic to being on time!" Luigi chuckled, as did Daisy and Peach, but soon the Mushroom Kingdom's Princess went back to slightly somber. "Even so," she said in her typical tender and light voice, "It starts in only a few minutes. I can't be here alone while everyone else dances with their partners." "He'll be here," Luigi said to comfort Peach, "I'm sure he will. We're brothers, after all. We've got that whole twin connection thing going on. Heh-heh." Peach laughed at this as well. Luigi was always the more softhearted and funny, albeit incredibly awkward, one of the Mario brothers. Peach, too, now had renewed hope that Mario would arrive at the castle soon.

Mario's red kart hastily into the primary parking area of the castle. After undergoing extensive security checks by the Toad guards outside, he'd finally made it to the entrance, and with 5 minutes to spare. Mario climbed out of the kart, making sure everything was up to par, including his hair, suit, and shoes. As he made his final checks, Mario entered the castle, passing by a few recognizable faces and a few unfamiliar ones as well. One of those was Toad himself, who stood at the ornate doorway to the castle's primary ballroom, holding a drink in one hand. The short fella and great friend of the brothers turned around, a beaming smile being the first thing Mario saw. "Oh, hey Mario!" said Toad in his squeaky voice. Mario smiled, "Hiya, Toad! Is Peach in there?" Mario pointed into the ballroom with one gloved hand. Toad nodded. "Yeah, she's with Luigi and Daisy. You'd better get to her. The dance starts in a few minutes!" Mario thanked his friend and ran off into the ballroom, towards the first pink dress he saw.

The lights to the ballroom dimmed slightly, indicating that the Winter Ball dance was about to begin. Peach sighed. "Looks like Mario won't be able to make it." Luigi touched her shoulder. "Aw, Peach," he said, "Don't be disappointed. Mario can be a bit... irresponsible, at times, but he's got a good heart. You and I both know that by now. He'll make it next year, I promise." Peach nodded solemnly. However, as Luigi shifted his gaze towards Daisy, the two Princesses and the green-clad plumber all heard footsteps running towards them all. It was Mario, dressed in his finest tuxedo, his signature mustache blowing in the wind. As he skidded to a halt in front of the other three, he put his hands to his knees, panting hard. "I'm here! I'm finally here!" Mario exclaimed, exasperated, "Yahoo!" He continued to breathe hard. Peach's face lit up. "Mario!" she said, hugging him immediately. Mario returned the gesture. Both Luigi and Daisy smiled, then glanced at each other as the lights dimmed down further and the slow-dance music began. They began to do what everyone else was doing.

Mario and Peach, meanwhile, simply stared around the elegant room before Mario put his hand out and sarcastically said, "May I have this dance?" Peach laughed and took his hand, the two in a loving embrace. As they danced alongside all of the other guests, Peach said, "You know, you could try once in a while to be sincere in this relationship." She lightly laughed, "I guess Luigi got all of the romantic genes." Mario smiled at this too as the music echoed throughout the hall. "I've gotta be the guy who saves the day!" said Mario, "That's where all of the heroic genes went. Luigi and I, we're two sides of the same family coin." "Nice excuse, silly." Peach said to Mario, "You're just looking for reasons to keep your feelings to yourself. Trust me, if you just let it out to the person you love, it's so much better." Mario didn't say anything regarding this statement, and merely kept dancing with Peach for the next few minutes.

As the final song finished up, Mario let go of Peach, and Luigi with Daisy, and the four friends got together as a group again. On the stage built at the very back of the ballroom designed for guest speakers, some Toads wheeled a large cart up onto the structure, and the object on said cart was covered with a cloth, though everyone in the room knew what it was: the Crystal Shard. As soon as the cart was up and ready, one of the smartest individuals in the whole Mushroom Kingdom walked up onto the stage, and placed themselves behind the podium set up for their speech. That individual was Professor Toadsworth, former teacher at Mushroom University, current Dean of the aforementioned college, and old family friend of the Toadstool lineage. Mario, Luigi, Daisy, Peach, and the rest of the ballroom clapped for the scholarly Toad as he was about to speak.

"Welcome, fellow denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom!" he exclaimed into the microphone, "I sincerely hope we've all been having a smashing time as guests of the Princess herself, Ms. Peach Toadstool!" Toadsworth pointed in the direction of Peach, to which the rest of the ballroom responded by clapping. Peach smiled sweetly, trying not to be seen as flustered by the attention she was getting. Toadsworth continued his speech. "And of course, the Toadstools wouldn't be in power today without a very special object." The Professor gestured in the direction of his assistant, who came over and ripped the deep blue cloth off of the cart, revealing the shining, beautiful Crystal Shard. The Crystal was shaped like a diamond and clear, while also having hints of blue and purple in it. Several in the ballroom were in amazement at this fantastic object.

"The Crystal Shard, ladies and gentlemen!" Toadsworth said with great excitement, "A mineral of equal parts mystery, awe, and inspiration." Applause filled the ballroom as Toadsworth then pointed towards the Crystal and began, "Now, I'm sure everyone here knows what the Shard is. However, many of you may not know the full history of the object. Thousands of years ago, before anyone had settled within the land we now know as the Mushroom Kingdom, the Crystal Shard came down from outer space and crash-landed onto the planet, where it was eventually discovered by the early colonists living here. And as the story goes, it gave these colonists great power, who then rose to rule the Mushroom Kingdom. However, they abused this power horribly, leading to their eventual downfall, and the rise of the Toadstool family, who used the Shard's powers for good!" More cheers and clapping came from several in the ballroom. "And so..." continued Toadsworth, "That leads us to where we are today. And I want to thank you all for coming to the annual Winter Ball. It's a great honor to be in the presence of so many amazing individuals, including our very own Mario and Peach!" Some final whoops and cheers came in. Luigi patted Mario on the back in congratulations. "So," said Toadsworth with an air of finality, "I hope you all enjoy the-" Suddenly, Toadsworth was interrupted as all of the lights to the ballroom went dark.

There was slight panic within the castle's ballroom. Some screamed, while others began to chat amongst themselves about what happened. "Eh... do not fear, everyone!" called out Toadsworth, "The backup power shall be on shortly!" As the confusion continued to sweep over the room, it swiftly ended as soon as it began once the lights came back on. As the guests sighed in relief, Mario, making sure Peach, Luigi, and Daisy were okay first and foremost, noticed something. The Crystal Shard was missing from its display stand. Mario pointed at the empty cart and yelled, "Toadsworth! The Crystal Shard is gone!" Toadsworth looked over at the cart and saw the same. "Oh, dear..." he muttered to himself. Mario ran over to Toadsworth on the stage, and Luigi followed along. "Toadsworth," said Mario, "Are you okay?" Toadsworth nodded, "Yes, yes. I'm perfectly fine, son. But the Shard..."

Mario looked off into the ballroom, wondering who could've gotten into the castle at this time to steal the Shard, and for what purpose. "I think I have a suspect in mind." Mario said. "And who's that?" replied Toadsworth. Mario turned back to Toadsworth.

"Bowser." he said.