Episode One
AND WE SAIL
The princess' cruise ship was huge. Nearly 80 feet long, it was one of the best, if not the best boat on Fungo, the home planet of the Mushroom kingdom. It was also one of the most well-designed. From the deck to the rooms on the bottom, there were hidden gun turrets on the sides that could poke out at any given moment and shoot down anything, from a starship to another boat. It also looked beautiful, with most of it being a friendly brown color, with a few red colored areas. The rectangle-shaped tiles also added a fanciness to the design.
It was a beautiful morning. The Flag was flapping wildly with the wind, it's mushroom symbol remaining unmistaken. This was princess Peach's personal ship. The princess, having recently won a war with Bowser's army, the Koopa Troop, had decided to go on a week-long vacation, sailing around the sea. Princess Peach had enjoyed herself, and spent time mingling with Mario and the other ship's occupants, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Diddy Kong, and Mario's brother Luigi.
Every planet has a princess who oversees the planet's needs dictates changes that should be made. This is a tradition is most of the hundreds of planets in the galaxy. Each princess can be in danger frequently, especially in the midst of a war or clashing of ideals with powerful enemies. This is why for every princess, there is a sworn protector, a "knight", in addition to the army that protects them. This knight is a very skilled a loyal warrior who will do anything to keep the princess safe, including laying down their life without thought.
Most of the time, this knight is a pokemon, or someone skilled with a sword. But princess Peach's life had been threatened numerous times. She had been kidnapped and used as ransom 3 times, and during the first, her knight was killed. However, this was when Mario stepped in. Mario was an ex-plumber, but was called in by the Mushroom kingdom to rescue Peach. Mario might be short and somewhat overweight, he proved to be extremely versatile and creative, and rescued Peach all 3 times. This led to Peach appointing him as the new knight.
Mario was dutiful and enjoyed his job. As a kid, he always seeked adventure. And now here he was, standing at the edge of one of the best made boats ever, looking up at the sun and smiling. He scratched his large mustache and kept his overalls looking tidy. He then took off his red hat that he always kept with him, brushed it off, and then pushed his black hair out of his eyes, and put the hat back on.
"Want something to drink?" asked Luigi. He looked like a lot like Mario, except that instead of wearing a red shirt he wore a green shirt, and he was taller and more slender looking. He was holding 2 glasses of punch, and looked a little drunk.
"No thanks, bro." Mario smiled. "As a knight, I have to remain completely alert." "Oh come on man, we're almost back at the Mushroom kingdom. If we were going to run into trouble, we would have by now. Besides, I'm sure your girlfriend won't mind if you have a little drink. She'd probably encourage it." Mario shook his head as Luigi kept on. "Remember, this vacation was for everyone, not just the princess." "No thanks, and don't call her my girlfriend.", Mario continued to reject the offer. "Suit yourself.", Luigi shrugged as he chugged one glass and began on the other as he walked away. Mario shook his head again and continued to enjoy the weather. They were indeed almost back at the mushroom kingdom, and so far there were no problems.
A few minutes later, Mario decided to check up on the princess. He walked to the other side of the boat where Peach sat in a chair, Toad and his Toadette at her side. A few other toads were walking around near them, their main job being to keep an eye on Peach. "Hello princess.", Mario said to her with a smile. "Why hello Mario, it's a lovely morning." "It is.", he agreed. "Did you need something?" "What? No, just checking in on you, making sure you're well." Peach laughed. "I am. You don't need to worry. Soon we'll be back at the kingdom and continue to celebrate what will hopefully be the end of Bowser." "As long as he's still out there, you could be in danger.", Mario pointed out. "Ha, relax. Bowser wouldn't dare try anything, unless he wanted us to finish him and his koopas off." Mario nodded in agreement. "I guess." "So, has your brother gotten you drunk yet?", the princess asked. "Wait, what?!" "I told Luigi to get you drunk. You deserve to have a little fun, wouldn't you think?" Mario was a bit embarrassed. "Uh, not as long as I'm your knight, my princess." Peach was impressed. "Wow, you're as loyal as you are stubborn."
In the lower deck, Wario sat at a table with Diddy and Donkey Kong. They were playing cards together, a skill that Donkey Kong was still improving at. "Dang Diddy, you're good at playing Go Fish.", Wario commented. Diddy responded by grinning. Few monkeys could communicate by talking, though they were a very intelligent species. "This cruise thing has been boring, I just can't wait to get back and collect my gems.", Wario complained. Luigi had just walked in and smirked at him. "You know Wario, you should consider yourself lucky. Me and my brother could've just left you when you were locked up in Bowser's castle." "Yeah, but you needed me as a double agent, and you know it. I made things easier for you, and look forward to collecting my reward." Luigi shook his head and walked away. He didn't want Wario here, but Peach was adamant about him celebrating with them.
Mario continued to relax when he saw Yoshi nearby, taking a nap. He grinned and ran to him, and then yelled "boo!". Yoshi jolted up and screamed. "Daashy!" Mario laughed and patted the reptile on the head. "Haha, sorry, I couldn't resist. Go back to sleep, buddy." "Dashy.", Yoshi responded as he laid back down.
The boat was nearing land, where Peach's castle stood high. After a few moments, it stopped at a deck, where Toad hopped out and tied it on to keep it still. "Alright, everyone can come out!", he yelled to alert everyone. Mario, Peach, Luigi and the rest walked out one by one holding their bags and belongings. Mario looked around carefully, scanning the area to make sure there's nothing that could harm Peach. All he could see was the land and trees that surrounded the kingdom, but there were supposed to be a group of toads waiting for them when they arrived. This prompted Mario to speak up. "Toadette, I'm confused…" "I know, already on it. I'm trying to get them on the radio, but they're not responding." Mario started to feel suspicious. Something could have happened here. "I have a feeling something might be wrong. I'll take yoshi and go on ahead to the castle." "Ok, I'll keep trying to contact them." Toadette agreed.
Mario rode for a few minutes until he made it to the castle. He jumped off and looked at Yoshi. "Stay here, I'm going to take a look inside." "Dashi!" Mario walked to the front entrance and opened the door. "Guys? Toads? ….anyone? It's Mario." The room was empty. Mario continued to look around, and his hands lit on fire. He was ready to shoot fireballs at anything, if he needed to. "Hello?! Is anyone here? Oh my god…" Suddenly, Mario stood in shock, as he saw several toads walking around. But they weren't normal, something was wrong with them. They were growling and acting like animals. 'Graaah….graaaah.", one of them kept yelling. A few of them were walking when they should've been dead. They're inside were hanging out and chunks of their heads and bodies were missing. A few of them were eating the corpse of a toad. Mario tried to back away, but alerted one of them. Mario then saw something even more horrifying- their eyes were bright red. The toads all started to notice Mario. "GRAAAAH!" They started running at him, and Mario immediately started shooting his fireballs at them, narrowly killing them.
Running out of the castle as fast as he could, he screamed for Yoshi. "Yoshi?! YOSHI?!" he frantically looked around outside for him, until he heard Yoshi's distant screams. "Daaaashy!" Mario then ran in the directions of the screams, but and went through a few bushes, but then saw several toads…and people, as the same creatues, no longer living but still walking, and tearing Yoshi apart. Yoshi was still alive, barely, though his neck was being eaten as well as the rest of his body. Blood was everywhere. "NO!", Mario screamed. Some of the zombies were alerted and stared running at Mario, who continued to kill them with his fireballs. Other zombies remained focused on eating Yoshi's remains. Mario just stared at him in horror and sadness. He wanted to do something, he wanted to kill all the zombies that attacked his friend, he wanted to avenge him. But his priority as knight was to protect Peach, so he made his way back to the deck as fast as he could and hoped that they were ok. He took out his walkie talkie. "Toadette? Come in! Do you hear me! Damn." He continued to run as he saw what appeared to be zombies...everywhere. They started chasing Mario as he ran, until he finally got to the deck, where he saw Peach and the others surrounded by a group of zombies.
Peach was standing still and covering her mouth in fear. "What is this? Could just be an attack from Bowser?" "I don't know! How could he do something like this, though?", Toad responded. "What the hell is this?! We have to leave or we're all going to die!", Wario panicked. Donkey Kong was roaring and smashing the zombies heads into the ground, as Diddy Kong shot at them with his peanut guns. Luigi was killing a lot of them, shooting fireballs at them as well. "Mario, thank goodness. I don't know what happened. Where's Yoshi?" "He's dead. I don't….I don't know what happened.", Mario responded. "Could this have been Bowser?" "Maybe, I'm not sure, but these things are everywhere and we need to kill them." The whole group continued to kill the zombies, but more zombies continued to gather at the scene, until there were hundreds of them. "We're in trouble….", Luigi commented. "We need to get back on the boat, NOW!" Mario yelled. But something had happened. Suddenly, the zombies were dying more quickly. A purple rock with a face on it started slamming down on them. And a woman's scream echoed as magical blasts started flying in the air and exploding, killing a lot of them. As Mario and the rest kept fighting, slowly, most of the zombies nearby were dying off. They were being lit on fire, and a man's sword was slashing through them. Lighting was also striking them. After a few minutes, all of the zombies laid dead, as Mario just stared at them. "What was that?" They then saw who helped them. Standing across from the group, were Link, Zelda, Fox, Kirby, Samus, Picachu, and Charzard. "Well, good. There's others.", said Link.
END OF EPISODE 1. LIKE AND COMMENT FOR MORE!
