A.N.: Hello and welcome to my 16th story in FF ever! It's not a pairing story but it is more towards the the end when you find who I really pair Petey with. All because of that duel battle board game in Mario Party 3.

Please Read and review and most importantly enjoy!

Mario sighed with pleasure as he swam aimlessly in the waters of Noki Bay. Isle Delfino sure had its beautiful sights, but by far, Noki Bay was the best in his opinion, in terms of sightseeing that is. Though it probably came in second to Sirena Beach on everyone else's list of beautiful places. Oh well, its their opinion, not the plumber's, so what does he care? Technically, he should at least care about saving Princess Peach from Bowser's clutches...but it's Bowser, he wouldn't dare harm the Princess in any way, shape or form. In other words, he didn't have to worry too much about it or anything else for that matter.

Then a really big shadow passed over him and gave him something to worry about.

"Mario! A really huge Piranha Plant just flew over to the entrance of the Noki Tomb! Hurry!" cried the Noki elder's grandson, from the platform Mario always arrives on.

Mario sighed through his nose which made small bubbles in the water. It's always something isn't it? First it was the cork on the waterfall, then it was Gooper Blooper for the third time since Mario has been on Isle Delfino, and then he had to collect some red coins in a bottle as instructed by the Noki Elder. Next was an eel that needed it's mouth cleaned out of its rotten teeth as it was the true source of the water being polluted. Then Il Piantissimo wanted to race him again for a rematch, and Mario wondered if he would see him for a third time in the near future, since he saw the Pianta wannabe as a worthy opponent and knew for a fact that the feeling was mutual. After that there was a not so secret Shine Sprite that appeared in the giant conch shell, and after that Bowser Jr. showed up as Shadow Mario again, and then after that the rest of the Noki returned home but could only be found in the city part of the bay deep under water and in the same area that Mario had to deal with the eel's toothache, and had to gather more red coins from a fish that was made of coins. Now, Petey Piranha was here, since it was the only giant piranha plant Mario knew of on Isle Delfino and Petey was the only Piranha Plant he knew that could fly...Third time running into him too, three must be the lucky number for this vacation.

In any case Mario knew he had no choice but to answer the call of being a hero, especially since F.L.U.D.D was nagging him to get to that Noki tomb. Reluctantly, he swam over to the wall that had secret indentations that only appeared temporarily once water was sprayed on it. But of course he took his sweet time swimming there. He wasn't in any rush to save the day again for Noki Bay. After all, Petey wasn't capable of doing too much damage that couldn't be fixed.

When Mario finally reached the shoreline of that special wall, a ball of gunk came from the direction of the tomb entrance on the almost unreachable hill and splattered five feet from Mario. Apparently Petey had spotted him. Well, Mario cleaned up the mess the gunk ball made and quickened his pace up the secret indentations wall after squirting it. That overgrown Piranha Plant was gonna get it for making that cheap shot.

Soon enough Mario had reached the top, which was the entrance to the Noki Tomb, and there he found a rather interesting sight. Petey was looking a little down trodden as he swayed his little stubby feet in the puddle that was around the actual entrance to the Noki Tomb. The enormous Piranha Plant merely glanced at Mario then looked back at his feet, and sighed a disheartened sigh, and even his petals drooped in a mysterious sadness. Mario must've taken too long getting up here so Petey lost his will to fight. Mario had no reason to fight either since Petey wasn't wreaking havoc of any sort, and he wondered why the overgrown walking flora looked so sad.

Coming up with a slightly risky decision, Mario unbuckled F.L.U.D.D from his waist and left it by the closest tree, and slowly made his way unarmed toward Petey. Petey glanced at Mario cautiously and thankfully noticed that the plumber was unarmed. Mario then sat down as close to Petey as he dared and then looked up at him with a small sympathetic smile, hoping to cheer the poor beast up, even just a little.

Petey glanced at the plumber again and sighed sadly once more before trying to communicate by merely speaking in the garbled speech that was his native tongue. Mario hadn't heard the original Piranha Plant language in a long time, so his mental translating was a little rusty. However he could make up bits and pieces from it and stuck it all together. And what he could make out was probably Petey's life story.

Apparently Petey used to be a normal sized Piranha Plant, but was experimented on by a strange old man in a white coat. Somehow, that didn't surprise Mario in the slightest. Over time, Petey eventually grew to the size he was now, and escaped because he needed more natural sunlight instead of what the old man was providing ( a very convincing light bulb,but plants can still tell the difference). After he figured out how to fly, he flew all the way here to Isle Delfino, since there were no bad chemicals or fumes and it rained whenever the plants and vegetation needed it most, and of course there was plenty of sunlight. But lately Petey has gotten bored, and wanted someone to take him into their greenhouse to nurture and care for him until his game was over when he wilts of old age. Problem is no one really likes to take care of Piranha Plants because of their nibbling habits, so really it's just a pipe dream now. Paradise is no longer paradise... Ironic isn't it?

Mario couldn't help but smile, but he had to hide the wicked grin under his hat as a wicked little plan had started forming ever since Petey said he wanted someone to take care of him in a greenhouse. Someone who actually liked Piranha Plants, and Mario knew just the guy who did.

Petey had finished his explanation and glanced at Mario out of curiosity of the plumber's reaction. Alas Mario was facing the bay below, and Petey figured the plumber couldn't understand him anyway, and groaned dejectedly. Mario however picked up on Petey's groan of dejection, thinking the overgrown plant thought he wasn't paying attention, and so reassured Petey by drawing a picture in the dirt with his index finger.

Mario drew a picture of Waluigi with an equals sign to a Piranha Plant head with hearts all around it, and Mario looked up and smiled at Petey genuinely. Petey understood instantly that the plumber knew someone who liked Piranha Plants, and his toothy grin widened from side to side on his face like a Cheshire cat. Mario gave Petey directions on where to find Waluigi and in the excitement of it all, Petey quickly kissed Mario with a loud smacking noise and took flight to find his potential new caretaker, giving a small signature scream as a goodbye.

Mario was stunned to say the least, but shook it off since he's had worse experiences. After quickly gathering himself he waved goodbye, even though the giant Piranha Plant was already too far along to see it. He sighed softly in relief that he didn't have to do much this time around. It was true that sometimes fighting isn't always the answer. Sometimes you just need someone who'll listen.

Mario looked back to F.L.U.D.D still sitting under the tree and buckled it back on. "Mario, the Piranha Plant seems to have left the island. I doubt we will be seeing it around the premises of Isle Delfino ever again," Calculated F.L.U.D.D. Mario merely nodded in agreement, and finally decided that Princess Peach had waited long enough to be rescued, and so he teleported back to Delfino Plaza and started to head to the top of the shine gate for the next and final round of shine sprites. As he landed in Pianta Village surprisingly at night, Mario couldn't help but remember another reason why he grinned so wickedly at dumping Petey's well being into Waluigi's hands.

Luigi was going to owe him big time.

The End