Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Mario characters, games etc. Those all belong to Nintendo.

A/N: This is my first story that I am going to attempt so please bear with me lol. This story takes place through the perspective of Specter who is the Captain of the Royal Guard. Please leave any comments, recommendations, and reviews. Enjoy the story!


Royal Knights of the Mushroom Kingdom

Chapter 1: Just Another Inspection

A routine inspection, that's what they called it. As I stare out of one of the windows on the second floor of the castle belonging to my favorite blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty in the entire kingdom, I find myself wondering, why did I have to get up at 4:30 am for a routine inspection? Being captain of the royal guard had its perks as well as its drawbacks. The princess's bodyguard is my favorite role out of that. Keeping tabs on my troops proves often challenging. They know their place as guards of the castle even though sometimes they love to be mischievous just to get under my skin, but I know that it is in all good fun.

I turned around to face the grand hall of the second floor in its entire glamor. The princess's favorite color is pink so all of the windows were draped with pink curtains and a pink rug that stretched across the hall from the door that lead to the first floor all the way to the stairs that ascended to the third floor. The walls, surprisingly, were cream and were decorated with pictures from past adventures the princess had with the legendary heroes Mario and Luigi.

Guards were positioned at both the door and the stairs. Royce T., one of the best that I have trained, guarded the door. Pete T. was in charge of the stairs. Pete was a bit nervous as this was his first guard duty assignment he was given since he joined the royal guard yesterday. Both were wearing the traditional armor given to royal knights, silver armored chest plates that bore the symbol of the Mushroom Kingdom, which was a mushroom, that was about the size of a medal and displayed on the upper left section of the chest area, silver greaves, silver gauntlets, a shield, which also bore the MK symbol, and a spear as a weapon. To signify their royal guard status, they wore a blue cape with gold trim. My armor was similar being that the only difference was me being human and they were toads, my armor was thicker and had a more glistering silver shine to them. My weapons were always the same, dual wielding arming swords, one sheathed at each side, and a claymore on my back, all crafted by the royal blacksmith Smith T. We would always give Smith a hard time about his name.

I decided to see how Pete was doing as he looks like he could use some words of encouragement. He sees me walking up to him and tries to straighten up his posture as he accidentally drops his shield. "Ca…Captain Specter sir!" Pete manages to part from his mouth while giving me a salute. I return the salute and began by asking "Relax Pete. What's gotten you on edge?"

"Sorry sir. I'm not used to such a responsibility as protecting the princess." He then reaches down to secure his shield but I can still tell he is jumpy by the compulsive vibrations coming off of his skin. "Being a royal guard is no different than being in the military like you used to be."

"Really sir?"

"Sure. In the military you still swear an oath to protect the princess and the kingdom. The only real difference is that you're closer to the princess and not off fighting a war. If anything you should feel more relaxed since you don't have koopas surrounding you."

"Y…Yeah. I guess you are right captain."

"We could always take him down to the training room for another session! That ought to calm his nerves!" Royce fares to bellow from the opposite end of the hall in a robust yet flippant way of manner. "Oh ha ha Royce! I'd hardly call playing spear toss while wearing a blindfold training!" Pete shouts back. As Royce begins his hysterical snickering, I reassure Pete, "You see? You've got comrades here for you, as obnoxious as they are, and you also have me for support. No need to worry about anything. This job is a cake walk."

"Thank you sir."

I turned in the direction of the window I was looking out earlier and started walking towards it when I was suddenly stopped in my tacks by an all too familiar voice. "Captain Specter! It is 4:50 am! Shouldn't you be getting your men ready for the inspection?" Coming down the stairs from the third floor was Councilor Toadbert, the princess's Secretary of Domestic Affairs and Defense. He was a blue toad that wore a blue vest with a yellow tie, white pants, brown shoes, and glasses. He had white dots on his blue mushroom head instead of the traditional red dots on white heads that most toads have. "Councilor, don't worry I was about to call everyone up. You know that I am always aware of the time." I facetiously poke fun at my official friend.

"I'm sure you are ha ha. But you really do need to get on with the inspection as the princess has requested to speak with you afterwards."

"Official business I take it?" I asked with concern although knowing the relationship between the princess and I, mostly it was to enjoy each other's company. Since this came from Toadbert and not from a guard however, I wouldn't put it past actually being 'Official Business.'

"I can't say much here. Just letting you know now that way you don't go disappearing to train after the inspection." A smirk came across Toadbert's face as he adjusts his glasses. We proceeded to walk towards the first floor passing by Royce and through the door he was guarding as we continued our conversation.

"Well you know me. I like to train to better myself in case Bowser or whoever decides to take a crack at the castle or the princess."

"You remind me of the Mario Bros."

"Train as I might, I don't think that I will ever be as good as them." I started to think about the past adventures I had heard about how the two Super Mario Bros. defeating countless enemies including Bowser (multiple times), Dimentio, the Shadow Queen, Cackletta, Fawful, the Shroob Princess, and others. This thought gave my statement more meaning thus fueling my determination to train harder.

"I have faith in your abilities Specter, but I will say that those two do set the bar immensely high."

The conversation came to a halt as we were standing in the middle of the first floor. Above us hung the grand chandelier that was golden and held 35 candles. Two sets of stairs lead to different rooms on each side of the floor. To the east, the first staircase leads to a supply room. On the west side contains a library. The grand staircase that leads to the door to the second floor is on the north end as the door to the front courtyard is to the south. Two extra rooms, one on each side of the grand staircase, complemented the space that was left on the floor. Facing the grand staircase, to the right is a kitchen and to the left is a break room for the royal guards and staff.

"I know the inspection will go well and you will have good news to report captain." Toadbert then shakes my hand and heads to the library. I find him there often usually researching about defensive strategies for the castle or whatever he can get his hands on to boost his own intelligence. Alright time to get this inspection underway, I thought to myself as I looked around and saw Jerry T. and Troy T. guarding the front door. Jerry had been around the guard for about two years being a fairly moderate soldier and whom I would rank 12th out of the 20 guards that I have.

Troy has been around for almost a year. A bit brash and full of himself at times but when it comes down to getting the job done I can always count on him. "Troy! May I see you for a second?" I shouted hoping to grab his attention. He looks at me and hastens himself over to where I am standing.

"What can an awesome royal guard like myself do for you sir?"

"I need you to gather the guard and have them and yourself meet me in the front courtyard for an inspection."

"Uh…there's an inspection today?"

"Yes and I need you to move on the double."

"Sure thing captain."

As Troy is scampering around the castle I see that Brittany T., one of the few female toads on the guard, is running my way at the same speed that Troy is going, almost running into each other. Brittany was a medic in the military for a few years before she requested to join the royal guard and proved herself with her advanced combat style that you do not see from most toads. To this day I still wonder who exactly trained her.

"Captain! We…ha…have a…situation!" Brittany stops about two feet away from me trying to collect her breath.

"Whoa there Brittany. Take a few seconds, gather yourself, and then tell me what's going on."

"Whew…*Ahem*…sir the armory in the basement has been raided! The royal vault guards have been knocked out and the vault has been broken into!"

"What?! Who was on vault guard duty?"

"Chase T. and Casey T."

I should have known that this inspection was too easy…