AN: Yo, I'm Luky, I wrote usually for Pokemon, but I did a break, and since not long time ago, I'm pretty focus on Mario's game, it help to feel better. I did this fic without really big effort, just I had this idea, so it's a really short fic, probably five chapters. Also know I do fanart so, you can find me on my deviantart: GreatPeace and my tumblr: GP-Luky, that's all :D Enjoy it !

Chapter 1

The door of the room was ajar. Sitting on a chair, he didn't stop to stare at it, believing that his brother would come through there, but the only things he could hear were the joyful sounds of his older brother. He sighed softly, at least hearing that his brother was in his normal state, but a few days ago...since he had saved the Princess, something different had happened to him. When he had met him as he followed the young woman on her trip, he had the feeling that he was different. As if he behaved like someone else. Luigi thought his brother had sometimes been more aggressive than he usually was, and it frightened him. He wondered if Peach had noticed too.

"I'm going out, Luigi!" he heard through the door, then hearing another door being slammed.

Mario had gone out, as he had planned to see the Princess this afternoon, though he had no idea what they were going to do. In Luigi's heart, he hoped that everything was going well. That despite his strange jumps of mood that had happened to him lately, everything would be good between them. But, he had to talk about that to the Princess at least. As well as talk to the one it concerned, needing to discuss with him what had happened these last days.

Princess Peach was in her office in the library. Since she had returned from her Odyssey, she was to resume her duty as Princess. But that didn't stop her from focusing on something else. In her hands, she had a big piece of red cloth she was sewing. Since Mario had lost his favorite cap, and Cappy was not always there with him, she had to at least give him something in gratitude. After all, he'd saved her life and she hadn't really thanked him. Then she heard the doors of the palace open, a noise she knew so well. Peach knew the plumber was coming to see her. She quickly put her sewing equipment and the unfinished hat in a drawer.

The doors facing her opened and she saw him approach slowly and put his elbow on the edge of the office. The princess blinked at first with her sudden gesture, he was much more malicious than she thought.

"Mario, what do you want today?" she asked with a half smile. Mario's gaze made her uncomfortable.

"I just wanted to see you, Princess," he answered with a soft voice, even though it strangely hid an anomaly that made it different from what Mario could have said.

The girl raised an eyebrow, visibly surprised that her favorite knight would call her by her title and not by her name. They knew each other too well for him to call her that. She restrained herself for a moment and then exhaled, and continued what she was doing originally.

"I can't be with you now..."

She got up from her seat and turned around holding some books, which she put in one of the large shelves that stood behind her. A shudder passed through her spine, as she had this impression of déjà-vu, of already lived, in the past. Most of the time, it was because she felt herself being watched, often by the henchmen of King Koopa, or by the monster himself. But this time, she knew she was safe, so why did she still feel this chill that froze her bones? Mario was always with her in the same room. Whatever happened, he'd fight again and again against Bowser to free her. She slowly turned her head so she could see where the sensation could come from.

Something that surprised the Princess was that she saw nothing at all, except that Mario still looked at her with that strange look and smile that could be almost perverse. So it was him who made her react that way? Why did he keep looking at her?

"Mario..." she started in a slightly shaky voice. "Could you stop looking at me like this?" she tried to seem the least bothered possible since she didn't want the most important man in her life to feel upset.

"How could I stop looking at the most beautiful thing on Earth?" he said in a less sharp voice than he used to.

Peach was disconcerted, looking straight ahead with her eyes widened slightly. The man behind her couldn't be the person who could have said those words. She knew him too well for that. She knows that he's a rather shy person and that when they returned from the moon, he had obviously claimed that what he had tried to do was just to save her from Bowser and his new proposal, nothing more. She wasn't that stupid.

She touched the edge of a tiny book and tried to forget what she had just heard. She thought of how he had acted differently these last days, during her trip she had also been able to see that he was strangely more aggressive.

"Tell me Mario..." she tried to ask in a small voice. "Do you feel good?"

The plumber's strange smile had disappeared and was replaced by a confused look. Mario got up more slowly and looked more closely at the young Princess.

"Yes, why?" he responded.

Looking at the floor and tapping the same book with her fingers, Peach's voice was closing in her own throat, but she struggled to answer:

"No, it's just..." she paused and chewed her inner lip gently. "You've been quite different these past few days."

She had struggled to say these words because she was afraid to hurt her friend's feelings. She didn't want to reproach him, to the contrary, she just wanted him to understand that something was wrong.

The man crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, still looking at the Princess who had turned her back to him. "What makes you say that?"

Slowly, Princess Peach turned around but didn't look at him. She put her hands together, clenching them because of the stress she was feeling.

"Well, you're more annoyed? Or sometimes you act strangely, which even many of my subjects have noticed."

Mario blinked a few times and looked at the floor rather pained, as well as ashamed. When she looked at him again, she could see that he wasn't pretending at all and that perhaps he too had noticed. She noticed him turn around and he leaned against the desk. He didn't look at her and he began to speak in a rather calm voice.

"I'm sorry, I also noticed that something was wrong. I think I'm just tired. I've traveled all over the world to save you. I've to live with the fact that my greatest enemy wants to marry you, my best friend," he paused, pondering what he could say. "Well, it's just terribly stressful."

Peach's heart warmed slowly, and she was comforted to hear these words from Mario. She knew he wasn't the type to confide all his worries, but to hear him talk about it only filled her with joy.

"I'm sorry to you and Luigi if I ever offended you," Mario said. Even if he didn't look at her, she shook her head in a soft way to make it clear that there was no problem at all. Now he would have to try to talk to Luigi about it since she thought he must have noticed it too.

There was a long silence between the two, Mario hadn't moved from where he was, while Peach ended up slowly getting closer to him.

"How is Tiara?" he asked to break the silence.

She paused a moment and thought. It was true that now that she and Tiara were back in the Mushroom Kingdom, Tiara was spending more time with her older brother, which was why Mario didn't wear his famous cap on his head today. She thought back to her gift in the drawer too and she hoped it would make him happy when she finished it.

"She's doing pretty well," she replied, then resumed her walk. "How's Cappy?"

He sighed softly at her question, his hands tightening against the piece of furniture. "He's distant."

She positioned herself beside him, also leaning against her desk.

"He just spends time with his sister," the Princess said with a smile. "Just like you do like spending time with Luigi. "

He gently raised his shoulders but gave a smile anyway. She was right, they both had the right to spend time together.

"I'm sorry Mario," she started, this time more serious. "But I can't spend time with you today. Can you come back tomorrow?"

As Mario's gaze turned to her, she thought she saw a little puppy which hadn't had a treat. She found him very cute.

"Don't make that face, come on!" she said in a more enthusiastic tone. "Tomorrow, we can spend time together as I said, and you could bring Luigi too? It's good when we are together, you know?"

At first, he blushed softly and then he smiled with all of his teeth on display.

The expression of the young Princess passed from exaltation to fright. Though it was more of a surprise, what she had seen had frightened her too. Her eyes slightly wide, she put her left hand on her mouth in shock.

Mario stopped smiling when he noticed the reaction of the blonde girl.

"Is everything alright?" he asked softly, worried.

Peach was still frozen with sudden fear, her shivers through her body were back. But despite this, she tried to answer the young man. "Mario, what happened to your teeth?"

First, he blinked, rather stunned at her reaction, then brought one of his fingers against his mouth. He turned so the Princess wouldn't look at him, but he touched his teeth trying to understand what she had just said. Did he have something stuck on one of them to the point that it scared her? But the feeling of his fingers only told him the opposite.

He could feel that his teeth were much sharper than one would expect. This time, a small voice called to him to go home and see the problem for himself. He turned back to the Princess, but his hand was hiding his mouth. Shame began to pool in his stomach.

"Peach, I..." he caught his breath. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm going home."

And before she could say anything, Mario had already run out of the room to get out of the castle. The Princess looked at the floor, still shocked by what she had just seen. Such sharp teeth only the beasts of her biggest nightmares could have them.

He let his hands move across his face several times, Lord Koopa never having sweated as much as he did now. Since his defeat on the Moon, he was feeling weaker, leaving behind signs of physical damage, such as the tiredness on his face, that he was not as sparkling as he usually was. Looking at himself in the mirror, he felt like he didn't see the abominable Bowser terrorizing the Toads of the Mushroom Kingdom, but a weak Koopa who just wanted to take a nap forever. He was always dynamic, but now he was the opposite.

"Your Evilness?" a voice close to him asked.

Turning around, he looked at his most faithful servant, Kamek, the magician of his kingdom, sadly holding his scepter.

Bowser chuckled and turned to his servant. His eyes were ready to close at any moment, he even felt like he could collapse at any moment. "Nothing, huh?"

The Magikoopa squeezed his scepter with his little hands, chewing the inside of his cheek.

"My Lord, Kammy and I have never seen this type of disease! We gave you every kind of potion, medicine that could have saved you, but nothing has changed, and you've seen it for yourself!"

The King of Koopa didn't answer. He just let himself lose himself to his thoughts. His health deteriorated more and more, and nobody had any idea what he had or how he got this disease.

"How much time do I have left?" Bowser asked in a low voice as he looked back at his mirror.

"Um," Kamek first thought. "I think that…I don't prefer to think about it, but if I would make an assumption, there's a good chance that you'll not survive the week."

Bowser lowered his eyes to the ground, showing no emotion and just tightened his fist. He thought of his kingdom since he had felt sick, he hadn't spent much time in the presence of his subjects. Also, what would the Koopalings do without him, without their Master? And then he thought of his son. Junior would be left alone and lost without him, with no one to offer him even love, though at least he could count on the Koopaling, Bowser was still his father. If he died, his son would become the new King, but he was still a child. He didn't want Junior to have the same childhood as him, a childhood without real family love and only to know the power alone. Before being an evil king, he was above all a loving father.

He laughed softly at this thought. The turn of events was more and more ironic for him. Was he punished for chasing the Princess too many times?

He turned and left his room under the sad gaze of Magikoopa. Outside, he came face to face with the Koopaling group, who were waiting for a response from their King, all of them showing grief on their faces. They were all afraid for the King Koopa after all.

"What are you doing here?" Bowser asked in a darker tone, pretending to see that there was nothing at all.

The seven teenagers looked at each other as if to know what they could say and to make him understand that they were worried. Ludwig tried to say something, but Bowser cut him off. "I suggest for the seven of you to go back to your rooms. There's nothing to explain or anything!"

Under the general fear, the Koopalings disappeared. Letting him continue his way and arrive at a double door he knew well. He opened it gently, running his head through it, and saw a small figure pushed back onto his bed, hidden under pillows, which didn't react to his presence. Bowser entered without waiting and headed for the hidden form, he could see little legs of a Koopa sticking out.

"Junior?" the Koopa King asked coldly.

The silhouette didn't react. He removed a pillow to see the body of his son, who was lying on his stomach, arms stretched out, seeming to hold a toy with his head was looking straight ahead. Neither of them could say anything, especially the father. He didn't want to say he was dying to his son, he just wanted to say something, anything, even if it was to say nothing. Yet he had felt the child was really distant with him since he had come back from the Moon. He looked at the ground and then spoke in a friendlier tone.

"The day wasn't great, huh?"

It was a good start, even though it wasn't the best.

"It could have been," answered the childish voice of the young Koopa.

He sighed at the answer.

"Listen, kid," Bowser started again. "I've had some bad days lately."

"Because of the plumber in red, I guess," the child cut him off without looking at his father.

The King grit his teeth, as he didn't really like to talk about him. His enemy has always been a stickler for years now. And that was still the cause of his failure on the Moon.

"Okay, listen to me, Junior," he tried again only to be cut off by the child again.

"The same plumber who stopped the wedding," he continued with his monotone voice.

This time Bowser couldn't stop himself from getting a little mad. He tightened his fist more abruptly. "Hey! I'll really punish you if you start talking about it again!"

The child turned to look at his father, however before he could answer him, Bowser coughed heavily and as soon as he finished, he put his hand on his head. The prince said nothing for the moment but just gasped.

"Dad?"

The biggest Koopa put his hand on his chest to breathe more gently, though he didn't look at his son but tried to give an explanation anyway.

"Since the Moon, I've caught a disease, nothing serious though," he said, but that was just half the truth, so as not to disturb the child.

Prince Koopa sat down next to his father.

"Is it because of Mario?" he asked again.

His father put an arm on his opposite side and dragged his shoulder against his giant body.

"No, not really," he confessed.

But the child realized something else, that it made him jump in fear. "Can Mario kill you now?"

At the end of his sentence, Junior found himself having his father's big hand against his head, the latter stroking his hair heavily. Bowser was still amazed that his son could ask such a question. Thinking about it, he knew Mario was unable to kill him. Not because he couldn't. He knew his sworn enemy too well. It wasn't in his nature to kill. He was far too nice. The day he would kill was the day he wasn't himself anymore.

"The idiot will be dead before he could even try to end me!" he comforted his son.

With his father's hand on his head, Junior smiled.

"You know..." his father began in a quieter voice, not looking at him. "If I left this world, try to see things from a better point of view."

He stood up and showed his motivation through a smile. "See, if I'm no longer here, you'll be the next king!"

Although Bowser tried to be in a good mood to help the child be positive, Junior, however, wasn't convinced.

"Relax, kid. I wouldn't be leaving immediately. Not now for sure."

He turned and walked to the exit, but as soon as he touched the door, the child's voice rang out. "But I don't care if I'm a king or anything, I want to spend time with you! I want you to stay with me!"

Bowser didn't turn around, his eyes were on the ground and the only reaction he could show was to hit the door hard enough to make a hole in it, through which you could see the heads of the Koopalings who had spied on them. The young Koopa jumped at the gesture, but his father turned around with a smile on his lips.

"I'm proud to have a kid like you."

He spread his arms and the child walked to him, so they could share a family hug, despite the other Koopas still spying on them.

Mario looked at himself in the mirror, having removed his gloves for hygienic reasons. He looked at his teeth, poking at his cheek. Only by looking at them, a shiver passed through his spine. His teeth were sharp, some much more than others. As he pulled his hand away and closed his mouth, fear gradually hit him. How did he not notice that? Is it a disease or something similar? He turned abruptly when he heard someone come in and walk through the door. He saw that it was none other than Cappy. The latter seemed rather distant that he couldn't appear. Neither of them really knew what to say except that Mario put a hand on his mouth to hide his teeth.

"Are you okay?" Cappy asked softly.

Still having his hand against his mouth, the young plumber looked at his partner again. He nodded without saying anything. The magic hat looked at him briefly, making Mario think he was being analyzed and he heard his sigh.

"Do you miss me on your head?" he finally asked.

"Oh!" Mario reacted without lifting his hand from his mouth. "Yes, of course!"

In a fraction of a second, Cappy changed into his famous red cap form and quickly landed on the plumber's head. With his other hand, Mario adjusted his cap as he used to, but stopped when he felt Cappy whimper in horror. His eyes looked at the visor of the cap.

"Hey, sorry, I just felt bumps on your head," he said as he pulled away from his head, he also moved away from his friend. "But, uh, it's nothing serious!"

Mario didn't believe him, with the way he acted couldn't convince him. He turned to the mirror and ran his hands through his hair, although the ghostly hat continued to say that everything was fine. Then he finally felt, as Cappy had said, two strange bumps. They were both on either side of his head. By touching them, he felt how they were hard but fairly small. He went closer to the mirror and looked at one of them. Except that what he saw weren't really bumps, but rather horns.

Two small horns which were still quite round, but also were beginning to grow.