Hello, there! I hope you enjoy this story, this is but the start of a great journey, starting with the standard collaboration of heroes: The heroic plumber Super Mario, and the speedy Sonic the Hedgehog! I don't intend to make scheduled updates. But, I do intend to make this a great piece of entertainment. :)

UPDATE: I've rewritten this chapter, as well as chapters one and two, tidying them up a bit. I have the whole story idea straight in my head, but I'm going to publish the chapters at my own pace. Enjoy!

The sun rose in the sky, the morning was welcomed by a cheerful chirping of birds, and a gentle, pleasant breeze. Within minutes of waking up, the famed hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, Super Mario, bounded out of his door, clad in his iconic attire of blue overalls with bright yellow buttons, a red shirt, brown boots, white gloves and a red hat with a red 'M' on it. With a gleeful "Yahoo!" the moustached plumber leaped to the foot of his garden in one leap.

"Ooh!" A squeaky, yet croaky voice sounded. "Good Morning, Mario! You made me jump!"

Mario looked down to see a small, anthropomorphic mushroom man smiling up at him. He had a small waistcoat and green dots on his domed head. These strange beings were called Toads, and were very common in this part of the world. This particular Toad in question was the local Mailman, so Mario saw him most days, and was easily distinguishable from the other toads, because he always wore his satchel. "It sure is a good one today, eh?" the Toad croaked happily.

"It sure is!" Mario replied. "Especially for an occasion like today!"

"Oh, yeah!" the Mailtoad suddenly remembered. "Now that you mention that, I have this letter for you." He took a letter out of his bag and handed it to him.

Mario took a closer look at the envelope. It was, more or less, a standard envelope, except, it had a pink tinge to it, and had a faint ornate border around it. It also had a whiff of beautiful fragrance about it, and it was closed by a red wax seal, in the shape of a crown.

"I think you know who it's from!" The Mailtoad chuckled.

Mario smiled widely. It was obvious to anyone this was a letter from the Princess. Without hesitation he opened it and read it.

Dearest Mario,

As you are no doubt aware, today is a very important day, which we have all been looking forward to for some time… Our anniversary! Today is the day, all those years ago, that you rescued me from that monstrous Bowser for the first time! In honour of this, tonight at the castle there will be a huge party (With one of my famous cakes!) Everyone in the Kingdom is invited, but you, my hero, are the Guest of Honour! Please, Mario, do get to the castle as quickly as you can so we can prepare for this celebration.

Love Princess Peach xxx

Mario leaped up in the air and spun in excitement (also involuntarily spinning the Mailtoad), and handed the letter back to him. "Excuse me, I gotta go meet a princess!" Mario begun to run off towards the castle.

"See you later, Mario!" Mailtoad called out and waved him off.

It didn't take long for Mario to reach Toad Town, a settlement of the Mushroomoid men that lay just before the castle. As he walked through, he was greeted by cries of "Morning, Mario!" and "Happy Anniversary!" all of which he replied to with an unchanging smile across his face.

And then, he stood before the mighty castle itself. It was constructed of immaculately white bricks, with the roofs and tops of spires covered in pink tiles. In front of the castle itself was a small river, which came from a waterfall to the left, underneath a bridge before the castle, and right, opening up into a large lake. On the other side of the bridge lay the door into the castle, and above that, taking up the bulk of the front of the castle, was a wonderfully designed stained glass window depicting Princess Peach. Mario smiled at it. The only thing different from normal was the fact that decorations and flowers were being put up to commemorate the anniversary.

He continued up the path, which meandered to the left as it went up a hill. Then, from behind came-

"MAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

He stopped in his tracks and turned instantly to the source of the wail. He smiled when he saw his taller, younger brother Luigi, dressed like him but in green, hobbling towards him. He was out of breath by the time he reached him. "Uuh… huuh..hu… Hey, Mario… Phew…" he panted.

"Come on, bro!" Mario beckoned him as he continued to the castle. "Let's a go!" The fatigued Luigi continued to hobble after his brother.

They entered the symmetrical castle lobby, which, for the most part, looked exactly like it always did: The walls were painted to make them look like the sky, with a sun hanging on the ceiling. The floor was checked, like a chessboard, and there were staircases and doors leading off to other parts of the castle. What was different today was the fact that it was bustling with activity, mostly toads. Coloured bunting was being placed everywhere, and there were boxes piled up in the corners. The preparations were far from complete for the party tonight.

One Toad, who was noticeably older than the others, due to his large white moustache and walking stick, noticed the brothers walk through the doorway. He shuffled towards them. "Mario! Luigi! You've arrived, splendid. Come along, we can't keep the princess waiting!" He said in a crisp posh accent.

"Okie Dokie, Toadsworth." Mario addressed him. "Let's a go, bro!" They let Toadsworth lead them through the castle into the throne room that was near the center.

The throne room was quite large, considering it was only meant for one chair. It was big enough to be able to hold two tennis courts – and the ceiling stretched as high as one, too. On the throne itself sat the beautiful Princess Peach, in an ornate pink dress. She smiled as she saw Mario come in, Luigi following.

Mario took off his hat to the princess and kneeled, smiling back.

"Good morning, Mario. It's a long day ahead of us!" The Princess beamed.

"Well then-" Mario jumped to his feet and put his hat back on. "Let's get started!" He gave a thumbs up.

…

Meanwhile, far away, in the much less hospitable volcano infested desolate lands of World 8, there lay Bowser's Castle. It was the complete antithesis of Peach's Castle; dark stone bricks made up a much more medieval and conservative model of castle, more like a fortress, with every other corner sporting a grotesque statuette of the tyrannical King of the Koopas himself.

The brute in question was pacing in his own throne room. His appearance could be described as a combination between a tortoise, a lizard and a dragon.

A miniature version of him wearing a bib was fidgeting uncomfortably in his father's throne. This was the irksome Bowser Jr.

He noticed his dad was grinning to himself. He looked into the distance, in the direction of World 1.

"Watcha lookin at, dad?" Jr squawked. He peeked over to see.

Bowser just smiled. "It's our anniversary today, my son."

This confused Jr. He didn't recall ever marrying his dad.

"This is the day… All those years ago…" Bowser chuckled. "…That Mario foiled all my plans for the first time."

"Oh. Right…" But Jr was no less confused. "But… Aren't you mad?"

Bowser guffawed out loud. "On the contrary! There's gonna be a huge celebration at the castle, and everyone who's anyone in the Mushroom Kingdom is gonna be there!"

"Ooh, Ooh!" Jr jumped excitedly. "Are we invited?" He asked eagerly.

Bowser just stared blankly at him. "… Of course we're not invited!" He shook his head. "We're gonna gate-crash. It'll give me the perfect opportunity…" he clasped his claws and grinned. "Just imagine… I, the mighty Bowser, defeating Mario in front of the entire Mushroom Kingdom!"

And then, Bowser concluded his speech: "VICTORY SHALL BE MINE! BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAHHAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" And the surrounding plains of World 8 quaked with his laughter.