Flowers. Stars. Fire. Pipes. My grandmother used to tell me stories about the old days, a time of peace when the Avatar kept balance between the Mushroom Kingdom, the Beanbean Kingdom, the Koopa Nation and the Pipe Worlds. But that all changed when the Koopa Nation attacked. Only the Avatar mastered all four elements. Only he could stop the ruthless Koopas. But when the world needed him most, he vanished. Twenty have passed and the Koopa Nation is nearing victory in the War. Some people believe that the Avatar was never reborn into the Pipe Nomads, and that the cycle is broken. But I haven't lost hope. I still believe that somehow, the Avatar will return to save the world.
-x-
"Give up, sister, we're never gonna find anything out here. The Koopa Nation got them all!"
"I can't believe that, Toad." Princess Peach, the last known Flowerbender of the Southern Mushroom Tribe, was not a woman who gave in easily. Even when Koopa Lord Bowser and his Koopa Troop came and captured every last Flowerbender except for her, even when they set fire to the forests and had their Flurries coat the land in ice to keep anything from growing again. All her life she'd been taught to hope, to believe, that everything would turn out all right if she did.
So she knew there had to be at least one flower hiding out there. It was just a matter of finding it. Prince Peasley, her longtime friend and honorary brother, was a bit more skeptical but he'd come with her anyway. He wasn't a bender, but he was good with a sword and proud of it. They'd grown up fighting together, protecting each other, closer than close.
So no matter how pessimistic he was of finding a flower, he would help her. Most of the time.
"It's colder than an ice cream soda, Peach! Come on, let's go back to the house for some hot mushroom soup and hot chocolate," he implored. "Please? I think my sword's hilt is frozen to my hand!"
"You're wearing gloves, silly," she said, rolling her eyes. "Look, if we don't find anything in the next fifteen minutes we'll go home, but please...if there's just one little flower beneath the ice, hiding in a tree's knothole, anywhere..."
"I know, I know." Peasley sighed. "Believe me, Peachie, I want to save the Mushroom Lands as much as you do. And I've told you time and time again that the Beanbean Kingdom's more than happy to help! You don't need to hunt for flowers in the dead of winter to save the Mushroom Tribes!"
"I know, Peasley, and I appreciate it. But you have your hands full trying to protect yourself from the Koopa Nation as it is. And as the only Flowerbender left in the Tribes I have a responsibility to the people. They're counting on me, brother...I can't let them down."
And so they kept searching. And looking. And sighing. It came close to half an hour before Peach wondered if she should just give up when she suddenly caught a glimpse of red beneath a patch of ice. Gasping, she dug her trusty metal fan from her pack and dove towards the glimpse.
"I found something! It looks like a flower, too! Come on, we might be able to save it, it still looks alive!" She beat on the ice with the fan, it was slick and hard and broken chips flew in her face but it was something, it was there.
"Peach, be careful," Peasley cautioned nervously, "it could be a frozen Koopa spy!"
"I don't think it is." The fan hacked and hacked at the ice until it began to crack. The patch finally broke into two pieces, released a beam of red light so bright the siblings had to shield their eyes and when the pieces fell away, they revealed...a man.
Oh, dear. This was a far cry from a flower, and the poor man looked frozen to death! Icicles hung from a thick brown moustache and sideburns, his red overalls were torn in several places and his shoes were caked with mud and leaves.
"Well, we found something all right. But I don't think a frozen man's as good for bending as flowers are," Peasley said. "So what should we do with him?"
"I don't know," Peach sighed. "Is he even alive? Who knows how long he's been-" Suddenly, she heard him groan and looked down at him. He was alive, all right, opening his eyes and adjusting his gaze.
"Hey..." He sounded like he'd been through the wringer, sick and tired and beaten up. "Can I...can I ask you something?" He was looking right at her and she felt her cheeks grow hot.
"Y...yes, I guess so."
"Would you go turtle-sledding with me?" Turtle sledding? Well, there was something she hadn't done since she was a little girl. She took a better look at the man; he was short and chubby and looked like he could have been anywhere between his early twenties and his late thirties. The moustache suggested closer to the latter.
But his face, weary as he looked, was kind and comforting with lively blue eyes and a wide smile forming. And she couldn't help but smile back at him.
"Sure, I'd love to!" Behind her, Peasley cleared his throat.
"Ahem." He smiled. "Sir, my name is Prince Peasley of the Beanbean Kingdom, and this is my good friend and honorary sister, Princess Peach of the Southern Mushroom Tribe."
"Nice to meet you." The man sat up, brushing ice from his hair and face. "My name's Mario."
They took him back to the house for soup and hot chocolate, where he told them his story. He'd been on the run from Koopa Lord Bowser for a long time and wound up hiding underground when the snows came. He'd fallen asleep, been frozen underground and didn't remember anything between then and when Peach had broken him free.
"You should travel with us," Peach said once he'd finished his story. "Peasley and I are on a journey to liberate the Mushroom Tribes from the Koopa Nation, and we need all the help we can get."
"Ah, yes, a very noble goal!" Mario smiled. "Prince, Princess, I'd-a be honored to lend a hand!" The way he spoke seemed familiar in a way Peach couldn't place. "Count-a me in!"
"Great!" Peasley smiled. "First stop, my home kingdom. I need to introduce you to my mother and the Beanish!"
"Ah, yes, the noble Beanish. It has been so long since I've-a last seen one," Mario sighed wistfully. The two siblings shared a raised eyebrow, just how long had Mario been underground?
"Well, you'll get to see plenty!" Peach giggled, and Mario smiled again. Something about his smile made her feel warm and fuzzy inside, and Peach decided he was better than any frozen flower she could have found underground.
They could find plenty more flowers on the way to the Kingdom, anyway.
-x-
Meanwhile, two scaled, heavily-shelled figures had seen that red light from miles away. The boy leapt up and down in celebration.
"Wendy, do you know what this means? It means he's out there! He's still alive!" The girl dropped her nail file, eyes widening momentarily before narrowing.
"Morton Koopa Jr., do you really think I'm dumb enough to fall for that?" she snapped. "Last time someone said they found the Avatar they were just faking it to get a bag of coins!"
"But didn't you see the light?! Wendy, it's him! He didn't disappear after all, even after the Koopa Troop chased him down!" Morton grabbed her hands and danced in a circle. "We found him! We found the Avatar! Oh, boy, aint this gonna be a thing to rub Dad's nose in!" At the mention of rubbing their idiot father's nose in their success, Wendy brightened and gave a shout of joy.
"Hahahahahaha! It's about time! Hmph, ever since Daddy kicked all of us kids but Ludwig off the Koopa Troop I've been dying to settle his hash." Morton nodded firmly, his eyes hardened and determined.
"He said he'd be the first to capture the Avatar and steal his powers for the Koopa Nation's own. Well, guess what, jerk? Us two are gonna knock you right off your throne when we capture that flying buffoon!" Wendy grinned, then became serious again.
"Okay, now that we know he's still here, how do we capture him? Do we even know where he is? What if he's got guards?"
"You leave that to me, sis." Morton smirked. "You just sit tight and I'll let you know when it's time to start breaking stuff."
-x-
Fortunately, the two Koopa children spent enough time planning that Mario and his new friends could make it safely to the Beanbean Kingdom with little incident. They were given a warm welcome by the Beanish, followed by gasps of shock at the sight of Mario himself.
"It has been over twenty years since anyone has last seen a Pipebender," Queen Bean whispered. Prince and princess exchanged a look, glanced towards Mario, and suddenly everything made sense.
Mario is the Avatar.
-x-
Their first encounter with the Koopa Kids found them victorious, but tense. Word of the Avatar's discovery had leaked and if Koopa Lord Bowser's children knew, they'd surely tell their father and Mario was in grave danger. And worse yet, they hadn't seen a single Pipe Nomad anywhere and Peach feared the worst. The Koopa Nation were the Pipe Nomads' number one enemy. Lord Bowser's grandfather started the whole war just to get rid of them! And as time went on, the more and more likely it was becoming that he'd succeeded and Mario had just gotten lucky.
One day, they found a tall, slender man in green overalls with a moustache and eyes similar to Mario's hiding in the remains of an old shop. The moment he saw Mario he gave a cry and ran, hugging the living daylights out of him.
"Luigi!" Mario's face lit up. "We lost track of each other when the Koopa Nation came, glad to see you're safe! But..." He scanned the area. "Why's it like this? Everything's all gone or broken down." His expression darkened. "Luigi, don't tell me-"
"It's gone, Mario." The taller man removed his cap and lowered his eyes in shame. "It's all gone. Once the Koopa Lord chased you away they were able to bring us down easy. I...I ran away. I should've stayed and fought but they-"
"No, Luigi." Mario sighed. "You did the right thing. You were outnumbered and the Koopa Lord already had me running for my life." His eyes hardened. "He set this all up to make me look like a coward, I'll bet. That monster!"
"Which is all the more reason to stop him and his Koopa Troop!" Peach cut in. "Sorry to interrupt, but after seeing the horrible things he did to Pipe World, now more than ever we know he's an unforgiveable creep!"
"Right!" Peasley unsheathed his sword and pointed it towards the sky. "My guess is he's got all the other Pipe Nomads held captive with the Mushroom folks, and it's our job to save them!" He winked at Luigi. "And now that I've got a partner, it'll be that much easier."
"Er..." Luigi blushed. "Well, usually my brother and I work together, but-"
"It's okay, Weegee," Mario laughed. "We'll all work together! A foursome! Me and Peach, you and Prince Peasley! Together, we'll overcome the Koopa Nation's tyranny, free the people and reform the lands!"
"Hear, hear!" the other three cheered. From then on they were a team, two pairs of siblings and four friends working together towards the same noble goal.
Maybe they'd run into even more people during their journey. Maybe an old friend or two. Who knew?