The immediate downfall of the brothers:

The Mario Brothers walked into the throne room only to be shocked as on the throne was not the princess that invited them into the castle rather it was an old Toad dressed in regal attired. Next to the throne was a young Toad drabbed in armor with a sheathed sword hanging from his waist. The old toad stood up and said

"You two must be the Mario Brothers I have heard so much about. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Gerald Toadstool, King of the Mushroom Kingdom. This young knight at my side is the captain of the Order of the Fire Flower, Drake Ignifung of the noble Ignifung family."

The Mario Brothers bowed down before the king and asked why was the King meeting them when it was the Princess who had invited them. In response the King said.

"Can you not tell the difference between my daughter's handwriting and my own? No matter." The King's voice began to resound with anger "I have called you here cause to have a pair of plumbers as the greatest heroes of this Nation is an embarrassment to the whole Kingdom."

"You're Highness, calm yourself" said the young Captain.

The King sat on the throne then looked deep into Mario's eyes. The King closed his eyes for a few seconds and upon opening them again he said.

"Mario. I will give you a chance to prove yourself. You will engage in a duel with Captain Ignifung. Should you defeat the Captain I will make your family a nobility of the Mushroom Kingdom and offer you the position of Captain of the soon to be formed Order of the Pipes but should you be defeated you must leave my chambers and never associate yourself with my daughter ever again."

"I will allow you to make the first move" said the young Captain in an arrogant tone.

Mario held out his hand and in the blink of an eye a series of fireballs the size of his palm flew out towards the Captain only to not only miss their target but they never even reached it. Mario and Luigi were quite shocked to see all the fireballs hanging in mid-air in front of the Captain and with a swift motion of the Captain's hand the fireballs all came together into his palm. In a swift motion faster than the eye could see the Captain had planted his palm firmly onto the floor, an act that was quickly followed by a great amount of fire forming around the Captain and quickly taking on the form of a tsunami. Mario and Luigi trashed about in panic as a great deal of fire that appeared as thought it could burn down the Mushroom Kingdom in a single day came crashing down upon them. When Mario had come to he was surprised to see that he was inside a prison of fire, that his overalls we're blue and red once more, that Luigi was in the distance unconscious and most of all that there was the tip of the Captain's blade mere inches away from his face.

"The power of the Fire Flower is the power to manipulate the element of fire itself to your will" said the Captain as he walked away sheathing his sword and willing the prison of flames around Mario to dissipate "I am a master in the power of the Fire Flower, to defeat me with the same power is to be superior than me in that power. Your abilities are but that of an amateur."

Feeling the cold stare of the King, Mario walks away in a dejected manner while carrying his still unconscious brother.