Author's Note: okay, so please ell me what you think so far, ever review is appreciated! ^-^
I am taking a short break from my Scooby Doo series, as I have got a bit of writers block at the moment x.x
So anyway, here's the next chapter of my crossover, hope you like it! ^_^
Mystery Inc. were ushered inside a large living room, mainly decorated in pink, white and cream. The all piled onto a couch, while Scooby jumped up and sat on a cream armchair. The Princess sat on the couch opposite them on the other side of the coffee table, the older looking creature names Toadsworth sat next to her. The Princess seemed to be in deep though, her head was resting on her hands as she nibbled her bottom lip.
"Excuse me, Princess?" Velma said softly, "Can you please tell us where on Earth we are?"
"You're not on Earth anymore..." The Princess replied distantly.
"T-Then like, where are we?" Shaggy stammered.
"Well, right now you're in the Mushroom Kingdom..." She said, once again not really concentrating on what they were asking.
"What are you going on about!" Fred shouted, finally losing his patience with the blonde woman.
Toadsworth shot up from his seat, "How dare you speak to the Princess like that! We can have you-"
"Toadsworth." The Princess said calmly, and reluctantly, the small toad sat down. "Mr. Jones, please calm down, can you please describe this 'beast' which has taken your friend?"
"It was some kind of turtle, a big one, with spikes on it's shell..." Fred said through gritted teeth. He looked at the Princess, she was gripping the skirt of her dress tightly as he described the monster which abducted Daphne just a few hours ago.
Raising her hand to her forehead she closed her eyes and gave orders to the small toad beside her. "Toadsworth, send for the Mario Brothers..."
"Please, can you help us find our friend" Velma asked the Princess as Toadsworth left the room.
"I've sent for help, the Mario Brothers have never let me down, if anyone can help with this it's them." The Princess said, her eyes still closed.
"Who is he, this monster?" Fred asked, still annoyed at the Princess's attitude to all of this.
"His name is Bowser, he rules over the kingdom bordering mine. He's a ruthless tyrant, he will stop at nothing to get what he desires..."
"So her desired Daphne?" Fred growled.
"Your friend? It's hard to say really. For years he's harassed me, and for most of that time we thought he was only planning to get his claws on the kingdom, it wasn't until recently we discovered his true motives."
"Which are?" Fred encouraged.
Shaking her head, the princess looked at him, "It doesn't matter, what matters now is he has your friend. We'll do our best to get her back."
Fred was about to ask the Princess more about the kingdom, when a small pink toad rushed into the room, "Princess! The Mario Brothers are here and they've found a young woman!"
"What! O-h my, bring them in here, quickly Toadette!" The princess ordered.
Mystery Inc. watched as two men dressed in blue overalls walked into the room, one of them carrying an unconscious red head.
"Daphne!" Fred gasped, rushing over to them. He pulled her away from the man in red and cradled her in his arms, "Daphne...Daph...Say something Daphne..." He said, patting her on the cheeks gently, but firm enough to wake her if she was sleeping. "What have you done to her!" Fred yelled, his eyes lazing as he looked at the two men.
"Nothing!" The one in red said defensively, "We saw her with bowser and rescued her, she passed out from shock when we told her where she was!"
The Princess looked at Daphne, and then at Fred, "Lay her down on here..." She said, pointing to the couch she sat on moments before.
Fred nodded and gently lay Daphne down, positioning a pillow under her head. He knelt next to her, brushing her hair back off her face as he inspected her. "Is she okay Freddie?" Velma asked timidly, peering over at the pair.
"Yeah...Yeah I think so...Just a few cuts and bruises by the looks of it." He replied, stroking her cheek.
"Mario..." The Princess murmured.
The man in red rushed to her side, "Peach what's wrong?"
"Bowser, where is he, what's he doing?" he asked, panic lacing her words.
"He was in the Kingdom, I don't now what he's planning, but it doesn't seem good."
"Is he coming here?" She asked. Mystery Inc. watched the Princess, she was trembling as she spoke, her words coming out shaken. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide.
"I'm not sure Peach. It does seem likely, now he's back he'll probably be after you again, and if his plans involve her," He nodded his head in Daphne's direction," then chances are this will be the first place he'll look."
Biting her lip, the Princess turned to face Mario, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. Mario sighed and pulled her close, wiping away the few tears which managed to escape. "Why can't he leave us alone?" She whispered softly.
"Peach, don't worry okay, I'll never let him hurt you again like he has in the past..." He looked into her deep blue eyes and smiled, "I promise."
Peach smiled back, before turning to find everyone in the room staring at her. Her pale face was now bright red as she averted her gaze to the floor. "You all look exhausted, please, stay the night." She said softly.
"No, I think we need to leave, get back to where we belong." Fred growled, looking at Peach. "We need to go back to out own world."
"But, you can't leave just yet!" Peach cried, "It's so late and your friend is injured!"
"Fred, like, she's right." Shaggy said.
"Reah, Raphne reeds ro rest." Scooby said, jumping off the armchair and curling up beneath the couch Daphne lay on.
"Fine. We'll stay the night." Fred muttered reluctantly.
Peach smiled, "Toadette!" She called out, "Could you please show these people to their rooms?"
The same pink toad from before ran into the room and smiled at the group and paused while the Princess whispered to her. "Follow me please!" She chirped, smiling brightly.
Scooping Daphne up into his muscular arms, Fred and the rest of Mystery Inc. followed the small toad girl through the long corridors of the vast Mushroom Kingdom castle, staring in awe at the objects on the wall, varying from paintings to weapons. Velma paused halfway down the corridor heading towards a large staircase, and looked up at a painting of a blonde woman. "Is this the princess?" She asked the small toad, still staring at the picture.
Toadette threw her head back and gazed at the picture, a slight frown crossing her face. "No." She replied softly, "That was Queen Anne, the Princesses Mother, she passed away a few years back..."
"Like, what happened?" Shaggy asked, holding onto Scooby by the collar.
Still not taking her eyes of the painting, she sighed. "A war broke out between all of the Kingdoms...Bowser, he was close to winning..."
"D-did he kill her?" Fred practically whispered, clutching Daphne close to his chest.
The small toad nodded, blinking slowly as a tear dripped from her eyes. "Please," She said, still trying to sound happy despite the fact she was wiping tears from her face, "Follow me to your rooms."
Fred glanced at Velma, a frown on his face, "I don't like it here Velms..." He whispered softly, "We're in way over our heads his time."
"I know Freddie...I-I wish there was some way we could help here..." Velma whispered, following the small toad slowly.
"I wish we could too Velms, but I doubt there's anything we could do...I feel sorry for the Princess."
"Then, like, why give her such a hard time?" Shaggy interrupted.
Fred looked back at Shaggy and lowered his gaze to Daphne, "I-I don't know." He admitted. "I was just worried about Daph I guess, I just needed someone to blame..." Fred said, reaching the top of the staircase.
"This will be your room Miss." Toadette said, smiling warmly at Velma.
"Oh, thank you." Velma smiled, "Fred, please, try not to take out anything else on the Princess, she only wants to help." She whispered to Fred.
"Sir, you and your dog will be in the room opposite." Toadette said, opening the door for them.
"Rog, Rhere?" Scooby muttered.
"Like, come on Scoob." Shaggy chuckled as they walked into the room.
They continued down the hall until they reached two more doors, again, opposite each other. "Sir, this one will be your room, and this one will be your friend's." She said, pointing to the two different doors.
"Uh, I'd rather Daphne didn't stay on her own..." Fred murmured.
"Oh! I am sorry, but the Princess told me to put all of you in your own rooms, I didn't realise you two were a couple!" The toad said nervously.
"Oh no, w-we're not!" Fred cried defensively, "I mean uh, can't you put her in Velma's room or something!"
Toadette smiled as she watched Fred's pale cheeks burn a crimson red, "Sir, I assure you, she will e fine. The Princess has informed me that there will be someone in the room with her."
"Who?" He asked, frowning.
"One of the doctors at the castle will stop in for a while, then a servant will stay with her, trust me, she'll be fine."
Hesitantly, Fred walked into Daphne's room and laid her down gently on the bed. He paused, stroking her face softly as he stared down at her. After a few moments he stood up and left her room, looking back once more to check that she was still okay, before going to his own room.
