Chapter Two

A/N: Hey peeps! Sorry for the long wait, just tryna kick start things! : ) Don't expect updates too often, but we definitely won't leave it for over a month without an excuse or note on my profile. Thanks for all the views on the first chapter! The beginning of this stiry won't be to interesting because it's got a slow start, but things will pick up soon! Now, with no further ado, enjoy chapter 2!

Dry Bones roamed the palace grounds as patches of fiery smoke rose from the cobbled castle floors. The skies of Darklands consisted of its usual grey, pink and orange streaks, as if some amateur painter had lazily dragged a blotching ink pen across the sky.

Huddled against a bleak, grey wall taking in the unnatural view from her barred window, was Princess Peach. Whilst the mysterious colours of this foreign land intrigued her, she had grown to hate it, as every aspect of it reminded her of how far away she was from the pale blue skies of her home Kingdom.

Peach sighed. She wished she had a clock on her. 'Who knows how long it'll take for Mario to come this time?' she thought. Of course, it must be Mario, right? The Toad's were to cowardly to come up with a way to rescue the princess, and even if they did, they wouldn't stand a chance. Luigi has no place as a hero without his brother at his side, so he was off the list.

So she had to sit and wait for Mario.

As much as she hated having to wait to get herself rescued all the time, it gave her hope and cheer knowing that Mario feels so devoted to her Kingdom, and that he'd risk his life a few times a month, just to rescue her. And if there's one thing that she knows that Mario would never do, is give up on her. And of course, after a long, well trusted friendship with Mario, Peach can't seem to deny the fact that maybe, just maybe, she may have feelings for the charming man. Short he may be, she certainly had a vision of walking down the isle towards him.

All of a sudden, a loud rouse of noise came from below her. Peach knelt on the floor and pressed her ear against the cold, stone ground of her four-walled cell. Either the stone was miraculously thin, or the ruckus was really loud, but Peach could hear everything that was going on in the space below her. And there's only one person she knows that could stir up a storm like that.

"He's here", Peach said with a smile.

Mario jumped on the last koopa troppa that had the guts to stand in his path, and it simply retreated into it's shell before dissapearing with a small poof of smoke. Too easy.

The rest of the Koopa Troopas were quivering against the wall, and Mario and Luigi paid no attention to them as they casually walked towards their destination, with no objection from Bowser's so-called 'loyal' servants. More like slaves.

SLAM!

The massive, red double doors slammed open, as easily as a bowling ball knocking over a skittle. Bowser gave one of his signature, sinister smirks and cracked his boney knuckles before giving off a loud roar which caused the ground below him to shake.

"Mario! Just when I thought my plan was the best, it just got better! My plan will reach total perfection before you can even say the word 'plan'!" Bowser roared in amusement at his own joke, literally doubling over with laughter.

Bluff. Mario knew better than to believe anything that Bowser said. Mario simply walked over to the doubled over Koopa and grabbed his tail.

"HAHA-huh? Wait- What do you think you're doing? Wai-STOP! NOOOOO! Bowser wailed as Mario spun him around with increasing speed, with a vice-like grip on his tail.

Suddenly, without warning, Mario abruptly released Bowser's tail, and raised his head to greet a flailing Koopa, as he gradually shrunk in size the further he flew into the distance. All that could be heard was the distance screams of the defeated Koopa, vowing for revenge, before he was heard no more.

"Wow bro, that's got to be record time!" Luigi exclaimed, walking over to his brother with the key to the Princess's cell tucked securely under his arm.

"Not really. Bowser just earns himself less sense day by day." Mario said in a modest tone.

"C'mon, you've got to give it to yourself! If you keep up with this, maybe one day there wouldn't be any more attacks from Bowser! Maybe one day he'll give up?" Luigi persuaded.

"Psh, Bowser, give up? You've got the wrong guy," Mario snickered.

"Ummm, Mario?"

"Yeah?"

"You forgot about the Princess."

"What?! No! You distracted me!"

"No I didn't, you're the one who can't walk and talk at the same time!" Luigi retorted.

"Well...you can't multitask! Mario shot back.

"Hyprocrite! You can't even hold a phone whilst eating!"

"Now THAT is NOT true..."

The bickering returned back and forth in a likewise manner, until the brothers made it to the Princess's cell.

"...Princess?" Luigi timidly called out, being the first to end their little dispute, whilst slotting the golden key into its keyhole.

"Mario! Luigi! I'm so glad you're here!" the Princess cried as she literally threw herself out of the cell at Mario in a tight hug, which was returned by a weak squeeze of the shoulders.

"Umm, Princess...A bit less tight please?"

"Oh...right...Sorry!" the Princess flustered, a dark pink blush evident on her cheeks.

"...It's ok," Mario answered quietly, head down.

Peach smiled as they made their way out of the Koopa castle, as she held hands with Luigi. Shyly, she offered her hand towards Mario, who scuttled to the other side of Luigi, head down, and declined her offer.

Peach frowned at his actions; Mario usually never minded holding her hand. 'Maybe...He's just shy...which might mean...He feels the same about me as I do for him!' Peach gave a love-filled sigh in her head, almost squealing out loud, before she composed herself. 'Now, now Peach. Princesses don't squeal' Peach reprimanded herself.

Now, you can imagine what this mini mental debate appeared like to any onlookers.

Luigi shook his head before redirecting his attention to the path before him. As disrespectful as it is, sometimes Luigi thought that there was seriously something wrong with that girl...

Peach hummed herself a melody as she gracefully sauntered about her private kitchen. She grabbed a bag of flour from one side before dancing over to the other side to place it next to her set of scales. Yes; Peach was ecstatic. In a more graceful way of course. If her theory was correct, Mario probably had a crush on her.

Peach gave her flour a soft smile before pouring the sufficient amount onto the scales. 'You are going to help me bake the best cake ever!' She thought excitedly. Ever since her rescue last night, she had been bubbly and as hyper as she could ever be. She barely got a wink of sleep, and still somehow managed to wake up as usual, smacking a bit of make up on and rushing downstairs to get started.

"Now, 'statistics' show that Mario likes caramel fudge cakes rather than strawberry, so caramel it is!" Peach whispered to herself.

"Hmmm...should I put a little, or a lot?"

Peach gave a gentle shrug before tipping the entire 750g packet of fudge inside the cake mix before melting the sugar to get started on her caramel.

"If Mario thinks that my cakes were the best before, wait till he tastes this!

Mario wasn't happy.

For the past 12 hours, his head had been constantly burning with a passion, refusing to let him get an ounce of sleep. And to his absolute horror, he found that he couldn't even rest his eyes when the penetrating rays of the Mushroom Kingdom sun started to shine over the horizon. And Mario liked his sleep. If anything, it seemed as if the sun was only fuelling his headache even more rather than giving him the motivation he needed to start his day, which he had grown to love.

Mario sighed and stood up, before falling back down in shock with a sharp intake of breath, as his head pounded even more violently than before. 'I'd best take it easy', he thought.

With great effort, Mario slowly rose from his bed, then dragged his feet to the bathroom, and leant over the sink.

He felt like he was going to be sick. He didn't know what brought this on, but he wasn't enjoying any of it. He wasn't one to have hangovers, and he was pretty sure that he hadn't done anything but sleep (well try to) after he rescued Peac- no, the Princess.

Perhaps he just had the flu or something. After all, spending hours running through ice cold conditions was bound to make him ill, right?

Mario sighed then took a glance at himself in his small bathroom mirror. He looked a right mess; his moustache was unruly, his hair was sticking in every possible direction, he had dark bags under his eyes, and his entire face looked like a steamroller had run over it. 'I'm definitely not doing anything today...' Mario thought. He'd simply nap in for the entire morning, and just hope to the stars that he'll replenish at least a small amount of his energy the next day.

After reaching the conclusion that he was too ill to do anything, Mario climbed back into bed, before remembering that there was nothing he could do about the sun. When he put his duvet over his head, it got hot and stuffy and he could barely breath. If he didn't, the sun wouldn't give him peace.

"Can't this day give me rest?!" Mario cursed under his breath. As if to annoy him further, a loud rap came from his bedroom door. Mario gave an irritated groan.

"What is it?!" Mario yelled irritably.

With cation, Luigi lightly pushed the door ajar and poked his head out meekly.

"Ummm...I just came to say...the Princess, gave you an invitation...To visit the castle this afternoon...umm...yeah..." Luigi stammered, before hastily stepping back out in fear of making his older brother's bad mood worse.

Mario pulled the bed covers over his head and gave a frustrated sigh. So much for staying in...

Luigi gave occasional concerned glances at his brother as they walked towards the Princess's castle. He hadn't so much as uttered a word since they'd left the house, and hadn't eaten either. In fact, the only word he had said that afternoon after he finally emerged from his room was a mumbled 'gotta headache'.

Whilst Luigi was worried for his brother, he decided to drop it. After all, an afternoon in the pleasant company of the Princess should cheer him up and get him chatting again. 'Talking about the Princess, I wonder if Daisy will be there today?' Luigi wondered, and just like that, Luigi's mind drifted away, not acknowledging Mario's gradually increasing foul mood.

The table was pilled past any set limit; it was simply the greatest amount of food seen at one place at the same time in the entire mushroom kingdom. Several varieties of oriental cuisene lay before them, the food of heaven looking so aesthetically pleasing, that it could simply be eaten with your eyes. At the very end of the long table jam-packed with food was the magnificent cake that Peach herself had baked for Mario (...again). And sitting in front of it, was Mario. Although, not so much his usual self...

Mario wanted to plug his ears in to block out the constant croaking of the toads around him (A/N: geddit?) as they virtually run off the walls at the sight of the extravagant feast. It didn't help that they kept on stoping by Mario's chair to say hi. It mightn't have been such a big problem if there wasn't at least two-hundred toads in the hall, continuously strolling up and down and finding it absolutely necessary to greet Mario every. Single Time. And each one added at least 2KG to his already heavy migraine.

Finally just as the 199th toad was about to say hi to him for the 30th time, Peach raised a delicate gloved hand and daintily tapped her slender champagne flute with her dessert spoon. Mario snorted. If it had been him, he probably would have crushed it with his bare hands with the mood he was currently in.

"Umm, excuse me?" Peach began, and almost immediately, the entire hall feel pin-drop silent. A child Toad at the back of the hall accidentally drooped his chocolate wrapper, and just about every head in the room turned to him and gave him intimidating scowls, before turning back to the front as the Princess' speech commenced.

"I would just like to say, thank you - to all of you. You all played a part in my rescue", 'and capture' she muttered under her breath, "and I would like to give you all a big thank you for being my loyal loving subjects and for doing your best to help me in my time of need!" And with that, the good-natured Princess blew a kiss to everybody in the room, which resulted in swooning Toads and squealing Toadettes.

After the crowd had settled down again, the Princess resumed her speech.

"But of course, none of this would have been possible, if it wasn't for Mario, and his younger brother Luigi!"

This was the part that Mario was dreading. He knew that he now held the undivided attention of everybody in the hall, as everyone was practically gleaming at him and expecting him to give his usual humble smile, whilst his brother didn't even get a look in. He turned his head to his brother a few seats down for him, and he saw the irritated look that briefly crossed his face at the lack of attention on his part. Mario wished that for today, just for today, Luigi would take all the glory. Mario was in no mood to entertain. And most importantly, he was in no mood to eat any of the food laid before him, as a small sense of nausea began to stir up deep inside him, gradually rising to the surface.

The cheers died down as everybody stared at Mario expectantly. Mario knew what they wanted. And he didn't want to give it to them. Instead, Mario sat straight from his slumped position in his chair, lifted his head up and gave his audience a weak smile, which seemed to please them, as the applause resumed and the audience turned back to the Princess. The instant they were all no longer watching, Mario slumped back down and his miniature smile died out instantaneously. Thank the stars he was sitting at the back; the most isolated area in the entire hall.

Mario was barely tuned in as the Princess droned on about his own accomplishments and achievments. Usually, Mario would be sitting upright, grinning all the way, exchanging occasional glances with the Princess, maybe even a few 'knowing' ones, but right now he just wanted to sleep...

"And once again, I present you all with the customary feast that I have made with the help of all my loyal kitchen workers!"

The crowd screamed in delight. They couldn't care less about what the Princess has gone through to make the food; Mario knew for a fact that when it comes to the Princess's feasts, they just wanted to eat.

Mario groaned inwardly as the 200th Toad came in late and said hi to him. It would take hours for everybody to leave; once the toads had taken their second rounds, thirds, fourths and fifths were sure to follow, and then they'd spend at least 30 minutes trying to digest some of what they've eaten so they have the strength to waddle home. And if that wasn't enough, he'd have to stay longer for yet another celebration. How the Princess manages to do this several times a month he will never know...

The sky was a golden orange as the sun sat comfortably on the edge of the horizon. The hall was littered from the mass of Toads who had occupied it previously. It was almost completely desolate though; save Mario and Peach. Luigi had gone off to 'Look for Daisy' apparently. Mario wasn't dumb; he and Luigi both knew that Daisy hadn't come, because Luigi had spent five minutes crying over it. 'He'd better not be getting any ideas on me and Peach,' Mario thought. He silently cursed Luigi for landing him here, with no valid excuse to leave the room. If he said that he needed to go to the bathroom one more time, the Princess would probably think he has diarrhoea.

Peach silently sauntered over to him and sat down beside him. Mario turned towards her and gave her a small nod of acknowledgment before turning away. Peach's sigh immediately indicated that she was catching on about something, and Mario was dreading speaking to her already.

"Mario," she spoke up,"Is there anything wrong?"

Mario sighed; he'd known that Peach would pick up on his anti-social behaviour and would ask him about it.

"It's nothing." Mario rasped. Mario barely suppressed a gasp of shock; his voice had sounded a lot more hoarse than he'd thought it would. He'd sounded like a dying goat!

The Princess showed little to no reaction to his change of voice, and took one of his glove-clad hands into hers.

"You don't look very well Mario, are you sure I shouldn't get a medic to take care of you or something?" Peach offered.

"No, I should be getting home", Mario replied bluntly. He inwardly kicked himself; he hadn't meant for it to come out so insensitively.

"Oh...Well, whatever it is-and I know there is something," Peach said giving him a knowing glance," you can come to me if you need help. So, would you like to cut your cake now? It's my finest!" Peach said with an optimistic attitude.

"No thanks, I think I'll skip cake for today," Mario said as he abruptly stood up. The word cake had Mario's head rolling with nausea, and the Princess's cheery character was irritating him. He felt the need to throw up, and here was Peach, presenting him with cake? Mario found that he was becoming increasingly irritated at the Princess's presence. He knew she doesn't mean bad, but now was not the time. He grabbed his cap, and started to walk away.

"Wait!"

Mario stopped mid-step, and let his hands drop at his sides.

"...Mario...are you really ok?" the Princess questioned, a look of concern crossing her features.

"How many times do I have to tell you, there is nothing wrong with me!" Mario snapped loudly, raising his voice. He violently spun around to face the Princess and was met with a distraught gaze. Suddenly- Mario clutched his head in pain, and fell to the floor in pain.

"Mario!" The Princess yelled, snapping into action, and holding the man's shoulders as he screamed in anguish.

Mario couldn't describe the unimaginable pain as he lay on that floor; not to Peach, not to Daisy, not even to his own brother. His head felt like a nuke that had gone off, the only difference was that the only destruction was suffered by him. His very head pulsated in pain, and Mario could only scream further, as the pain only intensified. Then all at once, the engulfing pain ceased, as if it was never there to begin with.

Mario shook and trembled as he slowly stood up, lightly brushing the reassuring hand of the Princess off his shoulder.

"Mario...You really aren't okay are you?" The Princess insisted, fixing him with a sorrowful gaze.

"...Like I said Princess, I'm fine..." Mario whispered, visibly shaken. Complete stillness filled the room as the pair stood in silence for a few seconds before Mario turned to face Peach.

"This never happened,"

And with that, Mario turned his back on her, grabbed his trademark cap, and walked out of the door, leaving a perplexed princess to contemplate over the wellbeing of her childhood friend.

EOC

A/N: Alright! Now that's over with; we'd like to propose an offer. Which would you prefer? Shorter chapters with more frequent updates, or longer chapters with less frequent updates? Shorter chapter will be of the same quality, maybe around 1000-1800 words roughly, maybe up every two weeks or less. Longer chapters (1800-3000+) will take 2 weeks to a month. What do you guys say? Leave a review saying which one you'd prefer, and we'll work around it easily! Or should we just have a poll on Koolcat's profile? Probably better... Any Who, thanks for reading, stay Kool, and we'll be up with chapter three soon! (Leave a review if you enjoyed!)

- Koolcat