Chapter 2 Come One, Come All
Mario was relaxing in a lawn chair in the middle of the castle courtyard. Peach came out with a smile and a piece of strawberry chocolate cake.
"You feeling relaxed, Mario?" she asked. Mario nodded.
"Yes siree bob," he said. "Thanks for the cake, Peachy."
Peach laughed.
"You're welcome," she said. Suddenly, she gasped.
"Look at that!" she said as she pointed up at the glanced up and saw what looked like a falling star. It was coming closer and closer. Mario got up from the lawn chair and went to see it.
"Huh," he said, "that is-a odd."
The object seemed to be getting faster. Peach got out of the way, afraid of what might happen. Mario, however, was in too much shock, so the object landed right on his head. He was knocked to the ground. Peach went up to him in a panic.
"Mario, are you okay?" she asked. Mario sat up and rubbed his head.
"Yeah, I'm-a okay," he said. Then he glanced at the object. "Woah, look."
Peach looked and saw that the object was still glowing. Suddenly, like a butterfly emerging from the chrysalis, the shininess fell away, revealing a letter. Peach picked up the letter and saw that it was addressed to her and Mario. She opened it and read it out loud.
Dear Mario and Peach,
Greetings. I have decided to put on a circus for all of you. I would be most delighted if you could attend. I will not go into too much detail concerning the acts, but they are quite spectacular, if I do say so myself. Anyway, the circus takes place at eight this evening. May the stars shine down on you.
Rosalina
Peach noticed an illustration on the invitation. It was a picture of a deep blue cannon with Rosalina sitting inside. She was wearing a teal ringmaster's outfit that looked like a cross between a leotard and a tuxedo. She also had a teal top hat on her head. In her hand was a long, elegant cigarette holder. The picture was moving, so Peach could see Rosalina smoking the cigarette. It emanated star shaped smoke rings. Peach could also see that the fuse to the cannon was lit and sparkling.
"Look at this," Peach said. She handed the invitation to Mario. He read it over and smiled.
"A circus?" he said. "That-a sounds like fun? Think we should go?"
Peach smiled.
"Do you even have to ask?" she said.
….
Rosalina stood in front of the circus tent with Polari. She had created it using her magic and was rather proud of it. It was rainbow colored and was sparkling like a star. Rosalina believed that there was not a more beautiful circus tent in the whole universe.
"I'm really excited," Rosalina said in a calm tone. Polari snickered.
"Yeah, it shows," he said.
"I hope that they come," Rosalina said. "Did you send out the invitations?"
Polari nodded.
"And did you put the illustration on them like I asked?" Rosalina asked.
Polari smiled.
"Yeah, of course I did," he said.
Rosalina breathed a sigh of relief. The illustration was one that Rosalina had worked on herself, and she thoroughly enjoyed it.
"Thanks Polari," she said. "Oh, that reminds me!"
Rosalina waved her wand, and her outfit changed from the aquamarine dress that she was used to wearing to the ringmaster's outfit that was in the illustration. Rosalina waved the wand again, and the cigarette holder appeared. Rosalina waved the wand again and the cigarette appeared, which she used her wand to light. Polari smiled..
"Nice," he said. "Really ties the whole idea together."
Rosalina gave a slight smile. Then she heard something in the distance. It sounded somewhat like the whirring of helicopters. Rosalina looked up into the inky blackness of space and saw the Odyssey coming towards them.
"Looks like our audience has arrived," Rosalina said to Polari. Together, the two of them floated toward the area where the hat-shaped spaceship landed. Out of it came Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, and a variety of Toad commoners. Rosalina gave a welcoming smile.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she said. "I am so grateful that you all could make it."
"Yeah, won't you look at her?" Polari said sillily. "She's practically bursting at the seams with excitement."
Rosalina gave Polari a little flick.
"Anyway," she said, "please make your way inside the circus tent. The show will begin shortly."
Everyone stepped out of the spaceship. Mario came up to Rosalina with an excited grin on his face.
"Well-a Rosalina," he said. "I have-a got to-a say, I am-a looking forward to this. It's not very often that you do stuff like this."
"Well, I hope it goes well," Rosalina said as she displayed her crossed fingers to the plumber. Suddenly, Luigi and Yoshi came up to Rosalina. Luigi started stuttering.
"Hey, uh, Roe...Rosalina?" he asked timidly.
"Yes Luigi?" Rosalina asked with a warm smile, trying to put his nervousness at ease.
"Well, uh, Yoshi here...he uh...he said…" Luigi turned to Yoshi. "You know what, Yosh? Why don't you say it?"
Yoshi smiled.
"Yoshi!" he said. "Yoshi, yoshi. Yoshi yoshi, yoshi YOSHI!"
Rosalina stared at the green dinosaur in confusion. Luigi started chuckling nervously.
"Oh right, I forgot you don't speak Yoshisaurus," he said. "Well anyway, Yoshi was-a wondering if he could do an act."
"An act?" she asked. "What kind of an act?"
"Yoshi, yoshi!" Yoshi said.
"Trapeze," Luigi translated.
Rosalina thought about this. She supposed that she could do that. She was still one act short.
"Sure," she said. "You can be the opening act."
Yoshi jumped up and did a excited flutter jump. Rosalina smiled, happy that she could make someone else happy.
"Hey, what is that?" Daisy said.
Rosalina looked up and saw something approaching in the distance.
"I don't know," she said. "Maybe it's a satellite that went out of orbit?"
Peach came over to the two of them and squinted at the approaching object. Her face fell.
"Oh no," she said. "I know what it is."
As the object approached, Rosalina could see that it was the Koopa Clown Copter. In it, Bowser was sitting and yelling at the top of his lungs.
"MAKE WAY!" he shouted. "KOOPA KING COMING IN FOR A LANDING!"
The Koopa Clown Copter landed on the planet's surface. Bowser stepped out with a happy grin on his face.
"Alright," he said. "Where's the circus?"
Rosalina smiled at Bowser and told him that the circus would start soon. Peach had an angry scowl on her face.
"What the World Eight are you doing here?" she asked. "You weren't invited!"
Bowser chuckled.
"Actually I was," he said. "Me and my friends."
"Wait, you brought friends?" asked Daisy
"Yep," said Bowser, "seven of them to be exact." Bowser turned toward the Copter. "Come on out guys!"
Suddenly, Larry Koopa sprang out of the Clown Car.
"What is up, everybody?!" he said.
Just like that, the six other Koopalings made their presence known. Ludwig flew up into the air, wearing his blue cloak with the jasper button. Wendy, Morton, Lemmy and Iggy stepped out onto the ground, and Roy popped out of the clown car looking distressed.
"Does anyone know where the bathroom is?" he asked. Peach cringed at the sight of her arch enemy's adopted children.
"Okay," she said. "Who invited the seven deadly sins?"
Iggy gawked.
"I beg your pardon, your highness," he said, "but just because my siblings and I travel as a septet does not mean that the seven deadly sins are an apt metaphor for us."
Peach raised an eyebrow and glanced at Morton and Wendy. Morton's stomach was rumbling and Wendy was looking at herself in a mirror.
"Oh man, I really wish I had hair," she said to her brother. She looked at Princess Peach. "You are lucky Peach; you have some of the most beautiful hair in the Mushroom World. If I could have hair that looked half as good as yours, I would be about twenty times prettier than I already am."
Peach turned back to Iggy, who was chuckling apprehensively. She then turned toward Rosalina.
"Rosalina, you didn't invite them, did you?"
Rosalina nodded.
"I did," she said calmly.
"Why would you do that?" Peach asked with an irritated tone.
"Well, truth be told, I find them quite amusing," Rosalina replied.
Lemmy was running around happily.
"I can't believe I'm in space!" he cheered. Then he approached Rosalina. "Hey, I brought my ball. Can I be in your circus?"
"Lemmy!" said Ludwig. "The people did not come to the circus to see you do nothing but balance on a stupid ball. No offense."
Rosalina laughed then turned to Polari.
"Do you mind taking them into the tent? I need to wait for Honey Queen," she said.
Polari nodded and started directing the koopas and the princesses inside. As they went, Larry said loudly to Princess Peach:
"At least be thankful we showed up!"
"Yeah!" said Roy. "Bowser Jr was supposed to come, but he stayed home to play video games!"
Rosalina chuckled.
"Well, I suppose that is his loss," she said. Rosalina then waited for about half an hour before she heard buzzing behind her. She smiled and started to turn.
"Ah, Honey Queen," she said. "I'm so glad you could make…"
Rosalina was surprised to see that Honey Queen was not behind her. Instead, there was a dog-sized bee with a shiny silver tiara on her head.
"I apologize," said the bee, "but I am afraid that my mother could not make it. She sent me in her place."
The smile returned to Rosalina's face.
"Oh, you must be Princess Bumblebee!" she exclaimed. "It is very nice to meet you."
"You as well, Lady of the Shooting Stars," Bumblebee said with a wink. "Now, do you have any honey on standby? I am starving."
Rosalina shook her head.
"I am sorry, I'm afraid I don't," she said.
The princess' face fell. She looked so angry that her head looked ready to explode. Then she sighed.
"Oh well," she said. "I suppose I can survive." With that, she flew into the tent. Once she was gone, Rosalina waved her wand and a cosmic bob-omb appeared in her hand. Smiling, she lit the fuse with her cigarette and threw it up into the air. It exploded, creating a supernova-like firework. Rosalina then let out a breath.
"Alright," she said. "Let the show begin."