Chapter 2: Something Old, Something New

...

Bowser had grabbed Peach on his way out. Thanks to his immense strength, it was fairly easy to rip open the cage door and smash through every wall in sight. Peach had asked several times where Mario was, for she couldn't believe that Bowser had actually BEATEN him, but so far she had gotten no response.

Bowser panted but never stopped running. He could see the explosion behind him, racing to catch up. At the moment, Mario was the last thing on his mind. Survival was first. He began to question why he had built this particular castle so very big. Now he could see a window. He had to reach that before the explosion caught up. Already he could see walls less than four feet away crumbling as the searing heat and great force hit them.

He just made it.

As Bowser jumped out of the window, the explosion finally reached the edge. The massive fireball stretched out the window, like a hand greedily stretched out to catch its prey. Thankfully, Bowser was just out of reach of that hand. As he landed, he saw his beautiful, wonderful new castle all turned to ash in one massive explosion. Bricks came everywhere. Now, Bowser had a long way to go if he could ever be a gentleman, but he was at least kind enough to stand in front of Peach, shielding her from all the debris.

Before long, everything had cleared out. Besides bricks scattered everywhere, the only trace left of the castle was a neat little pile of black ash sitting where the castle had been.

Bowser shaked a fist in the air. "I'm gonna kill whoever got me that stupid machine! He cheated me out of four thousand coins AND a castle!"

Peach turned to Bowser. "Bowser," she said with a worried expression, "Where is Mario?"

She had asked the same question several times before, but this was the first time Bowser answered. He turned around. "In the castle, of course!"

"What castle?"

Bowser turned back to what once was the castle and stared at the little pile of ash in the center. It began to dawn on both of them that their beloved Mario was now dead.

...

The whole Mushroom Kingdom, and probably a few other kingdoms, mourned for Mario. It wasn't a traditional mourning, either, like you would when a king you didn't particularly like died. No, it was a full-scale time of mourning. Every person felt terrible in his or her heart that Mario was dead. Most people Mario had met immediately liked him, and all, even most of the ones who didn't really know him or terribly like him, felt sad about his passing.

Even Bowser, who had long dreamed of taking control of the Mushroom Kingdom, and had hated Mario for standing in his way, was sorry for him. As he saw the expressions of everyday creatures who knew that Mario was gone, he began to realize how much Mario had meant to everyone - and more so, how much he had meant to Bowser. Though Mario was annoying at times, deep down inside, Bowser really did like him, and he would never forgive himself. For, as he saw it, he was responsible for his death.

...

I'm not dead.

But how?

Mario's mind was awakening, and with it came the memories of what had happened before he passed out.

Where's Peach? What about Bowser?

Mario's eyes shot open. I've got to find them.

He tried to sit up but cringed from the pain. Even if he wasn't dying, the pain made him feel like he was. He shoved his hands in his pockets, pulling out an excessive amount of mushrooms. He ate every one. Instantly he felt better, and his burns were healing fast. Mario glanced around. To his surprise, he was at his house. Or, at least, where his house would normally be. It wasn't there.

That's weird.

He hopped up. He couldn't bother with the mystery of where his house went or even how he had gotten here from Bowser's Castle while unconscious. He needed to find Peach and Bowser and see if they were okay. He pried his memory, trying to remember where Bowser's Castle was. The explosion must have messed with his mind, because for the life of him he couldn't remember. He could barely remember anything about it, actually - it was as if it had all taken place years ago.

"Luigi would know." He suddenly realized. "He's been there lots of times. I just have to get home and - oh yeah."

He surveyed the blank area where his home should be. "Hey, doesn't he have a house where that mansion used to be?" He decided that it was worth checking out. He started walking.

As he walked by, he noticed something strange. He was passing by Goombas and Koopas constantly, and none of them attacked him or even glared. Rather, they smiled, and the Koopas even waved. Even weirder, Toads were also walking by and were completely friendly to the Goombas and Koopas, even stopping to have conversations.

Odd.

He paused to talk to a Toad. "Hey, do you know what happened to my house?"

The Toad gave him a funny look. "No. Why would I?"

"Never mind." Mario continued on. Soon he came upon Toad Town - or what was Toad Town. Now it was apparently named Happy Town and was filled with all sorts of Goombas, Koopas, Shy Guys, and more of Bowser's minions along with Toads. Mario thought that he better check in on Toad himself. Maybe he would know what was going on. He quickly found Toad's house and entered it. Toad was walking around in the kitchen, making something.

"Hi, Toad."

Toad whirled around. "Oh my goodness. Sorry, I didn't hear you knock. Well, visitors are always welcome - wait, how'd you know my name?"

"Toad, I'm Mario. Of course I know your name."

Toad scratched his head. "I don't remember meeting somebody named Mario. It was probably a long time ago."

Mario was too shocked to reply for a while. Finally he replied "For you not to recognize me, it must have been."

"Well, make yourself at home. I'm sorry for the mess, but I wasn't expecting company. My Mushroom Strudels are almost done, but in the meantime you can enjoy some Koopa Tea."

Mario sat down on the comfortable couch. Soon the strudels were done and Toad joined him. They both watched as the strudels cooled. Mario finally broke the silence.

"Toad?"

"Yes?"

"When did this all happen?"

"Huh?"

"You know, this. Toads and Goombas are living together and getting along well. My house is gone. What happened?"

Toad thought for a moment. "Seeing as I don't know where your house even was, I don't know why it's gone. The whole 'Toads and Goombas being friends' thing started several years ago, when Princess Peach and King Bowser signed the peace treaty and joined the kingdoms."

"WHAT? How did THAT happen?"

"Well, both of the kingdoms just got sick of war, I guess. Bowser's actually a pretty good king - much better than I thought that he would be."

"That's news to me." Mario said, taking another sip of Koopa Tea. "I think the strudels have cooled down now."

"Yeah." Toad served the strudels. They were delicious - far better than the regular mushrooms and Shroom Shakes Mario had been eating recently.

"These are great!" Mario told Toad.

"Thanks. They take awhile to make, but it's sure worth it!" Toad picked one up.

Eventually, all the strudels and even the Koopa Tea was gone. The two sat on Toad's couch, silent. Toad finally broke the silence. "You know, if you want, I can show you to King Bowser. He can probably answer all of your questions."

"That would be great." Mario replied. He was certain that, even if Toad had forgotten him, Bowser couldn't have.

Toad got up. "Then what are we waiting for?" He quickly began to clear the dishes. Mario helped, and before long, they were both on their way to the castle. It didn't take long - "Happy Town" wasn't far from Peach/Bowser's castle. They were stopped at the gate by two Hammer Bros.

"Halt!" one called out. "Who goes there?"

"Let them pass, dude," the other one said. "It's just Toad."

"I know that." the first Hammer Bro rolled his eyes. "I was talking to the guy behind him. I don't know about you, but when a guy shows up wearing all red, I tend to think he's up to something."

"My friend comes here to discuss important matters with our king, involving housing arrangements and the general tone of the public." Toad addressed the Hammer Bros, suddenly sounding much more noble that he usually did. "You would do well to grant him passage."

"Well, when you put it like that." one of the Hammer Bros said. He cranked a lever on the side of the gate, and the other did the same at his end. Slowly, the gate started to open. Toad nodded at them as he passed through, and both Hammer Bros saluted.

"Toad must be someone of pretty high authority here." realized Mario. Otherwise the two guards wouldn't have listened or saluted.

Together, the two stepped inside the castle.

...

"Why can't we take them out now?" an angry voice demanded.

"Patience, my friend." replied another voice coolly. "You will have your chance soon enough."

"It's never soon enough." the first voice grumbled.

"My, my. You have such a temper. You will find that it will not do you much good."

"I don't care! I want to kill them, and NOW."

"I know."

"Then you'll let me?"

"I never said that."

"But WHEN?"

The second voice laughed. It wasn't an ordinary, fun laugh. It was calm, unsettling, and there was more than a twinge of malice in it. "Soon." he said mysteriously. "Good things come to those...who wait."

...

Thanks for reading my second chapter! If there anything you think should be improved, just tell me. Oh, and I'm sorry for taking such a long time on this. I promise I won't take nearly as long for the next chapter.