This new attacker roared in a way that was unlike Bowser.

"So, it's not Bowser this time. It sounds like an actual dragon this time." Peach mused as she hastily made her way back towards her chambers. She couldn't be kidnapped now. She was too close to discovering this strange world's secrets. If she failed to defend herself, she hoped that she would still remember the events prior.

The blonde princess recalled reading about a time where she was the heroine and the Mario Bros were the damsels. She used a parasol as her weapon of choice. If something so commonplace had helped her defeat fearsome foes before, it should do the same now. At least, that was what her hope was.

She had made it up the long stairwell to her chambers and grabbed a pink parasol. It looked significantly different to the yellow and blue she'd seen in the variation, but it would have to do.

Peach made her way back towards the source of the chaos.

An ice dragon was currently razing her throne room. 'My throne room. Heh. It feels as if I don't belong here.'

In front of the dragon were two familiar faces. Mario and Luigi were both battling the beast. Mario was frozen in a block of ice and Luigi was on the attack.

The Green Thunder launched himself into the air with his superior jumping skills, but failed to notice a large block of ice forming below him.

'Now is my chance. I've been a damsel for too long. I'm going to change that perspective here and now.'

The princess ran into the fray as the block of ice was launched at Luigi. With a grand leap of her own and a swing of her parasol, the royal knocked the offensive ice block out of the air before it could hit the younger Mario brother.

"I don't know how or why, but this umbrella is very formidable!"

"Princess! Are you sure you want to join us? It's not safe!" Luigi protested after he landed a powerful hit while pulling off some stylish moves. The younger brother fired emerald-toned fireballs at his frozen brother which released the older, red-clad brother.

Mario shivered, but quickly regained control of his faculties. With a quick look of surprise at the Princess's presence, he turned back to their foe.

"I've never been more sure of anything. And if this battle goes in our favor, I'd like to show you something that you'll find intriguing."

An ice pillar formed upon the ceiling and came crashing down on the princess. The brothers began to make a frantic scramble towards the royal, but were stopped in their tracks.

Peach had used her parasol as a shield. The ice pillar was reduced to rubble leaving the princess unharmed. "Oh wow! I didn't think that would actually work!"
"Princess, come to me!" the dragon hissed. "Our king must be revived!"

"Not happening, buddy! Watch as Luigi punishes you for your evilness!" the younger, but taller brother proclaimed as he fired a flurry of fireballs at the dragon. The blasts made contact and the dragon shrieked in pain.

Mario followed up with his own red, flaming spheres.

"Of course, fire is the best offense against ice. What can I do to help? I can't shoot fireballs." Peach eyed her surroundings, but not seeing much to help. "I do have this weird ability to pluck things out of the ground. I hope I can uproot a Bob-Omb or a Stitch-Face Turnip."

Peach stooped down and pulled. It was a Smiley Turnip. "That's not going to do any good!"
She tossed it and pulled again. A Bob-Omb.

She tossed the Bob-Omb at the dragon's face. It detonated upon impact leaving the dragon damaged and dizzy. Mario and Luigi combined their attacks with a move they called Fire Bros. Mario would toss Fire Balls at Luigi who then relayed them all towards the dragon.

"GRAAAAAA!" the dragon fainted and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Now that the day was won, Peach led the two brothers to her library.

"You both need to read through these books." Peach directed.

"I-I knew it, bro! I told you that we've done this whole thing many times before!" Luigi held one of the books in shaking hands.

"Yeah!" Mario concurred.

"Do you two have any idea of why this is happening?" Peach ventured. She realized that they may be as lost as she was, but it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that the world's heroes would unknowingly hold some clues.

"No, I don't think we have anything to answer that question." Luigi sadly supplied. Mario shook his head to affirm.

"Well, I was just about to search for the beginning of the series before that dragon attacked. The fact that I wasn't kidnapped this time has throw everything off course. There may be other threats to try and correct the situation. But we should worry about that as they happen. For now, we need to find the first entry in the series! Will you please help me?"

The brothers gave an enthusiastic leap to signify their answer.

"You two are just wonderful! Well, I don't know what the first volume looks like, but it has to be in here somewhere."

The trio began their trek through the vast library in search of the book in question.

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A/N: Thus ends the third chapter. Many thanks to all of the readers, but invisible and not!