Here's chapter 20. Enjoy. =)

Chapter 20-Quiet Awakening

Mario awoke to the quiet sound of the blimp's engine running, the only noise that protruded through the morning's quiet atmosphere. As he yawned an over exaggerated yawn and hopped out from the top bunk, Mario gazed out the window, spotting a sea of grey clouds that enveloped the bright orange blimp.

He also noticed that he was left alone. Luigi and Peach were already up? This early in the morning...? Then again, he was up, too, so he shouldn't have been wondering. Still, though, his brother certainly wasn't an early bird. More of a 'wake me up five minutes before we have to leave' kind of guy. And Peach...normally she'd wrap herself in a warm cocoon and snooze until the day was bright and full of action. But even she resisted the temptation of the comfortable beds of which they slept on. How improbable...

Mario yawned again and started for the door. On the outside, everything was quiet. He didn't even hear the usual sound of someone rustling about in their room. Instead...silence. He half expected everyone to be staring in his face as he opened the door, as if they were celebrating his three month early surprise birthday.

But instead, the halls were left deserted and empty. Mario was on the verge of pinching himself just to ensure this wasn't another one of his weird dreams. But hey, as long as this wasn't any Tale of the Inn, he was happy...

So he decided to venture toward the cafeteria, where, if all else failed, he could get a good meal. As long as the chef hadn't disappeared from the blimp, he'd be satisfied...that and the engineer. He had too many bumps on his head by now, that just the gentle rolling around in bed brought him unconscious pain. And besides, the last thing he needed was an unattended blimp plunging toward the ever-nearing ground. Even the great Super Mario wouldn't be able to save himself then. Geez, he had a hard enough time trying to fly a remote controlled helicopter around last year's Christmas party without ramming it right into the decorated tree. He sighed and laughed at this reminiscence.

But many many miles away, there was someone who wasn't quite so happy...

Bow looked from outside the blimport's hotel window at the bleak and windy doom that whirled outside. Still, there was no one. No one was there to talk to her. No one was there to save her. Instead, she was stuck sleeping in one of the hotel's rooms, just to keep warm.

Outside, the wind and weather mixed to form an unstoppable monster. Not a physical, tangible, monster with sharp teeth and fangs. But, more or less, an emotional monster. It was mocking Bow's every breath, and each time she looked out at that barren wasteland, the echo of 'you will never escape' rang through her head, over and over.

But she had to do something. She couldn't depend on luck to get her out of this, considering no one probably even knew she was missing. And if they did, why on Earth would they immediately assume she was stuck at the blimport's hotel? Either Mario would really have to be the detective everyone ranted and raved about, or his guesswork would have to be off the charts. Somehow, this made Bow only feel more lonely, as she pushed herself away from the taunting window and left her room.

She didn't quite know how she was going to escape from this fifteen thousand foot misplacement, but she knew that standing around would get her nowhere. Besides, she was determined. And, in her mind, she was very much superior to those bumbling idiots who'd get lost and feel bad for themselves, lying around and whining about their misfortunes. So, unknowing of whether or not she would actually end up with some success, Bow made off into the gustiness of the morning, then disappearing through the wispy fog as she led herself towards a whole new adventure. She had always wanted to be like Mario, and now, she figured, she could.

"Hey bro!"

Mario jumped at the sound of his voice and turned around. Well, there was his brother. So apparently he wasn't the only living person on the blimp. But it sure still did seem that way...with the exception of his brother, or course, "Hey, uh...where were you?"

"Well...the princess and I thought we could wait for a movie at the movie theater...but I guess they don't show movies this early..." Luigi sighed as if convalescing from a catastrophe. But, then again, he always was the TV type of guy. If there was ever a movie on Kingdom Network or a good game on 'Shroom SPN, Luigi'd always be the guy to be vegetating on the couch with a bag of chips and a few cans of soda.

"Huh...well, too bad, I guess..." Mario wasn't entirely sure what to say. But when he remembered what he was doing in the cafeteria, he politely invited his brother to a nice breakfast. Luigi accepted and took a seat across from him, the very seat Mario had sat in the night before after recovering from the blimps untimely crash.

And, well...the cafeteria sure looked well put together. After the previous night, Mario wouldn't have been surprised if the whole place was in ruins, with tables overturned and the beloved picture frame of Chef Shimi smashed on the floor.

Before the Toadette waitress had time to appear at the bros' table, Sushie came air-swimming into the cafeteria. And the expression on her face wasn't one to put in the family Christmas card, either. She looked horrified, dumbstruck, and nervous, "Mariooo!" She called, "Th-there's a problem..."

Mario looked curiously at the Cheep Cheep, "Problem...?"

"Yes! We can't find Bow!"

Dun dun dun! Confused about what happened to Bow? You'll know the exact details soon enough.