A/N: Surprise, my readers! I'm not completely off hiatus yet, but I thought I'd give you something to tide over over. I've been so into my new story, Chaos on Earth, that this has become one of my back burner stories. This story may not update as much as before, but believe me, I'm not giving up on it. In fact, I have big plans for it.

As for my backlog, I've got story ideas as far as Issue 37, with complete backlog plots (they make storywriting a whole lot easier) as far as Issue 33. I also have ideas for the second milestone story. If you have an idea that could work for the story, feel free to post it in the reviews. Note: I have to really like the idea in order to accept it. I don't accept lame ideas, such as "i want a mario peach ship story and bowser kidnap the princess", for example. If I think it works for the story, I will accept it and credit you. I don't do requests.

Anyway, on to Issue 26!


animegamefanatic

Oh Mario and Luigi...its definitely FAR from over.

You can tell Koopa's sanity/seriousness is growing when he told the bros that he's done with them interfering with his plans, including being done with the cosplay. He really did that a lot.

one arc down...and many more adventures to come.

FAR from over indeed. I have many adventures planned. In fact, if anyone has a good story idea, I just might implement it!

No more Mr. Nice Koopa! You definitely won't see him anywhere near Ludwig's nice guy potion any time soon... unless it were for a plot. Eh, probably not.

One arc, one milestone issue, and only twenty-five issues complete out of an infinite number of story possibilities! But the question is: Are the famous plumbers ready?

breath20k

I like them all! Can't wait for more and I really enjoyed the showdown! It was awesome!

I'm glad you liked it. There will certainly be more where that came from!

Guest

woo-hoo! Great ending to the arc! I was just wondering though, is there going to be a paper mario: the thousand year door arc

Thanks! And no, I'm not going to have a Thousand-Year Door arc, though I do have plans for a lose adaptation to Super Paper Mario. But I will definitely use character from TTYD, most notably Grodus, Crump, the Shadow Sirens, Doopliss, and Goombella!

YumaCrafter

I HAVE FINALLY CAUGHT UP! I am SO sorry I haven't been around to read this, but IRL issues suddenly popped up out of nowhere. (That, and I suddenly got really into Splatoon and Legend of Zelda.) So, I've been binge reading the past 10 issues (10, not 6 or 7, because I forgot where I was last.) and it gave me a lot of baggage going into this.

Anyways, enough of that. This was a really fantastic arc! The characters were great, and I especially really like the king. Here's to future story arcs!

(And now that I'm caught up, I will now be able to send questions/dares. But that'll be for later.)

Thanks! You'll definitely be seeing more of the king in the next few issues, and hopefully the writing is slightly strengthened.

P.S. The king's appearance is virtually identical to his appearances in the Nintendo Comics System comics.


I do not own anything in this fanfic except for any original content that I come up with. Mario belongs to Nintendo, which does not endorse or affiliate itself with this fanfic. Constructive criticism is allowed, but please, no flames.

And now, on to the comic!


Oh, Daisy!


One month had passed since the defeat of Koopa and his army. Since then, the kingdom had enjoyed a time of well-deserved and well-needed peace, with the only disturbances being the occasional bandit or small group of Koopa's minions committing petty crimes. Otherwise, things were quiet and calm throughout the Mushroom Kingdom.

For Mario and Luigi, this time of peace meant boredom, especially for Mario. While Luigi was on edge about when Koopa might return (and he knew he would), Mario missed fighting Koopa and his minions. He missed this opportunity almost as much as having Princess Toadstool and Toad living with them. They had since moved back into Mushroom Castle, where King Philip Toadstool had once again been set up as king of the Mushroom Kingdom. The king had officially appointed Toad as a retainer-in-training, which was a high honor for a Toad as young as he was.

Unfortunately for both Toadstool and Mario, the former and Toad could not adventure with Mario and Luigi because they had various royal tasks to complete, such as oversee Mushroom Parliament meetings. To say the least, Toadstool was a little bored of all the one-note chores royalty had to offer. But no way would she give up being a princess; this would only encourage Koopa to believe the kingdom was his for the taking.

Even after a month, Mario and Luigi were still getting used to the princess and Toad not living with them. Since they left for the castle, the kingdom-famous plumbers had since switched the colors of their garments. Instead of red or green overalls, they wore blue ones. Mario now had on a red shirt under his overalls, and Luigi had a green one. "It makes us feel more super," Mario had said.

Without Koopa around, those in the Mushroom Kingdom relished the peace, although some were on edge, like the king. Fortunately, something exciting happened that would help relieve the edge a little. It came in the form of a letter to Mario and Luigi. Mario walked outside to the mailbox, collected the envelope, and ran back in exclaiming, "It's from the princess!" The brothers had become the official plumbers of the village by this point, and had not seen the princess since the invasion.

"What does it say?" asked Luigi as Mario tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter. Opening it, he began to read:

"Dear Mario and Luigi,
Please meet me at the castle at 1:00 today.
There is someone dear to me I would like you to meet. Her name is Daisy, recently-confirmed princess of Sarasaland.
Yours truly,
Princess Toadstool"

"Princess Daisy?" Luigi asked.

"Any friend of the princess' is bound to be a friend of ours," Mario said. He threw a glance at the clock. "12:45. We still have fifteen minutes to get there. Ready, Luigi?"

"Ready!"

"Then let's get going! We don't want to keep our guest waiting. After you, Luigi," Mario beckoned his brother through the door.


"Welcome, boys," greeted Toadstool. "You're just in time. Meet Princess Daisy of Sarasaland," She introduced the princess, who had curled brown hair and an orange gown.

"How do you do, Princess?" Mario spoke. "My name's Mario, and this is my brother Luigi."

"Hi there!" Daisy greeted. "Oh, by the way, great job on driving Koopa out of your kingdom. With our limited resources, I don't think I could have done that even if I tried. We're not a fighting kingdom, y'know."

"Then we'll be glad to help out whenever we can," volunteered Mario. The king rose from his throne, and a hush fell over the room.

"Then, Sirs Mario and Luigi," he announced, as he had since knighted them, "I will need you to protect Daisy's castle in her absence. She is concerned there is a risk of burglaries going on in the area."

"We will, Your Majesty," accepted Mario.

"Excellent. You will find the orange pipe to Sarasaland behind the castle. Toad will escort you. Be on your way now."

"Right then, follow me to the back door!" Toad directed as Mario and Luigi did as they were instructed. This was the first time Mario and Luigi were in the castle since the invasion, and, on the day the king was restored, Toadstool gave them a tour of the castle. However, the plumbers were still not too familiar with the castle's layout, so they relied on Toad to guide them through the castle.

Moments later, they arrived at the back door. Two Toad guards opened the door for them, and they stepped through them and into the castle's courtyard. Another minute later, Toad stopped in front of a large field of pipes.

"Here we are - the pipe yard!" he proudly announced.

"it was the orange one, right?" Mario asked for confirmation, to which Toad nodded.

"I have a question about the pipe yard," Luigi said.

"Ask away!" invited Toad.

"With so many pipes here... how do you keep intruders out?"

Toad thought for a moment. "The pipes are monitored at all times, and can be blocked off if the king feels a threat is imminent. They were blocked off during the months the castle was not occupied."

Luigi nodded in understanding. "Gotcha."

"All right, Luigi, let's-a do this!"

"Yeah!"

Promptly the plumbers plunged themselves into the pipe that led to Sarasaland. Daisy's castle was a good seventy miles from Peach's but the trip seemed to only take just a few minutes, as travelling by warp pipe always has its advantages.

Before they knew it, the plumbers emerged from the pipe and looked around. Sarasaland was different than they had expected. The buildings seemed to have a vastly different texture than those of the Mushroom Kingdom.

"So this is Sarasaland," mused Mario.

"Mario, look!" Luigi pointed. "The castle is right there!"

Sure enough, Princess Daisy's castle was in plain view, just on the other side of the small town they were in.

"Convenient," said Mario as they started toward it. He scanned the town in front of and around them. "No threats," he said to himself. "It's almost too quiet..."

"Yeah, right?" agreed Luigi. Just then they saw what appeared to be a flying carpet soar above them.

"Mama mia!" exclaimed Mario. "That flying carpet... I thought they were limited to Subcon Land!"

"So how did it get here?" Luigi asked as the two plumbers broke into a run toward the castle.

"Well, If I remember correctly," recalled Mario, "several elements from Subcon Land made it here to the Mushroom Kingdom world. Koopa was able to get some Bob-ombs and Shy Guys from Wart. Additionally, Birdo, Mouser, and Triclyde also managed to escape from Subcon Land."

"But how could they have escaped Subcon Land," asked Luigi, while watching the figure on the flying carpet fly through an upper window of the castle. "It's a dream realm, right?"

"Gotta pick up the pace," mumbled Mario as he ran faster. "True, it's a dream realm," he answered Luigi, "but Bowser was able to take the Bob-ombs and Shy Guys out of Subcon Land through his subconsciousness. Also, I have a feeling that was not his first time there. That must have also been how Birdo, Triclyde, and Mouser escaped Subcon Land as well. Too bad Wart didn't make it out," he added sarcastically as they neared the front door.

"Mario, look!" Luigi pointed to another window. There was a vine leading from the window to the ground, and when Mario saw what kind of enemies were climbing it, he raised an eyebrow.

"Snifits?" Mario showed his surprise. "Koopa stopped using those months ago."

"Maybe he decided to bring them back?" speculated Luigi.

"Koopa also doesn't use flying carpets," Mario added as he pulled a key from his pocket and fitted it into the castle doors' lock. "This must be the work of a Subcon villain or otherwise a brand new threat."

As the door unlocked and Mario opened it, he was surprised that there were absolutely mo guards in sight. Where were they all? Surely they would open the door for the plumbers and let them in. Mario's question was answered in the form of several limp forms on the floor.

"Are they...?" Luigi couldn't finish his sentence while Mario bent down and felt one of the guards' pulses.

"Knockout gas," Mario confirmed as he caught a small whiff of the gas, though not enough to have any effect. "They'll be all right. Give them a few hours to wake up." He stood up, a new look of realization spreading through his features. "Koopa doesn't use knockout gas."

"You're right," Luigi realized. "This does sound like then work of a new villain."

"It's still to early to tell," Mario said. "Come on, we need to stop whoever's behind this. Follow me!"

Luigi followed Mario to the stairs nearby. They only made it up a few steps before a figure in a white veil brushed past them on its way downstairs.

"There he is!" Luigi motioned to the figure that passed them. The white veil immediately reminded him of culture back on Earth.

"The burglar," Mario mused as they started the chase. "But why a veil?"

"Maybe the burglar is a female!" Luigi realized as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Throwing a glance behind him, he caught sight of four Snifits descending the stairs.

"Mario, should we stop them?" Luigi asked about the Snifits that were gaining on them.

"And lose the burglar," finished Mario. "Absolutely not. We need to keep our eyes on the prize."

They quickly entered a hallway with several doors. "Quick, in here!" instructed Mario as they entered the first door. The Snifits followed them. The plumbers emerged from another door with the Snifits hot on their tails.

As you might have guessed, a Marx Brothers styled chase ensued. Of course, it involved the bros chasing the Snifits, and they even ran into each other at one point. In the madness, they lost the veiled figure.

"We lost him," Luigi stated the obvious.

All four doors in the hall opened, and one Snifit emerged from each door. Luigi cowered back as the Snifits prepared to spit seeds at them. Mario was preparing to take care of them until the unexpected happened.

A few blasts of energy came from seemingly nowhere, immediately turning the Snifits into small flowers. The plumbers were startled, and turned to the source of the energy blast.

"Princess Daisy?!" both plumbers exclaimed once they saw the tomboyish girl in orange. She blew a wisp of smoke from off her parasol, from whence the energy blast came.

"None other," she replied casually.

"But... weren't you at... you know... Mushroom Castle?"

"That's what the burglars want you to think," Daisy explained. "You see, I knew there were a couple threats of burglary around here, and I couldn't reschedule my meeting with Princess Toadstool, so guess what?" She lowered her voice. "I sent a body double."

The plumbers' eyes widened. "Oh, that's ingenious," he exclaimed. He had a feeling he would really like Daisy.

"And it worked," Daisy continued. "Those burglars have no clue I'm still here. Follow me; I'll take you to my jewel vault!"

"Your jewels? Is that what the burglar's after?" questioned Luigi as they followed Daisy to the stairs that led to her basement.

"Most likely," Daisy said. "And it's not just jewels. In that vault is millions of coins' worth of possessions. In fact, some of my most valuable stuff I've ever owned is in there. Why wouldn't a burglar want to head there?"

"You seem awfully relaxed for someone who's going to be robbed..." thought Luigi.

"And why not?" Daisy didn't let up her cheerful demeanor. "They have no idea that wasn't the real me who's visiting Princess Toadstool. Okay, quiet now, we're almost at the vault. Already I can hear noises in the basement..."

They listened carefully, and they could hear the sound of a dial turning. Carefully entering the room, they saw the veiled figure turning the dial of Daisy's safe. Several Beezos stood guard around the room.

"When should we make our move? Now?" asked Luigi.

"The jewels of Sarasaland..." mused the burglar as he/she picked through Daisy's vault. "And to think they're all mine..." Mario immediately recognized the voice as belonging to-

"Birdo?" Mario whispered. "I don't think this is like her."

"Not at all," agreed Luigi. "Last we checked, she was a mercenary of Koopa."

"But she was only a mercenary. This means she could have easily left Koopa. Remember, we haven't seen her since the Hooded Robin was kidnapped," recalled Mario.

"Stop lollygagging and help me with these," Birdo addressed her Beezos who flew to her side.

"Now," nodded Mario to the others. They immediately stormed into the room toward Birdo, taking her and her minions completely by surprise.

"Wha-" Birdo started before Luigi removed the veil from her face. "Just as I thought," he stated.

Birdo was shocked, not at the sun arrival of her enemies, but at the presence of Daisy. "Wha- I thought - You should have-"

"You thought I decided to skedaddle from this here place knowing I'd get robbed?" Daisy stepped forward. "Very funny. Looks like you're in big trouble."

"Oh, really?" contradicted Birdo. "I think you're forgetting you're the ones who are outnumbered. Beezos, take care of them. You there, Pidgit, get my carpet ready for my departure."

"You're not going anywhere!" shouted Daisy to Birdo as the former picked up a Beezo and threw it at another. As Luigi assisted her, Mario stood face-to-face with Birdo.

"So you're the burglar," he stated. "Didn't take you as the jewel thief type."

"It's nice to have a little variety in your life," she responded as Mario stood between her and the safe. "Besides, Koopa's a bit dull for my liking. Besides, diamonds are a girl's best friend, and I wanted to try something different for a change. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a safe to rob."

"No, you really don't!" Daisy countered. Pointing her parasol at Birdo, she fired a small ray at her, but was dismayed when nothing happened. "Ohh, I forgot it doesn't work on non-minions!"

Birdo sighed in relief. Just then a magic carpet pulled up outside.

"There's my ride. Sorry I can't stay!" she called as she ran toward it. Having defeated the Beezos, the group pursued Birdo, but she made it to the window first, and leaped out and onto the carpet. She waved as it promptly flew away.

"She got away..." murmured Luigi.

"Don't worry, Luigi. There will be other opportunities to catch her, but the most important thing is that she didn't take anything." To Daisy, she said, "I don't think she's coming back again, at least not for today."

"Well, that's good," Daisy remarked. "Hey, can I come with you back to the Mushroom Kingdom? I want to see Princess Toadstool in person."

"I don't see why not. Only trouble is, how are we going to explain your body double?


"So you're saying that you sent a body double here to deceive burglars?" Princess Toadstool asked Daisy after she had arrived.

"Yup!" Daisy winked. "Ingenious of me, wasn't it? Sorry I couldn't tell you about my plan earlier, but I didn't want anyone overhearing me."

"That's okay," forgave Toadstool. "My father has sent some troops over to investigate this burglary spree in Sarasaland. In the meantime, would you mind introducing us to your body double?"

"Sure!" Daisy agreed. "This is Duchess Merina, my right-hand lady!"

"Hi," the duchess greeted shyly, shaking hands with Toadstool. Just then King Philip entered the room.

"Sirs Mario and Luigi," he spoke, bringing a hush to the room. "May I congratulate you for successfully defending Sarasaland's castle today. Even though the Sarasan armies are capable enough, Daisy was visiting, and I could not afford to leave her castle without a good guardian."

"There was one little thing," Luigi spoke.

"And what's that?" replied the king.

"Daisy didn't seem at all concerned that her castle was being broken into."

"Well, that's because I knew about her body double all along," the king spoke, laying a finger aside his nose. "She knew you were coming."

"Wow," was all Luigi could say.

"I saw something interesting on my way here," Merina spoke up.

"What is it?" asked a curious Mario.

"It appeared to be an ape of some sort, unlike any I had ever seen before."

What? An ape in the Mushroom Kingdom? Could it be...? Join us next time for Monkey Business!


A/N: Daisy being at the castle all along was a last-minute addition (I was going to have the actual Daisy in Duchess Merina's place). Also, I was going to have Koopa and the Doomship flying to Sarasaland, which would have been too OP, especially since Mario and Luigi were originally not going to use the pipe. Also, this story's working title was "Daisy of Sarasaland."


"Hey, paisanos," said Mario, "it's time for Ask the Mario Characters, where you, the readers, get to submit questions and dares to us, and we'll do the rest! Having not announced this last issue (my mistake), you can now send dares to us once again! Though, we will do only one per issue."

"What?" exclaimed Koopa. "But I wanted to show off my KoopaStar Hamburger eating skills! I can scarf down five in two minutes!"

"Oh, we got a dare from plzbemyvalentinexoxo (A/N: not really), and it says: "Koopa: I dare you to scarf down five KoopaStar Cheeseburgers in two minutes!"

Koopa cleared his throat. "One: Those were my exact words. Two: It's Hamburgers, not Cheeseburgers. Cheeseburgers are cheesy."

YEEEEAAAAHHH! came a sound effect from the speakers.

"Okay, so we'll go on to the real Q&Ds. breath20k gives us this dare, and it's for His Majesty King Philip Toadstool!

"They're... daring me? I'm not so sure about this..."

"It'll be fun!... sort of," reassured Toadstool.

"Okay, the dare is to have a special Super Roshambo match with Princess Toadstool and the referee is Luigi. To make it interesting, there will be a drum roll before the final word is given to flip the cards. Thing is, we don't have any drums."

The sound of a drumroll played in the speakers. Mario nodded in approval.

"Right, okay, you two, ready?" Luigi asked. Of course, it was, can, and will go unexplained how everyone automatically has the knowledge of Roshambo installed into them. Yes, installed. They're computer characters.

"Ready!" The king and princess agreed.

The cards magically appeared on the table. The royal competitors eyed the cards carefully.

"RO..."

Toadstool was ready to draw. Her father smiled confidently.

"SHAM..."

The drumroll started. Luigi watched the competitors, and, for a father and daughter match, they looked competitive.

Then...

The moment...

came...

too much...

suspense...

"BO!"

Immediately king and princess flipped over the cards. A microphone appeared in Luigi's hands.

"And it looks like King Philip has 'rock' and Princess Toadstool has 'scissors'! King Philip wins!

Confetti appeared as everyone celebrated the king's victory.

"Great job, king!" Mario congratulated. "Now here's a question to you from breath20k: "Why did you live in the Mushroom Kingdom? ...Since the war and all."

"Well... I couldn't leave my home country. Let me rephrase that, I wouldn't. To flee was cowardice. To stay was suicide. So I chose to stay, but use a disguise. I also stayed so I could secretly be briefed on information that could help benefit our cause. Other than that, I lived a normal life."

"That's very fascinating," Luigi spoke.

"Isn't it though," agreed Toadstool. "I'm glad he's safe."

"Now we can rule the kingdom as father and daughter," King Philip spoke in his best Darth Vader impersonation, leaving everyone laughing as the camera panned out. Suddenly, this transmission was hacked by dothemario .exe, which depicted Mario saying "Until next time, everybody, do the Mario!"