Dbot here with the final chapter. These characters have been such a tremendous journey and now it's all about to end. Read below to find out.

Chapter 14: A New Start

Disclaimer: Mario is Nintendo's, not mine.

Mario yawned as he woke out of his bed to the smell of bacon. He walked outside his door. Luigi was busy cooking bacon, eggs, and waffles. "Bro!" he said. "You're finally awake!"

"Yup. Awake and ready to start getting ready for the wedding! I'm-a excited!"

"You should be. Though things are going to turn out different now that Bowser's coming along for the ride."

Mario nodded as his brother gave him the meal he cooked. "I-a know. Just yesterday we were enemies and now were going to become partners. It hasn't really sucked in yet."

"But it will," Luigi said. "Just give it a chance." Mario nodded. "Now, come on. Let's enjoy our last meal in this house." The two brothers ate in silence and got ready taking showers and printing and pressing their tuxedos. A couple hours later, the doorbell rang as Mario straightened his bowtie. He opened the door and Yoshi and Toad stood outside, wearing black-and-white tuxedos.

Toad smiled. "Wow, you two look amazing! You're so ready for this wedding!"

"Yeah," Mario said. He took off his classic hat. "I guess it's-a the last time I get to wear this hat. I'm going to miss this."

Who ever said you had to get rid of it?" Yoshi said. "Just because you're not going to be wearing it anymore doesn't mean you have to get rid of it. You'll always be Mario no matter what hat you wear."

Mario smiled. "Thank you, Yoshi." The dinosaur nodded. "Now let's-a go to the wedding!"

Bowser's Castle

"Take that! And that!" Bowser Jr. yelled as he and Larry were playing Super Smash Brothers Ultimate. He jerked the joy-con as he tried to have on-screen Bowser Jr. meteor smash Larry to end the one stock game.

"Hey!" Roy growled. "Easy with those! I paid a lot of money to get that Switch! Don't you dare break them!"

"Well, you aren't exactly easy with your own stuff, either," Wendy teased him. He glared at her. "What? I'm only telling the truth!" The pink Koopaling snorted.

Larry smirked and decided to pull a little prank. "Look! Lord Bowser's behind you!"

"Where?" Bowser Jr. looked around. This gave Larry enough time to push Bowser Jr.'s character past the blast line. The bandana koopa turned around and growled. "What?! You cheated, cheater!"

"What?! How can you cheat in a fight?" The doors swung open as Bowser entered the room, startling everyone. "I guess I wasn't wrong after all."

"Papa! What are you doing here?"

"It's time to head to Peach's Castle for the wedding," the Koopa King said. "Finish whatever game you're playing and head to the airships. It's time to go." He left the room.

"I'm not going to get used to that," Roy said, scratching his head.

Bowser Jr. smiled. "I will."

Peach's Castle

Activity buzzed in Peach's room as she as her bridesmaids were busy getting ready. "Thank you guys so much for helping me get ready," Peach said as Toads straightened her dress. "It means so much to me to have you all here."

"Anytime, girlfriend!" said Daisy. "Anything for you!"

Rosalina nodded. "Yes. We wanted to make sure that this day is wonderful for you and your special one. You both have overcome numerous obstacles because your love for each other is strong. You two deserve this." Peach nodded. A couple moments later, someone knocked on the door.

"I have it," Toadette said.

She opened to door to reveal Toadsworth standing outside. "You look beautiful. I hope you're ready for this, Peach."

"I am," she said. "I've been looking forward to this day. I hope it goes well."

"It will. Because you invited Bowser this time, it won't be ruined like last time. If you excuse me, I'll keep an eye out for Mario and the boys. See you later." He walked out to the front doors where Mario and the others stood. "Good. You all are here. Now, let's get ready."

Before they could move, a Toad ran to them. "Guys, the Koopa Troop is almost here!" Everyone walked to the front gates where Bowser and his troops landed their airships. They walked out and the Toad guards opened the gates, granting them entrance. As Bowser and his troops walked through Toad Town, he glanced sheepishly as the gazing Toads laid their eyes on them. Some Toads smiled and waved at them while others ran away at the sight of Bowser. He shook his head. Clearly, not all of them had accepted that they were evil.

Mario walked to him. "You're here!"

"Like I was going to miss this wedding," the Koopa King said. "Though I did have a bad time getting out of bed, I forced myself to come here so this conflict can end. There's no us standing around here. Let's get moving." Mario nodded and they walked to the castle grounds where the wedding guests from the first wedding chatted excitedly. As Mario and Luigi took their spots, the crowd rose as the groomsmen came down the aisle followed by the bridesmaids. Mario smiled as Peach walked down the aisle with Toadsworth next to her. Later, the preacher Toad came down the aisle and took his spot.

"You may be seated," he said. They all took their seats. "Thank you all for coming back today. Today is going to be a day that's going to go down in the history books because we're about to we're going to welcome a new king. Princess Peach has guided this kingdom through peace and prosperity throughout all these years ever since her parents disappeared from this Earth. Now, she welcomes some help as a new king is about to rise and rule this land, and I couldn't think of a better person to fill this role than Mario. Recently, this kingdom and the Koopa Troop have been at war with each other, but that is also going to change after the marriage with a treaty signing. Now, let us begin this ceremony with the vows. Peach, you may start."

The princess nodded and glanced Mario. "Mario, when you first asked to marry me and wanted to become king, I was so ecstatic. We were gonna see great change, but when the pressure got the best of you, you ran away. After you left, I felt like our love was fading away, but I never gave up." She held out here engagement ring. "I held on to this ring to serve as a reminder of our love and I never gave up on you or our love, so my vow to you is that I'm never gonna give up on you or our love."

Mario went on his knees. "I'm-a so sorry!" he cried. "I'm-a so sorry for running away! It's all my fault I caused this war in the first place! I indirectly killed a lot of people and I broke the very vow I made! I'm so sorry!" He cried for a couple minutes, causing the crowd to shed a few tears as they held a moment of silence for the fallen.

Peach sighed. "Mario, stand up." The plumber stood up, sniffling. "Mario, you have to stop blaming yourself for this. Yes, you caused this war, but guess what? You're here to set things right this time. You need to be strong because only by these experiences, you become stronger than ever before. You learn from your mistakes, accept what has been done, and move forward, and you know what? This whole experience made me stronger, too. Look, you can't fix the past, but you can change the future. You're here to end this suffering by signing the treaty. That takes guts. Just Bowser being here takes guts." The Koopa chuckled at her comment. "You need to be strong because your going to have struggles like these, and if you aren't strong, this kingdom will crumble. Will you do that for me?" Mario nodded. "Good. Now, the people need to hear it from you. Will you vow to be strong and to not fall under the pressure when it becomes too much? Answer me!"

"Yes!" Mario shouted in a loud and determined voice. The crowd cheered for him.

"Now will the ring bearer bring the rings?" said the preacher Toad. A small Toad walked forward with a pillow with two rings. The preacher Toad took one. "These rings symbolize the unity in a marriage. They also symbolize the partnership between Mario and Peach as they rule over this kingdom. As you saw with Peach, they can serve as a reminder of their love not only to each other, but to this kingdom as will in troubled times. Now, Peach, do you solemnly take this man to be your husband and do you promise to rule this kingdom with the utmost righteousness?"

"I do," she said.

"Good. Place the ring on his left middle finger." She did as she was told. "Mario do you-"

"I do!" Mario shouted.

The Toad gave him a puzzled look. "You didn't let me finish."

"You didn't-a have to. Everyone knows that all I want is her and to rule this kingdom."

The preacher Toad hesitated, but nodded. "Very well. Place the ring on her left middle finger." He did as he was told. "Now that they've declared their love for each other, it is time to crown them king and queen." He picked up one crown, pink with gold diamonds embedded. "Everyone, repeat after me." He placed the crown on top Peach's head. "All hail Queen Peach Toadstool!" The crowd repeated after him. He picked up a golden crown with blue and red diamonds in it. Mario sighed and took off his hat. "All hail King Mario Mario!" The crowd repeated after him. "I know delicate you both king and queen!" The crowd cheered for them as Mario stared proud at the crowd. After the cheers died down, the preacher Toad continued. "Now, it's time for the second part of today's ceremony. Peach, you have the floor."

She nodded and stood in front of the crowd. "Thank you everyone for coming to this special occasion. For years, Mario and Bowser have been fighting for control of both me and my kingdom. This conflict escalated so much, it caused Mario to kill Bowser and cause Bowser Jr. to start this war, but all of that ends today. Today, I ask you Mario and Bowser to come and sign a treaty that comes before you." Toadsworth pull out a stand that had a piece of parchment on it. "I have many hopes towards the future," she continued. "I hope that we all can live in peace, but all that rests in the hands of Mario and Bowser. You two, come forward." The two stood before her. "Do you two promise to end this war and long conflict. Do you swear to live in peace and work together to better not only each other's relationship, but both your kingdoms as well?"

"I do," they said.

"Then keep to your word by signing this treaty here." They took turns signing the treaty and shook each other's hands. "I now declare this war over!" The crowd cheered. Mario and Bowser looked at each other and smiled. "Now, let's go to the reception!"

Chatter filled the reception room as excitement filled the air. Pauline and her band performed their most famous song, Jump Up Superstar, to the crowd as they danced. Mushroom Kingdom citizens danced and chatted with Koopa Troop members. Mario and Bowser watched the action from afar. "Wow," Bowser said. "I never thought I'd see my troops dance with your's. I mean, my minions dancing with your friends? So weird."

"I-a know," Mario said. "It hasn't sunk in yet that we're not jumping at each other's throats for the first time in years. It's so weird."

"I'm never gonna get used to it."

"Well, just give it time and it might." Bowser shrugged. "So," Mario continued, "What's going to happen to your minions now that this war is done?"

"What do you think? They're gonna remain my servants. Otherwise, how am I gonna get service around my castle?"

"Well, don't you think they deserve more than that like free will or something? A chance for them to speak their mind?"

Bowser snorted. "You really think my minions want free will? They're my devoted followers! They've been following my orders for years! There's no way they're gonna just leave me for free will. That's like me telling them they're getting kicked out for not being useful anymore. That would be dumb."

Mario sighed. "Fine, but that doesn't mean I can't give you suggestions. Just think about it." Bowser just shrugged.

"Hey!" a voice yelled. Mario and Bowser glanced around in confusion. "Over here!" Wario and Waluigi walked to them. "Hey!" Wario hissed. "You didn't give us our reward! This war is done! We did our part. Now give us what we deserve!"

Bowser rolled his eyes. "Apparently you two can't tell when you're being deceived."

Waluigi scratched his head. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm telling you I don't have the money! You really think I did? You guys are fools! I can't believe how easily gullible you two were! I just used you for my own personal gain!" The koopa laughed.

Wario growled. "How dare you!" He swung a fist in the air, trying to hit him, but Mario blocked his lunch and punched the obese plumber in the chest.

"Don't you dare hurt my friend!" he snarled. The two laughed. "You dare laugh at your new king?!"

They laughed even harder. "What? You? King? Ha! I don't believe that for a second! You're never fit to be king! You'll always be a skinny plumber for life!"

"You dare insult my husband?" They turned around to see Peach glaring at them. "I have you know that he is your new king, so don't you dare insult him."

"Oh, yeah? What's he gonna do to us? Nothin', that for sure!"

Don't be too sure on that," Mario said. "Whenever you believe it or not, I am your new king. You weren't even there to see it." He looked at Bowser. "That reminds me. Why were they with you in the first place? What sort of 'personal gain' could you get from these two?"

The Koopa King crossed his arms. "Shouldn't it be obvious?"

Peach gasped. "You're not saying-"

"OK, fine! I used them to spy on you! That's how I knew about your first wedding! There, I said it!"

"You idiot!" Wario growled. "I thought that was supposed to stay between you and us! I'm gonna clobber you for saying that!"

"Don't you even!" Mario hissed. "For interference with the wedding, I'm going to strip you of all the money you stole to be used for the reconstruction projects. Then, you will give back to this kingdom by doing five years of doing community service."

The Wario brothers got on their knees. "No!" Wario cried. "You can't that our money! It's rightfully ours!"

"It was-a never yours to begin with! You stole it from people who needed it! Now, that is the last time I'm going to hear about this! Guards, take them away and find out where they're hiding the money." Two guards nodded and grabbed them by the scruff.

"You haven't seen the last of me! I'll make sure I'll reclaim what's rightfully mine!"

"I sure hope you mean ours!" Waluigi yelled as they disappeared.

Peach sighed with relief. "Now that's done with, what were you guys doing?"

"Mario was telling me how to run my kingdom, mentioning things like giving my minions free will," Bowser said, pointing to Mario.

"Because that's what-a good friends do," the new king said. "I know I have boundaries, but that doesn't mean I can't give you suggestions."

Peach smiled. "Mario, you've grown to be so wise, but you know what'll be even better? If we start repairing the damage caused by the war. A lot of people died, and we need to do our job of giving back by rebuilding houses, giving food, water, and our condolences to our people. All that you said can wait, don't you think?"

Mario nodded. "You're-a right. We should do that first. I've got some people to greet." He looked at Bowser. "See you later, friend." He walked away with Peach.

"See you, too." The Koopa chuckled. "This might not be so bad after all." He went to go spend time with his son while thinking of the bright future ahead.

Thank you all so much for reading this story all the way through. With views, favorites, and follows, it has meant so much to me for people to take an interest in my story. Thank you for all the reviewers leaving comments and constructive criticism. It has helped me improve this story in one way or another. Now I have some good news: I have decided to write a sequel to this story as I think this story has so much potential and I have many great ideas for it, so don't expect it to come out for a while. Keep an eye out on my profile for any updates on the sequel. Now, I would like to wrap up this author's note with a fun fact about the title. Throughout this story, I have created a motif that the hero and the villain do similar things to each other like Mario and Bowser wanting Peach and killing each other, etc. Based on this, I decided to base the title on the saying, 'like father, like son.' I know this is a short story, but I wanted to make a good story with a satisfying ending that was under 100,000 words. See you all whenever the sequel comes out!