Hello, everyone! I've had this idea in my head for quite a while, probably since high school even (I'm a senior in college, to give some perspective). I'm a little over halfway done with another FanFic of mine, but wanted to start on this one - I was just too excited. I try to update often, but posting parts of my stories on a regular schedule right now is rather tricky. Not only am I finishing my undergrad program next month, but I am also getting married next year. I have a lot on my plate, but will try to write in my free time.

I hope you all like this FanFic. Please R&R I want to improve my writing as much as I can. Enjoy Chapter One!

Five. Five eggs had sat so delicately for two weeks on their own silk pillows. The king and queen had been trying for almost half a century to have their own Koopa. Each time they attempted, their hope escalated, which ultimately crashed into failure and disappointment. Every single egg had been hollow. With the royal couple slowly creeping into their autumn years, their chances of an egg containing a child were becoming slimmer - the opportunities to pass on the bloodline were dwindling.

As well as their expectations of actually having a baby.

Nevertheless, they were cautiously hopeful, still anticipating the worst to happen; the nurse would tell them, just like every time, that there were no Koopas. The negative news over the years had begun to take its toll on them, especially the king, who had started to lose some of his scales. Normally, this was a sign that a Koopa would be dying, but one hundred and sixty-eight years was young. This scared King Frederick immensely, so in order to solve, or rather ignore this issue, he placed sleeves of cloth over his arms and legs.

After all, if he couldn't see the problem, it wasn't really there, right?

On the other hand, Queen Catherine had slowly morphed from a joyful, elegant woman into a bitter, depressed soul. Her frequent visits into the Koopa Kingdom and conversations with the citizens became less and less. The last time anyone had seen her outside of the palace was six, maybe seven months ago. It was likely even longer than that; everyone had lost track. Even her appearances inside the palace were few and far between, mostly ending her hermit-like state for a bite of food in the evening.

But when it was discovered that they were possibly expecting for the first time in three years, their attitudes had changed. They were happy momentarily, then became incredibly anxious and worried.

A nurse had been watching the eggs for the past two weeks - no sign of any movement. It was difficult to tell if an egg was hollow or not, as a filled or empty egg practically sounded the same if one knocked on the side of it. The female Koopa Troopa sighed and flipped a page of the book she was reading, her eyes beginning to glaze over. She rested her chin in the palm of her hand, sadly staring at the yellow eggs with green speckles on them.

I've watched for ten hours today... and still nothing. They only have three more days before the eggs are deemed empty.

Exhausted and slightly bored from staring at almost nothing for days on end, she began to close her eyes.

Fifteen minutes wouldn't hurt.

She didn't know how long she was asleep, just that it was too long. Her mind registered the sound of... cracking? The nurse slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times before realizing what was happening.

An egg was hatching.

Alaina had delivered lot of Koopa babies before, sure, but this was one she was not expecting to happen. The Troopa's next action was one that she had not done since she was learning how to become a nurse.

She screamed. Very loudly.

This garnered the attention of the advisor, a female Koopa Troopa named Maeve, who annoyedly opened the door and stuck her head in.

"What, Alaina?"

"T-the egg!... it's hatching!"

"What?!"

She burst open the door and scurried to Alaina's side, watching the egg begin to slightly wobble. Both of them were dumbfounded, unsure exactly what to do next.

"Uhh, you stay here, since you're the nurse and all, and I'll go get the King and Queen."

Maeve pulled up the hem of her skirt, and ran as fast as her heeled feet could take her. She quickly turned a corner and bumped into another servant. Maeve winced as her side hit the ground, grumbling in frustration.

"Ow! Hey! Watch where the hell you're going!"

"Sorry, m'lady. Didn't realize you were in such a hurry."

Her eyes widened. Oh crap.

Maeve quickly stood up, avoiding the Koopa Troopa's gaze. She instantly felt the hint of rose come to her cheeks.

"No, Wally, it's my fault. I'm sorry I yelled at you," she explained, finally willing herself to look at his soft, caramel eyes. Her face flushed further, she was hoping he mistook it for embarrassment.

"S'alright, Miss Maeve. I get yelled at all the time."

She chuckled slightly, then immediately remembered the important news. Her cheeks turned slightly pallor. "I... have to go. I'll see you later, Wally."

Before he could say anything, Maeve had already turned around and sprinted toward the grand golden doors at the end of the hall. He sighed and kicked the rubble beneath his feet, feeling like he missed an opportunity. Wally gave one more glance toward the doors, puffed out his cheeks in an exhale, then turned the other direction and walked away.

Frederick and Catherine were in the middle of an important meeting with a diplomat from the Mushroom Kingdom. The Toad was going on and on about something with Sarasaland... Frederick wasn't really paying attention at this point. Really, whatever the Mushroom Kingdom wanted, they got it anyway, even if the Koopa Kingdom disagreed. There was no point to this endless one-sided discussion.

To Frederick, Maeve slamming open the doors was a blessing. He didn't care what she had to say, as long as this monotone Toad just shut his trap. Maeve quickly, but properly curtsied.

"Your Majesties. I'm so sorry to interrupt."

"It's fine. We were done discussing anyway," Frederick replied. The Toad looked at him in confusion.

"No we weren't."

Frederick sighed in frustration to the Toad's response. "What is it Maeve?"

She steadied her shaky breathing as best as she could and gave a wide smile. "Your baby is coming."

The King and Queen stared at each other in disbelief. Almost simultaneously, they both ran out of the room, leaving behind an excited servant and an even more confused ambassador.

The doors to the nursery flung open, causing Alaina to jump and turn toward her rulers. Like Maeve, she also curtsied. Frederick shook his head.

"Please. There's no need for formalities today. How is the child?"

Alaina gestured to the egg, which was practically cracked all the way around. After a moment of silently watching, there was a loud crunch, which caused the top of the encasing to fall off, revealing a healthy Koopa baby. Alaina scooped up the child, quickly cleaned and swaddled it, and delicately placed the creature in its mother's arms. Not really having any experience with this, Catherine held it awkwardly and rather far away from her. Gently, Alaina helped adjust the baby in the nervous mother's arms and brought it closer to her.

"It's a boy."

Catherine felt as if she could bawl. She turned to her husband. "I think Bertram is a perfect name, don't you?"

Frederick gently smiled. That was his father's name; he was a kind soul with a gift in leadership, pushing the Koopa Kingdom through some of the most difficult times. Frederick had always aspired to be a ruler like him.

"I think that's a perfect name."

For a few minutes, it was just them. None of them thought this moment could get any better.

Until the King noticed a slight movement from the corner of his eye.

He turned his attention from his newborn son back to the eggs. His pupils shrank.

No... it can't possibly be!

Frederick looked at Alaina, who was busy smiling at Bertram. The King cleared his throat to get her attention. She quickly whipped her head up toward him.

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Call me crazy, but is another egg moving?"

All eyes moved back to the remaining four eggs on the silk pillows. Sure enough, the farthest egg on the right, had started to wobble.

"Oh my gosh..."

Alaina rushed over to the egg in disbelief. Two babies at a time were rare, and the chances became less as Koopas aged. But almost as soon as it had started moving, a giant crack had formed across the center of the egg. Not even a minute later, another baby had emerged, this time wearing the top of the egg as a hat on its head. With a wide smile, Alaina cared and swaddled this baby the same as Bertram, but placed it in Frederick's arms.

"It's another boy."

Frederick stared down at this tiny thing in his arms. It didn't seem real. He was a parent. Not only of one, but two Koopas.

"What will we name him, honey?" Catherine asked. He looked up at her, seeing her wear the widest smile. He hadn't seen her this happy in years.

The first name that came to mind was of his very best friend; they had grown up together, gone through knighthood together... Frederick would have given up his life for him, but in a turn of events, it happened the other way around. Dwelling upon bittersweet memories, he gently tussled the short orange hair that was on his son's head.

"Bowser. His name is Bowser."

The second-born son began to open his eyes, slightly squinting them at first. Then, he fully revealed his ruby red irises. Frederick smiled and kissed his son on the head.

"Hello, little one."

What was supposed to be a gentle and sweet moment morphed into slight discord as Bowser began to wail, causing his older brother to do the same.

Seventy-two years later...

The word to describe Bowser was far past the adjective "mad."

He was furious - livid. He had been for a long time.

The reptilian King gripped the wheel of his ship, plotting the attack once more in his head. Bowser had created this plan after he had gotten word of a party being thrown in honor of the Mushroom Kingdom princess...

Which he heard about a day and a half ago.

He felt his claws dig into his palms and winced, immediately loosening his hold on the wheel. Bowser never really looked down at his hands, but presumed there were likely scars all over his palms. He tended to clench his hands when he was nervous.

"Sire. We are almost thirty minutes from the Mushroom Kingdom," his advisor informed with his typical screechy voice.

Bowser turned toward Kamek and silently nodded. The magikoopa had been a parental figure to Bowser for almost as long as he could remember. He had vague memories of his actual family, as well as two other female Koopa Troopas, both of their names long forgotten in the depths of his mind.

His own brother's name he had slowly started to forget; if he actually wanted to remember it, it took him longer and longer to figure out what it was.

That fact made Bowser both rather sad, but also relieved. He thought it meant he was finally moving on with his life.

The ship arrived into the Mushroom Kingdom after what felt like hours. Bowser positioned the ship above the castle and scoured the land beneath him, searching for any sign of those stupid Toads. They would definitely blab about the gigantic non-inconspicuous airship.

He exhaled in relief to see that the streets were empty. Everyone was likely at home or inside the castle celebrating. Bowser furrowed his brow and stared downward. He slowly began to lower an anchor to hold the ship in position, and turned to Kamek.

"Get the koopalings up here. I need to talk to them."

Kamek affirmatively nodded and floated toward the back of the ship. As Bowser lowered the chain, his mind began to race with random thoughts.

I've never done anything like this before. Is it too soon for an attack? It has been sixty years... Who even is this princess? Do I even want her Kingdom?... what an absurd question, of course I do!

"BOWSER!"

Startled, the chain fell from the King's grasp and he wasn't able to catch it before the anchor fell all the way down, the chain along with it. He heard the clatter and clunk of metal on top of the castle. The anchor then fell off the turret and fell with a big thud on the grass down below. Bowser groaned, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose, praying nobody heard them.

This attack was already off to a bad start.

He turned around to face his nephews and niece, who stood diligently before him. He clasped his hands together and smirked.

"Listen up, you brats. I am going to lower myself by this chained anchor. I will go into the entrance and crash the party. In the meantime, you sneak in, catch the princess by surprise from above, and grab her."

Lemmy put a hand to his chin. "So... you're a diversion?"

Bowser sighed. "Yes. I'm distracting them. You are doing the actual kidnapping."

"Um, Uncle Bowser, how are we supposed to get in?" Morton asked.

"Yeah. This plan seems a bit too broad." Wendy commented.

The seven of them began to chatter amongst themselves, causing Bowser to breathe fire toward them. The Koopalings jumped back slightly.

"All of you have a brain, which totals to seven minds working together. Go in through a different entrance, a window, I don't care. Figure it out."

Bowser grabbed the chain and started to slowly slide down. "You have ten minutes. Better think fast."

He heard his relatives groan and complain as he started to make his way toward the bottom. Bowser mistakingly took one look down below, seeing that he was very, very high. His head started to swim slightly, vertigo beginning to creep in.

Why didn't I park closer to the ground? I'm such an idiot sometimes.

The next moment, his hand slipped, and he didn't react in time. Bowser started to fall toward the grass that was quickly creeping up on him. He began to holler for help, garnering the attention of the Koopalings. They peered over the side of the ship to see Bowser grasping at the chain, but it slipped between his fingers. He felt the intense wind against his face, causing tears to form in the corners of his eyes. He closed his eyes and braced himself for impact...

...and made a Bowser-shaped hole in the ground. The Koopa Kids gasped.

"Is he okay?"

"He should have died."

"Yeah. He's definitely dead."

"Wait! I think he's climbing out of the hole!"

Sure enough, disgruntled and disoriented, Bowser reached out and placed his hands on the ground above, using his upper body strength to hoist himself up. Once on the ground, he looked up at his nieces and nephews.

The Koopalings all pulled out signs with scores on them. All six, excluding Iggy's read ten. Iggy's read 9.6, but after taking a look at the sign, flipped it so it read 6.9.

Bowser rolled his eyes and gruffed. Little brats.

A little sore from the fall, the Koopa King slowly began to make his way toward the front of the castle, limping a bit as he did so. He frowned - that would make it a bit harder to kidnap the princess, but no matter. Bowser stopped in front of the grand wooden doors, smirked, and shoved them open, striding in the large pink castle with confidence.

Everyone inside the castle was oblivious as to what was occurring outside. They were in the rather large ballroom, cheering for the princess and the mustachioed plumber beside her. After a moment, the applause died down a bit and a waltz began to play. The Toads and Toadettes of the castle found partners and began to dance with the three-quarter time.

An old Toad made his way over to the happy couple and smiled at them. The princess knelt down and hugged the familiar friend, but really at this point, he was family.

"Congratulations, you two. I am so lucky to be here on this happy day."

She smiled. "Thank you, Toadsworth."

Toadsworth gave them a wide grin, then started to make his way toward the edge of the floor - an elderly Toad like him had really no interest in dancing. The princess stood back up and grabbed onto the man's arm, a gesture he had grown accustomed to over the years. She tugged lightly, signaling that she wanted to talk to him. He turned his head toward her.

"Thank you for this party, Mario. This was a nice surprise."

Mario smirked and a tint of rose came to his cheeks. "Ah. Well, anything for you, my fiancée."

The word rang in the air. Fiancée. She was at her own engagement party and could hardly believe it. The two smiled at each other and Mario quickly dipped the princess. Peach's grin got so wide as she saw his lips move closer to hers—

"Peach!"

The princess was removed from her trance to see her best friend, Princess Daisy of Sarasaland. Peach stood upright, grinned from ear to ear and practically ran over to her, tightly embracing her.

"Daisy! I didn't think you could make it!"

The brunette royal waved her hand nonchalantly. "It was no big deal. I had to move some things around, but I wouldn't have missed this for the world!"

The girls giggled and hugged again. They noticed out of the corner of their eyes another man with a mustache, except he was slightly taller and wore a green tuxedo with a top hat to match; the poor fellow's knees shook with nerves. The two watched Mario move beside him and gave the man a gentle nudge toward Daisy.

"I don't believe you two have met. Daisy, this is my little brother, Luigi."

Daisy beamed wide at the younger sibling, Luigi's cheeks just turned red and he turned back to Mario.

"Stop playing matchmaker, bro. She's too pretty. She'll never go for a guy like me."

"Just ask her to dance. She's nice."

"But-"

Before Luigi could finish the sentence, Mario flipped his brother back to face the princesses and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"Say, Daisy. My brother would like to have a dance with you," Mario stated; Luigi's cheeks began to turn scarlet and he began to tug his hat over his eyes.

"I would love to! Let's go!"

Immediately, the Sarasaland royal grabbed Luigi's hand. He looked up at her, surprised, as she began to drag him toward the dance floor. Peach laughed at the sight and went back over to her fiancé, finding her place on his left arm again. She stared down at her free hand, which bore her engagement ring.

"Do you like it?"

The question snapped her out of her thoughts. "Mario, it's perfect."

She squeezed his arm in compassion and saw the same look in his eyes that was there moments ago. The romantic feelings had returned and the two moved closer to each other once again—

—when the doors to the ballroom burst open.

The cheers instantly turned into silence, as all eyes were focused on a face nobody had seen in decades. The mood Mario and Peach were experiencing had dissipated.

"Well, well. It's so nice to see the Princess happy and healthy."

Toadworth felt his face turn pale. It couldn't be...

"Stay back, Koopa!" he yelled, instantly running toward the princess and jumping in front of her, spreading his arms out. He wasn't as fast as he was in his younger years, but he still had the spirit of a daring knight in him. "I'm warning you!"

Peach's eyes widened. She remembered Toadsworth telling her about the scary Koopas who ruled in the kingdom hundreds of miles away. The tales had given her nightmares as a child, but he always reassured her that everything would be alright; they had won the war that was between the two kingdoms. That fact always gave her comfort.

In that moment, she felt like the six-year-old girl again. Except this time she wasn't dreaming. Peach was facing her fears head-on.

Bowser let out a hearty laugh. "What? I thought I would have been invited to this party. I was a bit bummed when I didn't receive an invitation."

Mario's hand went around Peach's waist protectively. "That's because you weren't wanted here."

The king placed a clawed hand to his heart in pretend shock and hurt, gasping as he did so. "I wasn't wanted? You know, that makes me awfully sad."

"Get out of here, you snake," the mustached man angrily stated. Bowser stared at the Princess, expecting her to say something. She only gazed in his red irises. His confident eyes clashed with her petrified ones. He clicked his tongue and started to turn toward the exit. Peach relaxed a bit. He was leaving...

"Well, I suppose, even if I can't stay, I should at least have one party favor," he said vaguely, turning back around to face her.

Peach quirked an eyebrow at his statement, then saw him staring upward. She followed his gaze, seeing seven shadows with piercing eyes look down on her. She gasped, garnering Mario's attention, and he too saw the Koopalings on the rafters high above them.

"Get her!" Bowser roared.

The slience turned to screams as the Koopa kids jumped down. Mario abruptly shoved the Princess out of the way as Morton jumped down from above. He would have practically landed on top of her. Peach fell to the floor and winced as she roughly hit her side. She glanced back up to see Morton wickedly smiling at her, outstretching his arms to grab her in a matter of seconds.

Mario instantly leapt up and wrapped his arms around the Koopa's neck. Morton was distracted by the attack and turned his attention to the plumber. He attempted to pry his arms off of his neck, but it was to no avail - he was on there tight.

"Peach, go!" Mario yelled.

Her mouth agape, she kneeled on the ground, her chin quivering. "But-"

"Go! I won't let them take you!"

Peach stood, seeing six other other Koopas coming toward her. She began to sprint toward the exit of the hall, thanking her lucky stars that she was agile; having ran almost all of her life, Peach was able to make her way to the complete opposite side of the room in a matter of seconds. The Koopalings, who were not so gifted in agility, stopped running and were huffing and gasping for air. Bowser glared and angrily trudged toward his relatives laying like an exhausted heap on the floor.

"Oh come on. Do I have to do everything myself?"

He looked up to see the grand doors shut with a loud clang. A smirk appeared on his face. Bowser then turned his attention toward the rather large group of Toads that had started to grow, apparently ready for a fight... of some sort. They were only wielding forks and knives from the cake being served.

This species was certainly stupid.

Bowser rolled his eyes, then breathed fire from his mouth, causing the Toads to jump backward and run away. The reptile chuckled as he looked at the sight. All of the Toads were running while the mustachioed men were occupied with the Koopalings. Everyone was distracted.

Perfect.

The King crept out of the ballroom, closing the door slightly behind him. He found himself in a large hallway with gigantic windows on both walls surrounding him, the curtains dancing with the slightest breeze coming in. Having a good sense of smell, Bowser inhaled, then grinned. The princess was nearby.

"Come on, Princess. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

He crept down the hallway, looked to his right, and saw one set of curtains that were not moving. They appeared awkward and stiff, almost like someone was holding the cloth from behind. Bowser glanced down and saw a pair of pink shoes poke out from under the curtain. Quietly, the Koopa walked over and pulled the curtain back forcefully, revealing a very startled princess. She gasped, then immediately tried to run away, only for the reptile to grab her arm. She hissed as his claws dug into her flesh. Noticing this, Bowser slightly loosened his grip. She looked back at him, tears peeking from the corners of her eyes.

"P-Please, let me go," Peach hiccuped, tears now flowing freely from her eyes.

Bowser blinked, surprised at how emotional this girl was. This was the great-granddaughter of his enemy? But she was so... fragile.

She took advantage of his momentary distraction and tried to pry herself free from his grasp. Peach pushed herself out of his palm, then tried to make a break for it down the corridor.

Until she tripped on the front of her dress.

Peach fell forward with a sharp intake of air and her head hit the floor with a loud "thump." Her head began to spin. She looked up to see Bowser approaching her, sighed, and rested her head down, accepting defeat and losing a bit of consciousness. Gingerly, Bowser picker her up in his arms, noting how delicate she was in this state. He sighed.

"Princess, you are not dying today."

The doors behind Bowser slammed open, Mario leading a mass number of Toads, alongside Luigi and Daisy. The large crowd was chasing the seven Koopalings. Mario looked to Bowser and saw his betrothed lying limp in the dragon's arms.

"STOP!" The plumber shouted.

Suddenly, a loud crash filled the hall. The giant airship had careened itself into the castle, causing the scaffolding in some areas to collapse. Bowser hunched over, protecting Peach and himself with his shell. He looked up to see none other than Kamek steering the ship.

Perfect timing.

"Koopalings!" Bowser roared. "Let's go!"

The king swiftly hopped on the ship in one fluid motion, along with his seven minions. Bowser looked to Kamek, the blood and adrenaline in his body pumping a little harder.

"Kamek! Get us out of here!"

"Waaay ahead of you, Your Majesty!" the magikoopa responded, pulling out his wand. Kamek began to recite some sort of chant as a light surrounded the airship.

As quickly as the ship had arrived, it had disappeared in the blink of an eye. For a moment, there was silence, which was followed by cries of sadness and desperation. Mario collapsed to the ground, pounding a fist angrily to the marble floor.

I couldn't protect her... no... NO!...

Luigi kneeled at his brother's side and placed a hand on Mario's back. "Bro... I-I don't know what to say."

Mario looked up at his sibling, fierce determination behind his eyes. "Well, Luigi, I do."

The older brother slowly stood up as many thoughts were swirling through his head. "We are left with limited options to save the princess. Since I will be the future king of the Mushroom Kingdom, I need to make a critical decision."

Luigi gulped, fearing where this was ultimately going. "And... what... would that be, Mario?"

Mario sighed. "We have to start a war."

Yay! Chapter One is done! I'm really excited to get this story rolling. I have loved this franchise for years and have wanted to write a FanFic about it for a loooong time. Hopefully I can update soon. Until next time!

-TheLexTurtle