"Dears Mario and Luigi, please come to the castle. I baked a cake for us. Sincerely, Princess Peach Toadstool".
With that invitation, the Mario brothers happily headed to the Mushroom Castle to eat the treat. After all, the princess was a very good cook. On the way, they met Wario and invited him to come along. However, before they arrive, Toad, the princess' assistant, came running up to meet the Marios and Wario, desperated.
—Mario! Luigi! Help! The princess... captured... Bowser... —exclaimed Toad, distressed and confused, not knowing where to start.
—No need to say anything else—spoke the red plumber. —Let's go, brother! Will you help us, Wario?
—How much do I get for this?—asked, greedily.
—I don't know, I have no money to pay you. Come on, Luigi!
"I'm going with those morons", thought Wario, malicious. "I can extort the princess after I rescue her, hehe".
—Bowser stole the Power Stars of the Mushroom Castle and gave them to his servants in the castle's paintings—reported Toad.
—In what?—asked Luigi, not understanding.
—In the paintings of the castle! Bowser used the stars to create worlds in the frames!
—When did this happen?—questioned Mario.
—Three days ago.
—So, this invitation we received from the princess is fake?
—What invitation?—inquired the assistant, raising his eyebrows. The red plumber showed him the letter he received inviting him and his brother for eating cake. After analyzing it, Toad concluded:
—Yes, it's false. The princess' handwriting was forged. There's no way she could have sent it. Bowser is keeping her under personal surveillance.
—Toad, go to a safe place—Mario requested. —If anything happens to us, you know who to call.
Three days have passed since Mario, Luigi and Wario entered the Mushroom Castle to rescue the princess and have not returned. Fearful, Toad went to the plumbers' house to make a phone call.
—Hello?—answered a deep voice.
—Zero! It's me, Toad!—identified himself. —The princess was captured by Bowser! Mario and Luigi tried to rescue her, but they didn't come back! I'm very worried!
—I'll tell the others and we'll come to help our sister!
—I'm at the Marios' house! Come over here!
One hour later, Zero, followed by Link and Alucard, arrived at the plumbers' home, distressed. The helper greeted them and explained to the trio what Bowser had done.
—We are going to recover the stolen Power Stars, leave it to us—ensured Link.
—Something must have happened to Mario and Luigi. They probably fell into a trap and were captured—reasoned Zero. —Let's go.
As there were many paintings to retrieve stars, the trio decided to split up to speed up the task. In the painting of a battlefield, Link beat the Great Bob-omb and got the information he wanted: Mario and Luigi (and Wario) were captured and are under custody of King Koopa's strong subordinates, inside frames. The hylian told this to the hunter and the vampire and they decided to look for the hostages while they took the stars back.
In one of the rooms of the first floor, Link found a painting of Mario and entered, ending up on a path with wooden platforms and purple, poisonous gas below them. He proceeded carefully, cutting down the Goombas on his way, climbed up a beanstalk and came to a hole on a thick log. He went down.
When he landed, found a Goomba much larger than the others, with a gray haired mustache and eyebrows and wearing a crown.
—Hahaha! I am Goomboss, the great Goomba—introduced himself. —And you, who are you, little one?
—I'm Link. Where's Mario?
But the giant Goomba didn't have to answer. Link just looked to the middle of the place and there was the plumber: stretched out and, apparently, badly injured, on a circular platform, with poison gas around.
—That drain brain has always stepped on us, but now the tables have turned! I crushed him and it's better for you to leave if you don't want to get crushed too!—threatened Goomboss.
—Let's see who's going to crush who—replied the hero, provoking the enemy's anger and preparing for combat. From behind the giant Goomba, four small ones came out and attacked Link, but a spinning attack defeated them. The hylian advanced on the boss and landed a few cuts that made the opponent retreat. Angry, Goomboss began to increase in size and conjured up more Goombas, six this time. They attacked Link quickly, but were defeated. At this, he takes a hit from the boss. The hero defended himself in time, but was thrown backwards by the impact.
Disengaged, Goomboss came again for another blow. Link jumped to the side, rolled, and landed a slash across the enemy's back, which left him even more frustrated. The boss grew in size even more, but this did not intimidate the hylian: from the blow he had received, he realized the king wasn't that strong.
—That's enough—concluded Link, pulling out his Fire and Ice Rods. The hero fired a burst of each and destroyed the Goomba king. He jumped up to the platform where Mario was and saw his condition: unconscious, with several bruises, a broken nose and some bleeding. Carefully, Link carried his friend and got him out of there.
—Alucard! Alucard!—called Link, as he returned to the entrance hall of the Mushroom Castle. The dhampir came out of one of the doors and went to meet the hylian, who requested his brother to use his healing powers on the plumber.
—I found out where Luigi is—revealed Alucard, while healing Mario. —In a haunted mansion in the castle's backyard.
—How?
—One of Bowser's minions told me that there's a ghost guarding a cage with a haunted house inside.
—And how do we get in?
—Leave the mansion to me, places like this are my specialty. Go ahead.
—Ok—agreed Link. They left Mario resting against a wall and went in separate ways.
Alucard arrived at the castle yard and the place was full of ghosts. The vampire consumed them all until he found the cage with the mansion. As he approached it, he was sucked inside.
The place seemed to be a world apart, for Alucard could no longer see the yard, only darkness. There was a night sky with a full moon, black clouds and a two floors mansion. The vampire entered and explored the place until he grabbed all the Power Stars. On the second floor, he found a painting of Luigi. He entered.
He landed in a round room, with a rotating floor and containing four exits. He turned into a wolf and sniffed the air, hoping to find a trace of the plumber. He found it and went right, then left and right again. He turned into a bat and climbed up, finding a hole at the end of a red carpet. He got down.
The vampire landed in a rectangular room, with a large green carpet and a mirror occupying the entire wall facing it. He saw Luigi on the floor, leaning against the mirror and went over to him. He was very pale, cold and with his eyes open and fixed, but he didn't notice Alucard there, nor did he move.
—!... Did you took his soul?—the dhampir questioned someone nearby. Behind him, a large ghost appeared, wearing a crown and with a fireball in one hand.
—Hahahaha! Yes, it was me, Big Boo. I'm going to take your soul, too, and turn you into one of us!
—I think not—refuted Alucard, using super speed to take Luigi's soul.
"How fast!", thought Big Boo, in disbelief. The vampire began to consume the ghost, who tried to escape, but in vain: he was sucked into his opponent's body and turned in energy for him. Only the crown remained on the ground. Alucard returned the soul to the body of the plumber, who gradually blushed and regained his senses.
—Alucard!—Luigi spoke. —I... I... got careless... the ghost... it...
—It was defeated—said the vampire, calmly. —Let's get out of here.
The vampire and the plumber returned to the main hall. Mario was still dozing leaning against the wall, but he looked much better. Staggering, Luigi went to his brother and sat down beside him. Alucard explained to Luigi what had happened to him and asked him to take care of him until he wakes up. That Link, Zero and him were recovering the stars that Bowser stole.
—We are as worried about the princess as you are—he assured. —We've spread out across the castle to speed up the task.
—Wario has also come with us—said the plumber.
—He'll be rescued when we find him. Did you see who captured him?
—... It was a giant ice monster. It was blue, with a big mustache and a horn. That's all I know.
—That's enough. I'll keep getting the stars. See you later!
—Good luck, Alucard!—Luigi wished.
When he met up with his brothers on the lower floor of the castle, the dhampir told them about the monster that was holding Wario hostage. But they didn't find him there. They explored desert, lake, lava and cave, but nothing. Only when they reached the second floor, Zero found a picture of the cheapskate painted inside a room with a mirror on one wall. He entered the frame.
The atmosphere was chilly, just the way Zero liked it. He had begun to develop an affection for cold places. The hunter went down a slide and, with the help of the wind, reached the rest of the path, made up of blocks and columns. He went forward, cutting down some enemies that were stalling him and being careful not to slip and fall. After climbing some ice blocks, he found a crater on the ground and descended.
As he landed, he saw the creature described by Luigi: a round, blue monster with a gray mustache and a horn. It was pounding the ground like a bull.
—Hey!—exclaimed the monster. —Who are you?
—Pff... My name is Zero. I've come to rescue the fat man with you—said the reploid, unworried.
—Hahahaha! He's frozen somewhere in this lake—revealed the creature, laughing. —My name is Chief Chilly, king of the cold. But why did you come looking for him? He doesn't sound like someone important, by your tone.
—Yeah, not that important. My real concern is the princess. I'm in a hurry, so...
Zero sped up and struck a blow that almost cut Chilly in two. It was deep, but the king resisted. He jumped high and was knocking pieces of the arena off the sides with each landing. When he finished, the boss ran to strike the reploid again, but he, with his sword on fire, pierced the enemy with a vertical cut. Chief Chilly began to melt as he convulsed on the ground. Zero scoured the edges of the place, looking into the lake and searching for Wario. He found him floating, frozen. He dived in to rescue him.
When they returned, Zero found out, from Link, that the Mario brothers, now recovered, went to face Bowser to save the regent. The hero asked the hunter to help the vampire and him to get the missing stars on the third floor. Wario ran as fast as he could to catch up with Mario and Luigi and try to have a small part in the rescue.
One hour later, the plumbers and the explorer had defeated King Koopa and were back at the entrance of the Mushroom Castle, with a large Power Star they obtained floating at the height of the princess' stained glass window. The object began to descend, slowly, and disappeared, showing a beautiful woman with a pink dress and blond hair. Peach opened her eyes and saw the Mario Bros., hat in hand, in courtesy, and Wario, standing back, with his finger in his nose.
—Ugh!—t'was her first reaction, grimacing. —Mario, Luigi, was it you again?
—Yes—they both answered.
—But we had help—Mario admitted. —From your brothers.
—Hey! I helped too!—Wario protested.
—Link, Zero and Alucard are here? Where?—asked Peach, her eyes widening, ignoring the explorer.
—Getting the missing stars—Luigi replied. —They should be close to finish by now.
—I'll see them—said the monarch, turning to enter her house. Peach walked around the place calling for the trio and found them on the top floor, Link and Alucard coming out of secret passages in the walls and Zero coming out of a giant wall clock. Upon seeing their sister, they smiled with joy and relief that she was saved and went to meet her. Peach gave them each a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.
—Thank you so much!—Peach said, to the three.
—Welcome back, sis!—Link wished.
—It was Toad who told me you were captured—revealed Zero. —I told them and we came as fast as we could.
—We got the stars back. Look.
The hylian, the reploid and the vampire released the stars they had collected and their power energized the castle again. The worlds that King Koopa created in the paintings disappeared and they "closed", becoming just normal frames again. Peach admired the place full of life again, her eyes beaming with joy.
—Rest before you go back to your homes, please—the princess requested. —I need to let the people know that all is well again.