Mario laid in his bed. It had been a fun night, celebrating the 35th anniversary of his franchise. For 35 years he had been making movies, games, even some books. Him and his brother had invited the main cast over for a big party, and everyone had a blast. And yet, there was something else tonight marked that no one else knew about but his brother, Luigi. 35 years ago, the two of them had found a large green pipe in their closet, which took them to another world, the Mushroom Kingdom. Together, they had trekked across the entire world to rescue the princess from the Koopa king Bowser. They had come back to the real world, with full intentions to return to meet the princess in a more casual manner, but the pipe they had used disappeared after they returned. Luigi had believed it was all a dream, but Mario knew for a fact it had all really happened. He came up with the idea of creating movies about the Mushroom Kingdom, starring him and his brother. Ironically, however, a movie had never been made about the original journey. After the first movie became a hit, companies came to him to offer deals and partnerships, most of which Mario accepted. Before long, the Super Mario Bros. franchise was one of the most famous in the world.

And yet, Mario longed to return to the Mushroom Kingdom. Him and Luigi had moved out of their small apartment in Brooklyn years ago to live in their mansion near Hollywood. The mansion had actually inspired Luigi to start his own spinoff series, which Mario was actually pretty proud of. Even though they had left the place where the pipe had originally appeared, Mario hoped desperately that the pipe would return someday. He was closing his eyes, preparing to go to sleep, when he heard a thud in the hallway.

"Who's there?" he called out. He could barely make out the sound of someone crying over Luigi's loud snoring, not that he was one to talk. Mario crawled out of bed to the door, being careful as to not disturb his brother. "Hello?"

"Mario...?" It was a voice he thought he would never hear again, like the voice of an angel.

"...Princess?"

"Where am I? Why is it so dark?" The voice was coming from the closet down the hallway. Mario had to use all of his willpower to stop from running to the door. Instead, still staying quiet, he tip toed to the door, opening it to find a woman sprawled on the floor, a familiar green pipe rising up behind her. He stood there, mouth agape as the woman looked up at him and smiled. "Hello, Mario."

"Princess...it's really you..."

"Mario, you have to come with me. We need your help. The Mushroom Kingdom is in danger." It was at this moment that Mario realized she was not wearing her usual dress, instead she was dressed in rags.

"What happened? How did you get here? I thought the pipe-"

"There's no time. We have to leave now-" She tried to stand up but collapsed. She was clearly very weak, barely more than skin and bone.

"Look, Princess, you're clearly very weak. Come to the kitchen, we'll get some food, and you can tell me what happened." She started to protest, but seemed to realize the situation and nodded.

"Fine. But, I'm not a princess anymore. Please, call me Peach." He nodded, figuring she would explain in a little bit, as he led her to the kitchen. He pulled out some leftover spaghetti from the party and put it in the microwave as Peach took a seat. When it finished heating, he took the plate out and set it in front of her, and she dug into it as she never had before. Mario was slightly startled, and she seemed to come to her senses, putting the fork down and wiping her face with a napkin.

"So, what happened?" Mario asked. Peach sighed.

"I know I made it seem like we're in a rush, but I don't want to jump right into it right now. Why don't you tell me what you've been up to for the last 35 years?"

"Look, Pri-Peach, I wanted to come back, but the pipe disappeared as soon as we got back. I've been hoping for years that it would appear again, but it never did-" Peach held up a hand to silence him.

"It's okay, Mario. The pipe disappeared for us, too. We've also been trying for years to bring it back."

"And you were clearly successful, since you're now in my house."

"Yeah...I'll explain more later. Was your house always this big?" Mario blushed.

"Um, well, no. You see..." He then told her all about the franchise he had created based on his journey in the Mushroom Kingdom. Peach seemed deep in thought, which confused Mario.

"Tell me," she said, "Did any of your movies happen to contain a woman named Daisy, princess of Sarasaland?"

"Um, yeah, actually. How did you know?"

"What about a son of Bowser named Bowser Jr.?"

"Ok this is creepy. How do you know all of this?"

"Well, it would seem your movies affect the Mushroom Kingdom. For example, one day the kingdom of Sarasaland was suddenly discovered, along with Princess Daisy. We became close trading partners, but it was still odd how she seemed to just appear out of nowhere. Something similar happened with Bowser Jr. One day, he just shows up out of the blue, acting as a sort of right-hand man to his father. There are other examples, but it would take forever for me to list them all. By the way, how's Luigi doing?"

"Oh, he's good. He's sleeping right now though. Unfortunately, he's started to think the Mushroom Kingdom was all a dream." Mario sighed. If only he could convince his brother their journey was real. Peach seemed saddened as well, frowning at that last sentence. Maybe they could meet soon and Luigi would remember. The two talked long into the night, discussing each other's personal lives over the course of the last 35 years. Finally, Mario got serious. "Okay, Peach. I think now you should tell me what happened for you to be like this." She frowned and let out a sigh.

"Fine. Better sooner than later, I guess. It happened about five years ago. It was a typical day, same stuff as always, when Bowser invaded again. Turns out he had been building his army for 30 years, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. He'd even gained some new members." She cast Mario a knowing look, and he let out a nervous chuckle. "Anyway, he launched a full-scale invasion, and took over nearly the entire kingdom. We fought back as hard as we could, but it was a hopeless battle. Bowser enslaved almost all of the Toads. Only I and a handful of others escaped into Sarasaland, where Daisy did her best to hide and protect us." Tears began to well up in Peach's eyes, as if the memory was too much for her. "I realized our only hope was you. We had been trying to once again gain contact with your world, but now we devoted all of our time and resources to it. Finally, after we had been working on it for years, Professor E. Gadd solved the final piece of the puzzle, and he created a warp pipe that would lead anyone who entered straight to your world."

"How did he figure it out?" Mario asked.

"No clue. He explained it, but it was all a bunch on science mumbo jumbo that I couldn't understand. Anyway, right after the pipe was built, Bowser stormed the hideout. Apparently, he had spent the last several years scouring the Mushroom Kingdom for me, and decided to invade Sarasaland in case I was hiding there. He also wanted revenge against you, but apparently, he did not know you had been gone the entire time. I barely managed to crawl into the pipe before the cave collapsed..." She trailed off and began to weep. "Now do you understand why I need your help?" She sobbed, choking on her words. Mario frowned.

"So, let me get this straight. Five years ago, Bowser invaded the Mushroom Kingdom and succeeded in taking over. You were forced into hiding, and have been trying to gain access to my world ever since. You finally did so, but you were the only one that made it through the pipe. Now, you want my help to try and rescue both Sarasaland and the Mushroom Kingdom?" Peach nodded, indicating he had gotten everything right. Mario grinned. "Alright, but first we should get some sleep. We can leave first thing in the morning."

"But-"

"Here's the thing: If we leave now, chances are Bowser could be watching the pipe, waiting to see if you return. If we wait until morning, maybe he'll be gone by then." Peach sighed.

"Okay..."

"Great. You can sleep in the guest room." Mario led her down the hallway to the guest room, and handed her a spare set of pajamas. "Technically, these are my cousin's, but you can wear them tonight." Peach smiled.

"Thanks, Mario. I'll see you in the morning?"

"Yeah. Goodnight, Peach." He closed the door and walked back to his bedroom, where Luigi was still sound asleep. Maybe tomorrow he could convince Luigi to come with him, just like old times. He crawled into bed and willed himself to go to sleep, hoping that this wasn't all just some dream.

Author's note: Yep, now I'm doing a Mario fic. Honestly, not much to say, but I do feel a need to explain the plot a little bit. Basically, for those of you that don't know, there is a theory that says most of the Mario games are actually movies, plays, etc. This fic expands on that idea by claiming the only time Mario was actually in the Mushroom Kingdom was in the original Super Mario Bros. After that, they were all various forms of media that he created based on his first adventure. Also, for those of you wondering when I'll do another Undertale fic, don't worry, that's next on my list. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and don't forget to follow if you want to stay updated!