Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Super Mario Bros. or any of the Mario games. Those belong to Nintendo.
Chapter 1
The sun began to rise as morning light pours down on the hidden tower in the woods. A little red robin flies out of a small opening in the tower window and hides behind a small, potted plant.
Suddenly, the tower window is flung open, a now grown-up Peach looks around for her feathered friend.
"Hmm, I guess Daisy isn't out here." Peach begins, slowly walking away from the window.
The robin chirps to itself, thinking she managed to trick Peach, only for a blond strand of hair to grab the bird a second later.
"Gotcha!" Peach exclaimed with a small laugh. As she sat the little bird down, she added, "That's 22 for me. How about 23 out of 45?"
Daisy cocked her head to one side.
"Yes, you're right, this game is getting old." Peach replied. "So, what else should we do?"
Daisy pointed a wing outside.
Peach shook her head. "No, I like it here, and so do you."
Daisy gave her a sad tweet.
"Oh, come on, Daisy, it's not that bad in here." Peach picked up her feathery friend and ran downstairs. As she ran, her long blond hair dragged behind her, forming the name "Tangled" on the carpet. Using her hair, Peach pulled down a lever, opening a skylight window on the roof. She grabbed a broom and a dustpan and proceeded to sing as she worked.
"7am, the usual morning lineup,
Start on the chores and sweep till the floor is all clean,
Polish and wash, do laundry, mop, and shine up,
Sweep again and by then, it's like 7:15,
So, I'll read a book, or maybe two or three,
I'll add a few new paintings to my gallery,
I'll play tennis and knit, and cook, and basically,
Wonder when my life will begin?"
As Peach sat a mushroom pie she just baked down on a counter, she noticed a spot on the wall between a couple curtains that hadn't been painted on yet. Using her thumb, she measured the space between the curtains and an idea formed in her head. Grabbing some paints and brushes, she proceeded to stroke the wall with pink paint.
"After lunch, it puzzles, darts, and baking,
Paper mache, a bit of croquet, and chess,
Pottery, then calligraphy, candle-making,
Then I'll stretch, maybe sketch, swing around, sew a dress,
And I'll read the books if I have time to spare,
I'll paint the walls some more, I'm sure there's room somewhere,
And then I'll brush and brush and brush and brush my hair,
Stuck in the same place I've always been,
And I'll keep wondering and wondering and wondering and wondering and wondering,
When will my life begin?"
Peach tossed her hair around circles, then flopped on the floor with a sigh. She desperately wished she could go outside, but her father strictly forbade it, continuously telling her that it was a dangerous place of creatures that would harm her. She looked over at the mural she painted on the wall, herself and Daisy sitting near a tree on a hill, looking up at the stream of floating lights in a sunset sky.
"Tomorrow night,
The lights will appear,
Just like they do on my birthday each year,"
Peach walked over the window and rested her elbows on the ledge, gazing up at the sky.
"What is it like,
Up there where they glow,
Maybe now that I'm older,
Father might let me go."
(Somewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom)
Two plumbers jumped from mushroom to mushroom, eventually landing on the palace rooftop. The leading plumber, with brown hair, blue eyes, and a brown mustache above his upper lip, wears a red shirt, blue overalls, and a red hat with the letter M on it on his head.
The second plumber, with similar brown hair, blue eyes, and brown mustache, wears a green shirt and blue overalls, a green hat with the letter L on it on his head.
As the plumber in green made his way to the palace window, the red plumber stopped and took a moment to admire the view from the palace rooftop.
"Wow, I can get used to a sight like this." he exclaimed. He leaned against a pillar on the roof. "Yep, I'm used to it. Luigi, I want a castle."
"We can get a castle when the job is done." Luigi replied. He pulls his brother by his overalls over to the palace window and lowers him down with a rope.
A golden crown with blue jewels sits on a satin cushion. The red plumber silently picks up the crown. As he does this, a guard lets out a sneeze.
"Ugh, hay fever?" the red plumber asks with a smirk on his face.
"Yeah." the guard replied casually.
"Wait." Realizing the situation, he turned around, only to see the red plumber be pulled out of the window, taking the crown with him.
"Hey, wait!" the guard shouted, alerting the other guards about the thievery.
The plumber brothers took off running, crossing a cobblestone bridge that connects the kingdom to the woods.
"Can you imagine us in our own castle? Cause I sure can." the red plumber said excitedly. "Crown taken in and out, and it's only 8:00 in the morning. Brother, this is a very big day!"
(Back at the tower)
"This is a very big day, Daisy!" Peach exclaimed, holding her little bird friend gently in her palms. "I'm finally going to do it. I'm going to ask him."
"Peach, let down your hair!" a voice called out from outside the tower.
"It's time." Peach walked over to the window and looked down, seeing Bowser standing there with a basket in one hand.
"Peach, I'm not getting any younger down here!" Bowser called up again.
"Coming, father." the blonde girl replied. She tossed her hair around the window hook and lowered the rest down to the ground. Bowser wrapped the hair around himself and lightly tugged it, signaling Peach to pull him up.
Peach grabbed her hair and pulled, lifting Bowser up to the tower window.
"Welcome home, father," Peach greeted.
"Oh Peach, how you manage to pull me up every single day, I don't understand. It must be tiring." Bowser claimed.
"It's nothing, really," Peach shrugged modestly.
Well, if it's nothing, then it should not take so long." Bowser said. Seeing Peach frown at this, he smiled and with a wave of his claw, added. "Peach, you know I am only teasing."
Peach frowned but decided to brush it off. "Okay. So, father, I was wondering if-"
"Peach." Bowser interrupted, looking at his reflection in a mirror on the wall. "Look here."
He directed his attention to the mirror. "Do you know what I see? I see a strong, talented, charming young being."
Peach smiled at the compliments.
"Oh look, you're here too." Bowser said with a laugh.
Peach laughed along with her father, though she was confused on whether he meant all those compliments just for himself or her too.
"I'm joking darling, don't take everything so seriously." Bowser said with a dismissive wave of his claw.
"Alright," Peach replied, letting it slide. "Anyways father, I was thinking maybe-"
"My Flower," Bowser started, interrupting her again. "Father is feeling light-headed. Will you sing to me?"
"Oh, of course." Peach sat Bowser down on a chair, placed some strands of hair and a brush in his claw, sat on a stool, and hurriedly sang:
"Flowergleamandglow,
Letyourpowershine,
Maketheclockreverse,
Bringbackwhatoncewasmine-"
"Wait, wait!" Bowser said, for the singing was way too fast.
With each word, the glowing flow of Peach's golden hair rushed from strand to strand.
"Healwhathasbeenhurt,
Changethefate'sdesign,
Savewhathasbeenlost,
Bringbackwhatoncewasmine,
Whatoncewasmine."
Bowser consumed the magic from the glowing hair, turning a few seeping grey hairs back to their natural orange color.
"Peach, slow down-"
"So, father, earlier I told you tomorrow is a big day, and you didn't say anything, so I'm just going to say it. It's my birthday!" she said, clapping her hands excitedly.
Bowser shook his head. "No, no no, I distinctly remember: Your birthday was last year."
That is the funny thing about birthdays. They are an annual thing." Peach explained. "Look father, I'm turning eighteen, and there is something I really want for this birthday, actually I've been wanting this for a long time…"
"Peach, stop with the mumbling. You know how I feel about the mumbling. Blah blah blah blah." Bowser scolded, then smiled. "I'm kidding dear, please continue." He got up and started unpacking supplies he got from town.
Peach caught Daisy eyeing her from the corner of the room, cocking her head towards Bowser in a gesture that told Peach to get on with it.
"I want to go see the floating lights!" She blurted out.
"What?" Bowser asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I was hoping you would take me to see the floating lights," Peach said, pointing at the painting.
"Oh, you mean the stars." Bowser exclaimed.
"That's the thing." Peach ran to the corner of the room, grabbed a rolled-up paper from a shelf, and unrolled it across the room, revealing a star chart. "See, all the stars in the sky are constant, appearing in the same place every night. But those lights," she gestures back to the painting. "They only appear on my birthday. I can't put a finger on it, but my heart tells me those lights are somehow meant for me. I need to see them, father. Not just from the window, but in person. I must know what they are. So please, will you take me to see them?"
Bowser's expression darkened, knowing this moment would come. "You want to go outside?" He questioned. "Oh, Peach." He walked up to the window and shut it, dimming the light in the room. He walked up to Peach, took her hands in his, and began to sing.
"Look at you, fragile as a flower,
Still a little sapling, just a sprout,
You know why we stay up in this tower,"
"But father-" Peach started.
Bowser continued singing: "That's right, to keep you safe and sound,
Guess I always knew this day was coming,
Soon you would want to spread your wings and leave the nest,
Soon, but not yet,
Trust me pet,
Father knows best,"
Bowser pulled a lever on the wall, closing the ceiling window and turning off all the lights in the room, leaving Peach in pitch darkness.
Peach lit a candle and looked around, trying to see where her father went.
"Father knows best,
Listen to your father,
It's a scary world out there,"
Bowser appears next to her, his claws raised in a scary gesture, startling Peach.
She stumbled backwards, dropping the candle.
"Father knows best,
One way or another,
Something will go wrong, I swear,"
Peach then felt a tug at her hair, pulling her forwards. She tripped on a carpet on the floor, falling right into Bowser's arms. He then disappeared again into the darkness, shadows of different dangers appearing on the floor next to Peach.
"Ruffians, thugs,
Poison ivy, quicksand,
Cannibals and snakes,
The plague,"
"No!" Peach gasped.
"Yes!" Bowser claimed, holding up a lantern that glowed a bright neon green. He then disappeared again and reappeared in another corner of the room, holding a stick structure in the shape of a bug and a paper mache with the face of a man with razor sharp teeth.
"Also large bugs,
Men with pointy teeth,
And stop, no more,
You will just upset me."
Peach wrapped herself in her hair, frightened by these outside dangers.
Bowser, now wearing his hood, reappeared beside her and tousled her hair.
He helped Peach up to her feet and took her hands gently in his claws.
"Father is right here,
Father will protect you,
Darling, here is what I suggest,"
He then vanished again, making Peach panic. She frantically looked around the dark room.
Bowser was now at the top of the stairs, a million candles lit, one on each step.
He slowly walked down the steps, his claws raised.
"Skip the drama,
Stay with papa,
Father knows best"
With a wave of his hood, Bowser made the candles go out one by one.
Peach struck a match and re-lit the candles. Bowser followed, putting them out.
"Father knows best,
Take it from your daddy,
On your own, you won't survive,"
Peach then found herself in front of the mirror, her reflection staring back at her
Bowser appeared behind the mirror, putting his bony claws on the glass.
"Sloppy, underdressed,
Immature, clumsy,
Please, they will eat you alive,"
Bowser directed the mirror to Peach's dress, showing her thighs.
Peach pulled down the skirt of her dress in an attempt to cover them up.
She tripped over her hair, falling onto her back.
Bowser rolled Peach across the room, wrapping her in her hair like a burrito.
"Gullible, naive,
Positively grubby,
Dizzy and a little bit vague,
Plus, getting kind of chubby,
I'm only saying these things because I love you,
Bowser unwrapped Peach and put a claw on her shoulder.
"Father understands,
Father is here to help you,
All I have is one request,"
Bowser turned Peach around and looked at her dead in the eye. "Peach, don't ever ask to leave this tower again."
Peach slumped her shoulders in defeat and nodded. "Yes, Father."
Bowser smiled and pulled her into a hug. "I love you very much, sweetheart."
"I love you more." Peach said, hugging him back.
"I love you most." He concluded.
"And don't forget it,
You'll regret it,
Father knows best."
Author's Notes: Hello beautiful readers. Hope you enjoyed the introduction of Mario and Luigi. You'll be seeing more action from them in the next chapter. Until then, leave reviews, live your dreams, and have a great day.