Mario sighed as he slumped back against the wall of the high watchtower. It had been almost six hours since he and his brother had gone to the watchtowers high above either end of the BeanBean-Mushroom border, and nothing had happened. Nobody had crossed at all, not even passing birds.
"Anything over on your end?" Mario said into the mushroom-shaped communicator in the tower.
"Nothing, bro," Luigi said. "Quiet as a tomb."
"I'm beginning to think that the kids played a trick on us," Mario said. "I never trusted them to begin with."
"I'm beginning to agree with you," Luigi said.
"Well, let's give this 'Garrison Gang' until sun-up, and then we'll go back and kick some Koopa Kid butt."
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The Koopa Kids grinned as they pointed their wands at the Princess.
"Um… What are you doing?" Peach said, becoming a bit nervous.
"It's not a question of what WE'RE doing," Larry said, stepping forwards. "It's a matter of what YOU are GOING to do. Now, you're going to listen to us, or…"
"I don't have to take orders from you!" Peach spat, kicking Larry in the stomach. Roy fired a stun blast at her, knocking her on her back.
"I repeat," Larry said, "You will listen to us, or your precious Mario Brothers will be killed upon their return." Larry brushed his claw across the Princess's chin. "And we wouldn't want that now, would we, my dear?"
The Princess scrambled to her feet and called, "Guards! Come quick!"
Larry nodded at Roy and Morton, who ran to the exits and began firing at the Mushroom guards that came running.
"How could you do this?" the Princess growled. "We trusted you!"
"And therein lies your error, your highness," Ludwig chuckled.
"What are we gonna do with her, boss?" Lemmy asked.
"It's never a bad time to expand the family," Iggy suggested. Ludwig bashed him over the head. "Man, I'm never gonna get any…" Iggy moped, pushing his glasses up.
"If you so much as touch me," Peach snarled, "I will…"
"You'll do what, your highness?" Larry snapped. "You'll do what? When we have all this firepower just itching to be thrown at you? When your precious soldiers are no longer existant? No, I'm afraid you are powerless."
"What are you going to do?" Peach asked, her voice beginning to tremble.
"First, we are going to take your crown."
"NO!"
"Yes," Larry said. "And then, we are going to lead the Mario Brothers into an elaborate trap that will result in a great benefit for us. It will be so amusing to see the brothers not even realizing that they are our tools, won't it, fellas?"
The rest of the Koopa Kids laughed.
"And I'm going to take all your clothes and jewelry and destroy them," Wendy said, walking over to the Princess. "They're all sins against fashion and need to be destroyed."
Peach slapped Wendy across the face.
"Alright, that does it," Larry snapped. "Knock her out." Roy leapt on the Princess's back and struck her head hard with his wand, and Peach's vision went dark.
She awoke in her bed in the castle tower feeling very sluggish and tired, but she saw the Koopa Kids standing beside her bed, smiling.
"What… what have you done?" She moaned wearily.
Lemmy smiled and held her crown above his head.
She shook her head. "No… please, give it back…."
"Tough luck, Princess," Morton said. "Now, as you begin to die, we will manipulate the Mario Brothers into our trap, and there's nothing you can do."
The Koopa Kids all left the room, except for Larry, who turned at the door and said, "You'll be dead in two weeks, Princess. Enjoy your coma in the meantime. Farewell, your highness… for the last time." And he slammed the door shut as he left.
Peach couldn't move… her limbs felt so heavy and weak. Her vision began to blur, and before she slipped out of consciousness she whispered to the air, "Mario… Luigi… forgive me…"
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The golden sun peeked its head above the hilltops, and so the night had passed with no activity on the border. Mario sat snoring in the watchtower when his communicator blared.
"Mario! Hey Mario!"
Mario jolted awake and picked it up. "Unnh…Luigi?"
"Mario, you didn't fall asleep, did you?"
"Ah, no… no, don't be silly."
"Well, it looks like we were duped again, bro."
All at once Mario felt his rage return to him. "That's right! Let's hurry our asses back to the castle. I'm gonna have Koopaling burgers for dinner tonight!"
"But Mario, it's Thursday night. It's lasagna night."
"Oh…. Well then, we'll have Koopaling burgers tomorrow night! Let's go!" They ran down the stairs of the watchtowers, began accelerating across the plain, and took off into the air with their raccoon powers, back towards Mushroom Castle.