Chapter Four
Terrifying Tales Told
The Mushroom Times
Fire Flower 14
Princess Peach Robbed?
MUSHROOM CASTLE, MUSHROOM KINGDOM- Everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom knows that there is quite a bit of crime in this fair land of ours. There is no denying it: we are constantly saved by those masterful superheroes, the Super Mario Brothers. But putting those compliments to the champions aside, a question has arisen in the throats of our citizens: is the Mushroom Kingdom becoming a crime center? Stories like this one just may prove it.
Two nights ago, Princess Toadstool, better known as simply "Peach", was robbed. Yes, the adorable, brave leader of the kingdom had one of her possessions stolen.
It was Fire Flower 12, four o' clock in the afternoon. Peach had just returned from a Mushroom Mall shopping spree. After putting the items away, the princess went to read her new book: Ancient Mysteries of the Mushroom Kingdom Undergrounds, by Harold P. Frankly. She read it up until that night. While she was in a deep slumber, she heard noises coming from her room and then into the hallway.
"There were strange voices... and footsteps," Toadstool told us during our interview. She said that she could not get up and turn on the light; the thieves had left quickly. Authorities find this extremely odd; not only what they stole was strange, but also how it was done.
All that was stolen was the Princess' new book: yes, a fifty-coin nonfiction book that could have been purchased at the local bookstore or more effortlessly stolen from a common Mushroomian's home. Nevertheless, the thieves chose Princess Peach to snag a copy from.
The other issue brought up by the inspectors of the crime was that it was done in an extremely meticulous manner. Everything was in perfect condition apart from the missing book. Normally, a place would have to be ransacked to find something as small as Frankly's slim volume. But the Mushroom Castle was not.
The Yoshi Police are still investigating the scene, looking for a bit of evidence. They have found none: not even a trace of a footstep or fingerprint. Were these criminals using some sort of a technological way to avoid being caught? How could this could have been executed so perfectly? The answers may come soon; stay tuned to the Mushroom Times for the latest news on this eerie tale.
Kammy Koopa stared in disbelief at the front page of what used to be her favorite paper. She read over the article numerous times. No, it wasn't the Mushroom Times' corny self-advertising at the bottom that had alarmed her; maybe it was the fact that she had known nothing about this misdemeanor.
She knew that the news of this should have reached her ears long before it happened. The Mario—hating villains all shared a somewhat twisted bond, and told each other their separate plans before going and doing something. And the Koopas, the skilled masters at the top of the heap who knew almost every Mario secret... Every act of badness reached their eardrums first. Anything with a hint of unscrupulousness would snake its way into their brain before anyone else's besides the plan-maker's. So why hadn't she heard about it? It was simply baffling, especially because the party was two days away. Who would have been stupid enough to try something like this after they had heard about Bowser's breathtakingly wondrous plan?
Her master thumped into the kitchen, groggy—eyed. He rubbed his bloodshot peepers and yawned. He then proceeded to get out the X-Treme Koopa Koffee Maker.
"Lord Bowser, look at the front cover of the newspaper," Kammy said, still in a stupor from what she had read.
Bowser, ignoring her temporarily, slammed the coffee maker down and went to get the Chuckle Coffee beans (15) from the cabinet. "Uggghhh... I'll be there in just a second, Kam," he groaned.
"What's with you? Didn't sleep well?"
Bowser yawned again. His gaping maw seemed to reach to the ceiling and floor simultaneously. "No way. How am I supposed to sleep with all this expectation building up inside of me?"
"Well, I think you should see this, Your Cruelness. I find it quite interesting."
After Kammy's master had gotten the coffee machine up and running, he trudged over to read the newspaper. Scanning it, he shrugged and went back to preparing breakfast. Kammy had a look of utter disbelief plastered on her face.
"Sir, did you read that correctly?"
"Yeah, what's the big deal about that?"
"Uh... It's a very big deal. This isn't a regular occurrence, you know."
"Sure it is. It happens all the time."
"What? Do you even know what you're saying?"
"Mm-hmm. I don't really see why this comes as a shock to you."
"I have no clue what you're talking about!"
"Don't you watch television? It's on TV practically every day!"
"Duh, I watch TV. But I've never heard of this before."
"Then pay attention to what you're watching from now on."
"Why wouldn't I pay attention?"
"...Oh, how can I say this? Er—here we go... you're a crusty old hag. Yep. That's right."
"HOW DARE YOU? AND JUST WHAT IN A SHYGUY'S BUTT DOES BEING OLDER HAVE TO DO WITH PAYING ATTENTION TO THE TELEVISION?"
"Being 'older' is not what you are, Kam. Let's face it, you're not just old, you're already on the brink of death."
"Wha- shut up and answer my question!"
"Oh, alright. What does being old have to do with television? You ever see those super wrinkly fat ladies in nursing homes watch TV? They fall asleep, drooling all over themselves, glasses on their chests, snoring like wild beasts..."
"YOU THINK I DO THAT?" Kammy got off her stool, stomped over to Bowser, and poked her slender finger into his chest. "I pay near PERFECT attention to the TV, and in my... my many years of living, I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF A SINGLE THING LIKE THIS BEFORE!"
Bowser edged away. "Well, I'm sorry that you slept through all the days that the Koopa Krushers lost."
Kammy whipped her finger into the air. "SEE, I HAVE NE– the... Koopa
Krushers...?"
"Yeah, our baseball team. They always lose. How could you have never heard of that before?"
"Uh... oh. Wait, what? Didn't you read the front headline?" She realized the misunderstanding.
Bowser waved his hand through the air as if to say naaah. "No, I usually read the sports scores and comics first. The good stuff, you know."
Kammy buried her face in her hands. What kind of a king read the comics first! Oh, right. Bowser. "Well, I think you'll actually find this headline especially interesting."
Bowser didn't look convinced. "Let me see that," he said, snatching the paper. After a quick look, it dawned on him, and his face looked as if a meteor had fallen and smashed him across the face. "What the— Princess Peach ROBBED? Who did this? I never heard of this!" He went into an angry rant.
"So you didn't know about this, Your Growliness?"
"Of course not! Who did this? No one in the Kingdom gets away with an act of evilness without MY say—so!" He was positively infuriated.
Then another meteor came down, this time hitting Kammy. She had a revelation. "Waaaait a second. Our castle was robbed too. I wonder if it was the same guys?"
Bowser's eyebrows raised. "Hmm... no, I don't think so. It says here that these dudes did it super careful. That's not what the guys who hit our place did, that's for sure."
Kammy crossed her arms, thinking hard. "Did you find anything missing, though?" she asked.
"Oh, that's right!"
"What?"
"I forgot to recheck the scene of the crime. Um... you know, because of..." Bowser's lower lip quivered.
"Yes, yes," Kammy said swiftly. "I know. We should go check, though. Maybe something else was stolen that we could trace to these thieves."
And so they headed downstairs to look.
Mario and Luigi were concerned. After reading the newspaper article that morning, they wanted to help Princess Peach and the Yoshi Police investigate. They decided to go to her castle and help out for a while. So, they took a pipe to the Mushroom Castle and ran up to the entrance. The door was opened, surrounded by CAUTION! signs. A red Yoshi took notice to them. He walked over, an irritated look on his face.
"Hey, who are you? You're not supposed to be on the castle premises at this time. I know every Bob and Joe in town wants to make sure that their princess is all right, but I don't want riffraff all day long. Go home, bubbas."
Mario was flabbergasted. "Bubbas? Riffraff? Wait-a, do you know-a who you're talking to?"
"I don't give a hoot if you're the president of the Peach Fan Club," said the Yoshi. "I'm not letting you in. Now please–-"
He was interrupted. The Mario brothers' Yoshi friend, a green Yoshi called simply "Yoshi," had spotted his red relative giving his friends trouble and said, "Let me take over from here, rookie."
The red rookie backed away. "Yes, sir."
Yoshi ushered the siblings inside, whispering, "Sorry for the trouble."
Luigi nodded, then noticed the blue cap on his dinosaur friend's head. "Wait, since when are you a member of the Yoshi Police?" he asked. "And how long have you been doing it for, calling someone a rookie?"
Yoshi blushed. "Quite some time, now," he said. "I love doing this."
Mario patted his buddy's shoulder. "That's awesome! Congratulations! But why didn't you tell us?"
"Well, you know—"
The green dino was cut short. Peach squealed with delight as soon as she had seen the red-and-green clothed men. "Hey, Mario! Hi, Luigi! What are you doing here?"
Before speaking, Mario took off his hat and bowed. Luigi followed suit. Then the older brother spoke.
"Well-a, we were worried that maybe-a something really important was stolen, or-a you might be in danger of another thievery. So we came-a by."
"Aww, how thoughtful of you," the princess said. "I think I have more help than I actually need, though." She gazed around at the dozens of Yoshi officers and laughed. "Come on upstairs into the kitchen for some cookies."
Mario was surprised. The Princess certainly didn't seem to be even a little bit bothered by her experience. Cookies? This was strange. He voiced his opinion.
"So, you-a seem rather unfazed about the break-in."
Peach shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal. Yes, I admit, I was creeped out all over, but since a book was taken and that's all, well... Who cares?"
Mario held the door opened for Peach as they prepared to climb a staircase to the next floor.
Luigi made sure to change the subject past the obvious. "How's Toadsworth doing?"
Peach unintentionally brought back the previous topic. "Oh, paranoid as usual. He won't talk about anything but what happened two days ago! Isn't that just like him?" She beamed.
Neither brother said anything. They reached the kitchen, where Toadsworth was reading a book at the coffee table. He looked up at the sound of the door clicking and lowered his glasses to see who it was.
"Ah, how delightful! Thank you so very much for coming, Master Mario and Master Luigi. You know how much it means to me in perilous times like these."
The Princess rolled her eyes. "'Perilous times?' Oh for heavens' sake, Toadsworth, it was only a book." She started towards the oven.
Mario and Luigi sat down in front of the Toad butler. They waited anxiously to find out what type of delicious morsels they were getting from the Princess today.
Peach removed a tray of cookies (heart-shaped sprinkle cookies: How typical, thought Toadsworth) out and laid them on a cooling rack one by one. "I'll buy another book, no problem. That's all I have to do." She finished placing her treats out and went to close the oven door.
"Hey, Peach," Mario called, "I wanted to ask you something. Why-a did you pick that particular book out?"
Peach replied, "Oh, like I told Toadsworth, the study of our kingdom's history really interests me. Professor Frankly is such a darling when it comes to writing nonfiction." She took off her oven mitts and plopped down next to her steward. "But besides all this, how are you doing?"
Mario smiled. "Well, did-a you read the paper a few days ago?"
Toadsworth nearly jumped a foot in the air, and immediately started clapping his hands. "Oh ho, I jolly well know I did! I should be ashamed not to applaud your actions earlier. It was amazing how well you did in a situation like that."
"Yeah, that was really cool. I know I'm glad not to be captured again, but I wish I had been there to see that! You guys really kicked butt that time!" Peach pumped her fist in a spunky cheer.
"Well, it was all thanks to Mario's—er—explosive idea," Luigi joked.
They all shared a good laugh. Mario paused for a moment and looked around him: the Princess' castle, how the memories flowed back. Memories called Saving Peach. Bringing her back. Saving Peach. Bringing her back. He wished they could share friendly conversation like this much more often. He didn't care if he had to save the Kingdom time and time again, as this was his job (and a fun one at that), but he just wished the Princess could stay in one place without getting snatched up by every scoundrel in sight.
"I could have sworn that you had seriously beaten Cackletta and Fawful the first time around," mentioned Toadsworth. "But, alas, no one ever gives up here in the Kingdom. They always find a way to bounce right back up."
Luigi agreed. "Yeah, that's right," he said, "just look at Bowser. How many times is he going to go through with capturing Princess Peach before he just gives up?"
Peach shook her head. "Shameful, he is, really. He's not one to be too intelligent in trying to stop you, Mario."
"Hey, maybe this-a whole world-ruling thing isn't what he wants. Maybe he just has a crush on you," Mario said.
Peach mulled over the thought. She came to her deduction with a revolted face. "Eeech. If that's what it is, then I'm really going to try to avoid getting captured."
Everyone chuckled again. The timer for the cookies to cool went off with a buzz, and the Princess excused herself to retrieve the goodies.
Once she returned, Luigi grabbed a cookie and began to munch on it. "So, uh, as Mario said before, we just came over to check up on everything. D'you want any help?"
Peach started to say that they needn't do anything, but Toadsworth stopped her. "If you would be so kind as to help, I would appreciate it. But I think you'd need a keen eye to catch anything the police have not. They've been investigating for almost a day already."
Peach said, "And I for one think it's totally unnecessary."
"Why's that?" asked Mario.
"What difference does it make? I mean, I'm just a regular person, and someone took a book from me! Why does everyone have to be so crazy about everything?"
Mario walked over to Peach and put his arm around her. (This was rather difficult, and Peach had to lower herself a bit to help Mario reach.) "Listen, Peach. Let-a me tell you something. You're a princess. Everyone in the Kingdom knows-a you, and they all want-a you to be safe. Royalty has to be one of the most-a secure things. No one wants anything bad-a to happen to the best ruler this kingdom's ever had, especially me." He squeezed her shoulder.
A cloud of cherry coloring swarmed to the Princess's face. She looked away for a second, her face reddening crazily. Toadsworth noticed this, and smirked behind his napkin. Ah, this is finally getting good, he thought. Luigi just grinned.
Peach turned back to Mario. "You- you think I'm... the best ruler?" she asked.
Mario shook his head yes. "Yeah, of course. You may get into some sticky situations sometimes, I mean, really sticky—" Peach giggled, "but you have a kind heart and let everyone have a chance to be happy under your rule, and that's-a what matters."
While Luigi wondered if his brother had read 100 Super-Sappy Ways to Get a Princess to Love You, Princess Peach bent down and kissed Mario on the nose.
"You're so sweet, Mario... and..." She stopped dead.
They all waited eagerly.
"And... I promise that someday... I will be able to stand up for myself without your help... for you. You need a break once in a while, too."
Mario patted Peach's shoulder. "Thank you. I would like that... a lot."
And not just to get a break...
As much as Toadsworth hated to shatter moments like these, he knew it was practically over and time for the superstar brothers to help out downstairs. "I'm glad you two get along so well. But I think I heard Yoshi call for you."
Mario took his arm off the Princess and nodded. "All right. Let's-a go, Luigi! Oh, and thank-a you for the cookies, Princess." He turned and waved as Luigi got out of his chair. The duo left.
Peach was occupying herself by staring at a painting on the wall. She was blushing no more, simply thinking.
Toadsworth spoke behind his book, "You two were made for each other. I'm not kidding."
Peach didn't make a comeback comment. "I... I think you're right," she said. "I really think you're right."
"Your father would be so proud to see her daughter get a man like Master Mario."
"My father...? You think so?" Peach asked shyly.
Toadsworth was sure he would be. He was a man who wanted his daughter to marry someone who knew about feelings. It was sad, though, about the Mushroom King; Peach had never really got to know her father as a mature person. He had vanished mysteriously when the Princess was just a child, and shortly after that, the Queen disappeared as well. Without a trace, just as the book had been stolen from her, so had Peach's parents. Toadsworth had taken guardianship of her when she was five and raised her up to be what she was.
"Yes, I know he would be happy. He would be happy to know that you're safe and loved."
There was silence for a while, and Toadsworth continued to read while Peach just wondered about some things of the past.
I wish I could have grown up knowing my parents. Sure, I remember how good and nice they were when I was a little kid, but today I would actually be able to share some intelligent conversation with them. About the kingdom and its history. About anything!
Peach looked at her feet. Something, besides not being able to talk with her father and mother, was really bothering her. She came to Toadsworth's side.
"Um, Toadsworth... I need to talk to you..."
Toadsworth put his book down. "About what? Master Mario? Your parents?"
"Yes, my parents... well, yes and no. I would like to do it in a very private place, though. I've never shared what I'm about to tell you with anyone."
The eldest Toad looked down. "Er... all right. I'm not sure I know what you're going at, but I swear, you probably won't be able to get any answers out of me."
Without another word, the princess and her butler walked up another flight of stairs to the third floor. Into a room they went, the lock clicking behind them.
They were in the clock room, the room that Peach's father had left his collection of about fifty clocks in; all set to about the exact same time, all ticking and clicking in order. It was a relaxing place to be. After mustering enough strength, Peach decided to try her luck with a question.
"Toadsworth... do you know anything about Mushroomia?"
"Er... why do you ask, Princess?"
Should she tell him? "I... I bought that book... because I think there's a link between my parents' disappearance and the old Mushroom Kingdom."
"A link?"
"Yes."
Toadsworth started pacing. "I don't know what to say. What do you want me to say? I know about Mushroomia, of course, but I don't see what link you could find between that place and your parents. Where would you get an idea like that?"
A secret of Peach's that had to be revealed. She began with, "You know about the Shadow Queen."
"Why yes, of course. That was the demon that destroyed Mushroomia in the first place with the Great Shadow Cataclysm. She had no heart inside her to care about anyone but herself. What about her?"
"She... when she..."
"When she what?"
"When she possessed me... I could talk to her..."
Toadsworth's eyes widened. "You could what? You mean, you could just communicate with her within the same body?"
"It wasn't actually talking, it was like telepathy. We could talk to each other by thinking. And I asked her if she knew about..."
Mario was fighting the Shadow Queen as best he could, but he was scared to even attack her at all. He wasn't just battling with the Queen herself, but Peach's body as well. If he did too much damage, the Princess could die.
"PATHETIC MORTALS!" roared the Queen. "YOU SHALL PERISH FOR EVEN TRYING TO DEFY ME!"
Shadowy, blue hands of the dead exploded onto the arena, crawling towards Mario and his partner. Moaning echoed through the dark room, flickering the azure flames of the candles lining the walls.
"LOOK OUT, MARIO!" Koops yelled.
But it was too late. The hands snatched Mario up and dragged him down, whaling on him with agonizing attacks. Koops tried to pull his friend out of the tangle of shadowy death, but it was no use. They wouldn't stop. They groaned, torturing the poor plumber.
Peach was so confused. She was jerking in and out of awareness, and she tried desperately to help Mario. She could feel the Shadow's heavy, gravelly breaths.
Stop, please, Queen... she thought.
The Shadow Queen was startled and distracted by Peach's mental cry and the hands let up attacking the red-clothed plumber. He got to his feet and cried, "I'm-a coming, Peach! Don't worry!"
How could this be possible? You cannot be conscious after being possessed by my magic, you fool! Die, and let me destroy your precious plumber...
The Shadow Queen's voice vibrated loudly. Peach cried out from the pain it caused her, starting to cry.
Why are you doing this? WHY ARE YOU HURTING MARIO?
Because, that plumber is the only one standing in my way from getting the Shadow Empire to rule this world!
What will you do...? What...
I shall create another cataclysm and destroy YOUR Mushroom Kingdom as well!
My Mushroom... what are you...?
Pain seized Peach. She screamed again, it hurt SO BADLY!
I destroyed the first Mushroomia, and I shall destroy the one your pathetic father and your other ancestors created, as well! NOW STOP TALKING! You are ruining my plans for success! STOP!
My... father...? What did you do to him...? What did you do to my mother?
None of your beeswax. Your father was a nosy little runt, a moron always looking for answers. He and your mother, they thought they could find Mushroomia and stop the Shadow Empire from attacking during the thousand-year anniversary!
My parents knew about the Shadow Empire? Wh- wh- why would they- I don't understand... what did you do to them?
SHUT UP! I CAN STAND YOUR INCESSANT SOBBING NO LONGER!
Peach could not struggle to speak with the Queen now. She was so tired... she was falling... falling... falling...
The Princess ended her story there.
Toadsworth's mouth was wide open. He had to close his jaw manually with his hand. "That's simply amazing," he gasped. "I can hardly believe it."
"Please believe me!" cried out Peach. "I can't trust anyone else, not even Mario yet! Please believe me!"
"No, no, don't overreact," said Toadsworth. "I believe you. I just have a hard time believing that your father never told me he was researching Mushroomia."
On a much more sarcastic level, Peach retorted, "You can't? Mr. Paranoia himself would have told my father 'No! It's too dangerous! You'll get yourself killed!' and rambled on about the dangers of the undergrounds."
Toadsworth smiled sheepishly. "Well, I always try to keep everyone safe. Sorry, I guess I do go on for a while."
"Anyway, I think that my father was the one that discovered Mushroomia underneath Rogueport. But when he and my mother started to research it more in depth, and went down there... something happened to them."
"Yes, I think you're right. That would explain your father's 'secret meetings' he told me he had to go to. But it's weird... there were no rumors about the King and Queen's—er, your parents'— disappearance."
"Maybe... maybe that's because no one besides them knew what they were doing."
"Anyhoo, that must be where your father got the Mushroom Pendant you wear around your neck in the castle." Toadsworth had remembered the Mushroom King giving his daughter the pendant. It was a red necklace with a sphere at the end. On the sphere was what he had always thought was an ancient Mushroomian symbol.
"Um... no, that's not where he told me he..." Peach stopped to look down at the pendant. Only there was one tiny problem: it wasn't there. "Wh– where is it?"
Toadsworth eyed Princess Peach's neck. "What! You don't have it? Princess, what could you have done with it?"
Peach frantically spun around in a circle, looking all over her body for it. It was nowhere to be found.
"Princess, this isn't good at all!"
Peach was on the verge of tears. "No kidding!" she cried.
"No, you don't understand! The day your father gave that to you, he said to make sure you kept it completely safe. He told me that if you lost it, there could be dire concequences!"
Suddenly, Peach's face blanched to a sickly white. "I... I know where I put the pendant."
"Where, Princess, where?"
"I... I put it... in that book..." She exploded into uncontrollable sobbing.
Magik sat at home, holding a book but not reading it or even looking at the pages. She was focusing on the clock. She couldn't wait: the boy that she had met two days ago, named Ushi, was coming over. His parents had decided that she was a kind woman and would make a wonderful babysitter. They had played together for the last two days all the time.
She loved this kid so much; he was the one that she had been looking for. Someone totally innocent that she could confide in, someone kind and compassionate.
The doorbell rang. Ushi's parents were at the door.
"Hello," said Ushi's mother, "we just came by to drop our son off, of course. C'mon, Ushi!"
The little seven-year-old, dressed in a blue T-shirt, Bloopa the Koopa shorts, and sandals walked in. He hugged Magik tightly.
"Hi, Magik! I have so much stuff I wanna do with you today! We're gonna have tons and tons of fun!"
Ushi's father mouthed We'll pick him up at six. The door closed behind them. Alone at last.
Magik bent down to Ushi. "So, what're we doing today, little guy?"
Ushi grinned toothily. "There's lotsa stuff I wanna do, but I can't decide what first. Hmm, I have to think."
He toddled into the kitchen. "Ooh, I know! First, I want somethin' to eat."
Magik opened the refrigerator, the little child at her rear. "Sure, why not? What d'you want?"
Ushi put his finger to his mouth, thinking. "Ah, I know! I want FRIED MAGIKOOPA, SUCKER!" Black snakes sprayed from his finger and entangled Magik, binding her to the fridge.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Magik screamed. "WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?" She squirmed to get free.
Ushi laughed. He took something out of each pocket and held his hands closed. "I love you, Magik. I really do. Because you're a mentally unstable dork!"
Magik quit struggling. "What? Why would you say that? You're... my only friend..."
The little kid snickered. "It's a saaaaad, saaaaad day when an adult has only one person, a freakin' seven year old, to have as a friend!"
"Why are you doing this to me? What's going on?" Magik was helpless. The snakes began to engulf her at a faster rate since she had stopped moving.
"I really love you, Magik, because mentally unstable morons like you are super-easy to hypnotize," said Ushi. He opened his hands to reveal two pendants: one red with a Mushroomian symbol, one orange with a Koopa symbol. The child spun them around by the strings, chuckling. "Thank you soooo very much for letting me take advantage of you to get these. Now I can finally fufill my mother's wishes. But I have to get rid of you first."
Ushi began to change. His body grew larger and larger until he was an older boy, around eleven. He wasn't wearing a shirt: creepy metallic armor partically covered his chest and ran all the way down to the bottom of his legs. His black hair was facing in the opposite direction, as if it had been gelled back. The Ushi-thing laughed maniacally as the snakes coiled around Magik even tighter, choking her. She screamed in pain before she was totally covered.
TERRIFYING TALES TOLD/END
Author's notes: This is the best chapter yet submitted, because it finally reveals the plot! Well, I have a good amount of reviews now. That doesn't mean I'm not still looking for them, but... okay. I'll shut up now. He he. The romance is finally started! Oh, but... It might take me a while to get Ch. 5 up... Sorry.
