Nightmare to Subcon

Tip: I may have an encyclopedic knowledge of Mario stuff, but you don't have to. If you come across a monster you don't recognize, check They have plenty of info and pictures. Some of the inspiration for this story came from just browsing that site. (End of plug:)

Peach was having a quiet, evening dinner alone with Mario. There were candles lit along the walls and a fire flower in a vase at the center of the table white-clothed table. Mario was dressed in his usual plumber outfit. She was also in her usual pink dress. He was quiet as always, but it was his famed "dignified" silence. He seemed to especially enjoy the feast that she had spent all day cooking by herself. She did not need him to thank her; she could see it all over his face…literally. Just being appreciated so much made her feel more special than being a princess ever would. Then, predictably, Bowser crashed through the wall and grabbed her.

"Bwa ha ha!" he guffawed, holding Peach over his shoulder. "Sorry to crash your little get together, but I think the princess would rather eat with me."

"Let me go!" Peach screamed. "Mario, help!" Inexplicably, she became tied up in rope and was in a corner. Instead of being in the romantic dining room, they were all now in dank castle full of lava pits. Mario had grabbed the fire flower and was using its power to battle Bowser. The plumber dodged all of the flames that Bowser sent his way. During the entire time, Mario was blasting fireballs into the huge reptile, beginning to blacken Bowser to a crisp. When Bowser tried to tackle him, Mario hopped onto his head and bounced behind him.

"C'mere, you little!" Bowser snapped, turning around with a slash of his claws, which Mario nimbly dodged. Mario threw a punch and a kick and did an uppercut that knocked the Koopa King on his back. Mario then grabbed his tail, spun him around, and tossed him onto a fragile bridge over the lava. Bowser got to his feet and began to blast more fire his way. Mario dodged all of the fireballs, grabbed the ax at the end of the bridge, and cut the chains and ropes, sending Bowser into the lava.

"Thank you, Mario!" Peach squealed. As soon as he untied her, she gave him a kiss on the cheek and giggled at his silly reaction.

He spun around a made a peace sign, shouting, "Ya-hoooo!" Suddenly, the scenery turned dark and everything, except Peach herself, disappeared.

"What? What's going on? Mario? Mario, where are you?" She abruptly began to fall further into the darkness. A black door appeared below her and opened in time for her to fall through it. As soon as she came out of the other side, the door slammed shut and disappeared. She also found herself falling horizontally now, through a blue sky. She landed on a springy platform that bounced her into a strange, but familiarly green-striped land.

"There she is! Fire, fire!" a voice yelled. She got up and ducked down just in time to dodge small, bullet-like pellets that had been fired in her direction. When she looked up, she saw a legion of Snifits. They wore the typical Shy Guy robes in black, and fired the bullets out of the mouths of their gasmasks. Peach hopped over this burst of ammunition and ran away as fast as she could.

"This isn't what's supposed to happen!" Peach cried to herself. When she heard another burst of ammunition she dived out of the way. She couldn't see any grass to pull up any vegetables. They had always been there the last time she had been in Subcon. She stopped when she saw cannons on wheels, called Autobombs, rolling her way. Added to that worry was the presence of Bob-ombs being dropped by red hawks known as Albatosses. She picked up the first Bob-omb she saw and tossed it toward the Autobombs, blasting them to bits. She picked up one of the more intact cannons and began to fire it at the Snifits. Once they scattered, she focused on the Albatosses, or rather the explosives they were carrying.

"They're definitely better armed than before," Peach said, choosing to hold onto the somewhat heavy cannon as long as it was useful. Then, she heard a mechanical noise from behind. A Shy Guy was walking a small mech her way and raised its arm-mounted cannon. She fired away at it, but the pellets merely bounced off of the mech's armor. Seeing that, she raised the cannon to shield her from the flurry of Bullet Bills that were fired at her. When the flurry ended, the mech ejected a clip out of its elbow and prepared to fire again into the smoke. Peach ducked out of the smoke and leapt onto the mech. She pulled the Shy Guy out and got in.

"Ha, ha, ha!" the Shy Guy laughed, running away. Peach saw the red countdown numbers in the cockpit and hopped out just as it exploded. The blast sent her tumbling a small distance.

"That hurt," she winced. "This must be what Merlee was talking about. It's definitely more than a dream." She stood up in time to be struck in the head by a slingshot pellet. "Ow!" She saw the trio of Sling Shys and ran straight at them. She pounced onto the closest one and tossed it at the other two, knocking them all out. Suddenly, Beezos, winged Shy Guys with pitchforks, began to dive out of the sky toward her. Peach sighed, and broke into a run once again.

"Now, what did Merlee say?" Peach thought. "Fairies…8-bits Club…they'll take me to their hub." She looked around saw that there were no fairies around, just Beezos. Then, she saw what was ahead of her and stopped. There was a line of monsters just waiting for her. There were Bob-ombs, cannon-mouthed reptiles called Birdos, gigantic Chain Chomps, fire-spitting lilies known as Pansers, Piranha Plants, Ninjis, and Shy Guys of all sorts. The Beezos stopped and hovered around her.

"Give up, Princess!" a black Shy Guy called out to her. "We're under orders to take you in dead or alive. You don't stand a chance against us. There's too many of us who're just begging for an excuse to take you out."

"What did I ever do to you?" Peach asked innocently.

"Don't pretend you don't remember! Someone even had the nerve to make a video game about it! Does Super Mario Brothers 2 ring a bell?"

"Oh…Well…You all were attacking innocent Subcon. We couldn't just let you take over like that."

"Shut up! Now, what'll it be? I'm only giving you to the count of five. They don't call me Death Guy for nothing."

"Hey, what's that over there!" one of the Beezos shouted, pointing in another direction. When everyone looked, it snagged Peach and carried her off.

"Aw, crud," Death Guy sighed, unable to believe he fell for such an old trick. "After them!"

"Where are you taking me?" Peach demanded.

"You'll be safe soon," the Beezo replied. "You were sent here by a Nightmare-inducing machine."

"Are you…a Subcon?" Peach asked. The Beezo took off its mask and revealed its cute, beady-eyed face. It was a Subcon fairy. They had faces very much like Toads. "They're catching up."

"Don't worry about them," the Subcon said, focusing ahead. "Help will be here soon." They had to start dodging Bullet Bills and pellets being sent their way. As they began to fly over a gorge, a rainbow of sparkles could be seen in the crevice. "Here they are." The fairy then nose-dived into the gorge, behind all the sparkles. Peach squinted her eyes and saw tiny wings on each small ball of light.

"Are those other Subcon?"

"They're fairies, but not Subcon." The rainbow of fairies created a wall of protection against the pursuers. One blue fairy that was noticeably larger than the rest, but still smaller than the Subcon's head, flew toward the two and seemed to study Peach.

"Hey! You're Peach, aren't you?" she asked.

"Um, yes," Peach said nervously.

"Listen, if you want to get back to your world, follow me." The blue fairy flew off, deeper into the gorge, lighting the way.

"We must hurry," the Subcon said. "Our allies won't last long against that force."

"Look, don't worry," the blue fairy said confidently. "They'll be fine. We don't die so easily."

When they entered a cave that could only be seen because of the fairy's blue aura, they could see that the black walls seemed to have sparkling water that was crystal clear and yet it changed colors perpetually. The mere sight of it gave off the illusion that they were in an underwater cave. Large crystals pointed out of the floor near the walls. The white marble floor changed in time with the water. There were columns holding up some sort of structure at the end of the cave. It seemed to be a fountain of some sort because there was a shallow pool of water within the structure that seemed to illuminate the eerily beautiful chamber. The Subcon fairy let Peach down and flew out of the cave.

"Listen, see that fountain?" the blue fairy said. "That's your ticket out of here. And the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can help the others. Use the power that you collected a little while ago."

"Power?"

"Geno said that you absorbed a lot of energy a while ago."

"Geno's okay!" Peach yelped. "Where is he?"

"You'll run into him again, but we have more important things to do!"

"Okay," Peach said, stepping toward the pool cautiously. She cupped her hands and bowed her head in concentration. She gasped as a giant star floated out of her body and hovered over the pool of water. It broke into dozens of smaller stars that flew into the source of the pool. There was a bright flash and a disembodied giggle. Peach was startled by the laugh that followed.

A giant of a woman surged out of the pool. Her skin was as solid black as the outside of the cave, yet her three-pronged hair was shimmering white. She wore a sapphire skirt and a silver breastplate. Her eyes were yellow and empty, yet friendly. She floated above the pool, sitting with her legs folded. "Ah, so you are Princess Peach Toadstool." Her voice was soft and slow, yet it had a powerful echo.

"Are you the Queen of the Fairies?" she asked, in awe.

The woman laughed. "You flatter me. I am merely a Great Fairy. I have been waiting here for you, guarding a treasure that you require." She raised her hands and a second pair of arms revealed themselves from behind her back, with cupped hands that shined a light on Peach.

Peach raised her arms into the air. A pair of brown leather gloves floated above her cupped hands. "You got the Gard Gloves!" the blue fairy announced. "Now you can pick vegetables and no matter where you are… Wait a minute…"

"That's it?" Peach asked, a little disappointed. "I was expecting something a little more useful. Mario usually gets a hammer or some jumping shoes or…"

"Something better than this!" the blue fairy complained. "Link got treasures that were neater than this… You mean you were protecting these things?"

"Calm yourselves," the Great Fairy giggled. "Such an ability is more useful than you might think. You might pick something other than vegetables. Furthermore, they blunt any damage you might take using your hands."

"I guess that's useful," Peach said, slipping them on. "But…they're so…so…"

"Ugly," the blue fairy said. "They don't look right on her at all."

"Fear not," the Great Fairy said patiently. "Though they appear to be mere gardening gloves, they are as strong as steel gauntlets. And, if you will them to, they can be as comfortable as silk. They are adjustable and were created with fashion in mind. Alter them to your liking." Peach made a simple thought and they turned into the white silk gloves that she usually wore.

"I see," Peach nodded.

"Now, I believe I am needed," the Great Fairy said. She took Peach in her arms and flew out of the cave with the blue fairy in tow. She grew to magnanimous proportions and held Peach in her hand.

Back at the cliff, all sorts of ammunition were being fired into the wall of fairies. Their collective aura shielded them from most of the onslaught, but the concussion of the blasts were chipping them away, breaking their unity. Of course, they rejoined the group as soon as they could, but they were being knocked away too quickly. As soon as a hole had been sustained within the fairies' ranks the airborne enemies, like Beezos and Albatosses, began to approach. Before they could get to the hole, however, the Great Fairy rose out of the gorge, blocking their path.

"What is that!" Death Guy cried, staring up at the colossal woman. She was big enough to bite off a piece of the cliff and devour the army at once. In fact, she had only risen far enough for the cliff to be at her waist.

"I am the Great Fairy of the Depths," her voice boomed. "Leave the Subcon in peace or face the wrath of the darkness. Tell your masters that they shall not have this land so easily."

"Fire!" Death Guy yelled. The army shot everything they had at the demi-goddess, but it all exploded harmlessly on her armor. "Not at her armor, you idiots!" They redirected their aim to any place but her armor.

"Foolish mercenaries," she frowned, charging herself with energy. She shielded her face with two hands and raised her other hands, which contained Peach, out of harms way. Then, a few shots managed to hit her underarms, causing her to burst into schoolgirl laughter.

"She's ticklish!" Death Guy yelled. "Aim for the pits!" Everyone aimed directly into the gorge and began to fire. "Oh, for cryin' out loud… I don't get paid enough to deal with this," he groaned at everyone's incompetence. He threw down a potion and walked through the door. The Great Fairy shot dark energy out of her eyes that turned the entire army into a puff of smoke. Then she shrank down to her original size and let Peach down onto the cliff.

"Wow," Peach said, almost speechless.

"I merely moved them to subspace," the Great Fairy said, choosing to float inches above the ground. A black door appeared nearby. "That door will lead you back to your normal dreams and or reality. Your next destination is on the mysterious island to the south. There you will find my little sister. She is not as powerful, but she should be able to sustain the Shine Shield at its maximum power indefinitely. She will tell you where to go next. I must warn you to beware the Princess of Evil. Though you two are no strangers, she is much different from before."

"I understand," Peach nodded.

The Great Fairy huffed and glared at the sun. Then she turned to the blue fairy. "Navi, I have but one last request. Tell the Subcon that they are safe. Then, you may return to your previous duties. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must return to the depths. This sunlight is no good for my sensitive skin." She leapt off the cliff and back into the black gorge.

"Tell Zelda I said hi," Navi chirped before immediately zipping into the distance. Peach smiled and walked through the black door. As soon as it shut behind her, she was immediately tied up in rope once again and fell to her knees. She was on top of a tower amidst boiling lava, lightning, thunderclaps, and a battle between Mario and Bowser.

"It's-a Mario time-a!" Mario called, smashing Bowser in the head with his hammer. The Koopa King fell backward, defeated.

"Oh, Mario!" Peach squealed, as he untied her. She gave him a tight hug and a peck on the nose. Then, she heard screaming and abruptly awakened from her dream.

"What do you mean connection lost!" the frustrated Ninji yelled. The Poe spun out of the Nightmare-o-matic.

"There appeared to have been a great deal of fairy magic protecting her," it rasped. "It's time to do things the old-fashioned way."

Note: Really edgy, somewhatdisturbing chapter ahead...