breath20k

Sorry, but Alex and Leah are all I have planned to borrow for this story.

nintendoscript15

Glad it came off as a nice surprise to you!

StarlitDuck

It may be awhile before the gift gets to him because of… you know. And yes, even though I don't get the joke, I included it anyway thinking that someone might get a snicker or two.

FairyTalePrincess16

I definitely recommend you check out nintendoscript15 sometime. He makes some pretty good stories!

LiamTheYoshi

I knew that this fanfic would be a good time to start writing in a better style.

RareDomains

You must be referring to that comic adaptation on Deviantart. The opening of this was slightly inspired by that. And it was a snow cone machine.

1. Interesting… I'll have to look into that.

2. FairyTalePrincess16 started doing BGMs, so I figured I'd follow in her footsteps. They're even in the same format.

3. They're not actually Mario's siblings. However Mario and Luigi have gotten so close to Alex that they consider him a "third brother". In fact, I might have them consider Leah a sister as well, even though this is her first adventure in Mario's world.

Amethyst Goldenwind

Well then, I hope you like a honey cake, cause that's what it'll taste like.

I'm glad you like Alex. Though I recommend you check out his original creator, nintendoscript15's fanfics to get to know him more.

Nataly Guardado

Yeah. They grow up so fast!

Chapter 4: Peach's Castle gets Stolen

[BGM: The Star Festival - Super Mario Galaxy]

Mario followed his two friends who were collecting as many Star Bits as possible with glee. His day had just gotten even better now that Alex and Leah were here. Their relationship reminded him of hwe and Luigi when they were kids. Speaking of Luigi…

"Hey Mario. Where's Luigi?" Alex asked.

Mario shrugged.

"I'll be honest, Alex. I don't know," he answered. "He ran off after helping me decorate the house. I tried to call him but he immediately hung up and then texted me saying 'Sorry bro, but I can't talk right now. I'll meet you for the festival later.'"

Leah looked confused by Luigi's text.

"Weird. I wonder what he's up to."

"He better not be gambling again..." Mario grumbled in his thoughts.

"I hope he can make it soon. Wouldn't be a celebration without him," Alex stated

"Right you are, Alex." Mario continued walking down towards the center of town where the toads were running around and dancing with glee. Just then, Leah remembered something.

"Hey Mario, if Peach has a present for you, are you bringing her something?"

"Well, no. I can't think of anything she'd want," Mario responded.

"WHAT?!" Leah exclaimed "You're just gonna go to your girlfriend's house without a gift for her?!"

"Well… I-I uh…" Mario stuttered.

"Hold on."

Leah went over to a patch of flowers, some of which were fire and freeze flowers, grabbed a few, and wrapped them up with a ribbon. She gave them to Mario.

"There you go!"

"Hey, this looks beautiful!" he complimented. "Thanks Leah. The princess will love this!"

"You're welcome!"

But as Mario and Leah were chatting, Alex stopped in his thoughts as his mind raised some confusion and a lump formed in his gut.

"What's going on?" he thought to himself. "Why do I feel as if something terrible's gonna happen? ... No! It's probably in my head. Maybe I'm just worried about Luigi. I hope he'll be here soon."

But as soon as Alex came back to reality, he heard an explosion sound.

[BGM end]

"LOOK OUT!" Mario screamed as a huge meteor flew right into a tower they were standing next to. The tower fell over, as Mario grabbed the two kids and dashed to the side before it could crush them. This caught the toads by surprise.

"What was that?!" Leah yelled in confusion.

"Look!" Alex exclaimed as he pointed out a finger.

Meanwhile at the castle, Peach and Luma heard the firing of cannons.

"Woah! What was that?!"

"Oh no… not again!" Luma panicked.

"Again?"

One of the Toad guards came bursting in immense terror.

"Princess! Princess Peach! T-There's AIRSHIPS OUTSIDE! THEY'RE ATTACKING TOAD TOWN!"

"What? Airships?!" Peach grabbed Luma and hurried to the balcony.

[BGM: Attack of the Airships - Super Mario Galaxy]

Back in Toad Town, everyone looked in the direction Alex was pointing. The meteor was shot by an airship, and a whole fleet of them approached Toad Town firing more meteors.

"Are those… pirate ships?" Leah wondered. "Why are they flying?"

"Guess it's been awhile since you've played Mario 3." Alex responded.

Mario took a closer look at one of the ships' flag and noticed a familiar symbol.

"No…" Mario gasped in horror "Not tonight! Of all times you could do this, WHY TONIGHT?!"

Mario grabbed the kids and ran. The meteors started attacking Toad Town. Some of which set buildings on fire, and others froze innocent toads in solid crystal, terrifying the kids. Mario, being the hero he is, tried to save the toads. But the moment his fist made impact with the crystal, he felt a sharp pain within his entire arm and screamed in agony. Despite his normal superhuman strength, this punch didn't even leave so much as a dent in the crystal.

"MARIO!" "Are you okay?!" Alex and Leah worried respectively.

"My arm…" Mario murmured.

Mario used his one good arm to pull Alex and Leah out of Toad Town's center.

Back with Peach and Luma, the two of them saw Toad Town caught on fire and under meteor bombardment.

"My kingdom…!"

One of the airships approached Peach, and a familiar figure walked towards her. The Princess recognized him all too well.

"No! Not him again!" Luma said in his thoughts.

"Hello, Princess Peach." Bowser greeted with an evil smirk. "It's been awhile, hasn't it? Enjoying the festival? I personally think it's kinda boring. You probably feel the same… bored in your castle all night, with no one to keep you company. Well, except those stupid little fungus freaks. But that's about to change!"

"Princess Peach… you are formally invited… to the creation of my brand new… GALAXYYYYY!" Bowser announced in all his evil pride and glory.

"What are you talking about? G-Get out of here!" Peach commanded. But Bowser just laughed.

"But, I just got here, Princess…"

Peach held Luma tight, wanting to protect him. Bowser held out his clawed hands into the air.

"GWAHAHAHA! THIS FESTIVAL'S OVEEEEEEER!" Bowser roared as he shot bolts of electricity into the air. Dark clouds swirled above him, and out of the clouds emerged a gigantic flying saucer with three red laser cannons. Peach stood there in horror of how much power he had. Her eyes reflected the saucer in her vision as she shed a tear.

Back in Toad Town…

"It's BOWSER!"

"Protect the princess! I'l, uh, stand guard here."

"Hurry to the princess!"

"Oh, noooooo!"

"Wh-wh-what should we do?!"

"Panic and fear! Panic and fear!"

"How could this happen?!"

"The festival is ruined!"

"St-at-stay calm, everyone!"

"My buddy's trapped in that crystal thing!"

"AAAUGH! BOWSER!"

"Oh, it's all just too horrible for words!"

"Going to my happy place… Trying not to panic…"

Mario and Co. heard these screams and more as they head towards Peach's Castle. Leah was overwhelmed with what was going on as nothing like this ever happened in her world as far as she knew. Alex couldn't believe this was happening on his birthday, but was determined to stop Bowser again like he did with Mario and Luigi on their Incredible Rescue a year ago. Mario had nothing but anger towards Bowser as he marched toward the castle as fast as he can.

"Um… Alex? Should we go hide somewhere safe?" Leah asked feeling concerned for her and her brother's well being.

"Don't worry, Leah. I've fought Bowser before. We can help Mario stop him!" Alex pointed out, determined.

"He's right. And besides, it's better if you two stayed with me." Mario added. "I would NEVER forgive myself if something happened to you!"

Mario dodged the meteors Bowser's airships fired as he heard Peach scream for help.

[BGM end]

Just as they got onto the bridge over the moat, the UFO Bowser summoned earlier hovered over the castle. Mario and Co. froze in place. Leah was the most terrified and shivered in place crying as this was all just too much for her. So much that she started to regret coming with her brother here.

"Whatever you do, DON'T… MOVE!" Mario whispered to both of the kids.

The saucer's red lights went out, before turning back on flashing various colors. The three cannons fired lasers towards the ground, making the three heroes slightly jump. As the three lasers circled around the castle, Leah whispered to Mario.

"Can we move now?" Her voice slightly broken. Mario responded by shaking his head back and forth.

[BGM: Catastrope - Super Mario Galaxy]

With the lasers done, the ground shaked and everyone in and around the castle fell to the floor. The bridge also cracked, making things more tense for Mario and Co. Four airships surrounded the castle, with each one lowering an anchor to the floor and pulled it up. The power in the castle went out, and with almost no effort, Bowser's entire fleet of airships managed to pull the entirety of Peach's Castle into the air, leaving behind an enormous dirt filled crater where the castle once stood with sparking disconnected wires and flooded water from the moats. But Bowser wasn't satisfied quite yet. Far from it. He made the orders, and the airships lifted the castle all the way up through the atmosphere, traveling at such high speeds that fire was ignited from the fronts of the ships and castle. Soon, the Mushroom World could be seen by all present as a mere blue sphere with clouds surrounding it. The Mushroom Kingdom itself looked smaller than an ant from up there.

[BGM end]

Alex and Leah looked down and then immediately back up. Leah was definitely not comfortable with their extreme altitude. While Alex was normally fine with heights, this was an exception because he's never been THIS high up before.

"MAARRIIOOO!" Peach called out to her hero.

Mario breathed for a few seconds, taking in everything that had just happened. Then he looked down and clenched his fist in anger.

"You've… really… gone and done it this time, Bowser!" Mario muttered under his breath. He looked up and saw the kids and Peach scared out of their minds.

"Okay… everyone just stay calm. Princess, just jump down! I'll catch you!' Mario instructed as he held out his hands.

"O-Okay…" Peach trembled as she tried to walk out of the balcony. But then a magic barrier surrounded it.

"I don't think so!"

[BGM: Peach's Castle is Stolen - Super Mario Galaxy]

A magical koopa wizard with a blue hat and robe, along with a pair of goggles appeared before the trio.

"Kamek!" Mario recognized the fiend.

"WAHAHAHA! Sorry plumber, but you and those kids you're babysitting are NOT invited. But don't worry, I'll give you three a nice ride back home!" Kamek chortled.

"NO! DON'T HURT THEM!" Peach called out. But Kamek wouldn't listen as he charged up his wand.

"So long! ENJOY YOUR FLIGHT!" Kamek exclaimed.

"W-WAIT! Can't we talk about th-?!" Alex tried to reason before Mario threw both he and Leah to the Castle gates. Kamek's magic blasted Mario away from the castle.

"AAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGHHHHH!" Mario screamed.

Kamek laughed in victory as he disappeared. Leah was unconcious, but Alex watched in horror as Mario flew away.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Alex screamed desperately while holding out his hand.

"MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRIIIIIIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Peach screamed at the same time. Peach had called out her hero's name before. But this time especially felt emotional and desperate.

Peach's Castle disappeared into space, but Luma flew out of it before that happened. Flying in the direction Mario fell.

[BGM end]