Super Smash Bros adventures chapter 9
"Hello Mario."
Mario looks away from the Sandbag he is punching and turns to see Zelda and Corrin behind him.
"Hey, Mario." Zelda says. "Have you seen Peach today?"
Of all the things he could be asked, did it really have to be about the woman he was trying to move on from? He is pretty sure that she wants to move on, and that seeing her will cause her pain as well as himself. "I thought she was with you." Mario replies, trying not to lose his patience, or his composure.
"No, I've been looking for her for a while." Zelda explains. "She wasn't in our room this morning."
"Maybe she's eating breakfast or something." Mario suggests, and is about to turn back to the Sandbag.
"We've checked the cafeteria, the gardens, the kitchen, the spa, and now the training room." Zelda says. "She's not in any of her favorite places, and I can't really imagine her being anywhere else around the mansion.
Corrin stares from Zelda to Mario, wearing a troubled expression, then decides to say what's on her mind. "I think… something might have happened to her…" the dragon swordswoman says carefully. "What if… she got kidnapped?" Having experienced this herself, it was no wonder this was the first conclusion Corrin came up with.
"What makes you say that?" Zelda wonders, putting a finger to her chin in thought.
"Well, I can't be sure, but last night, I just felt like something was wrong, so I snuck out to investigate. I went by Peach's room, when I saw some dark energy under the door crack. I don't know if it's real, but-"
"Dark energy? Maybe something did happen to Peach last night." Mario reasons, now genuinely concerned. It couldn't have been Bowser or the Koopalings. Sakurai had put in place serious punishment for any villain in the mansion who acts up, including complete dismissal from the mansion. Mario turns to Corrin "Did you see anything else last night?" Mario asks, hoping to get a lead as to who could have done this.
"Yeah," Corrin answers, looking mystified. "I opened her door to see what was wrong, but Peach wasn't there. Just some strange mushroom things with lasers."
"Mushrooms with lasers…" Mario ponders, getting a bad feeling in his stomach.
"Yeah." Corrin continues. "I tried to fend them off, but one of them shot at me, and then everything is hazy after that..."
"Hm, I'll have to look into this." Mario says, and heads out to find Sakurai, leaving the two women in the training room.
Thankfully, Mario finds Sakurai in his office. "Mario, what's the problem?" asks Sakurai as the plumber barges in.
"Something happened to Peach. I need you to make a portal to take me back to the Mushroom Kingdom." explains Mario, breathing heavily.
"This is horrible!" Sakurai exclaims, "Do you need anyone to help you?"
Mario shakes his head. "No, I can save Peach on my own." Mario insists.
Sakurai still looks uncertain, but agrees. "Okay, then. The portal will appear in a few minutes."
"Thanks, Sakurai." Mario says gratefully.
When Mario is transported to the Mushroom Kingdom, he rushes inside the castle, too worked up to be saddened by painful memories. He seeks Toadsworth in the library.
"Master Mario!" the old Toad looks up from his paperwork. "What seems to be the problem?" he asks, seeing Mario's frantic expression.
"Toadsworth! Peach has been taken away!" Mario explains, waving his arms frantically.
Toadsworth gets shocked and the rest of the Toads within earshot start panicking. Mario doesn't understand this because it seems like the Princess gets kidnapped every other week, but he calms them down all the same and turns to Toadsworth.
"What happened to Princess Peach?" asked Toadsworth.
"I don't really know if it's true, Corrin told me that she saw some dark energy in their room. When she woke up Peach was gone." explains Mario. "She described some weird creatures that sound a lot like Shroobs. I think they might have kidnapped Peach."
As Mario is speaking, Toadsworth is already getting a cannon ready, primed for the Shroob hideout. "Are you ready, Master Mario?" the old Toad asks, gripping his cane tightly.
Mario nods and jumps inside the cannon, bracing himself for his flight. Toadsworth fires the cannon and Mario is launched through the sky at speeds that would have rivaled Sonic.
Mario lands with a crash in front of Princess Shroob's castle and sees that a lot of Shroob minions are guarding the place. "How is Princess Shroob back?" Mario wonders to himself. "No matter. I must save Peach." Gathering his courage, he eats a Mushroom and charges into the castle.
The Shroobs see Mario and immediately pull their Laser Guns and shoots him. Mario dodges the Lasers, wall jumps around the castle, and Stomps on the Shroobs' heads. But, this is only the first wave. More baddies start coming, and Mario fights through them all, like a dragon, using F.L.U.D.D, his Fists, Fireballs, and anything else he could think of to crush them.
Some of the Shroobs shoot lasers from behind, and Mario is hit a few times, but he quickly overwhelms his attackers and heads upstairs into the next room.
However, at the top of the stairs, he is met by two massive Shroobs, with their weapons drawn.
"Ha! See? I told you he'd come, brother." One Shroob says to the other. "Now, pay up!"
"Ugh! You were right!" the other says, defeated. "Fine, I'll pay you your fifty coins after we take this guy down!"
"I'll hold you to that!" the first Shroob says, and they both shoot lasers at Mario.
Mario jumps over the barrage of Lasers fired at him and Stomps on both Shroobs, jumping from one to the other as if they were regular bouncy mushrooms. "Whoo-hoo!" Mario cries, actually enjoying himself a little.
However, one of the Shroobs dodges Mario's jump at the last second and the plumber lands right into the Shroob's waiting arms. The giant Shroob launches Mario, sending him flying into the wall and his brother shoots a Laser. Mario reflects the blast with his super leaf cape and it hits the first Shroob in the eye.
"Aahh! Watch where you're shooting!" the Shroob yells at his younger brother.
"Sorry!" the younger Shroob says, and charges at Mario. Mario runs away, but the other Shroob is coming towards him.
Trapped! The plumber can only think of one option. He leaps high into the air at the last second. The two Shroob siblings slam into each other, bonking heads. Mario quickly shoots Fireballs at the dizzy Shroobs, hitting his targets, defeating them.
"You've got such a thick skull!" the younger Shroob insults his twin.
"You still owe me those fifty coins." His brother responds, and the two baddies vanish into dust.
After a while, Mario arrives at the top of the castle. He sees Princess Peach lying unconscious and is about to run to her, when suddenly an evil voice that sounds like a witch startles him. "Mario it's been a long time." greeted Princess Shroob.
"How are you back to your normal self?" Mario asks, glaring into his enemy's eyes.
Princess Shroob laughs maniacally. "A special someone revived me." She answers coyly. "Also you're too late, your Princess is now gone. It's the end of her game."
Mario doesn't believe this. He has never failed before. "You're lying!" he screams angrily.
"Oh really?" the Shroob princess asks, giving Mario an evil sneer that suggests that her word is true. "If you want to see for yourself, then you have to beat me," she says.
"I will stop you!" Mario says, his fists clenched and his heart pounding. "I'm not going to fail my- the princess!" His anger fed like a fire inside him, Mario assumes his fighting stance.