Super Smash Bros adventures chapter 16
Mario is not having the best of days. Ever since the events in the infirmary, thoughts of Princess Peach and Prince Haru keep occupying his mind, and he can't shake them away, no matter how much he tries. It doesn't help that he had lost fights against both Cloud and Falco, either. He isn't feeling too great at the moment. In fact, he is feeling terrible.
Mario walks around the mansion, feeling gloomy. Everyone around him seems so happy. Little Mac and Wii Fit Trainer are out jogging together, Samus and Ike are getting ready to enter a tag-team fight with Fox and Marth, and Shulk, Rosalina, Link and Zelda are going to Smash City to hang out.
"Hey, Mario!" Ness greets, but the plumber barely acknowledges the boy as he runs past with Toon Link and Villager.
The downcast plumber is heading down yet another hallway, when a tall figure looms over him. "Sorry…" the plumber mutters, having nearly bumped into the Smasher. Then, he realizes who it is and looks up.
"Hey, Mario!" Palutena greets pleasantly.
"Hey, Palutena." Mario replies, sighing. He is about to continue moving on when Palutena stops him.
"You sound so sad." The goddess says with concern.
"I am." Mario says, staring down at his shoes.
"Do you want to talk about this?" Palutena asks helpfully.
"No." Mario sadly replies.
Palutena places a consoling hand on Mario's shoulder. "Talking will make you feel better." She coaxes. "Come on! We can get some lunch in the cafeteria."
Mario sees Palutena's hopeful smile and, after a moment of consideration, nods. The two of them head to the large cafeteria and order something from the menu of vast selections.
"I'd offer to go to town with you, but I haven't earned enough Smash Coins from battles yet." Palutena says, going to a table and setting her bowl of vegetable soup down.
"It's fine." Mario says as he sits down and begins eating his lasagna. He sees that Palutena is waiting for him to begin speaking, so he tries to think of what to say, but his thoughts are like scattered puzzle pieces that had been thrown around by a tornado, and he doesn't know where to start. He sighs and puts his fork down. "I wish Peach would have told me way sooner so we wouldn't get too close." Mario says.
Palutena leans forward with interest. "You mean about her arranged marriage…" Palutena says quietly, as if her low voice would make the words hurt less.
Mario nods. "Just when I finally think I might be able to see her and not have it hurt so much, Peach's fiancé comes and Peach is really happy to see him!" he says. "I mean, Prince Haru wasn't the one who saved her from the Shroobs! That was me! I-I still love her, but it seems like she's-!" Mario couldn't bring himself to say those two horrible words. They left a bad taste in his mouth, despite the lasagna.
"Moved on." Palutena supplies, nodding knowingly.
Mario nods and a tear falls from his eye.
"Mario. You know Peach will always love you." Palutena says. "She'll never forget you."
Mario looks up and stares into the goddess's sparkling eyes. Palutena continues.
"I don't think she could ever forget you! You're caring, and she'll remember all the times you saved her. And you're really strong, and funny…" Palutena has to stop herself from blushing just a little. Mario doesn't notice. "And you accept the fact that Princess Peach has some royal duties to fulfill."
Mario nods, understanding all of that. "But, there's no one like her out there!" he declares, despair welling up inside of him, wrapping around his soul like vines.
Palutena twirls a strand of hair around her finger in thought. The room is silent until she speaks. "You'll find someone." The goddess reassures. "I'm sure you will. Just remember that you're not dealing with this alone. All of your friends are behind you and will help you any way they can." She pauses for a moment. "And, I'm here, too…" she finishes nervously, while blushing slightly.
Mario takes all of this into consideration, thinking to himself. He is grateful for Palutena's words. "Thanks, Palutena. I'll try to do my best to handle this." He says. The goddess nods, and the two of them finish their meal.
After lunch, Mario is walking the halls of the mansion. Palutena went on a mission to Dream Land with Kirby and Olimar to help find the Star Rod and return it to the Fountain of Dreams. Mario is alone again, though he is feeling significantly better. He sits down on one of the large couches in the living room and sighs, as if he is letting go of a weight that has pressed him down for some time.
However, he hears a voice, which puts an end to his relaxed mood. "Mario! There you are!"
Mario looks up and the balloon of his contentment deflates slightly when he finds who is standing there. Well, if he was going to face his problems and move on, than now it was time to take the first step.
"Hi, Peach!" he says, trying to sound cheerful. At least he wasn't trying to run anymore.
"How are you?" the princess asks, rather glumly.
"I'm… doing well. Are you doing okay?" wonders Mario.
"Yes. I'm fine." Peach replies awkwardly. There is silence, and since Mario is unsure of what to say, Peach continues the conversation, trying to ease the tension. "I won some trophies in Trophy Rush." Peach says.
Mario smiles. "Oh, yeah? That's really good!" he says, thinking that maybe this conversation may not be so bad. He'd start out with smaller conversations until he was ready to take his next step. Maybe things could go back to the way they were after all? "I'll see you around, Peach!" Mario says pleasantly, and gets up from the couch.
"Mario! Wait! Please!" Peach cries, thinking that this was yet another attempt to avoid her. The red capped plumber slowly turns around and waits for Peach to speak, fearing that this wasn't going to go well.
The princess takes a deep breath, fiddling with her jewelry as she put the words together in her head. "Mario, I'm sorry about what happened last week." apologizes Peach. Mario listens intently. "I'm sorry that my Fiancé came to visit me. I didn't know that he was coming. I'm sorry if that hurt you."
Mario knows that he can't be angry, and he knows that he can't hide. He doesn't want to do either of those things, anyway. "It's okay," he answers sincerely. "It seems that he cares for you a lot, and I'm really… glad to see that."
Peach nods, pleased to hear this. She looks into Mario's eyes and speaks again. "Mario, I hope you can be friends with him one day." She says.
"Oh…" Mario says, trying to keep his composure. How was he supposed to befriend the person who stole his love away from him? But, now wanting to disappoint the princess, he straightens up and answers as honestly as he can. "I'll… try."
Later that day, Mario and Luigi are in Smash City wandering around the market. Mario is pleased at how well the conversation with Peach went, and is grateful to Palutena for her help.
"Nice day, huh?" Mario asks, beginning to get some of his normal cheer back. The fresh air is a nice change, and Smash City always excites Mario and Luigi, not to mention that both brothers need to by snacks to replenish the secret stash that they had with their roommates.
Luigi nods. "What are you going to buy, Mario?" asked Luigi.
"Hm, don't know yet." Mario says, and they begin looking around the massive store.
In no time, Mario and Luigi are pushing two carts full of goodies like cookies, chips, ice cream, and other varieties of tooth-rotting goodness. "All right!" Luigi exclaims, looking at their large haul. "I think we'll have enough snacks to last us for months!"
"Not with Pit around!" Mario says, winking. "That angel loves candy and junk food so much, it's crazy."
"Yeah." Luigi agrees. "How does he hide it all from Palutena?" Mario shakes his head as Luigi continues pushing the cart. "So, are we all done here?" the green-capped plumber asks.
Mario is still thinking about Palutena when he hears Luigi's question. "Oh, not yet." Mario says, having a sudden idea. "I have to get one more thing really fast."
"Okay, but we have to hurry, before the line gets longer." says Luigi. "I'm going to pay now." He says, and pushes his cart to one of the lines.
"I have to be quick…" Mario thinks to himself as he runs around the market, trying to find something the goddess might like. Clothes and jewelry were too expensive, and everything else seemed too thoughtless. Mario stops running and scratches his head in thought. "What should I get her? And why am I struggling so hard just to get her a thank-you gift?" he wonders.
Mario than remembers that whenever he saved her, Peach would make him some cake as a thank-you present. "Palutena might like cake…" Mario muses to himself.
Mario turns into the bakery section and sees rows upon rows of stacked cakes in a variety of colors and flavors. There are red velvet cheesecakes that are decorated like Pokeballs, a lemmon cake decorated like the Tri-force, and a chocolate cake that was frosted to look like Fox's ARwing. There are even little pie-pans of white cake frosted with the Smash symbol.
Mario looks through the cakes, trying to decide which one Palutena will like. "I wonder if there's a cake that looks like something from her world…" Mario thinks to himself. Finally he spots it; a white and green frosted cake decorated with the goddess's light symbol, and there was only one left!
"Perfect!" Mario cries, grabbing the cake. "I'll make it special for her." Mario takes the cake to the bakery clerk. "Can you please write 'Thank you Palutena' on here?" asks Mario, pointing to the spot just below the light symbol.
"Sure." the baker behind the counter replies, and takes the cake from Mario. "Here you are." The baker says when he is done.
"Thank you very much." Mario says gratefully. He puts the cake in his cart and rushes back to Luigi.
"A cake huh? Who's it for?" Luigi asks. Then, he reads the green icing. "Palutena, huh? Pretty sweet of you." Luigi comments.
"Yeah." Mario says proudly. "Palutena's done a lot for me, and I want to thank her for helping me."
Luigi flashes a smile at his brother. "Well I hope it goes well between you two." He says, his eyes twinkling.
For a moment, Mario wonders what his brother is getting at, but then he realizes what he means. "What? Stop it Luigi, we're just friends." Mario insists.
"Relax, bro. I'm just teasing you." Luigi says. The two of them pay for their treats and head back to the mansion.
After putting his snacks away, Mario goes to Palutena's room and knocks on the door. The door opens and Palutena stands on the threshold. "Oh, hi Mario!" she says cheerfully.
"Hey, Palutena!" Mario says, returning the greeting. What was he supposed to say now?
"How did things go with Peach?" Palutena asks. "She told me she talked to you earlier."
"It was okay." Mario answers. He shifts the position of the cake in his arms. "I brought you something." Mario informs, showing Palutena the cake. "I just… wanted to thank you for helping me."
"Oh, thank you Mario! But you didn't have to get me anything." Palutena says politely.
"Oh, no. It's fine! Go ahead and take it." Mario insists, handing Palutena the cake.
"Thank you Mario." Palutena says, accepting the gift. She gives Mario a beautiful smile, and Mario blushes.
"I don't think I can finish all of this." Palutena says, looking down at the cake in her hands. "Would you like to help me?"
"Sure." Mario responds. Mario goes to get some plates and forks, and then he and Palutena start eating the cake together. To his surprise, Mario finds that he is enjoying this more than he expects.
Mario and Palutena finished eating the cake. "What do you think of the cake?" Mario asks, wanting to know what Palutena about the cake.
"It was very good. I think I have to work out now." replies Palutena, as Mario starts giggling.
"I thought the cake was very good too, but not as good as Princess Peach's cakes." says Mario, giving is honest opinion.
"That is true. I prefer eating Peach's cakes." says Palutena, agreeing with Mario.
"That was a fun talk. I'm glad that you let me in for some of your cake. Thank you." Mario thanks Palutena for sharing her cake.
"You don't have to thank me, Mario. I'm glad that we can have a friendly conversation, and eat cake together. It was really fun." says Palutena, giving Mario another friendly smile.
Mario starts blushing and covers his face with his hat. "Are you ok, Mario?" asks Palutena, wondering why Mario covers his face.
"I'm ok. Well I should get going now. I'll see you tomorrow." says Mario.
"Ok then. Bye Mario." says Palutena, as she notice Mario's already gone.
"I wonder why Mario's in a rush?" Palutena wonders, scratching her head.