Chapter Nineteen
Peach nodded and Pauline opened the door.
The Princess gasped in shock, "What. The. Hell."
Before her eyes stood the very thing she had been dreaming about every night for months – a short little man with a bowl in his hands and a mouth full of pasta.
Just standing there.
He stared at them with guilty eyes as if he had just been caught whizzing in the pool. Very much alive.
NOT DEAD?
"Mario?! You're alive?! How… Where have you…." Peach wobbled a little and took a few deep breaths. "Pauline…. What the hell is going on?"
"Well, you see... Mario kind of just popped up a few months ago…" Pauline said as she leaned away from the Princess's reaction.
Mario swallowed his pasta and spoke, "Pauline, no one is supposed to know I'm here! If Princess Peach found out, we would all be in allota trouble!"
Pauline paled and Peach turned her head slowly to look at him with pure fury in her eyes. All these years they had been together, gone on adventures, had picnics, cute little dates, and extravagant parties, yet he couldn't recognize her face let alone her voice or… anything else?
"I. Am. The Princess," she said as she bore her eyes into his soul.
Mario gulped and shook under her burning hot stare. "Haha… Peach… I thought you were at home… in your castle…"
"Huh. And I thought you were dead," Peach seethed. She turned her glare back to Pauline who had tried to tiptoe her way around the front of the house while Peach was distracted. "You," Peach pointed at Pauline. "You damn well better start explaining or both of you will REALLY be dead this time."
Pauline halted and turned around to meet Peach's glare with a guilty look on her face. "Okay… Come on in and we will talk."
In a few minutes, both Pauline and Mario were sitting on the living room couch together while Peach sat in front of them on a wooden kitchen chair.
Mario scratched his head and asked, "So uh… where do you want us to start?"
"The beginning," Peach said curtly. Mario winced when both Pauline and Peach watched him with searching eyes.
"Okay. I'll explain everything, but some of it is still a little fuzzy," Mario explained.
Peach was about to accuse him of holding back, but Pauline stopped her.
"Princess, what Mario is saying is true. I found him stranded in the middle of nowhere months ago. Honestly, if my limo driver hadn't taken the wrong road in the Muda Kingdom, Mario might never have been found. To make things worse, he had no memory at all. He didn't even remember his own name, Peach. It took him until last month to remember pieces of what happened to him," Pauline explained. Peach nodded slowly as she listened.
"It's true Peach. I think I remember most of what happened but I may not be able to answer all of your questions yet," Mario added.
"I understand. I will reserve most of my questions for after your explanation then," Peach said considerately.
"Okey-dokey…" Mario said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "It all started with that Koopa named... Catchy? Klamy?" Mario said, searching for the name that was on the tip of his tongue.
"Kamella!" Peach said excitedly.
"Yes! It all started when that Kamella Koopa showed up while Luigi and I were plumbing.
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"Heya, Mario? Can you hand me the wrench?" Luigi asked as he worked on the bathroom sink.
"Alrighty," Mario answered and quickly carried a box of tools into their customer's bathroom.
"Wow… you really are plumbers! I thought you only got that nickname because you travel by warp pipe. This is fantastic!" a purple robed Magikoopa laughed heartily as she stood in the bathroom doorway.
"Well, an adventurer needs to eat too," Mario chuckled. A lot of people joked about that. He may have saved the princess a few times, but he was an honest worker who didn't like living on borrowed money. He only did what was right and the Princess owed him nothing for it.
"That is understandable. My name is Kamella Koopa and I have a proposition for both of you regarding Princess Peach," Kamella said, cutting straight to the chase.
"Huh? Is she in trouble?" Luigi asked quickly.
"No, no, no! Of course not. I just wanted to ask if either of you wanted to become a part of a group called The League of Investors. The League of Investors is a group of leaders who have invested in a prosperous future for both the Mushroom Kingdom and the Dark Lands and see Bowser's love for the Princess as a threat to that future," Kamella explained. The brothers nodded quietly. "This is a special society where people who care about the Princess's well being get to form alliances with others to make her future more secure."
"Well, that sounds a lot like the group of friends we have now!" Luigi said happily as Mario nodded in agreement.
"Yes! It is a lot like that, but we meet often and find ways to keep Bowser away from Peach and stop him from bothering the Mushroom Kingdom with his schemes. We try to prevent bad things from happening," the MagiKoopa continued. "It is also a closed society so no one knows about us except the people who are in it or have been invited to it."
"Does the Princess know about it?" Luigi asked curiously.
"No. But that's because Bowser would eventually find out about it if she knew," Kamella stated.
"I don't know… That sounds kind of…." Luigi started.
"Where do we sign up?" Mario said confidently, cutting Luigi off.
"Wonderful! All you have to do is accept this special phone and come to the weekly meetings," Kamella explained as she handed Mario a red cell phone. "If an emergency comes up, you can be contacted anywhere and updated immediately if anything important changes."
Mario looked at it curiously while Luigi watched with speculation. Yes, Mario was a hero because he charged forward without fear but that could also be a fault. Luigi may be a coward but he second-guessed everything he did and thought things through without rushing in. And besides, didn't most MagiKoopas work for Bowser? What motive did she have to work against the Koopa King?
"I accept!" Mario stated definitely.
"I… will think about it," Luigi said. Kamella wasn't exactly happy about Luigi's answer but Mario's approval was enough for now.
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"Mario! You were apart of the League?!" Peach glared accusingly.
"Hey! It sounded good at the time!" Mario defended.
Peach groaned, "Everyone hates Bowser so much…" She raged, "'Look! The big bad Koopa is going to kidnap the Princess, again! Oh my! I have a great idea! Let's tie her down and gag her because that will fix EVERYTHING!"
Mario, a little surprised by Peach's rant, was about to ask her to explain but then decided against it and continued, "Anyhow…."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Once Kamella left, the Mario brothers finished their job and started heading home.
"Mario, are you seriously joining that group?" Luigi asked with concern.
"Why not?" Mario answered with a shrug. He had been fighting Bowser for years. Maybe this is a good way to end the kidnappings.
"I don't know, Mario," Luigi said with a doubtful look on his face. "A secret society made to protect the Princess from Bowser and she doesn't even know about it? It gives my mustache the twitches."
Mario shook his head, "Your mustache always twitches. Besides, if it is a weird group I'll leave and continue doing what I have always been doing."
"Rushing into danger and tearing all of your work pants?" Luigi asked dryly.
"Saving the Princess and defeating evil!" Mario yelled victoriously.
"Fine. But be careful Mario. There are a lot of weird people out there who are always looking for an excuse to meddle in other people's lives," Luigi explained.
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The first League of Investors meeting was on a Thursday evening in a random bar on the outskirts of the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario showed up early but soon found himself surrounded by all sorts of people. The bar was supposed to be closed but a bartender was still there and all the rectangle tables had been linked together to make one long table. Yoshis, Goombas, Mushrooms, Koopas, Dry Bones, Shy Guys, Boos, and all sorts of different people filled the whole table.
Everyone at the table was happy to see Mario. All of them welcomed him to the group and congratulated him for being invited to the League.
"Hello, everyone! As you can see we have a new addition to the League. It truly is an honor to have the great Mario supporting our cause," Kamella declared as she entered the room. The whole group clapped enthusiastically with some occasional whistles and shouts. "Since Mario is new, I would like to go over some of what we have covered before so he knows the gist of what we are working with."
"Mario," Kamella called his attention and continued, "As I am sure you have guessed, some of the Investors are citizens of the Dark Lands and others are from both the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland. There are even some from other major kingdoms that expressed great interest in the happenings between Bowser and Peach." The people in the room hissed. "You see, none of us like that Bowser has so much interest in the Princess. Some don't like it because it is terrible politics, others don't like the problems it brings to their kingdoms, but everyone agrees that everything would be better if Bowser and Peach were kept separate." The crowd around the table hummed in agreement while Mario nodded his head thoughtfully.
"We have all come together for one cause: to promote peace and stability. It has been proven time and time again that neither of these two things can be had when Peach and Bowser are around each other. Wouldn't you agree, Mario?" Kamella asked. Mario nodded. "Then you are a part of the Investors whether you choose to stay or not. Our goal is the same as yours. Keep the Princess from the influence of Bowser and vice versa!" The table cheered and raised their glasses as Kamella said, "A toast, to our new member, Mario! And may he never have to save the Princess again!"
Mario was in his glory. This was his ticket to keeping the Princess safe and helping the Mushroom Kingdom remain unmolested by Bowser. Raising his glass, he drank and enjoyed the company of his new friends.
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Two weeks went by and everything was going well in the League. Most of the time, members would just talk about how they didn't want Peach and Bowser near each other, but there were some times when someone would catch wind of what Bowser or Peach was up to. By the third week, Mario heard a rumor from a Boo that Bowser would be kidnapping the Princess again sometime soon. It was only a rumor but it put everyone in the group in an antsy mood.
The fourth week was when things got somewhat out of control.
"Can I have all your attention, please?" Kamella shouted down the table. "There is a rumor going around that Bowser is going to kidnap the Princess again." The group went quiet as she spoke. "This rumor has been proven true and it will happen within the next month." The table of League members shouted in protest and Mario shook his head. "Though this is discouraging news, I have a plan. I don't have all of the details yet, but I need some help from you all to make it work." Each person at the table nodded in agreement.
"As you can see Bowser's misguided love for Peach has caused a lot of trouble, but could you imagine what would happen if she ended up gaining some misguided feelings for him?" Kamella asked. Mario shook his head disagreeably and the rest of the table booed. "Bowser is in love with Peach and he really believes that she will eventually love him back. Wonder if we took that chance away completely? Would he still kidnap her or try to impress her? Or would Bowser finally be forced to move on?" The whole table whispered and leaned forward listening with heightened interest.
"I propose that a Magical Oath should be made with the Princess. If Peach promises never to encourage Bowser's love and avoid his romantic advances then we wouldn't have to worry about his influence on her and vice versa. Yes, we would still have to help save her and get her back to her castle but Bowser would eventually have to give up having Peach as his bride and becoming King of the Mushroom Kingdom," Kamella explained.
Mario nodded once again. He could see the reasoning behind it. It wasn't a bad plan and he knew Peach didn't have any intention of reciprocating Bowser's feelings so it probably wouldn't bother her to make such a promise.
The vote was unanimous and Kamella adjourned their meeting. The Magikoopa would be visiting the princess that night.