Author's Note: Very first Mario story ever! I decided to write this for Mikki as a birthday present, 'cause usually I write her Zelda stories, as you can tell, but...totally different! Whoo!
Summary: Spatulas, tennis rackets, and golf clubs can be quite handy in battle. Especially against Bowser.
Disclaimer: Nintendo owns my soul, as usual.
Usually, Peach was the one being saved from Bowser all the time. Mario always bounced and warp-piped his way to victory. She could always count on him when she was in trouble. But whatever happened when he was in trouble? Who would save him?
Not Luigi. He was just a little bit busy eradicating ghosts from his mansion. Besides, he had Daisy to take care of. Though she could handle herself, sometimes she just got a little bit out there, and odd things tended to happen in her kingdom. Like the alien invasion. Peach got koopas everywhere; Daisy got little purple and green people. So, not those two.
Yoshi and Birdo were off eloping somewhere, where the dinosaurs all live, so she wouldn't dare to explore there. She'd like to have everything in one piece, and escaping off into some deep jungle wasn't the best way to go. Neither was going into some wacko bomb factory, where Waluigi worked. And wherever he was, Wario was. When he wasn't out dancing, of course. She clearly remembered the anger between him and Mario; nothing would get accomplished that way.
So, she figured that the hero in this case would be…her. No one else was fit for the job. And besides, this would be a proper way to thank him, other than giving him cake all the time. He probably had a cavity in every tooth by now. It'd be good for the both of them. Now, to wait for an opportunity…
While Peach was scheming up rescue plans for what she thought would be a future scenario, Bowser was actually putting his plan in motion. Instead of taking all the stars, he took all the mushrooms: by now he learned that mushrooms were the source to Mario's power. And assuming that no one could come after him, he was ready to take over the world, and possibly the universe, starting with the Mushroom Kingdom.
One day, she received a letter from none other than Mario, informing her of his current predicament. Wow, that was quick, she thought, and sped to start preparations for this rescue mission. Sure it would be dangerous, but hadn't he gone through scorching heat, blistering winds, freezing tundra, et cetera, all for her? So, if a dress got torn, or a heel broke, it'd be worth it.
She gathered anything she could find: tennis rackets, golf clubs, frying pans, fairy wands, and placed them into a bag that she could wear over her shoulders. She'd need anything and everything for this immense battle. There was no telling what Bowser would do, with her friend under his control. But, she'd be ready.
A mysterious blue warp pipe appeared in front of the castle, and Toadsworth informed her of it. Blue pipes were not indigenous to the Mushroom Kingdom, and so, figuring it must be Bowser's, hopped right into it, and ended up on the other end, wherever it was.
And apparently, she had figured right. She ended up right at the entrance of Bowser's castle. She remembered it from when she had gone racing in the grand prix. And besides, the face carved in stone on the front of the castle just gave the identity away. But, she wasn't really worried about details at the time. She was focused on saving Mario, who she could see through the mouth of the figure. So, that's the dungeon, she thought. Looks like she'd have to make her way in. Or somehow melt the bars so he could get out.
Suddenly, tiny bugs started coming after her, one after another. They resembled rocks, but they were the size of a young koopa's shell. She didn't know what to do, but she figured that she had to do something, before they threw her in the moat down below, or worse. She frantically searched through her bag, and grabbed something long and cold. The golf club. Well…she could swing away and try to knock them onto the 'green', per say, but she doubted it would work.
Still, the bugs were coming in what seemed like millions, and she had to do something about it before they took over. So, gripping the iron, she raised it over her shoulder, and with a loud 'Fore!' swung. The leader of the bugs was knocked straight into one of the eyes, which caused the others to follow. Well, I guess that handles them, she thought to herself, before walking over the bridge built over the moat.
While she was crossing the bridge, she could have sworn that she saw smoke. But from what, exactly? She decided to look below the bridge, since clearly nothing was behind her, and there was lava in place of water. "Oh. That's…nice," she said, mainly to herself, but still out loud. Bowser apparently heard her, and a loud laughter was heard on the premises. "So, you've completed one of the challenges. Good luck with the other two!" And then there were two.
Two cannons facing right toward her. The smoke had been from them; they were filled with some of the lava, she presumed. How would she fight the cannon balls off, though? Mario would have…he would have dodged them, but she couldn't do that. She wasn't as quick as he was. So she searched in her handy dandy bag, and pulled out a…
Tennis racket? Well, she supposed it'd have to do. After all, she couldn't swat the balls away with a golf iron. And she couldn't search for any other items at the time; the cannons had let out a big BOOM, and two balls were headed her way. She couldn't really 'hit two birds with one stone', but she could hit one cage with two balls. So, as the first cannonball came toward her, she whacked it right of the way, and it hit the other eye of Bowser, yet not totally demolishing it. Hoping that the next hit would, she swung the other ball right behind it, causing it to break through, and she could clearly hear Mario cheering for her, and Bowser growling.
"Good for nothing Koopas, I have to do everything myself! Grr." She could hear his footsteps coming down from the dungeon, and she quickly thought to herself, 'What would Mario do?' Well, the last time he'd picked up Bowser and swung him around like a jump rope when you play Helicopter, but she was in no condition to do that. And so, she once more searched that handy bag of hers, but there weren't any weapons or stars to help her. The only thing left was…a frying pan. 'Why exactly did I bring this anyway?'
As she pulled out the iron pan, she ended up whacking Bowser with it, which had seemed to sneak up on her while she was coming up with a strategy. Why she hadn't heard his footsteps going across the bridge, again she didn't know, but it was mindless to think about it. For now, the heavy cookware seemed to work against the king of Koopas, and so that was the plan she was going to go with. A few more whacks and he was out, falling into the mouth of the figure, which broke the dungeon.
With the gate broken, Mario easily escaped, running straight toward the brave princess. "Oh, princess, I'm sorry. Could you ever forgive me?" He was practically to the point of begging, he was so sincere. How could she ever say no to the plumber? "Of course!" she exclaimed, kissing the top of his forehead, and giving him a small hug. "Do you know how to get back, though?"
"Of course!" Mario smiled and planted something in the ground. She wasn't sure what it was; it was small and dark, though. The next thing she knew, it had turned into a blue pipe; the same one she used to get there. Wow. Maybe it was just a plumber thing. "Let's go home, princess," he said, taking her hand and walking toward the pipe.
"Okay," she said, a bright smile on her face. She was ready to go home. Adventures were tiring. How did he manage to keep it up?
Well, anyway. Peach proved that when Mario got in trouble, she'd come and rescue him. He was her hero, and she was his heroine. And it'd stay that way for a long, long time.