Chapter 4: Deliverance

The night had passed, and a new day had begun. However, in Dark Land, the 'day' doesn't normally get much brighter than what you would see at dusk.

Mario and Peach, after resting a bit that night, had reached Bowser's castle. Strangely, the drawbridge was down. Poor Bowser never was an expert at security. The two crossed without problem. But when they got in...

"Hello, and you—wait a minute, Mario's here! Attack!" shouted a Koopatrol.

"Attack? Sure!" Peach said, shoving her parasol in his face. After being knocked back, the Koopatrol charged with his spear... only for Mario to counter with a strong blow from his hammer, knocking him out.

"Let's get going before we get swamped!" Mario said. The two fled from the castle lobby down the hallway, going up a flight of stairs. Now on the second floor, Mario and Peach encountered a few Hammer Bros, who weren't very happy to see them. Tossed their hammers they did, but Mario dodged them and retaliated using fireballs.

"My, you all look exhausted," Mario said. "It's almost as if you burned out!"

"Haha. Very funny," Said Morton, who had followed them upstairs. "Koopalings! Attack!"

Wendy, Ludwig, Lemmy, and Iggy were further down the hallway, while Larry and Roy were with Morton. Both groups tried to dogpile Mario and Peach, but both of them jumped at the last second, causing everyone else to dogpile each other. Ludwig and Roy tackled each other head-on, knocking both of them out.

"I told you all this was a stupid idea!" Wendy yelled. "But noooo, no one listens to me! No one listens to the smart girl!"

The other conscious Koopalings responded by tackling her and fighting over who was to blame for the failure. By the time the fighting actually started, though, Mario and Peach were well on their way to the highest floor.

"So, my lady, are you enjoying yourself?" Bowser asked.

"I do believe I am," the clone said with a faint smile. "Except... hmm."

"What?"

"Nothing, just a thought."

"No really, what?"

"Just... memories of Peach, that's all. And me not being the real princess."

"Now, now. Why be a princess when you can be an empress?"

"Empress...?"

"You know that I want world domination, don't you? Think about it! You won't just have a single nation—you'll have the planet! And then we can go into the great beyond!"

"Hmm... perhaps that would be nice... but doesn't that imply that I'm..."

"Yes."

"You're proposing?"

"Sure, why not?"

"But Bowser... I'm a human and you're a walking turtle with horns. That's just creepy. And what about Peach?"

"Oh, don't worry about her... besides, I think you're even better than she is!"

"Now, that's just silly. You know I'm an exact copy of her."

"How about I make you better, then?"

"... You would?"

"Come sit with me for a bit," Bowser said, guiding her to the right shoulder of his pretty comfortable throne. Her Hammer Bro guide, also present in the room at the time, was to the left.

"I'll give you the best training the academy can offer, in whatever fields you choose. Weaponry? Magic? Hmm... maybe you could go with a plant summoning motif to fit your attire." Bowser said.

"I can really do that?" She asked.

"Well, specializing in it might require a bit of independent study, but I don't see why not."

"Teehee! You're too kind, Lord Bowser."

My darling, I'll give you whatever you want. Money? Power? Authority? A key position in a Koopa Empire? Anything. Now, as I was saying... will you marry me?"

Mario kicked open the door to the throne room.

"No, she won't." Mario responded.

"Mario? What the heck are you doing here?" Bowser said, shocked.

The two took time to observe the situation—The clone was sitting on the shoulder of the throne itself, talking with the evil Koopa King.

"What the... what have you done to her?"

"Oh, nothing. If Peach wasn't so stubborn, she could have enjoyed herself in my castle, too."

"Like I would want to wear that. Seriously?"

"A woman can be a little proud of her body! Besides, she chose it herself!"

"You mean she chose it because it was the only other thing in her wardrobe, right?"

"Peach, Peach, Peach. I haven't made her do anything she didn't want to do. Except for the obligatory kidnapping, of course. She likes me! She chose the opportunity you should have chosen time and time again. And guess what? She's happy."

"Sir, should I get her out of here?" the hammer Bro asked.

"Not if she doesn't want to leave. She should have the choice of watching me defend her."

"Defend!" Mario exclaimed.

"Exactly. Say your prayers, Mario, because Big Bad Bowser is not holding back! Gwahahahaha!"

Mario and Peach vs. Bowser

Bowser lunged at Mario with his claws, grabbing him. Mario quickly countered with a fireball right in Bowser's face, causing him to release the plumber. While recovering, Mario smacked him in the face with his hammer, knocking him back. Before another blow could be made, Bowser retreated into his shell and crashed into the plumber, sending him flying. When he tried to come out of his shell, Peach thrust her parasol into his face.

Bowser wasn't particularly motivated to seriously harm Peach—after all, the more girls for him the merrier—but didn't really enjoy having a Parasol jammed into his face. In anger, he spewed flame at the princess. She avoided getting burned herself, but the end of her dress was ignited. Mario, now recovered, took over while Peach stopped, dropped, and rolled.

"(So they did come to save me... perhaps I was wrong about them. Maybe they do care. But... Bowser's not all that terrible,)" The clone pondered, being conflicted. "(What do I tell them? I can't just drive them off, but I like it here...")

Both party members were back in the fray now giving Bowser a beating. The Koopa King was clearly showing signs of fatigue, now moving slow enough for Mario to get behind him and start swinging him around. Bowser was thrown towards the west wall, creating large cracks upon impact. Dazed, the Koopa King wandered a bit towards the center of the room before falling on his back. Mario took this opportunity to ground pound his chest. Bowser tried to get up, but was too disoriented to properly stand.

"Fine... you win... but can you really take her away when she wants to be here?" Bowser asked.

"I'm not surprised. I'm not a psychologist, but I do know a few things about the human mind from my experiences, your majesty. Stockholm Syndrome is one of them, where hostages can develop loyalty or affection for their captors. It can happen during an extended period of captivity. If she really likes you so much after only one day, I can only assume you tried to intentionally manipulate her," Mario said.

"I sure did! Ain't I a piece of work?" Bowser gloated, not realizing his error until it was too late. "Uh... oh..."

"What...?" the clone asked. "You mean you were only being nice to... manipulate me?"

"But... I was going to make you my second in command! I was going to put you in the academy! I was going to make you empress of my soon-to-be vast empire! And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for these meddling kids!"

"You still think of me as expendable, don't you? Don't you?" Her tone was getting more sorrowful with each sentence.

"No! Trust me, I'd be perfectly fine with both of you! And besides, you two wouldn't agree to be my queens if I tried being a goody-goody two shoes!"

"Of course I wouldn't. Do you know why?" Peach asked.

"Because I'm a dumb, ugly reptile. Surely, that's it."

Peach tried not to laugh. "Well... yes, but more so because you are completely inconsiderate of what other people want, including myself. You try to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom by force, imprison people who resist your force... really, is it that hard to understand? I don't see how you can call that 'love'. You're not really loving, you're just being nothing but a lousy jerk. Every. Single. Time. You train countless incompetent Koopa soldiers to invade my kingdom several times a year, causing mass havoc just to either get me to marry you, take over the kingdom, or spite Mario. I don't even know why we invite you to go kart races! I feel sorry for your failing men. Some of them could be quite useful in battle if a certain idiot writing the curriculum actually knew how to take care of a plumber that can jump really high. You're that certain idiot, aren't you? Aren't you? Well... I don't need that answer... you're either that idiot or you're stupid enough to keep that idiot around. Now, if you'll excuse me, we came here for a reason."

Peach walked towards her clone.

"We knew you were brainwashed by Belome as you came into this world. That's why we came here to save you. Although I can't offer you equal authority, I can offer you a place to stay in my castle. You're technically part of the royal line..."

"Peach... I'm sorry," the clone cried, hugging her original self.

"It's alright... you didn't do anything wrong of your own volition..."

"Perhaps you have a point with what you said..." said the Hammer Bro. "Well, what are you waiting for? Take her."

"Will you come with us?" Peach asked.

"I don't have much choice in the matter, do I?" the clone asked.

"Well, you could stay here. But why would you want to do that? Surely you don't want to keep being his puppet. And you don't even have to be a princess in my castle if you don't want to, sister."

"Sister?"

"Well, you are like a twin sister."

"Alright," she said, standing up, "take me back with you."

The three started to leave the room, with Hammer Bro and a weakened Bowser behind. The Hammer Bro, after a moment of thinking, started to follow as well.

"Wait... where are you...?" Bowser asked.

"Bowser, I quit the Koopa Troop," he responded.

"You traitor."

"Bite me."

The three worked their way to the castle entrance, passing the seven Koopalings that had exhausted themselves from fighting each other. As they went out the exit, the Hammer Bro caught up with them.

"Wait!" he shouted.

"Huh? Wait, you're the-" Mario said before being interrupted.

"You're right, Princess Peach. Bowser is a jerk, and frankly, we all suck. My loyalty belongs to you now," he said, breathing heavily.

"Wait... you're the one who guarded my room, aren't you?" the clone asked.

"Yes, I am."

"You weren't part of this, were you?"

"I had no idea he was doing this. Honest. Why do you think I left?"

"Then you were... telling the truth about me wearing this?"

"Yes."

"Well... at least I don't feel like a complete tool now..." she muttered. "... how did I even think wearing this was a good idea?"

"Bowser convinced you it was a good idea." Mario said. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have worn it."

"I think I'll go back to wearing a dress... but can the color still be green? I really like that color," she said.

"D'aww... well, alright. I'm gonna miss it, though..." the Hammer Bro responded.

"Hmm... What is your name?" Mario asked.

"My name? Just call me Forge." Forge said.

"And yours?" Peach asked the clone.

"I... don't have a name."

"You mean he actually hasn't given you one yet? Wow, I would expect him to be calling you Princess Piranha with that outfit on. Or maybe after some other carnivorous plant. Queen Venus, perhaps?" Mario said.

"I would have been flattered if I was named that, but not after this," she responded.

"Maybe we should pick something a little more pleasant if we're going by plant names," Peach said. "Plum—No, wait, we already know a Plum..."

"Apricot?" Mario asked. "Hmm... maybe we could shorten it... to April?"

"Perhaps a variation?" Forge asked. "Apryl? Aprielle? Aprille? Aprilette?"

"Whoa, easy there. Apryl is fine, but those others are just too exotic," Mario said. "Some of those I could only imagine being given by a fan fiction author on crack to a poorly-written original character. And maybe parents who are trying too hard to give their child an interesting name. Those are real variations, right?"

"Yes. Seriously. Those are just a few."

"Wow."

"I think Apricot should still work for formal situations. Maybe Apryl should just be a shorter nickname used in informal situations," Peach said.

"Apryl... is that fine with you?" Mario asked to the clone.

"Yes," Apryl responded.

"Also, you might want to consider a haircut. People might get confused if we have the same hairstyles," Peach said.

"Well, what are we waiting for? To the Mushroom Kingdom!" Mario shouted.

Kamek entered the throne room, coming from who-knows where, oblivious of Mario's invasion. Bowser was still lying on his back.

"Bowser? What happened? Where's the clone?" Kamek shouted.

"Ugh... Mario... Peach..."

"Mario actually came here? Why?"

"They took her."

"What? Well, crud."

"Oh, and Kamek, you're in charge of the academy curriculum, right?"

"Yeah. What about it?

"*awkward pause* ... Nothing... just go get me a medic."