Chapter 3: Not Again!
The sun shone brightly on the Mushroom Kingdom as the Comet Observatory arrived over it. Rosalina had somehow managed to beat the Koopa ship to the galaxy, and was in the process of making her way to the Royal Palace to warn Mario and Peach about the impending danger of Bowser and his men. The Queen created a forcefield around herself and hovered down to the small planet, landing on its surface with a graceful tap. She took in the sight of all of the toads running through the streets and of the Royal Castle on the hill; it was just a typical day in the kingdom.
As she hovered closer to the palace, Rosalina felt quite awkward being back in the kingdom where her Bella lived. She thought about the fact that she might have to confront the metaphorical daughter of which she knew everything about her, but Bella would know nothing of Queen since she had erased her memory. Shrugging off the thoughts of the past and shedding a couple of tears along the way, Rosalina landed in front of the royal castle, and knocked on the door.
A few seconds passed, and the door to the castle was opened by one of the toads who was inside. The toad, instantly remembered and recognized Rosalina allowed her access to the castle. The toad told her that the King and Queen were both in the royal throne room.
Rosalina gently floated down the long hallway to where the room was, and located Mario and Peach just where the toad had said. She made her way into the room, and landed before the royal couple.
"Rosalina! What a pleasant surprise!" Peach said delightfully. "What brings you to the Mushroom Kingdom today?" She asked with a smile on her face, her husband Mario beside her.
"I'm here because you are all in terrible danger," Rosalina exclaimed, worry in her voice. She glanced around the room, noticing a third chair beside Mario and Peach. "Including your daughter Annabelle." Mario and Peach exchanged a worried glance at each other. "My lumas informed me that they had seen a koopa ship moving towards the galaxy, and I suspect that Bowser may be up to his old tricks again."
Mario's face turned red. "No, not again!" he exclaimed, starting to feel sick. He had already been locked up for 17 years the last time Bowser had captured him and Peach. He didn't want to get jailed again.
"Where is your daughter?" the Queen of the Cosmos asked anxiously.
"In Mushroom Park with Toadsworth," Peach replied, her voice chattering a bit.
"You must find her and all hide before Bowser gets…." The whirring sound the koopa ship filled the castle, interrupting Rosalina. Fear filled everyone inside, memories pouring back into the Royal Couple's minds from the last kidnapping.
"Rosalina, I'm not what's going on, or what Bowser is up to, but if something happens to us, take care of Bella," Peach said, running up to Rosalina. "You protected her for 17 years, and loved her as your own while Mario and I were trapped. Mario and I are forever grateful to you for that. Please Go! Make sure Toadsworth and Bella are okay. Mario and I will deal with the Koopas ourselves."
Rosalina nodded, hovering out of the throne room and quickly leaving the castle via a side entrance leading towards the park. She knew full well that this could be the last time that she saw Mario and Peach again for a while, and that they could be kidnapped by the Koopa King, but she had to make sure Bella was safe; She couldn't fall into Bowser's hands if her parents did. She would protect her.
….
The ground shook as the King of the Koopas jumped off of his ship in front of Mario and Peach's castle. "Go search the castle for the girl," Bowser roared to his men. "I will deal with the Queen and King," he said, a devious smile on his face.
Bowser and his men stormed into the castle, and spread out searching every room for the princess. Bowser himself moved into the throne room, finding the King and Queen hiding behind their thrones, shaking with fear.
"Long time, no see!" Bowser exclaimed with his familiar chuckle.
The Queen poked her head out from behind her throne. "What do you want from us?" Peach asked, body still shaking.
"I want the girl. Where is she? She ruined my life, and for that she is going to pay!" He roared, shaking the whole castle.
"She isn't here!" the Queen's voice crackled. "You'll never get her!"
A Koopa commander entered the room behind the King. "Bowser, sir. We have searched the entire castle, and the princess is not here," he interrupted. "We have no clue where she could be your majesty."
"You'll never get her. We will never tell you where she is," Mario yelled defiantly, standing up and eating a fire mushroom. The Queen ran in behind her husband. "This time I will defeat you too," preparing to throw fireballs at the Koopa King.
"You're so Pathetic! Why must you always fight?" Bowser asked Mario with a chuckle. Mario threw a fireball at the Koopa King. "Fine, if you won't give me the princess, then I will take both of you instead. Maybe then, the princess will come and find me if she wants to see you two again!"
The rest of the koopa army returned to the throne room from their search of the castle and stood behind Bowser. "Men, get me the king and queen."
….
Rosalina was in Mushroom Park, floating around all of the pristine ponds and flowers there in the desperate race to find Bella. She caught sight of Toadsworth and the young princess sitting on a bench in the central part of the park.
The Cosmic Queen's heart went through a loop of emotions as she quickly floated over to her daughter of 17 years. She no longer felt guilty for what had happened before Mario and Peach were rescued, as all had reset and she'd erased Bella's memory, but she still felt weird seeing her again as she knew that Bella would not remember her. Bella was just as pretty as she was when the queen had last seen her. She also wore the locket that Rosalina had passed onto her from her parents when they had last seen one another.
"Toadsworth, Annabelle, there you are," She shouted landing beside them. The two looked at the Queen, and Toadsworth made a motion to speak but was cut off by the princess.
"Hello," Bella said in her usual sweet voice, seeing a face she didn't recognize; or did she? "I see you know Toadsworth and me, but who are you?"
"This is Rosalina, Queen of the Cosmos," Toadsworth told the princess. "She watches over the galaxies, and is the mother of lumas."
The princess nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Nice to meet you Rosalina, though I feel like I should know you somehow," she replied, scratching her forehead.
Rosalina's heart missed a beat. Did Bella remember her? She snapped out of the thought and her mind returned to the issue at hand: Bowser. "Toadsworth, I need to talk to you urgently," She said with desperation in her voice.
"I'll be right back princess," Toadsworth told Bella. The princess nodded and the Queen led him over to another bench away from Bella. They sat down on the bench. "Bowser is back."
Toadsworth cringed. "The lumas and comet computer picked up a Koopa ship heading towards the planet and I raced ahead to warn Mario and Peach," Rosalina explained. "I think that Bowser is going to try to take Bella for what happened before everything in the universe reset. We can't let that happen."
A large crash was heard in the distance, causing Toadsworth and Rosalina to jump and Bella to scream. "What was that? What's going on?" the princess asked, terror filling her voice.
"Nothing too major I assume princess," Toadsworth called back, trying to calm her down.
"Take Bella somewhere safe. I got to go and help Mario and Peach. It sounds like Bowser is already causing trouble. I will come back," Rosalina said floating back towards the castle.
Toadsworth ran over to Bella. "Come on princess, we must go somewhere else safer." He said, scurrying the princess out of the park and further away from the castle.
….
The Queen of the Cosmos arrived back at the Royal Palace to see a horrifying sight. Queen Peach was trapped in a cage with Mario beside her. Both were completely surrounded by the Koopa army. Mario was desperately trying to throw fireballs at all of the Koopas in order to free his wife, but there were simply too many. He was being backed into another cage behind him.
"Finish him," Bowser laughed. "Get him into that cage. This time, there will be no escape for either of them."
"Mario!" Rosalina shouted, trying to float over to her friend. Bowser noticed the Queen immediately, and hurled himself in front of her. "Oh no you don't Queen," He grumbled. "You're not getting over to him. They are coming with me!" He let out a fury of fireballs from his mouth, Rosalina narrowly putting up a force field with her magic wand in time.
"We got them both caged now," one of the Koopa commanders shouted, as they crew of the ship began hoisting the Mushroom King and Queen up to the ship's deck.
"You will never see them again," laughed Bowser, turning back to the Cosmic Queen. "Unless of course, you bring me princess."
"Never!" cried Rosalina, as she aimed her magic wand at the koopa ship in a last ditch effort to save Mario and Peach from being loaded on. Unfortunately, she missed her target because of Bowser being in the way.
"Later fools," the Koopa King roared jumping onto his ship. "This time, you will never find us! Oh and if you somehow do, please bring the princess." he scoffed as the ship whirred to life.
"Help!" the Royal Couple screamed. Rosalina watched helplessly as Bowser's ship quickly tore out of the Mushroom Kingdom, and back into space.
Rosalina stared up at the sky for the longest time processing what had happened. "I will find you, and I will keep your daughter safe." The Queen muttered to herself, teary eyed. "I promise."
A/N: Looks like Bowser's plan didn't quite go as well as he hoped. Nonetheless, it appears that the Royal Family has been separated once again, and Rosalina is left in a heap of raw emotions having to deal with seeing the Queen and King kidnapped again, as well as seeing the princess that doesn't remember her.