Mario mentally sighed to himself of how cliché this all was, he knew he'd have to do it eventually, but he never thought it would happen this soon. After all, at this point he could only hope that this would be the only time he would have to crash Bowser's forced wedding to Peach. He shuddered at the thought of having to do this again in a few years if Bowser was that impatient, and for some reason it made him think of the gray hair he had found on the left side of his head one morning recently. Even if he was only in his mid-twenties, it still shocked Mario to no end that he had already gotten a gray hair, but he was thankful that it was under the rim line of his hat so no one would ever notice it unless he himself dared to point it out.

The door before him was tough just by looking at it, and it had a hat symbol on it so he knew to throw Cappy at it, which he was actually thankful for so he'd have time to put on his 'Grr' face.

Upon barging in, everything was as expected, Peach was happy to see that he made it just in time, and Bowser wasn't happy that he was. A second after, Mario had to keep himself from outright laughing for several reasons. First and foremost was Bowser's persistence in trying to force the Binding Band on Peach as she seemed to be just strong enough to keep him at bay and stall for time, but the back and forth bit of it all was insanely amusing. Secondly, Bowser was so lonely, that he had kidnapped the guests, even Mayor Pauline was here, but it was a bit surprising that none of the Toads from the Mushroom Kingdom were here, but then again they'd probably actually try to stop Bowser this time, though it was still strange not to see any of Bowser's Minions here. Some of the guests complained that they were taken away from their homes for this, while others who managed to get a better grasp of what was going on, encouraged him to rescue Peach and stop this wedding, Mayor Pauline included.

Thirdly, and this should have been mentioned second as it pertains to the first, but oh well, was the Binding Band was so big that it just looked ridiculous that Bowser was even trying to get it on Peach…and wrap it around her waist…? Was that even how the Binding Band worked?

Well, regardless, Bowser stopped trying to get it on her as soon as Mario got close enough. Aaaand, he should have seen that trap door coming, but he honestly didn't think Bowser had planned that far ahead.

However, at least the Koopa King was as easy to defeat as he was on Cloud Kingdom, but Mario couldn't help but cringe as Bowser's suit was torn to shreds, obliterated with his final blow…he didn't know how the shoes got destroyed too, as that was the most impressive thing he'd ever seen the Koopa King wear in all the years they've been fighting each other, but Mario did feel bad about the suit... thank the stars he didn't have to pay for it.

The Binding Band which had mysteriously shrunk around Peach's waist, which Bowser had hastily chained her to from the ceiling, had strangely vanished as well, releasing Peach from its bonds…then he briefly wondered if it had actually worked as it was supposed to…But Mario shook his head at the thought, as he knew Bowser was probably too hasty in getting rid of him to even think of sealing the deal with a kiss with Peach, and that thought was confirmed when he later found that the Binding Band had gone back to where it came from.


Bowser grumbled as he returned home to his castle, alone. The only thing that brought him comfort in that was that Peach rejected Mario too. It didn't help that he himself was also rejected at the same time as the plumber, (former plumber, whatever he was these days), even when Bowser's second attempt was purely genuine and not forceful over her. He also begrudgingly knew he wouldn't have fit on Mario's tiny and dinky little airship even if he did manage to make it before the former plumber did.

He groaned even more when he realized he had an unwanted guest waiting for him as he neared his comfy chair in his tv room.

"What are you doing here, King Boo?" Bowser managed to ask, he was too tired to deal with the reprimanding if he left out his unwanted guest's proper title, even if he loathed the fact that King Boo had an aim to rule the world too, he was still a respectable friend.

"I merely wanted to see how your nuptials went, but judging by your demeanor, not very well I take it?" King Boo replied in an almost sarcastically cooing manner, as if the two of them had a bet and Boo knew he had won it. He was reading a brochure on the Sand Kingdom, and set it down to properly address his fellow monarch vying for the throne of the world.

"Obviously. Mario beat me again, but not before I put the ring on her! But then when I checked to see if the ring worked by giving her the Soirée Bouquet again, and she was flattered at first until Mario butted in and then she rejected both of us! I don't know what went wrong!" Bowser complained, all but throwing his tush into his favorite chair and putting his head in his hands.

"Well, how 'bout we go over what you did with the ring then? Maybe it'll help you see what you did wrong?" King Boo suggested, and with Bowser's exasperated sigh of 'fine', he continued. "So you put the ring on her and?"

"It shrunk around her waist since the sucker was huge to begin with. Then I chained her to it so she wouldn't escape while I dealt with Mario." Bowser filled in the blanks for him.

"…So you didn't kiss her before you went to deal with Mario?" King Boo asked hesitantly.

Bowser froze at that. It didn't even cross his mind since Mario took all of his focus away from the wedding… and anything else whenever he showed up in general. Slowly he turned to King Boo wide eyed to show his shock and if he could pale, he was definitely paling right now.

"I'll take your expression as a 'no' then, and that right there is where you went wrong. All weddings end with the bride and groom kissing for a reason, Bowser. The marriage contracts themselves used to be business contracts, complete with the bride having a dowry, something you would inherit simply because you would be her husband, and in this case it would've been her Kingdom." King Boo explained painfully slow to get the point across of how foolish Bowser's brazen antics were to forget something as simple as a kiss. "Plus, the term 'sealing the deal with a kiss' is part of that origin as well." King Boo sighed in exasperation and gently patted the side of Bowser's shell with a hand nub. "You had her in the palm of your claws and you didn't even realize how close you actually were, you big buffoon."

Bowser roared in fury at his own foolishness and then just began to weep because he was so incredibly close to having the woman of his dreams rule by his side. Oh how cruel fate could be. The lack of one simple act was the ultimate reason for his coming home alone.

"Darn it!" Bowser huffed pitifully, lightly slamming down on his chair's armrest, too exhausted from his own anger to put any effort into it.

"Honestly, I can't believe Mario has that much of an effect on you that you forget about a kiss!" King Boo gawked. "I on the other hand, would never leave a lady waiting for that." He all but purred to rub it in.

"Your nastiness!" Called a Koopa Troopa servant who knocked first and quickly let himself in, bowing so deeply on his hands and knees that his head touched the floor. "Princess Peach is in the Kingdom of her own free will, sire! She's with that Tiara ghost girl you had also kidnapped earlier, and the princess is in a cute kimono!"

"Leave her be, she's probably just exploring since I dragged her all over the place and didn't let her out of my sight and hardly got to see anything….But I guess I'll go have a looksee at that kimono, where is she right now?" Bowser ordered, knowing his beloved princess all too well to know what she was up to, and then he relented in wanting to see how cute the kimono was.

"She's by the new Crazy Cap store, my lord!" The servant answered cheerfully.

"Thanks." Bowser grunted graciously, snagging a telescope that was on a table near his Clown Car keys.

King Boo followed him as he was also curious as to the cuteness of the princess' attire. He used magic to summon his own opera style binoculars, and started cackling at being immensely flattered in her choice of a side head mask, a Boo.

Bowser grunted in a slight twinge of jealousy, and tried to ignore it for the sake of his excitement that she was in his kingdom of her own free will. Regardless, she was still adorable in her blue kimono that had Fire Flowers on it, and despite his jealousy about the Boo mask, it really was a nice touch, especially since it fit his kingdom's culture. He couldn't help but smile forlornly at how happy she looked since she was traveling with a friend. He was envious of that Bonneter girl, he wanted to be the one to make Peach smile like that, but for now, seeing it from a distance was good enough for him that it eased his heart…Until Mario showed up and Peach gave him a Power Moon that had fallen from the sky earlier. As angry as he was at the sight of the former plumber, he was still too emotionally exhausted to do anything about it. He didn't even have enough energy to snag that Power Moon from him since Peach had touched it. Instead he sighed sadly and turned around so he wouldn't have to even look at Mario, and made a request to his fellow monarch.

"Tell me when that stupid plumber leaves so I can get a picture of Peachy."

"Certainly." King Boo replied and continued to gaze down at the scene far below through his opera binoculars. "You know, I can perfectly understand why you go through the song and dance routine time and time again for her, she's definitely worth it…but even I know it didn't start out that way for you, now did it?"

"What are you getting at?" Bowser asked suspiciously. He knew of King Boo's growing crush on the princess, and as much as he didn't like it, the ghost king didn't act on it nor act directly against him for her…yet. But he did nearly take out the Mario brothers…twice, and that was something else he wasn't too happy about. If anyone was going to defeat Mario in a way that would make the former plumber retire from rescuing Peach, it was going to be at the Koopa King's claws thank you very much.

"The first time you kidnapped her…since you became King," he had to clarify, knowing that Bowser did also kidnap her when they were tykes and suddenly stopped until he was much older. "…it wasn't out of love back then, only politics…and making sure she didn't undo your little spell of turning her subjects to stone. It amazes me how far you've come since then, even though your rivalry with Mario started there…it makes me wonder when exactly it was that you fell in love with the princess…but I suppose it's been so long that even you don't remember, do you?" King Boo speculated aloud and then asked rhetorically.

A few sounds of retort tried to come out of Bowser's mouth, but unfortunately King Boo was right, he didn't remember exactly when…only roughly when.

"I only remember the rough time frame, not the exact… It could've been anywhere from the very first kart race tournament to the time I lost my castle to the Smithy Gang, I just know that I was admitting it by the time I stole the Star Rod from Star Haven." Bowser finally admitted.

"How sad, you can't even remember the exact moment she won you over with her charm." King Boo mocked coyly.

"And you can?" Bowser countered in agitation.

"When she defeated me on Vibe Island, during the one time you decided to switch things up a little and kidnapped the Mario Brothers and let her be the hero, and to boost her ego I imagine. I was immensely impressed with her strength and determination." The ghostly monarch explained without any hesitation.

"Well, now that you mention it, I do remember how she won me over, but it didn't click until years later. The first time I kidnapped her after I became King and interested in the Mushroom Kingdom to conquer it finally…She had this look of defiance that I couldn't shake out of her even when things seemed hopeless for her. It didn't click until that first adventure I ever had with her, after the Smithy Gang took my castle, that I saw it again and always wanted her to have enough determination to face all of life's challenges." Bowser mused in remembrance.

"Hence letting her be the hero on Vibe Island?" King Boo queried.

"That, and I was getting tired of the minions that guarded her on occasion telling me how hopeless she felt." The Koopa King explained. "Regardless, I'm glad I inspired her again to take things into her own hands, even if it's probably a roundabout way to do it."

King Boo couldn't help but agree, if only for the sake of Princess Peach's happiness as she still had some growing to do since her self-confidence was constantly shot by Bowser's frequent kidnappings.

As soon as Mario left the kingdom, King Boo alerted Bowser and in turn the Koopa King got a really good picture of her in a kimono. It would be added to his collection of cute outfits he's seen her in, and it would hold him over until he could think up a new plan to defeat Mario once and for all in a fair fight, and wow Peach into genuinely marrying him. It still killed him inside at how close he was to having her be his forever.

However, there was always next time. All in due time.