Chapter 3
Evelyn tapped her foot on the ground, impatiently waiting for Princess Peach to finally respond to her question that she asked, seemingly an hour ago. Princess Peach licked her perfectly pink lips and she slowly opened her mouth to respond to the question.
"…B-Oh, look! The cake's done!" Princess Peach shouted, seeing a cluster of Toads all gathered under an enormous and heavy pink cake decorated with strawberries and white, fluffy frosting.
"Good God." Evelyn moaned, tossing her hands in the air. Princess Peach rushed over to the massive cake and Evelyn shuffled her feet after the frilly princess. Evelyn needed to find out what was hidden underneath all of the princess's pink and happy…stuff. She set her pen behind her ear and stepped up next to the princess. Princess peach looked up and down the massive cake. Mario jumped up out of his chair, licking his lips.
"Oh ya!" He said excitedly, clapping his gloved hands together. Evelyn shrugged. The enormous cake did look rather good, but she still had her questions that she wanted answered.
"You have really out done yourself this time, Tayce T.!" Princess Peach commended the Toad who was the chef of this master piece. The Toad known by the name of Tayce T. nodded to her, glad to have the princess's approval. She nodded to the Toads struggling with the cake to try and get it up on the table somehow.
"Princess, do you ever think that we maybe have cake a bit too often? I mean, we've had one for Mario almost every time he's come over." Tayce T. observed. Evelyn, still in her slightly annoyed mood, overheard this and instinctively grabbed her pen and wrote down, awful dietary routines, on her clipboard. Princess Peach waved her hand at Tacye T.'s remark.
"Oh, its not every time, you exaggerate." Peach said, noticing Evelyn writing something down. "But let's cut into it, it looks delicious!" Princess Peach said. A Koopa came running up with a knife to cut the cake. But then, just as they started to lower the knife, something happened. There was a low rumbling. It started off small, but then it grew, bigger and louder. Evelyn, Peach, Mario, Tacye T., the other Toads, the Koopas and even the Lakitas above felt it. Evelyn stumbled off balance and grabbed the table for support. Peach clutched a chair as tight as she could.
"Hey! Princess! What exactly is going on?" Evelyn asked, glancing around, a little nervous, but composed. Princess Peach clenched her teeth.
"Nothing, its nothing!" Peach said, stifling a false laugh. She turned towards Tacye T. "If what I think is happening now is happening now, I swear…Just go see how close they are and take defensive measures." Peach snapped at her, even though she was just the chef. Tayce T. nodded and she hurried off, stumbling and falling as she went. The rumbling became so much that it was difficult to stand now.
"Mama mia!" Mario said, flailing his arms to try and keep his balance. Evelyn slipped, sliding part way under the table while trying to keep herself upright. What was going on? But then, in an instant, the rumbling subsided, stopping on a dime. Evelyn breathed a sigh of relief. It must have only been a small earthquake. Peach did not, however, sig anything of relief. She knew what came next ad she knew that Evelyn would not like it. The cake completely exploded, smoke rising from the top. There was a high pitched squeal and something that Evelyn was not familiar with leaped out of the top. It was small, looking like a Koopa, but with a spiked shell different head. Evelyn looked at Peach and pointed, her face confused. Peach sighed and let her face fall into her hand, shaking her head slightly upon seeing who it was.
"Bowser Jr." Princess Peach sighed. Evelyn, still confused by what the little thing was, turned her attention back to it. Mario stood ready with a defensive stance. He laughed mischievously, his eyes flickering from the cowering Toads to Mario to Peach.
"Who's your new friend, she's pretty, maybe I'll take her too." Bowser Jr. said with a smirk. Peach sighed again.
"Please, can you come back another time?" Peach begged, not even bothering to look up.
"Another time?" Bowser Jr. laughed again. "You know what they say, there's no time like the present."
"Sure the is, there's some time in the distant future…the very distant future."
"Well, I'm here right now, I think that we might as well just get it over with, don't you think?"
"Am I the only one wondering how he got into that cake? Especially considering that those little mushroom people just baked it? I'm writing down God awful security measures within castle walls." Evelyn said, going to write it down on her notepad. Peach gave another long sigh, noticing Evelyn writing on her clip board out the corner of her eye. She shook her head and then she went on trying to negotiate with Bowser Jr.
"Please, I know you just want to grab me and go, but please, just this once." Princess Peach pleaded. Evelyn thought over how little control Peach had over this situation despite her being the main monarchy…that in mind, where was the king and queen anyway? After all, she was only Princess Peach. Bowser Jr. smirked at Peach's remark.
"Oh don't worry; I'm not the one grabbing you this time. Let them fly!" Bowser Jr. called out as loud as he could. For a moment, it looked like nothing was happening and Evelyn noted how Mario did nothing but stand there while this turtle-thing made threats at his princess. Unbeknownst to the residents inside the castle, a rather large Bullet Bill had been fired at their very locations. It rocketed fast and straight, coming straight fro the castle wall, soaring passed the waterfall. Peach, the Toads, Evelyn and Mario were all blown back by an enormous concussive blast that absolutely shattered and destroyed the wall of the dining hall. Chaos broke out. The Toads, Koopas and Lakitas all panicked and started running around, unsure what to do, trying to escape. There was an enormous looming, wooden airship hovering just outside of the massive gap in the wall. It moved closer, its crew hidden from sight. A giant mechanical hand came up from the ship and it shot towards Princess Peach. I snatched her in its grasp and it started to reel her to the ship. Mario no longer stood by. He sprang into action, running straight towards the mechanical hand. He jumped up and he pulled back a fist, ready to strike the mechanical monster. But suddenly, he was blown back. Bowser Jr. stood there smugly staring at Mario.
"Mama mia!" Mario cried out, struggling to get up from the floor as he lie on his back.
"The major reason that I was sent here ahead of everyone else was just in case you decided to try anything funny." Bowser Jr. said with a vicious smile. Mario assumed a defensive stance as Bowser Jr. jumped, charging at Mario. Mario sprinted at him and he jumped at the last moment, landing on the other side. Bowser Jr. stopped on a dime and he spun around, darting at Mario. Bowser Jr. rammed Mario, knocking him back and causing him to shrink in size for some reason. Mario rolled over his head, recovering quickly. Mario sprinted at Bowser Jr. jumping, once, twice and finally bounding into the air doing multiple front flips. He pounced down on Bowser Jr., causing him to call out in pain. Mario gripped the small spikes on his back and he hefted the turtle-like thing into the air. Mario slammed him down on his back and he stepped away. But Bowser Jr. would not go down that easily. He was back on his feet a second later, steaming in a rage. Bowser Jr. produced a green Koopa shell and he pulled back, firing it straight at Mario. He leaped sideways, flipping out of the way once more. He controlled himself so that he was able to land down on the Koopa shell at a perfect angle that stopped its spinning furry. Mario picked it up the instant he landed on it and he jumped back into the air. He flipped around and he kicked the shell as hard as he could, launching it right back at Bowser Jr. Bowser Jr., unable to react quick enough, caught his breath as the shell hit him at full force, knocking him on his back once more. Mario did not miss a beat. Living up to his nickname of "Jumpman," Mario launched himself into the air once more to deliver a final blow to Bowser Jr. Bowser Jr. saw this coming and he instinctively recoiled into his shell, his sharp spikes sticking up. Mario gasped and he was forced to land elsewhere, his fist slamming hard onto the brick floor. He looked up and saw that Peach had already been taken up and onto the floating airship and he pursed his lips.
"Mario!" She called out for help. Meanwhile, Evelyn was still sitting on the ground from when she had been blown back from the explosion, looking around, bewildered.
"She doesn't even have an army to defend the castle in case of attacks?! Oh, this is DEFINITELY going at the top of the list…" Evelyn said, writing quickly on her clipboard. Bowser Jr. came out from under his shell and charged once more at Mario, trying to catch him off guard. Mario was able to jump once more into the air, back flipping out of harms way. Mario landed, but Bowser Jr. was already ahead of him. Bowser Jr. shot at him, ramming into him at full force, causing Mario to flail his arms and flip up into the air, landing on his back. Bowser Jr. paused and he looked victoriously down at the fallen plumber. Mario did not have the strength to get up.
"Well, it's been fun, but I've got a princess to get back to my dad." Bowser Jr. said with a final smirk. He leaped up and he knocked a Lakita off his floating cloud. He rode the cloud up to the side of the airship and he jumped off onto the deck of the airship.
"No-a!" Mario called out as the airship slowly pulled out of the gaping hole in the castle's wall.
"Catch ya on the flip side loser!" Bowser Jr. called out one last time. The airship started backing away, leaving the castle behind. The Toads and Koopas that were panicking were starting to filter out and away, escaping from the chaos. Mario watched the airship and Princess Peach sailing away and out of his grasp, moving into the blue sky.
"Mario!" Peach called out one final time before she was completely out of earshot. Mario grimaced and he pounded his fist on the ground and he let his head fall next to his arm in the dust and rubble from the destroyed castle wall. Evelyn stepped over the debris of the castle's dining hall, the decorations mostly fallen down by now, writing a series of things down on her clipboard as she went. She lifted her foot and moved it over a torn piece of ribbon lying over a gray brick from the castle wall. Evelyn continued writing as she neared Mario still laying in the scattered rubble.
"Protector unable to…protect…Princess." She read off as she wrote. "Castle design…unable to withstand…even one…attack. Geezus, you guys have got a LOT of things to work on." Evelyn said shaking her head, writing. Noticing that Mario did not react she stopped and leaned over him for a moment. "Mario?" She asked. She knelt down and she poked him with her pen. She tried again, jabbing his head.
"We have-a to go after them." He said, raising his head. Evelyn raised an eyebrow at Mario's statement.
"Ah ha, right…'we'…no, that happened last time, I'm not getting swept into some freak adventure. Look, Peach seemed like a nice person, but this is your gig, not mine. I've got a job to do." Evelyn explained. Mario pushed himself up from the dusty floor and he brushed off his blue overalls. He straightened his red cap. He had done this many times before, but for some reason, he felt as if this random woman could help him. He was not sure why he felt this way, but because he had been able to be defeated by Bowser Jr., he figured that he might be a little bit off his game for some reason.
"Your-a job is to review kingdom, that is what-a you said, right?" Mario asked her. Evelyn nodded.
"That is what I said." She responded.
"Can-a you remind me what-a P. R. O. V. E. stands-a for?" Mario asked, eyeing Evelyn.
"Its stands for Performance Reviewers of Various Entities, gosh dang it! I supposed to review you!" Evelyn said, snarling and slapping her hand to her forehead. She let her head hang moaning. "I need a new job." She fake sobbed into her hand. She readjusted her glasses and ran a hand through her hair. Evelyn stood there with a hand on her cheek, staring off into nothing.
"Alright, let's-a go!" Mario said. "Pack-a your things, we may be gone for a long-a time!" Mario said waving his hand. He ran, jumping over the scattered debris of the castle's fallen wall, heading towards the opening. The short Mario leaped, vaulted and flipped as he went, keeping his eyes on the airship floating off in the distance. Evelyn stepped over the fallen stones, and shuffled through the dust. She also looked out at the airship and she saw how far it already was and she gave a little sigh. It was going to be a long time before they managed to catch up with that thing, no doubt over unnecessarily harsh terrain, passed vicious enemies and whatever else was difficult and dangerous to get through. She clutched her clip board and made sure that her pen was behind her ear and then she started off after the jump-happy fiend Mario.
"Why does this stuff always happen to me?" Evelyn asked the sky, tossing her hands up. She shook her head and she pursed her lips as she followed far behind Mario.