Disclaimer: The following series and characters belong to their respective corporations: Nintendo, Disney, and Square-Enix, including their respectful developers. The following characters of this fic: Kyle Nasher, Dirk Lionheart, Alana (Lana) Blade, Drew Devin, and Nived Werd belong to author Mace the Manakete in agreement to his written consent.

Nintendo. Disney. Square-Enix
Kingdom Hearts Chronicles: Vol.1
KINGDOM BLESSINGS

—CHAPTER 3—
Meeting the Mario Brothers

-Mushroom Kingdom- A serene kingdom ruled by its benevolent Princess Peach Toadstool. Due to her recent disappearance, the kingdom soon gets ambushed by a team of Heartless and Wire Frames and the castle goes into a lockdown. The kingdom's holy hope are the Mario brothers, but what is of them?

Toad ran through a deep dark forest resembling the Amazon. He wore a golden highlighted shirt of the color red which matched with his red polka-dotted mushroom head. He had a worried expression on his face as he was running as fast as he could whilst taking effort to dodge every tree branch standing in his way. He emerged from the sea of trees and into a vast plain where standing in the middle was a house with a garden and a huge "M" sign taped at the front door. Toad saw Luigi with sunglasses at a distance, reclining on his summer chair while sipping lemonade and reading a magazine.

Toad entered the garden breathing sharply, "Emergency situation!"

Luigi removed his shades and stared directly at Toad, "Could you keep it down?" he spoke an Italian accent, "I'm-a busy reading my horoscope."

Toad grabbed Luigi by the colon, "Wh—Where's M…Mario?" he wheezed. Luigi pointed inside the house and Toad released him to rush inside. The green plumber followed him worryingly, "What's-a going on Toad?"

"Mario!" Toad cried.

Luigi began putting the pieces together. To him, Toad desperately asking for Mario exclusively could mean one thing. "Did something happen to Princess Toadstool again? Now I 'va told you to buy her the SP Mailbox for communication purposes but you wouldn't listen."

Toad stared back at Luigi, still sounding panicky, "Yes! You were right! I should have brought her that—!"

Toad was cut off short at the sight of a team of Heartless lurking within the floor like water puddles. Luigi stared strangely at a trembling Toad, and he too felt a little frightened,

"What's-a going on Toad? Why are you looking at me like that? You know that's not funny." Luigi said.

Mario finally entered the room. He was wearing his favorite red pajamas and his eyes were a little groggy, "What-a in the pizza is happening? I'm trying to get some sleep."

Toad turned and saw more of the Heartless, lurking about everywhere. Immediately, one emerged from the floor like a fish out of the water and leaped onto Mario to run its sharp claws through his chest. Toad screamed, "LOOK OUT!" and shoved Mario of the way. The heartless missed and jumped back through the floor. Its beaded golden eyes scrolled everywhere in the room. The Mario brothers immediately noticed the Heartless and at the same time their baby counterparts came in the room.

"What's happenin'?" Baby Mario exclaimed.

"Wha!" Baby Luigi shuddered.

"What are they?" Luigi panicked.

"I don't know, but we gotta get outta here fast!" Mario exclaimed then signaled his baby counterpart to jump on his back. Luigi does the same and both babies were on board.

The Mario quartets and Toad took off with no hesitation. The Heartless continued giving chase; their faces were as bloodthirsty as vampires.

"Can somebody please tell-a me what's going on?" Luigi exclaimed.

"Toad! What are these creatures?" Mario asked the mushroom kid.

"I don't know!" Toad replied, "All I know is that Princess Toadstool has been kidnapped."

"Again?" Baby Luigi cried.

"I know who was behind this." Mario thought, but before concluding, Toad added, "But there's more: Toadsworth met a stranger in an ivory cloak, stating him to beware of the Wire Frames! Could these creatures be them?"

"Wire Frames?" With a quick glance, Luigi examined the Heartless, They were neither in wire nor in frames. "They're just plain black to me!" he exclaimed.

The Heartless hissed. Mario added, "So if they aren't the Wire Frames, then—"

The Mario Bros. stopped short as they came across a large pool of darkness, materializing into more Heartless. The heartless gathered round them, then an indigo-colored light shot from the sky and through the ground, materializing some Wire Frames. The Mario quartets took cross-formation and fighting poses. The Wire Frames laughed foggily while the Heartless squealed ferociously. The Marios were surrounded.

"These are the Wire Frames." Mario finished as his eyes met one of the electronically figures.

"We're doomed!" Toad cried.

"Not by a long shot," Luigi cried then faced his brother and counterparts, "Let's go! Fire attack!"

The Mario Bros. lifted their hands up. Burning red sparkles formed on their hands, shaping fireballs. They aimed their powers at their enemies and blasted them off. Immediately, more Heartless and Wire Frames began taking shape. They fired more Fire attacks, but to no avail, more of the enemies kept coming.

"They're so many of them!" Toad exclaimed.

"We doomed!" The babies cried.

The Heartless let out a strident shriek, dove back through the ground then fled a quick pace . The Wire Frames looked around aimlessly and they too fled in their own fashion by digitally teleportation. The Mario Bros. and Toad looked around.

"They're gone…" Toad exclaimed.

"For the latest time, I'm not gonna ask again! What in tarnation is-a happening?" Mario barked.

"Lookee here." Baby Luigi pointed up the sky. The Mario Bros. and Toad saw the stain-glass circular seal with the keyhole at the center, seen earlier, appearing brightly into the sky. The centered keyhole shot out a beam and through it descended Kyle, his body at a sleeping position, his eyes closed. He was dressed differently now. He had a dark colon shirt over his white long-sleeved one. Around his neck was a chain necklace with a keyhole-shaped charm. His pants were still baggy white and he had white pairs of sneakers on.

His body lay quietly on the ground. Mario and Luigi looked at each other and ran up to him. The babies and Toad followed.

"Who is he?" Luigi asked.

"How should I know?" Mario said.

"Let's take him to the castle while we're at it." Toad proposed.

-Princess Toadstool's Castle-

Kyle slowly woke up and glanced over his surroundings. He was inside the guest chamber of the Mushroom Kingdom. No one was in the room but him. He noticed his outfit change and the keyhole chain necklace around his neck. "Where am I?" Kyle muttered.

He looked over to his right and saw Baby Mario cuddled besides him. He looked over to his left and saw Baby Luigi there also. He then looked over the edge of the bed and saw a flock of raven surrounding Wriggler, a huge nature worm from the castle, all taking their naps. Kyle freaked out and jumped off the bed, startling the babies, chasing off the ravens, and knocking Wriggler off the bed. The babies started started crying.

"Who are you?" Kyle cried.

"Baby Luigi scared!" Baby Luigi wailed.

"Mamamiiiiiia!" Baby Mario wailed as well.

Kyle blinked, "Uh… guys? Babies?" he gently approached the babies to comfort them but they ran to the corner of a wall.

"I-I'm sorry! but…" he stammered, "I didn't know!"

An enraged hiss sounded from behind Kyle. He looked back and saw Wriggler, her body on red-fire and her fatal eyes directly onto Kyle's. The teen backed away, his arms up. Wriggler followed, "Easy man, easy."

The babies started giggling as Wriggler chased Kyle around the room. "This is not funny!" he cried.

Toadsworth, Mario, and Luigi entered the room and witnessed the catastrophe,

"Oh my goodness! There's a Wriggler in the room!" Toadsworth exclaimed.

"Hey you!" Mario addressed Kyle, "Are you okay?"

"Of course he's okay Mario." Luigi replied, "Look at him. He's actually ready for the 100m hurdles at the next Olympics."

"Just help me out here!" Kyle cried.

Mario and Luigi looked at each other and nodded. Mario jumped on Wriggler's back and rides on her like in a rodeo. Luigi went for the window and opened it. Mario let go off the Wriggler, and she jumped through the window and vanished.

"Well that's taking care of." Mario clasped his hands. Kyle sat down and took a breather from all the running, "Thanks you guys." he said.

The Mario quartets and Toadsworth approached him, "No need to." Mario said, "They come and go all the time. At least they're not Wire Frames… or these shadows."

Kyle brought up a startled look, "Wire Frames?" he exclaimed, "Shadows?"

"You know them?" Luigi asked, "Sounds like you know them. What are they and who are you?"

"My name is Kyle. Kyle Nasher." He said, "And I'm looking for my friends. Have you seen them?"

"We've only seen you." Toadsworth said, "Well actually Master Mario and Master Luigi here saw you down the fields."

"You were unconscious." Mario said, "In fact, you saved us there."

"Saved you?" Kyle questioned, "How?"

Before the discussion could continue, a loud crash reverberated through the castle. An alerted Toad ran inside the guest room, "Toadsworth! Mario! Luigi! It's awful! They're back!"

"What?" They all exclaimed and rushed outside the castle. The castle garden was swarmed with Wire Frames, both male and female forms. This time, their Heartless accomplices were not with them.

Not again. Kyle thought. He quickly remembered his last encounter with these creatures by the moment he wielded the strange Keyblade before his defeat. He looked over his right hand but he saw and held nothing.

"Should we fight?" Luigi exclaimed.

"Of course we should." Mario looked over Kyle, "Your name is Kyle right? If you know how to fight, help us out here, will you?"

Kyle didn't say anything but he nodded and stepped in. Toadsworth, Toad, and the baby brothers stood behind trembling. A Wire Frame hissed and the entire army leaped on the three friends.

NeXt ChApTeR