It looked to be yet another fine day in the Mushroom Kingdom. The blue skies were cloudless, the sun was radiating, and the flowers in the gardens of Princess Peach's castle were in full bloom. Mario, Luigi, and Peach were enjoying a quiet afternoon of tea on the royal balcony. Luigi shrieked when he spotted something flying directly towards them from over the hills in the distance. By the time Mario and Peach responded, they were already engulfed in the airborne object's shadow.

Atop a wooden airship and towering high above the trio was Bowser, Junior, Kammy Koopa, and the seven Koopalings. A menacing confidence was plastered across the Koopa King's face. He lifted one pointed claw high up into the air, then lowered it straight down at the terrified targets below.

The attack commenced.

Kammy shot a magical blast down towards the balcony; destroying it in an instant. Mario scooped Peach up in his arms and carried her out of harm's way as he jumped up to the castle's roof. Luigi was caught up in the explosion as he fell to the ground with the broken balcony. Mario placed Peach down gently, reached into his pocket, and equipped himself with a Cape Feather. Much to the plumber's surprise however, this was completely anticipated. Larry and the others all dawned Cape Feathers of their own and swooped in for an aerial confrontation. Mario launched off the castle roof and met their challenge head on.

Despite being at a disadvantage, Mario was able to fend off the Koopalings with a series of kicks, punches and stomps. The plumber bought himself just enough time to spot something else approaching from the corner of his eye. Junior flew within range of him, mirroring his father's confident smirk. Energetically, the little Koopa jammed a power star into the console of his aircraft and began to build up power as the cannon emerged from the clown car's mouth. Mario recognized this attack and retreated back to the castle's roof to prepare. To his surprise however, the Koopalings immediately ceased their own assault instead of capitalizing on Mario's distracted state. After the machine had finished charging, it shot a star-powered cannon ball speeding directly at Mario. The plumber flung his cape over his shoulder with precise timing and reflected the projectile back with twice the velocity and power.

Unlike last time however, Junior was ready for the counterattack this time.

Pressing another button, two mechanical arms emerged from the clown car's sides with red boxing gloves on the hands. When the cannon ball drew close enough, the clown car's right fist clashed with it head-on in an ambitious punch. Despite some intense resistance, Junior's mechanism prevailed and sent the cannon ball straight back towards Mario once again with even more speed.

This time, the attack was too fast for Mario to react to in time. It exploded at his feet when it made contact with the roof. The plumber was sent flying backwards in the blast. The Koopalings seized the rare opportunity as they all struck the airborne Mario simultaneously with one collaborative, calculated kick. Their combined power propelled Mario hurdling to the ground below at dizzying speed.

Luigi rushed to Mario's side and helped the plumber to his feet. The two glared up at the kingdom's attackers. Before the brothers could leap into action again, Kammy managed to grab their attention with her pointed wand and directed them to look back up at the roof. They shifted their gaze just in time to see Peach being carried away by Junior in his clown car.

Mario jumped and climbed up to the roof as quickly as he could. But he wasn't fast enough. He stood by and watched as Peach was whisked away back up to the airship and dropped to Bowser's side. The malicious confidence burning in Bowser's eyes was unmistakable. Junior hopped out of his clown car and landed at his father's other side as the Koopalings boarded the airship and prepared for departure with their target in tow.

The Mario bros and Koopas collaboratively glared at each other until the airship carried the latter out of view. Mario couldn't express it in words, but he felt absolutely dumbfounded at that moment. He never expected his greatest adversary to coordinate such a perfect attack like that. It was unlike anything his evil schemes had ever entailed before. He may not have known where exactly Bowser and Junior went after his previous battle with them, but something had certainly happened to them since then. They had changed. To his, and perhaps the entire Mushroom Kingdom's great dismay….their bond had definitely grown stronger somehow.

Still, this didn't change a thing. The princess was kidnapped once again. Just like always, it was up to Mario and Luigi to rescue her from Bowser's evil clutches. With a silent exchange, the two set off for yet another adventure. Mario did his best not to show it, but he was trembling with excitement. Deep down, he couldn't wait to see what other tricks the new Bowser and Bowser Jr. had waiting for him. Surely, this was going to get a lot more interesting.

When the airship was far enough away from Peach's castle, the Koopalings and Kammy dispersed across the carrier to relax and enjoy the flight home. At his request, Bowser lifted Junior up and placed him onto his shell above his shoulders so they could watch over the land below together. Their smiles were contagious. This plan had gone smoother than any other one before it. They might very well win this time. The Koopa King couldn't wait for Mario to show up so he could put the rest of his surprises to the test.

Peach had been waiting until just the right moment. When the guard who failed to lock her prison cell finally passed, she snuck her way up to the deck and spotted Bowser and Junior. At first, she tried to approach them stealthily. But she quickly abandoned this tactic when she couldn't control the distinct sound of high heels making contact with wooden stairs. The princess picked up the pace into a more confident stride so that by the time Bowser and Junior turned to see her approaching, they would freeze in their places at her coming towards them so courageously. They waited to see what she did next.

Peach scooped Junior up in her arms and hugged him tightly. The little Koopa struggled a bit initially, but relaxed when he realized that she meant no real harm. Then, Peach stood up on her toes and kissed Bowser on the cheek. He blushed and read her smile.

"Welcome back," said Peach happily. Bowser grinned; plenty of fire still burning in his retinas.

"Good to be back."

The End

Author's (Final) Note:

Thank you so much for reading my story! The amount of praise and attention it has gotten these past few weeks was more than I ever could have anticipated and I couldn't be more grateful to you all! Bowser and Bowser Jr. are two of my favorite Mario characters and I've always wanted to write a story exploring their bond as father and child. I would love to see Nintendo do more with them in the games!

I ended up adding a lot more to this story than I originally planned because people were enjoying it so much and wanted to see more. It was a lot of fun to write and I'm very proud of how it ultimately concluded. Looking back, I did leave one loose end intentionally untied (I wonder if anyone can spot what it is). Maybe I'll explore that a bit further in a sequel story someday…...We'll see! For now, I hope you enjoyed "The Promise" and I just have to say it again…

THANK YOU!