Hello, everyone! So for the past year, I haven't written any stories as I ran out of motivation, but overtime, that motivation returned to me, and so, I will be doing a rewrite of my first story, Like Hero, Like Villain, which there are many things I will change. I will leave the original if you want to compare, but beware of certain spoilers as some are the same.

A couple of other noteworthy things. This story will take place after Mario Odyssey and will contain out-of-character moments, though there aren't as many as compared to the previous version. Nonetheless, here is my rewrite of Like Hero, Like Villain.

Disclaimer: Mario is Nintendo's property, not mine.

Like Hero, Like Villain Redux

Chapter 1: The Worth of a Hero

Mario smiled as he got out of his bed. He glanced at the sunrise, knowing the occasion that was about to happen, a date with Peach. The last few months were some of the wildest that they ever experienced in their lives. Bowser, who was so desperate to be with Peach, at least in Mario's eyes, kidnapped her for the umpteenth time to force her into marriage, which led to one of the wildest goose chases Mario had to ever do as they went practically all over the world. He met with a new friend named Cappy who helped him on his quest, but a couple months had passed since they last saw each other, and a lot has changed since then. Mario and Peach have been slowly growing their relationship with each other even though it started out rough. He glanced at the hammer that laid on the table as he placed stuff into his backpack. The one being who wasn't absent was Bowser. After the wedding failed, his appearances grew a lot more frequently as the days flew by. The plumber could tell that he was very desperate and had often hoped that he would've died on the Moon, but no. Of course not. That Koopa always found some sort of way to come back alive no matter how much he was beaten. He could even survive being blown up in the collapse of his own galaxy and Mario wouldn't be surprised if he saw him the next day. That was how much the Koopa angered the plumber. All he wanted was to keep the kingdom safe, but time-and-time again, Bowser always came back. It was like he had more lives than a freaking cat for crying out loud! Mario shook his head. Enough about Bowser. He had to focus on his date. He grabbed the hammer. Better be safe than sorry. "Hey, Bro." Luigi walked downstairs with coffee in hand. "You're up early. Going somewhere?"

"I'm on a date."

"Oh! Is it with who I think it is?"

"Who do you think?"

"I knew it!" Mario rolled his eyes and zipped his backpack. "Say hi to Peach for me!"

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever. I'm-a going." He closed the door and went on his way into the plains.

Bowser's Castle

Bowser glanced outside his window. It was still dawn as the sun only just started to rise. He snorted. A couple of months had passed since his forced marriage that would've brought him and Peach together. Well, that would've been the case if it wasn't for that wretched plumber. Mario just always had to arrive and stop his plans, didn't he? Well, that drove the Koopa crazy mad and went on a slew of kidnapping attempts, one after another failing at his hands, but he didn't care. Eventually, Mario would fail. It was just a matter of time before that would happen. All that Bowser had to do was to keep trying and whaling at him until he crumbled. He got out of his blankets and headed to his Koopa Clown Car. The guards saluted him as he walked out towards the lower levels of the castle quietly as everyone else was still asleep. As he approached the door, Kamek's voice rang out. "Out for a leisurely stroll, are we? Or do you have other plans in mind?"

"Kamek, where I'm going is none of your business," the Koopa growled.

"But that's where you're wrong, Your Spikiness. You see, I'm your advisor, and as such, you need to adhere to my-"

"Shut up!" He marched towards the Magikoopa. "I did what you told me and took a break."

"Yes. For only three days! You need to stop worrying about this and-"

Bowser gave him a hard stare. "Let me make myself clear. I give the orders around here and can do what I please. You have no right to question me, who is your king, I also might add. Do you understand?" The Magikoopa was silent. "Answer me!"

"Yes, Your Beefiness."

"Good. This stays between us. I'm going by myself."

"Your Stenchness, people will find out and they will bring up the same concerns I've had for the past two months! You must listen to me!"

Bowser snorted. "I'm leaving." He slammed the doors behind him. Kamek sighed. Bowser was always a stubborn being; he should know as he practically raised him, but why did he have to be this stubborn? Normally, Bowser would acknowledge his advice. It gave the Magikoopa a sense of purpose, but because of the failed wedding, all he wanted to do was throw whatever plan he concocted in five minutes and see what stuck, which was nothing. Kamek shook his head. Fine. If Bowser wasn't going to listen to his words, then perhaps suffering would be his best teacher at this point.

Mario caught sight of Peach, who was waiting for him with a basket in hand. She was dressed in a more casual outfit than her normal dress. He whistled. "Someone's rocking a new look. I love it!"

"You do know that I have more outfits than my dress, right?" she said as he unpacked his stuff.

"I know, but I'm allowed to compliment you, unless you don't want it, then I'll take it back."

She laughed. "Of course I want it! I'll take any compliment you give me."

Mario huffed. "As I thought."

"Quit being a sassy pants and finish setting up the picnic. It's not everyday I get up this early, especially for an occasion as important as this."

"Duly noted." The plumber quickly got the cloth, the plates, and silverware laid out as Peach opened her basket of food she cooked herself consisting of various food items. They were all set within minutes and began eating. He exclaimed "Mmm!" as he ate the food.

"Is it good?" Peach asked.

"More than! This food is so good! These melt in my mouth!"

"I did some research and they're called hor d'oeuvres. I added my personal touches to them."

"So good!" He swallowed his food. "I know we had our argument on the Moon a couple months ago, but I'm glad you agreed to this. I just wanted to get a break from practically everything."

"Even Bowser?"

"Don't even get me started on-a him." Peach could see the tightening of his muscles. It was obvious he was stressed due to the raids from the Koopa King. Perhaps even angry, ready to burst like a balloon. It was something she rarely saw in the plumber as he was often a cool and chill guy.

"I'm sorry, Mario. I didn't mean to give you stress."

"It's-a OK," he said. "I'm not gonna focus on him. Right now, it's just the two of us."

"Oh, how hilarious that statement is." The two whipped around to see Bowser smirk at them from his clown car. "What's with the frowny faces? Did you miss me? Cause if you did, today's your lucky day! Good-ole Bowser is here!"

"Bowser, I'm not in the mood for your practical jokes right now," Mario growled. "If you wanna traumatize us, do it later."

"Oh, Mario's personally inviting me to traumatize him? I'm touched!" He narrowed his eyes. "Wait. I see what's going on here. You're trying to start something with Peach, aren't you?"

"She was never yours to 'start something' to begin with. I'm only trying to make up for the things I said to her, but as on schedule, here you are, always ruining things at the worst possible moment."

"It's my specialty."

Mario glanced at Peach. "We'll finish our date later. You head to the castle. This shouldn't take too long." She nodded and ran.

"No!" Bowser flew forward to grab her, but Mario whacked the car back with his hammer. "You pesky little plumber!"

"Yeah. Go ahead and-a throw every single insult you can at me; it's not gonna make you more terrifying."

"Shut up!" Two red boxing gloves flew out of the side compartment and tried to crush the plumber, but he rolled and threw his hammer at the Koopa before jumping and knocking him out with the combined power of both hits. He grunted as he landed on the ground.

"Tell me," Mario said as he walked to him, twirling his hammer, "Where are the rest of your goons hiding?"

"They aren't with me."

"You came by yourself?" The plumber snorted. "Well, I guess today is my lucky day."

"I don't need my minions to defeat you," Bowser growled as he stood up. "My strength alone is enough!"

"Really? We've clashed for so many years, and yet you've lost time-and-time again. Makes me wonder if you're starting to lose some power behind those proclaimed muscles of yours. Old age can do that to us." Bowser roared and charged at him, swiping his claws at him. Mario dodged with ease and sighed. "I'm tired of this dull fight." He kicked him in the groin before knocking him back with his hammer. Bowser still kept clawing at him. He wasn't a person to just stop just because his archenemy wanted him to. He was the almighty Koopa King! He could stop anyone if he worked hard enough, even if he wasn't in the best fighting condition, but the constant raids made his movements more sluggish than they've ever been, and that was the deciding factor of who won as Bowser was knocked down one more time, exhausted and covered with bruises from all the whacks. "Are you done?" Mario said.

"No!" He punched the legs holding him down, but they lacked the necessary energy to do anything.

"I think we are, so let me make myself clear." He gripped his face. "You come near Peach ever again, then I will make sure that your life ends, permanently. Do you understand me?" He had a huge snarl on his face. Teeth gritted. Cheeks red. It was probably the angriest Bowser had ever seen from the plumber. It made the Koopa's nerves tickle with fear just a little, but he did his best to hide it with a chuckle. "Oh, so you think this is funny now?"

"Just a little. I mean, Mario, the Mushroom Kingdom's most famous hero, is actually threatening to kill me? Imagine what the headline would be! Bowser Brutally Murdered by the Famous Mario! Is He Truly a Hero? People would eat it up! It's so hilarious!"

Mario sighed. As much as he wanted to sock him, for once in his life, he agreed with Bowser. It he were to truly kill Bowser, it would ruin his relationship with Peach. No. His relationship with everyone. It wasn't just about Peach. Then again, it was only a threat; it was up to Bowser to figure out what to do with it, but if Bowser was smart as he always said he was, he would stay away if he knew what was good for him. "It doesn't matter. Just stay away from her."

"Her or the kingdom?"

"What?"

"I don't mean to be a bad apple, but you seem to be forgetting the other important thing that matters: the safety of your own people. A hero like yourself shouldn't neglect them, now would they? Just something to think about. Anyway, bye 'hero'." He trudged away with his broken car as Mario just stared at him in confusion. The Koopa smiled. He just gave him the trump card he needed to get Peach. "Thank you, Mario." He sighed. He was gonna get an earful when he got home.

Peach walked back and forth as she waited for Mario's arrival with the same old good news. Yes, she knew the danger of staying outside; some of Bowser's minions could snatch her in the middle of daylight, but she cared for his safety. He was very tense before Bowser showed up, and his presence certainly didn't calm things down. She didn't know how much longer it was gonna be before he cracks, so making sure he was OK was her priority, though others had different plans. "Princess?" Toadsworth walked to her. "What are you doing outside the castle? You know the new rule: always stay inside, where it's safe from Bowser. You wanna know how many times he tried to kidnap you in the past two months?"

"I don't need to be reminded, Toadsworth."

"Then why are you still out here by yourself? If you're waiting for Master Mario, wait inside or at least have a guard with you. Now come before something bad happens!"

"Hey." Mario walked to them with a smile, though Peach didn't buy it. He obviously wasn't happy considering how tense he was and still probably is. He was trying to hide it.

"Master Mario, you're back! Bowser's taken care of, I presume. Jolly good show! We need to celebrate your heroics! I shall have the Toads prepare a-"

"I think I'll-a go home, actually."

The Toad nodded. "Of course. We can't have our greatest hero be tired, now could we? Well, you get some rest, chap. I might do the same." He went to the castle. Peach and Mario stood in awkward silence.

"You wanna cut the bull crap act and tell me what's really going on?" the princess said. She grabbed his hand. "I've been very worried for you. I think you've been letting Bowser get under your skin for too long. If you want this relationship to work, you have to communicate with me your troubles."

"You know how I'm feeling. I'm stressed. I've been dealing with Bowser a lot lately. I just don't want to worry you."

"Really? By hiding behind a fake smile? I'd prefer it if you weren't lying to my face. You need to tell me these things so we can focus on a solution. I'm not gonna go with this relationship if I don't trust the person I might end up marrying in the end. Now, go home and rest." He nodded and walked away. He sighed. Why did he have to threaten Bowser like that? Did he know he would do that? Was he that blind by his love for Peach it made him think only about her and not everyone else in the world? Maybe Bowser was right. He slapped his cheek. No. Stop that thinking. Bowser was getting under his skin. He sighed. He needed to have a long and hard evaluation of what was important to him and how to handle stressful situations without losing his cool, or else he might end up losing everything he cared about. Dang it, Bowser. Why did he have to make things complicated?

And that is the first chapter. A bit short, but you can definitely see what I meant by OOC moments. Anyway, this story will be cross-posted on AO3 as I decided to cross my stories over to other sites. It's still a work in progress, so updates will be a bit random, but I won't have you waiting no more than two weeks at the latest. I thank you all for reading. Next time, Mario and Bowser work to reconsolidate themselves as they strive to better themselves in their own way and Mario relives what happened on that day on the Moon in Chapter 2: Reconsolidation.