Mushroom Kingdom Virus

Mario looked around the room he was in. Everything looked so high-tech and futuristic. Where had he been teleported to? He wished he knew.

Suddenly, a door opened up as a young woman with a slim build entered. She had long white hair and skin that almost looked pale. She wore what looked like a space battle outfit along with a tie. She also wore long white pants. She was dressed up like a soldier of some kind… if you ignore the business tie.

"Hello, Mario," she said with a friendly smile, Mario blinking and thinking, 'How does she know my name?'

For the most part, this should have been obvious. Everyone knew who Mario was. He was a superstar. But this was not the case with this young woman. She had a much different reason.

"Welcome," she said with a bow, "I am Melinda and you are in Celeste, another dimension linked to yours."

"Why am I here?" Mario asked as Melinda seemed to ignore this question, keeping her smile on as she said, "Follow me and I will give you the grand tour."

Mario was relieved that it wasn't a tour of the outside. He saw nothing but darkness out there through the window. Melinda showed him everything from the building's many labs to the washrooms. All the while, she acted really friendly, which was both relaxing and alarming for the plumber. It was like she was planning something.

That sense of doubt left him when the woman pointed into the cafeteria and asked, "How about some dinner?"

Mario's eyes turned into hearts when he noticed a big plate of spaghetti with only the finest of pasta sauce covering it. His mouth drooled and all sense of reality left the plumber as the smell from the sauce lifted him towards the table, a love-struck look on Mario's face. Maybe Melinda wasn't such a suspicious figure after all.

Meanwhile, Luigi was now out cold as his hammer power had left him. Bowser was also still unconscious as Peach lifted up more toads, sucking their energy dry. All the toads had given up on trying to stop the princess and were fleeing for their lives with little to no success, all except for one.

"PRINCESS, STOP THIS BEHAVIOR IMMEDIATELY!!!" came a loud and booming voice that followed with a bit of coughing, the owner shaking his head and saying, "I say, I'm not used to shouting like that."

You're never gonna believe this, but Toadsworth for the first time was taking a stand, and against his dear princess of all things. But he wasn't unarmed, either. He had appeared before the princess wielding a weapon of some kind. It had a mushroom bud as a handle and a mushroom cap as a holder with a blade sticking up out of it. This was a weapon that had been passed down through the Mushroom Kingdom for generations and was simply known as the Mushroom Sword.

"If harming you is the only way to bring you back, so be it," Toadsworth stated, "I'd rather have a hurt princess than a destructive one."

The fire burning in his eyes showed a new side of Toadsworth the likes no one had ever seen. He had erased his cowardly thoughts and overprotective nature from his mind and gained a new sense of purpose.

Toadsworth charged towards the princess, ignoring his old man heart, while Peach threw her tentacles at him. He simply sliced the tentacles off one-by-one, but knowing they would regenerate, aimed the blade towards Peach's face.

"Let's hope this puts an end to it!" he shouted as a mushroom-shaped beam fired from the blade.

After the beam knocked Peach to the ground, Toadsworth's eyes widened as he noticed himself holding the blade then looked at Peach's position. He blinked and asked, "I say, did I do all that?"

But his loss of sanity hadn't been quite enough as the princess raised, her tentacles returning, her expression angrier than ever before and her eyes glowing a brighter shade of red. The old toad panicked as he passed out, his heart beating faster than it should.

Peach lifted the old man up as energy started to pump through her tentacles. She had started sucking the energy out of her own guardian, the man who had been like a father to her for so many years.

But as his face started to wrinkle, Luigi rose to his feet along with shell-less Bowser as all 4 eyes widened. Bowser grunted and shouted, "THAT'S IT!!!! I WANT MY TRUE LOVE BACK!!!"

Bowser charged at Peach and rammed his horns into her chest as her eyes widened. She failed to notice the evil king coming as she dropped Toadsworth, who had just enough energy leftover to breathe.

Bowser then opened his mouth and shot a fire ball at Peach's tentacles lighting all of them on fire. The princess, like before, did not feel this as she smacked Bowser in the face. When she noticed the flames on her tentacles, she simply spun her body around creating a wind current and putting the fire out.

Bowser regained focus, rubbing his head then blushed when he notices he had no shell and placed his hands over his underwear, a grin of embarrassment. This would have been more amusing, but right now, Luigi was panicking far too much and was unable to do anything to help.

Mario had finished off 4 bowls of different types of pasta as he patted his belly and asked, "May I have some more?"

"Certainly," Melinda replied, giving him a warm smile and putting the water on the boil once again, this time taking out bowtie pasta.

But suddenly, Mario's enthusiasm ended as something in his brain clicked. Then reality hit him hard in the face.

"I HAVE TO SAVE THE KINGDOM AND THE PRINCESS!!!" he shouted as Melinda dropped the bag of pasta to the floor, her eyes wide open and tears running down her face.

She quickly wiped her tears and turned to Mario saying, "It's hopeless, Mario. You tried your best and failed. Soon, your world will be destroyed. You should just spend the rest of your life here."

Mario looked down and sighed. Perhaps Melinda was right. But then he heard the tone of voice she was using more clearly. No, this couldn't be what he thought it was, could it?

"ARE YOU COMING ONTO ME!!!??" he spat, eyes wide open and his body trembling as Melinda's eyes sparkled, the girl with a sad look and blushing while saying, "Mario, I've been watching you for 2 years. They show your adventures on TV here. I love you, Mario. The princess doesn't deserve someone as great as you."

Mario gritted his teeth and fumed, shouting in a demanding voice, "Send me back to the Mushroom Kingdom!"

Melinda let down tears, kneeling down on her knees and crying, "Mario, we were meant to be together! I did everything for you; saved your life, made you pasta… all of it was for you…"

She then rose to her feet with a serious expression, wiped her tears and stated, "This is all that princess' fault! If I save the kingdom, I know you'll fall for me, Mario!"

Mario's eyes widened with fear, but before he could protest this claim, the woman pushed him to the side and walked into another room. Mario grimaced and ran after her, noticing that she had entered a room with a teleporter in it.

"Everything will be alright, Mario," Melinda said with a compassionate smile, but before she could enter, Mario leapt at her and pinned her to the ground.

As he lay atop her, Melinda blushed and said, "Please, Mario, can't this wait until after I save the kingdom?"

Mario's eyes widened as he climbed off of her and blushed while rubbing the back of his neck and saying, "You've got it all wrong."

Then he came up with a plan and said, "I'll come with you."

Melinda blushed and put on a shy smile, turning away from him as she said, "Mario, us fighting together is a dream come true, but I'm afraid the portal only takes on person and I don't want you to be in any danger."

The plumber was very irritated by Melinda's behavior, but her words were even more alarming. If Mario didn't enter that portal, it was hopeless. But he'd thought about it for too long as Melinda was only a step away from entering the portal.

"MELINDA!!!" the plumber shouted, "DON'T KILL THE PRINCESS, OKAY!!!!??"

But Melinda didn't hear him as she entered the portal and it closed up, Mario falling to his hands and knees and slamming his fist into the floor. How dare he allow this to happen? How dare he not get through the portal first? But this was no time to beat himself up. He had to find another way back to the mushroom kingdom.

His eyes sparkled when he noticed next to the portal was a computer. Maybe this was how it worked. He turned the monitor on as a female voice said, "Password required."

Mario thought hard about this, but what kind of password would Melinda have? Wait, what was the one thing that always seemed to be on her mind? Then it hit him.

'MARIO' was what he typed as the female voice came back saying, "Access granted."

All seemed lost as Luigi and Bowser were repeatedly slammed against the rubble, the princess furious beyond belief. But just when all seemed lost, a young woman with long white hair appeared wielding a blade made of pure energy. Without saying a word, she leapt at Peach and kicked her hard in the face, releasing her hold on the plumber and the turtle.

Bowser rubbed his head groaning, "Who is that?"

"I don't know," Luigi said, "but anyone who's willing to help us can't be all that bad."

Melinda leapt back at Peach, blade out as the princess whipped her tentacles at the woman. Melinda simply sliced the tentacles open as she aimed the blade towards the princess' mouth. She was aiming to stab is through Peach's head.

"SHE INTENDS TO KILL THE PRINCESS!!!" Luigi screamed, trembling with fear while Bowser grimaced shouting, "Pretty girl or not, no one kills my true love!"

Just as Melinda was about to strike, Bowser picked up a chunk of his shell with a spike on it and hurled it into the woman's back. Melinda fumed as she pried the spike out and said, "I'll deal with you afterwards, Bowser Koopa…"

But she spoke too soon as the tentacles returned and Peach used this opportunity to send the girl flying within the remaining castle walls. Melinda rubbed her head and was ready to get back to the fight when Mario appeared behind her, anger in his eyes while he snapped, "How dare you try to kill my future wife!?"