"It's done!" exclaimed Professor Gadd as he wiped his grimy, oil-stained hands on a clean rag. "Finally! And the energy router's functioning perfectly."
"Did I hear the word 'done'?" came a sweet woman's voice through the cell door as Princess Peach walked into the room. She smiled at the professor.
"You sure did, Your Highness," replied Gadd.
"Good. I'll have the guards bring it upstairs right away." The Princess turned and swept out of the room, trying to hide the tears. All she could think of was Daisy and the fiery fate she had met at the hands of that horrid Great One. Soon, though, she might be brought back from the ashes. Please, Peach pleaded silently, please work...
It was nearly noon by the time the guards managed to lug the awkward and heavy Time Sequence Alternator up from the dungeons and out into the castle's front yard. There the somewhat-cubical steel machine was loaded into a special truck Gadd had retooled for the express purpose of carrying his prized invention. The modified pickup was equipped with a padded cargo bed, extra-strong suspension struts, slightly-deflated balloon tires to absorb bumps and jolts, and of course the Gadd Science logo emblazoned on the hood.
"I haven't run diagnostic tests, haven't triple-checked all the parts, haven't this, haven't that...I think this is a bad idea to rush off and test this thing right off-hand," Gadd muttered as he revved the truck's engine and prepared to start off.
Mario hopped into the truck's passenger seat and was about to close his door when he heard another engine moving closer. He stuck his head out of the truck and stared as a pink limousine with hubcaps, trim, and door handles all of gold came rolling to a stop next to him. Princess Peach opened the door and smiled at Mario from the back seat.
"I thought we'd take the limo this time," she called, beckoning him inside. Mario eagerly jumped from the truck, allowing Luigi to take his old seat, and got into the royal limousine. To his surprise, Princess Aster was also seated inside, and she smiled shyly at him as he sat down next to her.
"What on earth possessed you to use the limo?" Mario asked Peach, incredulous. "You've been using horse and carriage for over ten years!"
"I know," she replied readily, "but the carriage can't keep up with the Professor's truck. And I want to get to the old fortress site as fast as possible." Peach signaled Swiff T., the chauffeur, and immediately the limousine began to cruise smoothly forward. A rumbling noise behind the limo told Mario that Professor Gadd was following right behind them with Luigi and the Time Sequence Alternator. The convoy was on its way to that unnamed mountain to the north—the mountain where once had stood the evil Great One's fortress, and the place where Princess Daisy had met her doom. Perhaps...perhaps they would be able to bring Daisy back to life again...
The limousine and truck moved along the hilly forest road for nearly five miles. At last they reached the mountain and began ascending its not-too-steep slope.
"You said there was a town not far from where the fortress was, Peach?" queried Mario.
Peach nodded as she looked out the window. "Mm-hm. It shouldn't be far—" She broke off her sentence, stared out the window at something, and frantically signaled the driver to stop. The limo glided to a halt, and the truck stopped behind it.
"Peach, what is it?" Mario asked, puzzled by her behavior.
"Get out and see for yourself, Mario," was the somewhat-fearful reply as she herself opened the door and climbed out of the vehicle. Mario opened the opposite door and hopped out. He nearly fell over when he saw what Peach was staring at. His eyes got big, and his jaw dropped.
"The—The fortress—it's—"
"It's standing," Peach whispered.
"B-But that's impossible!" Mario spluttered. "We blew it up six days ago! There's no way it could have been rebuilt in less than a week! A place this big would take at least a month!"
Peach's eyes were troubled. "Get back in the car, Mario. We're going to make this trip into town as quick as possible." She and Mario got into the limousine, and the little caravan picked up speed again, moving quickly toward the mountainside town.
"There it is, dead ahead," called Swiff T. to his passengers as he spotted the town. "Looks rather small—and I don't see anyone around."
Peach shivered a little, and Mario put his arm around her. "Peach?"
"I'm fine, Mario. Just...just memories."
Mario squeezed her a little, and she smiled wanly.
The two vehicles rolled into the town via the main road, which was entirely cobblestones. The drab wooden buildings, once brown, were weathered a dull gray, giving the place an atmosphere of dreariness and despair. The few people on the sidewalks turned and stared with vacant, hollow eyes at the limousine and pickup as the vehicles passed them. Peach looked into those haunting eyes and shivered. The Great One's iron rule over these people was...killing... They have no personality left. They're like...machines...
"It'll be OK, Peach," said Mario comfortingly. "Even if the fortress is standing, we know the Great One's dead. There's no way she could have survived that grenade going off in her face, much less the entire building collapsing on her. You're safe. She won't be coming after you anymore."
The Princess said nothing.
After a few minutes of silence, the limousine cruised to a stop, and Swiff T. shut off the engine. He quickly got out of the driver's seat and opened the door for the Princess. Peach thanked him somewhat distractedly ad carefully stepped from the vehicle. Mario and Aster were right behind her. The next moment Gadd's truck pulled up and stopped beside the limo, and Luigi and the Professor scrambled out of the cab.
The group now stood in the town square, a large open area paved with cobblestones and circled with buildings. Peach's eyes were riveted on the center of the square, where a large black scorch mark stood out boldly from the cobbles.
Peach shuddered. "That's it... Daisy..." She brushed the tears away. "Professor, target the center of the square."
"Got it!" The Professor climbed into the truck bed next to the Time Sequence Alternator and flipped the switch to turn it on. Instantly the Alternator whirred into action, its complex circuitry booting up and going into standby mode. After waiting a few seconds for the machine to warm up, Gadd punched in a series of coordinates on the Alternator's numeric keypad. An LCD screen next to the keypad immediately displayed the town square. Elvin Gadd selected the center of the square by touching the screen, and the screen highlighted the indicated area in blue.
"How far back do we need to go?" questioned the Professor, craning his neck around the Alternator to see the Princess.
"Six days, Professor—to Sunday, August 6," Peach responded in a choked voice. "Seven o'clock in the morning."
Professor Gadd promptly entered the date and time into the Alternator using the keypad. A yellow button next to the screen began to flash, and he pushed it.
"Initiating continuum segmentation sequence in 3...2...1..." A flash of light burst from the center of the square, then nothing.
"It's working so far," breathed Gadd in relief. "The center of the square is now cut off from the rest of space-time. Segmentation complete." A red button just below the yellow one started flashing. The Professor crossed his fingers. "Here goes! Beginning time rewind!" He pushed the fatal button and held his breath.
Suddenly there seemed to be a bubble around the center of the square, a bubble containing a movie playing in rapid rewind. People rushed backward from one side of the bubble to the other, then vanished just as fast as they had appeared. The scene inside the bubble grew dark, then light, then dark again as sunset and sunrise came in quick succession. Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Aster watched in amazement as time in that little area literally "played backward." Upon reaching 7 AM, Sunday, August 6, the rewinding "movie" suddenly paused. Princess Peach nearly lost control of her tears as she saw Daisy again before her, bound to that horrible stake, fear etched into her face. Peach turned to Mario as Aster burst into tears.
"Mario—!" That was all the Princess could say before choking up.
Without a word, Mario dashed forward and leaped into yesterday, going back six days with one jump as he entered the bubble containing the past. Quickly he torched the ropes around the frozen-in-time Princess Daisy with fireballs and wrenched her free of the stake. He retreated back into the present just as rapidly.
Daisy gasped and went limp in Mario's arms, shocked. "Wh-What? Mario—How—?!"
Mario quickly carried the startled princess to Peach and Aster and gently laid her on the ground. "It's OK, Daisy. You're safe now. We're gonna get you out of here."
"Stop right there!"
Mario whirled around to see a menacing silver-armored soldier in a red tunic stalk out of the time bubble. "Return the princess at once!"
"The Great One's personal bodyguard—he's a Paroidian Guard!" Peach screamed. "Mario, watch out!"
Another Paroidian stepped from the bubble, sword in hand.
"Impossible!" Gadd spluttered, punching away at his keypad. "Those guards should be incapable of moving! Time in that area is frozen!"
"Just shut off the Alternator, Prof!" Luigi hollered, backing away from the two hateful-looking soldiers.
"Can't! I have to return time to its normal state first, or the entire continuum might collapse!" The Professor was frantically checking his watch and trying to enter the exact current time into the machine's database.
Another guard set foot in the present.
"And what'll happen if the continuum collapses?" Luigi yelled.
Professor Gadd punched in a few more numbers in rapid staccato. "The universe will be destroyed!"
Luigi gulped. "Not good."
"Almost got it!" Elvin shouted. The yellow button began to flash again, and he immediately smacked it.
A fourth Paroidian Guard stepped from the bubble just as it dissipated, leaving the center of the square untouched and perfectly normal again—but without the scorch mark on the cobblestones. This minor detail went unnoticed by Mario and his companions. They had more important matters to consider—such as four very angry guards with four very sharp swords. Mario readied his fists.
"You'll take Daisy over my dead body!"
The four Paroidians rushed Mario and Luigi, but the brothers leaped to either side, allowing their attackers to pass harmlessly by. Immediately the guards stopped, turned, and attacked again, blades swinging.
Ducking a slash, Mario shot out his leg and tripped one of the guards, sending him sprawling. The other guard attacking Mario was met with a flying kick as Mario performed a backflip and smashed his shoe into the Paroidian's jaw, knocking him out instantly.
Luigi ran at the two guards pursuing him and dove headlong between the legs of one of them, catching him off balance and knocking him to the cobbles. Rolling onto his hands and knees, Luigi scrambled out of the way of the second guard, who wound up stabbing his partner instead of the green-shirted plumber. Enraged, the guard attacked Luigi like a berserker, forcing Luigi to flee.
Mario, seeing his brother running, grabbed the sword from the guard he'd tripped and rushed the one chasing Luigi. Instantly the guard turned and made a tremendous slash at Mario, which the plumber easily dodged. Mario took advantage of his foe's temporary lack of protection to bring his stolen sword down on his enemy's head, killing him on the spot. The guard Mario had tripped stumbled to his feet, only to have his head stomped on by Luigi. He went down like a rock.
The threat eliminated, Mario and Luigi returned to the two vehicles to find Peach, Daisy, and Aster in a tearful reunion. Aster was all over her older sister, finally settling in Daisy's lap and locking her arms around Daisy in a tight embrace, crying tears of joy. All Peach could do was shed her own tears with a smile as she too hugged Daisy. But Daisy was the most emotional, for in her mind she'd just been saved from a fiery death. She didn't know that to Peach and Aster, she'd been dead for six long days. And even if she had known, she wouldn't have cared. It was enough just to be safe again and to be in the company of friends, not enemies. Daisy simply wept as she squeezed her little sister close.
"Daisy!" cried the little princess in green, hugging Daisy even more tightly.
"I'm OK, Aster, I'm OK," Daisy choked out between sobs. "Oh, it's so good to see you safe, and Peach too!" Daisy looked up at Peach with teary eyes and smiled. Peach hugged both sisters at once, at a complete loss for words to describe her joy.
Mario put a hand on Daisy's shoulder, and she looked up at him. "It's good to have you back safe and sound, Daisy."
"Thanks, Mario," she replied with a sniffle.
"Uh, Daisy, I, uh..." Luigi fumbled for words. "I'm glad you're OK," he finally managed.
Princess Daisy smiled at him and he reddened.
Suddenly Peach screamed "LOOK OUT!", and Mario dove to the side as the previously-unconscious guard slashed at him. The enraged Paroidian attacked Mario in silent fury. However, Luigi managed to kick the guard from behind, knocking him onto his face. Mario promptly stomped him into oblivion.
"It's OK, Peach," Mario reassured the anxious Princess. "They're all gone now."
"That's more of the Paroidian Guard than I ever wanted to see again," Peach said nervously. She shuddered. "It just makes me think of that horrible Great One and all she did to us. Let's get out of here—now." Quickly she bundled herself into the limousine, followed by Mario, Aster, and Daisy. Luigi and the Professor hopped into the truck. Swiff T. revved the limo's engine and sped off toward the castle, the truck close behind him.
"Daisy, won't you stay with me for a few days?" asked Peach. "I just want to have a few long talks with you. There's so much you don't know—so much on my mind..." She trailed off.
Daisy shook her head. "I'm sorry, Peach, but I can't. Sarasaland is without a ruler unless I'm there. And I still need to teach Aster how to handle things around the castle. I have to take her home." Daisy's voice was apologetic. Aster snuggled closer to her older sister.
Peach looked crestfallen. "I understand," she sighed and dropped her head. Mario put his arm around her.
"Don't worry, Peach. I'll call you tomorrow," Daisy hastened to say, "and we can talk then. I've got to get Aster home first, though."
"I don't blame you," Peach replied. "She's been through a lot."
In minutes the group arrived back at Peach's castle. Great was the staff's surprise when Daisy walked through the front doors after having been dead six days! From the hundred-and-one questions posed her, Daisy finally figured out the six-day gap she'd passed through via Gadd's Alternator machine. She was so grateful that she actually hugged the Professor, nearly breaking him in two with her crushing squeeze.
"Ooof! Daisy!" protested the elderly man as he felt himself being asphyxiated.
"Thank you, Professor, thank you!" was Daisy's response, squeezing a little harder before finally letting go.
"Well, Daisy, your carriage is still here from the tennis match two weeks ago," Peach informed her friend. "If you wanted to go..."
Daisy hugged Peach again. "Yes, we're going. Come on, Aster. We're going home!"
"Home!" repeated the little seven-year-old excitedly as she raced to her sister. Daisy caught Aster's hand and followed Peach out to the royal stables. The yellow-and-orange carriage with gilded green wheels was already outside waiting for them, complete with four beautiful white stallions. The majestic creatures pawed the ground from their harness, impatient to be off.
With one last hug, Peach parted from her friend and watched her and Aster climb into the carriage. The driver flicked the reins, and the carriage rolled out of the stable yard, headed for Sarasaland. Peach waved after it, tears welling in her eyes. Mario came up beside her and put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
"Well, that's done," he said at last, breaking the silence that had settled over the stable yard.
Peach still gazed after the retreating vehicle, now just a tiny toy moving down a distant road. She looked over at Mario. Her face held a deep, unexpressed sorrow.
"Peach, what is it?" asked Mario, worried. "What's wrong?"
She hung her head with an exhausted sigh. "I don't know," she finally answered with a trace of uncertainty. "Ever since the Great One put me through all that psychological and physical torment, trying to get me to give up the crown, I just haven't been the same up here," she added, putting a hand to her forehead. "My mind seems to be a swirling blank, hollowly taking in its surroundings but not really comprehending anything."
"I'm sorry, Peach," Mario told her, trying to ease her mind somehow.
"It's not your fault." Peach stared at the sky, watching the cottony white clouds drift lazily through the August air. Her expression was one of puzzled worry.
"...I just have...so many questions," the Princess managed at last. "So many questions—but no answers." Her eyes roved the sky as if searching for the answers to her queries. Then she looked back at Mario and voiced the question that lay heaviest on her mind, the question she felt she must know the answer to.
"Who was she?"
"The Great One?" Mario counter-questioned.
Peach nodded. "Something about her seemed...I don't know, familiar to me, I guess. Like I'd met her before. But I know I hadn't." The Princess seemed deep in reverie; then she looked back up at the sky and voiced her question once more.
"Who was she?"
After a few minutes of watching the Princess gaze into the cloud-dotted sky, Mario quietly took her hand and escorted her back into the castle. She was subdued and quiet as they entered the building, but managed a smile at Michael, who always seemed to view her with both awe and excitement. He tagged along beside the Princess as she and Mario walked the castle halls, smiling up at her now and then, until Peach finally bent down and kissed his cheek in a motherly way. The Toad boy blushed and smiled bashfully as her, and she smiled back, her gloom and stress forgotten. Suddenly Rachel's voice filtered down the hall.
"Michael!"
"Coming!" called Michael and scurried off down the hall.
"Why does he always cheer me up when I'm like this?" Peach said with a lingering smile on her face as she watched him go.
Dinner that evening was a happy affair, as the Princess had been cured of her blues by Michael's childish charm. The time around the table with those she knew and loved was joyous to her, made doubly so by the rescuing of Princess Daisy that afternoon. Peach still felt like she would burst with happiness at having seen her friend alive and safe again. Mario, sitting on her immediate right as usual, sensed her joy and met her eyes with a knowing smile several times. Conversation was light and cheerful.
After dinner, everyone, including the Rainbow Guardians and Russ T.'s family, participated in a game of charades. Mario led out by making short, hard jumps across the great dining hall.
"Hold it, bro! That's the Goomba-stomping domino-effect thing!" Luigi yelled out.
Mario pounded his fist onto his leg in disbelief. "Man, and I was only one jump away from a 1-Up, too!"
Laughter erupted in the hall, and Luigi took his place for his turn. He crouched on the floor, storing up his energy until he flashed brightly, then suddenly sprang upward in a tremendous leap that wound up bonking his head on the twenty-foot ceiling. He landed with a dazed look on his face.
"I've never seen such a high jump!" Amber exclaimed. Luigi took this as a compliment and grinned. The others were dredging up memories, trying to remember what Luigi was acting out.
"Got it!" called out Toad. "The Super Jump!"
"Of all the people to remember, it would be you, Toad," Peach laughed. "You were the one who needed it the most back then!"
Toad then took his turn by saying, "Thank you! But our princess is in another castle!"
"AUUUUUUGH!!" Mario put his hands over his ears. "Knock it off, Toad! You KNOW I hate it when you say that! Was that ALL you guys could think to say when I saved you?! Talk about ANNOYING!!!"
"Speaking is against the rules, Toad," Peach admonished him after she managed to stop laughing. "And you know it!"
Toad grinned mischievously.
It was nearly midnight by the time the impromptu party broke up. Mario, Luigi, and Professor Gadd left the castle, and the others went to their respective rooms.
The Princess took her time getting ready for bed, feeling somewhat leisurely that evening. First she went through her usual routine of removing crown and jewelry and meticulously arranging them on top of her bureau-sized jewelry cabinet. She then went to her wall-length closet, pushed back the sliding door, and removed her light, short-sleeved pink nightgown from its hanger. Removing her dress, the Princess slipped into her airy gown, folded her dress neatly, and set it near the door for the laundry crew to take care of.
Entering her adjoining private bathroom, she brushed her golden hair in front of the pink-framed mirror, then brushed her teeth with her pink toothbrush. The Princess walked back into her bedroom, crossed the room to the courtyard window, and opened the window as she always did.
Being surrounded by cool stone walls, the courtyard was usually pleasantly cool despite the August heat. Sure enough, a wave of cool air washed over the Princess as she opened the window, making her smile at its delicious feel. She seated herself on the wide stone sill and gazed up over the courtyard walls at the myriad of glittering stars overhead, intrigued by their sparkling grandeur. She was the perfect picture of pure, untarnished beauty as she sat on the sill looking up into the vast canopy of space, with her golden hair cascading down her back in wavy folds and her pretty silk gown that accentuated her loveliness without being too revealing.
At last the Princess got up from the windowsill and slipped under the blankets on her bed, the pink silk canopy fluttering a little as her movement stirred up a breeze in the room. For a brief moment she smiled; then, closing her eyes, she fell almost immediately into a fitful sleep. Her evening had been enjoyable, but she needed rest now.
"So...I assume the order was received?"
The Paroidian Guard nodded silently, it not being characteristic of his kind to speak much at all.
A slight, cunning smile spread itself over the Great One's veiled face, and she waved the guard out of the throne room.
In a moment she rose from her silver throne and exited the room also, winding through a maze of stone hallways that would confuse nearly any intruder in her imposing fortress. At last she came to the door she wanted. Opening the reinforced-steel door, she stepped into what appeared to be a research laboratory. Test tube racks holding countless chemical vials were scattered about the room; several tables holding microscopes, computers, and complex machinery also dotted the area; and seated at one of the tables was a single man. He was built like a weightlifter, incredibly toned and muscular, even tanned a little—and wore a white lab coat and thick glasses, contrasting his powerful exterior with an intelligent interior. He looked up from his microscope as the Great One entered the room.
"Greetings, Master. The test is almost complete."
"Excellent, Ray," replied the Great One. "What does the diagnostic program predict from this DNA alteration?"
Ray pointed to a nearby monitor, and looking at it, the Great One smiled. "Perfect."
"The DNA must still be used to develop a starter cell," cautioned Ray.
"I know that." Swiftly she moved to the wall of the room and placed her eye in front of a sensor for a retinal scan.
*Subject verified as the Great One. Opening cryogenic storage chamber.*
The wall slid back to the computer's announcement, revealing a grayish room with six icy-blue capsules against one wall. The Great One stepped inside, and the wall slid shut with a swish behind her.
"Ah, my beauties," crooned the evil woman to the grotesque creatures sealed in the capsules, "soon I will awaken you and, after multiplying your numbers, release you to take control of the Mushroom Kingdom once again!"
The hideous creatures stared blankly back at her as she continued. "The time has nearly come. You are the sole survivors of your race, but soon there will be countless millions of you!" She laughed softly to herself, gazing at her prized possessions, suspended in time in their cryogenic capsules. Six ugly purple mushrooms with claws that glinted like steel on their pincer-like hands and terrifying fangs protruding from their half-open mouths.
Shroobs.
Peach groaned at the intrusive buzz of the alarm clock that had invaded her slumber. "Six o'clock already?" she yawned as she reached for the alarm and shut it off. The quietness that settled over the room without the noise of the clock was overpowering, and the Princess was almost immediately lulled back to sleep. Sunday morning would have to wait for her...
"...ake up! Your Highness, wake up!"
Peach's eyes flew open. "Wh-Whuh? Did I fall asleep again?" she asked tiredly.
Rachel's smiling face bent over the Princess's sleepy one. "It's almost eight o'clock, Your Sleepiness," she reproached lightly.
"Eight o'clock?!" Peach would have gotten up, but her limbs felt like lead and protested against moving.
"Yes, and of all the days to sleep in, you would pick this one," continued Peach's personal servant with a shake of her head, making her golden braids swing back and forth.
"What do you mean, Rachel?" queried Peach, thoroughly puzzled.
Rachel slapped her forehead. "Sometimes you amaze me, Your Highness. I never thought a princess could forget her own—"
"Birthday!" Peach shot up from under the blankets. "It's August thirteenth!"
"About time you remembered," admonished Rachel with a smile. "Now you'd better hurry up and get ready. The day's not getting any longer, you know."
"Yes, Toadsworth," Peach returned in feigned exasperation. The two laughed, and Rachel left the room so Peach could get dressed for the day.
Toadsworth... The thought triggered a pang of sorrow as Peach recalled seeing her trusty steward's lifeless corpse lying on the throne room floor at the feet of the Shadows Royal. She shook her head. "No... I can't get lost in memories today. My birthday party's this afternoon, and I mustn't spoil it with moroseness." Peach pushed the painful past from her thoughts and forced herself to focus on the day ahead. Soon she was all smiles again, humming to herself as she put on her pink dress (of which she had several dozen), brushed her hair, washed her face, and otherwise made herself presentable as royalty.
Emerging from her chambers, the Princess briskly made her way to the dining hall to partake of an unusually late breakfast. She received a good deal of good-natured ribbing about sleeping in on her birthday. It appeared that the day would progress as any other—no mishaps, no tricks, and certainly no attempts on her life. After all, who would try to kill the Princess on her birthday?
Silently the Great One surveyed the castle from her aerial vantage point. Her private helicopter hovered not two miles from the Princess's castle, just far enough away so that it would be difficult to spot but just close enough for the Great One to brood over her target. She smiled behind her translucent veil.
"Perfect," she said to herself, the roar of the gyrating rotor blades drowning out the rest of her words. Turning, she nodded to her black-suited pilot, and he immediately started the chopper moving, setting a course for the Great One's fortress.
The Great One smiled again. Soon...soon she'll be mine...and this time she won't escape. I'll get my kingdom back from her yet!