Toad had always looked up to Mario. Ever since he appeared out of that warp pipe, dazed and confused, Toad had known that Mario was the kind of guy to always look after others. It was clear in the way he cared about his brother, Princess Peach, and all of his friends. There was nothing Mario wouldn't do for them, and he'd proven that time and time again as he battled every baddie known to Toad-kind and came out victorious. He was the kind of hero Toad longed to be, and Toad had never doubted him.
Until now, that is.
"Toad, aren't you scared?" Toadette whispered next to him as they marched behind Mario, on their way to the monster's castle.
Toad shook his head confidently, though on the inside he felt otherwise. "Nope! Mario's gonna be with us the whole time, and like he said, the monsters are trapped in their castle, so we have a big advantage! Plus, we packed a bunch of power-ups," Toad patted his stuffed backpack behind him.
"Hmm, I suppose so. But, what about Princess Peach? She didn't seem to like Mario's idea…" Toadette countered.
Toad swallowed hard. "I-I'm sure Mario was right when he said Peach was under a spell or something. She really wasn't acting like herself when it came to that scary monster!"
Toadette shuddered. "That's true. How could she speak about the thing that captured her and Toadsworth like that? We don't have the full story, that's for sure."
"Yeah, we just gotta trust Mario on this one. Although, we're probably still going to have to apologize to Princess Peach after this," Toad said. "She always hates being left behind, even if it's for her own safety."
Toadette nodded sadly. "Poor Princess Peach, I hope she'll understand when we get back."
"Hold up! This is-a where the book says we should-a be!" Mario announced, bringing their group to a halt.
Toad looked around, seeing nothing but dead, barren branches and dry rocks. "Uhh, are you sure, Mario?"
Mario nodded affirmatively. "Yes, this is-a it. The map in the book says it's-a right here."
Toad looked in the direction Mario pointed. The longer he stared at the empty space, the more fuzzy his head began to feel. Maybe they should just turn back…
"Do not get-a distracted!" Mario said. "Toads, this is-a just a trick! Let's-a go, follow me!"
Toad blinked hard and watched as Mario took a few confident steps forward… then completely disappeared from sight.
"Mario?!" Toadette cried. She grabbed Toad's hand and hurried after him. Toad yelped and stumbled as he was pulled forward, then gasped as there was suddenly an enormous stone castle a few hundred feet away, the tops of the towers poking out from the smog obscuring the landscape.
"Ugh! What is this place?" Toad frowned as heavy rain began to soak him. He looked back and saw more and more Toads coming in after him with similar looks of confusion.
"Form up, Toads! We are-a almost at the castle!" Mario called back to them.
Toad tried to quickly push any of his previous doubts away and be the support Mario needed. "We're with you, Lord Mario! Let's get the monster!"
Several of the other Toads hurrahed in agreement, and Mario charged a fist in the direction of the front gates. "Attack!" he cried.
They all ran up to the front gates, where they saw that the drawbridge was (unsurprisingly) pulled up, revealing the bubbling lava moat below. Toad hurriedly pulled off his backpack, then began distributing power-ups to anyone who needed one. Mario took a Super Leaf for himself, and wasted no time in transforming into his Tanooki suit. Most of the Toads took standard mushrooms, fire flowers, or ice flowers, and in a matter of seconds they all shaped up to become quite the formidable force.
Mario hovered a good few feet above them, glaring up at the turret arching over the closed front gates. Toad followed his gaze and sucked in a sharp breath as he beheld a massive Koopa– Bowser, no doubt– glaring back down at them. He was terrifying, all sharp teeth and sharp claws (it didn't help that the lava moat casted deep eerie shadows across his scowling face).
"How did you find this place?" Bowser demanded.
"It does-a not matter. Only we know how to-a find it," Mario replied coldly.
"So you snuck into the Darklands without the Koopas knowing? That's mighty low of you, Lord Mario. You knew they'd end up siding with me if they came along, didn't you?" Bowser spat through gritted teeth, taking special care to mock Mario's title. Toad felt a wave of discomfort wash over him; was that why Mario asked the Toads to come along instead of another ally? Surely, it couldn't be…
"No one would-a side with you, monster! We are-a here to destroy this evil place!" Mario retorted as he clenched his fists, moving right past Bowser's accusation.
"If you're looking for a fight, you've come to the wrong place," Bowser snarled. "We don't want any trouble, so just turn back before things get ugly."
"Looking at you, I'd say it's-a too late for that," Mario countered cheekily, to which Bowser growled. "You have-a kidnapped our Princess, and that is-a deed that cannot go unpunished!"
"I let her go, you mustachioed half-wit! Did you forget that fact before you dragged all your little gullible Toadies here?"
Toad licked his dry lips. This all felt wrong, especially after hearing Bowser speak, but how could it be when Mario was so determined? He watched in suspense as Mario pointed an accusatory finger and shouted, "You have-a done more than that! You have-a turned her against me– us, and you must-a pay!"
Bowser looked down and narrowed his eyes at them. "I can see he isn't going to listen to reason, so I'm going to give you fungus-brains one last chance to head back home where you belong. Forget about this place, and never come back."
"We are not-a going anywhere until we know our Princess is-a safe from you!" Mario interjected. Suddenly, he flew towards the chains holding the drawbridge in place and gave them a mighty whack with his Tanooki tail. The chains snapped like paper and the drawbridge slammed down dramatically. "Now, Toads!"
Toad didn't have time to think about his options any longer, so he powered-up with an ice flower and joined the stampede towards the front gates. Above them, Bowser slammed his fist on the turret wall and swiftly retreated back into the castle.
"Where do you think-a you're going? I am-a not finished with you yet, Bowser!" Mario cried, flying after him and disappearing from the Toads' sight.
Toad joined the others in battering the front doors with their powers. The door was sturdy, and judging by the way it didn't budge it was likely barricaded on the other side, but the Toads would make quick work of it.
"We've got to get in there!" Toad urged. He hoped whatever he found on the other side of these doors would give him the answers he needed.
"I've got to get out of here!" Peach cried in frustration, failing once again to pick the lock on her bedroom doors. She held up a broken hairpin in disgust and flung it away, then took to pacing. It was clear she needed another escape route.
She had no clue how a match-up between Bowser and Mario would end, but she knew it wouldn't be pretty. And as furious as she was at Mario, she still didn't want him to get hurt, nor any of her Toads. The thought that scared her the most, however, was if Bowser or Kamek or one of the Koopalings got hurt because of what she'd done. She doubled back to the doors and tried again to force them open.
"Someone unlock these doors at once!" she yelled, unsure if there was even anyone around to hear her. Tears of frustration welled up in the corners of her eyes, but she refused to cry. She was sick and tired of being treated like she was just a princess in need of protection (and truly, it was more like coddling under the guise of protection). Bowser had shown her that she had far more value beyond what people expected of her, and that she was capable of much more than she ever thought.
She longed to see him again, and wipe away his sorrowful expression that she'd seen in the crystal ball. She wanted to simply watch the stars with him and be open and honest about each other, about everything. No matter what it took, she had to get to Bowser's castle and stop Mario.
Turning away from the doors, she saw her gifted parasol sitting on top of her nightstand where the guard must have left it earlier. An idea suddenly popped into her mind, and she took the parasol in hand, holding up the tip to the morning light. Yes, if what Bowser had said was true, this would certainly do the trick.
Without another moment's hesitation she wedged the tip of the parasol into the space between the doors where the locks met, and pushed down with all her might. With a metallic snap, the locks broke. Relief flooded her, and she kicked the doors open with little to no effort. The hallway was empty, but that was just as well. No one would stop her from getting to Bowser, now.
Her next obstacle was how she was going to find Bowser's castle again. She knew the general way, but she wouldn't be able to find it in time with all the illusions distorting the castle itself, especially since Mario already had a hefty head start. The warp pipe in the gardens was out, and the book Mario took from her was likely the only accurate map available. Peach rubbed her temples and tried to think of how she could find the one place in the eight worlds that was specifically enchanted to not be found.
"I wish someone could just show me the Darklands…" Peach trailed off. An orange glow flashed in the corner of her eye, and Peach whipped around to see the crystal ball was fading into an image of the path directly outside the castle grounds. "No way…"
Peach took the crystal ball into her hands. The side nearest to her still glowed orange. She turned, and the glow shifted to match. No matter how she moved, the crystal ball "pointed" in the same direction. It was exactly how she'd used the crystal ball to return to the Mushroom Kingdom. "It can't be that easy," Peach said, shaking her head in disbelief. But she wasn't going to question it!
She took a brief minute to change into an appropriate riding outfit, sporting white pants, a ruffled pink overcoat, and knee-high leather boots. Then, she hooked her parasol onto her belt, swept her hair into a ponytail, and made a quick dash for the stables. She might have a chance to catch up to Mario if she rode on Yoshi-back. She would have preferred a motorbike, but there wasn't time to create one now, and a Yoshi would also help her if things came down to a fight.
She sped down the hallway, thinking only of getting to Bowser. However, as she turned the corner, she nearly collided with Toadsworth.
"Princess! Where are you running off to? I was feeling a bit better after a nap, so I thought I'd come to see you," Toadsworth said, oblivious to her urgency.
Peach gave him a quick peck on the forehead, then hurried past him. "I'm sorry Toadsworth, I have to go! Mario is going to kill Bowser if I don't stop him!" she called over her shoulder as she continued down the hall.
She didn't see Toadsworth's jaw drop to the floor behind her, nor hear him when he called out, "P-Princess, wait! H-How are you going to stop Mario? What's going on?!"
"What's going on?" Morton tried to peer over his siblings' heads, shoving Iggy down in the process.
"Hey, watch it!" Iggy hissed. "I can't see anything either!"
"Shhh-hh!" Wendy flapped a hand back at them as she peered through the peephole in the painting that covered the secret passageway they all crouched down in. "The servants are, like, bringing more furniture to barricade the doors, but it doesn't look like it's gonna hold those Toads back for long."
"This is preposterous, we should be out there aiding them in their counter-defense," Ludwig lamented.
"King Dad told us to hide, so we gotta listen to him and stay put, got it?" Roy retorted.
"Since when have we followed orders? Besides, this hiding place sucks, thanks a lot Larry," Morton added.
"It seemed like a good hiding place at the time!" Larry grumbled as Morton's foot smooshed his cheek as the latter tried to climb over him. "We used it to spy on Peach's old Toad friend that one time, and he never saw us!"
"Yeah, well, back then he probably heard us, since even now you all won't be quiet!" Wendy whisper-shouted.
"I've gotta get out of here, this is suffocating," Iggy tried to maneuver around his siblings to get to an exit.
Roy held out a beefy arm to block his path. "Nuh-uh. King Dad told us to hide."
"It sounds like you're just scared, Roy," Iggy taunted, shooting his brother a dirty look.
"Am not!" Roy shoved Iggy back, sending him colliding into Morton, who both then collided into Ludwig.
"You oafish brutes, stop struggling and settle down!" Ludwig huffed.
"Hey, he started it!" Roy pointed at Iggy accusingly.
"How is this my fault–"
"You boys need to quiet down, like, right now–"
"Stop shoving me, Morton–!"
"Children, may I have your attention."
The Koopalings abruptly stopped arguing and winced as a sudden bright light flooded the narrow passageway. As they blinked to adjust their eyes, they saw Kamek standing at the entryway, his hands folded behind his back seriously.
"Kamek..? What're you doing here?" Larry asked.
"Well, two things. One, you chose a horrible hiding spot, everyone can hear you arguing," Kamek began.
"Told you so," Wendy quipped.
"Second, I've come to make you all a proposal."
"Eww, none of us wanna marry you!" Morton gagged.
"Not that kind of proposal, Morton," Kamek sighed, pinching the bridge of his snout. "Listen, as much as I want to protect you, I don't think hiding you here is going to cut it. So, I'd like to ask you all, do you wish to fight against Mario?"
"Heck yes!" Iggy cried. The other Koopalings nodded to varying degrees of agreement.
"Well then, here is my proposal," Kamek suddenly opened the outer layer of his robe, like a conman displaying his goods. The Koopalings gasped as seven wands, each with their own colored gems, were revealed. "I wanted to wait until you were older… but I suppose now is as good of a time as any."
"Kamek, are those..?" Roy pointed, gaping in awe.
"Yes, young masters, these are your wands. Use them responsibly," Kamek confirmed, passing the wands out. "I need you to help us fend off the Toads, and magic is the only way we can overcome their power-ups."
"Shell yeah!" Morton whooped, grabbing his wand set with a red gem.
"Language," Kamek admonished. Morton snapped his mouth shut, but he didn't exactly look apologetic. Kamek sighed. "Listen… I'm counting on all of you. I normally wouldn't ask you children to put yourselves in harm's way… but this time…"
"You can count on us, Kamek!" Lary affirmed, raising his orange-capped wand triumphantly. His siblings all raised theirs too, and put them together as a sort of "all hands on deck" moment.
"Let's do this, boys!" Wendy cheered, waving her purple wand with a dramatic flourish. "We're gonna squash them!"
"I'm-a gonna squash you!" Mario exclaimed, zooming around a tight corner and following Bowser deeper into the castle.
"Oh, I'll bet you wish you could!" Bowser retorted, keeping just barely ahead as he charged straight towards his study, where he would lead Mario away from the others. As he came upon the double doors, he burst through them, and ducked as Mario flew overhead and attempted to divebomb him.
"What's-a the matter? No where-a left to run?" Mario taunted, landing a few feet away with his back to the open balcony of the study. The rain continued to pour, and a flash of lightning lit up the room every once in a while.
"Nope, I guess we're just gonna have to sort this out the ol' fashioned way," Bowser cracked his neck and snorted out a small black puff of smoke.
Mario grit his teeth. "I won't-a stop fighting as long as I am-a standing!"
Bowser smirked. "I was kinda hoping you'd say that."
Suddenly, Mario let out a fierce cry and launched himself at Bowser, fist first. Bowser was unprepared for the unexpected attack and raised his arms to shield himself. Mario collided and Bowser actually skidded back a few inches, though he didn't break his form. Bowser immediately countered with a left hook, and Mario went straight to the floor, his Tanooki suit blinking away into nothingness.
This didn't stop Mario, though. He got up and unleashed another volley of attacks, some of which Bowser was able to dodge, some he was not. Mairo was surprisingly quick on his feet, and though his blows weren't that heavy, all the quick jabs and constant movement was quickly wearing Bowser out.
"When-a Peach showed us what you looked like, I-a thought you were going to-a be tougher," Mario commented as he struck an uppercut to Bowser's jaw.
Bowser grunted and felt a part of him deflate at the mention of Peach. "What's she got to do with this? I let her go."
"She is-a the reason I came here in the first place. She and-a I were getting along just-a fine until you came into the picture! You should not have-a turned my fiance against-a me!" Mario spat, landing another blow to his head.
Bowser shook his head, trying to clear the spots from his vision. This Mario guy sure packed a wallop, despite his size. "It sounds like you did that yourself. She was never into you, at least not seriously," Bowser shot him a crooked sardonic grin, ignoring the aching in his jaw.
Mario's face turned beet red, then he landed a flying roundhouse kick onto Bowser's shoulder. Bowser clumsily swung at him and missed, which gave Mario an opening to sock him in the stomach. Bowser felt the air whoosh out of his lungs and he staggered back onto the balcony. Rain drenched them as they continued their fight.
"What would-a you know? You-a kidnapped her and Toadsworth. She left you the minute that-a she could!" Mario raged.
Bowser's heart wrenched at his words. Although Mario was missing a large portion of the story, he was right. Peach had left him. He clenched his jaw and tried to push down the despair he felt welling in his chest. He had to focus on the fight!
Mario seemed to gauge Bowser's reaction and titled his head to one side. "Did-a you actually love her? How sad. She would-a never return your feelings! Why would-a she when she has her hero right-a here?" Mario gestured to himself, taking slow, menacing steps towards Bowser.
Bowser slowly felt any remaining fight drain out of him. This was pointless. Why was Bowser fighting him if it was clear that Mario had already won the battle that mattered most? He had called Peach his fiance before. What chance did Bowser have against Mario now? Had he even had a chance in the first place?
Bowser saw the punch incoming, he knew he could have dodged it. Still, he flinched as Mario's fist connected with the space between his eyes. He stumbled back several steps until he crashed up against the balcony railing. Mario shook his head, disappointed in his opponent.
"It's-a over, Bowser. Peach is mine, like it's-a supposed to be!" Mario bellowed, coming in for the final blow.
"No, Mario, stop!" a sweetly familiar voice called out. Bowser felt his heart skip a beat and he quickly turned around to look over the balcony, completely forgetting about Mario at that moment.
"Peach?" Bowser gasped hopefully.
