A/N: Ack, I'm a little late on this, so sorry. I'm beginning to realize why writers, artists, and other creative people typically lead such disheveled lives. Quality work is time consuming and when you love what you do, you tend to get inspired and try to neglect everything else! Of course, that's pretty incompatible with finals and life in general. In any case, summer is almost here, so I should have plenty of time for writing. In any case, I hope you enjoy what I've got here so far, I really do take everyone's comments and critiques to heart, thanks for helping me improve my story.
Two weeks had passed since Peach's weekend get-together with Daisy and now with the event only a week away, the princess was knee-deep in party planning duties.
"Tace, is it possible to make an extra batch of the cake for Gourmet Guy? I've received a personal request from him; he's really looking forward to it."
The small and sweet Toad bobbed her head in affirmation and took note of the princess' request. The whole kingdom was eager to support the princess and the community. Many of the Mushroom Kingdom's local businesses would offer as much as they could afford to give, often working around the clock, to help make the charity event a success.
"Toadsworth, um, I don't want to be a bother but, could you bring me another glass of water? I'm feeling a little off," Peach asked with a distressed look on her face.
"My dear girl, I will gladly bring you some water, but I think it's high time you got some rest, you are clearly exhausted!"
"Oh, but I have so much work to do, it's not right for a monarch to sleep on the job."
"Your Highness, you have already gone above and beyond the call of duty, you are most certainly deserving of a few winks of sleep. You have a full week left before the event and, I assure you, the work will be waiting for you when you wake up tomorrow morning. I simply cannot imagine a greater disappointment than having the annual soiree without our dear princess because she's gone and worked herself into illness."
Peach rubbed her dry and tired eyes, "You're right, as always, Toadsworth. It's probably unwise to make any decisions this late at night anyhow," she said, giving a wistful glace to the ticking grandfather clock to her right.
"Goodnight, Your Highness," said Toadsworth, motioning for the attendants to move the already drifting princess to her room.
The giant stone clock tower peacefully tolled three soft notes to the Mushroom Kingdom.
"Three in the morning," said the Koopa King to himself.
The night air was warm and still as the stars above burned brightly in the dark, moonless sky. Bowser was nervous, he had never kidnapped the princess so spontaneously before. In the past, kidnappings had been the result of several months of planning with his advisers' guidance. This time, however, he had told no one of his plans, partially because a concrete plan was exactly what he lacked.
Bowser sighed as he gazed upon the rose he had picked to give to the princess. Half of its lavender petals were missing as the result of an embarrassing struggle-turned-wrestling match to remove the rose from a rather uncooperative bush. Reminding himself "it's the thought that counts" seemed particularly stupid, given the circumstances. He felt his stomach grumble uneasily, from both nerves and hunger. In his tumult, he had forgotten about eating all together. He raked his claws against the rim of the Clown Car nervously. At last, the clock tower he was watching hit 3:15 and Bowser slowly piloted the Koopa Clown Car towards the Mushroom Castle.
Meanwhile, Princess Peach had just drifted into an uneasy sleep, seating charts and wine lists racing through her subconscious. Suddenly, she was awakened by a pair of tiny hands on her arms, frantically shaking her and a small voice urgently whispering, "Your Majesty, please wake up! Princess, please!"
"Toadette, what's the matter, is there another problem with the menu? Did something happen to the decorations?" Peach asked in a desperate voice
"Worse, Your Highness! The Koopa King is here for you again! We need to move quickly!"
Peach's body went numb with dread. Of all the days he could have picked to attack, why did he have to pick such a critical time?
"Please Princess, hurry to the secret passageway," called Toadette, tilting a candelabrum perched on the mantle to open a secret passageway in the wall.
The princess grabbed her faithful Buzzy Beetle plush and moved to descend the stone steps of the passage when she heard large footsteps followed by the sound of her beautiful wooden door splintering beyond repair.
Despite the Toads' best attempts at moving the princess' room to a secure location, Bowser never had any trouble finding Peach when he came to her castle. As Bowser claimed, he could "track her glorious fragrance to the ends of the earth" were he required to do so.
Peach let out a scream followed by a sharp gasp as Bowser caught her in his claw, picked her up roughly, and then turned to put her in the Clown Car. The Toad guards tried to stop the mighty king, but he knocked them away as easily as if they were beanbags. He hopped into the Clown Car and flew away with the princess into the inky night sky.
As the Clown Car rose into the sky, the Mushroom Castle appeared smaller and smaller until it was only a bright dot on the horizon. Bowser was full of pride, excitement, and adrenaline as he felt the warm wind rush through his wild mane; however, he felt something was odd or different about the situation, but could not decide what exactly it was. Now out of range of the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser slowed the Clown Car to enjoy more alone time with the princess. To him, the night seemed magical, nothing to see but blackness and stars, nothing to hear except the wind rushing by and the soft hum of the engine and propellers. That is when Bowser realized what was different: the princess was not screaming.
He turned to offer her a soft pink blanket and saw that she was sitting in the bottom of the car, holding her side and sniffling. Bowser felt a sudden lurch in his stomach and he clicked on the autopilot. He knelt to see if she was okay, and gently took her shoulders in his arm and moved her hand off her side. He was horrified to discover the delicate fabric of her soft pink pajamas had been torn and stained red and that her perfect skin had a long but shallow graze. He had hurt her. It was nowhere near serious, but he had hurt her nonetheless and he hated that thought more than any other thought in the world. Her shoulders were tense and, for the first time since they met, he saw a look of fear when he looked into her beautiful, blue eyes.
Feeling too wretched and guilty to say anything, he slowly removed his arm from her quivering shoulders and, avoiding eye contact, gently placed the blanket over her, and then resumed piloting the car. They continued to travel in relative silence, occasionally punctuated by a small sniffle from Peach, until they reached Bowser's Castle.
Bowser roared in his bedroom, breaking all manner of precious heirlooms against the granite walls.
"How could this happen?" Bowser roared angrily. Although Bowser had always been a major source of trouble for the princess, he had never given her any reason to fear him. Even when the two faced off on Vibe Island, he was really only playing with her. He wanted her to feel more powerful and independent, because his guards had told him of the anguish her feelings of helplessness caused her. "Now she's really never going to think of me as anything more than a brutal monster," he said while crushing the lavender rose in his fist. He recalled the look of terror when he found when their eyes met. Now how am I ever supposed to look into her eyes again?
Burning with self-anger, embarrassment, and guilt, he climbed into his bed and tried to shut out the world.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the castle was the guest room where Princess Peach was receiving medical treatment. The beautifully decorated room had a Star Road theme and many first-rate amenities. The enchanted dark blue walls twinkled with stars and covering the bed were the finest linens and silks that coins could buy. On this bed, Princess Peach was lying face down in silent tears, while a Magikoopa in a pretty, white robe and a cute, young Boo tried to console her.
"There now, your little scrape should be all healed up by now Princess, please don't cry," the Magikoopa said softly.
"Why shouldn't I cry? I've been taken, once again, from my home and everyone who loves me by a monster who seeks to hurt me and take over my kingdom!" Peach exclaimed vehemently.
"Oh, Your Highness, you shouldn't say those things!" insisted the Boo, "You can't truly believe that you've been taken from everyone who loves you. I mean, what about Kin--"
The Magikoopa gave the chatty boo a sharp glace and continued, "your, ah, Buzzy Beetle, it's very cute, where did you get it?"
"Oh," Peach sniffled and hugged the plush. "I've had this since I was a baby. It was a present from one of my subjects."
"Does it have a name?" The Boo asked politely.
"I just call him Buzzy."
All night, Peach continued to chat with the Magikoopa, Kamea, and Kitty, the Boo, about all manner of things, never once mentioning Bowser. It was a relief to the princess to be able talk about something other than the minutiae of the charity ball, and she was thankful that the two girls, unlike most of Bowser's subjects, seemed disinterested in matchmaking.
"And so all the proceeds are going to build a park in the Mushroom Kingdom?" asked Kamea.
"Yes, and if we can collect enough, we'll be able to add amenities to the park, such as a tea house, a friendship garden, and maybe even a lake for boating! I mean, we really haven't raised enough to do those things yet, but Toadsworth came up with the excellent suggestion this morning to offer a prize to the philanthropist who donates the most."
"Ooh, I love prizes! What's the prize?" asked Kitty excitedly
"Well, whoever donates the most will have the park named after them and will have the fountain dedicated to them and shaped in their likeness. Isn't that neat?"
"That sounds great Princess! Who's winning so far?"
"Right now, Gourmet Guy is the likely candidate. After all, the cost for the buffet is a hundred and fifty coins per plate and, historically, he has been known to order at least a dozen plates, but we still have a week left and several attendees have not yet stepped forward to make their contributions."
Peach smiled at the thought of little Toad children climbing on a fountain shaped like the large and plump Shy Guy. Gourmet Guy would certainly have to be in charge of selecting the various drinks and sweets served in the teahouse, if they could manage to build one, of course. Suddenly, a loud ruckus from downstairs interrupted Peach's train of thought.
"Oh poop," said Kitty. "Mario Brothers."
"Oh," said Peach, unhappy to be reminded of her current situation, but still very grateful for her impending rescue.
"We must leave you and fight for our king now," Kamea said with regret. "Good luck with your event Princess, I'm sure we'll be seeing you again sometime soon."
"Please be careful," said Peach as her new friends exited and the door slid shut.
Mario ran up the marble steps, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He jumped on one Goomba, then two Goombas, and continued running up the stairs. He could not explain it but the thought of meeting Bowser in combat again just made him feel alive. He probably could have gone and found the princess and avoided a direct confrontation with the Koopa King, but this seemed so much more rewarding. As he neared the great black double doors leading into Bowser's bedroom, he smiled to himself and equipped a Fire Flower. The burning sensation in his legs from the run up the stairs was most gratifying. Mario let out a yell and kicked the black doors open.
Bowser was upset. The torches in his room burned with a dull glow as he thought about his actions and his carelessness. Most of all, he thought about how upset with him Peach must be. He had only wanted to be with her, but somehow he managed to mess up and now he knew that damn plumber was on his way.
How can I make her see how cool I am? His mind began racing with ridiculous images of himself impressing the princess with various talents that, in reality, he did not have. A yell and a crash interrupted his thoughts.
And now, the porky plumber has arrived. Now, it was too late to apologize to Peach. He rolled off his bed with a sigh and looked over the plumber briefly. Short, fat, hairy, and ugly. What does she see in him?
Mario, being a man of few words, began attacking immediately. He leapt upon Bowser dealing many blows and striking him with multiple fireballs. Bowser did precious little to defend himself, feeling with every blow that he was getting exactly what he deserved.
Although Mario's attacks were moderately effective against the Koopa King, Mario was still, strictly speaking, no match for Bowser. At any time, Bowser could have easily picked him up and snapped his spine like a twig. Catching him might have presented a bit of a challenge, but Bowser had certainly had his opportunities in the past. Despite the extreme hatred Bowser felt for Mario, Bowser did not have a murderous heart and would not harm him in this manner; mostly because he knew how upset Peach would be if she lost her "precious little boyfriend". Therefore, every battle between the king and the plumber went the same way. The foolish plumber would never give up because he believed that he was engaged in a fair fight and eventually the Koopa King would simply concede defeat before Mario could injure him too badly.
After the fight, Mario left the room to find Peach. Bowser sighed, his body and ego slightly bruised.
I am a mighty Koopa. I will lose the stupid battle--again; but eventually, I will win this war. He limped over to the window to see his angel running away from him, holding his enemy's hand. Somehow. He let out a long growl. Ugh, why can't that idiot just get a life or something? Doesn't he have anything better to do than ruin all my awesome plans? "Listen up, Stars, and grant my wish. I wish for Mario to suffer, plain and simple. I wish that he would suffer just like I do; I wish that he would lose his friends; I wish that he would love some girl and she would break his heart; and I wish that everything he tried to do to make his life better would go wrong. In short, I wish that fool would get exactly what he deserves."
He watched Peach run, trying to keep up, with Mario leading the way. Why isn't that moron waiting for her?
He watched her hair blow in the wind and wished it were him she was running away with. Then, he noticed what she held in her other hand, it was somewhat discolored and worn, but she was holding it. Upon seeing this, for the first time since he had brought Peach to his castle, he felt happy again.