A/N: Yay, I finally got off my bum and wrote out a checklist of the major plot points of this story! That means that I have enough good solid direction to post this chapter. Don't worry though, there is still plenty of story left, and I won't rush through it or leave you hanging. This is still, as they say, only the beginning. Fun Fact: Yes, the song Bowser is singing is the same tune that Foghorn Leghorn sings in Looney Tunes.
Mario gripped the armrests tightly as the plane began its decent to land. It had been a long flight. The teething baby behind him, after a very energetic bout of nonstop crying, had finally fallen asleep about five minutes before the captain announced that the plane was ready to land. Unfortunately, the baby's older brother still had not found any form of entertainment quite as exciting as kicking the back of Mario's chair. Concerning Mario's own brother, one could find Luigi snoring on Mario's shoulder, a puddle of saliva gradually soaking into his brother's red shirt. It had been a very long flight.
After the plane landed with a bump, Mario gathered his luggage and followed his brother off the plane and into the terminal where an elderly couple was standing with brightly colored flowers and balloons.
"Mama! Papa!" Luigi rushed past Mario with his arms outstretched to hug his parents.
"Oh, Luigi! My baby! You look so handsome!" said Mama, a short, plump, elderly woman with watery, blue eyes. "And Mario, I'm so glad to see you both!"
Mario gave his mother a hug and gave his father a firm handshake. He stayed mostly silent as his brother told stories of the Mushroom Kingdom while they were exiting the airport. When they reached the car, Mario offered to load the luggage into the trunk and then climbed into the back seat.
"Mario!" Mama exclaimed. "You've hardly said a word since you've been here! How have you been? Are you eating well, getting enough sleep?"
Mario nodded and forced a smile.
"Well you look exhausted! When we get to the house, I want you to wash up before dinner. I've made your favorite, homemade raviolis!"
As the little green car pulled into the driveway, Mario looked up at his family home. It was just as it was when he and Luigi left almost ten years ago. It had the same yellow paint and the same little garden with the same little flowers. Mama loved those flowers almost as much as she loved her sons.
Mario carried his luggage upstairs into his old room. It still smelled like home, a mix of oregano and old wood. Everything was in the same place that it was ten years ago. Though Mama would never admit it, she was very sentimental and would sometimes sit in her son's rooms on the beds and reminisce. It felt nice to be back on his old bed, but he remembered what Mama had said and went to wash up.
The dinner table was set simply but elegantly, with plates full of steaming ravioli and freshly chopped salad. Mama's cooking tasted heavenly, as always. Legend had it that after tasting just one bite of Mama's homemade ravioli, Papa knew he had to marry her.
"So," said Mama between bites. "How is Daisy doing, Luigi?"
Mario frowned; the dreaded conversation was here at last.
"She's doing really well; she's been really busy but is still finding time to help me with my tennis game. She's really something," Luigi said happily. "Actually, she's been asking to come and meet you all, especially after I told her about your cooking, Mama. She's just dying to try it."
Mario listened with half-hearted jealousy. Of course, for Luigi, it was so easy to make Mama and Papa proud. He stabbed a leaf of lettuce with his fork violently and stared down his plate.
"What about you, Mario? I saw in the news that you accompanied Princess Toadstool to an important event," Mama asked curiously. "Is she your girlfriend now?"
Mario thought for a quick second about what he should say, he decided that there was no harm in lying to Mama about such a small thing. He stuffed some raviolis in his mouth and nodded affirmatively.
Across the table, Papa smiled at Mario while Luigi looked unimpressed. He could not believe Mario would flat out lie to Mama and Papa like that. He had always looked up to his brother for ethical inspiration; after all, he was Super Mario, an all-around stand up person. Luigi allowed the conversation around him to fade into a dull buzz as he self-righteously contemplated how the mighty have fallen and how, as we age, our heroes just are not the same as they used to be. Suddenly, and outburst from Mama interrupted his thoughts.
"Oh! Oh, I'm so so happy! You've made your Mama so happy! Luigi, you should take note, you need to ask that Daisy of yours to marry you soon, she's not going to wait around forever!"
"W-What's going on?"
"Mario just let us in on the big secret, the news you all came here to tell us. He's just told us he intends to ask the princess to marry him within the next year!"
Mario looked triumphant as his Mama smothered him in hugs and kisses. That was not exactly what he had said, but that small fact did not really matter right now. To him, it only mattered that, for once, he had made his parents proud. As a bonus, the rest of the evening went surprisingly smooth so long as the two brothers avoided eye contact.
That night, Mario tossed and turned in his bed. He looked at the alarm clock, 2:34 AM. He sat up and pushed the covers away. Mama Mia, what did I just get myself into?
He crept over to his closet and pulled up a loose floorboard. Inside the hole was Mario's "box of treasures". He opened the box and picked out the tiny flashlight inside. When he tried to turn it on, nothing happened. Fried batteries.
He continued searching through the box. He removed some playing cards that were worth a few coins and a naughty magazine. Under the magazine was a picture of him and his old girlfriend, Pauline. He looked closely at the picture; he looked so much younger back then.
Pauline was his first and only real girlfriend. She really was something special, but very different than Peach. She was carefree and wild, but also very relaxed and down to earth. They had mutually agreed to split up when he moved to the Mushroom Kingdom and he had not talked to her ever since. The writing on the back of the picture said, "Don't be a stranger; you can call me anytime! XOXO Pauline."
Mario sighed and put the "treasures" back in the box then climbed into bed and tried to drift back to sleep.
"Koopa King is lookin' good, doo-dah, doo-dah. Koopa King is lookin' good all the doo-dah day." Bowser sang to himself as he made faces in an oversized mirror. "Kamek!"
The aged Magikoopa immediately appeared in a cloud of multicolored shapes. "Yes, Your Brilliance?"
"Are the preparations almost ready?" Bowser asked eagerly.
Kamek sighed. "It is my displeasure to report that they have not made much progress since you last asked ten minutes ago, Sire."
Bowser growled. "Well they need to hurry up. It's been too long, I can't wait any more!"
Kamek chuckled and said, "Then go! You're the king; you wait for no one. I'm certain that by the time you've brought her back, the servants will be done with the preparations, so then no time will have been wasted!"
"Good plan, glad I thought of it. Alright Kamek, I'm going, I'm really gonna do this."
"Good luck, Your Majesty, not that you'll need it, of course." Kamek watched as Bowser turned and stomped down the hall towards the hangar. "Ah, young, impatient love. Tsk, such madness, and yet…"Kamek smiled and then drew his wand to magnify his voice. "The Koopa King has left, I repeat, the Koopa King has already left. We have approximately two hours to reach project completion by the time His Majesty returns with Princess Peach."
Meanwhile, Bowser was already in the hangar, strapping himself into his freshly painted Clown Car. He pressed a few shiny green buttons and the propeller began to hum. Oh, how he loved to hear that sound. Slowly, the clown car began to lift Bowser up into the dark cloudy sky. According to the car's newly installed panel, it was 4:53 PM. Perfect! Looks like we'll get back to the palace just in time to have dinner together!
In the Mushroom Castle, Peach was sitting quietly in front of the fire on an oversized chair in her fluffy pink bathrobe reading a novel that had come in the mail from Daisy in Sarasa Land. She could see why Daisy had sent it to her; the romantic comedy was an exciting page-turner about a sassy young girl who was trying to win the heart of a shy baker. It must have reminded Daisy of her own relationship with Luigi.
Peach was feeling a lot better than before her nap, especially now that she had another world in which to escape. She hugged Buzzy close and smiled as she read about a sweet and awkward encounter between the fairy tale characters.
"…Chloe walked down the sidewalk in a reverie, her soul was still on fire from watching the Spanish guitar player as she sat at the café that morning. The way that woman moved her fingers across the instrument; it was as if she were sweetly caressing it in such a way to make it sing its beautiful music. As she danced down the cobblestone street, she smiled as the jingling coins in her pocket sweetly reminded her to make a stop at the bakery. She smiled widely at a man wearing a green coat and a feathered hat, undoubtedly a traveler from a distant land. She thought about how magical it would be to travel to far-off places and then to come home and write a book about all her wonderful, bohemian adventures. This thought engaged her so much that she was quite shocked when she rounded the corner and ran straight into the baker's apprentice…"
Peach looked up from her book. What was that clicking noise? She sniffled a few times and grabbed a tissue. Oh boo, I might be getting a cold. She pulled her lovely golden blanket up over her and Buzzy, snuggled back into the chair, and continued reading.
"She saw that he was even cuter up close, with vivid green eyes and messy brown hair.
"I-I'm terribly sorry miss, are you…okay?" he asked quietly.
Chloe grinned "Of course! Hey, you're that boy from the bakery! I was just on my way there, do you know if there is any herb bread in stock?" she asked, knowing there was never any herb bread on Sundays.
"Oh, uh, no, but…I could make some if you have some time before you need it."
This was just the chance she had been hoping for; to spend an hour or so in the bakery with him, watching him bake something just for her.
"Of course I have time. Mm…I haven't properly introduced myself, my name's Chloe and you are?"
"M-my name's Adri…"
Peach immediately stopped reading her book as a great shadow fell over the pages. She looked over her shoulder to see a large scaly figure.
"Bowser!" she cried. "W-what are you doing here?"
Bowser grinned and picked her up gently. "Like you really need to ask?"
Using a delicate claw, he picked up Buzzy and Peach's book and quickly rushed back to the Clown Car, which was hovering patiently outside. He set Peach down and took off before the Mushroom guards were able to intervene.
Peach sat in panicked, stunned silence. Well, I suppose he can't be too offended, I mean, here I am, in the Clown Car. In any case, this is my chance; I must handle this situation carefully and remember that he's a very powerful foreign monarch. Above all, I must remain courteous but firm.
Bowser, who was preoccupied by wondering if the princess preferred chicken or steak, turned around quickly when he heard the princess give a small sneeze. It was then that he noticed her fluffy bathrobe, puffy eyes, and pink nose. He fumbled around with a few buttons and a windshield capped the Clown Car to prevent any more of the chilly night air from getting to his precious princess. He looked down at her, shook his head, and teased, "We just can't seem to get you over here healthy, can we?"
Peach bit back a scathing remark about his carelessness and instead lowered her eyes and sniffled.
"Don't worry, Princess, my servants will take such good care of you, you'll be better in no time, and then we can have some fun together!" he said wishfully.
But I don't want to "have fun" with you, you stupid Koopa. I want to go home! She wanted so badly to scream her displeasure at Bowser, let him know exactly how much she hated everything about these little "excursions", but she could not allow herself that freedom. Instead, she spoke, "King Koopa, please take me home."
"But Peach, you haven't seen what I've prepared for you, you're gonna love it, I promise!"
Don't you understand? Your promise means nothing to me! I don't want to see it! I'm sick, I'm tired, and I want to go home!
"I'm asking you nicely, Bowser, please, please take me home."
He cringed with sadness as he looked into her eyes. She was pleading to get away from him and it was breaking his heart. "Okay, fine; I'll take you home. I will not let that idiotic plumber come to be your hero. I, King Koopa, vow to take you home--after we've had a little time to talk. That's all I want; you don't even have to be nice; I just want to talk to you, is that okay?"
NO! It's not okay! Nothing is okay. I wish Mario would come and stomp on you now. I don't want to talk to you and I don't want to be near you. Why can't you see that? What is your problem?
"Okay," she said in a sad and small voice.
The Clown Car began its slow descent into the Darkland Castle's hangar. Bowser was thrilled that Peach had agreed to stay with him at his castle. This is definitely worth a diary entry! He hopped out of the car and offered Peach his hand to help her out. It was a tall jump, so she had no choice but to accept. As she jumped out of the car, her arm briefly skimmed his soft underbelly. Bowser felt tingles; Peach felt sick.
Bowser guided Peach down the hall to her new guest room. He placed his claws on the golden door handles and opened the white double doors for her and she stepped into the most beautiful room she had ever seen. A warm fire was crackling in the golden fireplace; on the mantle, there were miniature trees that bore fragrant red roses. The bed was a spectacular display of fresh white linens and gold silks. White curtains flanked another set of double doors, which lead out to a balcony filled with red roses.
Peach looked at Bowser curiously and he replied, "Only the best for our royal guest. Uh, and I also have a present for you, this'll probably come in handy since you're sick and all." He placed a tiny glass bell in her hands. "Okay, so you can use this to call if you need anything and, uh, I'll come and get it for you. Yeah, me, so uh, don't use it too much, okay?"
Peach accepted the bell with a forced smile. How odd and inappropriate that she would call upon some other nation's ruler as if he were her servant.
"Actually, use it all you want, really, it's fine. I'm--going to leave now," Bowser stammered as he left the room and closed the doors behind him.
Peach sat down on the bed and frowned at the little bell. How was he going to hear this little bell, even if she did ring it? She placed it on her nightstand and opened the drawer. Instead of it being empty as she expected, it was full of movies. I guess he expected me to be spending a lot of time in here.
She looked through the movie selection and found one titled Koopa Family Home Movies. Though her curiosity was piqued, she decided that she had better be on her best behavior while she was there. Instead, she decided to explore the rest of her room. In the closet, she found a stunning array of pink dresses, just her size, and lovely shoes to match. She found a drawer full of books, magazines, and a few boxes of chocolate truffles.
As she wandered into the bathroom, a wonderful sight greeted her. There was an old-fashioned white bathtub with golden lion's paws for feet. She turned on the tap for the bath and cautiously locked the door. As the tub was filling, the cloyingly floral scent of rose perfumed the air. Peach looked at herself in the mirror, she certainly was not looking her best. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were watery, and her nose looked like a pink balloon.
Why am I here? What could it be that Bowser wants to talk about with me? When she thought about Bowser, she could see that she scrunched up her face in a most unpleasant way. Well that's not very attractive. She took a deep breath. Okay, I can do this. I'm going to make my kingdom proud.