AU: Thanks for the reviews, faves, and follows! To the reviewer who asked for more smash characters, I will be adding more, but perhaps in a way that you might not expect. ;) Anyway, here's the next chapter! This fic will be in first-person, but I'm having the first 2 or 3 chapters as third person just to sort of get a neutral view on what's happening. Enjoy!

The Mushroom Kingdom

She was alone, and scared. Where's Mario? She'd feel much safer with him around, even though she can probably take care of herself. She was being held in the castle cellar, as Toadsworth was upstairs talking to some other toad guards about the threat. These things, or "entifoes" as the toads have started to call them, have been rampaging all over the kingdom. Toad town is in ruins, with houses half-eaten and plenty of missing citizens. Even some parts of the castle, such as the gardens, have been overrun.

Peach tried desperately to sleep. To wake up, and have everything go back to normal because this must be a nightmare. There has never been a crisis quite this horrible in the history of her reign. Normally, a red plumber would come to her assistance by now, but he is nowhere to be seen. Is it too late for him? Have the entifoes already laid their numeric grasp on her hero? Perhaps they haven't even entered the area of his house, and he's completely clueless. Either way, she's terribly worried.

She lied down on the stained and worn down emergency cot that was set up for her. The cellar is warm, dark, and a bit damp. This is no place for a princess. Still, she doesn't complain. People get this strange image of her sometimes, that everything must be pretty and perfect for her in order for her to be pleased. Really, she'd settle for anything, as long as loved ones are nearby. She closes her eyes, but they flicker open, full of worry and concern for Mario and her loyal servants and citizens. She cannot wait any longer.

Peach gets up from her bed, and doesn't even look in the mirror. Her long blonde hair hasn't even been styled. Long strands just fall straight down her back. She's still wearing her dress that she wears every day, although it's a bit wrinkled towards the bottom. The princess decides that if she were to go upstairs, Toadsworth and the guards would just stop her out of concern. Instead, she's using the hidden tunnel behind the nearby antique bookshelf that only she and the past rulers of the kingdom knew about, along with a few exceptions such as Toadsworth. She climbs out of a pipe in the middle of a nearby forest that leads to Mario's house. Strange... no entifoes.

The monarch brushes off her dress and proceeds to walk through the forest. Mario's home is in sight. A smile has not passed Peach's face ever since this situation. How could this happen all in one day? It feels like it has been weeks. Her optimism has diminished almost completely. She finally reached Mario's door. She looked through the window on the side of his house, and found her hero fast asleep, without a care in the world. Instead of her usual smile when she sees Mario, she frowned at the sight. How could he sleep at a time like this? Without even knocking, Peach obtained Mario's house key from under his welcome mat, and unlocked the door.

She walked in, closed the door behind her, and walked up to Mario. He was still snoring.

"Um... Mario?" She wasn't sure how to approach this. It's rather hard waking someone up and telling them that the world is practically ending. "Mario. Wake up."

Still no response. She patted him on the shoulder.

"Mario."

"Nngh...huh?" Mario's eyes clenched for a moment, and then fluttered open. He gasped, as the princess being in his room was obviously a surprise.

"Peach..." He smiled. "What'd I miss?"

Peach didn't return that smile, and Mario quickly found out that this was a serious visit.

He frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I'm surprised you haven't found out for yourself. Haven't you seen them?" Peach said.

"Them? Who are them?" He was completely oblivious as to what was going on.

She looked out of his window. "Oh, dear. This can't be happening..."

"What?" He hopped out of his bed and looked, too. "What are those things?" He stared at the large quantity of numbers and letters consuming the nearby trees. His frown drooped even further. He feels so useless, not knowing anything about what's happening.

"They're called entifoes. Don't bother fighting them. The guards tried. Nothing works." Her blue eyes never broke contact with Mario. She moved over to the other window. It was the same thing there. They were surrounded.

"...No." Tears started forming in her eyes. She's kept a strong front, until now. She slumped down onto the floor and buried her face in her arms.

Mario walked over to her, and put his hand on her shoulder. He was still a bit uninformed, but he could tell by the way that the princess was talking that these things are at threat like no other. Perhaps, this time, death was imminent.

"It's ok..." Mario said. "We can go together." A tear fell onto the floor from his eye as well.

They embraced each other, eyes shut. It was time. The entire house, including them, quickly became nothing.