Authors Note: Well, here comes what is undoubtedly going to be one of the most eventful chapters in the story. I would like to take the time to say that I was definitely helped with this chapter. Thanks to the idea pitches of Razcoolzle, and the support of my readers, especially my good pal YesNoMaybeIdk, this baby's going up. I truly hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Mario or anything affiliated with it. I do own Travis and the plot.

Luigi was sitting in the den of the Mario residence sipping a cup of tea. He was a bit concerned about what he had just seen. Or rather, what he had heard.

He was walking to Peach's garage to borrow a jack for his car. He went to open the door to the garage, but stopped when he heard music coming from the other side of the door. He pressed his ear against the door in order to see if he could hear anything. But no sound came but from the music. He decided to open the door a little to see if he could get a peek at what was going on. When he looked inside, he caught a glimpse of something that he wish he wouldn't have seen.

It was Peach, pressed up against the wall by none other than the meek, mild, and humble Travis. And they were kissing.

Very passionately, he might add.

Mario had told him about what he had heard about Travis and Peach. But he never mentioned anything like this.

'I wonder if he knows…' Luigi thought to himself as he took another sip of his tea.

No. Mario couldn't know. There's no way he would stand for this. But, why would Peach do something like this? Was she getting something from Travis that she wasn't getting from Mario?

'Eww… I don't want to think about that.' Luigi thought as he made a 'yuck' face.

But still… why was she? He knew that they used to be lovers. He knew that something like that must have happened at some point. Why would Travis had blushed so much otherwise?

'I wonder if maybe they still love each other. It would definitely explain things. I'll make a point to ask Travis when he comes back. I can't let this go on unchecked.' Luigi kept thinking to himself.

Then, as if it were like clockwork, Travis walked through the door. His eyes were puffy as if he had been crying. Luigi suddenly felt a wave of pity come over him as he looked at Travis. But he didn't let the pity distract him from his goal. He had to be blunt.

"Travis?"

Travis stopped dead in his tracks.

"Yes Luigi? What's on yer mind?" Travis said nervously as he turned to look at him.

"Sit down, please." Luigi said as he motioned with his hand toward the couch.

Travis looked at the couch then back to Luigi. Then, although very reluctantly, he sat down.

Luigi sighed as he took another sip of his tea. "Travis, we need to talk about your relationship with Peach."

Travis took a noticeable gulp as he spoke up again. "Umm.. What do you want to know?"

"Travis, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I… I saw you and Peach today." Luigi said as he put on a stern face.

Travis went completely pale. He knew this would happen eventually. But there was no denying it now. He had to own up to what he did.

"Luigi… I… I don't know what to do… I just can't leave that girl alone… She's on my mind all the time. I just… couldn't help myself…" Travis said as he told his story.

Luigi shook his head in a disapproving manner. "Travis. I'm not mad at you. And I'm not disappointed in you. I just want to help."

Travis shifted his gaze to the ground as a lone tear fell down his cheek.

"You're still in love with her… aren't you, Travis?" Luigi asked as he set down his tea.

"Y-yes…" Travis said in barely a whisper. He then looked back up at Luigi. "Luigi, you must never tell your brother. I'll handle this, alright?"

Luigi, although sure he should say something, merely agreed with a nod.

Travis stayed sitting. Seemingly staring off into space. Luigi wondered if he should really let the situation culminate. But, perhaps he was selling Travis short. He knew Travis wasn't a bad person. Love does strange things to a person's better judgment after all.

Mario knocked on Peach's door and waited for her to answer. As he waited, he thought about her past with Travis. Although he was certain she would never cheat on him, he knew that old habits die hard. After all, before he had met Peach, there was Pauline.

But he didn't want to think about her.

Mario was disturbed from his thoughts when Peach answered the door.

"Hi Peach!" Mario said with a wide smile as he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

Peach smiled and giggled as Mario's mustache tickled her cheek. She motioned for him to come in and sit down. When they were both sitting, she poured him a cup of tea, and began chatting with him.

"So, are you ready for the big race tomorrow?" she asked, breaking the ice.

Mario took a sip of his tea and responded.

"Yep. It sure is gonna be different not racing on karts."

Peach nodded as she took a small cookie from the tray and dipped it in her tea. Mario never understood why she did that. He only dipped his cookies in milk!

"Are there going to be items?" Mario asked as he took a cookie and ate it.

"Not that I know of. I believe we're doing it fair and square this time." Peach said as she took her cookie from the tea and to a bite.

They continued to talk for an hour or two, then it was time for Mario to leave. She gave him a small peck on the cheek, and he left.

Peach shut the door softly behind him. Then she slowly sank to the floor. She felt so much guilt. She knew that Mario had a right to know about her and Travis. But she didn't want to break his heart.

That was the last thing she wanted to do.

She heard another knock on the door. She figured it was Toadsworth. So she promptly got up and answered the door. But to her surprise, it was her best friend, Daisy.

Daisy threw herself onto Peach and gave her a great big hug.

"Peach! How you been girl?" Daisy said as she squeezed Peach tightly.

Peach hugged Daisy back and replied.

"Oh Daisy, it's so good to see you! Please come in and sit down!"

The two princesses went and sat down and instantly began gossiping.

"So… I assume you know Travis is here, hmm?" Daisy said as she smiled slyly.

Peach blushed.

"Why, of course I know he's here! He's been here for a while. I've enjoyed catching up with him." Peach said as she looked away from Daisy's gaze.

Daisy stared at her knowingly.

"Peach."

Peach looked back at her.

"Have you told Mario about Travis?" she asked intently.

Peach shook her head. Daisy shook hers as well in a disapproving manner.

"Peach, you're gonna have to tell him sooner or later. Mario's gotta right to know about your love life."

Peach looked at the floor as she responded.

"Daisy. You know what happened all those years ago. Travis and I… we still love each other… even after what happened between us."

Daisy frowned as she remembered. She knew about that night on Shooting Star Summit. Travis succumbed to his desire for Peach. But afterwards, he felt so guilty for doing so before marriage, that he became a priest as an atonement. He had even given up his career as Head Detective of the Homicide Department. Daisy remembered holding Peach as she cried the day she found out. Travis broke two hearts that day. Peach's… and his own.

Now Peach was split between two loves. Mario and Travis. Travis was her first true love. But Mario was there for her when she needed him most. She knew that she couldn't have both. But who should she choose?

The day for the big race had finally came. Everybody who was anybody was there. Cheers erupted from the crowd as the racers Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toad, Wario, Travis, and Bowser pulled up to the starting line (in that order).

Thoughts were racing (hint hint) as the Lakitu who presided over the race came out with his starting light.

"Now I wanna good clean race!" He shouted as he raised his hand for the countdown.

Everything was quiet (except of course for the roaring engines) as the countdown started. People were taking deep breaths as the racers revved there engines to time their start. Travis reached towards the radio to turn it on, but at the last minute, decided against it. The last thing he needed was to be distracted by the music.

Then, at the blink of an eye, the light hit green. Engines whined and roared as the race started and the crowds began cheering. Mario instantly pulled into first with Peach following close behind. Luigi and Toad were neck n' neck with Wario and Daisy right behind them.. Travis was near the back, and Bowser was bringing up the rear. Travis saw and opening and quickly pulled past Wario. Wario became angry at this and started shouting inaudible obscenities.

Bowser was indeed in last, but it didn't matter to him. He wasn't after the trophy. He was only after one thing. And he was about to have it. He flipped a switch on his dash, and all of a sudden, a bullet blaster came out of the trunk of his car. Then, a computer screen popped out of the glove compartment with a red button next to it. He waited until his target was confirmed. None other than his nemesis, Mario. Now was the time to take him out. For good.

Travis was forced back by a hiccup in his engine. His vehicle dropped all the way back to last place. But as he fell back, he noticed a dangerous weapon on Bowser's vehicle.

"I thought there weren't any items for this race!" Travis said to himself as he looked at the missile on top of Bowser's Dodge Challenger. But when he saw the evil look on Bowser's face, he knew that if he didn't do something, someone was definitely going to get hurt. Badly.

Travis rammed Bowser's vehicle from the side just as Bowser pushed the button to launch the missile. The impact made by Travis' automobile caused the missile to malfunction and fire early and resulted in both Travis and Bowser wrecking their cars. As he crawled from the wreckage of his beloved automobile, Travis watched in horror as the bomb flew between vehicles, just barely missing a few.

Mario was still in first. He was totally dominating this race. It may have been a while, but he was undoubtedly, still the best. When he looked in his rearview to check his lead, he saw something that nearly scared him to death. It was a Bullet Bill. And it was heading strait for him.

He tried to shake it, but by the time he saw it, it was to late.

The big missile hit him dead on. And although it did not detonate, the force of the impact was enough to send him flying of the road and into a huge tree. Everything, for Mario at least, went dark after that.

Peach saw the huge bullet fly past her, but she was over her fear of that. She now had a new fear. The fear that Mario life had come to an end. She slammed on her brakes, jumped out of her vehicle, and ran full speed towards the wreckage. She tried with all of her might to wrench open the door of Mario's totaled Mustang, but to no avail. She sunk to her knees and began to weep as she realized that this could well be the end of her magnificent hero.

Daisy, Toad, and Luigi also pulled over and ran toward the wreckage. They watched with sadness as the EMT's, who had just arrived, worked diligently at pulling Mario from the twisted metal deathtrap that used to be a vehicle.

However, the sadness that everyone felt was soon changed to dread as Bowser, with Travis's limp, knocked out body in tow, slowly walked up to them.

"Well, well, well. It seems as though our old friend Mario had himself a little… accident." Bowser said as he sneered.

"Bowser! You were behind this, weren't you?" Luigi asked as he took a step back, clearly terrified.

Bowser merely laughed. "Holy crap, you guys are hick headed! Of COURSE I'm behind all of this! But talk is cheap, and I prefer to back up my talk with action!"

Bowser took a deep breath and let go a billow of flame upon the terrified people. He then went for Peach. When he got hold of her, he ran straight to Daisy's Ferrari, threw her in the trunk, threw Travis in the passengers seat, jumped into the drivers seat and sped away.

Everyone (meaning Toad, Daisy, and Luigi) Knew that without help, there was no way they could catch Bowser now, so they decided to return to the castle, and make plans to retaliate as son as possible while Mario recovered.

All the while, Wario waited at the finish line, holding the Gold trophy.

"Where is everyone for cryin' out loud!"

Bowser reveled in the fact that he had finally defeated Mario, captured the Princess, and taken out the only other threat towards him.

Today was definitely a good day.

He kept driving as he cranked up the radio in Daisy's car and his favourite song came on.

The song is "Bad to the Bone" by ZZ Top

"Ahh yea, that's my jam!" Bowser said as he nodded his head to the beat. He drove for a little while longer until he came to a thickly wooded area.

"Alright Travis. This is where you get off. Good luck finding you way back now, sucker!" Bowser said as he picked Travis up and threw his limp body out of the car against a tree. Bowser smiled as he heard the satifying sound of Travis' back breaking.

"Whoops, my bad!" Bowser said as he drove away laughing.

"Finally, no loose ends. Without Mario and Travis, the rest are helpless. I've finally done it!"

Well, I can't say I'm very happy with this chapter, I was in a hurry to get it up, but in the middle I got writers block. But it's up now. So, hopefully, the next chapter will be much better. Well, read and review, and please let me know where I could have done better with this chapter! Take care, and God Bless!

THE PREACHERMAN.