It was like any other day for the most part.. Bowser had kidnapped Princess Peach, so it would be up to Mario and Luigi to save her. There was just one problem..
They were already captured in a cell.
It wasn't like Bowser to take captive prisoners.. well, besides the Princess, of course. She seemed to be his only interest most of the time.. Regardless, the two brothers were now trapped in a cell with no possible escape.
Appearance wise, they looked relatively similar to each other. Mario was shorter and stockier compared to Luigi, who was slightly taller and lankier. They wore matching overalls and hats, their only difference being color. (Mario red, Luigi green) They both had blue eyes, large noses and slightly different mustaches.
"I'm scared, Mario.. What do we do..?" Luigi whimpered. Mario stayed silent, as he wasn't sure what to do either. Escaping from a prison cell had never once crossed his mind.
A Paratroopa approached their cell with a smug look on his face, twirling a key around his claw. He looked like any other Koopa, except he had wings and a red shell instead of the usual green.
"Well, well, well.. look who we have here.. the famous Mario Bros! Not so tough now, are ya?"
Mario glared at the Koopa, who taunted the two brothers before unlocking their door and leading them to the oh-so-familiar throne room in handcuffs.
Mario cursed under his breath as he caught sight of the ruler of the Koopa kingdom. He was a huge reptilian beast that resembled the unique cross between a Snapping Turtle and a Chinese Dragon. He was bulky in stature, covered head to toe in dark yellow scales. A spiked shell grew out of his back and a crimson red mane grew from the top of his head, next to a pair of large horns. His spiked tail was a thick and powerful limb that he could use to whip at opponents, sending them flying.
"Mario.. I've been waiting for you. Today's the day.. that I finally Marry Princess Peach once and for all!"
Mario could feel his hands behind him curling into fists as he noticed a small hung cage behind Bowser containing a very distraught looking Princess Peach clinging to the cage bars.
Of course, Mario couldn't do anything about it because his hands were bound. So this was his brilliant plan..
"You won't get away with this, Bowser."
"Oh, yeah?" Bowser scoffed. "Who's gonna stop me?"
"We are!"
"Whuh?! Who said that?! Show yourselves!"
A flash of blinding light shone from behind, and several people appeared from it, all looking very similar to each other. One was electric blue with spiky quills protruding from his head, wearing a pair of red running shoes and gloves. Another was pink and feminine, wearing a matching red dress and boots, clutching a large hammer. The last one had a rather edgy appearance, almost entirely jet-black except for a stripe of red on his quills and a patch of white fur on his chest. He wore large skates on his feet and a pair of ringed gloves similar to the others. Bowser backed away from the three of them, unsure whether or not they were going to be a threat.
"What the- first Mario, now you?! How dare you, barging in like this! You will pay!
"Now, Let's not get ahead of ourselves!" The blue one said teasingly, wagging a gloved finger.
"We can settle this the easy way.. Or the hard way. Your choice." The edgy one said with a glare.
"Grr…. You're not taking Peach from me!"
"So be it. We have to fight." The pink one said in a disappointed manner. I hoped It wouldn't come to this, but.. You leave us no choice."
"GRRRR… NO ONE MESSES WITH THE KING OF THE KOOPAS AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!" Bowser roared. "YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"
Bowser took a deep breath before unleashing a blast of flame towards the three strangers, who immediately dodged and delivered a swift counterattack, bringing the Koopa King to his knees. Then the pink one pulled out her hammer and whacked Bowser upside the head, knocking him out.
Mario watched carefully as they approached, unsure whether or not to trust these odd strangers. Luigi was attempting to hide from them, but with little luck. Upon closer inspection the three didn't look like people at all, rather.. hedgehogs, as they all had upright ears and pointed were also covered in fur. Mario had never seen anyone like them before.. and they had traveled to all sorts of places. They immediately freed a very grateful Princess Peach from inside of the hanging cage Bowser had trapped her in.
"Who are you? What do you want? Mario backed up from them defensively.
Well, I guess I'll introduce myself.." The smug hedgehog gave Mario a thumbs up. I'm Sonic! Nice to meet you two!"
Luigi came out of his 'hiding spot' behind Bowser's throne as he realized he was found out.. unfortunately rather easily.
"How do I know we can trust you? You.. just appeared out of nowhere!" Said Luigi, backing away nervously.
"If you don't trust us, you don't deserve our help. Simple as that." Said the edgy one, turning away from the two brothers.
"Oh.. you're.. trying to help us?"
"Why wouldn't we? Everyone deserves to be helped.." Plus, it's not like we could say no.. you both looked pretty helpless.." The pink one remarked consolingly. "My name's Amy, by the way." Amy walked behind the brothers and unlocked their handcuffs, setting them free. It was good to finally be able to use their hands again..
"Hey, thanks for doing that!" Luigi said, relieved that he could finally move his arms. Mario also gave her a look of gratitude while being rather put off about what she had said before.
"Thanks..?"
"Um.. excuse me? I don't know what's going on.. can someone please catch me up?" Peach asked in a polite manner. She was a young woman with pale skin and blue eyes. Her face was oval-shaped with a pointed chin and pink lips, and she had thick golden blonde hair that went past her shoulders with visible layers. She wore a pink floor-length dress with puffy sleeves and magenta panniers at the waist, and she wore a golden crown with various jewels embroidered into it. She wore a matching pair of blue earrings to go with a small brooch built into her dress.
"Of course. But we should probably get out of this castle.. that hulking monster could wake up at any time." Shadow grimaced as he could see the Koopa King twitch slightly in his sleep.
"Agreed."