(A/N: Near the end of the first chapter, we found out that things may start looking up for Mario from now on! If I get this chapter started, we can find out if that's true!)
Around 6:00 that evening, Mario, Princess Peach, the just-repaired F.L.U.D.D., Toadsworth, and the Toads were all gathered in Peach's hotel room at Hotel Delfino (after a Pianta doctor at Delfino General Hospital checked her out and said she was okay).
Mario and Peach were lying on the beds, and Toadsworth sat on the bed Peach was lying on. The Toads were all sitting over by F.L.U.D.D., who sat in a corner of the room.
After several minutes of awkward silence, Peach asked, "How about we watch some television?"
The Toads all thought that watching T.V. sounded like a pretty good idea. Maybe they could see if something funny was on, so Mario and Peach could have a good laugh. After what they had been through since they got here, a good laugh is what the plumber and his princess needed right about now.
"Capital idea, Princess! In fact, how about we watch the news? Surely they'll be talking about the fact that the island is back to normal." Toadsworth said.
"That does sound like a good idea..." Peach said slowly.
"I don't know if I want to watch the news, Peach. For all I know, the reporters are going to say that I'm still a rotten villain..." Mario moaned.
"Maybe not. All your hard work has got this island looking the way it should have when we arrived. Everything seems to be right again since you rescued me from Bowser and his son." Peach said as she turned on the television. To her relief, it was already on the news.
Sure enough, the purple male Pianta reporter on the news was talking about the island finally being back to normal again, but then he said, "This just in: we've recently received word that Mario was wrongly accused as the criminal."
"WHAT?!" the group in the hotel room exclaimed. Had they heard that right? Did that reporter really just say that Mario was wrongly accused?! This had to be the best news they'd heard since they arrived on this island!
"Aspettare! Wait! They learned that I'm innocent?! How did they find out that I didn't do it?! Who or what finally proved that I was framed?!" Mario asked in surprise.
"We'll now take you live to the courthouse, where one of our ace reporters is meeting with the Piantas responsible for helping to prove Mario's innocence." said the Pianta, as though he had heard Mario's question.
The scene switched to a pink female Pianta reporter who was sitting in the courthouse, talking with 5 other Piantas. Mario recognized those Piantas as the Chief, the rookie, the judge, the prosecutor, and the sunglasses vendor.
"Oh! I wonder which of them found out that I'm not a bad guy?" Mario said as he looked at the Piantas on the T.V.
"It's probably the one who gave you the sunglasses, Mario. He was rather kind to you, unlike the other Piantas there." Peach replied, keeping her voice low.
"So Chief, how did you find out that Mario was innocent?" the reporter asked the Chief.
"Oh sorry, but I wasn't the one who found that out. You should really ask him. He's the one who went to all the trouble." said the Chief, pointing to Sonny.
"The sunglasses vendor! He knew you weren't in trouble!" Peach said, looking at Mario in surprise.
"How did he know?!" Mario asked incredulously.
"Okay, then. Sir, how did you find out that Mario was not the one responsible for the mess on our island?" the reporter asked Sonny.
"Well, I had a pretty good feeling that the investigation was rushed." Sonny began, turning to look at the Chief and the rookie, both of whom looked pretty sheepish.
"Also, I noticed that nobody really let Mario have a say in that trial. They didn't let him explain his side of the story. And they didn't even let his girlfriend explain why she was objecting to him being called guilty, either." Sonny added, shooting a quick glare at the judge and prosecutor, who looked embarrassed.
"Serves you right, for treating Master Mario the way you did!" Toadsworth said to the embarrassed judge and prosecutor on the screen. Even Mario, Peach, and the Toads couldn't help smiling with grim satisfaction.
"Due to the unfair way Mario was being treated, I decided that I wanted to help him out and prove his innocence, and the best way to do that was to go undercover." Sonny finished.
"And just how did you help Mario prove that he wasn't the cause of the troubles on our island?" the reporter asked.
"I never told him, but if he's watching this right now, he can find out. I made him this special pair of sunglasses. They've got a video camera in them, and it recorded everything Mario saw." said the cop, holding up the sunglasses Mario had worn.
"Mama-mia! Is that really true?!" Mario asked aloud, hardly daring to believe his eyes and ears.
"Now I'm going to play some footage that I got from the glasses, but watch closely. Bear in mind that Mario was wearing the glasses, and look who he was running after!" said Sonny as he began playing some footage on his laptop for them.
The video showed Shadow Mario running around like a frightened little girl, and you could clearly hear Mario's voice yelling at him to stop.
"Now, let's see if Mario and the criminal even look alike." Sonny replied.
Two pictures appeared on the screen. One picture showed Mario, and the other showed Shadow Mario, and the cop's voice was heard saying, "If the pictures of Mario and the real criminal are up, I want everyone who's watching to compare and contrast these two."
"Yeah, I do believe that they're up for the viewers to look at. In fact, now that I'm seeing them, there is quite a difference between them." the reporter's voice replied.
All around Isle Delfino, Piantas who had blamed Mario were watching the news, and they were now seeing the images of Mario and the real criminal. They were able to easily compare and contrast them, and they were now realizing that they had blamed someone who was completely innocent... for no good reason!
If any Nokis were watching, they were glad that Mario was finally being proven innocent. They knew that he was a good man.
Then the screen went back to the courthouse, and Sonny said, "Mario, if you're watching this right now, you're welcome. I can guarantee that you're going to receive a lot of apologies when tomorrow comes."
"But we're going to start tonight." said the judge. He, the prosecutor, the Chief, and the rookie all apologized to Mario on national television. They weren't sure if Mario was watching the news and hearing their apologies, but either way, they were prepared to look for him tomorrow and apologize again, just to make sure.
"Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!" Mario joyfully exclaimed at the T.V. He was so excited that he leaped to his feet and started jumping on the bed while laughing in happiness. He even jumped so high that his head hit the ceiling, but he didn't care. Now the real truth was out, and he was a free, innocent man!
"I must admit, I am amazed that someone on this bloody island had the decency to help you out, Master Mario." Toadsworth said as he watched Mario showing his excitement.
Mario didn't reply. By now his head was starting to hurt, so Peach walked over to his bed, made him lie down, and asked the Toads to fetch a washcloth and get it damp so she could put it on Mario's aching head. So Red Toad got up and walked to the bathroom to do as the princess asked.
"I'm glad, too, Toadsworth. Mario didn't deserve the ill treatment that everyone gave him." Peach replied as Red Toad handed her the washcloth.
"Oh, mia principessa, my princess... I've never felt so relieved in all my life..." Mario said quietly as Peach removed his hat and gently placed the washcloth on his head.
"The feeling is mutual, sweetie. I'm so relieved that everyone is going to apologize to you tomorrow morning." Peach said, before giving him a kiss on the lips. She wanted him to feel better physically, now that he was emotionally better.
Sure enough, when tomorrow morning finally came, Toadsworth grabbed up a copy of the Delfino Sun newspaper, and he saw something that he had to show Mario and the princess.
"Look at this!" the old Toad exclaimed, showing the couple the front page of the newspaper.
The front page showed the images of Mario and the evil blue Mario shown on the news last night. The headline read, "Mario Framed", and it was accompanied by the pictures of him and Shadow Mario that were shown on the news the other night. The caption said that the picture on the left was Mario, and the one on the right was the real criminal. There was a huge difference between the two that everyone missed.
"Let me read that, please." Mario said.
Toadsworth handed Mario the paper, and Mario and Peach read the story together, finding out that now the whole island was shocked at the news last night, and they were now in an uproar at the realization that the island's justice system had been so stupid. But they had believed everything, for they had all scolded Mario, claiming that he was lying when he said he didn't do it.
The story went on to explain that everyone on the island was beginning to feel awful, and they said that perhaps if they had seen how hard Mario was working to bring back their lost Shine Sprites, they really should have believed him, and they felt sick upon remembering the way they treated him and hurt his feelings. They were going to owe him big for all the trouble they put him through.
The story ended explaining that there would be a re-trial later that morning, and the judge was reported saying, "If Mario can forgive us for the way we treated him, perhaps he'll be willing to tell us if he knows anything about the criminal who really messed up our island, and who he really is."
"I can tell you who that criminal is and why he framed me, whether or not I forgive you for the ill treatment." Mario said as he handed the paper back to Toadsworth.
After a quick breakfast, Mario strapped on F.L.U.D.D., and he, Peach, Toadsworth, and the Toads all boarded the boat from the hotel to Delfino Plaza.
When they arrived, the group made their way to the police station, and the Toads quickly formed a tight defensive group around Mario, not wanting any of the islanders to try anything funny with him. They'd seen how upset their hero was during the earliest part of the vacation, and they really didn't want to see him get his feelings hurt again.
Thankfully, no one said anything bad to Mario. In fact, the Piantas all looked as though they felt bad for their ill treatment of the plumber. They looked like they wanted to apologize to Mario, but after the way they scolded him and refused to believe him when he said he did nothing wrong, they were afraid that Mario wouldn't accept their apologies.
Before long, the group arrived at the police station, where the Chief, the rookie, and Sonny were standing around outside.
"Oh, look. Here he comes." said Sonny, motioning for his boss and co-worker to see Mario walking up, surrounded by his friends.
"Mario! You're here!" the rookie exclaimed when he saw the plumber and his friends approaching.
"We don't know if you saw the news last night or not, but we just want to say... we're sorry!" the Chief began.
"Ho visto la notizia. I saw the news." Mario assured him.
"Okay, that's good. But surely you know what we're sorry for." the Chief said.
Mario nodded, his arms folded across his chest.
"We're really sorry for putting you through all that trouble. You didn't deserve any of it. And I'm also sorry for accusing you of causing that stupid flood. What you recorded showed us that you were in Pianta Village at the time it occurred. So it wasn't you all along." said the rookie.
Peach heard all about the things that happened while she was gone, and while she was glad she wasn't in Delfino Plaza during the flood, she wished she had been there. It would've been better than sweating to death inside of Corona Mountain with the disrespectful Koopas trying to lure her into her doom.
"I think I owe you a debt of gratitude, sir." Mario said as he turned to look at Sonny.
"You don't owe me one red coin, Mario. Seeing you get the proof we needed to find out that you're an innocent man is payment enough for me." Sonny assured him.
"Now we need to see the judge and prosecutor, so let's head on over to the courthouse." said the Chief.
"We get to go over there? That's good because I have some not-so-nice things I'd like to say to those two." Toadsworth said.
"Me, too." said Peach, angry about how unfairly they had treated her boyfriend at that trial.
"Count us in!" said the 5 Toads. They knew that Mario was a hero, and he would never do anything wrong. Seeing him be treated so wrongly was just a bit much for them to handle.
Mario almost expected the cops to tell his friends not to do that, but given the way they had to bear witness to Piantas being mean to him, they knew it was best to let them vent.
When the group entered the courthouse, the judge and the prosecutor were in the process of getting a re-trial ready.
"I read about the re-trial in the paper, but just why are we doing a re-trial?" Mario asked.
"Well, after we apologized to you on the news last night..." the judge began.
"I did hear your apologies, just so you know." Mario told him.
"Oh, good... Well, after we apologized, we agreed that a re-trial might be the best way to go about fixing this problem just in case some of the islanders don't believe the news report, or the headline in the newspaper." the judge stated.
"I should say so! Do you bleedin' idiots have any idea what kind of horrible things the islanders were saying about Master Mario after you judged him guilty at that fake trial?! We could see his heart aching in ways you jerks have obviously never felt!" Toadsworth shouted, obviously angry.
"Add to that the fact that you seemed to decide it was perfectly fine for you to overrule the objection of a princess before she could speak her piece! Since when did they give a judge permission to overrule the objection of royalty?!" Peach asked the judge, making it clear that her feathers were still ruffled from hearing him overrule her before she could explain why she was objecting.
"Yeah! You guys suck!" the Toads said in unison.
The cops didn't even try to stop Mario's friends from putting down the judge and prosecutor. Sonny told the Chief and rookie that they deserved to know what it felt like to suffer the way Mario had.
The judge and prosecutor moaned softly, for they knew they did wrong, and so they knew that they deserved this verbal bashing from Mario's friends. But it was still disheartening that the cops didn't tell them not to do that.
Mario didn't blame his friends for saying what they said to the judge and prosecutor. He was glad to see his friends standing up for him, the way they wanted to since this whole mess began.
"We now know we're in the wrong for what we did. The cops showed us the proof that you weren't the one who was really in trouble. Now the whole island will find out the truth, for this time, we are going to do the trial the right way." the judge explained.
"The way you should have done it the first time?" Toadsworth asked, making sure that things were going to be fair for Mario and the princess.
"Yes. We'll do it right." said the prosecutor.
"About time!" said the Toads.
"I'll play the footage you recorded during the trial, Mario. That way, in case anyone didn't see the news last night, and the story in the newspaper isn't enough to convince them that you're innocent, they'll all be apologizing to you after this." Sonny assured the plumber, who gave him a half-smile.
Later, when the courtroom was full of Piantas (since none of the Nokis blamed Mario), the re-trial began. Mario, thankfully, was allowed to speak his piece this time. Peach was also allowed to speak in Mario's defense this time, confirming Mario's words to be true.
In fact, she even pointed out that Shadow Mario had shown up some time before Mario even arrived, because she saw him in the promotional video for the island.
So the promotional video began to play on a big video screen in the room, and sure enough, everyone saw Shadow Mario screwing around in the background, and the Piantas all agreed to redo the video. That little dweeb wouldn't be in it when they redid the shots in Delfino Plaza this time around.
Then Sonny played some footage of Mario chasing after Shadow Mario, and he said, "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I think you now have all the proof you need."
The Piantas that made up the jury looked at each other and nodded in agreement. They realized that Mario was not the guy they were supposed to be angry with.
Everyone else in the court began murmuring about how Mario was innocent. He hadn't done the crime, but they made him do the time. That was a really stupid move on their part. The investigation was poorly done, and all they'd had to go on was just eyewitnesses and a drawing that, when you looked at it carefully, looked nothing like Mario.
The judge and prosecutor knew that the court wasn't thrilled with that first trial. They were probably going to be suspended from the next 10 trials to make up for it. And they and the cops (save for Sonny) were going to be slapped with a lawsuit for not doing their jobs properly.
"Now, Mario, do you think you can you tell the court who was tricking us all into thinking you were a bad guy?" the judge asked.
"Gladly. Officer, can you play that part when I reached my girlfriend during the time she was trapped in Corona Mountain?" Mario asked Sonny.
"Why, certainly, Mario." Sonny replied. He played that part of the footage, and everyone was in shock to see Bowser and his son! The part that really got them, though, was when they clearly heard Bowser accusing Mario of disturbing his family vacation, because Peach was a human, and she looked really happy to see Mario. She couldn't be a member of a monstrous family.
"I know what that monster said, but you'll notice that I was thrilled to see Mario show up. And do any of you people know why?" Peach asked.
"I do! It's-a because you're not a member of his stupido family, that's why! They kidnapped you! And about that monster's son; did any of you people hear what he said to me when I showed up? Well, guess what? He was the one disguised as me! He tricked all of you into thinking that I'm a villain!" Mario exclaimed.
Everyone bowed their heads and wished they hadn't been quick to accuse Mario of the crime. It was obvious that they had been too stupid, and if they had just thought to try and catch the bad guy red-handed before Mario's arrival, they could have spared him (and themselves) a lot of trouble.
All the people in the courtroom looked like they felt completely awful. Peach walked over to Mario and put an arm around his shoulder. She knew that he wasn't evil.
"Also, the monster's son was saying that I was his mother. Now you saw how he looked like a miniature version of his father. Did he and I look anything alike?" Peach asked the people.
The audience knew the answer to that question. It was a unanimous, "NO WAY!"
"Precisely!" Peach said, smiling at the knowledge that everyone noticed the same thing she and Mario already knew. It was good to know that the Piantas were listening and learning the truth.
"Now then, did either of you happen to see where those monsters ended up after the battle reached its conclusion?" the prosecutor asked Mario and Peach.
"I didn't see either of them on the island Mario and I landed on after the battle was over. Which is just as well, because I don't want to be near them ever again." Peach said.
"But if we're lucky, they might still be around, taking refuge on one of the smaller islands nearby. We just need to find them." Mario replied.
"In that case, we're going to need you to go out there and bring them over here for some serious questioning." said the judge.
Mario was going to be sent out in a boat to find the villain and his kid. Peach didn't like the idea, but Mario assured her that the Koopas wouldn't try to do anything this time, for if they did, the captain of the boat would be a witness. Bowser and his son wouldn't be able to lay a finger on him.
"So, Mario, where did you and the princess land?" the captain asked as they got in the boat.
Mario quickly spotted the island, and said, "That's where we were."
So the captain steered the boat over to the island Mario and Peach had landed on, and he and Mario began taking a good look around the area. But during their search, Mario noticed something odd in the distance.
"Huh? What's that?" Mario said to himself.
"What's what?" asked the captain.
"That." Mario said, pointing it out.
The captain looked. He said, "I don't know, Mario, I've never seen anything like that before."
"Neither have I." said Mario.
"You wanna go have a look?" the captain asked.
"Sì. Let's-a go." Mario replied.
"All right." said the captain, and he steered the boat in the direction of the object.
Much to their surprise, the object turned out to be the hot tub the Koopas had been relaxing in when Mario found them in Corona Mountain. It had flipped upside-down and landed on the water, and Bowser and his son were sitting on it the edge of it, just resting. But they weren't too happy when they saw Mario coming their way.
"So THERE you are!" Mario yelled when the boat was close enough to the Koopas.
"Relax, Mario! I already told Jr. the truth about Princess Peach. He now knows that I was lying; that she's not really his mom." Bowser said.
"Wow! So he lied about that human woman being in his family! I knew that she wasn't his type!" the captain thought.
"Oh, don't worry, Bowser. I'm not here for another battle with you and your son, if that's what you're afraid of." Mario began.
"I'm not afraid of you." Bowser grumbled.
"Yeah! Papa's not afraid of you, Mario, because you're just a jerk!" Jr. replied, looking pleased with his harsh words towards Mario. But then he got squirted in the face with F.L.U.D.D., which he didn't like at all.
"What did you call me?" Mario asked.
Jr. sighed and said, "Okay, let me rephrase that: Papa's not afraid of you because he's a lot bigger than you are."
"All right, then. Now I know that you're probably wondering what I'm doing here, looking for you. Well, if you want to find out, you'll have to come with me to the courthouse." Mario replied.
"How come?" Bowser asked.
"Because everyone on the island is learning the truth about Mario, and you two are currently in the kind of trouble you can't get out of so easily." the captain smiled.
"Oh boy..." the Koopas facepalmed as Mario found a way to help tow the Koopas to shore.
Once they were ashore, Bowser and Jr. were led into the courtroom, and they had to swear to tell the whole truth. Mario and Peach watched them to make sure they did it, too. When the truth was out, the Piantas knew that it was time for justice to be served.
It took the jury less than 15 minutes to decide the fate of the Koopas. They were found guilty for everything, and as punishment, they were forced to do work on the island for a whole year! To make matters worse for them, they were going to be spending that entire year as prisoners, which means that they were going to wake up in a prison cell, and after a long day of hard labor, they would go to sleep in a prison cell!
As for Mario, his criminal record was completely revoked, and every Pianta on the island gave him the apologies he deserved to hear. The judge and the prosecutor also apologized again, to him and the whole island.
Then Mario, Peach, Toadsworth, the Toads, and F.L.U.D.D. all had the most fun anyone has ever had on a tropical vacation, while Bowser and Jr. had to perform labor, such as making repairs to things Jr. had wrecked, and cleaning up any messes that came up (the Piantas were deliberately going out of their way to make messes near the Koopas, forcing them to clean it up).
And if that wasn't enough, the islanders that walked past the Koopas had the guts to insult them worse than they had Mario. They said things like, "Mario is WAY better than you idiots!" or, "How dare you make us think bad of Mario! You guys suck!" Some Piantas even said to the Koopas, "You monsters make me sick!" And then they actually got sick, and the Koopas were ordered to clean it up... or else!
The judge, prosecutor, Chief, and rookie were not off the hook, though. They were still in big trouble for the way they had treated Mario. They ended up having to pay for Mario's 3-week stay at Hotel Delfino as part of their punishment. From then on, they knew that all investigations were going to have to be carried out a lot more thoroughly, so that nothing like this mess they put Mario in would never happen again.
Also, the judge and prosecutor were going to be replaced for the next 10 trials, since they had done a very poor job at the first trial Mario was at, not giving him the chance to speak up and tell them his side of the story, and overruling Peach's objection. They were told that next time a trial happens, both sides will be allowed to speak, and if the judge unfairly overruled another objection, he would not be judging any more trials after that!
The Chief and rookie were put on probation for their punishment, partly for being mean to Mario, but mostly for not doing anything when the real criminal ran by them with Peach in his grasp after Mario cleaned up Bianco Square. They could have stopped him and found out the truth sooner than they had, but they didn't even bother to lift a finger and help Mario.
Sonny was still allowed to be on the police force, since he had done his job the right way. The Chief's boss gave him a promotion for doing the right thing and finding out the real truth about Mario, proving that he was innocent. And Sonny was so pleased at this news, he gave Mario a pair of (normal) sunglasses and a custom tropical shirt that he was allowed to keep.
"Grazie! Thank you!" Mario said, grateful to the cop who had gone undercover to help him get out of trouble.
"I was glad to help you out, Mario." Sonny replied, pleased to see that Mario was now able to enjoy himself on Isle Delfino with no more worries.
The End
Well, that's that. Sonny helped to prove that Mario was innocent, the plumber got the apologies he deserved to hear, and the Koopas got the comeuppance they should have gotten when Mario won the game! I hope you all enjoyed this story!
Also, I should explain something to all of you about Bowser's Been Had!. I took that and the story Deleted Scenes down because I was going to condense them into one big story, and I'm planning to one day repost After The Rescue with Chapter 4 of Bowser's Been Had! as the first chapter. And the story Bowser's Been Had! was having a lot of problems when I posted Chapter 10. I posted it when the site came down with the bug it's having. The 10th chapter goes missing when you look at the chapter list on some chapters.