(A/N: Okay, I got the idea for this story months ago. As it turns out, "Super Mario Sunshine" is another great source of inspiration for me. This is an AU that tells us what would've happened if Luigi and Daisy had joined Mario, Peach, and the Toads on that Isle Delfino vacation! Let's get this show on the road!)


It was a bright, sunny morning in August in the Mushroom Kingdom. Everyone in the kingdom was feeling all right, for it had been a very long while since Bowser's last attack. You see, Bowser had suffered a rather nasty injury that took a long time to heal.

Mario had broken Bowser's leg pretty badly during their last battle back in February (the day before Valentine's Day, to be precise), which more or less forced the Koopa King to surrender Princess Peach. He was probably afraid that Mario might break his leg to the point where it would have to be amputated if he didn't give up. Or maybe Mario would break his other leg.

Say, since I mentioned the name of the kingdom's beloved princess, why don't we head on over to the castle and see if anything is happening over there? There's usually something interesting going on at this hour. Come on, let's-a go!

We find Princess Peach, her cousin, Princess Daisy of Sarasaland, and several Toads (including Toadsworth) standing next to a pink limousine outside the castle. They're all putting suitcases in the trunk of the limousine. Looks to me like they're planning to go on a vacation somewhere...

The princesses were also dressed differently today. Peach was wearing a lighter, sleeveless version of her dress, and instead of her gloves, she was wearing a gold bracelet on her left wrist and a ruby ring on the middle finger of her right hand. Daisy was wearing an orange sun-dress with a skirt that reached her knees, and matching sandals on her feet. Like Peach, Daisy was without her gloves, but both girls still wore their earrings and crowns. I wonder what's up...

"I can't believe the day is finally here! We're going to find out what it's like to be in paradise on Isle Delfino!" Peach said to Daisy.

"Yeah! I've been interested in seeing what Isle Delfino is going to be like ever since you showed it to the rest of us during your online research two weeks ago! It really looked awesome!" Daisy replied.

"And I'm so excited that you're able to come with us, Daisy! I don't think you've ever been able to join me on a vacation before!" Peach said.

"I do believe you're right about that, Peach. The only vacations I recall going on are to see you here in the Mushroom Kingdom. And the best part about this one is that Mom and Dad aren't expecting me home for at least another month, so that should give us plenty of time to enjoy the vacation. How long are we going to be there again?" Daisy asked.

"Two weeks. I think that works for a vacation." Peach reminded her.

"You're right, Peach. We're bound to have plenty of fun during two weeks in paradise." Daisy said.

"And remember, Mario and Luigi are coming with us, too." Peach reminded her.

"How could I forget? The place wouldn't really be much of a paradise for me if my favorite green-clad man wasn't at my side." Daisy said.

"I know how you feel, Daisy. Mario makes my vacations a lot of fun. I can't wait until we get there. As much as I want to see a sun-drenched tropical paradise, what I'm really looking forward to are the romantic dinners beneath starry skies at Hotel Delfino." Peach said with a dreamy sigh. She really liked the idea of enjoying plenty of those with Mario.

"And why is that? Oh wait, I think I know. You're thinking of proposing to Mario during one of those dinners, aren't you, Peach?" Daisy asked with a sly grin on her face. She knew how much her cousin loved the Mushroom Kingdom's resident hero, and she couldn't help teasing her about it every now and again.

"Daisy!" Peach exclaimed in embarrassment, her cheeks turning as pink as her usual dress.

"So you are thinking of marrying Mario! I knew it!" Daisy said with a triumphant laugh, but she was also smiling playfully.

"No, Daisy, you don't know it because I am not thinking about marriage yet! And even if I was, I can't propose to Mario because I don't have a ring for him! I don't know his ring size! Besides, I'm waiting for him to propose first." Peach said.

"I don't know, Peach. What if Mario is actually very shy about asking you to marry him, given the fact that you're royalty and he's not? I know how shy Luigi is when it comes to spending time alone with me." Daisy said.

"Mario is more extroverted than Luigi, and even though he thought I deserved a prince, he relaxed when I told him that status doesn't matter to me. With that in mind, I think he'll be the one who proposes to me." Peach replied.

"We'll see... and I guess we're going to have to discuss this later, 'cause I can see them coming this way!" Daisy said, seeing Mario and Luigi making their way down the path, carrying their suitcases.

"Oh good!" Peach smiled.


As they walked to the castle with their luggage, the Mario Bros. were having a quiet, pleasant conversation with each other.

"I'm really looking forward to this vacation, Luigi." Mario said to his brother.

"So am I, Mario. I can't believe I'm going to be enjoying tropical paradise with Daisy." Luigi said.

"To be there with Peach is going to be a lot of fun! And I know you can't wait to see what paradiso is like when Daisy is at your side." Mario said.

"Yeah. I think we're a couple of lucky guys to be going on a fun vacation to a tropical island with two very beautiful princesses." Luigi replied, blushing a little at the thought of Daisy being with him in a place that looked to be the definition of the word 'paradise'.

"Lo siamo sicuramente. We definitely are." Mario agreed with a smile.

Mario and Luigi approached the princesses they loved. The brothers were dressed in their usual attire, except their shirts were short-sleeved, not long-sleeved. And their suitcases were their favorite colors. Mario's was red, and Luigi's was green.

"Hi, Mario! Hi, Luigi!" Peach greeted.

"Salve signore. Hello, ladies." Mario replied, removing his cap and sweeping a low bow before the princesses. Peach couldn't help giggling at how charming Mario was, but she returned the gesture with a polite curtsy, and Daisy smiled as she did the same.

"Your Highnesses..." Luigi smiled as Mario straightened up and placed his cap back on his head.

"Are you boys ready to find out what tropical paradise is like?" Daisy asked Mario and Luigi as they put their suitcases in the limo's trunk.

"Sì. I've been ready ever since Peach invited us on this vacation." Mario replied.

"Anche io. Me too." Luigi replied, turning to look at Daisy. When he saw her, his eyes went wide, and he quietly said, "Mama-mia..."

"Something wrong?" Daisy asked, noticing the way her boyfriend was looking at her.

"Well, Daisy... It's-a just that... I've never really seen you in an outfit like that before... And I think... you look lovelier than I ever imagined you would..." Luigi said.

"Do I really look as beautiful as you say?" Daisy asked in surprise, blushing slightly at Luigi's kind words. When the shy plumber nodded his head yes, Daisy replied, "Well, thank you." And then she kissed his cheek.

"Mama-mia..." Luigi whispered, blushing so terribly that he looked sunburned.

"Are you ready to go to the island, Peach?" Mario asked Peach.

"You know it! I'm even more ready now that you and Luigi are here." Peach smiled.

"Then what are we waiting for, Christmas?! Let's get going!" Daisy said, eager to go.

"Yeah, let's get a move on!" the Toads exclaimed, clambering into the limo and sounding like a bunch of excited kids who were going on a field trip to somewhere fun.

"Hey! Everyone please calm down! If you get over-excited now, you're going to end up wearing yourselves out long before we even reach the island!" Toadsworth warned, but the Toads were so happy that they just ignored him.

"All right. Let's-a go!" Mario said.

"Hold it, Mario! Prima le signore. Ladies first." Luigi said, motioning for Peach and Daisy to get into the limo.

"Oh, right..." Mario said. He felt a little dumb for forgetting that.

"You're such a gentleman." Daisy smiled at Luigi as she and Peach got in.

"Okay, now we can get in." Luigi said to Mario. So they climbed in after the girls.


"All right. Is everyone in, with their seatbelts fastened?" asked the Toad chauffeur after everyone got in and got seated.

"Yes!" came the unanimous reply.

"So everyone is ready to go?" asked the chauffeur, making sure.

"JUST GO ALREADY!" the Toads yelled loudly and impatiently, causing everyone else to cover their ears.

"I say, I am going to end up getting a really bad migraine if I have to listen to this noise all the way to Isle Delfino..." Toadsworth moaned, not looking forward to hearing this on the plane.

"Don't worry, Toadsworth. You won't get a migraine if I have anything to say about it. I'll have the Toads sitting in coach while the rest of us travel first-class. And because first-class is soundproof, you won't hear them." Peach assured her steward.

"Really? First-class travel for us? Oh, Princess, I can't thank you enough for making sure that I don't have to suffer too much on the way to our destination." Toadsworth replied, giving the princess a grateful look and a hug. Peach smiled at Toadsworth and returned his hug.

"Okay. Seeing that you're all set and ready to go, I think it's time to get you guys to the airport!" said the chauffeur with a smile. He started the limo, and the vacationers were so excited, they began singing Beach Boys songs to keep their spirits high.


About 20 minutes later, the limo pulled into the airport. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toadsworth, and the Toads got their suitcases out of the trunk and were ready to make their way into the airport.

"I'll be here to pick you up when you return from your vacation in paradise! I hope you'll have lots of fun while you're there!" the chauffeur told Peach before leaving the airport and driving back to the castle.

Once inside the airport, the group learned that their flight would be taking off in about an hour.

"Hmm... this may be a good opportunity for us to read up on the information about the island so we can figure out what we want to do." Peach murmured, reaching into her suitcase and pulling out the pages of information she had printed, using both sides of the paper. Reading kept everyone busy as they waited to board the plane.

It seemed like only minutes had passed before they found out that it was time for them to board the plane. Peach quickly put the papers away, and everyone gathered up their things as they quickly boarded Peach's airplane, which would take them to Isle Delfino. Before long, the plane took off, and they were merrily on their way to paradise!


The Toads were all riding in coach, but Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, and Toadsworth all rode in the first-class section, just as Peach had promised. The first-class section was nice and quiet, so everyone there could concentrate on their thoughts without any problems at all.

As the group in first-class looked at the visual map to see how close they were getting to their destination, a golden object that looked like a sun suddenly appeared on the screen.

"Ooh, look at that!" Peach exclaimed.

Then a promotional video for Isle Delfino began. It looked to be quite an interesting place to take a vacation, and it truly looked like the definition of the word 'paradise'. There were even details in the video that really interested the group.

The mention of 'succulent seafood' caught and held Mario's attention. He had love hearts appear in his eyes, and he began to moan as though he was... um... I'd rather not say, but I think those of you with dirty minds know what it sounded like...

Daisy was interested in the island's amusement park, because when they spoke about that, she saw what appeared to be a roller-coaster there, and she really liked riding those. She couldn't wait to get to the island so she could go to the amusement park and ride that roller-coaster.

It was at the end of the video that Peach noticed something rather odd.

"Mario...!?" she asked, her voice soft.

"What is it, Peach? Did you say something?" Luigi asked, turning to look at the blonde princess. Despite how soft her voice was, he somehow managed to hear her.

"Huh? What happened?" Daisy asked, having been snapped out of her reverie when she heard Luigi speak to Peach.

Realizing that she had gotten Luigi and Daisy's attention, Peach motioned for them to look at the video screen, saying, "That...that shadow...?"

Luigi and Daisy both looked at the screen and quickly saw what Peach was talking about. There, in the background, was a shadowy figure that looked like Mario jumping around. The couple began to talk to each other in whispers.

"What? Is that really Mario?" Daisy asked.

"No way! That can't be him! He's never been to Isle Delfino before! ...Or has he been there during one of his adventures to save Peach?" Luigi asked. He figured that he might need to join Mario on his adventures from now on to find out more about the places he visited.

"Hold it! Look at that guy! He's holding a giant paintbrush! I know for a fact I've never seen Mario use something like that before." Daisy pointed out.

"Hey, yeah! And he also appears to be cloaked in shadow. Mario would appear in color! You know what that means, don't you, sweetie?!" Luigi asked.

"I sure do! But you can say it. Mario is your brother, after all." Daisy said.

"That's not Mario! That's just someone pretending to be him!" Luigi said.

Peach looked at Mario to see if he'd noticed the shadowy figure she was talking about, but he made it obvious that he hadn't really seen it. He still had love hearts in his eyes, and he was still moaning. He was thinking only of the food he would be dining on when they reached Isle Delfino. That was all he could think of.

So Peach decided to find out if Toadsworth saw the shadowy Mario-esque person.

"Toadsworth, did you see...?" Peach started, only to be interrupted by him saying, "Wait!" It was obvious that he hadn't noticed it, either. He was thinking about relaxing, fat and happy after a good meal, and even riding the roller-coaster.

Peach sighed in disappointment. Mario and Toadsworth hadn't noticed that guy.

"Don't worry, Peach. Luigi and I saw that guy, and in case you're wondering, we know for a fact that it's not really Mario, if that's what you're afraid of." Daisy assured her.

"Yeah. It's-a just someone acting like him. I know my brother. He's never been to Isle Delfino before." Luigi added.

Peach felt a little bit better, knowing that Luigi and Daisy had seen it, too. It proved that she wasn't crazy, like anyone else would have thought. But she could only wonder what that guy was doing in the video. It made her excitement turn to unease. Would he be there when they reached the island?


That's what we're going to find out in Chapter 2! If you want to find out, then you have to stay tuned!