(A/N: Now Mario and Peach are engaged to be married, Bowser knows but can't do anything about it at present, and everyone else is happy for our favorite couple! Okay, let's start Chapter 3!)
When Mario and Peach walked out of the castle through the front doors, everyone was still there. It was obvious that the people wanted to congratulate them on their engagement. They were really happy for the couple, and they weren't afraid to show it.
"I don't think I've ever seen your people this happy before, Princess." Mario said to his wife-to-be as they meandered through the sea of excited Mushroom people, who couldn't stop saying things like, "Congratulations!", "We're so happy for you!", or "When's the wedding?!"
"They have every reason to be happy about this, Mario. Back when the Toads made me their princess, I was told that if and when I find the man I want to marry, I can become the queen after the wedding. The man I marry will become the king and rule the Mushroom Kingdom by my side." Peach said.
Mario's eyes grew very wide at the thought of being the king of the Mushroom Kingdom! He knew that Peach was a princess, and the kingdom's beloved ruler, but there were times when he easily forgot about her status because she wasn't just your ordinary princess. Peach was something special...
"And until I met you, Bowser was the only one I knew of who wanted to marry me, but I'd rather lick the dirty bathroom floor than kiss that weirdo!" Peach told him.
"Ew! Peach, kissing him is as bad as licking the floor in a dirty bathroom!" Mario said, making a face.
"No, Mario, kissing him is way worse than you can imagine. It is the equivalent of selling your soul to the Devil himself." Peach said, and her voice sounded the way it did when she described Bowser to him.
"Okay, you're right about that." Mario said. After witnessing Bowser's lack of heart, Mario knew that he couldn't blame Peach for feeling the way she did about him. Then he asked her, "But you don't mind kissing me, Princess?"
"I don't mind kissing you because I love you so much. And I'll kiss you right now to prove it." Peach said, and she pulled Mario close to her for another passionate kiss.
"Mama-mia... That feels so nice..." Mario said, his face turning as red as his cap and shirt.
"And I don't mind kissing you because I know you're the man I want to spend the rest of eternity with. Look at the ring you just gave me." Peach said, holding up her hand to flaunt the ring.
"I know... I'm really glad you like it." Mario smiled.
Suddenly, they heard two very loud, excited, familiar voices shouting, "MARIO!"
Mario turned in the direction of the voices, only to find himself being glomped.
"WHOA!" Mario yelled as he was knocked to the ground.
The plumber in red found himself lying on his back, looking up at Toad and Luigi, who were grinning at him.
"Hey, guys..." Mario said, unsure of what to say.
"I'm so happy for you, bro!" Luigi said as he hugged Mario tightly.
"Thanks, Lu. I feel like the luckiest man alive." Mario said as he returned the hug.
"Mario! I still can't believe you're getting married, to the princess, no less! You have no idea how shocked and excited I felt when the princess announced that you and her are going to tie the knot! To think that she's going to be the queen, and you'll be the king!" Toad exclaimed in happiness.
"Oh, that's right! I almost forgot that marrying a princess can get you a spot on the throne!" Luigi gasped as he stopped hugging Mario. He asked his brother in a whisper, "Do you really think you can do it?"
"I think the princess knows enough about royal protocol to help me be a good king for her subjects." Mario replied, whispering back.
"You're right. If she wants you to succeed and be trusted by her people, she'll gladly tell you everything you need to know." Luigi said with a smile. He hugged him again and said, "But I'm still so happy for you!"
"You have no idea how happy I was when she accepted my proposal." Mario said. Then he asked Luigi in a whisper, "You didn't tell Toad about my plans, did you?"
"No. I was still in the middle of running errands when we heard that Peach was going to make a big announcement, and he dragged me to the castle with him. I didn't tell him that you were thinking of proposing to Peach, and I wasn't entirely sure if you'd worked up the courage to follow through with it." Luigi replied.
"I knew I could trust you to keep my secret." Mario said, feeling happy in his brother's embrace.
Meanwhile, Toad was telling the princess something.
"Princess, you'll never believe who I saw while I was walking around the Mushroom Forest where I first met Mario." Toad said to Peach.
"Who did you see?" Peach asked.
"Our kingdom's sworn enemy." Toad said.
"YOU SAW BOWSER?!" Peach almost screamed, getting Mario and Luigi's attention.
"Bowser?! Oh no! Where is he?! Don't let him take me!" Luigi screamed, clinging to Mario out of fear. He still wasn't completely over what the Koopa King did to him, and finding out that Bowser had gotten out of his cage in Peach's Castle really upset him. He never wanted to run into Bowser again.
"Don't be afraid, Luigi. If Bowser comes near you, I'll make sure to break his fingers before he can touch you!" Mario assured his frightened brother. He had recently learned everything Bowser had done to Luigi, and he was ready to make him pay the price for upsetting him like he did.
"No guys, it's okay. I saw Bowser earlier today, but I stopped him so he can't do anything to you now." said Toad.
"You what?!" Mario, Luigi, and Peach asked.
"I stopped him. While I was in the Mushroom Forest, I happened to hear a very loud, familiar noise overhead, and I pulled out my binoculars to see what it was. Color me surprised to see Bowser flying in a hot-air balloon, roaring angrily about something." Toad said.
"You don't suppose he...?" Mario began.
"Uh-oh... I think that sound I asked you about after we got engaged was Bowser. He must have been spying on us, and he found out that Mario and I are engaged to be married. His roar of anger was loud enough for me to hear, but not clear enough for me to tell what it was." Peach said.
"But how could he see us?! The Mushroom Forest is a long way from the castle!" Mario said.
"He could've been using binoculars to spy on you. I used them in order to spot him when I heard him." Toad replied.
"Okay, that's true. Binoculars do help us see things like that." Mario said.
"But now he probably knows about the wedding!" Luigi said.
"Not quite. We haven't really begun planning the wedding yet, so we don't know what day it's going to take place. But as long as he doesn't find out what date we picked during the planning process, then we'll be in the clear." Peach promised.
"Yeah, well, I want you all to know that I fortunately stopped him from ruining things for all of you. I popped his balloon with my new slingshot! You should have seen how the balloon flew all over the place when the stone hit it! And even though I couldn't see him or hear him, Bowser had to be freaking out the entire time!" Toad said, laughing a little as he thought about what he had done to put an end to the Koopa King's shenanigans.
Mario and Luigi were chuckling in amusement as they pictured the balloon flying all over the place as it deflated, with Bowser freaking out the entire time. Toad had done a good thing.
"So, where do you suppose Bowser ended up when the balloon had completely deflated?" Peach asked, trying to hide her own amusement.
"Dunno. But I didn't see him on my way to town to stock up on some more supplies, so I'm pretty sure that he ended up outside of the Mushroom Kingdom." Toad replied.
"As long as he's not here, that's a good thing." Luigi said, sighing in relief.
"I agree. The less we see of that big moron, the happier we'll be." Peach said.
Sure enough, Bowser was still inside the Maw-Ray, trying to figure out how he was going to get out of it. Well, he tried breathing fire in hopes that maybe burning the Maw-Ray's insides would put it in enough pain to help him escape. And in a way, it did. The Maw-Ray opened its mouth wide.
"FREEDOM!" Bowser shouted as he ran for the exit. He was gonna get out of here!
...Or so he thought. He failed to take into account that the Maw-Ray was a sea creature, and that it had gone back under the water after it swallowed him. A whole lot of water came in when the beast opened its mouth.
"WHOA, BABY!" Bowser yelled as he saw a tidal wave approaching his position. He thought that if he could stand his ground, maybe it wouldn't do anything to him, but he couldn't have been more wrong.
"NOOOOOO!" Bowser hollered as he ended up getting caught in the tidal wave, which took him right back to where he started. Upon finding himself back where he had been, Bowser was so mad, he decided that he was going to burn the Maw-Ray's insides again for revenge, but for some reason, his fire-breathing ability wasn't working.
"What's going on?! Why can't I breathe fire?!" Bowser asked in frustration. It didn't take long for him to figure out what had happened. When the water came in, he not only got soaked, he even drank some of it, and the combination of being wet and drinking the water affected his ability to breathe fire. All that came out of his mouth now was very black smoke and a lot of steam.
"Darn it all! You stupid creature! You just had to go and ruin everything for me, and I'm going to make you pay for this!" Bowser yelled as he jumped around in anger, digging his claws into the creature's insides.
Well, that did the trick, because the Maw-Ray finally couldn't handle that pain anymore, and it threw him up.
"Finally! I thought I was never gonna get out of that stupid beast's lousy stomach! But I just proved that you can't keep the Koopa King down! IN YOUR FACE!" Bowser said, feeling happy as he found himself outside, taking deep breaths of the beautiful air.
However, Bowser quickly discovered that he had a new problem. He might have escaped from the Maw-Ray, but he smelled like the creature's insides, and boy, did he stink!
"Eww! That smell! No one wants to smell that smell!" Bowser yelled in disgust. He had to get back to the Dark Lands and take a hot shower and wash himself with strong soap and disinfectant. It wouldn't do him any good to try and change Peach's mind about Mario when he smelled as bad as an old dead skunk.
That evening, Peach accompanied the Mario Bros. to Brooklyn. She wondered just how the Mario family would handle the news about her and Mario being engaged.
"They're going to be happy. Their positive reactions when I told them I wanted to marry you was all the proof I needed." Mario told her.
"Mario's right. They're going to be over the moon when they hear about this, Peach. They love you." Luigi assured her as they reached the apartment, and he opened the door.
"Hey-o!" the Mario family greeted the brothers and the princess upon seeing them enter.
"Hey-o!" Mario, Luigi, and Peach replied. After several visits to the Mario apartment, Peach learned the way the family greeted each other, and before long, she was feeling comfortable enough to reply to the greeting with Mario and Luigi.
"Princess Peach! It's so good to see you again, dear!" Mama Mario exclaimed as she hurried over to the princess and gave her a big hug.
"Likewise." Peach replied, returning the hug before sitting at the table with everyone else. From the beginning, Mario and Luigi always allowed Peach to sit between them (to help her feel more at ease while she was here), and Aunt Marie sat across from her.
"Well, how have things been in the Mushroom Kingdom?" asked Papa Mario.
"Wonderful." Mario replied.
"Better than ever, considering what happened today." Peach said.
"Oh? What happened?" asked Uncle Arthur.
"The best news of the century." Mario replied.
"And what is the best news of the century?" Uncle Tony asked.
"You tell me." Peach said, holding up her left hand to flaunt the ring to the family she would soon be a part of.
The ring sparkled in the light in the dining room, and everyone caught it. They all looked at Mario in amazement.
"Yep. I finally mustered up the courage and asked Peach the big question." Mario replied, blushing.
"And as you might have guessed, I happily accepted his marriage proposal." Peach replied, her cheeks turning as pink as her dress.
"WAHOO!" the Mario family cheered in happiness. They all had a good feeling that Peach was going to accept Mario's proposal, and when she confirmed that she had, they couldn't be happier.
"Wow! You're really going to marry Mario?" Gianna asked the princess in excitement.
"I wouldn't be wearing this ring if I wasn't, so the answer is yes." Peach smiled.
"Mario! I almost forgot! If you're marrying a princess, does this mean you're going to be a prince?" Gianna asked him.
"Actually, Peach told me that when she gets married, she becomes the queen, and her husband will be the king. And since I'm the man she's going to marry, I'm going to be a king instead." Mario said.
"That's even better!" Gianna exclaimed.
"It is. And after what Mario did for us all, saving me from being married to Bowser and saving the Mushroom Kingdom from being destroyed by that stupid Bomber Bill, he should know as well as I do that my Toads would love to have him as their king." Peach said.
"I saw their happiness, Peach, but are you sure they really meant it?" Mario asked.
"I meant it. And I know Toad meant it, too. He and I hugged each other out of excitement when we learned that you and Peach got engaged." Luigi said.
"And try to look at it this way, Mario: if it wasn't for you, the Mushroom Kingdom would've fallen to Bowser, and I wouldn't be here right now. You earned the right to rule by my side as the king!" Peach told him.
Mario blushed even more and said, "Well, then I'm honored to be the Mushroom Kingdom's new king."
The Mario family celebrated the good news far into the night. So far, in fact, that Peach ended up staying the night at the apartment. And whenever she stayed the night, Mario and Luigi were willing to give up their room so she could sleep on one of the beds in there, and they'd gladly sleep on the hide-a-bed in the living room.
"No, it's okay. I'll sleep on the hide-a-bed because I really don't want to rob you boys of your nice, warm, comfy beds." Peach told the brothers as she watched them get the couch ready.
"You won't be. And we really don't mind sleeping on the hide-a-bed, if that's what you're worried about. Lu and I have done this a lot in the past, haven't we?" Mario asked his brother as they made up the hide-a-bed with sheets, pillows, and a blanket.
"Yeah, we have. Do you remember that time we had to sleep on it for a few nights when our room was being painted because the smell of the paint made it hard for us to sleep?" Luigi asked.
"I do remember that time. We had to wait until the paint completely dried before we could sleep in there again." Mario said.
The Mario Bros. really didn't mind letting Peach sleep in their room, but she refused to budge. She slept on the hide-a-bed in the living room, even though they felt it wasn't right for her to sleep there. They even told their parents that they allowed her to sleep in their room while they slept on the hide-a-bed, but she really didn't feel right about taking their beds, even though it would only be for one night.
The following morning, after a good breakfast, Mario, Luigi, and Peach returned to the Mushroom Kingdom.
"Is there anyone else who should know about the wedding?" Mario asked.
Peach thought for a moment, and she said, "There is. Let me get changed, then we'll get Toad, get on our karts, and make our way over to the Jungle Kingdom."
Mario knew who Peach was referring to. She meant Donkey Kong, the prince and future king of the Jungle Kingdom. Now even though Mario and DK had buried the hatchet and became good friends, Mario felt a little uneasy about how the big hairy ape was going to react to the news about him and Peach. DK admitted that he was in the wrong to say that a princess would never go out with him, but what would he think about marriage?
"Something wrong?" Toad asked Mario as he hopped on the back of Peach's motorcycle. His kart hadn't been rebuilt since the ambush, so he rode with Peach, which wasn't too bad.
"Yeah, kind of." Mario replied. He proceeded to tell the Mushroom man about his worries when it came to telling Donkey Kong about his impending nuptials.
"You're worried about that? Don't be! I for one can't wait to see how he's going to react! I know that he's our friend now, and that he apologized for everything he put you through during the whole Bowser ordeal, but he's probably going to feel incredibly stupid for saying that a princess would never go out with you. She didn't just go out with you; she agreed to be your wife!" Toad said.
Mario realized that Toad was right. DK probably hadn't really thought about that little detail, but then again, Mario wasn't trying to get the princess to fall in love with him at that time. And she was the one who started talking to him while they were on the secret passage! Now he couldn't wait to see DK's reaction to the fact that he was marrying the princess!
Luigi held onto the back of Mario's rebuilt kart, and the group made their way to the Jungle Kingdom on the repaired secret passage. Mario and Peach were in very high spirits as they thought about their impending nuptials. They actually started imagining what their wedding day would be like.
Mario was sure that because Peach was a princess, their wedding was going to be a big, fancy ceremony. That was probably to be expected, even though he hadn't thought his wedding day would be such an extravagant affair. But he figured that when you're marrying into royalty, you get only the best of the best!
Peach knew that for this wedding, she was going to be a lot happier, because the groom was a man that she loved, a man who really loved her, and if anything, Peach knew that she wanted to marry for love, like Mama Mario and Aunt Marie had done. They told her that if she should marry, then it should be for love. She remembered them mentioning this back when they asked her what she looked for in a man.
It seemed like only minutes had passed before they found themselves in the Jungle Kingdom. DK was out driving in his kart, and he was very surprised to see Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach coming his way.
"Hey, guys! Long time, no see! What brings you to the Jungle Kingdom on this fine day?" DK asked in surprise and happiness as he parked his kart. Mario and Peach parked close to his kart, allowing Toad and Luigi to hop off the back of the karts, much to Luigi's relief.
"We have something to tell you." Peach said, and she and Mario looked at each other with happy smiles on their faces.
"What are you up to?" DK asked, a little suspicious about their smiles.
"Nothing you would approve of." Mario replied.
"Oh, really? What would that be?" DK asked.
"Look what Mario gave me!" Peach said, flaunting her engagement ring at him.
DK's eyes grew wide when he saw the ring sparkling in the light of the sun.
"Whoa!" DK said. He wasn't expecting this.
"Guess what? That's an engagement ring she's wearing!" Luigi said.
"An engagement...? You're getting married?!" DK asked Peach.
"Yes!" Peach replied, smiling widely.
"Well, congratulations!" DK said, and he reached out to shake her hand. However, due to the fact that his hand was a lot bigger than the princess's hand, he had to let Peach grab his finger and shake his hand like that. (A/N: That's how he and Mario shook on it in Burying The Hatchet.)
"Thank you!" Peach said.
"Now, do you know who the bridegroom is?" Toad asked.
"Uhh..." DK didn't know, but he hoped it wasn't Bowser.
"We might have to give him some clues, and I'll start. It's not Bowser." Mario said.
"Well, that's good. He doesn't deserve the princess as his wife." DK said.
Peach had to smile at that, and then she said, "Here's another clue. The man I'm marrying is someone you know."
"Someone I know..." DK said. Well, that didn't narrow it down much. He knew a lot of people, but he was sure it wasn't anybody in the Jungle Kingdom. They would've told him first. And Peach, being a human, most likely wanted to marry a human man.
"Someone brave." Luigi added.
"And he's a hero!" Toad put in.
"Is it...?" DK asked, not daring to say the answer.
"It's-a me!" Mario said in an Italian accent, like he and Luigi used in their "Super Mario Bros. Plumbing" commercial.
"YOU?!" DK said, looking shocked.
"Yup! I'm marrying Mario!" Peach said as she leaned in and kissed Mario on the lips. Mario was only too happy to return the kiss.
DK was shocked as he watched Mario and the princess kissing each other! Why did he have to go and open his big mouth when he saw Mario and Peach talking to each other when they were on the secret passage?! Now he was proven to be dead wrong about Mario and the princess. She not only went out with him, she was marrying him! He felt like an idiot.
"Well, DK, what do you know?" Mario asked the incredulous ape.
"Oh, not much..." DK replied as he rubbed the back of his head, not knowing what else to say.
"Doesn't surprise me a bit." Toad whispered to Luigi, who couldn't help laughing at how quickly the little Mushroom man came up with that retort. But he kept his laughter quiet, so that DK wouldn't know.
"Anyway, we didn't come here to gloat about the fact that you were wrong about us. We came to invite you to the royal wedding. But just so you know, the wedding is still in the planning stage. We just got engaged yesterday." Mario explained.
"Yeah. We still have to set a date. But in the meantime, we can assure you that we're not going to sacrifice anyone at the wedding." Peach added.
"Well... I'll have to think about it." DK said. After a few seconds, he said, "Okay, I've thought about it. I'll be there!"
"Great!" Mario replied.
"I'll talk to Dad about your wedding and see if he'd like to attend, too. I think he won't mind. He has mellowed out since I saved him and the Great Kong Army at Bowser's so-called 'wedding', and he agreed to ally with your kingdom if you need our help again." DK said.
"All right! That's good! And I do remember when you said he was willing to ally with us." said Peach. Even Mario smiled at this.
"Now that we've got that squared away, I wanted to ask you something." Toad said.
"Ask away." DK replied.
"Do you think that maybe we could stop by the kart workshop so I can rebuild my kart? You might not remember this, but I lost my kart during the Koopa ambush, and I'd kind of like to have it again." Toad reminded the others.
"Good idea, Toad. I'd like for Luigi to have a kart of his own as well. That is, if he wants one." Mario said.
"You know what? I think I would like one." Luigi said, a little shyly.
"Oh, sure. Right this way." DK said, leading everyone to the kart workshop. When they got there, Toad ran straight to one of the kiosks and started picking out the things he wanted his kart to have. He remembered everything it had.
"I want my kart to be just like yours, Mario." Luigi said to his brother as they approached a kiosk.
"I understand." Mario said. So did the mechanic, for he was the same mechanic who put Mario's kart together, and rebuilt it. He made the same kart for Luigi, but it was green with a green "L" on it. Luigi was very pleased with his kart, and Mario even taught him how to drive it. Luigi was quick to learn how to drive the kart.
After finding out that Cranky would be glad to attend the royal wedding, Mario, Peach, Luigi, and Toad made their way back to the Mushroom Kingdom. Now the friends were in such high spirits that they were singing "Drive My Car" by the Beatles. It was a very good day.
But Mario and Peach's wedding day is the moment you're all looking forward to, isn't it? Well, the wedding is coming up in the next chapter, so stay tuned!