(A/N: It's amazing how I can come up with stories without even thinking about it! Check out this new idea I just recently got, taking place after the events of "Super Paper Mario"!)
It was a warm spring day in the Mushroom Kingdom. On a day as lovely as this, the Toads were all outside, enjoying the warmth of the sun, as well as the beautiful flowers that were beginning to bloom. Now this lovely scene has got me wondering if even the Super Mario Bros. are out on this fine day! Let's go look for 'em and find out!
We find Mario and Luigi sitting by the fountain in the courtyard at Peach's Castle, and Princess Peach is out there with them. The three of them appear to be having a pleasant conversation while enjoying each other's company.
"I'm so glad spring is here at last." Peach smiled.
"Me too. As pretty and fun as the snow can be, the temperature sometimes gets a little too cold for us to really enjoy ourselves out there." Mario said.
"That's true, Mario. But now that spring has finally arrived, I'm really glad that I won't have to worry about wearing my thermals under my clothes for a long time." Luigi added.
"Me too. The weather has warmed up, and it's such a lovely day." Peach said.
All of a sudden, something showed up to darken the sunny skies and ruin this fine day. And the shadow was that of a... very familiar airship.
"Mama-mia! You have GOT to be kidding me!" Mario exclaimed in unhappiness as he recognized the shape of the object that was floating over them.
Sure enough, Bowser jumped down from the ship and caused the ground to shake as he landed on his feet. When he saw Mario and Luigi staring at him, he said the most surprising thing they ever heard him say, "I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but Mario, am I glad that I found you and your brother!"
"What do you want, Bowser?!" Mario asked in an angry voice, getting in front of Luigi and Peach to protect them both from their greatest enemy.
"I... I need..." Bowser was having some difficulty making the words come out. Apparently, this wasn't easy for him to say.
"Well, what is it?" Luigi asked, sounding just as unhappy as Mario was.
"(sigh) I need... your help..." Bowser finished.
"Whose help?" Peach asked.
"Mario's. And I also need his brother's help. You can help too, if you want, Peach." Bowser said.
"What do you need us to help you with?" Mario asked suspiciously.
"Do you guys remember what almost happened a year ago?" Bowser asked.
Mario, Luigi, and Peach all exchanged unhappy looks with each other before turning back to Bowser and nodding their heads yes. They remembered, all right, but it wasn't like they really wanted to. In fact, it was something they'd much rather forget all about if they could.
Count Bleck and his evil little assistant, Nastasia, had shown up out of nowhere. And they forced Bowser and Peach to marry in order to summon the Chaos Heart, which would open The Void, the expansion of which would go on to destroy the worlds, as was stated in the Dark Prognosticus.
"Yeah, we remember." Peach said, folding her arms across her chest.
"Not that we want to. I know I don't want to..." Luigi said in a quiet voice, looking down and away.
"But what does that have to do with you needing our help?" Mario asked.
"Do you guys remember who the real problem was during that ordeal? I don't mean Count Bleck, but... surely you know who I'm talking about..." Bowser started.
"Yes, I think I do. And I'm pretty sure his name was Dimentio." Mario said, making a face as he spoke, for just saying the name left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Oh NO! Not that guy! Why do we have to bring him into this conversation?!" Luigi asked, trying very hard not to cry but failing miserably. The sound of that villain's name was enough to upset Luigi really badly, for he had nothing but horrible memories of this character. He almost made King Boo seem nice!
"Bowser! You should be ashamed for bringing up that little idiot! You know how badly he upset poor Luigi during that adventure!" Peach scolded the Koopa King as she pulled the green-clad plumber into a comforting hug and allowed him to cry on her shoulder.
As Luigi wept, the princess whispered words of comfort to him, trying to help him feel a little better. Peach was saying things like, "It's going to be okay, Luigi. He's not going to do anything to hurt you ever again."
"I'm aware of that little fact! You think I hadn't noticed how much trouble he caused for all of us?! And as much as I hate to say this... I think he's come back!" Bowser yelled.
"He's what?!" Mario almost screamed.
"You heard me! He might have come back!" Bowser said.
"He's back?! NOOOOO!" a completely horrified Luigi wailed into Peach's shoulder.
"How do you know for sure that he's back?! What tipped you off?!" Peach asked in shock as she began rubbing Luigi's back in a bid to calm him more. Even Mario had to give his brother a hug. He hated seeing Luigi so upset.
"My castle looks like it has been destroyed by an earthquake! All of my minions were beaten to a pulp... and if you want real proof, I happened to find this lying in the middle of the mess..." Bowser said, handing Mario a folded piece of paper.
"Let's-a see..." Mario said as he unfolded the paper and read it. The note said,
Bowser,
I have returned from The Underwhere, and now I'm going to get my ultimate revenge on you and the so-called 'heroes' who helped you defeat me back in Castle Bleck! This time, there is nothing any of you can do to stop me! The Dark Prognosticus will come true, so I do hope you plan to enjoy the last few hours of your life!
Sincerely, Dimentio
"Mama-mia!" Mario gasped. He then showed the note to Peach, but Luigi couldn't bring himself to take even one look at it. He didn't want to read a note that may have been written by one of his greatest enemies.
"You see what I mean?! We've got to stop him!" Bowser said.
"You're right, Bowser. We can't let Dimentio try to make the Dark Prognosticus come true. Of course we'll help you stop him!" Peach said without hesitation.
"I don't wanna go! I don't want him to see me, nor do I want to see him! Please don't make me go and face him again!" Luigi pleaded.
Mario thought for a moment before realizing something important. And he leaned really close to Luigi and whispered to him, "Luigi, I know you don't want to go and deal with Dimentio again, but I really think you should. This may be a chance for you to get revenge on him! Don't you want to make him pay for what he did to you?"
"Not right now, Mario..." Luigi moaned.
"But there's a really good reason why you should do it. And you won't be sorry." Mario whispered. Then he cupped his hands around Luigi's ear and began whispering in a voice so quiet that only Luigi could hear it. When he finished, Luigi turned to look at him and asked, "R-really?"
Mario smiled and nodded in reply to his brother's question.
"Luigi, we'll be right here with you. We're not going to let him do anything to you if he shows his ugly face. And if he tries anything funny, we'll show him what funny is." Peach assured him.
Luigi thought about what his brother and the princess said to him, and after a moment, he took a deep breath and said, "Okie-dokie. I-I'll go with you."
"All right! Come aboard my ship!" Bowser said, allowing Mario, Luigi, and Peach to board his ship.
Once they boarded the ship, Bowser had to get to the control room and set a course for where they were going to go next. While he was doing that, Mario and his friends were just standing around in the middle of the main area, and Mario said, "All right! Now what we need to do is come up with a really good plan to put a stop to Dimentio's plans once and for all!"
That was when Peach heard an odd sound from a distance and she asked, "What was that sound?"
"What sound? I didn't hear anything." Mario said.
"Well, I did. And I think it was coming from that direction. I've gotta find out what it is." Peach said. She slowly started moving in the direction she thought the sound had come from.
Mario and Luigi shrugged, but they decided it was best to follow Peach. They had to make sure that nothing bad would happen to her. Toadsworth had made it pretty clear that he would never forgive them if they let her get in trouble.
"Are you sure you heard something? You're sure you didn't imagine this sound?" Luigi asked.
"I'm pretty sure it wasn't my imagination trying to play tricks on me." Peach said. And that was when she heard it again, and this time, her friends heard it, too. It sounded like somebody's voice calling out, and it sounded like it said, "Was that Peach?"
"There it was again!" said Peach.
"I heard it this time!" Mario said.
"You're right, Peach. It sounds like somebody else is on this ship with us, and I think they might know you." Luigi said.
"Whoever that is, I want you to listen up and listen good! If you can hear my voice, then do me a huge favor and GET ME OUTTA HERE!" the voice yelled.
"It sounds like someone might be in need of help! Let's-a go!" Mario said, and he and his friends broke into a run.
At that moment, Bowser showed up and saw the group running off.
"Hey! Where are you guys going?!" Bowser asked.
"To find out who you've imprisoned on this ship!" Peach said.
"What are you saying?! I didn't do anything of the sort!" Bowser yelled.
"Yes, you did!" Mario yelled.
"HELP ME OUT!" the voice yelled again.
"Don't even try to tell us that you didn't hear that!" Peach told him.
"That sound was nothing! What you heard was just the wind outside!" Bowser lied.
"Wind doesn't sound like a person calling for help! We're going to find out who that is!" Luigi said.
"No! STOP!" Bowser demanded. But they didn't listen to him. They felt the need to help whoever that was.
"Come back here!" Bowser yelled, chasing after the heroes. But he couldn't catch them. The heroes were easily able to outrun the giant, lumbering moron as they followed the sound of the voice.
Finally, the trio reached a door, and they could clearly hear the voice yelling behind it. Mario knocked on the door 3 times and asked, "Hey! Are you all right in there?!"
"Mario?! Is that you?!" the voice from behind the door asked.
Mario and his friends gasped at the sound of the voice. Now that they were close to where its owner was, it sounded way too familiar. In fact, it sounded a lot like...
"BOWSER?! I-is that your voice we're hearing?!" Peach exclaimed.
"Princess Peach! Is that really you?!" Bowser's voice asked in surprise.
"Yes, it's me! But-" Peach called.
"Oh, wow! I can't believe you're here, too! You don't know how relieved I am to hear the melodious sound of your beautiful voice!" Bowser interrupted.
"Hey, back off, Bowser! Villains aren't allowed to say such things about her voice!" Mario warned.
"I'm not even going to argue this time because you're right. I can't worry about Peach right now. I never thought I'd live to see the day I'd hear myself saying these words to Mario, but... please open the door and let me out of here! I need your help in the worst way!" Bowser's voice pleaded.
Luigi tried the doorknob, but it was locked.
"Mario, it's-a locked!" Luigi exclaimed.
"Then let's-a kick down the door!" Mario said.
The Mario Bros. kicked down the door as the first Bowser appeared, saying, "Get away from that door!"
Peach quickly pulled out her parasol and opened it right in Bowser's face, causing him to stagger back a few feet.
"Owwww!" Bowser exclaimed, hands over his face in pain. He wasn't expecting her to do such a thing to him.
Then Peach closed her parasol, and she and the Mario Bros. looked into the room, and they were surprised to see that the room was no more than a broom closet, and they saw another Bowser lying on the floor, only this one was tied up in a helpless bundle.
"Bowser?!" Mario, Luigi, and Peach gasped.
"Mario! Thank goodness you're here! You've gotta help me out!" Bowser said.
"Wait a minute! Why should we help you?" Mario asked.
"I'll give you one good reason why you should be helping me out! Because the Bowser who brought you on this ship-" the tied-up Bowser started to say, only to be rudely interrupted as the other Bowser came walking forward. The other Bowser finished, "is the real deal! So shut your mouth, you big phony!"
"Hey! You're the big phony, not me!" the trapped Bowser said.
"You know you're the big phony! Now be quiet, or else I'll roast you for my supper!" the first Bowser threatened as he harshly slapped the tied-up Bowser across the mouth. The trapped Bowser looked angry, but he submitted to the other Bowser's threat.
"I'm confused. Which Bowser do you think is the real deal?" Peach whispered to Mario.
"I'm not really sure, but I know how we can find out." Mario whispered back. He then said, "Hey, Bowser!"
"Yes?" both Bowsers asked.
"I know how we can tell which of you is the real one!" Mario said.
"How?" they asked.
"It's-a simple. The three of us are going to ask you one question apiece, and they'll be questions only the real Bowser would be able to answer. Whoever answers each question correctly is the real Bowser." Mario said.
"Bring it on!" both Bowsers said.
"Okie-dokie. I'll go first. True or false: the Koopalings are your biological children?" Mario asked.
"False! Clawdia and I adopted them!" the trapped Bowser answered right away.
"Correct!" Mario said. He clearly remembered Bowser telling him this little fact when that stage-show ("Super Mario Bros. 3", to be exact) was planned. And the tied-up Bowser even mentioned the name of his late wife. So Mario figured that maybe the Bowser who answered was the real deal.
"Bowser, you once had one of your kids completely convinced that I was his mother. Which child did you convince, and why?" Peach asked.
"Simple. It was Bowser Jr., and that's because his real mother died long before he was old enough to remember her!" the trapped Bowser answered before the other one could open his mouth.
"That's right." Peach said. Only the real Bowser would remember that.
"All right, then. This next question will decide the winner, and I know the perfect question to ask." Luigi said. He smiled confidently and asked, "What is my name?"
"Green 'Stache!" the trapped Bowser immediately answered.
"Wrong, stupid! His name is Luigi!" the other Bowser corrected.
"Well, I think we know which Bowser is the real one." said Luigi. He pulled a Fire Flower from his pocket and used it to turn himself into Fire Luigi. Then he sent a fireball at the ropes that bound the trapped Bowser, freeing him.
"Thank goodness! I owe you one for that!" Bowser replied, sounding relieved and happy that Luigi had picked him to be the real one.
"What in the-?! Are you stupid?! How could you possibly think he's the right Bowser?! That idiot got your name wrong!" the other Bowser screamed, shocked that Luigi had picked the one that was trapped to be the winner.
"Hey! Let's-a get something straight! Nobody, but nobody, calls my brother stupid in front of me and gets away with it! Now you're gonna have to pay the price!" Mario shouted with a very angry look on his face. He would never let anyone get away with insulting his other half.
"Don't worry, Mario. I can handle this." Luigi assured his brother.
"But-" Mario started.
"I know you're angry at him, but I got this." Luigi said, before saying to the obviously false Bowser, "I'm actually far from stupid. I know that you got my name right, and while I appreciate it, I happen to know that Bowser never calls me by my real name! That was how I knew which one of you was the real him." Luigi said.
(A/N: This was a little nod to the "Mario & Luigi" games. Bowser doesn't seem to know Luigi's name. Even though it's probably one of Luigi's biggest pet peeves, it helped out here.)
"Now that I've heard that, he's right. The real Bowser prefers to call my brother anything but his real name. I think he knows his name, but when you think about it, he probably doesn't care." said Mario, quite a bit calmer now.
"That's right, I really don't care. So to me, he's Green 'Stache." said Bowser.
"Wait a minute! I just had a thought. Bowser, why didn't you breathe fire on the ropes that bound you?" Peach asked Bowser.
"You think I didn't want to do that, Peach?! I would have done it, but that jerk who brought you here took away my ability to breathe fire so I wouldn't be able to stop him and free myself!" Bowser said.
"What?! Prove it!" Mario said.
Bowser tried to breathe fire, and all that came out of his mouth was a small puff of smoke, nothing else.
"Mama-mia! He's serious!" Luigi gasped.
"All right, that does it! If you're not Bowser, then who are you, really? Tell us the truth!" Mario said as he turned to look at the other Bowser.
"I'm glad you asked." the other Bowser replied with a sly gleam in his eye. There was a flash of light, and that Bowser turned into none other than... DIMENTIO!
"WHAT IN THE-?!" Mario and Peach screamed as they realized that Dimentio was indeed back!
"Ah ha ha. It is I, the master of dimensions, the pleaser of crowds, Dimentio!" Dimentio replied.
"NO!" Luigi screamed, losing his power-up out of fright.
"No! This means that note was right! You're alive again! How can you be alive?!" Peach screamed.
"Because I'm so darn clever, and proud of it. Last month, I actually tricked the empty-headed ruler of The Underwhere into allowing my game to continue! Upon returning, I had to search for Mimi and Nastasia, and when I found them, I threatened to send them to The Underwhere in my place unless they taught me how to do shape-shifting and quick brainwashing." Dimentio explained.
"And they didn't automatically assume you were bluffing?" Peach asked.
"Peach, he doesn't bluff about things like that..." Luigi whispered. He remembered when Dimentio killed him and sent him to The Underwhere after he failed to defeat Mario, Peach, and Bowser as Mr. L. That little idiot had gone and betrayed him and everyone else in more ways than anyone could even begin to imagine!
"I wasn't bluffing. They knew that I was more than capable of ending their games right on the spot, so they had no other choice. They did exactly as I said. Now I'm back, and I'm badder than ever! And now that I've got you all right where I want you, it's time for me to finally carry out the plan you stopped!" Dimentio said.
"No! You will never let the words of the Dark Prognosticus ring true! We won't let you get away with mass murder! If we stopped you before, we're capable of doing it again!" Mario said.
"Oh, that's what you think! I'm going to make Bowser and the princess here marry each other and summon the Chaos Heart!" Dimentio proclaimed.
"No way!" Bowser said. He wasn't about to let the world end again. He was also considering giving up on Peach and looking for someone else. What was the point of marrying Princess Peach when doing so would only cause the end of the world?
"Not gonna happen! I'll kill myself before I marry him!" Peach threatened.
"You will marry him! I'll make sure of that! I'm going to brainwash the two of you into marrying, and it's ladies first!" said Dimentio, and he was just about to zap the princess with a brainwashing spell.
"NO!" Peach screamed, quickly pulling out her hand mirror and using it to bat the spell away from her. The spell went bouncing around the room for a minute or so after that, and everyone had to keep their eyes on it to see where it was going to go next. And then the princess noticed something truly horrifying! The spell was heading towards Mario, who had his back to it!
"MARIO, LOOK OUT!" Peach cried.
Mario turned and saw the spell coming towards him! He gasped in horror, for he knew he wouldn't be able to dodge it in time.
"BRO!" Luigi screamed, immediately leaping out and taking the blast for his brother! Mario, Peach, and Bowser watched helplessly as Luigi screamed in pain and began writhing in agony on the floor, probably an effect of the spell. About a minute later, Luigi went quiet, and he was lying very still. That wasn't a good sign.
"LUIGI! Bro, are you okay?! Speak to me!" Mario pleaded in worry as he knelt before his brother. He was afraid that the spell might have killed his little brother.
"Luigi, please wake up!" Peach pleaded, also kneeling next to the still plumber, tears in her eyes.
"Hey, Green 'Stache! If you're alive, then you'd better prove it to us by waking up right now!" Bowser yelled at Luigi's inert form.
"Well... I sure didn't see this coming." Dimentio thought as he watched Mario, Peach, and Bowser trying to rouse the unconscious Luigi. He could've zapped Bowser and Peach and made them marry right then, but he forgot all about the plan. He wanted to see how this played out first.
Oh no! Is Luigi going to be okay? Stay tuned if you want to find out!
