(A/N: Here we are with Chapter 3. I had a feeling this story was going to reach this amount when I started writing it. Okay, I'll get this chapter started for you!)


After reading the text message to the Broodals, Bowser nodded, put the smartphone back in his pocket, and produced a pen and notepad. He scribbled something on the paper, then handed it to Peach.

The princess saw that Bowser had written her a note, and she read it to herself. It said, "I'll be in my quarters on the airship, so I want you to keep your eyes peeled for any sign of Mario."

"I can do that!" Peach said with a smile as she returned the notepad. She wanted to see Mario again, so of course she could keep an eye out for him!

Pleased to see the smile, Bowser returned it, then added something else to the paper. He handed it back to Peach, and she read, "When Mario gets here, tell him what's going on, and have him see me. Don't even think about having him take you away from here without having him help me first."

Peach knew that he was going to remind her to have Mario help him. She looked up at Bowser, handed back the notepad, and said aloud, "As you wish."

Bowser felt happy to see that Peach was being compliant for once, but he knew that the only reason she was willing to comply was because he asked her to do something she wanted to do; something she could handle. He raised his free hand to give her a pat, but Peach raised a hand to stop him and said, "Don't even think about it."

So Bowser decided to give her a small smile and a thumbs-up, glad that she was willing to obey his orders for once. He leaped onto the airship and walked to his room, wondering if he would still be getting married after all this. But as long as Mario was still alive and running around, he assumed that the wedding would have to be cancelled.


"I really can't wait to see Mario again. My stomach is jumping all over the place because I'm so excited!" Peach said.

"I know. I can't believe that he and Cappy are still alive! This is the best news of the century!" Tiara replied, assuming her Bonneter form and twirling around in joy.

"I'll second that!" Peach said as she kept a sharp eye out for Mario. The princess couldn't believe that Mario was here; that she was really going to see him again. She loved him so much, and she knew that as soon as they were together once more, she just wanted to hold him close and never let him go. Peach had no intention of losing her boyfriend to Bowser again.

Tiara was also keeping her eyes open for Mario, and even Cappy. To know that her big brother was still out there was so awesome! She couldn't wait for him to show up!

Several anxious minutes went by, and then Peach finally spotted a small figure clad in red and blue running around the lower part of the rooftop they were on. The princess knew in an instant that it was Mario. He'd finally arrived, and her heart began beating a mile a minute at the sight of him! It was amazing to see him running around, full of life, the way she liked to see him.

Tiara gasped in excitement when she saw Mario throwing Cappy to deal with some enemies who didn't get the memo from Bowser. She was so thrilled to know that her big brother was there, too, still helping the plumber.

(A/N: I know that there weren't really any enemies on that rooftop, except for Bowser, but this is my story, and because Bowser is in the ship, the boys haven't noticed the girls right away.)

"MARIO!" Peach joyfully called out, hoping to get his attention.

"CAPPY!" Tiara called out, wondering if the boys could hear them from where they were.


Mario froze at the sound of the lovely voice that called his name, and he slowly turned in the direction it came from. His eyes widened when he saw the beautiful princess smiling and fluttering her delicate hand at him. He could see how happy she was to see him, but he was too far away to see the happy tears in her eyes. Tiara was right next to Peach in her Bonneter form, excitedly waving at Mario and her brother.

Cappy's eyes appeared on Mario's cap, and he was also happily surprised to see the girls. It felt so good to see both Peach and Tiara happily smiling and waving at them.

"Oh, cara mia... My darling..." Mario whispered to himself in a lovesick voice as he put his hand over his heart, which had started skipping several beats at the sight of Peach. He hadn't really seen her too well when they caught up to Bowser in the Cloud Kingdom, and he was unable to tell if Bowser had Peach with him when he attacked them with that dragon.

"We found them! And Tiara looks to be okay. I was hoping she'd be all right..." Cappy said in relief.

"Cappy, look at my princess. She's so bellissima in that white dress!" Mario exclaimed, excitedly motioning to Peach. He always knew that Peach was an extremely beautiful princess, but when she was wearing the Lochlady Dress, she looked more beautiful than he ever imagined. And his eyes were drinking in her angelic beauty as long as they could.

"Wow... I'm not gonna lie, Mario; your girlfriend does look very attractive when she's wearing that..." Cappy began, but then he suddenly looked concerned and said, "Wait a minute. Something doesn't look right here."

"What's wrong?" Mario asked.

"Mario, this is just too easy. What if this is actually some sort of trap, and the Peach we're looking at is really a decoy? You know, bait. And if we're stupid enough to fall for it, Bowser comes out of hiding and tries to kill us?" Cappy asked.

"No way. Bowser's much too stupido to do that, and I'd know right away if that Peach was a decoy. If she was, she'd most likely be wearing a fake Tiara, which would leave the real Tiara with nothing to do, except try to warn us." Mario said.

"But you also have to remember that this is Bowser's Kingdom. It means that we have to be on our guard. Can't you just motion for her to come to us?" Cappy said.

Mario sighed. He really wanted to run up there, but he had to make sure that he was seeing the real deal, like Cappy wanted. He motioned for Peach to come down to him, but Tiara was the one who came down to meet them instead.


"What are you guys waiting for? Peach really wants to see you!" Tiara said.

"Is that really her up there?" Cappy asked, assuming his Bonneter form.

"Well, who else would she be? You think this is some sort of a trap?" Tiara asked.

"It's not?" Cappy asked.

"No, of course not!" Tiara said.

"You mean it's-a really safe for me to go up there and give my princess a big kiss?" Mario asked.

"Yes, Mario! Peach wants to be kissing with you, and Bowser's busy in his airship! He won't notice, much less care if the two of you start making out!" Tiara replied.

"Grazie, Tiara. Thank you. That was exactly what I needed to hear!" Mario said, giving the young Bonneter a pat. Then he rushed up to where Peach was standing, shouting, "Here I come, Peach!"

Meanwhile, Tiara gave Cappy a big hug and excitedly said, "I can't believe you're really here! After what Bowser tried, I was afraid that I would never get to see you again! I missed you so much, big brother!"

"I missed you, too, Tiara! I'm glad to see that you're okay! You had to know that Mario and I fully intended to rescue you and Peach, and now we've done it!" Cappy said as he returned his sister's hug. He was relieved to have her by his side once again. Now that she was safe, he didn't intend to let Bowser take her away again.

"I wasn't okay while you were gone, thinking that Bowser had killed you as well as Mario. I didn't want to believe that he'd won. But now that I know the real truth; that you survived... I can finally breathe easy and be happy again." Tiara replied in relief. She hugged Cappy with all her heart, letting him know how much she had missed him; how worried she had been.

As soon as they were reunited, Mario swept the princess into his arms and kissed her joyfully on the lips. Peach was so happy that she wasted no time returning his kiss. They'd missed each other so much, but now they were Now they were reunited and it felt so good... And they were letting the other know it by pouring as much love as they could into the kiss.

When they finally broke apart for air, Mario was surprised to see that Peach's face was streaked with tears, and her lovely blue eyes also had tears in them.

"Peach, mio angelo, my angel... You're crying? What's the matter?" Mario asked, concern on his face.

"Oh, Mario, you have no idea how happy I am to see you! To see that you're still alive!" Peach wept in joy, burying her face in her boyfriend's shoulder. She couldn't believe that Bowser had failed to do him in for the 3rd time! Mario was good at cheating death.

"I'm happy to see you, too, cara mia, my darling." Mario replied, continuing to hold Peach close to him. He missed having her in his arms, and he felt that she needed to be in his arms right now.

"I... I was so afraid... I thought I would never see you again... or hear your voice... My life just isn't worth living if you're not in it!" Peach sobbed, her voice muffled by his shoulder. She'd missed the sound of his voice calling her sweet little nicknames in Italian. His voice was as sweet as a Beatles song.

"Everything is gonna be okay now, Peach. I'm alive, and Bowser is going to pay for what he did... I promise..." Mario assured her. Then he said, "By the way, Tiara told us that Bowser is busy in his airship. What is he doing in there? Do you know?"

"Oh... yeah..." Peach replied, sniffling as she took her face from Mario's shoulder. He had to know what was going on. When she managed to calm down and stop crying, she said, "Get this: he's got a really sore throat, probably from all the yelling and roaring he's been doing."

"Is that so?" Mario asked. When Peach nodded, he added, "Well, it's about time ol' Bowser finally got what was coming to him! And right before his wedding, no less! I'm very surprised that this sort of thing hasn't happened to him before!"

"Oh, it gets better, Mario! He can't talk!" Tiara began.

"What?!" a surprised Cappy asked.

"He can't? Did he lose his voice?" Mario asked as he set Peach on her feet.

"I should think he did." said Peach.

"How did that happen?" Mario asked, sounding slightly amused. Peach couldn't help giggling at the fact that Mario was amused to hear the Koopa King's predicament.

"He yelled a lot more than Peach ever heard." Tiara said.

"No kidding! He yelled at me an awful lot when he saw me catching up to him so I could rescue my princess from a fate worse than death." Mario said.

"He yelled at me for being in love with you and not him." Peach said to Mario, giving him a quick kiss on the nose, making him blush as red as his shirt.

"What a jerk. He should learn to accept the fact that you and him will never happen." Cappy said to Peach.

"Yeah, but that's the problem: he's never going to accept it. Everyone knows how stubborn he is. However, he'll have no choice but to do so when he's dead." Peach replied.

"Right, because there's not a whole lot one can do when they're dead. But now I wanna hear what happened when he lost his voice. Tell me what he was doing." Mario said as he pulled Peach into his arms for a comforting hug.

"Here's what I was able to gather: he was on the phone with his henchmen, and I guess they told him that you were still alive, rather than dead, like he wanted to believe. Boy, did that make him mad! He started yelling up a storm, but then he suddenly started to cough." Peach began.

"He seemed to be having a really bad coughing fit. He couldn't stop coughing." Tiara added.

"Oh, I sometimes get those when I'm sick with a sore throat. They're not fun at all." Mario said. He would either have to have a drink or a cough drop to suck on in order to stop the fit.

"He had a breath mint to try and stop the coughing fit. That worked, but when he tried to talk to his henchmen again, nothing came out of his mouth. It was like his voice had been shut off!" Tiara said.

"But why did he go into his airship?" Cappy asked.

"Isn't it obvious? He needs Dr. Mario to figure out why his voice stopped working, but he's hiding in the airship because he didn't want to see me kissing with Mario when he arrived." Peach replied.

"Yeah, the sight of me and Peach being in love would have enraged him enough to try and attack me, and let's-a face it, he can't breathe fire at me if his throat hurts. He'd only end up doing more damage to it if he did." Mario said.

"That's why he went to his room on the airship after his voice gave up. Before he did, he wrote a quick little message to Peach, asking her to keep her eyes open for you, and to bring you to him as soon as you got here. I stayed to keep her company as she waited." Tiara replied.

"And you did a great job." Cappy responded.

"But since you're here, and I told you what the problem is, you might as well check out Bowser's throat." Peach said to Mario.

"I suppose I should do that, even though I didn't come here to play 'doctor'. But if he needs a doctor that badly, then I'll see what I can do for him." Mario replied as he reluctantly let go of Peach. Then he added, "And thankfully, I have my doctor supplies on the Odyssey. Just let me warp back there real quick and get them. It won't take too long; I'll be back before you can say, 'Bowser รจ un idiota!'"

"What did you say?" Tiara asked, a question mark appearing above her.

"'Bowser is an idiot'." Mario and Peach replied in unison, before looking at each other with sweet smiles on their faces. It pleased Mario to learn that Peach was very attentive when he taught her the Italian language, and Peach was glad that Mario was kind enough to translate the Italian words he would say into English for her so she could understand and learn them with no problems.

"You can say that again." Cappy muttered under his breath, before saying to Mario, "I'll warp us back to the Odyssey so you can get your things, and then we'll come right back here." And with that said, Mario and Cappy were on their way back to the Odyssey.

"I'm so glad Mario and Cappy are alive. I was so scared!" Tiara said.

"I didn't think I'd ever feel happy again... until Mario swept me into his big, strong arms. He always makes me feel safe, warm, and content. I missed him more than anything!" Peach said.

"Do you want Mario to check your ears after he's done examining Bowser?" Tiara asked, worried about Peach's ability to hear after all the yelling she had to put up with from the unloving jerk known as Bowser.

"You know, I really should ask him to do that. He wouldn't mind helping me out." Peach replied.


A minute later, Mario and Cappy returned, and Mario was dressed in his doctor's garb, with Cappy taking control of his head mirror. He held up his doctor's kit and said, "All right, Peach. The doctor has arrived, so if you would be so kind as to take me to my patient..."

"I will. Just follow me." Peach replied, giving Mario a curtsy. Then they leaped onto the airship, and Peach began to lead Mario down the hall, to the room where Bowser was waiting. And as they made their way to Bowser's quarters, they continued talking to each other.

"Peach, I've got to tell you... you look lovelier than I ever imagined in that wedding dress. It's-a partially why I called you 'mio angelo', my angel." Mario said to his princess.

"I'm glad to hear that you think I look lovely in it, even though I never picked it out." Peach replied, blushing. She couldn't help feeling flattered when Mario told her that she was beautiful.

"But I have to wonder, why are you wearing the wedding dress now? Shouldn't you have put it on when you reached the venue?" Mario asked.

Peach stopped, and she had a frown on her face as she said, "I had no other option, Mario. When Bowser showed me the dress after the Broodals had stolen it, I refused it, and he didn't like that. He ripped off my pink dress and refused to give it back, forcing me to put on the Lochlady Dress right then so he wouldn't get any ideas of..." Peach looked around for a moment before whispering in his ear, "trying to violate me..."

Mario gasped and asked in a dangerously quiet voice, "Did he actually try to?"

"When he ripped off my dress, I was almost afraid that he was going to." Peach said, her voice also quiet.

Mario said, "You know what? I hope his throat is in bad shape, so that he can't marry you. In fact, no one would let him marry you if he was planning to violate you."

"Say, isn't it bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?" Cappy asked.

"That's what they say, but that superstition applies only to the groom. Everyone else is safe." Mario explained as they started walking again.

"Then Bowser made a bad decision by forcing Peach to change too soon. He's the groom, and he saw the bride long before the wedding. His luck ran out." Tiara said.

"Bowser doesn't believe in superstitions like that, except for the one about Friday the 13th; he calls that 'his lucky day'. Since he lost his voice, it looks to me like he probably should have believed that seeing the bride before the wedding is bad luck." Peach said.

"Yup. This is il suo funerale, his funeral." Mario said.

"You mean he's going to die?" Tiara asked.

"No. I'm just saying that because he didn't realize that it may actually be true, he screwed himself out of the wedding he dreamed of." Mario replied as Peach stopped before a door that was painted black with Bowser's symbol on it in red.

"Here we are. Bowser's room." Peach said.


Mario knocked on the door three times, then opened it. He walked in to see Bowser sitting quietly on his bed, looking at the floor. The Koopa King looked up when he saw Mario enter the room with Peach right behind him, with Cappy and Tiara disguised as their head gear.

"Hello, Bowser. Peach and Tiara tell me that you have a sore throat. Is this true?" Mario asked in a soft voice as he approached the Koopa King. He had to resist the urge to smash Bowser's throat and damage it even more.

Bowser simply nodded in reply.

"And this sore throat seems to have shut off your voice?" Mario added.

Bowser nodded again.

"Okie-dokie. Open your mouth, and let me have a look at your throat." Mario said as he clambered up onto the bed next to him. He set down his doctor's kit and opened it, rooting around in it for a few seconds before producing a big tongue depressor and a special little flashlight; the kind doctors use to look at a patient's ears.

Bowser slowly turned to Mario, opened his mouth, and allowed him to look inside. When Mario saw Bowser's throat, he gasped and said, "Mama-mia! It's-a no wonder your throat hurts!"

"What is it?" Peach and Tiara asked the question on Bowser's mind.

"His larynx is inflamed, and it looks very painful." Mario said.

Bowser's eyes showed worry. He didn't like the sound of that.

"Sounds painful, too." Peach replied.

"He must have done a lot more yelling than usual this time around." Mario said, turning to look at the girls.

"He did." Tiara said.

"Unfortunately." Peach added.

Mario looked at Bowser's throat again and winced at the sight. It really did look painful. Then he looked at Bowser and said, "You can close your mouth now."

Bowser gratefully closed his mouth and gave Mario a look that asked, "So, what's the verdict?"

"Well, Bowser, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'd advise you not to get married today, or anytime soon, for that matter. Not with your throat as sore as it is. You won't have any fun if you do that." Mario said as he threw out the tongue depressor and put the flashlight away.

Bowser looked unhappy, then pulled out the notepad and pen from earlier. He wrote something on the notepad, then handed it to the doctor to read. It said, "How long will I have to wait before I can talk again?"

"Ooh, you're not going to like this. With your throat in such bad shape, I'll have to insist that you wait at least 3 months before trying to speak again." Mario replied as he handed the notepad back.

Bowser looked to be a combination of shocked and angry when he heard that he had to wait for 3 months before trying to talk again! The time would drag on forever! If his throat hadn't been so sore, he would've burned Mario to a crisp right on the spot.

"Hey, don't get mad at me. You're the one who screwed up your throat." Mario told him. Then he said, "Look, you can help that throat of yours feel better if you don't use your voice, or try to breathe fire for 3 months. Just rest your voice, gargle with salt water, and drink plenty of herbal tea with lots of honey while you're keeping quiet. That will do it some good."

Bowser sighed and nodded, resigned to his fate.

"I'm sorry I can't give you more help." Mario replied.

Bowser wrote something on the notepad again, then handed it back to Mario. It said, "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to cancel the wedding..."

"But I'm afraid that's what you're going to have to do. Trying to get married with a sore throat isn't going to do you any good. You don't want to be in pain on what's supposed to be the happiest day of your life. Well, second-happiest, in your case." Mario said, returning the notepad.

Bowser frowned, then turned his gaze to Princess Peach, who looked very happy as she looked at Mario, who smiled back at her in a loving way, making her blush. He knew there was no way he could convince her to stick around until his throat felt better. And the wedding supplies were pretty much useless now. He frowned as he knew what he had to do next.

The Koopa King slowly wrote another message on the notepad. He then handed it to Peach, who read it to herself. The message read, "Since the wedding is off, you might as well go and change back into your normal attire, then leave with Mario. I'll have the Broodals return the dress with the rest of the wedding supplies."

Peach read the message, then said, "All right. But Mario and I will take Tiara back to Bonneton ourselves."

Bowser nodded in understanding.

"Before we do that, do you want us to tell the guests that the wedding is off?" Mario asked.

Bowser slowly nodded. He decided that he would save the Broodals some trouble. He also had a feeling that if they showed up at the Wedding Hall, the guests who decided to attend might try to hurt them for stealing wedding supplies from their kingdoms, all because of him.

"All right. We'll go there right after Peach changes." Mario said.


Then Peach practically waltzed her way to the bride's chamber to change back into her usual pink dress, which was, fortunately, still in one piece. As she changed, she couldn't believe it. Bowser ruined his own wedding before it even began! This was almost too good to be true! What was about to be the worst day of her life just got better! She even hummed the Beatles song "Getting Better" as she changed her clothes.

"I can tell that you're a lot happier now, Peach." Tiara noted, not looking at her friend so as to give her some privacy.

"Tiara, I thought for sure that this was going to be the worst day of my life! But all that changed very quickly, because Mario survived, Bowser's got an inflamed larynx, which leaves him unable to talk for 3 months, and the wedding has been cancelled as a result. The best part is that Mario's allowed to take me away from here! Things are looking up for me now!" Peach as she let down her hair and combed through it with her fingers.

"I can't believe our luck!" Tiara said.

"Neither can I!" Peach said as she stepped into her red high heels and put her gloves back on. She told Tiara, "You can look at me; I've been decent since I put my dress back on."

So Tiara looked at Peach again and said, "You really are lovely, Peach. And Mario is an incredibly handsome man. The two of you make a cute couple."

"Thanks, Tiara." Peach said brightly, but then she looked at herself in the mirror and frowned at her reflection.

"What's the matter?" Tiara asked.

"I don't have my crown. I just feel so naked without it." Peach said, sounding unhappy. Bowser had flicked it right off of her head and replaced it with Tiara when he kidnapped her.

"Oh, right. I'll fix that." Tiara said, assuming her tiara form and landing neatly on Peach's head. Then she asked, "Will I do for now?"

"Of course you will. You're so sweet and friendly." Peach said.

"Thanks, Peach. I'm glad I can be of some help." Tiara replied.


Mario decided to stay in Bowser's room to suggest other things Bowser should get to help his inflamed larynx (such as ice cream, cough drops, and soup), and Bowser was busily writing them down on the notepad.

"All right, let me see that list." Mario said after Bowser stopped writing. Bowser showed him the list, then Mario smiled and said, "Okie-dokie. Those supplies will have you feeling right again, but letting your voice rest is the most important thing you have to do. Don't try to talk."

Bowser nodded.

"Mario, sweetie, I'm ready to go!" Peach called from outside the room.

Bowser wanted to groan when he heard Peach call Mario 'sweetie'. It wasn't fair that she called Mario by those cutesy nicknames.

"Okay, Peach has finished changing her clothes, so it's-a time for me to leave. But let me warn you: don't even think of disobeying the doctor's orders, or you might never be able to talk again." Mario said as he grabbed his bag of doctor supplies.

Bowser nodded again.

"All right, then. We'll be on our way. In the meantime, try to get well. Buh-bye." Mario said with a quick wave as he left the room.


Well, that's the end of Bowser's wedding. He never even got to walk down the aisle with Peach. It serves him right, though! And we're still not finished! Stay tuned to read what happens next!