Like You've Never Seen Her Before

By Falco-JIS

Mushroom Kingdom, Koopas, Bowser, Peach, Mario, Luigi, Toad, Toadsworth, Power Stars, Endless Stairs, Bob-ombs, King Bob-omb, Boos, Bomb Buddies, Koopas, Goombas, and Lakitus (C) me.

Imprisonment in the Castle

There seemed to be no end to the happiness the Mushroomers experienced in these times. It quickly became January 1992 and by the twentieth, Princess Peach celebrated her eighteenth birthday with the Mario Brothers for the first time. It was a wonderful occasion.

Now slowly and surely, it became mid-March. The spring breeze was refreshing and nice, since the winter was always cold. The meadows and grasslands in Starman Valley was something equivalent to paradise. Mario and Luigi were looking forward to the spring. They also knew that someone in the local area might call them for plumbing problems. One day, they got a call from the town near Peach's castle. Luigi insisted that he would go fix the problem; he was in a very exceptional mood that day.

As Luigi left, Mario didn't know what to do; with Luigi being called to town, his job might take all day. Mario pointed out to himself that he might just as well relax at home, or aid the Princess, if she needed any that was.

Rather bored, Mario retrieved some letters from the mailbox and found that in the large pile of fan mail (the Brothers became heroic icons, so they unintentionally had many fans), he found a lovely envelope. He didn't think twice that it was probably from the Princess. He sat on his casual armchair and read the letter. It said,

Dear Mario and Luigi,

Please come to the castle. I've baked a cake for you. It's my token for having such wonderful friends like you.

Yours truly,

Princess Toadstool

Peach

Mario became excited after reading this letter. He was always happy when the Princess invited Luigi and him over to the castle. But the problem was they Luigi was off to work at the town. Maybe Mario should visit Peach anyway, but tell her that Luigi was working now. He couldn't help but do so; he never tired of seeing Peach's blue eyes and golden hair. It was always an honor for Mario to visit such a beautiful person.

With that thought, Mario headed off to the castle. He felt that it was very peaceful around today; perhaps a bit too peaceful. Not like there was always noise at the castle, but Mario couldn't help but notice that it was very silent. He stood in front of the grand doors with the feeling. Did something happen or was it just him?

Forgetting about the thought, Mario entered the castle. He was in the lobby room, which linked to some of the hallways of the castle. The lobby had an upper ledge with stairs in the middle leading to it. The walls were beautifully blue with something like a mural of the clouds and hills of the Mushroom Kingdom painted. But there was just one problem: there was nobody inside. Usually there would be a Toadish guard at the door, but there seemed to be no one.

"Hello…?" Mario called out nervously. "Where did-a everyone go?"

Suddenly, Mario heard a deep, monstrous voice. It seemed very familiar. Mario couldn't see the source of the voice. Perhaps it was telepathic communication.

"Welcome," the voice grouched, "No one's home! Now scram… and don't come back! Gwahahaha!"

Mario was concerned now. He recognized this voice from somewhere; it was at the tip of his tongue. He quickly ran to the door that led to the throne room, but it was locked!

Fearing the worst, Mario ran to the door that led to the living room. That was locked too!

"Just great!" Mario said appalled. "All the doors are locked."

"Mario!"

Mario flipped out. He heard another voice, but this time it was much friendlier. He quickly recognized it as Toad's voice.

"Toad? Is that you?" Mario called out.

"Oh thank heavens you came, Mario! Bowser locked the Princess and all of us inside the walls. He stole the Power Stars, which protect this castle, and he's using their magic to take over the land! All the painting in castle warp to Koopa invaded areas. Please, you must retrieve the Power Stars! Bowser's henchmen have them. We are all depending on you!" Toad's voice cried.

"Wait…? You're inside the walls? Is there a way I can break into the walls?"

"Mario, it's hard to explain! Just get the Stars. Don't crash into the walls. We're not in the walls; we're embedded into them!"

"Alright. Got'cha. Don't worry, Toad!"

"Hurry!"

Soon, Toad's voice started to fade. Mario couldn't waste a second. He tried to open a minor door. Fortunately for him, it swung open. Inside was a rather small room with a large painting of some place in the Mushroom Kingdom. It looked like it was part of the Mushroom Hills Province. It had a picture of a Bob-omb on it.

Mario remembered Toad saying how the paintings in the castle warp to other Koopa invaded lands. What did that mean? Were the portraits portals of some sort? Mario didn't have time to ponder. Using his instincts, he jumped into the painting! He went right through! But he wasn't in the castle anymore. Mario found himself in hilly grasslands. There were cannons shooting bombs everywhere. It was a war zone. Mario encountered pink Bob-ombs called Bomb Buddies who were on the good side. They pointed out a large hill. On that hill was an enormous Bob-omb with a mustache!

Determined, Mario went through the war zone of cannons and went up the large hill. As Mario suspected, the large Bob-omb had a Power Star. The big Bob-omb chucked smaller Bob-ombs at Mario, but Mario caught these and threw them right back! After doing this three times, the large Bob-omb was defeated and he poofed into thin air. What remained was a Power Star. Once Mario took this, it warped Mario back to the castle.

Ready to explore more rooms for paintings, Mario ventured into another door. This door couldn't be opened before because it was sealed with magic. But the magic of the power star he had broke the seal of the door. Mario entered into a gallery of paintings! These paintings varied from underwater places to small Mushroomer towns to volcanic caverns. There was even a portrait of a ghost house, which was inhabited by the infamous spirits called Boos.

Mario entered each of these paintings, fought various enemies, surpassing many obstacles, and defeated high-ranked minions who worked for Bowser and held Power Stars.

Meanwhile, a sinister monster watched Mario carefully. It was Bowser himself. He was in a dark void which he created and it can only be accessible from Peach's Castle. He made similar dark voids and locked up Princess Peach and her servants. These realms only existed just as long as Bowser had control over the castle. The moment Bowser would lose control, the voids he created would disappear into inexistence and all the imprisoned Mushroomers would be free to roam in the Kingdom again.

After Bowser locked up the Princess and others, he sent his minions to various Mushroomer provinces near the Koopa Empire and secretly invaded them. Each of these places was connected to a painting in the castle making the castle a teleportation hub for the Koopas.

But now that Mario was obtaining more and more Power Stars, Bowser was starting to loose a bit control over the castle. He was furious.

"Hmph! That stinking plumber thinks he can get in the way of my plans again. Such a thing will never happen! Mark my word Mario! I will finish you off for good! Gwahahaha!"

"Sir, that Mario has defeated quite a few of our commanders," a Koopa herald reported.

"Not to worry," said Bowser, rather relaxed, "I'll fight him myself!"

Hearing this, the Koopas cheered. Bowser grinned with pride.

Meanwhile, Mario just defeated a Koopa general and got another Power Star. He was wrapped back to the Castle and he counted all the Stars he had so far. He had achieved getting around fifty, although he didn't know how many there were left. He hoped there weren't a lot because he was starting to get tired. He ran, jumped, and fought for three hours straight. The last thing in his mind was food; and even if he wanted food, the kitchen was probably locked by Bowser's spell.

Fortunately, Mario found a pattern: the more Stars he had, the more doors he could access. Although, he found that he still couldn't access the door that led to the throne room.

While Mario was searching for more rooms, he found a very bizarre phenomenon. He found a set of stairs he never noticed before. He quickly smiled since he thought it led to the second floor, which would allow him to find more paintings. He ran up the stairs. Just kept running and running.

But he wasn't going anywhere, or so he thought. The stairs kept on going forever! There seem to be no end. And another strange thing about the stairs was that at the right wall there were portraits of Princess Peach and on the left were portraits of Bowser!

Since when were there portraits of Bowser in Peach's Castle? That made no sense! Mario came to the conclusion that Bowser and his henchmen obviously place these here. As Mario continued to run up the stairs, he was now certain that the stairs themselves were cursed! Mario stopped and ran back down the Endless Stairs. He quickly made it back down, as if he only walked up a few steps! These stairs were cursed! But why? Was there something up there that Bowser didn't want Mario to see? Mario couldn't afford time to infer. If he didn't get all the Stars in time, the Kingdom might face a terrible catastrophe.

Because of all the Power Stars he had, Mario was now able to access the basement. It was a maze down here! Mario did manage to find another portrait and he went into it.

Inside was a magmatic world of epic proportions. It was boiling hot! Mario traversed across levitating platforms above the lava and fought many hardheaded enemies. Some even tried to ram Mario into the lava! But fortunately, Mario was able to avoid them.

When he made it far enough, he discovered a large platform, floating on lava. It seemed to be an arena of some sort. Mario curiously went to the platform and was surprised to see Bowser himself appear in thin air! He roared a laugh of pride.

"Ah! Mario! So nice to see you again! I remember our last encounter, but don't feel confident! I'll finish you off!"

Mario got into his fighter's stance. Although at first Mario seemed startled to see Bowser so soon, eventually Mario felt that he could defeat him again. He just had to find a way.

Bowser began by using his fire breath. To Bowser's surprise, Mario was able to evade the flames.

"Bwahaha! You think you're going to beat me just because you've become faster? Think again!"

Bowser pounced on the ground several times. This created heavy shockwaves that went in all directions from Bowser. Mario jumped over each of these shockwaves to avoid damage. Bowser was impressed.

"Hmm... I guess I underestimated you again Mario. But you still can't defeat me! What are you going to do besides dodging my attacks! You'll tire eventually!"

Bowser was actually right. Mario couldn't think of any possible way to actually attack Bowser; he could only evade Bowser. Mario had to think of a way to defeat this great foe. But how?

Mario noticed Bowser's slow movements and his tail. Perhaps Mario could run behind Bowser and grab his tail to throw him into the lava.

Getting some damage, Mario managed to get behind Bowser and throw him right into the lava! He took the tail and spun around to have enough energy to throw Bowser. Bowser was hopping up and down with a flame on his tail! When Bowser managed to get back on the platform, he was burnt and defeated.

"Curse you!" Bowser roared, "I'll get you next time!"

He disappeared into thin air, just like all of the other enemies. What remained was a glittering Power Star. Mario felt that the battle wasn't quite over yet. There was much to go.

Meanwhile in her imprisonment, Peach overheard from Koopas that Mario battled with Bowser. She was in a realm specially made for her imprisonment. All around her there were virtually black clouds above and below. She was in a large cage that hovered on a stony platform. The platform was accessible from another hovering narrow platform that was like a walkway. At the end of the walkway was a portal that Bowser or his minions had access to. When Peach heard of Mario's victory, her hopes heightened. She told the good news to Toadsworth, who was imprisoned with her. She prayed that Mario would succeed.

But to her disgust, Peach noticed that Bowser entered from the portal with some Koopas. Bowser laughed as he always did.

"Ah, Princess Peach! How do you do this fine day?" Bowser laughed.

Once again, Peach stared at him in both fear and anger.

"How could you do this to us!" Peach cried, "Couldn't you have left us in peace?"

"Never!" Bowser laughed, "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard all year! How can I leave you alone? It is my destiny to expand my Empire and to oppress everyone!"

"Says who?" Peach retorted.

Neither Bowser nor Toadsworth ever expected the Princess to have such a rebellious attitude. But for Bowser, it was very humorous.

"Gwahahahaha! My, you're quite cute when you're feisty!" Bowser laughed.

"Oh really?" Peach exclaimed angrily, "Well guess what, Bowser! Mario will defeat all of you! He has already defeated you before! He will come here and make all of you sorry!"

This statement actually angered Bowser now. He looked so angry that even the Koopas around him started to panic.

"WHAT! HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT!" Bowser roared.

Now Peach trembled in fear so much that she turned white and cowered behind Toadsworth, who was also afraid but tried to comfort her. What was she thinking? Where did she get the guts to talk back at Bowser like that? After all, Bowser was Peach's biggest fear. She started to cry quietly on Toadsworth's shoulders.

"Hmph. She's just all talk," Bowser mumbled to himself, looking at Peach's tears.

Bowser and his minions go back into the portal, leaving behind Peach and Toadsworth. Peach is still afraid and sad.

"It will be all right," Toadsworth said to Peach softly, "Master Mario will save us."

Mario was quite lucky to have found many Super Mushrooms in both Peach's Castle and in the various Koopa infested regions. But that wasn't the only items he found. Sometimes he would find green blocks with an exclamation mark on them. This would make Mario living metal! It made him heavy and invincible against enemies. Mario would also find blue blocks that made Mario invisible. He even found red blocks that made him fly! Where the origins of these items came from, Mario nor the Koopas would ever understand.

Mario made good use of these mysterious items and the Super Mushrooms to defeat more foes then he ever could do alone and to obtain much more Power Stars. He often wondered how Peach was doing. He hoped the Koopas didn't do anything terrible to her.

He started to explore new places, like in underwater caverns, cloudy skies, and sandy deserts via the portraits. He had to survive man-eating fish and Lakitus to flying on magic carpets and infiltrating Koopa battleships.

As Bowser was given more bad news about Mario's victories, the more Bowser became furious. He was loosing more and more control over the Mushroom Kingdom.

"What could he possibly gain from all of this!" Bowser roared as another Goomba told Bowser of Mario's victory over another prominent Koopa commander.

"Now Your Majesty…" the Goomba said hesitantly, "Please calm down!"

"I AM CALM!"

There was silence as the Goomba and the Koopas worried both about their defeats with Mario and Bowser's temper.

"You know what? That's it! I'm going to kill that damn plumber if it's the last thing I do!" Bowser declared, "He won't see the next day and I will rule the entire Mushroom Kingdom!"

Hearing this, the Koopas and Goombas cheered.

"When will you face Mario?" the Goomba asked.

"I guess when he's ready. I'll wait in my arena realm, which I made within the realms in Peach's Castle. In order for Mario to enter that arena, he has to pass the Endless Stairs, and he has more than enough Power Stars for that."

So laughing as horrendously as usual, Bowser waited patiently for Mario's arrival.

Meanwhile, Princess Peach and Toadsworth were anticipating Mario's victory over Bowser, even though Mario didn't arrive to Bowser's arena yet. Peach was having terrible twinges within her belly. But Peach tried her best to keep quiet about it, so Toadsworth didn't notice.

Suddenly, three Koopas came into the realm from the portal. One was holding a platter with two meals, which were stolen Mushroomer dishes. They were served on Peach's own royal tableware, obviously stolen from her castle. A second Koopa had a platter with two glasses of fresh Mushroomer water, some royal utensils stolen from Peach's castle, and some napkins. The third had a chef's hat; he was a cook. They opened the cage for a short while and put the meal inside where Peach and Toadsworth could reach. Then they closed the cage.

"Lunch is ready, Your Highness," the Koopa chef said happily.

But Peach was sad and dull.

"I'm not hungry," she said softly.

"Now, now, Princess. You surely must eat. You definitely look hungry."

Although the chef seemed to be right since Peach was holding her stomach in a ravenous manner, Peach wasn't really hungry.

She was thirsty.

"Maybe she's parched," one of the Koopas suggested, offering water to Peach.

"No. Just leave me alone!" Peach cried.

"The Princess and I are not in the mood to eat. We will eat later," Toadsworth reassured.

Suddenly, a Koopa commander came into the realm. Coincidently, the commander was the same one who rudely wacked Peach on the head the first time she was captured. This could be told from the scar on his face, which he had back then. He was very harsh, compared to the other Koopas. He seemed to have no apparent reason to be there at the time.

"Is she eating?" the commander asked hoarsely to the cook.

"Um, no sir," the cook replied, "She says she's not hungry."

"Preposterous!" the commander grouched, "She will eat now!"

Now Peach was more intimidated, but she tried to ward the Koopas away.

"Please! I'm not hungry! Just leave me alone! I don't need food!"

"Oh, I see how it is!" the commander said mockingly, "You want someone to rescue you. Right? Well that's too bad woman! There is no one capable of saving your sorry rear-end! Now eat, fool!"

His statement was so cruel that Peach started to weep, kneeling delicately and covering her face. She was being drained of all hope. It was so sad that even the first three Koopas who came in started to feel bad for her.

"Sir, don't you think you're being too harsh on the Princess?" the cook questioned to the commander.

"What! You dare question me!" the commander exclaimed.

He vigorously pushed the cook off the hovering walkway. The cook yelled as he fell into a bottomless void. Everyone saw the horror. Princess Peach never saw anything more barbaric than that in her life. The other Koopas and Toadsworth were also shocked.

"How can you do that to one of your own kind?" Toadsworth exclaimed in his formal tone, "Do you have any shame?"

"Shut up old man!" the commander exclaimed, "Guys. Knock him out! He isn't having lunch today!"

Out of fear, the two other Koopas obeyed without question. They opened the cage and one of them tried to hit Toadsworth on the pressure point on the neck while the other held Peach so she wouldn't try to stop him.

"No! Let go! Don't hurt him!" Peach cried.

But it was too late. The Koopa already knocked out Toadsworth. The two Koopas who were with the cook looked very sorry, but they had to follow the commander's orders. One of them was still holding Peach.

"Still not eating!" the commander exclaimed to Peach, "Stupid spoiled brat! You really have no appreciation, do you? You should be thankful that we don't serve our infamous red hot chilly slop like we do to ordinary prisoners!"

"Stop it! Just stop it!" Peach cried, "What do you intend to do by feeding me?"

"Silence woman!" the commander grouched, "Boys! Force feed her!"

At first, everyone else freaked out by the commander's order, but hesitantly, the other Koopas tried to carry it out. One of them was still holding Peach, but this time, he had a hard time keeping a hold of her because she was struggling to escape his grasp. The other Koopa had food and tried to open her mouth. What he saw inside were two lethal fangs. He just noticed a sudden change in Peach. Her eyes were as vicious as a demon's. She was angry. After all the terrible things that this commander demanded, she couldn't stand it anymore. She still perfectly remembered the day when she was captured the first time and he hit her hard on the head. Such a painful experience. Most the Koopas she saw weren't that mean. It was a pain enough just to see this commander again.

The Koopa that looked in Peach's mouth quickly stepped back, freaking out. He dropped the food.

"Hey, what's wrong?" the Koopa still holding Peach asked.

This Koopa was holding her from behind, so he couldn't see her wrathful expression.

"Guys! Is she even Peach!" the Koopa who had food said.

"What the hell are you talking about!" the commander bickered, "Who else would that be? Just knock out the stupid rascal!"

Suddenly, Peach grabbed the Koopa behind her and slashed him to death with claws the Koopas didn't even know she had. The commander couldn't comprehend the situation. He thought the Koopa was slashing her, since there was blood flying.

"Help! She's a monster!" the remaining Koopa cried.

With hungry eyes, Peach took the other Koopa and throttled him, slamming him on the cage bars. Now the commander started to understand the situation.

"What the hell!" the commander exclaimed, surprised.

Still holding the Koopa in her grasp, Peach seductively walked out the cage. She looked at the Koopa quite hungrily. She licked her lips.

"What's wrong with you!" the chocking Koopa exclaimed, "Please! Don't eat me! We have tons of food, if that's what you want…"

"You poor fool," Peach said in a dark, bloodthirsty tone, "I don't want food." – the Koopa gulped – "I want blood."

"What! No wait! Please! Someone help me!"

But it was too late for him. The commander watched in horror as Peach delicately licked the neck of the Koopa. Her victim's neck was quite salty. But she liked it. The Koopa was more timid now, not being able to defend himself. Peach's claws scratched his shell as she embraced him. She bit his neck as she would bit a human. She savored the Koopa's succulent juices, which was a surprise, since he wasn't a human. Koopa blood had a hint of sweetness, with a touch of spice. It was a wonderful sensation as she slowly took gulps of it. She was as a wild beast who was now tranquil since now she had prey. The commander stood there awestricken as she finished off the Koopa's life. He moaned quietly to his death.

Satisfied, Peach dropped her victim's corpse on the ground. He looked very pale and lifeless. The commander couldn't understand what was going on. Wasn't this Princess Peach? The weak and timid Princess Peach? Unfortunately for him, he was wrong.

"There is no way!" the commander said, slowly walking backward as Peach walked forward.

Peach was now happy to see the commander afraid for a change. But that wasn't enough for her; she wanted to have him for lunch. She was still thirsty. She licked her lips as she imagined savoring her meal.

"You barbarian!" the commander said

"Oh look who's the barbarian!" Peach laughed, happily showing her lustrous fangs, "You're the one who pushed one of your own men off the walkway. You have a very bad attitude as well. It would be quite the pleasure to kill you."

The commander eyes became bloodshot in fear. He was never afraid in his life. He was going to run into the portal where he could get reinforcements, but using extraordinary speed, Peach blocked his access to the portal. Now that was nowhere for him to run.

"Look! I'm sorry for all the bad things I did! Honest!"

"I don't believe you," Peach said in a soft, sadistic tone, "I'll never forgive you. Consider it an honor to be my prey. I'll savor you to the last drop. Mwahahahah!"

The Koopa commander didn't know what to do. At first he thought of jumping off the walkway, but that would have been absolutely foolish since there was literally nothing down there. Then he thought of trying to go head-on with the Princess, but she had claws; who knows what she could do with them? Looking with a hungry stare again, she walked sensuously towards the commander.

"No! Stop! Please! I'll do anything! Really! Anything!"

But Peach wasn't in the mood to show any mercy. She grabbed him and briefly bit him in the neck. Taking only a little blood, she tossed the commander on the other side of the walkway, being careful not to throw him off.

The commander was wheezing in pain. He thought he was dead. Peach looked at his pain and started to laugh.

"Oh my!" Peach laughed sadistically, "You don't know how much I am enjoying this! I sure do have a liking to Koopa blood now!"

This made the commander gulp. There was no way this was Peach. How could it be? She was a total monster. Nothing like the sweet, innocent Princess the Koopas had known.

"What are you!" the commander said in intense fear.

"Oh my sweet friend, have you not noticed that I am a vampire?"

"What! Bu… bu… but…?"

Cutting off his talk, Peach dashed to the Koopa, grabbed him, and kicked him with her knees. He yelped in pain. Thirsty again, Peach bit the commander again, but this time didn't let go for a while. She savored his spicy and tangy blood. He moaned like a zombie.

"Hee…llllpp… meeeee…" were the Koopa commander's last words.

Peach was so satisfied that she couldn't help but laugh like a beautiful witch. It wasn't just the fact that she had quenched herself again that gratified her, but also the fact that she killed Koopas, something she wouldn't ever dare do before. Seeing the commander's dead body made her feel warm inside. Finally, this Koopa met his demise; and he deserved it too. She threw him off the walkway effortlessly. His body spun as he fell into the dark abyss.

Peach was calm again. She felt loose all over, since before her muscles were tense from her killings. Now she was a little confused and curious about herself. She didn't understand where she got the gut to kill three Koopas. On top of that, she seemed very strong too. She could only suppose that these were traits of vampires, but she felt there was just more than that.

Now being calm, Peach wondered how she was in an almost fanatical mood earlier. She didn't feel so evil now, unlike before. Although she was happy to have ended the life of the commander, she felt somewhat sorry for the other two Koopas she killed earlier. They were just following orders; otherwise, they would have been nice like the cook.

The way Peach acted merciless, sensuous, and downright vile was very surprising to her. Right now she felt very timid.

"It's as if there is someone else inside of me," Peach thought, "Like a split personality."

But she wasn't a big fan of that theory. If she had a split personality, then that would mean that at any given time, she could be a vicious beast and people will die because of that. This thought wasn't pleasant to her. Deep inside, she didn't want to kill people for amusement. She only wanted to kill for nourishment, like any predator. But ironically, she couldn't help but feel good that she killed the Koopa commander. It was like an act of revenge for being barbaric to her earlier. But was that right?

Peach looked around. She had to remove any evidence that she killed anyone in this dungeon. She looked at the other two corpses and decided to just toss them into the abyss. That way, no one would suspect that they were killed. Peach said her prayers to them and dropped them, falling into the bottomless void. Then Peach cleaned the bloodshed that she caused. Fortunately, there wasn't too much blood. But it was enough to use up all the napkins that were brought in earlier.

Now with everything cleaned and covered up, Peach sighed in relief. She checked on Toadsworth, who was still unconscious. She went back into the cage to see how he was doing, but suddenly, Bowser came into the void, rather happy. Peach was surprised and quickly sat as if she never got up.

"Why nice to see you again, my princess!" Bowser laughed.

Peach didn't comment; she just looked dull. She hoped that Bowser didn't notice anything suspicious.

But to Peach's fear, Bowser noticed that the cage wasn't locked. He closed the cage and locked it. But he didn't seem suspicious of Peach at all.

"Those blasted guards don't know how to lock a cage!" Bowser complained, shaking his fists. "Ah Princess! I see you were smart not to escape."

Peach took this to consideration. She feared what would happened if Bowser came in earlier and saw her killing his men.

"I hope you are comfortable, because you will be right by my side when I defeat Mario and expand my empire. You will still have your precious Mushroom Kingdom, but you have to answer to me. And also, I can do anything I want to your land and your people."

Peach did not reply, but she did look sad. Bowser continued.

"Anyway. I would like to say sorry for my yelling earlier. I would like you to understand me better. Don't worry; you'll be well taken care of when I defeat Mario. You will be honored by many Koopas and will still be a princess. But now you will be the Princess of the Koopa Empire. Now if you will excuse me, I will finish off that rascal of a plumber, Mario. I'll be back with his dead body."

And with that, Bowser walked off into the portal, to the arena. Peach prayed for Mario's safety.

Now Toadsworth woke up again. Peach was relieved.

"Ow… Princess… They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"Don't worry about me," Peach said softly, "I'm fine. Here look, there's still food. You go ahead and eat."

There was one dish surviving the killings of the Koopas.

"But Princess. There is only one dish left. I insist; you eat."

"No Toadsworth. It's okay. I'll be fine. I'm not that hungry."

Not wanting to refuse the Princess's offer, Toadsworth ate. Now that she mentioned it, Toadsworth noticed that Peach didn't look that hungry at all.

Mario counted all the Power Stars he had. There were exactly 120 stars. He wondered how many there were in total.

Suddenly he heard a voice.

"Hey! Mario! It's me… Toad!"

"Hey Toad! Are you guys alright?"

"We're fine Mario. Look, you have all the Power Stars!"

Mario was shocked. He didn't know that he managed to collect all of them.

"Mama mia! Are you-a sure?"

"Yes Mario! Look, all you have to do now is defeat Bowser! I hear he's waiting for you. Go to the Endless Stairs. If you defeat him, he'll lose all control over the Castle and the Kingdom! Hurry!"

Toad's voice started to fade again. Mario was more determined than ever now. Before he heard Toad's voice again, Mario was very exhausted from all the fighting and searching. But now that Mario found everything he needed, all he had to do now was to beat Bowser. After that, all the prisoners would be freed and that included Princess Peach.

As Toad said, Mario went back to the Endless Stairs. Without hesitating, he ran up the stairs. There were still portraits of Peach on the right and Bowser on the left, but this time, Mario found the top! It was a narrow room and at the end was a giant portrait of Bowser. In the middle of the room was a square pit. Using instinct, Mario jumped into the pit.

He was surprised to end up in the middle of an arena. It was levitating in the middle of an abyss. Bowser was there, crossing his arms as if waiting impatiently.

"Ah! Mario! It's nice that you visit! It's time to finish this!"

"What do you want from us?"

"Oh Mario! That's such a ridiculous question! It was written in the book of destiny that the Koopas shall reign supreme! Everything, the Mushroom Kingdom and Princess, shall be mine! Bwahahahaha!"

"Oh we'll see about that!" Mario said, determined.

This was it. Bowser quickly used fireball attacks and managed to hit Mario once. Mario got back up but looked rather weak, since he was fighting foes all day.

"Ha! You seem a bit tired Mario! Let me finish you off!"

Bowser used his shockwave pounces, but Mario had enough energy to jump over each one. Bowser was a little impressed, but not impressed enough.

Mario started to notice that when Bowser was stationary whenever he did his fire-breath. Mario took advantage of this and ran behind him. Mario grabbed Bowser's tail and did a spinning throw. Bowser landed on one of the levitating mines outside the platform and crashed back on the arena. He looked burned, but was not defeated yet.

"You're going to have to do better than that to beat me!"

This time Bowser did a dash attack. This was unexpected so he was hit right on! He flew a few meters and almost fell off the arena! Fortunately he was still on solid ground, but Mario was more weak than ever. He knew that one more strike from Bowser would finish him. Bowser laughed.

"Ah, Mario! It is nice to see you wounded for a change. Now to push you off!

Bowser attempted at his dash attack again. Mario saw his end coming. He was tired and hungry. His energy was drained from finding 120 Power Stars. He never expected it to end like this , after all he went through.

Then Mario realized something; if he were defeated, then all the Power Stars he collected would be in Bowser's control. Peach's Castle and the entire Mushroom Kingdom would be a part of the Koopa Empire. And worst of all, Princess Peach would always be in Bowser's claws. It was a horrible thought for Mario. The dear, sweet Princess didn't deserve such a fate. He couldn't possibly comprehend to torture she would go through if he lost.

"Mario…!"

Mario thought he heard Peach's voice calling for him. Was it just in his head? Whether it was or not, Mario determination was renewed. He had to win! There was no such thing as losing at this moment. He had to remain victorious. For the Mushroom Kingdom! For the Princess!

To Bowser's surprise, Mario immediately got up and dashed around Bowser. This caused Bowser to lose control of his speed. He tried to stop but momentum caused him to move forward. At this rate, he was standing right on the edge of the arena! He also was starting to lose his balance; he could fall into the abyss!

Mario looked as Bowser was very vulnerable at that moment. He could have done one of two things; either he pushed Bowser off, or take Bowser by the tail and throw him at a mine again.

Mario decided to throw Bowser to a mine again. Deep inside, Mario would never want to kill anyone, not even Bowser. All the foes Mario faced so far were knocked out, not killed.

Mario used all the energy he had left in him when he spun Bowser around and around. Bowser crashed on a mine as Mario anticipated and was smoked in the center of the arena. He was defeated!

"Nooooo! Bowser moaned, "It can't be! You've beaten me! I gave those troops power! How did you defeat them all! It's all fading away! Arg! I can see peace return to the Mushroom Kingdom! It sickens me! Mark my word Mario! I'll be back some day! This isn't over yet…!"

The place started to rumble. Mario didn't know where the exit was. Then everything started to turn white…

Mario was lying in front of Peach's Castle. He got up and noticed that there were Toadish, all of them looking at him.

"Yes! He's alive!" one of them cheered.

Then Mario saw Toad.

"You did it Mario! You saved us all!"

Then everyone saw something appear levitating in front of the stained glass of the castle. It was Toadsworth and Princess Peach! Peach had her eyes closed and her hands folded as if she were praying. They both hovered to ground on the stone bridge used to access the castle. When Peach landed, she opened her eyes and looked at Mario with an expression of gratefulness. Mario took his hat off and bowed. Peach came up to him and kissed his nose. He became cherry red.

"Mario. You have restored power back to the castle by collecting all the Power Stars. Now the Mushroom Kingdom has returned to normal. And it's all thanks to you! We have to do something special for you! What do you say guys?"

Everyone cheered. But suddenly, they saw Luigi running towards them in the background. He bent down and panted when he arrived.

"Mama mia! Bro. What-a happened?" Luigi panted, "I heard about Bowser's invasion! Is it really true?"

"You don't have to worry about anything, Luigi," Peach beamed, "Mario took care of Bowser. Everything will be safe and sound again."

Suddenly, Mario started to feel weary. He was about to fall, but Peach caught him.

"Oh my!" said Peach, "I think Mario used up most of his energy. Quick! Guys, take him into the castle."

Five Toadish carried Mario into the living room, which wasn't locked anymore. Luigi turned to Peach.

"Um, Princess… Will my bro be alright?"

"Oh of course he will!" Peach smiled, "All he needs and some food and rest. Actually, I was planning to celebrate Mario's victory with the cake I made earlier today, so stick around. Mario is bound to get better soon."

"Alright."

About half an hour later, Mario got back up from sleeping on the large living room couch. Everyone surrounded him, including Toadsworth, Luigi, and Peach.

"Mama mia! What happened?" Mario exclaimed, now wide-awake.

"You defeated Bowser, remember?" Peach said, "You lost your energy not so long ago, so now that you are all better, we can celebrate a wonderful triumph!"

So once again, the people of the Mushroom Kingdom could celebrate for the second time their victory over the Koopa. Mario was now more prominent than ever. He was honored once again. And he also got to eat some of Peach's cake (which was sweet to the last morsel). His triumph would be remembered for a long, long time.