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Fanfiction On Ao3 - Blog Posts
Firey Love Through Burning Sands Chapter 3: The Princess and the Plumbers
Princess Peach awoke to the sounds of panicked shouting.
After throwing on her dress, she ran outside of her room as multiple Toad guards scurried around the halls.
Uh-oh, She thought as she waded through the swarm of Toads, That's not a good sign.
As she made her way through the halls, a Toad guard bumped into her, a look of fear etched onto their face. Taking their shoulders, she stopped them from leaving as chaos surrounded them.
"What is it? What's going on?" She asked.
"Princess! We have a problem!
"What's wrong?"
They said nothing, taking her by the hand and nearly dragging her to an all-too-familiar room.
Bowser's room.
Peach felt her blood run cold as she picked up her skirts, raced towards the door, and yanked it open, quickly stepping inside to investigate. The room didn't seem that much different from the last time she was there. Nothing seemed out of place, the floor and room itself were still intact, the windows were closed, the door of the cage was open-
She froze.
THE DOOR OF THE CAGE WAS OPEN!
Open, and missing one miniaturized, infamous Koopa. A chill spread through her body as the princess realized what happened.
Bowser, the Tyrant of the Darklands, had somehow escaped in the middle of the night, and only the Stars knew what he was up to!
This is bad, this is really, REALLY bad! She thought to herself.
If Bowser had escaped, then that meant that (if he wasn't already) he could figure out how to get big again. If he figured out how to get big again, then that meant that he could go back to trying to conquer the world. Which meant another attempt at trying to get her to marry him. Which meant more chaos and destruction as he tried to raid more kingdoms for yet another Power Star.
And since they discovered the Bros' kingdom of Brooke-Land, then that meant that no one in any universe would be safe from his onslaught.
That. Can. Not. Happen!
A sudden crash was heard as Toad appeared; his frying pan gripped tightly in his hand as he barged into the palace, heaving in big gulps of air from running. He was walking into town when he saw the palace guards running in and out of the building in a panic. Surprised at the guards not even questioning his presence, he rushed over to Peach, a look of concern on his face.
"Princess! Are you okay?! What's with all the running?"
Wasting no time, she raced to her office, grabbed a pen and paper, and quickly scrawled a message before handing it to him.
"I'll explain later! Take this to Mario and Luigi! I need to speak with them immediately!"
With a salute, the little Mushroom boy ran into Toad Town.
The Super Mario Brothers were never in the habit of sleeping in, especially when there was a job to get done.
But after a month and a half of rescuing and moving into the Mushroom Kingdom, as well as going back and forth between here and Brooklyn to work and visit family, the brothers were dead tired. So, it came as no surprise that Mario was still asleep in his bed at 8 in the morning. After all, there wasn't much to worry about. This was their day off, Princess Peach and the kingdom were safe, Bowser was still locked away in that bird cage. Today, he and Luigi could just relax for a moment.
Or at least it was until he was woken up by pounding knocks and shouts at his window.
"MARIO!"
He yelped, nearly hitting himself in the face. It was then that Luigi rushed into the room, still in a green t-shirt and pajama shorts.
"What was that? What's going on?" He cried, rushing towards his brother.
Mario rubbed his eyes for a moment, turning to the window to see an exhausted Toad, his blue vest rustled from sprinting from the castle to their house. He opened the window, feelings of annoyance and concern warring in his mind as he took a once-over at the Mushroom citizen as he struggled to catch his breath.
"Toad, for the last time, knock on the door! And what's gotten you all rowed up today?"
After a minute or two, Toad handed him the letter he held in his hand.
"Peach said that she needs to see you guys right away!"
The brothers looked at each other before Mario opened the letter, reading it aloud for all to hear.
"Dear Mario & Luigi, Bowser has escaped. I need to see you as soon as you get this. Signed Peach."
Luigi grew pale at that, shuddering at the thought.
"W-What does she mean 'Bowser's escaped'? I t-thought he was shrunk down and locked away for good?"
Mario said nothing, instead grabbing at his plumber's uniform with a rush. Luigi followed his lead, scrambling to put on his overalls and find his hat as the two of them rushed out the door, Toad already three steps ahead of them.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
With a nod, the twins raced for the castle.
Meanwhile, the Council Toads gathered together in Princess Peach's throne room, cries of worry echoing in the pink-colored halls as they approached.
"Princess! What do we do?"
"Who was on watch last night? He couldn't have gone far!"
"That's IF he didn't return to his normal size!"
"What's to stop him from trying to take over again?"
"He's going to wreak havoc upon us if we don't find him!"
The princess sat on her throne as they continued to argue amongst themselves for the best course of action before silencing them with a wave of her hand.
"I understand your concerns. And I promise all of you that I will fix this. With help from the Super Mario Brothers, we will find him and bring him to justice!"
It was at that declaration that the doors were slammed open to reveal Mario, Luigi, and Toad, all a bit winded from their trek to the castle. With Peach getting up from her throne, the Council Toads dispersed, leaving her and the trio alone.
"Peach! Are you okay?" Mario asked, worried.
The princess gave a deep sigh, rubbing her temples before taking his arm and dragging him to Bowser's former prison, Luigi and Toad struggling to keep up with them as they entered the room. The empty cage seemed to gleam at the four of them in contempt, taunting them with the fact that it wasn't enough to hold the King of the Koopas.
And it wasn't even damaged.
"Oh boy, you weren't kidding." Mario whistled in awe, his heart dropping into his stomach.
Peach growled in frustration the longer she looked at the birdcage.
"It was as if he disappeared into thin air. All of the guards swear that the room door was never opened again after dinnertime last night. And the cage is suspended off of the ground, so even if he did manage to unlock the cage himself, he wouldn't have been able to escape without jumping down and losing the Mini Mushroom power up and making himself noticeable."
Toad (who at this point had yet to see the inside of the room) was exasperated, waving his frying pan around as the pitch of his voice grew higher and higher the angrier he became. Meanwhile, Luigi felt like he was going to pass out. It was well known that he had witnessed firsthand what horrors that turtle-dragon creature was capable of. Now, his tormentor was free and probably plotting his revenge against him and Mario.
Mario, sensing his younger brother's distress, went over to where he stood, putting his arm around him to calm him.
"Hey, don't you worry, Weeg. We beat him once, and we can beat him again!"
"But that was with a Super Star! He almost killed you when we went toe-to-toe with him!"
The four of them shuddered at the memory. If Luigi hadn't rushed in with that manhole cover, there was no doubt that Mario would have been ashes, and all of the known kingdoms would be under Bowser's control.
Mario shook his head at that, resolve in his voice.
"Well, we can find another one and kick his ass again! Right, Princess?"
Peach turned to him, her expression grim as she began to pace the room.
"I'm afraid not, Mario. Power Stars are extremely rare, and the Snow Kingdom was one of the only two kingdoms that were confirmed to have access to one. The same one that Bowser stole and the two of you used to defeat him the first time."
Mario's shoulders sagged in defeat. Well there goes that plan.
"Wait a minute, Princess," Luigi exclaimed, "You said that the Snow Kingdom was one of two! Where's the other one?"
Princess Peach stopped her pacing, realizing what he had said.
"Sarasaland. Why haven't I thought of that before?!"
With that, she raced back to her office, the brothers and Toad following behind her, the two humans looking at her in confusion.
"Sarasa-what-now?" Mario asked.
"The Sarasaland Empire is now the only nation that holds a Power Star within their borders, and now they're in danger of invasion! We need to get in contact with them right now!"
When they finally arrived at her office, Peach immediately got to work penning the letter.
Indlovukazi enkulu uTaraji,
My companions and I request an audience with you at your palace in Birabuto for a matter of utmost importance. We fear it may have something to do with your Power Star and our recent discovery of King Bowser's escape from prison.
We shall wait outside of your gates for your response.
Sincerely,
Peach Toadstool, Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom
Njengenkanyezi sakhiwe futhi njengenkanyezi sizobuya.
The letter signed and sealed, the princess went to a letter warp pipe, directed it to Sarasaland, and with a swish off it went.
Wasting no time, she led them outside towards the center of town, Toad squealing with delight at going on another adventure.
"We're going to have to take the warp pipe to Sarasaland since that's the quickest way there."
"Are you sure she'll even see us?" Luigi asked as they neared the pipe.
Peach turned to the three of them, her eyes narrowing with grave seriousness.
"She will. I pray to the stars she will."
With that, she hopped into the warp pipe; Mario, Luigi, and Toad following behind.
Notes:
Indlovukazi enkulu uTaraji: Great Queen Taraji
Njengenkanyezi sakhiwe futhi njengenkanyezi sizobuya: As stardust we are formed and as stardust we shall return.
