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Chapter Text

Mushroom Kingdom 

Toad Town

4:05 PM

Our story begins one fine autumn afternoon in Toad Town. Today is Market Day, and the streets are bustling with townsfolk hoping to get the best deals possible. 

"Mushrooms at fifty percent off! Buy four and get a Life Shroom for free!"

"Homemade cider, made with love!"

"Fresh apples! Get 'em now before this guy buys them all!"

Looking among the crowd, it's easy to spot the only two humans there. Mario, hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, and his younger, yet taller, brother Luigi who, while less famous, is still a hero in his own right.

Right now, however, neither of them are on any sort of heroic adventure. They, like everyone else, are here to buy groceries.

"Mario, you have the list, right?" Luigi asks worriedly, turning to his brother. Mario nods, handing a yellow sticky note over to Luigi.

Luigi scans the note with a bemused expression. "Ummmm....Mario? You sure this is the right list? It's a bit short....you literally only have 'spaghetti' and 'chocolate ice cream' written down...."

Mario nods, giving his brother a thumbs up. 

"That's right."

"Maaaarrriiooo!" Luigi groans, "When we left the house I remember asking if you'd put everything we needed on the list, and you said 'Yes Luigi, I put down all the important stuff.'"

Mario shrugs, smiling sheepishly. 

The younger brother sighs. "Well, I think we should probably take advantage of that mushroom sale, and I think we're running low on detergent..."

Before he can continue his train of thought, someone in a blue cloak runs by the pair, sending Mario crashing into the ground. Without stopping, or even apologizing, the mysterious person keeps running, quickly disappearing into the crowd.

"Sheesh," Luigi complains as he helps his brother up, "some people have no manners. Are you alright, bro?"

Brushing dirt off his overalls, Mario gives Luigi a thumbs up. 

"I'm okay...wait, what's that?"

Bending down, Mario scoops something up off the ground.

"Mario? What's that?"

The younger brother holds out the object.

It's a small package, about the size of both of Mario's gloves, wrapped in cheap, brown paper and tied together with a worn string.

"Does it have a name on it or something?"

Mario shrugs, turning the package over in all directions.

"Here it is!"

Property of Mendax

DO NOT OPEN

"Huh, I've never heard of anyone named Mendax," Luigi says, stroking his mustache thoughtfully. "But I bet it was the person who knocked into you! Did you get a good look at them?"

Mario shakes his head.

"We probably should give it to the lost and found..." Luigi says, before trailing off. "Wait, what time is it?"

A nearby toad responds with, "It's 4:15 right now."

"Crud! We're late! We said we would meet Blumiere and the others about fifteen minutes ago at the Smoothie Shack! We'll have to head there right away, the package can wait for now."

Mario nods, tucking the package under his shoulder. 

Just then, a loud voice cuts through the crowd. "ATTENTION! The mushroom sale will be ending in two minutes!"

The cart is quickly swarmed. Luigi groans. "Those mushrooms are crazy expensive, we need to get them before the sale ends! Quick, you go on to meet the others, and I'll get the groceries. The actual groceries we need, not the ones on your list."

Mario nods, heading off in the direction of the Smoothie Shack. 

Luigi looks at the enormous crowd in front of the Mushroom Stall, and gulps. Pulling out a helmet, he crams it onto his head over his famous green hat. 

"Wish me luck," he mutters to himself, and dives into the chaos.

Mushroom Kingdom

Toad Inn

3:01 PM

"It's like, totally awesome that the Count's coming back, isn't it?" Mimi says. O'Chunks grins.

"Aye, it will be lovely to see him again, as well as getting to properly meet the lovely lady Timpani." 

The three former minions are all in Mimi's room; Mimi sitting on her bed, is carefully painting her nails, while O'Chunks pours over an upside-down travel guide.

Nastasia simply stares outside the window, seemingly lost in thought. 

"I bet you're excited as well, Nastasia," Mimi slyly says, only to pout when the other doesn't react to her teasing. O'Chunks, looking between the two, frowns. 

"Nastasia, lass? You've been awfully quiet since we came here. Ya' doing alright?"

"Huh?" Nastasia asks, looking at the two with a now more focused expression. "Yeah, um, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've been in a funk for a while," Mimi says, " and it's not like you to be this out of it. You didn't even react when O'Chunks ate an entire one of his gross...'haggyoses', that he smuggled onto the train with him."

"Haggises, Mimi! And it's not disgusting, it's a proud staple of the O'Chunks family dinners! Here, try one!" He waves the food in front of her face.

"Ewwwww, no way! You know, that, actually, like, explains a lot about your personality."

"Please stop arguing, K? We don't want to upset the Count or...Timpani when they get here. We have to be on our best behavior." Nastasia warns, clutching her trusted clipboard even even tighter. 

"Aye aye," O'Chunks promises, giving her a sloppy, yet still sincere, salute. 

Mimi protests, "But Countie already should love us the way we are!", her voice a sing-song whine.

"Ummm...well, we need to be even better than usual, K? We haven't seen him in a while, and he's likely, um...different now that he's married and all that."

The three of them sit in silence for a few moments. O'Chunks is the first the break the silence, exclaiming, "Don't ya worry, Nastasia. No matter what, I'm sure he's still the Count we know and love, even if he's just a wee bit different now." 

"Plus, Countie already knows who we are and stuff, it's not like us being fake and stuff is going to fool him."

"...I suppose you're right." 

"Now," Nastasia says, voice returning to normal, "we have thirty five minutes before we need to go over to the designated meeting place." 

"Okay!" Mimi says cheerfully, "I have enough time to visit Peach! Don't worry, I'll just say 'hi', and I'll be back in twenty minutes."

Before Nastasia can protest, Mimi jumps out of the window, running in the direction of Princess Peach's castle.

Nastasia groans, rushing up to the window. "Mimi!"

But it's too late, Mimi is long gone.

O'Chunks gently pats Nastasia on the back. "Don't worry, lass, Mimi knows where the meet-up is. She may be a couple of minutes late, but that's not anything new."

Nastasia sighs. "I suppose you're right. Well, we probably should head over to the Smoothie Shack- at least two thirds of our group can be there on time."

Mushroom Kingdom

Princess Peach's Castle

3:15 PM

As ruling monarch over the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach has an open door policy for anyone that wishes to speak with her, and tries her best to be a listening ear to all her subjects. In order to do this, though, she must make sure is almost always available to the general public.

Toadsworth, of course, does not like this at all. "My dear, you can't expect to fix everyone's problems! You need to take better care of yourself, and besides, doing this is putting you at risk of being kidnapped!"

Despite his warnings, Princess Peach stands firm on this issue. "I know there are risks," she had said then, "but I cannot allow myself to become isolated from my people. If I were to lock myself away in a high security vault, then perhaps I would be safe, but I would also be a useless ruler."

Truthfully, Peach enjoys talking with her subjects. Sometimes one or two toads may stop by to merely have a chat, and those conversations are usually very interesting, although there have been a few occasions where she has been bored to tears. 

Even the most dull of conversations, however, are nothing compared to the work she is doing right now. 

Staring at the mountain of papers in front of her, Princess Peach can already feel her hands aching. Paperwork is truly the worst, but it is a necessary evil. In order for laws and ordinances to be passed, she must give her approval via signature. 

Contemplating abdicating the throne just out of sheer laziness, a knock interrupts her thoughts of woe and despair. "Come in!"

One of her toad guards enters the room, albeit a bit hesitantly. She recognizes the toad as one of the new guards, apparently still shy when interacting with royalty. Putting on her warmest smile, she asks, "Is there something you need of me? Or are you here simply here to talk? I can make you a cup of tea if you would like, although I'm afraid I'm out of chocolate biscuits. A good friend of mine seems to have eaten them all during his last visit."

The yellow toad seems less worried now. "No..no...I'm...good, but you have a visitor...she said her name was...Mimi? Sorry to bother you..."

"No, you're not bothering me at all. Is she in the main hall? I might as well walk over and see her now."

Mushroom Kingdom

Smoothie Shack

4:23 PM

"Um...so, I got a message from the Count, K? He and...Timpani agreed to meet us here...where's Mimi?" Nastasia looks around the small establishment frantically, hoping that the girl would appear out of nowhere.

"Mimi, if you're disguised as someone, please...this isn't the time..." She paces back and front near the front door nervously, her usually calm composure looking as though it's barely hanging on a thread.

O'Chunks scratches his head. He's sitting on a bar stool, which looks comically small under his rather bulky frame. Turning his stool around to face the toad on the other side of the counter, he asks cheerfully, "Do you have any beef milkshakes?"

The toad behind the counter clearly has no idea what to do with the strange, oddly smelling, man. "Sir, we only sell fruit and mushroom smoothies."

"Alrighty then, I'll have a banana and grapefruit smoothie." 

"...Sure."

Getting off the bar stool, O'Chunks rests a hand on Nastasia's shoulder. "Don't worry, she'll be here. You sent her one of those pingy things, right?"

"I sent her fifteen messages!"

The door-chimes jingle merrily, and Nastasia whirls around. It's not the Count or his wife, instead, it's a very familiar plumber.

"Maria!" O'Chunks calls out, before correcting himself. "Sorry, right, you're not Maria, yer Mario. Sorry 'bout the whole mix-up."

Mario walks over to them with a smile.

"Sorry I'm late."

"It's fine," Nastasia says absentmindedly, scrolling through her tablet. "Count Bl- I mean, Blumiere, hasn't arrived yet."

"Aye," O'Chunks says. "By the way, where's that green brother of yours, Mario?"

"Getting groceries. The Mushroom Sale is ending today, and he doesn't trust me to do the shopping by myself." 

"Sir? Your smoothie's ready."

"Thanks!"

"That'll be 15 coins."

"Alrighty!" O'Chunks says, pulling the money out of his pocket. "Here 'ya go."

"Have a nice day."

"Are you okay, Nastasia?"

"I'm quite alright, just a tad...frazzled. The Count will be here any moment, and Mimi didn't get my memo to show up, and I don't even know what to say..."

Draining the smoothie in one gulp, O'Chunks reassures Nastasia. "You don't need to worry, Tasia. It's going to be okay, I swear, or my name isn't O'Chunks! Swear on me mum!"

Mushroom Kingdom

Peach's Castle

4:29 PM

"And that's when the conductor told him, 'sir, we don't allow outside food on the train,' and I was so relieved I wanted to kiss him because I was the one stuck sitting next to O'Chunks with his nasty smelling food, and I swear Nastasia did it on purpose, because she's never the one who has to sit next to him whenever we go anywhere."

Peach giggles. "I can imagine, although I'm guilty when it comes to garlic bread. I could eat a whole basket in one sitting, and my breath smells just plain awful afterwards."

"Ewwww...garlic bread is bad for your figure, at least according to Diet Daily. You really should get a subscription, the advice column is run by someone named Chatty Cathy and she's my new hero."

Both of them giggle.

"You know," Princess Peach says, "I can't believe we haven't met up earlier! What have you been up to, lately?"

"Not much. Well, now that I think about it..."

Mushroom Kingdom

Smoothie Shack 

4:30 PM

The shop doorbell jingles. "Count!" O'Chunks calls out, "Over here!", waving frantically as if the establishment was much larger and crowded with people. Since they're the only ones here, save the employees, it's doubtful that the Count...no, Blumiere, didn't spot him. Behind Blumiere stands a young woman, clearly...Timpani. Nastasia wrings her hands together. She doesn't know what to say or do now that she's face to face with...

O'Chunks seems to have no problem with greeting Blumiere, grabbing him in an enthusiastic hug before gently settling him down. Timpani giggles, and the former Count appears slightly dazed. When they'd been working for Count Bleck, none of them had really done stuff like...hugging, or even really shaking hands. 

But Blumiere...he looks happy. Happy to be here, happy to be with his wife. "Um...nice to see you C-Blumiere," Nastasia says, hoping the nervousness doesn't show in her voice. 

Blumiere smiles at her. "Nastasia, O'Chunks! It pleases me greatly to see the both of you again."

Timpani waves, grinning broadly. "It's nice to see you all, especially since I'm not a butterfly and the world isn't ending."

She's oddly...blunt, but in a somewhat endearing fashion. 

Timpani rushes forward and hugs Mario tightly. "Mario! I thought I'd never see you again! It's great to see you."

Mario clearly shares the same sentiments, hugging Timpani briefly before letting her go. Blumiere, meanwhile, looks around the room, as though searching for something. "Is Mimi here?" he asks.

Nastasia quickly says, "No, but she must have not received my memo updating her on the situation. I've been trying to contact her, but..."

"Do not worry about it," Blumiere assures her. "I'm sure Mimi will return when she is ready. In the meantime, why don't we all talk? I'm sure that many things have happened to us all since we last saw each other."

Timpani turns to Nastasia. "I never really got to know you all properly. Um...my name's Timpani, but you already knew that." 

Nastasia, looking at her shoes, mutters, "Oh, yeah, nice to meet, I mean, see, you." 

Blumiere doesn't seem to notice the awkwardness, and neither does Mario. O'Chunks, however, looks between the two, clearly trying to figure out what's going on. Timpani smiles at O'Chunks, holding out a hand for him to shake. "It's nice to see you as well, O'Chunks."

O'Chunks shakes her hand a little less vigorously than usual. "Nice ta see you again too," he grins. 

"Now," O'Chunks says, a wide grin on his face, "let's all get a smoothie. My treat!"

Nastasia side-eyes him. "O'Chunks, did you bring enough money?"

The grin slides of his face. Scratching the back sheepishly, O'Chunks admits, "No. Not all all. In fact, after that smoothie, I haven't a penny to me name."

"That's alright," Blumiere says, "I'll pay for the smoothies. Consider it a 'thank you' gift for all you have done for me."

Nastasia straightens her glasses. "Sir, I can pay for my own-"

"No, no, I insist! And call me Blumiere, I am your boss no longer."

"Okay...Blumiere," Nastasia says, semi-reluctantly.

"Mario," Timpani begins, "if you don't mind me asking, what's with that package you're holding?"

One Brief Explanation Later...

"Hmm...that's pretty odd," Timpani says. "Are you sure you didn't get a look at whoever bumped into you?"

Mario nods.

"And you don't know anyone named Mendax, is that correct?" Blumiere asks. 

Mario shakes his head.

"Order up!" the toad behind the counter shouts. "I've got your five smoothies right here. That'll be 75 coins."

Blumiere hands over the money, looking skeptically down at the new, faintly glowing, smoothies.

 "Are you sure this is...drinkable?" Blumiere asks uncertainly.

The toad behind the counter crosses his arms, clearly annoyed. "All our smoothies are made with love and compassion and the finest fruits in the entire universe, and once you drink it your mind will be transported to an alternate reality filled with rainbows and moonbeams." 

 The former count takes a sip. "This is...alright."

The toad beams. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about my drinks!"

Mario takes a sip out of his own smoothie, and his face briefly spasms in disgust. Both Timpani and O'Chunks finish theirs quickly. Blumiere manages to get halfway through the drink before he has to stop.

Mario finishes the drink, all the while looking very green. Once he's done, the plumber slams the drink back on the counter, pushing it away from him.

The toad sighs. "Yeah, most of my customers react like that."

The doorbell jingles, and in rushes the figure from before. This time, however, the hood of their cloak is down, revealing to be a toad wearing a green bandanna around his neck.

Spotting the package in Mario's hand, the toad rushes over.

"Hey, that's my package! I was looking all over for-"

Looking up at Mario, the toad stops short. "Oh, you're Mario! I was looking for you! I guess I was in such a hurry...that I didn't even notice when I ran into you! Sorry about that, by the way."

Mario shrugs.

"It's okay."

He hands the package over to Mendax, who takes it gratefully. "You see, this package is very important. Well, not the package, but the contents of the package. Here, let me show you."

Quickly unwrapping it, the contents of package is revealed to be...a very thin book. The cover looks old, and the binding on the back is almost falling apart. 

"You see, I need someone to-"

Before any of them can continue talking, the ground starts rumbling under their feet.

"What the-" the toad behind the counter squeaks, ducking under the counter. 

Outside the sky is growing dark at an unnatural rate.

"This does not seem...normal," Blumiere states, expression worried. 

"I knew it!" the toad behind the counter shrieks. "My horoscope told me that the world was going to end today!"

Mario peers through the glass window. The town square appears empty, save for a singular figure obscured in shadows. He points towards the person, and the others turn. 

"Blimey, do you think he's the one behind all this?"

Nastasia, flipping through her notepad, shakes her head, but then reconsiders. "It could be...unless it's just a coincidence."

Mario jumps once, before heading out the door, O'Chunks right behind him. Now the humanoid figure is raising their arms to the sky, faint streams of magic circling around them. The rest of them follow a bit more hesitantly. 

Now that they've left the building, all of them feel a sudden chill in the air, a sharp cold that cuts through the skin and settles in your bones. 

"Who the heck are you?" Timpani exclaims, but the person ignores her. Mario leaps towards the figure, but somehow crashes next to them, missing the being entirely. 

"Mario!" Timpani shouts. "Are you okay?" 

Getting up, Mario nod, before heading back to join the group. 

The being floats up into the air, several feet above them all. 

"I demand you tell us who you are!" Blumiere shouts, and O'Chunks chimes in with a hearty, "That's right, you coward!"

Nastasia doesn't say anything at all. Her hands are trembling.

"Ha ha ha," an all too familiar voice chuckles. "I can't believe you forgot me so easily."

"Dimentio..." Timpani whispers.

"I thought ye were dead!" O'Chunks shouts, squaring his fists. "Well, either way, lemme send ye back to the grave where you belong!"

Dimentio chuckles. "Such a warm welcome from all of my...friends."

"Dimentio!" Blumiere shouts, "I can't believe you would show your face here, not with all of us here. We've defeated you before, and we shall do it again."

"Ah hah hah hah...you all amuse me your antics. Well, I'm not here for a battle. In fact, I've merely come to take what is rightfully mine."

Without warning, Dimentio swoops down in front of Mendax, ripping the book out of his hands. 

"No!" Mendax cries, "Do you even know what you're doing?"

All of them leap forward, trying to get back the book. There's a ripping sound, and a single page flutters free. Dimentio, on the other hand, floats away unscathed. "I see my plan has hit a few snags, much like a lead performer getting sick before a play! Well, I happen to have a substitute actor waiting in the wings. Ciao!"

With that, Dimentio disappears, along with the terrible weather. 

"This isn't good! This is the opposite of good!" Mendax cries, clutching the paper to his chest. 

"Wait, what?" Nastasia asks, pushing up her glasses.

All the others gasp.

Blumiere, adjusting his monocle, asks Mendax, "What's going on? Why did Dimentio steal that book?"

Mendax whimpers. "Well, um...this book has a spell...with every sentence spoken from each page, the user gains more power...eventually giving them enough power to destroy the universe."

"Wait, what?"

"How is that possible?!"

"Ye gotta be joking!"

Mendax shrugs, looking miserably at the ground. "I honestly don't know...but I do know that if Dimentio gets his hands on the final page, he'll be unstoppable. But...it's likely that Dimentio isn't going to keep the book for himself- other, more powerful beings can sense the book."

"So what would he have done with it?" Timpani asks, brow furrowing. 

"Well...there are only specific spaces where the pages can be hidden- the Eight Temples. Dimentio probably sent each page to a different temple."

"That sounds a wee bit complicated," O'Chunks says, scratching his beard. "Wouldn't it make more sense for him to take the final page from you?"

"I don't know!" Mendax shrieks. "I just don't know! Nothing makes sense!"

Timpani pats him on his white and grey hat. "It's going to be okay, we just need to figure out what to do next. All we need to do now is to stay calm, and-"

Another toad runs up to them in panic. "Mario! T-the castle! It's-it's gone!"

Chapter Text

Mushroom Kingdom

Peach's Castle

5:06 PM

When they rush over to where Princess Peach's castle should be, they discover, to their horror, that said castle has simply...vanished. Right where the castle used to be is a grassy field filled with flowers; it's like the castle was never there in the first place. Scattered around the field, are various groups of not just toads, but Bowser's troops as well. Most are ignoring the other side, but a few toads are talking with a small group of goombas.  

"What the-" Blumiere starts, before being interrupted by the panicking toad.

"B-Bowser w-was invading the castle! W-we tried to fight him off, but h-he made is w-way in! We were trying to fight off his minions, but then a s-stranger appeared out of n-nowhere! He s-snapped his fingers, a-and the castle vanished!" 

The toad bursts into tears. 

A parakoopa flutters up to the hill. "We've decided to have a truce for now, seeing as...well, we don't have any castles to invade." Turning to the sobbing toad, he pats him awkwardly on the back. "Toadley, it's...going to be okay. I mean, the red plumber's here..."

"B-but Princess Peach! And the green guy! And that other person who was visiting the princess! A-and all the toads in the castle! They're g-g-gone!"

"Mimi!" O'Chunks shouts.

"No," Timpani and Nastasia gasp in unison.

"Luigi!"

"No doubt Dimentio's doing," Blumiere growls. "I should have known."

"We need someone to get everyone together," the parakoopa says in a serious voice. "At some point, there's going to be mass hysteria if things don't get under control. We need someone who's good at organizing the masses."

Nastasia steps forwards. "I have experience with corralling minions. I can keep everyone under control."

The parakoopa eyes her dubiously. "We also need someone who looks strong enough that everyone won't get too...panicked."

Then, O'Chunks steps up. "I can help ye out as well! Me and Nastasia can keep things together, alright?"

The parakoopa sighs in relief. "Great. C'mon you guys."

The parakoopa, along with Toadley, lead Nastasia and O'Chunks down the hill.

"B-but!" Mendax stutters, "We need e-everyone!"

"Alright," Blumiere says, turning toward the toad, "we will need you to explain what we need to do next, and why we need everyone."

"W-we gotta find all the pages!" Mendax stammers. "Once we get all the pages together, we can destroy the book for good."

"Why don't we destroy the page we have right now?" Timpani questions, and Mario and Blumiere nod in agreement.

Mendax hurriedly shakes his head. "T-take a look at the page! It's where the first temple is! If we destroy the page, we won't be able to find where the next page is hidden." 

Timpani sighs, shaking her head. "Of course it has to be this complicated."

"Well," Blumiere says, "we don't want the town to fall apart. And I doubt anyone else here will want to help. So, I suppose it's just the four of us."

Mendax shrugs. "Then again, we have Mario on our side. I suppose that will be enough."

"Well, where's the first place we have to go?" Timpani asks. 

Mendax studies the paper. "It's at...Sugarland Town."

"Does anyone know where that is?" Blumiere asks, brows furrowed.

All of them look at each other.

"...I'll go get a map," Timpani says after a long pause.

Mushroom Kingdom

Princess Peach's Castle

4:45 PM

"...and that's when I realized I wasn't cut out for becoming a hair stylist," Mimi concludes.

Peach, daintily shoveling a handful of tortilla chips into her mouth, nods.

CRASH! BANG! CRASH! BANG!

"...What's that?" Mimi says, tilting his head to the side.

"Princess Peach! It's me again!"

Princess Peach groans. "Not again."

"Is that the scaly guy? Mowser?"

"Bowser," Princess Peach corrects. "Luckily, I had a feeling I'd be kidnapped today, so I sent a letter to Mario and Luigi earlier this afternoon."

Both of them look out the window. 

Sure enough, the castle is surrounded by Bowser's goons. Her brave toad guards are fighting them off as best they can, but...

"I have to help them," Peach says firmly. Grabbing the nearest weapon-like object, which turns out to be her parasol, she stands up. "C'mon, we can fight them off."

"Are you crazy?" Mimi asks, eyes as wide as saucers, "You're the princess. Look, I'm going down. Stay here."

CRASH!

"He broke the front doors down!" Peach gasps. "Look, at this point, I might as well face him head-on."

Mimi rolls her eyes. "Okay, but lemme shift first."

Within a couple seconds, Mimi transforms into her spider-like form. 

"Doesn't that hurt you?"

"Nah. I just have to break my neck a little. Anyway, let's go!"

"I'm right behind you."

"Princess!" Bowser bellows, "Come on out! I know you've been missing me!"

"He's in the main entrance," Peach whispers, as they head down the flight of stairs, "if we cut him off before..."

"Hey, there you are!" Bowser shouts happily. 

His smile drops, though, upon seeing Mimi. "Wait...isn't that..."

"Mimimimimimimi!" Mimi shrieks, launching herself towards him. 

Mushroom Kingdom

Mario and Luigi's House

4:35 PM

"Whew," Luigi sighs, dropping the grocery bags on the front stoop, "That one toad lady had a mean right hook."

Good thing he'd ducked in time.

"Hang on, what's this?" Luigi mutters to himself, picking up a pink envelop that had been left on the mat. "I think it's from the princess..."

Dear Mario and Luigi,

I have good reason to believe Bowser may attempt to kidnap me again. If possible, could you please come visit? If Bowser does not show up, we can have tea together. 

Love,

Princess Peach

"Better head on over, the princess might be in trouble!"

Luigi then looks down at the bags sitting by his feet. "...After I put the groceries away, first."

Mushroom Kingdom

Toad Town

5:15 PM

"Alright, it seems like there's a warp pipe leading straight to Sugarland Town," Timpani reads. "But...the warp pipe is at least a day's journey away."

"Oh no!" Mendax gasps, burying his face in his hands. "Dimentio might attack us at any moment!"

"Hang on, I know a shortcut. Follow me."

To their surprise, Mario leads them further into town. He seems confident, so none of them question him. Eventually, Mario stops at an ordinary looking house. Going up, he rings the doorbell.

"Eh? Who's there?!" An elderly voice shouts. "I may be old, but I also have ninja fighting skills! Wait...is this Mario? Knock three times if you're Mario."

Mario knocks three times on the door.

The door creaks open, revealing an older looking lakitu with large grey eyebrows and a grey mustache to match. "It's nice to see you again, Mario. Come in, come in."

All of them troop behind the old lakitu down his hallway into a small living room.

"Alright," the lakitu says, leaning heavily on his cane, "what do you need me for?"

"We need you to create some of your clouds for all of us."

"Eh? Why do you need to do that?"

"It's a long story."

Mendax groans. "It's an emergency! The world's about end!"

"Quiet, youngster! Mario here is gonna explain why he needs to borrow some of my precious clouds."

One Lengthy Explanation Later...

"Hmm...well, I'd be glad to help you out-"

"Whew," Timpani breathes.

"-provided you bring me dinner first."

"Dinner?" Blumiere says in confusion.

"Dinner?!" Mendax cries, "Seriously, old man, are you going to help us or not?!"

The lakitu thumps Mendax on the head with his cane.

"Ow!"

"First of all, my name's Tuki. Secondly, creating clouds takes a lot of energy, and I'm not as young as I used to be."

Mendax turns to Mario. "Do we really need this guy's help?"

Mario nods. 

"Ugh, fine. We'll get your stupid lunch."

Tuki scribbles something on a notepad. "Here's my list. Get everything on it, and I'll be able to help you."

*A freshly picked apple.

*A glass of homemade cider.

*A bowl of chocolate ice cream.

*Three mushrooms.

*All of these MUST be from the marketplace. No exceptions.

"Alright," Blumiere says wearily, "we will fetch you these items."

"Great! Now, I'll need all of these before sundown. Got it?"

Mendax groans. "Got it."

Mushroom Kingdom

Princess Peach's Castle

4:45 PM

"Ow!" Bowser whines as Mimi begins slapping him on the head with her multiple, spidery legs. "Don't disrespect the Koopa King! Ow!" 

Reaching out, he swipes at her, knocking off one of her legs.

"You jerk!" Mimi cries. 

"Princess!" 

Bowser looks up in surprise. "Is that...the green guy?"

"That's right!" Luigi says proudly, leaping into the room. 

Upon seeing the scene, Luigi stops. "Uh..."

Bowser and Mimi have resorted to just slapping each other on the face.

"Ow!"

"Ow!"

"Ow!"

That's when it happens. Everything

s

h

u

d

d

e

r

s

and then-

Darkness.

Chapter Text

Mushroom Kingdom

Tuki's House

5:46 PM

"Thanks for the help," Tuki says gratefully. "Now, I'll fulfill my end of the bargain." Getting up, the old lakitu heads to a door on the other side of the room. It's a closet, with a rather large back inside. Tuki opens the bag a little, and pulls out five glass bottles with a tiny cloud in the center. "When you open this bottle, your cloud will come out."

"Y-you mean, you had the clouds in the closet the whole time?! Why didn't you-" 

Blumiere grabs Mendax by the hat, stopping the toad mid-rant. 

"Thank you," Timpani says politely, all the while gritting her teeth in annoyance.

"These clouds are strong enough to last...about a day or so. After that, they poof! Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go have my dinner."

Outside, Mendax groans, "I can't believe we wasted all that time on that old coot!"

"Now," Blumiere chides, "we have the clouds, and now we can head off."

Mendax sighs. "I know I've been shouting a lot, and I'm sorry. I'm just really...scared."

"Don't worry," Timpani says soothingly, "we've beaten Dimentio before. How hard can it be to defeat him again?"

After saying the last sentence, Timpani pulls a face. "I really hope I didn't jinx us by saying that."

???

Princess Peach's Castle

5:15 PM

"Luigi, are you alright?"

"Green dude! I don't have all day! Hurry up!"

"He kind of looks like he's dead...should I poke him with a stick or something?"

"Owwww..." Luigi groans, pulling himself up off the ground. "What happened?"

He's standing in the main entrance of the castle, with Princess Peach and Mimi a few feet away. By the staircase is..."You!" Luigi accuses, "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Bowser grumbles. "I mean, sure I tried to kidnap Princess Peach and stuff, but I didn't send the castle into a dark void!"

"Wait, what?" Luigi gasps, running to the main doorway. 

"Luigi! Don't get too close!"

Darkness.

There's just...darkness. 

He leaps backwards, pinwheeling his arms in an attempt not to fall over. "W-what happened?" 

Just looking outside is making him nervous, so Luigi takes several large strides across the room, away from...wherever they've just ended up . 

Mimi, no longer in her nightmarish form, rolls her eyes. "Obviously the castle got transported, dummy."

Bowser snorts.

Princess Peach swats Mimi on the arm.

"Ow!"

"It's rude to call people dummies, Mimi."

"Well," Bowser begins, waggling his eyebrows at Princess Peach, "since we're trapped her for the unforeseeable future, why don't we go on that honeymoon we never had?"

"That marriage was a scam, Bowser, and you know it."

Mimi groans. "Nastasia going to kill me for being late..."

"What if something bad happened to everyone else?" Luigi worries. "Maybe we're the only ones still alive!"

"You know," Mimi says thoughtfully, peering out a nearby window, "it kind of looks like Countie's old dimension! Except... this place is a lot darker."

Bowser huffs. "This is boring! I'm going to go find something to eat. See you later, wimps!"

With that, he stomps away downstairs.

All of them watch as he leaves.

"Actually, I'm pretty hungry, too," Mimi admits. "Do you have any cake?"

"There's some leftovers in the fridge, but you better hurry before Bowser finds them."

Mimi curses under her breath, before rushing downstairs.

Mushroom Kingdom

Toad Town

5:30 PM

"So, like, you probably should just go home, 'K? Don't worry, the situation is being handled by our team of experts." 

The toads and various minions look only half-convinced. "What if that guy comes back?" the toad from the Smoothie Shack asks.

"Don't ye worry about that!" O'Clunks brags, posing a little. "He'd hafta get through me first!"

This opens up a floodgate of questions.

"Are you sure you're strong enough?"

"Where's Mario?"

"Did that creep take away the castle, too?"

"Why is the castle missing?"

"Is Princess Peach alright?"

"Just go home, 'K?" Nastasia begs. "Don't worry, we have it under control."

"I live in the castle!" 

"So do I!"

"Me too!"

None of Bowser's minions seem interested in leaving, either.

"King Bowser's in trouble!"

"He still needs backup!"

"I'm hungry!"

"My head hurts!"

"We need to hold down the fort!"

"You just want to trick us into retreating!"

Ugh, Nastasia mentally groans. I wish I'd gone with the others. Anything would be better than...this.