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Today was going to be a wonderful day.
Mario was standing on the other side of the podium, smiling at you like he had never smiled before. His friends were sitting in the benches that was on top of the pale sand, watching with bated breath— some teary-eyed. Luigi, his best man, was standing off to the side while Peach was behind you, having walked you up to the podium moments before. It seemed like nothing could go wrong— even Bowser and his kids were there! How could something bad happen when Mario’s greatest enemy was right in the front row?
...Well, that’s what you had thought before you were kidnapped by some giant fucking gray bird guy.
Of all bad things to happen, that was the least expected. At worst, you’d thought that the ocean would steal a few benches or that your clothing would get ruined somehow, but no, no... You and Mario simply can’t have nice things. You just had to be kidnapped on your wedding day.
The bird guy— Avadon, the apparent destroyer of worlds, had you tied up on his back, saying something to the crowd of angry people. You really weren’t paying attention. You probably should be listening, but you really couldn’t care less about what he wanted. This was supposed to be your special day. And it was ruined. By some bird guy named Avadon.
What a world you live in.
Avadon cackled, pointing his orange beak down towards the crowd from where he hovered in the sky. “Oh, foolish plumber! You thought you were safe, didn’t you? That nobody would do anything on a typical day like this. Ohoho, how absolutely foolish!”
Even though you weren’t facing the crowd, you heard Mario’s voice as clear as day, saying something furiously in Italian. Something about... him wrapping his hands around Avadon’s throat and choking him. That made you smile.
The bird guy scoffed, flapping his large wings. “Says you, a man without wings! I’ll take your lover and show them what a true man looks like!”
...You blinked. “Wait, what?”
Bowser growled at that. “Hey!” He snapped, “That’s supposed to be my job, bird brain! Between them and Peach, I’m supposed to do all the kidnapping! Let them go or I’ll shoot you straight outta the sky!”
“Bowser!” Daisy grunted, “If you use your flames, you’ll hurt Mario’s partner too!”
“I don’t care! If it means getting them away from that stupid bird, then so be it! Peach’ll heal them!”
Avadon cackled. “You’ll shoot me out of the sky? How preposterous!” You felt the bird man tense, and— and a flurry of sharp feathers rained down at the crowd, causing a fight to begin.
Although you couldn’t see what everyone was doing, you heard Bowser take in a deep breath, and— Avadon quickly moved to the side, narrowly avoiding a gush of searing hot flames. You cringed, making a face at the heat prickling at your skin. You had to do something to get out of this, or else you were going to be taken away or get hurt on accident.
While Avadon dodged various attacks, you started to work on loosening the ropes wrapped around you. You supposed there was one good thing about him being a bird— he didn’t have hands that could tie you up well. The ropes weren’t too tight around you, and with steady work, you probably could get yourself free on your own.
Carefully— and while he was distracted, you shimmied out of the ropes before yelling out— “Catch me!” And falling off his back, causing him to squawk. He tried to grab at you, but it was too late.
...Though, you forgot one tiny detail that you hadn’t realized until you were falling— it was going to be pretty damn difficult for anyone to catch you since you were over the damn ocean.
A series of noises came from the crowd— you think you hear Bowser yell out something, and— and grunted loudly when you landed on some sort of wooden stick a few feet above the water, yellow scaly hands grasping your arms so you wouldn’t fall off.
It was Kamek. He had caught you on his broom.
You released a deep sigh of relief, putting your shaky hands on his arms. “O-Oh... Thank you.”
“Of course,” he said, examining you while his broom went back over to solid land. “Are you alright? Not injured, are you?”
“I-I think I’m okay,” you breathed, looking down at yourself before glancing back over to the commotion.
A section of Avadon’s wings had been burned off, likely due to Bowser’s fire. The bird man grunted, eyeing the crowd before narrowing his gaze towards Mario. “This won’t be the last time you see me! The next time I come around, all of you will perish, ya hear me?! Perish!”
Bowser rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, bird brains— get outta here before I burn ya some more!”
Avadon gave him a nasty sneer before flying off, leaving quickly.
A sigh escaped you when you didn’t see Avadon anymore, slowly and carefully stepping onto the sand with shaky legs. Mario was quick to go over to you, gently grasping your hands and asking if you were okay.
You offered him a weak smile. “Yeah, I’m alright. I wasn’t hurt at all, I don’t think.”
Relief sagged at his shoulders, giving you a loving expression before leaning in and smooching your lips.
You blinked in surprise but slowly closed your eyes, leaning into him as you pressed your lips back against his, not paying attention to anyone else as you deepened the kiss...
“...Bowser, quit staring,” Peach said with a huff, smacking his beefy arm with a hand.
“Sorry! Geez, I can’t help it!”
“......You’re still staring!!”
“I am not!” He said, steam hissing out of his mouth.
Peach eyed him. “I think you just want me to smack you— is that it?”
“Well, if you mean ‘smack’ me with your lips, then please, go right ahead, Princess.”
“You want me to smack you with my lips? I thought you’d rather have Luigi do that, Bowser—”
“Shut up!” He barked, ignoring how Luigi sputtered at what the Princess said from where he stood next to Junior.
She merely offered him a coy smile before moving towards Daisy.