Chapter Text
Princess Peach had been kidnapped by Bowser, again. Mario and Luigi had traveled to another town for a plumbing job when it happened, so when they returned, Toad Town was in a state of panic.
Though there was luckily much less damage than normal. That was a definite silver lining to the whole thing. Once the Princess was rescued and back home, they would all be able to get back to their normal lives much quicker.
But time on the rescue front had already been lost due to the Mario brother’s absence from the area, and Bowser had a bit of a habit of trying to rush a forced marriage with the Princess. Peach would never actually agree to it, but it was always easier for her if her actual boyfriend, Mario, crashed it with a Peach-approved objection.
So, as soon as they heard the news, they rushed by their modest shared home, dropped off their plumbing equipment, and grabbed their emergency adventuring bags. Setting off for the Dark Lands.
Mario took the lead, having made the trip to Bowser’s castle countless times before. The path was a well worn one he could follow in his sleep. He knew exactly where he would need to leap to avoid a stream of lava, where to curve to avoid areas where piranha plants tended to sprout, and where to up his stealth to avoid citizens spotting him. Luigi didn’t join him often on saving the Princess, so he always just trusted the older brother’s lead.
Either way, it was rare when Mario came up against something new or unexpected on his way to save Peach. So when a thick black wisp of smoke suddenly swirled in front of him, Mario skid to a stop and reached out to steady his brother.
The smoke twisted and grew thicker until it formed a vaguely human-like figure. Glowing yellow eyes blinking open. “Ah, the hero in red.” an echo-y voice spoke, sending a chill down Mario’s spine. He stooped into a fighting-ready stance. “Good instincts.” it spoke again before shooting balls of smoky shadows at him. Mario jumped back out of the way as Luigi jumped to the side and landed in his own fighting stance.
“Luigi, go on ahead! I’ll catch up!” Mario called out. It was clear the smoke-shadow-thing was targeting him as more balls were shot out at him while Luigi was ignored now that they weren’t right next to each other.
“But—”
“We’re already running later than usual, and I’m not sure how long this will take. Peach will understand if you show up without me. You got this. I know you do, bro!”
Luigi nodded, “Be careful.” he said before hurrying towards the castle once again.
With his younger brother off to keep the plan to rescue the Princess, Mario was able to focus fully on his unfamiliar opponent. First things, first. He needed to figure out what kind of attacks worked best…
He worked his way through the selection of power ups he had with him, growing frustrated as nothing seemed to phase the thing. And the longer they fought, the more it took shape. Its body growing more defined and solid-looking. Its movements seemed to start to mimic his own, mirroring any ranged attacks with its own balls of shadow-smoke.
Finally, he managed to dart in close to attempt to punch it directly. Yellow eyes flashed blue, and then he was blinded by a bright light before everything went black.
Mario awoke with a groan, his cheek pressed uncomfortably against the hard, ash-covered ground of the Dark Lands. Pushing himself into a sitting position, he looked around. There was no sign of his shadowy opponent.
He got to his feet and dusted himself off a bit before looking up at the sky. He didn’t think too much time had passed. It was a little darker than it had been before, but not by much. Luigi was likely still working on rescuing the Princess, so Mario turned to continue on towards the castle.
It didn’t take him long to arrive. Really, they had been getting so close when they had been interrupted. He slowed down as he approached, trying to stay undetected as he assessed the situation.
There was definitely some sort of event happening at Bowser’’s castle. Koopas were cheerful as they went about their work, dealing with deliveries and directing things to where they needed to go. Mario took advantage of the busy koopas and slipped into a backdoor that was left wide open so that deliveries could be brought inside as they arrived. He ducked out of sight every time he heard a koopa approaching from any direction, until he was able to split away from the heavily trafficked area.
It was evening, but it was clear things were being set up. So the wedding hadn’t started yet. He wasn’t too late.
Luigi was likely already there somewhere. His much gentler brother wasn’t a fan of fighting and conflict, so Mario thought it was safe to assume he had realized the wedding was still being put together and was sneaking around, trying to find where Peach was being held to try and sneak her out without having to face Bowser at all. Mario could take Luigi’s lead on this and support his way of rescuing the Princess. So he kept hidden as best he could as he moved, hoping to find his brother and Peach first, but if he ran into Bowser first, well, he’d provide a distraction to draw all attention to himself and give Luigi a better chance at getting Peach out safe.
After moving through the castle for a while undetected, he came to a long hall that had a lack of good hiding places. He had no choice but to hurry down it and hope that no one would see him. He stood there, listening hard until he was sure that no one was approaching before taking a deep breath and making a sprint for it.
As he was passing by a door, it swung inward and someone stepped out. The timing making it unavoidable for Mario to react as he slammed into them, causing them both to fall.
“Ow.”
“Sorry.” Mario muttered automatically before he registered the voice. “Luigi!”
Luigi’s eyes snapped open in a look of alarm. “Mario!” he didn’t sound happy. But then again, Mario did just take him out and landed on top of him quite hard. Mario supposed Luigi was entitled to being annoyed by that.
“Sorry, sorry, here, let me—why are you dressed like that?”
Luigi was no longer in his usual outfit. His green turtleneck was replaced by a fancy green button up layered with a black waistcoat with little flowers stitched into it and golden buttons lining the front. His overalls had been swapped out with a pair of black dress pants. His shoes were shiny and black, and upon his head, instead of his usual hate, sat a circlet of gold.
But before he’d gotten his full question out, Luigi was shoving Mario away and scrambling to his feet, backing away from him, “Guards!”
“Weegee, what?” He looked back the way he had come and saw the shadows of koopa guards getting closer. Oh. Luigi had noticed them first. That made sense. “Don’t worry, come on!” he grabbed his brother’s arm, who yelped in surprise, and yanked him into the room Luigi had just stepped out of, slamming the door shot and locking it. They could always climb out the window if the guards didn’t run past.
They were in what seemed to be someone’s personal rooms. A comfortable sitting area sat near a fireplace—though Mario used the term lightly. It looked like a stone fireplace, but instead of wood for a fire sitting in it, there was a slow trickle of lava falling down the back of it, giving the room a constant and pleasant source of heat. To one side was a door to what looked like a bathroom from what little Mario could tell, and there was a wardrobe, bed, and bookshelf. The room was decorated in rich green shades. On the opposite side of the room where the bathroom was located was a set of double doors that were open wide, leading to what appeared to be a second bedroom with a bed large enough for a monster.
Luigi was already disappearing through that adjoining door, moving in a strange, limping run.
“Lu, wait!” Mario hissed, chasing after his brother.
Luigi was at a door on the same side as the entrance to the green room, which meant that it went out into the same hallway. His hand turned the handle, and before Mario could stop him, he pulled the door open and rushed out.
“Lu!” Mario ran after him, only to skid to a stop when koopa guards all cut him off. They surrounded him and grabbed his arms. Someone removing his bag of power-ups from him. He grunted and struggled against them as ropes were thrown over him and pulled tight.
“Lu!” Mario looked past the koopas at his brother.
“Take him to the dungeon. I’ll inform Bowser of this new development.” Luigi said, and the koopas all gave little bows before moving to drag Mario towards the dungeons.
“Wait—Luigi, what’s going—what are you—wait!”
Luigi left in the opposite direction, disappearing around the corner.
Confused as to what was going on with his brother, Mario found himself being dragged down into the dungeons and locked in a cell.
To be continued…