Categories > Games > Mario > Complications
Chapter 11
0 ReviewsComplications, Chapter 11. Bowser x Peach.
Complications
Chapter Eleven
"Hey!" Peach turned around quickly. Spirits seemed to have a knack for sneaking up on her. Rainbow stood there, looking bored. She played with her hair a little, twisting a yellow strand around her finger. "What are you looking at?"
Maybe if Peach showed Rainbow how important it was for her to return to her world, the spirit would help the princess find her way home. "I was looking at Bowser, reflected in the water of this barrel. Why don't you come take a look? I'm sure you'll understand why I need to go home."
Rainbow approached the barrel. "I can't see inside. I'm just a kid, you know, I'm still small."
"I'll help you." Peach had been told that Rainbow wasn't a child, but since that was her preferred form, the princess would play along.
With an innocent smile but a mischievous look in her eyes, Rainbow motioned for Peach to come closer. When the princess bent over to the koopaling's eye level, Rainbow jumped on her back. "Stay still if you want me to look inside the barrel!"
"This isn't very nice!" Honestly, didn't anyone teach this child who wasn't even supposed to be a child any manners?
"You need my help, so don't complain." Clearly, Rainbow still disliked Peach. With one foot on Peach's back and the other on her head, Rainbow looked inside the barrel. "The sleeping human girl is you, so who's that koopa?"
"Bowser, and could you please move your foot off my head?" Peach tried to be as polite as possible, hoping that her kind words would get to Rainbow and she would behave. No such luck, as Peach only received a small kick in response.
"I don't like this." Rainbow jumped off Peach's back. "I don't like it. Why did you show me that? I don't want to watch."
"Rainbow, please tell me how I can help you. I was told you had to finish something that you started when you were in my world." Peach tried to be patient and supportive.
"I don't remember such things," Rainbow didn't like talking about the past; she didn't remember and she didn't want to. If those memories were not with her, then she didn't need them. She had heard from Denial how sad goodbyes could be. Rainbow lived her short life as a mortal already. She didn't remember it, but she knew she couldn't try again. It was over. "I died, everything dies."
"Please try to remember, I want to help you. I can go back and see to it that your unfinished business is taken care of." Peach knew that Rainbow must have left friends behind when her time as a mortal came to an end. It must be hard to watch the world where her friends are and not be able to join it.
Rainbow shook her head. "I'm not being nice to you. Why do you still offer to help?"
"Because I want to," Peach's reply came as a surprise to Rainbow. It was too simple.
"Just because you want to? Do you like helping people that much? Why?" Rainbow looked puzzled.
"It feels good," it was the way Peach had been raised all her life, and she truly felt that she should try to make things better if she was given the chance.
"I can't remember. I know there's something that needs to be done, but I can't remember what it is. That image, there's something about it. I used to watch him but lately I don't anymore. It's been years since I've summoned his image, but there are others I watch often. The seven children, there's actually eight but that eighth one is... well… you'll have to find out for yourself. Anyway, those first seven, there's something about them that catches my attention..." Rainbow wasn't sure why she was telling Peach all of this, but it felt like something she needed to do.
"Bowser's children were in the castle in Darkland." Peach looked at the water in the barrel once again, and concentrated on that location.
This time, Rainbow jumped and held on to the edge of the barrel to look inside. "The koopalings have fought the plumbers before, but I can't say I like it. Go stop them. After you go back to your body in Iceland, you have to stop those fights from happening again, or least make them happen less often."
"I will try my best," Peach didn't like all that fighting either, and it made her feel terrible to think she was the cause, or at least part of the cause.
"Make sure they're alright, those kids... promise me that you'll take care of them. That's all that I want in exchange for the rainbow bridge." Rainbow sounded sad, yet at the same time relieved.
"I promise," It was a promise Peach intended to keep. She never made a promise unless she knew she would try her best to keep it.
"Fine then; go say goodbye to her and meet me at the entrance to the Sky Maze." Rainbow ran away and disappeared between the vines that formed the Sky Maze, leaving Peach to wonder what she meant by saying goodbye to 'her'.
Peach felt a presence approaching, a familiar presence she had not felt in years. She looked towards the sound of the footsteps and her wide eyes began to water...
xoxox xox xoxox
Bowser thought he saw something, Peach appearing surrounded by rainbow lights, but it must have been a dream, because Peach was still unconscious. Bowser watched his princess; if she didn't wake up he didn't know what he would do. Lavanda was already a stone statue, a statue that he planned to smash and melt the pieces later, but for now he wanted to stay with Peach.
xoxox xox xoxox
Kamek looked over the damage that had been left after the battle. After searching the Darkland castle high and low, the Mario brothers finally realized that Peach was in another castle. As usual, Mario caused most of the explosions and it would take a while to repair the damage, but Darkland was big and Bowser had many castles there and in most of the other lands. At least this time the castle wasn't blown up.
"How are they?" Kamek looked at Ludwig in silence for a moment. Ludwig knew the situation was serious, and he was very concerned about Peach and his father. The koopalings had put on quite fight against the Mario brothers. Bowser would have been proud, even if he probably wouldn't openly admit it.
"Bowser is very worried, and Peach..." There was a possibility that her spirit would never return to her body, there was a possibility that she had already passed on. But Kamek couldn't say it; he couldn't tell Ludwig anymore than what he told Bowser.
Ludwig understood; the situation was worse than ever. Peach had never been this seriously injured while she was kidnapped by Bowser before, and now she was on the verge of death, or already gone.
xoxox xox xoxox
When Peach woke up, she was in a guestroom in Iceland. Judging by the decorations and his constant image, this was Bowser's castle. Sure enough, the Koopa King was there, sleeping with his head resting on the side of her bed and the rest of his body on the floor. He was holding her hand; it was the same image that she saw from the spirit world. Peach clearly remembered everything that happened in the spirit world, for a moment she wondered if it was a dream, but it felt too real.
Careful not to wake Bowser, Peach slipped her hand out of his and got up. She was still feeling a little light headed, but was otherwise alright. She looked out the window for a moment and found a brightly colored rainbow displaying red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet across the skies, a truly amazing wonder. "I'll keep my promise, Rainbow..." Peach smiled.
Peach didn't feel ready to be walking around; the dizziness was catching up to her so she lied down again. Of course, she had no time to waste in starting to set things right. "Bowser... Bowser, wake up."
Bowser closed his eyes tightly. Peach only spoke to him lovingly in his dreams, and he didn't want to wake up. "Love you Peach..." Bowser muttered in his sleep.
"Bowser!" Peach called a little louder but still in a gentle tone until it finally worked.
"Peach? Peach, you're awake!" For Bowser, it felt as if everything in the world was right again because Peach was back, and that was all that mattered.
"I'm alright, just a little tired. Mario and Luigi are looking for me. I'm sure they already left Darkland and are on their way here, and I don't know what happened to Daisy. I need to call them." Bowser didn't like where the conversation was going, but that soon changed... "I need to know that Daisy made it back safely and I don't want Mario and Luigi to worry if I stay a little longer." It was something Peach decided, not only because she was still tired, but most of all because of what she saw.
"If it's to tell the pesky plumbers that you don't need any rescuing, then I'll get you a cell phone." Bowser would love to hear Peach tell Mario to get lost; she probably wouldn't say it, but that didn't stop him from wanting to hear it. "Kamek!"
Kamek had been teleporting back and forth between Darkland and Iceland. He left Kammy to keep an eye on the koopalings and oversee the repairs of the Darkland, and teleported to Iceland just a few minutes ago. He thought it was best not to bother Bowser, until he heard his roar calling. "Yes, your- Peach is awake?"
Bowser grinned at how Kamek's words played out. "My Peach needs a cell phone so she can tell Mario to leave her alone." That was obviously not what Peach had said, but it was how Bowser wanted to interpret it.
"Yes, right away." Kamek materialized a pink cell phone. Everyone knew how much Peach loved pink.
The cell phone floated towards Peach, who accepted it gratefully. "Thank you, Kamek."
"You are welcome, princess." Kamek replied. He noticed that Bowser was giving him a 'leave us alone' look and took the hint.
Luckily, Peach still remembered Mario's number even after being used to having her cell phone dial it automatically. She waited for Mario to answer while looking at Bowser's impatient expression. The call worked despite the distance, most likely because the cell phone was magical. However, Mario did not answer. Unknown to Peach, Mario's cell phone was still in his room back at the Mushroom Kingdom.
The call timed out and Peach tried to call again, Bowser become more impatient by the second. "I could just get rid of Mario when he gets here. It's his fault for not answering the phone. He's always getting in the way, that stupid plumber." If Peach was calling Bowser, he would answer the phone right away, not that she had ever called him before, but he would have an entire other line just for her; actually, he did.
"Bowser, please don't insult Mario, he's a very dear friend to me." Peach scolded Bowser, though he didn't seem as disappointed as she thought he would be. Then she realized what she said. 'Dear friend?' That didn't quite come out right. He was supposed to be her boyfriend, even if they didn't act like a couple all the time. Then why did she suddenly start to wonder where her relationship with Mario really stood? No, she shouldn't worry so much.
Peach took a deep breath and tried to call Luigi instead. From what Peach heard from Daisy, Luigi always had his cell phone. The only problem was that she didn't remember Luigi's number as clearly as she remembered Mario's, and it was hard to concentrate with Bowser leaning so close to her. Peach took a guess on Luigi's number and dialed.
"Hello, this is Luigi speaking!" A cheerful voice answered.
"Luigi? It's Peach..." Luigi sounded too cheerful for someone who had just come out of a fierce battle, and was on a journey with his brother to help save a damsel in distress.
"Let's see now, Peach... Peach... May I have your last name so it's easier to find you in the system, or are you a first time customer?" That high pitched, muffled voice, lacking any hint of an Italian accent, couldn't possibly be the Luigi Peach knew.
"I think I dialed the wrong number..." Peach scooted over to the side of her bed and tried to focus on remembering Luigi's number. Maybe her memory would work better if she wasn't so close to Bowser where she could feel his warm breaths. He was so... distracting.
Bowser took Peach's action as an invitation to sit next to her; which he gladly accepted. He sat down and wrapped his arms around her shoulders while 'Luigi' continued to speak to her over the phone.
"Oh no ma'am, you couldn't have possibly dialed the wrong number. Shy Luigi's Pizza is by far the best pizzeria in all of Skyland, and we deliver!" Judging by the muffled sounds, possibly because of a mask, and the name of the restaurant, Peach knew this Luigi was a Shy Guy. "Let me tell you about our special offer, if you buy two large pizzas you get a small one free, all of them delivered hot to your door in thirty minutes or less! We also have a variety of toppings to choose, from the classic pepperoni, to the popular mushrooms and even cheep-cheep!"
Peach was not listening to Shy Luigi's speech about pizza toppings, even if she was certain Mario would find it fascinating. The princess was currently busy slipping out of Bowser's embrace and scooting further to the side of the bed, but even if the bed was big, it was not infinite and she was running out of room.
The door suddenly burst open to reveal the eight Koopalings, who had been transported to Iceland by Kamek's magic, and specifically instructed not to bother their father and Peach, but that only made them run towards Peach's guestroom faster.
"Mama Peach! King dad! Are you both taking a nap? I'm tired; can I take a nap with you?" Junior looked tired but happy to see both his 'parents'. He would have jumped into bed with them if not because his older brother stopped him.
"Junior, I am sure King Dad and Mama Peach are exhausted, we let them rest alone." Ludwig pulled Junior out of the room even if he was clearly unwilling to leave. At least most his other siblings didn't protest too much before leaving, and the door was once again closed.
Peach stared at the closed door for a few moments and allowed the recent events sink in. Why did she notice a hint of embarrassment in Ludwig's face, and why did that detail bother her so much? Then she thought of all the possible explanations that a teenager could come up with for the current situation, and Bowser's arms around her became that much more obvious. Without a word, Peach got out of bed and quietly sat on a comfortable chair, the red plush material matching her face.
To be Continued
Disclaimer, I don't own the Mario games or characters, I'm sure that by now you know what would happen if I did. Many thanks to Razzi for beta reading and advice.
Chapter Eleven
"Hey!" Peach turned around quickly. Spirits seemed to have a knack for sneaking up on her. Rainbow stood there, looking bored. She played with her hair a little, twisting a yellow strand around her finger. "What are you looking at?"
Maybe if Peach showed Rainbow how important it was for her to return to her world, the spirit would help the princess find her way home. "I was looking at Bowser, reflected in the water of this barrel. Why don't you come take a look? I'm sure you'll understand why I need to go home."
Rainbow approached the barrel. "I can't see inside. I'm just a kid, you know, I'm still small."
"I'll help you." Peach had been told that Rainbow wasn't a child, but since that was her preferred form, the princess would play along.
With an innocent smile but a mischievous look in her eyes, Rainbow motioned for Peach to come closer. When the princess bent over to the koopaling's eye level, Rainbow jumped on her back. "Stay still if you want me to look inside the barrel!"
"This isn't very nice!" Honestly, didn't anyone teach this child who wasn't even supposed to be a child any manners?
"You need my help, so don't complain." Clearly, Rainbow still disliked Peach. With one foot on Peach's back and the other on her head, Rainbow looked inside the barrel. "The sleeping human girl is you, so who's that koopa?"
"Bowser, and could you please move your foot off my head?" Peach tried to be as polite as possible, hoping that her kind words would get to Rainbow and she would behave. No such luck, as Peach only received a small kick in response.
"I don't like this." Rainbow jumped off Peach's back. "I don't like it. Why did you show me that? I don't want to watch."
"Rainbow, please tell me how I can help you. I was told you had to finish something that you started when you were in my world." Peach tried to be patient and supportive.
"I don't remember such things," Rainbow didn't like talking about the past; she didn't remember and she didn't want to. If those memories were not with her, then she didn't need them. She had heard from Denial how sad goodbyes could be. Rainbow lived her short life as a mortal already. She didn't remember it, but she knew she couldn't try again. It was over. "I died, everything dies."
"Please try to remember, I want to help you. I can go back and see to it that your unfinished business is taken care of." Peach knew that Rainbow must have left friends behind when her time as a mortal came to an end. It must be hard to watch the world where her friends are and not be able to join it.
Rainbow shook her head. "I'm not being nice to you. Why do you still offer to help?"
"Because I want to," Peach's reply came as a surprise to Rainbow. It was too simple.
"Just because you want to? Do you like helping people that much? Why?" Rainbow looked puzzled.
"It feels good," it was the way Peach had been raised all her life, and she truly felt that she should try to make things better if she was given the chance.
"I can't remember. I know there's something that needs to be done, but I can't remember what it is. That image, there's something about it. I used to watch him but lately I don't anymore. It's been years since I've summoned his image, but there are others I watch often. The seven children, there's actually eight but that eighth one is... well… you'll have to find out for yourself. Anyway, those first seven, there's something about them that catches my attention..." Rainbow wasn't sure why she was telling Peach all of this, but it felt like something she needed to do.
"Bowser's children were in the castle in Darkland." Peach looked at the water in the barrel once again, and concentrated on that location.
This time, Rainbow jumped and held on to the edge of the barrel to look inside. "The koopalings have fought the plumbers before, but I can't say I like it. Go stop them. After you go back to your body in Iceland, you have to stop those fights from happening again, or least make them happen less often."
"I will try my best," Peach didn't like all that fighting either, and it made her feel terrible to think she was the cause, or at least part of the cause.
"Make sure they're alright, those kids... promise me that you'll take care of them. That's all that I want in exchange for the rainbow bridge." Rainbow sounded sad, yet at the same time relieved.
"I promise," It was a promise Peach intended to keep. She never made a promise unless she knew she would try her best to keep it.
"Fine then; go say goodbye to her and meet me at the entrance to the Sky Maze." Rainbow ran away and disappeared between the vines that formed the Sky Maze, leaving Peach to wonder what she meant by saying goodbye to 'her'.
Peach felt a presence approaching, a familiar presence she had not felt in years. She looked towards the sound of the footsteps and her wide eyes began to water...
xoxox xox xoxox
Bowser thought he saw something, Peach appearing surrounded by rainbow lights, but it must have been a dream, because Peach was still unconscious. Bowser watched his princess; if she didn't wake up he didn't know what he would do. Lavanda was already a stone statue, a statue that he planned to smash and melt the pieces later, but for now he wanted to stay with Peach.
xoxox xox xoxox
Kamek looked over the damage that had been left after the battle. After searching the Darkland castle high and low, the Mario brothers finally realized that Peach was in another castle. As usual, Mario caused most of the explosions and it would take a while to repair the damage, but Darkland was big and Bowser had many castles there and in most of the other lands. At least this time the castle wasn't blown up.
"How are they?" Kamek looked at Ludwig in silence for a moment. Ludwig knew the situation was serious, and he was very concerned about Peach and his father. The koopalings had put on quite fight against the Mario brothers. Bowser would have been proud, even if he probably wouldn't openly admit it.
"Bowser is very worried, and Peach..." There was a possibility that her spirit would never return to her body, there was a possibility that she had already passed on. But Kamek couldn't say it; he couldn't tell Ludwig anymore than what he told Bowser.
Ludwig understood; the situation was worse than ever. Peach had never been this seriously injured while she was kidnapped by Bowser before, and now she was on the verge of death, or already gone.
xoxox xox xoxox
When Peach woke up, she was in a guestroom in Iceland. Judging by the decorations and his constant image, this was Bowser's castle. Sure enough, the Koopa King was there, sleeping with his head resting on the side of her bed and the rest of his body on the floor. He was holding her hand; it was the same image that she saw from the spirit world. Peach clearly remembered everything that happened in the spirit world, for a moment she wondered if it was a dream, but it felt too real.
Careful not to wake Bowser, Peach slipped her hand out of his and got up. She was still feeling a little light headed, but was otherwise alright. She looked out the window for a moment and found a brightly colored rainbow displaying red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet across the skies, a truly amazing wonder. "I'll keep my promise, Rainbow..." Peach smiled.
Peach didn't feel ready to be walking around; the dizziness was catching up to her so she lied down again. Of course, she had no time to waste in starting to set things right. "Bowser... Bowser, wake up."
Bowser closed his eyes tightly. Peach only spoke to him lovingly in his dreams, and he didn't want to wake up. "Love you Peach..." Bowser muttered in his sleep.
"Bowser!" Peach called a little louder but still in a gentle tone until it finally worked.
"Peach? Peach, you're awake!" For Bowser, it felt as if everything in the world was right again because Peach was back, and that was all that mattered.
"I'm alright, just a little tired. Mario and Luigi are looking for me. I'm sure they already left Darkland and are on their way here, and I don't know what happened to Daisy. I need to call them." Bowser didn't like where the conversation was going, but that soon changed... "I need to know that Daisy made it back safely and I don't want Mario and Luigi to worry if I stay a little longer." It was something Peach decided, not only because she was still tired, but most of all because of what she saw.
"If it's to tell the pesky plumbers that you don't need any rescuing, then I'll get you a cell phone." Bowser would love to hear Peach tell Mario to get lost; she probably wouldn't say it, but that didn't stop him from wanting to hear it. "Kamek!"
Kamek had been teleporting back and forth between Darkland and Iceland. He left Kammy to keep an eye on the koopalings and oversee the repairs of the Darkland, and teleported to Iceland just a few minutes ago. He thought it was best not to bother Bowser, until he heard his roar calling. "Yes, your- Peach is awake?"
Bowser grinned at how Kamek's words played out. "My Peach needs a cell phone so she can tell Mario to leave her alone." That was obviously not what Peach had said, but it was how Bowser wanted to interpret it.
"Yes, right away." Kamek materialized a pink cell phone. Everyone knew how much Peach loved pink.
The cell phone floated towards Peach, who accepted it gratefully. "Thank you, Kamek."
"You are welcome, princess." Kamek replied. He noticed that Bowser was giving him a 'leave us alone' look and took the hint.
Luckily, Peach still remembered Mario's number even after being used to having her cell phone dial it automatically. She waited for Mario to answer while looking at Bowser's impatient expression. The call worked despite the distance, most likely because the cell phone was magical. However, Mario did not answer. Unknown to Peach, Mario's cell phone was still in his room back at the Mushroom Kingdom.
The call timed out and Peach tried to call again, Bowser become more impatient by the second. "I could just get rid of Mario when he gets here. It's his fault for not answering the phone. He's always getting in the way, that stupid plumber." If Peach was calling Bowser, he would answer the phone right away, not that she had ever called him before, but he would have an entire other line just for her; actually, he did.
"Bowser, please don't insult Mario, he's a very dear friend to me." Peach scolded Bowser, though he didn't seem as disappointed as she thought he would be. Then she realized what she said. 'Dear friend?' That didn't quite come out right. He was supposed to be her boyfriend, even if they didn't act like a couple all the time. Then why did she suddenly start to wonder where her relationship with Mario really stood? No, she shouldn't worry so much.
Peach took a deep breath and tried to call Luigi instead. From what Peach heard from Daisy, Luigi always had his cell phone. The only problem was that she didn't remember Luigi's number as clearly as she remembered Mario's, and it was hard to concentrate with Bowser leaning so close to her. Peach took a guess on Luigi's number and dialed.
"Hello, this is Luigi speaking!" A cheerful voice answered.
"Luigi? It's Peach..." Luigi sounded too cheerful for someone who had just come out of a fierce battle, and was on a journey with his brother to help save a damsel in distress.
"Let's see now, Peach... Peach... May I have your last name so it's easier to find you in the system, or are you a first time customer?" That high pitched, muffled voice, lacking any hint of an Italian accent, couldn't possibly be the Luigi Peach knew.
"I think I dialed the wrong number..." Peach scooted over to the side of her bed and tried to focus on remembering Luigi's number. Maybe her memory would work better if she wasn't so close to Bowser where she could feel his warm breaths. He was so... distracting.
Bowser took Peach's action as an invitation to sit next to her; which he gladly accepted. He sat down and wrapped his arms around her shoulders while 'Luigi' continued to speak to her over the phone.
"Oh no ma'am, you couldn't have possibly dialed the wrong number. Shy Luigi's Pizza is by far the best pizzeria in all of Skyland, and we deliver!" Judging by the muffled sounds, possibly because of a mask, and the name of the restaurant, Peach knew this Luigi was a Shy Guy. "Let me tell you about our special offer, if you buy two large pizzas you get a small one free, all of them delivered hot to your door in thirty minutes or less! We also have a variety of toppings to choose, from the classic pepperoni, to the popular mushrooms and even cheep-cheep!"
Peach was not listening to Shy Luigi's speech about pizza toppings, even if she was certain Mario would find it fascinating. The princess was currently busy slipping out of Bowser's embrace and scooting further to the side of the bed, but even if the bed was big, it was not infinite and she was running out of room.
The door suddenly burst open to reveal the eight Koopalings, who had been transported to Iceland by Kamek's magic, and specifically instructed not to bother their father and Peach, but that only made them run towards Peach's guestroom faster.
"Mama Peach! King dad! Are you both taking a nap? I'm tired; can I take a nap with you?" Junior looked tired but happy to see both his 'parents'. He would have jumped into bed with them if not because his older brother stopped him.
"Junior, I am sure King Dad and Mama Peach are exhausted, we let them rest alone." Ludwig pulled Junior out of the room even if he was clearly unwilling to leave. At least most his other siblings didn't protest too much before leaving, and the door was once again closed.
Peach stared at the closed door for a few moments and allowed the recent events sink in. Why did she notice a hint of embarrassment in Ludwig's face, and why did that detail bother her so much? Then she thought of all the possible explanations that a teenager could come up with for the current situation, and Bowser's arms around her became that much more obvious. Without a word, Peach got out of bed and quietly sat on a comfortable chair, the red plush material matching her face.
To be Continued
Disclaimer, I don't own the Mario games or characters, I'm sure that by now you know what would happen if I did. Many thanks to Razzi for beta reading and advice.
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