Bowsette's Princess Lessons - Chapter 15: Through the Valley of the Shadow

 Bowsette’s Princess Lessons

Chapter XV: Through the Valley of the Shadow

[Art by nanaichi_drafting]

[Content warning: This chapter depicts a sequence of emotional and physical abuse.]

Parakarry the Parakoopa carried the unconscious body of Bombette, muttering to himself as he laid her down beside Admiral Bobbery and Luigi. “...Okay, bad news first…can’t go through the warp pipe, or I kill–”

He stiffened as a shiver traveled through his broken wing. “–kill my friends. Can’t fly, so I can’t save my friends either…”

He pressed his head close to Luigi’s chest, and heard a rasping, rattling breath. “They’re all breathing, thank God…but can’t risk moving Luigi, without healing him…” Parakarry peeped in his mailbag, knowing he’d find nothing but a few dried shrooms. “And can’t heal him magically…Good news? Let’s see, I guess Bowser retreated, so that gives Mario and the others a chance to–”

Parakarry heard the low, crackling hum of a bonfire, slowly building to the roar of an inferno. Searching the horizon, Parakarry spotted Bowser, coming in for a landing, with Peach squirming in his heavily-muscled, though feminine, arms. “Quit wriggling! I can’t stick the landing if you keep–d’oh!”

As Peach thrust her head back against Bowser’s jaw, they both crashed into the brick pathway above the warp zone, out of Parakarry’s line of sight.

Before he knew what he was doing, Parakarry ducked out of sight behind an orange warp pipe, then cursed himself. “Hide! ...No, what am I doing? I can’t just run and hide, I’ve got to fight him! …But I can’t fight him!” 

As he glimpsed his friends lying helpless by the wall, Parakarry repeated the words Mario had told him all those years ago: “You are not a coward Parakarry. Lie in wait, out of sight…wait for your enemy, then strike!”

Peach kicked as she lay across Bowser’s shoulder, in a furious, though futile, attempt to break free. She discovered that, even though Bowser lacked his true, monstrous bulk, he still had supernatural strength. He must have gotten his hands on a red mushroom, but when? “Bowser, put me down, right this instant!”

Bowser held up a dainty finger. “Nuh uh, I gotta get you out of this death trap of an obstacle course before you get hurt.” 

“And what about the others? You’re condemning them to death!”

“Eh, you worry too much. I’ve tossed Mario off a precipice or two in my day, and he never seems to stay dead….More’s the pit–eeeeee!”

Bowser squealed like a little girl as Parakarry dove for his feet. Unable to fly, Parakarry withdrew into his shell and shot forward like a regular Koopa. As Bowser skipped out of the way, the pinkie toe on his bare foot took the brunt of the attack. Bowser stiffened, then hopped on one foot, nursing his stubbed toe. “Gargh!”

As Parakarry bounced off the nearest pipe and ricocheted back for another attack, Bowser growled and readied himself in a crane stance. “No..you..don’t!”

Bowser delivered a one-legged jump kick, knocking out Parakarry mid-charge. It was just like that one scene in Bowser’s favorite movie: The Karate Kid, from which Bowser had learned many valuable life lessons about how to ruthlessly bully nerds with your superior fighting style.

Peach gasped as she saw Parakarry bounce lifelessly off the stone wall, then pummelled Bowser’s back with her balled fists. “No! …Ooh, shame, shame, shame on you, Bowser!”

“Whaddaya want? He attacked me! Look, I’m doing this for your own good, Peachie Pie! It’s tough love!” Bowser felt a strange, maternal urge to spank the Princess’s upturned bottom, but resisted the impulse. Now that they were together again, he couldn’t bear to think of his precious Peach in pain! 

As Peach flailed uselessly, she felt something clenched tight in her fist, and noticed she still had the red mushroom from before…the one Mario had offered her to save her life. If she ate it, she could gain super strength. She could fight Bowser! Or could she? 

Once, years ago, Bowser had kidnapped Mario and Luigi, after coming to the conclusion that, with the Super Mario Bros safely out of the way, it would be a simple matter to kidnap Peach later, at his convenience. Instead, Peach had set out on a delightful adventure of her own, with her trusty companion Perry the Parasol, who doubled as a weapon of opportunity. Back then, Peach had triumphed over Bowser…Why not fight Bowser again, right now?

Bowser leapt up onto the orange warp pipe, and hopped to dive in, feet first. Peach knew it was now or never…

But as she caught sight of her friends, Luigi, Bombette, and Admiral Bobbery, lying smashed and broken on the ground, and Parakarry just shy of losing consciousness, Peach made her decision. “Parakarry! Take my mushroom!” 

Parakarry groaned as he sat up, a crack in one of the glasses of his aviator cap, then caught the red mushroom, just as Bowser began to disappear down the warp pipe.

With a “WHUMP!” Bowser’s curvy buttocks stuck fast in the pipe. “Oh, by the Ox King’s fat, horny head! This had better not become a running gag!”

Holding the struggling Peach high above his head, Bowser twisted his hips, and with a “Pop!” he shot down the orange warp pipe, Peach crying as she was carried along with him.

His vision blurring, Parakarry examined the single mushroom, then looked at each of his friends, trying to guess how close each of them were to death. “It…will have to do…” Parakarry reached into his satchel and produced his emergency letter opener, then began to cut the red mushroom into four, uneven pieces. He was so exhausted, he had to eat the smallest piece himself, before crawling to Bombette, gently cradling her head/body in his arms, and feeding her the second piece. Parakarry felt a shiver as Bombette began to breathe softly. Sighing with relief, Parakarry held up Admiral Bobbery’s head, and fed him the second piece. Princess Peach had saved their lives...for now.

Parakarry heard a rumble, and as a tornado ripped through the brick wall that enclosed the warp zone, Parakarry could see the entirety of World 4-1, crumbling and falling away, the very stones shattering on the ground far below.

…

As Vivian tightened her grip on the strap of Mario’s overalls, she felt the shadow beneath her, calling to her. Above her, Vivian saw Mario holding with both hands onto one of Daisy’s hands. In her other hand, she held Gonzales Jr. and behind him, their entire group of friends was connected in one long chain as they all tumbled toward certain death: Toadette, Goombario, Goombella, Kooper, Koops, Koopie-Koo, Lady Bow, and Madame Flurrie. 

Vivian wondered if Ms. Mowz was already lost forever, and made her decision. In the face of certain death, she would risk passing through the shadow. “Mario! …Think of Luigi!”

As Mario turned to look at Vivian, he saw their own shadow below them, growing larger, expanding like the maw of a great beast to swallow them whole.

As the sky above them began to disappear, Gonzales Jr. whispered, his small voice echoing like thunder in the blackness. “No! N-not again! Not the dark–”  

And then there was only darkness.

Mario tensed. He’d never known Gonzales Jr. to show fear. Mario had hidden in his shadow with Vivian before, but there was something different now…it all felt…larger. Mario tried to call to Gonzales Jr., then Daisy, and heard nothing. As he felt a sinking feeling deep in his stomach, Mario had a strange sense that the blackness wasn’t simply the absence of light. There was something solid about the blackness. 

Then Mario felt two arms wrap around his chest from behind,and heard Vivian’s voice in his mind. “Everyone! Don’t try to speak! Just think of Luigi! No matter what happens, think of Luigi.”

Mario felt himself being dragged, and somehow, even though he could see nothing but blackness in every direction, he felt that there was no longer one great shadow, but thousands upon thousands of tiny shadows, all spiraling around him. And then, Mario finally understood: before now, Vivian had only ever hid him within his own shadow. But this was not just his shadow anymore. 

And then, even as he felt Daisy’s hand in his, his vision became distorted. It was as if Daisy and all his friends were falling farther and farther away from him…no, it was as if they were shrinking, while he was shrinking himself. But that couldn’t be! He could feel Daisy’s hands clutching his own, even as he saw her shrink into nothingness…

“We’re almost there! Think of Luigi!” cried Vivian. 

Mario closed his eyes, which made no difference to the blackness, but somehow helped him concentrate on his own hands. Daisy was here! His friends were here. And they were all going to see Luigi again.

Luigi’s silhouette appeared in Mario’s mind. All at once, he remembered every moment he had spent with Luigi in Little Italy, the walks back home to the apartment complex in Brooklyn.

Then, Luigi’s image shattered within his mind, and Mario felt something crack deep within his own chest.

…

In a dream, Luigi felt Bowser’s heel digging into his chest. He couldn’t stop Bowser. He had failed Mario. He had failed Daisy. Hazily, Luigi could make out Parakarry’s voice calling to him from far away, before Luigi slipped into a dreamless coma.

…

Vivian screamed. “No! What happened? Why is his shadow fading?” 

Mario felt Daisy’s hand gripping tighter to his.

And then, Mario heard a familiar voice in the shadow. But it was not Vivian’s. It was the voice of a very old woman, old, but not frail, calling his name. “Mario…”

A candle flame appeared, and Mario saw Vivian, towering over him like a monument in the infinite void. “Stay back, demon! Your reign has ended!”

The second voice took a slow, shuddering breath. “...Vivian…”

There was a ripple in the blackness, as if a curtain was being drawn across a silent waterfall of ink, and the Shadow Queen emerged, towering over Vivian. “...Did you think that if you brought me Mario, that I would lessen your punishment?”

Vivian twisted her hand, and her flame expanded, like a bud blooming into a flower. “I am not your slave any more, demon! Mario has shown me another way! A better way!”

The Shadow Queen’s silvery hair began to billow like ribbons, catching the light from Vivian’s flame. “And when a thousand years have passed…will Mario still be there, to save you from my wrath?”

Vivian’s flame stuttered, then rekindled, more weakly.

The Shadow Queen pressed closer, her small, graceful lips parting in a smile, which grew wider, and wider. “Give him to me, child. I will still punish you for your disobedience. I must punish you. But if you give him to me, I will forget your treason.”

Vivian shook her head, her fingers shivering as she concentrated on strengthening the flame. “I will never betray him!” 

As the Shadow Queen rocked her head back in a fit of silent laughter, her jaw seemed to unhinge, her pointed teeth like mountains. “Oh, foolish child…you already have betrayed him!”

Vivian’s flame was snuffed out, and where she once felt Mario in her grip, there was nothing.

Vivian fumbled in the darkness, shivering as she felt a sudden icy cold. 

Her eldest sister, Beldam appeared before her, scowling. “Vivian! There you are, you maladjusted wart. That’s two rounds of punishment you’ve earned today!” 

“P-punishment? What did I–”

Beldam waved a finger, and a gust of icy wind smashed against Vivian’s chest, flecks of ice cutting into her. Vivian screamed, and shielded her face. “What did I do, Beldam? What did I do?”

Beldam snarled as she aimed the next blast of sleet pelting against Vivian’s face and flailing arms, “Don’t act innocent. You know exactly what you did!”

Vivian scootched away from Beldam, crawling on her back. None of this made sense. “I swear I dunno! Please, don’t hurt me, Beldam!”

Beldam spasmed, affecting a whiny voice. “I dunno, I dunno! Always, I dunno, with you! I know you’re an airhead, but not even you forget an order that quickly, when you know you’ve already got a punishment coming. It’s pure stubbornness!”

There was a crackle of electricity, and Vivian’s second elder sister, Marilyn, appeared in the darkness, looking lost. “Guh?” 

Vivian screamed as she twisted to crawl on her hands and knees toward Marilyn. “Marilyn? Help me! Please, help!”

Beldam’s next attack slashed across Vivian’s lower back with such force, Vivian’s face crashed against the shadowy “floor” with a bump. As Vivian wailed in agony, Marilyn reached out a hand, as if wanting to help her up, but unsure if she should. “Buh…buh…”

Beldam pointed a finger at Marilyn’s face. “Butt out! You’re my favorite baby sister, but not by that much.”

As Vivian curled into a fetal position, she saw Marilyn glance at her once, then back away slowly.

Beldam rounded on Vivian and gripped her by the arm. With a flurry of frost, a thin sheet of ice formed around Beldam’s fist, slowly traveling up Vivian’s arm. “Let’s assume you actually are as brainless as you pretend to be, when you think it will get you out of some much-needed punishment. First, you let Mario escape, making us look like incompetent fools in front of that pompous glass-head, Grodus. Then, after I slave away to magic up a Superbobbomb, so we can just incinerate Mario in a 100-kiloton blast and be done with it, you go and drop it!”

As Vivian pulled uselessly, and felt the icy cold pricking into her arm like a thousand tiny needles, she suddenly remembered.

Of course, she was Vivian, the Shadow Siren. At least, she was the stupid, plug-ugly member of the Shadow Sirens. And she remembered that it was her job to kill Mario. And once they killed Mario, the Shadow Queen would return, and everything would be as it was again. And once Mario was taken care of, Beldam wouldn’t have to hurt her anymore! “But…I never had the Superbobomb! You said I couldn’t be trusted to–”

As Beldam tightened her grip, the ice spread to encase Vivian’s arm and shoulder. “And, clearly, you can’t be trusted! Or you wouldn’t have lost it in the first place! And then, I generously give you time to look for it, to make a tiny effort to correct your own bungling, and what do you do?”

“–I, I looked hard! We finally found it, but–”

Beldam twisted her wrist, and icicles dug into Vivian’s arm like daggers. “But you broke it! And then, rather than own up to your own incompetence, you threw it away and ran! That’s what hurt me the most, Vivian. You think I’m so stupid, that I’ll just forget to punish you, if you hide from me long enough? Oh, no, no, no, naughty little boy! The shadow does not forget!”

Beldam “seated” herself in midair, then yanked Vivian across her lap. As Beldam raised her free hand high, a circle of magic appeared on her palm, forming into the shape of a snowflake. “And the shadow does not forgive!”

As Beldam brought the first spank down across Vivian’s bottom, the cold magically numbed the pain, even as that very same pain washed through Vivian. Vivian had been spanked by Beldam plenty of times before, but this felt less like the sting of ordinary spanking, and more like a solid punch. Vivian wanted to scream, but she was too frightened to catch her breath. 

As she felt the icy blows pummeling into her, Vivian had a strange, rational thought. The ice was numbing the sting, but that same ice would kill her soon, if Beldam didn’t stop. And Vivan remembered something that could save her life. “Mario! When I lost–”

Beldam carried on delivering the beating, every stroke leaving a thicker coat of snow and ice across Vivian’s defenseless back. “Yes, yes, Mario! Thanks to you, Mario has slipped through our fingers, yet again! So that’s another punishment, once we’re done with the first two. Hold, on, is it three? One punishment for losing the superbobomb, two for breaking it…ah yes, three for running away. And now, four punishments! Your fourth punishment is for losing–”

Vivian tried to flail her arms, only to find her arm frozen solid inside Beldam’s grip. “I know where  Mario is!”

Beldam’s hand froze in midair. “You’re lying! Just trying to weasel your way out of the spanking you have coming. Typical! Last chance to tell the truth, or it’s five punishments!”

As Vivian shook her head, she felt the ice reach her throat. “Not lying! I can take you to him!”

Beldam didn’t let Vivian up, but she didn’t hit Vivian either. “How did you? …Where? Where is Mario?”

“He…he saw me crying and came to help me and–”

Beldam cut Vivian off with another spank. “I don’t want to hear the complete and unabridged story! The only thing that matters is–wait, you said he tried to help you? That’s ridiculous! He’d have attacked you on sight…And even if he didn’t attack you on sight, why didn’t you attack him on sight? You could have captured him!”

The ice started to encase Vivian’s chest. “I didn’t recognize him! He didn’t look like–”

Beldam spanked Vivian again, shattering the ice that covered her bottom, before it magically reformed, thicker than before. “Sure you didn’t! Probably just another short, fat, ruggedly handsome man with a magnificent mustache wearing a bright red hat you bumped into, while he was out for a stroll. This lie is getting more and more pathetic, little boy.”

Vivian felt her tears freezing against her face as the ice closed in tightly around her, about to cover her mouth. “It was some kind of strange magic! Someone stole his name and face!”

Beldam raised her hand to continue the beating. “Stole his name? Don’t be absurd! That–”

Beldam froze, and stood up, letting Vivian drop to the ground. “–That’s ancient shadow magic. You’re not supposed to know anything about that! How did you find out about the Nameless Magic, you little rodent? Answer me!”

As Vivian shivered in a crumpled heap, she felt the ice start to magically dissipate, without melting, and coughed. “My friend…the guy who stole his name and face…He had Mario’s name and face. The fake Mario had all of Mario’s friends following him around, calling him Mario. So that means the guy with no face is the real Mario! He has to be!”

Beldam screamed, and pummeled her own head. “Agh! Another mix-up? This is your blunder with the wanted poster all over again! But that means—”

Tears appeared in Vivian’s eyes as she hung her head. Of course, she was the one who had screwed it all up. She wasn’t sure how, but somehow, there was always some sort of foul up, and it was always her fault. That was how it always had been. There were the two beautiful Shadow Sisters…and the other one, the weakest one…the one who looked like an ugly boy.

Beldam clutched Vivian by both her shoulders to lift her up, face-to-face. “That means Mario is all alone! This is our chance! Marilyn, get over here!”

Marilyn stumbled out of the shadows, where she had been cowering. “Guh!”

Beldam stroked Vivian’s hair. “Oh, Vivian, my sweet, this fixes everything! Once we kill Mario, we’ll finally be safe!”

Vivian felt her head spinning as a fresh chill traveled up her spine. “K-kill Mario? But Grodus said he wanted Mario alive for question–”

Beldam snarled, before pulling Vivian into a tighter hug, gentler than she had ever held Vivian before. “Forget Grodus! We’re taking no chances. Once Mario is dead, that bowl-headed freak will happily collect the rest of the Crystal Stars, and once he opens the Thousand Year Door…Oh, Vivian, we can finally see Mother again!”

Vivian couldn’t move. “But…we don’t have to kill Mario to save Mother! We could just–”

Beldam’s embrace tightened. “Vivian! Take us to Mario. Now.”

Vivian knew that if she said yes, if she just gave up Mario, the pain would stop. Vivian wanted to say yes. “No. I won’t help you kill him. It’s…this is wrong.”

A howling, icy wind thrust Vivian flying back onto her back. Beldam screeched, charging two circles of ice magic in each of her hands. “Were you just born wrong? Did Mother give you life, only to test my patience? Just show me his shadow, and I’ll kill him myself. Not like I can count on you in a fight, any–”

Vivian rose and blasted fire at Beldam first. Beldam’s ice magic just managed to dissipate Vivian’s fire. Marilyn grunted in terror as she watched from the sidelines. “Guh!”

With a banshee scream, Beldam raised a finger, summoning an arctic storm. “You wicked child! How dare you raise a hand against me!”

Vivian gasped for air. “Stop!”

Beldam pointed her finger, and the cold wind encompassed Vivian. She felt herself being encased in ice, like fingers reaching at her from all sides. Vivian knew that this was the end. In all her life, she had never once known what it meant to be safe…until the day she met Mario.

Vivian’s flame engulfed her body, and as she pointed her finger at Beldam, she caught a glimpse of Beldam’s sadistic grin, before Vivian’s fire engulfed Beldam too. “Aie-yeeeek! It burns!” 

Her whole body singed to a sooty black, Beldam wobbled, before collapsing onto her face, the tip of her witch hat on fire. “...Ow.”

Vivian used both her hands to hold up two small candle flames, one pointed at each of her sisters. “Enough! I’m going back to Mario. Don’t try to stop me, Beldam! And do not follow me, or else…or else I will stop you.”

Pointing a shaky finger at Vivian, Beldam looked to Marilyn in desperation. “Don’t let her escape!”

Marilyn held up her hands in surrender, looking back and forth at her two sisters. “Guh?”

Vivian felt tears returning to her eyes. “Marilyn? You don’t have to stay with Beldam. Come with me. We can both be free!”

With a final growl, Beldam collapsed. “...No…we’ll never be free! Don’t you see, Vivian? Mother is coming home soon! And if I don't do a good job…she’ll punish us!”

Vivian rounded on Beldam, her flame sparking. “I don’t care if she kills me!”

Beldam chuckled weakly. “Mother won’t kill you, Vivian. Mother will never kill you...Marilyn, if you betray Mother now, she’ll punish you, forever and ever. You don’t want that, do you?”

Marilyn looked back and forth from Beldam to Vivian, her face desperate. Finally, Marilyn shook her head. Still holding her hands up, Marilyn slowly glided to join Beldam. Beldam whimpered, her anger disappearing as her voice cracked with sorrow. “Don’t do it, Vivian! Would you betray your family, for this stranger?

Vivian fought back tears as she opened a path through the shadow behind her. “I'm... I'm sorry, Sis...This Mario is the only person who's ever been kind to me…”

Vivian whisked through the shadows, looking for Mario. And she remembered. She remembered the first time she had betrayed Mario, leaving him to his death. She remembered finding Mario’s shadow again, the shadow where she most needed to be. She remembered seeing Mario fighting with his last breath as his imposter beat him mercilessly. She remembered the words she’d whispered in Mario’s ear as she reappeared in his shadow. “Mario! I'm fighting by your

side from now on! I've... I've made my choice! And I'm not turning back!”

And as she remembered, Vivian saw through the Shadow Queen’s illusion: a conjured memory of her darkest hour. But the Shadow Queen had made a grave error. Because the darkest day in Vivian’s life was also the day she stepped out of the darkness, and into the light.

Fully awake, Vivian conjured a pillar of flame that threw the shadow world into vivid light. “I know your ticks, demon! You have already been defeated. You are nothing!”

The Shadow Queen howled and retreated, deeper into her empty cavern, into the greater nothingness within the infinite void.

Vivian saw Mario, Daisy, and all her friends, alive, but falling away from her, shrinking smaller and smaller, and gently caught them in her other hand. As the light filled the infinite darkness, sound returned, and she could hear their voices. Daisy’s was the first voice they all heard as she roared. “Luigi!”

And then, a shadow stretched across the sky above them, in the exact shape of Luigi, and they heard the sound of a heartbeat. As Vivian arose with her friends in hand, reality started to correct itself. Her friends seemed to grow to their proper size, until they were all their proper selves again. 

“Vivian!” Below them, the Shadow Queen, who had once seemed to loom so large above them, began to shrink to the size of a mouse cowering within her hole, then to the size of an ant. When there was nothing more, they all heard a final whisper. “...See you in a thousand years….”

…

As flying debris smashed through the brick wall above them, Parakarry held the last slice of the red mushroom against Luigi’s lips, struggling to get it past his clenched teeth. “Luigi, can you hear me? You’ve got to take a bite, Luigi. The mushroom can’t heal you if you don’t–”

Luigi coughed, then started lifting his head. Parakarry caught his head from behind. “Don’t get up! Just a small nibble!”

Luigi bit down on the mushroom and swallowed, then his eyes popped awake and he leapt to his feet, unsteadily. In a daze, Luigi turned to look around, and saw only his shadow on the wall behind him. “Daisy! Mario! Parakarry? Where is every–”

Everyone flew out of Luigi’s shadow, crashing into him to land in a giant dog pile. Daisy landed on top of Luigi. The force of the impact sent their faces crashing against each other with such force, their teeth clicked against one another. Pulling her lips away from Luigi, Daisy howled and held her throbbing teeth. “Aag! Luigi!”

Luigi gurgled. “D-Daisy?”

Mario struggled to extricate himself from the dogpile. “Luigi?” 

Daisy sat up with such force, she accidentally bench pressed the combined weight of all her friends, cradling Luigi’s head on her lap. “Luigi! You did it! I don’t know you did, but whatever you did, you did it! You stopped Bowser! And you did it all by yourself!”

Daisy kissed Luigi full on the lips. Then, she looked up, and spotted Parakarry, Bombette, and Admiral Bobbery. “And you! You all helped Luigi stop Bowser, all by himself! Oh, I could kiss you all!”

But before Daisy could hand out more kisses, the tornado ripped through the wall opposite them. Mario stood and pointed toward the orange Warp Pipe that led to the final World of the obstacle course. “Every through the Warp Pipe! I’ll follow you! Go!”

As Goombario and Goombella led the others through the orange warp pipe, Luigi’s eyes fluttered closed as he began to drift back into unconsciousness. “Mario…the Crown…Bowser…is…stronger, now…the Crown!”

Daisy cradled Luigi in both arms, letting his head slump limply against her shoulder as she dove down the warp pipe. As Mario brought up the rear, he saw the rest of World 4-2 crumble and collapse beneath them, and hopped down the pipe after Daisy.

If you’re curious what it feels like to be magically teleported via warp pipe, it’s exactly like going down a waterslide while watching a double rainbow, except instead of feeling cold and wet, you feel warm. While getting in and out of a Warp Pipe can be a little tricky, once you’re in, the pipe seems to expand around you, becoming less claustrophobic. This meant Mario could easily hear Daisy as she called up to him from further down the pipe. “Mario! I dunno’ about you, but this is the roughest fight I’ve had since we took down Tatanga. I’m getting Luigi out of here! But if I’m focused on protecting Luigi, I’ll need you to take point on kicking Bowser’s butt! That cool?”

Mario nodded.

Daisy fixed Mario with a stern look. “You sure? I know you’re big on that ‘Boys don’t hit girls’ chivalry stuff. Is that going to be a problem, with Bowser looking all girly now? If you want, I can pummel Bowser for ya’!”

Mario shook his head. “Don’t worry, Daisy. When I get my hands on Bowser…he…is going down.” 

End of Chapter XV

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to my supporters on Patreon and Ko-fi. You are helping me commission artists and do more creative work!

Adam-12

Anonymous

K. R. R. Smisk