It's-a me, Mario!

"Don’t tell me what to do!" Of course he was embarrassed that his mortal enemy was telling him to breathe and calm down. With the weight of his once-trusty Koopa Kopter now bearing down on him, sounding as if it were ready to explode, he found himself panicking for his life. It had been built to fly his gigantic size through the air, and thus was much heavier than himself—a wonder of engineering it was that the contraption flew at all; so when it malfunctioned and sent operator and all tumbling to the earth, he’d been caught unawares and quite terrified. Now, it had buried the spikes of his shell into the ground, thus pinning him under its now cracked and burning chassis.

"BOWSER!"   Mario shouted the sovereign’s name, dashing to the smoldering wreckage of the cup-shaped craft. Coughs escaped Mario’s mouth as he leaned in to survey the damage. Oh, poor Bowser.. if only he’d listened and stopped being so hasty for once this wouldn’t have happened! With his gloved hands, Mario picked away parts of the derelict vehicle in an attempt to save the life of his worst enemy.

"Gargh! I think … my tail’s broken." Obvious in his small voice was the frustration he felt, admitting his helplessness to the plumber.

"Good, you're OK! Now just-a hold still and I'm-a get you out.. you only hurting yourself with all a that thrashing about, ya know." Wreckage nearly cleared from the tyrant-in-distress's massive body, Mario grabbed hold of one of his fingers by the nail and pulled with every ounce of might to pluck Bowser from the ground.

Returns the hug. “And I’m-a so happy you’re back, Lighty!” He threw his arms around the Yoshi’s lengthy neck and embraced him tightly. “Where were ya? I thought something terrible happened to you, you didn’t even send a single postcard!” 

"Oh yeah, that’s-a right, I remember! How was it bein’ inside his-a body, hm? I know I’ve-a been inside before.. but not in the kinda way you were!" Of course, Mario was referring to the incident where he and Luigi ended up in the Koopa King’s gullet.

"Urges? Ya mean you felt like going over to kidnap the Princess?"

"Hey, Link! It’s-a good to see you here!" The plumber pinched his chin and raised a brow, motioning to the vast landscape that lay before the two. "I’m-a guessin’ this is where you’re from? I could use a bit of help gettin’ around.. you got a map or-a something?"

He turned around and saw the small figure running towards him. Link smiled, it was Mario. The young Hylian ran over to greet the happy Italian he hadn’t seen in a long while. “Hey there, Mario!” He exclaimed. Then he shook his head. “No, I’m from this land in particular, I’m from Hyurle. This land, Termina is Hyrule’s parallel. And I indeed do have a map. How did you even get anyway?”

"Eh, call it a wrong turn at pipe avenue. It’s-a been happening a lot lately." He replied with a shrug, digging his foot into the ground. "So it looks-a like we’re both in this-a strange place, but good thing you got yourself a map! It must-a be pretty big to cover this-a whole area!” Mario regained composure and looked about. “If it’s-a not interrupting you, maybe I could go find a place-a to stop and eat, take a rest? By the looks of it, you’ve-a been wanderin’ around quite a bit too, huh?” He stifled a chuckle, gazing down and the youth’s earth-stained tunic. Funny how in the midst of the conversation, Mario hardly noticed the moon drawing ever closer to making landfall. It was much like a background prop at the moment.

He took out his map and began to study it. Link had forgotten some of the names of the shops in Clock Town. “Here we go.” He said. “There’s a bar in town that serves excellent milk and across from that is an inn called the Stock Pot Inn. We can get a drink first, then head over to the inn and get a hot meal and some rest. And lucky for you I have reservation for one of the rooms there.” He still never understood how or why he had the reservation in the first place but he decided not to question that.

"Okie-dokie! That sounds-a good! I was gettin' a bit thirsty anyway.." The plumber fixed his cap and looked onwards to the walled town. "Now them.. let's-a go!" Mario declared and threw his fist into the air.

Cosplayer VeeCee as Goombella from Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door

Returns the hug. “And I’m-a so happy you’re back, Lighty!” He threw his arms around the Yoshi’s lengthy neck and embraced him tightly. “Where were ya? I thought something terrible happened to you, you didn’t even send a single postcard!” 

"Oh yeah, that's-a right, I remember! How was it bein' inside his-a body, hm? I know I've-a been inside before.. but not in the kinda way you were!" Of course, Mario was referring to the incident where he and Luigi ended up in the Koopa King's gullet.

Was this person familiar with where he was? Admittedly, he was completely lost… But, Gon was always particularly fond of exploring. “Mm, I don’t need any! It’d be more fun to explore first.”

"Hee hee, I like-a the way you think, kid!" He smiled and rubbed a finger underneath his bulbous nose. An adventurer himself, Mario was quite fond of exploring-- as long as there was a big plate of spaghetti he got out of it. "Say, mind if I join ya?"

"Hm.. well, my name’s-a Mario." He gestured to himself, smiling. "So ya know one person here already! How’s about I take ya on de grand tour of Toad Town so you can meet lotsa people?”

He’d been wandering around the Mushroom Kingdom for quite some time now, so the prospect of a tour guide and an armful of new friends very much appealed to the young outlaw.

"Nice-a to meet you, Luffy!" He stepped alongside the slithering, aspiring Pirate King and began to guide him in the direction of Toad Town. "So where do you come from, hm?" Mario paid little to no attention to Luffy’s serpentine bottom half, he’d honestly seen much weirder in his travels about the Mushroom Kingdom and surrounding areas.

Of course, after that little fiasco on Amazon Lily, he’d been turned off wild mushrooms, and left them well enough alone.

A gloved hand gesticulated to the rows of speckled, eyed fungi. "Well there's a reason why this place is-a called The Mushroom Kingdom!"

"Hey, Link! It’s-a good to see you here!" The plumber pinched his chin and raised a brow, motioning to the vast landscape that lay before the two. "I’m-a guessin’ this is where you’re from? I could use a bit of help gettin’ around.. you got a map or-a something?"

He turned around and saw the small figure running towards him. Link smiled, it was Mario. The young Hylian ran over to greet the happy Italian he hadn’t seen in a long while. “Hey there, Mario!” He exclaimed. Then he shook his head. “No, I’m from this land in particular, I’m from Hyurle. This land, Termina is Hyrule’s parallel. And I indeed do have a map. How did you even get anyway?”

"Eh, call it a wrong turn at pipe avenue. It's-a been happening a lot lately." He replied with a shrug, digging his foot into the ground. "So it looks-a like we're both in this-a strange place, but good thing you got yourself a map! It must-a be pretty big to cover this-a whole area!" Mario regained composure and looked about. "If it's-a not interrupting you, maybe I could go find a place-a to stop and eat, take a rest? By the looks of it, you've-a been wanderin' around quite a bit too, huh?" He stifled a chuckle, gazing down and the youth's earth-stained tunic. Funny how in the midst of the conversation, Mario hardly noticed the moon drawing ever closer to making landfall. It was much like a background prop at the moment.

"Hm.. well, my name’s-a Mario." He gestured to himself, smiling. "So ya know one person here already! How’s about I take ya on de grand tour of Toad Town so you can meet lotsa people?”

He’d been wandering around the Mushroom Kingdom for quite some time now, so the prospect of a tour guide and an armful of new friends very much appealed to the young outlaw.

"Nice-a to meet you, Luffy!" He stepped alongside the slithering, aspiring Pirate King and began to guide him in the direction of Toad Town. "So where do you come from, hm?" Mario paid little to no attention to Luffy's serpentine bottom half, he'd honestly seen much weirder in his travels about the Mushroom Kingdom and surrounding areas.

"Don’t tell me what to do!" Of course he was embarrassed that his mortal enemy was telling him to breathe and calm down. With the weight of his once-trusty Koopa Kopter now bearing down on him, sounding as if it were ready to explode, he found himself panicking for his life. It had been built to fly his gigantic size through the air, and thus was much heavier than himself—a wonder of engineering it was that the contraption flew at all; so when it malfunctioned and sent operator and all tumbling to the earth, he’d been caught unawares and quite terrified. Now, it had buried the spikes of his shell into the ground, thus pinning him under its now cracked and burning chassis.

"BOWSER!"   Mario shouted the sovereign's name, dashing to the smoldering wreckage of the cup-shaped craft. Coughs escaped Mario's mouth as he leaned in to survey the damage. Oh, poor Bowser.. if only he'd listened and stopped being so hasty for once this wouldn't have happened! With his gloved hands, Mario picked away parts of the derelict vehicle in an attempt to save the life of his worst enemy.

Mario’s cheeks and bulbous nose tinted a bright red. The fact was obvious of their romantic love to anyone who was a friend of Mario’s the Princess, or just someone who happened to listen to a lot of the gossip brought forth by tabloids like The Mushroom Inquirer. "W-Why are you bringing this up? Aren’t you a bit eh… young for this-a kinda talk?"

◂{♛} ► “Not really. Besides, it’s going to happen one day anyways. It’s inescapable,”

He simply shot the transformed simian a look of uneasiness. "Eh.. Okie-Dokie?"

"Get down - he’s got a gun!" "Help, I need medical attention!" "Just kill me now!" "I need a ride! Please!" "Are you crazy? It’s too dangerous!"

So, as a friend told me in an RP: “No one is purely good, but no one is purely evil.” Quote of the day right there. Thanks to those who took their time reading this, and I hope you guys have a good rest-of-your-day.