Paper Mario and the Seven Vessels

Disclaimer: I don't own Paper Mario. Paper Mario is the property of Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto. All I own are my OC's.

Prelude

Long, long, loooong ago, before the destruction wrought by the Shadow Queen, there existed a door. A door that lead to the home of demons of equal or greater power than the Shadow Queen herself. The Star Spirits, dreading the thought of more demons like the Shadow Queen would soon invade their world, they sealed the door away in a distant, war-torn land. Thinking that they've averted the demon's chaos, they turned their gaze away from that pitiful land to focus all their attention upon the Mushroom Kingdom. However, they missed one tiny demon escaping through a miniscule gape and fleeing into the region devoid of Star Spirit influence so that tiny demon can eventually be reunited with its kin.

Prologue 1-1: The Princess, Abducted!?

Present day Mushroom Kingdom, Mario's house.

The quiet morning sun was just peering into the windows of a small house just outside of Toad Town. The flapping of wings soon broke the tranquility of the morning as Parakarry flew down to drop off a letter into the mailbox.

"MAIL CALL!"

Job done, the parakoopa flew away just as the door opened and a man dressed in green and blue overalls yawned and retrieved the letter. Luigi reentered the residence to greet another sleepy man who was dressed in red.

"Hey, bro! We've got another letter from the princess! I'll just read this for you. Ahem."

Dear Mario,

You and Luigi are cordially invited to a Ball celebrating the one year anniversary of your victory over your heroics in Rogueport. We can't very well hold the party without you and your brother. Everyone is invited and they hope to see you again. The Ball will begin at noon and I hope to see you there.

Sincerely, Princess Peach Toadstool

"Wow! A party just for you, bro! Do you want to go?" Luigi grinned, setting the letter in front of his brother to start making the brother's breakfast.

"Sure, why not? It's been awhile since we've seen Peach." Mario yawned, still half asleep.

"Hopefully nothing will go wrong this time, but you never know with the princess." Luigi joked as he stirred the pancake batter. "Now that I think about, Bowser has been quiet since the events at Rogueport. We should probably go just in case." Mario nodded sleepily as he reached for the hammer near his chair.

At 12:00pm sharp, the brothers entered the castle grounds to see the gardens fully decorated and bustling with Toads of all ages enjoying a multitude of games and exotic meals created by Tayce T. Some of the Toads came over to greet the brother's, mostly Mario, but most were too involved with the newest fad of Chomp Racing or magic shows being held by Merlee. Mario and Luigi than entered the castle to see it filled with Toads dancing, chatting, and grazing around tables bursting with fancy dishes and sweets. The brother's eyes were drawn to the top of the staircase to see Princess Peach and Toadsworth waiting for them.

"Ah! Mario! Luigi!" She smiled when she caught sight of them and descended to greet them face to face. "I'm so happy you've come! It's never as fun when you're not around."

"Well, Princess, I'd never pass up a chance to meet with you." Mario said sheepishly smiling.

"Besides, you never know when Bowser will show up." Luigi shrugged. "He usually shows up to celebrations like these."

Seeing Peach pale slightly, Mario jabbed his brother in the side and said, "Don't you worry, Peach. If Bowser does show up, we'll send him backing." Peach giggled when the sound of glass shattering from the third floor echoed throughout the castle as the lights dimmed slightly.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK YOU…...Wait, wrong floor."

The partygoers watched in bemusement as heavy footfalls came down the stairs until they saw the Koopa King himself puff down the stairs. "Ah, there you losers are, now as I was saying, HAHA! YOU WIMPS THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME, BOWSER! YOU MUST BE DREAMING!" He roared as he leaped down to the first floor in front of the group of three as the Toads scattered in terror.

"Bowser! Haven't you learned your lesson yet!? No matter how many times you do this, you will always fail!" Peach shouted from behind the tense brothers.

The draconian turtle grinned, showing off his fangs at the maiden. "Why Princess, you know what they say even when you fall down over and over again, you just land on your enemies until they give up!"

"That's not how it goes!"

"Ah whatever! But all you need to know is that this time, I'll win!" He roared shooting a jet of fire at the plumper's who jumped out of the way as the Princess ran upstairs to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

Mario just glared at Bowser as he leaped up and stomped between the Koopa's horns twice before jumping out of reach. However, he wasn't quick enough to avoid a flailing claw glancing at his forearm.

"Be careful Mario!" Peach cried when she noticed a thin trail of blood on his sleeve.

"Don't worry, tis but a scratch!" He assured as he ran around the hefty turtle and bounced once again on his head, but before he can lead a second jump, Bowser swatted him away. Undeterred, Mario rolled to the ground and lunged for the Koopa's tail.

"Hey-! WHAT'RE YOU-!?" He couldn't finish his sentence as Mario swung him around once and into the nearby wall where he landed shell first onto the ground. Before the turtle can poke his head out, the plumber in red swung his hammer at the gargantuan shell, sending the Koopa ping-ponging across the deserted ballroom where it crashed against the side stairs.

Mario huffed a breath, wiping his brow and said, "Had enough yet?"

Bowser staggered to his feet and gasped for breath. Mario smirked, thinking the Koopa King was about to give up when the turtle smiled smugly and laughed at the red plumber. "Gwar, har, har, har!" Bowser laughed tauntingly. "I'm just getting started, or more like I'll end it! I've got something that assures my victory this time!" He said as he dug into the satchel near his hip.

"Don't tell me, you've got the Star Rod again!?" Mario asked incredulously.

Bowser just smirked and said, "You would think that, but I've found something that is even greater than that useless cane!"

Meanwhile, Luigi was standing by the window making sure none of Bowsers underlings tried to gang up on his brother when he noticed something speeding towards them. Something fast. Something huge.

"Hey, ah guys?"

"Not now Greenie, you're killing the anticipation."

"But-Ah."

"Shut Up!"

"There's a-"

"GRRRRR…WHAT!? WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT YOU'D INTERUPT ME!?" Bowser roared as he swung his big head toward the nervous green man. Mario, noticing his chance leaped forward with his hammer ready to deal a knockout blow when a second, louder, crash was heard and a great force threw the plumber off balance and into a nearby table that somehow survived a game of Bowser pong.

Soon the room was filled with dust and smoke that dropped visibility down to zero.

"WHAT THE!?"

"Bro, are you, cough, okay!?"

Mario coughed harshly as he tried wiped the dust out of his eyes when he heard a scream.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

The dust abruptly cleared to show Princess Peach being carried by two heavily armored knights while a third one had his back towards them and that a huge airship is floating in front of a hole that had been blasted through the castle wall.

"Hey! Who are you weirdos!?" Bowser snarled, enraged. "If anyone is kidnapping Peach, it's me!" He charged at the three newcomers as the third leisurely turned around to face the angry royal and pulled out what looked to be a rapier foil and smacked the Koopa into the wall, single-handedly. Seconds after the Koopa King landed on the floor, the wall gave up and crumbled on top of the knocked out Koopa.

Wearily, the brothers observed so-called the leader, he looked to be a human sized peacock bedecked in silver and blue armor with a gaudy gold choker wrapped around his neck. Noticing their looks, he smirked arrogantly and said, "Yes, yes, I'm quite the looker, but alas, I can't stay and chat as your Princess here is late for an important meeting with my leader and I so do despise being tardy. So, I must bid you, Adieu." He bowed haughtily and with his soldiers and Peach, boarded the Airship without another word.

"MARIO! HELP!"

Mario quickly shook off his surprise and stray bits of food and rushed forward to cling to a string of lights that had gotten tangled onto the ship as it slowly began raising from the ground. Luigi looked on helplessly for a second before steeling his nerve and rushed forward to follow his elder brother. He however misjudged the distance and wound up upside down in lights as it began speeding away from the castle and the Mushroom Kingdom.

After a few minutes, Kammy Koopa flew into the castle through the hole and hovered next to the pile of rubble that was her king. "King Bowser, what happened!?"

The rubble snarled and crumbled as the Koopa King leapt to his feet, sending the rubble onto the Magikoopa. "Why those no good, cheating-! Those guys cheated! I was all ready to lay down a beating on Mario when some prissy pants comes down and snatches Princess Peach from out of my claws! And I was going to show off the Giga Ultima, a weapon that guarantee's absolute victory, too! ARGH!"

Kammy sighed than said, "Well, Lord Bowser. Think of it this way, at least this way you can take over the kingdom uncontested so that Mario would be in for a nasty surprise when he returns."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" He yelled, rushing outside toward his clown copter. "The point is that some new guy just swans in and steals my role and I'm not taking that lying down. No! Not after what happened in Rogueport! Come on Kammy! We're chasing after them and showing them how it's done!" The hovercraft rose in the air and began pursuing the fast fading dot that was the airship as the elder Magikoopa sighed and joined her King for a long trip.

Back at the castle, Toadsworth and the other Toads peeked out of their hiding places to gape at the damage wrought upon the castle. With a put-out sigh, Toadsworth pulled out a phone to hire a contractor to fix the castle before Mario returns with the Princess.

Sooo…Guess who thought it would be a good idea to replay the Paper Mario series? Just so you guys know, in this story only the first and second games has taken place with a few references to other Mario games; that means Sticker Star and Color Splash HASN'T HAPPENED!