Paper Mario:

Peach's Small Adventure

Introduction:

They Always Says it's a Small World

It has begun like usual from a certain blonde-haired, pink dress-wearing Princess. Princess Peach, after waking from a peaceful night's sleep, and taking a long bath to wake up, headed to the royal dinning hall, dressed in her usual outfit. She smiled as she was meant at the hall by her faithful steward, and possibly the closest thing she had for a father in a long time, Toadsworth.

"Good morning, Princess," the elder toad said with a light bow.

"And good morning to you, Toadsworth," the princess replied with kindness in her voice.

She took a seat and waited for breakfast to arrive, as Toadsworth began listing off the matter that needed her attention. Princess Peach let out a mute sigh, as she looked out the window, a soft smile playing on her lips. She was currently dreaming about a certain red colored plumber, and wondering if he had any free time to "hang" out with her.

The princess was brought back to reality, by the sounds of a horn. Peach frowned lightly as she knew that horn and what it meant. However, before she could act, the window in the dinning hall exploded, and familiar figure appeared.

"BWAAH AHAHAHA! Princess Peach today is the day I make you mine!" King Bowser said loudly, as he hoped off of his out-dated flying machine, the Clown Car.

He then rushed at Princess Peach, and before anyone could react, grabbed the startled princess and returned to his machine. Peach cried out, more out of habit then actually fear, as the clown car rocketed away from her castle at high speeds. Unfortunately, no one notice the puffs of black smoke coming from the bottom of the machine.

Toadsworth, having recovered from seeing the ghastly Bowser, immediately headed to the wall, to the right of the dinning room door. Opening a secret panel, the elder toad took out a red phone, which is directly connected to the home that housed a pair of familiar plumbers.

(…)

At the house of Mario and his young brother Luigi, they were enjoying a little down time, sleeping in late. Suddenly, Luigi was startled awake, by the sound of a phone ringing. This caused the taller plumber to jump into the air, shrieking, and kicking as he landed hard on the floor. Moaning, Luigi set up, his bed sheet covering his entire right side, and picked up the phone.

"Hello," Luigi said sleepily.

"...Luigi, my boy, dreadful news!" Toadsworth said in a panic. "That ghastly Bowser had once again came and taken our fair princess in his dreadful claws and spirited away with her! You must get Mario on the case posthaste!"

With that, the line went dead. Luigi, however, had stopped listening when he heard the news that one of his good friends has been kidnapped, and had already spring into action. He threw off the bed covering and rushed over to his brother's bed. The older Mario brother wasn't disturbed by the phone. In fact, he was snoring so loud, a snort bubble was coming out of the rounder plumper's nose.

"Mario, wake up," Luigi said, shaking his brother lightly.

Mario stirred slightly before settling deeper into his sheets, and began snoring again, only this time a little louder. Luigi, getting a bit irritated, try shaking his brother awoke again, only a little harder this time. Again, all this did was cause the red cloth plumber to stir slightly, and retreat deeper into his covers, where he fell back into a peaceful slumber.

Luigi, getting mad now, went over to a closest, and took something from it. He returned to the bed with the object hidden behind him. With an out of character evil smile, he brought out his hammer and raised it over his head. Suddenly the front door opened, and in ran a toad.

"Mario! Mario, The princess has been kidnapped!"

Hearing this, the red plumber instantly woke up. He jumped out of bed; covering his brother with his covers, causing the young brother becomes disoriented. Luigi stumbled slightly before loosing his grip on his hammer, causing to fall onto his head. Moaning, the younger Mario brother fell to the ground, the sheets falling from off of him to reveal swirls had replaced his eyes.

Mario, unaware of his brother or the actions he was about to take, speed through the mushroom kingdom. He hurried to the palace, to try and get any leads as to where Bowser was going to the take the lovely Princess this time around.

(…)

Princess Peach let out a small sigh, one that want unnoticed by her supposed captor. Bowser was to busy to notice his captive, gloating to himself about another success kidnapping. Letting out another faint sigh, the bored princess looked at the sky, and frowned as she began thinking.

She could actually just jump from Bowser's flying machine; she wasn't tied up or anything. She could even use her skirt to slow her descent, and escape without harm. The only thing that stopped her is the memory from when she had tried to escape on her own one other time. When Bowser had found her missing, he flew into a rage, and in a rare moment of brutality for him, attacked a village they were passing by. What had occurred in this village shocked everyone, even Bowser himself, as he's not one for needless violence, no matter how mad he becomes. She had surrendered to stop the Koopa's rampage before someone got seriously hurt.

She let a third sigh, and looked down, frowning a little more as she saw a dense forest, one she didn't recognize. She knew she was still in the Mushroom kingdom, it just a part she never been in before. She looked around; trying to found any landmark she was familiar with. Sadly, she could find any, which means Bowser probably either lost and taking her someplace where she wouldn't be find that easy.

Just where are we? Princess Peach asked curiously.

Suddenly, the flying machine began jolting violently, causing both riders to gasp. Bowser began to wrestle with the controls, trying to get his machine under control, and cursing just loud enough for the Princess to hear.

"I knew it was a mistake to let Kammy Koopa talk me into using this hunk of junk!" Bowser said angrily.

Bowser began lowering the machine closer to the ground, still trying to gain control of it, and loosing too. Peach, holding on for dear life, was afraid for the first time since Bowser first kidnapped her all those many years ago. The machine was clearly getting worse; each jolt was getting longer and more violent. And the Koopa king himself wasn't having much luck with regaining control. She was starting to think she wasn't going to make it out of this one unharmed like all of her other kidnappings.

Suddenly, the machine did one power jolt, causing the startled princess to lose her hold as she went tumbling over the side of the machine. Peach gasp lightly she tried to reach from Bowser's flying machine. Unfortunately, Bowser was able to regain control of the machine at that time, and rocketed away mere second before Peach could grabbed onto the machine. She let out a horrifying scream as she fell like a rock to the ground below.

Bowser, for his part, wasn't even aware of the princess's fate. He was still wrestling with his machine, trying hard to keep it under his control.

Peach found herself falling fast, and trying to right himself, so she could use her skirt to try and slow her fall. Unfortunately, she just couldn't gain enough control of herself to move the way she wanted to, and found the forest she was just looking at coming at her quickly. She closed her eyes tightly as she felt herself going through the branches of the trees, wincing slightly as her body broke through them.

Splash!

Peach opened her eyes as she felt herself land in water. Startled, she looked around, taking in her surroundings. She was in some kind of large well, or maybe a broken fountain. It was big enough for her entire body to fit in and float aimlessly, while shallow enough not to pose any real threat. The princess let out a sigh of relief as she let her body relax, and let the water just soaked away her worries.

"I thought I wasn't going to make it that time," Peach whispered softly to herself.

She allowed herself an extra 30 seconds before getting out of the fountain. Once on her feet again, she checked herself over. Surprisingly, she wasn't that seriously hurt; only a few small cuts, and a small arch in her back from the rough landing in the fountain. She quickly remembered that all of her outfits were enchanted long ago, to try and protect for from Bowser. It was probably this enchantment that saved her from serious injury.

Peach frowned when she noticed something odd when she looked at her clothes. They were drying fast, faster then should be possible. She checked her hair and confirmed that it was drying just as fast as her outfit. Fear Returning, Peach realized that the water must have some sort of magic to it.

Within half a minute, Peach's entire outfit, and hair were completely dry. But that didn't matter at the moment, the princess was to worry about what the water's magic could do to her. She watched her body close, checking to see if anything new grew or if anything on her change. After two and half minutes of watching, the princess calmed herself. There was nothing different about her, no new arms or legs. Her normal limbs weren't longer or have changes to them either.

Peach let out a sigh of relief as she spotted a sigh. Curious, she walked up to it and frown when she saw it. The object was in bad shape from years of neglect and most of the sigh was broken off. All that was left was the bottom with the word fountain on it. She frowned as she looked at the fountain. Now that she had a better look at the thing that saved her, it did indeed look like a fountain, just without a center piece for water flow. That probably also broke due to years of neglect.

"Well, I guess I can't stay here, staying at it all day," Peach said to herself, as she turned away from old fountain.

She began walking, trying to get her bearing in this unfamiliar place. As she walked away from the sign, a light breeze swiped through the area. The breeze was powerful enough to uncover the rest of the sign, which lay close to the pole. The other half of the sign said in big, bold word "STAY AWAY."

(…)

Five minutes pass since she left the fountain, causing Princess Peach to frown. She thought she has been going the right way, but everything like to much alike. She didn't know if she was going deeper into the forest or not. She also was unfamiliar with the land, thus making it that much harder to navigate. Plus, the oddest things seem to happening. It seems the farther she ventured into the forest, the bigger things got. It was so discouraging that the wondering Princess found herself letting out a slight depressing sigh.

It was times like this that Peach wished she was just a normal girl. A normal girl wouldn't have to deal with all the pressure of running a kingdom or staying on good terms with other kingdoms so not to go to war. Oh, and having to deal with a love struck tyrant, who just love to kidnap you a weekly basis, Peach couldn't forget that one. If she was a normal girl, however, none of that would matter.

Peach let out another faint sigh as she began walking again. No sense in wonder about 'what-if and maybes' when she needs to found her way out. After nearly six minute of walking, she saw something that made her gasp loudly. When she left the area with the old fountain, she saw a small grove around the center of a tree. She had decided use that area as a sort of home location, in case she couldn't get out right away. If she was seeing that grove again that would mean that she just walked around in circles for nearly 13 minutes.

However, the fact that the princess had gone around in a circle wasn't what had her mouth hanging to the ground at the moment. It was the marking on the tree that nearly cause everyone favorite princess to take a face plant into the ground. The groove, which minutes ago were below the princess's neckline, was now higher then she was. She walked up to it and noticed that the tip of her crown didn't reach it. She looked at the groove, and to growing horror, the mark was moving farther away, getting higher with each massing second.

Suddenly it clicked in the princess's mind. She looked around, and watched, with a knot forming in her stomach, as the top of the trees got farther away. She noticed a small rock by her feet, and looked on with fright as it grew. No…she realized things weren't growing! It was her, she was getting smaller.

"I'm…shrinking," Peach said, in a voice barely above a whispered.

Suddenly, the ruler of the mushroom kingdom found it hard to breathe. Her breath was coming out as short and jagged gasp as she watched the world around her get bigger and farther away. She nearly went into hyperventilation as her shrinking suddenly kicked into high gear. The groove, which she has watched very carefully, quickly skyrocketed to castle level and beyond within a few seconds. Looking away, the princess nearly fainted as she watched familiar surroundings morphed into alien and frightening land. She looked back at the groove, and to her horror, she could barely see it.

Peach, though believe that her shrinking had stopped, was in shock. Barely keeping herself awake, the shrunken princess noticed a rock, really just a pebble to a normal person, and walked up to it. To a normal person, the pebble would probably be the size of child thumb, but to the princess it reached passed her knees.

"…Just how small am I?" Peach asked in a shallow voice.

Suddenly a shadow, accompanied by a loud flipping noise startled the princess. She looked up, and with eyes wide as saucer, watched a bird, the size of the bird of legend, the Rock, soared over head. Stunned motionless, the mini princess could only watched as the large, to her anyways, bird flow away. Finally, everything took it toll on the emotionally drained princess, and she fall to her knees, feeling light-headed. A second later, she fainted, falling completely onto her back.

The forest seemed to fall into blissful silence, allowing the reduced princess her sleep. Unknown to her though, was a shadow, moving cautiously close to the unconscious figure. The figure hesitantly reached out to touch the princess, stopping mere inches from touching Peach's shoulder.

(…)

"This is terrible, awfully, simply a tragedy!" Toadsworth said for like the tenth time, pacing in front of the broken window. "I simply don't know what to do in this situation, Mario, my boy!"

Mario let out a mute sigh as he continued to watch the worry steward pass back and forth, somehow avoiding the glass on the floor. The red plumber had arrived at the castle nearly 12 minutes ago, unfortunately, Toadsworth had gone into panic mode, and trying to get any information out of him at the moment was pointless. He also knew from experience that if the elder toad didn't calm down by himself, there was no way of getting him calm enough to get anything worth wild from him.

So, Mario just waited it out, hopping that Toadsworth wasn't in one of rare 12 hours rants. Thankfully, this wasn't one of those times, and after a minute and half, the elder toad wore himself out. While he was catching his breath, Mario went up to the older toad and inquired about any new information on Bowser, and where might have taken the princess this time.

"Hmm…" Toadsworth thought it over and moment. "…Well reports say that Bowser forces were building him a new fortress on the outskirts of the Lost Forest."

"Huh?" Mario muttered, tilting his head to the right.

Toadsworth was surprised by this, and voiced it as well," You mean, a world famous explorer like yourself have never heard of the Lost Forest?!"

Mario thought it over for a minute, but was drawing a blink. He shook his head no, and this almost caused the elder Toad to go into another panic attack. Luckily, he calmed himself before he got out of hand.

"Well, I guess it isn't that surprising," Toadsworth said, speaking in a calm voice. "Only certain few, like myself, knows the truth about that dreadful place."

Looking out the broken window, the elder toad looked in the direction of where the forest is located. Becoming lost in his memories, he began talking in a solemn voice

"During the time of the princess's great-great-great-grandfather, there was a small toad village on the outskirts of a patch of woods just north of this location. It wasn't anything to special, just limbers and woodcrafters. Then one day, the village just up and disappeared without even a trance to be found. When the princess's great-great-great-grandfather found out about this, he sent some of his best men to investigate. Sadly, the same unknown fate befell them as the village, and they were never seen again. For a time, the ruler continued to send in people to investigate, only to have them lost to that mystery. Finally, the king decided to stop the investigation, and just forbid anyone from entering into that dreadful place."

Toadsworth let out a faint sigh, and looked at the red plumber. Mario was surprise when saw how heavy the elder's toads eyes suddenly have become.

"Sadly, this didn't work out as late king had hope. People continue to venture into that dreadful place, which some never made it out. To insure should tragedies are never repeat, the Princess great-great-grandmother had a road built and the forest blocked," Toadsworth let out another sigh, and looked out the window again. "Still, the problems didn't end there. During the time of the Princess's grandfather, another tragedy occurred, this time to the rule family!"

Mario noticed how sad the elder toad had suddenly become, and moved closer to him, putting a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. Toadsworth looked up at his kingdom's savior and offered a smile, sad smile.

"Thank you, by boy," the elder toad said gratefully.

He then gently pulled his shoulder free, turning to the face the window once more. Mario waited for him to continue his tale, knowing that somehow this was very painful for him. When he spoke, his voice was even more solemn then when he began his tale.

"I was a young scribe at the time, and knew both of the king's children quite well. I was beside myself when the young prince went missing in the awful place. I still remember how grief stricken the king was when he learned of his son's disappeared. He was never the same after that. He even sent a party into the forest, one that, like so many others, never returned."

Toadsworth paused, lost in memories of an older time. He could still remember how the prince used to talk about being a great hero, one who saved his kingdom many times over. It was this impulsive nature that caused him to venture into the Lost Forest, hoping to solve it mysteries and prove himself to his father. And like so many childish fantasies, it never came true, resulting in him being lost forever.

Toadsworth looked at Mario, letting out a heavy sigh in the process. The red plumber was surprise to find his friend's eyes heavier then before.

"After that, the king declared that no one of the royal family shall ever learn of the lost forest or the mysteries it held, to insure that none of his family was lost to it's curse again. Any one who even spoke of it when near a royal member was punished right away. If you want, you could start at that new fortress. Now, my boy, could you leave me."

Mario simply nodded, understanding his friend's grief. He quietly left the hall, as Toadsworth turned back to the broken window, once more lost in memories of olden times.

(…)

Luigi huffed and puffed as he made his way to the castle, hot on his brother's tail. After coming to from that blow to the head, he had followed him. Unfortunately, he wasn't as fast his Mario, and found himself panting half way there. By the time he had reached the castle, he was ready to past out from exhaustion.

The younger Mario brother sighed in relief when he saw the large doors of the castle come into view. He was very close to the doors when it suddenly opened, and Mario came running out. The red plumber rush passed his little brother, causing Luigi to spin in place. The younger yet taller brother stopped a second later, back facing the doors, arms in the air, and right leg sticking out. He fell onto his back after a second in that pose, eyes swirling. Mario, noticing his brother after his hasty exit, made a sharp U-turn, and dash up to the dazed plumber.

"Luigi…Let GO!" Mario said in positively turn.

The red clothed brother then turned around, and dashed off before getting Luigi's reply. The green clothed brother slowly got up, moaning slightly. He let out a tired groan as he began following his brother. Together, the famous Mario Brothers headed off to the Lost Forest, and beyond that, Bowser latest stronghold, with the goal of rescuing Princess Peach.

What the Mario brothers didn't know was the actually whereabouts of said princess, and what had befallen her. They also didn't know what kind of adventure this latest kidnapping would lead them into. Then again, this could be a normal day for the three most famous residents of the Mushroom Kingdom.

(…)

M: First of all, I like to point this out. I'm trying to keep this as close as I can to the games and everyone knows that the Mario brothers aren't known for big talkers. Second, this story would be flip flapping toward comedy and drama a lot, so be prepared.