Mario Masquerade

Chapter I: Something's Amiss

Bear with me on this guys, this is something new for me.

The Castle had an air of mystery. Dark fog hung in a haze inside, the lights were faint, much dimmer than usual. The sun had nearly set, and faint orange rays pierced the few open windows. They would fade soon. The Decorating Committee was at work, Toadettes in pink caps darted to and fro, giggling as they hung enormous masquerade masks on the walls and set fog machines under curvy black, twinkling tables.

The ballroom was set in all it's mystery, and the Decorating Committee fled. As they left, a long line of musicians entered. Koopas. A couple of goombas, and no less than two dozen toads entered, in fancy tuxes and dresses, and simple matching maroon masks. The Dream Setters had arrived. They took their spots, and a chaotic array of musical instruments being tested and tuned was heard.

"Ohh, my!" A breath gasped, and Toadette looked into the mirror with alarm.

"Too tight, m'lady?" She asked with concern.

Princess Peach smiled in reply.

"No, no, it's fine, just caught me by surprise."

"You look ravishing your majesty!"

Princess Peach stared into the mirror at her new exquisite dress. her expression blank as her mind wandered. She clearly had other things on her mind. Toadette glanced nervously at her face in the mirror.

"Your majesty?" She inquired.

Peach snapped from her trance.

"Oh!" She laughed nervously."Yes?"

Toadette's look of worry continued for a while, but she broke the spell and put on a smile.

"Mario's going to be here this evening." Toadette said with a mischievous voice.

Peach's eyes betrayed a look of panic for a split second, but relaxed almost instantly.

"Um... Yes. He will. I, uh, personally sent him the invitation." Peach replied, stumbling.

This worried Toadette even more. Her smile faded as she put the finishing touches on the dresses, and taking one more quick glance at the Princess. She was back in her trance, staring at her own face. Toadette went for the door, talking as she went.

"Your mask is on the dresser, m'lady!" She closed the door behind her.

After a few seconds, Peach turned quickly.

"Thank you Toa-" She saw the closed door, and realized she was too late. She turned back to her mirror, staring into the recesses of her own eyes.

"Is that smoke?" came a voice, as it softly closed a door behind it. A koopatrol, a dry bones, and a magikoopa sat around a table playing cards. Poker chips stacked the table. They didn't even look up.

"Call." Said the Koopatrol tossing some chips in the center. Dry Bones clacked his jaw and threw in some chips as well.

"Yep. Bowser found out. Raise you three." The Magikoopa threw in more chips. The Dry Bones clacked his jaw and threw in his cards, apparently folding. The Koopatrol threw in three more. A rumbling was heard under the floor.

The Hammer Bro who had just entered looked at them alarmed.

"Found out what?"

Dry Bones lights a cigarette, taking a drag. The smoke wafts through his rib cage, as the rumbling gets more intense. A muffled, inaudible shouting voice can be heard the floor down

"That he wasn't invited to the Masquerade." Said the Magikoopa throwing down his cards.

"Full house." The koopatrol sighs, and the dry bones nods, satisfied that he folded. The Magikoopa sweeps up the chips, dealing another round of cards.

"Oh dear." says the Hammer Bro.

"What's he going to do?"

"Probably attack the castle. Take the princess. Usual crap."

A repeated thumping was heard downstairs.

"He never learns, does he?"

The Magikoopa shakes his head, as the floor sets on fire.

"I told you I smelt smoke." Said the Hammer Bro matter of factly.

"Oh dear. He must be really pissed. Hey, Derek!" The Magikoopa jerks his head at the dry bones, who seems to get the message. He gets up from the table and leaps on the fire, rolling around and extinguishing it.

"Call." Says the Koopatrol.

"Call." Says the Magikoopa.

Derek the Dry Bones clacks his jaw in reply, and the Magikoopa grabs some chips from his deck.

Three cards are flipped over.

"So... What do we do?" Asks a very confused Hammer Bro.

"You're new here, aren't you?" Asks the Koopatrol.

"Yeah..." The Hammer Bro skittishly replies.

"We wait for Bowser to call us together and invade the castle." The Magikoopa chimes in. "All in." Derek takes a seat as the Magikoopa and the Koopatrol shove in their stacks. Dry Bones does the same, but his opponents turn to him.

"That's not enough Derek." Derek throws up both of his hands and clacks his jaws.

"You either fold or throw in something else." Derek hangs his head in defeat, and pulls it off, throwing it on top of the stack.

"That's better." The Magikoopa says smugly.

The shouting got louder downstairs.

"Am I the only one concerned about this?" The Hammer Bro asks.

"Well Rookie, it appears so. Show up." Says the Koopatrol.

The Magikoopa turns over three kings. The Koopatrol groans and turns over a pair of queens. Derek, with difficulty, turns his cards over to reveal a straight flush. His opponents groan, and his head betrays a smug look. Well, as smug as a skeleton can get, any way.

"Well rookie, since we seem to have lost the primary source of our entertainment for the night, we may as well go to the meeting hall early. Come on, let's go." The Koopatrol angrily rises and walks towards the door, and the Magikoopa picks up his wand and follows him. Derek puts his head back on and goes up to the Hammer bro, extending his hand. The Hammer Bro takes it and shakes it, but the wall is hit with such a force from downstairs part of the stone wall comes off and strike Derek on the head. His eyes fade as his body falls apart and lands on the floor.

The Hammer Bro stands holding his disconnected hand.

"Guys... I think Derek's dead." The Magikoopa returns to the room, peering through the door way.

"Don't mind him... He'll be back up in a couple of minutes."

"Do I really have to wear all this?" Princess Daisy pouted, looking in the mirror at her puffy, frilly, yellow dress with enormous hoop skirt.

A stern Lakitu stared at her reflection, hands on hips.

"Yes. Your mother was very insistent on this." The Lakitu said firmly. Daisy groaned in reply.

"I hate this!" She said, on the edge of her temper.

"Luigi will be there tonight m'lady..." The Lakitu said, examining the dress. Daisy sighed deeply.

"Oh... Luigi." She smiled thinking of him. "I'll do it for him." She said, staring at the dress.

"Good m'lady." The Lakitu smiled at her in the mirror. "Your mask is on the table."

She turned and left, firmly closing the door behind her. Daisy's smile faded, and she deflated, slumping as she fell on a cushioned sofa, sighing deeply.

"Oh Luigi... Poor bastard... If only he knew."

Luigi scrambled through the house in a green tux with a black tie, his usual hat replaced with a green top hat.

"Mario! Mario!" Luigi barged into his room finding it empty, the window open as a soft wind blew papers about.

"Mama mia." Luigi muttered beneath his breath.

Please review.