The Dryad's Loyalty

Chapter 1: Defeat

Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap--

A lone koopa troopa was running for his life. He was the last one left on the airship's deck. The Mario brothers had attacked sooner than they'd expected, taking the green and red-shelled minions by surprise and making quick work of them with their Fire Flower powerups.

"Come back-a here!" the red plumber shouted, launching a fiery ball towards the koopa, who barely escaped yet again, ducking and hopping below the deck, panting.

I-I have to find his majesty!

That was all he could think about as he retracted back into his shell and began spinning away, dodging the rest of the troops who still waited for the two plumbers on the airship's deeper floors.
He spun and spun and spun-- until he could barely hear the brothers' quick steps, and once he was sure he'd reached the koopa king's room, he popped out of his shell again, breathing heavily and leaning against the door, but still hesitating to push it open.
Bowser had instructed his troops to never disturb him whenever Princess Peach was with him... and right about now, the big koopa was most definitely busy keeping her in a cage and admiring her; just the thought of what he might've done if he'd been interrupted made the koopa troopa's legs feel like jello! 

Oh for Stars' sake! You're part of the Koopa Troops! Now's not the time to get scared- pull yourself together!!

He slapped his cheeks and finally opened the door running into the king's room, which was nearly as large as the airship itself. "Y-your Grouchiness!!"

"What?! Haven't I told you millions of times not to disturb me in these moments?" the king growled, his imposing figure menacingly looming over the small koopa. 

The green-shelled turtle shivered, avoiding his boss' glares "I-I know, sir, but-- we have an emergency! Mario- Mario and his brother are here already! The minions on the deck have been defeated and the rest are soon to follow!!" he blurted out all at once.

A victorious smile appeared on the princess' lips "I knew he'd make it!" she said, her eyes sparkling with hope while Bowser quickly slipped into rage.
"WHAT DID YOU SAAAY?!" he roared "We didn't even make it back to the castle this time- how are they on the offensive already-?!"

"I-I don't know!! But you should evacuate the ship as soon as possible!" the koopa suggested, thinking that most of his companions had probably done so already, using any of the many warp pipes scattered across the airship.

Bowser's eyes glowed red with fury, growling lowly "Never! I'm going to beat Mario right here, right now! And then Peach will be mine!" he declared, stomping his foot on the wooden floor, making a visible dent in it.

"In your dreams!" Toadstool replied, gripping the cage's bars.

The small koopa would've tried to reason with his king, but just then, a fire ball grazed his cheek, making him shriek and stumble to the side, tumbling onto the floor "O-oh no, they're here!!" he said, before quickly making his escape, leaving the king to deal with the brothers on his own.

"Bowser!" Mario shouted, gritting his teeth "It's-a over now!"

The koopa king gave the plumber a toothy smirk "Over? You may have beaten my troops, but it's not over until you've beaten ME as well! Bring it on, plumber!" he snarled, jumping in front of Peach's cage with a roar, flames already bursting out of his maw.

The red plumber was not scared. He'd been through this many times already, so he simply readied himself, glancing over at his much less courageous brother "Luigi, you take-a the princess, I'll-a distract Bowser!" he instructed.

Luigi clenched his fists and steadied his breath, before nodding "Okie dokie! Give him heck, bro!" he said, before they both ran into action, with Mario taunting and dodging Bowser's attacks, trying to lure him away from Peach, so that Luigi could free her. He tried getting closer to Bowser, landing a few blows on him before inevitably getting knocked back by the koopa's sheer might.

"D-don't-a worry, Peach! I-I'm here to save you!" Luigi stuttered, using a fire ball to melt the lock on the cage, leading Peach out of it and away from the battle, which was still going on, with neither man or koopa ready to give up just yet, despite both of them having taken quite a bit of damage already.

Mario's breath was heavy, his overalls were dirty and tattered, but he still had an ace up his sleeve, he just needed the right time to come, and use it.

"Gah... why are you two always here to foil my plans?!" Bowser roared finally noticing that Luigi had gotten to Peach while he wasn't looking "I'm NOT going to lose again to the likes of you!!" he shouted, puffing up his chest before letting out a massive flame burst, aimed right at Mario.

Finally it was time! With a swift motion, Mario pulled a Power Star out of his pocket, activating it and running right into the fire blast, easily parrying it as he kept on running, reaching P speed and beyond, before charging a punch, and swinging it right at the koopa king, knocking the wind out of him as he was sent flying all the way to the bottom of the room, where his spiky shell pierced through the wood, getting him stuck on the wall. Dazed and confused, all that Bowser could do in that position was struggle, while Mario and Luigi hugged each other and the princess, before they all escaped through a warp pipe as well.
"C-come back here!!" he roared, but nobody was there to hear him anymore.
The airship shook and quaked as the fire from both Bowser's own rage and the brother's Flower Power began to spread around, damaging the engines. The king tried to push himself out of the wall, but to no avail- and once the ship began its inevitable descent, all he could do was hide into his shell and brace for impact.