A Broken Record

With a swift jump over a small gap of lava, a portly plumber dressed in red landed stylishly on a velvet, carpeted floor fit for a king. He ran over the carpet, smiling triumphantly. Finally, he had accomplished his goal – a goal that would benefit an entire kingdom.

After an extremely long trek across the kingdom, one that took him through seven lands and seven castles, Mario had finally vanquished Bowser for what he thought was going to be the last time for all. As he approached the den the Koopa King was guarding in his seventh castle, Mario noticed a glimmering light of hope radiating from within it, a sight unseen throughout the rest of the castle. He stepped inside.

The bright light in the room caused the heroic plumber to shield his eyes for a bit in order to allow them to adjust. After his vision returned, Mario took off his cap, got onto one knee, and bowed. He waited for a cry of joy, of happiness, anything. What he didn't expect to hear were the traumatic words coming from the rasping voice of a person he knew all too well.

"Thank you, Mario. But our princess is in another castle."

Princess Peach sat at her desk, writing frantically on letters of diplomacy to Sarasaland and other foreign countries. It was another tough, long, day, and after being kidnapped by Bowser so often it was no wonder that her kingdom was in disarray. She had a lot of work to do, as the heir and ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. She sighed as she placed the completed letter in an already full filing tray. There was no use complaining or muddling about the fact that she had so many tasks to complete. She had to do them; those tasks wouldn't complete themselves, after all. The princess was thankful that she had so many loyal and devoted subjects though, whom even now are helping her in rebuilding the kingdom through a variety of city-scale projects.

She continued to scribble on parchment with a focused attitude for a few minutes, until her progress was interrupted by a phone call directly sent to her office. Happy for a brief pause from her work, Peach picked up the receiver and answered:

"This is Princess Peach. How may I help you?"

She had to hold the phone away from her ear as the responder screamed from the other end:

"P-P-P-Princess! This is urgent!"

Peach recognized the voice as that of her faithful steward, Toadsworth. Knowing that the old Toad typically overreacted about everything, Peach asked him calmly:

"What is it, Toadsworth?"

"Mother of pearls, Princess, Bowser – yes, the Bowser – ..." Like there was anyone else named Bowser, Peach thought. "...is coming over to your window right now, on that dastardly clownish vehicle of his!"

Peach blinked for a moment, overwhelmed by this revelation. She had noticed no disturbances in the air. Turning around so that she faced her window, Peach held the phone at her ear and looked to see if anyone really was approaching the castle. She noticed nothing.

Turning back around, Peach said into the phone, "What do you mean, Toadsworth? I don't see anyone."

"B-But I assure you, P-P-Princess, he's c-coming right for you!"

Right as Toadsworth said this, a loud crash resounded through the room. Peach screamed and threw the phone away as she performed a defensive leap towards her chamber doors. Whisking around, the princess saw that Toadsworth's fears were not due without cause, unfortunately.

There he was, in his bright and shining glory. Bowser, the Koopa King, had arrived again, with the aim of kidnapping Princess Peach once more. As Peach cowered against her door, fearful of what was to come, the shelled, intimidating figure flashed his polished, sharp teeth at her. In a growling voice, Bowser said to his target:

"Long time, no see, Princess Peach!"

The smell of sizzling bacon and eggs drifted out of a small kitchen. A man in green was at the stove, cooking for he and his brother. Today, Luigi was making breakfast. He thought that Mario deserved some rest, especially after Mario had just finished another adventure that led to him saving the world again.

Luigi whistled a small tune as he flipped an egg with his spatula. After cooking the egg for another minute or so, Luigi deposited it onto a well-worn plate next to some fresh toast and bacon on the dining table, where cups of hot coffee rested with steam rising out of them. The two plumbers lived modestly, not accepting any income aside from that of their declared professions.

Located in the middle of a secluded forest, the Mario brothers' house was difficult to come to. Oftentimes the only efficient way of getting to their house was via a warp pipe. This attributed even more the the idea that these two brothers were your typical recluses that lived a slow yet charming life. And in a sense, they were, for both of them – Luigi especially – enjoyed a cautious, determining way of lifestyle.

Luigi found his peace disturbed when there came a knock on the door, however. After he hastily put a half-peeled stick of butter back onto a plate, he quickly ran towards the entrance. Breathless, the poor plumber didn't have a chance to recollect himself once a dozen camera flashes flooded through the doorway. Immediately Luigi found tens of microphones shoved in his face, thoroughly disorienting him even further between the altering raucous of voices and clicking of shutters of cameras.

"W-What the heck is going on?" Luigi managed to say as he clutched at his chest for support.

"You are the brother of the esteemed Mario, correct?" said one faceless reporter in the crowd.

"Please, would you answer some questions, Mister... what was your name again?" said the voice of another reporter.

"Your brother has just returned today, I believe? May we have an interview with him?" asked another one.

Discombobulated and discomforted, Luigi said to the pushy mob of media mongrels, "Fine. You can have him! After he's waken up and eaten breakfast, at least! Now get out of here!"

And with that, he slammed the door in their faces, much to the shock of both the reporters and himself.

Gasping for breath, Luigi's eyes darted frantically to and fro around the room.

With a sigh and clutch of his head, Luigi whispered:

"I've heard enough."

A/N: Three glimpses into the lives of Mario, Peach, and Luigi. All based around something that they've heard far too many times in their lives. Hope you enjoyed!