Yoshi landed with a heavy thump after scaling down the cliff side of the mountains. He had forgotten the strong wind currents that fought them during their arrival, it tested his ability to balance while keeping Mario secured to his saddle. Shortly after the two made their run down the trail leading home Mario lost consciousness. He fell heavily forward onto Yoshi's back and neck. Refusing to stop, Yoshi used his arms to try to hold Mario steady as he continued to move at a quick pace toward the Mushroom Kingdom.

The blood from Mario's chest wound had completely stained the front of his shirt and white gloves. The bleeding had finally stopped but not before Mario lost a significant amount. He had grown pale from the blood loss, his body heavy and limp on Yoshi's back.

With one last burst of speed Yoshi sprinted off down the trail to the Mario Bros home. Yoshi easily leapt over any obstacle on the path as he dashed past the dried up spring and began running even faster! Mario did not regain consciousness despite the ruckus Yoshi was making. Yoshi turned a corner and bolted uphill. As he peaked the hill he spied the lit up home of the Mario Bros. and relief washed over him, it gave him enough of an adrenaline rush to run the rest of the way to the house.

Panting Yoshi opened the door, awkwardly carrying Mario inside.

From upstairs Peach heard someone come inside the house. She went downstairs to see who and at first she was relieved to see Mario and Yoshi but seeing the blood stains on Mario changed her tune quickly.

Yoshi proceeded to carry Mario upstairs and into the bedroom with Luigi. Daisy turned in time to see Mario's unconscious body being carried in. She put a hand to her mouth to cover her audible gasp. No one had ever seen Mario in such a state of injury, it seemed surreal if not unreal.

Gently Yoshi lifted Mario onto the bed. Peach took Mario by the shoulders and softly placed him on the soft surface, her hands cradled his heavy head as she laid him down. His eyes barely opened but only for an instance, letting everyone in the room know he was still clinging to life.

Upon seeing Mario's broken body Peach took off her long evening glove and placed her bare hand on Mario's chest. He let out a quiet moan of pain as her hand met wound. She carefully pulled Mario's torn shirt upward completely exposing the injury Peach was taken aback by the sight of three long, deep gashes going in a diagonal direction from torso to shoulder.

Yoshi watched impatiently as Peach assessed Mario's physical condition. In order to remove his tattered shirt completely, Peach first took off Mario's cap. The "Remedial Bloom" fell from the cap and onto the bed next to Mario's head. Peach picked up the flower and held it in her hands. She turned to Yoshi who had begun to pull the rest of the flowers from his saddlebag. Peach did not expect them to return with any flowers at all, let alone a full bouquet!

Peach took the flower and a second flower from Yoshi over to the table with the information and equipment she had gathered from the castle. Peach then instructed Yoshi to go to the castle and give the remaining flowers to the scientists, and from there they'd create the antidote hopefully saving the Mushroom Kingdom denizens.

Yoshi did as he was told, leaving quickly and sprinting the entire way to the castle in the distance.

From across the room Daisy watched as Peach carefully followed the instruction on extracting the antidote from the bloom. She placed the flowers petals into a beaker and warmed it over a Bunsen burner. While waiting for the concoction to brew Peach returned to Mario's bedside and began to clean his wounds.

Mario was weak and sleeping deeply, unable to be awakened. Peach thoroughly cleaned the gashes and Mario's hand would occasionally twitch in response to the pain.

Luigi was still breathing in a very shallow manner, his fever would not decrease and he had shown no other signs of life after squeezing Daisy's hand, it seemed so long ago to the princesses when this whole situation even began. The ice packs had all melted but Daisy was still using the icy water to keep Luigi cool and as comfortable as possible, hoping that she could keep him alive for just a little longer.

Just as Peach had begun to dress Mario wounds with heavy bandages, a very sweet smell filled the room. The "Remedial Bloom" was releasing a very pleasant and soothing aroma from its boiled petals. The scent itself was soothing. Peach wrapped Mario's chest in the bandages. He did not move as she aided him. But for the first time in two days she was not worried. She had faith in Mario and Luigi's ability to survive any situation. They've saved her and her people more times than she could count. But now it was her turn to help them when they needed it most.

Yoshi returned to the room after his long run to the castle with a letter was clutched in his hand. Peach read the paper reluctantly unsure of what to expect: It was good news! The scientists had managed to extract the antidote successfully. The infected denizens were given injections while the rest of the antidote was dumped into the local water supply to prevent and to treat any other possible victims.

As Peach put the letter down the smell of the flowers intensified. The antidote was almost ready! All she had to do was mix in some FireFlower pollen. After combining the two ingredients, Peach quickly divided the mixture into two equal portions into two small bowls.

Peach handed Daisy the bowl with the cure. Peach then returned to Mario's side.

Daisy gently lifted Luigi's head and she held the bowl to his lips and slowly poured the concoction into his mouth. She wasn't sure how much to give him and she didn't want to choke him, so she delivered the elixir with sow caution. After she was certain Luigi had managed to drink some of the antidote she laid his head back down onto the pillow. Daisy placed a freshly chilled compress onto his forehead, again.

On the other side of the room Peach had removed the bandages on Mario's chest and she used a clean cloth to rub the compound into the wounds. In response to the treatment Mario would twitch in silent pain. The ancient book claimed the "Remedial Bloom" could cure all poisons and injuries. She just hoped the book was right. Re-wrapping his chest Peach sat on the edge of the bed running her fingers through Mario's thick hair.

Back across the room Luigi's breathing began to stabilize. He was no longer gasping for breath. For the first time in two days he could take in a deep breath without struggling. Daisy placed her hand on his chest feeling it rise and fall steadily. She smiled at her friend. A tear in her eye she looked up and over at Peach who returned the same smile.

Two more days passed: Mario's eyes opened heavily, he was still weak from his wounds but alive. He attempted to sit up but was too weak and started to fall back into his bed. Just as he was about to hit his head on the pillow he felt a hand grab his shoulder and steady him. Mario looked over to see who was holding him up. With tears of joy in his eyes he saw it was none other than his little brother Luigi!

The cure had prevailed! The effects of the poison had been eliminated.

The night before, Luigi's fever had finally broken. He woke up to the sight of Daisy, Peach and Yoshi watching him as he slept. Creepy yes, but it made him feel safe as well. Luigi had a million questions: What happened to him? How long was he out? Was anyone else hurt?… But when he asked about Mario, Peach had the grim duty of informing him of the situation that had taken place. She nodded to the other side of the room drawing Luigi's attention to Mario, who was still unconscious in his bed.

Sooner than anyone expected, Luigi had managed to get up and move around and he did so without needing any assistance. He spent the next day taking care of his big brother the same way Mario had taken care of him. As soon as Mario began to regain consciousness Luigi wanted his face to be the first thing that Mario saw. Luigi was at his side at all hours of the previous day and that morning.

Peach and Daisy walked into the room and were overjoyed to see both of their men, their heroes; alive and well.

It seems that no matter how many times Bowser tries Mario and Luigi will always triumph. After all, they are the Super Mario Bros.

-The End

Author's Note: Just thought I'd point out that it's the 20th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros film. And I admit it, I own a copy and watch it pretty often! ;)