Super Mario Odyssey (Fan Novelization)

Prologue

In the skies above Peach's Castle...

A scaly fist slammed into the deck of the pearly white airship. The man who had been standing there moments ago quickly dodged to the back, never taking his bright blue eyes off his adversary - some kind of turtle. His enemy then launched himself into the air, forcing him to dash forwards and avoid the beast's steel soles. Bowser has really pimped up THIS kidnapping, he thought to himself.

A huge ball of flame heading straight for his face snapped him out of his thoughts. Stumbling to one side, he reeled back, only narrowly missing the blazing projectile as it flew off into the sky. Both hero and villain squared off on the airship's deck again, both anticipating each other's moves, and the battle ceased for a moment.

Behind the beast, the fair princess of the Mushroom Kingdom watched the duel with fear for her hero written all over her face. Taking a deep breath, she reminded herself that Mario had always been able to save her. He would come through, as he always did. 

Being kidnapped was no surprise for her. After all these dramatic kidnaps and rescues - how many times had Bowser kidnapped her by now? - she now knew for a fact that Mario would always come through, with or without help from his brother. She now held onto that fact as her only hope for getting out of this situation. 

Then again, this was no ordinary kidnapping. To think that the fiend had wanted to marry her! The thought filled her with rage, almost enough to set her own body aflame with it. Drawing her focus back into the battle, she watched as Bowser slowly drew his last weapon - his hat - and flung it at the plumber. 

The princess's hero, Mario, was not expecting a piece of clothing to be so deadly. The giant hat swooped at his head, threatening to guillotine him - had he not ducked a little at the very last second. Now instead of his head, only his own crimson cap drifted off into the sky. Barely noticing the fact that one of his most precious possessions was drifting off into the unknown, he turned back to the monster. 

That was his mistake.

To Peach's horror, the giant hat was making a U-turn for the plumber, aiming straight for his exposed back. Although it was made of cloth, it had proven to be quite deadly - as Bowser's attack on some poor black-and-white town earlier had proven. As his eyes met hers, she pointed behind him, as one last, desperate warning. He spun around in astonishment, but it was too late. 

The hat's brim smashed into his body, knocking him clean off the ship, and far off into the distance. Peach screamed his name as she watched him fly off into the unknown. The strangely sentient tiara on her head bounced around and peered down worriedly from atop her blonde hair. But she couldn't do anything about it. None of them could. Their hero was gone, and she knew it. 

Her only hope was that he had somehow, miraculously, survived the fall.

Bowser let out a wicked laugh. Just the sound of it made Peach cringe. She couldn't believe it. Then she spotted a flick of red - Mario's hat. It slowly drifted down onto the deck of the airship, resting on the carpeted floors for a second, before Bowser slammed his foot onto it, as it to add insult to injury. Tipping his own hat in the general direction Mario had been knocked off the ship, he started towards the princess, who only lowered her head, away from the creature that almost murdered her last hope.

Mario's cap drifted uselessly away in the wind, being carried by the breeze - until it hit the blades of the airship's back propeller, and was sliced into what felt like a million pieces - just like her heart.

• • •

As one of the larger scraps drifted by, a small, hat-shaped, ghost-like creature floated upwards, and it grabbed the piece of torn fabric with its stubby hands. Looking down at the bright red "M" emblazoned on it, the hat ghost glanced towards the airship, then at the general area where Mario had fell. 

Giving the airship one last, worried stare, it took off after Mario.