The year was 1988, three years after the devastating war between the Mushroom Kingdom and the armies of Bowser. Life had pretty much returned to normal for everyone. Mario, Paulene and Luigi moved into a nice townhouse in the suburbs of the capitol and started a plumbing company. Princess Peach, however, did not settle down. Instead, she began working on a plan to consolidate her power. First, she would need to find a way to get Mario by her side forever.

Peach's spies sought out the location of the Warp Pipe that brought Mario and friends to the Mushroom Kingdom. Upon finding it, they destroyed the gateway, eliminating any chance that Mario could ever return home to Brooklyn. Before they did this, they made contact with the Kong family and made them an offer that they couldn't refuse.

Before her plans could come to fruition, a crisis gripped the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser had regrouped and invaded many of the surrounding states. The Koopas had deposed the kings of these nations and stolen the magic wands that protected them. With the rest of the continent in chaos, it was bound to be only a matter of time before Bowser and his children made a move against the Mushroom Kingdom.

(Wait a minute, Bowser has children!? That's right, the king of the Koopas had sired not one or two, but 7 little koopalings. Nobody really knows who the lucky Ms. Bowser was. According to rumors, he married his high school sweetheart and they had a short and turbulent relationship. In the divorce settlement, Ms. Koopa got the house and car while Mr. Koopa ended up with the kids and the endless turtle armies. The Koopa kids joined the family business and quickly became King Bowser's most feared generals.)

Princess Peach summoned the Mario Brothers to the castle and begged for their assistance. If the Koopas weren't stopped now, they would grow so powerful that nothing could stop them from overrunning the world. Mario and Luigi agreed to help one last time. They ventured out into the Mushroom World and defeated all of Bowser's children, freeing the conquered kingdoms. However, while the brothers were out saving the world, Bowser quietly snuck into the undefended Mushroom Kingdom and captured Peach once again.

The entire war had just been a diversion to get the plumbers away from the princess so Bowser could kidnap her. The Koopa King was still determined to have Peach for himself. As a single father of 7, Bowser was having a difficult time balancing his work with his family. The Koopa kids needed a mother to take care of them while their father was out sowing chaos and anarchy throughout the world (and what better way to bond with your children then to help them capture a new mommy).

Despite his grandiose plans, Bowser would find himself over matched yet again by the Mario Bros. They stormed his fortress and rescued Peach for a second time. Upon their return to the Mushroom Kingdom, the trio were hailed as heroes. Mario and Luigi were the invincible protectors of the kingdom and Peach was the strong and brave leader who faced down Bowser twice and didn't give in.

However, Mario was going to retire from the hero business to be with Paulene. And Luigi wasn't strong enough to protect the kingdom on his own. Peach would have to make her move and quickly before Mario was lost to her forever. This time, Bowser wasn't around to get in her way. For her plans to work, Peach would have to get the Mario Brothers out of the country for a while.

The princess' prayers were answered In 1989 when the Mushroom Kingdom received word that the tiny neighboring nation of Sarasaland had been invaded by the alien warlord Tantanga. Fearing that her country might be next, Princess Peach tried to convince Mario to eliminate Tatanga and save the people of Sarasaland. Although Mario wanted nothing more than settle down with his soon to be wife Paulene, he agreed to take on one final adventure. Peach promised that after this fight was over, that she would not ask for his help anymore.

Tatanga proved to be no more capable of standing up to the Mushroom Kingdom's champions than Bowser was. Mario and Luigi plowed through the invaders and rescued Princess Daisy, the only surviving member of Sarasaland's royal family. Victorious, the Mario Bros and Daisy returned to Princess Peach's castle to report on the battle. When they reached their destination, the plumber would recieve devastating news, Paulene was missing!

The entire Mushroom Kingdom was mobilized to help find Mario's fiancée. Princess Peach promised to do everything in her power to find out what happened to Paulene and bring her home. An official investigation by Mushroom Kingdom authorities began to piece together what happened to her. Rumors soon began to circulate that Bowser was the key suspect in her disappearance. The king of the Koopas had been defeated by Mario twice and eliminating Paulene would have been a perfect act of revenge. But Bowser was nowhere to be found, weeks soon turned into months without so much as a trace of the Koopas or Paulene. It would soon become clear that she was never coming back.

Mario swore revenge on Bowser and the Koopa clan. He vowed to track them down and destroy them for what they had done. Peach convinced a distraught Mario not not to do anything rash by pursuing Bowser. In exchange for all the good that he and his brother had done for the kingdom, she offered to let them move into the castle itself where they would be taken care of. Sad and weary, the plumbers agreed and soon became honored guests of Princess Peach.

What really happened was quite different from the official version of events. While the Mario Bros. were out saving Sarasaland, Peach had invited Paulene to stay with her at the castle until her fiancée returned, she even sent her chief of security, Toadsworth, to personally escort her to the castle. Paulene happily accepted the offer and packed her bags for the long trip.

Paulene never made it to the castle. Instead of bringing her to the castle, Toadsworth delivered Paulene to a waiting Donkey Kong. Peach had agreed to give the Kong family an island of their very own in exchange for getting rid of Paulene and their promise that they would keep this arrangement secret forever. The only people who knew the truth were the Kongs, Toadsworth, and Peach herself.

With Paulene out of the picture, Princess Peach thought that nothing could stand between her and Mario. However, there was one kink in her perfect plan. When Mario had saved Sarasaland, Princess Daisy had come back with him. Daisy had been a low ranking member of the Sarasaland royal family before Tatanga's invasion. She was never meant to rule her shattered kingdom and did not want to return to it. Sarasaland was slowly rebuilding but there was no place in it for an unwilling leader. Both Daisy and Mario had lost people close to them and their shared suffering brought them closer together.

Peach could not afford to allow Daisy and Mario to get any closer. It became clear that she would have to deal with Daisy much like she had to deal with Paulene...

Continue to Part 3