Chapter 4 - Rise of an Empire

Daisy had been sitting in her room alone for quite some time now. It was the day of her corronation, and the ceremony was quick approaching. Daisy had felt like throwing up that entire morning; she wasn't nearly as ready for this as she probably should have been. She simply stared at her royal gown hanging in the closet, still feeling reluctant to change from her casual clothes.
She just couldn't believe Peach was truly gone. She remembered her last words to her: "It's not like you're going anywhere anytime soon."
If I'd only known...
Unfortunately, there was no changing the facts. Peach was gone, and the Mushroom Kingdom needed a leader. Still, she couldn't help but be resentful. Being a leader of a Kingdom wasn't exactly all it was normally cracked up to be. At this point, she'd be willing to trade places with just about anybody else.
Just then, the door opened. Daisy looked up, half expecting Toadsworth to trot in and tell her it was time to go, but it was Mario instead, wearing a completely emotionless face.
"Mario!" Daisy was surprised, "I didn't expect to see you here."
"I thought maybe you and I could have a small chat," Mario replied.
Daisy's gaze left Mario's and drifted to the floor, "I didn't see you at the funeral..."
The funeral service had been held the day Mario went off on his...mission.
"I was preoccupied," Mario answered, "But enough about me; what about you?"
"Me?" Daisy asked meekly, "I'm about ready to hurl." The room went silent for a while, then Daisy continued by saying, "I don't wanna do this. I mean, I'm not a princess. Not really, anyway. I mean...look at me. Do I look capable of leading an entire Kingdom? I can't even manage my own ant farm."
Daisy's eyes began to well up as she spoke, "I can't do this..."
Mario showed little emotion, "Well, if you don't, who will?"
"There's the rub," Daisy answered, who hardly noticed Mario's emotionlessness, "There is nobody else."
"Well, not exactly nobody," said Mario.
"Wha'dya mean?" Daisy asked, finally looking straight at Mario.
"Simply that maybe...I could take you're place," Mario stated in simplistic manner.
Daisy chuckled a little and replied, "Thanks, but I doubt old 'Bushy Shroom' will ever agree to that."
"Well," Mario said as he raised his finger, "There is one way."
Before Daisy could ask, Mario shot a bolt of energy from his finger and connected it with Daisy's throat. Her eyes popped open wide, but her voice was choked out. Mario then brought her off the ground with the energy bolt and opened up a worm hole directly beneath her feet.
"Sorry," Mario continued, in a much more cruel tone than before, "But if I'm to become King, you have to disappear."
Daisy tried to scream, but couldn't. She tried grabbing for the her throat, but the energy bolt singed her hands. She glanced down; the worm hole below her looked like a gaping mouth of doom, ready to swallow her whole. Desperately, she looked at Mario with pleading eyes, praying he'd come to his senses and let her go. Mario's eyes, however, were unrelenting.
"Good bye," Mario finally said, and released the energy bolt, letting Daisy fall into the worm hole. She barely got out a gasp before the worm hole sucked her in, and then she was gone. Mario then closed the worm hole with a simple snap of his fingers.
Smiling to himself, he strode over to Daisy's stationary desk, pulled out a piece of paper and pen, and started scrawling a 'farewell note from Daisy'...

The news that broke in the following hours was astonishing. Daisy actually running away; the people couldn't believe their ears. To think she would actually abandon them in their time of need. It was simply despicable.
At this point, all of Mushroom Kingdom began to lose hope. With no leader, the entire Kingdom would surely collapse into chaos. But then, another unexpected event occured: Mario stepped forward, and offered to be their leader.
It made perfect sense. Why shouldn't he be their leader? It actually shouldn't have been a surprise that he would do this; he'd already done so much for the Mushroom Kingdom. And now, with Mario in command, there could've been no going wrong.
And sure enough, Mario had done exactly what a real leader should've done: he took action. From the moment he assumed the throne, he proposed a whole slew of changes for the Mushroom Kingdom.
First off, he felt the Kingdom deserved so much more than simply to be a tiny little Kingdom. He wanted the Kingdom to be so much more. Thus, he instigated a new Manifest Destiny plan, in which the Mushroom Kingdom would expand it's borders, and in time, seek to unite the entire world under the Mushroom Kingdom's Banner. And sure enough, the Mushroom Kingdom's influence expanded until all the world accepted it, willingly or otherwise, as the one and only world power.
But this was only the beginning. In the midst of their expansion, Mario had revealed to the Mushroom Kingdom the knowledge he'd gained not to long ago. He told the people that, through a mystical vision, he'd been made aware of countless other universes. The concept was somewhat mind-boggling to them, but there were a select number of scientists in the Mushroom Kingdom who felt his ideas were more than sound.
Mario also told them that, in this vision, he'd been told that these other universes were dangerous places. Worlds with horrors far beyond anything in the scopes of their imaginations. In order to protect themselves from such threats, Mario proposed building an army to strengthen themselves and to capture these new, hostile worlds, thus making themselves more secure and spreading their influence throughout the different universes, in the name of promoting peace among these other worlds. Some were a bit skeptical about Mario's ambitions, but the plan was welcomed in general, and recieved the support of the entire Kingdom.
And within one years time, Mario had taken his tiny Kingdom, and elevated them to a mighty empire. All that was left, was to make their presence known to the rest of the universe. Gathering his new armada, and utilizing the new inter-dimensional technology created by the kingdom's scientists, he led his people down their new path...

As for Daisy, her fate wasn't as final as Mario would have assumed. Whether by chance, by his lack of knowledge on how to use his powers, or by someother twist of fate, Daisy was not sucked into nothingness, but simply moved to a new location.
The worm hole in question had opened up high over a grassy plain on a completely different planet. Daisy simply stared down as the ground rose up to meet her. She was certain that this was her end. But then, in a flash, she was whisked from the air and in the grips of someone while flying at incredibly high speeds. Completely delirious at this point, Daisy felt capable of no other reaction than to faint. But just before she faded out, she glanced towards her rescuer, to see small pink face...

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