Partners in Time

## **Plot**

An evil alien species called the Shroobs are patrolling an area where a precious artifact is encased in a clear spherical case. A baby Mario tries reaching for the star but is unfortunately caught by a shroob guard who is about to shoot him but the screen cuts to black.

*Earlier that Morning*

Local mad scientist professor E.Gadd has built his most ambitious invention yet: a time machine. Peach, Toadsworth, and Squirt volunteer to take the first test run. Mario isn't so sure about the choice that they made but E.Gadd assures him that everything will more than likely go according to plan and things won't go south. They will come back to them in less than 5 seconds which is equivalent to about a decade for them. E.Gadd begins counting down but suddenly a windstorm hits and jams one of the machine readers, messing up the wiring and in turn turning off the portal. E.Gadd eventually is able to turn back on the machine but they do not return back. Mario and Luigi begin to worry with the rest of the kingdom following suit. E.Gadd lets them know that a strange anomaly may have occurred during their time in the past, creating a completely different timeline of events and outcomes. He also mentions that there are portals scattered across the land that would lead back to the past. In order to create such jumps in time, they would need to provide large amounts of water. The kingdom works together to bring large pipes of water into the secret locations of portals. Water is poured into a garden hole and out comes a portal. Mario and Luigi agree to jump in and save the others, they begin to change in form, with their bodies becoming affected by the transportation.

*23 years ago*

Mario and Luigi managed to go back in time but find something absolutely terrifying; the kingdom is overrun by the Shroobs. They seek refuge in a nearby village that has been destroyed. The bros admit that while they can technically find out the truth about why they were taken from their parents, their new home is there, and now they must save it. They creep closer to the castle but have no sight on Peach or the others. Suddenly, two shroob guards spot them and begin shooting laser beams at them. The bros then realize the only way to reach the others is to turn themselves in. They surrender and are quickly apprehended. Once in the throne room, they see that there is a Princess Shroob who is unable to speak English. The bros admit they do not understand her but she quickly has them thrown in an underground jail. Mario recognizes the pipework, much like how he had to fix them during the piranha plant situation. He breaks open a pipe which opens up a bigger hole for them to crawl out of. The duo find themselves in a labyrinth of pipes and use water pressure from the other side of the pipes to push themselves out of the underground. They succeed in doing so and begin fighting off the shroobs. The Princess reveals herself and the fact that she can indeed speak English albeit through an alien translator device. She mentions that Peach had also been captured along with Squirt and Toadsworth but are being kept hidden in a much deeper area of the castle. Mario gets the best of the Princess, however, by insisting that he and Luigi are nothing but tourists who seek beautiful pieces of architecture. The Princess seems to buy the story and is distracted enough for Luigi to shoot a flare of fire into a nearby pipe which is still overwhelmed by the pressure the bros caused. This eventually leads the flame to land on the Princess, letting the bros have a chance to attack. Mario tells Luigi to keep her busy while he looks for the others.

Peach, Toadsworth, and Squirt talk about how bad of an idea it was to go on something that was never tested before and begin to dwell on their faulty decision-making. Mario comes to the rescue by unlocking the doors with a key swiped by a nearby guard. The 4 escape the cell and make their way back to the throne room but Peach tells Mario some unfortunate news. She lets him know more of the time they spent in that timeline before they were put in jail.

*5 Hours before 'they' arrived*

Peach, Toadsworth, and Squirt are blasted onto the ground by the accident caused in the future. The trio realizes nothing out of the ordinary in the kingdom, saying how much has changed over the life course of its time. They head into town noting how things used to be, Gary's Yum-Yum Hub barely opened the year prior. Things don't seem to be unnatural until reports of a meteor shower are shown on an old television. The trio sees the supposed meteors in the sky falling towards earth. Suddenly, a large explosion occurs behind them, destroying Gary's restaurant in the process. The kingdom is immediately put into chaos, with shroobs running amok, thus beginning their invasion. Peach glimpses on the tv once more to learn it isn't just the kingdom that is being invaded but the earth itself. An onslaught of an entire shroob army is shown heading towards Earth. Peach warns the others to seek shelter and refuge from the shroobs. Peach and the others hide inside the castle, barricading its entrances. However, they forgot the roof entrance and a shroob manages to sneak inside. Squirt and Toadsworth try to sneak around it in the kitchen while Peach signals them to be wary. Unfortunately, Toadsworth is unable to keep a sneeze in but Peach purposely drops a pan to shield the noise. The shroob heads in Peach's direction but she is ready and whacks it in the face with her parasol. They take this as a moment to flee but become face to face with the Princess who imprisons them inside a modified, toxified version of Peach's castle. Peach begins to fend her off as best she could, wondering to herself why they have returned as it turns out she has clashed with them before, imprisoning the Princess's sister in an artifact called the Cobalt Star. The Princess demands she free her but Peach refuses. Due to this, the Princess imprisons Peach in a cell along with Toadsworth and Squirt.

We cut to the present time, where E. Gadd begins worrying that if the bros do not return within a set amount of time from the past, it will begin to alter the present and therefore change the course of history and its events dramatically.

Luigi continues fending off the Princess until she mentions that there is only one way that she will surrender and leave, asking him to break open the Cobalt star. Unknown to Luigi, he would inadvertently free her sister. He begins to break it bit by bit. Mario and the others arrive and are horrified to see what he is doing but it is far too late and Luigi successfully breaks the star. Claiming it is what the Princess told him to do in order for them to be free but Peach shamefully admits he has been duped. The Princess's sister, who is Queen shroob is released from her prison. She is much bigger than her sister and more terrifying than her. She monologues on how she has been looking forward for the day she gets revenge on Peach and is relieved the day has finally come. Before she deals a blow on any of the team, baby versions of the heroes appear behind them and begin fighting them off. Confused, the team begins questioning what is happening before realizing that they are them but from that timeline, babies. Baby Peach reveals she gathered all the broken pieces of the star along with baby Luigi protecting her. Baby Mario and Present Mario team up and battle it out with the Shroob Sisters while present Peach shelters the babies. The first sister darts after them but Luigi stops her in her tracks. Mario ties her up near a machine set to self-destruct once flown into the air. Mario is captured by the second sister who inflicts a sleeping gas onto him, knocking him unconscious. Peach and baby peach communicate to each other about fixing the star while also telling baby Luigi to keep a watchful eye. Unfortunately, a shroob spots him but he avoids a shot and tackles it in the face. Peach fights off an army of shroobs while present Luigi joins in from above, providing much-needed aid. Baby Peach is almost done assembling the star but is stopped by an explosion right outside the window. The explosion causes the Queen to have a big tumble and in turn cause Mario to awake from his slumber. He moves away from debris in the nick of time and turns on the launch button for the first sister. He fights off the second sister in a brutal battle, using his firepower and punches. He is beaten badly at the end, but before the second sister could finish him off, baby Peach reveals she finished the star and present Peach uses it to trap the Queen once more. She successfully does so with the Princess set to take off. The heroes grabs their baby counterparts and dart off. The ship launches far into space with the rest of the shroob fleet following closely behind. The Princess curses upon the bros before the ship explodes into a fiery explosion. The shroob fleet retreats to their proper planet with the team saying to never mess with Earth. Suddenly the world begins to shake, signaling that they must return back to their proper timelines in order to not continue stressing out the timelines. The group bids farewell to each other before returning to their proper timelines.

The portal is on the brink of closing just before the team dashes through. E.Gadd admits he should have ran more tests on the machine before having test subjects go on. The team is rejoiced with glee and satisfaction of saving the world yet again, this time quite literally. The episode ends on an ominous note, revealing one of the shroobs was left behind,