Mario sat in a jail cell, patiently. Though he had NO idea what was going on, nor why some of the local residents wearing sunglasses had nabbed him from the landing strip and throw him in here without a word edgewise, he was sure it'd settle itself out fairly quick. He hadn't done anything wrong- In fact, the only thing he'd done since getting here was use a machine to take down a strange creature that had been made out of some sort of pollution! And that had only been in self defense, as the Piranha Plant-esque creature had been an aggressive threat to not only himself, but to the Toads with him and most important of all, the princess.

Now, if that thing had been an endangered species of some sort to Delfino, Mario could understand that he might've gotten into a bit of trouble with the authorities, but then, wouldn't they have let him explain the situation or had warning signs for tourists like them that a dangerous wild animal under legal protection was nearby, or someone to radio in to them while on the plane to land somewhere else? It just didn't make any sense, no matter what angle he tried to look at it.

All he could really do was wait until the morning. He'd heard that there'd be some sort of trial involving him immediately, so it seemed that was his only way out of whatever confusing conundrum he'd wound up in this time. So, Mario sat in the cold, near bare concrete cell, under the full moon's light and with an almost cold breeze nipping at his exposed arms. And waited.

~~~

Morning came, and with it, Mario woke up. He'd fallen asleep sometime in the depths of the night... probably around 1o'clock, by all guesses. To the plumber's surprise, when he got up to stretch, a little pink piece of paper flittered down from atop his signature red cap. Curious, Mario picked it up and straightened it out. It looked as though it'd been crumpled by a tight fist...

What was this?

Mario re-read the words written on the oddly-colored paper. It said: "Don't worry. Got Best lawyer could. C Soon." In a clarifying clue, though the writing was hastily and messily scribbled and re-written over a few times, the graceful cursive-quality even her most rushed printing held came shinning through. And the color, now that he though about it, was a dead-giveaway! Of course it was from Peach. Mario didn't know any other person who's dignity allowed them to write on such a color. Well, none that were currently on the Island, anyways.

Mario wondered how and when exactly Peach had gotten this note to him-was it before or after he'd faded out? He wasn't sure if he would've been able to detect her then either way- when he heard footsteps coming from a few feet away from the door. Mario swiftly pocketed said note in his blue overalls, and inside a smaller pocket inside that. It'd take more than an eye sweep to find it. Though Mario doubted any of the Island people knew the princess well enough to discern who it was from like he had, but they could put 2 and 2 together for some sort of motive (whether true or not, though, he couldn't start to tell); and he didn't want to get Peach in any trouble. Well, anymore than apparently knowing him had.

Mario's thoughts were drawn back to the present as the metal bar-door to his confinements was opened with a careless clang. His eyes nearly bulged at the sight of an impressively muscular guard, who also had a staggering height to the point where Mario was wondering how the guy didn't have to stoop to stand up in here. Sure, he'd faced beings like Bowser and Donkey Kong on occasion (mainly in kart racing, but still), but even with the already large standard height of the average Delfino resident Mario had witnessed while being dragged off to this cell, this fellow was in a like a mammoth!

Shaking off his shock quickly, Mario silently clenched his teeth at the strong, just-less-than-bone-crushing-grip this new guard grabbed his in relation small arm in, pulling the captive out of the cell with one tug. If the trip down to the courthouse was any indication as to how the rest of his time on Delfino was going ot go, Mario was ready to swear on his love for his brother that he would never come here again in his LIFE.

For an official building and the colorful buildings outside, the courtroom was downright dark. With lighting so poor it made Toad Town's local jazz house/pub look as bright as a daisy field in bloom, Mario could only really make out the judge, the witness stand, the prosecution table, and wherever off to the side Peach was sitting in her usual pink dress. When Mario caught sight of her, his heart nearly leapt. Not for joy, though in the darkened room, she seemed to practically glow in a sweet radiance. But from the worry and unease on her face. He didn't exactly miss the nervous glances towards some of the guards not too far away from her, the way she stifled a pestering yawn, how her eyes were sleepy- had she had just a hard a time getting to sleep last night as he had? Then there was the unknown point in the night when she'd slipped him the letter through the upper window of his cell...

What truly frightened him, however, was how she was rubbing her right arm, moved it as little as possible. Right before her eyes met his, he glimpsed what looked very convincingly like a fresh bruise. When her clear blue eyes met his, however, her left hand darted over the suspicious possibly-injury in question, and she flashed him a relieved smile. Despite her eyes still showing some of her worrying she tried to hide in front of him. Mario felt a chill go down his back, and then into his chest. If any of them had hurt Peach...

Ideas involving releasing groups of wild chomps, inviting Iggy of the Koopa Kids to use Delfino as a training ground for his chomps in particular, and sending a message to the rest of the Koopa kids that the island was free game for their own personal playground brewed in the often hero's mind, just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the kind of indirect vengeance he would have the Isle receive had they DARED harm Peach. Iceberg. Huh. You know, it had been a while since Mario had heard back on that research team Peach had on investigating the properties of that incredibly rare Ice Flower. Though things would most certainly still be in the early development stages, Mario was sure a even a prototype might hurt. A Lot. Devastatingly. He'd always wondered what a convection-current-powered explosion would look like, and how spectacular might the damage be between intensified volcanic tropical and harshest, uncontrolled artic-?

Before Mario could loose himself any farther along his pay-back thoughts, the sound of a gavel banging did its job and got his immediate attention.