Foreword

This is a retelling of the pick-it fence's story Buffering. I do not own the idea of this story, but the author herself allowed me to rewrite the story and publish it under my name. Actually, she really wanted me to rewrite it, so, pick-it, here you go!
I recommend NOT reading the original copy that the pick-it fence published some time ago, because this is a retelling (not a remake) and it will incorporate a lot of the same plot points and characters. Unless you wish to spoil the story for yourself, then you are free to read her copy. She doesn't even really like her copy either, so I guess I have a lot to live up to!

Feel free to leave any constructive criticism - I always appreciate it. All reviews are welcome! And if you've read the story before, please do not spoil the story for other readers!

Enjoy ~

- Great Mistake

~1~

He Returns

The small window was barred, though it looked nothing like a window and more like a hole in the wall made from cannon. Princess Daisy could slip nothing more than her thin hand in between the rusted bars into the foreboding darkness. She slid down, against the cold wall.

"Oh, just trust me! The minute that Mario gets here, he'll kick all of your bee-hinds with a single swoop! Then you'll all wish that you were attacking some other rotten kingdom than Sarasaland!"

Daisy looked up. "Toadette," she whispered, "please stop."

"I'm real sorry, Miz Daisy, but I'm giving these hooligans what for!" Toadette shook the metal bars of the cell. "YOU HEAR ME, TANGO? I'M GOING TO COME UP THERE AND KICK YOUR ALIEN BUTT TOO!"

"Tatanga."

Toadette turned. "Huh?"

"His name is Tatanga, not Tango."

Toadette scoffed. "His name could be Mister Haystack Guy and I still wouldn't care. I'll call him whatever I want to call him." She turned back to the bars and shouted, "BECAUSE I'M NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO HIS RULES!"

"Toadette, calm down." Daisy outlined one of the cement layers of the stone. "It's over. Mario's not coming this time."

The mushroom girl turned. "What do you mean, Miz Daisy? He always comes for us, just like he does for Peach. He wouldn't stop cold like that."

"It was a surprise attack. Mario never got the news because Parakarry was caught in this mess, too. He's part of Tatanga's guards now, and it's only a matter of time before Tatanga takes control of Sarasaland."

"Oh, come on now, Miz Daisy!" Toadette walked over to the princess. "Where's your hope in all this? This isn't like you. I'm sure that Mario will get the news and come running this way."

Daisy kept her eyes on the ground. She started to pick at the grainy floor, boring a small hole in the thick sand. Toadette stepped closer and looked down. "I'm getting the sense that you're getting an idea, Miz Daisy."

The princess started to smile. "Yes," she whispered, "I think I do have an idea." Daisy looked up from the floor and looked out in the dimly lit corridor of the dungeon. She turned to Toadette. "Listen to me, Toadette, and you have to keep your voice down."

Toadette nodded, her face lighting up.

"I'm going to dig a big enough hole for you to get into and dig your way out of the dungeon." Daisy turned to the young mushroom girl. Toadette gave one short nod before the princess returned to the small hole in the chunky sand.

Although the castle was built over sand, the sand was tightly packed and hard enough to hold the weight of the Sarasaland castle. If the princess clawed and scraped at the sand for a long time, she'd be able to dig a big enough hole for Toadette to climb into. But, why not dig a hole big enough for the both of them?

Toadette looked to Daisy, about to ask the question when a hypnotized Pinopi entered the dungeon corridor.

"It late," the purple garbed creature said. "Tatanga order sleep."

The girls stared at him for a moment before it bared its fangs and hissed. "Now."

"And just who do you think you are to tell the great Miz Daisy what to do and what –"

Daisy grabbed a hold of Toadette's arm. "Hush," she snapped. "Pretend," she whispered.

Toadette opened her mouth to object, but she only let out a sigh. She walked over to the cot in one side of the room and hopped up on the edge. She lay back, staring at the black ceiling. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the Pinopi waiting - watching. Toadette looked over to Princess Daisy, who rested her head on the wall and closed her eyes. There was utter silence in the cell, but the Pinopi was not pleased. It could sense that they were still awake, so it waited . . . and waited . . . and waited.

The longer the Pinopi stood and stared, the more Toadette and Princess Daisy found themselves starting to drift off into sleep. They tried to stay awake, to keep their focus on the hole, but their heavy eyelids eventually closed their squinted eyes and the world around them faded to black.

The Pinopi raised its lip into a sort of smile, flaunting its sharp teeth. It turned and started up the twisted stairs of the dungeon, back up to the throne room.

It did not take long for the two to enter a deep sleep. Toadette started to toss and turn on the cot, rolling this way and that. The thin sheet was tossed over the side and the pillow fell to the floor. While muttering something under her breath, she flipped to the other side of the cot and fell off the edge. She hit her head on the floor. After letting out a small "Ow" she rubbed her throbbing head and looked up. Though the sky was as black as a cauldron, the mushroom girl made her way to the dent in the floor that was the hole.

"Miz Daisy?" She nudged the woman. "Princess? Are you going to wake up?"

Apparently not, since there was no response from the Sarasin princess. Toadette sighed, displeased that she would have to excavate on her own. She put her fleshy hands into the cold sand and started to dig as fast as she could. Even if there were no guards out now, there was no telling when Tango was going to send another one down. It would probably bring a weird spell with it, too.

Grains of sand started to fly into the air, landing far on the other side of the cell. Toadette turned, realizing that she'd have to cover up her tracks.

The hole was nearly deep and wide enough for her to crawl into. She walked over to the pile of broken sand on the other side of the cell. She dragged it over to the hole.

"Miz Daisy, I'm going to have to have you wake up now."

No reply. The princess kept snoozing.

"Miz Daisy?" Toadette tugged on the princess' sleeve. "Wake up now. You're going to havta wake up now more than ever!"

There was just silence. Toadette sighed, looking behind her to assure herself that there were no guards around.

"Mama told me that if ya want something to get done, you do it yourself." Toadette dropped herself down into the little ditch. "Probably one of the only times she was ever right. Poor woman kept forgetting everything in her later years." She pulled the sand pile close to her. "Goodbye, Miz Daisy. I promise you that I'll get Mario."

The loose sand filled the entrance to the ditch and Toadette continued digging her way through. The tightly packed sand kept a decent roof over her head while she clawed at the middle layers.

The Mushroom Kingdom was a couple of miles east. Toadette continued digging in the same direction, hoping that she'd end up nearby the kingdom.

"I couldn't sleep last night, Mario."

"Explains why you look drained today."

Luigi perked his head up and stared at his brother sitting across from him.

"I've been seeing things lately and –"

"When are you not seeing things?"

"I'm being serious, Mario."

"And I am, too."

"You haven't been serious about" – Luigi made a large gesture – "this."

"Well, what is" – Mario mimicked the gesture – "this?"

"I just don't think that it's best for me to accompany you anymore. On adventures, I mean."

Mario laughed. "You must be kidding, Luigi! It's not like you've had a really bad experience."

Luigi gained a tense anger in his stare and Mario instantly recalled the Void incident. "Luigi," he said in a coaxing voice, "that was a year ago."

"And that's what you said the last time I told you about this! I've made up my mind."

"I couldn't do this without you."

"Yes you can. You've done it all before without me, so you can do it all again without me."

"Luigi –"

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. They turned their heads towards it, but Mario stood. He opened the door and was suddenly tackled to the ground by a pink Toad.

"Oh, you don't know how happy I am to see you!"

Mario looked to Luigi, who shrugged. The older Mario brother pried Toadette off of him. She fell to his side, but bounced right back up. Mario stood, letting out a light groan.

"Toadette, how did you get here?"

She turned to Luigi. "That's a simple. I dug my way here."

"Dug?" Mario rubbed his head. "As in you dug your way through Sarasaland to get here?"

"Eeyep."

"All in a day?"

Toadette looked out the window. The blinds were drawn, but she could see the light of the sun through them. "I just kept on diggin' till I came across a broken Warp Pipe that brought me to the edge of the kingdom." Then she turned to Mario. "But that's not the point. I have some bad news.

"There's been a surprise attack from this purple alien guy, name starts with a T, and he's hyp-no-tized almost everyone in the kingdom, excepting Miz Daisy and myself. I was able to escape, but she stayed behind. She had her reasons to."

Luigi shot up. "Is she still okay?"

"Perfectly fine, I think." Toadette stared at Luigi, trying to recall who he was. It was on the tip of her tongue. Princess Daisy mentioned him before. Did he save her once? No, that was Mario. Then why did the princess talk about him like he did? Now that Toadette really thought about it, she didn't even know that Mario had a brother.

"We should head out now," Luigi said. "If we're lucky, we can probably make it there in a couple of hours. If the Warp Pipe will work, that is." He started to head out the door.

"We?" Mario put his arm out to stop him. "I thought you said that you didn't want to come with me on these kinds of adventures anymore."

Toadette grabbed Mario's arm. "We'll have enough time for your bickering after you two save Sarasaland!" She pulled him out of the house with Luigi following behind them.