"Hella Rad Times At Sakurai High" by hoopedbaskets93
Summary:
A typical High School fic, with a few twists! Mario and Luigi enroll at the most renowned educational establishment in the universe, but is the laid back school life all it's cracked up to be? Episode 1! Princess Peach and the other lovely ladies of Sakurai High begin their own rigorous classes, but most of them don't go quite exactly as planned on their second day. With so many interruptions in their way, can Peach and Mario come out unscathed?
Genre: Friendship & Romance
Rating: T
All copyright goes to their respective owners.
"Oh, Princess! Princess, it's time to get out of bed! We shan't be late for school now, chop chop!" a jolly voice called out as a groggy Princess Peach arose from her queen sized bed.
"Mmgh... Toadsworth, it's so early... Must I?" she yawned as she pushed aside the large, billowy blanket she was sleeping soundly under. Gently kicking her pink fuzzy slippers on, she walked over to her room's balcony to admire the sunrise as she began to stir awake, Toadsworth still blabbering loudly and incessantly in her ear.
"...and after breakfast, I'll escort you to one of the kingdom's personal limousines, at which we shall arrive to the school's front gates by-" the dapper old Toad rambled onward as he followed the irritated girl around before the she kindly interrupted him.
"There is no need for any of that, Toadsworth! I will take the bus, just as all the other students will..." she said as she began to gently comb out her early morning bed head.
"B-but!" he sputtered out, stunned and appalled by the princess's unruly decision.
"No buts! Father and mother said I could do whatever I wished, and I wish to go to school like a normal student!" she insisted, soon thereafter heading into her personal bathroom for a quick shower before changing into proper clothing.
"Princess, please let me say that I think it would be for the best if you-" he tried to get out as fast as his mouth could let him before the bathroom door was slammed shut in his face. In stubborn determination, he raised his voice, hoping the running shower head wasn't entirely drowning out his words. "JUST DISREGARD ALL THIS "NORMAL" HERESY AND BEHAVED LIKE A PRIM AND PROPER-"
"There's no need to yell, either, Toadsworth!" Peach said as she came out as quickly as she went in, now more adequately dressed than the pale nightgown she was in minutes prior, a puff of steam following her out the door.
"Harrumph. So, as I saying-" he tried to repeat himself in a more hushed tone, only to be interrupted yet again by the princess.
"Toadsworth..." she shot an icy cold glare to the older gentleman as she opened her walk-in closet, causing him to begin sweating Bullet Bills. "Where did all my casual clothing go?"
"A-ah, yes, a-about that, P-Princess..." he stuttered meekly, struggling to find words that would not further provoke her imminent wrath, "W-well, you see..."
"I certainly hope you didn't rid me of them, Toadsworth, because I'm going out with the girls when school is over... And if I don't have anything to wear..." she insinuated threateningly, crossing her arms. Though she did not need to finish her sentence, as the blubbering elder spat out his understanding as soon as she closed her mouth.
"I'LL HAVE THE GUARDS BRING THEM BACK UP RIGHT AWAY, MADAME!" he let out frantically, darting out of the room and down the stairs, shouting incomprehensible commands at every worker in the castle.
"Well, that takes care of that." she let out in satisfaction upon obtaining her much needed quiet time to herself. After spending a moment of contemplation, she picked out her pair of shoes for the day and headed outside the castle to wait for the bus by the castle's entryway gates. But only after shooing away several overprotective guard Toads who insisted on escorting her there.
"When will they ever learn..." she sighed to herself as she stood in wait for the bus to arrive.
Even after just starting her second year in Sakurai High, still did no one in the castle choose to respect her wishes. The only sole exception being her parents, the king and queen of the Mushroom Kingdom. Toadsworth will always be the stubborn, old-fashioned coot that he is, but even her loyal workers couldn't quite get used to treating her like a "normal" young woman.
Before getting any further lost in thought, her concentration was cut off by a pair of young Toad brothers passing her at the bus stop.
"Hi, Princess Peach!" the younger, yellow brother greeted cheerfully.
"Having a good morning, Miss Toadstool?" the older, blue sibling asked.
"Oh, I'm doing fine. Thank you." she replied quietly, though delayed, as they walked away smiling.
After a few more minutes coming and going, a familiar stressed engine noise rumbled and chugged along its way over. Covering her mouth as to not inhale all of the smoke and gas polluting the air around her, she quickly made her way inside, but not before being greeted by the "sweet talking" bus driver.
"Ah... Good mornin', me wee sea breeze..." he said hoarsely upon seeing the princess.
"U-um, he-hello, Kapp'n..." she nervously greeted back.
"Ah, dat perfume, it smells lovely on ye', lassie..." he complimented in a raspy tone of voice as she drew hesitantly closer.
"Th-that isn't perfume, Kapp'n, I think it's coming from your engi-" she tried to explain before getting interjected by someone from the back.
"Hey, Peach! Stop wastin' your time on that crazy old perv and get over here!" shouted Daisy from the left side row of seats, raising her arm for the blonde to know her exact location in the fragile contraption. Not wanting to speak to the driver for any longer than she had to, she scurried over without a word.
"It's bad enough we have to sit in this death trap, but with him at the driver's seat? Yeesh..." she grumbled, folding her arms as Peach sat herself down beside her.
"Oh, it isn't that ba-" she tried to stay positive before the grimacing look on her best friend's face forced her to stop mid-sentence.
"And what's with these seats? It's like they're made outta rock or somethin'..." Daisy griped as she wiggled and writhed in place as a means to try and wake up her numbing backside, still as uncomfortable from when she first sat down.
"It is rather... quaint, isn't it..." Peach murmured as she stared outside the filthy, grimy window, not being able to make out a single clear image as the bus drove ever so slowly past them.
"Quaint sure is a funny way of saying "horrible"..." Daisy complained again, her words bringing out more awkward silence between her and her friend.
"S-so..." Peach tried to lighten the mood by finally changing subjects, "Whatever happened to that person from yesterday? The one you accidentally..."
"Oh, tennis ball guy? He was totally okay with it..." she said bluntly and unfazed, kicking her feet up on the seat in front of her.
"R-really now?" Peach was taken aback somewhat by such news, though Daisy looked anything but surprised.
"This school's fulla' weirdos, I tell ya'..." Daisy said in a huff, crossing her arms again.
"I... I see..." Peach fumbled in place, still unsure of what to say.
As the two sat next to one another in silence, though surrounded by noises of screeching tires and clamoring students around them, with the faint, barely audible mumbles from the driver, the bus sluggishly, unevenly made its way to the front gates of its destination, Sakurai High.
"Awright! Let's blow this pop stand!" Daisy shouted in triumph as she hopped out of the unstable vehicle, rudely pushing and shoving whomever was unlucky enough to be in the lass's way.
Peach, however, walked out of the bus carefully, both avoiding equally impatient students but mostly eye contact from the driver. Making their way through the swarms and bunches of people surrounding them, they found themselves at the front entryway doors of the school. Waiting nearby was their fellow princess friend, Zelda. Upon sharing their early morning welcomes between each other, they headed inside for their first class of the day.
"So, I heard history class is going to have this big thing on the architecture of the Mushroom Kingdom... Something about it dating back to millions of years or so..." Zelda shot the breeze as they walked down the main halls.
"Oh? Where did you hear that?" Peach felt compelled to ask, curious as to how Zelda obtained such information.
"Somebody, I'm guessing the teacher, was talking to themselves about it. Like they were rehearsing a speech or something..." Zelda shrugged, unsure if this was actually the case or not.
"I see..." Peach let out quietly, her mind pondering similar thoughts.
"Ugh, can we just get this over with? I'm already falling asleep just thinking about it!" Daisy griped aloud as they approached the door, the brunette kicking it open and walking in first as the other two looked on in rosy cheeked embarrassment.
"Oh, goodness! That startled me!" the spectacled Toad at the teacher's seat jumped up as the trio came in and made themselves seated. Peach and Zelda gesturing their apologies to the alarmed man while Daisy disregarded the matter altogether.
"A-anyway..." he began after calming himself for a moment, "Now that everyone seems to be here, we can begin class. The last teacher couldn't make it due to food poisoning, so I will be taking his role temporarily until he returns. With that said... Hello, children, my name is Russ T., and today we will be..."
As the longwinded Toad went on and on with his unnecessarily long introduction speech, Peach did her best to keep concentrated with the never-ending rambles of the teacher, the grumbling sounds coming from her friend beside her, and Zelda's repetitive scribblings on her notepad as she tried to keep up with what the teacher was saying, all of which adding onto her growing irritation at once.
"And if anyone has any questions before we officially begin, please feel free to ask me!" he paused for a rare moment before taking the collective silence as his sign to continue, much to the dismay of everyone else in the room. "Alrighty then! So, as I was saying, the Mushroom Kingdom, its famous grounds being built as early as the..."
Though she didn't wish to behave so unkindly in front of the teacher and the rest of the class, something about the rushed pace of the way he was talking became numbing to her ears, causing her to feel bored and drowsy despite it being only a few minutes since it began. Although she grew up listening to such lengthy speeches in her youth during her early training of becoming a princess to her kingdom, something about this one only proved tiresome to her. She could feel herself begin to doze off by the second, and before her eyelids decided to stay shut once and for all, she could feel a flat, stabbing poke at her forearm. It was Daisy, trying to hand her a note from across their desks.
Not knowing how long that had gone on for, she took the folded piece of paper with haste, hoping the teacher or a tattletale amongst them didn't catch on. Opening it carefully, as to not make too much noise, she began to read it. Trying to contain her sudden burst of laughter from finishing it, her other hand tried to quickly make its way up to her mouth to cover it before any more muffled noises could come from it. But to no avail. Coughing as harshly as she could to cover it up, it was already too late as her abrupt actions earned her a glare from the teacher.
"Is something... funny, Miss Toadstool?" his expression shifting to something more serious as he gave the princess a stern look.
"I... Uh, w-well..." she stuttered, twiddling her thumbs as nothing but sheer blankness went throughout her panicking mind. It was at times like this where she almost wished everyone would treat her unconditionally as a princess, rather than a normal student, after all.
"Well, you see, 'teach! She uh..." Daisy tried to stand up for her friend as guilt began to overtake her, but she was just as speechless in the end.
"I certainly hope you two weren't doing anything back there that you shouldn't have been. I wouldn't want to report either of you to the principal, royal statuses notwithstanding..." his gaze peering over to Peach's desk, taking note of the now crumpled ball of paper in her shaking hands. Sighing to himself, he walked over to the two regrettably. As Zelda sat firmly in her own seat pretending this wasn't currently happening, the other princesses' panic rose even greater as the teacher slowly approached them.
"Well then, I'll be confiscating this now. You two should've known better than to disobey one of the most highly enforced rules of the school..." he sighed again, reaching over to take the note as the two watched on, bodies stiff from defeat. As his hand inched closer and closer to the item in question, something caught the class's ears.
"...Do guys you hear something?"
"Wh... what is that sou-"
"I think it's..."
FWOOOOOOOOOOOMSHK!
"OH SNAP!" Daisy ducked under her desk as the front wall of the room exploded before their very eyes, Peach and the other students following similar instinct.
"You complete, utter, and absolute SHMUCK!" an infuriated voice hollered from the other room as the dust slowly began settle, "I TOLD you not to mix the blue chemical with the red one! I TOLD YOU, BRO!"
"NO YOU-A DIDN'T, LUIGI! YOU-A SAID THE LIGHT BLUE-A ONE WAS-A BAD!" another angered, accented voice yelled back, even louder than the one before it.
As Peach peeked over what was left of her desk, she made out the two feuding figures from the distance. Immediately recognizing them, she looked over to Daisy.
"S-say, isn't that..."
"H-hey, Peach... Where's the teacher...?" Zelda interrupted as she regained her voice from the initial shock.
"Oh yeah, I don't see him anywhere..." Daisy noticed as soon as Zelda pointed out his absence, looking around as best she could through the dust and smoke filling the air.
"D-don't worry, children! I am right here, safe and sound! No one panic, I'll have this all under control in a mome-" Russ T. called out from the far back of the room, shortly before another large chuck of drywall fell on his head, conking him out unconscious for good this time. No one in the room cared, nor did they notice it happen altogether, while Daisy rushed into the following room through the giant hole in their own class's wall.
"Is everybody alright?!" she asked the students of the neighboring class as she barged in, finally taking action herself.
"I think everybody's alright, but thanks to this putz we-" Luigi began before he realized who exactly he was answering to. Her presence hit him like a sack of bricks to the face, and similarly to his brother his composure reverted to that of a lovestruck, stammering nincompoop.
"We don't-a know what-a happened to our-a teacher, though..." Mario finished for him, "It-a all went-a by so-a fast..." he fumbled with his goggles nervously as he looked around the remains of what was previously their chemistry class.
"Okay, so, I'll go get some help, and you guys stay here and make sure everybody remains calm and stuff!" Daisy said as she ran back out the door and down the halls, allowing Luigi to act like a responsive human being again.
"Guh... S-so, as I was trying to say, we are SO flunking this. If the teacher is even alive to sign our "homework," that is..." Luigi finally finished for himself, morbidly. He soon noticed Peach and other classmates from the connected room letting themselves in to assist with the clean up.
With the group efforts between both classes working together, the cleaning finished up in a fairly timely manner. With both teachers of each class out of commission, the respective classes were canceled for the day and the group of Peach, Daisy, and Zelda took it upon themselves to have an early lunch while the cafeteria area was mostly cleared out and moreover safe to enter at this time of the day.
"I don't think I've ever been to the second floor seats before..." Peach said in self-contained excitement as they marveled at how large the room was when it wasn't full beyond the brim of hungry students as it typically was.
"Yup, and I heard the view from the balcony area is really a sight for sore eyes!" Daisy added, taking her time with picking out her small meal as there was no line rushing her.
"Not to mention the food. It actually looks... edible, during this time of the day." Zelda said in awe as she looked on at how... fresh, the contents within the containers looked. They didn't seem dried out, or soggy, and cold. Quite the opposite, as they appeared still steaming hot, as if it was actually finished within the hour they arrived.
As the three enjoyed a relaxed, casual banter, their peace and quiet amongst themselves was soon broken as another pair of ladies entered through the cafeteria doors. The sight of a pink hedgehog wearing a dress that was as indecent as it was red, and a smaller, younger beige rabbit in a slightly less revealing dress caused all three to clam up as they came closer. They did not take much, however. Only a small bottle of water and a box of carrot juice. As they walked away to find an inviting seating area, the trio each let out a silent sigh of relief as they carried on with what they were doing, trying their best to disregard the pair's unsettling conversations from afar.
"I mean, can you believe it, Cream? I even stuffed another sock in my bra and he still didn't notice..." the female hedgehog pouted, setting her elbows on the table as she cupped her frowning cheeks with her gloved hands.
"I still don't quite see what you see in that... heathen." the bunny girl hissed out in disgust, taking a sharp sip of her juice through the clear bendy straw that she stabbed viciously into it.
"And today? I haven't even seen him at ALL today! You don't think he's... avoiding me, do you?" she let out in agony, her face sinking against the table, holding no regard of whenever it was last wiped off as her companion rolled her eyes.
"It would actually be smart of him to do that if it was deliberate, so I'm going to assume that's a "no"..." Cream said completely sure of herself, shoving the empty juice box in the fingerless grip of her pet Chao to dispose of for her.
"I tried asking Tails and Knuckles when I walked past them earlier today, but they just ran away from me! What's up with that?!" Amy lifted her face from the sticky, grimy spot of the table it was previously pressed on, slamming her petite fists on it in a swift fit of frustration and causing her bottle of water to tip over and spill in the process.
"Oh, shoot! Napkins! Napkins!" she freaked out as the liquid poured onto everything, including her dress. Cream sighed and walked off as the pink airhead rummaged more and more through her purse to find something to wipe off the water with, shooting a glare that was brief but gave off an unpleasantly lasting effect to the three women in the distance who stared awkwardly at her.
Gulping hard, and each breaking into a cold sweat, the three immediately directed their attention back to their early morning snack and hastily, but carefully, made their way up the tall staircase that lead to the ever elusive second floor seating area that not too many students could say they've witnessed in their lifetime. Upon arrival, they spotted a familiar face now bidding adieu to her beefy, macho boyfriend. The blue fox took notice to the ladies soon after and waved to them to come over as he left.
"Fancy seeing you here, Krystal! Was that Fox just now?" Peach asked as they walked up to her booth.
"Ah yes, honeybuns needed to get back to practice." she answered solemnly with a sigh, already missing her beloved after what little time they had shared beforehand.
"Wow, you weren't kidding about the view, Daisy!" Zelda exclaimed as she caught an eyeful of the lake through the strikingly pristine window.
"I didn't actually think it'd be as impressive as they said, but that just makes it more outstanding, doesn't it?" she agreed as she ogled the beautiful scenery with her.
"By the way, what are you three even doing here? Don't you have class at this hour?" Krystal asked now that she recalled the time, giving the other girls a somewhat puzzled look.
"U-um... It's kind of a long story..." Peach swallowed, not wanting to recollect the events from minutes prior.
"Class blew up, class was canceled, and we can do whatever until our next classes come up." Daisy answered for them simply.
"What she said." Zelda added after a moment, nodding in agreement with Peach.
After sharing a dry chuckle between the other ladies, Peach finally felt like she could relax again as they all basked in their rare moment of free time during the early morning of a school day. Gazing out the wonderful window view, the quartet enjoyed their frosty beverages and light snacks, but not everyone was as carefree at that moment...
Meanwhile, somewhere in the forest across from the lake itself…
"Gggh… Hnggh… Wh… what…? Gah!" a glazed over yellow eye twitched open as sunlight viciously jabbed at it like burning needles. Soon, the second eye, which was greeted by the pile of dirt the being's side was firmly wedged in, opened and the battered and bruised figure's vision finally became clear. The first proper image that was bestowed upon them was another pair of eyes; round and blue, and practically the size of the other's gloved hands. Such large and familiar eyes… Could be it be…?
"Jiggly!"
Remaining in his position in complete shock, but mostly due to pain paralysis, Meta Knight mentally panicked as the fellow circular powder puff handed him his mask, which appeared to be in much better condition than he was.
M-my mask…? So… so that means… Oh, God! Wh-why now? Why here!?
without hesitation, he took his prized possession, swiftly returning it to its rightful position before Jigglypuff could see the streak of scarlet rapidly spreading across his face.
"Th… Thank you…" he murmured in gratitude, making the pink Pokémon smile sweetly and giggle a little, which in turn caused him to blush harder.
"Jigglypuff! Jig!"
She then took out some bandages and ointment, which she took out of her basket otherwise filled with various flowers and fruits she picked from around the forest. Assuming correctly, Meta Knight stood still as she began to clean off his more severe looking wounds and applying the medicine to them accordingly. After neatly wrapping the bandages on, Jigglypuff wiped the sweat off her brow (or what she could reach with her stubby little "hand") and exhaled in a quick huff for a job well done.
Meta Knight took this as his cue to take his leave, quickly sputtering "I should go now," before dashing off in an aimless direction. However, as if he hadn't been embarrassed enough since landing in this unknown location abundant in green, his hastiness resulted in him tripping on a minuscule pebble that protruded from the ground beneath him, and, due to his unfortunate shape, made him begin rolling at ridiculous speeds until being stopped abruptly by an angled tree stump, propelling him straight into the air for a few minutes before finally falling into a chilly pond like a rounded boulder.
As Jigglypuff stood still in horror, watching every aching second of the trainwreck unfold before her very eyes, something spontaneously went off in her head, she had to take action, and soon! So, as fast as her petite, flat feet could take her, she rushed over to where Meta Knight was, inhaling deeply so that her body could double as a floatation device for her drowning companion.
"Puff! Jigglypuff, puff!"
Though her hands were without fingers, she successfully grabbed onto Meta Knight's drenched silk cape, and dragged him over to land. Once placing him on a dry enough patch of grass, she made sure he was conscious and still breathing. After assuring he was fine, once again, she sighed in relief.
"Ugh… That was… shameful…" Meta Knight coughed out, looking down in even harsher self-loathing than before.
"Jig!" Jigglypuff reassured, patting the brooding Knight on his back.
"G-ghgh… You've saved me twice now, and in one day, no less. I'm forever thankful, Jigglypuff." he bowed, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll… walk, away, now. I'll be seeing yo-"
"Puff, puff! Jiggly!" the Pokémon suggested, gripping his hand insistently.
"O-oh…? You'd like to escort me out? You're much too kind. B-but I'm sure I can mana-" but before he could finish his halfhearted argument, Jigglypuff began to tug him somewhat forcefully, picking up her basket left at the edge of the dirt path, and walking down the path itself with Meta Knight.
As the two trotted their way out, Meta Knight's mind wandered off on its own. There were still a few unanswered questions he had; how long was he out for? Where exactly was he? And what hit him so hard that it flung him that far away from the school in the first place? He awaited his reunion with Gary and the rest of his comrades once he made it back to the locale he was all too familiar with…
As the ladies finished their early lunch, Peach and Daisy headed off to their next, and hopefully not interrupted class. Zelda departed so she could meet up with Link, and Krystal left to go check on her sweetie at the football field. For the first time all day, Peach noticed Daisy was especially pumped and not at all cranky from since they were in the bus.
"You must be very good at P.E. class, I take it?" she asked, though the answer seemed obvious enough.
"Well, duh! It's only my favorite part of the day! Seein' the look on the teacher's face when I outperform all the guys is just priceless!" she answered arrogantly, fist pumping in the air.
"I... I see..." Peach said softly under her breath, sighing lightly.
The blonde tried to remain optimistic as they reached the gym's entrance doors. She had joined this class entirely blind, only on account of her friend being a part of it. Other than that, regret began to swell, as she started recollecting all the horror stories that shrouded the room beyond these steel doors. Swallowing hard, she shoved all emotions of fear to the back of her mind as best she could as she plunged in with her much more eager friend. She already hated herself for her decision once they were inside.
"OH, TOOK YOU LADIES LONG ENOUGH! WHAT WAS THE HOLDUP? NEEDED TO POWDER YOUR NOSES OR SOMETHIN', SISSIES?" a crass, loudmouthed, yet oddly regal looking potbellied crocodile with a megaphone mocked from the center of the gym's floor. "WELL, DON'T JUST STAND THERE! GET IN THE LINE, LITTLE GIRLS!" he spat out much more shrilly this time, straining his vocal chords to a dangerous degree.
Mouthing a determined "Awright!" to herself, Daisy ran up to the profusely sweating, not to mention stinky, group of young people lined up in front of a rope hanging from the ceiling. Peach looked on in fright as she realized just how high exactly the rope went up. Swallowing hard, she steered her attention back to that of the green scaled coach.
"Alright, you miserable little maggots, I hope you've prepared yourselves because it's time for everyone's favorite activity of the day..." with a sudden change of attitude, he put his megaphone down momentarily as he gave snide sneers to everyone around him, "Yes, that's right, ladies, the rope climb." he finished darkly, looking up to the worn out looking rope that loomed eerily above them.
Peach wasn't entirely sure what she was just getting herself into, but judging by the reactions from the other students around her, it couldn't have been good. Holding her chin up amongst the series of groans, sobbing, and Daisy's cocky chuckling, she stood in wait for the croc's following orders.
"And today, we're going to be doing something a little bit... different, with the usual conditions for this task..." he announced with an aggravatingly unnerving smirk sprawling across his scaly, leathery lips. "Should anyone fail to ring this bell..." he pointed a clawed index finger upwards towards the little, rusty bell that was hung next to where the rope was tied from, "Then that lucky dog gets to spend some quality time in the "The Pit"..."
His ending words caused the already shaken up bunch to practically convulse on the spot. Peach didn't know what exactly this was, either, but again she figured it probably wasn't anything remotely pleasant.
"So, which one of you little yellow bellied chickens wants to start things off for us?" he inquired coldly, looking around the shivering and shuddering students around him for any volunteers. "How about you, Miss Kong?" he gestured to the small, blonde haired monkey in a pink beret from the end of the line.
"M-me, Mr. Rool?" she gulped, already dreading the thought of having to go first.
"Yes. You're the self-proclaimed "Best Climber" of Phys Ed, or so I've heard, so why not demonstrate for us all?" he insisted, giving a condescending look to the girl.
"F-fine! I'll go!" she uttered out before thinking, walking over to the rope as everyone else looked on with chattering teeth.
"Well, don't just stand there. Start climbing!" the coach barked out as he deemed the amount of time the young Kong was spending to think too long for his tastes. With that final nudge, she took a leap of faith and clutched the rope tightly, going up the daunting heights with relative ease as everyone looked on with the utmost envy.
Almost disappointed that the first blood outperformed his low expectations as well as they did, he halted his stopwatch upon hearing the rare sound of the bell from above them. "15 seconds flat. Well I'll be..." he whistled lightly, going right back to his default demeanor as to not suggest any further praise. "Anyway, next runt!"
As soon as the perky Kong made it back to her original position in the line, the next eagerly ambitious student walked up to the king of physical education, smiling broadly to the man.
"Hello, King K. Rool, sir!" he saluted, earning nothing but a growl directed towards him for his forwardness. "I, K. Lumsy, wish to display my physical prowess to you all, if you would let me, sir!" the rising pitch of his voice causing his words to sound more like petty begging than proud stating. The coach rolled his eyes and scoffed at the utterance of the words "physical prowess," but because he wanted to see bloodshed as much as he did, he humored the fellow Kremling and allowed him to demonstrate his so-called skills before the class and he.
"Th-thank you, sir!" he bellowed joyously as he approached the rope. Spitting in each of his hands and rubbing them together vigorously, he took hold of the swaying, braided fibers. Taking a few moments to lift his feet from the waxed floors, he finally began the actual climbing part as everyone looked at him scrutinizingly and in doubt.
"Hhngh... HHHHNNNGHGH...!" he strained as he held on for dear life. The amount of blood rushing to his face making it look like it was about to implode before everyone's eyes any second now. After another minute of nothing happening passing by, the class began to wonder just how long he could last before eventually blacking out.
Rubbing at his flaring snout in annoyance, the coach took it upon himself to urge the younger croc to do something. "Any day now, Lumsy." he exhaled audibly, visibly frustrated.
"H-HHHHGGH, A-ANY M-MINUTE N-N-NOW, S-SIR! J-JUST LET M-ME-!" he choked out in pleading response, releasing his left hand to reach a few inches higher on the rope as his right struggled to maintain the rest of his body weight. At the rate he was going, he was either falling off, or forcing the rope to snap entirely, taking the large girder it was tied to with it. Fortunately for everyone that wasn't Lumsy, the former proved true.
"..." Rool looked on disapprovingly, sighing to himself again. Once remembering what this meant for the student now, however, made him flash a toothy, sinister smile. "Well, everyone, you know what this means..."
Peach, pleading ignorant once again, stood in place while the rest of the students chanted "PIT, PIT, PIT!" loudly, much to the coach's absolute delight. Recalling what was said before the test began, she was at the very least certain she knew what they were referring to. That being, where the coach said students would be sent to, should they flunk, and not the angelic pretty boy from Gary's posse.
"Remember, ladies, this is why you don't want to disappoint me..." Rool said menacingly as he drug the unconscious body of the student who had just failed miserably in front of everyone to what appeared to be a door in the ground. Opening it slowly so that the creaking sound it made went on as uncomfortably long as possible, Peach looked on in terror as he threw the body into the hole, where she could just faintly make out the sounds of screaming and hard thumping over the obnoxious chanting, shouting, and chortling from the students beside her.
Slamming the door shut, Rool went back to his duties as scheduled as he waltzed back over to where the crowd was, whistling innocently as if nothing remotely suspicious had just occurred.
The remainder of the class went on without a hitch. Though the sheer barbaric nature of it all was downright unbearable to the kindhearted princess, Peach managed things on her own fairly well. Her turn was much later into the class, and she was luckily enough to be picked after Daisy. Using the tactics she had used to make it to the top, Peach more or less successfully mimicked the tomboy and saved herself the torture of whatever it was the other, less fortunate students had to suffer through. Upon completing that and a surprise round of dodgeball practice, the tired and aching bodies of the two princesses exited the room as they slowly walked to their next class.
"G-goodness... However do you do it, Daisy?" Peach asked, still struggling to catch her breath.
"Do what?" Daisy asked back, wiping the sweat off her brow with her towel.
"This... exercise, sporting, work out... thing..." she responded halfheartedly, not completely sure how to word such a sentence with the way she was thinking it out.
"Oh, well... I guess you just get used to it after awhile. Though, Rool's class is definitely one of the more... abrasive, classes, I go to..." Daisy answered back in her typical manner of blunt honesty.
As the two dragged their sore, burning legs across the seemingly never ending sea of floor tile, a moment of sweet distraction was graced upon them as a friendly voice greeted them as it passed by.
"Hiya, girls. ...Gosh, you two look exhausted. P.E., right?" Rosalina asked with concern as she saw the state the two were currently in.
"Heh, how'd ya' guess?" Daisy said sarcastically as she chuckled dryly to herself.
"We're fine, really... But enough about us, how are you doing, teacher?" Peach insisted as she diverted the attention from them onto the older woman.
"Oh, I'm doing good, thank you. Though, a Luma from my class seems to have gone missing... I'm not too worried, but if you see a cream colored Luma, could you bring him back? He's one of the younger ones, too..." she tried to hide her stress, though her motherly tendencies shone through regardless.
With the younger pair nodding in understanding, she gave a small sigh of relief as they parted ways once again. Peach and Daisy to their next class, and Rosalina to the teacher's lounge for a quick break.
"...And come on, Doc, your class can't be NEARLY as bad as mine! YOU don't have to deal with a group of ungrateful little jerk asses in ADDITION to your seven friggin' horrible children!" Bowser bellowed from the lunch table before taking a large bite of his second bear claw for the hour.
"Now, now... I wouldn't be so sure about that, Bowser. While your class definitely earns destructive value points, I'd say my batch of troublemakers outdo yours in terms of just the most splintered, insane personalities and bipolar tendencies of the whole school. By FAR." the rounded teacher said mostly on a hunch, leaning into his chair while the spiked turtle in front of him gorged himself on sweets before lunch even began proper.
"Oh really now, Ivo? You wanna bet? I-I could actually really use the money right now BUT STILL I'M TOTALLY SERIOUS HERE." Bowser shouted again, spitting out hunks of his un-chewed pastry in Eggman's face.
"F-forget it. A-anyway..." Eggman shifted subjects, flicking the chunks of food off of his magnificent mustache, "Ganon sure is taking his time with getting our lunch..."
"Oh yeah!" Bowser suddenly remembered, redirecting his anger to him, "I hate whenever it's his turn to get it! Because he just takes FOREVER doing it! I'm a growing man, damn it! I need my fuel!"
"I wouldn't really call copious amounts of caffeine and teeth rotting sugary pastries "fuel," but I digress..." Eggman looked away from the fuming dinosaur, waiting equally impatiently for the third of their group to return.
As the door to the lounge slowly creaked open, Bowser and Eggman cocked their heads instinctively to the entrance on pure habit, checking to see if it was Ganondorf with their "food" or not. Upon hearing the upbeat humming of a large, female bee, they groaned in unison and turned back away to the empty space on their table as she cheerily went about her daily routine of setting out the snacks and beverages for the other health nuts among the teachers, humming her humble little ditty all the while doing so.
"S-so..." Bowser said, shrugging.
"S-sooooo..." Eggman said, also shrugging.
"How 'bout that weather, eh...?" Bowser randomly blurted out, wanting something, anything to talk over before the melody took over both of their brains for the following several weeks.
"It's been pretty... weather...-y..." Eggman mumbled back, already fearing he's heard enough of it for it to haunt him wherever he went for who knows how long until it slowly faded from his memory.
"It usually is. I like weather when it's warm, hot, or smoldering. If it isn't, then I just can't- Oh hey there he is." Bowser trailed off before noticing the final member of their trio on a totally delayed reaction.
"Nice to see you guys, too. ...What's... gotten into you two?" Ganon greeted back in deadpan, not entirely caring of why his associates were acting the way they were just now.
"..." the two glanced over to the corner of the room, to where the bee woman from earlier went. Finally noticing himself, Ganon let a small "Oh." under his breath as he turned back to the awkward behaving men sitting in front of him.
"Well, anyway... Took you long enough, Ganon." Eggman coughed as they both stared blankly at the older man bringing them their early morning consumable products.
"Oh, sure, sure. Make fun of the slow guy. How about you try going to the teacher's personal cafeteria during the initial pre-lunch break? It's NOT a pleasant trot, I tell you. Nor it is a quick one." he griped to the other two harshly, dropping their bagged items onto the table in a childish fit of anger.
"We're just teasing, Ganon. But you do take a little longer to get back than-" Eggman reassured, albeit in a dishonest tone of voice. Being cutoff by the dark wizard's paralyzing glare, he paused before finishing what he was about to say and looked back at their donuts and coffee. "But what I mean to say is... Thanks, for... this. Buddy!" he shot the irritated man a wide, muscle straining smile as an attempt to ease his obvious anger.
"What, no cinnamon maple?" Bowser whined as he gave the boxed sweets a once-over.
"They were out." he answered simply through gritted teeth, clutching the elbow of his sleeve tightly while his arms were crossed.
"Meh." Bowser let out unenthused, already over the disappointment of missing out on his favorite flavor. Filling the void by taking whatever appeared to have a jelly or cream filling and shoving it into his quivering, drooling maw.
As the disgusting sounds of loud, wet chewing and lip smacking made Ganondorf lose his appetite instantaneously, he and Eggman's attention were brought upon the entryway door once again as a much more pleasant sight was bestowed upon their tired, bloodshot eyes.
"Ah, Rosalina... You look as radiant as ever, my dear." Ganon said suavely as the woman walked past them, ignoring them entirely.
"Even more so than usual, may I add." Eggman interjected, delivering his compliment not only as unintentionally creepily as Ganon's, but also sounding just plain desperate for attention overall.
"Geesh, guys, give it up already. Haven't either of you realized yet no woman on this green earth has standards low enough to deem bums like you worthy of their courtship?" Bowser mocked as he spoke with his mouth half full of mixed donuts.
"Just because we aren't jaded by an unsavory divorce doesn't mean we can at least try..." Ganon tried to say in his own defense, shrugging.
"You know, Wily always tells me "bald is beautiful" and that ladies "love a well groomed 'stache... n' brows," but you know what I think? I think he's full of it! I've taken his "expert" advice on romancing the womenfolk, but it's gotten me absolutely nowhere in my love life! He claims it's because I'm "obese" or whatever, but I think his advice just... sucks, really." Eggman ranted, not realizing how much of a tangent he just went on as his two companions looked on in awkward silence.
"W-well, you know what I mean, I was just saying that..." Eggman trailed off into a series of nervous mumbles as he swiped a donut from the stack and shoved it in his mouth, whole.
"Ah, Rosa dahlin', I brought'cha fav'rite tea!" the bee hovered over as she kindly handed Rosalina a small pouch filled with a special, homemade blend.
"Oh, thank you, Honey! Just what I needed." she smiled and took it graciously, putting it in her piping hot cup of water as soon as it was given to her.
"Don' mention it! Oh, an' I made sum oatmeal cookies, too. They'ah ova' theah if ya' wanted any!" she hummed again, pointing over to the large stack of wrapped up snacks to the side.
"I will. Thanks again!" Rosalina said with a smile, taking a small sip of her tea after blowing on it.
As the three grouchy men looked on from afar, the topic of Honey Queen's harmonious humming was brought up once again by Bowser.
"Uh... S-so, guys..." his expression changed to that of deadly serious again, "There's something about that bee woman's nonstop humming that makes me feel... Um... Wh-what's that emotion neither of us have felt since like childhood or whatever...?"
"Happiness?" Eggman answered after a moment of deep thinking.
"Y-yeah, that one... And it makes me feel kinda..." he didn't want to say, getting more green in the face than he already was.
"Pleasant?" Ganon suggested, though he didn't really know as it wasn't affecting him as much.
"Nauseated?" Eggman theorized, describing more the feeling he was currently experiencing than anything.
"I... I don't know! And that's what confuses me, man..." Bowser's head drooped, not sure if it was the sound of the bee's humming or the amount of sugar he consumed within the past hour making him feel the way he was.
"Er... Angry thoughts, disgusting thoughts?" Ganon tried to calm down the uneasy monster between he and the doctor.
"Think of just the most wretched, cringe inducing, terrible thing you can think of!" Eggman joined in, trying to put in some negative pep to their friend.
"Like our junior prom! Weren't those the days, guys?" Ganon brought up after a moment's thinking.
"Oh yeah... When we spiked all the punch, coated the dance floor with vaseline, and set the entire room on fire near the finale! Man, that was the best..." Bowser said nostalgically as his memories swept away his conflicted agony.
"And... did you guys hear about the fire that happened down at the town's orphanage?" Eggman randomly brought up in a monotone voice, his announcement inflicting shock and disgust upon the other two.
"Oh my word! A fire?! Those poor children!" Ganondorf gasped in wide eyed surprise, covering his mouth with his hands.
"WHAT KIND OF SICK MONSTER WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?" Bowser bellowed in anger as he slammed his fists on the table, causing their coffee and donuts to spill and fall on the floor, making him angrier than he already was. "OH KONG DAMN IT!"
Once realizing they were both being entirely serious, Eggman retracted from the matter as he got up to help clean up the mess now around their table, sighing deeply and wishing he hadn't mentioned it in the first place.
"Anyway, I'll see you later, Honey!" Rosalina waved the queen bee goodbye as she walked out the room, leaving the bright, fuzzy insect back to her merry duties as the table of grumbling old men were left deep in thought.
"Professor E. Gadd sure knows a lot, doesn't he?" Peach chirped as she, Daisy, and Zelda walked out from their final class for the early morning.
"As much as I hate the longwinded types, something about the way he talks makes me wanna listen! I think it's his voice..." Daisy said somewhat puzzled, crossing her arms behind her head as she gazed off at the ceiling.
"Though, I wish I could understand what he was saying most of the time..." Zelda mumbled to herself, though she knew full well she wasn't paying as much attention as she usually does during word-heavy classes.
"It's kind of a good thing P.E. was as draining as it was, because I could eat like three whole meals right now!" Daisy shouted to the rafters as she declared her hunger to the other girls.
"Well, I don't know about three, but..." Peach partially agreed, only now realizing how much she could go for a full meal right about now.
In the midst of their thoughts of hunger, it had entirely passed their mind that entering the cafeteria at this time of the day wasn't nearly as easy as it was compared to their brief trip from earlier. As they drew closer to the doors, the three were treated to a several mile long line coming out from the door for their forgetfulness.
"Aw, man..." Daisy grumbled, "Look at the line..."
"Oh, that's right... It's fish taco tuesday..." Zelda sighed as she looked at the kicked over sign near the doors.
"They must be some tacos if this many students showed up..." Peach assumed as she looked on as how endless the line appeared.
"We're never gonna make it in at this rate..." Daisy muttered as she tried looking for the start of the line.
"Yo, yo, yo! Make way, make way, mon! 'Cause da' King Kong of FUNK 'as arrived! Awww yeeeaaah!"
As all seemed lost, a swagged out, golden boom box wielding savior came to them in their desperate time of need. Beside him, a divine funkalicious diva from the heavens of groove, bopping her head to the stone cold beats coming from the whimsical, rectangular object held high above them. Looking on in speechless awe, the girls stood in wait as the two came closer.
"Oh, whassup ladies." the blonde greeted, smacking her bubble gum loudly.
"Candy! You have great timing!" Daisy called out once she recognized the two.
"Mm? You girls need help gettin' inside? I'm sure my Hunky-Funky can help with that~." Candy giggled as she wrapped her arms around his muscular left one.
"Ah, come on, babe! You're makin' me blush..." Funky said bashfully as the two shared a chuckle together.
After sitting through another five or so minutes of hearing the two tease and baby talk with each other, the growling of the blonde Kong's stomach reminded her what they were supposed to be doing before getting sidetracked.
"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot! Baby, we should get our lunch already!" Candy remembered as she released her vice-like grip from her equally absentminded sweetheart.
"Oh right, can't be late fo' practice, yeah? Let's go get our grub on!" And with a familiar toothy grin plastered all over his face, Funky rose his boom box high above his head, hitting a button on its front panel to begin the next track, and marched most spectacularly over to the doors as The Humpty Dance drove everyone else away in ear ringing terror.
With the three princesses plugging their ears as tightly as they could, both from how loud the sound but especially due to the way it sounded in general, they walked slowly behind the two Kongs as everyone else scattered from the vicinity.
As the rows upon rows of students slowly made their way out of the vicinity, some were still securing their benches as they impatiently awaited another to arrive with their food. One, in particular, getting especially impatient as the clock ticked on.
Oh, where is he? He should've been back by now... the female's dark eyes scanned the hall left and right, only seeing other people and couples eating already. With an irritated sigh, she took another sip of her mineral water, her glossy red heels tapping forcefully onto the tiled floor. After what seemed like hours, a familiar round figure finally made his return.
"H-hey, baby, s-sorry I was late... again... G-got our lunch, though!" his voice clearly strained, and without breath. He sat himself down next to her and placed their lunch in between them.
"Pac-Man, that's the fifth time this week. Do you even care about being on time anymore?" the other yellow, circular being sighed heavily as she carefully examined her sandwich. "And I said no mayo!" she snapped, throwing it into her boyfriend's face.
"Agh! I-I'm sorry, baby, I promise I won't do it agai-" he tried to apologize before his angered love bird shouted at him again.
"YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT! I'VE HAD IT WITH THIS "RELATIONSHIP" AND I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU!" in a blind rage, she threw the rest of the contents her now ex-boyfriend painstakingly brought to them and stomped off into the crowd as Pac-Man looked on in shocked silence.
"...W... Wait... BABY, WAIT, I CAN CHANGE, I SWEAR IT! DON'T LEAVE ME! BABY? BAAABYYY!" Pac-Man chased after her as he suddenly regained his voice, though the bustling business from the lunch hours prevented him from reaching her.
While the unraveling chaos went rampant outside of the cafeteria walls, things were no better inside, as the princesses troubles were only just beginning as they finally arrived...
As the girls and Funky finally got to their turns at the cafeteria line, they met up with Krystal again as her boyfriend was chugging his third protein shake for the day.
"I hate coming down here on tuesdays, but as long as I'm with you, I don't mind~." Krystal cooed as she nuzzled up to her muscular boyfriend affectionately, causing him to chuckle awkwardly and blush somewhat.
"Heh heh, you know it, babe." he said after finishing his shake, chucking the extra large size bottle in a waste bin several meters away from their table. After his moment of showing off for the hour, he put his arm around her shoulder, flaunting her like a trophy to all who passed them, and winking at said passersby in a manner uncomfortable to all who saw.
While the other girls looked on at the couple in slight jealousy of their closeness, Daisy scoffed lightly but loud enough for the others to hear while she flipped through the pages of a magazine she started reading as they waited back in the line.
"Daisy, wha's witchu t'day, gurl?" Candy finally broke off the silence after taking a sip of her banana milkshake, looking at the princess with a raised upper lip and furrowed brow.
"Huh? Nothin'... It's nothin'." Daisy shrugged as she shoved her face back in her tabloid, avoiding eye contact from everyone else.
Sighing, Candy swiped the paper out of the other girl's hands and asked again. After a few more minutes passed of her ignoring everyone, she finally piped up as Fox had to take an emergency last second leave.
"Fine, you wanna know what's getting me? The football team, that's who!" she blurted out quietly as to not let the star player leaving their presence overhear her.
"This isn't about that new recruitment campaign Captain Falcon started, is it?" Krystal guessed, taking Daisy's facial reaction as an affirmative "yes."
"You aren't still trying to convince the principal to start up a women's football team, are you...?" Peach butted in, asking in worry to the brunette.
"Of course I am! And it was going pretty well until that dumb meathead started plastering his ugly mug all over the advertisement boards throughout the whole dang school!" she muttered angrily, shooting a nasty look to the message board near the entrance of the cafeteria that was covered in the lazily tacked on posters in question.
Taking out an extra that she shoved in her pocket earlier, Daisy unfolded it and showed it to everyone else to try and prove her point.
"I mean, can you believe this? Just LOOK at it!" she pointed all around it, from the overall eye-catching, or eye-straining, color scheme of various shades of blue and red, matching that of the team's colors, to the brief paragraphs describing their motives and what they aim to accomplish. Peach stared at it blankly, having trouble getting past all the metaphors regarding testosterone and rock-hard manliness that littered its wording as if a dumpster truck of horribly limited, profoundly androgynous vocabularies spilled all over the page and ran it over twice.
"And look at how BIG they are! I mean, compensation much? Most of these are taller than the boards they've been put on!" she pointed out rather obviously, noting its size being twice that of the average flyer, as if it was deliberately sized to match the ego of the one whom had made them.
"Well... M-maybe you should just let bygones be bygones and let the boys do their own thing? I mean... it's not as if they're personally attacking your crusades in getting more volunteers for your-" Zelda spoke up while the others were at a loss of how to reply, though her efforts fell on deaf ears when Daisy cut her off.
"EXCEPT THEY ARE," she threw out, gnashing her teeth, "Most of these are stapled over the ones I put up WEEKS ago!"
"And whatever else that was around yours, as well?" Krystal theorized, looking over to the cafeteria board again in contemplation.
"...W-well, maybe, but the point still stands!" Daisy's voice lowered, slowly realizing her foxy companion was onto something.
"So basically... You shouldn't be taking this so personally, because he's doing this, likely unintentionally, to the other people who worked just as hard getting their flyers up as you did." the blue fox summed up simply, crossing her arms while giving the tomboy princess a look not unlike that of a lawyer who had just successfully broke through a contradiction ridden testimony.
"I... Well... Sh-shoot..." she mumbled off as her realization finished setting in, cursing under her breath for her own foolishness. Setting aside her resentment towards the men's sports team, her motivation flared up again as this just meant she had to look beyond slips of paper advertising her ambitious goals.
"Well, girls, I guess this means it's time for a change of plans! Okay, forget flyers, pamphlets, whatever! We need to take a more direct approach and show those dumb guys who is the superior football team recruiter group... thingy!" balling her hands into burning fists, the competitive side of Daisy still overcame her as she declared her newfound enlightenment.
While the others were just happy the dilemma was settled with once and for all, they still felt somewhere deep down nothing was really accomplished.
"Oh right, speaking of, Miyu said she was somewhat interested in joining, but she wanted to know when try-outs started..." Krystal remembered as soon as things calmed down finally.
"The try-outs? U-uh..." Daisy stopped in her tracks, her mind hitting a road block. "I didn't think of that yet..."
"Mm-hmm, perhaps you should focus on getting your situation set in stone first before you start your recruiting?" Krystal suggested, smiling knowingly to the disorganized girl.
"Y-yeah, you're right. So, that's just what I'll do! And I know just the thing! I'll see you girls -and Funky- later!" with her spirits rising once again, she dashed out of the room, tackling and bum-rushing anybody in her way.
Leaving Funky Kong and the other girls be for the remainder of their lunch, Daisy went to who knows where beyond the greasy cafeteria doors and things between the others felt at peace once again.
But as the dust settled on Peach's side of things, there was still a job left undone for another group...
Meanwhile, in front of the nurse's office...
Mario and Luigi paced back and forth nervously outside the waiting room while struggling to find the courage of going inside. Ever since the disaster from chemistry class earlier that day, the two have been distraught with regret and shame and the both of them wanted nothing more than to profusely apologize to the poor teacher who had to suffer for their lack of carefulness and consideration. But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't muster up the power of going in through the door to do exactly that.
"Ugh, bro, we really need to stop skulking around and just go inside..." Luigi uttered out with difficulty, though he was just as wary of entering as his brother.
"He's a pretty understanding-a guy, and I-a don't think we-a have much-a to worry about, but-a..." Mario mumbled quietly, still unsure of what to do himself.
"We're gonna miss class if we keep standing here doing nothing... Let's... Let's just go in!" Luigi said without thinking, forcing the door open from his spontaneous burst of energy as his stunned brother stumbled behind him.
"Uh, y-yes, Nurse Joy? Mr. Toad's room? We're his students..." Luigi asked the pink haired woman at the front desk, who of which smiled and directed the brothers to the teacher's current room.
Opening the door with a jittering hand, Luigi let himself and his brother in as they slowly approached the bed ridden frog.
"Mi... Mr. Toad, sir...?" Luigi whispered to the resting figure, flinching as he opened his eyes.
"Ah... It's you two," he yawned as the brothers interrupted his dozing off, "Whatever are you boys doing here?"
"M-M-M-Mr. Toad, w-we-a..." Mario stuttered out, biting on his lower lip.
"We're so sorry for blowing up class and putting you in such critical condition!" Luigi cried out as the pressure became too much to bear.
"What he-a said! Oh, please-a, sir! If-a you could-a be so-a kind as-a to forgive-a us, we'd-a be forever-a grateful!" Mario joined in, even going as far as getting on his hands and knees.
After a moment's silence, the amphibian chuckled breathlessly and gave the two a warm smile. The emotion the brothers were struck with was a foreign one. They didn't feel in danger, belittled, or scared silly. But instead... relieved, by their teacher's response.
"It's quite alright, boys. Accidents happen. We should all be happy that nobody was seriously harmed." he said matter-of-factly, giving the brothers another reassuring smile.
"..." the two were on the verge of tears, but not of the "Please don't kill us" variety. Instead, they sobbed tears of happiness, crying out joyously to the frog, and hugging him tightly in thanks. Before entirely cutting off the old frog's air supply, they released their grip and calmed themselves, though still thanking him repeatedly.
As things quieted down, all seemed well and done, and the brothers were about to leave until another pair of visitors barged inside.
"DAAAADDYYYY!" a younger, even more nasally frog rushed to his father's side, a taller, lady frog following close behind him.
"Ah, Slippy, my boy, don't cry. I'm perfectly fine, as you can see. Just a little bruised around the edges is all." the older frog tried to ease his panicking son, sighing.
"Oh, Daddy! I'm so sorry for ever suggesting that you should teach another class! This is all my fault!" he cried and moaned as he sat miserably beside his father, his escort walking over to help calm him down as well.
"Everything's okay, Slip. He's alive and well, and that's what most important, right?" she said softly, patting the sobbing boy on his back reassuringly.
"H-hgh... I guess you're right, Amanda. You're always right! Th-thanks, baby." he said calmly, sighing.
"Anyway, you four should get to your next class. Just forget about ol' me and carry on with your day, yes? I need my rest, anyway..." the senior Toad yawned again, shifting under his sheets as the youngsters took his advice with haste.
"Y-yeah, we don't wanna keep Ness and the others waiting. Let's go, bro." Luigi said to his brother. As they were about to walk off, the sudden sound of smooching cut off their concentration as they looked over to the young couple kissing in an obnoxiously gut-wrenching manner. As the two walked out first, holding hands, the brothers stood in place as the fact slowly set in their minds...
Slippy Toad, of all students, had a girlfriend, and they didn't...
Trying their damnedest to shake off the horrible thoughts flooding their minds, the two walked out of the room and as far away as they could while they struggled keeping their minds clean and sane.
Walking down the barren and cold stairway without breath whilst steadily losing the energy to go on, Mario and Luigi began to deeply regret their decision of taking the stairs as a means of avoiding bumping into students they didn't wish to, such as Gary's posse and Bowser's resentful children, and assuming incorrectly that the trip would be a quicker one overall. And at this point, it was anything but quick for them.
Taking a moment to catch their breath and assess their current situation, Luigi sighed to himself as he noticed his brother gravitating to a nearby vending machine in the corner of his eye. Making sure his brother didn't pilfer any of his money for sweets, he stayed in place while Mario filled the oddly untouched looking contraption with just about every coin on his person while his mouth drooled from the distraction of all of its contents staring back at him.
"Ready to head to class now, porky?" Luigi poked flatly as his brother discarded the umpteenth candy bar wrapper from his stack of snacks into an adjacent recycling bin.
"O-Oh, right-a. Sorry-a, bro." Mario swallowed as he shoved the rest of his hoard into his backpack, arranging them in a way so that they wouldn't easily break apart or melt as they walked around.
As their exhausted legs slowly dragged them up the remaining two flights of stairs necessary of arriving to their final floor and final class for the day, the brothers bumped into the pair of princesses who had, among others, helped them earlier with their chemistry test failure. Going up to the ladies to thank them for their selfless assistance once again, they soon discovered they were taking the same class as Peach. Pleasantly surprised by this news, the three walked to class together as they parted with Daisy, for she was still parading her new and improved recruitment campaign for the women's football team she so struggled with creating.
Among their friendly banter, the brothers' gentlemanly nature towards the blonde resulted in more sibling rivalry between them, much to the girl's frustration. Who would help her with carrying her belongings for her, who would open doors for her, and etcetera. Eventually, the princess became fed up with their bickering and insisted on doing everything herself. Including letting herself in class. As soon as the two realized this, they fumbled together inside while everyone else awaited their teacher.
Though the silence among the room did not last, as the large and in charge head honcho made his way into the pimped out throne that was built in place of a simple teacher's desk chair. The jumbo, jiggling, blue penguin hopped on his regal recliner and gave the room a quick, single glance before speaking up. Looking over to the small, orange and beige colored puff ball that stood obediently to his side, he took a deep breath and began.
"Ahright ya' miserable lot, as summa' y'all may recall, I ahm King Dedede. Dat's THREE D's thar, if ya' already f'got. Yer reg'lar science teacher, Dr. Wily, has gone MIA an' nobody reckons when that crazy loon'll be back, so you little varmints will hafta' deal wit' ME until somebody finds him." he said gruffly in a thick southern accent, sinking into his cushy seat as he relaxed unto it. "Now, last week, ah asked y'all ta do a project on... Uh..." he blanked on the right choice of words, looking over to his squishy servant for ideas. "R-right, right. Vacuum cleaners. Dat's it, vacuum cleaners..." he coughed in his yellow gloved fist before continuing.
"Welp, you liddle runts know tha drill. Bring yer crap up heah an' Ah'll tell y'all how much it sucks. First up, uh..." he swiped a piece of paper from a stack on his messy desk, his hasty action flinging the good three or four inches of dust sleeping on it to be brought back into the air, this in turn making him and the Waddle Dee cough and sneeze uncontrollably. With a quick smack upside the head and a few coarse words uttered at the short assistant for something he wasn't even responsible for, the royal penguin looked back to the class and finished his call out.
"Er... Ludwig van Koopa? Yeah, you, wit' the blue hair. Git yer ass up heah, son." he crossed his arms and shot a blank, unamused stare to the pompous young lad from the back row. Giving a holier-than-thou impression to everyone else around him, the Koopaling marched, chest puffed and gaze adjusted upwards away from everyone he passed from the upper rows of seats to present his project to the teacher.
"Ah, yes sir, Mr. Dedede sir." he said in a calm, yet smug tone, "I present to you my project. I have worked very hard on it these last few days, so I hope you come to appreciate what I'm about to show you." Whisking away the white cloth that covered the object he had brought up, he displayed the odd looking piece of machinery to the class.
"Now... Tha's nice an' all, but..." the king looked on at it, quizzically, "Whut in tarnation izzit?"
"I'm glad you asked, sir. You see, from what you mentioned about vacuums and black holes, and something regarding bubblegum -admittedly I had trouble following your exact speech from when you initially gave it to us- I threw together this device that should aimlessly help in whatever it was that you-" his explanation was cut short, however, as the sound of a chuckling pair of Italian men caught his ears. His eyes immediately darted to the two, and then his face turned pale, drenching itself in a cold sweat. Th... THEM?! They're HERE? I... I don't believe this, I must inform Roy right away! he thought to himself as he hurried to the door without a second thought.
"My sincerest apologies, teacher, but I must... Use the restroom! Yes, the restroom. Please carry on with the class until I return!" he said in a single breath before running out, slamming the door shut and leaving everyone in the room awkwardly speechless.
"...Ooookay, then, s-so, next...?" Dedede muttered to himself, looking at his sheet of paper again to remind himself who he needed to call up now. "Paula Somethin'orother, c'mon up an' stuff."
Without a word, the young lass in a pink dress with curly blonde hair decorated with a red bow walked up to the front of the room. After a moment, she began to explain her project to the class while Mario and Luigi discussed quietly the little scene from seconds prior.
"U-Uh... Bro... That-a... That-a wasn't...?" Mario whispered through chattering teeth, hoping he had heard wrong when the teacher said "Koopa."
"I'm afraid so... Man, and after all the work we did in trying to avoid them today..." Luigi lowered his head in defeat, trying to brainstorm an escape plan before he returned, likely with his siblings, but more importantly Roy, the Koopa who had sworn their death sentences from the day before.
Looking to the two distraught brothers in worry, Peach couldn't help but ask if there wasn't anything she could do to help. As they explained their situation and current relationship with the family, Peach was about as clueless as them when it came to thinking of what to do.
"Man oh man! That's actually kinda neat soundin', kiddo! An' heah I thought all the students o' dis class were a buncha' dolts." the teacher said with a wide grin as he looked over the small, handheld device again. As the girl thanked him for his rarely kind words, she skipped back to her seat while he glanced the list again for who to call up next.
"Now, lesse heah, next we got... Uh, sh-shoot, there's a bit o' ketchup ovah thissun..." he squinted and strained his vision to try and make out the name, but nothing helped. Shouting crassly to the Waddle Dee sitting motionlessly next him again, his wasting of time caused the Mario brothers to sweat more profusely than before. Any second now Ludwig was bound to barge back inside, and as soon as the thought crossed their mind, it began.
"MARIO BROTHAAAAAS!" a familiar, angered and gravelly voice shouted as the door was flung clean off its hinges, startling everyone including the teacher who was sitting beside it.
"AW SHI-! Y'all downright gave me a heart attack, ya little-"
"Zip it, pops." Roy interrupted coldly as he glared back at the man.
"Y-yeesh... Ah- Ah mean, y'all don't scare me, ya little punk!" he threw back, folding his arms and cracking rapidly under the pressure of the younger male's deathly gaze.
"But dis ain't about you, it's about... THEM." he turned to point at the pair of hapless Italians clutching to each other for dear life as they were without a single idea of what to do at this moment in time.
"Well take it outside or sumthin'! I dun wanna be pinned tha blame whatevah y'all do in this class!" he spat out more in pleading than in order, shifting his gaze away from the pink headed Koopa as he approached the brothers.
"No problem." he said coolly as he grabbed at their collars, one in his clawed hand. Lifting them both up without breaking a sweat, he approached the open window and was just about ready to throw them until another voice called out for him to stop.
"Put them down right this instant, you... you... barbarian!" Peach stood up as she stared back at the Koopaling without fear. Even though she wasn't entirely friendly with either brother just yet, she certainly wasn't going to watch them both get bullied by some senseless brute like Roy, let alone get nearly killed by him.
"I... Damn it, when did she..." he let go of the two in an instantly and slowly backed away toward the door, his brother giving him a shocked look.
"R-Roy! What on earth are you doing? Weren't we supposed to exact our revenge for our sister's bruised dignity?" Ludwig sputtered as his brother silently exited from the room.
"You remember what Dad said, Luddy. We're not supposed to get involved wit'... her." he looked behind his shoulder to the princess hurrying over to the two brothers to assure they were alright. As soon as Ludwig remembered himself, his expression changed to that of a similarly contained anger.
"Oh... That... That's right..." he looked down on the floor, gritting his teeth. Forgetting about class entirely, he left the room with his brother as the teacher looked on in even deeper confusion, tinted lightly with relief.
"Uh... S-so... Ya know whut, kids? Tha liddle missy's thingiemabob's prob'ly tha best thang Ah'm gonna be gittin', so tell y'all what: Class is dismissed early. Your highness has got himself a hot date tonight wit' a plate o' nachos that I ain't wanna be missin', so... See you chumps next week! Hah hah!" with an egotistical cackle, he ran out of the room himself, his Waddle Dee minion following close behind.
After dodging another bullet for the day, Mario and Luigi counted their blessings as they began to head out themselves. Thanking Peach once again for her most appreciated help indeed, the mutual bond between them grew just a little more stronger.
"You're not coming, Paula?" Peach asked as the younger blonde began to walk away in a different direction from her and the brothers.
"O-Oh, I have to go meet up with Ness and Poo at the nurse's office. We're all visiting Jeff before he has to stay in his room overnight..." she said with a sigh before taking a few more slow steps away from the three.
"Okay, I understand. Best of luck with that." she said with a warm, reassuring smile as the girl walked off into the scattering crowd of other students. "Well, I need to go meet up with the rest of the girls, so I'll see you two tomorrow. Try not to get in any more trouble now, alright boys?" she spun around back to the brothers, teasing them with a playful wink.
"Y-yeah, you-a got it, princess!" Mario piped up as he scratched at his collar, chuckling.
"I got an idea, how about we escort you there, princess? I mean, it's the least we could do..." Luigi offered with a embarrassed smirk creeping up on his lips, his brother giving him an irritated look.
"Or, I-a could walk-a you to-a them, princess. After all, I-a-" Mario butted in, irritating his brother back.
"How about you both do it? Silently?" Peach sighed as yet another brotherly feud was about to unfold before her eyes again. The Italians clammed up and took her advice to heart, shut up and followed the young woman as they all laughed knowingly to one another without a care in the world.
And upon ending this day, it marked the first of many the brothers would have with the young princess, for better, and for worse...
Sonic: Bros, there's nothing more cool than having a hot chick fawn over you. But when she starts talking about marriage, that's NO GOOD. So what do you do? First, you break up with her. Then, if she starts stalking you, you get a restraining order on her crazy bitch ass. And when she breaks into your house, ties you to your bed, and then threatens your life if you don't agree to her twisted demands, that's when you move to Mexico and change you identity!
Tails: ...You weren't even IN this episode, why the hell are you-
Knuckles: And remember kids, drink your milk, stay in school, and don't do drugs! That's what a wise man once said...
Tails: ...I hate all of you. So much.
Sonic: Oh, and use protection and all that boring junk. I don't know why they ask me to tell you losers this stuff, but at least the pay is goo-
Amy: SONIKKU!
Sonic: FFFFFFFFFFFF- Later, bros! *Fkees*
Knuckles: ...So, be honest here, how WOULD I look with a mohawk instead of the 'dreads?
Tails: Sigh... *Facepalms*
Knuckles: Oh right, and keep on Smashin', yo! *Fist pumps, breaks camera* ...Oops... *fkees*
Announcer: ...GAME, SET, AND MATCH!
Tails: *Sobs*
Sakurai: *Laughs*
On the next episode: Mario and the gang start signing up for groups, teams, clubs, and after-school activities! With no one in Mario's newly established circle of friends not really having much of anything in common, will all go well for our struggling star pupils? And with the threat of Gary's imminent revenge lurking around every turn, how will the Mario brothers manage avoiding his and Meta Knight's mighty wrath? Find out... next time!
A/N: I hope you guys don't mind the slight change o' pace I did wit' dis episode, wit' Peach takin' the spotlight an' all. But worry not, bros, as we'll get right back to the brothers we all know an' love in the next episode. As always, yo' thoughts an' input would be most appreciated indeed. An' if it's updates you're lookin' for, jus' check out my blog; it's linked on my profile. So, until we meet again, peace out, homies! ;)