Several weeks after what came to be known as "the star incident", Peach decided to hold a diplomatic conference. Leaders from several important settlements were slated to attend; the Beanbean kingdom, Grass and Ice Lands, and of course Sarasaland, among others. Security was beefed up in response to the prior unwelcome visitors, but in reality there were only a few more armored toads stationed around the doors.
Celiko stalked around the gardens, disinterested in the conference. She wandered through a hedge maze, not bothering to look ahead until she smacked into a bright yellow, slightly squishy wall.
"Don't you usually look where you're going?" the wall bellowed, with a voice that made the flowers tremble. "Or is the conference so boring that you had to come out here and bash your head in against these rock solid abs of steel?"
"More like slightly flabby abs that fly around in clown cars too much," she replied while rubbing her nose, not bothered at all that the "wall" she knocked into was the reason the kingdom was on high alert. "What are you doing here? Does your head still hurt?"
Bowser laughed and pounded his fist against his skull. "Hurt? HA! I'm as thick headed as they come!"
"I don't doubt it," Celiko chuckled. "If you're here to crash the conference, be my guest. From the thirty minutes I managed to sit through, all that they decided on was that Mario deserves a medal. None of them even realized why I showed up."
"Even if it's still under siege, you're the de jure ruler of Water Land and deserve to be in attendance," Bowser snorted. "Funny how no one asked the King of Dark Land to show up. But it makes crashing the affair all the more sweeter! Though I hear through the pipeline- heh, pipeline, that's a good one- that I'm not the only threat the kingdom's facing lately."
Celiko was about to question that theory, but just then a high pitched whine sounded above them. Bowser suddenly tackled her to the ground, milliseconds before an explosion tore a hole through the castle walls.
"Dammit, what the hell is he up to now?! Go hide little princess, I'll handle this overgrown lima bean myself!" Bowser stood up and took off toward the damage.
Rather disoriented, Celiko called after him but wasn't heard over the commotion. "Lima bean? What...? Wait, Bowser!"
The koopa king had shielded her from any debris, but her head pounded from the noise and hitting the ground. A toad rushing to provide aid for explosion victims heard Celiko, and helped her to her feet. From him, she learned that a short Beanish in a cape was the prime suspect.
Celiko followed a path of blast marks and fire trails to the conference room. Furniture was thrown about, some broken chairs and tables serving as a makeshift shield for the cowering ambassadors. She scanned the room for Peach or Bowser, finding neither.
"Miss Celiko!"
Toadette poked her head out from a table, and Celiko ran over. "Toadette, are you alright? What happened?"
"The meeting was going well, until we heard an explosion. Toadsworth took the Princess out through the secret wall, right before a Beanish with a cape flew in. The Beanish got mad that she wasn't here and started shooting at us! That's when it got real bad, Bowser actually showed up! Great Goombas, could this get any worse?! Why does Mario have to be on vacation right now?"
Celiko ordered Toadette to help the ambassadors to safety, then took off looking for the intruder. If Toadsworth bothered to use the secret passage, it must mean the intruder is serious business; of all the times Bowser came to capture Peach, not once has he thought to tuck her away.
After running down the hallways, she finally came upon the intruder. "Ah ha, the princess of which I will need for the bargaining!" Celiko turned and saw a green floating lump, wrapped in a purple cape. "This is fortunate for Fawful, now I will not need to waste time looking for the butter to make my Mushroom Kingdom bread taste all the sweeter."
"Who are you, and why have you attacked our castle? I demand you leave at once!" She was not frightened by the strange speaking Beanish, and despite how she was ignored, she was definitely not going to back down from defending her adopted home. "You have no claim to our territory!"
"Neither do you, princess of water that has been polluted by the stinky sweat of Kuribo shoes. I am Fawful, and I will be doing the taking of the Kingdom of Shroomish!" Fawful zoomed forward, knocking into Celiko with his floating car. She winced from the impact on her shoulder, and tried to swat at him as he came around again. But this time he fired a magic beam, hitting her dead on and making her collapse. She knocked her head against some debris when she fell, and as she lost consciousness, she thought she heard an anguished roar coming down the hall...