Ever true to his word, Luigi's predictions were correct—after a few more hours listening to tales Dimentio and Mr. L fed her and gulping down shroom after shroom, Livi's leg did eventually heal, and she was back to normal by the end of the Grand Prix. When Luigi came to fetch her, she didn't ask who had won or what had happened—she couldn't care less.

But, life went on, and soon Livi bid Dimentio and Mr. L a fond farewell and joined the other heroes. The other racers had all been dismissed for the evening, the crowds had gone home, and only the residents of the castle and the Mario Brothers remained.

"I'm very sorry you couldn't participate in the rest of the races, Livi…" Peach said gently, laying a hand on the fangirl's shoulder. "You were doing so well at first!"

Livi hmphed and swatted her hand away. "I know. I was kicking freakin' butt."

The Princess gave her a sympathetic smile. "Maybe next year."

Livi blew the bangs out of her face. "Whatever… I'll probably be too busy to come back then… Man, this visit sucks!" With that, she raised her leg and gave the wall beside her a good, firm kick.

She didn't expect the wall to rumble loudly and the floor to shake beneath her. "HOLY CRAP!" Livi cried, diving behind Luigi. "WHAT DID I DO?"

No one had time to answer her. Glass exploded into the room as windows were shattered, and suddenly, the halls were filling up with various members of the Koopa Troop.

"It's Bowser!" Peach cried.

"He's attacking now?" Luigi choked out.

Mario wasted no time—he was in attack-mode in two seconds flat. In one swift motion, the hero grabbed Livi, yanked her away from Luigi, and shoved her towards Peach. "Take-a Livi and find somewhere to-a hide." He instructed.

Peach nodded once, took Livi's wrist, and dashed off down the halls. Livi had no choice but to stumble clumsily after her, still completely shell-shocked. "Wait, wait! What's going on?"

"Bowser's launched an attack on the castle." Peach informed her sharply, not so much as slowing to allow Livi to get her footing. "He's trying to kidnap me."

"Holy crap!" Livi cried, eyes widening slightly. "Well, what are we gonna do? Are Luigi and Mario gonna be okay? There was like ten million troopers out there!"

Peach smiled. "Don't worry, they'll be fine. They know how to handle themselves—ah! Here we go!" The Princess stopped suddenly, jerking Livi to an abrupt halt as well. She released the Fangirl's hand to run her gloved hands frantically around the frame of a large portrait that hung on the wall. She found whatever she was searching for with a cry of delight, allowing the portrait to swing open.

It turned out to be a door, concealing a hidden slide in the wall of the castle.

"Woah." Livi whispered. "Where does it go?"

"You're about to see for yourself." Peach grabbed Livi by the waist, hoisting her up with only minimal spastic flailing and yelling. She placed her at the opening of the slide, saying, "You go first. I'll be down right after you."

"WAIT!" Livi cried, bracing herself on the stone walls as Peach attempted to shove her down. "They're after you! Shouldn't you go?"

Peach opened her mouth to reply, then turned to find a sudden noise in the halls to be some of the troops chasing after them. She turned frantically back to Livi, yanking the fangirl's hands off the walls. "I'll be fine—just go!"

With that, Livi was pushed. She tried to stop herself, but for some reason, she could no longer gain any traction on the carpet beneath her or the stone walls around her. She heard Peach start yelling from above, but couldn't tell if she was following the Fangirl or not.

Suddenly, Livi stopped as something caught her from behind. Turning—with a scream of surprise—she found that two Paratroopas had stopped her decent and were now pulling her back up the slide. Livi shrieked, trying in vain to beat the troopers off of her, but it did little to nothing to slow their efforts. Within the next few moments, Livi fell off the top of the slide, landing on the floor. Before she even had time to pick herself up, the Paratroopas were back on top of her, binding her arms behind her back with a length of rope.

"OMIGOD LUIGI HELP!" Livi screamed, still miserably failing to get the attackers off of her.

Peach was struggling frantically against two more Paratroopas that were busy binding her in a similar fashion. "Stop that!" She yelled. "You leave her alone!"

Her cries and Livi's frantic shrieks went unheard. As soon as they were secured and could flail around considerably less, the Paratroopas grabbed onto the girls—two to each—and lifted them up and carried them out the window.

The Koopa Cruiser was floating overhead, several flying troopers surrounding it. Livi started kicking and screaming again as soon as she saw it. "PEACH, TELL 'EM I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! LET ME GO!"

"MARIO!" Peach cried instead, trying to twist back around towards the castle. "SAVE ME! MARIO!"

Mario and Luigi appeared in the castle windows. They looked shocked, but whatever they tried to scream to the girls was lost in all the chaos that surrounded them. Mario leapt from the window, bouncing off a few flying troopers to try to reach one of the girls. Luigi was stunned for a moment, but he quickly followed his brother outside. They got fairly close, but before either of the heroes could reach the captured girls, they were attacked, lost their footing, and plummeted back down to earth.

Livi only just saw them hit the ground when she was suddenly tossed aboard the Koopa Cruiser. She and Peach both scrambled to get their footing—the fangirl being quickly knocked back to her knees by a few koopas. Peach leaned over the railing and cried out "MARIO!" one last time before the Cruiser revved its engines and shot off into the sky.

Livi watched Peach gaze out to the vanishing castle—then turn and march sharply back towards the koopas. "Alright, he's gone. Untie us both."

"Yes, ma'am." The koopas snapped, immediately undoing the ropes that held them.

Livi looked around at everybody—obviously, growing very confused. "…did I miss something here?"

"Oh, relax." Peach snapped, hoisting Livi up to her feet. "Where's your King? I have to speak to him immediately."

"Right this way, ma'am." A paratroopa offered, leading both girls down into the inner chambers of the Cruiser. The group eventually made its way to a control room of sorts, full of different troopers busy piloting the ship. King Bowser stood in the center of the room, overseeing their progress.

"Bowser!" Peach snapped, marching up to him immediately.

The great Koopa turned, and flashed them a toothy grin upon seeing her. "Heya, Peachy! Good to see you again."

Peach ducked and stepped back as he attempted to wrap an arm around her. "Wonderful to see you as well, Bowser—you have to stop the ship."

Bowser blinked. "…what?"

"You've made a mistake!" The Princess snapped. "No doubt you told your troops 'and while you're down there, grab the brunette in orange'—but Daisy's already gone home!"

Bowser's gaze shifted around. "…and?" he prompted.

Peach huffed, grabbing a very shell-shocked Livi and yanking her over to them. "And… they went and grabbed Livi instead!"

"I know." Bowser said.

"Good, so if we could ju—" Peach stopped herself suddenly, tilted her head, and raised an eyebrow to Bowser. "…you know." She repeated.

"Yeah." Bowser laughed, nodding his head. "I told 'em to grab the fangirl. They got it right—she's pretty hard to miss, after all."

Peach shrieked, punching Bowser on the arm. "You big bully! Why would you go and do that to her? She's just a—"

Her rant was cut short as Bowser wrapped an arm around her waist, clapping his other hand over her mouth. She continued to shriek. "Will you chill out?" Bowser snapped. He turned quickly to Livi. "Hey, Fangirl—what's your favorite type of trooper?"

Livi blinked. She was now completely, totally, and hopelessly lost. "…uh… I dunno… Bob-omb, I guess…"

"Bob-omb?" Bowser repeated. He turned and released Peach's waist to snap his fingers. "Ka-Boom!"

A small, black Bob-omb marched up to the King. "Yes, sir?"

Bowser jerked his head in Livi's direction. "Keep her entertained until we land, alright? What she says goes, but don't let anything happen to her."

The black orb bowed to its master with a firm "Yes, sir." He then turned on his heels and marched out of the room, instructing Livi to follow. She seemed stunned, but did so nonetheless.

Once they were out of the way, Bowser released Peach. "…Alright… now, what is your problem?"

"Why on earth would you go and kidnap Livi?" Peach shrieked, landing a few more hits on Bowser's scaly stomach. He didn't so much as flinch. "You can't go and drag her into this! She could get hurt!"

"She's not gonna get hurt…" Bowser cooed, catching Peach's tiny fists and grinning madly at her. "Besides, I have my reasons."

"Why?" Peach demanded immediately.

Bowser smirked, dropping Peach's hands. "I snatched her for Kamek. Besides, she loved the castle the last time she was up there. "

Peach blinked, seeming quite stunned. "…you… for Kamek? …how is…"

"Look." Bowser whispered, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in close. "I've got a reputation to keep, okay? You can't let anybody think I'm going soft. …but, yeah, Kamek was all bummed out that the fangirl was back and he couldn't go see the rest of those losers… so, I brought the fangirl to him…" He flashed her a toothy grin. "Genius, right?"

Peach couldn't help but smile, reaching up to tussle Bowser's mane around. "Oh, you're always such a pushover, aren't you?"

"No!" Bowser roared. "I'm not!"

"Alright, sure…" Peach agreed with an arrogant smirk. "So, she'll just be staying with me, then?"

Bowser shrugged. "She can do whatever she wants. Teach her how to play it up like you do, then when the Bros. come after ya, they'll just pick her up too."

Peach smiled softly. "…I suppose that is rather brilliant of you, Bowser…"

He laughed at that. "Hey—I have my moments."


The Koopa Cruiser landed in some deep, hidden chamber of the castle, and as the troop dispersed throughout the castle Peach and Livi followed Bowser out to the throne room. There, he met the Koopalings, who were eagerly awaiting his return. He informed them all how the mission had gone, then they each took their turns welcoming Peach to her home-away-from-home.

Livi, meanwhile, was terrified. Everything she had ever known had, apparently, just flipped around and smacked her across the face. She spent the majority of the welcoming hiding behind Peach and looking anxiously around at everyone. The Koopalings seemed glad to see her again—but, realizing they had all grown since their last meeting (some of them much taller than her now) she only continued to cower behind the Mushroom Princess.

To the fangirl's surprise—Peach needed no escorts or guards or anything of the sort to roam the castle. After the introductions were out of the way, Peach turned and strode fluidly out of the room, towing Livi behind her with no more than a calm announcement that she was going to her room.

"…you have a room?" Livi finally managed to voice once they were a good ten minutes into the corridors.

Peach flashed her a smile. "How nice of you to join the living today. Yes, I have my own bedroom for when I stay here… you can't expect a Princess to sleep in the dungeons, now can you?"

Livi blinked. "…so… what… is this, like, a hotel to you or something?"

Peach laughed at that. "Oh, no, not at all!"

"So, what is the deal here?" Livi suddenly snapped. "I thought you were being kidnapped all this time!"

"I am." Peach declared. She stopped before a seemingly random door, took the ring off her finger, and flicked open the cover over the lock. Inside, it had not a normal keyhole, but a small, circular hole. Peach pressed the bright blue orb on the ring into the hole, twisted it once to the right, twice to the left, then once more to the right and the lock clicked open. Pulling it off and tossing it to the ground, she slipped her ring back on her finger and threw open the doors.

Livi didn't believe her story up to that point—but there was no mistaking that the room was Peach's. Not a random guest room she had deemed hers; this was a special room that had been made entirely and specifically for Peach. Pink covered the curtains, the bed, the carpet, the dresser, the desk, everything.

"First things first." Peach declared, stepping over to bright pink double doors on the opposite side of the room. "We'll need to get changed."

"…changed?" Livi repeated.

"Oh, yes." Peach assured her. Throwing open the doors, the next room was revealed to be a giant closet—no less than the exact same size as the enormous room they currently stood in. Various outfits of all sorts of bright colors lined the walls, along with shoes and accessories to match. "The Dark Land climate is much too hot to go traipsing around in evening gowns and heels—or, in your case—denim pants and a racer's jacket."

"Yeah… I guess it is super hot here…" Livi agreed, shrugging out of her jacket as she looked around in awe. "…so… kidnapped?" She asked again.

"Oh, right!" Peach chirped. She stepped behind a curtain for about two seconds, coming out in a short, white sundress with a pink sash and kicking off her heels to go sort through a pile of sandals. "Well, at first, it was kidnapping. It's practically Koopa tradition, to capture a Princess which has stolen your heart, rather than courting her or sending flowers and chocolates like a gentleman. Here, try these." She suddenly interrupted herself, throwing some clothes in Livi's arms and shoving her behind the curtain.

Livi stumbled to a stop, then slowly snapped out of her daze (only slightly, though) and slowly began changing to the cotton shorts and tank-top. She smiled when she noted it had Luigi's logo on it. "So, um… I guess things changed?"

"Well, eventually, I picked up on the fact that having Bowser head-over-heels for me meant he's not going to hurt me. I started making a few suggestions—like I wouldn't mind my own bedroom, or something lighter to change into. Then things got more complex. A request for a more koopa-ish meal—out of sheer curiosity, mind you—turned into a tradition of having dinner with the family. Complaining I was lonesome allowed me to take a seat beside Bowser's throne as he went about ruling his kingdom. He even asked my opinion now and again."

"Really?" Livi asked, stepping back outside to have a green baseball cap shoved on her head. "So now, you're just playing charades with Mario?"

Peach sighed, looking away. "…being a Princess isn't as glamorous as it seems… It gets dull sometimes… over here, I'm taken care of, having fun, with people I've come to love and enjoy, and I can just… breathe… it's nice… In fact, once in a while, I've sent Bowser a letter inviting him to come kidnap me."

Livi cocked her head to one side, watching Peach fix a large sun hat just right on her head. "But… Mario and you are such a tight couple… if you and Bowser are friends, surely he'd let you visit… I mean, Peach, this is huge… you could outright unite your kingdoms like this!"

Peach shook her head. "It isn't that simple, Livi. Nothing is. And I've considered simply clueing Mario in many times—I just don't think it would work. You don't know how those two are."

Livi opened her mouth to protest again, but was interrupted by a sudden knocking on the door. "Come in!" Peach brightly chirped, prancing back out into the main room with Livi slowly following.

The door slowly opened and Kamek stepped inside, smiling when he saw Peach. He bowed slightly to her. "Good evening, Princess… I hope you're finding everything in order?"

"Oh, Kamek, don't be so formal." Peach laughed, allowing him to kiss the back of her hand. "But, yes, everything is just perfect. Is Bowser still in the throne room?"

Kamek shook his head. "He was heading to the east towers, last I checked. I could escort you there, if you like?"

Peach only brushed past him as she strode out of the room. "That's quite alright, I think I remember the way. Oh, and Bowser's brought you something, Kamek!"

Kamek turned to watch her leave with an odd look on his face, then slowly turned back to the room. It was only then that he noticed the fangirl. "…Li… Livi?"

Livi gave him a small smile, still being a bit frazzled herself. "Uh… hey."

Kamek began to smile. "Wha… what are you doing here?"

She only shrugged. "I have no idea. I don't even know what's going on."

The magikoopa's expression gradually shifted into a perplexed frown. "…what's the matter with you?" He asked bluntly. "Is everything okay?"

Livi blinked, looking down at the floor. "…I don't think so… I just don't know what's happening… everything's so confusing…"

Kamek smiled, walking over to wrap his arms around Livi's shoulders. "Don't worry about it, okay? You'll warm up to it." He pulled back, brushing her bangs out of her face. "Would you like me to show you around?"

At last, the corners of Livi's mouth twitch into a hesitant smile. "…I guess that'd be okay…"