15C - That Does It!

It's now 6:00 PM, shortly after Mario and friends defeated the Crystal King and saved the last Star Spirit. In Peach's castle's master bedroom, she had finished praying to God at her bedside and stood back up.

"Are you okay, Princess Peach?" Twink asked.

"Not really," Peach answered.

"What's wrong?"

"I have a feeling Mario and Luigi got all the Star Spirits."

"How do you know?" Twink asked.

"It just came to me a few minutes ago, and I had to pray for things to stay peaceful for now," Peach replied. Suddenly, her heart started beating fast, catching her off guard. She had an anxious look on her face.

"Take it easy, Princess Peach," Twink reassured Peach. "You know Mario and Luigi will be here any time soon now that they rescued all the Star Spirits. After all, it's really good news."

But Peach didn't listen and slowly walked to her closet. She rummaged through her dress rack and took out a black frying pan before hiding it behind her back.

Twink barely noticed the frying pan and became frightened a small bit. "What are you doing?" Peach didn't answer. "Princess Peach! What is the-"

"Quiet! Just hide somewhere!" Peach ordered Twink, who quickly flew under Peach's bed. Peach stood next to the front of her bed, anticipating the worst. Suddenly, the door opened, and Bowser walked inside, making Peach shiver a bit.

"Oh, Princess Peach! Your cuddly old Bowser's here!" Bowser said with a sing-song voice. "Can't we have a friendly conversation for a change?"

"Nothing will change, Bowser," Peach answered nervously. "I can see through your tricks."

"Oh, really? That's what you think?" Bowser asked sarcastically. "Come on! You're stuck with me for a long, long time, beautiful. You'd better get used to it."

Bowser stepped a bit closer to Peach, who backed up a couple steps.

"If you think Mario and Luigi will come for you, you might want to retract your thoughts because-" Peach immediately held her frying pan in front of Bowser. "Oh, what do we have here?" Bowser gazed at the pan for a couple seconds. "What is the pan for? You want to cook me some scrambled eggs? Hmm?"

"It's for you if you don't get out of my room," Peach said with gritted teeth.

"Get out? A girl like you wouldn't say that," Bowser replied. "Men are the only ones who order their loved ones to get out if they can't take it anymore." Bowser took another step forward. "You know I'm one of those nice men. I wouldn't force you out even if we get into a fight."

"You don't want any of this," Peach warned Bowser. "I'll hit your face in. I mean it."

"Hey. Calm it down, my lovely fruit," Bowser said with a soothing voice. "There's nothing to be scared about. Can I see a smile, please?"

Bowser stepped a bit closer, causing Peach to back up until she was about a foot from her balcony door.

"Does it look like I'm happy?" Peach asked with tranquil fury. "You're making me do the opposite."

"I know. And I'm sorry for making you upset," Bowser lied. He proceeded to pucker his lips as if he was going to kiss Peach. "Come here, Princess Peach. How about a little-"

Suddenly, Peach slapped Bowser across the face with her pan three times screaming, "NO! NEVER!"

"OUCH! WHAT IS WRONG-" Bowser started to demand before Peach took out a pepper spray canister from her right dress pocket and sprayed Bowser in his eyes. "AAAGGHHH! MY EYES!"

Again, Peach slapped Bowser twice; on the second hit, he fell to the ground. "SCREW OFF, YOU DAMN TURTRAGON!" she shouted.

"URGH! YOU DAUGHTER OF A KING!" Bowser roared. He tried to push himself off the ground but fell again. "JUST WAIT UNTIL I STAND BACK UP!"

While Bowser threatened Peach, she started to run toward her bedroom door and dropped her pepper spray canister and frying pan. But as she passed the fireplace, Kammy appeared in the doorway from out of nowhere, stopping Peach in her tracks.

"Hold it right there, Princess Peach!" Kammy ordered Peach. "Step aside!" Kammy saw Bowser on his stomach and ran up to him. "What happened, Your Raunchiness?"

"That princess... She hit my face and sprayed my eyes...! I can't see anything...!" Bowser groaned. Kammy helped Bowser up before he partially opened his eyes, which had red circles around the eyeballs.

"Oh man," Kammy said. "That's bad."

"What do you want?" Bowser asked with irritation.

"We have an emergency, and it's legitimate," Kammy started while Bowser shut his eyes again. "Mario and Luigi have now saved all of the Star Spirits! There... There IS a big chance they could come here using their power..."

"I knew it..." Peach said under her breath.

"We must make ourselves ready and fast," Kammy finished before Bowser stomped his foot with anger.

"GAH! GRAHHH! THAT DOES IT!" Bowser yelled. "KAMMY, SEND EVERYONE TO THEIR POSTS! WE'LL AMBUSH THEM THE SECOND THEY SET FOOT IN MY CASTLE!" Bowser turned to the open doorway. "GUARDS! ANYONE OUT THERE! TIE PRINCESS PEACH UP IMMEDIATELY! I REQUEST SHE HAVE A FRONT-ROW SEAT FOR THIS UPCOMING BRAWL!"

Right on cue, three Koopatrols ran inside with a long brown rope and quickly tied up Peach.

"No! Please!" Peach pleaded. But the Koopatrols tied her tight enough for her arms to not move at all.

Twink immediately came out from under her bed and shouted, "Hey! You big Koopa! Have some respect for Princess Peach!" He then started to fly circles around Bowser in an attempt to make him dizzy.

"What is this whining little glittering thing?! Confetti?!" Bowser slapped Twink away, causing him to fly through the balcony door, which opened when he impacted it .

"TWINK!" Peach cried. Bowser then walked in front of Peach and the Koopatrols.

"Hear me out, Princess Peach!" Bowser boomed. "I swear to the Stars from above, when they come across me, I will destroy Mario and Luigi until there's nothing left! AND I WILL DESTROY YOU BEFORE THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM IS MINE! MARK MY WORDS!" With a snap of his fingers, the Koopatrols hoisted Princess Peach above them and hurried out of her room.

"Kammy, I need milk in my eyes!" Bowser demanded.

"But I thought water-" Kammy started before Bowser interrupted her.

"Water doesn't work, and you know it's true!" Bowser argued. "Now help me!" Bowser and Kammy began to march to the kitchen. "Oh geez... I guess Princess Peach IS tough after all..."

Meanwhile, back in Jim's dungeon cell, he had been laughing like mad for the last several hours.

"Oh m-man...! Th-This...i-is the...b-best day o-of...m-my life...!" Jim chortled. "In f-fact...Mr. T-Toadsworth...you w-want to h-hear a j-joke?"

"I can't bear to listen to your laughter, Jim," Toadsworth answered.

"Knock knock! 'Who's there?' Heeding! 'Heeding who?'" Jim began after calming down a bit. "Do you know whose advice I should be heeding to?" Jim started to chuckle again. "B-Bowser's...!" Jim started laughing hard again.

"Is Jim gonna laugh himself to death?" one of the five Toads asked Toadsworth.

"That's a possibility. I have a feeling this is the last stage of his insanity."

"H-Hey g-guys!" Jim exclaimed. "A-Actually...I-I want t-to b-be freed...so I-I c-can t-tell...a-all the j-jokes I want...t-to the g-guards...!"

"They're not gonna want to hear them, Jim," the second Toad told Jim. "Can you quiet down a little?" But Jim couldn't stop laughing and grabbed his stomach.

"I-I l-love...b-being in h-here...!" Jim guffawed. "I-I should...s-start a...c-comedy sh-show in h-here...! And m-make e-everyone laugh...b-because I'm...a g-genius...! I'd r-rather be...a c-comedian...th-than an a-author...!"

After slightly calming down again, Jim began another joke. "What is it called when you roll down a hill while wearing Saran Wrap around your clothes?" Jim paused to think of a punchline before giggling again. "A T-Tumbler g-glass...!"

Suddenly, the third Toad chuckled silently, having gotten the joke.

"Hey! This isn't funny!" the second Toad scolded him. "Look what he's going through!"

"I'm sorry, but that joke was a good one. Not gonna lie."

Rewinding back to 5:35 PM, Mario, Luigi, and Spike reappeared through another light beam and touched down just near the entrance to Shiver Mountain. Kalmar was waiting for the group prior to their arrival.

"Hello, Mario and Luigi. My name is Kalmar," Kalmar introduced himself. "Well done to you two. Thank you for coming. You have successfully rescued all of us Star Spirits. We are in your debt. Now all that is left is for you to challenge Bowser. My power should help you...to bring back the Star Rod, to beat Bowser, to bring peace back to the Mushroom Kingdom, and...to save Princess Peach."

Kalmar raised his arms up, causing Mario and Luigi to sparkle for a few seconds. Then, Mario's Star Power Band's Star Energy increased by one more unit, completing the entire ring around the band.

"What I've granted you is what's known as 'Up & Away'," Kalmar explained. "Using two Star Energy units, if your enemies are weak enough, I will turn them into stars that will rise toward the sky for eternity."

"Oh boy. I'm gonna need you and the others' help, all right," Mario remarked.

"Indeed," Kalmar replied. "Mario and Luigi, you must make your way back to Star Hill. From Star Hill, we'll prepare the route to the Star Road. The name of this route is the Star Path. Once you travel the Star Path, you will finally reach the Star Road. My only wish is for you to save this precious world. You can do it, Mario and Luigi. Farewell for now." With that, Kalmar rose toward the Star Road, leaving Mario and friends to set off toward Star Hill.

"I can't believe we're this far already," Luigi said after letting out a sigh. "It feels like we just started 30 minutes ago."

"Well, time flies when you're on an important mission, bro," Mario responded before turning to Spike. "Spike, you're about to get your first look of Star Hill before the Star Road. Your mind's gonna be blown, I guarantee you."

"Awesome, man! I can't wait!" Spike declared. "Let's go!" It took nine minutes to reach the boundary of Shiver City before the group found the green Warp Pipe to go back to Kero Sewers and then toward Toad Town.