Chapter 15:
An Afternoon Of Satire
Author's Note: Hooray for another chapter! I do hope the plot's not dragging. I'd like to thank all those that have reviewed so far, and all those to come. I'm sorry for the delay. I've been busy with the upcoming holiday season and schoolwork.
Disclaimer: I do not own any Mario characters.
Shock after shock; surprise after surprise; both unwelcome, yet both expected. Princess Daisy, breathless and somewhat relived, stood in front of the table that her cousin; the beloved princess of the Mushroom Kingdom sat, with a big smile on her face.
Something was defiantly up. The other princess, a pale pink handkerchief in her left gloved hand, glanced upwards at her cousin, her face in a more perplexed expression.
"He's not here, Peach!" The auburn princess proclaimed, joyfully. "The guy in Room 122 was Fredrick Musher…the 2nd or something like that. It wasn't Toadsworth!" She grinned.
A smile suddenly appeared on Princess Peach's face. "He's-he's not Toadsworth?" She squealed, a bit unsure. "Daisy, please don't tell me you're-"
"Of course I'm not lying!" Daisy snapped, laughing a bit. "You know how bad of a liar I am. If I was lying why would I sound so happy?"
"I suppose…" Peach thought for a minute. "Oh, I can't believe it though! Toadsworth…he's still…alive!" she let out a giggle. "Oh Daisy, this is so wonderful!"
Daisy shook her head. Peach never sounded so happy and relived at once. But would that happiness fade when her cousin found out about Mario, who happened to be in room 123? Would that beautiful smile be replaced with a horrid frown? She didn't even want to think about it. Shaking her head, she sat back in her old seat, and looked around.
People were staring. She winced. It wasn't that embarrassing. Peach was just happy. They weren't laughing or anything. It just felt awkward.
Princess Peach, finally bringing herself together, heaved a happy sigh. "Oh my," she stated, shaking her head. "I can't believe I got so worked up over nothing. Well, Daisy," she replied, running one of her gloved hands through her luscious blonde hair. "I suppose it's time we checked on Edward." She got up and took one last sip of her pink lemonade, before she walked over to the trash can and discarded it along with her plate.
Daisy shrugged. "I don't know what room he's in though, Peach. I guess we'll have to ask…"
The two walked out of the cafeteria and over to the elevator; going back down to the first floor, and over to the front desk. The little red Toad that had been attending Peach before followed, staying silent and alert.
"Excuse me," Peach said softly, over to the red-shelled Koopa who was busy sorting files.
"Oh umm…" The Koopa looked over at Peach, its eyes suddenly widening. "Princess Toadstool!?" it exclaimed in surprise. "What…a surprise to see you. How may I help you, your highness?"
If you really thought about the word 'highness', you'd probably get discomforted with being called it. At least, that was what Daisy thought, standing beside Peach as the conversation progressed.
"I was wondering what room number Edward…Koopa was staying in." Peach replied, glancing around. "And whether or not visitors are allowed." She added, insightfully.
The Koopa looked over at its clipboard and then nodded. "Edward Koopa is in room 97, and visitors are allowed until 6 this evening. He's fine, ladies…"
How did they know? Shaking her head, Princess Daisy headed back towards the elevator, her cousin following with her. They went up until they arrived on the 3rd floor, and headed to room 97, opening the door and glancing around. It looked like a usual hospital room; only one thing was funny…
"Daisy!" Princess Peach immediately snapped, staring at the bed in horror. "LOOK!"
Daisy's attention suddenly went to the bed. It looked like a usual hospital bed; white covers, white pillow; only one thing was missing. No one was in it!
Instead of Edward Koopa being under the covers, there was a note in its place. Peach immediately grabbed it, looking over it with a panicked face. "My…goodness, Daisy! They took him! They took him too!"
"Give me that!" Daisy snapped, grabbing the note and forgetting her manners. Her blue eyes trailed down the page, becoming wider by the second. The note read:
Dear Princess Peach and Princess Daisy,
I have kidnapped Edward Koopa and taken him away from this place. If you ever wish to see him, bring 999,999 coins to the back alley besides the Forte Café, at 12pm tonight. Come alone and do not tell anyone. If the police come, the deal's off and the Koopa, along with that stupid Toad, are dead.
-???
Who was that supposed to be? Daisy's hands turned into fist, and she set the letter aside and stared at Peach.
"Edward and Toadsworth," Peach cried. "I-I…"
"This is insane!" exclaimed Daisy, crossing her arms. "Who'd go this low? Who'd go this low for money?"
"I-I haven't a clue, Daisy. It certainly isn't Bowser," Peach frowned. "Oh dear…what if they want to kill us too!?" she exclaimed, her blue eyes completely widen. "How will we ever make it?"
"How will we ever get 999,999 coins?" Daisy asked, her eyes narrowed.
"I-I suppose we could make a withdrawal; but 999,999 coins is an awful lot for a ransom." Peach sighed. "What should we do, Daisy? We can't keep this to ourselves. If we did…then who would be able to save us if they had intention to kill us?"
"My real question is why they didn't just raise the amount one more coin," Daisy proclaimed, rolling her eyes.
A pink heel stepped on top of her orange one. "Daisy!" Peach snapped. "This is serious! We shouldn't be joking about it! Edward and Toadsworth could be as good as dead if we don't respond or accept the request of the letter."
"Well, who should we tell, Peach?" Daisy shook her head. "We don't know who to trust."
"There has to be someone around here," Peach said, trailing off a bit at the end. She tilt her head, pondering over the manner. Her mind automatically went to Mario, the 'famed' red-capped plumber who had saved her many times before. Then came the thought of how to contact him; considering the mail post wasn't working today and they didn't have any way to get over to the plumbers' home…
Daisy, who for once knew a bit more then Peach about the plumbers' whereabouts, heaved a sigh. She COULD take Peach to Luigi; she probably should. But if she did, Peach would certainly find out about Mario….there was no way to hide it, considering that there would need to be some reason why Luigi was at the hospital in the first place. But what if-
Would he even follow it though? Luigi wasn't one to work so well with hastily-made plans; and wasn't very great at lying; that was for sure. An obnoxious big grin would appear on his suddenly-red face when he did; making it obvious that he wasn't being telling the truth. And Princess Peach, as smart as she was, would be able to detect that SOMETHING was up. Luigi was a bit of a blabbermouth as well. He'd note it in SOMEWHERE in the conversation. But who else to turn to? No one in the hospital would understand their wacky adventure as well as he would. Daisy sighed. There was no other option, as far as she was concerned. Maybe if she exaggerated a bit with how well Mario was doing…maybe that would help ease the tears that would probably come from Peach's sapphire blue eyes a bit.
"Well, I…" Daisy frowned. "I saw someone earlier that would probably help us a LOT," she said, crossing her arms. "Just promise me this: if I go find him with you, promise me you won't cry."
A perplexed expression appeared on Peach's face. "Cry? Why Daisy, I don't see any reason why I would…"
"Just promise," Daisy simply said, with a frown.
Peach shook her head. "Well," she said, thinking for a minute. "I suppose. I promise Daisy."
"Good! Let's go…I'm pretty sure he's still sitting on the bench outside," Daisy's gloved right hand grabbed Peach's left, as she dragged her out of the hospital room, and over to the elevator, going back to the ground floor, only to see the green-capped plumber no where in sight. The two continued outside the hospital doors, and over towards the bench Daisy had been sitting on earlier. Empty.
The auburn-haired princess's blue eyes widen completely as she froze in place. She knew EXACTLY where Luigi was.
She slowly walked back into the hospital; Princess Peach following behind. She walked even slower to the hospital elevator, opening the doors and walking in, her cousin following with an awkward look on her face. Daisy simply hit one of the buttons, the elevator moving upwards. She rushed out, Peach now very surprised at the speed increase. She kept running until she came to a certain room number. The door was open.
And suddenly Peach realized why Daisy had forced her into that promise. Lying on the hospital bed was quite a familiar sight to the Mushroom Kingdom's princess. "Mario?" she softly whispered, walking into the room and closer to the bed. "Oh…my…goodness…" she exclaimed, with shock and disbelief.
Daisy walked in beside Peach, looking down. "I'm REALLY sorry, Peach. But the doctors said that Mario's going to be fine, right Luigi?"
The green-capped plumber who had been sitting on a chair beside the bed nodded. "Y-y-yeah," he said, stuttering once again. He wasn't lying he was just…shocked at the two visitors' sudden…appearance. "F-f-fine…"
Princess Peach had to fight the tears back, as she stared back at Daisy and Luigi. She took a deep breath and nodded. "Y-y-yes," she replied, nodding. "I'm sure he…will…be…" She was a bit distance for a minute, glancing down at her pink high heels.
Daisy frowned, feeling guilty. She should have told Peach earlier. She shouldn't have let it hang for so long. "Are you going to be okay, Peachie?" she asked, using her cousin's nickname, in hope it may cheer her up the slightest bit.
Peach solemnly nodded. "Y-yes," she said, stuttering herself. "I will, th-thank you for your concern. I-" she hesitated. "I'll be fine. Anyway…" she glanced back at the letter gripped in her right gloved hand. "Luigi, we have quite a conflict on our hands…" she placed the letter in his lap. "Why don't you read this for yourself?"
The plumber's eyes glanced at the letter, reading it over. By the time he had read the last word, his eyes were completely widened. "999,999 coins!? Holy pepperoni! Who could of wrote this!?"
"We don't know, Luigi," Daisy casually explained, as if she had gotten ransom notes every other day of the year. "It's defiantly not that Bowser guy though…"
"Even if it was," Peach continued. "It seems awful odd that he would ask for ransom or even kidnap Toadsworth and Edward. He seemed rather…unable to do anything when we last left him…"
"Yeah, he would have needed to be following us to find out about Edward or to find out we were even at the hospital," Daisy shrugged. "It couldn't be him…"
"But who could it be then?" Luigi asked, befuddled. "It's a pretty odd plan if you ask me. Usually you guys are kidnapped and me and Mario have to save you…"
"Everything has been the slightest bit odd lately," Peach tilt her head. "Oh, by the way, what's that lovely present over there? Did you leave that for Mario, Luigi?"
"Err…" Luigi looked over at the blue box wrapped with a pink ribbon. He shook his head. "Nope, someone put it here while I was down in the waiting room…"
There was an awkward silence for a few minutes, until suddenly something caught Daisy's attention.
"Listen guys!" she snapped.
It remained silent for a minute more until suddenly, something clicked.
"Something is…ticking," announced Peach, looking around.
"There wasn't anything ticking before," Luigi stated, with a slight frown.
Daisy walked around the room, towards the present. Something about it stuck out as…
"You guys! The ticking's coming from HERE!" Two faces stared over in the yellow-gowned princess's direction, as she held up with blue box.
"What could it be? D-Daisy, what are you doing?" Luigi suddenly asked, watching her ripe the ribbon off.
"OHMIGOSH!" Daisy nearly squealed, staring what was inside. "This isn't any clock guys…there's a-a-a…"
Peach rushed over, and glanced inside. "My goodness, it's a BOMB!"
The hospital room that once seemed serene and calm was suddenly filled with shock and panic. A bomb was inside that box; a bomb was going to blow in only 28 minutes….
"What are we going to do?" Peach exclaimed, worried for both the welfares of their selves and the other patients.
"Isn't there a way to stop it?" asked Daisy, tossing the box over to Luigi, afraid it'd blow up on her.
Luigi tossed it over to Peach. "I dunno!"
Princess Peach frowned. "Well, sitting here defiantly isn't going to do anything," she tossed it to Daisy.
"She's right; we gotta get out of here!" Princess Daisy replied, throwing it back over to Luigi.
"But what about Mario?" Luigi asked, tossing it again to Peach.
"The further away the bomb is, the better it'll be for Mario," stated Daisy, catching the box as Peach threw it to her and rushing out the door. "C'mon, I think there was a dump a couple miles of here," the princess said, heading towards the elevator and getting back in.
Her cousin followed, and then finally the green-capped plumber. Down it went, until it reached the ground floor; the trio rushing out and over towards Luigi's green convertible. It was pretty snazzy and first class; at least in comparison to Edward Koopa's old rusty car.
The three got in; Luigi at the stirring wheel; and backed out of the parking lot. The car headed out of the parking lot and at high speed stormed down the highway road, going at what seemed to be entirely over the speed limit. Take a left turn here! Take a right turn there!
The car moved all over the place, switching lanes back and forth; trying to go the fastest route to the Mushroom City dump. Time kept ticking, the bomb awkwardly placed in Princess Daisy's lap. Go figure.
15 minutes….14 minutes…
Time was running short and yet they still had a couple miles until they would get to the dump. Stupid traffic!
13 minutes…..12…
Both Daisy and Peach were panicked, as Daisy's blue eyes kept track of the time.
11…10…9…8 minutes…
"C'mon Luigi!" Daisy snapped, becoming frantic. "Can't you go any faster?"
"I'm going as fast as I can, Daisy," he said, twisting the stirring wheel. "It's hard to drive like this…"
7…6….5…4…
The car turned into the entrance of the city dump heading down and through it until they found a nice spot, in front of a vacant field.
3…2…1
Daisy immediately got out of the car with the bomb, her face paler then any ghost.
30 seconds, 29….
"Daisy, throw it!" snapped Peach, extremely worried. "Throw it now please!" she exclaimed, watching her dazed cousin stand still.
10 seconds, 9…
Daisy shut her eyes and gulped. "Here goes nothing…" she muttered under her breath, taking a step forward and then letting go of the bomb, tossing it in the direction of the vast green field ahead of her.
3…2...
1.
Final Notes: I don't know whether to consider that a cliffhanger or not. All the same, I hope that brought more excitement to the plot. I'm sorry again for the possible grammar and spelling mistakes…there are some things an author just can't catch. Please review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was a pleasure writing it.