After picking up the empty brass and taking care of the targets, weapons and everything else, Shadow and Peach headed back to her room.

"If you'll excuse me, I must prepare for our journey," said Peach. "Do afford me some privacy."

Shadow nodded, and stood aside as Peach entered her room. While she was getting ready for the mission ahead, he hummed "Wake Up Dead" to himself and reflected on their relationship thus far. He still wasn't exceedingly fond of the Princess, but since her words about wanting to prove herself had went straight to his heart, he figured that she might not be that bad after all. After all, he did have low opinions of Rouge when he first met her, but through the ARK incident, the Metal Sonic blitzkrieg, the Black Arms invasion and the Soleanna incident, she had proven herself to be reliable, trustworthy, and above all, she saw the good deep within him and promised to be there for him when he was feeling sad. Thinking about this, he had hope that Peach might just grow on him, too.

While Shadow was humming "Lightning to the Nations", Peach exited her room. She was now wearing a pink tank top with white trim and a gold-set sapphire brooch much like the one on her dress, pink short shorts with white stripes, and red sneakers with pink toecaps and pink laces. She also had her voluminous blonde hair tied into a ponytail and was carrying a large pink leather backpack. He nodded.

"Before we go, just one more thing…" said Shadow.

"Yes?"

"For your Beretta, I've brought a couple of holsters." Shadow dug two holsters out of one of the duffel bags, both brown leather Galco holsters, differing in that one was a belt holster and the other was a shoulder holster. "Choose whichever one you would feel more comfortable with."

Peach took both holsters and inspected them carefully. She tried on the belt holster first, but it felt a bit awkward without any belt loops on her shorts, so she handed it back and took the shoulder holster.

"OK." Shadow put the belt holster and its belt + accessories back in the duffel bag that he took them from. He then handed her the Beretta + as many magazines as would fit in the shoulder holster's mag pouch.

"What about the Uzi, Galil and the HK21E?" asked Peach.

"I brought a DeSantis rig for the Uzi. The Galil and 21E come with slings, as you saw, and I brought an ALICE rig for the Galil's magazine pouches. Any other questions?"

Peach shook her head.

"Then let's go."

Shadow and Peach exited the castle and strolled out of Toad Town. The fact that Peach had the shoulder holster on with the Beretta earned them more than a few looks, and at one point, a Toad belonging to the Toad Town Police Department stopped them.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty, but what are you doing with that firearm?" asked the officer.

"I'm carrying it as part of an official mission for the Mushroom Kingdom. Allow me to show you the decree…"

Peach handed a rolled-up piece of paper to the officer, who unrolled it and read it. In short, it explained that Bowser was hatching another evil plot and that Peach and any other participants in the mission were to use whatever means were at their disposal to accomplish their objectives. The officer nodded and handed the decree back to her.

"Very well," said the officer. "Best of luck, Your Majesty. Also, would you mind introducing your companion?"

"I'm Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form."

"Well then, best of luck, Shadow, and be careful!"

"Hmph."

One brief stroll later, and Shadow and Peach had exited Toad Town for the grasslands known as Verdant Valley. As far as it went, it was a garden-variety nature area that novice adventurers were bound to run into upon starting their adventure. Thus far, Shadow and Peach's journey was going more smoothly than an Isaac Hayes song.

"So Shadow, what do you think of the Mushroom Kingdom so far?"

"Well, it's a nice country. I don't think I'll ever move here, but if I have no other choice, I might just consider it."

"Glad to hear it! You know, I once visited the Kingdom of Mobius on holiday, and if I weren't Princess, I might like to live there!" Peach stroked her chin. "Although now that I think of it, I might just buy a mansion in the East Beach of Emerald City…"

"I'm sure you'll…"

Just then, Shadow's Hedgehog Sense interrupted his train of thought. He turned in the direction that it told him to look towards, and it had alerted them to a charging Goomba. Without hesitation, Shadow drew his Model 29 and blasted the Goomba to kingdom come. Having never heard the mighty "boom" of the .44 Magnum nor seen anybody get shot, Princess Peach let out a horrified gasp and put her hands on her cheeks.

"Look what you did!" exclaimed Peach. "I can't believe what you did!"

"Hello!" said Shadow. "HELLO! What were you expecting!? This Smith & Wesson Model 29 is one of the most powerful handguns in the world! Wake up! People don't turn into fluffy kittens when they get shot!"

"B-but what's wrong with jumping on them!? Mario and Luigi would never be so cruel to an unarmed Goomba!"

Shadow gestured at himself with his free thumb. "Princess, listen to me! I'm not Mario, I'm not Luigi! I'm Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Goddamn Life Form! I find that firearms are the most effective and efficient way of dispatching low-level goons, and if you don't like it, then you and your pathetic Mushroom Kingdom can go screw yourselves for all I care!"

Peach furrowed her brow and crossed her arms. "My gosh, you're so rude! I'm now starting to reconsider asking you to help me!"

"Good, because I'm starting to…"

Shadow paused when his Hedgehog Sense tingled again. During their little argument, him and Peach had failed to notice a group of Koopa Troopas coming up on them, resulting in the pair being completely surrounded.

"Are you reconsidering now, Princess?"

Peach said nothing else. Knowing that she'd have to go along with Shadow's way of doing things or fail her mission, she drew her Beretta, and going back-to-back with him, they opened fire on the Koopa Troopas. In the ensuing carnage, Peach nearly dropped her gun as she found herself shooting another living being for the first time, but nevertheless kept pulling the trigger until she was sure that all of the Koopa Troopas had perished. While the .40-caliber Beretta didn't pack as much of a punch as the .44 Magnum Model 29, it nevertheless put some pretty good holes through the Koopa Troopas provided it was aimed right. When the smoke cleared, Peach was almost hyperventilating as she tried to come to terms with the fact that she'd shot somebody dead.

"I guess that's a yes," said Shadow.

After reloading, Shadow and Peach moved on. Not too far from their current location, they encountered some more Goombas, which proved to be easy pickings for them. After this, they found another group of Koopa Troopas to put holes through. As they moved on through the valley, Peach found that although she was having trouble getting used to the idea of killing other living beings with a gun, it did hurt somewhat less after a time. Still, she wondered how a guy like Shadow could gun somebody down and not even bat an eyelash at such a thing. Nevertheless, in spite of his killer streak, she did find him extraordinarily handsome and even admired his willingness to go to great lengths to protect people he cared about.

Despite being rather smitten with Shadow, Peach tried to keep her wits about her as they proceeded onwards. Soon, a Chargin' Chuck came at them, but Shadow put a .44 Magnum bullet right through the face mask of its football helmet. After dispatching a few more Koopa Troopas, Shadow and Peach eventually came upon a castle.

"This must be one of the Koopalings' castles!" said Peach.

Shadow crossed his arms. "Explain to me who these 'Koopalings' are?"

"Oh…right! The Koopalings are seven minions adopted by Bowser to do his bidding. They're more dangerous than regular Koopa Troopas, so be careful!"

"Hmph. I can probably handle them."

Against Shadow's better judgment, him and Peach entered the front door of the castle. Inside, it was typical of one of the Koopalings' castles, having enough light for them to see in the stone corridors. Shortly after entering, a Koopa Troopa spotted them and got blown away. The acoustics of the castle meant that gunshots echoed easily and alerted Bowser's minions, so Shadow and Peach elected to keep their guns at the ready in case of attack. Shortly after, Shadow's Hedgehog Sense went off again, and he stopped Peach just before a Fire Bar could hit them. He waited until it passed, and then…

"Go!"

Shadow and Peach hopped over the block that the Fire Bar was connected to, and then blasted three more Goombas before moving on. Capping another Goomba, they came to a large pit of lava, the only apparent means of crossing it being a large chain link fence suspended over the pit, which was dotted by some Koopa Troopas.

"We'll have to climb this fence to cross over the lava," said Shadow. "Before we do, I just have to tell you another rule of gun safety…"

"Yes?"

"NEVER climb fences or other obstacles with a loaded handgun in your hand. Shoot down a few of those stupid turtles and holster that Beretta before you climb."

Peach nodded. "Right!"

And so, Shadow and Peach readied their pistols and prepared to blast whatever Koopa Troopas were unfortunate enough to come their way. Shadow ended up blowing the head off the first one that he drew a bead on, and its lifeless corpse fell into the lava pit. Once him and Peach had dispatched a few more, they holstered their handguns and climbed the fence. Despite having big feet, Shadow had little trouble maintaining a foothold on the fence. Aside from having to contend with some leftover Koopa Troopas, which were easily dispatched by kicks, Shadow and Peach also had to deal with a few inconveniently-placed Fire Bars, not to mention a few Podoboos shooting up from the lava. However, with some guidance from Shadow, Peach made it through all right.

After hopping off the chain link fence, Shadow and Peach came to a small wooden door, which they entered. Here, they found themselves in what appeared to be a straightforward corridor, but shortly after entering, Shadow's Hedgehog Sense tingled again, and he put one of his hands up.

"Hold it…PRINCESS!"

Peach inadvertently ignored Shadow's warning, and in doing so, she accidentally hit a tripwire, causing the whole castle to rumble. For Shadow, there was only one logical thing to do…

"RUN!"

Obeying Shadow's command, Peach ran as if her life depended on it, and it did, for they were being chased by an Indiana Jones-esque bolder. As if that weren't enough, there were also a few Goombas and Koopa Troopas to worry about, in addition to some more Fire Bars that blocked their path. Running just fast enough so that Peach could keep up, Shadow looked back on the boulder and realized that at this speed, there was no way that either of them were going to avoid becoming boulder soup, so he tried another strategy…

"Think fast!"

Shadow scooped Peach off of her feet and ran as fast as he possibly could. Though initially surprised not only by Shadow's gesture in addition to the high speed at which they were travelling, Peach soon found that going fast was quite exhilarating, not to mention she appreciated anything that he did to get her away from the boulder. Within seconds, they came upon a large red wooden door, so Shadow set Peach down, and they ducked in before the boulder could smoosh them. Upon entering the room, Peach slumped against the door and breathed a sigh of relief as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Thanks, Shadow! I thought that boulder had us for sure!"

Shadow gestured with his thumb. "Don't look now, but I think we got out of the frying pan and into the fire…"

No sooner had Shadow said that than they heard hyperactive laughter, which meant one thing…

"Welcome, Princess! Ooh, who's your new playmate?"

"My name is Shadow the Hedgehog, and I'm NOT her playmate. Now tell me who you are, you worthless vermin."

"I'm Iggy, Iggy Koopa!" Iggy laughed some more. "But enough talk! Your quest ends here!"

With some more hyper, evil laughter, Iggy whipped out his magic wand and shot a fireball at Shadow and Peach, both of whom dodged it. Peach pointed her Beretta at Iggy.

"Don't shoot, Princess!" said Shadow. "I want this pest alive!" He then raised his hand. "CHAOS CONTROL!"

With that, time slowed down to a great degree, and running at full speed, Shadow clotheslined Iggy, thereby knocking him back and causing him to drop his magic wand. Fortunately, Iggy skidded to a stop before he fell in a nearby lava pit, though Shadow was upon him in but a matter of seconds and pressed the muzzle of his Model 29 against Iggy's head.

"We know Bowser is hatching a new plot," said Shadow. "Tell us about it or I'll blow your head clean off."

"I know nothing! Nothing!"

"YOU LIAR! Surely, Bowser told you something?"

Iggy was sweating nervously. "P-please, I really don't know anything!"

"I believe you…but my friends Horace & Daniel don't."

"L-l-look…Shadow…wh-whoever you are…ya gotta believe me! PLEASE!"

"Unless you want to experience the effects of a .44 Magnum big game bullet, I suggest you spill the beans."

"Shadow, let him go!" said Peach. "Can't you see he doesn't know anything?"

Shadow stared deeply into Iggy's eyes. In all the excitement, it hadn't occurred to him that if Iggy really were lying, then his Hedgehog Sense would most likely have told him about it.

"Know what? I'm going to let you live." Shadow pointed his Model 29 away from Iggy. "You can do what you like, you rotten parasite. Bowser is ours."

Shadow stomped on Iggy's stomach, causing him to let out a loud grunt of pain. Nothing got broken, however, and Shadow walked away.

"Come on, Princess. We have other fish to fry."

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.