Knowing that much more about Saphanolis should've been comforting for Shadow. Instead, as he exited Wendy's castle, he hung his head and had a dejected look on his face, and Peach took notice:

"Shaddy, you're that much closer to finishing this quest. What's wrong?"

"Peach, I'm sorry."

"Why, what's the matter?"

"I shouldn't have called Wendy a 'bitch'. I know it's a horrible thing to say to a woman, but I couldn't help myself."

Peach knelt down and put a hand on Shadow's shoulder. "I agree that it's extremely rude to say that to a woman, but I know you're not a bad person! People make mistakes all the time! What's really important is that you learn from your mistakes!"

"Thank you, Peach. If you'll excuse me, I'm going back to apologize to her. I realize it's probably not necessary, but I'd feel better if I did."

"I understand! I promise I can take care of myself, too!"

Shadow nodded. "I believe you."

After re-entering through the back door, Shadow came to Wendy, who was still reeling from their battle.

"Come on!" said Wendy. "Isn't it bad enough that ya beat me once!?"

"Wendy, I came here to apologize."

"For what!?"

"I feel bad about calling you a 'bitch'. I know you're a Koopaling, but I'm usually nicer to women than that. I don't expect you to like me; I just ask you to forgive that horrible sin I committed."

Wendy stared at Shadow briefly. Then, she smiled.

"Hey, I forgive ya!" said Wendy. "Usually, anyone who says that to me doesn't apologize afterwards! Besides, I think you're super-handsome!"

Shadow smiled nervously and blushed. "Oh…um…thank you!"

"You're welcome, honey! Also, has anybody told ya that ya look hot wearing that leather jacket?"

"I…well…yes…er…have a nice day, Wendy!"

Shadow waved goodbye to Wendy as he ran off.

After coming back outside and finding Peach still in one piece, Shadow came to a halt.

"Feeling better?" asked Peach.

Shadow nodded. "I feel absolved."

Peach smiled. "Good!"

"Actually, while we're on the subject, Rouge gives me a generous allowance every week, and I donate much of this money to breast cancer charities and women's rights organizations."

Peach clasped her hands together and held them to one side of her head. "Awww, that's very sweet of you!"

"This time, I think I'm going to donate a little extra, but that aside, let's clean our rifles."

Shadow pulled out the gun cleaning towel as well as the cleaning kit, and they set down their rifles.

"Just like last time, you want to remove the magazine and cock the weapon," said Shadow.

Peach did so.

"Disassembly is much like an AK. You start off by pressing the catch for the top cover with your right hand, and with your left hand, you slide the cover towards the right, lift it up and pull it back to remove it."

Peach took the top cover off.

"Next, hold the pistol grip with your left hand, press the catch again, pull up on the return spring assembly and pull it out."

Once again, Peach followed Shadow's directions.

"Now, pull out the bolt carrier group from the receiver, turn it clockwise and remove the bolt carrier."

Peach had a little difficulty with this part, but she got it right.

"Finally, you take the rear of the gas piston cylinder, pull the cylinder backwards and lift it out."

This part proved quite easy for Peach, who even took notice:

"Wow, that was probably easier than taking apart the Uzi!"

Shadow nodded. "Well, the AK-series rifles are known for their simplicity and ease of maintenance. Speaking of maintenance, this one is a little different from the Uzi because it's gas-operated, so you need to clean the gas piston and the piston cylinder in addition to all the usual suspects."

Without further ado, Peach started cleaning her Galil, and Shadow cleaned his M16 as well. He wasn't 100% sure why he chose the particular weapons he gave to her, but he felt good about picking them considering that the ones he'd shown her how to field strip and clean were easy to do so. Besides, barring the Model 29 and the Beretta, all of them used the same caliber of ammo as Shadow's weapons, so that was another advantage. Soon enough, both of them had cleaned their rifles.

"Where to now?" asked Shadow.

"We're going to Peppermint Cave next."

Just a couple of clicks away from Wendy's castle was the entrance to Peppermint Cave, one of the largest – if not the largest – caves in the Mushroom Kingdom. As with the tail end of Rainbow Island, it was really cold, perhaps even colder than outside. However, this freezing cold was offset by a most magical sight: the cave was naturally well-lit inside, with light reflecting from various crystal formations. Shadow paused when he took in this sight, for it was nothing like he'd ever seen before.

"Shaddy, are you OK?"

Shadow blinked a few times. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go."

And so, Shadow and Peach spelunked in Peppermint Cave. Like the arctic portion of Rainbow Island, they encountered Mr. Blizzards and ice blue Spike Tops, in addition to Buzzy Beetles and Swoopers. However, they also encountered some blue-shelled Koopa Troopas. Strangely enough, these Koopa Troopas had some sixth sense of their own so that they were quick enough to pop out of their shells before they got shot, and attempted to kick the shells at Shadow and Peach. To negate this, the two heroes double-tapped the triggers of their rifles. Most – if not all – of the time, it worked. At times, they also had to deal with Ice Bullies, but fortunately, there were enough ice lava pools to dispose of these. Not so easy to take care of were the occasional large icicles that would dislodge from the ceiling and fall, nearly striking them, Overall, Shadow and Peach were doing fine…that is, until Peach slipped on a patch of ice and slid towards a pool of ice lava. Fortunately, Shadow managed to grab her before she went over the ledge, and she did her best to get to her feet.

"Thanks again, Shaddy! I'm starting to lose count of how many times you've saved me!"

Shadow smiled. "Regardless, it's always a pleasure."

Bringing her Galil to bear, Peach kept going with Shadow. Aside from the little mishap with the ice, things seemed to be going well for them…or at least for Shadow, anyhow.

"Sh-Shaddy…it's c-c-c-c-cold in h-here!" said Peach.

"Keep moving. It'll keep you warmer, and the more you do it, the sooner we'll be out of this cold."

"Um…r-r-right!"

Peach did her best to obey Shadow's directive. It was tough to do considering she hadn't packed any sort of pants for the journey, and even though she liked winter, there was only so much of it she could take. Considering how cold it was inside Peppermint Cave, she was also having a bit of trouble maintaining a grip on her Galil, so she would occasionally sling the rifle over her shoulder, blow into her hands and put them in the pockets of her jacket to warm them up. While Shadow did lament how this cut his available firepower in half, he understood her need for warmth and was willing to cover her for as long as need be. Granted, this meant that at least a couple of opponents got a little close for his liking, but they weren't anything that the butt of his M16 couldn't take care of. On the other hand, he hoped that there would be some easy remedy for those damn icicles, especially considering that one had somehow bonked him on the head. Fortunately, Peach remained unhurt, and they moved on. Another difficulty that remained to be addressed was how Shadow couldn't help but be drawn in by the light show. Were it not for the words he gave to Peach about staying mobile to stay warm, their quest would be in serious jeopardy.

"Sh-Shaddy…h-h-how m-much f-f-f-f-further?"

"I think I can see another castle just ahead. Just don't give up on me, OK?"

"I-I'll try…"

Sure enough, not too far away from them was another castle. All that stood between them and it was a few more enemies. Also in the mix were a couple of Hammer Bros. Fortunately, a pair of 5.56mm assault rifles proved to have greater firepower and range than some wimpy hammers, and after Shadow had dispatched another Chill Bully, him and Peach were in another castle, presumably that of Larry Koopa, if Wendy's words were anything to go by.

Larry's castle had about the same lighting as the other castles that Shadow and Peach had been in, so that was good. Not so good was the fact that it was also colder than Wendy's castle.

"Sh-Sh-Shaddy…c-can w-w-w-w-we h-hurry th-th-this up-p-p-p-p? M-my l-l-legs f-f-f-feel l-like th-th-th-they're g-g-g-g-g-going t-t-to g-g-get f-f-f-f-f-frostbite!"

"We shouldn't be long in here; I can feel it. Come on, don't give up."

Shadow grabbed Peach's arm and tried to urge her along, for his Hedgehog Sense alerted them to danger, more specifically, a bunch of skewering poles coming down from the ceiling. Fortunately, Shadow got himself and Peach to safe ground before they got squished, and after the poles retracted, they moved along, narrowly avoiding a spike pit and a Fire Bar. Speaking of Fire Bars, after they incapacitated a couple of Dry Bones and a Bony Beetle, Shadow and Peach not only had to contend with more skewering poles and spike pits, but also a couple of platforms with Fire Bars that were longer than the ones they'd usually encounter. Most other heroes would've given up at this point, but not Shadow. He wanted to get past and make sure Peach stayed intact during the whole ordeal. Getting the timing down was difficult, but with his Hedgehog Sense and whatever luck they'd accrued, he managed to get both of them through all right. Shadow and Peach got a bit of a relief when they came to a series of platforms over a lava pit. Desperately searching for any source of warmth, Peach wasted no time in crouching down next to the lava pit and basking in its warmth.

"Don't stay too long," said Shadow. "Who knows how long we have until Bowser hatches his plot?"

Peach nodded. Nevertheless, she insisted on staying by the lava until she felt sufficiently warmed up. Still, Shadow decided to stand by her side. She'd grown on him ever since they'd started this journey, and he just wanted her to be happy. Fortunately, it didn't take Peach too long to warm up, and they jumped up to the platforms, which wasn't easy considering the Podoboos that would occasionally jump out of the lava and the Dry Bones and Bony Beetles that were atop the platforms. Their last obstacle to get through was another series of skewering poles, which went up and down faster than the usual skewering poles, but again, thanks to Shadow's handle on the timings, they made it through these and to another big red door.

"Larry Koopa, I presume?"

"Hey, get out of here!" exclaimed Larry Koopa. "This is MY turf, and I'm NOT gonna have Princess Peach and some walking pincushion intruding on it!"

"And we're not going to have one of Bowser's latest plans destroying the world by accident. CHAOS SPEAR!"

Like the other Chaos Spears Shadow had used, this one didn't kill Larry, but merely gave him a real shock. Shadow then ran over to Larry and pressed the muzzle of his M16 into the Koopaling's head.

"So, Wendy tells us you know how Bowser can summon Saphanolis. Talk…NOW."

"OK! OK! Bowser's been looking for this ancient book titled The Fire Down Under! Believe me, I tried to tell him that going after it was a bad idea, but he wouldn't listen!"

"Then maybe he'll listen to the muzzle of a machine gun."

Shadow smacked Larry with the butt of his M16 before leaving with Peach.

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.