LiamTheYoshi

Thank you, Liam!

mariobroultimate

Magnus von Grapple is some machine, isn't it?

Mario bros fan4ever

For now, Lord Crump is gone. But when will he return? We'll find out later.

Nataly Guardado

Yeah. I'll miss them too.

…

Chapter 19: Let's Dance

"What?! Say that again! You can't get in touch with Lord Crump?"

Just as Mario and friends defeated Lord Crump's Magnus von Grapple robot, Grodus was informed by a blue X-Naut about what happened.

"You are correct, sir. We are investigating now... We should hear anytime..."

"Sir Grodus! Please allow me to enter!" a red X-Naut called out from the throne room's entrance.

"Yes, what is it?"

"I have a report, sir!" the X-Naut stated as he approached Grodus. "The Crystal Star in the Boggly Woods has apparently been taken by Mario and Luigi!"

"What?! You must be joking!" Grodus exclaimed with shock. "What about Lord Crump and the Shadow Sirens?"

"Uh… I'm sorry, sir! Unfortunately, Mario and Luigi laid a beating on all of them!"

"Hmmm... Disturbing. These Mario and Luigi characters... What kind of..." Grodus wondered out loud. "Speak up, X-Naut! What is the status of the other Crystal Stars?"

"I apologize, sir! We are still searching for the other Crystal Stars! Unsuccessfully, sir!" the X-Naut said.

"We knew of three of them... Hooktail Castle… Boggly Woods… The one we got in Rogueport… So that means there are four Crystal Stars left out there... And we will have them! Keep looking, so that Mario and Luigi won't beat us to the punch!"

"Yes, sir!"

The red X-Naut quickly left the throne room, leaving Grodus with the blue X-Naut.

"As I suspected, there's no reason to doubt that Mario and Luigi have that map... They must." Grodus looked the blue X-Naut in the eye. "Listen up! You! I want you to keep a close watch on what Mario and Luigi do from now on!"

"Absolutely, sir!"

As the blue X-Naut left the throne room too, Grodus turned to his console again.

"Mario… Luigi… How I'd love to kill you right now…"

…

"Oh, Mario and Luigi… You better have gotten the text I sent you…" Peach murmured, pacing back and forth in her holding room. "What if they can't get into wherever I'm at and those X-Nauts keep me here? Will I ever dance at the Labor Day Ball again?"

What Peach mentioned was that every Labor Day, there's a ball set up in her castle. She would slow dance with Mario at one point where classical waltz music was played.

Suddenly, the door to Peach's right opened by itself.

"Huh? Was that TEC again?"

Peach decided to go straight to TEC's room, wondering if the message was indeed sent.

Sensing Peach's entrance, TEC focused his eye on her. "Hello, Princess Peach. I am glad you came."

"That text I sent to Mario and Luigi... Did it reach them all right?" Peach asked.

"Yes. I can confirm that Mario and Luigi received the message."

"Thank you," Peach sighed. "Well, since I'm here, what do you want from me today? Is there more you want to know of love?"

"You expressed regret earlier that you would not be able to dance at a ball, correct?" TEC questioned.

"What the hell?! Were you eavesdropping on me?!" Peach gasped with shock.

"I am sorry, Princess Peach. I have been ordered to keep surveillance on you."

"Yeah. Makes sense," Peach sarcastically remarked.

"But...it is odd... When you said that, I had an impulse to dance with you as well," TEC said. "How many CPUs would produce this impulse is inexplicable. I must find what caused it."

"What are you talking about? I mean, there's no reason behind such a feeling, TEC. To be frank, wanting to do something together... It's part of love. But then again...you are…well…a computer."

"Princess Peach, please dance with me," TEC requested.

"Huh? You want me to dance with you? How am I supposed to do that?" Peach asked. "You don't have any arms, or feet, or moves."

"Not to worry. I got a good substitution," TEC reassured Peach.

"What's that?"

…

Suddenly, Peach saw herself fade into a black void and reappear in her castle's foyer; all the lights were dimmed. Mario in his white tuxedo appeared to stand in front. Peach noticed she was wearing her Lochlady dress replica.

"Well, Princess Peach, would you like to dance with me?" Mario asked.

Peach looked around to see who else was in the foyer. Luigi was at the right end dancing with Daisy; Aqua, Toad, and Toadette were socializing at a table at the bottom-left side, and Yoshi and Red Yoshi were dancing just behind Mario.

"Uh… What's going on…?" Peach asked with confusion. "Am I really in my castle?"

"You are," Mario said as he held his arms out. "Come on. They're gonna play that waltz now."

"But… This isn't…" Peach stammered. "I'm…"

"Please?"

"Okay. If you insist," Peach gave in.

Right on cue, a rendition of "The Blue Danube" taken from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey started playing in the background. As Mario and Peach slow danced, the latter gradually calmed down.

"So, how are you enjoying the ball?" Mario asked in a soothing voice.

"Um… It's fun," Peach answered. "I mean, that's how balls are supposed to be."

A few seconds later, Peach noticed someone else out of the corner of her eye. Right in front of the stairs leading to the second floor was her late father King George dancing with Queen Rosemary.

Seeing her late parents made Peach feel sick to her stomach.

How… How does TEC know about my parents…? Peach asked herself. She felt the urge to call to them, but at the same time, she wanted to keep dancing with who she thought was Mario.

"Are you okay?" Mario asked.

"Yeah… It's… It's the music that's getting to me…" Peach lied. She started to tear up.

"I know. Waltz music can be tear-jerking at times. Trust me, I've felt that way during the first ball," Mario said while stroking Peach's shoulder.

Peach took another look at King George and Queen Rosemary, hoping they would notice her. But they continued dancing, unaware of her presence. Her tears began to flow more.

"Hey. Don't cry, Princess Peach," Mario coaxed Peach, wiping her tears.

"I'm s-sorry… I c-can't help it…"

Mario gently wrapped his arm around Peach's back and shushed her softly. Peach tried to get her mind off her parents and focus more on Mario.

By the time the music started to swell, Mario bent Peach backward a bit.

"Thank you, Mario…" Peach thanked Mario.

"You're welcome, Princess Peach. I'm always here for you."

Mario puckered his lips and leaned forward to kiss Peach, who closed her eyes.

…

Suddenly, Peach fell on her back and hit her head on the ground, making her crown fall off. She was back in TEC's room and wearing her pink dress again.

"No…! Mario…!" Peach started crying again, but this time, she was sobbing like crazy. "C-come back…!"

"Princess Peach? Are you okay?" TEC asked while Peach rolled on her stomach.

"What d-did you do…?!" Peach demanded.

"I went to dance with you, which was very fun."

Suddenly, TEC's eye flashed for a brief second. He tried to process what happened to him, not paying attention to Peach.

"Just a moment… Fun… Is this impulse I feel the concept known as fun?"

"You c-call this f-fun…?! How did you…kn-know about my parents…?!" Peach cried.

"Your parents? I have no idea who your parents are," TEC replied. "You must have been seeing things."

"Just… J-just let me s-send Mario and Luigi a message…! I don't w-want to talk t-to you…!" Peach stood back up and walked to TEC's keyboard to send Mario and Luigi another group text.

"The message has been sent," TEC stated after he sent the message. "Please go back to your room. I-"

"SHUT UP!" Peach screamed at the top of her lungs. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" She grabbed her crown and ran out of TEC's room to her holding room, leaving TEC by himself again.

"Goodbye, Princess Peach," TEC said. "I will analyze the data from this dance immediately. The data that I thought was fun..."

…

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Credit goes to mariobroultimate for the usage of King George, Queen Rosemary, and Aqua.