(A/N: I still find it a little hard to believe that I've taken this story to 10 chapters. But now I think it's time to get this show on the road!)
Princess Peach's transport ship arrived at Lake Lamode bright and early the following morning. Upon seeing what the Lake Kingdom was like again, Peach said, "Perhaps I should slip into something more comfortable and suitable for this place before we begin exploring it."
"What are you going to wear, Peach? A plain ol' pink swimsuit?" Tiara asked, looking out the window in anticipation.
"You'll see. But I have to change into it first." Peach said, and she began changing out of her nightgown and into her swimwear.
"Can I look yet?" Tiara asked, still looking out at the lake.
"Just about..." Peach said. About a minute later, she said, "Okay, I'm decent now."
Tiara looked to see that the princess was now wearing a lei of pink and white flowers around her neck, a white flower in her hair, a pink bikini top with a blue brooch similar to the one on her trademark dress, pink flip-flops with flowers like the ones that made up her lei, a pair of sunglasses, and a white sarong with pink crescent moon patterns. The sarong covered her pink bikini bottom pretty well.
"Ooh, who are you trying to impress, Peach? Is it Mario?" Tiara giggled.
"I'm not trying to impress anybody, Tiara, although I think Mario will be impressed if he sees me wearing this. He's seen me in swimwear before, but this is a new outfit that he hasn't seen me wear yet." Peach replied as she shouldered her beach bag (which she had packed), putting a few items from her purse in it.
"Well, I think Mario's going to love seeing you in that, because you look spectacular! Now let's go and see if he's here!" Tiara said.
"Okay, and thanks for the compliment!" said Peach.
"Oh, wait a second! Aren't you going to wear any make-up today?" Tiara asked. She knew that Peach took off her make-up before going to sleep, and usually didn't leave the transport ship unless she had applied some first. And Peach hadn't applied any make-up yet.
"No. I didn't bring any waterproof make-up with me, so if I put any on and decide to go for a swim, the water's just going to wash it away." Peach said.
"Oh." said Tiara.
When they left the transport ship, Peach saw an upset Lochlady standing nearby.
"Pardon my asking, miss, but is something the matter?" Peach asked the Lochlady.
"Our Lochlady Dress was stolen by a monster! I wonder where our Lochlady Dress is. I hope whoever wears it looks good enough in it to justify our heartache..." the Lochlady said to Peach.
"(gasp) Oh my! I almost forgot! Don't go away! I'll be right back!" Peach said, and she ran back to the transport ship.
"What's going on? What did she forget?" the Lochlady asked Tiara, confused as she watched the Princess run off.
"A surprise. A good one that's sure to bring a big smile to your face." Tiara replied.
The Lochlady was even more confused, but she decided that she would see what happened when Peach came back.
A minute later, Peach came running back to where she left Tiara and the Lochlady. In her hands she was carrying an exquisite wedding gown and veil.
When the Lochlady saw what Peach was carrying, she was in happy shock as she recognized the dress.
"I was the one being forced to wear this dress, but I didn't even want to. You deserve to have your dress back." Peach said to the Lochlady.
"Oh my heavens! It's the Lochlady Dress! You brought it back! Come with me right away!" said the Lochlady, taking the dress and veil from Peach, before motioning for Peach and Tiara to follow her to the newly-repaired steps to the Water Plaza.
"Where are we taking this dress?" Peach asked.
"To its rightful place in the Water Plaza. And we have to go in the water to get there." the Lochlady replied.
Peach looked worried at that.
"In the water? You mean, that dress is going to get wet? It was dry when I got it." Peach told her.
"Don't nice clothes like that shrink when they get soaked? And I'm sure that dress is dry-clean only..." Tiara added.
"Oh, that's right! We can't let this dress get wet." said the Lochlady, wondering if there was a way to return the dress to its proper place without getting it wet.
Then Peach's face brightened.
"I know how to get it in there without it getting wet." Peach said.
"You do?" Tiara asked, surprised.
"You do?" the Lochlady parroted.
"Yes. I'll take it there in my own special way." Peach said.
So the Lochlady handed the dress and veil back to Peach, who ran back to her transport ship with Tiara hot on her heels.
"Peach, why are we leaving?" Tiara asked as they got in the transport ship.
"We're not. Watch this." Peach said as she started up the ship and hovered over the lake. Then, with the flip of a switch, Peach's transport ship turned into a mini-submarine, and splashed down into Lake Lamode.
The Lochlady Peach met saw this and quickly dove into the water, swimming over to Peach's mini-sub. She gestured for Peach to follow her to the Water Plaza, so Peach dutifully followed the Lochlady.
"Wow, Peach! I didn't know your transport ship could do this!" Tiara exclaimed, eyes wide with wonder.
"I knew that capability would come in handy someday." Peach replied as they found an entrance to the Water Plaza's 2nd floor. They went in through the entrance, and when Peach disembarked with the dress and veil in hand, she saw the display window with the empty dressmaker's dummy in the room, and a lot of Lochladies were standing there at the window, looking forlornly at the dummy, wondering if they'd ever see the Lochlady Dress again.
"I am curious. How did you come to find our Lochlady Dress again? I heard you say something about it earlier, but when I saw it in your hands, I didn't quite hear you." the Lochlady said to Peach.
"Here's how I knew where it had gone." Peach said, handing the ensemble to Tiara and pulling one of Bowser's horrid wedding posters out of her beach bag.
"Why does Peach even have that poster? I hope she plans on shredding it." Tiara said to herself.
The Lochlady looked at the poster. She wasn't pleased to see Bowser, but now she could see why the dress had been stolen. Peach was wearing it in the picture.
"Oh, I see that you were getting married to the monster, but you looked exquisite in the dress!" exclaimed the Lochlady.
"Didn't she just?" Tiara asked.
Then the Lochlady added, "But I can see that you don't look all that happy in a dress that is said to bring eternal happiness to whoever wears it..."
"How could I feel happy in a dress that lovely when I knew that it was stolen and that I was forced into wearing it the same way I was being forced into marrying someone I hated? I didn't want to marry that monster." Peach said as she put the poster away and took back the dress from Tiara.
"Good point. Also, every bride yearns for this dress..." the Lochlady added.
"I didn't even know about its existence until Bowser showed it to me, so I never yearned for it before... But since I was wearing it for a while, you might want to get it dry-cleaned." Peach said.
"We know how to do that. We have a dry-cleaner's right on this floor in the Water Plaza, but for now, we really want to put the dress back more than anything..." said the Lochlady.
"And now you shall be able to do just that." Peach said, handing the Lochlady the dress and veil.
"Look, everyone! This young woman here had been forced to wear our famed Lochlady Dress, and while she looked magnificent in it, she brought it back to us!" the first Lochlady said, getting everyone's attention.
The other Lochladies all looked to see the one who had spoken holding up the dress and veil, with Peach and Tiara by her side. Needless to say, they were all excited and happy to see the dress again.
"You're amazing!"
"This is wonderful!"
"The Lochlady Dress has been returned!"
"How can we ever repay you for doing this?!"
These were a few of the things the Lochladies had to say to Peach as they returned the dress to its proper place.
"Well, would it be okay if I went in that room and took some pictures of the dress from every angle? I might want to get married for real someday, to someone I love, and I think I'd like if my wedding dress looked similar to the real deal. But my royal dress-makers are going to need to use the pictures of the dress for reference." Peach explained.
"Be our guest. You brought our dress back, so you're more than welcome to take photos of it. Take as many as you need, or want." said a Lochlady.
So Peach went into the room and snapped some photos of the dress from every angle. It made her feel good to know that she was able to make the Lochladies so very happy.
Even Tiara wanted to take a photo of Peach standing next to the dress.
"Okay." said Peach, and after handing her camera to Tiara, she stood next to the dummy that held the dress.
"Smile!" said Tiara.
Peach gave a sweet smile to the camera.
"Say 'Mario'!" said Tiara.
"Mario!" Peach said, and her smile became dreamy as she thought of the man who had stopped Bowser from getting what he wanted from her.
And Tiara snapped the photo with Peach's digital camera.
"Perfect!" Tiara said as she looked at the image.
Peach enjoyed the sights of the Water Plaza, even though she and Tiara had to get in the mini-sub to get to the bottom floor and check it out, and then they took the sub to the surface so they could go to the Water Plaza Terrace.
"Do you like my mini-sub, Tiara?" Peach asked her little Bonneter friend.
"I do." Tiara replied.
"Are you sure?" Peach asked.
"Well, there's just one thing wrong with it." Tiara replied.
"What is it?" Peach asked, curious.
The single thing wrong with that submarine is that it's not yellow." Tiara said, referring to the song "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles.
Peach figured that might be the answer. When she found out that Tiara was a Beatles fan, they did get around to talking about the Beatles, like which one was their favorite, which album they thought was the best, and which songs they liked.
"I know, Tiara. But my transport ship is pink because pink happens to be my favorite color. If I wanted a Yellow Submarine, then the ship would have to be yellow instead." Peach said.
"You know what? I'm not going to argue. I like the color pink, too." Tiara said, getting a smile from Peach.
Peach and Tiara had been in the Water Plaza when Mario and Cappy showed up in the Lake Kingdom, and Mario had changed into his Swim Goggles (which Cappy turned into) and Swimwear. He had been swimming around in the lake when Peach and Tiara made their way up to the Terrace, and swimming in the lake was how the plumber got to the Water Plaza when he came here the first time. He saw that the steps had been repaired so he could get there easier, but after thinking about it, he decided that he really wanted to swim there, so he did.
One can imagine Mario's great surprise when he looked in the show window of the Water Plaza and saw that the Lochlady Dress had been put back on the dressmaker's dummy.
"Hey! Look at that, Cappy! It's-a back!" Mario exclaimed.
"Yeah! The Lochlady Dress had been returned!" Cappy realized.
"Indeed it has! In fact, a very pretty woman brought our Lochlady Dress back to us! We'll have to have it dry-cleaned, but in the meantime, we're so very glad to have it back." said a Lochlady.
"A very pretty woman, you say?" Cappy asked.
"Was she a tall, comely woman with a shapely figure, long blonde hair like spun gold, eyes as blue as Lake Lamode itself, and the most alluring smile?" Mario asked.
"Why, yes! Do you know her?" asked the same Lochlady.
"Know her?! È la mia ragazza! She's my girl! Or, at least, I hope she still is. I didn't really ask her if she's still my girlfriend, let alone my friend..." Mario said, mumbling most of everything he said after referring to Peach as his girl. But the Lochlady managed to hear most of what he mumbled.
"I'm sure she still is. Why don't you go ask her?" suggested the Lochlady as she patted Mario on the shoulder.
"I would... if I knew where she was..." Mario replied.
"Last I saw, she took her mini-sub to the water's surface and made her way up to the Water Plaza Terrace, where you found and fought the monster's minions after they stole our Lochlady Dress and broke the steps to the Water Plaza. Why don't you check and see if she's still there?" said the Lochlady.
"Grazie. Thank you. I'll do that." Mario said, and so he made his way to the Water Plaza Terrace.
Sure enough, Peach was standing there, as lovely as ever. But she had her back to the boys and had no idea that they were here.
"Oh my goodness! In that swimwear, she's bellissima!" Mario whispered.
"I remember you telling me that 'bellissima' means beautiful in Italian. I'm not going to lie; she was bellissima when I saw her in her normal attire the day that she and Tiara were getting ready to leave on their world tour." Cappy said as he assumed his Bonneter form.
"She always has been bellissima. She was bellissima in the Lochlady Dress, and she's still bellissima." Mario replied.
That's when Tiara noticed the boys and motioned for Peach to look. She did, and she looked happy when she saw Mario.
"Hey, Mario!" Peach called out to him.
Mario ran to where the Princess stood, inconspicuously looking her up and down.
"She's so hot I could bake cookies on her! And Bowser won't get to eat even a crumb of those cookies, because I'd eat them all first and lick up the crumbs!" Mario thought, smiling in approval at the sight of Peach.
(A/N: I got the line about 'so hot I could bake cookies' from "iCarly". I thought that line was funny, but it was Carly herself who said the line, and she said it about a cute boy that she liked.)
"Ciao Principessa. Hello, Princess. How are you enjoying the Lake Kingdom so far?" Mario asked Peach as he approached her.
"I'm liking it fine, Mario. I can't decide what's lovelier here—the people or the architecture!" Peach said to Mario.
"Is this where that lovely Lochlady Dress that Peach wore was made?" Tiara asked.
"Yes, Tiara. This was where the dress was made. Lake Lamode is home to the Lochladies, who made the dress that Peach was wearing." Cappy said.
"Didn't she look beautiful in it, Cappy?" Tiara asked.
"She did. And Mario called her 'bellissima', which means 'beautiful' in Italian." Cappy replied.
"So Mario agrees with me?" Tiara asked.
"Yeah, pretty much." said Cappy.
"If you want my opinion of the loveliest thing here, it's-a you, Peach. Sei bellissima. You are very beautiful." Mario said to the Princess.
"Oh, Mario..." Peach replied, blushing. Then she remembered something and said, "Oh, hey—a Power Moon came floating along. It'll be safer with you." And with that said, she gave Mario a Power Moon that she had put in her beach bag.
"Grazie principessa! Thank you, Princess." Mario replied.
"I'll go put this away so you and Peach can talk. Come with me, sis." Cappy said, taking the Power Moon and making his way to the Odyssey with Tiara floating after him.
"So, Peach... I was just in the Water Plaza, and while I was there, I saw and heard that you brought back the Lochlady Dress." Mario said to Peach when they were alone.
"Tiara reminded me to bring it when I was packing my suitcase for our world tour. If it hadn't been for her, I think I would've forgotten all about it." Peach said.
"You know, you did look like una bella principessa, a beautiful princess, when you were wearing the Lochlady Dress." Mario told her.
"I'm glad you think so, Mario. It almost makes me feel a little better about the fact that I had to wear it for a wedding I didn't wish to be a part of." Peach replied.
"But I'm wondering: why were you wearing it before arriving at the wedding venue? Isn't it bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding?" Mario asked Peach.
"Yeah... I was just about to explain that to you. Why Bowser made me put the dress on so early..." Peach said as she stepped out of her flip-flops and put her beach bag on top of them as she went to sit on the edge of the terrace.
"I'm listening, Peach." Mario assured her, sitting down next to her.
Peach took a deep breath and said, "Here's what happened..."
(Flashback...)
Peach was sitting in the bride's chamber. When Bowser finally let her go back in there after visiting the Sand Kingdom, Peach immediately removed the tape from her eyes, closed her eyes tightly, curled up into a ball in the middle of the room, and began crying hysterically into her arms. She cried for a very long time. Her eyes hurt so badly, as did her arms. She hoped her arms weren't broken.
"Peach, I'm so very sorry! I really wanted to help you, honest; but there was nothing I could do!" Tiara, in her Bonneter form, explained to the sobbing princess.
"I... I-I don't b-blame you... T-Tiara... Th-this isn't your... f-f-fault! N-none of this... i-is your fault! I-I never thought B-Bowser would... would st-stoop this... l-low! I-I... I wanna go home!" Peach wailed, not looking up at Tiara.
"Me too..." Tiara said forlornly. She was just as homesick as Peach was, and she really missed her big brother.
A few minutes later, they heard a knock at the door.
"Knock knock knock..." Bowser said, knocking at the door.
"Oh no!" cried Tiara, turning into her tiara form again and resting on Peach's head.
"Go away, Bowser! Haven't you done enough already?!" Peach yelled at the door. She really didn't want to deal with him right then.
"Really, Peach? That's no way to greet your future husband." Bowser said as he opened the door and walked in. He looked really happy, and he had one hand behind his back.
"I'll greet you any way I want, because if I have to marry you, the wedding present I want more than anything right now is an annulment of the marriage!" Peach said, glaring at him.
"Too bad, sweet-thing!" Bowser said.
"And weren't you listening earlier?! I told you I don't like being called 'sweet-thing'! So don't go around calling me something I don't want to be called!" Peach screamed.
"Hey, if you're not going to call me by the sweet names a wife calls her husband, even before the marriage, then I'll call you 'sweet-thing', whether you like it or not." Bowser said.
Peach felt sick. The idea of calling Bowser 'honey' or 'dear' made her want to throw up.
"Besides, I have something here that might change your tune." Bowser said.
"Nothing can change my tune. You're treating me worse than the sand you trod upon in the Sand Kingdom." Peach replied, turning away from Bowser and crossing her arms.
"Oh, come on! I've got something here that is sure to please you!" Bowser said, and he went around and showed Peach what he had been hiding behind his back.
Peach and Tiara could not believe what they were seeing. It was the most beautiful piece of clothing they had ever seen in their lives!
"Oh my goodness! What a gorgeous dress!" Tiara thought as she looked at the garment Bowser was showing Peach.
"Wh-what is this?" Peach asked, trying not to look interested. She knew that if she showed even the slightest bit of interest in the dress, Bowser would think she'd be more than willing to go along with the wedding, even though she absolutely hated the idea.
"This is the dress, and veil, that you're going to wear when we get married!" Bowser happily exclaimed, before adding, "And if you'll look take a look over at the vanity table, there's a pair of gloves to go with the dress, and a pair of shoes to match under the chair at the table!"
Sure enough, Peach saw that he was right. A pair of beautiful gloves, the same length as the ones Peach wore, sat on the vanity table. And a pair of white high heels sat under the chair at the vanity table.
"Excuse me, but I think you're forgetting the most important detail, and that's the fact that I'm never going to marry you!" Peach said.
"Right now, you don't really have a choice, Princess. You turned down all those other suitors that came to court you, and the only one you showed any interest in is pushing daisies! So make this easier for both of us and accept it, why don't you?" Bowser suggested.
"Why don't you accept that I hate you and I wish you were never born?" Peach grumbled under her breath.
Unfortunately for her, Bowser heard her say that. He frowned, grabbed her roughly by the chin, and pulled her close to his face!
Peach was terrified! Bowser had never done anything like this before! She could practically feel his claws digging into her delicate skin, and it hurt!
"Let me go! You're hurting me again! Please, stop it!" Peach cried, tears of fear and pain welling in her eyes.
"Listen up, Peach! I'm going to give you 10 minutes to put on this wedding dress! You'd better be wearing it by the time I get back... or else!" Bowser said, looking her straight in the eyes.
"Or else... what?" Peach asked, trying hard not to cry.
"I haven't figured that part out yet. But I will! Now change into that dress! Your time starts NOW!" Bowser shouted, and after he let go of her chin as roughly as he had grabbed it, he slammed the door shut!
"Ow..." Peach said, tenderly touching a begloved hand to her chin, hoping Bowser hadn't hurt it too bad, yet at the same time she was hoping there'd be a bruise there. That would be a sign that Bowser would be an abusive husband, and then he would be taken away so she wouldn't have to marry him.
She walked over to the vanity table and looked in the mirror there, but it showed no bruise, much to her relief and disappointment.
"If there is a bruise, it probably won't show until after the wedding. I don't know if that's good or bad..." Peach moaned.
Then Peach heard a click from the door. With a gasp, she quickly ran to it and tried turning the knob. No good; she was locked in, as she always was whenever Bowser left the room.
"Wh-what are we going to do, Peach?!" Tiara asked, turning back into a Bonneter and looking at Peach.
"What do you m-mean 'we'? I'm the one who has to... p-put on the dress, and... and I don't want to! I-I don't... want to get m-married to him... and even if I w-wanted to... I wouldn't want to wear a s-stolen dress!" Peach cried, clearly upset.
"What can you do?! You can't put the dress on, because you don't want to get married to him! And if you do put it on, he'll think you're more than willing to marry him! But if you're not wearing it when he gets back, goodness knows what he'll do to you!" Tiara cried.
Peach didn't answer. She fell back against the door, slumped to the floor, and began crying her eyes out again.
"I really do wish I could help you, Peach. I wish I could clone you so that Bowser would think the clone was you and marry it. Then the real you could marry whoever you want." Tiara said.
"I-I can't... The only m-man I... I wanted to... to marry... is g-gone! Th-thanks to Bowser... I-I'll never see Mario again!" Peach wept.
"I just wish I could bring Mario back to you, Peach... The way you speak of him tells me that he was very special to you..." Tiara replied.
"He w-was... in s-so many ways... He was k-kind... sweet... handsome... b-brave... heroic... l-loving... he m-made me laugh... Mario was everything I... I ever w-wanted in a man, Tiara... He was s-so special... Whenever I was w-with him, I felt... c-complete... and h-happy... But now he's... he's g-gone forever... I'll never l-love any man... the way I loved M-M-Mario!" Peach sobbed.
Peach didn't know how much time she spent sobbing over the loss of Mario and not putting on the dress, but then she suddenly heard heavy footsteps approaching the door. Oh no! Bowser was coming back! She knew she was going to be in big trouble when she heard him unlock the door and say, "Time's up, Peach! When I open this door, you'd better have that dress on... or else!"
"Oh no! He's coming back!" Tiara screamed, turning into a tiara again and landing on Peach's head.
"No! Please don't come in!" Peach screamed, grabbing the knob, trying to prevent him from turning it and coming in.
"Why not?" Bowser asked, trying to turn the knob.
"Because... I don't feel good..." Peach said. She couldn't let him come in and have him see that she didn't put on the dress.
"If you don't feel good, I can make you feel better. I'll come in there and kiss you until you are better." Bowser said.
Peach gagged at the thought, and she had to fight down the impulse to throw up.
"No! I don't want you to kiss me, because... I feel like I'm going to throw up! You don't want me to throw up on you! And it might be something contagious... like the stomach flu! You don't want to catch that, and I sure don't want to give it to anyone else! I need to go home and see my Royal Physician! Please let me go home before you catch the bug from me; you really don't want it!" Peach begged.
"You can get checked out by a doctor after we get married. You're going to be just fine! Besides, even if I do end up getting the bug from you, it'll be worth it!" Bowser said.
"No, it won't! This bug is something bad! Something I wouldn't even wish on Dimentio!" Peach said.
Bowser frowned when Peach mentioned the name of that guy, but he didn't care. He wanted to see how lovely Peach looked in the Lochlady Dress, so he said, "I really don't care. Now let me in!"
"I can't do that!" Peach yelled back.
"Fine, then! If you won't let me come in and see you, then I guess I'll just have to break down the door! Ready or not, here I come!" Bowser said, and Peach could hear him backing up outside the room.
"Wait a second!" she thought, and a smile spread across her face as she moved to the side. Why hadn't she thought of trying this before during past captures?!
She listened for the sound of Bowser running, and when he came close enough, she opened the door, and Bowser came charging through! He had been running so fast that he didn't realize that he was in the bride's chamber without breaking down the door, and he ended up running right into the wall! His head hit the wall so hard that he ended up knocking himself out cold!
"I-is he... dead?" Tiara asked, still disguised as Peach's wedding tiara.
"I... I don't know. I'm kind of hoping he is, but at the same time, I hope he isn't..." Peach said.
"What?! Why do you want him to be alive, Peach?! He's mean to us!" Tiara asked.
"If he's dead, then guess what? That makes me a murderer!" Peach said.
"He's the one who ran into the wall! If he's dead, that's his own fault, not yours!" Tiara said.
"I'm the one who opened the door and allowed him to do that! He didn't kill himself! I killed him!" Peach said.
At that moment, the girls heard a low groan. It was Bowser. Apparently, he was regaining consciousness!
"Oh good, he's still alive. I'm not a murderer..." Peach sighed in relief.
"No, Peach, this is bad..." said Tiara, getting scared.
"Why? I may hate Bowser, but I didn't want him to die like that..." Peach said.
"Peach, he's going to come to! If he sees that you didn't put the dress on..." Tiara said.
The blood drained from Peach's face when Tiara said that.
"Oh no..." Peach said, remembering what Bowser had said to her. She really didn't want to find out what 'or else' meant.
"Run for your life, Peach!" Tiara shouted.
At first, Peach was too scared to move, but when she saw Bowser moving, she bolted out of the room and started searching frantically for a way out of the airship! She wanted to get out of there and away from Bowser more than anything she could think of!
However, Peach was not able to get very far, because the Broodals were still on the ship, too, and when they saw Peach running around, they knew what she was up to, and they moved quickly to block her exits! And then they began closing in on her. She was trapped like a rat!
A minute later, Bowser came walking up, and he saw her still wearing her trademark pink dress!
"Oh no! Please, Star Spirits! Kill me now!" Peach thought when she saw him approaching. The displeased look on his face when he saw that she hadn't changed into the Lochlady Dress scared her to death!
"Thank you. I'll take it from here!" Bowser said to the Broodals.
The Broodals saluted Bowser, and then they went back to their airship, ready to go to the next place and steal the next item on Bowser's wedding list, which was the Soirée Bouquet.
(A/N: Remember, Peach said that Bowser took her to the Lake Kingdom before the Wooded Kingdom, but in spite of that, she wanted to visit the latter first.)
Then Bowser dragged a kicking and screaming Princess Peach back into the bride's chamber. When they got there, he blocked the door with his body and ripped into the Princess with white-hot fury!
"I gave you 10 minutes, little missy! That should have been more than enough time for you to put on that dress! What were you doing?!" Bowser screamed at Peach, frightening her more than ever before!
"I... I-I couldn't! I... I'm s-sick! My head... and my st-stomach... hurt, because... I'm on m-my..." Peach started to explain, but Bowser didn't let her finish her explanation.
"I don't care what you're on and what hurts! We're going to get married, no matter what you say!" Bowser shouted, upsetting her.
"Can't I put the dress on when we get to the wedding venue?! Please?!" Peach begged. She just couldn't go through with the wedding! Not when she had to marry someone she hated.
"Why do you want to wait until then?!" Bowser asked, folding his arms and glaring at her.
"B-because it's... b-bad luck to s-see the bride before the... the w-wedding! E-everybody knows th-that!" Peach stammered, hoping against hope that Bowser was superstitious.
"Nice try, Peach, but Koopas don't believe in superstitions! Everyone knows that they're stupid and fake, anyway!" Bowser said.
This was just too much for Tiara. She was sick of submission and decided it was time to do something, no matter what the consequence was! She transformed into her Bonneter form and started yelling at Bowser.
"For once in your life, do the right thing and listen to Peach! Can't you see and hear how upset she is?! Don't you care about her, even a little?!" Tiara yelled, and she was right up in Bowser's face.
"You stay out of this, you impudent brat!" Bowser shouted, showing that he really didn't care as he back-handed Tiara into the wall!
The little Bonneter screamed before she hit the wall, hard. To make matters worse, Tiara lost consciousness before she hit the ground. Peach was horrified as she watched Tiara slowly slide to the floor, limp and pathetic!
"Oh my gosh! TIARA!" Peach screamed, forgetting all about Bowser and rushing over to Tiara's still form, trying to check her for signs of life. She was so small, and so still. She looked like she was only asleep, and Peach hoped that she wasn't sleeping the big sleep.
"Please, Tiara. Don't be dead! You can't be dead! I can't lose anyone else! Not now!" Peach pleaded as she checked Tiara for signs of life. It was bad enough that Peach lost her parents when she was just a baby, and it made her sick to think that Mario, the love of her life, was gone, too, courtesy of Bowser. If Bowser had killed Tiara, Peach would rather be dead with the rest of them.
With Peach distracted, a malicious grin spread across Bowser's ugly face. It was time to let the princess find out what 'or else' meant!
Bowser grabbed up the Princess in his big clawed hand, holding her tightly!
"Let me go! Let me go!" Peach screamed, trying hard to struggle, but it was useless! She was well and truly trapped.
"No way! Since you refused to put on the dress, let me show you what 'or else' means!" Bowser said.
"No! Don't touch me, Bowser! Please don't hurt me!" Peach pleaded, tears of fear were currently making their way down her face.
"Too late for that, Peach! You should've thought about this during that time limit!" Bowser said, and without warning, Bowser ripped Peach's pink silk dress right off of her body!
Peach was shocked beyond belief! Never in his wildest dreams had she ever thought Bowser would stoop even lower than he already had! Embarrassed and overcome with complete shock, Princess Peach fainted dead away in Bowser's grasp!
(End flashback...)
Peach started crying as she remembered what she had been through, and she threw herself into Mario's arms, in need of comfort.
Although Mario was glad that the Princess wanted him to comfort her, he was livid when he heard what Bowser had done to Peach that time! But he wasn't nearly as angry as someone else was.
Cappy and Tiara were not too far away from the pair when Peach told Mario that Bowser back-handed Tiara into the wall, and so Cappy heard it. When he heard that, he froze!
"Cappy...?" Tiara nervously asked, seeing what happened to Cappy. When her brother froze like that, trouble was sure to break loose.
"Tell me I misheard that!" Cappy said to his sister when he finally found his voice, which was low and angry. That wasn't a good sign, either.
"M-misheard... wh-wh-what?" Tiara asked, starting to feel scared. She wasn't as scared as she had been when she and Peach were in Bowser's clutches, but Cappy could be pretty scary when he was mad.
"Tiara, did I just hear Peach say that Bowser back-handed you into a wall?!" Cappy asked.
Tiara looked away from Cappy. She didn't know how to answer that question. She had been taught to tell the truth, but with her brother this mad, she wasn't sure if that was such a good idea. It seemed that no matter what she did, she'd end up regretting it.
"Tell me the truth!" Cappy demanded after a few minutes of silence from his sister had gone by.
Tiara let out a sigh of defeat and decided to tell her brother the truth, like he demanded, even though she knew he was going to hate the answer.
"Y-y-y-yes... Cappy... H-he... he did..." Tiara said, risking a nervous glance at her brother.
Cappy was shocked and more angry than Tiara had ever seen him! She knew he was mad, and it wouldn't be long before she found out just how mad!
"I'M GONNA KILL THAT GUY!" Cappy yelled at the top of his voice, which not only got the attention of every Lochlady on land, it frightened Tiara and startled Mario and Peach really badly. In fact, the couple had been so startled that they fell off the edge of the terrace and into the water below!
"Oh no!" Tiara cried when she heard Mario and Peach's screams, followed by the splash.
Mario and Peach resurfaced a few seconds later, coughing and spluttering, trying to figure out what the heck happened.
"Oops. Sorry, you two. I overheard what Peach said about Tiara, and... did he really do that to her?" Cappy asked, feeling a little calmer as he and Tiara flew over to the soaked pair.
"Yes, Cappy. He really did." Peach responded, still feeling sad.
"And did Bowser really tear off your dress?" Mario asked, really mad.
"Yes. He did..." Peach replied, sounding like she was crying. Mario couldn't tell if she was crying or not because her whole face was wet.
"You'll be okay, Peach. Hold on to me, and I'll get us to shore. You can tell me the rest of the story when we get there." Mario said.
So Peach held onto Mario as he swam to shore. He was a very strong swimmer, and Peach felt lucky that Mario was so strong, and that he could swim so well. Cappy and Tiara slowly hovered over the pair, following them.
When they got to the lakeshore, near where the Odyssey was parked, Peach removed her sticking-wet sarong before she and Mario sat down at the water's edge. She told Mario, "Wh-when I woke up... I... I saw T-Tiara hovering over me... I... I-I didn't know if we were... a-alive or not... Tiara said that... sh-she was fine, but... she was w-worried about me... And I was... w-wearing the dress..."
Peach started crying all over again, which made Tiara feel bad. Even Mario looked sad. He really didn't like to see Peach cry, and he really wanted to make Bowser cry like that.
Cappy flew into the the Odyssey and came back out with the tissue box. Mario took some tissues out and handed them to Peach, who took them gratefully.
"Is that all he did? Just tear off your dress and change you into it?" Mario asked.
"N-no, Mario. He... he also removed my... m-my gloves and shoes... I... I f-found them missing from my body... when I awoke... I-I had no choice but to... to p-put on the ones... that would g-go with the dress." Peach said, dabbing at her eyes with one of the tissues.
"He didn't... try to violate you... while you were unconscious... did he?" Mario asked. His question was too quiet for Peach's liking. If Peach said yes, Mario wouldn't hesitate to kill Bowser once and for all.
"I-I don't think he did... If he had... I think I would have felt... i-intense pain in that area... And I didn't have any... Well, okay, I-I do get pain... in that area... whenever M-Mother Nature comes to town... but she visited... the week before I was k-kidnapped... so I was over it then... b-but I was trying to... to use that excuse... as to why I couldn't... put the dress on. But I will... v-visit the Royal Physician when I got home... j-just to make sure... he didn't t-try anything..." Peach said before blowing her nose.
"If he didn't rape you, then you had un angelo custode, a guardian angel, watching over you..." Mario said as he hugged Peach tightly, trying to help her feel better. But then he added, "However, the next time I see Bowser, don't try to hold me back, for no one can protect him from what I want to do to him..."
"Peach looked fantastic in the dress, Mario." Tiara said to Mario, trying to cool his hot temper.
"I know. I saw her in it when we caught up. Era così bella. She was so beautiful..." Mario replied, getting a smile from Peach.
"Oh, my flip-flops! They're still on the terrace, along with my beach bag!" Peach said, looking at her bare feet and seeing that she was missing her flip-flops, and remembering that she didn't have her beach bag with her.
"Let's go get them, Cappy!" Tiara said, and she and Cappy flew back to the terrace to get Peach's flip-flops and beach bag. Then Cappy spotted Peach's mini-sub below.
"What's that?" Cappy asked.
Tiara looked and saw what her brother was looking at.
"Oh, that's Peach's transport ship as a mini-sub. Maybe we should take that back to her as well." Tiara said.
So the Bonneter siblings took Peach's belongings into the mini-sub and brought it to the lakeshore.
"Oh, I almost forgot about my mini-sub. Thanks, you two." Peach smiled when Cappy and Tiara came out and handed her back her things, which she was glad to have back. She and Mario stood up and backed away from the water's edge as she stepped into her flip-flops and shouldered her beach bag once again.
Then she glanced at some Lochladies in the distance. She looked thoughtful and said, "Maybe I'll have something made for myself here..."
"Like what?" Mario asked as he took the tissues from Peach. He was going to throw them into the Odyssey's wastebasket.
"I'll think of something." Peach said.
Peach got into the mini-sub and took it to the Water Plaza, where she spoke with some Lochladies about making her a sexy nightgown. Because Peach brought back their Lochlady Dress, the Lochladies readily agreed to reward her with something pretty. She earned it.
After a bit of deliberation, the Lochladies decided on a bridal lingerie gown for Peach, and they even sketched a picture of it for her, so she could see what they had in mind. Peach did not object to this, and the sketch of the gown looked really good. Not as exquisite as the Lochlady Dress, but still...
So Peach allowed the Lochladies to take her measurements. The gown would also be made of white satin and some almost see-through material. It would take the Lochladies a week to make it, though.
(A/N: I got the same sort of nightgown myself from the Avon catalog many years back, and it's gorgeous.)
"Tell you what: I'll come back to get the finished product after I finish up this world tour that I'm on." Peach smiled.
"Do you have a cell phone that can receive text messages? If you do, then we can text you when it's ready!" said the first Lochlady Peach spoke to.
"Yes. I have my smartphone right here." Peach said, pulling it out of her beach bag and showing it to the Lochladies.
"Great! Now all we need is your number, so we can let you know when your nightgown is ready!" said another Lochlady.
"All right." said Peach. She told them her number, and they wrote it down on a scrap of paper, along with her name.
"Okay, now we have everything we need." said a Lochlady.
"Thank you all so much. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and have some fun with my friends." Peach said as she got back into her mini-sub.
"See you when you come to pick up the gown, and have fun!" the Lochladies called as Peach left to go spend some more time with Mario, Cappy, and Tiara.
When she returned to her friends, Peach turned the mini-sub back into her transport ship, and then Mario, Peach, Cappy, and Tiara spent much of the rest of the day swimming in the lake and enjoying each other's company. It was enough to wipe the sadness off of Peach's face, and give her fun memories that she would always treasure.
That evening, Mario asked Peach, "So, where do you want to go next, Peach?"
"I wonder what there is to see above the clouds... Probably something worth seeing, hm?" Peach said.
"Oh, that's the Cloud Kingdom. I'll be sure to stop by there to speak to you tomorrow." Mario said.
"Okay. I'll see you then, sweetie." Peach said, and she gave Mario a kiss on the cheek.
"Fino ad allora. Until then, Peach..." Mario said, and he kissed her on the cheek as well, which made her blush.
So Mario and Peach went back to their ships, dried off, and got ready for bed. After setting a course for where they wanted to go next, Mario and Peach went to sleep as they flew to the Cloud Kingdom.
I really felt bad for Peach during that flashback she was having, and Mario is not going to let Bowser off the hook. The Koopa King isn't going to be getting off so easily. Stay tuned for more!
