Title: Wrong Side of Town

Characters: Peach, Waluigi

Genre: Action, Friendship

Rating: K+

Warnings: Mild violence

Icy rain splattered Princess Peach as she hurried through the rapidly-darkening streets. It was drenching her hair and clothes, making her berate herself for not bringing an umbrella – but she hadn't known it was going to be this wet.

Today was Friday. Peach had a habit of going out to visit the cinema every Friday night, and for the last few weeks, she'd done it successfully without anyone noticing. She always went alone. She knew Toadsworth would insist on accompanying her if he found out, and this was something she needed to do by herself – to escape the stifling feeling of being a princess, always surrounded by guards and advisors.

Until tonight, she had never once felt scared while walking home alone. Cautious, yes, uneasy perhaps, but never scared. Not really. Until now.

She ducked underneath a desolate bus stop to escape the rain and felt the first hints of fear stirring in her chest.

Oh, this was just silly. She'd been down this same route for over a month and nothing bad had ever happened to her, nor had she ever seen anything suspicious. Just graffiti, tin cans, and normal citizens doing their shopping.

After a moment's hesitation, she slipped out from under the bus stop and continued along the street, wincing as the cold rain battered her face and the wind blew her hair into her eyes.

'You're on the wrong side of town, Princess,' said a jeering voice.

She snapped around. An impossibly thin, tall figure was lurching towards her from the shadows. Struck by horror, Peach recognised neither the person's silhouette nor his voice. She was convinced she was about to be mugged or worse.

Stumbling backwards, she searched around frantically for something to use as a weapon. She had nothing on her except for her little wallet, and she was not going to throw it at him just so he'd leave her alone. Instead, she swung her right leg out as if to kick the man's legs out from under him. It was a well-aimed blow, but she never felt it make contact; instead, her balance fell apart as her foot slipped and skidded on the rain-drenched pavement. A foreign hand clamped over her wrist, both restraining and supporting her.

'Cut it out, Princess,' came an irritable, nasally growl above her. Right then, as he spoke, she realised who it was.

'W-Waluigi?' she yelped, looking up into the sharp-jawed and sneering face. Was she feeling relieved because it was only him, or frightened because it was him? The man had an awful reputation for stealing and cheating at games, but she hadn't known he wandered around these parts of town at night.

He glanced at his hand curled around her wrist, then let go quickly as if she might give him a disease. 'Hell of a surprise meeting, Peach,' he said snidely. 'What are you doing out here so late? Got tired of sitting in your fancy castle playing dress-up?'

'You're closer to the truth than you might think,' she replied, taking a step back towards the road even though it exposed her to the pounding rain even more. She didn't want to talk to him, but hoped that if she did, he might get bored and leave her alone.

'Don't think I don't know what you're up to,' he growled.

That stopped her in her tracks. 'What?'

'Don't play stupid, Peach. You're trying to get the drop on me and Wario, aren't you? You think you can stop us from doing what we want? Well, let me warn you … this is our side of town, and we don't plan on letting anyone change that, especially not some dumb stuck-up princess.'

Peach stared up at him.

'It's not about that at all!'

Waluigi made a slight movement, and she darted backwards, not wanting to risk anything he might decide to do. He was unpredictable. A criminal. What he'd just told her only confirmed that much.

'I was actually going out to see a movie,' she said, holding her head up and reminding herself that she was the ruler of the kingdom, not him. 'I was just on my way back, and… Wait, I don't have to explain any of this to you! It's none of your business what I choose to spend my time doing.' She glared at him, something she almost never did. But she'd had enough.

He leaned back a fraction, which made him look even taller than usual. Shadows half-covered his face, but strangely, Peach could make out a hint of smugness in his expression.

'So, you've got a bit of courage,' he said thoughtfully. 'Not as pathetic as I thought… That's good.'

'What are you talking about? Why does it matter to you?'

Peach had no idea what this conversation was anymore. The pounding rain seemed to have washed all sense out of her head.

This time, Waluigi definitely grinned. 'Cuz you wouldn't survive very long out here if you couldn't stand up for yourself, Princess.'

He had barely finished speaking when a tremendous crash rang out across the street. Both he and Peach whirled around at the noise, just in time to watch a lone dustbin lid rolling away further down the road. Nothing else was stirring.

Not sure if this was anything to worry about, Peach looked up to see Waluigi's grey eyes looking sharp and intent.

'Right,' he said quietly after a moment. 'Get behind me.'

They both moved suddenly, Waluigi to put himself in front of her, and Peach to step alongside him, but before they'd accomplished either manouvere, something flew out of the pile of dustbins across the street and embedded itself in the pavement not six inches from Waluigi's foot. Whipping around to look, Peach was horrified to realise that the object was a knife.

Ahead of them, three figures wearing dark jackets with masks to conceal their faces sprung out of a nearby alleyway. None seemed to be armed – maybe that knife had been their only weapon – but they charged at the pair with cocked fists and yells.

Peach had never thought of Waluigi as a fighter. She'd never seen him as anything besides a selfish cheat. But for the next few seconds all she could do was watch in amazement.

The tall thin man ran forwards without hesitation, matching the criminals' speed. With a snap of his fingers he generated a miniature tornado that ripped into the gang with massive force, scattering them across the road. One of them failed to get up again after slamming down hard on his back, but the other two came sprinting at Waluigi from different directions. Instead of trying to stop them, Waluigi waited until they were nearly on top of him, then executed an impressive jump, flying high into the air. Below, the two thugs collided with an unpleasant crunch.

Waluigi landed neatly on his feet beside Peach. 'C'mon, let's get out of here,' he warned. 'They know this is Wario's territory, but they don't like him, and they'll do almost anything just to spite him.'

Peach didn't question this. Together they hurried up the street, sticking to the lighted areas under the streetlamps and avoiding the alleyways that littered the area. Waluigi's eyes constantly scanned his surroundings for threats, and Peach found hers doing the same. Though she didn't show it outwardly, she was shaken. Never before had she felt endangered while walking home at any time of the day or night. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Maybe she was just a silly princess who needed people like Mario to rescue her from everything.

They were almost to the end of Wario's territory when Waluigi paused to look around. By then, some of the fear was draining out of Peach. It was quiet, though; strangely quiet. Almost too quiet…

With a sudden yell, a figure taller than any of the others leapt out of the shadows and threw itself onto Waluigi before he could react, both of them crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Immediately both combatants began grappling viciously, lashing out with fists and teeth, each trying to subdue the other. Peach shrieked involuntarily, and began to look around for anything she could use as a weapon. Then she caught sight of another fallen dustbin lid lying at the side of the road, abandoned in a patch of light.

Waluigi was in the process of forcing his assailant off him when a sudden, deafening crash echoed through the streets. The thug instantly keeled over sideeways, unconscious. Getting to his feet with a grunt, Waluigi turned to see Peach standing behind where the thug had been a moment before, the filthy dustbin lid clutched in her hands. There was surprise clear in his face as their eyes met; he obviously hadn't expected her to do a thing.

Then he raised an eyebrow. 'Fancy seeing the Princess risking her nail polish…'

'Well, I wasn't going to just stand there, was I?' said Peach. It was slightly tremulous, but she managed to muster a smile as she tossed the bin lid away. Waluigi just stared.

'Yeeeaah… Listen, I guess you really do know how to take care of yourself out here.'

'This is the last time I'm taking this route home, though,' she replied, truthfully. She didn't even want to imagine what might have happened if Waluigi hadn't been here – or if that convenient dustbin lid hadn't….

He grinned, tugging the brim of his hat down to shadow his eyes. After a moment's hesitation, Peach found herself grinning back. It was impossible to feel the same disdain or indifference towards Waluigi that she'd felt before. She had seen a different side of him tonight, and learned that he could be brave, sharp-witted, and a loyal companion. And for a thief and a cheat, he was a surprisingly honest individual.

She felt sure that he'd learned new things about her, too.

Without a word, they set off back for the royal castle. Nothing else tried to attack them, and within minutes Peach spotted the magnificent white gates leading up to the castle grounds. The night was peaceful; clearly no-one had noticed her absence yet. She intended to keep it that way.

'Thanks for walking back with me, Waluigi—' she began, then broke off with a noise of surprise. She was alone.

Then she saw it; a tall thin shadow just disappearing down a side street. She smiled, perhaps a little bemusedly, then turned and hurried up through the gates. She was sure they'd meet again soon.