When Toadette woke up, she found herself in a dark room, lit only by candles. She could hear creepy organ music playing. It was coming from down the hallway. Toadette followed it, out of curiosity. She could see a small light at the end of the hallway, and walked toward it. As she got closer, the light grew bigger, until she reached the end of the hallway. There, she saw a gigantic pipe organ being played by a Goomba wearing a black tuxedo and top hat. He turned around and grinned at Toadette. It was Gruber.

"Eeek!" Toadette screamed, and turned to run away, but before she could, a door slammed shut, and locked. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't open it.

"There's no escaping now, sugar lips!" Gruber shouted. "You're mine!"

"No! No!" Toadette shouted, trying desperately to get the door open. "I won't be yours, ever! Never ever, ever, ever!"

"Come along, my beautiful blushing bride-to-be," Gruber said. "It's time for our wedding!"

"Wedding?" Toadette asked, confused.

Suddenly, Toadette found herself in what looked like a church, filled to the brim with Bowser's minions. At the front of it all was a Koopa Troopa, wearing a clergy robe, standing next to Gruber, the groom. Toadette looked down, and noticed her appearance changed, too. Instead of her pink dress and red vest, she was now wearing a wedding gown and veil, and was carrying a bouquet of piranha plant buds. The organ began to play a sinister version of "Here Comes the Bride," and a group of Goombas began pushing Toadette down the aisle, despite her resisting.

"No!" she yelled. "No, I can't marry him! I won't marry him! I won't! No! No! Noooooooooo!"

Toadette let out a shrill scream, and bolted upright. She began to catch her breath, and look around. She was in a small, pink bedroom, with no windows. When she noticed this, she began to grow nervous, and clutched the pink comforter to her chest. Suddenly, she heard footsteps running toward the room. The door flung open, and the light came on, revealing Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess Peach, all looking a bit panicked.

"We heard a scream!" Toad shouted.

"What happened?" Mario asked.

"What's going on?" Luigi asked.

"Are you all right, Toadette?" Peach asked.

"Y-yes," Toadette said, a little uncertainly. "But . . . . what happened?"

"You fainted," Peach explained. "We brought you to one of the castle's guest rooms."

"We figured a room without windows would be best," Luigi said. "This way, that Goomba can't look in on you."

"You've been unconscious for the past two hours," Mario said.

"Two . . . . two hours?" Toadette asked. "I've been here all this time?"

"That's right," Mario said.

"Then . . . . then it was only a dream," Toadette said, heaving a huge sigh of relief, as she flopped down on the bed. "Oh thank goodness!"

"What was only a dream?" Toad asked.

"The Goomba was gonna force me to marry him!" Toadette shouted, shuddering at the memory. Then she began crying again. "It was awful!"

"There, there," Peach comforted, as she took a wet washcloth and rubbed it against Toadette's forehead. "It was just a bad dream."

"Dr. Toadley was here earlier," Toad said. "He figured you passed out because of stress and anxiety. He said you'll be all right after some rest."

"I think it would be best if you stayed here at the castle for now," Peach said. "At least until we can figure out what to do about this Goomba."

"The trouble is we can't just flatten him," Mario said. "That never stops them permanently."

"And we can't arrest him, either," Luigi said. "How would we know if we got the right one? You know all those Goombas look alike. He doesn't really have anything that makes him stand out from all the other Goombas."

"I'll never get him out of my life!" Toadette wailed, and she started sobbing again.

"Yes you will," Mario said, gently patting her on the back. "We'll figure out something! Have I ever let any of my friends down before?"

"No," Toadette said.

"That's right!" Mario shouted. "And I don't plan to start now!"

"Thanks, Mario," Toadette said, sniffling.

"Now, then," Peach said, "you just lie there and get some rest, and I'll make you a nice cup of tea."

"And maybe some soup," Luigi suggested. "You should eat something."

Toadette nodded, and heaved a sigh. She wondered what she did to deserve such great friends.

Mario, Luigi, and Peach left the room, while Toad stayed behind with Toadette. There were two huge Toad guards standing on either side of the door.

"Now remember," Peach said to them. "Only Mario, Luigi, Toad, Dr. Toadley, and myself are allowed in this room. You are not to let anyone else in, without my permission. You are also not to leave your post. If you see any Goombas sneaking around this hallway, use the walkie-talkies I gave you to call for backup. Is that understood?"

"Yes, your highness!" the two guards shouted, saluting their princess.

"Very good," Peach said. "All the other guards have been informed of the situation, and two more will come relieve you in two hours. Thank you for being so understanding about this."

"It's our job, your highness," one of the guards said.

Peach nodded, and she and the Mario Bros. went to castle's kitchen. Mario and Luigi began preparing some noodle soup for Toadette, while Peach began making tea. She opened a small packet, and sprinkled the contents into a teacup, and started stirring it.

"What's that?" Luigi asked.

"It's a small sedative Dr. Toadley gave me," Peach explained. "He said it should help Toadette sleep. Better put some chicken and vegetables in that soup, Mario. She's going to need something more than just broth and pasta."

"Right," Mario said.

"What are we going to do about the party we were planning?" Luigi asked.

"We'll just have to wait and see," Mario said. "Since we planned for it to be next week, we'll see if Toadette is up to it. If she is, we'll go ahead as scheduled. If she isn't, we'll call up everyone we invited and tell them it's been postponed."

"Sounds good to me," Luigi said.

Meanwhile, in Neo Bowser City, Gruber was sitting in front of his TV, staring at the static that filled the screen. He was not a happy little Goomba. Since his cameras had been destroyed, he was unable to tune in to his "Toadette-Vision." He called Toadette's house several times a day, but nobody ever answered the phone. He went back to the house, and found she wasn't there. He even started staking out the castle, but decided against it when he kept seeing Mario whenever he looked into the windows.

"They're keeping her from me," he grumbled. "They're holding her against her will. They're brainwashing her. They're making her think she doesn't love me. I know she loves me. I must find a way to rescue her. But how?"

Gruber stood up, and began pacing back and forth. He knew he couldn't just storm Peach's castle. Mario was always there, and he'd be squashed before he got very far. Besides which, it would take him forever to search every room. And he also didn't have the patience to camp out on Toadette's lawn and wait for her to come back. He heaved a sigh, and turned to his autographed photo of Toadette.

"Don't worry, my pretty pink popsicle," he said. "Your Grubie-Woobie-kins will think of some way to rescue you!"

Gruber went back to pacing, until he suddenly remembered something. He still had his copy of the Official Bowser's Minions Phone Directory. He dug it out of a drawer, turned through the pages, picked up his phone, and, using a pencil in his mouth, dialed a number.

"I know just the person who can help me!" he shouted. "Why didn't I think of it before?"

"Hello?" the person on the other end asked.

"Hi, is this Kamek?" Gruber asked.

"Yeah, who's this?"

"Listen, buddy, how'd you like to make a few extra coins?"

"I'm listening."

Gruber smiled. His plan was simple. All he wanted Kamek to do was spy on Peach's castle for awhile, without being seen, and find out where Toadette was, and any other information he could dig up. He offered to pay him fifty coins up front, twenty coins per day, and another fifty when he delivered results.

"You got yourself a deal, buster!" Kamek shouted.

"Great," Gruber said. "Meet me at the Badlands Bar in Desert Land in an hour, and I'll give you your first fifty coins."

Kamek agreed, hung up, and immediately hopped on his broom. He found Gruber waiting for him outside of the bar with a bag of coins. Kamek took it, and immediately counted the coins before he did anything else.

"Okay, it's all here," he said. "Good."

"So how are ya gonna sneak inside the castle without being seen?" Gruber asked.

"The ol' Fly on the Wall routine," Kamek said. "They'll never notice a thing."

Kamek waved his wand, and turned himself into a fly (or rather, a fly with a Magikoopa's head). Then he flew directly to Peach's castle and got to work snooping. Nobody really noticed him, since he was the size of a fly. Anyone who did notice just took a couple of swats at him, though, like they did whenever any small flying insect flew into the palace.

By the end of the week, Kamek had learned everything he could, and he returned to Gruber at the Badlands Bar. Gruber was waiting for him, with a bag full of coins.

"What did you learn?" he asked.

"They're keeping that Toadette girl in a windowless room in the castle," Kamek said. "They did it so you wouldn't look into the windows on her. Said something about her being on the brink of a nervous breakdown."

"Of course she's on the brink of a nervous breakdown!" Gruber shouted. "She's spent a week away from me, her one true love!"

"Yeah . . . . sure, whatever. Anyway, they're gonna have one of those party things they sometimes have in a couple of days. You know, the ones they have where they run around some board and collect stars. The ones they never invite any of us to. She and the other Toad are gonna be the hosts. You could probably go crash this thing and see her then."

"Why not now? I'll go inside the castle, and whisk her away from the dark and dreary dungeon Princess Peach is keeping my succulent summer squash in!"

"Because there are two guards keeping watch at all times in front of her bedroom door. You'd be squished faster than a succulent summer squash before you even got in there!"

"Oh. Yeah, you're right. I guess we're gonna have to crash the party."

"We?"

"Yeah, I know these parties of Mario's. There's always four players. I'm gonna get in that game, and I'm gonna need your help doing it!"

"I don't know about that . . . . ."

"I'll pay extra."

"Let's go crash a party!"

Since Gruber couldn't shake hands with Kamek on the deal, Kamek had to shake his foot.