Chapter Fifteen

Birds were starting to chirp and Bowser was getting pissed. The sun wasn't even up! He groaned and shifted but refused to open his eyes. He was about to fall back asleep when he heard a high-pitched squeak that seemed to come from something relatively close. After a few moments of cautious listening, he started to fall back asleep when he heard it again. Opening his eyes, he rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked around.

Everything was normal enough. There was no rustling in the woods, suspicious smells or signs that anything else was nearby. Bowser ran his claw through his hair and turned his head to look at Peach wrapped up from head to toe in her cocoon of blankets. He smiled when she shifted slightly.

"Hey, Peach. Did you hear that weird noise a few minutes ago?" he whispered. His only response was a small cry which startled him. He quickly crawled forward and tapped her nervously. The blankets shivered and Peach began to breath heavier. Bowser gently turned her over and felt his heart crack when he saw her cheeks stained with tears. "Peach," he whispered as he carefully shook her.

Peach opened her eyes and let out a bloodcurdling scream when she felt Bowser touch her. Her eyes were unfocused as she stared at him and she tried to crawl away from the hulking figure above her. Bowser could see the confusion and terror in her eyes.

"Peach! It's okay. It was all a dream," he said, trying to calm her down.

"Bowser…?" she whispered, cautiously. He nodded his head and gave her a small worried smile. She looked around and started to breathe normally. Bowser could practically hear her little heart beating a hundred miles an hour as he cautiously sat next to her in the grass.

She looked away as she wiped her face with her sleeves. "I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

"I was already kind of awake…" Bowser answered. "Are you okay?" he asked, leaning forward to catch a glimpse of her face. She avoided his worried stare.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I was just having a nightmare. I didn't mean to startle you," Peach lied.

"What was it about?" Bowser asked.

"I don't remember," she lied again as she tried to look thoughtful.

Bowser didn't believe it for a minute. Peach has always been a terrible liar but he let her off the hook for now. She still looked shaken and pressing her would probably only make things worse. He sat next to her and watched her out of the corner of his eye. "Something is terrorizing her and… I have a strange feeling that we are being watched," he thought as he glanced at the forest around them. Despite himself, he put his arm around her protectively as they sat together in silence.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Since there is nothing more you can tell me about your business in Sarasaland and you refuse to change your mind, I'll volunteer to take you the rest of the way!" Bowser grinned with determination as he walked beside the princess.

"That won't be necessary," Peach argued as she walked past him.

"Oh, but I think it is! I can't just leave a beautiful princess like yourself out here in the middle of nowhere with no one to make sure you are safe. That would be awfully terrible of me... What would people say?" Bowser rationalized dramatically.

"You, of all people, have never cared what other people think. Besides, I have a vehicle that is more than capable of getting me safely to my destination…" Peach insisted.

"What? That poor excuse for a Clown Car? It's like you wanted to break down and get stranded in the middle of a massive forest, on a road that no one ever uses," Bowser said sarcastically with a chuckle.

"I am not stranded! Turtle is just fine and I will have her running again in no time," the princess said optimistically.

"Yeah. About that… I already strapped her on the back of my Koopa King Kart. She's not flying anywhere strapped down like that," Bowser said as they finally made it back to the gravel road and his massive Kart came into view.

"Bowser!" the princess complained. He smirked and hopped on his ride. It was a massive green Kart tricked out with spikes, six wheels, horns, and a sharp-toothed grin on the front.

"Common, Princess," Bowser said, extending his hand to her from his seat. "I thought you had urgent business in Sarasaland? Unless… you have changed your mind." He grinned at her tauntingly.

She sighed and wanted to walk away from his offer, but he was right. Turtle had gone as far as she could go and there was no sign anyone else would ever pass by on this road. "Fine," she stated as she climbed onto the Koopa King Kart, ignoring his outstretched hand. "But I get to drive."

"Of course! It will give me something to talk about when I have my meeting with King Boo. He'll be so jealous when I tell him that you not only rode the Koopa King but drove him yourself! Gwa ha!" Bowser chortled.

"Absolutely not!" Peach shouted, horrified and red-faced as she realized the implications of his statement.

"Calm down, Peach. It's all in good fun. Besides, you are the only person in the world that would take that seriously," Bowser said, looking at her red face with a bittersweet expression of his own. "Everyone else would laugh at the thought of that ever happening."

Peach shook her head and situated herself on the Kart. It was too big for her but she could reach everything with a little finagling. Bowser watched her with a satisfied smirk and leaned his back against the Mini Koopa Kart that was strapped to the back. Once she was ready, Peach turned the ignition key and the engine raged into life. Her eyes widened in surprise and a nervous smile crossed her face. "Okay… Now I just need to put it in gear and gently pull forward..."

"Woe! Woooooe…" Peach exclaimed as the Kart suddenly jerked forward and stopped abruptly with just a tap of the gas pedal. Bowser grunted as he smacked his head on the Mini Koopa Kart. The princess glanced back at him with an apologetic smile. "Sorry. Just checking the pedals…"

"You know, I could take off my spiky shell and drive so neither of us dies. I always have shorts with me," Bowser stated casually.

"No!" Peach yelled, looking back at him with wide eyes. Seeing he hadn't moved to do anything, she sat facing forward again, obviously flustered. "I mean… there is no need for you to do that. I can drive just fine." Peach got back into place and took hold of the steering wheel. Even as she looked away, Bowser could see her ears had turned bright pink.

"What? You can take off your bra but I can't take off my shell?" Bowser teased.

At that moment, Peach slammed her foot on the gas, intentionally making him smack his head on Turtle, and took to the road as quickly as possible.

"That is not… Don't ever speak of that again!" she ordered furiously.

If Peach had looked back, she would have seen Bowser's pink face grinning from ear to ear. He would create a hundred "Friendzoned Gardens" if it meant he could relive that moment at the pool again.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After four more hours of driving, Peach was starting to get used to the raw power of the Koopa King Kart. She was also starting to feel (sort of) grateful for the new ride. For a normal Kart, it would take ten hours or more to drive from the Dark Lands to Sarasaland, but this Kart was a monster. Bowser had estimated that it would take them less than eight hours to get to Sarasaland on the Koopa King Kart.

"Peach, could you stop the Kart for a moment and look at the map with me?" Bowser asked. She took her foot off the gas, brought the Kart to a stop, and turned around to look at him.

"Something isn't right about this road. See?" He tapped his claw where they were on the map. "We were only supposed to be on it for five kilometers and come to a fork in the road, but we have been driving on it for at least fifteen and there have been no turns."

Peach took the map into her hands. Bowser was right. She remembered looking this route over before she set off in the Mini Koopa Kart. Giving Bowser back the map, she prepared to start driving again.

"I'll keep driving straight for a while. Watch out for any road signs. We might have turned at the wrong place," Peach said with a small frown.

They drove for a few more minutes before they finally saw the name of the road they were on.

"Lenore Road?" Bowser said with a heavy sigh. "Peach, you're gonna wanna take a look at this."

She stopped the Kart again and looked over the map. "What the stars?" Peach muttered in unbelief. "Bowser, according to this, we are six hours away! What happened?"

"I don't know, but we are farther away than when we started," he stated.

Peach gave an exasperated sigh. How could this happen?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After six more hours of driving and paying close attention to the map, they still weren't in Sarasaland or even close to it. Bowser wasn't even sure where they were this time.

"Peach! I'm sorry! I don't know what's going on," he called after her as she got off the Kart and stomped away.

"You are intentionally taking me the wrong way! I was getting there just fine when it was just me and my little Clown Kart," Peach shouted back crossly.

"No! Peach, I told you I would take you there and I am trying to, but the halfwit who made this map didn't know a thing about this place," Bowser explained trying to get her to believe him.

Peach only scoffed at him and continued to walk away until she came to a rock big enough to sit on. This whole area was a wasteland of rubble, cactus plants, noxious weeds, and sad. Luckily, the sun was behind the clouds or she would be roasting beneath the afternoon sun.

Bowser got off the Kart and sat down on the rock beside her. She scooted down the rock and turned her back to him giving him a cold shoulder.

"Want something to eat?" Bowser asked her.

"No," she answered bluntly, continuing to look in another direction.

"Well that sucks because I bought a whole bunch of stuff from the last gas station we stopped at," Bowser said with a shrug. She didn't respond to him so he pulled a bag out of his shell and started fiddling with a small candy wrapper.

*crackle, crackle*

He continued to grunt in frustration as he completely failed to open the candy wrapper.

*crackle, crackle, crackle*

"Give it to me!" Peach snapped at him. Snatching the wrapper from his claws, she quickly opened it and held it up to him impatiently.

The Koopa King smiled gratefully as he took it in his claw. "Could you open this one too?" he asked, holding up a bag of chips. It was obviously easier to open than the tiny candy wrapper but Peach took it and opened it for him anyhow. She really didn't want to listen to crinkling plastic anymore.

After a few moments of chewing, Bowser saw her start to loosen up a little bit as she sat staring off in thought. She even went so far as to eat a handful of chips, but she still wouldn't look at him. Apparently, eye contact wasn't trending today.

"I promise, I didn't mean to get us lost or to keep you away from Sarasaland," Bowser said with sincerity.

"I know," Peach said quietly. Bowser raised his eyebrows but she kept her eyes fixed on something in the distance. "Let's get going. I want to at least try to reach Sarasaland by nightfall."

Bowser nodded and put the bag of food back in his shell. As they made their way back to the Koopa King Kart, a buzzing sound came from the hidden pocket in Peach's dress.

*Bzzzz….bzzzz...Bzzzz….bzzzz….*

Peach pulled her phone out and checked, "It's Daisy!" immediately flipping the phone open and putting it up to her ear. Then, realizing Bowser was still within hearing range, she motioned for him to go back to the Kart without her.

"Daisy? How are you? Is everything okay?" Peach asked excitedly.

"Peach! Everything is fine. Sorry for taking so long to call you back. Luigi was in bad shape and the council had an emergency meeting that lasted all morning," Daisy explained eagerly.

"Emergency meeting? About what?" Peach asked.

"Your kidnapping! Peach, information got leaked and now everyone knows you have been taken but no one knows who did it! Don't worry, I didn't tell them anything, but most of them suspect Bowser did it. I don't know what is going on with this whole Mario thing, but most people are holding out for him to come back while others aren't sure he will. It is a mess.

(A knock was heard in the background.)

"Oh…that is probably a member of the council at my door. I'll call you later and we will figure this out! Love you, Peachy!"

*Click*

"Bye," Peach answered back quietly. She was more confused than the last time she talked to Daisy. Walking back to the Kart, she asked, "Bowser, can I see that newspaper that you picked up earlier?"

He nodded, pulled it out of his shell, and handed it to her as he dumped a bag of chips into his mouth. Taking it, Peach opened it and flipped through the pages. Sure enough, the very first section had the Celebrity News updates.

She read it out loud, "Still no sign of Mario. Is Luigi going to be Princess Peach's new guardian?" She stopped reading and looked at the Koopa King. "Bowser, what do you think about this?"

He shook his head and started picking his teeth with his claw, "I think that it is a good thing that I am not going to kidnap you anymore."

"Why?" Peach asked curiously.

"Because the Mushroom Kingdom would never have gotten you back! Gwa ha ha!" Bowser laughed, pounding the side of the Kart with his fist.

"Oh, you brute…" Peach feigning indignation as the sides of her mouth threatened to betray a smile. "You know that's not what I meant."

"To be honest, Peachy, I don't think anything of it. Celebrity News has always been a crock," Bowser stated indifferently.

"Well, think about it more and tell me," Peach insisted, watching him closely as she rested her elbows on the Koopa King Kart and laid her chin in her hands.

He sighed, "Peach, I'm being serious. The news in the Dark Lands doesn't even consider the Celebrity News as actual news, so no one there watches or reads it. There are ways to get Celebrity News in the Dark Lands, but it is unofficial in my Kingdom. Also, I have heard rumors that Mario dumped you and skipped town, but let's face it, it's just a load of crap made to spice things up in the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Dumped me? That… makes no sense," Peach said bewilderedly.

"See? Right from the horse's mouth! Never happened. Just as I thought," Bowser claimed with pride. He would have liked it if Mario was out of the picture but, at the same time, Peach would be devastated.

"Why would…?" Peach stopped. She knew why such a rumor would be used. Mario was murdered and someone was covering the whole thing up. She didn't know how, but they were succeeding and the Kingdoms were waiting to see if Mario was coming back for her after… dumping her.

"This is getting way too complicated," she thought to herself. "But some things make sense now... Daisy came to visit and console me thinking that Mario had broken my heart and left. That also explains their shock when I told them that he was dead. They had no idea. No one outside of the Mushroom Castle knew…" That meant she had to go to the Mushroom Castle and see what was going on, but she still needed to talk with Daisy and Peach was sure they were closer to Sarasaland than the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Why would what?" Bowser asked when Peach didn't finish her question.

"Nothing. I need to get to Sarasaland and talk to Daisy," she said more to herself than Bowser as she climbed back onto the front of the Koopa King Kart. Bowser watched her and pulled out the map from his shell.

"I think we are here," Bowser pointed to a certain road on the map. "It is about 6 hours away from the Sarasaland Castle. If we hurry, we might be able to make it before it gets too dark. The Koopa King Kart has headlights, but it isn't wise to travel at night when we haven't had much sleep. If it gets dark, we stop and sleep. Agreed?"

"We'll see. I'm not tired at all yet," Peach stated. There were too many things on her mind to allow her to rest.