Chapter 6 is here!

"I warned you, I warned you, I warned you …" Mario was saying as he paced back and forth in the Throne Room.

"I honestly thought we could trust it!" Peach responded. "It's not Rosie's fault."

"It's been hours and she's still gone! If she's not in danger, she's going to be in serious trouble when she comes back," Mario said.

"No, she would come back in time, she's practically never late, at least not like this ..." Peach descended into her throne, resisting the urge to sob. "But are we sure?" She questioned.

"Something definitely happened to her," Mario sighed, heading back to his own throne. "She knows we would be worried if she was only a few minutes late. But don't worry so much; I have called out messengers all over the Kingdom to question everyone they see. They should come back with something … anything."

"If someone did see something, I'm sure they're either dead, kidnapped, or have sworn not to tell anyone. I doubt anyone will have any information …"

Peach was cut off by the Throne Room doors opening slowly. Quickly regaining her outward composure, she adjusted her posture and intently fixed her gaze on the young female Toad walking in. She was closely followed by both of the guards at the door, until one said, "Your Majesties, this young woman claims to be an eyewitness of something she says is important to locating Her Highness Princess Rose. Do you wish to see her in?"

"Yes," Mario responded immediately. "Leave us, please. We wish to speak with her alone."

The guards quickly nodded and retreated beyond the entrance doors.

"We need all the information we can receive," Peach said hurriedly. "Please, Miss, if you saw something we implore you to tell us. There's no time to waste!"

The young Toad sniffed and then sighed. "I've betrayed the Kingdom," she said quietly. "But I need to be honest about it for the Princess's sake."

"What has happened?" Mario asked eagerly. "We promise that no punishment will come to you, as long as you tell us what you are the eyewitness of."

"My name is Toadia," the girl said. "Earlier today, I saw"—she sniffed again—"I saw Bowser Junior. It was terrible, I can't believe it …"

"Please continue," Peach urged. She was on the edge, and hoped dearly that she wouldn't faint. So Bowser Junior had been inside the Kingdom? This was even worse than she had expected. Before, she had at least a faint dream that perhaps Rose had just gotten lost, but she knew that if Junior and Rose had crossed paths, Rose would be far out of reach by now.

"I was just watering my gardens in peace, all alone in the streets, when he jumped out of the nearest sewer pipe and he"—Toadia was on the verge of crying; she was clearly very upset—"he told me that if I didn't tell him where the Princess was, he would destroy everything and everyone around me … and I couldn't help it, I had to tell him …" She could hold on no longer, and broke into violent tears. "I tried not to, but I had no hope!" She practically screamed through her sobs. "I'm nothing in size and power compared to someone like him!"

"Breathe deeply, Miss Toadia," Mario interjected. "We understand, you didn't have a choice; it's not your fault. It's no one's fault but Bowser Junior's. Did he have anyone with him?"

"If someone was with him they never exited the pipe," Toadia responded, calming down ever so slightly. "He just left through the same pipe and didn't do any harm, and I'm assuming he left for the Princess … I'm so sorry …"

"Don't worry too much about it," Peach said. "You saved the lives of you and all your friends, and I don't think Princess Rose is not alive, in any case. Is that all you know?"

"Yes," Toadia responded simply. "That is all I know. There was no one else around me, and I didn't tell anyone—until now. Thank you for being so kind to me."

"You're very welcome," Mario said quietly. "You have been very useful to our investigation; and for that, we are very thankful. We ask only one thing; please try not to share this information too much. It will be better that way, for you and everyone."

"Yes, Your Majesties," Toadia said. "I wish you the best of luck in finding the Princess."

"Thank you, …" Peach nearly squeaked with her remaining voice as Toadia turned and left the Throne Room.

As soon as Toadia left, Mario passionately started pacing again.

"How dare they?!" He exclaimed in anger. "What did Rosie ever do to them?! And where is she now?! What have they done to her? Is she even alive?!"

Assuming that she knew who "they" were, Peach quietly left her throne and approached her husband.

"I'm sure she's alive," Peach said, in a similar quiet fashion. "I'm sure of it," she repeated. "Bowser always kidnapped me for some kind of profit; if he wanted to kill me he would have, but he never did. I am also sure that she is probably somewhere in the Dark Lands by now, namely in Bowser's Castle, most likely. Bowser may have made some changes to his plans, but he wouldn't go so far as to completely change everything. In any case, that's a good lead to start on; at least now we know that Rosie has, indeed, been right. Oh, I shouldn't have let her go, it's all my fault …"

"No, it's not," Mario replied gently. "Like I said, it's no one's fault that she got kidnapped other than Junior's. We'll get her out of wherever she is, I promise."

Peach sighed. "I know, just … when I was in Bowser's Castle I was always treated like an absolute princess of all sorts. I hope she will be treated the same … at least, while she's still there. In the meantime, let's catch a train to Sarasaland. We need all the help we can get."

Junior entered Bowser's Castle with the most pride for himself he had had in months and months. He rapped on the door of his father's Royal Quarters in absolute delight.

"Who is it?" Bowser's voice was relaxed, and Junior assumed he was probably reading the newspaper or some magazine.

"It's me," Junior responded. "I have some excellent news."

"Alright, come in," Bowser said. "I wanna hear it in person."

Junior eagerly opened the door, still holding Princess Rose, and said, "I think you'd prefer to see it."

"See your news? Junior, you're talking nonsense—" Bowser's voice broke off when he saw Rose. " … Wait, is that who I think it is?" He asked incredulously.

"Most definitely," Junior said happily. "Her Highness Princess Rose Maria Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom, to be exact. Don't you see the crown?" He laughed.

Bowser rubbed his hands together, just as excitedly. "Oh, this is excellent work! I didn't expect you to succeed on the first try, but it looks like all that training from yours truly hasn't failed." He got up from his armchair (he had been reading a newspaper by his fireplace just like Junior had expected). "I'll show you the rooms I have prepared for her while she calms down, if you remember our plan. Follow me." Junior nodded, flattered by his father's praise.

"So how'd you catch her?" Bowser asked with interest on their way to the Princess's rooms. Fortunately, the hallways were mostly empty so they could proceed with no complications.

"I just went through the Kingdom's sewer systems, found the street she was at, and put her to sleep with my chloroform. It wasn't too hard," Junior said proudly. He decided to leave out the part where he questioned the Toad girl, because he wasn't sure if that was the best strategy, and it wasn't relevant to the plans anyway.

"Good work," Bowser said. "I'm assuming no one saw you?"

"I didn't come in publically, like I said I wouldn't," Junior responded carefully.

"Good, good," Bowser laughed. "Those poor idiots, I wonder if they're caught on yet. But don't worry, I've upgraded all of my stuff, as I told you before. The Princess is safe here, for sure. Ah, here we are."

They arrived at a solid wooden door with two strong-looking locks fastening it shut. They didn't stop Bowser, however, as he quickly pulled out a large golden key and handed it to his son.

"This fits in both locks," Bowser instructed. "You're going to be coming here a lot, even whenever you please, if you want—so I think you should have the spare key. Go ahead, open it."

It was a bit of a struggle to open two locks while holding a healthy young girl in his arms, but Junior still managed to open the door. Inside, he was struck by surprise.

"Dad, are these …" He stopped talking as he looked around. He hadn't seen this room in quite a while. It was amazing, even, to look at it now. Everything still looked so familiar …

"These are Peach's old quarters, yes," Bowser said in as somewhat hushed voice, though Junior barely noticed through his awe. "A few things have changed in the security, but everything else is the same, pretty much."

Still somewhat amazed, Junior quickly placed Rose, who was still unconcious, on the familiar sparkling pink canopy bed that Peach had grown to practically get used to, according to what he remembered. The Castle's servants would show Peach around her rooms, and she would always say, "I know, I know, I've been here before, Sam Goomb."

On the nightstand by the bed, there was a note in handwriting that looked as if Bowser was trying to be as neat as possible, and for once, it was actually readable. It said:

Greetings, Princess Rose Maria Toadstool,

Do not be alarmed; you are nowhere unsafe. You are currently located in King Bowser Koopa's Dark Land Castle, in your personal quarters. In case it concerns you, these are the same quarters that once belonged to your mother, and they are almost the same as they used to be, save for some minor improvements. Do not attempt escape; there is a high security system. We will not invade your privacy, but trying to escape through the windows or door is pointless. You may try, of course, but we assure you that nothing of use to you will happen. There are copious amounts of fresh clothes, a washroom, and more in this room to provide you total comfort. If the clothes are not fiting or you need more, simply inform the servant that comes to serve you your fresh meals (three times a day), and we will provide you with anything you would like. It is our own concern to make this room as comfortable for you as possible. There is a clock on your nightstand; breakfast will be served at 8:00 AM, lunch will be served at 12:30 PM, and dinner will be served at 6:30 PM. All of these times can be adjusted, and additional foods can be served at your once again assure you that your meals will not be tampered with in any way, and will be created by our best are royalty, and will be treated as such.

Signed, King Bowser Koopa and his son, Prince Bowser Jr. Koopa

"I left her a note so she wouldn't freak out," Bowser explained. "There aren't any cameras or microphones or alarms in these quarters or anything, but I can guarantee you she won't be able to escape. As for someone rescuing her … you'll see later what will happen about that."

Junior nodded. The father and son slowly turned and left the room. All that was left now was to wait until Princess Rose woke up, freshened up, and ate. And then, Junior would visit her.

His curiousity would be impossible to contain.

Daisy's eyes were filled with tears.

"I hate this, I hate this, I hate this so much," she repeated.

"We all do," Peach said. Mario, Peach, Luigi, and Daisy were all gathered in the Sarasaland Royal Rooms together, and no one had emotions that could be acutely descibed. Most were shock, and some anger and resentment for Bowser that they hadn't felt in a long, long time.

"You know, she asked me for advice on this and I basically told her to calm down," Daisy continued with her lament. "Calm down?! I should have told her to be the royalty she is and take action! Go into hiding! Send spies, perhaps!"

"It's not your fault, you know that," Mario sighed at the amount of times he had had to say that today. He understood everyone trying to blame themselves, however. Deep down, even he felt some responsibility for his daughter's disappearance. Daisy had made good points; perhaps Rose should have gone into hiding. This was just, all in all, a total mess.

Luigi, as usual, was losing his mind with fear. "Oh, this is terrible," he exclaimed, "And we thought this was all over! This is terrifying! What are we going to do now? Oh, what are we going to do now?!"

Normally Daisy would have joked that everything was "terrifying" to Luigi, but now even she felt that fear was justified. Like she had managed to point out earlier, Bowser's forces had to be stronger now. This time, it would be a real fight, even with Rose on their side.

"I'll tell you what we're going to do," Mario said, suddenly confidently taking charge. "We're going to band together, and we're going to get Rosie back, no matter what it takes."

"But Bowser's probably unstoppable now, with Junior joining him too!" Luigi protested.

"Bowser's always said that he's great and mighty, but we're not any less unstoppable than we used to be! Remember the good old days?" Peach said, joining Mario in his cause. "We're not going down without a fight! So, are you in or are you out?!" Peach held out a hand.

"I'm in," Mario responded immediately, placing his hand on Peach's. "You guys … ?"

"I'm in too," Daisy said. "Good ol' Queen Daisy Sarasa isn't going to just sit by and let her niece suffer at the hands of evil!" And with that, her hand also joined the circle.

" … Okay, I'm in as well," Luigi said. "I guess it doesn't make sense to not even try." He smiled and put his hand on Daisy's.

"Then let's do this!" Everyone cheered, high-fiving and exchanging glances of their newly recollected bravery. "Bowser's back and better? Well, so are we."