Foreword: This should be a fun, almost a filler (but not quite) chapter. Like I said earlier, mostly focuses on side-stories, Bowser and Peach aren't together once through it, but there's still fluff. I'm getting to the part of the story where the real changes happen, so it's exciting. :) For me, at least.

Hope you all had lovely Holidays thus far, and happy reading! I still don't own any main characters.

This was getting too much for Toadsworth to stand. No matter what everyone around him said, he couldn't shake the feeling that Peach was in the hands of something evil, that something was happening to her, something that would make him regret ever letting her go. He tried to sip his tea quietly and calmly, but the tinkling of the china was painfully loud as he jiggled his leg.

Toadette looked over at her mentor and shook her head. Old people could be so difficult. "Toadsworth," she said, not caring that she was interrupting the impatient toad at the front of the room. "How much is it going to take to convince you that Peach is perfectly fine?"

Toadsworth's laugh was clearly strained. "What are you talking about, poppet? We're not even discussing the dear princess…why even bring her up, eh?"

"Do you even know what we are discussing?"

The toad in charge of the meeting scowled at Toadette under his blue cap. "You mean what we were discussing until someone decided it was alrighty to interrupt?"

Toadsworth nodded apologetically towards the toad instructor before answering Toadette. "Of course I know what we're discussing, m'dear. The topic at hand is none other than…" He glanced quick as he could to the board behind the toad, now tapping his foot. "Flooding." Toadsworth beamed, sure he escaped possible humiliation.

If that was so, Toadette sure had a strange sense of humor. She laughed even harder at the incredulous expression of the instructor. "See, Shor T.? I'm not the only one who doesn't pay attention."

Shor T. glared at Toadsworth, hissing, "we finished discussing the flooding in Lardy Land fifteen minutes ago. We're talking about the Darklands relation team right now."

Toadsworth had been given just enough distraction to keep his mind off the missing princess. For now. "What about them, sah?"

"Well, we don't have one. And also, if the international calendar's correct, it's King Bowser's birthday today. It's not going to put us as the most powerful country in the world in very good light for not even addressing his birthday."

Toadsworth furrowed his brow. "We're not allied with the Darklands for a reason, Shor T. And we're not going to send a gift to Bowser for the same reason- he's our bloomin' enemy! Princess Peach has never, and will never, like him."

Shor T. shook a pointer at Toadsworth with a glare in his eye. "If you don't recall, Bowser hasn't kidnapped her in quite a while. He's always second to some other villain…I'd say it's only a matter of time before Peach sees him as an equal ruler and not a threat."

Toadsworth looked rather red in the face by this point. "Well, you see," he huffed, "That's what separates you from my bally-good job. Blinkin' foolish ideas like that…Bowser is Bowser, Peach is Peach, and there's nothing more to it, sah! So until she prances home and says 'erself that Bowsah's a changed koopa, he's our enemy. And the Mushroom Kingdom 'as no problem letting the bloomin' world know."

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"Remind-a me why we're-a going to see this Bahurspat-a guy?" Mario grumbled from the back seat of Daisy's yellow jeep. Daisy smiled in the rearview mirror at Mario. Her hair was bouncing in the wind and her glasses were bright with the sun, but Mario seemed unchanged as he had the whole day. His hat wasn't even fazed by the wind or sun…Luigi's seemed determined to reveal his hat-hair any moment.

"Mario, don't worry about it. I just set up a visit with him a long time ago and when you boys showed up at my doorstep, I just had to take you along!"

Mario fiddled with his mustache. "We could have-a stayed at the-a castle."

"You guys need fresh air. Besides, this'll be fun! Seeing the sights! Exploring the world! An adventure." She eagerly looked into her rearview mirror, searching for a flash of excitement in Mario's eyes. She saw none. Luigi, however, tensed up significantly. Luckily for her mood, they had already reached the castle of Tzitzilow. "Aaaand…here we are!"

The yellow jeep was hardly in park when an extremely large and round goomba came waddling out of the castle, huffing and puffing with a tired look on his face. "Princess…princess Daisy…thank…thank the stars…you're here…" King Bahurspat didn't have to pretend to be winded- the run from his dormitories to her car, mixed with memorizing his lines, something he was infamously bad at, was enough to make him die of exhaustion.

Daisy frowned as she stepped out of the car, watching Mario out of the corner of her eye. "My goodness, what happened here, Bahurspat? Your door looks forced, and you look like a wreck!"

Bahurspat went pale for a moment before a flash of a grin crossed his face. He quickly replaced it with an overly distressed expression, shouting, "We were robbed, Princess Daisy! A horrible man came…and…and…"

"What did he steal?" Daisy prompted through her teeth.

"The…the gems! There are four…scattered…uh…around. You have one…right?"

Daisy reached into her purse and conveniently pulled out the blue circle. "I sure do. He stole one? How terrible! Maybe you want to tell Mario what they are?"

Bahurspat frowned at Daisy before turning to Mario. "You're Mario, right…the red M…right?" Mario nodded and all of a sudden, Bahurspat seemed quite happy to be in such a perilous situation.

"The…gems?" Daisy asked impatiently.

"Oh! Of course! The gems! There are four…and…they're scattered. If they get together…bad stuff can happen. So…you don't want a bad man…like the one who stole them, he's a bad man…you don't want him to have them…bad stuff would happen…so…yeah…don't let him have them." Bahurspat was then very upset he had no hands to wipe his sweaty face with.

Daisy tapped Luigi's foot with hers, cuing him in. "Mumma mia, Mario! This-a sounds like an adventure-a…we'd-a better hurry!"

Mario nodded, asking, "Which way did-a the burglar a-go?"

Bahurspat grinned again. Clearly, this line he hadn't forgotten. "He went that way, towards the second gem. I think Madame Clearmont has it; you'd better hurry!"

Mario nodded, ignoring Bahurspat's poor acting and ushering his friends to Daisy's jeep. "Do you-a know how to-a get there, Daisy?"

"Yeah…you sure you wanna do this, Mario? It's a pretty risky adventure…"

Mario looked hurt. "Daisy, we-a must. We can't-a let the bad guys-a win!"

"Alright then…to Madame Clearmont!" Daisy put the jeep in gear and as it sputtered to life, Bahurspat ran over Daisy's still-open door. "Did I…did I do well, Highness?"

Daisy looked into Bahurspat's eager face and grinned, hiding the truth behind her sparkling teeth. "Good enough, Bahurspat! Thanks for the help, but we have to go and you're supposed to be in distress." The goomba king nodded and began obnoxiously sniffing and fretting around in a circle.

As the trio of faux-adventurers drove off, Daisy couldn't help thanking the stars that Madame Clearmont had been an actress her entire life.

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"You'll need instruction before the ball. I know you've been to more than you can probably count, but none of them are quite as amazing as this one will be. I'd do the teaching myself, but I've got other crap to do." Bowser grimaced, more at leaving Peach than thinking of his birthday responsibilities.

Peach smiled up at Bowser's expression, reading it easily. "I'm pretty excited, I've never been to a Darklandian ball. Are they anything like normal koopa balls?"

"There's nothing like a Darklandian ball. Especially if I'm hosting it. They're the best things in the world…only the most important people ever are invited. So that's you, me, the Darklandian governors, and a bunch of yuppies. But you're there, so it won't be boring at all."

Peach was going to respond when she heard an impatient woman clearing her throat behind them. Half expecting to see Kammy when she turned around, she was very surprised to see…a hammer bro.

Bowser glared at the hammer bro, upset more at her presence than her interruption. "This is the chick that's supposed to teach you what stuff to do at the ball."

The female hammer bro gave a very forced smile and tipped her head towards the royalty. Where hammer bros usually wore their helmet, she had a short haircut of blonde hair, but the rest of her appearance was quite normal. Except that she carried a clipboard instead of a hammer. "Shall we go to your room then, Princess Peach?"

"I guess so," she spun around to say goodbye to Bowser. "So when are you going to pick me up, sir?" She grinned at Bowser and he grinned back, ready to answer in the same light tone. The hammer bro…or would she be a sis?...interrupted with a cold "I'll explain that. Say your goodbyes and let's go."

She didn't even really let Bowser and Peach say anything more than "well, bye" before pulling Peach down the halls to her room. Some how, this lady's march made Peach even more frantic to keep up than when she had ran the same path.

Once they had reached Peach's guest room, the hammer bro began talking extremely fast. She pulled a miniature model of the huge, three-floor ballroom seemingly out of thin air and put it on Peach's bed. She was pointing things out and explaining koopa courtesy faster than Peach could keep up with.

"Wait, wait, stop!" Peach's interruption clearly perturbed her helper, but she allowed Peach to continue. "Can you slow down? I can't keep up…"

"We don't have much time to spare, highness. The ball is in a few short hours and you're not ready at all." She looked Peach up and down and grimaced.

Ignoring this koopa's insults and barbed speech was a lot easier than ignoring Kammy's similar remarks, probably because the koopa reminded her so much of her interior designer back at the castle. She simply smiled and replied, "I should be able to understand what's going on, don't worry. I practically grew up in a ball room…but I have a question," she waited for the koopa to ask for her to continue but only received a scowl. "What's your name?"

She cringed at Peach's clearly impertinent question. "I don't see what that has to do with your instruction. But it's Kara, since you asked."

"And…can I ask another question?"

"You just did," Kara sneered, "but fine."

"…are you still called a hammer bro…even though you're a she?"

Kara's eyes were full of daggers. "I'm…not even answering that. Your insolence aside, let's look at the itinerary". She tore the top sheet off her clip board and thrust it at Peach, keeping one for herself. "At 5:23 sharp King Bowser will arrive at your door to escort you to the ballroom. You will both enter at 5:30 with a musical procession, then walk up the first flight of stairs to the dining balconies." She pointed out their path on the model as Peach followed along, noticing that she was thankfully skipping over details like '5:31:17- Peach waves at Orchestra' and '5:33:04- Bowser pulls out Peach's chair'.

"Next you will sit in your seats…Bowser at the head of the table on the right balcony, you on his left, and you will be served the meal. It comes in three courses for the dinner, all of which will be eaten respectfully and properly, the way King Bowser's great grandfather would have liked it." Kara smiled and was quiet for the first time since she started talking. Clearly, Bowser's great grandfather was her favorite king.

"After the dinner is cleared at 6:05, Bowser will lead you in the first dance of the evening. I suppose you know the waltz? You will be dancing to His Grace Ludwig's song he composed for the occasion. After the first movement the crowd will be allowed to join you. Ludwig's song is a concerto, so after the three movements there will be koopachord solo piece, followed by dessert at 6:45 sharp.

"Dessert marks the beginning of Bowser's… 'style'…of birthday party." Kara grimaced in disgust before painting her false smile back on and starting up again. "You will eat his dessert of choice in his manner of choice, followed by a break of music and a break-dancing competition at 7:30."

"Break-dancing?" Peach interrupted, amused.

Kara slowly blinked. "Yes. Break-dancing. You will not be competing in your dress or I will personally murder you in your sleep. After Bowser…the winner, as always… is crowned at the end of the competition, the garcons will set up the dining tables for the buffet food items to be eaten at one's leisure. At this point the ball is less…structured…and you have more lee-way to do what you and His Majesty would like to do.

"At 9:15 Ludwig's orchestra begins playing proper music again and you and Bowser will lead the room in the First Last Dance. After the dance the B Guests will be asked to leave and the C Guests will take their place. The A Guests; yourself, King Bowser, the other dignitaries, and the highest paying of guests; will remain. Ludwig's orchestra will play straight until 10 o'clock, at which point the music will contain both Bowser's…preferred style of dancing…and orchestrated music.

"At 11 o'clock the buffet food will be replaced with buffet desserts and the doors will open to allow guests to leave. The last song will be played after everyone has left but King Bowser and yourself, even if we need to forcibly remove some of them. Of course the staff will still be present, but it is customary that the guest of honor stay the full length of his party."

Kara looked at her itinerary. "There are a million finer details I would like to go over with you but…you really need to get ready. You have a lot of work to do. I'll place my notes on your bed for you to review while you prepare." She stood up to leave and gathered up the model.

She sighed before leaving, looking at Peach's face hard and long. "Don't make yourself look like an idiot. Or His Majesty. He's not the classiest of kings, but…he still deserves tonight to be as good as he wants it to be." She shook Peach's hand and left, leaving her feeling tired just from listening.

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Roy rapped on Ludwig's orchestra hall door. Even through the heavy walls, the orchestra's music was extremely overpowering. He kept trying to knock but finally realized that if it was impossible for him to hear his own knock, no one on the other side of the door would ever hear him.

He slammed the door open, furious that he was still unnoticed. He marched towards Ludwig, dramatically conducting as his blue hair danced on top of his head. The musicians looked straight through Roy towards their conductor's hands, following with eager haste the movements and commands he gave them.

Roy was just a foot away from Ludwig, but he was still ignored. Roy saw Ludwig's eyes glazed over in the manner he had tried to describe as "seeing the music". For a fleeting moment, Roy felt guilty for interrupting an obviously fantastic rehearsal. The feeling went away as he remembered that it was just noise…no lyrics or anything…and Ludwig was being a cruddy partner. He raised his claw and dramatically knocked Ludwig's pile of music sheets to the ground.

Ludwig squeaked, finally broken out of his trance as it snowed music. He began to flail trying to get music, some of his orchestra ceasing, some watching curiously while playing away, others too absorbed in their music. Ludwig growled, ignoring his brother as he stood up and dramatically cut his orchestra off.

"I pray you Excuse me while I inquire of what this imbecile was thinking when he had the bravado to complete such a noisome act of effrontery."

Roy grinned, glad to have the attention back at him. He stared hard at Ludwig's searing hot face, and kept his grin intact. "Ya know, bro, you've been a real tail lately. Not da best partner, f'you know what I mean."

Ludwig raised his eyebrows. "I've been the tail? Dear brother, have you glimpsed the state of my music? A complete wreck! You are the one who needs to propitiate yourself towards me. Your behavior is simply egregious. What on earth would propel you to be such a… jerk?"

Roy put his hands over his heart and tilted his head. "Ah, Loody! Ju used a word I understand tah insult me. I'm touched. But seriously. Ya need to bump it up wif da whole match-making ting."

Ludwig's shoulders fell. "That's what this jejune act was about? Eugh, Roy. I don't have time for such trivial affairs. If you haven't noticed, I have an orchestra to lead. But, thanks to your cordial acts of brotherly love, I apparently won't be continuing that for awhile." He waved a claw towards his orchestra as he continued, speaking both to them and Roy. "You all are dismissed from practice until we meet for the dinner at 4 hours, 30 minutes of the clock this evening. Remember your dress wear and to congregate just outside the orchestra door. Be punctual."

Roy watched Ludwig work on the floor of the orchestra room. "So…watcha gonna do to make our deal good?"

"I'm not going to do anything, Roy! I'm incredibly preoccupied with this musical performance. Maybe after all this business has met its end. Then, perhaps, when the rest of the collaborative efforts have given up, we can show them a complete bouleversement. Does that sound appeasing enough for your ears?"

"Er…if boulevard whatevah is a good ting…then shoi. I kin go for a waiting."

"Good. Now, I believe you know the way to the door."

Roy leaned onto Ludwig's music stand, looking at his claws. "I dunno, doffing your music was pritty dang fun. I tink I should get going on yo other stocks too…"

Ludwig balled his claw into his pianist fist and brought it down like a thwomp onto Roy's footclaw. He watched him with just the smallest hint of a smile as he hopped out of the room on his good foot, howling and holding his foot. Ludwig called after him, "Rejoice that I have the patience to suppress my flame, dear brother. You have no hair to keep your head from burning as I."

Roy threw his claw into the air in indifference, but the nonchalance façade was ruined. He was still hopping away, hooting in pain.

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Peach looked over the itinerary again. She was beginning to feel worried…this ball was a big deal, and she most certainly hadn't packed for anything like it. Her most formal dresses were at her home, as her vacation had been meant to be relaxing.

As if eager to answer her unspoken wish, a fist knocked on the door. Peach rushed to open it and found a young, female koopa troopa. The koopa troopa grinned and thrust out her hand to meet Peach's. "An honor to finally meet you, milady! An honor! To think, after all these years of only hearing of your beauty and brilliance, I get to see it first hand! What a surreal honor."

Peach watched, a little dazed, as the koopa troopa danced into the room, blathering on about how happy she was to meet Peach. "Uh," Peach began, "I'm sorry, but I don't even know who you are."

The koopa spun around, her wide eyes growing wider. "Well, of course you don't! Why would someone as magnificently regal as you spend time learning the names of trivial koopa handmaidens like myself? I would be even more shocked if you knew my name than I am already, for being in your room, in your very presence! Why, His Majesty tells us so much about you, and I was always honored to be in both His and Your service, but to really meet you, for the first time (and I do hope not the last time), it is just a-"

"I'm really sorry," Peach interrupted again, but the koopa didn't seem to mind. She snapped shut and stared, wide-eyed and enthralled. Though a bit thrown off guard, Peach continued, "bu...but I'm terribly busy with preparations for the ball. Would you mind telling me what you're doing here?"

The koopa grinned. "The ball! That's exactly what I'm here for! I've been working for years on creating beautiful ballgowns for all those souls who employ my service, as well as countless dresses for Princess Wendy (though she rarely uses them) and in my spare time I've made one for you, milady! His Stupendousness always told us, his humble servants, of your beauty, grace, and superiority. But to see it first hand is really something extraordinary! I never believed I-"

Even in the short time they had known each other, Peach had realized this chatty koopa wouldn't stay on track if you paid her. Interrupting, this time without excusing herself, Peach said, "So you have a dress? For the ball tonight? For me?"

The koopa's face lit up enough to blow a fuse. "Oh, you bet I do! I've spent all my time on this dress, and I only dreamed of a chance to show it to you. This ball came along and I figured 'perhaps milady Peach has nothing to wear! Perhaps I can meet her and give her a token of my admiration, even if such token is only an ounce of the honor I will have for meeting her and representing the whole of King Bowser's servants'! And here you are! And here I am! And you're asking about my dress, and I have it here, and oh, it's all so dreamlike. Such an opportunity, none of the other girls will believe it, that my silly little hobby paid off in such a life-changing way; for it truly does change one's life to meet their idol and the most high Princess Pe-"

"Can I see the dress?" Even if it was hideous, Peach owed it to the koopa to see what she made. And if it was any better than what she was wearing right then, it would be far worth it.

The koopa sprang out of the room, shockingly without a word, and came springing back with a sheathed dress-hanger, flying behind her like a banner. She slowly pulled the sheath off the dress, picking and prodding at the pink masterpiece with silent adoration.

Peach stared at the dress in awe. It was everything she could have dreamed of, made right here in Bowser's palace, without her even knowing! "You made this?"

The koopa grinned. "I did! I designed the entire thing, too. I based it off of your favorite dress style, obviously, giving it an extra petticoat, exposed with elegant ribbons, as well as a shrug in place of your classic sleeves to make it more elegant. See how the shrug is held in place with a sapphire, just like your own? That was my idea…"

The koopa designer seemed to be ready to ramble on about her train of thought in designing the dress, so Peach ignored her as she explored it herself. The dress was just as the designer had explained- just like her own dress, but far more elegant. Many of the additional layers of fabric seemed to be shining- indeed, they had silver and gold sewn right into them. Even her silk gloves were a new kind of pale pink, with shimmering thread and diamond accents. The dress seemed to shine, but wasn't obtrusive either. It was simply gorgeous, and Peach couldn't have imagined it to be any better suited to what she wanted for Bowser's ball.

"Can I try it on?" Peach's mind was flooding with happiness for answered prayers, and interpreted the koopa's squeal of delight and blathering so high-pitched it was unintelligible as a yes. She and the dress disappeared into the closet

Minutes later, Peach was done putting on the dress. She gave the gloves one final tug and looked at herself in the mirror. Perfect. But what was most surprising about the dress was its shocking comfort. She had imagined, what with all the precious metal sewn into the fabric, it would itch like none other. And yet, it seemed that not only was the dress itself made of lightweight fabric, but so was an almost intangible inner-layer. This dressmaker was a genius. No other word for it.

She spun around, feeling more like a princess than she had in months, even without her crown. There were no more worries about her appearance at the ball; she truly felt worthy to be His Majesty's date to his birthday ball. Peach held her shimmering stomach lightly and twisted from side-to-side, imagining dancing in the room modeled by Kara.

Peach giggled, realizing she was just like a teenager, going on her first date with a crush. What a silly thing to compare myself to! And yet, as she looked up at the clock and saw there were only two hours and forty-two minutes until he showed up to escort her away, she felt her stomach flip over. This can't possibly be like going on a first date. I was nowhere near this excited with my first date- ever! I must simply be excited to see…the ball. It'll be fantastic!

Grinning at her own expression, Peach was far too ecstatic to worry about where her heart was taking her, and pranced out into her room to meet the chattery koopa designer. Hopefully she was as much a cosmetic and hair fairy godmother as she was with fabrics.

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Bowser stared out a stained-glass window, imagining spending his famous Birthday Ball with Peach…his precious princess…he didn't even think about the papers he was signing. But it didn't matter- he trusted Kamek and his team of Empirical Contract Overseers, and almost all of these notes were just impersonal Thank You's for his many gifts.

Another koopa in the corner was reading off an extensive list of the gifts received up till that moment, but to Bowser his voice sounded too distant to even bother listening to. The much louder memories and daydreams of Peach were much more pleasant anyway.

He pushed a paper aside and searched for the line for his signature. It was just where it was on every other sheet; squished between the Thank You letter and the list of Bowser's titles, almost as long. "Fine, Bowser. I'll call you 'your-ultimate-mightiness-lord-of-all-who-is-in-no-way-silly'. How about that? Regal enough?" he remembered. Bowser grinned, just like he had that bright day of Pickleball. "Yeah, sounds good."

Bowser remembered the promise Peach made to finish their lesson later…he chuckled. I'll have to make sure she doesn't forget. That court we're building for her should be good incentive for a return…besides the chance to be with me, of course. Maybe I should surprise her with it on Friday…but maybe-

"Um, sire?"

Rudely awoken from his day dreams, Bowser turned his head to snarl at his interrupter. "What is it, freak?"

"You're…you're signing your name as 'Queen Peach Koopa', your wickedness."

Bowser looked down at the papers and chuckled under his breath. He knocked the pile, both of finished correctly, incorrectly, and unfinished notes off the table. "Who cares, anyway? This crap is stupid. I don't even know what in Darklands I'm thanking those idiots for."

The koopa in the corner reading off the list of gifts began to mutter under his breath. Bowser's piercing glare caught him first. He turned to the dark magikoopa standing afar off. "You!"

"Me, sir?" The magikoopa was fairly high up in the ranks- high enough to be allowed to choose her own strange wardrobe.

"Yes, you. If Freak-face over here decides it's worth the time, copy them signatures onto those other sheets of paper. My palace is crawling with magic freaks and I have a ball to go to with Peach. There's no reason I should be doing stupid carpal-tunnel work on my birthday. It's just stupid."

The koopa nearby quavered, "But sire…hand-signing notes of gratitude is a tradition…"

Bowser stared down the quaking koopa. "And when it started, were there however many freaking hundred things to sign? On one of the busiest days of the year? When the king in question had the most important guest there is to entertain?"

"Well…probably not, your excellence…"

"Then shut up, Freak-face. And you, magicker who needs a make-over, get working." The koopas in the room looked at one another. As Bowser began storming out of the room, the squeaky koopa stopped him. "Sire, sire, may I ask where you're going? In…in case someone asks?"

Bowser spun around. "It's my palace. I'm allowed to go wherever the bottomless pits I want." He started storming off again, trying to refocus his attention on his pleasant princess. As his thoughts softened, he instantly felt guilty for leaving the koopas so confused. He stopped and sighed, shouting, "but I'll be in my room. Getting ready for the ball thing. Or something like that," before leaving again.

As he left, he could just hear the lady magikoopa ask, "So…I'm copying these signiatures?"

"No, Kamella. Don't copy the ones that say Queen. Copy the…"

Bowser closed his eyes, but as he shook his head in disdain, his lips formed a smile. He batted a balloon of his face that was about three-times larger out of the way and kept going. On his way to his room, he passed an open doorway, construction noise rattling the hallway. Bowser peeked his head in and looked over an elegant courtyard-style room, the outer wall knocked out and the dimmed sunlight pouring over the fake grass and stone seats workers were meticulously installing.

Bowser grinned as he looked at the progress of the spontaneous progress. A stately looking Monty Mole waved at the king and lumbered over. "Happy Birthday to you, sir."

Bowser grunted in reply. His eyebrows scrunched together as he stared at a rather large green shape painted onto the field. "What is that supposed to be? If you want green grass, water it; don't paint some freaky cucumber thing across it."

"Er, it's a pickle, Bowser. Y'know, for-"

"Make it a mushroom," Bowser grunted. "No stupid pickles. I want a mushroom."

The Monty mole raised his heavy eyebrows. "A mushroom, Bowser? You sure?"

Bowser half-smiled, his eyes far away. "Yeah. Make it…pink…with white polka-dots."

The Monty mole's mouth spread into a smile even wider than Bowser's. "Well now, why didn't I think of that. We'll have the room done ASAP, Kingy."

Bowser nodded, looking away from the mole, but turned his eyes back to him to say, "I've never liked that name, y'know."

"Well, I've never liked working unpaid on national holidays either. Guess we're even."

"You're lucky I like you," Bowser joked, "or I might think of other presents I need finished before Peach leaves."

"I thought your birthday was when everyone else worshiped you."

Bowser grinned as he replied, "Exactly. Got to get that one more name on my list of admirers, now don't I?"

"Oh, and your undying love is just a side-note, eh? Your lust to do whatever her whim is for a simple smile is just an asterisk note?"

Bowser laughed, shaking his head as he turned to leave. "I'd throw you in the dungeons now for that kind of razz, but then this dang room would never be done."

The monty mole chuckled. "Have a nice birthday, Bowser."

Author's Note: Well, I thought it was fun. Don't know if you did. :P

Next chapter certainly is! It's the start of the ball:D I can promise it's more than a chapter long, even without sidestories, so...yay ball. C: It's actually kind of scary to write becasuse it's the scene I play in my head the most... I've gotten cushy used to thinking and writing as I go. This is stressful for me. XD

Thank you all for continued support. :) I'm so happy I've gotten this far with no one getting tired of it yet! (or at least admitted it) Have a safe and happy remainder of your holidays.

-Razzi