Alright, it's the moment we've all been waiting for! The day Peach and "Bowser" share a dance with each other. It's time for… *dramatic timpani* …the ball!

Peach was in her dressing room, putting on a black dress with spaghetti-straps, long with a nice pair of aquamarine earrings, high-heeled shoes, and a diamond-encrusted bracelet.

"I sure hope Richter will be impressed." She said to herself as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

(XXXX)

Bowser was in his room of the castle, replacing the black T-shirt he was wearing with a button-up shirt of the same color, along with a white vintage British-style cravat. He simply decided to continue wearing the same pants and jacket.

"Ooh, lookin' good!" he said to his reflection as he made some fine adjustments to the shirt, "Hopefully, the Princess doesn't think my only set of clothes are too…standard."

(XXXX)

Peach met up with Bowser at the entrance to the ballroom. Both stopped and admired each other.

"Wow," Bowser said, "I never knew you would look that good in black! Heh, I hope that I'm not…underdressed."

Peach smiled, "Actually, that new shirt makes your entire suit look different." She said.

Bowser laughed, "Well then, m'lady…shall we waltz?" he said, motioning his arm at the door.

Peach nodded, "Yes. Let's." she said, happily.

They generally had a good time at the ball. No matter whether it was fast or slow songs, the two danced together with many two-person dances that were generally compatible with the rhythm.

"Wow, you're a good dancer, Richter!" Peach said, "Where'd you learn?"

Bowser shrugged his shoulder, "…Never took any lessons. Guess it just comes natural to me." He said, chuckling. It was true that Bowser never danced a lot, since he never took the time to stop focusing on conquering the Mushroom Kingdom; once, he decided to skip the ball following his mother and father's coronation as High King and Queen of the Dark Lands and just decided to see a movie with a few of his friends, since none of them had dates.

"I'll be taking this dance, thank you!" a girl said, forcing herself between Bowser and Peach.

"Oh, Carmilla…" Bowser said, dully.

Carmilla narrowed her eyes and smiled, "Hey, don't be like that! Let's have some fun!"

Bowser pushed her away, "Sorry, but I was dance with Peach—" he stopped as he noticed his voice drop and his lower face suddenly push out. It promptly returned to normal once Carmilla looked at him again, after trying to pull him over to another area.

"What was with your voice? It sounded deeper just now…" Carmilla said.

Bowser swallowed. Out of the lowest edge of his vision, he saw red light emanating from a spot on his chest, from what he assumed was the triangular mark. Carmilla couldn't see it because of the black shirt and cravat. A strange sensation spread through Bowser's entire body.

"O-oh, well, I will have a dance…but, I just need to do something real quick…" he tried to keep a casual expression while he pulled his hand out of Carmilla's grasp, which he could see and feel, had it claws start to grow back. He realized he was changing back into a Koopa, and he could not be seen in his real form here. Not ever.

"What do you have to do?" Carmilla asked.

"Um…" Bowser was in a frenzy of panic due to his involuntary transformation, "…I have to…polish my sandals!" and with that, he rushed off, leaving Carmilla completely confused.

As he ran, Bowser tried to cover his head with his hands as he felt his horns slowly start to grow back, and his hair slowly retract back into his head (with the exception of his mane-spot). A weight growing on his back and his shirt getting tight was signaling to him that his shell was coming back. Several toads stared at him curiously as he ran, as they wondered why he was in such a rush.

Eventually, Bowser made it to a closet and locked himself inside. He rushed to get the shirt, jacket, pants, and shoes off before he ripped through them. Completely naked, Bowser waited for the final stages of his changes to subside, the triangular mark on his chest glowing the whole time, before he saw in a narrow mirror above the sanitation sink that he was now his original Koopa self. Wondering what to do next, he pulled out his Koopa-Kom and tried to contact Kammy.

"Yes, your Urgentness?" Kammy said when she appeared on screen.

"Kammy, I changed back to my own self! And I don't know how to become a human again!" Bowser said.

"Hmmm…" Kammy rubbed her chin, "…as I thought, you may have run out of magic, which will take time to build back up again."

Bowser bit his claws in worry, "How long!?" he demanded.

"If my calculations are correct…" she examined the stone that Bowser used to change himself, as well as write something in a notepad, "…it will take fifteen minutes for you to gain enough power to remain a human for at least eight hours."

"WHAT!?" Bowser shouted, "Fifteen minutes!? I can't keep the Princess waiting for me that long!"

"Calm down, your Hastiness!" Kammy said, "If you do the math, you'll notice that a minute of waiting it good for a half-hour."

"So, wait, if the ball is three hours, and I need another for saying goodnight to the Princess, that makes…" Bowser stopped and thought. To Kammy, it looked like he was straining to think.

Finally, Kammy gave him the answer: "…Eight minutes." She said, "Unless you can create another excuse to disappear briefly."

Bowser sighed, "Alright, I'll do four minutes right now, and a little later, I'll tell the Princess I have to do something else, change back, wait a little bit, change again, and come back."

"Sounds good to me!" Kammy said.

"Yeah," Bowser said, "I'm glad you told me. I was extremely worried for a moment!"

"Very well," Kammy said, "I shall bid you farewell."

Bowser shut off his Koopa-Kom, and change back into a human again. As he was about to head out the door, he stepped on his jacket and suddenly remembered what he was supposed to do.

"Whoops," Bowser said to himself, "forgot…no clothes."

He quickly put his attire back on, and made any adjustments he could while hastily making it back to the ballroom. Now that he knows what to do, hopefully all could go well from here on out.

"Hey, Ricky!" Carmilla said, who happened to be standing behind the door as Bowser walked in.

"Ngh, what do you want?" Bowser asked, annoyed.

Carmilla laughed, "Have you forgotten? You promised me a dance!" she said, holding out her hand, which Bowser brushed away.

"Sorry, but I'd rather dance with Peach." He said, trying to get away.

"What!?" Carmilla said, shocked, "But why? You promised!"

"Because…" Bowser sighed. He couldn't hold it back any longer. He had to be completely honest, "…because I don't like you! Can you get that through your rock-hard skull?"

Carmilla's face fell, "Wh…wh…WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" she shrieked.

People all around looked over to see what was going on. The music stopped as well.

Uh-oh, Bowser thought, I've just completely messed up this night for everyone.

Bad place to stop, huh? Anyways, I just put down what I think people would say on a date, because I have never been on one. One thing I want to make clear: I am writing down fics like this in order to sedate myself from going insane due to a lack of a significant other. If what I write down is not how a first date would normally go, please let me know. Anyways, I will be back soon with more light to shed on this whole thing. Keep holding on…