The next morning's routine was essentially the same as the previous evening's. Peach hid in the Hazy Maze Cave while Marcus went off to camp, taking the book with him. When the coast was clear and the kids (and tiger) were all gathered in the camp's closet, Peach hopped out of the book with no harm done.

Most of that day was filled with songs, snacks, and games. Peach and the kids (and tiger) were really starting to get along, and even Jason, Marcus, and Calvin had to admit that she wasn't the most awful person to be around.

"You're okay, Princess," said Calvin, as he ate a cookie.

"Do you think you might try spending time with other girls?" Peach asked playfully.

"Heck no!" chorused Jason, Marcus, and Calvin.

"You're an exception," said Jason, "but we're not about to change our entire life's view just because a video game girl ended up being decent."

"Besides," said Marcus, "most girls here are kind of insane."

"Along with everyone else," Double D pointed out.

"Forget them," said Eddy, motioning to Jason, Marcus, and Calvin. "Princess, I think you're hot stuff!"

"You flow through me like lava!" agreed Ed. "It hurts, but I LIKE IT!"

"I think we need to have a little talk with Ed," Double D whispered to Eddy.

"I hate to rain on our moderate parade," said Hobbes, "but I think it's time to go to the pool. The princess should probably stay here."

"Awwww..." chorused everyone else.

"Don't worry," said Peach, "you won't be gone long, right? I'll be here when you get back with some Kool-Aid!"

Smiling at Peach, the kids (and tiger) marched out of the closet and after the other kids, who were already leaving.

Calvin, Hobbes, Ed, Double D, Eddy, Jason, and Marcus: And so, and so

It's to the pool we go

And so, and so, and so

And so, and so

It's to the pool we go...

Peach smiled as their voices faded. These kids (and tiger) really weren't that bad. Her condition could be a lot worse. If only she could get Mario to listen to her, though...

Outside the closet, the few Mario books sat on a shelf with a couple other activity books. Suddenly, one of them sprang open. Out from the portal peeked the heads of Bowser and Kamek.

"Did you remember the apple?" Kamek hissed.

"Of course I remembered the apple!" Bowser hissed back. "It's not like I was going to forget it again! All I gotta do is trick her into eating it and..."

"I just remembered!" gulped Kamek. "You need a disguise! She's too smart to take anything you offer her otherwise!"

"Good point," muttered Bowser. "I can be quite the master of disguise when I wanna be. You should have seen my 'Professor Kooparity' costume! But the only thing I have right now is this is old cloak."

Bowser pulled the cloak from out of his shell and wrapped it around himself.

"That won't work," moaned Kamek. "The last plan failed because you were too hasty. Let's hurry back to the castle and..."

"This ends now!" growled Bowser, shoving Kamek down into the book. "Besides, it's not the clothes that make the Koopa! My acting alone will trick her!"

Climbing out of the book, the cloaked Koopa approached Peach's closet hideout with a sick sneer on his snout.

...

Back in the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach's three head mushrooms, Toad, Toadsworth, and Wooster, were heading out to a warp pipe that would lead to the "real world."

"I told you," complained Toad, "I don't wanna go back there!"

"You're the youngest, nimblest and most experienced with these matters," explained Toadsworth. "We just need you to check on the princess to make sure she's well-attended to. Last night, one of our patrolmen said he saw Bowser piloting the Doomship with a gleeful look about him. That's too suspicious for my tastes."

"Fine," grumbled Toad. "But I'm taking a Cape Feather just in case I run into trouble out there!"

With a grimace at his two friends, Toad hopped into a pipe and warped into the "real world."

...

Meanwhile, in said "real world," Bowser was knocking on the closet door. "Are there any lonely princesses in there?" he asked, attempting to sound sweet.

Peach instantly recognized his gravely voice and stayed silent.

"Don't be afraid," cooed Bowser. "I'm just an innocent old, green lady, selling some lovely apples. Don't you want one? I'm so poor and sad..."

Apples? He had apples? Peach's mind raced. This setup was just like in the old fairy tales! Was Bowser really trying the old "poison apple" bit? The one that everyone knew? The one that was so obvious that no one would even try it?

Peach decided to humor Bowser to see what he was up to. "Is it a poison apple?" she called through the door.

"A poison apple?" Bowser chuckled nervously. "Why, that's such an old cliché! Why would anyone use something so old and boring like that? Everyone knows the old stories about poison apples, so no one would be stupid enough to actually try the idea out! It would be too obvious."

"You sound like you really know what you're talking about," Peach said slyly.

Bowser gulped, worrying that Peach was catching on. "Uh, I do know what I'm talking about. But only the apple part. Not the poison. Nope, that's just speculation. Now why not OPEN UP and take the apple?"

At this moment, Toad popped out of one of the books and gasped. Bowser was there, and it sounded like he had Peach trapped in the closet! Without a word, the little mushroom dashed into the hall to hide.

"I gotta get help!" Toad whispered to himself. Running outside, he took a nibble of the Cape Feather (or he did whatever you do when you want to power up, I don't know) and suddenly had a magic cape. With a running jump, Toad glided over the campus, looking for the boys (and tiger) who could help.

He managed to glance a line of kids, walking towards the pool building. He could even hear them singing!

And so, and so

It's to the pool we go...

With a cry of delight, Toad swooped down...right into a tree.

...

"Please can I come in?" Bowser whined.

Peach rolled her eyes. She was curious as to what Bowser had up his nonexistent sleeve, so she opened the door.

"YES!" shouted Bowser. "I'M IN! PHASE ONE OF MY PLAN IS COMPLETE!" He paused and glanced at Peach, who was staring at him in surprise. "Uh...I always say that when I enter a room," he said quickly.

...

The six boys (and tiger) were still singing their marching song when Kevin slammed the door to the pool building in their faces.

"Hey," yelled Calvin, banging on the door, "let us in! We promise we'll only sing the chorus five more times!"

In response to this, the kids inside the building piled a huge stack of chairs and desks in front of the door.

"Four more times?" Calvin asked weakly.

"Try holding out for three!" Ed suggested happily. "Going once, going twice, sold to the short mushroom!"

Everyone turned around, realizing that Ed was pointing to a dazed, but anxious Toad who was stumbling towards them.

"I need your help!" blurted Toad. "All of you! Even you," he said, pointing to Eddy, "the guy who practically tried to kill me!"

"I what?" cried Eddy.

"He conveniently lost his memory of those events," Double D quickly informed Toad. "Lazy plot devices aside, what brings you here?"

"THE PRINCESS IS IN TROUBLE!" Toad screamed.

...

"...so you're saying that this is a magic wishing apple?" Peach asked Bowser, holding the ripe, red apple in her hand.

"Yes."

"And you expect me to believe that?"

"Yes."

"And it's poison?"

"Yes. I mean no."

Peach narrowed her eyes at the desperate Koopa who stood before her. She almost felt bad for the guy. Almost.

...

"We shouldn't have left her alone," moaned Hobbes.

"I know she wants to be able to hold her own," said Marcus, "but we still have to protect her! It's our job!"

"We need to get back NOW!" yelled Calvin. "Let's take the Gator!"

The Gator was a particular jeep that the counselors drove around camp to make sure everyone was behaving. At the moment, it happened to be parked, unattended, next to the kids.

"Are you really saying that we should steal it?" gasped Double D.

"We've stolen it tons of times," groaned Eddy. "We even stole it two days ago! One more time won't hurt!"

"Besides," said Jason, "it's for royalty."

The kids (and tiger and mushroom) piled into the jeep and sped off towards the rec center where Peach was.

"You know," said Eddy, eyeing Toad, "you'd make a good mascot for my mushroom omelettes..."

"We're not starting that again!" Toad shot back angrily.

...

"The apple tastes wonderful," urged Bowser. "Please make a huge old lady happy. Just take a bite. One bite. Just one."

"Just one bite?" Peach asked suspiciously.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Bowser cried gleefully.

Peach looked at the apple again. It was obviously poison. And since these reflected the tale of Snow White so much, the poison was probably the special sleeping kind. What if she didn't take a bite, exactly? The worst case scenario would be that she would fall asleep. Perhaps she could take a risk...

Peach licked the apple and collapsed.

"Wow!" cried Bowser. "That poison was stronger than I thought it was! She didn't even need to bite it!"

At that moment, the kids (and tiger and mushroom) burst into the room.

"Hands off the princess!" shouted Toad.

"You're too late!" roared Bowser. "Now I'm the most powerful one of all! ...in the Mushroom Kingdom region, at least. He who koops and runs away lives to koop another day!"

With a cackle, Bowser opened a Mario book and hopped through the portal back into the world of video games.

"This is just like in that old cartoon," moaned Jason.

"Oh yeah?" growled Toad. "Well, I'm gonna do something that we never did in that awful show. I'm goin' after him!"

The kids (and tiger and mushroom) leapt into the book after Bowser.

A second later, Peach poked her head out. "Wait, guys! I was faking! I was going to take Bowser by surprise when he...aww, wait for me!"

With a sigh of frustration, Peach leapt in as well.

In case anyone is wondering what the heck was up with that thing with Eddy and Toad, it's a reference to a previous story, "Fame, Fortune, and a Dancing Mushroom," a Muppet Movie parody, where Eddy tried to make Toad advertise his mushroom omelets. In the end, I was kind of reviled at what I had made Eddy, so I took the easy way out and gave him some short-term memory loss of the story's events.

Also, I realized that I've been calling this story "Peach and the Seven Kids (and Tiger)" when there are only SIX kids! I'm changing that, of course.

Big climax next chapter!

That's what she said.

Sorry.