Author's Note: Hey, an author's note at the begining. That's new. Anyway, I thought that, after seeing what some of the reviews said for the last chapter, I should clear something up: The Comedy Warehouse doesn't focus on making fun of the audiance, like I kinda accidentally made it look like in the previous chapter. In fact, my family was actually used for one of the songs, and it was hilarious! The reason everyone was so embarassed/angry afterwards in the fic was because Waluigi, being the jerk that he is, gave all that negative information to the comedians so they really had nothing else to work with, hense a somewhat insulting song. Obviously, if you or a family member winds up with the phone, I'm sure you'd give the comedians much more positive stuff to work with! In other words, don't let Waluigi's antics discourage you from checking out the Comedy Warehouse! That place is comedy gold!

Luigi let out a long, sad groan as the alarm clock rang the next morning. Granted, it was better than having Mario use that confounded air horn, but that wasn't the true reason he was sad; it was the last full day of the trip. Tomorrow morning, they were going home.

There was a very somber mood in the room as the Mario Bros. got ready for the day. Mario was already dressed and eating breakfast out on the balcony, looking at the castle from across the Seven Seas Lagoon. Soon, Luigi joined him, sitting in a chair on the other side of the balcony.

"So… Today's really our last day, huh?" Luigi asked.

"Yep," Mario replied.

"Got anything special planed?"

"Hmm… Not really. Tonight, we're all gonna go see Fantasmic! and then go eat at Victoria & Albert's."

"Oh yeah, that fancy place… I hope Wario and Waluigi actually behave for once in there."

"I don't think Peach is taking that chance. I think I saw her calling the babysitting service last night."

The brothers shared a laugh for a moment before continuing.

"So, anyway… Why are we eating at Victoria & Albert's, again?" Luigi began.

"Don't you remember why we went on this trip to begin with?" Mario answered, "Today's Peach's birthday!"

"It is!?" Luigi gasped, suddenly turning pale, "Momma mia, I forgot to buy a present!"

"Don't worry, bro," Mario assured, "we can give her something together; you can just share… my… gift…"

It was Mario's turn to go pale.

"Aw, shroom! I forgot to get her something, too!"

The two brothers looked at each other.

"Uh…" Luigi muttered, "I guess we do have something special to do today, eh, bro?"

"Quiet…"

As the two brothers entered the lobby, they quickly ran into the princesses. However, while Daisy still had her hair braided, Peach's hair was once again hanging down… albeit very curly.

"Don't tell me…" Mario began, "Daisy let you undo all the braiding."

"Yeah…" Peach replied, blowing a strand of curly hair out of her face, "It took me all night long, but I did it. I wasn't aware that the hair would've retained the shape so well, though. At least it doesn't look all that bad, right?"

"You look like Shirley Temple," Luigi commented.

Just then, Wario and Waluigi came marching into the lobby. Upon seeing Peach, Wario instantly covered his mouth, gasped loudly, and pointed at her hair.

"Oh my gosh!" Wario shouted, "Peach! There's a wild animal on your head!"

Peach immediately pulled out her frying pan and swung at the greedy antihero, but he quickly dodged out of the way.

"Nice try!" Wario taunted, "But you're doin' that so dang much, I've figured out how to avoid it! You can't--- OW!!!"

Wario clutched at his sore noggin and turned around to see Daisy standing there, holding a tennis racket.

"A-Wha!?..." Wario sputtered, "You too!?"

"Yep," Daisy replied, "so don't go around insulting my friend!"

Wario grumbled a bit about 'losers' before waddling off to go do his own thing.

"So, today's our last day here," Peach began, her voice with a tinge of sadness, "the evening's pretty booked up, but we've got the morning to do something. What do you guys think?"

Mario quickly glanced at Luigi. Even though they didn't trade any words, they knew they were both thinking the same thing.

"How about the Marketplace?" Mario suggested, "You can get a few souvenirs there, and Luigi and I need to… pick up a few things."

"Sounds good to me," Daisy agreed, "I'm not a big shopping gal, but I think I can make an exception for Disney."

"Bah! You're not foolin' us!" Wario shouted from a short distance away, "I'm not buyin' nothin'!"

"Hey, Wario! Does that mean you will buy something?" Waluigi retorted, "You did the double negatives thing you were yelling at me for last night!"

"What? No I didn't!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"That's it! GAH!!!"

The Wario Bros. suddenly went at it right there in the lobby, beating each other up in a huge 'fight cloud'.

"Uh… They aren't gonna be with us in Victoria and Albert's, right?" Mario asked Peach.

"Don't worry," Peach assured, "I ordered them a few pay-per-view movies for their hotel room. If Pulp Fiction doesn't keep them engrossed, I don't know what will."

"Smart woman," Mario complimented, "so… You wanna go shopping?"

The Marketplace, the last of the three sections of Downtown Disney, certainly lived up to its name. The entire property was covered with huge stores that, while they sold many different things, they all had the Disney brand name. There was a sports equipment/apparel store, a toy store, a pet merchandise store, a fine art store, even a store entirely devoted to Christmas decorations!

However, the first place the group visited was the 'World of Disney' store. This huge building wasn't classified by what it sold; quite simply, it sold anything that had to do with Disney. If it wasn't there, it probably didn't exist.

Once Mario and the gang entered, the Mario Bros. quickly pulled themselves away from the rest of the group. Their first priority was to each find a present for Peach or, at the very least, find something they could give her together.

"You have any ideas, Luigi?" Mario asked, browsing through a bin full of Disney plushies.

"Not a clue…" Luigi sighed, putting away a Tinker Bell t-shirt "What on earth are you supposed to get for a princess, anyway? She could buy this entire store for herself if she wanted to!"

"You want my advice?" the red-capped plumber began, "It's pointless to just look for things based only on their material value. You should get something because of what it means to both you and Peach. Is there any personal thing you two share?"

"Uh… We both don't like ghosts?..." he meekly suggested, "Should I get her a Haunted Mansion playset or something?"

Mario let out a low groan.

"Luigi, just look for a gift from the heart, that's all I'm saying."

"Oh, right… Gotcha… I think…"

Luigi walked off, leaving Mario standing there next to the stuffed animals.

"Now if only I could listen to my own advice…" he mumbled as he shifted through all the dolls again.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the store, Wario and Waluigi were getting into their own special antics. The World of Disney was divided into several rooms, each with a different theme. The Wario Bros. were currently in the 'Adventure Room', which was decked out in all sorts of pirate memorabilia. Naturally enough, they weren't concerning themselves with getting a gift for Peach; they were busy attending to more… important matters.

"Hey! Waluigi! Help me out here!" Wario demanded, trying to find his lanky partner in the crowd, "I'm doing one of those 'buy a cup for $2.50 and fill it up with as many jewels as you can' deals and I need help cramming as much stuff in here as humanely possible!"

It took him a few minutes of searching before he found Waluigi looking over a collection of Stitch plushies.

"Aw… He's so cute…" Waluigi was muttering, hugging one of the Stitch dolls.

"Waluigi, what in the stars' names are you doing!?" Wario shouted.

"I… Um… Er…" the purple-clad plumber sputtered, quickly hiding the stuffed animal behind his back, "Nothing. Go away."

"Are you cuddling with one of those stupid stuffed animals?"

"Uh… No. Go away."

"Waluigi, you do realize that you're so skinny that I can see the doll you're trying to hide behind your back, right?"

"Erm… No?"

Wario promptly whacked Waluigi upside the head and snatched the Stitch plushie out of his hands.

"You idiot! What are you doing playing with a Stitch toy anyway!? He's the little merchandise hog that killed that awesome Alien ride!"

"What? I think you'd relate to him!" Waluigi retorted, "You're both rude, nasty, and spit at people!"

"Since when have I ever spit at someone!?... Besides that one time… And the other… And… Uh…"

Realizing that he couldn't exactly defend himself, Wario simply looked back down at the Stitch plushie. Noticing a string on the back, he gave it a pull.

"'Ohana' means 'family'," the doll spoke, "nobody gets left behind or forgotten."

Wario just glared at the stuffed animal for a few more moments before turning back to Waluigi.

"For the record, I'd shoot myself in the face before saying anything remotely resembling that," Wario deadpanned.

Shoving 'Stitch' back into Waluigi's arms, Wario stormed off, leaving the purple plumber by himself.

"Grr…" Waluigi growled, "I'll show you!… Right after I go purchase this toy."

"Daisy, you're absolutely crazy."

"What? I think they look pretty darn cool."

"Trust me, they don't."

"That's just your opinion, Peach."

"Daisy, look, there are a bunch of others here, why do you want those?"

"Because they're awesome!"

"But… They're Stitch."

"So? What's wrong with Stitch?"

Peach let out a long, frustrated sigh. Apparently, it wasn't just Wario and Waluigi who were having issues over something concerning Stitch. She and Daisy were in, appropriately enough, the 'Princess' room in the store, where all the jewelry could be found. Peach decided that it might be nice to buy some new earrings there, to which Daisy agreed. However, their tastes were noticeably… different: Peach got a pair of 'Classic Mickey' earrings while Daisy was trying to buy a pair of Stitch ones that made it look like he was biting down on her earlobe.

"Daisy, you can't go around wearing those!" Peach insisted, "They look ridiculous!"

"Come on, Peach, give me a break!... Um… Hey! Luigi!"

Luigi, who was standing in the adjacent room where candy was being displayed (and mumbling about being hungry), heard Daisy's call and came over.

"Uh… Yeah?"

"Peach and I are in a deadlock over something and we need you to be the tiebreaker: Do these earrings look cool?"

Luigi looked at them and just shrugged.

"I dunno… I'm a guy! I don't know anything about jewelry!"

While Luigi was talking, Peach noticed that he was holding a large shopping bag.

"What's in the bag, Luigi?" Peach asked.

"Erm… Oh, nothing!" Luigi quickly answered, hiding the bag behind his back, "Nothing at all! Not like it's your birthday present or something!"

There was a short delay before Luigi realized that he had pretty much blown his cover anyway.

"Uh… Oh, shroom…"

Embarrassed, he swiftly turned and ran off without saying another word, leaving the two princesses still stuck in their debate.

"He didn't say anything negative about them," Daisy insisted.

"He didn't say anything about them period!" Peach retorted.

This time, it was Daisy's turn to sigh. If there was one thing she didn't like about shopping, it was dealing with Peach.

"Fine, fine… You win…" Daisy grumbled, putting the earrings away and picking up another pair, "I'll get these Tinker Bell ones instead."

"That's much better," Peach replied, "come on, let's go pay."

However, as soon as Peach turned around and began heading towards the counter, Daisy quietly swapped the Tinker Bell ones back for Stitch again.

Mario was quickly getting annoyed. He couldn't find a good gift! There just wasn't anything that seemed personal enough to him and Peach that he could give to her for her birthday! A DVD just seemed tacky, anything for the home would've most likely clashed with her castle's décor, and he certainly wasn't going to buy her a t-shirt, especially considering that he couldn't recall a single time she wore something other than a dress. Frustrated, he found a corner he could sit down in and began to think: What could he possibly get her?

Looking up, he suddenly spotted something on a shelf across from him. Upon seeing it, inspiration hit like a rocket. Of course! That was the perfect gift! Getting up, he ran over, picked the thing up, and brought it over to the cash register. The casher had just put it in a bag when Mario noticed that the princess themselves were approaching him.

"Oh! Hey, ladies!" Mario greeted, "I just finished buying what I was looking for! How about you two?"

"I think we're done, as well," Peach replied, "I was thinking that, as soon as we can find Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi, we should head back to the hotel."

"Already?" Mario gasped, "Why? We haven't been here that long, and we only did one store!"

"We need to get ready for Victoria & Albert's," Peach explained, "the reservations are for right after Fantasmic!, so we'll have to get dressed up for it before the show and go to both like that."

"A show and a dinner, huh? Okay, I get that… But we have to find everyone else first!"

They didn't have to wait long, however. Luigi showed up almost immediately, waving what looked like a GBA game box around.

"I decided to get something for myself," Luigi stated, "Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories: all the fun of Kingdom Hearts without having to play it on that… other system."

"Clever, Luigi," Mario commented, "I coulda used that back in Innoventions…"

Soon after, Wario and Waluigi came up. Wario was still empty-handed, but Waluigi, along with his precious Stitch plushie, also had what looked like a hat with mechanical spider legs on his head.

"Check it out!" Waluigi began, pointing at his new headgear, "I'm 'Bowler Hat Man'!"

There was a collective groan amongst everyone present. After what he had done the day before, no one liked Waluigi's attempts at comedy.

"Well, Peach, we're back at the hotel," Daisy sighed, plopping down on the bed in their room, "what's all this 'getting ready' that you're talking about? It's just a restaurant, right?"

"'Just a restaurant'!?" Peach repeated in disbelief, "Daisy, Victoria & Albert's is the dining centerpiece of all of Walt Disney World! It got the coveted five-diamond award from AAA! You have to look your best just to get in the door! For starters, you need a dress."

"Wearing one!" Daisy pointed out.

"I mean a really fancy dress," the pink princess elaborated, "here, look at the one I brought."

Daisy lifted her head off the pillow to see Peach hold up a beautiful gown. It was still pink, but gold and sliver lacing decorated it from top to bottom. The dress seemed to be made of pure silk, which caused it to practically shimmer in the sunlight that poured through the window.

"Oh…" the flower princess murmured, "Right… The bad news is that I don't have something that fancy in my entire wardrobe. The good news is that, yes, I did bring the best dress I do have."

Daisy got up, walked over to her suitcase, and pulled out the dress she was talking about. It, too, was the same color that she always wore, orange, but it was much paler than normal. There was also a lot of lacing around the fringes, but besides that, it looked like her normal dress.

"Daisy, that looks gorgeous!" Peach complimented, "That doesn't look any less beautiful than mine!"

"Really? Thanks!"

"Well, since your dress is fine, let's talk about your hair…"

Daisy reflexively reached up and touched her braided head.

"Okay, fine," Daisy admitted, "I wasn't expecting this to exactly fly in that restaurant, anyway. You want me to try and undo it all?"

"Actually…" Peach mused, "I got a better idea…"

Peach walked over to the phone and began dialing.

"Hey, Peach? What are you doing?"

"Making sure you keep up your side of the bargain," she taunted before talking into the phone, "Hello? Is this the Ivy Trellis Salon? Yes, I'd like to make an appointment…"

"Hey, bro, hand me the comb."

"Got it," Mario replied, tossing the comb Luigi's direction. The green-clad plumber caught it and began running it through his hair.

"Gee, I can't remember the last time I went anywhere without my hat…" Luigi pondered.

"Yeah, me neither," Mario agreed, "still, it's for Peach, so I'm willing to make the sacrifice."

The two brothers were standing in the bathroom, getting ready for the dinner before setting out to see Fantasmic!. Since they didn't need as much time to prepare as the girls did, they spent most of the day lounging around the hotel one last time before finally getting ready late into the afternoon. They had already changed out of their overalls and into dress shirts and pants, but they still had to do some grooming before slipping on their jackets and heading out the door.

"And these suits didn't come with gloves, either…" the younger brother continued, inspecting his hands, "Dangit, I never knew how dry my hands were… Must be from all that hammer swinging."

"Here, try this," Mario suggested, handing Luigi a blue bottle, "it's hand lotion."

Luigi looked at the bottle.

"It says that the hand lotion is 'specially formulated for men'. What does that mean?"

"It means they took it out of the pink bottle, put it in a blue bottle, and charged you five bucks extra for it," Mario joked.

"Right…" Luigi replied, pouring some out and rubbing his hands together.

There were a few moments of silence before Luigi spoke up again.

"Mario… I'm nervous."

"Me too, bro."

"No, really… This is my first big date with Daisy. What if I blow it?"

"I'm sure you'll be fine. It's Daisy, after all. She'd probably still like you even if the waiter tripped and dumped all the food on you!"

"Very reassuring…"

Mario stopped what he was doing and put a hand on Luigi's shoulder.

"Look bro, just relax. Everything will be fine. Has anything happened so far on this vacation that caused Daisy to not like you?"

"No…"

"Then I doubt anything that could happen at a single dinner, no matter how fancy, could do that. So just calm down and enjoy the meal. Besides, we're doing Fantasmic! first, so don't go worrying about dinner yet, or you'll miss the show, got it?"

"Yep! Thanks, Mario."

"Anytime, Luigi. Now, let's get out there and meet the princesses."

The two brothers quickly slipped on their dress jackets and walked out the door. Once in the hotel hallway, they passed the Wario Bros. room and overheard some of the conversation going on inside.

"So Waluigi… You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in the Mushroom Kingdom?"

"They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?"

"No man, they got the metric system. They don't know what the---"

The Mario Bros. quickly decided to keep walking before Wario could finish the quote, and made their way to the hotel lobby.

"Nice to see that the movie's keeping them occupied," Luigi snickered.

Once the duo reached the lobby, they began looking around for any sign of Peach or Daisy.

"You see them?" Luigi asked.

"Uh… Not yet… Oh wait! There they are!"

Sure enough, Peach and Daisy were walking up to them. However, like the Mario Bros., they too were dressed up. Along with the dresses, their hair was also neatly styled. Peach's hair was set up in a French bun, and it looked like there were a few highlights in it. Daisy's, on the other hand, was, incredibly enough, perfectly straight and cut into a bob, and it seemed to be a few tints redder. They were also both wearing makeup, which, as far as Luigi could tell, was the first time he ever saw Daisy doing so.

"Wow! Um… You look great!" Luigi complimented.

"Thank you," Peach replied, "the salon did a great job, didn't it, Daisy?"

"That was so not an equal bargain…" Daisy hissed, "There is no way getting your hair braided was as agonizing as that. Even that spa trip was more tolerable than that torture…"

"Well, anyway…" Mario interrupted, trying to avoid a potential argument, "Shall we go out? Fantasmic! starts in an hour."

"Yes, let's!" Peach replied with a giggle.

And so, Mario took Peach's arm while Luigi took Daisy's, and the two couples headed out the door for the ultimate Disney double date.

As the group headed outside, no one noticed the two shadowy figures standing up on one of the rooftops of the Grand Floridian. Obviously, it was none other than Bowser and Bowser Jr., but by now, they were mad. They had spent the entire vacation trying to ruin everything for Mario and the gang, but they were unsuccessful every time. All they achieved at doing was blowing themselves up (multiple times), getting run over by various vehicles, and being blasted into deep space (twice, in Bowser's case). Now, they finally had it.

"You hear that, Pops?" Bowser Jr. asked, "They're gonna go see that show at the Studios! Fa… Famtastic! Famastic! Fa…"

"Fantasmic!" Bowser corrected, smoke pouring out of his nostrils, "And this may be our last chance at getting rid of those losers…"

As he watched the four heroes climb into a bus that went to the theme park, Bowser let out a mighty roar.

"AND THIS TIME IT'S GONNA BE NO HOLDS BARED!!! ENJOY YOUR FUN WHILE IT LASTS, MARIO, 'CUZ I'M GONNA FINISH YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!"