NOOOOOO! This is the final chapter, and I'm extremely disappointed to say that this fan fiction will be over. But...I hope you really Chapter 26, because I had a lot of fun writing it. Enjoy...this final chapter!

Chapter 26-The Real Confrontation

Mario and Peach were just pulling into the castle's massive driveway, followed closely by Luigi and Daisy. For both duos, the ride back to the castle was extremely uneventful. Despite the fact that they had just put a dangerous criminal into prison, they felt no urge to discuss the matter any further. If anything, they would ignore it so much that they would just forget about it, altogether.

But little did they know, there was one more situation that needed dealing with. This particular situation, however, was not dangerous in any way. It did not involve murder...or whacking other people with baseball bats...

"Would you guys care to come in?" Peach asked as they all got out of their cars, "I could have Toadsworth make us some food..."

Obviously, Mario perked up when he heard the word 'food'. Never would he want to turn down such a scrumptious sounding offer, especially after all of the stress and running he had been through the past hour. In his mind, it sounded like a well-deserved treat...

And the others felt the same way, as they heartily agreed to Peach's generous proposition. It was apparent that they needed some kind of leisurely and 'who murdered this person'-less relaxation. And anyways, it's not everyday that you're capturing a dangerous criminal and solving an ever-so-complex mystery...

"Oh no..." Daisy was the first to realize that something unpleasant was standing outside Peach's front door. Yes, that Goomba girl...she was back, and most likely armed with dozens of crushing replies that would humiliate Peach, yet again. Now this wasn't going to be good...

"Just ignore them..." Mario shrugged, realizing that there was no reason to speak with the reporters. His plan was to simply ignore them and eat a peaceful meal inside the castle.

"I bet they won't leave, though..." Daisy remarked, as they continued moving closer and closer to the group of anxious reporters. They began to scurry closer to the four, preparing to bombard them with a volley of questions...

"Doesn't matter..." Mario mumbled back, without even turning his head in the direction they were going. He couldn't help but to notice the Goomba girl there, grinning wildly at the princess. It looked as though she were preparing her first attack..., "Just follow me..."

"No..." It was actually Peach who declined Mario's offer. He turned around and looked at her in disbelief, after noticing that she immediately stopped moving. For some reason, Peach wanted to stay and get humiliated..., "I...I won't let her continue to...you know...stomp all over me...I mean, who does she think she is?"

The three looked at the princess with surprised expressions on their faces. Did she really just say that? Suddenly, it seemed as though Peach was actually confident about this confrontation. Apparently she had forgotten that the Goomba girl did not play nice...

"Uhh...Peach? Why don't we just go inside?" Luigi broke the awkward silence, which was hardly silence, due to the annoying murmurs of the persistent reporters. But nonetheless, he really didn't think the princess should attempt to actually talk with the reporters. With that Goomba girl there, she would simply tear Peach to pieces and leave her even more depressed than she was before...

"No, Luigi!" Peach almost screamed, startling the other three. Even the nosey reporters couldn't help but to gawk at the scene before them. The princess, like normal, was overreacting about something she shouldn't have been..., "Just...let me handle this..."

The three reluctantly did as they were told, wondering what in the world Peach planned to do to make the situation better, let alone decent in any way. Somehow, she planned to stand up to that intimidating little snob...

As Mario, Luigi, and Daisy entered the castle, Peach took her place front of all of the reports, watching as they suddenly became active and started flinging questions at her. The princess simply stood there, understanding not a single word of the chaotic mess in front of her. She wondered if the reporters had any idea that she had no clue what they were saying. At the rate they were going, though - asking unlimited questions and showing no sense of exhaust - made Peach feel as though they were oblivious to the fact that they weren't making any progress with their questions.

With the reporters doing their thing, and Peach uncomfortably standing there, she couldn't help but to make an attempt to quiet them down. She planned to give them no information, but to simply have a final chat with that Goomba girl.

As they slowly quieted down, a specific voice rang out above the dying commotion. And sure enough, it was that darn reporter who had torn Peach's heart out again and again. She showed a sign of confidence, which the princess recognized as the beginning of the embarrassment. But this time...Peach also showed a sign of confidence...

"So princess..." The Goomba girl said innocently. It would only be a matter of time before she began to manipulate Peach with her remarks, "You apparently were the one who captured Toadiko successfully. Would you like to explain the situation?"

All Peach wanted to do right then was rip the girls head off. But instead of showing any signs of violence, she simply played along and answered, "Sure Toadiko was pretty tough, but she obviously stood no chance in escaping from us. It was then that I simply tackled her and it was all over..." Peach exaggerated. Speaking of tackling Toadiko, Peach wouldn't have mind if she did the same to the Goomba girl.

"Oh, so it wasn't a real fight? You just used your size to pin the girl down?"

Peach couldn't help but to glare at the smirking reporter. By the way she said it, it made it sound as though she were calling Peach...fat? That was most certainly not the case. If anything, it would have been Toadiko's size that forced her to be a not-so-good competitor in the fight..., "Well it went differently than that," Peach snapped.

"How so? By the way you speak of it, it was a task anyone could complete..." And so it began...the battle of the females was just starting, and the Goomba girl was highly favored. But little did she know, when Peach isn't in the most fantastic of moods, you should never mess with her...

The princess took a deep breathe, thinking about what Hamma had said to her the day before: "Those reporters are idiots…don't let them get to you…"...,"that's what Detective Goom always told me…". It was sad to think that that advice had come from a murderer, but nonetheless, Detective Goom was right. And she planned to stand by him when it came to that.

"You know what? It wasn't a task that anyone can do. So why don't you stop manipulating my words, and do your actual job for once!"

The Goomba girl was slightly taken back, and was most certainly surprised about Peach's sudden outburst. Even the other reporters were surprised to see Peach acting in such a manner.

But the Goomba girl was persistent, and did not plan to give up so easily. She realized that she still had a list of ways to turn the tables back and humiliate the princess, yet again, "Oh, so you think I'm the one not doing my job? Look at yourself! A princ-,"

"Just shut up! You make me sick! And don't use my attack tactic for yourself, especially when it's not true! That just shows how desperate you are to come up with a comeback!" Peach fired back, leaving the Goomba girl in a severe shock of awe. The princess gave her a moment to reply, but when it seemed as though she was removed of all of her snobby comments, Peach found it to be the perfect time to strike again, "So what ever happened to the over-confident reporter, huh? At a loss of words? Or are you just realizing how pathetic you are? And to think that you were the brat to accuse me of being an attention-seeker! Using your sneaky manipulating to put yourself on the front page seems to me that your the one who seeks attention!" Again Peach gave her a chance to reply, and again, she wasted it, leaving herself wide open for a final attack, "Maybe you're not so great as you thought you were? Really though, the next time you want to try and embarrass someone, you should at least be smart enough to realize that you never mess with me..."

And as Peach began to walk into the castle to be showered with praise from the three eavesdroppers listening at the door, the Goomba girl couldn't help but to notice how powerless she felt. That very princess...the one she had humiliated time after time...had done the exact same thing back to her.

Inside the castle, there was a high demand for Peach to explain the situation in great detail. She satisfied them as best as she could, by telling them what she remembered. And after that, she graciously invited them to a meal in the dining room...

But Peach stayed back for a moment, as she watched her friends disappear through a door. She couldn't help but to recollect everything that had gone on the past few days. And, in the same day, she had ruled over against two of the saddest Mushroom Kingdom residents.

Before Peach met up with her friends in the dining room, she remembered how it was, after all that, Detective Goom who had helped her against the reporter. This made her feel more respect towards the sad, crazy Goomba who had unwillingly fallen into the clutches of Toadiko.

"Hey, Peach?" Mario appeared back in the room. After being in such deep thought, it surprised her to see him, "What are you doing?"

"I'll be right there..." Peach wanted a few minutes to herself. Mario understood, and he gently closed the door behind him. Peach sighed a reassured sigh as she sat down on one of her couches in the room.

Indeed, she was still reflecting upon the recent events. It pained her to think about such terrible people...however, at the same time, she also realized how great she felt that she had confronted both of them. But Mario was right; life is too short to waste time thinking about something like that. Toadiko and the Goomba girl were a thing in the past, and Peach planned to keep it that way...

The princess turned around, and looked out her window, trying to spot that horrible reporter. And there she was, standing in the midst of her shame, a perplexed and almost amazed expression on her face. Peach knew that look...it was the very look that Toadiko had on her face as she was being hauled off to prison. It was the look of defeat...the look someone would make when they realized that they were just beaten by the princess. But...most importantly...it was the look of disappointment, that they had taken a part of their life for granted, and it came back to get them..., "Good-bye now..." Peach whispered, addressing Toadiko and the Goomba girl, "And remember...never mess with a princess..."

{~|THE END|~}

Yay! Peach finally stood up to the reporter in this special closing chapter! Too bad it's the last chapter...but it won't be the last update! If you remember from last chapter, I said that I will provide a bonus chapter thingy that will have a bunch of trivia and fun stuff about the fan fiction, so look out for that, because there will be some interesting stuff there. So...I'm glad to say, this isn't the final good-bye!