A/N: Review responses at end of chapter. Thanks, everyone! :) We'll have more Bowser-centric viewpoints in the coming chapters, I promise. As usual, I don't own anything (except maybe the convertible-esque qualities of the new and improved Clown Car).
EDIT: Because my Daisy & co. centric section of this chapter turned out so long, I decided to break it up. Sorry for an confusion!
Where the heck was Peach?
After the Lakitu set her back down on the track, Daisy had fallen into the very spot she'd sneered at Bowser over – eighth. She caught a lucky break with a bullet bill that sent her skyrocketing through the trickiest part of the course, and three mushrooms, one red shell, and one well-placed banana peel later, she'd crossed the finish line in third place. It was a good (not great, but good) comeback, made all the better by the fact that the man in first? Mario. Peach would love it – in fact, Daisy wasn't the only one who was surprised when, crossing the finish line and tossing a triumphant glance over her shoulder, she didn't see so much as a glimpse of her cousin's signature pink bike. Pulling up next to Mario on their fourth victory lap, she asked him if he'd seen his girl – he hadn't. So, concerned, Daisy pulled off-road and urged Mario to follow her – Luigi too, whom she flagged down with a wave and shout – so that they could celebrate together. But Peach never came.
Daisy signaled other racers - at least, the ones who would give her the time of day. Toad hadn't seen her, neither had Diddy Kong (or so Daisy guessed from what he hooted with a pound of his closed fist against his chest). Had she just not crossed the finish line? That was a major delay - what could've caused it?
Toad chose to stay behind with them – foregoing his fourth lap to wait for Peach in case she crossed the finish line much later than her competitors. Meanwhile, Daisy, Mario, and Luigi took off through the castle circuit to find her. Maybe she was stranded, as unlikely as Daisy thought it would be. Some of those jumps were tough, but she and Peach had raced together since…well, since before Toadsworth even allowed it.
"She's a great driver!" Daisy insisted loudly over the froth of lava and the trio's combined bikes, "I don't know how this happened!" The last time she'd seen her cousin, Peach had been in the lead.
"Let's-a just see what we find, capisce?" Luigi. He didn't want her jumping to conclusions, and she didn't mind being reminded of that at the moment, mumbling a supportive, "Right," under her breath. It wasn't easy, though, as each turn proved to be a disappointment. Peach wasn't trapped in a trouble spot, or tending to mechanical malfunctions. The threesome had only to spot Toad's spotted, mushroom head as he shook it from side to side sadly, a frown tugging at his lips, to confirm the bad news. They slowed their bikes. Peach didn't finish the race. Peach wasn't even on the track.
"S-s-something's happened to her," he blurted out, drawing the worst of conclusions, anxiety pitching his voice higher than usual as the three heroes pulled their bikes up next to his much smaller Quacker. "The princess! This is all my fault!" he all but wailed, having failed in his responsibilities to Peach during the race. He hadn't even been the one to notice she was missing! "Mario, Mario, what should we do?" In any time of crisis, he – and most of Mushroom Kingdom – relied on the man in red to set things right. "Please bring her back!"
Daisy exchanged a brief look with Luigi over his brother's head, one that implied, 'what are we, chopped horsetail tarts?' Their gazes met but briefly before the princess let down her kickstand and slid off her bike. Peach was much more the comforter than Daisy, but the brunette did the best she could in crouching down next to Toad, a hand on his shoulder accompanying the reassurance, "It's not your fault," Toad wasn't the only one who let the competition get the best of him – and Daisy spoke from her own sense of responsibility, "We'll find her." Mario echoed the sentiment, his mustache twitching briefly in concern. Daisy could tell that he was worried. "Why don't you go join the rest of the racers?"
Mario snapped his fingers just then – the other racers, of course. Even if their fellow athletes hadn't seen anything (something Daisy wanted to confirm for herself), everyone knew that the Special Cup Series was televised live. "Good-a thinking, bro. We gotta get our hands on those-a cameras," Luigi agreed, and so they had a plan. Once Daisy jumped back onto her Dasher, the quartet joined the others gathered off-track to hear the ranking announcements, dismounting from their bikes. At least, they were supposed to be doing that – but it was absolute chaos! Diddy Kong pounded the ground with both knuckles, agitated, and he wasn't the only one-
"I smell cheaters!" shouted the very thorn in Daisy's side – ever since she'd learned who their sixth teammate was – lean, mean, and threatening. He shook his fist at the stuttering Lakitu hovering in a cloud just out of reach, raging, "Only cheaters need to recount the votes!" Daisy just rolled her eyes – this wasn't even a voting style race, why did he always have to do this? Whatever the Lakitu said in response was drowned out by Waluigi's insistent, "Nobody cheats better than me! I wanna see the replay!"
"Oh pipe down!" Daisy couldn't stand him going off like that, whining, and only her voice had him swiveling around, pencil thin mustache quivering, as he eyed her – and her company – with dissatisfaction. Sure, he was on her team – but that didn't mean Daisy had to support his bad attitude. "We have a serious problem!" It was much more important than Waluigi's fabricated claims of 'cheating'.
"I'll say!" he retorted loudly, leering at Daisy unapologetically, "Look at your choice in men- ow!" Wario had never thought much of his brother's attempts to show off for his rival's girl – and with a grunt, he shoved his taller counterpart from behind roughly, to which Waluigi responded with a whiplash snap of his head and a push of his own, "Cut it out, you fat bastard!" A fight broke out between the brothers – but Daisy didn't have time for that.
"Listen! Peach is missing!" she cried emphatically, but her words didn't have the intended effect. "Hello? Heeelllllooo?" Priorities, people? In fact, she wasn't even sure everyone was here. Who was missing? Well, there were the bickering brothers, Diddy Kong (who leapt forward to earn himself a front row seat to the fray, his tail curling upwards into a backwards questionmark), Toad, herself, of course, Mario, Luigi, that brute B- wait.
"Who's the person we always look to whenever Peach gets snatched?" she asked suddenly. It was a rhetorical question, one that dawned on her – and the Mario Brothers – with dread. Because that 'person'…um, he wasn't here either.
"Bowser." Luigi and Mario said it in unison, neither one pleased.
"Bowser," confirmed Daisy grimly, "That's our clue." It was too much of a coincidence that the Koopa King – who never missed a chance to gloat, boast, and swagger – would go missing during the exact same race as Peach. "We- hey, where'd he go?" The Lakitu had disappeared in the confusion caused by the still scuffling brothers, with only Yoshi's green snout upturned to the sky. "We need to see what happened!"
Luigi, whose lips had pressed into a thin, invisible line beneath his 'stache in response to Waluigi's digs, gazed between the empty air and Daisy's worried face. The hero in him simply couldn't resist the promise, "Don't-a worry, Daisy. I'll-a get the cameras." After Luigi left, it was Mario who suggested that in the interim, he do another round on the circuit. She insisted on going with him, and Toad would stay with the group, his eyes peeled for any glimpse of Peach or Bowser. He didn't have to look far – in fact, none of them did, because was it just Daisy or was somebody slow in rejoining the group?
Kooper the Koopa Troopa was coming straight towards them on his bike – a Magikruiser – in what had to be the most suspiciously 'innocent' entrance she'd ever seen (or maybe she was just a tad oversensitive, on account of her best friend – they were more than just cousins - going missing).
Mario's expression told her he suspected something similar – either way, they'd have questioned him eventually. Better get this over with. The two hopped their bikes and met the Koopa halfway. By 'met', of course, Daisy meant that Mario was front and center while she came in from the left side in an effort to block his escape routes (it was better than nothing for such a short-notice plan).
"Kooper!" Daisy started in on the interrogation before Mario even had the chance to open his mouth – and she held out her hand in the clear signal for 'stop'. The Koopa Troopa's eyes darted from one side to the other, but it seemed that coming face to face with Mario was enough of a deterrent to keep him from…any foolish actions.
"Uh, Your Highness?" he said carefully, braking his bike and having to speak over it. He nodded to her – and to Mario, even though the Koopa couldn't seem to address him directly.
"Where's Peach?" Daisy didn't waste any time with small talk, instead indicating with a wide sweep of her hand, "I'm sure you've noticed she's not here." With the rest of us.
"Princess Toadstool?" As if he needed the confirmation, as if he didn't know. His eyes bulged in exaggerated surprise, "I don't know, ma'am."
Ma'am? Who was he calling ma'am? "Oh really?" The Koopa nodded once, tightening his fingers on the handlebars of his bike, but Daisy just didn't buy it. "Where were you just now? And don't say-" she warned before he could answer, "-on the track because we were just there!"
He closed his mouth. For a moment. Then, "I…had to go to the Little Koopa's Room." That was his excuse? The bathroom? "There wasn't any toilet paper so it…took awhile…Your Highness." One, that was disgusting. Two, disgusting was probably the point. To get her off his trail, right?
"Hm." She seemed to accept this, but if Kooper thought he could relax (he didn't), he had something else coming. "You won second place," she reminded him, though she couldn't remember seeing him after a momentary flash of green shell before she crossed the finish line. She didn't know where he'd gone off to after that, "I would've thought you'd want to…do your victory lap."
The Koopa Troopa just shook his head uneasily, supplying the words, "I really had to go." To the bathroom. Riiiight.
"You're lying." She felt secure enough in her accusation, the tiptoes of her boots steadying her on either side of the Dasher so she could sit tall, regal, and – she thought – intimidating. "Bowser's missing too. I don't suppose you know anything about that either?" The Koopa shook his head again, but she thought she saw his stubby fingers reaching to squeeze the gas. His foot was moving too – to the clutch, maybe? Daisy shot a look at Mario, but he'd already thought three steps ahead – and currently gripped a humming red shell, leftover after the race, under his arm.
"You're coming with us," Daisy insisted, hopping off her bike with a sharp gesture that indicated Kooper was to do the same, "That's not a request." If he valued his shell and his bike, he wouldn't try anything. He wouldn't stand a chance. Instead of attempting to escape, his shoulders slumped low and Daisy only had a moment to feel triumphant before the Koopa's eyes hardened and he hit the gas, charging straight towards them with an angry wheelie – his tires would've squealed if they'd been on asphalt – and Daisy shouted, "Mario!" with a dive to the side just before his well-timed shell smashed into the bike, stopping it short of colliding with the duo. This wasn't exactly what she'd hope would come out of this, but an unconscious Koopa Troopa was better than none at all.
She got to her feet, dusting off her dirt-streaked suit carelessly. The princess was completely unfazed by the violence that had blown the Koopa Troopa several feet in the air, because she knew it wasn't serious. Coincidentally, it also drew some of the attention she'd wanted for her announcement in the first place. While she parked her bike for good and approached their enemy to inspect the damage, she scarcely noticed King Boo's overt curiosity as he floated within hearing distance of the two heroes and the knocked-out koopa.
"He's done something with her – again, I just know it," Daisy said, "We have to split up and search the castle – everyone. They can't have gotten far – the race just ended!" Mario agreed with her, and while she helped turn the Magikruiser upright, Mario scooped up Bowser's henchman as if he was nothing. They were so strong, him and Luigi both. She paused to admire it for a second – and in that second, failed to notice King Boo disappear without so much as a pop.
She had bigger problems.
A/N: Wow, I'm super flattered that the great and wonderful superblooper commented on my story! Thanks so much! :) Also, thanks to James Birdsong and nationalcraft (I really appreciate you bringing my excessive use of ellipses to mind - I do tend to use them as a reflection of Peach's own uncertainty, or the way she's thinking - but in writing, they really are cumbersome. I edited my previous chapters to try to minimize them, and will keep that in mind in future chapters! Thanks again!).
Much appreciation to everyone who has given my story a chance! 1Ups to all!