DanceDream: And now it's been even longer. Sorry about that. And about this time, I went back into college. And couldn't really write for awhile... So much was going on. Yeah, I wanted Russ to be a bit cool sometimes. Cranky would send DK out on a dangerous mission, only helping when DK payed him, and bragging about how he could do it so much better. He's that kind of guy. Well, he does have a banana hoard. Jewish philosophy has a different reason: To live life to its fullest. "Adversary" is actually the meaning of the word. That'd be the Good Inclination. And it's really more "drive to make bad decisions" and "drive to make good decisions", and both are a product of being able to make decisions in the first place. It's a bit hard to try and explain the logic behind all of it myself... I really think that it'd be better for you to look it up, to be honest.

If you're reading my other story, you know I've had stuff going on. I'm going to try and get back onto a semi-regular schedule. Also, after this story, this series is going to be mostly over, because I have other ideas (which involve more planning and most likely better writing). TatlTails, you'll be happy about the one I'm planning right now, and I'd actually like to talk to you about it.

Also, I'm breaking the pattern here. This chapter is another focusing on Peach, because Mario and Sonic's side would be wrapped up in four chapters on their side, at the most. They're close to being done.

Recap: Stuff happened. World ending in ten days. Waluigi evil. Peach collected green and yellow chaos emeralds. Wario being weird.

Adventures of Mario & Sonic: Peach's Adventure

Chapter 26: Wario Lavas Money

YES I KNOW ITS A TERRIBLE PUN

The three heroes, bystander who decided to help out, and random anti-hero guy arrived in Toad Town without a hitch. Princess Peach led the way to the Toad House in town, where they would be able to rest for the night free of charge. After she made all the arrangements, she had everyone sit down at a table to discuss the situation.

"Two of seven," Princess Peach said. "In one day. At this rate, we'll have no problem getting them all in time. Wow... We can really do this."

"That's the spirit!" Amy said.

"But we still have to find this... Wish Princess, was it?" Russ asked. "That could take a while."

"That's why this sword," Peach said, patting the weapon strapped to her back, "Is going straight to Daisy in the morning. She'll still be in town until tomorrow, so that gives plenty of time. She should have found this Wish Princess by the time she comes back, some two days before Waluigi's plan comes to pass."

"Wait, what's Waluigi got to do with all this?" Wario asked suddenly.

"He's the reason we have to find these things. He's gone a bit... Power-mad, I believe."

"Oh," Wario said. "... Yeah, yeah, just don't hurt him too much, okay? Now Wario says everybody needs some shut-eye!"

"Agreed," Peach said. "Now, everyone, let us adjourn."

"THE PURPLE WIND!" The thief said, moving through the streets unseen. "MASTER OF STEALTH, WITH THE STRENGTH OF TEN THOUSAND MEN!" The Purple Wind dashed up to Toad Town's bank near the edge of town, a mushroom-like building with a grey roof. He punched through the wall.

STEALTHILY!

He moved quickly, going through every safe and deposit box in the building in a matter of minutes, easily unlocking each one with his great strength. As he came up on the last few, he came upon the deposit box he wanted. He opened it to find several crystal roses, a photograph of Princess Daisy, and, most importantly, a large gem. Said gem glowed in an otherworldly light, brilliant-cut and purple in color.

"Well played, Wally," The Purple Wind said, leaving the bank as quietly as he had entered. "Well played."

9 Days Left

"Yello, slackers!" Wario yelled, waking up his companions. "So, I figured that if the world is ending, I won't have gold. So I left in the middle of the night and used my awesome ninja skills to take down a thief and grab this!" He pulled out the purple Chaos Emerald.

They were all back asleep again, having not listened to a thing he said.

"I spent thirty minutes on that speech..." Wario grumbled. He sighed, supposing that he could go and grab the next one himself, too. He picked up the emerald radar from the table, and noted the location of the next emerald. He dashed out the door, radar in hand, ready to catch the next boat to Lavalava Island.

He took his time reaching the Toad Town port. He'd never really thought to look into Toad Town too much. It was the capital of the Mushroom Kingdom, but his own Diamond City was a much wealthier town, thanks in no small part to his efforts. He kept his eyes peeled for anything that looked remotely profitable, the only thing really coming to mind being Li'l Oinks, as there was a pen for them. The strange pigs dropped some very valuable items sometimes.

Just to the west of the Li'l Oinks was the Toad Town port. Not the most interesting thing to look at, just a couple of buildings and a lot of crates. After checking ferry schedules to confirm that he would not be able to leave for Lavalava Island for another hour, he decided to spend a little bit of time in Toad Town's only club: Club 64. This was his hangout whenever he came to Toad Town, and the familiarity of the bartender showed it. Simple and darkly lit inside, it was the perfect place to hang out to find information. He had other channels, of course, he WAS the founder of the largest city in the kingdom.

After eating some of his favored dishes such as garlic cake and eggplant surprise (he'd always said the surprise was that he finished it alive. The bartender disagreed, saying the surprise was that no one spontaneously combusted after it first touched their tongue.) After an hour or so, he went out to meet the ferry. When the guard at the boat wouldn't let Wario on without paying, he flexed his muscles, and threatened to punch him. When that didn't work, Wario told him who he was and made his amount of influence very clear, saying he could easily take away his job and ruin him financially. That worked.

The ride to Yoshi's Island was fairly short. Wario got off the boat, and instantly ran towards the volcano at the center of the island. This would be simple enough. He trekked through the jungle, beating up strange living bushes he remembered were called M. Bushes, Jungle Guys, and some weird plants he knew as Hurt Plants along the way. And a lot of Jungle Fuzzies, but they were absolutely terrified of Wario after they saw what he did to one of them.

Soon, he was able to reach the base of the volcano. There was a river of lava around the outside of the volcano, for whatever reason, and a cave in the side. He did the only logical thing to do. He grabbed a vine, and swung across the river of lava Tarzan-style. He did not feel the need to scream or whoop when going across, and calmly entered the volcano.

Inside, he was greeted by floating bubbles of fire known as lava bubbles or podoboos that instantly attacked him (they stopped when he threatened them with his spit), poisonous piranha plants that instantly breathed poison at him (they stopped when he threatened them with his shoulder), red beetles with spikes on their backs (they stopped when he threatened them with his fists), and rocks sinking into lava (they stopped when he threatened them with his... well, he threatened to ground pound them).

He made his way through the volcano, threatening everything that looked at him funny and beating anything that didn't back down. Soon enough, it was just him and the rocks that he had threatened so they would hold him above the lava. He soon came across a corridor that led deeper into the volcano, and met a gigantic spiky rolling stone creature he knew as a Spiny Tromp. He threatened it, and it rolled back up away from him. Wario loved his methods. The rest of the trip was uneventful except for tripping over a few shattered fragments of metal. He finally managed to reach the heart of the volcano and the cyan Chaos Emerald. The problem was, it was being eaten by a giant piranha plant that was on fire.

Wario jumped up, did a flip in midair, and brought his fist down as hard as he could on the Piranha plant's head. It screamed, mistaking him for Mario, and plunged back into lava. He did not care about this, though, as he grabbed the Chaos Emerald.

"WA HA! WARIO TIME!" Wario yelled, striking a pose. Yes! He'd gotten the fourth step to getting Waluigi back to normal and saving the world. After all, how could he have heaps of money if the world ended?

Then the volcano began to erupt. Wario just grumbled.

Wario's companions were not having as good a time as he was. After getting the sword to Daisy, they realized Wario was missing, and began to panic, looking all over Toad Town for him. They finally met in front of Toad Town's bank, which was... Not in the best shape.

"What happened here?" Amy asked, looking at the ruined bank.

"I... Don't know..." Peach said. "Looks like Wario's work."

"But he is assisting us, is he not?" Russ asked.

"... He did take the emerald radar, didn't he?" Peach asked. "Ugh... That's just like him. Takes all the treasure for himself, without ever thinking of the consequences."

"Caused a volcano to erupt," Wario said, appreciating his handiwork. "Got a Chaos Emerald, convinced the owner to give me the boat..." He turned away from steering the boat for a second, looking at the tied-up captain of the boat. "Isn't that right? MINE."

"Mmph!"

"Thought so."

Wario = skewed view on things.