A/N: I must apologize for the late chapter. My sister is moving across the country, so my family has been an emotional wreck as of late. Couple this with midterms, and it makes for a lousy writing schedule. However, I have not stopped writing! Thanks for all the wonderful support! In this chapter, the third immunity challenge will take place! We'll also see if Don and Rosalina's plans come to fruition…and what happens with Pauline's dastardly scheme.

Thanks be to the reviewers!

Yoshpa: Yossshpa :D I'm glad you got your account sorted out x.x even though it's been like a week now. Thanks for liking the evil women's alliance, although I tend to think Flurrie is being slightly manipulated. Boo and Noki tho :3

Joker: BOO MIGHT GO HOME OHNO WHATS GONNA HAPPEN. And yeah, I kinda ripped off TDI but who's counting, eh?

TCKing12: Pauline's plan shall be divulged soon! Everyone doesn't want Boo to go…but will he? Thanks for always reviewing!

Princess Shroob: Thank you so much! Your encouragement keeps me going :D

Evil Abigail: I don't think many people are rooting for Pauline *glances at Yoshpa* but we'll see if she succeeds or not. Thanks for always reviewing!

ultimateCCC: But will Peach fight back? Her racer outfit tho x.x Your reviews always make me laugh inside :D Thanks for always being there!

Owen: PIPLAP :D And yeah, I took that scene from your typical high school drama, and I think it worked well. Thanks for reviewing! We'll see what happens next

The DreamStakes!

Team Manta: Mario, Peach, Birdo, Pauline, Flurrie, Princess Shroob, Zess T., Toadsworth, Black Yoshi

Team Dolphin: Bowser, Wendy, Kolorado, Noki, Boo, Kammy, Wario, Don Pianta, Rosalina

Ah…slimy, stinky Ricco Harbor. What a wonderful place to begin the climax of the third episode. It was so wonderfully putrid and poisonous in this dump of a harbor that everyone was awoken by the foul stench very early in the morning.

"What is that awful smell?" Black Yoshi asked, pinching his bulbous nose in disgust. Behind him, Kolorado let loose a racist remark.

"It's probably you, old boy!" The seasoned explorer said. "Your kind has an abysmal…"

Kolorado's rant was stopped short by the entrance of Wario, whose own sour smell polluted the air even further. Only Kammy could resist his stench due to her overly aged nose, which no longer worked.

"Good morning, chumps!" Wario cried, seizing Kolorado and Black Yoshi by their necks and giving them noogies under his armpits like some violent brother of theirs. "Time to fork over all your gold to ol' Wario!"

"Is dis how aim ta repay da Pianta Parlor?" Don Pianta asked, arriving into the foyer of the lighthouse hotel with a yawn. "Ya slimy behind has ta pay up soona a' lata."

Wario: I have to win some serious coin soon! Don Pianta is not letting my debt go…oy vey.

As the other contestants streamed into the breakfast room, everyone began to notice something very odd. Princess Peach was nowhere to be seen…

"Princess!" Toadsworth screamed. "Oh good heavens! She could be dead…or worse, lost!"

"Toodletoes," Zess T. remarked, rubbing his arm. "That doesn't make any sense…"

"OF COURSE IT DOES OH BY THE HEAVENS WHERE IS THE PRINCESS!?" Toadsworth screamed, dry heaving on the floor.

"Mamma Mia," Mario said, walking into the room with a shake of his head. "When I get my hands on that bimbo…"

"Master Mario!" Toadsworth bellowed. "Have you seen the princess!?"

"I've seen the princess alright," Mario said. "But she doesn't to see-a-me!"

"Pray tell, lad," Toadsworth said, suddenly Scottish.

"Well…it all began like this…," Mario cued his flashback like a poorly designed soap opera would.

FLASHBACK: 2100 Hours, The Day Before

"Well-a-look at-a-this!" Mario exclaimed, picking up a letter outside the room he shared with Peach in the lighthouse hotel. "It's-a-letter!" Picking up the note, Mario examined the pink envelope. It looked like the sort of stationary kit the princess used. With a girly giggle, Mario broke open the seal and investigated the contents of this mysterious note.

"Mario," Mario read, beginning to read aloud. "Please meet me by the dock. I'd like to have some good frick frack if you know what I mean."

"Well Arrivedeci!" Mario cried. "This sounds like something the elegant and poised Princess Peach would say!" Tearing off for the dock, Mario ran off into the night to meet his woman in pink. Arriving at the dock in no time at all, he found a slender woman awaiting him on the dock. In the darkness, he could not see her fully…but he knew who she was…

"Princess!" Mario said with a warm greeting. "Come to papa!" Embracing his woman, Mario pulled her into a deep kiss. As they backed up into the moonlight, both partners became visible…and one was not who they appeared to be.

"MARIO!?" A familiar voice screamed, stirring Mario from his flight of passion. Pulling back from the kiss, his eyes widened as he focused on who stood in front of him.

"Surprised?" Pauline asked in a sinister tone, smiling masochistically. "Not the princess you were looking for, eh?" He voice was cold and callous, heard by Mario…but unheard by Peach who stood at the other end of the dock. Storming up to her hero in red, the princess smacked Mario across the face.

"I was just admiring the moonlight!" Pauline cried. "He simply snatched me up!" As she said this to Peach, her eyes grew ablaze with evil.

"You two-timing, toilet-clogging, no-good, plumber-pants, republican, princess-cheating, kingdom-sacking, turtle-killing, shroom-addicted, asshole!" Peach screamed, slapping Mario once more.

"P-Peach!" Mario screamed, horrified as the princess stormed away. "I swear…I thought she was you!"

"Me?" Peach retorted, whirling around. "Everyone knows I don't wear chiffon Mario!" Peach yelled, pointing at Pauline's dress. "It's tacky!" With those final words, Peach receded into the darkness, hot tears forming a waterfall of hurt down her face.

"Such a pity, really," Pauline commented, turning to Mario. "She was so pretty. Alas, you no longer have her affection. From royalty…," she said, looming over Mario.

"To plumber."

"You witch woman!" Mario yelled. "What have you done?"

"If I cannot have your affections," Pauline seethed, "then no one will!" With those words of finality, she too took off into the night. Alone on the dock, Mario sank to the ground. His heart hurt…and his princess was gone.

PRESENT DAY

"What!?" Everyone who had common sense cried in despair. "That's awful!"

"When I find Pauline," Mario said with a vengeance. "I'm going to…"

"Do what?" Pauline asked, making her entrance. "Skin me? Kill me? Shove me down a toilet with your puny plunger?" All eyes turned to Pauline, who stood in the foyer with Princess Shroob and Flurrie in tow.

"My Mario," Flurrie cried. "Had I known Pauline would inflict this deep a wound, I would not…"

"Silence, Flurrie-Slave!" Princess Shroob shrieked. "Where is the one known as Birdo?"

"H-here…," Birdo said, trembling at a table. The pink horror of a woman was eating some cereal…which was diluted by tears of weakness.

Birdo: I'm beginning to think this alliance is bad for my health….

"On your feet, pink peasant," Princess Shroob commanded. "You stand with us!"

Princess Shroob: I just hate it when a peasant runs away! I want my money's worth, you hear me! When I purchase peasants on my home planet, I make sure they listen! Birdo's just the worst one ever!

"I don't want to…but ok," Birdo said, trudging over to join the women's alliance. Everyone stood horrified.

"What's the meaning of this?" Zess T. demanded. "She's your princess! You have no right to do this to her!"

"I have every right!" Pauline cried. "She stole my man!"

"I was never your man…," Mario said quietly.

"What was that?" Pauline asked.

"I said…I was never your man…my delusional pet monkey kidnapped a woman! Of course I had to save you! Think of the coins I would owe if you sued in that incident! Praise Grambi you developed feelings for me, otherwise I would have had to pay you a fortune!" Mario explained, his voice straining the truth behind his words.

Bowser: Talk about awkward! Wow, I never knew Mario had such a spine!

"W-w-what…," Pauline gasped.

"That's the truth!" Mario cried. "Know this, you she-devil! I have always loved the princess, and when I find her, the first thing I'm going to do is…"

"Oh, Mario!" A familiar sweet voice cried, wafting into the room like the aroma of a warm apple pie. "That's the sweetest thing you've ever said!"

"Princess!" Mario cried, embracing Peach as she entered the room.

Kolorado: It was simply smashing, I tell you! The princess entered the room as if on cue! I was on the edge of my seat to see what would happen next!

"I know what you say is true, my love," Peach commented, kissing her mustachioed man. "Now, let us vanquish this hussy!" She drew her parasol, pointing it at Pauline.

Rosalina: Princess Peach was going to kill Pauline right there…but then…

"Hold the show!" Brighton cried, stumbling into the room. "Sort out your disagreements later, but there's an emergency in the harbor!" All eyes turned to the sunny host, who looked desperate.

"What's going on?" Boo asked, concerned for the host's well-being. "Where's Twila?"

"S-s-she's been kidnapped!" Brighton screamed. "We were surveying the harbor for today's challenge when some hideous gigantic blooper snatched her up in its tentacles and swam off into the sea!"

"G-gooper Blooper?" Noki asked, her voice trembling. "Oh no…this isn't good at all."

"Who's Gooper Blooper?" Boo asked.

"He's the biggest Blooper in all of Delfino…and he has quite a temper!" Noki cried. "He could be anywhere!"

"Well go!" Brighton cried. "Today's immunity challenge is to rescue Twila! Whoever can save her from the clutches of this infernal squid wins immunity for their team!"

Everyone stood around, a bit shocked.

"I said go!" Brighton hollered in terror, prompting the eighteen remaining contestants to dash out the double doors of the lighthouse. Kicking up dust behind them, the players ran for the harbor.

Wendy: I don't know what the hell was going on with Mario and all his girl drama, but when Brighton said we had to catch a squid, all I could think about was calamari!

"Out of the way, Thicki Minaj!" Kammy Koopa yelled at Wendy, knocking the koopaling over with her broomstick. "I'll show you how a Magikoopa catches a squid!"

"That was so rude you pompous hag!" Wendy cried. "When my father hears…"

"Oh that was classic, Kammy!" Bowser roared, high-fiving the magistrate. "Thicki Minaj…ooo, wee, I'm gonna have to start using that one!"

Kammy Koopa: And suddenly, Bowser realized I was here! Perhaps if I bully his daughter all of the time…

While the Koopa Kingdom triad wasted time, Boo and Noki devised a plan of their own.

"Let's not participate," Noki said at once, Boo immediately agreeing. "I mean, we need to look like we're trying, but if we win this for our team, they'll think of us as too strong. But we can't lose either."

"So what do we do?" Boo asked.

"Nothing," Rosalina stated, overhearing their conversation. "I simply despise Twila, so if Gooper Blooper makes it away with her, that's fine by me."

"W-why do you hate her so much?" Noki asked, trembling a bit in the presence of the cosmic princess.

"It's a long story," Rosalina said, pointing to her crown. "But it has to do with why I'm wearing this…and she's not."

Earning a sound of interest from Boo and Noki, Rosalina parted ways with them to meet with the Don.

"He's down there in the bay," Don Pianta said to her, pointing into the water. "Looks like he realized his prize can't breathe underwater." Sure enough, his words rang true. In the bay, Gooper Blooper held Twila over his head.

"Let me go!" The hostess demanded. "I am the ruler of night! Unhand me at once!"

"No, please!" Rosalina shouted back. "Keep her!"

"Rosalina, just shut up!" Twila yelled from afar. "I just think you're trashy and - !"

BANG BANG BANG!

Suddenly, Gooper Blooper took three shots to the stomach, wailing in pain. If…Blooper's could wail. It was more of a sort of odd squealing sound, like a pig being butchered. Anyway, the mighty squid had been shot…and after dropping Twila into the bay in recoil, he swam away to nurse his wounds.

"Who fired those shots!?" Brighton asked, arriving on scene. From below, he could see Twila swimming to shore. "Sis, are you alright!?"

"I'm fine!" Twila yelled back up. "No thanks to you…," she muttered under her breath.

"It must have been Black Yoshi!" Kolorado guessed.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" Black Yoshi screamed in contempt of the explorer.

"Nah, it wasn't him," Don Pianta said. "I called a town car. I know a couple a' guys around dese parts. Dey owe me a few favors."

"You ordered a mafia hit…on a squid?" Brighton asked.

"Sho' thing, bud," Don Pianta said, clapping Brighton on the back. "Didn't even seem em' come or go, I bet."

"N-no," Brighton thought aloud. "I didn't…well either way, the win goes to Don Pianta and Team Dolphin!"

"Dang," Zess T. said. "Ever since Ballyhoo and Yoshi took that tumble, we haven't had any luck."

"I doubt it was their fault," Mario said, turning to Pauline. "It's time to get rid of our bad luck charm…"

"Who? Me?" Pauline sneered. "We'll just see about that!"

"Either way," Brighton said, separating the two. "Meet me in the elimination chamber in a few hours. Tonight…someone from Team Manta is leaving the game!"

As the teams made their way back inside after the morning's fiasco, Rosalina approached the Don.

"Fiddlesticks," she said. "We were supposed to lose. Boo needs to go!"

"Not yet," The Don remarked. "Let this feud between Mario and his gals subside…then we take out the ghost. Mario's weak now…perhaps tonight, he goes, no?"

"Could be," Rosalina said to her partner. "Either way, we need to eliminate Boo as soon as possible. His association with Noki threatens our team."

"Roger that," Don Pianta said with a dark chuckle. "That ghost won't even know what hit 'em…he'll turn whiter than…uh…you get da picta'."

As the two schemed, the interior of the lighthouse hotel was clouded with deception and plotting. Team Manta had split apart…but the verdict seemed obvious.

Black Yoshi: It seems as if two alliances of four exist within Team Manta…and this gives me a very nice opportunity. I could go with either side, although after today…I know exactly who I'm working with.

Black Yoshi approached the two elderly toads, each of whom waved him over. After working with them once, Black Yoshi felt comfortable working with them again.

"You understand what needs to happen, eh?" Toadsworth asked. "For the safety of the princess, Pauline must depart!"

"She seems rather toxic," Zess T. admitted. "Though she may help in challenges…she brings us down as a team."

"Agreed," Toadsworth said with a nod of his cap. "What say you, Stanley?"

"I think that makes the most sense…what are Mario and the princess doing?" He asked.

"We already spoke with them over lunch," Toadsworth supplied. "Their votes are for Pauline."

"Alright," Black Yoshi said. "I'm going to go back to my room then."

"Good day!" Toadsworth and Zess T. bid him goodbye. Decided on his vote, Black Yoshi walked into the hall…where he bumped into Birdo.

"Oh…hi," Birdo said rather sheepishly.

"Hey!' Black Yoshi said. "You look a bit down. May I ask what's wrong?"

"Um…that's rather nice of you," Birdo said shyly. "No one's ever been concerned about me before."

"That seems rude," Black Yoshi said in reply. "You're a living being. You have feelings. Everyone should be nice to everyone."

"I…I guess you're right," Birdo said, "But…no one cares about me."

"I care about you," Black Yoshi said. "Everyone else should too."

"T-that's….that's very nice of you to say," Birdo admitted. "I'm going to the pool with Flurrie and Pauline, so I'll be going now…"

"Why do you hang out with them?" Black Yoshi asked her. "You seem as if you don't enjoy spending time with them."

"I don't…," Birdo said. "But…they're smart and strong. They make for good allies…in spite of how they treat me."

"I don't know if enduring that kind of pain is worth one million coins, if you ask me," Black Yoshi thought aloud. "But…that's just what I think."

"No…I think you're right," Birdo admitted. "However…I'm going to stick with them tonight. The Princess…despite how good-hearted she is, is not very good at this game. My vote stays with her. We need Pauline, despite her…attitude…"

"I guess that makes sense," Black Yoshi said. "Well…have fun at the pool."

"…Bye…," Birdo said, leaving him alone in the hall. Contemplating her words, Black Yoshi left for his own room.

Soon, night fell. The stage was set for elimination. The nine remaining members of Team Manta filtered into the elimination chamber, where one of them would be voted out of the game. Twila manned the voting box, while Brighton stood in front.

"After today's…odd turn of events, it looks like you guys have wound up here once more," Brighton said. "Mario, what's holding your team back?"

"More like who!" Mario cried. "Pauline's a vile woman!"

"See?" Pauline pointed out. "He is a nasty man! He's so mean to me…, making personal jabs…" she pretended to tear up.

"Wow!" Princess Peach snorted. "You want an Oscar, honey?"

"Well if that's not evidence why this team is dysfunctional, I don't know what is!" Toadsworth barked. "We need to set aside our differences and…"

"Can it, old man!" Princess Shroob roared. "We need to win, win, win! When we don't win, we vote out the peasants! Plain and simple!"

"Well, on that note, it's time to vote," Twila said. One by one, the remaining members of Team Dolphin cast their votes, and soon, all had been written. Twila brought back the votes, ready to announce the results.

"I will now read the votes," Twila said, following the formality of elimination. She opened the box, removing the slender slips of paper that made up the results of tonight's elimination.

"First vote…PAULINE."

"Figures," Pauline said, blowing a strand of auburn hair.

"Second vote…PAULINE."

Pauline looked stoic, meanwhile, Mario's group looked pretty positive about the outcome.

"Third vote…PAULINE."

"This is going well," Mario said, his eyes lighting up in delight.

"Fourth vote…PAULINE."

"One more!" Peach cheered loudly, annoying Pauline greatly.

"Fifth vote…PEACH."

"No matter," Peach said, sticking her tongue out at Pauline.

"Just you wait," Pauline said with a knowing smile. "You'll get your due…"

"Sixth vote…PEACH."

"It's just her lousy alliance," Mario said, comforting the princess.

"Seventh vote…PEACH."

"Pauline, Flurrie, and Princess Shroob," Toadsworth rattled off the names.

"Eighth vote…PEACH."

"Oh my," the princess said, sounding a bit worried. "If we've secured Stanley's vote, the next one should send Pauline packing," Zess T. said to Toadsworth quietly. The minister nodded.

Twila opened the last vote.

"Third person voted out of The DreamStakes…PRINCESS PEACH."

"What!?" Mario screamed, hopping out of his seat. All eyes turned to Black Yoshi, who held up his hands.

"Hey," he said. "I voted for Pauline."

Zess T.: Hoohoo! I bet the princess never saw that coming! Why would I keep a lazy sack of potatoes around here! You got ta' earn yer keep, sister!

"W-who?" Peach asked, bewildered. Meanwhile, Pauline cackled with victory. "So long, princess!"

"Peach!" Mario said, taking her hands in his. "I'm-a-sorry."

"Don't worry, Mario," Peach said dotingly. "Win this game for us! And if you lose…don't do it before Pauline!"

"Come on," Brighton said, dragging Peach away. She grabbed her bag, letting out a cry of surprise. The doors behind her and Brighton slammed closed, signaling her departure from the game.

"You lie!" Mario said, turning to Black Yoshi. "Toadsworth and Zess T. would never do such a thing!'
"No, never, not in a million years!" Zess T. cried.

"I said I voted for Pauline!" Black Yoshi yelled, causing an awkward tension to settle.

"It doesn't matter who did it," Pauline said. "She's gone. Now everyone saddle up…we can't lose again."

"Oh we will!" Mario declared. "And when we do…you're gone." With that, the members of Team Manta streamed out of the room. Peach had been voted out…but a new rift divided the team. One that might never heal…

Voting Results!

Princess Peach (5): Pauline, Princess Shroob, Flurrie, Birdo, Zess T.

Pauline (4): Black Yoshi, Mario, Peach, Toadsworth

Like I said, sorry about the wait! Thanks for reading and reviewing! The support is amazing!

Next time, we'll see the fall-out of Peach's elimination. And will Don Pianta and Rosalina ever get their way? Find out next time on…The DreamStakes!

-AdmiralBobbery