Princess Peach's Throne Room, just before Mario and Luigi enter the castle

The warp pipe in question raised from the floor, and out jumped Wario and Waluigi. They both landed before Princess Peach and the Toad Brigade.

"You made it!" Peach said with joy, before noticing the two figures who landed before her. "Wario? Waluigi?" She looked around. "Wasn't Luigi with you?" She asked.

Wario shrugged. "Luigi said something about him and Mario needing to make a stop before coming here." He said. "Apparently, Bowser and Tatanga were sighted somewhere near your castle. As were the Koopalings and the entire Galahad Commandery." Waluigi continued.

Peach gaped in shock at the news Wario and Waluigi just casually dropped on her. "Wait a minute." She stopped and thought, upon realizing neither Torrence nor the rest of the Toad Brigade had any sort of reaction. "Was this the errand Luigi told you he had to run?" She asked.

Waluigi nodded. "More than likely." At this, Princess Peach looked to the Toad Brigade. "Come on, Princess." The Blue Toad, Yvan, said. "You can't seriously be worried, can you? Not whilst the Mario Bros. are handling this." He laughed. The Yellow Toad, Wolley, chimed in. "Besides, even his Koopalings must know this is a lost cause. They aren't even showing up this time!"

At this, the Toads all concurred. Peach blinked. "I… I don't know. I just have a bad fee-"

As if to prove how right the Princess is, the floor turned from porcelain white to a kaleidoscopic well of ink, before rising up in liquid geysers. Right under the feet of Wario and Waluigi, who were shunted away pretty hard. The members of the Toad Brigade dodged the eruption of rainbow ink just in time, but Peach noticed that the explosions of the substance never so much as implied they might touch her.

"I was not expecting we'd have to do this ourselves." A voice sounded over the chaos. Where everyone searched for the source, Princess Peach was the first to see a very familiar figure hovering above the chaos.

"Lugo!" Peach called out, directing all attention to where she was pointing. Wario and Waluigi both jumped to their feet and joined the Toad Brigade in shielding the Princess. However, this unfortunately meant no one could see the Ink Bubble forming behind the Princess until she yelped in surprise. The Ink Bubble suppressed all sound she could make, as she squirmed and kicked futilely.

"What-?" Torrence said, before recognizing the technique that had trapped their princess. "No, don't!" Torrence called out, stopping Yvan and Wolley from making the mistake of touching the Ink Bubble and getting trapped (or worse) as well. Wario's fist shook as he just barely stopped himself from punching the bubble. The Ink Bubble floated back to the caster.

As said caster descended to ground level, one could see Lugato Nderu (or Lugo for short, as Peach called him) stood roughly 6'3" and possessed a heroic, 235-pound build. His sapphire eyes and handsome features might even have fooled an onlooker that he was in fact a hero, if only his intentions here were pure.

"Stand down, all of you!" Lugo said simply; he almost literally held Peach's life in the palm of his right hand as he controlled the Ink Bubble holding her. "How did you get past the Castle security?" Waluigi demanded.

"It doesn't matter! I know how he's leaving!" Wario said, summoning up some Earth Energy into his arms. "Not so fast!" Lugo said, snapping his fingers on his left hand as he did. Upon doing so, a few bubbles of ink coalesced and took humanoid form. But these were no Ink Constructs, but instead actual living beings who simply were Inkporting into the throne room from wherever they were hiding.

"But… When?" Peach found herself asking, not that anyone could hear her.

Waluigi appeared to freeze in shock, where everyone else went into a frenzy. The rest of the Nderus summoned up some Ink into their arms and legs; some even bristled their hair, indicating those particular members were versed in the Needle Jizo techniques. Peach sighed in relief when that seemed to make her allies think before they acted hastily. Especially as it seemed Waluigi had begun to hatch a plan.

"I repeat. Stand down. All of you. The Princess's safety is in your hands." Lugo warned. Wario seethed; if there was one thing he hated, it was being strong-armed. "Wario, please…" Torrence said, his voice quavering as Lugo riled the Ink Bubble around Peach. At this, Wario took a deep breath, but pointedly he and almost all of the other Toads remained confrontational and continued to hold their fighting stances.

Peach for her part recognized every single member of the Nderu Clan present. To Lugo's direct right was Auri and to his direct left was Zume, his younger siblings. Their floaty-eyed, slack-jawed stares as their heads lulled to the side lazily would have perhaps caused most to dismiss them as cognitively disabled. However, Peach, Waluigi and even Wario and some of the more astute members of the Toad Brigade knew not to completely underestimate Lugo's younger siblings. They stood directly with the Vassal-King, after all.

That said, the other clan members were still a more pressing concern as Peach recognized them in turn. On Zume's side stood Jahi, Choto, Nywele, Reiji, Merefu, Wituri and Thambo. On Auri's side stood Deka, Ogopa, Rita, Zi-Zi, Damza and Kubwa. It was quite a lineup, and definitely one that would have been more than enough to handle the Castle's security. Indeed, this lineup would have perhaps been overkill against most conventional armies.

"Good." Lugo said, satisfied that there was clear, if tentative and reluctant, submission. "Now, the Princess and I have much to discuss. Mainly as it concerns how Prince Haru Anmin was treated. And how she will be turning over the entire Mushroom Kingdom and the constituents of the Mushroom Alliance over to my clan instead." Lugo said. Waluigi gave a subtle cue to all present to hear Lugo out. Wario glanced over to his tallest brother, but even he seemed to catch the cue as Lugo continued to monologue.

"We'd never submit to you! Not to anyone but the Toadstools!" The Green Toad, Vernon, exclaimed. "Fortunately for your loyalties, Princess Peach will remain on the throne. For as long as it takes for the Kingdom to accept their vassalage to the Elven Empress and their subservience directly to me, that is." Lugo said. The rest of the Nderu clan, especially Zume and Auri, smirked at the plans hatching in their minds for dissenters.

"I treat all of my direct subjects well. If you do your duty, do it well, and go the extra mile, I might just see fit to reward you." Lugo explained. He then narrowed his eyes at Wario and Vernon. "If not? Well, I have ways of making sure you do the next time." At this cue, Jahi, Ogopa, Thambo, Kubwa and Merefu all step forward. Lugo hovered the Ink Bubble containing Peach closer to himself.

"But I doubt it'll come to that. I doubt the Princess wants to see any of her subjects hurt." Lugo said, his voice seductive as if he was trying to hypnotize her into compliance. "As su-"

"GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU PERVERTED SHITHEAD!" Mario bellowed, as he leapt down from a previously unseen vantage point. Lugo's eyebrow almost involuntarily raised as he sensed the Energy levels spike; he and then the rest of his clanmates only narrowly managed to avoid Mario's explosive diving kick in time.

"Mario, NO!" Peach called out, but no one could hear her. Rather, no one besides Lugo could hear her, as he promptly turned around to see why she'd say that. And when he did, he realized that during his monologue, he and the rest of the Clan had lost sight of Waluigi.

But Peach's desperate cry made Lugo turn around. And when he did, Lugo found him, and promptly used his free hand to trap both Mario and the sneaking Waluigi in Ink Bubbles.

"Was… Was I just monologuing like an imbecile?!" Lugo berated himself in realization, as he turned to the rest of his clan members. "And you all just sat here and let me?" He chided. The other Clan Members were too busy using Ink Bubbles of their own to subdue and restrain Wario and the Toad Brigade as they advanced.

But Zume and Auri's eyes focused as they looked at their older brother in snarky manners. "Fine, fair enough. Can't really argue with that." Lugo admitted after a few seconds of his siblings glaring at him. Lugo slammed his left hand down, causing all Ink Bubbles except the one holding Peach to explode and send their captives to the ground hard. Lugo handed Peach's container over to Auri and Zume.

"Get her as far away from here as you can. Right now!" Lugo commanded. "Luigi!" Peach called out, once again forgetting that no one but her captor could hear her. Mario had recovered just in time to see Zume and Auri Inkport themselves and the Princess away from the scene. "Princess!" Mario said, sounding on the verge of tears as she vanished without a trace. These were very angry tears, as he promptly leapt right for Lugo. He Inkified himself, allowing Mario to simply faze through him entirely.

"We have Peach! Let's go!" Lugo's orders to his clan were swift, and his clan were even swifter to follow. "Oh no you don't!" Mario roared out, as he ran at Lugo with a fist covered in the crayon-red fire that was Atomic Energy.

Lugo simply chuckled as he turned translucent and allowed Mario's punch to once again faze through him. "Hmph! Fool…" Lugo's parting words sounded as he was the last of the Nderus to Inkport out of the castle.

Mario screamed in frustration and anger, right as Luigi made it to the scene and began assisting Wario, Waluigi and the Toad Brigade in recovering.