Chapter 105: Peach's Castle

August 11th

By the time they arrived at Peach's Castle, it was an hour past midnight. There weren't any guards patrolling the area at the silent night. And the only noises that were awake were to the sound of Daisy's golf carts.

"Finally, I'm so tired after that long drive." Daisy hopped out of the driver's side of the golf cart as she stretched her arms. Slowly but surely everyone had the energy to leave the golf carts and headed for the front door of the castle.

Daisy knocked on the door. "Peach? You awake?"

Roy looked around the castle with tired eyes as a yawn escaped from his lips. "I don't think anyone's awake."

"Seems like it," Robin said, rubbing her head.

"She won't mind if we break-in?" Ike asked Daisy.

"She would mind and mail me the bill." Daisy sweatdropped. This time, she pressed the doorbell, hoping to get a response from the inside.

"This is taking forever." Richter walked up to the door and pulled out his whip.

Daisy had her eyes locked on his metal whip. "Wait, what are you doing-?"

Richter swung his whip up in the air and sent a viperous snake attack toward the door. By the time the door shattered into many thin pieces, a Red Toad appeared in front of them with a spear.

"You hooligans! I was about to open the door!" Red Toad said.

"Well, walk faster, mushrooms," Richter said, crossing his arms.

Red Toad only recognized Daisy and a few others amongst the group of people and let them in the castle. Everyone followed the Red Toad to the living room of the castle.

As everyone made themselves comfortable in the living room, Daisy searched the castle with her eyes and asked, "Is Peach here?"

"Yes, she is. The other guys are getting here right now." Red Toad answered.

"Since when do you guys carry spears? Aren't they a little heavy for you guys?"

"No, the spears the Princess gave us are light-weighted." Red Toad looked at his spear and back at Daisy.

Daisy arched her eyebrow. "Huh, this place doesn't look like it's under construction. What a liar. What is she trying to hide? A body?"

"As you can see, I'm not lying." A bubbly voice appeared from nowhere. Everyone looked toward where the voice was coming from to see Peach in a pink and white polka-dotted gown with fuzzy pink slippers.

"Peach!" Daisy said.

"Peach!" Roy waved. "Long time no see!"

"Yo," Ike said.

"It's great to see you again." Makato smiled while Miru nodded alongside.

"Hello everyone. It's great to see you guys! Toads, please make some food for our guests." Peach then ordered.

"Yes, Princess Peach." The group of colored-spotted Toads bowed and walked to the kitchen.

(oOoOoOo)

Everyone sat in the dining room to fill their empty stomachs from the long drive to Peach's castle.

"I have extra rooms for you all to stay for the night. I wasn't expecting guests to be honest." Peach said, sipping a cup of cocoa.

"We're bringing the Smashers back," Richter said. "Right now, we're gathering what we can."

"Oh! That sounds like fun! I do miss the Smash Mansion!" Peach giggled.

"Peach," Daisy called her name for her attention. "I don't get why you lied to me during our phone call."

"Oh, I wasn't lying, as I said." Peach smiled. "As you know. I'm doing some construction work in some parts of the castle like the pool and the basement. Also, I just finished the bar right next to the hangout room."

"Bar?" Richter pushed the glass bottle of Coke and stared at Peach.

"Yes! A bar! I've been working on that for a while now." Peach said.

Richter shot up from his chair, gaining the attention around him. "Alright, gang! We'll be taking a one-day break here before continuing our journey."

"Sounds good to me." Roy showed a thumbs up.

"I agree," Miru said. "The Princess must be very tired right now."

"It's important for rest anyways. That desert got a toll on me." Robin said.

"One break, huh?" Chun-Li stared up at Richter.

"Sure, just as long as you. . . well, nevermind." Peach kept her smile. "How about we turn ourselves to our rooms for the night?"

(oOoOoOo)

The whole castle was dead asleep after the dining. The Inkling checked the others to make sure they were sleeping before tiptoeing out of the girl's room.

"I should probably ask for directions. . ." Marmalade mumbled, walking down the halls of the castle. "I think Princess Peach said the restroom was at the right at the end of the hallway?"

Her legs wobbled down the hall and soon her whole body began to tremble in the pitch darkness of the castle. She gulped, forcing her legs to cooperate in the dead night.

A door that was a crack open stirred her interest, as she made her way toward the door. She hurried her pace to the door that was supposedly at the end of the right. Once she made it, she froze her footsteps. A strong smell of blood was the first thing that clogged her nose.

"Wamee?" The Inkling gulped. "Maybe. . . someone's on their period?" Her eyes faced the ground, seeing specks of red on the bottom frame of the door. Sweat rained upon her forehead and her eyes were now glued to the doorknob.

"O-or painting a cool art design. . .?" Marmalade grew more chills. Thick drops of red near the doorknob. She looked toward the ground, see more under the door.

COUGH.

"Eep!" The Inkling huddled into a tight ball from a cough that came from the door. She froze in her position, unable to move. The darkness around made it worse for the Inkling to move her body.

She then remembered Daisy's bravery as the ball she formed began to uncoil. With enough courage, she placed her hand on the doorknob and pulled the door open to where she could see what was inside.

Shackles. An hourglass body with many scars. Blood dripping from her chin to her bare feet. The woman coughed in the darkroom. Marmalade teared up, unable to take in what she just witnessed and sprinted away in the hallway.

She sprinted blindly with tears falling from her eyes. Just when she was about to open her eyes, the Inkling crashed her face into a tough wall that reeked only of alcohol.

Marmalade wiped her face and blinked a couple of times to see who it was she ran into.

"Hey, Little Squid. Watch where you're gonna. You could have gotten hurt." Richter said.

"S-sorry." Marmalade bowed.

"Ah, Peach knows what she's doing with the bar of hers. Hahaha. . ." Richter laughed and glanced back at Marmalade, noticing her body language. Marmalade couldn't face Richter's eyes and only hugged her body for comfort.

"What's wrong? You're pale. Not to mention you're shaking and sweating." Richter went on his knees and reached his hand for her shoulder.

"Oh!" Marmalade flinched from his touch and shook her head while forcing a smile upon her face. "It's n-nothing! Walking to the bathroom at night is quite scary! Hahaha. . . ."

Richter tilted his head and shrugged. "Understandable. For me, I'm used to the dark, beating up vampires and shoving them in my coffin. Well, I'm heading back to the bar. Peach has that place opened 24/7."

Before Richter left her side, Marmalade reached out for his hand once more. "W-wait, can you walk me back to the girl's room?"

"Sure, let's go." Richter grabbed her hand.

Marmalade blushed from his touch. "R-really?"

"Yeah. I have all night to drink."

"O-oh. . ." She glanced at Richter's large hand that wrapped her whole small hand. Marmalade smiled softly, feeling his warmth in the dark night. Even with what she saw kept repeating inside her brain, she had to tell everyone what she saw.

(oOoOoOo)

The sun was out, and the little orange Inkling gathered everyone up in the girl's room without Peach knowing.

"I saw a. . . body! Last night!" Marmalade cried, squeezing her blanket to her chin.

"Body?" The girls questioned at once.

Richter shook his head and let out a chuckle. His cheeks were bright red and his eyes were going places. "What you mean you saw a body last night? I didn't see anybody! Now that I think about it, you were trembling in your pants."

Ike crossed his arms. "In Peach's castle? Probably a sex doll you saw in a room."

"Sounds exciting! It's like Daily True Crime all over again!" Roy squealed.

"Perhaps we should investigate the situation," Makato said.

"Are you sure it wasn't a ghost or your imagination?" Robin asked the Inkling.

"Y-yes! I swear! I think. . ." Marmalade lowered her head.

"How can you swear in what you think is real? What is it?" Ike let out a heavy sigh, still not believing the situation.

"Daisy, please!" Marmalade turned to her friend and hopped on her lap. "You believe me, right?"

Daisy sweatdropped. "I believe you but. . . would Peach do anything like that?"

"The only way to believe is by seeing, right?" Richter said. "Let's go to where she saw this body."

And so they followed the Inkling to where she last saw the body in a room. Once they made it to the destination, they came across every other door in the castle. Everyone looked at the door with little doubt for the Inkling.

"This is the place?" Ike asked, walking toward the door.

"Y-yes! I think. . ." The Inkling said.

Ike took a nudge on the doorknob, but it never budged open. "Door's locked."

Inkling walked toward the door and checked the bottom of the door. There wasn't any sign of blood anywhere. Her legs shook and her whole body began to sweat. "W-what?! No, couldn't be. . .! I saw lots of blood here and it's gone!"

"Maybe you should calm down. . ." Daisy cracked a grin

"If what she's saying is true, then we can't let Peach know. The door's locked, so maybe what Marmalade's saying is somehow true. . ." Miru said.

The group looked at each other and exchanged nods.

"What are you guys doing here?" A familiar bubbly voice peeked behind them. The owner of the castle.

Everyone let out a scream to see Peach right behind them just from the thin air.

"Peach! Yo!" Daisy waved a shaky hand toward her cousin.

Peach stared at the group without saying a thing for a while, making the tension worse. Marmalade hid behind Daisy's dress to keep her nervousness showing. Everyone's heart was exploding from their chest.

"Please don't wander so freely." Peach started. "You might scare me."

"I think you scared us to be exact." Roy murmured.

"Anyways, breakfast is ready! Please join me!"

(oOoOoOo)

The dining room brought a cute vibe with it's pink and white round tables and fancy chairs. Everyone was served the same course of bacon, eggs, toast, with a glass of either orange juice or milk.

Halfway to the breakfast, Ike searched for a small salt shaker on the table but failed to find any. "Yo, Peach. Where can I get some salt?" Ike asked.

"Check the cabinets." Peach smiled.

Ike made his way to the kitchen, checking every cabinet he saw. Within time he was able to find another salt shaker. But his eyes were fixated on the large cylinder container Kosher Salt.

"I do need extra salt. . ." Ike grabbed the Kosher Salt instead of the small salt shaker. When he closed the cabinet, the Kosher Salt slipped from his hands and rolled away

Ike crouched down to the tile floor, searching for the salt he now lost seconds ago. "Where did it go?" His eyes went to the corner of the kitchen of a small tight space. He walked there and crouched again, hoping to find the salt.

"Is this. . ." Ike grabbed a boxed container that was heavier than the salt he had in his hands. His eyes went into shock and his face turned pale when he read the title of the item. "Blood Kleaner X?" He dropped it immediately and found more disturbing items in the corner crack.

A spray bottle, a white towel with a crimson liquid leaking from it. And a black leather whip, long and scaled with thorns and dried spots of red.

(oOoOoOo)

Later in the afternoon, Peach told the group to make themselves comfortable, saying she'll be busy. Everyone was back in the girl's room for another emergency meeting.

"Guys, Little Squid is right," Ike said. "Whatever she saw was a body. I know it."

The group grew nervous with sweat dripping from the heads.

"How can you be so sure?" Daisy asked.

"Look, what I found in her kitchen in some cracked space." Ike threw a white plastic bag in the middle of the circle and the items of a whip, a container that said "Blood Kleaner X", a wet towel, soaked in blood, and a spray bottle slipped out of the plastic bag.

"Blood cleaner. . ." Miru gulped.

"A whip?" Chun-Li said.

Robin pinched her nose. "Is that. . . blood on the towel? It stinks."

Ike nodded from their comments. "When I saw the whip, I thought Peach was into bondage. But then the blood cleaner. I think Peach's hiding a body." Ike said.

"We must stop this at once!" Richter said.

"YEA!" Everyone said.

Robin placed her hand on her chin, being deep in thought. Roy glanced at her and poked her shoulder. "Hey, whatcha thinking about?"

"Well, to be honest. I don't know if my ears were deceiving me. I heard a shout from outside of the castle while I was busy admiring the flowers. It came near the pool area, but I didn't check."

"Outside? I feel like in a soap mystery opera!"

Makato frowned. "Are we dealing with multiple cases?

Daisy grabbed the blood cleaner and eyed it deeply. "Who does she have in the castle? I hate to do this, but we gotta corner Peach somehow and find whoever she has in the castle. And her Toads with those spears, we'll need to tie them up."

"I agree." Chun-Li nodded.

"Miru and Inkling. You guys get the keys from Peach and tie her up. Once you get the keys, open the locked door." Daisy ordered.

"Wamee?" The Inkling gulped in fear.

"Got it," Miru said.

"Robin and Roy," Daisy turned to the two sitting next to each other. "Investigate the noise outside."

"Yes, Sir!" Roy saluted.

"It's Ma'am, you sexest pig!" Robin screeched.

"Everyone else, we'll search the castle and knock out the Toads."

"Roger," Ike said.

"While you guys do that, I'll do my thing!" Richter pulled out a small metal container from his blue outfit. The group watched him and he took in heavy gulps.

"You're not drinking!" Chun-Li exclaimed.

(oOoOoOo)

Her bangs grew past her eyes and her arms screamed of pain and tiredness as they were hung up from the same position. Chained from the ceiling down with her feet chained to the bottom as well in a criss-cross position. Her clothes, ripped and torn with spots of scars, and dried blood from head to toe. The door was dark without sunlight entering.

She woke up when she heard the door creak. Her eyes saw something that wasn't Peach earlier, but a small orange. . . person.

The door cracked open once more, and Tifa could barely spare a glance toward the direction with the lack of strength.

The door was closed again as the person walked to her victim with a fresh new whip with more scales that were sharp as needles.

"Oh my, that was a close one!" Peach stopped in front of Tifa as she held the whip on her shoulder with a sinister glare. "That little, orange octopus almost found you." She tapped the whip on her shoulder, irritated.

"I still want to play with you~! I have many more designs for your body. And I just bought this new whip from Amazon!"

Tifa coughed out blood and spit and cleared her throat. "You won't win, Peach. Cloud will never love you. . ." She hacked out another cough.

Peach smiled in the darkness and extended her whip, as it made a snap sound. "But Cloudy will always love me in my love basement~! He's safe. . . from the dangerous THOTS like YOU!" Peach then showed a small golden Toad Key. "Nobody will ever find out about my Cloudy's whereabouts. Teehee~!"

It was the first time since Peach talked about Cloud to Tifa. It brought only a drop amount of energy for her muscles to react, shaking the chains. "What have you done with Cloud?!"

Peach kept silent until she was eye-to-eye with her victim. "If I tell you, can you die? Now?"

Tifa didn't see Peach, but a demon right in her cold black eyes. A chill rushed into her heart, creating spiked up adrenaline into her body. Tifa began to breathe heavy from the sight of her eyes and soon her eyes began to tear up.

'No. . .'

The demon inside of Peach snickered as she lifted up the whip with a clenched fist.

'I don't want to die!'

Tifa squinted her eyes shut, feeling the wind of the whip of her chin.

Nothing happened.

Tifa peeked her eye open, hearing a thump.

Peach collapsed, and never woke up.

"Huh?" Tifa blinked a couple of times, but it was still dark in the room. The light shined through the room for the first time in forever. Tifa looked down and Peach was still knocked out on the floor.

"Man, Peach, this isn't like you at all. . ." Light blue hair appeared in front of Tifa's eyes and a short orange person right next to his knees.

She watched as he slipped the keys from Peach's fingers and swung them lightly.

"You're. . . that kid. . . Miru." Tifa furrowed her eyebrows, remembering his features.

"I probably shouldn't ask if you're okay, but are you okay?" Miru half-grinned.

"I was right. . ." The Inkling shook in her legs.

"Definitely. . ." Miru glanced down at Peach and looked over to the Inkling.

"Take these keys to Daisy." Miru said, tossing over the keys to her hands. "That's where. . . Cloud is. I'll stay here and look after them."

The Inkling was too scared to say a word and only gave him a tiny nod. She didn't hesitate to sprint out of the blood-stained torture room. "Wameeeeee. . .!"

After that, Miru was able to remove the shackles from her wrist. He supported her with her arm over his shoulders to keep a balance in her weak steps.

"Are you able to walk?" Miru asked, standing still.

"I can't feel my legs. . ." Tifa croaked. "Thank you. . . so much."

". . ." Miru spotted a couch in the room, and it was the only thing that wasn't tainted in blood.

Instead of supporting her to walk, he pulled her legs up to his chest while supporting her back, carrying her to the couch. Tifa laid on the couch, catching her breath as she stared up at the ceiling.

Miru searched the closet of the room and was able to find a blanket, an aid kit, and some rope. "I'm going to tie Peach up before aiding you to your wounds. It won't take long." Miru said.

"How did you get here?" Tifa asked. "Is it just you two?"

Miru crouched down near Peach and sat her up to begin tying. "No. I came with a group of Smashers. Ike, Roy, the Princess, Daisy, a few others. . . Richter's plan was to take back the Smash Mansion. We came here because Daisy was worried about Peach." Miru explained. He tightened the knot to Peach, making sure it was extra tight. He then got up and dragged her to the wall of the room.

"I'm glad you came. . . I thought I was going to. . ." Tifa shook her head.

Miru walked up to her with an aid kit and knelt in front of her, starting with the cuts in her legs and ankles. Tifa watched silently and stared at Peach that was tied up in a ball shape.

"How did you get here?" Miru asked, dabbing the thick, red cut on her leg with a cotton ball.

"Cloud wasn't answering my calls for a few days ever since he went out to get some apple cider," Tifa said. "I suspected Peach drugged him and tied him up in her car and drove him to her castle and kept him in a basement and pretended she was married to him, so I came here to her place."

"Oddly specific, but do go on. . ."

"I don't remember much after that. I just woke up here in this room, chained up. First, she drugged me, then she started whipping me. . . ugh. . ." Tifa held her head, feeling a hint of faint.

Miru looked up at her, seeing more visible scars from her face to her abdomen. "I'll do what I can for now. Then the Princess can heal you with a potion."

"I really appreciate it. Thank you. I need to see Cloud. I want to know if he's okay."

"Cloud is a strong guy. I'm sure he's alright." Miru assured.

(oOoOoOo)

Outside of Castle

"Sonic?!"

"Roy?! You gotta help me! I'm stuck!"

"How are you breathing underwater?!" Roy shouted from outside of the pool, seeing the blurry hedgehog in the water.

"I'm trapped in a glass container and there are piranhas surrounding me!"

"Ok! We'll find a way!"

Robin sweatdropped at Sonic's situation and was shocked to see someone locked up in a water cell with piranhas no less. "Oh my, how long has Sonic been in there?" Robin sighed, staring at Sonic's fishy situation. "We need some kind of protection before entering the water. . . maybe some scuba gear-"

Roy's shirt landed on top of her head, covering her sight. Then another article of clothing landed on her head. She pulled it out, seeing his shirt and pants that were on her head.

"Why you-! Roy?!" Robin growled at him, watching the redhead sprinting toward the pool with only his red trousers. "What are you doing, Roy?!"

"I'm coming, buddy!"

"Wait, Roy!" Robin jogged up to him and stopped him by the shoulder before he dived in the pool. "We need a plan!"

Roy swiped her arm away from his shoulder. "This is the plan! Saving Sonic!"

Before Robin could say another word, Roy dived in the pool head first in a perfect swimming position.

"You impatient nincompoop!" Robin shouted. "Ugh. . . wait. . ." Robin stared at the water, now seeing what Roy was holding. "Is that a. . . pool noodle? Pool noodle? A pool noodle?! To fight off the piranhas?! You've gotta be kidding me! He'll die!"

"MHH!" With closed puffed cheeks, Roy slammed the first piranha that swam toward him with the yellow pool noodle. The piranha was sent flying away from Roy, only to bounce back to him with even more anger.

'Aw shit. . . here we go again.' Roy thought, swinging the pool noodle at two more piranhas. They got whacked back but came back with a larger group of sharp teeth fish.

Robin watched Roy's reflexes. He wasn't doing a good well with hitting, but he was certainly fast dodging the teeth attacks. But how long could he hold his breath?

"With the loop, he's in, he'll only get hurt. I don't have a choice." Robin sighed, walking up to the edge of the pool and pointed two fingers straight to the air. Mini bolts of lightning clicked her fingers and then a bundle of lightning-sparked into thin air to her fingers.

"El Thunder. . . Stream!" Robin pointed the bundle of lightning to the water. It shot out from her fingers in a stream, zapping only the piranhas. Not the water and Roy.

Roy watched. His eyes burn from the flash of lightning that shocked his eyes. Once each fish was zapped, they rose to the service with jaws barely open, smoked, and fried up.

'Wow! This is different from Male Robin's El Thunder! And I'm not getting shocked! She's so classy! Kakkoii!'

Roy popped his head out of the pool and waved to her with his yellow pool noodle. "That was so cool, Robin!"

"I know." Robin's nose grew long from his compliment. With the piranhas out of the way, they were able to lift up the glass cylinder, freeing Sonic.

"Sonic!"

"Roy!"

Both of them cried happy tears, hugging each other. Robin smiled, watching the sidelines.

"AH-choo!" Sonic wiped his nose with his fingers. Due to his stay in the water, he caught a heavy cold.

"Here, Sonic." Robin wrapped a white towel around Sonic's body.

"Thanks a lot." Sonic shivered, sitting on a beach chair.

Roy picked up his shirt and slipped it on first, then his pants. "You know, Robin, we make a pretty good team! Roybin! That's our team name."

"Oh?" Robin smiled and let out another sigh. "More like Trashbin! You didn't listen to me and jumped to conclusions! I had to do all of the work so you won't die! Unlike you, Ike is-!"

Roy frowned. "Ike is, what?"

"N-nothing!" Her face grew red, facing her head away from Roy. "Well we're done here, so let's get going."

With that, Roy helped Sonic get back up on his feet and supported him with his hand on Sonic's back. "Ok, Sonic. Let's get you all warmed up with some hot cocoa! You must be starving, and cold and alone."

Sonic nodded shyly as he let out another sneeze.

They continued to walk together. "You're doing great, Sonic! One step at a time and we'll be inside the warm, toasty castle." Roy said.

"He's not a hospital patient," Robin said, watching the whole thing. "If only Ike was my partner. Seeing him shirtless with his abs showing out. Ah~ That would be great."

(oOoOoOo)

Inside of Castle

"These are the keys!" With her little feet, she finally made it to where Daisy was with Ike and Makato tying up Toads.

"Huh?" Daisy frowned, being handed the keys. "For what? My self-esteem?"

"Not that! To the basement!"

"Basement?! Now I'm fired up!" Smoke puffed out from her nostrils from the excitement she was feeling in her veins.

"And um. . . Cloud's. . . um. . . he's. . ." Marmalade murmured.

"Makato, Ike! Let's head to the basement!" Daisy showed the golden Toad key to the two.

"Finally, something interesting," Ike said.

"Ok. . ." Makato said.

The four walked together, searching for a door that may lead them to the basement. Minutes of searching, Ike spotted a door with a Toad symbol located in the bottom of the door.

"Found it," Ike said.

"Awesome~" Daisy hopped her way to the front and stuck the key in the lock. It clicked and the door opened. "Whoa. . . what is this place?"

Ike looked at the walls, seeing lit, wooden torches on the walls that were made of stone. The stairs were wooden and old, and the ceiling let out a drip every few seconds, creating a mellow sound.

"Is this a dungeon?" Ike asked.

"No, a basement dumbass- -oh shit, it is a dungeon." Daisy also noticed the torches on the walls and gulped. "Hehehe. . . D-damn, Peach! She even got the swirly stairs! This is going to take a while to hit the bottom of the floor. You guys ready?"

Marmalade's face grew pale and bit her nails. "Wamee. . ."

Makato leaned forward, seeing a pitch-black pit of nothingness further in. "It's so dark down there. . ."

The mercenary cleared his hand and stretched his hand out toward the potion princess. "You're uh. . . welcome to hold my hand if you're scared." Ike said, with a reddened face.

"Wamee!" The Inkling grabbed his hand instead of Makato and squeezed it tight.

A vein popped out from his head and turned toward the little orange Inkling. "You piece of sashimi!"

Makato giggled a bit. "I think she's more terrified than me."

Daisy took a torch from the wall and held it forward to the stairs, lighting up a path for their feet. "Alright, gang, let's go!"

Richter wiped his hands together as his job came to a finish. "Alright, all of the slimy Toads are in their coffins." Richter noticed the door that was left open when Daisy and the others entered the basement. The vampire hunter took a glance at it as a huge grin spread across his face.

"Is that a hidden dungeon! Finally something interesting! I gotta see this!"

Richter began walking. . . away from the dungeon. Chun-Li watched him with a keen eye. "You're going the wrong way, Richter."

Richter didn't give eye contact to Chun-Li. "I'm getting a quick sippy before I investigate."

(oOoOoOo)

After Daisy and the others made it to the bottom of the floor, they came across another door with lighting creeping from the bottom of it.

"This must be it. . ." Daisy lowered her voice and held onto the handle. "One. . ."

"Two. . ." Makato murmured.

"Three. . ." Ike said.

"Wamee!" Marmalade squeezed Ike's hand even tighter. Daisy curled her lips in and pulled the wooden door open. First was the smell that stung and fired up their noses. A mixture of sweat, blood, cookies, perfume all in one.

The layout of the room; not as cute and bubbly as the one upstairs. It was rusty on the gray stone walls and flooring. The plate of cookies was in a safe distance away from the hostage that was tied up on the wooden chair. Blinded and deaf.

Their eyes widened in horror when they saw a living human being with blonde spiky hair in their SOLDIER's uniform.

"Oh my God. . ." Daisy was at a loss of words.

"Oh my. . ." Makato covered her lips with her hands.

"What the?" Ike sweatdropped at the sight. "Is that. . . who I think it is?"

"Cloud!" Daisy shouted. They all rushed in the room and hurried to where Cloud was.

"My man in bondage. . ." Ike shook his head.

"We need to untie him. . ." Marmalade still held unto Ike's hand. "Cloud. . . how long has he been in here?"

"I don't know. Maybe if you let go of my hand, we might get an answer."

"Wamee. . .!" She released her hand and ran up to hold Makato's hand.

"He's gotten paler. . ." Makato said. "And skinnier. He lost some muscle. . ."

'Peach. . . you kept Cloud in this place. This is so inhuman of you. How could you do such a thing?'

"Daisy." A voice reached her with her hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Daisy snapped out from her thoughts and let out a laugh. "Yeah! I'm so happy! Happy that my fucking cousin is a psychopath!"

"I'm sure there's an explanation for all of this. . . I hope." Makato sweatdropped.

"I took the blindfold and earplugs, but he's not moving or blinking," Ike said tossing the things out of his hands. "Maybe breathing?"

"Poor Cloud, he must be into so much trauma." Makato folded her hands with worry in her eyes.

Ike waved a hand to his face. "Hello?"

Cloud's eyes were barely opened and his cheekbones were visible to eyes. He didn't speak a word.

Ike glanced at the plate of cookies and grabbed one and walked up to Cloud. "Hey, Buddy! It's Ike. Remember me? From Smash? Yeah. . . uh. You must be starving." He held the cookie toward his lips. "Um. . . I found a cookie. Peach's cookies. Chocolate chip."

'Peach. . .'

'Peach. . .'

'Peach. . .'

'It happened so fast. . .'

Cloud checked his phone one his way out of the grocery store. 'Tifa, I don't want nudes from you. . .'

'Then I was struck by something heavy at the back of my head. What felt like a lifetime. I couldn't see. . . I couldn't hear anything. But I could feel. . . and I could smell. The same scent of rose perfume in my nose. The same lips and hands that touched me. It was so familiar.'

'Peach. . . Peach. . . Peach. . .'

'Peach. Princess Peach. The demon I saw. . . was Peach.'

"CLOUDY."

'No. . . No. . . stop.'

"CLOUDY."

'Get away from me. . . .'

"CLOUDY."

'No! Stop. . .! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhh. . .!'

"Cloudy. Wake your dumbass up." Ike sighed, poking his forehead for a response. "Cloudyyy? I guess I shouldn't call him that. Hey, Cloud. Since you ain't speaking. I'll feed you myself. Open wide and say I love Peach's cookies~"

Cloud's eyes popped up open with rage, fear, and despair. Within seconds, the girls watched Ike's body being zoomed past them with a bang to the wall as the cookie slipped from his hands.

"Ike!" The girls called out his name. They gathered near him, trying to wake him up to earth.

"He's unconscious. . ." Makato noticed the mini soul hanging out from his lips. "Oh my. . ."

"Wamee. . ."

"Just the name Peach and Cloudy is bothering him."

"He got sent flying!" Daisy grinned in excitement. Makato walked up to Cloud, who was back in the same slouched, head-loose position. But this time, his eyes were opened half-way.

Makato went on her knees to get a closer look at his eyes. His eyes. . . as if they were put on batteries. The radiant blue now a dim bluish-gray.

"Cloud? It's me, Makato. Don't be afraid. She's not here. We're here to help you."

Marmalade walked up to Cloud with a sad face. "Is he okay?"

Makato waited for another reaction from Cloud. His eyes peeked over to Makato and then to Marmalade.

"He seems lost. . . and broken." Makato smiled sadly. "Do you want me to make you something to eat? A cinnamon roll perhaps? Or some milk tea? Oh. . ."

She watched his eyes and it peeked over to the orange princess. Makato turned her back to Daisy who waved a hand over to Ike's face.

A lightbulb appeared from Makato's head. "Oh. . .!" Makato walked up to Daisy. "Daisy."

"What is it?" Daisy sweatdropped.

Makato leaned over to her ear and spoke her request to Daisy.

"W-what?! You want me to make him a meal?" Daisy scratched her cheek.

"Mhm. Anything that would give him his strength back. What he needs is our trust. A meal would give him his stamina."

"Can't you do it? You can make him potion food or something. . ."

"I'm going to search for some ingredients for his trauma. You're the only one who can reach out to him. Please, Daisy."

"Well. . . Okay!" Daisy gave in. "I"m not the best like P- -oh, probably shouldn't say the P word." Daisy covered her lips. "Let's go Marmalade!"

"Okay!" Marmalade said. The girls headed back upstairs to help Cloud regain his strength back.

(oOoOoOo)

Roy and Robin made it to the basement to see Ike waking up from his knockout. When they both saw Cloud, they too were also in a state of shock.

"Oh. MY. GOD! Cloud!" Roy ran up to Cloud and squeezed him. "My poor baby! How did you get here?!"

Robin went over to Ike and helped him up on his feet. "Are you okay, Ike? Were you sleeping?"

Ike winced in pain, holding the back of his head. "I don't know. I tried feeding Cloud with cookies and I woke up here. . ."

"Oh. . . ok?" Robin also noticed the bloody bump on his head. "So Peach had another person in her grasp."

"Yep. He's not dead. Well. . . dead on the inside." Ike said, staring at the blonde mercenary.

Footsteps echoed in the basement from the stairs, entering three more people to the basement.

Peach made her appearance first, with rope tying her arms and waist together. "I was trying to show my love for Cloud, honest!" Peach defended herself.

Tifa had a towel over her torn clothes and held onto Miru for walking support, giving a stabbing glare to Peach. "You abused him! And you took me and Sonic as hostages!"

"No? I was. . . um. . . helping you!"

"With what?! Keeping me locked up from calling the cops?!"

"Tifa's here as well?" Ike asked Miru.

"She's the body that was found in the room," Miru explained.

"She has so many scars." Robin sweatdropped.

Miru set Tifa on a chair and tied Peach against a table where the plate of cookies were. He headed to where Roy was with Cloud, still as a brick.

"He doesn't look so good," Miru said.

Roy frowned. "Yeah, I know."

Upstairs in the kitchen, Daisy finished preparing her special meal for Cloud, while Inkling made PJ sandwiches for everyone.

Daisy let out a snicker and covered the meal with a round metal lid. "Ok! Cloud's therapy food is ready."

"What did you make? It smells very good." Inkling asked.

"You'll see. . ." Daisy said, setting his drink on the same tray with his meal.

"Whoa!" Richter stumbled in the kitchen with a bright red face. "That smells great! Mmm, mmm, mmm!"

"And where have you been?" Daisy pinched his nose from his hot breath of liquor.

"That idiot was drinking, again." Chun-Li followed him into the kitchen angry.

"Hey, Lil Tempura." Richter laughed at the Inkling, picking up a sandwich from the sandwich tray. He squinted his eyes at the sandwich and moved it closer to his eyes. "Wait, there's no ketchup?"

"Ketchup?" Marmalade asked. "But this is a PJ sandwich."

Richter took a long whiff and shook his head. "Bruh, this is a BLT, not a hot dog."

"Stop pulling words from your ass and get out!" Daisy said. "Jeez!"

"Ok! Ok!" Richter smirked. He inhaled the sandwich in one gulp before exiting out of the kitchen. "Before I do. . ." Richter paused his steps and stared at the mystery meal that was covered in a metal lid.

Makato wiped the sweat from her head after collecting a bucket full of mainly spotted colored mushrooms and other vegetables from Peach's garden. "Ok, now I need some-"

"RICHTER!"

"Ah!" Makato dropped the bucket, spilling half of the mushrooms on the grass. She turned her head to the window that was a tad open. "That sounded like Daisy?"

Makato picked up her spilled ingredients and rushed back inside and headed straight for the kitchen. She stopped when a table knife flew past her like a bullet. Marmalade and Chun-Li watched from the sidelines, not knowing who to stop.

"That was for Cloud! Why did you eat it?!" Daisy ripped his jaw open, pointing a table knife to his uvula.

"Euuhh!" Even though he was drunk, Richter fought back with his hand away from her weapon.

"Daisy's scary." Marmalade trembled.

"It's okay. . . Daisy." Makato placed herself in a safe distance without the chance of being stabbed. "We can make. . . something else!"

"There's no something else! It took me everything in the fridge to make my special meal!" Daisy's flames burst out from her back, shoving the knife more to his uvula.

"Is there a problem?" Robin walked up from the basement and froze in fear, watching the whole mess between Richter and Daisy.

"Daisy's upset that Richter ate the meal that was supposed to be for Cloud," Makato said.

"Hmm. . ." Robin slid her way into the kitchen and opened the fridge. "It's empty! Not to mention, it's a mess!"

"What are you going to do?" Marmalade asked.

Robin opened the cabinet to the dried ingredients. Once she found what she was looking for, she dragged it out of the cabinet. "Soybeans."

"What are you going to do with soybeans?" Chun-Li asked.

"It's the perfect substitution for milk and meat. We can make a meal with this!"

"No!" Daisy pointed the table knife at Robin. "I'm not making some fake meat for Cloud!"

"What choice do we have?! He's starving and he needs food right now! Cloud's skin and bones!"

"I think Robin's right. . ." Makato said. "Besides, Daisy, it's only for now. Once he gets up and moving, you can make him even better meals."

Daisy stared at the large bag of soybeans and sighed, getting up on her feet and walking back to the kitchen. Richter sighed in relief and crawled his way away from the kitchen.

(oOoOoOo)

Everyone gathered in the basement for lunch after what felt like forever. Makato mixed three stamina-trauma potions for Sonic, Tifa, and Cloud into their food and drinks, so they would feel rejuvenated from their traumatic experience.

Daisy sat in front of Cloud with a nervous look, cutting a piece of soybean steak for Cloud. "I can't believe I have to feed him too. He has hands, doesn't he? Did his fingers get traumatized as well? What a load of bull-bull." She murmured. "Alright, Bud, if you want to whoop Peach's ass after this, you have my permission. But in order to do that, I need you to eat."

The orange princess tried peeking at his eyes, but it was only covered from his bangs. "I know you can do it! You want me to blow it for you?"

Cloud flickered his eyes open and lifted his head, smelling the steak up his nose. He opened them wide when he saw an orange dress instead of a pink dress.

Daisy yawned and looked back, seeing everyone witnessing the moment between them. "What are you guys doing?"

"It's been like ten minutes," Roy said, glancing down at his invisible watch on his wrist.

"Can't he take pain killers or something?" Richter said.

"Technically his medicine is in his food, so he needs to eat," Makato said.

"As expected of you Princess." Miru smiled.

"You can do it Cloud," Tifa said.

Daisy turned her head back, seeing Cloud leaning in for a taste. His lips landed on the fork taking in the steak and chewing it up.

"He's eating. . ." Ike muttered. "He's eating!"

"He's eating!" Roy cheered. "Ole!"

"Way to go!" Sonic said. "You did it, Daisy!"

"Wamee!"

"H-huh?!" Daisy blushed madly and shook her head. "I didn't do anything!"

"Thank you. . ."

Her heart almost stopped when she heard his soft, yet weak voice. Daisy noticed his skin glowing back and his eyes, burning, lightning up to a radiant blue. The smile became visible to her eyes.

"Thank you, Daisy," Cloud repeated.

Her face brightened up as she placed the food on Cloud's lap. "H-hahaha! What are you, a simp? Stop staring, start eating!"

"Can I feed him my cookies?" Peach appeared between the two of them, still tied up.

"Peach?!" Daisy's heart burst from her chest.

Sweat rained immediately on Cloud and his skin turned transparent from Peach's appearance.

"He's going into crippling depression!" Roy gasped.

"Just when he's feeling better!" Robin said.

"Who said you could move?" Miru yanked the rope, pulling Peach away from the two.

"Noo! Just one cookie I wanna give him please~?"

"You're going to give him cardiac arrest," Chun-Li said.

(oOoOoOo)

Outside of Peach's Castle

Richter explained his plan to Peach, Sonic, and Cloud to get the Smash Mansion back. They all agreed to come along with them on their journey.

"Now that's over with," Richter looked at the sky as the sunset upon them. "I'm afraid two golf carts won't fit all of us."

"Oh! Don't worry! If you need transportation, I have my own private airplane. It's cute and pink! And there'll be enough for all of us!"

"I'm coming with you!" Tifa said. "I don't trust Peach, and I want to make sure Cloud is safe. . ."

". . .it's pink?" Cloud murmured.

"Problem solved." Richter nodded.

"Who's next to get?" Ike asked.

"Well, there's no way I'm going to Europe. Hahaha!"

Ike looked at his phone and checked Marth from his contact list. "How about California? I think the blue-haired trio is there."

"California?" The group questioned.

"Didn't Robin say he was going to America too?" Miru asked the group.

"Forget what I said. He's better off not in Smash." Ike shook his head.

"I always wanted to go to LA!" Roy cheered. "Yeah! Let's go!"

"Whether we hate them or not, more the merrier. Let's get on the plane!" Richter ordered.