Toad Town was an unorthodox choice for a honeymoon location, but as it was the capital of the entire Mushroom Kingdom, it certainly wasn't a horrid spot to pick. Though it was the capital, it wasn't a tourist spot like some of the other places across the Woody Woods.
Having gotten married in Marrymore, the aptly named marriage capital of the kingdom, newlywed Toads Raz and Raini rented out a cottage at the edge of Toad Town to spend a quiet weekend to themselves. No nagging parents, no hassling Toad scammers, and no goombas or anything of the like. Just the two of them at peace.
The door to the cottage was kicked open by Raz, who was carrying his bride in his arms, the pair still in their wedding attire.
"Oh boy, I hope that door was meant to be opened that way." The groom stated.
He waddled inside, setting his bride down in the middle of the cottage. It was large, and open, with the only doors being one that led to a bathroom, and one that led to a bedroom. On the other side of the large open living area, another door that led to the Woody Woods was positioned.
"This cottage is perfect, Razzy!" Raini said. Her voice, just as strident as her groom's, was only a bit higher in pitch. They sounded nearly identical. It was uncanny.
"Isn't it? I got it for a reduced price, it was an absolute steal! But no price is high enough for the comfort of my lovely bride-ette." Raz kissed his newlywed's hand, smiling.
"The reception was so fun, but I'm so worn out." Raini said. "I'm ready to just get into bed right now! But I have to wash up first."
"Of course. I'll make sure all the amenities are still around… I didn't want to pay extra for nothing!"
The newly married couple separated, in the normal way, with Raz going to the kitchen and Raini going to the room. They had instructed Raini's spore sibling to deliver their briefcases to the cottage early, so everything was set for their arrival.
Carefully undoing her wedding dress, the Toadette set the beautiful gown on a nearby chair to rest there. She put on her nightwear, soon headed to the bathroom right after. She could hear Raz rummaging through the fridge- he was set to make her their favorite breakfast the morning after.
Raini flicked on the light, illuminating the small bathroom. Stepping to the short sink, she took a look at herself in the mirror, smiling at her reflection once it caught her eye.
She turned on the water to wash her hands first, needing them clean for her to wash her face next. Once that was done, she started to lather her hands with soap, rubbing them across her cheeks, trying not to get it in her eyes.
Once she moved onto the rest of her face, she closed her eyes and started rubbing across that area next. As she did, however, she thought she felt shaking from down below her. As she scrubbed her face, she thought she heard things in the room start to rattle.
She paused, eyes still closed. Raini kept silent, paused to listen or feel for anything that just happened. After a second, she continued to wash her face, soon finishing up and starting to splash more water onto her face to rinse the suds off.
More shaking, just for a moment or two. Raini paused again, quickly drying her face to look around. After a few seconds, she put the towel back on the hanging rack. Raini returned to the sink, turning it on to start to brush her teeth.
Then, the shaking started again, and Raini felt it this time. It didn't simply last for a few seconds either- it was a steady earthquake that started rattling everything that wasn't bolted down. Raini held onto the side of the sink, keeping herself steady from the sudden shake.
She watched as the faucet's water slowly died down to a trickle. Soon, she felt some wetness at her feet- that was because the sink was leaking under the surface, and was pouring out water onto her shoes.
"Raini?!" Raz yelled from the living area.
"Raz!"
The bride stumbled out of the bathroom, meeting her newlywed outside the door. The fridge was loudly rattling, with all the food on the inside spilling onto the floor. The couple grabbed onto each other's arms as they met.
"We need to take cover! Come on!"
Raz led his wife to the nearby dining table, gently pushing her to cower underneath the table before getting under there himself. They grabbed onto each other tightly as the quake still raged on, with more water pouring out of the open door to the bathroom.
After only another minute or so of shaking, it soon slowly stopped, the earth coming to a stop once again. The couple stayed underneath that table for a few moments in case of aftershocks before crawling out from under it.
Raz got up first, helping Raini to her feet. They got a good look at the carnage left from the quake's reign of terror. Most of the food from the fridge was on the ground, the door propped open by the pile of collapsed foodstuffs.
The sound of rushing water continued to echo through the house as more water poured out of the bathroom and all throughout the cottage.
No wonder the cottage was a steal.
"My dress!"
Raini quickly scurried over the growing amount of water in the living room to retrieve her wedding dress. She held the folded gown over her head, even if the water was barely over her feet, and shuffled towards the front door of the cottage.
"The sink needs to be fixed!"
"I don't know anything about that, Raini."
"Then call a plumber!"
"At this time of night?"
"It's either that, or you sleep on the grass and I sleep on top of you! I won't let my wedding dress get any grass stains on it…" Raini stroked her dress.
She walked out the front door, keeping it wide open but leaving the cottage. Raz sighed.
Heading into the flooding bathroom, he opened the doors to the cabinet under the sink to assess the damages. The water pipe was completely disconnected from the bottom of the sink, pouring out water into the cabinet and to the floor.
It seemed like he just had to connect two pieces of pipe together again, but Raz had no idea how plumbing worked. If he did something wrong he could completely destroy the sink, which was a ton of money out of his pocket- even if he could possibly have the deniability of the earthquake that just happened.
He left the bathroom to retrieve the wireless landline phone from the wall. There was a list of people in town to call, from food to entertainment, and a plumbing Toad was towards the bottom of the list. Raz pressed the number of the plumber into the phone.
Strolling across the cottage, he exited from the backdoor of the building, getting a good glance at the entrance of Woody Wood a few yards away. A light above the door helped Raz see the area around the door.
The phone line rang, with Raz holding it to the side of his head. Much like the rest of his kind, he didn't really have visible ears, but it felt right to hold it there.
"Dumb quakes… stupid sink…"
There was a rustling from the brush to his side that made Raz look over at it. He felt a moment of unease, as if feeling someone watching him, before he slowly turned his body to lean against the cottage wall, back to the back door.
He continued to listen to the ringing on the other end, which seemed like it took forever. Eventually, the phone was picked up on the other side.
"This is the Plumbing Toad," An elderly voice said on the other end. "I can't make it to the phone right now, whether it's because it's after hours or I physically cannot make it to the phone in time. Please leave a number and message and I'll respond as soon as I can..."
There was a beep.
"Hello, I'm Raz from Rose Town. Well, I was in Marrymore where the reservation was made, but I'm from Rose Town." The groom said. "I'm calling because I'm in a cottage, one of the ones at the edge of town. I was trying to get in contact because it seems that a quake has suddenly… caused our sink to…"
Raz paused, turning his head to listen. He couldn't hear the rushing water anymore.
"...caused our sink to leak. If you can send someone out as soon as possible that would be great. Thank you very much."
He ended the call and turned around. The water noise was completely gone. Raz walked into the cottage and closed the back door tightly, looking through the house. As he passed by the kitchen, he suddenly noticed that all the food that fell out of the fridge was now placed on the counter, and the fridge door was closed.
Huh. Raini must've done that while he was outside. Saved him a chore.
Raz got into the bathroom, the sink's cabinet still opened but with no more water pouring out of it. He leaned down in front of the sink, looking up to where the pipes were. The pipe that was broken off and spewing water before was now reconnected to the correct pipe, with a bright red pipe coupling attaching them together.
In his focused walk to the bathroom, Raz had neglected to notice the set of dirty footprints leading in through the backdoor, into the kitchen, then to the bathroom and back out the backdoor after that. Footprints from a pair of boots that were much larger than any Toads' feet.
Midday in the capital of the Mushroom Kingdom, the sun shined brightly down on Castle Toadstool- the large aptly red-roofed ivory palace that stood at the very northern edge of Toad Town. The smaller, mushroom-like homes of Toad Town were abandoned, with every single one of the inhabitants of the city having shuffled into the massive castle.
The moat drawbridge was down, as it was on the last day of every month, to invite the citizens of Toad Town into the domain of their ruling monarchs for an open forum. It lasted all day, from nine to five, with lunch and refreshments provided to the citizens so most of them aren't standing around starving while waiting for their turn.
The inhabitants of Toad Town, and Mushroom Kingdom as a whole, were referred to as Toads- short for "Toadstool People," which is what they were called in the Before Kingdom (B.K.) Era. These Toads were all the same sized, with the same physique- short and stocky with large, mushroom-capped heads. These caps could be any color, with any shapes or stripes on them. Some Toads, typically female-presenting Toads (Toadettes) had ponytail-like rows of connected mushrooms hanging down the back of their heads.
A chorus of shrill, loud voices filled the main foyer of the castle, all from the Toads from the town in front of the palace. The room's walls were painted with hills and clouds, like a massive mural. The floor of the foyer was checkered, save for the red carpets leading to the stairs, and a large stationary rug with a sun on it in front of the main stairway, the one that led to the throne room.
Most of the Toads were in the foyer, but they were also gathered on the main stairway, on the loft the stairway led to, and all through the atrium that was the throne room. Their voices echoed everywhere, nearly shaking the stained glass windows with the reverberation.
It was 9:25AM. The Toads had been talking since the doors opened.
With the bang of a cane on the marble floor towards the throne, all the Toads quieted down.
Once they did, one of the rulers on the throne, the one to the Toad's left, let out a quick sigh of relief, shaking his head as if to try and shake out any ringing from his ears. He was taller than the Toads, with a black beard and bushy eyebrows of the same color. He wore a regal purple robe, and a black toadstool cap with gold dots on it. A golden crown rested atop this cap.
In the seat beside him, the throne to the Toads' right, the queen was seated as well. She was a bit taller than the king, with a beautiful orange gown that had a red gem brooch situated at the center of her chest. Her toadstool cap was pink, with white dots, and a similar gold crown atop it.
Queen Chanterelle cleared her throat, standing. After a second, she gave a slap to her husband's arm. King Mushroom quickly broke from whatever trance he was in after hearing all those Toads speak at once, standing up alongside his queen and adjusting his robe to look presentable.
"Thank you." The queen spoke to the one who hushed the crowd. She looked out to the entire group of Toads ahead of her, who were all staring back at her. She took a deep breath. "The time is now nearly half an hour past nine. Without any further delay to wait for others to enter the palace, I believe it's time to begin our most recent open forum. I, Queen Chanterelle of the House of Toadstool, bring this forum to session."
"I second it!" The king spoke up, twirling his dark mustache in his fingers.
With that, the monarchs sat back in their thrones.
There was a table set up a few yards away from the steps to the front of the thrones. There was a moment of creaking and the sound of a chair dragged to said table, before the person climbed up onto the seat.
This Toad, visibly older than the others, slammed his cane down on the table as he sat at the table. He was built just the same as the other Toads, but his cap was tan with brown spots, and he had a white mustache. No other Toads had a mustache, so there was a rumor this one was fake.
As a microphone was set up on the table, the old Toad leaned towards it and spoke directly into it, accidentally causing the mic to peak as he was practically eating the microphone while speaking.
"Toadsworth, Toad Town elder, lead adviser to the House of Toadstool."
"We know who you are, Toadsworth! Hey buddy!" King Mushroom said from the throne.
"Hello." Toadsworth replied into the mic.
"What is your concern, Mister Toadsworth?" The queen spoke, hopefully to keep them all from getting off track. She really didn't want to be here past five again.
"Well, your majesty, if you can notice… all of the inhabitants of Toad Town are currently in the castle with us today."
"I did notice. I had my caterers make extra lunches for you all. Is there any specific reason you are all here at once? There haven't been this many Toads in here since… forever."
"We are here to address the continued earthquakes that have been shaking Toad Town and the area around it for the last few months, hindering our expeditions to the Woody Woods for any collection of supplies."
"This is… the first I've been told of these earthquakes. You said they've been happening for months?"
"It happened only once last month, ma'am. But this month, a few weeks ago, they started happening more often- the latest one was the day before yesterday. They've been shaking the entire town."
"Do you think it's a ghost?" King Mushroom asked.
"…no, sir, I don't believe so. There hasn't been any loud moans or crying coming from the ground. It has been rattling our plumbing, however, and a lot of toilets and sinks in town are breaking."
"We'll have to get a toad troop to help with the internal plumbing." The queen made a remark to a nearby Toadette, her personal note taker. "As the pipes lead back to the ones under the castle, I'm sure we'll have to redirect and mend pipes under here first."
"The plumbing aside," Toadsworth spoke up. "We really must make the trip into Woody Woods. Not only do we collect our crops from there, but it's also the only known path to Mushroom Bridge, and to Mushroom City, where we trade. The Wigglers and Goombas in the woods are enough to deal with- earthquakes make it dangerous to even think about walking into the forest!"
"Hmmm… perhaps you can wear hard hats as you are traveling across the Woody Woods!" King Mushroom stated.
The room of Toads started chattering all at once. Though well meaning, Mushroom had a reputation of being… not so great when it came to ideas involving his kingdom. He was great at communicating with his people on a personal level, but not a great plan maker.
With the chorus of Toads rising in volume again, Chanterelle sighed, rubbing her eyes with the fingers and thumb of her hand, already feeling a headache coming on from the voicing of her citizens.
"People, people, please!" She yelled. "Settle down!"
It took a moment, but at the command of their queen, the Toads all went silent. They turned around to look at the queen once again, staring at her in complete silence.
"Toadsworth," Queen Chanterelle looked at the elderly Toad. "I feel for you in these trying times about the earthquakes, but there is very little I can actually do about them. We're royalty, we settle civil matters, not matters of nature."
"Why not send out an expedition?"
"Well that's a very good suggestion." The queen sighed, not processing the very different voice in her moment of stress. "Who said that?"
"I did, mother."
Turning her head, Chanterelle was greeted with her daughter standing right beside her. The queen jumped a bit in surprise, grabbing the arms of her chair.
"Peach!" She spoke. "I thought you were baking!"
"My cake is in the oven." The princess replied. "You were saying I had a good idea?"
"Well, yes. Sending out a qualified troop on an expedition through the Woody Woods does sound like a good idea."
"It should! We have some very qualified explorers who, might I remind you, work for us all the time! Toad Brigade, I know you're in here! Where are you all?"
Princess Peach's call was answered from the back left of the group of Toads in the throne room. The lead Toad, the infamous Captain Toad, alongside Archivist Toadette and their gaggle of misfit Toads all waved towards the princess with a loud "HELLO!" in unison.
With the call from the brigade assisting her case, the princess stepped out in front of the king and queen- her pink gown allowed her to glide across the red carpet, a gown with a blue chest brooch to match her mother's red one. Unlike her father, Peach's hair was a lovely shade of golden blonde, neatly groomed and flowing down her back. Unlike her parents' crowns, Peach's gold tiara glimmered with a ruby in the center, and smaller sapphires on either side of the red gem. She had no visible mushroom cap.
"Our people are all about expeditions! We're the largest kingdom in the world!" Peach spoke. "We shouldn't let a little quake scare us! If we send out the brigade, and they retrieve a month or two of supplies, it will give us an idea of how we can handle this in the future, whether the shaking dies down or not!"
With that, the Toads continued to chatter again, but at a lower volume. The princess smiled widely at her people speaking with each other.
"There's no need for a grand speech, dear." The queen said, amused at her daughter. "I already believe it's a good idea. Especially involving the Toad Brigade… Toadsworth? Is an expedition approved amongst the people?"
After the question, the old Toad turned around, looking at the other Toads behind him. There were hushed murmurs amongst the large crowd of citizens. After a few seconds, Peach turned around to look at her parents, wondering what was taking them so long.
Eventually it was done. Toadsworth turned back around and scooted his chair forwards. He leaned towards the microphone.
"The citizens approve of an expedition."
"Yes!" Peach smiled, clasping her hands and lifting her shoulders in glee.
"Excellent. We'll be sending out Captain Toad and his Toads at the earliest convenience tomorrow… as for the plumbing, we'll see what can be fixed below the castle, but anything individual will have to be done by plumbers."
"Of course, your majesty. There… there aren't many plumber Toads in town though." Toadsworth said.
"How many are here?"
"Just one, ma'am. And he's about as old as I am."
"Hm." The queen tapped her chin. "Allow me to get back to you about that. I'll see what kinds of contacts I can make in the neighboring towns… whoever is willing to come by with these earthquakes ravaging the town, that is."
The king and queen stood, allowing their (taller) princess to stand between them as the royal family stood united.
"If that's the only real pressing matter right now, I think we'll be taking a small… recess." The queen said. "The forum will open back up in about ten minutes. Please, help yourselves with our refreshments."
Toadsworth scooted out of his chair, hobbling away with his cane. The other Toads began talking to each other again, the room filling with only moderate noise this time
"Hey, fuzz!" King Mushroom said to Peach, hugging her side. "Way to cut in with a fresh new idea, princess!"
"Thanks, dad."
"I do have to say, I am surprised. I thought you believed the open forums were 'boring' and 'hurt your ears' among many other complaints."
"If I have to sit here and listen to them for eight hours, mother." Peach replied. "In short bursts, I can handle this meeting like a pro."
"When you become queen of the Mushroom Kingdom, you might not have a say on whether or not you can handle it in short bursts, Peach."
"Well… I'll cross that bridge when I get to it." The princess waved her gloved hand. "When do you think the expedition will start tomorrow?"
"If it all goes well, most likely as early as eight in the morning. It's a long walk to Mushroom City after all." The queen replied. "Going to see them off?"
"You could say that."
"You're gonna have to!" King Mushroom interjected. "You, your mother and I are gonna be dealing with pipes all day tomorrow!"
"The pipes? Seriously?"
"Yes, seriously. You know all the plumbing in Toad Town runs directly through here."
"Yeah, I know. Ugh." Peach huffed.
"These are things you must deal with as a princess and a queen, Peach."
"Yes, I know, mother. There's nothing more important than… than…"
Peach paused, smelling the air. She gasped.
"Oh no! My cake!"
Pulling up her dress a bit, Peach scurried off, leaving her parents to stand in front of their thrones, seeing their daughter off.
The queen sighed. Her husband rubbed her shoulder to soothe her.
"She's going to try and go on that expedition." Chanterelle said.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Mushroom replied.
"There was. Then I remembered that she's your daughter." The queen said, placing her hand on top of her husband's, smiling at him.
After their moment was done, the voices of Toads got loud again, making them both wince in pain of hearing the shrill voices all at once.
Down below the throne room, and below the castle grounds, the basement of the castle was home to a variety of pipes passing through, all connected to the plumbing system within town. The basement was pretty much Toad Town's center for water and electricity, with payments to such amenities made through taxes.
It had been a while since the royal family had been down there, and it was obvious. The pipes connected to town were worn down, a few of them broken, with some pieces of pipe scattered across the ground of the wide open basement.
There was a massive group of Toads there- from worker Toads, to construction Toads, to guard Toads standing near the exits of the basement. The King and Queen were standing towards the center of the giant open room, looking upwards at the destroyed pipes.
"Earthquakes. I can hardly believe it." Chanterelle said. "We've never had earthquakes in this kingdom."
"We've had quakes before, dear." Mushroom replied. "But they were never natural."
"Of course they weren't. Which worries me about what these earthquakes are really about."
The doors behind them, leading to the stairs connecting the floors of the castle, opened up with a loud slam. The loud noise made the king and queen turn to see what was happening.
Though he seemed to be elderly, Toadsworth was booking it through the basement, one hand using his cane to help him walk, the other holding onto the hand of the kingdom's blonde princess. Peach, dressed in a hot pink jumpsuit, was staring at the ceiling, mildly annoyed as she was dragged along.
After taking a moment to catch his breath, leaning in his cane, Toadsworth finally spoke.
"Your excellencies," He said, wheezing. "I present to you, Princess Peach."
"Thank you, Toadsworth."
"Yeah, thanks Toadsworth." Peach said blankly.
"Yes… pip pip…" With that, the old Toad hobbled away, taking it slow this time to leave the basement.
Peach lowered her head to meet her parents' collective gaze.
"Peach," Chanterelle began. "Can you tell me why you're wearing your outdoor jumpsuit?"
"Because… I didn't want to get my other clothes dirty when working on the pipes?"
"Peach."
"She has a point, it could get gross…"
"Mushroom, please." The queen said, making her husband fall silent again with a frown. She continued to speak to her daughter. "Peach, you can't go on the expedition with the Toad Brigade."
"Mother, please! It's only a day's trip to and from Mushroom City, I'll be back before dessert is served to you and father tonight. I'll probably bring back dessert for you too! Like that double cherry mousse you love so much…"
"Oooh, I haven't had that in a Monty Mole's age…" Chanterelle tapped her chin for a moment, before she snapped from her trance to glower at her daughter. "Peach, don't change the subject."
"Oh come on, mother." The princess walked around her parents, letting the pipes in the basement be seen behind her. "I get that the pipes in the kingdom are incredibly important. We're one of the first cities in the entire Mushroom Kingdom to get plumbing! Though I'm sure the fact that the townspeople are named after our bloodline has nothing to do with it."
"Hey! Eh, it's true." Mushroom nodded, only offended for a moment.
"But besides the plumbing stuff, how am I supposed to get how important these pipes are if you're forcing me to work on them? You know I'm better as a conversationalist, you could always just tell me why things are important to the Mushroom Kingdom."
"Peach, there's nothing in this basement you could ask about that I couldn't answer. You just simply need to ask me questions and I'd be more than happy to answer them."
"Oh really? Alright then." Peach replied to her mother, strolling around a bit more. She pointed a thumb over her shoulder towards something in the background before tightly crossing her arms. "What's that thing and why isn't it connected to anything in the plumbing system?"
In the far corner of the room, collecting dust with a fence set up around it, was some kind of pipe sticking it up from the ground. It was a large, green pipe- a different color and size than any of the plumbing pipes up above them. There was a similarly colored pipe plug blocking off the pipe from anyone looking inside of it.
Chanterelle looked at the green pipe, then back at Peach. She looked at King Mushroom next, who merely raised an eyebrow while waiting for his wife's answer. Finding no solution, the queen turned back to her daughter, dusting off her dress and folding her hands in front of her lap.
"...pass." She said.
"Seriously?" Peach asked incredulously.
"I don't have all the answers, Peach! I could probably answer anything else you want to know."
"Alright. Why can't I go on the expedition with the Toad Brigade?"
"Because I said so."
"Mother!"
"Chanterelle," Mushroom touched his wife's arm. "Let her go with the Toads."
"Mushroom, she could help with the pipes."
"It's a bunch of pipes, dear." The king replied. "Are we going to do anything but sit here and watch the workers fix it all? She'll have more things to do, learn how to work with the Toads and learn the art of a trade if she goes with the Toad Brigade! That's more valuable than watching a bunch of pipes being set up, I think."
Mushroom's eyes moved to Peach, the king winking towards his daughter with a grin. Peach smiled sweetly at her father sticking out for her.
"I don't know…" Chanterelle sighed, resting her hand on her cheek.
"She'll go out, learn some new things, and be back in time to get you that cherry mousse for dessert tonight. Double cherry mousse for all of us!"
"...hmmm." The queen thought in silence for a moment. "Well… alright, okay. But you're only to stick with Captain Toad the entire time! And if anything bad happens, you'll be sent right back to us."
"Deal."
Peach hugged her mother, who hugged her much taller daughter back. The princess quickly scurried out after, passing by the slower Toadsworth, who was just halfway down the hall as Peach passed him by.
As her daughter left the area, Chanterelle held a hand to her chin, eyebrows furrowed in worry. King Mushroom put a hand on his wife's shoulder, smiling reassuringly.
"She'll be alright."
"...hm. I know." She replied. "It's hard not to worry. You never know what kind of weird people are out there… ready to take her away."
Heading upwards, into the entrance hall of the castle, Peach made her way across the tiled floor to the front doors. As she did, she passed by a Toad holding what appeared to be a pretty pink duffle bag on top of his head. Peach grabbed the bag's straps and pulled it off the Toad's head as she walked past.
"Thanks, Toad!"
"You're welcome!" Toad said, giving the princess a thumbs-up.
Out the front doors and across the moat's bridge, Peach got to the waiting carriage that was at the front. It was a horseless carriage, shaped like a red-topped mushroom with wheels. The technology was fairly new to the kingdom, but it would at least get them partly into the Woody Woods before they had to let it charge up again.
It ran on mushrooms, to round out the entire vibe it had from its appearance alone.
Captain Toad and Archivist Toadette were outside the carriage, standing outside the wide open door to the vehicle. It was parked a few yards to the side of the moat's bridge. They both noticed the princess approaching them.
"Your majesty!" Captain Toad said. "Are you ready to join us?"
"Yes!" Peach smiled. "I am sitting inside though, right? The carriage seems a little… small."
"If push comes to shove, we'll just make Nap Toad walk next to the Mushmellow." The Archivist spoke up. Peach grimaced a bit at that.
"I don't mind walking. Or at least taking turns."
"I think the Mushmellow has room in the coach for the brigade and our beloved princess." Captain Toad interjected. "Let's get movin'!"
And with that, the two Toads climbed into the carriage. Princess Peach was next, stepping inside the coach that was inside the Mushmellow's mushroom-cap top. It was a little short, obviously, but Peach was okay with her head brushing against the ceiling. She had to take off her tiara, though.
She placed the duffle bag on her lap, sitting towards the back of the coach. She was in-between two Toads- a yellow (sleeping) one on her right, and a green one on her left. Other Toads, except Captain Toad and Archivist Toadette at the front end, was a bespectacled blue Toad and a purple Toad reading a magazine with a swimming Toad on the cover.
"Okay Toad Brigade!" Captain Toad said. "Without further ado… Archivist Toadette?"
With a smile and nod, the Archivist turned and pressed a button on the wall at her side. The carriage rumbled, coming to life with the sound of an engine. After a minute or so, the Mushmellow lurched forwards and began its ride.
It was quiet for a moment after the ride started, but the silence soon ended by the group's captain.
"Toad Brigade, you all know our lovely Princess Peach." He said.
"Please, you can call me Peach. It's not an offense to use first names anymore. Plus I don't think we've had beheadings in centuries." Peach said to him, waving her hand.
"If you say so! Peach, this is the Toad Brigade! You know me, and my wonderful archivist Toadette."
"Hello!" The Archivist waved with a smile.
"As for the rest of us… that's Note Toad, the blue one, he takes our notes. The one next to you, the green one, he's Bank Toad, our group treasurer. The yellow one is Nap Toad… he does that. And the purple one closest to Toadette is Mail Toad!"
"Mail Toad? Like mailing stuff?" Peach asked, looking at the purple Toad. He put down the magazine to meet her gaze.
"Yeah!"
"…why mail?"
After a second, Mail Toad shrugged.
"I like mail!"
"…alright, fair enough." Peach nodded.
With her tiara in her hands, Peach unzipped her duffel bag to put it inside. Bank Toad looked at the bag for a second before looking back up at the princess.
"What'd you bring?" He asked.
"Oh! Well, I expected a fairly long journey, so…"
Peach moved her bag to the side with a quick swing, slamming it into Nap Toad and waking him up with a snort. The princess started taking things out of the bag to show Bank Toad.
"Compass, just in case. Notepad, I wanna take a few notes of my own. Camera, can never take too many photos…" She fell silent as she rummaged around, but started pulling more things out quickly. "Spare clothes, spare boots, spare gloves, spare spare- like an inflatable tire, picture of a spare I got in bowling one time- that's leftover from my last trip. Hair care, skin care, collapsible chair, teddy bear, canned pear, framing square, night wear, cookware, hardware, tupperware, emergency flare…"
"Emergency flare?" Note Toad spoke up.
"Yeah!" She held the gun and looked it over. "Never know when you might need it in an emergency!"
"No offense, princess, but do you know how to use one of those things?"
"…point and fire?"
"…okay, you got me there."
"I also packed sliced peach upside down cake in case anyone wants something super sweet! It's my specialty." Peach pulled out the container with the cake. "Anyone?"
The people in the coach all gave a collective negative reply. Peach nodded and put the container back in the bag.
"Can you take the bag off me? It's heavy…" Nap Toad said, ending the statement with a yawn.
"Oh, dear! I'm sorry."
Peach pulled the bag away, but immediately swung it into Bank Toad's face.
"Ow!"
"Ah! I'm so sorry!"
Peach pulled it off but immediately slammed it into Nap Toad once again, making him grunt in pain.
"Ugh!"
"Oh no! Not again! Uhhh…!"
The princess threw the bag away in a moment of panic. Because of which, it slammed into both Captain Toad and Archivist Toadette, making them both yell out in pain. Peach held her hands over her mouth in shock of what she just did.
Captain Toad and Toadette were quiet, before the former placed the bag on the coach's floor slowly.
"Let's just keep it down here." He said.
"Good idea." Peach replied sheepishly.
After a few minutes, everyone went back to their respective activities- except Peach, who sat in silence and thought about what she just did.
The Mushmellow stopped right in the middle of the forest, halfway through the group's trip. It needed more mushrooms to recharge itself, and so it would take ten to twenty minutes to make the right concoction to fuel the carriage.
As it turns out, Nap Toad was just a nickname. The yellow Toad was actually there because he knew how to run the Mushmellow- he came from the Toad ring that originated the horseless carriages. Though clearly still sleepy, Nap Toad was placed in charge of making the mushroom-based fuel for the vehicle.
Peach watched him do it curiously, seeing him pressing mushrooms to dry it of its moisture.
"Why can't you just put normal mushrooms in it?" She inquired.
"Because, if you…" He yawned. "Just put raw mushrooms of any kind in there, it'll overload the engine and make it speed off without you. It runs as soon as fuel is put inside, and stops when none is there. We're kinda just… making a broth to feed the Mushmellow so it travels at a decent speed."
"A slow speed."
"Yeah, correct." He yawned once more, big this time. He scratched his face after. "Slower the better, can never be too safe…""
"Hm."
She trailed off, watching the other Toads commune with each other. Peach wasn't affiliated with the Toad Brigade, so she couldn't really talk to them like friends. They'd probably think she's looking down on them… literally, she's twice their size.
What would she say, anyway? "Hey, I know I'm your princess and rule over you, but I'm one of those hip princesses, not like the other ones." She sounds like her dad.
Peach had joined the expedition to get away from the castle, and she got what she wanted. But she wanted more… exploration in it. She was stuck on this dirt road, and if she left the area all the Toads would track her down and immediately bring her back home, to her loving mother's "I told you so" and the banning of ever leaving the town again.
She's literally adult aged, but still treated like a kid. She didn't understand it.
Was it because she's different? I mean, you'd have to be blind to not notice that Peach wasn't like the other Toads. Not even like her parents, which brought up several questions. But why was that even significant? Peach could take care of herself regardless.
Peach sighed. She got what she wanted, and instead of feeling free she got a lifetime supply of stress and helplessness on her back. What's a princess to do with that?
"Okay gang, time to explore and review!"
The princess perked up at Archivist Toadette's voice. She quickly dusted off her pink jumpsuit to look a bit better as she got close.
"What's that?" She asked.
"When we go on trips like this, we like to explore the area!" Mail Toad said. "Just to see what we can find. Helps to pass the time."
"This time, we have an extra member! So we can evenly split up this time! Nap Toad won't have to be away from his brewing!"
"With that being said," Archivist Toadette interjected into Captain Toad's statement. "I'll be going with Bank Toad. Mail Toad, you have Captain Toad. That leaves Note Toad and Princess Peach together!"
"Two note takers! How exciting!" Note Toad said, looking up at Peach. She smiled brightly at him.
After retrieving her bag, carrying it so it rested on her lower back, Peach was ready to head out with Note Toad.
"Keep an eye out for Goombas! They're typically hostile this time of year!" Captain Toad said as the groups split up. "And stay away from Wigglers! Run away if you see any! You don't want to be caught in the rampage of a Wiggler!"
Everyone replied with various sounds of acknowledgement at their captain's bit of advice. The princess and the Note Toad were off, heading into the woods and across the leaves and sticks on the ground.
Peach was smiling, taken aback from the scenery. This was beautiful, and exactly what she wanted! Far enough off the path to be new, and in a way she wasn't too torn up about. There are much worse walking mates than anyone from the Toad Brigade.
The makeshift walkway between the trees started running parallel to a river that cut through the Woody Woods.
Following the river, they soon came to a cliff. The water poured over the side in a waterfall, continuing in another winding meander of water that led away. A few stories up from it, Peach and Note Toad weren't really able to keep following.
From the top of the overlook, Peach spotted a Goomba waddling across the ground, hopping up on a fallen log that was forming a makeshift bridge across the river below.
The big Goomba hobbled across. Soon, it was joined by a bunch of small, yellow Goombettes- the big one's babies, no doubt.
"Wow…" Peach whispered. "They travel in packs?"
"Actually, the adult ones normally travel in stacks." Note Toad corrected. "Stacking on top of each other, to become larger and scare off Wigglers or other predators."
"That's so interesting."
The pair began to walk along the cliff's edge, heading away from their old path- however, because of the cliff, they never strayed too far away from where the Mushmellow was parked.
From the view of the cliff, it was easy to see the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom. Mushroom City wasn't that far away, Peach could just see it from where she was standing. She also spotted Rose Town, Marrymore, and a few islands far out from the coast of the seaside kingdom.
She couldn't see the walls at the inland borders of the Mushroom Kingdom, the ones that blocked the other kingdoms of the world off from their own. Peach's parents never spoke of them, but she knew they were there. She wasn't dumb.
The princess always wondered what the rest of the world looked like. Was the Mushroom Kingdom really the biggest kingdom in the world? Were there more foodstuffs than "a lot of mushrooms and some fruit maybe" out there?
She was always interested in who was out there. Who knows? Maybe the Mushroom Kingdom could help any of the kingdoms out there. When she became queen- if her parents ever stopped treating her like she was made of glass- Peach would do everything she could to have the Mushroom Kingdom help whoever needs it. For better or worse.
Her thoughts continued to wander as she looked back to where she was going. Note Toad was quickly shuffling behind, keeping close to the princess as they walked together.
The train of thought in Peach's head was brought to a halt with the sight of something bright red growing at the bottom of a nearby tree. She gasped.
"Oh, look!"
She speed-walked ahead, reaching the bottom of the tree. Note Toad walked up to stand beside the princess, who knelt down to get a look at her object of interest.
It was a mushroom. A very large mushroom, about the size of a baseball. It had a red cap with white dots all over it- a sign of one of the most recognizable mushrooms in the entire kingdom. Peach picked it up in her pink-gloved hands, having to use both to hold it.
"Fungi Superior!" She said, identifying the mushroom. "The Super Mushroom."
"The most common mushroom in the entire kingdom!"
"Oh, I know. I can see the castle gardens from my window, the gardeners have to detach Super Mushrooms from our fruit trees every year."
"Very interesting. What else could you tell me about it?"
"Well… It's larger than the average mushroom, but the green Fungi Vitae and purple Fungi Venenum in the same family are around the same size as this one. There are apparently other variations of mushrooms like this out there as well."
"But what about the Super Mushroom though?"
"Well, Super Mushrooms are commonly used to greatly strengthen people who eat it! Though not without some side effects…" Peach looked the red mushroom over. "Goombas and Wigglers aren't affected if they eat the mushroom, but people further up the food chain are able to get much stronger by eating them."
She put the mushroom in her bag, before grabbing more of the big mushrooms and putting them in her bag as well.
"Do you think there are more of these around here? I'd love to bring them back home. Maybe the Toads at the castle can use them for something."
"I'm sure we can look!" Note Toad smiled and nodded.
As the princess began collecting more of the Super Mushrooms and putting them in her bag, Note Toad trailed off further inland. The trees were pretty spaced out, allowing Peach to keep her eyes on the Toad as she harvested the superior fungi.
The blue-capped Toad trotted across the grass, looking around. Adjusting his glasses when it seemed that the light was obscuring his view, he spotted what he was looking for- a bunch of Super Mushrooms at the base of one of the trees.
With his back to Peach, Note Toad bent down and started pulling the mushrooms out of the ground to hold in his arms, tossing them in a pile on the inside of his elbow.
As he collected, he thought he heard rustling around him. He turned for a moment, looking towards Peach, but seeing her in the same spot with those mushrooms.
When he turned around, Note Toad's glasses fell to the ground. He blinked once or twice, before patting the ground around to find them. He dropped his mushrooms to crawl across the ground and locate the glasses.
He heard the footsteps again. He reached around, feeling something warm nearby- probably a body. He pat the body hard to make sure it wasn't a tree or something.
"Peach, is that you? Could you help me find my glasses?" He asked.
No answer came. He sighed, continuing to search for the glasses across the ground.
Soon, his fingers felt the glass of his specs. He pulled the glasses off of the ground, finding himself shrouded in shadow when he put them back on. As soon as his vision was back, he looked at the body he touched.
"Thank you for your silent assistance, your majesty—"
Instead of seeing Princess Peach, Note Toad saw something less desirable- the face of a Wiggler staring at him. He yelped in shock and fear, scrambling back against the tree.
Wigglers were peculiar creatures. From a biological standpoint, they were identical to caterpillars- right down to how Wigglers evolve into the winged Flutters, though without the need for a chrysalis. Their bodies were a series of yellow legged spheres, each nearly the size of a Toad.
They were also renowned for their incredibly short fuse. Leaving them alone meant they left you alone… messing with them made them incredibly hostile, no matter the size.
And Note Toad just slapped one in the face while finding his glasses.
The normally yellow face of the Wiggler was slowly turning red as the creature was becoming angry, glaring at Note Toad and turning its body to face the Toad directly.
Nearby, Peach was finally pulled from her personal notes by the sound of Note Toad screaming. She stood, a Super Mushroom still in her hand, seeing the Wiggler cornering the Toad against the tree.
She knew that the Wiggler could really mess Note Toad up. Though Toads were durable, it was still possible to mess them up really bad- and Wigglers were the best for the job.
She also knew that once Wigglers were on a rampage, it was hard for them to turn around effectively if you got out of the way of their charge.
Peach looked behind her, at the edge of the cliff that was just a foot away.
As the Wiggler got closer to Note Toad, it's face turning much redder than before, it was suddenly interrupted by a Super Mushroom hitting the back of its head.
Slowly, the Wiggler turned its body around, making it into a U-shape to see who threw it. It saw Peach there, waving at him with both hands.
"Hey Wiggler! Over here!" She shouted.
"Y-Your majesty!" Note Toad said in surprise.
The flower on the Wiggler's head completely wilted. It jumped up into the air, its face turning completely red as it did, its face switching to one of anger. The other orbs of its body turned red with a hop into the air, one at a time.
Soon, a red and enraged Wiggler was charging directly towards Peach. She grabbed onto her duffel bag's strap tightly, mentally preparing herself to move.
As soon as she raised her foot, though, the ground began to shake. It seemed that the quakes in Toad Town didn't stop at the city limits- here, in Woody Woods, the ground could shake just the same.
Instead of moving aside, Peach instead stayed still to try and keep her balance at the edge of the cliff.
The Wiggler, still charging, started stumbling over its own feet. It was still headed towards Peach, but because of the quaking it started changing its direction.
When it reached Peach, the side of the Wiggler's body slammed into the princess, forcing her to fall backwards and off the edge of the cliff. The Wiggler also went over the edge as well, falling down the cliff and flipping through the air.
"PRINCESS!" Note Toad yelled.
Letting go of her bag as she fell down, Peach screamed all the way down. Though it was only about a three-story drop, halfway down she disappeared into the brush of the trees in the part of the forest below, blocking her view of the cliff's edge.
Hitting only small branches, Peach was flipped around spared any serious damage- but was still hurtling towards the unforgiving ground down below. She held her arms in front of her face, blocking her view of the ground.
Suddenly, when she was just a yard or two above the grass, Peach's legs and body became covered in sparkles of pink and gold. Her body was turned upright, making her uncover her face to see what was happening.
Instead of hitting the ground, Peach slowed down to a stop half a foot above the grass. She floated for a few seconds before the sparkles disappeared, and she dropped to the ground with a grunt, sitting down.
Peach looked around, wondering if anyone else saw that. She slowly got up, dusting herself off.
"…okay. Sure." She said.
The princess had bigger things to worry about right now. She looked upwards, trying to see through the foliage of the tree's leaves to the top of the cliff.
"Note Toad!" She yelled. "Anybody?! Hello!"
Little did she know, Note Toad was also yelling down towards her. The thick coverage of leaves made it practically impossible for either of them to hear the other.
Peach put her hands on her hips, realizing that nobody could hear her. She would have to help herself.
Usually, she would stand still for the Toad Brigade to find her. But seeing as she was in a forest full of Goombas and more Wigglers, maybe it would be best to try and find the incline where the dirt road would go uphill, so she could intercept the Brigade's journey downwards from the plateau.
She had to head right from the cliff's wall. She could use the compass she brought in her bag to make sure she would keep going the right direction.
Except her bag wasn't on her. As she was still looking up, she didn't have to move her head to spot her hot pink duffel bag- it was resting on a tall branch of one of the nearby trees.
"Perfect."
She fanned her face with both hands and took a deep breath, before slowly exhaling with her hands in front of her to calm herself down. There was no use in getting worked up right now.
Getting that bag was the only way she could definitely be safe. Besides, there was a lot of valuable stuff in there she couldn't afford to lose.
She walked up to the tree. There were a lot of branches towards the bottom of the trunk that would help her climb… and yet…
"Oh man, I really like these boots…" Peach said, looking over the cute walking boots she had on. She sighed again, and slipped her feet out of the shoes, using her sock-clad feet to start and climb the tree.
She grunted as she made her way upwards. There wasn't a ton of branches to help her, she had to press her hands and feet against the trunk to make her way up at some points.
She was getting up pretty high, nearly an entire story off the ground. Peach made the poor choice of looking down, seeing her cute boots back on the ground.
Peach immediately hugged the tree trunk, taking another deep breath to calm the pounding in her ears.
"Whatever weird magic saved me last time, I hope you're not just a one-time thing." She murmured. "Hands, don't fail me now. And please don't get any calluses."
She looked up again and continued climbing. Peach slowly reached the branch with her bag. The branch was thick, so it would probably support Peach's weight.
The princess reached out and grabbed onto the branch, with one hand then both hands. She grunted, stepping up on smaller branches to pull herself onto the larger branch. Peach pulled her knee over to sit on it.
She sighed with relief that it was halfway done. Peach pulled her bag to her, smiling and patting it.
Suddenly, the tree shook, making her grab the branch for stability. Peach looked down, seeing something at the base of the tree- a single Goomba, leaning backwards to look up at her.
"Are you kidding me?!" The princess hissed. "Go away! Stay away from my cute boots!"
The Goomba paused. It looked at the nearby boots, slowly starting to walk over.
"Hey, hey! No! No! Stop that!"
The Goomba got to the boots, and slipped one of its feet into the pink walking boots.
"Take that off! Stop that— and you did it."
As stated, the Goomba now had both boots on, looking back up with a defiant expression at the princess in the tree.
"That shade of pink on you is hideous." Peach deadpanned. "Go away!"
The Goomba slammed its face into the tree, making it shake. It was clear- the Goomba wanted her down, and wanted to shake her out of the tree.
Peach held onto the trunk with one hand, but had her bag's straps in the other. Right now, where she was positioned, the Goomba was directly below her.
These little creatures were many things. They were annoying, immediately hostile to anything that wasn't dominant over them, and could stack up to be taller than any house in Toad Town.
But, a lot of them were really dumb. Take this one, who was slamming his head into the tree trunk when Goombas were known for being so soft that simply slamming something on top of its head would make it puff into a cloud of dust, destroying it.
That being said, once Peach no longer found the Goomba amusing, she held the pretty heavy duffel bag in front of her with a grunt, positioned right above the Goomba.
She let it go. It hurtled to the ground and, once it hit the Goomba, immediately flattened the creature. The Goomba disappeared in a puff of dust, as mentioned before.
"And that's what you get for wearing shoes like that when you're clearly a winter!" She shouted down. Peach "hmphed" and sat back on the branch with her arms crossed.
She felt the tree shake again, making her grab the trunk for stability again.
"Again? You Goombas must be walking around in a pack or something." Peach said. She felt the vibration coming from behind her, so she turned around to see the Goomba that was messing with her this time.
The Goomba was at the same level as her, making Peach raise her eyebrows in surprise and gasp.
It wasn't that the Goomba climbed up the tree, though. Looking down, she could see that the Goomba was just the top one on a stack of a dozen Goombas.
"Oh no, they travel in staaaacks!"
Peach's shocked exclamation was punctuated by her falling backwards off the branch. She tumbled downwards, falling down the trunk and to the ground next to her bag.
She landed with one of her feet out, expecting to float. Instead, there was nothing- Peach hit the ground full speed and collapsed onto the grass, making her yell out in pain.
"Ugh! Stupid mystic power appearing when it wants to! I should've just worn the boots! They were just too cute to make dirty!"
She spotted her cute boots nearby as she tried to get up to her feet.
"YOU DID THIS TO ME!" Peach yelled at the shoes.
The various sounds of the Goomba Stack keeping its balance alerted Peach that it was still coming after her. She gasped, grabbing her cute boots and sliding them on before trying to get up.
She grunted and hissed as she tried to walk. The foot she had landed on, the one that caught her fall, was hurting really bad now. It wasn't crippling, but it was certainly harder to walk now.
Carrying her bag, Peach limped along to try and get away from the slowly gaining Goomba Stack.
Unfortunately, because there were so many trees in this area compared to the plateau, roots were coming up from the ground. Peach's good foot was caught on a large root, tripping her up and sending her to the ground.
She grunted and rubbed her face, but flipped onto her back to look up at the descending Goomba Stack. If she was carrying her parasol, maybe she could shield herself, but in this moment of panic she couldn't think of anything that she could do.
From above, behind the stack, the leaves of the trees rustled. There was a loud grunt that echoed around, distracting the Goombas and getting Peach's attention.
Suddenly, one by one, the Goombas in the stack began getting flattened. From top to bottom, some kind of hammer was smashing the Goombas one at a time.
Once it reached the ground, there was a thick cloud of dust surrounding the area. Peach slowly got up to her feet, her foot still hurting.
Through the dust, she saw a white gloved hand come out and grab her wrist.
"It's not safe here! Letsa go!" A thick-accented voice said.
Peach tried to take a step, but winced as she was on her bad foot.
"I think I sprained my ankle." She said to the mystery man. "I can't run!"
Unexpectedly, this shrouded man simply scooped her up, letting Peach rest on his forearm to carry her with one arm. Peach let out a sound of surprise from it, but could barely comprehend what happened before they were on the move.
As they broke through the dust, Peach got a view of her savior- a mustachioed man in overalls, carrying a big rubber mallet over his shoulder, with an M on his hat.
The rest of the Toad Brigade, sans Note Toad, was waiting by the Mushmellow on the dirt road. As per their traveling rules, when any form of natural disaster occurs, they end their exploration break and return to the vehicle in order to stay together.
Right now, the group was waiting for Note Toad and Princess Peach to return. Captain Toad walked to the little workbench set up for Nap Toad- the yellow capped Toad was asleep with his head on the bench, a boiling pot of mushroom broth beside him.
"Nap Toad. Nap Toad!"
The sleepy Toad snorted awake, standing up straight and blinking quickly.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry."
He turned off the hot plate to keep the pot from boiling over. With hands covered in oven mitts, Nap Toad put the pot to the side to let it cool down quicker.
There was a lot of rustling before Note Toad broke from the brush nearby, his glasses askew on his face as he scrambled onto the dirt road, papers falling out of his clipboard of notes as he rushed towards the rest of the Brigade.
"Captain! Captain!"
"Note Toad!" Captain Toad exclaimed, running to the scribe and holding onto his arms. "What happened to you? Where's the princess?!"
"She fell over the edge of the cliff!"
"What?!"
"There was a Wiggler, and it was coming for me, but she redirected it so it would come for her instead and she went over the edge with it! She's somewhere in front of the plateau!"
The other Toads looked at one another in worry. Captain Toad kept holding onto Note Toad for a moment, a look of confliction on his face, before he turned around. As Note Toad had been keeping his weight on his captain, the bespectacled Toad immediately fell to the ground as Captain Toad turned away.
Captain Toad pointed to Nap Toad, who had snapped completely awake when Note Toad said that the princess was in danger.
"Nap Toad, is the fuel ready?"
"Yes, captain! Cooling it down is just a formality for us to carry it easier."
"Get it in the Mushmellow." Captain Toad replied. "We'll head downhill, through the woods below the plateau and look for the princess. When we find her, we'll return her back to the castle. We can always do this trip to Mushroom City tomorrow."
Nap Toad nodded firmly. Putting the oven mitts back on, he picked up the pot and waddled over to the Mushmellow. Bank Toad pulled open the fuel tank- which opened like a filing cabinet- and poured the broth into the giant receptacle.
Once it was closed back in, the Mushmellow revved up, before it lurched forwards and started moving. The Toads quickly got inside the vehicle as it was slowly pushing forwards, setting off to find the missing princess.
"Mmm… this cake is delicious!"
Peach was laying across a makeshift couch, her sprained ankle wrapped tightly in cloth and positioned up so it could heal a bit quicker.
The princess was laying in a makeshift shack, a bunch of leafy branches leaned against a thick tree to make a quick shelter, keeping them hidden from Goombas.
She was looking upon her savior from earlier, now able to gaze upon him much easier without all the dust around.
He was shorter than Peach, stocky, wearing denim overalls and a red button-up shirt underneath. He had white work gloves and brown boots, and that bizarre "M" cap was resting beside him, showing the man's full head of thick brown hair. Speaking of, he had a bushy brown mustache under that bulbous nose of his.
He wasn't a Toad. That's what really got Peach intrigued. The only inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom were Toads. This guy wasn't a Toad.
This mystery not-a-Toad man was enjoying the princess' packed peach upside-down cake as a thank you for saving her. Luckily they managed to save her bag when they ran away from the destroyed Goomba Stack.
"Thanks." Peach finally spoke. "Okay, now seriously… who are you? What are you doing here? What's your name?"
"Mario." He replied quickly to the last question. "Whatsa your name?"
"Peach."
"Well, Peach, I don't know what I'm doing here. Like I told you before, it was an accident that I showed up in this kingdom."
"What kind of accident?"
"My brother and I…" Mario ate more cake, speaking with his mouth a bit full for a moment after. "We were working on-a pipes under our city as a favor to the assistant mayor. Then, we discover this weird looking green pipe, and we fix it. Then, everything is sucked inside of it, and I wake up here with no brother…"
He continued to eat cake, letting out a grunt of enjoyment, even closing his eyes as he chewed.
"This cake is incredible. Are you a baker?"
"It's a hobby of mine."
"You need to make it a career. Not even my mama makes cake this-a moist. Don't let her know I said that though." Mario continued. "I'm sorry, this is just the first non-mushroom thing I've eaten in weeks and it's delicious."
"You've been here for weeks?"
"Maybe about a month. I dunno."
"Why didn't you ask for help from the Toads?"
"Toads? Oh, is that what those mushroom people are called? Like toadstool… anyway, last time I tried talking to one of them, they screamed and fainted. You… you're the first non-Toad I've seen."
"Same with you. It's uncanny. What… are you?"
"I'm a human being, I suppose? Aren't you?"
"I always just assumed I was a different looking Toad. But now, seeing you… I don't know."
Mario grunted in thought, cutting his cake into neat pieces while he wasn't eating.
"I've been going into the nearby town periodically to get some supplies when I really need it… sometimes help fix up some plumbing too, your plumbers really need to step it up."
"You do plumbing?"
"Itsa my job! I'm regarded as the best back home. I'm to plumbing as you are to baking, it seems."
"Well… how sweet of you." Peach replied, slightly taken aback. "We've been having some difficulties with quakes in our town nearby that's been messing up the pipes. I assume you're the ghost that's been fixing random houses."
"I guess so too!" Mario nodded. He went to eat, before pausing and putting the fork down. "You said-a quakes. In town?"
"Yeah, they've been happening for weeks."
"…oh, Mama Mia. I… may need to show you something. Come with me."
Mario put his hat on, leaving the cake behind and going to Peach. He helped her up, standing on the side with her bad foot and wrapping his arm around her, helping her walk out of the shelter. As he did, he handed her the large rubber mallet he had been carrying around for her to hold onto.
They left out the back, or the opposite entrance he brought her into, slowly making their way a fair distance from the shelter. In a clearing with very little trees around, Peach saw what Mario was most likely trying to show her.
Sticking up from the ground was the end of a green pipe. From the pipe, a chain was extending outwards and through the fork in a nearby tree. What looked like a plug was connected to the chain, stuck behind the fork in the tree that was narrower than the wide plug, keeping the chain stuck there.
Peach's eyebrows furrowed, looking the green pipe over. She limped around, parting from Mario and starting to use the mallet as a cane to look over the pipe.
"Ah! Careful, it has some suction." He said.
The princess paused. She pulled out a notepad she kept in one of her jumpsuit's large front pockets. It was custom pink, with her full name at the bottom.
She tore off a sheet of paper and crumpled it up. Holding it out, she slowly extended her arm out towards the nearby pipe.
When her arm was nearly all the way out, the paper ball suddenly zipped from her hand, sucked into the pipe to places unknown.
"Whoa." She remarked. "What is this thing?"
"I don't know! Like I said, me and my brother, we got sucked up into this-a thing. The one back home at least. I woke up next to this one, I guess I crashed through it."
"There's one just like it in the basement of the castle in town." Peach added. "What's attached to the chain in it?"
"I don't know. When I tried to look, it nearly bit my hand off. But thatsa what I wanted to talk about…"
Mario walked around the pipe to the tree. He grabbed onto the plug the chain was attached to, pulling it back with a grunt. He actually pulled the chain back, getting the plug towards the ground and putting his foot on it when it was there.
"Could you throw me the mallet?" He asked Peach.
The princess tossed the big rubber mallet to Mario. The plumber caught it, and delivered an overhead swing that pinned the plug into the ground.
"What's this have to do with the quakes?"
"Watch and you'll see."
After a few moments, the entire ground started shaking. The pipes rattled violently, and the chain began rapidly going slack and tightening- whatever was at the end didn't like being pinned to the ground, and was trying to yank it out.
It was a solid few minutes of shaking before the plug flew out of the ground, slamming into the fork in the tree and making the chain go firm once more.
Peach stared in amazement, with Mario slowly walking up to stand next to her, his mallet resting on his shoulder.
"I thought it was only happening here, not in your town too. I feel so bad for causing so much plumbing damage… ugh, I feel the pain in my chest."
"It's happening in town… because the green pipe is connected to the one in the castle. The green pipe runs below the plumbing." Peach put the puzzle pieces together. "What is the thing on the chain?"
"Like I said, I dunno. But from the looks of it, that plug was-a blocking the end of that pipe when I woke up. Whoever put that thing there didn't want anyone coming through this pipe." Mario hummed. "I would usually pin that down much more securely, but-a my brother Luigi is the one who carries all our supplies when we're on a job. I'm lucky I still have the mallet on me."
Mario kind of deflated at the mention of his brother, his bushy mustache tilting as he frowned, staring at the pipe directly.
"…I would've gone in there, y'know. To find Luigi. If that thing wasn't in there. We were separated while falling through those pipes, but it wasn't long after that I crashed through here. He has to be in this kingdom somewhere. Right?"
Peach watched the plumber for a moment. She nodded, patting his arm reassuringly.
"I'm sure your brother's fine, Mario. You'll find him."
Slowly, Mario nodded, agreeing with Peach, looking over at her to make eye contact at that moment. His eyes were blue, just like Peach's were. How nice.
The plug of the chain slammed against the fork of the tree again, making both of them stop looking at each other. The tree was practically bending forwards with how much force the chained creature was pulling against it.
"I need to get some Toads from town to come look at this." Peach said. "Maybe I could have the Toad Brigade look it over while they're out here. Either way, the people need to know about this."
"What about me? Will you want them to know about me, too?"
"Well, yes. You're unlike anyone I've ever seen before! I have to let the king and queen know about you. I promise they won't scream and faint when they see you. Probably."
"I sure hope not." Mario replied. "...do you have other foods than mushrooms up there?"
"Oh yeah, the castle gardens have trees with a bunch of different fruits in them. Restaurants in town use stuff besides mushrooms."
"Oh thank-a goodness. I'm so tired of eating mushrooms. What I wouldn't give for some spaghetti…"
Before Peach could inquire about what that was, rustling behind them got their attention. Mario turned around completely, still holding the mallet, while Peach slowly got around to see what was behind them.
The rustling continued, something shadowy moving through the brush. The chain tensed again and again, making a steady thumping sound as it tried to pull the plug through the tree fork. It made it hard for the pair to determine exactly what was hiding in the leaves nearby.
There was a moment of stillness from the brush, before the bushes parted and the thing spying on them was revealed.
The sounds of stomping filled the area as an enraged red Wiggler charged towards the princess and Mario. From the looks of it, it was the same one from earlier, back for revenge against the lady that hit him with a small mushroom.
"The Wiggler again!" Peach exclaimed.
"Peach, look out!"
Mario pushed Peach out of the way, taking the full grunt of the Wiggler's blitz. He let out a yell of pain and was knocked to the ground, the apparent super-strength of this plumber not enough to stop the rampaging beast.
Having landed on her side, Peach watched Mario get knocked back, but quickly followed the angry Wiggler. It made a wide turn to charge back towards the fallen princess- in the time it took to do that, Princess Peach got up and started hobbling towards her duffel bag, which was once again flung a few feet away. She grabbed it and dove out of the way of the charging Wiggler once again.
As it was turning back around to try and attack her again, Peach dug through her bag and pulled something out- the emergency flare gun. Rolling onto her back, Peach aimed the flare gun at the charging Wiggler and fired.
The bright red flare shot out and hit the Wiggler in the face, rebounding and going upwards into the air, above the trees. The Wiggler made a noise of confusion and anger, closing its eyes and starting to move in a zigzag. It went around Peach, still moving at full speed, before slamming into the green pipe sticking up from the ground. It slowly rolled onto its back, its feet moving slowly as it was incapacitated.
Peach got up, wincing as she got on her bad foot but limping over to where Mario fell.
"Mario!" She said, reaching him. She grabbed his shoulder to turn him around.
A smaller version of Mario was swimming in the overalls and shirt the plumber had on. He still had his mustache, and hair, but it was like he went through a reverse growth spurt after getting hit by that Wiggler. He stared at Peach with a flushed face.
"What did that thing do to me?!" He said.
Peach stared at him in surprise before snorting and laughing lightly.
"You said you ate mushrooms. Let me guess…" She dug through her bag before presenting a Super Mushroom. "They looked like this?"
"Y-Yes! Why, are they poisonous?"
"No, the opposite. They're Super Mushrooms, they enhance your strength. But, unfortunately, it has a really bad side effect: if you get hurt, it saps you of all your strength. All of it. It physically makes you smaller until you eat another Super Mushroom."
Mario's face was still red, embarrassed by how he looked in his little form, and how Peach was still amused to see it. However, his expression changed as he saw something past her, pointing at it.
"Peach, look out!"
She turned around, back towards the green pipe. The Wiggler was only out for a moment, and was getting back up, still fully red and angry. Each orb of its body flipped over as it got to its many feet, having to take a moment to get up.
Before the Wiggler could charge, however, there was more rustling nearby, getting louder as something was coming closer.
There was a crash as a giant mushroom crashed into a tree, which immediately fell over. The tree toppled across the green pipe and onto the Wiggler, now completely pinning it down and keeping it from hurting the princess.
The door to the Mushmellow opened, with the Toad Brigade coming out one by one. With the vehicle propped up on top of the tree's side, two of the Mushmellow's wheel was off the ground, keeping it from moving.
"We saw your flare!" Captain Toad said happily as he got out. "Are you—"
He was interrupted by the entire group noticing Little Mario. All at once, everyone in the group screamed in terror at Mario, making the plumber look over at Peach with the most unamused expression she's ever seen.
"Guys, guys, stop! He's okay!" Peach said. "This is Mario, he's a good guy. He's fine."
"He doesn't have a mushroom cap!" Archivist Toadette cried.
"Neither do I."
"...touche…"
"Look, he's a nice guy. We need to get him back to the castle, I think he needs to talk to my parents." Peach said. "Just keep it calm, and let's get back into the Mushmellow. There's nothing to worry about."
A moment after Peach said that, a loud cracking echoed through the area, making everyone turn towards the source.
Because the Mushmellow knocked that tree over, the tree not only hit the pipe and the Wiggler, but it also collided with the forked tree that the plug was attached to. The fallen tree was leaning against the forked one, and managed to unroot it.
With a pull from whatever was on the chain, the forked tree started leaning the opposite direction, completely uprooting the tree.
Whatever was on the other end of that chain sensed that the tree was uprooting. It quickly began pulling as hard as it could, slamming the plug into the tree and completely pulling it from the ground, an action that shook the entire area so hard everyone could barely keep on their feet.
The fork of the tree soon fell across the opening of the green pipe. After a few more powerful pulls, the tree snapped in half, and the plug of the chain disappeared into the pipe. The ground shook more as the creature in the pipe started crashing through it, but they could feel that it was getting further away.
"What was that?!" Captain Toad asked.
Peach looked at where she felt the vibrations going. It was heading straight for the plateau again, heading north in the kingdom.
"It's heading towards the pipe in the castle." She looked at Mario. "It's going to the pipe underneath the castle! My parents are down there, we have to help them!"
"Your majesty, what is going on?"
"I'll tell you on the way, captain. We need to return to the castle!"
Peach put the giant mallet, far too large for Little Mario to pick up now, into her duffel bag, with the rubber hammerhead sticking out of it. She grabbed Mario's hand and pulled him away, towards the Mushmellow, forcing him inside.
Though hesitant, the Toad Brigade all got inside the Mushmellow- except for Nap Toad, who was stopped by Peach before he could get in.
"Where's the fuel thing?"
"Right here, your majesty."
Shown the fuel receptacle, Peach quickly rushed the Toad back into the Mushmellow before pulling it open. There was still plenty of liquid fuel left, but she was just going to add to it.
She dug into her bag and poured in a bunch of her collected Super Mushrooms. Normal mushrooms would make the Mushmellow go pretty fast, but how fast would Super Mushrooms make it go?
Only one way to find out.
Peach climbed into the Mushmellow quickly, closing the door just in time. Fire started shooting out of the exhaust upon consuming the Super Mushrooms, the tires spinning rapidly. As soon as they were all on the ground, the vehicle launched forwards, crashing through trees as the group started making their way back to the castle.
Toad Town was experiencing a quake of unparalleled magnitude. Everything in the town was shaking violently, forcing people to enter their homes and seek all forms of shelter immediately. Sinks broke, pipes snapped, toilets exploded.
Whatever was in those pipes seemed to be bouncing off the walls of the inner pipe violently, causing the shaking to be felt all across the village. Toads were rushing through town to get to their homes, a few of them narrowly avoiding things like falling lamposts and shattering windows.
From the trees at the end of the town, a very damaged Mushmellow crashed through and sped through the streets, like a go-kart on a racing track. It weaved through the crowd, as the automatic driving software could detect pedestrians, as it headed towards the logged destination- the castle.
The group could feel themselves traveling over the object in the pipe. They were actually speeding ahead of it, thanks to the power of the Super Mushrooms that Peach put in the fuel tank.
However, all good things end. Eventually, the vehicle ran out of fuel completely, causing the tires to stop working. The Mushmellow swerved and flipped onto its side as it got to the moat bridge of the castle, coming to a sliding stop as the town kept shaking.
The door, facing the sky, was pushed open by Peach. She pulled herself out of the carriage before reaching in and pulling everyone else out next- the Toad Brigade, then the smaller Mario at the end. She hopped down from the damaged Mushmellow once everyone was out and started quickly limping towards the castle.
"C'mon!" She shouted to the group.
The Toads soon followed. Mario tried running along, but as he was still little, it was harder for him to keep up with the princess.
"Short legs, my only weakness!" He yelled.
Peach rushed through the entrance hall of the castle, getting downstairs as fast as she could to reach the basement's pipe room. The Toad Brigade and Mario were close behind, helping her get there as much as they could.
The King and Queen were there, in the pipe room, pressed against a wall. Toadsworth was there too, alongside the gaggle of construction Toads who were probably working on the plumbing pipes before everything started shaking.
"Mother, father!" Peach said.
"Peach?!" Chanterelle replied. "What are you doing?! It's not safe!"
"It's not safe for you either! You need to get out of here!"
"We're the safest we could possibly be down here!" Mushroom said. "Nothing can hurt us down here!"
The pounding was suddenly directly below them, making the entire room pulse everything hit the creature did to the walls of the pipe. Peach held onto the nearby door frame for stability, with the Toad Brigade and Mario holding onto her jumpsuit for support.
It kept going, and they could feel it moving across the room. As it reached the area that the plugged up green pipe was at, it paused for a moment after a bang, making everything finally go still.
Suddenly, with a loud thunk, the pipe plug popped out of the end, rattling on the floor.
With the piped open, the creature was unleashed. A giant ball of black steel flew out of the pipe, connected to the chain they saw before, and landed right in the center of the room with a loud crash. The entire room shook with the weight of the creature.
Two eyes opened to stare at everyone in the room, an X-shaped scar atop the left eye of the strange being. It opened its maw, revealing a row of giant, spiky white teeth.
Peach and Mario didn't know it just yet, but this beast was called a Chain Chomp; and being pinned down to a certain spot for who knows how long didn't mean it was happy to be free, it meant it was absolutely enraged.
The Chain Chomp shook as its entire body heated up, making the metal of its rotund end turn a deep orange as a result of its fury. It loudly barked in anger, which snapped the inhabitants of the room out of their shocked trance and made them scream in terror.
It bounced towards the King and Queen, but narrowly missed them as the pair and their collection of Toads ran out of the way. The Chain Chomp slammed its face into the wall, shaking its head afterwards before beginning to chase the group, loudly barking.
Spared from the rampaging Chomp, Peach, Mario and the Toad Brigade watched in shock.
"We have to save those guys!" Mario said.
"Right!" Peach nodded. "...how do we do that?"
"Well, firstly, maybe I could get one of those Super Mushrooms? I can only do-a so much at this size…" Mario looked himself over.
"Right."
Peach nonchalantly combed through her duffel bag as she searched for Super Mushrooms.
"You said you pinned that thing down by putting that plug into the ground. Do you think you could do that again?" Captain Toad asked Mario.
"Yes, I think so." The plumber nodded.
"We have to get that thing away from my parents and the Toads first." Peach interjected, still looking. "Toad Brigade, if we get them away, could you escort them out of the room?"
"We sure can!" Captain Toad gave her a thumbs up.
"You might want to be careful!" Note Toad said. "That thing is red hot and angry, like the Wiggler was! I think you should try and cool it off before you pin it down anywhere in the room!"
"Right… here we go!"
Peach finally found a Super Mushroom- she only had two left. She gave one to Mario, before limping forwards quickly to get to the rampaging Chain Chomp.
Before Mario could eat the mushroom, he was accidentally bumped into by one of the Toad Brigade, making the Super Mushroom fall from his hands before he could consume it. It bounced across the ground- Little Mario split from the rest of the group to follow it.
Wincing and pausing in the middle of the room because of her sprained ankle, Peach kneeled on the ground and grit her teeth from the pain, touching her foot. She looked at her other hand, seeing the Super Mushroom there.
She never had a Super Mushroom before. Today was full of excitement.
Eating it like an apple, Peach ate the entire raw mushroom, still kneeling on the ground. After she finally swallowed the last of it, she felt her entire body shiver, before feeling better than she ever had before. It was like she just drank a bunch of coffee- her body felt much more alive.
Her ankle didn't feel hurt anymore, allowing her to stand up with the help of the Super Mushroom's strength. The side effect that Mario was going through would come for her eventually, no doubt, but right now she was unstoppable.
The plug of the Chain Chomp was ahead of her, passing by as the beast continued to chase after the King and Queen.
Before Peach knew what she was doing, she rushed forwards, grabbing onto the plug and digging her feet into the ground, holding the Chain Chomp back with her newly acquired strength.
The Chomp barked loudly and kept trying to attack the Toads nearby, but was held back by the powerful princess holding the chain. The King and Queen both looked past the Chomp to spot their daughter, both in awe at what she was doing.
With the Chain Chomp held back, the Toad Brigade came in to usher the group out.
"Peach!" The queen cried out for her daughter, but was ignored.
As her feet slid across the ground from holding the chain back, she finally let go of the plug when everyone was out of the way. It flung forwards, smacking the backside of the Chain Chomp with a clack and propelling the creature forwards and into the wall.
The crash against the wall caused the entire room to shake.
While Mario was still going after the Super Mushroom, the room shaking caused pipes to rattle above him, making him pause to look upwards.
The pipes collapsed and fell towards Mario, forcing the little plumber to rush forwards to avoid the falling objects. The Super Mushroom was still bouncing and moving across the ground, making Mario growl in frustration.
"How is it still moving?" He grunted, still avoiding the pipes.
Peach watched Mario running around, but had to pull her attention away to keep an eye on the angry Chain Chomp. It was now focused on her, and she jumped out of the way of a charge from the metal creature.
Pink and gold sparkles covered her legs and body as she jumped out of the way. What would possibly be her just barely making it out of the way was now her floating out of the path of the Chain Chomp completely, carried across the air before landing on her feet a few yards away.
She looked down at herself, and then at her hands.
"Really? Now you want to work?!" Peach yelled.
The Chain Chomp barked loudly, making her move again. With the Chomp following her closely, Peach ran as fast as she could around the room, looking for some kind of answer- she had an idea, but she had to make sure it would work.
The pipes up above, one towards the corner of the room, it was leaking a steady stream of water from a corner fitting.
She wasn't headed in the right direction though, it was just to her left. The Chain Chomp was bouncing as fast as it could to try and catch her, and barely could keep up.
Silently counting to three, Peach took a deep breath before ducking downwards, covering her head and slowly sliding across the floor a bit. She timed it perfectly with one of the Chain Chomp's hops, ducking just below the jumping creature and letting it leap ahead of her.
She looked up in time and grabbed onto the plug of the chain, holding it again and keeping the Chain Chomp back. Part of her wondered why the Chomp was more concerned with escaping the grip than turning around and eating her, but she didn't want to question a vital part of her plan.
Peach shuffled to the side, forcing the barking Chain Chomp to turn its body and start facing the corner with the leaking pipe. Once she got the Chomp facing the right direction, she could barely hold the plug back anymore, and let it go. The plug smacked against the back of the creature again, and flung the Chain Chomp towards where Peach was aiming.
The Chain Chomp slammed into the corner of the room, cracking the wall. The force of the hit was enough to make the corner fitting of the pipe fall off, unleashing a powerful stream of water that landed right on top of the fiery orange chomp.
Steam came upwards from the dark metal of the beast, cooling off the Chain Chomp, making the beast visually stop being angry and more… tired. It was probably exhausted from all the rampaging; being angry really took a lot out of people.
Nearby, Mario dove forwards and finally caught the Super Mushroom, holding it in his hand.
"Oh, yeah!" He said with a grin.
Mario immediately ate the Mushroom, feeling a shiver go through his body before he instantaneously grew back to his normal size, filling out his clothes once again.
"There we go."
"Mario!"
He turned around, seeing that the plug to the Chain Chomp was right in front of him. Across the room, Peach was pulling out the giant rubber mallet from her duffel bag.
"Get the plug!"
Spinning around, the princess threw the giant mallet with newfound enhanced strength, sending it across the room and flipping through the air directly towards Mario.
Mario ran forwards to intercept the airborne mallet. He leapt up once, then jumped a second time, a little higher. With the momentum he had going on, Mario was able to jump super high into the air, flipping around like an acrobat and reaching the mallet in midair.
He grabbed onto the mallet's pole, pulling it downwards as he started to fall to the ground. The plumber flipped forwards once, extra momentum for his mallet as he aimed directly for the plug.
With a loud slam and a crack, the mallet sunk the plug into the concrete of the floor. Mario grunted as he got back up, shaking his hand from the vibration of the mallet's handle.
Mario soon left the area to reunite with Peach. The Chain Chomp shook its head again, turning around and focusing on the pair. It barked and bounced forwards, but found the chain keeping him back again. The plug had pinned him down in the room, restraining him.
Peach and Mario took a sigh of relief. Soon, the Toads all came back into the room, followed by the King and Queen.
"Wow, that was incredible!" Captain Toad said. "Good job princess, good job Mary!"
"Mario."
"Yeah, yeah, right."
"Construction Toads, find a more permanent restraint to the Chain Chomp." Queen Chanterelle said, walking up with her husband to stand near Peach. "We don't want that thing running around and breaking things."
"A Chain Chomp! That's-a what it's called?" Mario said, still breathing heavily. "Good to know. Sorry for kind of… unleashing it on your town."
"Who are you and what are you doing with our daughter?" King Mushroom got in front of Peach, alongside Chanterelle, blocking their much taller daughter from the mystery man.
"Father, mother, please!" Peach walked around them to stand in front of Mario. "This is Mario. He literally just helped save you all, he saved me! He's a good person."
"He's… not a Toad." Chanterelle stated the obvious.
"I know! Isn't that crazy?" Peach replied. "He said he came from one of those pipes you won't tell me anything about! He comes from a different kingdom, he was pulled here randomly with his brother and now he's stuck."
"The Mushroom Kingdom hasn't let anyone in from the rest of the world in decades." King Mushroom said, mildly surprised. "I'm surprised to see anybody who isn't a Toad around here. You said your name was… Mario?"
"Yes, sir." The plumber nodded.
"He's a plumber."
"A plumber?" King Mushroom's eyebrows raised at Peach's comment. He looked towards the king, who was staring silently at the green pipe in the corner of the room. "...Chanterelle?"
"Hm? Oh, um…" The queen cleared her throat. "...Make Mario leave immediately."
"Mother!"
"He's only trouble, Peach. There's a reason we keep people out of this kingdom."
"And yet you won't tell me those reasons! Look, he's stranded here. He's helpless, and he's lost his brother. I was told growing up that we should always help people who need it, and I was told that by my mother. Are you telling me you've become so jaded while I've been growing up that you'll go back on your own word? What kind of queen is that?"
"You watch your tone, Peach Toadstool."
"Chanterelle." King Mushroom said firmly. "Our daughter is right."
"Mushroom!"
"No, she is. We taught her that people need to be helped, and if we have the resources to help somebody find his family and get back home, we should use them."
"You know this could lead to a lot of trouble, Mushroom."
"We're the largest kingdom in the world, aren't we? We have hundreds of thousands of Toads to help us if we need it. And even if something happens to us, I know we have an heir with a balanced head on her shoulders who could always lead the kingdom if needed."
King Mushroom's eyes looked over at Peach, and he winked at his daughter with a grin. Peach smiled brightly at her father standing up for her.
The queen stood there, putting a hand on her chin in thought. She was quiet for a moment, being stared at by three separate people, before she finally spoke.
"Okay, very well. Mario may stay in the Mushroom Kingdom… for now."
"Alright!" Peach smiled wider.
"However…" She interjected. "Since he is a plumber, and he did inadvertently cause all of this stuff happening in Toad Town… before he leaves, he and/or his brother must fix all the plumbing issues in town. We still can't get a hold of Plumber Toad, so lucky for your friend, I can use all the help I can get right now."
"Consider it-a done!" Mario said, smiling. "I like plumbing! I barely work a day in-a my life."
"Good. Toadsworth will show you to the home you'll be staying in for the foreseeable future."
With Chanterelle's cue, the old Toad led Mario off. He looked behind him, waving at Peach as he left- the princess waved back, before turning back to her parents.
"Well… that was eventful." She said.
"That man could lead to a lot of horrible things happening in our peaceful kingdom, Peach."
"You don't help somebody when it only benefits you, mother. You always help people, for better or worse. When I was a girl, you believed in that… or at least I thought you did."
The queen was quiet again, before looking at the green pipe again. Peach sighed, before dusting off her jumpsuit from all the dirt she got on it.
"I have to change. What time is dinner tonight, father?"
"Five, as usual. I guess we'll have more mushroom stew since the expedition to Mushroom City was a bust… Did you bake anything?"
"I can make some cookies. I'm sure they'll come out great."
"They always do! Now go change, fuzz."
Peach smiled a bit at her father's nickname. She glanced over at her mother once again, her smile faltering, before she turned around and walked out of the basement, intent on heading back to her room.
Watching her daughter leave, King Mushroom slowly turned towards Chanterelle.
"You can't keep treating her like she's a child, Chanterelle. She's a woman. The entire reason we had her is because she's going to be the next queen, a ruler better than both of us. She can't do that if you keep her locked up here."
"Mushroom, you know what's out there." The queen looked at her husband. "She could get hurt."
"From the looks of it, she can handle herself!" The king gestured towards the Chain Chomp with one hand. "She's stronger than both of us, we both know it. You need to have faith in her."
"What if that faith leads to this castle turning to ash?"
"Then Peach will pick up the pieces and rebuild the castle herself, because that's who our daughter is."
Chanterelle sighed, looking at the green pipe again. Slowly, King Mushroom hugged her, a hug that was returned by the queen.
"...he came through the Warp Pipe."
"I know, my dear."
"If the Warp Zone is open again…"
"I don't think it is, dear. I think it was just a little slip-up. Besides… even if it was open again, the route to the Dark Land has been destroyed. We're going to be fine."
Though unsure, the queen held her husband in her arms, staring silently at the Warp Pipe with her eyebrows furrowed in worry, wondering what would happen to her daughter now. She could feel a change was happening, but she didn't know what it would bring… but, like her husband said, she'd have to have faith in Peach…
For better or worse.
The house that Mario was given wasn't all that bad. It was small, as to be expected with the entire kingdom primarily being inhabited by the smaller Toads, but Mario could make it work.
He had requested bunk beds for when Luigi would come back. Luigi always liked the top bunk, and Mario got the bottom.
Right now, though, he was reading up on "Plumbing for Dumb Toads," a book he got from the local library while eating an apple. It was so good to finally have something to eat that wasn't a Super Mushroom.
Partway through the book, however, there came a knock on the door. Mario looked over, taking another bite of his apple, before flipping his book closed and getting up.
He kept eating the fruit as he got to the door and was chewing as he opened.
"What can I do for you?" He asked with his mouth full.
It was Peach. She wasn't in her jumpsuit, instead her standard daywear- a pink dress, gloved hands, her hair let down and her tiara.
"Hello, Mario."
Mario swallowed, and quickly tossed the apple away from him immediately after.
"Peach, hey!" He smiled. "What are you doing so far from the castle?"
"Came to see you, duh."
"Oh right, right… how's the ankle?"
"That Super Mushroom did wonders for me, it's completely healed. I can walk in high heels again!" Peach replied. "How's the house?"
"Cramped. But I'll live. I had a smaller living space in my first apartment back at home. This is a mansion compared to that."
"Good. I'm glad to hear. Could you come with me?"
Mario was surprised, but obliged. He stepped out and closed the door behind him- then he spotted two Toad guards holding spears accompanying Peach.
He smiled at his friend regardless, following her along but having to keep both Toads between the pair as they took their trip.
It was a fairly short walk, but they headed towards the west end of the kingdom. They got atop a hill, a pretty significant hill at the border of Toad Town.
Peach and Mario stood on the hill, the former taken aback with the sight. He could see the entirety of Toad Town below, but turning away, he could pretty much see the rest of the kingdom.
He turned slowly as he looked towards the coast towns, then the ones inland, and the forests and lakes in the kingdom. Mario soon came across a bunch of large, rolling hills. Ones that seemed to have eyes.
"Do those hills have eyes?"
"Yes. They sure do."
Though slightly perturbed by Peach not seeing what was wrong with this, Mario could still enjoy the view.
"Those hills are at the border of the Mushroom Kingdom," Peach explained. "The valleys between them have walls, keeping anyone and everyone out. With how steep the hills are, it's foolish to try and climb them. Besides, they'd fling anyone off of them anyway."
"How… interesting."
"It is. What's more interesting is what's on the other side of them. Ever since I was a girl, I questioned what other kingdoms and people were out there. And then… a few days ago… I meet you. And you're the answer. Or one of them at least."
Peach turned to Mario, her hands clasped together.
"I want to know everything about your kingdom, Mario. All of it." She said. "If you have more than just mushrooms and a few fruits. Do you have a king and queen? Are you as technologically advanced as we are?"
"I wouldn't call your kingdom advanced…"
"See, exactly! That kind of stuff! I want to know all of it. I always felt so secluded from the rest of the world, so alone… we're the largest Kingdom in the world, but what does that matter if you don't see the rest of the world, you know?"
Mario slowly turned, looking back over at the hills that were staring back at him. Or maybe just in his general direction.
"I'll do anything you want. I just… want to know a little more about the world. Even a small bit of it."
Peach's pleading really affected Mario. He could identify with her plight, as it was clear that Peach really wanted to get out there and explore.
But something was eating at him. It interrupted his thoughts. Soon, he finally spoke.
"Okay." He said, looking at her. "But you have to-a do something for me first."
"Of course. What?"
"You have to help me find Luigi." Mario replied. "Our mama… I promised I'd look after him. He's-a not like me, he's… anxious. I have to make sure he's okay. I'll tell you whatever you want to know, but… I want to find Luigi first."
Peach's hair gently swayed in the wind at the top of the hill. It certainly helped her feel like this moment was much more monumental than it probably was.
"You have my word." She spoke softly, nodding. "I promise, I'll do whatever I can to help you find your brother."
After a second, Mario nodded, satisfied with the answer. With things settled between them, Peach lifted up her dress to turn around and face Mario head on.
"We haven't been properly introduced." She said, holding out her hand. "I am Princess Peach, of House Toadstool. Heir to the Mushroom Kingdom."
Mario smiled a bit and turned. He hesitated, only to take off his glove, and shook Peach's hand without a glove on his own.
"Don't want to mess up your-a gloves with some gross plumber work gloves." He said. "I am Mario, of-a Mario Brothers Plumbing. Heir to… well, I guess some kinda pharmaceutical company."
They shook hands, smiling at each other, not caring that the Toad Guards were watching. After the handshake ceased, Mario put his glove back on.
Though they both turned to watch the distance in peaceful silence, Peach's eyebrows furrowed after a moment, and she turned back.
"Wait," She said. "You said Mario Brothers Plumbing."
"Sure did! 'No Leak Too Small!' Have you heard of us?"
"No, but… you go by your last name?"
"What? No, no, of-a course I… don't… oh."
"Your… your name is Mario Mario?"
"Oh yeah, come on. Go ahead. Let it all out. I've heard enough of this-a stuff growing up, I can take it."
"It's not that bad, really, it's just… so strange."
"Why are you named Peach?
"Because I have rosy red cheeks and peaches are the sweetest fruit in the kingdom."
"Well, if your cake is to go by, it's certainly the most delicious."
Peach eyed the plumber before smiling, looking back at the hills that lined the kingdom. Mario joined her, the two of them just enjoying the view.
There was still a bit of worry at the back of Mario's head. Where was Luigi? Was anyone else sucked into that pipe? What else is out there?
Much like Peach, the Metro Kingdom was the only kingdom Mario knew about. How many kingdoms were out there? Did Luigi make it to this one, or another one?
How many of the kingdoms are good?
Mario closed his eyes and breathed deeply, calming his nerves as he continued to take in the sights. The worst would be over soon. He'd have his brother back and they could go home.
Nothing could stop that now.
Fire. Lava. Rocks. Ash. That was the best way to describe the Dark Land.
It wasn't that dark at all, actually- the aforementioned fire and lava gave plenty of natural light. It was simply that the also aforementioned rocks were pitch black, giving the ground the appearance that it was all completely dark.
Bits of the kingdom that weren't fire and brimstone were deserts, barren lands. The further to the center of the kingdom you got, the more lava there was, so the outer borders were habitable by normal, non-cold-blooded creatures.
Dark magic infected the air. Those who would succumb to the killing grasp of lava would most likely come back as sentient skeletons of themselves, unable to be killed again after death.
There was a dark castle at the very top of the kingdom's raging volcano. The towers of the castle were spiked at the top, the front doors of the castle itself the giant open maw of the kingdom's powerful ruler.
On the inside, two turtle creatures stood guard on either side of the massive entrance door. These turtle creatures were called Koopas- much like Toads, they were named after their kingdom's royal family.
One of these turtle creatures had a red shell and a red helmet. The other had a green shell and a green helmet, holding a hammer in his hand.
"Bro…" The red one said. "Have you been working out, bro?"
"Yeah, bro." The Hammer Bro said. "I gotta throw these hammers all day. Can't slack on working on these muscles when you're constantly throwing stuff, bro."
"Heard that, bro. I'm lucky I just gotta shoot fireballs at bad guys all day. Your muscles look crazy, bro… not as much as the king's, but it's up there."
"You really think so, bro?"
"Of course I do, bro. You're super shredded."
"Aw man, thanks br—"
The pair were interrupted with the doors flying open, flipping inwards and slamming into the pair, crushing them both against the wall. Another koopa, this one in blue robes on a broom, flew inside and past the entrance without a care in the world, leaving a trail of purple and shapes behind him.
The doors slowly closed again, showing the shells of the two bros left behind. After a second, the Hammer Bro and Fire Bro fell back down onto the ground, but left in their underwear after being knocked out of their shells.
Flying through the large castle, the broom-riding koopa made it up to the room he was looking for- the throne room. He burst through those doors too, hopping off his broom and walking a little to slow himself down once he was off.
"My lord!" He spoke, out of breath.
Nearby, a koopa played a trumpet to signal the flying one's arrival.
"Presenting the original Magikoopa, the court wizard of the dark king and the old caregiver of the orphan ruler- Kamek the Grand Wizard!"
The koopa played the trumpet again, really playing his heart out as he was playing a fanfare that went on for a solid minute or two. It was interrupted by a hand, a very large hand, coming from the person sitting on the throne and grabbing the back of the koopa's neck.
With a swing, the king flung the trumpet koopa out a nearby window and into the spiky slopes of the mountain that the castle was perched upon.
"What is it, Kamek?" A deep voice rumbled.
"My one and only king." Kamek the Magikoopa bowed. "The prophetic vision I had in my dreams last night had come true. Resting near the Warp Pipe in the old destroyed castle was something foreign and strange… I will present it to you."
He held his hand out, the mystic aura of his powers carrying the strange object to the giant hands of his king. The giant koopa sitting at the throne was a different variation than any in the kingdom- he was a Drakoopa, the last of his kind.
The king snatched the object away. It was a crumpled up piece of pink paper. He unfolded it, looking it over but finding nothing written on it.
"We believe it passed through the remains of the destroyed pipe in the Warp Zone. The one that once led directly to our kingdom."
As the paper was unraveled, the king was enamored with the scent of peaches hitting his nose. It was sweet, beautiful… unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. The smell was a beacon of light in the utter darkness that was the Dark Land- a bit of hope for some kind of prize for the torment his life had been.
His gold eyes passed downwards, down to the name printed at the bottom. "Peach Toadstool, Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom."
"King Koopa," Kamek spoke. "If we still have access to the Warp Zone, we may be able to access the other kingdoms somehow. What would you like to do?"
King Bowser smiled widely, showing off his dangerously sharp teeth to his ex-guardian as he looked over the sweet-scented piece of paper. Whoever this "Peach" was, she was his sign that he could truly have everything he wanted.
He wasn't blocked off from the world. He didn't have to be alone.
"Find a way to send someone to this Mushroom Kingdom," Bowser boomed. "And bring me whatever you can find on Princess Peach."
