Chapter 56: Meeting Princess Peach
Soon after leaving Yellow Toad's house, We all arrived at Toad Town as we were a couple of miles closer to the princess's castle. Around the area were shops, food, buildings and people that were literally Toads.
I'm highly shocked how a princess would live in a strange environment like this. But in the end, looking at these Toads, I didn't believe they would pose a threat. Heck, all of these believe they don't pose a threat so I wasn't gonna put any more detail.
"Here is Toad Town. Our beloved home and heart of this world." Yellow Toad said.
"Wow, there's so many buildings around here." Blue said. "It's more like a city now that I'm looking at the architecture."
"Oh, so your world is making enhancements. You should have no problems, right?" Darius asked.
"Those are just buildings. They mentioned firepower as their focus." Zack said.
"Our buildings were always like this. We created a couple of buildings recently to add up the flavor for our home. The firepower is still in the works." Blue Toad said.
"This does feel like back home now that I think about it. But with just buildings that look like mushrooms, I guess." Candace said.
Indeed it is. It's a world just filled with mushrooms after all, but it is ruled by a human princess.
"Really? I'm not sure it does." Blue said, looking surprised and confused.
"Well, this is from what I'm seeing. Every shop feels like I wish to purchase something valuable."
"Right?! I'm starting to get that type of vibe too!" Gemma said.
"So we have to get through the whole town to reach the castle?" Kinsley asked.
"It's a long trip to get there as it's down the north. Luckily, we can use the pipes to get to the north." Yellow Toad said.
"But… there's a lot of moving around to get to them, right?" Candace asked.
"We'll be fine. Moping and groaning ain't gonna solve a damn thing." Darius said. "We can handle it."
"*sigh* You're right. Although, I wasn't talking to you." Candace said with a sweatdrop.
"At least I'm getting a break from his annoying self." Alexis whispered with a sweatdrop.
"Alright, let's head to the north. We shouldn't take long getting to the princess." I said.
Once all of us gathered information on how we can get through Princess Peach's castle, we all headed north of Primp To– Pri-Pri… Toad Town, pardon me, and we went straight to the pipes that the Toads were talking about.
We all went inside the pipes and once we went inside, many of us were surprised by the effects that it had.
The magnetism of it was strong enough to pull me in and get me to the other side. It was really cool to be inside it to be honest. Blue, Gemma, Darius and Kris were mind-blown once they got in there.
After reaching the end of the pipe, we all reached the middle floor of Toad Town and the Toads led us to another set of pipes that were also, as stated by Yellow Toad, north of the middle floor. As we were moving, there were more shops and buildings that looked luxurious than the previous ones, but we weren't focused on those and instead proceeded to the next pipes.
Once we followed the Toads for a few more minutes, we reached and entered the pipes with them having the same effects as last time. It felt more comfortable than warping to Hyperdrive City for the first time. Warping there almost felt as if I was a car speeding down a highway or something.
After a couple of seconds of riding through the pipes, we reached the exit of the pipes and reached the top floor of Toad Town.
"Alright. Princess Peach's castle is just those stairs away. We're almost there." Blue Toad said.
"Are you sure that's the path to the princess's castle? Hopefully we're not going in the wrong direction." Blue said.
"We're inexperienced here, Blue. We should trust them to lead the way." I said.
"Yes, please trust us. It's no trick. I guarantee we will help you get what you want since you all are friends after all." Yellow Toad said.
"Hopefully Princess Peach will get an opportunity to hear your side of the story, Kaze. You really have been through a lot, no?" Blue Toad asked.
"Yes, I did. But, again, I want to save it for once we meet Princess Peach." I said.
"I forgot to bring this up earlier. Do we also need authorization to get inside the castle?" Scarlett asked.
"No, but that's what Princess Peach is working on as of right now. We can't let more intruders invade our castle so authorization to get inside is in progress."
"Hearing this gives me goosebumps a little bit." Yellow Toad said, looking a little worried.
"W-Why? We're here protecting you, Yellow Toad, so it's nothing to fear." Gemma said.
"Yes, I know, Miss… Gemma, I believe, but I have a feeling that it's Bowser and his repeated evil deeds again. Without Mario, no matter the situation, we'll be–"
"Yellow Toad, we'll be fine!"
"B-Blue Toad?" Yellow Toad asked as Blue Toad tried to grab both of his arms.
"We have to take Darius' motivational comment to heart. We have been in this situation before and we've done it numerous times. So if we can defeat Bowser with all of our bravery with Mario on our side, then we can handle Bowser on our own. We're Toads! We can do this without Mario!"
"Wow… I guess you're off to a hot start, Darius." Scarlett said, looking surprised.
"Duh! I am taking that MVP award, just so you guys know!" Darius said.
"Don't get ahead of yourself. It's only been 35 minutes since we got here." Alexis said with a sweatdrop.
"Yeah. You're right, Blue Toad." Yellow Toad said. "I'm just thinking bad stuff again while not realizing we have been heroes ourselves before. Acting worried isn't gonna solve anything so we have to take that into consideration."
"Well, don't forget about us. You have us as support too." I said.
"Right. I owe you guys a bunch for this."
I'm glad they're starting to see it now.
"Anyway, let's head to the stairs. Princess Peach shouldn't be long."
And so, with our next conversation out of the way, we all proceeded straight to the stairs which lead to the princess's castle. Before we did so, we made sure we checked everything to see if we didn't lose our stuff behind. After seconds of doing so, nothing was lost and we headed and walked up the stairs.
After walking through the long stairs, we have reached the one and only Mushroom Kingdom. Everything around the area was filled with flowers, peaches, a garden, a river, baskets, and other sorts.
"Here it is, everyone! The one and only Princess Peach's castle! Ruled by Princess Peach!" Yellow Toad said.
"Wow! My first time seeing the castle! I can't wait to take pictures of this! This is about to be epic and nostalgic!" Gemma shouted.
"Ok, settle down, you. We're only here for our mission." Kinsley said to Gemma sternly.
"Why does the princess have a lot of flowers and peaches here? Didn't she say she was gonna upgrade her defenses?" Kris asked.
"Oh my peaches!"
Me, Darius, Gemma, Alexis, Kris and Zack giggled at Darius' sarcastic comment. Yes, Darius did laugh at that comment too. The rest were either not amused or confused by it.
*PINCH*
"Ow! What are you doing?!" Darius shouted as Scarlett pinched his ear.
"Be respectful. This is her castle so don't be fooling around." Scarlett said to him.
I don't know why I laughed at that to be honest.
"A-Anyway, to answer your question, S-She wanted to balance decorations and defenses." Yellow Toad. "She will switch up once everything is in order. As of now, she's working on defenses so there's no need for concern."
"I hope so. Defenses are important for her safety so there has to be something done." Blue said.
"Well, she's got us. If I have to play the servant role for the good of the mission, then why waste time? Let's let her use us." Candace said.
"We'll know once we ask her about it. Anyway, are you all ready to head inside?" Yellow Toad asked.
"Yeah. Let's head inside." I said as well as everybody else.
As all of us agreed to get inside the castle, we all went through the bridge, went past the garden and reached
the castle with ease. As soon as we were about to open the big doors to the castle, the doors themselves opened for whatever reason which gained us entry inside.
I guess those doors are automatic. But… How does that happen though?
As we entered inside, we saw a lot of pictures and accessories decorated on the walls. There were a lot of things that were so… memorable that the princess has gone through. I'm not gonna name all of them since we were in the middle of something important but it looked like they were memories of the past.
"Man, that's a lot of pictures. Were those… memories of the princess?" Darius asked.
"That's right. We've done so many fun activities throughout our entire lives." Blue Toad said. "Most of them came to a pause after Bowser took over the world several times. Fortunately, we had Mario on our side to stop the mayhem so those events were resumed. But we'll talk about that another time."
That does go back to what Arfoire did in Suzuran City, invading an entire beach all for that red crystal.
"Is there anybody here? Is she all by herself?" Scarlett asked.
"Well, not really. There's other Toads here that are looking after her. You can say that one of them has a very strong care for her. You'll see."
"Is every human being just Toads?" Candace asked, looking surprised.
"Well… in this town, yes, but there's others who are not. I'm not sure if the princess has asked those people for their assistance. That's the one I'm still having questions on."
"We'll see. Hopefully it's people that are even stronger." I said. "But the princess is gonna adore us once we give her all the power she needs."
"That's right. We just need to let her give us a chance no matter how high the stakes are." Blue said.
"Hey, guys!"
We heard another Toad coming from our direction that we were walking in. This time there were two more Toads. The first one who we heard was wearing a green spotted mushroom cap on his head along with a green vest while the latter was wearing a red spotted mushroom cap on his head along with a red vest.
"Oh. Green and Red Toad." Yellow Toad said.
"The princess knew you were coming because of what happened outside, right?" The Toad named Green Toad asked.
"That's right. But we have new faces in this world who could lend us the information provided for us." Yellow Toad said. "They might not be who the princess has recruited but they said they are the ones who can provide the most help."
"Oh? New faces? Yeah, they don't look like who the princess recruited."
"Don't worry. We don't pose a threat to anybody here. We're just here to investigate as well." I said to the Green Toad.
"Yeah, they won't bite. They are just here to help." Blue Toad said.
"Well then, new faces. My name is Green Toad."
"And I'm Red Toad. It's nice to meet new people. Are you sure you're not gonna cause harm?"
"We can help you guys." I said. "Like we said to Blue Toad and Yellow Toad, we can help you guys find the source of the strange light. We just have to explain the source to the Princess first."
"A-Alright then. The princess is up ahead. I'll take you all there." Green Toad said.
"Thanks a lot, Green Toad." Yellow Toad said.
This is going to get a lot more interesting than it is now.
My support is getting even more maximized.
We all followed Green Toad and Red Toad to the next room up ahead. Everyone could feel the nervousness, including myself, of meeting Princess Peach. It's never happened before. All of us. Not even the United Kingdom or every other country. Or every other world. We're finally meeting here face to face for the first time. I know it's people from Primp Town and Suzuran City that I've met for the first time since it's a new dimension, but Princess Peach is a bigger person to meet because she's been known for… years.
I'm not experienced in video games, but we're in for a treat. Meeting someone that almost everybody has to know, including myself. We might be the first ones to meet her which is a major accolade.
After some more walking the doors opened to the next room in which it was quite big. It was possibly the main area. There were pictures hanging on the wall with the princess in the pictures, a sunroof, lights, and some other royal accessories that were well-organized.
And there were more people, including the princess, wearing her usual dress and tiara. It was unknown what they were doing, but it was probable that they were having a meeting.
"Alright, Princess. We have your guests." Green Toad said.
"Along with some new faces that'll get your attention." Red Toad said.
"New faces? Good golly, that's a lot of new people entering the castle." Said a Toad with a mustache and glasses. He looked older.
"You can say that again, although this has been common over and over again." Another Toad said. This time, she had on a pink mushroom cap with white spots along with pigtails.
Are these Toads new? How many different Toads are there overall?
"Princess Peach! I'm so glad you accepted our permission to speak!" Yellow Toad said.
"It's no problem, Yellow Toad. I assumed you wanted to speak about that bright light, yes?" The princess asked.
"Yes. it just happened suddenly. We weren't sure what it was about, but it happened anyway." Blue Toad said.
"Ok. So I assume you all are innocent newcomers. Are you sure you weren't the ones that caused mischief outside?" The princess asked all of us.
"No no. We just came here to investigate that source too. My name's Kaze Matsuzaki. You can call me Kaze for short." I said.
"My name's Blue Mackenzie. You can call me Blue just in case." Blue said.
"I-It's an honor to meet you. I am Candace Maxey. "Candace" will do." Candace said.
"Hiya, Princess! Sorry about my friend here. She's just a little shy. You can call me Gemma January. I hope we'll get along perfectly."
"O-Ok, I think we'll leave it there." The princess said. "Sorry for being rude, but as much as I would love to do introductions right now, we have other matters to take care of, so I'll ask who the rest of you are later."
"Yeah, I have a feeling your situation is more important than this." This was said by a yellow person with a star on her head. It was a ball type of person.
I can't judge. It's too hard to tell since I don't want to be offensive.
"R-Right. So, Princess." Yellow Toad said, trying to continue the conversation. "Are you sure we're going to be ok after what happened moments ago? Do you think we'll be ok with getting these guys to help out with this incident?"
"Well… since I have a feeling that Bowser may have been resurrected once again and he may be the cause of it, which is an extreme pain, I suppose I will approve the request of you all to help out. But I will need to be on the move as well."
"W-Wait, Princess? You are going to search for trouble again?" The toad with the mustache asked.
"I would be asking for Mario's assistance in this situation, but without our hero, I have to do everything in my power to make sure our world is safe. And it all starts with me."
"Well… it's true. We've seen the princess save the world on numerous occasions, Toadsworth." Blue Toad said. "I know the truth hurts for you, but if it's not broken, we shouldn't fix it."
"Wow. What wise words, Blue Toad." The Toad with pigtails said, looking shocked.
"I-I try." He said while scratching his cap.
"Hmm… I also can't fault her leadership skills ever since Master Mario is long gone." The Toad with the mustache said as he was taking the time to think about it. "And your bravery has exceeded expectations. Very well, Princess. Looks like I won't look after you anymore since you are brave enough to discover this incident."
"Don't worry, Toadsworth." The princess said. "Mario has taught me a lot of things during our long era together and to me… I can do it. I will find a way to protect my people and my kingdom for the sake of everybody."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Princess."
"But first, I want to ask you all now. Is there any idea why you wanted to tag along with Yellow Toad and Blue Toad?"
"Well… the source of light, princess." I said. "We weren't the ones that caused it, but we know why it occurred."
"At first we were going to discuss it with Yellow Toad and Blue Toad, but since she had the most experience with this stuff, she wanted to discuss it with all of you on what's about to occur." Darius said.
"Oh, so you know about what's going on, Kaze?" The princess said.
"Yes. It's a long story so… are you sure you want to listen to it?" I asked.
"Yes. Please do. I want to hear everything you know."
"Very well. Here's what we are about to go through…"
*ONE VERY LONG BORING STORY LATER*
"And so, that's where we are at as of now. And why I wanted to speak about this with you." I said after finishing the explanation of what's about to happen.
"Ok. It's now starting to become more clear that Bowser may be involved in this the more I listen to your story." The princess said.
"But we dealt with him so many times. Why is it every time we bring peace back, he finds a way to come back with something more painful?" The yellow thing asked.
"Yeah, it's always him giving us headaches with his venomous behavior." The Toad with the pigtails said.
"But more importantly, Miss Kaze, you explained that there are other bad people joining forces with Bowser. Do you have any idea who those people are?" The toad in which I believe his name is Toadsworth asked.
"Their names are Satan, Ecolo and Arfoire. The three of them are in different dimensions so it appears you'll have common enemies as we progress."
"S-Scary… I have a feeling that they're his new minions." Green Toad said.
"Different dimensions… I think that's normal, but those names do not seem familiar." The princess said.
"Wait, it's normal for you all?" Blue asked.
"Not for them, but for me, personally. I have gone to different dimensions before, but it wouldn't be too important to bring that up now. Anyway, about this current stone that you are looking for, I haven't gotten any intel on where it is, but I could help search for it for you guys."
"Thank you, princess. I'm glad you were able to understand what we're going through." I said with a smile.
"You're welcome, Kaze. Our worlds are on the brink of a crisis so we must make haste to find the stone. But first, since you all are newcomers, I have to show you all of this world."
"We already did that, Pri– oh wait… that was Toad Town. Sorry." Blue Toad said with a sweatdrop.
"Please take care of our Princess, you all. She's the centerpiece of our world." The Toad with the mustache said.
"Don't worry… I forgot your name." I said to him.
"Ah, right. Where are my manners? *clears throat* You may call me "Toadsworth". I have all my life been a protector towards Princess Peach, in case you need to know who she is. I will give you any type of information you need just in case."
"Oh right. I also forgot to introduce myself. I'm Toadette. I'm friends with everyone else. It's nice to meet millions of you." The girl now named Toadette said.
Well, it's ten of us.
"And I'm Starlow. A representative of the star sprites. It's also to meet you all."
"A star what?" Alexis asked, looking confused.
"A star sprite. Although the title doesn't seem fitting." Kris said.
"You gonna call it not-fitting?" Darius asked.
Oh my goodness…
"Can you guys shut up? Sorry, Starlow. Please pay them no mind. I'm Scarlett by the way." Scarlett said.
"O…k then." Starlow said with a sweatdrop.
"Anyway, I will rendezvous with you all shortly, so would it be so kind if you could wait outside the entrance?" Princess Peach asked us.
"Of course, Princess. Anything you need." I said to her.
"W-Wait, what do you want us to do?" Yellow Toad asked the princess.
"I need you all to stay here and guard the castle until I'm gone." Princess Peach said. "I need to guide these newcomers around the world to find the yellow stone. Toadsworth, I'm gonna need you to look after them."
"Understood, Princess." Toadsworth said while bowing down.
"Alright, we'll be outside until you come." I said.
After having a long conversation with Princess Peach, we all went outside waiting for the princess to arrive. It was quite shocking to me that the princess would tag along in a situation like this. She has always been kidnapped by Bowser and I thought she would have others to fend off Bowser from doing so once again. But in the end, she is the Princess so I'm not gonna make any other suggestions and let her be her.
"So, I guess we have to look all over the world for the stone with Princess Peach's help. It's going to be a pain." I said with a sweatdrop.
"Well, she has a lot of knowledge about this world so it's going to be easy using her as a guide." Zack said.
"But since Bowser, like Princess Peach said, happens to be resurrected, we should stay on our toes because we aren't going to know what hit us." Blue said.
"Oh I know how to stay on my toes alright." Candace said. "It's like back in the Royal Rally. I know how to be confident there so I have no problems kicking that Bowser species' ass."
"He's a Koopa. How do you not know that Bowser is a Koopa?!" Darius asked.
"W-Whatever. I don't care. I'm still shoving my foot up it's ass no matter what."
"You're right. I won't have any problem giving him a serious beatdown either!" Gemma shouted.
"Well, you still have to be alert no matter what. Bowser's a bigger threat to deal with." I said.
"Right. We got each other so let's make sure we don't plan on making any risky moves." Alexis said.
"Hopefully my DSS will do its job too. Just in case someone is really here." Zack said.
"Hopefully you can utilize it a lot for this one." Blue said.
"But are you sure we're going to find that yellow stone? It's gonna be a lot of roaming around the dimension." Gemma asked.
"I know, Gemma, but it's urgent. We have to do what we can." I said.
"Thank you guys for waiting."
We heard Princess Peach's voice as she was coming to us with a different outfit. She was still wearing her crown, but she was wearing a pink leather jacket, a white mini-skirt and long white boots.
It was very surprising she wore this type of clothing because the thing is… it's sunny outside.
"P-Princess… it's way too sunny to be wearing that." Blue said with a sweatdrop.
"S-Sorry about that, Blue. But I figured this would be an even more dangerous adventure, so I decided to stick with this outfit. Just for the sake of this." Princess Peach said while looking at her outfit.
"I guess you and Kinsley, in case you don't know her name, may look alike. You two look like agents." Alexis said.
"O-Oh. Do you like these types of outfits too, Kinsley?" Princess Peach asked.
"I-I do. It's mainly because it'll show that I'm the type that takes investigations seriously." Kinsley said.
"Ah… I see."
"Anyway, Princess. Do you have any idea where we should go first?" I asked.
"Yes. Let's go to Sunbeam Plains first. We'll find some information about the yellow legendary stone along the way."
"Sunbeam Plains?" Kinsley asked.
"It's further down to the left of where my castle is. We'll be able to get there easily."
"I really can't wait to join forces with you, Princess Peach! We're going to do amazing things!" Gemma said.
"Yes! We'll do great together, Gemma!"
"Here we go. Already starting this popularity battle." Candace said with a facepalm.
"Come on, Candace. I'm sure you'll find some friends too. We just have to make sure we do our best."
"That's not what I meant." Candace said with an annoyed look.
"Don't mind them, Princess. They just get along fine." Kris said.
"Can we proceed to our mission, please?! In fact, let me shut up and find that stone already!" Candace yelled as she was running to find the stone without warning.
"Wait, Candace! Don't leave us behind!" I shouted as I was trying to catch up.
"Kaze, wait up!"
"Look what you did, you two!" I heard Blue and Scarlett say as the others were trying to catch up to me after Candace took off.
What did I get myself into? *sigh* This is definitely going to be a wild adventure.
Author's Note: With the help of Princess Peach, the search for the yellow legendary stone has now begun. After requesting assistance from the Princess, the group of 11 are now on their way to Sunbeam Plains to gather information about where the stone is.
So in case you guys don't know about Sunbeam Plains, it was from Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam. It's considered a grassland area. I thought about picking this area because I figured it would be a nice little warm-up for the party. I didn't want to go straight to being crazy and picking dangerous areas. I just wanted something clean and peaceful. That's all.
And that's all I got for now. So if you guys enjoyed this story, make sure to follow/favorite/review this story, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter.