"Peach, you've been invited to the premiere of the Great Swordfighter play at Sparkle Theater's grand opening," Toad said, holding up a flier. "We should go! I mean, it's not often you get a break, and I'm sure Toadsworth wouldn't mind if you didn't get kidnapped for once."
Peach chuckled. "Sparkle Theater? What a cute name! Can I see that?"
Toad handed it to her, and she looked at the flier. It had the theater's address, a note to dress formally for the grand opening ceremony, and a list of other plays airing afterwards. She smiled to Toad.
"Sure, but I'm taking you, Toadette, and Toadsworth with me. I can't have all the fun by myself!"
Toadette skipped ahead of the group, with Peach walking next to Toadsworth. Toad talked the entire time about how excited he was. Peach had a suitcase with her, that Toad handled care of, for the week-long stay to see all of the shows. Toadsworth was completely with the idea of the stay, since he just wanted Peach to avoid being kidnapped or dragged into an adventure with Mario for a week. They entered, and a Theet welcomed them. Peach gave a curtsy to him as they entered. Toad went to a stand to buy some tickets.
"So, the Theets built this whole thing themselves?" Toadette asked. "Impressive!"
Peach looked up at the fliers advertising the Swordfighter play, then down to the red carpets decorating the floors.
"Multiple floors?" Toadsworth mentioned. "They must be planning to hold a lot of plays here."
"I hope they do," Peach said. "Because they put so much work into this place, and I can just tell these plays are going to be special."
Toad came back. "I got the tickets! We still have a minute before the play starts though."
Toadette clapped. "What do you think the play's going to be about? I know a brave Swordfighter's going to be the main star, but what trials will he face?"
"Maybe he'll fight a demon king," Toad said.
"Perhaps he'll face an army of villains, to finally stop the ruthless skeleton ruler," Toadsworth suggested.
"I'm so excited, I can't wait!" Peach said.
The lights died all at once. The intercom dinged, the sound of a woman's laugh matching the notes.
"Ladies and gentlemen," said the voice. It was deep and calm, yet stern. "Apologies for the delay. The plays will begin shortly. The theater underwent some...new management. I truly do apologize dearly, but the plays will be getting rewritten."
"What's going on?" Asked a nearby Theet.
"New management?" Asked a worker.
"Something doesn't feel right," Toadsworth said.
The woman cleared her throat. "As I was saying before I was...rudely interrupted," she hit a certain pitch that Peach felt was aggressive, "it is now time for...Robbie, where's the drum roll?"
They sat in silence.
"Robbie? Robbie, I said start it. Yes, start the drum roll." She sighed. "It's alright, I'll deal without."
"What the..." Toad said. "Dork."
"Toad!" Peach said.
"I'm sorry! We were all thinking it!"
A swirling portal opened in front of them, in the center of the main lobby. The body the voice belonged to exited the portal with a twirl.
"A performance of terrifying proportions. Featuring yours truly, Grape, and my crew, the Sour Bunch!" She swiped her right hand to the side with a snap, and the portal tossed a brutal wind at them all.
Theets screamed as she laughed. Peach's crown flew off. Toad jumped up to grab it, but was thrown out the open doors when he did. A few Theets and Peach's suitcase were also thrown out the doors. The doors slammed shut and locked. The wind died down.
"Hmph. Please refrain from insulting me when I can hear you." She dusted off her dress. "Now, to business..." She looked at the carpeted floor. "I was never a big fan of the color red. It reminds me of blood, and death. Purple, however, is much more calming."
She didn't seem to notice Peach, so she sat still and watched. Grape landed on the ground-as she had been floating the entire time-and tapped her scepter to the center of the lobby. The carpets and walls changed colors, and the eerie feeling of death washed over Peach. Grape nodded once and left back through the portal.
Peach got to her feet. "Okay. So that just happened. Is everyone okay?"
A few Theets nodded, and Toadsworth started panicking.
"You are a magnet for trouble, aren't you? Oh, what to do, what to do...?"
"I think this was going either way," Peach told him. "But since I'm here, I might as well find a way to fix it, right?"
Toadsworth sighed. "Maybe you're right. But I don't want you getting hurt now, hear me?"
"Oh, how bad can that lady be?" Inserted a Theet. "She's obviously scared of us, if she fled so soon!"
"But what to do first?" Peach said. "Obviously, we need to stop Grape, but I'm not sure how."
"Whatever you decide," Toadsworth said, "I just want you to come back unharmed, okay?"
"I'll be fine."