Super Peach, Chapter 2: Pink Girl Luigi

The trip to Toad Town felt like seconds to Peach. In the time it took to blink, the former princess popped out of another green warp pipe, seeing Luigi standing in front of it. She slowly climbed out, looking at the surrounding town; Toad Town looked almost identical to how she had left it. Besides the addition of some stores she had always wished for, like a very fancy-looking restaurant and a clothing store (with beautiful dresses in the window,) the sense of familiarity made Peach feel more at ease.

"Well, let's go." Luigi said, holding out his gloved hand to help his 'sister' from the pipe. Peach nodded and took his hand, stepping on to the ground. "Where should we go first?"

"That dress store over there looks nice." Peach replied. A particular red dress caught her eye, and she had to give it a closer look. Luigi nodded and turned for the building, but both plumbers stopped in their tracks when a small, pink figure darted in front of them. Peach recognized it as Toadette, who looked identical to the female Toad that lived in her castle.

"Luigi! Pink girl Luigi!" Toadette yelled, sounding frantic. "Oh, I mean ... Peach, right?" Toadette asked. She didn't sound embarassed that she had forgotten Peach's name, but more than it was annoying to have to correct herself. "Prince Mario needs you at the palace, right away!" Before either Peach or Luigi could respond, Toadette dashed away in the direction of the castle.

"Uh, 'pink girl Luigi?'" Peach asked, raising an eyebrow. "Isn't my name on our house, and my name on all of those trophies?"

"What?" Luigi asked, looking just as confused as earlier. "You always throw the parties and the go-kart races and all the fun stuff, sis. When there's big trouble around here, I'm number one!" Luigi boasted, looking quite pleased with himself. "You know we're a team! I couldn't defeat Queen Daisy without you!"

"Yes, I suppose you ... wait, what?!" Peach shouted her question, catching the attention of every passerby Toad around them. "Oh, I mean ... of course, my hero brother! Heh heh ..." Peach blushed. "Sorry everyone, I just got excited ..."

The Toads looked at each other for a moment. After a pause, they all continued walking as if nothing had happened. Peach sighed, tapping her forehead with a gloved hand.

"How embarrassing ..." Peach muttered. She looked up at Luigi, who returned her glance with a look of concern.

"I know you used to be a doc, but we gotta get you looked at." Luigi said before turning towards the castle's path. "Let's go see what Mario wants before he gets impatient." The green-clad 'hero' dashed off, leaving Peach to follow.

"Mama Mia ..." Peach sighed, taking off behind him.

After arriving at the castle grounds, Luigi and Peach ran through the grassy field and up the yellow path to the palace. As they reached the stone bridge, Peach stopped and looked up, staring at the castle that was once her home. The gray stone construction remained the same, as did the red-roofed towers, but something big was completely different: the stained glass window that once held her image now showed a profile of Mario.

With the glass window being rather large, his nose looked more bulbous than usual. A round, red-and-gold crown sat on his head. Rather than overalls, he wore a blue garment with a red cape flowing behind him--due to Mario's short stature, the art didn't show the lower half of his body. Peach stared at the glass art for a moment before slapping herself on the cheek, blinking and hoping she would perhaps wake up.

"Ouchie ..." Peach winced, rubbing her cheek in pain. Luigi turned to look at her, and shook his head in disbelief. Peach sighed once again and walked across the stone bridge, following Luigi into the castle. If she kept sighing at everything she saw today, Peach thought, she would run out of air before nightfall.

"Prince Mario! Luigi and Peach have arrived!" A Toad's loud, shrill voice echoed throughout the castle lobby as Peach and Luigi stepped inside. Peach looked around, seeing that the large room was identical to her own castle's--save for a large, red 'M' in the center on the floor. At the top of the stairs, two large doors slowly opened--Peach watched with wide eyes as Mario, dressed in royal garb, stepped into the room.

"Ah, Peach! Luigi! It's-a so good to see you!" Mario greeted the two. His accent had remained, but this made Peach realize something: Luigi hadn't muttered a single '-a' sound along with a word he had spoken earlier, but his voice didn't change. Maybe the younger 'Mario' brother had been working on his accent in this world, she thought.

"Good afternoon, Prince." Luigi said, giving the short man a slight bow. Peach hesitated for a moment, but did the same. Mario smiled and walked down the stairs, stopping just in front of the two. "How can we be of service? Luigi asked, standing up and looking down at Mario.

"I'm-a afraid it's ... her again, Luigi." Mario said, his smile turning to a look of annoyance. "It seems-a Queen Daisy wasn't satisfied with her usual kidnapping, and has decided to take some new land for herself."

"Kidnapping?" Peach asked, standing from her bowing position. "I thought Bowser and the Koopa clan did the kidnapping?"

Mario and Luigi exchanged a glance, then began to laugh loudly. The sounds of laughing Toads echoed throughout the room as well.

"Bowser? Kidnapper?" Mario asked, smiling and wiping a tear from his eye. "Peach, you know the Koopas are the kingdom's most trusted allies! Bowser would do anything for us!"

"I, uh ... you're right, your highness." Peach replied, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I was just making a joke."

"Anyway, what's Daisy up to now?" Luigi asked. "Last time, we had to rescue poor Bowser Jr. because she wanted a kid brother to play with. She's taking over other places now?"

"Yes, I'm afraid." Mario nodded. "We got word today that she's-a taken over Donkey Kong Island, and our friends there need our help!"

"D-Donkey Kong Island?" Peach stammered, sounding both confused and shocked. "But Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong have always kept it safe! Aren't there a bunch of crocodiles there? Is Bows--I mean, is Daisy controlling the Kremlings?"

"Well, sort of." Mario replied with a nod. "She's brought her minions from Sarasaland with her, and they didn't have much trouble overtaking the Kremlings and the Kongs. We just-a got a letter from Diddy Kong this morning." Mario reached into the pocket of his puffy, blue-and-white striped pants, and handed it to Luigi. Luigi opened the folded paper and Peach leaned in to read it as well--it was full of scribbles and what looked like a splat of banana on the bottom.

"This is terrible!" Luigi said, folding the paper. "I've never seen Diddy talk like this before!" As Luigi stuffed the paper into his pocket, Peach was still trying to figure out how he could read Diddy's handwriting to start with. "So we need to take back the island, rescue the Kongs, and stop the Kremlings before they take over too? This is gonna be a toughie!"

"The Kremlings won't be much of a problem, Luigi."

Peach and Luigi looked down, seeing Toadette had approached.

"Diddy also said that the Kremlings aren't doing this willingly. After King K. Rool's Blast-o-matic machine got destroyed, he backed off on trying to take over Donkey Kong Island and his army has just been living there because they don't have a way back to Crocodile Isle."

Crocodile Isle? Blast-o-matic? Peach felt a headache coming on; she had no clue what Toadette was talking about now. All she knew about Kremlings were that they were disgusting crocodiles that liked stealing bananas from the Kongs.

"That's about-a everything we know. Good job getting info, Toadette." Mario said, patting Toadette's head. The female Toad smiled at the praise from her ruler. "Luigi, Peach, I need you to set off as soon as you can. Please get ready, and I'll have some-a transportation ready when you return."

"Yes, sir!" Both Peach and Luigi replied in unison. As the two turned for the castle's front doors, Peach paused in her tracks. She turned, looking back at Mario. "Prince Mario, is Toadsworth here as well?" She asked. Mario and Toadette exchanged confused looks.

"Who?" Toadette asked, tilting her head. Peach shook her head.

"Nothing, forget I said anything." She replied, following Luigi outside. Without having Toadsworth at her side to guide her, Peach felt lost. As she followed Luigi to Toad Town's warp pipe at the gate, many things ran through her mind: since when was Daisy a villain? Why could Mario ever trust Bowser? And most importantly, could she handle fighting Kremlings? The Koopalings were one thing, but the stories she had heard about the Kremlings were always frightening.

Peach and Luigi hopped into the warp pipe, heading for home. Peach just hoped she was ready for whatever her past best friend and fellow princess had in store for them.