Super Princess Daisy

Chapter Two: Awakening

Daisy’s mind whirled like a Tweester as she slowly came to. A thousand thoughts and sensations ricocheted painfully off the inner walls of her head.

Her cousin screaming as the bubble carried her away, Mario and Luigi netted and dragged aboard the Koopa Kruiser, Kammy’s eyes flashing as she swung her wand down-

Every inch of her burned with pain. She felt like she was swimming out of a pool full of sludge; her movements were slow and clumsy, the pain bogging her down as she struggled to rise.

With a final jolt, everything locked into place. A fresh wave of pain slammed into her like a Charging Chuck, but her vision abruptly sharpened, and her muscles jumped to work. She rose from the ground, a bit unsteadily, and groaned, holding her head.

“Ugh…”

She looked around. Apparently, she had crashed in the woods; she was surrounded by thick trees and undergrowth on all sides. There was a long gouge in the dirt where she had crashed- several small plants had been uprooted by her landing, and the lowest limbs of the encircling trees had been snapped and broken.

Her legs shook, and she pitched forward, grabbing a nearby tree trunk for support. She was scratched and bruised all over, and was bleeding rather profusely in quite a few places. Her stomach, where Kammy’s spell had impacted, felt like someone had pummeled her with a sack full of bricks. She groaned again, slumping over slightly.

A bird called somewhere in the thicket; a rabbit skirted beneath a bush. She heaved herself upright and looked around, trying to find a path to some sort of town or resting place…

Her eyes fell upon a glimpse of white- something round and shiny that certainly didn’t blend in with the woods around it.

It was a face. A circular, snow-white face, with two humongous, staring, pitch-black eyes, and a little ‘o’ of surprise for the mouth. The face appeared to be made of plastic or some such material, and sported a thick leather strap, by which it was attached to a petite individual in baggy red robes.

A Shy Guy!

The instant she’d realized it, the Shy Guy noticed her staring. It gave a small yelp of surprise before turning and shooting off into the undergrowth with speed to rival that of an Amayzee Dayzee, scattering little birds and stumbling through bushes.

“Hey!” Daisy called. “Hey- wait!”

She rose and followed it as best she could. However, this particular Shy Guy seemed exceptionally quick; she struggled to keep up with it, and her injuries and exhaustion didn’t help much. It wasn’t long until she’d been completely left in the dust; the Shy Guy was long gone.

“Wait,” she panted. She staggered towards the bushes through which the Shy Guy had disappeared, although it was clear the little creature wouldn’t be returning anytime soon.

She growled in frustration and tore at a tendril from the undergrowth as she lurched forward. “Oh- CRAG!”

She’d unknowingly ensnared one foot deep into the creepers, and when she tried to keep moving, a sturdy tug from the tangled plants prevented her from doing so. She hissed through her teeth and pulled at them, ranting under her breath the whole while. When Daisy finally managed to snap her foot free, she ended up stumbling and falling over, landing face-first in the dirt.

She lifted her head…and blinked in surprise.

Sitting across the clearing, right before her eyes, was an Ultra Shroom.

Daisy picked herself up and reached for it, stuffing the restorative morsel into her mouth in relief. Instantly, strength coursed through her body. She stood upright, steady, rejuvenated, and pressed forward. She was still following the path the Shy Guy had escaped down; it had to lead somewhere, after all.

And it did. It wasn’t long until she’d emerged from the woods, and she could see a few houses just over the hills.

Part of her realized that this was a strange coincidence…The Shroom, the way out of the woods…

She started down the slope towards the houses, a small, hopeful smile forming on her lips.

“Huh,” she breathed as she trekked towards her destination. “Thanks, I guess, little Shy Guy…”

---

Peach jerked awake with a gasp, tangling herself in the blankets as she thrashed.

Wait…Blankets?

She sat there, staring about in confusion. Blankets…She was in bed. She was in a bedroom. Her bedroom- she recognized it, the pink curtains, the potted flowers by the desk, the peach-blossom-patterned rug on the floor.

Something still didn't feel right, though- The attack at the tennis court…Had it all been a nightmare?

She rose with a shaky sigh and made her way tentatively towards the window. Yes…She’d open the curtains, and it would be morning, and-

She opened the curtains and shrieked.

The view outside her window was not the Mushroom Castle; it wasn’t even the Mushroom Kingdom. The green fields and trees were replaced by dark rock and canyons, lava in the moat and clouds of soot in the sky.

Dark Land. The Koopa Kingdom.

She was in Bowser’s castle. It was a nightmare, indeed- but it was for real.

As she stood there, eyes wide in horror and hands shaking, fisted against the material, the doors creaked open behind her. She spun around and retreated against the wall as Bowser appeared, with Kamek at his side.

“Wakey-wakey, Princess,” he sang tauntingly. “Did you have a nice rest, my little Sleeping Beauty?”

Peach was silent.

“Mrr. Nothing to say, huh?” He gave a gruff chuckle. “Works for me…Long as you aren’t so tongue-tied for the big event, that is.”

She remained silent, but now in confusion just as much as fear and faint defiance; ‘big event’? What did he mean by that?

Bowser crossed the room towards her. She tried to squirm away, but he had her slender arm in his claw in an instant, and was half-leading, half-dragging her down the hall.

They soon came to the throne room. Peach expected him to sit there and start gloating as usual, but instead, he took a door to the side of the throne and led her up a flight of stairs. They continued on and upward until they were outside, on a balcony overlooking the-

Her free hand flew to her mouth to stifle a gasp.

Normally, they would’ve been overlooking the courtyard. That hadn’t changed, but beyond it, there was…air. Nothing but air and smoky clouds.

The castle was flying over Dark Land!

Bowser laughed. “Enjoy the view, Princess?”

Peach could only stare in shock. Clouds of Paratroops flapped not far away from the balcony, and she could see Troopas swarming various places in the courtyard below. They surrounded a number of large objects- one of which she was able to recognize as Bowser’s Koopa Kruiser! The other objects were slowly beginning to assume the same shape and form…

“You’re building a fleet of Koopa Kruisers,” she breathed.

“Ding-ding-ding! Correct, Princess!” Bowser gestured across the courtyard. “Soon, I’ll have an entire army of Kruisers, and with them, I can easily take over the rest of the world! Gwahahahar! Once I launch them, the world is good as mine!”

He paused, smirking at her. “How’s it feel to be engaged to the soon-to-be king of the world, huh?”

Peach whirled to face him, her eyes widening. “What?!”

“Our wedding, of course!” he laughed. “The launching of my fleet isn’t the only big event going on around here! Once the Kruisers are complete, it’s matrimony time, baby! I’ll have the world and you!”

“No, you won’t!” she wailed, trying to pull away. “I won’t! I won’t! Let go of me!”

“I don’t think so, Peach,” he purred, leading her back through the door and down to her room.

She resisted the whole way, but it did no good. Bowser released her into her room and promptly shut the door; she could hear the key turning in the lock.

“Have a nice stay, my little bride-to-be!” he called, stomping off down the hall. “Gwahahahahar!”

---

A sign hung beside the door; a pleasant-looking caricature of a Toad, advertising the place as an inn. It was getting late, but, judging by the lights in the windows, the innkeepers were still there. Daisy knocked three times and waited.

After a length pause, she glimpsed a flash of movement in the window. Before she could react, though, the door opened.

“P-Princess Daisy!” the Toad before her marveled, shocked.

“Hey,” she said awkwardly, shrugging a bit.

A Toad woman appeared beside him. “What a relief! We were worried that those Koopas had done away with you!”

“Koopas,” Daisy repeated. “Is…my cuz…”

The man nodded sadly. “Bowser has successfully usurped control of the Mushroom Kingdom. Princess Peach is his hostage, and the Mario Bros. are his prisoners.”

Daisy shook her head slowly, her arms dropping to her sides.

“Would you like to come inside?” the woman said after a moment, stepping back.

“Yeah,” Daisy said wearily. The Ultra Shroom had helped, but it still didn’t change the fact that she’d been attacked by the Koopas and thrown for miles by Kammy’s spell.

“You should get some rest,” she continued, helping the princess inside.

“I’ll need it,” Daisy said, making a fist determinedly. “’Cause I’ve got a pair of plumbers to free, a cuz to save, and a Koopa creep to deck to next year!”