Let's Try This Again, Shall we? (A SPM Swap AU)

The Twilight Zone

"Ow..." Daisy muttered, slowly sitting up, now in the place known as the Underwhere. The place for souls who have had the pleasure of having their games ended.

But of course, she didn't know that. All her memories seemed fuzzy. "What the... where am I?" She asked no one in particular as the land came into focus. "...Now I feel like I've REALLY been transported to the twilight zone-"

"DAISY?!" Someone called from a few feet away. Daisy flinched slightly, then looked over in the direction where the voice came from to see who other than her best friend.

"Peach?" She asked when the pink plumber suddenly rushed up and slid down to her knees, getting down to Daisy's level and wrapping her in a hug. "Oh Jaydes, I've been so worried! Where have you been?!"

"Uhhh...." Daisy trailed off, trying to remember. "...The twilight zone? Heh..."

"The twilight zone?" Peach questioned, pulling back and snorting. "As in the T.V. Show?"

"I was actually thinking about the ride. With the elevator!" Daisy laughed, playfully punching her friend in the arm. "It's good to have you back though! Where are we really?"

"Oh, it's called the Underwhere!" Peach explained. "It's... for people who've died. Some guy explained it to me. But come with me, we've gotta get out of here!" She urged, grabbing Daisy's arm and hoisting her up

"Wait wait wait... so I'm dead?!" Daisy asked. Peach merely shrugged in response. "Yeah," The pink plumber replied. "Looks like it. How did it happen? For us, the weird clown boy showed up and kinda exploded everything. I've been looking for Mario and King Boo ever since."

"Wait, wait, wait, a weird clown boy killed ALL of you?!" Daisy gasped. "Even King Boo?! But isn't he a ghost..."

"Hey, it's not my place to ask questions," Peach laughed. "We just gotta find them. How'd you even die?"

Daisy paused as Peach dragged her through the Underwhere, trying to remember how she died. But as hard as she searched her memories, she simply couldn't recall. "I... uh... I remember being captured by Countess Tippi's little minions. Then... I think they must have got me. I don't really remember much," the girl in orange explained.

"Hmm. So you've just been chilling in the twilight zone this whole time?" Peach laughed as Daisy smirked in response.

"Ha! You know it!" Daisy giggled. "Cue the Twilight Zone theme! Du-nu-nu-nu~!"

Peach giggled with her and hummed the theme as well, glad to finally have her player two back. The adventure certainly didn't feel the same without Daisy there with her, so she was glad things were at least somewhat back to normal.

_____

It didn't take long. The story continues as usual. Peach and Daisy travel to Grambi, ruler of the Underwhere. They are tasked with returning his daughter to him. The pure heart is restored, and they return to the land of the living. We already know this story. Though they've yet to find King Boo or Mario, they were able to return to Flipside with their lives and the Pure Heart. So at least there was some good news.

The town seemed quiet. The void was huge. And they couldn't see a single person out besides-

"OH THANK GOODNESS, YOU'RE BACK!" Pierre cried as soon as Peach and Daisy appeared on top of Flipside tower. He had been sitting on the edge of the tower when they had arrived, but he quickly teleported right in front of them to greet them, eyes smiling. She didn't want to admit it, but she was glad to see a familiar face. Even if she couldn't technically see his face at the moment because of the hood. A part of her wondered why Merlon was always telling him to cover it up.

"It's great to see you. Where are Bleck and Merlon?" Peach asked, smiling back at him and cocking her head to the side.

"Oh, they're grieving you in Merlon's house," Pierre beamed with a far too happy tone. "Bleck got a little upset at me for saving him, and I was getting a small feeling that they didn't want me in there, so I was about to try to make it up to them and find a way to get you back. Ya know... break some rules! Test out my teleportation skills! Fun fact, I used to be quite the teleporter! I use to be able to travel across dimensions until... uh, something happened. Now I can only teleport within the same dimension." He quickly explained, sounding as cheery as ever. 

Daisy raised an eyebrow at him, then suddenly cleared her throat, grabbing his attention.

"Ah," He chimed, turning to her and beaming, taking her hand and bowing. "And who may you be?"

"I'm Daisy," She stated, smiling and shaking his hand. "Who are you? And why are you so full of energy. You look like you've just had ten cups of coffee."

"Oh, Merlon doesn't let me have coffee," Pierre giggled. "And I'm Pierre!"

"Oh, nice to meet-"

"WAIT, I-I GOTTA GET YOU DOWN TO BLECK!" Pierre suddenly interrupted, grabbing Peach's hand as well. "He'll be SO happy that you're alive! This way!"

Pierre quickly dragged everyone to Merlon's house, nearly tripping on exactly seven different occasions. Daisy kept count. Once they arrived at Merlon's house he nearly ran into the wall, barely skidding to a halt and frantically knocking on the door.

"BLECK! BLECK! BLECK! BLECK! I'VE GOT NEWS!" Pierre cried, his positivity seeming to just surround him. "VERY GOOD NEWS!!"

It was contagious. Even Peach and Daisy were smiling.

"Not now, Pierre..." Merlon seemed to mumble on the other side of the door.

"Yeah," Bleck's voice murmured. "We're trying to figure out a new solution, and we need some time to think"

Pierre let out a sigh and continued knocking. "I'm just gonna stand here and knock until you open up!" He teased.

There was silence on the other side of the door as if they were ignoring him, so he rolled his blue eyes and turned his back to the door, crossing his arms and leaning against it. "It's okay, they'll let me in eventually-"

Suddenly the door swung open, making Pierre fall back into the house and onto his back, making his hood fall off. He let out a small 'oof' sound as he looked up to see Merlon and Bleck looking down on him with confused expressions.

"Pierre, what in the worlds are you doing?!" Merlon exclaimed when Pierre quickly sat up and pointed at Peach and Daisy. 

"Look!" He urged, smiling. "Look."

Daisy and Peach slowly waved, stepping inside. Daisy stepped behind Peach as the pink plumber smiled over at Bleck. "Hi..." She whispered.

The Pixl just floated there for a moment as if he was confused. "Pierre.... how..." He mumbled.

"They came back on their own," Pierre clarified. "I-I didn't actually do anything. I just found them on the tower."

"Yeah, we just came back from the twilight zone," Daisy giggled, causing Peach to snort and Bleck to turn his attention to her.

"And... who would you be?" Bleck asked Daisy.

The girl in orange smirked and pushed forward, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm Daisy. Peach's best friend!"

Merlon and Pierre slowly exchanged nods, knowing what this had meant. They weren't all totally doomed anymore.

There was hope.