Super Princess Peach

Ch. 1

Peach washed her face in the upstairs bathroom, breathing in and out, preparing herself for the arduous task that lay ahead. Anxiety flooded her chest like water, but she refused to break down and take back the decision she'd made seconds ago - to figure out where Mario was and rescue him. After all he'd done in the past for her and the Mushroom Kingdom, she felt obligated to do this, difficult or not. 

Chin up, princess. She glanced up into the mirror, nodded to herself, and exited the bathroom. 

She paused when she reached the top of the stairs, gazing down at what was happening below. Toads were still acting strangely - laughing, crying, shouting in anger. The remaining...sane toads were trying to calm their friends down as best they could, but they didn't seem to be making any progress.  

She spotted Toadsworth and Perry down at the foot of the stairs, talking to...a news team! How had they gotten into the castle? 

She moved down the stairs, and heard Perry talking excitedly to the female interviewer toad, who was holding a microphone towards him. A couple other toads were manning the cameras, and they didn't seem to be at all surprised that a talking umbrella was giving them an interview. Strange things like animate inanimate objects were quite common in the Mushroom Kingdom. 

"...so the Princess and the old man and I are gonna do our best to figure out what happened here," Perry said determinedly. "And then we're gonna go rescue our kidnapped friends!" 

"Perry!" Peach said sharply; they all turned towards her. Toadsworth cowered slightly under her displeased frown. Perry seemed none the wiser. 

"Oh, here she is," Perry said, grinning at Peach. "Princess, these nice folks want to have a chat with you." 

"Yes, Princess Peach, please tell us what you think!" the girl toad said, pushing her microphone up towards Peach. "Your friend here says that you assume that Bowser is the one that caused this travesty. Can you elaborate on your theories?" She snapped a glare over at the camera toads. "Toadman, Toadson! What are you two idiots doing? Get some shots of her face!" 

Toadman and Toadson hurriedly surrounded Peach with their cameras, practically shoving the shutters in her face. Peach cleared her throat, trying not to sound exasperated, and said, "Excuse me, Miss...?" 

"Toadma," the reporter said, flashing a card out of her smart suit in a nanosecond. "With the Toad Town Station 10 News." 

"Toadma, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but this investigation is an internal affair, and I would rather not have any news crews broadcasting it at this time." 

Toadma pouted. "What! But Princess, don't you want the kingdom to know what's going on? To assure them that even though their red-capped guardian has been snatched away by the enemy that you're doing your absolute best to get him back?" 

"Er..." Well, when she put it like that... 

"Just a short broadcast, Princess," Toadma encouraged her. "Let the common toad see the good you're doing, Princess, how concerned you are about finding Mario and how hard you're working to find him." 

Peach glanced over at Toadsworth, who nodded, and then at Perry who nodded vigorously. She let out a breath. Though it aggravated her to have to put up with the press, she had to admit that using them to placate the masses was a good idea. 

"All right," she relented. 

"Excellent!" Toadma sounded excited. "And I have another great idea! Why don't we help you with your investigation? It looks as though you're short on sane staff at the moment. We'd be happy to assist you."