[accidental video; somehow locked (medium) from Mario and Luigi should they appear]

[king_bowser]

[The camera seems to be sitting on a desk inside Peach's bedroom. Bowser bursts through the door. Neither Peach nor Bowser seem to be aware of the camera.]

Bowser: (cheerfully) Hey, darlin', how about a tour of the castle? It's had a lot of changes since you were here last.

Peach: (huffily) I think I'll stay here, thank you.

Bowser: (gently) Aw, c'mon. You're already here, and Mario's not going to be able to reach us now. Besides, it'll let you get out of your room for a while.

Peach: (angrily) I don't want to see your dank, gloomy castle! You're just trying to make me a more agreeable prisoner, and I won't stand for it!

Bowser: (offended) Fine! Stay in here, then! (then somewhat more gently:) But if you change your mind, I'll be waiting.

[Bowser turns away to leave but stops for a moment. The camera clearly picks up a saddened expression on his face. He rubs his eyes a moment, then continues offscreen, closing the door hard behind him.]

[The slamming door causes Peach to jump, and her previously angry expression collapses into sadness.]

Peach: If only someone could help me...

[A tiny knock is heard on the glass door leading to the balcony. Peach walks over to investigate. The moment her hand touches the curtain to pull it aside, the video ends.]

[Bowser reenters video chat shortly afterward, unaware that the above has been posted.]

Comments

[blahblahblah]

Hey. Don't you think you're being just a little forceful? I mean, you kidnapped this poor girl and took her and her castle into space because... what, you like her? I'm sure there was a better way than to just pick her up and leave with her.

[king_bowser]

You have a better idea?

[blahblahblah]

Yeah. Give her some space. Let her out of her room, without you there. What's she going to do?

[king_bowser]

[Bowser ponders this for a moment, then stands and walks away. After several minutes, he returns, looking annoyed.]

I guess she didn't need that. She wasn't there. My troops are scouring the castle now. Nice catch.

[blahblahblah]

Wha? She's pretty resourceful, then... wait. There was a weird tap at her window right after you left... I don't know what it was, though. Maybe something hit it. Or maybe something useful hit it somehow.

But still, what could she harm? Unless your whole plan revolves around someone not pressing a secret button somewhere, or something.

[king_bowser]

Right after I l--! Were you spying on us?!

[blahblahblah]

No. You just happen to be an unwilling member of a community that likes to record you whether you're aware of it or not.

[king_bowser]

Anyway, no. No end-all button or anything. Who even does that?

[blahblahblah]

Admittedly it's pretty rare. But it does happen. I just wanted to make sure you were thinking a step ahead here.

That said, this whole situation is probably not a good one for you. Unless you can pull off something big, she's not going to appreciate spending time as a prisoner in her own castle on your say-so.

[king_bowser]

[I can't believe he's about to say this...]

(sighs) All right. What do you think I should do?

[blahblahblah]

What do I think? I think you need to go make amends. Unless she's got a will of steel, she's scared out of her mind. You took her whole castle when she did nothing wrong and are holding her hostage pending her accepting your feelings. What else is she supposed to feel but cornered?

Maybe if you start to make things right, she'll even warm up to you. Anyone can make mistakes. Besides, you've got that fancy stick of yours, if things don't go exactly as planned.

[king_bowser]

[Bowser groans, gets up, and walks off grumbling, but it seems he's actually going to do that. Provided something doesn't go terribly wrong, that is...]

[blahblahblah]

[Rita watches him go with a surprised expression.]

Huh. I didn't expect him to actually do it, I just thought he wanted to hear ideas.

Hopefully, everything goes well. [And her feed goes dead.]