Friends

Peach quickly stood and leveled her broken parasol like a bat, ready to swing and defend herself. The door opened slowly and a Squeek peeked in. She gave a happy squeal and threw the door open. The Squeek in question was a lively little female in a red mask and boots. It took Peach a moment to recognize her, but this was Ms. Mowz, the famous thief and an ally of Mario's.

"Ms..... Mows....? Where am I?"

"Our base my dear! Welcome to Dry Dry Outpost. Moustafa and Prince Peasley will be soooo happy to hear that you have woke up. You were asleep for almost three days."

"How did I get here? I was closer to our border with Daisy's kingdom."

"No, you had strayed off course while running from Bowser's hunters. A few more days and you would have hit the desert on your own."

Peach was a little dumbfounded with this news. She had thought she was just moments away from the safety of Dasisy's castle but instead she was so far from it. Peach allowed Ms. Mowz to lead her to the door and down the hall into a small room where three more people waited. One was another Squeek, but this one a male. Seated across from the male Squeek was the familiar face of Prince Peasley, the prince of Beanbean Kingdom. Next to Peasley was a female Goomba named Goombella that had also helped Mario a time or two in the past. If Peach's memory was correct, Moustafa had also been a big help to Mario when it came to gathering information and such about Dry Dry Desert.

"Welcome," said Moustafa with a nod.

"It is a pleasure to see you again my lady," added Peasley.

"Thank you all for saving me. What is the current situation?"

Moustafa and Peasley looked at each other for a moment before finally answering. Peasley informed her that Bowser's forces had blocked off access to Daisy's Sarasaland and Mallow's Nimbus Land. Far to the south, Kong Country was facing a brutal invasion from Bowser's forces. Even Beanbean was unable to send assistance. Peasley had managed to sneak in on his own, but getting soldiers past the checkpoints was almost impossible now.

"That isn't all," Moustafa spoke up, "We checked on the location of the last battle... Your guards were all dead as feared. But.... We didn't find Toad's body anywhere. Either he survived and escaped or was captured."

Toad could be alive? This was the best news she had gotten for months. She found herself starting to hope for the first time since Mario.... Moving on from that depressing thought, she asked the gathered people what their next move should be.

"We gather information and allies," said Moustafa.

"We need to find out where all of Mario's former allies went to, as well as how to get help from the other kingdoms," said Goombella.

"We've also got to figure out where Bowser has his airfield. It has to take a lot of upkeep to keep all his airships in fighting condition," said Peasley.

"Right, then we have a game plan. So which of those things do we start with?"