We've Never Been Apart This Long

Peach Finally Breaks, But Mario's Sheer Force of Will is Holding Her Together

"Thanks for coming." Nastasia tells Wario.

"You said you'd make it worth my while if I brought him here." The fat man replies, presenting Bowser Junior. "But not until you ask him more questions about his dad, right?"

"That's right. Go." Once Wario complies, Nastasia leans down to look at Junior. "So. Can I ask you a few questions about your father? And your siblings?"

"Mario?" Peach ponders as she sees a card on the bed, smiling when she sees "Thinking of you" on the envelope. "Trying to boost my spirits just because?"

But the smile wipes clean from her face when she opens it, revealing a picture of Mario and Luigi wheeling Wario's body out of the castle.

"Nice to see you found my little love note."

Bowser's voice makes her head turn, and if she was horrified before, now she's just straight up annoyed.

"Mario..." Luigi stops writing for a moment, stuck. "Mario what? How can I ever hope to put everything I've felt over these past few months onto one stupid letter?"

"L?" Luigi looks up and sees Mimi approaching. "Everything okay?"

"Huh?" Luigi quickly hides the letter. "Oh yeah. I'm just great. It's just been a while since I snuck into Bowser's castle to talk to his son."

"That is it! " Peach yells, ripping up the card and photo. "Stop torturing us with threats and actually do something! And I'm starting to wonder if we should take our chances disappearing until we can prove your blackmail is a forgery!"

"There is not one--"

"I have more resources than you ever will, even as the ruler of your own kingdom." Peach cuts him off. "Won't be hard to rule it as inconclusive. And every day you force us to stay here, the more appealing that sounds."

"You wanna bet?" Bowser crosses his arms. "You're going to put your life, but the lives of your beloved Super Mario brothers and your kingdom in the hands of people who have already spread seeds of doubt thanks to my embezzlement scheme? Because that's what you'll be doing if you don't give me more heirs to the throne. Immediately."

"Never." Peach vows, and tries to walk away. "I'll die before I'll ever let that happen."

"Peaches, please !" Bowser begs. "We're married! If anything I'm being modest. I could've forced you just as easily. But I'm attempting to be nice and let you say yes on your own. So do that now, or your Mario brothers will be separated in prison permanently , and your whole kingdom goes up in smoke."

"I know you were hoping this would all be over sooner." Mimi says apologetically. "But we have every reason to believe the kid's gonna rat his dad out. Isn't that why you were desperate enough to ask me to find him?"

"Yes." Luigi doesn't bother denying it, knowing it's pointless. "And trust me, when I first did that, I was beyond thrilled. But the longer Junior's in the castle, the more I'm starting to doubt if he'll be able to tell us anything. Why would he turn on his dad for the good guys, who he's seen firsthand battle his dad and win?"

"You wanna ask me about my siblings?" Junior is immediately suspicious. "I dunno what you're thinking you can do with that, but trust me, you're roaring up the wrong tree."

"Then my questions won't be a problem at all." Nastasia reasons.

"Why?" Junior demands, then rolls his eyes. "Oh I get it. You figured out I'm a dead end, so you're gonna try your luck with them to turn on my dad. If that's the only reason I'm here, I wanna go home. I may get mad at my dad sometimes, but he's still our dad. I'm not turning on him, and neither are they."
"No, I'm here to ask you about your siblings specifically." Nastasia clarifies. "Are you sure they're your siblings?"