"Why are we here, again?" Daisy hissed in Peach's ear.

Peach sighed. "We're royals," she whispered to her best friend. "We've got to act like it."

Daisy's face was twisted into a scowl under her orange veil. "Royals or not," she said, "we're at Bowser's funeral. We should be out celebrating. For Pete's sake, you should be doing karaoke!!"

"Hey!" somebody from behind them snapped. "Pipe down!"

Daisy glared back at the Hammer Bro who'd spoken and then turned back to Peach, looking irritated.

"Look, can we just get through this?" Peach pleaded. "It's almost over."

Daisy glowered at her but faced forward, back to the pulpit, where a Shy Guy was sobbing as he gave a eulogy beside Bowser's big casket.

"And he kept teasing me and demoting me," the Shy Guy sniffed into the microphone. "But I knew he didn't mean it. King Bowser didn't bully me 'cause he thought I was stupid or dumb. He wanted me to stop actin' like an underdog. To see my true potential. And I'm gonna miss him so much!"

When the Shy Guy finished his eulogy, Captain Bro came up to the pulpit.

"And now, we'll have a few words from the Mushroom Kingdom's Princess Peach."

Peach mounted the stage and gazed out over the crowd. Her mind scrambled a bit: everyone was glaring at her. She couldn't lame them. While Bowser's minions were lamenting his death, everyone in Toad Town was celebrating.

Why had Toadsworth asked her to do this again?

"Um, well, hello," she said. "I'm - "

The back doors of the chapel suddenly burst open, and a group of toads entered. They were all carrying an assortment of party materials: balloons, streamers, noisemakers, pointed hats, even confetti. One had a boom box hefted over one shoulder, belching out "Celebration Time".

Captain Bro stood up angrily. "What the heck is this?" he demanded. "You're interrupting our service!"

"Oh, hey!" one toad said above the music. "You guys here for the party?"

"Party?" a Boo exclaimed. "What party?"

"The Bowser's-gone party, duh," another toad said. "What else?"

"How dare you barge into Bowser's funeral service, trying to throw a PARTY!" Captain Bro shrieked.

The toads glanced at each other in alarm.

"Oh crap," one said.

"W-we were told to come to this location and set up for a party," another said.

"Told by who?" Peach asked from the pulpit.

"Luigi," they all said sheepishly.

Peach face-palmed. That idiot! She'd told Luigi to send refreshments for the after-funeral gathering. Not party supplies!

"Luigi!" Captain Bro exclaimed. She glared over at Princess Peach. "You...you did this, didn't you?" he said with a threatening point of his finger. "Trying to disgrace Bowser at his own funeral!"

"What?" Peach stammered, blushing. "N-no! Of course not!"

"Liar!" An angry Goomba yelled. "You lying wench! This is an outrage!"

"Hey!" The toad with the boom box said. "Don't insult my princess!"

"You wanna make somethin' of it?" the Goomba snapped.

The toad punched him in the face. "Yeah!" he said. "THAT!"

The Goomba tackled the toad, and before Peach knew it, a full-scale brawl had broken out, with the Goombas, Hammer Bros, Koopas, Dry Bones, and Boos scuffling with the toads. The boom box dropped to the floor, accidentally turning up the volume of "Celebration Time".

Daisy hurriedly snatched Peach away from the pulpit. "Come on!" she cried over all the racket. "Let's get out of here while everyone's distracted!"

They dashed down the aisle of the chapel, dodging kicking feat and punching fists. While Peach was angry at the toads for the disgraceful mistake they'd made, she was secretly glad that they'd interrupted. She hated giving speeches!

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A/N: Good? Bad? Suggestions, welcome! Make sure to tune in next Sunday!