When Daisy finally managed to pull herself out of the dojo floor (which was thirty embarrassing minutes of huffing and pulling later), Toadobuki had already finished breakfast and cleared away Daisy's uneaten food. He completely ignored her glare when she marched into the expansive kitchen. 

"I'm not going to be able to have any students until that floor gets fixed," Toadobuki said while sipping on a cup of tea. "It's going to have to be fixed immediately." He nodded towards the table, where there was a piece of notebook paper with writing on it. "There are the materials that I'll need. Foot it down to the village and bring the supplies back before noon and I'll show you how to fix the floor." 

Daisy very nearly tore the note to shreds right in front of him. How dare he order her about like a slave! 

" - or I might just leave your lunch out for the seagulls," Toadobuki warned, seeing the look in Daisy's eye. In a huff, Daisy whipped around and stomped out the door. She may have had a short temper, but that was nothing compared to her appetite. She could wring Toadobuki's neck later. 

Toadobuki's dojo sat atop a relatively flat plateau, compared with the rest of the island's geography. It was surrounded by thick jungle, where the hoots of monkeys and calls of birds rang out day and night.  

When she'd first arrived a week ago, the old toad had told Daisy that besides a couple of swamps teeming with alligators and a few hostile cats, the forest was harmless. Still, Daisy carried a long rod - which Toadobuki called a bo staff - just in case. The rod was heavy, but it was nothing compared to the training Daisy had gone through when she'd been in gymnastics: her instructor had taught all of her students how to successfully wield up to fifteen clubs at once! 

As proof, Daisy twirled the bo staff with ease as she headed down the hill. She peeked at Toadobuki's supply list: 

1 hammer 

5 pieces of wood 

1 bag of nails 

When Daisy got to the bottom of the hill, the jungle cleared out, and a tiny village nested against the island's coastal bluffs appeared. There were around ten houses all clustered around a dirt track that served as the main road. The houses were all made out of bamboo and had roofs made out of a lattice of branches and large leaves.  

Even though it was super early, there were a lot of people out. Toads dressed in green tunics dusted the paths up to their houses. Koopas hung out laundry. Goombas carried bails of water on their heads back to their houses for cleaning or for their morning baths. Several residents from Delfino Isle were opening up their little shops for the day, selling fresh fruits, toiletries, or hunting supplies. 

Daisy headed there, towards the circle of shops at the end of the thoroughfare. A large, bright blue Delfino woman sat back behind the wooden counter, dusting off her little stand. She looked up when Daisy approached. "Well, haven't seen you around before. Whatch're name, sweetums?" 

"Daisy," Daisy said, laying her list out on the counter. The Delfino woman paused for a second, studying Daisy's brown bob, blue eyes, and sweaty orange gi. Then, she snapped her fingers. 

"Oh, yeah!" she said. "You're staying with the Buki Master, aren'tcha?" 

Daisy raised an eyebrow. "The 'Buki Master'?" 

"Toadobuki. Just my nickname for 'im. But you are the one, ain'tcha?" 

Daisy nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. Can I get all the things on this list?" She pushed the paper forward. 

"Sure." The Delfino woman retreated behind the counter of her stand, rummaging through stacks of goods. "The name's Delly, by the way. And FYI, you're the fifth person Toadobuki's mentored." 

Daisy leaned her elbows on Delly's counter. "Really?" 

"Yep. Heard the last four halfway went insane and called it quits before they went off the deep end entirely." Delly came back, her arms full of wood. She set the planks down, and beside them a hammer and a plastic bag of nails. "Heard his trainin's real crazy. Is it true?" 

Daisy shrugged. So far, Toadobuki had only taught her the basics: kicks, punches, rolls, and dodging techniques. Still, she was glad that she wasn't the only one who'd been angry with the old geezer! 

"EGG BARRAGE!" 

"Bwah?!" A series of explosions burst around her, and Daisy backed up and shielded her eyes. She waved her hand to clear some of it. "What the?" 

"Gotcha!" Something long and hard suddenly conked Daisy on the head. With a shout of pain, Daisy lashed out, but didn't hit anything. She waved her hands furiously, trying to get rid of the smokescreen...when something swept her feet out from under her.  

Oof! She clapped her chin on the ground painfully. 

"Hmph. Pathetic," a voice said. Daisy scrambled to her feet. The situation suddenly caught up with her. She was being attacked! She raised her fists, like Toadobuki had taught her to, and scanned her surroundings. She spotted a dark silhouette a few yards in front of her, shielded by the smoke. Was that who had attacked her? 

"For someone trained by that old man," the shadow said, "you're pretty slow! EGG BARRAGE!" 

Daisy saw the projectiles coming this time - they looked like bombs. She dove underneath them, towards the shadow, and kicked the person's feet out from under them. "Who's slow?" she shouted as the person bonked its face on the ground. 

The shadow got to its feet. "You..." It sounded embarrassed. "You shall pay for this!" It leapt away, and eventually out of sight. A few seconds later, the smokescreen cleared. Daisy was standing in the middle of the marketplace, rubbing her sore head. 

"What was that?" she demanded Delly as she marched back over to the Delfino woman's stand. The woman was back to dusting, as if she'd been bored during the entire attack. 

Delly shrugged. "Dunno," she said. She pointed to Daisy's merchandise. "That'll be twenty gold coins. You want a sack to carry that stuff in?"

*    *    *

"What's that?" Toadobuki said incredulously. "You said you were attacked at the market?" 

"Yeah!" Daisy snapped as she brought down the hammer furiously on the wooden board. She'd rushed back from the market, and while she was doing her best to repair the floor, she was telling Toadobuki about the crazy ambush.  

"Interesting," Toadobuki said. He was sitting cross-legged across from Daisy, sipping on another cup of tea. "Seems like the person knew me...personally. And you say you didn't see them coming?" 

"No," Daisy grunted while she put another nail in place. 

"Sounds like you need more training." He suddenly perked up. "Ah, perfect timing." 

"Huh?" Daisy asked just as someone shouted, "EGG BARRAGE!" Four white projectiles flew through the dojo's sliding door and exploded when the hit the floor. A familiar smog filled the room. Daisy jumped up, hammer in hand. It was them again! The same person that had attacked her at the market. 

"Who's there?" Daisy yelled into the fog. "Show yourself!" 

"Certainly." A rope suddenly swung out of nowhere and wrapped itself around Daisy's torso. She went flying up towards the ceiling. 

"Yeep!" Daisy spun, used the ceiling as springboard, and launched herself back to the floor, summersaulting so that she landed on her feet. She grabbed the rope around her torso and yanked it hard. There was a squeak of surprise on the other side of the dojo as the end of the rope landed in Daisy's hand. She blinked in surprise. It wasn't a rope. It was a ribbon! Like a gymnastics ribbon! 

"That it?" Daisy demanded, twirling the ribbon expertly into a cyclone.  

"Why...you!" the voice cried. "You'll pay for this...next time." 

"That's what you said last time!" Daisy snapped, thrusting the ribbon out towards the shadow, which was retreating towards the sliding door. The ribbon wrapped around something in the fog, and Daisy jerked hard, making the person spin back towards her. Finally, with an expert snap of her wrist, she wrapped the intruder head-to-toe in ribbon. 

"Aha!" Daisy said triumphantly as the smokescreen cleared. 

"Well done, Daisy," Toadobuki said as he creaked to his feet. He hadn't moved a centimeter since the second ambush had started. 

"I could have used some help," Daisy snapped as he approached. 

"No, I think you did just fine," Toadobuki assured her. "Now let's take a look her...ah!" 

Before them a dark blue Birdo speckled with pink polka dots. She had blond hair that was whipped up into a tight bun. She looked very angry. 

"Oho!" Toadobuki said, grinning widely. "You've caught quite a fish, Daisy." 

"What?" the girl asked. She eyed the bound Birdo. "Who is this?" 

Toadobuki nodded at the captive. "Hello, Birdonna." 

The Birdo scowled. "Hello, Sensei."