Toadette's Story: Book 2

Chapter 97 - Penelope and Minh

The clock hadn’t even hit seven, but Penelope was already ripping at her winter layers. She knew Toadette planned to continue with her Super Leaf practice, and Penelope wanted to continue it herself. But there was something more important to her in that moment.

If only she could look at that DSi again and scroll through the photo gallery.

As soon as she stepped outside her room, however, her feet came to a halt. The rule echoed in her mind: no leaving without an adult.

Just as that thought foiled her plans, she spotted Toadette scurrying across the floor.

“Miss Toadette!”

“Morning. Busy right now.” Toadette glanced back. “We’re still on for four o’clock, okay?”

“Could you please take me to Miss Minh T.’s shop this morning?”

“I don’t have time for that, kid.”

“Please? This is important.”

Toadette let out a deep sigh as she took out her cell phone. “You’re making it real hard for me to keep my job.” After a minute of rapid texting, she put it away. “And she won’t even be at the shop today. She’s off to Koopa Village to take care of some plant stuff.”

“Tell her to wait until we get there,” Penelope pleaded, her eyes widening as she heard a squeak.

“She’s not gonna wait on you, Penelope.”

“Yeah, not like I got any time to wait.”

Toadette spun around. “Minh? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be out—”

Minh slowly raised a pair of black slides—slides that carried a distinct, Toadette-like aroma. She placed them gently in Toadette’s hands.

“And yeah, you know these puppies got the real Minh T. treatment,” she whispered. Then, turning to Penelope, she asked, “You wanna tag along with me today?”

“Yep!”

“Hey, we just gotta be there by 8:30.” She leaned in and kissed Toadette. “I’ll have her back no later than two.”

“You’d better not run off on her, Penelope,” Toadette warned. “I wanna be able to hug you at the end of the day.”

“Hey, it wasn’t even me who wanted to run away! That was…Jasmin.”

“Alright, let’s get a move on.” Minh took Penelope’s hand and hurried out the castle.

Even though Minh preferred the freedom of flip-flops, her sturdy boots were a necessity against Toad Town’s relentless snow. As they approached a familiar building, Minh slowed her pace. Penelope, captivated by the rosy hues of the morning sky, seemed lost in thought.

“Did you even eat?” Minh asked.

“Nuh-uh.”

“I’ll grab you something for the ride, ‘kay?” Minh, oddly enough, veered away from her shop. They were now headed towards Toad Town’s western section.

Penelope tilted her head. “Weren’t we going to your shop?”

“Got what I need right here,” Minh said, patting her oversized handbag. “We gotta get the car from my parents’ place.”

“We’re driving?”

“Do I look like Toadette? No way I’m running a marathon in this snow.”

As they continued, a group of four humans approached them. They all were bundled up, with hats and sunglasses obscuring much of their heads. One of them slowed down, staring intently at Minh. Minh barely noticed, though.

Humans, she thought. They’ve gotta be tourists.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” the only apparent male in the group said. One of the others smacked him in the back of his head.

“Yes?” Minh stopped.

“We’re hoping to visit Peach’s castle. Do you know if it’s open? And if it’s easy to get in?”

“Oh yeah, they got like no security there, especially at this time of day,” Minh chuckled. “I just ran in there without them even asking to search me.”

The young man grinned at his companions before bowing to Minh. “Thank you. This will be a very exciting trip.”

“Enjoy your stay here,” Minh said, feeling good for having helped them.

They eventually reached Minh’s parents’ house, a bit before 7:30. As Minh unlocked the door and stepped inside, there was the sound of clinking followed by loud barks.

Penelope shrieked as a giant, bouncing ball with sharp teeth and eyes gunned for her. She scrambled backwards, falling and curling up to protect herself. On instinct she snatched up a flip-flop and tossed it. “Fetch! Go away!”

“Bestia!” Minh clapped her hands, stopping the Chain Chomp in its tracks. She spat out a series of sharp Spanish commands before translating for Penelope’s benefit. “She’s not a stranger! Go back to your bed!”

Bestia bounced backwards, leaving Penelope trembling. She curled tighter into a ball.

“Don’t you guys have Chain Chomps back at the castle?” Minh asked, helping her to her feet.

“Yeah, but those ones are trained,” Penelope gasped, finally taking in the spicy scent of the home. “One time I was at the train station, and this wild one just appeared and bit me on the…” Penelope pointed to her rear.

“Ouch. Fortunately we’ve got Bestia under control.” Minh stepped further into the house. “Dad, Mom, I’m taking the car to Koopa Village!”

“Make sure you don’t take off your boots this time, girl,” her dad shouted from the shower. “I had to buy ten air fresheners, one for each of your grimy toes!”

Minh cringed. So this was how her morning was beginning. While it was hot to know that others could smell her stinky feet, it became a thousand times more embarrassing when it was only her mom and dad noticing. Especially wording it the way he did.

“If you’re going to the village, make sure to bring us back some Koopa Tea,” her mother said, appearing with the chewed-up flip-flop in her hand. “That authentic stuff, not the overly sweetened nonsense they sell in the stores here.”

“Another thing to add to the checklist…”

“And who’s this little one?”

“Penelope, a girl who lives at the castle. Today she’s my responsibility.” Minh pushed Penelope forward. “Penelope, this is my mom Violeta.”

Penelope gulped. “I’m so sorry about your shoe, ma’am.”

“Oh, this thing’s been through the wringer for years, sweetheart,” Violeta said, tossing the flip-flop back towards the entrance. “I hope Minh-Minh here hasn’t been driving you crazy. She ever eat up your dinner?”

“Mom!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Violeta shook Penelope’s hand. “Seriously though, hide your sweets whenever you’re around her.”

“Oh, your daughter is very nice. And beautiful. She’s not even close to being fat.”

Minh tugged on her braids so hard that they nearly left her scalp.

“You know, being a little round is considered cute for us. It’s just her who loses her mind the second she’s called—”

“We’re done!” Minh snatched the car keys off the wall. “I should not have to be humiliated in my own home.”

“The moment you step your giant foot in this house, you give us automatic permission to tease you.” Pinching Minh’s cheeks, Violeta chuckled. She couldn’t get enough of Minh’s flustered expressions and rosy-red face while Penelope watched.

Minh grabbed a yoghurt and a lemon soda for Penelope before marching out the door. “Love you guys.”

Penelope raised an eyebrow as she climbed into the passenger seat of the car. “How do you still love them when they just made fun of you?”

“That’s just how it is,” Minh said with a shrug, turning the key. “The ones who love you most tend to love embarrassing you the most.”

“I don’t know if my mom’s like that…”

“You’re probably just too young to understand.” Minh turned on the heat and immediately yanked off her right boot. She took a deep sniff of it, shuddering and letting out a satisfied laugh. She tossed the boot into the back seat, flexing her toes before pressing down on the pedals. “My dad better buy an eleventh freshener.”

She then threw the car into reverse and aimed for the east. Destination: Koopa Village.

***

Mona led the group through the castle gates with ease. There were no armed guards to challenge their entry. Instead, they only encountered friendly-looking Toads going about their day, oblivious to the quartet of distinctly dressed humans weaving through the crowd.

“Seriously?” Mona scoffed. “These fungi are practically begging to be exterminated. I put more effort into defending my clothes than they do a castle.”

Behind her, Penny was already typing furiously on a laptop, mapping out the castle’s sprawling layout. “Causing any significant damage here would be a major undertaking.”

“Exactly why it’s the perfect stage.” Mona grinned. “We get to stall the princess, level a national landmark… The sheer pandemoni-whatever-ya-call-it would be so rad.”

Ana frowned. “Is that really necessary? Hurting the princess and everyone else?”

“Oh, the princess is gonna survive. They wouldn’t dare let her die. As for the rest…” Mona’s smile widened. “That’s the beauty of pure chaos, Ana. You can’t control it, but you sure as hell can exploit every ripple of that wave.”

They ventured deeper into the castle’s foyer, mixing with the happy-go-lucky Toads. Then Mona froze. Ana stood beside her, also losing her breath. Amidst the various colours was a heavy splotch of pink. Her. The same one they’d tangled with on separate occasions. Mona’s hand curled into a fist.

“Keep moving,” she hissed. “Blend in. Do not interact with the pink one.”

Even after having said that, Cricket broke away from the group. He was heading directly for the pink mushroom. Mona was on the verge of screaming.

Toadette, trying to make her away across the busy floor, had just dropped a wobbly stack of folders. She yelped, scrambling on her hands and knees to gather them up. Suddenly two tall legs appeared before her.

“Allow me.” Cricket knelt and scooped up the papers swiftly. Moments later, the stack was neatly placed back in Toadette’s hands.

“Oh, thank you so much.” Toadette managed a flustered smile. “Heh, you’re faster than I am.”

“Anytime,” Cricket replied, rubbing her cap. He watched her scurry away.

Mona was on him in an instant, grabbing his arm with a strong grip. “What the hell were you thinking? Walking right up to her? Haven’t your guardians ever told you about stranger danger?”

“Guardians? You mean parents?”

Mona grimaced. “I spoke very clear English.”

“I was just being helpful while also getting a read on her energy.” He spun around. “We wouldn’t want her sneaking up on us, right?”

This revelation left both Mona and Penny surprised. But Ana seemed rather casual about it.

“I already know what to look for. Her suffocating me made sure of that.”

Resigning herself to her crew’s unpredictability, Mona steered them towards a large stairwell. As they ascended to the second floor, they were impressed with just how open it was compared to the ground floor. There were fewer Toads packed here, meaning fewer Toads to suspect something was awry.

“If this is the middle floor, it means it’ll cause the most effects throughout the entire castle, right?” Mona looked at Penny. “Where do you think a bomb will be most destructive?”

Penny’s pencil halted mid-stroke, snapping. “A bomb?”

“You guys got wax in your ears today?”

“Mona, no. We’re not blowing people up.”

Mona leaned in, pinning Penny against the wall. “You sucked my big toe. Now go find me a solid weak point before you see my scary side.”

Penny felt like she could vomit with each step. She moved slowly throughout the floor. Eventually she concluded the only sensible choice was the central core of the castle, which housed a number of important rooms. It linked each floor together through the limited elevators and abundant staircases. Much as she wanted to point to a less destructive location, Mona’s pressure forced the correct answer from her lips.

“Yeah,” Mona said, observing the area. “If we place it in one of these rooms and make the fuse time short enough, we’ll be golden.”

Penny sighed. “We’ll be criminals.”

“Like we already don’t have an invisible record. Come on, let’s check out the basement.”

***

The snowy landscape was so monotonous that Penelope began to feel fatigued. How much more snow did they need to see? Without much in the way of special visuals, she searched for anything to capture her attention.

She turned to Minh’s bare foot resting on the gas pedal. Despite the pungent scent filling up the car, her foot itself appeared quite beautiful. Penelope began to replace Minh in her mind with somebody else, and that made her focus even tighter.

Soon Minh caught onto Penelope’s staring. She smirked. “What are ya looking at?”

“Nothing!”

“Don’t blame you for finding the environment a bit dull.” Minh wiggled her toes on the pedal, causing the car to lurch. “My stinky foot is more interesting, ain’t it?”

She deliberately curled her toes, exaggerating the movement. Penelope squirmed in her seat and blushed deeper. The sight was cute for Minh, reminding her of her own youth, when she would often stare at her mother’s feet.

“Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle,” she sang, giggling when Penelope looked ahead.

For the next minute, Minh continually flexed her foot. Penelope wished Minh would turn the heat down, because she was so hot that she could feel the sweat building up on her forehead. Yet Minh continued to play with the pedal, all while laughing at Penelope’s flustered reactions.

Then Penelope looked forward again, gasping. A black van was pulling out from an adjacent street, heading straight for them.

“Miss Minh T.!”

The van’s horn made Minh jump. She screamed, yanking the wheel hard before slamming on the brakes. Instinctively she threw an arm across Penelope’s face, bracing for an airbag. The car screeched and came to a sudden halt, barely missing the van.

“Holy… Are you okay, Penelope?” Minh grabbed Penelope’s face, observing it.

“Yes.”

“You sure? Nothing broken? I’m so sorry.”

“I’m fine, miss,” she said stiffly.

Minh wiped sweat from her brow. “Okay, playtime’s over. Let’s get to Koopa Village before I total this thing.”

While far from smooth driving, she paid closer attention to the road. Penelope still gave her foot some glances, though it wasn’t as interesting without the intense pedal pumping.

“Your feet are pretty beautiful,” she mumbled. “I can say that, right?”

“Have you forgotten who I am? I’m glad you like them.” Minh sipped some water. “Y’know, it never even hit my mind that you have your own little foot thing. I should’ve known from the start, but it never registered.”

Penelope leaned back in her seat. “Well… I have been having weird things happen.”

“Like what?”

“A few nights ago I was on my bed, and I started rubbing myself against my pillows. Get this: I ended up peeing myself, except it wasn’t even proper pee.”

Minh slowly nodded. “I see. Maybe you should talk to your mom about—”

“Am I dying?”

“No, you’re not dying,” Minh chuckled. “If you don’t wanna talk about it with your mom, then ask Toadette to explain.”

“She wouldn’t want to hear that, considering she says Jasmin is a problem child I shouldn’t be thinking about.” Penelope slapped her forehead. Why did I say that?

“Toadette called her that?” Minh took a deep breath. “So when this peeing thing happened, you were thinking about Jazz?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Hey, we all have our crushes growing up. I’m just astonished you took a liking to her.” Minh debated on whether to continue. “You masturbated, Penelope.”

“I mastered what?”

“It’s a feelgood thing you humans do, just like we Toads. Don’t go bragging about it to anybody, but we all do it in private for various reasons. It’s nothing dangerous.”

“Do you do it?”

“That’s not important,” Minh said casually. “And Jazz is not a problem child. She’s just had it hard.”

“How so?”

“Hey, why don’t you choose what we listen to? We’ve still got about thirty minutes to get there.”

As Minh drove ahead, she wondered why Penelope and Jasmin could even get along at that convention. After all, Jasmin was so reclusive while Penelope was so loud and proud. Then again, Minh was the girl who went into Toadette’s strict house against her wishes and emerged as her best friend forever.

It’d be nice if Jazz could make one genuine friend, but that’s an uphill battle.

***

Descending back to the first floor felt like stepping into a different world again. More cheerful noises. As Mona’s group moved towards a less populated corridor, they saw her again. Toadette.

But this time Toadette didn’t have folders in her hands. She was sauntering over to a group of Toads. There was Captain Toad himself as well as three others with distinctly coloured spots on their caps: one yellow, one blue and one green. Mona stopped her friends again and observed the interaction.

“You avoiding me, Toady?” Toadette asked.

“Didn’t expect you to just be running around. Thought you’d be with Peach.” Toad adjusted his headlamp. “If you don’t mind, we’re kind of in the middle of something.”

“Morning to you guys too,” she said to the others. “Let’s see… Banktoad, Hint Toad and Yellow Toad.”

“That’s Banks,” the green Toad corrected, annoyed.

“Hints, if you please,” the blue Toad sighed, adjusting his overly large glasses.

“And it’s just Yellow, girl,” the yellow Toad snapped, jabbing her in the chest with his finger. “I’d never be caught dead with a title as generic as Yellow Toad.”

“You guys could really do better with your names,” she retorted with a shrug. “And your clothes. Why are Toady’s ironed while yours like they just came out the hamper?”

Banks put his hands on his hips. “Is it necessary?”

“It’d make you like respectable adults. Just look at me.” She then turned her full attention to Toad, nudging him with her elbow. “Peach has me working my butt off all day. Before I conk out for the night, would you mind giving me a little treat?”

Toad blinked. “A treat?”

Toadette giggled, pointing at her pink flats. Then she popped her heel out of one, letting it dangle. A flirty look appeared on her face as she wiggled her toes inside the loose shoe, threatening to let it hit the ground.

“Captain, you seriously rub her feet?” Yellow sputtered.

“You jealous?” Toadette shot back. She leaned in towards them. “Hey, if you boys wanna pamper me after a long day, I wouldn’t decline. With eight hands, you can really make that soreness evaporate.”

Banks, Hints and Yellow recoiled as a unit. Banks shuddered, Hints looked like he might faint, and Yellow fanned himself vigorously.

Toad gently took Toadette by the hand and turned her to face him fully. He smiled. “Provided I’m not exhausted, maybe I’ll help you a bit with that soreness.” He leaned in closer, his lips almost touching her face. “I could probably do a little more, you know?”

“Ooh, a surprise, huh?” Toadette let out a squeal, her mind already picturing him sniffing her toes like a greedy rodent. She planted a quick kiss on his cheek. “I gotta zoom, Toady. Banks, Hints, Yellow? Nice to see you again.”

She gave them a final smile and skipped down the corridor, humming to herself.

Bank waited two seconds after she was gone before snickering. “Like I’d get within two metres of those things. Risk my health? Puh-lease.”

“My body aches at the mere concept,” Hints said, adjusting his glasses. “Captain, you are a Toad among Toads for willingly entertaining her.”

“Guys, come on. It’s more like I just tolerate her,” Toad stammered, the blush refusing to fade.

“Whatever you say,” Yellow scoffed, fanning himself still. “Nasty ho. I felt my lungs shrivel the second she popped off that heel.”

“And she has the nerve to call us sloppy when she smells like that.” Banks, noting Toad’s quiet demeanour, finally stopped. “Okay, we’ve got a gate to reinforce.”

“Right.” Toad snapped back to attention. “On the double, men!”

Mona couldn’t decide what was more idiotic: the notion that anyone would volunteer to interact with fungal feet, or the equally baffling idea that these Toads were about to reinforce a gate that looked easy enough to vault over. Were they gonna just slap a pretty sign on it urging people to not enter?

Fucking spore-for-brains. She looked back at Penny, Cricket and Ana. “Basement.”

***

Koopa Village was Rose Town’s slightly larger cousin.

Instead of old-fashioned brick homes, there were cosy shell-shaped houses lining the town. As the name suggested, Koopas were the main residents, though the occasional Toad and a couple of Bob-ombs could be spotted. Since these were ordinary Koopas, not the Koopa Troopas of Bowser’s army, Minh had no reason to feel alarmed as she stepped out the car.

Penelope stretched like a cat the moment she was outside. Her eyes then widened as she took in the new scenery. “Wow…”

“Toadette’s mom used to live here.” Minh popped the trunk. “Peaceful lil’ spot.”

“What are we doing here?”

“An old guy named Koopa Koot decided to keep his plants outside all winter. We warn him every year to bring them inside, but… You’ll see.”

Koopa Koot was exactly as Minh had described: a dusty, ancient Koopa, whose eyes were so clouded that it was a wonder he could see at all. He was hunched over, his cane trembling as he scanned Penelope from head to toe.

“Why’d you go and bring a child here for?” he rasped at Minh, waving his cane. “This is not a playground, lassie; it’s serious business.”

Penelope pouted.

“Don’t you make that face at me, brat! You show respect to your elders, not contempt!”

Minh stepped between them. “I’m babysitting, and believe me, if she wasn’t here, this would take twice as long. You really want me hanging around all day, singing?”

“Not with all that screeching you call music.” Koopa Koot limped towards his backyard. “Look at this. All my children just dying a slow death. I swore we’d beat the cold this year, but that darned frost had it out for me.”

Minh shot a look at Penelope. “See?”

The backyard was a mess of frost-covered plants, all so tight together that their roots would have little room to expand. They were of all shapes and sizes. The thought of someone calling this a garden made Minh shudder.

“I need all of them inside, on the second floor, just like last year, and the year before that, and the year before…” He launched into a long rant about his war against winter.

“Go make yourself some tea, Grandpa,” Minh said, shooing him away. “We’ve got this.”

“If I notice one missing plant, I will lay a curse on that child so bad that she’ll…”

“Mmm-hmm, keep telling yourself that. Go on, give us some space.”

As soon as Koopa Koot was inside, Penelope’s eyes widened. “How many plants are these?”

“He said fifty.”

“What?”

“That’s what I’m getting paid for.”

While Penelope dreaded the task ahead, Minh laid out her tools.

“C’mere,” she said. “Let me walk you through this. First we gotta loosen the soil around the plant to make it moveable. Then we lift it up slowly and set it in its new pot. After that, we add some more soil, smooth it out and give it some water.”

“What if I break the roots?”

“Hey, it ain’t like I don’t have plant blood on my hands.” Minh pointed to a sunflower. “We’ll start slow, so you can get the hang of it.”

It was a rough start. Penelope almost tore the roots of the sunflower because she was so nervous. Luckily Doctor Minh T. was there to help, carefully placing the plant in its new pot. Next Penelope turned her attention to a daisy, focusing this time on how to loosen the dirt properly. With her trowel, she took a minute to dig around the plant. A big smile appeared on her face when it came out safe and sound. After putting it in its pot with fresh soil, she stood and laughed.

“There you go,” Minh cheered. “Doubt is what’s gonna screw you up more than anything else.”

As they progressed, Penelope grew more confident. She potted with better speed, and soon she so longer needed Minh’s supervision. They worked on opposite sides of the overgrown garden.

In just under an hour they had potted forty of the fifty plants.

“Wanna take a break?” Minh asked, wiping sweat from her brow. “Or do you wanna push through?”

“Let’s just get it done!” Penelope flipped her trowel in the air. “Why break our rhythm?”

“Heh. Well I’m gonna rest for five. Looks like you’ve got this under control.”

Hearing those words brought a grin to Penelope’s face. Without thinking, she quickly kissed Minh on the cheek. Then she rushed over to the far corner of the garden, eager to finish the job. In front of her was a big flytrap. It wasn’t as dangerous as a Piranha Plant, but it was still a snapper.

As she plunged her trowel into the soil, she yelped and jumped back.

“Ow! It bit me!”

“You probably went too fast. Remember, those ones can attack,” Minh chuckled.

Penelope tried again, moving at a snail’s pace. Suddenly the flytrap lunged forward, its jaws closing barely a hair’s length from her finger.

“Miss Minh T.! It’s trying to eat my hand off!”

“Here I come to the rescue.” Minh made her way over to Penelope, only to hear another scream. When she saw the remaining plants, she raised a brow. “What the heck?”

The rest of the plants were acting aggressively, even those that didn’t have snapping jaws. A tulip was actually trying to shoot its seeds out like missiles. Penelope shrieked when a rose suddenly extended its thorny vine. She nearly fell forward into it, but Minh quickly tackled her away.

“Did he get these from the black market or something?” Then Minh noticed it. Leaning against the house was a gallon-sized bottle of miracle water. Most of it was empty, and it wasn’t there the last time she came by. She groaned in disgust. “That nutcase! I told him to just sprinkle some miracle water on them, but no, he thought he could do it his way and drowned them in it!”

“Meaning?” Penelope asked, horrified upon hearing a plant growl.

“Meaning those ten over there are more alive than they should be.” Minh yelped as a vine curved around her left foot, yanking off her boot and flinging it into the dense foliage. “I need that!”

Her bare foot kissed the cold soil. Ay, caramba. Getting these plants under control was going to be a nightmare and a half.

----------

Author’s Note:
Placing Minh and Penelope together was so odd, since it was such a rare thing in chapters up to now. Next week, Minh’s about to get herself in another ticklish scenario.