Toadette's Story: Book 2

Chapter 101 - Chaos in the Kingdom: Act I

Friday, 27 January 2012, dawned calmly in the Mushroom Kingdom. Light snow covered the landscape, so light that some believed it was a sign of early spring. Inside the walls of Peach’s castle, the regular operations resumed. Mushroom City continued its role as the top tourist spot, and the banks of Poshley Heights swung open. The children went to school as expected. All of this pointed to the Mushroom Kingdom functioning normally.

Eight o’clock found Mona stirring in the cramped safehouse. She gave a look to her sleeping companions and, just as she went to rouse them, a heavy knock came at the door. Authorities?

She opened it, breathing a sigh of relief. “You know, this castle’s security is so pathetic that you’re more than a little unnecessary to this plan, mushroom.”

A figure cloaked from head to toe in a dark purple leather suit strode into the room. “Whatever,” she retorted nonchalantly. “I don’t think the boss would be too thrilled with you blowing Peach to kingdom come.”

“She’ll survive.” Mona shook her friends awake, planting a kiss on each one’s cheek. “It’s everyone else who’s in for a shock.”

Penny slowly nodded. “Indeed, they’ll be pretty altered.” But as consciousness fully returned, her expression shifted to mild revulsion. There was a strange taste in her mouth, and something rough was pressed against her tongue.

Her eyes widened. It was a foot. More specifically, Cricket’s foot.

She spat it out, coughing. “Yuck…”

Cricket rolled over. “Morning, Penny,” he said with a soft smile. “You should be used to how I sleep by now."

"It’d do wonders if you learnt to stay on your side of the bed. There’s hair on my tongue…”

“Ew!” piped up a freshly wakened Ana.

“I just know you guys better not be complaining if my toes end up in your mouth today,” Mona said, striking a confident pose. She then sat on the bed and held her own foot up to her face. “Because this…”

In front of her friends, Mona ran her tongue along her sole. She let out a slight chuckle, making Penny and Ana shudder visibly. Once she reached the ball of her foot, she paused. She then continued towards the toes and poked her tongue in the gaps between them. Finally she slid her big toe into her mouth before pulling back with an obnoxiously loud moan.

She held her foot up, showing the glistening sole to everyone in the room.

“This is what I’m gonna need after all the chaos we’re about to cause. A nice, respectful foot-cleaning treatment from my great friends since it’ll be a while before I hit the shower.” She looked to Sofia. “I don’t mind a Toad serving my feet either, provided they behave.”

“I’d rather be boiled alive.”

Elsewhere in Mushroom City, 13-Amp had already gotten her friends up. She stood before them, laying out how to conduct themselves on this mission. Everything was clear, but she placed emphasis on one rule.

“Civilians are off-limits. Injure them if you have to, but no killing. Making myself clear?”

“Yes, ma’am,” 9-Volt, 18-Volt and Kat responded in unison.

“I love you guys.” 13-Amp tied a bright pink bandana over her black ski mask. “For Diamond City!”

“For Diamond City!”

Back in said city, Wario and Waluigi luxuriated in a large recreational room. Their eyes were glued to the national news broadcast on a massive widescreen TV. Behind them stood Doctor Crygor, a gaggle of Scapelli henchmen and, at Waluigi’s request, a team of their very best lawyers.

“Just wait and watch Peach try to recover from this,” Wario cackled from his recliner. “You’ve got your granddaughter to thank for this, Crygor.”

“I remain unconvinced,” Crygor retorted confidently. “Autotuned singing will not impede the princess’ resources in the slightest.”

“Come now, old man. Wait until the movie begins.”

Waluigi raised his cigar, pointing it at one of the Scapellis. “Those planes are in the air, yeah?”

“Been airborne for one hour now. They’ll reach their target at the agreed moment, sir.”

“Perfect…”

***

A quarter to noon. The sky was light grey. The rented motorbikes were parked just beyond the castle gates.

Sofia’s voice crackled in Mona’s ear. “I’m keeping an eye on them from here.”

“Make sure it’s a good eye,” Mona replied, tugging at the cap on her head. She and the other three were dressed in red suits, not dissimilar to those that Mona normally wore on vehicles. Except they had a cover: they were merely pest control, inspecting the castle. With their false badges displayed, they made their way to the castle.

Cricket, carrying a heavy backpack that would’ve crippled Ana or Penny, stuck close to Mona’s side. The tension rose with every step. Yet they slipped through the entrance unnoticed. As before, the Toads were nothing but blind Swoopers.

Mona’s confidence surged as she steered them towards the stairwell.

“Miss Toadette, are we gonna practise flying today?”

Mona froze. Toadette? So she’s still here?

“I’d like to rest a little today, if you don’t mind. Tomorrow, ‘kay?” Toadette shuffled past the humans in the stairwell. “Excuse me.”

“You’re okay,” Cricket said, his tone genuinely friendly.

Don’t talk to it a second time, Mona wanted to scream. By the time she dared to glance back, Toadette had vanished. Now the little pest was even closer to their target.

“Basement. Now,” Mona hissed, snatching the backpack from Cricket. “Move!”

The logic was simple: the more of them swarmed the basement, the more resistance Toadette would face. Mona continued upwards, ignoring the cheerful greetings of the Toads and sparing only a passing glance at the small human child. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of a little girl being caught in this crossfire, especially one of her own kind.

She reached the public bathroom, hand hovering over the door. Could she really go through with this?

This is what he wants, she reminded herself. Not just him! This is the action movie you were meant to star in!

The bomb, the size of a small trash can, sat within a stall. She struck a match, igniting the three slowly burning fuses. The thick tubes would mask the smoke, buying her a minute to escape. A minute that stretched into an eternity.

This floor was so huge. Thirty seconds remained, and Mona hadn’t even reached the stairwell. Both the bathrooms and stairwells were centrally located, but the castle’s sheer scale had caused her to drastically underestimate the distance.

“Good morning,” a Toad chirped, giving her a cheerful wave.

“Good night, trufflefuck,” Mona muttered. The stairwell was just within reach. Five, four, three, two, one…

She braced herself, hands clamped over her ears. But where was the explosion? Glancing back, she felt both disbelief and rising fury. She tapped her foot impatiently on the stairs.

BOOM!

The explosion ripped through the second floor with ferocious force, the monstrous roar deafening. The blast sent Mona hurtling down the stairs. Her cheek reddened from one of the splinters of the door. Above her, the second floor was engulfed in a dark cloud of smoke and debris. She jumped to her feet and bolted towards the basement, blending in with the crowd of fleeing Toads.

A disturbed smile split her face.

The castle’s emergency lights flickered and died, plunging the basement into darkness. Mona’s night-vision goggles snapped into place and revealed Cricket, Ana and Penny huddled together in a damp passageway.

“Hear that?” Mona cheered, jumping. “If deaths were a score, we’d just hit the jackpot!”

“You’re celebrating that?” Ana stammered.

“And you’re not? Man, just a killjoy.” Mona snatched the notebook from Penny, her fingers tracing the drawn map. “Very well. Let’s get to the bottom of this castle.”

***

“Being worshipped in the cold will take some getting used to for the both of us,” Peach said, running her foot along Toadette’s face.

Just then, a wisp of smoke curled from the second-storey window. Following it was the sound of shattering glass. A burst of black smoke billowed into the courtyard.

“What is this?” she screamed, her nails sinking into her palms. “That despicable…”

“Wario? But how did he get in the castle?” Toadette asked.

“No.” Peach’s face hardened. “He’s a coward. He sent his little minions.”

“Penelope!” Without thinking twice, Toadette launched herself towards the castle. “I’ve gotta save her!”

Peach watched Toadette disappear into the smoke. Her fists nearly broke as a tremor ran through her. “What a mistake ever considering colluding with that man.”

Toadette charged into the castle, pushing against the tide of her fellow mushrooms. Everyone was shoving each other, and Toadette’s force was the roughest of the bunch. The farther she travelled, the drier the air became. She pushed on, ignoring the threat of fainting.

Finally she reached the stairs to the second floor. The door creaked open, revealing a scene straight from a nightmare.

The blast hadn’t demolished the room, despite the ferocious noise. It had rearranged it. The walls now bent like funhouse mirrors, reflecting grotesque, distorted images of the wreckage. The floor had buckled into a landscape of peaks and valleys. And the smoke turned from a dark cloud to white vapour, raining down. The sub-zero temperatures outside had seeped into the room, transforming the second floor into a freezer.

Various Toads sloshed through the water, groaning in intense pain. Some had injuries so bad that it was a miracle they hadn’t been killed. And yet Penelope was nowhere to be seen.

Each step Toadette took sank deeper. The water rose to her knees and then her thighs. She was already short, and this water was tall enough to drown a child around her size.

“Penelope!” she shouted, her teeth chattering. “It’s Toadette! Where are you?”

Toadette waded through the swirling water, pushing aside chunks of damaged furniture and debris. Unable to find Penelope, she did the only thing she could: head under the water. It was dense, filled with furniture and a million blinding bubbles.

She found her. Penelope lay still at the base of the floor. A large bruise bloomed on her forehead.

Toadette rose for a gasp of air before making the rescue plunge. She kicked through the debris-heavy water. It took her thirty seconds to scoop Penelope into her arms.

But she took a brief pause. Penelope’s eyes… Were they red? Toadette blinked to make sure she wasn’t imagining things. Indeed, her irises were red instead of the traditional blue. In fact, they seemed to be getting brighter.

She couldn’t let herself get lost in this! She rocketed Penelope to the surface. They both gasped for air. Penelope shivered violently, water streaming from her unnaturally coloured eyes.

“I… I can’t feel anything…” Penelope mumbled.

“What?”

Penelope’s eyes shut. “I was down there for two minutes, Miss Toadette…”

“But how did you not drown?”

“Don’t… I… I don’t know…”

Toadette pushed Penelope onto her back and swam across the flooded room. Reaching the stairs only offered a split second of relief. Seeing the frigid condition of Penelope’s skin, Toadette dragged her down the stairs and out into the courtyard.

“She’s not breathing right!” Toadette placed Penelope on the wet ground. “I need help over here!”

A nearby nurse rushed over, assessing Penelope’s condition. Peach stood frozen, her fists clenched even tighter as she watched her daughter’s body twitch.

“Severe hypothermia,” the nurse calmly said. “We need to get her warmed up. Is it even safe to go back in there?”

“Everybody seems to be running out,” a wide-eyed man stammered, dropping a thick blanket over Penelope. “I mean, a few people went to the basement, but they’re insane! That’s asking to get sick!”

“The basement? Who went there?” Peach asked.

“Four guys, Your Highness. Looked a little taller than us, so maybe they weren’t Toads.”

Peach and Toadette exchanged a look. Just as Toadette was about to rush back inside, Peach gripped her arm.

“I need you elsewhere right now, Toadette,” she said, looking into the distance. “They’re not getting away with this…”

***

Mushroom City authorities swarmed the scene. Toad police officers gripped their standard-issue stun guns, with some going so far as to upgrade to their high-tier shotguns.

“The Star Festival was just months ago,” an officer grumbled, chambering a shell. “Is it just time for the end of the world or something?”

They stood on the outskirts of Block Fort, hearing the looting happening from within the four tall buildings. Each building was burning on the upper floors. They were waiting for the inevitable show of force from the criminals, praying that no hostages were involved. As they waited on their second minute, a new face showed up behind him.

“They’re out here stealing from the city’s defence complex, and you bitches aren’t lifting a finger to stop them.”

“Who the hell are you?” the officer asked.

“Captain Toad, head of the Toad Brigade.” Instead of reaching for the typical flare gun, Toad brandished a pickaxe. A wave of laughter rippled through the gathered officers.

“What are you gonna do—poke someone’s eye out?” one officer snickered.

But Toad’s confidence remained. “You’ve never been in combat, have you?”

“What’d you say to me?”

Toad turned his gaze to another officer. “And you, tubby, I bet you’ve never even fired that stun gun. Half of you probably can’t use items, can you?”

The officer remained silent, his moustache twitching.

With a chuckle, Toad pushed past the police. “Allow me to show you morons how a real pro gets things done.”

He kicked open the glass door of the red building, ready for action. But inside, the scene was empty. Other than shattered glass, all that remained was a receptionist, her face pale with fear. He checked the yellow, green and blue building entrances, but each gave him the same result. What was going on?

His phone buzzed in his pocket. A large notification flashed across the screen: MUSHROOM KINGDOM UNDER SEIGE.

Wario, no doubt. He pictured the little ninjas, the one who’d nearly gotten the better of him back in Rose Town, probably doing the grunt work.

“Perfect timing,” he groaned. He pulled a Cape Feather from his bag. Extended flight would be impossible, but perhaps he’d get high enough to spot somebody.

Toad launched into the air, unaware of the four figures materialising back inside Block Fort. Ninjutsu at its finest. Kat and 9-Volt acted as lookouts, scanning for approaching police, while 18-Volt and 13-Amp advanced toward the red building. 13-Amp surged ahead, her eyes locked on the receptionist.

“You’re the only one smart enough not to run, huh?” She rolled up her sleeves. “Spit out where them Ethereal Stars at, or I’m gonna have to remix your face.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” the receptionist cried.

“Wanna bullshit me, Cynthia?” 13-Amp stomped her foot. “Twenty-eight years old, five brats, lives by the giant Wi-Fi Tower and also happens to work part-time with a Professor E. Gadd. Yeah, I did my homework.”

The receptionist shook her head, crawling back. “I don’t know anything!”

“Bet.” 13-Amp jumped on the counter, grabbing Cynthia by the throat and slamming her onto the tiled floor. Cynthia’s head bounced with a thud. 13-Amp then brought her heel down on her forehead, applying enough pressure to crush a watermelon. “You wanna rap now?”

“Boys, let’s go, let’s go!” an officer shouted, finally daring to enter Block Fort.

18-Volt let out a guttural roar. He charged them like a bull, sending the officers tumbling. Stun blasts fizzled against his suit, and even a shotgun blast did no more than tickle him.

“Ain’t nobody coming to rescue you,” 13-Amp continued, twisting her foot.

“Okay, I’ll talk! Just please don’t kill me,” she stammered. “E. Gadd has the radar, but he has multiple labs too. I don’t know where he’d be right now. And the stars themselves are in the Treasure Seal of Decalburg.”

“Decalburg?”

“Yes! It’s a drive from Toad Town. The Treasure Seal is where the castle staff wanted to keep them. It’s a small building, like a mini storage unit.”

13-Amp stepped off the woman, tossing her one hundred coins. She then smashed her fist through an intact glass display case, shouting before storming out the building. 9-Volt and Kat went after her, while 18-Volt looked at her in confusion.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Those cops are running from us. We got the items. We got the plans. We’re good.”

“I’m working with a rich dumbass, that’s what!” 13-Amp dialled up Mona. “You stupid ho! What the hell are you doing in Toad Town?”

“Looking for the stars, duh,” Mona said across the line. “Where else would they be?”

“Anywhere but that town! I just twisted some info out of this scientist’s girl. She’s sayin’ the stars are in Decalburg, locked up tight at some Treasure Seal! Y’all never even scoped that place when you were chilling there?”

***

“Decalburg? But…” Mona gasped, remembering the building she had noted only once.

“And I take it all of you are in Toad Town. Couldn’t leave one behind?”

“Listen here, fish lips, don’t be calling me with that kind of disrespect.”

“Bitch, suck my big toe!” The sounds of sirens grew louder in the background. “They know they’re under attack, so hurry it up and get there before they move those things.”

“Damn!” Mona snapped her fingers, stopping Ana and Cricket from yanking open one of the sealed doors. “We screwed up. We gotta get back to Decalburg!”

“Oh, that’s gonna be a problem,” a fuzzy voice said.

“What?”

Sofia, still perched on a rooftop, watched Toadette spring past the castle gates. Just as she spotted some abandoned motorbikes, she hopped on one and took off. Sofia smirked.

“And she’s got one of your bikes. Who’s the genius that left the key inside of that thing?”

Mona gritted her teeth. “No! Stop her, sporehead!”

“Hmm…”

“Ugh! Stop her, Sofia. Please? Pretty please?”

“Was that hard?” Sofia leapt from her perch, hopping from building to building.

While Sofia handled matters outside, Mona and the others began to catch up to her. They still managed to blend into the panicked, fleeing crowd. However, seeing all these sporeheads surrounding her, after they tricked her like this, made Mona’s eye twitch. Her breathing became less controlled.

As soon as they were out of the castle gates, she put on her proper helmet and reached into her suit. “You dirty fungal freaks!”

“Mona!” Penny shouted sharply. “Stop it! Are you crazy?”

The dynamite, a backup in case this bomb plot had gone south, felt heavy in Mona’s hand. A manic grin stretched across her face as she slammed the tip against the rough sidewalk over and over until sparks erupted. With a grunt of effort, she hurled the lit stick to the northwest.

The explosion ripped through the neighbourhood, a deafening roar that left Penny speechless. The sheer force of it slammed into her, and she looked down to see a line of blood from a glass shard.

“Burn, vegetables!” Mona spat, a cold smile returning to her face. A severed arm flew in her direction. With a giggle, she turned to her allies. “Bikes, on the double!”

As she threw a leg over her bike, she saw even more of them. Panicked Toads… Her natural instincts took over. Her smile went from simply cold to crazed.

With a twist of the throttle, she aimed the motorcycle not down the street but down one of the crowded sidewalks. Her blood pumped as the front wheel slammed into the first body. There was a thud and a crack. The best part was the scream that was cut short. The bike jolted, but Mona held on, her speed unwavering.

A little Toad boy, no older than six, clutched his Peach doll as he began to run. Mona snickered and steered the bike straight for him. The doll went flying into the air, landing a long way from the motionless child.

“Run, mushrooms, run!” Mona cackled as if she were a little kid. “Make this a challenge!”

“Can’t one of you do anything?” Penny’s voice cracked. “This has gone too damn far!”

“I would,” Ana said, “if she weren’t so angry and strong. Cricket?”

“Let’s see.” He accelerated to Mona’s position on the sidewalk, knocking her back wheel to where it was back on the street. Mona spun out, halting stiffly.

“What the hell?” she yelled. “Did that big toe kiss mean nothing, Cricket?”

“The castle blast was enough! This pointless violence only draws more attention to us, and your bike is going to slow down,” he said confidently, pointing to the strung-up Toad guts on her wheels. “If we have to leave you behind, then so be it!”

Mona pouted, shooting a glance at the other girls. She took a deep breath.

“Okay,” she said calmly. “Civilian death quota has been more than met. But any security staff who gets in our way is open season, deal?”

“Fine.” “Absolutely.” “A smidge more respectable in this context, yes.”

In agreement, they continued down the street, heading towards the centre of Toad Town.

***

Toadette never saw it coming. One moment she was accelerating, the wind lifting up her braids. The next, a boot struck her side. The bike went skidding, and Toadette was launched through the air. She landed right through the wall of Minh’s flower shop, with wood splintering in every direction.

“What in the world?” Minh shrieked. Toadette had nearly barrelled into her from behind the counter. “Toadette! Why would you do that? Are you okay?”

“My neck…”

“What’s going on at the castle? I’m looking at the news, and they’re saying something about we’re under—” She yelped as a new figure broke through the doorway.

The figure moved slowly like a killing machine. Before either girl could react, a gloved hand grabbed the back of Toadette’s jacket, hauling her onto her feet.

Then the attacks began. Fist after fist jabbed into Toadette’s face. Each blow sent a wave of sharp pain through her skull. Even when she tried to defend herself, her arms moved too slowly. This wasn’t just some ordinary Toad working for Wario; this was someone who’s strength made that of Toadette’s look as pathetic as any other mushroom person.

“Stop it!” Minh cried, her voice cracking. “Please! You’re gonna kill her!”

The figure ignored her pleas, delivering a fist deep into Toadette’s stomach. Toadette fell down, retching before being slammed against the counter. Potted plants showered her with soil. Then a roundhouse kick connected with brutal force to her face, nearly snapping her jaw.

Unable to even twitch, Toadette braced herself against the next wave of pain.

“Who are you?” she choked out, blood leaking from her mouth.

“The one who will take you out this world.” The voice came back modulated, with a much deeper pitch.

“No!” Minh scrambled to her feet and spread her arms wide in front of Toadette. “If you wanna get to Toadette, you’re gonna have to kill me first!”

“Move, Minh,” Toadette gasped.

“Make me!” Minh held firm.

And for a moment, the figure paused. Sofia, under the mask, bared her teeth. Could she even dare touch Minh just to get to Toadette?

“Sofia, we need you,” Mona said through the earpiece. “Run ahead of us. We need a clear path to Decalburg!”

“Fine,” Sofia whispered, a smirk overtaking her face as she glared at Toadette. “You and the pig here can make all the sick love you want to each other. Enjoy it, since it won’t last long.”

“Huh?” stammered both girls.

With a burst of speed, Sofia vanished. Once she was gone, followed by the sound of four motorbike engines, Minh turned back to Toadette. Terror was etched onto her face.

“Who was that person? And how does she know we’re…?”

“Don’t know, don’t care.” Toadette pushed herself to her feet. She staggered towards Minh’s closet, looking for a specific item. “Looks like we ticked off Wario too much after stealing his radar and two stars.”

Minh’s hand went to her mouth. “You know he hit Mushroom City too?”

“He what?” Toadette nearly tore the Super Leaf. “If that greaseball thinks he can get even more revenge on my little bro, he’s in for something special.”

“Looks like it’s mainly Block Fort and some other areas just being destroyed. I hope my family’s safe there.” Minh shut her eyes. “Please don’t let anything happen to Poshley Heights either.”

“Your annoying, bougie cousins will be fine,” Toadette sighed, stroking the raccoon tail that had sprouted from her rear. She bit into an apple, gave Minh a tight hug and prepared to take on the group of five. “See you later, okay?”

***

Two jets, one gold and one violet, soared through the clear blue skies. They launched from the beaches of Isle Delfino, aimed for the Mushroom Kingdom’s mainland, then flew past it, gaining speed over the sea. The pilots followed the standard air traffic protocols, claiming a normal approach to Rogueport.

Deep within each jet’s cargo hold, fifteen steel barrels sloshed with explosive fuel. Trapped among them were three ominous drums of a shimmering rainbow-coloured powder. A white skull on each drum had a warning.

But Rogueport was a false stop. The jets roared past it, deaf to the commands from the tower.

“I’ve lost contact,” a controller said, further worry hitting his face as the planes’ transponders shut off.

“Malfunction? Remember Princess Peach’s flight? Mario’s brother, whatever his name is.”

“But that guy just fell asleep. This guy is just going off the path.” The controller made another attempt to reach out to his pilot. “Is your guy missing too?”

“Seems it’s both those planes from Delfino, yeah. Should we call somebody?”

In the pilot of the red jet, the pilot snarled, his grip tightening on the controls. He adjusted his frequency to the same as the blue pilot.

“Damn! Are we both gonna miss the bank?” He tried to align the plane with Poshley Bank, making a sharp descent. But the building was too small to properly hit, especially as some tall trees surrounded it.

The blue pilot looked to his side. “We’ve got company!”

“Where?”

They couldn’t see them, but they felt them. Two Koopa-flown fighter planes had finally closed the distance. The Scapellis, having tuned out from the air traffic control, never heard the warnings from the fighter planes.

“Do we take them out?” one of the fighter pilots asked.

“At least two places have been attacked right now. We’re not letting another one go down!” This pilot locked onto the blue jet, firing a Bull’s-Eye Bill. The orange missile spiralled on a straight path.

It tore through the jet’s wing, ripping open the fuselage in an explosion. Rainbow powder erupted, a toxic cloud now sprinkling over Poshley Heights. Some barrels of extra fuel tumbled from the gaping hole in the plane.

“I’m hit! I’m going down!” the blue pilot barked, feeling his plane slant.

“No, no, hold on!” The red pilot pushed the throttle to the max, chuckling from the powder that spilt out of his companion’s aircraft. “Those idiots don’t realise they just did part of the work for us.”

“So what do we do now? I can’t fly this thing.”

“Yeah, you can. The bosses want hell in the kingdom, and we’re gonna give them the best they can ask for. Follow my lead!”

Both planes plummeted towards the planet in a twenty-second nosedive. The impossible angle that should’ve ripped the jets apart stunted the fighter pilots.

“Get another Bull’s-Eye Bill ready!”

“We can’t, sir!”

“Why not?” The fighter pilot hammered the launch button repeatedly. “Are we out of ammo?”

“Can’t shoot when they’re at so low an altitude! Those bullets will get confused!”

“Curse it all! We’ll have to intercept them in the air, go! Break the throttle if you must!” The pilot went at top speed, ready to push the machine and himself beyond their limits to stop this plot.

On the ground, a wave of dread washed over the onlookers. News of the bomb at Peach’s castle and the destruction in Mushroom City had already spread. Now, in their supposed haven, two jetliners were flying dangerously low while fighter planes gave chase. Every human, Toad and Bumpty could feel the wind shifting.

“Now it’s our turn,” a man whispered, his face pale.

“Bowser again? Doesn’t he ever learn?” A woman scoffed. “This is getting ridiculous.”

“Au contraire, this isn’t the king… He usually kidnaps the princess, and he’s upfront when he does it. For all his faults, he doesn’t cower behind others.”

“But the castle blew up! He’s probably in there right now, stealing Her Highness!”

“Focus, people!” a Bumpty cried, pointing a shaking fin towards the sky. “They’re so low, they’re gonna crash!”

Inside the crowded cafeteria of Pikari Middle School, Jasmin was trapped in line with the other kids to get her lunch. Of course, things weren’t allowed to go smoothly. While she read through another issue of Pokémon Adventures, a sharp poke in the back made her flinch.

“Hello, Drew.” She wiped the spit off her mouth. “I ate four highly spicy burritos last night, so I wouldn’t recommend any access to my back door today.”

“Don’t act like you’re off the hook. I’m looking to have my elegant milk in your mouth,” he said, smearing her glasses. “You could use all those vitamins, scrawny.”

“I’m really not in the—”

He tugged her hair. “It’s cute how you think I care.”

“Be nice!” a voice yelled.

“Oh, great. So arrives Rachel to rain on my parade. Can’t you bother someone else?”

Rachel placed her hands firmly on Jasmin’s shoulders. “I’m hijacking Jazz for lunch, so you’ll just have to wait until next week.”

“Is that right?”

“Jazz, your choice,” Rachel said. “Clean my ass or drink Drew’s lumpy, spoiled milk?”

“Um…”

“Or, if you’re not down for either, I can come back next week. It’s not like I’ll die.”

“No, that sporehead doesn’t get a choice,” Drew snapped. “She will choose me or—”

“Or you’ll snitch about her living arrangements? Do that, and she’s not gonna be the one who’s gonna have six inches up their butt,” Rachel threatened, glaring at Drew. The two scowled at one another.

Amongst their arguing, Jasmin heard something odd—a faint rumble that vibrated through the floor. It grew louder, morphing into the unmistakable roar of a plane. She looked towards the pristine windows, spotting two tiny dots in the sky. The gold one was slightly ahead of the purple one. The purple one plummeted towards a structure, while the gold one continued a more deliberate descent. Other students looked over, their gossip quieting as they noticed the wings, the tail and the path of the plane.

Jasmin’s pupils shrank. “Oh my…”

Then a shriek ripped through the air, followed by an earthshattering boom. Everything faded into blackness.

----------

Author’s Note:
Soon we shall witness the second part of these terrible events conducted by Wario’s team. I consider Mona and 13-Amp different flavours of dangerous. Mona is stupidly dangerous, but 13-Amp is intelligently dangerous. Though when it comes to violent tendencies, it’s no question Mona is scarier. I hope you’re not a Toad reading this.