Sort of a prequel to Toad and Toadette's Epic Adventures: The Statement. Have you ever wondered how the two heroic Toads got together in the first place? This story, being my first one-shot, has the answer! Officially my 10th story! Read, review, and as always, enjoy!
Sights and sounds of glee filled the air. The Mushroom Kingdom Carnival was certainly a lively place. It was also the place where a certain Toad came to hang out, just for fun. He took a popcorn from the stand, paid the man three coins without a word, and started to walk across the boardwalk. He sat down at a bench.
"Stupid school." he mumbled to himself. "Why does Transitions to High School Math have to be so hard?" He was in the seventh grade. He sat there, reflecting for a couple minutes. He thought he saw someone looking at him. He dismissed the thought from his mind.
A couple minutes later, he felt the same eyes looking at him again, without actually seeing them. He got the feeling he was being watched. He took a chance and looked at the person who was staring at him. Then he was in the same predicament. The person staring at him was a girl. She had a pink cap and braids, white spots, and a pink vest. Toad couldn't think of a combination of clothing more eye-catching than that. Sure, his attire was pretty nice as well, with a white cap, red spots, and a blue vest. He felt his cheeks becoming a bit warm.
Am I... flustered? he thought to himself. He pondered a question in his mind; whether to stay put, or the more risky option, walk over to her. He decided the latter after a while, standing up slowly, then starting to sit down. The stare came again, and he finally stood up and started walking. The girl smiled.
I must be doing something right. He decided to take things a little further, as he took out the box of popcorn. Hey, it's three coins. What have I got to lose? As they drew closer, he held the box out in front of him. She sensed his offer and smiled again. When they got within touching distance of each other, Toad handed over the box. Or, he tried. The girl reached out to grab it so fast, she actually blocked his path. Her hand hit the bottom of the tall, skinny, striped box, causing the lower half to sweep out from the upper half, resulting in an overturned box. Toad tried to grab it, but it was too late. The popcorn box hit the ground, causing its contents to spill at their feet.
"Oh, my goodness!" The girl spoke to him for the first time. "Are you okay?" She tried to tell him that she was the one who had caused the accident, but Toad refused to listen, as he hung his head in shame.
"I'm sorry, ma'am!" He addressed strangers in that way, as a sign of respect. "I'll clean this up." He stooped down to pick up the pieces of buttered, dirty popcorn.
"I'll help you." the girl stated. She took a knee and started to help.
"No, ma'am, it's okay." Toad tried to stop her. "I'll do this myself." He continued picking up the pieces. He heard a laugh from her.
"Don't be so ashamed of yourself!" she said, still giggling. Her offer sure could help. Toad thought. And her looks... Who even sees another Toad like this? Eventually, he gave in. They continued to pick up the last of it, with Toad risking a glance every once in a while. When the boardwalk was cleaned up, they both looked up at the same time and their eyes met. They stayed like that for about five seconds, then caught each other. Toad backed away, blushing madly.
"Oh! I- I'm sorry, ma'am!"
"It's okay! Don't think that!" She had a cheerfulness in her voice. They stood. "By the way, I didn't catch your name." Toad cursed himself internally. I didn't even tell her my name yet? What a fool I am!
"Oh, the name's Toad." He reached out a hand. "Pleased to meet you..." He realized something. "Wait, I didn't catch yours, either."
"It's Toadette." she said, and took his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Toad." The place where they touched felt warm, very warm. Then they pulled away. They both felt their faces becoming a bit pink.
"Well, sorry to part ways so soon, but I have to leave." Toad apologized to her. He walked in the direction she was, walking past her, then adding over his shoulder.
"See you around, Toadette!"
"I come by here almost every day!" she shouted back. "If you want, you can come find me!" Toad turned around, at the entrance about a hundred meters away. He nodded, gave a thumbs-up to her, and left the carnival. Toadette walked in the opposite direction, a smile on her face.
Two weeks later...
Toad was at the carnival again. He had been coming here every day after school for the past week and a half. He was with her every time. During those nine days, he had grown accustomed to her; just the day before, he had sat next to her in the roller coaster. But, on the tenth day, he had not seen her anywhere, and the sun was beginning to set.
"Hmm." He shrugged. "Guess she doesn't want to be here today. Oh well." He walked towards the entrance, then he heard something.
"Stop it! Stop!" He heard another voice.
"You're coming with us, little girl." Toad tried to make out where the voice was coming from, and he ran, backtracking to where he came from. He heard punching noises. When he finally got to where the voice was coming from, he saw three dark figures carrying a fourth down the boardwalk, towards the water. He started to run again, but then stopped in his tracks.
Wait a minute... I've seen one of them before... He saw a pink lock of hair dangle over one of the thug's shoulders. He began sprinting towards the adversaries, who had reached the end of the dock. They were preparing to throw Toadette over.
"On three, okay?" the thug in the middle said, who happened to be the leader of the gang, with a black cap and vest. The other two wore the same clothing, but the leader was different, as he had spiked bracelets on his arms.
"One..." Toadette saw someone run towards her out of the corner of her eye. She didn't show it though, for fear that the assailants might notice.
"Two, th-" Before the leader had a chance to throw her over, the thugs to the left and right felt something tug on them. Toad put a hand on each of their shoulders, and threw the left thug further to the left, and the right one in the same direction.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" The two grunts tried to keep their balance, but one ended up slamming into the other, and they fell backwards into the water below.
Splash!
"What the hell?" The leader was furious, as he turned around. There stood Toad. "What are you doing here? This is my turf, punk!"
"Not anymore." Toad replied.
"Oh, really? I think you should reconsider." the leader shot back, as he grabbed each of Toad's shoulders and spun him around, so that he was closer to the water. Then he moved closer, with Toad stepping back to the edge of the dock. The assailant loomed over him.
"The name's Doug. Doug Pierce. And you'll remember it for the rest of your life, the day you got humiliated in front of a girl!" He laughed in triumph as he edged closer. Toad braced himself. Doug charged at him. Suddenly, as he was on top of him, Toad rolled on his back and lodged his feet in the assailant's midsection.
"What?" Doug managed to say, in shock, before Toad pushed his foot upwards, sending the former flying out over the water.
"WWWAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
Splash!
Seconds later, Doug resurfaced, his face contorted.
"You'll pay for this, you stupid brat!" he yelled at him, as he swam and reached shore. "You'll all pay!" He stormed away, leaving heavy footprints in the sand. The sun had set, and the stars were just beginning to show up. The two Toads walked to someplace safer on the shoreline, and sat down. Despite the somewhat romantic setting, and to Toad's surprise and horror, Toadette began to cry.
"Toadette! What's wrong?" She didn't listen, and cried harder.
"I can't take it anymore!"
"Can't take what?"
"All this discrimination! My looks, my grades, my relationships... They have it in for me! All because they think I'm different!" The tears were streaming down her face now, falling unhindered onto the sand below.
"Well, that's exactly right."
"See? You think so too!" Toadette stood up abruptly, and started to walk away.
"Toadette, wait! You are different... but not in the way they're thinking." Toadette stopped in her tracks, and turned to face him, not moving away, but not any closer either.
"See, the thing is, you're not alone. I have these problems too. Everyone does. They think they're different, so they try to become normal. But what they don't know is that there is no normal in this world. Everyone's special in their own way. Even me, though I really don't look that way." Toadette was stunned at his word choices, and took a step forward. Toad kept going.
"You may not get what I'm saying, Toadette, but the reason they are bullying you is because they want to be more different than they already are. They want to be you, Toadette. They want to be special." Toad said this with more confidence than he had ever felt in his entire life. Toadette pieced it all together. Her eyes went wide.
"You..." She was stunned. No one had ever said that about her. "You think I'm..." Toad just smiled at her. Toadette just stood there for a couple seconds, but eventually, her emotions took over. Before Toad knew it, she was running towards him, placing her hands behind his back, and holding him close to her. Now it was his turn to be stunned. He tried to pull away, out of embarrassment, but she didn't budge, holding him closer than she had held anyone.
"Thank you, Toad." Toadette cooed, holding him even tighter. "You're a true friend." Toad smiled back, overcoming his fears and putting his hands on her shoulders. To stay here, on the shore, with his newfound friend, was all he wanted. After about five minutes, they pulled away, took each other's hands, and walked down the shore back to the boardwalk. There he saw a sign labeled, 'Laser Tag". It had an image of two laser guns crossed over each other. They immediately ran inside. Soon, sounds of laser firing filled the air, followed by laughter. For the first time, Toad felt like it was clear; that their friendship was real. And he couldn't have been more correct.
In fact, little did they know that, over the course of time, their friendship would bloom into something much further.
The End
How was it? It's my first attempt at a one-shot, so it's probably not that great, but feedback is always appreciated! Thanks for reading. I'll see you guys later! Matt1251 out!