This is in no way my story. I take absolutely no credit, this is my friend Sarsars story. He's having trouble uploading chapters on his computer so he's emailing them to me. He has a some more very good stories, I suggest you take a look at his profile.
In the Mushroom Kingdom, in a dark alleyway near the edge of Toad Town, two toads stood directly across from each other. One was leaning casually against the brick wall, scraping dirt out of the crack of two bricks in an effort to keep from falling asleep. The other had already fallen asleep, and his faint snoring barely reached the ears of his partner. Both were standing at the opening of a long, dark tunnel that echoed any small noise ominously.
"Two months," the toad grumbled after taking one of many glances at the tunnel entrance. "I love Mario and the princess, but guarding this entrance six hours a day for two months is almost too much to bear. I'd quit if this job wasn't so easy. But the boredom!" In his frustration, he kicked the other toad awake.
"What's going on?" The other toad asked groggily, clumsily grabbing his fallen spear. "Something finally come through?"
"No, but we have to stay awake in case something actually does come through," replied the former toad.
"Like anything ever will come through," the latter toad whined. He threw his spear back down, where it clattered off the brick. "We were asked to guard this a year ago! I haven't slept nights in months!"
"It's only been two-" The former toad began, but he heard faint footsteps. "Do you hear that?"
"Just my stomach grumbling," the latter mumbled. "Did you know I haven't had a feast in ages, either?"
"After tonight I'll buy you a shroom steak," the former said. "Now be quiet. I think I heard something." His grip on his spear tightened.
The two toads listened carefully for even the faintest noise. After a minute of listening, both heard a faint voice grumbling from the tunnel. They glanced at each other and stepped into the tunnel. They immediately felt their bodies tingle and their gazes were veiled in a faint light blue.
"What's going on?" The latter asked loudly.
"What was that?" A deep, gruff voice came from deeper in the tunnel.
The former put his hand to his lips in a shushing gesture and slowly tiptoed deeper into the tunnel.
"But isn't this why we were guarding the tunnel in the first place?" the latter whispered. "In case we heard anything suspicious. Let's alert the princess, quickly. I didn't like the sound of that voice."
"Just move on," an equally gruff voice commanded. "Whatever Richard heard was probably a rat. We know the mission, so let's carry it out. No talking."
"I swear I heard something," Richard pleaded. "Tiny voice as high as Willicent's."
"Shut it," a high voice replied. "My voice may be high, but my balls are bigger than yours!"
"What language," the latter toad mumbled. "Who are these guys?"
"That's what we're going to find out," the former replied. "Follow me."
The pair traveled in silence through the curving tunnel for a few minutes before hearing a loud stomp right around the corner. "Oh crud!" The latter whispered. "Let's leave!"
"Argh, damn it all!" Richard growled. "Stepped on a knife or something."
"Richard, you're a grown man," said a voice deeper than any of the ones the toads heard before. "Suck it up and quit being a baby. And shut up, too. Something may hear you."
"He'll wake up the whole town, the way he shouts," said another vaguely familiar voice.
"You have no room to talk, Mark," replied a fifth voice. "In fact, I don't know why you were sent here in the first place. We don't know any of your skills or abilities. Hell, we don't know your last name!"
"It's Smith," replied Mark. "You don't need to know what I can do. I'll follow orders, and that's all you need to know."
"Glad you know your place," said the deepest voice. "We've wasted too much time."
"He's right," agreed a sixth voice. "Let's move!"
The two toads heard footsteps approaching their position quickly. They couldn't risk running out or they'd alert the men. In a last second decision, the former toad grabbed the latter toad, held his mouth shut, and shrunk into the shadows. They saw five large men and one tall, lanky man walk past them, all carrying large guns and wearing full-body camouflage armor. Several grenades and ammo clips were in various pockets of their belts and each of their boots contained a knife.
"What're they going to do to the Mushroom Kingdom?" The latter toad whispered quickly as soon as they had passed. "They could kill everyone!"
"We can't sneak past them, but we can't let them get through," the former replied. "You willing to kill them?"
"For the good of the Kingdom," the latter answered, adrenaline rushing through his brain and clouding his judgment.
"Then get ready to attack on my signal," said the former toad. The pair stepped out of the shadows and ran to catch up with the soldiers. They got within eyesight and ducked down to muffle their footsteps. They aimed their spears at the two soldiers in the back, waited for the former toad to whisper the signal, and threw the spears straight into the men's backs. The two cried out in pain before collapsing. The four other men ran back to their comrades, wedged the spears out of their backs, threw them aside and checked their pulses.
"They're alive, but hurt," said the deep-voiced man, the largest one of the group. "What did this?"
"Did they set up traps?" Willicent asked.
"Lenny, Richard, you two okay?" Mark asked.
"I'm fine," muttered Richard. "Doesn't hurt too bad. Just a bit of pain."
"Says the person who cried out over stepping on a sharp rock," mumbled Willicent as he got out the medical kit.
"Really, Willicent, I'm fine," Richard repeated, getting to his feet. Lenny did the same. "The vest helped."
While they spoke, the two toads carefully walked to their spears and grabbed them again. They prepared to throw their spears again when Lenny glanced around and spotted them. "What the hell are they?" He asked, shocked, pointing at the toads.
"Fire," said the former toad. They threw their spears at the soldiers: one hitting Lenny in the chest and causing him to collapse again; the other landing harmlessly after Mark ducked. Four of the men grabbed their guns and shot blindly at the two toads, who had jumped back into the darkness. Mark stayed slightly behind the men, slowly walking toward the Mushroom Kingdom.
"Did we get them?" Willicent asked excitedly. "I think we got them!"
"No blood," noticed Richard. "Probably didn't get- wait! Lenny!" He finally noticed Lenny and removed the spear from him.
"He okay?" The largest man asked. "We don't need him, but I don't wanna carry the large bastard through this tunnel again."
"He's barely breathing," replied Richard, picking up the kit Willicent dropped as he sprayed. "I'll patch him up and we can leave him until we finish the mission."
"What about the toads?" Mark asked.
"Toads?" repeated Richard. "Frogs? They didn't look like frogs to me."
"Who is the soldier who did reconnaissance and who isn't?" Mark replied. "They're called toads and they're tough. We should leave, because there are more."
"Chicken," said the largest man, glaring at Mark. "When we finish patching Lenny up, we're going into that town and raising Hell."
"No you aren't," the latter toad shouted and, before the former toad could stop him, ran into the open and threw his spear at the largest man. He ducked and fired at the toad, hitting him three times before he could dive aside.
"I love this gun," said the largest man. "Rapid fire and amazing accuracy. Now, then, you toad! If you ain't dead, you'll die knowing this: We are going to go to your village, kill some people, burn some houses! Then the real army - the one a thousand times bigger than us - is going to burn your kingdom to the ground!"
"No you aren't," shouted the former toad, who had crawled up to Richard, pulled out the knife from his boot, and threw it at the largest man. It twisted in midair and the hilt hit the man in the stomach and fell harmlessly to the ground. "Shoot."
"Don't shoot!" Richard shouted, diving aside before the largest man could fire. The former toad was then showered with bullets; his body resembling red Swiss cheese after the largest man had stopped firing. His last breaths caused him excruciating pain and he knew his death would be for naught.
"Damn Bark," Richard said after getting to his feet. "I almost feel sad for the guy."
"He tried killing me," said Bark. "The bastard deserved it."
"Willicent, run!" Mark suddenly shouted. He had pulled out a grenade and threw it at Bark as soon as he shouted. He took off toward the Mushroom Kingdom while the other soldiers ran the other direction, abandoning their fallen comrade.
All three passed over the latter toad, who had heard his partner's death and knew what was coming. Unlike his partner, his last pain-filled breaths consisted of four words of hope: "For the Mushroom Kingdom." Before he could finish another breath, the grenade detonated, taking out the toad, Lenny, and collapsing the tunnel.
Mark slowed down when he reached the end of the tunnel. After checking for any witnesses, he crept out of the tunnel, stripped his clothes, threw them against the wall, and grabbed his hidden blue overalls, red shirt, and signature hat from behind a loose brick. After dusting them off, he searched the armor for the pistol hidden in the belt and the knife. After weighing the weapons in his hands, he checked the amount of ammo the pistol had and slid both in his pockets - just in case.
"Mamma mia," Mario muttered, rubbing his head and setting his hat on his head. The events of a few minutes prior had only just cemented in. He had seen two toads die. The first unnatural deaths in Mushroom Kingdom history. "Poor Toads. Poor, poor Toads! I'm so sorry you had to die. I'm sorry I couldn't save you."
He spent a few moments with his hat over his heart in a respectful salute, silently contemplating what had happened over the last few hours. He realized his mission was over, but he had a duty to the Kingdom. He knew what he had to do: "I have to warn the princess before it's too late!"
