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Chapter 7: Community Service and a Duck

The Young Offenders, minus Mad Dog, were lined up in front of Mr Toadington, standing to attention. He inspected them a bit, ne then, without saying a word, snapped his fingers, and two Toads came in, each holding a few pairs of handcuffs. The shuffled round and handcuffed them all the each other, so where one Young Offender went, the others had to follow. The order the group were in was:

Rook was chained to Bishop who was chained to Mags who was chained to Sly Guy who was chained Bowser Jr. who was chained to Bruiser.

Mr Toadington seemed satisfied and nodded to the Toads to lead them out. Rook lead the rest of his cellmates out, and they awkwardly walked out of the prison grounds into the Prison Bus, the same one that had brought Bowser Jr. here. They were told to sit at the back of the bus, and they did so, albeit rather squished. They were told to 'stay put' and then the bus drive off. An awkward silence filled the vehicle, on occasionally spoiled by the clink of chains as someone moved their arms, which just made it even more awkward. Occasionally, after a series of more violent clink, caused by someone wiping their noise for instance, the group of Toads at the front if the bus would turn around and glare at them until they stopped. It was rather uncomfortable.

After about half an hour of sitting in the bus, Bowser Jr. began to wish he had had more for breakfast, but then thought about what had been for breakfast and thought perhaps he was okay for now. Luckily, however, before he could feel any more hungry, the bus stopped and the Toads told them to get off. Seeing no other choice, they obliged, and stepped out single file into a small village, where the houses weeper shaped like mushrooms. A Toad Town.

They stood around a bit until a police car pulled up beside them. Out of it marched a green-spotted Toad in an army general's uniform. Like Mr Toadington, he had a big bushy moustache, although his was an ageing brown rather than an elderly grey. He also had a big thick pair of eyebrows which, when he frowned (which seemed to be almost perpetually), knitted together and formed a monobrow which looked like another moustache. He looked like a person who was always angry. He actually was, come to think of it.

"Right, you miserable little lot!" he bellowed*, "I am Sargent Toadington, the brother of your warden, so whatever happens here will be reported to him, got that? Introductions aside, today, you are here to clean up some graffiti! This town has got a few unidentified juvenile delinquents runnin' about, and sprayin' graffiti all over the Town Hall!" He jutted a thumb over his shoulder to said building; a modest little concrete structure, lovingly vandalised with pictures of things best left unsaid.

"Now, we don't know who these little criminals are, so we are puttin' you lot on the job," – he ignored the exasperated groans from the children – "Now, I know what you're thinkin', you're thinkin' about runnin' away, aren't you? Well, meet the newest member of the Community Service crew; Officer Magnum,"

Out of the police car that Sargent Toadington had arrived in came a Magikoopa, all dressed up in police uniform. He held a copper sceptre, menacingly patting it against the palm of his hand.

"Officer Magnum here is well trained in a variety of Paralysis Spells," warned Sargent Toadington, gesturing to the wizard, "And if any of you lot try and escape, Officer Magnum will make you stiff as a board and you'll be spendin' some time in," – he suddenly looked slightly more scary – "Solitary Confinement! Is that clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!" replied the row of Young Offenders, all saluting in unison. Well, nearly in unison, as Bruiser, always a few pages behind everyone, saluted a little out of time, and, due to being almost twice as tall as the rest, ended up yanking the rest of his cellmates off their feet by their handcuffs. Sargent Toadington sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. His brother was right; they are definitely trouble.

•••

The group were now all facing a multi-coloured wall of spray paint under the watchful eyes of Sargent Toadington and Officer Magnum. They had been given four buckets if soapy water and six scrubbing brushed between them, and were working wordlessly, scrubbing the walls in an attempt to clean them. If it was working, it was being very slow, and everyone was getting very annoyed, but weren't showing it. Mostly that is.

Bruiser was not very good at controlling his emotions however, and he was having particular trouble scrubbing away a picture of a Humorous Duck. He washed it. It was still there. He scrubbed it. It was still there. He scrubbed it harder. It was still there. He threw an ebonise bucket of water over it. Still there. At this point, he was so engraved with the Humorous Duck, he dropped the scrubbing brush and flat-out punched the wall. Everyone stopped their scrubbing and stared at the wall. Slowly, cracks started to spread from under Bruiser's fist. Passers-by stopped and looked as The Young Offenders slowly backed away from the wall as the cracks grew. They swallowed simultaneously. Then, a relatively large section of the wall toppled down. Dust filled the air, causing everyone to cough.

"Nice going, Bruiser," growled Bishop, rubbing a bit of rubble from his eyes. Bruiser clenched his fists and growled back, but was interrupted when a section of wall rolled passed him. On it was an unscathed picture of a Humorous Duck. Bruiser lost it, and started to run away, yanking the others off their feet and dragging them behind him. He didn't get very far, however, as Officer Magnum appeared in front if him and waved his wand. Bruiser glowed an icy blue for a second and stood up straight, before toppling over, stiff as a board.

*Yes, he always spoke like that

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