Chapter 21 Prejudice

Toadette took a deep breath as she stepped down onto the dock. When she let it out, Bank laughed at her.

"You sounded like you were trying to imitate a pig!"

Toadette glared at him.

"That's mean!"

Bank shrugged.

"Hey, it's true!" With that, he started to make his way forward. Toadette felt immense anger starting to take her over. She remembered the conversation that she had with Bank while she was on the boat. He had seemed so genuine while they were talking, so heartfelt. Now he was acting like a complete and total jerk. Toadette didn't know what to think about this.

Fortunately, she didn't really have to think about it. Sunny and Toadelle were just coming off the ship. Toadelle was holding onto Sunny's hand like a loving mother would, and Sunny was shaking in fright. Toadette felt a pang of sympathy, as well as a hint of wonder. Why exactly did Sunny feel this way?

It did not take long for Toadette to figure it out. The second that they got off the dock, the piantas who inhabited Ricco Harbor greeted Sunny with staring, cold, judgemental eyes. Toadette heard some of them whisper back and forth. She was just close enough to hear what they were saying.

"What's a Dragon Koopa doing here?" a pink one asked with malice in her voice.

"Beats me," said a blue one. "But if they know what's good for them, they should get their evil, scaly butt off this island."

Toadette was shocked at what she was hearing. Ahe turned toward Sunny. When you thought about it, he was actually a very pitiful sight. He looked like he would spoil his shell as he limped around on his patched up leg. Despite this, the inhabitants of Isle Delfino were staring at him like he was the spawn of the devil.

"Hey!" A yellow pianta shouted. "Go back to where you came from, you reeking reptile!"

Sunny looked like he was going to burst into tears. Toadette decided to show those piantas exactly what they were dealing with.

"Hey! You leaving this guy alone! He just so happened to be a soldier once!"

"Toadette!" Sunny whispered fiercely. The pianta scoffed.

"Was he a soldier for King Bowser, by any chance?"

Toadette felt her heart start to sink.

"Maybe?" she said weakly.

The pianta scoffed again. He then picked up a watermelon from a fruit stall at his side.

"This is for polluting our island, you Koopa scum!"

With that, he hurled the watermelon right at Sunny. Sunny stared at it with wide eyes.

"Sunny! Toadelle! Look out!" Toadette shrieked. They did not move, just continued staring at the fruity projectile. So, Toadette pushed them out of the way. She heard the melon go splat, and turned to see sticky, watery meat sprawl across the ground.

"Thanks, Toadette," Toadelle replied.

"No problem," Toadette replied. "Now, let's catch up with Bank. I have a feel that this is going to be a long night."

...

When the quartet finally got to Hotel Delfino, Toadette, Sunny, and Toadelle were covered in fruit juice. Apparently, the piantas at Ricco Harbor weren't the only people who have a problem with Dragon Koopas. As they had traversed through Delfino Plaza, more people had flung fruit at Sunny, and as a consequence, Toadette and Toadelle. They had also called Sunny some pretty nasty names.

Now, Toadette was starting to understand why Sunny had been so afraid of coming to Isle Delfino. She herself was starting to feel extremely angry. The way that the piantas treated him was just wrong. Sure, King Bowser had polluted their island and nearly plunged it into endless darkness. That was an example of an extremely evil thing to do. But just because one Dragon Koopa did something like that doesn't mean that ALL are like that!

Toadette shook her head. She probably shouldn't be dwelling on this; it wasn't good for her. She needed to focus on something more positive. Like getting a room, for example.

"Hi," Toadette heard Toadelle say to the Noki at the front desk. "Four checking in?"

The Noki snuck a glance at the party. A look of contempt flew across his face when he saw Sunny.

"We don't cater to Dragon Koopas. Not since the King Bowser incident."

Now Toadette was extremely mad. She angrily approached the Noki.

"Okay, listen here, mister. We just so happened to go on a long journey that separated us from a bunch of people. And, for your information, Sunny managed to be a very helpful and kind asset to said mission. So you had better treat him with respect! You hear?"

The Noki just stared at Toadette without so much as blinking an eye.

"Would you like a room on the first or second floor?" he asked.

Toadette breathed a sigh of relief.

"Second floor."

After the Noki handed the key over, Toadette turned back to the group. Her angry attitude was completely gone, having been replaced by a smile.

"Come on guys. Let's go upstairs."