Chapter 28 Bogus Ball Toss
Lilac's spirits rose right up. Yes! Progress; honest to goodness progress was being made! She exchanged a look with Scale, who also looked excited. He leaned against the booth with a grin on his face.
"Well, do you feel willing to tell us?"
The Toad chortled. "I am.." A wicked glint appeared in his eyes. "If you play my game."
Lilac blinked. She looked at the game that this carnie operated. It wasn't anything special; just a simple ball toss. She and Scale might be able to win easily, granted that the attraction wasn't rigged. Despite that, Lilac couldn't help but feel a twinge of resentment. This Toad dangled the info they wanted in front of them like a carrot on a stick. Kind of a crappy move.
Scale seemed to agree, as he raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
The Toad chortled again. Lilac didn't know if it was just her imagination, but she detected a sense of wickedness in the tone. "You can't get something for nothing. If you want me to tell you about the star, you have to pay to play my game." He grinned. "And you have to win."
Lilac sniffed. If she was more confident in her own social skills, she would have chewed the Toad out six ways to Sunday. Unfortunately, she wasn't more confident, so the most she could do was give the Toad a disapproving look.
The Toad didn't even flinch at her expression. "Well, what are you waiting for?" He held out his hand. "Cough up, buckos."
Lilac's insides twisted as she looked at Scale. "Do you have any money?"
"I…I do." He reached into his hammerspace and pulled out his wallet. "Let's just hope we don't blow it all; I've been saving up for a vacation." He handed over five coins, which the Toad examined with a greedy twinkle in his eye.
"Awesome." He handed three balls, all about the size of a walnut, to Lilac. "In order to win, you have to get the balls in the bottles." He chuckled. "You two better hope luck will be a lady today."
Lilac took in a deep breath. She looked at the bottles, lined up in a ten by four square. This should be fine. Ball tosses weren't the hardest boardwalk attractions to win. Heck, Lilac could remember playing them when she was very little. Granted, she didn't exactly remember winning them. But then again, at least she had experience. She could do this. She just had to believe in herself.
"I can do this," she whispered. She held one of the balls in her hand, rolling it around in her palm. "I can do this, I can do this." She locked her eyes onto her target; a bottle on the edge of the square. She took in another deep breath before tossing the ball in its direction.
Dink.
"Darn it." The ball had bounced off the top of the bottle as opposed to falling in. Lilac looked down at her second ball. She had two more shots. Only two. Hopefully they wouldn't be put to waste like her first shot.
"I can do this," she whispered again. In the corner of her eye, she saw Scale giving her a thumbs up. This boosted her confidence up. She tossed her second ball at the same bottle.
Dink.
Okay, now Lilac was growing frustrated. Why did the holes in the bottles have to be so flipping small? She bit her lip, squeezing the last ball as if it was supposed to be a reliever of stress. She had just one more shot. Everything was riding on this. Finding the sacred star, rescuing Wendy's brothers. She didn't want to let her friend down. Wendy was counting on her. Celia was counting on her. Stormy, Peppy, Scale…the fate of all of them was literally in her hands. She just had to make this shot. She could make this shot. She would make this shot.
She took another deep breath. As the oxygen circulated around in her body, she felt much more comfortable. All her stress disappeared. All that remained was her and this shot. She was unbeatable. She was in the zone. With her eyes locked extra hard onto her target, she extended her arm and threw the ball.
And…she made it. She actually made the shot.
Lilac blinked. Did…oh my gosh! She actually succeeded! She didn't let her friends down after all! She made the shot! She won!
"I did it!" She shouted. "I did it, I actually did it!" She jumped up, her hands extended toward the sky. "WHOO!"
Scale gave her a smile. "Good job, kid."
Lilac's insides felt so fluttery. Her body felt considerably lighter; it seemed that stress really did weigh a person down. She jumped up and down, feeling like she could touch the moon.
"I can't believe I did it!" She looked at the Toad. "Mind telling us about the Star now?"
The Toad smiled. Lilac prepared herself to absorb all the information that he would tell to her and Scale.
"No."
Lilac blinked. "No?" Her happy mood disintegrated. "Wha…what do you mean no? I made the shot?"
The Toad cackled. "Yes. You made one shot. In order to win, you needed to make all three." He smirked at her. "I'm not telling you squat."
Lilac froze. She…she went through all that for nothing? No! Finding out the information to get to the water sacred star…she needed it! The Toad made a promise!
"But…but…but…"
The Toad wouldn't stop smirking. Lilac stared at him in wide eyed shock as Scale put his hand on her shoulder.
"Thanks anyway, sir," he told the Toad. He started pulling Lilac away. "Come on, kid."
Lilac stared wide eyed at the booth as she got pulled away. Why? Why why why? This was so unfair! This wasn't right!
As if to intentional rub salt in the wound, while she was being pulled away, the still smirking Toad sent a wave their way. This initially surprised Lilac. That surprise morphed into frustration. Then, anger.
"Why that little…" she freed herself from Scale's grip and stomped over to the booth.
Scale sent her a concerned, surprised look. "Kid, what are you doing?"
Lilac didn't listen to him. All her attention was focused on this…this…putz! When she got up to the booth, she slammed her fist down on the table.
"Hey, look here!"
The Toad turned, sending a bored stare her way. "What now?"
"You really think you can get away with treating people like that?" She put her hands on her hips, puffing out her chest to make herself look even bigger. "I went through a near death experience in a volcano just so me and my friends could get our hands on ONE of the sacred stars! If you think that means we're going to let you and your bullcrap slip past us, think again!" She took a deep breath, not even caring about how this might look to outsiders or about what the Toad might think about her. "We are on a mission to rescue the royal Koopa family! We need the scared stars to complete our mission!" Her volume grew louder the more she spoke. "I'm sorry if the fact that our efforts to help people fly right over you and your charlatan head, but we NEED to find the star! Don't you understand that?" She seethed. "DON'T YOU!"
Silence. The Toad's bored stare didn't change; the guy didn't even flinch throughout the whole rant. He smacked his lips together before putting his hands to his hips.
"Listen, that little made up story is cute and all, but I'm afraid I have a booth to run." He placed his hand on the table. "Now, run along now, or you're gonna regret it."
Normally, stuff like this would make Lilac seize up and shrink away. Heck, she was really tempted to do that now. However, she knew she couldn't. The Koopalings, Wendy…they didn't not need a passive and shy Lilac on their hands. They needed a Lilac who could stand up for herself, a Lilac who could save them. So, steam shot out her nostrils as she prepared herself to talk again.
"I think you're gonna be the one to regret it."
The Toad raised an eyebrow. "Is that a threat, Koopa?"
Lilac chortled. "Oh no, Toad. It's a promise!" She narrowed her gaze at him. "I won't stand for anyone acting this way. If you don't tell me where the star is, then…"
"Woah woah, hold up!" Scale said as he came over. He put his hand on Lilac's shoulder. "Kid, you are taking things with this nice Toad too far. Why don't you and I go over to the fried dough booth?"
Lilac made eye contact with the professor. "But…but…"
Scale gave her a look. Within that look were at least a thousand and one messages. Lilac could practically hear him say "calm down. Getting in trouble over this isn't worth it."
So, she eventually sighed. "Alright."
Scale nodded and sent a look toward the Toad. "Anyway, thanks for your time."
"Yeah yeah, whatever. Just keep little Miss Psycho away from my booth."
Lilac sputtered again. She was just about to yell again, but Scale led her away before she could.
