Time now for a different type of chapter: following the Toads! We're all very excited, I know, so let's get right to it. And no, it's not as lethally long as the last chapter, honest. Even still, make sure you've got the time to read it!
(Oh, and the new poll is still running, so vote if you're interested! Though…it already passed the numbers of the preceding poll, so I don't know if I'll get that many more. Ah well!)
...
Down a dark and craggy road, the six Toads travel to Bowser's Castle. Carefully, they make their way into the volcanic region, as they dash behind rocks and broken into pairs as they did so. From behind a massive stone, Toadette peeks out and lets her mouth fall open as she gazes up at Bowser's Castle, now directly ahead of her and the others.
"Wow, I can't believe we avoided detection so far!" She jumps and twirls around to Red Toad, as he strolls up alongside her. "Princess Peach would be so proud that I've done this twice now!"
"No need to show off, Red," mutters the Yellow Toad as he approaches, the Green Toad following him. "Peach would be proud of all of us."
"Will be," corrects the Blue Toad as he and the Purple Toad arrive, rounding off the group. "We still need to get our job done, and that's getting Mario back again."
"Oh, don't be a buzz-kill, Blue."
"He's just being realistic, Yellow, which I agree with." Purple Toad nods, smiling. "Besides, if Red could do this all by himself last time, think of how easy it'll be now."
"I sure hope so," cuts in the Green Toad. "Purple and I don't go out enough to keep up with this stuff."
"Relax, Green," soothes Red. "You've done well this far, and we'll continue to make it through this. Together."
"Right!" The other Toads nod together, flashing each other grins.
"Great, now let's plan this infiltration again. Blue?"
"Well, we should be able to get through the broken back entrance, which is their structural weakness that Red left last time."
"Right, and then after that, Green and Purple can run the distraction routine that we practiced out on the way here. You know, with the Triple Jump and the combined Spin Jump, which should throw them for a loop."
"Yellow, are you sure that one will work? Green was a little…well, green, after we ran it."
"Ooh…I'm already getting queasy thinking about it again."
"Settle your stomach, Green, we need to nail this!"
"Ok, Pink—"
"No." Toadette's voice drops as she glares at the other five Toads.
"What?"
"Look, you five may enjoy your color coded names, but I absolutely refuse to be called something other than my actual name." She folds her arms. "I don't need a code name, especially nothing as lame as 'Pink.'"
"But…colors are cool. You promised you'd use them."
"For you five. Not for me."
"Aw…"
"And while you're busy worrying about silly nonsense like that, you're all failing to see that the plan is flawed miserably." Toadette sighs and bops her braids around. "Acrobatic jumping won't distract Bowser's forces; they'll attack us like they attack Mario, who does the same thing."
The five Toads sit in silence, dropping their heads at Toadette's argument.
"The only way we're going to be able to handle whatever comes up for us in that castle is by taking an offensive approach." She dug inside of her vest and pulled out the Fire Flower that Daisy had given them. "And the best offense is making sure that we have a good defense when needed."
Exchanging looks, the five Toads nod and huddle around Toadette. She lifts the Fire Flower as the others grab hold of it. Enveloped in a glowing flash of light, it lingers a bit before fading.
Toadette glances down at her clothes, now red instead of pink. Her braids retain their pink coloration, but now have red spots instead of the usual white ones. Studying the others, each Toad is also dressed in a red vest and pants, with each of the mushrooms on their heads now taking the color of each respective Toad. Only Red Toad has white spots on his red colored mushroom, whereas the others have the usual red spots.
"Now we're playing with fire!" Purple Toad cheers as the other four clap around him.
"Focus, everyone," calls Toadette. "We need to move quickly now, since it's probable that at least one of Bowser's forces saw that transformation flash." They nod and begin to move, but Toadette yelps out. "Remember! We still need to exert caution and stealth! This is only in case we need to fight, not to give us the permission to take on Bowser's entire army!"
Nodding again, the Toads hurry around the perimeter of Bowser's castle that's nearest to the ground and away from the lava moat. Finding the crack that Red Toad had created last time, the six Toads huddle close together as they enter through the small hole one at a time.
Entering the stony basement, with the lava still flowing beneath them, the group presses onward, following as Red Toad leads them through his path. They navigate their way to a stairwell that leads up to the main level, walking through the dungeon corridor to get there. The prisoners and the guards are sound asleep as the six Toads creep through the room, careful not to bump into the jailers.
"There are a lot of prisoners in here," murmurs the Blue Toad. "That's really unusual, even for Bowser on his worst days."
"Yeah really!" quietly chimes in Yellow Toad. "There are Magikoopas, Lakitus, Shy Guys, Goombas, Koopas, Fuzzies, and…even a Sledge Bro. is in here! …But no Mario."
"Should we let them out and use them?" Everyone turns back to the Green Toad, who shrugs. "What? It's an option."
"We can't take the risk," counters Toadette. "If we let them out, and they're just as much our enemies as they are Bowser's, if not more so, we're toast."
"She's right," agrees Red Toad. "And we won't need them anyway, honestly."
They move forward, heading to the exit directly ahead, but Red Toad rushes ahead and stops the group.
"Hang on! That leads directly to Bowser's Throne Room."
"So we'll need to be extra cautious," quietly muses Blue Toad. "But if it leads to an opening at all, there will definitely be guards, won't there?"
"Worse, it might be Bowser or one of his kids." Red Toad pauses and gives a sideways look to the others. "Um…the Koopalings are Bowser's, right?"
"Honestly…I keep forgetting," admits Purple Toad. "They're all equally terrible though, so does it even matter?"
"Fair point," agreed Red Toad. "Anyway, there's a window nearby we can sneak out of. If we climb around outside, we can probably evade detection from the sentries in the throne room."
"But what about the ones outdoors?" Toadette folds her arms. "They'll definitely have someone posted out there."
"Hmm…last time, I had the Sneaky Parasol and used that by this point." Red Toad places his hands on his hips and taps his foot. "Well…we'll have to do it carefully."
"We need to be quick though," whispers Yellow Toad. "They'll catch us easily if we try to do this one by one."
"Luckily, Toads are light on their feet and speedy all around." Blue Toad nears the door. "We don't have enough time to discuss this all day, and the more we talk, the more likely it is for the guards in here to wake up."
"Point taken. Let's go."
Slowly opening the dungeon door, the Toads sneak out in a single-filed line, Red leading. They slip past the throne, which Lemmy and Larry are sleeping on. The patrol units around the room don't notice the six as they climb out the nearest window and begin crawling across the windowsills.
They traverse the side of the castle, navigating past the length of Bowser's Throne Room. Toadette glances backwards to see that a Spike guard is walking around the courtyard as they climb across.
"Quicker, guys; let's go!"
Making their way to the corner of the wall, they jump through a window that leads to the hall outside of the throne room. Wiggling out of the collapse Toad pile, Toadette pops up to watch the Spike guard walk past the window and back to his position further down the courtyard.
"Phew."
"Hey, what the…who let you in?!"
In alarm, the Toads scramble out from one another and whirl around to find a Koopa and a Rex that were guarding the Throne Room from outside. The sentries turn to face the six Toads.
"Sound an alarm!" The Koopa instructs to the Rex. "We've got Peach's army invading us! Go!"
"Oh, no you don't!"
Running forward, the Koopa doubles back as the Blue, Yellow, and Green Toads rush him, attacking with a barrage of fireballs. The Koopa dives back into his shell as they roast it, the floors, and the walls nearby.
Meanwhile, the Rex attempts to flee while Toadette chases him, with the Red and Purple Toads following her. They jump up and rain a stream of fireballs down on the Rex, singeing his wings and some of the decorations.
Spinning around, the Rex jumps into the air and tries to stomp down on the trio, who leap back to evade him. They retaliate with another flood of fire, burning the Rex's feet this time.
Writhing in pain, the Rex fails to escape as Toadette jumps up and stomps down on his head, squashing and contorting the Rex's body.
Popping from its shell, the Koopa ducks back in as the Toads attack him again. He spirals around and bounces off the walls, attempting to reach the Rex.
However, Purple Toad leaps through the air and stomps down on the Koopa shell, stopping it in place. The Koopa emerges and attempts to fight back, only to get hit with a fireball from the Red Toad. Again, the Koopa slips back into his shell.
Green Toad runs over, grabs the shell, and throws the Koopa into the Rex, slamming the two into a wall. Both fall unconscious and slide to the floor.
"Nice work!"
Toadette smiles to the other five Toads, but all five jump at the sound of footsteps approaching. Grabbing their fallen foes, they race down the hall and duck behind the corner, with Blue Toad peeking out to watch Iggy and Roy chattering to one another walk to the Throne Room.
"What are they talking about?"
"Sh! I can't hear them from here."
He watches as the two pause and they notice the burn marks on the floor and walls. They look around, stepping closer toward the Toads. Blue jumps and pulls himself back behind the wall, hiding with the other Toads.
Stifling their breathing, the Toads wait as they hear the Koopalings approach, huddling together and holding their breaths.
"It might have been Bowser, right?" Iggy questions Roy.
"Nah, this would have been here before." A punch is thrown against the wall, causing the Toads to panic and pull closer together. "And where are those idiot guards?!"
"Probably on break again, like they shouldn't be." Iggy sighs. "This is part of the reason Bowser's plans fail so often."
"Tell me about it. Come on, let's go check on Larry and Lemmy; hopefully they're ok."
Eyes wide, the Toads continue to suppress their breathing as the Koopalings walk away from them. They wait and listen as the doors to the Throne Room creak open, and after a minute, slam shut.
"…That has to be the luckiest break possible!" Green Toad manages to break the silence, just barely.
"We need to move, fast, before they come back out," advises Blue Toad.
"Well, Mario was held upstairs last time," explains Red Toad. "He might still be up there. Come on!"
The Toads hurry back across the hall, following Red Toad as he charges through the castle halls. Everything blurs into stone grays and tapestry reds past the squad as Red slips around the walls, stopping short and redirecting himself as need be.
Another pair of Spike guards awaits them around a corner, who jump up and ready spike balls to attack the Toads.
They launch the balls as the Toads roll away, spreading out. Green and Purple run forward and toss out fireballs, but one of the Spikes dodges them.
The Spike charges forward as the two Toads leap back, with Blue and Yellow throwing a torrent of fireballs in their place. The Spike yelps out as it burns from the barrage, falling to the ground.
Backing up, the other Spike attempts to flee, but Toadette and the Red Toad slide in front of their opponent. The two toss out another stream of fire, to which the Spike bounces away from.
However, the Toads swarm and trap the second Spike in a hexagon shape, blocking his potential escape routes. It quivers as the Toads assault him with more fire, blasting it down to the ground.
"Perfect!" Yellow Toad pounds his fists together. "Let's keep this up, get Mario, and hurry up out of here!"
Red Toad smirks and leads his friends through the halls again, as they charge around corners and blaze past doorways.
The sextuplet whizzes down another hall and finally reach the stairwell. Red opens the door and nods.
"It should be this one. We'll climb all the way up and get to Mario."
"Hopefully, they weren't smart enough to move him," murmurs Purple Toad.
Scrambling inside and shutting the door behind them, the Toads jump up the steps and ascend. They quickly make it up more than halfway when they suddenly hear the doors from the top fly open.
"Oh no!" Green Toad gasps and the other Toads' eyes widen.
"Come on!" Toadette runs forward. "There must be something we can do…!"
Though terrified, the Toads surge forward, readying to face the newcomers. However, Green Toad trips and slips into the center of the stairwell, falling through an opening.
"Green!"
"I'm ok." He shakes his head and glances around a dark room. "What is this place?"
"No time," hisses Red as he pushes Yellow and Blue into the room. "They're coming!"
Purple Toad and Toadette rush in after the other four and close the door most of the way, hiding in the shadowy room.
Through the crevice, the six Toads watch as Morton and Ludwig walk down the steps. They reduce their breaths as the Koopalings stop, and Ludwig spins around.
Backing away from the door, the Toads clump together, bump into an object behind them, and cover each other's mouths to hold in their yelps.
"Wendy, come on, already!" Ludwig groans and leans against the wall next to the door. "How can you be so slow?"
"Hey, stairs and heels aren't exactly best friends, you know!" Wendy yells as she lumbers down the stairs. She approaches the other two and places her hands on her hips. "You boys don't need to worry about these problems."
"You choose to wear heels, Wendy!" Ludwig snaps and tugs on his hair. "No one, not even the Koopas, wear heels on a regular basis! It's not practical!"
"No, it's fashionable."
"Ugh!"
In annoyance, Ludwig barrels down the stairs, while Wendy and Morton watch. The larger Koopaling turns to his sister.
"Um…would you want me to carry you?"
"Morton, that is completely rude and totally inappropriate to ask a lady!" She throws her arms together and glares at him. "You can only carry one if she asks you to, not if you offer yourself! Honestly, that's nearly barbaric."
"Uh…sorry?"
"Fine, only because you're my brother." Wendy snaps her fingers. "Now hush up and carry me down. My feet are sore already."
"But…" Morton exhales heavily. "Yes, Wendy."
Picking her up, Morton carries Wendy down the stairwell, neither noticing the Toads in the veiled doorway.
Waiting as the footsteps fade down the stairs, the Toads slowly emerge from the room. They continue to wait a moment before shrugging to one another and proceeding to the top of the stairs.
Cautiously opening the door, they check the upstairs hall and glance around. Not spotting any threats, the Toads stroll out and press forward, studying the rooms.
"They're definitely here, right Red?" Blue Toad turns to his red counterpart, who nods.
"There's nowhere else they could keep Mario if he's not already in the dungeon."
"It's a castle," mutters Yellow. "He could be anywhere else besides the places we've been already."
"Hush up; they're the most likely."
"But what if Mario isn't here, then—?"
"Enough, just fan out and let's check the rooms," orders Toadette.
Each of the Toads breaks into pairs and they check the doors down the hall. Purple and Green Toad jump back as a few mops and brooms crash down from the closet.
"Why would they even have this many?!"
"This is Bowser, we're talking about," soothed Purple. "Why does he do anything that he does?"
"At least some things make sense!"
"He kidnapped Mario instead of Peach. Twice."
"Ok, not lately, but still!"
Blue Toad and Yellow Toad opens another door, peering inside of the room. Blue turns on a light, Yellow gasps, and the two quickly slam the door shut.
"What is it?" Quickly, Purple and Green hurry over to the others.
"Nothing! He's…definitely not in there!"
"Guys, he's probably in one of these two." Red points at two different doors. "One is Bowser's room, and the other is an extra room. Mario was in both the last time I was here, so he's probably in…" He opens the door for the extra room, finding nothing. "Ok, he's definitely in Bowser's room then."
Toadette throws the door open and scans around inside. "Nope, Mario's not here either. Bowser's bedroom actually looks pretty nice, though."
"Well, he does live in a castle; something had to."
"Wait, but Mario has to be here!" Red Toad shakes his head. "Where else would they bring him if not here?"
"To be executed?" Everyone spins around and glares at Green. "…What? This is Bowser, remember?"
"Let's not think like that, please," begs Toadette.
"We didn't look in this room here," Purple points out and opens the door. "Um…it looks like a kid's room?"
"That's Bowser Junior's."
"Oh. That explains the mess and painfully neon green paint job."
"If Mario isn't here, nor the dungeon, and not in the throne room…" Blue pauses as he makes a mental checklist and thinks. "Is there anywhere else that Bowser would bring a prisoner?"
"We could check the roof," offers Red, "but I don't see why he'd be up there."
"Either way, we'll need to find another way to navigate the castle, so let's check."
Climbing the next set of stairs to the top, the Toads walk outside and glance around the roof. They stare blankly at a table left for two at the edge, set for a sight that captures the sky.
"Huh. Is…why…ok, what?" Purple shook his head. "Look, I did already mention Bowser not making sense, but…why would this even be here?"
"Uh, well," mumbles Green, "we know he goes after Peach, so…"
"Oh, Green! Gross!"
"Hey, guys, quiet down."
Toadette hushes the two. as she and Blue get closer to the roof's edge. The other four Toads exchange confused expressions before following the pair over, silently listening.
"…So, what exactly are they doing over there, anyway?"
Barely, the six Toads peek over the side, glancing down at a Paratroopa and a Fly Guy chatting with one another.
"Beats me. I just know Bowser was all quick about it." The Fly Guy shrugs. "He made it seem really important that Mario get there as soon as possible."
"Wow. I mean I knew that there was something going on, but…to go there?"
"I know, right? I wonder how serious it's getting."
"Between the two of them? I guess it's always serious."
"Good point." The Paratroopa stretches. "Hey, thanks again for helping me clean up. I have to pick up a lot of slack since that Feather Duster left."
"No problem; it beats being target practice for the kid."
Watching the two fly further down the castle and out of sight, the Toads worriedly look at one another.
"Something serious?"
"They're not even here?"
"Why did Bowser want to take Mario anywhere, anyway?"
"Could he be in danger? Wait, it's Bowser, of course he's in danger!"
"What do we do?"
"Keep calm, let's just—"
"Oh," interrupted a new voice. The Toads spin around to find a white robed Magikoopa standing before them. "By all means, you can panic now."
Before the five can launch any attacks, the Magikoopa flicks his wand and ensnares the six in a binding spell. The Toads shout and cry out as hex shapes dance around them, forcing the six closer under the spell's circling motion.
One hex zaps Yellow, who yelps and jumps forward. Another jolts against Green, forcing him to do the same. Soon, the six Toads walk forward in the swirling spell vortex, avoiding the hexes to the best of their abilities.
"Where's he forcing us to go?" Blue asks as the group continues forward.
"Back the way we came." Red points ahead, and the Toads notice stairs before them.
Gradually, they make their way back through the castle, descending the stairwells and maneuvering through the hallways. Though they travel, the Toads are unable to see past the spell's bindings, only able to watch as the fluorescent enchantment shapes dance around them.
"How much further?"
"Depends on how far the dungeon is, I guess."
Eventually, they come to a halt. The Toads watch as the spell dissipates, revealing the seven Koopalings sitting around the throne.
"That will be all." Ludwig flips his hair and shoos the Magikoopa, who does not leave immediately.
"Are you certain? They can be crafty—"
"He told you that's enough," snaps Larry. "So buzz off!"
Nodding, the Magikoopa bows and strolls out of the Throne Room. The six Toads watch him leave, and spin around to face the Koopalings. Toadette steps forward.
"What do you want with us?"
"What do we want?" Wendy scoffs. "The question is: what do you want? You six twerps snuck around this castle."
"We want Mario back!"
"So it was another rescue attempt." Morton nods to Iggy. "Good call."
"It was obvious they would come running back for him." Iggy adjusts his glasses. "They're delusional, the entire lot of them."
"Delusional?" Green Toad pounds his fist. "We're trying to save our friend!"
"Did you ever consider that he doesn't want to be rescued?"
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
"Not nonsense at all, actually," chuckles Larry. "Your precious hero isn't all that you make him out to be."
"Quit it!" Toadette shouts. "You're not messing with us that easily!"
"Yeah, you're just annoyed because just one of us outsmarted you last time," taunts Red Toad.
"Please! You got lucky."
"Is there even enough room in the dungeon for all six of them?" Lemmy rolls a ball between his hands. "It's pretty crowded lately."
"If you think we're sticking around for that," challenges Yellow, "you've got another thing coming!"
"Heh, who knew Toads even had guts?" Roy laughs and the others join in.
"We've got more than that," murmurs Blue Toad as he and Red light up fireballs.
"Oho, are we going to do this the hard way?" Roy smirks as they Koopalings brandish their wands. "Because we like it like that."
Fireballs in hand, the Toads launch a barrage at the Koopalings, who cast their own fireballs to cancel the attacks.
Roy charges forward, rushing over to tackle the Toads. They leap away, but Roy rebounds and chases after the Red Toad.
Morton soars into the sky and crashes down, issuing a shockwave out at the remaining Toads. They're forced apart as they separate to evade the attack, and Morton pursues the Purple Toad.
Wendy casts her scepter and launches three golden rings from it. Toadette carefully studies the movements of them and jumps through the middle, twirling between the holes of each ring. Growling, Wendy steps back as Toadette lands.
"You miserable little pest!" Wendy readies her amethyst-tipped wand again. "Larry! Come help me deal with this fungus freak!"
"As you wish, sis."
Charging a light blue fireball, Larry lobs it out from the amber jewel. Toadette rolls back and springs herself over his spell, launching her own fireballs at the two Koopalings. They cry out as the attacks land.
Iggy and Lemmy stand before the Yellow and Green Toads, who toss out fireballs at the two Koopalings.
"But can their balls break mine?" Lemmy waves his emerald rod and summons a bouncing yellow ball to intercept the fireballs, blocking the Toads' assault. "Ha! Guess not!"
"Lemmy quit playing and help me stop them." Iggy points at Lemmy's bouncy ball, which rolls away from the group.
"Ooh, ok! This will be fun!"
Twirling around, Lemmy jumps up and casts a larger bouncing ball below him. He springs above it and whips out another two.
The Toads gasp as Iggy jumps onto the first, then the second, and finally fires out two green fireballs from his rod's golden gem. Panicking, the Toads attempt to retaliate, but take the hits and lose their Fire Flower powers.
"Hang in there, you guys!" Blue Toad manages to call out as he jumps away from a trio of blue fireballs.
He attempts to get to the other Toads, but Ludwig blocks his path. "You've got a lot worse to deal with than they do."
"That's what you think!"
"It's what I know."
Blue flames emit from the sapphire gem as Ludwig summons another triad of fireballs, forcing the Blue Toad to run about and dodge them again.
Red Toad runs up a wall and kicks off of it, stomping down on Roy's head. The sunglasses slip on his face as he groans into a growl. Whirling around, Roy shoots a magenta fireball from his onyx-jeweled scepter.
Not spotting it right away, Red Toad skids to a halt from his follow-up attack. He tries to move, but instead gets hit from the fire blast, losing his Fire outfit.
"Funny, this feels like a repeat performance."
Again, Roy charges forward and smashes into the Toad, throwing him across the room and crashing into the far wall.
"Red!" Purple springs from Morton's head and attempts to chase after his fallen friend, only to jump back from Morton's spinning shell. "Again, seriously?"
"What happened to all of that bluster from last time?" Morton chuckled as he tapped the ruby head of his wand in his free palm. "Something about outsmarting and outrunning me, right?"
"…How does that little brain even remember what happened last time?"
"Simple." Morton pulls back the rod and whips it forward, grinning as the pink fireball flies forward, and blasts the Purple Toad before he can react. "I cherish the fights I win."
Jumping up and performing a Ground Pound, Morton watches as the Purple Toad goes flying off and crashes near Red Toad.
A ball bounces past them as Iggy and Lemmy pelt Yellow Toad and Green Toad, knocking them down near the other two Toads.
"No!"
Toadette kicks off of Larry's head and flips through the air, evading another ring attack from Wendy. She throws a fireball at the Koopaling, who sidesteps it. The fireball rebounds and hits Larry once again.
Blue Toad takes a hit from one of Ludwig's blue fireballs, falling over and grunting from the attack. His Fire powers disappear as he turns and watches Toadette land on another blue fireball, losing her powers as well.
"What now?"
The two Toads watch as the seven Koopalings surround them, wands at the ready. Blue Toad frowns and drops his head.
"We're done for."
"Don't give up!" Toadette nudges him and gets him to lift his head. "We can still get through this!"
"Wake up and do the math, Toadette." He sighs. "We've got all seven Koopalings right here."
"Then let's finish them off, right here and now!"
"Bold words, little girl," laughs Wendy. "But playtime is over."
Toadette readies to fight the seven, but is abruptly hoisted into the air by Blue Toad. She cries out as he leaps up, dodging four different fireballs.
"Blue, don't!"
"Just run!"
He throws the pink Toad across the room, taking a hit from Wendy's ring and several blue fireballs. Toadette shrieks as she watches Blue plummet from the sky, as she crashes down past the throne.
She rises to fight, but jumps behind the throne as another barrage of magic fire is launched at her.
"Run Toadette!" She gasps from Red Toad's weak call. "Get out of here, quick!"
"He's right!" Yellow Toad coughs between his shouts. "Just get back home!"
"Yes, run back home to that old steward." Ludwig laughs. "Go tell him how you and your little friends failed your kingdom!"
"I'm not leaving—!"
"Don't make this entire trip for nothing, Toadette!"
"Peach still needs you! Go!"
Tightening her fists, Toadette charges from behind the throne and smashes the dungeon door open, rushing inside. She kicks the door shut to block the soaring rings and fireballs.
"Hey!" A Koopa guard jumps up as the dungeon returns to life from its slumber. "Hold it right there!"
Glaring, Toadette surges forward and stomps down on the Koopa, slamming him to the ground and bouncing off as the other guards attempt to grab her. She slides to the hole in the wall, squeezing through it and running from the castle.
Morton throws the dungeon door open and glares as a Shy Guy guard helps up the fallen Koopa. Wendy and Ludwig step behind him and glance inside.
"Well don't just stand there!" Wendy stomps her foot. "You two guards! After her! The rest of you, get up and watch the prisoners!"
The guards salute as they follow their orders. The three Koopalings watch as they fail to press through the crevice that Toadette fled from.
"She escaped," murmurs Morton. "Should we order more soldiers after her?"
"Ooh, yes, let's!"
"No." Ludwig pats his wand on his free hand. "We'll let her go, run back to tell her princess of her little squad's failures." He turns back out to the throne room, watching as Larry and Lemmy toss the Blue Toad at the other four. "One of them needed to be the messenger."
"We didn't need her free to tell the princess of how terribly she and her little friends failed their kingdom."
"Not that," realizes Morton. "We want her to understand the threat that we're posing is real. Right?" Ludwig smirks and nods. "Thought so."
"Peach and her friends are undoubtedly challenging King Boo as we speak," surmises Ludwig. "And with that magic scepter that the princess carries, they'll either fall quickly or absolutely destroy the ghosts."
"And the other princess," adds Wendy. "She has magic rings, too." She pauses as the three meet up with the other four Koopalings. "They're definitely defeating King Boo, aren't they?"
"Worst case scenario? Yes."
"That means we're up next," notes Iggy. "Aren't we?"
"Good!" Larry pounds his fists together. "I'm ready to take down that princess once and for all! And her little friends, too!"
"It's not going to be that easy," warns Ludwig. He turns and smirks at the five Toads. "But…we've got a nice incentive for them to come after us."
"Aw, we're keeping them?" Lemmy sighs and puffs out his face. "That's no fun."
"Nah, it's a good idea," intervenes Roy. "Killing them will only provoke Peach and the others to fight harder against us. We need to play this smart and sneaky."
"Mario's definitely not going to like this, though," realizes Iggy. "And if he doesn't, that means Bowser won't either."
"What won't they like?"
The Koopalings exchange horrified faces and whirl around as Bowser Junior enters the throne room. The young prince spots the fallen Toads immediately.
"Three, two, one," counts Larry. "And—"
"What happened?! What did you guys do?"
"They invaded, your highness," defends Ludwig. "We did what we needed to protect the castle."
"Are they even breathing?"
"Yes," clarifies Wendy. "For now."
"Papa's not going to like this." Junior shakes his head. "Neither of them, actually."
"We realized that," admits Morton. "But we needed to stop them."
Thinking for a moment, Junior nods. "Ok, but…what are you going to do with them?"
"We're taking them with us when we go to the Mountains," explains Roy.
"But you only need to do that if King Boo doesn't stop—"
"Kid. He won't."
"…Oh." Junior drops his arms and frowns. "Well…will you guys need me to help?"
"No, Junior, Lord Bowser needs you here." Iggy wipes his glasses and shakes his head. "Besides, you'll be bored while we fin…uh, stop the princess and her friends."
"Fine, but don't overdo it without Papa's ok!" Junior folds his arms. "You guys play rough sometimes."
"Relax!" Lemmy laughs and rolls a ball around. "We kept those other clowns alive!"
"…Others?" Junior's eyebrows rise up. "Those…soldiers from the Games?"
"…Oops."
"Your highness, don't worry about anything," soothes Ludwig. "We have Bowser's best interests in mind. These Toads will be fine, for the time being. And once we've stopped the other forces from the Mushroom Kingdom, the rest will be up to your father on how we proceed."
Junior studies Ludwig's face, as he carefully looks him over and into his dark eyes. He sighs and reluctantly nods.
"Ok. Just…be careful with everything. And don't leave until Papa gets back!"
"Of course not, little prince," assures Wendy. "We'll explain this to him as well before we leave."
"…Good."
Gazing once more at the Toads, Junior nods and exits the Throne Room. The Koopalings bite their lips as they exchange nervous expressions with one another.
"Did we really have to lie to the kid?" Roy lifts his sunglasses and brushes his eyes. "He's going to hate us for it."
"As will Bowser, should he find out the wrong way," adds Morton.
"He's exactly that: a kid," argues Larry. "He doesn't need to know exactly what we need to do. We're protecting him."
"Are you sure about that?" Lemmy shoots his younger sibling a quizzical look.
"It doesn't matter, that time has passed." Ludwig turns to the unconscious Toads. "Iggy, get the new cages ready for them, and keep them hidden from the rest."
"Yeah, you're lucky I've been working on that," mutters Iggy.
"All we need to do is keep this quiet and get out before Bowser's return," reiterates Wendy. "Just play nice for Junior until then. How hard will that be?"
Her brothers worriedly glance at her and one another, offering no answers.
Far off from Bowser's Castle, Toadette continues to sprint away. Once she's clear from the menacing lair's view, she slows to a stop and plops down beside a boulder. Clutching her stomach, Toadette pants and gazes down at her hands, scathed from the battle.
"How do I even begin to explain this to Princess Peach?"
Her question goes unanswered, as Toadette huddles herself together. She lets tears slide from her eyes as she gasps and shudders. After a couple of minutes, she coughs and forces herself back up from the ground.
Dragging her feet, Toadette wipes her eyes to clear her vision, and sets down the lonely path for Peach's Castle.
...
Poor little Toadette, and her team of Toads. They got nailed.
So yeah, I was looking to have a little infiltration chapter with the Toad squad, which was pretty fun to go through. They're not exactly in the primary or secondary portion of the cast, but I figured they deserved a chapter for themselves. With…disastrous results for them, unfortunately. (Though, they put up a pretty good fight, for what it's worth! And Blue was fairly heroic at the end…perhaps they all were.) Maintaining their color coordinated names was a bit of a chore, but I realized that it could be one of those little things that people want to know, which may or may not casually pop up later. Again, they're not the most important characters, so it's not a priority. Nearly calling Toadette "Pink" would have been funny, though!
Meanwhile, the Koopalings are revealed to be the next bosses that Peach and friends will fight! I guess that's not very surprising, but their capture of the Toads might be. Though, it's certainly not in favor of Bowser's (or, more importantly, Mario's) desires, as this will not go over well with Peach or her friends. At least they tried to please Junior, somewhat; they do care for him, possibly more than they do Bowser. And the Koopalings were fantastically brutal against the Toads, so…perhaps they've got it in them to stop Peach once and for all? It'll be some time before that face-off is decided though.
Peach and her friends are on their way back to her castle, but now Toadette will be the harbinger of the traumatic events that transpired. Which…only adds to the pile of woes that the Mushroom Kingdom's heroes have been enduring, considering what they went through. Fun stuff, huh?
Next time, however, we'll be tuning back in to Mario and Bowser as they finally arrive at Star Hill. What awaits them and their allies? Only time will tell you that one! …Well, and me, but eh, details. Any questions, comments, or criticisms, send them over! Reviews and messages are welcome and very much appreciated! I haven't been getting as many lately, so…hum. Hopefully everyone is still reading! If so, thank you once again for following!