"Oh Toad, I can't believe how pretty it is here, I never thought I'd see Peach's garden up close like this."
"What can I say? I know people." Toad smirked and squeezed Toadette's hand as she flashed a warm smile at him. "Besides, if the princess tried to stop me, I'd show her who the real boss is!" He jokingly flexed, causing Toadette to let out one of her cute giggles.
"Toad, honey, you wouldn't hurt a goomba!"
Toad frowned, and looked at Toadette with a bit of hurt in his face. He was joking about harming the princess, but he would not hesitate to stand up for his loved ones if he had to. "I would stomp a thousand goombas for you Toadette."
Toadette's smile grew even wider, and she rested her head on Toad's shoulder to hide the fact she was blushing. "I know you'd never let anything happen to me Toad. I love you."
"I love you too, Toadette."
The only audible sounds were screams and laughter. As Toad slowly forced his heavy eyes open, it was easy to tell which sounds were coming from where. There weren't as many armored koopas as he remembered, but at least two still remained, making their way around the piles of motionless toads around him. Every time they walked by someone who was still moving or pleading for help they drove their spears into the helpless toads' skulls. It hurt to watch this unfold, but it hurt even more when he tried to move at all himself. He looked down at his stomach and winced. Most of his blue vest and white pants had been stained red, all originating from the painful hole through his midsection.
Fatigue and nausea overwhelmed him, and he felt weaker than he ever had before. Is that what dying was like? Was he dying? The thought terrified him so he quickly shook it and tried to focus on staying awake. The armored koopas were getting closer, but luckily still hadn't noticed he was still alive. Junior must have felt pretty convinced that the first spear had taken care of him. Toad momentarily felt pangs of anger at how often he was underestimated but quickly decided he didn't have time to contemplate that.
He rolled his head to the other side and jumped a bit at what he saw, irritating his stomach injury. Luigi's wide open, red eyes stared back at him from less than a foot away. If Toad was dying, then Luigi must be dead. Him, maybe Mario, and Toadette...
Toad tried not to think of her. He managed to roll to his side further from his injury and reached into one of Luigi's front pockets. He didn't like disrespecting the body of his fallen friend, but if he didn't act quickly he would be dead too and there would be nobody to spread the word of what happened to Mario and the princesses. Just as he thought, Luigi carried a small brown bag with some items inside. Toad poured the contents on the ground next to him.
Four power flowers and three mushrooms spilled out. Toad felt something else in the bag. He shook it more vigorously and half of a green mushroom spilled out, lifting his spiritis immediately. The Seven Stars finally decided to throw him a bone. He thought momentarily about trying to find Toadette and giving it to her, but the harsh reality dawned on him that she would not be able to eat it anyway. Though it was a bit of a struggle, he lifted the green mushroom bit to his mouth and started to chew on it with as much force as he could muster. He swallowed, and looked down at his stomach wound. It miraculously seemed to mend itself, as the red and painful portion slowly disappeared until light pink flesh covered the area completely again. Feeling his strength starting to come back to him, he reached out and poked at the area where the gaping wound just was. It was a bit sore, but appeared to have completely healed.
"What's that? Do we have a live one over there?"
Toad froze. One of the armored koopas must have seen him. He hoped that he was wrong and it had been someone else, but the loud sound of armor clanking together grew louder and louder with each step. If he didn't act quickly, eating that green mushroom would have been a waste and he would be as dead as the others soon.
There were spears lying near him, but he didn't even know if he could lift one in his condition, yet alone wield it in a fight. He looked at the pile of power ups next to him. Aside from trying a half mushroom once and bulking up for a few hours he had never had any sort of power up.
"Holy shit Koopolio, I think it's THE Toad! Oh man Junior's gonna take me off cleanup duty if he knows I finished this little bastard off!"
The armored koopa began walking toward Toad even quicker, eager to drive another spear into him. It looked like Toad had no choice. Knowing he was running out of time to act, he shoveled up all of the power ups from Luigi's bag and stuffed them in his mouth. He chewed as quickly as he could and hurt his throat forcing them down before they were fully masticated.
He looked up and saw the armored koopa staring back at him. His eyes were open wide as if he were paralyzed by fear. He must have seen Toad eating all of those power ups.
Mario always told Toad that power ups had to be used carefully and that if anyone tried to take more than one at a time it would make them extremely sick. Toad couldn't tell if it was all the power ups he had just eaten or the fact that an armored koopa murderer was staring at him from just a couple feet away, but he definitely felt very ill. He felt like his stomach was on fire and it was spreading through his whole body
The koopa muttered something under his breath and quickly raised his spear in the air, preparing to drive it through Toad and probably finish him for good this time. Toad let out a small burp and the koopa began thrusting his spear downward.
The burp was immediately followed by a profusion of fire spilling from his throat with more force than any vomit he had ever experienced. It burned a bit at first, but when Toad realized it wasn't hurting him, he gave way to nature and let it all out. After a few seconds the urge went away and he relaxed. Sweat trickled down his forehead and he was a bit shaky, but he felt strong enough rise to his feet. He wiped the sweat away and assessed the damage. Not only was the armored koopa in front of him completely torched black, it looked like all of the flesh on his face had been burned away, leaving just a charred skeletal face covered by a melted helmet.
'I guess that's why they said to never take more than one,' Toad thought to himself. The rancid smell of burnt flesh overwhelmed him and he took a few steps back. He almost tripped, as he wasn't used to being as tall as he was. He looked himself over and noticed he was as tall as the princess and as muscular as one of Bowser's children. He no longer felt the need to vomit, but could feel a warmth coursing through his body. It seemed most focused in his hands, which seemed to be on the verge of orgasm if he flexed them at all.
In his moments of awe at his new body and sensations, Toad hadn't taken a good look at the armored koopas remaining around him. There appeared to be six of them left in the now morbid scene that was Toad Square. They each had obviously seen how Toad stopped their comrade, and they were probably questioning if they wanted to try to take him on and risk the same fate. Toad had to admit, he kind of liked seeing fear in the enemy's eyes for once when they looked at him. He wasn't exactly sure what he was doing, but he knew he felt strong and he knew that he was going to make these lackeys pay on behalf of all of his fallen brothers. He wasn't sure if it was the pain of loss over his friends and love, or the power ups coursing through his veins, but he felt not only powerful, but infuriated beyond his control.
One armored koopa was braver than the rest, and began charging at Toad with his spear drawn. "Let's get him boys! Praise Bowser!" The others were slightly hesitant, but quickly rallied and joined him in his charge.
Toad ran toward the koopa he had just torched and picked up the spear he had almost been killed with moments before. Maybe it was just the mushrooms, but it was lighter than he expected. Raising it above his head, he took aim and flung it forward toward the closest koopa's face. His aim was a bit off, and the spear glanced off the koopa's breastplate and bounced to the ground. The charging koopa used both hands to raise the spear above and behind his head, and jumped over a small pile of lifeless toads en route to Toad, who immediately raised his hands in defense.
A very large fireball shot from Toad's hands and hit the koopa square in the chest, sending him flipping backwards through the air. Impressed with himself, Toad turned to see another koopa closing in on him. He picked up the spear his foe had dropped before getting blasted and let the heat from his hand warm it rapidly. When his foe was close and the spear he held was glowing red hot, Toad held it to his side, waited, and then swiped the sharp end from one side of the enemy's torso to the other. Just as he expected, the added heat helped slice right through this one's armor, causing him to stagger a few steps before collapsing to the ground with a loud thud.
He had never experienced a battle before or been in any sort of fight, but Toad was relishing every moment of this. He never thought himself to be the violent type, but Bowser, Junior, and these koopas had taken everything from him, and they were going to pay.
Focusing on what appeared to be the next closest koopa around fifty yards away, Toad shot a string of fireballs in that general direction, catching the koopa in the leg once and tripping him to the ground. He turned around to look for more koopas, but instead saw a spear flying directly at his face. He tried to move his face out of the way, but the spear still managed to catch the side of his cheek and cut it wide open. It stung, and red liquid sprayed from the laceration. This caused Toad to fall slightly off balance, and he barely had time to move out of the way of a thrusting spear from another koopa just feet away. It caught his arm, giving him another injury. A third koopa ran up and rose his armored foot in the air, smashing it into Toad's chest and knocking him back at least a few yards through the air, causing him to fall backward onto the hard pavement below.
The three koopas that had just launched that onslaught closed in on him, showing more cocky excitement on their faces now than fear. They had Toad right where the wanted him, and this very well could be the end. He spat up some thick, red saliva and that's when he saw her. A few yards away Toadette lay lifelessly, staring up at the sky with wide open eyes, looking as angelic as ever. A tear almost came to Toad's eye as he remembered all the promises he made her about keeping her safe. He had failed her. Not only her, but the princess and the whole kingdom.
He felt a spear press against his chest. "Stand up," commanded one of the koopas. Toad did as he was told. The koopas apparently wanted to revel in their kill. He looked at each of them. One still had a bit of fear in his eyes, but the others looked like they had Toad right where they wanted him, like they knew they had won. "Time for you to die little toad. And this time you don't have your girlfriend here to save you. Not that she helped much last time before Junior shut that bitch up." The koopas all laughed heartily.
Toad thought about how Toadette had tried to save him, when she didn't even have to. How Junior cut her open without any regard for her innocence in the matter. Her beautiful body falling helplessly to the ground below. And now these koopas were laughing about it before they did the same to him. He could feel the warmth in his body starting to boil over. It felt as though his whole body was on fire, but all he could think about was the deep hatred he felt toward these koopas. He had never been this angry in his life. All he could think about was making these koopas pay for their crimes against his people. The anger continued to swell as he stood there with the spear to his chest, and it started to feel like he was actually on fire.
"What the hell?" One of the armored koopas looked down at his spear, which had started to melt. He yelped in pain and quickly dropped it, taking a few steps back from Toad. The fear had returned to his eyes.
Toad had become completely engulfed in flames, as if his body were radiating power flower fire. The armored koopas all began to sweat and feel their armor starting to melt and they tried to run away, but it was too late. Without even thinking about it, Toad unleashed four pillars of fire in their respective directions, hitting each one spot on. His eyes went white, and all he could feel was the release of uncontrollable energy from his body. The pillars continued to engulf the koopas for at least half of a minute, until finally Toad cooled off and felt himself returning to normal. He wasn't sure what just happened, but the results were obvious. Four piles of ash remained where the remaining koopas had been with no trace of their bodies or armor to be found.
Toad felt weak again, but not from injuries this time. A wave of dizziness swept over him and he all of a sudden found it very difficult to stand. He was tired, uncontrollably so. He hoped that after surviving all of that he wasn't about to die from a power up overdose, but he couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of such a thing. He felt lightheaded, and the next thing he knew he had lost consciousness again.
