Part 5: Resolution
Each step reverberated throughout the ghostly halls of the ship and Leon soon found himself breathing jaggedly and his heart beating rapidly. The Toad Captain wiped the sweat from his palms on the front of his shirt.
"What am I worried about?" Leon said in a futile way to comfort himself. "I'm the captain of an elite group. I'm a soldier! I'm not afraid! I'm-"
His words were interrupted by a loud clank that came from the end of the hallway. Leon's shaky confidence immediately plummeted to absolute zero.
"What the hell was that?" he asked the team in a quivering falsetto of terror. "Wh-what the he-hell was that?"
"Movement spotted about thirty feet from you, sir!" said Zeus, doing his best to conceal his own rampant nervousness. "I suggest you take out your stun stick now."
Leon took out his green colored stick with shaky hands. His heart felt like a jackhammer in his chest.
"Can you guys confirm what is up ahead? Like what the thing actually is?" Leon whispered.
"Negative." said Reginald. "The camera isn't picking up enough details to register any matches with known organisms. But the creature itself appears small and doesn't appear to have any claws, talons or anything."
"But it could have a giant, gaping maw filled with hundreds of sharp teeth made for shredding!" Leon said shrilly. "I am not going to-"
"Hold up. The creature has stopped in the hallway, Captain. It is now approximately twenty five feet ahead of you. This is the best chance you got."
Leon looked into the hallway. Despite the emergency lights, he couldn't see anything more then ten feet ahead of him. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head and he quickly smacked himself in the forehead.
"You dummy!" the Captain murmured to himself. "You're wearing a freaking headlight on your cap! With it, I can definitely see what's up ahead!"
Leon put his finger up to the light to turn it on when a wave of fear took a hold of him.
"But I don't WANNA see what's up ahead! What if it gets startled and attacks me? I don't wanna turn on my light, I don't wanna turn on my light…"
Back in the cockpit, the rest of the crew were listening and watching the Captain as he was going through the beginning of a nervous breakdown. Reginald massaged his forehead.
"No doubt about it now. He's gonna crack."
But none of the Toads viewed him as a coward at all. How could they, when they themselves were so reluctant to go on the mission? However, it appeared any words of comfort or encouragement they might have had were hopelessly lost as they heard Leon's babbling and whimpering streaming out of the walkie talkie.
But suddenly, the least likely out of them all grabbed the talkie. Toby breathed in deeply before talking with Leon.
"Captain, we know you are really, really terrified right now. As a matter of fact, we're pretty terrified now too! Okay, that's not gonna help…But the point is though, we didn't pick you as a leader because you found some fancy headlight. We didn't pick you cause you were the loudest. We picked you because you were the bravest and most daring out of all of us! Don't let fear control you like this! Just know we're right behind you (figuratively) all the way, even in this really scary moment. So please; don't give up now, oh Captain my Captain!"
The Banktoad's words cut through the fog of panic and Leon was touched by this young Toad's assurance (as well as his obscure movie reference). He quickly breathed in and out, letting go of his fear and apprehension the best he could with each breath. Puffing up his chest, he put his finger to the headlight and turned it on, revealing the creature that tormented his crew for so long.
The headlight flooded the hallway and the crew members saw the thing in the hall. Each of their jaws dropped to the floor.
"I don't believe it," said Jeremiah in a strangled tone. "All this time, we were hiding from…"
"A GOOMBA?" screamed Leon in the most awful voice. "WE WERE CRAPPING OUR PANTS BECAUSE OF A GOOMBA?"
Yes, dear readers, in front of the brave Captain Leon was a standard, short, ugly brown Goomba. Startled by the strong, unexpected light, it quickly hobbled away into the opposite direction.
Or at least it tried to.
"OH NO YOU DON'T, SONNY BOY!" With a warlike screech, Leon ran after the Goomba with stun stick held high in his right hand. It didn't take long for him to catch up with the slow moving creature. What followed was perhaps the most blood soaked and gruesome slaying of a single Goomba in the history of Toadkind. Leon showed no mercy to the pitiful thing. The crew members watched, half in awe of their Captain's strength and half in horror at the gore and blood splattering the innards of the Starshroom like blots of paint being expelled from the brush of a mad painter. This incident would mark the first time a Toad managed to kill a Goomba without assistance. It would also mark the first murder committed by a non-fatal stun stick.
A full fifteen minutes passed by before Leon's blood thirst was sated. Kicking aside the pulpy mass that was once a servant of Bowser, the Captain sat on the floor and managed to find a clean spot of wall to lay his back against. Breathing heavily and filled to the brim with adrenaline, he radioed the rest of his team in a shaky, but clear voice.
"It is finished."
"Not yet." said Reginald in a grim voice. "We still have one more intruder in the ship, remember?"
Leon laid his head a little longer on the wall. Then, with surprising energy, he quickly got to his feet.
"A Captain's job is never done, is it?" Leon turned the radio off and headed to the observatory area, with an extra boost of confidence in each of his steps.
Meanwhile, back on the Starshroom, the mood became tense once again after the brief excitement in the killing of the Goomba. Still, the crew's lips were loosened more and they became more assured that they could dispatch the next creature just as easily.
"So the Goomba went into the ship by spraying acid on the hull?" asked Zeus to Reginald. "I didn't know they could do anything like that!"
"I think I read in a science article that Goombas were able to use powerful, concentrated acid for self defense purposes. But I had no idea it was strong enough to dissolve steel…"
"But what the hell is a Goomba doing all the way out here?" asked Toby.
"Considering that Mario has been punting Goombas left and right into space recently, it's not absurd to think a couple survived."
"How long will it be before the ship's engine is fully charged?" asked a wearied Jeremiah.
"It's still gonna take at least another half hour, at the least. Now, let's look at the cameras and find-"
"Hold up." Zeus interjected. He was fixated on a camera frame. "What is this thing moving?"
In the halls of the Starshroom, Leon held his gore caked stick high and mighty. Who would dare to threaten his ship now?
In the cockpit.
"What the hell is that thing?"
"Not a Goomba, that's for sure…"
Leon couldn't believe it. A few minutes ago, he felt he was almost gonna piss his pants. Now, it wasn't an absurd thought to whistle a happy tune while looking for this troublesome, probably harmless invader.
Cockpit.
"Shit…this thing is nothing like we have seen at all…"
"Wait…does someone have a position on the Captain?"
In the gloomy hall, Leon actually did wind up whistling a childhood tune. He picked up his radio to find out if the team got an update on their second guest's location.
"Hello, men." said Leon cheerfully. "Any idea where-"
"LEON! !"
A chill breath touched the back of his neck, setting all the hairs one-eighty degrees straight. He turned around and found himself staring into a blank, masklike face of a horrible blue phantom. Its long, wirelike hair covered the dark eye sockets partly obscured its piercing gaze that turns heart into chunks of lifeless ice. Opening its mouth, it wailed the very same wail our heroes heard in the beginning of this novel. Behold! This is the face of Death itself!
Leon opened his mouth into a small "o", but no scream, wail, or screech erupted. Instead, a strangled, gurgling sound spewed from his mouth. The phantom reached out its hand in front of the paralyzed Toad's face.
"WHAT THE #$%& ARE YOU DOING?" screamed the entire crew into the walkie talkie. This static filled outburst brought Leon into reality in light speed's time. From his throat, a savage war cry filled with anger, terror, adrenaline-indeed, a summary of the entire ordeal so far- erupted like a long stagnant volcano brought to life. He found himself once more holding the stun stick high in the air and brutally swinging it into the side of the phantom. Surprisingly, it was a solid figure, despite its ghost like appearance. With a loud cry, it fell to the floor, surprised by the sheer strength and the paralyzing effect of the stun stick.
Sensing weakness, Leon reverted back to his primal state, his eyes filled with battle lust. Roaring, he landed heavy, crippling blows onto the blue phantom. While doing so, horribly filthy profanity spewed from his mouth; so profane that, unfortunately, this author cannot type it for the dear readers to view. But let us just say that Captain Leon is one of the very few beings in the universe capable of making the phrase "like a biscuit" be associated with the most gruesome acts of sodomy.
In the cockpit, all four members of the Toad Brigade (yes, even sleepy Jeremiah) were shouting along with their Captain, urging him on to kill the creature and contributing some of their own verses to add to the dirty sewage of vocabulary. But never before this moment had the Brigade been this unified in a singular goal. And they cheered the Captain on, even when their voices became sandpaper hoarse.
After several minutes of horrific beatings, the phantom screeched in a high, shrill voice. With a sudden puff of navy blue smoke, it disappeared from sight. It was unknown how bad it was hurt since Leon never got to see its face or examine its body long enough. But now the stun stick was covered with a blue, gel like liquid along with the previous Goomba's own life substance.
Toad Captain Leon dropped the stick from his aching arms and hands. Then, tilting his massive cap back, he yelled with a voice of triumph into the halls of his beloved Starshroom. And in the cockpit, all the members followed suit joyfully.
Time passes…
Eventually, the ship's engine was charged enough for a trip back to Starship Mario. When the Brigade arrived, they found that Mario was preparing for the final assault at Bowser's stronghold. To the plumber's surprise, the Toad Brigade offered to give some backup support and reconnaissance. The five Toads told Mario of their plight and the discovery of their new found courage after the Italian successfully toppled Bowser's plan to take over the universe.
To reward them for their bravery, the Toad Brigade were each given a piece of the Peach Cake, hand delivered by Princess Peach herself.
After getting their fill of cake (and agreeing it was the best cake of all time), they decided the only way to wash down such deliciousness was with a cup of cold, toadstool beer. So the five made their way to the tavern and it wasn't long before their conversations and laughter filled the capacity of the bar.
It was an hour before Reginald brought up the inevitable.
"You know, we never found out exactly what the heck the second intruder was."
Leon, high in spirits from the potent toadstool draft, responded cheerfully:
"Who cares, my good fellow? It is dead and it will never bother us again! I think I'll keep the stun stick mounted on my wall to show how I, the great Captain Leon, vanquished-"
His speech was interrupted by a sudden swinging of the tavern door. Lubba, the purple Luma engineer, entered and quickly waved to the Toads. The Brigade greeted him in loud voices.
"Lubba!"
"My favorite Luma!"
"Well, if it isn't Lubba!"
"Look who it is!"
*snore*
"It's good to see you guys too," said Lubba with his wide smile. "I've been looking for y'all everywhere!"
"Well, have a beer if you are planning to stay!" said Leon, roaring with laughter.
"I would love to, Cap'n, but I got to head back to the Cosmic Observatory. No, the reason I wanted to see you was to ask y'all a question."
"Ask away, my dear fellow." said Leon as he started puffing a pipe he fished from his front shirt pocket.
"Did you guys get the aid we sent you when the Starshroom got shut down?"
Leon took the pipe from his face and his happy face contorted slightly.
"Aid?"
"Well, you guys sent a distress signal and I got it. I was about to go myself, but Rosalina went instead. She really wanted to meet you guys."
The happy laughter and buzz vanished from the air and the Toads put their beers on the table, looking at Lubba. Jeremiah, who awoke shortly before, was listening intently as well. Little did they know that the distress signal was in fact working when the ship lost power. Only the light that signaled the beacon's activity was broken, which fooled the crew into thinking they lost the emergency signal as well.
Lubba continued his story.
"So Rosalina finally found your ship in deep space and entered in her "Super Guide" form, which allows here to pass through objects. But she isn't really good at locating things and stuff so, according to her, she started yelling for you guys in the halls."
Lubba never noticed, but the five Toads suddenly adopted a deathly pallor on their faces. Leon had no trace of his previous joviality, which was instead marked with a slow growing horror.
"It may have been hard for you guys to see her, what with your ship being really dark and her being really hard to see since she's in her blue colored, phantom form. But a few hours later, she came back all beat up and stuff! I asked her what happened, and she said she couldn't find the Toads and quickly asked for a doctor. But she never actually said a word about what exactly happened to her. I assumed she tripped over something in the dark, got busted up, and came back to Starship to get patched up."
Lubba cleared his throat. By this time, each and every Toad had the expression of one who was just given a sentence to be drawn and quartered.
"Anyways, I also have a message to deliver from Rosalina. She says to come to her Cosmic Observatory for a quick chat as soon as possible. I think she wants to explain why she couldn't help you guys herself. I also just want to let you all know that even though she couldn't fix your ship up for you, she had all the best intentions. But hey-shit happens, like tripping really badly in the dark or whatever. Just don't blame her too much. See you guys later!"
With that, the obese Luma left the tavern. The Brigade sat in silence. No one touched their beers.
"So…" began Leon in a completely deflated voice. "What do we do now?"
"Well," said Reginald, his eyes looking somewhere far into the distance. "We severely mauled the watcher of the cosmos after she attempted to help. We also assaulted her with verbal abuse. And she just called us so she can do God knows what to us, although my guess is it will be extremely painful and most likely fatal."
The Brigade made eye contact with another, wondering what to do to get out of this immense quagmire.
But, unsurprisingly, Leon was the first to get up. Picking up his mug, he drank slowly from the cup and let the alcohol thoroughly burn his innards. Putting it down, he regained his title of Captain; instantly, the rest of the Team were transfixed by him.
"Gentlemen," said Leon, slightly strengthened by the strong beer. "I'd say it is high time that the Toad Brigade…relocate and use our skills to help others in need. I also say that we destroy the Starshroom and send a letter signed by the 'government' to Rosalina that says the Toad Brigade tragically died after a…umm…"
"A gas leak." said Zeus.
"A gas leak."
"No one survived at all." added Toby.
"No one survived."
"And the remains were completely incinerated, rendering it impossible to get DNA information." Jeremiah piped in.
Leon nodded his approval. He picked up his mug again and raised it in the air.
"Those who agree with this motion, say 'aye'".
Immediately, four more mugs joined his owned, followed by a resounding "aye."
"Well, gentlemen," Leon took another swig at his cup.
"Let's finish our drinks and haul ass. Long live the Toad Brigade."
The End.
Author's Note:
I have finally completed my first fanfiction! It was a fun little story that I enjoyed typing and I'm just glad I finally got to tell my own tale of the Toad Brigade. Inspiration came in the unlikeliest of places. I got the inception of the story after playing through "Super Mario Galaxy 2", which is one of the best games of this generation in my opinion. For some of the initial scare scenes, I pulled some "Ghost Hunters" dialog here and there. But for the actual reactions by the Toad, I definitely drew influence from watching "4PlayerPodcast", a show where, basically, four guys sit and play video games. Their reactions are often the most hilarious when they play scary games like the Fatal Frame series, and their varied reactions were given to the Toads of this story.
So is a possible sequel in the works? I left the ending open ended just in case I may want to revisit Leon, Reginald, Toby, Zeus and Jeremiah. But for now, I would like to write about more subjects before expanding "The Toad Brigade" universe. Right now, I have some neat stories dealing with Zelda, Pokemon, Metroid, and Yoshi (yes, I am a huge Nintendo fan). But with school approaching, we'll have to wait and see. If I do write another fanfic though, it'll have to be kept short like this one. Hopefully, you shall hear from me soon
Thanks for reading,
AmbitionMakesYouUgly