Chapter 16 Absolute Wrong Time

Peppy let out a breath as she and Larry faced the gang. They were one of the biggest gangs she had ever seen; there were at least twenty people present there. The sight of them, standing right there with some of the smuggest expressions, made all sorts of emotions brew around in her head. For one, she felt terrified. She remembered that time that she chased against those thieves in Berrybark, and how they were able to overpower her. That had only been a few people. How was she supposed to go up against twenty? Even with Larry's help, it seemed like a tall order. If they wanted to walk out of this situation unharmed, they should be running away pronto.

But at the same time, Peppy didn't want to run away. This gang had caused such a huge, destructive ruckus here in Thwompville. The restricted community, a place people flocked to in order to stay safe, had gone through a type of hell thanks to these baddies and their impulsive need to make everything worse. Just based on that criteria, they deserved to be taken down. And Peppy loved the thought of taking them down; with how smug and cocky they appeared, knocking them down a peg would be so so SO satisfying.

So, she looked toward her partner. "You ready?"

"Hell yeah!" Larry ran forward, activating his sonic cannon. He fired at the gang, who by this point had pulled various weapons out of their hammerspaces. Bullet blasters, bob-ombs, and even knives were visible, and the fact that they had them probably upped the gang's confidence to an absurd degree. Even still, Peppy wasn't going to be afraid. Watching Larry as he shot the sonic blasts at them, knocking a few out before they had the chance to use their weapons, made Peppy smile. This was going to be awesome. She took a deep breath, preparing to use her fire powers. This was certainly going to be…

Bring bring!

Peppy's eyes grew wide. A phone call? NOW! She couldn't answer that! She was in the middle of the fight of her life! It would be foolish to answer this call! She told herself, as she rushed toward the gang, that she wasn't going to answer the call right now.

Bring bring!

Oh, but not saying anything to the caller would be rude! Especially since the phone only accepted calls from people on Peppy's contact list. Someone she knew was calling her and probably had something important to say.

Bring bring!

"Fine!" Peppy exclaimed. She came to a halt, dug her phone out of her hammerspace, and tried her best to hold back a frustrated groan as she answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hey Peppy!"

"Wendy?" Peppy's jaw actually dropped. How... why...? "Wendy, this isn't exactly a good time..."

"Peppy, I know what's going on with you!"

Peppy paused before snorting at the irony of that statement. "Well, if that's the case, can you call back later?" She fired a blast of fire at a gang member running out her in the corner of her eye. "I'm kind of in the middle of something..."

"But Peppy!" Wendy's voice sounded extra giddy, something that stirred Peppy's interest as she kicked another approaching gang member in the shins. "I know."

Peppy blinked. "What are you even talking about?" She jumped into the air, landing on the head of a koopa troopa and making them retreat into their shell. "What did you find out about me that's so important?" She kicked the shell at the other gang members.

"Your crush!" Wendy exclaimed. "I know about your crush on Larry!"

Peppy's eyes grew wide. If she had been drinking something, she would've done a spit-take. "YOU DO?"

"Yes!" Wendy laughed on the other line. "I know about it, and I've gotta say, I think this is incredible!"

Sweat formed on Peppy's arms. "How did you figure it out?" She punched a thug in the face and sent a fireball towards another.

"Well… let's just say that I have some connections."

Peppy frowned. She meant Stormy and Lilac, didn't she? Really, who else would it be; who else would know enough about Peppy to definitively say something regarding her very private feelings? If it was them… well honestly, she didn't quite know how to feel about this. Should she be mad at Stormy and Lilac for giving that information away? Should she track them down and have a stern talk with them later on?

"Great. That's… that's great." Peppy dodged a knife, sending a stream of fire toward the thug who had attempted to stab her. "Well, now you know about my secret. What exactly are you going to do about it?"

"Honestly? I was going to encourage you to go for it."

"Encourage me to go for it?" Peppy asked with a blink.

"Yeah. I think you and Larry would be really cute together."

Now Peppy felt like sinking into the ground. She looked over at Larry, flying high up in the sky and shouting at the top of his lungs as he sent blast after blast toward the gang. Her heart caught in her throat at this sight, and she felt unnaturally clammy. He was… he was something else. He was brave, borderline fearless. He inspired some of the most amazing feelings Peppy had felt in a long time. Not to mention the fact that he was cute. Definitely cute, illegally cute. Even now, as Peppy was dealing with some frustrated feelings in regard to her friends, she couldn't help but smile at the sight of Larry Koopa. He really was something else. Something different from anything or anyone Peppy had encountered before. With that said…

"Wendy, I can't." It was then that Peppy noticed a gang member tossing a bob-omb in her direction. She shimmied out of the way, letting it explode uselessly on the ground. "I can't do it."

"Why not?"

"You know why not!" Peppy jumped in the air, landing a very hard and fast kick at a koopa paratroopa's lower jaw. As he collapsed to the floor, Peppy let out a frustrated breath. "Larry and I are superhero partners! Starting a romantic relationship would jeopardize that!"

"What are you talking about, Fiery Tempest?" Larry called out from his spot so high.

"Nothing, Captain Metal!" Peppy called back. She cupped her hand around her phone to block out any noise that could possibly seep its way through. "I have to think about the bigger picture. Sure, I really like Larry, like REALLY like Larry. But I can't go out with him! We're Fiery Tempest and Captain Metal. We always put the needs of the people we save over the desires we might have."

There was a pause. If Peppy were to guess, she would say that Wendy was trying to think about how she wanted to phrase her next sentence. If so… well, Peppy wasn't about to back down from her previous statement. As she sent another blast of fire toward a gang member, she knew (instinctively KNEW) that she had to put her crush to the side indefinitely, if not forever. The two of them were already good together as superheroes and had a good dynamic together. So what if Larry was cute and funny? So what if she thought he was good at everything he set his mind to? So, what if finding out that Larry was the one to inspire her all along made her desire for him grow stronger than ever before? It was a bad idea. A REALLY bad idea.

"Peppy," Wendy said on the other line, "Are you sure that's what you want?"

Peppy hesitated. She probably should say something along the lines of "Of course, that's what I want," or "Yes, end of discussion." She could feel that response on the tip of her tongue, and yet she couldn't say it. Maybe it was just because of the tone Wendy used, but the idea of responding to her in that way didn't seem as right as it probably should.

"I don't…" Peppy shrieked as she felt a gang member tapping her on the shoulder, turning around and punching him right in the nose. "I don't know."

"Well, if that's the case…" Wendy paused before sighing. "Peppy, you've had a crush on Larry for a long time, have you not?"

"Y…Yes."

"And you like the idea of starting a relationship with him despite everything that could go wrong?"

Peppy paused. She realized that question required a lot of introspection if she wanted to answer it properly. Thankfully though, she had already done a lot of introspection regarding this very question. Ever since she had discovered Larry was Captain Metal, this question has been front and center in her mind. And after all the thinking she had done, after all the questions she had asked herself in order to answer this one.

"I do." Peppy ducked as a thug swung a fist at her, sideswiping them and knocking them off their feet. "I know I shouldn't; I know it would be unprofessional. But my heart has been telling me something for a good long while now." She bit her lip. "Is it bad that I listen to my heart in this particular instance?"

"I don't think it is," Wendy replied, her voice soft and gentle.

Peppy frowned. She looked back at Larry, still dealing with all the thugs. So bold, so brave, so amazing. He seemed like a cool guy, which was all Peppy really wanted in a boyfriend. She wanted a boyfriend who could be fun, yet was also funny. She also wanted someone who could be tough, who would be willing to have her back if she had his. She wanted someone who she knew she could get along with.

Larry met all of those criteria.

"Peppy?"

Peppy continued looking at Larry for a second before putting the phone directly in front of her mouth. "You're right."

Wendy squealed. "Great! That's awesome! So are you going to ask him?"

Peppy hesitated before nodding. "Yes." She paused. "I'll tell you how it goes, okay Wendy?"

Wendy snorted. "If you and Larry start dating, you might not necessarily be the one telling me.' She laughed. "But still. Good luck, Peppy."

"Thank you." She hung up the phone and put it away. She looked at the gang, which she happily noted had significantly shrunken in size since they ran into them. There were only about two or three strong thugs left, dodging Larry's sonic blasts at firing honing bills at him. Larry dodged those easily, which meant both he and the thugs were stuck in what was essentially a repetitive dance routine. Knowing him, he probably didn't want to stay stuck in that position for long and was probably growing tired of the fact that not an ounce of progress was being made. Her theory was proven true when she heard her partner let out a long, frustrated groan, all the way from where she stood.

"HOLD ON, CAPTAIN METAL!" Peppy broke out into a sprint, holding her hands in front of her chest. A fireball grew between her hands, getting bigger and bigger. Eventually, it was about the size of a Zamboni, and it was hot enough to even make her sweat. Taking a deep breath, Peppy raised her arms and the ball.

"YAAH!'

The fireball hit the thugs, thoroughly eviscerating them. As they lay on the ground, completely incapacitated and thoroughly unconscious, Peppy let out a breath. She turned toward Larry, descending down from his spot so high up. When his feet hit the ground, he gave Peppy a proud smile.

"Nice job, Fiery."

Peppy giggled, her face growing warm and her heart fluttering. Wow, she didn't expect hearing him compliment her to be so nice. After all, this wasn't the first time he had done so. Maybe it had something to do with the current circumstances?

"Thanks." She paused. For a second, a bout of uncertainty overcame her, but she just as quickly pushed it to the side. She could be brave. She was going to listen to what her heart desired. She was going to do this. "Larry?"

"Yeah?"

She let out a breath and put on a nervous smile. "There's something I want to ask you."