Toadette's Story

Chapter 49 - Infiltration

I didn’t push the situation any more than necessary. No need for tears when breakfast was approaching in a couple of hours. And in this household, eating in your bedroom wasn’t an option. Mommy was always afraid of roaches dining if we brought large meals like that into our beds. So, once the Sun climbed over the horizon, Minh T. and I made the table.

Just as expected, she couldn’t leave my feet alone once seated. Underneath the tablecloth, the side of my left foot was slowly stroked by her right foot’s sole. While I wasn’t about to draw attention to myself, I did have to look at her face a couple of times. Every time, she had this lustful twinkle in her eyes. Like she’d been dying to be able to touch me in this way all her… Well, guess she did.

“I feel like my body’s about to shut down, and you’re still going on with this.”

She smirked. “Yes, I am.”

A few feet away, between the couch and TV, the boy was doing stretches. Now he’d moved onto that leg pull technique, where you pull your foot all the way up to your butt.

Every lifeform on this planet was out to tease me.

Now she put on a serious face. “If he can’t get close enough to the guys to get to the coin box, do we just tell Her Highness we failed? I don’t see—”

“I barely slept last night.” I pointed to my red, snot-dripping nose. “You don’t think I didn’t use all that time to come up with something? It’s done today, and my little brother’s gonna lend a hand.”

“Oh boy, today’s another adventure.”

I sighed. “Might have to postpone my little announcement.”

“Hmm?” She inched closer. “But you realise we’re on the clock, right? It’s Thursday, we’re already here…”

“I know what I said. I just don’t wanna rush things right now when we’ve got another major task to take care of.”

“I see. Well, it’s your decision to make, not mine.”

“Please don’t sound like that,” I groaned. “Put yourself in my shoes for a change.”

Just as she’d gone to speak, a strong THUD came from the kitchen, followed by a frantic series of clattering noises. Got a good chuckle out of me.

“Bitch is still as clumsy in the kitchen as ever, isn’t she?”

“Sometimes I’m scared she’s gonna boil her face one day.” Minh T. looked over the countertop. “Everything good, Miss T. Ana?”

“Sticky situation!”

Next thing we knew, we were on all fours, cleaning a bunch of sticky pancake batter that’d gone haywire. Yep, a familiar sight indeed. Those things never looked challenging to cook, so how my mother always had the liquid jump out the pan was a great mystery.

“Alright!” She whistled. “Ten pancakes came out unharmed. You three dig in when you’re ready.”

Minh T. hopped to her feet. “Don’t have to tell me twice.”

“Where do you work, if I may?” I asked while my mother squeezed DT in an overbearing hug. She looked like she was hugging a stuffed teddy bear, tightening her grip until the boy was red in the face.

“Talk about it later, I can’t be late again.” After spinning and giving Minh T. a brief hug, she approached me. Her happy face took a different turn when she got closer to me, however. What was throwing her off? The fact that my irises shrunk to the size of dots? No, maybe the way I shook caused her to raise a brow. Totally wasn’t those combined with how I jumped backwards against the sink, my breathing getting harder by the millisecond. Instead of trying to get closer, she gave me a wave, almost out of sheer randomness. “You’re a super shy girl, huh?”

She ran out the apartment, giving me seconds to regain my composure.

Minh T., stuffing her face at the table, watched with embarrassment. Oh, poor me for being uncomfortable with a hug from a certain witch.

I immediately pointed at DT. “If Minh T. gave you the rundown, I’ll cut to the chase. You’re taking us on your next delivery today.”

“What?”

“Did I mince words?”

He slowly blinked. “You really don’t know how dumb you look right now.”

“This whole Scapelli family nonsense is about to ruin the Star Festival, and the princess tasked us to handle it ‘cause no one else is competent enough.” I grabbed his shoulders. “Our first chance was screwed, but your little occupation just gave us a second.”

“Easier said than done. You bring anyone else to the meeting spot, and they’re dead.”

I smirked. “Would they kill a woman?”

“Yes.”

“Even a woman offering them some nice, pleasurable company?”

The boy’s face got flustered the closer I leaned into him, my smile getting wider. Before he could react physically, I turned to Minh T.

“Run out, buy us some fancy clothes, and call your captain buddy to come meet us over here. Tell him it’s mandatory if he’s trying to get back in Her Highness’ good graces.”

“What’s he gonna do?” Her mouth was muffled with four syrup-drenched pancakes.

“He’ll thank us later for this.” I rubbed my hand on DT’s cap. “Before you say anything else, how about I run off everything I’ve survived since taking this job? I fell from the castle; I fought a giant Blooper; Shy Guys nearly claimed my life FOUR times; we got into a shoot-out on our very trip here. Combined with yesterday’s little adventure, I’d say I’m pretty good at keeping alive. Whatever these goons have doesn’t scare me this time.”

“Shy Guys?” His eyes widened. “Oh! That’s where I recognise you from!”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, that was all over the news for like a day. They showed a pink-capped Toad with Daisy.” He whipped out his phone. “Why didn’t I think of that sooner? I bet I could find your name from a—”

“You don’t have to!” Though I tried to snatch the device from him, I ended up falling forward as he swerved.

“The longer you go without a name, the more nosey I get.”

He was determined to drive me crazy one way or another, wasn’t he? I prayed that whatever footage there was didn’t contain my name being spoken or any info spread by the loudmouth princess herself. If he saw my name, our chance of following him on his delivery would go up in a cloud of smoke!

“Her name’s Toadette.”

My head slowly cracked in Minh T.’s direction.

“What!?” DT’s voice nearly shook the apartment with its volume.

“Not your sister Toadette. Just another girl with that same nickname. I’m just a Toadette magnet, aren’t I?”

“Are you guys being stupid on purpose?”

“Pull up the article,” I said. “You won’t find anything contradicting that.”

“So then, why were you so secret about that earlier?”

“Because…” Think of a solid lie. “Her Highness doesn’t want me getting famous or anything, or else someone would easily track me through the web. That’d be a huge security risk to the entire Mushroom Kingdom.”

After looking back and forth between me and Minh T., he simply shrugged. “Whatevs. Was a crappy video anyway, like 10p or something. It only clicked with me ‘cause you don’t normally see Toads with coloured caps working with the princess.”

“I’m just one big surprise.” And I let out a great big sigh internally.

Fortunately for us, it wasn’t long before the captain himself had arrived. Look at him, covered in sweat, as if he didn’t take a subway to get here. As soon as he took a step inside, I was quick to get on his ass about his shoes.

“Shoes off!”

“Woman, I literally just stepped in.”

“Doesn’t matter. That’s the ru… Ru… ACHOO!” I scratched my head. “Hehehehe. Rules.”

As soon as my snot went on his face, he kicked his short boots off.

“Say no more.” He pushed his way into the living room and collapsed with a look of exasperation. “So, what’s this whole ‘getting back in the princess’ good graces’ thing?”

Perfect. All three extra players in this plan were paying full attention to me. I got a few gross looks as snot still travelled down my face, some into my mouth, but I stood firm nevertheless. If I wanted this to go smoothly, I needed to conduct myself like a proper leader, including with my tone of voice.

“Today’s the day we put an end to this Scapelli nonsense for good. I don’t want to be tangled up in this family any more than you guys do. At least the adults here.”

Captain Toad threw his hands up. “She’s sick, and somehow she’s still gonna lea— OW!” And he quickly shut up once Minh T.’s toes pinched his leg.

“This little boy here is our key to getting in. Get this: we go with him on the delivery, offer our special services to these creeps, and they’ll be so charmed that they’ll WANT to take us to their place. Once inside, one of us activates the mics on those coins, and we’ll escape while they’re not looking.”

“Wait, wait.” Captain Toad stood up. “Of all the plans, you went with the one with the highest chance of going wrong?”

“You got something better?” I filled the silence with the occasional foottapping. “Like I thought.”

“What’s my part in all this then?”

“Here’s the fun part. Two girls might not convince them of anything. But three’s a party, right?.”

It took him a few blinks for it to sink in.

“NO!”

“Mmm-hmm!” I coughed in his face. “Besides, I’m sick. So if they turn me down, we need someone there with Minh T.”

She gripped his arm tightly. “It’ll be awesome. You could use a feminine touch anyway.”

“He’s already got the voice for it,” I added.

“I don’t care if I’d make for the cutest little princess in the universe! There are just some things men DON’T do. And last time I checked, didn’t Her Highness send you two to deal with this? Why am I involved— OW!”

Minh T. pinched him over and over. “One, if we’re gonna turn this into a discussion on sex roles, you should be going while Toadette and I tend to the festival. Decorating it and relaxing while you take on this crime stuff.”

“And two, aren’t you the idiot who forgot to activate those coins we successfully delivered? You’re the fuck-up here, so treat this as your redemption in the eyes of the princess.”

The prospect of his reputation being on the line must’ve added a few cells to that brain.

“Only if Toadette promises to blow me afterwards.”

SLAP!

“How stupid are you!? You really think I’d agree to that!?”

“Handjob? I’m stressed, give me a break.”

“What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?”

“You can’t at least pour me a strawberry shake out your tits!? Not even a drip!?”

“HEY! There’s still a kid in a room.”

Minh T. pointed to DT, who had no reaction at all to our conversation. In fact, it was almost as if he was taking notes. Specifically, notes about me. His eyes were now focused on my chest. And thirsty from the looks of it.

“Why are you men all so disgustingly horny?” I groaned.

With the plan in place, we quickly moved into the makeover phase. As DT had to get to work quickly, this meant Minh T. couldn’t put her all into transforming us into supermodels. But looking sexy wasn’t the only priority. Hiding our identities was essential; this was a mission of the highest order. I emphasised to Minh T. over and over to make us unrecognisable to the Scapellis. Even if only one had seen us in crisp detail, ¬we couldn’t afford to underestimate them.

“Forgive me for what I’m about to do,” she warned. “This won’t be my best work.”

I sighed. “I just don’t want another haircut so soon.”

“We’ll work around that, ‘kay? You’ll still be one of the prettiest Toads in the world even if I make you as bald as a Cleft.”

“Well thank… You will NOT bald me!”

“Shh… Time’s ticking, Toadette.” She sat me on the toilet, lifting up a thin brush. “Your sick skin’s gonna make it easier to achieve the look I want.”

In 20 minutes, I opened my eyes to see another me. If you saw me down the halls in high school, you’d think I was that one emo girl who always announced when she was gonna hurt herself. Black eyeliner created tear-like trails down my cheeks, my lips wore the same ebony shade, and she’d even painted most of my cap black. Uh…

“I can still see the pink in parts. Like it’s crackling.”

“The makeup would’ve been more compatible with the natural skin if you hadn’t permanently dyed your cap pink.”

My pout returned. “You never told me dyeing would have side effects like that.”

“I did.” With a twirl, she tossed me out the bathroom and yanked Captain Toad inside. “You’re the one who insisted. ‘Change my cap so no one recognises me.’”

“Right…” After dressing in the dark clothes Minh T. had chosen—a T-shirt with denim short shorts and black socks—I waited patiently by the front door. Soon she and Captain Toad would be ready. It would’ve been a fun wait if I could smell one of their shoes, but my lack of scent detection tormented me again. Hmph! At least I could look at their shoes if nothing else. I’d already seen Minh T.’s inside and out, so my eyes guided me to that of the asshole’s.

The outsides were only mildly scuffed, but what about the insoles? Well… I respected that they weren’t grimy. Had those been Minh T.’s shoes, she would’ve had tar, black bubble gum, old cheese, maybe some smushed fruit in there. They would be hanging onto life by a thread. However, Captain Toad’s little boots made me do a double take with how tidy they were. If not for his footprints softly marked onto the fabric, he could’ve convinced me they were very new.

“While I’m at it…” As dirty as it felt, I had to give my brothers’ sneakers a look. It’d be quick. And from what I saw, they weren’t as bad as I was expecting. Maybe he knew to wear socks with them at all times. Because aside from a strand of hair or other common dirt particles, these things weren’t bad either. At least on the inside, as the outside had gone through a war. Enough dirt to clog someone’s throat, and even small holes here and there.

Should’ve expected as such if he was running in places like a sewer.

Moments later, Minh T. emerged with lots of colourful makeup on her face. She looked like she’d rolled around in a field of flour. Her lips were a rosy red, her eyes were darker, and of course she was wearing some skimpy clothes. Skimpy but still appropriately gothic since it was mostly black and white. I must’ve been blushing hard the way I couldn’t make eye contact with her.

“Looks great, but I just wish your nails matched.” I looked at her blue toenails.

“Aw, what’cha gonna do?” She clapped twice. “Come on, Miss Captain Toad, let’s get a move on!”

The moment we saw that delicate foot enter the room, we started giggling. And once his full frame came out, that was it for us. Minh T. seriously had the nerve to put him in a maid outfit. Not just any maid outfit, but a tight one at that. It was so tight and tiny that we could see his balls as they fought for the freedom to breathe.

“You got him some really tight panties too?”

“If his junk was just hanging out, it’d be game over from the get-go.”

“And so you put me in a skirt where they could easily look up and see my…” He sighed. “This is so fucking insulting.”

I stuck my finger up. “Not a very maid-like way to speak.”

“Yep.” Minh T. poked his nose. “And if you’re gonna look like a girl, you gotta start acting like one too. See how well you can turn me on without being manly.”

“How—”

“Try it,” she insisted.

He gulped, now doing his best to imitate feminine gestures. These mainly consisted of blinking his eyes repeatedly and puckering his lips. You know, stuff you’d see in movies from hookers. The man needed to work on his walking, as he was clearly foreign to the world of flats. It was easy to lose track of how many times those heels popped out. Nylon-covered heels, by the way.

I covered my mouth, dying from the sight. “Swing your hips, girl.”

“You’d better be soaked now.” With a look of pure hatred, he slowly rocked his hips from side to side.

“Getting a little better…” Minh T. took a step closer. “We’ll work on it as we go.”

“Which is now!” DT pushed us aside and scrambled to get his shoes on. “I’m gonna be late now, thank you very much.”

“We’re potentially saving your life if you attend that Star Festival,” I said, rubbing my arm. “You could show a little appreciation.”

“Sorry for being in a hurry. But money’s not exactly easy to get.”

“That could change.” I didn’t elaborate on my statement, instead making final preparations to leave. Bringing Minh T.’s bag would be useless since the goons could scan us. But we needed the remote to activate the coins. Only option was stuffing it in Captain Toad’s frilly little outfit and praying that they wouldn’t get rid of it. Now we were set. “Let’s go.”

“Where are your glasses?” DT asked.

“That’d make it easier for them to spot me. I’ve managed before without them.”

Minh T. shook her head. “I seriously hope you don’t have to read.”

“This plan is just getting rougher and rougher,” the captain groaned.

At this early hour, people were streaming into the financial districts of Mushroom City. With the streets crowded, this meant a lot of unwanted contact. And thanks to a new member, we couldn’t afford to walk slowly.

“Why can’t any of you keep up?” The energetic boy was rushing ahead of us, zigzagging through the professionally dressed workers on the sidewalk.

“We’re trying!” Had I not been so sick, running wouldn’t feel like inhaling sharp snowflakes. DT had the advantage of being perfectly healthy. On top of that, Minh T. and Captain Toad were way behind. One simply wasn’t athletic, while the other was trying to run in flats. Not a pretty combo.

The kid looked back at me. “How’s the sickest one sticking so close to me?”

“Because I’ve been running since I was young.” A slight hint of our connection. “No matter how weak I was otherwise, the average Toad couldn’t catch me. Don’t believe me!?”

With a burst of energy, I shortened my steps until I was hitting the ground six times per second. Left, right, left, right, left, right. I then quickly slid in front of DT, gasping for air.

“What the!”

“Hello there.” Waving, I began to fall to my knees. “Okay, bad move.”

“Least you can back up all that talk,” the boy said, picking me up. “Maybe we should walk the rest of the way.”

The moment we entered the delivery building, the tennis girl was there, bored out of her mind as usual. At least the room didn’t reek nearly as badly now that we’d sucked the… Nope, no reminders of that awful scene. When we approached, she had a quick message for DT.

“Delivery for Melody Motorway.” Then she kicked a box in his direction.

“Sorry for being late. Wasn’t my choice.”

“What are you two doing back here? And… What’s up, ma’am?”

I squeezed Captain Toad’s wrist before he could make a rude comment. “We’re going with the boy. Look, after all this, you can be prepared to move out this city, got it?”

Ace scoffed. “Have you been inhaling bus fumes?”

“Come the Star Festival, everything is going to change.” I smiled. “I hope you still know how to swing a racquet.”

“No idea what you’re getting at, but sure.” Before DT picked up the box, she filled him in on what was inside. “This stuff needs to be handled carefully. Don’t go dropping it all over the place.”

“Like I ever do.”

“What’s inside?” I asked.

“Beats me.” Ace returned to typing on the computer. “Guy who delivered it kept stressing that we can’t damage it. So, don’t damage it.”

It looked no different than a cardboard box. Maybe the one who sent it in was overly paranoid, and it had some ceramic art or something. Something that’d boost Wario’s ego to the maximum level. But with the transition out of the way, we began walking to this Melody Motorway place. Minh T. briefly explained that it’s just a very long neighbourhood with a musical aesthetic and tons of traffic.

“Now I’m not surprised,” I said, sniffling. “A place that’s loud and cluttered? Perfect place to be handling secret transfers.”

“Or an idiotic place.” Captain Toad was still fidgeting in his precious outfit, his flats giving him endless balance issues. “They blend in, but nothing’s stopping someone with a good eye from catching them specifically.”

“I’ve gone back and forth to this place several times. If it was bad, I think they’d stop having me deliver here.”

DT again walked ahead of all of us. One thing I couldn’t take away from the boy: he sure did take his job seriously. Even when talking, his focus was strictly on the street and never us.

Captain Toad whispered to me, “Who’s the boy?”

“Family, but he doesn’t know we’re related. Don’t say anything to him about it.”

“I won’t…”

“Thank you.”

“If you give my dick a nice hug. With your mouth. While I’m drinking strawberry milk.”

“You’re not gonna let this go, are you?”

He got closer. “Minh T. knows how to suck well, but I’m trying to see how Toadette plays with a cock. If your mouth moves as fast as you walk, then we might have something.”

“Hmm…”

Pinch!

“AAAAAY!” After ripping his vocal cords, he sighed. “Well, it was worth a shot.”

Minh T. interjected. “Rude behaviour aside, I kinda agree with him, Toadette. You’re not a kid anymore. Enter the adult world and start experimenting with us.”

“What, you want a threesome now?” I groaned.

“Yes.” “Yes.”

“Now I see you two are perfect for each other.”

“I mean, we kinda had a little threesome during the whole Shy Guy mess. But you didn’t really do anything but sit there.” Minh T. hesitated, then made a move that made me shiver. “I wanna see you in action.”

While she had my left butt cheek in her hand, she would squish it like it was some clay. She didn’t last three squishes before I swatted her away.

“I swear it’s like you cloned TT just to make another best friend.”

They were so focused on having sex with me that neither of them noticed we were inside this Melody Motorway area. Wow. Compared to Piranha Plant Slide, this place had some style. Goes with saying, considering it was a neighbourhood, but even still, the brass exteriors of all the homes took my breath away. Even with all the cars weighing down the grey street, they all vibed to the same song—a jazzy piece that went really hard on the saxophone. Where did it come from? Hard to say since there were so many trumpet structures and even a piano-like bend as the road sloped downhill.

I continued to look in awe at the musical neighbourhood while DT spoke to Minh T.

“Remember how she would always get grossed out whenever people kissed in a movie?” he asked. “Your friend’s acting the exact same way.”

“Believe it or not, I knew a lot of people who hated kissing scenes growing up. Toadette was one in a thousand.”

He directed us off the main road and between two silver trombone-like structures. “Yeah… Then I tried to kiss her that one time and ended up chasing her all over the house. Wait a minute. You were totally there too, that’s right! Then you pinned her down, almost got her on her mouth, and Mom was like, ‘The F is this!?’ Heheheh… TT…”

“It’s okay.” Minh T. rushed to his side.

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s not one of THOSE days. I’m fine.” He smiled and nodded. “Just another memory.”

“Great. But I’m always here, just remember.”

For as babyish as she could act much of the time, Minh T.’s displays of maturity were something I… I could’ve and should’ve taken some note from. I could hear the waterworks beginning to form as DT spoke about that past experience—yes, he and Minh T. did form a tag team to kiss me years ago—yet Minh T. soothed that with less than ten words.

“I take it you’re TT?” Captain Toad whispered.

I nodded slowly.

“Let’s see if I got this. That’s your little brother, so you ran away or faked your identity or something for a while?”

“These are where your captain skills are starting to show.”

“You handle one fake murder case, and suddenly every detail becomes important.” He was now up against my arm. “Guess you’re planning a big reveal to him later too, huh?”

“Yeah, but I wish I knew how. It’s… It’s getting pretty dang harder…”

He kept silent for several seconds. “Be happy Minh T.’s your friend, ‘cause you could’ve been doing this alone. Even if she screws something up, she’ll probably make you laugh while she’s doing it.”

Hearing that already made me laugh.

“Get ready, you guys.” DT turned to us. “They’re coming. Don’t act like you’re gonna hurt them, or things are gonna go south real quick.”

Captain Toad and I adjusted ourselves. I mainly sucked in snot, whereas he tried his best to keep his nyloned feet in those flats. Minh T. crept slightly behind us. Underneath this tall building was nothing but shade and a few yellow lights as we stood in the dark grass. It was hard enough to stay composed without the Scapellis showing up, but the moment they did, I stuck my hands in my pockets.

There were four of them, ranging dramatically in height. One came up to the height of my chest, and another was as lean as a giraffe. They all wore deep black business suits, each with a yellow-edged collar. And to fit the intimidation factor, they needed to have some shades. Considering how sweaty my knees started to get despite wearing shorts, the intimidation was beyond successful.

“Grab the package,” the tallest member instructed one of his allies. “Little boy, you’ve brought three people too many. We demand an explanation.”

While we trembled, Captain Toad being the only decently composed adult, DT didn’t sweat at all. “These three women caught me on the way here, and they told me they wanted to get work with the Scapellis. I thought you’d like some company, so here they are.”

Two of the men immediately pulled out red devices of some sort. Beeping sounds rang in our ears while they danced around us, aiming from our heads to our toes. If they were hoping to find metals, fat chance. All our phones were back in the apartment. But the remote…

DT continued. “If you like them, feel free to take them. And if not…” He looked back. “I guess you can kill them.”

WHAT!? Why would he say that!?

The ringleader put a finger on his goatee. “Are they carrying anything, men?”

“No, sir!” One man tugged Minh T., who yelped like a cat. “You sure we wanna bring in fungi? Didn’t they give our boy some trouble last time?”

With that look of deep thought on the main guy’s face, I started prepping for fight or flight mode. There was no way I could handle four humans, especially if they had firearms somewhere on their persons. Ooh… My heart couldn’t take this pressure. If I had to flee with Minh T. in my arms, so be it.

Yet seeing Captain Toad gave me a surprise. Because whereas we sweated bullets, he was back to puckering his lips and swinging his body from side to side. It was a very slow swing, like a delayed metronome. But of us “girls”, he was the only one trying to seduce these guys at the moment.

The leader dug into his pocket…

“Damn it,” I whispered and grabbed the tip of Minh T.’s ebony skirt. “Here it comes.”

Out came a small stack of Mushroom Kingdom dollars. Dollars, which could easily be converted the coins, the standard currency in this place. Must’ve been at least 400 dollars if I were to guesstimate.

“A delivery well done,” he said as he handed the boy the money. “Toads or not, our new sex slaves are not going to get out of hand on our watch.”

What was I getting us into with this plan? Minh T. and Captain Toad wondered the same thing the way they looked at me.

Suddenly, the three remaining men ran off elsewhere and returned with rope. Once tightening our hands behind our backs, they handled us roughly and began to walk us away from DT. I crossed my fingers, hoping I’d be able to see him again and make things right. But at the moment, the Scapellis directed us to the back of a white van. I was the first to enter, followed by Captain Toad, and lastly Minh T. Though, as Minh T. entered, she let out a loud gasp.

“Ooh… She’s got a chunky ass, boys,” one goon said before slamming the twin doors shut.

Minh T. groaned. “Chunky…”

“You’re beautiful and skinny,” I said, getting close to her head to whisper softly. “When we get inside wherever they’re taking us, we gotta act fast.”

Captain Toad breathed a sigh of relief. “Remote didn’t find they.”

“Huh?” “What now?”

“They remote find didn’t.”

Perfect. We could still activate those coins. Only problem now: how exactly would we find them?