Toadette's Story: Book 2

Chapter 125 - Sinister Sundown

“You jerked me off with those nasty feet just to tell me we needed a damn marker?” Toad growled. “I should scalp that ponytail right off your skull!”

Goombella smirked. “Mushroom boy, that’s just the start. You really gonna storm out before I get to the good stuff?”

“What else is there to know?” Toadette asked.

“When Mario and I hit up Twilight Town, we had the ink on our clothes. But here’s what they conveniently forgot to mention: Twilighters are insanely finicky about outsiders. If you don’t look and smell like you crawled out a crypt, good luck getting them to even look at you.”

Minh put a finger to her chin. “So…we need a makeover?”

“Great. More delays.” Toad cracked his knuckles. “That town isn’t worth the match it’d take to burn it down, I swear.”

“Cool your jets.” She rummaged through her drawers. “We had this total stage queen on our squad during our quest. Like, totally fabulous. Picked up some killer makeup tips from her. They’ve really saved my ass when I gotta glam up this human disguise.”

“We’re seriously letting her touch our faces?” Toad shot a look at the others.

“She destroyed that squad of Goombas and your dignity without breaking a sweat,” Minh teased. “I’d trust her hands—and feet—with my life.”

Toadette removed her glasses. “Just don’t make me totally hideous, okay?”

“Relax, lady. Majoring in archaeology means I’m a stupidly detail-oriented girl.”

***

While Amini was in the bathroom, Penelope remained in bed, playing on her DSi. Given that the only other person she knew was right there with her, she saw no reason to leave. Jasmin was dead to the world again. As soon as she had taken off her glasses and rested her head on the pillow, she had fallen asleep again, only occasionally popping back into groggy consciousness.

Penelope poked her softly. “What does ‘incest’ mean?”

“What?”

“What Miss Toadette and Captain Toad called you. What is it?”

“For all we know, it’s how you got made. Royal girl.”

“I… Is that bad?”

“It’s when two people in the same family date each other. Or have sex.”

“Ew!” Penelope recoiled. “That’s disgusting, Jazz!”

Jasmin’s lips twitched. “Well it depends on who you ask.”

“Besides, I was brought by the stork. Just like everyone else.” Penelope bit her lip. “So… About me being…”

“Makes sense now. The money, the castle, you looking like a miniature Peach. I should’ve connected the dots sooner.”

“Well it’s not like most people do. I have to lie to everyone about it. If it became big news, Mother would completely lose it.”

“So who knows it so far?”

“Everyone in the castle. Miss Minh T. You now. And…” Penelope paused the game. Paleness spread throughout her face. “Everybody on that ship. Wario…”

Jasmin let out a deep sigh.

“Don’t sigh at me!” Penelope snapped, stumbling over her words. “What else was I supposed to do? If I didn’t tell her who I really was, how would she even believe me?”

“Were you actually going to shoot yourself?”

“No! I was just pretending. Duh.” Penelope shook her head. “Who would actually do something like that?”

“You’d be surprised.” Jasmin sat up, stretching. “If you pulled that trigger, I would’ve jumped in after you and beaten you until you completely bled out.”

Penelope’s eye twitched. “Are you threatening me?”

A soft smile appeared on Jasmin’s face. “I’m saying I’m glad you didn’t actually do it.”

Penelope let out a sigh of relief. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about it anymore, Jazz. Can we just pretend it never happened? Please? It’ll be easier that way.”

“If only.” Jasmin picked her nose. “You don’t need to think about it every day. But if you ever need to vent…” She wiped her finger on the sheets. “I’ve dealt with worse.”

“Why do you know so much about…” Penelope traced the letters S-E-X in the air. “Is it just from that Kid Icarus comic?”

Jasmin looked at the ceiling. Penelope had no reason to know all the details about her life. She was getting ready to simply shut her eyes and try to sleep again. But something forced her to open her mouth.

“If I tell you this, you tell no one. Especially not Minh-Minh or Sofi. Got it?”

Penelope mimed zipping her lips shut.

“Be glad you’ve never starved.” Jasmin’s voice went quiet. As she recounted the details of her survival, Penelope’s posture gradually became more rigid. Her grip tightened on her DSi, as if she’d fused with it. Every scenario displayed itself vividly in her head: the sex Jasmin was having at school, the lack of food she’d come home to, as well as the lack of love in said home. Penelope could only manage small, choked sounds.

Since she was only nine? How did other boys even know what sex was?

Jasmin’s voice got quieter as she finished. “So yeah. Sucking off Terro probably terrified you. I’ve done it enough times to fill a notebook.”

Penelope gulped.

“Be glad he didn’t finish inside you,” Jasmin continued.

“Meaning?”

“I’m…” Jasmin heard the door unlock. Her words came out in a rush. “I think I might be pregnant.”

A weight felt as if it had been lifted. Just telling Minh about the sex on the ship had been difficult. But Penelope was her age, and somehow that made it easier to divulge every detail about her life.

“Pregnant?” Penelope’s voice softened.

“You gotta be kidding me!” Jasmin groaned. “How do you not know this stuff?”

“What are you two talking about?” Amini approached the bed, her hair still wet. “Pregnancy?"

"What does it mean?” Penelope asked, still avoiding eye contact with Amini.

“Oh. Well…” Amini leaned down. “You see, sweetie, when a mommy has a baby, it grows in her tummy—”

“She pushes the baby out through her vagina.” Jasmin leaned back against the pillows. “And it hurts like hell, apparently.”

Amini’s eyes widened. The DSi slipped from Penelope’s hands.

“But… But what about the stork?”

“The storks still exist, honey.” Amini’s hands twisted together. “It’s just… Jasmin, that was a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

“Not my fault if a ten-year-old still believes in fairy tales.”

“Mother lied to me this whole time?” Penelope stared at nothing. “But it’s so simple. If she lied about this, what else did she lie about?”

Jasmin turned onto her side. “You’ll get over it. Everyone faces the truth eventually.” Her hand moved to her stomach. She was trembling.

***

It took Goombella over an hour to reinvent the trio’s appearance. With sweat dripping from her forehead, she stepped back from the cluttered bathroom.

“Voilà! You’ll fit right in with the local freaks.”

The first to emerge after her was Toad. With some heavy mascara and eyeliner, he underwent the most minimal makeover of the three. Some cracks were painted on his cap. He was dressed in a dark, torn robe.

Next was Minh. Rather than a torn robe, she had on a ripped dress. A skeleton necklace dangled from her neck, and her bare soles kissed the filthy floor. But the attention was on her face. It was fully painted to have her look like a living skeleton, only more colourful and festive.

“And what happens after a few days when you need to wash your face?” Toad asked.

“I’m banking on this not taking us too long,” Minh said, bowing gracefully. “But if it does, I still have these elegantly dirty rags to fit in.”

“Meanwhile…” The last was Toadette. Tight fishnets wove their way up her legs, leading into another long one-piece dress that was patched like a quilt. Black paint on her face gave the impression she was constantly crying. Her lips were now cherry red. Instead of glasses, she had on custom contacts. She shuddered as she took another step forward, her feet feeling the crunch of the gritty floor.

“Can’t tell if the creepy clown work is unsettling or sexy on you,” Toad whistled.

“I’d let her do crazy things to me,” Minh chuckled.

“Makeup is so heavy.” Toadette scrunched her face. “Feels like I’m getting a workout already.”

“You’re all set!” Goombella announced.

Toadette stretched her neck. “And if the pipe rejects us this time?”

“Call a plumber.” Goombella shrugged. “Mario’s probably busy, but I guarantee Luigi’s just staring at a wall, waiting for the universe to tell him what to do.”

“Luigi? That idiot nearly killed us in Mushroom City,” Toad said.

“Thanks to Minh,” Toadette corrected. “He was flying fine until she decided to bring my flats aboard.”

“That was forever ago!” Minh scoffed. “Not my fault he couldn’t handle Toadette’s foot funk!”

“Hey, you oughta skedaddle,” Goombella said. “The square likes to get packed around this hour.”

“Right. Thanks.” Toadette scurried out, followed by Minh, who waved to Goombella. Toad looked her up and down for a second. Goombella curled her toes and puckered her lips. Before he could react, she grabbed him and yanked him closer. Her lips pushed against his; her tongue went past his teeth. When she finally released him, he gagged, wiping his mouth frantically.

“Catch me on an expedition if you want round two,” she purred. “Next time I’ll skip the socks. Let my feet really cook in those boots first.”

“Nasty Goomba,” he muttered, slamming the door. “You guys are sick!”

Goombella licked her lips. “And yet you didn’t pull away, mushroom boy.”

***

The pipe to Twilight Town sat alone in a concrete room beneath Rogueport—dark, dusty and reeking of rust. Minh’s fingers twitched as she approached it. The whiplash from being rejected from it at lightning speed was enough to make someone vomit. She crossed her fingers.

“I’ll go first.”

“You sure?” Toad asked. “What if this Goomba ditz was full of crap? You could get stuck in there.”

Minh hesitated. Then she stomped her foot. “Do I look scared to you?”

She backflipped into the pipe, or at least tried to. Her chest crashed against the rim. There was silence. Then she let out a loud scream. Immediately the pipe’s suction caught her head and yanked her in.

Twenty seconds passed, and Toad finally smirked. “I think she’s making progress.”

“And she kept calling herself dead weight.” Toadette beamed. “She needs to give herself more credit.”

“Oh, I just meant she hasn’t been rejected yet.” Toad shoved Toadette forward, letting the pipe swallow her whole. “Here we come, Twilight Town!”

The pipe ride was the roughest Toadette had ever experienced, like being trapped inside a vibrating cylinder. She could just about squeeze her cap through the opposite end, which felt as if it were covered in thick sludge or moss. Her cap got stuck for a moment before being squeezed painfully through the octagonal opening, allowing the rest of her body to twist out.

She landed flat on her face and groaned. Then she pulled herself up off the cobblestones. “That pipe needs a serious deep clean! It smells like a funeral home!”

Toad emerged and scanned their surroundings.

It wasn’t nighttime, but it certainly wasn’t daytime either. The sky was bright purple, fading into a deep orange at the horizon. A massive moon hung in the sky, looking close enough to touch.

“Twilight Town,” Minh breathed, observing the dark plants around her. She lifted her foot. A black leaf clung to her sole, dissolving into Ash.

Toad’s eyes locked onto her blackened sole. Toadette nudged him.

“I’m fine.” He brushed off the pipe grime. “Just make sure none of your grimy feet come anywhere near me this trip.”

Minh glanced back with a grin. “Wasn’t planning on it, but thanks for the idea.” She wiggled her toes. “Whenever you need nutrients, just say the word.”

He shoved past her and stomped ahead. Minh slid next to Toadette.

“Just try not to get distracted by either of our feet, ‘kay?”

“I don’t need a…” Toadette realised she’d been drifting towards Minh’s foot, toes almost touching. She jerked back. Minh was already chortling.

They found themselves on a hilltop overlooking the town below. Massive dark trees loomed over the buildings, crowned with a handful of crows that watched them with piercing eyes. Below, wooden buildings clustered together, none taller than two stories. Unlike Twinsy Tropics, barely a handful of locals wandered the orange dirt streets.

Toadette whistled. “So do we try trial-and-error with the radar’s dial? Or ask around?”

“We ask around first,” Toad said.

“I don’t know.” Minh put her hands behind her back. “If they’re this paranoid about outsiders, won’t they just hide the star from us?”

“Then we do it the hard way.” He licked his lips. “Just a little punch—nothing too bad.”

“Let’s go.” Toadette made her way down the hill. The cold dirt touching her feet through her fishnets never ceased to make her shiver.

At the bottom, the town’s poverty hit her full force. Yellow hadn’t been exaggerating. It looked like a movie set for “Extreme Poverty: The Town”. Each step dragged her back to Toad Town in the 1990s and early 2000s, back to being that barefoot, hungry kid. But these people weren’t middle-class neighbours looking down at her. They were right at her level.

This is what Wario wants for the whole kingdom.

Minh caught up with her. “Okay, what is going on here?”

“What do you mean?” Toadette asked.

“You’re not seeing all this?”

Minh pointed above at the lights strung across the lampposts. Softly glowing streamers and confetti littered the buildings and the soil. It looked as if they were genuinely celebrating Christmas. But there was just one problem.

“Little early for Christmas, isn’t it?” Toad chuckled. “Unless this is Sacrifice Day or something.”

Toadette focused on the townsfolk. Immediately their presence unsettled her. They were human-shaped, but that’s where it ended. Stitches crisscrossed their bodies like reanimated dolls. When one turned to stare at her, her legs nearly gave out.

Minh touched her shoulder. “Let’s feel things out first, alright?”

The first hour passed without incident. Toadette asked the storekeepers about the prices of their produce, which were always cheaper than in Toad Town but also rotting. Just to keep their spirits high, she did buy an apple, although she ate it very carefully.

The Twilighters’ reactions were strange. Neutral nods, hollow greetings, but their eyes kept drifting downward, fixed on their feet.

Toadette noticed it first. An older woman’s gaze lingered on her fishnet-covered soles as she walked past. Then a man at a fruit stall stared at the dirt caked between her toes. Her skin crawled. She’d never felt so exposed while wearing something.

Toad noticed a group of teens looking at his bare feet and hastened his pace. “Why are they all looking at our feet? Did they catch Minh’s sickness?”

“Perhaps ours are more captivating. More interesting,” Minh replied. She walked past a group of Twilighters slowly and deliberately, letting her hips sway. Their heads turned in unison. Their eyes tracked her footprints in the orange dirt. Glancing back over her shoulder, she wiggled her toes at them. “Look at that. One twitch and they’re hypnotised.”

“You’re really getting into this,” Toadette whispered.

“Can you blame me?”

A child tugged at Toad’s leg. “Mister, why is your head so big?”

He leaned down, his grin strained. “To fit all the things I know that you don’t, kid.”

By the end of the hour, they’d gotten a good enough feel for the town. Eventually Minh drifted towards a villager on the east side. She leaned against a fence, her breasts hanging over it. “Hola…”

He stared at her blankly.

“Name’s Minh.” She gestured at Toad and Toadette. “We came a long way to see your town. So what’s with all the decorations? Nobody’s mentioned anything about a festival.”

His nose twitched. Then he leaned in and sniffed her face. Minh’s eyes widened.

“From afar?” His voice was hollow. “How strange… Your scent…”

He dropped like a puppet cut loose, burying his nose in her feet. Minh squeaked, teeth clenched as his nose wormed between her grubby toes. A twisted smile stretched across her face, eyes half-lidded. She flexed her toes, trapping his nose between them and grinding her sole against his face.

“Ooh, someone’s hungry. Go right ahead.” She held him there for a long moment before stepping back, giggling.

“A foreign terroir, yet the fermentation is…exquisite…”

“Fancy.” She tapped her chin. “So on a scale of one to putrid cheddar…?”

“Seventy…on your scale.”

“Seventy?” She spun around and waved the others over frantically. When they arrived, she was beaming. “You hear that? I got a seventy on the stink scale, and I didn’t even have to wear my winter boots. Ooh, this is the level of the filth I gotta aim for from now on.”

“Only you could turn bad hygiene into a confidence boost,” Toad sighed.

“Ain’t my fault my feet are grimily delicious.” Minh twirled. “Now, sir, anything we can help with around here?”

“Hmm… Technically, yes. But you shouldn’t trouble yourselves…”

“Try us.” Toadette crossed her arms. “We can solve anything. What’s the problem?”

“We don’t know what it is… His name is a mystery…” He looked at Toadette’s toes, his nose twitching. “But even if we did, you couldn’t face him. No one passes the eastern gate without permission…”

“Who gives permission?” Toad asked. “I bet I can change their mind.”

The Twilighter stared at Toad for a moment. Then he collapsed to his knees like before. He buried his face in Toad’s feet, inhaling desperately. Toad yelped and scrambled backwards.

“Hey, I didn’t ask for all of that,” he panted.

“Here.” Minh shoved Toadette forward. “Her feet are way riper than either of ours. Girl was raised in a cheese factory.”

“Is that so? Forgive my outbursts, but your scent…” His nose pressed against Toadette’s feet, inhaling over and over. Toadette made a sound caught between a laugh and a sob. Minh watched, transfixed. Her grip tightened as he began to sniff Toadette’s soles.

“That’s right,” she giggled. “From top to bottom. You don’t wanna miss an inch of her feet.”

Toad grimaced. We’ve truly landed in the city of freaks.

When he stood, his whole body convulsed. His head jerked so hard that it looked ready to snap off.

“Ah… If you desire permission, you’ll need it from the…”

A shriek pierced the air. Toadette whipped around. Every Twilighter was staring in one direction, but by the time the trio looked, only a blur remained, vanishing into the darkness.

“He has struck again…” a villager whispered. “There goes poor Darkly…”

“He’s getting closer to the centre…”

“The monster… He can’t be working alone… So many gone… Who is helping him…?”

The Twilighter nearest to the trio stumbled backwards, stitches tearing with each spasm.

“You… You’re not here to help us…”

“Huh?” Toadette put her hands on her hips. “Are you serious right now?”

“It was a diversion… You sought to distract us with your…intoxicatingly cursed smell…”

He blew into his fingers, creating a whistle so high-pitched that Minh rushed to cover her ears. Doors slammed open. People poured out like zombies, staring and limping towards the Toads.

“What did we do?” Minh whimpered.

“Guess they hate charity.” Toad looked at the various Twilighters creeping towards them. Retreat wasn’t an option. He let out a sigh. “Alright, freaks. You get one warning. Touch us, and Captain Toad here will tear you limb from limb.”

They kept coming. One reached for Minh’s braids, and she shrieked.

Snarling, Toad snatched Minh’s bag and hurled it. The Twilighter flew backwards. Toad was on him in seconds, delivering three brutal punches. He seized the Twilight’s throat and squeezed until the stitches bulged. Then he launched him into another Twilighter. They crashed through a wooden fence.

The crowd froze.

“Mommy, he’s gonna kill us!” a little girl wailed.

“Don’t back down!” a man yelled. “We already lost the others. We cannot lose anyone else to these outsiders…”

“The hell?” Toadette shot Toad a look.

“You want a fight?” He dropped into a combat stance. “You’ll get one. But someone’s gonna talk. I wanna see that mayor.”

The nearest Twilighters charged. In the blink of an eye, they were sprawled across the square, one with her stitching torn open and thick fluff spilling out. Toad and Toadette stared down the crowd.

“Too strong,” an older man wheezed.

“Retreat! Hide wherever you can!”

Like ants from a destroyed home, the Twilighters scattered across the square and rushed back into their houses. The sound of latches and locks echoed through the town.

Minh’s hands balled into fists. “Is nobody in this place gonna help us? We haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Enough!” Toadette stepped forward. “If we have to do this the hard way, then so be it! We’re here to save you morons!”

As she said those last words, she felt a strange chill under her feet. She looked down. Her stomach dropped. She had barely uttered Minh’s name when the blackness began to spread. Minh shrieked, hopping from foot to foot.

Toad held his ground. Some kind of city defence system?

“Toady!” A wall of black wind slammed into Toadette, launching her off her feet. She hit the ground hard and crashed on her side. Minh landed nearby with a pained grunt, clutching her ribs.

Toad hit the dirt in a roll, came up on his feet and thumped his chest defiantly. “It’ll take a lot more than that to take us down! Show yourself, coward!”

The seething blackness that had swallowed them shrank to the size of a huge disc and slid across the ground like a living shadow. First the red point of a hat emerged. Minh twitched.

“Who is that?” she whispered.

“What is that?” Toadette added.

Moonlight washed over the emerging figure: a thin woman in a wide-brimmed witch’s hat with pink hair that cascaded over her eyes. Her bare violet feet touched the dirt. She glared at them with an icy frown.

Toadette’s hand flew to her pocket. “Stuffwell, please tell me you’ve got something on this thing.”

The suitcase sprang out, unfolding to full size.

I specialise in common species, Madam Toadette, not one-off nightmares. But I shall try.” His eyes swept across the mage. “No confirmed profile. However, her magic output is well above standard. She could very well be a high-tier spellcaster.”

“Translation: we’re screwed,” Toadette muttered.

Toad stepped forward. “Take us to your mayor, or we’ll find him ourselves.”

“Monsters.” The mage’s voice was low. “You just invade, you take, and you destroy.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’ve taken enough from this town. You won’t take anyone else.” She raised a single finger, the air around it warping. “Even if I have to… Even if I have to kill you myself!”

A purple light flared from her fingertip. In the next instant, a shard of dark energy whistled through the air. Toad shoved Toadette aside and rolled away just in time; the projectile hit with an ear-splitting crack, carving a smoking crater in a tree.

“Stuffwell, open!” Toadette barked.

He snapped open. She snatched an Ice Flower, frost racing up her arms. The mage’s hands blurred, and a storm of fireballs erupted towards them.

Toadette slid forward, slamming her palm into the ground. A wall of jagged ice surged and blocked the first fireball. At least that was what Toadette thought. Flame punched through, catching her face. The second fireball split around the melting barrier, streaking towards Toad.

He punched it out of the air. Flames seared his knuckles, but he didn’t dare flinch. “I know little girls who hit harder than you. One, anyways.”

The mage’s lips twisted. She kicked, launching a crescent of black energy. Toad dropped into a slide. The mage spun; another kick, another blade. Toadette threw herself in front of him. The slash tore across her chest. She staggered back, feeling as if burning oil was eating through her skin.

“Like he said,” she growled, forcing the words out through gritted teeth, “you’ll need more than that.”

The mage vanished in the shadows. She reappeared beside Minh, her fist cocked.

“Get away from her!” Toadette launched off a tree, intercepting midair. Frost exploded from her fists in a flurry of blows. Shadow barriers blocked each one. Toadette swept the mage’s legs. Her ice-coated uppercut connected with the woman’s jaw.

CRACK!!

The mage froze, fingers twitching. Then her hand shot out, seized Toadette’s braid and hurled her into a tree. The mage then landed in a handstand and aimed both bare feet at Toadette. Dark energy swirled around her soles.

“Move, Toadette!” Toad shouted. “Move!”

The blast erupted—a footprint-shaped wave tearing through the air. Toadette flipped away, leaving a blackened, smoking tree behind her with a perfect burn mark in its trunk.

Her nose crinkled. “Yuck…”

Seizing the opening, Toad dashed in with a one-two punch to the mage’s back. Toadette followed with a spinning ice ball that smashed into her shoulder, tearing away a chunk of flesh. The mage screamed then suddenly cast magic from all four limbs. Flames and shadow exploded outwards, slamming Toadette to the ground.

“That… That hurts,” she rasped, coughing. The frosty glow around her flickered.

Toad raised his flare gun and fired it point-blank. The resulting explosion lit up the town square, but when the smoke cleared, the mage was still standing. Not even a scorch mark.

“That should’ve blown a hole in you!” Toad snarled.

She adjusted her hair slowly. “Try it again.”

“Don’t mock me…” He tensed his muscles. “Or the next shot takes your head off!”

“I will not lose anyone else to you monsters.”

“Gah! This whole trip has gone to hell!” Toadette shouted skyward. “Damn Goombella!”

The mage let out a little noise. “Goombella?”

“Lemme guess: that walking biohazard is your ally,” Toad spat. “Shouldn’t be surprised this was some kind of ploy. Fortunately once I’m done with you, she’s next on my list.”

“Wait a minute.” The woman’s shoulders lowered. “You’re not with Doopliss?”

“Doopliss?” Minh sounded ready to cry. “The heck is a Doopliss?”

“Lady, we’ve been waltzing here for an hour only to get assaulted by dolls and shadows,” Toadette panted. “If we wanted to kidnap, we’d have done it in one minute.”

The mage’s posture faltered. She stepped back, muttering, “No, no, no, no… What have I done?”

-----------

Author’s Note:
The idea of giving the characters unique appearances for this town was for two reasons. One, I thought it’d be fun. Two, I might’ve had Halloween Town from Kingdom Hearts in my mind during this. Fitting that Twilight Town debuted in both franchises in 2004.