Toadette's Story

Chapter 70 - Adiós to Mushroom City

☆ December 2005 ☆

“You’ll understand when you’re older, DT.”

DT was asleep on his air mattress, surrounded by a mess of boxes that were still waiting to be unpacked. The sound of the heavy rain outside probably made it easier for him to sleep.

I whispered, “I love you,” the words barely escaping my lips as a lump sat in my throat. As I tiptoed past the kitchen, grabbing my backpack and suitcase, I gave my farewell note one final look.

Being born was the worst thing to have ever happened to me. If I weren’t such a coward, I’d have already stepped under a gigantic, evil Thwomp to end it all. But here I am, nothing but a coward, so I’m doing what I know I’m capable of. Leaving. Forever.

You’re not my mom. You never loved me. You cared about everything else more than your own daughter. Getting wasted, getting fucked by random dudes, Minh T.! Yeah, her. She gets better grades than me, she sings like an angel while I sound like angel dust, and she’s prettier than me. She’s perfect. And if it were your choice, she’d be your daughter rather than me. She and DT.

That boy has always been the favourite, huh? You never felt embarrassed going to DT’s school plays, but when it came to me, you always had to have the largest laugh.

I was never good enough for you! I was always just “the autistic one”, “my slow child”, “the eventual slut of the streets”. As if I already didn’t have enough issues.

Adiós. You won’t even know where to start looking for me, so save your energy. Thanks for this worthless life, Mother. I really hope you wake up one day and realise how badly you fucked up our relationship. Or better yet, since you’re in Mushroom City, go find one of those disgusting humans, take their gun and swallow it.

I hate you!!

I hope she reads every single word on that paper.

Everything was appropriately packed now. I’d taken some of her coins out her purse, enough to at least buy me some food. And for defence, one of the kitchen’s sharp knives was in my possession.

Making sure my footsteps were silent, I stepped into the hallway. I didn’t really have time to learn this building’s ins and outs since we only got here this morning. But I noticed there was always somebody at the front desk, and he or she would definitely stop me. A 13-year-old girl walking alone with a suitcase? Red flags.

But contrary to what my mom thought, I wasn’t born yesterday. Into the stairwell…

“Oh!” Okay, new plan. Lift the suitcase, Toadette, rather than trying to drag it down a damp stairwell. Ugh, with bare feet, too.

After descending 24 arduous floors, I finally reached the apartment’s basement. This was it. Just a few steps away stood the door that would separate me from my family’s lives for good. As my fingers brushed the handle, I felt my lips wobble, and my heart began to get heavy.

I could still see DT’s bright smile. I could hear him laughing whenever I came home. And yet, next to that, I could see my mom, ready to berate me for something as simple as a bad report card or not looking decent enough. And if I were to go upstairs right now and get caught, I’d be dead either way.

I took one breath, sucking the snot up my nose and wiping my tears on my coat sleeve.

The water had risen to my ankles as I made my way down the street, trying to keep my face hidden so that no officers would recognise me as the teenage Toad I was. Then again, considering even adult Toads tended to be shorter than humans, they might’ve just seen me as a businesswoman heading somewhere. Still, better safe than sorry.

Continuing to take this trip barefoot didn’t make things any more comfortable. I really didn’t want the few pairs of shoes I had to get waterlogged, and flip-flops were just gonna make me trip easier. But the lack of protection on my feet just made me feel colder as the wind picked up.

“You have to be kidding me,” I groaned, seeing the busy Mushroom Bridge. “Come on!”

My plan wasn’t even to walk all the way to Toad Town. Once I got far outside the city, I’d find somewhere to rest up, then I’d hitchhike it to my hometown. Whatever happened from there was up in the air. But right now, crossing this bridge was killing my feet. I kept having to stop and rub them just to give them some encouragement.

“You’re not gonna hold me back now, dumb feet,” I growled, wiggling my toes. “Oh, excuse me!”

“No problem,” a black Bob-omb behind me said, with many more lined up with him. I quickly skipped ahead, simply accepting the pain my feet were feeling.

On the positive side, the bridge was perfectly illuminated, so I didn’t have to feel as scared as I would once I was away from city lights. The orange metal reflected the various white and golden lights from its own bulbs, and that was on top of the series of cars with beams so bright. There wasn’t anything that I couldn’t see from this narrow walkway.

After roughly half an hour, I was finally in the home stretch. The bridge was coming to its end. Looking back, I had a faint smile realising just how much I’d walked in this cold.

BOOM!

An intense flash made my eyes burn.

A beam smacked me in the front of my head, and I let out a scream as a series of sounds erupted around me. It was like a combo of everything. A train derailing, a plane crashing, a monster roaring—everything that’d make for a scary scene on its own. Ow! My body was burning! Trying to pat the spots of me I felt were on fire, I froze when all the yellow lights disappeared. I turned back to see…

Where was the bridge!? Everything was pitch black!

People were screaming more than I was, pointing at the other intact end of the bridge which had people mirroring their actions. And in the space between these two points, there was only a watery void. One I was just inches from slipping into before someone pulled me back.

“They just blew it up!” a human man shouted. “Those fucking Bob-ombs!”

“Why!? Why would they do that!?”

“We know exactly why! It’s Bowser again, it’s always him. When is it not him?”

“Is he crazy?”

“They’re trapped in their cars down there!” a woman shrieked. “What do we do!?”

“Move it, move it!” Police officers rushed towards us like a swarm of blue-painted bumblebees. That was my cue to run as fast as my feet could carry me. I was in too much of a panic to be concerned about the sea of lifeless bodies below us. All that mattered was seizing this one opportunity to secure my freedom.

“Hey, kid, you’re bleeding!” an officer yelled to me. “Little girl!”

Keep running, Toadette. Don’t look back. Don’t look down at your bleeding body.

I could feel every part of me that was drenched in blood. My chest, my face, the tops of my feet, my arm… Huh? Half of my coat was torn off. And my shirt… And… No! There was a big hole in my backpack, big enough that my hand could fit through! It was when rustling in there that I learnt I had a huge slice of skin blasted off my right arm. Damn it, could this night get any worse?

By the time I made it into the grassy outskirts, I was ready to faint on the spot.

“Can’t rest,” I gasped, clutching my chest to feel my heart overworking itself. “After that mess, they’re gonna have cops all over the city, including the outer areas.”

I sipped some water and saw one more car drive from the bridge area. All the other cars on this road? They were going into Mushroom City, and now they were backed up.

“Hey!” I ran to the one pickup truck leaving the city, knocking on the passenger door. “Mister!”

“You saw that!?” The Koopa driver rolled down the window. “Goodness, I was a few seconds from being on that bridge. Those poor—”

“Where are you headed to, sir?”

“Koopa Village. You need a ride?”

I nodded, digging into my pocket. “Toad Town. If you can just drop me off near there, I’ll pay you 50 coins.”

“Nah, keep those coins. Get in, we’re all probably desperate to get home now.”

I chucked my things into the truck’s cab and climbed into the passenger seat. Once strapped in, down the road we went. And at top speed, too. I thought only sports cars or juiced-up go-karts could go this fast, not some tiny pickup truck.

“We’re looking at a good 13 hours to get around Toad Town, and that’s with shortcuts.”

“Okay.”

“You don’t look any older than a high schooler. What are you doing out here?”

I wasn’t obligated to answer questions, especially ones that could ruin my whole plan.

“Hey, I ain’t gonna pressure you. But if this is a runaway type of thing, wanna make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“What would you know about it?”

He chuckled. “I’ve had plenty of friends moving out their parents’ house and dropping school the moment they thought they were big and bad. You know where most of ‘em are now? Local jails or unable to pay for even the cheapest house, of which Koopa Village has many. Lemme tell ya, Toad Town is pricier to live in, so I’d be surprised if you made it out there.”

“I’ll make it work,” I sighed, setting my damp feet on top of the dashboard.

“Listen, if I crash now, your legs are fixing to go right out that window.” When I didn’t budge, he shrugged. “Risktaker, I see.”

My body was in so much pain that risks were trivial. The aching was manageable back on the bridge, but now that the adrenaline had left me, my body throbbed from head to toe. And that intense light from the blast had me feeling so dizzy, with my vision remaining hazy.

“Here.” He reached into the back while we were at a stop sign. “Clean yourself up. And put these on, alright? Feels like I’m driving a cavegirl.”

“I don’t think they’ll fit.”

“Just make ‘em fit. I bought those for my kids, but there are a so many extra shoes that one missing pair isn’t gonna make a difference.”

While spraying myself with this wound disinfectant stuff and bandaging my body, I examined these shoes closely. They were these mint-condition flats with a shiny pink colour and a narrow form. Considering how sore my feet were, I had no intention of putting them on right this moment. Yet when I held them up to compare them to my feet, believe it or not, they looked like they’d fit like a glove.

“Heh, when you have a daughter, you gotta get used to finding out sizes at a glance.”

“My mom almost never remembered my sizes,” I mumbled.

The 13-hour trip had four breaks to let me stretch and use the bathroom. I fell asleep multiple times, feeling such a discomfort whenever I woke up with crust in my eyes. Then, for the last time, the Koopa man shook me awake.

“Up and at ‘em,” he said, pointing to the gate that connected Toad Town to Pleasant Path. “You have arrived at your destination.”

“Thank you so much,” I said, stumbling to get my stuff out of the truck.

“Hey, just for a little help, take this.” He gave me a number of coins ranging from 100 to 200. “Should keep you on your feet for a little while.”

I nodded, now settling my feet into these brand-new flats. After a wave, he drove off, leaving me to walk back into town with my torn pants, shirt and coat. Yeah, walking out in the open when it was one in the afternoon wasn’t gonna be smart. The first thing I did was go to the inn, which was a decent distance away from Minh T.’s shop.

“Forty coins a night,” the lady at the desk said, signing me for a room.

As I made my arrangements, I sent Minh T. a message on my phone. Rather, I tried to. It took so many attempts… I could barely read the words on my own phone, and it was like all the surrounding lights had halos around them.

Finally, sent it.

She was going to meet me at this inn, along with the know-it-all.

***

“Rescue divers continue their efforts in the water, searching for potential survivors of this attack. They are hopeful that some individuals may have made it to the docks and managed to pull themselves up, but the intensity of this Bob-omb explosion makes it appear that the loss of life could be unimaginable.

“This marks the latest and most severe assault on the Mushroom Kingdom orchestrated by the King of Koopas. Joining us now is its ruler, Princess Peach. Princess, obviously you must have a lot going through your mind right now.”

Princess Peach stood still on the right side of the screen, her posture about as confident as could be.

“I may look like everything is fine, but it is ridiculous to me that anyone would attempt to hurt my kingdom like this. I’ve had to deal with mass loss before, as I’m sure you remember that awful poison situation in the past. But never have I witnessed destruction of this scale caused by Bowser. Even lifting my castle into the sky had no casualties compared to last night’s tragedy.”

“Is there any plan you have in place?”

“It’s far too early to discuss anything of the sort. What I will assure you is that I will dedicate every part of my being to ensuring that the Mushroom Kingdom is the safest place int he planet. Whether it takes months or years, this vision will be achieved.” She then began laughing. “Forgive me. I just find myself a bit overwhelmed at the moment. Wow, just when I believe everything is going to be okay, something arrives to hurt us. It just drives me crazy! Gah!”

After removing my clothes until I was just in underwear and a bra, I paced around the room, waiting to see how my fellow Toads would react.

Russ T. was gonna be shocked, no doubt about that. But Minh T.? She was about to be super excited, and I knew I was gonna feel more comfortable than if I’d been in that dumpster of a city. Admittedly, it was getting a bit lonely being here without my mom or DT, but it was a sign to come for my adulthood anyway.

“This can’t be real,” I heard a voice say from outside the door. “I refuse to believe it.”

Once there was a knock, I swung the door open.

Russ T., as I predicted, looked genuinely surprised. A rare feat, as he was practically the master of anticipating things.

“Toadette… How did you…?”

“You told me you’d help me if I got back,” I chuckled, pulling him in. “Here I am.”

Behind him was the girl herself, Minh T., her crimson lips trembling as she looked me in my eyes. I greeted her with a warm smile, now opening my arms for an embrace.

“Man, just one day without being near you is like— OW! Gah, what the hell was that for!?”

The pain on my face was already irritating, but now it felt like my left eye was completely bashed in. Minh T. pushed me inside, slamming the door.

“You seriously walked all the way from Mushroom City to Toad Town!? What the actual fuck is wrong with you!?” She quickly covered her mouth, but as I regained myself, she grabbed me by the collar with her non-bloodied hand.

“First of all, I hitchhiked.”

“Oh, ‘cause that’s much better. What if you were kidnapped? What was your plan then?”

“I don’t know. I’d improvise.”

She scoffed. “Improvise. Maybe your mom was right when she called you dumb all these years, because this is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“Hey, fuck you! I nearly got myself killed getting back here.”

“Which nobody asked for, stupid!”

“Ladies, ladies,” Russ T. chuckled. “As hot as it would be to see a catfight, I’d prefer if we could cut to the chase.”

“Ain’t no ‘cutting to the chase’. I’m calling my mom, end of discussion.”

“No, you aren’t.”

“Toadette, don’t touch me.”

I pulled the kitchen knife out my bag. “You ruin my chances of staying here, and I’ll stab ‘n’ cut myself so bad that you won’t have a chance of saving me. You wanna be known for being the girl who made Toadette take her own life, huh!? Try me!”

She froze while I trembled, keeping the sharp point of the knife against my neck.

“Why are you acting like this?” Her voice suddenly dropped in volume.

“Well, I always thought you did make for a great Juliet, Toadette” Russ T. snarked, pulling my hand down. “But seriously, I think both of you should calm down so we can deal with this.”

As we sat at the table, Minh T. barely bothered to look me in the face. All she could do was keep staring at the ground, at her fat feet. So what if tears were coming out her eyes? Good. Cry. She saw me cry so often, and yet her life was so peachy that I’d practically never seen her cry for any good reason.

Russ T. pulled a notebook out his bag, then joined us.

“If we’re going down this road, here is what is going to happen. Giving you an entirely new identity is impossible if you’re trying to return to our school.”

“I still wanna change this cap,” I said, looking at my face through the screen of my phone. “And this red hair. I’m not related to that woman anymore.”

“You’re not talking like changing colours on a DNA level, right?”

I glared at him.

“Here’s your story: your mother has realised that her developmentally challenged daughter is struggling to integrate into her new school. Because of this, she has decided to send her back to Toad Town so she can continue her education there.

“If we were in elementary, they’d need to contact your mom. But that’s not necessary in eighth grade. Should they need signatures, just forge them. We’ll need to update your contact details so they don’t reach her. I know somebody who can hack that info to a dummy number I can keep an eye on.”

“We can’t just make this easier and tell them I’m being abused?” I asked. “Like, the truth?”

“You do that, they’ll either send you back to live with her after learning that you’re lying, or they’ll put you and that little brother in a foster home if it turns out she is a bad mother.”

“Yeah… Last thing I need is to be in a system with more useless adults trading me.”

“Speaking of adults, how’s that gonna work?” Minh T. asked. “Toadette’s mom can call up mine, talk about how Toadette is missing, and my mom’s gonna know something’s up.”

“When has my mom ever called yours?” I asked. “Yeah. She loved partying, but I can’t think of a single true friend she had here. Someone who didn’t take more of her money.”

“You’ve told me that she doesn’t return to places she previously lived, not often,” Russ T. said. “Still, it’d be more useful if we had a deterrent.”

“No idea what you could use,” I groaned, blinking rapidly as I grabbed my chest.

“You care to explain?”

“You don’t wanna even know. There was this big blast on Mushroom Bridge. Like, the entire bridge is in the ocean now! Then suddenly I can’t see, and I almost fall straight into that water.”

“Oh my… You were there!?” Minh T. got up and screamed into a pillow at the top of her lungs.

“Hold on.” Russ T.’s eyes widened. He pointed to the still-on TV. “That blast right there is why there’s a big bandage on your arm?”

“Tore the flesh straight off.”

“Ah…” He smirked, nodding.

“What?” I tapped my fingers. “What!?”

“This might work in our favour.”

“Could you quit the geek speak and talk in a way I can understand? Please?”

“Look, anyways,” he continued, ignoring my question, “the last thing we need to deal with is where you will live and how you will get paid.”

“She ain’t living with me,” Minh T. piped up. “My parents love her, but they’re gonna wanna talk to her mom if this is a permanent situation.”

“So I’m basically on the streets?”

“It’s what you wanted, Toadette. Congrats,” she said with a smile and fake applause.

As if to further disrespect me, she began rubbing her nasty feet against my legs under the table. Oh, I kicked the hell out of her for that, but it took two kicks before she finally let up and gave me the finger.

“You are a real—”

“What am I, Toadette? I’m dying to hear the genius about to spill from your mouth.”

“Bitch. A word you struggle to say without getting your panties in a bunch.”

“Suck my big toe!”

“Heh. I’d rather jump into lava than do that, you grimy-foot-having, baby-voice-having, cum-guzzling slut! Go eat a million dirty dicks! Seriously, it’s the only real thing you’re talented at, you fat fuck!”

Minh T. buried her face in her arms, breaking down.

“Enough! You’re both thirteen, not three. And that’s a low blow, even for you.” Scoffing, Russ T. then pulled out a second notebook, one that he struggled to lift onto the table. “Now, you might be able to convince Minh T.’s family to let you stay with them for one week per month, claiming it’s in your mom’s interest. My home is available for a bit, and my parents really couldn’t care less. But aside from those, you might want to start getting used to moving a lot.”

This was gonna be a real challenge, but I’d manage. Unfortunately, money was still a big concern. As if he’d read my mind, he began to lay out my roadmap.

“This notebook of mine is your saviour. It’s filled with contacts and information I’ve noted down over the years, and I aspire to keep it current. Looking for a job? You come to me.” He ran his finger down a list. “There are both legit and illegal jobs here. The legal ones are safer, like delivering some ceramics to Dry Dry Outpost. But the illegal ones, like robbing a rival thief hideout, will pay way better.”

“I can play the hero and villain.”

“Wow, just not even a hesitation,” Minh T. groaned.

“Allow me the remainder of the week to get everything in order, and if all goes well, you will be back in our school on Monday, yes?” Before getting up, he fixed his glasses. “Ah, and in exchange for all of this, I’d appreciate a payment of some… pleasurable company, if you don’t mind, T. Ana Junior.”

“One, never call me that name again. Two, ew!”

“I’m doing a lot here for you.”

“I’ll pay up later. When I feel like it.”

“Fine. I’ve always been fascinated by the edging technique anyway. Hehe.”

Minh T. rose, nose stuck in the air as she headed toward the door.

“You know, I thought you’d be happy to see me,” I said.

“Not under these circumstances.” When she opened the door, she gave me a serious look. “I feel sorry for Dane T., not for you.”

“Then why even bother helping me? Why don’t you just have them arrest me when I least suspect it?”

“I’m…” She sighed. “You know why. And I hate that I’m gonna be an accomplice in this.”

“It’s not like it even affects you, calm down.”

“Shut up! Toadette, shut up for once in your life!” Her face was beyond red at this point. “You think literally no one cares about you, but everything you do affects someone deep. You’re just either too blind or too stupid to realise!”

She stormed down the hall, stomping hard enough to definitely annoy people on the lower floor. Russ T. grabbed his stuff, shaking his head.

“Relationship advice isn’t my strong point, but if I were you, I’d be appreciative to have a friend like that.”

“The girl who’s the reason my eye is swelling up?”

“The fact that she could give you up, even with your frankly pathetic suicide threat being a factor, and she refuses to, tells me she really cares for you.” He put a finger on my mouth. “And not just sexually, let me stop you there.”

I climbed on my bed, feeling more water come out my eyes.

“I just thought she’d love me being back here, you know?”

“Her anger’s gonna pass, don’t worry. Who knows? Maybe you’ll wisen up and end up going back with your people, then you two can continue being friends normal.”

“Oh, I’m gonna make that second point happen without the first one even being a factor. I can’t go back there. She’s gonna kill me. Not Minh T., but…”

“Yeah, I know.” He shrugged. “It’s your life, not mine. I’m gonna be on your side, but you do what you think is right.”

And when he left, I was left to simply lay on the bed and contemplate the direction my life was heading in. It was going to be rough, no question there. I was gonna have to get used to not having that little boy in my life. But… He’d have probably been happier without me anyway, as he’d just get more of his mom’s attention.

I might not have been living the sweet life, but now I was safe outside of Mushroom City.

***

Six years later…

“I think those Scapellis should be thrown into the sea with the Nibbles. Have those sharp-teeth fish tear them to shreds!”

“Having them rot in a cell is more what they deserve.”

“No, they should all be shrunken and crushed like little bugs. I normally don’t call for violence, but come on. After all this?”

So many opinions on what should happen to the Scapellis. As I sat in the van on the way to the airport, the big question in my mind was what was going to happen to their leader? That massive orc and his sketchy leprechaun sidekick had never seen the inside of a jail cell before. They’d never faced serious consequences for anything. If absolutely nothing happened to them this time, I’d never have peace of mind.

“Autumn couldn’t have started any more heated,” Captain Toad said. He was the only close one riding with me, as Minh T. was set to go on a special plane with other people too hurt to fully move.

“I can’t wait to be back in Toad Town,” I sighed.

“Yeah, in our shared home that you’re probably gonna stink up.”

“Heh. Listen, I’m gonna be so worn out by our princess that I don’t think my foot fetish thing is even gonna survive.”

“That’s not how things work.”

“I mean, I’ve got more important things to worry about than getting off.” I looked out the window. “A lot more things.”

“You scared?”

“A little.” I trembled as I felt his fingers on my thigh. “But I have no choice, and so my best play is to make the best of what I’m given.”

Before he could speak, I quickly spun around and grabbed his head.

Smooch!

Two seconds of squeaking sounds later, I pulled back and wiped the smudges off my glasses. Captain Toad wasn’t quite as in awe as when I’d given Minh T. that surprise, but he was turning quite red like she did.

He immediately pulled out his phone, his fingers twiddling away. When I looked over the screen, I gawked.

“You’re telling Minh T. my breath stinks!?”

“That kiss felt nice, but man, it smells like you’ve been licking your own smelly sneakers this morning.”

“You…” I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “Oh, you’re just asking for me to smother you with these soles now.”

“Please don’t.”

“Hehe.” I took off my seatbelt, rubbing my feet all over his legs. I’d have reached up to his face if not for this broken left arm I had to deal with. Captain Toad grabbed my right foot, holding it hostage. But I then used my left one to kick him in the chest. “Tell me you like my feet.”

“I’d be lying.”

“I don’t care,” I teased. “Tell me, or I’m gonna leave a footprint somewhere on your body.”

“Fine. I like your feet, Toadette. Because they let me make endless fun of you.”

“Wrong answer.” And in a move that almost hurt, I stuck a few of my toes in his mouth. They might not have gotten too wet in that split second, but the sensation had me continuing to giggle. And for someone who couldn’t have cared less about feet, at least Captain Toad was happy to entertain my uniqueness.

“Minh T. responded,” he said. “She says, ‘Being kissed on the mouth by Toadette is an honour, cheesy foot-scented breath or not.’”

I pulled out my phone and texted Minh T. my own message.

“The next time I kiss you, I’ll be sure my breath smells just like my stinky feet. Just for you, BFF,” I read aloud, sending it and getting all giddy when I received a heart emoticon, followed by a kissy face.

Suddenly, the car stopped.

“Let’s go, everybody! Out the van!”

“Alright,” I said, grabbing Captain Toad’s hand, “back to Toad Town.”