Toadette's Story: Book 2

Chapter 131 - Ashley Unbound

Ashley’s toes cinched around Toad’s fist like a vice. A brutal twist of her heel sent him cartwheeling into the twilight air, her sly smile never fading. She waited a beat before bursting into a sprint and launching after him.

Her rising foot met his nose with a wet crunch that echoed across the fields.

She grabbed his ankle mid-fall. With impossible strength, she swung him in a wide arc. The force alone threatened to pop his hip from its socket. Then she brought him down.

He slammed face-first into the dirt, the earth cracking below him. Before the shock could reach his brain, her heel came down on the back of his skull. Toad’s teeth rattled so intensely that he bit his own tongue.

What the hell is this? My strength should be blowing her out the water right now!

Blind with rage, he scooped a handful of soil and hurled it at her face. A slight shift of her weight sent the dirt whistling past her ear.

“You can try again.” She licked her lips. “Though accuracy might help.”

He spat out thick blood and soil. “Cute. Let’s see how you talk with a broken jaw.”

“Oh?” Her chuckle cut off as she drove her foot into his mouth. He gurgled and stumbled backwards, beginning to fade in and out of consciousness. She drifted towards him. “At least I surpass my fellow humans in my natural abilities.”

He pushed up on trembling arms, panting. Her soil-caked toes tapped before him.

“You’re just a mushroom with a slightly harder stem.” She grabbed his ankle, flipped him onto his stomach and pinned him with a knee in his back. His foot twitched helplessly in her grip. She examined it intensely. “Let’s see if the vintage is as bold as your friend’s.”

“Vintage?”

Her lengthy tongue unfurled like a ribbon. It pressed against his grimy heel and dragged a wet trail up to his arch. He gasped. As the tip of her tongue grazed the pad of his toe, he made a desperate move: pinching the flesh of her calf with everything he had left.

Her grip merely tightened, and she guided his toes past her lips.

A moan vibrated in her throat as her head bobbed with enthusiasm. She savoured the pungent cocktail of earth and exertion, her hips bucking against his legs.

“Invigorating…” She pulled back, a string of saliva connecting her lip to his foot. “You lack your girlfriend’s piquancy. But the bitterness is nuanced. Complex, even.” She pushed his foot against her face and inhaled deeply. A full-body shudder wracked her frame. “You’ll make for a fine main course. But don’t fret. I haven’t forgotten about the plump one.”

Toadette’s breathing had gone shallow. She dragged herself to her feet. “You people are something else, you know that? Every single one of you!”

“And you are exhaustingly stubborn.” Ashley didn’t bother to look at her, still lapping at Toad’s feet like a dog. “You could have remained in your saccharine little nightmare of a town, blissfully insignificant. But you simply had to audition for a larger role, didn’t you?”

She placed a cold kiss on Toad’s big toe.

“Mmm… One of my co-workers theorised Toads were merely biological accidents with feet.” She tilted her head. “I dismissed it as an exaggeration. I owe her an apology.”

Toadette scoffed. “Says the creepy girl dating her own pet imp. Talk about a limited social circle.”

Ashley’s fondling stopped dead. The wind grew louder.

“I’d stop there,” she said quietly. “You’re seriously trying my—”

A powerful force knocked her down.

Toad looked up. A torrent of fire licked at his heels. He caught the stench of his own burning soles a half-second before the pain registered. He rolled clear, coming up in a crouch.

Vivian stood with her palm outstretched, tendrils of smoke coiling from her fingertips.

Ashley’s breath hitched as she assessed her injuries. Her feet were fine, her chest okay. But her fingers froze on her burnt neck flesh. She snarled.

Vivian’s gaze lifted to the skeletal trees. The crows were thickening on the branches.

Eight hours until midnight. Eight hours to ensure Reversed Rebirth happens.

“You trying to stall us on purpose?” Vivian called to her. “I didn’t travel this far to watch some parlour tricks. Show me something worth burning.”

“No interest in mercy. Noted.” Ashley’s voice returned to its flat register. “Red. Broom form.”

She flung her wand outward; it dissolved and reconstituted as her broom. Instead of mounting, she used it as a vaulting pole, launching herself feet-first at Toadette.

Toadette caught the kick. She answered with a jab to Ashley’s chest. They traded blows—Ashley’s strikes fuelled by red energy, Toadette’s by adrenaline. Fire reignited in her groin with every block. Her stance faltered.

Toad telegraphed a swing at Ashley’s head. She bit, throwing a barrier high. But he dropped his stance, snatching her ankle.

She screamed, going down. He swung her in a wide arc. Magic fizzed from her toes as they curled, but he smothered the spell with his palm. Roaring through the searing heat, he heaved her skyward and slammed her down. The earth shook. Then again. And again.

When the burn in his muscles became unbearable, he let go. She became a projectile, tearing through dead trees. Timber cracked and bone snapped. Her eyes flew open.

“So this Power Punch isn’t passive,” he noted, sprinting. “I have to really think about using it. Thanks, Luigi, for skipping that instruction.”

“Both of you, go!” Vivian was already fading into the shadows.

“I owe her for that crotch punch.” Toadette tore past Toad, reaching Ashley first.

Ashley slumped against a splintered truck, hand raised. Toadette’s instincts screamed this was a trap. She slowed down.

Beneath her footsteps, she could hear a faint, high-pitched whistle.

“Jump!” she screamed. They launched as the broom shrieked, halting for its expected passenger. Ashley hauled herself on, grimacing and kicking off. She rocketed into the sky.

“Where does she think she’s going?” Toad snapped.

“Even with a Super Leaf, we can’t get high enough. Gotta find another way up.”

“Agreed. Just try not to scream.” He flashed a grin. “It’s embarrassing.”

“What—” She shrieked as he seized her leg. Her world dissolved into a nauseating vortex of warm colours. He gauged Ashley’s flight path as she stabilised. With a grunt of effort, he released. Toadette became a living missile, her shriek trailing behind her. “I’m going to stomp you, you son of a—”

Ashley clutched her side, a hiss escaping her clenched teeth “Red, I need deep repair. Quickly!”

“Ash, I’m still aching from earlier. That whole stretch without magic wasn’t enough recovery time.”

“Do I look like I’m trying to break you?” Her voice tightened then softened. “One rib. You’ll manage.” She took a slow breath. “I’m sorry. This is the worst of it. Once midnight passes, we’re done.”

“Right. Okay, I got you.” Then Red’s bristles began to tremble. “Wait. What’s going on?”

Ashley looked down. “You have got to be—”

Toadette seized a fistful of her hair.

Ashley’s shriek split the atmosphere. Toadette locked her hands around the broom’s trembling shaft, her feet skidding as it lurched violently towards the Moon. Gravity twisted. Their skulls lightened, lungs gasping at thin air. One arm kept her from flying into the void. The other cracked across Ashley’s side.

“Let go of me!” Ashley growled. “Red, brace yourself!”

“No, Ash! Don’t—”

“Osseous Litany!”

With a shriek, the ground below breached, splitting like glass. A storm of fragments hurtled skyward.

High above the chaos, pressure battered them. Then something coiled around Toadette’s ankle.

Bone. Some were rot-blackened, ropy with strands of tarlike sinew. Others contained dusty stuffing clinging to them. Lashing up like serpents, they snapped around her wrists and ankles.

“I was patient. That was more than you deserved.” Ashley snapped her fingers. “Enjoy the fall, fungus.”

The bones wrenched her down.

Toadette rushed through a roaring, upward-rushing tunnel. She fought against the bonds, but the bones held fast. It took a monumental effort to tuck her knees into her chest. Her numb, frozen fingers clawed at her pocket, scrambling for the familiar brass.

“Stuffwell! Stuffwell, answer me if you can hear me! Please!”

“I hear you loud and clear, Madam Toadette.” There was a pause. “Hello? Madam?”

The gale stole his words, rendering them into meaningless squeaks.

“A Super Leaf! Hurry before I die!”

“Understood! This constitutes an emergency!” He expanded in her pocket, tearing clean through her dress. She caught him as he tumbled free. His eyes widened as the ground loomed large below them. “Madam, a cursory risk assessment indicates a ninety-eight percent probability of a terminal—”

“Now!”

He cracked open. A single leaf fluttered out. She caught a centimetre of it, crushed it in her palm, and power coursed through her body. Her new tail swiped at the bones. But it couldn’t quite reach them.

Think, stupid, think! She forced air into her burning lungs. If you can’t break them, break their harmony!

She whipped her tail back and forth, not to fly but to vibrate. The bones held firm.

Below, two faces gazed up at the sky.

“There’s no way she pulls out of that,” Vivian said.

Toad crossed his arms. “Wait.”

A high-pitched whine sang through the bones. A seam popped. Then another.

With a series of sharp cracks, the structures failed. The sudden release launched Toadette upward before her tail sent her swooping in a controlled arc back to the earth.

A slow smirk crossed Toad’s face. “Every single time.”

Vivian watched, astonished, as Toadette settled into the trees with the weight of a leaf. The moment her toe kissed the soil, her legs gave way.

“Hellish magic,” Vivian breathed, pressing a hand to Toadette’s cap. “I’ve never seen a human cast at that level.”

“Goodness, I believe my internal arrangements have been substantially disturbed,” Stuffwell groaned. He turned to Toadette. “Might I suggest, madam, that this situation calls for a Life Shroom?”

“No, it’s okay.”

“Like hell it’s okay.” Toad put his hands on Stuffwell. “You’re eating the mushroom, Toadette. Look at you right now.”

“Feed me that thing, and I will make you eat my foot.” She coughed violently, pushing herself upright. “Gotta conserve them. Stuffwell, just get me some water, please.”

Vivian’s gaze moved to the sky. “A spell that large doesn’t come without a cost. Not the way she’s been fighting.”

Her suspicions were confirmed a moment later. The broom dropped out of the sky in a spinning, uncontrolled dive.

“Red! What are you doing?” Ashley screamed. “Don’t disobey me!”

“I’m empty, Ash. I need to recharge… You’re better off flying yourself.”

“But that last spell used everything I had, too! I thought you’d have enough to at least descend!” She grabbed her pained rib. “Damn it!”

“Now!” Vivian swept the group flat to the ground, rolled onto her knees and thrust one hand towards the falling broom. She spread her fingers, and the heat in them drained away until her fingertips turned to ice. “This is what you get!”

---

Minh had torn the mansion apart. The key—the one thing that could free the Twilighters of their chains and open the basement—was here. Somewhere. She’d dumped the witch’s cauldron in a boiling spill, her fingertips still springing from the spray. She’d patted down every trembling Twilighter. Nothing.

“Alright.” She wiped sweat from her brow. “If I were a little demon hiding a key, where’s the one spot no sane person would look?”

She’d heard the stories: toenail clippings for a snack, Twilighters flattened into footrests, Red whining about how her feet could peel paint off the walls with their smell alone.

She tapped her chin. “Hates her feet, huh?”

The entire mansion shuddered. Minh scrambled to the shattered window in time to see Luigi’s hammer connect with Cricket’s knee. The loud CRACK made her cringe. Cricket howled and stumbled until the joint snapped back into place. He retaliated with hectic energy blasts that Luigi elegantly danced around, sending the raw magic through the window.

She hit the deck, splinters raining around her. “Hey, we’re still in here! A little distance, maybe?”

“Considering you still haven’t freed the people, as well as the plane incident before, I’m beginning to question your purpose here.” Luigi didn’t even glance her way. “No offence.”

“Get ready to eat those words,” Minh scoffed, striding off.

Ashley’s bedroom smelt like hell. It was a mixture of vintage foot sweat, unwashed panties and the sweet tang of peanut butter. Minh’s eyes watered as she picked her way through the mess, past a stuffed bunny and a bed with stains.

Nestled by the bed were two filthy pets: white, open-backed slippers, moulded to the shape of Ashley’s feet. Fresh footprints stained their fluff.

Wait… Did one of those things just twitch?

She knelt, and the smell invaded her sinuses. Sour and alive, it coiled into her nostrils and down her throat before reeling her in like a fish. A tingly feeling bloomed in her stomach, climbing up to her face before painting her cheeks red.

“Nope. Not now, brain! Not now!” She slapped her own head. “Nasty witch. Why do your feet have to smell so…unique?”

She grabbed a slipper and shook it. A few flakes of lint drifted onto the floor.

Dang it! Would’ve been the perfect hiding spot for a key if he just complained about hating her feet. Who wouldn’t think to look there first?

She turned sharply, focusing on the dresser.

But gosh… That smell… Stealing ain’t right, but maybe I could… No! Bad Minh! Focus!

But exploring the dressers and closets yielded nothing. A few old artefacts from a century past, but that was it. She let out a heavy groan, tugging at her braids. As she panted, her eyes wavered back down to the slippers.

“Stress-relief time!”

Before she knew it, she was back on the floor with the right slipper.

She lifted it and pressed her nose into the damp, dark mouth of the heel. The stench unfolded like a cursed flower, sour and reminiscent of blue cheese and damp moss. It was like submerging her face into a swamp that had been baking under a summer sun. An even deeper blush scorched her cheeks as she inhaled deeply, a muffled sound of pleasure escaping.

You know… Maybe calling me a pig isn’t inaccurate… We’re both disgusting.

But as her nose nuzzled deeper, the fabric made a faint sucking noise.

A vicious warmth glossed over her nostrils, coating them in a thick substance that clung like honey. She tried to pull back and felt a gluey resistance.

“What the heck?” She yanked her head free with a wet pop. “Did she use these for jelly?”

Her fingers probed the interior. They sank into something soft, warm and deep. When she drew her hand out, the substance followed in stretchy clumps.

Toe jam. But this wasn’t just any toe jam. It was curated—aged like a fine, foul cheese. It wasn’t crusty or dry; it was syrupy and thick, the colour of black and faint green, flecked with particles throughout. It oozed down her fingers and seemed to pulse.

A battle raged in her mind for all of three seconds.

“Well… You only live once.” Her tongue darted out for a quick lick.

The flavour exploded across her tongue: malt-like and tart, with an underlying sweetness that had no right being there. It was the most revolting toe jam she had ever tasted.

She swallowed.

Within seconds, she was like a bear at a beehive, reaching in and yanking out handfuls of the sickening grime. Thick, warm globs of it coated her tongue and slid down her throat like a spicy snack. When she finally took a breather, her lips and chin were completely smeared black.

“Wow… Such a mean witch has no right cooking toe jam this good!” She licked her lips.

Once she’d had her fill of the right one, she moved onto the left one. Glob after glob of hot, sticky toe jam ran down her throat. It was like a three-course meal.

“Help the people before you get drunk off of this stuff,” she whispered to herself. “One more helping. Just one itty bitty helping.”

Clink! Clink!

Her fingers twitched. As she ventured deep into the slipper, she felt something narrow and solid. She scraped her nails against it. Without hesitation, she yanked it out.

A wide smile stretched across her face.

“Called it!” She held the key to the light. “Hiding in the last place anyone would want to look? Smart. Too bad for you, I’m not just anyone.”

BOOM!

The world outside flashed a deep violet. Minh scrambled back to the window. Below, Luigi and Cricket stood frozen, staring at the distant ring of orange and purple. It dispersed into the air.

“Was that her? Did Ashley blow them up?” she squealed.

“Nope. An Ashley explosion would be way more magical,” Cricket said calmly, wiping blood from his cheek. “Like fireworks. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! This is so much softer.”

Luigi cracked his neck. “Purple particles. Whatever it is, it’s magic. Perhaps they finally did her in.”

“No point lying to yourself to make you feel good.” Cricket hopped before Luigi, resuming his fighting position. He waved his hand in the air, clenching a fist. “See? She’s not gone. She’s just…”

His face went blank.

“What?” Luigi steadied his hammer.

“Hang on, Ashley,” he said aloud. “Just give me a minute, and I’ll be there for you!”

“Don’t forget what I said, kid. We’re standing on your grave.” The two launched back into their scuffle, Luigi immediately ramming Cricket into the mansion’s wall.

Minh clenched the key tight. “Let’s get these guys out of here before they destroy the whole mansion!”

---

Vivian stood panting heavily as the dust around her settled. Threads of pink electricity crackled between her fingers, surrounded by a faint black glow. Toad lifted his head and stared.

“Gravity magic,” Vivian said, anticipating his question. “I just helped her along a little.”

“You actually impress me, you know.”

“Thought you figured that out a while ago.” She wiggled her index finger at him and snickered.

Toadette pushed past them both, fanning through the last of the dust. At the bottom of the crater, Ashley lay with her clothes in tatters and blood smeared across her face and arms. Red had reverted to his imp form a metre away, groaning.

“We’ll ask you once,” Toadette said, planting her hands on her hips. “Give us the Ethereal Star and we can end this right now. Peacefully.”

“After everything she just put us through?” Toad sighed. “Toadette…”

“We’ve talked about this. I’m not killing her if I don’t have to.” She took one step forward. “But I’m also not about to let her trick me.”

Ashley let out a slow groan, moving by centimetres until she’d dragged herself to her knees.

Toad’s fist clenched. “Look at her. A grown woman throwing a tantrum because nobody wants to play with the psychotic little witch.” He stepped forward. “Newsflash, shortstack—people don’t avoid you because you’re powerful. They avoid you because you’re pathetic.”

Ashley stared at her own bloodied hands then at her bare, scraped feet in the dirt. Red finally managed to sit up, wincing. His gaze found her face, and his expression froze.

A dark spot had appeared in the soil. Another one joined it.

“Hey! Hey, come on. We haven’t lost yet. You’re Ashley. The most terrifying, amazing witch anyone in this kingdom has ever—”

A sharp wheeze came out of her. Her shoulders shook with it.

Red went completely still. “Ashley?”

“I try.” Her voice wavered. “I try so hard. But they always… They always…” She drove her nails into her wounded palms, fresh blood welling around her fingers. A fierce shriek escaped her. “Why is it so simple for everyone else?”

Red flinched back. Even Toadette took a step away. Only Toad stood firm.

“Shut up.” Toad unfolded his arms. “You work for a madman who crippled my men. You don’t get to play the victim.”

“Toad, I think you’ve made your point,” Vivian said.

“I want the Ethereal Star, and I want the Twilighters released. After that, she can use her magic to blow herself up for all I care. Do us a favour.”

“Toad!” Toadette grabbed his arm. “We won. Leave it there.”

Ashley’s shivering stopped abruptly. The fragility vanished, replaced by a stillness profoundly more disturbing. She slowly wiped her face with the back of her wrist; it left a red smear across her cheeks. She swallowed and shut her eyes.

“I can’t survive alone. I never could.”

“You’re not alone, though!” Red poked her shoulder lightly with his tail. “I know you think you are, but you say that while completely blanking the dude who’s been with you through thick and thin. Kinda hurts, Ash.”

She didn’t smile. “I appreciate your existence, Red. But a single friend is equivalent to nothing.”

“Nothing? But it’s a start.” He counted on his fingers. “Cricket? He might as well be your brother with how you two act. Mona? Neither of you ever sees your parents; you can bond over that alone. You’re not as alone as you think you are, Ash. You just keep moving the goalposts.”

“Co-workers. Aren’t. Friends. They’re paid acquaintances at best.” She looked back at the three of them. At Toad, especially. “You claim to know who I am. You have absolutely no idea.”

“Then show us,” Vivian calmly said. “Who exactly are you?”

“Red. Wand form. Now.”

“Here we go,” Red sighed. He transformed.

“I am not a little girl.” Ashley slowly rose from the crater, teeth beginning to show. Her hair bled white. “I am Ashley. And every single cursed person in this town is going to be my friend—including you three.” Her voice had gone very quiet. “You will receive my affection, and you will thank me for it.”

“Listen to this psychopath,” Toad groaned, breaking from Toadette’s grasp and charging.

Ashley didn’t aim at him; she angled the wand straight at her own breasts.

“Corpus Colossaeus!”

She held the silence for a heartbeat. Nothing came. When Toad lunged, her eyes snapped shut, panic flooding her. He retracted his fist.

A blinding flash erupted from the wand, freezing Toad mid-stop. The form of a pentagram hovered before Ashley, spinning before disappearing into her body with a crimson mist.

She ripped her eyes open. “I… I did it…”

A wet, grinding pop throbbed from her gut, then her body cracked apart. Her spine snapped into a grotesque arch. A guttural scream ripped from a jaw that seemed to be broken. Her spine elongated, each new segment snapping into place with a sickening crack.

Her ribs jutted through her bruised skin before reshaping into a cage too small for the lungs swelling inside. Then again. The crunching never ceased.

“I can barely open my eyes!” Toadette covered her face as a sudden gust threw her off her feet.

Ashley’s roar tore through the field as her shoulders popped. Muscle fibres screamed as they stretched to fit her burgeoning skeleton. Quickly her skin tore open, oozing a thin, amber sap before stitching itself seamlessly.

Then her feet followed suit.

Her arches ballooned into massive curves; callused pads swelled, hard as asphalt. The yellowed ball of her foot flattened the earth beneath like an anvil of flesh. Toes splayed and cracked as they elongated into wriggling digits capped with jagged nails.

They gouged into the dirt, splitting the soil effortlessly. With each half metre, a hot wave of her foot odour rolled towards the heroes.

Second after second, Ashley towered higher.

Toadette shivered. “It’s like she ate a Mega Mushroom!”

“That’s at least sixty metres…” Toad stumbled back, his charge forgotten. “What the hell has she done?”

Ashley’s head tipped forward, her elongated neck snapping. Her hair blazed white, specks of dust cascading down like ash. Blood smeared her cheeks, but her lips curled in a twisted mix of pain and triumph. Her voice fell an octave lower; each breath sent a tremor rippling across the field.

“I had her…helpless.” Vivian swallowed hard. “I should’ve finished her when I had the chance!”

Ashley finally looked down, her giant silhouette swallowing the light that fell on the trio. “Hello down there,” she growled with a manic smile. “Tell me: how’s the view?”

---

Author’s Note:
We’ve had characters shrink around Ch. 110, but is this the first time a character has grown during this arc? Huh. Well expect a giant Ashley for the next few chapters. I hope you have a strong stomach, because you know her feet are going to be vile when she’s this big. I’m so damn excited.

This is your last reminder to participate in planning for the next arc if you want to. It will be over by the end of Sunday, 13 March.

Go here to suggest ideas. It's anonymous.