Super Princess Peach

Ch. 26

The next day, the toads waited in their cages in tense silence, watching as the Wigglite castle prepared for the Eruption Festival. Peach lay near the back of her cage, swathed in shadows, trying to get some rest. As she tried to drift off, she replayed Toadsmith's plan in her head, over and over. It might work. They might just manage to free themselves. 

The castle bustled with activity. At regular intervals during the day, Wigglites would pass through the prison corridor, carrying sometimes coals, other times water, sometimes steaming hot food for the feast. It was those times when some of the toads would reach out of their cages, begging to be fed. They were all ignored, of course, but Peach would always feel a stab of sympathy in her stomach for the hungry toads. She wanted to placate them numerous times with the Calm Stone, but she advised herself to keep her strength, to keep strong. 

That evening, traffic in the prison hallway slowed to a few Wigglites that carried coal. These two, Peach saw, actually went down into the trapdoor that Toadsmith had pointed out yesterday. After going in, they did not come back up. Soon, the hallway was empty, no one coming in for at least half an hour. 

Toadsmith perked up in his cage. "Princess!" he hissed, unlocking his picked lock and sliding his cage open. He peeked his head out and then slipped out into the hallway. "Now!" 

Peach gulped, feeling her heart hammer. You can do this, she thought as Toaddette gave her a reassuring hug. You have to save your toads! Activating her Rage Stone, Peach grappled the lock on her own cage and concentrated fire power in her hands. Her fingers began to glow a hot red, and Peach felt power in the form of anger flow into her arms, strengthening her muscles. In one superheated squeeze, she crushed the lock to her cage.  

"Go, Peaches!" Toaddette whispered supportively as Peach crawled out of the cage and stood in the hallway. Her back ached, and her legs were sore from sitting for so long, but she dusted herself off and stood, determined. Perry floated out behind her, and she grabbed his handle and closed him up.  

"Please!" the peel-off toad, who was named Toadore, said, reaching his hand out of his cage. "Take us with you!" 

"Yeah, come on!" another said. "We've been cramped in these cages for days!" 

"I just wanna stretch m'legs!" another croaked. 

"No," Toadsmith snapped. "Stick with the plan, people. Peach and I are going to secure our exit. You have to stay here and make it look like nothing's happening, should someone pass by." 

"I will return," Peach said as she cancelled the Rage Stone. "I'm not going to leave you all here. I promise."  

Everyone, grudgingly, settled down at this. 

"Come on," Toaddette said to the distressed toads. "Why don't we talk about what we want to do when we get out of here?" 

"Punch a Wigglite in the gut, I'll tell you that!" Toadore exclaimed, balling his fists. "I'm so going to peel off on all of them!" 

"Toadore, enough of you and your 'peeling off'!" another toad snapped. 

"I want a bath," another toad said. "I haven't been this dirty since I was a child playing in the mud." 

"I want some food," another toad moaned. "Some of my mother's lemon-sponge cake with strawberries...and a huge dab of whipped cream on the top...and wash it down with a glass of milk..." 

"Shut up!" the other starved toads groaned. 

Toadsmith poked Peach and cocked his head towards the trapdoor in the corner. Quickly, Peach trotted after him. Together, they moved the barrels aside and grabbed the handle of the trapdoor and swung it open.