In the Mushroom Kingdom, in a dark alleyway near the edge of Toad Town, two toads stood directly across from each other. One was leaning casually against the brick wall, scraping dirt out of the crack of two bricks in an effort to keep from falling asleep. The other had already fallen asleep, and his faint snoring barely reached the ears of his partner. Both were standing at the opening of a long, dark tunnel that echoed any small noise ominously.

"Two months," the toad grumbled after taking one of many glances at the tunnel entrance. "I love Mario and the princess, but guarding this entrance six hours a day for two months has almost been too much to bear! I'd quit if this job wasn't so easy. But the boredom!" In his frustration, he kicked the other toad awake.

"What's going on?" The other toad asked groggily, clumsily grabbing his fallen spear. "Something finally come through?"

"No, but we have to stay awake in case something actually does come through," replied the former toad.

"Like anything will ever come through," the latter toad whined. He threw his spear back down, where it clattered off the stone. "We were asked to guard this a year ago! I haven't slept nights in months!"

"It's only been two-" The former toad began, but he heard faint footsteps. "Do you hear that?"

"Just my stomach grumbling," the latter mumbled. "Did you know I haven't had a feast in ages, either?"

"After tonight I'll buy you a shroom steak," the former said. "Now be quiet and get your spear. I think I heard something." His grip on his own spear tightened.

The two toads listened carefully for even the faintest noise. After a minute of listening, both heard a faint voice grumbling from the tunnel. They glanced at each other and stepped into the tunnel. They immediately felt their bodies tingle and their gazes were veiled in a faint light blue. Their senses had magnified, and they immediately sensed danger.

"What's going on?" The latter asked loudly. The former toad quickly ran to his partner and slammed his hand over his mouth.

"What was that?" A deep, gruff voice came from deeper in the tunnel.

The former put his hand to his lips in a shushing gesture, removed his other hand, and slowly tiptoed deeper into the tunnel.

"But isn't this why we were guarding the tunnel in the first place?" the latter whispered. "In case we heard anything suspicious. Let's alert the princess, quickly. I didn't like the sound of that voice."

"Just move on," a slightly higher but equally gruff voice commanded. "Whatever Richard heard was probably a rat. We know the mission, so let's carry it out. No talking."

"I swear I heard something," Richard pleaded. "Tiny voice as high as Willicent's."

"Shut it," a high voice replied. "My voice may be high, but my balls are bigger than yours!"

"What language," the latter toad mumbled. "Who are these guys?"

"That's what we're going to find out," the former replied. "Follow me."

The pair traveled in silence through the curving tunnel for a few minutes before hearing a loud stomp right around the corner. "Oh shoot!" The latter whispered. "Let's leave!"

"Argh, damn it all!" Richard growled. "Stepped on a knife or something."

"Richard, you're a grown man," said a voice deeper than any of the ones the toads heard before. "Suck it up and quit being a baby. And shut up, too. Something may hear you."

"He'll wake up the whole town, the way he shouts," said another, vaguely familiar, voice.

"Seriously, guys," said Richard from the floor, nursing his bleeding foot. "It was a knife."

"Then your bitching would've warned them," said the deepest voice.

"Seriously, Richard, don't you know when to shut up?" replied a fifth voice.

"Let's stab a knife through your foot and see how you react," Richard replied.

"Can we please continue our mission?" The slightly higher voice replied. "I want our reward quickly. Richard, will you be okay?"

"Yeah," Richard replied. "I'll hobble behind you."

"Good enough," said a sixth voice. "Let's move!"

In the time the voices had spoken, the two toads had crept up as close as they dared. They hid in the shadows as six men, five large men and one tall, lanky man, walked past them, all carrying large guns and wearing full-body camouflage armor. Several grenades and ammo clips were in various pockets of their belts and each of their boots contained a knife.

"What're they going to do to the Mushroom Kingdom with all of that stuff?" The latter toad whispered quickly as soon as they had passed. "Are those weapons? They could kill everyone!"

"We can't sneak past them, but we can't let them get through," the former replied. He couldn't believe what he was about to suggest, but there was no other choice. "Should we… kill them?"

The latter toad bit his lips in thought for a few seconds. "For the good of the Kingdom," he answered, gripping his spear and ignoring a whisper in his head, urging him to reconsider.

"Then get ready to attack on my signal," said the former toad. He, too, heard a whisper. The pair stepped out of the shadows and ran to catch up with the soldiers, ducking down to muffle their footsteps. They aimed their spears at the two soldiers in the back, waited for the former toad to whisper the signal, and threw the spears straight into the men's backs. The two cried out in pain before collapsing. The four other men ran back to their comrades, wedged the spears out of their backs, threw them aside and checked their pulses.

"They're alive, but hurt," said the deep-voiced man, the largest one of the group. "More damn traps?"

"They're prepared for us. Should we turn back?" Willicent asked.

"We carry out the mission," said the higher pitched soldier, lifting Richard to his feet. "You alright, pal?"

"Lenny, Richard, you two okay?" The familiar looking, as well as sounding, soldier asked as he lifted Lenny.

"I hate this tunnel," Richard replied. "I didn't get hurt because the armor stopped the stick, but darn it! Why am I the one who keeps getting attacked?"

"Maybe the traps have a whiner magnet?" The deepest voice offered.

As the soldiers spoke, the two toads carefully walked to their spears and grabbed them again. They decided to aim for the heads next time, as their armor covered nearly their entire bodies. They lifted their spears over their heads in preparation to throw them again when Lenny glanced around and spotted them. "What the hell are they?" He asked, shocked, pointing at the toads.

"Throw," said the former toad. They threw their spears at the soldiers: one hitting Lenny in the neck and causing him to collapse again; the other landing harmlessly after Mark ducked. Four of the men shot blindly at the two toads, who had jumped back into the darkness and dove around the curve. The familiar soldier stayed slightly behind the men, slowly walking toward the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Did we get them?" Willicent asked excitedly. "I think we got them!"

"No blood," noticed the higher pitched man. "Probably didn't get- wait! Lenny!" He finally noticed Lenny and removed the spear from him. He checked his pulse. "It's faint. He needs medical attention ASAP."

"We don't need him," the deepest voice replied. "I don't wanna carry the large bastard through this tunnel. Leave him for the troops."

"He's barely breathing," replied Willicent, getting medical supplied out. "I'll patch him up, but we can't risk moving him until we finish the mission."

"What about the toads?" The familiar soldier asked.

"Toads?" repeated Richard. "Frogs? They didn't look like frogs to me, Mark."

Mark replied. "They're called toads. Did you listen to nothing James said?"

The higher pitched soldier, the one helping Willicent with Lenny, grinned. "I like you, Mark. Not many people say that."

The deepest voice sighed in frustration "Finish patching Lenny up. I want to go into that town and raise Hell. I'll kill all of those 'toads' in Lenny's, uh, honor."

"No you won't," the latter toad shouted and, before the former toad could stop him, ran into the open and threw his spear at the largest man. He dodged and fired at the toad, hitting him three times before he could avoid the bullets.

"Oh no," Mark whispered inaudibly.

"Sweet damn, I love this gun," said the largest man. "It made Swiss Cheese out of that thing. Now, then, you 'toad'! If you ain't dead, you'll die knowing this: We are going to go to your village, kill people, burn houses! Then the real army - the one a thousand times bigger than us - is going to burn your kingdom to the ground!"

"No you won't," shouted the former toad, who had crawled up to Richard, pulled out the knife from his boot, and threw it at the largest man. It twisted in midair and the hilt hit the man in the stomach and fell harmlessly to the ground. "Shoot."

"Don't shoot!" Richard shouted, diving aside before the largest man could fire. The former toad was then showered with bullets. His last breaths would have been filled with excruciating pain, but a mysterious force numbed the pain.

"Damn Bark," Richard said after getting to his feet. "I almost feel bad for the guy."

"He tried killing me," said Bark. "The bastard deserved it."

"Willicent, run!" Mark suddenly shouted. He had pulled out a grenade and thrown it at Bark as soon as he shouted. He took off toward the Mushroom Kingdom while the other soldiers ran the other direction, abandoning their fallen comrade.

All three passed over the latter toad, who had heard his partner's death and knew what was coming. Like his partner, his pain was numbed, but unlike his partner, his last breaths consisted of four words of hope: "For the Mushroom Kingdom." Before he could finish another breath, the grenade detonated, engulfing the toad and Lenny and collapsing the tunnel in its fiery blaze.

Mark slowed down when he reached the end of the tunnel, dust following him as he stopped. After checking for any witnesses, he crept out of the tunnel, stripped his camouflage, threw it against the wall, and grabbed his hidden blue overalls, red shirt, and signature hat from behind a loose brick. After dusting them off, he searched the armor for the pistol hidden in the belt and the knife. After weighing the weapons in his hands, he checked the amount of ammo the pistol had and slid both in his pockets - just in case.

"Mamma mia," Mario muttered, rubbing his head and setting his hat on his head. The gravity of the events a few minutes prior had only just seeped in. He had seen two toads die. He had caused one of them. The first unnatural deaths in Mushroom Kingdom history. "Poor Toads. Poor, poor Toads! I'm so sorry you had to die. I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

He spent a few moments with his hat over his heart in a respectful salute, silently mourning his fallen comrades and contemplating what had happened over the last few hours. His mission wasn't over. He had to perform one last duty to the Kingdom: "I have to warn the princess before it's too late!"