It was a bright sunny day and there were only a few clouds floating about. Jimmy was walking around Toad town and he took a look at the statue. He frowned when he gazed upon the copper immortalization. The statue was of him and his friends and it commemorated the day that he and his friends battled the evil Gelnishia. "I hate this statue..." He thought to himself. "We don't need something like this to glorify us. I don't want to be glorified..."

He turned and headed south. He squinted and covered his eyes from the glare of the sun that entered them. There before him was the train station that led to Mount Rugged. The grimy train was just about ready to leave there so Jimmy paid his 5 coins and hopped on. He poked out of the window of the speeding locomotive and the wind met his face. "Wow!" After a few minutes, the train stopped at Mount Rugged and jumped off of the train.

He looked around the mountain and saw the sun beat down on the rocky terrain. Jimmy walked the path until he met the most peculiar thing. It looked sort of like a mole but it was a lot bigger. The creature before him had a large swollen bump on its head that was bleeding a little. The creature was known as Whacka.

Jimmy approached it cautiously and it smiled weakly to him. "Don't be shy, come over here. Just don't hit me okay?"

"Hit you? Why would I want to do that?" Jimmy asked gently. "I actually want to take a look at that bump on your head..."

"Why? Do you want to eat some of it?" Whacka replied timidly. "Apparently, my cuts and bumps are delicious and nutritious..."

"Maybe I can do something to make the bump less painful." Jimmy muttered and waved his feather, transforming it into a first aid kit. He pulled out some gauze and told him. "It'll be fine...but it will sting a little." He pressed the damp gauze cloth on the bump and Whacka winced. Jimmy rubbed the bump a little and frowned. "You might have a concussion...are you feeling okay?"

"I feel a little sick..." Whacka moaned. "It's okay, I was sick this morning but now I feel a little..."

"You might really do have a concussion and the cut on your head is infected. I'm going to treat you, okay?" Jimmy nodded. "My name is Jimmy and I'm a medic in training. You'll have to come out of your hole."

"What?" Whacka asked.

"You have a concussion which has to do with your brain. I'm going to take you out of your hole to examine you." Jimmy said flatly. "Will you let me?"

Whacka blinked and his eyes shimmered but he suddenly blacked out. When he awakened, he found himself in a blanket and there was a bag of ice on his head. He was out of his hole. "...what...am I doing out of my hole?"

Jimmy approached him and smiled. "You blacked out..."

Whacka groaned. "I feel a little better...my head feels cold..."

"That's ice..." Jimmy replied. "It'll take the swelling down...I had to use my magic to heal the infection though. The magic of healing takes a lot of energy out of me..."

"You did all this for me...?" Whacka frowned. "I'm sorry... I must be quite the bother..."

"I like to do things like this..." Jimmy replied. "Protecting others is my life, really."

"So you being here...is making you happy?" Whacka asked weakly.

"Of course!" Jimmy smiled back to Whacka.

"I'm glad..." Whacka nodded. "Making other people happy is what I love to do."

"I'm staying here with you tonight." Jimmy said earnestly. "How about you tell me about yourself?"

"My name's Whacka and I live here on Mount Rugged. I get some visits from a paratroopa named Parakarry when he flies around. You know parakarry? That's great! Well, I get bumps like this one when other people hit me over the head. They sometimes hit me over the head with objects..." Whacka frowned and his eyes grew a little glassy. "I hate it when they do that but the bumps on my head are very yummy. They make those people happy so I let them hit me..."

"That's terrible!" Jimmy shouted. "How could they do that?! Don't they take your feelings into account?"

"I don't know." Whacka replied uneasily. "They always smile at me so I assume they're happy..."

"NO! If it hurts you then it's bad!" Jimmy replied. "I'll sleep here with you tonight if you don't mind..."

"If it'll make you happy then fine!" Whacka cheerily said. "I like having company."

Jimmy created a campsite with his magic and settled into his sleeping bag. He yawned and they both settled into a deep sleep. Whacka tossed and turned and groaned.

He looked around and found himself in the middle of a giant coliseum. Suddenly the audience started throwing things at him. They hit him with a barrage of hammers, clubs and shovels. He emerged covered in bruises and cuts. "Ohh...Please don't...but if it makes you happy then..."

Suddenly a figure appeared in the shadows. The figure walked out into the light and Whacka knew him well. It was a man with a bushy mustache, red suspenders and a blue shirt. He was topped with a hat with an M on it. "Oh it's you...you've come to hit me over the head again...right? I don't want to... it'll hurt..."

The figure in red didn't respond, only positioned his hammer. His hat caused the top half of his face to be concealed in shadow. He smiled and ran up to the whacka, jumped high and his hammer came down. The odd thing though was his hammer grew to a colossal size. Whacka screamed and he awoke to Jimmy's concerned face. "Oh...it was only a dream...but it'll come true too..."

"You were having a nightmare. What was it about?" Jimmy asked.

"I-It was terrible..." Whacka frowned and a tear formed in his eye. "I was hit by...him..." He looked up and sniffed as the tear rolled down. "The worst thing of all is that he'll come tomorrow, I know!"

"You even have nightmares about the hitting...?" Jimmy asked, aggrieved. "That's awful..."

"... There's nothing I can do to stop it either." Whacka sighed heavily. "He'll hit me again and again and again..."

"I'll protect you."

"What?"

Jimmy looked directly into the Whacka's eyes and said. "I'll protect you. You have my word."

"You can't! He has this gigantic hammer!" Whacka protested. "He'll clobber you!"

"Giant Hammer...?" Jimmy asked. "Don't worry, I can handle it."

They both went back to sleep and then the morning rolled around. It was sunny in the beginning but there were clouds on the horizon and Jimmy prepared for the onslaught. Whacka and Jimmy nervously waited around until about noon when a portly person appeared on the scene. The person was wearing a Blue shirt over a red set of overalls. He had a hat with an M and a smile on his mustachioed face. Jimmy was in the bushes and he saw the familiar visage. "Mario?"

Mario approached Whacka who was in his hole and he called. "Whacka! It's Mario! I need another one of your delicious bumps!"

"How dare you..." Jimmy growled and was still in the bushes.

"I hope Jimmy's still here..." Whacka thought and called. "Here I come..." He came up and the hammer came down. Whacka winced but looked up when he saw that the hammer stopped above him.

"What in the..." Mario groaned as he tried to resist but suddenly he was hurled from that spot about 10 feet away. "What in the world...?"

Jimmy jumped out of the bushes and glared angrily at Mario. "So it's true! You are hurting Whacka!"

"Huh? Jimmy!" Mario exclaimed. "Where did you come from?"

"How on earth can you do this?" Jimmy asked painfully and then he glared at him again. "How could you even think about hurting this poor whacka?!"

Mario simply put the hammer aside and leaned on it. "... ... um ..."

"I don't believe this..." Jimmy sighed into his chest. "...I looked up to you... This is too horrible!"

"I don't see what's so horrible about it." Mario sighed. "It's only a Whacka...now git!"

"NO!" Jimmy shouted. "You can't hurt Whacka anymore... I won't let  you."

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, kid." Mario replied flatly. "Now get out of the way."

"I've sworn to protect him. He's one of my friends and I'm not going to let you hurt him anymore." Jimmy protested. "I'm not moving."

"A Whacka's just here for whacking. Why do you think he's called that?"

"It's cruel!" Jimmy said. "Don't you ever think about who your hurting?"

"Nope, and no one seems to mind...I hurt troopas, I hurt monsters, I hurt Bowser and everyone makes me heroic!" Mario took his hammer in his hand. "Now...out of the way!"

Jimmy took a breath and remained where he was. "If it must come to this...then so be it."

Mario took a running start with his hammer in hand and Jimmy summoned a bolt of lightning that flew across the sky and slammed Mario head on. The electric currents danced around his body and Mario fell to his knees. "Ugh..."

"I don't want to fight you!" Jimmy commanded. "Now let's stop this madness before one of us gets hurt."

"Fine! You step out of the way then." Mario replied coldly.

"I'm not going to do that." Jimmy frowned.

"Then here I come!" Mario yelled and ran towards the kid. Jimmy stood there staring into Mario's eyes as he raised his hammer and it came down. There was a silence and Jimmy struggled back and frowned when he saw what happened.

Whacka laid there, bleeding on the ground. He was hit again on the head and he groaned painfully. "...ugh...Jimmy"

Mario stepped back, his hands were trembling so much that he dropped his hammer. He looked at Jimmy with terrified eyes and then he stared at himself. "... ...what have I done?" He turned and ran off in a flurry. "Why did I do that?!"

"Oh Whacka...why?" Jimmy gulped miserably.

"I wanted to make you happy..." Whacka winced. "I wanted to...protect you..."

"Whacka...you didn't have to..." Jimmy sobbed and hugged Whacka close to him. "Thank you..."

"Now...I have no regrets. You've cared for me...even though it inconvienienced you...If...only there were...more people like you in this world...good bye, Jimmy..." At that, Whacka closed his eyes.

"...Oh no..." Jimmy whispered and clutched the creature close. He wept into Whacka's body. Jimmy looked around for Mario but he was nowhere to be seen. Jimmy looked at the Peaceful Whacka and wiped his eyes. "Don't worry, Whacka...I guess you can rest now."

Jimmy waved his feather and it transformed into a shovel. He dug a large, deep hole and wrapped Whacka in a blanket. While looking around in his hole, he found Whacka's diary and it was opened to the last entry.
 

Dear Diary,

    I can't keep getting hit on the head, it's hurts so much and now I'm forgetting things I used to know. Today was different though, today I met someone different. His name is Jimmy and he helped make my head feel much better and he cured my sickness.
    He agreed to stay the night with me and I had another nightmare. I keep having nightmares ever since this man in red found out about my bumps gave energy. He's the one who hits me over the head all the time, how I want to hate him so, but I can't.
    Jimmy volunteered to protect me from this red monster. It was very touching, but I didn't want him to because I was afraid he would get hurt. I've made a decision now and it may be the most important one ever. If this Red Monster attacks Jimmy, I'll protect him by taking the hammer. I know that'll probably kill me but...I knew I was going to die. You see...I met an angel yesterday. Good bye, Diary.

       Yours,
       Whacka
 

Jimmy finished reading the section and he smiled sadly as a tear rolled out of his eye. He returned outside and finished his job of burying whacka. He created a tombstone from magic and it was planted alongside the grave. The tomb read "Here lies Whacka, always striven to make others happy. Rest In Peace."