Tragedy of the Stars: A Super Mario Short Story
Chapter 1: Loneliness
A/N: This is the beginning of a two chapter short story about the Mario universe that is not intended to have any connections with any of my other stories. It was originally intended to be a one shot but I decided it would be better as two chapters. I hope you all enjoy it but be warned that it will have a significantly darker tone than The Greatest Enemy and will therefore rated T for Teens instead of K+. Also, this story is primarily influenced by the first Mario game on the Nintendo Switch, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Without further ado, this is Tragedy of the Stars: A Super Mario Short Story! Enjoy!
I looked outside the window to my barrack to see the green-blue hues of The Earth, the rocky, grey surface of The Moon, and the twinkling stars shining bright in the night sky. I've been on the surface of The Moon in a place called Lunar Colony for the past month, working for an organization called the Rainbow Exploration Agency, or REXA. Even though it's only been a month, it feels like a year. I'm the only Yoshi in the entire base, everyone else is some other Mushroom Kingdom creature. I'm also a White Yoshi, a rare kind of Yoshi that isn't seen often in the Mushroom Kingdom.
"All pilots in Brigades 1 through 10 please report to Dock C1," a robotic voice on the intercom stated. I sighed, dreading the day that was ahead of me. Being the only Yoshi on the space station, I had no friends and no family. I feel like everyone looks down upon me just because of who I am. I walked out my dorm room and into the hallway of Sector D. Lunar Colony is comprised of four sectors, each of which have two docks in which space shuttles could take off. I walked from Sector D through a gateway like those seen in an airport to Sector C and then down the hallway and through a set of double doors to Dock C1. I lined up with my brigade, Brigade 8, or as the other members like to call it, Brigade 8 Deluxe. The commander, a White Shy Guy named Withe, started to call out the names of the brigade members.
"Lucy," he called, and a hyper medium sized Goomba jumped in the air, as she doesn't have hands,
"I'm here! I'm here!" she shouted
"Stu," he called next. An overconfident male Red Toad raised his hand,
"Of course I'm here, what, do you think I'd be at the snack bar? Oh wait, I would," everyone laughed at his attempt at a joke except for the commander and I.
"Be quiet, soldier, or else you do everyone's laundry," he snapped. He then shut up, and I smiled to myself, as he had to do that once, and it was hilarious to watch.
"Ess," he called next. A bored female Boo raised her hand, looking for something else to do.
"Here," she stated in a dry, bored tone.
"Alright, that should be everyone," Commander Withe said. I rolled my eyes, expecting this and raised my hand.
"Did I miss anyone?" he asked, "Oh, right, Blanc. Sorry, you're always so quiet." Everyone snickered at me, and it looked like I didn't hear anyone on the outside, but on the inside I was angry at all the members, even Withe. Withe cleared his throat and motioned everyone to sit down at a futuristic electronic looking table. Everyone did, and I had to stand because
"Anyways, now that you're all present, here is today's briefing. I was talking with the other brigade commanders and we agree it is time to explore a newly discovered Rainbow Road that we may be able to use pieces of in order to repair Wii U Rainbow Road so it can be used in the next Special Cup." The other three brigade members cheered, while I simply clapped.
"Yes, this is great," the commander continued, "our job is to pilot the space shuttle to go to the Rainbow Road." Commander Withe then pulled out a notepad from his pocket,
"Now, here is everyone's job." Everyone listened attentively, including me.
"Lucy, your job is co-pilot. You'll be assisting the pilot in his journey." Lucy smiled,
"Yay! I get to fly a spaceship!" Everyone else was charmed by her hyperactivity and passion, but I found it to be slightly annoying, especially when I advise her to do something.
"Stu, you will be on pod duty. You'll be the one who collects the portions of the Rainbow Road and then storing it in the pod on the ship.
"Yes! I told you I'd be doing pod duty Lucy, you owe me 10 Coins." Lucy laughed and gave Stu 10 gold Coins. Commander Withe stayed stoic and continued reading off his notes,
"Ess, you'll be in mission control advising everyone else."
"Yay, I get to be an advisor," she said unenthusiastically.
"As for you, Blanc," I zoned out at this point, but snapped back into focus once he said my name, "you are the pilot." Everyone gasped and was up in arms.
"Why does he get to be the pilot? I want to fly the ship!" Lucy said angrily, "I'm way more active than he is," shooting a glare at me, which I chose to ignore.
"He doesn't even talk to us," Ess said in the same unenthusiastic tone as before.
"I mean, come on commander!" Stu said maliciously, "just look at him, he never speaks to anyone, isn't athletic, he's a nerd, and his name is a misspelling of 'blank'."
"Actually, it's French for 'white'," I corrected him.
"Does it look like I care?" Stu shot back.
"Everyone, settle down," the commander shouted, silencing everyone.
"Blanc is pilot and that is final. He passed the space shuttle flight class with an A+, which none of you have even come close to achieving. Lucy, you're only co-pilot because you got a C instead of an F," he said, looking at Stu and Ess, "he may be quiet, but he knows what he is doing. You will listen to him or you'll hear from me. Understand?" Everyone was silent but looking at me visibly annoyed, even Ess, who normally shows no emotion. Commander Withe looked at me as well, but shot me a gaze that said, 'I have faith in you.'
"Good. Now that we have roles sorted out, I will be on the space shuttle with you as commander. We meet back here in 30 minutes. Brigade 8 dismissed." Everyone got up from the table and went to their separate dorm rooms. Most people share a dorm room but I am alone due to there being an odd number of brigade members. Commander Withe shared with Stu and Lucy shared with Ess. I began to walk back to my dorm when Commander Withe stopped me.
"Blanc, we need to talk," he said with concern. I stopped walking and listened to what he had to say.
"Is everything alright? You haven't been to any social events, you rarely ever talk to anyone besides me, and you seem distant and depressed most of the time." I knew what he was talking about, but I really didn't care about anyone in the brigade, as I view them all as jerks. Commander Withe is a good commander, but I just don't like him too much. I contemplated what to say, but ended up not saying anything and walking away.
"If you ever need to talk, I'm here!" the commander shouted after me. I pretended not to hear him as I walked through the double doors back into Sector D. I walked into my dorm room surveying it for anything I needed. I looked around and saw the picture of my family. In it were my father, who stuck out his tongue as the picture was taken, and my mother, who jumped into the air and was flutter jumping to stay there. Finally, there was me riding on the back of my father's saddle, looking like I was having the best time of my life. I sighed,
"Mom, Dad, you wanted me to follow my dreams to be an astronaut, well, I guess I'm doing it." I laughed curtly and sighed again, feeling a sense of nostalgia for the time of the picture. I quickly realized it had almost been 30 minutes and grabbed my notebook full of space shuttle flying instructions, my phone, and then left the dorm rushing back to Dock C1. I was the first one there so I waited for everyone else. Withe showed up first, then Lucy and Ess, and finally Stu.
"Everyone," Commander Withe said, "get into your positions." Everyone nodded and said,
"Yes, sir," Brigade 8 responded.
Ess left the room for mission control, while everyone else entered the space shuttle. It was colored grey and had the REXA logo along the back with the Special Cup logo on the nose of the shuttle. We entered the shuttle through a door and I sat down in the pilot's seat. Lucy and Commander Withe sat next to me and Stu headed for the other end of the ship.
"I should have been the pilot," Stu muttered as he sat in the seat meant for going outside of the space ship. Since everyone normally wears their space suit, everyone simply put their helmets down as Ess spoke in her normal tone of voice through the communicator on the dashboard.
"Stu, are you ready?"
"Is water blue?" he asked. I laughed and said,
"Actually, it could be described as clear…"
"Shut up, Blank!" Stu shouted, incorrectly pronouncing my name.
"It's Blanc," I responded
"I swear…" Stu said, getting angry.
"I'll take that as a yes," Ess said, "Lucy, are you ready?"
"I'm ready to fly! Woohoo!" Lucy shouted, possibly shattering my ears.
"Commander, are you ready?" Ess asked.
"Yes," the commander said.
"We're good to go," she said.
"Wait? What about me?" I asked frantically.
"Ready for take off in 3," she continued
"I'm here too!" I shouted, trying to make my voice heard.
"2,"
"Ess! I need to give you the all clear!"
"1 and 0." She pressed a button, signaling the ship's departure. I sighed, but ultimately started up the ship's engines, not noticing the blinking red light flashing on the dashboard.