A/N: Hi all, two quick things I wanted to mention. On my profile page there's an insightful preface to the story, and I have a link to the compiled SOUNDTRACK on YouTube called "Sounds From Beyond The Rift." I hope it helps to give the clearest sense I can offer of the epic yet ethereal aesthetic of this story, as well as its whole scope. As they often say in film, the music is 51% of a story, and that's my exact intention here. So with that, I hope you enjoy!
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**** ACT 01 – THE GRAND COLLISION ****
PROLOGUE – OUR SAME STARS
Sometimes we lose ourselves in a thought...
Yes, give a simple thought, perhaps...
That single moment of time goes largely unnoticed into the past; never to be seen or heard from again other than in the form of a delicate memory for someone, someplace. But what's in this moment, or this little thought with all the things that might happen across the universe in such a quick blink of an eye? The only possible answer would be far too many things to even begin comprehending.
Days pass into nights, and the nights into days again. An eternal dance goes between the sun, moon, and stars which all watch over our little celestial home we call Earth. Soon, it's the months which come to an end. Seasons slip away with the gentle gusts of chilled wind. The rains slowly become snow, their frail counterpart, and cover up the thick layers of withered leaves from last autumn's cleaning to start anew. Another whole year arrives before we know it.
The very notions of time and our existence become all but forlorn amidst this increasingly rapid pace of all things in the world today, but maybe there's simply too little time to really try and ponder that idea in the first place.
Everyone was once a young child too, eventually coming to a stop on the path they walk in an attempt to look back and remember just how wondrous and so opened the world around them was. What all had been forgotten somewhere in that transition called growing up? It seemed as though it were a surreal yet beautiful dream the entire time, without a beginning nor end.
They saw everything in a different light, felt everything with a different heart. All of life wasn't as it appeared. There was something much greater out there; perhaps something beyond anything in reality. Only now, many years later, a certain hint of this elusive feeling is finally revisiting some of them again.
How they wondered about every little thing. They gazed up longingly at the clouds, high above their shoulders in a weightless drift off to distant places. They saw how their shadows were dancing on the ground and on the walls in the amber sunlight of a summer's evening. It was how they laughed and played together with their friends on those untold counts of beautiful days outside. Even the soft sound of their bare feet running upon moist morning grass in the yard is often still heard in frail echoes, beckoning from somewhere far beyond.
During the nights, every twinkling star both large and small, close and far, watched over each one of them from the dark skies so far above. The children's eyes would often stare upward with that same yearning; a certain aching desire to journey somewhere else. The heavens always answered back down to them, smiling just the same while a wisp of the night's breeze caressed through their hair. It's all the things which go by unseen, but are somehow felt so powerfully.
Moments like these are engraved forever; euphoric senses somewhere deep in the mind but moreover in the heart, like little photographs marking an exact time and place years ago. It just recalls something special. Such curiosities and memories often differ between each child, but they'd hardly ever take a stray path from their innocent core of youthfulness whence they occurred.
It was all those indefinite fascinations they let percolate deeply over the passing years whenever they tried something new. There was also a very first time when he or she played a video game in their lives, but what exactly was a video game to us back then? What meanings did it have? They were something beautiful to any young mind's imagination, just like all the other wonders of life.
They were stories...
They were characters...
They were worlds...
They were alive with endless possibilities...
But all of it was on a screen, existing here on this world in an artificial dimension of pixels. The only form which they sprawled across was a TV panel, and yet, it was somehow much more than that. Against the darkness of a game room where nothing ever seemed to change with time, it became a mystical window into that other place. Many a young mind could gain control and explore an entire digital realm with a quick flick of the thumb-stick, or tap of a button.
Long into the deep hours of night they'd play with their friends, brothers, or sisters; solidifying what could very well be the shortest of passing moments into lifelong memories which would never be forgotten.
Can it properly be described, this little feeling? Are we meant to understand what this echoing wonder from childhood could mean? Perhaps, it really might be a tiny fragment of a much greater understanding, but even so there's something else; another certain elusive quality to make it this indescribable when we try to look back on it all. It's as though it were just the warm fading embers of what was left deep within us.
How and why nevertheless, it might not matter so much in the end. After all, what is there but time itself which doesn't ever think to stop and take a glance back on its own course, no matter how much we sometimes want it to? It may very well be that and that reason alone, because it is the nature of all things we know.
Everything simply goes on...
There are some people who do finally turn to witness this beautiful sight of the fiery evening sun, as it descends below the horizon in a sunset fit for eternity. Misty streaks of jet trails from airplanes become illuminated and crisscross the waning sky, ever so slowly. Then, from far beyond the vibrant purple and orange-tinted light rays protruding through distant clouds, the first strands of stars quietly unveil themselves to shine.
Fields of nighttime city lights come to life all around the darkening world, emitting their faint glittery glow of orange and yellow. Countless moving vehicles traverse the webs of roads down there. In houses and apartments, it's the flickering light from a TV screen which now gives them a trace of life.
This is our modern world we know and live. Another day has come to its closure; all in another quick blink of an eye. Strangely enough though, from within that swift little moment, it comes to be noticed. It's as if this day never actually ended to begin with.
Moments continue ever onward, merely as flashes through the darkness. Night is hardly different from the day anymore. Almost everything in this time, this life, and this world is a construct made by someone. It's almost all a blur, an illusion; an artificial existence like the games. Lifeblood of that youthful innocence and once-full beauty feels forever torn away. It's been lost and forgotten, drifting somewhere far behind in this great current that ebbs and flows ever-forward.
A walk down among the bustling streets. All sights and sounds become nothing more than hazy streaks. Faces of people suddenly begin rushing by, indistinct to a trembling eye. They too are strangers, wandering like mere ghosts amidst this vast modern world. Their hearts whither and bleed, struggling to seek any kind of understanding. Silhouetted figures drift across the illuminated window panes on high-rise buildings, likewise left without a sense of time or place.
Playgrounds become abandoned and overgrown. A rusted swing-set gently sways in the shifting fog of night. Dark alleyways sit beneath the yellow saturation of streetlamps, buzzing their constant electrical hum. The pavement of a schoolyard slowly fractures, its paint disintegrating with the passing time.
It's all those things fading...
Yet, even with all of this, a whole new wave of memories are being formed nonetheless. Within the darkness of a game room in any house this night, a little red power button on a console is pressed, and it all starts up on the TV screen once again. Those digital worlds of the games come back to their bright virtual life, and take over as they captivate the minds of so many children. Friends, brothers, and sisters alike enjoy this next escape from what all has become their accepted reality. In one way, it's such a strange thing to try and imagine, but like a great metaphor for this modern world, it makes time just disappear all the same. Anything from seconds to years.
The circle keeps repeating itself over and over again, making another child become a grown-up before they know it. So it goes; eventually they too will stop someplace on the path they walk and ponder that simple little thought of: Where did it all go?
Perhaps though, a reminiscent feeling of yet another particular question is still here as well. Are all those cherished characters and worlds we knew and loved so well really just video games in the end? There possibly was a sense of that idea, lingering somewhere deep in the subconsciousness of many young children's imaginations whenever they played a game.
What if, somehow, their little intuitions had been right all along? Those characters and worlds weren't merely digital?
A couple of friends relax in a field late at night, away from any city lights, looking to the sky above and wondering... could they be out there, somewhere?
To think that what if, out there amongst the stars, they were all real?
They not only are, but always have been.
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Music: "Belle E'poque 3012"
* Planet Neightyvee - The Mushroom Kingdom *
Echoes from the soft heartbeat of silence were all that emanated amid the slumbering shadows of night, wrapped by the cosmic blanket of countless shimmering stars far above.
Atmospheric conditions here in the northern Mushroom Kingdom were particularly stunning this night. Not a single silhouette of any disrupting cloud tried to sneak its way across the massive sky's reach, and within the air, it seemed as though a mellowed sense flowed along with the cool breeze. It was a slow kind, carrying a feeling of what all was possibly to come.
Perhaps many other mysteries were out here as well, with their answers hiding somewhere deep in the dark veil upon this seemingly endless landscape of gently rolling hills covered in grassland.
There was a long and narrow dirt road that stretched its way far off into the distance, with the dazzling glow of the Milky Way's central band hovering overhead. It straddled the entire viewable cosmic realm and shone so vividly that it granted the land a considerable hint of its ambient nighttime luminance. Just near the horizon's edge though, there was a small collection of dark houses. Only a few of them had one or two windows lit.
It was the humble abodes of Toad Town, but a bit farther beyond them, there stood a much more massive stone structure. It was a castle of some kind, with several distinct tower silhouettes.
On a balcony extending out from this castle, there was a certain someone who stood alone; silently gazing up at the nocturne above. The person hunched over slightly, resting both hands on the railing. This area was perched quite high above the darkened plains below, and only a single light was on somewhere in the room behind the balcony's doorway. It offered the softest touch of warm illumination from behind while most of everything else was enveloped in shadow.
Some of the other local worlds out in the inner Nassazar System were visible as well. They floated without a sound amongst all those stars, and were what this lonely someone was mainly fixed on observing. Tiny webbed clumps of yellow and orange city lights flickered ever so subtly in the atmospheric distortion, for other civilizations could be seen on the dark surfaces of those neighboring celestial bodies, even with a naked eye.
Nevertheless, this lone person remained totally quiet during these passing minutes, being one with his thoughts on what he was gazing at. It was all so far away, yet somehow so close at the same time. Indeed though, from this person's silhouette it was obviously a he, and he appeared to have a rather big, rounded nose as well. He was kind of on the short side height-wise speaking, but he also wore a flat-ish styled cap which hinted a shade of red in the light's gentle caress from behind.
Then, from that opened door to the inside of the castle, a taller silhouette of another person walked out onto the balcony. Soft taps emitted from a pair of high-heeled shoes upon the stone with each step as this new someone approached the other already at the railing. Soon after, a hand gently rested upon his right shoulder from behind, but he wasn't at all surprised at this caring gesture. Rather, he turned his head back and knew who it was coming to join him.
This second person was a she who had long thick flowing hair that shone a visible blonde color, and was wearing what appeared to be a gold-tinted crown atop her head. Its dozen or so jewels gleamed in reflecting all the small grains of pale starlight that were suspended high above the two's heads. They stood there together in tranquility, one right behind the other.
"... Mario? Are you alright?" The taller one leaned closer and finally spoke through her soft lips. It was of course none other than Princess Toadstool.
"You've been out here for a while now." She continued, "Even during most of the party, you were rather quiet. I guess... I couldn't help but notice."
With care, she began to massage his seemingly tense shoulder, but it wasn't. He'd in fact been quite relaxed this whole time, even before when he was out here by himself. A light sigh then came from him, before he answered calmly yet assuredly.
"I'm okay, Peach. Thanks-a-so much for the tea and cake. It was a lovely little party." He spoke in a very distinct Italian accent, because this little man was indeed Mario himself. Even though his face couldn't be seen that well in the dark, he went on and tried to explain some of what his feelings were.
"Maybe... I'm just-a-thinking, you know? Tomorrow morning seems-a-so far away... like everything else, and-a-everyone else out there."
Peach took a step forward so she now stood directly beside Mario, also gazing up with faint starlight twinkling in her blue eyes.
"Hmm," she thoughtfully proclaimed, "Well, I'd say they're all probably wondering the same thing when they look up and see us here on Neightyvee... or maybe even what the tiny speck of lights that Toad Town looks like to them on their worlds. After all, they watch the same stars as we do..."
A lengthy period of silence arose in the wake of those open-ended words. Only the air with its mellow hum drifted on to accompany their enraptured gazes, but it was because all the thoughts were starting to flow deeper inside them both. They were those broad and insurmountable thoughts such as: Really, what is out there among all those stars? Is there anybody, or anything staring right back at us... wondering the exact same thing? How many lives are in this present moment; how many new beginnings? How many ends?
The myriad of mute words that wanted to be spoken so badly on one hand, yet simply couldn't be articulated in the right way. Maybe it was all a knowing beyond such words, and was for the better to remain something forever internal.
"Peach..." The mustached man started again, "Have you ever wondered... if there's anything out there?"
"... You mean, out beyond the sector?" She just wanted to clarify, but her question quickly got confirmed by a nod from him.
"Si, out there beyond. Have you ever really thought about it?"
Peach was quite awe-struck from feeling a powerful sense of this wholly elusive wonder, brought by stargazing here with her dear Mario.
"I guess I do, sometimes." She finally replied, "I mean, just think... there are two-dozen civilized worlds here in the Nassazar alone. Then there's Lylat of course, and the Aminuss as well..."
"... Many billions of people across-a-those worlds too, like-a-all the stars up there." Mario then slowly let out a breath, "... But I just-a-cannot believe it, if we're the only place in-a-the universe with-a-life."
Peach blinked briefly before fully closing her eyes. For the several moments that followed, she was just letting it all become more perceptible.
"Wow," she marveled at last, "That's so difficult to imagine, Mario..."
He glanced over at her, if only out of the corners of his eyes. He could see that she still smiled with that fascination, although he was doing the exact same.
"You know," the princess started again, "It's almost like you're an entirely different person when you get in this... well, I guess I'd call it a mindset."
"Aha, do I really?" Answered Mario a bit bashfully, crossing his arms behind his back.
"But I love it so much...!" Peach couldn't help but give a small giggle. "You're right! I mean, how can Sector N... how can we possibly be alone? Ah, I just... can't describe the feeling it's giving me right now."
Mario nodded again, with that same smile in the dark. "Mm, it's-a-really something to wonder about, isn't it?"
He was still deep in his observation of the cosmos and wondering on that whole, beautiful idea.
"Well, I think about it-a-quite often, anyways..."
Then he pointed up to a certain area of the sky and asked, "You see that red star, up there?"
"Uh-huh... that big one?" She leaned her head in so it was right next to his, in order to look down the length of his finger.
"... There, you know which star that-a-one is?"
Peach thought a moment before she smiled and replied, "Oh, it's the red giant, um... the Great Tomato, of course...!"
"Hehe, righty-o it is!" Chuckled the little mustached man, "It's-a-the only other local star here in the sector that-a-we can see during our summer nights."
He turned to his princess again to see what she thought. Even though her gaze and attention remained fixed on the grandiose panorama far above them, now she was beginning to think about some other, much more significant things that were currently going on.
"... You know, there's probably been a lot of ships travelling up there between the planets too. They'll all be heading toward Neightyvee, and actually won't be landing that far from here... starting early tomorrow morning."
"... Hmm, that's-a-true." Agreed the little man with just a hint of what sounded like uncertainty. He suddenly started thinking on that same something, which he knew she was alluding to.
Another pause came afterwards, but this time it lasted for an entire minute or two as the night's cool breeze whisked upon their faces. It may have been the middle of summer, but it was a very lovely sensation. This northern region of the continent was comfortably cool on clear nights like these, and it couldn't have fit the blissful atmosphere any better.
"Um, Mario?" Peach finally asked him once more, massaging his shoulder closest to her another quick time. Perhaps she felt something wasn't quite right, due to that subtle uncertainty of his last remark.
"Are you... just a bit nervous for this week?"
The little man pondered for a moment, but then he answered confidently.
"Actually, no... not at all." He was perfectly calm, and this time he gently set his own hand upon hers to reassure her. "I know it-a-will be a great tournament, but I guess I was... just-a-thinking about seeing everyone again."
She understood now, and couldn't help but smile with him as they gazed into each other's eyes for a few moments. Then the two looked back up, just in time to witness a bright shooting star streak brilliantly across the sky. They held hands and made a wish together; a promise to keep.
"Oh, and I know you've said it before, but... who were you versing first again?" Wondered Peach as another thought promptly crossed her mind.
"Kirby. How about that, eh?" He answered, now bearing a slight hint of sarcasm.
"Again? Hm..." She didn't seem surprised. "Well, I'm guessing there's a reason for you two being chosen to go first..."
"Maybe so..." Agreed Mario, "But-a, perhaps we should go back inside? Everyone must-a-be wondering where we went...!"
"I mean, there's really no rush..." Calmly, the princess rested her arms on the balcony railing, right next to Mario. "Let's stay a little while longer. I love it out here..."
It seemed this beautiful night would go on forever. Those dark silhouettes of the other planets drifted slowly but surely across the clear sky, while all the diamond-like stars twinkled and glistened tranquilly in the backdrop. As with anything though, those long and shrouded hours of the night kept passing until eventually, the first emanations of dawn arrived, and it was finally time.
Morning, slowly... on this great edge of tomorrow...
An amber-tinted Nassazar sun peeked over the edge of a distant horizon facing the east, caressing a brilliant and fiery luminance onto stratified blankets of clouds which straddled the foreground of the vast opened sky above. The sight may have been utterly breathtaking by itself, but it was how the faint white outlines of those nearby planets and moons both large and small lent a truly magnificent and even divine touch to this canvas.
Withering stone structures and ancient ruins floated among this seemingly endless sea of calm clouds too, hovering here in their mysterious existence as the rising sun shone vivid rays through the opened parts of their antiquated architecture. Many faded and ripped red banners hung from points around these ruins, bearing the stark images of a black circular insignia which had a pair of perpendicular lines struck through the lower third of the shapes.
It looked like the most peculiar and off-set kind of cross, but it was a special symbol nevertheless. The cool morning breeze lapped against these banners gently; whispering tales from another time so long ago.
The start of a new and truly beautiful day was being announced on this side of Planet Neightyvee, but this wasn't just a dawning of any ordinary day. Within the morning's mellow there was a feeling as well; one that was almost drifting. It was new and not quite describable, but rather elusive. It was even an anxious kind of energy, but was still being felt in a positive manner overall.
Distant whispers of some sort echoed softly through the light's warm embrace as the final visible stars from last night sparkled faintly, biding a farewell until the time came for them to emerge once again. Only those faint white outlines of the other planets and moons now barely lingered in the of the lightening blue shades of the sky. Not long after, however, they too had faded away altogether.
There was a kind of unseen movement all around, with everything going to converge somewhere at some time for something big that was happening today; something significant.
But then, everything flashed back to the empty nothingness of darkness and silence again, though it was only for a brief instance.
A set of window blinds suddenly swung open with a sharp whooshing sound, splitting the calmness and allowing the morning's warmth to flood into a once-dark bedroom while sparkling particles of dust danced all about. They soon came to a weightless float in the ethereal company of these light rays, after having been kicked up from their own slumber.
It was obviously a children's bedroom. Stuffed animals filled some of the shelves, toys littered a play table as well as the floor area just around it, and colorful walls bearing arts and crafts made the scenario all the more complete.
"Alright boys, let's get up and at it." A voice then spoke up from a silhouetted figure standing over a twin bed. "Today's the big day!"
This figure cast a stark shadow over the bed where two young green-spotted Toads lay; comfortably nuzzled under the blankets and still fast asleep. They were definitely twin brothers by the looks of it.
After a moment of seemingly being ignored, the figure stepped aside, letting the light smother them. It pierced sharply upon their closed eyelids and the one on the right started groaning.
"Aww come on, dad! It's way too early...!"
"Besides... It's stupid Monday and I don't wanna go to summer camp...!" The other one meanwhile covered his arm across his eyes, annoyed and defiant to their prompt awakening. The father just smiled however and walked over, starting to playfully tickle them in their bed.
"You gotta be kidding me...!" He cackled, "Too early on the Monday of the Galactic Smash Tournament's 200th Anniversary?! Ha, I think not, ya little sleepy bugs! You don't even have summer camp this week!"
His kids squirmed and laughed under the sheets until one of them capitulated at last, almost out of breath.
"Aghhh! Alright dad, alright! We're awake!"
Eventually the father did stop his little tickle assault and let them catch their breath before further announcing, "Mom's preparing a little breakfast... you guys' favorite, so we can watch it all live on the news as it starts. Now, who's hungry?"
Soon, this Toad family of four were all making themselves comfortable together out in their small but comfy living room, complete with a nice breakfast set out on the central table. The appearance of their home was like a sort of interesting burrow, for the walls and ceiling were made of naturally compacted dirt works. A slight ways in front of the table, their TV was on, showcasing some reports on the national weather for the coming week and so forth.
"Everything all set, gents?" The wife with the pink-spotted cap asked, bringing over a pitcher of orange juice and checking the table set for them all. Indeed, everything seemed to be in place, except for one important thing, as her husband lightheartedly pointed out.
"Other than waiting for it to start... yep, we're good to go!"
One of the twin brothers then politely asked, "Mom, can I have some juice please?"
"Sure honey, pass your glass over."
As she poured the drink, the father turned to both young brothers in the meantime and shared, "Hey boys, I know a few friends from work who are actually going to Midair Stadium itself. Can you even imagine what that place must be like?"
The curious-eyed brothers were indeed captivated as he went on, lightly shaking his head out of his own fascination.
"A hundred thousand... nah, scratch that... hundreds of thousands of people from all over the known galaxy... gathered there at that one place so high in the sky. And mind you, they're the real, real lucky ones who get to be up there...!"
Fully intent for keeping up these positive vibes, he happily faced his wife who was now getting a piece of toast from the small basket on the table and added, "Maybe... we'll all go there one of these times, right honey?"
The excited kids, desiring an immediate answer to this question, faced their mother who smiled caringly.
"I think that would be a really wonderful trip, if we could just find tickets before they all sell out in such a flash." She thoughtfully explained, "I even thought about trying for this one, but when I checked last year, during what I thought was an early time... everything was already booked out."
"Mm, so you see now, boys?" Their father, winking a smile at his two kids, joked, "Sometimes you have to be early on bigger things than just a stupid Monday."
Meanwhile, the news had begun to play a flashy set of introductory sports-themed animations. It was accompanied by a rising, enthusiastic musical score which prompted the family to eagerly turn their attention back to the TV. Onscreen, a group of three formally dressed Koopa news anchors sat around a large glass table and one of them made no hesitation in beaming to the camera.
"Goooood morning Mushroom Kingdom, and what a fine morning it is! This is the MCN Network and we are live from our central studio, right here in Mushroom City!"
"Oh it'll be a gorgeous day today, that's for sure!" One of the other anchors joined in, "Did you see the sunrise out there on the way into downtown, Frank? Man, what a sight."
The family began enjoying their breakfast while the third anchor proclaimed, "You said it there, Dennis. Anyways, we hope you all got your plans for the work week off folks, because you're right; it couldn't be more perfect weather for the big day today! It is the opening day of the Fiftieth Quadrennial Galactic Smash Tournament, hosted right here in the Mushroom Kingdom! We know all you good folks are just as excited as we are, so let's not waste any time! We're going over right now to live coverage from one of our teams on the ground... or, up in the air rather... at the arrival piers from the one and only Midair Stadium!"
And so, everything was beginning. That once shrouded and elusive feeling drifting within the air last night, was now slowly manifesting into its true form:
The endless grasslands covering this northern region of the continent, being illuminated unto a brilliant verdant.
A gigantic and beautiful tree stands in the emerging sunlight, its limbs and leaves gently swaying to and fro in the shifting breeze.
Time-lapse of the mid-morning; the Nassazar sun rising higher with a soaring flight further northward.
Beyond shores and across great seas to an array of different lands around Planet Neightyvee, and the same wayward voyage out onto other worlds.
Different cityscapes, civilizations, and so many more sights to behold from each place on this grand expanding tour of Sector N.
Journey out across the three star systems; those glorious celestial neighborhoods, with all the dozens of planets orbiting their suns.
Descending from the farthest reaches of each world, all the way back down to perhaps the most remote and baron of landscapes on Neightyvee.
A huge, lonely lake lay in this tundra-like wilderness, surrounded by jagged snow-capped mountains in the distance. Sparse clouds dotted the vast cerulean sky.
There was an apparent absence of any life or movement; a sudden stillness and silence over this whole desolate region of the far northern Mushroom Kingdom.
But then, there came the faint and deep rumble of a jet engine, emanating from somewhere high above.
Now there was movement, all going towards that one special place called Midair Stadium.
The next great Smash Tournament of Sector N was here, and there was no turning back now that this dawn had come to pass.
It would be a day to remember, indeed.