Paper Arthur

Chapter 0-1 Attack on Peach's Castle

A long time ago, I attempted several times to write a Paper Mario crossover. These attempts were pretty abominable, but nonetheless showed that you can't succeed without failure! Then back in 2011, Arthur popped into my head for some odd reason, and the idea stuck! Wario managed to get into the stories as well, as I was obsessed with WarioWare DIY when I came up with the idea to implement him. My first attempt at Paper Arthur was still pretty terrible, so I pretty much gave up, until I decided to play Paper Mario again one day. I was also drawn into and intrigued by TrueSapphire's Paper Mario Eds, which also inspired my Star Wars and Ed, Edd n Eddy crossover, Star Eds. I started gathering ideas for this fanfic over time. Two years later, I finally got around to writing the first chapter using self-recorded footage as a reference!

Disclaimer: I do not own Wario, Paper Mario, or Arthur.

And now here's an introduction by Arthur himself!
(Arthur is playing a video game. He turns to his audience.)
Arthur: Video games are fun and all, but you have to remember not to play too much... On the other hand...
D.W.: Can I watch Mary Moo Cow now?
Arthur: No! Now, where was I? Oh, yeah, imagine if you were actually in the game! Now that would be even greater! You could interact with all the characters in the game, and you could live the adventure!
D.W.: Please let me watch Mary Moo Cow now! I won't annoy you for a month or two if you do!
Arthur: *sigh* Alright, fine...

It all started one Christmas morning. Arthur and D. W. were very elated-
"What's elated mean?" asked D. W.
Alright, shut up! Ahem, I was about to say, that the kids got quite a few gifts for Christmas. D. W. unwrapped her only present, a big box. Inside it was a pile of coal. (One of the pieces was carved into Mary Moo Cow.)
Buried within the pile of coal were a VHS combo pack of Doll Story and Doll Story 2*, a giant Mary Moo Cow doll, and an ice cream maker, along with a few other things D.W. wanted.
Arthur, on the other hand, had all of his presents wrapped separately. He got the latest issue of Bionic Bunny, along with a Johnny Proton figure, and a PWEL** set of the Millennium Eagle. He was on to his last gift. Cue the suspense.
What, the title of the story gives it away? Okay, I guess you got me. Yes, he did indeed get Paper Mario.
"Hey, I asked Santa for Stupid Wario 64, not Paper Mario!" he said.
"Maybe Santa didn't have Stupid Wario 64," said D. W.
"Well, I guess I can do with Paper Mario..."
He placed it among his collection which included Dopémon*** Stadium, Tale of Link: Recorder of Time, Space Canine 64, and SilverNose 006, along with a few others, (The last one, Bionic Bunny 64, was in the garbage bin. An awful video game!) before he went to work on his homework for Christmas break... (Curse that crazy Mr. Ratburn!) And what was a Mary Moo Cow game doing in his collection?
Once he was all finished with his homework for the break, he started playing the game. Oftentimes, his friends would come to his house and watch him play. And D. W. wouldn't be able to bother him because he was so engaged in the game. She hated that she wouldn't be able to watch Mary Moo Cow when Arthur was playing. Arthur was clearly addicted to the game, playing it over and over again when he wasn't busy.

One night, Arthur was exhausted after a productive day of going to the library, hanging out at Buster's house, and practicing the piano. He played through the game once more and went to bed.

In the morning, when he woke up, Arthur felt a very odd sensation. It just simply didn't feel like reality anymore.
"Mail delivery!" a voice called.
That's weird, Arthur thought. Nobody ever delivers mail by hand anymore, much less declare the delivery was made!
"Arthur!" nagged D.W. "The mail-"
"I know, D. W.!" replied the irate Arthur. "Did you read the text?"
"No, I can't read!"
Arthur groaned at D.W.'s excuse. He just went to get the mail, trying not to think about it.
He noticed a cute little letter from a Princess Peach Toadstool amongst the other mail.
It read, "You're invited to Peach's Castle!" on the envelope.
"What's in that?" asked D.W. as Arthur opened the envelope.
"None of your business, D.W."
Arthur went to his room to read the letter in peace. It read,
To whoever is reading this,
I'm throwing a party at my castle today, and I would be honored if you could attend! There will be many guests from distant towns, there will be fun, and best of all, there will be cake! I hope to see you there!
Sincerely, Princess Toadstool
Peach
Once Arthur was finished reading the letter, a Warp Pipe suddenly appeared in front of him. For some reason, he had the urge to go into the pipe, and he did so without hesitation. The Warp Pipe disappeared before D.W. could get in.

"Where am I?" he asked when he came out of the Warp Pipe. Mario came out as well, pushing him out of the pipe.
"Sorry," said Mario, jumping out after Arthur.
"Hey... You're Mario!"
"Mhmm, that's-a me!"
Just then, Luigi came out of the pipe as well.
"Luigi too?" said the ecstatic Arthur. "I get to meet you both!"
"W-Who are you?" Luigi asked, startled.
"I'm Arthur Read!"
"Oh, yeah! We know you from your books and TV show!"
And Luigi got out a list of characters from popular books and TV shows that they met. He checked off Arthur's name on the list.
"Say, are you guys going to Princess Peach's party too?"
"Yup!" the brothers said, in unison.
And so they went off to Peach's Castle. This party would be great, indeed.

When they got to Peach's castle, they were greeted by the sound of lively gossip in the air.
"Hey, Mario!" greeted a yellow Toad and a Blue Toad. "Hey, Luigi!"
"Hey, Ala-Gold! Hey Bucken-Berry!" Mario replied back.
"Who's that boy you guys have with you?" asked Ala-Gold.
"I'm Arthur," said Arthur. "It's nice to meet you two!"
"It's nice meeting you too, Arthur!" replied Bucken-Berry.
Other guests came from all over the Mushroom Kingdom, each and every one of them greeting Mario (And sometimes Luigi) as he passed by. Mario would greet them back, whilst introducing them to Arthur (And Luigi, when they didn't recognize him).
"Wow! Look at this castle!" said Arthur in awe. "It seems like there are so many guests in this place already!"
"Oh, yeah," said Mario. "Who knew how long they waited for the party to start?"
"This castle is magnificent," said Luigi. "I'll never get used to this place."
"Hey, losers!" shouted two voices. Suddenly, a stout, chubby elf-like man in yellow, Wario, and a lanky elf-like man in purple, Waluigi, showed up in front of the three.
"Look who showed up," said Waluigi.
"Yeah!" said Wario. "Losers like you two don't belong at a fun party like this!"
Mario and Luigi were infuriated. Their rivals were acting very uncourteous at a fun party where such behavior should be forbidden.
"Hey! You leave Mario and Luigi alone!" interjected Arthur.
Wario and Waluigi grumbled in response.
"And who are you?" sneered Wario.
"I'm Arthur, their friend!"
Mario and Luigi exchanged rather weirded out glances.
"Listen, I'm here for the cake, and I'm not letting you three near it!" Wario scowled at Arthur.
"Hey, what about me?" asked Waluigi as the two headed to the kitchen.
"...Maybe we should follow them? I'm starving for cake!" said Arthur.
"Nah, bad idea," the Mario Brothers said. "Wario and Waluigi love to pick fights over anything they want."
"Master Mario!" called a voice. It was Toadsworth. Two Toad Guards followed behind him. "The princess is waiting in her private chambers. She wants to see you."
"Hmm... Okey-dokey!"
"Follow me, ol'chaps! Tally-ho!"
Toadsworth led the three up the stairs, passing the second-floor hall, to Peach's chamber. Toadsworth motioned to the Toad Guard blocking the chamber's door, who promptly allowed Mario, Luigi, Arthur, and Toadsworth to pass while the other two Toad Guards stayed behind.

"Mario!" gasped Princess Peach. "You came!"
Mario, Luigi, and Toadsworth bowed down to her. Arthur bowed a second or two after the other three.
"And who do we have here?" Peach smiled at Arthur.
"This is Arthur, umm..." began Toadsworth.
"Read," finished Arthur. "I can't believe I'm speaking to the one and only Princess Peach!"
"Oh! Arthur Read!" exclaimed Peach. "Such a charming boy, if I must say so myself! Oh, yes, it's so tiring going out there to greet everybody... It's nice to have Mario bring some guests here for a change."
Luigi, Toadsworth, and Arthur left the chambers to give Mario and Peach some privacy.

A few minutes later, however, things began to change, as the castle started rumbling.

"Dear me! Master Luigi! We'd better get everybody to evacuate the castle! Arthur, young chap, I know we just met, but please get Princess Peach out of the castle, pronto! I can't go a second without worrying about her!" The castle started ascending from the ground.
Before the castle raised to heights unsafe to fall from, Luigi, Ala-Gold, Bucken-Berry, and Toadsworth had gotten most of the partygoers to evacuate, despite being continually heckled by Waluigi. Unfortunately, they couldn't get Wario, who refused to leave the cake in the kitchen and was too hefty to move around.

Under Peach's castle was a bigger castle, with Bowser's face in front and an upside-down dome with a scary clown face on it.

When he got into the chambers, Arthur stood fearful, not knowing what to do as the clouds began to fall and the sky outside the window appeared to get darker and darker.
"Mario? Arthur?" Peach had a worried expression on her face. "What happened? Are you two okay?"
"Umm... You might wanna look outside..." Arthur said.
"Oh, my!" Peach jumped when she saw the sky. She could see stars outside. She peered down the window. They were high, high above the ground. "It can't be nighttime now..."
"This must-a be the work of Bowser!" Mario exclaimed. As soon as he said it, a shady figure he could make out to be the Koopa King himself, as well as his purple-clad Magikoopa assistant Kammy, drew closer and closer at a rapid rate. "Watch out, Princess!"
Peach gasped as she quickly got out of the way before Bowser and Kammy crashed through the window.
"I knew it!" exclaimed Mario, ready to stomp Bowser.
"Gwaa ha ha ha ha ha! You guessed that right, Mario!" Bowser exclaimed. "And who do we have here with the lovely Princess Peach?"
"You leave us alone!" yelled Peach.
"Gwah hah ha ha! No, this castle is under my jurisdiction now! I leave you alone when I want to leave you alone!"
"Surrender-a now, Bowser! I won't negotiate!"
"Do your worst! Too bad you can't do anything this time!"
"Not if I can't help it!" Mario hopped onto Bowser.
"I may have never been able to beat you before, Mario, but soon the tables will have turned!"
"Mario! You can do it!" encouraged Peach.
Mario stomped on Bowser, making him recoil.
"You've done well so far, Mario," said Bowser. He then pulled out a wand with a star at the tip. "But take a look at this!" Arthur, Mario, and Peach gasped.
"The Star Rod!" exclaimed Mario and Peach.
"Yeah, that's right! I stole this mighty Star Rod from Star Haven! As you might know through legend, it has the power to grant any wish in the entire world, and I am going to use it to become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!"
The Star Rod began flashing and gathering up energy. Soon, Bowser was veiled by magic.
"I don't know about you, Bowser, but you're going down, even if you were the most powerful in the world!"
Mario gathered all his might to strike, but Bowser was left unfazed. For the first time, Mario could feel the anxiety and pressure building up inside him.
"Mario, what's wrong?"
Mario stood in his place, filled with uncertainty.
"Yeah, Mario, what's wrong?" taunted Bowser, mocking Peach. "Aren't you going to make a move?"
Mario still stood there. He was having a nervous breakdown.
"Fine, I'll make your move for you!" Bowser grabbed the helpless Mario and breathed fire all over him. "Gwa hah ha ha! I am powerful! You are no match for me anymore! Just simply a waste of my time! It's time to end this!"
Bowser leaped high into the air, pounding Mario into the ground.
"Mario!" cried Arthur and Peach.

"Oh, yeah! I finally beat Mario! This is the most glorious day of my entire life, bar none!" gloated Bowser.
"Congratulations, Your Viciousness!" said Kammy. "With Mario out of the picture, nobody can stop the almighty Koopa King now!"
"That's right, Kammy! And I couldn't have done it without the help of this almighty Star Rod! As long as it is in my possession, everything I wish for will come true! I am officially invincible!"
"How could you!?" Peach and Arthur screamed as Bowser approached him.
"And as for you, little boy! You must be Mario's partner in crime!"
"What? I-" Arthur began before Bowser knocked him out with a slash of his claw.
"Not even Mario's backups can stand a chance against me!"
"Oh, His minions are never gonna hear the end of it from His Powerfulness!" Kammy mumbled.
"Yeah, it's-a Wario time!" a voice called.
"Wario?" gasped Peach, Bowser, and Kammy in shock.
Wario, able to move again, ran past the unconscious Arthur and Mario and rushed to attack Bowser.
Unfortunately, like Arthur and Mario's attempt before his, Bowser defeated Wario very easily with just a slash of his claw and the help of his invincibility.
"Did you really think you could beat me, tough-muscly Mario-lookalike? We may have conspired together in the past, but I am afraid you will take the Star Rod from me for your own desires! Do not forget, I am and always will be tougher than you, with or without the Star Rod!"
"Now that we've done away with these three, Your Resilientness, what shall we do with them?" asked Kammy.
"We shall dispose of them!" cackled Bowser. "They're no good to anybody for sure! Gwa ha ha ha ha!"
The Star Rod charged up again, unleashing a lighting bolt sending Mario, Arthur, and Wario out of the castle.
"Mario! Arthur!" wailed Peach, looking out the window as the three descended from the sky. "NOO!"
"Seize her!" Kammy ordered two Koopatrols.
Arthur, Mario, and Wario kept falling, and falling, and falling until they hit the ground.

*A spoof name of Toy Story 2, from the episode "D.W.'s Time Trouble." I made up Doll Story 1, as there had to be a first movie before the second.
**PWEL-A LEGO spoof. Name is derived from "play well," as with the real thing, but is derived from the English rather than the Danish.
***A spoof name of Pokémon from the episode "Arthur Loses His Marbles," I made the rest of the spoof names up. Admittedly, as a Pokémon fan, I found it a little offensive, although I don't think they intended for it to be, based on the dialogue in the scene where it was mentioned.

If people like this enough, I'll continue it!

I will also be posting cover art soon!