Prologue: Things That Go Bump in the Night
"Super Mari - - Super Mari - - Super Mario THREE! Mario is back but now with many more clothes to wear; the Frog Suit, Hammer Brothers Suit and some kind of magic bear! This game made my tender brain and now I know why..."
Tide E. Toad's voice belted out this simple-yet-cheerful ditty as he carefully mopped the cold metal floor of his boss, Dr. Toadley's secret laboratory. He was a mere janitor, but proud of his job. Tide liked to think that it was due to his hard work that the good doctor could complete his strange research safely.
Like his song, Tide was an amiable little fellow. He didn't care much for adventuring but practically idolized those who made it their job. He was also easily frightened; he could hardly walk down a dark alley in his humble home of Toad Town, for fear he might come across a stray Boo. For this reason the laboratory was brightly light, despite the fact that it was nearing midnight.
" - - you can live in a shoe, and then everything grew, that crap got me deliri - -"
Just at the edge of his earshot, Tide thought he heard the ghost of a crash. He paused in his mundane task, peering around the lab with curious eyes. The Toad leaned his mop against the pristine white wall and listened.
Everything was quiet. The ceiling lights revealed no shadowy figures lurking outside the lab door, which had a rectangular glass window carved into its middle. Dr. Toadley's newest project - - a potion in its final stages that he said could change a person's DNA - - sat on the surgery table in a test tube, a viscous salmon-colored liquid whose horribly pungent stink could be experienced despite its container's cork. There were no windows in the room. The only decorations on any of the walls were a counter with a gray sink, and a set of drawers. If Tide had to guess, he'd wager they were filled with all manner of exotic herbs and ingredients.
"Anybody there?" Tide called out nervously.
Silence answered.
Shrugging to himself, the cleanly Toad went back to his mopping. He continued loudly singing his song, unaware of the dark presence that pressed against the outside of the lab's door. Two abnormally round, red eyes with strange break lines stared at his back. It appeared to be bodiless, wispy as fog and black as night.
Satisfied that it had not been noticed, the mysterious fog darted out of the line of the window's view. It broke apart, losing any shape it had had. The fog then slipped through the cracks around the door. Tide was still unaware of it as it glided eerily across the floor and up to the surgery table. His back was turned to it, and he was currently dusting the east wall.
The shadow condensed once more into a shape uniquely reminiscent of a Beanish. Its red eyes narrowed triumphantly. A shadowy hand reached out, tightly gripped the test tube's cork, and brought the potion within to where its mouth would've been if it had had a body. The pink liquid poured onto its misty form... and the fog began to change.
A tiny POP caught the singing Tide's ear. His back stiffened and his song halted.
"H-Hello?" said Tide woodenly, slowly turning around.
He just had time to see two red circles and a thin smile before something hit him over the head, and he fell unconscious to the floor.