1: Sobyō
My friends thought that it would be fun to explore the doll shop that was closed down in 1944. I knew from the deepest pits of my soul that something would go terribly wrong. "You've always been a scaredy cat Luigi! Come one, it's-a time to face that fear!" Mario told me as he patted my back.
I gazed at the ceiling. Had he never seen any horror movies? I knew I hadn't but cliché deaths always happened when the protagonists had the bright idea to explore rundown buildings in the dead of night. This was a DOLL SHOP for goodness sakes. Dolls and children are always the creepiest and deadliest embodiments of hell itself in as proven in countless books and movies.
I only went with my friends because Daisy was also going. I wanted to protect her, make sure none of the things that go bump in the night lash out at her. I wanted to make sure she didn't die or get lost. I'm pretty sure I did a good job, but Daisy's corpse said otherwise.
We left at around 11:00 pm. It was a cloudless night, a full moon shining, cascading the city with blue light. It would have been beautiful on an event less night, but this moon made our trip have a much more sinister atmosphere. The doll shop was around an hour walk from Mushroom Castle. I was visibly shaking like a leaf, but Daisy comforted me, saying that "things will go alright. It's only a fun exploration. Sure, we may encounter some Boos, but that's why we got Mario and you!"
He words warmed my heart. Things wouldn't be so bad, Mario was here to defeat any monsters, he had years of experience under his belt. I took a deep breath and replied, "You're right. Afterwards, want to go to McSushi's? I think that the sushi will, uh, wash off the shock factor."
Daisy giggled, "Sushi for shock factor, huh. That's interesting. I would love to go, Luigi! Thanks for the offer." She kissed my bulbous nose and walked towards the entrance of the castle.
Mario sprinted towards me. "Alrighty! It's-a time to go, bro!" Mario chuckled at his rhyme.
I sighed and complied to my brother's wishes. Our gang consisted of Mario, Peach, Daisy, Toad, Toadette, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Waluigi, Rosalina, Goombella, Koops, Goombario, Bombette, Toadsworth, and I. It was quite the gang indeed. After seeing everyone gather and smile and have a good time, I didn't feel so scared after all.
It was dark, as I explained before. Peach said we should walk there for the exercise, but I wasn't in the mood to spend an hour walking in the dead of night. The others agreed with me and Peach decided that we should use the Royal Bus. I liked that idea, the bus was so bright and vibrant, completely taking away the butterflies in my stomach. The driver, Shay T, was a beautiful toad, with long blonde locks. When everyone boarded, she announced with a rough voice, "Our drive to the Toadtown Doll Shop will take approximately 30 minutes, so please make yourselves comfortable."
Daisy snuggled beside me, and the bus left the castle in a loud screech. Smoke arose from the front of the bus, but Shay T said that it would be fine, this always happened to the bus. But I knew better. The castle's servants had forgotten to clean out the bus and the mechanic didn't do his daily check to make sure the bus didn't break down.
It was a smooth trip after that. The bus rolled along the smoothly paved roads without a single bump. I gazed out the window, watching the street lights and toads walk by. Mushroom City seemed so peaceful during the night. At around this time, every citizen was in bed, snoozing the dreadful night away.
After getting tired of the seemingly identical scenery, something finally caught my eye. I saw a girl strolling down the street. She had long black hair, flowing down at least her elbows if they were held to her side. Her eyes were green and held a playful look. Her gaze caught mine, and a smile crept across her lips. I blinked and she suddenly disappeared from view. Was it a hallucination? That's what I thought. I believed that the hallucination was triggered by my lack of sleep, so I rested my head on Daisy's shoulder and drifted off to sleep.
Not even 20 minutes later, I was shaken awake by Daisy. "We're here." She whispered. I saw the rest of the gang stepping off of the bus, and I groggily followed.
"I'll be waiting here!" Shay T said to us as we walked towards the Toadtown Doll Shop. It was apparent that the shop was abandoned decades ago. The sign that read "Toadtown Doll Shop" was covered in dirt and dust, and some of the letters were missing. The front doors were boarded up, the windows too. A note written in red ink taped on the boarded entrance read; "Closed forever. Thank you ever so much for your patronage."
The boards were an issue. How would we get inside? We sent the strongest members of our group, Donkey Kong and Wario, to simultaneously pull the boards off. It was to no avail. "How are we-a going to get inside?" Mario wondered out loud.
"How about we check for a back entrance?" Toad asked.
We agreed and went around back. Along the right side of the store was a box with the words "FOR FREE" written in black ink. I curiously pried to box open, and was greeted by the smiling face of a decapitated doll. Red threads hung from the chin, making the doll appear to be bleeding. What kind of joke was that? Shaken up, I ran ahead to catch up with the group.
Sure enough, there was a back entrance. It was a steel door that appeared to have been opened recently. Mario grasped the handle tightly, and the door opened with a loud creaked. The interior of the shop was in no better condition than the exterior. Many dolls were littered on the floor. The shop stunk of rot and mood.
"Bleck!" Toadette exclaimed as she examined the mood growing on the damp walls.
Our group split up and searched the store. I stuck with Daisy. Looking at the old dolls wasn't very exciting. Some looked normal, like the ones you would see in a modern kid's store. Others looked much older, cracks in their plastic flesh. Some looked eerily similar to real people that I knew.
The dolls were creeping me out, their blank stares followed Daisy and I as we traversed the shop. Suddenly, I heard Mario shout, "Mumma mia! Everybody, come-a look at this!"
The gang rushed to Mario's location. He was grasping a doll tightly. It had a black dress and no eyes. A shiver went down my spine. This doll seemed to be much more... mysterious. I did not know why.
Mario looked at me in the eye. "This doll, it-a talks! Listen closely!"
I held my ear close to doll, as the rest of the group did. "A..l..l"
I leaned closer. "All who stand in the presence of Death himself shall perish... The Friday of each week shall become the day of dead. Each passing week will bring you closer to Him. Do not fret, he loves you. He loves you. He loves you. He loves-"
The doll's chanting was cut short by a sudden swing of a fist. The doll fell to the ground and shattered. Wario's eyes were wide open. "Do not bring that thing any closer! I do not-a wanna die!"
I laughed. "Do you seriously believe in a clichéd story like that?"
My laughing was cut short. A voice rose from the remains of the doll. "The corpse of mine has angered Him. The curse has now befallen on you foolish mortals..." It whispered off into the darkness.
We stood there in silence, but that silence was cut short by a sudden explosion. The smell of smoke was heavy in the air. With horrified looks on our faces, we sprinted to the Royal Bus screaming.
00000
"They have arrived. The curse starts now. I must help them! There is a way to prevent the curse, but it won't be easy..."
