Hey everyone! Here's my first story, a Super Paper Mario fic. WARNING: It will contain spoilers for the game, so if you haven't played it yet, stop reading and go play it!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I only own Mario characters in my dreams. Violet and Anne are mine. Nothing else (sadly).
In a dark castle, a dark book glowed. It was writing a new prophecy, one that could prove crucial to the end of the worlds. The book opened itself, and wrote glittering words. Despite the light, the aura surrounding the book was one of evil, for this book was none other than the Dark Prognosticus. Gradually, the brilliant light faltered. The Dark Prognosticus closed, waiting for someone to read its latest words.
"Bleh heh heh…"
It would not have to wait long.
Anne bit her lip slightly as she concentrated. She was sitting in the glorious shade of a large tree. A cool breeze ruffled her papers and her hair. She shifted her arm slightly to keep her homework in her lap. When the wind died down, she returned to her work.
"Hey Anne?" Anne turned her head to the left as an elbow jabbed her side. "I'm stuck." A toad with a purple mushroom cap pointed to a mess of numbers and symbols with her pencil. She had two black, braided pigtails running down the sides of her head.
Anne tilted her head in thought. She tapped her own pencil on a particular spot. "Rationalize the denominator here." She turned to her own work for a moment, listening to the furious scratch of a pencil as the toad followed her advice.
"Got it! Thanks Anne!" A sudden exclamation revealed success.
Anne smiled and shrugged. "Welcome, Vi. What are friends for?"
Vi, or Violet, grinned. "Free math tutors."
Anne rolled her eyes. "Just hurry up, okay? I want to watch a movie tonight."
Now it was Violet's turn to roll her eyes. "You do understand that it's my house, correct?"
Anne didn't answer. Though it was technically Violet's house, it was practically Anne's. Anne spent more time there than at her official home - the orphanage. Apparently she was found at the age of 4 wandering the streets. She didn't remember anything, and had nothing but the nightgown she was wearing. That nightgown now had a permanent residence in a drawer of Anne's nightstand. She felt strangely attached to the ragged piece of fabric. There was so much she didn't know - and somehow that scrap of clothing held the key to it all.
"Anne?" Violet seemed concerned. "Something wrong?"
Anne shook her thoughts from her head and grinned. "Nope! Come on, do that math, Vi!"
Violet groaned, though she was secretly glad she hadn't upset her best friend. "Fine, fine. I'm working."
The two girls diligently worked, ignoring the delighted squeals of younger children as they ran by, or the soft murmurs of those their own age talking. The rest of their recess was spent finishing their homework, much to Anne's delight.
"Done!" Both students packed up their folders and headed towards the school building just as the bell rang.
"Field trip! Fiiieeeelllld triiiiip!" Violet sang, dragging Anne. "Fiiieeellld-"
"Um, Vi?"
"Yeah?"
"Stop."
Violet stuck her tongue out. "You just don't appreciate musical talent when you hear it."
Anne stopped. "Sure… Whatever floats your boat," She rolled her eyes while attempting to put her long black hair in a ponytail.
Violet grabbed her friend's arm and pulled her to where a teacher was waiting. She slipped into the back of the line with Anne at her side, finally allowing her to finish her ponytail. "Jeez," Violet muttered. "Now I don't want to walk."
"Oh, come on, Vi. You dragged me all the way here and I'm much taller than you." Anne, being human, was significantly taller than her toad friend.
Violet scowled. "Taller isn't better."
"That's what short people say," Anne sang, causing Violet to scowl even more as they started the long walk to the castle.
"Why do we have to walk all the way up there? Why can't the princess" Anne said this word almost in a mocking way, "walk down here?"
Violet sighed. "Cause she's a princess."
"Right," Anne muttered. "And that gives her an excuse-" She stopped suddenly as the teacher glared at her, clearly wanting silence.
The rest of the journey was silent for the pair. They filed into the castle and chose seats next to each other near the back wall. Anne easily looked over the many mushroom caps to the podium meant for the honorable Princess Peach. Said royal regally walked to the stage and cleared her throat.
"Excuse me?" All eyes turned to their ruler. "Okay, so I am here today to give a speech about the history of our kingdom."
"Oh Grambi," Anne groaned. She could already sense that this field trip would be deathly boring. She was right.
"During the kingdom's first years, it faced many problems. Even then, the Darklands were enemies. In our first century, we slowly built…"
Anne began to tune the speech out and instead focus on doodling in her notebook. Violet glanced over, saw that she wasn't paying attention, and lightly shoved her. "Just listen!" she hissed. "It's not that bad!"
Anne listened for a moment. "Yeah, and discussing the financial problems of our princess's great-great-great-whatever grandfather is so interesting."
Violet almost responded, but closed her mouth when a teacher shot her a glare. 'Fine' she wrote at the top of her page. 'Just don't be so obvious.'
Anne shifted her notebook up and acted like she was watching Peach intently. Her arm hid her drawing of a world full of white wind against a black sky. She glanced up at the princess again and found herself instead watching the shadows. They were whirling and growing behind Peach, becoming solid. Wait…
"Princess! Behind you!" Anne's warning caused said princess to jump and spin around just as the shadows spit out a person.
"Count Bleck has arrived!" The person had a strange coat that faded from white to blue, a matching hat, and a magical-looking scepter. With a wave of his staff, the princess was trapped in a magical box.
"Help!" That seemed to be the magic word that caused panic among Toads. They all ran around, screaming their heads off. Violet and Anne stayed still and talked quickly.
"What should we do?" Violet asked. The toads that headed for the door were suddenly cut off by a large, purple, vortex. They all frantically backed away, looking for options. They needed to get out…
"Get everyone out and get help. I'll distract that dude," Anne said, vaguely waving her hand towards the manically laughing count. Violet stared incredulously at her friend.
"What will you do?" Anne inhaled sharply as she sized up the issue she was creating for herself.
"I'll improvise," she said, flashing a small grin. "I'm good at that."
She watched as Violet attempted to calm the general populous down. She slipped behind an ornate pink pillar. As the noise started to die down, she gathered her courage and screamed as loudly as she could, "Hey you!"
Count Bleck, as Anne assumed he was called, paused in his evil laughing when he heard the voice. He said nothing, but was clearly looking for the speaker. Anne smirked and yelled again. "Yeah, I'm talking to you Count Talks-in-third-person," Now she was grinning as she watched the look on his face turn from annoyed to insulted. As Anne hoped, his concentration on the magic blocking the door faltered as well.
"Some all-powerful count here. Getting beat by a little girl," Anne smirked. "We should be so afraid."
Finally Count Bleck had enough. "You dare insult Count Bleck?" he roared, completely forgetting about the door and the void blocking it. All the toads quickly filed out, heading for help. Count Bleck scanned the now empty room for the offender. Anne stepped out from behind the pillar.
"Actually, yes, I do dare." Her bright purple eyes blazed with mischief. She smoothed her jeans and crossed her arms over her black t-shirt. Her right foot was slightly up in the air, as if she was prepared to bolt if necessary.
Count Bleck's eyes narrowed as he looked at the girl. She seemed to match the description of the newest person mentioned in the Dark Prognosticus. The one who would help him end all worlds. He raised his scepter. "Count Bleck will take you too!" With one sweep of his hand, Anne was trapped in a magic box similar to the one Princess Peach was stuck in. With a last laugh, Count Bleck made himself and both girls disappear.
Violet gasped as her best friend and her ruler disappeared. With a last glance at the empty throne room, she bolted down towards the town, heading for the house of the Mario brothers.
Ta-da! So, tell me how I did. Till later, Ciao!