well, here's my main project. I'm having fun with it. Hope you enjoy reading it.
Disclaimer: I only own Kris, Ryan, Emily, Derek and Gameon Citadel. Everything else is Nintendo's.
Stuck in a Video Game - Part 1
"GAME!"
"The winner is… Link!"
"Yes! I win again!" Kris set her controller on the ground and raised her fists triumphantly.
Her friend Ryan sulked. "Two out of three?"
"She already won three," Emily pointed out.
"Wanna try again?" Kris asked eagerly, picking up her controller again and skipping through her results.
"Nah," Ryan replied, dropping his controller and standing up. "It's no fun playing against someone who always wins."
"I'll try again," Emily piped up. "But maybe we could try team battle against someone really tough. Playing a chronic winner is fun if she's on your team."
"Great!" Kris set the character selection of a CPU to Ganondorf. "How about this guy on… let's say, 8?"
"Sure!"
Both turned to look at Ryan. He stood still for one minute and stared at the screen, then at the controller, thinking over the options. Finally, he grabbed his own controller and exclaimed, "Okay, I'll join in!"
Kris grinned. "Ready to fight!" She pressed a button to continue and listened to the sound of a crowd cheering through the TV speakers.
* * *
Derek strolled up the mountain trail. This was a nice place, and he had been trying to buy the deed to this land for some time, but it had been in the current owner's family line for several generations, so they were pretty stubborn. He came to a cavern and walked inside to take a break and a drink of water. There was suddenly a flash of light, and a circular, translucent thing that looked like the portals in movies formed in the back of the cave. Derek stepped closer and jumped in surprise when a voice barked at him.
"You there! Join us!
Derek looked all around, saw no one, and blinked hard. "Who said that?"
"I did! Look into the portal!"
He looked, and saw a tall, bulky man with unnaturally dark skin and red hair and something that looked like a big, ferocious spiky mutant turtle. The man spoke again. "Join us in our quest!"
Derek shook his head hard and answered, "Me? Join you? What's your quest?"
The man reached through the portal, grabbed him by the front of his shirt with a hand bigger than Derek's head, and pulled him through the portal. Derek blinked as he was suddenly standing before a vast, diverse, and completely unfamiliar world. "Where am I?"
"You are in Gameon, the world we plan to conquer. The king has died--"
"Meaning it's all completely up for grabs." The turtle cut in.
"--and we have so far been unsuccessful. Perhaps, with your help--"
"My help? What can I do??"
"Bring us something from your world that could help us." He looked a little annoyed with the constant interruptions. "As long as it helps somehow, I don't care if you bring a snail in an old boot. If you do, and it is successful, we will grant you a portion of this world to rule as you see fit."
"We will?" The turtle asked. The man discreetly jabbed him in the belly with his elbow while Derek wasn't watching, and the turtle revised his answer. "Yeah, we will!"
Derek's eyes widened. To blazes with that mountain place! A part of this world, all his? How could he refuse?
"Yes! I'll do it! But… who are you?"
The man bowed his head and answered, "My name is Ganondorf, and my slow-witted friend here is called Bowser."
* * *
Kris, Ryan, and Emily stepped out of the video store, purchase-less, as usual. They were chatting about some of the games they had seen. "You know, it's kind of funny how many Mario and Legend of Zelda games there are," Kris remarked. "You'd think someone would get tired of them. At the very least, Bowser and Ganondorf!" The three kids laughed, and a nearby man stopped short and listened, unnoticed.
"Yeah, you'd think they'd just give up," Ryan agreed. "Or maybe they just keep getting new ideas."
"Gotta give 'em points for perseverance," Emily added.
"True. But, seriously," Kris laughed. "At the rate they're doing it, I could do better! Or at least give pointers."
"Excuse me," the man who had been listening to them approached. "But would you come with me for a minute?"
"I'm sorry," Kris snapped. "But none of us would go anywhere with men we've never seen before who just randomly start talking to kids walking alone. Bye!"
"Um, Kris," Emily started as Kris turned her back on the man.
"Watch out!" Ryan cried.
The stranger snatched Kris off her feet and carried her to a car. "STOP!" Ryan and Emily yelled, giving chase.
He tossed Kris in the backseat and jumped into the driver's seat. "Fasten a seat belt," he ordered. "I don't want you flailing around back there."
Kris fastened herself in the right backseat, so she was as far as possible from the driver, and looked out the window, seeing her friends running after the car. They were quickly left behind, and Kris sighed quietly and prayed for a few minutes.
"So, why did you kidnap me?" she finally asked. If I'm going to be held against my will, I'd like to at least know what's going on. she thought.
Derek glanced at the girl in the rearview mirror. "I believe you can be useful for someone."
"That all?" Kris asked. "How?"
"Shut up."
"Okay."
* * *
Emily slowed to a stop and gasped for breath. "Wait!" she called to Ryan. "We can't keep up with a car. We lost them."
Ryan stopped and nodded. "Did you remember anything on the license plate? How that guy looked? What kind of car that was?"
Emily shook her head. "Just that it was a tannish-beige color. Did you?"
"That's all I got, too. And there are probably eighty other cars that color."
"This is bad."
"Yeah."
They stood in the road gazing helplessly after the car for a few minutes, then raced to the police station.
* * *
"Here we are," Derek parked the car and opened the door. Kris climbed out and looked around. They were in the mountains, that was all she knew. Derek pulled an gun out and gestured toward the entrance to a path. "Get moving."
Kris walked ahead of him until they reached a small cave. "Get in there," Her kidnapper told her. She stepped inside and saw what looked like a glowing round door. Amazed, Kris stepped closer, and Derek roughly grabbed her from behind and threw her in.
Kris felt like she was entering the surface of a plastic bubble and then it all went back to normal as she reached the other side. She landed painfully on her elbows and looked around. Ganondorf and Bowser stood over her. Okay, she thought. I have finally lost my mind. And I don't think it's coming back.
Ganondorf sized up the kid, then looked at Derek on the other side of the portal. "This is the best you can find?" he remarked skeptically.
"Sir," Derek replied. "I heard her say she could give you pointers on how to take over the world."
So that was it! Kris clenched her fists. Me and my big mouth.
"I'll take your word for it," Ganondorf muttered. Bowser picked up Kris like she was a toy and carried her down a tunnel. He tossed her in a cage, shut the door and left, glancing at her and muttering, "I shoulda known we'd get something like this. Just our luck." Kris responded by making a face at him when he wasn't looking.
* * *
Ganondorf flipped a switch on the machine near the portal, and it flickered and vanished. When Bowser entered, Ganondorf asked, "Know of any uses for our new prisoner?"
"Not really. She could be bait."
Ganondorf shook his head paced for a moment, deep in thought. "Too easy. We could do that with any Gameon resident. In fact, it would probably work better with a Gameon resident. At least then they're sure to care enough."
He turned to Bowser, "Ask her some questions. About us, about the lands of Gameon, our enemies, so on. See what she knows. She could be useful after all."
* * *
Kris struggled with the bars of her cage. The door was locked, of course, and she didn't have anything to break or pick the lock. Think, girl, think she told herself. If this were a video game, you'd be out of here by now. Then again, in video games, the way out is all planned out by programmers.
Just then, Bowser stomped in. "Kid, where do I come from?"
Kris immediately had two ideas: Planet Ugly and the Mushroom Kingdom. The second choice seemed smarter.
"The Mushroom Kingdom."
"What're the little pipsqueaks that live there called?"
"Toads."
"Who's the guy with the big nose, mustache, and a goofy accent that beats me all the time?"
"Uh, Mario. Trick question?"
And on and on. Kris was actually starting to have fun with Bowser's quiz. When he stopped and left, Kris sat down on the ground and wondered why he had quizzed her anyway. She got her answer in fifteen minutes, when Bowser returned and said, "More info. How do we beat Mario and the elf boy?"
* * *
Link, Mario, and Pit crouched behind a boulder and peered out. "Look," Pit hissed. "There's a Koopa coming out of that hole. I told you."
"Right," Link whispered. "They must be in there."
"Let's go," Mario added. "We'll bring the fight to them this time."
A Goomba spotted them from a distance and raced away as fast as its teeny legs could go.
* * *
"You think I'll tell you?" Kris snapped. "Get a brain!"
"Mr. Bowser, sir!" A Goomba came running in. "Mario and his friends are coming!"
"Tell Ganondorf about it, I'm busy!"
"If you let me out," Kris suggested. "I might be more willing to give information."
Bowser thought that over, then reached over and opened the door. "Okay, talk."
Kris stepped out, looked Bowser directly in the eye, and said distinctly, "You're big, stupid, and really, really ugly!" Then she turned and ran like a jackrabbit while Bowser roared angrily and chased her.
Kris came to a T in the tunnel. Before she had a chance to choose a path, Bowser was right on top of her. Her back to the wall, Kris thought quickly and remembered one trick that had worked on Ryan more than once.
She pointed past Bowser and yelled, "Hey, look! A distraction!"
"Huh?" Bowser turned and looked around. Kris bolted down the left tunnel, thinking Wow, what a dummy.
She kept running until she had to stop to catch her breath. She leaned against the wall and waited for her pulse and breathing to return to normal. She smiled, thinking, This is kinda fun. You get quite a thrill running from a video game boss in real life. I wonder if anyone at home would believe me if I told them. WAIT! What's that?! She jumped to her feet, and everything in her chest seemed to clench up.
Someone's coming! I gotta run! Not even thinking about which way she was going, Kris bolted.
OOF!
Kris slammed into someone and fell backwards. She looked up and saw Link standing over her, looking a little surprised. She knew she was probably at least as surprised, if not more.
Then Link asked, "Who are you?" He sounded suspicious. Makes sense, Kris thought. After all, he's never seen me before, and most prisoners don't run around free in the bad guy's lair.
She climbed up to her feet and saw Link's right ear twitch a teeny bit. He looked over the top of her head, and his face changed to the look of battle determination Kris had seen on the video games as he pulled out his took a step to the side and looked behind her, listening carefully. A low, gravelly chuckle reached her ears, and Ganondorf stepped into view. Kris chose to move. They were probably going to fight now, and she didn't want to be blasted or get any part of her cut off. Link lunged with his sword, but Ganondorf sidestepped and then punched Link in the side, sending him flying into a wall and leaving little "flames" of darkness on him.
Kris winced. I hope Link can beat him. She looked around. Maybe I could… Wait a minute, what's that? she listened hard, then smiled slowly. She moved a couple feet away from the battle, keeping an eye on the fighters, and called out, "Hey, Bowser! Looking for someone?"
She heard a bellow and grinned. She raced past Link and Ganondorf then crouched behind a big rock. Bowser lunged into the tunnel and came charging at the two fighters in a blind rage. Both saw him coming and turned to get out of the way, but Link was faster and Ganondorf found himself trapped underneath Bowser.
Kris popped out of her hiding place, waved at Link with an "I'm on your side" grin, and sped off the way Link had come. Behind her, Link looked at the two villains, let out a laugh, then followed the girl.
* * *
When Kris at last set foot outside, the first thing she noticed was the view. From the mountain she was at, she could see all sorts of different landscapes and places. She knew that she was seeing a lot of the locations of video games, though there was a distant, huge structure that didn't look like something from any game she'd seen. It looked like a castle, with lots of walls and turrets and towers. I wonder what that is?
She turned at the sound of footsteps, and saw Link. He was looking at her with less distrust, but still unsure.
She suddenly realized, I am actually face-to-face with Link! The totally super-cool video game hero! The thought made her feel a little like she was suddenly one of those screaming fan-girls at rock concerts, only much quieter and she wasn't hopping up and down madly. Please, God, don't let me do anything like that!
Link spoke up, "You never answered my question."
"My name's Kris," she replied quickly, glad to have something to say that wouldn't humiliate her. "I'm from Earth. Heard of the place?"
He looked thoughtful. "I have. What are you doing here?"
"I opened my mouth, said a few things as a joke, then this guy grabbed me, tossed me through a portal and next thing I know I'm being held prisoner by Ganondorf and Bowser and they're trying to get me to tell them how to take over the world. I didn't tell them anything like that, though."
Link frowned, but then his ears gave another teeny twitch, and he turned. Kris looked and spotted Mario and Pit approaching. This is really turning out to be a great adventure! Ryan and Emily should be here! Then Kris suddenly decided she should stop thinking.
Pit and Mario jumped up to join Link and, when they saw Kris, asked, "Who's this?"
"This is-" Link began.
"I'm Kris." She hated being spoken for, even when being introduced to video game heroes. "I was kidnapped from Earth."
Pit blinked hard. "EARTH? A lot of people around here know about it, but I didn't think anyone knew how to actually get to it."
Mario frowned. "Just our luck that those two find a way there first. We should let the others know. You want to come with us?" he asked Kris.
"Sure!"
* * *
After a long and surprisingly uneventful walk, Kris could see that they were headed for the huge castle-like structure she had seen. She asked Link, "What's that? I've never seen anything like it."
"That's Gameon Citadel. The ruler of Gameon lives there."
"Gameon? I've never heard of that place. Where is it?"
All three video game heroes laughed. "What'd I say that was funny?" Kris snapped, annoyed.
"Sorry," Pit answered. "Of course you wouldn't know. Gameon is the name of our world. The places you know about are just parts of it."
Kris looked around. Of course, nothing looked dramatically different; it was just now that she knew what the name of this world was, things just seemed a little different somehow. She turned her attention back to Gameon Citadel. "So, who is the ruler of Gameon?"
Her immediate answer was some throat-clearing and a whole lot of looks at each other, as if they were each trying to will one of the other two to come up with something.
Mario answered, "We, uh, don't have one right now."
"Huh?"
"It's like this," Link explained. "The king died not long ago. Once Ganondorf and Bowser found out, they attacked the citadel before the next ruler was chosen. There's probably someone in the citadel who could explain better, but right now we just have the potential heirs in charge. Everyone decided it would work better to wait till a better time to crown a monarch."
"Almost everyone," Pit corrected him. "Don't forget that weirdo Onkled."
"Right," Link acknowledged. "But he's an exception."
"Who?" Kris asked.
"Never mind. It's a long story. You'll meet him in the citadel. Just don't expect a warm welcome," Mario told her.
Kris raised an eyebrow but kept quiet. They had reached Gameon Citadel now, and Kris gazed up at it, awestruck. The ten-foot-high door looked impossible to open - no handles, no hinges, no nothing - but when the four stepped up to it, it pixilated and disappeared. Wow, Kris thought as she entered Gameon Citadel. That is cool.
The door opened to a short corridor, at the other end of which lay a massive, high-ceilinged throne room. On each side there were two thrones, while at the opposite wall from the entrance stood a bigger, more majestic throne, apparently meant for whoever ruled Gameon. The other four thrones were each occupied by a prince or princess that Kris could recognize.
In the first there was Princess Zelda, the second was occupied by Princess Peach, Prince Marth was sitting in the third, looking a bit sullen, and the fourth, Roy, leaned forward in his throne curiously as Kris walked forward with Pit, Mario, and Link near her. They all stood up and approached.
"How did it go?" Zelda asked. Kris thought she was talking more to Link than the other two, but she brushed it off, figuring it was her imagination.
Link shrugged. "Not as well as we hoped. We found out where Ganondorf and Bowser are hiding, but they'll be fighting back soon. We also found this kid running around in there." He gestured to Kris.
Kris sucked in a sharp breath and bit her tongue to hold in her anger at the way he referred to her. While it was very tempting to say some smart remark about "this kid" having a name, and at any other time it would be out by now, it would probably blow any chance at an adventure. "My name is Kris," she introduced herself. "I'm from Earth."
The four royalty figures reacted with surprise and incredulity, as Kris had expected. "How did you come here?" Roy asked.
"Some creep kidnapped me and tossed me through a portal. I think he was working for Ganondorf and Bowser. Bowser stuck me in a cage and tried to get me to tell him how take over Gameon. I don't know how to take over the world, so I just told him he was ugly, big, and stupid, which made him a little mad, so then I bolted and ran into Link."
"So they were after you," Roy said. "I guess they think you know something they can use. I'll bet anything they'll target you in their counterattack."
"Which means you should probably stay in the Citadel," Link told Kris. "It's not safe for you right now."
"WHAT?!?!" Kris exclaimed.
"He's right, you should stay here," Zelda added. "Just until we can get you back to Earth."
Kris's shoulders slumped. So much for adventure.
* * *
So for the next week or so, Kris lived in Gameon Citadel. It wasn't so bad at first; the place was huge, and she got to meet the other residents of the Citadel. On her first day, Kris was exploring one of the upper levels, feeling a little homesick and worrying about her friends and family, when she bumped into and nearly tripped over something small, round and pink. She looked down and smiled brightly when she recognized the little pink ball.
"Hey, you're Kirby, aren't you?" she asked, bending down to look right at him, since he was only about as high as her knees.
He blinked at her, then smiled. Kris smiled back. "Would you like to be my friend? I could really use one here."
Kirby jumped up and down enthusiastically, making Kris laugh. So Kirby became her first and best friend in Gameon.
* * *
Kris also met Samus, who was really sarcastic and tough, Yoshi, who was a lot of fun to play with, and Ness, who turned out to be a pain who expected to have everyone's rapt attention at all times. She also met "that weirdo Onkled" as Pit had called him.
She was wandering near the throne room when she spotted a man in royal robes sitting with his arms crossed, watching the people inside talk and plan with a dark look. She asked him, "What's the matter with you?"
He turned and frowned at her. "You," he muttered. "The Earth girl. No one has ever come here from Earth. I'd rather that have stayed that way. But of course, everything else already gone wrong, why not just toss an Earth child in the mix?"
Kris cocked her head curiously and frowned. "What do you mean, everything else has gone wrong?"
"I mean," he answered impatiently, as if Kris's very presence in Gameon meant she was supposed to automatically know everything there was to know about it. "The decision to wait. Gameon should have an actual ruler by now. But no, they want to wait until those two ruffians are incapacitated, then they say the ruler will be chosen. I have served here for eight generations, and nothing like this has ever happened before," he shook his head. "No, no, it's wrong, all wrong."
"I don't understand, sir."
"You don't know anything about this place, do you? While the king or queen lives, he or she chooses four princes or princesses to possibly take over the throne. When they know that their reign is ending, then they choose their heir, and the chosen prince or princess is crowned king or queen. Well, this king didn't even leave a name when he died. Nothing. Of course, that shouldn't stop anyone, but since Ganondorf and Bowser attacked the minute they knew the king was dead, now everyone thinks it would be better to make sure they won't interfere first, then give Gameon a ruler! It's all wrong, I tell you! Wrong, wrong, WRONG!"
Kris raised her eyebrows and inched away slowly. "O-kaaay… Well, I will keep that in mind. Thank you, uh…"
"Onkled," the man mumbled, going back to his sullen state. "Sir Onkled to you."
"Thank you, Sir Onkled." Kris turned and walked away, making a note to herself to not talk to anyone who looked unhappy. She met Pit soon later, and related the conversation to him. He responded with a laugh.
"Yeah, he's always been a real persnickety blowhard. If things don't happen exactly the way they're 'supposed' to, he freaks out and then sulks."
"Yeah, I kinda found that out."
They both laughed.
* * *
Emily was looking through the junk mail she had just pulled out of her mailbox when she spotted a small picture of Kris on some sort of newsletter and sighed. She'd been kidnapped only yesterday, and already everyone with a mailbox in the neighborhood knew she was missing. She walked inside, dropped the stack on the kitchen counter, and sat at the table, opening the book she had left there. She slouched forward until her chin sat on the table and she couldn't read the printing on the page without straining her eyes. With a sigh, she closed the book and turned her Nintendo DS on instead. After four levels of Tetris, the doorbell rang. Emily paused the game and walked to the door. She checked through the peephole and opened the door when she saw that it was Ryan.
"Hey," she said dully.
"Hey there," Ryan answered. He pulled his own Nintendo DS out of his pocket. "What're you doing?"
"Not much. Mostly worrying about Kris and praying about Kris."
"Same here." Ryan grinned humorlessly. "So I came over so we can compare notes."
Emily laughed, but stopped abruptly. "What's so not funny?" Ryan asked. Emily pointed behind him, looking fearful. Ryan turned and gasped.
A car had pulled up in front of Emily's house, and the driver stepped out. Though they hadn't been able to remember what Kris's kidnapper had looked like, they both recognized him immediately.
"Em, shut the door," Ryan whispered, taking a step into her house. The man raced up the driveway and snagged a handful of Ryan's shirt, dragging him away from the door. Ryan struggled, but his captor was stronger. It was evident who would win. Emily slammed the door shut, locked it, and ran out the back door. I have to find out where he'll take Ryan, she thought. Then I might find out where Kris is, too.
She heard the sound of fighting and jumped into the bushes. She sneaked past them to the kidnapper's car. Sending up a quick prayer, she grasped the trunk handle and pulled. Surprisingly, it popped open. Emily looked up the driveway again. Ryan was clearly losing badly, but neither seemed to have noticed. Emily checked the inside of the trunk and noticed a small T-shaped handle attached to a short wire, probably to open the trunk. Apparently, this guy didn't plan to stick Ryan inside, or he would have cut that off.
Taking a deep breath, Emily climbed inside and closed the trunk, plunging herself into pitch blackness. She lay still, waiting, and began wondering why she was doing this and what would happen to them. One thought occurred to her: Kris is more likely to do this than me. Why me?
* * *
Pit, Mario, and Yoshi stood near the door of Gameon Citadel. Pit looked around.
"Isn't Kirby coming on this mission?"
"Sure he is," Mario answered, pointing. "Here he is now."
Kirby waddled up slowly, looking like he'd tried to swallow a rhino that had gotten stuck.
"What now?" Mario muttered under his breath, and then asked out loud. "What do you have in there, Kirby?"
Kirby just blinked at him. No surprise there.
"Come on, let's go."
Kirby moved an awkward step forward.
"Kirby, spit that out," Pit told him. "You'll move a lot easier."
Kirby shook his head. "Mmmn-mm."
"Spit it out," Mario said. "Come on, do it."
Kirby blinked again anxiously.
"Now."
He finally opened his mouth, and out popped Kris, looking sheepish. Mario sighed and Pit laughed out loud.
"Clever," he congratulated. "Very clever. You almost got out the door that time."
Kris looked daggers at him and stood up. "Uhhh, can I please come?" she asked Mario, already knowing the answer.
"No. It's dangerous."
Kris bit her tongue to keep back the snappy comeback that popped into her mind and nodded. She turned and walked away while Kirby gave her the "I'm sorry" look he always had when he had to leave without her. She smiled ruefully as she climbed a flight of stairs. The only one around here who sympathizes is a round pink airhead. Just my luck.
She finally reached her destination: a window which she used to reach the roof. Kris climbed onto the sill, twisted around to grab the edge of the roof, and pulled herself on. Walking in a half-crouch, she walked to a tower and sat down with her back against it. Taking in the view, she thought about home and sighed.
"The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." she thought. Back home I was usually bored, but now that I'm in a world that's practically teeming with adventure, I'm not even allowed to leave a building.
She closed her eyes and prayed. Peace and contentment settled around her, and she felt better before long. She opened her eyes to survey the lands around her and smiled. But I'm here, she thought. And I'm going to make the most of it.
And there's part 1. If you liked it, yay. If you hated it, I apologize for your wasted time and hope you find something you do like.
Reviews of any kind will be welcomed/tolerated/forgiven.
