Lost In The Mushrooms. (P.1,Chp.1):
Subject Delta stepped forward slowly, glancing around at his strange surroundings. Green pipes, little boxes floating everywhere,and something he'd never seen before: white, puffy things floating in a bright blue sky. Just then, a small, brown creature with little white wings came hopping up to him. Delta stood and stared at it. Then the creature suddenly leaped forward and seized Deltas leg with its sharp little fangs! As it Began gnawing into the canvas, Delta, without emotion,ripped the thing off, and stared at its gnashing jaws in his hand for a moment, Then promptly crushed it into pixel dust. A long, wide brick path lay before him, and he decided to follow it.
As he continued on his way, he reflected on the events that had brought him to this bizarre place; Last he remembered, a pretty lady in a navel-style dress, with a kind voice pushed him into a white light shouting, "Go! Take her with you! you'll be safe through there!" There were other, fleeting memories flashing through his mind vaguely: Sophia Lamb pointing a gun and firing at...something, Dr. Suchong shouting angrily, Sparks of electricity, And a lab on fire. And... an earthquake, maybe, he thought? It was all so blurred and fuzzy. One thought remained clear, however; Eleanore was alive, and she was here, in this place, somewhere, speaking to him in his mind, like she'd been all along, and all he could do was follow her voice. How he was going to return to Rapture, he had no idea, but she would know, He thought... After all, hadn't she always known the way home? She was still guiding him, just as she had done before.
As he walked along, Delta began noticing other unusual elements: two-legged turtles with wings, giant mushrooms as big as lounge chairs, and tall, skinny bushes without pottings. It began to seem, after awhile, every turtle and walking mushroom-creature wanted to eat him. And it annoyed him, certainly, but nevertheless, he thought he could enjoy this oddly peaceful, charmingly sunny place. Maybe, in a another time. Here, there were no bloody corpses, no mutated wack-jobs trying to kill him or Eleanore, no jazz music, and best of all, no ocean to be seen! He was admiring this fact when-BAM!-his head smacked against a floating metal box that he hadn't seen before, even though it was hanging right in front of him. Then, a shiny gold coin popped out of the top of the box. Curious, Delta bent down to pick it up when he was surprised by a high-pitched voice with an Italian Accent.
"Hey! Dats-a mine, big stuff!"Delta looked down at his feet. There, glaring up at him was a fat little man in overalls and bushy mustache."wotta you think yos'-a gonna do wit'-a dat, eh?" asked the little man. For a moment, Delta considered smashing this annoying little jerk, but at least it hadn't tried to eat him yet, so he just stared at it, curious."I need-a da coins, ya know" he continued,"I's-a only got-a 2 lives left, and-a I'm-a still ona level 4!" Delta dropped the coin at the little guys feet, then watched in surprise as he flipped the coin over his head,and it disappeared into thin air with a "PING!" sound."thanks, pal"quipped the man. "So, wotsa yo' story, buddy? You-a lost or some'm?"... "Wotsa matta, cant-a yo' talk?"..."Ma name's-a Mario, by da way."Delta thought for a moment, then held out his right hand, showing Mario the Delta symbol printed there, then pointed at himself. "Oh, I get ya," said Mario, "datsa you name, right?" Delta nodded. "Guess-a yo' can't talk, huh?" he asked. Delta shook his head. "wotcha got-a dere,fella?"Mario pointed to Deltas drill-arm. "Looks-a pretty nasty. Wotcha do wit' it, eh?" Delta reached up, and carved the floating metal box in two, jabbing his spinning drill right through it and raining shards down on their heads.
"Mamma-Mia wit-a parma on top!" Mario screamed, jumping as high as Deltas head."Now datsa scary weapon for ya! Youse-a need dat fo' da koopas? I's-a usualy just jump-a on 'em, but datta do, I guess..." he squeaked nervously. Delta stood imposingly over Mario, not moving. "so, ah, wotta yo' doing inna dis place, anyway, eh? You needa ma help, mebbe?..."Mario got the look of an idea on his face. " Say there, buddy," Mario continued; Wotta you say wesa be freinds, eh? I help-a you find you way 'round dis-a place, huh?And-a you bes-a ma muscle for awhile, eh?" Delta paused, then finally shrugged, knelt down, and scooped Mario onto his shoulder, the way he always did Eleanore in the past,before she got big. "Hot dog! Now I finally gets to feel like-a da big guy!"he cheered. "Whoa!, slow down, Monstro! I's-a gonna fall off, buddy!" yelled Mario."I'm-a da king o' da world now! Weee! Delta thought:"Great. I can see THIS working out just fine", already starting to regret this arrangement. Little did they know, time was running out for them both...