Hello my fellow readers, and welcome to my first story for this profile! This is an idea I have had for a while now, though I am a little upset to see that someone had already beaten me to the punch. However, I refuse to let that stop me from writing what I please!
Now, to start things off, a few things to keep in mind while reading this story:
1.) The plot isn't all explained in the first chapter. Things will be a tad confusing until later on, with little bits and pieces explained along the way. Do not get on my case about it- I have planned this whole story out from start to finish, and as the normal stories of Paper Mario: TTYD and Homestuck, the little twists that happen after the prologue will all come together, and I am sure you will enjoy it!
2.) I used OCs in the making of this story. There was only four beta kids, and because I can't use the Alphas, due to where the prologue leaves off here, I made a few OCs to fill the remaining gaps that I needed. This also means there will be some OC romance later on. You like OCs? Cool. You don't? Then please hit the back button at the top of the page.
Now, on a happier note, I am in the middle of summer vacation, as many of you are, and so updates will be quite frequent ^^ Now I believe I have rambled long enough, so let's get to the story now, shall we?
Ahem! Today…I'm going to tell you the story of the Thousand-Year Door.
An awfully long time ago…in a strange and far-off land, a big and bustling town thrived. It was a town where all people lived very happy lives, and it was said that the town was very prosperous.
But one day…tragedy befell this blessed place.
A great cataclysm struck the town and its people. Darkness filled the skies, and the earth roared and shook. It was as if the very world had come to a violent end…and in but a single night…the town sank into the depths of the earth…
Many moons rose and set…Stories of the town passed into the pages of fairytales…and when the town's site no longer held any relics of its past…people gathered at that spot and built a new town.
But word soon spread among the people who moved in…that an ancient city lay deep underground and that magnificent treasure rested there.
Indeed…
This is the tale of the fabled treasure of Rogueport… and though what really happened may have been a bit…twisted- or crossed over, I should say…
…The tale of the quest for the legendary treasure and the Thousand-Year Door…starts here.
A young lady stood alone in the Rougeport plaza. Rougeport was a town of thieves and harbored many of the Mushroom Kingdom's foul-minded, and why a noble woman such as herself would even think of presenting her appearance so openly was beyond anyone. She wore a large, poofy pink dress encrusted with jewels and lacy lining, and she had long, bright blonde hair that any girl would kill for. With the jewel-encrusted crown placed delicately upon her head, it was no mistake that this noble was none other than Princess Peach, ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom.
With her gloved hands folded over one another in front of her waist, she wondered in the front of the town, wondering what she should do first. Believe it or not, the fair Princess was in the shantytown on a vacation, and Rougeport was one of the first places she had turned up at. If Toadsworth were still around, if she hadn't ditched him from before already, would probably hurry her off to some place, such as Poshley Heights by the express train and whatnot. The Princess didn't want to go to Poshley Heights- she already lives a glamorous lifestyle, so why should she got somewhere else to experience the same things she can do at her home? Princess Peach wanted to explore, do things her people would typically do! However, at this point, the Princess was beginning to have second thoughts after standing around in the muck the town has washed up on it's cobblestone paths.
"Oh missy, missy..." cackled and old woman's voice. Peach was startled for a moment, however she regained her composure quickly and turned around. She saw a hooded, elderly woman seated on a tattered mat, which was covered in all sorts of weird objects.
"Are you talking to me?"the princess asked, pointing a slender finger to herself. The older woman nodded.
"Yes, you, missy," she croaked, beckoning the princess over. "Why don't you buy something? I have a wide assortment of of knickknacks and doodads."
"Oh, well... um..." Peach muttered, carefully looking over the woman's wares. She was instantly mesmerized by the suspicious woman's items, all so whimsical and exotic looking. However, there wasn't anything the princess felt like she needed to have, and was about to excuse herself away from the little shop until something caught her eye:
A red velvet box, trimmed with enough gold to catch someone's eye.
"Why, what a pretty box. What's inside of it?" The princess asks, her blue eyes fazing at the red box. The elderly woman chuckles, picking up the delicate box with her bony fingers.
"It is said that this box holds a map that shows where the legendary treasure sleeps," she begins. "But the box has a special lock on it, only opening to one with a noble and pure heart. You see..." The old woman trails off for a moment, taking a second to demonstrate the magical lock that binded the box closed. "The box will not open to one such as myself." Peach tilts her head to the story, gasping in awe at the little tale. The elderly woman chuckles at the princess's interest in the story, and holds the box out into the blonde's hands.
"I know. If the box will open for you, missy, then I will let you have whatever is inside. I'm sure whatever is in there will be no use to someone like me... So missy, take this box and see what happens," the old woman cackled. Peach hesitated, looking at the box with a skeptical look on her face.
"Oh, I guess there is no harm..." she mutters, placing her gloved hand to the top of the box. The box suddenly clicked open, making the princess's eyes widen as she opened the box, revealing an ancient piece of rolled up paper inside.
But no matter how promising this ancient treasure map looked, the events the naive princess released would be far worse then any disaster they have faced before.
Even though the tension was high in the other universe, the tension rose even higher here with even more anxiety and fear. Jack Noir was coming, and the trolls had to move if they wanted to avoid any kind of harm.
Karkat Vantas, the self-proclaimed leader of the trolls, shivered a bit as his palms began to sweat. He was slowly reaching for the glowing white door, presented before the group by a glowing building that was shaped to resemble the symbol of the deadly, apocalyptic game Sgrub, and was possibly the only way of escape for them. With eleven other lives standing anxiously behind him, the fretting leader was slowly reaching for the handle-
"Oh my God, will you hurry up? Our lives are kind of on the line here, and I don't plan on dying just yet," one of the trolls, Vriska Serket, shouted while crossing her arms over one another. Another one of the trolls, Sollux Captor, had also become impatient and decided to speak out as well.
"Yeah. th'ome time today would be nice, KK," he calls out. The cancer quickly grew irritated, snapping his head around to face his friends.
"For the love of fuck, haven't you idiots ever heard of a dramatic build up?"
"Karkles, we are going to die if you don't get a move on!" Terezi argued, just as the tension above her rose even higher. Aradiabot hovered carefully above all of her friends, her red eyes blinking as she took in the spacious surroundings. Her sensors were going off- Jack Noir was close.
On the other hand, Karkat rolled his eyes, grumbling to himself as he reached for the glowing doorknob again. His ashen colored fingers barely brushed against the sleek surface before another, much more blinding light suddenly made itself present a short distance away. All the trolls suddenly cringed, blinking away from the light, all except for Terezi.
"What? Why is everyone groaning all of a sudden?" The blind troll asked, sticking her tongue out as if to taste for the intruding substance.
"What in the world is that?" Equius called out, immediately going into a protective stance in front of Nepeta, his moirail.
"It's some kind of gem, I think," Feferi said, squinting her eyes at the object. The light suddenly started to die down, making it easier for everyone to see what the object was exactly. It turns out that Feferi was probably right, due to the objects sleek and crystallized form, topped off by being in the shape of a star. The trolls all stared at it in awe, as if none of them have ever seen such a thing before- which they haven't.
"It's so pretty," Nepeta purrs, stepping on the tips of her toes as she tried to look over Equius' bicep to get a better look. Gamzee, the one closest to the floating gemstone, reached out towards it as he stared in a hypnotic gaze.
"It looks like a motherfucking miracle," he coos, grasping hold of the star. He brought it closer to him, smiling as he gazed at the glittering surface, just before Karkat's meddlesome hand slapped over top of it.
"You fucking moron! What are you doing touching this thing? You don't even know what the fuck it is!" He scolded, snatching the crystal out of his moirail's hand. Gamzee chuckled slightly, holding his hands up in mock defense.
"Calm down, Karbro, the little motherfucker isn't gonna hurt anyone. "
"Don't talk about it like it's a living thing! It's a fucking inanimate object- hey, what the fuck-"
While the arguing going on behind her, Aradiabot's glowing red eyes glared at the object approaching in the distance. She did not notice the commotion taking place behind her when the crystal seemed to be doing something rather weird now- her sensors were focused on the approaching Jack Noir, who was coming at them at an incredible speed. She got into a stance, ready to fight him off while sending her friends to safety, since obviously they weren't going to get themselves into safety on their own. However, before she could even do anything, a sudden force began to pull her back, preventing her from doing any sort of action. All she could do was turn her head as her hearing sensors picked up the sound of her friends screaming behind her.
"OH MY GOD, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?"
"Karkat, you were the one holding the damn thing!"
"What is it doing?"
"Honk."
Aradiabot's eyes flashed a bright red color as her friends were being sucked into oblivion by the crystal star Gamzee had picked up. A large white portal had opened from the star, and one by one everyone was disappearing into it, their screams fading away as it happened. Right away, the robot knew she had to react- but there was conflict. Jack was so close, that bringing her friends out could get them killed right afterwards. At the same time, there was no telling where this portal will spit them out at, or if that thing was even was a portal at all.
Unfortunately, the conflict left her vulnerable long enough for her to be engulfed by the white light, which closed up shortly after she disappeared into the vortex. The star-shaped crystal was no longer there, and the little piece of meteor was now abandoned. Jack Noir had finally approached, only to stop and stare at the little strip of floating rock for a mere few seconds. His canine sense of smell told him that the weird troll kids were there, although not a trace of them was found. When the scent began to fade away a little bit, Jack Noir grew impatient and flew away, his blade thirsty for fresh blood. If there was nothing for him to kill there, he would just try elsewhere. However, if he had waited a second longer, he wouldn't have missed the second portal opening up, spitting out a bunch of colorful characters that now stand where the trolls did before then. For a moment, these new characters did not move, at least, until one in a bright pink dress woke up and looked around. She sat on her side, her surprised blue eyes staring out into the paradox space in both fear and confusion.
"Where in the world are we?" Princess Peach asked herself, just as the Mushroom Kingdom hero, Mario, began to stir beside her.
Ahhh, who doesn't love a good ol' switcharoo?
Well, this was merely just a little prologue, and the first chapter should be up either later today, or tomorrow at the latest. Please stay tuned until then!