Author's Notes: Yes, I am starting another story. XD Shame on me, I know, when I have a ton of others I need to work on. . I know. But I had this idea in my head for SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO long, and finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I. Must. Put. It. Up. And so, here it is. But note: I cannot find the actual script for Paper Mario, and I'm not about to go through the whole game again just for the script, so all the lines are not what you are going to find in the actual game. However, the storyline is the same, with the exception that there is now Sonic and Tails accompanying our favorite Italian plumber and peachy princess. And that brings up another point: since this story IS set after Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic and Tails are younger (Sonic 10; Tails 5), and that means they have no knowledge of the other characters like Shadow, Rouge, Cream, Amy, or even Knuckles. And…well…I guess there isn't much else to say. Enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters. Mario and the original party from Paper Mario, as well as Peach, Twink, Bowser, Kammy Koopa, and everyone else, belong to Nintendo. Sonic and Tails belong to SEGA. Other disclaimers will be announced throughout the story.
-
It wasn't everyday that Mario got a letter. But, it wasn't unusual either, especially since it was from her royal highness, Princess Peach. What made it even more common was that she was inviting him to one of her famous palace parties. The princess was always cheery and generous, not to mention friendly. She never thought of herself as more important than the people she was ruling.
But that was beside the point.
Mario put the letter into his overall pocket, and turned to his younger brother, Luigi.
"Ready to go?" Luigi asked, his Italian accent obvious.
Mario nodded. He couldn't talk well, because…he was mute. He always had been, and always will. So, while he had excellent hearing and seeing abilities, he couldn't use his vocal chords. Thus, he stuck to sign language. Luckily, that was something studied not only in Toad Town, but in the whole world. Everyone knew how to understand what he was saying, and that is something he was most grateful for.
Luigi bore a grin as he exited their quant house. Mario followed, and the two made their way to Toad Town by a green pipe.
It didn't take long to reach the palace. When they arrived, they weren't surprised at the amount of toads there. There were millions, but that was something that was to be expected. When Peach was throwing a party, EVERYONE was invited. And as a result, almost everyone came.
Luigi turned to Mario as he said, "I hope you don't mind, bro, if I stay down here. You can go look for the princess, but I wanna talk with the townspeople."
Of course, being his older brother, Mario knew the real reason Luigi wanted to stay on the first floor. It's where all the food was. Logical reason, he supposed, if you were Luigi. But Mario had other interests on his mind. With that, he nodded to his brother, and the two parted.
After getting information on the princess's whereabouts, Mario wasted no time in treading up the stairs to the second floor. Since the princess decided to go to her secret chambers and not come here to greet him herself, he would go up there and talk with her himself.
It didn't take long to reach her highness's chambers. The volume of the party could barely be heard there, and Mario guessed that was a good thing.
But that was a bad thing entirely in itself.
Princess Peach turned as she heard footsteps coming her way. A little ways behind of her was Mario, a timid smile on his face.
She smiled back. "I hope you don't mind that I had come up here. It gets tiring having to greet all those guests," Peach said.
Mario nodded. That was understandable.
Peach's smile never left her smooth face. "Well, I guess it's a good thing now that you're here. That means we can talk without fear of anyone overhearing. There have been a few things I've wanted to tell you about…" her sweet voice drifted off as her facial expression was one of someone in deep thought. Then, she shook her head, her beautiful long blonde hair swinging with the movement. "Come. We can talk once we get to a more comfortable room," she smiled gently before turning to lead the way.
And that's when it happened.
Suddenly, everything began to shake violently. It was like an earthquake, a violent one. Mario and Peach struggled to keep their balance, sometimes having to run in place.
And, then, it stopped.
Mario's chest heaved with each breath, his heart beating in anticipation. What in the world was that?
Peach seemed to be wondering the same thing. Then, in the corner of her eye, she could see outside one of the giant windows.
"What the…" she whispered as she walked ever so slowly to the large window. "Mario…wasn't it…light outside when you came here?"
Mario's eyes widened as he realized she was right. Outside, stars could be seen, and the sky was pitch black. What had happened?
Then, something big in a clown-like-flying-mechanism flew overhead, before jumping off of its ride and landing in front of them.
Bowser.
The self-proclaimed lord of the koopas laughed. "I see you've finally noticed what I've done! Ain't it awesome?" His childish nature had no obstacles as he continued. "I've lifted your castle into the sky on TOP of mine! Cool, huh? And guess what that means, too? Now there's no way for Mario to save you, Peach! Now you're—"
Bowser cut himself off as he noticed who just took a stand in front of Peach. He growled, and stomped angrily like a little child who didn't get what they wanted for Christmas.
"Curses! How come you're ALWAYS here, Mario?" It took a minute for the Koopa King to calm himself down. Then, he continued, "Well, it doesn't matter. 'Cuz this time, you can't beat me! This time, I'm gonna win!"
Mario narrowed his eyes. All right. He'd take that challenge.
Peach seemed to have the same thought as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Please, Bowser. Be serious. You can't possibly think you'll defeat Mario."
Bowser grinned. "Oh yeah? Well, we'll just see about that!"
And with that, the fight was on.
It was a natural rule in that world that battles were fought fair and square. It was like a law of nature; it was always followed, and not always consciously. It was some inborn knowledge to attack when it was your turn and win that way rather than attack whenever.
And by that, we can know that the world of Mario's was definitely one of divine order.
Mario got the first attack, as he ran and jumped atop of Bowser, causing small damage. Bowser grit his teeth before leaning down and causing a pillar of flame to launch towards his rival. It struck our famous plumber, but Mario quickly got up, dusted himself off, and was ready to attack again.
The battle lasted for a small while, until Bowser suddenly grinned. "Had enough, Mario?"
The mute plumber did not reply, but instead held his ground.
Whether the Koopa King was expecting an answer or not was unknown as he suddenly pulled something from behind his shell. "Well, it doesn't matter! 'Cuz now, I'm gonna make sure I get rid of you once and for all!"
Peach's heart skipped a beat, instantly recognizing the wand in his giant claw. "The Star Rod!" she exclaimed.
Mario was confused. Star Rod…?
Bowser chuckled. "Yes! This is the one and only Star Rod stolen from the Star Haven itself by me! And I'll tell ya: it was sooooooooo easy! Those Stars didn't know what hit them! And now that I have the Star Rod, I can make any wish of mine come true!"
Mario didn't flinch at all, but instead furrowed his brow. Yeah right. Like that stick could do anything…
But he was deathly wrong.
Bowser held the Star Rod up proudly in the air, and suddenly, was covered in a fantastic display of light. When everyone could see him again, he was glowing like some intense fire of its own kind.
Bowser grinned again. "Now let's see how you win THIS time, Mario!"
The brown-haired-plumber took on the challenge, racing forward and jumping once again on Bowser's head.
It did nothing.
Bowser laughed mockingly. "Oh, come on! Is that the best you can do? I didn't feel a thing!"
Then, he bent over, once again unleashing a large pillar of fire.
Mario was caught off guard by the intensity. It weakened him so greatly, he thought then and there he'd collapse from fatigue.
But no. He had to persevere. Bowser had to be defeated once again.
He tried another jump-attack, but it did nothing. Bowser hadn't even flinched.
The King of Koopas laughed once more. "Is it just me or are you losing your touch, Mario?"
Bowser ran forward, and did his own jump-attack. Mario, once again, was caught off guard by the strength in the attack.
The fight continued like this: Mario having done none damage, and Bowser having done a ton.
By the end, Mario was barely holding himself up. His right arm hung limp by his side, his left hand holding it to keep it steady. One of his blue eyes was closed from the pain, his teeth gritted. His legs shook, threatening to fall out from under him any minute.
Peach could barely believe what was happening.
Bowser was ecstatic.
"Yes! I'm gonna win! After all this time, I'm finally gonna defeat Mario!" he stopped his jumping parade, and stood tall, proud and triumphant. "I guess now its time to dispose of you! Good-bye, Mario—FOREVER!"
The Star Rod that was held up high by his hand started to glow. Mario looked up weakly. Was this the end…?
"NO!" Peach cried out in horror, her voice filled with desperation.
Bowser lowered the Star Rod, aiming it at his foe. The Star Rod's glow intensified.
Oh please…if anyone can hear me…please let this not be the end for Mario! Peach prayed with all her might.
Mario gritted his teeth, closing his eyes to accept his fate. His strength was already failing him…
And before he knew what happened, there was a brilliant flash of light.
But instead of him being dead, there were two more people occupying the room.
Peach gasped as she saw the two new arrivals. "Wha…?"
The scary thing was: she didn't know what they were. They looked like they didn't even come from their world!
One was a 3 foot tall blue creature with spikes on his back and head. The other was a smaller, yellow-orange creature with two fluffy tails. Both looked quite young, not even teenagers.
Bowser stared, mouth agape. The Star Rod was still charging up for the final strike without him knowing. Anger filled him as he thought that his wish didn't come true. Bowser stomped loudly, opening his mouth to fire some complaints.
And that's when it happened, as well.
Suddenly, the final blast the Star Rod had been charging this whole time was unleashed. But, it didn't directly hit the person it was intended to.
It hit the blue creature.
With a loud cry of pain, the blue creature was thrust back from the force of the attack, as well as Mario who had caught some of the attack as well. Both hit the mirror, shattering it as they tumbled away, and out of the castle…
Peach screamed, rushing towards the window. She got there just in time to see the fading dot of her hero falling through the clouds and out of sight.
"Marioooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" she cried, leaning over as if it would aid in him hearing her.
But it was to no avail.
Bowser, on the other hand, froze for a moment. Then, it suddenly seemed to register in his mind what had happened. A big grin was plastered on his lips as he said, "YES! I FINALLY DID IT! I DEFEATED MARIO!"
Throughout the mixture of emotions in the hallway, no one noticed the small yellow-orange creature who had also appeared, huddle by a white pedestal nearby, frightened by what he saw had happened to his friend.
"Sonic…" was the quiet plea that whispered from him.
But the blue one was way far out of earshot.
-
It was quiet and peaceful in the forested area. Birds chirped happily, dragonflies buzzed without a care, and squirrels scurried to their home with new food. Nothing seemed disturbed…
Well, except for the two bodies now lying motionless in the grass.
One was our famous plumber, in critical condition. The other was the mysterious blue spiked creature.
Suddenly, another disturbance (besides the abrupt arrival of the two unconscious beings) caused all the forest animals to become quiet. Seven images of stars appeared around Mario's wounded form, each image fading in and out, and each having a concerned expression on their face.
"Oh no…we're too late! Bowser's gotten to him!" the female star with a bow on her head, Mamar, said. Her eyes were wide with distraught.
"Now, now. There is no need to fear," the oldest of the stars, Eldstar, said. "It doesn't look like he killed him. He's still breathing."
"Barely," another one which had glasses, Skolar, muttered.
Mamar floated down to Mario. "Oh, Mario…please wake up…we need you…"
"Perhaps we should help him," another female star, Misstar, suggested. "I mean, look at him. He's dying."
None of the stars could deny that, no matter how much they wanted to.
"Then it's settled. If we want peace to return, so must we help the one who will get it back," Kalmar, another star, informed.
The others nodded.
"All right then, gather around, Stars. Let us help Mario!" Eldstar informed.
All seven star spirits gathered around in a circle, with Mario in the middle. If one were to watch, the light show that followed soon after would be one that would almost blind you, it was so bright.
Afterwards, each star panted visibly. That took too much magic. "That is all we can do for now…let us return to save our energy," Eldstar murmured.
And then, one by one, each star faded again, this time permanently. Only one remained, and that was Mamar as she floated down towards our hero once more.
"Please, Mario…we're counting on you…you must save Star Haven…" she whispered. Then, she turned to leave…until she saw another figure on the ground. She gasped, floating over.
"What…what are you?" she asked quietly. Of course, she knew it couldn't respond since it, too, was out.
She floated around it once—twice—three times, until she was finally able to see who it was. Being a star spirit, she had to grant the wishes of every single creature in the universe—even those on different planets, such as this young one.
In fact, she had gotten some quite outlandish wishes from him. She even remembered his name.
"Sonic…what are you doing outside of your own world?" then, it struck her. Peach's wish! She, too, had heard it, but was unable to do anything of it! Wait…if that was true…then who granted the wish?
All of the other star spirits were captured as well, so who could've done it?
Mamar shook her head. It doesn't matter. Sonic was here, so while he was so, he might as well do something useful.
The star smiled gently at Sonic as she whispered, "Please, Sonic…before you go back to Mobius…please…please help Mario. He and everyone else needs your help—your speed. Please help us return order to our world."
And with that, she finally disappeared.
But little did Mamar know that at that moment, Sonic didn't even know of his speed.
In fact, he didn't know anything of himself.
-
Much, much later, our hero Mario is found lying on a homemade bed, considerably small for him. His wounds are almost healed, except for the cast on his arm. That would take a while to heal—er, at least, until he found a mushroom.
Suddenly, the holographic image of Eldstar appeared again, hovering over the Italian plumber. Eldstar looked down upon Mario, and seemed to be relieved.
"Ah…so the Goomba family has found you…such a blessing…" he chuckled to himself quietly. "So it seems even the wishes of stars may come true." Another hushed chuckle. Then, his face regained all seriousness as he said, "Mario, you must come to Shooting Star Summit as soon as possible. I and the other Stars will be waiting for you there. You must come—the future of not only Mushroom Kingdom, but all of our world depends on you! Please…hur…ry…" the message faded out as the holographic image blurred until it become nothing.
No more than two seconds later, the two bright blue eyes of our hero opened up in a flash. Whoa! What a crazy dream! Yet…it seemed so real! Like the star was actually talking to him! But that couldn't be real. Stars don't actually talk…do they?
Mario shook his head. Talking stars or not, he couldn't deny that what his dream had said was true. Everything did depend on him…not that that was anything new…
With a small difficulty, Mario slid out of the small bed, and made his way towards the door. He was still considerably weak, but was way stronger than he had been before. But just as he reached out to open the door, someone else opened it from the other end.
Mario was more than surprised to see a kid female Goomba there with a small pink bow on her head. In fact, she seemed pretty surprised, too.
For a few seconds, the two just stood there, staring at each other. Then, the girl reacted. She gasped loudly.
"You're awake!" her voice didn't sound threatening in the least, which confused Mario. Goombas had been one of his enemies for a long while now, and yet this one was talking to him in a friendly way.
"You've been out for a long, long time, Mr. Mario! You had us all worried!" the young one continued.
Wait, us?! Did that mean that there were more Goombas that were actually friendly?
The girl suddenly giggled. "Silly me! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Goombaria! I'm the one that found you on the forest floor and brought you here—although Dad had to help me…" her voice trailed off, but it was no sooner than a second later that she continued to ramble on. "What happened to you, anyway? When I found you, you were all beaten up and Daddy thought that you were gonna die! And then there was that friend of yours…what is he, anyway? He's nice, I mean…but I've never seen anything like him before!"
Friend?! He couldn't remember anyone else…
Right at that moment, memories flooded back into his mind. The blue creature! He had been hit and knocked out of the window as well!
Mario turned to the girl as she looked at him strangely.
"You okay, Mario? You kinda spaced out there for a minute…" Goombaria responded, her head tilted to the side curiously.
'I'm fine,' Mario sign-languaged. 'Where is that blue creature right now?'
"Oh, him? He's playing with Goombario, my older brother. But if you wanna talk to him, you're gonna have to eat this mushroom first. Mom said that the first thing she wanted you to do was to eat it," and with that, Goombaria handed him a green mushroom.
Mario couldn't have put his thanks into words. Green mushrooms were the best medicine of all—and extremely rare to find. With a quick 'thank-you' gesture, he swallowed the mushroom in one bite, instantly finding that he felt tons better.
Goombaria smiled widely. "All right! I guess I can let you out, now. I'm gonna go tell the others that your awake!" And before Mario could sign 'good-bye', she was off.
The fourteen-year-old, and yet mustached, fellow smiled. Kids. He had to remind himself that he was still one, sometimes. As a hero, it was all too easy to put on the act of an adult.
His smile remained on his face as he slid his cast off and stepped outside to see exactly who and what this 'blue creature' was.
The first thing he saw was the said being and a little Goomba with a blue baseball cap playing tag. It took a minute, but then the blue being froze as he saw Mario. The goomba bumped into him, and fell backwards, grunting in response.
"Hey…what was that--?" he cut himself off as he saw who his newfound friend was staring at. A grin quickly replaced his scowl as he rushed towards Mario. "You're awake! You're awake!" he cried joyfully.
The blue one jogged towards them as well, seeming to be a little timid. He was smaller than Mario—and it was then that the plumber remembered that he was only about three feet tall. To compare, about one fourth of a foot taller than a goomba.
"Hey, Mario! You had us all worried! Gramps wasn't sure you were gonna make it, but I never doubted!" the little tyke—who seemed to be about the same age as the blue feller—grinned proudly.
Mario smiled back, nodding. Then, he signed, 'What is both of your names?'
"My name is Goombario!" the goomba replied quickly. Then, his face clouded over as he looked at Mario a bit solemnly. "But as for him…well…he doesn't know his name…"
The well-known hero of the Mushroom Kingdom furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. 'What do you mean?' he signed.
The blue one fidgeted uncomfortably as Goombario replied, "Well…you see…Dad thinks he has amnesia. He can't remember anything about himself—he can't even remember what happened before Goombaria found you guys in the forest."
Mario's eyes softened as he turned to the newcomer. The cause of his amnesia was probably from Bowser's blast. The attack was meant to kill, but since it hit both of them, it probably severed the other's memory instead. 'Can you talk?' he signed.
Goombario quickly chimed in. "He doesn't understand sign-language, but yes, he can talk."
Mario smiled. That was good. Being mute wasn't a fun thing—and he should know. With a joking smile, he signed, 'Will you talk? You're making me feel like I'm some type of big bad person.'
Goombario couldn't help but laugh. The blue creature turned to him, confused. The goomba quickly translated. "He asked you if you would talk for him. He says you're making him feel like some type of bad person."
The blue one scratched the back of his head, before clearing his throat. "Sorry…" he replied. "I just feel…out of place."
Mario nodded. That was understandable. 'But even so, I need to call you something,' he signed.
Goombario then told the blue creature what he said.
"Well…it's not like I have any suggestions…I don't even know what I am…" the newcomer replied, mumbling the last part to himself.
"We could call you Blue!" Goombario piped up.
Mario smiled, his eyes showing laughter. 'No. We need a good name for him. Maybe he has a special ability.'
"Good point…" Goombario went into a mode of deep-thought.
The blue one pouted. "Would someone please translate, because I feel like I'm being left out of the loop, here."
Goombario laughed. "Well, Mario said that we need a good name for you. Do you have a special ability or something?"
The spiked creature shook his head. "Not that I know of."
Silence overtook the trio as all thought about what to do and how to name the newcomer—hopefully, correctly.
The blue one had to suppress a sigh. I hate this…why can't I remember anything? I wish…I wish that at least I can get my right name. If there is such a thing as wishes coming true…then I wish that my memory would come back, and I wouldn't have this…amnesia-whatever. And…if that's too much to ask, then can we at least guess the right name for me? Maybe my real name would be nice? I--
Before the creature even got to finish his thoughts, Mario went into a trance of thoughtfulness and walked around him once, and then twice.
"What? What is it?" the blue one asked excitedly, head and emerald green eyes trying to follow him, even though it was difficult when the mustached teen went behind him.
'I dunno what it is…' Mario signed to Goombario. 'But…to me…he looks like a Sonic.'
"Sonic?" Goombario repeated. He turned to look at their friend, and pondered the possibility. "You may have something going on there…"
"Sonic…" the blue being tasted the feeling of the word around in his mouth. It seemed…almost familiar to say.
Mario smiled. 'Do you like it?' he signed.
Goombario turned to the spiked being. "He asked if you like it."
The new friend smiled, nodding vigorously. "I dunno what it is," he replied. "But somehow…it seems familiar to me."
Mario's grinned widened. 'Then maybe its right! Maybe you're real name is Sonic!'
Goombario turned to the blue one, and translated for him, adding at the end, "Do you think it is?"
The blue one thought for a minute. "I really don't know…but I have this feeling it might just be."
There was a twinkle in Mario's eye as he signed, 'Then it's settled! Sonic is what we'll call you!'
Once again, Goombario translated, and the new-named 'Sonic' couldn't help but smile back.
He himself couldn't put a finger on it, but he felt that maybe—just maybe—his wish was going to come true.
But in order for that to happen, he, along with Mario, would have to face many dangers and death itself if he wanted any wishes to come true.
-
Princess Peach sighed as she listened to her small music box on her dresser play. It was the music box Mario had bought her on her thirteenth birthday. Of course, now she was fourteen—a few months younger than the said hero—but she still loved that gift more than any other she had gotten.
She sighed again, before reaching out a gloved hand and gently shutting the box. It was too painful to listen to the song. It reminded her too much of him.
Peach could feel a small tear escape as she looked up into the mirror above her drawer. Mario…could it really be that he was finally…gone?
The thought was too much to bear. Her best friend, her crush—her hero—was dead. With a small whimper she folded her arms on her drawer, and buried her face in them, sobbing. Her shoulders shook with each shaky breath as she let her emotions flow.
Mario…the—
"M-m-miss…?"
The quiet voice nearly made the princess jump out of the roof in surprise. Without thinking, she whirled around, only to see…
…that yellow-orange fox-like creature she had seen earlier!
The said being stepped back a couple steps in fear, grabbing one of his tails timidly.
"I-I'm sorry…" the young one quickly apologized. "If you were busy, I—"
"No, no," Peach quickly replied, sniffling a couple times and wiping her eyes with her fingers. "I wasn't busy at all," her hoarse voice answered. After she took another shaky breath, she asked, "How did you get in here?"
"I followed the people who took you here. Nobody saw me, 'cuz they were all watching you," the cub replied.
Peach nodded. "Oh…"
Silence lasted between the two, until she finally asked, "Tell me, though, what's your name?"
"My name is Mi—Tails! Tails! That's my name!" the unknown creature quickly corrected himself.
"Tails…? Is that your real name?" the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom asked to make sure.
"Yep. That's my real name!" the young being replied with a smile.
Peach nodded. "All right, Tails. My name is Princess Peach Toadstool, but you may call me Peach."
Tails smiled, bowing politely and acting like a grown-up. "Nice to meet you, Princess Peach!"
Peach smiled, standing up, and taking the sides of her dress, doing a curtsey in response. "The pleasure is all mine, Monsieur Tails."
The two giggled playfully. Peach smiled. It was nice to have someone lighten up the moment for her.
"So, Tails…what happened? Why did you suddenly appear from no where?" Peach asked as she sat back down.
"Well…I dun't really know. All I know is that me and Sonic were having fun in Emerald Hill Zone, and suddenly, BAM! We're here in the middle of a HUUUUUUUUUGE fight!" the emphasis that Tails put on some of the words, Peach couldn't help but think was cute.
"Wait a minute…did you say 'Sonic'? Is that your friend that fell along with Mario?" the princess inquired, suddenly turning back to seriousness.
Tails' face seemed to cloud over and his baby blue eyes seemed to water. "Y-yeah…"
Peach's face softened. Although she didn't know what in the world Emerald Hill Zone was, it didn't really matter right now. Figuring out where these strange creatures came from would be for another time, she decided. Right now, they needed to time to recuperate after their loss.
Getting down on her knees in front of the kit, the princess outstretched her arms towards Tails. "C'mere, Tails…" she whispered gently. The fox didn't protest as he walked over and launched himself into the inviting embrace. He buried his face in Peach's shoulder, beginning to softly cry.
"Shhh…" was all the princess said as she gently stroked the cub's back.
Peach didn't know how much time had passed, but she was sure it had been a while. By the end, Tails had finally stopped crying, and was now just leaning on her, head still on her shoulder. The princess still held him close, ready to sooth him if he broke out again in a frenzy of tears.
But instead, the fox asked a very difficult question. "Do you think I'll ever see him again?"
Peach was caught off guard. She didn't know how to answer that! How do you tell a five-year-old that someone's dead without making them cry?
Simple.
You don't.
"I don't know, Tails. All we can do is pray," she whispered gently.
The young cub nodded. "I'll pray," he promised. "I'll pray and wish with all my heart that Sonic and that mustachio-man will be okay!"
Peach struggled to keep her laughter inside. The way Tails said it was so serious, and yet it sounded so childish. But she couldn't deny that she would do the same.
If anyone can hear me… she thought. Please let Sonic and Mario be okay…they are our only hope…
And boy was she right.