Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story.
They belong to their representative owners, except for most of the OCs in the story.
By the way, just a friendly reminder: This story takes place in the Paper Universe. ;)
"Look lady, I don't know what business you have here in a town like this, but I advise you to not get into any trouble."
"Oh relax, I'm not going to get into any trouble at all."
"If you say so… but a word of advice? I'd hide those valuable earrings, brooch and crown if I were you. This town isn't nicknamed "The Lawless Community" for nothing. Someone might mug you for them… or worse."
"I'll make note of that."
"Alright, don't say I didn't warn ya!"
The ship turned around a la flipping around like paper and took off, leaving none other than Princess Peach alone… well, she wasn't really alone, she had Toadsworth for company.
"That's quite the story he's told us." Toadsworth said as they walked off.
"Yeah." Peach nodded. "But, I'm not worried about it."
Toadsworth sighed. "But I am… oh, sometimes I wonder if hanging around Princess Daisy is a good idea."
"Toadsworth, relax… we're practically sisters!"
"I know… you two sure act like sisters at times. It's just that I can tell she's rubbing off on you." Toadsworth said.
Peach giggled. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
"Mmph… it's just that sometimes she be very influential on you." Toadsworth muttered as they walked into the center of town. "Goodness gracious!" He exclaimed. "They have a public execution here?! My word, this town is unsafe!"
"Goodness!" Peach exclaimed.
"…Let us go to the Inn for a bit, rest up and catch that train to Poshley Heights." Toadsworth said. "I believe you have a timeshare there, yes?"
"Yes… my parents own that particular spot." Peach informed.
"Yes, indeed… though I strongly advised against the idea since I've heard that place can be very snooty." Toadsworth muttered. "Alas… you get your headstrong personality from your mother." He said.
"My mother was a very strong and wise leader, so was my father." Peach sighed. "It's a shame they're not around very much."
"That's the problem with being a king and queen… they're always busy with political shenanigans and that leaves you in charge of the Mushroom Kingdom most of the time."
"Yup." Peach nodded. "Not that I don't mind."
"Indeed… oh my goodness, they have a slushie booth!" Toadsworth gushed. "Princess, do you want one?"
"Yes."
"What kind?"
"You know my favorite." Peach winked.
"Right-o! I'll be right back!" Toadsworth rushed off to the booth while Peach hummed to herself, looking around the lawless town of Rogueport.
"Excuse me, miss!" A voice said, catching her attention as she turned to see a merchant. "Would you like to be interested in these items?"
"Oooh, what do you got?" Peach asked.
"Let's see, we got this interesting looking locket. Oooh, this item right here is my favorite!" He said as he picked it up. "This right here is an unbreakable vase! See?" He tapped it on the ground and several pieces broke off. "…It broke." He said with an unamused expression.
"Oh…"
"Bah! That's what I get for getting it at the dollar store…" He grumbled. "Aha! This right here though…" He pulled out some kind of small treasure chest. "This right here… is one of a kind. It's said to hold a legendary treasure map, which is the key to find some legendary treasure!"
"Legendary treasure?" Peach looked intrigued. "Hmm, interesting…"
"It's only a measly two coins."
"I'll take it."
"Excellent choice, madam." He said, handing over the treasure chest as Peach opened it up, and a bright light consumed her.
"Oh my!" She exclaimed.
With Toadsworth…
"What can I do for you, kupo?" A strange white teddy bear looking thing asked Toadsworth.
"I'd like a Grape slushie for me and a Tiger's Blood for the princess."
"Excellent choices, kupo!"
"I am curious about something… what exactly are you?" Toadsworth curiously wondered.
"I am a Moogle, kupo! There are a lot of us here in Rogueport, in fact, we chased out those good for nothing thieves, kupo. I believe their names were… Anna, I think, kupo."
"I see… interesting." Toadsworth mused as the Moogle handed Toadsworth the slushies.
"Here ya go, kupo!"
"Thank you." Toadsworth said as he turned around. "Oh Princess, I've got your… uh… princess? Where'd you go?"
Meanwhile… back in Toad Town…
BGM: Toad Town (Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story)
"Get 'em while they're hot!" Luigi said, putting a cookie sheet down on the table with several cookies baked into it, as Mario, RWBY and Luigi's Pokemon grabbed a few, as did Luigi.
"Oh! Hot! HOT!" Ruby winced.
"Ruby, he didn't mean it literally!" Weiss scolded.
"Sorry, sorry… you know how I am with cookies." Ruby sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.
Yang laughed. "Oh, Ruby…" She chuckled.
"So, you know where the princess is?" Blake asked.
"No clue. Toad said that she left somewhere with Toadsworth… something about a timeshare." Mario said.
"Timeshare, eh? Is it in Delfino?" Yang asked.
"No clue." Mario shrugged.
"Eh, just let the princess enjoy herself." Luigi said. "Besides, if Bowser doesn't know where she is, then it's no worries."
"You got a point." Mario nodded.
At this point, Parakarry flew over to the mailbox and put a few letters in the mailbox. "Mail call!" He called out to them and flew off.
"I'll get it." Luigi said as he walked out, where he went out to the mailbox and pulled out two letters, seeing one addressed to Mario, noticing it was a pink envelope. "Ah, Peach sent him a letter." He said as he walked in, unaware of a letter slipping out of his hands, as it landed face up near the grass, addressed to Luigi, but the plumber didn't really notice at all as he walked in.
"Hey bro! The princess sent a letter to you!"
"Oh?" Mario walked over to him and took the letter from Luigi as he opened it while Luigi grabbed himself another cookie, where he felt a tug on his leg as he looked down to see Marshadow looking at him.
"Oh, you want this?" He asked with a smile and handed it to him, as Marshadow gave a small smile and ate it while Mario read the letter addressed to him.
"Dear Mario, I am sending you this letter from a faraway place known as Rogueport. Inside this letter is a map that has the details of where treasure might be located at. I was wondering if you, your brother and RWBY would like to come with and help me go on an adventure, and since I am inviting you all, that means you MUST come! It'd be lonely without you all. See you soon! Love, Peach."
Mario put the letter down. "The princess is inviting us to Rogueport to go on a little scavenger hunt."
"Scavenger hunt?" Weiss asked. "Like, hunting for treasure?"
"Yup."
"Hmm… I like the sound of that." Weiss mused, rubbing her chin in thought.
"Oooh, this sounds like fun!" Ruby grinned.
"I don't know why, but I have the feeling this is some kind of plot device…" Blake quietly said, with no one hearing her.
"Well, at least I've been invited!" Luigi smiled.
"Let's-a go!" Mario said as they all nodded with Luigi putting everyone back in their Pokeballs and they took off, leaving the unopened letter lying in the grass all by itself.
End BGM
About a day later…
"Guys? Hellooooo?" The Captain of the ship tried to wake them up. "Wake up!"
"Huh… wha…? Five more minutes…" Ruby groaned.
"There's no five more minutes. Look over there, that's Rogueport!"
"Roguewha…? Oh!" Ruby exclaimed as she looked outside, as did the others.
"Wow! That looks interesting!" Weiss exclaimed.
"Prepare to disembark!"
BGM: Rogueport (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)
The ship docked at the pier. "So, I have to ask… why do you want to dock here? I have told you about the perils of this place, yes?" The captain asked.
"Yeah, but we're here looking for a friend."
"A friend, you say? Well… I'm not stopping you. Just be careful!" The captain told them as the ship flipped around and took off.
"I'm suddenly having second thoughts on this place." Luigi said.
"Well, there's no turning back. Let's go." Yang said as they walked off.
"GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU CREEP!" A voice yelled.
Pause BGM
"Huh?" Mario turned his head with the others to see a pink Goomba with a hard hat and ponytail running away from some fat lookin' creep with two guys in red and white uniforms behind him.
BGM: Danger! (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)
"Now don't you play dumb with me! I know you know about the Crystal Stars since you were asking for information about them! Now tell us where the Crystal Stars are right NOW!"
"Never! I'll never tell you anything, ya creep!"
"Hmph… then I guess we're gonna do this the hard way. Fine by me! Men, let's show this little firebrand how we do things!"
"Right away, boss!"
"Buh-huh, buh huh huh huh huh!"
"Get away from me!"
Without a second thought, Mario and the others sprang into action. "Alright, what's going on here?!" Yang asked.
Immediately the pink Goomba turned around and immediately ran toward them. "Yeah right, like I'd side with a creep like you!"
"Oh, you think you can take me on, huh? Buh huh huh huh… well… it's time for good ol' Crump to show ya a thing or two!" He exclaimed and charged right at them.
BGM: Event Battle (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)
Suddenly, a curtain appeared in front of them, and went away as they were suddenly on a stage. "Eh? How did we get on a stage?" Ruby asked.
"And why are there audience chairs?" Luigi wondered.
"Not to mention we got a background! What's going on?!" Weiss asked.
"Let's not worry about that for now! Let's take him on!" Mario said, bringing out his hammer as they brought out their weapons.
"Buh huh huh huh, it's time for the ol' Crump… a… bomb… whoa whoa whoa, time out! Six against one? That's a little unfair!"
"Who cares! You're going down!" Yang cocked her gauntlets.
"Oh great, I'm gonna be one of those victims in this author's stories where the villain gets himself beaten up by several people, aren't I? Oh no! Not gonna happen! Men, get over here!" Crump ordered as two of his men showed up. "There, now it's an even fight!" He exclaimed as he ran over to Ruby, but she quickly blocked the attack with her scythe and then shot him at point blank, knocking him back.
"TAKE THIS!" One of the men quickly flailed his arms about as Weiss, Blake and Yang looked at each other and proceeded to whack him over to the other guy, knocking them both out.
"Buh… wha? Uh oh…" Crump sweatdropped, as Mario and Luigi jumped over and hammered him down. "GAH!" He yelled as he fell over in defeated.
"Well, that was easy." Blake said, and then noticed Star Points coming out of him. "Huh?"
"Oh, those are Star Points. You get plenty of them and you level up." The pink Goomba explained.
"Level up? I'm not sure what you're talking about…" Yang said.
"Oh, I'm sure someone who's reading this will understand." Blake said.
Resume Danger! BGM
"Gah! You guys are tougher than you look… not to mention you had the advantage WHICH IS TOTALLY UNFAIR!" Crump yelled. "But… I've got an ace up my sleeve! IT'S GO TIME!" He yelled as suddenly a whole army of his men surrounded him.
"Uh… this is bad." Luigi paled.
"PUNISH THEM!" He ordered as all of them dog piled on them… and then the Pink Goomba came out.
"Hey! This way!" She said as mostly everyone came out unharmed. "Uh… where's your green friend?"
"Ow! Ooof!" Luigi came out bruised. "Okay, how am I the only one hurt?"
"Let's just go. They don't even know we're out!" She said as they ran off.
"Ow! OOOOW! STOOOOOOP!" Crump yelled as everyone regrouped and he was looking worse than Luigi. "That was ME you were punching! …Now where are they? Have you seen them? You! Johnson!"
"Yes sir?"
"Have you seen them?"
"No."
"…Crud… they bolted…" Crump groaned.
Resume Rogueport BGM
"Phew, thanks for saving me back there. That guy was a total creep!" The Goomba said.
"No problem." Mario nodded.
"So, I have to ask you guys something. Who are you?" She asked.
"I'm-a Mario!"
"I'm-a Luigi, number one!" Luigi smiled.
"Ruby Rose!"
"Weiss Schnee."
"Blake Belladonna."
"Yang Xiao Long. Sup?"
"Oh. My. Gosh. You're… YOU'RE THE MARIO BROS AND TEAM RWBY?! Oh my gosh, I'm such a huge fan! I'm Goombella, a second year student of the University of Goom, studying archaeology!"
There's a Goomba university? Huh… Yang thought.
"Nice to meet you. What are you doing here?" Mario asked.
"I've been looking for someone." Goombella explained. "I need some help on something I've found and I've been asking around and… well, you know how THAT went."
"We're looking for someone too. Maybe you've seen her? She gave us this map." Mario explained.
"Oh? Let me take a look… oh my gosh, this is an actual real treasure map! Whoever gave this to you is either dumb or they wanted to explore with you."
"Well, you see-"
"Great hoggly-boggly, if it isn't Master Mario and the others!" A voice exclaimed as Toadsworth walked up to them.
"Toadsworth? What are you doing here?" Weiss asked.
"Well, the princess and I were here to rest up so we could go to this place known as Poshley Heights. I went to go get us some slushies and I turn my back on her for about five minutes… and the next thing I know, she up and vanished! I'm hoping the princess didn't get herself into trouble…"
"I'm sure she's fine." Mario said, hoping that Peach was actually alright.
"Well, yes… but the problem is, this town is known for its, shall we say… hooligans." He said, and right at this moment, some yellow Piantas came charging out of the alley way and started beating up on two unsuspecting Craws, and one of them went down.
"Gah! Gus, are you okay?!"
"Oooogh…"
"That was for painting our boss's suit coat blue last night!" One of the Piantas said and then they took off.
"Gus, get up!"
"Ugh… we won't forget this… and next time, we'll paint that suit coat purple!" Gus declared.
"Yeah, and we'll rearrange the furniture!" The other exclaimed and they took off.
"I rest my case." Toadsworth said. "Now, I advise you all to be careful in this city while looking for Peach. Who knows what trickery will happen… and as for me, I'll be resting up in the inn waiting for Peach's return. Good day!" He said and walked off.
"Wait… Peach? As in Princess Peach? Oh, that is so awesome! I can't wait to meet her." Goombella said. "So wait, hold on… she was waiting for you here to look for some legendary treasure?"
"Yes." Mario nodded.
"…Alright, that settles it. I'm gonna be sticking with you."
"You are?" Luigi asked.
"Yup!" Goombella nodded.
"Well, welcome aboard to our little posse!" Yang grinned.
"Thank you!" Goombella smiled. "Oh by the way, the one I'm looking for is Professor Frankly. If anyone knows about the legendary treasure, it'd be him!"
"Great, so where is he?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah… I'm not sure where he is. I think he's on the west side of Rogueport." She said as they started to walk over to the west side… but unfortunately…
"HALT! You shall not take another step!" An old Toad woman stopped them.
"Why not?" Blake asked.
"Because… I dropped my contact lens and I can't find them anywhere! Do not move, you hear me!"
"How do you lose your contact lens in the middle of the street?" Weiss asked.
"Don't ask me how! I'm still looking… do not move an inch!"
All of them stood there while the old woman was still looking… and eventually, they got bored. "Ah, forget it… it's not like she lost them way out here." Ruby said as she turned around and started to walk… and they all heard a crunch. "Uh oh…"
"…That wasn't the contact lens, was it?" Weiss asked.
"Uh… it could be something like plastic wrap!" Ruby reassured and lifted her shoe to see… a crushed contact lens. "Uh… found it!" Ruby sweatdropped while Weiss facepalmed.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The old woman screamed and grabbed Ruby by the waist. "HOW COULD YOU STEP ON SOMEONE'S BELONGINGS LIKE THAT?!"
"It was an accident, I swear! I mean, how was I supposed to see it?"
"She's right! It's your fault you lost your contact lens!" Yang told her.
"MY FAULT?! No way, it's HER fault that she stepped on them!"
"Yeah, because you dropped them!" Ruby told her.
"But who stepped on them, miss clumsy? Grrr… I'm so mad I could boil you up!" She growled and then ran over to the west entrance. "From this point on, NO ONE is allowed past this point! No one goes in… no one goes out until I get a new contact lens… and Red Girl has to pay for it!"
"Mama mia, you can't be serious!" Mario exclaimed. "It was an accident! You're just overreacting!"
"Overreacting? I'm not overreacting. If I was overreacting, I'd step on someone's belongings! NOT blocking off the entrance! This is justified!" Zess T. declared, causing everyone to facepalm.
"…Ugh… let's just order her a new contact lens and pretend this didn't happen." Weiss said and then they walked over to the item shop. "…Don't feel bad, Ruby. It's her fault she dropped it."
"Thanks." Ruby smiled.
"How does one lose a contact lens in the middle of a street? That is… questionable." Blake said. "Who was that?" She asked.
"That's Zess T. A famous cook in Rogueport… and quite the feisty one." Goombella told them.
"You know her?" Yang asked.
"I know everyone." Goombella said.
"Uh… right…" Luigi said, not sure if he should believe her and they walked in the shop to see two Moogles in the building.
"OH MY GOODNESS, YOU ARE SO ADORABLE!" Ruby squealed in delight and quickly picked it up.
"Ack! Can you put me down, Kupo?"
"Sorry…" Ruby apologized and put him down.
"Thank you, kupo."
"Moogles? I've heard about them from what Cloud told us on his adventures, but never would I think I'd encounter one." Mario mused.
"Same here." Luigi nodded.
"I thought all the shops were run by Anna." Weiss said.
"They were at one point, Kupo." The other Moogle said. "They fled from Toad Town and various locations and came to Rogueport to start their shenanigans once again. However, one day we shop dwelling Moogles that live in Rogueport thought it would be best to throw them out before they started to inflate their items to ridiculous prices and chased them out of the area for good. Now we're in all the shops, Kupo."
"I heard a rumor that they were spotted at a place called Flipside, kupo."
"I hope that rumor is false, kupo."
"Indeed, kupo."
"Um… anyway, we need to buy something… do you have a contact lens?" Mario asked.
"Contact lens? Not sure we carry any, but we can order one, Kupo."
"Was it from that loud mouthed lady, kupo? She loses them all the time, kupo. There was one time she lost them in her frying pan and burned it. She was so upset, kupo."
Weiss sweatdropped. "Sounds like someone is clumsy with her contact lens."
"Indeed… it is quite a sad sight, kupo. Anyway, we'll order a contact lens for that loud mouth, kupo."
"Thank you!" Ruby smiled and they walked out. "Do they always say 'kupo'?"
"According to Cloud, yes." Luigi nodded.
"It's not a big deal, though." Mario chuckled as they went to the east side… and when they did, a Bandit came running by and ran through Luigi.
"WHOOOOA!"
"Whoops, sorry sucker!"
"Mama mia… watch where you're going…" Luigi said as he felt his pocket. "Wait a minute… my wallet was right here just a second ago!"
"Ugh! I hate this town… pickpockets everywhere!" Goombella exclaimed, and then Hoopa came out of his Pokeball and then opened up a ring, pulling the wallet away from the Bandit.
"Here ya go!" Hoopa smiled.
"Thanks." Luigi said as he put it back in his pocket.
"HELP! I'VE BEEN ROBBED BY A PORTAL!" The Bandit yelled as Hoopa went back inside.
"Now… I think Professor Frankly is in… this building!" Goombella said, entering the building with the others.
BGM: Professor Franky's Theme (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)
"Huh, nice place." Yang said.
"Hiya, Professor Frankly!" Goombella greeted.
"Huh? Wha? Who's there?" Frankly asked as they walked up to him. "Wait, I know you… hmm, let me think for a second… it's not Goombrielle… it's not Goombrianna… AHA! You were one of my students! Goombella!"
"Yes, that's me!" Goombella smiled.
"And these fellows behind you are…" He got a good look at them. "…Who?" He asked as Mario and Luigi anime fell.
"I'm actually not surprised he doesn't know us." Blake said.
"Aww…" Ruby pouted.
"Oh come on, professor! This is Mario and Luigi, you know, the famous plumbers of the Mushroom Kingdom? And these four are team RWBY!"
"Mario and Luigi? I only know a Mario… if there was a Luigi, he would've been out of Mario's shadow!"
"Here we go…" Luigi sighed.
Frankly laughed. "I'm just kidding, my boy! I know who you are, no need to be all sad… but who exactly is RWBY?"
"Famous huntresses that have become celebrities of the Mushroom Kingdom." Goombella said.
"Really! Is that right? Intriguing…" Professor Frankly mused. "Anyway, what brings you here, Goombella?"
"Well, we were all wondering about some legendary treasure here below Rogueport, and I thought you would be the best person for the job." Goombella explained.
"Of course I do. It is the very reason why I am here… to study that very subject! And I'm assuming you all want a piece of the action since it is treasure, yes?"
"Pretty much." Weiss quickly said.
"I don't care if it might be made up or not, archeologists always look out to discover the truth… and frankly, I know deep down that it is real!" Goombella said.
"Excellent… so do I! There are a lot of theories about this ancient legendary treasure. For one, it could be the home of a monster-" Luigi paled up hearing this. "-It could hold absolutely nothing either. There's this one theory that it's nothing but a Mushroom. I don't believe that particular theory for one second."
"That's oddly specific." Weiss mused.
"Or they just want their five minutes of fame by coming up with something simple like that." Frankly said. "However, one thing is for certain, in order to get to the legendary treasure, one must have the Crystal Stars!"
I smell a plot device… Blake thought.
"Hmm… if I recall correctly from my notes: 'To find the treasure of yore, take the seven Crystal Stars to the Thousand Year Door.'." Goombella recited. "You mean something like that that some old folk have passed down for years?"
"Precisely. You must find and take the seven Crystal Stars to the Thousand Year Door." Franky nodded. "Continue."
"Hold the Magical Map aloft before the entrance to the Thousand Year Door. Then the stars will light the way that leads to the stones of yesterday." She continued and then stopped. "From what I've read up on the lore, if one were to hold the magical map to the Thousand Year Door, it'd show you where the next Crystal Star is located."
"Correct! And legend says that the Thousand Year Door is below this very town! Unfortunately… the critical piece of the puzzle, the magical map, is lost. Without it, we can't get to the treasure."
"Oh, about that! Mario and friends have it!"
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Frankly yelled. "Homina homina hom-" Goombella headbonked him. "YOW!"
"Snap out of it!"
"Sorry… tell me, is it true you have a map?"
"We do." Mario nodded and handed it to him.
"It's probably just a regular map." Weiss reassured him.
"WAHOO! IT'S THE LEGENDARY MAGICAL MAP! You, my friends, are my heroes! Let us go to the Thousand Year Door!"
"…Or… not." Weiss sweatdropped as they walked out, but she and Blake stayed. "So… Blake, do you smell a plot-"
"Yup."
"We're gonna go on another ragtag adventure?"
"Most likely."
Weiss sighed. "Might as well." She said and they walked out.
End BGM
"Here we are!" Frankly exclaimed as he opened up a gate. "This way!" He said as they all jumped into the warp pipe leading to the sewers.
BGM: Rogueport Sewers (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)
Mario was the first one out and then looked around the sewers as everyone came out. "Huh… this is interesting." Luigi said.
"Well, it's a step up from Toad Town's sewers, I'll give it that." Weiss said as they started to walk ahead.
"Heeeey! What's a good looking Goomba doing here down in the sewers?" A voice asked as they saw a Goomba, Paragoomba and a Spiked Goomba approach them. "Why don't you come hang out with us instead? We'd be a lot nicer than those human freaks."
"Wow, I am so flattered that you think of me like that." Goombella said. "Seriously, I'd rather BARF than hang out with creeps like you!"
"Ouch, that was cold!" The Spiked Goomba exclaimed.
"That's it! Nobody messes with us! COME HERE!" The Goomba yelled and they charged right at them.
BGM: Battle Theme (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)
"Agh, here too with this weird stage?" Ruby asked.
"This is weird…" Weiss said.
"Let's see here…" Frankly mused, totally unfazed by where they were transported to. "A Goomba, a Paragoomba and a Spiked Goomba. Wow, it's the whole Goomba family tree! Now, I advise you to… okay, HOLD UP! This is ridiculous."
"What do you mean?" Mario asked.
"I mean there are too many party members on this stage!" Frankly said, pushing everyone but Goombella, Blake and Luigi off the stage and put them in the chairs. "There, now it's even!"
"Uh… what are you doing?" Ruby asked.
"I'll explain after this fight!" Frankly said as he returned to the others. "Alright, now let the battle resume!"
"Get out of our way, old man!" The Goomba yelled and then went to headbonk Goombella, but she jumped back and then did a headbonk in return, knocking him out. "Gah!"
"Coming though!" The Spiked Goomba started charging them and tried to headbonk Luigi, but he quickly used his hammer to retaliate, knocking him high in the air and he landed near the Paragoomba, knocking him out.
"Oh, this is… uh… awkward…" The Paragoomba tried to flee, but Blake aimed Gambol Shroud and threw it at him, using her ribbon to send him over to her and then she let out a powerful kick that knocked him down for the count.
"Yes. That is more like it!" Frankly nodded in approval.
Resume Rogueport Sewers BGM
"Agh… forget you chumps! We're out of here!" The Goomba exclaimed and then they ran off.
"So… what was that about?" Goombella asked.
"I just thought there were too many party members in the battle. So! From this point on in the story, every battle will be in three unless stated otherwise! It helps even out the playing field."
"So… we just sit out and do nothing?" Ruby asked.
"Not necessarily! You see, three set party members are chosen at random at any time… and you can switch out any time, though it may be too overpowered, so you may have to use it sparingly."
"Um… what?" Goombella asked.
"Oh, never you mind, I'm sure the readers will understand what I am talking about! Let's move out to the Thousand Year Door!" He declared.
"Uh… okay." Ruby said as they all looked at each other with a shrug before heading deeper into the sewers after riding a platform to a warp pipe and went deeper, where they were ambushed by another trio of Goombas, where Ruby, Mario and Goombella took care of them easily and they found a Mushroom and a Fire Flower in two ? blocks and went down another warp pipe.
As they went into the other room, they saw a small creature seeing them and scurrying into a little hole in the wall, and then as they walked further, two paper thin creatures suddenly attacked them, launching them into battle, where Weiss, Yang and Goombella were in battle.
"What the heck are these creatures?" Yang asked as Goombella started looking in her tattle log.
"Those things are called Spinias, which are creatures made of thin, papery boards."
"Okay, we got that much." Weiss said, twirling her barrel in her Myrtenaster.
"Hmm, nobody really knows about these creatures. Anyway, their max HP is 3, with an attack of 1 and zero defense. It has super-swift attacks, but I'm sure it's gonna be easy. Just give it a HEE-YAH and you'll be good."
"Like this?" Yang asked as she jumped up in the air. "HEE-YAAAAH!" She yelled, as the one Spinia charged up an attack and went straight for Weiss, luckily avoiding Yang's attack… but the other Spinia wasn't so lucky and got himself killed while Weiss countered the move and did a parry that defeated the Spinia. "Nailed it!" Yang grinned.
"Let's-a go!" Mario exclaimed as they nodded, then Marshadow emerged out of Luigi's shadow, staring at the wall.
"Hey Marshadow, what are you looking at?" Blake asked, where Marshadow unleashed a Shadow Punch, revealing an invisible block and out popped a badge.
"Huh? What's this?" Ruby asked as she picked it up.
"That, is a badge. If you equip it, it can cause some random effect." Professor Frankly explained.
"You got the Pretty Lucky badge!" Goombella exclaimed. "If you have it equipped, sometimes your opponent will miss… but that's a 10% chance."
"Hmm, I think I'll keep it." Ruby said, equipping it to her cloak as they then hit a ! button, where the whole wall came down like wallpaper and curled itself up, revealing stairs.
"Okay, that was cool." Luigi said while Marshadow went back into Luigi's shadow, and then Weiss noticed something on a ledge.
A black key? Weiss wondered, conjuring up some ice steps from her Myrtenaster and walked up the steps, retrieving the key and regrouped with the others, where they saw a plate that looked like a paper airplane as they walked into the next room, where there was nothing but a black chest.
"That's totally suspicious." Blake quietly said.
End BGM
"Whoa, hey! Do I hear a voice! Finally, guests!" A voice exclaimed.
Luigi paled. "Did that come from the chest?"
"Yup! That's me! But you probably can't hear me, only the legendary hero can hear me!"
"…Uh, we can all hear you." Goombella said.
"Oh… ah, let's not worry about it! I'm just glad someone came here to get me out, it's all stuffy in this chest!"
"How'd you get in this chest?" Mario wondered.
"It's complicated… but anyway, I need your help. If you can get me out of this chest by finding a very specific key, then I'll help you out, deal?"
"Hmm… a word with you all? I'm not exactly sure we can trust… whoever it is inside of this chest." Frankly said. "It could very well be a trap."
"Agreed." Blake said.
"Yeah… I think we all know this is a trap." Yang said. "But I have a feeling we're not gonna move on until we free this guy."
"See? The lady gets it!"
Weiss sighed. "Yeah, good point… let's get it over with." She said, pulling out the black key as Frankly took a step back and hightailed it out of there right as Weiss unlocked the chest. "Alright, you're free."
"Aha! I'm free! Thank… HA! THANK NOTHING!"
"Uh oh…" Ruby and Luigi said together.
"WEEHEHEHEHEHE! FOOOOOOOOOOOOLS!" The being laughed and then trapped everyone in a dark void, where they saw nothing but a monster face.
BGM: Curse of the Black Chest (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)
"Man, you guys must be IDIOTS for freeing someone in a dark chest! Ha, who would believe someone like that? Not me! Hehehehehe! And now that you've freed me, I can curse you!"
"CURSE?!" Luigi yelled.
"Woogly-boogly-boo! YOU'RE CURSED!" The being laughed, as everyone was enveloped in a bright light. "You wanna know the specifics of this curse? Of course you do! This wonderful WONDERFUL curse makes you turn into a paper airplane! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"A paper… airplane?" Blake asked.
"Uh… that's a curse?" Mario asked.
"OH NO! NOT A PAPER AIRPLANE!" Luigi yelled, freaking out. "What am I gonna do?! What if I can't turn back?! Oh geez, what if Daisy thinks I belong in the trash?!"
"Will you calm down! You're made out of paper! We all are!" Weiss exclaimed.
"The lady gets it! This time, you can't complain about turning into a paper airplane when you're not made out of paper! You're not 3D! This is paper!"
"This time?" Mario asked.
"A few of my colleagues from distant universes complained to me that their curses affected people who weren't paper, and they would point out they're not made out of paper! Good grief, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"
"…Uh, what's he talking about?" Ruby asked.
"Something something… I zoned out." Yang admitted.
"Oh, never mind! For this genius curse that I've crafted, you walk on specific panels and you turn into a paper airplane, where you are able to glide for a short time before you land… and when you land, maybe… juuuuuust maybe, you will turn back to normal. Probably. I'm gonna laugh if you don't! WEHEHEHEHE! So long, suckas!" He laughed and disappeared.
End BGM
"…So… what was that all about?" Goombella asked. "What was his beef?"
"Is it safe to come in?" Frankly asked, peeking out of the door.
"Yes, it is." Mario nodded as they walked out and they saw the Paper Airplane panel, where one by one, they turned into paper airplanes, except for Goombella and Franky who hitched a ride with Mario, and they safely made it to the other side and turned back to normal.
"…How was that a curse, exactly?" Weiss wondered.
"No idea." Mario shrugged.
"Mmph… a little help here?" Luigi asked, still in his paper airplane status as they managed to unfold him and picked him back up.
"You alright, bro?"
"Eh, a little bent to one side, but I'm sure I can walk it off." Luigi said and then they walked into the next room.
BGM: Hall of the Thousand Year Door (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)
"Oh. My. Goodness." Frankly said. "Look. At. THAT!" He exclaimed. "That… that is the Thousand Year Door!"
"Huh… it's a bit more redder than I thought." Yang said. "I thought it'd be more… sinister looking."
"Why…?" Luigi asked after he paled as they walked over to the Thousand Year Door where Goombella was the first to notice the pedestal.
"What's with the weird pedestal?" Goombella wondered as they examined it closely while RWBY examined the door, and when Mario stepped on the pedestal out of curiosity… the place started glowing.
End BGM
"What's going on?!" Luigi asked as they all turned to the source where the ground lit up and surrounded the pedestal.
"This is peculiar!" Frankly exclaimed as the map emerged from Mario's pocket and flew up, as a light hit the map and glowed brightly… where the map lowered itself back down to Mario and he took a look, where everyone took a look… to see a castle popping up over the mountains, where a Crystal Star appeared in front of it.
"Did that castle pop up on its own?" Ruby asked.
"Oh wow… it IS magical!" Yang exclaimed.
"Hmm… let's go back to my study where we can look at this in greater detail." Frankly advised as they nodded in agreement and took off.
Okay, seriously, how many Thousand Year Door stories am I gonna do? First it was Sora's Adventure in Rogueport, then Ancient Treasure (A Fairy Tail/Mario fic), and now... this! That's a total of three Thousand Year Door stories! ...Four if you count one of my early Touhou fics, Revenge of the Shadow Queen, which had heavy Thousand Year Door elements. But hey, Thousand Year Door is my favorite Paper Mario game and it's always such a blast writing it!
I'm (probably) gonna be making so many callbacks to the other Thousand Year Door stories I made, it's not even gonna be funny. Probably.
Aaaanyway, you're probably wondering what Professor Frankly was talking about. Allow me to elaborate... for you see, I wrote these rules up when I was planning ahead for this story when I was in the middle of JNPR's Mansion. Let's see... where are they... AHA!
In order to make these battles fair, no more than three characters can fight their opponent. HOWEVER! Since this is on a stage, the rest of the gang sits in the audience along with any others that show up, so they may tag out if they so wish. Though, the tag out may be considered a bit broken, so it might be considered to be used once per fight so choose wisely.
If there are any people capable of fighting (Example: A Smash character or Team CFVY) that are in the audience, you may tag out and then have them fight in someone else's stead if they so desire, and if a team member is KO'd, a random party member fills in for them.
If all the party members are KO'd or if there's one of them left, they may call for help from the audience for assistance at any time. However, some of the audience members may not exactly be helpful, so use this as a last resort.
If the boss character interacts with the audience in some way (Example: Hooktail having herself a meal), any audience member capable of fighting will automatically join in on the fight. Also, a member of the audience can give the party a random item once per fight.
Should Goombella be sitting out of the fight, she may still use the Tattle ability to give out useful information for the party if she so desires.
Should a Party Member activate a Final Smash (Exclusive to Smashers) as their ultimate move, only one Final Smash may be used once per battle. Recommended as a last resort. (Think of this as a Limit Break.)
Should an audience member do something to the audience itself that would incapacitate them (Example: Bulky Bob-ombs blowing up, Crazy Dayzee or Jigglypuff putting people to sleep), the party members may also be affected and may be knocked out for a few turns. A party member in the audience may notice a fellow audience member may be acting a bit suspicious. Should they notice, they should act immediately that may put a damper in the fight otherwise the consequences will be quite... random.
And finally: In the Glitz Pit, the fights will be 1-on-1 only (Save for certain matches, including Rawk Hawk and Macho Grubba), in order for it to be fair. Final Smashes, tag outs and Goombella's Tattle Ability still apply.
...Actually, one more: RNG is gonna help with who gets to fight should someone challenge them for a fight. Though sometimes, certain fights may only randomize two and one party member will be scripted in. (Like say... for example... Yang wanting to fight a certain hag for harassing her sister. Hint. Hint.)
Anyway, that's all there is to it! ...Though the RNG was pretty much biased for Goombella this chapter, since i'm logging in their fights on Excel, i've noticed that Goombella had a total of FOUR fights while everyone else had two! Geez... anyway, see ya later, kupo!