Good day sir or madam! It seems that you've stumbled upon my work. First off, I must thank you, unless of course you've come here by accident. If you have, then I implore you to read nonetheless. Who knows, you may even take a liking to it! But enough with the life lessons, you're here for a story! To which I hope I can quench your thirst for wordage and entertain you at the same time. Now without further delay, here's Sam's Odyssey!
IMPORTANT NOTICE: This story WILL take a while to get started, so if you're here for a quick read then you will be disappointed. I have this whole thing planned out and you WON'T see every girl until around 15K words in as the story must progress up until that point. So let me stress this again:
1. THIS WILL NOT BE A QUICK READ
2. IT WILL TAKE A WHILE FOR THE GIRLS TO COME INTO THE EQUATION FULLY
3. THERE WILL BE MUCH MORE EMPHASIS ON THE OC'S AND THEIR PATHS THAN IN MOST STORIES
4. SINCE THIS STORY COULD VERY WELL BE AROUND 150K WORDS OR MORE, IT WILL TAKE AWHILE FOR THE ENTIRE PLOT TO UNFOLD
The sound of highly pressurized water violently spraying across concrete resonated throughout my eardrums. This harsh sound was soon followed by the soft thuds of a man's footsteps as he ran after a shadowy figure. The figure rounded a corner and hurled himself over a ledge onto the sandy earth below. The man took full advantage of the figure's folly attempt of escape and dove upon him from the ledge while unleashing a barrage of liquid from the nozzle on his back. The figure recoiled in shock as he hissed at the man. "OW OW OW OW! Not fair! Completely unfair! You shouldn't be allowed to use tools like that!" Then as soon as he appeared, the figure vanished into the warm, island breeze.
I stood up from my chair and stretched. "I think that's enough Sunshine for one night," I yawned. I turned my head to the left in order to check the time, which now read 1:47 A.M. I saved my progress and turned off the platinum colored cube that sat on my entertainment stand, a process that I did instinctively by now. For you see, I had spent countless nights speedrunning Super Mario Sunshine. It might've not been my favorite game, and by no means did I think that it was the best Mario game out there, yet I had found a strange and sudden fondness for it. A normal night would consist of me pouring over hours of footage in order to determine which route could net me a Shine in the least amount of time. Yet no matter how many times I played and how many archived runs I watched, my times just wouldn't improve. This of course brought me much frustration, yet I kept at it. They say that insanity is trying the same thing multiple times and expecting different results, so I guess by that definition I'm insane. I had just finished a run the night before that was on track to beating my own personal best, yet one of those godforsaken Chucksters in the Pianta Village special stage decided to throw me just a tad higher than I anticipated, which lead to my inevitable and painful death. That was definitely a rough night.
I set down my trusty Wavebird and shuffled over to my bed. It was a Friday night, so I had more time for runs due to the lack of school the next morning, yet I decided to call it quits earlier than usual. I laid down on the bed and was about to drift off to sleep when the all too familiar sound of a bass-boosted Delfino Plaza violated my eardrums.
I was quite shocked at first, but soon reached for the phone on my nightstand. "Yello?". I asked groggily. The other side was quiet for a moment before I heard the familiar sound of my friend's voice.
"Hey man! How's it going?", the voice asked cheerfully.
"It was going great, until you decided to call me out of the blue!", I jeered playfully. The voice chuckled a bit before responding.
"I know this is an odd time to call, but I had a question to ask you."
"Fire away!"
"So, I'm having a little get together tomorrow and was wondering if you wanted to come."
"I see, what kind of get together might it be?"
"I dunno, I just wanted to invite you and Trent over and play some video games like we did back in the day." His words instantly reminded me of our sleepovers throughout elementary and middle school. To be completely honest, I was on the verge of nostalgic tears.
"Sure man, I'd be down to do something of that sort!", my voice now filled with a spontaneous excitement.
"That's great to here! I'm planning on having it in the evening, and you can spend the night if you so choose," he explained.
"Great! What time should I plan on coming over?"
"Around eightish or so."
"Well I'll definitely be there!"
"Well I gotta go, It's been a pleasure talking to you, as always."
"You too Mark! See you tomorrow night!". And with that, the call ended.
I was ecstatic about what was about to unfold. I mean, how many times to you basically get to relive a moment from your childhood with your best friends! Now I should feel jubilant about this occasion, yet something just doesn't sit right with me. Maybe the excitement is just too much for me to handle, or maybe I'm just afraid that it'll be too different than what I remember. Despite all this, I found myself dozing off in a matter of minutes.
I awoke much later than I anticipated, but attributed it to running Sunshine the night before. It may have been the earliest parts of the afternoon, but the day hadn't gotten away from me completely. As much as I wanted to run Sunshine or even just sit for a minute and think, I had much more important tasks to attend to. I groaned at the thought of what homework laid ahead, yet it had to get done, much to my frustration.
I took one last look at my clock before hunkering down at my desk and pursuing my various studies. I must've been really focused, because before I knew it, the clock read 3:07 P.M. I let out a sigh before plopping down on my bed. I was able to knock out my English paper and Geography project, yet there was still more to do. After considering the consequences, I decided to finish my work tomorrow, which was a Sunday. Thus, I was left with four and a half hours to do whatever I wanted. I thought about running a few of the problematic Sunshine levels, but eventually decided against it. Since I had the time, I decided to boot up my PC and work on my game of Transport Tycoon. For some reason, I found these in-depth simulation games rather relaxing. Games like Civ and Simcity were among my favorites, and I had easy put hundreds of hours into them. So when I heard of Transport Tycoon, I was easily hooked. Running a multiregional grid of roads, rails, and canals with interchanges interspersed throughout was downright fascinating to me.
I would've easily lost hours of my life within this simulated world had it not been for a sudden knock upon my bedroom door. I reluctantly got up from my desk and opened the door to see my mother standing there.
"You haven't been out of your room since last night, is evening alright?", she asked with a hint of concern in her voice.
"Yeah, I've been swarmed with homework, so I guess I just lost track of time," I chuckled. My mother just nodded and turned to walk away when I remembered to tell her something.
"Hey mom!"
"Yes?"
"Mark called last night and invited me over for a party."
"A party?", she asked warily.
"No need to worry though, we're just playing Mario Kart and stuff," I reassured. She cracked a slight smile in response and turned to walk away.
As the time of my departure grew ever closer, I found myself becoming more and more anxious, which was rather peculiar to say the least. But like before, I banished these reactions to the recesses of my mind and carried onward like normal. Feelings are quite finicky to say the least. You may feel one way, but act in a completely opposite manner. Or you may on the odd occasion completely misinterpret your emotions entirely. Of course, I'm no psychologist, so asking me why this occurs is rather idiotic on your part, but my best guess is that our instincts and natural urge for comfort and safety kick in and block out feelings that may cause us to act in an unsafe manner. But like I said, I'm by far no expert, so quoting me on that would be rather folly of you.
However, not was not the time to dawn on the infinite complexity of our world. I had much more important things to deal with, like the Pachinko Shine. I really do hate that level. I can't tell you how many times a run has been ended because of that hellish mass of polygons and textures.
The afternoon soon crept into evening, and the moon soon ascended to its post. To think that our ancestors looked upon it with awe and wonder for millennia only for us to travel there and back is astounding. No wonder why space is dubbed the 'final frontier'. I soon waved my mother goodbye and heaved my duffel bag upward onto my right shoulder. I stepped outside and onto the cement slabs of my driveway. I was about to unlock the door to my car when I was blinded by the headlights of a sedan pulling into our drive. The car came to a full stop and out stepped my father.
I was elated to see him as he came home much earlier than scheduled. I couldn't help but run over and give him a hug. He boomed out a laugh and returned the embrace. He still smelled of kerosene and tarmac, but it was a smell that I'd become accustomed to. He gradually loosened his grip and waltzed over towards the trunk. He heaved out a travel bag which he towed behind him as he walked up the driveway.
"I take it you're going somewhere?", he jokingly interrogated.
"Just to Mark's house for the night."
"It's been a while since you last went over there, has it not?" I paused for a moment to think about the question.
"I think I last went over there in 2014, so it's been quite a while."
"Well I hope you have a great time!", he beamed before heading inside. The last thing I heard was the surprised voice of my mother before I opened the driver side door of my black SUV and stepped inside. Now my SUV was by no means the best looking car on the road, but it got the job done well and soon became my pride and joy.
I quickly checked the in-car clock to make sure that I was running on time, which I was. I had to leave about thirty minutes early due to… well let's just say that our city's road system wasn't the best in the state, let alone the nation. The roads were either backed up to kingdom-come or had so much construction going on that traversing them was about as easy as playing the Pachinko Shine but blindfolded and with a wonky controller that inverts all of your inputs. Maybe that's why I enjoyed games such as Simcity and Transport Tycoon so much. They gave me the position and tools to create a FUNCTIONING transportation network. The city invested millions upon millions of dollars into public transportation, but they neglected the fact that THIS IS AMERICA. "We ain't gon' use none of that there public transportation!", to put it lightly.
Although the odds were stacked against me, I still made it to my destination in reasonable time. I eventually turned into Mark's neighborhood and carefully searched for his house. It normally wasn't difficult to spot since it was the only one with solar panels on the roof, but the cloak of night obscured these minute details. I decided to park on the street as opposed to the driveway.
I excited my vehicle and made my way up his driveway towards his porch. I was just about to ring the doorbell, when the door swung open on its own. I was caught off guard by this, but was soon staring back at Mark's energetic father. He held out his hand, which I grabbed and shook.
"Glad to see you made it safely!", he stated sincerely.
"Well thanks for having me."
"No problem, we're more than glad to have you over any time." He opened the door wider and motioned for me to come inside. I complied and stepped into the beautiful foyer. In my absence, I had forgotten how immaculate his home was. It was by no means a mansion, but it was enough to make any middle-class man weep tears of jealousy.
My train of thought was abruptly derailed by the voice of Mark's father explaining where the guys were. "They're in the basement. You remember where it is, right?" I nodded in response. "Well if you need anything, I'll be in my study so don't be afraid to ask!" I thanked him again for inviting me and made my way toward the basement.
I descended the beige carpeted steps and shuffled over to where the guys were. They seemed to be playing pool, but by the way it looked, they seemed lost at what to do. I mean, Trent was holding the cue the wrong way for crying out loud! I made my presence known with a loud "wus poppin' Jimbo", to which the two looked up in confusion.
"Oh hey Sam, glad to see you're finally here!", Mark smiled. Trent just waved awkwardly before setting down the cue. I shuffled over to the large leather couch and flopped down while sighing loudly.
It was odd to finally be back doing this after so long, but it also felt as if nothing changed. We hadn't gotten together like this for years, but it felt as if we never left. Nonetheless, it wasn't long before we were discussing the latest and greatest games.
"Did you see the latest Nintendo Direct?", I questioned with anticipation.
"It was one hell of a ride from start to finish!", Mark answered with just as much enthusiasm as I had.
"All aboard the 2018 Smash hype train!", Trent laughed while making train piston motions with his arms.
This went on for about twenty minutes before we decided to actually start the main event. "So here's the deal!", Mark announced. "I asked you to each choose a game to bring. Now since we're limited on time tonight, we may only be able to get to one depending on how long it takes.
"Are we playing a friggin RPG my dude?", I question doubtingly. "Cause it doesn't take that long to play Mario Party or something of that sort." Mark laughed a little before correcting me.
"Oh, so you didn't get the memo then⸮"
"There was a memo?"
"You see my dear Samson, I decided to change things up a tad tonight!". I winced at the sound of my full name, before promptly retorting.
"I thought what we were doing was fine, what'd you decide to change?"
"Well you see," Trent interrupted. "We always play the same old games. Where's the creativity? Where's the engrossing story? We decided to change that, so we both brought a game that fit that new criteria. Although judging by your puzzled expression, I assume you brought something less than desirable." I was taken aback by their sudden cockiness and pride.
"I brought Super Smash Bros Melee, and while it may not be 'engrossing enough' for you, it has outstanding gameplay and music that puts all others to shame," I say unphased. The two just pause and look at each other before speaking.
"I'm just messing with you," Mark chuckles. "Like we actually care about a coherent story. We're just here to have fun after all!" I notice that Trent has suddenly sunk down in his seat.
"You okay dude? You look kinda pale."
"Don't worry I'm fine," he fake smiles as to hide his disappointment.
"I'm no Doctor Mario, but you don't exactly look all that well."
"I fine, don't worry about it!", he snaps. I hold my hands up in defeat and sit back down.
"It's okay dude, we'll play your 'game' another time," consoles Mark while air quoting.
"So what 'game' did you want to play anyway?", I snicker while air quoting myself.
"Don't worry 'bout it," he murmurs.
"It was some weeb trash," Mark laughs.
"How trash was it? Was it some trashy RPG?"
"Even worse, it was a fuckin' dating sim!", exclaims Mark all while Trent is burying his reddened face in his hands. I wince at the thought of a dating sim. To think that someone would be lonely enough to find the comfort in pixelated people is something I scoff at, yet I can sort of understand.
My thoughts on the matter are expressed with a single word, "OOF". I look down to see Trent lift his head up from his hands. His facial muscles soon begin to tense up and contort to form a slight smirk. "I assume you've never played something of the sort⸮"
"No, 'cause I'm not a sad weeb," I blurt out contrary to my previous thoughts. Trent slowly nods in response.
"I see. Tell you what, how about we play a little snippet. If you get intrigued, then we'll continue, but if not, then so be it."
"I came here to play Melee dude, not some looney sim."
"Yeah man, it just doesn't sound interesting to us," answered Mark in a similar manner. Trent pondered for a moment before responding.
"So I take it that you don't even want to give it a shot?"
"Well to be fair," I reasoned. "You haven't even given us the name or even a brief synopsis of it in general. We're both figuratively blind to what it's even about." Trent seemed to perk up at the sound of my words.
"The blinder the better!"
"Sounds like a neato game," I retort unemphatically before quickly suggesting that we play Melee instead. "This game actually has gameplay," I explain as I point to the case.
"But does it have an intriguing story", Trent inquires in an almost mocking tone.
"If you want a story mode, then play Brawl."
"Sounds good, I'll go grab the GameCube and we'll be all set!", Mark states energetically as he runs off towards a closet. He emerges not a second later with an indigo GameCube and various cables in his arms. He sets it all down and begins to hook it up when Trent interjects.
"A… are you sure you don't want to give it a try?"
"Nah man, we're good," I quickly responded, to which Trent sunk down a little.
"I'm sure that you'll change your mind once we start…," Trent started before being cut off by Mark.
"Here's the deal. We don't want to play you're weeb trash, and you don't want to play Melee. We've just been wasting time and have gotten nowhere. I suggest that we settle this like men," Mark snarled in a clearly annoyed manner.
"In Smash Bros?", I inquire.
"In Mario Kart 64!"
If you've read this far, then I salute you. I hope I've kept you intrigued, but if not feel free to PM me or review.
All intellectual properties and trademarks are owned by their respective owners: Nintendo, EA, Activision, Microprose, Team Salvato. I do not attempt to profit off this. This is merely a fan work and I implore you to check out the works that the previous stated companies have made and to support them. (Maybe not EA.)