Paper Mario X: The Thousand Year Door
Prologue: Peachy Welcome, Rogue Good-Bye
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.
. . .
"Toadsworth, I am a princess! I can handle myself!" Princess Peach snapped to her Toad guardian.
"I understand you're a princess, but what if Bowser shows up and kidnaps you once again, dear?" Toadsworth replied bluntly. Peach pouted.
"My friends are arriving here any moment, and I don't want someone being glued to my side! For once, I'd like to be in charge of myself…" Peach complained.
Before Toadsworth could remark, a small little ship arrived into the dock of the town known as Rogueport. Peach became unexpectedly giddy while Toadsworth scanned the boat for any sign of misconception. However, he found none, and instead became appalled at the six people who stepped out, apparently having been incredibly squashed during the ride.
"We should have just teleported!"
"It would have been easier!"
"It didn't fit the vacationing spirit…"
"Oh, Link…"
"C'mon! It would ruin the fun if we just simply teleported to that one place you wanted to go so much!"
Peach interrupted the sudden buzz of conversation by spreading out her arms and greeting the group cheerily. "Hello everyone! It's been so long!"
One of the females stepped forward, looking just as regal and excited as Peach. "Peach! Oh, it has been awhile! Hey…is that a new dress and hairstyle? You look different…"
"Why, yes! Thank you for noticing! You've had a make-over too!" giggled Peach. She ran up to Zelda and gave her a hug, which was instantaneously returned.
"Save room for me!" a pink hedgehog called, joining in the group hug.
"Amy…Zelda…I missed you so much! Things went right back to normal after you guys left!" Peach admitted, pulling her head out of the hug.
"If only that would happen to us…" Zelda scoffed.
"Don't say that! You don't love our life of exploring and adventuring?" Link asked, putting an arm around her shoulder.
"Well-"
"Um, if I may ask, who are all you folk?" Toadsworth input. Link took off his long green cap and bowed.
"I am known as Link, Hero of Time and adventurer extraordinaire!"
"He talks big, but his brain sure isn't!" smirked an orange-suited woman, who had been silent and simply watched all the commotion. Link scowled and whirled around to face her.
"Oh, like you have a fancy title Samus?"
"Yes, I am Samus, the greatest bounty hunter alive! Better than "extraordinaire!"
"Shut it…"
A blue hedgehog was leaning against the boat the entire time, chuckling at all the events unfolding.
"You all know I'm better than all of you, right? After all, I AM Sonic the Hedgehog…"
"I'M KIRBY!" a pink puff shouted, spinning like a top on the toe of his shoe. Toadsworth raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure you are fit to "hang" and "chill" with such folk, princess?"
Peach fumed. "Yes! They are some of my best friends! How can you be so…judging?"
"Fine…but now I'll have to tag along to make sure they are as "awesome" as you say!"
Peach smacked her head as everyone shivered. "Toadsworth…may I have a moment to do…something?"
"Like what?"
"…it's a girl's business…"
"Oh…Uh, of course your highness…"
Peach curtseyed and winked at her pals. She skipped away, up to some steps that led to the main town square. After letting her be for a few minutes, Toadsworth tried to instigate Peach's friends. Eventually, they got fed up after being asked what they would do if they were locked in a bathroom and took action.
"It's not like we're not enjoying this talk, but…there's a place we got to be…" Zelda stated calmly, trying to take a gentle approach.
"Who cares? I'm not asking for permission. See ya!" Sonic huffed, speeding away. Amy called after him, chasing her man. As Zelda continued to distract Toadsworth with her small talk, Link, Samus, and Kirby ran away. Toadsworth noticed they were leaving and reached his hand out to stop them, but they were long gone. He sighed, turned back to Zelda, only to find she was gone.
"Oh, poppycock! How the deuce did they vanish so quickly? !" he exasperated. "I do hope they don't rustle up a round of trouble…"
Toadsworth hobbled toward the main square of Rogueport as fast as his old legs would carry him, but unfortunately, it just wouldn't be quick enough.
. . .
"You're welcome!" Zelda hissed, appearing next to the group after teleporting. They had all gathered in Rogueport's main square, just in front of the noose.
"Finally! I have a minute without Toadsworth watching over me! He's so paranoid!" Peach moaned, narrowing her eyes and folding her arms.
"We've noticed…" Samus remarked, removing her helmet to scratch her ear.
"I come all the way here on a holiday…only to be stuck with Toadsworth! It's so stifling!"
"What possessed you to schedule a holiday in a town like this?" sniffed Zelda, noting every detail wrong with the city.
"…and why is that toad so overprotective? Doesn't he trust you?" Amy wondered.
"Probably because I'm royalty and I get kidnapped so much. Once in a while I'd like the chance to look around on my own and see what I want. But…now that I'm doing it all, all I see is that this town has a very…umm…distinct flavor…"
"I told you!" sang Zelda.
"Know-it-all…" whispered Kirby. Zelda turned, hand suddenly blazed in flames.
"Ahem, what was that?"
"Nothing! I swear!"
Kirby sweat dropped as Amy gently told Zelda to calm down.
"oh, Missies, Missies…" an old voice called. Link, Sonic, and Kirby knew she didn't mean them and proceeded to walk away to find a map to fully plan their vacation. At first, Samus thought that the old woman was beckoning to her as well, but she had second thoughts and joined the guys.
"Do you mean…us?" Peach, Zelda, and Amy asked. They were suddenly memorized and forgot about everyone else to go up to a cloaked woman's store.
"Yes, you, Missies! Won't you buy something? I have a wide assortment of knickknacks and doodads!" she explained.
"Oh! Well…um…" Peach pondered, wondering whether she should buy something or not. She looked over to Amy who had invested in some jewels for her headband and Zelda had found a new set of earrings and paid for them by hurling a green Rupee in the woman's direction. Peach wondered if coming to the store was such a good idea until she spotted something of interest.
"Well that's a pretty box! What's inside it?" she asked.
"What box?"
"I think she means that one…"
"NO! The small red one!"
"Yeah Amy, your box is a sickly green! How is that pretty?"
"Just a simple statement..."
The woman let out a small chuckle and picked up the small red box trimmed with gold. "It's said that this box hold a map that shows where a legendary treasure sleeps…but the box has a magic lock on it that will only open for a noble and pure heart. As you can see…if won't budge if one such as myself touches it…"
She demonstrated, proving that the box wouldn't open. All three girls gasped in awe.
"I know. If the box will open for you, Missies, then you may have whatever is inside. I am sure that whatever is in there would be of no use to someone like me…so, Missy, take this box in your hands and see what happens…"
Zelda and Amy looked at Peach. Peach looked skeptical. "Umm…all right. What's the harm?"
She smiled and took the box. "I'll try to open it."
"Can we help, Peach?" Amy asked.
"Sure, if you think your heart's pure…"
"Of course my heart is pure!" Zelda stated, quickly placing her hand on the box. Amy added hers, and all together the girls lifted the box upward. They gasped in surprise; the box was glowing for crying out loud!
Little did they know that they were opening up something far worse than a simple disaster…
. . .
"Sweet! It was so nice of that man to give us this map!" Kirby said, jumping down from a roof in the east side of town.
"It was probably part of the black market or something…" Samus snorted.
"So? It's still a map!" Sonic confirmed, trying to get a peek of the paper. Link was currently holding it, looking at it up and down.
"Apparently, Rogueport is surrounded by all kinds of amazing places! Petalburg, Glitzville, Keehaul key…" Link trailed, listing off the places as he glanced across them.
"Look at Poshley Heights!" Samus gasped, eyeing the posh town- though secretly, she was much more interested in the train. Sonic jumped on her back and glanced over her shoulder to get a look as well.
"Wow, that place does look pretty impressive. A little too uptight for me though."
Kirby noticed one particular section of the map that brought back memories.
"Are we going to go to them all?" Link wondered.
"Are you kidding? With all the fun we'll have at Poshley Heights, we won't have time for anywhere else!" Samus cackled madly. She slightly gripped the map, letting everyone know she wanted it. Sonic yelped as he was flung off her back, landing harshly on the cobblestone ground.
"H-Hey! I don't know how you plan to buy one ticket for that snooty train, let alone six more!" Sonic snapped. "We should go somewhere free, and is a lot of fun!"
He now took the other half of the map, tugging it away from Samus.
"There's too much action around these places!" Kirby huffed, his voice getting a bit stingy. "We should settle with somewhere calm and eerily quiet…"
He gently placed a small hand on what was available of the map.
"Um…you guys?" Link asked, noticing the suddenly rising tensions. "We promised to go on vacation together!"
No one heard him, for they were still going at it with the poor map as the inconsolable victim.
"Calm and quiet? Kirby, I'd DIE if I stepped foot in such a place!" Sonic growled. Samus managed to wrestle the map out of everyone else's hands.
"Wait! I've got an idea! Why don't we just split up? That way, we can go wherever we want to without any of these arguments!"
"What!" yelped Link.
"I'd hate to agree with you Sam, but you might be right...except we stick together!" Sonic muttered. Link was so glad someone was thinking straight. He stayed on the sidelines, watching the friendship get tattered and torn like the defenseless map.
"Not this time! I want to do things my way, and if separation is the only way, then I'm all for it!" Samus decided.
"No! There's always more than one way!" Link assured, growing wearier by the second.
"Yeah, yeah if that's the way you want it to be, then I'm game too!" Kirby confirmed, ignoring Link. They all grabbed the map once again and prepared to pull it into pieces, each grabbing the place they wanted to go. Link yelled at them to stop, unintentionally grabbing the bottom part of the map. At this moment, Samus, Kirby, and Sonic had yanked as hard as they could.
"Guys! This is ridiculous! You're going to-"
Rip.
Sonic, Kirby, and Samus all flew into different directions, each with a piece of the map in their hands. Link was the only one still standing, also with some of the map. The other three were pretty satisfied.
"…so that's really how it's going to be, is it?" Sonic asked quietly, his piece of the map becoming clenched within his fist.
"Well, I'm as good as gone!" Kirby stated, a bit in a hushed tone. He couldn't believe he was going through with this!
"I'm glad you see it my way!" Samus scoffed, turning away and heading west. "Ever since you three kidnapped me, I've hardly had any time to enjoy things by myself! It's about time I get what I deserve!"
She continued walking away, leaving a shocked Link, distorted Sonic, and Kirby looking like he was about to cry. He shook it off and gritted his teeth at the friend walking away.
"I hope you have a good time, robot!" Kirby griped as he retreated back east.
"I hope you don't!"
"I hope you break your canon!"
"I'll break it trying to break you!"
They growled while storming away. Link looked pleadingly to Sonic who had his fists balled up and a snarl on his face. He hated seeing the team split up just as much as Link did.
"Are you leaving too?" Link asked lifeless.
"You know originally I wouldn't but…what if Samus is right? Maybe we all hang out way too much…and we need to be away from each other for a while…" Sonic stuttered. "It makes me so frustrated thinking that this is a good idea! Augh! I don't want to end up taking my anger out on you. Grr…I can't believe I let myself get so riled up on something so stupid! Take a breath Sonic…"
Link hung his head. "I guess I understand…"
Sonic attempted to smile. "Hey…maybe you'll find somewhere you want to go."
"Maybe. I doubt it."
"Who knows? But…see you later, Link" Sonic waved and ran off so fast that Link didn't even remember what direction he headed off in.
And for a few striking moments, Link was alone. Everyone had dispersed so quickly…but was it really true that they spent too much time together? Link always assumed that they were like a discombobulated family- a little bit crazy, but they'd do anything for each other…
Just when he was about to head back to the girls, he inconveniently heard a pained cry, and he instantly snapped to attention.
"LINK!"
"Zelda?" Link rushed back to the main square, only to find that all three of the girls weren't where they left them. "Oh, no…"
He frantically whipped his head in many directions, searching for a trace of where Team ZAP could have scampered off to, but the longer he came across nothing, Link was slowly beginning to fear the worst.
They had most likely been kidnapped.
Link found himself running into every part of Rogueport that he could access, calling out the girls' names along with the ones of his friends. He received no response from anyone, and he was beginning to enter a whole new level of panic.
"Please!" Link pleaded, darting from one person to the next and frantically asking questions. Almost every time he was shrugged away by the lowlifes of Rogueport, but a few of them heard his cries. "Has anyone seen a trio of girls? Does anyone know what happened to them?"
A few of the civilians of Rogueport reported that three girls headed to Professor Frankly's House, headed back to the Main Square to grab something to eat, and were abducted by hideous looking people. However, none knew of their fate. Link smiled weakly, and tried to regain his composure. His hands started to shake, barely holding onto his part of the map.
"Great. My friends have split, and now the girls are possibly kidnapped! …if only Mario was here. He'd know what to do…he always knows what to do…" He sighed, walked over to the noose, sat down and stared at the rest of the map. It was like all of his friends- torn apart.