This took way longer than intended.
...Shit.
Name
["Dialog box"]
[Saverio's thoughts/text box]
[logo appearance]world title[more logo appearance]
Cardiac Kingdom (A Nintendo/Squaresoft crossover) Part 2: The (Ironic) First Town
~BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP~
As things start to fade back, I find out that the beeping noise is coming from an alarm clock. Instead of being on another platform, Saverio is lying in bed, presumably in his bedroom. Saverio sits up, rubs his eyes, and switches off the alarm.
I hear a groan on Saverio's left side. As I hadn't notice eight seconds ago, there is someone else in the bed. A woman with blue eyes, short red hair, and is wearing a set of red-dotted pajamas. She also sits up in bed, rubbing her eyes.
"Morning." she says in a groggy voice. She then lies back in bed. "You can get dressed first. I'll wait."
Saverio turns out of bed and gets up. The cutscene ends and I'm given control again. I walk up to the closest door and press (B)Open.
[I can't leave looking like this.]
Okay, then! I move to the next door. The screen fades to black. I hear the sound of a shower running and some whistling. After about fifteen seconds, Saverio walks out the door, now wearing the clothes that he was wearing on the title screen, spiky hair included. Now I walk out of the room.
The scene switches to outside of a house. Saverio's house presumably. I get an establishing shot of whats in front of his house: a quaint little town on a hillside overlooking a beach. Saverio looks up at the sky and takes a deep breath.
"You guys finally up?" Someone says offscreen, startling Saverio.
The camera switches over to Saverio's right. On the side of the house is that guy I saw in the intro, adjusting his shoes for whatever reason. He has long silver hair, turquoise green eyes, pale skin, and, interestingly, purple bags under his eyes. In other words, a total shut-in at best. He is dressed in some blue and white sneakers, baggy blue jeans, a black belt, short black gloves, a yellow button shirt with the sleeves rolled way up, and a black tie. He looks... kind of ridiculous, really. I think it's the tie.
"Sorry for startling you, and for coming by early. I've just been really excited lately." the man says. Saverio gives him a dismissive wave.
"Hey, Rosario?" Saverio asks in a worried voice. He then begins to tell the newly dubbed Rosario about his boring dream.
Okay, he wasn't really telling him, more like pantomiming his boring dream.
Okay, he wasn't really pantomiming it, more like waving his hands in front of him in some odd manner that in no way could express the intricate details of his boring dream.
Despite that, Rosario gives him a shrug and says "That doesn't sound that weird to me. Just typical bad dream stuff."
Saverio gestures desperately.
"I'm sure you're just stressed because we're going to leave soon. Don't dwell on it to much." Rosario says. Of course, any outside viewer (me) knows that that isn't at all true, but he'll just have to find out the hard way. "Anyway, are you guys ready?"
Saverio gestures to the door. "Lets wait for her then."
A fade to black and Saverio and Rosario are leaning against the wall of the house together. Unrelated to this, but I've got to say, this lack of music is getting really unnerving. Someone better start the music back up soon. A second later, the sound of a door opening is heard. The camera switches over to the women, now wearing a white tanktop, a purple miniskirt, white flat boots, yellow fingerless gauntlets, and a necklace with a pendent of a magnifying glass. She gives them a short wave. "Hey, Ros'."
"Kari." Rosario says. They gather together. "So, you guys ready to finish the boat?"
"Yeah!" Saverio says with enthusiasm. Hey, his voice sounds familiar to me.
"As ready as physically possible!" Kari says, throwing her fist up.
Rosario then steps forward. "Well, if we're all so enthusiastic, then how about a race?"
A moment of silence, and then: "Ready, GO!"
They each start running, with Rosario taking the lead. The camera starts shifting upward, until the sun comes on screen. With a large glare effect taking up the view, the title of the area morphs onto the screen.
(Play "Plok – Beach")
[HILLSIDE]Sorte Island[SAND]
...Sorte? ...I'll search that later. And thank god there's music now.
The camera shifts down to a large building at the end of the beach. On the front side of the building, there is a concrete ramp going into the water. On the side of the ramp is a dock with a bench on it.
Rosario comes onto the screen, still in the lead, with Saverio and Kari coming up behind him. Rosario touches the door of the building first, appearing a bit exhausted.
Rosario
["Ha. Figures...I can... still beat you two."]
Kari is panting, while Saverio seems to recover from the run just fine.
Kari
["-Pant- -Pant- We never doubted you, Ros'."]
Rosario
["Still though, here I am catching my breath, and you still hardly break a sweat, Sav'. I don't know where you get the stamina."]
He'd better have a lot of stamina, 'cause I don't intend to let him catch his breath anytime soon. I mean, this isn't Silent Hill, for gods sake.
Rosario opens the door, and they go into the building. Inside, I find that very same boat from the intro. It looks like its already been completed, other than the fact that its a bleach white, and is hanging on the ceiling by several ropes. Rosario walks over to a pair of big doors and opens them.
Rosario
["Alright, now lets get this over with and start painting on that finish."]
This time, an iris out is used for the scene shift.
(Play "Treasure Master(NES) – World 1")
The next thing I see is Saverio and Rosario painting one side of the boat, Kari probably working on the other side or reading a magazine or whatever. Now the boat has spots of brown on it from the varnish. They're just painting, painting, painting-
[I should break the silence.]
[Talk about the plan.]
Talk about Kari.
Ask for some advice.
...Advice?
Rosario
["What, did you forget already? We're going to hop around from island to island until we find the one that Kari came from. Simple."]
Sounds like a great plan to me! Seriously though, are you being sarcastic? He turns away from Saverio.
Rosario
["Though, I have to admit something, now that you've brought it up. I know I sounded pretty confident about it a while ago, but do you think this will be good enough? I mean, its just going by process of elimination, so what if it takes us years to find it?"]
Saverio gives a dismissive wave. Rosario gives a nod, even though he wasn't looking at him.
Rosario
["Yeah, you're probably right. No need to stress about those kinds of things."]
They then continue painting.
Another iris out, and Saverio is now painting with Kari, while Rosario is... somewhere else. Hes painting his toenails, I don't know. The boat looks browner than it was a second ago, and there they are just painting away at it.
[Maybe I should ask Kari...]
[...if she remembers anything yet.]
...what she thinks about Ros' plan.
...if she has any advice.
Seriously dude, what do you want advice for?
Kari
["You're still curious about that?"]
He nods.
Kari
["Well, I still can't remember anything about before I came here. Sorry."]
She turns away from the boat.
Kari
["But, you know, don't sweat it if it doesn't come back to me later. It'd be nice if I could remember, but even if we never find where I came from, I think I'll be able to accept that. Because even if we don't, I still have you and Ros'."]
He nods again.
Kari
["Yeah, and who knows? Maybe we'll find my old home and it turns out that my parents are evil overlords."]
They share a hearty laugh. I don't, because that will probably turn out to be true. They then get back to painting.
Another iris out and the three are standing in front of the boat, now covered in a fresh coat of varnish.
Rosario
["It's looking pretty good, don't you think?"]
They nod, and then Rosario starts toward the door.
Rosario
["Well, I'm going to go lie down on the roof for a bit. All this varnish is making me feel kinda lightheaded."]
Then you probably shouldn't have painted it inside a building now, should you? Kari then turns around too.
Kari
["I think I'll step out too."]
Now that I think about it, shouldn't they have worn more protective clothing if they knew they were going to work with toxic chemicals?
...Oh hey, I have control again. And the music changed back to the normal beach theme from a minute ago. I decide to look at whatever catches my eye in the room.
[There's nothing interesting on the workbench.]
[There's nothing in this closet but tools.]
[Nothing new on the shelves.]
Super! Now lets go outside.
Outside, the sun hangs low in the sky, probably about evening. I looked around the beach for anything interesting. After looking for anything eye-catching, I only end up find a cave with nothing cool in it, some trees that I could climb, and the knowledge that I couldn't go into town. There was not a single damn item to be found. I go back to the workshop to find Kari sitting on the dock, and decide to (B)Talk to her.
Kari
["Hey, Savy. What's up? You feel like sparing?"]
["Sure."]
"Not right now."
"Sure." Saverio says. Kari steps up and runs somewhere. A scene transition later (not a fade this time) and Saverio is holding a wooden sword on one side of the dock, with Kari holding a wooden sword and shield on the other side. The music changes to the song from when they were painting.
"Show me what you got!" She says as the battle starts. She walks up to me cautiously, her shield held high in front of her. Figuring that front attacks won't work, I circle around her and try to strike from behind. I get a three hit combo on her, making her stagger back, and I attempt to go for another while shes off guard.
"Nice try!" She says before countering my attack with a hit in the face. I guess I'll have to go slowly. I go behind her again to get another combo in, but as soon as I attack, she does a quick turn on me, dodging with her shield.
This goes on for a few tries, where I attempt to combo her in the back and hope she doesn't turn on me, and also avoid falling off the dock. I eventually figure out that (B) is used to block and dodge, and realize that I'm supposed to block her attacks and then hit, and use that strategy to beat her.
"Oh man, I lost this time!" She says upon defeat, with the camera hanging over her like its ashamed. The music switches back and my health is restored after the battle, thankfully. I decide to go look on the roof for Rosario. I find a ladder on the side of the building and climb up it to find him lying on his back on the middle of the roof. (B)Talk.
Rosario
["Hows it going, Sav. You here to keep the sun out of my eyes? Or is it something else?"]
["How about a fight?"]
"Just making sure you're not dead from the fumes."
"How about a fight?" Saverio asks. Rosario leaps up of the ground and runs for the side of the roof. A scene transition and the two are facing off against each other, Rosario with a wooden pole in his hands.
"Give up and you might live!" Rosario taunts. Unlike Kari, Rosario decides to just go all out on me, going for a bunch of quick jabs and slashes. I block them successfully and go in for a combo, which he blocks the first time, but the second time manages to connect. Unfortunately, Rosario reels back on the ground and counters with a kick to the chest, knocking me back.
"I hope that's not your best!" Rosario taunts. Of course, I just decide to keep trying the same strategy, except those times, I instead dodge his counters with my slide dodge. I manage to win just barely, and I get a level up for it.
[Level Up! Saverio] ~sparkle~
"Bummer." Rosario simply says, the camera looking down shamefully yet again. My health restored to full again, I decide to go save. I jump down to that bench from earlier and (B)Sit. Saverio sits down on the middle of the bench, laying his arms on the back of it.
[Slot 1]
Slot 2
[File 1] File 2 File 3 File 4
There is data already saved on this file. Overwrite?
[Yes] No
Saving data. Do not remove the memory card(16Mb) or shut off the Gamecube™.
I wonder what Shauwn is doing right now?
7/16/2006 4:52 pm
Chris Melton Lvl.03
00:39 Sorte Island
I get another prompt.
[End the day?]
[Yes]
No
I guess I'll end the day as is, since there seems to be nothing that I missed before. The screen fades and Rosario and Kari have joined Saverio on the bench, Saverio sitting on the right end, with his left arm on Kari's shoulders, and Rosario on the left side with his arms and legs crossed. The sun is now setting.
"So tomorrow, we're gonna stock up. I figure maybe two weeks worth of food should be enough. If not, we can just fish for more." Rosario says. "And If we don't find any fish, well... we'll be at our first island before we run out of food anyway, and then we can restock."
"You do know where the closest island is, don't you?" Kari asks him incredulously.
"Of course I do! Its only a couple hundred miles away, tops!" Rosario says. She looks at him. "Really! I can even show you the maps I have! I mean, not right now, they're up at my house, but..."
Kari giggle at this. "Calm down, Ros', I'm just teasing. I know you know what you're doing. I trust you."
"Hm... But anyway, putting asides the technical matters of this journey, you don't think we'll come up short at the end of it all, do you? I mean, its you're home we're looking for, after all."
"That's true. We might not find out where I came from or who my biological parents are. But, I think when all is said and done, this place is more 'home' to me than any island I can't even remember."
Saverio gestures to Rosario with his right hand.
"Why am I so invested? Well, you remember, we still have to keep that promise we made back when we were kids."
"...Oh yeah! I remember that." Kari says with realization. "Oh, but, I didn't know that was why you're so interested."
"Well, you know me, I like to keep my promises." Rosario stands up and walks to the edge of the dock. He shuts his eyes while hanging his head down. "And besides that, I was just itching for a little adventure in my life. I mean, working as a boat builder slash island guard around here gets pretty boring for a guy like me, you know?"
"Ros'..." Kari says, worried.
"Anyway, I have to get going. I have to get to my other job soon." Rosario uncrosses his arms and walks away.
"He says he wants an adventure, but I think he needs a vacation." Kari says quietly. She turns to Saverio. "Savy, lets make sure he gets a little relief while we're out on the ocean, okay?"
"Relief"? Really? I think you might want to choose your words more carefully there, Kari, or immature people will think you're a whore. Despite this, Saverio nods.
"We should probably head home now too. We have to get our stuff packed anyway." They get up and start walking back to their house. The scene fades.
(Play "Super Mario RPG – Mushroom Kingdom")
The scene returns to a very different place from before. It doesn't actually say where it is but I can tell almost immediately. The bright colors, all those Toads walking around, that music. It was the Mushroom Kingdom, baby! Right now, it looks very peaceful. Which means something very bad will happen rig-
"AAAAAUUUGGGHHH!" Cries a very agitated Toad. That very Toad (I'll call him Panicky Toad) is running through the road, holding a piece of paper in his hand, and seems very intent on getting to his destination. I mean, he passes by a Toad carrying a bazooka without even a passing glance, he's so intent.
"HEY, DON'T RUN IN THE STREETS, YOU HOOLIGAN!" Bazooka Toad yells, firing a rocket at Panicky Toad for daring to act like a hooligan in the Mushroom Kingdom. The explosion makes a big cloud of debris, but it is quickly revealed that Panicky Toad just runs right goddamn through all that crap, clearly not even stopping for a ballistics-based death.
We eventually make it to that familiar castle with the stained glass mural over the big front doors. A couple of guards stand in front, spears in hand. When they see Panicky Toad running towards the door, they cross their spears over the door.
"Halt! For what reason do you need t-" The guard doesn't finish his sentence, as Panicky Toad blasts through the spears, breaking them in two, and through the door, causing the guards to spin around and fall. They probably didn't die, though they may have wanted to if that meant not having to go through life as another pair of generic failure guards.
Panicky Toad runs through the halls of the castle until he finds his way to the throne room. At the throne is none other other than Princess Peach in all her pink, classic-princess glory, as well as some other Toads. Everyone is startled by Panicky Toad's entrance.
"Oh my, Toad! You look frightened. What happened?" Peach asks as she stands up from her throne and moves forward.
"Princess! Its just terrible!" Panicky Toad says, looking like he's about to cry.
"Yes?"
"Horrible!"
"Yes yes, what is it?"
"Its Mario! And Luigi! They've disappeared! Gone without a trace!"
~DU-DUN~
The music stops, and everyone gasps.
"WHAT! Are you sure?"
"Positive! They even left a note saying so."
Okay, that's not "without a trace", Panicky Toad. Get it together!
"Let me see." Peach swipes the note from his hand and quickly reads through it. Her face grows darker as she reads, until she finally responds. "Alright, we're in a crisis, but we don't need to panic yet. Go and alert everyone that Mario and Luigi have gone missing. And I do mean everyone. GO!"
Every Toad in the room runs out, leaving Peach to herself. She walks to the large window in the room and looks out. She takes one last look at the note before she lets her hand back down.
"Mario. Luigi. What in the world is going on?"
Okay, that took forever to write. Sorry.
So, Mario and Luigi have gone missing. Does it have any connection to our three islanders? Who am I kidding, of course it does.
Anyway, 'til next time, be sure to review, but please make sure to spell correctly. Later.
Wordcount: 3,814
Submitted: 4/2/11