Prologue:
Painting the World Gray
The first thing he noticed when he came to was the intense pain running throughout his body. He couldn't move, such was the pain.
The second thing he noticed was the dampness of the grass against his body. It was cold, wet, and miserable. Coupling that with the inability to move due to pain, Mario was very unhappy.
The third thing he noticed was a sharp prodding at his side. He grunted as the prodding continued.
"Hey, guy," came the voice. "Hey, are ya okay?"
Mario groaned again, clearly not alright.
"Dang! I gotta get ya inside. You're liable to catch sick out here!" yelled the voice. Mario heard footsteps scampering off, but several minutes later what sounded like a stampede came from that direction.
"Alright guys. On three."
He felt beings at his sides.
"One."
The beings at his sides were tense.
"Two."
They moved to pick him up.
"Three."
Mario was lofted into the air by the many beings. He cried out in pain, for the creatures carrying him lacked a gentle touch.
"Hold on, guy. We'll get ya patched up real good. Name's Goombert, by the way. I'm a goomba, in case it weren't obvious. Anyways, there'll be time for introductions later. Troop, move out!"
When he next came to, he felt significantly better. His body lacked the intense pain he had felt before, though his joints still ached slightly. He opened his eyes slowly.
Gray greeted him. For such a vibrant country as this, the grayscale cottage he found himself in was an oddity. In fact, he felt rather out-of-place as the only splash of color in a monochromatic world.
The door opened, and he turned to face it. A dark gray goomba waddled in, a delighted look upon his face as he spotted Mario sitting up.
"Oh, good. You're up," said the goomba.
"Yeah. You're Goombert?" he asked.
The goomba looked proud. "The one and only. You're talking to the leader of Goombase Spectra and the general of the Goomba Troop. I brought ya back from the outskirts. Our scouter claimed she saw red, but as angry as she always is, that ain't possible. Our color's been gone for a while now."
"Wait, what do you mean your color's gone?" Mario asked, startled.
"Yeah, the color's gone. After the Festival of Color, the king holed himself, his wife, and his son up in their castle. The next day, we woke up and were like this." Goombert motioned to all of himself. "It's a bit depressing. We've been like this for about a week."
"A week?! I can't have been out that long," Mario whispered.
"Fraid so," said the goomba. "If Goombrianne hadn't seen ya when she flew from Valorem, ya mighta died."
This startled the plumber. "Died?"
"Ya were in pretty rough shape when we found ya. You're very lucky, ya know," Goombert stated.
A sharp knocking at the door interrupted the goomba. "Knock, knock," said a feminine voice.
"Goombrianne, he's awake," said Goombert as he turned to the door.
Through the doorway flew a paragoomba sporting an aviator cap and goggles which rested on her cap. Her blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail, and a tooth stuck from her mouth rather cutely. Her skin was a little lighter than the brown of normal goombas, but Mario was glad to see any amount of color in the grays of this world.
"Glad to see you up," said the paragoomba. "It's good to see another color around here. I was starting to think I was alone."
"Whatcha mean?" Goombert asked. "You're as gray as the rest of us."
"What're you talking about?" Mario responded. "She's not in grayscale."
"You mean that you can see my colors?" asked the paragoomba. "Yay!"
Mario rubbed the back of his neck in confusion. "I'm confused."
"Sorry. My name's Goombrianne," the paragoomba said. "Student of U Goom Flight Academy."
"Ya mean flunkey," snorted Goombert.
"Be quiet! I haven't flunked out yet," Goombrianne retorted. "I just need real world experience in order to graduate, is all."
"You're a goomba at heart, and will never amount to anything! Why are ya always trying?" asked Goombert.
"A girl can dream, you jerk!" she yelled, tears in her eyes. "I'm leaving."
She flew out the door, slamming it behind her. Goombert snorted.
"Good riddance."
Mario stared at the door for a few seconds before turning to the goomba. "That seemed a little harsh, don't you think?" he asked.
"I don't really care. We've got no room for her kind here," Goombert said, a leer in his eyes. "Now then, down to business. See, we don't do rescue missions for free. Your recovery cost us quite a fortune."
"I can pay you," Mario responded. "How much?"
"Well, normally, it'd cost about a hundred coins, but since ya filled up our only recovery room for a week, it'll cost ya five."
"Five hundred coins?! That's outrageous!"
"Sorry, bud, but we gotta pay the bills. Now, ya either pay or we're gonna have ourselves a problem," the goomba said.
"I don't have any money, let alone five hundred coins," explained the plumber.
"I see… Well, then we'll take our pay in blood! Goomba Troop, fall in!"
Goombrianne flew through the clouds, tears cold against her face. She felt alone, misunderstood. Normally, flying through the air was comforting, but not anymore. The previously beautiful land lamented in its loss of color, and to the flying creatures, nothing was more depressing.
She flew alone for several minutes before turning around to fly back.
"Goomba Troop, fall in!" cried the voice of Goombert.
"Oh, dear. That poor man. I bet he didn't have enough coins to pay the price," she said. "Not like anyone does."
The plumber's cries and assorted goomba screams sounded from the cabin.
"No! Goombert, you jerk! That's not fair!"
She dove toward the cabin as quickly as she could, hoping she wouldn't be too late. The door flew inwards with the force of her headbonk, hitting some random goomba and knocking him out.
"Goombert, this ends here!"
Mario laid on the ground, his body torn and battered. Goombert stood over him, gloating and mocking him.
"Not so high and mighty now, are ya?"
"Goombert, this ends here!" Goombrianne yelled, glaring at the gray goomba.
"Hey boys, lookie here! The flunkey's saying something. How terribly amusing," Goombert said, laughing.
The paragoomba flapped over to the downed plumber, giving him a mushroom. As the restorative properties of the mushroom flowed throughout his body, Goombrianne glared at the Goomba Troop's leader.
"I am not a flunkey!" she yelled.
Goombert and his troop cackled at her. "You're not a flunkey sure as I don't love money, girly. And I do so love money."
Mario stood, recovered from the beating. He stared at the troop.
"You guys are mean," he said.
"Hey boys, he's ready for another beating. Ready, boys?" asked Goombert, receiving numerous assents from the troop.
"Goombert, you're mine! I'm so sick of you!" Goombrianne yelled, flying towards the goomba in an aerial headbonk. He grunted before staring appraisingly.
"Not bad, flunkey, but ya gotta do better than that, girly. Boys, show her the problem with her kind," he commanded. Several goombas jumped towards her, fully intent on banging heads, but the only head they hit was that of Mario's hammer.
"It's been a while since I've used this," Mario commented, hitting another goomba away from Goombrianne. "Feels good."
"You. Hammerman. Don't think I've forgotten about ya. Ya still owe me money, guy," said Goombert.
"I don't owe you anything," Mario responded, jumping on the head of a goomba, adding another to the growing amount of knocked-out goombas. Goombrianne nodded her head before taking out yet another member of the Goomba Troop.
"Grrr… Boys, step up your efforts. We've almost got them!" Goombert yelled.
"I don't think so," Mario said. "I'm afraid your time is up, Goombert."
The plumber gave one final stomp to the top of the gray goomba's head, finally defeating the con artist.
"Goomba Troop, get him!" the goomba yelled.
"I don't think so, man. We never signed up for this!" one of the troop yelled back as the entire troop rushed out the door.
"Deserters!" Goombert yelled after them. "Cowards!"
"Better to live to see another day then die at the whims of a fool," one final goomba said. He turned to Mario. "We're cool, man. Right? No hard feelings?"
"We're good," Mario said. The goomba rushed out the door, leaving Goombert behind.
Goombert gulped as the plumber stared at him. Mario took a step towards him, causing him to rush out. He stopped at the door. "I'll remember this, ya hear me? You've not seen the last of me!"
Goombrianne turned to Mario as the door slammed shut. "Thanks for that! Say, aren't you Mario?"
"That's me, miss," Mario said, smiling politely.
"Amazing! Professor Goombella told us so much about you!" Goombrianne exclaimed.
"She's teaching now?" Mario asked, surprised. "Good for her."
"She's the best teacher ever! Anyways, I just had a thought," she said. She shuffled her feet, looking down at them. "So I have to get real world experience in order to get my degree. I was wondering if I could join you. After all, you're the great Super Mario. Surely you're not here in Spectra on vacation."
"Well, I was," Mario stated, laughing at the paragoomba's dumbfounded expression. He grew somber. "But I suspect that's no longer the case."
"What do you mean?" Goombrianne asked.
"Well, the world's lost its color, for starters," Mario said.
"Except you and me! We're still fully colored!" she exclaimed.
"Right, but other people couldn't see that, which means something bad has happened," he responded. "What's the foundation of life here in Spectra?"
"That's an easy one," Goombrainne said, laughing delightedly. "They practically worship color here."
"Exactly. I think something went wrong during the Festival of Color," he claimed.
"Explain," the paragoomba said.
"Well, just as we were about to complete the ceremony, we were attacked by this strange monochromatic magician. He made Princess Brite disappear, and then hit me with some strange beam of energy!" Mario yelled.
"The ceremony means nothing," Goombrianne responded. "It's just to remember the original Chromatic Oath. It being interrupted is notable, true, but really, it wouldn't have this effect."
"I figured as much."
"But this strange magician… he might have something to do with it. If he truly caused Princess Brite to disappear, I fear for Spectra. Everyone loves her here. Without her, the people would lose hope for the future," she finished.
"So this is that magician's fault…" Mario said. "I hope he didn't harm the princess."
"Didn't you say he made her disappear?" Goombrianne asked, a confused look upon her face.
"Princess Peach. It wouldn't surprise me if he did something to her, too. She's always getting kidnapped," he said.
"Oh, dear…"
"Yeah."
The two sat in silence in the gray cottage. Finally, Goombrianne spoke up, unable to handle the stark silence.
"You know, you never answered my question," she said.
"Heh, sorry. Honestly, I'm so used to people just tagging along it never occurred to me that I have a choice. I'd be delighted to have you along!" Mario exclaimed.
Goombrianne has joined Mario's party!
Goombrianne is a sweet paragoomba with a great deal of spunk. This feisty paragoomba will prove invaluable to Mario, as she can tell him about everything and anyone in Spectra. She gained top marks in her scouting class, so just say the word, and she'll fly up and scout the area. She'll report back with the number of foes and any distinguishing features of the immediate area. In battle, she can really hurt enemies using an aerial headbonk, and her tattling skills are top-notch.
"Yay! I won't let you down, I promise!"
Mario laughed at the practically bouncing paragoomba. "I don't doubt it."
"Yup! So, what now?" she asked.
"We find a way to restore color to Spectra," Mario said. "There has to be a way. If there's anything I've learned over the years, it's that there is always a counter-spell or way to circumvent magic. Always. No exceptions."
"I know. We learned that in school," Goombrianne said.
"Jeeze, just what kind of classes were you taking?" Mario asked, slightly surprised.
"Good ones. I had good teachers, but the best was Professor Goombella. She was my General Studies teacher. Very thorough and tough, but she loved me. Anyways, she said that every magical artifact and ceremony she'd come across had a counter-spell. She loved using the Crystal Stars as an example," Goombrianne responded.
"Heh, she would. Yeah, the Crystal Stars would be a great example. They worked not only as the keys to the Thousand Year Door, but also as a counter-spell to the Shadow Queen's magic. Of course, there's no need for them anymore, but I like to visit the caretakers of the stars, on occasion," Mario noted.
"Professor Goombella mentioned as much," the paragoomba said. "Anyways, you're thinking we need to find out the counter-spell, right?"
"Oh, yeah," said Mario as he nodded. "Definitely. Did any of your classes cover spontaneous loss of color?"
"Well, they did cover the procedure of dealing with a spontaneous split of night and day," she responded.
"Interesting, but not what we need." Mario raised an eyebrow, making a note to ask her about that in the future.
"Right, that's a story for another time," she said. "It's a really good story, though. Remind me to tell you about the Temple of the Sun, sometime."
"Alright, but right now, you need to focus. Was there anything about a loss of color in your studies?" A twinge of desperation was noticeable in the plumber's voice.
"Umm… Wait, yes! There was something! Almost a thousand years ago, this ancient kingdom was completely decimated by war, and the end result was a kingdom lacking color. The king at the time prayed, and discovered that the solution was the Chromatic Oath," the paragoomba said.
"Great! The Essences are back in Valorem. We can go get them now and fix this!" Mario exclaimed, moving towards the door of the gray cottage.
"Whoa there. It's not that simple. Those pretty gems used in the Festival of Color aren't the real Essences of Color. They're replicas," Goombrianne said.
Mario deflated instantly. "Of course they are. I'm guessing that the locations of the real ones aren't known?"
"Right."
"Of course they aren't. That would be too simple," he groaned.
"Perhaps we better seek out an expert," she replied. "I know of a retired professor who lives in a cottage just south-west of here. Maybe he can help us."
The travel to the professor's cottage took far less time than Mario expected. The path from Goombase Spectra to the cottage was short, peaceful, but extremely unsettling. The flowers that lined the sides of the road mourned in the bleak gray daylight of the sun. He noted the lack of enemies, and when asked, Goombrianne simply responded that the area is normally peaceful, though never gloomy.
The cottage itself was large. For living alone, the professor had a great deal of room. It had several wings, and a massive courtyard. The lawn of the courtyard was well-groomed, and the path well-kept. Dark gray hedges with light chrome berries lined the walkway, though none of the foliage stuck out over it.
A fountain bubbled just off the path. The hedges broke apart to allow access to the dirt path lined with stones, and an old bumpty sat on a bench facing the fountain.
The fountain's centerpiece was a statue of a regal toad lofting a massive paintbrush high in the air. From the toad's mouth came the stream of water and it splashed in a somewhat shallow pool. Several droplets of water gleamed off the bumpty's massive eyebrows as the penguin reclined on the bench.
Mario exchanged glances with Goombrianne. "Is that him?"
She squinted and, after a few seconds, nodded. "That's him."
The paragoomba flew over to the professor with Mario trailing behind on the ground.
"Professor Langley? My name's Goombrianne, and this is Mario. We were wondering what you could tell us about the Essences of Color," she said.
"See this fountain here? It was here long before I built my house," the old bumpty said after a moment.
"It's lovely," responded Mario. "But we'd like to know about the Essences of Color."
"That toad portrayed in the statue is the Nameless King. No one remembers his name, but all the stories agree that this king is the first after the Bleak War." The bumpty turned to face the duo. "Who are you to be seeking the Essences?"
"Adventurers seeking the return of color, professor," Mario replied. "We were wondering if you knew how to find the Essences."
"Seeking the return of color, eh?" The bumpty raised an eyebrow. "That's quite a daunting endeavor. What makes you two think you have what it takes?"
"I have experience in this sort of thing," said Mario. "She's helping out."
"Is that so? Well then, prove it. Break that statue. If you can break it into rubble, then I'll admit you're worthy of finding the Essences. However!" The bumpty stood, wings spread ominously. "This statue is famous for being unbreakable. Legend says that the statue holds the key to a great treasure, but all who have sought it met with failure. It is impossible to crack."
Mario waded into the water cautiously, remember the nibblers he'd faced in a previous adventure. When nothing attacked him, he moved more quickly to the statue. He glanced back at the old bumpty who watched with a glare worthy of an eagle and then held his hammer high. Whispering a quiet wish to the stars, he struck the statue with all his strength.
Everything shook. Mario fell backwards into the water, his hindquarters now soaked. The statue vibrated, glowing white, and crumbled into dust. A blast of water rocketed from the opening left behind by the statue's demolition, finally dying down into a trickle before stopping entirely. The water level dropped, and soon, the basin was dry.
The shaking stopped abruptly. The plumber stood and walked out of the basin, his clothes dripping.
"Satisfied?" he asked.
The elderly bumpty opened his mouth to respond when the fountain shook once more. A great banging sounded, and pieces of the basin descended to form a spiral staircase downward into the depths of the earth.
"Well, paint me blue and call me a codfish! You actually did it!" The bumpty was surprising happy for having his only fountain destroyed. "What did you say your name was, sonny?"
"It's Mario. You're Professor Langley?" the plumber asked.
"Yessiree. That's me. Good ole Professor Langley. Well, then. What do you say we follow those stairs?" the bumpty said, glancing at the staircase.
"Make good on your promise, first. Tell us how to find the Essences of Color," Mario demanded.
The bumpty waved a wing at him and started towards the steps. "I'm sure your questions will be answered shortly, sonny. I've a sneaking suspicious the answers to all our questions are down there."
The plumber nodded, following the professor to the staircase. Goombrianne flew after them, looking down into the dark pit. "Ugh. I hope I don't catch wing rot."
Mario moved his foot to the first step, and crystals which lined the walls of the staircase glimmered ethereally, giving light to the passage. Tentatively, he climbed downward into the depths of the earth.
After several minutes of climbing downward, the staircase stopped and opened into a massive cavern. A crystalline river flowed through it, and a cobblestone path bridged over the flowing water. The path led to an altar, on which rested a beautiful paintbrush.
"The Star Brush," gasped the professor. "So that's the treasure the statue held. Amazing!"
Professor Langley rushed over to it, inspecting it without touching it. "What an astounding find! Mario, come over here."
Mario, followed closely by Goombrianne, walked over to the altar. He grabbed the brush by the handle, prompting Langley to gasp in shock at his audacity.
The paintbrush was aptly named. The handle, upon being grabbed by the plumber, turned blue. A five-point star near the crimp of the bristles was raised from the surface of the handle. The star was painted yellow, and a singular black line was engraved from the center of the star to the point nearest the bristles. Seven slots sat empty on the crimp, and the golden bristles lacked paint on the end. After looking it over and finding nothing else, Mario returned his gaze to the altar, where he noticed a sheath-like strap, into which he slid the brush's handle and strapped to his back.
"You look like a hero, sonny," stated the retired professor. "Let's go inside my house and I'll answer your questions."
