Hello everyone! Welcome back to the ninth chapter! I know that this is a long overdue update. Let me explain my reasons for not updating the story. First was the college life, that being where most of the dedication was. The story was last updated on March 10, 2019 and yes that is a long time as it is almost the end of 2020. I apologize for leaving you guys in the dark for that long.
The intensity of college increased on me which made me devote less time to writing chapters. I decided to put a halt on the story to focus on the college life and was planning to return to the story during the fall of 2019. However, the start of the next semester further halted the story. In addition to spending time with family members, I had to keep up with multiple assignments and leading to burnout. This further coupled once COVID-19 began and caused classes to be moved online. I hope this is enough of an expiration and hope you can understand this feeling. We're all experiencing this pandemic one way or another. Hopefully, 2021 would be a better year and be the the year where things would return to normal.
Chapter Nine: Preparation and Old Friends
12:05PM
Inside the conference room of the town hall, after explaining to the princess of the basic knowledge of her kingdom. Pack, Patterson, and Finn explained to Peach about the origins of it all. The things that should be known by Peach and the Royal Guard. The civilians of Toad Town and the Mushroom Kingdom would be informed at some later time.
Pack, since he knew more about the video games, examined to who was gathered around or just joining. Patterson, Finn were on either side of him. Mario and Peach sat across the table facing him. To the left and right of them was Ala and Bucken. There was Cappy and Tiara floating off to the side. To the far left was the Toad Brigade and to the far right was the group that called themselves the Scoring Six. Pack had took note of the group but didn't take any action against them. The group had shown and fought hard to get to the princess, to assure her safe so they earned the right to stay despite being lower in rank. They were members of the royal guard as well, mainly any of the royal guard was welcome.
There was a silent pause to the room before the marine began. "The three of us are not apart of the Breaknecks, we're sort of different from the others." The three began to tell that they belonged to a joint operation between the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and the British Special Air Service. They didn't need to know all the details as of yet, kind of similar to a task force of another particular game series that shall not be named.
Peach stood out of her seat to signal that she had a question. "Pack, if you say that we are video game characters... tell me something... who was the creator of those machines."
"Peach, Mario, what I am about to tell you is something that only you should know for now. Do you know someone named Sonic the Hedgehog?"
"No...not at all if I can remember..."
"Mario?"
"No..."
"Well that was worth a shot." Pack just wanted to make sure the two didn't meet Sonic before the Breaknecks came along. Otherwise it'll be a waste to explain to them. "I can tell you that there is another video game series that is similar to yours but perform completely differently. Sonic is the main character of that video game series."
"What is the series about?"
"The whole idea is that a mad scientist named Eggman, head of an empire that sees nothing but taking over a home world called Mobius and enslave everyone. Like Mario, Sonic is the hero of the series, fighting to stop Eggman and save the planet." Pack grew cold as he changed the topic to the reality within Sonic's set of games. "Their way of dealing with Eggman involves the risk of dying and facing those...things you saw out there." Pack grew even more colder to explain deeper, putting out the cover of Sonic Forces. "This latest game had Sonic and his friends fighting to take back the planet after Eggman had taken over the world. They fought a long war with Eggman and won, but the war was brutal and many had died behind the scenes." Pack gave some silence for everyone to take the information in. They didn't need to play the game directly in order to see what is coming. "The Mushroom Kingdom is not ready to face the brutality of that war..."
"You say that Sonic can stop him right? Where is he?"
"If I guessed correct, they would have already noticed by now and would be behind Eggman's tracks. We have the possibility of seeing them in the future."
"How about the beginning? What led up to this?"
"Before we came here, the Breaknecks were contracted to capture a scientist who was researching a way to travel through time and space."
The humans explained the details of the mission that they just been apart of just days ago. They explained about Project Video Game and how the scientist made his way into their world to do his deeds; bringing Eggman into their dimension. Peach wanted to question what was the reason behind helping Eggman and Boswer.
"Why would he want to find a way to..."
"Personal gains? Playing a game? I am not sure exactly, i am leaning towards playing a game that we are forced to proceed with."
Peach knew what he meant by forcing to play a sick game. One that involved everything imaginable. There were two ways that this could go, in a tie, or it can end with only one winner. There wasn't a reset button and they were stuck in the middle of it now. All they could do was proceed and carefully plan out the moves. The humans answered about themselves and their reasons for being here. It was only right that, the characters offer something back to the humans.
"Is there anything you want to know about us?"
"For all my knowledge of playing as Mario, there is so much I can know."
Pack felt himself draining as he was thinking about which question to ask. He had a lot of question he wanted to ask. He would have wanted to ask what happened on the moon, if it wasn't for Mario. That question was answered but many more lay ahead, some sounding dumb or too complicated. He decided to start small, starting with Cappy.
"Cappy? Are you and Tiara royals, like prince and princess?" Based on how Cappy's eyes grew, Pack assumed that meant a smile.
"As of matter of fact! Yeah! We both ARE royals, blessed to serve as the next king or queen." Cappy said proudly, twisting his floating body around in a circle. Cappy supported this by somehow making a photo appear out of thin air, showing what his father and mother looked like.
Pack was able to see the title of 'King Maximus' and 'Queen Trilby' on the bottom. The King had the same red eyes as Cappy, being obviously bigger, and having the form of a shining golden crown. The queen had the same pink eyes as Tiara and had the form of a Trilby hat, her name staying true to form.
"Can you tell me why you and Tiara are here with Mario?"
"Huh?"
"I came to wonder since You and Tiara are royals, Why have you decided to stay with Mario if you have a duty as prince of the Cap Kingdom?"
"Well you see, I made an agreement with dad and mum about traveling with Mario as a way of forming an alliance between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Cap Kingdom."
Cappy explained that after what had happened on the moon, Peach made it clear to help the places that was impacted by Bowser's excuse of a stunt. The Cap Kingdom being the first place to visit since it was home to Cappy and Tiara after all. Cappy told about the adventure he and Mario had while giving chase to Bowser to his parents. Cappy told of the bond they had formed, helping each other get both Tiara and Peach back. This made the impression to the King and Queen about the Mushroom Kingdom, respectively on Mario.
After some talks, the Cap Royals went ahead and decided to agree on partnering with the Mushroom Kingdom. Workers from the Mushroom Kingdom were sent help repair the damage caused by Bowser. In exchange, a large sum of coins were paid off along with Cappy and Tiara being granted permission by their parents to visit the Mushroom Kingdom whenever they liked. It was both a win and a win for all.
"And that explains it all." Cappy energetically finished to the Marine. Pack nodded to the question as it was answered. He had many more questions that were ahead. But, he didn't wanna spend all day asking them and moved on from the topic. The focus was back on the issue now, was what faced the kingdom, or the Royal Guard.
"Pack, what do you plan on doing to defend us from Bowser and Eggman?"
The marine thought to that question, taking it to thought. Wisely on the plus side, as the defenders of the Mushroom Kingdom had seen. Most of the Koopas in the Royal Guard were young, standing at least two feet in height. The older Koopas were three feet tall, around Mario's normal height.
They were all energetic, but however largely inexperienced in the face of dealing with creations such as Eggman's robots. That could change thanks to the weapons that the humans had. The only thing that was irreplaceable was the hellfire missiles and loads of weapons that they brought along. Those hellfires were only designed to takeout tanks, not a giant machine deployed by Eggman. While they didn't use all the hellfires, they were limited to just thirty two left over. That would mean once the four SuperCobras used the rest of the hellfires, they were gone for good.
"The bad news was that we had used all the missiles on those death egg robots. If Eggman have more of them, we won't be able to counter them in the long run." The odds were sort of against the Breaknecks. Without some way of resupplying weapons, they would only delay it to some extent.
Koopa Kingdom, Bowser's Castle
Bowser limped into his thrown room inside his castle fortress, several koopas following close to take a look at the wound on his leg. The koopas tried almost anything to heal the wound like trying to convince Bowser to eat a red mushroom. In annoyance, he roared as loud as possible and forced a majorly of the koopas to hide in their shells and cover their ears in pain. "UGGGGHHHHHHHH! USELESS!" His roar echoed and shook almost the entire castle.
"Don't worry dad!" Junor tended to his father's side. He made sure that to tend to the wound on his father's leg using the magic wand he had. Using the magic wand and some of his strength, the young koopa concentrated and focus on the wound. He pointed the wand at the wound before firing a burst of energy. The burst hit and made the wound on the king's leg disappear within a few seconds. The King could walk normally again, no longer did he have to move on a sprained leg.
"Thanks Junior!" The koopa king patted down his son's head as he made it into his thrown room. Eggman had his arms crossed, eyes looking at the koopa king as he walked in. On the other side was Vandal, who was silently guessing about the appearance of other humans. His silence was partly due to the amazement of the human they encountered.
"What do you think?"
Eggman told of the human to Vandal, who already had a theory to it. He watched the whole thing unfold from afar, and knew what was up. The human knows both Eggman and Bowser so it was easy to figure out. "That human you encountered was a gamer."
"A gamer?"
"Yeah! He knows about you both, he played both of your game series."
The scientist gave his time to explain to both the two characters that there was bound to be someone who knew about the video game characters. "I suppose they followed you here then?"
"Of course they did but they are a small force to begin with. If we work quickly though, there is a solution."
"I am listening... what are you planning?"
"We can replace our losses by building up and using advanced technology to quickly capture the Mushroom Kingdom and the surrounding kingdoms."
"What if it fails?"
"Oh it won't fail because they are limited by how much they can carry. And us? We can use the magic wands to build the factories and outproduce everyone."
"What if they somehow manage to bring the help from your world here then?"
"We'll have to draw it out and cause as much damage as possible so they could grow tired; even a few soldier dying would wild up the world to sue for peace."
"Seems like a great plan!"
"It sure will be." Bowser stepped to the two, getting their attention. "I was able to get the name of that human, his name was Pack."
Toad Town, Mushroom Kingdom
Later that evening
After discussing how to prepare for an invasion on a massive scale, it was down to business. The Mushroom Kingdom was already gearing for the upcoming war. The first step was organizing the industries already existing in the Kingdom and furthering the technology to have a fighting chance. This was not Pack's idea but Orwell's, The Koopa Kingdom, located just to the northeast in the span of a hundred miles but was close within distance. The Mario's World, although smaller than Earth was still large by distance.
It was a bet that Bowser might advance the tech as well to overpower the Mushroom Kingdom. As well as getting help from Eggman from his own tech. Based on the scale of this attack, it could take months to recover and build up the forces needed. It would be costly for both sides since they knew what they were doing. Everything was to ramped up, like making radar; It was one of the critical tools that will give early warning about an invasion. Finn supported this idea since he could call back to the Dowding System, the very thing that helped aid the RAF in the Battle of Britain. Although there was a chance that Eggman will be able to use jam his way to the kingdom, there was still a chance. It might not be able to detect Eggman's tech but will detect large flying objects including the Koopa Ships.
The production of the Mushroom Kingdom's rifle was to be ramped up as well, now being dubbed the burgeon. The name sounded less intimating then the Lee Enfield but it was their rifle name after all. Just before, it was built within the several factories throughout the kingdom. But it was now to be also produced in the machine workshops of towns and passed out. Although this would mean the crime rates would go up, there were bigger issues to content to.
As with the numbers of soldiers that would defend the Kingdom, there was solution to that. There were already a lot of volunteers that wanted to sign up to fight to against Bowser. For far too long, they were forced to endure the attacks by Bowser; Now they were willing to do what was needed. With this, Peach have chosen to reorganize the Royal Guard. While the Royal Guard would remain as her protective force within Toad Town. A majorly of them would help form the first official Royal Mushroom Army. They were to be dispersed to every town and city all over the island nation to help train, command, and form divisions.
Those that remained would still serve as the protectors of Toad Town including the Toad Brigade and the Scoring Six. They were to remain as they were, to protect the princess along with her two hammer bro guards.
While all this was going on, Pack inspected the town to see if the everything was being assigned correctly. This included the sandbags, placements of cannons and the ammo dumps. This was at least a start to help fight against the tide of war. With time, the industrial capacity of the Mushroom Kingdom would help combat the damage.
Turning from the thought of war, he had to view the relationships that he shared with the characters currently. In the case of making new friends, Pack was able to learn the ages of Mario and Peach. Pack had learned that Peach's birthday was on October 18, 1983, meaning she was thirty-five years old, still leading the kingdom proudly as a princess. Mario was born on July 9, 1981 so he was thirty-seven years old. Yikes! And since Pack was twenty-eight, it did technically mean Mario was nine years older then him. It wasn't like he was complaining or anything since Mario did first appear in 1981. At that age, he should have already been a king, leading the kingdom with Peach.
Speaking of others, while the Breaknecks and Peach was helping to ensure everything went smoothly. Mario wanted to take Pack out for a little walk with him to help find some helping hands. Pack, Cappy, and Mario were making their way towards the west of Toad Town, following the suggestion. As they passed the west gate, they passed by Toads, Koopas and Goombas that were helping to repair the damage and enforce the positions.
Once they got enough of a distance from Toad Town, it was by this time that Pack now had the opportunity to ask Mario about the events of Galaxy, that is... if he does remember it. Of course, Cappy might not know who Rosalina was, but Pack was sure to be informative.
"Hey Mario, do you remember someone called Rosalina?"
"Hmm..." Mario went deep in thought, to recall old memories. He walked guessing for a moment before putting his arm up and sticking one finger up. "Yeah! Ahh Rosa... I remember her..." The hero thought back the events of Galaxy and to the universe resetting. It sure was a while since that day of course. Fighting in space was perhaps one of the best thing he could remember.
"Why did you ask, Pack?"
"Just wanted to make sure whether the galaxy was reset or not."
"Mhm..."
"What do you mean?" Cappy asked from above Mario's head in confusion.
Pack told the events of Galaxy to Cappy as best as he could remember as they marched down the path. He explained long enough for Toad Town to fully disappear behind them. This made Cappy feel more respectful towards Mario now; he was friends with one of the best heroes ever know. Although he might have been a video game character, he was lucky enough to meet Mario.
It was only then that the marine recognized the path they were traveling on. "Isn't this the path that leads to..."
"Yeah, we're heading this way to find some old friends."
Pack knew who might these 'old' friends be; after all, Mario knew the abilities of his friends better then Pack. He was able to see that a few homes just ahead, recognizing it as Goomba Village. He knew it! Mario was gathering all of his past partners, just how many though? Was it just the Paper Mario crew? Or all the partners from all the games?
He wanted to ask Mario but decided it was best that he kept quiet. Mario knew what he was doing and knew which partners would be the most helpful. Speaking of which, he wonder if a certain someone still lived here after the years since that day. Although it was dark by the time they reached the village, the layout didn't seem to differ much thanks to the lights coming from the windows. Previously, there were only two homes in the village; now, there seemed to have been three more home added, adding the homes in the village to a total of five.
After entering through the gate, Mario went right towards the closest house. While Mario approached the door, Cappy wondered who might be living here since Mario didn't tell him about the rest of the friends he met over the years. He reached up and rang the doorbell on the side. Pack was a little amused as the doorbell played the first opening notes of Mario's theme.
The three waited until the door was heard being unlocked from the inside. The door opened halfway and stopped. The eyes of the three took a moment to adjust to the light that was coming from the inside. A mid sized young adult goomba had answered the door. He wore a blue beanie over his head, with a bit of his hair being faintly seen running down the back of his head.. He had tan skin all over and had two exposed teeth, just like any ordinary goomba.
"Mario!?"
"Hello!" Mario waved his hand and responded with a grin. The goomba jumped for joy as he burst out. "Oh my gosh! Mario! I am so happy to see you! It's been too long!" It wasn't long before the goomba saw Pack. His happy self quickly turned a little bit surprised. "Hey! Your Pack! That human that spoke in the middle of Toad Town with Princess Peach!"
They must have had a television here to know already. "Yeah, it's me." He gently responded back.
"I suppose you already know my name as well."
Pack grinned back, showing pride. "Of course! It's Goomberio." The goomba eyes were then glued onto newcomer floating beside Mario.
"And you are?"
Cappy laughed and then pointed at himself. "The name is Cappy."
"Well... I am Goomberio, As you already heard." After Goomberio introduced himself to Cappy, another voice caught the attention of the three.
"Goomberio! Who's that?"
Another goomba emerged from the door way alongside the male. This one was female, long waving blond hair trailing down her back. She had a lighter skin and wore a light green dress and a floral headband over her hair.
The female gasped as she saw the three. "No way!"
Pack was a little surprised as well; It was Goombella. She might not be in her explorer outfit but she had enough features for him to recognize her. After the shock had worn off, the three were invited inside and taken into care by the two goombas. What were the odds of Goomberio and Goombella being with another, the two sharing common abilities in both of the Paper Mario games after all.
"Mario, it sure has been a while since then."
"It has."
"I been wondering when you would come here after all these years."
"I am sorry for not being able to visit you. The princess has been wanting me to help aid the kingdom."
"Well, how can I blame you Mario; You're the well known protector of the kingdom."
There were several letters kept by the door, all of them were from Mario. All the letter represented how often Mario remembered to write to all his friends and tell them how he was doing. It had shown that Mario did remember to write to his friends when he had the time, telling them of his adventures.
The inside of the home was lit, with carpets decorating over the wooden floor and lighter materials in place over the wood on the outside. Huh! Pack looked around and noted that the home seemed to have been refurbished recently since it still had that new smell to it. This was the home of Goomberio's family after all, so where were they?
"Hey, Goomberio, I hope you don't mind me asking but what happened to Goombaria and everyone else?" Pack asked the Goomba.
"Well, truth be told, after my gramps passed away eight years ago, my family decided to move to the Isle Islands in order to start a new life. Right now, they are doing well and would often get phone calls and a few letters. And about me? I had other plans and have decided to remain here in the Mushroom Kingdom."
"Mostly because of me." Goombella managed to squeal out.
Because of her? Pack questioned about the relationship between the two goombas.
"How did you and Goombella meet anyway?"
"We met eight years ago when Mario invited every past partner to an event he held personally."
"Huh! So they met in 2010" Pack was able to figure out.
"it was just small talk, getting to know each other then it became six years of dating with lots of kisses and adventures with Professor Frankie."
"Goomberio finally proposed to me just last year when after helping me on an archaeology trip to uncover the Treasure of Agaricus. I agreed and shortly after, we got married and did all that bonking stuff."
"Okay, they were at the first stage of marriage; the settling down part." Although, just to make sure; he had to ask them. Just how old were they?
"I hope you two don't mind if I ask about how old you two are."
Both of the Goombas didn't hold back on telling their ages to the marine. Goomberio, at current age was thirty-one years old while Goombella was two years older, being thirty-three years old. Both of them were well into their young adulthood and were at that right age to begin having children. Based on his own calculations, based upon their age. Goomberio, at the time of Paper Mario was thirteen years old; Goombella being nineteen in The Thousand Year Door. which took place four years after Paper Mario.
Now that the age part was out of the way, it was now for the reason for coming here. "Goomberio, Goombella... we came here because we need to explain the full story to you."
"Pack has got a lot to talk about." Mario said to the Goombas.
The two goombas were engaged in as Pack went to explaining the entire events to the two Goombas carefully. He explained from the beginning, from the mission in the balkans to where they were currently. The news broadcast left them asking questions but now it all made sense. To explain the concept of project video game to the characters was the most challenging part. It was still hurtful in a way, to see all the challenges they faced be repeatedly played for enjoyment. Pack may need to explain this talk again and again to the multiple characters that Mario was going to bring in.
Mario spoke after Pack finished. "Do you want to join us in helping to defeat them?"
The two goombas outweigh the dangers on both sides. They could stand and fight for their future or they could let if fall and be forced to follow harsh rules, perhaps signing off their own children into fighting for something he or she didn't want to be in the first place. They respectfully choose the first one, to fight against the invasion. The last time they fought alongside Mario was almost fourteen to eighteen years ago, but they still had the experience of adventures. "We don't think we have a choice, so we will join to fight for the future of our children and for Mario." Both the Goombas seem to be in fighting spirit but, Pack had suspected that Goombella was already pregnant, so it was a burden. Both of them could help by gathering and organizing the flow of information on the weapons that they will face on the field. But once the time comes, Goombella would be unable to help as well due to the developing baby. As for Goomberio, his attention would fall as well, focusing on protecting her and make sure their future wasn't harmed.
Goomberio had stated that he and Goombella had bonked just weeks before so the fetal was already in development. Pack didn't know how long a pregnancy for a Goomba lasted but it will become obvious once Goombella begins to slow down unfortunately.
Now You might be wondering why I have decided to base Cappy and Tiara as royals. Back in the beginning after playing Super Mario Odyssey, I began to think about both Tiara and Cappy standing out differently from the other Bonneters. What better way to decided to make them son and daughter of a king. Goomberio and Goombella are back also, which means there is a possibility of seeing more of the crew from Paper Mario, although I can't count all of them would make it into the story.