Super Mario RPG

The Second Coming

Prologue

Corruption

Disclaimer:  I do not own Super Mario RPG:  Legend of the Seven Stars, nor do I own any of the characters, places, or events from that wonderful game.  I'm not sure whether there will be any OCs in this story, but if there are, I do own those.

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"The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was, is lost, for none now live who remember it."  Lady Galadriel, The Lord of the Rings:  The Fellowship of the Ring

The being formerly known as Geno moved along the Star Hill, checking to make sure everything was all right.  After the debacle with Smithy some time ago, the beings he'd referred to as a "higher authority" didn't want to leave things unattended.  Who better, they reasoned, to watch over the Star Road and the Star Hill than one of the beings who had helped save both places?

This is how the being, who referred to himself as a he now, even though technically he was neither, discovered that something was amiss.  A star was missing.  Which was odd, but given the nature of stars, some of whom got bored waiting for a wish, not altogether unexpected.  With the closest equivalent of an exasperated sigh he could muster, the being meandered towards where this specific star was known to hide out on occasion.

When he didn't find it there, he began to get worried.  It was unexpected, as well as unusual, for this specific star to hide out in any other area.  It was particularly eager to get down to the world below, to make someone happy, and normally would wander to the edge of the Star Hill to look upon all the humans.  If it wasn't here….  No, he refused to think of that possibility.  The star had just found another place to hide, much to the being's slight infuriation.  He began to hike back up Star Hill, intending to find the star soon and give it a good lecture.

He reached the top of the hill and stopped, shocked at what he was seeing.  The Star Hill…it was crumbling, the stars were fading, becoming mere wraiths of what they once were.  The land itself was beginning to lose its color, becoming a craggy, dull black.  The small craters that dotted the landscape became small pits from which flame began to burn.  It looked….

It looked like hell.

The being that was once Geno knew that something was terribly, terribly wrong on the Star Road if Star Hill was affected so drastically.  He knew his job was, technically, to remain here on Star Hill and try to return it to what it once was, but he was too afraid, too afraid that he knew the cause of this disaster.  With a greater and greater anxiety building in his mind, he let himself return to the Star Road, his twinkling form popping into existence in the heavens.  The sight that greeted him upon his arrival appalled him beyond belief, and made him sick to his core.

The Star Road was destroyed.

It looked much like Star Hill had when the being had left, only much, much worse.  And more than that…there were foul creatures toiling in various places, turning the wonderful, indescribable beauty that had been the Star Road into foul bricks for a woeful temple.  A temple to contain a familiar evil, an evil he knew all too well.

The being's determination hardened.  He would not let this go on.  It may have been too late for the Star Road…but there was still time for Star Hill, and the rest of the world below.  He knew that the task would not be easy.  He knew that he no longer had any real vested interest in undertaking such a quest, what with his true home destroyed by the corruption of one.

Yet, he knew, all the same, that he would not hesitate in his course of action.  With the equivalent of a deep breathe, the twinkling being descended to the world below.  Specifically, to a place called Rose Town, where a boy named Gaz played with a doll called Geno.

There was a brilliant flash of light that lit up the nighttime room like a bolt of lightning in a pitch black sky, and then the being stood, once again in the full grown form of Geno, and looked directly at Gaz.  "Gaz…I need to see Mario."