The Paper Mario Bros were heading to a special festival held in Toad Town. It was an annual event where Toads from all across the kingdom come together and show of their origami. It demonstrated each Toad's individuality, considering that they all nearly looked bloody the same to each other.
This festival was very special. It would be the day that a certain pharmaceutical company would begin operating in the Mushroom Kingdom. Rhodes Island could be described as a massive, city sized hospital on treads, allowing it to travel all around the world of Terra. It was home to many kinds of Ancients,who were humanoids with animal traits mixed in. They lended their medical treatment to anyone, no matter how severe their Oripathy infection was, and it was free as long as they began to work at Rhodes.
The company had a sizable paramilitary force for a pharmacy. There was rumors of legendary fighters who even joined Rhodes, such as the CEO of Kjerag, Silverash. Thankfully, they were far from Browser's kind of evil, so they weren't a threat to the Mushroom Kingdom. Rhodes was hired to ensure the safety of the princess, as Bowser's last too incidents nearly destroyed the entire world.
When the Bros pulled up in Toad Town, it was completely barren. There was still the various forms of origami the Toads made, but there was a suspicious lack of Toads present.
"Not much of a Toad Town without the Toads, eh?" Luigi chuckled lightly as he made a turn. He drove up to the drawbridge, which thankfully lowered itself without any operators. Luigi drove to the gates of Peach Castle, and parked his kart in a safe place.
"Hey, look at that weird vehicle next to the castle!" Luigi spoke, pointing to a massive landship just outside the walls. "It must-a be those Rhodes Island fellows the Princess hired. But why weren't they in Toad Town already?"
The lanky brother shook his head. "Nevermind. The Princess is-a waiting for us, bro."
Mario nodded, and opened the gates to the castle. They were going to walk down the hallway, but Luigi suddenly remembered a gift he left in his kart. Unfortunately, the doors locked themselves mysteriously, but this was no problem for Luigi. It was at this moment when his key hunting quest begun!
After Luigi ran off, Mario designed to greet the Princess in the meantime. However, once he exited the hallway, Mario found another surprise. At the top of a stairway, a white haired woman with cat ears stood blankly at the plumber. She wore an almost transparent green dress under a lab coat. But most importantly, she was made out of origami, and also living.
"Greetings." She spoke in a distorted voice. "I am Doctor Kal'tsit, lead scientist of Rhodes Island. As you can see, I was blessed with gift of origami, but I will let your princess do the talking."
Kal'tsit stepped to the side, allowing Princess Peach, who had also been folded into Origami, enter the room.
"How good it is to see you..." She spoke in a similarly warped voice. "Answer me these simple questions, Mario. Should the Mushroom Kingdom be unfolded, and folded unto greatness? And those Toads..." She spat disdainfully. "Should they be silenced for all of eternity? And will you crease yourself and be reborn, like me?"
What was up with these questions, was the question Mario had. The princess had never been this malicious since the Shadow Queen possessed her, and there was that woman who had been folded along side her. Had Rhodes Island betrayed the Mushroom Kingdom already?
"No!" Mario retorted. "I know you are still in there, Peach! I will figure something out! Maybe."
There was a short silence, and the Peach origami blinked, unconcerned. "Right answer. Wrong answer. It matters not. Your replies are all paper thin."
"Princess! I swear on my uncle's pasta noodle..."
"Goodbye." She screeched as the floor opened up on Mario's feet, sending him falling into the dungeons below.
Yes, even Peach had dungeons in her castle, but they where a relic from the kingdom's earlier days. Mario shared the room with a few other Goombas, Spikes, and other average minions of Bowser. But there were Clubbas and Koopatrols as well, since Bowser decided to spice up his armies to mix things up for Mario.
"Mario!" One of the Spikes exclaimed. "Always got to make a flashy entrance, huh?"
"You must be here for the festival too, right?" A Hammer Bro said. "Gotta admit, this dungeon themed lounge is a huge upgrade over the last. Didn't even knew Peach actually built dungeons though..."
The minions were oblivious to the happenings outside the dungeon. Mario would've warned them, but a rather kind Goomba started to blab.
"Whoa Mario, is that you? I'm a big fan err- always wanted to battle you. Even if I get stomped, it would be an honor." The Goomba blushed. "The festival was nice, but something seems off about the Princess. There was something less... lifelike about her. And that white haired catwoman with her is a real creep to be honest."
Suddenly, three origami Shy Guys entered the cell where Mario and the minions were held. There was also a stranger origami creature, a pale, humanoid figure with demonlike horns and a futuristic jacket. He wore a nearly featureless mask that had a single, green visor on it.
"Whoa..." One of the Koopas said nervously. "That weird Shy Guy seems alot more threatening than usual..."
"Yeah! It's time!" The Goomba jumped up and down with glee. "I get to finally meet a Toad! Please tell me it's a Toad!"
The minions awkwardly followed the Shy Guys out the door, but their green demon friend stopped Mario.
"Not. You." He snarled before leaving, locking the door.
Mario used his suprise jail time to think about things. That horned man was definitely not a Shy Guy, for one. He seemed like one of those famed Sarkaz mercenaries from that ruined country. Kazdel, was it? From the rumors he heard, it was in even worse shape than Rogueport. The merc must have been hired by Rhodes to explain its presence. Was Rhodes Island another villain the Mushroom Kingdom had to deal with?
"Mario... Is that you..." A faint voice spoke?
Great, now he was hearing things.
"I believe that I'm stuck between dimensions. I don't know if I show be amazed or scared out of my mind right now, but I'm both? I hope it isn't too much trouble for you to help."
Stuck between dimensions? Man, it seemed like ages since Mario went on that dimensional flipping adventure to stop Count Bleck. Honestly, the damsel was probaly just stuck behind the walls or something.
A yellow, glowing triangle appeared, and flew into a hand shaped panel on the floor. It lit up, revealing that it was a magic circle of some sort. Mario walked onto the circle, and his armed had been transformed into long, origami based limbs.
"Mama mia, my hands are accordions now!" Mario exclaimed, examining his newfound ability.
His vision had also been sharpened by the Magic Circle. He could see a fold of the wall was slightly crooked, so he grabbed on to it and peeled it off like a sticker.
Behind the wall seemed be a young girl made out of yellow craft paper. While she wore crown like hat, she was definitely no queen in mannerisms.
"I'm free from that weird inbetween-dimension!" She cheered, but then turned around. "Oh, I was just stuck inside that wall."
Mario couldn't help but facepalm. Kresti or Huey would have ripped her apart (figuratively) due to her naive behavior.
"I'm Olivia, and I know you probably would like to know alot more about me and why I was stuck there, but we probably don't have much time left. Also, why's your face so red?"
"What do you mean that we don't have time left? What do you know about all those origami monsters I've been seeing?"
"Come on Mario, we need to hurry! Well, just you, I'm not fleet of foot. Mind if I hitch a ride?"
Mario nodded, and Olivia folded herself and stored herself in his overalls. It wasn't anything new, he used to have much more partners stored away in hammerspace.
Speaking of hammers, Mario's hammer was stored in a random crate in the room. If only he had known sooner, he could've fought off those origami minions. Mario smashed another nearby crate, opening up a path out of the cell.
Wandering through the hallway, Mario heard the distinct roar of Bowser. There was a crevice that allowed the flat plumber to peer into the locked room. Inside, he saw Bowser, who as folded up into a mere face, improved by a clothesline pin. Mario didn't know if he should be laughing or be concerned, as Bowser's typically the first to go when a new baddie appears in the kingdom.
"I see what you are doing with that Toad obsessed minion! CUT IT OUT!" Bowser squirmed in his strange confinement.
One of the folded Shy Guys from before lifted a Goomba into the air, folding it many times before using a giant stapler to hold it together. Wait, a giant stapler? They where using the legendary Things against the kingdom! The mere might of those seemingly ordinary objects is feared by even the Star Sprites. Even Bowser swore to never use the Things in his evil plans, because they would destroy the world he wants to rule over.
There was also another person in the cell, who shared Bowser's embarrassing fate. She (Good Lord if Bowser tried to kidnap her) had ash grey hair and dragonlike horns. Her skin was pale, but she had a distinct fire in her eyes.
"Head my warning, your actions will draw the wrath of the Infected." She said in a professional tone. "Our infection strengthens us, makes us stronger than the utter garbage that turtle uses..."
"Hey!"
"Once my ringleaders rally up, your Origami Army is finished."
The folded soldiers completely ignored the woman. Up next wasn't any of Bowsers troops, but a masked, hooded man wearing a black vest. He looked just like some sort of terrorist.
"I'm sorry, Talulah." He spoke as the Shy Guys begun their ritual. "My only wish is that you will give a true name in the end. It's pretty embarrassing to be remembered as that silly jetpack guy who fall into the pits."
The folded soldiers created another one of themselves from that poor Reunion troop. Even Talulah couldn't help but shed a tear.
"See, I'm not the only one with suicidal troops!" Bowser laughed, but the woman took it dully.
"I guess I will enjoy roasted turtle for dinner after I fix this mess..." She sighed.
Ok, that was enough. Mario spotted looking into the peephole and thought about his new info. Bowser definitely wasn't the villain this time (good grief, the koopa's plots have gotten stale after 30 years) and that villainous "Talulah" was dispatched of. Dangit, he usually knew who the villain was a few minutes into the gam...
"That was the last of them..." The folded Shy Guys came out from the room, along with some other minions they origamized. "Except for the mustached one... But the horned ones will do for now..."
The zombie-like minions left the hallway, and Mario heaved a sigh of relief.
"Well, I guess I can explain one little thing." Olivia said. "Those stiff-looking guys you just saw are Folded Soldiers. I don't want to alarm you, but they are incredibly dangerous. Especially the mean looking ones with horns like that one soldier said, you do not want to mess with them. Lean, mean, and green is what they look like."
Mario would've laughed, since they were still obviously Shy Guys, but he wanted to be polite to Olivia. With no other options, Mario headed into the cell, which was left unlocked by the Folded Soldiers.
"Hey Mario!" Bowser said in his most commanding voice. "Get me down from here right now! This is no way to treat royalty!"
"Hmp, your the pathetic 'king' I have ever met." Talulah responded. "Why the politics of the greater world haven't chewed you up like tobacco, I will never know."
"I'm no king, I'm the King of Awesome! I got an entire army of loyal minions by my side, where's your army?"
"It's bigger than an army, it's a movement. Those are just your rabid fans, not unlike a cult."
"Look choose talking, those masked men worship you like a god. I'm just awesome, but not THAT awesome..."
"Umm..." Olivia started nervously. "You're also royalty? That's so cool! He everyone in your kingdom a face as well?"
"What? Those Folded Soldiers just filed me this way, just like that weirdo with me. I've been filed in many ways I won't talk about... Just get me down already!"
Jeeze, Bowser hasn't been this angry since Count Bleck stole his Koopa Troopa. Those where better times back then, when he didn't have to put up with gimmicky battle systems, but that would be a tale for another time.
Mario, with some oomph, yanked Bowser and Talulah as well from the clothesline clips.
"Dangit, really thought I unfurl or something..." Bowser grumbled. "Anyways Mario, I have secret to share with you. I know a secret exit in this room cause those Folded Soldiers were talking about..."
"Smash those crates in front of you. It's obvious." Taluluah deadpaned.
"Oh come on! You will turn me into dead weight, woman!" Bowser groaned.
The party headed up the hidden staircase that was behind the crates. They reached the top of the walls of Peach's Castle, high off the ground. And from a similar door, Peach and Kal'tsit came out, along with a yellow folded Shy Guy.
"Why are you still flat..." The folded Peach spoke, her voice cracking at the end.
"He's a persistent one, obviously." The Feline added.
Talulah started the laugh inexplicably. "Somehow, that pretentious piece of scrap detained the great Kal'tsit? Where's the rest of your lackeys, Feline?"
The Doctor didn't respond, but glared at Talulah with the power of a thousand Angry Suns. But it was only as menacing as an origami chibi figure could be.
"So you are the Princess's hero, huh?" The Folded soldier said, in a fairly normal but childish voice like Olivia. "Bright reds and blues, you would've been perfect. But I know how stubborn you are, Mario, so I will crush you with the power of Origami!"
A couple more folded soldiers game out from the door. They were shy guys mixed in with the sarkaz, but they had prisoners. 4 Sledge Bros each had a different captive, one of a girl with long, rabbits ears, two had cat like traits like Dr Kal'tsit, and the last one didn't have an obvious animal traits, but wore grey bird feathers on her hair.
"Ah, looks like the best of Rhodes is out of the picture..." Talulah said with a chuckle. "Now there is absolutely no way they can stop my plans for Lungmen..."
"Whoa, that sounds evil! You do collabs cause I'm getting tired of being possessed every dang time." Bowser asked.
"Hmm... I suppose Reunion could accept a non-Infected..."
At least Mario had an idea who was behind this. A mere shy guy nonetheless, but he couldn't underestimate him. He sent out the Folded Goomba to attack first.
"I never seen that kind of Folded Soldier before. Wasn't he one of your friends or..." Olvia noticed the new battlefield. "Oh my, we're in a Ring Battle!"
Mario sighed. Was it just him, or was the battles getting more gimmicky?
"This is how the Folded Soldiers fight, Mario. Once they have been Folded, there is no way to turn them back. Try to move the rings in a way yo line up all those Goombas."
Easy enough. Mario shifted the lone Goomba so they formed a straight line, perfect for stomping. He cleared the first wave with ease.
"Oh no, horned guys coming up!" Olivia paniced as some mercenaries poured into the ring. "What was there name, Sakuz or something? Anyways, these folk are the weakest of the horned men, and they are lined up a little differently. Try using your hammer, Mario!"
After moving them back in place, the sarkaz were in a square formation, perfect for a hammer strike. Mario gave 'em a good wallpaper with his hammer, and they all perished instantly.
They may have been disposed of easily, but the real challenge was coming up soon.