Perfect Dark and the Thousand Year Door.
By HARTride 2012
Disclaimer: This fictional story is a crossover between Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and the Perfect Dark series. I have no affiliation whatsoever with either series and any characters from either series that are mentioned, I do not own. Any references to any real-life events, past, present, and future are completely coincidental, and asterisked characters in the character list are copyrighted and cannot be used for any reason in any other story.
Chapter 1 – Setting the stage
It was another lovely, but boring day for Velvet Dark at the Carrington Institute headquarters in London. Velvet had not been on a mission in almost two months and wondered why. Every time she asked Carrington about it, he'd say "There's simply nothing out there that I can assign you to Agent Dark. You'll just have to check back later." This continued response made Velvet quite irritable. Furthermore, for Carrington to allow her sister Joanna to have more vacation time than her didn't seem fair. In fact, some of Carrington's decisions didn't seem fair to Velvet. She wanted to voice her concerns, but it seemed like Carrington wouldn't let her because he was simply "too busy", an excuse she became so sick and tired of. As Velvet walked towards her dorm, she noticed Joanna walking up. "What's wrong sis?" asked Jo. "Everything is wrong Jo" replied Velv, "Carrington is still saying that there are no missions for me to go on. And yet, he just sent Steinberg on one to Dallas or something." Jo patted Velv on the back, "I know how you feel Velvet, but it's a rather slow, peaceful time right now. With only CMO running the show, and the Institute having so many agents now, there's more than enough hands to go around for CMO surveillance. On top of that, everything else is, quite peaceful." Velvet shook her head, "I don't like this situation though. I've been completely bored the last two months. The only thing that has kept me going are Marina Rabbit's jokes.
Just as the day couldn't get any worse for Velvet, she heard two other agents gossiping behind her. "Is that who I think it is over there?" she asked. "Yep, that's you know who alright…spreading the….word" said Jo, pointing out Janice Flair and Tiffany Grabble, the institute's two newest nurses. The two already made themselves a household name due to their constant gossiping of institute employees, including Carrington. In fact, only a week before, they spilled nacho cheese sauce on one of the secretaries….and got away with it too. That incident alone made both Joanna and Velvet cringe. "I can't believe they can get away with crap like that!" said Velv, walking back towards her dorm, "I simply don't understand why Carrington does this stuff. It's like after the fall of dataDyne, everything changes for the worst." Jo tried her best to reassure her sister that everything was going to be fine, but it didn't seem to help calm her fears. Jo allowed Velvet to calm down while she left to run some errands, hoping that she would wash away the thoughts that had plagued her for almost two and a half months. At the same time, Jo knew that Carrington would need to throw caution to anything unexpected that came about.
Across town, people were flocking to a small seaside village known as Rougeport. With its many tourists and treasures, Rogueport has been a prime vacation spot for many during the past several decades. But even through all the technological advances of the 21st century, the town has managed to keep its 18th century roots intact – from the classic architecture to its magnificent chapels. And in the heart of this wonderful town, lay a blond haired woman who once held almost all the power in the world at one time, Cassandra DeVries. Cassandra, along with her secretary Vanessa, loved to shop weekly in the town's square as they tried to live "normal" lives. One of the best things about living in Rogueport, to Cassandra anyways was that no one knew who she was, even by appearance. This was something that Cassandra liked a lot, for she did not want anyone chanting out "scumbag" or "Skedar lover" for the rest of her life. She wanted peace, and Rogueport provided her with that piece of mind. As the two turned the corner, Cassandra could not deny the fact that she saw something new each day. "I love this place Vanessa, it has that…distinct taste that I love of such European towns" said Cassandra as she proceeded down the town's main square. "I agree" said Vanessa, Cassandra's secretary, "this is a berry lovely town indeed." Cassandra quickly turned to Vanessa, "Misspelling your speech again Vanessa?" "Uh, sorry….I meant…very" the secretary responded, knowing that her speech issue was often a communications block. Sometimes Vanessa's slight Italian accent made conversations even worse and often irritated Cassandra and others. As the two walked through the square, a mysterious man called out to them, "Oh missy….missy…." Cassandra looked around in confusion, "Did you hear that Vanessa?" Vanessa nodded, "I did, I did. I think it's that man over there…the one shrouded in a brown cloak" the secretary pointed out. The man's face was shrouded in darkness by the hood of his cloak. Cassandra didn't know what to think at first. Should she go see what he has to offer?
"What do you think?" asked Cassandra to her secretary. "Uh…….I would…think…so" said Vanessa. "Okay, I'll take your word for it" said Cassandra, walking up to the mysterious man. "How may I be of your service sweetie" asked Cassandra. The man looked up at the tall blonde woman, "Oh won't you please buy something? I have a wide assortment of knickknacks and doodads." Cassandra pondered at the items that the man offered for sale. All of which seemed to be completely useless to her. "How much for the blue vase?" asked Cassandra. "15 pounds" said the man. "Deal" said Cassandra, pulling out her wallet. "Ooh, what's in the box" asked Vanessa in fascination. "Oh this?" said the man, holding up the treasure chest-looking box, "It is said that this box holds a map that shows where the legendary treasure sleeps." "Treasure?" asked Cassandra, picking up her vase, "you mean to tell us that the map actually shows where this…treasure…is?" "It is said to be that…" said the man, "…but the box has a lock on it, that will only open for a pure and noble heart. As you can see, it won't much budge if someone like myself…tries to touch it." Cassandra laughed, "this is bogus Vanessa. Everyone knows that the legend is pish posh. Now why don't you consider getting something else? Or perhaps come with me to the market?" Vanessa looked at Cassandra sternly, "you aren't my mother. And you can't tell me what I can and can't buy. Understand?" Cassandra backed off, knowing that she already lost her noble friend, Anita Velez, to the wretched Skedar, and she didn't want to lose her personal secretary either. "I'll have the map…if the box will open" said Vanessa. "As you wish Missy…" said the man, handing her the box, "…I'm sure whatever is inside will be of no use to me." Vanessa took the box and attempted to open it. Immediately, there was a flash of light glowing from the box. Cassandra was blindsighted by the light and had to turn away. As the light roared even brighter, neither of the women realized what they had just gotten themselves into.