Chapter Two
Standing there dumbstruck in the doorway, Mario thought about the possibility that he is still dreaming. In an effort to test this, he decided to go back into his room and run his sliced hands under some scalding water. But when he brought himself about, he faced a wall of blinding white light again, which faded into a wilderness, dry and arid. It was a thin forest, choked with the rancid smell of fungus and unknown towering woods which no longer brought forth greens. More light came from the corner of his eyes, and as Mario spun around to investigate, he beheld the same environment. After taking another glance at his surroundings, a voice echoed into his thoughts.
"So real, yet so incogitable. In this existence, explanation has no meaning. Reality is chaos. Yet we still await rest."
Upon hearing this, Mario frantically searched for the owner of this unknown, soft voice. He gazed upon the dead treetops, then downward to the ground amongst the fungus. Suddenly, the voice came back to sound.
"You will not find this identity here. The caps shall light the way."
Mario was about to speak, when immediately, two perpendicular rows of fungi slowly illuminated; a dull green pulsating glow that Mario somehow knew to follow. Starting off in his unknown journey, he paced along the desiccated soil trying not to crush the unlit toadstools with his grease-caked boots. After walking what seemed like hours, Mario started to notice a smell that was different from the usual mushroom. As Mario was striding along the pathway, he was tackled what seemed like from out of nowhere by a hard shelled aerial beetle, about the size of a small dog. He fell upon the fungi, fighting the giant insect that was latched onto his shoulder. The pointy legs dug into his skin; past his soiled overalls and red company t-shirt. Grabbing for his wrench, he tried at the same time to keep the insect from biting him. Finally, with his wrench in hand, he gave the bug a whack on the shiny deep crimson shell, stunning it. He let go of the wrench and pulled the attacker off of his shoulder, ripping his skin with its bristled legs in the process. As it lay on the ground capsized, Mario retook his wrench and jammed it deep into the foul insect's soft belly. After wiping off the entrails, Mario rejoined it to his holster on his belt. Scratching the bloody and itchy skin on his right shoulder, he continued his journey down the lit pathway.
Another hour of torturous walking went by when Mario drew his attention up from the ground to behold a small housing of curious workmanship, built from cement and dry timbers from surrounding areas. It was about a five minute walk to get there, but it seemed like an eternity. After dragging himself up to the door, he pushed it open and looked upon a wooden bench up against the cement wall. He laid himself upon this hard bench and was about to black out from exhaustion when a short being turned the corner into the room. It was about 3 feet tall, taking an aged, round form. It was humanoid, an elder life form, lacking in youth. It didn't seem hostile, notwithstanding the environment that has already manifested itself to be. It held a small mushroom in its stubby rough hands. It seemed to glow with the familiar green that Mario has familiarized himself with for the past few hours. Mario made the connection. This is the origin of that voice. Mario then uttered a weak chain of words;
"I've got some questions for you."
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