A/N: Hi! Thanks for giving this story a chance. There aren't many Paper Mario Color Splash fanfics on this site, so I thought I'd write my own. Please leave your thoughts in a review.
WARNING! You can favorite this story and save it for later, but if you haven't beaten the game yet and were planning to, there are major spoilers below.
A Paint-ful Discovery
Huey's cylindrical, metallic body sagged in the air as he struggled to lift himself, straining under the crushing remains of one of Bowser's evil plans gone wrong. And the smell! Chlorine and rotten eggs laced with a strong hint of nail polish was one of the worst things Huey's nose had to endure. He just hoped he finished his mission before the stinky, black liquid finished him.
As if that wasn't enough, thoughts of his friends weighed Huey down almost as much as the black paint he was carrying. He had been through so much with Mario and the others, and he was sure going to miss them, but there was no other way. He had to rid the universe of this evil, color-sapping goop no matter the cost.
"I can't let this gunk hurt anyone else…" Huey told himself, and with a burst of strength, the paint can ascended higher and higher into the sky.
As he floated away, he wondered what was happening in Port Prisma. The islanders were probably celebrating, dancing, playing, and splashing in the Prisma Fountain, making the world even more colorful. He'd definitely have to join them once this ordeal was over.
Huey broke through the clouds and glimpsed the glistening silver path far in the distance that led to the dwelling of the legendary Star Spirits. He could perhaps ask one of them to deliver his wish and vanish the black paint, but there was no telling where it would end up. No, he had to do this on his own, though he would maybe wish for more time at Blissful Beach, or another day in the soothing, bubbly hot-spring at Red Pepper Crater.
The paint bucket took a deep breath as he soared past Star Haven and penetrated the reaches of outer space. He gaped in amazement at the big, full moon hanging in the void like a large, yellow balloon. Didn't Mario tell him of a secret society of baddies that set up operations there? What did he call them? X-Nauts? Yeah! That was it! Huey couldn't dump the paint there. After seeing Bowser covered in the black goop, he believed that no one deserved to be covered in stinky, mind-controlling paint, even if they were evil.
Huey soared onward through the endless expanse of glittering stars and glimpsed an intricately carved, green door suspended in midair near the remains of an old, rusty spaceship. For a brief moment, he wondered where the door led. If there weren't any living creatures, maybe he could dump the paint there?
He inched closer to the door and peeked inside, and found that he was atop a tower overlooking a bustling town. Huey realized it was similar to a place Mario had described to him one time. What had he called this place? Flipside?
Huey smiled as he watched the townspeople, who looked like little ants from way up high, or tiny Goombas. Man, that blue Mini Paint Star was a pain to get. Huey's thoughts drifted to the Sacred Forest where Kamek's magic had caused all sorts of problems for him and Mario. He had to wonder if the wizard's curse had been lifted yet.
"Ugh! No time to get lost in memories!" Huey scolded himself, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He had a job to do. He traversed back through the door and continued his flight, though he was unsure of where his journey would take him.
After days of traveling through the cosmos, Huey's heart became heavy. He had carried his load beyond millions of stars and planets, but not one of them held a suitable place to expel the black paint. "There has to be somewhere I can get rid of this stuff," he mused, "somewhere where it can never hurt anyone ever again."
Huey pressed on, his body ached from the strain of carrying such a heavy load for all this time. Now, there was nothing to distract him from his task. Unfortunately, that meant he also had to endure the wretched stench of the black paint. It was worse than that poisonous purple paint in the water at Plum Park. The black paint's overpowering odor was enough to make Petey Piranha sick, let alone the little paint bucket who was actually transporting it.
Huey tried not to think about it, and flew onward. Eventually, he came to a point where there was nothing but the bluish blackness of space. No stars, no comets, no planets.
"I must be getting close," Huey said, "Now I just have to find… Ah! There!"
In the distance was a huge, blank expanse of white, like a cloud, or a sheet of paper. Not a colorless spot whose paint had been stolen, but a big, beautiful space of pure whiteness that had never been touched by paint. There was nothing around for miles! Surely no one would stumble upon this place by accident. This was the perfect place to rid himself and the world of the plague of black paint forever!
Or was it?
The paint can reluctantly hovered towards the large slice of whiteness. It was a shame. Colorless areas needed to be colored, not thrown into inky darkness, but he couldn't carry his burden any longer.
"Ah!" Huey sighed with relief when he touched down on the glorious white spot. He hoped this place would be big enough. He was about to unload an entire castle's worth of paint onto it, after all, and if it leaked into the beautiful blue of outer space…
Huey couldn't think about that. He'd just have to take a risk. Slowly, he opened his lid and tipped himself over, but hesitated at the last second. Could he really destroy something so precious? This was probably one of the last few untouched spots in the entire universe.
He was about to consider finding a different place to banish the black paint, when he looked down, and a pang of guilt washed over him. A few drops of the disgusting substance had already spilled onto the beautiful whiteness. "Oh, what have I done?" Huey moaned.
The little bucket backed away from his blunder. Maybe he could wash it off? But, even if he did, the image would still remain in his mind, something else beautiful that the black paint had now soiled.
Huey sighed. What was he going to do now?
His gaze fell to the spilled paint again, when he heard a voice in his mind, faint and distant, yet mystical and powerful. "Finish what you've begun."
Huey jumped with a start! Was that the Red Big Paint Star? No, wait. It was the Blue! Or the Green? Come to think of it, he couldn't tell which Big Paint Star was speaking through his thoughts. He was just surprised that its voice reached him all the way out here. And, what did it mean? Did it now know what he had done, too?
The paint can exhaled. Well, if his mistake was going to remain, even in his mind, he had to at least try to make it beautiful, or at least not so ugly. Huey tried not to gag as he stared down at the droplets of inky blackness. With a slight smirk, he noticed that they kind of looked like spots on a mushroom: three larger dots, and two little lines for eyes.
Retching, he dipped his handle into his stores of paint, and carefully drew the outline of the black mushroom. That looked a little nicer, but it just wasn't colorful. Since all he had was black paint, the ugliness couldn't be helped.
The paint can wondered if he should move on to another spot, when he heard a tiny 'glub-glub'. He glanced down at his mushroom. The thing was trembling, as if the paint was trying to stretch out to fill the empty spaces in the mushroom's center.
"What? This can't be! I call shenanigans!" Huey watched the paint spread to fill the white inside the messy drawing, but instead of turning the thing black, color, sweet, beautiful color, flowed from the goopy, black outline: red and white and light brown filled the mushroom, and the outline became thinner, as if the paint had been deluded somehow, breaking into the colors that were mixed to make it.
The beautiful painting flashed with magic light, then a real mushroom stood before Huey. He could even smell the sweet aroma's its colors emitted: the red that smelled of apples and campfire smoke, and the white and brown that smelled like sugar and sweet homemade bread. But, how was that possible?
"Okay… I call good shenanigans!" Huey rectified, and it was as if his thoughts had been colored instead of the mushroom. "I wonder…" He gathered a little more black paint and traced the outline of a star on the white space before him. When he had closed the shape, the star trembled, and yellow paint spread like lava from the edges, coloring it in.
"Oohh!" Huey breathed, savoring the fragrant aroma of daffodils that the yellow paint released. The star flashed, and Huey held the glowing, gold object in his hands, seeing and feeling the reality of its warm, bright glow. Perplexed, he released the star into the sky, where it floated into space, twinkling merrily.
Newly invigorated, Huey began to create once again, drawing more complex shapes with the disassembling black paint. He painted green grass that smelled of mint, a blue, cotton-candy-scented sky and ocean, and red, orange, yellow, and purple flowers. He traced black outlines of clouds in the sky, which filled in with white, and sometimes light grey paint. With the white space left over, Huey made houses, stores, and other attractions: an item shop, a café that sold Magma Burgers and Prisma Juice, a mansion, a hotel, a circus tent, and even an amusement park.
"Wow, I must really miss my adventures with Mario and the others," he mused to himself as a newly traced railroad station materialized. He was acutely aware that his supply of black paint was running low, and surprisingly, he was rather sad about it. There were so many other things he wanted to make.
Now came the fun part. Huey drew the outline of a Goomba and watched as it was colored in and made real, brought to life by paint.
The Goomba opened his eyes and blinked a few times, then frolicked in the grass as Huey continued his work.
Huey made a few more Goombas and watched them play together. "Hm, I need more variety." The bucket painted Thwomps and Whomps that settled in the rocky mountains, perfect for the stone creatures. He created Bob-bombs, Toads, Shy Guys, and Koopas to inhabit the cities and villages. Newly formed Lakitus now soared through the sky on their clouds along with winged Parakoopas, and Boos haunted the dark mansion. The ocean was abundant with red Cheep Cheep fish and Blooper octopi, and newly colored Yoshis and Piantas inhabited a small island. Huey even painted a massive, orange Draggadon, which breathed a burst of fire and flew off towards his freshly painted volcano.
Huey gazed around with satisfaction at his creations, awestruck at what he had done. Who knew something as foul and disgusting as black paint could make something so amazing and magical. "Is this what black paint can really, truly do?" Huey asked. The little bucket was almost as joyful as the day he became the guardian of all things colorful on Prisma Island.
But, there was a problem. He had already colored in all of the large, glorious white spot, and he still had a bit of black paint left. "Hm, what do I do with this stuff?" he wondered aloud, the disgusting paint sloshing around inside of him as he flew back and forth, looking for the tiniest bit of white space to create something else.
This world also needed a leader, someone to protect and care for its creatures. Surely Huey couldn't take on the responsibility, not if he wanted to continue his duty as the guardian of the Big Paint Stars at Port Prisma.
This thought rolled around Huey's mind like a giant Chain Chomp; that is until the Paint Star's voice whispered in his mind, coloring his thoughts once again. "Go to the fountain."
Huey didn't really understand why, but since the Big Paint Stars told him to do this, he had to obey. Huey soared into the central town he had made and flew past houses and small shops to the plaza, where a beautiful, shining fountain stood.
This had to be one of Huey's favorite creations. The fountain was made of gleaming, white marble. It had two tiers, and a pedestal in the middle, where a statue of a Big Paint Star glistened in the sun.
Right now, the fountain was empty, but Huey couldn't wait to fill it with all the different colors of paint. Of course, he'd have to go to Port Prisma and stock up, but it would be worth it if he could bring a whole new level of vibrant beauty to this world.
Huey hovered in front of the magnificent structure, wondering what he was supposed to do, but the Paint Stars didn't speak to him again. Maybe they were getting tired from maintaining their mind link with him from such a great distance away. Huey gazed at the statue, as if it would provide an answer for him.
Surprisingly, it did. Upon looking at the marble figure, he noticed that its eyes hadn't been colored in. Carefully, Huey coated some black paint over the statue's lifeless eyes. He barely noticed the smell anymore, and most of the black paint had been used up. "Now, what?" Huey wondered. It was imperative the he got read of every last drop of the stuff.
Suddenly, the statue of the Paint Star blazed with blinding, white light. Huey snapped his eyes shut, and a surge of energy rushed through his body, dispersing to the rest of the world. That was a pretty big flash. What had he done?
When the energy subsided, Huey chanced a glance at the fountain, but his eyes popped at what he saw, and he grinned broadly.
On the fountain's pedestal, where the statue had been, was a living, breathing Big Paint Star! Another one! Its color was that of sunshine on snow, and millions of iridescent light strands surrounded its body, spreading out in all directions.
"Greetings, Huey! I am the White Big Paint Star!" Its voice was ancient and powerful, and Huey realized, with a start, that this was who had been coloring his thoughts this whole time.
The paint can stared in stunned amazement, his eyes the size of Coins. He wanted to say something, but his voice abandoned him.
"You wonder how I came to be, and why I am not with the other Big Paint Stars," the White Paint star stated this as if it knew what Huey was thinking.
"Y-yes!" the little paint can sputtered.
"Allow me to share my memories with you."
Huey braced himself, then nodded and closed his eyes. "Here we go again," he whispered. If only Mario could see this.
The white star spun around, faster and faster, sparks flying from its form as it turned. Huey watched as visions swam in his mind and listened to the Paint Star's voice. "Since the dawn of time, there was only an endless, black void of nothingness. I am the first entity to emerge,
At first, Huey saw nothing but darkness, then a tiny speck of white light appeared in the distance. The White Big Paint Star!
"I discovered the colors buried within the void, and set them free."
The white light expanded, pulling beautiful, bright color from the pitch black void all around it, and white patches appeared in the inky vastness, the foundation of new worlds.
"From my discovery, worlds began to take form. I harnessed the power of paint and liberated the other Big Paint Stars who now guard Prisma Fountain, the source of all color in the universe."
In Huey's vision, six beams of color shot from the darkness and transformed into the guardians of the Prisma Fountain he knew so well and would do anything to protect. A pillar of rainbow light exploded from the blackness, granting the Paint Stars their power and luster.
"But, it wasn't just color we needed. The worlds we Big Paint Stars wanted to create were without structure. We needed something to hold them together, to make them strong."
Huey waited, eager to keep watching, but his wonder and excitement turned to confusion and utmost horror when he saw what happened next. Some portions of the magnificent rainbow of paint began to mix, creating the dreaded black paint he had been trying so hard to get rid of.
"It may not seem possible based on your previous experiences, but black paint is just as necessary to make the world beautiful as color. You have actually seen that first-hand."
Huey was puzzled, but when the next vision presented itself, he understood. A blank expanse of white was laid out before him. Then, slowly, objects began to take form; ocean waves, clouds, grass, flowers, trees, even the stars in space, their black outlines freshly drawn, standing out against the white, just as Huey had experienced only a few minutes before.
"Too much of the darkness can cause much suffering and sorrow, but black paint, in small quantities, is necessary to bring structure to all of our creations, just as color is."
With bursts of illumination, the Big Paint Stars added copious amounts of color to the black skeletal frames of their creations, and Huey recognized the wonderful world he lived in. He caught a glimpse of Bloo Bay Beach, Cherry Lake, Daffodil Peak, Marmalade Valley, and even Port Prisma, his home. Then, the vision faded from his mind, and he was brought back to the world he had created.
The White Big Paint Star stopped spinning, and the bright light dimmed. Huey blinked, trying to take all of this new information in. But, there was still one thing the paint bucket didn't understand. "I didn't have any colored paint when I created all this."
"Yes," the Paint Star responded, "Pure whiteness has the power to restore color that has been trapped within the black paint, bringing life and light to your creations."
Huey stared at the White Big Paint Star in wonder. "So, this is where you were this whole time, isn't it?"
"I had been continuing my work at the edge of the universe, only, over time, my power had faded, and I feared I would lose it altogether, but you brought it back, Huey. You have done well."
Huey hovered in place for a second, completely awed and bewildered. "Then, what do I do with the remaining black paint?" he wondered.
"Pour it into the fountain. It will multiply, but I will gain power from the colors I draw from it. I will use the black paint and the other colors to create many more new worlds. And, Huey, I have a favor to ask of you, too."
"Yes. Anything, White Big Paint Star!" Huey exclaimed, eager to please this new guardian.
"You have done well protecting the other Big Paint Stars, but will you be my guardian as well?"
Huey's mouth dropped open in astonishment. He had to be dreaming right now! This couldn't be real! For a moment, he feared that this was all an illusion of time, and that the clock would reset, like in Dark Bloo Inn, but, the Big Paint Star was still in front of him, his freshly painted world was still there, and he didn't feel like he was asleep.
Huey gazed at the shimmering being before him, humbled by its request. But, how would he fulfill it? It's not like he could take a Warp Pipe back and forth between this world and Port Prisma.
"You wished for someone to protect this world, correct?" the White Paint Star asked, having read one of Huey's earlier thoughts, "I will fulfill that purpose, if you'd like. You may use the power of this fountain to teleport between here and Port Prisma. Please tell the other Big Paint Stars of my return once you do."
"I will!" he agreed without hesitation, happiness exploding inside him like a big Bob-omb, "and I will do my best to serve you, too."
"Thank you. Now, you must be tired of carrying the black paint. Please, relieve yourself of that burden." the glistening, white star rose into the air and Huey hovered closer to the fountain. Slowly, he tipped himself over and the remains of the black paint spilled into the upper tier. The paint can turned upside down, just to ensure that every last drop had been expelled from inside him.
Huey flipped over again and the white star settled back on its pedestal once more. Presently, the black paint in the upper tier took on sparks of white light, and flowed into the fountain base. It was as if the majesty of the starry sky had turned into liquid form. Huey cautiously sniffed the air, but the foul stench of the black paint was completely changed. It now smelled, quite appropriately, of drying ink.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this story. Please leave your thoughts in a review. Specific complements are appreciated, but a tiny bit of criticism would help me improve. Thanks!