AUTHOR'S NOTE: So this idea has been nibbling at my brain for awhile - I wanted to write a "Super Mario Odyssey" fanfic, and a crossover with "Super Mario RPG" seemed ripe for potential. And after both "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and the announcement that Nintendo is releasing an HD remake of "Super Mario RPG" (after almost three decades!), the time seemed right to start it.
This fic will meld elements of "Odyssey" and "RPG," and also incorporate some bits and pieces from other Mario media. Fair warning - I'm not a completionist and I haven't played every single Mario game, so there are some things I'm leaving out simply because I don't feel familiar enough with them to do them justice. Sorry, Paper Mario fans...
All was quiet in Bonneton.
In a land of eternal twilight, one might assume it was impossible to judge when it was truly day or night. But the Bonneters required sleep just as much as any other being, albeit not as much as some creatures, and they instinctively knew their own daily cycles. So while a full moon cast golden light on the hat-shaped houses and towers below, the inhabitants had settled down for a few hours of rest.
Tonight the Bonneters were more exhausted than normal… and one could still see evidence of the reason for their exhaustion scattered throughout the town. Streamers dangled from bridges and the tops of houses, wriggling in the breeze like colorful snakes, and tables still carrying plates and cups dotted the village green (though could it be called that when the grass grew black?). Flecks of multicolored confetti peppered the dark turf, and a massive banner declaring WELCOME HOME CAPPY AND TIARA still hung from Top Hat Tower. And smack in the center of the "green" stood a newly minted statue of a man in overalls, frozen in mid-leap and with a baseball-cap Bonneter perched on his head.
The Bonneters took great pride in keeping their town neat and clean… but they had just spent most of a day celebrating the rescue of one of their own and the heroic acts of both Mario and Cappy. Cleanup, they decided, could wait until everyone woke up.
Despite the darkness, however, Mario couldn't sleep. He lay on the chaise couch in the Odyssey, hands folded behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. The party had left him exhausted, but he still felt too keyed-up to sleep.
Well, keyed-up and kept awake by someone's snoring, he thought wryly, glancing over at his brother. They had cobbled together a second bed by pushing the two armchairs together facing each other, and there Luigi lay curled up under a blanket. His snores weren't quite loud enough to shake the teacups still laid out on the table, but it was a close thing.
Still, he'd been able to sleep through his brother's nocturnal music before. He just couldn't seem to keep his mind still - memories still whirled through it at top speed, memories of his journey with Cappy to rescue Peach and Tiara. The surge of excitement every time the Odyssey had risen into the air and soared over oceans and continents, the vibrant and bizarre worlds they had visited, the thrill and wonder of seeing the world through the eyes of a gliding reptile, or a frog, or a dinosaur, or even a Goomba…
He'd thought he'd seen all this world had to offer… and perhaps by now he'd thoroughly explored the Mushroom Kingdom and its neighboring Sarasaland. But if his recent adventures had taught him anything, it was that he had barely glimpsed the world beyond the borders of those two kingdoms. There was so much more to explore, and even during his travels he and Cappy had barely scratched the surface.
Funny… back home I never had the travel bug. I was happy to stay in Brooklyn and fix pipes for a living. But after all my adventures here, hopping a plane to Japan or London kind of seems boring by comparison.
His gaze moved to Cappy. His Bonneter companion had curled up atop the wardrobe like a cat, his translucent white form glowing softly as he dozed. Perhaps the two of them should follow Princess Peach and Tiara's example, and go explore some more now that Bowser and the Broodals had been vanquished. Heaven knew they deserved a vacation after all they had been through.
He had just rolled over, intent on catching at least a few winks before whatever the Cap Kingdom's version of morning rolled around, when a metallic rapping filled the Odyssey.
"SNRRRK- mrgl," Luigi snorted, and rolled over on his makeshift bed. "Five more minutes, bro."
Mario sighed and pushed the covers off, then rolled off the chaise and headed for the door. Part of him wanted to just yank a pillow over his head and ignore whoever-it-was, but it might be important. Trust Bowser to snatch the Princess again while she was vacationing…
He had expected one of the Princess' attendants when he opened the door, but instead he found himself gazing at a surprisingly large Bonneter. While the average Bonneter seemed to be about the size of a Toad, this one was easily Mario's size, if not a little larger. And rather than the top hat or bowler hat typical of the other Bonneters, this one wore a burgundy-colored tricorn hat, trimmed in gold brocade and with a jaunty green feather poking out from behind the curled brim.
"Ah… hello?" he ventured. He hadn't met this particular Bonneter before. "Can I help you?"
"You certainly can," the Bonneter replied, bobbing slightly in a full-body nod. "We've sighted Koopa troops near Top Hat Tower."
Those words cleared some of the exhaustion from Mario's brain. The Cap Kingdom had barely recovered from Bowser's last attack on their realm. Had he sent his troops back to wreck their airship fleet again? Or were the Koopas just working off the frustration and humiliation of their latest defeat? Either way, Bonneton wasn't prepared to fend them off… if they ever had been in the first place.
"You're our hero," the Bonneter went on, his voice low and urgent. "You can come out and stop them, can't you?"
"Of course," Mario replied, then looked down at his undershirt and boxer shorts. "Uh… do I have time to get dressed first?"
The Bonneter dipped up and down in another nod, and Mario quickly shut the door and rushed to the wardrobe. He tried to open it as quietly as possible, but the movement awakened Cappy anyhow.
"What's going on?" Cappy demanded, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Where's the fire?"
"No fire, Koopas," Mario replied, yanking his red shirt out from under a suit of medieval armor. "Sounds like another attack."
"Again?" Cappy swooped down from the top of the wardrobe to hover anxiously beside Mario. "This Bowser guy sure doesn't give up, does he?"
"This isn't like him, honestly," Mario admitted, his voice muffled as he yanked the shirt over his head. "Usually we have a grace period between attacks. He needs time to get over the embarrassment, I guess. Either he's changing his tactics or his troops are just bored."
"Well, it's a good thing you're here, right?" asked Cappy. "You'll kick their shells back to where they came from in no time!"
"I'll try at any rate." Mario pulled on his overalls and quickly buttoned the straps. "Can you help me find my shoes?"
"On that!" Cappy tossed aside a sombrero and a snow jacket. "Here they are… oh hey, what's this?"
Mario froze for a brief moment as he spotted Cappy's find - a small wooden doll wearing a blue-and-gold hood and cape. It was a child's toy, simple and unassuming… a gift from a Toad child who had insisted it could be a good-luck charm to Mario in his adventures… but seeing it again sparked a rush of memory…
"Mario, hurry!" the tricorn Bonneter urged.
He shook his head and pushed his feet into his shoes. No time to reminisce about the past. There would be time to explain the doll's significance to Cappy after they had routed the Koopas from Bonneton.
"Should we wake up Luigi?" asked Cappy.
"Let him sleep," Mario replied. "This won't take long."
The tricorn Bonneter was already gliding away as Mario jumped down from the Odyssey, and he hurried after the ghostly being. Cappy swooped along beside him, but his eyes narrowed at seeing just who they were following.
"Oh, him," he groaned. "You didn't tell me Chapeau was leading the way."
"You know him?" asked Mario.
"Everyone knows everyone in Bonneton," Cappy replied. "And everyone knows Chapeau is so full of himself that if he sneezed he'd spit out a mini-Chapeau. He never does anything for anyone unless he thinks there's something in it for him."
Mario shrugged as he kept running after the tricorn Bonneter. "Even if he's just doing this for his own gain… at least he's giving us a warning, right?"
"I suppose…" Cappy admitted.
Chapeau had been making a beeline for Top Hat Tower, but he suddenly veered towards a bridge. Puzzled, Mario put on a burst of speed to catch up with him.
"Under there," Chapeau told him, pointing under the bridge. "I saw a couple of winged Koopas fly under there. They must be plotting their attack."
Mario nodded. "I'll take them. Go warn the rest of town just in case a few of them escape." He turned to Cappy. "Are you with me?"
"You bet I am!" Cappy replied, raising an arm.
Mario fist-bumped his Bonneter partner, then grabbed the bridge's wrought-iron railing and leaped over the edge, using the railing to swing himself beneath the bridge. He dropped down onto a floating platform and turned to face…
Nothing but a blank wall.
He barely had time to process the fact that this was a trap before a pair of white-furred paws grabbed his arms, pinning them to his sides. He kicked wildly as he was lifted off his feet, only for a bag to be yanked over his head. Through the fabric came the muffled cries of Cappy as he, too, was grabbed.
"Got 'em!" an all-too-familiar voice sneered - the voice of Topper. "Dat was way too easy - wonder whys Bowser got so much trouble from 'im anyhow? Get 'em on da ship!"
Even as sinister forces abducted Mario and Cappy, two notable events took place high above the Kingdoms.
In the silent, lonely beauty of the Moon Kingdom, an ornate wedding chapel stood on Honeylune Ridge. Its white stone and stained-glass windows glowed with otherworldly radiance, and its many spires seemed to reach for the heavens. The chapel had lain abandoned since Bowser had attempted to hijack it for his elopement, and for the moment it lay quiet, its serenity interrupted only by a few rabbits milling about its front steps.
Until a slash of silver whipped across the sky, and a column of razor-sharp steel hurtled down towards the moon below.
The rabbits scattered as the titanic sword pierced the roof of the chapel, plunging through the roof, buttresses, and finally the marble floor of the wedding hall itself. The entire building trembled on its foundations, roof tiles and masonry raining down to leave miniature craters in the moon dust below.
The rain of debris finally stilled, and silence settled over Honeylune Ridge once again… but the serenity of this place had been shattered, leaving only an eerie tension behind.
The sword gleamed coldly in the pale light reflected off the lunar landscape. The few inhabitants of the Ridge had fled at its impact… so none remained behind to watch a pair of blazing eyes snap open on the sword's hilt.
Higher yet, above the Star Road, a single star shuddered in its place in the heavens. It flickered thoughtfully, considering what it had seen on the planet below… then it wrenched itself free and arced gracefully towards the Cap Kingdom.
It had been many years since Geno and Mario had last crossed paths… but they had considered him a friend. And that friend had done them a great service long ago. It was time they returned the favor.