It's night time. Origami was being supported onto a medical bed. She was unable to defeat a Spirit who crashed the school. Nobody was there to support her. They were busy on a new threat. A threat not even a Spirit could reach. An overweight plumber and two bunnies. That wasn't very threatening on the surface, but deep down, they put up a serious fight. The commander yelled. "Don't you know you could've been killed? You can't afford to be reckless!" The medical bed carried Origami into the whirring helicopter above, a blank look remained on Origami as the commander continued. "You're a valuable member of the AST, okay? So start acting like it!" The bed carried Origami off hearing range from the commander.
Mario looked at the carried-away Origami from cover. He felt guilt. He attacked someone he didn't know. "Mama-mia... Should I really be-a doing this?" He turned to nobody. In reality, he just wanted Luigi to be there to comfort him like always. "As-a expected.. I'm on my own..." Mario felt stupid. He could have prevented this if he just took Bowser back to Earth with him on the Odyssey. "Bowser, I'm-a sorry..." Mario ran away from cover and the AST, deciding to crash by for the night-Wait, he experienced this all in one day...
"Where do I-a sleep?" Mario looked around the pitch-black city only dimmed lightly by... streetlights. "Mama-mia.. I've never felt this-a hopeless since I lost Luigi that one-a time..." Mario walked around the cold of the night. He eventually found a forest. "Ah. That-a forest park looks good... Maybe we can make a campfire there..." Mario wondered into the forest alone. He found firewood and started a fire. "Goodnight... Luigi..." He closed his eyes for his first night in the strange world.
"I was there when it happened." Next morning, Shido was at school, and it was closed for very good reason: The school was destroyed. A minor inconvinience. "But this mass destruction doesn't seem real..."
"i... do..."
"But yesterday was real. A Spirit showed up, named Tohka. I was the one who gave her that name. I DID meet her..."
"Hey... ...ido.."
"And gave her peace..."
"Quit ignoring me!"
"H-huh!?" Shido was snapped back into reality and turned to the figure on top of rubble: Tohka herself. "Tohka?!"
"Just now you notice?" She smiled. "Weeeeell, you are so dumb!" She giggled at Shido's expense.
"B-but how did you get here? The spacial quake alarm never went off!" Tohka landed in front of Shido: Perfect height for a girl.
"Why would it? You're the one who invited me back... For a date, I think? Well, it's time to get going! Let's go let's go let's go let's go-!" She yelled like a parrot.
Shido caved in. "Okay, okay! I get it! And you should probably get out of THAT first." He pointed at her armor, which did look it could be picked out of a crowd.
"Right now? You want me to undress in broad daylight?" She shifted awkwardly and blushed, looking at Shido in concern. In which he panicked.
"No, that's not what I meant!-" Shido turned on a lightbulb. "Here, let me show you an example." He pulled out a photo of Origami in her school uniform. Turned out it's useful after all. Tohka took the photo from his hands.
"You think this is acceptable? Wait, why are you walking around with this picture?" She asked judgily, Shido replying with "just do it". She caved in and raised her hand. In an instant her armor evaporated into purple mana, as she slowly formed a school uniform out of freaking nowhere, having perfect heights. "There. How does this look?" She smiled at Shido.
"A-ah... It looks... good."
"Great! Now let's start our date!" Those four words... They can only end in disaster from now on.
Mario woke up, the sun managed to evade all the leaves in the park and onto his face. "Of-a course... The sun's never-a kind to me." He got up and looked around the park. Nobody was there. Good. Nobody saw him sleeping in the middle of nowhere. "Alrighty..." He jumped up onto his feet and raised his fist. "Let's-a-go save this world!" He was immediately stopped as he saw Shido and Tohka in the distance, walking together. "Hmm. Looks like they-a made peace. I better not interfere-" His thoughts were interrupted when he saw a fancily dressed Kotori going into a restaurant. "Oooor I could help her." Mario smirked as he dived towards the restaurant without any detections from Shido and Tohka.
Meanwhile, on the date...
Tohka was looking through the window at some kinako bread. "Oooh, is this a date, Shido? Tell mmmeeeeeeee!"
Shido walked out, just buying the stuff. "No, it's kinako bread. You eat it. Like... put it in your mouth and swallow?"
"I know what eating is..." Tohka slowly ate the stuff. She exploded in happiness and ate and ate. At least it kept her happy. "Is THIS the date!?" Shido sighed and replied with "no."
"But this is so delicious! I can't understand how something this delicious can't be called a date!"
"You can call it that if you want..." Seems like Tohka was behind on education. "But it's not a date. Come on, I'll show you eventually..."
Thus the date went, although Shido and Tohka had to avoid necessary blow-ups from the latter. Shido really has work cut out if he's dating a SPIRIT. Insecure Tohka was mostly stopped from destroying entire cities with mana. They were walking around the city until Tohka saw a kid putting away garbage and in return getting a head pat from his mother. Tohka had a bright idea, quickly scoffed the food effortlessly and put the wrappers into the bag and rushed at Shido and bowed her head IN ANGER. Seems like she wanted the same treatment, her hair bow bouncing comically. Shido sweated and pat her head, getting a cute expression.
"What about now? This moment? Is this a date?" She asked.
"Not quite, but you're getting closer."
"Dates are complicated matters... Oh, what's that?!" She pointed another food stand.
"How can you still be hungry-?!" Shido gave chase, being eyed by the three girls that sticked together: Ai, Mai and Mii.
"Am I cray, or is Shido with a new girl?"
"Oh my gosh, does that mean Shido's cheating on Tonomachi?!"
"That's so lame!"
Origami, further away and hidden in a dark alley, munched on food herself and kept a close eye on Shido and Tohka. "That girl... I know she's a Spirit... But there's no readings..." She checked survellience, and all readings came innocent.
Shido and Tohka arrived in front of a diner. "What place is THIS?" Tohka's curiosity could kill Shido. He looked at the pricings and raised his hairs.
"An.. expensive one."
Tohka thought but proceeded. "I don't know what that means, I'm going in-!"
Suddenly, a spiky-hair boy approached Shido. "Yo, Shido." Shido turned. It's Tonomachi, his best friend. Tonomachi then noticed Tohka. "My, that's some sweet action." He got uncomfortably close to Shido. "How did you manage to pull one off without me knowing? I'm a little jealous, Shido!" He scratched Shido's cheek.
"Yeah, a lot has happened recently..." He couldn't finish his sentence as Tohka had already walked into the diner.
"Woah, and fresh off the bat! Don't worry about it, my girl's got pretty expensive tastes too." Tonomachi said as he pulled out his phone.
"Right.. his VIRTUAL girlfriend." Shido mentally facepalmed.
"Listen, I wanna help you. Someone gave me these tickets, but I think they'll help you scoreland this girl! You're welcome in advance!" He did a weird twil and pulled out two high-currency tickets. "Tell me how it goes." Shido could not even process what just happened as Tonomachi walked away. Only one thing to do. Head into the diner. And so he did. It was definitely on the higher end of the spectrum. Clean carpets, stainless walls, and carefully laid out tables. Shido turned to the waiter-
"How may I help you today." A certain sleepy-eyed woman was awaiting Shido.
"Reine? What are you-" Reine slapped his face with a book as he quieted his tone. "What are you doing here...?!"
"Keeping an eye on Princess. We have to track her emotions. She's been waiting for you." Reine pointed at an idly seated Tohka, who waved.
"Hey Shido! Over here! Why are you so late?" Shido sat down.
"Yeah, sorry." He looked around and could've sworn he recognised some of the customers inside the diner. That wouldn't even come close to what he'll see.
"What's up kittens, ready to order?" Shido looked at the waitress and almost lost his lunch. It was a red-pigtail girl.
"Kotori?! Wh-wh-Wh..?!" Now he got smacked by a dinner plate.
Tohka read through the menu. "This looks good, but so does this... I wonder which of these is the date?" She eyed the menu, everything looked good for her because it was food.
"Hey if you guys can't decide, I have a suggestion for you! The 'how-about-this?'!"
"What does that one come with?" They both said together at the same time. 5 seconds later, a dish with all of it was in front of their faces. Shido could only think. "Should be called What's with all this...!" But it didn't take Tohka long to start eating ALL of it and enjoying every second of it. She munched like a hungry pig at a pancake buffet.
"What are you pulling here, Kotori?" Shido lowered his voice.
"Thank you works too! We're pulling all the stops for this to be a successful date! Now, after this, I need you to head south."
"But that's just a resident-"
"Okay bro, I trust you." She walked and turned her head to Shido. "Now, let's begin our date." The camera cut to Tohka, happily drinking a smoothie. The waiter came to ask their tickets.
"May I-a see your paying tickets, sir and ma'am?" That Italian accent was all too familiar. Shido looked up. It was a chubby dwarf-man with a fancy suit of old ages.
"MARIO?! I-I don't even know why I'm shocked at this point." Shido footed Mario the two tickets as Mario took them. "Good-a luck, Shido." Mario gave a thumbs up and winked. Shido sighed of nervousness and happiness as he took the still-eating Tohka out of the diner.
Who knows what happened, but during the time that Shido was stalled by Mario and Kotori, the residential area that Shido mentioned was now a full-blown market with all sorts of food buffets. It was only for one thing: Tohka bait. Speaking of her, she was pointing at some fish in the water. "Oh, what's that? Can I eat them?!"
"No, well, yes, you can, but not those..."
"And the red ones-!" Tohka continued. "They're so fast!"
"Yeah, the red ones are three times as fast as the normal ones. Not sure why they're here though... Huh?" Shido averted his gaze to a shopping market; that wasn't there before.
"CONGRATULATIONS!" A man suddenly appeared in front of their faces, with confetti everywhere. "You two are this shopping market's 100,000th visitor! So we have a special gift for both of you! Everything you eat here will be FREE!" He presented the shopping market, with a bunch of people saying "congratulations!". Tohka, out of her curious nature, ran towards the market, pointing at everything. Shido had to catch up.
"Oh this, and this, and this!" Tohka pointed and consumed at every single item she saw that was edible.
"Slow down, eat as much as you want, it's free..." Shido turned to the happy faces. They were all beaming and cheering for the couple. "How did this happen.."
"Shido... I'm having fun... Are you?" Tohka looked at his face with concern. This was her first genuine friend. "I'm having fun on this date, and the look on your face is worried, and that makes me worried-are you mad at me...?" She looked like she was going to cry.
"Wha? No, I'm in a great mood! I just have a lot on my mind, that's all."
"Promise you're having a good time?"
"Best time ever."
"I really hope you're not lying."
"I'm not, I swear. I really enjoyed today." His eyes squinted. Now he was gonna cry. Tohka's eyes lit up, and took his hand, and Shido blushed.
"Then let's get the most out of this date!" She smiled and looked at him.
Shido smiled. "Sure. Wherever you need to me to go," He held her hand. "I'll follow."
Mario was setting up decorations for the shopping market, eyeing Shido and Tohka. He gave a smile. "What a day." He sighed mentally. "I just wish I had a lead on what caused-a us to appear in this world? And did we really make-a the right decision when we attack the AST?" He thought to himself as footsteps approached him.
"Helping Shin?" Mario turned his head to the voice. A sleepy-hair woman he just met at the expensive diner.
"Oh. It's-a Reine!" Mario jumped down from his ladder, landing on his feet in front of Reine. "Yeah. I'm-a setting up some stuff for his-a date. Need-a anything?"
"I just wanted to confirm the beings from your world." Mario's interest peaked. "I have seen some other strange beings roaming around. One being much like you." She lazily pointed at Mario. "But taller. Skinnier. Green instead of Red."
Mario's eyes shrunk. He may have well lost his mind. "Luigi!?" He went into a state of minor panic. "He must-a be close by! I have to go..." He looked to Reine in fright, the latter not even showing a sign of emotion. "How can you keep-a going like this?! I'm clearly in a state of panic and dread..! Luigi's out there somewhere, and so are-a the princess, Yoshi, Bowser... Everyone.."
"The will to keep going is your will to save them. Do you not wish to save them?" Reine replied. Mario gasped. He was the only one who could save them. He did have the title of Super Mario for a reason - a hero who saves others.
"You're.. right... Sorry, Reine." Reine nodded slightly.
"Mario, I have to ask. What dangers have you brought? Are you unaware of this fire dragon?"
"Bowser?" Mario might as well have lost his mind again. "I mean, he's gone-a crazy. He burned my entire kingdom to-a ash! I won't stand for it!" His eyebrows narrowed. "Anything for the princess' order to be retained! I shall stay strong!" He raised his fist, with Reine awkwardly looking at him.
Just then, to break the awkwardness, it started raining. Reine noticed. "Strange. There weren't any rainclouds in the vicinity." Kotori chirped in Reine's earpiece.
"Who knows? Maybe it's for the best." Mario turned his gaze and noticed Shido and Tohka headed for an arcade of some sorts. "Seeking-a shelter. I should probably do that too. Not like this-a decorating is getting anywhere..." He turned to his hard work. "I'm-a just one guy after all." He sighed, being unable to admit that. "Get to-a shelter, Reine. I'll catch up with you." Mario ran to the arcade. Reine watched with a serious and unexpressive emotion on her face. Something about her... How did she know so much about Mario?
Tohka's yelling shook the whole arcade. "WHERE DID YOU BRING ME?!" She observed the machinery. "Is this the secret base of the Mecha-Mecha Squad?!" She quickly darted her eyes left and right, being more paranoid than a badger with survival skills.
"No, it's just an arcade, calm down." They walked down the arcade, and Tohka saw a kinako bread plush. It didn't take long for her to attempt the game, inevitably losing. She pressed her face against the glass in anger, steaming it up.
"WHY WON'T YOU DROP THE CHICKEN? Shido, tell this thing to co-operate!"
"Calm down, it's difficult, you have to have a strategy."
"Okay, but how?"
"Maybe there's another easy one... Like that cat plush one!" Shido pointed.
But Tohka refused. "That's not the one I want. I want the chicken." Shido caved in.
"Maybe there's another one around here..." He, of course, ignored any distractions, like one man he recognised from Fraxinus offered to cheat because he was already inside the claw machine, imitating a claw.
Shido eyed around, eventually spotting a peculiar one sticking out. That looked easy, he thought.
"Okay, I've got it. I'll control this button over here, and you control that one! When I give the signal, let go. We'll do this together." Shido's eyes met Tohka's and they were both set on winning this, no matter what. They inserted the quarter into the machine. One turn. This was all that mattered. Shido's turn to move the crane horizontally. He did. Waiting for the perfect chance. He let go and Tohka immediately took the vertical controls. The crane slowly veered to that outstanding plush. And it was over it- "Now, let go! Let go of the button!" Shido shouted, with Tohka, anger in her face, let go of the button. The crane dropped and grabbed the plush, gripping it. Tohka was happy, but Shido reminded her, it's not actually over. The crane dropped the plush, and it somehow weaved it's way above the drop-off box. That... could have been rigged.
"Ah, sorry. That was my fault. I didn't give clear instructions. Let's go." Shido sighed and walked off.
Tohka, however, was NOT ready. "Drop the chicken!" She yelled at the arcade machine. "Drop it, please! Why won't you listen to me..." She gripped the button she used. "Shido and I worked so hard on it!"
"Tohka, cal-"
"Please! You have to! I don't know what I would do! We worked together! Drop it PLEEEEEASE!" She yelled which would certainly grab attention. As if some god were to dare answer her prayer, it was now. The plush somehow weaved it's way (on it's own, mind you) into the slot, and presented itself as a prize. Who knows what could have done it. It wasn't Mario, either. Tohka looked at Shido. Shido looked at Tohka. They accomplished it.
"WE DID IT!" They yelled as sunset entered the screen.
"...So yeah, trains can't transform, but they DO connect to each other." Shido was telling Tohka all about how the world works and what to do and what not to do, like flicking mana across cities.
"Wooow... So, you taught me all these amazing things, but what I don't understand is a date... What IS a date?" Tohka asked, curiously.
Shido sighed. "A date is just when a boy and a girl go out and have fun together."
Tohka 'oh' parted her lips. "Oh, I see. Well in that case, I'd say we had a WONDERFUL date today!"
Seems like Tohka had much to learn. Shido sighed again. Tohka filled the silence. "I like dates. They're nice."
What Tohka and Shido WEREN'T aware of was that Origami had a GUN in her hand, in her AST outfit, pointing at Tohka with no sign of shaking or stuttering. There was no Spirit happiness, only destruction. "I can't believe it... A Spirit comes to this world, doesn't blow up anything, then connects with a human boy..." There was a conversation on her communicator. Origami replied. "Permission to shoot?"
"Not yet. We still have to wait for orders from the captain. It's still strange that a girl who looks just like Princess is able to present so much Spirit Po-What's that? What?!" Origami zoomed in her gun. "We've got permission to shoot?!"
Shido and Tohka smiled, with the latter speaking. "Now I understand why the Mecha Mecha attack me. They don't want something this beautiful to get ruined. They don't want that risk. So... Shido... maybe it's better if I didn't exist at all."
Shido clenched his fist, gasping and refusing to accept it. "Well I guess you just can't go back! Have you, ever thought of, for just one day, that you'd stay in this world? You can stay and make so many friends and see so many good things about our world!"
"B-but.. I'll need food and a place to stay... What if we're not ready?"
"I'm going to take care of you, I promise!" This left Tohka stunned. Shido held out his hand. "Take my hand. That's the only thing I ask you for." Tohka, really unsure, finally trusted him. If he was with him, the man who guided her, then that'd be fine. She reached out her hand to nearly touch his, and Shido's life flashed before his eyes. Origami was pointing her gun.
Mario ran and ran and ran. He spotted Origami from a very far distance, thanks to his keen adventuring eyes that helped him plenty in the past, and when Mario saw the action, he had to run and stop Origami. Never before, not even in the Olympics, had he run so fast. No matter what people told him to do, how many people he bumped along the way, his mission was to save Spirits. They're human too. He ran upstairs to the park where they were, the sun beaming on his sweaty skin, and Mario looked at the scene. Once, just once, he could scream, but he couldn't. Not even during all his silent adventures through the 2D plane, could he scream.
For Shido has had an acid-green bullet pierced right through him and the plush that was won. Pools of blood gathered around the dead body of Shido. He pushed Tohka out of the way to save her, and ended up dying in the process. Mario couldn't vomit. He could, but he resisted. He realised what Tohka could possibly do and realised it before she could. She wrapped her blazer around Shido's corpse.
"I thought... I thought if you were there, and I was there with you, you would be okay. WE would be okay... We'd have trouble, but we'd get through it... but it's all over now... You're gone now...!" Tohka menacingly turned to the distant Origami. "THIS WORLD HAS REJECTED ME!" She chanted something, as her armor from before appeared, replacing her clothes, and the giant golden throne that Mario was familiar with came from the ground.
If he weren't to do anything, the city would be destroyed.