World 1-2: Royal Visitation
Ridley stepped through the strange red door and almost immediately fell off another cliff. He picked himself up from the ground while the others climbed down what looked like an overgrown bean stock to reach him.
"I miss my wings," Ridley complained as he spat dirt out of his mouth. "Anyone know where we are, yet?"
"No, I've-a never seen this place before." Luigi shook his head before offering Ridley a hand up.
Looking around, wherever they were now seemed fairly similar to before. The grass was the same shade of emerald, the sky was the same intense azure and the mountains in the distance were just as weirdly blocky as the one Ridley fell down earlier. Though the terrain was rougher and there were plenty of waterfalls here, as well as signs of life nearby. Perhaps they would be able to find someone to help.
"For now, I suggest that we seek out higher ground," Samus suggested. "That way we can get a better view of the area to look for any recognizable landmarks."
"I don't know, this place seems pretty distinctive," Ridley scratched his chin as he continued looking around. "I'm pretty sure that if any of us knew where this place was, we would know it by now."
"Maybe we should ask them?" Roshi suggested.
"Ask who?" Samus turned to him.
"Them." Roshi pointed and, following his direction, the others spotted a group of diminutive masked figures clad in red and blue robes riding towards them on the back of large pink birds that reminded Ridley of the dachoras that had run him over earlier.
"Shy Guys?" Luigi tensed up and looked ready for a fight.
"You know these people?" Ridley asked.
"Yeah, they're-a all over the place back home," Luigi said. "They're-a usually working for-a Bowser."
Ridley nodded. "Well, that shouldn't be a problem, then. Bowser's on our side now."
"Oh, yeah." Luigi relaxed and let out a sigh of relief. "I-a keep forgetting about that."
Then a cannonball soared over their heads, proving that the approaching Shy Guys were as hostile as Luigi initially assumed. The four displaced individuals dove for cover before the enemies could reach them.
"Karablast, where's a gun when you need one!" Samus ducked behind a wooden pillar sticking out of the ground.
"Hah, imagine having to rely on weapons," Ridley chuckled before standing tall and opening his mouth wide to launch a volley of fireballs. Nothing came out, though, and he ended up swallowing the next cannonball instead. "Gagk, no, why? My hubris!"
"Quick, see if you can-a find any power-ups nearby!" Luigi called to the others while crawling away.
"Is this a power-up?" Roshi reached for a patch of red grass poking out of the ground and yanked it up, revealing an oversized turnip. "Huh, guess not."
The thundering of bird feet grew louder as the pack of Shy Guys reached them. The apparent leader of the group, dressed in blue, raised his hand to signal the others to stop.
"Hark, vagrants!" the Shy Guy addressed them in a deep voice that felt at odds with his diminutive form. "You trespass in the lands of King Wart!"
"Who?" Luigi asked.
"You are all under arrest!" the blue Shy Guy continued, completely ignoring the plumber. "Come quietly to face your punishment or we will be forced to resort to violence."
One of the Shy Guys, dressed in gray robes and with a cannon built into the mouth of his mask, shot Ridley.
"Hey!" Ridley snapped back to his feet and pointed an accusatory finger at the Shy Guys. "Is this how you treat foreign dignitaries?"
"What?" The leader seemed to stare at him, his expression completely unreadable behind his emotionless white mask.
"You heard me!" Ridley took a step forward, getting into the leader's face. "We, my good sir, are ambassadors sent here on behalf of the Mushroom Kingdom's honorable Princess Peach to negotiate trade rights with your King Wart. Now, do you really want to be known as the guy who started an international incident just because you decided to shoot first and ask questions never?"
The blue Shy Guy turned back to his men, clearly thrown off by the unexpected outburst. Luigi and Samus, meanwhile, shared a confused look before deciding to just play along with Ridley's bluff.
"You four are from the Mushroom Kingdom?"
"That's right." Samus walked up beside Ridley, folding her arms and straightening her back to look as imposing as she could muster, which was significantly so. "I'm sure your King is expecting us, did you not get the notice that you were supposed to pick us up?"
The Shy Guy spared one last glance at the others before turning back to the two and pointing. "Sick 'em."
"Well, that certainly could have gone better."
It hadn't taken much for the Shy Guys to overpower Ridley and the others through sheer numbers and the four now found themselves tied up and dragged along the ground towards a tall mountain off in the distance.
"I will never recover from this humiliating defeat," Samus moaned. "Seriously, those guys are like, three feet tall."
"Well, hopefully we can-a get this all-a sorted out after they-a bring us to their king," Luigi suggested hopefully. "I'm-a sure that we can-a just explain what-a happened and get this whole-a thing cleared up."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Samus shook her head.
"Hold on a second," Ridley hissed. "I think I can cut through these ropes with my tail. Just a little bit more, and…"
Unfortunately, one of the gray Shy Guys heard him and turned around, shooting him in the face with another cannonball.
"...Ow."
After what felt like several hours, the Shy Guys finally slowed to a halt at what looked like some sort of scout camp, where they threw Ridley, Luigi, Roshi and Samus into an iron cage that would have been small even if there was only one of them in there. With all four, they barely had enough room to breathe.
"Okay, I think I can pick the lock on this thing, I just need to-" Ridley got shot in the face again. "WILL YOU STOP THAT?"
"Only if you stop trying to escape," the guard replied.
"Hey, has anyone else noticed that there's no sun?" Roshi asked, prompting everyone else to look up as best as they could.
"Hey, you're-a right," Luigi gasped. Sure enough, despite the bright blue sky up above pockmarked by the occasional fluffy white cloud, there was no sign of a sun up there. Which of course raised the question of why it wasn't dark outside.
"Of course, there's no sun," one Shy Guy said. "We don't have one of those."
"You don't have a sun?" Samus repeated. "How is that even possible? I've been to countless inhabited worlds and I've never seen one that doesn't have some kind of sun. Well, except Aether but Aether was just plain weird."
"So, I take it that means where's not on SMB-985 anymore?" Ridley asked.
"I have no idea what that means," the guard confessed. "But you're in Subcon, now."
"Subcon? SUBCON!" Ridley panicked. "...Never heard of it."
Before the Shy Guy could explain, a chorus of trumpets sounded and all of the guards stood at attention. Like something out of a fairy tale, a large red and gold carriage rolled up to them. A small bird-like creature with large eyes and dark blue feathers sat at the front, holding reigns that seemed to just be suspended in midair as there was nothing visibly pulling the carriage.
"Introducing his eminence, the king of dreams, leader of the 8-bits and all-around cool guy, King Mamu Wart and his entourage!" the bird shouted as the carriage door opened.
A massive green toad, the amphibious kind, not the mushroom kind, stepped out. The large golden crown sitting atop his head signified him as the king that had just been introduced, with his thick, gold-trimmed blue robe and the shining medaling hanging around his neck adding to the look. He was followed by a pink dinosaur-like creature with a red bow on her head, who was similar in appearance to a yoshi save for the canon-like muzzle she had in place of the usual bulbous nose. Then came a large grey mouse in sunglasses, followed by a red three-headed hydra, a living ball of fire and, finally, a giant orange crab. Notably, the carriage didn't seem remotely large enough for them to have all fit inside.
"Ugh, what is it this time?" King Wart grumbled as he walked over to them. He stopped in front of the cage that Ridley and the others were trapped in, his gaze settling first on Luigi and Samus. "Huh, what's this? Hylians?"
He seemed almost excited for a moment before his eyes narrowed and he scowled.
"Hm, no… the ears are the wrong shape. Humans, then." The king then turned to Roshi and finally Ridley. "And let's see… this one's a yoshi and… I have no idea what you are."
"No one does." Ridley would have shrugged but he didn't have enough room. "I'm one of a kind."
"Interesting…" the giant toad man scratched his chin in thought. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let them out of that cage!"
The Shy Guys practically tripped over each other, rushing to follow his orders. Soon, the four captives found themselves lined up in front of the king and his cohorts. While Wart seemed genuinely intrigued by their presence, the same could not be said of the others. The dinosaur seemed to glare at Roshi while the rat had his scowl firmly fixed on Luigi and the other three looked similarly hostile.
"So, what's your story?" Wart asked them. "What are you doing in my lands?"
"That's-a the thing." Luigi shrugged. "We-a don't know. We're-a not even sure where-a 'here' is."
Wart nodded thoughtfully. "Well, that is to be expected for new arrivals. It's not every day that you lose your connections to the waking realm and end up here, in the dream world."
"The what now?" Ridley asked.
Wart looked the group over, a look in his eye. Pity? Ridley wasn't quite sure if that was it. Finally, the amphibious being started to turn back towards his ornate carriage and motioned for them to follow.
"Come, I will explain on the way," he said as he hopped inside. "You are likely hungry and tired. We shall have a feast in your honor back at my castle and rooms will be prepared for you. It's the least I can do after how poorly my men have treated you."
The gang spared glances at each other but no one seemed to find any reason to object. Or rather, they weren't in any position to be able to turn the offer down even though it simply wreaked of a trap.
Ridley was the first to climb in after Wart. Once he was inside, he understood how there had been so many large beings inside the almost comically large vehicle. Somehow, they'd found a way to completely disregard Euclidian physics to make the interior of the no-doubt magic vehicle several times larger than the exterior. It was like stepping into a large, very luxurious limo. Ridley slid into a seat opposite King Wart as the others lined in after him. Wart's entourage spilled in last before the door closed and they rode off. Even with everyone in there, it was still rather spacious.
"Drinks?" the king asked as a white-cloaked shy guy with a red bowtie passed around glasses of… something. Ridley took one and gave it an experimental sip. It tasted like… s'mores? "Oh, where are my manners? I've forgotten to introduce myself. You may call me Wart. I am the king of these lands which we call Subcon but there's no need to address me with such formalities. You are guests."
"Hello-a, Wart." Luigi nodded. "My name's-a Luigi and these are Ridley, Roshi and Samus."
Ridley would have preferred not to give out their names so readily to these shady strangers but it was too late now. Wart held out his hand to the pink dinosaur, apparently signaling for her to introduce herself as well.
"I'm Birdo," she squawked.
"Mouser," the rat nodded curtly, still keeping his gaze focused intently on Luigi for some reason. Though his eyes remained hidden behind his pitch-black shades.
"Weee arrre Trrryclyyyde," the red serpent hissed with all three of its mouths its left head gestured to the fireball. "Annnd thisss onnne isss Frrryguuuy."
Fryguy gave a whistle of confirmation.
"Yeah verily, my name is Clawgrip," the crab said with a flourish of his claws. "'Tis a pleasure to meet you, fine sirs and dame."
"Dame?" Samus cocked an eyebrow.
"And now that we've exchanged pleasantries, it seems only fair that I explain just where we are," Wart said. "Subcon is not a kingdom that you would be familiar with for we are not in the world you came from. And I don't just mean planet.
"The Dream World, Dream Land, the Sleeping Worlds, the collective unconscious. This realm has many names. It exists parallel to the waking world that we all originally hailed from and is made from the dreams and minds of those who remain there. Or perhaps it is this world that shapes our minds and dreams? That is an age-old question. This is Subcon, the land that corresponds to your world. Though there are as many lands here as there are inhabited worlds back in the waking.
"How we get here varies. For some of us, we lost all hope and direction in our lives until eventually, we had nothing left but to retreat fully into our dreams. For others, we were pushed here, unwanted by those around us."
Birdo noticeably winced at that.
"And for yet others, their journey was far more violent."
Mouser flinched as if remembering something painful.
"So, my new friends," Wart held his hands out invitingly. "Please, share your stories with us. I know that it may be painful but we have found that it is always better to share the pain of your tragedies, to better adjust to your new lives in the land of lost souls."
Ridley looked around at the others, who seemed just as confused as he was. They hadn't been brought here by any sort of great tragedy or pushed here or anything like that. Ridley opened his mouth to voice that confusion-
-and instead, he bore his entire life story, from the moment of his creation until that night in Luigi's basement when they all fell asleep. Luigi went next, followed by Roshi and finally Samus. They all shared, in excruciating detail. More than any of them would have ever shared under normal circumstances. There was something very, very wrong. Ridley wracked his brains, trying to figure out what it was but he could only come to one conclusion.
The drinks had been spiked. Some sort of truth serum, or perhaps magic. Whatever it was, it forced them to comply. But did it simply force them to share their life stories or were they compelled to do anything that Wart or his lackeys asked of them? The lack of knowledge scared him.
"I see." Wart steepled his hands together after hearing their stories, deep in thought. It had to have been hours since they'd gotten into the carriage with him but Ridley had no idea how long it had actually been. His sense of time felt off, distorted. Like a dream, he realized. "Well, it seems that your circumstances are quite unusual, even by our standards. No pain, no sorrow. You have lives worth returning to. People who still care for you. You are, none of you, lost. But I do think that I know how to help you to return to your world."
"How?" Luigi asked as the carriage suddenly came to a halt.
"Legends tell of an ancient artifact called the Star Rod," Wart explained as he exited the vehicle. "It was said that it could bring dreams to life though, in truth, its power was that it could open the boundary between the waking realm and this one. In other words, whoever possesses the Star Rod has the power to pass between the two realms at will, as well as to allow others to do the same."
As Ridley stepped outside along with the others, he found that they were parked in front of a large cave built into the side of a mountain. Something felt off about it though. It looked almost as if shadows were drifting out of the cave like a drafty breeze. His first thought was that was impossible but then it occurred to him that if this really was some sort of dream world, anything could be possible.
"Unfortunately, the Star Rod was lost," Wart continued. "A mysterious masked knight, the Star Warrior, stole the rod long ago from its resting place in the Fountain of Dreams. Some say that he feared the rod's power. Others say that he wanted it for himself. Regardless, all versions of the tale always end the same. The Star Warrior retreated with the Star Rod into the Cave of Nightmares, never to be seen again.
"A prophecy was laid out that it can only be retrieved by four heroes from the waking world. Red, Green, Yellow, Blue. And wouldn't you know it, you four match that very description. This feels almost like fate, does it not?"
What it felt like was that he was trying to coerce them into a dangerous mission to retrieve some forbidden relic and then stab them in the back later to take it for himself. But of course, Ridley wasn't about to say that straight to Wart's face, or with his goons nearby.
"So, I take it this creepy cave is the 'Cave of Nightmares' and you want us to go get the Star Rod for you?" Samus asked sarcastically.
"Well, yes. I wasn't exactly being subtle about that," Wart replied. "It will be dangerous but I am sure that you will be more than capable of handling whatever trials the nightmares throw before you."
Well, it didn't seem like they had any way out of this, so Ridley had no choice but to nod in compliance. The others reacted similarly.
"Alright, we'll-a do it," Luigi said.
"Good, good." Wart gestured towards the cave. "Then I suggest you get a move on."
"Yeah, yeah, we got it." Ridley shook his head and walked into the cave. The others followed suit.
Inside, there was darkness. Not the normal darkness that comes with being in a cave, that would be normal. No, this was something more.
"So, we trusting this guy at all?" Ridley asked, mostly rhetorically once he was sure they were out of earshot.
"Yeah, no, not at all," Samus replied.
"No, he's-a shifty as heck," came Luigi's response.
"I don't like how that one girl kept staring at me," Roshi said.
"Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought." Ridley sighed. "So, what's the plan? Wait in here a while and escape after they finally leave so that we can figure out what to do? Find this 'Star Rod' thing, if it's even here, and then use it to get back home before that king and his cronies can take it from us?"
Ridley waited for a response from the others. None came.
"Guys? Guys?"
Ridley looked around, to no avail. Even with his enhanced senses, he couldn't make out a thing in this darkness. Nothing in the infrared spectrum. No scents. He couldn't even taste the wind that blew past. There was nothing but blackness and the void.
And then it was lifted like a veil. Ridley's senses returned in full. He was in a cave, as to be expected, but one that seemed oddly familiar to him. The purple sheen to the stone, the heat of lava further down, the faint trace of berithenium on the air.
This was Zebes, the lower regions of Norfair. He was in the caves where he had fought Samus, the Hunter, both times that he had visited this miserable planet. But that was impossible. Zebes was gone, the planet itself destroyed by Mother Brain's ridiculous 'I'll take everyone with me' policies that meant that a series of large-scale detonation charges were pumped directly into the planet's core when Samus killed her. There was nothing left but scattered rocks and other space debris. So how?
Footsteps. They were coming closer. From the distinctive metallic sound and that familiar rhythm of the steps… There was only one person it could be.
"Samus?" Ridley turned to the source of the noise. "When did you get your armor back? Where are the… others…"
The armored figure that walked out into the tunnel before him was not Samus, though the thing was similar in appearance. The stylization of its shining silver armor was different. Organic. Hostile. Distinctive blue veins and lights pulsed from under its outer membrane. Signs of the corruption. He'd had the misfortune of having crossed this thing before. He had been enslaved by it, like the rest of his people. Bent to follow its will.
The Dark Hunter stepped closer, as unsettlingly quiet as always. Ridley's trial had begun.
Author's Notes: I had been planning on having at least another chapter before getting to the Cave of Nightmares but I didn't have any ideas of what to do before then so I decided to just jump straight into it. This next arc has been one of the moments that I've been most looking forward to these past few years and I'm excited to finally get here. I hope that I can live up to my own expectations with the next few chapters.