Chapter 2: New World, New Friend
The Underworld princess passed through a field full of the stalked platforms. Everywhere she looked there was something new to look at; something new to witness and take time for her delicate little mind to process. Just to name a few, giant floating yellow blocks with a question mark on them, tiny creatures with colorful wings (1), bean-shaped animals with eyes, stubby feet, and appeared in a variety of colors that walked in a single file line (2), and so much more that Pearl's little innocent mind couldn't wrap around if she tried.
And yet, the strangeness of this world made her more interested than ever to explore. She hated to admit it, but while her kingdom was an amazing place, it did get less and less exciting seeing the same old buildings, the same old stone walls, the same crystals… Really the same everything. Maybe that's why her dreams have been very vivid lately, a craving for something new and exciting!
But then her frolicking came to a halt. She laid down on the soft ground and looked up to the "ceiling" (3) with the puffy white fixtures (4) and frowned as she realized… What if this is just another dream? In a few moments, could she hear the sound of her gong again and wake up back in her room? It was almost scary for her to think about.
"I don't want to wake up…" she muttered to herself. How could one want to wake up from a world this majestic? She knew one thing for sure though. If she was asleep, she would have to wake up eventually, so she'll enjoy every moment of this while it lasts.
"Hi-YAH!"
Pearl jumped up to her feet hearing that yelp accompanied by the sound of some wood breaking. What was that?!
"H-Hello?" Pearl called out. No answer. Just more sounds of wood breaking and someone yelping. They probably didn't hear her. Pearl snuck over into a leafy plant (5) in case it was dangerous and looked around. There, she saw perhaps the most interesting sight she's seen in this new world so far. At a nearby plain, there was a girl that appeared slightly older than Pearl punching and kicking cardboard cutouts of what appeared to be wild beasts. Some of which looked eerily similar to the wildlife back in the Underworld, but at the same time different. Even their names were just slightly different!
"A roundhouse kick for you, Goomba!" She kicked a cutout of a brown creature that eerily resembled a Doomba.
"An uppercut for the Lakitu!" She jumped up and punched out a cutout of a glasses-wearing creature in an eyed puffy thing (6) resembling a Lurkitu.
"A fiery fist o' fury to you puny Piranha Plants!" The girl gripped one of her arms into a fist and charged through several cutouts resembling Amber Piranhas, except they were red.
Pearl was astonished by this girl's moves to the point where she softly applauded. She'd never seen anyone look so tough, so bold, so POWERFUL! At the same time though, something about the girl looked a bit off to Pearl, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She really wanted to go talk to this person, but was nervous that she might try to hurt her. A hit from one of those punches didn't look very pleasant in the slightest.
Just as Pearl finished her thoughts, the mysterious girl finished destroying all the cutouts… except one. This cutout stood much taller than the others, and looked like a horrific beast walking straight out of Pearl's closet. The mysterious girl seemed to look to it without fear, however.
She smirked with pride and announced in the most hammy manner possible "As for you, Bowser, you get my ultimate move: STINGKU BEEDOKEN!"
The girl charged straight to this "Bowser" and stringed a combo of punches and kicks to it without even a hint of mercy. Pearl tried to count them all, but it went too fast to make even an estimate. After finishing, the girl's hands glowed yellow and she fired a massive beam of fire that burned the cutout to ashes. (7)
With it all over. The girl rubbed her hands while panting with a satisfied grin. Pearl was so awestruck that she forgot she was staying hidden.
"Woooooooooooo! That was incredible!" cheered Pearl.
The Underworlder covered her mouth after realizing what she did. Too late though, as the girl tensed up.
"So I'm not alone, huh?" she said with a dark complexion while curling her hands into fists once again. "Whoever's there, show yourself! Are you here to fight? I should warn you, I'm not just some dainty little girl." She walked toward the bush in a faux-graceful way that seemed to be mocking girly girls. "I have a third-degree black belt in…"
She did some punches and kicks to the air while shouting.
"KAH-RAH-TAE!"
Pearl popped out the bush screaming. "I'm not here to fight! Honest!"
"Woah!" The girl stumbled backwards and fell to her back. What came next was a minute or two of silent staring with neither party coming up with something to say. To say this was awkward would be an understatement for Pearl. She was starting to think that maybe bothering this girl was a bad idea, for she had no idea what the girl was gonna do next. But at least her being up close finally gave her a better look. Her suspicions were right. This girl looked absolutely nothing like her or anyone she knew back at home. Pearl was really starting to be convinced she was dreaming upon taking in this girl's features.
The skin on her face wasn't any particular shade of white, black, or gray, but rather a light yellow color. Her face itself was round, but with a slightly puffed chin, a mouth that looked like that of a cat, and eyes that didn't glow any particular color but were just straight up black, both of which rested behind a pair of round glasses with yellow rims.
But that was the least strange part about this girl. Her hair was dark brown, but didn't seem to be angular or resemble crystal at all. It looked more roundish and was partially tied up into a ponytail by a yellow scrunchie. And sticking out of her hair were two antennae with bulgy yellow tips.
Scanning down the lower part of her body, what immediately caught Pearl's attention was the girl having FOUR arms rather than two. All of which were brown like her hair and were packing in a bit of muscle that seemed a little much for a girl that didn't appear much older than Pearl. Her dress was yellow with black stripes and a white fluffy turtleneck at the top. Her shoes were brown like Pearl's, but appeared to stretch out slightly wider.
Pearl was starting to get worried with the long silence so she finally decided to speak up.
"I…I'm sorry," Pearl apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you."
The girl got up, crossed all four of her arms and huffed. "Scare? Pssh! You didn't scare me. I fear nothing!" She looked up in a daring manner, adding to that sense of aura Pearl felt from her. "I just didn't expect anyone else to be here watching me. Let alone a… whatever you are."
The girl got closer to Pearl, almost too close for comfort, and examined her from top to bottom. She was asking so many questions at once that Pearl never got a chance to answer a single one. "Are you some kind of Toad, or something else? Why is your skin so gray? Are your eyes and mouth glowing? And that "hair"... what kind of style is that?" She reached her top left arm to it, only to recoil back and wince after touching one of the edges. "YEOWCH! Just as sharp as it looks!"
Pearl immediately felt terrible and looked at her hurt finger. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!"
The girl clutched her finger, but just laughed it off. "I'm fine. I'm a tough gal. A little cut won't slow me down. Besides, I always come prepared," the girl affirmed as she took out a band aid and put it over the cut finger.
"If you don't mind me asking…" said Pearl. "Why do you have four arms instead of two? And… what's with your hair? I've never seen a style like that before."
The girl put her arms to her waist with a furrowed brow. "Never seen a Honeyhiver before?"
Pearl just tilted her head. "A what?"
The girl then shrugged. "Well, I've never seen your kind either, so fair enough. Where did you come from?"
Pearl smiled, always happy to talk about her world and its culture, not that there were many to talk about it to back there because everyone already knew. "I'm from the Underworld! Ever heard of it?"
"Woah! What?!" The girl recoiled back. "The UNDERWHERE?!" (8)
Pearl burst into laughter. "No silly! UnderWORLD! What does this have to do with underwear?"
The girl was confused for a moment but then giggled as well upon realizing what Pearl thought she said. Pearl then continued.
"I was just on my daily walk through my kingdom when I got lost and found this strange room full of broken green tubes. But then I found this red one that looked kinda like my hair and the next thing I knew, I was out in this strange but beautiful place seeing your fighting skills in action. Your moves were amazing by the way!"
For the first time since meeting her, the mysterious yellow girl smiled at Pearl. Not in an overly cocky or demeaning way, but a genuinely sweet and relaxed way.
"Heh. Thank you! I've been practicing since kindergarten. These muscles aren't just here for show." The girl flexed out her upper left arm and then extended it to Pearl. "The name's Belle, by the way."
Pearl happily shaked Belle's hand. "I'm Pearl! It's nice to meet you!"
The two started walking. Pearl was starting to get tired of sitting in a bush and rubbed the leaves off her dress.
"So... this place… Um, it isn't a dream, right?" Pearl asked. Without warning, Belle slightly shoved her. "Hey!"
"You felt that, right?"
"Um… yeah…"
"Definitely not a dream!" Belle confirmed.
Pearl then took it all in. So there really was more to her world than just the Underworld and she never even knew about it? Her fascination was through the roof! And at this point, she had to know more!
"So… where am I, exactly?" Pearl asked.
"The MUSHROOM KINGDOM!" Belle exclaimed. "I come here all the time to hone my skills. Helps that it's commonly attacked by the Koopas, so I could REALLY put them to the test if they did come."
"Wow…" Pearl had so many questions in her mind that she couldn't even keep track of them all. There were more kingdoms other than her own?! That was nuts to even think about. She thought she and her mother were essentially the center of the whole world because of their royalty, but perhaps not. "Why is it called that?"
"Because of the MUSHROOMS! Duh!" Belle pointed to the many stalked white spotted platforms. 'Mushrooms'. So that's what they were called. Now Pearl was wondering how many new things she could discover before her mind exploded from sheer wonder.
Well, Pearl's mind spoke to her surroundings. Because where Belle took her next looked straight out of her biggest fantasies. They jumped onto a whole group of mushroom platforms which presented a view of a massive village. The town consisted of many houses resembling mushrooms, along with shops, malls, districts, etc. and at the highest hill, there was a massive white and pink castle about the size of Ruby's castle with five perched flags standing proudly over the village below.
Pearl stared at the village ahead of her. It was more massive and vibrant than any of the villages back in her kingdom with a variety of colors everywhere she looked. And even from the distance she and Belle were at, she could hear the hustling and bustling of the town's citizens.
"Wonderful sight, isn't it?" said Belle. "That's Toad Town. Capital city of the Mushroom Kingdom. Wanna go there?"
Pearl turned to her in shock. "Really?! We can go?!"
Belle winked and started running and jumping on the platforms in front of her. "Yeah, why not? C'mon, Pearl! Our big adventure begins now!"
Pearl made the brightest smile she ever had since her mother hugged her for nailing down her rock magic. Admittedly, it wasn't that long ago, but so what? This day was just getting better and better every second! Without hesitation, Pearl followed her new friend towards the town ahead of them without a care in the world.
Trying to describe common objects (both for the real world and the Mario world) from the perspective of someone who's lived underground their entire life proved a little tricky, but pretty fun too! Regardless, I think I should clarify what the descriptions were referring to if they weren't stated already in-story. That's what the numbers were for. And yeah, introducing another one of PhDedede's OCs, Belle! She and Pearl are in for a fun journey.
Trivia:
(1) Butterflies.
(2) Biddy Buds. Enemies that debuted in Super Mario 3D Land and have been semi-recurring in the series ever since.
(3) According to her bio courtesy of PhDedede, Pearl refers to the sky as the "ceiling" because there is no sky where she's from.
(4) Clouds
(5) Bush
(6) Cloud with eyes, lol
(7) Move inspired by a post on PhDedede's Twitter depicting hypothetical hyper strikes if his characters were in Mario Strikers: Battle League
(8) Super Paper Mario
See you next time!