Chapter 2: A Kingdom with No Mushrooms

The first arc of the story begins.

Note: Centered words in italics means that a track is supposed to play while reading the paragraphs below it. You know, to give it a sense of realism…

I encourage all Super Mario fans to read on, enjoy, and review.

Disclaimer: The author only owns the story. All other characters belong to their respective owners. 

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Chapter 2: A Kingdom with No Mushrooms

-Super Mario 64-

-Mushroom Kingdom-

Near Princess Peach’s Castle

The Mushroom Kingdom was always a happy place to live in. Many peaceful and odd creatures lived in this kingdom. However, some were hostile, but if you managed to avoid being seen by them, you would live a comfortable life here. There are these friendly-looking people called “Toads.” They are small people with a large mushroom head. They live in mushroom houses and are quite fun to talk to. Only for a while before they start to get annoying.

All the toads in the Mushroom Kingdom respect the leader, Princess Peach. Princess Peach is very kind to the toads and always invites some to her castle. It seemed that no wrong was in the Mushroom Kingdom; everyone could be friends.

But, sadly, that was not the case. Bowser, a giant turtle with spikes, a red mohawk, and a bad attitude. He has captured the princess of this kingdom, and he is seen as the evil of this kingdom. However, his plans are always failed by a man with a red cap.

On a field of grass right in front of the Princess’s Castle, a portal opened, a teenager stumbled onto the soft grass, the portal closing behind him. Feeling something crawling on his hand, Koutarouu stood up and looked at his hand. Small ants were walking on his hand which he swiftly took them off.

Koutarou looked up. “I’m here…” Koutarou trailed off in disbelief. He managed to break the boundaries of space, and logic, to make it to another universe.

He could feel the warmth of the sun on his clothes; the small breeze of air whooshing by him. And most of all, he could see the giant castle, which he only saw in a video game, right in front of him. He stayed silent for a few minutes before he spoke. “...I guess I will go in?” he questioned.

“Yes, you do go inside the castle,” Master Hand’s voice came from behind Koutarou. The teen looked behind him to see the portal was reopened. “It seems that you were taken into Mario’s world.”

“Yeah, being in Mario’s world is cool and all, but couldn’t it just send me anywhere else?” Koutarou asked. “Why did it have to be this specific world?” 

“Well, the current timeline is being held here,” Master Hand replied. “So, you just have to be here and complete the world. Besides, I think the Subspace Army has already noticed your presence.”

The teen didn’t like what he heard. “And what does that mean?”

“Prepare to probably fight some Primids, or you will have to defuse a subspace bomb,” Master Hand said. “But, you just arrived in this world, so they probably aren’t that alarmed about you...probably.”

“Probably?” the teen asked.

“I’m just saying that there is a possibility,” Master Hand replied.

The teen sighed. “So, what do I have to do for now?” he asked.

“For now, just head inside the castle and go to the first level,” Master Hand replied. “That is all I can tell you because I’m not going to be some kind of walkthrough you use for long games.”

“Ah.” Koutarou got startled at the sudden remark by the Hand. “Th-that was just for a couple of games, th-that’s all!” he replied blushing. “And how did you figure that out!?”

“I checked your youtube search history,” Master Hand replied. “How come you watched an entire eighty-five part walkthrough for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild?”

Koutarou stayed silent for a few minutes. “I...I just didn’t want to go through all the trouble of getting everything after beating the game,” he said finally. 

“Well, that doesn’t matter now; what does matter is that you get inside that castle. Now go, Koutarou,” Master Hand ordered.

Koutarou grunted. “Fine, I’ll continue this adventure I am on,” he replied. The blush from his face disappeared. The portal closed and the Koutarou turned back towards the castle. He put his hands in his pockets, something he normally does when he walks. 

As he was walking towards the castle, the teen could see a waterfall to his left. The water was falling down into a river in front of the castle, making a calming sound as it hit the water in the stream. Once the teen reached the white bridge leading to the door of the castle, he looked over the edge of the bridge. “Whoa, that is cool,” he said. Koutarou could see small tadpoles, dark fish, bright fish, and some frog eggs in the stream. 

Looking back up, Koutarou stepped onto the white bridge and walked to the front doors. He grabbed the doorknob. “Time for an exciting adventure!” he said joyfully. Koutarou opened the door and went inside the large castle.

Super Mario 64 - Inside Peach’s Castle

The castle's interior was not one to simply gawk at. The floor was a checkerboard pattern, and the walls are painted to look like outside with blue and green paint. The blue represented the sky while the green paint was used to make the grass or small shrubs.

Even with this simple design Koutarou couldn’t help but stare. “Wow!” Koutarou stood there for a couple of minutes. “This...This looks even better in person,” he said, finally ending his silence. The door closed behind him. “But this wasn’t meant to be seen up close… It is a game after all…” Koutarou trailed off. Even though it was a game to him, he always dreamt of what video game places would look like in real life.

Koutarou put his hand on his chin. “(Ah, now I really want to see what other video game places will be like,)” he thought. “(Hmm… I wonder what a world like Pokemon would be like in real life. Pokemon like Pikachu is cute in the games, but how would he really look like in real life?)”

As the teenager was deep in his thought, a small, mushroom-headed person approached the boy. “Hello!” the person yelled. His voice was super high-pitched.

Koutarou flinched. “Ahh!” he screamed. Koutarou looked down. Right in front of him was a Toad.

The teen didn’t speak for a couple of minutes. He knew that people say Toad’s voice was really high and annoying, but he just laughed it off. After all, how could someone get annoyed by a character's voice?

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I scare you?” Toad asked. Toad lowered his high-pitched voice to the point where it didn’t hurt Koutarou’s ears.

Koutarou sighed. “Y-yes, you did,” he replied. Koutarou rubbed his ears. He didn’t know if that one surprise from Toad hurt his ears. “Tell me something; why is your voice really high-pitched?” Koutarou removed his hands from his ears.

“...” Toad put his hand on his chin and thought about the teen’s question for a while. “Hmm… To be honest, I don’t really know why my voice is high-pitched. I was just born like this,”

“Oh,” Koutarou said in realization. “I should’ve asked Master Hand,” he muttered. 

“So,” Toad eyed down Koutarou. “What brings a person like you to the princess’s castle?” Toad only knew that others of his kind were the only ones who would enter the castle. They were mostly there to give gifts to the princess or give their thanks. Not one of those people he saw walking in and out of the castle looked like this teen.

“Me?” Koutarou pointed to himself. “I just wanted to look around here. That is all,” he replied. “(I mean that is all I can do since Master Hand only told me to go inside the castle! Why couldn’t he have just given me an objective?!)”

“Just looking around?” Toad said. His voice was beginning to get more menacing. “Are you sure?” He looked directly into Koutarou’s eyes.

“Y-yes,” Koutarou replied. A small stutter was in his voice. “That is all I’m doing here.” Koutarou could see the Toad’s white pupil inside the blackness of his eyes. It kind of scared him. Those cold, emotionless eyes just stared at him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

“Hmmmmmmm…” Toad looked at Koutarou’s body once more. “You don’t look like you are from around here. Are you from somewhere outside the Mushroom Kingdom?” he asked.

Koutarou stood there quietly. He knew he had to say yes so he wouldn’t get more questions from Toad, but he didn’t know how to respond. “(Damn it, this is easy to reply to, but I don’t know any kingdoms outside the Mushroom Kingdom,)” he thought angrily. “(I-I’ll just make something up. These little guys can’t possibly know anything outside the kingdom they live in, right?)”

Finally stopping this silence, Koutarou spoke. “Yes… I’m from a kingdom with high mountains, many rivers, a jungle, and something else I can’t remember.”

Toad lifted his head up. “...I don’t think I ever heard of a kingdom like the one you just described,” he responded. “But, there are probably other kingdoms that we haven’t found yet like yours.”

Koutarou gulped. “(I think he bought it,)” he thought. 

“Well,” Toad brought his head back down. “I’m glad I get to meet a new person we have never seen before,” he said smiling. His tone completely changed from menacing into complete joy.

“What the?” Koutarou said in confusion. “Wait? What was the threatening act for?”

“Oh, that,” Toad chuckled,” that was just to get an answer out of you. The princess told us Toad’s who are in charge of guarding the castle to act like this to people we don’t know.” He scratched the back of his head with a smile on his face.

“(What the hell,)” Koutarou thought. His face changed into confusion. “Well...that was interesting to hear from you, but I need to get going now.” Without waiting for Toad to give a response, Koutarou started walking away.

Toad jolted in front of Koutarou. “Hold up, where are you going?” he asked. 

Koutarou sighed. He didn’t want to keep talking to the Toad. All he wanted to do was go to the first level, wherever that was, and recruit the first Smasher. “Look, Toad, I’m just trying to find the first level,” Koutarou said, slightly irritated at Toad.

Toad thought for a moment. “The first level… I think there was someone who came in here in a rush talking about that,” he said. “I forgot his name...but I think it started with an M.”

Koutarou gasped softly. “(An M? It has to be Mario because he is the only person in this game where his name starts with an M,)” he thought. “It’s Mar.”

“Mario!” Toad yelled.

Koutarou covered his ears swiftly. “Owwww! What the heck man! Your yelling hurts!” he yelled. The teen could hear a ringing noise in his ear. But it wasn’t loud or soft. It was somewhere in between. “(Great! Now I’m going to lose my hearing because of this Toad! Honestly, why did the creators have to give him such a high-pitched voice? Now I know why most people hated his voice,)” he thought. The ringing noise in his ear was getting softer.

“I’m sorry about that,” Toad apologized, making sure to tone down his voice. “But, I saw him going to the first level. If you are wondering where it is, then look at where I’m pointing at.” Toad extended a finger and pointed at a door behind him. The door was on a floor a little bit elevated off the ground. The way to get to the door was to take three steps that were on the teen’s left.

Koutarou slowly took his hands off his ears and looked at the door. “Thank...you Toad. Now I can be on my way and you can go back to your job,” he said. Koutarou started walking towards the steps. But he was stopped by the small, high-pitched, Toad. “Oh my god,” he muttered. “(Why is he so ignorant?!)”

“Ahem,” Toad cleared his throat, “before I let you move forward I will have to accompany you to the first level.” 

“And...why do you need to do that? It’s not like I’m going to die by the small three steps,” Koutarou said sarcastically.

Koutarou did know the danger of stairs and how 12,000 people die from stairs in one year. Luckily, the teen never had to deal with the chance of dying from an accidental trip on the stairs. Even though his room was on the second floor of his house, he would always be careful going up or down the stairs. However, Koutarou really hates when he has to do this every time he has to walk up or down steps. But it is good for him that he does not do this when there is a small number of steps.

“Well, you don’t know where Mario is and I do. So basically you need me,” Toad argued. 

“Uh…” Koutarou wasn’t expecting that from Toad. “...You are right about that…” He trailed off. Koutarou didn’t want to admit it but for the first time in his life, he didn’t have a counterargument. 

Though the only arguments the teen ever had was with his friends or parents. In these arguments, he would always have knowledge of how to respond to them because he did his research. But now he was in an entirely different universe that he, for the most part, didn’t know. Not to say that he didn’t like learning new things, it was just that he did not want to spend time on Wikipedia looking at game lore. It was seen as unnecessary information to him because he and his friends did like games, but they didn’t really care about the information of everything in the game. All they wanted to do was play the game and have a fun time. Thus, Koutarou was in trouble in this universe and the many others he was going to visit because if he was going to argue to anyone from now on, he was going to have to be careful.

“(After I recruit the first Smasher, Mario, I have to do research on the world Master Hand is transporting me to next,)” Koutarou thought to himself. “Toad,” he sighed, “I guess...you lead the way then.”

Toad nodded. “Yes, sir,” he replied happily. Toad extended out his arm at Koutarou.

At first, the teen was confused, but then he understood why Toad extended his arm to him. “I’m not going to hold your hand,” Koutarou complained lightly.

“Hmph, it was worth a try,” Toad said. He put his hand back down. “Let’s get going.” 

Toad has temporarily joined your team.

“What the hell?” Koutarou questioned. “(What was that?)”

Toad turned around to face Koutarou. “Is something wrong?” he asked. 

“No… It just felt like someone announced something just now,” Koutarou replied. “Never mind, it must sound like I’m crazy.”

Toad didn’t speak for a moment. “That is a bit odd for someone to hear a voice,” he said. “But it shouldn’t be that serious, right? It could just be you imagining things.”

“Yeah, you are probably right Toad. It could just be my mind imagining a voice,” Koutarou replied. “(But then why would it say “Toad has temporarily joined your team” something like that wouldn’t be imagined.)” Koutarou nodded his head side to side. “Let’s get going, Toad.”

Toad turned around. “Finally, we get to go,” he said. 

The duo trodded towards the door housing the first level. As they made their way up the three steps, Koutarou thought for a second. “(I wonder where they got this red carpet?)” he thought to himself.

Once they arrived at the door, Toad grabbed the knob and opened it. The door made a creaking sound just like a door in an old house would make. Toad stepped aside, letting Koutarou take the first step inside the room.

Koutarou looked around. The room had the same checkerboard pattern as the main room, but a couple of yards in front of the teen was a painting. Or should I say three paintings because there were three giant identical paintings in the room? They had a bomb with the rope on top being lit, but this bomb had white eyes and yellow feet and shoes. The back of this lifelike bomb had a wind-up key, which Koutarou saw only on toys he had or on advertisements.

“What’s with the other two paintings?” Koutarou asked, getting closer to the artworks. “I mean the princess could have only gotten one.”

“Well,” Toad said, approaching Koutarou. “This is supposed to be a room where visitors can look at the art the princess has. The multiple paintings are so that if we have many visitors, they will be able to see the painting and their view won’t be blocked.” 

Koutarou nodded in agreement. “That is very fair to people who are on the short side,” he said.

Toad walked to the painting in the middle. “But this one will lead us to the first level where Mario went,” he said, pointing his finger to the portrait. 

The teen looked at the portrait. He felt a weird sensation, like the painting, was emitting magic. It was weird that the teen thought that it felt like magic. After all, he only knew magic was in fantasy and RPG games. So he didn’t really understand how this feeling was like magic to him. He did dream about magic being real, so it seemed that that was the only conceivable way of getting this feeling.

“So… Are we going to go inside the picture?” Koutarou asked.

“Yes, we are going inside of it,” Toad assured him. Without warning, he took the hand of Koutarou and jumped into the painting. This happened so fast that the teen wasn’t able to process this fast enough. But, he was able to process a portal opening in front of the painting.

The last words he mouthed before being transported to the first level was, “Holy shi.”

To Be Continued...

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Next Chapter:

“The Red Plumber”

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-Bob-omb Battlefield-

Koutarou, Toad

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And thus, the second chapter of this story is finally complete. Originally, I wanted to make this chapter longer, but I felt that I was just stretching it out and felt like I was never going to finish it.

But all I have to do now is give a sigh of relief and mentally prepare myself to write a long chapter. Why? Well, it’s because I am a crazy person who decided, “How about the entire arc is the game from start to finish.”

That is not a joke, I really thought that. And I think it is not that bad for character development for the Smashers and Koutarou. So, I’m considering it.

Speaking of Smashers, the first official Smasher shall appear at last.

I encourage all Toad fans who don’t mind his high-pitched voice to review.