"M-mario..." Twigg gritted his teeth, rubbing his head against the cold, dark floor. "Mario, where are you..."
The shadows await, just in the distance, watching, as the detective slowly rose to his feet, a mysterious sheen cast in the reflection of his sunglasses.
"You'll all pay..." He panted, running a hand across the brim of his Trilby. "I swear, if anything's happened to Mario and the others, you'll ALL pay!" Twigg clicked a button on the brim of the hat, gripping onto its edge and quickly tossing it off his head. As the headpiece traveled forward, the brim unsheathed itself, revealing a circular saw blade beneath. It barreled through the crowd, slicing a few phantoms into smoke, before returning to Twigg's grasp, retracting its blade.
The craw gripped onto his sunglasses, leaning forward with his feet firmly planted against the ground, and released a giant, luminescent beam from his eyes, instantly vaporizing the remaining crowd. He fell to his knees, leaning on a fist, as he let out a sigh of relief.
"Please, let everyone be alright..." Twigg whispered to himself, slowly standing back up.
(You now control Twigg, making your way through a multitude of shadow enemies, until you reach the "cliff" edge of the area, leading into the fog.)
"Is this the end?" Twgg asked himself, looking down from the ledge he stood on, into the dark abyss below. An army of shadow creatures surrounded from behind, slowly creeping up on the craw. "Which way would ya rather die, Twigg?" The detective joked to himself, taking a few steps back. As the monsters closed in, he found himself at the very end of the ground, and as he took another step back, into the nothing, he fell onto his back, hitting the air as if it were solid.
"W-what?" Twigg sat up, watching, as the dark mob stood just in front of him, unable to move past the "cliff," unable to follow him any further. "Well, now, this is a bit of a surprise..." He mused among himself, reaching out, only to have his hand swiped at by a monster. "Yeesh!" He pulled his hand back, in shock. "Alright, fine, I'll stop taunting." He turned around, facing the void that stretch in front of him, and took a few steps forward.
The temperature seemed to drop into the negatives, as the craw huddled himself through the thick, green fog, a slight wind chilling his bones. Just ahead, a dark, whispy orb seemed to bob, up and down on the wind, floating amongst the void. Twigg slowly approached it, curious, yet cautious as to what it was.
"D-do you know where I am?" Twigg asked. The orb gave no response, only kept floating, silently.
"Is there even a way out of here?!?" Twigg asked again, this time, more desperately. The orb remained silent, and the craw detective reached a hand out to see if it were even real. Upon skimming it, the orb began to shake violently, causing Twigg to back away in surprise.
"I am a Shadow... I am the truth which lies beyond the walls of the mind..." The orb began to growl. "To escape from here would be to escape from yourself... For here, you confront your darkest secrets... If you do not overcome your own greatest weaknesses... You will be consumed..."
"I KNEW you could talk..." Twigg snarked, raising his fists. "So, what, you want a fight?"
The orb began to mold itself into a large, silhouetted form. It grew bulky, muscular arms, enwrapped with chains, and horns upon its head. Its body was whispy, almost reminiscent of a ghost's, only its color became a deep, blood red.
"The devil himself..." Twigg whispered to himself, just loud enough for the creature to hear.
"NOT ENTIRELY." It spoke, its booming voice echoing through the void.
"Then, who are you?" The detective asked, readying his stance in case of a fight.
"THIS FORM IS BUT AN ILLUSION TO YOU. HOWEVER, I DO EXIST, AND YOU WILL SOON MEET ME. I AM A CURSED SPIRIT, LOCKED WITHIN THE FORSAKEN REALM. I AM BUT ONE OF THE MANY SOULS TOO DARK TO HAVE BEEN CONTAINED WITHIN ANY AFTERLIFE. RECENTLY, A WITCH BROKE THE DIMENSIONAL WALL, AND CROSSED OVER INTO OUR WORLD."
Twigg gasped. "Minoria!"
"SHE PLANS TO RESURRECT AN UNIMPORTANT SPIRIT WHOM BELONGS TO HER. LITTLE DOES SHE KNOW, HER ACTIONS HAVE SPARKED A SERIES OF MUCH DARKER DEEDS. WITH THE WALL TORN OPEN, NOTHING CAN STOP OUR VENGEFUL ARMY OF SPIRITS FROM BREAKING INTO THE PHYSICAL WORLD, AND BRINGING ALL LIFE TO AN END."
"What?!? You can't do that!" Twigg bit his tongue, nervously. "I won't let you!"
"AHH, SUCH A HEROIC SENTIMENT, COMING FROM ONE WHO ALREADY HAS FAILED!"
"W-what...?"
"YOU SAY YOU WISH TO IMPEDE OUR PROGRESS, YET, IT HAS BEEN YOU, THIS WHOLE TIME, WHO HAS BEEN THE PAWN TO GUIDE OUR SUCCESSION!"
Twigg shook his head. "What are you even talking about?!? I could never help you!"
The spirit being chuckled. "HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHO MADE YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE?"
Winds rushed about the room, as the spirit took the detective's hand, crafting in front of them a dream-like setting; a beautiful palace, brooding with shadows, yet elegant, refined.
"THIS IS WHERE IT ALL BEGAN." The spirit spoke, waving his hand to make the time move freely. Other spirit beings waded through the palace, passing by the pair, seemingly without notice.
"THIS IS MY HOME. THE FORBIDDEN REALM."
"Can they..." Twigg stuttered. "Can they see us?"
"YOU NEED NOT WORRY, THIS IS ONLY AN ILLUSION, A HISTORY BURIED DEEP WITHIN YOUR MIND. THIS IS SIMPLY A PHYSICAL DISPLAY OF YOUR PAST."
Twigg followed the spirit through the halls of the palace, watching the other beings, musing about in their endless pity.
"Its so... Sad, here..."
"SOME OF THE TENANTS OF THIS REALM HAVE BEEN HERE SINCE THE DAWNING OF TIME. LOST, FOR ALL ETERNITY, FORCED TO WANDER THESE HALLS WITH NO ABSOLUTION. BUT HERE, WE APPROACH MY CHAMBER."
Twigg followed the spirit through a large door, down a flight of steps into what seemed like a mad scientist's laboratory. Sitting at a desk in the far corner, a spirit who resembled Twigg's guide tapped his nails into the wood, scribbling countless notes.
"Is that..." Twigg looked up at his guide, already assuming the answer as 'yes' by the look on hi8s face. "Why does he look so... Ordinary?" The detective waltzed up to the figure at the desk, getting a better look at him. "He's hardly any different than an average person!"
"THOUGH IN ASTRAL FORM, WE MAY SEEM MENACING, WE ARE BUT PROJECTIONS OF WHO WE REALLY ARE. DO NOT FORGET THAT WE ARE THE SOULS OF THOSE WHO HAVE ONCE WALKED THE EARTH."
"So..." Twigg looked down, at the papers on the desk. "Are these my..."
"BLUEPRINTS. MORE THAN FOUR THOUSAND REVISED DRAFTS, TO CREATE A LIVING COMPANION."
"S-so... You created me because you were lonely..."
The spirit nodded, snapping his fingers together, causing time to speed forward.
"Y-you can't take him away!" The spirit screamed, hiding Twigg behind his back. "He's my greatest invention, he's all I have to call my own, in this godforsaken place!" A tall, shadowy figure raised a bony finger, causing the model of Twigg to glow.
"What's happening?" Twigg asked his guide.
"YOU WERE NOT ALLOWED TO STAY IN THIS DIMENSION WITH ME. I HAD GIVEN YOU LIFE, AND THUS, YOU WERE FITTED TO WALK THE EARTH. THOSE WHO WATCH OVER THE LAND OF THE DEAD TOOK YOU AWAY FROM ME."
The shadowy figure clenched its fist, causing the Twigg model to disappear.
"I WEPT OVER MY LOSS FOR WHAT FELT LIKE AN ETERNITY. HOWEVER, IN MY DEPRESSION, I ACCIDENTALLY FOUND A LOOPHOLE." The guide snapped once more, speeding forward the time. In the room, now, the spirit sat at his desk once more, laughing maniacally, gripping a small, wooden marionette cross in his hands.
"MY MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING YOU IN YOUR EARLIER MODELS WAS STILL IN FUNCTION. SOMEHOW, SOME WAY, ITS REACH HAD CROSSED THE WALL, AND YOU COULD BE INFLUENCED BY MY TOUCH. IT WAS THEN THAT I DEVISED AN ESCAPE, A SOLUTION TO THE HELL I WAS LOCKED WITHIN."
The spirit guide waved his hand, causing the illusion to fall away, leaving himself and Twigg back in the darkened abyss, alone, surrounded by fog.
"I COULD SEE THE EARTH THROUGH YOUR EYES, AND LEARNED OF ITS WAYS THROUGH YOU. WHEN YOU HAD BEEN TAKEN FROM ME, YOU WERE PLACED IN AN INVESTIGATIVE AGENCY, A PLACE BEST SUITED TOWARD YOUR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. IT SEEMED AS IF ALL THE CARDS HAD FALLEN PERFECTLY INTO POSITION, AS YOU WERE HANDED A CASE IN A SMALL, WOODED VILLAGE THEY CALLED 'TREMBLE.' I MET A MAN NAMED MARIO THROUGH YOUR EYES, A MAN I KNEW WOULD HELP TO BREAK THE DIMENSIONAL WALL THE MOMENT I LEARNED HE WAS COLLECTING THE POWERS OF THE ANCIENT GUARDIANS."
Twigg shook his head in disbelief. "So everything I did from there on was just secretly guided by you?!?"
"I BEGGED THE FATES FOR A CHANCE TO MEET WITH THIS 'MARIO' AGAIN, AND MY PRAYERS WERE FINALLY ANSWERED, IN A CASE IN A LARGE CITY THEY CALLED 'JAZZOPOLIS.' THERE, I LEARNED OF JUST WHAT THIS MARIO'S MISSION WAS, AND WILLED YOU TO BEFRIEND HIM, KNOWING THAT HIS EFFORTS WOULD EVENTUALLY BRING ABOUT THE DOWNFALL OF THE DIMENSIONAL WALL."
"I don't believe you, this is all just ridiculous! It's... It's downright impossible!" Twigg clenched his fists, shouting.
"YOU WERE NOTHING BUT A PUPPET, KEEPING MARIO SAFE LONG ENOUGH TO BREAK THE WALL. NOW THAT THE WITCH HAS DONE IT, I NO LONGER NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE. BE GONE!"
The spirit burst back into shadow, reforming itself as a monstrous hand, gripping a marionette. The strings outstretched toward the detective, their ends barbed. Twigg readjusted his glasses, grinning smugly, ready for a fight.
"I... WILL... CONSUME!" The beast screamed, as Twigg jumped into action.
BOSS BATTLE: THE USED
"I... Am the true form... Of your heart's darkest fears... I am the guide that has edged you along, your whole life... I will not falter... I will not lose... Accept your fate..."
(This boss battle is programmed to be unwinnable, after a couple of terms, the sequence will end on its own, going right back to the story.)
Twigg fell to the floor, coughing in pain.
"I... WILL... CONSUME!" The beast reassumed its shadow orb form, ensnaring the detective. He struggled, panting heavily, unable to break free.
'I guess this is a fitting end...' Twigg thought, unable to speak, his body feeling like it were being crushed. 'Mario... I won't be able to tell Mario about the war...' He took a sharp breath in, his sunglasses cracked, starting to cry. 'Please be careful, everyone...' He choked, his vision starting to go dark all around him.
"I'm... Sorry..." The craw's body fell limp in the shadow's grasp. His sunglasses slowly slid from his face, falling to the floor, breaking in half. A single, final tear dropped from his cheek, splashing against the surface of his glasses, far below. The struggle had ended.
It was all over.
"He truly is my most useful invention... He'll make a wonderful vessel..."
END OF CHAPTER!
So, there ya have it, guys, the partner trials are almost over, and the plot really seems to be thickening, quite a bit, hmmhmm... Is Minoria TRULY the biggest threat to the safety of the kingdom of Trebellus? Or is there a greater enemy afoot? Are the witch's intentions even truly evil? Or is she just trying to reclaim what was once hers? What will become of the other partners? And how is our famous plumber in red fairing? So many questions, left to answer...
I hope you all enjoyed reading this part, I'll try to get to the other two as soon as I can.
Until then... PEACE.
Nintendo owns Mario and all things associated, this is simply a fan made story, so don't come at me like "ZOMGEE COPYRIGHT! 11!ONE" I don't claim anything but the writing and the art itself, so calm thyself. I don't make money off of this, I do it 100% for fun, so shoosh.
