Somewhere Over The Rainbow
By KholdstareV
NOTE: This story take place after the events that unfolded in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and contains major spoilers of said game. Read at your own risk! o.0
PROLOGUE
- A Grand Reunion -
Vivian was sitting in her armchair daydreaming when she suddenly heard the familiar sound of flapping wings. The sound always made her heart flutter - Parakarry was dropping off the mail. She immediately got up to greet him.
It was another dimly lit day in Twilight Town. Vivian flew out the door and looked over towards the mailbox. Parakarry hovered in front of it and pulled a single letter out of his mailbag. Vivian could tell he was nervous, seeing as Twilight Town was a bit of a creepy place for him. However, once he turned and saw her standing at the door, he smiled. "Mail Call!" he said playfully. Vivian laughed.
"Hey there, Vivian! How ya doin'?"
Vivian smiled and floated up to him. "Hi Parakarry! I'm great! How are you?"
"Err... been a long day, but I reckon I'm all right." Parakarry was about to put the letter in the mailbox, but simply decided to hand it to Vivian. "Got yourself one letter there, Missy! Sure looks fancy, don't it?"
Vivian took the envelope and examined it. The paper itself almost appeared to shine like gold... "Oh, OK. Thank you Parakarry."
Parakarry nodded and began flapping his wings. "Well, I still got a bit more work ahead of me. Take care Vivian!"
Vivian waved as he began to take off. "OK, keep working hard, Parakarry! Oh, and please... You have to tell me about your adventures with Mario one day!"
"I definitely will, Sugar! Bye bye!" And with that, Parakarry flew off into the Twilight.
Vivian held the envelope in her hands and stared down at it. Who could it be from? The only letter she'd ever gotten was from Mario and the gang shortly after they had finished their last adventure...
The second she thought of that, her heart grew heavy. Oh, how she longed to see them all again! The time she'd spent traveling with Mario had been the greatest time of her life. She'd grown far more confident since then, as well. She recalled that before ever meeting, she would always cover her eyes with her curl of hair because she'd always felt so inferior to her older sisters. But ever since she'd returned home, she now found herself showing her eyes to the world more often...
Vivian took off her hat and brushed the curl aside with her fingers, revealing her beautiful blue and purple eyes. They sparkled even in the dim moonlight. Being a Shadow Siren, she knew her eyes had power of faintly seducing any member of the opposite sex. She never actually used this gift, but it was nice to know she had it. C:
Vivian fingered the golden envelope. She turned it around and carefully opened it. She then took out the paper within and unfolded it, revealing a beautifully handwritten note. She eagerly began to read...
--
Dearest Heroine of Rogueport,
Accounts of your brave deeds have spread even as far as this land of Morteva. Upon hearing these news, I knew you would be the one to ask for help... Yes, we are in dire need of a heroine such as yourself. I haven't the time to explain in this letter, so if you choose to take on this task, please meet me at Morteva's dock on Friday afternoon. I have enclosed tickets for the luxury ocean liner Elation to ferry you here. The boat leaves on Wednesday and shall arrive on Friday. I will be waiting for you, Vivian. I beg of you to help us all. The Gods will thank you.
--
Vivian read the letter aloud to herself once more and was astonished. Wow, someone wanted her help? And they called her "Dearest Heroine of Rogueport"... It sounded so dignified! And the "Gods" would thank her...? Geez, this sure sounded important...
Vivian reached into the envelope and felt several thin slips of paper. She pulled them out, and found they were boarding passes for the luxury ocean liner Elation. That was the most expensive cruise ship in the world, as far as she knew! Goodness, what an opportunity! She excitedly counted the boarding passes...
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8...
Wait a minute... 8?! Oh, wow! She had just the right amount to bring Mario and all her friends form their last adventure! Could she really...? Oh, what if she could? The thought made her so happy she almost felt like crying. Another adventure with Mario and her friends. It had been her dream... she HAD to tell her sisters! She began to drift back to the house to tell them.
But then she stopped. What if she did tell them? Would they expect her to bring them along? Would Beldam approve of letting Vivian go in the first place? Beldam surely wasn't evil anymore, but she was still upset about what had happened...
Vivian decided not to tell her sisters, with fear that they might force Vivian to take them along, or worse, that Beldam would forbid her to go. However, if she just left without letting them know where she went, wouldn't they worry? She decided to just leave the note she'd gotten in the mail on the table for her sisters to see. She'd just keep the Elation boarding passes in the envelope and take it.
Vivian crept into the living room and looked around. When she saw no one, she quickly threw the letter on the table and flew out the door. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she began to head out...
"VIVIAN!!"
Beldam's screeching voice made Vivian stop in her tracks. She turned around and saw Beldam standing at the front door with the letter in her hand. What the hell? She found it already?! Geez, of all rotten luck. Maybe leaving the letter had been a stupid idea after all...
"Vivian, where the HELL do you think you're going?"
"Umm, uhh... you- you found the letter already??"
"Of course! My 'Vivian is getting away' sense was tingling."
"Oh..." Vivian wasn't sure what to say to that.
"And why is your hat off!? Put it back on, you worm!"
Vivian immediately obeyed, putting her hat back on and once again shielding her beautiful eyes from the world.
"Now, come inside. We have to talk about this!"
"Yes sis," Vivian said sadly, following Beldam back into the house.
Beldam sat in an armchair next to Marilyn. Vivian was left standing in the middle of the room in front of both of them. Vivian listened as Beldam explained the whole situation to Marilyn, who nodded approvingly.
"So, someone in some place called Morteva wants YOUR help? And you're actually going there?!"
"Well, of course! Or, I mean, I was going there..."
"Was is right, you little piece of baggage! You're not going anywhere!"
Vivian then became angry. "Beldam, please! You said so yourself that you had gotten over the death of the Shadow Queen! Why do you still treat me so badly? You practically thanked Mario that he killed her!"
Beldam sighed. "I know, I only worked to revive the Shadow Queen because I thought I had to..."
"C'mon, Beldam! It's not like she was our mom or anything!..."
Beldam was silent for a long time. "I know, but she's the closet thing we ever got..."
"Yeah, I know..." Vivian moaned.
Beldam then looked up at her. "You have those boarding passes for the Elation?"
Vivian nodded and handed Beldam the envelope. She opened it and pulled them out. She counted eight. She then nodded. "So, you plan on taking your friends from Rogueport with you, is that it?"
Vivian was quite surprised by Beldam's inference. "Yes..."
"How long has it been since you last saw them? 6 months?"
Again, Vivian was surprised. "Yes. Exactly 6 months."
Beldam looked at the boarding passes for a while, then finally looked up. "Tell you what; You can go if Marilyn and I go, too."
"GUH!"
Vivian groaned. She KNEW Beldam would say that. "But there's only eight passes!"
"Well then you'll have to leave two of your friends behind. Sorry."
Vivian began to tear up. She tried to hide them, but Beldam still heard her muffled whimpers. "Vivian, don't be such a baby! We're your sisters, for goodness sake!"
But when Vivian still didn't stop whimpering, Beldam finally said, "OK, I'll give you the option of going with your friends, but I'll punish you the second you get back!"
Vivian then lit up. "Really? Oh, thank you! Any punishment you give me will still be worth it! Thank you, sis!"
"Yeah yeah..." Beldam grumbled.
"Just wondering, though... what will my punishment be? More chores?"
"Naw, we already have our new housekeeper to take care of that..."
"New housekeeper? Who is it?"
"Hiya Vivian!" a familiar voice called out.
Vivian looked over and saw Doopliss wearing an apron and holding a broom. Vivian's jaw dropped in disgust. "DOOPLISS?! Doopliss is our housekeeper??"
"Yeah," said Beldam. "We just hired him this morning!"
"But... why DOOPLISS??"
"Well, he actually came to us asking to do housework. And besides, he's only charging 5 cents an hour!"
Vivian turned to Doopliss with her hands on her hips. "5 cents an hour? Wow, work a five-hour shift and you got enough money to buy a gumball to feed your starving family! Oh wait, that's right! You don't have a family cuz you're too much of a jackass to get a wife!"
"Whoa, touch-Y!" Doopliss mocked before going back to sweeping.
Vivian then turned back to Beldam. "So... you promise to let me take my friends if you'll punish me when I get back?"
Beldam sneered. "I still think you should take Marilyn and I..."
But at that moment, Marilyn got up and floated over to Vivian. "Guh Guh GUH-HUH?"
"What the HELL did she just say?" Doopliss asked.
"She asked me... When I think about who I'd want to spend two days on a luxury cruise line with, who's the first person to come to mind?"
"And who IS the first person that comes to mind?" Beldam wondered.
Vivian smiled. "...Mario. Definitely."
Marilyn nodded, then turned to Beldam. "Guh GUH!"
Beldam looked away and handed the boarding passes to Marilyn. "Go on, take your friends. Have fun," she said as she did.
Marilyn handed the boarding passes to Vivian, who smiled with delight. "R-really?"
"Yeah, really. Get lost!"
Vivian was ecstatic. "Oh, thank you Beldam! Thank you so much!" She rushed up and gave Beldam a hug. Beldam grunted, but hugged her back.
"And thank you, Marilyn!"
"GUH!" Marilyn exclaimed as she gave her little sister a big hug.
"Can I go?" Doopliss asked sheepishly.
Vivian looked at him, disgusted. "Eww, no!"
"Aw, c'mon Viv! I'll be good!" he promised."Ugh, just shut the W-shaped hole of yours already!"
She then turned and waved sweetly towards her sister. "I'll be back soon! Bye bye!"
She heard no reply as she walked out the door.
Vivian floated towards the warp pipe to Rogueport . She held all eight boarding passes in her hands and held them close. Oh, she was going on another adventure with her friends again! She was so happy!
But her happiness soon faded when she saw a rather excited Doopliss running after her. He was calling to her like an idiot and trying to catch up. Ugh, what did he want now?!
Vivian clenched her teeth in annoyance as she heard Doopliss calling and running up to her. "Yo Viv, wait up! I really gotta ask you-!!"
But without waiting for another word, and without even turning around to look at him, she flipped him off. The power of her middle finger caused Doopliss to erupt like a volcano. "AAAGGGGHHHH!! You crazy bitch!!" he cried painfully, running crazily back towards the house.
Doopliss ran around the back of the house and saw the well. Dying to put out the searing flames, he jumped in. However, it was pretty much empty, and he fell twenty feet before landing with a SMACK!! There was a shallow puddle of water at the bottom, which he rolled around in to extinguish the flames. Once he was all put out, he plopped down and sighed. "Oh, cruel Vivian," he thought, "Why do you treat me so...?"
Vivian appeared in the Rogueport sewers after riding through the pipe. When she did, she began to wonder if maybe she'd been a little hard on Doopliss. After all, it's not like he had been trying to hurt her...
No. Doopliss was a horrible person. He had tried to kill her, and he had tried to steal Mario's identity and kill him, too. No amount of fire would do his crimes justice, she decided. With that, she began head towards the surface.
However, along the way, she got little mixed up. Perhaps she'd taken a wrong pipe or something, but she somehow ended up at the site of the Thousand-Year Door...
It was slightly open.
Seeing the door again gave her shivers. She remembered periodically returning here with Mario on their adventure, and every time she would see it, she'd get a twisted feeling in her stomach... that feeling you get you know something is so close, yet so far away...
Of course, the door was open now, but still... looking at it made her feel uneasy. It reminded her of her sisters, and how crazy they went over the opening of the door. And the Shadow Queen...
Once the Shadow Queen entered Vivian's mind, she forced herself to look away. She didn't want to think about that. She didn't want to remember any of it.
Vivian put her hand on her forehead, and realized she'd been holding her breath and shaking badly. She let out a strong gust of air, but her quivering did not stop. She had to go. She had to get out of there.
Vivian quickly drifted out of the room, without taking another look at the Thousand-Year Door...
Vivian was relieved to finally smell the salty sea air of Rogueport. She looked around and smiled. "Wow," she told herself, "This town has really gotten a lot friendlier since the defeat of the Shadow Queen." Indeed, it had. Crime rates had dropped tremendously, and the syndicate's money was slowly being used to rebuild the town. It was quite a sight to see.
Vivian pulled out the 8 boarding passes. She took one and noticed a memo printed on the back of it:
--
Elation Cruise Line destinations: Lavalava Island, Yoshi Island, Beanbean Kingdom, Toad Town, Chocolate Island, Morteva
And written below:
A new stop has been added to the Elation's series of vacation spots - Keelhaul Key! Situated directly between Chocolate Island and Morteva, the Elation Cruise Line has now added Keelhaul Key, as it is now no longer haunted, as a vacation destination between these two ports. Next scheduled docking at keelhaul Key this Wednesday, February 23.
--
Vivian thought to herself. Keelhaul Key was a port that she and all the members of the party were familiar with, so it'd definitely be best if they all boarded the ship there. The boat was going to be docking at Keelhaul Key on February 23, which just so happened to be the very next day. Did she really have time to deliver all the boarding passes to everyone individually? She wondered if maybe it'd be better to mail them as priority mail, and then have everyone all meet up on Keelhaul Key instead. Yeah, she would do that! It'd feel more special if they could all arrange to meet at the same place anyway! They all knew they could just use the Rogueport sewers to reach the island easily. It was a perfect idea!
Vivian glided as fast as she could to the bar and paid Podley 5 coins to use the phone. She quickly dialed the Toad Town Post Office.
"Hello? Parakarry? Yeah, it's me, Vivian. Hi! Listen, I have some priority mail that must be delivered ASAP... Yes, it's very important... It concerns Mario... Oh, you'll do it? Oh, Thank you so much! Meet me at the Rogueport docks in one hour... Seven, yes. It will be seven separate deliveries... Yeah, sure. I'll explain everything when you get here..."
Vivian drifted merrily along the sandy shores of Keelhaul Key. She carried all her belongings in a little blue backpack, which was slung over one shoulder. She soon reached her destination - a huge dock which had just been built by the locals. This was where the Elation would pick them up and take them all to Morteva in just a couple hours!
Vivian worried a bit. What if somebody's boarding pass got lost in the mail? Parakarry promised to deliver them all safely and quickly, but he wasn't exactly the most dependable mailman in the world...
She looked across the grassy area and saw a series of benches for waiting passengers. She noticed someone sitting on one of them. She took a closer look. That green shell... that blue sweatshirt...
Koops! Koops was already there, waiting for her! Vivian was so excited she just wanted to run up there and say hi! But then she wondered, wouldn't it be funner to surprise him? But... how could she do that?
Vivian had an idea how she could surprise Koops. She quickly put her idea into action and slipped into the shadows. Now that she didn't have to worry about pulling Mario down with her, she could now move freely through the shadow realm. She shifted forward until she was sure she was under Koops' bench, then poked her head out from the shadows and confirmed her position. Then, mimicking Beldam's witch-like voice as best she could, she said...
"Koooops..."
Koops looked around curiously, but did not see anyone, completely unaware that Vivian was directly beneath the bench he was sitting on. Vivian called out a bit louder this time...
"Koooooops!
"Hmm..." Koops told himself. "I recognize that voice from somewhere..."
Vivian spoke again. "Koooops, I've come back to kill you!"
It then came to him. "Beldam? Is that you?""Yes... and I've come to exact my revenge upon you!"
Koops remained virtually unafraid. "Umm... Beldam? Yeah, I don't want to sound rude, but, umm... I killed your queen, so... I'm kinda sure I can beat you, too."
"Ah, but you had Mario with you then. You couldn't have beaten my queen without her. But here... you're all alone... no Mario to back you up... Hehehe!"
Koops realized that was true. As he sat tense on the bench, Vivian slowly rose out of the ground behind him and breathed deeply on the back of his neck. He screamed and jumped up, but when he turned to see who had done it, he saw no one. Vivian had slipped into the shadows at that moment, and was now standing behind him.
"And now... you DIE!"
Koops then stood defensively. "N-no... I won't let you! I have an egg waiting back at home, and I'm going to be there to see it hatch, no matter WHAT you do!"
Vivian lit up when she heard that. "Oh my gosh! Really??"
Koops screamed and turned around, but when he saw Vivian, he got a strange look on his face. A mixture of fear, confusion, annoyance. But after a few seconds, it became a warm smile. "Vivian!!"
"Koops!" she cried, giving him a hug.
"It's good to see you again! How've you been?"
"Great! Sorry I scared you. I just wanted to surprise you a little..."
"Oh, umm... that's OK."
"So, I guess you're doing good, considering you've got an egg at home!"
"Hehe, yup! Koopie Koo laid an egg just a couple weeks ago."
"Oh, that's wonderful! I mean, can you believe it? You're gonna be a DADDY soon!"
Koops chuckled. "Yeah... me, a dad. Who'd have thought?"
Vivian then noticed Koops was carrying his boarding pass in his sweatshirt pocket. "So, I see Parakarry delivered your boarding pass alright?"
Koops looked down at it and took it out. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I got it. He told me you got a distress letter from some place called Morteva asking you for help, and they sent you 8 Elation tickets to ferry you there?"
"Yeah! Isn't that wild?"
"Geez, yeah! So, you umm... invited all our pals from the adventure last time, right?"
"Of course! They should all be here soon!"
"Oh, that's great! I can't wait to see them and tell them the news!"
"Is Koopie Koo going to be OK without you there for a while?"
"Yeah. I considered not coming, but she insisted. I'll be sure to keep in contact with her, though."
"OK. Well, let's just sit and chat until the others come..."
Over the course of the next 2 hours, party members began to arrive at the beach one by one...
Bobbery was the first to show up, having been ferried to the beach by Cortez. He was now a successful merchant sailor, and proudly announced that he had begun dating again for the first time since Scarlette's death.
Flurrie was next. Everyone knew how she was doing - she'd struck it big with her latest play "Paper Mario" and was living the good life. She'd also lost a bit of weight, so she looked quite a bit prettier (though not tremendously )
After that came Goombella. She'd recently finished her second year of schooling at the University of Goom. She was going to major in archeology, and hoped to one day explore the Dry Dry Ruins in the Mushroom Kingdom. The first thing everyone noticed, though, was that she no longer wore her hair in a ponytail - she just let her golden locks hang down. She still wore her mining helmet, though.
Next was Ms Mowz. Not much had changed for her. She still roamed the world in search of rare badges to sell at her store, which had now become quite a bit more than just a room with a counter. Her business and life were thriving, it seemed, so she was happy.
Afterwards came everyone's favorite baby green Yoshi, Verdugo. He had become a very popular solo fighter in the Glitz Pit, and had come close to winning several title matches, though he'd yet to actually win one. He hadn't changed a whole lot either, except he was now just a wee bit bigger with more hair.
Everyone that arrived was greeted with an ecstatic welcome and a big hug from everyone. They were indeed very happy to see each other, and they all had so much to tell! They spent tons of time just chatting amongst themselves about how they'd been since they last traveled together. They would occasionally voice memories of their adventure with Mario, and it would release all those warm and exciting memories deep within all their hearts...
However, one hero had yet to arrive...
That is, until Goombella spotted him walking along the shore towards them.
"Look!" she called out, causing everyone to turn around...
"MARIO!!"
"Hey guys!" Mario shouted, waving happily at the group and sped up to meet them. When he reached the happy crowd, they immediately smothered him in hugs.
Peach arrived shortly after Mario. She had hardly been able to keep up with Mario, seeing as he was so excited to see all his friends again. When Parakarry delivered the Elation boarding pass to Mario, Peach decided she wanted to go, too. She promised to pay for her own ticket when the boat came.
"How have you been, Mario dear?" Flurrie asked.
"Same old, same old," Mario said. "Just continuin' the plumber business with Luigi. Nothin' too special."
"How about you, miss Princess Peach?" Bobbery wondered.
"Oh, nothing too special with me either. Typical administrative work... Not easy being a princess, so I do enjoy a vacation once in a while!"
Before anyone could say anything else, Verdugo called out excitedly, "Check it out, there's the boat!"
Everyone turned and looked out at the water. Coming towards them was perhaps the largest, most magnificent ocean liner any of them had ever seen. It was humongous, seriously! And along the side, written in bold blue letters, was the word "ELATION".
The Elation carefully docked and opened its doors. Several tourists got off the boat to admire Keelhaul Key's beaches, but Mario and the gang were boarding. Vivian was so happy to see that each one had gotten their boarding passes delivered, and Peach gladly paid for her own.
"So, where are our rooms?" Mario asked the doorman.
"You will be staying in Rooms 666-668, on the second deck."
"Only 3 rooms? But there's 9 of us," Peach said.
"Sorry miss, but we're all filled up. Of course, all 9 of you are riding together, right? I'm sure you wouldn't mind sharing a few rooms, would you?"
"I guess not," Mario figured.
"OK then, but just remember that each room only has 4 bunks, so... yeah, I'll leave all that up to you guys. Have fun and enjoy your trip on the Elation luxury cruise line!"
All 9 of them walked through the door and explored the ships humongous sublevel hallways until they came across their 3 rooms - 666, 667, and 668. No one was totally sure how the decision came about, but the rooms were eventually divided up. Goombella, Flurrie, Vivian and Ms Mowz took Room 666, Mario and Peach took Room 667, and Koops, Verdugo and Bobbery shared Room 668.
Shortly after all the rooms had been selected, the Elation's foghorn sounded, indicating that it was time to disembark. Destination - Morteva...