Paper Mario: The sacred shard/Story

== Prologue ==
(After the events of the origami king, the. mushroom kingdom is now at peace. People are sleeping, owls are hooting, all seems fine on this quiet night.)
...
(What, you expected there to be a twist? No. Not THIS early.)
(The next day, everybody is out of bed, the mushroom kingdom is full of people chatting, and all seems normal.)
Luigi: Oh, the mushroom kingdom is looking lively today, eh, Mario?
Mario: *Nod*
Luigi: Let's see how the princess is doing, Mario!
*Que walking sequence*
Toad in background 1: Hey! Thats my sandwich! 
Toad in background 2: Oh yeah? I don't see your name on it. So it isn't yours. 
Toad in background 1: Well that explains why i don't see your name on your life! Because you stole it from a dollar store!
Toad in background 3: Woah there! Calm down you two. This is a time to be nice to each other. Not going ham on somebody because they took your salami sandwich. 
Toad in background 2: Was that pun intended?
Toad in background 3: Huh?
Luigi: Hahaha! Those toads never cease to crack me up. Oh! We're at the castle now, Mario! 
*Opens door*
Peach: Oh! Hello, Mario and Luigi!
Luigi: Hello, Princess! How are you today?
Peach: I'm doing great! How about you two? 
Luigi: We're doing just fine, Princess!
Peach: That's great! I was just about to check on the festival. I bet the toads are having so much fun! By the way, do you know what this festival is about?
(The Mario brothers look at each other, then look back at Peach.)
Luigi: No, Princess, I don't really think we do.
Peach: Don't fret! Let me show you.
(The Mario brothers and Princess peach walk to a room that used to be the boo garden, but has now turned into a level of some sort.)
Luigi: Is that a shard on that painting? 
Peach: Indeed it is. This is the secret exhibit for the mighty shards. There are 6 regular shards, but there's only one shard, the sacred shard, that grants amazing power. It's rather dangerous if it gets into the wrong hands.
Luigi: Wait, but whats gonna keep a toad from getting here? 
Peach: Well, funny story, this used to be a boo garden. Once the toads found out they wouldn't even bother looking at the door. So i knew that if there was any place to hide the shard, it would be a place they think they know about, and are scared to go in. If i hid it anywhere else, with this kingdom's standards, a toad would've used some sort of speed running glitch to clip through the walls and find the shard.
Luigi: Oh, that's understandable.
Peach: So, shall we go in?
Luigi: Of course, Princess.
*Mario, Luigi, and Peach all jump through the painting.* 
Peach: This is the exhibit. This is home to all of the very important shards we were discussing.
Luigi: Wow, they look incredible. Where did you get them?
Peach: I got them from a toad wearing explorer's gear and a backpack. He said he found them in an ancient fossil desert. I brought them to E.Gadd, and he said these shards were long hidden and forgotten after a tragedy. He told me not to tell anyone, but I feel this secret is safe with you two. 
Luigi: Hey! Look! We made it to the sacred shard! Say, you never told me it was invisible!
Peach: INVISIBLE???
...
Luigi: It's gone, isn't it...
Peach: This is awful! Oh what do we do, what do we do....
*KABOOM*
Peach: WHAT IN THE- 
*Shrieking* 
Luigi: WE GOTTA GET BACK OUTSIDE THE CASTLE, NOW! 
(The Mario brothers and Princess Peach hurry out the the painting, and to the doors of the castle. Peach would try to open the door, but Sadly, it won't budge.) 
Peach: No! The door isn't opening! It's like somebody build a whole tower in front of it!
Luigi: Mario!!! Do you have any ideas?
Mario: *Nod*
*Mario pulls the door handle rather than pushing it, causing the door to open.*
*Silence*
Peach: I feel dumb now..
Luigi: But look! There's another problem!
*A large yellow block is shown blocking the exit.*
Peach: Hmm... I've got it! Why don't you two use your hammers to break it?
Luigi: Oh, yeah! Good thinking, Princess!
*The block is broken into bits, and the mushroom kingdom is in peril. There are Big rocks flying out of the air And explosions all over the place.
Peach: Who in the world-
*A cloaked figure in shown floating in the air.*
Peach: Huh?
???: aHaHaHaHa, YoU fOoLiSh ToAdS. bOw DoWn, FoR i Am ArTiYuS, fUtUrE kInG oF tHiS lAnD. yOu AlL lOoK sO wEaK. i HoNeStLy PiTy YoU aLl. So YoU kNoW wHaT? i'M gIvInG yOu TwO cHoIcEs. EiThEr SuRrEnDeR oR-
Random toad: IF YOU THINK WE'RE GONNA SURRENDER, THEN I HATE TO BREAK IT TO YA MAN, BUT YOU'RE PROBABLY A VEGETABLE IN MENTAL STATE!
Artiyus: hOw DaRe YoU dIsReSpEcT yOuR fUtUrE kInG!!! tHaT's It! GeT oUt Of My SiGhT, NoW!
*Even more rocks fall down into the mushroom kingdom*
Random toad #2: RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!
Artiyus: mWaHaHaHaAaAaAaA!!!
Peach: Mario! Luigi! You guys have to stop him!
Luigi: On it, Princess!
*Luigi climbs to a high place*
Luigi: Hey artyos! Artiyo, Artity, Whatever your name is, You don't have to do this! We can all live in Pea-
*BONK*
(Artiyus has whacked Luigi with a hammer)
Artiyus: iT's ArTiYuS, fOoL.
Mario:!!!
*Mario uses his jumping skills to get to artiyus, and whack him with a hammer to give him a taste of his own medicine, but artiyus grabs the hammer, and throws Mario to a wall on the castle, grabs him with a magic beam, and slams him multiple times on the ground before throwing him up in the air, teleporting and punching him to the ground.*
Artiyus: fOoLiSh. SaY, yOu MaY bE tHiNkInG wHeRe I gOt ThIs AsToNiShInG pOwEr. WeLl, TaKe A lOoK aT tHiS.
*Artiyus pulls out a darkened Shard.*
Artiyus: tHiS hErE,iS tHe SaCrEd ShArD. hOwEvEr, As yOu CaN sEe,It Is No LoNgEr SaCrEd BeCaUsE oF mE!!! mWaHaHaHaHaAaA *Hack- *cough* sHoOt, I rEaLlY nEeD a LoZeNgE.
tHaT iS, AfTeR I gEt YoU oUt oF tHe PicTuRe.
*Artiyus summons dark energy to make a replica of a charging chuck, and the charging chuck tackles mario and sends him flying far from the mushroom kingdom. Then the dark energy goes back into artiyus.*
Peach: MAAARIOOOOO!
Artiyus: aLrIgHt. LoZeNgE tImE
*Artiyus takes a lozenge.*
Artiyus: Ahh, much better. I can talk normally now. Maybe now you guys will take me more SERIOSULY.
Peach: How did you even find the shard??? 
Artiyus: WELL, YOU MAY HAVE HID IT IN A PLACE WHERE THOSE LITTLE GUYS, WOULDN'T LOOK, BUT YOU HID IT IN A PLACE WHERE I LOOKED FIRST! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!
*The mushroom kingdom is absorbed by darkness, And everyone is panicked.*
Artiyus: And as for this guy, I'm giving him special treatment! 
*Artiyus picks up Luigi, and holds him still inside a Purple sphere. Luigi is slowly consumed by darkness*
Artiyus: Ha! One plumber down and the other has become my servant! I'm unstoppable now! Even if your little red plumber survived that, the minions I "borrowed" from this guy will surely take care of him! 
*Artiyus picks up an unconscious bowser with a beam of darkness, and throws him on a lemonade stand.* 
Random toad #3: Aw man. Now I cant even have lemonade to at least HELP me stay sane. Geuss I have no choice. 
*Inhale*
WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHH 
*Bang*
(The toad hit his head on a pillar) 
Artiyus: (Wow. These toads are so dumb i'm not even gonna bother making them my servants. They'll just be in the way. Nevermind. I have an idea. But i'll need the shard to-)
*The shard is gone*
Artiyus: HUH?
*A toad has gotten the shard away from artiyus.*
Random toad #4: Try to do your little magic NOW, you cloaked headache!
Artiyus: BOLD OF YOU TO ASSUME I CAN'T DO MAGIC WITHOUT THE CRYSTALS.
(Artiyus thrusts his hands foward, causing the toad to be sent flying and dropping the crystals.)
Artiyus: Oh, that reminds me. 
*Artiyus tears many portals into reality, and summons shrooms from another dimention, and they all fall into various spots in the world.
Artiyus: Call this a plunge in that plumber's plans!
== Chapter 1: A new companion/The resistance ==
*Mario is sent falling and lands in a tree, then falls out of the tree. He looks around, and sees that he's in a forest. He dusts himself off and walks around the forest. He looks to see if anyone is there. He then sees an axe in a tree. But this isn't just any axe. The axe seems to be making noises. Mario walks to the tree and pulls the axe out*
???: Ow, Ow, Ow, OW!
???: Huh? who are you? What's that? you say your name is Mario? Well let me tell ya something. I WAS IN THAT TREE FOR A REASON. Now do you have reason to pull me out? No. You don't. HOW ABOUT YA BACK OFF, PAL!
...
???: Oh shoot, where are my manners? Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you there, I just don't like it when people do that. So, your name is Mario? Well my name is axel. Nice to meet you... I guess. See, I was just here at this forest when this Purple mushroom guy started shooting lazers at me. I had to hide, so I acted like a normal, Inanimate axe in a tree, which is why I- I uhh...
*Axel turns around*
Axel: Oh, of course. Its the purple mushroom guy i was talking about... 
*the shroom stares at mario and axel* 
Axel: Oh hey there fella! How was your day today? 
... 
Axel: Umm... wanna go for some pizza or something? 
... 
Axel: Alright that's enough. Listen here, you revolting, anonymous, terrible, idiotic, purple goomba wannabe. If you're gonna give me the silent treatment like that, then go to the- 
*The shroom pulls out a blaster* 
... 
Axel: Well, shoot. 
*Event battle* 
(Line em' up!)
Axel: Hey hey hey, there! What do you think you're doing! You gotta learn how to do this or else you're going down faster than a falling tree! Let me tell you how to use this battle system. you see that Purple mushroom guy on the third ring? Well i'm gonna need you to press A to select that ring. Ok, good! Now line him up using the analog stick, then use a jump to POUND em!
*all enemies are defeated, except one.* 
Axel: Huh? How did they survive that? Never mind, leave this to me
*axel's attack is selected, and axel attacks the weakened shroom.*
Axel: Alright! We got em! But why is the battle still-
*Last wave*
Axel: Oh. That explains. Lets see, these enemies are lined up a bit differently. Two together on two rings, We'll be dead meat if we use the jump. So what do we do, you may be wondering. Well i'll tell you. Select A, then move the enemies at the same position the other two are in. Trust me on this.
*Perfect lineup!*
Axel: Good. Now select the hammer. Good. you see that red stuff? That shows the range of the attack. And it appears we can get all 4 enemies with this attack. Alright! You got them, but there's still one left. I can handle them though.
*Axel's attack is selected*
Victory! 
Axel: We got e'm! Nice job, Mario! These little purple guys have been popping up in this forest like a zit before picture day. It's ridiculous! I'll explain it more when we get to Berryway village.
*Mario and Axel head to Berryway village, but then...*
Axel: What the heck.. IS THAT THING?
*A blackish, ink-like purple wall is blocking the forest*
Axel: Huh? Man, that's weird... no worries, though! The mighty Axel has this in the bag! Sorry wall, but you're going down. ADIOS AMIGO!!!
*Axel throws himself at the wall, but bounces right off and lands with a clank*
(3 second silence)
Axel: Well shoot.
*Axel gets back up and starts floating again.*
Axel: *Maldita sea. Parece que fue en error. No tenia idea de que me poderoso metal fallaria' contra esta repugnante pared de tinta. Por favor perdoname, poderoso yunque.
*Darn it. It seems this was a huge mistake. I had no idea my mighty metal would fail agaisnt this disgusting ink wall. Please forgive me, mighty anvil.
*Mario stands in confusion*
Axel: Heh. Sorry. Got a little carried away there. Anyways, it seems that it isn't as simple as I thought it would be to get rid of this weird thing. We surely can figure it out, though. Right, Mario?
...
Axel: Y-you know what to do, right? Huh? You don't?
...
Axel: Hmm.. Where do we even start? Let's try looking at random places and hoping something pops up. Make sure you whack every tree you can find.
*Mario walks around the forest and whacks every tree*
Axel: Still nothing? Weird... Let's go back to that mysterious black wall and maybe we can brainstorm there.
*Mario walks back to the suspicious black wall, to find a hole in the ground.*
Axel: What? Is that... a hole in the ground? Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Let's go down that hole and see what this is all about.
*Mario walks into the hole, and pops out.* 
Possessed monty mole #1: Anybody seen that red punk widda mustache?
Possessed monty mole #2: No-siree. 
Possessed monty mole #3: Me neither.
Possessed monty mole #1: Darn! King Artiyus is finna' kill us!
Axel: Ha.. they have no idea. I bet you could sneak behind one of them and suprise attack the- Ah...Ah...Ah..
ACHOO!
*The Possessed monty moles stare at Mario and Axel*
Axel: DANG IT! How did I even sneeze? I don't even have a nose. Jeez, gotta love video game logic.
Possessed monty moles: GET EM'!!!
*Battle*
*Battle ends*
Possessed monty mole #1: Agh! These guys know their stuff. Should we... kick it up a notch, boys?
Possesed monty mole #2 and #3: Aye Aye!
Possessed monty mole #1: Alright, boys. You know the drill.
???: DID SOMEBODY SAY DRILL?
*Two shy guys with a drill burst through the trees and squish the possessed monty moles, then jump out of their truck.*
Drill guy #1 and #2: Drill guys at your service!
Axel: Oh, thank goodness. I thought we were gonna have to see a disturbing scene of those guys using some terrifying second form. It's too early to be scarring the audience already. Thanks, drill guys. 
Drill guy #1: No prob!
Axel: Hey, wait! If you guys are shy guys, shouldn't you be attacking us? 
Drill guy #2: We would, but some terrible being captured lord bowser, and also possessed fellow minions! That why us minions formed...
Drill guys #1 and #2: THE MINION RESISTANCE!
Axel: Wow, the minion resistance? Thats such a simple yet... official name.
Drill guy #1: Well, we'd love to chat for a while more, but these drillers gotta motor! 
Drill guys #1 and #2: DRILL GUYS OUT!
*The two drill guys drive out the forest*
Axel: Hey, Mario... do you see that thing on the floor?
*Mario looks down, and sees a bright speck of dust. Mario picks it up.*
Hello, brave adventurer.
Axel: AH! Who said that?
Sacred spark: It is me. The speck of dust the mustachioed hero has picked up. I come from one of the 5 shards that have been shattered across this land. I shall tell you what I saw during the time the shards were scattered.
flashback
Artiyus: You mischievous toads will trouble me no more, with your smart mouths and boringly generic designs. How about we... spice it up a bit?
*Artiyus lifts a blue toad with his magic*
Blue toad #1: Wah! what are you doing? Huh? 
*Artiyus summons a giant hammer*
Blue toad #1: No! Anything but that! No! Stop!
*Artiyus folds the toad in half and hammers him to keep that position*
*Artiyus then takes out the toads soul, darkens it, and places it at the bottom of a column, as if it were a puzzle piece for some sinister creation.*
Artiyus: ah, yes. I'm that much closer to achieving my goal. To recreating the source of the power i desperately seek. It's a shame I can't do this slowly, however. I would love to see these idiots scream in pain as I took their soul out, one by one, But there is no time for that, for i know Mario's power... and I know he's out there getting even stronger. 
*Artiyus takes the soul out of every toad in the mushroom kingdom.*
Artiyus: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES! YES! YES! GIVE ME ALL OF YOUR SOULS!
*Every toad is screaming in pain as their souls get sucked out, and are all connected to the first toad's soul like puzzle pieces.*
Artiyus: Oh, yes! oh yes! oh ye- HUH?
*artiyus sees that all the toad's souls had only matched the size of a rock.*
Artiyus: Weird... I expected the toad's souls not to come close to the size of this creation I wanted, but I didn't expect it to be THIS small... I must find a way to stall Mario...
*Artiyus looks at the castle. He remembers the other shards that were there.*
Artiyus: Say... I could actually make some use of those shards.... 
*Artiyus goes inside the castle and grabs the shards, then heads back out.*
Artiyus: O, MIGHTY SHARDS, USE YOUR POWER, TO LIFT THIS CASTLE HIGHER THAN THE TALLEST TOWER!
*The shards seperate and lift the castle up in the air, and artiyus gets on the castle.*
Artiyus: Now, to find other places I can raid. Soon I will capture the soul of every toad, every dog, every cat, every man, ever woman... and I will make then part of this creation! MWAHAHAHAHAHAH!
Sacred spark: And that is how i got here. You can use me on those inkwalls that have been showing up here recently. You must disable all of the 5 shards's beams that are lifting the castle.
Axel: What? Torturing toads then taking their souls out of their bodies? That is COLD. There's no way we'll let this slide. Don't you worry, sacred spark! We won't let you down! 
Sacred spark: I know you two won't.
Axel: Alright, Mario! Lets get rid of that black wall, or as that shard dust called it, inkwall!
*Mario walks over to the inkwall*
Axel: Alright, now we just use that thing on the inkwall! Try holding it up and see what happens.
*Mario lifts the sacred spark and clears the inkwall*
Thank you for using me, Mario..
Axel: Hooray! It worked! Wait, HUH?
*The sacred spark has turned grey.*
Axel: Oh... So when we use up the sacred sparks, all their power goes away. Well, no time to think about how depressing that is. We gotta get to Berryway village!
*Mario and axel arrive at berryway village*
Axel: Ahhh.. We've made it! Berryway village! Ahh, it's nice to smell this beautiful air again after being attacked by those purple mushroom guys.