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Author's note: I hope you enjoy this fic as much as I did making it up. This story is about a year in the making, and I take it very seriously. In fact, if they made a movie out of this, it might sell. By the way, this little yarn takes place right in the world of SMB 3. It's my favorite universe out of all the games. Enjoy! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Mysterious Scent
Chapter 1
***
Mario paced back and forth in the dark, musty cell. He knew the floor had looked kind of rickety, but he needed the Starman above it. He had missed, crashed through the rotted boards, and into a deep pit. Even the master of the jump couldn't get out of it, and resigned himself to waiting for King Koopa to show up and do whatever. Now here he was, going stir crazy. He tried to look out the tiny window near the ceiling, but all he could see was a tiny patch of cloudy sky.He sat down on the cold hard stool in despair.
Suddenly, there was a noise. He started. It was a sort of plodding of bare feet, but there was a clicking, too. He thought it was a person, but that didn't explain the differing sounds. Maybe it was two people.
Presently, the noise stopped, and in the dim light, he could make out a dark shape standing in front of his cell door. It was roughly half a head shorter than Mario, but he couldn't make out much more. It bent forward, and he heard a tinkle of something metal dropping. Then the figure whirled and ran off, making the strange pad-click noise as it went, and was gone.
Mario sat there a minute, trying to figure out what had happened. Then he decided to investigate the metallic sound. He stood up and walked over to the bars. He bent down and felt around for something, anything foreign. His hand finally grasped something flat and hard. It was disk-like on one end, and the rest was like a metal popsicle stick. One side of the stick had jagged edges. A key! Then he noticed something- a string was dangling from the round end. He felt down it and came upon a folded piece of paper. He couldn't see what was on it, so he stuck it in his overalls' front pocket. Then, almost giddy with excitement, he shoved the key into the lock and turned.
It opened like a dream. He had never thought the sound of scraping metal would make him so happy. He pocketed the key and fled the dank dungeon as fast as his feet would take him.
***
The open air felt great on his face. He gazed up at the night sky. The few clouds he had seen from the window were long gone, and there was a clear blanket of stars overhead. Mario walked across the plains toward the Mushroom Village he called home. He put his hands in his pockets and started to whistle a little tune he had heard. His right hand curled around the key. The scrap of paper sprang to mind. In his haste to leave Bowser's castle, he had forgotten it. He pulled it out of his pocket and unfolded it. It was a note. This is what was written on it: