Super Mario Odyssey (Fan Novelization)

Chapter 8: The Fall

It wasn't exactly his fault. 

It wasn't exactly his fault that Moons were so hard to find. 

It wasn't exactly his fault that he'd gone searching near a cliff. Okay, maybe a little, but where else could you find them?! The shop had one, and he had two more, but he needed sixteen. And the entire area had been sealed up. 

Mario had a certain knack for parkour. Over the years, he'd done crazy jumps, performed stranger tricks, and even cleared gaps that were deemed "impossible". Cappy's new abilities also proved a helpful tool for him, boosting his range and acting as a second platform. So when he saw a way out of the forest clearings, even if it was a long jump from the grassy stone wall he stood on to a tiny iron platform, who was he to turn that challenge down? 

A few flicks of his wrist, and his cap had provided stable jump after stable jump as the nearby Steam Gardeners turned to watch him fly through the air. Closer and closer, like a hunter after its prey, the vermillion steel reached out to him as he sprung towards it one last time.

It wasn't his fault his arm didn't quite reach out far enough. Nearing the edge, his final jump brought him dangerously close to the edge of the platform, a slightly rusty railing soon to provide a firm hold. Or so he thought. 

It wasn't his fault he wasn't quite quick enough. One tiny misstep was all it took. His right foot caught on the very edge, pulling him back ever so slightly - but just enough to make his hand miss all the same. The few inches that he just couldn't grasp were enough. The next thing he knew, Cappy was screaming, he was screaming, the world transformed into a rush of noise, a blur of wind.

And he fell.

• • •

Mario awoke to a hat-like ghost in his face as it frantically shook him awake. As soon as it saw him, it darted off to one side, panicked.

Huh?

"Psst! Over here! You really should come, before it comes again! I had to drag you out of there!"

Oh, right. Cappy. Shaking himself off, Mario slowly got up, wincing a little. Why did his left leg hurt so much? Then he remembered. With a sigh, he shuffled over to the Bonneter's position behind a tree, taking care to stay in its shadow... but what for? He decided to ask.

"Cap-"

He was hushed in an instant, a pair of stubby hands clamping over his mouth. At first, he was annoyed. But then he heard it. A stomp that shook the forest floor. Another stomp - this one even louder than the first. If the woods weren't quiet when he woke up before, they definitely were now. Even the running water seemed to quiet down.

Another crash. A louder stomp. Curious, he couldn't help but peek out a little. What was all this now? Still keeping to the dark, the young Italian slowly moved to the side, trying to discern something from all the shadows around him.

A reptilian creature stood before him. His first thought was koopas. But this... it lacked the distinctive yellow scales. No, this one was a color that blended in with the forest. Then it hit him. The tiny arms, the large size, the scales that blended in perfectly with the forest...

A Tyrannosaurus Rex.

He remembered where he had seen it before. Back then, it was sleeping. He literally just walked up to it and placed Cappy on its head, and that  was that. He'd captured it in a matter of seconds. But this one... it was awake. It was angry. 

"It's out for you." Cappy finished that last thought the moment it left.

In a sped-up spoken montage, Mario learned what had happened since he blacked out. They'd fallen into a deeper part of the Kingdom - "thank the stars it wasn't a bottomless pit" - crashed right into a sleeping T-Rex's head - "seriously, you must've given him quite the headache!" - and the hat had to drag his companion away before it realized what happened, but it had been a little too late. It had caught sight of his red garments before they had ducked behind that tree, where Cappy left Mario alone for a minute to look for ways back up.