SAVE CORRUPTION OVERWRITTEN. NEW PLAYABLE CHARACTER: PRINCESS PEACH.
Princess Peach sat in the quiet of her restored castle library, the only light coming from the holographic display of a peculiar console Mario had brought back from the Origami Festival. On the screen was the file: . Below it, a single line of corrupted text read: "Last Saved: The Day the Folded Star Fell." Paper Mario The Origami King -0100A3900C3E2800-...
Peach looked at frozen Mario, his paper skin stretched taut. He wasn't waiting for a jump. He was waiting for her. SAVE CORRUPTION OVERWRITTEN
Mario was player two. And the final boss wasn't a king. On the screen was the file:
Mario was there, frozen mid-jump. Not in his usual heroic pose, but twisted—his left arm folded behind his back, his cap folded into a sharp point. He wasn't made of paper anymore. He was the fold.
Three minutes and twenty-two seconds until the save reverted. Three minutes to figure out what had happened.
She reached past the console and touched the cut in the world. The edges burned her fingertips. But she didn't pull away. Instead, she pushed into the fold, her own hand flattening, creasing, transforming.