Everything Remains (REMASTERED VERSION OF MY SMG4 "WHAT IF?" AU)

Chapter 2 : Upward In The Sky

We had all come to an agreement to not to hide Mario in the castle again as we ran. I looked up at the red sky above us. Behind the clouds, ginormous red hands swirled around, and one by one, more monsters fell from the sky. I had assumed those hands were what were creating those things. We were eventually out of town and within a desolate forest. The darkness of the forest complemented the dark red lighting from above us. My arms were starting to wobble after carrying Axol for a while. The coldness in the air sent a shiver up and down my spine. Our silence was interrupted by the sounds of laughter. Distorted laughter, it was changing pitches between high and a deep raspy pitch. I think whatever was laughing could tell we were startled, because it had began to speak as we huddled together. "NoOo NeEeEEd to fEEaRRR." Two voices at once began to say to us. A hand reached to us from the forest, but Saiko whacked it away with her hammer. The voices laughed again as a figure slowly approached us from the trees. It seemed to be two people but sewn together in one body. One side had blue skin and a singular eye, the other side was more limp than the other, it had grey skin with white hair that had purple at the tips and seemed to be wearing an oversized grey hoodie that covered half of its leg. The blue man began to speak. "See? You dont have to be scared? We're friendly, just like you!"
We all stared at the person for a moment. After a few moments of literally nothing, we lowered our weapons, or hands. The blue man smiled widely. "There." His voice lowered into a whisper. My attention then turned to the other man, who began to stretch and groan. He then spoke as well. "Well won't you look at that? Food for the taking!" His voice was more distorted than the blue man's, constantly changing pitches with each word he spoke. His malnourished hand reached toward us, but the blue man smacked it. "No, no food today, friend." He said calmly. The grey man sighed. I began to speak. "So, uhm, do you two have names?"
"Our names have been lost unfortunately. It's depressing, really."
"Yeah, I guess so."
I began to think for a moment. I then looked at everyone else. Saiko crossed her arms. "How do we know if we can trust you?" I was able to translate. The figure looked confused on both ends. "What did she say?"
Grey man said. I raised my hand. "She said 'how do we know if we can trust you'." See, Axol's Japanese lessons really did pay off after all! The figure nodded. "Well, to answer that, uhh." The blue man places his singular hand on his chin, thinking.
"Well that settles that. Lets just go before we draw more attention to ourselves just sitting out here." Four turned to us. Before we could move, thorny vines arose from the ground at every possible exit point. "Don't. You'll only get lost. Allow me to help you."
Less thorny vines wrapped around us, squeezing us as if we were toys. Loud chatter filled my ears as we were then tossed above the forest and away. I still held onto a still unconscious Axol as we flew. As much as most of us were screaming, me, Saiko, and Mario seemed to have actually had fun flying like this. I looked at the others. "I guess that guy's actually got potential!"
"Yeah, no kidding!" Saiko yelled. Once we landed, we ended up near a small cottage. Smg3 walked up to the door and knocked. Four, Two and One followed behind him. "Doesnt seem like anyone is home." One noted. We peeked through the windows on the lower floor. It was dark and furniture was scattered everywhere.
"Whoever used to live here must've evacuated." I said.
Smg3 attempted to open the door, in which he succeeded. "Huh, that was easy."
We all walked inside. The lights didn't seem to work. I sat Axol up on a chair. None of us spoke. I sighed and pulled a chair beside him and sat down. Everyone else walked around the place. I looked over at Axol. His breathing seemed to be getting more normal now, which made me smile. Once everyone had explored the area, they returned back to the living room area. Smg4 spoke first. "Alright, this should be a good hiding spot for Mario for the time being. With the lights off and pretty strong windows-"
"And don't forget all the chairs, perfect for barricading doors!" Tari said.
"Yep. With all these things, Mario should be safe for now."
We all just kinda looked at each other for a moment. Mario raised his hand. "I have a suggestion, can we take a break here for now? I'm exhausted."
"We all are. Yeah, I say we take a breather here." Meggy agreed. Everyone nodded to each other in agreement before sitting down somewhere in the living room, whether on the couch or on the floor or a chair. I felt my eyes grow heavy and yawned before falling asleep almost immediately after.