PARADISE

Prologue

When SMG3 wakes up, there's a roar of voices coming from all around him.

He's not quite sure where he is at the moment. His memory is failing him, and he can't seem to recall what happened before he fell asleep. He stays on the ground, not wanting to open his eyes and face what reality is awaiting him.

SMG3 can pick out Meggy's distinct cries. He's not too sure why she sounds so upset. It sounded almost like she was begging someone, pleading for something. She sounded so sad it almost made him want to cry. Almost.

As he comes to, he notices just how cold everything around him is. It's like all the warmth in the world had left him completely. There's ice at every inch of his skin. If he thinks hard enough, he can almost feel a prickling sensation spreading through him, like his body is going numb. It's...weird, to say for sure, but he doesn't think much of it at the moment.

SMG3 decides to see what the commotion is around him and opens his eyes. He's greeted by the sight of what he assumes to be Mario and Meggy, who look to be cradling somebody in their laps. Meggy is running her hand through the person's hair, and Mario is gently pressing on their stomach. They both looked terribly upset, and if SMG3 could see any better from this distance he'd see they were bawling their eyes out. It wasn't a great sight to behold, that's for sure.

He couldn't identify the person they were holding. They looked familiar, almost too familiar, but SMG3 couldn't exactly place who they were.

Suddenly, SMG3's train of thought is interrupted by shouting to his left. He looks over and spots a small group of people fighting over something. He recognizes SMG4 and Melony, in which the latter is attempting to wrestle something out of the former's hands. He thinks Tari's also standing there, but he's not quite certain as he can only see what he assumes is her backside.

SMG4 is visibly upset and attempting to fight his way through Melony. Melony doesn't appear to be giving up any time soon, though, and her shrieks of 'SMG4, stop!' are really starting to hurt his ears. SMG3 thinks about getting up and separating them just to get her annoying voice to stop yelling. Unfortunately, it feels like his head is going to explode, so he opts not to push himself to move any further.

He's confused. He doesn't know why they're all so upset. If something happened, it definitely seems like he missed out on all of it. All of them are shouting, saying something, but SMG3 can't seem to make out much of it. It's annoying him. He wonders why none of them are paying attention to him. Maybe they thought he was still asleep?

After a few seconds, the pounding in his head seems to succumb to the same numbness that was currently plaguing his body. It's almost calming in a sense, like a tidal wave coming to wash over a beach. Within moments, the pain is gone, and he starts to feel distant. SMG3 doesn't feel alarmed about that, but rather relieved. It's like his head is becoming a lot clearer.

The closer he listens, the more he's able to start making out sounds. He hears both Meggy and Mario shouting out his name. Maybe they noticed he was moving. SMG3 goes to call back out to them, but doesn't feel anything come out. It's almost as if his voice was stolen away; he makes the motions to speak, but he can't hear himself. It becomes more and more frustrating each time he tries, and he eventually chooses to just move closer and get their attention that way.