Chapter Text
As the school bell rang, Pauline Andrews felt intense relief wash over her. It was the start of summer vacation, which meant she had plenty of time to practice her singing. But as she grabbed her school bag and walked out the classroom, the 13 year old felt a sense of embarrassment. After all, what was the point of practicing if she couldn’t even bring herself to sing in front of anyone except her family and friends?
Sighing, she made her way out to the school parking lot. There, she saw her mom, Paige, waiting for her in her car. After she pulled up, Pauline tossed her bag in the backseat before getting into the passenger side.
“Did you have a rough day at school?” Mom asked.
“No Mom. I was just…thinking about some things.” Pauline replied as she strapped herself in.
“Like what? About some of the stuff you wanted to do over the summer?” Mom said as she began pulling out onto the road.
“Sort of. I was just thinking about getting some singing practice. But then I just felt bad, because I still don’t feel brave enough to go out in public.” Pauline said, a frown evident on her face.
“Oh, don’t say that. My own mother said she felt the same way when she was starting out. It’s natural to feel scared at first. But you can’t let it stop you from doing something you love.” Mom told her as they drove down to their house in the New Donk suburbs.
Ah, Grandma Lana. In her heyday, she was a well known singer and actress. While nowadays, she’s stepped out of the public eye, her music is still well known, and she herself became an avid animal rights activist. And Pauline wanted to follow right in her footsteps by becoming a singer herself. But again, how could she if she just kept clamming up before a note could even come out her mouth? So, she just rested her head on her hand with a sad look on her face.
“We’re back!” Mom said as they walked into the house. As they went in, Pauline kicked both of her shoes off, while Mom took off her red hat.
“Oh, there’s my little monkey!” Grandma Lana said as she and Pauline’s dad came out from the living room. While she clearly aged since her days in show business, with fading blonde hair, she still retained a level of beauty. As she came to Pauline, she wrapped her up in a tight hug while giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“Grandma, I thought I told you to stop calling me that! You know it embarrasses me!” Pauline said while a blush coated her freckled cheeks. Her mom had given her that nickname when she was younger due to her tendency of going barefoot and love of climbing on things, and it just sort of stuck around.
“She only calls you that because she knows it embarrasses you Pauline.” Her dad, Franklin, said, black hair under a nice fedora. “Besides, you know how much she loves monkeys, don’t you?”
Her mom and dad worked some pretty busy jobs. Mom worked as a secretary in New Donk City Hall. Meanwhile, Dad worked as a cab driver. Whenever their schedules were too packed to take care of her, Grandma was the person who looked after her. And what her dad said was true. Lana was well known for helping build better relations with Kong Island in the southern sea.
“Oh, that reminded me! You remember that we’re having dinner with the Morelli family tonight don’t you?” Grandma said.
Oh yeah, that’s right! They were going to the Morelli family’s apartment. Apparently, it had something to do with an incident involving the grandparents of both families. A long time ago, Grandma had gotten into some trouble involving an escaped gorilla. But a nearby construction worker named Marcus Morelli managed to get her to safety without hurting the gorilla. Ever since, there have been close ties between both families. Pauline herself was best friends with Marcus’s grandsons, Mario and Luigi.
Later in the evening, they made their way to the Morelli family residence. As soon as they stepped inside, Pauline immediately smelled the spaghetti Mario’s mom often made. “Ah, there’s our guests of honor!” Marcus said, walking up and giving Lana a hug. “It’s so good to see you all again! How’s work at City Hall going, Paige?”
“Okay. I had a bit of a headache trying to help the Mayor balance the budget for the next City Festival, but I think it turned out alright. How about you?” Mom said.
“Eh, nothing too crazy. Mario tried out for basketball recently, and man, can that kid jump! I’m thinking he’s got potential, if nothing else. And Luigi’s developed a real taste for tinkering with machines. But enough about that, come sit down and eat.” Marcus said, leading the family into the dining room.
As the 2 families chatted and ate their food, Pauline was still thinking about singing practice. She just needed to find a way to get over this stupid phobia. But the more she thought about it, the more anxious she got. What if her voice cracked in the middle of a line? What if she forgot the lyrics? What if…
“Hey Polly, are you okay?” Mario’s voice snapped her out of her spiral. “Are you still freaking out about singing?”
“Yeah. I know I want to be a singer, but every time I think about getting onstage, my mind just keeps jumping to the worst conclusions. I always think about what would happen if I screwed up in some way. It just sticks there and refuses to leave.”
“I know how you feel on that front.” Luigi said. She always knew Luigi was the less confident and outgoing of the Morelli brothers. But she also knew that Luigi worked surprisingly well under pressure. Maybe that was the key? Maybe she just needed to confront it head on?
“Hey, you wanna know something I heard? I think they're hosting a big talent show downtown near the square in a couple of weeks. I know you’d be a shoe-in to win with your voice! Besides, what’s the worst that could happen if you don’t win? It’s not the end of the world.” Mario said before returning to his food.
This could be her chance! And Mario did have a point. If she just starts out small like that, she can probably get over it in no time. She just needed to get used to it through exposure. So, she decided to ask Luigi for advice.
“So, Luigi, how do you get over performance anxiety?” Pauline questioned.
“Oh, me? Well, first I ask myself, “what would Mario do in this situation?” And most of the time, he suggests “go headlong!” But in your case, I think you just need to focus on singing. Just tune out all the other voices and eyes, and only think about how you feel when the notes come out.”
“Thanks for the advice Weegee.” Pauline said with a smile, using Mario’s nickname for his brother.
After dinner was over and the Andrews family headed back to their car, Pauline decided to tell them she wanted to enter the talent show. While Mom and Dad were somewhat surprised to hear that, Grandma was overjoyed to hear it. She said that, first thing tomorrow, they would go and get Pauline registered.
The next day, Pauline and her grandma headed downtown to the registration booth, But as they walked, a pit started appearing in her stomach. All those thoughts started creeping back into her head. Of people laughing and booing her for flubbing a line, her singing the wrong lyrics, whatever. Noticing her distress, Lana reached down and took Pauline’s hand. “Now, I know you’re nervous. But you wanna know what I did when I got nervous before a show? I hummed a little tune to calm my nerves. How about you try it Pauline?”
“Okay. I’ll try.” Pauline began humming a tune Grandma had taught her a while ago, and while she was still kind of nervous, it at least took some of the edge off. But before they could reach the registration booth, 3 figures in cloaks appeared before them.
Before either Pauline or Lana could ask anything, the tallest one spoke up. “Little lady, that voice sounds immaculate! Would you be willing to work with us for a project?” the figure said, an elegant lilt in their voice.
“I don’t know what project you want my granddaughter for, but I’ll have you know that she’s much too young for that. Now, would you politely move? There’s somewhere we need to be.” But as Lana tried to take Pauline down the street, the shortest figure spoke up.
“Alright, if you won’t come with us by choice, we’ll just take you by force!” they said, manic glee in their voice. They then produced a strange banana shaped device from their pocket, pointed it at Pauline, and pushed a button. Within seconds, Pauline was encased in a strange purple crystal that had tape all over it. As soon as Pauline noticed what’d happened, she began to panic.
“What did you do to my granddaughter!? Change her back this instant!” Lana said, enraged at what just happened.
“Sorry old bag, but I need your brat for something! Grumpy, grab her before she runs off!”
“Gotcha boss.” the large figure said, a gigantic hand picking up the now crystalline Pauline. And with that, the 3 of them began to run off, leaving Lana behind.
“PAULINE! SOMEONE HELP! THOSE 3 JUST KIDNAPPED MY GRANDDAUGHTER!” Lana yelled. But before anyone could do anything, all 3 figures disappeared in flashes of purple light. Lana then collapsed to her knees and began to cry. Her granddaughter was just snatched right in front of her, and she had no idea where she was taken, who did it, or even why.