Paper Mario: The Origami King {Boss One-Shots}

Late Night Fishing // Tape (Solo / Slight Angst)

(Cucco's Note: Another Morning, Another Solo. Except this time, we got Tape and possibly another special guest starring in this one. This particular entry is mainly about Tape and one of his more personal hobbies, which you will find out in the midst of this story. Much like the previous Solo Entry with Rubber Band, this one also has a teaspoon full of angst, so readers discretion advised. This here is also a Follow-Up to King Olly's Journal Entry, so hopefully you all enjoy it!)

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     Evening in Toad Town is typically foggy, especially at the docks, but this was one of those special nights where everything is as clear as the night sky itself. However as all of the toads relaxed into their comfortable beds and wandering through the fields of dreamland, only one young soul remained awake, sitting at the edge of the pier with his fishing line cast out. Not only does this soul look familiar, but one would also immediately recognize him due to that signature "style" he had. The young man was none other than the revived punk, Tape, but what was he doing out here this late at night? Why the answer isn't all that complex to solve, he usually comes out here around this time on nights where there isn't a lot of fog just so he could fish. Ever since he lost his bike and practically his dignity, he's been feeling quite empty and began to envy the success of his peers, until he discovered fishing at night that is through an old enemy of his, which enemy that might be is up to your imagination alone.
Tape felt at ease from the sight of the full moon reflecting off of the ocean's surface, keeping his constant focus on the line until he would feel a tug. Like a flash of lightning, he tries to pull in what he would think was a really heavy fish... until he pulled it in... it turned out to be a... Blooper?! "ACK!!" he wails out as the Blooper inked him right in the face, he was moderately annoyed as he releases the Blooper back into the ocean. He then put his fishing rod next to him and grabbed a piece of cloth to wipe off the blooper ink from his face, Tape decides to take a breather and watched as the moon slowly glided across the star-lit sky. It was until he heard a familiar "ahem", that he soon grew back to being as disgruntled as before while glancing over to where the sound came from, which confirms something that he was trying to avoid for a long time... an encounter with his cousin, Scissors...
With him seeing the green clad, dual bladed duelist himself, he gives him a stare only the sticky stickler would give while asking, "Greaaat... The Dual Bladed Boob-est is here, what do you want from me this time? An apology? Another scrap? You already know that I'm in hot water with the boss, don't ya, Scissors?" while he grabbed his fishing rod once more to cast out another line with Scissors plopping himself down next to his already peeved relative and pulling out what seems to be his own fishing rod "Oh, cousin. If I wanted to have another 'scrap' with you, you would already be in the water with that ridiculous pompadour of yours soaked like a sponge... if that's how your hair works, that is. I mainly just came here to see if you were alright after last week's mess of a meeting, Punch told me that you were living at Toad Town for the time being and told me of that new 'hobby' of yours." Tape recoils at the mention of Hole Punch telling Scissors his secrets, but that's what he gets for trusting someone like Hole Punch with his own secrets. After Scissors set up his line, hook, lure, and bait, he casted his line into the water while looking over at Tape's clearly upset face and began to speak once again "Tape, you aren't still upset over what happened last week are you?... or is there something else I am not aware of? There is no shame into talking about it with me." the punk only scowled at Scissors, only for it to fizzle out to a look of pain... it was clear Tape was hiding something from the duelist, yet that tough and stubborn exterior of his always prevented him from talking about his true feelings. But as he was now alone with no one else besides himself and Scissors, he felt that formerly tough exterior crumble down as he began to speak not from his mind but from his heart.

"Don't you dare tell anyone about this, but... there is something that I've been hiding from y'all... Ever since we were all revived, I still retained some of my previous memories from the past... I realize that I practically have nothing else to hold on to, I lost my beloved bike, my dignity, my purpose, and even my will to go on. I was kinda left in a bad and vulnerable headspace during the time that I was starting out, especially during the meeting where Colored and Rubber talked constantly about their success. That's why I completely wrecked the Overlook Tower and the Theater, I just couldn't handle the envy that constantly poked and prodded in my head. That's why I acted so stupidly during the whole meeting, I just kinda..."

"Snapped?"

"Yeah... It was until after my time with Ms. Olivia that I realized how messed up in the head I was during that time, I needed some space to get my head together. That's when I found the beauty of late night fishing, gave me the right stuff I needed to clear my head and get my act together. So, I guess I'm making decent progress with myself... I'm sorry with how I acted before, I'm still going to be the ding-dong that's related to ya but I'm doing better than before. Heck, I even apologized to Jean and Rubber but I know it'll take some time for them to forgive me."

Tape let out a quiet yet relieved sigh as he reeled in his line, revealing a Cheep Cheep on the other end. Much like his own pain and guilt, he releases it into the moonlit waters although it would still linger throughout his mind. Scissors only listened to his cousin's words with a soft look on his face, softly nodding at the end of each sentence. Once Tape had finished with spilling his feelings to Scissors, he spoke once more while looking guilty himself "I didn't know that you were going through this, Tape... I'm sorry about what happened, I thought that the whole issue with you and the others was just 'Typical Rude Tape being Typical Rude Tape' but thank you for telling me this. I promise I won't tell anyone of what happened, I am glad that you found the help you needed though." Tape merely chuckled and teasingly punched his arm, casting out his fishing line once more to catch himself another fish after putting on some more bait on the hook "Thanks for that, cousin. Say... since you're here and you apparently know how to fish, how about we have ourselves a fun little challenge? We do have some time until morning comes around, you up for it or are gonna chicken out like last time?" A laugh could then be heard from Scissors while he also casts out his line out once more after he whiffed his first attempt at catching a fish, giving our now perked up punk a determined look on his face "You're on, Tacky!" thus beginning a fishing challenge that lasted the entire night until the morning sun began to shimmer on the ocean's surface, the challenge was left in an inconclusive tie as they had to cut it short. Mostly due to another one of King Olly's early morning meetings, the two had their fun but now they'll have to deal with the king's hububb. although it was obvious that Tape has changed for the better, he was still the punk who everyone somewhat disliked, and to him... that was just fine.