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Paper Mario awoke blearily.
He found himself hanging upside down, tied up in... some part of a tree.
Quickly rolling himself up into a tube, he slipped out of the tree's grasp and fell to the ground.
Unrolling himself, he jumped up and looked around.
He was still in Gloomy Woods...
That's when it all came back to him.
They'd run into King Boo and his minions, and everyone panicked, and the last thing he remembered was seeing Luigi run away... Then he was here.
He looked around the room frantically for any sign of the bros, but found none.
He hoped Luigi got away safely, but he had a feeling Mario must be stuck in a similar trap to he was... Only he couldn't slip out of his trap because he wasn't made out of paper.
If either of them were in danger, he had no time to waste.
He quickly set off walking through the woods, searching for them.
He went from room to room, jumping across papercraft terrain, and wasn't finding anything...
But... he felt like he was being watched.
Just as he was about to give up, he hopped over a log and looked in one last area...
He panicked as soon as he saw what was before him.
Luigi was cowering in fear, surrounded by Boos laughing at him, while Mario was collapsed to the ground beside him, likely defeated in battle.
Instinct to save his- er, Mario's brother overtook him, and he ran at the boos, ready to fight...
But suddenly, he felt something grab at the back of his overalls, and he was lifted off of the ground, flailing helplessly as he was carried into the air.
He heard a boo laugh from above him, his captor no doubt.
He struggled to get out, calling to Luigi for help...
...and that's when he heard that laugh.
King Boo.
He looked down, and suddenly realized something that he had been too reckless to notice.
Mario was transparent.
He disappeared in a purple puff of smoke, revealing a laughing boo that had been disguised as him.
Paper Mario's gaze snapped to Luigi.
He was no longer afraid, and was now staring straight at him with a sadistic grin.
With another puff of smoke, the Luigi disguise disappeared, and King Boo appeared.
...Paper Mario had fallen right into their trap.
"I'm not used to dealing with you little paper scraps..." King Boo muttered with frustration, clearly annoyed that Paper Mario escaped his trap. "Until I find a suitable holding spot that you can't slip out of, you're gonna stay riiiight there in my little minion's grasp."
Paper Mario tried one last time to struggle free, but it was no use.
His expression fell in defeat.
All he could do now was hope the real Luigi would save them...