Mario abruptly turned onto his side burying his hot face into his cool pillow as Luigi took the cold compress from his burning forehead. Luigi put his hand on his ill older brother's shoulder and spoke in a soothing tone. "Easy bro, everything is going to be okay."

Luigi took the compress and dipped it into a bowl of cool water and wrung out the excess moisture. Gently he dabbed at Mario's forehead to try and ease his brother's discomfort from the raging fever. Mario tried to put his hand up and block the compress out of stubbornness, but Luigi tentatively pulled his hand away and continued to care for the downed hero.

It seemed so odd that someone who was always so healthy, like Mario, could fall prey to any ailment. But to become so ill so quickly was mind boggling and frightening to Luigi.

Two days prior Mario had been exploring the outskirts of the Forever Forest, just outside of Toad Town, without any sign or symptom of an impending sickness. Luigi of course was too scared to go with him, the idea of encountering a wild Boo or picking a cackling flower was too much for the timid brother to bear. Mario had returned home later that night, his clothes were dirty and face was a mess. Luigi had asked him about the trip but Mario insisted that nothing out of the ordinary had happened and he just had to face off against a couple of rogue Boos.

Early the next morning Luigi had been awoken by the sound of Mario shuffling around their house aimlessly, almost like he was in a trance. Luigi found Mario at the bottom of the stairs with a blank look on his face.

"Mario? Are you okay?" He tried to get his brother's attention but he remained silent and still. As his hand touched Mario's shoulder Luigi could feel the intense heat radiating from Mario's body, a sure sign of a fever. "Come on, let's get you back to bed."

Luigi guided his brother back to his bedroom and proceeded to stand guard the rest of the day to ensure nothing else unusual happened. It was later that same evening that Luigi heard the sickening 'thud' come from Mario's room. Worried for his brother Luigi knocked on the door and was met with silence. He opened the door and found Mario unconscious of the floor in the throes of an intense fever.

"Mario!" Luigi slid on his knees to his brother's side. Carefully he rolled Mario over, using one hand to support Mario's head and the other to turn Mario onto his back. Luigi pressed his hand to Mario's forehead and felt the fever that was burning him up, although one look at Mario's face was proof enough of any ailment.

Mario's face was pale with dark circles under his eyes and his cheeks were rosy red with fever.

Luigi put his hands under Mario's legs and arms, and lifted his sick brother up from the floor and placed him back into his bed.

From that evening onto until the early morning Luigi hadn't slept. He spent his sleepless night worrying for Mario and trying to calm the intense fever that was plaguing Mario's body.

A gentle rapping at the partially closed bedroom door caught Luigi's ear. He looked up in time to see Princess Peach's lovely face, now a grim mask of concern, walk gracefully through the door. She held her hands clasped together at her chest as she daintily approached the bed. "Luigi? How is Mario?"

Luigi couldn't bring himself to answer her question. He couldn't decide if his reluctance stemmed from fear or confusion, all he could offer was a gloomy head shake as he looked back down at his ill brother's face.

"Do you know what caused this?" She asked quietly as she picked up Mario's hand and held it in her own. Mario relaxed slightly as soon as he recognized her touch.

"No. Not yet." He sighed tiredly. "I wish I could help him more, but I don't know as much about medicine as he does."

Peach put her other hand sympathetically on Luigi's shoulder. "You'll think of something. I'm sure."

"Yeah, but will it be in time?"

"Don't think like that Luigi. We have to stay positive."

"You're right Princess." He stopped fussing over Mario. "But I still don't know where to start looking for any answers."

Mario, still in the grips of the fever, tried to curl up into a tight ball on the bed but couldn't get comfortable. He turned over onto his back again and sighed heavily, his fever strained blue eyes slowly opened and locked onto Luigi. "L-Luigi?"

"Easy big bro." He draped the cold compress over Mario's forehead and pressed it down gently. "You're going to be alright."

Mario forced himself to smile a little before he closed his eyes again.

Peach gently caressed Mario's sweat drenched brown locks of hair as she continued to watch her dear friend suffer from his sickness. "This is so strange Luigi. It's almost like he's fighting something, or someone. Even as he lays in the bed he seems to be confronting something."

"You're right Princess. But what could it be?"

Mario suddenly reach one hand out and grabbed ahold of Luigi's shirt. He pulled himself up and locked his glassy bleu eyes onto Luigi's widened eyes. "L-Luigi... don't go! Don't touch it! Toxic... Subcon..."

Just as suddenly as Mario reached out he fell back against the pillow completely unconscious.

"Mario?!" Luigi called his brother's name with heavy concern. He put his hand to Mario's forehead. "He's still burning up!" As Luigi lifted Mario's wrist to check his pulse Luigi noticed something odd on the sleeve of Mario's arm, it looked like a blood stain. "What the...?" Luigi carefully rolled up the red, boody sleeve and spied some strange markings and puncture marks on Mario's forearm. "Princess! Look at this!"

Peach took a close look at Mario's arm where Luigi was pointing. "He's been injured! But I've never seen any wound that looks like this. What do you think it is?"

Luigi examined the wound gently and reached a bleak, but very plausible conclusion. "It looks like a bite mark!"

...to be continued...