A.N. So, a new story based on Mario? Sure, why not, not like I should be typing up chapters for Savior of the Demons. Anyway, a few things to be said.

1. Luigi will be my main focus, many characters will be very OOC.

2. This will not be based exclusively on any specific Mario game, but some events might be mentioned.

3. As is the usual with me, this will be a harem, so yeah, there's that.

4. Luigi will have small changes in his appearance, as well as other things. This is intentional.

5. Some events described are not canon, this is also intentional.

6. Bowser, along with his children, will be anthro. (Meaning they'll be human shaped body wise, instead of being weird turtle things.)

Luigi's age: 22

Mario's age: 23

Peach's age: 20

Daisy's age: 21

Bowser's age: 23

I don't own anything other then the story.

That's all I can think of for now, Let's go!

"Speaking"

"Thoughts"

"?? Speaking"

"?'s Thoughts'

Rise of a Hero

Chapter One: Memories, Good and Bad

On a distant hilltop, near the familiar home of the famous Mario brothers, Luigi laid in the flowers, trying to relax. He couldn't help the bolts of anxiety that shot through him every few moments. He absently rubbed the patch that stuck to his left arm, along the underside of his upper arm. He had had that patch for most of his life, starting about when he had his 16th birthday, when Mario had gotten it for him. He didn't know what it did, but he was sure that it helped him, after all, his awesome brother got it for him.

After some time, Luigi forced his thoughts away from the keepsake from his brother, and instead focused on other things, like the times he'd saved his brother. The times he had been a hero, just like Mario! Yet, his brother...never said anything. No thank you, or praise, just a smile that seemed almost...mocking. Luigi quickly shook his head, certain those thoughts were wrong.

"He doesn't care about you."

Luigi jolted upright, frantically trying to block out the voice. He couldn't stop the anxiety flowing through his body now, filling him with dread. He recognized that voice…

"He doesn't care about you, that princess, or this land. All he cares about his fame, fortune, and being the 'Hero'."

Luigi shook his head, trying to ignore the voice. He winced at a memory that forced its way to the forefront of his mind.

Luigi stood in his mansion, and he couldn't do anything other then cry tears of happiness. He had done it, he had saved his brother! Luigi could only stand there as his brother shook off his disorientation, before he straitened, desperately hoping, praying, that he'd get praise, that he would be called a hero by his brother.

Mario stood up, popping his back, then his neck, before turning to his waiting brother and giving him a mocking smile. "Congratulations Luigi, you actually did something useful for a change! I'm so proud of you!"

Luigi's heart stopped for a moment, his eyes widening. He desperately tried to convince himself that his brother had misspoken, that he didn't mean it. He stared into Mario's eyes, frantically searching for some sort of clue that this was a joke, a dream, anything!

"W-w-what d-do you mean b-bro?" Luigi spoke quietly, hoping with every fiber of his being that he'd heard wrong.

"Oh, I said I was proud of you. Since, you know, you never accomplish anything worthwhile any other time, I had assumed you'd fuck this up as well. Its an easy assumption to make, since it is YOU we're talking about here."

Mario then laughed, before he pushed past Luigi, stalking out of the mansion. Luigi just stood there, shell-shocked, his mind had shut down in pained denial. Mario hadn't even cared that he'd saved him, he acted as if Luigi was set to fail from the beginning! Luigi felt something, something he never thought he'd ever feel for his brother, anger, pure unbridled wrath was directed toward the man that dared to call himself Luigi's 'brother'.

It had taken well over two weeks, spent cleaning up the mansion that Luigi owned, renovating and repairing the destroyed rooms, all the while finding hoards upon hoards of coins scattered inside everything. By the time the mansion was fixed and renovated to be considered just as elegant as Peach's castle, he had found and spent hundreds of thousands of coins, yet there were still more. Millions and millions of coins had been found inside that home, even expensive ancient jewelry and treasures had been collected and stored in a vault on the lowest level. If Luigi had been honest, and he hadn't been so undeniably mad at Mario, he most likely would have been willing to share a grand portion of the loot with his brother, to help keep their original house in top shape. Luigi had taken to using the master bedroom when he slept.

After he had a chance to calm down, he had gone back to his and Mario's shared house. Mario had been there, making some weak claim that he had been joking and was sorry. Luigi had reluctantly accepted the apology, yet he always felt that it hadn't been truthful, but he gave Mario the benefit of the doubt, after all, he was his brother, despite all his faults.

Luigi panted, his brow was covered in sweat. He shuddered under the force of the memory, gritting his teeth as he tried to push it back, knowing it was real, yet trying to convince himself it wasn't, like that thing that claimed to be the real Luigi. He winced as another memory flashed through his mind.

Two men stood at opposite sides of the Shadow Plains, one had the beaten and bloody form of the Shadow Queen behind him, while the other had a gilded cage behind him, containing two women dressed in regal gowns with crowns upon their heads, gold and silver respectively.

Princesses Peach and Daisy looked on in fear for both men, one holding a blood red flame in his right hand, while the other had an elegant blade in his left.

The blade was thing of beauty, a masterpiece in every sense of the word. The blade was 4 ½ feet long, curving gently backwards, colored an elegant emerald green, with a thin single edge. The guard was black, seemingly made out of obsidian, and was shaped as an unknown symbol. The hilt was a hand and a half long, also made out of obsidian, with emerald wrappings circling it.

The man holding the blade cut a very clean figure, wearing a simple green vest, unbuttoned and showing his chiseled upper body to the elements, while he had black dress pants, and black tennis shoes with green laces. The man wore a black ring with an emerald centerpiece. He also had a simple black eye mask on his face, giving him a roguishly handsome look.

The sword, and the man holding it, gave off an aura of danger, even though the man held the blade in a relaxed grip, the blade pointing downwards, yet when he turned and looked back at the two women, his emerald eyes were gentle, with a mischievousness that sent a thrill down their spines.

"Terribly sorry, my Ladies, as much as I wish that I could show you how a gentleman should always treat beautiful women such as yourselves, I regret that I must deal with this pathetic piece of a human trash first." The man spoke with an elegance and gave a clear insight to his belief in his skills. The girls were amazed at this man, so similar to one they knew, yet so undeniable different. They couldn't help but blush at his words. The man turned back to his opponent, his eyes narrowed and his face twisted into a sneer. "Though I will not regret killing you for your actions, you disgusting traitor."

The other man, dressed in his usual blue overalls and red shirt, with his signature red hat, scowled at the green clad man. "You think you can kill me?! You're probably just as weak and pathetic as my useless brother!" Mario harshly screamed out, his rage from the stranger's words showing easily.

The princesses gasped, unbelieving that their hero had said such thing about his own brother. Peach could only look on in shock, her mind trying to compare the gentle hero that had come to her rescue time and time again, with this man who easily and callously dismissed and ridiculed his own blood. Daisy meanwhile felt anger towards the red clad brother, having always deeply loved Luigi since the day he had saved her Wart and King Boo when they attempted to kidnapper her. She couldn't believe that Mario would ever call Luigi weak, especially after Luigi had saved Mario himself on multiple occasions!

The green clad man shook his head, knowing that talking to Mario would be useless. He took a stance, the point of the blade coming up while his feet shifted, one moving behind while the other came forward, he leaned forward, his eyes focused on the enemy in front of him.

Mario meanwhile was still angry, his eyes were bloodshot, his mouth was in a viscous snarl. "YOU THINK YOU CAN FIGHT ME?! I AM THE FUCKING HERO OF THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM!" Mario sprinted at the man, hurling fireballs the whole time, trying to burn him alive.

The princesses were horrified, not recognizing their hero in the nearly insane, bloodthirsty man in front of them.

The green clad man gave a small smile, letting small, elegant sweeps of his sword block the fireballs while he waited for the raging plumber to come closer. Mario was soon close enough to try to through a salvo of punches at the man in front of him, trying to beat and burn him. The man easily dodged, and continued doing so, letting Mario push him back towards the cage, smiling the whole time. Mario was seeing red after a few moments, he threw his attacks harder, trying to smash the man into bloody paste.

"STAY THE FUCK STILL YOU PATHETIC LITTLE SHIT!" Mario screamed out, even as the man moved out of the way again, Mario's fist thudding into the lock on the cage, smashing it completely. The two princesses gasped, realizing that the man had prosperously taunted Mario into a frenzy to get him to smash the lock for him.

The man let out an amused chuckle, before snidely remarking, "Well, you seem to have your use after all, disgusting pig."

Mario could feel his rage building even higher, he was on the precipice of snapping and burning everything to the ground. Peach saw that Mario had stopped for a moment and tried to call out to him. "Mario! Please calm down!"

Mario rounded on Peach, his restraint lost and his frustration having hit the melting point. "SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU USELESS, PATHETIC, WHORE!" Mario, in his wrath, threw a powerful fireball, a culmination of his anger and hatred towards the green wearing man who had mocked and made a fool of him, at the pair of princesses, aiming to burn them both alive. The princesses' eyes widened in fear, a pair of horror filled screams ripped their way out of their throats.

The man's eyes widened in fear for the women, before they narrowed in concentration. He grabbed his sword with both hands, feeling electricity dance along the edge of the blade, and Moved. All the other beings in the vicinity saw nothing but a burst of green tinted light, before the fireball was destroyed by a precise slash, before the man reappeared in between the princesses and the deranged man, one knee on the ground, his sword held horizontally. His eyes narrowed in hatred, he repeated the move, this time, a colossal wound appeared on Mario's back, crossing from his right shoulder blade to his waist on the left side. The cut was incredibly wide, but not deep enough to ensure death.

Mario fell to his knees, his body refusing to listening to his commands, as the man slowly walked in front of him. The man's eyes held no pity nor remorse for what he had done, knowing it was the right thing to do. He breathed in deeply, then back out, before readying the blade to cut through Mario's neck.

Peach's eyes were wet with tears, the fear of being burned alive and now believing she was about to watch her...former hero die, was too much. She spoke up, her voice cracking from her raw emotions. "W-wait! P-p-please s-spare him, h-he must be under the control of something, or someone. W-we can save him, I-I'm s-sure of it."

The man looked up to Peach, his eyes softening, "Is this what you wish for? For a man who, not a moment ago, willingly tried to kill you, to be spared? Are you sure about this, princess?"

Peach nodded, "Y-yes, I know Mario, he isn't himself, I know it." Daisy nodded as well, wanting to believe that Mario wasn't in control of himself.

The man sighed, then nodded, the hilt of his sword making a dull thus against Mario's head a moment later, forcing the man into unconsciousness. "As you wish, princess."

The man then walked over to the cage, pulling it open with ease due to the smashed lock, and gently took the hand of Peach, gently assisting her out of it, then placing a chaste kiss on her knuckles, then did the same for Daisy, causing them both to blush at the action. Daisy spoke up, her voice coming out far more confident then she felt. "Please tell me Sir, why did you call Mario a traitor? And may we ask your name?"

The man frowned, but as he was about speak, he felt a spike from the chemicals and magic in his blood. He winced, drawing concerned glances from the princesses, and looked at them with urgency. "I'm sorry, but I don't have the time to answer your question right now, I have hit the limit of time I can spend freely out here. I need you to return home yourselves, and please take the weakling and Shadow Queen with you, I can not, take them with me even if I would. I must leave for now, but we will speak again at a later point, I swear it. I must leave immediately." The man turned away from the princesses, causing them to feel sad at his sudden departure, and disappeared in another flash of green tinted light.

Later the man stumbled into his mansion, barely making it to his master bedroom, and collapsed onto the bed. He struggled against the horrible concoction that forced away his consciousness, and cursed the inventor that gave it to him, claiming it would help in his inevitable fight. His last thought was regret that he wouldn't be able to return until his other half finally broke his shackles.

Luigi's eyes opened slowly, his head still throbbing under an intense headache. He looked around and noticed it was night time, so he stood shakily, and walked slowly to his home. He walked in quietly, noting that Mario was already asleep, and changed into his own sleepwear, before slipping into bed. He whispered a quiet prayer, hoping to soon be able to tell where the dreams ended and reality begins.