Norman Whitesmith here bringing you a random short story I thought of. Everything else I'm writing right now is very dark and brooding, so I came up with a light hearted story idea and decided to write it to give me a small break! This is a short story that will be about 3-5 chapters long. Enjoy! Without further ado, chapter one.
Chapter 1: Promised Fame
"Luigi, get your butt over here!" yelled Starlow, her face contorted with disappointment, "The threat's gone thanks to Mario and you still can't be bothered to help out. I don't know why you got to be such a baby. After all, you're about as much use as one!"
Luigi crawled out of his hiding spot behind Bowser's throne, still shaking in terror. Bowser had kidnapped the princess again (big surprise there.) and Starlow the star sprite had decided to tag along on the rescue mission this time. Luigi wasn't really as terrified of Bowser as he was of Starlow. Despite literally being a floating yellow orb that was about useless in fighting, her snappy words could still scathe the toughest armor. Of course all of these snappy words ever seemed to be directed at Luigi and nobody else. Even Mario didn't seem to care about the constant stream of insults coming from Starlow, dismissing them as simply playful banter. Starlow continued to stare at Luigi disappointedly as Mario fetched the princess from her room in the castle (she was kidnapped way too much if she gets her own room). Luigi couldn't have helped that he snapped under the pressure when Bowser confronted them, not to mention Starlow's watchful gaze scanning him for the slightest mistake wasn't helping with the pressure.
Bowser didn't really bat an eye when Luigi ran and dove behind his throne, which was already packed nicely with home baked evil-flavored cookies and a blanket. After all, Luigi was back there way too much as well and he wasn't much of a threat, Bowser decided, so why not? Mario finally came back holding the princess bridal style, with a big grin on his face and his cheeks flushed red. It's clear that he was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek, and Luigi could almost see hearts rising from Mario's head. The heroes then set off for the castle after a moment of making sure everyone was okay, Peach luckily not sustaining any injuries as she had wizened up and brought helmets and other protective gear for any kidnappings so she wasn't knocked around too much. Did I mention that the kidnapping scenario happens way too often? The heroes finally arrived at the Toad Town square after traveling past the various Koopa Troop members rebuilding the forts for the next kidnappings, some of the Koopas high-fiving Mario for another good formidable fight. The Toads rejoiced when they saw Mario bringing back the princess.
"Three cheers to Mario for saving our benevolent ruler once again!" called out one toad as the others cheered.
"And another three cheers for Starlow for helping!" cried a different Toad and cheers rang out once more.
"And a final three cheers for our well loved ruler, Princess Peach!" The square erupted in a loud volcano of cheers for the final time before all the toads went back to doing their business. Luigi of course noticed when the toads forgot about him once again and a strong feeling of unimportance washed over him like a wave at high tide. It was undeniable that he was cowardly in the final battle and ran from the fight, but he had been a very big help up to that point to where even Starlow kept her mouth shut for most of the journey other than the occasional insults to Luigi's taste in color or any other thing that didn't matter. Why couldn't he get a break for once and maybe get some credit?
"Hey Luigi," Mario said as he walked over to Luigi, snapping him out of his thoughts, "The Princess and I are heading back to the castle and I'll be home later tonight. You can make dinner and don't have to wait up for me, okay? I love you, little bro."
Mario gave Luigi a small peck on the cheek before walking off with the princess. Luigi knew that Mario didn't mean to take all the credit and valued Luigi, but it still hurt nonetheless when it happened. Luigi decided to walk around the square and see if there was perhaps anything new. It was a warm sunny day and the air carried the scent of new life and happy beginnings. It was a perfect day for toad mothers to bring their bouncing children to the square. Luigi couldn't help but think of how easy the toad children had it with nothing to worry about other than making their report cards look alright. They didn't really have any expectations that they had to live up to and most of all, they couldn't really let anybody down too badly with their youth as their cure-all excuse. Luigi was so busy watching that he collided head on with a cloaked figure and both were sent to the cobblestone floor in a matter of seconds.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" Luigi cried as he scrambled to help the hooded figure to their feet.
"Oh-ho, no problem my friend!" said the hooded figure in a friendly voice, "My name is Iam Madge Jick, and I'm absolutely pleased to make your acquaintance! Luigi, is it?" asked Iam as she began heartily shaking Luigi's arm until it almost dislocated. At least this lady gets points for enthusiasm.
"Why yes it is. Pleased to make your acquaintance as well!"
"I'm glad to meet somebody as friendly as you! I moved here fairly recently and opened up a potions shop, but nobody seems to want to come in. I appear to be scaring people away with my… what do they call it? 'Murderously happy personality', I believe it was, whatever that means. I'm so amazed that I get to meet one of the legendary heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom! Though I don't get why they completely ignored you when you returned with the others. What was that about?"
"Oh, they just typically forget about me. For whatever reason nobody seems to like me all that much and I'm just left out."
Iam began nodding her head furiously and let out a happy laugh.
"I can actually help with that! Follow me back to my shop!" said the eccentric shop keeper as she dragged Luigi away without giving him a chance to react.
Soon the duo arrived at a small tent next to the tea stand and the woman quickly dragged Luigi inside. Luigi was absolutely amazed at the array of bottles filled with mysterious fluids that were all colors of the rainbow. Iam quickly rummaged through her shelf at the back of the store before holding up a flask of green liquid that was corked closed and had a large tag sticking off of it that read "to be Adored By All". Iam quickly shoved the bottle into Luigi's hands.
"If you drink that, you'll be adored by everybody! Though it does take awhile to go into effect. You can have it for free since you're my first customer! Everyone else was literally screaming at me 'stop or I'll call the police'. You were literally the first one to go limp and let me take you. Yay!"
Luigi stared at the bottle in his hands. Was this truly the key to fixing his problem? Crazy potion lady aside, Luigi had a good feeling that this might work. But he'd have to think about it first. Luigi thanked Iam and promised to visit her sometime in the future and left, bottle in hand. 'should I use this?' Luigi asked himself, 'Can I trust the psychotic, but somewhat likable potion lady?'
Luigi was lost in thought again and didn't notice the group of toads in front of him until he almost tripped over the one in front.
"Watch it, spaz," spat the leader, staring angrily at Luigi until he noticed the bottle in the hand of Luigi with the tag "to be Adored By All" and started to laugh, "The green shadow loser actually resorted to magic to make himself better! That's an all time low, even for a waste of space like you!"
Luigi felt the tears gather in his eyes as his breathing got uneven.
"Oh, the baby is going to cry now? Boo hoo, loser! How about you try this all so powerful potion and show us how adored you're going to be? Go on loser, try it."
The toad snatched the bottle out of Luigi's hands before he could respond and began tossing back and forth between him and his cronies.
"Too slow, second fiddle," laughed the toad as angry tears started to stream out of Luigi's eyes. He could only handle so much for one day and the limit was far broken. Luigi reached out with surprising speed and snatched the bottle out of the hands of a toad who was somewhat shocked.
"FINE!" shouted Luigi as he uncorked the bottle with one hand and drained the contents in record time, somewhat gagging at the taste of old gym socks… don't even ask how Luigi knew what that tasted like.
The toads stared at Luigi for a couple of seconds before bursting into laughter once again.
"This is pathetic! How about you go home now before you embarrass yourself further, alright wimp?"
Luigi dropped the bottle in the grass and ran off crying, attracting the attention of many around him and causing them to point and laugh at the full grown man making a fool of himself. Luigi didn't stop until he reached his and Mario's house and slammed the door shut. Luigi leaned up against the door and slid down. It wasn't fair that everyone could mistreat him. At least back in Brooklyn he was just a nobody like everyone else and was left alone.
Luigi finally pulled himself off the ground and looked in the mirror to see if the potion did anything. Nothing. Just plain old him staring back at him just like every day. Luigi went through the rest of the day in a fog, for the first hour being home rushing and checking the mirror to see if he had any changes every three minutes. Still nothing. Maybe the potion was a hoax and the lady was mistaken, as Luigi couldn't bring himself to believe that she'd lie to him on purpose. Luigi eventually went to bed and had fitful dreams of longing, the sound of Mario going to his bed as silently as possible slightly penetrating Luigi's dreams.
XxX
The ringing of his alarm woke Luigi up from his sleep. Luigi yawned and stretched before getting up, completely forgetting the events of the previous day. Luigi got to the mirror to shave before realizing he didn't have any stubble to shave. Luigi looked himself over in the mirror, confused as to why he didn't have the patch of stubble that faithfully showed up everyday. As Luigi continued to look, he realized that something seemed a bit… off, yet it wasn't obvious enough to place it. Suddenly Luigi got it. Throughout his late teenage to adult years, Luigi had always had a boyish quality to his face that almost made him look childish, but it was the mustache that had proved his manhood. About when Luigi hit his twentieth birthday his features had hardened up a bit, leaving Luigi looking a bit more manly, yet still having undeniably boyish features. It was almost as if his features had softened up overnight back to the appearance he had about when he was 19, though the difference wasn't too noticeable. Luigi had to go into town to ask Iam about this. He didn't see how looking slightly younger, although he already looked pretty young, could make anybody adore him any more.
Luigi quickly pulled on his signature clothes and put on his lucky green hat and was out the door, careful not to wake Mario who was still snoring rather loudly. Luigi began down the path on this fairly cool morning, admiring the sunlight that kissed the path that lead to Toad Town with love. The trees and bushes lining the path seemed to sway their welcome to the traveler as he continued on, nose up in the air to smell the new growing flowers of spring. The air around Luigi seemed to grow warmer to an optimal heat and Luigi appreciated every second. Until a tingling feeling started all over his body that showed the heat wasn't natural.
"Wha…" Luigi sputtered out before falling into one of the nearby bushes as his legs suddenly gave out, refusing to carry his weight any longer. Luigi tried to call out for help, but found that his voice refused to work. Luigi couldn't find the strength to move at all and watched helplessly as his body sank deeper into the bush and he could do nothing about it. Did the potion do this? Luigi hoped and prayed that somebody would find him, but as he sank deeper into the rather large bush, he knew that unless someone spotted his shoe that was blending in with the dirt path, he would have to hope that he woke up again and that the potion wasn't actually poisonous and killing him. Luigi couldn't hold on to consciousness anymore and darkness closed around him like velvet curtains as the unnatural warmth lulled him off to sleep.
And that is that. I will continue this later and I'd also like to add that the writing will improve next chapter too. This is intended to be a more light hearted story and I hope you all enjoy it! To explain the Mario rescuing situation, it's more along the lines of that it happens so often that everyone "good" and "bad" recognize it as their jobs and don't even mind when they have the other side kicks their butts thoroughly, as they see it as life. The koopa high-fiving Mario sort of reminds me way back in the day when I learned about WWII and how some of the opposing sides would play soccer or something with each other when they don't have commands to fight each other. I love how things like that show that humanity still exists in the midst of horrible things. Another thing is that Iam isn't an OC, but rather a character I created specifically for fitting the role of potion master person… thingy. Also, I created her name Iam Madge Jick to sound like "I am magic". But this is just a bit of fluff that I decided to write. The cover was drawn by me again and I'm fairly glad with how it turned out. Be sure to criticize my work and tell me how to improve. I understand that this is a bit choppy, but I intend to come and fix this later. Thank you for reading, and until next time, Norm out. And don't forget that swords don't make great letter openers.