One Loose Thread

Good morning, and welcome to one of the saddest stories I'll ever write. Join me as I detail the steady unraveling of a 16-year friendship, the calamity set loose by only a mere stray thread. This is for Writer of Worlds' The Feels Hurt Contest. WoW—I really hope this makes you cry.

Prologue: The Thread Itself

Douglas Jay Falcon was a man of many hats—F-Zero racer and bounty hunter were his most frequent ones. He was also among the original twelve Smashers as one of the four original unlockables. His steady rise to fame and notoriety in the Smash tournaments was courtesy of his taunts and his mighty Falcon Punch. The ascent had made him a little cocky and arrogant, but—he also wore a hat that very few knew about, and that was the hat of a best friend.

Luigi Mario was also a man of many hats, but he was only known as a plumber and Mario's little brother. He, too, was among the Original 12 and the original four secret characters. His place in Smash was secured courtesy of his wacky fighting style, his wavedash in Melee, and his heart of gold. His upswing in popularity, and thus his confidence, was courtesy of the Year of Luigi and the Death Stare which followed its demise. He could hold his own with top-tier fighters, yet he stayed quiet and humble whenever someone brought that up. His gentleness won most of the Smashers over to his side, and one of them was Captain Falcon.

For sixteen years, they forged a friendship filled with love, loyalty and trust. During Team Battles, they shared a chemistry surpassed only if Mario was the teammate. If they faced each other, then the respect each showed for his opponent could be seen with the naked eye. In between tournaments, they exchanged letters and invitations to sports tournaments, kart racing or the F-Zero Grand Prix. When Tabuu threatened the tournaments and the Smashers' lives, they stuck together as they did battle against him, defeating him after a grueling fight. It was after that incident that Luigi became more open with Douglas, confiding his deepest darkest secrets and telling him that nobody had stood by his side for so long before. Both vowed never to take the time they spent together for granted.

And then came the day a secret character could only dream about, when the two of them were finally moved to the starting roster for the fourth tournament. They met up at their favorite restaurant and showed each other the hand-written letters informing them of this. That night, they celebrated at a posh nightclub. The same nightclub where Falcon brought Luigi to cheer him up after his year was over.

But, as with all relationships, there were choppy waters, moments when they didn't see eye-to-eye. Sometimes, Falcon would let his pompousness get the better of him, or Luigi didn't agree with one of Falcon's decisions. Either way, words would be exchanged, and not a fortnight later, one of them would feel terribly sorry and bring the other a peace offering, usually something sweet, and they'd gobble goodies while talking things over, and everything would be as good as new.

Normally.

However, over a year into the new tournament, there would come a big fight. A fight where tempers exploded and hidden tensions reared their ugly heads. A fight where a single thread would come loose and unravel the trust and respect that had taken 16 years to establish. And this time—there would be no happy ending.


"L, take it easy! He's not that hurt," balked Falcon.

"'Not that hurt'? Go see for yourself and then tell me he's not that hurt!" cried Luigi, tears trailing down his face.

"I know you're worried for him, and you have every right to be," stated Falcon, reaching for the anguished plumber, "but…"

"Don't touch me!" Luigi snapped, flinching away from him. "You just had to do it, didn't you?!"

Falcon stiffened. "It had to be done, and you know it."

"Had to be done?! Are you serious? You were doing just fine out there! A smash attack was all you needed to win, but no. You had to go crazy with your Falcon Punch, and now my bro's in the hospital because of you!"

The battle against Mario was as clear as day in Falcon's memory. The stage. The fireballs. The Cape. F.L.U.D.D. Mario meter-smashing him over and over with his forward aerial. The repeated up tilts. The intensity. And halfway through the match, Falcon had gotten fed up. He was fighting for glory, not for this! Frustration took over, and it wasn't long before he was Falcon Punching and Raptor Boosting his way to the top. He honestly thought that Mario could take it. He wasn't genuinely trying to hurt him. But at the end of the match, his victory came to a screeching halt when he saw some Toads carrying Mario to Dr. Mario's office. Guilt-stricken, he'd followed them. But by the time they got there, Luigi had been notified. And judging by the look on his face, Falcon had a lot of groveling to do.

"C'mon, man. I didn't mean to…"

"Liar." Luigi cut him off. "I saw you in the viewing room. I saw you getting frustrated over his tactics!"

"Wha…?" gasped Falcon, sounding both annoyed at the interruption and stung over Luigi's condemnation.

"That's right, Falcon. I saw you. And this is all your fault. All of it. Now, here I am, sitting in the doctor's office, wondering if my big bro is going to be okay!"

"Look, he's been through worse than this," Falcon tried to reassure him. "He'll make it."

"Oh, that's cold comfort, coming from the guy who was nearly beating him into oblivion," sniffed Luigi. "How hard was it to just stop the match when you noticed something was up? Surely, you would've preferred a 'no contest' if it meant that nobody was seriously hurt!"

"He seemed fine to me," protested Falcon.

"That's because you weren't paying attention, were you? If Dr. Mario gives me bad news about him, I swear…"

That was it for Captain Falcon. "You know why you need him so much? Huh?" he barked. "It's because you can't even protect yourself! You always need him to look after you, to help you judge right from wrong, to bail you out and to save you from whatever trouble you brought upon yourself! With him around, you can reassure yourself that you're not what you really are—sad, weak and pitiful! If he leaves you alone for even a second, then you start messing your pants! And if something happens to him, you blame others to make yourself feel better, because you want to hide how whiny, needy and dependent on him you are!"

If Douglas Jay Falcon had kept those words to himself, or perhaps said something to defuse the situation, then this is where the argument would've stopped. If it had stopped here, then he wouldn't have been permanently cast out of Mario's circle of friends. If it had stopped here, then neither of them would've been left sifting through the wreckage of trust and loyalty, searching for something to salvage. If it had stopped here, then Falcon wouldn't have spent the afternoon under Dr. Mario's care each time he faced Luigi in combat. If it had stopped here, then it would've been easily patched up like the other quarrels. And Falcon wouldn't have lain awake for sleepless nights, wishing he could take those words back.

But it's too late for that now, because this isn't where it stops.

This is where it all begins.

TBC

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