I Don't Want to Say Goodbye

Summary: Post Mario and Luigi's Dream Team, (doesn't follow my Heart series) Mario is preparing to become king but there are some loose ends that he has to tie off first.

"Well," said the red clad plumber, also known as "Super Mario" but full name was Mario Gregory Manfredi Junior.

"Y-yeah," said the green clad ghost hunter, Luigi James Manfredi.

These two brothers were the legendary Manfredi twins, the heroes of Mushroom Kingdom. They recently saved an ancient race from nightmare chunks and the two brothers were heading in opposite directions. Mario was headed for the castle while Luigi was headed home. Usually, that didn't mean anything to a normally. It usually just meant that Mario was going to check on Princess Peach once last time before going home for the day while Luigi wanted to get home before Spettro (the name of his adopted and beloved Polterpup) chewed up the place. But this time, it was different.

Mario, who had proposed to Peach (and she said yes), was preparing to leave with Toadsworth and Peach back to Isle Defino to clear up a little bit of mess from the Sunshine incident. Mario was a tad nervous about becoming king but seemed to have hid it well, especially around his younger twin brother.

"So," Mario finally said, after an awkward moment of silence.

Luigi, on the other hand, wasn't doing too well in the dating market. He was dating Princess Daisy since the first mansion incident. Howevre, after about three or four months with Daisy, the two of them broke up. All Luigi had was his house out in Boo Woods, his dog, Elvin. But most importantly, he had his older twin brother.

"Yeah. So," Luigi replied, feeling that awkward silence sneaking back up again.

While the one brother was escalating on the tower known as life, the other brother was not. Luigi didn't seem to care, in all honesty. Granted, he wanted to feel like what was to be like a hero but he accepted the fact that all he was known was for...was being the man in green. Rather ironic but that was another point to focus on later. Now, the reason the two brothers felt like going their separate ways was going to be the last time they were going to see each other, it was more than true. Luigi and Mario both knew, once they moved, the next time they saw each other - Mario would be king.

Mario didn't want to rule over his brother but he loved Peach very much. 'I do want him apart of my counsel,' Mario thought, finally deciding that he didn't want to say goodbye.

He finally started to say, "This doesn't have to be..."

Luigi interrupted, "No, Malleo. This should be goodbye."

Mario was surprised by this. Was this really Luigi saying this? He usually was the one that didn't want to say goodbye.

The red clad plumber started to protest, "But Weegie..."

The green ghost clad ghost hunter interrupted yet again as he replied, "No butts. You're going to be king in a year. A year! You should be focusing on making this kingdom the best in the world, not on someone that could drag it down in an instant."

Mario insisted, "You would never do that, Luigi."

Luigi shook his head and stated, "You're wrong about that, Mario. I have been dragging this kingdom down ever since we came. I've been dragging you down ever since we came. I'm no hero, I realize that now."

Mario started to reply, "No. You are a hero. You fight ghosts, you battled Bowser, you faced your fears..."

Luigi responded, cutting in yet again, "That may be true but you forget one thing. I've tried to kill you on multiple occasions..."

Mario started to ask, "What are you..." That's when he realized and told Luigi, "That wasn't your fault. You weren't in control."

Luigi asked, "How do you know that for sure...?"

As he asked that, he remembered the horror...

-Flashback: 'Super Paper Mario'-

Luigi's POV

Oh...my head hurt... I think I had too many Shroom Shakes... The last thing I remember was Peach getting forced to marry to...Bowser?! My eyes bolted open as I jumped to my feet. When I saw no one, my mind went a thousand miles per second. What was going on? Where was I? What happened to Peach, Bowser, and Mario? Mario?! Oh man, where was he?! Why wasn't he here with me?! And what happened?!

I said aloud, "I messed up again... I'm nothing like Malleo..."

A voice interrupted me and asked, "You awake, Green?"

I spun around and saw two Goombas standing there. I was so used to seeing them, it was like meeting up with old friends.

I responded, "Yeah...you guys alright?"

After they reassured me when they were alright, mumbling something about me - which I heard and that hurt - I asked them if they saw anyone. When they said no, my heart rate increased. I was getting very worried. I knew we had to see if anyone was here but the Goombas refused and said that we should get out of here instead. I refused at first until they told me that was something that the Super Luigi wouldn't do. Liking the sound of that, I lead the charge. Finally, after awhile, the three of us got to a dead-end. 'Oh no,' I thought. Suddenly, something got the Goomba behind me. The Goomba in front of me looked disorientated.

He cried out, "GARY! NO!"

"Hmm-mmm-mmm... I've been looking all OVER for you."

Standing there was Nastasia and the brainwashed villains. I knew we were in trouble, there was no way I could beat them all on my own. The Goomba that was with me, surrendered himself to them - not going under brainwashing. I was a bit upset but I did understand the meaning, I was outnumbered. And the next thing I knew, I was down on the ground, calling out for Malleo (my nickname for Mario) and blacked out completely...

? POV

Silence is indeed deafening. That's what I thought, I hated it. I gruffly woke up and saw that I was in a dark castle. My mind was clear, following like a river. Suddenly, I heard a noise. I quickly jumped to my feet instantly as I saw a woman standing there. She seemed rather quiet though.

She stated, "I see you are up."

I looked at her puzzled as I looked down at myself. It was weird because my outfit looked similar to a ninja's, black in every aspect. My belt was a light orange with a green buckle and had gold buttons on my outfit. There was a green bandana around my neck as well. I looked at her again, a bit confused.

I questioned, confused, "Are you addressing me?"

She explained, "Well, you are the only one in the room."

I simply nodded as he looked around, completely confused. What was I doing here? What was going on? How come I had no memories? Did I have amnesia? Where did I belong? What was my purpose? I turned to Nastasia, seeing my own silver eyes in the reflection of my silver eyes in her glasses.

I asked, very confused, "Where am I? What's going on? I have so many questions but I dare not ask them all."

She introduced herself first as Nastasia. She then explained to me about Count Bleck and his motives. After she was done explaining, I was automatically in for helping Count Bleck. The destruction of all worlds sounded pretty sweet to me. Nastasia pushed up her glasses as she eyed me.

She questioned, "What was the first thing you remembered?"

I felt that question was a bit odd but explained, "I was blank at first, I didn't remember much of anything, not even my name."

Nastasia said nothing, which got me a little concerned. That's when she gave me a hat. It was green and a "L" stitched in it. I looked at it and then at her.

She stated, "This was found alongside of you when I found you. Perhaps you can use it?"

I took the hat and turned it inside-out. The L was now upside down and the hat as well the background was black. I seemed very pleased as I placed it on top of my messy brown hair. This was my chance to be better than whoever this former guy was so that's when I made a decision.

I vowed, "I'll be better than that loser, whoever he was."

-End of Flashback-

AK1028: There's our first chapter. Let me know what you guys think so far! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!