**A story requested by someone on DeviantArt, loosely inspired by this picture: fav. me/d5h4kxu

Nothing special, really. If this feels rushed, that's probably because it is. I just wrote whatever came to mind in something I hope makes for a reasonable storyline.
I also threw in my Vocaloid OCs because I was also too lazy to come up with new character names.
So in short, this is just a random story that you can read if you want to (that's how all my stories are, actually).

Have a nice day **

"No!"

Luigi slightly flinched on the couch, working his eye open to stare at the television screen that lit the room. He smiled upon seeing the words game over flashing across the screen, almost tempted to hum along with the theme that played just to rub salt into the wound of the man next to him.

"Why is this game so hard?!" Mario spat, thumb mashing against the A button on the remote, "I don't remember it being this hard!"

Instead of answering, Luigi merely snuggled into the couch cushion, already falling back asleep. He felt the couch jerk and bounce as Mario started the level over again, said man jumping and swinging his arms as he played.

"Ooh! Yeah! Take that you stupid platform! Ahah!"

Luigi sighed, finding it hard to fall back asleep again with his brother shouting beside him. With a sigh, he slowly sat up and rubbed his eye, "Mario…"

"What?! Damn it! Quit falling off the ledge you stupid—" Mario slammed his hands down onto the couch when his character fell, "I'm running out of lives!"

"Mario…" Luigi tried again, "…I'm gonna go to bed…"

The elder brother paused the game to look at the younger, "Bed? It's only eleven at night!"

"Exactly. Don't we have to go somewhere in the morning?" Luigi asked, narrowing his eyes at the other man, "You know. You promised Peach we'd go with her on that picnic?"

"Oh, please, it's just a picnic. It's not like I'll have to be wide awake for that."

"What about making sure you wake up on time?"

"It's not until noon, I'll be fine."

Luigi rolled his eyes, "Fine, whatever you say." He stood from the couch and shuffled towards the stairs, "And by the way, try to keep it down…please?"

"Uh huh," Mario unpaused the game, "Cazzo! Why do you keep doing that?!"

"Tired, Mario?"

"Hn?" Mario finished his yawn and looked at the blonde princess next to him, "What do you mean, Peach?"

"That's the third time you've yawned in the past ten minutes," Peach giggled, "I bet you didn't get enough sleep last night."

Mario scoffed, "I did to! I'm well rested!"

"If well rested is going to bed at three in the morning." Luigi walked by, patting Mario on the back, "Trying to beat one level of Ki Ongaku Panikku."

Peach rolled her eyes, and adjusted her parasol, "That game is silly, Mario. Why do you even play it?"

"Because it has an interesting story!" Mario defended, crossing his arms.

"Because the main female character is busty." Luigi deadpanned, "Don't lie, you always choose busty chick when you can."

The red clad male kicked at him, "You shut your trap, I don't always choose her. And besides, her name is Warlette, not busty chick."

"Can we just drop this discussion now?" Peach growled, "We're here to have a nice picnic, not talk about characters in video games."

"Discussion dropped," Luigi reached into the basket beside him, "Say, did you bring spaghetti?"

"I'm going to throw you over the edge the first chance I get!"

Luigi poked his head into the living room, watching as Mario hurriedly tapped away at the controller and jerked it around excitedly, "Oh no you don't! You better not run there! Get back here! I'll scream in your ears! Fine! I'm screaming! Yeah, how do you like that, you stupid pig?! Now I'm gonna throw you over the edge! Haha! Die already! Die! Burn in the lava! Burn in it!"

"Mario, supper's done." Luigi tried, leaning against the door frame and crossing his arms.

"Hang on! I need make sure this pig is dead!" Mario waved a hand at him, "He healed himself the first time when I almost killed him, and if he does it again I'm gonna be real mad!"

"Lousy game design." Luigi muttered, watching as Mario jumped off the couch and threw his controller into the air in celebration.

"I killed him! Finally! Finally!" Mario shouted, shaking his fists at the television, "No more Lethal Lava World!"

"And no more Ki Ongaku Panikku for tonight," Luigi walked over and shut the console off, "C'mon, the food's getting cold."

Mario glared at him, "You'd better be lucky the game automatically saved before you cut it off. If I have to do that boss fight all over again I'm gonna be mad."

"It's just a game, Mario." Luigi led his brother into the dining room, "What's so fun about it anyway? All you're doing is running around as a girl who needs a haircut."

Mario plopped down in his chair, "As I already said, the story is amazing and the game is actually fun whenever it's not a climbing level." He picked up his fork at poked at the food, "Didn't we have fettuccine alfredo last week?"

"Be quiet, it's food." Luigi snapped, twirling some pasta noodles onto his fork, "And it's what I felt like having."

"Mm hmm," Mario nodded, tapping his fingers on the table, "Um, do you mind if I take this in the living room and eat it?"

"What, so you can watch busty girl run around again?"

"Warlette!" Mario corrected, "And no, that's not what I want to do, I want to beat the game before the end of the week!"

Luigi sighed, "Whatever, just don't make a mess, if you do you're gonna clean it up."

"Uh huh." Mario was already halfway back to the couch when he replied.

Mario sniffled as he entered the kitchen, pushing past Luigi and yanking a paper towel off the roll, blowing his nose loudly.

The green-clad male grimaced, "What're you sad about?"

"S-she…" Mario pointed towards the living room, "…she died for him…"

"Who died for who?" Luigi asked gently, even though he wished to spit the question.

"Warlette…" Mario hiccupped, "…she died…and the game's not even done yet…"

"Aw, no more busty girl." Luigi smiled and shook his head, "How'd she die?"

Mario's voice shook, "It's too sad to recall!" he cried, blowing his nose again before continuing, "B-but-but she-she died for her brother! She didn't have to die!"

"She had to die for the plot to progress, yes?"

"Who cares about the plot now?! She was the best character!"

"Because she was busty?"

"Quit saying that!" Mario stormed back into the living room, "She was the most agile fighter and she had a reason to fight!"

Luigi laughed, "Sure, sure…"

"Have you played Ki Ongaku Panikku, Daisy?"

Luigi almost regretted asking the question when he saw the red head's eyes light up, "Ki Ongaku Panikku? That game is, like, the best thing ever! But it's probably not something you'd like to play." She smirked at him and leaned forward, "Or do you want to play it?"

"No, I don't." Luigi straightened his spine, "Mario's been playing it non-stop for the past month. The other night he came into the kitchen crying because Warlene or whoever died."

Daisy scoffed, "Her name is Warlette."

"I called her busty girl." Luigi took a sip of tea, glancing around at the princess' garden.

"Eh, can't blame you there. But Warlette was one of the more loveable characters in the game—and the best fighter. I bet Mario plays as her all the time, yes?"

"Bingo."

"Ah, I figured he'd choose her," Daisy stretched, "But her speed stats suck. Warren's better when it comes to that."

"Is he that guy that looks like a male version of busty girl?"

"Warlette. And yes, he is. Because they're siblings."

Luigi nodded slowly, "So…why is the game so good?"

"Well," Daisy folded her hands in her lap, "for one, the characters are all loveable—Warlette, Mei, Silent, Rosali, so on—and second the story line is something lots of people can relate to. It's basically a dramatic retelling of the struggles of a normal life time. But the way it's executed…" the princess kissed her fingertips, "…magnificent."

"Oh, okay. Might have to play it sometime." Luigi hummed.

"Fratello?"

Mario barely moved from his curled up position on the couch, slightly rocking himself back and forth and quietly humming along with the music coming from the television. His blue eyes seemed lifeless as he stared at the words on the screen, eyebrows furrowed as if he were angry, yet his mouth was curled into a small smile.

"Bro, what're you doing?" Luigi walked over and poked Mario's shoulder, "Has the game finally eaten your brain or something?"

Mario finally looked at Luigi, "Oh, hey Weegee!" He uncurled himself and stretched, "Ah, that ending…so sad but so satisfying."

"So you beat the game?" Luigi grabbed his chin, trying not to giggle at his brother.

"Si! Beat it one hundred percent!" Mario nodded, "But what's sad is that all of my favorite characters died…and that fat pig Warren was the one who lived happily ever after. Stupid son of a—if he hadn't been so lazy Warlette would still be alive!"

Luigi picked up the controller from where his brother dropped it onto the floor, "Well, I talked to Daisy about this game and decided I'm gonna give it a try."

Mario snatched Luigi's wrist, making the shorter male jump in shock and drop said controller. He looked up at him with his trademark stern look that clearly said "don't do it or else."

"…am I not allowed to play?" Luigi questioned, resting his other hand on his hip.

"You must be warned," Mario spoke quietly, "if you start this game, there is no turning back. You will crave playing it until the very second you beat it. Taking a break from it, you can feel it coaxing you back. It's like a dangerous drug." Mario stood up, his face nearing Luigi's as his eyes squinted, "You still want to play?"

"Mario," Luigi deadpanned, "it's just a game. I'm sure I won't be freaking out over it like you did."

Mario slowly released Luigi's wrist and took a few steps back, glaring at him until he had completely backed out of the room.

"Pssh, geez. It's a wonder how he's still able to save Peach." Luigi muttered before picked the controller up again and starting a new save file.

** Ki Ongaku Panikku: Yellow Music Panic. A game title I just came up with on the spot. **