May 23rd 2010
His hope had sunk into the pit of his heart, again filled with more remorse. Always, the same results. Honestly, how did Alfred ended up as the hero of the story anyways? A sigh slipped through Matt's frail lips as he put the game down. Why did he even bother? Super Mario Galaxy 2 wouldn't change anything anyway. Still, Matt knew he still had to try.

January, 2010
"Happy New Year, Matt. We have good news for you!" said Miyamoto, the creator of many famous games such as The Legend of Zelda and the latest popular one, Super Mario Galaxy, where Matt was conveniently excluded.

"What is it?" he murmured as he tilted my head down so that the brim of his green hat would shade him from the sun.

"We're featuring you in the upcoming game Super Mario Galaxy 2!" A genuine smile from one cheek to the other plopped on Miyamoto's face and Matt returned it without feeling.

"A-ah!" His insides were being juggled with distorted thoughts. Featuring.

"Yes, I had you appear in certain galaxies in order to help Mario. If the player chooses to use you, you will reappear as a ghost after they get the star to help them find a hidden star." His smile widened.

Matt looked at the paper momentarily, the one short paragraph that detailed his role. "What's a Comet Medal?"

"It allows the player to get another star in that galaxy through that comet, which is summoned by the Comet Medal." The details were thrown at Matt, but they didn't reach his brain for comprehension. The only thing he saw was the word "ghost". He would be a ghost in the game, too.

There was silence, and Matt cleared his throat, "S-so, just out of curiosity, what's new in this game?"

Miyamoto exploded with happiness, "Well, the player will be able to access more help through player two, who has a higher role then in the first game. The player's home base will be a small Starship replicated to Mario's head. Oh, and Yoshi plays a huge role in many of Mario's adventures."

Matt's heart skipped a beat. His own pet Kumajirou had a larger role then himself. Usually they were on the same level.

"Is there a problem?" Miyamoto notices a shift in Matt's expression.

"A-Ah? N-no!" Matt's mind struggled to come up with an excuse to leave before he slapped Miyamoto, "I-I just, ah, h-have to,ah, speak to Bowser about something. If you would excuse me." Matt quickly got up and sprang out of the room, thankful Miyamoto didn't know how much fear was broiling in Matt from Ivan. Even if it was only out of the character that Ivan played, it still left a hunting impression on Matt.
Matt continued down the hall, unsure of where the hell he was going. He swung a sharp left and crashed into Arthur, fully dressed in costume. They both crashed and hit the floor. Matt rubbed his head as Arthur adjusted his tiara.

"S-sorry, Arthur." Matt sighed

"Call me Peach when I'm in character." He said proudly, holding his skirt as he climbed back up.

"Okay, well good luck Peach." Matt said as he ran off.

Just then, Arthur noticed Matthew left his hat on the floor, the green L seeming to sag without Matt's head to rest on. He sighed and bent in a lady-like manner to pick it up. He held on to it as he made his way to the studio, heels clicking the whole time.

Matt ran, a brink of sweat clutching his forehead as an exit approached. Abruptly, though, Ivan appeared from an emerging hallway, his body in his Bowser costume and the Bowser head in Ivan's hands, making him look like he beheaded a demon.

"Oh," Ivan said, making note of Matt, "Pri`viet! Miyamoto told me you wanted to see me?" His smile sent a cold wave of fear through Matt.

"A-ah, w-well." Matt looked around, looking for an excuse for the second time today, "I-um, y-you see..."

"Yes I do." Ivan said quietly, and Matt stared at him in utter terror.

"Y-you do?" His voice trailed off into menacing silence.

Ivan nodded, "Your hat, da?" Matt paused momentarily, abruptly realizing his Luigi hat was missing.

"Oh! Yes yes! Have you seen it?" Matt said, taking advantage of this chance

"No, but if I find it, I will tell you."

"Thank you." Matt said and darted away, feeling Russia's aura lingering behind him. Matt cursed himself, wondering where his hat could be as he ran out of the building.

May 23rd, 2010: 7:00 PM
Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Dong-dong! The doorbell rang impatiently as Matt ran to the door.

"Who is it?" He said as he opened the door.

"LET'S PLAY OUR NEW GAME!" Alfred ran into Matt's house rudely and disregarded Matt as he ran to the Wii.

"Ah, b-but-" Matt tried to maintain his voice.

"Oh c'mon, I'm in it! It must be fun!" Alfred bursted with joy, tossing Matt the second controller. He sighed as he made himself comfortable on the couch.

"SUPER MARIO GALAXY!" Alfred's voice yelled from the speakers as the game began. The P1 mouse scrolled over to a new file, and to no one's surprise, the file icon was Alfred's head, with a red hat and his fake mustache. In fact, there was no Matt file option. But there was no Ivan option either, so Matt felt relieved.

The screen went to a story book and Alfred ran through it quickly, not bothering to collect the starbits or talk to the toads.
WHAM! The second the scene changed, a giant crystal hit the ground in front of Mario.

"That was close!"Alfred laughed as more crystals shot from the sky. The red luma P2 followed intently behind Mario. This useless Luma has more of a role then his own character, the thought lingered in Matt's mind.

Mario made his way closer to the devestated castle, toads of all different colors running in mayhem as Peach in his frilly pink dress was seen closer. Mario ran to him, but was interrupted when Bowser, who was a hundred times bigger then he really should be, blocked Mario.
"It's too late, Mario!" Ivan's menacing voice echoed in the shaken body of Matt.

"No!" Alfred said, "I am the hero of this game! You cannot win!" Matt wondered if Alfred realized that Ivan couldn't hear him. And after that speech bubble, Peach was in the hands of Bowser, a high pitched voice yelling "MARIO!" He made such a good princess, Matt concluded.
Bowser flew in the air and left in a black hole. Mario ran ahead to the Lumas, where one turned into a portal-star-spiny-thing. Alfred frantically shook his Wii Remote. Mario flew in the air as he yelled "WOO-HOO"

The first world was easy, but the whole time Matt was looking for Luigi as he collected starbits and defeated goombas. After Mario finally reached the first star, he was flying towards this barren planet. Some boring speech bubbles went by from this fat purple luma with blue plaid pants.

"C'mon, c'mon," Alfred murmured impatiently, "These long-ass speeches are so boring." Matt nodded, he could not even supress the feeling of annoyance at the loquacious Lumas ,especially the fat purple one.

Abruptly, there was an explosion, and the small wasteland became a garden of lucious wonder and sparkles as Alfred's head was replicated through patches of grass and rock. This was Starship Mario, Matt sighed. He glanced at the clock, 8:30 PM already.

After the stupid lecture, Alfred ran through the galaxies at lightning speed, only stopping to wait for the game to load. Matt was actually enjoying himself, and his mind drifted away from the fact that his character was missing. Until they got a Grand Star from defeating Belarus who was playing as Bowser Jr.

Throughout the first world, Luigi wasn't even mentioned, while Yoshi appeared on the second star they got out of ten-now eleven because of the Grand Star. Matt felt his heart sink as his eyes diverted to the clock, which read 12:05. They were playing for about 5 hours and Matt did not appear once!

"Ah, it's late, Alfred, let's stop now." Matt said politely, hiding his utter disappointment. They didn't even mention him. Nobody would take note of him until much later in the game. Did Miyamoto lie about featuring Luigi? Matt's insides were churning with horror.

Alfred stared at him for a second, "Matt, are you okay?" Matt blinked, and realized he was crying. "If you want to play just say so, you don't have to cry about-"

"That's not it, Alfred!" Matt snapped. He gasped, realizing what he said, and put a hand around his mouth, quickly using his other to wipe his eyes dry. "Sorry," he murmured and Alfred scowled.

"Whatever it is," Alfred hugged Matt, "I'm sorry."

Sometimes, Matt concluded, Alfred was a hero.