Chapter 2 – Enter Beast
First, a female shriek:
"MARIO!"
It was then followed by a sudden reptilian roar.
Mario shifted to one side as a fireball was shot in his direction. His right hand lit up in a radiant orange as he prepared his projectile. Mario watched as Bowser tried to make sly attacks, shooting no more than fireballs and summoning fire around the two (which he had ordered the Kooplings to program before the battle). If anything, Mario knew the entire castle inside and out, which worked to his advantage. Although the castles were placed in different lands for every battle, the design almost never changed; but some like to exaggerate the castle's design to make it seem as if it was a new castle all together. No, the castles never changed, and neither did Bowser. He would try, but ultimately fail, and fall before the brothers. In fact, Mario had completely forgotten that Luigi had come along with him. He shot the fireball, which was energized enough to hit Bowser in the face, and looked behind him.
Luigi was fighting off the Kooplings, and as tedious as it was, he was doing a fine job. They were all bunched together in the clown car, making the target easier to hit.
"YAH!" Ludwig shot a blue ball of nothing but negative energy and magic towards Luigi. He dodged it with ease since the shot was poor and incredibly slow.
"Ugh, you're all idiots," Wendy sighed, "I have an idea."
"Pssh, all your ideas are crummy!" Larry shooed her away from the car's controls.
"Nah, nah, like, this is for real. Let's all use our power and, like, destroy him." Wendy looked around at her brothers, "Anyone with me?"
They looked at each other, considering their options.
"Nah," they said in unison, and with that, they started firing their shots of magic all over the room, hoping to Grambi that it would somehow hit Luigi. To their dismay, the shots only bounced off the walls and missed Luigi completely.
Luigi looked over to Mario, who was still busy trying to find Bowser's weak spot. Walls of fire rose up from the ground at Bowser's command, blocking Mario's projectiles. Bowser roared from the other side as he breathed more fire across the wall, which eventually breached through the wall and surrounded Mario. Mario didn't move, although he tried to summon a shield as defense. He ducked down as the fire closed around him. Bringing a fire shield in the shape of a bubble around him, he hoped the fire wouldn't touch him. Everything soon froze in place, literally. The fire had been frozen and as Mario rose, he turned to Luigi.
With a sly little smirk, Luigi snapped his fingers and the ice broke into nothing but miniscule shards. Bowser was obviously not impressed. Ludwig aimed his wand carefully and another ball of energy was shot. It hit Luigi directly in the back, thrusting him forward and turning him to stone. The Kooplings laughed maliciously at their sudden victory. Bowser returned his attention to Mario and Mario followed suit. He knew the stone effects were temporary, so he paid no mind to it.
The stone effect wore off in due time and Luigi fell flat to the dark ground. He turned back to the Kooplings, standing up almost immediately. "I have an idea, guys," Morton exclaimed loudly, "Let's all fire our shots at THE. SAME. TIME!"
"YEAH!" all the Kooplings (except for Wendy, of course) cheered.
They aimed their wands at the green clad plumber as he looked around, quickly thinking of a plan. He studied the clown car, looking at the propeller at the bottom that kept the car hovering far above ground. Luigi's right hand lit up with an ice-like color as he prepared to fire.
The Kooplings' wands lit up with the negative energy as they prepared to fire as well. Luigi quickly shot at the propeller while their wands were still powering up. One side of the propeller was covered in ice, but the other side still managed to hold up the Kooplings' weight. Their wands soon aimed at Luigi. He gulped, taking a cautious step back. He threw the ice-ball lamely, but it was a shocking direct hit. The propeller froze as the Kooplings were about to fire. The clown car fell to its demise, going up in smoke and tossing parts all over the room. The seven Kooplings were now scattered nearby the wreckage, moaning and groaning with pain and defeat.
Mario slid back after being hit with a small fireball. It didn't cause much damage, but it hurt and possibly caused some burns. Luigi ran to his brother's side, happy to tell him that he was able to defeat the Kooplings. Mario nodded and ordered him to try and find out what tactic they should use to now dispose of Bowser. Luigi only shrugged, feeling a little weary after the easy battle with the Kooplings. Bowser shot more fireballs at them, forcing them to keep their distance.
"C'mon! You have to have some kind of idea!" Luigi tried to fire another ice-ball, but the fire overpowered the ice. He was dehydrated, making his power useless.
"What do you mean some kind of idea? You're the genius!" Mario stood back, waiting for the perfect time to strike.
"Flattery will get you nowhere, bro." Luigi laughed, and then screamed as Bowser's wall of fire shot up once again.
"Chill out," Mario snickered.
"Ha-ha-ha," Luigi's expression then hardened, "Haven't heard that one before."
The wall of fire died down as Bowser realized that the broken pipes above were leaking, killing the fire. He roared, making the castle rattle with the sound of his booming voice. Luigi looked up, watching the water droplets eventually turn into steady streams of water. Bowser tried to breathe fire on it, thinking the water would evaporate just like that, but this was not so.
Mario tried to attack Bowser with fireballs that he quickly created, but Bowser shoved him away. He was more interested in fixing the pipe rather than battling the brothers.
"HEY, BOWSER!"
Bowser turned to face Luigi. He growled, and prepared to attack. Luigi wiped the remains of some water off with his sleeve. His eyes beamed as he summoned ice to cover Bowser from head to toe. Bowser tried to poise himself to attack the plumber in time, but his body froze in the awkward position. Luigi smiled and walked calmly over to the frozen turtle. Mario walked over, looking at his brother with disbelief. Luigi daintily tapped the claw of the monster and a crack spread quickly across the ice figure. In an instant, Bowser was nothing but ice shards scattered across the floor. Mario quickly melted the shards before they could possibly form back together again.
The cage that held the damsel opened and Princess Peach stepped out, happy to be free. While the princess made her way towards the brothers, Luigi stepped forward, bowing in respect. The princess, however, completely ignored him. She walked over to Mario and wrapped him in her arms. Luigi glared at him, but Mario only shrugged and embraced the princess. Oh, how Luigi hated when the princess played favorites.
"Again, I thank you two for saving me," Peach cooed, "It was an amazing feat, as always."
"It was honestly nothing, princess," Mario's eyes landed on Luigi's frown. He hadn't said a word since they left the Dark Lands, which Mario found awfully peculiar.
"If there is any way that I can possibly repay you two, please feel free to let me know." the princess sounded as kind and as fake as ever – at least to Luigi.
"You've done enough for us already," Mario said slowly, keeping most of his attention on his brother.
Luigi walked beside the two as they made their way through Toad Town and towards the castle. All the Toads were crowding the streets and congratulating the brothers, once again, for a job well done. The princess returned safely to the kingdom and the kingdom wouldn't hear from Bowser for another whole month! Oh yes, everyone was indeed in a happy state.
That is, all except Luigi.
Luigi had always been pushed aside, even if he did most the work. Would he ever get the credit? No. Would he ever become famous like his brother? No. Would he ever get the girl? No. The answer was always no, and Luigi was well aware of that. He was desperate for attention and hungry for the same fame as his brother. However, Luigi kept his patience and sanity, knowing that good things come to those who wait.
Once the two guards let the three enter Mushroom Castle, the brothers were greeted by the familiar sight of servants running about and shouting at one another. Peach calmed them down to announce her arrival, but they simply welcomed her back and returned to work. She was displeased, but paid no mind. "Now, I must show you two something of great importance."
"What is it?" Mario asked with a hint of interest, although he could admit that most things Peach considered 'important' were boring and pointless.
"I can't remember every detail off the top of my head, sadly, but I'm sure you'll find it amusing."
Luigi could care less, no matter what it was.
Reaching the second floor, Peach led the brothers down the hall to the library. As Luigi passed a few vacant guest rooms, he noticed one had a mirror facing the hallway. Once he walked by, his reflection was replaced by a dark man. Luigi noticed this out of the corner of his eye and paused. Mario and Peach walked ahead of him, while Luigi walked into the room to examine the figure. As he walked deeper into the room, the door closed.
"Well, well, well," the dark man said, "Welcome back, hero."
Luigi stepped back, regretting his choice to walk into the room.
"What? Are you afraid of me, Luigi? Do I…frighten you?"
Luigi finally managed to speak, "I told you to keep your distance or…"
"Or else what?" the man interjected, "Hmm? Are you going to freeze me to death?" he chuckled. "I'm not that feeble, Luigi. You should know that, after all, I was you."
"…For a mere moment."
"But that mere moment was a lifetime. Admit it, Luigi; you loved being that dark soul you know you were born to be."
"I was never born to be evil," Luigi's voice lowered.
"And? You've always held negative energy, Luigi. Since the day Mario became Mr. Big-Shot, you held negativity and darkness inside you." the man leaned on one side of the mirror, "I only helped you release it."
Luigi didn't speak, letting the silence spread. He glanced at the floor, hoping the man wouldn't speak again.
"Listen, loser," the man snapped, "Remember that old plan you came up with? That plan to get rid of Mr. I'm-All-That-And-A-Bag-Of-Chips?"
Luigi kept his eyes on the floor and didn't respond.
"Look at me, damn it!"
Luigi moved his eyes slowly back to the man.
"You still have that plan and you still want to put it into action, don't you?"
"I don't want to hurt anybody," Luigi's voice was nothing but a faint whisper.
"Well wake up, Cinderella. If you want fame, fortune, and the high life, hurting people is your only way. Remember Peachy? She just skipped you, even though you fought the battle. If you got rid of a person or two, then all eyes would be on you and you would be the main attraction. Isn't that what you want?"
Luigi shook his head, "But not that way."
The man sighed and shifted his position, "Just remember, Luigi, I'm always here," the man pointed to his head, "And I'm always watching."
The man faded away and Luigi's reflection came into view. Luigi hoped that he had disposed of that monstrosity years ago, but he was obviously still here…in Luigi's mind and slowly depriving him of his sanity. Since Mr. L didn't sound like a fitting name for the fiend, Luigi simply called him the beast, for he was the beastly side of Luigi that only wanted to destroy all those in his path.
Opening the doors of the library, Peach gasped. A cloaked person was sitting calmly by the fireplace. Mario stepped forward, preparing himself to attack once more.
"Ah, Princess Toadstool," the cloaked person laughed, "I've been expecting you."
If you can't tell, I'm not too strong at writing action scenes. If you have any suggestions to help, that would be fantastic.
All reviews are appreciated, as always.
~T.O.N.~
