Chapter One
Mario and Luigi crouched behind the scratchy bushes, assessing the looming dark fortress in the not-so-far distance.
"Wow! Can you believe we made it all the way here?" Luigi exclaimed, wiping the hair that was plastered to his forehead, darker than usual and matted with sweat. "Bowser really went all out this time, huh?"
Mario shushed him impatiently. "Don't start celebrating. It's not over yet! We'll congratulate ourselves when that overgrown lizard is toast and the Princess is safe and sound. Now, focus and help me scan the perimeters. I only see two guards. See any more from your angle?"
Luigi craned his neck, squinting his eyes to check from every possible slant in his line of vision. "Nope," he told Mario, shrugging. "Guess Bowser didn't really think we'd make it this far. And I can't say I blame him! All those enemies we had to fight…and I still can't believe he planted a Piranha Plant forest for us to cross." Reminded of the reason he could feel the wind ruffling his hair, he turned sullen. "I also still can't believe a Piranha Plant ate my hat."
Mario rolled his eyes. "You'd better just be glad it didn't eat you. You've got plenty of hats at home, so quit your whining and let's go!"
"But I can't!" Luigi's hands suddenly started shaking, his voice turning high and panicky. "I-I can't go into the final battle, against Bowser, without my hat. He'll skin me alive!"
Mario raised an eyebrow.
"It was my lucky hat!" Luigi turned away, knowing Mario wouldn't understand. Mario had never understood him. His friend, the one who called himself Mr. L, was the only one who did. Mr. L had remained a constant companion throughout Luigi's best moments and his worst, always ready with a helpful bit of advice, or a snarky comment, or even just a silent but perceptible comforting presence. When he was younger, he had coped with Mr. L having no actual visible or corporeal body by associating Mr. L with his fuzzy green blanket, carrying it around everywhere with him. Even though it was silly, Luigi still felt a need to keep something physical with him to feel like Mr. L was really there with him. As he grew older, he had replaced the blanket with his hat…and now he didn't have it.
Look at me, he thought. Here I am, a grown man depending on an imaginary friend.
"I'm not imaginary," came Mr. L's smooth voice. "And I'm still here. You can do this, Luigi."
Luigi felt a surge of gratitude, and he looked at Mario. "Okay, let's go!"
Mario shrugged, not questioning the sudden change of heart. Sometimes Luigi was just like that…that's what made him Luigi. The brothers made short work of the two koopa guards with swift punches and kicks and didn't waste any time pushing open the heavy double doors.
Mario went in with his fists raised…but the room was dark, and cold—and empty.
"Huh?" asked Luigi, bounding in behind his brother. "Where're all the torches? The fire? Where are the traps and the enemies?"
Mario shrugged, though he looked uneasy as well. If there was one thing they knew about Bowser, it was that he was flamboyant in his love of atmosphere. Dark reds and oranges were his style, with fire everywhere. This dank, drab room held none of Bowser's usual flair. Looking around, Luigi and Mario couldn't even spot one soldier or obstacle, when usually his castle was swarming with them. It was like the place was deserted.
"They are here, aren't they?" Mario asked, a hint of doubt creeping into his voice for the first time. "Bowser is holding Peach here. He has to be. We worked so hard to get here…"
Luigi, too, wondered if they had been sent on a wild goose chase. He looked at Mario in concern, knowing that if all that hard work had been for nothing, and they were still no closer to finding Peach—to find that out now, after he thought he had been so close—it would crush him. Oh no. Poor Mario.
Mr. L snickered. "Poor Mario? Are you kidding? The guy deserves to be taken down a peg or two. 'Sorry, Mario, but the Princess is in another castle'!" he hooted.
"That's not funny," Luigi said, so cross that he accidentally spoke aloud.
"You're right," said Mario. "There's nothing funny about this." With that, the portly plumber began to bound up the stairs, resolutely determined to tear this fortress down brick by brick if he had to. Luigi followed him, unnerved by the echoes their footsteps made in the empty corridors.
The many portraits of Bowser on the walls seemed creepier in the gloom. Many doors they passed were ajar, and Luigi saw many bedrooms with beds unmade and papers askew, but with the unmistakable musty feeling of abandonment. It gave him chills, as if the koopas had left their bedrooms fully expecting to return and then—they'd never come back. Some rooms unmistakably belonged to Bowser's koopalings, discernible by childish drawings and toys, and though those brats had given Luigi and Mario nothing but grief time and time again and Luigi wasn't particularly fond of them, they were just kids. To see their rooms abandoned gave him a sick, eerie feeling and he hoped that they were all right.
Suddenly, Mario stopped. Luigi, not expecting this, bumped into him and started to apologize, but Mario didn't even admonish him to watch where he was going. He just stared downward. Luigi followed his gaze and froze as well. The door they were looking at was closed, but there light shining from the slit underneath. Light! So the castle wasn't completely deserted then.
Mario took a deep breath, bracing himself for whatever he might see. He was surprised by Luigi placing a supportive hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Luigi's small smile and he gave a curt nod of acknowledgment and pushed the doors open.
Torches flickered from sconces on the wall, illuminating a thick red carpet with gold trim leading to an empty throne with skulls at the end of the armrests. Yes…this place screamed of Bowser, all right. But Mario had eyes for none of that, for right next to the throne was a rusty cage, just big enough for one prisoner with flowing blonde hair.
Mario took a step forward, his eyes not leaving the Princess. Her face was smudged with filth and her pink dress torn, but she seemed otherwise unharmed. She was unguarded and, crossing her arms, just looked bored and mildly annoyed.
"Princess," he said softly, disbelievingly. "Is that really you?"
Peach's head whipped around and her eyes lit up. She grasped the bars of the cage, pressing her face against them. "Mario! Oh, thank goodness! I thought you'd never get here!" She tilted her head. "Who's that you brought with you?"
Luigi looked back and forth, expecting to see someone else, but he quickly realized that he was the one she was referring to. "Really, Peach? I'm Luigi!"
"Oh!" Peach tossed her hair. "Well, you can't blame me. My vision's poor after having been stuck in this dark place for long. And you're not wearing that distinctive hat!"
Mario started to run to Peach's cage, but Peach held out her hand in warning. "Wait, Mario. Don't get too near my cage. If you step on the wrong brick you'll set off a trapdoor, and—"
She was interrupted by a set of footsteps that made the ground rumble. Unmistakable. Mario cracked his knuckles and his neck and settled into a fighting stance, seriousness settling over his features. He should have known things wouldn't be that easy.
The giant behemoth known as Bowser entered the throne room through a curtain concealing another room in the back. "Peach! I've fetched your ring!" he announced in his gravelly voice. Unsurprisingly, Peach turned her head away with her nose in the air and a little "hmph!" but that didn't seem to faze Bowser. He started towards her cage anyway, but then stopped short upon noticing the Mario brothers.
He stood back on his heels, baring sharp teeth in a smile that stretched all the way across his face. "Mario," he said, "I was wondering if you'd make it or not." He winked. "Care to be my best man?"
Mario's face turned as red as his hat. "I won't let you get away with this!"
Bowser shrugged. "It took you quite a while to get here. Have any trouble?" he asked innocently. He assessed the two men. "Looks like you replaced the green plumber with some no-name. Don't tell me my minions actually succeeded in killing one of you pesky Mario brothers!"
"Are you kidding me?" Luigi muttered.
"Afraid not," Mario said to Bowser with a smirk. "Sorry to disappoint, but Luigi is alive and well. And your minions might have been better organized and more concentrated than usual, but we still beat them all, like we always do! And now, as always, we'll defeat you!"
"We'll just see about that," Bowser said, still unconcerned. Mario glanced to his right and left. No traps were springing up, no soldiers were attacking, and Peach was right within reach. They had defeated Bowser against much worse odds, and saved Peach through much more defense. This would be…almost too easy. But Bowser was still smiling, confident, and not making a move toward the plumbers.
Mario frowned. Did Bowser know something he didn't?
As if in response, Bowser spread his arms wide. "Go ahead and try to take her, Mario. Who's stopping you?"
No one…Mario thought. I don't trust this.
But Peach was trapped in the cage. He didn't have time to puzzle over things for too long. As he took his first step, Peach called out, "Mario, be careful. Remember what I said!"
Mario did remember. If he took a wrong step, he'd activate a trapdoor. He kept his eyes on the ground, searching for a brick that looked even a bit different from the others. After all, didn't there have to be some sort of signal so that Bowser didn't accidentally set off the trap when he walked around Peach's cage? But all the bricks just looked the same to Mario. Luigi started to follow, but Mario barked at him, "Stay there! You'll just mess things up."
Luigi stood back and sighed. He glanced at Bowser, crossing his arms and tapping his foot.
There was a silence.
"You know you're missing your hat, right?" Bowser asked.
"I know!" Luigi threw his hands up in exasperation. "Do I really look that different? Seriously, could I be a superhero and hide my secret identity just by not wearing a hat?"
"Luigi! Will you stop shouting? I'm trying to concentrate!" Mario called back.
Luigi looked down at his feet. He just could never do anything right, could he? "Sorry, Mario."
"Well, I'm so much larger than you," Bowser said to Luigi conversationally. "I can't see you very clearly from up here. Your bright hats make you much more visible and recognizable to me."
Luigi looked up at Bowser, who towered far above him. "I suppose that's true…"
"Green Thunder," Mr. L said thoughtfully.
What?
"If you were a superhero. That could be your name. The Green Thunder. And maybe taking your hat on and off would work. It's no more of a stretch than the Clark Kent Superman disguise. I mean, just glasses?"
Luigi fought off laughter. I think we've got more pressing things to worry about right now than my superhero name. He turned his attention back to where Mario was inching towards Peach's cage. And not a moment too soon. The bricks around Peach's cage suddenly fell away, revealing a gaping pit. Luigi could hear snarling and scraping from inside the pit.
"Mario!" Luigi cried.
Mario had, miraculously, grabbed on to the very edge of the ledge that held Peach's cage, but only by the tips of his fingers, and he was slipping. Peach quickly knelt down and, slipping her slim arms through the bars, grabbed a hold of Mario's wrists, trying to keep him from falling, but her strength wasn't enough to support the plumber's weight for long.
Bowser leaned against his throne, a smug grin on his face. "So long, Mario. And I didn't even have to move a muscle."
Luigi sprang into action. Quite literally. He gulped as he saw the great gap he needed to cross in order to reach the ledge where Mario was dangling, but distance jumping was luckily one of his specialties. Taking a deep breath, knowing there was no time to waste, he got a running start and then leaped across the pit, glancing down as he went. He could barely see the creatures in the pit, but he did see pairs and pairs of menacing, glowing yellow eyes.
When his feet landed firmly on the top of Peach's cage, he dropped to his knees and reached his hand down until it was low enough for Mario to reach up and grasp. When Mario did, Luigi heaved, using all his strength to slowly pull his brother on top of the cage beside him.
Mario let out a huge breath. "I owe you one."
Luigi, however, was more preoccupied with the snarling creatures, who had begun to crawl up the walls of the pit and up into the throne room. "Wh-what are those things?"
The scaly reptiles had shells like koopas—but unlike koopas, they crawled on all four legs and growled like mindless beasts, yellow eyes swiveling. They swarmed out of the pit, their steps cracking the brick floor with startling strength. Running around in a wild frenzy, their open-mouthed roars revealed rows of razor-sharp teeth to match their razor-sharp claws.
Luigi caught sight of a pink bow on a monster's head—blood-stained and tattered, but still recognizable as the distinctive bow always worn by Bowser's daughter. At first glance, Luigi had the sickening impression that this monster had eaten the young koopaling, but then he recognized her head shape…the slant of her eyes… Despite her changed appearance, her primitive mindlessness and violence—she had always prided herself on elegance and intelligence—Luigi recognized her.
"Mutated koopas," Mario breathed, just as Luigi came to the same conclusion.
"I'm afraid, boys," said Bowser, "that you two don't have a chance of getting out of here. Koopas!"
The koopas stopped prowling agitatedly and aimlessly around the room and fell silent, turning their attention to Bowser. With clear relish, Bowser pointed at the two plumbers. "Attack!"
Luigi's heart thudded in his chest so hard that he felt his pulse throbbing in his hands, fear threatening to overtake him. "Mario! What do we do?"
As the koopas prowled to the edge of the pit and prepared to spring to the other side, all with an eerie, glazed-eyed singleminded mission, Mario glanced over at Luigi, patting his pockets. "No powerups. No weapons." Then his eyes lit up with an idea. "Luigi, did you bring your plunger?"
Luigi's whole body felt cold. Was Mario serious? Was plumbing really something they needed to discuss at the moment? "Y-yeah, Mario, I did, but—"
"Good! I have mine too." Mario pulled his plunger from its pouch slung across his back.
"Mario…" said Luigi doubtfully. Was Mario losing his mind? Though, Luigi thought, considering that he was the one who heard a voice in his head, he guessed he really couldn't talk.
"We'll use them as weapons, Luigi, don't you see?" Mario held his plunger aloft, his eyes on the koopas. "Remember! Like the bamboo rods."
"Oh!" Luigi nodded, unpacking his own plunger, just in time for the first koopas to launch themselves onto the top of the cage and attack the brothers.
Luigi squeezed his eyes shut at the last second and swung his plunger as hard as he could, and to his surprise, he heard the satisfying smack of wood against shell and the koopa was flung back to the other side. Mario, on the other hand, had smacked his koopa on the soft, unprotected head and was lifting his shoe to crush it…
"Wait! Don't kill them!" Luigi protested.
Mario glanced at him, not lowering his foot. "Eh?"
"Bowser did this to them! But underneath they're intelligent, sentient creatures….Some of them are even kids! We can't just kill them. It's not their fault. They don't have control of themselves!"
Mario sighed as he used his raised foot to kick the koopa into the pit. "Your bleeding heart is going to get you into trouble."
Luigi shrugged and leapt across the gap again, taking the fight to the koopas so they wouldn't be stuck fighting on such a limited space as the top of Peach's cage. Mario quickly followed, and they began knocking the mutated koopas unconscious and throwing them back into the pit.
"This isn't so hard," Luigi said in surprise. "Maybe I didn't need my lucky hat after—augh!" The yellow eyes of the koopa he'd been about to fight had suddenly widened and flared red, a precursor, Luigi now knew, to a pounce and painful bite of his arm. For a moment, his vision faded to a burst of white as pain exploded in his brain. The searing spread quickly, coursing through his entire arm. "Ow—Mario—help!" he shouted, vainly trying to shake the koopa off. The shaking only caused Luigi's skin to shred on the rows of teeth.
"I'm kind of busy right now, Luigi," Mario said through gritted teeth, surrounded by koopas.
"Luigi." Mr. L's voice was sharp and clipped.
What?
"Shove your plunger into its mouth and push it off your arm that way," Mr. L ordered, taking charge in light of Luigi's intense, crippling pain.
Without taking the time to think about it, desperate for the pain to end, Luigi obeyed. He jammed the end of his plunger into the side of the koopa's mouth and pushed with all his strength. The koopa's rows of teeth raked agonizingly down his arm, but at last his arm was free.
Now his plunger wasn't, though. The koopa stubbornly held onto the wooden pole with its hooklike teeth. Luigi ignored the pain in his arm and pulled on the other end with all his might. He needed the weapon desperately. More koopas were crawling toward him, and he was afraid that if they reached him while he had no defense, he'd be bitten again. He shuddered at the thought, not wanting a repeat performance.
"Come on," Luigi grunted, perspiring with effort. "Just let go already!" He was strong, usually much stronger than a koopa, but these koopas appeared to have been bestowed with super strength, because he and the koopa had reached a stalemate. Luigi, looking over his shoulder at the other koopas, gave another solid yank, and this time a loud crack was heard. Luigi watched as half of the plunger handle disappeared into the koopa's mouth and was swallowed with a gulp.
Luigi cradled his half of the plunger. "Mario!" he complained.
Mario defeated two more koopas. "What?" He glanced over and caught sight of the sad sight of Luigi's plunger. "Don't tell me that was your lucky plunger too," he quipped dryly.
"No," Luigi sniffed, his eyes beginning to water. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. "But it was my favorite!" he cried.
Mario rolled his eyes.
"You should punish him," Mr. L said quietly.
Punish? Who? Luigi looked at Mario, confused.
"No, no. Not him. The koopa. The thing," said Mr. L, disgust clear in his voice.
But…he didn't do anything wrong. Well, I mean, he didn't know what he was doing… But somehow Luigi found himself walking back to the koopa, aware and yet it was as if someone else was controlling his body. He was detached, as if he was watching some guy named Luigi on a screen, as he looked down on the mutant and plunged the jagged wooden end of the plunger back into the koopa's mouth.
"You wanted to eat?" Luigi asked, in a quiet cold voice that was his own and yet was not. "Allow me to fill you up."
The koopa growled stupidly, beginning to chomp on the wood again.
"Have at you," Luigi whispered, and thrust the plunger hard through the koopa's throat and out the back of its neck. The koopa gurgled and choked on its own blood, thrashing and writhing on the floor in the throes of death.
He glanced over his shoulder at the koopas who had been coming to attack him, but something in his eyes sent fear even into the dull minds of the koopas and they scuttled away from him, throwing themselves into the pit by choice.
Luigi blinked, and then stared down at the impaled koopa, stumbling backward in utter dismay. Panic overtook him. What was that? Why had he done that; why had he acted that way? He couldn't explain it, even to himself, because he couldn't comprehend it. Mr. L was echoing his surprise, but Luigi didn't bother to listen. He fell to his knees, feeling claws of guilt digging at his gut.
Dully, he heard Bowser's roar of outrage as Mario defeated the last of the rabid koopas. Bowser tried to swipe at Mario, but he was too bulky to stop the quick, little plumber. Mario leaped over to the cage, and with an expert kick, busted the padlock, freeing Princess Peach.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" Peach squealed as she clambered onto Mario's back and held on tight when Mario jumped back over the pit.
"Luigi! Come on!" Mario said when he and Peach reached Luigi, and he roughly pulled a still-dazed Luigi to his feet. "That's a nasty bite. We'll have to get it checked out," he remarked as they ran out of the throne room and down the cold, deserted corridors.
They left to the sound of Bowser's wails; he had bet everything that the Marios would be stopped by his surprise koopa army, and he had lost. He was too massive and hulking to catch them before they reached a warp pipe, and now he didn't have any regular, intelligent lackeys to send after the plumbers and the princess in his stead.
ooo
"I should have never let you come with me! I would have done better on my own!" Mario thundered, furious. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could you let yourself get bitten? Ugh, you're hopeless. I wasted my time trying to train you. Who knows what kind of weird infections those beasts might have given you?"
Luigi drummed his fingers, his face burning at the scolding. He was a grown man, and Mario was still treating him like a kid. "I'm fine," he mumbled. Well, not really. But not because of my arm. My arm will heal. But that koopa…that koopa will never heal. I'm a murderer. But if Luigi tried to talk to Mario about that, he knew Mario wouldn't understand. He'd say that it was justifiable self-defense, and anyway, they were only koopas. They were evil! They were working for Bowser! But they were living, and he had killed one.
"Yeah, well, you'd better hope you stay that way," Mario snapped. "You're a fool, you know that? You know better than to make mistakes like that!"
The toadette nurse who was rubbing salve on the bite seemed to pity Luigi. "You shouldn't be so hard on him, Master Mario," she said. "Raising his stress levels won't help him recuperate."
"Yeah? Well, raising my stress levels is all he ever does! Maybe it's time I returned the favor." Mario left the clinic and slammed the door, hard.
An uncomfortable silence fell. Peach sighed as she looked after Mario, shaking her head sadly, but she turned back to Luigi, gazing at him in concern when she heard him suck in his breath and yank his arm back from the nurse's probing fingers.
"Sorry," muttered the nurse. "I should have warned you that would sting a little. It's alcohol-based."
Luigi was quiet. Then he said, "Don't use alcohol. Please."
"But—"
"It'll speed up recovery and lessen the chance of infection. I know." Luigi's brows drew together, his eyes stormy. "But I don't want alcohol treatment. I'll take my chances with the bacteria."
It was in the nurse's nature to protest, but after looking at Luigi's eyes, she quietly screwed the lid back onto the bottle she'd been using and dropped the subject.
Peach placed her hand on Luigi's unhurt arm, looking at him anxiously. "Are you sure you'll be all right?"
"I'm fine!" he snapped at her, rougher than he intended. Then he sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Sorry, Peach. It's just been…a long day." He smiled at her weakly.
She smiled back. "Not least, I'm sure, because of rescuing me. And as always, I am grateful." She curtsied daintily. "Stay for dinner? I'll have the chefs cook up a special feast, befitting of my two heroes."
Luigi shrugged, glancing toward the window. "Only one. Mario's the hero. At best"—his mouth quirked up into a small grin—"I'm the sidekick."
Peach giggled. "Yes," she agreed. "Mario is the old, crusty, seasoned superhero and you are his young, plucky, freshfaced sidekick. Sounds about right to me!"
She bustled off to organize dinner plans and Luigi watched her go with a smile. Sometimes, in the midst of his stormy life with Mario, Peach was the perfect breath of fresh air and determined, valiant ray of sunshine poking through the almost insurmountable curtain of thick gray clouds. Yes, they did have to save Peach…many times over. But that was fine with Luigi, because as far as he was concerned, Peach had saved him just as many times—maybe in not such a flashy, dramatic way that would gain her recognition and glory, but in small ways that somehow meant even more.
ooo
Dinner with the Mario brothers was usually a loud, rambunctious affair due to their enormous appetites and the fact that food generally loosened their inhibitions the way alcoholic drinks did for most people, making them more talkative, more willing to laugh, more willing to let loose. But the only sounds this dinnertime were the clinking of silverware against plates.
Peach looked back and forth between the brothers, noticing that each kept stealing glances at the other when the other wasn't looking. "Oh dear," she said under her breath. She certainly had her work cut out for her.
"Mario," she said at last, searching for any way to open a conversation. "How's the lasagna?"
"Good," Mario grunted and promptly went back to eating it. Silently.
Well, this might be more difficult than Peach thought. Any mention of lasagna usually got the ball rolling, as it were, but Mario and Luigi both seemed determined to make this dinner as awkward as possible.
"Luigi," she tried, "what happened to your hat anyway?"
"Piranha plant," he answered succinctly.
"Oh my word!" Peach's hand flew to her mouth. "It got eaten?"
Luigi swirled soup in his bowl. "Yup."
"Good thing it didn't take your head with it! Well? Go on. I suppose there's a story behind that, isn't there?" Peach prompted, not even having to feign interest.
Luigi shrugged. "I guess," he said reluctantly, uncomfortable with how much he was having to speak. He glanced at Mario, who didn't look up.
"So? Tell!" Peach demanded impatiently.
"Well, Bowser planted a Piranha Plant forest to keep us from getting to you," Luigi explained. "We'd gathered exactly two Propeller Suit powerups, but Mario had the bright idea to eat both of them…"
"Nuh ah ah," Mario interjected, meeting his brother's eyes in spite of himself. "That's not how I remember it, little brother. We had two Propeller Suits earlier, when we were crossing that chasm, remember? And you got scared and didn't trust yourself to jump over, so you wasted your Propeller Suit there, and then when we came to the forest, there was only one left!"
"No," Luigi argued. "We had three at the chasm, Mario. We still had two when we got to the Piranha Plants—you ate them both…"
Peach cleared her throat. "Then what happened?"
Luigi glared at Mario, wanting to argue his point, but he instead shifted his gaze to Peach. "So Mario gets another bright idea and gives me a Fire Suit powerup, so that I could blaze a trail through the forest on the land while Mario kept an eye on me from the air."
"Okay…" said Peach.
"But it was a forest!" Luigi exclaimed. "I was literally surrounded by Piranha Plants all lunging for me at the same time, and I only had two hands to throw fireballs with. I was barely dodging all those teeth, and one of them almost got my head but I ducked in time. It got my hat, though. After the close call, Mario finally decided to swoop down and carry me the rest of the way over."
"And let me tell you, he is heavy! The Propeller Suit nearly couldn't carry us both. It kept dipping," Mario interjected. "Must be all the heroes' suppers you treat us to."
Luigi blushed, putting a self-conscious hand on his stomach. "Like you're one to talk! I felt like my arms were going to be ripped out of their sockets when I had to pull you up from that ledge!"
"Hey, I never denied liking my food." Mario patted his rather round stomach affectionately. Then, his expression deepening into seriousness, he glanced at Luigi and cleared his throat. "Um, how's your arm?"
Luigi looked up in surprise, and for once, it was Mario who refused to meet his eyes, instead of the other way around. "Fine," he finally answered.
Now Mario really did look up, his eyebrow raised and his expression astute. "Really? Look, I won't be mad; I just want to know…"
"I'm not a liar! I said it's fine!" Luigi was taken aback by his own forcefulness, but he didn't apologize. It felt good…right. His assertiveness reminded him of Mr. L more than himself. Now that he thought of it, Mr. L had been curiously silent for quite some time.
"I'm…here, kid. Just trying to think some things through." The voice sounded weary and Luigi was immediately seized with concern. Though why a bodiless voice would be tired, he could not even begin to guess.
Are you okay?
"Yeah. Like I said, just thinking."
Luigi pushed back from the table and stood up. He actually was feeling drained himself, all of a sudden, and he accredited it to the bite. It was probably nothing; he just needed to sleep it off, but—Lords, was he tired!
"Thank you, Princess," Luigi said, bowing to Peach. "Dinner was great, as always. I'm feeling a little drowsy, though, so if you'll pardon me…?"
Peach stood too, worry clear on her face. "You've gone pale. You look like you're going to drop soon." She walked over to him and offered her shoulder to support him, and he, suddenly too tired to protest or feel embarrassed, gratefully sagged against her. His limbs felt like they were full of lead. Mario leapt up when he saw just how close to fainting his brother was and he quickly supported Luigi's other side.
"You'll never make it back home in this condition," said Peach. "Why don't you stay here tonight?"
Luigi mumbled something before his head drooped and his chin dropped onto his chest. Peach nearly collapsed under Luigi's entire dead weight.
Mario took Luigi and picked him up, peering down at his face, perplexed. It wasn't like the young plumber to fall asleep that quickly. And he hadn't suffered extensive wounds…Well, there was the bite, but that didn't seem like enough to make him pass out.
"Well, you're right," Peach whispered, lightening the mood. "He does weigh a ton."
Mario gave her a little smile of appreciation and followed her to a guest room. After laying Luigi on the bed, careful not to set him so that he was lying on top of his sore arm, Mario tucked the covers up to his chin. He stood looking at his sleeping brother for a few seconds and then decisively turned and left, Peach shutting the door quietly behind them.
ooo
"Luigi."
Luigi turned over in his sleep and mumbled incoherently.
"Luigi," said the voice, louder, insistently.
Luigi's eyes opened slowly. He could tell that it was dark, but he could see exceedingly well. He yawned, surprised. His eyes never adjusted that fast. "Mr. L?" he mumbled sleepily, remembering that he had woken up because of someone calling his name. He felt warm and comfortable; the covers had been drawn all the way up to his chin, exactly how he liked it. The only problem was—
He frowned. That koopa bite. It was itching madly, the only sensation preventing him from total contentment. Irritated, he tried to scratch through the bandages, but they were too thick, and his fingers didn't soothe the itching at all. The nurse had advised him not to take off the bandages until the next day, so he clenched his fists, tightened his jaw, and tried to ignore the itching, but it grew more and more intense until finally, he couldn't take it.
He nearly ripped the bandages off in unwinding them, but finally the bite was exposed. Luigi stared at it, frozen in shock. No longer did it look like semicircles of teethmarks, but instead, like a light dusting of yellow-greenish scales. The skin was dry and flaky and unmistakably reptilian. Luigi touched his arm gingerly, his mind numb with shock. Was this what an infection looked like?
Maybe he ought to have sucked it up and taken the alcohol treatment.
"Why? Because great, awesome, big bro Mario is always right?" Luigi recognized this voice as the same one who'd woken him up and was surprised at the sarcastic resentment coloring the words. In fact, Mario's name had been spit out like a word of profanity.
"M-Mr. L?" Luigi asked doubtfully.
"He's not available right now." No, this voice was deeper than Mr. L's. Harsher. "But I see you're used to hearing voices in your head. You're good at communicating with your mind and you won't go through that pesky phase of denying my existence—that's good. That's very good. Half the battle won right there!"
"And the other half?" Luigi was trembling, discomfited by the glee in the voice. He felt like there was an ice block in his stomach. He wanted to call out for Mario, but he wasn't sure Mario'd be able to help…and he certainly needed help. Why was he the only one who always had to deal with voices in his head?
"Mario wouldn't even be willing to try to help you, let alone able."
Luigi's eyes widened. "You're wrong! Mario's always helping people in need. It's what he does!"
"Yes," the voice agreed musingly. "People. But to him, you're not a person. You're just an annoyance."
Luigi tried to swallow, but he found that his tongue and throat were dry as sandpaper. He frowned as he ran his tongue over his teeth. His tongue was coated with a rough texture—scales! Scales that matched the ones on his arm. Luigi was trembling in earnest now, and he felt a scream building up inside him.
"You know Mario wouldn't come if you screamed, right?"
Luigi was at a loss for words.
"He'd ignore you. For your own good, of course. Because you need to be a man and learn how to deal with things yourself. He'd only be annoyed, because his little brother's been an embarrassment of weakness once again."
Luigi's cheeks heated in anger. He was so sick of being called weak! "I'm not—" he began.
"I know," the voice cut in smoothly, and Luigi quieted, listening. "I know you're not. But Mario doesn't."
The sentence lingered in the silence for many tense moments, and then the voice said, with quiet triumph: "You hate him, don't you?"
"Hate…?" Luigi blinked. He had never even considered feeling that way toward his brother. He didn't hate anyone. Sure, he and Mario had a bit of a rocky relationship, but it was the same with lots of brothers.
"He obviously hates you. So why not hate him right back?"
"He doesn't hate me!" Luigi protested immediately, loyally, but even he could sense the hollowness of his words. The truth was, there were times when he questioned…but still he repeated firmly, "He doesn't hate me. He just—well—that's just the way he is!"
"He doesn't treat everyone that way. Only you."
Luigi was silent for a moment. "Everyone treats their family a little different than they treat everyone else."
"He hates you. He hates the way you look like your mother. He hates how you were the one who killed her."
Luigi froze, paralyzed and helpless to staunch the stream of propaganda.
"So he became a hero and left you on the sidelines. He's become legendary, a household name, while few even remember your existence. He has a Princess, while you have no one. Wouldn't your life be better if he just wasn't around? Don't you want to kill him?"
Luigi's eyes widened. "K-kill…?"
"Yes, Luigi. Kill. Show him once and for all that you are strong enough. You can defeat him. Kill him. Kill Mario."
Luigi swallowed. "No! I would never—"
"Kill Mario," the voice insisted, seductive, insidious…irresistible.
And Luigi found his will sapping out of him, his body releasing all tension, his eyes glazing over. "Kill Mario," he was shocked and horrified to hear himself repeat, until his brain fogged and dulled, and then he couldn't remember why he had had such a reaction, because it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to say. He had no real comprehension of the meaning or connotation behind the words, only that he liked the rhythm. He liked the sound. He wanted to obey.
"Kill Mario." An image of a man in red came to mind, and wouldn't it be fun if he just played with that man for a little while, just a little while—until he stopped screaming?
"Kill Mario," he said mechanically, and he rose to his feet, yellow eyes shining in the darkness.
