I can't believe it's been over a yearsince I've updated this story. I meant to update it sooner...but I kind of lost inspiration for writing it. But I'm back! Yay!

The problem with writing a story and then going on haitus for a year before starting it up again is: 1) My writing style may have changed a bit (or a lot, I'm not sure); 2) I had forgotten the exact details to describing the machine that was mentioned in Chapter 1. Now I guess I'll just have to try and think of some new details for it. Hmm...Wonder how that will go.

Anyway, I'll stop blabbing now and get to the chapter that I'm sure everyone's so eager to read after such a long break from it. Enjoy!


The first thing that Mario was fully aware of as he returned to the conscious world was the pain that pulsed throughout his entire body, but especially in his head. He groaned, trying to remember what had happened as he slowly rose to his feet. But the room suddenly lurched underneath him, trying to throw him to the ground again. Somehow he managed to steady himself by placing his hand to the concrete wall and leaning against it heavily, trying to catch his breath as he fought the pain and dizziness that coursed through him.

"Mama Mia…" he mumbled to himself, placing his free hand to his temple to dispel the throbbing pressure that was building there. He sighed softly as the pain was finally beginning to subside. Looking up, he blinked rapidly to help his eyes adjust to the sudden darkness that he found himself in.

"What's the matter, Mario?" a low voice growled suddenly. "Can't see anything?"

And he flinched suddenly when a torch was lit just above him and filled his vision with light. Rubbing his eyes a little, he turned his head slightly to look towards the direction where the voice had originated from. There, watching him from just beyond the steel bars that trapped him in the small cell, stood the evil king Bowser. The giant turtle held a wicked smirk in his blood-red eyes, and the plumber felt a strange mix of anger for his long-term enemy…and concern.

Mostly because he no longer knew where Luigi was.

Slowly, he lowered his hand to his back pocket and tried to locate one of the few items he had left. But the koopa king watched him carefully before letting out a small chuckle.

"I don't believe you'll find anything," Bowser retorted. "While you were passed out, we managed to find the last of your power items which are now being safeguarded somewhere else."

The hero growled softly, straightening himself out and leaning against the stone wall behind him. "All right, Bowser," he said, doing his best to keep his tired voice from wavering, "what's your plan this time? What are you up to?"

For a moment, the king gave no reply. Then his sinister grin seemed to broaden. "I think…" the monstrous turtle said softly, "that I'll let my… accomplice explain the details."

And when Bowser took a few steps to the side, Mario felt his heart catch in his throat as his sapphire eyes widened. For standing slightly behind the evil king, arms folded across his torso, was his younger brother.

"Luigi!" He shot himself forward, running up to the bars and grasping two of them as he stuck his head between them. He knew something was wrong. As he looked on at his younger brother, noticing the cold indifference in his dark eyes, he felt the surge of fear and concern that grew within him.

Turning his attention to the villain, he glared. "What did you do to him?" he demanded.

"Bowser didn't do a thing to me," the younger plumber replied softly, though his harsh tone was clear. "I simply made a choice, that's all."

Slightly startled, the hero turned back to his brother. "What…?"

"Bowser offered me a choice. And as you can see, I've chosen to help him destroy the Mushroom Kingdom."

Mario's eyes widened slightly. "Destroy…the Mushroom Kingdom…?"

Luigi nodded once, the impassive gaze never leaving his features. "That's right. Even as we speak, we're slowly heading towards the Mushroom Kingdom. At the rate we're going, we won't get there until tomorrow morning, but it'll be worth the wait. Because when we finally arrive, Bowser will destroy everything and build his own kingdom on top of the remains. From that point, we should have enough power to overtake the neighboring kingdoms as well. Nothing will be able to stop us…" The taller man paused for a moment as a notion seemed to pass through his mind. It was fleeting, however, as he added coldly, "Well…except for you. But that's why you're here."

The older brother frowned slightly in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What do you think I mean? You're usually the one to defeat Bowser in his attempts to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom. If nothing was done to stop you, then there was a good chance that you'd foil his plans now."

"I would have been satisfied enough just destroying you along with the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom," the koopa king interjected suddenly as he gazed at the prisoned plumber. With a smirk, he then turned his attention to Luigi. "But your brother…I must say, I'm very impressed. After all, this was all his idea."

"What was your idea?" Mario questioned, looking at his brother as well.

"It didn't seem that getting you out of the way would be enough," the taller man replied. "I thought that, instead of destroying you right away, we could bring you here and have you watch as we destroyed the Mushroom Kingdom – the kingdom you spend so much time trying to protect – while you couldn't do anything to help. You know…to let you suffer a little."

Mario felt as though his heart had stopped. Had Luigi really come up with such a plan? Did his own brother really conceive a way to 'make him suffer,' as he had said? "Why…why are you doing this?" he found himself asking, his voice just barely above a whisper. He just couldn't believe that his brother was working with one of their worst enemies.

But the green-clad plumber didn't answer. He simply shrugged and turned his gaze away.

However, the silence didn't last for too long as Bowser felt the need to answer for the other. "I suppose jealousy simply drives people to do strange things…"

It was a comment that the hero hadn't been expecting. "Jealousy?"

"Indeed. After all, with you hogging the attention all the time, it was bound to happen eventually. Two brothers, but only enough room in the spotlight for one while the other is left out in the cold. There's going to be a little resentment somewhere."

He found himself gripping the bars tighter as he stared at the other. "So you're doing this because you're jealous? You're willing to destroy an entire kingdom and endanger all those lives because you're jealous? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

Luigi still gave no answer, which only angered him even further at this point. He didn't really have much of a temper, and so he had never been so outraged by anyone before. Not even Bowser, and most certainly not his brother. But for some reason, he felt so infuriated. He couldn't explain why. All he knew was that the longer he watched the other, the more frustrated he felt.

"I can't believe you! I can't believe that you could do something like this!" He shook the bars of his cell door slightly, as if hoping they'd come loose. "Do you remember that Princess Daisy is also at the Mushroom Kingdom?"

"Of course I do," the green-clad plumber replied, finally looking at his older brother once again with callous sapphire eyes. "I sent her the note, didn't I? It just seemed to feel a little more…believable if I sent her the note instead of Princess Peach."

"So that was part of your plan too?" Mario shot, glaring at the other. "She was worried about you! She was afraid that something happened to you! And you were just using her?"

The plumbers' conversation was suddenly interrupted by a thunderous laugh. Turning to the taller one, Bowser said, "I was wondering why you wanted to involve Daisy. I wasn't aware that there was something between the two of you."

Luigi turned his gaze away from both of them, looking up at the ceiling apathetically. However, a trace of color faintly stained his usually-pale features.

The turtle king laughed once more. "If you want, I could send some of my minions to retrieve her for you before we destroy the palace. Would that be all right with you?"

The younger man stood silently for a moment, continuing to stare at the ceiling. After a few minutes, he turned back to Bowser and nodded slightly. "Yes, I suppose that would be all right," he replied softly.

"What?" the older brother said, staring at them with wide eyes. "You can't treat her like that!"

"Well, wouldn't that be better than killing her off like everyone else?" Luigi retorted.

"Are you serious? Are you really willing to kill everyone in the kingdom?"

"Perhaps not everyone…" Bowser said. "If Peach is willing to beg for mercy, I may consider bringing her here as well."

Mario scoffed softly. "Don't count on it."

The evil king opened his mouth to respond, but was cut short by a low rumble that caused the entire cellar to quake. Gasping softly, the shorter plumber held the bars tighter as he felt his balance falter. If he hadn't, he would have fallen to the floor.

But as he watched his brother and the giant koopa, he noticed that they didn't seem to be surprised at all. So what did the shaking mean then if they weren't worried about it?

When the room finally stilled, Luigi straightened his cap as he glanced up at Bowser. "We're reaching our power's limits," he said softly.

"I know," Bowser replied. "But it's already being taken care of."

"What's going on?" Mario asked, watching them both. "What happened?"

"That…is the main key to our plan," evil turtle stated. Pointing to a window obstructed with metallic bars behind the plumber, he added, "Why don't you take a look out there and see?"

Frowning as he looked at the villain suspiciously, the shorter brother slowly released his firm grip on the metal bars and took a step back. Then, turning around fully, he gradually made his way to the window and looked past the bars.

When he did, his eyes widened significantly as he felt all the air depart from his body.

Not only because, as he looked out the window he realized that they were flying very high off the ground (were they still in the castle?), but because the thick forest beneath them was glowing with a dark blue light that seemed to originate from underneath their current location.

And then he watched in alarm when the forest below suddenly disappeared as the cobalt radiance flashed brightly before fading away into the evening sky, leaving only a blank hole in the ground. Soon the room shook slightly, and he witnessed the land move beneath them. Was the castle…moving?

He spun around to face Bowser and Luigi. "What was that?" he asked. "I-I mean…what happened to the forest?"

The evil king smirked slightly. "We…recycled the forest, that's all."

The confusion never left Mario's face. "What?"

"We used the forest to power the castle's energy source," the giant koopa answered. "The light that you saw was a special beam that broke down the trees and everything in it to provide for the castle's energy. That's how the castle manages to fly…" The smirk then seemed to broaden. "And it can do so much more than that."

The hero didn't really like the sound of that. But he still was a little uncertain about the details of the villain's plan.

He was drawn out of his thoughts as his brother's voice reached his ears. "Basically," Luigi said, "our plan is to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom by breaking it down the same way we broke the trees in the forest down. When we do, the castle will receive a massive amount of power which we will then use to overthrow other kingdoms. Depending on how much energy is given off by the process, the castle could very well become invincible."

"And don't you feel honored," Bowser added derisively, "that you get to be up here to watch it all as it happens before you're destroyed as well?"

Mario stared at them, his mouth agape and his eyes wide with disbelief. Could this really be happening? Had Bowser finally come up with a successful plan to take over the Mushroom Kingdom? There had to have been a way for him to stop the evil koopa. But trapped in that cell with none of his items to help him…and with no idea of how to get out or what to do…He hated to admit defeat, especially with so many lives counting on him, but what could he do? Had Bowser…finally won? How could this have happened?

But the idea hit him swiftly…and painfully. Was the only reason that Bowser finally prevailed…because of Luigi?

He was tugged back to reality by the movement of Bowser turning to face his brother. "At any rate," the turtle king said, "I think it's best that we take our leave and get some rest. After all, tomorrow we will have much work to do."

Turning slightly, the giant koopa then began to slowly tread through the dungeon towards the exit. Watching the king, Luigi lingered for a minute before beginning to follow.

Mario gasped when he saw his brother beginning to leave. "Luigi…!" he called.

Stopping in his tracks, the younger brother turned his head slightly to glance at the other over his shoulder.

"Just think about what you're doing…" the shorter man pleaded softly. "All those people in the Mushroom Kingdom…Peach and Daisy…You're about to destroy all those lives. After everything we've been through together, after all the time we've spent trying to protect the kingdom…How can you do this, Luigi?"

By this point, Bowser had come to a halt as well, watching the exchange between the two with mild curiosity. He watched as Luigi stared at the other for a moment in silence. Then the evil king saw the faint sign of a smirk appear on the taller man's features before turning his back on his brother completely and began following him once again.

Mario watched as his brother caught up to the koopa, the two of them headed out of the dungeon area. When they were gone, the sound of a heavy door slammed behind them, darkening the area even further than before. Sighing heavily, the hero turned and sat on the cold, hard ground, feeling the iron bars press into his back. Head hung in defeat, he stared at the stone floor as the torch on the wall across from him danced with its dim light, tossing the shadows back and forth before it completely went out. But he continued to gaze at the space in front of him. The darkness didn't matter to him at all.

He was trapped in a dungeon cell under Bowser's castle, which he planned to use to destroy the entire Mushroom Kingdom. He had nothing to help him, not even the slightest clue. And even if could find a way to escape, the only way to stop Bowser was to defeat him…and Luigi.

But he could never fight his own brother.

So was this it then? Had his younger brother – the one who was often by his side protecting innocent people and stopping Bowser's evil plots – really turned against him this time? Was he really going to give up everything he believed in – everything they both believed in – to help Bowser triumph at long last? Had Luigi – who had always supported him, helped him, and been there for him in the past – really betrayed him?

It was that thought that left the biggest hole in his heart.

TBC

Oooh...I made Luigi really evil in this chapter. Whoo! I mean...um...yeah. There's a reason. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this story. No flames if you can help it, but constructive criticism would be helpful. Please review, and I'll get the next chapter out when I can.

Later!