Round 8- Mario Band Stand

Mario- Blue, (One), 33 Coins

Luigi- Blue, (Three), 1 Star, 29 Coins

Peach- Blue, (Four), 42 Coins

Daisy- Blue, (Six), 1 Star, 7 Coins

When we reentered the white room, everything felt a bit…empty. Luigi did not make eye contact with neither Peach, nor I- and just went off to sit by himself for a while. While Peach and I were both feeling terrible about the previous events, we both understood that what we were feeling wasn't even near what Luigi felt. We had only just met the guy, while Mario and Luigi had been together since the beginning. But even so, we still had a Mario standing in front of us- not talking. Perhaps the human was deep in Mario somewhere, under the horror of what had just happened to him.

"Hey, um…Bill?" Peach began hesitantly, not having any idea what response she would get from Mario. Would he just glare? Would he burst into tears? Was it an evil robot of Bowsers in there now? Was he just left as a babbling idiot? I almost didn't want to know. However, Mario's response was something that I would never have expected.

"Princess Peach!" Mario exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. "I am not Bill! I am MARIO!" My eyes widened in horror. No, Mario wasn't evil, but he was reset back to what I could only assume was "basic mode". This was the character of Mario, not the guy who we had known.

"I…M-mario?" Peach stuttered, looking bewildered. It seemed obvious to me what was going on, but I imagined that Peach was still in denial about it. Really, I couldn't blame her.

"Peach?" Mario asked, his voice tinged with confusion, as his eyes narrowed sadly. "It is me!" He reassured her. "Mario!" Peach shook her head, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

"I know that, Mario." Peach began, trying desperately to get the character to understand. "But you're not…I mean…"

"You're wasting your time. He's not Bill anymore. He's not going to understand you." I turned slowly to see that Luigi was watching the entire scene before him, his eyes cold. His arms were crossed across his chest and his eyes were narrowed in disgust at the new Mario before him. It was painful to see the man who had been such a friend to Maria and I the entire game replaced by this shell of a person, but I couldn't even imagine how it made Luigi feel. It wasn't Mario's fault, but that didn't make it any less painful.

"What do you mean?" I asked softly, speaking for the first time since my breakdown in the game. "What's happened?"

"Bill's gone." Luigi stated simply, his stance still betraying his stormy mood. "The guy in front of you is the character Mario." I nodded, already having figured that out. Still, it hurt to hear it said out loud. While Mario seemed like a great guy in his own right, he wasn't the hero and guy I was used to. It wasn't the same.

"Luigi?" Mario asked, looking to his brother in sad confusion. I felt my heart go out to the guy, his voice sounding so tiny and lost, that I almost wanted to just wrap my arms around him and tell him that everything would be okay.

"Yeah, it's me Mario." Luigi reassured his "brother", giving him a kind smile that didn't reach his eyes. Kneeling down, Luigi reached a hand out to place on Mario's shoulder and looked his best friends replacement in the eye. "Look, just don't press the button yet, okay?" Mario nodded vigorously, then ran off to go sit by himself, securing himself in a fetal position and looking out in front of him in sadness. He might not have known what was going on, but the grief in the white space was almost palpable.

"…oh." I stated, unsure of what to say. Peach, who hadn't said anything yet, now began to let the tears out completely.

"Oh my god…" Peach muttered, staring off at Mario, her eyes filled with pity and pain. "I can't believe…" Shaking her head, Peach swallowed her bad feelings and blinked away the now freefalling tears. Looking to Luigi, Peach let smiled sadly. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Luigi replied, his voice as stiff as his stance. "You didn't kill him. I don't blame you, there was nothing you could do." His eyes never left Mario as he said this, as though the harder he stared at him the more likely his friend would come back.

"I know, but…" Peach began, urging Luigi to listen to her. "…he was your friend. Your best friend. I can't even imagine." Peach looked to me for a moment, as though trying to convey how lost she would be without me. I smiled grimly. Turning back to Luigi, peach gently took his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "If you need anything, I'm here." She smiled sadly at him, before going in for the hug. Surprisingly, Luigi accepted the hug gratefully and it didn't look awkward at all. I'd never imagined that Luigi would be the touchy-feely kind of guy, but looks could be deceiving. Not sure what I was supposed to do, I watched my two friends awkwardly- shuffling my feet and twiddling my thumbs. Unfortunately, Luigi was facing me and at that moment he decided to open his eyes and his tearful eyes met mine.

"I'm sorry…" I began, unsure of what exactly I could say that Peach hadn't already said. I knew that Peach had always been closer with Mario, while I was closer with Luigi. I felt compelled to say something, anything, that might make the situation better- but I just didn't know what to say.

"Don't." Luigi cut me off before I could try to conjure up something comforting to say. Peach let him go and wisely took a step back from the conversation, allowing the two of us to have our moment. "You don't do the "comforting thing", you said it yourself. You don't need to pretend." The moment the words came out of his mouth, I could feel a lump begin to form in my throat and a pit open up in my stomach. I had said that earlier and Luigi had called me a bad friend and what I was doing "low". Wasn't I suppose to learn from my mistakes? Besides, I definitely wasn't pretending. Mario had been my friend as well and it hurt me to see him gone. It didn't make me feel much better to see Luigi in pain, either.

"I'm not…"

"Pretending?" Luigi scoffed, cutting me off once more. "Yeah, you are." His eyes narrowed dangerously as he took a step towards me. It took all my willpower to keep holding my ground and to not back away. "You said it before. It's all a joke, isn't it? It's a kids game and you're too cool for it." Luigi's voice grew steadily angrier and angrier with every word, but his voice did not gain in volume. The threat and betrayal was clear in his voice and I had a feeling that I now knew where Mario was coming from when he had said that Luigi "bottled up his feelings till they exploded". "You taunted Bowser and started laughing hysterically. You haven't taken this game seriously from the moment you got here. You've been seeing us all as fictional characters and now one of us finally is one. Why aren't you laughing now, Daisy?" The last sentence was more of a growl than anything. I felt a sob get caught in my throat as I tried desperately not to break. Besides, Luigi's claims were totally unfounded. I didn't take things seriously? I treated it all like a joke? Sure, maybe I lost it a bit in the previous round- but before that I'd never treated any of this like a joke.

"That's not fair." I replied calmly, making sure to keep eye contact with Luigi. "I went a bit hysterical last round, sure, but I never once saw you two as fictional characters. I know both of you helped me out every roud and I owe you my life many times over." I felt my blood rising and the last sentence was spat out. "How dare you think I'd laugh at a time like this?" Luigi's voice dropped to a deadly whisper.

"It didn't stop you last time, now did it?" There was a long pause, where the two of us maintained eye contact, each of us trying to stare the other down.

"Guys!" Peach finally interrupted, tearing the two of us apart. "Stop fighting! You're not helping anything! Do you really think this is what Mario would have wanted you to do? Do you think that's what he sacrificed himself for?" There was a long silence following Peach's words, where Luigi and I both looked away in shame- both too stubborn to totally give in to the other. Thinking back on all the times that Luigi had thrown out harsh words and stood proud in light of all this pain, I knew I had to be the one to break the silence.

"Why don't we just learn how to play these instruments?" I finally mumbled, looking down in defeat. This arguing wasn't worth it. Peach was right, Mario definitely would not have wanted this. I looked over to see Peach holding a trumpet- Mario was already sitting with his drums, Luigi was holding a baton, and I picked up a Violin. Peach looked between us once more.

"Sure!" She exclaimed, smiling tightly. "I'll go help Mario." Before leaving, she spared Luigi a worried glance, then turned to me and glared pointedly. "Will you two be okay?" I couldn't help but flashback to when Mario had said something similar to the two of us on our first round and I smiled softly.

"Yeah, we'll be fine." Peach nodded at me, then Luigi, then went off to go help out Mario. I knew what she was trying to do, leaving me alone with Luigi. She hoped that we would be able to sort out our problems and I hoped she was right- though a part of me doubted it. Once we were alone, I turned back to Luigi in weary cautiousness. "So…have you played this game?"

"Many times." Luigi replied, looking similar to how I felt. He looked tired of fighting and like just wanted for this to move on. "Mario was the conductor the last time, though." I nodded, gulping at the name.

"…oh." I replied, not sure what I was supposed to say and flinching outwardly at my awkward reply. "I'm sure…sure he was great." Sighing, I decided that it was time I tried to patch this awkwardness up before it got any farther. Looking over Luigi's shoulder I tried to redeem my earlier failure. "I know you don't believe me, but I really am sorry for your loss. Mario was a great guy and he really taught Peach and I a lot while in the games." Looking down at my feet I continued, "And…and I'm really sorry for my behavior last round. I don't know what came over me."

"Don't mention it." Luigi replied gruffly. "We all lose it at some point out here. I'm surprised you lasted so long." He laughed bitterly. "Your timing was terrible, though."

"It couldn't have been worse, could it?" I laughed as well, more in a mocking way than out of any real joy. "So do you know how to conduct?" Luigi shrugged.

"I'll figure it out. Up, left, right, down-keep in rhythm. I used to play trombone in my school's band. I think I watched my teacher conduct us enough times to know how it works." His eyes glazed over, as though recalling a time long gone. "How are you with the violin?"

"I should be fine…I was in Orchestra, as a Viola." I smiled, remember my class. It felt insane to think that I might not be able to go back there next year or really ever again. It felt weird to hold this instrument, something that was not a part of this world, in a Mario Party game. At least it wasn't a viola, or that would have been too much. "Playing violin isn't that much different…and it's all about rhythm in this game, not tonality." I felt myself grinning a bit, as I looked up at Luigi. "You were a band geek?" To my surprise, Luigi laughed in response, his eyes lighting up.

"A bit, yeah." He admitted, smiling at the memory. "I was almost the first trombone my senior year in High School, but this prodigy in my grade got the chair instead. I quit after High School." His grin faded somewhat. "I've missed it. It feels like decades ago that I was back in the real world, let alone High School." He laughed faintly, "Sometimes I don't even feel like a real person anymore." He looked down as he said this, as though ashamed to be admitting something so personal. It felt strange, but oddly comforting, to finally be able to talk to Luigi and not have either bitter accusations or resentful arguments. For once we were actually conversing in a sane and reasonable fashion.

"I know how you feel." I replied, grimacing. "It's hard to feel real when you're sharing a body with a Mario Party character. But the character is real, right? Who we are is still essentially the same- our personalities, our thoughts, our feelings...-they're all real."

"Getting philosophical on me?" Luigi smirked. I grinned in response, the first real genuine grin of happiness that I had made since I'd entered Mario Party. It felt so nice just being able to sit and chat, even if it was only for a few minutes, without having to worry about fighting and drama.

"It's a habit." I shrugged. "So…" I paused, taking a deep breath and letting out my hand towards Luigi. "…friends?" There was a long pause, while Luigi stared at my hand, as though considering whether or not to take it. It felt like we were in Mushroom Mix-Up all over again, but this time with me lending my hand out to him. Through these games, through the ups and downs, I didn't really know whether or not I could consider Luigi a friend. We'd talked, he'd saved my life numerous times, we'd fought, and we'd learned to trust each other. But a friend? I didn't know if it could be defined strictly as such. Finally, Luigi smiled- an honest to God smile- and shook my hand warmly.

"Yeah."

"Hey guys, you ready for me to press the button?" Peach yelled from across the room, as she sat next to the button, barely holding in a grin. I smiled softly to myself, while Luigi looked away in embarrassment.

"Yeah!" I yelled back. The game was on.

3

My heart felt lighter, as I had finally come to the point where I could consider myself friends with both Luigi and Peach. It hurt to know that we had lost Mario, but the future still looked bright.

2

As I raised the violin to a playing position, I felt a sharp stab of nostalgia for the lazy days of just sitting in the Orchestra room and playing my instrument- the days that felt like they would never end.

1

I raised my bow and decided to try and play an open E string, the one string that I'd never played before. Looking forward, I tried to get the rhythm in my head and to remember all that I'd learned in my High School class. My life depended on it.

GO!

The game went reasonably well and it was definitely one of the more relaxing experiences. Mario was totally and utterly offbeat, hitting the drums on what seemed to be a completely random beat. Peach also was slightly off on her trumpet, always missing the beat by about a second. Luigi was a decent conductor, but there were a few times he missed the beat. The thing that surprised me the most was how well I seemed to be at this challenge. It wasn't like skateboarding or tightrope walking, where I was a lost cause. This was something I had practiced since I was in 3rd grade- and it really paid off. By the time the game was over, the winner was obvious. The coins landed on me and I couldn't help but to feel at peace as the lights went out.