Chapter 12: Man Against Machine

Luigi was hanging his head in shame as he was walking. He didn't pay attention to where he was going, but there wasn't any need for that, at least not in his mind. He felt like the worst person in the world. His girlfriend had told him to go away. He broke a very serious promise twice in a single day, and to top it all off, he was in the middle of nowhere in Dry Dry Desert. Luigi thought, There's no way things could get any worse. Luigi continued to walk forward into the desert.

Meanwhile with Mario:

Mario was running towards Dry Dry desert faster than a speeding Bullet Bill. Don't worry, Luigi, Mario thought, I'm almost there. Mario started jumping instead of running to get faster progress, but even so, there was still no sign of Luigi. "Luigi!" Mario called, "Where are you? Luigi!" Mario looked around for Luigi, and he saw a figure in the distance. "Luigi? Mario called, "Is that you?"

Mario landed and ran towards the figure, in hopes it might be Luigi. Once Mario got closer, he could see that the figure was wearing overalls, a green shirt, a green hat, and white gloves.

That must be Luigi! Mario thought optimistically as he ran towards the figure. Mario turned the figure around, but when he grabbed it, he realized it was only a very pointy cactus. Mario grabbed his hand and screamed in pain as he tried to pull it out of the cactus. When he finally got it out he thought, How could I mistake a cactus for Luigi? It must be hallucinations getting to my brain. Mario jumped off again in search of his younger brother once again calling his name, "Luigi? Where are you? Luigi!"

Meanwhile with Luigi:

Luigi was still walking through the desert with his head drooping when suddenly he heard a voice, "Hey Luigi. Hot day we're having, isn't it?"

Luigi turned around with two unclenched fists, but no one was there. "Who's there?" Luigi asked, shaking in fear.

The voice cackled, "Don't tell me you've already forgotten my voice. That'd be an insult to me."

Realization hit Luigi, "Wait. Are you—"

"King Boo?" The dark king finished, "Yes, I am."

"Where are you?" Luigi asked.

"Why, I'm inside your heart, Luigi." The voice answered, laughing a bit.

Luigi put his hands on his chin as he said, "Wait, wouldn't that cause me massive heartburn? Right now I don't feel a—"

"Not literally, you twit!" Dark Luigi yelled, "I mean I'm inside your soul. Well, not really inside it, more like next to it. He's a boring fellow. He doesn't do anything but sit there, and it's driving me crazy."

Luigi felt a little embarrassed, "Does that mean you can see my memories?"

"No," Dark Luigi answered, "I can only sit here, like your soul. However, if you wanted me to take over your body, then I gladly would."

Luigi suddenly got serious, "No way, I'm never letting you take over."

Dark Luigi chuckled, "Shame. Here I was looking forward to taking over. Well, anyways, I'll talk to you later because right now someone is calling your name. Ciao."

Luigi was confused, What did he mean 'someone is calling my name'? Luigi listened for any voices, and just by a little bit, he could hear someone calling his name. Luigi listened more intently, and the voice sounded like Mario.

"Marco!" Mario shouted.

"Polo!" Luigi shouted back. Luigi ran towards the direction of the voice and listened for another call.

"Marco!" Mario shouted again.

"Polo!" Luigi shouted back. Now he could see Mario in the distance.

The Mario Bros. ran toward each other until they finally got to each other. They gave each other a big hug, and they both said, "There you are!"

Mario stopped hugging Luigi as he said, "I looked everywhere for you. I got really worried."

Luigi nodded his head, "I was worried too, but not exactly about the same thing."

"Well, I'm-a just glad you're okay. Come on, Luigi, let's-a go home."

A metallic voice behind them said, "Halt! You will not be going anywhere."

The Mario Bros. turned around and saw robotic doppelgangers of themselves.

"Mario," Luigi asked, "do you see that too?"

Mario nodded and said, "Yeah, I see it."

"Who are you guys?" Luigi asked.

Both of the robots said simultaneously, "We are the Mecha Mario Brothers. We were designed and constructed by Prof. E. Gadd, and we were programmed by Bowser to eradicate you."

The Mario Bros. got in fighting stances as they said, "Let's-a go!"

The Mecha Mario Bros. repeated in their metallic voices, "Let's-a go!"

Mario grabbed Luigi and threw him at Mecha Mario, and Luigi punched Mecha Mario in the face. However, it only bruised Luigi's hand. Mecha Mario punched at Luigi, but Luigi managed to dodge. Mecha Mario continued to bash at Luigi, who dodged all of his blows, until one of his attacks finally hit. Luigi skid back a couple of feet.

Meanwhile, Mario was fighting Mecha Luigi. Mecha Luigi punched at Mario, but Mario blocked his attack. After that, Mario got his Hammer and bashed at Mecha Luigi. Mecha Luigi dodged all of the swings and grabbed Mario's Hammer. Mario tried to get out of his grip, but it was no use. Mecha Luigi swiped the Hammer from Mario and swung at him several times. Mario dodged by moving his head back and forth, until Mecha Luigi decided to swing low. Mario jumped up and landed on top of his Hammer. Mario jumped behind Mecha Luigi and swiped his Hammer back from the greenish robot. Mario bashed Mecha Luigi across the face, sending him flying at Mecha Mario. Mecha Mario caught Mecha Luigi and set him down.

Luigi called Prof. E. Gadd by the Game Boy Horror. "Luigi!" Mario yelled, "this is no time for a phone call!"

"Don't worry," Luigi assured. "I have a plan."

Luigi waited for Prof. E. Gadd to pick up. When he did, Luigi asked, "How do we defeat those Mecha Mario Bros. that Bowser forced you to build?"

The professor chuckled on the other end, "You're fighting them right now, aren't you?"

Luigi replied, "Yup, you've got it."

"Well, there's a self-destruct devise that I added just for you. It should be on the back. "

"Thanks, professor." Luigi said as he turned to Mario. "Mario!" Luigi called, "There's a self-destruct device on the Mechas' backs!"

"Okay," Mario said, "Let's take out Mecha Mario first. He creeps me out."

Mecha Luigi ran back while Mario and Luigi ran towards Mecha Mario. Luigi held Mecha Mario down, and Mario ran behind his robotic doppelganger. Mario saw a small red button that said, "Self-destruct," and pressed it. The Mario Bros. ran away from the reddish robot as Mecha Mario exploded. Mecha Luigi noticed this.

"Alright!" Mario exclaimed, "Now all we have to do is destroy Mecha Luigi!" Mecha Luigi dug his hand into his own chest, and pulled out a bomb. Mario sighed, "Of course it's not that easy."

Mecha Luigi threw the bomb at the Mario Bros. Luigi managed to dodge, but Mario was caught in the explosion. Luigi saw this and shouted, "Mario!" The explosion was big enough to catch Luigi too. There was a mushroom cloud that could be seen all the way back in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Suddenly, everything went black. Luigi looked around and saw Dark Luigi, sitting down calmly. Dark Luigi looked at Luigi and said, "You seem to be in a bit of a fix, don't you?"

"What do you mean 'in a fix'? I'm doing just fine."

Dark Luigi lifted up a finger, "Actually, your body has been seriously injured in the explosion. There's also the fact that you've lost another life, and I don't think either of us like that."

"Why do you care?" Luigi asked.

Dark Luigi chuckled, "Oh sweet, naïve, little Luigi. This is our body, whether you like it or not. That means if you die, I die too, so here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to lend you a hand. "

"No way!" Luigi shouted, "I already told you that I'm not letting you take over!"

"Think about it, Luigi!" Dark Luigi shouted back. "At this point, you really don't have a choice! You either let me take over, or you die. It's your choice." Dark Luigi held out his hand. Luigi looked at the hand and then covered his eyes with his own hand. Luigi, regretting ever moment of it, shook Dark Luigi's hand.

Dark Luigi opened his eyes and found himself face-first on the ground. He rose from the ground and looked who he was fighting. He saw a robotic doppelganger of Luigi. "Well, well, well," Dark Luigi chuckled as he brushed the dust from Luigi's clothing, "It seems I have a toy to play with. How nice."