ACT 7: THE LAST OF US
Chapter 7-1: Last Wish
Larry found himself in an odd position. He was standing up, holding someone while the person held him. A light brightened a small space around them. The rest of the place was filled with darkness. He slowly backed up a little bit and saw that he was holding Ludwig. His big brother's eyes were wide open, same for the mouth.
"You… Killed… Me…" Ludwig whispered.
Those words frightened Larry. The punk slowly looked around him and saw that he was holding a sword that went through Ludwig's chest. Blood sullied the cloth around the sword. He screamed in terror and released the sword but it stayed stuck inside his brother. He backed up while Ludwig fell on his knees. The latter stared at the sword stuck in his body and took some blood that was dripping from the fatal wound. He looked back at Larry, enraged.
"You… Killed me." Ludwig said again.
"I'm sorry, Ludwig! I didn't mean to! I don't know what happened or what took me!" Larry replied out of fear.
Blue flames emanated from Ludwig's wound. He did not scream of pain. He was already dying to do so. The flames completely covered the wounded koopaling and Larry stood there, horrified. There was nothing the latter could do now. His big brother was gone. The blue flames slowly extinguished themselves to reveal a dry creature.
"YOU KILLED ME!" The creature shouted in a distorted Ludwig's voice.
Larry got startled and tried to run into the darkness to escape the monster but, as soon as he almost reached it, skeletal arms reached out for him and held him. He was brought back to the dry creature but what disturbed Larry even more was to see his siblings, all turned into dry creatures, emerging from the darkness. The monsters surrounded the punk and what used to be Ludwig.
"TRAITOR!" The dry creatures kept screaming.
The dry creature in front of the punk pulled out the sword that was stuck in his ribcage and pointed it at Larry. The latter could not break free. His arms were held tightly. The monster thrust the sword into Larry's chest. The punk felt the pain and wanted to scream but one of the dry creatures put a skeletal hand on his mouth. His wound produced blue flames. He was slowly joining them while the monsters laughed. The flames covered his sight and…
"Wake up, boss! I got a letter for you, see?"
Larry woke up and saw Popple holding a letter.
"Woah, you must be a deep sleeper to wake up all screaming like that, see? Anyway, some guy gave me that letter saying it's for you, boss." Popple said as he handed Larry the letter.
The bean guy left the room. The punk examined the letter. He had no idea who would send him a letter in a time of crisis. He opened it and took out the message that read as follow:
"To the runner-up of the F3,
It has been a long time since the tournament and I want to see if you have improved between then and now. Meet me at the dojo on Starman Street as soon as you can.
The grandmaster of fighting."
He could not believe it. The winner of the F3 wanted a rematch against him but why? The grandmaster won against Larry. There was no point for him to ask for a rematch. However, Larry did not care about the rematch but who the grandmaster was. He quickly stood up of his bed and put his clothes back on. His little brother, Junior, just entered the room.
"Hi, Larry, I asked Kamek if I could come with you to Pipeland and he agreed at one condition: I need to take some advance in my homeworks since I won't be at the castle to attend his classes." Junior stated.
"That's great, Junior, but I have something to do before we go. In my absence, pack yourself a backpack. I'll be back shortly to check it." The punk replied.
Larry took his sidepack and left the room. In the main hall, Peach and Rosalina were having a conversation:
"You look a lot like me." Peach started.
"Yes, you remind me of my mother." Rosalina pointed out.
"What happened to her?"
"I do not know. I was gone from home a long time ago and when I returned she vanished, her and my father."
"It must have been hard to go through that."
"It was but, with the lumas as my new family, I got over it and visit my home planet every century."
Larry did not care though. He rushed outside and went to the Mushroom City. He ran down the many streets. Some parts of the city were still infested with dry creatures. Oddly enough, Popple had already returned on the streets cleaning them from the monsters with Birdo's help. The punk waved at them and the duo waved back at him. The koopaling kept running for a short time until he reached the dojo in question. Wooden planks blocked the large windows and the door had its lock broken. The place was abandoned years ago and no one ever bothered to restore the building or to demolish it. This dojo used to belong to an old toad that taught many martial arts but passed away a long time ago. The dojo shortly closed its door after the owner's departure. Larry opened the door and slowly entered the building. A few floodlights were placed to illuminate the main room. A display with a single trophy on the shelf was standing on the other wide of the vast room. The punk walked to the middle of the room. The door closed itself. Larry looked back at the door and saw the grandmaster of fighting, his inspiration, his idol, his motivation outside of his family. To him, the F3 was not just a mere tournament. It was a chance to surpass the grandmaster, to rise above him. The grandmaster was close to a god. It was…
"Mario…" Larry whispered.
Larry remembered when he confronted the legendary jumpman at the final of the F3. He heard from the other competitors, who fought him, that they would get beaten by a single punch from the red plumber. The punk, on the other hand, was tough, both by mind and body. Despite enduring all the attacks, he could never land a single blow on Mario. The jumpman was too quick on his feet. In the end, he got second place in the F3. Today was a different day though. There was no hype. They were the two only persons in the dojo. The fight would remain unseen by the world. Even if Larry beat Mario, it would not mean anything. It did not matter for him. He got over it and with the current situation he could not bring himself to fight someone that could be a friend. However, another memory of his past resurfaced the one when he met the plumber for the first time.
During the big vacation project, Bowser made a change in the schedule and decided to bring his children to the Mushroom Castle before going to Grassland and so on. It was supper time. The Koopa King was sat at one end of a long table while the Mushroom King was on the other side of the table. The Mushroom king passed away a year before Junior's birth due to an assassination plan executed by a mysterious witch. Princess Peach, who was in a white dress, was sat next to his father while Mario, wearing a white suit, was facing her. A year after she was introduced to the koopalings, she eventually realized that Bowser only wanted to have his own family and that his kind was at the border of extinction. Mario's little brother, Luigi, was also next to him with Daisy facing him on the other side of the table. Bowser's children sat around him, with Larry and Ludwig occupying the two nearest places to their father. They were eating the finest meal royalties could ever have. Larry took a bite of his meal but he felt that it lacked salt. He looked around him and even had to lean forward because of all the people on his left that were blocking his sight. He spotted a salt shaker far away from here, in front of one of the two plumbers. He got off his seat but Bowser noticed him.
"Where are you going, Larry?" His father asked.
"I need some salt on my dish." The punk answered.
"You know you can just ask it instead of walking around."
Larry looked away. Even though he learned to speak fluidly, he was still too timid to raise his voice and ask away.
"Should I ask for the salt?" Bowser asked.
Larry moaned quietly.
"Alright, I'll let you go get the salt shaker yourself but don't bother anyone for too long." The Koopa King sighed.
The youngest koopaling walked away from his father and toward the plumbers. The closer he got to them, the more anxious he became. Once he reached them, he stood still, too afraid to ask them anything. He mustered his courage.
"Excuse me, mister. May I have the salt shaker please?" Larry timidly asked.
The short plumber's attention was caught. He looked behind him and saw the child. He smiled at him and handed him the salt shaker. Larry looked at the plumber and smiled back. The other plumber looked behind and saw the two smiling at each other. This small scene caught everyone's attention.
"Ho oh, I see you've met Mario. He's a good friend of your father. Why don't you present yourself to him?" The Mushroom King proposed.
The punk was timid at first but, when Mario took him in his arms and put him on his laps, he felt comfortable to speak.
"I'm Larry." The child said.
Mario could not speak so he took a pen out of his vest and wrote down his name on a napkin.
"Mario here has saved the world a few times, an exploit that almost no one could ever do in a lifetime. Did you know that he once saved the world with the help of your father and my daughter? In fact, his acts of heroism have made me and the other royalties of the continent rename it after him, Amarioca, and the world was renamed the Mario World." The king explained.
(Wow… I wanna be a hero like him. I'll become strong and, when I grow up, I'll save the day from any danger. One day, I'll confront Mario face to face to see who the strongest person in the Mario World is. One day, I'll save the world with him and the others.) Larry dreamed.
Larry snapped out of it and looked at Mario. He had many dreams but he slowly forgot about them when his little brother was born, a dream of a lifetime for him. The dream of surpassing Mario, however, came back when he heard he made the F3 and would attend it every year. The F3 started around a year after Junior's birth. Mario was standing there with a plain look on his face. His eyes were half closed.
"Mario, we don't have to do this right now. The world needs you, us. We should just forget the F3 for now and focus on what truly matters." The punk said.
The jumpman did not listen. He unleashed a punch toward him but Larry barely avoided it. It was clear that he wanted a fight. The koopaling would give him one he would never forget. Larry prepared himself and assumed a standard combat stance, one that he learned from his training as a spy many years ago when he was taught about the basics of CQC. He already fought Mario before but he could not land anything of the legendary jumpman. He had to first analyse what his foe was capable before acting. Only problem is that Mario did not act at all. He was waiting after Larry to attack him. This frustrated the punk because he could not play too defensively or too offensively. No extreme would help him win this time. He unleashed a few punches to try to study his opponent. Obviously, Mario blocked them all. He did not punch back though. A few punches later, Larry thought of something. He first prepared to punch with his left fist. He saw that Mario was ready to block it. The punk quickly caught the plumber by surprise by using his right fist to quickly punch him in the face. The impact caused Mario to be disoriented long enough to allow the koopaling to land a more powerful attack. With his left fist, Larry punched right into Mario's stomach. It worked. The jumpman was not able to block the attack. The plumber regained back his balance and smiled at Larry. That was when the hero of Amarioca began fighting back. He was aggressive but the punk managed to grab one of his arms and throw him into a wall. The plumber was no joke. Having received multiple heroic titles, it would be obvious that he knew how to fight. A few punches and a single throw into a wall was not enough to bring him down. Larry would have to think about something else. He already had something in mind but it was a last resort or only against slow opponent but Mario was not slow. He would have to turn the situation into a critical time or find some other way. The fight went on and on but neither Mario nor Larry was starting to get tired. The punk finally noticed something from his adversary's fighting style. He pressed on his luck and acted. He first forced Mario to block a mindless punch attack but feinted and instead delivered a palm strike into the opponent's chest to push him back. Mario lost his balance and could not block anything else for a brief moment. It was the best opportunity for the punk. He jumped into the air and delivered his signature dropkick into the plumber, sending him flying into the wall head first. Mario did not lose consciousness but was too weakened to keep fighting. He raised his hand as a sign to stop, begging Larry to do the same. The latter listened to the sign. Larry did it. After all those years, he finally surpassed his idol. He rose above the godlike jumpman but he did not feel any form of accomplishment somehow.
"Alright, let's bring you to the castle and get you patched up. We've following a plan to restore the world with the royal artifacts and we need you to help us with that. Peach and Luigi are at the castle and have been looking for you since the incident." Larry explained as he helped Mario to get back on his feet.
The plumber went to the display and took out the trophy from it. He gave it to his opponent. It was the trophy of the winner of the Freestyle Fighting Festival. It had Mario's name carved on the bottom of it.
"I can't accept that, Mario. You earned it. What took you to ask for a rematch? How could you lose against me?" The punk asked.
Mario did not say anything. He rolled his collar, revealing a pendant around his neck. He took it off his neck and gave it to his friend. It was the Star Pendant, the royal treasure of the Mushroom Kingdom. The golden chained pendant had a starman on it. After giving it to Larry, the latter noticed small blue flames coming out of his neck.
"No… It can't be. How did you get infected? Was that why you wanted a rematch to see if I became stronger before you would leave? NO! Don't give up like that! You're the man that saved the world so many times! You can't just give away your title to someone else like that, especially not me! We'll cure you from this disgusting virus. We'll…" The punk started.
Mario simply put his hand on the koopaling's shoulder. He closed his eyes and nodded sideway. It was too late for him. He was turning and there was nothing anyone could do to save him anymore. He reached the point of non-return. He shredded a single tear and handed Larry his iconic red cap with a folded piece of paper in it. The flames started covering all his body. The punk guessed that he wanted to scream in pain but he could only cry. Larry did not stay to watch him completely turn into a dry creature. He walked out the ruined dojo and away. He could only think of quote he heard when Ludwig was playing a video game:
(I had lived my life the only way that I had known. But when the pillars of that life came crashing down, I did not stand and watch them fall. I turned, and walked away.)
He headed to the Mushroom Castle. Before he could cross the bridge to enter it, Iggy just got out of the castle to take a walk with Chompy.
"Ah, Larry, I've been looking for you, bro. Starlow just woke up. She's gonna be fine but I suggest that you let her rest." His big brother said.
He then noticed the red cap.
"Did you actually meet Mario? Where is he?" The big brother asked.
Larry did not answer. He closed his eyes, lowered his head and walked in the castle. His big brother understood that Mario was gone. Once inside, Larry saw Peach talking to Luigi. They were both at the same place at the worst possible time. The two looked at the punk and saw the red cap in his hand. Luigi ran toward him and kneeled down to be at the koopaling's height.
"You met Mario? Where is he?" The tall plumber desperately asked.
"There's only one thing you can do for him, Luigi: Free him by presenting him his cap. He's at the abandoned dojo on Starman Street." The punk said.
Luigi took the cap but left the folded piece of paper with Larry and left the castle. The punk went to sit down on the stairs, staring at the Star Pendant. Peach sat next to him.
"I'm sorry, princess, I couldn't save him." Larry apologised.
"It doesn't matter. When I heard from Luigi that he got kidnapped, I lost all hope to ever see him again. At least, he returned here with the last hours he had to live. I thank you for doing your best to look after him." She said.
"It seems that hope is slowly leaving all of us. I already have no more hope left for Ludwig. Speaking of Mario, since when did he hold on to the Star Pendant?"
"I gave him as a gift after we saved the world a long time ago."
"When Geno helped you two and Bowser?"
"Indeed, Smithy took over Amarioca a year after your father once kidnapped me."
"Speaking of him, how did you see him?"
"You father changed a lot over the years. He went from a heartless tyrant to the most caring king the Koopa Kingdom ever had."
They talked a little longer about Mario and Bowser. Larry unfolded the paper that Mario gave which read as follow:
"I'm counting on you."
Why would Mario put so much faith in a child let alone Larry? Even if the punk was strong and beat the plumber, he was far from being him. Why would he not put that much faith in his little brother? Was it because he did not want anything to happen to him? Was it because he did not consider him worthy of such grand task? The answer would remain a mystery.
"Do you remember when you eavesdropped on me and your father?" Peach brought up.
Larry did remember that moment, when Peach received something from Bowser but denied it to him.
On the fifth year celebration of peace between the two kingdoms, Peach invited all the royalties at her castle as always. When the party died down, Larry went for a walk in the garden behind the castle. The garden filled with many trees and plants also had a fountain in the middle with a statue of a starman at its center to commemorate Geno's aid during the Smith War, an event where Smithy took over Amarioca. He spotted the princess sat down on a bench facing the fountain. It did not interest him to speak with her. However, he spotted his father bringing a bottle of champagne with two glasses. The Koopa King sat right next to Peach and gave her a glass so they could drink champagne. The punk hid behind a tree and listened to what they had to say to each other.
"It's been five years… Since Junior was born." Bowser's voice sighed.
"So far, you're doing a great job at raising him." Peach's voice reassured.
"I know but I wanted a complete family for my children. Perhaps his birth without a mother around is what made my other children leave the castle so soon."
Larry heard his father crying.
"Why did it have to be that way? I know I'm not the best person in the world but I changed for the better, right?" Bowser's voice cried.
"Yes, you did. You impressed not only me but also every royalty in Amarioca. They're looking up to you as what a ruler should be. What happened to Junior's mother?" Peach's voice comforted.
There was a brief moment of silence. Larry knew it was a sore spot for Bowser. He did not speak directly to anyone about the mother and would never dare to. He knew that the king was hesitating to say it.
"I'm sorry. I can't tell you anything about her. I'm afraid that someone would hear us."
"Do you mean Larry?"
"Yes, he tends to know more than he should. I don't want him to change but I want him to know what he should not know. So, I'll give you this instead."
Another moment of silence occurred.
"Tell me: Before Junior was born, Larry used to be a spy working for you. Why did he stop all of a sudden?" Peach's voice asked.
"He once came to see me in my office the day after Junior was born. He told me that he wanted to quit the job. It was then that I knew what was going on with him, why he accepted the job right away when I proposed him when he was just five: He was envious of his siblings and he feared that he would be overshadowed by them since he was the youngest in the family. He took the job to surpass them. My other children never did anything crazy like Larry did. When Junior was born, he completely changed. He did not want his job to give him a bad name. He wanted to be a good bog brother for Junior so I agreed to dismiss him. I realized that he had a dream to have a little brother. What took me to propose him that in the first place? I can feel that he has some remorse."
"Aren't you afraid that the same thing will happen to Junior?"
"It won't. Larry is already doing a great job to make Junior distinguish himself. It's as if he was in a family before I adopted him."
The conversation went on but nothing of interest was said afterward. An hour later, Bowser stood up and left the princess alone and brought the two glasses and the empty bottle with him. When the father was out of sight, Larry came out of his hiding spot and went to see Peach.
"What did he give you?" The punk asked.
"He just gave me champagne. I think I'll go back inside." The princess replied.
It was obvious that Peach wanted to drive the subject away. She went back inside. Larry sighed and closed his eyes."
"He gave me this." Peach told the koopaling as she handed him a photo.
The colored photo had Bowser and a female necrean on it. The female was exactly like how Popple described Clawdia: The long flamboyant hairs, the shiny scarlet lips, the jewelry on her neck and hands. It was Clawdia, Junior's deceased mother. Larry hugged the princess and the latter hugged him back as well as kissing him on the forehead.
"Is it what having a mother feels like? The soothing voice, the caring gestures, dad kept telling me a lot about mothers and how he wanted to complete our family. I'm sure you saw him after she lost Clawdia. He never attempted to get married ever again after losing her. He felt he was unworthy of having a wife." Larry whispered.
"I know…" Peach simply whispered back.
The punk could make this moment last any longer but he had things to do today. He stood up and went to the girls' bedroom's door to knock on it. Isabelle answered the door.
"Hi, Larry! Sorry if it took longer than expected to prepare the next peace treaty renewal. Pipeland has strict border laws and I have to prepare some papers to allow you to enter the city. Speaking of papers, you forgot to take the ones for Iceland. Don't worry. Mother Penguin chose to reside here and signed them. I hope you have your passport with you." Isabelle explained as he handed his boss an entry permit with a treaty renewal contract.
"Can you also prepare another entry permit for Bowser Jr? I'll bring him with me." Larry asked.
"Sure thing, it'll be done in a few minutes."
Larry headed downstairs into the laboratory to check on the star sprites. Starlow just woke up while Elvin was still working on Geno.
"Hey Starlow, how are you holding up?" The punk asked.
"I'm fine. I'm sorry if I got myself injured." Starlow replied.
"Don't blame yourself. I was too surprised to do anything against Riley."
"Speaking of Riley, how did you manage to survive his encounter?"
"I don't know. First, he couldn't bring himself to kill me and told me to head to the Iceland Palace. Then, I met him there and… He changed. He said something about having done the unthinkable."
"What do you think he did? That must've been what changed him."
"I'm not sure but it didn't involve Kraig. He left him. He only said what was right for him."
"I see. I'll rest here while you go check on your last sibling. I suppose you dreamt about him."
"Yeah…"
Larry remembered the dream he had. He wanted to believe that he would not murder his eldest brother. He brushed the thought away and waved goodbye at his friends. He went back upstairs to his room where Junior had a backpack ready. He was wearing a raincoat with his bib over it. Kamek handed the prince his passport.
"There, Junior's ready to go, Larry. Are you sure you want to do that? I'm afraid he might get himself hurt." Kamek asked.
"I don't have much of a choice. He insisted on coming with me and no one else can. I have all the papers to enter the city. Wish me luck on finding Ludwig." The punk answered.
"Alright then, just make sure he does his homework. It's important that he learns how to be a king."
The magikoopa left the room. Larry and Junior were ready to go. The punk put his sunglasses back on his eyes and left the castle with his libra. They took Larry's bike and drove away of the castle, toward Pipeland… Toward the last of them… Toward an unfortunate demise…
