Fragment 35

It was time. I stood together with my princess and Luigi, in the far corner of the castle vault, the place where Professor Gadd had set up his new laboratory. A web of metal poles filled most of the room, its iridescent nodes forming a dome-like shape over a circular pad on the floor. In the opposite corner, the professor himself sat at his workbench, fiddling with controls.

The machine - if that was what it was, made almost no noise, little more than a whisper, like wind. But the power of a contraption cannot always be determined by how loud it can be, and for making a transit between two dimensions, I was sure it had to be very powerful indeed. The product of over fifty days' work, and an anxious wait on top of that, I hoped for Luigi's sake, it was worth it.

I heard Princess Peach gasp behind me. The nodes had brightened, and a dark patch of nothingness opened up just above the floor pad. The professor didn't need to tell us to stand back. We all moved against the wall as the void filled the dome area.

"Aha. I think I have them," muttered Gadd, his head bent over his gadgets.

Two human-like shapes began to appear, glowing white inside the inter-dimensional hole. They formed fast; one of them clearly becoming Mario, the other, a human female, her angular cut clothes and pale pink hair of a style quite unlike anything I'd seen my princess wear.

"It's her," breathed Princess Peach. "It's Nastasia."

I drew breath at her confirmation. I hadn't given consideration as to what kind of a person could have been responsible for creating something as evil as Mr. L, and to suddenly find myself in her presence made me feel nervous.

As their bodies solidified from the light and dwindling patch of dark, Mario scanned his new surroundings. Then he lunged to catch Nastasia as her legs buckled under her. "Find a chair!" he said.

Gadd hopped off his seat, and Luigi brought it to the pad. Mario helped her sit down; she groaned, and rested her head on her knees.

"Move away, gentlemen!" The professor toddled over to her, carrying a small metal paddle with dials and a numerical display at one end. "Now, my dear, put your hand on this."

She lifted her head, and looked from the professor, to Mario. Mario nodded, and she laid her hand on the flat end. "Who..." she murmured.

"Professor Elvin Gadd, at your service," he said. "You probably feel a little nauseous. Keep still, keep still." He held the paddle steady, and examined the readout. "Good, good, you're stable. You can let go, now. It's your first time here, so it may take a little time to orientate yourself within the forces of this dimension. Everything might look a little more curved and warped than you're used to, but you'll soon become accustomed." He pointed above his head. "Up is that way."

"Thank you," she said, and promptly passed out.

Nastasia's businesslike approach impressed me so much I forgot my misgivings about her. After a rest and a good meal, she wasted no time in questioning us all about Mr. L's manifestations, from the day Luigi had returned from her dimension to the present.

We told her everything; how the floro sprout had been removed from Luigi's brain, how guilt and self-doubt seemed to trigger the attacks, how they'd last until he fell asleep and how when he woke, he was always Luigi again. We told her about the horrific spell Luigi had spent in hospital, when an insane Mr. L dominated almost every waking moment, even harming himself in his efforts to escape his room. We told her how the relevation that Luigi had nullified Peach's wedding to Bowser became the turning point in his battle to stay in control, and that the attacks from Mr. L now were few and far between.

While listening to our accounts, Nastasia took notes and studied Dr. Toadley's medical records. She examined Luigi's eyes, conducting what she called hypnotic response tests, although what she was looking for, I could not fathom. At last, when there was nothing left for us to tell, she squared her shoulders and took off her glasses. She looked around the conference table in the princess's study, from Dr. Toadley and I, to Mario and Princess Peach, and then finally to Luigi.

"I'm afraid removing Mr. L now, is not as straightforward as I could have hoped. I'll explain as simply as I can, 'k?"

Luigi furrowed his eyebrows, and nodded.

"When I created Mr. L, I made a partition in your mind, with you on one side and him on the other," she said. "I switched off your side of the partition, so that you were permanently dormant, and he functioned independently from you. Under normal circumstances, I could reverse it in a matter of minutes, if it hadn't been for Dimentio's interference." Nastasia paused, and glanced at us all, before continuing.

"Dimentio wanted to control Mr. L himself, but he didn't have my hypnotic skills. So he used the floro sprout to control him. But its roots affected your brain on both sides of the partition. Dimentio commanded Mr. L's side to fight Mario, but he didn't think to command your side to switch off. That's why, even after the floro sprout was removed, you and Mr. L still compete for consciousness."

"I understand," said Luigi.

"I can't break the partition now it's been tampered with. You and Mr. L have to do this yourselves. I need to work with you both, and that means bringing him back so I can talk to him, 'k?"

Luigi paled. "I... I don't know..."

Mario leaned towards him, and whispered in their mother tongue. Luigi looked unsure, but then nodded.

"I want him gone," he said. "Okay."

She wanted a secure room. We gave her one of the strongrooms. She wanted a cot and a table, we had them installed. For Luigi's assurance, we all accompanied him to what was to become 'Mr. L's room', stark and unlit, save for a sunbeam streaming through a small, barred window.

"Lay down," she said to Luigi, indicating the bed. He glanced around at everybody, and while he made himself comfortable, Nastasia turned to address us all. "Before I do anything, I'm going to find out what kind of mental state Mr. L is in, 'k? It would help me to know his last moments of consciousness, if possible."

My princess and Mario exchanged glances.

"They would not be nice," said Mario. "He stole a flying machine, and was hit by a Bullet Bill. I think that his last memory would be falling out of the sky in flames." Then Mario explained what happened on that terrible night when he'd had to rescue both princesses from King Bowser, an adventure that had tested him to his limits. Although he'd recounted it only once before, I knew every detail inside out - my princess often talked to me about it.

When he was done, Nastasia turned to Luigi. "I'm going to paralyse you. You'll be able to breathe and speak, but you won't be able to move. Don't panic or fight it - it is so that Mr. L cannot hurt anybody. For you it will only last a few seconds, 'k?"

"Okay," Luigi said.

"Good. Everyone else, please, stay quiet." Something glinted in her glasses, and Luigi whimpered with fear. He became still. Then, his eyes turned that silvery-white. His chest rose and he let out the loudest, wildest, blood-curdling scream I'd ever heard, worse than anything he'd managed at the hospital. My princess hid her face, Mario put a comforting arm around her. I looked at Dr. Toadley, who stood at my side. Dumbfounded, he stared back at me.

Nastasia moved within Luigi's line of vision. "Try to remember," Her calm voice seemed to drift through his screams. "You do know me."

But Luigi, or should I say, Mr. L, continued to scream until his voice became hoarse. Shaking her head, Nastasia waved a hand and he stopped, his eyes returning to their normal colour. Luigi coughed, and rubbed at his neck. I guessed his throat must have hurt. "Did it start, yet?"

She sat on the end of the cot and sighed. "Yes, it started. Mr. L appears to have turned insane. Luigi, you're going to need to be patient, 'k?"

A/N Thoughts, comments, tomatoes - all welcome! I've never structured a story this way before, so I'd be interested to know whether it's working or not.