Notes: I know I'm not the first one to write a fic based on LM3, and I won't be the last, but I had to try my hand at it. As with my World of Light fic, I'll be following the basic plot of the game while making enough dialogue and changes to make it my own. And as this fic takes place after my Smash Ultimate timeline, there will be a couple references to events in that, but this can be read independently of it.
Lastly, I have no idea what my update schedule for this will be; I'm still making my way through the game, and I'm balancing other projects in other fandoms right now, as well, but I'll do my best to update this when I can.
The first thing that caught Luigi's attention about the Last Resort—and held his attention—was how golden everything looked. Everything was so… beautiful, and so… expensive.
Mario seemed to share the same sentiments—speaking the same words Luigi had been thinking—
"Mamma mia; we've done the plumbing in some of the grandest hotels and penthouses in New York City, but none of them can compare to this!"
"…I don't even think my castle can compare to this," Peach added, as she looked around the grand room. "And this is just the lobby!" She paused. "…Don't tell my father about this; he might get ideas about redecorating, and I'd hate to think of how many coins it'd take from the treasury to do it…"
"Especially after we had to rebuild—" Mario began.
"Bro! Look, the buffet table!" Luigi interrupted. Peach had been away on official diplomatic business when UndoDog had accidentally destroyed her castle, and Mario had assembled Luigi, Toadette, and the Toad Construction Crew in a frantic bid to rebuild it before she returned. They had succeeded, narrowly, but there were times when Luigi wasn't entirely sure that Peach was completely clueless as to what had happened.
Indeed, Peach had a smirk on her face as Mario verbally backtracked and edged towards the buffet table, followed by Luigi's ghost dog, Polterpup. Luigi just gave Peach an embarrassed chuckle and a shrug.
"Wario would certainly have a field day if he was here and saw all of this gold, huh?" he said.
"He certainly would," Peach agreed, trying to demurely hide her amusement. "He'd be thrown out of here for trying to peel the gold off of the walls. And Waluigi, too—he'd be dragged into those shenanigans, as well."
Luigi did have a laugh at this, and then amused himself by looking around the rest of the lobby, as Peach now walked over to her entourage of Toads and talked with them. He glanced over for a moment before sighing in relief.
Well, if Peach did know about the rebuilding fiasco, it was clear that she didn't hold it against them, thank goodness, Luigi realized. Though her reaction was understandable; compared to some of the things they'd had to deal with, it was, amazingly, on the lower end of the scale.
He sobered for a moment. After all, they'd been through so much worse just prior to that at the last Smash tournament…
He pushed those thoughts aside. No; there would be no more dwelling on that, not when they were here on vacation, here to have fun. They had moved past Ridley and Ganondorf and Dracula and Galeem and Dharkon, and had managed to come through it, closer than ever—especially so with Mario and Peach, who had made the decision to tie the knot for fear of losing each other again, with Robin officiating the ceremony; it was heavily under wraps, of course, for fear of skyrocketing Bowser's jealousy to maximum levels, but Luigi was happy for them, and for the fact that something good had come out of that whole thing.
The invitation to this resort had come at the perfect time; after dealing with the tournament, rebuilding the castle, and then their world karting tour, it would finally give them a chance to all relax at last.
The only thing that could've made it better would've been if more of their friends could've come, Luigi mused. Daisy had been the most disappointed in not being able to go, having been dragged to an official state meeting by her parents. Pit had been dragged off to Mt. Olympus with Palutena for a meeting of the Pantheon, as well; it was an incredible honor to be among the Pantheon, and even though Pit had wanted to go with Peach and the Bros, to do so would have insulted multiple Gods and Goddesses—never a good thing for those who wanted to remain unharmed. Link and Zelda had extended their regrets, but they still had much to do with rebuilding Hyrule, and Red and Leaf had disappeared, off to some remote island called Paiso with their friend Blue to train, as they often tended to do.
And their other friends and allies also sent their regrets, and Luigi couldn't blame them, knowing that they were busy—there were still pieces to be picked up from the aftermath of the restoration in all of their homeworlds. Anyway, he would certainly appreciate a vacation with Mario, Peach, and their Toad friends.
He walked over to his brother now, watching in some amusement as Polterpup snatched a piece of cake from Mario's hand. Mario seemed to take it all in stride, and gave his brother a good-natured smile.
"Do you think Peach figured out…?"
"I don't know," Luigi replied, not sure himself. "But you probably should tell her at some point, Bro."
"Yeah," Mario sighed. "Well, it's nice to have that as the least of our worries for a change, right?"
"You said it," Luigi agreed, with a nod, and he hid a chuckle as Polterpup snatched a second piece of cake from Mario, much to his brother's befuddlement.
"…Mamma mia," Mario mused. "If I can manage to get something to eat, I was thinking we could try to find the tennis courts—a place like this has got to have them! Maybe they even have a golf course!"
"Golf and tennis? Now?" Luigi asked. "Bro, aren't you even a little bit exhausted from traveling here?"
"Nope!" Mario replied, cheerily. "Just hungry!"
"Link would be jealous of your ability to travel for so long without getting tired, from what I understand," Peach said, walking over now with the Toads. "But I certainly would like to freshen up and rest, too."
"Hmm," Mario mused. "Okay; you and Luigi can rest, and I'll have dinner—and then, after you both wake up, we can all have supper!" He reached for another slice of cake, only to have Polterpup snatch it from him, too. "…I think I'll order room service."
Neither Luigi nor Peach had flickered an eyelid at Mario announcing that he would have both dinner and supper; indeed, Luigi had expected it, often having had to cover for Mario when he attempted to raid the fridge between meals in their younger years (often for a cut of the spoils). And Peach had gotten used to both brothers' quirks by now.
But with the consensus that they would retreat to their rooms for a bit, they began to gather the luggage. It was then that the concierge directed their attention to the descending elevator, which opened to reveal a slender woman with a beehive hairdo. Her eyes were hidden behind a set of shades, but she gave the assembled crew a warm grin.
"Put those down, Dearies!" she instructed, flamboyantly tossing around a feather boa around her shoulders. "You are my guests, and I simply won't have your picture-perfect selves put out by dragging luggage around!"
She gave a commanding whistle, and the staff in the lobby rushed to put the luggage on a cart to take up in the elevator; she surveyed this for a moment before turning back to the brothers and Peach.
"Hellen Gravely, your hostess," she introduced, blowing them a kiss. "Welcome to the Last Resort."
Mario extended a hand in greeting, and then stammered awkwardly as Hellen instead curtsied by way of greeting. He looked to Peach for guidance, and seeing her curtsey in return, he snapped his fingers in realization and doffed his cap in return, as well; Luigi followed his lead.
Hellen seemed amused by this reaction.
"Very well, Gentlemen—and Lady," she said. "If you kindly follow me, I will show you to your suites." She turned to Luigi, who stumbled back, startled by the sudden invasion of his personal space. "We have spared no expense to ensure that everything is just perfect for you during your stay."
"Ah, bene, Signorina!" Mario replied, stepping forward to draw Hellen from Luigi, seeing his brother's uneasiness. Luigi was naturally nervous around people he didn't know well; his anxieties had been quelled a bit by recent adventures, but someone getting too close would be just a bit more attention than he would be comfortable with.
"That is very kind of you," Peach agreed, also stepping forward. "I must admit, I am quite flattered that you decided to give us the VIP treatment. Surely you didn't have to go so far—?"
"Go so far?" Hellen scoffed, turning away from Luigi as Mario and Peach had hoped. "If Luigi here had come alone, he would've gotten the royal treatment! And now, the heiress apparent to the throne of the Mushroom Kingdom is here, and her champion? Why, having you here is a veritable coup!"
She laughed now, and Mario and Peach tried to chuckle along politely; Luigi's half-hearted attempt didn't make it very far. What a choice of words… Even the Toads were whispering among themselves.
Well, nevermind; Hellen had gone all-out to make them feel welcome and had clearly put a lot of time and money in addition to the efforts required to prepare for such a grand opening. The least Luigi could do was appreciate it.
"Well, thanks for inviting us, anyway," he said, and Mario nodded in agreement. "We really do appreciate it."
"Oh, believe me, Dearies—the pleasure is all mine," Hellen grinned, and she picked up a golden candelabra—despite it still being light out—and beckoned them to follow her into the elevator.
Mario, Luigi, Peach, and the Toads all exchanged glances and shrugged, following their hostess, with Polterpup happily bounding behind them. Hellen was definitely a hard one to read, but, at the same time, they endeavored to be polite.
After taking the elevator up a few floors, she indicated for Peach and the brothers to get off of the elevator.
"You'll find your suites here, Dearies," Hellen said, cheerily, still holding onto the candelabra as she glanced at the Toads. "I'll show the little ones their room, too." She smiled at them before looking back at Peach and the brothers. "If there's anything you need—anything at all—don't hesitate to let me or any of the staff know; we are at your beck and call. And now, I bid you to relax your travel-weary selves." Her lips thinned into a subtle smirk. "I hope you have a nice, long sleep."
She led the Toads off to their sleeping quarters, leaving a rather perplexed Mario, Luigi, and Peach behind, wondering what the heck just happened.
"Well, she seems nice enough…?" Peach offered, though sounding slightly confused by it all.
"Yeah…?" Mario agreed, in a similar tone, scratching his head. "What do you think, Little Bro?"
"Eh…" Something about Hellen left Luigi uneasy—maybe it was just how she had gotten up in his personal space earlier. He was also very tired; maybe it was just his anxiety acting up again… "I'll get back to you after I've relaxed a bit."
"Fair enough," Mario said. "Peach, you said you wanted to rest, too?"
"Yes, I did," she said. She smiled. "And you want to call room service."
Mario sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as his stomach growled.
"Well, Polterpup ate all the cake…"
The ghost dog whined, realizing that he had probably gone too far with his antics, but Luigi gave him a reassuring scratch behind the ears.
"It's okay, Buddy; Mario isn't mad at you."
"Of course not!" Mario agreed, cheering the dog up immediately.
Polterpup bounded all around them; Mario and Peach watched in amusement, and Luigi sleepily attempted to try to calm him down.
"Ok, Bro, I think you do need a nap," Mario said after a moment, gently guiding him to the door of his room. Polterpup eagerly phased through the door before Mario had even opened it.
Luigi let out a tremendous yawn.
"Grazie," he managed to say through the yawn, dragging his bag behind him into the room.
Polterpup was still bounding around the room in excitement, but once he saw Luigi clambering into bed, he calmed down, hopping onto the bed beside him and curling up for a nap, as well.
Mario smiled and closed the door as Luigi sleepily reached for a book; knowing how quickly and how deeply his brother could fall asleep, he knew Luigi wasn't about to get any reading done tonight.
Sure enough, Mario had barely stepped away before hearing snores from behind the door; he chuckled to himself.
"And he's off to the Dream World again," Mario sighed. "But he's earned it; that was quite a journey we had."
"And somehow, you're just hungry, not tired?" Peach teased.
Mario blushed slightly as his stomach growled again.
"That answers my question," she added. She paused, daintily covering a yawn of her own with her gloved hand.
"Amore, you rest," Mario instructed. "I will have my dinner, and I will see to getting supper for us when you wake up. What would you like?"
"Oh, anything will do; I'm not picky," Peach mused. "And I wonder just how much sleep I'll get here; it looks like there's so much to do and see in this hotel. I can't wait until tomorrow morning when everything will be open!" She picked up one of her bags and smiled. "Well, I'll see you and Luigi in a bit!"
"Right!" Mario said, and he crossed to the phone in the corridor, putting in a request for a stack of pizzas.
In spite of their somewhat batty hostess, things were promising to be great.