A / N: Hey, guys! I thank you for the success of the previous one-shot! Since there is a Covid-19 outbreak, I thought of creating a one-shot about it. It will be based on Dr. Mario. I hope you like it, and hope the doctors save us from that virus!
It seemed like a normal day in the Mushroom Kingdom, except it wasn't. All over the world, a virus, the Coronavirus, codenamed Covid-19, had spread. Not much is known, except that it is transmitted by bats, the infection trasmits itself from man to man and its main symptoms are fever and sore throat, but in severe cases, also pneumonia or bronchitis, and in rare cases it results in death. Due to the virus, people are forced to wear masks, not leave the house unless necessary, limit physical contact and avoid crowded places.
Mario and Luigi were at home that day. They had already dressed (except gloves) and had just finished eating breakfast, a toast with ham and egg, when the phone rang in the corridor. The older brother went to see who he was, and recognized the ringtone of ''Emerald Hill Zone'' (1). It was Sonic.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Mario, can you hear me?" asked Sonic.
''Hi, Sonic. What's up?'' asked Mario.
''I guess you know about the Coronavirus, huh?''
''Of course I know. Something wrong? You look downcast.''
"That's true." Sonic said, clearly disconsolate. ''Because of the Coronavirus, I can't leave the house, and you know I love running. But this is not the point. Do you remember the Tokyo Olympics?''
''Yeah, why?'' asked Mario, worried. He knew that Sonic loved to enjoy the pleasure of a morning run, and not leaving the house was not good for him.
''Due to the Coronavirus, the Tokyo Olympics will be postponed to next year, in 2021.'' (2) replied Sonic.
''What?! No!'' Mario exclaimed in shock. ''When was it decided? ''
''It was decided about a month ago. I didn't tell you before because I knew you would take it badly.'' said the blue hedgehog.
''Oh, no! I was so excited about this event, and now a virus has to ruin everything...'' whimpered Mario. He was very sad and disappointed with the postponement of the Olympics, and he couldn't reunite with Sonic and his friends. Another reason to hate this year. In the past decade, the '2010s, everything happened, from terrorist attacks to the terrible fire that damaged the Notre Dame cathedral in France, and the new decade had already started very badly.
''Yes, what a pity. Tails took it very badly, he hasn't spoken to me for a week.'' Sonic said, equally sad and disappointed. ''Don't worry though, just because the Olympics have been postponed doesn't mean they have been canceled.'' he reminded his friend.
''I know. I just hope this outbreak will end soon, before something else happens that will make me hate 2020 even more.'' said Mario.
''All right. Now I have to go. I have to check how Tails is doing. Bye, Mario, see you soon!'' Said the hedgehog.
''See ya.'' said the man in red, before ending the call and putting the phone back to its place.
Sonic's news was really bad, and Mario was already hating the new year. Unable to restrain his emotions, he threw his hat on the ground and began to stomp it in anger, then leaned his back against the wall and began to softly cry his hands. Luigi, who had taken his hat, heard the sobs coming from the corridor, and approached him.
''Mario? Are you OK? What happened?'' He asked, concerned.
Mario looked up and saw his younger but taller twin brother. ''Bad news, Luigi. Sonic called me and said the Tokyo Olympics are postponed to next year.'' he said.
''What? You mean I won't be able to reunite with Sonic, Tails and the others?'' Luigi was now shocked.
''Yes.'' said Mario, who couldn't stop sobbing. ''Why? Why does that damn virus have to ruin everything right now?!'' he snapped in frustration.
''Come here.'' whispered Luigi, who spread his arms and wrapped them around his older brother's neck to give him a hug. Mario returned his hug as he sobbed on his shoulder.
''Why is all this happening?'' he asked.
''I don't know, bro, I don't know. I only know that no one could have anticipated it. But you took it really badly.'' replied Luigi.
''It's because I have many friends, and it hurts my heart not to be able to spend time with others. The postponement of the Olympics is the worst, and I'm already starting to hate this year.'' explained the man in red, still troubled.
''Come on, Mario, don't cry. We will face it together, as we have always done. '' Luigi reassured him, as he stroked his brown hair and hugged him tighter. He didn't care that his tears were wetting his shirt, what mattered was that he had to console him. ''I promise you.'' He kissed him on the forehead, and Mario looked up.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
''Yes. But we must try to help all these people.'' said Luigi. At that moment, Mario hugged him tighter, and he had stopped crying.
''Thank you, little bro. I feel better now. Let's go to the bedroom,'' said Mario.
The two brothers went upstairs to their room, and Luigi started to look in the closet, where he found what he was looking for: a white shirt, trousers of the same color, a white coat, a doctor headmirror and a green tie.
''But that's your doctor outfit! Luigi, you're a genius!'' exclaimed Mario, suddenly full of happiness.
''What?'' asked Luigi, confused.
''You made me think of an idea! We'll go to doctors and try to create Megavitamins that could cure the virus!'' said Mario.
''Okay. Let's go equip ourselves first.''
The brothers began to change, putting on their doctor clothes, then went to the bathroom, where they took two stethoscopes that wrapped around their shoulders, two thermometers and two magnifying glasses, one for both of them, and covered their faces with a mask.
''We can't do it alone though.'' said Luigi.
''Then I will call the others. We will need all the help we can get.'' said Mario, who started calling Peach, Daisy, Toad, Bowser and others, then the brothers went to the hospital. When they arrived there, they found many patients of all ages and species, from humans to Goombas to Spinies to Penguins.
''Mamma Mia! Help wanted here!'' exclaimed Luigi.
At that moment, Peach and the others arrived, all in their respective clothes. Peach wore a white and pink apron, a pink coat and white shoes with heels, wore a stethoscope around her neck and had no crown. Daisy was dressed the same way, but the gown was yellow and the apron was orange rather than pink, while Bowser wore a white coat, a gray shirt, a red tie, a headmirror and rather familiar white and gray shoes (3) and Toad wore a white shirt, brown shorts, a headmirror and a blue tie, and everyone wore a mask.
''Great timing, guys!'' exclaimed Mario.
''The situation is getting out of hand. We got to do something, Mario!'' said Peach.
''That damned virus! We have to get rid of them as quickly as possible!'' snapped Daisy. Being a tomboy, she wasn't the typical princess, she loved sports.
''The princesses are right. Some of my minions have also been infected.'' replied Bowser.
''Let's go to the laboratory. Here we will implement the plan, '' said Mario.
The six went to the lab, and were also joined by Toadette, Yoshi, Ludwig, Wendy, Larry, Roy, who had agreed to help.
''Well. I suppose you know why I called you here.'' said Mario.
''The Coronavirus is infecting the world.'' said Ludwig.
"It's damaging us from the inside.'' said Larry.
''It is forcing us to isolate ourselves to avoid infecting others.'' said Toadette.
"It's slowly killing us from the inside.'' said Wendy.
''(We have to do something!)'' said Yoshi, in his language.
''We have to get rid of it!'' exclaimed Daisy and Roy at the same time, which left them briefly shocked. Luigi approached Mario, took a blackboard and began to write down the plan and its phases.
''For starters, we must try to create Megavitamins that can cure the virus. Then we have to see if it works on infected animals, and then we can check if it works on the inhabitants.'' he explained.
''Good idea, Luigi. Now let's get to work.'' said Mario.
''Roger, Dr. Mario!'' everyone answered.
The group started taking chemicals and they started mixing them, until they created a Megavitamine (4), then they decided to test it on a mouse infected by Coronavirus, but unfortunately, it died shortly after.
''No, no, no, no! It didn't work!'' exclaimed Bowser and Wendy.
''I do not understand. Why did the mouse die? Something's wrong.'' said Peach, worried about the situation.
''Maybe there is something wrong with the contents of the pill. Probably someone inserted a toxic substance by mistake, '' thought Luigi. He was nervous, but tried to stay calm, and thought this was a logical explanation.
''It could be. Let's see if there is anything suspicious.'' said Mario, who thoughtfully put his hand under his chin.'' Oh, no!'' he exclaimed.
''What is it?'' asked Toadette.
''That's why it killed the mouse! There were traces of metals!'' Luigi understood.
"Damn it!" Roy exclaimed.
''That was regrettable, damn it!'' shouted Toad.
''Stay calm.'' said Mario, who was trying to calm everyone down and give confidence. ''We mustn't give up. But Luigi and I are more experienced in this field. You take the necessary substances and compounds, we try to create the Megavitamin, then we will create the vaccine. ''
'' If we doctors have eradicated smallpox and rinderpest then we can also do it with Covid-19. Come on!'' exclaimed Luigi.
The group of doctors tried again, passing the compounds and substances to Mario and Luigi, being careful not to take any toxic substances, while the brothers began to mix. After a while, creation came out. A Megavitamine larger than usual, but bright yellow in color.
''Looks like it's better this time.'' said Ludwig.
''You may be right, Ludwig, but we don't know for sure.'' replied Bowser.
The medicine was tested on a mouse and cat, both infected, and the next day, they noticed that it had worked.
''Fantastic! Now let's prepare the medicine in liquid form, so we can prepare the vaccine.'' said Mario, while he was writing on his notebook.
The vaccine was soon ready, and everyone cheered for the success.
''You all did a good job, guys.'' congratulated Mario.
''Just because we did it doesn't mean we have to stop. As the situation improves, the safety rules will slowly be removed.'' warned Luigi.
The group continued to work tirelessly, but at 8:00 PM, they realized that it was late and they had to go, so they said goodbye. Mario and Luigi returned home and put on their iconic clothes.
''Mamma mia, I feel tired.'' said Luigi, who was preparing ravioli for dinner.
''Me too. I hope none of us got the virus.'' said Mario.
''And I hope we made no mistakes in preparing the medicines.'' said the man in green.
''Luigi?''
''Yes?''
''This morning your doctor clothes made me think of helping to stop the Coronavirus. Thank you.'' said Mario, before hugging Luigi and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
''It's nothing, bro. Think about how many people we can save with those medicines.'' replied Luigi.
''Yeah.'' said Mario, smiling.
After dinner, they went to bed. The next morning, Luigi woke Mario up and turned on the television, showing a newscast about the new medicines. According to the news, the new medicines have caused a noticeable drop in the infected people and an increase in the number of the recovered people.
''Hey! Finally some good news!'' said Mario, happy that the situation was improving.
''Yeah. But let's wait for the situation to improve before we go out.'' said Luigi.
A / N: This one-shot on Coronavirus is over. Stay at home and don't put others in danger. I hope you enjoyed it and see you in my next story!
(1): Emerald Hill Zone is the first zone of Sonic 2.
(2): Yes, it really happened. The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics will take place in 2021 due to Covid-19. However, Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will not receive title changes. For this reason, the tradition of summer and winter Olympics every four years from the previous one will not be there.
(3): The shoes worn by Bowser in the role of Dr. Bowser in Dr. Mario World are the same as the ones he wears in his wedding outfit in Super Mario Odyssey.
(4): We don't know exactly how Dr. Mario creates a Megavitamine, but this is my hypothesis, even if I'm not an expert in medicine, but my sister is a veterinarian.