mariobroultimate

Yeah. It sure is sad. This event will probably go down as one of the most tragic disasters in the Mushroom Kingdom.

StarlitDuck

Mario's not dead. He's just seriously injured, but he'll get better soon. Don't worry.

6C - All My Fault

"Ugh... Oh my God..."

Mario slowly opened his eyes; his vision was initially blurry, but turned normal within a few seconds. It's 11:30 PM, over four hours since the Peach Dome was destroyed during the Wario Bros and Bowser's surprise attack.

Mario was lying in a bed in one of the Mushroom City Hospital's recovery rooms, having undergone surgery to repair his cracked skull. Because of that, all his scalp hair was shaved off, but the doctors left his mustache alone. His head was wrapped in a thick white head bandage after they sutured the wounds and incisions made during the surgery.

On top of that, Mario's outfit was thrown away and he was put in a hospital gown with a fresh pair of underwear and white socks. Upon waking up, Mario looked around to see where he was at.

"Where...am I...?" Mario groaned; he was woozy due to the anesthesia he was put under.

"Hi, Mario," a familiar voice said from Mario's left. Mario turned to see Luigi seated next to the bed. "Thank God you're okay. I was literally worried you were gonna die out there."

"Luigi...? What happened...?"

"Long story," Luigi began. "Remember when we were preparing for the Round 3 match?"

"No... What Round 3 match...?" Mario asked in a weak voice.

"The Peach Dome Tennis Doubles Tournament. We were supposed to play against Yoshi and Donkey Kong. But the Wario Bros broke into the Peach Dome and started firing Bob-ombs at us."

While Luigi was explaining the past events, Mario visualized what happened earlier.

*FOUR HOURS AGO*

Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong continued to deflect Bowser's Bob-ombs before Mario eyeballed two Bullet Bills coming toward him. He hit the Bullet Bills thinking they would spin out of control and eventually blow up. But the Bullet Bills zoomed toward Bowser's airship's balloon.

As soon as Mario saw the Bullet Bills home in on the balloon, Mario's jaw dropped and he dropped the racket; he had a scared look on his face. "What the hell did I do...?"

A loud explosion sounded from above, catching everyone's attention. The airship's balloon had burst, causing the airship to plummet down fast. Everyone screamed with fright and started to escape the stadium.

Luigi, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong dropped their rackets and ran toward the backstage area with Mario following behind.

"WAIT, GUYS!" Mario yelled. He suddenly fell forward and landed face first. His foot accidentally tripped over the microphone's cord. There was nothing Mario could do as the airship was coming in hot.

He looked at the airship with tears in his eyes and screamed, "NOOOOOO!"

*PRESENT DAY*

"No..." Mario murmured; he was tearing up at his daydream.

"What?" Luigi asked, having not heard Mario.

"My fault..."

"What are you saying?"

"All my fault..." Mario muttered.

"Your fault?" Luigi questioned. "What do you mean?"

"ALL MY FAULT!" Mario screamed while struggling to get out of his bed. Luigi immediately held Mario down.

"Mario, calm down!"

"LET ME GO!"

"Stop struggling!" Luigi demanded.

"I CAUSED ALL THIS!" Mario shouted.

"STOP IT!" Luigi yelled, causing Mario to stop flailing. "STOP IT NOW!" Mario started crying from being startled by Luigi yelling.

"Do you want to be sedated again?!" Mario shook his head 'no'. "Then calm the hell down!"

"What's going on here?" Luigi looked up to see a nurse in the recovery room's doorway and blushed with embarrassment. "Is something wrong, sir?"

"Oh God. I'm so sorry, ma'am," Luigi apologized. "My brother was freaking out right after he woke up."

"What for?"

"I don't know. He said something like, 'All my fault!' and tried to get out of bed."

"Is this the patient that cracked his skull earlier this evening?" the nurse asked.

"Yes. It's Mario."

"Well, you should go easy on him because it'll make the pain worse when Mario's discharged."

"All right-y," Luigi replied. "I'm sorry again."

"It's all good, Luigi. Call on me if anything else happens," the nurse said before walking away. By now, Mario's face was covered in tears and his lips were quivering. Luigi looked at Mario with a sympathetic look on his face.

"D-don't look...a-at m-me l-like...that..." Mario cried.

"But I feel sorry for you. I shouldn't have yelled at you, especially since you just got out of surgery," Luigi said.

"O-okay... B-but I...d-did all th-that... I k-killed a-all...th-those p-people..."

"No, you didn't, Mario. You were just defending yourself," Luigi reassured Mario. "What happened was a chain reaction. That doesn't mean the blame is all on you."

"Y-yes, i-it d-does...!" Mario wept. "I h-hit th-that...balloon w-with the...B-Bullet B-Bills...! I-I killed...e-everyone...!"

"Please stop blaming yourself. Please. I'm trying to be nice to you."

"I-I know...! B-but y-you...d-don't understand m-me...!"

"That's not true, bro," Luigi said. "Remember what I said the other day? I always understand you even if I accidentally explode and scare you."

"D-don't scare...m-me...! P-please...!" Mario pleaded.

"I'm not gonna scare you, Mario. I just didn't want the doctors to sedate you because that's what happens when patients lose control of themselves."

Mario didn't respond because he was still crying.

"How about I take you to my mansion when you get out of here?" Luigi offered.

"O-okay..."

20 minutes later, Luigi turned on the recovery room's TV to check if the news channels were covering the Peach Dome disaster. The headline on the bottom read, "NEARLY 55,000 PEOPLE KILLED IN MASSIVE EXPLOSION. TENNIS TOURNAMENT POSTPONED INDEFINITELY."

Mario glanced at the headline and started crying again, but this time, he was slowly getting angry. Luigi was shocked to see Mario's intense frown on his face.

"What's wrong, bro?"

"They're dead..." Mario grumbled.

"I know. Nearly all the spectators were killed," Luigi answered; he didn't know Mario was referring to something else.

"No..."

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Luigi asked.

"It's them... They better not come to this kingdom anymore..." Mario said with gritted teeth.

"You mean Wario and Waluigi?"

"Do not say their names..." Mario grouched while pointing his finger at Luigi. "I'm going to kill them if I see their faces again... They don't deserve to live..."

"Mario, that's not-"

"Stop..." Mario interrupted Luigi; he was starting to get tired already. "I literally do not have the energy to argue with you..."

"I can tell," Luigi agreed. "Just relax, okay? It's best if you get your mind off the disaster for now. What matters most is you survived, which is incredible."

"No... I should've died..." Mario protested softly.

"Mario, don't say that. You're blaming yourself again."

"Yes, I am..." Mario sighed before looking up at the ceiling. "Can we talk about this later...?"

"After I take you home, we can," Luigi replied. "But you have to stay calm because the anesthesia's gonna wear off soon."

"Whatever..." Mario closed his eyes again, trying to fall asleep. Luigi sat back in his chair and reflected on the disaster too. He was still shocked at Toadsworth's death, but kept his cool because he was relieved that Mario was alive.

The next day at 3:00 PM, Mario was discharged from the hospital and was rolled out to Luigi's kart in a wheelchair. Today, Mario was wearing a white T-shirt and black gym shorts with his head bandage still on his head.

"I'm sorry your clothes got thrown away," Luigi said while driving Mario to his mansion.

"Don't mention it," Mario mumbled. "I don't care about the outfit anymore."

"I know, bro. Just keep it together and you'll be fine." Mario laid on his back and held his head, which was hurting so bad.

"My head's killing me..."

"It's okay, Mario. I'll give you your medicine right when we go inside," Luigi said. After 25 minutes, Luigi and Mario arrived at the mansion. Luigi helped Mario out of the kart and walked with him into the mansion, going upstairs to one of the second floor's guest rooms.

"Sit here while I get your meds, okay?" Luigi said. Mario nodded before Luigi hurried downstairs to get Mario's painkiller medicine and a cup of water; he sat down on the bed and waited for Luigi.

After Luigi arrived at the guest room again, Mario took his medicine while Luigi instructed him about his recovery.

"I know you want to keep the bandage on, but you'll have to wash your head to keep it from getting infected."

"Can I do it in the shower?" Mario asked.

"You sure can. I'll help you wash it if you want," Luigi offered.

"Please." Mario thought of something else. "Am I able to walk around by myself?"

"You technically can, but there's a lot of steps and stairs here. You'll need to hold onto the railings with both hands and walk slowly," Luigi said. "Don't ever rush yourself. I mean it."

"Okay."

"Do you want anything else right now?" Luigi asked.

"No."

"All right-y. I'll be downstairs if you need me, but please be extremely careful when you're walking around. I don't want you to break your skull again."

"Okay," Mario replied. "I love you, Luigi."

"I love you too, bro." Luigi hugged Mario before leaving the guest room and shutting the door. Mario laid on his back and stared at the ceiling, wondering what will happen next.