mariobroultimate

I feel for Mario too. And it looks like Wario and Waluigi might not be seen again after what happened.

StarlitDuck

I like Mario and Luigi's brotherly love too; it'll stay that way forever. On the other hand, I'm sure Dr. Reilly will help Mario during his next appointment.

Chapter 7

7A - Toadsworth's Funeral

Rewinding back to 8 AM, Wario and Waluigi were safe in Bowser's oriental kingdom's castle. They were seated in the castle's living room, stunned at the results of Bowser's plan.

"I still can't believe it, man," Wario told Waluigi. "I knew those people would die. I trusted Koopa."

"Me too," Waluigi agreed. "I don't want to stay in this castle, but if we go back to the Mushroom Kingdom, we're dead. I mean, we're terrorists now. The military is gonna imprison us with a life sentence the moment we set foot in that kingdom again."

"I know. And that's the last thing we would want," Wario said. "What are we gonna do now?"

"Ich weiß es nicht. Warten wir einfach, bis Koopa uns sagt, was wir als nächstes tun sollen, (I don't know. Let's just wait for Koopa to tell us what to do next.)" Waluigi replied in German.

Ten minutes later, Bowser walked into the living room and approached the Wario Bros.

"Well, I guess my plan was a bust," Bowser remarked. "I know Mario blew my airship up, but I don't blame him for it even though I hate him with a passion. It WAS self-defense, after all."

"You're still going to kidnap Princess Peach, right?" Wario asked.

"Of course, I am! We'll just have to put the past behind us and move on."

"Look, we don't want to be in your castle, but at the same time, we don't want to go back to the Mushroom Kingdom," Waluigi said.

"That's true. I was gonna make the decision for you to stay here permanently."

"Does that mean we're a part of your Koopa Troop?" Wario asked.

"Exactly! Even though we did mess up in the end, I'm proud of both of you for following direction and putting up with my training sessions," Bowser said with a smile.

"Thank you so much, Koopa!" Wario thanked Bowser with enthusiasm. "I would shake your hand, but I'm not gonna do it."

"Good idea. I would've swiped you and Waluigi away if you even dared to." The Wario Bros laughed at Bowser's comment before Bowser started laughing too.

It's November 12, 2004 at 4:10 PM. Despite it being Peach's birthday, a funeral in honor of Toadsworth was being held right now. Most of Mario's friends are seated in a church five miles south of Toad Town; a graveyard was built behind the church itself.

Toadsworth's body was unable to be recovered by the firefighters, but the funeral officials did bring out an empty coffin with past photos of Toadsworth and flower bouquets.

Due to his severe head injury, Mario could not attend the funeral, but did record a video message to be played during the funeral. Worst of all, Mario found out that the injury was worse than his rib injury at the Koopa Badlands golf course, meaning it would take a bit longer for his skull to heal.

After the priest led everyone in a series of brief prayers, Peach walked up in front of the coffin to state her eulogy.

"Ever since I was a little kid, Toadsworth had been my steward and a father figure for me, especially after my father and mother were killed two years ago. He was very knowledgeable and even homeschooled me, which I found an excellent benefit for when I grew older."

Peach felt like she was going to cry, but managed to keep it together.

"Despite him being too old to fight for himself, Toadsworth did all he could to protect me from being kidnapped. This goes to show how much he cares for me. Rest in peace, Toadsworth. We love you."

Peach went back to her seat before Luigi walked up to deliver his eulogy.

"Today, we mourn Toadsworth's passing, which greatly broke all our hearts. We will never forget how he served a purpose for the Mushroom Kingdom just like me, my brother, and Princess Peach and her sisters are doing as of today. Whenever I was not feeling myself, Toadsworth would cheer me up with all the funny jokes he came up with and give me the motivation to stay positive."

"But you can't change the past, especially after a tragic moment in life. I can't describe how sad I am right now, and I know you all are feeling the same way. To the Stars above, we ask that you keep Toadsworth in good hands. We will miss you dearly, sir."

Right after Luigi sat back at his seat, the priest stood in front and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, one of the invited was not able to attend the funeral, so here is a video of his eulogy."

Right on cue, the lights dimmed and a projector screen lowered from the ceiling. Upon reaching its full extension, the screen immediately displayed a video message prerecorded by Mario from his bedroom in Luigi's mansion. He was seated on his bed with a red bandana on his head and wore a blue T-shirt and gym shorts.

"Hello, everyone. I would rather not introduce myself because today is a sad and somber day," Mario said with a mellow tone of voice. "We recently lost a very special person and close friend of ours: Lloyd Toadsworth. Similar to what he was to Princess Peach, Toadsworth was a father figure to me and Luigi with the exception of my parents living elsewhere in the Real-Life Earth."

"As one said in the past, 'Some of the most painful scars, the ones that hurt the most, are the scars that can't be seen.' We received those scars as a result of not only losing a family friend, but also witnessing innocent lives being taken away when they did not deserve it."

Mario started to tear up as he got deeper into his message.

"O-over time...th-those scars w-will h-heal..." Mario trembled. "B-but... B-but nothing...w-will m-make it...look l-like everything w-was...n-normal a-and happy...! Th-this kind o-of...p-pain w-will never...g-go a-away...!" Mario pointed his finger at the camera.

"D-don't... D-don't l-let...a-anyone...take th-that pain...f-from you...! Y-you will...g-give them the...s-same s-scars you have...in y-your h-hearts...!"

Mario finally lost it and his head and arms hung toward the ground for a moment.

"I... I c-can't d-do...this a-anymore..." Mario shook his head and reached for the "RECORD" button on the camera. "G-goodbye..." The video message ended at that point.

The church lights lit up again and the projector screen rose into the ceiling. Everyone was crying, having been moved by Mario's message.

20 minutes later, the funeral had already finished and everyone was mingling in the lounge room to the left of the sanctuary. Luigi saw Peach, Daisy, and Aqua and walked up to them.

"Hi, Luigi," Peach greeted Luigi, who hugged her. "Thank you so much for coming over."

"Any time, Princess Peach. I'm very sorry."

"Hi, Luigi," Aqua said before hugging Luigi. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Me too, Aqua," Luigi replied. "Mario's message was so powerful that it felt like he was directing it to me only."

"I know. He misses Toadsworth just as much as all of us. It's so unfortunate."

"Yeah."

"When will the tournament resume?" Daisy asked Luigi.

"I really don't know. And I can't make up an excuse for why it's cancelled for now."

"Well, we'll just wait and see," Daisy said. "At least we have us."

"That's true," Peach agreed before letting out a sigh. "Are you gonna stay here for a while, Luigi?"

"No. I need to check on Mario," Luigi replied. "I wish I can talk with you more, though."

"It's all good. Have a nice day," Peach bid Luigi goodbye; Aqua and Daisy waved at Luigi as he walked out of the church to his kart.