T Plus 3 Days
Trigger warning for violence
It was finally starting to come together.
As soon as the day's matches commenced, Luigi was loaded for bear. He'd start using a defensive stance before setting up with a u-tilt to u-smash and letting it build from there. His detractors sat there, gob smacked, and by and by, they started warming up to him. Stuart joined his three brothers in watching the plumber he used to antagonize, and to say that Luigi took his breath away was putting it too lightly.
Not long into his second match of the day, Luigi decided to try something new. Aggressively closing in on his opponent, Luigi grabbed them, swung them around once before chucking them forward and pelting them with his "sissy-fists" attack.
"Holy [bleep]!" someone interjected.
Luigi's dash attack was by far one of his weakest, and even he considered it a joke and a defensive move. And here he was, using it out of a forward throw! Who else would've thought that?
It was a combo, but a defensive combo, meaning that he'd only use it when a foe was putting too much pressure on him. A weak attack, combined with a strong throw, gave him ample breathing room, and the opponent was so stunned by what just happened that Luigi could easily turn the tide around.
That morning, Luigi's win-loss ratio had improved, and the pessimists had been given a run for their money. People from far and wide proceeded to jam the stands before the plumber's bouts, speculator over what he might do next.
They weren't disappointed.
After a two-day sabbatical, Luigi's down throw finally returned to competition! As everyone around him watched in anticipation, he dodged an attack, grabbed the opponent, butt-slammed them and followed up with a forward smash, sending them flying. This was one of the new combos Luigi had cooked up in the Training Area, and now that his down throw had been given a rest, he could start trying them out without worry of his reflexes mucking them up! Smashers and Luigi fans alike began texting their friends, telling them to drop what they were doing, get over here and see this! Soon, the spectator area was standing room only. The quiet buzz gave way to silence, so that the man in green could fully focus and concentrate.
But Luigi couldn't rush through this. Oh, no. He had to hammer these new combos and set-ups in one at a time. Play around with them, experiment. Once, he learned to link his u-tilt to u-smash with a jab-lock and a grab, which could lead into a Ground-Pound to a f-smash and then to a u-air and a short-hop d-air. Slowly but surely, he was climbing back up.
In his usual spot, Mario witnessed his baby bro's improvements. With every match, he began to let go of his anger toward those who'd called for a nerf—even considering calling it off altogether. Like Luigi said, it didn't really matter, as long as he was there, cheering him on. Lauren and Peach seemed to sense Mario's improving mood and were internally relieved. Jimmy, Timmy, Remy and Rory, however, weren't about to drop their guard just yet. Especially with what had happened in Mario's bedroom yesterday afternoon.
And as for Chad, he'd slept well for the first time since the new patch. He was on his way to confessing everything to the Mario Bros. And last night, he'd showed CH that he was far from his puppet, and a little beating wouldn't keep him down for long. He was freeing himself from that glove's grip, and there was nothing he could do about it.
U-tilt to u-smash. F-throw to dash attack. Down throw to f-smash. Luigi practiced these over and over until they became sort of his Holy Trinity. They'd open door to more complex combos, the combos he used to do, and everyone who'd snickered at him because of his nerf would eat their words. Just the anticipation gave Luigi extra energy that morning. He simply couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces once he was back in top form. No matter what they did, no matter how much they [bleep]-ed and complained, the man in green would climb right back up.
"Oh, my," Peach said after a while. The doubts and worries in her mind were slowly dispelling. "I think I always knew, all this time…"
Mario laid his hand over hers. "I know," he said. "I know."
"I saw him in the Training Room myself that day, and something told me, that after a while…" Peach went on.
"…he'd be ready to dust himself off and try again," Mario finished, beaming.
"I never lost faith in him," said Peach. "I never did."
"None of us did," Lauren piped up.
"I was upset when I found out about the nerf," said Charlie, "but now I realize—I didn't need to be upset over anything."
Chad said nothing, relieved that what he'd revealed last night didn't impede Luigi's progress.
Mario sat there, watching Luigi's face light up and his eyes spark as his new combos took flight, listening to the familiar rhythm of his breaths. But then—his smile slowly faded as he remembered the broken man sobbing in his arms on the morning of the last day of September. Earlier that morning, Luigi had told him of the cryptic talk he'd had with Chad last night, and how he wanted to meet them at a secret location in seventeen days to talk about a seemingly outlandish plot involving the nerf and the Smash Ballot.
He looked at Chad and could see that the man was remorseful. But if he'd pulled out of the plot, then why hadn't he just exposed it and saved everyone the trouble of this update patch? It appeared that Mario would have to wait to find out.
Solemnly, Mario looked back out at the battlefield, where Luigi was engaged, breathing heavily, face set and trying his new combos like new clothes, and he said a silent prayer for him…
1.1.1
Luigi was feeling great! Now that he'd stopped fuming and moping over the nerf, he'd come to realize the things he could do. All through the morning and into the afternoon, he battled various Smashers on various stages, comforting silence around him as fans and haters alike drank in his new, inventive combos. Time to see what they had to say about him now! Honestly, he couldn't wait to fight the people he already suspected brought this about, especially Falco. The man in green was still willing to forgive the avian and also willing to give their friendship another shot after Falco was forced to acknowledge what he'd done in the elevator that day. But they couldn't move forward unless they fought it out one last time. And then it occurred: Falco was among those gazing reverently at him nowadays. Perhaps Luigi's perseverance made him realize something?
And at lunch, people walked up to him and asked him about the new combos. Luigi smiled and told them that thanks to patience and practice, he was finally able to pull them off after a few shaky days. Then, he continued to wow them after lunch, caught up in a surge of adrenaline as he wiped the remaining smirks off of people's faces and brought the taunting to a halt once and for all as the sweat slid down his face and his breaths whistled from his lungs. Even when he lost, people gave him a round of applause. And as always, he blushed and then struck a few poses for the cameras.
Much later that afternoon, Luigi was in the Training Area, pounding on a Sandbag, his favorite tunes blasting around him, clad in turquoise overalls and no shirt. The lean plumber was so focused on his beatdown that he didn't hear the door open. Nor did he hear the footsteps as two certain troublemakers wearing wrestling singlets sidled into the room. It was only when he sensed that he was no longer alone that he stopped.
"What do you want?" he asked, a bit sharply.
"Oh, hey, Luigi," said Steve. "Stevie and I just want to talk to you about your improved performance as of late."
"Yeah, it's improved, no thanks to you," said Luigi, taking a swig from his bottle of Gatorade.
"I thought you were supposed to be nerfed," said Stevie.
"I was," said Luigi.
"Then how come you're still winning?"
"Because I'm not sulking," snapped Luigi. "Is that what you and everyone else wailing at Master Hand wanted me to do? Was my nerf an excuse for you all to beat the [bleep] out of me? Was it part of some tricked-out conspiracy to break me? Because if it was, it failed."
"You know what, Luigi?" Steve asked ominously. "No matter how many people you've had slack-jawed today, you'll always be a loser, and we came here to remind you of that."
A new song began playing over the stereo—"Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen.
"I've heard that so many times that it's stopped hurting," Luigi said calmly.
"Oh? Is that so?" asked Stevie as he and Steve began advancing on Luigi. "I guess we need to do something about it. We still haven't forgiven you for the times you've thrashed us, you know."
Luigi raised an eyebrow. "Are you threatening me?" he asked. "Because I really don't want to deal with your [bleep] right now."
"Ooooh," the two Steves said in unison.
Don't stop me now…
"C'mon, Stevie," grinned Steve as they stepped closer to the plumber. "We're not on the battlefield anymore."
But Luigi didn't run, no. He stayed where he was, fists raised, waiting.
Don't stop me, 'cause I'm havin' a good time, havin' a good time…
Steve and Stevie charged, Luigi dodged their strikes and struck back, harder, faster, dancing fluidly about the room. His antagonists tried to close in on him, but he kept easily fending them off with punches, kicks and aerial attacks, deliberately timing his movements and blows to the beat of the song.
I'm a shooting star, leaping through the sky
Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity
I'm a racing car, passing by like Lady Godiva
I'm gonna go, go, go
There's no stopping me
I'm burnin' through the sky, yeah
Two hundred degrees
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit
I'm traveling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic man out of you
Don't stop me now, I'm having such a good time
I'm having a ball
Don't stop me now
If you wanna have a good time, just give me a call
Don't stop me now ('cause I'm having a good time)
Don't stop me now (yes, I'm havin' a good time)
I don't want to stop at all
Yeah, I'm a rocket ship on my way to Mars
On a collision course
I am a satellite, I'm out of control
I am a sex machine, ready to reload
Like an atom bomb about to
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh explode
I'm burnin' through the sky, yeah
Two hundred degrees
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit
I'm traveling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic woman of you
Don't stop me, don't stop me
Don't stop me, hey, hey, hey
Don't stop me, don't stop me
Ooh ooh ooh, I like it
Don't stop me, don't stop me
Have a good time, good time
Don't stop me, don't stop me, ah
Oh yeah
Alright
Oh, I'm burnin' through the sky, yeah
Two hundred degrees
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit
I'm traveling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic man out of you
Don't stop me now, I'm having such a good time
I'm having a ball
Don't stop me now
If you wanna have a good time (wooh)
Just give me a call (alright)
Don't stop me now ('cause I'm having a good time, yeah yeah)
Don't stop me now (yes, I'm havin' a good time)
I don't want to stop at all…
A Cyclone sent the two flying in different directions. Luigi ran toward Steve first, charging himself and landing a Misfire on him. Then, he whirled back on an approaching Stevie, clenched his fist and blasted a Super Jump Punch into the base of his chin.
The plumber stood there, catching his breath, his blood pumping, as the two Steves lay there in pain. "I'm only gonna say this once," he spat. "Stop. Harassing. Me."
Satisfied that he'd gotten his point across, Luigi headed back to the Sandbags to resume his workout.
An arm suddenly wrapped around his waist, and before Luigi could do anything, a fist slammed hard into his gut from behind.
"How about 'no'?" Stevie asked mockingly.
Winded, Luigi crumpled to his knees before sprawling onto his back, and then the two Steves piled on.
1.1.1
MH was in his office, hard at work, when Rolf burst in.
"Those f—ing a—holes!" Rolf muttered.
"To whom are you referring, Rolf?" asked MH.
"Steve and Stevie have Luigi cornered in the Training Room," said Rolf, breathless, his face pale. "They're hurting him!"
MH rose from his desk. "What?" he asked.
"They just attacked him unprovoked!" cried Rolf. "It's happening right now!"
"My God," gasped MH.
He quickly summoned a team of Mii security guards, led by Remy, Rory, Timmy and Jimmy.
"What is it, sir?" asked Rory.
"With me!" barked MH, and they all raced toward the Training Area.
1.1.1
The Training Room was absolute chaos. Several Smashers were already trying to pull the two Steves away from their target, with little success, along with some visitors. MH, CH and the Mii guards leaped into the fray at once, attempting to defuse the situation before it got too out of hand. The stereo continued to blast fun pop music in this madness, which only added to the horror. People were yelling and shouting frantically. Mario tried to push his way through the crowd, desperately screaming his baby bro's name, as multiple Miis held him back. Peach, Rosalina, Samus, Zelda, Lucina, Palutena, the Wii Fit Trainer and countless other Smashers did their best to shield any young children present from the violent sight.
Eventually, MH and his team finally stopped this heinous assault and marched the two Steves away as Dr. Mario and a group of paramedics whisked Luigi off to the infirmary. Peach, Mario and their friends followed close behind. The others were left in shell-shocked silence, trying to process what they'd just witnessed and how things had led up to this point.
It didn't take long for reporters and journalists to arrive on the scene and conduct interviews.
"Through the window—that window over there—I could see those two, punching and kicking him over and over and over," said a very shaken Rolf.
"I ran in there to pull them off of him with some other people," said Chad.
"All we could hear was just—thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud," relayed another witness.
"It was, quite frankly, the most sickening experience I've had so far as a Smasher," a Villager piped up.
1.1.1
Mario sat in the infirmary's waiting room, heart pounding, mind whirling. Peach, Charlie, Lauren, Eden, Rosalina and Yoshi did their best to comfort him, but all he could think about was Luigi, laying in a heap on the Training Room floor. He'd failed him—again. He wasn't there to protect him—again. Seething hatred for the two Steves began to boil in his heart, and he wanted to inflict severe pain on them both. Nobody messed with his bro and got away with it!
Dr. Mario stepped into the waiting room, his clothes rumpled, his face sweaty.
"How is he?" asked Mario.
"He's going to be okay," said Dr. Mario. "Actually, he's healing better than we thought."
Everyone else sighed in relief.
"I expect him to be back on the battlefield by this time tomorrow," Dr. Mario went on.
"The power of hate, perhaps?" asked Eden.
"Or those mushrooms he eats," Charlie piped up.
"I'll have to go with the latter," said Dr. Mario. "Once he came around a little, I gave him a Shroom Shake. As for his injuries, there's a lot of bruising, but nothing's severely broken or fractured."
"Can I see him?" asked Mario.
"Sure. Just keep it brief; I want him to rest," said Dr. Mario.
As Dr. Mario led his counterpart into Luigi's room, Charlie rose from her seat, deciding to take a walk to clear her head. She'd hardly gone a few paces when she saw Chad approaching.
No words needed to be said. The two ran into each other's arms and held each other tightly. Chad buried his face into the crook of Charlie's neck, wondering if now was the best time to tell her the truth about Project Nerf.
1.1.1
Mario sat at Luigi's bedside, eyes dim with pain. The man he'd sworn to keep safe was covered in bruises and dried blood, eyes glazed over.
"Hey," he said. "How are you feeling?"
"Better, now that you're here," Luigi said softly.
"What happened in there?"
"I was minding my own business and getting my cardio in with a Sandbag," said Luigi. "They walked in and started harassing me. At first, it was verbal, but then it got physical. I was able to fend them off until one of them took a cheap shot at me, and then they just…" He trailed off. "I heard your voice, calling my name, and that hurt worse than their blows." A tear rolled down his face. "What have I ever done to them, Mario?"
"Nothing. They antagonize you because they enjoy it," sighed Mario. "Luigi, I'm…"
"Don't," Luigi cut him off. "This isn't your fault."
"I should've been in that Training Room with you," Mario said, his voice breaking. "I would've been able to defend you."
"Mario, when are you gonna stop blaming yourself for every little thing that happens to me?"
"Well…" Mario trailed off.
"They were targeting me, not you. And like I said, I was holding my own pretty well until they decided to fight dirty. You can't protect me from everything, Mario. And sometimes, I gotta fight my own battles. You saw that when I saved your life twice. I may be easily frightened sometimes, but that doesn't mean I can't take care of myself."
Mario smiled wanly. "I know some people who can testify to that. Oh, Luigi…"
"Promise me—you'll let this go," the lean plumber said suddenly.
"Wha…?"
"I see it all over your face, Big Bro. And whatever you're thinking of doing to get them back, don't do it. They're not worth it. Let MH deal with them. And then I'll recover and take them on in a Smash Battle, while you watch from the stands and cheer me on." He smiled. "Maybe you'll get your chance to face them, too."
"Yeah, that would be nice," said Mario.
"Just promise me you'll hold it in until then," said Luigi. "Promise me, Mario."
"I—promise," said Mario. It was a promise he didn't think he could keep, but at the same time, he wanted his lil' bro to sleep soundly tonight and heal from his wounds.
Mario stayed with Luigi, talking to him about this and that, until the younger Mario Bro fell asleep.
1.1.1
"J—s C—st, do I have to sing it for you?" snapped Master Hand as the two Steves sat sullenly in his office. "What gave you the right to barge in there and attack him?"
"We were just sparring, sir," said Steve.
"You were just sparring," repeated MH, "and then you decided to knock him to the floor and beat him bloody? I don't buy that story for a second! It has something to do with that nerf, doesn't it?!"
"Well…" said Stevie.
"I don't want to hear anymore of your excuses," said MH. "What you did was wrong, and you know it. The two of you are suspended until further notice, and you are also hereby ordered to apologize to Luigi first thing tomorrow morning. I warned you that I wouldn't tolerate this behavior."
"Apologize to him? He was asking for it!" huffed Stevie.
"More of that behavior, and I'll kick you out of this tournament!" growled MH. Calming down, he continued, "You are dismissed. I want you to spend these next few days thinking about what you did and why you did it."
Glowering, the two Steves stomped out of the office, slamming the door behind them.
1.1.1
"What were you two thinking?!" Vince demanded of the two Steves over the phone. "That was definitely not what we were going for when we planned Project Nerf!"
"We had him nerfed so it would be easier to beat him," said Stevie.
"In a proper Smash battle, not like this!" cried Vince. "My brothers and I are appalled and p—ed off."
"Why? Didn't you want this?" challenged Steve.
"We thought we did, but it turns out, that's no longer the case," said Vince.
"You know what your problem is?" asked Steve.
"Oh? What is our problem?" Vince calmly shot back.
"You've all gotten soft," accused Steve.
"Gotten soft? More like gotten smart! These past few days have given us all sorts of doubts regarding our campaign against Luigi. We don't even remember why we hate him so much. We don't even think he needed that nerf anymore!"
"Why would you say that?" questioned Stevie.
"Because we didn't see him fight until now," said Vince. "I hope you two are happy, because you've just painted a target on both your backs. I'm sure Mario would love to hear your explanation on all of this."
"That fatty comes near us, and he's toast," threatened Stevie.
"Yeah, well, that's what Koopa used to say," scoffed Vince. "Good night, you two. And I strongly suggest you sleep with one eye open tonight."
He hung up, leaving the two Steves fuming.
1.1.1
Mario was fuming, too, as he snuggled beside Luigi, hearing his quiet, slow breathing as he slept. His head was pillowed on his lil' bro's chest, allowing him to feel it methodically rise and fall and hear the drumbeat of his stout heart. A thin trickle of drool issued from the corner of his mouth, which Mario wiped off occasionally. An ugly, purple shine was around both of Luigi's closed eyes, and he winced slightly in his sleep as he unconsciously agitated a bruise.
But Mario—Mario couldn't sleep, even as he held Luigi close and gave him all of his deep love. Again, he thought back to the morning of September 30th, when he held a sobbing Luigi in his arms and told him it was going to be okay. He thought back to the people sneering and snickering at his younger brother as he tripped and stumbled through those first matches. And he remembered the frenzy in the Training Room that afternoon, the two Steves dog-piling Luigi and pummeling him viciously as the Smashers and security fought to pull them away, while Mario himself was stuck in the back of the crowd, unable to help his bro. Luigi told him to stop blaming himself and to let MH mete out punishment, but couldn't he see the difficulty in that?
Giving Luigi a soft kiss on the forehead, Mario made himself comfortable against the lean plumber's chest. Luigi woke up slightly, smiled at Mario's presence and snaked his arms around him, completing the embrace. His fingers sifted through his big bro's chocolate locks, and after about fifteen minutes, Mario's eyes closed, the comforting contact at last lulling him into a deep sleep.
Please RR.