"The two shades of green."
Chapter 8
"Even the best lies, can't be called the truth."
Mr. L growled irritated, as he watched Bowser just walk out of the Fort, from his hiding spot on the mountain, after Mario left his post.
The koopa king turned out to be more affected by that "Luigi" guy's death than he thought he was, which wouldn't be much of a problem, if he'd just grab the book.
Now he'll have to go get it himself.
Taking the lunette of his eye, he rubbed his chin with his glowed fingers.
The coast seemed to be quite clear without the depressed JumpMan guarding it, but he couldn't afford the risk of being caught just yet.
He still had no information about the continued existence of the seven Pure Hearts and their current location. Without being sure those artefacts weren't destroyed during the last time he saw Count Bleck, he can't spring the later steps of his plan in to action.
If the hearts still exist, he needs to destroy them before moving on to step 3.
For now, all he needs is that book.
And it looked like he'll just have to risk stepping into the open and taking the book himself.
Growling he threw the lunette into the air, where it swiftly changed into a metal version of Yoshi.
Mr. L smiled at his robot companion and rubbed the dino's smooth nose.
"I'll have to go solo for a second, my friend." He whispered to MetaYoshi. "Stay alert. When I whistle three times I expect you to be ready for a swift get away, understood?"
The metal dinosaur nodded cheerfully, earning him an approving pat in the head.
"All right then." The dark-green clad man nodded to himself. "This shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes." He said more to himself than to his companion as his mind worked on a fast way to get inside without being seen by the, now, alert night guards. "But if I take longer than that…make sure there's nothing left of that building. Not a single brick. Can I count on you?"
MetaYoshi nodded, enthusiastically.
"Good." Mr. L gave his friend one last pat in the nose.
Then he jumped down the mountain, heading carefully towards his destination.
#with Mario #:
Growling, he struggled to place one foot after the other.
His head was pounding from caffeine, adrenaline and heroine so much, he could barely concentrate on where he's going.
And his stomach was already growling loudly in protest, after getting nothing but a small cup of coffee to feed his hurting muscles.
He wanted to go home, forget the conversation he shared with Bowser.
But he knew his pride and conscious, won't let him.
He promised Peach and his new boss that he'll protect the "Golden Gate", and, try as he might to ignore it, his conscious won't let him sleep, till he keeps his promise or dies trying.
A part of him regretted being such a "born hero" at times. So far it never did him any good. All his heroism ever did, was kill his baby brother.
Because, if he didn't take up the mantel of "hero", Luigi would still be alive.
Sighting, he turned around and began making his way back to where he came from, cursing his conscious along the way.
#Back with Mr. L#:
Mr. L had to admit.
Those toad guards could be well organized when they wanted to be.
He smiled, still being hidden in the shadows.
Too bad they're still just toads.
Focusing the strange magic he now possessed, into his palm and prepared for the strike.
The five guards went down smoothly, not even making an attempt in screaming when the energy balls hit them.
Mr. L chuckled. It was as if they were so used to such treatment, that they practically added that to the training exercises.
Seeing that, once again, the coast is clear, Mr. L proceeded with his task by checking if one of the guards had the keys to the "Golden Safe".
He was rewarded for his brilliant plan, as it turned out the captain of the group had a spare set of said keys, hanging loosely along with the ones to his respected house.
Grinning under his mustache, the Green Thunder nodded to the unconscious leader with his hat as a small 'thank you', for making his job so much easier and headed up the stairs to get to the book, he needed so desperately.
#with Mario#:
He didn't know why he didn't just turn to the nearest bar, and drink himself to death, instead of making his wobbly legs carry him back to "Mushroom Knox".
There was nothing waiting for him there since the place probably got robbed by now without his protection, instead of the paycheck he'll receive by the end of this month. Which he'd get anyway whenever or not, he got the job right. His reputation still served him well.
Besides, it's not like he needed the money to get food. He had plenty of Peache's leftover cake in his fridge, and lasagna could be made from the simplest of ingredients.
No.
He needed the money, to get drugs.
They were all that kept him from killing himself, over grief.
They lulled him to sleep every night, and took the pain away during the day.
He knew taking them was damaging him from the inside, but he couldn't bring himself to care anymore.
He just wanted the pain to go away, for Luigi to stop calling out to him at night, for Peach to stop coming for 'unexpected visits' and…
Wait…
Was he seeing things?
"Luigi?" He asked the figure before him.
The figure tensed and turned to face him.
Blue eyes met silver.