"The two shades of green."

Chapter 9

"A piece of Luigi in Mr.L's heart."

#Mr. L's POV:

Smiling, I entered the Golden Gate. This was going to be easy.

I can't say I wasn't interested in the weapons this place offered but right now they were of no use to me. What I wanted, wasn't on the display for the visitor's to see. It was far too dangerous for that so those toad brined fools decided to place it at the end of the Safe, thinking it will be safer that way.

Poor, poor fools. I almost felt bad for them, almost.

I didn't know why, I suddenly picked up my speed. It's not like the toad guards were going to come down here and face me, they'd rather have Yoshi and Captain Toad do that. And I'm sure as hell Mario won't be arriving anytime soon.

So…why the rush?

And then I remembered what I told MetaYoshi to do, if the time I spent here went past ten to fifteen minutes.

Growling at my own stupidity, I began to run towards my destination.

After a minute of running…there it was, the Dark Prognosticus in all of its glory, glowing more and more as it senses the approach of the only one who can use it to its full potential. Smirking I reached out a hand towards it, feeling my heart urging me to hurry up and finally fulfill my destiny.

I didn't sense another person enter the room, nor did I expect it to be him.

Now, I wish I did pay more attention to my surroundings.

"Luigi?" A raspy voice asked, making me tense against my bitter judgment.

That name again…it's been haunting me ever since I left the catacombs. I don't know why every person that lies their eyes on me, yells that name and acts as if I'm some sort of ghost. It's not like…it's not like I look anything like that dead JumpMan. At least…I think I don't. But, then again…if I really didn't look like that "Luigi" guy…why would his brother call me that? Mario should know the difference between a total stranger and a sibling he grew up with…right?

I slowly turned around to face the red clad hero.

He looked…sick.

Blue eyes covered in a fog I only saw in drugged and drunk toads that lived on the streets of the mighty kingdom, pale skin covered in sweat that suggested a fast, irregular heartbeat, wobbly legs that can barely keep him from falling and to baggy overalls that were a perfect fit suggested an enormous loss of weigh in a very short time.

This man needs a hospital, both for physical damage and a mental institute.

He is in no condition to fight me.

Maybe he'd stand a chance if he was in the peak of his condition but now…all a fight with me will do to him is damage his body even more.

And that's not all.

The damage done to his body is far greater than what I saw in toads that just started doing drugs.

That meant he has been doing them for a longer period of time than a week.

I'm not a medical specialist but if anybody wanted my opinion on this, I'd say he's already a couple of months in…and nobody realized.

Either the princess is really as airheaded as people say, or he's just a great actor.

Sending him to the field in this condition, shouldn't even be a possibility! Let alone an active defense plan against enemies invading the kingdom!

I suddenly felt rage start cursing trough my vines and, surprisingly, it wasn't at Mario.

Just what was Peach thinking?! Doesn't she know that he could d-!

I stop that flow of thinking as suddenly as it started.

Just, WTF am I doing?!

I shouldn't be worrying about Mario, he's a good guy! An enemy!

MY enemy!

I should be happy he's suffering! I should be trilled he doesn't stand a chance against me! I should be having the time of my life, knowing just how easily I can kill him right now!

Instead, something inside me worries about him! I feel anger towards Peach for not taking care of him! I'm furious he's dumb enough to even push himself so far, without proper medical attention! I feel the urge to punch him in the face and tell him just how stupid he is, for damaging his body so much!

I try to push those feelings away but they only disappeared for a second, just to resurface with double the strength.

Shaking my head I try to think about what I'm experiencing right now.

Those feelings…are not my own.

They are foreign…jet familiar.

As if I…felt them before.

I shake that thought's away and growl under my breath.

Something deep within me cares about that plumber, preventing me from injuring him anymore than he already is.

There goes my promise to Bowser about killing the guy… I thought bitterly, before refocusing my attention to Mario.

Seems the red buffoon is trying to tell me something. Wonder what it could be?

"I-I'm sorry it had to be you." The hero said in a shaky voice, barely above a whisper. Oh…so he thinks I'm that "Luigi" guy's ghost. Humph. I suppose it's useless to try telling him otherwise. "I know you…probably think I did the right thing in the end." He smiled a bitter smile. "I saved the princess, sacrificing my own flesh and blood in order to do so. Just like the born hero, everyone expects me to be." His smile never left his mouth. "I'm really starting to hate that label Weegee. "Born Hero" He spat. "To me it's not a label, it's a curse, a reminder of just how much I sucked as an older brother." His foggy eyes were filled with tears. "I was supposed to protect you." His voice cracked, hands began to shake. "I promised mom and dad I'll make sure you were always alright! That I will keep you safe, even if it costs me my life! And what did I do?! I let you die!" Mario screamed, tears tackling down his cheeks. "I didn't even fucking care, when you wanted to tell me about your broken leg! I was too damn focused on Peach! I went through so many similar adventures unscratched, I forgot that we are mortals and that mortals, die!" He was breathing to harshly now, if he doesn't calm down soon his body might not take the pressure. "I was too much of a hero to care about those tiny details!" For a moment his gaze darkened. "But the damn kingdom didn't care about any of this. All they cared about was that their princess was back safe." He growled. "They didn't give a shit that you, not me, had to give your life for that to happen!" His fists clinched tightly as he bared his teeth at the ground, avoiding my eyes. "Those bastards even had the nerve to mix up your name on the memorial, naming you Luis JumpMan! Luis-Fucking-JumpMan!" Then he smiled a sadistic smile. "I almost killed the toad who did it. If it wasn't for Yoshi and Toadsworth, he'd be getting grilled by Satin in hell, where he belongs!" The once proud warrior, growled again. "I was even tempted to go to Bowser myself and order him to attack the damn place, just for them to learn the damn lesson already!" After that he seemed to calm down a little. "I didn't do that only because I knew that's not what you would have wanted, little bro. You would just smile at me with those big blue eyes of yours and tell me to ignore them." He smiled a tired smile. "Ah…good days. So good, I would trade the best lasagna in the world, just to get them back." He paused for a second, still avoiding looking into my eyes.

Then…his last words hit my ears.

"I'm so sorry, baby brother." He whispered, looking into my eyes.

And for that tiny moment…

Pained, blue eyes met forgiving, baby-blue.

JA107: Fun fact-This originally was supposed to be a one-shot called "Save the princess" but... yeah, it decided to grow bigger, end of story.