"You sure you're okay, bro?"
"I'm fine," Mario groaned. He was lying on top of the covers, which was obviously bothering Luigi. Mario didn't want to move, though. He was too tired.
"At least let me sleep," Luigi said, standing over Mario. Mario shut his eyes tightly, massaging the bridge of his nose to try to get rid of an oncoming migraine. He'd been getting these a lot since Roy showed up in Toad Town. Mario would never admit it out loud, but he was honestly scared.
"Come on, Mario," Luigi begged, "I'd like to get some sleep. Please?"
Mario moaned, rolling over and letting himself fall off the bed onto the floor. He heard Luigi yelp as he did.
"Mario!" Luigi called, racing to Mario's side. Mario lay face-down on the floor. He wasn't hurt, but he still didn't want to move.
"Honestly, Mario," Luigi said worriedly, "You can be so stubborn sometimes."
Mario grunted in lieu of a proper reply. He heard Luigi sigh before the bed shifted. The lights then went out. That was when Mario rolled over, blankly staring upward at the dark ceiling. There was no way he was getting any sleep tonight. It would just end up like all the other nights since Roy showed up.
Really, Mario just couldn't make himself forget that first fateful day. He and Luigi had been spending time together in Toad Town when they came upon the first crime scene. The authorities had already arrived, but the Mario brothers were, of course, allowed to see what had happened. What they saw was horrific. Mario felt himself getting nauseous every time he thought of the gruesome scene. At that time, though, it was just one murder. After the initial shock faded, things quickly went back to normal.
It wasn't until a week later that that isolated incident started to look less and less like an isolated incident. Two more bodies had been found and everyone was starting to get worried. Mario and Luigi were called out to try to get to the bottom of things, but Mario honestly didn't know what was expected of them. They were adventurers, not detectives.
As more and more of these murders started occurring, Mario started to get more and more uneasy. Then, two weeks after the murders started, the culprit was discovered. Mario could hardly believe it when he heard that it was Roy Koopa behind all of it. At first, he thought Bowser might have been involved, but, once Princess Peach got in contact with the Koopa King, it was quickly found that that wasn't the case. Apparently, Roy was acting on his own, but to what end? Mario still couldn't figure it out.
Even with Bowser here to help out, Mario still couldn't feel like things would be okay. Roy had eluded capture for this long. He'd even killed members of the guard that had chased him down. Mario remembered one incident where he and a couple of Toad guards were chasing Roy. Roy tried to shake them, so Mario and the guards split up. After a while, one of those very same guards was found dead. Mario shuddered to think what would have happened if that unlucky soul to encounter Roy alone had been him.
Mario dug his fingers into the plush carpet beneath him. He and Luigi were currently staying at Peach's Castle due to the capitol city being in a state of panic. As for their apprentices, Alagold and Buckenberry, they had no idea what was going on. They'd been invited on an expedition with their older brother, the famous Captain Toad, before this whole mess began. Mario counted them lucky.
The dull pain lingering in Mario's head began growing more pronounced, prompting him to finally get up. He made sure not to wake Luigi as he left the room and started down the hall. After the first few headache-filled nights, he'd committed the location of the ibuprofen to memory. He descended a winding flight of stairs, navigated the maze of hallways, and finally ended up in the kitchen.
"Above the stove, second cabinet to the right..."
He muttered the location to himself as he reached for it. He snatched out the bottle and screwed it open before shaking two pills into his hand. He downed the pills with a glass of water, then began to make his way back to his and Luigi's room. Halfway there, though, he was stopped by a piercing shriek. He felt a rush of adrenaline as he took off toward where the scream had come from. Eventually, he found himself at Bowser Jr.'s room, where a group of guards had gathered.
"What's going on?!" Mario asked frantically.
"He's scared stiff," one guard told him, "He won't tell us what's going on. He seems okay physically, but..."
Mario nodded as the guard trailed off. Mario then pushed his way past the guards into Junior's room. He found Junior trembling on the floor, his eyes wide with fear.
"Hey," Mario began awkwardly, leaning down next to Junior, "Is something wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
"R-Roy..."
Mario tensed up.
"Wh-what about Roy?" Mario asked. The guards also moved closer, their curiosity getting the better of them.
"I-I'm next," Junior stuttered.
"No you're not," Mario said reflexively, "You're going to be just fine."
Mario grit his teeth. He'd been dealing with too many panicking Toads. Even he wasn't sure he believed what he was telling Junior, but it was what he'd been telling the terrified citizens of Toad Town for too long.
"N-no," Junior replied, "She was here. She told me I was next."
"She?" Mario repeated confusedly, "Who's she?"
"The parasite."
Mario froze. He remembered Junior talking about Roy earlier and how he'd mentioned something about a parasite telling him to kill people. There was no way that was true though, right? Even if it was, was there any way it could talk to other people? The thought was just too absurd.
"It was just a nightmare," Mario said, "You don't need to worry."
"It wasn't a nightmare!" Junior snapped, suddenly sitting up and staring Mario right in the eye, "She was here and she was talking to me! She's working with Roy and they want me dead!"
"That's impossible," one of the guards piped up, "We came in here right after you screamed and there was no one here. There's no way someone could have escaped this room in that time."
"That's because you can't see her!" Junior continued, "You can only hear her! It's true! You have to believe me! She might even still be here and we wouldn't even know it!"
The guards grumbled, leaving the room. Soon, only Mario and Junior were left staring at each other.
"You have to believe me," Junior repeated, tears welling up in his eyes, "It really happened."
Mario sighed, placing a hand on Junior's shoulder. Before Mario could say a word, though, Junior lunged at Mario, hugging him tightly.
"I don't want to die," Junior sobbed. Mario was struck speechless. Here was the Koopa prince who had fought against him so ruthlessly in the past reduced to a nervous wreck in his arms. Hesitantly, Mario began to stroke the young prince's head. He felt Junior relax a bit as he did, which only made him feel more awkward.
"Isn't that sweet?"
Mario tensed up. Junior screamed, burying his face in Mario's shoulder and almost knocking him backward onto the floor.
"Wh-who's there?!" Mario called out. The unfamiliar voice cackled in reply.
"Don't pretend like you don't know," the voice replied, "The young Koopa prince already told you, after all."
Mario bit his lip, eyes frantically scanning the room. He noted the voice definitely sounded female with a soft British accent to it. Despite how soothing her voice was, though, it was still terrifying to hear.
"Where are you?!" Mario shouted, "Show yourself!"
"As you wish."
With that, Mario immediately noticed the mysterious girl beginning to appear, perched on the sill of the large, open window. A short blonde bob cut framed a face covered by a smiling Shy Guy's mask. She wore a formal navy-colored vest with matching pleated shorts. Her arms were covered by two different kinds of gloves and her legs and feet by tights and boots. In fact, the only part of her body that would have been exposed, her shoulders, were actually completely invisible.
"Happy now?" she trilled, playing with her hair. Mario gaped at her, still trying to figure out how she'd appeared there. Junior also looked up at her, shaking like a leaf.
"Wh-who are you?" Mario asked nervously. The girl giggled before speaking again.
"My name is Marie," she answered, "Beyond that, I'll keep my identity secret. After all, it'll be much more fun to have you find that out yourselves."
"P-parasite," Junior muttered, "Y-you're the p-parasite."
"Now you're just repeating what I already told you," Marie said, jumping down from the windowsill to approach Junior and Mario. Mario tensed up.
"What are you doing to Roy?" Mario asked. He felt awkward asking the question, but he at least tried to sound like he had some kind of conviction.
"How do you know I'm doing anything to him?" Marie retorted, now standing directly over Mario, "All you have to go off of is the word of a terrified child. What if he's doing this on his own and I'm just watching from the sidelines, hm? What then?"
Mario bit his lip, desperately trying to think up a response. Finally, he let go of Junior, standing up to face Marie.
"At the very least, you're a conspirator," Mario declared, growing serious, "That means that, under the order of Princess Peach, I have the authority to take you into custody."
Mario then lunged for Marie's hand, but she immediately leaped backward, landing perfectly back on the windowsill.
"You want me?" Marie cooed, "You'll have to catch me first."
Mario exhaled sharply, darting for Marie as quickly as he possibly could. That was when Marie jumped backward once again. Mario just barely missed grabbing her as she fell from the second-story window into the night.
"No!" Junior screamed, "Wh-why did she do that?!"
Mario squinted to try to keep his eye on her as she fell. He knew there was no way she would have jumped like that unless she had a plan. Sure enough, Marie lunged in midair toward the wall in front of her. Mario couldn't make out exactly what she did in the darkness, but it resulted in her sliding down the wall before she jumped down onto the ground and started running.
"She's getting away!" Mario shouted to Junior before running past him out of the room. He could barely hear Junior screaming after him as he charged down the hall. Mario knew he didn't have much time to head Marie off before she got to the castle gates, so he had to hurry.
Junior stayed where he was for another minute, his muscles fully locked up. Mario had just left to chase after Marie.
"I can't just stand here."
With his mind giving him a renewed conviction, he scrambled to his feet, racing down the hall at top speed. As he rounded a corner, though, he ran straight into someone, who reeled back against the full-force tackle, trying not to fall over. Once they regained their footing, they held Junior for a moment. Junior looked up to see Luigi staring down at him, his crystal-blue eyes wide with a mixture of shock and fear.
"J-Junior?!" the green-capped man stuttered, "What's going on?!"
"Luigi alerted us to a scream he heard coming from down here," a guard said from behind Luigi. In fact, Junior noticed that there were three guards standing there, spears at the ready.
"Mario and I saw Roy's accomplice!" Junior exclaimed, finally remembering what he'd come for, "She jumped out the window and Mario ran off after her!"
"Mario what?!" Luigi shrieked.
"He's out there right now!" Junior continued, "You have to—"
Junior froze. It was just then that he could faintly hear something...a voice? It didn't sound like a voice he'd ever heard before, though. He couldn't even make out what it was saying.
"Junior?"
Junior faintly heard Luigi, which he immediately knew was wrong. Luigi was right in front of him. Why was he having trouble hearing him?
"Junior? Is something wrong?"
Now Junior's vision was blurring. In his mind, he was in an all-out panic. For whatever reason, though, he couldn't move. He could only witness his senses all blurring out together until...
...
...
...
Just then, he ran off.
"Junior! Wait!"
Of course, he wasn't going to do that. There was only one thought on his mind now: oıɹɐɯ puıɟ.
Mario tore through Toad Town at top speed. He'd only barely missed Marie at the castle gates and she'd quickly lost him in town. He wasn't about to give up, though. After all, this could be the only chance to find out the truth about what happened to Roy. Mario wasn't about to let that slip out of his grasp.
Just then, as he turned a corner, he spotted a blonde-haired someone disappear into an alleyway. Mario pushed himself to go faster, darting into the alleyway directly after Marie. Once there, though, he was greeted by nothing more than a dead end with Marie nowhere in sight.
"Wh-what?!"
It didn't make any sense. He was sure he'd been right on Marie's tail as they entered the alleyway. There shouldn't have been any way for Marie to escape.
Mario then heard footsteps from behind him. He whirled around, then froze in terror. Standing right between Mario and his only way of getting out of the alleyway was Roy, knife in hand and murder written all over his face.
"Mario," he muttered, his grip on the knife growing tighter. A chill ran down Mario's spine as he began to back away from Roy. Roy only got closer, though.
"R-Roy!" Mario shouted, trying to get through to the Koopaling, "P-please stop! Please!"
Roy didn't even acknowledge Mario. The plumber grit his teeth before suddenly feeling a wall behind him. He'd reached the end of the line.
"Roy!" Mario screamed in desperation. Roy then slammed his arm into Mario's neck, beginning to strangle him. Mario tried to fight back, but Roy was too strong for him, so he was left fruitlessly struggling to push Roy's arm away, coughing and sputtering for air all the while. Through his rapidly blurring vision, Mario saw Roy raise the hand with the knife into the air. He knew what was coming. He was going to die.
"Augh!"
Mario fell to the ground, gasping and wheezing as his lungs once again filled with air. He blinked rapidly to try to clear his vision. The only thing he knew right then was that he wasn't dead. Finally, once he could see again, he spotted Roy pinned to the ground by a familiar-looking shadowy figure with a large paintbrush, its long handle pressed against Roy's neck just hard enough to keep him from trying anything, but not hard enough to choke him. The figure trembled, its breathing shaky.
"Junior!" Mario exclaimed. Junior was playing Shadow Mario at the moment, but Mario knew by now who was always behind that disguise.
"Get the knife," Junior ordered. Mario was startled by Junior's sudden stern attitude, but quickly complied, snatching up the knife that Roy had dropped on the ground. Junior nodded directly afterward, not saying another word as he remained on top of Roy.
"Sh-should I get someo-"
"Already on the way," Junior interrupted curtly. Mario sighed, both relieved and still slightly unnerved.
It was only a moment later that the guards showed up, spears in hand and at the ready. They took Roy from Junior, immediately working to properly restrain him. As that was happening, another couple of guards started asking Mario and Junior questions about what happened. Mario looked to Junior, who transformed back to himself, pulling his bandanna down from across his mouth.
"Mario!"
"Luigi?" Mario called back, recognizing his brother's voice. Luigi then appeared from around the corner, his face also stained with tears.
"Mario!" Luigi cried, racing toward Mario and pulling him into a tight hug, "Thank the Star Spirits you're okay!"
"How did you get here so fast?" Mario asked.
"We were following Junior," Luigi explained, breaking away and trying to calm down, "He told us you were going after Roy's accomplice. We didn't know what he was talking about, but we knew we had to take him seriously. After Junior spotted Roy and went after him, though...I'll be honest, I started to assume the worst."
Tears pooled in Luigi's eyes once more. Mario hugged him again, holding him tightly.
"It's okay," Mario said as Luigi started to sob, "I'm here. Roy's in custody. Everything's okay."
Mario's gaze then shifted to Junior, who stood perfectly still as he was bombarded by questions by the guards. Mario knew, though, that he was watching the guards cart away Roy.
"Everything is okay...right?"