Chapter 16: Last Regrets
Wario grunted in annoyance as he was jolted awake by a sudden crashing upstairs. He hoisted himself up out of his chair, sending his bowl of chips to the floor. He made a mental note to have Waluigi clean it up, and climbed the stairs to the top floor of the house, which stood next to the garage. The previous owner had kept the house in good shape, so naturally, Wario and Waluigi took it, and had lived there ever since Bowser's overtaking. He stood on the staircase, yelling up to whoever made the racket.
"Hey! What the hell are you doin'? Some people are trying to sleep!" came his voice from halfway downstairs.
Waluigi rolled his eyes, ignoring his brother's cries as he climbed the remainder of the staircase. Soon Wario stood in the doorway, "Hey, where are you goin'?"
"Out," was all Waluigi said, as he stuffed a Piranha Plant into the bag he had set on the floor beside him. The bag was filled nearly to the brim with various items, fire flowers, Bob-Ombs, mushrooms, anything Waluigi could get his hands on, to help him in breaking the others out. He was still frantically searching the room for anything else that could help.
"'Out' you say? Where you goin' with those Plants and Bombs?" Wario asked, curious. It wasn't very often Waluigi showed such determination; he was usually passive, not caring about anything that didn't concern him. But lately, he had been a different person, first feeling guilty about what he had done, now taking off in such a manner made Wario concerned.
"Nowhere," Waluigi said, grabbing a key off the table, zipping the bag shut and making his way to the door. Wario saw this coming, and stepped in front of it, staring his brother down, "You ain't goin' anywhere until you tell me."
Waluigi looked up at Wario with his usual uninterested expression, and turned towards the window, walked to it in two strides and threw it open. The window opened onto the roof of the veranda, coincidentally, and Waluigi climbed out of the window and onto the roof. Wario had since made it to the window, and was still trying to get an answer out of Waluigi. He climbed out of the window with much difficulty, and Waluigi had already managed to climb down from the roof to the ground. He stood there, watching Wario try to make it through the relatively small window, which he found very amusing, and smirked when Wario finally made it through the opening and stood on the roof, pointing at Waluigi and yelling.
"Dammit! You tell me what you're doin'!" Wario yelled, and couldn't help feeling a bit stupid. He felt like a parent trying to keep an unruly teenager home when he's grounded. He shook off this feeling and took a step forwards. Unfortunately, he had stepped onto a ball that was left there by some careless child before Bowser's reign, and he found himself tumbling forward, off the roof and into a bush.
Waluigi blinked and stared at the bush, which held a newly-grounded Wario, whom spat leaves every which way and was clearly unhurt. But did he look mad; but also preoccupied. Waluigi took this opportunity to make a break for it, and ran down the street towards Bowser's fleet, ignoring Wario's enraged yelling behind him. He knew Wario was giving chase, and he also knew that anyone could outrun Wario.
"Damn," Wario grunted after he caught his breath again. He had chased Waluigi halfway to Bowser's fleet when his lack of fitness got the better of him, and he stopped to catch his breath. He spotted a Koopa Troopa nearby, before he could get away, Wario called him back, and the Troopa reluctantly obeyed.
"Listen, you know that Waluigi, right?" Wario asked.
The Troopa nodded in response.
"Oh do ya now? Good," Wario began, pulling the troopa closer to him and speaking in a hushed voice, "Listen, I need you to, keep an eye on 'im for me," he said, waving a fifty coin note in front of the troopa's bill.
The troopa nodded eagerly, snatching the note from Wario's gloved hand, "Ah, you have a deal, sir. I suspect you want me to report back?"
"ASAP."
The troopa saluted his new employer, "I'll get right on it!" he said, before rushing down the street in pursuit of Waluigi.
Wario knew it was a sneaky, underhanded thing to do, spying on his brother, but he convinced himself it was for the best. He was concerned about his little brother, and his sense of judgment hadn't been the best lately. He just hoped he wasn't doing something stupid.
Clink.
Miss.
Clink.
Clink.
"Will you stop that?" Mario snapped, snatching the stone from Luigi's hand before he managed to throw it against the bars again. The constant clinking of whenever he managed to hit it was aggravating him even further; he was ready to snap any minute.
Luigi glared at his brother, but still didn't say anything. He hadn't said anything since their dinner with Bowser hours before. Time still dragged on, it was nearly 2 AM. Only Mario, Luigi and Toad remained awake, as the effect of their many sleepless nights had taken its toll on the others. Toad refused to sleep. He said he wanted to live his last hours awake. He didn't want to waste the rest of his time.
Luigi looked at Toad, who sat trembling in the corner opposite him. Looking at the young boy tugged at his heartstrings painfully, as Toad was so young. He still had so many things to live for! He had barely begun to live his life, and it was going to be so painfully cut short, he stil had so many things to do. Grow up, fall in love, become Chancellor (it was his lifelong dream), and live his final years on Isle Delfino. He said he had it all planned. But his plan had gone up in smoke, quite literally, and he was supposed to die the very next day, along with all those he loved.
"Damn that Bowser..." Luigi said. He didn't mean to say it out loud, and didn't know he had until he heard Mario speak.
"Damn him to Hell..."
"I don't think he even deserves to go to hell. It's much too good for him, in my opinion," Luigi answered, growing angrier with each word he spoke. His fist clenched and he closed his eyes to prevent the tears from falling. They still came through, and he squeezed them even tighter. Still, the tears came, and soon enough Luigi found himself sobbing.
Not for himself, not for his life. For theirs. For everyone's. His brother, his friends, even those he didn't know. For everyone that Bowser had made suffer. He forced himself to stop when he heard Mario tell him to stop crying. He said he'd get Bowser.
"No," Luigi said, causing Mario to stare at him strangely. Was he saying that Bowser didn't deserve this punishment? "No, we'll both get him."
Mario nodded, and Luigi glanced at Daisy quickly before turning back to Mario, "But what if --- What if we can't do it?"
"What do you mean?"
"What if we don't get him? What if we all still-" he swallowed, not wanting to say the words, "die."
"Die? Us? We're the Super Mario Brothers, Luigi! We won't die!"
"Even heroes can lose, Mario."
Luigi's words brought a change in Mario's opinion. There was the possibility of them losing, wasn't there? In fact, the chance of them losing was greater than the chance of them winning. Bowser was nearly three times the size of any man, with claws sharper than any blade. They could slice a person clean down the middle in one stroke, or he could use his inhuman strength to snap one in two if he really wanted to. And he wasn't stupid, there was no fooling this koopa. He'd find out sooner or later, and you would suffer one of the aforementioned fates. Bowser Koopa was a force to be reckoned with, that was sure.
Mario bit his lip, trying to think of an appropriate response, but found none. He sighed, "You're right," and slumped back against the bars. He soon found his eyelids drooping, and would've fallen asleep if it weren't for the fact that he was grabbed through the bars and pulled against them, his back turned to his assailant. He would've yelled, but a hand clamped over his mouth.
"Be quiet!" the voice hissed through clenched teeth, and Mario knew who it was, but he couldn't believe it. Obviously Luigi couldn't either, and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off before the first word rolled off his tongue, "I'm here to help! Shut up!"
It wasn't the friendliest offer Mario had heard, but it was better than none at all.
His assailant let go of him, and Mario stood up and whirled around to face Waluigi, "What the hell do you want?"
"That's a real fine way to treat your ticket out of here, isn't it?" came Waluigi's reply.
"What are you talking about?" Luigi asked, clearly confused. Waluigi was the one who landed them in Bowser's dungeon in the first place, why should he let them out? "What do you think you're doing? Didn't you-"
"I'm just as surprised as you are. Now shut up and listen to me, don't ask any questions," Waluigi said. The remainder of the prisoners had been roused by the argument between the three, save for Birdo, whom was shaken awake by Yoshi. They all needed to hear what he was going to say or the entire plan would fail, they would die, and Waluigi himself would be killed for treason.
"Okay, you all want out, right," He snapped, obviously eager to get the whole ordeal over with, "Listen, all You have to do is get out of here as fast as possible, and don't come back. Simple? I've knocked a few guards off, so the going should be pretty easy," Waluigi said, fumbling with the key and shoving it into the lock. He still didn't know why he was doing this, and the panic was setting in. If the king found out... well, he could say goodbye to living the high life he wanted.
"Why are you helping us?" Daisy asked. Her expression changed from curious to anger in a split second, "This is just a sick little trick of yours, isn't it?"
"I wish it were, and then maybe I wouldn't be so scared," Waluigi said, and regretted it. He hadn't meant to let that slip out. Usually he was so good at hiding things like that. He hoped none of them had noticed, he hated it when his weaknesses got out like that.
"You're scared?" Yoshi asked. So much for keeping that a secret.
Waluigi rolled his eyes, "Fine, I guess I am. A little" he snapped.
"Waluigi..." Daisy said quietly. Waluigi's heart (or whatever he had) couldn't help but give a slight pang in the way she said his name.
"Yes?" he said, grinning and leaning closer.
"Open the damn door!"
His heart sank back down again and he glared at her, opening the lock and swinging the door wide open, "Get the hell out of here now." he said to them, and they filed out one by one, a 'thank you' muttered quietly.
"Waluigi, thank you. You truly aren't as bad as I thought you were," Luigi said, slightly embarrassed.
Waluigi waved it off as he always did, his listless personality getting the better of him again, a faint 'Whatever' mumbled in between, and he turned away from Luigi. Luigi shrugged and followed the others.
The starless night was an excellent cover for them, as nobody could see a single thing, lest they had a torch of some sort. But they could easily get lost, or bump into the wrong people, so they had to be careful. They held each other's hands, a childlike method, but it was effective, as they couldn't lose one another in the darkness.
"I hope they know what they're doing," Waluigi said, shaking his head. He had to get out of there, before someone found him. He glanced back at the prisoners he had released, and let out a strangled yelp. They were heading straight to the staircase to Bowser's throne room!
"Shit," he muttered, dashing after them. So much for this being quick and easy.
He didn't see the Koopa Troopa huddled in the darkness, the very troopa Wario had sent to watch Waluigi. He knew the information he needed, and was determined to get back to Wario before he was found. He dashed out of the cells, running full speed, but was stopped abruptly by a large object blocking his path.
"What are you doing out here?" Bowser's voice came down on him, his hot breath pouring down on the troopa. In the faint light of the torches in the dungeon, he saw the door. It was wide open, and the prisoners were gone. At once Bowser came down on the troopa, lifting it high above his head and roaring ferociously. The troopa seemed ready to shake right out of his shell and into the ground, he was so terrified.
"Where are they?" he roared, "What have you done?"
"It wasn't me!" the troopa cried in defense, crying out in pain when Bowser twisted his arm around in a way it really shouldn't bend.
"Who, then? Tell me before I rip your arm clean off!"
"Wa-Wa---"
"Wa, what?" Bowser said, twisting it a little further.
"Waluigi!" came the distressed cry, and the troopa was dropped to the ground. He lay there, gasping in pain, and Bowser merely shoved him aside with a foot.
"Waluigi," Bowser growled. He then took off along the length of the airship. They coudn't have gone far, he could still scent them in the air. They were still on the ship. He sniffed around a bit. The scent led him down the stairs to his own throne room. Perfect. They were cornered.
He leapt down the stairs in one bound, and found himself face to face with the very prisoners he was in pursuit of. They stood below him, terrified, and he straightened up to his full height, in hopes of looking intimidating.
"So, the cat has caught the mouse," he chuckled, and turned to Waluigi, "And you, Waluigi. You have made a very grave mistake. I think you'll have to pay for that."
Waluigi said nothing. He couldn't. His throat was constricted with a petrifying fear. A fear of the inevitable. He knew exactly what would happen next, and decided to mentally brace himself for it. He thought he may as well brace himself physically too, because this could prove to be pretty painful. At least he'd be going to a better place, right? He'd done so many terrible things though, maybe he wouldn't? No, this should make up for all that. Yes, he was definitely sure things would be better.
He wished Bowser would hurry up. Time was playing with them again. The massive koopa's paw rose into the air so slowly that they could have run away and been far off by now. It slowly swung downwards. Finally, he thought, it was about time. Bowser's eyes flashed with anger at Waluigi's betrayal, and at that last second of life, Waluigi swore he saw a flicker of enjoyment in the king's eyes. Enjoyment? He was enjoying killing him?
He heard a faint scream. It was so far away. It took a moment of thought, be he soon recognized it as his own voice crying out in pain. Everything seemed so far away now, as if he had left his body and was rushing backwards from it at an incredible speed.
Unfortunately for him, he still felt the pain.
Bowser's sharp claws raked across Waluigi's chest, tearing at his clothes, and more importantly at his flesh. He gasped in pain, unable to cry out again due to the petrifying fear from earlier. All he managed to get out was a faint groan, and he fell to the floor of the airship. His blood had already formed a puddle around him, and needless to say, he found it very unsettling. He lay gasping in pain, watching Bowser's satisfied smirk through half-closed eyes, watching him bask in the glory of his death. He turned his head away from those malicious eyes and to those of the people he had given his life to save, and he focused on those blue eyes he wanted to be lost in. And Daisy looked back into his.
Soon his vision faded, and he saw no more.
Silence.
Bowser licked the blood off his claws, "My, that really was some messy business, wasn't it? I do think we're going to have a massive cleanup after this is over with, don't you think?
Now, who's next?"