Title: My Shadow
Character: Mario
Description: Mario reflects on his past and his role as the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, then the role his brother Luigi has
(MARIO'S POV)
Well, here I am. Out for my late-night stroll again. I'm usually like this once every few months, where I can't sleep for three weeks. The cause of this is that I'm always thinking of how my brother and I are treated around here.
Princess Peach had just been rescued again. The citizens of the kingdom were celebrating until around three in the morning.
I lean against the wooden railing of my house as a sigh escapes my lips. I look into the night sky as I recall everything that's happened over the years.
Luigi and I lived normal lives as plumbers until we came across the warp pipe leading here. We grew up without parents, and I promised myself that I would look out for Luigi and make sure that he lived life well and didn't do anything he would regret. Because of this promise I made myself, I was always the leader of the plumbing business, showing Luigi what to do.
A few years passed. Luigi had gotten the hang of the plumbing business, allowing me to relax once in a while. I consider myself lucky that Luigi finally learned how to do everything at that point, because not long after, I had heard that a giant ape had grabbed my friend Pauline and taken her to the top of a nearby construction site.
Despite what some people think, I was never in love with Pauline. She and I were just friends. In fact, a couple years after the whole Donkey Kong incident, she married my cousin, Stanley the Bugman.
Anyway, Luigi and I ended up getting a call from a high-pitched voice on the other end of the phone. The voice said that he had a severe leak in his basement and was counting on Luigi and I to fix it. Not being ones to turn down a job, Luigi and I quickly set off to help the poor man.
When we finally met our client, we saw that he was incredibly short and that he was wearing a huge hat on his head. He led the two of us down to his basement and showed us a huge pipe sticking out of the ground. Before we could question what the pipe was, we were both pushed into the pipe, then our client jumped in after us. I blacked out before I hit the bottom of the pipe.
When I awakened, I saw that I was in a place unlike anything had ever seen before. I saw our client pull the hat off his head, revealing a white mushroom head with red polka-dots. The strange creature introduced himself as Toad, retainer to Princess Peach Toadstool.
At first, I wasn't quite fond of Toad, because of his way of getting Luigi and I into the mushroom kingdom in the first place. But a few years later, when I had gotten used to the kingdom, I realized that Luigi and I owed a lot to Toad, because he was the one to bring us here in the first place. We still do.
Luigi and I agreed to rescue the princess and restore peace to the kingdom and set off instantly. We ended up saving Peach, and we were praised as heroes to the kingdom.
For the first while, I loved being treated like a hero. Peach and I even started dating. However, realization quickly sunk in. Luigi wasn't getting half of the attention I was. That was clearly not fair. Throughout all of our adventures, Luigi got us out of more jams and received more pain, yet I was the one getting all of the attention because I was the one to actually defeat Bowser. I quickly realized that Luigi was far more deserving of the title of 'hero' than I.
The next adventures came along. Rather than fight alongside me, Luigi would often trail behind, like my shadow. And whenever I was receiving praise as a hero, Luigi would remain silent, not allowing himself to take any credit. When he wasn't trailing behind me and letting me get the credit, he didn't even go on the adventure at all. Right then, I realized that he was trying to give me more credit than I deserved.
All these years I had promised myself that I would take care of Luigi, and yet HE'S the one helping ME by allowing the kingdom's inhabitants to see me as a hero.
I wanted to change that. I wanted Luigi to get credit and be recognized as a hero again. Well, first things first. A tennis tournament came up, and Peach had asked me to enter the doubles competition with her. As quickly as I could, I sent out an invitation to the neighboring kingdom of Sarasaland, addressed to Princess Daisy, Peach's cousin and a princess I had met during my travels while Bowser had gone on vacation. When Daisy arrived, it was love at first sight for Luigi. The two of them entered the doubles competition together. I thought that Luigi's life was off to a great start.
But I was in for a surprise.
Wario showed up as a late entry with his brother, Waluigi. It seemed that Waluigi hated Luigi with a passion and wanted to humiliate him, much like Wario had always wanted to humiliate me. At first, I thought that Luigi would be upset that someone hated him, but I was again surprised. Luigi chuckled and told me that he was pleased to have a rival like I did. Luigi and Daisy smoked the competition, beating Peach and I in the finals. Although upset that we lost, we congratulated the winners.
Despite all of this, Luigi still wasn't getting that much attention. The only ones really paying attention to him were Waluigi, who wanted to pound him into the floor, and Daisy, who had started dating with him.
Then, on day, Luigi rushed into the house, holding a piece of paper and a map. Letting out a holler of joy, he told me that he had just won a mansion in a contest that he didn't even remember entering. Although I was pleased that he had won something like that, I thought that the whole thing sounded suspicious. After Luigi gave me the directions, I told him that I would go ahead and meet him there.
When I arrived at the mansion, I saw that it was definitely nothing like it had been described in Luigi's pamphlet. I entered the mansion cautiously, but I wish I hadn't. I saw that it was a trap. From HIM...
King Boo. I had defeated him at the Donut Plains Secret Ghost House as Luigi and I were on our way to defeat Morton Koopa Jr. He was clearly out for revenge, and he brought a whole horde of Boos. While I managed to defeat a few of them, the remaining Boos surrounded me and knocked me out.
When I awoke, I was in for a shock: I was trapped inside a painting, King Boo standing on the outside, laughing at my gullibility. Luckily, I soon saw Luigi's face sticking out of a statue on the wall leading to the well. I knew that he was alright, and had not been captured yet. The only thing I could do was wait for Luigi to show up.
Luckily, I didn't have to wait long. Luigi showed up within a few hours later and confronted King Boo. Luigi battled King Boo and a giant, robotic duplicate of Bowser all by himself, yet he pulled out on top without even breaking a sweat! I knew that he'd be getting the respect he deserved for this.
A smile finds its way to my face as I think of Luigi. He no longer lives with me. He has a real mansion now, and is always taking in orphaned children to live with him. Currently living with him are Prof. E Gadd, two young Shyguys, five mushroom children and three orphans from Moleville. He's even got a baby orphan from Nimbus Land living with him.
I sigh as I turn around and start walking back into the house to go back to bed. Luigi has a mansion, a great girlfriend, a rival like mine, and the respect of the entire mushroom kingdom. Is he still following behind me like my shadow?
No way.
END
Author's notes: This marks the start of a series of POV's of different Mario characters. Over the time, I'll be focusing on the more popular characters like Luigi, Daisy and Geno, but also the lesser-known characters like Jr. Troopa, Petey Piranha and Fice T. Plus, I'm always open to suggestions for other characters you want me to do, just as long as it's a Mario character (Donkey Kong doesn't count).
Please read and review!
Character: Mario
Description: Mario reflects on his past and his role as the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, then the role his brother Luigi has
(MARIO'S POV)
Well, here I am. Out for my late-night stroll again. I'm usually like this once every few months, where I can't sleep for three weeks. The cause of this is that I'm always thinking of how my brother and I are treated around here.
Princess Peach had just been rescued again. The citizens of the kingdom were celebrating until around three in the morning.
I lean against the wooden railing of my house as a sigh escapes my lips. I look into the night sky as I recall everything that's happened over the years.
Luigi and I lived normal lives as plumbers until we came across the warp pipe leading here. We grew up without parents, and I promised myself that I would look out for Luigi and make sure that he lived life well and didn't do anything he would regret. Because of this promise I made myself, I was always the leader of the plumbing business, showing Luigi what to do.
A few years passed. Luigi had gotten the hang of the plumbing business, allowing me to relax once in a while. I consider myself lucky that Luigi finally learned how to do everything at that point, because not long after, I had heard that a giant ape had grabbed my friend Pauline and taken her to the top of a nearby construction site.
Despite what some people think, I was never in love with Pauline. She and I were just friends. In fact, a couple years after the whole Donkey Kong incident, she married my cousin, Stanley the Bugman.
Anyway, Luigi and I ended up getting a call from a high-pitched voice on the other end of the phone. The voice said that he had a severe leak in his basement and was counting on Luigi and I to fix it. Not being ones to turn down a job, Luigi and I quickly set off to help the poor man.
When we finally met our client, we saw that he was incredibly short and that he was wearing a huge hat on his head. He led the two of us down to his basement and showed us a huge pipe sticking out of the ground. Before we could question what the pipe was, we were both pushed into the pipe, then our client jumped in after us. I blacked out before I hit the bottom of the pipe.
When I awakened, I saw that I was in a place unlike anything had ever seen before. I saw our client pull the hat off his head, revealing a white mushroom head with red polka-dots. The strange creature introduced himself as Toad, retainer to Princess Peach Toadstool.
At first, I wasn't quite fond of Toad, because of his way of getting Luigi and I into the mushroom kingdom in the first place. But a few years later, when I had gotten used to the kingdom, I realized that Luigi and I owed a lot to Toad, because he was the one to bring us here in the first place. We still do.
Luigi and I agreed to rescue the princess and restore peace to the kingdom and set off instantly. We ended up saving Peach, and we were praised as heroes to the kingdom.
For the first while, I loved being treated like a hero. Peach and I even started dating. However, realization quickly sunk in. Luigi wasn't getting half of the attention I was. That was clearly not fair. Throughout all of our adventures, Luigi got us out of more jams and received more pain, yet I was the one getting all of the attention because I was the one to actually defeat Bowser. I quickly realized that Luigi was far more deserving of the title of 'hero' than I.
The next adventures came along. Rather than fight alongside me, Luigi would often trail behind, like my shadow. And whenever I was receiving praise as a hero, Luigi would remain silent, not allowing himself to take any credit. When he wasn't trailing behind me and letting me get the credit, he didn't even go on the adventure at all. Right then, I realized that he was trying to give me more credit than I deserved.
All these years I had promised myself that I would take care of Luigi, and yet HE'S the one helping ME by allowing the kingdom's inhabitants to see me as a hero.
I wanted to change that. I wanted Luigi to get credit and be recognized as a hero again. Well, first things first. A tennis tournament came up, and Peach had asked me to enter the doubles competition with her. As quickly as I could, I sent out an invitation to the neighboring kingdom of Sarasaland, addressed to Princess Daisy, Peach's cousin and a princess I had met during my travels while Bowser had gone on vacation. When Daisy arrived, it was love at first sight for Luigi. The two of them entered the doubles competition together. I thought that Luigi's life was off to a great start.
But I was in for a surprise.
Wario showed up as a late entry with his brother, Waluigi. It seemed that Waluigi hated Luigi with a passion and wanted to humiliate him, much like Wario had always wanted to humiliate me. At first, I thought that Luigi would be upset that someone hated him, but I was again surprised. Luigi chuckled and told me that he was pleased to have a rival like I did. Luigi and Daisy smoked the competition, beating Peach and I in the finals. Although upset that we lost, we congratulated the winners.
Despite all of this, Luigi still wasn't getting that much attention. The only ones really paying attention to him were Waluigi, who wanted to pound him into the floor, and Daisy, who had started dating with him.
Then, on day, Luigi rushed into the house, holding a piece of paper and a map. Letting out a holler of joy, he told me that he had just won a mansion in a contest that he didn't even remember entering. Although I was pleased that he had won something like that, I thought that the whole thing sounded suspicious. After Luigi gave me the directions, I told him that I would go ahead and meet him there.
When I arrived at the mansion, I saw that it was definitely nothing like it had been described in Luigi's pamphlet. I entered the mansion cautiously, but I wish I hadn't. I saw that it was a trap. From HIM...
King Boo. I had defeated him at the Donut Plains Secret Ghost House as Luigi and I were on our way to defeat Morton Koopa Jr. He was clearly out for revenge, and he brought a whole horde of Boos. While I managed to defeat a few of them, the remaining Boos surrounded me and knocked me out.
When I awoke, I was in for a shock: I was trapped inside a painting, King Boo standing on the outside, laughing at my gullibility. Luckily, I soon saw Luigi's face sticking out of a statue on the wall leading to the well. I knew that he was alright, and had not been captured yet. The only thing I could do was wait for Luigi to show up.
Luckily, I didn't have to wait long. Luigi showed up within a few hours later and confronted King Boo. Luigi battled King Boo and a giant, robotic duplicate of Bowser all by himself, yet he pulled out on top without even breaking a sweat! I knew that he'd be getting the respect he deserved for this.
A smile finds its way to my face as I think of Luigi. He no longer lives with me. He has a real mansion now, and is always taking in orphaned children to live with him. Currently living with him are Prof. E Gadd, two young Shyguys, five mushroom children and three orphans from Moleville. He's even got a baby orphan from Nimbus Land living with him.
I sigh as I turn around and start walking back into the house to go back to bed. Luigi has a mansion, a great girlfriend, a rival like mine, and the respect of the entire mushroom kingdom. Is he still following behind me like my shadow?
No way.
END
Author's notes: This marks the start of a series of POV's of different Mario characters. Over the time, I'll be focusing on the more popular characters like Luigi, Daisy and Geno, but also the lesser-known characters like Jr. Troopa, Petey Piranha and Fice T. Plus, I'm always open to suggestions for other characters you want me to do, just as long as it's a Mario character (Donkey Kong doesn't count).
Please read and review!