"Yay! Mario! Great job out there!" a Toad was shouting.
"Yeah, great job!" another echoed.
"I'll bet you could beat Bowser in your sleep!"
Luigi sat on the sidelines, watching his brother try to wave off the praise, but he tell the constant flattery was finally starting to affect the plumber turned superhero. He had helped too, of course, and Yoshi, but where were they? Looking on from a distance while Mario received heaps of praise. Where would he be without them? As jealous thought after jealous thought ran through the green-hatted side-kick's mind, a plan began to form. One to show Mario where he'd be without them.
The first key to the plan was Yoshi. He leaned over and whispered in the dinosaur's ear. Yoshi nodded and made sounds of what Luigi assumed to be general approval. Next he needed to find a Toad willing to play along. That was surprisingly easy – many had helped Mario by dispensing valuable information, and were also upset to have him hog all the glory.
The next and most difficult part, the part everything hinged on -- and Luigi was venturing into unknown territory. He knocked gently on the door, and a gruff voice rang out, "What do you want?"
Trembling slightly, he called out, "It's Luigi!" The door swung open, and a squat, fat man stared out suspiciously. "I want help reminding Mario he's not all-powerful.
Wario leaned forward. "You don't say..."
"Mario! Help! Wario is attacking!" Luigi cried, putting as much fear into his voice as possible. Not all fake – he half expected Wario to let Mario in on the plan for a laugh.
"I'll bet you could beat him all on your own," a Toad said.
"What? Never. I need my teammates," Mario said.
Luigi hung his head.