4-2: Escape from Brinstar

Luigi wasted no time asking questions. He reached the escape shaft and began hopping up the platforms. In addition to the klaxons echoing around him, red lights flashed, and signs reading CODE RED illuminated on the walls. Disregarding the noise, Luigi continued to leap from platform to platform, his high jumps serving him well. When the need arose, he used a Super Jump Punch as a third jump option. Or, he'd use his Cyclone to gain additional vertical height. He glanced up and saw the ship above his head. He was almost there. He was going to make it. There were only 20 seconds left on the timer. Luigi began pushing his legs as far as they could go. He'd become an athlete attempting the high jump. Falling short of a platform, he managed to grab the edge with both hands and flip himself up. He paid no attention to the stupid timer or those God-forsaken klaxons. They didn't matter—all that mattered now was to keep jumping.

With only five seconds to spare, Luigi sprang up as high as he could and into the waiting ship, which came to life and flew, unpiloted, away from the endangered planet.

SUCCESS!

The man in green watched, gasping for breath, as Zebes vanished into a blazing ball of fire and rock. The rocks showered and scattered throughout deep space, but the glass on the ship was completely shatter-proof. Having calmed down, Luigi settled back and closed his eyes.

"Samus is safe," Master Hand's voice reassured him. "I teleported her to the lounge. As for that planet, it will re-generate shortly."

Luigi sighed in relief, eyes still closed, and enjoyed the ride.

The awards ceremony had its usual pomp and circumstance. Although the results didn't turn out the way the majority wanted, everyone in the stands politely clapped for the victor. They had to be respectful of all of the fighters, right? Luigi, the defeated fighter, was also clapping, but he wasn't paying much attention to the ceremony—except for the way his opponent posed, laughed and gloated. Couldn't he just win gracefully for once?

But other than that, Luigi was rewinding the match in his head, trying to figure out where he erred and how to prevent it in the future. Nobody was perfect, of course, but for the first half of the fight, he was doing so well! He was at the top of his game; the man in green at his finest. And then, poof. Koopa had somehow snatched his advantage away. He'd found himself in Koopa's claw and then—no, focus. Don't stew and feel sorry for yourself. Think about how you went in, how you reacted to your opponent and the exact moment when he managed to read you. Find your mistakes, and there you'll find your areas for improvement. Don't get upset over it—learn from it.

Koopa had sauntered away with Ganondorf before Luigi could offer him a handshake. What was he, too good for sportsmanship? Well, fine. He couldn't deal with him right now, anyway. The crowd began to disperse, and Luigi departed the area to move on with his life. First, he'd go to the cafeteria; chicken carbonera was on the lunch menu. Then, he'd burn off those calories in the Training Room. Maybe he could catch Mario there, and they'd talk about where he slipped up. Luigi smiled at the thought of one of their energetic, ego-free spars, of the music on the stereo as bro clashed with bro, sparkles and fireworks flying, the love between them firing them up as they tossed in encouraging words as well as blows. They'd probably be in there for most of the day, and then they'd all eat dinner and go to bed, and that would be that. Tomorrow, he'd be refreshed and ready for more matches.

His train of thought was interrupted he was seized by the arm and roughly whipped around. He found himself staring straight into the sneering face of King Koopa. Immediately, Luigi's face hardened, his eyes telling the princess-snatcher that he was in no mood for his company. Alas, Koopa didn't take the hint; instead, he gripped Luigi by the shoulder and roared with laughter as he marched him to the replay monitors. When they got there, Koopa shifted his hold to the hair on the back of Luigi's head and forced his head up, making him watch himself getting beaten, over and over. He'd bash his face repeatedly against the counter or deftly slice him with his claws each time he averted his gaze. Luigi remained stoic through countless minutes of this torture.

And then he felt that reptile's breath in his ear as he began talking to him.

"Look at the way I pummeled you, Green 'Stache. "Look at me absolutely destroying you—look at how sad, weak and pitiful you are. You really think you're so useful to your dear brother if you can't even beat me on your own? You think the Toads will want anything to do with you after seeing this? You're nothing but a simpering, pipsqueak second banana, now let's see those tears."

He laughed sadistically, but he was set off when Luigi simply refused to cry. And then Koopa forcefully whipped Luigi back around so he could get in his face, saying more things as Luigi's vision narrowed to just that foul-mouthed turtle and the monitor showing the crushing defeat over and over like a scratched CD and—and he vaguely remembered another familiar booming voice joining in from afar—

"Hey. Don't get too comfortable," warned MH. "You're going to continue your adventure soon."

"Thanks for the heads-up," murmured Luigi. He now realized that he was sweating again, and that his body was slightly shaking with rage. As he forced the memories and the words out of his brain, he glanced out the window and saw the star-shaped planet growing bigger and bigger.

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