Chapter 9:

The First Fight

Mario finally came up to the house, just to find it empty. He didn't hesitate to head for the castle. Even when the guards questioned him, he insisted he needed to see Luigi. "I've noticed something that may affect his wellness," he told them, very honestly. "I need to see him immediately."

He was let in the castle and found himself in the hall, where Daisy, Peach, and Luigi himself, were talking together. He sighed with relief, which made them notice his presence. They turned to him with a start.

"Doctor," Daisy was the only one to say anything, but it was clear she was no happier than the others to see him. That was the Daisy he remembered.

"Sorry to barge in, but I've come across something that made me need to double check something with you, sir," he addressed Luigi alone.

Luigi looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"We'll let the castle physician look him over," Daisy insisted.

"He doesn't know what I do. Please. It's for his own good."

Daisy couldn't argue too much, so she reluctantly gestured for the doctor to approach.

"Hold out your injured arm, please."

Luigi seemed to just notice that he had been rubbing it with his right hand. He put that hand to his side and lifted his weak dominant arm. He winced quite visibly.

"Luigi!" Peach gasped. "Are you alright?"

"You've had several past injuries on this arm, haven't you?" Mario asked.

"Y-Yes, doctor."

"Hm…"

Mario rolled up his brother's sleeve. What he saw did not look good. Daisy gasped, "Luigi! Why didn't you tell us?"

"I-It's nothing…"

"It's very much something!" Daisy was furious.

"I can help him," Mario stated simply. "Where can I work?"

Peach fidgeted uncomfortably. "Follow me," she finally said.

She led him to a side guest room, and he set to work. Daisy looked on eagerly. After some time, Toad and Toadette entered, undoubtedly hearing about the doctor's visit.

Peach saw them come in, then looked over at Luigi. "You're wrong, you know, doctor," she finally said.

Mario turned to her for a second, then back to his work. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Everything you've said about us… Everything you've assumed about the hero. You're wrong. We do care about him as more than a 'tool.'"

"Hmph."

Peach tightened her fists, another thing quite out of character from what Mario knew of her. "You've been saying everything false and terrible about us… And I have to question… What about you?"

He turned to her again, puzzled, "What?"

"When's the last time you said thank you to those who honored you? When's the last time you treated others like human beings, instead of just things that needed fixed?"

"Excuse me?"

"You've complained about us treating a hero like a tool, like a mindless protector to all of us, but you have wealth and honor to your name from doing the same to your patients. You see them as tools of your trade. Have you ever set any of that aside to have relationships? Do you have family and friends like Mario? …A brother who would die for you?"

He heard Luigi sniff beside him, but kept his eyes locked on the princess. "Don't you mean that the other way around?"

"No. I don't. Because Mario may have been the main hero, but Luigi would've died for him in a second. Real family looks out for each other, not because they're forced with the expectations of each other, but because they can't stand to see each other get hurt." She looked at him with incredible disdain. "You claim to be kindhearted, a virtuous and helpful doctor, but you think like a heartless miser!"

Mario was struck speechless.

Luigi's soft voice came next, "You probably have no idea what it's like to be a brother… Let alone a brother of a hero."

Mario looked at him suspiciously. "So the truth comes out… You were jealous of him."

Luigi shook his head. "No. I never envied his life. I hated it." He paused. "He hated it."

Mario stared at him. He hadn't even known he hated his life until his new life was granted. He breathed in, "How do you know that?"

"I could see it. Every day he set out with his light-hearted look, but I saw what his 'work' did to him. Sure, he actually did enjoy it some of the time… but who would want such a life-long job?"

That was exactly what Mario had come to discover. How did Luigi see it before he himself did? "He… He didn't know you knew that…"

"No. I guess he didn't."

Mario became a bit angry again. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I did. He shrugged it off as me just worrying. Almost made me believe it myself. But I saw… I saw what he was really feeling. He needed a break. He never got one."

Mario stared at his brother. He wasn't looking up, just looking down at his work on his arm. The doctor turned to Peach, who was looking at Luigi with a frown. Daisy was nodding and looking at Luigi. But when he turned to Toadette, she was looking straight at him. That hunger was back. Mario felt like he could cry.

He half-heartedly told Luigi what he had to do to let his arm heal better, and he left the castle and headed home while attempting to get his thoughts in order.

"You're not considering that little conversation able to break this life you've made for yourself, are you?" the voice asked.

"I began this life thinking you were wrong. How unbelievable is it really that I would pick that back up again?"

"But it isn't proof. Word and deed, hero. They are two different things. What have they ever done for you?"

Mario didn't need to wrack his brain to answer that question. "Plenty. They provided love, home, friendship. They provided happiness and they gave me the fame I enjoyed. They worried about me, cared about me, wanted me to be happy. Why didn't I realize it sooner? I did love my past life. Because of them. I may have tired of heroing, but I never tired of being their hero."

"You're a fool."

"No. My original belief stands. You're trying to trick me. And you won't succeed… in whatever you're doing or trying to do. Who are you, anyway?"

"I am your inner-most thoughts."

"My inner-most thoughts have the voice of a female?"

"You yourself have admitted that you've thought about these things I've told you. I'm telling you nothing you've never thought yourself."

"The thoughts have never been as powerful as you've made them. Who are you?!"

The voice growled, and suddenly, Mario had an intense headache. Suddenly, he blacked out and fell to the ground, right outside his new home.

"This is it, Luigi. This is where we win." Mario took a step forward, forming a fireball in his hand.

"Yeah… winning… that sounds… do-able…" Luigi was holding on to his left arm, but Mario didn't recognize that significance.

"Hopelessness is not helpful, bro," Mario chided.

"Yet you've always done fine with my negativity," Luigi winked.

The brothers approached Kammy Koopa for hopefully the last time. She had made herself more powerful than they had ever seen her. She looked like a giant shadow of herself, filled thickly with darkness itself. Her attacks were enough to blow apart the hills.

Mario and Luigi charged, but another strike separated the brothers. Luigi flew backward, hitting the ground with a sickening thud. Mario was blown forward, straight toward the over-powered Magikoopa. She raised her wand, but at that moment, Mario pulled out his reserved star. No one knew he had it. He absorbed its power and charged Kammy, glowing with the rainbow.

Luigi, nearly unconscious, was crying out to him. "Mario! No!" He couldn't see that Mario… was invincible as that explosion of darkness let loose across the land.

Mario opened his eyes and found himself in a sort of void, a strange, unreal place that made him think he had been knocked out. But he carried on a conversation with that voice. She knew just what happened… she seemed to know more than that… She knew everything about him… everything about his family and friends and the Mushroom Kingdom…

She had offered so much insight that he had never thought he was considering… brought the worst thoughts from the back of his mind to the front of his thoughts. She had turned him against his family and friends… against his heroic duty. Sure, he needed a break, but she had insisted that he break from everything in his former life.

He opened his eyes as those last thoughts fell into place. He should've known. How could he not have recognized that voice? Now, he had to fix his mistakes, before she harmed them any more than she had caused him to.