See I told you guys I would have this up by the end of the week. I even had an hour and half to spare. :) Okay, in all seriousness I was totally excited to finally get this chapter done. This is the beginning of Luigi and Daisy's adventures so yeah, pretty important.
Nothing about Mario belongs to me. (Sad day!)
Chapter 8- The Lightning
Luigi watched his girlfriend go feeling completely useless and guilty. This was all his fault. If only he had waited on Daisy that day instead of getting in with Danielle. He turned around to see Danielle and a couple of the other girls escorting the bleeding Beth to the nurse's office. Luigi felt a small amount of pride after watching Daisy stand up for herself, but at the same time he realized that she could never play on the basketball team again. Although their coach had a bunch of dumb running rules, fighting was indefinitely forbidden. It was an automatic removal from the team and the fact that Daisy had punched another team member made it that much worse.
Luigi walked to his first class completely overwhelmed with guilt. She had lost her scholarships, her status, and her friends all in one blow. And it was all because of him. Luigi wasn't faking it when he excused himself to the nurse's office for feeling sick. He could literally feel his stomach churning from all the thoughts in his head.
The nurse called his parents and they picked him up in a matter of minutes. Neither one of them were working since it was The Day. A fact that made Luigi feel worse. They didn't pester him with questions over his well being as he made his way to his room. He lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling. This could quite possibly be the worst day of his life, just like it was five years ago.
He didn't fight it this time as the memories swam before him. His brother would have known what to do. Mario would never have gotten himself in this situation. Mario always worked well under pressure. He would have stopped Danielle, he would have told Daisy right away, and he would have stepped up and stopped Daisy from ruining her life.
Luigi let a few tears escape, but it was nothing compared to the waterworks the previous night. He figured he was all cried out. He turned his head towards his window to notice that it had started raining. He got up and stared out into the streets that were quickly becoming darker with the falling liquid. Luigi looked up at the black thunderhead moving in from the west and realized this would be a pretty big storm. Surprisingly enough, Luigi found thunderstorms to be quite serene. Mario used to find it hilarious that Luigi would jump at every little noise or creak in the dark. However, when it came to storms the bigger, the more relaxing.
Luigi sighed thinking about Daisy. He wondered if she was home doing the same thing he was. He pulled out his phone to text her, but lost his nerve. He was afraid that she wouldn't want to talk to him. What if she loathed him right now? He wouldn't blame her. A bolt of lightning suddenly flashed outside his window followed by the calming rumble of thunder.
The display gave him a surge of courage to go see his girlfriend. Regardless of how she felt, he needed to find her. After all, she would need him to be there and comfort her. He started running out of the room before he stopped. He looked back on his desk where his old green hat with the letter 'L' was sitting. He hadn't worn the hat since Mario had disappeared. However, something compelled him to put it on. Maybe it was the fact that it was The Day or the unexplainable courage that reminded him of his brother. He turned to look at himself in the mirror. Where the hat had once been too big, it was now a perfect fit. He decided he liked the way it looked on him, and finally made his way down the stairs. His parents looked up as he entered the living room.
"Luigi? How are you feeling honey?" His mother asked getting up to feel his forehead, but stopped short at the sight of what he was wearing.
"What are you doing?" She asked incredulously.
"I need to borrow the car." He blurted.
The both looked at him in surprise.
"Please, it's important." He added.
"Luigi, you can't go out in this storm. It's too dangerous." His mother argued.
"Mother, I'll be fine. I won't be going too far, and I'll be back shortly. I promise."
His mother looked like she wanted to argue some more, but his father sighed.
"Don't wreck it." He instructed throwing him the keys.
Luigi smiled in relief. "Don't worry. I'll have back before you know it. In one piece even."
He started running for the garage. However, his mother stopped him by wrapping him up in her arms.
"I love you, Luigi. Please, please be careful." She begged him.
Luigi returned the hug, touched by her worries. However, he didn't know what else he could tell her. Finally, he backed out of her embrace giving her an assuring smile. She smiled back. She looked like she was going to run her hand over his hat, but stopped herself. Luigi felt a small pang knowing what she was thinking. However, before he could worry her more he turned and went out to the garage.
He backed the car down the driveway into the rain splashed streets with only one destination in mind: Daisy's house. He didn't run into a single problem along the way, and in a matter of minutes was in the driveway getting out of the car. He slowly walked across the yard not caring that he was getting wet. All of his earlier bravery was melting away with the anxiety of seeing Daisy. He was standing on the porch debating on knocking. However, he finally squared his shoulders and brushed off his fear. He was here for Daisy that was all that mattered. Plus, he would feel pretty stupid for coming all this way to not even go inside.
He was just getting ready to knock when he heard the splash of tires in the puddles in the driveway. He turned around surprised to see Daisy just pulling up. He mentally slapped himself for not noticing that her car wasn't there early before running back across the yard.
"Daisy!" He called out to her.
Her head poked up in surprise. "Luigi?"
He was glad to see her and glad that he came over. However, something was bothering him. He stopped confused about what could be going on. His hairs felt like they were standing on end and he felt like he was covered in static.
"Luigi!" Daisy shrieked.
He had just enough time to catch her frightened expression before something fast and hard hit him. He gasped as the lightning coursed through his body. He kept expecting to feel some sort of pain, but it never came. Instead he was left feeling completely drained of energy and he collapsed on the ground.
"Oh my god! Luigi? Please be okay!" Daisy begged as she ran over to his side.
"I'm…fine." He reassured her trying to get up.
However, he couldn't even push himself up. He looked down at his hands surprised by what he was seeing. It was almost as if they still retained the aftershock of the lightning bolt since little jolts of electricity ran through them. That wasn't the weird part though. The energy was green, as green as his shirt even.
"Thank God! Okay, um, we better get you inside and then Dad can make sure you're okay." Daisy instructed already pulling him to his feet.
He tried to help her as best as he could, but for the most part she was dragging him up to the porch.
"Dad! Help!" Daisy hollered through the house after opening the door.
Luigi heard feet pounding against the stairs and looked up to see Daisy's father come into view.
"Hello Mr. Floral." Luigi waved weakly.
"Daisy? Luigi? What's going on? Why aren't you guys at school?" He asked concerned.
Daisy ignored most of the questions getting straight to the point. "Dad, we were in the yard and this lightning bolt came out of nowhere and hit Luigi!"
He looked surprised as he looked at Luigi. "Really? Um, okay just set him on the couch and I'll go get my stuff."
Daisy quickly did as she was told while her father disappeared from view again. As Luigi was laid down on the couch, he realized something. Daisy's father was never home when they were. Why wasn't he at the office? However, Daisy's hovering form quickly pushed those thoughts aside. He got his first good look at her and was surprised with her appearance. Her hair looked darker from the rain and was pressed against her head. Her hands were shaking as she clutched his arm indicating that she was anxious or scared about something. What really made his heart drop though was the fact that her eyes were red-rimmed and her cheeks stained with dried tears.
"Are you okay Daisy?" He asked concerned.
She gave a small laugh and her shaking subsided somewhat. "You were just hit by lightning and you're worried about me?"
He gave a small chuckle too. "Yeah, I guess it does seem a little out of place, but it's what I came over to do. You didn't seem okay when you left that parking lot and you certainly don't now since I can see you've been crying."
Her eyes started to well up. "Oh Luigi, I-"
"Okay I'm here. Now, does anything hurt or feel out of place?" Mr. Floral asked Luigi as he took Daisy's place.
He instantly started taking Luigi's blood pressure while waiting on an answer.
"Well, not really. I just feel really weak." Luigi confessed not being able to stop himself from looking at his hands.
However, there was not even a trace of a spark. Mr. Floral quickly moved on to checking his heartbeat, having Luigi take deep breaths when asked. Finally, he took his temperature.
"Well, I'm happy to say that everything looks completely normal. You're going to be just fine." He told Luigi.
Daisy let out a sigh of relief, and even Luigi himself felt better knowing that there was nothing wrong with him.
"It's actually quite remarkable. I've never heard of anyone getting struck that way and still retain all their body functions." Mr. Floral marveled.
"Thanks Dad." Daisy told him giving him a hug.
"You're welcome, although I still didn't get an answer as to why you two aren't at school." He brought up raising an eyebrow.
Daisy sighed sadly and Luigi could see that she was really bothered by having to tell him what happened. Before she could say anything, he came in with the save.
"It's my fault, sir. I wasn't feeling too well and Daisy was giving me a ride home. Then we decided that it was close enough to lunch time for us just to come here first." Luigi explained sitting up to look the man in the eye.
He smiled relieved and Daisy looked at him curiously.
"Alright, I'll buy that. In fact, you guys can sit tight. I'll get started on lunch for the three of us." He told them before leaving for the other room.
"Thanks, you didn't have to do that though." Daisy told him coming over to sit next to him.
"I feel bad though. I mean it's all my fault." Luigi confessed folding his hands in front of him.
She reached out and took one of them. "Luigi, there is nothing about today that I could possibly blame you for."
He looked up to see the hard determination in her eyes. He could tell that she truly believed that.
"I'm glad you feel that way." He told her.
She gave him a small smile and before he knew it they were inches apart. He was just getting ready to lean in and kiss her when they heard a loud pop followed by the sound of rushing water. They jumped up in surprise as Mr. Floral came running in from the other room.
"Did you two hear that too?" He asked.
They nodded their heads as they ran towards the room they thought the noise originated from: the basement. Mr. Floral tried the light switch only to find it didn't work. He ran into the other room and came back with a flashlight. He turned it on and swore when they saw that the room had flooded. Already the water was at least knee level.
"Damn it, now I'm going to have to call someone to fix this." He growled angrily.
Luigi, however, had picked up a thing or two from his father. He was sure he could find the problem.
"Let me take a look, Mr. Floral." He insisted taking the flashlight.
"Are you sure?" He asked hesitantly.
Instead of answering him though, Luigi waded his way down the steps trying to see if he could locate the problem. Already the water had risen to just under his hips. Half-swimming and half-walking he found the pipe system on the other side of the room.
"Do you see anything?" Mr. Floral hollered from the top of the stairs.
In that exact moment Luigi had located the problem.
"Yeah, your drain pipe burst and is pushing all of the water into here. I think if you can get me a wrench, a snake, and some duct tape I can do a quick patch job and get rid of most of this water."
"You've got it." Mr. Floral laughed before disappearing again.
Realizing there was nothing more he could do at the moment Luigi made his way back to the stairs. He could see Daisy smiling from the closest stair to the water, hugging her knees into her chest. He smiled as he neared her. He was right where the drain ought to be when he stepped on something soft. He was so unprepared for it that he jumped slightly.
"Are you okay?" She laughed.
"Yeah, I think so." He told her still a little shaken.
"Well come on Handy Man. You must be freezing." She told him standing up holding the towel beside her.
He was about to say something when he realized that his leg wasn't moving. He pulled against the squishy suction material desperately trying to figure out what it was. He yelped when it travelled farther up his leg and yanked down hard. Before he could do anything else he was pulled under the water and his head banged against the concrete floor. He didn't even catch a glimpse of his captor before he sank into unconsciousness.
Looks like Luigi already has his work cut out for him. Lightning, floods, strange objects from the drain, what next? :) Thanks everybody for reading and I'm really going to work at getting the next chapter done quickly. I know how bad cliffhangers suck. Don't forget to review please!