A/N: I hate exams, and I hate studying for them; story of my life. But hey, thanks everyone for 8000 hits at least!
Disclaimer: I don't own Mario or Sonic whatsoever. The plot and my OCs belong to me.
Chapter 37: Lay Something Bare
Luigi gradually opened his eyes and stared at the beige ceiling. He took a moment to realize it was Friday, meaning it's been exactly one week since his birthday. He couldn't believe that much time had passed. But it has, yet it went downhill after his big party. Nothing but chaos, peril, violence, and disaster.
When he sat up, he yawned, stretching his arms and scratching his back. He got out of bed carefully, tiptoeing out of the guest room so he wouldn't wake up Colombo. As he made his way to the bathroom, he found Zephyr floating nearby.
"Hey, Zeph."
The Greenie saw Luigi and waved hello.
"Morning to you, too. Listen, can you do me a favor and go to my house to get me a fresh set of clothes?"
Zephyr made a noise to say that he can handle it.
"Thanks. There's a spare key under the doormat."
He indicated he could simply enter the house by going through the front door. He was a ghost, after all.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot. Well when you enter, my bedroom is upstairs and to the right. My shirts are in the top drawer, overalls are underneath, and my socks and boxers are on the bottom. When you get back, you can leave them on the bathroom counter."
Zephyr nodded after understanding Luigi's directions. He took off and exited the bunker. Luigi brushed his teeth and gargled some mouthwash. Initially, his tongue felt tingly after all that swimming in the Sparkling Waters. (The ocean may be sparkling, hence the name, but it was still salty.) When he finished, he took his time to remove his old articles of clothing.
Ten minutes later, as he was lathering his body with soap, he received a knock and heard Zephyr outside the room. "Is that you, Zephyr? You can put the clothes down in here like I said."
While rinsing from the steamy shower, he listened to the ghost entering and setting down his gear on the counter. The Greenie made another sound to indicate that he finished the favor.
"Thanks again!"
Another five minutes passed as Luigi dried himself and proceeded to dress up. With a new long-sleeved shirt, pair of overalls, and clean underwear, he walked over to the Storage Room where he found the Professor at his computer.
"Good morning, Luigi," said E. Gadd without turning.
"Morning, Professor."
"I woke up early and made some breakfast for you," he pointed at the table behind him. Luigi thanked him as he sat down and took a bite of a Honey Shroom. "I was able to upgrade your Poltergust to increase the suction power again. However, the Shriek Shield counter is still at a max of fifteen."
"I'm sure it's not that bad. Although, I'd probably would want to use them for the girls, especially the princesses. Don't get me wrong, I've seen Peach plenty of times as an experienced fighter, and Daisy can be tough on the field, too. But I just don't want them to be harmed so much that Toadsworth's going to throw a fit."
E. Gadd finished typing on his keyboard and faced the green man. "Just try your best, sonny. Do whatever you can to help not just yourself, but your allies, too."
Luigi nodded and finished his mushroom treat. He took a sip of his drink, a cold glass of milk.
"Mmm… Where'd you get this from?"
"It's natural coconut milk, exported from Yoshi's Island. I thought it would complement with the sweetness of the honey to wash it down, kind of like how you drink milk after eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."
"I must say, that's a nice idea. And my taste buds are quite satisfied with the flavors."
"Glad to hear you like it."
Gadd sauntered over to the Poltergust and removed the generator's charger. He handed the vacuum to Luigi after he finished his breakfast. He equipped it on his back and readjusted his hat.
"I'm think I'm ready to go now."
"Zephyr went along to the mansion to make sure the girls are ready. You can head on out whenever you want."
He gave him a thumbs-up. "Gotcha."
"Bark! Bark!"
The sound of Colombo barking made Luigi slightly jump out of surprise. What caught him off guard though was the Polterpup pouncing on him and making him fall on his back. E. Gadd covered his mouth to stifle a laugh as the ghost continued to lick the green man's face.
"Okay! Okay! Calm down, boy! I'm not going to leave without you, even though I almost did."
"Ruff!"
"Well then," Gadd chuckled, "now that you and your crazy pooch are together, good luck out there, Luigi. I'll be rooting for you!"
"I appreciate it, Professor," he replied as he got up.
The two exited the lab and viewed the sky. It was a partly cloudy day with the sun's rays barely peeking through the clouds. The temperature was mild, with a cool breeze that flew through the bare trees.
"It's too bad I can't enjoy the weather right here and now. We have to go to Sonic's world to find Mario and the next Dark Moon piece," he murmured to himself.
"Morning, Luigi!" The plumber turned around to find the girls walking down the dirt path from the mansion's front door. Daisy came up to him first. "You ready to go?"
"I feel somewhat confident."
"Somewhat?" Cream asked.
"Chao?" Cheese chirped.
"Yeah, what happened to the Luigi we heard last night? The one where he wanted revenge against that dirty shadow?" Amy tilted her head.
Luigi blinked before shifting his eyes to the ground. Some sweat fell from his forehead. He wasn't sure if he should share his nightmares, the reason why he lost his self-assurance.
"Luigi? Are you okay?" Peach walked up to him.
He didn't raise his head, but he caught a glimpse of the princess's face, filled with fret. "I'm fine, Peach. Don't worry, I'm not going to run away again."
"Speaking of which, why did you abandon us yesterday? What was with the unexpected breakdown?" questioned Blaze.
Luigi twiddled his thumbs in embarrassment. "I was going to tell Mario until I felt comfortable explaining. But I wasn't ready at the moment, and I didn't get a chance after we took down Overset."
"What were you hiding from Big Red?" Rouge raised an eyebrow.
"Peach," he directed at her, "I'm pretty sure you're going to realize what I'm about to say while the others probably may not understand since they don't know the full details."
"Luigi, what is this about?" The princess started to worry even more.
He took a deep breath and explained his nightmares from the start. From the time he was hospitalized, to the moment he was held against his will from the Pixelator transport, to the dreaded dream he had prior to their journey to Sparkling Waters, and to the most recent one when he waited for the girls to arrive last night. By the time he finished, Peach gaped with wide eyes and a hand covering her mouth in surprise. The others were also shocked, despite them comprehending only part of his dreams.
"Luigi… You don't mean?" Peach started.
"Only if it's true," he raised his palms up. "I'm not sure, but if it's a sign of foreshadowing, it can't be good. Regardless, Edge is on the verge of annihilation and ascendancy. And we'll all be in serious trouble."
"What are we waiting for then?! We need to head to Mobius and capture the next Possessor, and save our friends!" Amy exclaimed.
"Right!" the rest of the party, save for Peach and Luigi cheered. They walked down the dirt path, on their way to Toad Town. The pink princess remained in her spot, standing beside the ghost hunter who was also immobile for a minute.
Peach placed a hand over her heart. "You don't think he could come back, can he?"
Luigi stared at her with an indifferent look. He shook his head, "I don't know." He then lowered his eyebrows. "But whatever happens, Edge will be defeated."
"How?"
"We'll have to see. One way or another, he's going down," he clenched his right fist.
Location: Star Hill (1)
Star Hill. A beautiful, peaceful location where shooting stars fall high and low onto the mountain. The stars represented people's wishes to come true. Most of them had to do with achieving success, becoming famous, helping others, or personal reasons. Those who were selfish to themselves, however, wouldn't get their hopes and dreams converted into falling stars.
For example, Bowser wished to rule the world or to get the princess to like him. For not having his aspirations come true, he invaded Star Haven to steal the Star Rod, and ensued to kidnap Peach. In the end, Mario saved the seven captured Star Spirits, the protective guardians of the treasured artifact, to conquer Bowser, reclaim the rod, and save the princess.
Going back to the 'self-centered jerks', one of them happened to be the Shadow Spirit himself. He stood at the peak of the hill, gazing over the vast lands that surrounded this majestic place. At the moment, he waited for his subjects to begin the next step of his dastardly ploy.
Back when he took the last two Emeralds from Sonic and Tails, Myster Edge ordered the Shadelings at Vanilla Dome to transport the thousands of Dark Shards from their hideout to Star Hill. By the time he arrived at the sanctuary, most of them were delivered. Afterwards, the minions arranged the Shards around the border of the round peak, forming three-quarters of a circle.
Once they complete a full ring with enough of these Dark Moon copies, Edge can manipulate the negative energy with the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds floating inside his magical scepter. When it's all said and done, the countdown to destruction would commence.
"The last of the Shards should be here soon. Although my patience is running thin." Edge definitely wasn't a persistent person (similar to most enemies), yet he was eager to continue.
Soon, three cruisers landed side by side at the apex. The doors opened to reveal several Shadelings hauling more freights of Dark Shards. Following them were the captains of the ships: Slimmer, Clawdio, and Alpha. The first two were the ones who transported the crystals while the other robots constructed the large ring. Alpha joined them for extra productivity after he dropped off his leader.
The Shadow Spirit turned to his superior line of mechs. "Minions, status report."
"We followed your orders and brought the Dark Shards to Star Hill. The Shadelings did their best to make sure enough covers the outer ring of the mountaintop," Clawdio responded.
"We continued to bring in the rest while Alpha here joined in. More of our army is finishing up the last portion of the ring," Slimmer pointed at the underlings who were settling the shards down.
"I checked the remains at our hideout and investigated how much we need. By my observations, we should definitely have enough for your master plan. But we do have a couple piles left back at our Vanilla Dome hideout in the case we do need more. Otherwise, I'm positive this is a sufficient amount. We just have to wait for them to be put in place," Alpha beeped.
For once, Edge was proud to hear the news coming from the robots' mouths. "Perfect! With the power of the Dark Shards and the Chaos Emeralds, the Oblivion will soon come to life! I'll finally be able to rule every corner and crevice of the entire universe! And I'll manipulate that silly green plumber so I can seize him and use his body to resurrect my old friend!"
"By the way, who is this partner of yours?" the lanky chrome robot asked.
"Yeah, I don't think you've told us about this person other than the fact you knew him and he was apparently gone," said the orange-clawed robot.
"And I only know half the story, not that it matters to me. What's important is fulfilling your needs, sir," the Omega clone stated.
"Hmm," Edge smirked. "I guess it's alright to tell you then. Might as well if I'm going to wait for them to finish setting up the ring. Gather round, minions. Try to comprehend and be enlightened by my history. I'm going to rue the day that green man messed with my partner."
Location: Chemical Plant Zone
"This is all my fault…"
Mario, sitting in one of the corners of the cage and facing away from everyone, contemplated those five words to himself. He remained guilty for not doing anything to stop Edge from nearly drowning his brother. With scared thoughts, he couldn't bear to think of how traumatized he must be from the physical pain. What else was on his mind was whether or not Luigi recovered. He was aware that Colombo was missing, so there was some hope that the Polterpup could have jumped in the water and swim Luigi to shore. Albeit a tough task for the ghost dog, he was the only source to help his little bro. But if he didn't rescue him in time…
No, Mario didn't want to think about death. He nearly lost him about a week ago. Yet he overcame the dangers he encountered, the ghosts that harassed him, and the bosses he fought. Mario believed that Luigi is stronger that what he displays. Within that shell of a man, whose tendency was to run and cower from any trouble, was a determined soul. Inside of him was a hidden trait, the drive that proved why he persevered to save him from the times he was kidnapped by King Boo, or to help him defeat Bowser.
That trait, was bravery.
And he exemplified that several times since he was determined to stop the Shadow Spirit or anything in his way. Despite how underrated he was, Luigi offered more than what people bargained. But with the condition he was in hours ago, he hated to think that there was some lost hope.
"You okay, buddy?"
Mario turned around to find Yoshi looking down on him with a worried face. He rotated away and breathed through his nostrils. "I'm alright," he lied.
The dinosaur sat beside the mustached man. "Are you sure?" he asked for assurance.
Mario didn't respond immediately. Instead, he tilted his head slightly to take a small glimpse of his concerned friend. "I'm sure," he fibbed again.
"You're lying again, aren't you?" Behind them, Sonic stood in the middle of the cage, tapping his red shoe and crossing his arms.
Mario looked back at Sonic with a grimace. He remembered the last time he was in denial, so he preferred not to start another argument with the hedgehog.
"Okay. I'm lying. I'm not alright."
"I thought so." He put a hand on his right shoulder, where Mario's right short sleeve had a hole when an Urchin managed to tear through the fabric. "Dude, don't worry. We're going to get out of here."
"And how so?" Eggman retorted from the other prison. He happened to eavesdrop on their conversation. "If you opened your eyes, you could tell we're restrained behind bars, in the air, above a river of death! You and your stupid optimism should know that it's impossible to escape!"
He shot a glare at the doctor. "No one asked you, Egghead. So zip it."
"Just be grateful you didn't get stuck with him," Knuckles groaned. "Who knows if he's gonna stink up the place again?"
"Hey! Enough with the fart jokes! I bet everyone is getting tired of them already!"
"Frankly, I'm not that tired of it," Sonic shrugged. "Besides, if it means making fun of you, the more the merrier."
"Not you idiots! I meant everyone else!" he threw his hands up.
"Who's 'everyone else'?" Orbot blinked in confusion.
"I don't know. Maybe the people who are listening to us right now! Or in another case, reading it!"
The red robot turned to Cubot, who also had an expressionless face. "Don't ask me. I'm as stumped as you," he replied.
Eggman slapped a palm on his forehead in frustration while Knuckles shook his head. Sonic rolled his eyes and returned to Mario, knees curled up and head resting on top of his arms.
"Mario-"
"You don't need to tell me twice. I'm going to pray that Luigi's alright and that he'll come rescue us. It's the only positive thing I'll put out there. Now if you don't mind, I want some peace and quiet."
He proceeded to dig his head in his arms, away from everyone, and drifted to sleep again, despite how his resting position seemed uncomfortable. Yoshi made a distraught sound, sad to see Mario upset.
Sonic frowned as well. To his displeasure, he wanted to get out. But if he tried swaying the cage around by spin dashing the bars, the chain could break, which could make them splash into the lethal water. And considering they were hanging from ten stories high, he didn't want to risk himself or his friends from getting hurt in chemicals or from fall damage. (2) He went back to Tails, who was sitting quietly in the opposite corner the entire time. He noticed that the fox was staring at the floor with a frustrated expression.
"If only I built backup communicators for us. I could have called Luigi to tell us where we are. Ugh, I'm so dumb!" he berated himself.
"Tails, don't be like that, please. I don't want to see you upset, too."
"I'm sorry, Sonic. But we could've done something to prevent all of this. But we just stood there, defenseless and unprepared. Now we're kidnapped, and without the Chaos Emeralds, too. Edge has unlimited power now. And with that, he's going to bring the Oblivion to life. That's scary to think about."
Sonic scratched his head in thought. "That makes me wonder. Why does the Oblivion need to be created with the power of the Chaos Emeralds? What does their energy have to do with all this?"
"I don't know. But don't forget that they copied the moon fragments and made tons of Dark Shards to go along with the Emeralds. Their negative energy must be linked to them in some way. But I don't know why."
"Could any of this relate to the moments where Luigi got revitalized with the Emeralds and the restored Dark Moon pieces?"
Tails looked at Sonic with wide eyes. "Maybe. That could be logical, for whatever purpose it has. I just wish we knew the backstory behind these mysterious powers."
"One way or another, we'll learn about it. And we'll make sure that shadow guy pays for ruining everything."
Tails sighed as he uncomfortably laid his head against the metal bars. At the same time, he was distraught for his second best friend. "I miss Luigi."
Sonic laid next to him and pulled him into a one-arm hug. "I'm positive he's gonna bounce back. Besides, he's the only one who's able to capture the next Possessor ghost."
"Well, I can only hope he's okay."
"And I agree, little buddy. I agree."
Mario overheard the Mobians' small talk, his mind floating back to his younger sibling. That made him realize something.
"He never told me about his nightmare."
Whatever it was about, he remained unaware of the forthcoming danger that jeopardizes Luigi. And he won't know about it until much later.
END OF CHAPTER
Secrets have been revealed, but you viewers will never know what Luigi and Edge uncovered… at least not right now. But next time on Hidden Bravery, Luigi and the girls will travel to Mobius in pursuit of rescuing Mario, Sonic, and the rest of the captured party. On another note, Edge is one step closer to initiate the ritual that will create the Oblivion.
As always, I appreciate your time for reading! Leave a review, follow/favorite for more updates, and I'll see you guys in Ch. 38! This is TGN, signing off.
Post-Chapter Notes:
(1): Star Hill is a magical place that appeared in Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario (renamed Shooting Star Summit for this game), and M&L: Partners in Time. According to Super Mario Wiki, it's described as 'the place where wishes come true'.
(2): I'm sure Mario, Sonic, and the others can withstand falling from high heights (especially for the red hero once Mario Odyssey comes out). But for the sake of the story, and the situation they're in, they'll be stuck until Luigi and the others can save them.