After her discussion with Luigi, Peach thoroughly prepared the kingdom for an attack from Conicus, which she believed to be inevitable. But four days passed without any sign of the possessed hero. Concerned that they might run out of time to stop Conicus before he became too powerful, Luigi and groups of Toads had started going back into the forest to look for him and maybe lure him into one of their traps, but without any luck.

To make matters worse, Luigi was having constant nightmares where he could hear Mario screaming for help, but no matter how hard he tried, Luigi could never find him. His voice was always filled with so much anguish, sounding like he was being tortured. It certainly didn't help that he couldn't find much comfort after waking up from these dreams, having no reassurance that his brother was safe.

The last of these nightmares, however, was a bit different. It was the same in that he couldn't find Mario and help him, but instead of hearing agonized screaming, he heard him having a conversation with a deep-voiced stranger.

'I haven't heard from you in a while, Mario. Are you still there?'

'…'

'No snide remarks you wish to share?'

'…'

'Nothing? Really? Wow. I can't lie, I'm almost starting to miss y—'

'WHY ARE YOU STILL PLAYING THIS GAME? JUST KILL ME ALREADY!'

'You… want to die now?'

'…yes. Please… I can't… I can't take this anymore…'

'Ah, I see… well, don't worry. It won't be much longer now.'

'…'

After that, all Luigi could hear was the sound of Mario sobbing in such a way that he had never heard from his older brother before. He tried calling out to him, but, like in all the other dreams he'd been having recently, Mario didn't seem to hear him. He just kept crying.

Luigi had been advised not to return to the forest alone, but after waking up from that dream, he didn't care. He rushed back there as quickly as he could without talking to anyone, and now here he was, walking through that godforsaken forest yet again.

After about an hour or so, Luigi began to feel like he was losing his mind. He couldn't shake the fear that it was already too late; that Conicus had already finished Mario off, and that he was about to encounter his brother's corpse being used as a puppet for evil. With the time frame that E. Gadd said they had, it was a very real possibility.

On top of this, Luigi felt guilty about leaving Mario behind in the forest the last time he had seen him. Sure, Mario had literally begged him to do it, and he probably would have died otherwise, but he still couldn't help but feel like he had abandoned him, left him to suffer alone…

Suddenly, Luigi heard the sound of crunching leaves nearby and his whole body froze. When he realized the sound was coming closer, he quickly hid behind a tree and waited.

Could it be…?

Indeed, Mario soon came into sight, and Luigi did his best not to make a sound as he watched his brother drunkenly trudge through the woods. Although it was a relief to see that the transformation clearly hadn't happened yet, Mario still looked awful. His face was a sickly pale, and his sleeves were in tatters. He was also covered in a lot more blood than he had been before, leading Luigi to wonder who else Conicus had hurt. He hadn't heard about any Mushroom Kingdom citizens getting injured or killed or going missing within the past few days…

Luigi was abruptly snapped out of his thoughts when Conicus unexpectedly made eye contact with him, face twisting with rage.

"You!" he snarled, a now-familiar dark red aura appearing around both of Mario's hands. Without saying a word, Luigi immediately turned and ran away in the direction of where he had entered the forest, as Conicus screamed after him, "FIGHT ME YOU COWARD!"

Luigi quickly looked behind him to see that he was chasing him, holding back tears. He knew that Conicus was the one doing all of this, but it still hurt to see his brother's face, albeit with different eyes, scowling at him with such hostility, and to hear his brother's voice, albeit with a different accent, yelling at him with so much hatred…

As he made it out of the forest, Luigi's legs were burning and his lungs felt like they were on fire as the adrenaline wore off. But since Conicus probably couldn't tire out from running, Luigi didn't slow down, as hard as it was.

Chasing Luigi through the kingdom, Conicus came to an abrupt stop as he noticed the castle nearby. No doubt, this was where Princess Peach lived. Considering how frequently she was kidnapped, Conicus imagined that the castle's security couldn't be the best.

Mario seemed to have given up hope at this point, and yet he somehow had enough fight left in him that Conicus was still unable to harness the fire powers he wanted. If he were to be completely honest, Conicus would have to admit that he was rather impressed by his resolve. But maybe, just maybe… ending the life of his precious princess would be enough to push him over the edge.

As he walked up to the front door, Conicus realized that there were some Toads around who either didn't notice he was there or didn't care that he was there. Perhaps it was because, in their eyes, he was Super Mario, a regular sight in the Mushroom Kingdom. He opened the door and walked into the castle without any resistance and immediately saw the princess facing the opposite direction of where he was standing. How perfect.

Gripping the bloodstained dagger in his right hand, Conicus quietly walked towards her as a smile stretched across his face. How silly it would have been for him to try so hard to kill Luigi when he could take out the princess so easily! Now right behind her, Conicus raised the knife, when suddenly both of his arms were grabbed and he froze in place as he found himself looking directly into the human's glare.

The next few seconds passed in a blur, but next thing he knew, he was pinned to the floor with his legs and arms tied up. He then realized that he was surrounded by a few Toads, and that Luigi had just come through the door, picking up the knife that Conicus had dropped.

"So, Conicus…" he said with a smirk. "You really thought it would be that simple?" Conicus silently cursed to himself. How could he have fallen for this? Of course everyone would have been warned about him by now! Mind racing, Conicus started trying in vain to get the ropes off of his wrists.

But then suddenly, as Luigi and Peach started talking to each other about what they planned to do next, Conicus felt a familiar warm sensation ripple through his body. Thanks to his experience with previous captures, he knew what this feeling meant: Mario had finally snapped completely, and Conicus now had access to all of his powers. Conicus couldn't help but smile, knowing that the many hours he had spent and the different torture methods he had used to break Mario down had paid off after all.

Conicus slowly sat up as discreetly as possible, then leaned forward, trying to hide what he was doing. Filled with exhilaration upon finally seeing the first spark of Firebrand come from his hands, he started burning through both the ropes around his wrists and those around his ankles at the same time, hoping to catch everyone by surprise. As soon as the ropes were burnt off successfully, Conicus instantly jumped to his feet, ready to strike.

"PRINCESS LOOK OUT!" one of the Toads screamed as Conicus thrust a fireball directly at Luigi and Peach. Both of them jumped out of the way in time to avoid getting hit head-on, but some of the fire still reached the bottom of Peach's dress, setting it aflame. Meanwhile, the surrounding Toads descended into chaos, running around and screaming. As soon as he noticed Peach's dress was on fire, Luigi quickly came to her aid and helped her stomp out the flames before any damage was done, aside from a rather large hole burnt into the pink cloth. He then turned to Conicus, who was grinning widely while looking at the flames coming from Mario's hands.

"M-Mario…?" Luigi stared at him in disbelief, knowing that Conicus being able to use Firebrand could only mean that Mario was letting him do so. But… why? Why would he be willing to give that maniac any power whatsoever?

"Mario? There is no Mario anymore," Conicus replied as the letter on his hat morphed from an 'M' into a 'C'. "The name is Conicus."

As Peach frantically racked her brain for some kind of plan to deal with this, Luigi's eyes locked onto Mario's arms. He noticed that it wasn't only his sleeves that were torn; his skin was as well. He then realized the large amount of blood that Mario was covered in… most of it was his own.

"What… did you… do… to…?" Luigi quietly stammered as all the pieces began to fit together in his head in a way that he didn't like. The nightmares he'd been having, Mario's visible injuries, Conicus using Firebrand…

"What's that?" said Conicus. "Did you say someth—"

"What did you DO TO HIM?!" Peach was taken aback by Luigi's sudden fury. His tone of voice, his tensed up body, his clenched fists—all filled with a kind of rage that she never thought she would ever see in Mario's docile younger brother.

"Luigi…" she murmured nervously as she watched him aggressively walk towards his possessed brother.

"You don't think I'm afraid of you, do you?" Conicus taunted before Luigi abruptly grabbed him by the neck and shoved him into the wall.

"No, but you should be!" Luigi shouted in his face. Unable to breathe or speak, Conicus tried to pry the angry plumber's hands off of him, but Luigi only tightened his grip around Mario's neck in response.

"Luigi, STOP!" Peach cried as she tried to pull Luigi off of him, hoping that he'd come to his senses. She knew that nothing good could come from what he was doing.

"Get off of me!" Luigi shouted again, pushing her away. With Luigi no longer pinning him against the wall, Conicus quickly took advantage of the opportunity and kicked him to the ground. Luigi fell on top of Peach, causing her to fall down as well. Conicus then formed two more fireballs in his hands, laughing.

"Ironic, isn't it? The one who always protected this kingdom…" he said, then threw the fireballs to the floor with such force that the tile cracked, "…will now be the one to burn it to the ground!" Now calmed down enough to think clearly again, Luigi turned to Peach.

"Get everyone to safety," he said softly. "I'll hold him off." Peach nodded in response, relieved to see him acting rationally again.

"I'll get you backup as soon as I can," she whispered, then quickly got up and ran to one of the hall doors. Luigi then proceeded to get up to his feet, staring down at Conicus with a glare. Although no longer in a blind rage, he was still too angry to be scared.

"Oh, what's this?" Conicus said with a menacing grin. "Is the green coward actually going to fight me now?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am," Luigi replied. "Do your worst, Conicus. I'm ready." Conicus laughed.

"Gladly."

Suddenly, Luigi's whole body was thrust a few feet into the air, engulfed in the dark red aura of Conicus' magic. Perhaps Luigi should have expected this, knowing that Conicus was supposed to grow more powerful the longer he had Mario under his control, but it was still quite a shock to see how much stronger his telekinesis had become since their last encounter.

"I hope you're prepared, Luigi…" Conicus said, holding his bloody left arm out in front of him. "Because 'Big Bro' isn't going to save you this time!" Mario's arm made a quick, snappy motion out towards the left and Luigi was hurled into the wall, crying out softly in pain. Conicus then abruptly released his magical hold on Luigi and he fell to the floor. Before Luigi could even catch his breath, however, Conicus again suspended him in the air and stared at him with a grin. Luigi could see some familiar black liquid dripping down his brother's face before Conicus proceeded to slam him into the floor multiple times while laughing maniacally.

Although Conicus was now able to use his telekinesis much more liberally than he had been able to four days prior, the side effects still started taking over eventually, and he had to stop throwing his opponent around. Whole body throbbing, Luigi groaned in pain and slowly got back up to his feet while Conicus regained his own stability.

"Y-you're right," Luigi finally said. "This time, I'm going to be the one saving him." Conicus scoffed at this.

"And what makes you so sure you can do that? We've only just begun—"

"The truth is, I'm not sure," Luigi interrupted. "But if you think you can just take my brother's life without a fight from me, think again."

"Very well then," said Conicus between small bursts of neurotic laughter. "Now I get to burn you to a crisp!" He then threw two more balls of fire at Luigi, who dodged them both fairly easily. But Conicus didn't stop there. He started vigorously shooting fire all over the place, and while none of the fireballs hit Luigi directly, the throne room was soon up in flames.

Coughing and wheezing from the overwhelming amount of smoke, Luigi realized that his strength wouldn't last in this environment and that he had to take this battle elsewhere. He darted towards the west hall of the castle, making sure not to touch any of the surrounding flames on the way.

"Already running away again? I guess some things never change!" Conicus shouted after him, starting to chase him again. Ignoring him, Luigi clambered up the stairs as fast as he could despite how much his whole body was aching. By the time he reached the top, he was gasping for air, badly wanting to just lie down. But he knew that wasn't an option at this time.

Waiting for Conicus to catch up with him, Luigi took the little time he had to think. What could he do to fight Conicus without hurting Mario? Simply dodging all of his attacks didn't seem like a good enough solution…

His eyes then lit up as he thought back to a particular Thunderhand technique that he had learned during his and Mario's adventure in the Beanbean Kingdom. The method allowed him to stun Mario and force him to face and move in the same direction as Luigi until the shock wore off. Given that he had only used this technique when Mario was cooperating with him, it would probably be more difficult to perform under the current circumstances. Still, if he managed to pull it off, it could potentially buy everyone a lot of time.

When Conicus arrived, he wasted no time in throwing another ball of flames at Luigi. Again dodging the blast, Luigi smirked slightly.

"Y'know…" he said, charging up lightning in his hands, "two can play at this game!"

Ignoring Luigi's words, Conicus continued furiously throwing fireballs, his cocky demeanor slowly being overtaken by rage. Still dodging the fireballs (which was hardly even a challenge at this point, with Conicus seemingly not trying to aim them anymore), Luigi quickly slipped behind him, taking him by surprise.

"What the—" Before Conicus could fully react, Luigi jabbed his electrically-charged hand into Mario's back. To his delight, Conicus froze in place and remained attached to Luigi's hand, indicating that he had executed the move successfully. Occurring to Luigi that Peach would probably have difficulty getting him help if she didn't know where they were, he started moving Conicus towards the stairs, planning to bring him out of the castle. Perhaps that's where he should have gone in the first place.

As he made it to the top of the steps, however, Luigi stopped in his tracks as he heard a loud rumbling noise and felt vibrations beneath his feet. He looked down to see large cracks forming in the floor at an alarming speed. Faster than he could react, the foundation they were standing on crumbled, sweeping both combatants off their feet. As everything around them fell apart, Luigi instinctively shut his eyes, curled up, and put his hands over his head, while Conicus used his magic to protect himself from the falling debris.

When Luigi opened his eyes, he could see nothing but darkness and could hardly breathe in the tight, enclosed space he was in. Realizing that he must be buried in debris, he began digging his way out. Thankfully, he wasn't buried too deep and made his way to the surface of the wreckage before long.

Aside from some minor scratches and bruises, he didn't seem to be hurt despite what had just happened. The castle, on the other hand, was a different story. The entire southwest tower had collapsed into the moat, leaving a giant gaping hole in the side of the castle and a massive pile of rubble where water used to be that he was now standing on. Luigi could only hope that Peach had evacuated everyone in time and that no one was hurt.

He looked over at Conicus, who appeared to be disoriented, standing a few feet away. Charging up another electrical attack, Luigi started running at him. However, the moment Conicus noticed him, he thrust both arms out in front of him and started pushing Luigi back away from him with his magic, eyes filled with rage.

"You're not doing that again!" Conicus shouted. Before he could do anything else, however, a bolt of lightning shot out from Luigi's hand and struck him in the chest. It didn't affect Conicus that badly, but it was enough to make him lose his hold on Luigi. Seeing Luigi run at him again, Conicus no longer had the patience to prepare any magical attacks. He clenched his hand into a tight fist and delivered the hardest punch he could, striking Luigi in the jaw.

Caught off guard by such a sudden and forceful punch, Luigi fell over backward, clutching his mouth in pain. When he removed his hand from his mouth, he saw a fresh red stain of blood on his white glove. Meanwhile, Conicus stood over him with a smug grin.

"Don't you get it? You're no match for me," he said. "Just give up. Your brother already has."

Luigi slowly stood back up. He wanted to appear unfazed by all of this. He wanted to remain strong. But as the hope he had for saving Mario began to fade, he couldn't stop himself from crying anymore.

"Hey, there's no need to be sad!" Conicus said with an expression of mock sympathy when he noticed the tears on Luigi's face. "After all… I'm just changing your life for the better."

"Shut up…" Luigi replied firmly, avoiding eye contact with Conicus in an attempt to hide his pain. But Conicus refused to stop talking.

"Y'know, I've actually been wanting to thank you for saying that to him, because it really made things easier for m—"

"I said SHUT UP!" On a rage-induced impulse, Luigi cut him off by punching him right in the face. Conicus merely fell back a little and laughed.

"Nice try…" he said, then pointed to Mario's now-bruised left eye, "…but I wasn't the one who felt that." Luigi stared in horrified silence for a few seconds upon realizing that his anger towards Conicus had only added to Mario's suffering. Then suddenly, letting out a shout, he grabbed the hat on his brother's head and started pulling with all his might.

"Let. Him. Go!" he cried out desperately, more tears streaming down his face. In retaliation, Conicus heated up another flame in his left hand and shoved it into Luigi's side. Screaming in pain, Luigi let go of the hat and fell back.

"You don't actually know what you're doing, do you?" Conicus sneered. "That didn't work the first time, and it sure as hell won't work now."

"M-maybe not…" Luigi replied, looking at the spot where Conicus had burned him. The fire had burned a hole through his overalls and shirt, revealing a nasty red wound on his skin. "But… I'm not giving up… I have to get him back…"

Still looking at his injury, Luigi was startled by the voice that responded to him. Instead of a weirdly-distorted version of Mario's voice, it was that same deep voice he had heard in his dream earlier that day.

"Then you'd better figure it out quickly!" it said. Luigi then looked up and gasped in horror at the sight before him.

"No…" Conicus' bright red eyes were now showing up on the cap, while the eyes on Mario's now-expressionless face… they were completely white. His head went limp, looking as if his neck was struggling to support it. Remembering what E. Gadd had told him, Luigi knew what he had to do…

But there was something else he had to do first.

"Mario! Can you hear me?" he called out.

"What? No, of course he can't—" Conicus started, but Luigi didn't care what he had to say.

"Come on Bro, please! Come back!"

"He's not coming back…"

"Mario… if you can hear me, please listen…" Luigi said, still ignoring Conicus. "What I said to you back in the forest… well, it couldn't have been further from the truth!"

"You're wasting your breath."

"Living without you… it's been so hard… please… I just want you back…please don't go!"

"Can you stop—"

"I don't care what Conicus says!" Luigi cried, then abruptly grabbed Mario by the shoulders. "You can fight him! I believe in you!"

"SHUT UP!" Conicus shouted, awkwardly-yet-forcefully pushing Luigi away with Mario's arm. "He's gone, Luigi!" Luigi sighed and looked down at the ground, knowing that there was only one option left. "Accept it. You're not getting your brother back. You failed, just like you always do. Why don't you run away while you have the chance, since that seems to be the only thing you're good at!"

Trembling, Luigi reached for his belt and detached the pocketknife that E. Gadd had given him.
"I'm sorry Bro…" he whispered as he popped out the blade, tears clouding his vision. To mentally prepare for what he had to do, he closed his eyes, telling himself that he wasn't really killing Mario. He was avenging Mario. And right now, Mario's true killer was practically a sitting duck.

Luigi opened his eyes with a scowl, then started running at Conicus, ready for the kill. He raised the knife, aiming right for the hat…

…but his arm stopped right above it. Although Mario still had that dead look on his face, one of his hands was held up in front of him, surrounded again by that dark red aura. The magic was suspending Luigi in the air, paralyzed.

"What? B-but…" he stammered in disbelief. How was Conicus still using magic? He wasn't supposed to be able to at this point!

"What? You think I'm just gonna stand there and take it?" Conicus replied. Luigi was then thrust backward and slammed into something hard, then fell to the ground, which wasn't any softer. He tried to get back up, but his body didn't seem to let him. Everything hurt, and he was so dizzy that he could hardly tell where he was.

He then heard a loud noise coming from above him. Looking up, he saw a large piece of stone that was several times his size falling right towards him, about to hit him head-on.

Knowing that he couldn't possibly get out of the way in time, Luigi closed his eyes sadly, accepting his failure, ready for the end…