Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
A Few Minutes After Luigi Moved Out
Lonely. That's how Mario felt. Absolutely lonely.
He had turned on the TV to get his mind off things. He was happy for his brother that he had a home all by himself that Villager and his friends had made for him. Not to mention he made new friends consisting of a punk from Galar and Neo, of all people.
However, as the tear ran down his cheek, he knew one thing. He had his home all to himself and it was a lot quieter. Luigi would usually take naps on the chair or the two would occasionally play a prank or two before stopping unless it got out of hand, considering the last time the two had a prank war…
Other times, Luigi would chat things up with his bro, argue with him, or the two would walk around town together and go on an adventure to stop Bowser once again. He had to admit, the adventures got a lot more fun when RWBY and co showed up.
Admittedly, he was worried about Luigi during the Subspace Emissary incident, hoping that he was alright. However, he doesn't like showing his other side around others and tends to put on a tough guy act, not wanting to show his softer side.
It didn't help that everyone in town idolized the man and thought of him as this friendly tough guy who gives off plenty of confidence to everyone, reassuring them that everything will be alright the moment Peach gets herself kidnapped again. To him, he didn't want anyone to see anything else from him other than a "Let's-a go!" attitude. He doesn't want to jeopardize that… so he bottles it up and puts on a tough guy act. He doesn't even want Luigi to know about this either.
…But sometimes, even a tough guy like him needs a shoulder to lean on every now and then. However, he doesn't have anyone to lean on at the moment. He let out a depressed sigh. He knows Luigi will visit every now and then, but what if that'll stop at one point? What if his brother stopped visiting and had his full attention to his girlfriend or who knows what kind of fun shenanigans he'll get into with Neo and Marnie.
It did not help that the Bros did everything together throughout their lives, so to have Luigi move out and have Mario by himself? The plumber didn't know what to do. He could go on a walk or go visit Luigi, but he wasn't sure that Luigi needed him at the moment. Besides, he's having fun unpacking as far as he was concerned. He thought for sure his new friends were helping him out.
…But what if he needed more help? Mario stood up, ready to go help him out… and yet, his legs didn't cooperate. He sat back down… something inside of him was telling him that Luigi was just fine and had everything all figured out.
He was absolutely alone. Sure, he had his Pokemon but it's not like they can hold up a conversation, let alone understanding what the heck they're saying.
…Abandoned. He felt aban-no, he wasn't abandoned. Mario chuckled at the thought. Everyone abandoning him? The most likeable guy in the Mushroom Kingdom? No way anyone would leave him just like that. He's super approachable and very friendly. All of his friends like him! The super popular plumber and his friends ditch him just like that? Ha! Not a chance.
His smile disappeared shortly after. That little confidence boost he just gave himself faded away fast. He didn't know what he was feeling but he was pretty sure he wasn't feeling abandoned or his friends leaving him just like that.
Bzzzt! Bzzzzt!
Mario jumped, the sound of his phone buzzing spooked him out of his own thoughts. He would turn to see a text message had come through, coming from the princess herself.
"Just checking up on you. You feeling okay?"
Mario smiled and then would text her back.
"Yeah, just having some time adjusting. It feels weird without Luigi."
"I get that. I feel that way sometimes myself, what with my parents being gone and everything. I totally get ya. It sometimes doesn't feel fair but… life can suck, ya know?"
Mario let out a chuckle. "Yeah. You up to anything right now?"
"Well… I gave team MAJC the Portable Warp Pipe. Weiss got kidnapped by the Wario Bros and was taken to Atlas, so RBY, MAJC, Nyx and Futaba are on their way right now."
Mario's eyes widened. Of course! That's what he needed to get his mind off things! An adventure to rescue Weiss! He didn't know why the Wario Bros would kidnap Weiss, but if it meant rescuing someone, he's all for it!
"I'll be right there."
"Wait."
"…?"
"They already have enough people for this mission. It's more of a stealth op, if you will and, well, to be fair, you're not exactly known to be stealthy. If anything, I think it'd be best to take it easy and take a little rest. They can handle themselves just fine." Peach would follow up with a winking emoji soon after.
Mario's heart sunk. "…Oh." He said to himself as he fought back some tears. They're doing just fine without him. They didn't even need him.
Those same intrusive thoughts entered his head again. They didn't need him. They'd be better off without him! Soon, they'll leave you.
"Oh… okay. I understand."
"?"
"…What's wrong?"
"Mario, are you sure you're okay? I could bake a cake for you if you want. That'll cheer you up, right?"
"I'm not hungry. I… I just need to turn in early for the night."
"Huh? Oh… okay. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Mario put his phone down and took a deep breath. Maybe a good night's sleep will get his mind off things and these intrusive thoughts will leave him alone. He turned off the TV and turned off the lights, which felt strange to do since Luigi was the one who tends to do it as Mario would usually forget since he was too sleepy to notice.
He lay on the bed and soon closed his eyes… however, not hearing the sound of Luigi snoring immediately when his head hit the pillow was enough to keep him awake. The deafening silence, being alone, not to mention these intruding thoughts of everyone leaving him didn't exactly help out either.
He felt alone… and he couldn't get a good night's sleep either. He hoped that Peach was having a good night's sleep too.
…However, Peach could hardly sleep either. Something in her mind was telling her that something's wrong with Mario. She wanted to see what was bugging him, given the fact his tone changed when she explained that he oughta take it easy, considering they just got back from the Beanbean Kingdom and everyone needed to recuperate for a while.
Her mind and gut was telling her to go check up on him, but she dismissed those thoughts. "He just needs some space…" She told herself and tried to fall asleep, but she couldn't stop worrying about Mario so much that she couldn't sleep at all. She even screamed in her pillow in frustration that she couldn't sleep.
The next day didn't exactly help out for Mario either. He would look through his phone and see RWBY and Futaba having a pizza party while the news on his phone was saying that an explosion happened in Atlas and the SDC company was wiped off the map.
It got worse a few days later when Luigi came to visit, only for him to tell him some fun stuff that he, Marnie and Neo were doing while Mario was out walking around Toad Town and getting some exercise in. On the outside, Mario was smiling and laughing over Luigi's fun times, but on the inside… he felt hurt that he wasn't doing these things either, not to mention he felt the slow pull of everyone leaving him.
He just wasn't sure how to go about this either, nor he didn't tell anyone how he truly felt.
Way later, after the fight in Throwback Galaxy…
"My my, you were having a ball back there, Mr. M!" Dimentio said. "It was as if you were truly angry or something!"
"Why would I be angry? They're having fun with themselves without me. Why would I get in their way?"
Dimentio raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" He wondered. "What's all this then?"
"You don't need to worry about a thing, Master Dimentio."
Dimentio stared at him, slowly pondering this before a smirk crept up his face. Opportunity!
"So, tell me more about this. You feel a bit abandoned that everyone's having fun without you while they're exploring the depths of space?"
"What's it to you?"
Dimentio continued to smirk. "Oh yes, everyone's doing just fine without you. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that they would do continue to do adventures without you, leaving you in the dust!"
"Where… where are you going with this?"
"Think about it! They're having a lot of fun without ya. Enjoying themselves, laughing, having a grand ol' time… why, who knows… they might run into an intergalactic theme park and have some fun without ya. To them, you're just yesterday's news."
"No… no, you're lying!"
"Am I now~?" Dimentio smirked. "The ol' Super Mario is gone and I'm preeeetty sure the story will turn around into, shall we say, Super RWBY! The new sheriffs are in town and they kicked ya out. They only wanted to be friends with you for a taste of that action and now that everyone in Toad Town adores them… why, you're just yesterday's garbage!"
"They wouldn't-"
"Ahahahaha, don't lie to yourself. You feel abandoned! It would be a shame if everyone were to… forget you even existed." Dimentio let out a gasp. "Wouldn't that be frightening!" He smirked. "Of course, it's up to you to decide that. You don't have to listen to little ol' me. Hmhmhmhm, just something to think about."
Later, at Disney Galaxy…
"Well well well, isn't this a sight!" Dimentio mused as he was in the park with Seryu. "Everyone's having a good ol' time and they left Mario in the dust."
"…Something feels wrong about this." Seryu said.
Dimentio smirked. "Yeah. I'm not taking pictures of this!" He said, summoning a camera as he would teleport away, leaving Seryu by herself as she would look around.
Kill them all… kill them!
"Mmph… I don't feel comfortable…" She whispered. "I need to get out of here!" She said as she would turn her head and saw Whitley nearby, sharing some cotton candy with Ling. The feeling of hatred sprouted within her as she reached for her gun before stopping herself.
No… don't do it… She told herself as she wrapped herself in her own magic and teleported away.
"Tum tum te tum~" Dimentio hummed, snapping pictures of everyone having fun. "Little bit of this~ Little bit of that~ Having fun without the plumber~ Goodness, I'm like a prophet! Everyone came to this theme park galaxy! Sometimes I scare even myself, ahahahaha!" He chuckled as he would find Peach sitting alone. "Oooooh, hello there~" He mused as he would snap a few pictures, but then noticed a certain web slinger lowering himself down.
"Heeeey, what's with the long face? You don't look very peachy."
"Oh… it's… complicated." Peach sighed.
"You wanna talk about it? I'm all ears."
"Click~!" Dimentio snapped a photo. "I wonder how Mr. M will handle this~?" He wondered as he teleported away. "Ooooh Mr M~!"
"What is it?" He asked, leaning on a wall.
"Take a look at these photos, will ya?" Dimentio smiled as he would look into it, seeing photos of everyone having fun, laughing, and having a great time. He even showed him the photo of Peach chatting with Spider-Man, but photoshopped it to show Peach smiling instead of looking lonely.
"My word…"
"Indeed. They seem to be getting along without ya~ I wonder what'll happen if they continue to have fun… maybe they won't even invite you. You might just be a distant memory until they all but forget about you." Dimentio said as he saw a tear rolling down his cheek. Got ya. He smirked.
"I'm-a… need a minute." He said and walked off.
"Take all the time you need, Mr. M. Your real friends are here to comfort ya!" Dimentio said and then chuckled devilishly. "Got 'im. Winning never felt so good!"
Later, at the Observatory…
"Mmmph! Come on… he should be here somewhere." Rosalina said, looking through the screen with the help of Polari and Lubba, as Luigi, Daisy, Peach, Yoshi, RWBY and several others continued to look for him.
"Samus, have you found anything?" Rosalina asked.
"Unfortunately, no. I can't seem to find him on my radar… ugh, dammit… where could he have gone?"
"Keep looking… he has to be somewhere." Peach said, clasping her hands tightly. Mario… where are you?
Ibuki: *grumbles* Of course he would exploit that.
Yup...