Chapter Fourteen:

The "Sacrifice" to Save a Brother

When he regained consciousness once again and his senses kicked back in, Mario went wide-eyed and his heart pounded as he saw himself and Luigi dangling upside down with a chain around their leg while their other leg and both of their arms were free. They saw a remote with a red button attached to the chain under their feet, then they looked down...

…and right below them was a massive pool of black and orange lava.

Mario and his little brother freaked out, despite the temperature in the room not being very boiling hot, even with the lava down below. Their horrifying host was certainly very crazy. And speaking of their host, a floating monitor appeared and activated with the masked face of the man cropping up as well.

"Welcome to The Floor Is Lava challenge!" The man declared, "Each one of you have a button by your feet. Pressing the button will release your shackle, dropping you into the lava! Whomever drops into the lava dies, but makes it so the other person is free to go. It's time for the true brotherly test. Oh, and the lava is rising! So, if you don't make a choice soon, you'll both die! Have fun!"

He laughed and the screen disappeared, leaving the Mario Brothers to helplessly hang high above the molten abyss of certain doom.

"M-Mario!" Luigi whimpered, "WHAT DO WE DO NOW?!"

"I don't-a know!" Mario wailed.

"Try swinging towards me!"

Mario threw his arms back-and-forth without touching the button and the chains shuddered as the fat Italian tried to swing towards his little brother.

That option was futile, unfortunately, given how strong the chains were. Mario tried to swing more, but no avail. He looked at the chain, grunting with frustration, there was no way that creep was getting to him and Luigi.

Desperate to save himself and his little brother, Mario reached into his pockets to find whatever tools that could help. He grabbed a hammer and swung it, only for the hammer to do nothing.

He wound up pulling a mini-Old Man Hobo out and let it drop towards the lava below. Mario then grabbed a chainsaw and tried to cut the chain only to ruin the chainsaw's edges.

Watching his brother's efforts, Luigi looked down at the slowly rising river of lava and, with sorrow, he looked up at the button while listening to Mario struggle to break himself free of the chain and fail repeatedly.

He didn't think it had to be that way, but there were no other options available, all but one. Luigi eyed the button and silently accepted his fate. As much as he'd hoped that both he and Mario would make it out of this one alive to see new days and more adventures, he had to accept that only one would survive and he hoped Mario would understand.

Luigi remembered every adventure, every Mario Party, every kart race, and every battle they ever fought. He remembered the friends they made and the enemies they faced along the way, Luigi remembered his encounters with ghosts and the likes of King Boo as he journeyed through a mansion to save Mario.

Now, he was about to save Mario again, but not the way anyone ever expected.

The timid but heroic green-and-blue Italian looked at the button once more, then he looked at Mario one last time and called out to him, waving with a calm smile.

"Mario."

Hearing his younger brother's voice, Mario stopped hacking at the chain and turned his gaze, looking into Luigi's face and he could see his hand dangling over the button. After a second of silence, Luigi spoke and Mario's heart pounded.

"I'm going to press the button." He said to his spaghetti-loving brother.

"WHAT?!" Mario cried, "But… NO!"

"I-I know, Mario, but if my brother gets to live, then I'm okay with that." Luigi told Mario.

"LUIGI, WAIT!" Mario's eyes were full of tears now, "DON'T-A YOU DARE!"

His pleas were all in vain as he heard his brother say what may have been his final words. "Make sure Peach, Toad and the others don't forget about me, okay?" Luigi said calmly, "I love you, brother. G-Goodbye… Mario…"

As Mario watched with horror and tears in his eyes, Luigi pressed the button and the chain released its grip upon his leg. The green-clad Italian dropped towards the lava below as Mario cried Luigi's name, looking down to see him smile for what was sure to be the final time.

He watched as his little brother fell into the molten pit and his tear-filled eyes closed as he heard the splash.

Mario's heart felt heavy, perhaps heavier than that chain wrapped around his leg. He could not believe that he'd just lost his little brother and was going to live without him now. He loved him so much, despite all the pranks he pulled on him over the years, despite all the trouble he'd given Luigi.

And the worst part, he hadn't apologized to him for one of the worst pranks that he pulled on him. On top of that, he'd just started to care about him more after years of taking him for granted.

Most importantly, it was going to be one heck of a funeral. Mario could hear the bells and he could see himself speaking to everyone who'd known Luigi, saying the final farewell to a cowardly but kind Mario Brother. His mind shifted and he thought of the one whose hands were certainly covered in the blood of a Mario. And that was...

"This is some weird tasting lava."

His eyes went wide, hearing his little brother's voice. Mario swore he was hearing ghosts, but it sounded like Luigi was… alive?

"Mario, it's not lava, it's Kool-Aid!"

Mario looked down and his heart was filled with joy, seeing Luigi was alive down there. And discovering that the lava wasn't lava, but Kool-Aid that looked like lava, that was crazy. That lunatic of a host had pranked them. In fact, if the "lava" had gotten up to them, both Mario and Luigi would have likely found out anyway.

And speaking of that creep. A floating monitor entered the room and the masked loon reappeared on the screen, chuckling with satisfaction.

"Good show!" The man exclaimed, "Good show, everyone!"

"You ass!" Mario shouted, "When I get my hands on you..."

Their captor ignored the fat Italian above and focused on Luigi below as he was enjoying the Kool-Aid, having brought out a straw and started sipping a good bit of it, remarking that it had a watermelon-flavored taste.

"Luigi..." The man said, "For your kindness, generosity and devout love for your brother, you're free to go. I wish my brother loved me that much. Anyway, I'm gonna send you to the sewers now."

"Wait, brother?" Mario raised an eyebrow with surprise.

He heard Luigi protest, begging with their mysterious host to let him be with Mario, but the pleas were of no use.

The man pressed a button on a remote and the large pool of lava-looking Kool-Aid began to drain, getting lower and lower. Luigi cried out, trying to get out and get to safety, but was stuck in the tide of the lava-looking drink as it went down a nearby Warp Pipe.

"Mama miaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Luigi cried.

Mario watched with shock as his little brother was sucked down the large green pipe along with every ounce of Kool-Aid as the pipe emerged from the draining pool. In seconds, Mario was alone in the room, still chained by the leg, with only that creep on the monitor keeping him company.

"As for you, my fat Italian friend..." The loon announced, "You get to go to the BONUS ROUND!"

Usually, news like that was exciting, unless it was a really hard bonus round. In the case of the current situation, Mario was feeling dread, wondering what else he was about to be put through. After dealing with Piranha Plants on his head, being dragged through a tunnel and enduring a situation where it seemed he would lose Luigi, he was wondering what other horrors awaited him.

Mario yelped as the chain moved and he was pulled into a chute, dragged through the darkness, while the mystery host chuckled. At this point, the dim-witted plumber was hoping to finally have an answer as to who this crazy masked individual was...