A/N: Hey, guys! In the previous chapter, the Team Rally did not end well for Luigi. Bowser and his minions, who were on his team, sabotaged Mario's team for a week to blackmail Luigi into turning a blind eye to their actions, or they would leave his team. When he refused, they abandoned his team in protest, and later, Luigi lost the team rally to Mario for the fourth time. Shall we think about something more carefree? Meanwhile, Mario & Luigi: Brothership has just been released, and it's Kevin Afghani's birthday too! Today, he turns 28! Let's begin, now.

Chapter 26: Autumn Cuddles in Animal Costume

(''Mario Bros.' House- Paper Mario OST'')

It was a beautiful Thursday afternoon in the Mushroom Kingdom. It was late autumn, temperatures had become cooler and the grasslands and forests were covered in layers of yellow, orange and red. While Para-Biddybugs and Paratroopas fluttered around, Mario and Luigi were at home.

''Here, Mario. Some hot chocolate.'' said Luigi, entering the living room with two cups of hot chocolate.

''Thank you, Lu.'' said Mario, taking the red cup and taking a sip.

As they drank hot chocolate, they thought back to the Paris Olympic Games that had taken place during the summer. They couldn't be Paris in person, and Sonic and their friends couldn't go with them either.

''It's a shame that Sonic and the others couldn't go to the Olympic Games in Paris. We didn't go either.'' Luigi said sadly.

''I agree. We were not allowed.'' Mario agreed.

''But why?'' asked Luigi. ''We already couldn't even go to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, but then we couldn't even go to Tokyo because of the pandemic, nor return to Beijing for the Winter Olympic Games.''

''It's a matter of partnership. The International Olympic Committee has chosen to end the partnership.'' replied Mario, sadly lowering his head.(1)

''Too bad, it was so fun. Sonic, Tails and the others seem quite far away now.''

''I know. Even though there is a tube connecting our worlds, we haven't been in touch with it for a while."

''At least we saw the Olympic Games on TV.''

''Oh, yeah! I remember it!'' exclaimed Mario, remembering how they had spent the summer watching TV to follow the Olympics. ''One of my favorite parts was the balance beam.''

Luigi teased him with a smirk. ''You thought of Peach, didn't you?'' he asked.

''Mamma mia... how do you know?'' murmured Mario, blushing with embarrassment. ''You can read my mind?''

''No. I don't need to read your mind. It's easy to notice.'' replied Luigi. ''Anyway, the Paralympic Games still amaze me.''

''Since the 2012 London Olympics, the Paralympic Games have become very popular.''

''I find it hard to believe that these people live and compete with these disabilities as if nothing had happened.''

''They are people who have lived with it for a long time and are now used to it, dear brother.''

(''Mario Bros.' House- Paper Mario OST-s'')

(''Princess Peach's Castle- Super Mario Odyssey OST'')

When they finished drinking the hot chocolate, Mario and Luigi went for a walk in Princess Peach's castle gardens. They greeted the Toads they met and came to a tree with a branch in the shape of a tanooki tail behind it on which several Super Leaves grew.

''The Tail Tree... The Super Leaves have matured.'' said Mario.(2)

''Perfect for autumn.'' said Luigi.

''Absolutely! Come on, let's take some!''

The brothers took some Super Leaves from the tree and went into a forest full of large maple trees.(3) The blue sky was in perfect contrast to the orange landscape.

''What a picturesque landscape...'' murmured Luigi.

''Yes, it's a beautiful place.'' said Mario, and took a Super Leaf from his pocket. ''Shall we, Luigi?''

''With pleasure!'' replied Luigi, taking a Super Leaf too.

Under the effect of the Super Leaf, they became Tanooki Mario and Kitsune Luigi. Mario was in a Tanooki suit, complete with a hood that covered his head except for his face, while Luigi was in a fox suit. Both wore a bandana, a red one for Mario and a green one for Luigi.(4)

''Now we're ready!'' said Mario.

Luigi began to wag his tail like a dog, then jokingly licked his brother's face.

''Ew!'' exclaimed Mario, wiping the drool from his face with an annoyed look. ''Luigi, what the heck?!''

The younger brother burst out laughing. ''What do you expect from someone in an animal costume?'' he asked.

''OK, you asked for it!''

Mario pushed Luigi on the leaf-covered grass, and getting on all fours, he gave him a taste of the same medicine, licking his face like a cat.

''Mario, what are you doing? Hey, cut it out!'' Luigi laughed, raising his arms as best he could in an attempt to stop Mario from drooling all over him. Mario stopped licking Luigi's face, allowing him to get up and wipe away the saliva he had on him.

(''Princess Peach's Castle- Super Mario Odyssey OST-s'')

''Mario, you know I was joking, right?'' asked Luigi.

''Of course. Come on, let's have a race!'' said Mario. ''3, 2, 1... GO!''

(''Wii Maple Treeway- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe OST'')

Mario and Luigi began to run through the forest, trying to avoid the water and the mud as long as possible. As Mario's costume was brown, mud blended with it and it was difficult to distinguish him from his body but Luigi's fox suit was yellow, and therefore it was clearly visible if he got dirty. They jumped between the maple trees and shook their tails, flying and feeling the adrenaline inside them. As they jumped and flew, they ended up bumping into Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong and waved at them.

''This is so much fun!'' cried Mario. To his surprise, Luigi ran ahead of him when he hit the ground, and his tail began to move faster than usual.

''Hey, Mario! I'll show you a trick! Look at this!'' said Luigi. He spun his tail even faster than before, and this gave him a speed boost. His feet came off the ground, and he bent his legs, seeing how his tail was giving him momentum. Mario was amazed. He ran faster too, but then Luigi jumped, his tail kept him in the air, and he managed to fly without having to move it up and down. The older brother stopped in amazement.

''How did you do it?'' asked Mario.

''Tails taught me that!'' replied Luigi. ''You remember how he flew, don't you?''

''Right, his tails. And that looks familiar to me.'' said Mario.

''After I found out I had a distinct form from yours when I use the Super Leaf, I showed it to Tails, and he was amazed. It reminded him a lot of him, so he taught me to fly with my tail like he does. However, he limits flight to only short bursts to save stamina, as flying with his tails requires a lot of effort and leaves him fatigued. Flying for too long tires him out, and if it does, he has to regain his strength before flying again.'' Luigi explained, returning to the ground.

Mario happily wagged his tail. ''Incredible! Tails is really awesome!'' he exclaimed.

''Great kid. It's amazing how he's a prodigy at this age, and he's so modest and humble about it. Unlike a certain Egghead.'' said Luigi.

They both burst out laughing, remembering the differences in personality between Miles Prower, better known as Tails, and Eggman, Sonic's enemy. Despite being much older than Tails, he was immature and childish. It was ironic that Tails, who was only eight years old, was more mature than Eggman, who despite being at least fifty years old, never learned his lesson and acted more like a narcissistic child than a middle-aged man.

''You keep learning new things, Luigi. Impressive!'' said Mario, lifting the hood from Luigi's costume to ruffle his hair. ''Come on, teach me to fly like this!''

''You have to spin your tail quickly.'' said Luigi.

Mario tried to do so, but when he leaned forward, he fell to the ground. ''Maybe that's not enough.''

''Try another time. Maybe a running start will help you.''

On the second attempt, he tried to catch up, but only ended up performing a glide that slowed the fall. ''It's harder than it sounds.''

''You'll get used to it, Mario. To fly like this, shaking your tail up and down is not enough. Try to rotate it like the blades of a helicopter.'' Luigi advised him.

Following this advice, Mario managed to get off the ground. ''It works!'' he exclaimed. Unfortunately, when he tried to move by flying, he lost control and hit his head against a tree. ''Ouch... it's completely different from flying with a Cape or a Wing Cap...''

''It's a good start, but be careful while flying. Don't think about the rest, just spin your tail.'' said Luigi. He rotated his tail and successfully took flight. Mario saw him moving slightly to the side, and closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. After a few seconds, he felt his body lighter. He opened his eyes and saw his legs rise from the ground. He anguished his arms to the side and managed to change direction, then moved higher.

(''Wii Maple Treeway- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe OST-s'')

''It's working!'' Mario shouted in excitement.

''Yeah, that's it!'' Luigi cheered, grabbing his brother's hand. ''Let's fly!''

(''Gallery (Emerald Hill Zone) - Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games DS OST'')

Luigi flew over the forest, and Mario held his hand for a while in order to become familiar with this method of flight. ''Why do I think I have seen it before?'' he asked.

''Don't you remember the movie for last year's movie?''

''I forgot.''

''You got a short memory.''

''No, I didn't remember that I flew like that here too.''

''OK, I'll let you go now. Try flying alone.''

Luigi let Mario go. As his tail was still spinning, he emained in the air. He began to move in mid-air and slowly flew upwards. To his delight, he got used to it.

''I'm doing it, Luigi!'' cheered Mario.

''Good! You learned to fly by spinning your tail!'' Luigi cheered, returning to the ground, and his brother did the same. ''Come on, Mario! Let's fly together!''

Mario and Luigi ran through the maple forest, trying not to put their feet in the mud or puddles of water. Luigi's tail rotated at high speed, and this allowed him to fly a few centimeters above the ground. Mario followed him and did the same thing, then they both began to fly.

''It's so much fun!'' said Mario.

''Hey, Mario! If you see Sonic, tell him everything about today. Oh, and thank Tails from me.'' said Luigi.

''I will!''

They flew through the maple trees, and some leaves stuck to Mario's body, making both him and his brother laugh. After a somersault, Mario landed on Luigi's back, and felt the wind push them forward.

''Hold on tight!'' said Luigi, and increased the speed of flight.

''YAHOOOOOO!''

The adrenaline rush in Mario's body intensified, and after a somersault over a tree, he and Luigi ended up swapping places, with Luigi on top of him.

''It's fantastic!'' Luigi said happily. ''I owe Tails one!''

''Now we'll not have to fly by shaking our tails anymore when using this power-up, we'll no longer need to use this method!'' added Mario.

Mario and Luigi separated, but flew a short distance from the other. After the trick that Tails had taught Luigi, they now loved the Super Leaf even more. They flew even faster, pushed by the wind behind them, but suddenly, the wind grew stronger, causing Mario to lose control of his trajectory. Unable to regain control, he slammed into Luigi and both crashed into a tree, knocking off several leaves.

(''Gallery (Emerald Hill Zone) - Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games DS OST-s'')

(''All-Star Rest Area - Super Smash Bros. Melee OST'')

''Mamma mia...'' murmured Mario.

''My head...'' murmured Luigi.

Mario and Luigi didn't lose the power-up, but the impact had left them groggy. They stood up and lowered the hood of their animal costume to rest a hand on their heads.

''Are you feeling alright, Lu?'' asked Mario.

''I think so. But... I need to lie down.'' replied Luigi.

Both brothers lay on the grass, and Luigi's tail covered Mario's body. This relaxed him a lot, thinking that sooner or later, he would have to sleep with him like this.(6)

''I love this place in autumn. It seems like a perpetual sunset.'' said Mario.

Luigi curled up on Mario's chest, feeling the brown fur of his Tanooki Suit on his skin. ''You're so fluffy in this costume... I've always loved it...'' he murmured.

Mario smiled. ''Thank you for teaching me this trick, Lu.'' he said.

''Don't thank me. It's all thanks to Tails.'' replied Luigi, hugging Mario and giving him a kiss on the cheek. ''I love you, Mario.''

''I love you too, Luigi.'' said Mario.

They curled up on the leaves, smelling the pleasant smell of their animal costumes. ''You know, big bro, Tails told me something about kitsune and tanuki.''

''Really?''

''Yes. He was really surprised when I took this form in front of him with the Super Leaf. Raccoons and foxes are closely related, and there are legends about tanooki and kitsune creatures similar to them, tanooki and kitsune, which are foxes with different tails. Tails told me that there is a certain connection between them, and he believes that the fact that the Super Leaf now gives me a fox suit and not a tanooki one is a sign of our bond."

Mario laughed, feeling Luigi's tail tickle his face. ''Maybe there's some truth behind it.'' he said.

''I hope he is right. He's never been wrong before.'' Luigi said, and brought Mario's tail to his face. ''Oh, I love this transformation. We should sleep together when you're transformed like this sometime.''

Mario held Luigi tighter and kissed him on the temple. ''Maybe it would be better than sleeping in pajamas.'' he said.

''It will certainly be.'' added Luigi.

''Oh, yeah.''

''And I will only allow you to do it.''

''You spoil me, Lu.'' Mario commented.

''Only the best for you, Mario.'' Luigi replied.

''Oh, you're amazing.'' said Mario, and he gave his brother another kiss on the forehead, which he let linger a little longer than the first one. Luigi chuckled a little.

Mario and Luigi lay down to enjoy the fresh autumn air in each other's arms and fell asleep. They enjoyed a quiet and relaxing rest during the afternoon, feeling closer than they were before.

(''All-Star Rest Area - Super Smash Bros. Melee OST-s'')

A/N: The Super Leaf is perfect for this autumn style! Happy birthday to Kevin Afghani! It's his 28th birthday! Now he is officially the voice actor of not only Mario, Luigi and Wario, but with the release of Super Mario Party Jamboree, he now also voices Waluigi, succeeding Charles Martinet in all his main roles in the franchise! What do you think, did he good so far? Let me know if you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time!

(1): Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which was released a year before the start of the actual Olympics, which were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is the last game in the Mario & Sonic series. A game based on the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games was never released, as the rights to develop it had passed to Ubisoft, and during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Nintendo and Sega lost their partnership with the International Olympic Committee, which didn't renew their license to develop new games of this type.

(2): The Tail Tree grows near Peach's castle and appears in Super Mario 3D Land, where it plays an important role in the plot along with the Super Leaves that grow on it: after a rainstorm blows all the Super Leaves from the tree, Bowser steals them to strengthen his army and kidnaps Peach. It also returns in Super Mario Odyssey.

(3): This setting is based on Maple Treeway, which is the third track in Mario Kart Wii's Star Cup and has reappeared in subsequent games in the Mario Kart series as the fourth track of the Leaf Cup in Mario Kart 7 and the fourth track in the Rock Cup in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Maple Treeway is inspired by Gold Leaf Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy, which is very similar to the Honeyhive Galaxy, but the initial planet is autumn-themed and mirrored and lacks the cave behind the waterfall.

(4): In Super Mario 3D Land, Special Worlds have a more powerful version of the Super Leaf, the Statue Leaf, which is made of stone. It grants the same powers as the regular Super Leaf and also allows Mario and Luigi to transform into a stone statue like the Tanooki Suit in Super Mario Bros. 3. When they are transformed into a statue, Mario raises his right hand, while Luigi raises his left. Compared to the normal version, Mario and Luigi wear a bandana. Lucky Bells in Super Mario 3D World have very similar mechanics, as they are more powerful than the common Super Bell, and like the Statue Leaf, they can only be found in special worlds. Here, Luigi is the only character who raises his left hand when transformed.

(5): When Tails reaches his top speed, he spins his tails to give himself a boost just above the ground, which allows him to keep up with Sonic. He can also use his tails to fly by rotating them like helicopter blades, and starting with Sonic Chaos, in which he is playable, he can fly under the player's control, while in later games, he can swim underwater for a short time with the same method, and in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic Advance 3 and Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 2, can also carry Sonic while he is flying. However, when playable, he can only fly for eight seconds at a time, and beyond this limit, hewill get tired and return to the ground. According to official sources, Tails cannot fly for long periods of time because it drains his stamina, and in the issue 27 of the IDW comics, if he flies for too long, he will become temporarily unable to fly from exhaustion. In Sonic Advance 2 and Sonic Advance 3, Cream is also able to fly, as she can flap her ears like wings to take flight, but she can't fly as long as Tails. In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, after obtaining the Super Leaf, Mario can fly in a very similar way to Tails, by spinning his tail. Curiously, Tails was initially supposed to be a tanooki, but he was made a fox in order to distinguish him from Tanooki Mario, and with the release of Super Mario 3D Land and New Super Mario Bros. 2, Luigi got a distinct form from Mario when he takes a Super Leaf, no longer based off a tanuki, but on a fox, a kitsune to be more precise.

(6): In the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie, there is a scene where Sonic and Tails go to sleep and Tails wraps his tails around Sonic's body like a blanket.