-Chapter 38-

Midnight Therapy

Toad Town

Mario woke up in a cold sweat, barely stifling a scream as he did. Luigi, who was just a bed away, woke up as well.

"Mario?" he let out.

"That dream again…" Mario sighed.

"Oh," Luigi hesitated for a moment. "Do you want to go check on her again?"

Mario nodded. "You read my mind."

Wrapping their blankets around themselves, they made their way toward the basement door where a wooden sign hung on the door, marking it as Mary Pat's bedroom. The bros slipped down the stairs, stepping around the small privacy screen that shielded her bed, seeing their sister fast asleep. She was snoring lightly, drooling on her pillow. Mario visibly relaxed at the sight.

"See?" Luigi whispered. "She's alright."

As they make their way back up, they hear stirring

"Mario?" Mary Pat's groggy voice let out. "Lu?"

She was slowly sitting up, rubbing her eyes

" Merda... (1)" Mario cursed.

"MP, go back to sleep," Luigi insisted. "We were just-"

"Checking on me for the fifth night in a row?"

Mario perked, slowly turning at that. "Y... you know?"

MP slowly got out of bed, fishing on the ground for her pajama pants

"The seventh step creaks, and you guys aren't exactly the quietest." She put her pants on and pointed to the couch. "Sit."

"Mips, it's nothing. Just go back to sleep-"

"Sit down right now or I will use so many swear words that this house explodes."

Mario found himself seated on the couch. He blinked, looking down; he didn't even remember crossing the basement. Luigi was sitting next to him and Mips left them to grab some cocoa from the kitchen. She handed a mug to each of her brothers, then sat down across from them. She had a notebook and what looked to be a set of theatre 3-D glasses. She popped the lenses out, then slipped them on before picking up the notebook.

"Welcome to Mary Pat's Family Therapy. I'll be your doctor for the evening."

Mario and Luigi exchanged looks.

"I'm now reminded of that time she played therapist for us when we had that argument over you not cleaning your side of the room (2)." Luigi recalled.

"Oh yeah, I remember," Mario nodded,

MP cleared her throat, getting their attention. "Now then, let's start with how things have been going since I've come to live with you guys here in the Mushroom Kingdom. Perhaps we can start with dinner at Peach's Castle, and the fact that both of you pick at your food rather than actually eat it."

"That's not-"

"Lu, come on. I know both of you snuck your food to Kiwi, if you weren't sneakily putting it on my plate."

Luigi gaped. "How'd you-"

"Because I'm not an idiot, bro. And it's just the way both of you have been acting." She pointed at Luigi with her pen. "For example: you rarely if ever leave me alone. You've always got an eye on me or you're following me around and any food I do get, you always eat first, like you're afraid I'm going to be drugged again."

Luigi sighed. "Kamek was spiking your drinks with that mind control crap for days, and nobody knew."

"I know that, but Kamek isn't here. Still, it's an understandable concern." She then pointed at Mario. "As for you, you've woken up almost every night since I got here. You've been overly catering to me. Hell, you gave me the entire basement to myself when you and Lu are still sharing a bedroom. Then there's the fact that you always look on edge around me, but not like Lu. Not like you're afraid I'll be drugged again and hurt someone. But more like you're afraid you'll hurt me."

"...Giant Country," Mario said after a moment.

MP nodded. "When I fell from the beanstalk."

"I've been waking up every night because I keep having nightmares of that moment. Only you're not in the Blue Hood armor... and the look on your face…"

"I guess that explains why you've been using the Princess' concealer to hide your eyebags

Mario slowly wiped his eyes, revealing dark circles and said bags. "How'd you know?"

"She asked me about it after my training with her the other day. She asked me if I borrowed it and I lied and said yes because when I was doing laundry the other day, your face towel had concealer remnants on it."

Mario was silent for several moments

"Look," Mips sighed, setting her pen down for a moment. "I know that talking about serious stuff like this isn't easy, but if you keep bottling this up, something's gonna snap, and Mushroom World needs the Super Mario Bros. Both of you."

Mario sighed before speaking up. "Everything that's happened to you is because of me… While I was living it up in the Mushroom Kingdom, feeling like a somebody for once and actually finding a purpose, you, Ma, and the others were suffering in Brooklyn. Scapelli threw you down the drain and almost killed you. Bowser's minions found you and turned you into their goon... and I wasn't there. And I know it was the Lame Brain talking, but… everything you said as Blue Hood, especially in that arena...

"Mario…"

"I had the time of my life being the big hero, Super Mario, while everyone else was miserable back home, thinking we were dead! And I knew something was off. When you were Blue Hood, fighting the way you did, speaking the way you did, but I was so blind that I…"

He looked up at her, seeing the bandages that poked out from under her baggy PJ shirt.

"And all I can think is... what if I didn't stop in time? What if you hadn't been rescued after the fall? I'm supposed to protect you. Grandpapi Angelo taught me how to fight specifically to do that. And what do I do? I attack you myself! I keep thinking about that beanstalk. If you hadn't hit all those leaves on the way down, if it was a sheer drop…"

He buried his face in his hands, choking up.

"Let's give you a break," MP decided, turning to Luigi. "You feel guilty for not speaking up more, and for not trying to go after me the first time. Right?"

"Yes…" Luigi admitted. "I knew from the start the Blue Hood was fishy. The fighting style, the knowledge of us, everything... but I didn't want to think it could be you. I prayed I was wrong… I keep wondering what would have happened if we'd stopped you back in the pyramid. You were... tamer then, like it was all a game. But at the beanstalk, you were angrier. Then the arena… If I'd just spoken up instead of agreeing with Toad and Yoshi our best option was a tactical retreat, Kamek wouldn't have been able to keep doping you with Lame Brain. But I just went along with everyone, and you paid the price for it…"

He sighed. "What kind of brother am I?"

Mips looked between them both, then sighed. What she had to do next was going to hurt, but it was what they needed.

"Honestly, both of you are absolute-" A boiler hiss drowned her out. "Brothers." She pointed at Mario.

"He tried to kill me…" She pointed at Luigi. "And you could have saved me but you didn't, and both of you got so lost in the hype of being the Super Mario Brothers that the rest of us were an afterthought. Did I leave anything out?"

Mario and Luigi both gaped, visibly horrified at her words.

"I mean, I was so upset that I took drugs from the villain. And even in the beginning when the dose wasn't that strong, I was legitimately angry. Like Kamek said, those thoughts and feelings had to come from somewhere. You guys were off having a grand adventure being heroes, and I was the pawn of a psycho turtle."

"Now wait just a second, MP-" Luigi began, but MP wasn't finished.

"You'd think that my brothers, the boys who literally changed my diapers, would be able to recognize their own sister and rescue me sooner. Honestly, I have every right to be upset with you I dare say I have every right to hate the both of you… forever ."

Mario cringed, clutching his chest. The very idea his beloved younger sister could hate him caused him physical pain.

"However, I don't," MP set the notebook aside, removing her glasses. "Did either of you ask to get Isekaied here?"

Mario shook his head. "No! Of course not! It was just a job! We found the Warp Zone by accident!"

"Right. And you guys are still actively trying to find a way back, correct?"

"Every day," Luigi confirmed. "But everyone we've talked to said Warp Zones are fickle. There's no telling when one would open up, or where it'd take us."

"Exactly. And neither of you knew if or when you'd get home, so it's only natural you'd make the best of your situation. As for me, you had no way of knowing Scapelli would throw me down that drain. You didn't know Kammy would summon a warp pipe to take me to the Dark Lands. What happened to me was not your fault."

The Bros. were silent, taking that in as she went on.

"Listen, both of you. Aside from being drugged by Kamek, I was treated fairly. I was never in danger. They healed my injuries, gave me the tools I'd need to survive here. And even if I don't approve of what they did to the monarchs, I did have fun with them. I'm okay. Yeah, I'm a little busted up, but I gave as good as I got. Right?"

"Oh yeah," Luigi nodded. "Big time."

She smiled, then turned to Mario. "Please stop punishing yourself for this, Mario. The only one to blame for this is Kamek, and I've got a spiky boot to the-" The boiler drowned her out again, "with his name on it."

"Get in line," Mario told her. "I get first crack. Just like I'm gonna knock out Scapelli's teeth, one by one, and make him eat them whenever we get back to Brooklyn."

They all laughed at that one.

"And we will get back to Brooklyn, someday," MP got up. "Now then, both of you stay there. I'm grabbing the blankets and we're all sleeping down here tonight"

"Sounds good to me." Luigi agreed.

"Mario?"

Mario nodded. "Agreed."

-X-

A few hours later, all three of them were spread out on mattresses on the basement floor.

"Just so you know, I could never hate either of you," MP told them. "Not truly. We're family, and Marionettis stick together."

Mario nodded. "And nothing can hurt us as long as we're together."

"Yeah. And listen. I'll adapt to this world. I've got the tools, and the best guides a girl could ask for." She reached out for both of them. "So no need to treat me like Ma's good china."

"If you ever need help with that, we're there," Luigi told her. "For now... let's get some sleep."

All three drifted off in each other's arms, Mario sleeping peacefully for the first time in a week.

Author's Note:

(1): Shit

(2): A reference to the live action Super Mario Bros. Super Show segment "Neatness Counts."

This chapter was inspired by a webcomic called Super Mario Universe, which is set in the same universe as the 2023 movie, used with the artist's permission. The comic can be found here: http webtoons com en canvas super-mario-universe list?title_no=871182

The artist can be found here: http katlyntheartist tumblr com and here: https webtoons com en creator _han5n

And with that, the Mario 3 arc is concluded. Stay tuned for Daisy's debut, in Super Mario Land!

Please R&R. Until next time!