What a Wonderful World

Chapter 20

"Hey, you okay man?" Daisy asked Mario once Peach and herself arrived at Mario's house to go to the execution together. She did try to get out of it since she didn't really want to have the whole Christmas mood ruined, but Peach told her that even though it was gruesome, it seemed important to Mario. 

Mario slowly nodded at her in response to her question, holding up the return pipe. "Yeah... just, long day." Mario breathed.

"Is Luigi coming?" Peach questioned, briefly scanning the room with her eyes for him. Mario quickly shook his head no.

"He's not doing so well right now. Which is understandable, you know... because this is Dimentio. The stuff he did to Luigi specifically back then... no wonder he's losing it." Mario sadly explained. "But don't worry. He'll be okay once this is all over."

"Oh," Daisy sighed, looking down. She always hated it when Luigi was down. Especially since it didn't happen very often. He was one of the brightest people she knew. "Well, should I stay behind with-" 

"No. No, I have it taken care of," Mario replied. "Let's just go. After you," Mario gestured, pulling out the return pipe and looking at Peach.

Peach politely nodded and jumped in. Then Mario looked at Daisy, waiting for her to follow. 

But she didn't. She just stood there and stared at him.

"...Why aren't you going?" Mario asked. "I said after you-"

"What's really going on?" Daisy interrupted, crossing her arms. "I'm not getting in until you tell me."

Mario sighed. She really was good at being able to tell when something was off. "Daisy..." Mario started.

"What's the real reason Luigi's not going? Tell me!" She demanded, raising her voice slightly.

"Okay, okay!" Mario cried, holding up his hands. "He..." Mario started, unsure of how to phrase this, as he himself didn't quite know what happened. "He... I think Dimentio messed with him."

Daisy immediately gasped and covered her mouth. "What?! The psycho jester?! W-when?!" The was probably the worst thing to hear. No one messes with her best friend. That's her job. "Tell me what happened."

"I don't know exactly, but... well Dimentio did something to him. Messed with his mind," Mario murmured, a sad look on his face. "It was probably one of those times he disappeared. Or maybe it was multiple. I don't really know, but Luigi's messed up pretty bad. He's saying crazy things and he's... he's raising his voice. He's fighting back, and he NEVER fights back. I just... I just don't know what to do." 

Daisy covered her mouth, immediately feeling guilty, thinking that she sent Luigi into danger by supporting him. The jester must have attacked him when he was leaving to see Dio or something.

"Well, should I go help him?!" Daisy asked, worry lining her voice. "It's not much trouble. I'd probably rather stay here with him than go to the execution anyways." 

"No. I think Luigi just needs to be alone right now. There's no way to really help him ourselves. The best way to help is to just make sure the jester dies. Only then can Luigi finally be safe. For good." Mario explained. "We have to go make sure Dimentio is taken care of. For Luigi."

"Alright. I hear you..." Daisy nodded. "Are you okay, though?"

She noted that Mario seemed less easy-going and much more on edge. She's actually noticed it for a few days now, but it seemed to progressively be getting worse and worse.

Mario was about to nod, but stopped himself and looked down.

"I just... feel like a failure. I should have watched him more carefully. I should have protected him better. Maybe if I kept him inside he'd have been safer." Mario sighed.