(As Long as We're Together) Everything's Gonna Be Okay

So Upon Moving Out of Mario's House, a Brainwashed Mr. L Goes...Home?

Mr. L's unpacking another box in his house in Boo Woods when he pulls out a video tape.

Curious, he puts it in his VCR, and turns on his TV.

"It's-a me, Mario!"

"And-a Luigi!"

"Are you tired of-a paying too much for plumbing? "

"Mamma Mia!"

"That's-a why the Super Mario Brothers are here! To save Brooklyn!"

"And-a Queens!"

"And-a your wallets!"

"What the hell..." Mr. L is nearly speechless from laughing as the screen changes to a woman who's clearly reading a cue card.

"Thank you, Super Mario Bros, it seems the only thing you haven't drained is my bank account. "

Then he and Mario come back on, with Mario having one arm wrapped around Luigi's shoulder as he closes out,

"Forget-a expensive plumbing companies where you're-a just a face. For the Super Mario Bros, you're family!"

Then the commercial ends, and before Mr. L can even begin to process it, there's a knock on the door.

He wasn't expecting anyone just yet, so he cautiously walks over the front door, only just a little surprised when it's Mario, looking significantly better than he did not even a week ago.

"Hey." He says, looking hopeful. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

He's not sure if it's because he's still reeling from the ridiculous commercial, or because he doesn't have any real objection, but he just nods, "Sure." And moves to let Mario inside.

"So..." Mr. L says awkwardly. "What're you—why are you here?"

"I just wanted to see if someone wasn't pulling my leg." Mario says bluntly, looking around.

"About what?"

"That as soon as you packed up and walked out of our house." Mario emphasizes, not caring how unfair he's being. "You moved into your getaway house in Boo Woods."

Mr. L rolls his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself. I didn't move in here specifically to get away from you."

"But you knew this place existed. You know this is where the haunted mansion stood before it vanished, and where E. Gad rebuilt a house specifically for you."

"Exactly." Mr. L nods. "It's my house, and E. Gad's the one responsible for the upkeep. And with nowhere else to go right now, I need all the help I can get."

"And that's what I don't understand." Mario crosses his arms. "If this was about having a roof over your head, you could've just stayed home."

"So now you're okay with a squatter that takes advantage of people I don't care—" he stops himself, but it's too late, he sees the moment Mario hears it; he drops his arms, looking more hurt than when Mr. L said he was leaving.

"That you don't care about?" Mario finishes, emotionless. "Is that what you wanted to say?"

Mr. L shakes his head, refusing to let Mario get to him. "I live here now. This is my life now. Get used to it."

"Your life is here?" Mario says incredulously. "In Boo Woods, by yourself? Why not somewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom? Peach will be more than happy to set up a guest room for you."

"Nice cushy room set up by someone you know, where you can just drop in whenever you feel like it, surrounded by people trying to make me remember someone I'm not." Mr. L sees right through him. "Which is just about the last thing I want."

"So that's it?" Now Mario's starting to get angry. "My little brother is dead to me? To both of us?"

"For both our sakes, let's pretend he never existed." Mr. L compromises. "But I do. And I don't particularly feel like waiting around for someone who has made clear isn't coming back, and possibly doesn't even want to. That's why I chose to be here, alone. I'm done."

"You're done with me." Mario says bluntly, walking towards where the TV's still on, grabbing the remote and rewinding it.

He doesn't care what Mr. L says, he still knows him better than he knows himself, and proves it by hitting rewind, and pressing play to start it all over again.

"This doesn't even ring a bell, does it?" He asks as he listens to them in their goofy accents.

"I watched it."  Mr. L admits. "It's so ridiculous, but it made me laugh."

"We spent our life savings on this commercial, after finally quitting our jobs with the Wrecking Crew." Mario rewinds it, then plays it again, looking at Mr. L. "And nothing has changed for me, Weegee. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat, even if we still ended up here. Every bump, scrape, scream, name it."

"I think the thing that scares me the most is knowing you actually mean it." Mr. L confesses, kicking himself. "But once again, you're just reminding me why I can't be anywhere else right now. I can't give you false hope that your little brother might come back when neither of us know that. Whatever you feel, it's one sided."

"So now I'm a monster for holding onto hope?" Mario asks, but Mr. L just goes over to his desk, pulling out an envelope.

"I was hoping to do this later, but since you tracked me down...." He hands it to Mario, who takes it, pulling out the papers.

After a second, he says, "You're selling your shares of the company?"

Mr. L only nods, then says, "Sorry. But if I'm going to do this, I need to cut off all ties right down the middle."

Mario sighs, then doesn't bother hiding his bitterness as he says, looking over them again, "Wasted no time drawing these up, did you?"

"Look, I know this isn't easy, but--"

"But only for me, right?" Mario glares at Mr. L. "Far as you're concerned, you couldn't get away from me fast enough, ready to go off and do who-knows-what with your Bleck buddies."

They both know Mario's not being fair, but Mr. L chooses to take the high road and keep it about business.

"It's all in there. I made sure of it. I don't even want the money. Just file those, and I'm no longer a shareholder of Super Mario Brothers."

"Just like that." Mario chuckles. "Papers filed, and boom! No more Mario Brothers."

"We are the Mario Brothers." Mr. L insists, moving closer. "I'm just not pretending to be your helpless little brother anymore."

Now Mario looks as if he's ready for a fight hearing that, but the longer he looks at Mr. L, the more the fight drains right out of him, until finally, they're standing face-to-face.

"You will never hear me call you anything but Luigi, my little brother." He says fiercely. "And one way or another, he will come back. Did we always get along? Of course not. But we were there for each other through everything. This is no different. I love you, and you are anything but helpless. Don't ever call yourself that in front of me again. When you come back, get ready to have me spend every other moment reminding you of that. Everything I've told you were not just my adventures. Whether I was telling you after the fact, or you came along, they were ours."

Mr. L can only blink at that, but Mario chooses to take his leave then, right as he hears from the commercial,

"Mamma mia!"