Super Heroes

Chapter 3

Luigi woke up the next morning in his bed, back at home. His limbs felt heavy. Sweat dripped from his forehead. He gasped as he woke up and tried to latch onto the feeling of air filling his lungs.

It took a few moments for him to register where he was. He didn't have the strength to sit up. He simply stared at the ceiling as the morning sunlight streamed through the window shades like lazers. 

He started the day the same way he did every morning. He mustered the strength to get up, then get dressed. Mario was sitting in the living room, watching the news while he went and made himself a bowl of cereal. As he sat down to eat, he could hear Daisy's voice on the TV, talking about Flamethrower's epic battle with two brand-new villains last night. 

"The nefarious duo, unfortunately, escaped," her voice explained. "Little is known about them, but Flamethrower did manage to stop them from whatever it was they were planning on doing. Thank the stars for him."

No mention of Mr. L. 

He let out a silent sigh, but wasn't surprised.

"Hey bro," Mario chimed when Luigi finished his cereal and started washing his bowl out in the sink before loading it into the dishwasher. Sometimes, he wondered what purpose the dishwasher served. He had to wash the dishes before putting them in. Sometimes it seemed like a waste of money. "There's no calls so far, so as of right now, we have the day off if you want to get some extra sleep."

Luigi's shoulders sagged slightly in relief. He couldn't tell if Mario was giving him the truth, or if his older brother just saw the tiredness in his eyes and decided to give him the day off. Either way, he felt grateful. 

He walked back to his room and picked up his book. Take to the Stars, volume six. He had yet to start it, but it had excellent reviews. He checked his watch to make sure it was working, then left without another word. The sun was shining brightly and some birds were chirping, reminding everyone that summer had come. 

Summer was his least favorite season. He didn't hate it or anything, but everything felt so much quieter in the winter without the birds and bugs. 

"Luigi! Hey!" A familiar voice chimed from behind him. He let out a small breath, then shook the exhausted expression off before she could notice.

"Daisy," he said, turning around to see the young reporter, running up to him and waving her hand frantically.

"Oof, you've got dark circles under your eyes," she giggled, covering her mouth as she did so. 

A slightly deflated feeling washed through him, though it was brief. Daisy was fairly insightful, so he should have known better than to try to hide his exhaustion. Still, Luigi smiled back, not because he was happy, but because he felt like it would be the appropriate thing to do. 

"Want to get some coffee and catch up? It's been too long," she asked, though it wasn't really a question. She liked to phrase things like questions, but Luigi knew by then that whenever Daisy asked for something, she was more so saying, "Yo, this is going to happen whether you like it or not."

"Alright," he said. Before the word fully left his mouth, she was grasping his arm and leading him into the nearest coffee shop. She bought some fancy drink whose name was far too long for Luigi to remember while Luigi ordered a simple cup of coffee. He didn't drink caffeine much because he didn't want to have to depend on it, but he felt like it would have been rude not to get something. 

"So," Daisy started, taking a sip from her drink and sitting down at a small table by the window of the store. Luigi sat across from her and allowed his drink some time to cool before taking a sip. "Did you see the news?"