Super Heroes

Chapter 5

He jerked awake this time, allowing himself to sit up. He felt like his blankets were strangling him, so he quickly pushed them off and allowed himself to catch his breath. The burning sensation lingered for a few moments, though it was not as intense as it was the night before. Still, he could almost hear Dimentio's voice lingering in the back of his mind, teasing him and calling him out for listening in. He could practically see Count Bleck's fiery orange eyes piercing into him as the darkness swept him off his feet and pulled him away from life and consciousness. He felt a drop of sweat drip from his forehead, and for a second he was worried that it might have been blood. Thankfully, when he wiped it off he wasn't met with a hand covered in red. 

When he walked out of his room, he was surprised to see Mario still eating. His older brother was usually done by the time he woke up. 

It wasn't always like that. For many years, Luigi was actually the one who was the early bird, but ever since they decided to be superheroes, (It wasn't really a decision but how they came to be heroes was a whole other story that Luigi didn't want to think about,) they seemed to pull a quick switch between who was and wasn't the morning person. 

"Hey bro," Mario chimed, painfully oblivious. "How'd you sleep?"

"Great," Luigi lied as he made himself a bowl of cereal. Mario didn't bother asking what Luigi discovered the night before. Luigi didn't think he would. They never spoke of anything super-hero related when they were being themselves. 

"Any calls yet?" Luigi asked tiredly.

"Not yet, but it's still pretty early," Mario shrugged. "If you want to go out to do some reading, you can. I can buzz you if we get a call."

When Mario said "buzz," he meant sending a message through their watches. Whenever the watches received notifications, they would vibrate and make a soft buzzing sound, so instead of calling it messaging, the man in red decided to call it buzzing. 

"Okay. I'll probably finish my book today," Luigi breathed while glancing at his book, which was already nearly finished. "Just let me know when you need me."

Mario gave him a thumbs up, and they both fell silent as Luigi finished hs meal. Once Luigi was done, he cleaned his utensils and set out.

It was daytime, but his mind wasn't completely switched over to his Luigi side. Everything Count Bleck and Dimentio had said was lingering in his brain, and he couldn't seem to get the thoughts to go away. He had so many questions. Who were they trying to get back? What happened to them? What were their real plans? What-

"Luigi!" someone called.

The man in green's mind immediately registered that the voice must have belonged to Daisy, because who else would be calling his name? 

Only, the voice didn't sound like hers at all.

He frowned and turned to his left, surprised to see Henri standing on the other side of the road, standing on his tiptoes and waving his hand above his head frantically.

A smile twitched at the corner of Luigi's mouth and he hesitantly waved back. Henri grinned and started weaving his way across the street. (A dangerous move, Luigi noted. There was no crosswalk and the roads were busy. Henri nearly got hit twice!)

"Careful!" Luigi warned, reading his hand out, though he didn't know why. What good would reaching forward do when Henri was tens of feet away? 

"I'm good!" Henri chimed once he safely made it. He beamed a bright smile and placed his hands on his hips. "Whew, some of those drivers are crazy. Like, hey! I'm walking here!"

"Says the guy who walked through oncoming traffic," Luigi pointed out.

"Good point," the smaller man laughed, before bringing his gaze down to the book in Luigi's hands. "Oh, have you finished it yet?"