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

Mario's Life May Have Just Imploded, But Luigi's is Bursting at the Seams!

"I can't believe it." Is the first thing Wario says when Nastasia releases him from her control. "Your plan actually worked."

"I told you it would." Nastasia reminds him.

"Still don't like walking around paranoid I'm going to be found out, but it's paying off. Many Toads are dying to hear the story."

"On top of whatever Peach is able to pay you to make this all go away." Nastasia adds.

"And once you pay me what Bowser was supposed to, I never have to show my face here again."

"Is the Chancellor here?" Mario asks Peach when he sees her.

"Wait, how did it go with Wario?" Peach redirects him.

"It's as far from a lie as it gets. Everything the papers said is true."

"Oh no." Peach says apologetically. "I'm so sorry, Mario."

"Wario had no interest in anyone but himself!" Mario yells. "All he cared about was making easy money, and I cannot believe how stupid I was to have fallen for it."

"Mario, don't do this to yourself." Peach begs.

"How could I have put everyone at risk like that?" Mario demands, not expecting an answer. "I wasn't just stupid, I was a complete idiot!"

"Listen to me." Peach puts a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it. "You are not to blame for any of this."

"Of course I am!" Mario insists. "I was burying myself trying to forget everything that was going on with Luigi, I was willing to do anything, even trust a complete stranger to help us, to still be the hero! All of this is my fault. No one else set any of this in motion but me."

"Who set what in motion?" The Chancellor walks in suddenly.

"I've just put the entire kingdom at risk." Mario says before Peach can stop him.

"That doesn't sound good."

"Far from it." Mario says, which Peach takes as her cue to leave.

After he catches him up, the Chancellor somehow manages to not scream as he repeats, "You hired someone sight unseen? After everything that happened with the world almost being destroyed?"

"That's not what happened at all." Mario says urgently. "I'm being framed. Wario lied to everyone, Chancellor."

"Nobody is going to care about that." The Chancellor says sternly. "You saved the world, just to put our kingdom into yet another crisis! By trusting a complete stranger!"

"It was ridiculous." Mario agrees.

"More than that!"

"I wasn't giving my usual 110%." Mario tries to defend. "I was heartbroken from losing Luigi, I was desperate for people to see I wasn't going to forget about them, and lo and behold, I found someone who was going to let me do that. And he played me like one of his microgames."

"So you weren't thinking about everyone else, were you?" The Chancellor points out.

"I didn't start to be suspicious of his true motives until he first got the job handling the kingdom's finances."

"That doesn't matter anymore. You put the Princess, the kingdom, and everyone in it at risk for someone who was willing to stroke your ego. You're supposed to be better than that!"

"Or not." Mario shrugs helplessly. "I may be a local hero, but I'm still just a person. Believe me when I say I will never stop apologizing for this."

The Chancellor sighs. "You wouldn't be the first to do something like this. But when those actions affect the entire kingdom, and the princess that you were trusted to protect, I'm sorry, but even you aren't immune to such scrutiny."