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

Ha! Bet You Weren't Excpecting Brother Feels!

Mario's staring at the bulletins when he sees his brother walk up.

"Finally! Where have you been? I was climbing the walls!"

"Mimi surprised me with cooking together." Mr. L explains. "Couldn't leave without raising suspicion."

"Why didn't you just say it on the phone?"

"Because I didn't want to risk anyone hearing me."

"What are you talking about?" Mario demands. "You said there's a wrench in the case being dropped. What could have possibly happened?"

Mr. L pulls the note out of his pocket and hands it over, so Mario unfolds it, reading out loud, "I know what you've done, and I know where you live." Immediately, Mario understands. "Oh no.", and wordlessly gestures for Mr. L to follow him.

The moment his front door is shut, Mario holds up the note, demanding, "Where did you get this?"

"Someone wedged it into my front door."

"Impossible." Mario's at a complete loss. "I got the princess out of there before she saw anything. I evacuated the castle. Nobody knows I threw Bowser at Wario but me. That has to be what this is talking about, right?" He scrunches the note between his fingers.

"Maybe someone saw us pushing the gurney to the hospital. Or caught us leaving the hospital."

"Then I have to figure out who." Mario decides.

"I can help." Mr. L offers.

"No, not this time." Mario shakes his head. "I don't want to mess up your life any more than--"

"Mario, shut. Up." Mr. L says through clenched teeth. "You saw Bowser strangling me and were trying to get him away from me. I saw everything. Whatever happens, we're both in it. So let's put our heads together and figure something out."

Mario's speechless, so Mr. L gets him back on track, "D-do you think whoever sent the note had something to do with Wario checking out of the hospital a few hours later?"

"I. Don't. Know!" Mario says shakily. "What if someone knew about his disappearance before the hearing? Or they're just trying to scare me?"

"Then why didn't you get a letter?" Mr. L points out. "Why was it wedged in my front door?"

"Oh yeah, you're right."

"I know I am." Mr. L teases, then moves on quickly, "Maybe someone caught us with Wario when we were wheeling him to the hospital. And maybe they did something to him to make him wake up faster. And he did."

"You know something?"

"On top of everything else?"

"If it's supposed to be blackmail, why isn't there anything about it on here?" Mario shakes the note for emphasis.

Mr. L takes the note to reread it, then nods, "You're right. There isn't. Not to mention they wrote it serial killer style."

"Someone doesn't want us to recognize their handwriting." Mario theorizes.

"So why didn't they just print it?" Mr. L asks. "Seems to me like they just did it for the aesthetic."

"So seeing us take Wario to a hospital wasn't enough for them?"

"Right, right." Mr. L nods. "Maybe they just like seeing us squirm."

Suddenly, Mario's face changes, then he gasps, "Oh no."

"What, what?"

"I think I know who sent you that note."

Mario paces a few times, before Mr. L stops him to demand, "Mario, don't keep me in suspense. Tell me."

"What if Wario did it?"

Mr. L's face goes from shocked to shaking his head, "Uh Mario, Wario was in no condition to be doing anything, much less sending us letters."

"Neither were you, when I first found you in the Underwhere." Mario reminds him.

"Mario, Bowser's body should've left him in a body cast." Mr. L says confidently.

"And we were also panicking over getting him out of the castle." Mario argues. "And you made sure no doctor looked him over. What if he was just faking it so he could slip away unnoticed?"

"And just magically undid his restraints and healed himself?" Mr. L asks incredulously.

"Of all the crazy things that have happened to us, that's what you can't believe? What if he's trying to get us to confess?"

"We need to find someone who can trace heat signatures." Mr. L says suddenly. "If Wario was at my house, they'd know it was him."

"And we know someone we can ask."

"No."

"Lu, come on."

"I'm not asking Mimi to ask Nastasia. I already hate myself for lying to her. This has to be just us."

Mr. L's phone goes off, and after checking it, says "Speaking of Mimi, she's now wondering where I am. I gotta get back."

"I'll hold onto this for you." Mario takes the note back. "See if I can't think of another way."

"Promise me." Mr. L grabs Mario's arm, making the older twin look up in surprise. "Promise me whatever you do, you'll tell me so I can help you."

"Weegee--"

"Please." Mr. L begs, squeezing his arm tighter. "I meant it when I said your game isn't gonna end here. Let me be your player 2."

The desperation in Mr. L's eyes startles Mario enough to where he immediately agrees, "I promise."

Mr. L nods once, then lets go, startled by just how tightly he'd been holding on, and leaves.

Elsewhere, Nastasia smiles as she watches from afar.