Mario and Bowser: Frenemies Forever Redux

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The sharp ticks of the wall clock rattled Luigi's soul as he waited. However the conversation with Peach went as Mario hid in that storage room, it didn't bode well. Ear against the door, Luigi captured a few defensive responses on his brother's end, followed as quickly by an obsequious apology.

"Let me talk to you," he said as Mario was leaving. He shut them back inside, leaving a sliver for light to bleed in. The dark square shaped room housed bird feed, a sack of potatoes, emergency bags of stardust, and a hair dryer to list some. "Let's start again. I had contact with a reporter, Kylie because we suspected 'You Know Who'. I was only back at the hospital because another guy from her office, long story not relevant, might have other clues. Why do you think it's impossible that it's Bowser?"

The cornered older brother absorb the question wearily. "..Because if Bowser was going to stomp all over the pact he wouldn't do it like this and you know it. It's.. really that simple."

"Mario."

"I mean it. I can go into how he behaved the entire time and how he never had an inkling of trouble, but it comes down to that right? Because even if this is Bowser 'related', no I'm not blinded by his fire breath or other capabilities or whatever, it's not from Bowser, okay?"

Luigi had to support himself with that box of test tubes. So some other worser villain?

"-Like I said, I was trying not to rant, lil bro. Especially not about 'You know who'. Not when I'm.. kinda confused right now. -About multiple things, not just him.."

While Luigi remained on his feet that time, the blow was like that of a bob-omb. No, it would have been a lesser betrayal he felt if Mario pulled out a fire flower and shot him point blank in the face. "How is it confusing to you and none of us that sees what's going on? You're a known thrill seeker and there's nothing that tops a secret relationship with Bowser!"

"Waitaminute!" Mario dove for the door handle just as Luigi was about to slip out. A struggle ensued. "You really.. wanna know why.. it's because I can be myself.." he grunted. "Firstly, he's not terrible.. it's just some stock role! Remember he found terrorizing the kingdom pointless after a while too, even though most of his league were against conciliatory treaties. See, he doesn't care what other people think. I wish I could say the same. Whatever scrutiny Bowser has, I have quadruple!"

Forfeiting the tug o'war, Luigi sighed heavily. "-Almost like you're a MAIN star or something."

Mario leaned against the adjacent wall, worn out. "Yeah, on thin ice. Remember how some fans reacted when I added that car to Mario Party?"

"You gotta be.." Luigi bite back a lot of that, clearing his throat. "SO their capricious too. If they are used to being defenseless and you're their savior, you expect stability?"

"No, but there could have been sooner, if I didn't build this ideal image in the first place. Luigi.. I can't emphasize enough how frustrating it is that any detail about me that isn't from a game is treated as this huge reveal, when I've been like that for decades. Thrill seeking with Bowser? No, we'd just go somewhere and not fight, and talk and I'd be treated like a normal guy. That's all. Then I'd come back home and be plunged into this world where I had to be some super hero because other wise how would the Mushroom People react to some 'doofy' fat plumber? The pact was supposed to, besides make the world better, let me drop the charade, let me go back to the mechanical stuff I wanted to do, the zero stakes games, even the coaching jobs I wanted to pick up, but it actually happened and I just.. I was paralyzed.. "

"Mario.." Luigi raced over, his older brother not hiding that subtle quaking. "Let's start over. Again again. Yeah I remember what you were studying for on the side." Wait, did he? That unlocked a very old pre-Mushroomite life memory when Mario was glued to a black and white TV at the shop, knowing the basics of every sport, even 'Calcio Fiorentino'- which only their old Italian grandparents could pronounce correctly. "The worst thing we can do is keep this going."