At Least Your Brother's Not Gonna Die Because of You!

All This Over a Fainting Spell?

"Luigi? Can you hear my voice?" The paramedic flashes a light in his eyes to check his pupils.

"What's wrong with my brother?" Mario demands, watching Luigi's face for any sign of consciousness. "He's never passed out like that before."

Next the paramedic holds some smelling salts in front of Luigi's nose, and that seems to work, as the green plumber jolts awake, then looks around in confusion as he realizes there's a paramedic standing over him.

"What's going on?" Luigi asks.

"Do you remember what happened?" Mario asks worriedly.

Luigi tries to think, "Just a really bad headache, feeling really, really dizzy, and then falling on the ground."

"That's how I found him." Mario tells the paramedic.

"Well I'm fine now." Luigi says quickly, trying to sit up.

"Whoa there." The paramedic stops him. "If you're passing out from a bad headache, that's a serious cause for concern. We need to get you to the hospital."

"No, I--"

"I agree." Mario interrupts him. "And I'm right there with him."

Quickly, he and the paramedic help Luigi get onto a gurney, and wheel him out to the waiting ambulance.

"Hello there." The doctor greets with a warm smile. "So you're here about a bad headache and a dizzy spell? Must've been quite a start to your day. We'll run some tests, see if we can't find the culprit."

"I know who the culprit is." Luigi says flatly. "Wario cursed me."

"Excuse me?" The doctor asks, as he and the nurse look at him in confusion.

"Wario claims he learned some kind of dark magic from Bowser, and cursed him." Mario explains, rolling his eyes.

"I know you don't believe me." Luigi says. "But I swear I'm not making it up. Wario warned me I'd be in for a world of hurt, and now I am! Shit..."

"What what?" Mario asks.

"Bowser's son just attacked Mimi." Luigi reminds him. "What if this is all the same thing?"

"That attack was physical, was it not?" The doctor says. "No magic needed? Trust me, if magic was used on you, we'd see it on your vitals."

"You don't think it's just a tad weird this all happened right after we finally got rid of Wario?" Luigi asks Mario.

"I promise you, this is no curse." The doctor says confidently. "If I'm wrong, name your price."

"And you don't think Wario poisoned him either?" Mario asks.

"I didn't say that. I said it would typically show up on vitals." The doctor says. "But please do not speculate until we get the results."

Then the doctor leaves, so Mario comes over to the side to grab his hand.

"I don't think this is an attack either." Mario says. "When have you ever been in the same room as Wario long enough for him to get the drop on you? And this just in, he's gone for good!"

Luigi smiles, despite himself.

"And more than that, we're together again." Mario points out, moving closer to squeeze the back of his neck as he presses his forehead against Luigi's. "Nothing and no one is ever going to hurt us again."

"But what if something is hurting me?" Luigi asks, clearly still scared.

"Then I'm gonna be there every waking moment." Mario promises. "Same as I've always been, no matter how hard life has tried to separate us."