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

Looks Like it's Time to Call in Reinforcements

When no one says a word, Luigi looks to Mario, begging, "Please, just tell me what happened."

Mario really doesn't want to, but he refuses to lie to his brother. "You blamed Mimi for the Floro Sprout in your brain."

Luigi blanches, then looks to Mimi, and when she nods, Luigi immediately shakes his head. "I absolutely did not. Why would I blame her? She was a pawn in Bleck's conquest for the end of the world as much as I was."

No one's face changes, making Luigi gasp, "Oh no, I really did, didn't I?"

"L, it's fine." Mimi's quick to say, but Luigi won't have it.

"Stop saying this is fine!" Luigi says. "I have never thought that, you understand me? I will find a way to make this up to you before I'm dead, okay?"

"Just sit back down." Peach orders gently. "You're here with us, with people who care about you. It's over. We're not giving up yet, alright?"

Luigi looks at Mario, "That's what happened when I forgot my diagnosis, isn't it?"

"Uh huh." Mario admits under silent protest. "And Lu, I know you don't want to hear this, but I think we need to get you back to the hospital."

"Fine." Luigi moves back towards Mimi. "I'm sorry, okay? You're my friend, and I'm really, really grateful you still are, after everything I've dragged you into. Please believe me when I say I'd never blame you for any of what is happening to me."

"I do." Mimi assures him. "Trust me, that's the only reason I'm not kicking your butt right now."

"We're going to save you." Peach promises. "Together. All of us. In fact, we'll come with you."

As she and Mimi stand up, Mario pulls Luigi around to look at him, hands on his shoulders.

"Just another part of the adventure, remember?" Mario says, squeezing his shoulders. "Mario Brothers all the way."

"Mario?" Luigi says in a small voice. "I'm really, really scared."

"Me too." Mario admits.

After a moment, they all leave the house and head to the hospital.

"He had no idea he'd said any of it." Mario tells Luigi's doctor, with Peach and Mimi there as support.

"Tell them." Luigi says. "All of it."

"I thought he was going to lunge at Mimi, the way he was yelling at her." Mario continues. "He blamed her for everything."

"Which is a lie." Luigi adds. "I knew the risks of going back up to Star Hill, warnings be damned, and if anything, Mimi was begging me to stay Mr. L. No one is at fault here but me."

"L, you can stop." Mimi says. "Forget about that, let's focus on this ." She gestures to Luigi lying in the hospital bed.

"Luigi, I spoke to the radiologist, and he agreed we should try a different form of experimental therapy. We're hoping it'll be just harmful enough that the Floro Sprout doesn't have the chance to spread its roots and we can take it out."

"Perhaps knowing who put it in your head can shed some light on all this." Peach suggests.

"I will do my best to track down anyone who knows something about Floro Sprouts." The doctor tells them.

"Mimi." Peach says suddenly. "Nastasia is still your friend. Would she know anything about this?"

"Maybe." Mimi shrugs. "I know L thinks she did this, but I don't. Her style is to use hypnosis, not Floro Sprouts."

"So my brother could be dying because she decided to use a form of brainwashing that wasn't her usual MO?" Mario snaps.

"We can't know that." Luigi's doctor insists. "The radiologist is the one that figured out it was a Floro Sprout, but you're the only one in recent history who's seen it up close and personal. In this case, you know more about how it works than we do."

"Mario was only wondering." Peach assures the doctor.

"I'm going to go over everything we know about Floro Sprouts." The doctor says. "Now that I know what it is, I know what to look for. But Luigi here needs all the rest he can get."

One by one, everyone exits the room until it's just Mario and Luigi.

"Stars, I'm exhausted." Luigi sighs. "See you bright eyed and Tanooki-tailed in the morning?"

"You kidding?" Mario sits on the end of the bed. "If you're staying, I'm staying."

He takes Luigi's hands, and they share a smile, before Luigi looks away.

"Mario, what's wrong with me? First I start forgetting things, I lashed out at Mimi, it's like Mr. L is trying to take over."

"Hey, no." Mario reaches out to cup his face. "You heard what the doc said. This is just the Floro Sprout. Once we get it out of you--"

"And if they can't get it out of me?" Luigi snaps. "If it just grows back, like we were warned could happen? What if all I can do is just let this thing--"

"Hey hey hey." Mario cups his face with both hands. "Know how I know this isn't the Floro Sprout?" Luigi shakes his head. "Because this is how my little brother talks when he's scared. Know how I know that?" Again, Luigi shakes his head. "Because this is what I do whenever he is."

Mario pulls him in, letting Luigi lean against his shoulder.

"You need to sleep." Mario says finally.

"Stay with me?" Luigi asks without lifting his head.

"Where else would I be?" Mario replies with a smile Luigi can't see.

"Good."

"You'd do the same for me." Mario says confidently. "And I don't need a Floro Sprout in my brain to prove it."

Mario maneuvers them so they're both lying on the bed, heads leaned together against the pillow.

"So now we hope they'll find something." Mimi says to Peach as they wait outside the room.

"Honestly?" Peach says. "Last thing I wanted to do was infuriate either of them, but I think it's a dead end. All our information on it is limited, because it never happened here. If we want to get anywhere, we need Nastasia. Someone with intimate knowledge of how to control someone's mind has to have some sort of hunch about how other methods work."

When Mimi says nothing, Peach continues, "You know, I was there with Mario when I saw what it did to the Cragnon. I agree that Nastasia couldn't have planted it in Luigi's brain. She used her hypnosis on me to get me to say 'I do' to Bowser the first time. Why would she change that for Luigi?"

"Then it's a good thing I know where she is, huh?" Mimi finally says. "If anyone can get her to talk, it's me."