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

Awwwww...

Luigi's playing with his hands walking around town when Peach finds him.

"Luigi?"

He jumps, but he quickly recovers when she greets him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"Please." Luigi waves it off, then holds up his hands. "Look what I can do!"

He clenches his hands and opens them again, creating a big spark between the palms of his hands. "I can make lightning out of thin air! How cool is that?"

"You don't remember getting your Thunderhand?" Peach asks, worried now.

"No..." Luigi's face drops. "This was a while ago, didn't it?", then stomps his foot. "Why, huh? Of all the people this could happen to, why me? First it was little things that could be explained, but big things that happened on adventures with my brother?"

"Luigi, please." Peach takes his hands. "Do you remember me?"

"I..." Luigi looks panicked for a moment as he tries, "Yes I do, you're...Princess Peach. We thought Cackletta stole your voice, so we went to the Beanbean Kingdom to get it back...and along the way we got our hand techniques, the Thunderhand and Firebrand!" he sighs in relief.

"See that?" Peach smiles gently. "You didn't forget your adventures with your brother."

"But how long before I do?" Luigi asks despairingly. "The fact that it keeps happening...sure I remember you now, but what if tomorrow you're a complete stranger to me again? Or if everyone is? I remember how I was as Mr. L. I'd rather let this thing kill me than be him again."

"Stop." Peach orders. "You can't let yourself think like that."

"I can't help it!" Luigi exclaims.

"We are going to save you." Peach reminds him. "But you can't give up before we can try. Please, go home and eat something."

That makes Luigi look sheepish. "Guess it has been a while since I ate something..."

"And you wonder why you're freaking out, there's your answer." Peach jokes. "Come to the castle, I'll have someone make us some sandwiches."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Luigi gets up from the table he and the princess are sitting at to confront Nastasia, who seems to have appeared out of nowhere.

He looks at Peach furiously, "Did you invite her here? You do understand her half-baked plan is why you had to marry Bowser, right? Why Wario was able to blackmail us? Why my brother was taken away from me right after I remembered everything? Why I'm on borrowed time from her Floro Sprout in my brain?"

"Luigi, she's still a guest. Don't speak to her like that." Peach tries to say.

"No, shut up." Luigi snaps. "I'll speak to her however I damn well please."

"Luigi." Now Peach is standing up and trying to pull him away. "Are you alright?"

Once he looks at her, it's like everything dissipates, and all he's got left is a bad headache. He rubs his temples, "Mhm. Right as rain.", then looks at her. "I'm sorry, Nat."

"It's fine." Nastasia says quickly.

"No it's not." Luigi shakes his head. "Doc told me I'd have some intense side effects, including emotional outbursts. I'm sorry."

"But you can't deny he wasn't entirely irrational." Peach points out, then leads Luigi away, calling over her shoulder, "Don't go anywhere, I need to talk to you."

Later, after sending Luigi home, Peach places a call.

"Hello?"

"Oh good, you answered." Peach says.

"Is something wrong?" Luigi's doctor asks.

"Yes, there is." Peach confirms. "I met up with Luigi, and he forgot about his Thunderhand ability, along with snapping at Nastasia right as she came by to talk to me about what she knows. I'm worried this is getting to where we can't do anything in time. Is there anything you could find in our library that might save him?"

"I'm sorry, but no." The doctor admits. " I'm swamped with all my other patients, and there's no new insights from what little we do know. But I'll keep looking. "

"Thank you." Peach sighs in relief, then hangs up.

Mario's just tidying up the house when Luigi finally comes back through the door.

"Hey there." Mario smiles. "How'd your day in town go?"

Luigi closes the door before admitting, "Bad."

"What? Why?" Mario comes closer, immediately grabbing his arms, but when Luigi doesn't say anything, prompts, "Weegee?"

"I..." Luigi shakes his head. "I'm terrified, Mario. I need you."

Mario complies immediately, pulling him in and holding him tight.

When he finally pulls away, Mario cups his face in his hands, pulling their foreheads together, "I don't care what we have to do or who we have to bargain with, you are not going to die. I swear on our bond."

Luigi grabs Mario's hands on his face to squeeze them as tears fall from his eyes.