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

How Did Mario Jump Straight to Bargaining in the Span of One Chapter?

"So L told you how two Goombas betrayed him." Mimi says, and when Mario nods, continues. "And when I met him, he was fully wrapped up in his Mr. L alter ego. Truthfully, I didn't stop to consider how she'd done it."

"So you think she did do it?" Mario asks, confused.

"No, I'm saying I didn't see him get brainwashed." Mimi says. "But considering how quickly she turned all of Bowser's minions against him, and him, it's not hard to jump to that conclusion."

"Did you ask her about it?" Mario pushes.

"Didn't have to. She told me." Mimi says. "She denied anything to do with the Floro Sprout, said it was all Dimentio's doing, that he planted it in L's brain right before he sent him to the Underwhere, and L never knew."

"But Luigi was still Mr. L when I found him." Mario follows along. "Which made it all the easier to convince him to fuse with the Chaos Heart to become Super Dimentio. So she's saying the Floro Sprout was planted in Luigi's brain as a failsafe by Dimentio?"

"More or less." Mimi nods. "I tried to tell her she should tell you this herself, but..."

"But she won't." Mario finishes.

"And with L counting his days, maybe we should look elsewhere." Mimi suggests. "If she's telling the truth, it's a dead end. If it's not, she's not budging."

Right then, Peach comes out of Luigi's room, face covered in dried tears.

"How is he?" Mario asks worriedly.

"Hurting." Peach says simply. "I pressed the call button so a nurse could help him sleep."

"I need to be with him." Mario decides, but as he starts to, Peach stops him.

"Mario, he's asleep." She tells him gently. "You should take this as a chance to look after yourself. Eat something, clean yourself up."

"I don't care about any of that." Mario says flatly. "If he never wakes up, I don't want him to be alone. If he does, I need him to know I kept my promise."

"Alright." Peach concedes. "Tell me if you need someone to talk to about all of this."

"I will." Mario promises, then goes towards Luigi's room.

"Mario told me everything." Mimi tells Peach. "I'm sorry. Have they told their family?"

"No..." Peach trails off. "Luigi didn't want to scare them."

"I think we've officially reached all-bets-are-off territory." Mimi says.

As Mario watches his brother asleep, nasal cannula whooshing through his nose, he squeezes his hand, tears falling.

"I'm supposed to be the one getting hurt, not you." Mario whispers. "Not one star in the sky I haven't made a wish on to save you, Weegee."

He lays his head down on the bed, letting himself cry silently for a few moments, then lifts his head.

"Don't leave me, bambino fratellino." Mario begs, tears still streaming down his face. "I'm not going anywhere, so neither can you. I need you."

Then his voice hardens, "If Nastasia did this and is choosing to let you die, I will make her pay in ways Bowser has never seen."

"H-Hello?" Peach says on the castle phone. "This is Peach, princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. Whoever gets this message, please return this call at your earliest convenience, the sooner the better. This is an urgent matter regarding Mario and Luigi, and I'm terrified you won't get here in time."

"You're going to cure my brother." Mario informs Nastasia when he tracks her down.

"How did you find me?" Nastasia demands.

"Undo what you did to him. Now. Or I swear on our bond I will end you." Mario seethes.

"Excuse me, have you forgotten who you're talking to?" Nastasia says testily, adjusting her glasses for emphasis.

"Have you?" Mario fires back. "All I care about is saving my brother, no matter who's life I have to trade. So make with the fucking cure. Now. Mimi ratted you out. I know you only got your hands on him because two Goombas betrayed him."

"Then you also know that I don't use Floro Sprouts. I use hypnotism. I even used it on Peach to get her to say, 'I do', remember?" Nastasia reminds him.

"So you switched it up! I! Don't! Care!" Mario yells. "But you seem to have conveniently forgotten Luigi's life is at stake."

"And you seem to have conveniently not heard me say I didn't do it." Nastasia tries to move away, but Mario's right there, not letting her.

"Do you even care that the Floro Sprout in his brain has grown big enough to where it's about to burst out of his skull?" Mario gets up in his face. "You're the only one well read on brainwashing and hypnosis that could possibly have an idea on how to get it out of him for good. You've been at the center of everything, and I'm begging you, one last time, to save him. No one has to know I came here. I'll give you all the coins I have to just try. Name it, I'll do it. Please!"

Here, he steps away, unable to look at her anymore.

"Mario." Nastasia says calmly. "You need to stop."

" Mio bambino fratellino morirà a causa tua!" Mario turns and screams at her. "And I don't care what I have to do, I'm going to stop it. Not for my sake, but for his."

"Mario." Nastasia says calmly again. "You may not think so, but I do understand. I am just as disgusted by what is happening to your brother as you are. I promise on the Purity Heart I did not do this to Luigi."

Mario takes a deep breath, then asks, "Does that mean it was Dimentio?"

"Yes." Nastasia confirms.

Seeing he's at a dead end, Mario starts to go.

But then he turns around, enough venom in his voice to stop someone's heart,

"If I find out you're lying to me, and you're letting my brother die anyway..."

Here, his face hardens, "There is nowhere you can hide where I won't find you."

Then Mario leaves, not caring to see Nastasia's saddened face.