Luigi's Nightmares

The Sum of All Fears

A loud roar thundered throughout the hall. Luigi just stood there, staring at the—creature he now had to fight. A giant, muscular monstrosity with blue-green skin, bat wings, a serpent-like tail and a horned head. Long, sharp claws on his hands and just as long and sharp talons on his feet. From his mouth protruded a set of gleaming fangs. And it got right in Luigi's face and roared.

Back in their private viewing room, the three spectators recoiled at the sight of Dracula's monster form. Mario was whiter than a Boo, Peach doing her best to comfort him, while Daisy fiddled with the neckline of her dress, trying to stay strong.

"Oh, my God," gasped Mario. "Does Master Hand know what he's doing?"

"Mario, please. You have to think positive," said Peach.

"Yeah. Otherwise, how else will he face his fears?" Daisy joined in.

"He's counting on us, M," added Peach, "just as he's counting on himself."

Mario nodded, struggling to calm himself down as Luigi's apprehensive face once again filled the screen. They saw him close his eyes, his chest pulsing as he took several deep breaths. And then his eyes flashed open, and he raised his fists.

"Do it, Luigi!" the trio shouted in unison.

The good news about Dracula's monster form was that all of him was tangible. The bad news was that his attacks were more devastating. Luigi stayed quick on his feet, jumping and flitting about the monster and attacking when he could. Rearing back, the monster fired three purple, homing projectiles at Luigi, but he dodged one, shielded the second and parried the last. The monster then jumped into the air and tried to squash his challenger, only for said challenger to vault to safety. Then, he lunged back in, firing several heavy Smash attacks before he was stopped by a powerful slash from those claws, sending him halfway across the room. Luigi shook off the pain and leaped back up in time to avoid another projectile, a big, blue one, this time. The monster tried to stomp on him again, but Luigi was just too quick for him. In the air, the man in pink did his Cyclone attack and them bombarded the monster with b-airs and f-airs, twisting his body clear of another slash. Two small bursts of orange fire erupted from the beast's mouth, one of them hitting Luigi and stunning him enough to fall victim to one of those pillars of flame, blowing him backwards. The plumber got up, brushed himself off and ran at his opponent again, shooting himself like a rocket into the monster's belly. He threw a breakdance kick at the monster's legs and rolled away before the monster could retaliate. Now behind the monster, Luigi propelled a barrage of relentless blows to his back. But then the monster turned around and slashed him again—once, twice, three times, knocking him to the floor. He was able to roll to the side as his foe jumped at him, but he wasn't fast enough to evade the projectile sent his way.

The monster growled when he saw Luigi pick himself up. He was a stubborn one, but he'd bring him down. But Luigi faced this lug down, breathing through the pain and memory. He wrenched his body erect and raised his fists once more.

"I can do this all day," he gasped.

Furious at this show of defiance, the monster charged at Luigi. Calmly, the plumber slipped behind him and continued battering him with everything he had. He was now engaged in an all-out fight for his life. And that was in more ways than one. Obviously, Dracula in this form was exceptionally dangerous and pulled no punches. But Luigi was also fighting to take back his life. He was sick of being ruled by fears, flashbacks and nightmares. He hadn't been the same since his run-in with Death. But presently, he was battling Death's master, the being he'd dreaded for so long. By defeating Dracula, he'd put that fateful day behind him once and for all and reclaim his peace of mind.