Brother's Loyalty

Fratellino Perduto (BAD ENDING)

Luigi could taste his own blood. It dribbled into his mouth, tangy and sweet and coppery at the same time. He paid it no mind, however, gripping the Poltergust's nozzle so tightly that it hurt—and he ignored that pain, too. The only thing on his mind was the wretched King Boo, and getting him into his vacuum so he'd never again terrorize another innocent soul.

But it didn't look good. King Boo fought hard—and dirty. Luigi's continued resistance to him only made him angrier, causing him to attack more savagely. As a result, the man in green was just as bruised and slashed up as Mario, maybe more. The pain was harder and harder to ignore, but he had to try.

Now, Luigi had King Boo out of the protective confines of his Koopa mech, once again vacuuming him up, concentrating hard. The sadistic King's HP was about halfway depleted—making him an enemy with nothing left to lose, the most dangerous enemy by far. His glowing violet eyes seared into Luigi as the struggle went on.

"You really think you can defeat me?" hissed King Boo.

"It's worth a try," Luigi steadily replied.

"Why bother? When all of this blows over, you'll once again be in the role of the second banana," King Boo taunted.

"I don't give a d—n," said Luigi, "because he's my bro. And he's worth fighting for."

He could feel Mario smile as he spoke those words.

"I'm not giving up on him," Luigi went on, "and you—can't—make me."

King Boo cackled. "We'll see about that," he said.

He tore himself free and dove back into his mech, raising his claws. Luigi moved fluidly from pillar to pillar, flipping and rolling and dodging and cartwheeling, as the claws slashed and sliced. Upon observation with the naked eye, nobody would know how pained and fatigued he was.

Why don't you pick on someone your own size? He heard Mario snap at his captor.

"Seeing your suffering makes me happy," King Boo replied. "In fact—I don't think you've suffered enough..."

No. You wouldn't dare—Luigi, be careful! He's gonna—

Luigi, fortunately, was ready for the spiked ball coming at him, snagging it in his vacuum and running toward the mech. As the mech bent down and roared in his face, Luigi released the ball, knocking the head and body sprawling in different directions.

"You made my bro suffer," Luigi said as he brandished the Poltergust and turned it on King Boo. Calm anger oozed from his body, the kind of anger more potent than white-hot rage where the voice was soft and the manner was as polite as ever. "Now—it's your turn to suffer."

He braced himself against a pillar marred with claw marks and scorched from the mech's fire breath, yet still standing. Luigi wasn't surprised—this was probably due to Boo magic. But he wasn't really worried about that right now.

King Boo regarded the royally p—ed off plumber with an amused look. "My turn to suffer," he repeated. "Is it, now?"

The mech's discarded body suddenly came back to life, the tail poised like a snake waiting to strike.

No—no—NO! Mario's voice screamed.

Luigi was fast.

The mech's body was faster.