MONSTER!! - A Tale Of Darkness

A Consequence Too Great

Luigi always had wondered how his brother met Bowser's wrath time and time again with unswayed confidence. It was like he was always so sure nothing would go wrong. That attitude may jinx one or both of them one day.
They dodged and jumped and weaved their way through waves of goombas, flurries of bullet bills, mazes of fuzzies, legions of dry bones, and the occasional line of buzzy beetles. Soon, after fighting their way through so many adversaries did Mario and Luigi finally make it.
It was a large empty room, Bowser's mark on the ground in a lighter coloured stone. Candles lit up the room as opposed to lava. There were few windows, each curved and with three metal bars each. A crevice in the wall marked where the Princess was held. Luigi had to admit, the Koopa King had a talent for interior decor. It was simple, but that didn't sway the thought.
Bowser came in from what seemed to be nowhere at all. He opted not to speak, rather giving a mighty roar, and the battle began.
Swipe by swipe, dodge by dodge, attack by attack, they fought. Not one of them was intent on giving up, though Luigi did consider it for a moment. It was almost like a story told before bed. The heroes will triumph once more and the princess will be saved.
Everything's gonna be fine... Right?
Luigi rolled away from a ball of flame, and for a second, he made contact with Bowser's green eyes.
Wait... Green?!
His mind raced. That's not right. That's not right at all!! This had to be rigged. Maybe the King was planning to come out after the defeat of this one to catch them off guard! Luigi began to try saying something to Mario, but was interrupted as Bowser launched a jet of fire, powerful enough to create a smokescreen. Luigi gasps and stumbled back as the smoke and fire began filling the room. Then, from the blaze and gloom, a great claw swept, and before Luigi could move, he was struck. He hit the ground and curled up, breathing heavily as blood dripped down his face.
As smoke drifted away and the blazes settle, Luigi can get a better look at things. The stone was splattered in red, Mario seemed confused, to say the least, and Luigi could see exactly what he had lost. His eye, his left, to be precise, was rolling about on the floor! It was rather intact, mostly, some flesh clinging to the spherical organ for dear life. Had the blow left his eye in his head, however, it still would have become useless, evident by the tears in the eye itself. Shame.
As Luigi tried to stand he was met with resistance. Like something was trying to keep him down. He looks around, as best he could, anyway, to see who was doing this. Instead of Kamek, or at least another magikoopa, he saw a ghost. A Greenie, in particular, but something was off. Its arms looked like they were encased in volcanic rock, but they moved just fine. Odd... It waved a hand at him and the invisible force keeping him down became tighter. The ghost proceeded then to form an illusion, though Luigi saw right through it, for he saw the caster. Luigi tried to ignore it, with the optimistic hope that the phantom meant well. He grabbed his hat and pressed it against his eye socket, hoping to sop up some of the blood.
Soon, did Luigi dare to look up. The battle was won, and Peach was safe once more, but from the illusions, Mario and Peach failed to see his condition. They spoke at the ghost, which caused Luigi to finally realize this being's reality-bending capabilities, as the scene seemed just a bit... well, wrong, in Luigi's eye. Luigi further realized just how wrong things were as they left. Luigi stood quickly, the barrier gone, he noticed, and barely had the time to yelp, "Wait!!" Before they were gone. Did they hear him?