The Evils Within

Chapter 3

Mario tossed back and forth in an attempt to sleep before looking to the ceiling and sighing in annoyance. "Bro, can you shut that light off? It's almost two in the morning," he asked his brother from his top bunk.

"Sorry, bro. It's just the only thing I can think of to keep me awake," Luigi responded tiredly. He had been up for the last three days, terrified of his own dreams.

Mario sat up from his bed and looked over to Luigi, deeply concerned about his brother's mental state. "You can't stay awake forever. That's not good for you," he worriedly informed. He jumped down from his bed onto his brothers. Luigi was about to drift off to sleep before snapping awake at the feeling of his bed-springs jolting.

"Luigi, come here," Mario said. Luigi moved to sit next to him and he put an arm around Luigi's shoulders. "Listen, I know you're terrified of going to sleep, but I'm terrified of what could happen if you don't," he told him, worry written all over his face.

Luigi glanced at the floor, then back to his brother. "I know, but... I'm afraid," he responded sheepishly. "Afraid of what he could do to me. Afraid of the mind tricks he could pull..." he tried to explain to him but to no avail.

Mario looked to him confused. "Luigi, it's just a dream. It can't hurt you!" He sighed, "Bro, listen, I'm tired, you're tired, let's just please try to get sleep. This'll make a lot more sense, for the both of us, if we got some rest." He stopped, noticing that he had begun raising his voice. He gave his brother a tight hug and attempted to apologize. "I'm sorry. I feel like I'm being a bit rude," He yawned, absolutely desperate for some sleep after the day he had been through, "But please, Luigi, please get some sleep, okay?"

No response. All he got was the sound of him softly breathing as he had fallen asleep on his brother's shoulder. Mario carefully pulled him off of him and tucked him into bed, lightly ruffling his hair with a smile before heading back into his bed. He reached over to the lamp to shut off the light so they both could get some kind of sleep.

~~~~~

Luigi fell to the ground from seemingly out of nowhere. He looked around. Realizing he was back in his dream space, he groaned in distress but wanted to get this impending nightmare over.

"You're back," his own voice sounded before him. It was him again, but he was a bit different. Yes, he was still wearing his face, but instead of being an exact clone, it donned a black jumpsuit with two gold buttons on either side, a dark green neckerchief, gray gloves and shoes, and a black mask over his eyes, in contrast to Luigi's general attire.

"And to think, I was starting to worry about you," it mocked in a condescending tone. "Oh, I don't think I've had the chance to properly reintroduce myself! Don't tell me you've forgotten about me," he smiled with a faux laugh.

Luigi stood up, dusting off his overalls. "How could I not? 'The Green Thunder himself, Mr. L'. You've tormented me for months after Dimentio took over!" He responded as a question popped in his mind. "What are you doing back anyway? I thought I repressed you."

"You did, but... the thing about repressed memories and feelings is that they come back sooner or later," he explained. "As for why, I want out. Out of this barren wasteland you call a 'mind'. I want to be my own person, instead of being confined to this wuss.

Luigi put a hand to his chest in an offended manner before quickly shaking out the thought to stay on topic. "You...you know I couldn't possibly let you go. Who knows what mess you could cause! And with my face to boot? I can't imagine the repercussions!" Stressed, he placed his hands on either side of his head and took a deep breath to calm himself down.

Mr. L scoffed, "Pathetic," he crossed his arms and took a step towards Luigi. "I'm going to be free, just you wait," He smirked as the dream began to fade out.