The Evils Within

Chapter 15

"No sign of him?" Peach asked.

Mario and Luigi shook their heads. Back in the conference room, they sat in the seats across from Peach. Mario sat back in his seat while Luigi rested his cheek on the palm of his hand.

"Hey," Mario spoke up, turning to Luigi, Luigi returning the gaze. "Didn't you mention something about seeing Mr. L in a dream?"

His attention now caught, Luigi sat straight up. He knew what his brother was up to.

"I just thought, if you were to go to sleep right now, do you think you'd be able to see what Mr. L is up to?" Mario asked.

"We can't find out until we try," Peach commented.

Peach led Mario and Luigi back to the small room where Luigi crawled onto the bed and lied down. Mario and Peach stood on either side of the bed giving him a smile as he quickly drifted off into sleep.

~

Luigi found himself in a room in Bowser's Castle. He couldn't move at his own free will. He could look around, however. Looking around, he could see he was back in his old jumpsuit. If he could, he would have shuddered at the sight of it. This wasn't his body. He was seeing through Mr. L's eyes.

Mr. L paced back and forth in front of a blackboard with bullet points on it, twiddling his fingers and talking to himself. "Alright, one more time. One more time," he told himself, now facing the board. "Sneak into the house tomorrow afternoon. Green's taking a nap and Red should be at home by then. Pose as that feeble dopplegänger of mine. Let Red's guard drop and..." he giddily read off the board. "Oh, that oblivious blockhead would never see it coming!" He laughed maniacally to himself.

~

Outside the dream world, Mario and Peach watched Luigi attentively. It hadn't been too long since he fell asleep before a, rather peculiar, smile began to form on his face. From the smile, emerged giggles. These were no 'cheerful' giggles, they had a more 'sinister' meaning.

Mario, now confused, reached over and lightly poked Luigi in the side. "Bro..?" He said quietly before jumping back in exclamation as his brother say up with a gasp.

"I saw him!" Luigi suddenly blurted out, "I saw Mr. L!"

Now calm, Mario asked, "You did? Where is he?"

"He's at... Bowser's Castle..." He said with a twinge of uncertainty. He knew for a fact that Mr. L was in Bowser's Castle but had no idea why.

"Bowser's Castle?" Peach spoke up, "What's he doing over there?"

"He's playing attack. An attack on..." Luigi stopped. His attention shifted from Peach to Mario, his face drawing more concern than it was originally. "...On Mario..."He continued, quieter than before.

Mario was discomforted at the thought of his brother, or rather, his brother's look-alike, scheming anything against him. He and Luigi shared a look.

"But, it's nothing to worry about. I might have an idea!" Luigi gave a nervous smile.

~

Mario walked in the forest that laid just outside of the house, Luigi hiding in the trees next to him. They had only been walking for a few minutes when they heard a rustling in the tree. Luigi hid himself deeper into the forest, Mario getting in a defensive position.

From the trees emerged...Luigi? Mario didn't know what he expected. He knew the person standing before him was not his Luigi, but the resemblance was uncanny.

Mr. L, now back in his overalls, strolled with a smile through the forest. He contemplated his plan but was thrown completely off track seeing the red hero before him. "Oh? Hey, Mario... What are you doing out here?" He asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice. The last thing he needed was to be suspicious.