Brother's Loyalty: Endgame

Phantom Dancing

[Content/Trigger warning: Sexual assault, discussion of sexual assault and animal abuse.]

Back inside Professor Gadd's lab, Thad, Brad and Chad sat together, sipping on the hot chocolate the Professor had made for them.

"I hope Luigi and Gooigi bash Hellen extra-hard," muttered Brad.

"Me, too," said Thad. "She doesn't deserve their mercy after what she did to us!"

"Wha—what did she do to you?" asked Gadd.

"She—she put her hands all over us," said Chad. "Leave it at that."

"And before the trap was sprung, she couldn't take her eyes off of Peach—not to mention that she was in Luigi's personal space," huffed Thad. "She was up to no good from the beginning!"

Chad and Brad murmured in assent.

They fell silent as Gadd was alerted of an incoming call from Luigi, gathering around the console as the Professor answered.

"Luigi?" said Gadd. "Talk to me, youngster. Is everything all right?"

Luigi's face was solemn, exuding intensity and determination. "I'm standing outside the door to Hellen Gravely's office," he said. "I had to explore her entire creepy penthouse to collect four keys which will unlock this door and let me inside." He held up the aforementioned four keys, which had different-colored gems on top of them. "At this point, there are only two possible outcomes. One, I defeat Hellen and King Boo, save Mario and Peach and come back with a story to tell. Two, I wind up beaten into submission and sealed in a portrait. Before I head in there, I just wanna apologize for all of the times I snapped at you and all of the times I was a bit short-tempered with you. It's just—my priorities are different from yours, you know?"

"I know," Gadd said quietly.

"This is it. This is the moment of truth. I'm going in, and I'm gonna give Hellen a piece of my mind. Like I said, our confrontation is gonna end one of two ways. But either way—whichever way—no harm, no foul. Because either way—it'll be one Hell of a ride." His eyes narrowed, and he took a deep breath. "I'm ready."

"Give her what for, Luigi!" shouted Thad. "Give her what for!"

Luigi flashed a final smile before hanging up.

Gadd stared at the blank screen for a few seconds. Then, he hopped off his swivel chair and sat cross-legged on the floor, inviting the three Toads to sit around him.

Once Thad, Brad and Chad were situated, the quartet held hands, beginning to pray more fervently than ever.

...

As Luigi inserted each of the four keys into the King Boo statue's tongue, the moment seemed surreal. It was as if the universe was in slow motion, save for him. The most mundane sounds were amplified by a billion, from the sound of each key clicking into place to his own whistling, Gooigi whistling along with him. With each key he inserted, a cold and foreboding feeling manifested itself within Luigi, sending his heartbeat through the roof and his Adam's apple kicking against his neck. He didn't know what awaited him inside Hellen's office, but he'd meet it all the same, with Gooigi and Polterpup by his side.

The statue's eyes glowed violet as the door slowly slid open, and Luigi was suddenly rooted to the ground, that familiar, selfish urge to turn back and leave his fame-hogging brother in the dust briefly coursing through him. But as always, he shook it away, wiped his forehead with his sleeve and watched as Hellen's office slowly revealed itself to him. He could hear the hotel owner, panting, grunting and gasping, saying these filthy things, and as he stepped closer, he could make out the words.