Brother's Loyalty: Endgame

That's Life (BAD ENDING)

[Content warning: blood, violence and character death.]

Luigi tasted his own blood. It trickled and dribbled into his mouth, thick, warm, coppery and sweet. He paid it no mind, however, gripping the nozzle of his vacuum so tightly that the imprint of his knuckles was visible through his white gloves. Above him, the King and his two clones continued to attack him, shocking sections of the roof, throwing those spiked balls, peppering the battlefield with large fireballs, whipping their tongues at him—and now slashing at him with their swords. But Luigi bore through it all, dashing into action whenever they threw bombs, scooping them up and firing them into the real King's mouth so that he and Gooigi could slam him about like a ragdoll. In his mind, he pictured his mentor, his brother, his "sister" and the three Toad retainers, watching him hopefully, as the decisive final battle between him and the sadistic King raged on.

However, things didn't look good. The large portrait frame loomed closer and closer, and with each passing minute, King Boo's attacks grew more vicious. Well, if he was going all-out, then so would Luigi. The King's increased savagery served to ramp up Luigi's resolve. He was beaten, slashed up and frazzled at the measures his opponent was currently taking, and the drilling pain was harder to ignore, but he had to try.

Presently, he had King Boo on the floor, dazed, his tongue hanging out. Concentrating hard, Luigi seized his tongue in the vacuum, and as Gooigi assisted, he heaved and slammed him repeatedly on the ground, the same way he'd taken care of the Boos earlier. If the King of all Boos was willing to drop a gigantic portrait frame on the entire hotel, and quite possibly himself, then that made him an enemy with nothing to lose—the most dangerous adversary by far. Luigi had to defeat him as quickly as possible!

King Boo broke free of the twin Poltergusts, leering at Luigi and Gooigi with those glowing violet eyes. "You think you've stopped me?" he spat. "You've stopped nothing."

"Oh, we'll see," Luigi said steadily.

Once again, King Boo split himself into three, the clones quickly surrounding the ghost-busting pair. Above them was a miasma of color as the large portrait frame further lurched toward the building. The tremors intensified, uprooted trees and all sorts of debris floating upward into the frame's gaping maw. Luigi became conscious of a dull, ominous droning sound, a sound neatly drowned out by King Boo's laughter.

You don't have much time, L! You gotta stop this guy!

King Boo and his two clones circled Luigi and Gooigi, firing bolts of electricity and dark magic from their crowns. The barrage came out of nowhere, and it was too difficult for them to dodge. They could safely evade only one or two before the rest overcame them. However, Luigi pushed himself up and knocked the three Boos back with Burst, giving himself and Gooigi enough time to regroup.

"Is that the best you can do?!" he hollered.

As if in response, the gems on the Kings' crowns glowed a blinding white, spawning random ghosts who quickly swarmed Luigi and Gooigi. Now, the two had to battle these ghosts, mostly Goobs and Hammers, while also being on the lookout for King Boo and his clones, who moved in with their swords, hacking and slicing away.

"I'll take care of the ghosts!" Gooigi shouted after a while. "You just deal with King Boo!"

"Don't worry about the ghosts!" Luigi shouted back. "They're a diversion! Why do you think he spawned them in the first place?!"

He ducked and rolled to avoid several sword swipes, only to wind up in the trajectory of a fireball. The projectile knocked him onto his back, leaving a frightful burn along his abdomen, but he sucked in his breath and pushed himself back up, yanking Gooigi out of the way of another fireball.