Brother's Loyalty: Endgame

Forever and For Always (BITTERSWEET ENDING)

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

Luigi tasted his own blood. It trickled and dribbled into his mouth—warm, thick, coppery and sweet. However, he paid it no mind, gripping the Poltergust G-00 so tightly that it hurt. Everything hurt, but he welcomed the pain. He welcomed the blood. He welcomed the bruising. It meant that he was still here, still fighting.

Above him, King Boo and his two clones continued attacking him and Gooigi—but mostly him. They shocked the rooftop with lightning strikes. They clobbered or tried to clobber him with their tongues. They bombarded him with basketball-sized fireballs and large spiked balls. They blasted dark magic at him. And they sliced and stabbed at him with their swords. However, nothing worked—Luigi braved and endured until his opponents started showering him with bombs. Dodging the explosions, he scooped up the first bomb he saw and fired it into the real King's mouth, stunning him so that he and Gooigi could slam him around like a rag doll.

In Luigi's mind, he pictured the faces of his brother, his "sister", his mentor and the three Toad retainers, watching his every move with hope in their eyes. He heard their voices, cheering him on—from Peach's calming dulcet to Mario's chipper falsetto and Gadd's authoritative tone. He felt that quiet inner strength, surging through him—and he raised his head and stared King Boo down. He was gonna end the King's reign of terror, or die trying!

The decisive final battle raged on, the advantage wildly seesawing back and forth. King Boo's rage and powerful magic would dominate one minute—only for Luigi's clever tactics, coordination with Gooigi and determination to take over the next. Albeit the outlook was quite iffy for the man in green and his gooey doppelganger, the former maintained a "glass half-full" approach, quadrupling his efforts as King Boo doubled his. The Master of Illusions was an adversary with nothing to lose, the most dangerous adversary by far, and it only added to Luigi's motivation to defeat him.

This was a tough battle, but Luigi knew that it would be won. As did his friends.

Another explosion sent King Boo reeling to the ground, where Luigi and Gooigi grabbed him by his tongue and slammed him overhead—harder, faster, Luigi grunting deeply with each slam. With the sweat dripping off of him, he seemed to come aglow in the starlight, giving him a sort of divine appearance. And he was also someone with nothing left to lose, allowing him to hold his own against the source of his worst nightmares.

King Boo tore himself free after one hefty slam and split himself back into three copies, and it all began again, the King and his two clones surrounding Luigi and Gooigi and bombarding them with their most vicious attacks. However, Luigi got them to back off with a Burst or two, shielding Gooigi against the fireballs and explosions, keeping his eyes locked on the real King and patiently waiting for him to mess up again.

"You think you've stopped me?" sneered King Boo. "You've stopped nothing."

"I'll be the judge of that," Luigi said crisply, snagging a bomb out of the air and shooting it into the King's mouth.

King Boo's cheeks puffed up before the detonation knocked him back onto the rooftop. In one leap, Luigi had his opponent's tongue back in the suction, with Gooigi quickly following suit.

Do it, youngster!

In tandem, Luigi and Gooigi showed no mercy toward King Boo, slamming the psychotic king onto the rooftop over and over—so hard that stars flashed before his eyes. The six captives whooped delightedly as they watched their tormentor get what was coming to him.