Brother's Loyalty: Endgame

Never Would've Made It (GOOD ENDING Pt. 5)

[Chapter contains a major character death]

October 2021

It had been 20 years.

Twenty years since Luigi confronted his phasmophobia for the first time. Twenty years since he was told he won a free mansion and found himself in a haunted locale filled with ghosts. Twenty years since he'd made the acquaintance of the eccentric Professor Elvin Gadd. Twenty years since he took up the Poltergust 3000 and embarked on a mission to find his big bro. Twenty years since he first faced off against the King of all Boos and lived to tell the story.

Twenty years since he first rescued Mario from a fate worse than death and kept to his vow.

And what a difference twenty years made. Mario had realized just how much Luigi meant to him and resolved not to take him for granted. Luigi had realized that he was better than he thought he was and walked from place to place with a bigger skip in his step and a bigger smile on his face. The MK as a whole took the man in green more seriously as a protector, and the kingdom's enemies took him more seriously as an opponent. It could be argued that the Mario Bros' adult lives could be divided into two sharp periods—before the mansion and after the mansion.

Of course, life after the mansion was by no means easy. Both Bros suffered from nightmares and ultimately wound up seeing therapists. Adding to this, King Boo had escaped twice more, and on the third time, he'd menaced almost everyone Luigi held dear. And he, along with his equally twisted girlfriend and fan club president, had taken it a step further by traumatizing not only Mario but also Peach, Thad, Brad and Chad. Adding to the psychological torture they'd heaped on Luigi by taunting him with phone calls and disabling cellular and Internet services—it was a miracle that Luigi and co. emerged with their sanity intact. But against all odds, without hesitation and at any cost—they'd pulled through.

Twenty years. Twenty years of dealing with King Boo. And Luigi wouldn't trade those twenty years for anything in the world. He was twenty years stronger. Twenty years wiser. Twenty years better.

...

Luigi, Mario, Peach, Thad, Brad and Chad celebrated this important milestone at the new hotel, where they sat in the rooftop lounge with Gadd and Gooigi, trading stories and reflections.

"Has it really been that long?" asked Luigi.

"It has," said Gadd. "We've been friends for twenty great years."

"And you haven't aged a bit," smiled Luigi.

Gadd chuckled.

"Bro—what if I told you—that you saved the MK twenty years ago?" asked Mario.

"I—did?"

"You did. By saving me. If you hadn't, then Koopa or some other villain would've made a potentially successful power play. You would've done a good job holding them off, of course, but the MK needs both of us."

"He's right," said Peach. "One Mario Bro without the other is like peanut butter without jelly. Like Laurel without Hardy. Like Abbot without Costello. Like Batman without Robin. Like Pinky without the Brain. Every good hero has someone supporting their load."

"Two is bigger than one, after all," Brad chimed in.

"And there's no 'I' in team!" chirped Thad.

Luigi smiled. "Aw—thanks, guys," he said, "but Professor Gadd's the true hero of the story. He showed up when I was cornered by a ghost. If he hadn't—then I wouldn't have become so adept at ghost-hunting."