Brother's Loyalty: Endgame

A Change is Gonna Come (GOOD ENDING Pt. 6)

December 2021

Dim, winter daylight slat in through the windows of the bedroom and onto the bed, where the sleeping occupant slowly turned over, his chocolate-brown hair lightly mussed from slumber. He opened his radiant blue eyes, pushed aside the covers and slid out of bed, a smile tweaking his face at the promise of a new day. The young man headed over to the bathroom, where he washed his face and expertly glided a razor over the stubble that had accumulated overnight, taking care not to touch his moustache. After that, he jumped into a cool shower and pulled on a pair of briefs, navy blue gym pants and peppermint-striped socks. The shirt would come later. An anticipated look crossed his features as he connected his phone to two Bluetooth wireless speakers, opened up one of his music apps, selected a random playlist and pressed "play".

And then Luigi Mario began to dance.

He danced and danced and danced—shimmying and swiveling his body, getting nice and sweaty, until he could no longer ignore his lungs screaming at him. Turning off his music, he downed a bottle of Gatorade and jumped into another cool shower. After drying himself off, he brushed his hair, styled it in the usual way and pulled on his iconic getup. Green shirt, navy coveralls, white gloves, brown boots and a green cap with an "L"—which did not stand for "loser".

Fully dressed, and with the thermostat turned up, Luigi fixed himself some pancakes and scrambled eggs, which he ate while watching the morning news, Polterpup curled up at his feet. He slid his feet out of his boots and used his sock-clad toes to stroke his pet's fur.

"Good puppy," he murmured. "Good little Polterpup."

When he was finished eating, he slid his boots back on, washed the dishes and headed over to his computer. Once he was finished browsing through his emails, he logged into Skype and initiated a video call with his friends.

Mario was the first to pick up. Mario—his big bro—the man he nearly died for three times over.

"Morning," the man in red greeted in his chipper falsetto.

"How are you, Bro?" asked Luigi.

"Hm—can't complain," Mario replied, adjusting his cap. "How about you?"

"I'm doing better, thank you."

Peach was the next person to answer the Skype call. "Hey, Mario. Hey, Luigi," she said.

"Hey, Sis," said Luigi.

"Guess what day it is," sighed Peach.

Both Mario Bros groaned.

"It's Friday," said Luigi.

"Oh, joy," added Mario.

"Yup. King Koopa's paying us another visit," said Peach.

"But we'll know you'll be ready for him," Thad said brightly, having joined the online chat room.

"Yeah! You're gonna smoke that turkey!" added Brad.

"And just in time for Christmas, too," laughed Chad.

"Aw—thanks, guys," said Luigi.

"Even so—I think we should meet up at my castle later today," said Peach. "We can't be too confident, you know."

"I know," Mario said softly.