Long overdue, I know.
Chapter 8: Luigi's dream
It was late at night as Luigi slept in a cave with Daisy leaned up against him. For them, it was finally a peaceful night of which they had not had too many since King Bowser's reign of tyranny began. For Luigi, it was finally a chance to rest his aching bones, as well as his other cuts and bruises. Little did they know, however, that King Bowser and his minions were actively searching for them. But for now, they were safe. Luigi was deep into a dream, a dream that took him back to his earlier years in Brooklyn, New York.
He looked around, tall buildings surrounding him at every corner.
"Yes, I'm definitely back in Brooklyn. But why? Why now?" He asked himself. He journeyed around another street corner and found a familiar scene, he and Mario being trained by their uncle, Rocky Romano, in all the tricks of the trade of boxing. He watched his younger self spar with Mario, who he was seeing alive for the first time in two months. He suddenly remembered how much he missed his brother.
"Now I remember!" He said. "I had just met Daisy. On the same night that Mario introduced me, she was attacked by a piece of scum whose name I never got. She was okay, but I swore never to let that happen again."
Luigi remembered when he went to the Mushroom Kingdom for the first time. He had to learn a new way to kill enemies. That was to either jump on them, or fry them with fireballs. He left most of his boxing moves behind in Brooklyn, until last night. Luigi flashed back to the events that took place just a few hours prior to this point. He rediscovered his old moves that night, the moves that he thought he had left behind forever. He knew that without Mario, the whole kingdom was relying on him to construct a plan to end Bowsers reign of terror. He knew that he had to reacquire the fire of his youth to work himself up to fight Bowser.
All of these things he knew he had to do, in order to keep Daisy safe. Besides saving the kingdom, protecting Daisy was his top priority. After all, she was the reason that he took up boxing in the first place. He wanted to be able to protect her at all costs; usually meaning that any guy who tried to stalk her wound up taking a mouthful of Luigi's mean right hook. Suddenly, he encountered a bright flash of light, and was transformed to an area that was all white. A familiar figure appeared before him. Luigi recognized the outline of a mustache immediately; it was Mario.
"Luigi..." He said. Luigi stood there in awe, staring at his late brother's ghostly form.
"Mario..." He said back.
"Luigi, as you may already know, the only possible way to defeat Bowser now is to destroy his power pendant." Mario said. Luigi nodded.
"Yeah, I figured that was the only way." He said. Mario's face grew solemn.
"I have been watching over you and our friends. I fear that they may be in grave danger. Daisy especially. Protect her at all costs, for she is the one that Bowser will be after mostly." He said. "The reason you had this dream was to rediscover your past as an aspiring boxer. You must utilize your old talents and train to take on Bowser's empire.
"Somewhere down the line, some people developed the impression that you were a worthless coward. Well Luigi, you're not a worthless coward! You're a fighter! You're a hero! So get out there and fight! Save the Kingdom from this tyranny! I'll be watching!" Mario finished. Luigi had a look of determination on his face.
"I will! But..." He said as his face grew solemn. "I'm gonna miss you, bro." He said as he embraced Mario.
"Don't worry, Luigi. We'll see each other again someday. But don't count on it being too soon! Remember, you're #1 now!" Mario said, adding "Make me proud!" as he disappeared. Luigi stood there thinking "I will. Not for myself, but for the kingdom!"
"Luigi! Wake up!" Daisy shook Luigi awake. Luigi awoke to find himself staring at Bowser and his army of elite troops.
"Ah, Good morning, sunshine. Get ready Luigi. Get ready to face your doom! At long last I will finally..."
"Finally? You've been going after me for two days!" Luigi interrupted Bowser.
"Now I will kill off the last living member of the Mario family!" Bowser said.
"Not if my right hook says anything about it!" Luigi said. Bowser went to punch Luigi, but he blocked the Koopa King's fist with his own. Luigi grabbed a rock and lunged for Bowser's pendant, but the army converged on him in that instant.
When the smoke cleared, Luigi was tied up at the hands of the army, despite laying out several of the troops. Bowser laughed.
"Now, for your attempted destruction of the power pendant, I shall sentence you, Luigi Mario, to death by execution!" He said.
"Death? That's a little harsh, don't you think? All I did was try and destroy your power pendant!" Luigi said. He was jerked back by one of the troops, choking him.
"Joke all you want, Luigi. The bottom line is, by tomorrow afternoon, your head will be on my trophy wall, and the Mario Brothers legacy will finally be over! Move out troops!" Bowser said.
"What about the girl?" One of the troops asked him. Bowser simply laughed.
"Leave her. She can't help herself, let alone Luigi!" He said. Luigi wanted to sock Bowser for saying that. He looked back at Daisy as the army dragged him out of the cave, a scared look was on her tear stained face.
"Don't worry Daisy, we'll see each other again." He said.
"I love you.." She said, nearly in a whisper. He continued to look back.
"I love you too, Daisy. And I promise I'll be okay." He said. Daisy burst into tears as he got further and further away, a look of determination still on his face.
