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Mario felt slightly sick.
He hated using Cappy to become various animals and creatures, it made his mind scream at him that something is wrong.
Right now, Mario was a frog. Cappy had disappeared off to do something or other while he took a well-earned break.
He sat by the water and just let his mind focus on Peach – he hoped she was okay.
That she would forgive him for failing.
In fact, Mario was so distracted by his thoughts that he barely noticed the footsteps coming up behind him.
It was only as a familiar brown boot landed beside him that he finally snapped out of his daze.
Mario let out a quiet croak as his eyes followed the denim leg up and up until they fell upon the face of his younger brother.
Poor Luigi looked exhausted and lost, his face was a sickly kind of pale, and his shoulders were tight. The frown on his face broke Mario’s heart as he realised, he had yet again ran off without saying anything to his brother.
Luigi sighed before noticing the frog staring up at him. He stared back in surprise.
“Hi, froggy?” Luigi tried, unsure of this strange looking frog. “Do you... do you have a moustache?”
Mario tried to speak forgetting his word only came out as croaks.
“Cute.” Luigi chuckled half-heartedly.
The younger brother turned away to continue his journey, but frog Mario jumped up onto his hat – startling the human.
“Woah! Careful!” Luigi squeaked, reaching up and pulling the frog gently off his head.
Mario clung to his gloved fingers to prevent Luigi putting him down.
Luigi stared at him in confusion, but his frown soon turned into a soft sad smile.
“Have you seen my brother, froggy?” Luigi asked quietly, gently rubbing his thumb on the frog’s head. “I saw him fall from Bowsers ship but... he’s been gone a little while now. I hope he’s okay.”
Mario croaked sadly.
“He’s always fine... he’s the hero y’know?” Luigi hummed anxiously. “But... he’s only human... what if he isn’t okay this time? What if he’s hurt and alone? If he saw something like that happen to me, he’d be there in a second.”
Mario croaked in agreement; he was absolutely correct that he wouldn’t rest until he knew Luigi was okay.
“I have to find him.” Luigi stifled a yawn and Mario looked concerned. His brother looked exhausted and pained.
Cappy needed to come back so Mario could release the frog and reassure his brother he was alive and well.
“I have to go.” Luigi sighed and pushed the frog off his hand and safely onto the ground. “Stay safe frog...”
Mario’s heart only beat faster as Luigi seemed to wince as he stiffly straightened up, he let out a breathy groan before walking away from the river.
The frog hopped after Luigi as fast as he could. His brother was stumbling and tripping over his feet, his eyes too busy scanning the areas around him he didn’t notice steps and dips in the path. Each step seemed to cause a wave of pain, his stance becoming stiffer and stiffer as he went.
“Mario!” Cappy landed on Mario’s head, giving the frog a fright. “Where we going?”
“I need to release the frog!” Mario croaked urgently before realising he’d lost sight of his brother.
In a blink, Mario was back on his feet cradling a dizzy frog in his hands.
He gently placed the frog into a nearby pond and sprinted off after his brother.
“Mario? I have a sister to save! Where are we going?” Cappy complained in alarm but Mario ignored him, his mind focused on only one thing.
Finding his little brother.
After running down a short street and turning a corner he found Luigi leaning against a wall – his head dipped slightly and his breathing laboured.
“Luigi!” Mario gasped, running to his brother’s side and grasping him firmly. “Are you okay?”
Luigi looked at Mario with wide eyes, blinking as if trying to clear his head.
“M-Mario?” He squeaked before hugging his brother tightly. “Where were you!? Are you okay!?”
“I’m fine!” Mario assured quickly. “But you’re not, what’s going on?”
Luigi shrugged stiffly, a blush warming his cheeks.
“Weegee.” The older brother warned softly.
“I got attacked.” A small voice admitted.
“What!? By who?”
“I didn’t fight her long enough to find out, but she looked like a rabbit… and her pet chain chomp had a longer leash than I thought.” Luigi admitted as his blush worsened. “You’ve probably already met and beat her.”
Mario decided not to admit that he had.
“You’re hurt.” He said instead, keeping a grip on his brother as his mind fussed over how hurt Luigi could be. The chain chomp comment worried him the most.
“Not really... just got hit in the back and bumped my head... it’s nothing serious” Luigi tried only to yelp as Mario’s hand probed his hair.
Mario’s frown deepened when he felt a bump at the back.
“I’ll be fine!” Luigi huffed as he shrugged Mario off. “You fell from Bowser’s ship!”
“I had help! Have you eaten anything? Have you rested to make sure you don’t have concussion? Have you checked your back?”
Luigi just looked at Mario blankly.
“Weegee... go home.”
“What? No! I wanna help!”
“No. You’re already hurt and I don’t know how long this adventure is going to take. Go home.” Mario instructed firmly, turning to continue his previous task before remembering a spare mushroom in his pocket.
He handed it to Luigi and waited until his brother ate it – he visibly slumped in relief though clearly the injuries were worse than Mario thought. He could see his brother was still in some pain.
He turned around and marched away, trying to ignore how upset he felt at letting Luigi get hurt.
“Mario please, I can help!” Luigi pleaded, jogging after his older brother. “I’m not scared I swear! I can help! I’ll-“
Mario spun round and pulled Luigi into a strong hug – effectively cutting him off.
“I know. I know you’re brave and capable and you want to help but if you came with me all I would do is worry about you and I can’t be doing that. Peach is in danger, and I need to keep going and get her back. You understand, don’t you?”
Luigi nodded silently.
“Okay. Go home and stay safe, I’ll see you soon. Heal up and I will beat up every last enemy just for that chain chomp hurting you. I swear.” Mario smiled fondly as he once again tried to head off.
“Just... come home in one piece.” Luigi asked quietly, clearly intending for Mario not to hear.
“I will.” Mario promised over his shoulder, smirking proudly at the startled squeak.
Of course he’d come home – his little brother needed him.