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No way.
Luigi froze on the stage, staring out into the roaring crowd in front of him.
This can’t be real.
He’d won.
He’d actually won.
After so long, so much effort, so much pain, he’d won.
He felt tears rising in his eyes. It was unbelievable, to say the least. After all this time.
He looked at his teammates. They motioned for him to step forward and give his speech first.
He caught the words Wyll mouthed to him.
“You’ve earned it.”
He smiled and stepped towards the microphone.
He’d finally say his piece.
“I’ve spent two years editing this— revising this and crying over this piece of paper— for so long.
“I’ve been there since season One.”
Pink team. Tyrad, Flame, Lomedy, and Fantst. Fourth place.
“Two.”
Green team. Turbo, Wyll, and Epax. Fourth place.
“Three.”
Blue team. Tae, Pheeabee, Bormethius, and Lomedy. Fourth place.
“Four.”
Green team. Bry, Jysq, Jojo, Kirbs, and Aragon. Fourth place.
“And now Five.”
Green team. Airo, Wyll, Sols, Jojo, and Rose. First place
“Each season, being last place and fourth.
He remembered the taunts. The curse.
Luigi, the five-leaved clover.
“Being called a loser.”
“There is your mistake. ‘I feel like he learned from his mistakes.’ LuigiToan doesn’t do that.”
“Have you heard of the name ‘LuigiToan’?”
“Oh yeah, we hate that guy!”
“Biggest disappointment awards.”
“The biggest underperformer.”
“The most disappointing player of the season.”
“This player was a true disappointment.”
“Biggest underperformer award, for the 4th season in a row!”
“Hitting me back to back…”
“No matter how hard I try, what I do, I can’t win. I can never win.”
“I’ve wanted to quit so bad.”
He closed his eyes, for a moment forgetting the captivated audience he had collected. Just… reminiscing.
“I’ve been so close, so close to dropping out due to my unhealthy dedication to this server.”
There had been so many times when he had questioned why he was still here. Why he continued to try.
Then he would remember Aragon. His loss, and his perseverance.
And so many others.
They were what he did it for. What made everything worth it.
He opened his eyes once again, meeting the eyes of a specific Jester in the crowd.
“Getting bullied for building next to the border,” he winked, chuckling, at Clown’s expression. He remembered the man’s remarks, just one season earlier. But, instead of the shame he had felt at the time, Luigi felt nothing but pride.
“Holding off Airo, and now Flow.”
He met the eyes of his teammate, smiling beside him. Then he looked out into the crowd, towards the mentioned fighter.
Luigi knew he would do great things. Flowtives would be a great player on Money SMP. If not this season, then the next.
“Nightmares of base raids.”
He remembered waking up in a cold sweat, dreaming that another team had discovered their base.
He remembered hyperventilating out of fear of failure.
He remembered the thoughts of doubt and despair, that it was of no use.
“Being malnourished, with sleepless nights.”
He remembered countless seasons of neglecting everything for the game.
He remembered losing sleep, food, and water. Sacrificing everything just for the tournament.
“But it was worth it.”
He looked up at the sky, grinning to no one but himself. His smile lit up the stage, a true sign of his relief.
“Because this season I am the true abdominal human spirit.”
He had done it.
He’d persevered, through thick and thin, and gotten his victory. After so many minutes, hours, days, weeks wasted. He’d done it.
“Thank you so much for having me in Money SMP.”
He looked back towards the admins, watching proudly from the side of the stage. He nodded in gratitude towards them, although he knew it wasn’t enough to express his thankfulness. He took a deep breath, turning back towards the crowd.
“I have tried.”
All he had given.
“I have suffered.”
All he had sacrificed.
“And I won.”
And he’d done it.
“Four seasons.”
2 years.
“Of trial and error.”
Ups and downs.
“And I won.”
And he’d done it.
“Thank you so much for everyone for supporting me and believing in me.”
“I don’t think you’re stoppable.”
Jysq. The one to give him a chance and do everything in his power to make Luigi seen.
“That’s my captain, that’s my captain!”
Bry. The one who, despite initial doubts, gave it his all in an attempt to break the curse.
“There is not one person on here that will do the stuff Luigi does.”
Wyll. The one who believed in him no matter what, even when it seemed impossible.
“Give me Luigi, and I’ll fix him.”
Airo. The one who tried his hardest to make Luigi the best he possibly could, sacrificing his own strength in the process.
“The curse is finally gone.”
The five-leaved clover. The fifth season.
The curse would haunt him no more.
“I cannot take all the credit, because everyone on my team…”
Everyone who had tried so hard, given it their all.
“Wyll…”
Sticking through it, in the darkest of moments, to carry through and grant them the win.
“Airo…”
Fighting so many battles, even losing ones, to give them the best possible chance of success.
“Sols…”
Acting as a leader and a brother to all of them, motivating them in the darkest of times and motivating them to continue.
“Jojo…”
Grinding all day and all night, doing everything she could for their team.
“RoseThunder...”
Sacrificing her own health to do mindless tasks with nothing in exchange, just for the hope of victory.
“They made this possible.”
All of his teams, past and present, made this possible.
“And… I love you, Money SMP. Thank you for having me. It’s been a pleasure.”
He’d done it.
He’d won.
The winner takes it all.
The loser standing small.
He wasn’t a loser anymore.
He’d finally, finally done it.
He looked into the crowd. The faces of friends and enemies alike.
He’d shown them. Shown them all.
He could do it.
He looked into their eyes. Everyone who had doubted him, who had insulted him, who had abandoned him.
He looked each one in the eye.
And he smiled.