With a heavy heart Mario launched a powerful orange Fireball to break down the heavy metal door of the locked Dungeon in the deepest bowels of Bowser's Castle. The door burst forward with a shower of sparks and embers from its destroyed hinges and smashed against the stone wall inside the now aggressively opened cell, embedding itself into the cold, hard surface. Choking smoke filled the air as Mario stepped foot inside the Dungeon, his bright blue eyes focused on the lone occupant suspended from the ceiling by two black iron chains. Beneath the figure, where a dropped green cap lay, a puddle of blood blossomed like a crimson flower of death.

"No..." Mario approached the figure with his hand outstretched toward the injured, bleeding prisoner with bated breath. "Luigi."

The younger Brother was unconscious. Blood seeping from his mouth, nose and through the many cuts that marred his face. A massive gash over his left eye ensured that it would remained bruised and swollen shut.

Mario gently put his hand to the side of Luigi's face and felt how cold and clammy his skin had become. "Luigi?" Moving his hand down the side of Luigi's neck he checked for a pulse and found one. Weak. Slow. But still beating.

"I'm going to get you down, I promise!" Mario fought the tears that welled in his eyes as he examined the harsh and sturdy restraints that kept Luigi bound.

The chains that shackled Luigi's wrists cut deep into his flesh causing a steady stream of blood to flow down his arms, staining his white gloves red and his green shirt a sickly brown hue. The strain of Luigi's own body, the dead weight, was nearly pulling his arms out of his sockets, surely dislocating his shoulders as well.

Unable to reach the shackles to free Luigi, Mario had no choice but to find a way to lower the chains to the floor. Following the chains with his eyes Mario tracked the chains across the ceiling, to the far wall and to an attached switch. Rushing to the switch Mario flipped it downward and heard the clank of the chains dragging across the stone ceiling as the chains gradually lowered and went slack.

Mario returned to Luigi and used his hands to support Luigi's chest and upper torso as his body descended to the floor. From beneath his hands Mario could feel the broken ribs shifting in Luigi's chest and the warm blood that flowed from the three massive claw marks that had been raked across his chest, tearing the fabric of the green shirt into tatters.

Cradling Luigi's head against his shoulder and the rest of Luigi's bloodied, broken body across his lap Mario embraced his little brother in a hug of guilt and remorse. He pressed his ear to Luigi's chest and listened to the slow, weak and unnaturally quiet beating of Luigi's heart beneath his battered chest. Mario looked down at Luigi's face, his own face now stained and sticky with his innocent Brother's blood. "I'm so sorry Luigi..." Tears fell from Mario's eyes and mixed with Luigi's blood as they fell onto his bruised and pained face. "It should've been me!"

Mario ran his bloodied fingers through Luigi's matted, thick brown hair. "It should've been me..."

Two Days Earlier...

Mario had returned home to the Mushroom Kingdom with Princess Peach at his side. The fair Princess had been called away to mediate peace talks between her Mushroom Kingdom and the neighboring Beanbean Kingdom. Mario had chosen to accompany Princess Peach on her journey to act her 'bodyguard' and to keep her company while away from her home.

Luigi, who was often left behind, insisted that Mario go alone with Peach to ensure her safety. After all, the peace talks would only take a day to handle; both Mario and Princess Peach would be back home in less than forty-eight hours.

"Weege, are you sure about this?" Mario asked with more concern than usual. "I mean, what if Bowser shows up?"

Luigi gave his brother a confident, reassuring thumbs up. "Relax, Bro! I've dealt with Bowser before. We both have! If something happens I'll handle it and if I can't take care of it by myself I know you'll be right there beside me!"

"Yeah, but..." Mario trailed off when the Royal Carriage; carted by two white horses and led by Toadsworth with Princess Peach waiting inside, pulled up in front of the brothers' home.

"Go! I know you don't like to leave the Mushroom Kingdom for too long, but everything will be fine."

The door to the carriage was opened by Toadsworth who cleared his throat as a means of gaining Mario's attention. "Ahem! We must be off!"

Luigi pushed Mario toward the opened carriage door. "Go on!"

Mario climbed inside and gave Luigi a sad look as he sat down across from the Princess.

Luigi nodded one last time as the door shut and carriage took off down the road. With a fond farewell Luigi proceeded to keep an eye on the activity in the Mushroom Kingdom for the rest of the beautiful afternoon and evening.

Looking back through the window Mario watched as Luigi disappeared from sight. "Luigi..."

"Mario?" Peach could sense and see that something was upsetting her dear friend. "What's wrong?"

"I... uh..." Mario turned away from the window to stare at the floor of the carriage guiltily. His hands folding together and wringing nervously. "I... shouldn't go!"

"What? Why not?" Peach put her hands over Mario's. "Mario, what's going on?!"

Mario retracted his hands from Peach's as he took off his red cap and pulled out an envelope that had been tucked inside. He opened the worn envelope and pulled out the folded letter within. "This showed up this morning." Mario began as he unfolded the letter to read. "It's from Bowser."

"Bowser?!" Peach was shocked and intrigued by the letter. "What does he say?"

Mario stared at the dark red ink on the tarnished gray paper for a moment before he began reading it aloud:

Mario,

Your wretched meddling has interfered with my plans to overthrow the Mushroom Kingdom for the final time! When you least expect I will strike and I will show no mercy. You will lose everything and I'm going to be the one to take it all away.

You can't keep your Princess safe forever. I will come for you first, I will make you suffer and only after I've grown tired of listening to you beg for mercy will I end you! No one will be able to help you, anyone who tries will meet the same fate!

Watch your back.

-Bowser, King of the Koopas

Mario bowed his head after he finished reading the horrid letter.

"How awful..." Peach put her hand back on Mario's. "No matter what happens, no matter what Bowser tries to do to us we will always persevere."

Her kind words offered little comfort to the visibly shaken hero. "He's going to attack Princess, he never bluffs. If he goes after the Mushroom Kingdom while I'm away..."

"Luigi can handle it!"

"But he shouldn't have to! I'm the one Bowser wants!" Mario folded the letter back up and tucked it inside the envelope as he stuffed back inside his cap. "No one should have to face Bowser because of me."

"Mario," Peach knew there was something else weighing heavily on his mind. "there's something else going on, isn't there?"

Sighing with immense regret he looked up and locked eyes with the ever lovely Princess. "I... I never told Luigi about the letter! He has no idea that Bowser is out for blood." Mario's hands clenched into tight fists beneath Peach's hand. "I left my own Brother completely clueless about Bowser's threat..." His hand slipped sleep from Peach's as he rested his face in the palm of his hand. "I'm such a fool!"

"Mario, we can still turn back and warn-"

Toadsworth suddenly sped up the Royal Carriage, causing the two occupants to awkwardly fumble in their seats.

"Toadsworth!" Peach called to her ward and driver. "What's going on?"

"My dear Princess!" Toadsworth replied with a hasty shout. "I have just received a letter from Parakarry that the peace talks are beginning to break down! If we don't arrive before sundown the Beanbean Kingdom will declare war on the Mushroom Kingdom!"

Mario and Peach exchanged glances of fear that gripped their hearts. There was no turning back. Despite Mario's worry and love for his brother he knew deep down in his heart that the life of one person wasn't worth the countless lives lost during war.

"We must keep going," Mario admitted with defeat in his voice. "I'll send Luigi a letter warning him once we arrive."

Mario held the bleeding, dying form of his Brother in his arms. Luigi felt cold, the natural healthy color drained from his face save for the deep purple and yellow bruises. Mario watched as Luigi's broken chest weakly rose and fell with his increasingly shallow and struggling breaths. He could hear the sickening sound of blood gurgling in the back of Luigi's throat and mouth as his escaping breaths passed through the pooling blood.

"Luigi, I will save you. I have to save you!" Mario tightened his grip on Luigi's body and held him closer to his chest. "I'll find a way..."

Looking around the Dungeon cell Mario saw no other exit than the door that he had broken down. It was then he saw two figures standing in the doorway, both had hammers in their hands. The duo approached the Mario Brothers slowly, their hammers secured in their strong grip.

"Whatever you're going to do to me," Mario closed his eyes and ran his fingers through Luigi's bloodied hair again. "I deserve."

..to be continued...