Luigi raised his hands and closed them into fists, hoping that by doing so he could hide the shaking in his hands. Behind him, Ness lay unmoving on the ground, staring up at the sky through lifeless, statuesque eyes.

  "Are you ready?" he asked.

  Mario clenched his fists. "I am."

  Link glanced at him. "You're on edge. Why? Not to put Luigi down, but it's to against one now."

  Mario nodded. "That's true, but I don't want to underestimate Luigi. He's the only one of the three of us that's been able to tap into this world's power, after all. And besides, he might be prone to getting scared, but I've seen him come through in the past."

  Luigi met his brother's eyes across the battlefield. Mario, he thought. For as long as I can remember, I've been staring at your back while you ran ahead to save the day. More times than once you've been the one saving me. I want to show you what I'm worth.

  Link grabbed his boomerang and hurled it towards Luigi as hard as he could. Luigi moved on instinct, dodging beneath the weapon before summoning green flames and hurling them back at the swordsman, who only just managed to stave them off with his shield. Luigi went on the attack, charging at Link and unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks. Link was taken aback by the ferocity of the attacks, and forced to back up while moving his shield wildly to catch the attacks. As Luigi pulled back his fist for another flaming punch, he became aware of Mario leaping towards him with one foot outstretched. He raised his arm just in time to catch the kick, but it pushed him back several feet and allowed Link to regain his footing.

  "Now," Mario said. "Don't give him a chance to recover." He didn't wake for Link to reply and went on the attack. Luigi. You're my brother, and I love you, but you know you're no match for me. Luigi saw him coming and raised his guard, and the two began to fight. It was nostalgic for a moment, with each seeing the many adventures they had fought together in the other's fighting style. But it only lasted for a few seconds before Mario knocked Luigi's arm aside and kicked him hard in the chest. Link was behind him, and he swung his sword and slammed it into Luigi's back.

  The green-clad plumber fell to the ground, unmoving. Fingers tried to grab the ground, but the roof's surface was too slippery.

  Fox frowned from the stands. "Is that it?" he asked. "I thought Luigi would put up more of a fight."

  "Well, he did have to fight on his own against two strong opponents," Captain Falcon said. "I can't say for certain that I'd do all that much better against those two."

  "Luigi, take a look at this!" Mario bent his knees slightly then jumped, easily making it several times his own height and landing comfortably on the nearby mushroom.

  "Nice one, bro!" Luigi smiled up at his brother. "Let me follow you up!"

  He bent his knees the same way Mario had and jumped. He fell short of the top of the mushroom and hit the stem hard before falling painfully to the ground. "Ow..."

  "Luigi!" Mario dropped to the ground and ran to his younger twin. Luigi wasn't badly injured, nothing worse than a few bruises, but he was a little dazed by the fall. Mario helped him to his feet, and they walked together back towards the house. "You know bro, it's okay if you can't do everything that I can."

  That night, Luigi waited until Mario was asleep and climbed silently out of bed. He crept through the night to the mushroom, and stood underneath it for a few seconds. Then he bent his knees and jumped, sailing a few metres through the air before once again colliding painfully with the stem. He fell to the ground and lay there gasping for a few seconds, before getting to his feet.

  "Come on!" Another jump, a little higher this time. Another painful miss.

  "I can do it!" Jump. Higher. Miss. Pain.

  "This time!" Jump. Pain.

  Three hours later, he still hadn't reached the top of the mushroom, and he was covered from head to toe in small cuts and bruises. He balled his fists against the ground, crushing dirt between his fingers. Why did things like this come so easy to Mario, and he couldn't even do it after trying so hard? It made him want to give up.

  And yet, something pulled him to his feet.

  "Luigi!" Mario burst into the house they shared and found Luigi at the table, eating a pizza.

  "What is it, bro?" Luigi asked.

  Mario slammed his hands against the table. "I was with Peach, and when I turned my back for a second Bowser appeared and kidnapped her."

  Luigi wanted to say things like 'Again?' and 'I guess this was a two person picnic then' but he pushed those thoughts aside and got to his feet. "Then let's go after them."

  Mario stared at him. "Are you sure you can keep up? Not that I don't want you, I just... you normally stay at home for things like this."

  "I'm sure, Mario," Luigi insisted. "I don't want you to have to do this on your own."

  The older twin grinned. "Okay then, Luigi. Let's go and save Peach together!"

  Hours later, Luigi watched Mario's back as they sprinted through the forest together. Mario was faster than he was, so it was hard for him to keep up, but all of his training with the mushroom had paid off. When they jumped at the same time, Luigi went higher than Mario did.

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  "Here it is," Mario said. "Bowser's Castle."

  Luigi tried not to gulp as he looked at the giant black stone castle that towered over him, with lava pouring from the mouth of the huge sculpture of Bowser that sat atop its tallest tower. How did the lava get up there?

  "Last chance to turn back, bro," Mario warned him.

  Luigi wanted to turn back, but he wouldn't leave Mario alone here. Even if his legs were shaking with terror. "I'm with you," he insisted.

  "Mario!" Bowser bellowed. He was at least five stories tall, with his lower half submerged in the lake of fire that separated the brothers from where Peach sat in a cage. Both brothers were breathing heavily - the journey through the castle had been a long one, with many enemies in their way, and neither one of them had gotten a chance to breathe yet. Luigi felt woozy - the heat in this room made him feel like he was about to fall over.

  "This is where you die, Mario!" Bowser buried. "And uh... the other one too."

  "I'm Luigi!" Luigi said, but his voice faltered with his terror, and the dryness of his mouth.

  "What was that?" Bowser asked. "I didn't hear you, little one."

  Mario stepped forwards. "This is my brother, Bowser. His name is Luigi, and we're going to take you down together!"

  No... Luigi wanted to say. Mario, you shouldn't have to stand up for me like that. But at the same time, I can barely even stand. How can I fight against Bowser?

  "Hey," Mario said. "I believe in you bro. We can do this."

  Luigi nodded nervously. If Mario believed in him, then he supposed he could too.

  Bowser growled angrily. "Enough of this!" He slammed one hand into the ground, creating a huge wave of lava that towered over the brothers and threatened to burn them to a crisp. Mario moved first, with Luigi quickly following, leaping onto a piece of debris that floated on the top of the lava. They jumped from platform to platform until they had enough height to clear the wave, and then they were level with Bowser. Mario kicked Bowser hard in the face, knocking him backwards. Then Luigi landed on Mario's hands, and Mario threw him at Bowser so that he could deliver a punch to the titan's jaw. Bowser's head snapped back from the impact, and for a second Luigi felt like he was on the top of the world.

  Then Bowser's huge fist caught him in the air. He had the sensation of being thrown back and hitting something hard before falling, and falling. And then everything went back.

  "He's waking up." Luigi opened his eyes, and saw Mario's worried face staring down at him. Behind him, Peach stood with her arms outstretched and pink magic vanishing from the space in between his fingers.

  "You're okay!" Mario pulled him into a hug.

  Luigi groaned. "What happened, bro?"

  "Bowser knocked you out," Mario explained. "I was worried that he'd done worse, but luckily Peach was able to heal you. He's gone now."

  "Oh." Luigi pulled himself up into a sitting position. He hurt, in a lot of places, but whatever magic Peach had done made it bearable. "Sorry. I wasn't that much help."

  "It's okay," Mario said. "I'm just glad you're okay. It was nice to come on an adventure with you, bro."

  "You were both very brave," Peach told them. "The Mario Brothers, come to save me."

  Luigi floated in darkness, memories flashing before his eyes. Why am I thinking of all this now? he asked. I'm supposed to be in a fight.

  Mario was there with him. Except, it wasn't really Mario. This one didn't talk or move, it just stood there and stared at him. "What do you want?" Luigi asked. "Can't I go without you for just a moment?"

  He realised what he had said and covered his mouth. "I mean... not without you," he said. "I do love you, bro, but... you know you're always the hero. Everything comes so easy to you, and I try to keep up with you, but it feels like you're always better than me."

  His fists clenched by his sides. "And look at me. The weaker coward. Half of the mushroom kingdom doesn't even remember who I am, even though I've followed you all these years. It's not that I resent you for it or anything, but it's like you don't notice."

  "And it's not like you shouldn't be the hero. The mushroom kingdom loves and respects you, you've saved the entire galaxy multiple times. I don't have the feats that you do. But it would be nice if I could be seen as more than just your brother for once."

  Luigi let the words hang in the air. Even if he was just saying them to a copy of Mario, it felt good to say them. More than that, it felt good to acknowledge these thoughts that had been swirling unaddressed in his mind for years.

  "When we got invited to this world, I expected it was just because of you again," he continued. "But then I touched the Smash power, and it felt like I was the important one for once. I hoped I was the special one. But here I am, losing to you and Link. So I guess I was never really special at all, just lucky. I'm just Luigi - Mario's brother."

  The still and silent Mario spoke. "You jumped higher than I ever have. You worked for weeks to be able to do that. You've been following me all my life, and the only reason you've never passed me is that you respect me too much."

  He floated forwards and took Luigi's hands in his own. "Luigi, fratello, I hope you know that I never saw you as less than me. To me, you're the hero."

  Luigi looked down at their hands. "Yeah. Isn't this just what my brain wants to hear? I'm imagining you, right?"

  Mario shrugged. "Who knows? But that doesn't make it any less true."

  Link looked down at Luigi. "Mario, I don't want to say this, but I think we need to finish him off to -" He jumped backwards, his senses screaming at him that danger was coming. Mario looked at him in shock, then turned back to Luigi who was rising to his feet.

  There was no light emanating from Luigi, not like when he had fought Ness. But there was something different about Luigi now - something that Mario had always known was there, but he had never gotten to see in person.

  "Link," Mario said. "Could you please leave this one to me and Luigi?"

  Link stared at them both for a second, his mouth hanging open in surprise. Then he nodded. "Fine," he said. "Good luck, both of you."

  He walked to the edge of the roof and turned to the others. He nodded, then fell backwards.

  "Been Beaten!" Master Hand chanted. The fighters expected him to sound upset, but he was as invested in this fight as the rest. Link appeared in the stands with the rest.

  "Why did you do that?" Fox asked. "What if your team loses now?"

  Link shook his head. "That's not what's important right now. This is more than a fight for this world. This is a fight that's been a long time coming. It would be wrong for me to get in the middle of it."

  Ness's statue disappeared from the battlefield, and he too appeared in the stands. "What happened?" he asked. "Is the match over?"

  "No," Captain Falcon said. He glanced upwards at the Master Hand floating far, far above. "I think this was a gift, of sorts. I think the Master Hand wants all of us to see this."

  On the castle roof, Mario and Luigi were just a few feet from one another. Fire danced around each of them, seeming to tear at their clothes. When the flames faded, their clothes had changed - both brothers were now wearing a white hat and undershirt, with the colours of their shirts having moved to their overalls.

  "No way," Samus said. "Their flames are hotter than ever before."

  "Not just that, their power has increased too," Ness said, his eyes sparkling. "Were they not even using their full strength until now?"

  "No," the Master Hand answered. "This isn't a power that they can access whenever they want. It's one that I gave them, just for use in this battle."

  The others gasped. Captain Falcon smirked. "So, that's how it is."

  A tornado of red fire swirled around Mario's hands. Across from him, green flames burst like the quills of a hedgehog from Luigi's back, making it look like he was standing at the front of an inferno.

  "Are you ready?" Mario asked.

  Luigi nodded. "Let's finally go all out against each other, bro."