Shattered Reflections
Written by Mosli

There was another time when they faced the most dangerous plumbing job in their carrier as the best plumbers in New York. Luigi remembered it as if it happened yesterday:

Finally, he turned to face us, and stood up from his chair to shake our gloved hands. For a man in his mid-forties, he was a handsome fellow. He wore a brown tuxedo with a matching cowboy hat, strands of his long golden hair seeping out from under the hat. He grinned as he looked at us with his kind, green eyes. Going straight into business, he explained that some people were experiencing floods in their bathrooms and there were a few people who claimed that sewer snakes were coming out of the sink. Shocked at the news, Mario and I instantly guessed that the problem was from the main sewer system under the city. The mayor took the blue print of the city's sewer system out of the drawer and slammed it on his desk. Then, he begged us to go down the sewer. My bro and me talked it over, and we finally decided to go and take the risk. We both rushed out of the office, giving each other looks of comfort and determination. We were ready for the job of our lives; blue overalls – check, my green shirt – check, his red shirt – check, power-tool belts – check, combed mustaches – double check. Oh yes! This was the pride of the Mario brothers at stake, and nothing would stop us from proving that.

It didn't take a lot of time to reach the sewers. I climbed down the ladder, and Mario followed. The splashing of the sewage water echoed around us as we jumped from the ladder. We looked at our surroundings, and observed nothing but rats, dirty water, and an endless tunnel. Mario took the blueprint out of his overalls, disgusted by the sight, and unfolded it. We pinpointed where the main problem was and started walking, while the water swished with each step we took. Despite the piped labyrinth we were in, we navigated through the sewers easily; we weren't called plumbers for nothing you know. We reached the destination at last, and lo and behold - the water valves were wide open, and most of the pipes were severely damaged, as water and its hot vapor seeped from the many cracks implanted on them. Flabbergasted from the sight, we were speechless – we just looked at each other and sighed; this was going to be one hell of a job, and I do mean hell literally.

We had everything looking ship-shape by four in the morning. Our eyelids were as heavy as rocks. I thought that things couldn't get any worse, until I heard a hissing sound. We looked behind us, and our hearts were pounding from what we saw...

It was a big sewer snake, the biggest snake I had ever seen. Mario took a wrench out of his tool belt, and I followed him by taking a plunger out of mine. 'Let's-a go!' Mario yelled his battle cry and attacked it first. It was able to evade Mario's attack and countered by charging at him. I watched him fall back and hit the wall behind him, and then I realized that he was out cold. It was about to bite Mario until I threw the plunger at it like a spear. It connected successfully with its face, cutting off the air it proudly breathed. It slithered around frantically until the plunger came off its face, and now it was looking at me with monstrous, piercing jet-black eyes. I took a screwdriver out of my belt and charged at it. I was able to pierce its rattling tail, but it started attacking me wildly as if it wasn't affected. I managed to evade all its attacks by swiftly running in circles. It almost caught me, but I kicked it forcefully. It fell back hissing in pain, but it wasn't down yet. I dashed at it attempting to finish it off, but I tripped over Mario's unconscious body and fell face first to the ground. Yowling in pain, I turned over and tried to get up, but I wasn't able to move my legs. I crawled back as the snake came nearer, its shadow looming over me, until I was cornered; there was nowhere left to crawl. It gazed at me, sticking its tongue out, determined to bite me to death. I shivered in fear, and knew this would be over soon, until...

'Yahoo!' Mario screamed as he sucker-punched it on the face. The snake hissed and attempted to bite Mario, but he reacted wisely and kicked it in the jaw. Having no effect on it whatsoever, the rampaging reptile took an attack stance, his upper portion of his coiled body slightly going backwards and downwards simultaneously, and it suddenly threw itself at Mario, its mouth wide open. Luckily, my bro extended his arms beforehand and held it back by gripping its neck. Then, with raw strength, Mario threw it to the wall. It slammed hard, screaming in pain. Its hissing voice faded away slowly; having no fight left. Preparing for the finishing blow, Mario took his wrench, held it in two hands, jumped in the air, and banged it on the head.

And that, as they say, was that.

Mario walked towards me and helped me up. 'Where's the Ninja Turtles when you need them?' he said laughing. I smiled and thanked him. He looked at me, smiling back. 'Care for some pizza for breakfast Luigi?' he grinned. 'My treat' I answered. 'Anything for the best brother I've ever had.' He looked at me sarcastically and said, 'I'm the only brother you've ever had.' With all of our body parts aching and shaking, and our clothes wet with rotten polluted sewer water, we climbed out of this God-forsaken maze. We were back in our hometown, our quiet neighborhood to be exact. It's a good thing that our local pizza parlor was open 24/7...we to stopped by and ordered an extra large pizza for take-out...with our own custom-made recipe of course: Avocado pizza with tomato-filled crusts! Yumm!

...Those were the good old days. But now, they are nothing but forgotten memories.

Luigi gazed at the cloudy sky of Mushroom Kingdom, wondering if those days would ever come back to life. Another tear rolled out of his azure eyes, a tear that represented his sadness, his loneliness, and rejection. From the first time he and Mario set foot in this magical world, something unknown had kept them apart. Mario was determined to save this kingdom from evil, and this determination still continued.

From the first time Mario saved the Mushroom citizens from the wrath of Bowser the tyrant, Luigi was nothing but a blind follower; he did what he was told without thinking about himself, without suggesting his thoughts. He was a clone that agreed with Mario in every thought and went where he went. This is my entire fault, Luigi thought to himself. I didn't have the determination that he had. High determination was what kept me apart from him, what made him forget about me, and what made the people reject me. He was in deep meditation, planning his future actions, wondering if anyone asked about him.

~Sigh~, I need to clear my mind of all this. I have to do something soon...

He missed many adventures in his period of absence, and he knew that quite well. He wished that for once that he would have an adventure of his own, a never-ending adventure. He pictured himself punching Boos and stomping on Goombas like what he used to do with his Brother in the old days.

Despite the fact he rarely showed up in Mushroom Kingdom, he was able to accomplish many things in his period of disappearance. Training continuously in his spare time, he was now more swift and powerful than before; he used his weight advantage to jump higher and to move quicker.

He also had time to work on developing his favorite hobby: inventing and designing, which he kept a secret to himself. Even Mario didn't know that he had the 'smarts' to invent something. He had a private workshop, hidden between the trees.

He decided to calm his nerves by taking a stroll to his workshop. He started walking away from the pond and heading for Bandit's Path. I'll start working on another invention, He said to himself, as he hummed along the way.