We've Never Been Apart This Long

Breaking News: The Mario Brothers Have Been Detained!

The citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom look sullenly as they watch Mario and Luigi be led straight to Peach's castle, with Bowser following behind.

"Move along! Justice is being served here!" Bowser roars to scare everyone out of the way.

"Masters Mario and Luigi!" Toadsworth exclaims upon seeing them approach the castle. "What is the meaning of this?"

"New evidence has come to light." The Chancellor answers for them as he comes out next to Toadsworth. "It appears the Mario brothers are involved in something very serious, and it must be investigated immediately."

"What's so serious that I wasn't informed?" Toadsworth demands.

"That will all come to light soon enough, but for now, we must bring them inside for questioning."

"Master Mario!" Toadsworth tries next, but Mario shakes his head.

"It's all gonna be fine, I promise. Just let us through."

The old Toad complies, but after he watches them go, he points his cane at Wario, who seems to have joined the excitement, and Bowser.

"You're both behind this. I know it. And I will not let this stand."

"Oh no, you got it all wrong." Wario grins. "I'm not behind anything. Your precious heroes did it all on their own. I was just smart enough to catch them when they weren't looking."

"That's it. Let me through!" Toadsworth yells as he rushes inside.

"So Bowser's body slammed into Wario." The Chancellor summarizes, then at Mario's nod, asks, "What else?"

"He-he was unconscious on the floor of the throne room." Mario takes the lead. "He wasn't moving, we thought for sure he was about to die at any given moment. By some miracle he didn't."

"And you didn't think to inform us?" The Chancellor demands.

"We knew how it looked!" Luigi bursts out. "Wario was about to send Mario to prison for stealing from the kingdom, and then he gets attacked in Princess Peach's castle right before you were supposed to make your decision regarding both their fates? I know it was an accident, and even I wouldn't believe it."
"Can you back that up?" the Chancellor asks. "This Wario fellow has proof."

"Which Bowser's been using to blackmail Peach into staying married to him!" Mario adds.

"I understand all that." The Chancellor informs them. "And believe me, when appropriate, I will be taking that seriously. But I need to know how you can immediately prove it was an accident."

"We can't." Luigi sighs. "Other than our word."

"Then you also know I can't afford to go on that alone." The Chancellor says apologetically.

The brothers share a worried look at each other, but say nothing, until,

"None of it?" Luigi begs. "Us telling you the truth behind the photos isn't enough to cause doubt?"

"I want to believe you." The Chancellor says. "But unfortunately I'm not the only one who gets a say in the matter. And because I'm not the only one, the new evidence still makes you look like you're just lying for each other."

"But we're not!" Mario protests. "Everything we've said is completely true!"

"Don't leave this room." The Chancellor orders. "I need to speak to the others, see what the next step in all of this is."

The second The Chancellor is out of the room, Mario stands up, rubbing his face as he steps away from the table.

"Weegee, I never should've asked you to get involved."
" Bowser got me involved." Luigi corrects as he stands up as well. "Not you."

"I trapped Bowser in his own castle during a phony lockdown just so we could sneak away to Isle Delfino. You can't tell me that didn't play some part in it!"

"I don't care." Luigi says, surprising Mario as he grabs his arm, squeezing. "I'm not gonna apologize for any amount of time I spend with my brother, and neither are you."

"Even if they separate us?" Mario says, clearly panicked at only the thought of it.

Luigi chuckles, then pulls Mario closer, foreheads touching. "Non siamo mai stati separati per così tanto tempo. When have we ever let something as silly as that stop us?"

Mario feels the familiar warmth in his chest he's only ever associated with Luigi, and sighs contentment, despite himself.

"Whether they put us in separate cells, or separate kingdoms , we're gonna look out for each other." Luigi promises, grabbing Mario's hand to put it on his own chest. "Cause nothing can hurt us..."

"As long as we're together." Mario finishes.