Undulating Serendipity

One Year Later

Luigi turns on his Poltergust 3000, aimed right at the target.

With the touch of a button, powdered sugar releases from the hose, dusting his perfectly baked and iced cake as the finishing touch.

That done, he places one strawberry on the very top, nods, and walks away.

After a moment or two, three figures approach, slicing it up.

"How long did it take him to rig the vacuum to do that?" Toad asks as he's given his piece.

"A week?" Daisy guesses as she hands Toadsworth his.

"Most impressive." He says.

"I think he needs more time." Daisy wonders.

"What? No." Toad shakes his head. "He's been like this since everything went down. We can't keep going on like this."

"I'm afraid he's right." Toadsworth tells Daisy. "Bowser is negotiating an offer we can't refuse.", stopping to cough.

"Are you insane?" Daisy shouts. "How could you even consider having anything to do with that psycho, after everything he's done to her kingdom?"

"We're hanging on by a thread." Toadsworth confesses. "And Bowser no longer has any reason to attack us."

"And the Mario Brothers are standing in the way of that." Toad realizes.

"Not for long." Toadsworth says. "Bowser's willing to make a genuine effort to help us rebuild. And I can't believe I'm saying this, I think he means it. But he was very clear: the Mario Brothers cannot be part of it. He wants an answer before the end of the month."

"But we can't even begin negotiating if one half of the Mario Brothers decides to use his gadgets as baking utensils." Toad says bitterly, taking a bite of his cake.

"You're being too hard on him." Daisy defends.

"Actually, I think he's not being harsh enough." Toadsworth says. "Please, one of you needs to tell Bowser we can start negotiating."

"But we can't!" Daisy reminds him. "Luigi has all the shares in their company now."

"I'll talk to Luigi." Toad assures her. "Toadsworth, you talk to Bowser."

"I still don't understand how Luigi ended up the deciding vote for their company." Daisy says.

"Because after what happened, we no longer had a hero to step up to save our princess." Toad says like it's obvious. "And apparently Luigi still has some familial obligation to keep the business alive."

"You're telling me this is all happening because Luigi killed his best friend?" Daisy shakes her head in disbelief.

"That's a gross belittlement." Toad scoffs.

"What? He did!" Daisy says as they walk into a candy store. "Mmmm, chocolate."

"Daisy, I can't lie to you." Toad confesses. "I...did something you're gonna need to know."

"What?" Daisy asks as they sit down at a table.

"I hired a private investigator." Toad says.

"You did?"

"Uh huh. And this guy's the best. Looks like any other Toad, you never know he was even there."

Daisy shakes her head, "I don't understand. Why would you do that?"

"Because we need to show Bowser and everyone else what Luigi's doing. Prove he's no threat to any negotiations." Toad points out.

"What? Come on." Daisy can't wrap her head around it. "I know things are dire, but to where we're going to turn on him altogether?"

"It's not that he won't make a decision. It's like he doesn't even understand what I'm saying." Toad tells her. "I go over to his house. Watch him bake another cake. It's like he doesn't know I'm there at all."

"His best friend is dead , Toad. By his own hand." Daisy enunciates.

"That was a year ago." Toad reminds her. "What are we supposed to do? It would be one thing if this only affected him, but this affects our entire kingdom. Tell me right here and now you're willing to let your friend's kingdom die over this, and I'll believe you."

"So if we can prove what Luigi is doing isn't going to raise suspicion with Bowser, then we'll have a deal?" Toadsworth asks when they all meet up again later.

"Trust me, I wouldn't do this if I thought there was any other way." Toad tells them. "He refused to set foot in Dr. Toadley's office for even one grief counseling session. Whatever Rosalina came down personally from her Observatory to try, it fell on deaf ears. And I'm almost positive our intervention pushed him over the edge."

"I don't like this. It feels wrong." Daisy says.

"I agree." Toadsworth says. "But we're talking about a man that killed someone we all thought he'd die protecting. It's already wrong."

All the way in New Donk City, in his tiny apartment, Luigi dozes on the couch.

Luigi's making a vase when he looks over at his best friend covered in clay, laughing.

Luigi startles awake, then sits up, moves to his tiny desk, picks up a pen and paper, and starts to write.

He stops, rips it up, pulls out another paper, and starts again. And again. And again.

When he has three letters, he puts them in envelopes, licks them, and seals them shut.

The next morning, Luigi leaves his apartment building, envelopes in hand, gets into his go-kart, and drives to the nearest mailbox, and drops them in.

That done, he drives away, not noticing the Toad that comes up to the mailbox a moment later.