Mr.L yelled as he blasted green thunder at Lucian, but he moved out of the way and blasted him with light. However, Oiram got in front of him, and spun his scythe, reflecting it back to him. He then jumped up and tried to attack him, but Lucian put his scepter up to block it, but Oiram's attack was strong enough to break through his guard. He then swung his scythe as a wave of darkness hit him as he stumbled a little. Mr.L then jumped up and punched Lucian as he grunted in pain.
Lucian growled in annoyance and he raised his scepter as multiple swords shrouded in light appeared. Lucian pointed his scepter at the two and the swords headed straight towards them. Mr.L and Oiram looked at each other and they nodded their heads. Mr.L grabbed Oiram's arm as they both spun around and it deflected all the swords away from them. As a finisher, Mr.L threw Oiram straight at Lucian, but he only snickered and he blasted light right at his chest and he screamed in pain as he lost his balance and fell on the floor.
Lucian smirked as he blasted auras of light at him, but Mr.L was quick enough to grab Oiram and roll out of the way. He then took out a mushroom out of his pocket.
"Get up!" He tossed the mushroom to him and Oiram caught and ate it in one swallow. He sighed in relief and he jumped up onto his feet saying a small "Thanks!" to him. Mr.L and Oiram than ran on both sides of Lucian and they equally attacked him. However, Lucian was able to dodge and block most of their attacks. Even without the shield, he was still able to barely get a hit. Lucian spun his scepter at Mr.L, pushing him back and he blasted him with light and Mr.L looked behind himself, and saw he was on the edge of the platform. However, his eyes widened seeing an aura of light hit him and he screamed as he fell off the platform. Oiram saw this and he gasped.
"Luigi!" Oiram sprouted his black wings on his back and he quickly flew towards him off the platform. He reached out towards him as Mr.L did the same. They could only get each other's fingertips, but they still managed to grab each other.
"Gotcha!" Oiram said, getting a full grip on his hand and they both flew back to the platform. When they got there, their eyes widened seeing multiple rays of light and darkness heading towards them.
"This isn't going well, L!" Oiram said as he dodged one of them.
"Just shut up and dodge!" Mr.L exclaimed, trying his best to dodge the rest of Lucian's attacks.
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Peach, Bowser, Salem, and Alessia just witnessed what happened with Mr.L as he fell off the platform. They were getting a little worried, seeing that now Lucian really wasn't holding anything back. Salem and Alessia were more worried about this as well. Who knows how much power he's using just to end the Mario Bros? And who knows if Mario and Luigi can really survive this?
"I can tell things aren't going good." Salem said.
"Yeah, especially since the amount of power Lucian is using." Alessia said. "What can we do?"
"We have to help them!" Peach exclaimed suddenly as the three looked at her.
"Peach, I don't think even I can live through all of that!" Bowser said. "He's really showing a big deal about this, and besides I don't think you'd even last through that either."
"But Lucian will hurt them if we don't do something!" Peach exclaimed. "We have to get up there and help them!"
"And risk getting yourself killed? I don't think so!" Bowser said. "Besides, I don't see what we could do now that we're down here."
"I have an idea..." Salem began as Bowser and Peach looked at him. "But I don't think you'll agree to it."
"What do you mean?" Peach asked as Salem looked at her.
"Peach...this is a war we dragged Mario and Luigi into." Salem began. "We've been doing it for decades, and we're getting sick of it. If we don't do something now, Mario and Luigi's lives could end during the fight! And if that happens...Lucian will get what he wants, and time will repeat itself. Mario and Luigi need to be the one to end this...just the two of them."
"What are you saying?" Peach asked. Bowser sighed as he put his hand on her shoulder.
"It means we have to go, Princess." He said as she looked up at him. "Besides If we die here, then who's gonna watch both of our kingdoms? If we die here what will happen to your toads and my minions?"
"..." Peach was starting to see Bowser's point. As much as she wanted to help her two heroes she hasn't been fighting as long as Mario and Luigi. She doesn't have much experience like them. Even if Bowser joined their fight, he doesn't want to risk himself dying, even when he's strong. She sighed as she closed her eyes in defeat.
"...Okay." She said. "Do what you must do, Salem."
He nodded his head and he opened a Corridor of Darkness beside them. "This corridor will get you two home safe. Al and I will do everything we can to stop this mess, and make sure Mario and Luigi get to live."
"Thank you." Peach smiled a little. "Please...make sure they're safe. Light, Darkness, please do whatever you can to help them!"
"We will. I promise." Salem said. "Now go! I dunno how long they'll last without us."
"Right. It was nice to meet you, Salem and Alessia." Peach waved at them and she took one last glance at the platform above, and she walked through it.
"You better get Mario and Luigi back alive." Bowser said. "I still wanna be the one to end them!"
"Whatever you say, King Koopa." Salem gave him a two-finger salute. Bowser chuckled and he walked through the corridor. As the corridor closed, Salem sighed. Alessia saw this and she put her hand on his shoulder.
"Everything will be okay, Salem." She said. "We'll stop Lucian, and fix this."
"...I know." Salem said. "I just don't know how I can help them when the time for my form is almost up."
"Hmm..." Alessia put her finger under her chin as she thought for a moment...until her eyes widened a little.
"I got it!" Alessia whispered a few words in Salem's ears for a moment...his eyes widened as he gasped a little.
"A-Are you sure they'll listen to you?" He asked a little nervously.
"They may not remember me...but they should be able to listen to me." She said. "You focus on the fight with Lucian...I'll talk to the Star Spirits."
"O-Okay. I'll buy you some time." He said.
"Be careful, Salem.." She said worriedly. Salem snickered as he put his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey! I'm not human anymore, remember? I should be able to live for a few minutes." He smirked. Alessia giggled as she shook her head.
"Even when the world's at risk, you're still as cocky as you were before." She said. "I'll see you during the battle."
She opened a Corridor of Twilight behind herself and she walked through it. Salem sighed a little as he looked down at his hand, which he saw it was slowly becoming transparent. He looked up at the platform as he frowned.
"Okay then..." He became shrouded in a dark aura, and he quickly began to fly where the battle was being held.
━━━━━━━༺۵༻━━━━━━━
Mr.L grunted in pain as he hit the ground. He looked beside himself, and Oiram was one his knee, using his scythe for support. He tried to stand, but he winced as he fell to his knees, still holding onto his scythe. They were both completely out of energy. Mr.L grumted as he blasted a small bolt of green thunder at Lucian, but he only moved his head out of the way.
"Your other story is not having a very pleasant ending now, are you?" Lucian said as he stood over Mr.L. "And here I thought the person Luigi wanted to be would be stronger."
"SHUT UP!" Mr.L tried to blast green thunder at him, but all that came out of his hand was just a small green spark. His eyes widened a litrle as he stared at his hand as Lucian only shook his head.
"I know you are still in there, Luigi. Not even your own demons can hide you from me." A chain of light wrapped around Mr.L's wrist and he grunted as he felt himself being lifted off the ground by his wrist. He tried to struggle from it, but it was no use. He didn't have enough strength left to fight. He could only stare at Lucian with a weak glare on his face.
"You, nor your brother stand a chance against my power, Luigi. You must accept that." He said. "Not every fight shall be a victory. The good do not always win!"
"..." Mr.L looked away as he remembered one event that was important to him ever since he was...'born'. He went back to where he first fought Mario. No matter how many times he fought him, no matter how strong he became, Mario would always one-up him. Even when Mr.L got stronger, even when Dimentio used Luigi's power to try and defeat Mario, he still overcame him.
Mr.L only snickered as he shook his head.
"Believe me, I know exactly what that's like." He said. "Even when I got stronger, Mario still beat me." He glanced at Oiram, who was struggling to stand on his feet as he still held onto his scythe for support.
"Even when he's in the dark...he's still considered a hero. He could even die fighting and people would still call him that." Mr.L looked at Lucian. "But even when he's a hero...he's faced something a lot more scary than the future."
"And that would be...?"
"Tsk. He faced change." Mr.L said as Oiram looked up at him. Mr.L smirked. "He knows that nothing stays the same. Everyone knows that. But I can tell by the look on your face...you're scared to face it yourself, and you take the hard way out by destroying the one world that means to everyone...and your own friends."
"..." Lucian only glared at him and he tightened the chain around his wrist. Mr.L screamed in pain as he put his arm at his wrist by the chain.
"Let him go!" Oiram tried to blast a dark fireball at Lucian as he ran towards him, but Lucian shrouded it in a light aura as it froze in place...and it fired back at Oiram. He gasped as it came back at him at full speed. He tried to put his scythe up to block it, but he was too late as it hit him in the head and he yelled in pain and he rolled on his back, and onto his stomach on the floor...unmoving. His scythe disappeared in the process.
"MARIO!" Mr.L growled as he put his other hand on the chain and he grunted as a small trail of thunder was coming towards Lucian. Before Lucian could realize that he felt it shock him as he winced in pain. Mr.L held onto the chain and he yelled as he spun Lucian around and slammed him into the platform. The chain disappeared and Mr.L quickly began to make his way towards his unconscious brother.
However, Lucian recovered quickly and he materialized two swords of light in the air and they headed straight towards Mr.L. He glanced behind himself and he gasped seeing them get closer to him. He was about to try and blast them with green thunder, but he saw a familiar dark figure claw them away as they landed on the ground. He turned towards Mr.L.
"Get to Mario! I'll cover you!" Salem exclaimed, clawing away another sword of light. Mr.L hesitated, but he nodded his head as he ran towards Mario. Now that Salem had Lucian distracted, he knelt down beside Oiram, and he winced seeing a huge burnt mark on his head. He rolled him onto his back, and searched his pockets for a 1up. However, he saw he didn't have one on him. Mr.L then went into his pocket...
and he only had one.
Mr.L looked down at Oiram and he closed his eyes as he clenched his free hand into a fist.
"Make it count, Jumpman." He put the 1up in his mouth, and he tilted his head back trying to make him swallow it. As soon as that was taken care of...Oiram groaned as he blinked his eyes. He put his hand on his head as he slowly sat up. Mr.L rolled his eyes a little as he grabbed Oiram's arm and he slowly helped him onto his feet.
"You okay?" He asked him.
"...I'm alright." Oiram said. "But...you used the only 1up we had-"
"Then make it count! I'm not letting you take a nap at a time like this!" Mr.L said. "We have to end this, Oiram. Not one or the other! This is...our home so we have to keep it safe."
"...Right." Oiram nodded his head as he brought out his scythe once again. When they looked at Salem, they saw he was becoming more and more transparent, yet he was still able to fight. The two...allies looked at each other in small worry as they saw this. This giving them a chance to recover, they could only watch the fight unfold between the two friends who were sworn enemies.
Salem yelled as he tried to claw Lucian in the back, but he was quick enough to put his scepter behind him to block it. He then blasted multiple auras of light and darkness at him, and Salem flew out of the way of them all as he blasted multiple orbs of darkness back towards him. Lucian put his scepter up and multiple swords of light appeared as they floated by his side.
"I am having what you call...'Deja vu' about this battle, Salem." Lucian smirked. "Does this feel familiar to you?"
"...Yeah." Salem said with a small pinch of hurt in his voice. "How could I forget? It was what started this mess in the first place."
"But this 'mess' is going to be clean once I rewrite the world back to its very beginning." Lucian said. "Once that is settled...we shall all be given a new life, a life with peace and tranquility. I am going this for us Salem! Why are you helping the ones who do not wish for a new life?!"
"...It's because they're not scared to change." Salem said. "Lucian...you know there's more to life than just peace. Not everything is gonna be okay, and you need to accept that. Besides, without chaos...there wouldn't be any warning. Have you thought that if you rewound time...our memories would be reset?"
"!" Lucian's eyes widened as he heard this. Salem could be right. He did say he wanted life to be rewritten back to the beginning would their memories reset too? No. They're the Gods of Light and Darkness! They can't be affected! They shouldn't be affected...right?
Lucian glanced down at his scepter, but he tightened his grip around it. Salem saw this and he sighed as he shook his head.
"Figures..." Salem said in defeat. "It's gonna take more than a few words to convince you, huh?" He looked down at Oiram and Mr.L
"Mario, Luigi...the rest is up to you." He said. "And Mario..." He looked away in shame. "I dunno if you can exactly hear me right now, but...I'm sorry."
"Salem...?" Oiram took a step forward. His form now becoming shrouded in dark fire. He looked down at him...determination in his eyes and on his frown.
"No matter what...finish this..."
He then disappeared as the fire around him disappeared with him. Oiram and Mr.L both looked at each other and they nodded their heads and they both yelled as they ran straight towards Lucian.
The duo were both attacking left and right in a flash of darkness. It was as if they have gained more power, more strength to fight. Oiram was attacking Lucian as fast as he could with his scythe, Mr.L was blasting multiple green thunder bolts at him. Lucian was having a hard time keeping track of both of their attacks.
They have both gained so much speed into their forms. It was impossible! No one should have their own demons possess them, yet fight alongside them. In all his years as the Guardian of Light...he has never seen such a scene take place. He was becoming nervous...but the clock was still ticking. Mr.L and Oiram both landed on the ground and they both smirked as they looked at each other.
"How 'bout we turn the tables a bit!" Oiram and Mr.L both bowed their heads down as they closed their eyes. All fo a sudden, two small orbs of light shot out of their chests and they headed right towards Lucian.
"What?!" The two orbs went behind Lucian and when they shone a brilliant bright light and the form they took...was Mario and Luigi themselves, but their bodies were still outlined in light. They both grabbed hold of his wrists as Lucian tried to struggle to break free from his grip.
"Oiram! Mr.L! Now!" Mario exclaimed. The duo both let their bodies become shrouded in darkness, and they both yelled as they shot towards him. Mario and Luigi both let go and the dark allies shot straight through Lucian as he screamed in pain. The light around Mario and Luigi both disappeared as Oiram and Mr.L's bodies were now outlined in darkness as they have switched places.
Lucian tried to get to his knees, but he only groaned in defeat as he felt his stomach hit the ground. Mario and Luigi were both breathing a little heavily as their hands were shaking. They've never been in that type of darkness before, especially for that long. That experience was completely new to them.
"Trust us, you'll get used to it." Mr.L said, rolling his eyes as if he read the brothers' minds. The four all looked back at Lucian, who was unmoving on the floor as his scepter laid limp in his hand.
"Is it...o-over...?" Luigi asked nervously.
"Not yet." Mario said. "We still have to find Alessia and get this time limit off us. I can open a corridor to get us at least off this place, and back down below."
"Definitely." Oiram agreed. "'Cause after this...I'm really gonna have a fear of heights."
"Oh shut it!" Mr.L glared at him. "You have wings! What are you so scared of?!"
"Oh! Nothing really. Just scared that your still a hot-head even after I saved you from falling off. You still owe me a 'thanks." Oiram smirked as Mr.L growled at him. Mario and Luigj sweatdropped a little seeing this, but regardless they had to focus.
"A-Alright you two, we have to go." Luigi said nervously, trying to break them up before another fight could happen. Mario then opened a dark corridor as they all looked at each other.
"Oiram...Mr.L..." Mario began as the duo looked at him. "...Thank you for helping us out."
"No problem, Mario." Oiram shrugged.
"Just don't say anything about it to the others when we get back." Mr.L said.
"We still mean it though." Luigi said. "I don't think we'd even survive all that if you guys didn't even think about helping us."
"Meh. What can we say? When the going gets tough the tough call their friends, right?" Oiram smiled a little as Mario smiled back at him.
"Yeah..." Mario and Luigi both looked at the corridor. Luigi, Mr.L, and Oiram were the first to walk towards it. Mario took one last look at the unconscious God of Light and he followed his brother towards the corridor.
It was almost over...
Their pain was almost over.
This hurt was almost over.
They were so close.
They could feel it in their hearts.
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"AHHHHH!"
"M-Mario?! What's-" Luigi's eyes widened in complete horror seeing what had happened the moment he turned around when he heard his brother scream in pain.
"N-No! NOOO!" Luigi stayed glued to his spot. Mario's pupils were completely smaller as he had a painful expression on his face. He slowly looked down at his stomach...and in horror...
A familiar Sword of Light was pierced through his stomach.
Even Mr.L and Oiram had looks of horror on their faces. Mario's hands twitched and shook as he tried to reach towards the sword as his other hand was reaching towards his brother...but the sword disappeared in light sparkles as he felt himself become completely numb. His arms limply fell to his sides, his eyes slowly closed as he fell to his knees...
And darkness was all he could see as the cries of his allies and brother filled his ears as they were the last thing he ever heard.