"Mario!"

The green-clad plumber's yell reached its way up the wooden staircase and into where it was due for - Mario's room. However, the hero refused to answer the call. Annoyed, Luigi stomped up the stairs, causing as much noise as he could on purpose.

When he reached the landing, he strode right up the hall and towards his brother's room. The landing was kind of blank, with simple wooden floorboards and three doors. One led to the bathroom, one to Luigi's room and one to Mario's. The last two were marked with a red "M" for Mario, and a green "L" for Luigi.

Luigi went up to the M-marked door and hammered on the wood. A few seconds later, the brass doorknob turned, and a face with sapphire-blue eyes identical to Luigi's popped out, wearing an annoyed expression, one that was equally countered by Luigi's firm glance.

"I was sleeping," muttered Mario, running a white-gloved hand through his messy brown hair.

"Mario, you know Peach wanted us at the Castle!" scolded Luigi, folding his arms.

"I know," grumbled Mario. "But I was sleeping."

"Yeah, so?"

Mario said nothing. He simply turned around and slammed the door in his younger brother's face. An almost indistinguishable "I'll get changed" was heard, coupled with some scuffling sounds and muttered curses.

Grumbling himself, Luigi walked downstairs.

The relationship between the Mario Brothers had been dangerously rocky ever since a few weeks ago. Unable to stand yet another spotlight shined on his heroic older brother, Luigi had gotten into a full-out brawl with Mario... in front of kingdom-wide TV. Luigi, who was constantly overshadowed, had recently been brainwashed into attempting to kill his brother, not to mention Princess Peach - the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom - and Bowser - the highly disliked Koopa King.

Obviously, Luigi's already-low popularity had dropped. Understandibly, Luigi presently felt very spiteful towards his brother, and to Peach and the entire kingdom as well.
Luigi tore open the fridge and selected a large tub of "SuperSmooth" ice cream. He opened the lid, picked up an abandoned spoon on the small wooden table, and dug into the chocolate-vanilla swirl.

He devoured it in minutes, and when he looked up, realised that he had forgotten to close the fridge door. Swearing loudly, he slammed the door shut, much like how Mario had slammed the door in his face so very recently.

The force of the door sent a precious china plate on top of the fridge tumbling to the floor. With an ear-splitting crash, the plate splintered. Staring at the white and blue fragments, trembling with self-induced rage, Luigi went over to the straw broom in a corner and swept up the pieces.

Afterwards, he scooped them all up and deposited them in the bin. Out of the corner of his eye, Luigi realised a golden glint.

Whirling around, Luigi approached the fridge again, the back of it being where he had spotted the glint. In the old days, he would have immediately called upon his brother, knowing full well himself that he was very timid, up to the point of being called a coward. However, in the light of the present days, calling his brother seemed unfaceable. And anyway, being faced with the prospect of handling with the press every time he went out for a walk, a new kind of bravery had found its way into Luigi's heart. But it was cold, foolhardy and reckless... three traits a very talented and experienced antagonist can bend to their advantage.

The younger brother bent down to peer behind the fridge. When he saw nothing, he reached out a hand to grab the thing that caused the glint. He immediately found something long and rough clutched in his hand. He withdrew the said hand and looked at it.

A scroll. An aged, yellowed piece of parchment, sealed with a golden sort of symbol. The said symbol was two swords crossed, behind them a Mushroom. Awed, Luigi opened the scroll and read the following words:

Dear Luigi Vyn,

Ah! How long we have waited for this glorious moment! We, the legendary race of people called the Ex, have finally come to the grand decision of letting you - yes, you! - grant yourself your deepest wish: power! How dare those ignorant fools of the Mushroom Kingdom shun you like the Koopas? You should be respected! Someone with fine talent like you deserves our attention! If you accept our offer of power and respect, please leave a single drop of blood on the seal and leave it at the west outskirts of Boo Woods. We will be there to accept your reply.

~The Ex~

Luigi stood there, holding the miraculous paper in his hands. Power! Respect! No two things could have swayed him more. Without hesitation, Luigi strode over to the kitchen drawer and pulled out a silver knife. The soft glow emitting from the light bounced off its blade, making it shine and shimmer. Smiling, a little more widely than usual, Luigi put the scroll down on the counter, held out his left hand, and pierced his thumb on the said hand.

The pain shot through his body. However, he wasn't troubled by it at all. In fact, he felt... happiness? Eagerness? It was hard to tell. But the blood as it leaked out... what a beautiful sight!

Wait... WHAT?

"Luigi, Luigi," chuckled the green-clad plumber, picking up the scroll. "You are certainly getting ahead of yourself these days! Ah hah hah!"

Luigi wiped his blood-soaked thumb on the seal. It immediately glowed red, and absorbed the blood like a sponge sucks up water. After a few seconds, the seal dulled, and returned to its usual gold colour.

Still laughing softly to himself, Luigi walked calmly over to the door and opened it.

"Power... respect... let those fools who defy me rot in the Nether! Ah hah hah!"