[TartoonHand94]

It was a pretty average day for the Lightweather Hospital. Average except the recent influx of injured fighters coming home from missions from all corners of the Li. Big things were happening in the world now, and the proof was wandering in on crutches, in wheel chairs, on gurneys and every way short of a trophy trolley.

Upon entry through the hospital's front doors, across the typical bustling as doctors, nurses and Chansies of both rank, was the front desk, manned by none other than one of the many beloved Nurse Joys that populated the hospital staff. Adorned in a white uniform with her large pink hair rings capped underneath a white cap and blue cross, she looked up from her clipboard as yet another Life Sphere celebrity stepped through the revolving doors. The presence of this visitor didn't go unnoticed as several other scattered patrons, whichever were looking up, stopped to glance in awe. Some began applauding him for his deeds as he made his way up to the counter.

“Why, look who it is…It’s Super Mario himself!”
Nurse Joy gasped, frantically shoving a magazine that was behind her clipboard further under other paperwork.
“ Good morning Dr. Mario! What brings you here, today?”

[Coolshaymin]

Mario hurried to the hospital now that he had some free time. Dressed in an outfit nearly as iconic as his plumber one, though not his only other outfit by far. The Doctor outfit did little to hide his famous face. He liked to help out at the hospital sometimes though he was not the greatest doctor, a jack of all trades really, he liked to help out everyone he can. "Hello~! So nice-a to see you again, Nurse Joy!" Mario greeted, taking off his head mirror with a twirl as he would do with his hat. Though, admittedly he was not here for his usual help with research. Admittedly, despite looking at the surplex of bad shape people were in, Mario merely let out a smile and a wave for them.

Though he was acting his usual joyful self, news he got from the Toads concerned him. "I am-a here on very special business. I heard-a Luigi was taken here after a mission. Is he-a alright? I want-a check up on him," the medicine researcher requested as he leaned closer to Nurse Joy to tell her why he was here. Clearly he was very concerned for his brother. He admittedly did not know much of the details but Luigi was his brother and he had to make sure he was not too bad off. Even with his very important job as a Leader, it did not mean he should shirk his job as an older brother.

[TartoonHand94]

“It’s nice to see you again too.~” Nurse Joy replied, leaning over her desk and blushing like a fangirl.
“Luigi?” the nurse blinked with unfamiliarity as a growing amount of Chancies stopped in the lobby to fawn over Dr. Mario. It wasn’t every day the celebrity pharmacist checked in.
“…Oh yes! Luigi Mario? The gentleman in green who sort of looks like you?” Nurse Joy went back over her clipboard as the Chancies began to ask each other whether or not Super Mario had a brother.“So he Is your brother. With the way he kept rambling your name, we thought he was just another fan.” She sheepishly explained
. “He was in a real bad state of shock, too. He wouldn’t tell any of us or the detectives what happened… As if he couldn’t…” Her tone grew solemn.

“He's in room 404 of the psychiatric ward.” Nurse Joy leaned out again to point directions. “It’s down the hall, to the… Y’know what? a Chansey will be glad to escort you to him.”
All the Chansies snapped to attention the moment she said that and proceeded to scramble over each other fighting for who got the privilege of walking Mario to his room.

Out of the scuffle, a Blissey emerged victorious. She promptly picked Mario up, practically kidnapping him, to bring him to his brother’s room.
“Blissey!”

[Coolshaymin]

Mario supposed this attention came from being famous in the same field as another but he honestly still had little idea how to deal with the blush of the nurse as he put his head mirror back on and adjusted it for a moment. Then the Chansies came crowding in, clearly attention torn from what they were doing for Mario. He kind of wondered if this disrupting activity in the hospital what with all these patients. It seemed Nurse Joy was unfamiliar with the fact that Mario had a brother. Poor Luigi, his brother was so famous and people forgot he even had a brother. Being in that shadow is something the plumber/doctor could not even imagine yet he still looks up to him. Still, Mario looked out for his bro just as much.

"Yes, he is-a my brother," the doctor clarified with a sigh. He knew Luigi was a bit socially awkward and lacked confidence at times, but he isn't this bad normally. He isn't willing to talk to anyone that was trying to help him. "I might have-a better time talking to-a him," Mario suggested as he looked down where Nurse Joy was pointing out... For the Chansies to start fighting over him... Oh, that was definitely disruption. "It's alright. I think I could-wah!" As Mario was about to sneak away to find the room himself, a Blissey broke through and carried him off. Welp, looks like that battle was resolved pretty quickly. "Mama mia," Mario cried a bit as he hoped that this Blissey at least carried him to the right place in their haste...

[TartoonHand94]

“Good luck trying to get through to him!” Nurse Joy waved goodbye while all the Chansies swooned. _{“He’s so short, but his heart is so big.~”}

The psychiatric ward was what you’d expect. Only a little worse. The halls weren’t fully lit. Some lights flickered on and off, and some just flickered off. Ramblings about how Sonic 06 was the best Sonic game and how Son Goku should the next Smash Brother echoed from behind the doors as Blissey carried Mario up to room 404.

But someone was already there. Under one of the lights that wasn’t flickering for a change, stood a familiar princess dressed in orange with a bouquet of flowers in her hand about to knock on the door.
Hearing Blissey's blissful footsteps alerted her of their approach. Seeing who it was, she quickly backed away from the door and hid the flowers behind her back.

“Yo Mario! What's up? Long time no rescue, huh?” 

Daisy waved hello with her free hand, cloaking her embarrassment behind a bright friendly smile.

“Whacha doing here?”

[Coolshaymin]

Mario kind of just resigned to his fate of being carried by the Blissey through the patriotic wards. The words of the crazy patients did not help to allieviate his concern for Luigi. Goku in Mario's Smash Brothers? Never! Not in this house! Thankfully the numbers were narrowing down to 404 soon as it looked like they were close to the room his brother was staying at. He must-a be pretty bad to be put in this place.

The Doctor then noticed a very familiar princess standing in front of one of the rooms. Super Mario suddenly flipped off the Blissey... As if he was able to the whole time and was just letting the Pokemon have their fun... Though he did stumble a bit. Admittedly, this doctor outfit was kind of hard to carry around and limited his mobility some. No idea why, maybe lab coats scientifically made you less fit or something. "Oh, Daisy!" Mario greeted as he walked up to the Princess before turning around to the nurse Pokemon for a moment. "Thank-a you, but I can-a take it from here," the famous Doctor told the Pokemon before turning around to greet the Princess he saved all that time ago, which was a trap set up by Wario for him to steal his castle.

"It's-a been so long, Princess Daisy. Nice to-a see you again," Mario replied before looking to the door Daisy was standing in front of... Yep, didn't take a doctor to figure out what was going on here. "You heard about-a Luigi too. Nice to see you still-a look out for him too," Mario remarked casually as he dusted off his doctor's coat and did a neck exercise. "I'mma here to see him as well. He sounds like he has it pretty-a rough on that last-a mission. What kind of brother would I-a be if I did not check up on him? This Family Doctor is-a here for his bro," Mario ended with a light hearted joke as he seemed rather cheerful despite that. Though, on the inside Mario was just keeping up a facade for his brother's sake. His concern was getting more and more powerful as time went on. "... Oh, I see you-a got him flowers," Mario added, apparently taking notice of Daisy's bouquet. She was pretty good with flowers and gardening from his experience with parties and competitions and the like. Makes sense that she would try to cheer up Luigi using her hobby as a present.

[TartoonHand94]

Daisy had to admit that was a 3-point backflip for a guy in lab coat.
“You’re looking fit as ever, Mario. The hospital scrubs are slimming.~” She complimented, hoping to shift the subject.
“What? Luigi’s here? I like totally had no idea!” She denied with a flustered grin. “I’m just here because uh…Peach is here today too… She’s visiting Samus after her big mission and stuff. Yeah!”
There was truth to what she said. Peach was indeed visiting Samus on another floor, and she had every intention of stopping by, but she had another appointment first.
“Well isn’t Luigi in for a nice surprise that his big brother’s coming to see him.”
It also appeared her attempts to hide her bouquet were in vain.
“What these? They’re for… Peach too?...” She sweated before giving up with a sigh. She couldn't hide it forever. “…Who am I kidding?”

“Yes. these are for-” She began to admit before cutting herself off.
“-He said he can take it from here.” She coughed at the Blissey who hadn’t left yet.
It was only now that the Blissey even remembered what she was doing before Mario came and she dashed off down the hall hoping her patient would still be there.
“Blissey!!”

“These are for Luigi.”
Daisy confessed, realizing she’d be a terrible friend just for trying to deny it.
“Poor guy. I got no idea what happened, but I rushed over here  as quick as I could anyway.”
She hung her head as she explained, more embarrassed for trying to cover it up than for being here at all.

“The nurses made it sound so awful. Like he’s hurt both his mind and spirit.” Her tone grew solemn and worried. “I even don’t know what to expect on the other side of these doors. Just the thought of the poor sweetie being hurt at all-” She cut herself off with a blush again and turned away from Mario.
“It’s…It’s really nice of you to come check up on Luigi in his time of need like this…” She commended Mario for coming. “…According to the nurses, we’re the first ones.”
Looking down at her flowers, she rolled them around in her hands, contemplating them.
“…Maybe you should go in first. The first face he should see after all this should be his big brother’s.” She decided, slowly looking up. “You’ve got… Y’know, that Mario Bro connection going on, don’t you?” A smile grew back onto her face as she softly imitated a Mario jump with her fist. “You two have been through Everything together! …Well you’ve been there for most everything He’s done anyway.” She shrugged, giving it more thought. “I’ll…wait my turn out here.” She stepped back with a polite curtsy.

[Coolshaymin]

"That-a does make sense. Samus did take-a quite a blast from that last mission to save her," Mario replied, not quite believing Daisy and he was not sure why she was hiding it. Though his mentioning of the flowers seemed to have broken her facade before she would admit it since the Peach defense was not going to work a second time for her... Though he looked back to see the Blissey was still there... Before running off to tend to her patient. Mario breathed a sigh of relief before looking back to Daisy with an understanding expression.

The plumber in doctor scrubs nodded solemnly at Daisy's concern for Luigi. He has never seen his brother in this much trouble if what the nurse told him was fully accurate. Luigi needed all the help he could get of those close to him if he wanted to snap out of it. Part of him did not want Daisy to wait out here and be concerned for what was happening. He was confident Daisy was pretty important to his brother as well.

Dr. Mario rubbed his chin for a moment in contemplation of Daisy's Proposal. "You're-a right. It's-a probably best that way. Thank-a you Daisy," Mario replied before heading towards the door and pausing. "... Though, Luigi admires you as-a well. If you-a want to see him together, it's-a fine with me. Luigi sounds like he needs as many close friends and family as he can-a get right now. If not, just wait-a out here," the elder Mario bro offered the princess for a moment before going to head in.

[TartoonHand94]

A soft tint of pink soaked Daisy’s cheeks almost as if to ask ‘He does?’ only for her to shake her head and play it off with a shrug and a new face that said ‘Of course he does. Who doesn’t? I’m Me!’
“Naw you go ahead.” Daisy stubbornly insisted as she stood back and let him have the door.“Three’s a crowd, y’know.”
...After a moment’s hesitation Daisy put her hand back in front of it.“Let me get that for you.” She insisted anew, opening the door for Dr. Mario.“I-it’s the least I can do.”

Looking in the room, the natural light coming in from the parting of the curtains were one of only two sources of light in the room. The second being the light coming in through the door. The opening of the door shone a square spotlight onto the bed where Luigi was strapped the night before.

But the bed… was empty! By the looks of it there was a struggle. And the bed lost. All the belts were undone and the blanked was untucked.
“Oh no! Where’d he go?” Daisy gasped. She knew there was a reason she didn’t want to go first. She didn’t know what to expect and surely she wasn’t expecting this.
“Mario, this is not good. We’re in a psycho ward with a mental patient on the loose.” She whispered to the doctor with urgency.“What are we gonna do? We gotta find him before the hospital staff finds him first and tazes him or something!” looking around frantically, unwittingly letting the door swing wider open on it’s own.“Or worse, we gotta find him before He does something! But where could he have gone?-”

The door swung open wide enough to extend the spotlight over to the corner, where surely enough the
Patient was, quaking in a foetal position. He seemed to be afraid, despite there being nothing else in the room he could particularly be afraid of. He was trembling solitarily, as if cowering from some introspective anxiety only he knew about.

“-Oh there he is.” Daisy sighed in relief. Knowing where he was calmed her down a bit. This seemed like something she could handle. She’d seen him quiver in fear dozens of times.
“Luigi!” She greeted as brightly as ever as closed in on him. …But coming closer she realized he wasn’t as bad as she seemed. He was much worse.

“…Luigi?”

[Coolshaymin]

Mario looked at Daisy for a moment as she refused, but ultimately nodded. He understood her arguement even if it may be an excuse. Still, the plumber reached for the door before seeing Daisy reach for it instead. Dr. Mario smiled and nodded as the door opened and he peered in. "Mama mia! The bed is empty," he cried. Where could Luigi have gone and what have happened? He knew him and his brother were strong but to think Luigi broke out of his restraints in  his state. It horrified the elder brother to think what drove Luigi to break out of those restraints.

"... I... don't know where he could of gone. We have to..." Mario began in as much panic as Daisy, looking around before something occurred to him. He knew his brother, and he would not go running mad or anything. He'd probably be huddled up, trying to work off the fear and anxiety he was going through... He could not imagine what he was going through for this to be the result... And sure enough, the door opened up enough to show the green plumber in the corner, trembling from whatever must of happened.

The red plumber was not as reassured as Daisy, seeing that his state was not any better like this... Though it did not answer why he summoned the effort to break his restraints. Dr. Mario looked to the Door for a moment, while he was not concerned with Luigi trying to escape, he did not want anyone else to enter or see his little bro like this. So, he shut the door and hurried over to Luigi, with a sharp cry of "Luigi!" He put his hands on his brother's shoulders and kneeled to face him. "Luigi, please say something! It's-a me, your big-a bro, Mario," the doctor of a brother pleaded, trying to get through to his little brother of a patient. The plumber was obviously concerned, he has seen Luigi cower in fear, but, this was far worse than he has ever seen his beloved brother.

[TartoonHand94]

Little twitches of the eye were all Luigi gave in reaction to hearing his name. It was if he could barely hear them, or that he wasn’t there. When they got closer however, Mario’s voice seemed to hit Luigi a little harder. Finally an eye, as if waking up from sleeping over, turned in his direction. With it, it called the other to look. And after a moment of staring, as if to make sure he wasn’t just another hallucination, Luigi’s lips began to tremble.

Daisy stood back and let the doctor operate, not sure herself what she could contribute. She was afraid if she got all up in his face like she wanted to, she’d just scare him even more. Sure she’s scared him before… but never like this.

“…M…M-m…Mario?” Luigi finally murmured with recognition? Luigi slowly, stretched out a trembling hand to feel Mario’s face.
He honked his nose.
Yep this seemed to be the real Mario alright. Tears began welling in Luigi’s eyes, these seemed new and different.

“M-m-Mario!” Luigi finally broke, reaching out to embrace his brother with his other arm. He began to bawl uncontrollably as if he had been holding it in all day.

“Luigi...What happened to you?” Daisy asked from a distance, more worried now than ever. He was too busy crying to give her an answer.

[Coolshaymin]

"Don't-a worry, Little Bro, Mario is-a here," Mario smiled as Luigi recogonized him and started crying as they were in a form of brotherly hug. The plumber in Doctor Scrubs patted Luigi on the back as he had tears as well, concern for his brother. Thankfully, his presence helped snap his bro out of his funk and gave a sense of comfort for his bro in green. He seemed better than before, Mario used to this type of embrace when they needed comfort over something bad like concern over being seperated or an awful event. Luigi letting it out for him gave the brother some hope it was not too bad.

"What-a happened to you? The nurses and doctors made it-a sound really bad. Me and-a Daisy were really-a concerned," The big brother asked after giving Luigi a moment to calm down some more. Due to his leader duties, Luigi has been doing his best for the family name though they have not been able to talk much. It pained Mario this would happen while he was unable to look out for his little brother. He did not get much details but Luigi must of saw something pretty bad to be this bad off. Sure, he was easily frightened but the hospital felt there was little choice but to put him in a mental ward.

[TartoonHand94]

Luigi embraced Mario tightly, as if holding on for dear life. As if he let go he’d fall from a great height back into the abyss of madness. Almost like looking into a mirror, Mario’s presence represented security and stability. In this wide wacky world full of danger where even the smallest Goomba could get you, Mario stood out as a paragon for courage, bravery and resilience for everyone. And for no one more than Luigi. Life at Mario’s side was dangerous, but it was at his side where Luigi felt safest.

And in the security of his big brother’s embrace, Luigi finally found the strength to tell somebody what happened.
“M-mario I cou-hoo-hoo I ca-ha-ha-hant not-” Luigi tried to fight through his own blubbering to say. He quivered at the feeling of a 3rd hand on his back. Turning around he found Daisy’s big blue eyes gazing into his with tender concern equal to Mario’s

“You can’t what?” Daisy asked in baited breath, handing him a tissue. After blowing the green out of his moustache into it, Luigi had enough out of his system to begin speaking in coherent sentences again.

“I couldn’t save them, Mario.” He confessed with deep guilt.