It was dark for a long time. All I could see was that smile. That stupid drawing's smile. It followed me through the darkness, stalking me wherever I went.

The world seemed so simple once upon a time. Everything was neat, like a perfect coloring book. All the colors were drawn in their own sections. Now? The ink was bleeding through the lines, making a mess of everything. 

When I woke up, I was lying on the ground, right next to the machine. I sat up and shook my head. Everything looked MUCH darker than it had before. It was like I put sunglasses on indoors.

Peach! Where was Peach?! I had to find her!

I opened my mouth to call her name, but no words could form. 

It was a strange sensation. I tried speaking, but words legitimately wouldn’t form. It was like someone had stripped me of my ability to speak.

Whatever, I didn't have time to sit and wonder what the heck happened or how I was alive. I had to find Peach. I had to make sure she was alright.

I quickly got up and ran through the halls, looking around for her desperately. She had to be somewhere. 

I was silently praying to Grambi that the Ink Demon didn't get her. I had no idea what happened, but if I had to guess, I would say that the demon attacked me and knocked me unconscious. By.... stabbing me in the back. 

I had NO idea how I was still alive.

Now, if I were Princess Peach, where would I go...?

Right! Our little hideout! She's probably hiding in there!

I quickly ran down a few floors of stairs and into the little hideout we assembled. I practically burst through the door, holding my arms out to show her that I was okay!

But... she wasn't in there either.

I frowned slightly, then looked around the room, confused.

If she wasn't in the safe room, then where could she have gone?

A wave of worry washed over me.

Wherever she was, I had to save her! 

I was about to turn and run out into the halls to search for her when something caught my eye.

It was the mirror Peach and I had set up in our room. Or, more importantly, the reflection in it.

On no, I thought to myself. Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

I quickly ran up to the mirror and grasped the sides of it, panicking.

My reflection wasn't me!! 

That WASN'T ME!

There had to have been some mistake. This HAD to have been some sort of trick! It just... it HAD to be! This couldn't be real! This had to have been some sort of dream.

But dreams come true down here...

I began to tremble.

In my reflection, I looked like a practically perfect three-dimensional model of Brooks, the wolf. Just like that other guy we ran into, minus the cane and tophat.

But that wasn't me. I was MARIO! Not Brooks! I was a person!

I clenched my fists, then punched the mirror as hard as I could, making cracks and fractures spiral around the glass. I would have expected the shards to cut me, but I could barely even feel the impact from the punch.

My skin was made of Ink. I wasn't flesh and bone anymore.

I wasn't me anymore.

I stepped back. I could feel my heart race, faster and faster. At least I still had a heart. 

I quickly turned away from the shattered mirror and ran. I ran far and fast, refusing to look back. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted Peach to hold my hand and tell me that everything was going to be okay. I wanted her kindness to lift me up.

But Peach was gone. 

I didn't even get to tell her how I felt.

And now I never would.

Oh my Grambi, how could everything fall apart so quickly-

My train of thought was interrupted when I accidentally kicked over a small bacon soup can, making it roll out around the corner.

Then, there was a voice.

"Hello? Is someone there?!" 

My heart froze.

His voice quivered. He sounded afraid.

 "I-I know you're here. Come out and show yourself."

Oh my Grambi, it was Luigi!

He was talking now!!

But... would he still be mad at me?

Would he ever recognize me?!

... Does that even matter?

I waited in silence for a moment, then took a deep breath. I gathered all the courage I could muster, then walked around the corner.

Luigi was holding up a flashlight. He was still dressed as Mr. L, but he looked so much more like himself than what I had seen a few hours ago. He looked like he hadn't given up yet.

"Brooks?" He asked, lowering his flashlight.

... I have to admit, it hurts. I knew I looked NOTHING like myself, but it still hurt not to be recognized. Not that I blamed him. I didn't recognize him, and he looked SO MUCH more like himself. 

And honestly, it didn't matter if he could recognize me or not. 

He was my brother, and I was going to help him in any way I could. 

... I've been with Luigi for a few hours now. I took him back to my safe house and let him look around. Deep down, I think I was waiting for Peach to come back, but I knew she wouldn't. I lost her. 

Dimentio had said that the past is the future, yet the future is also the past. He told me that time no longer made any sense. He said that nothing made sense anymore. But while that may be partially true, there was something that just seemed to click once I saw Luigi.

This wasn't the same Luigi I saw earlier. This one was younger. This Luigi hadn't been here for nearly as long. We were stuck in some sort of time loop that no longer made sense. That's why Luigi was saying I was dead in those tape recordings. That's why people were telling me that I wasn't meant to save everyone.

I WASN'T meant to save everyone.

I was meant to die and find this Luigi. I was meant to help him while he still held onto hope. I was meant to push him forward and keep him from giving up. I was meant to be what Peach was to me. 

I'm Mario, and I'm a hero. But, a hero isn't just someone who saves people. A hero is someone who does what they can to help. They don't have to be famous. They don't even have to be well-known. Luigi doesn't have to know who I am. No one does. I know who I am, and that's all that matters.

If Luigi needs me to be Brooks, I'll be Brooks. If he needs me to be a brother, I'll be a brother. It doesn't matter who I am to him. What matters is that I'm going to help and support him in any way I can.

Am I perfect by any means? No. I've made lots of mistakes. But I'm going to do my very best to make up for it.

Nightmares come true, but so do dreams. Well, Luigi, your dream of being the hero is about to come to life, so get ready. It's going to be one heck of a ride. 

But don't worry. I'll be there ready to support you, every step of the way.