Angrily, Daisy approached the warp pipe, a frightened Luigi tripping out of it, inching away from her.

"You again? I thought you were smart enough not to show your face here again. I guess I was mistaken," Daisy said to him, unamused.

Putting his hands up in surrender, Luigi continued to slowly inch backwards. "W-w-wait! I think I know why you're upset," he stuttered quickly as his back hit a red-white pipe behind him. "Please, Daisy, let me explain!" Luigi winced, awaiting the princess' response that he feared was nothing less than a punch to the face.

Daisy could see the genuine fear in his eyes and sighed, relieving some of the tension she had built up before crossing her arms. "Okay," she responded, "Explain yourself."

Luigi exhaled in relief, expelling the breath he was not aware he had been holding before he explained. "I need your help. Not long ago, your kingdoms were attacked by someone who looks and sounds just like me. And, although technically that was me, I didn't do anything."

Daisy raised a confused eyebrow.

He sighed, "You see, I have an alter ego, a second personality, that goes about being its own person with its own personality, opinions, and morals. A few weeks ago, it managed to find a way to escape from my mind and it has been causing chaos in my name." His eyes darted to the floor, dejectedly. "I need someone to help take him down. He's got Peach and Mario and I-- I'm all alone. I can't do this by myself."

Daisy uncrossed her arms as her expressions shifted from irritated to concerned.

"Please, Daisy," Luigi's voice began to quake, "What will it take for you to trust me again?"

Daisy was still a tad skeptical, but nonetheless, she believed him. She held a hand out to help Luigi back to his feet, which he gladly accepted with a light smile. "Let's say that I do trust you. Where is this 'second personality' of yours?"

Luigi glanced to the pink warp pipe he had just come out of then back to Daisy with a troubled look.

~~~~~

Back at Peach's castle, two sets of hands grabbed the edge of the yellow-orange warp pipe, Luigi and Daisy stuck their heads out of the pipe to look around. The coast was clear. For now. As they climbed out of the pipe, a set of footsteps was heard approaching the room. Quickly, the two jumped out of the warp pipe and hid behind one further back in the room.

The footsteps drew closer. "Come on, through here," spoke a familiar voice. Entering the room was a familiar-looking being in some rather interesting-looking get-up.

Daisy's eyes widened at the sight. She glanced between Luigi and Mr. L, noticing the similarities between the two.

Mr. L walked to the black-red-colored warp pipe, being followed by a small band of shy guys carrying the unconscious Mario and Peach. He noted the pipe's cover had not been replaced since he last used it. "Let's go, hurry up," Mr. L directed the shy guys through the warp pipe, irked at how slow they moved. Once they were all through, Mr. L jumped in behind them.

Luigi and Daisy moved from their hiding place, Daisy still shocked at how uncanny their similarities were. "Who was that?" She questioned.

"That's Mr. L. He's that 'second personality' I told you about," Luigi responded.

Daisy thought for a moment, realizing he was telling the truth. Realizing she had been angry at the wrong person. She sighed, giving him a light smile, an apologetic one.

Luigi's dejected look was replaced with a smile in return accompanied by a nod. He had accepted his apology. "Come on, let's go put a stop to him," he spoke, moving over towards the Bowser's Castle warp pipe. He extended his hand to her, which she accepted with a grin, and the two jumped into the pipe together.

~~~~~

Mr. L marched towards the mid-renovated castle with an evil grin before his face dropped as he turned around. He crossed his arms in annoyance watching his small assembly of shy guys struggle to keep up with his pace. The shy guys noticed his irritation and attempted to quicken their own pace, being made difficult by the two humans they were tasked with transporting yet, they sped up to a noticeably faster-walking speed. Partly satisfied, Mr. L turned back around, continuing his march towards the castle.

Luigi and Daisy simultaneously popped out of the pipe behind him. Daisy spotted the masked dopplegänger and proceeded to quickly climb out of the pipe to chase after him, ready to fight. Before she could go anywhere, a hand was placed on her shoulder, signaling her to stop. She looked behind her as Luigi shook his head.

"We can't fight him. Not yet," he spoke in a quiet tone, taking his hand off of her shoulder to climb out of the warp pipe as well.

Daisy gave him a confused look. "Why not? He's right there. We can't let him get away with what he's been doing!" She exclaimed in a whisper-like fashion.

Luigi shook his head again and pointed to the band of shy guys, "Not while he has them. We have to be sure they're safe before we try to confront him." Daisy sighs at this, disappointedly. "Don't worry," Luigi attempts to comfort, "We'll get him. Just hold on for a bit longer."

Daisy sighed once more, this time in reluctance. Her previously tensed state shifted to more of a relaxed one, but she did not let her guard down. The two followed behind Mr. L's shy guy entourage close enough to see where they were headed, but far enough to not draw immediate suspicion to them.

Mr. L entered the castle, leading the troop of shy guys down a stone brick hallway to a set of cells. "Put these two in a cell," he demanded, beginning to turn around before something came to mind. He stopped and looked back at the shy guys. "Separately," he continued, his tone low and threatening. He turned around to walk back to his previously stolen throne. As he turned, Luigi and Daisy rushed to take cover in an empty cell in an attempt to not be seen. Mr. L marched right past their hiding spot. In that instant, Luigi's heart skipped a beat, him fearing the worst.

Before he could take a sigh of relief, Mr. L stopped in his tracks, putting his hand to his heart in confusion. He could feel fear washing over him and he knew it wasn't his own. Curiously, he retraced his steps, feeling the fear only intensify the further back he stepped.

He checked each cell he passed searching for a specific someone. He could feel himself growing closer. He could feel his heart racing. Approaching one cell, the fear was almost disorienting. That was the one. He looked through the cell bars, nothing in particular stuck out. He opened the door, entering the presumably empty cell. Luigi and Daisy hid as far behind the cell door as they could before trying to sneak behind their confused foe.

In the corner of his eye, Mr, L spotted the duo during their attempted escape. He shook his head with a sinister grin. "Hold it right there."

The two stopped dead in their tracks. They had been caught.

"Do you really think you can get away from me that easily?" Mr. L chuckled, turning to face the two. "Oh, Luigi, my good-natured dopplegȁnger. You're still letting your emotions control you. How do you think I found your hiding place?" His attention shifted to the Sarasaland princess, whose patience was quickly running out. "And princess, what a completely unexpected surprise! Did you come back to finish what we started?" he asked with a smirk.

Daisy scowled at the nickname, tensing up, preparing for a fight. Luigi took notice of this rather quickly and whispered to her, "Don't fight him. It's what he wants."

Exaggeratedly, Mr. L put his hand to his ear. "Oh, what was that? I couldn't hear you over the whispering," he spoke in a mocking tone, his voice growing louder near the end. He regained his composure and continued, "What's wrong, Green? Afraid to have a girl fight your battles?"

"N-no! Wha- I- I know what you're trying to do and I won't allow it," Luigi stuttered out a response.

Mr. L simply smiled, innocent yet maniacal, "Really? Let's see what she has to say about it." Mr. L sent a punch towards Luigi, sending him backward into the cell bars.

Without hesitation, Daisy rushed to attack, sending one swift punch towards his face, disorienting him. Mr. L stumbled backward as he caught his balance. With a smirk, he balled his fists, ready to take her on once more, confident he could beat her once more. Both charged at one another, both restraining each other's fists as they simultaneously went for another punch.

Luigi stood up to his feet, disoriented himself, but ready to assist Daisy regardless. Before he could even get the chance to, however, Daisy's grip tightened around Mr. L's fists as she pulled him closer and jabbed him in the stomach, causing him to release his own grip. This gave her the opportunity to strike him once more, once again in the face, once again disorienting both Mr. L and his dopplegȁnger.

Luigi could not bring himself to fight... himself. He was aware of how hard of a hitter Daisy was, but even that was an underestimation. Even if he could withstand the pain, he knew if he got involved, Daisy would know about how they shared the same pain, allowing her to suffer the same fate as his brother. All he could do was watch.

Mr. L sent two more punches to the Sarasaland princess, both being restrained before they could even land. He didn't try to resist as much, but she wouldn't let him go.

"I'll admit, you are a skilled fighter, princess. One of the greatest I've seen," Mr. L complimented. "But, there is one thing I can do that you can't."

Daisy looked to him confused before realization struck her. She noticed his hands beginning to glow and remembered what came after it. A wave of electricity flowed through her arms. A painful experience, but one she wasn't going to succumb to. Not after what he did to her home. Not after what he did to her friends. Enraged, Daisy let out a pained scream as she lifted him up over her head and threw him to the ground behind her, breaking the electric connection between the two. Mr. L let out a pained ground. He was in great pain, he couldn't move. Luigi, who had watched this great feat, felt the same pain, but he was too shocked to exclaim. Daisy only looked to the dazed combatant as her anger slowly faded away.

Now in a more reasonable state, she turned to Luigi, assuming he hadn't moved the entire fight. Approaching him, she extended her hand out to help him up. "Are you okay? He seemed to have hit you pretty hard," Daisy asked, partially out of breath.

Luigi nodded, blinking back a pained tear as he smiled. "Yeah, I'm good," he lied. "Now, come on. Let's free the others before he gets back up," he told her, beginning to rush back to the other cells, Daisy nodded and followed behind him.

They arrive at the cells Mario and Peach are locked behind. Luigi picks up the lock that belonged to Mario's cell and gestures it to Daisy who quickly breaks the lock with a swift movement of her hand, much to Luigi's surprise. He didn't wish to question it. He hurriedly removed the remnants of the lock and opened the door to free his brother.

While Daisy did the same with Peach's cell, Luigi rushed over to Mario. He was weak, but it was something a Super Mushroom could fix. He felt around for any spares, but he didn't have any. He picked up the unconscious hero and carried him over to Peach and Daisy.

"I don't have any mushrooms," Luigi sighed defeatedly.

Daisy gave him a smile, "That's okay, I have a few extras right--" Before she could finish her sentence, a ray of light struck her from behind him, resulting in her falling unconscious as well. Luigi turned around in shock.

Mr. L was back on his feet. And he was pissed.