its been two days since anyone had seen Mario. he'd locked himself in his room after a nasty fight with Spike in the human world. the jerk had been friendly for two weeks then returned to his asshole ways, old habits die hard.

Spike had stolen Luigi's hat, picking on the slightly younger twin, and refused to give it back, so Mario had attempted to get it back. Luigi isn't sure what happened, but Mario hadn't been seen since.

and Donkey Kong is tired of it.

the Kong marches into Mushroom Kingdom, grumbling.

"hey! Greenie!" DK shouts. Luigi jumps, looking over at him.

"Donkey Kong?" Luigi asks, confused. DK grunts, storming over to him.

"wheres Red? he missed out rematch again!" DK growls. Luigi frowns at him.

"Mario's at the house. he got into a fight with Spike, jerk stole my hat. I don't know what happened.... he's been locked in his room ever since. won't even talk to me." Luigi frowns. DK growls. Luigi shrugs slightly. "but you're welcome to try and see him. he might talk to you, but I don't really know." Luigi murmurs. Dk huffs and heads off to the brothers house.

DK knocks, but he doesn't get an answer, so he simply walks in. no one locks their doors in the Mushroom Kingdom. he wonders the house, heading for Mario's room, but pauses. DK looks at the bathroom door and frowns, it sounds like splashing water.

"Mario?" DK calls. its quiet a moment.

"uh... Donkey Kong?" Mario calls, sounding confused. "DK, is that you?" Mario asks. DK opens the bathroom door immediately. "h-hey!" Mario shouts, sitting up quickly. he winces immediately, curling around his ribs.

injuries that had happened in the Mushroom Kingdom, or the Jungle Kingdom, had healed quickly, but all his injuries from Brooklyn, were taking their sweet time.

"Mario are you... woah! where'd that black eye come from? you didn't have that before." DK frowns, walking closer.

"yes it was." Mario mutters. "back up some." Mario frowns. DK frowns.

"Mario, you weren't this... purple, the other day." Donkey Kong frowns.

"I'm fine. the bruising is-a... just coming in." Mario shrugs. he winces again, sinking into the warm water. "fuck." he mutters. DK narrows his eyes.

"Luigi mentioned this Spike, guy. he do that when you tried to get his hat back?" DK asks. Mario frowns.

"turns out, getting my ass kicked by a giant turtle, then winning, means people realize you can take more of a beating." Mario frowns.

"what happened?" DK asks. Mario shrugs slightly, wincing again.

"I got my ass kicked. he kicked my ribs. I didn't get Lu's hat back." Mario mutters. DK frowns and turns around, storming out of the house. Mario watches him go, confused, before sinking back into the water.

DK storms back to where he'd last seen Luigi. no one gets in his way, he looks pissed.

"hey! Greenie!" DK growls. Luigi jumps, jerking around.

"Dk, whats-" Luigi tries. Donkey Kong gets in his face, making the man take a step back.

"take me to Spike." DK growls.

"but I-" Luigi starts.

"now." DK growls. Luigi swallows, but nods slightly.

"he-he's in Brooklyn." Luigi manages.

"then lets go." DK grumbles. Luigi nods slightly, heading for the tunnel. DK hates traveling through tunnels, but, its the only way to get to the human world.

DK being in Brooklyn with either Luigi or Mario is not that unusual, so no one pays them any mind as Luigi leads them to Spikes job site.

as they get to the site Luigi points Spike out, looking up at Donkey Kong.

"thats him. thats Spike." Luigi says. Donkey Kong can see that, he can tell by the fact the man is wearing Mario's fucking hat. DK growls, snarling at the man.

"stay here." Donkey Kong growls. Luigi nods nervously, wringing the hem of his shirt in his hands. DK storms over to the man.

"HEY!" DK growls, grabbing hold of Spike.

"please don't kill him." Luigi murmurs covering his face with his hands.

"let go of me!" Spike shouts.

"why don't you pick on someone your own size!" DK growls. Luigi can't see whats happening, but hearing it is just as bad.

DK throws Spike to the ground, Marios hat gripped in one hand gently.

"those stupid Mario brothers send you after me? over a couple of hats?" Spike scoffs. he yelps and Luigi flinches.

the green plumber flinches again at the sound of breaking glass, before he tenses at the sound of someone stomping over. Luigi peeks between his finger, before hesitantly lowering his hands as Donkey Kong comes closer.

"here." DK grumbles, plopping Luigis hat on his head.

"uh... thanks." Luigi murmurs. Luigi adjusts his hat slightly, before looking up at DK again. the Kong grunts, grabbing Luigi by the back of his overalls and heading off back towards the pipe as quickly as he can. he doesn't want to be around when Spike regains consciousness. "uh.. Donkey Kong?" Luigi asks.

"what?" DK grumbles.

"you... you're bleeding." Luigi murmurs.

"yeah. glass breaks differently in Brooklyn." DK mutters.

he easily drops Luigi into the tunnel before jumping into it after him.

Luigi's waiting for him at the other side.

"are you... d-do you want to take Mario his hat back? o-or I can." Luigi murmurs.

"I'll do it." DK mumbles, heading for the plumbers house. Luigi nods slightly and watches him go, before heading off to Peaches castle.

DK doesn't even bother knocking this time, its been a few hours, but Mario had looked pretty bad. the Kong was sure he'd still be in the bath, probably with fresh warm water. to his utter surprise, Mario is sprawled on the couch, boredly watching tv.

Mario looks utterly confused at Donkey Kongs sudden appearance.

"DK?" Mario asks, confused. DK walks over to the couch and plops down onto the empty spot, carefully. he doesn't want to hurt Mario. the red wearing plumber, sits up slowly. the motion is clearly painful and takes a lot more effort than Mario would like, but he gets into a sitting position. "are you-" Mario starts. Donkey Kong holds the hat out, not looking over at Mario. he stares at the tv silently. Mario looks confused. "m-my hat?" Mario asks, looking at DK confused.

"take it." DK mutters. Mario takes his hat.

"you got my hat back?" Mario asks, looking down at his hat, then back up at Dk.

"and greenies too." DK mumbles. Marios face twitches slightly, as though he were resisting the urge to smile, afraid it would hurt.

"really? thanks." Mario murmurs. DK shrugs slightly.

"whatever." DK mutters. Mario lays back against the arm of the couch, wincing. an ice pack, that DK hadn't noticed before, crinkles when Mario lays back against it. "you okay?" DK asks.

"yeah, just sore. I think he bruised my kidney." Mario grumbles. DK growls lowly, glaring at the tv. Mario raises an eye brow, but Donkey Kong doesn't even bother looking over, he stares at the tv. "you just gonna hang out here for a bit?" Mario asks. DK grunts and Mario nods slightly. he doesn't have the energy to fight or the want to get DK to leave. he does enjoy the others company.

its dark when Luigi decides its safe to return to the house. he opens the door and walks in, pausing. he'd assumed Mario would be in his room, but his slightly older twin is laying on the couch. there's an ice pack pressed to his face and one laying on his stomach. what shocks Luigi the most, is DK snoring on the couch. his outer left thigh is holding the ice pack against Marios face, Marios head is propped against it. Marios hat is askew, covering his eyes, but he's snoring as well. Donkey Kong is sprawled out, head back and arms over the back of the couch. his legs are propped up on the small coffee table in front of the couch.

"huh." Luigi murmurs. Donkey Kong shifts as the door closes. "sorry.' Luigi mutters. DK blinks and awake, lifting his head. he looks utterly confused. he looks down at Mario, who shifts slightly, before dropping his head back again. his eyes close once more and he doesn't shift again. Luigii smiles slightly and heads to bed.