"Wait," Peach interrupted. "You mean to say that you imagined this ship into being?"
"Don't be silly," Shy Guy replied, "I had to build it. I imagined the design, though."
"There's nothing strange about that," Luigi remarked.
"Of course not!" the Shy Guy cried. "Anyone can do what I did, probably even better!"
"You haven't explained how you managed to give us all illusions, though."
"No. You see, I discovered that imagination could be shared. Just like we share experiences, we can share our imaginings. The beauty of imagination could be used to change lives if it was distributed correctly! So I imagined and then built a machine that could capture scenes from my imagination and replay them for other people."
At this Luigi's eyebrows arched. "That's the worst idea I think I've ever heard. Why in the world would you try to pull a stunt like that?"
"Originally I had good intentions," the Shy Guy replied. "You see, it started with the idea that sharing imaginary experiences with people would build relationships and maybe even bring joy to people - but it soon developed into a power trip. I realized that if people responded verbally to my machine then the power of imagination would become so great that they would be fooled into believing the illusion was real. I could convince anyone of anything, and well, the temptation became too great. This tool should have been a major force for good, but instead it just became a way for me to take advantage of others. I stole vast amounts of money from people all over the world by manipulating people, usually with fear, to give it to me. For example, Luigi, the monster you imagined in your illusion was just me. At any rate, I heard of the Mushroom Kingdom and of its vast wealth and just couldn't resist. The rest of the story is already probably complete in your minds. To be honest, I have to thank you for destroying my machine. If it had gone much further, I think I would have been unable to tell the difference between real and fake. After all, everything you saw was a reflection of my imagination bounced off of yours. I saw what you saw, although of course I could switch between illusions."
"Sounds to me like your imagination got the best of you," Peach wryly remarked.
Mario chuckled at Peach, but then frowned. Another good intention corrupted by the thirst for money and power. Philosophy wasn't his thing, but he could see a pattern further demonstrated by this Shy Guy that had remained consistent with every villain he had ever fought.
"So what now, Bro?" asked Luigi.
Mario looked at the Shy Guy, who had dropped his laser gun and obviously had no fight left in him. If anything, he was the result of a broken dream. He didn't pose any threat now.
"Let's a-go."
"That's it?" asked Peach
"Yes."
"I'm s-s-sorry," stammered the Shy Guy. "I-I-I promise I won't e-ever do it a-again." His voice shook as he spoke. Mario glanced at his friends, then jumped out of the ship and onto the castle tower. Peach followed.
Luigi walked to the Shy Guy. "Come on. Time to go home."
"Home?"
"You certainly can't stay here."
"No, I s-suppose I can't."
"Did you want to?"
"No, not r-really."
"Good."
"I need to get this thing off the castle. Thankfully I have remote control. I'll fly it into space and blow it up."
"Cool. See you in the castle. I'm sure the Mushroom Kingdom could really benefit from your imagination. At least, Mario thinks so."
"What? Did you read his mind?"
"Call it a sibling thing." With that, Luigi jumped ship.
The Shy Guy paused for just a moment before following. They all watched as the ship flew away into the sky, and once it was out of sight walked down to the castle drawbridge.
On seeing the Princess' return Toadsworth came running. "Masters Mario and Luigi! It's wonderful to have you back, and you rescued the Princess! I knew you would!"
Mario turned toward Luigi and smiled. "Imagine that."
Thank you so much for to reading my story!
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