#but don't worry Luigi and Peach have firmly agreed to keep Bowser under the impression that

[pianokantzart]

Love this interpretation of Mr. M. I gotta ask: How do you think an aftermath with Mr. M would look like?

After the whole fiasco, Mario's memories of his time as "Mr. M" are slow to resurface. In the meantime, Princess Peach is thinking over what she'd seen... how the man she had always known to be bright-eyed, energetic, and eternally positive, had for a short time been robbed of his memories and reduced to something so desperate and pitiable. Luigi is in a similar boat, but he is less startled than Peach is. He had caught tiny glimpses of that side of Mario in quiet moments after particularly stressful days, but he'd never before seen it in such extremes. Not even when they were children.

Mario is confused at first as to why Luigi and Princess Peach check on him so often, why they keep reassuring him that everyone's safe, why they offer to take turns with missions "if he ever needs a break." Mario thinks that it has to do with whatever happened while he was under Count Bleck's control... it must've been worse than he thought. He must've gotten hut at some point. He must've really had them worried.

Then, slowly, the memories come back to him...

... Begging Luigi to switch sides, raining down blows through tears and whimpered apologies, blubbering to Peach about scared he is... how the rest of Team Bleck is counting on him... how he didn't want to "ruin everything." He remembers trembling in the presence of Bowser, desperately pleading with him not to hurt anyone. Every emotion that he felt but sternly denied himself had been forced to the surface, stirred up, and let loose, and everyone he most wanted to keep under the impression that he was perfectly okay– be it for the preservation of their happiness or for the safety of the kingdom– had gotten a front row seat...