Notes: So, there are tough times in my house. I don't have time to work on anything new (aside from Slight Change of Plans) so I'm putting up an older story which I never got around to posting. For once, the story has been completed in advance. Usually I write as I go. This is also my first posted story in the Mario universe: I wanted something where Luigi was a 'bad guy' but I also wanted him to be the hero of the story. Hope you enjoy.

Camouflage – A Mario Fanfic, featuring Luigi

Chapter 1

Luigi groaned as he woke up.

Strange... he didn't remember going to sleep. And whatever he was lying on was cold and hard. It didn't feel like he had slept either.

He opened his eyes. Confronted with the dungeon around him, he squeezed them closed again as a wave of panic washed over him.

Why was he here?

Why was he in a dungeon? Who had taken him now?

Were they going to use him as bait to get to Mario? Kill him? Turn him?

Numerous possibilities ran though his mind and none of them were good. It looked like he was in Bower's Castle. Normally he could defeat Bower and, if not, at least hold him off until Mario could arrive to help.

However, there were also numerous other enemies he and his brother made over the years and any of them could have done this.

"Hello?" he called out into the darkness outside the bars. He could see partway down the path before it was swallowed into darkness. The only light came from a torch across from his cell.

"Mario?" he called out. He hoped his brother wasn't here, somewhere in the darkness. He also hoped that his brother was here, ready to get him out of here.

There was no response.

Luigi jiggled the bars. He paced around the cell, trying to find a way out. The walls were solid and so was the roof, his headache made worse when he tried to jump out of the cell, so there was no way out.

Finally, Luigi just sat cross-legged on the ground and waited. Either Mario would come save him or the villain would reveal himself.

The latter proved true when pounding footsteps sounded. They grew louder and the ground rumbled as whatever it was grew closer.

Luigi found himself face-to-face with a familiar huge lizard monster, complete with spiky green-shell and spiky armbands. He moved to the back of the cell and glared at Bowser, holding his shaking hands behind his back.

"So, you've got nothin' to say to me, Green 'stashe?" Bowser growled. He wasn't angry as his voice had a calm tone under the hoarseness.

Luigi shook his head, unable to trust his voice. Stuck behind bars, where Bowser's flames could reach him but he couldn't reach Bower, he was completely at the other's mercy.

And Bowser wasn't known for his mercy. All Luigi could do was hope that the Koopa King had a plan and that killing him wasn't part of it.

Luigi shuddered as he thought of Mario. If Bowser killed him here, he would never see his brother again. And Mario would have to live with his death. That would probably kill his older brother.

"Fine. I'll speak." Bowser held up some keys on a large ring. "I've got a plan to take over the Mushroom Kingdom and finally defeat Mario! And I can't have you working with him in order to screw things up."

"W-what are you say-saying?" Luigi asked with a swallow. Bowser wasn't about to kill him, was he?

"Lord Bowser is saying that he's offering you a place on our team," Kamek said, appearing out of the shadows. "Fairly gratuitous, if you ask me."

Luigi's mouth dropped open. For a moment, he forgot to be afraid. Seriously? What was Bowser thinking?

He opened his mouth to say 'no', 'never' and the like, when Bowser spoke again.

"Remember, no one says 'no' to me," he growled, his voice dropping lower than Luigi had ever heard it.

Luigi shivered and trembled.

"Say 'no' and Mario gets your broken body delivered to his door, minus your life."

Luigi swallowed. The threat was clear. He says 'no' and he's dead. But, saying 'yes'? Helping Bowser, even if only until Mario could rescue him or he could escape? He'd never live that down. The people in Toad Town might not remember his good deeds but they certainly remembered his failures. Like the time Toadette dropped that cotton thread on him and he thought it was a spider. He screamed so loud that they said the inhabitants of Darkland could hear him and still hadn't stopped talking about it.

What would they say about him if he helped their ultimate enemy? What would the princess think?

What would Daisy think?

He considered all of this and took a deep breath. He thought about Mario and what would happen if his brother found his dead body.

He would never live down the rumours and distrust but, if he died; Mario would break, and he couldn't do that to his brother. Not even for a second.

Luigi didn't want to die.

"I'll join you," he announced, hanging his head.

Bowser laughed, his voice rattling the ceiling, and rubbed his hands together.

"Excellent, excellent! Kamek, show our new minion to his quarters. And get him out of that stupid plumber's outfit."

Luigi's heart jumped in horror as he looked down at his outfit. Right now, it was his only link to his brother. And his hat, it was his favourite. His hands reached up to pull it down over his eyes and his took deep breaths to keep from crying. He wouldn't let them see him cry. He wouldn't cry in front of them.

"Come along," Kamek said, opening the cell. He waved his wand in the air. "Remember I can easily beat you as you are now."

Luigi nodded and walked out of the cell. Kamek made him walk in front, telling him where and when to turn, guiding him. Luigi was nervous and his hands hadn't stopped shaking but, his mind was alive. It ran though all worst-case scenarios, most ending with him having to leave Toad Town and the Mushroom Kingdom because of his betrayal, until he opened a large, heavy, brown door and walked into a large suite.

It was medieval, with stone walls and floor. There was a poster bed to his right and a large wardrobe to his left. The room was set out a lot like the guest rooms at Princess Peach's Castle, although the colour scheme was darker with more browns, blacks and reds.

"You have fifteen minutes to pick something out and change," Kamek said, "then Bowser wishes to speak with you about his plan."

Luigi nodded, his voice deserting him again as bile rose in his throat. He was really going to work with Bowser.

The very thought made him sick.