Luigi slid his knife out of the Wiggler that had been unlucky enough to cross his path. He wasn't really much of a knife guy, who was these days? Guns were just so much more efficient. Luigi wasn't particularly into the act of killing either, like Bowser's crew and his own brother and the Bros. However he was good at killing. And being good at it meant money, mushrooms, and most importantly, the freedom to do whatever he wanted. So he liked to practice with a knife from time to time.
People feared Luigi in Mushroom Kingdom. He knew that. He didn't mind. On the occasion he stayed for extended periods in Mushroom City or Toad Town, he preferred walking the streets at night. That was when things got interesting, away from the eyes of most of the world.
But now he was in the Forest of Illusion. With a freshly dead Wiggler. Luigi hated those damn things, always getting in the way like the bumbling idiots they were. Simple creatures. He left the Wiggler body, something in the Forest would eat it or use it somehow, that was how the Forest was.
He turned and started the walk back to the Ghost House he had been staying at. He and the Boos had an understanding, a truce of sorts for the past few years. Luigi was one of the few residents of the Kingdom that the Boos feared, mostly due to his uncanny ability to kill the ghosts, something few others had managed. But Luigi respected the Boos and their ways. They worked for no one, but helped or hurt where they saw fit. Sometimes for a cause, sometimes for a price. Luigi liked to think he fit in with that way of life, despite being the only brother to the leader of the most recognizable gang in the Kingdom.
Luigi had been in the Forest for a while now. Not with any real intent or purpose, just walking the trees and learning what he could from the Boos and the occasional Shy Guy that would talk to him. He suspected that Mario was itching to know where he was and what he was doing. Probably time to get back to him and see what sort of perverse tasks he had for him.
Mario gave him the type of jobs that would cause other killers stomachs to turn. Important jobs though. Luigi didn't mind the difficult or cruel or morally unclear tasks though. It helped him to cultivate the reputation of a man who would do anything. Anything. Not many people had that kind of reputation to fall back on. Not many people would willingly engage with a man of that reputation.
Luigi didn't really care about Mario's cause, or the gang, or the rising tension between the gangs. He was satisfied doing Mario's bidding from time to time and spending the rest of his time doing whatever the hell he wanted. He wasn't a plumber anymore, and he wasn't beholden to any man, Koopa or Goomba anymore either. He had fear, which was better and longer lasting than respect, and he had freedom, which was better than coins and power. Although he wasn't hurting for coins either.
But he did get bored of things eventually. And that was always a good time to head back to the cities and towns that Mario thought he ruled. He'd start the trip back tomorrow and see what part he could play in Mario's plans for the Kingdom. Mario always had a plan.
