A/N: sorry this took so long. I hope it's worth the wait.
Chapter 3: The First Day
It had been over an hour since Bowser took Mario around the castle. Bowser had never walked so much in his life. It always surprised him just how big his castle really was.
He had shown Mario around the cellar and was currently working his way up to the upper floors, with Mario in tow.
Bowser sighed, he could've been doing this with Peach, but no, the idiot plumber had to go and ruin everything for him. Now he was stuck babysitting his archrival, for some hair brained idea Kamek came up with. Bowser clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. This was all Kamek's fault. When this was all over, he was going to make sure Kamek paid dearly for this.
"Are you alright?" Mario asked, looking up at the tyrant.
Bowser shot Mario a wicked look, and Mario quickly backed off. "Fine, sorry I asked," he said, falling into step beside Bowser again.
After a few seconds of prolonged silence, Mario spoke, "You know Bowser, as much as I'm enjoying this little tour I think there's one room you haven't shown me yet."
Bowser turned his eyes to the plumber. "And that room would be?"
"Your bedroom," he said, a playful smirk crossing his face.
Bowser stopped in his tracks and regarded Mario. "Haven't you been to my bedroom before?"
Mario shook his head. "Nope, I've never had a reason to go there, but maybe now I do," He said.
Bowser wasn't entirely sure he liked the tone in Mario's voice on that last part of his sentence or that look in his eyes. Turning from Mario, Bowser sighed. "Fine, I guess we're heading to my bedroom."
Ascending the stairs to the top floor, Bowser and Mario stopped in front of a set of large doors. Bowser pushed the doors open and was greeted by the site of his own bedroom.
Much like his throne room, it too was a cavernous room with black pillars touching the ceiling; torches secured to each pillar. Along the side of either wall was a small stream of lava that faintly illuminated the room. Windows lined the upper parts of the walls. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, moving towards Bowser's bed. The bed itself was large enough to fit Bowser himself. It was especially made for him as part of the bed was designed to allow him to rest on his shell if he felt like it. There was a door near his bed that also lead to his own personal bathroom. Unlike the throne room, there was no carpeting, just black stone.
Bowser turned to Mario and watched as the plumber entered his room and looked around the place.
Mario regarded his surroundings, "Wow, this is nothing like Peach's room… I like it," he said, smiling.
Bowser unintentionally smiled, pleased that someone else appreciated his room, even if the particular someone happened to be his archrival. "I designed it myself. Had it custom made to a T."
Mario glanced over to the bed and noticed a carving of Bowser's face over the bed and numerous Bowser statues near the pillars. "So I noticed… but, it's missing something."
Bowser raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?" He asked, completely lost as to what he could have possibly forgotten.
Mario pointed at him, "You," he pointed at himself, "and me," he pointed to the bed, "in the bed."
Bowser's eyes about popped out of his head. Suddenly, having Mario in his bed room was beginning to seem like a bad idea, a very bad idea.
"Uh, maybe… maybe another time, like never," he said, muttering the last part under his breath.
Mario nodded, "sure, no problem. I can wait. After all, I've been waiting for years, what's the harm in waiting a little longer? Just let me know when you're ready."
"Uh, sure," Bowser said, feeling quite awkward in this situation.
"So, which side of the bed do I get?" Mario asked, turning his attention back to the bed.
The question caught Bowser completely off guard. "What?! No, you are not sleeping in my bed!"
Mario turned to Bowser, frowning. "Well then, where do you suggest I sleep?"
"The guest room, where else?" Bowser stated.
Mario sighed, "Oh, come on. I just want to sleep in your bed."
"Absolutely not!" Bowser roared. "Besides, the bed's only big enough to fit me. The only way you could sleep in it would be if you slept on top of me."
Mario's eyes lit up. "Well, I don't see that being much of a problem at all," he said, that sly smile returning to his face.
Bowser slapped his hand against his forehead and slowly dragged it down his face. He should've known better then to say that in front of Mario. He had to get out of this room, but where? He had shown Mario every inch of his castle. Well, everything except for… realization dawned on Bowser.
Of course, that place would do. It'd at least get him out of his room, and hopefully keep Mario's mind off his bedroom.
"Mario, there's still one room I haven't shown you yet," he said, turning to leave his room.
This caught Mario's interest. "Oh, and what room would that be?"
Bowser walked out the door, and turned to Mario. "Follow me and find out." He said, turning down the corridor.
Mario wasted no time in following him out of his room.
Bowser led Mario down to the basement, making sure to keep his distance from the plumber at all times. Eventually, he stopped in front of a large, richly adorned, door. Placing both hands on the door, Bowser slowly pushed them open to reveal a large, dark and cavernous room. Walking into the room, Bowser flipped a switch to his right. On command, the lights in the room immediately came up. The sight before the two archrivals was a sight that never failed to impress Bowser.
Before them was an incredibly large airship, at least 500 meters long and at least 50 meters high. Both sides of the ship were littered with cannons and Bullet Bill Launchers. The figurehead was a stone sculpture of Bowser's head, complete with cannons in each eye and a fireball launcher in the mouth. As per usual, Bowser's visage adorned each of the sails and the flags that were attached to the ship.
Bowser heard a low whistle from behind him. He turned and saw Mario starring up at the ship, an impressed expression on his face. Despite himself, Bowser smiled, pleased that someone seemed impressed with his latest project.
Mario turned his gaze toward Bowser, "Impressive"
"Yeah, it's my new flagship. It's much better than the one you-" Remembering who he was talking to, Bowser narrowed his eyes "destroyed!"
Not phased at all by Bowser's accusation, Mario returned his gaze to the ship. "Well, think this one'll be able to stand up to me?" His gaze returning back to Bowser, a glint of challenge emanating from them.
Bowser looked back at his ship, mentally calling up what he could remember about the ship's defenses. He couldn't remember much, but one thing that did come up was the constant memory of how much the whole thing cost him. The price was astronomical. "It better for what I had to pay to build it," he muttered under his breath.
"Huh?" Came the confused inquiry.
Bowser shook his head to clear his mind, "Nevermind, how about we climb aboard?" he asked, grabbing a nearby ladder and raising it up to the side of the ship.
"Dare I refuse that invitation," Mario said, as he walked towards the ladder and began climbing up on to the ship, followed shortly by Bowser.
When he got to the top, Mario glanced around the deck. From what he could tell, he was near the captain's cabin. Walking over to one of the ship's masts, Mario placed his hand on it and looked all the way up to the crow's nest. He noticed that one of Bowser's flags, bearing his face, of course, was mounted atop the crow's nest.
Mario heard a loud thud behind him, and turned to see that Bowser had just boarded the ship.
Bowser's eyes wondered the ship, taking it all in again. Sure, it wasn't the first time he'd ever been on the ship, but it filled him with so much pride to see such a massive vessel just waiting to be used by him. His gazed eventually fell on Mario. "Well, what do you think?" he asked.
"Well, it's not the first time I've seen one of your ships, but," he glanced down the rest of the deck looking at all the concealed hatches that no doubt housed many a Bullet Bill Launcher ready to be used at a moment's notice, "I see you've added a few things."
Bowser strode up next to Mario, "yeah, isn't it great? This entire ship is one big death trap. Specifically tailored to put an end to one particular person," he said, eyeing Mario.
Mario glanced up at Bowser, "you really have it in for me don't you?"
"And why shouldn't I?" he said lowering his gaze toward Mario. "Every time I try to take what I want, every time I get so close to having what should rightfully be mine, you always get in the way and ruin everything!" he said, emphasizing the last part.
Mario turned away from Bowser, as if he were regarding something. Turning back to Bowser, he stared up at his old rival. "True… or maybe you hate me because you're jealous."
Bowser's eyes narrowed, "what do you mean? Why, of all people, would I be jealous of you?"
"Because I've got everything you want. I've got the respect and admiration of the people and I've got Peach."
"That-"
Mario interrupted, "or because whenever we get into a fight, I always end up beating you. Forcing you back to your castle to lick your wounds."
Bowser clenched his fist, a vein starting to throb above his left eye. Remembering what Kamek said was the only thing holding his temper at the moment.
"Or maybe it's because whenever we do team up and save the day, I get all the credit, and you're lucky if you get so much as a pat on the shell."
A low growl escaped Bowser's mouth. "Mario, I am about this close," he held up his thumb and index claw creating a space of no less than one centimeter, "to feeding you your own mustache," he said through clenched teeth.
Mario continued, "Or maybe you hate me because, deep down, you actually like me, and have no idea how to express it, so you keep your distance and when we are forced to interact you just resort to fighting me instead and use Peach as a clever camouflage to keep everyone from knowing your true intentions." He said, a smile crossing his face.
Smoke bellowed out from Bowser's nostrils. "That's it! Screw what Kamek said, you're history plumber!" he yelled as he threw a punch at Mario.
Mario jumped backwards, narrowly evading Bowser's punch. "Well, I would've preferred a confession of feelings followed by a kiss, but if a battle's what you want, I'm game." He said, a confident smile crossing his face.
Mario looked up in time to see Bowser open his mouth and spit a fire ball right at him. Rolling to the right, Mario managed to dodge the ball of fire just in time.
Bowser jumped into the air, aiming at where Mario was and started falling down towards him, feet first.
Not one to be taken by surprise, Mario rolled out of the way just as Bowser landed on the spot where he once stood. Before Bowser could react, Mario reached out and grabbed his tail, pulling Bowser off of his feet, sending him crashing to the floor.
With his nemesis' tail firmly in hand Mario smiled as he began spinning around in place lifting Bowser off the ground due to the momentum.
As Mario continued to spin, he began to wonder if maybe he should go a little easier on Bowser. It was his fault that this happened anyway, and he'd had his fun for the moment.
Before he could slow down his rotation, he felt something tickling at his nose. Mario started flexing his nose and upper lip to try and get rid of the sensation to no avail. Unable to resist anymore, Mario sneezed and let go of Bowser's tail.
Mario watched as Bowser went soaring, head first, into the wall of the captain's cabin. Colliding with an incredible crash, Mario winced as Bowser's head went right through the wall, the rest of his body trapped outside.
"Um… oops." He muttered, as he rubbed his nose.
Bowser slowly opened his eyes and moaned as he began to feel the effects of a splitting headache. His vision was blurry as he shook his head and tried to assess what just happened to him. All he knew was that it felt like he'd just ran into a wall, head first.
He tried to move his hand up to rub his temple and felt it collide against something. Surprised, he tried moving his other arm, only to meet the same resistance. Willing his vision to clear faster, Bowser began to make out where he was. He was inside the captain's cabin. Turning his head to the right to get a look at what was going on; he saw a sight that made him do a double take. His was stuck in the wall.
This realization shocked Bowser out of his confused stupor and he immediately began struggling to free his head from the wall. Placing both hands on the other side of the wall and planting his feet firmly on the ground, Bowser began pushing and pulling trying whatever he could to get his head out of the wall. After a few seconds of futile struggling, Bowser relaxed and tried to think of another way out.
"You alright?" asked a voice from somewhere in the room.
Bowser turned his head to glance down the left side of the room and spotted Mario walking through the door to the cabin. Remembering that Mario was the reason he was stuck in the wall in the first place, Bowser was furious. "NO, I'm not alright genius! My head's stuck in the wall!" He bellowed, trying, yet again, to free himself.
Mario walked up to Bowser, watching as he struggled a few more seconds to free his head to no avail. "You're really stuck aren't you?"
Bowser rolled his eyes, "No shit, Sherlock!" He began to struggle to get out once more. "Why don't you make yourself useful and help me out!" he yelled as Mario just stared at him.
After a few more attempts Bowser stopped and regarded Mario. "Well, you gonna help me out or not?!" he asked, furious that Mario hadn't done anything yet, as he attempted to try and free himself yet again.
Suddenly, Bowser noticed a smile crossing Mario's face. "What?" he asked, as he stopped struggling.
Mario's smile only got bigger, and Bowser noticed a mischievous glint in Mario's eyes. Bowser was starting to feel uneasy. "What?" He asked, sounding a bit more nervous then he cared to be.
Bowser watched as Mario turned from him and started walking toward the door to the room. Bowser had no idea what Mario was up to, but from that look he had a feeling he wasn't going to like it. "Where are you going? What are you doing!?" he yelled to Mario's retreating back, slight panic rising in his voice.
Mario looked over his shoulder, "you'll see," he said as he walked through the door, disappearing from sight.
With those cryptic words in mind, Bowser began trying to free his head with renewed vigor.
As Bowser continued struggling, he felt someone grab his foot. Letting out a surprised gasp, Bowser quickly rebalanced himself on his other foot before he fell over. His eyes narrowed as he realized who just did that.
"Mario, what the hell are you doing?!" he yelled, trying to keep a growing panic out of his voice.
That's when he felt Mario bend his leg to expose the tender underside of his foot. Bowser's eyes grew wide as he realized just what Mario was planning on doing. "Mario… don't you dare!" he growled.
"Dare do what, this?" came a muffled voice, that was undoubtedly Mario's, from the other side of the wall.
That's when Bowser felt Mario run his fingers along the bottom of his foot. Bowser could feel the sensation of Mario's touch spread all the way up his spine, eventually reaching his brain. Biting down on his lip, Bowser tried in vain to suppress the urge he felt, but he knew it was no good. With one final valiant effort Bowser finally opened his mouth and started laughing hysterically.
On the other side of the wall, a sadistic smile crossed Mario's face as he could hear the hysterical laughter of the Koopa King coming from the other side of the wall as he continued stroking Bowser's foot. Mario worked his fingers down towards the claws on Bowser's feet and began tickling the skin right where the toe bone connected to the claw, earning him more laughter from the captive koopa.
As Mario continued working away at his captive's foot, he could hear Bowser trying to say something through his fits of laughter. "S-stop-bwahah-stop that-hahahah!" he bellowed.
A mischievous glint returned to Mario's eyes, "Make me." He challenged as he continued his delightfully torturous work. He heard Bowser roar in frustration only to have it followed by more uncontrolled laughter.
Bowser started trying to kick his foot out of Mario's grasp. Mario held on tighter as Bowser tried in vain to free his foot from his captor's clutches. The more he struggled, the tighter Mario held on and the harder he tickled his captive.
Deciding to up the ante, Mario reached over and grabbed Bowser's other leg. With a surprising amount of strength, Mario hefted Bowser's other leg up off the ground and plopped it right down on his right shoulder. Placing the other leg on his left shoulder Mario began to tickle both feet simultaneously.
Mario had no idea Bowser could laugh so hard. The great koopa was in hysterics now that both his feet were under attack. Now that he had Bowser's legs at his mercy, he began probing his legs to see if he could find any ticklish spots. As he kept probing, he was rewarded with more laughter from the tyrant.
"M-Mario, when I-hahahaha-g-get out of-hahahah-this, YOU'RE DEAD!!!" Bowser roared, as he was quickly overtaken by laughter yet again.
Not phased at all by Bowser's threats Mario continued to attack not only Bowser's feet but now his legs as the huge lizard tried again and again to free himself from Mario's clutches. Eventually, Bowser's legs stopped struggling as they were too exhausted to continue anymore resistance.
Deciding that he'd work on a new area, and assured that Bowser wouldn't be able to do too much to him now, Mario moved underneath the Koopa King to his enormous underside. Smiling, Mario reached up and began tickling Bowser's belly. He was rewarded with renewed laughter from his unwilling captive.
With great gusto Mario began sweeping his hands along Bowser's underside, tickling his belly, sides and especially under his arms. Mario could feel Bowser pounding on the wall with his hands trying to keep himself under control from this new, unrelenting assault on his body.
Mario eventually worked his hands up to Bowser's neck, where he removed the spiked collar Bowser always wore and began tickling the tender region where it once rested. As if on cue, Bowser began laughing yet again. Mario began to wonder just how much more Bowser could take.
His answer came as quickly as he thought it, as Bowser's laughter began to die down, his arms started to droop down to his sides and his legs collapsed to their knees. Moving his hands away from Bowser's body, Mario called out to him… no response. He tried again and was greeted with a still silence. Mario was left with only one conclusion, Bowser had passed out.
Deciding that he'd had enough fun with his prisoner Mario walked out from under Bowser and made his way back into the ship again to check on the unconscious king.
Walking back into the room, he stopped when he came within sight of Bowser's head still stuck in the wall. As he moved closer, he noticed that Bowser's eyes were shut and he was breathing very slowly and deeply. It was just as Mario thought, Bowser was out cold.
Standing in front of Bowser, Mario looked at his age old rival as if seeing him for the first time. He gazed upon Bowser's visage, his closed eyes, his cavernous mouth, his small horns, his snout and his flaming red hair.
Mario's gaze rested on the King's hair; it was one of the features he always had a fixation on. He loved how red it looked and how it would blow in the wind when the breeze caught it at just the right angle. He didn't know what it was Bowser did with his hair but it was obvious to him he took good care of it. It was so clean and healthy looking.
Removing the glove from his right hand, Mario reached up to Bowser's head and began running his hand through the Koopa King's hair. Mario sighed, it felt just as good as it looked, every strand of red hair tickling the fine hairs on his fingers. Mario leaned in a little closer to Bowser as his hand continued its exploration through the short but thick jungle that was Bowser's hair.
Leaning in closer, Mario leaned down and took a long, drawn out whiff of Bowser's hair. Bowser's hair had a clean sent to it, but Mario thought he caught a whiff of something that smelled faintly musky. The smell intoxicated Mario as he decided to take another whiff of Bowser's hair, as he continued running his fingers through the King's fiery red mane.
As Mario pulled his face away from Bowser's hair, he looked at Bowser's closed eyes and imagined his eyes open. He'd seen Bowser's eyes so many times he knew there look by heart. He recalled how they glimmered when he would come up with, what he believed to be, a nefarious scheme, how they burned with rage when he was angry, and, on rare occasions, how he'd see a growing fire within them when he was determined to do something. He knew these looks well, but the one look he never saw, the one look he always longed to see was what his eyes looked like when he felt loved.
Unknowingly, as Mario was imagining the many different looks of his rival's eyes, his face inched closer and closer to the Koopa King's mouth. Holding on to Bowser's head with his right hand, Mario slowly moved his face closer, as he caught the unconscious King's lips in a passionate kiss.
Closing his eyes, Mario deepened the kiss as best he could as he pulled Bowser's head closer to his with his right hand. Opening Bowser's mouth with his tongue, he began to explore his rival's mouth as he took in the taste of the King of the Koopas. Eventually, his tongue came to rest atop Bowser's own as Mario began massaging the muscle.
Opening his eyes, Mario began to pull away from Bowser's mouth as he gazed once more on his visage. Mario moved his right hand away from Bowser's hair and placed the glove back on it as he licked his lips, a genuine smile crossing his face. He had enjoyed the opportunity, but he felt it would've been far better if Bowser had been awake in order to reciprocate these actions.
Taking one last glance at Bowser, and satisfied for the moment, Mario decided that it was time to free him. Looking around at what he had to work with he tried to think of the best possible way to do this. Unfortunately, he didn't have much to work with except himself and a hammer.
That's when Mario remembered the hammer he swiped from one of the hammer bros. taking it out, he looked at the hammer, then to Bowser's head, and then back at the hammer.
Mario sighed, "I doubt he's going to like this, but I can't think of any other way" he muttered as he swung the hammer back, preparing to free Bowser from his captivity.
Bowser groggily opened one of his eyes, trying to remember just what happened to him. As he tried to get his bearings, a faint memory of someone tickling him to death started drifting back into his head. Suddenly, it all started coming back to him. A low hiss escaped his mouth 'when I get my hands on that plumber I'll-'
His thought was interrupted as his vision cleared and he noticed the head of a hammer swinging towards his face. Both eyes wide, Bowser wondered just what he did to deserve all this before the hammer came crashing into his face.
Bowser heard and audible crash as the wood splintered around his head, freeing it from its confinement. Landing flat on his shell, Bowser looked up at the ceiling as the world began to spin around him. 'Curse that plumber' he thought as he drifted back into unconscious oblivion.
Luigi was leaning back in his chair, balancing it on its two hind legs, enjoying the midmorning air as it filtered in through the window. Leaning his head back, he looked up at the ceiling, his eyes half closed, wondering what his brother Mario was doing at the castle. 'I bet he's doing something fun with the princess. Wish I was having fun.' He thought, as his angled his hat over his eyes as they slowly drifted shut.
Suddenly, a knock was heard at the door. Startled, Luigi brought his feet up too quickly and lost his balance on the chair. Falling backwards, Luigi smacked his head against the floor. Yelping in pain, he grabbed the back of his head with both hands and began massaging the sore spot.
Whoever was knocking had knocked again. "I'm coming!" Luigi yelled, as he got back up to his feet and strode towards the door.
Opening the door, he was greeted by the site of… Princess Peach.
"Oh, Princess Peach, long time no see," he said, surprised to see that Peach was here.
That's when he noticed who wasn't with her. "Where's Mario?"
Peach frowned. "I was hoping you could tell me."
Luigi shrugged, "Last I saw of him, he was heading to the castle after he got your letter."
"Well, he was at the castle, but now he's gone. I've had the guards search the entire castle, I even have them looking through the town, but still no sign of him. I thought he might have gone home, but… you really haven't seen him?"
Luigi shook his head, "nope, he's not here." Luigi frowned, it wasn't like his brother to just up and leave without him telling someone where he was going.
Luigi stepped out on to the porch. "Don't worry Princess, I'll look for him."
Peach smiled, "Oh, thank you Luigi. I didn't mean to impose, but I could really use the help."
Reaching back into the house, Luigi grabbed his hammer. "No problem, Princess. I was looking for something to do today anyway," he said, as he walked over to the warp pipe followed closely by the princess.
