'Why are we in here, again?'

Bowser didn't answer until they were both inside the room and the door was firmly shut behind them; he didn't expect it to stop Kamek from eavesdropping, but at least it gave him a false feeling of privacy. Then he folded his powerful arms across his chest and gazed down at Luigi with an impassive expression.

They were in what he dubbed 'the trophy room' – it was actually full of various treasures and objects that Bowser had taken from his enemies over the years. Some of them dated back to when he first became the King of Koopas, and he didn't even remember where all of them came from. He cast a brief, fond glance at them before returning his full attention to Luigi.

'Cuz I wanna talk,' he said shortly.

The green-capped man lifted an eyebrow. He was supporting himself on his cane and looked remarkably calm considering everything that had just happened. Bowser didn't know if he was simply bottling up his feelings or if he genuinely didn't care anymore.

'About what?' he said innocently, and Bowser scowled.

'What do you think, genius? Why did you help me out back there?!'

At this, Luigi dropped his gaze to the floor and sighed quietly. Apparently he'd been hoping that this subject wouldn't come up for a long time, if at all.

'I don't know,' he said at last.

Now it was Bowser's turn to stare at him incredulously. 'You don't know? How? You literally jumped in front of your own brother to stop him attacking me. Don't tell me you don't have an explanation for that.'

Luigi scraped the toe of his boot along the floor and didn't answer.

In a deliberate movement, Bowser stepped sideways, putting his spiked back firmly against the closed door. 'Neither of us is leaving until I get some words out of you, pipsqueak,' he growled. 'Now tell me!'

'Fine!' Luigi suddenly spat. 'I did it because I wanted to! Alright? I-I did it because... I didn't want Mario to win. I didn't want to be forced to go back home, where nobody cares about me. I'm not important there; I'm nothing. Mario wouldn't have even bothered saving me if I were the only one captured, not Daisy as well. My own brother!' He was glaring, eyes narrowed and fists clenched, but Bowser didn't see anger in his expression. He only saw hurt and fear.

'And what makes you think being here is any better?' he scoffed. 'Sure, maybe you're a worthless wimp back home, but you'd have been free, and had people to look after you. Here, you're my prisoner. And don't you ever forget that.'

A harsh laugh burst out of Luigi's throat, almost making him jump – much to his disgust. 'Prisoner? Hah hah, really? I haven't been feeling much like one lately. Let me ask you something, Bowser – why have you been treating me so much better than you treat your other prisoners?' The King opened his mouth to retort, but Luigi went plunging on: 'Even Peach didn't get this kind of treatment when she was kidnapped; she wasn't allowed out of her cell, she wasn't given much food, and I'd wager that you wouldn't have cared if she was hurt. So why am I special, huh?'

Slowly, Bowser unfolded his arms. This was a conversation that required honesty, and he knew that if he wasn't honest, then he wouldn't get the same from Luigi.

'I don't know,' he said, which was the truth. Luigi's eyes widened, and a split second later he started to laugh. It wasn't a harsh, angry laugh this time, but nor was it quite a real one. It sounded hysterical, like he was at the end of his rope.

'You don't know? Yet you expect me to?'

Bowser showed his teeth. He felt annoyed, defensive – why was it so hard to express himself? Never before had he needed to talk about his feelings with anyone, or particularly wanted to. Sometimes Kamek or another longtime minion would try to worm their way into the King's mind, but none had yet succeeded. He didn't know how to put all of his swirling, conflicting feelings into words that others could understand. But for the first time in his life, he wanted to try.

'At first I just wanted to use you as a hostage,' he said at last, which again, was the truth. Luigi's eyebrow went up disbelievingly. 'But then... I guess... I don't know...' In a sudden bout of frustration, the King gripped a handful of his flame-red hair. 'Aargh! Why don't I understand?!'

'Weeeell,' said Luigi slowly, 'what are you going to do now? I'm not going back. Not by choice, at least... I don't want to go back to a place where I'm not needed.'

Bowser stopped tugging on his hair and stared at him, one fist still clenched in the coarse red strands. 'Oh yeah? You're not needed here either, pipsqueak. I say you should get the hell out before I decide to just kill you. I can't use you as a hostage anymore, and I'm not wasting more food on you.'

'I can be useful,' Luigi shot back. 'Give me something to do, and I'll do it.'

Bowser quietly observed the young man who, until recently, had been his prisoner (and in a way still was). Luigi was tall and thin – though dwarfed by Bowser himself – and didn't have an ounce of muscle on his frame. It was obvious that he didn't do as much physical activity as Mario. The fact that he was still awkwardly balancing on his cane didn't exactly help his case either.

He barked out a short laugh. 'Yeah, right,' he scoffed. 'You're definitely going to be of great help to me.'

Luigi scowled at him, readjusting his cane in an attempt to get more comfortable – he'd been standing up for too long. 'I'll prove it,' he said, almost childishly.

'How?'

'I told you; give me something to do. I'll work here, in your castle. I-I'll prove that I can be good at something. Good at anything.'

Bowser wanted to claw his hair out. How had this weakling suddenly become such a major part of his life? Ever since he'd captured Luigi, he'd found himself facing a riot of strange thoughts that he had never expected to have and couldn't begin to explain. He should have killed Luigi (or at least had him thrown out of the castle) the instant he was no longer a viable hostage. And yet he hadn't. Instead, he had stalled, giving Princess Peach three days to change her mind in the hopes that she'd decide to give up her kingdom for Luigi after all. He'd told himself that it was all part of the plan.

It wasn't. Even he couldn't deny it anymore. He had kept Luigi around, not to be a hostage, but for some other reason. Why?

Dammit, he thought. I really need to sit down with Kamek and have a long talk about this. He probably understands better than I do.

He became aware that Luigi was staring at him curiously and a bit worriedly – probably wondering why the usually loudmouthed King had been silent for so long.

In an instant, he came to a decision. It was a decision based purely on instinct – Bowser was not known for his thinking skills – and he spent no time contemplating all the possible consequences of it. He just did it.

'Come with me,' he said as he turned to open the door.

'Where are we going now?' said Luigi, though he followed without hesitation, seeming glad just to be getting out of this room.

'Minions' training room. I gotta find out what you're good at if you wanna be a real part of my army.'