Ok, back to the shorter chapters. Don't groan in despair! They can't all be winners. …Huh. I'm feeling really self-conscious now.
But hey! Over 110 reviews, over 10,000 views, and now, over 100,000 words! This story went places, and that's thanks to you super awesome readers! (Because I would have just left it alone if it was super unpopular, probably.) So take a bow, and thanks again!
Oh, and if there are formatting issues, I was having problems with the website today, so message me and let me know; I'll fix them when things are working again. Other than that, enjoy the latest!
...
[Luigi]
The rain continued to fall as I stared blankly across the water, and paid no attention as the drops hit my body. I'm seated on the sand, my arms hugging my legs and cap tilted over. My clothes were singed and torn in multiple places. There are scrapes and cuts visible on my skin, which sting under the soft gusts of wind and sand that pick up occasionally. A rumble of thunder sounds as I hear footsteps behind me.
"Luigi." It's Daisy, with an unusually even-tempered voice. "It's going to be low tide soon. We can leave soon."
Not turning away, I nod.
"Do you need me to pick you up?" Her voice is still trying to stay calm, but I can hear the agitation rising up.
In spite of that, I shake my head.
"We'll get him back, Luigi," she reassured me.
Still, I remain silent. This caused Daisy to march in front of me. Her yellow-orange dress was torn in several places, and she had a few scratches on her face, but nothing that kept me focused on her as I shifted my sights back to the water.
"All right, come on!" The princess finally reached her limit, patience lost. "I get it, we lost, and Mario got kidnapped. The world doesn't end here, ok? We just go back to square one, no big deal. Bowser isn't going to have his way with Mario, and we're going to win back this kingdom!"
"That's not it," my hollow voice echoed out as I shook my head.
"Then what's wrong?" Daisy demanded.
What would I tell her? That my brother was actually in a romantic relationship with the tyrannical king that constantly harasses her best friend and our kingdom? That each of the aches in my body remind me of a young child's questions and personal accusations against me? That his resolute resolve was strong enough to leave me replaying the fight over and over again in my mind, always ending with his last remarks:
"Family should stand up for each other no matter what. If I get that, why can't you?"
And even though it's only played for a few hours, it kept pestering my mind, shaking me to the core. Should I tell her the truth?
"Luigi, come on," Daisy insisted. "Talk to me."
"I just…don't understand…a lot," I confessed only that much to her.
"It's Bowser," she maintained. "There's nothing to understand; he just needs to be stopped. And…" Quietly, she added, "Maybe Peach is right. Maybe this should be a once and for all kind of deal."
The words flew out of my mouth as soon as they hit my mind: "That's not the answer."
"Then what is?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "But I know that isn't it."
Finally, I focused my attention away from the sea and onto Daisy's dark blue eyes. It had an odd mixture of emotions, but I couldn't quite make all of them out. I glanced down and noticed her rolling a turquoise crystal shard around in her hand.
"What is that?" I asked as I slowly stood up. A sharp pain rose through my legs, but I managed to rise.
She gazed down at it, and made a disgusted face. "A lousy reminder for myself."
Before I could inquire further, a pair of arms slipped under mine and pulled me back. Green. Yoshi.
"Sorry," he softly murmured.
He let me go after that, but remained near me. I turned around and stared at the five Toads: three were on the sand, bruised, battered, and unconscious. The two remaining Toads, Blue and Yellow, stood over their fallen comrades.
Separated from them, Peach was staring at the trees and the sky. She loosely held her scepter in one hand, with her other tightened into a fist.
"You're not the only one out of sorts," Daisy muttered to me. "So, hang in there and let's at least get home, ok?"
Quietly, I nodded and Daisy went to collect the Toads and Peach. Too curious, I had to ask Yoshi, "What happened to Peach?"
As I turned to look at him, he shook his head. "She nearly killed Kamek and Ludwig."
My mouth dropped open a bit. "Peach doesn't kill without cause."
"And she still hasn't," Yoshi optimistically affirmed. More solemnly, he continued, "But this was probably the worst I've seen her. Well, not possessed, anyway."
"That's not entirely accurate," I whispered as we watched Daisy put her hand on Peach's shoulder. At first, Peach didn't even move. Once Daisy gently shook her, the blonde princess turned to Daisy, with an empty expression plastered on her face.
"What's happening to us?" Yoshi wondered aloud.
War. Love. Magic. Any of those were the choice words to start with. Instead, I patted Yoshi on the back and remained silent.
[Bowser]
Slowly, I trudged from the hangar and into the halls that led back to the castle. The Koopalings had surged ahead, with Iggy, Roy, and Morton carrying Lemmy, Wendy, and Larry. Ludwig mentioned something to Kamek and Junior before following his siblings through the black stoned corridor. The two glanced back to me, but quickly resumed a separate discussion.
Gently, I placed Mario down against the right wall and sat in front of him. His blue eyes were puffy, maybe a bit bloodshot. His glare, however, was prominently above that, refusing to even return my gaze. To be fair, I still had him bound in the rope, and I had stolen him back from his friends. Still, I couldn't just tell him that he was right or send him back out.
"Look, I told you I was sorry," I started off, right on the defensive.
Mario, however, didn't answer. He wouldn't so much as look at me.
"Come on!" I growled. "You can't shut me out like this. What I did was stupid, fine. But I didn't know what else to do, all right? Diplomacy isn't in my repertoire."
He still wouldn't answer.
"The silent treatment is just as naïve of a way to handle this, you know!" I snapped.
And…that just didn't seem to faze him.
"Fine! Don't answer me!" I roared. "This doesn't solve or change anything!"
In my fit of rage I stomped away from him. Junior watched and hurried over to grab Mario, while Kamek strolled beside me.
"Sire, you should be a little more delicate in your approach—"
"I started with that!" I burst at him.
"Right, I heard. However, you need to maintain that—"
"What?! Stay soft? Hope that he'll miraculously forgive me?" I challenged. "No, he's mine, and I took him back. Simple as that!"
"Lord Bowser, he's not yours," murmured Kamek.
"Of course he is! I stole him…" and with that I paused.
"Yes, sire, you stole him," clarified Kamek. "That's how this whole thing started. Sure, you've fallen in love with him. That doesn't make him your property."
"No, but I didn't call him property!" I protested.
"The words, 'he's mine,' don't exactly respect an individual's worth," emphasized Kamek.
"Ok, point taken," I growled. "But—"
"You also stole him not once, but twice," pointed out Kamek.
"True, but—"
"And let's not forget that you are endangering the lives of his friends." Kamek quickly added.
"Fantastic!" I snarled. "Big news: I'm the bad guy!
"Sire—"
"Yes, I take what I want by force!" I ranted, lacing in sarcasm with each sentence. "What a shocker! It's the only way to ensure that I can get anything any more! It's not like being polite as ever worked in my favor! But what would any of those glorious angels of the Mushroom Kingdom know? They're not the ones that face judgment every day since they were born! They don't make the world cringe in fear just by walking outside and—"
"Lord Bowser!" thundered Kamek. "I am not your enemy, boy! We faced the same struggles, remember?"
"He didn't!" I pointed at Mario, who was flopped over Junior's shoulder. "He has no idea just how cruel this world is when it's against him!"
"Not yet," corrected Kamek. "He chose you, understand?" He turned to Junior and Mario, who Junior flipped around to face us. "You two still want to pretend to hate each other? Fine. But you both went down this path. There is no simple route to end the pain you've dealt with, or what you'll endure." He gazed down at his wand and tapped at the head. "You've already come this far; might as well see it through."
Without anything else to add, Kamek shuffled onward toward the castle. Junior picked up Mario again and followed, unintentionally forcing me to watch Mario the whole way back into the castle.
As the walls grew lighter, I tried to keep my eyes on them or on the dirt floor changing back to evenly tiled stones. But Mario kept a nasty glare on his face, and appeared to be directing it to me. I glared back, only to have my heart race.
Quite honestly, I would have thought I'd be safer from his persecution once we made our way back upstairs from the sublevels of the castle. But with every few steps, my annoyance grew.
Who does he think he is?
I thought he loved me!
It's not like I walked out on him!
As if his brother could help out.
Peach wouldn't even accept him!
Why won't he stop glaring?
This couldn't get worse.
Just as that last thought had buzzed through my mind, I heard an excited cheer, "Lord Bowser has returned!"
Oh, for all of the kingdoms, here we go…
Kamek glanced back uneasily at us; my troops only knew that we were going out to head off Peach's troupe. Therefore, their expectations would be…
"He's back already? Record time!"
"Hooray, this will great!"
My eyes shifted around at the delighted Koopa Troopas that lined the corridor we walked through, slowly becoming disheartened once they caught sight of Junior carrying Mario in. Goombas hobbled by, their expressions twisted from excitement to fear. A pair of Rexes waited near a large painting of myself, happily gossiping before catching sight of us, and then gasped. A Swooper flew in through an open window, but quickly flew back out.
Around the corner, a Spike passed and scratched his head. I stifled the only laugh I had in a while as a Magikoopa strolled straight into a desk while she gawked at us. Two Koopatrol tried to remain stoic as they guarded a vault door, but I caught their nervous stares. A Paragoomba floated about, but hid behind a chandelier once he noticed Mario.
And the further along we traveled in the castle, the more whispers started to fly around, making the trip back to my room ever more agonizing.
"What? He kidnapped Mario again?" I listened to a Monty Mole question a Koopa.
"Weren't they meant to snatch Princess Peach?" asked a Hammer Bro. to a Goomba.
"Maybe Bowser just enjoys the challenge in this," cackled a Boo to a Lakitu.
"The whole thing just seems, well, odd," a Rex commented to a Magikoopa.
"You know, we follow him pretty well, but this is just absurd," huffed a Paratroopa.
"Unbelievable," sighed a Buzzy Beetle.
My claws rolled into fists as Kamek tried to usher us quickly through the courtyard, where Magikoopa halted their spell practices to gape at us. More Goombas and Koopas popped up, along with a group of Shy Guys. I clenched my jaw as they kept up their decreasingly subtle comments going. It was between their words and Mario's narrowed gaze that fired me up.
"Is Bowser just this dumb, or his luck really terrible?"
"Hush, that's the king."
"Why should I care? He's been doing so awful lately…"
"It's not any different from before."
"Seriously?"
"Are we killing Mario this time, or is this more negotiation crap?"
And with that, smoke sizzled from my nostrils as my eyebrows twitched. We had stopped walking altogether as Junior glared at the troops gathered around. Kamek had hurried back to my side and patted on my arm, whispering something that I couldn't focus on.
"Why Mario again? The Koopalings should have helped, right?"
"Peach had to have been right there. What gives?"
"We're never going to control the Mushroom Kingdom."
"Wow, he's the worst. All hail the king of screw-ups, huh?"
"ENOUGH!" I bellowed as Kamek fell backwards. All eyes were focused on me. Damn my short, little fuse; it's worse than any Bob-omb I could think of.
"W…We have a r-right to know why, sire," voiced a red-shelled Koopa. "Mario will only get us revenge. Princess Peach will give us the chip we need for her kingdom."
"She won't, we're already at war for the Mushroom Kingdom," I shot back.
"Exactly, they're surrender f-for her," quivered a green robed Magikoopa.
"Have they in the past?" I retorted. "They only send Mario to get her back!"
"Well they're st-still coming for him, too," a yellow hooded Shy Guy observed.
"Good, let's see them actually take him back," I snarled.
"But that's not the point, sire," complained a white robed Magikoopa. "We could finally have them—"
"Would you dare to challenge your King like this?" boomed Kamek.
"He-he hasn't delivered yet, s-so," started a green hooded Shy Guy.
"You think he won't?" challenged Junior. "My Papa knows what he's doing!"
A Goomba laughed. "Good to know that his son is clouded by his father's ambitions."
"Don't you dare insult my son, your prince, do you understand?!" I thundered.
"We'll show more respect when you actually lead us to what you've promised!" cried a black hooded Shy Guy.
"Yeah, grab the princess and force marriage or something!" chimed in a yellow-shelled Koopa.
My heart raced and my fists shook violently. "I've already tried that repeatedly! It's not worth it and I don't even love her as it is!"
That revelation shut them up for a good minute. A Goomba suddenly called out, "What?"
"I don't love Princess Peach," I repeated for them all to hear. "I don't know where that romance rumor came from, or why it runs so rampart within my own castle, but it's not true. I've never been in love with Peach, I only acted that way."
"But…but I really supported you two!" wailed an orange hooded Shy Guy.
"Even if you don't love Peach, what's with Mario?" questioned a blue-shelled Koopa.
"Can we finally kill him?" asked a gray robed Magikoopa.
"For the last time, NO!" I snapped. "We are not killing Mario!"
"Why not? He's killed tons of us," protested a pink hooded Shy Guy.
Too quickly, too loud, I answered, "Because I love…" and froze as a stillness settled in the air.
I watched as eyes widened from the various troops in the courtyard, with some dropping whatever staffs or wands they carried. My heart skipped a beat as I glanced over to Kamek, who gawked at me. I looked to Junior, who scratched at his head. Even Mario, who held an annoyed expression the entire time, raised his eyebrows over this.
Finally, a voice broke the silence with, "Is this a joke?"
Tightening my lips, I rolled my head back.
"O…Of course it is, you blithering idiots!" snapped Kamek. "What does it take for you to obey your King?"
"Not that, for sure," murmured a Magikoopa.
"Ugh, that would just be disgusting," shivered the red-shelled Koopa.
"Why?" asked Junior.
"He's the enemy!" shouted another Goomba.
"And…if he was…not?" asked Kamek.
"Well, what does it matter?" shrugged the green robed Magikoopa. "He is, so it's wrong."
"Right, yes, of course," waved Kamek off.
"Wait, Lord Bowser, you don't really love him, do you?" questioned the pink hooded Shy Guy.
"We told you that he didn't," spat Kamek.
"Then what's the harm in roughing him up some?" questioned the yellow-shelled Koopa.
"He's a valuable asset!" snapped Kamek. "We already knocked him around, along with his blasted little friends! There's no further need for retaliation."
"Of course there is!" cried out the gray robed Magikoopa. "He's slaughtered how many of our people? We should all get a chance at vengeance, not just the royal family and their closest companions!"
"Unless…does Bowser really love Mario?" repeated the pink hooded Shy Guy.
"N-No!" stumbled Kamek.
"You're…lying," observed the green robed Magikooopa.
"Seriously? He loves Mario?" the red-shelled Koopa questioned.
"Oh, no. No way," murmured another Goomba.
"So what if he does?" shrugged the yellow hooded Shy Guy.
"Because it's not Peach!" moaned the orange hooded Shy Guy.
"Because Mario's the enemy!" cried out the yellow-shelled Koopa. "We can't support a King that's in love with a man that murdered our people!"
"Hold on, we might be getting a little hasty," soothed the white robed Magikoopa.
My stomach dropped and I lurched back. Kamek whipped a spell to force me upright and shook his head. We returned our attention to the arguing crowd around us. I shook my head as I lost track of who mentioned what.
"This is insane!"
"It's not that bad."
"Are you joking?!"
"We could kill them both right now!"
"That's treason!"
"And drastic."
"Though we could rebel, right?"
"Should we?"
I stared blankly at the crowd while Kamek cast a binding spell around the whole courtyard and dragged me away from it. Junior carried Mario behind us as we slipped out and watched the crowd continue to argue with one another, hands waving and pointing in our direction.
One Magikoopa raised his wand and fired a spell, which ricocheted off of the magic barrier around them. It knocked into a Koopa, who fell on top of a Goomba. And suddenly, we witnessed the beginning of a brawl.
[Luigi]
"All right, hold still."
I winced as Toadette continued to clean out a heavy scrape along my side. The pink Toad with mushroom braids patted the wound dry and rubbed an ointment into it. After that, she covered it with a bandage and nodded for me to drop my shirt back over it.
"There you go. All set, Luigi!" Toadette cheered.
"Thank you," I mumbled and hopped up from the medical room's bed. I turned to leave but stopped short and turned back to her. "How are the other Toads?"
She shook her head. "Still not well. You're lucky that you've taken punches and can still jump up after." Toadette sighed. "Toads…aren't quite as durable as you or Mario," she explained. "Even Yoshi and the princesses would hold up better with getting battered around. Speaking of, Daisy left a while ago; she recovered pretty quickly, actually."
"I see," I murmured. "Well, thanks again, Toadette, and I'm sorry."
With a heavy sigh of my own, I lumbered through the halls and made my way back to Peach's throne room. In the center, Toadsworth shook his head and tapped his cane against the floor while Peach folded her arms and rolled her eyes. Yoshi and Daisy watched off to the side.
"Princess, this has become far too dangerous!" protested Toadsworth.
"It's always dangerous!" corrected Peach.
"My dear," argued Toadsworth, "three of our best Toads were battered around to the point where they've been rendered unconscious!" He coughed a bit. "Do you realize that we have not been able to solve that shortage of 1-Up Mushrooms? If they go out anytime soon, they could…die."
"Then they'll stay here," shrugged Peach. "But we can't."
"Princess, you must!" insisted Toadsworth. "You could die! Do you have any idea just how deeply that will harm this kingdom? Do you understand what that could do?"
"Toadsworth, I understand the risks!" retaliated Peach. "That can't stop me!"
"Have some sense!" retorted Toadsworth. He turned and noticed that I had walked in. "Just look at Luigi! Even he took a heavy beating! Poor Mario must have had the worst of it!"
"That's right!" Peach capitalized on the last part. "Mario took the worst of this. And while we're back here to get our wounds cleaned, he's at Bowser's Castle, suffering from who knows what!" She stomped her foot down. "We can't allow him to stay there! And if we need to risk our lives over it, then so be it!"
"There are others we could send—"
"No, Toadsworth," interrupted Peach. "We need to do this."
"She's right, Toadsworth," I stepped in. "It needs to be us." I shook my head. "What we faced, going up against the Koopalings and Bowser…it was a lot to handle. They fought with…I don't even know what kind of motivation, but it powered them so much and made them so…strong." Junior's words seeped into my mind and I shivered.
"Maybe you should stay here too, Luigi," Daisy recommended.
"Absolutely not," I refused. "They have my brother. I'm going there to get him back, and no one is going to stop me."
"There, you see?" Peach shot back to Toadsworth. "We all feel this way. We need to go get Mario back."
"Just the four of you?" questioned Toadsworth.
"Five."
Everyone turned back to the door and I spun on my heels. Toadette was briefly taken aback by the attention, but tightened her hands and stepped forward.
"Toadette, please," begged Toadsworth. "You can't go too. You must see reason, my girl!"
"What I saw was that my brothers had been wounded," she quaked as she spoke. "Well, not my actual blood brothers, not like family, but you know, my people…not important!" Toadette sighed and dropped her head before she continued. "Three Toads still need to recover and the other two want to remain behind to wait for their recovery. I don't want to force them out, but a Toad should always accompany the princess." She looked up at us with a smile. "I'm a Toad, and the others already have doctors and nurses treating them. I can go."
"But…Toadette…" murmured Toadsworth, still uneasy.
"That's the end of it, Toadsworth," asserted Peach. "The five of us will travel to the Glaciers and do whatever we can to keep winning this kingdom back." With a fierce determination in her voice, she added, "And once we're done, we will rescue Mario and bring him back home."
Toadsworth pinched at his white mustache, still not content with the notion, but he relented enough to let the five of us marched out the door.
"Just stay safe! I'm begging you to come home!" the old steward shouted. "And don't forget the Item Bag!"
"Already got it outside," Toadette called back. "We can do this, Toadsworth!"
I turned down and watched Toadette skip in her step as she hurried back to catch up with the rest of us. We exchanged various glances with one another. Nervous. Shaken, but not broken. Our conviction would propel us forward once more.
[Bowser]
We had retreated back up to my chambers, and Kamek sealed the stairwell behind us. He groaned and slid a hand over his face before he adjusted his spectacles and shot a glare at me.
"Are you happy? That had to have been the most impulsive, brash, and outright foolish…!" He threw his hands in the air and violently shook his wand. "Ugh! I have no clue what you were looking to gain from that, boy, but you've certainly made enemies in your very own kingdom!"
"Papa, why would you do that?" Junior chimed in. "You couldn't even tell me right away."
Even with Junior's help, I ignored Kamek's ranting. I glared at Mario, who was propped against the wall near his room. His cell. Somehow, he appeared even angrier than he was before.
Annoyed, I snarled, "Does that do anything for you?! I just confessed to what will be my whole kingdom in a matter of hours! That has to warrant something! Anything!"
Not in Mario's book, it didn't; he remained as quiet as he had since we left the hangar.
"Then fine!" I bellowed. "You want to act like a prisoner?! You might as well be one!" I whirled my head around to Junior and Kamek. "One of you two, lock him up!"
"What?" questioned Junior.
"Sire, are you certain about doing that?" inquired Kamek.
"Yes, now stop questioning me and do it!" I snapped.
Kamek and Junior exchanged uneasy glances as Junior grabbed Mario and Kamek opened his cell door. Slowly, Junior entered, dropped off Mario, and exited the room. With one last look at me, Kamek then closed the door and locked it.
"Done," the old Magikoopa murmured.
"Good," I forced out and clawed through my hair.
"Papa, is everything all right?" asked Junior. I shook my head. "What's wrong?"
What's wrong at this point? "It feels like everything is, son," my voice broke and sounded uneven.
Three parts of the Mushroom Kingdom were lost. Peach was still very much in control of her own castle and these territories. Every move I took only made Mario hate me more. I just seeded the sparks of revolution within my own kingdom.
I've lost control of everything.
A pounding sounded on the doors from the stairs. It was followed by three timed knocks, each spaced out from one another.
"Ah, let me get that," murmured Kamek.
"Why are you doing that?" Junior questioned. "We don't want anyone—"
"It's fine," reassured Kamek as he unsealed and opened the door. A Goomba walked in. From a distance, I hadn't noticed, but as he approached me, I noticed his teeth were not particularly sharp as they should be, and his eyes were wider than normal.
"G-Greetings, your ma-majesty," Stammers shivered. "I-I'm here to re-remind you about the, uh, the Bowser Games tomorrow."
"Why the hell would I go through with that?" I questioned, voice still uneven.
"After what you just pulled, sire, you're going to need to show some force," advised Kamek. "It's not the best route, but it will remind everyone that you're still in charge."
Though I nodded, I grew increasingly uncertain in Kamek's plans, and even more so of my own. Quietly, I rested my hand upon Mario's door and let it slip down and away from it.
Even if I haven't lost everything yet, I imagined that I was well on my way to doing so.
...
Wow. I think I'm going too big with this. Bowser's troops? Rebelling? Maybe…should I back it down? …Probably, but nah!
Bowser's pretty smart, but his anger makes him pretty reckless. So, uh, whoops, relationship reveal. Cue the Great Koopa Rebellion! (At least, that should be where it's headed, right?) But first, we're going to see some Bowser Games! Oh, and Mario is still mad with Bowser, yikes. Then again, they're going to need a little time before they can get back together; I can't recall the last fight I had with someone that just blew over within the span of a chapter…I mean, day.
Meanwhile, Toadette joins the party! Why Toadette? Well, she recently had a starring role in that new Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker game, so boom, main role! Nah, it's because her bright demeanor will be nice to bring to the heroes. I mean, if Yoshi's feeling pretty lousy, and other Toads are out of commission, someone has to step up and keep the heroes smiling! …Don't screw this up, Toadette. (Also, glaciers, yes. That's the ice world. Yay, creative location names! …Sarcasm, sorry.)
So…revolutions, deadly entertainment trials, ice world conquests…man, the plot is so cool! Pun intended. Who needs shipping when so much other stuff goes on?! …Don't kill me, please, it'll come back, I promise. We just…gotta build our way back. I mean, sure, the ship is sinking, but we can plug it back together, right? …Don't…gooooo!
Anyway, that's all for now. I'd love to hear anything you'd like to comment, so send a review or message if you'd like. Thank you all once again for your support thus far! This is my first story to hit 20 chapters, and it's not even done! It's pretty exciting, and I'm glad it's come so far already! Again, thank you!