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Author's Note:

Greetings everyone, it's been a while. School has kept me busy and this last class had everyone struggling. I'm on break once again and I'm hoping to have 3 or 4 chapters updated this month before returning to school.

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Disclaimer: This following FanFiction story is a fan-based parody. "Mario" and all of its respectable characters are all owned by Nintendo and created by video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Please enjoy; favorite and review whenever you want.

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Chapter 78:
Makes You Stronger

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Mrs. Kitava sneeze, and blew her nose afterwards. She growled in annoyance as she recall her great dislike for dust. Dust, dirt, grimes... anything that can make her house filthy. But she has a special hatred for dust in particular.

She let out another sneeze. Ooh, how she hated dust. It will constantly make her sneeze, turning her nose red and itchy and irritated. Even if you have all the windows open, it will linger in the air for a while before falling onto the floor.

Speaking of the floor... that was another eyesore she wanted to tackle. She could literally see all the smallest spectacle of dirt sitting here, laughing at her on how long they have been living with her. She tried working on it the other day, only to get a sudden case of vertigo – which she hadn't in years if she may add. As soon as she was done dusting, the dirt and the floor were the next thing to clean up.

A big sneeze told her it was time to take a break...again. Uh, another reason she hated dust. Each sneeze drains her energy constantly, making her tired faster than normal. She usually keeps her house as dirt free and spotless as possible; how could she let it get this bad?

She opened the door, her vision clouded with another sneeze coming up. She let it out and blew her nose afterwards. Her eyes started to adjust as she let the open air clean out her house and her nostrils. It was then she noticed someone was starting in front of her.

'Opps,'

"Looks like the cleaning started without me," Luigi said mostly to himself.

Mrs. Kitava smiled apologetically and gestured him to come in. Luigi entered inside with Kitava following behind him, the door left wide open. Soon after, Mrs. Kendall came down the stairs, carrying a tray of drinks.

"Okay Kitava, I can here you sneeze up there so I made something I should-…" She paused when she saw the green man. "Oh, hello Luigi,"

"Hello, Mrs. Kendall; Mrs. Kitava seems very lively today,"

"Why, yes she is," She said as she placed the tray down on the counter. "However, she does want to get the house spotless again. She always kept it clean back in the old days."

"I can relate," Luigi smiled. "Is there anything I can help with?"

"Of course; with the festival only two days away, we have plenty of things to do around here." She glanced around. "We already wiped all the windows but dusting seemed to be slowing us down. We can't go five minutes without sneezing so more help should get us done faster."

"I'll get right on it,"

Grabbing a rag and a spray bottle from the cleaning bucket, Luigi walked over to the shelve Kitava was working on and pick up from where she left off. Everything was already removed, he just needed to dust and polish the shelves.

Starting from the top, he wiped it down, removing all the obvious dust just sitting there. Just the top shelf alone got the rag all dirty. Luigi had to unfold and refold it numerous times before he got the whole thing wiped down.

"There," He patted his hands. "Now for the…the…achoo!"

"Here we go," Mrs. Kendall giggled as Kitava sips her drink.

Luigi rubbed his nose with his sleeve before grabbing the wood polish spray. He worked quick and efficiently. Before long he had the whole shelve wiped, polished, and clean.

"Oh my, you're pretty quick," Kendall commented.

"I had a lot of practice," Luigi said, wiping his nose with a tissue. "Although, I usually have a respirator mask when I'm doing deep cleaning,"

"Now we just need to organize everything back in its place,"

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The castle's training grounds only had a total of three rooms. The first room was the biggest, having been designed similar to an arena. The other two rooms were much smaller but still provide enough room for several people to train in at a time.

Luigi usually takes the one of the other two rooms; he didn't need the large space the first one provided. But today, as he was passing by, he noticed two individuals occupying the first room.

Pausing in front of the open passageway, he saw Bowser and Junior were busy training. Junior was panting heavily; he had a few bruises on him but it wasn't anything serious. Bowser, however, seems fine; not a single scratch on him.

Suddenly, Junior crouched down and launched with an immediate attack. Bowser dodged it with ease and landed a punch. Junior stumbled back a few steps, before recovering quickly. He growled and came at him again.

He threw a punch. Bowser caught in the palm of his hand. Junior struggled, trying to escape his father's hold. When that didn't work, he threw another punch from his other hand. That too was caught.

"Is that all you got, son?" Bowser grinned. "You won't win the tournament like that,"

Junior growled in annoyance. He took a deep breath and breathes a stream of fire. He smirked in the triumph when the attack hit at point-blank. But that quickly turned into surprise when Bowser emerged from the flames unscathed.

"Not bad," Bowser commented. "You're fire breathing have really improved." He took a glance at the time posted on the wall. "Let's call it a day,"

"What? Now?" Junior frowned. "But I want to keep going,"

"Sorry son, but I got some things to do. We'll pick this up tomorrow,"

The Koopa Prince moaned but didn't complain any further. "Fine,"

Bowser placed a comforting hand on his son's head. "Just keep training; I'm sure you'll win the tournament,"

Junior nodded. His father flashed him a smile before leaving the training grounds. Once he was gone, Junior let out a sigh.

"You know...for a 13 year old, you're really strong,"

Surprise at the sudden voice, Junior turned around quickly. He spotted the man in green, casually sitting in the stands.

"How long have you been sitting there?" He asked. Luigi shrugged.

"Long enough," He stood up from his seat and jumped down to the ground where Junior was. "So...I see your father had to go."

"Yeah, so..." He grunted, a bit upset about his father leaving early.

"If you want, I could train with you,"

"Wha- really?"

"Sure," The green man said, already stretching. "I need a sparring partner anyways,"

Junior blinked in surprise at the offer before grinning happily. "Alright, fine. But just to let you know, I won't go easy on ya,"

"You want to win the tournament, right? You have to take this seriously,"

The young koopa nodded firmly. He took a fighting stance and waited for the Luigi to finish his stretches. After a few more minutes, the green plumber was done and he mirrored Junior's pose.

"Ready,"

The two stood across from each other. Luigi wasn't going to make the first move; he had patience on his side. Junior was no doubt strong but he was also still very young and gets impatient pretty quick.

After a quick moment of silence, his prediction came true. Junior came running at him. Luigi smiled inwardly as he easily dodged his punch. The young Koopa turned around and turn to land another one. Luigi dodged that too, and quickly jumped to avoid the tail that came sweeping underneath him.

'Got ya,' Junior smirked.

With a deep breath, he unleashed a stream of fire. Luigi's eyes widen at the surprise attack. As soon as his feet touch the ground again, he quickly leaped into the air, narrowly avoiding getting burned. He landed a few feet away, wiping his temple of sweat.

"That was close; last thing I want is to get my clothes burned,"

Junior growled when he saw that his attacked had missed. He jumped in the air and pounded the ground hard, sending shockwaves around him. Luigi struggled to maintain his balance but that soon fails him as he falls flat on his back. As he sat up, he saw Junior in the air, descending pretty fast. He quickly rolled out of the way as the ground he once stood crumbled into pieces.

"Another close call," He fretted.

"Are you taking this seriously?" Junior yelled annoyed.

"Of course I am; do you honestly think I wanted to be a plumber pancake?"

"Then prove it..." He withdraws his head and limbs within his shell and starts spinning rapidly like a disc. "Quit dodging and attack me,"

"What's wrong with dodging?" Luigi asked curiously as he avoids the spinning rows of spikes aiming his way.

Junior stops and turns around to glance at him. "It's a coward's move," He withdraws again and started spinning. "You have to take attacks head on,"

"Not necessary; I for one would like to walk out of this without any broken bones," Luigi steps to the side to avoid it. The sound of a tear caught his ears and he looks down to see a big rip in his shirt. "...Or getting sliced into pieces!"

Junior rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah... quick babbling and start fighting already,"

"How do you know I'm not up to something?"

"Oh yeah? Like what?" He withdraws in his shell again, this time spinning on top of his spikes in a reverse shell spin. This move was much faster than a normal shell spin; Luigi narrowly avoided it.

'Damn, when did he learn that?' He thought 'And there's goes my shirt...again,'

He stood up quickly and prepared himself for the next attack. Junior managed to turn himself around and came after him just as fast. He smirked,

"Like... this!"

With the use of his Super Jump, Luigi was able to completely avoid the reverse shell spin which passes under him. Junior tried to turn himself around, but that took much more time and distance. Before he knew it, he found himself colliding into the wall in front of him. The Koopa prince stumbled to get himself back up, his head throbbing and his vision blurry. He turned around to glare the plumber when…

"Dodge!"

A sudden electrical shock ran through his entire body, causing him to yell out in pain and surprise. It only lasted for a second or two but it was enough to leave all the muscles in his body feeling unpleasantly cramp and tingly.

"Hey!" He growled "What the shell was that?"

Luigi stood up proudly. "A new attack I've been working on,"

"A new... attack?"

Luigi nodded. "I've been trying to integrate some of the spells I've learned with my Thunderhand ability; not only do they increase its strength but they can also increase its range." He crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. "Call it a fair trade; you did, after all, surprise me with that reverse shell spin. Last time I saw you use that, you were wiggling your arms and legs around."

'More like flailing around angrily,' Mr. L just adding his two cents in

Junior hissed. "That move wasn't all that special,"

"Oh, right? Well, how about a show it to you again?"

Standing from a relatively fair distance, Luigi took a stance, his hand sparking already. Junior tensed and readied himself for the attack. Luigi focused on his target and preformed his new move.

"Lightning Strike!"

A blue electrical arc was release from the plumber's open palm. Junior braced himself; he completely plans on take it full on...

Only to watch as it swerves around and hit the wall on the other side of the room.

Ten seconds passed...then 30...It took entire minute before an embarrassed sweat dropped appeared on the side of Luigi's face. That obviously did not go as planned.

"LAAAME!" Both Junior and L went down laughing. Luigi growled and turned to the laughing Koopa.

"Hey... I said it was new, not perfect!" Angry veins were popping out of the plumber's forehead "You try casing a spell without a wand; it's harder than it looks, damn it!"

"And yet you still miss me even when I was standing just a few feet away," He said, snickering. "Seriously, a baby Toad has better aim than you,"

Two more angry veins appeared on the plumber's forehead. How dare the little brat make funny at him? And Mr. L was not making it better. His palm had clenched into a tight fist; his Thunderhand, usually blue in color, was also cracking some green sparks.

"Hey, Junior..."

"What?" The young Koopa sat up and wiped a tear from his eye.

"DODGE!"

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X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

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Dinner was usually silent that night. In addition to the sound of silverware hitting each other, there was constant snickering and giggles.

Bowser sat at the end of the table, his normal seat when eating. His face was oddly blank was he glances over to his left were Kamek sitting next to him. The head magikoopa didn't acknowledge his glance as he continues eating. Bowser suspects his eyes were closed under those large glasses of his.

He let out a sigh, some smoke coming out of his nostrils as he glances over to the opposite side. Junior sat on his right side, silently eating his food...at least trying to. His jaw didn't seem to be working properly, bits of food per chewed food falling here and there. Not only that, he was sporting was more bruises than he remembered leaving him with. They weren't anything serious and most likely fade away by tomorrow.

He blankly watched as his son rubs the right side of his face, as if trying to get feeling back to his partly paralyzed face. At the thought of paralyzing, a few names popped up inside his head. But as he glanced down the table, the list narrowed itself down to one.

Excluding Junior, everyone else seemed fine...everyone, except the plumber who was currently seated between his daughter and his daughter-in-law. The green man was eating while trying to prevent a black eye from forming with a bag of ice held over his left side. He too had some bruises on him, but unlike Junior, his would more likely take a few days to heal unless he eats a few Mushrooms.

He let out another smoky sigh before speaking,

"So...Son," He started. "Did anything interesting happen after I left?"

Junior paused from his eating and shot a glare at Luigi. The plumber got him one back before returning his attention to his plate. Junior did the same.

"Nope, nothin' at all," He slurred his reply to his father.

Bowser raised a curious eyebrow. He clearly didn't believe him but he wasn't going to question any of it. Junior needed a sparring partner and Luigi filled in for him; there was nothing unusual about that around here.

"Alright then,"

He dismissed it. Training makes everyone stronger after all and those two needed it. He turned back to his plate and took a big chuck of his meat, completely ignoring the laughter around the table.

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No Ending Note:

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