A/N: Sorry for not updating this yesterday. It took me a while to write this chapter and I was stuck on it for a while. However, I think I've now planned out how I want this story to end!

I had a hard time deciding how it was going to happen. I didn't want to write a too 'predictable' ending, and I also know that - whichever way I end this story - it has the potential to make some people unhappy. Maybe not everyone is going to like the ending I've chosen, but it's the one I personally liked the most. I hope you do too!

Anyway, I think there's going to be two more chapters after this.

Enjoy!

In the years to follow, Bowser would never know exactly what prompted him to do what he did next. He would furiously berate himself for it – not because it was cruel, not because it was reckless, but because it showed such a lack of restraint. It showed that he was unable to calmly follow through with his promises like a true King should. And that made him, the King of Koopas, look weak.

With a bellowing roar, he curled an arm around Luigi and yanked him against his side. At the same time, he swiped his other hand through the air, claws flashing in the dim light; an unmistakable signal to attack.

Before anyone could do more than gasp, koopatrols came pouring out of the doorway behind him. They filed inside the room in long lines, and behind them came Hammer Bros, Koopas, and magikoopas. Within the span of ten seconds the room above the dungeon was filled end to end with troops. Kamek (who nobody had seen entering the room alongside Bowser) waved his wand in a dramatic gesture.

'Ha ha! I bet you thought this would be easy, wouldn't you?' he wheezed. 'Well, think again! The great Lord Bowser never gives up what's rightfully his without a fight, you-'

'Rightfully his?!' Daisy exclaimed.

Bowser, who had been thrown off-guard by Kamek's speech but quickly pulled himself back together, grinned toothily. 'He's right, princess! Did you really think I was gonna just hand over Luigi to you? You must be even more gullible than I thought!'

'He lied to us!' Mario yelled, too angry to realise that he was stating the obvious. He pointed an accusing finger at Bowser. 'Get him!'

He took a step forwads, then halted. Daisy had seized his arm to hold him back. Bowser, who felt his vindictive fury rising with every word they spoke, snorted out a cruel laugh at the pair.

'You can't do a thing,' he said. 'Luigi's my minion now, and he's gonna help me take over your pathetic kingdom someday.' Luigi, who was still trapped against his side, seemed to be frozen in fear.

'He's not interested in helping you!' said Daisy. 'He said so himself. Right, Luigi?'

Luigi didn't even make a noise. Bowser glanced down at him, his grin faltering the tiniest bit as unexpected guilt stabbed through him. He could no longer deny that in the last few days he'd grown accustomed – even attached – to Luigi's presence. The two of them had spent so much time together, talking and training and exchanging jabs, that it was impossible not to be. He had been stupid, letting himself grow fond of something that could be taken away from him at any moment. He'd always known that Daisy might come back to save her precious boyfriend even if no-one else did, yet he'd stubbornly refused to acknowledge this danger.

And now, here he was.

'Shall I dispose of them, my lord?' Kamek said, his reedy voice high with excitement.

Bowser blinked and looked down. He sneered derisively upon seeing Mario and Daisy in exactly the same place as before. Weaklings... did they REALLY think they had a chance at getting Luigi back? Against me and all my troops? Talk about a suicide mission!

Raising a clawed hand, he brought it slashing down again. 'Get them out of my castle!' he roared. 'Or just kill them, I don't care.' He then sidestepped away from the top of the stairs, giving his soldiers a clear path down them.

And that was when Luigi suddenly came back to life. 'L-leave them alone!' he protested, trying unsuccessfully to squirm out of Bowser's hold. 'They haven't done anything. Just let them go, please.'

The King growled and released him with a shove, nearly making him fall over. 'Not happening, Green! Not when the idiots are trespassing on my castle!'

Luigi caught himself, gazed down the stone stairs and gave Daisy a pleading look. 'Just go!' he said. 'Grab Mario and get out of here. I'll be fine.'

'I'm not leaving without you, that's what we came here for-' Daisy began.

'GO! I'll be OK here. You won't be if you don't leave now!'

Bowser watched with vague interest as his koopatrols stormed forwards, roughly pushing Luigi out of the way before marching down the stone steps. He stumbled and fell heavily onto the stone floor. Meanwhile, a frantic yell accompanied by a slamming door told Bowser that his two enemies had just fled into the dungeon. A moment later, repeated thumping of metal fists against wood told him that the koopatrols were attempting to break down the door, which – he assumed – was being held shut by Mario and Daisy.

I can do it, easy, he thought. But before he could stomp down the stairs and help them, Luigi scrambled upright and stepped in front of him, making him pause. Not that Bowser wasn't capable of throwing Luigi aside like a rag doll – he was just surprised that the young man had the guts to try and stop him.

Nonetheless, he bared his teeth. 'You'd better step out the way now, pipsqueak,' he growled. 'I can't promise I won't hurt you if you don't...'

'Then hurt me,' he retorted. His posture was tense, angry, but the only thing showing in his eyes was desperation. 'You'll have to if you want me to move. I won't let you hurt my friends.'

Bowser roared in his face, but he barely flinched. 'You idiot! Have you already forgotten that you're my minion now, and what I say goes?'

Luigi just gazed at him, calmly and a little sadly. 'I stayed here because I chose to,' he said, 'and I never agreed to help you kill Mario and Daisy, or – or kidnap Peach.'

'Then what good are you to me?!'

Deep down, beneath all the mounting rage and shock, he was aware that he was fighting a losing battle. He had been stupid to think that Luigi would willingly stay with him when his own brother – and girlfriend – were in mortal danger.

He played his final card. 'They don't care about you,' he said scornfully. 'You said it yourself. Nobody in the Mushroom Kingdom really cares. You're just Mario's weakling of a brother. Living in his shadow. You're nothing to them!'

To his surprise, Luigi didn't shrink away, but instead lifted his head and looked the King straight in the eyes. There was a veiled fire in those blue orbs that he had never seen before. 'That's not true,' he said clearly. 'I – I know better now. Daisy cares about me, even if no-one else does. And I can't leave her forever... no matter what.'

Bowser could hear the resolution in Luigi's voice. He could see it in his face. And he knew without a doubt that this was over. He had no hold over Luigi anymore. What shocked him most was that, besides fury, the strongest emotions he felt were hurt and betrayal, and he wasn't used to feeling either.

'Then you're a traitor to my army,' he snarled. Drawing breath deep into his lungs, he prepared to blast the entire room with flames and kill everyone besides himself. He was so angry that he no longer cared what happened to anyone else; he didn't care about anything.

But in his rage, he had forgotten all about the battle training he'd given Luigi. He had spent three days helping the young man to become a veritable warrior, teaching him tricks and manoeuvres that nobody but the King himself knew. He had forgotten that Luigi wasn't the weak-willed, hesitating person he'd been before.

As soon as Luigi saw Bowser's jaws open, he executed a huge jump, flipping over the King's head and landing perfectly behind him. Bowser started to turn around, cursing his heavy body for being so slow. Before he could get there, Luigi stamped hard on his tail, sending an unexpected jolt of pain all the way up his spine and forcing an undignified yelp out of his throat.

Luigi must have known he didn't have the raw strength to throw Bowser around like his brother could. Instead, he was relying on his speed and skill to overwhelm him, darting around Bowser's clumsy swipes to deliver quick blows that, slowly but surely, were wearing the King down.

He groaned and shook his head to clear it. He's using everything I taught him to beat me, he thought. If only I hadn't been such an idiot. If only I'd realised this was going to happen...

'My lord!' shouted Kamek, snapping him out of his musings. 'Pay attention!'

An open-handed strike connected with his nose, hard enough to break some of the bone inside. Blood started trickling from his nostrils. With a scream of rage, he threw himself forwards in an attempt to crush Luigi with his sheer size, knowing he'd never be fast enough.

Luigi sprung out of the way, dived behind him, and kicked the back of his leg. In his already overbalanced state, it was enough to send him crashing to the floor. Dazed and in pain, he managed to lift his head just enough to watch Luigi scurrying down the steps towards the dungeon. It was only then that he realised the hammering on the door had ceased.

'My lord!' Kamek had jumped off his broomstick and was leaning over him, looking worried. 'They're escaping! Shall I go after them? There's still time; if you want me to get Luigi back and kill his friends, I can-'

Another voice echoed from inside the dungeon, cutting Kamek off. It was the sharp, dutiful voice of a koopatrol. 'They have jumped down a pipe. Should we follow?' A glinting armoured head came into sight as the koopatrol hurried up the stairs and gazed expectantly at his King.

Bowser was still sprawled on his front on the floor. He looked at each of his minions in turn, their voices swimming around in his disorientated mind without making a bit of sense.

'My lord Bowser?' said Kamek anxiously, poking him.

He let his head slump back to the floor. 'No, let them go,' he said, pulling a confused noise from Kamek.

'But – why-'

'I don't want my troops getting stuck in a damned pipe!' he growled. 'And they won't be able to fight properly in such a small space anyway. Just let them go. I don't care anymore.'

'But, my lord... after all the time you spent training Luigi to be your minion...'

'What's the point in getting him back, Kamek? The weakling's already decided he'd rather be with his stupid brother and his annoying little girlfriend.' Bowser spat out the insults easily, taking a savage, vengeful satisfaction from them. 'But as soon as all this mess is cleared up, we're preparing to invade the Mushroom Kingdom again.'

'If you say so, your Highness,' said Kamek, sounding resigned. He flicked his wand, and instantly Bowser felt all his minor injuries healing over. He slowly climbed to his feet. 'Though, if it's not disrespectful of me to say...'

'What, Kamek?'

'Perhaps we should wait a little while before invading again.' The old magikoopa's voice was almost gentle, and Bowser wondered why until he heard Kamek's next words: 'You're not thinking straight right now, my lord. You're understandably furious about what's happened. You know that after the last time you attacked the Mushroom Kingdom, your forces are too depleted to attack again so soon. Too many soldiers are injured... or dead...'

Bowser turned away, watching all the koopatrols emerging from the dungeon in a steady line that seemed to go on forever. Firelight gleaming on identical suits of armour, eyes glinting suspiciously through dark visors. Some of them, he noticed, still bore signs of injury from when he'd used them to help kidnap Peach a few days ago.

Kamek's right, he thought. It'd be stupid to attack again now... I'll do it later. Deep down, he knew that the only reason he wanted to attack was to vent his own frustration on the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. He wanted to rage and scream and burn things down. He wanted to forget the way he'd allowed himself to trust someone, to grow fond of them, only to have them betray him in the end.

'My lord...' Kamek said hesitantly, putting a hand on the side of his shell. 'You really did... think of him as a friend, didn't you?'

Bowser shook the magikoopa's hand off and began to walk away, following the line of koopatrols. A gruff, bitter chuckle came from his throat, and Kamek tilted his head, a concerned expression forming.

'Yeah,' he said at last. 'I'm pretty sure I did. Isn't that stupid?'

'No,' said Kamek. 'I don't think so. You see, my lord Bowser, you might not like to admit it, but you are a very lonely man. You don't even consider me a friend, and I've been at your side forty years. Perhaps all you ever needed was someone to talk to; someone who isn't afraid of you and who doesn't respect you enough to treat you as a King.'

Bowser remained silent, but he knew – again – that Kamek was right.