In the meantime, a royal sleepover was in order, safety in numbers after all, though Toadette was adamant in reassuring everyone, especially Toadsworth, that Boos don't tend to play the same trick twice unless it's with different people.
"How are you so sure?" Peasley asked finally.
"An old ghost scientist named Yikk studied Boos all his life, Bowser found his old notes when Fawful attacked both the Mushroom Kingdom and the Darklands. I was surprised Bowser helped get it published for the public." Toadette replied nonchalantly.
Daisy snickered through her nose since Toadette's response was essentially the politest sounding "I read a book once" she had heard in a long while. But Peach seemed almost despondent so she focused on that next.
"Peachy, you okay? You haven't said much since…definitely counting Bowser out of the picture…figuratively."
"I'm…stable, but know that every fiber in me is screaming to go after the brothers. I've done it before, I can surely do it again even without Perry's cursed parasol form." She replied…through almost gritted teeth, but was light enough in her tone that she was mostly mad at herself for not doing more.
"Yeah, but he also powered your magic on that island specifically, that's not gonna help here. Besides, we don't know where those Boos are camping out, otherwise you'd be gallivanting over all sorts of dead ends in the Kingdom, it's not really fun if we don't even know where to start looking." Toadette said doubtfully.
Just then her walkie talkie to the Toad Brigade came to life. Sleepy, the Yellow Toad was the only one awake at this hour. "They're not in the Forever Forest! And Lady Bow isn't up for snitching on a fellow Boo, invader of homeland or not!"
"Leave her be, Sleepy, we expected as much." Toadette replied back into the walkie.
"Okay! But get ready to make a statement to the public about Boo prevention safety! Folks are gonna get cranky if they're too scared to sleep!" Sleepy chirruped once more.
"Noted, over and out." Toadette said to end her side of things, but she didn't turn the walkie off in case Sleepy had any other late night updates, since he was basically the night shift Toad Brigade member other than when the Captain ran on adrenaline.
"Well, at least that's easy enough to do, they are still ghosts after all so their best work is at night." Peasley offered.
"Yeah, but with light as their weakness, everyone's gonna have a bigger electric bill these coming months just to stay safe." Daisy lightly argued.
"Solar panels are gonna be the way to go since they pay for themselves in the end." Toadette added to what Daisy was getting at.
"At least it's something." Peach said finally. "It's a start, it's enough." Already writing the first few paragraphs of the safety statement.
"Asking Professor E. Gadd for a Poltergust is out of the question, isn't it?" Daisy asked just for the sake of crossing out all the options.
"King Boo was smart enough to capture him first the last time he attacked. He probably did it again to be safe, I doubt we'd be able to find even an older model without the Professor's help." Peach replied with… a tad of defeat in her tone.
"Right, well, if he's smart enough to do that then he's probably starting the invasion out in the farther villages and towns on the edges of the Kingdom. Going as far as counting on the fact that the news of those attacks won't reach here in time to retaliate before they move on, hence why that statement is so important for us to get out to everyone via television broadcast at least." Prince Peasley offered tactfully.
"Thank you, truly. Even though I might not sound like it at present, I truly do appreciate the input."
Toadette was the first to run to her to give her a hug, already sensing that tears were being held back. The others followed as soon as the mushroom girl's arms were around Peach's waist. Daisy hugged her from behind and Peasley had her other side to comfort.
"We'll get them back, Poppet." Toadsworth's voice gently sounded from the doorway to the Tv room, he came to deliver snacks to this little impromptu sleepover party. He put the snacks on the coffee table before putting in his two coins of encouraging wisdom and joining in the group hug. "But it will take time as we are now. King Boo could have done a full coup but he didn't so it seems he's taking the slow way to choke us out, but we'll be able to slow him down in turn by warning the people."
"Thank you, Toadsworth. Thank you, everyone. You're all right, we'll get Mario and Luigi back. Hopefully soon." Peach replied gratefully, indulging in the group hug from everyone.
King Boo hovered in his make-shift throne room, in his rushed mansion, in a just big enough clearing, in the rather (ironically) welcoming forest of Dimble Woods. The mansion was rife with boos, easily 92 of them, and a pair, going by the names Bootch, the thug looking one who was also at the party earlier pulling a double shift for attendee guard duty, and Boofulo, a Boo that had somehow preferred having an afro that covered his eyes, using unsettlingness as his go-to fear tactic with his open mouthed grin, drool threatening to drop off his hanging out tongue. They guarded their king on either side.
King Boo's paperwork adviser, a slightly smaller than average boo, sporting blue bottom rimmed specter-cles, hovered across the room, sorting some paperwork and occasionally muttering to himself and to his overseer Booreaucrat, who sported red cat-eye specter-cles.
King Boo adjusted his crown and sunk into the velvet of his seat, gazing at the two prized paintings opposite him. He smirked as he tried to think of a comment that would bring some attention to himself and his accomplishment of capturing the two brothers, before the right thing came to his mind.
"I probably should have made them living paintings so I could gloat in their faces and see their reactions." King Boo grumbled.
"If I may, yer Majesty?" Bootch piped up for permission to speak.
"Yes, Bootch?"
"Ya still could, just gotta take a picture of them now so's ya have a copy at least. Then when ya want 'em frozen in fear again, ya can get a new scaredy face that might be better than it is now."
"Bootch, that's brilliant! Thank you, o'l chum!" King Boo cajoled his praise, stars in his eyes that no one but Boorecrat saw, and magically summoned a pictograph camera, being the old fashioned boo that he was. At least he had it mildly upgraded to be a color producing one, not that it would matter much in this case since his magical people capturing portraits always put them in sepia tone.
He took probably two too many pictographs of Luigi out of spite and wanting to get all the angles if anything before taking just one of Mario, he'd already seen his scared mug three no, four times over, it didn't change much.
Then he magicked them into being living paintings like he had done to Mario the very first time he had captured the plumber.
"Finally!" He commanded the room with an odd sense of dignity and elegance, and all were drawn into his words despite already being mildly attentive to what he would do next after magicking the brothers to moving life again. "The main feature of my gallery is complete! I can't wait to finally move and have the real gallery built - my throne room doesn't really have the room for any more paintings."
After marveling at being able to move a little bit again, Mario rolled his eyes at King Boo's rantings, who even has a throne room in a mansion?
Luigi, however, became worried at the 'any more paintings' in his enemy's comment. Did he plan to capture more people? He shivered as King Boo hovered up to his canvas.
"My good friend Luigi…" King Boo snickered, before giving Luigi a quick 'BOO!'. The plumber jumped behind the frame, and the ghostly king laughed once more. "This is far too perfect to be true, although of course, it is true, because I am no common boo!"
He paused for a moment. "Who else do you think would look good framed in my gallery, Luigi? A few stray toads? A couple of koopas? That flowery princess of yours?"
Luigi's eyes widened and then narrowed at the mention of Daisy.
"Or perhaps that Princess Toadstool. She's a pretty little thing, isn't she Mario?"
Mario gave him as good of a death stare as he could from a 2D angle.
"Although I'm not sure if pink is my color. Maybe I could learn to like it…"
A quick pause for dramatic effect and…
"Nope! Too far from my taste… I think. No matter!"
He turned to face the rest of the room.
"All I need now is that infernal scientist! Him and his stupid inventions!" He turned back to the plumber. "But what are you going to do now, Luigi, without your Poltergust Goo - whatever model it's up to now and the awful geezer who invented it?"
"I… I-I'll…"
"Nothing!" he snapped. "That's what! You'll stay here as my prize for all eternity! Mwuhahahaha!"
King Boo's laugh encouraged the other boos to laugh with him. Although his guards played along, his advisers had other things to attend to. Just as the laughter began to die down, the smaller Boo suddenly made sense of the sheets in front of him and Booreaucrat.
"Sire! I think we've figured it out!" The Boo brought over the documents to his master, and adjusted his glasses.
"Bootstrap! Booreaucrat! You two have the best path for us to take for a successful invasion?"
Bootstrap handed King Boo the document, and briefly pointed to different sections as he and Booreaucrat talked through it.
"Going through the desert would be the most effective option, as news of its activity is likely to reach the castle far too late for them to be prepared for other regions." Started Bootstrap.
"By this date, news of our invasion would be almost at the castle, so this would be the best day to attack this particular village, as the news would reach just after the news of our take over in the desert." Booreaucrat finished adjusting her red specter-cles with the enthusiasm of plans going well.
"Excellent work, as usual, Bootstrap and Booreaucrat! You two never disappoint me, which is something some Boos could learn from."
King Boo returned to his throne sinking into it grumpily as he had to touch on the upcoming topic. "Speaking of which, has that traitor, Booseus been taken care of?"
"Yes, Sire!" responded Bootstrap, ever eager to stay in good graces with the king. "We're working hard to replace him, and for now his younger brother Boovelope has said he'll cover his duties as the royal scribe and general notetaker for the other Boos until we're able to find a replacement."
Booreaucrat nodded to confirm for Bootstrap's sake, the smaller Boo was still technically a newbie even if he had been working in this position for the past six months.
"Ask him to write me some advertisements for the position; I don't want him too busy with two sets of duties. Keep him under close watch, however - I don't want him getting any ideas."
"Yes, Sire."
"And if either of you could please fetch my public diary, the scarlet one. I'd like to make a note of today's accomplishment!"
"Of course, Sire! Right away." Bootstrap fiddled with his glasses, took his clipboard off the side, and headed out of the room with Booreaucrat who gave a bow before following.
The King clapped his arms together. "Bootch! Boofulo! You are permitted to leave - I'd like to be alone for a while.
"Yes, Sire."
"Today," mused King Boo "Will be the first great day of a great new era."
"Ooh, a traitor, eh? What did they do to earn such a- how do you say? Punishment? Banishment?" Mario cooed with genuine curiosity while also sounding quite condescending.
"Bro~! No~ Don't~!" Luigi groaned as if he knew what was coming.
King Boo's eye twitched, more so that it was coming from the brother he paid the least amount of attention to, than it was for the question of such simple information. He almost slowly turned to glare at the plumber but wasn't in the mood to give him the satisfaction of attention just yet.
"Relax, Fratellino. I got this!" Mario cheekily addressed Luigi before turning back to the ghostly monarch. "Seriously though, we are bored in here, and you do look like you could let off some steam at the idea of a traitor."
King Boo faked breathing in deeply, didn't need to breathe after all but the older Mario brother was trying his patience, despite being right. He floated up menacingly to Mario's portrait, the plumber unfazed as he continued to wear a smug grin.
"He was a scribe, how about you figure it out?" King Boo grumbled at him.
"Oh, no~!" Luigi groaned again, face palming, as he knew it could get worse.
"Okiedoke! Let's-a see, a scribe means they are writing everything down, even for your other Boos when he is not writing for you all the time…did he start writing things he shouldn't just to start trouble?" Mario guessed slowly.
"Something like that." King Boo's glaring eyes narrowed further with a jut of his nonexistent chin, to acknowledge the vague closeness of the guess.
"Did they start forging your signature and nearly start an unauthorized coup with Bowser?" Mario asked cheekily with a tilt of his head.
"Close, but not quite. Bowser was never in the equation. Sorry, where did that even come from again?" The ghostly king gave a wry smile of confusion at the guess of Bowser of all people.
"Ah, sorry. Earlier you wanted suggestions on who should be added to your gallery next? Why not Bowser? Although now that I think of it, that might be too much work for you since there's his entire army that aren't Boos, and the Koopalings to get through first. But if you want to rule the world that badly…you will have to go through them at some point."
"As you said, plumber, at some point. I have all the time in the world so I don't have to listen to you my dear, peanut gallery!" King Boo retorted, turning around at his second sentence with his nonexistent nose in the air as he slunk comfortably back down into his throne.
"A fair warning then, you are attacking the Kingdom he wants most and first in his own world conquest. Defeating me fairly was the only thing stopping him from going all out and succeeding. Probably would have done it years ago had it not been for me and my fratellino from even coming to the Mushroom Kingdom, and you would not have even had the chance to hear of Luigi and have the privilege of him being your nemesis."
"Your point, red?" King Boo growled for him to get on with it.
"Like it or not, Bowser alone protects my Princess from outside forces, and he admittedly does have spies in the Kingdom, and they are very efficient. Word will reach his ears when you get close to a coup for her for real, and he won't let that happen with or without his own army." Mario finished explaining slowly, so that it would sink in. While also trying to signal to Luigi to add something so that the warning would be taken more seriously.
Their portraits were facing each other, most likely to keep them mildly entertained now that they had a little bit of movement again.
Thankfully Luigi got the signal and just enough courage to say something.
"M-Mario's right you know…" Luigi started, trying but failing to not flinch as soon as King Boo turned to him, grinning evilly as ever just to sap the fear from him. "Once word gets out that you have Mario, he might go after Peach, claim the Mushroom Kingdom as his own if she surrenders because she doesn't have us anymore to protect her, and then he'll go after you next because you're already advancing on what he'll always claim to be his territory even if it's technically not yet."
"Or ever." Mario quipped. Luigi parroted for the sake of it getting through too.
Surprisingly, King Boo seemed to contemplate what the brothers had told him in tandem. Before shrugging it off smugly.
"Duly noted Luigi, but know that I have my countermeasures. Most of his spies are also loyal to me since they are Boos."
"But the rest are Magikoopas that can also turn invisible, he will know regardless." Mario warned further.
"Then I will cross that bridge when I get there. Now shut up both of you before I change my mind in making you still life portraits again!" King Boo growled.
The brothers sighed but nothing more was said. King Boo was pleased by the silence, unable to help muttering to himself. "It's good to be the king."
A.N:Love my mel gibson quotes.
Boofulo and Booseus are also of my ocs. Booseus is taking the original place of OG author's OC Booro.
The only one who isn't my oc but is the OG Author's OC here is Boovelope, I couldn't replace him because of plot reasons, his name is conventional to a fault and there's a point to it.