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Chapter Text

For as long as he could remember, King Boo wanted to become the greatest villain the Mushroom Kingdom has ever seen. From the heroes dying right in front of him to the damsel pleading for their very life, King Boo fantasized hundreds and thousands of plans all with the same end goal of him becoming the new king of the Mushroom Kingdom. So naturally, when King Boo was given an opportunity to defeat Mario, the said hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, at Isle Delfino, he was ecstatic. This, he thought, was the first step in conquering the Mushroom Kingdom and possibly the entire world. If King Boo could defeat Mario, nothing could stop him from achieving his life-long dream.

Except that Mario did stop him.

Now yes, King Boo was frustrated at his and Bowser’s ultimate loss, but the ghost king knew that he would be given a second opportunity to defeat Mario. He just needed a new and different angle to work with, but what new angle would allow him to have the advantage over that annoying red plumber?

The answer to that question was Luigi.

After his defeat at Isle Delfino, King Boo was informed that Mario had a younger twin brother named Luigi. This new piece of information allowed King Boo to come up with a new perfect plan that would surely stop Mario once and for all. All the ghost king had to do was kidnap Luigi and Mario would come crawling on his knees and beg him to spare his little brother’s life. Surely, nothing would go wrong with that plan, right?

Wrong. That so-called “perfect” plan backfired on King Boo.

Three times.

To say King Boo was angry after his third defeat is an understatement.

While his hotel plan ended in a total disaster, the one good thing that came out of it was that Luigi didn’t capture all 16 Boos with that Poltergust he hated so very much. King Boo was grateful that the uncaught Boos were loyal enough to distract the professor long enough for him to break out of the canister.  

But the ghost king knew that it wouldn’t matter in the long run.

As long as Luigi and Professor E. Gadd were around, King Boo knew it would only be a matter of time before he would get captured and be put back in that infuriating prison again. 

And that thought alone fueled him with nothing but anger.

“ARGGH!”

In a fit of rage, King Boo threw his crown at a nearby mirror. As his anger slowly started to simmer back down, he realized that he was essentially powerless without his crown, so he quickly placed his crown back on his head before staring at his reflection in the now-broken mirror.

He hated, no, loathed, Luigi. If King Boo ever saw his face again, he would make sure that scaredy-cat plumber wished he didn’t defeat him in that first mansion all those years ago. If only he had a new angle to work with, he could-

“Um, Sir?”

King Boo swiftly turned around to see a Boo watching him with a worrisome expression. Boos who served under King Boo for a long time were used to seeing him frustrated and angry, so the fact that this Boo seemed nervous to be anywhere near him told King Boo that he was one of the Boos they recently recruited.

At least that small piece of information reassured King Boo that he could still fear into the young Boo.

“What reason do you have to interrupt me?!” King Boo shouted. He was fuming with rage and he felt that he had every right to be. This Boo interrupted his loathing of Luigi and he should’ve known better than to barged into the room like this.

The Boo nervously gulped before speaking.

“I-I think y-you should see this,” the Boo stammered while holding out an object with a shaky hand.

It took King Boo a moment to realize that the Boo was holding out a newspaper. He yanked the newspaper right out of the young Boo’s hand, without even muttering a thank you, and read the front page headline.

PEACE TREATY AND ALLIANCE BETWEEN THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM AND THE DARK LANDS!

A peace treaty between Peach and Bowser?

This peaked King Boo’s interest.

Upon further reading the article, King Boo learned that Queen Peach and King Mario are willing to sign a peace treaty with King Bowser and King Luigi, despite everything Bowser did to the Mushroom Kingdom in the past. King Boo wasn’t sure why Mario would agree to sign a peace treaty with his sworn arch-nemesis, but he figured that the red king didn’t have that many options since Bowser and Luigi are a married couple.

Speaking of Luigi…

“Remind me of the relationship status between Luigi and Bowser as well as the relationship between Mario and Bowser,” King Boo ordered while staring at a picture on the front page. It was a picture of Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser with jubilant and cheerful expressions surrounded with all kinds of different decorations. King Boo could tell that the picture was taken on Luigi and Bowser’s wedding day due to the fact that all four of the royals were wearing the most extravagant clothes he had ever seen in addition that Bowser was also kissing an embarrassed, but overjoyed, Luigi on the cheek while carrying him bridal style.

Grambi, King Boo despised every single thing about the picture. 

“Luigi and Bowser were officially married almost three months ago and their coronation took place two weeks after the wedding,” the Boo informed. “While Mario gave his public approval to the wedding, multiple spies from both the Mushroom Kingdom and the Dark Lands have confirmed that Mario and Bowser still don’t like each other.”

It was quiet as King Boo continued to read the rest of the article. It wasn’t until he started to read an article about a Toad explaining the disadvantages of the peace treaty that King Boo realized what the Boo actually said.

They still don’t like each other.

Despite the wedding and the peace treaty they’ll soon sign together, Mario and Bowser still hate each other.

King Boo couldn’t help but laugh at the situation that was now presented in front of him.

This didn’t just peak his interest anymore.

This was fantastic news.

No, this was absolutely perfect.

King Boo instantly tossed the newspaper aside as he gave the young Boo his full attention for the first time since he entered the room. Hundreds of ideas started to swarm in the ghost king’s head, but they were all easily pushed to the side as one thought consumed his mind. 

This was his new angle.

“Gather all the Boos to the corridor immediately!” King Boo exclaimed to the Boo. He stared at his reflection with the biggest grin he ever had while brainstorming his brand new master plan. “We are going to pay a visit to our dearest friend!”

Chapter Text

One week later...

If there was one thing Luigi could change about himself, he would like to be much more confident. For their entire lives, Luigi always admired the enormous amount of confidence Mario had in any situation he was put into and wish he could have half the courage his older brother had. From battling villains without hesitation to being the spotlight of a party, Luigi wondered how it was all so easy for Mario when he would have the most difficult time talking to even one person.

Even if that said person, or rather, Koopa, was his husband.

Luigi watched the interaction between Bowser and the airship crew as he twiddled his thumbs in an anxious manner. While he couldn’t hear the conversation, Luigi could tell that Bowser was demanding the Shy Guys to finish the airship preparations based on the authoritative body language Bowser was using and the nervous posture the Shy Guys had.

He understood why Bowser was so eager to leave. A heavy thunderstorm was expected to hit the Dark Lands for the first time in weeks and both he and Bowser knew that flying an enormous wooden airship in the middle of a thunderstorm would certainly lead to disaster. The Koopa King wanted to leave before the thunderstorm could have a chance to hit them and Luigi didn’t blame him one bit.

But just because Luigi understood Bowser’s reasoning didn’t mean he agreed with his husband’s decision.

Now that the Shy Guys were working at a satisfying pace, Bowser faced Luigi and immediately noticed how anxious the green king was. Hating to see his spouse so distressed, Bowser walked back to his husband’s side and wrapped his arm around Luigi’s shoulders.

“I’m sorry about that, love,” Bowser apologized before kissing the top of Luigi’s head. He turned to watch the now-frantic Shy Guys making the final preparations as he gently squeezed Luigi closer to him. “I know you hate it when I yell at the minions, but every once in a while, they need to get it through their heads, you know? It’s like I need to babysit these idiots in order for them to actually do their job.” 

Luigi was quiet. He knew he should’ve responded, or, at the very least, acknowledged Bowser’s statement, but his mind was too preoccupied with something far more pressing.

He wasn’t the only one who noticed that Bowser’s statement was met with silence.

“Are you alright?” Bowser asked worriedly. While keeping his right arm around Luigi’s shoulder, he used his left hand to gently turn Luigi’s head in order for him to see how concern the Koopa King was for him. “You’ve hardly said a word all morning and I can tell that you’re thinking about something serious. What’s going on?”

Luigi needed to tell him. He already voiced his concerns to Bowser ever since they received the letter two days ago, but they would always get pulled away by their royal duties before they could finish the conversation.

Maybe Bowser would listen to him this time. It was just the two of them in front of the airship and Luigi didn’t think the Shy Guys would be brave enough to interrupt their conversation. Would Bowser take his words to heart?

Luigi desperately hoped so.

“I-I don’t think this is a good idea,” Luigi confessed while staring at Bowser.

Neither of them spoke for a minute, although it felt much longer to Luigi, as Bowser processed his words. Once Bowser fully realized what Luigi was referring to, he took his arm off of Luigi’s shoulders and carefully held his husband’s hands.

“There’s no reason for you to worry about this,” Bowser responded. He started rubbing Luigi’s hands with his thumbs in a circular motion in hopes of easing his husband’s worries. While he noticed a visible change in Luigi’s nervousness, Bowser could tell that his actions weren’t enough to completely calm the green king down just yet. “It’s just a meeting with your brother and Peach. I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

“The problem isn’t about the meeting,” Luigi explained as he looked down at his hands. “The problem is that Mario and Peach want to meet with you alone.”

Luigi looked back up at Bowser as the Koopa King tried to think of a response to his statement. When he saw that Bowser was struggling to find the right words to comfort his anxiousness, Luigi continued.

“I know Mario wasn’t…thrilled about our wedding,” Luigi hesitated. “But even still, Mario and I have been very close our entire lives. I’m just confused on why Mario wants you to visit the Mushroom Kingdom by yourself. I know he already gave you the protective big brother lecture at our wedding and when we all signed the peace treaty last week, so what other topic does Mario want to discuss with you that I can’t or shouldn’t know about?”

If Bowser was completely honest, he had no idea what the meeting with Mario and Peach was going to be about and that terrified him. Ever since he and Luigi announced their relationship to the royal couple, Bowser never felt like he actually got Mario’s approval. He couldn’t blame the red king, especially after all the hell he used to put the Mushroom Kingdom through, but he and Luigi have been together for almost 18 months now. Surely, Mario would at least realize that Bowser loved Luigi just as much as he did, right?

Then again, judging by the tone in the letter, Bowser highly doubted he was going to get Mario’s approval anytime soon.

“Your Majesties,” a Shy Guy announced as he interrupted the couple’s conversation. With the dark blue jacket and the captain’s cap the Shy Guy was wearing, both Luigi and Bowser could tell that this particular Shy Guy was the Captain of the airship crew, or, at the very least, a Shy Guy with a very high rank. “The airship is ready for departure. If we want to reach the Mushroom Kingdom before the thunderstorms hits, I suggest we leave immediately.”

“Excellent work, Captain!” Bowser exclaimed, not realizing Luigi’s question was left unanswered. He gave the Captain one unexpected, hard pat on the back before wrapping his arm back around Luigi’s shoulders. “Prepare for takeoff while I have another minute with my husband.”

Luigi watched the Captain as he bowed to Bowser and left them alone to notify the airship crew. Once the Captain was out of their sight, Bowser took his arm off Luigi’s shoulders and gently grabbed his husband’s shoulders to make sure he had Luigi’s full attention.

“I should be back by tomorrow night at the absolute latest,” Bowser informed. “The only thing you’ll need to focus on is the meeting with the royal court later today, but both Kamek and Kammy will be there to help you with that as well as anything else you’ll need while I’m gone. You’ll be okay handling the royal stuff without me, right?”

Luigi had never felt more like two completely different people than at that moment. On the inside, he was begging, pleading, and doing anything else he could desperately think of to stop Bowser from entering that airship.

But on the outside, all he could do was silently nod.

“Good,” Bowser responded with a smile. He gave Luigi one last kiss on the head before he let go of his shoulders. “I love you and I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

As Bowser started to make his way to the airship entrance, Luigi’s world instantly started to crumble right in front of him. He had no idea why his brother wanted to meet with Bowser in private or why his husband didn’t find Mario’s letter suspicious, but there was one thing Luigi knew with absolute certainty.

He can’t let him go.

He cannot let Bowser get onto the airship.

“STOP!”

Luigi was surprised and relieved when Bowser stopped in his tracks and turned around to face him. Luigi noticed Bowser’s bewildered facial expression, but he couldn’t dwell on his husband’s emotions. He had to be brave.

“You can’t get on that airship,” Luigi demanded. He was fully aware that he sounded like a parent ordering a child to not do something, but it didn’t matter to him. The only thing he could think about was preventing Bowser from entering that airship.

“Luigi, I’ll only be gone until tomorrow night,” Bowser reassured. He started to take a few steps towards Luigi in hopes of calming him down. “It’s going to be-,”

“No!”

Bowser immediately stopped walking after Luigi interrupted him. By now, the entire airship crew was watching the conversation unfold, but neither Luigi nor Bowser noticed. They were too busy focusing on their significant other to realize that they now had an audience.

“Every time we try to talk about this, something always interrupts us to where we can’t finish the conversation,” Luigi explained. “But I’m not going to let that happen this time. This trip is a bad idea Bowser and I won’t let you get on that airship.”

Wait, what?

He had to be joking. 

There was no way Luigi would try to prevent him, the King of the Koopas, from entering the airship, right? 

But as Bowser stared at his husband, he realized that Luigi’s nervousness and anxiousness from before was now completely replace with something that almost resembled confidence and determination.

Oh yes, Luigi was actually being sincere.

Now Bowser just couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“You won’t let me?” Bowser scoffed. He took a few intimidating steps towards Luigi with the goal of scaring him a little bit. Even though Bowser noticed a small change in his husband’s demeanor, it didn’t stop Luigi from keeping his ground. “How do you intend to stop me? It may have been a while, but we both know I can defeat you in a fight.”

“The Shy Guys will listen to me,” Luigi responded. He inwardly knew that Bowser could very well easily crush him like a bug, if he really wanted to, but Luigi couldn’t let that thought break his confidence. “And if they decide to follow your orders over mine, I learned my way around an airship and I know the parts that can prevent it from flying for days or even weeks.”

“Are you seriously trying to blackmail me right now?!” Bowser screamed while running a hand through his hair. If he wasn’t so frustrated with how stubborn Luigi was being, Bowser would’ve honestly been proud to see his husband standing up to him for something he truly believed in. “It’s just a stupid meeting with Mario and Peach! Why are you so hung up over this?!”

“It’s not just about the meeting!” Luigi argued. He felt the tears welling up in his eyes, but he refused to let himself cry in front of Bowser. “Ever since you got the letter, I’ve been having this really bad feeling that something terrible is going to happen if you enter that airship and visit the Mushroom Kingdom! And besides, if it’s just a ridiculous meeting, then why are you so obsessed about it?!”

When Luigi and Bowser first started dating, the Koopa King made a promise to himself to not take his anger out on Luigi whenever he was frustrated about something, even if Luigi was the cause of his anger. Bowser knew how sensitive and emotional his husband was and the Koopa King especially didn’t want to do or say anything that would greatly upset the man he vowed to love and protect.

But this time, Bowser let his anger get the best of him.

“Do you really want to know why I want to go to this meeting so badly?!” Bowser snapped. “Fine! I want to go to this meeting because I want to get Mario’s blessing! You may have a fantastic relationship with your brother and Peach, but incase your idiotic brain didn’t realize it, Mario despises my guts and ignoring him certainly isn’t going to get him to like me! I’m going to this damn meeting whether you like it or not, so you can either suck it up and accept it or cry about it like the fucking disgrace you are to everyone!” 

No one uttered a sound after Bowser’s emotional outburst. The Shy Guys have worked with Bowser for many years, but to see Bowser so livid and enraged terrified them to the point where they were too paralyzed with fear to even move. 

It was beyond horrifying to witness the Koopa King like this.

But the Shy Guys and Bowser were especially surprised when it was Luigi who finally broke the silence.

“S-So that’s how y-you really feel about m-me?”

When he heard Luigi’s quiet and brittle voice, Bowser instantly realized the harsh words he said to his husband. Bowser was very hesitant to look at Luigi, but he knew he needed to see just how much of an impact his words had on the green king if he wanted to apologize for his outburst.

But what he saw shattered his heart.

Luigi was visibly shaking so much that Bowser couldn’t help but wonder how he was even able to stand. The tears the green king desperately tried to hold in during the argument were now pouring down his face and he was hugging himself so tightly that Bowser had a feeling that bruises were going to form on Luigi’s arms within the next few days.

It was a gut-wrenching sight to see.

But what devastated Bowser the most was that he was the reason for it.

“Luigi,” Bowser whispered. He had no idea what to do, but he knew he needed to do something. Bowser carefully took one step towards Luigi as a way to show that he wanted to apologize for his outburst and help comfort his distressed husband.

Luigi took one step back in response.

“I-If that’s how y-you really feel about me, then I-I won’t stop you from l-leaving,” Luigi stammered while taking a few more steps away from Bowser. “E-Enjoy you t-time away from a d-disgrace like m-me.”

Luigi hastily ran back to the castle before Bowser could utter a response. Every part of the Koopa King’s mind wanted to follow, call out, or literally anything else he could think of to let Luigi know that he was sorry and that he didn’t mean to take his anger out on him.

But his body just simply wouldn’t let him. All Bowser could do was watch as Luigi ran farther and farther away from him.

“K-King B-Bowser?”

Bowser turned to see the Captain watching him with fear and terror. He completely forgot that the Shy Guys were waiting for his orders and considering that he now no doubt knew that the entire airship crew saw his and Luigi’s fight unfold was especially a nail to the coffin.

“W-We really need to g-go if want to m-make it b-before-,”

“I hear you loud and clear,” Bowser interrupted with a sigh. He gave the castle one last look before walking towards the entrance of the airship. “I’m ready to go.”

Chapter Text

When Luigi and Bowser revealed their relationship to Mario and Peach, the Mushroom couple had mixed feelings. At first, Peach was very hesitant about the relationship, but her opinion soon changed when she saw how happy Luigi and Bowser were together. From putting the other one’s needs above his own to supporting each other through all the hardships, Peach noticed all the little interactions between the odd couple during their stays at the Mushroom Kingdom and it warmed her heart to see that Bowser was a truly changed Koopa.

For Mario…, it was really difficult for him to give Luigi and Bowser his blessing. Sure, he announced his approval of the relationship to the public eye, but Peach, Bowser, and even Luigi knew that it would take time for the Mushroom King to fully accept Luigi and Bowser’s relationship.

Bowser couldn’t blame Mario for his reluctance. Up until two years ago, he considered both Mario and Luigi as his arch-enemies, so it made sense to the Koopa King that he would need to gain Mario’s trust in order for the red king to truly accept his relationship with his brother.

But the last thing Bowser expected was for Mario to antagonize him.

Constantly.

You see, every time Luigi and Bowser visited the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario sort of made it a goal of his to anger Bowser to the point where the Koopa King would cause a massive scene and prove to everyone, especially Luigi and Peach, that he was the same Koopa he used to be all those years ago. Whether it was criticism or complaints, Mario would try every tactic he could think of to push Bowser over the limit.

I don’t understand how your minions are still loyal to you after all you put them through.

This is not how you should rule a kingdom.

You don’t deserve to be with Luigi.

Bowser had considered telling Luigi and Peach about Mario’s behavior on multiple occasions, but he decided long ago that it wasn’t worth mentioning to either of them. Mario was Peach’s entire world and Bowser was smart enough to know that Peach would easily take her husband’s words over his.

As for Luigi…

The green king had been through so much ever since they announced their relationship to the public. From the Mushroom Kingdom treating him like a traitor to the Dark Lands still seeing him as an enemy, it pained Bowser to see all the battles Luigi faced just to live the life he wanted to have.

If Luigi ever found out about Mario’s behavior towards the Koopa King, it would break the green Italian’s heart.

Although with everything that happened today, Luigi finding out about his brother’s behavior was honestly the least of Bowser’s worries.

“What the hell have I gotten myself into?” Bowser sighed as he rubbed his face with his hands.

Three hours have gone by since the airship left the Dark Lands, but to Bowser, it was three hours since his huge fight with Luigi. As soon as he entered the airship, Bowser ordered anyone within earshot to not disturb him until they landed. He didn’t wait to hear any of the Shy Guys’ responses (but he knew that none of them would risk angering him) and took the most direct route to his quarters. The Koopa King didn’t even acknowledge the Shy Guys who stopped and bowed to him, although the minions were sort of used to it at this point.

But as soon as Bowser was alone in his room, he broke down.

Why? Why did he lose control like that? All Luigi wanted was to voice his concerns about Bowser’s trip to the Mushroom Kingdom. It was a simple request that Bowser could’ve easily agreed to, but instead, he essentially destroyed his entire marriage all because he was so determined in getting Mario’s stupid approval.

Was this ridiculous meeting with Mario and Peach really that important to him?

Bowser heard a knock on the door before he had time to consider the question.

“Enter,” Bowser grumbled as he ran a hand through his hair.

The door opened to reveal the Captain, but with the way his hands were fidgeting and his whole body was rocking back and forth, it was obvious that the Shy Guy was terrified to interrupt whatever Bowser was doing.

“I-I’m here to inform y-you that the a-airship just l-landed,” the Captain nervously announced.

Bowser was hesitant. As much as he didn’t want to, he would need to figure out his situation with Luigi later. Right now, he had to prioritize this meeting with Mario and Peach.

Sighing one last time, Bowser looked at the Captain and spoke with an aggressive tone.

“Let’s just get this over with.”

King Mario felt a headache coming on as he listened to the argument between Peach, Toadsworth, and the royal court. If it was purely up to him, he would’ve ended the meeting hours ago, but ever since he and Peach signed the peace treaty, his days were filled to the brim with all kinds of different meetings with the royal court explaining their reasons on why signing the peace treaty was a terrible idea.

It’s not like he could blame them for being such nervous wrecks. Luigi and Bowser have been together for almost 18 months and Mario still hates Bowser with every fiber of his being.

Not that he would admit that to anyone.

“Your Majesties, we cannot trust King Bowser on keeping his promises,” a male Toad insisted, interrupting Mario’s thoughts. With the white spots on his black cap, Mario recognized the Toad as one of the higher-ranking members of the royal court. “He has caused nothing but trouble to our kingdom for years and he expects us to pretend that his actions never happened?”

“By boogity, that’s exactly what he wants us to do!” Toadbert explained before adjusting his glasses. Mario watched Toadbert as the longtime serving Toad looked through the dozens of papers scattered in front of him. “King Bowser hopes to gain our trust with the peace treaty, and once he sees us letting our guard down, he’ll use that opportunity to attack us, by boogity!”

“What do you suppose we do then?” a female Toad with red spots on her white cap explained. Based on the way the Toad was rubbing her forehead, as if she was stressed, Mario could tell that she was likely a newer member of the royal court. “His armies have always been, and still are, much more powerful than ours. If we attack him now, he’ll surely destroy us, but we can’t just sit back and wait for him to make the first move.

“King Bowser is not going to betray us!” Toadsworth exclaimed while slamming his cane on the floor. He took a few deep breaths before looking at each member of the royal court. “Have you all forgotten that he is married to King Luigi, one of the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom? He would never allow King Koopa to attack our kingdom.”

A male Toad with white spots on his orange cap slammed his fist on the table before anyone could have a chance to respond.

“King Luigi betrayed us the moment he started a romantic relationship with that vile Koopa,” the Toad stated. “For all we know, he could be plotting with King Bowser to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom. We cannot trust either of them.”

Mario was grateful that Peach chimed into the conversation at that moment because he would’ve gone off on the idiotic Toad for even considering Luigi as a traitor had she not intervened.

“That is enough!” Peach shouted while shooting up from her chair. The entire royal court turned stiff upon hearing the queen’s sudden outburst, but Peach paid no attention. “We have been in an official alliance with the Dark Lands for less than a week and no one is even willing to give Bowser a chance! Yes, he has done nothing but terrible things to the Mushroom Kingdom in the past, but he wants to be a better Koopa now. Need I remind you all that the peace treaty was entirely his idea, not ours, and not to mention that he went through a lot just to have a public relationship with Luigi? That right there proves to me that Bowser is not the Koopa he used to be all those years ago and it greatly disappoints me that none of you can see that.”

It was a huge relief to Mario when a maid announced her presence with a knock on the conference room door right then and there. He didn’t have to look at the royal court to know that the meeting would’ve instantly turned into a verbal bloodbath if the maid arrived even one second later.

“Your Majesties, you have a visitor in the throne room,” the maid informed.

“Who’s the visitor?” Mario asked, speaking for the first time since the meeting started. He and Peach weren’t expecting any visitors today, but it was also entirely possible that the visitor could’ve just slipped from their minds, especially given that this past week had been exhausting for the royal couple.

The entire throne room noticed the stutter in the maid’s voice.

“I-I think it’s best if y-you see for yourself, Your M-Majesty,” the maid answered with an anxious tone.

Mario and Peach exchanged a worried glance before following the maid to the throne room. Usually, the maids or guards would announce the visitor to the royal couple, but considering the fact that the maid refused to provide the visitor’s name, in addition to that she was reluctant to respond to Mario’s question was rather alarming.

Who was the mysterious visitor?

Upon entering the throne room, Mario and Peach were relieved to find that the mysterious visitor was just Bowser. Mario now understood why the maid was nervous in answering his question and couldn’t blame her for the way she reacted.

But Mario’s relief melted away when he noticed two critical pieces of information.

Bowser was alone in the throne room.

And he didn't have his usual confidence.

“King Bowser.”

“Your Majesties.”

The throne room was painfully quiet for what felt like an eternity. None of the three royals knew how to break the silence.

It was only when Mario finally spoke that the atmosphere of the room took a 180˚ turn.

“What are you doing here?”

Chapter Text

Wait, what?

This wasn’t at all where Bowser thought the conversation would be going.

Okay, sure, the actual purpose of this meeting had honestly been a mystery to the Koopa King ever since he received the letter, but he did have a few ideas on what the royal couple wanted to discuss with him. Between his relationship with Luigi and the peace treaty they all recently signed together, it would make sense for Mario and Peach to check in on him and make sure that he wasn’t going to back down on the promises he made to them.

But for Mario to ask why he was in his throne room when this entire meeting was his and Peach’s idea?

That was the last thing Bowser expected to hear.

“You wrote a letter that said you two wanted to speak with me in private,” Bowser answered while keeping his temper in check. He wasn’t sure how they could forget about a meeting, much less a meeting with him of all people, but with everything the four royals had to deal with since the signing of the peace treaty, Bowser figured that this meeting was likely not a high priority for the royal couple.

That hopefulness was thrown out the window when Mario spoke again.

“I never wrote you a letter.”

Okay, now that just didn’t make any sense to Bowser. It was one thing for Mario and Peach to forget about a meeting, but for them to have the audacity to act like they didn’t plan this meeting in the first place?

That started to anger the Koopa King.

“What do you mean ‘you never wrote me a letter?’” Bowser bellowed in a mocking tone. “Two days ago, I received a letter from you saying that you and Peach wanted to have a private meeting with me. You didn’t provide any purpose or reason for the meeting, but considering the fact that you don’t think too highly of me, I figured that you two wanted to do another ridiculous check up on me.”

Bowser could tell he struck a nerve when he saw Mario clenching his fists and momentarily conjuring up his Firebrand. While he was able to keep his composure in front of the Mushroom couple, Bowser couldn’t help but inwardly smirk at his small unintentional victory.

“You better watch what you say, King Koopa,” Mario threateningly demanded while ruining Bowser’s little victory. “I don’t know how it works in your kingdom, but here in the Mushroom Kingdom, you are expected to treat me and Peach with respect.”

It was a miracle that Peach interrupted the small argument right then and there because if she hadn’t, Bowser would’ve instantly dropped the formalities and used his fire breath to burn Mario to a crisp.

That would’ve been an interesting way to tell Luigi that he broke the peace treaty and started a war against his brother’s kingdom.

“Mario, sweetie, calm down,” Peach pleaded as she placed her hands on her husband’s shoulders. Bowser was amazed by how calm she was despite the amount of tension that was now hanging in the throne room. “Can you please show us the letter we allegedly wrote so that we can clear this matter up?”

It took a few moments for Bowser to realize that the question was directed at him and not Mario, but once he noticed that Peach was looking directly at him, the Koopa King immediately grabbed the letter out of his shell. He held the paper out to the royal couple, but Mario was quick to yank it out of Bowser’s hand, without even muttering a thank you, and start reading.

It was quiet as Peach and Bowser waited for Mario to finish reading the letter. Every part of Bowser wanted to tap his foot or sigh in annoyance, but he forced himself to take a few deep breaths because he knew that his impatience would only fuel Mario’s happiness. When five minutes have passed, Mario handed the letter to Peach before giving Bowser his utmost attention.

“We didn’t send this letter.”

Now that.

That statement made Bowser furious.

“Bullshit!” Bowser fumed. “I have seen the letters you two wrote to me and Luigi after we became an official couple and I know for a fact that those seals are real and official!”

“Yes, that is true, but this is neither mine nor Peach’s handwriting,” Mario explained. “Plus, we have a few Toads who are authorized to write letters on our behalf, but Peach and I always review the letter before we give the approval to mail it out to the recipient. This is the first time we’re seeing this letter and I can guarantee you that none of the Toads have this kind of handwriting.”

“Okay, so if none of you guys wrote the letter, then who the hell did?” Bowser inquired with a frustrated tone.

Before the royal couple could have a chance to think about Bowser’s question, a Hammer Brother suddenly barged into the throne room. Mario and Peach quickly went into a battle stance, but Bowser immediately shot his arm out to prevent any conflict from breaking out as he recognized the now-exhausted minion as one of Luigi’s personal guards.

“Jerry, what the hell are you doing here?” Bowser asked. “And why are you so out of breath?”

It took far too long, in Bowser’s opinion, for Jerry to catch his breath. Come to think of it, he wasn’t even sure why the minion was so out of breath to begin with. Jerry’s devoted loyalty to the royal family and high status in the Koopa Troop gave him the privilege to use the Koopa Clown Car Kamek and Kammy specifically made for the highest ranking minions.

But what Jerry said next made the three royals’ blood run cold.

“King Boo has taken over the Dark Lands!”

2 hours ago…

Luigi sighed as he stared at his reflection in the master bathroom mirror. With his red face and puffy eyes, it was easy to tell that he had been crying for quite some time and Luigi knew the minions well enough to know that it wouldn’t take long for the entire castle to find out that the green king sprinted to his and Bowser’s room with tears in his eyes.

And considering that his fight with Bowser was loud enough for even the Comet Observatory to hear them, Luigi knew it would only be a matter of time until everyone put two and two together.

It was such a relief that the master bathroom was directly connected to the master bedroom.

Luigi decided to give up on trying to look presentable, so he exited the master bathroom and collapsed on his and Bowser’s king-sized bed. He grabbed one of the pillows on his husband’s side of the bed before giving it a tight squeeze as a way to comfort himself from everything that happened in the past hour.

“How could this have happened?” Luigi whispered to himself while staring at the ceiling.

Why? Why did Bowser have to yell at him like that? All Luigi wanted was an actual conversation with his husband about his private meeting with Mario and Peach. Granted, it probably wasn’t the best idea to express his concerns to the Koopa King right before he was scheduled to leave the Dark Lands, but Luigi didn’t think he was asking for too much. Was it really that difficult for Bowser to stop and listen to him for ten minutes?

Judging by the way their conversation ended, it apparently was.

Luigi didn’t want to think about Bowser or the argument anymore, so he forced himself to sit up on the bed and look around the room for something to distract himself with. It wasn’t until he saw the balcony entrance that he remembered the entire reason for Bowser’s early departure.

The thunderstorm was going to start soon.

And despite all the alarms that were running through his head, Luigi suddenly wanted nothing more than to take a walk in the rain.

With his mind now made up, Luigi got off the bed and walked to the bedroom door with a sense of urgency.

But he only took a few steps before the door was instantly sealed off with a purple gate.

A purple gate? He hadn’t seen that since-

Luigi felt his heart stop upon remembering the last time a purple gate blocked the exit.

“N-no,” Luigi trembled as he frantically looked around the room for any possible exit. He quickly realized that the rest of the exits were sealed off with the same purple gates, so he started to hysterically knock on the wall next to the bedroom door in hopes of making enough noise for any minion to hear him. “No, no, no!” 

He talked to E. Gadd two weeks ago. He reassured Luigi that his arch-nemesis was still trapped in that canister along with all the other ghosts he captured after that horrendous hotel adventure.

It was impossible for him to escape again.

But horror struck Luigi as soon as he heard the all-too-familiar and low chuckle he heard so many times in his nightmares.

And even though his mind was begging him not to, Luigi forced himself to turn around to face the one Boo he never wanted to see again.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my dear friend, Luigi,” King Boo taunted. “How long has it been since our last little reunion? One year? Two years? It’s hard to tell since I’ve been trapped in that canister for quite some time.”

Luigi couldn’t respond. He wasn’t sure if King Boo’s question was rhetorical or actually genuine, but Luigi honestly didn’t care one way or the another because his mind was pleading him to scream, run, or do anything else he could think of to get away from the Boo who caused so much trouble for him and his brother.

But he was far too petrified to do anything.

And it didn’t take King Boo that long to notice this.

“Not in the mood to talk, huh?” King Boo asked upon noticing Luigi’s terrified expression. “That’s fine. I figured we would have a short reunion before I start my ultimate plan.”

Ultimate plan? What did that mean?

Luigi’s questions were immediately answered when he saw King Boo summoning a painting frame. The green king didn’t even realized he was screaming in terror as thunder rumbled in the distance at that exact moment.

But by the time the thunder stopped, he was already gone.

Chapter Text

How did King Boo escape?

Where was he hiding before he invaded the Dark Lands?

Is he working alone or with another villain?

These were just a few of the questions that were running through the three royals’ heads as they stared at Jerry for what felt like hours. They wanted to ask their questions to the Hammer Brother, but fear prevented Mario, Peach, and even Bowser from uttering a sound as they were still trying to process Jerry’s terrifying announcement.

But the silence was soon broken when one horrifying realization came to the Koopa King.

“Where is Luigi?” Bowser demanded while refusing to take his eyes off Jerry. He couldn’t bear the thought of Luigi handling the invasion by himself, especially after the argument they had this morning, so he inwardly prayed to Grambi and the Stars that the green king was able to retreat to a safe place.

But the three royals noticed the apple in Jerry’s throat as the minion tried so desperately hard to keep his composure in front of them.

“K-King B-Boo…,”

Bowser didn’t give Jerry a chance to finish his response.

Because those two words were all it took for the Koopa King to rush out of the throne room.

“Bowser, where are you going?!” Mario questioned with annoyance and a hint of worry.  

He didn’t listen. Mario’s questions, Peach’s pleading, and even Jerry’s explanation, Bowser ignored them all as his mind was consumed with the relentless thought of wanting to tear King Boo apart limb from limb.

That is, until someone got the idea to throw a turnip at the Koopa King’s head.

“Bowser, please just listen to us!” Peach pleaded after Bowser stopped in his tracks and faced the royal couple. If it wasn’t for the second turnip he noticed in Peach’s hand, Bowser would’ve ignored the queen and continued his brisk walk to the airship. “We understand you’re upset, but you can’t just rush back to your castle without thinking this through! We need to come up with a plan!”

“I don’t want to come up with a plan!” Bowser fumed. “It’s one thing for King Boo to take over my castle and make my minions join his side, but for him to not only have the NERVE to kidnap my husband, but to also keep him as his sick decoration?! No, that little marshmallow ball has taken it too far and now he’s going to fucking pay!”

“And what on Earth makes you think that he won’t trap you in a painting the moment you step foot into your castle?!” Peach screamed. She was relieved that Bowser was sort of willing to listen to her, but she refused to loosen her grip on the turnip. “You have never fought against King Boo before and both Mario and I know him well enough to know that you won’t be able to defeat him with just your fire breath and shell!”

“Oh, and I suppose you two have a better idea?!” Bowser jeered. He hated this. Every second he was arguing with Peach was a second he could be using to stop King Boo. Why did she have to choose this moment to be so stubborn? “Incase you’ve forgotten, your armies are still weaker than mine, so unless the rest of my minions escaped like Jerry did, King Boo will slaughter your armies like the little twigs they are!”

As Peach and Bowser continued to argue about the next course of action, they didn’t notice Mario thoughtfully staring at the airship. The red king knew they couldn’t just barged into Bowser’s Castle without some kind of weapon, but Luigi was the expert when it came to ghosts and other paranormal stuff. How did he defeat King Boo before?

That was when it suddenly hit him.

Without taking the time to think about the consequences, Mario quickly grabbed the turnip Peach used earlier and threw it at Bowser’s head. The action was enough to stop Peach and Bowser’s argument, but the Koopa King’s anger only grew as he now switched his focus to the red king.

“Ow!” Bowser yelled while rubbing the spot where the turnip hit his head. If looks could kill, Mario knew that he would surely be dead by now. “What the fucking hell was that?!”

“I have an idea on how we can defeat King Boo and save Luigi,” Mario revealed. “And his name is Professor E. Gadd.” 

Peach and Bowser exchanged a confused glance before looking back at Mario. Now yes, they knew E. Gadd was friendly and very intelligent, but from the stories Luigi told them, Peach and Bowser thought of the professor as more of a mischievous and somewhat quirky old man.

Surely, Mario’s plan wasn’t going to entirely rely on the professor, right?

But when Peach and Bowser noticed the confidence and determination Mario had, it was easy to tell that they had the exact same realization.

It was. 

“How the hell is that crazy old professor going to help us?” Bowser asked while raising one eyebrow.

“Luigi defeated King Boo at The Last Resort with an invention E. Gadd made called the Poltergust,” Mario explained. “It has the ability to suck up all types of ghosts, so if we just explain our situation to the professor, he’ll let us use the machine to stop King Boo once and for all.”

With each second that Mario thought over his plan, the more confident he became in that it was going to work. Granted, he had only really battle against King Boo back in Isle Delfino, but Luigi saved him three times with the Poltergust. How difficult could it be to battle against a ghost king with a vacuum cleaner?

But what happened next threw both Mario and Peach completely off guard.

Bowser started laughing.

Hard.

“That’s your idea?!” Bowser wheezed out. Tears started to form in his eyes as a result from laughing too hard, so Bowser used one hand to wipe his tears away while placing his other hand on his hip. “Your plan is to defeat King Boo with a fucking vacuum cleaner?! That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of! What kind of idiot would lose to a cleaning supply?!”

As Bowser continued to laugh his ass off, it didn’t take Peach very long to notice Mario slowly charging up his Firebrand. She knew that her husband was on the verge of attacking Bowser, so she quickly grabbed one of Mario’s hands before giving it a gentle squeeze. She could tell her silent action was enough to force the red king to take a few deep breaths while also dissipating his Firebrand at the same time.

“If you’re going to stand there and make fun of my plan, then I would love to hear any other ideas you have in stopping King Boo,” Mario encouraged with an annoyed tone.

Truthfully, Bowser didn’t think it was such a terrible idea. He always loved it when Luigi told him about the tales of defeating his sworn arch-nemesis and found it especially heart-warming to know that Luigi would do anything to save the ones he loved, even when the mere thought of ghosts terrified the green king. 

It was one of the things Bowser loved most about Luigi.

But was he willing to let his ego go and admit that Mario had a decent plan?

He certainly didn’t want to, but he could at least pretend that Mario’s idea was the only viable option.

“Fine, we’ll go with your plan,” Bowser admitted with a frustrated sigh. “I know where the professor lives, so we can take my airship and be there in four hours.”

“Then it’s settled,” Peach conceded, speaking for the first time since Mario threw the turnip at Bowser. “You two are going to retrieve the Poltergust from the professor and work together to save Luigi and the Dark Lands from King Boo.”

Bowser annoyingly nodded in acknowledgement as Toadsworth entered the castle grounds. The Koopa King was in no mood to hear his lectures, so he left the royal couple alone to deal with the old Toad while he used this time to inform the Captain of their new plan. It wasn’t until after he finished the conversation with the Shy Guy that Bowser realized what Peach actually said.

He was going to have to team up with Mario.

Shit.

Chapter Text

King Boo had the biggest grin on his face as he watched his new prisoner struggle to break free from his prison. Now deep down, the ghost king knew that he should be preparing for the next phase of his plan, but he just couldn’t help but admire his new painting. For years, he had to watch Luigi suck up his minions with the vacuum cleaner that stupid professor made. Plan after plan and fight after fight, it was all thwarted by the scaredy-cat plumber and it frustrated the ghost king so very much.

But not this time. For the first time in years, the tables were turning in his favor and King Boo wanted to savor every single moment.

“Oh Luigi,” King Boo cooed. “I have been waiting for this day for so long and it brings me nothing but joy to finally have you as my prisoner. I hope you know that I specifically picked out this portrait frame just for you. It really brings out the terror in your eyes, you know.”

Luigi forced himself to ignore King Boo as he continued his attempt of breaking his invisible prison wall. He hated this. Since the moment he woke up, King Boo had done nothing but watch and admire him with such lust in his eyes that made the green king so uneasy and uncomfortable.

He desperately wished for somebody, anybody, to come and save him from this horrendous nightmare.

But the green king knew none of the minions could help him. So many of them died from the unexpected invasion and the minions who did survive swore their loyalty to King Boo.

Whether he liked it or not, Luigi was all alone.

And that thought terrified him.

However, as King Boo continued to stare at his new decoration, his attention was soon shifted when a Boo announced his presence with a knock on the throne room door. King Boo’s admiration was quickly replaced with frustration when he realized that he was now being interrupted, but relief couldn’t begin to cover the emotion Luigi felt when he saw that the ghost king’s focus was on something other than him.

“What do you want Boolderdash?!” King Boo shouted. “Can’t you see that I’m busy?!”

“Boolderdash…,” Luigi thought as he slowly stopped his struggles. He remembered that name. Boolderdash was one of the last Boos he had to capture from the first mansion. Granted, he was also one of the more difficult Boos to catch, but the fact that Luigi had seen the Boo back at Boo Woods at least explained why Boolderdash didn’t seem scared or afraid to talk to King Boo. 

It was only when Boolderdash cleared his throat that Luigi decided to actively listen to the conversation.

“There’s one other important news,” Boolderdash informed. “In regards to the Mushroom Kingdom.”

Luigi felt his heart skip a beat. The Mushroom Kingdom? That didn’t make sense to the green king. King Boo already captured him and technically became the new king of the Dark Lands. Why would he be interested in his brother’s kingdom?

Luigi had a terrible feeling he was going to find out.

“What about them?” King Boo asked. By now, he noticed that Luigi was eavesdropping on the conversation, but it didn’t matter to him. Whatever news Boolderdash had about the Mushroom Kingdom was much more important.

“It has been confirmed that Mario and Bowser are working together in hopes of defeating you,” Boolderdash revealed.  “In fact, the two kings are traveling to Evershade Valley right now in hopes of retrieving the Poltergust from the professor.”

King Boo couldn’t help but ponder at this new information. So Mario and Bowser decided to team up, huh? That was something King Boo didn’t expect to happen so quickly, especially given their past history. Then again, Luigi was important to both them, so it made sense that Mario and Bowser would set aside their differences to save the one person who mattered most to them.

But then one realization came to King Boo.

“What about Peach?” King Boo inquired. He knew Peach was the middle-man between Mario and Bowser, so he was interested in knowing if she decided to tag along on the adventure to prevent the two kings from arguing every 5 minutes.

“Peach decided to stay behind per Toadsworth’s request,” Boolderdash responded.

It didn’t take long for King Boo to discover the true meaning of Boolderdash’s response.

She stayed behind.

While Mario and Bowser are traveling to Evershade Valley, Peach agreed to stay behind to watch over the Mushroom Kingdom.

Which leaves an entire kingdom defenseless.

Luigi felt all the blood draining from his face upon coming to the exact same conclusion.

“No!” Luigi screamed as he slammed his fist against the invisible prison wall. He couldn’t let King Boo go through with this. The green king wouldn’t be able to live with himself if the ghost king conquered a whole other kingdom, especially when none of those innocent citizens were involved with his ghostly adventures. “Please don’t do this King Boo! I’m the one you want, not them! I’ll do anything you say, but please leave the Mushroom Kingdom alone!”

To say that King Boo and Boolderdash were surprised to hear Luigi’s outburst was an understatement, especially since the green king hardly said a word since he was captured just hours ago.

But King Boo’s astonishment was immediately replaced with amusement when he noticed the amount of terror Luigi had on his face. 

It just made him want to do it even more.

“Oh my dear Luigi,” King Boo sighed with a chuckle. He started to make his way to the exit of the throne room with Boolderdash following closed behind. “You should have thought about that before you defeated me at The Last Resort.”

“No, wait!” Luigi begged while slamming his fists against the invisible prison wall. He continued to beg and plead to the Boos in hopes that one of them would stop and listen to his pleas.

But both King Boo and Boolderdash ignored him.

“N-no, p-please…,” Luigi whispered to himself after the two Boos left the throne room. He let his arms fall as he closed his eyes and allowed tears to fall down his face for the first time since his capture.

Peach…, Mario…, Bowser…

I’m sorry.

2.5 hours later…

Bowser sighed in exhaustion as he collapsed onto the king-sized bed in his quarters. For the past four hours, the two kings brainstormed hundreds of different ideas to save Luigi and the Dark Lands and defeat King Boo once and for all. 

Although, with the way he and Mario couldn’t agree on a single plan, Bowser would’ve called it an argument more than a brainstorming session. Hell, on multiple occasions, the Koopa King had the thought of ditching Mario at Evershade Valley and rescuing Luigi by himself.

It was a miracle when the Captain suggested them to take a break until they landed.

“Why the hell did I agree to this?” Bowser muttered to himself as he rubbed his face with his hands. He loved Luigi, he really did, but his brother was a real pain in the ass to work with.

He almost wished that King Boo kidnapped Mario and Peach instead. At least with that, Bowser would’ve been able to assist Luigi with one of his haunted adventures. Plus, never letting Mario live down the fact that he helped Luigi save him and Peach was also a nice additional bonus.

“Why didn’t you bring Luigi with you?”

Bowser immediately stood up at the sound of an unexpected voice while quickly getting his fire breath ready to burn the intruder. The Koopa King paused and started to put out his fire breath when he saw that the intruder was just Mario, but it didn’t stop his anger from rising as he gave Mario a death glare.

“Don’t fucking sneak up on me like that,” Bowser growled while running a hand through his hair. He sat down on the edge of the bed as he forced himself to take a few mental deep breaths. “What the hell are you even doing here, anyway?” 

“I’ve been thinking about our conversation at the castle when I realized something,” Mario answered. When it was clear that Bowser wasn’t going to burn him to a crisp, Mario decided to enter the room and sat himself down onto a nearby chair next to a desk. “This situation likely could’ve been avoided if Luigi came along with you to visit me and Peach, so I want to know why Luigi stayed behind to watch over the Dark Lands.”

“I thought you wrote the letter,” Bowser explained with a hint of annoyance. “And considering our current relationship, I didn’t exactly take the time to think about the logic of the letter.”

“But Luigi is still my brother,” Mario informed. “And even if Peach and I wanted to meet with you in private, it doesn’t mean that Luigi can’t come with you to spend some quality time with me afterwards.”

“Luigi chose to stay behind and watch over the Dark Lands,” Bowser confessed. It wasn’t a complete lie. Luigi did make the decision to stay behind after their huge fight, but Mario didn’t need to know the factors that impacted his brother’s choice. “And besides, even if he wanted to visit you and Peach, I would’ve made him stay behind because I didn’t want to do anything that would make you hate me more than you already do.”

It was quiet as Mario tried to think of a proper response, which was a huge relief to the Koopa King. Stars, this entire conversation was really getting on Bowser’s last nerves. He despised how Mario was insinuating that this entire adventure was his fault. Although, thinking back about the decision, it probably wasn’t the best idea to leave Luigi alone to watch over a kingdom who still thought of him as an enemy, but how the hell was the Koopa King supposed to know that King Boo escaped?! Plus, it certainly didn’t help that the red king wasn’t even giving him the benefit of the doubt. Bowser loved Luigi more than anything else in the world, dammit, and Mario was acting like the vows he made to Luigi on their wedding day didn’t mean anything!

But what Mario said next completely blew Bowser away.

“I don’t hate you, Bowser.” 

Now up to this point, Bowser made a goal to keep his anger in check, even though every part of his body wanted to start any ridiculous argument with the red king. It wasn’t because Mario was sensitive or emotional, but it was more because both of them wanted to save Luigi from King Boo’s clutches and they knew the best chance they had in achieving that goal was by actually working together instead of arguing every five minutes.

But for Mario to act like their rivalry was all in Bowser’s head?

That was the final straw for Bowser.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Bowser deadpanned.

“I’m not-,”

“Bullshit!” Bowser shouted as he shot up from the bed. “Since the day Luigi and I revealed our relationship to you, you have never given us your fucking approval! Hell, even Peach accepted the fact that Luigi and I are in love, which is really saying something considering the fact that I have put her and her kingdom through hell and back since she and I became the official rulers of our kingdoms! Just face it Mario: you always have and you always will hate me for dating Luigi.”

“Oh, don’t even try to act like you’re the victim in all of this!” Mario screamed as he shot up from the chair. “You have been nothing but selfish and egotistical since the day Luigi and I came to the Mushroom Kingdom, but now you expect me to let go of the past and accept the fact that my baby brother is with someone like you?! I knew people like you back in the real world and I know that it will only be a matter of time until you break my little brother’s heart and trust and go back to your old ways!”

“If I wanted to go back to my old ways, I clearly would’ve done that by now,” Bowser admitted. “I have been a changed Koopa for almost 18 months now and the fact that you still can’t see that proves that you’re the one who hasn’t changed.”

If the Captain hadn’t interrupted their argument at that exact moment, Bowser knew Mario would’ve instantly instigated a full-on brawl. He was sort of thankful for the intrusion, but at the same time, he would’ve loved to finish Mario off once and for all.

“Your Majesties, I’m here to inform you that we’ve just landed,” the Captain announced. Neither Mario nor Bowser could tell if the Captain was too stupid to realize that they were arguing just seconds ago or was only pretending that their full-on screaming and yelling didn’t faze him.

Whichever it was, Bowser didn’t care. He just wanted to get as far away from Mario as quickly as possible.

“Good,” Bowser grumbled. “I’m fucking done with this conversation anyway.”

Bowser didn’t wait to hear Mario or the Captain’s response, or even acknowledge them, as he exited the quarters. The only thing he could think about was the future lengths he would go through to make sure he would never have to team up with that aggravating, big-nosed, pipsqueak king again.

Chapter Text

When Mario exited the airship after his and Bowser’s fight, the first thing he noticed was the lack of…well, anyone, waiting to greet him outside of the airship. Now yes, the red king knew E. Gadd well enough to know that the professor had a tendency to ignore all of his surroundings when working on an invention, so it logically made sense that he and Bowser would need to be directly in front of E. Gadd for him to realize that the two kings were visiting.

But Mario had met the Evershade ghosts after the Dark Moon adventure and he knew the curious, yet mischievous, minds they had. The fact that they didn’t even come outside to investigate the commotion was a little unsettling to the red king.

That is, until he noticed the terrible state of the laboratory doors and the important detail that the doors were also completely wide open.

It was as if someone broke into the laboratory.

And considering that Bowser was nowhere in sight, the red king was quickly able to put two and two together.

Mario couldn’t help but let out a sigh of frustration as he walked to the entrance of the laboratory. He loved Luigi to death, he really did, but he never understood what his twin saw in that short-tempered and self-centered Koopa.

“Mamma mia Bowser, has it ever occurred to you to just simply knock?” Mario scolded while stepping foot into the laboratory. “You can’t just barged into a building…”

But the red king’s words quickly died out on his lips as soon as he saw the actual condition of the laboratory.

It was as if a tornado went through the entire laboratory. Monitors, testing equipments, inventions, every single piece of electronic was damaged beyond repair to the point where Mario honestly wouldn’t have recognized that the room was supposed to be a laboratory if the Dark Moon incident hadn’t happened.

This was alarming to the Mushroom King. He knew how furious Bowser was after the Captain interrupted their argument, but he was also very familiar with the Koopa King’s methods of destruction and could tell that Bowser didn’t destroy the laboratory.

This was someone else’s work.

But if that was the case, then where was E. Gadd?

“Professor?” Mario called out with a concerned and worried tone. “Bowser?”

Upon inspecting the laboratory, Mario noticed a hallway on the right side of the room as well as two closed-off rooms on the other side of the laboratory. While his mind was urging him to inspect one of the closed-off rooms first, Mario went with his gut and decided to first investigate the hallway. As soon as he stepped foot into the hallway, the red king couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief when he saw Bowser looking into one of the rooms at the end of the hallway.

“There you are,” Mario sighed while walking towards the Koopa King. “What were you thinking to barge into the laboratory like that?”

Bowser didn’t speak. Hell, he didn’t even turn to acknowledge that he heard Mario’s question. Whatever was inside that room had all of Bowser’s attention.

But Mario was too busy ranting to realize that his question was met with silence.

“I mean, what part of you thought it was a good idea to break down the professor’s doors?!” Mario interrogated with an angry tone. He stopped short behind Bowser when he was close enough to the Koopa King before he started pacing back and forth. “Do you have any idea how rude and disrespectful it was to break into E. Gadd’s laboratory like that?! You’re lucky that this isn’t the Mushroom Kingdom because Toadsworth would’ve given you such a long and ear-aching scolding that would make me look like a saint.”

Mario could’ve sworn that five minutes passed before the Koopa King finally decided to talk.

But what the red king didn’t expect was for Bowser to speak with such a croaky and quiet voice.

“Breaking into the professor’s laboratory is the least of his worries,” Bowser choked out.

Now that statement actually scared Mario. He didn’t know what prompted Bowser to make that specific comment, but there was one thing Mario could tell with absolute certainty.

Something was terribly wrong.

“What do you mean…?” Mario hesitated.

Bowser didn’t respond. Instead he moved out of the way in order for Mario to see the inside of the room.

But what Mario saw made him pale.

If a tornado had gone through the laboratory, then a devastating hurricane must’ve caused the demise of this room. Not only was every single piece of technology destroyed to the point of irreparable damage, but other objects shared the same fate as well. Cabinets, scientific equipment, whoever caused this destruction made absolutely sure that no stone was left unturned.

But Mario ignored the state of the room.

Because in the center of the room was Professor E. Gadd with a knife in his head.

“O-Oh S-Stars,” Mario stammered while clutching his stomach. He was going to throw up. Never in his life had he seen anything like this and the fact that someone was willing to kill E. Gadd, a kind, intelligent, and a little crazy at times man, made Mario absolutely sick to his stomach.

No, it wasn’t just someone. He knew exactly who was responsible for this. And judging that Bowser saw E. Gadd’s body before him, Mario had a pretty good feeling Bowser knew who the culprit was too.

“He killed him,” Bowser growled as he started to tightly clench his fists. Mario quickly noticed blood dripping out of Bowser’s palms from clenching too hard, but the Koopa King paid no attention to the self-inflecting injury as he kept his eyes glued on E. Gadd’s body. “That old professor was our best chance in saving Luigi and my kingdom and King Boo had the NERVE to murder him?! Forget formalities. I am going to make that bastard regret ever escaping from that canister.”

For once in his life, Mario couldn’t help but agree with him. It was one thing for King Boo to kidnap Luigi and conquer the Dark Lands, but to have the capability of killing an innocent bystander and for what? Just because Luigi defeated him at The Last Resort?

No, this wasn’t just about the hotel anymore. For years, King Boo had an ultimate goal of conquering the Mushroom Kingdom, but every time he made an attempt to put his plan into action, Luigi and E. Gadd were always there to stop him. Since the day Luigi rescued him in Boo Woods, Mario knew that his brother and the professor would need to be completely out for the picture for King Boo to achieve his life-long goal, but he never actually expected the ghost king to go through with it.

It was scary to see this new side of King Boo.

But it was nothing compared to the horror Mario instantly felt as he remembered that Luigi was still King Boo’s prisoner.

“Wait, what’s in there?”

Mario was brought out of his thoughts when he felt Bowser’s hand on his shoulder. He noticed that the Koopa King was using his free hand to point at something and was surprised to see an undamaged cabinet on the other side of the room. While he was hesitant to walk over the broken monitors and destroyed testing equipment, especially since the professor’s body was between them and the cabinet, Mario forced himself to take a few deep breaths before slowly and carefully making his way to the cabinet.

Minutes ticked by, but the red king was able to eventually make it to the cabinet. He was reluctant to open the cabinet, for fear that something was going to pop out and injure or kill him, but as he started to think about his brother’s now uncertain fate, Mario quickly pushed the fear down and opened the cabinet doors.

What he saw made him gasp.

Because inside the cabinet was the Poltergust 3000 in perfect condition.

King Boo must have not known a Poltergust was in here.

Mario carefully took the Poltergust 3000 out of the cabinet and strapped it on himself before facing Bowser. Even though the Koopa King’s face was unreadable, it was clear to see the thoughts that were running through Bowser’s head.

Because Mario was also thinking about the exact same thing.

“It’s obvious that we don’t like each other,” Mario admitted.

“That’s one thing we can agree on,” Bowser affirmed without hesitation.

“But, we can also agree that we both want to save Luigi,” Mario added as he started walking back to Bowser. “And in order to do that, we need to set aside our differences and take King Boo down as a team. It’s not going to be easy for either of us, but can we agree to call a truce until we rescue Luigi?”

Bowser was conflicted. He hated the idea of working with the red king, but what other choice did he have? Both Luigi and the Dark Lands were in dire trouble and as much as the Koopa King didn’t want to admit it, he wouldn’t stand much of a chance against King Boo if he fought him by himself.

He had to team up with Mario.

“I’m willing to call it truce on the condition that you agree to call it truce as well,” Bowser answered before grudgingly holding out his hand as a sign to officially show his peace.

Mario stared at Bowser’s hand for only a few seconds before giving him a firm handshake.

“I am,” Mario announce while staring at Bowser.

“Good,” Bowser responded. He let go of Mario’s hand before cracking his knuckles with a wide and devilish grin. “Then let’s kick that little marshmallow’s ass.”

As Mario and Bowser exited the laboratory, they quickly made a mad dash to the airship in order to not waste anymore time in saving Luigi and the Dark Lands.

But if they had taken even one second to notice their surroundings, they would’ve been able to see the Mushroom Kingdom in the far-off distance.

As well as the smoke that was engulfing the castle.

Chapter Text

5 hours later…

No words could express the relief Mario felt as he stepped foot into the guest quarters Bowser allowed him to stay in during their travels and collapsed onto the bed. Since the minute the airship left Evershade Valley, he and Bowser have discussed new strategies in saving Luigi and defeating King Boo once and for all. The ultimate plan they both agreed on was that one of them was going to need to learn how to use the Poltergust 3000 before stepping foot anywhere near the castle. While neither of them have ever used the vacuum cleaner before, Mario volunteered to wield the Poltergust because he had at least some experience in seeing it being used in action (from watching Luigi battling King Boo). At first, Bowser was reluctant with this idea, but it didn’t take him long to cave in when he realized that the vacuum cleaner couldn’t properly rest on his back due to his shell.

And so for the next 4 and a half hours, and with the help of a few willing Shy Guys, Mario became familiar with the Poltergust’s mechanics while the airship set a course to the Dark Lands. Now don’t get Mario wrong, while he was entirely grateful that some Shy Guys were willing to help him practice using the Poltergust, he couldn’t help but worry that his practice would end up being all for naught because he knew deep down that vacuuming up ghosts and Boos were going to be much different than vacuuming up a living creature.

It didn’t take him long to start thinking about his brother as he wondered how Luigi became a Poltergust wielding master in one single night.

Luigi…

Mario wiped the newly formed tears away off his eyes as he stared at the ceiling with fear and anxiety. Since the day he met him back in Isle Delfino, Mario had never thought of King Boo as someone who was capable of killing anyone, but after seeing E. Gadd’s dead body, the red king was forced to change his entire viewpoint of the ghost king. So many things were now not so off of the table and it terrified Mario to no end that his twin, someone he vowed to protect and keep safe since they came to the Mushroom Kingdom, was now in the hands of a murderer.

Or maybe King Boo already killed Luigi and was now just waiting patiently for him and Bowser to return to the Dark Lands in hopes of killing them too.

Mario desperately hoped that wasn’t the case.

“Hey.”

Startled by the sudden voice, Mario instantly shot up from the bed while quickly conjuring up his Firebrand. He soon realized that the unexpected visitor was only Bowser, so the red king let out a sigh of relief before remembering to put out his Firebrand.

“Hey now, don’t go shooting out fireballs in a wooden airship,” Bowser warned, but with the jokingly tone in his voice, Mario could tell that the Koopa King didn’t intentionally mean to scare him. “The Captain informed me that we’ll be landing shortly and since that we are now officially working together, I figured that I should let you know too.”

“Thank you,” Mario responded as he sat down on the bed. “Are we going to land at the runway next to your castle?”

“As much as I really want to, the Captain and I decided that it’s not a good idea for us to land there,” Bowser answered as he leaned back against the wall as far as his shell would allow him. “There’s another runway about 5 to 10 miles from the castle, so we’ll land at that runway instead. The walk to the castle will really suck, what with the pouring rain and all, but given that everyone in the castle is likely on his side, I rather have the element of surprise.”

Mario nodded as he faced the window to watch the pouring rain. While it logically made so much more sense for them a good distance away from the castle, Mario was not thrilled with the idea of carrying the Poltergust for 5 miles, especially in the middle of a heavy storm. Maybe he could convince Bowser to take turns carrying the vacuum or ask the Shy Guys to drop them off closer to the castle before landing the airship-

“I’m sorry.”

Wait, hold on a minute.

Did Bowser, his longtime arch-nemesis, just apologized?

No, that was just ridiculous. Surely, the red king must have imagined it…

But when Mario looked at Bowser, the one very important critical detail he discovered was that Bowser’s eyes were locked onto him.

 Bowser had never done anything like this before, even back when he kidnapped Peach every week.

Which could only mean that the Koopa King was being sincere.

“What for…?” Mario hesitantly questioned.

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Mario became familiar with Bowser’s small tells ever since Luigi and Bowser revealed their relationship to him and Peach. From the tiny twitch in the Koopa King’s eye down to the slight tapping of his toes, these little signs gave Mario a better idea of how Bowser was feeling at that particular moment and the possible thoughts that were running through the Koopa King’s head. So naturally, when Mario noticed that the tension in Bowser’s shoulders and the very slight shake in his posture, he realized that this wasn’t the same arrogant and self-centered Koopa he had grown to despise with every bone in his body.

No, the Koopa King standing in front of him was nervous.

King Bowser Koopa was not the type to be afraid of anything.

“For this…,” Bowser answered as he gestured at the entire room. “If I had brought Luigi along with me or took 5 seconds to think about the actual logic of the letter, then none of us would be in this mess.”

Mario could only silently watch with concern as Bowser started to run a hand through his hair while pacing back and forth.

“I mean, I am a king for Grambi’s sake!” Bowser raged, but Mario could hear a faint quaver in his voice. “I am supposed to put my husband and my people first, but because I was so focused on getting your stupid blessing, I basically gave away everything I care about to a fucking lunatic!”

Mario was utterly speechless as he stared at Bowser. Since the day he first met him, he never expected to see the Koopa King act anything remotely close to this. Remorseful, regretful, guilt-ridden, it was such a bizarre thing for the Mushroom King to witness and he had absolutely no idea what to do.

So it was a complete surprise to Mario when he impulsively decided to reassure Bowser.

“Luigi made the decision to stay behind,” Mario consoled as he continued to watch Bowser. “Plus, I read the letter King Boo sent to you back at the Mushroom Kingdom and it was terrifying to see just how well he impersonated me. Neither you nor Luigi could have predicted any of this and I don’t blame you for where we are now.”

Mario slightly flinched when Bowser instantly stopped dead in his tracks and stared at him like he grew a second head. 

And his worry only grew when Bowser soon started to laugh.

“You’re wrong,” Bowser insisted with a smile of disbelief. He started shaking his head as very small tears started to form in his eyes. “If you knew the choices I made to get where we are today, you would be blaming me for all of this.”

Knew the choices he made? That actually scared Mario. When Bowser put it like that, he made it sound like he went back to his old ways. But there was no way the Koopa King would do that, especially after all the “lectures” Mario gave him since the day the Koopa changed his life forever.

Would he?

Mario was very hesitant, but he had to know.

“What did you do?”

It felt like hours before Bowser finally answered his question, but that wasn’t what got Mario’s attention. It was the fact that the Koopa King completely froze, in what seemed like fear, as soon as he heard Mario’s question.

That detail really peaked the red king’s interest.

Because it could only mean that Bowser knew something that he clearly didn’t.

The question was what did the Koopa King know.

“You don’t want to know,” Bowser responded as if he could read Mario’s exact thoughts.

Now that answer made Mario’s heart deflate. Okay, yes, he knew Bowser well enough to know that he was not one to give him the answers he wanted that easily, but this whole topic has turned into something much bigger than either of them. The Dark Lands and Luigi were already in dire danger, but if King Boo was planning to take over his kingdom and maybe even the rest of the world, then Mario had at least the right to know the events that led up to this moment.

“Bowser-,”

“No!” Bowser snapped as he smacked the desk chair across the room, an unexpected action that made Mario flinch. “If I tell you what really happened, the little trust you have for me will be completely destroyed and I am not going to put Luigi through that. He has already been through so much ever since we became a couple, but it will break my heart seeing him feel like he has to ultimately choose between his only living relative and the Koopa he married for love.

Mario was completely conflicted as he listened to the raindrops hitting the window as well as thunder roaring in the far-off distance. On the one hand, he desperately wanted to press Bowser for more information, but this entire situation was now like a minefield and he knew that taking the wrong step would lead to another huge fight.

The red king didn’t want to risk that, especially when they were one step closer to rescuing Luigi. He needed to trend this conversation very carefully if he wanted the answer to his ultimate question.

“Did you go back to your old ways?” Mario quietly asked.

It was eerily silent for a few minutes before Bowser spoke.

“No.”

Okay, this was definitely a good start. Now granted, Mario still had no idea what happened that led them to this precise moment, but at least he now had a better idea of the actions he needed to do in order to successfully cross the minefield.

“Did you join secretly forces with King Boo?” Mario interrogated.

This time, Bowser answered without hesitation.

“No.”

Okay, so that was really reassuring to know. Bowser wasn’t just teaming up with him in order to gain in trust only to have that trust ripped out of him at the last possible second. 

But that still didn’t explain why Bowser was still acting hesitant and afraid.

It was almost as if the Koopa King did something so terrible and bad that he didn’t want anyone to know.

That was when something to click in Mario's head.

“Is Luigi in trouble because of you?”

That was the exact moment when the Captain knocked on the door, an action that caused Bowser to turn away from Mario before he could have a chance to see the Koopa King’s reaction.

“Your Majesties, I’m here to inform you that we’ve just landed.”

Chapter Text

3 hours later…

“There it is!”

When Mario’s voice brought him out of his thoughts, relief and encouragement were just a few of the different emotions Bowser felt as he looked up from the ground and saw the castle’s front doors in the not so-far-off distance. With the pouring rain and a walk that took much longer than either of them anticipated, the two kings were soaking wet, exhausted, and just mentally done with everything that didn’t have to do with their ultimate goal.

So naturally, when they realized that their destination was now within arm’s reach, that brought both Mario and Bowser an enormous amount of comfort and reassurance.

Luigi, sweet, innocent, and pure-hearted Luigi, was somewhere inside the castle, waiting for someone to save him from his terrible nightmare.

And the only thing that stood between his freedom and his two strong-willed heroes was King Boo.

Bowser inwardly swore to the Stars and Grambi that he was going to beat King Boo to a pulp for invading his kingdom and treating Luigi as one of his prized trophies.

But the thought of being Luigi’s dashing hero quickly vanished when one particular realization came to the Koopa King.

It’ll only be a matter of time until Mario finds out about the argument.

Now that thought actually made Bowser stop dead in his tracks with fear. He knew the lengths Mario was already going through in hopes of breaking off his relationship with Luigi, which Bowser found more frustrating than anything, but the thing that really terrified the Koopa King was revealing the choices he made in a desperate attempt to get Mario’s stupid blessing.

Or maybe Mario already connected the dots and Bowser just didn’t know it. Neither king spoke during their 3-hour walk to the castle, so it was entirely possible that the red king had already put two and two together.

And even if Mario still didn’t know about the fight, Bowser knew he wouldn’t be able to hide it from the red king forever. Mario and Luigi had one of, if not, the, strongest brotherly bonds in the entire galaxy, so the ultimate question was whether Luigi was going to be confident enough to bring up the argument or whether Mario would use his twin telepathy to figure out that something had upset his younger twin.

Either way, Bowser was not looking forward to that future conversation with Mario.

“So, how should we break into the castle?”

Bowser opened his eyes, not remembering when he closed them in the first place, and noticed that Mario was watching him with a curious expression. Afraid that Mario would be able to read his thoughts if he stared at him long enough, Bowser took his eyes off the red king to watch any outside activity around the castle.

“I think it’s safe to assume that King Boo has the castle crawling with ghosts and other minions who are loyal to him,” Bowser admitted with annoyance, a statement that made Mario silently nod in agreement. “And as much as I want to storm into the castle and Bowserize everything, our best plan is to sneak our way in without getting caught.”

“I’m okay with that strategy,” Mario remarked before turning to observe any outside activity with Bowser. “But, are there any secret entrances we can use in order to sneak into the castle without raising any alarms?”

Any response Bowser had to Mario’s question instantly died out on his lips when he noticed two Boos having a conversation in front of the castle’s doors. While he couldn’t hear the exchanged words between the Boos, the detail that intrigued Bowser was the weird gestures the smaller Boo was making.

It looked like…he was mimicking someone climbing up a wall…

That was the moment when a lightbulb went off in Bowser’s head.

“Do you remember that Fawful and Dark Star fiasco?” Bowser questioned without taking his eyes off of the two Boos. 

“I do,” Mario affirmed before turning to give Bowser his utmost attention.

“Well, not too long after we saved the world, I had the minions replace some of the outer castle’s walls with that weird soft dirt Peach had on her castle,” Bowser explained. “It just so happens that the soft walls will take us directly to mine and Luigi’s room, not to mention that my back is still loose enough for me to use my Spike Ball ability.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Mario beamed as he thought back to that adventure. He remembered the frustration he and Luigi felt as they tried to find a way to sneak into Peach’s Castle after Fawful took over, so it really was convenient that Bowser learned from that adventure and created an easier way for them to get into the castle.

Hopefully, the Boos and King Boo weren’t smart enough to realize that the oddly weird patches of soft dirt could be used as a secret entrance.

But that was when Mario noticed one fatal flaw in Bowser’s plan. 

“Wait, how am I supposed to get up there?”

Shit, Bowser knew he was forgetting something.

The Koopa King forced himself to take a few deep breaths as he thought about each of his now-limited options. He couldn’t fit both Mario and the Poltergust inside the Spike Ball with him and considering that the master bedroom was on one of the highest floors in the entire castle, Bowser was confident that there would need to be a miracle in order for Mario to reach the balcony with his jumping abilities.

There just had to be another way to get Mario to the balcony without alerting the Boos or King Boo.

But what?

That was when Bowser noticed that the smaller Boo from before was flying to a nearby window.

At the same time, that was also when Bowser knew exactly what to do.

“I have a way to get you up to the balcony,” Bowser answered with a smirk. “But you are going to hate it…”

Mario made a mental note to have a long talk with Luigi after this adventure was over.

Now to be fair, the red king was genuinely open to hearing out Bowser’s idea in getting him up the master bedroom balcony. Bouldering up the castle with the outer walls, getting creative with his jumping abilities, or even using a different entrance altogether, these were just a few ideas Mario thought Bowser had in getting him to the balcony. 

But the last thing Mario expected was for Bowser to throw him like a football.

At least Bowser’s aim was on point, all things considered. Mario was able to successfully land onto the balcony with no injuries or issues at all, but because they have officially agreed to put their differences aside less than 12 hours ago, the red king couldn’t help but wonder if it had crossed Bowser’s mind to ‘unintentionally’ miss his target as a petty way to get back at him.

Mario desperately hoped it didn’t.

“Pretty good aim, if I do say so myself.”

Mario couldn’t help but smile in a sarcastic manner as he turned around just in time to see Bowser unrolling himself from the Spike Ball.

“Considering that you threw me up here without any warning or even just a little heads up, I would agree with you,” Mario sarcastically remarked. “You are aware that I could’ve easily died from your little throw, right?”

“You could’ve, but you didn’t,” Bowser emphasized while handing Mario the Poltergust. “Besides, the thing you’re forgetting about is that we are on a time crunch and the longer we stand around and get nothing useful done, the more time King Boo has in deciding on whether he should keep Luigi alive or not.”

Almost every part of Mario wanted to disagree with Bowser and his statement. The red king wanted  to bring up the fact the King Boo kept him alive during the three haunted adventures or justify that King Boo’s ultimate wish was to have a Luigi painting.

But as much as he didn’t want to admit it, Mario also inwardly knew that Bowser had a really good point.

They couldn’t afford to waste any time.

Not with this new and unpredictable side of King Boo.

“Are you coming or what?”

As Bowser’s voice brought him back to reality, Mario quickly shook his head and noticed that Bowser was waiting for him near the bedroom entrance. With each second more precious than the last, Mario wasted no time in leaving the balcony.

But as soon as Mario stepped foot into the bedroom, he stopped dead in his tracks.

The bedroom was overwhelmingly enormous, easily at least twice the size of Mario and Peach’s room. There was a bed that could fit three Bowsers with plenty of extra space, a fireplace that had such an impeccable design that almost made Mario jealous with a green sofa nearby, a dresser not too far from a closed-off room that Mario suspected was the master bathroom, and a little writing desk and chair in one corner of the room. There was a Bowser-shaped lamp on the desk, but the thing that sparked Mario’s interest was the small unmarked green book that was also on the desk.

Because Mario himself had seen that green book before and knew that it was actually his brother’s diary.

It was such an unusual sight to see. For as long as Mario could remember, Luigi always preferred a small house because he never felt like he needed that much space to live in. Now on occasion, the younger twin spent some nights in his mansion in Boo Woods, but even after Mario moved into Peach’s Castle, Luigi always considered their small house outside of Toad Town his home, so for Mario to visually imagine Luigi living in a bedroom this large, much less an entire castle, made him open up his eyes for the very first time since the green king revealed his relationship with Bowser.

Luigi, his baby twin brother, was all grown up.

“Will you stop gawking at the room and focus on the damn task at hand?”

Mario was instantly brought out of his thoughts when he felt someone roughly shaking him. While he was annoyed at the sudden intrusion, he was grateful with the amount of patience Bowser had for him within the past 15 minutes.

“Sorry,” Mario apologized while he looked around the room one last time. “It’s just…so difficult to imagine Luigi living in such a enormous place like this.”

“I get what you mean,” Bowser admitted as he let go of Mario’s shoulders. He started to make his way to the bedroom entrance as he looked at the little things throughout the room. “It was…difficult for Luigi too…”

Now that confession actually made Mario’s eyes widen. It wasn’t because of what Bowser specifically said, but it was because this was the very first time he was hearing about this.

Luigi had a difficult time living here with Bowser?

“What happened…?” Mario hesitantly asked.

Bowser took a deep breath before giving Mario his utmost attention.

“The night we came back from our honeymoon, Luigi had a panic attack,” Bowser confessed. “He kept freaking out about how he was going from a normal citizen to a full-on royal and was terrified that none of the Dark Lands’ citizens were going to accept him as their new king. It was so, so gut-wrenching for me to see him like that, so I took him to a guest room down the hall and told him that we were going to sleep in that room until he felt comfortable enough to sleep back here.”

Bowser closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths and opened them once he felt calm enough to continue speaking.

“We slept in that guest room for two weeks before he started to feel okay enough to sleep back in here,” Bowser explained as he stared straight at Mario. “But if you want my honest opinion, if he wanted to sleep in that guest room for two days or two years, I would’ve been perfectly fine with it because Luigi’s happiness is the only thing that mattered, and still matters, to me.”

To say that Mario was shocked after hearing Bowser’s story was a complete understatement. From the moment Luigi and Bowser revealed their relationship to him and Peach, Mario had always assumed that Bowser was only pursuing a relationship with his brother for his own selfish reasons, but to hear that Bowser chose to put Luigi’s needs above anything else, even his own comfort, that started to make Mario rethink his entire opinion of the Koopa King.

Maybe Bowser really was a changed Koopa.

“You must really care about Luigi,” Mario whispered just loud enough for Bowser to hear.

“I do,” Bowser affirmed without a moment’s hesitation. “I would do anything for him.”

It was quiet between the two kings, but the silence was soon broken when Bowser opened the bedroom door a few seconds later.

“Plus, if you found out that Luigi was upset under my care, then you would’ve traveled all the way over here to give me one hell of a time,” Bowser jokingly added. “And believe me, after everything he and I have been through, the last thing we needed was another one of your annoying ‘big brother’ lectures.”

Chapter Text

When Jerry told the three royals that King Boo took over the Dark Lands, Bowser knew right then and there that he was not going to come back to the same castle he knew and ruled over. He remembered the…peculiar changes Smithy and Fawful made when they each took over his kingdom and had mentally prepared himself to see his all-mighty and powerful castle transform into a new headquarters for Boos and other ghosts alike.

However, as soon as he and Mario left the master bedroom, Bowser felt…uneasy. It was difficult for him to explain it, especially since he never had this feeling during the Smithy Gang and the Dark Star adventures, but something, just something, was causing dozens of different alarms to ring in his head.

But what on Earth could cause him to feel this way?

“Where do you think King Boo is keeping Luigi?”

When he heard Mario’s voice, Bowser was brought out of his thoughts and watched the red king inspect one of the hallways with the flashlight in his hand. The Koopa King was absolutely amazed with the working functionality of the Poltergust 3000, despite the fact that it had been drenched in the rain for 3 straight hours. He needed to remember to ask Luigi if all of the different models of the Poltergust were waterproof after this adventure was over.

“I’m not sure,” Bowser admitted as he scratched the back of his head. Like Mario, he glanced down the two hallways for any sign of life or movement and was relieved to find that he and Mario were the only beings in the hallway. “I would think that both Luigi and King Boo are in the throne room, but considering how unpredictable King Boo has been, they could honestly be anywhere.”

“How far are we from the throne room?” Mario asked while shining the flashlight down the hallway behind him. While there were still no minions or Boos in sight, he refused to let his guard down as he knew that Boos can easily turn themselves invisible and watch them without him or Bowser knowing.

“It’s about a 15-minute walk, but the challenge is that there aren’t any secret passageways that can take us closer to the throne room,” Bowser explained. “So that means that we need to be out in the open and use the main hallways and stairwells to actually get to the throne room.”

Mario couldn’t help but let out a sigh of worry and frustration after hearing that statement. He hated the idea, he really did, but what other choice did they have? They couldn’t just turn back and find another way to sneak into the castle, especially when Luigi’s life was hanging in the balance now more than ever.  

This idea was their only viable option.

Mario inwardly prayed to Grambi that he and Bowser wouldn’t run into anyone on their way to the throne room.

“If you give me directions to the throne room, I can lead the way,” Mario finally stated before facing Bowser.

Now at first, Bowser wanted to argue that he should lead the way to the throne room, but as he thought about it more, he realized that Mario was the better person to lead the way. Mario was the one carrying the Poltergust, not Bowser, and since the red king was also the one who practiced using the vacuum cleaner back at the airship, he would be able to quickly defeat any Boos who crossed paths with them before they could have the chance to warn King Boo.

“Fine…,” Bowser grumbled before pointing at the hallway behind Mario. “You’ll first want to go down this hallway…”

15 minutes later…  

To say that Mario was excited upon seeing two enormous red doors with a carving of Bowser’s face was such an understatement. Aside from a few surprising encounters with some unsuspecting Boos (whom Mario quickly defeated with the Poltergust), the 15-minute walk to the throne room. had been rather uneventful to the red king, so for him to finally see the two enormous red doors was such a reassuring sight for him.

Luigi, his little twin brother, was on the other side of those doors.

And the one thing that stood in between the two brothers was King Boo.

Mario couldn’t wait to end the ghost king’s reign of terror once and for all.

But unlike the red king, Bowser could only stare at the red doors with absolute dread as an enormous pit started to form in his stomach.

During his and Mario’s walk to the throne room, a unusual detail Bowser noticed was the lack of beings, living or dead, bringing life to the castle. There weren’t any Boos flying around the hallways or any minions at their usual post.

Come to think of it, if it weren’t for the few Boos they did capture, Bowser would’ve honestly thought that he and Mario were the only beings in the entire castle.

That should’ve made sense to the Koopa King though. It would be completely idiotic for the Boos to pop out and try to attack them when they had the ability to spy on them without either one of the kings’ knowledge. Plus, Bowser had long ago explicitly told the minions that he would kill them if they ever swore their loyalty to anyone else other than him and Luigi.

But despite all of the possible logical reasons in the world, they were all pushed to the side with absolute ease as his gut repeated the same one crucial thought over and over again.

Do not enter the throne room.

And as much as he hated Mario and wanted nothing more than for him to get his comeuppances, Bowser knew he needed to warn him. 

“Mario, wait.”

Upon hearing Bowser’s voice, Mario stopped in his tracks and turned back around in order to face the Koopa King. He was confused at Bowser’s unexpected decision in stopping him, but he was truly willing to listen to what the Koopa King wanted to say.

“What’s wrong?” Mario asked as he took a few steps towards Bowser.

Deja vu suddenly struck Bowser as he stared at Mario and swore for a brief moment that he was looking at himself from earlier this morning.

Stars, he had never felt so hesitant in all of his life.

But he also knew he couldn’t just turn a blind eye and ignore the pounding feeling of dread his gut was telling him. Not if it could be the difference between life and death for them.

For all of them.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Bowser finally confessed.

Neither king spoke for what felt like hours. In fact, the hallway they were currently in was filled with nothing but absolute silence as the two kings processed Bowser’s words.

But it didn’t last long when Mario spoke with an accusatory tone.

“What are you saying…?” Mario inquired as a crease started to form between his eyebrows.

Bowser took a breath before running a hand through his hair.

“I’m saying that it’s not a good idea for us to open those doors,” Bowser hesitantly explained. So much of him was reluctant to continue on, but he pushed that feeling down as he kept his eyes glued onto Mario. “This is going to sound really crazy, but ever since we left the master bedroom, I’ve been having this really uneasy feeling for some unknown reason. At first, I thought it was just me being paranoid about confronting King Boo, but as we’re standing in front of the throne room doors right now, the feeling has only gotten worse and I’m pretty sure the throne room has everything to do with it.”

“But Luigi and King Boo are in there,” Mario argued as he used the flashlight to point at the huge red doors.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Bowser explained. “The throne room is only one out of hundreds of rooms-,”

 “So what do you suggest we do then?” Mario interrupted with a scoff. He couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, but Bowser knew it was a laugh of disbelief and not a comedic laugh. “Do you want to search through every single room in the castle until Lady Luck decides to join our side? Or how about we make as much noise as possible for a Boo to realize we’re infiltrating the castle and have them take us directly to King Boo?! Or better yet, maybe we should just forget about this entire adventure and let King Boo kill Luigi and take over the rest of the world!”

“Mario-,”

“No, don’t even try to talk me out of this, Bowser!” Mario shouted. By now, if there were any Boos or other minions nearby, they would be able to hear the two kings arguing, but both Mario and Bowser were too focused on their discussion to notice or care. “Throughout this entire adventure, you wanted to rescue Luigi just as much as I did, but right when we’re about to actually confront King Boo, you suddenly have cold feet and want to back out?! Why?! You have never once stopped to think twice about anything, so why are you choosing this moment to be so damn stubborn and reluctant to enter that throne room?!”

Bowser was utterly torn. Every part of him wanted to agree with Mario and follow his lead. Bowser wanted to storm into the throne room, he wanted to defeat King Boo once and for all, and he desperately wanted to save Luigi just as much as Mario did.

But less than 24 hours ago, his determination in getting the red king’s blessing gave King Boo the perfect opportunity to capture Luigi and invade his kingdom.

He didn’t want to risk repeating history. Not again.

But he never got the chance to explain his reasoning because that was when the two kings heard a scream.

A scream that instantly sent chills down their spines.

“LUIGI!” 

It was all coming together.

After luring Bowser out of his castle and trapping Luigi in a painting after who-knows how-many frustrating attempts, King Boo’s plan was finally coming together.

He didn’t have to turn around to know who kicked the throne room doors open. Heck, watching Luigi smile for the first time since his imprisonment by itself brought a smirk to King Boo’s face because it confirmed the one detail he had been waiting for since he took over the Dark Lands.

Mario and Bowser were finally here.

 And he couldn’t wait for the sweet and savory taste of his long-awaited victory.

“My, my, my, isn’t this an interesting turn of events?” King Boo taunted. While he kept his attention and focus on Luigi, he could feel the penetrating stares on his back from Mario and Bowser as they refused to take their eyes off of him. “Who would’ve thought that the big bad Koopa King would swallow his pride and team up with the Mushroom Kingdom’s goody two-shoes hero in hopes of saving his cowardly husband and his weak-minded kingdom?”

No one uttered a sound. Luigi was far too focused on staring at his brother and husband to even listen to King Boo and Mario and Bowser were fighting the overwhelming urge to tear the ghost king apart right then and there.

“You know, I’m actually quite surprised that you two were able to make it this far without ripping each other’s heads off,” King Boo admitted when he noticed that no one was going to answer his question. “I knew how important Luigi was to both of you, but it’s just fascinating how you two were willing to put your little rivalry aside when all of this could’ve been avoided in the first place.”

Now that comment made Bowser fuming with rage as smoke started to come out of his nostrils. He already felt guilty enough for indirectly getting Luigi kidnapped in the first place, but for King Boo to actively taunt him for the choices he made was enough for him to have the sudden urge to use his fire breath on King Boo at that moment.

A detail that Mario instantly noticed.

“Look King Boo,” Mario warned as he placed his arm out in front of Bowser. He didn’t have to look at Bowser to know that the Koopa King was giving him a confused and annoyed glare, but Mario ignored him as he kept his eyes glued onto King Boo. “We have the Poltergust 3000 in our possession and I know how to use it, so unless you want to get turned into a painting again, you will let Luigi go, give Bowser back his kingdom, and leave us all alone for good!”

It was quiet between the four kings, but it only lasted for a few seconds before King Boo let out a  maniacal laugh.

“Oh sweet, naive Mario,” King Boo chuckled before turning around and looking at the two kings. “It’s amazing how you think you and Bowser have the upper hand when you don’t seem to realize that you two aren’t even in any position to make a single demand.”

“And what the hell makes you think that?” Bowser questioned while raising an eyebrow.

“See for yourselves,” King Boo answered with a smirk as he gestured behind the two kings.

As Mario and Bowser turned around to figure out what the ghost king what talking about, King Boo kept his eyes on the two kings as they looked around the room in hopes of finding anything out of the ordinary.

But when Mario and Bowser looked above the throne room doors, that was when they saw it.

And that was the precise moment when all the blood instantly drained from their faces.

“PEACH!”

Chapter Text

For once in his life, fear prevented Bowser from uttering a sound as he stared at Peach’s painting for what felt like hours.

From her frozen terrified expression down to her bare arms, it was clear to the Koopa King that Peach didn’t expect King Boo to invade the Mushroom Kingdom. Why should she? King Boo was Luigi’s arch-nemesis, not hers, and considering that the ghost king already conquered the kingdom that Luigi ruled over, it wouldn’t have made much sense for him to take over Peach’s castle when they had only just met in person during that hotel adventure.

But King Boo did take over the Mushroom Kingdom.

And that scared Bowser.

Stars, he could only imagine the thoughts that were running through Mario’s head.

“You know, adding Peach to my collection wasn’t that difficult,” King Boo confessed as he finally broke the eerily silence. “I was a little worried that Peach would join you two on your so-call ‘rescue’ mission, but once I learned that you two left her alone with a defenseless kingdom, I had all my Boos and new subjects ambush the entire castle without anyone there to stop me.”

Bowser knew that statement struck one of Mario’s nerves when he saw the red king flinch from the corner of his eye. Personally, he was surprised when Mario first told him that Peach was staying behind because of Toadsworth. Okay, yea, Toadsworth was old and can be really cranky and annoying at times, but Peach’s safety was also the most important thing to him. Surely, it must’ve occurred to the old Toad at some point that Peach was better off coming along with the two kings who couldn’t agree on anything than to stay as far away from King Boo and the Dark Lands as humanly possible.

Then again, Bowser had met Toadsworth before and knew how stubborn he can be at times.

“You should’ve seen Peach’s face when she found out I was invading the Mushroom Kingdom,” King Boo laughed while staring at Peach’s painting. “She kept begging me to leave her and her kingdom alone, but once she realized that she was going to become a new addition to my collection, she cried out for you two to come save her. Of course, you two never showed up, so she just gave up on her ‘heroes’ and accepted her new fate with no resistance.”

Now that.

Bowser knew that particular statement made Mario’s blood run boil.

“You bastard!” Mario shouted as he turned around to face King Boo. Tears of anger started to well up in his eyes, but Mario refused to let them fall. He didn’t want to give King Boo the satisfaction of seeing him cry. “How dare you keep Peach and Luigi as your sick decorations when this has nothing to do with them?! You’re only doing all of this because of your sore defeat back at Isle Delfino!”

At this point, Bowser decided to turn around to look at King Boo, but it wasn’t because of the ghost king’s taunt or Mario’s outburst. No, the way that Peach was staring at him with her lifeless eyes was honestly creeping him out and he didn’t want to look at her any longer than he had to.

Although, King Boo’s death glare and Luigi’s nervous expression wasn’t very comforting to Bowser either.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Mario!” King Boo snapped. “Yes, I was sore after my defeat at Isle Delfino, but that was nothing compared to my defeat back at that mansion in Boo Woods! I had a perfect plan to conquer the world after all the trouble you caused me in the past, but your cowardly brother and that stupid professor had to ruin everything not once, but three times! But this time, I’ve learned from my past failures and mistakes. I made sure E. Gadd was dead long before I even sent that letter to the Dark Lands and I fully intend to make Luigi watch you and Bowser take your last breaths before I finish him off for good!”

Oh Stars.

Oh Stars, Bowser was going to be sick.

Sure, he had worked with King Boo on a few different occasions in the past, but never during their time working together had Bowser seen the ghost king so hellbent and determined on killing anything and everything that could potentially stop him from conquering the world.

He just couldn’t deny the truth any longer.

King Boo was insane.

No. King Boo was psychotic.

“Unless…,” King Boo pondered as he looked at Mario and Bowser. “You gentlemen want to make a little trade.”

A trade? Now this wasn’t what Bowser was expecting. Sure, he didn’t know what King Boo had in stored for him and Mario when they barged into the throne room, but the fact that the ghost king was willing to make a deal when he had both Peach and Luigi in his clutches seemed like a very idiotic tactic.

Unless…King Boo had another card up in his sleeve.

Bowser looked over to Mario and saw his confused and hesitant expression. He could tell that the red king was also surprised by King Boo’s sudden change of tactic.

“What kind of trade…?” Mario hesitantly asked as he stared at King Boo. Bowser noticed the way Mario was firmly clenching the Poltergust’s nozzle before he decided to face King Boo again.

“It’s really quite simple,” King Boo answered. “Relinquish your crown and your kingdom and I will free your spouse.”

Oh.

Oh.

That was the card he was going to play.

He didn’t want them to trade their lives for Luigi and Peach’s or risk battling against either of them when he already had the higher ground.

No, King Boo wanted to force Mario and Bowser to choose their significant other or the kingdom and people they vowed to put first.

“And if we refuse?” Bowser inquired. He despised the idea of having to choose between Luigi and his kingdom, so he inwardly prayed to the Stars and Grambi that King Boo would be a tiny bit open to ask for something, anything, besides the kingdom he worked so hard to shape into what it was today.

Whatever remaining confidence the Koopa King had instantly vanished when King Boo filled the throne room with a chuckle.

“Oh silly Bowser,” King Boo taunted as he shook his head with a smirk. “One way or another, I will become the king of both the Mushroom Kingdom and the Dark Lands. The question you and Mario should be asking yourselves is whether you want you and your spouse to live and see another day.”

Mario and Bowser exchanged a worried glance as they thought about their options. They couldn’t just surrender their kingdoms to King Boo when their citizens’ lives rested on their shoulders, but denying the ghost king’s offer would give him a perfectly justifiable reason to kill Luigi and Peach right in front of them.

They had no idea what to do. It was an impossible choice.

“Please don’t surrender the kingdoms for us,” Luigi whispered just loud enough for the three kings to hear. Mario, Bowser, and even King Boo looked at the green Italian as he kept his eyes glued onto Mario and Bowser with his hands pressed up against the painting glass wall. “We all made an oath to put our people first and accepting King Boo’s offer will put thousands of innocent lives at risk. I can’t let you do that for me and Peach, so please, don’t accept his offer.”

“But we can’t just let him kill you two,” Mario gently argued while staring at Luigi. The tears the red king desperately held in earlier were now trickling down his face, but he neither noticed nor cared anymore. The only thing that mattered to Mario was his conversation with his younger. twin. “You and Peach are the two most important people in my life and it will kill me if you two died because of a choice I made. I…I can’t lose either of you like that.”

King Boo screamed in frustration before Luigi could have a chance to talk again.

“Enough with the sappy reunion!” King Boo demanded as everyone’s attention quickly shifted to him. “My patience is wearing thin, so you two either make your decision right now or I will choose for you!”

But Bowser couldn’t decide. It was just so difficult for him to choose between his husband or his people.

His face must’ve shown how gut-wrenching this decision was for him because it wasn’t long before Luigi broke the silence.

“Don’t worry about me and Peach,” Luigi quietly reassured. While Bowser couldn’t visually see it, he could tell by the slight crack in his husband’s voice that Luigi was trying so desperately hard to not cry in front of him. It especially pained the Koopa King when he looked at Luigi and noticed the sad smile on his face. “I understand this is a tough choice for both of you to make, but we all know what has to be done. You two need to do what’s best for the citizens and what’s best for them is denying King Boo’s offer.”

As much as Bowser didn’t want to admit it, he knew that Luigi was speaking the cold-hard truth. He couldn’t afford risking his kingdom and his citizens for one person, even if that said person meant the entire galaxy to him. Hell, King Boo had even confessed that he will do whatever it took to become the permanent new king of the Dark Lands and Bowser would rather hand over his kingdom peacefully than start a destructive war that would certainly end in bloodshed.

But the two words were caught in Bowser’s throat. He just couldn’t accept the fact that he would be sealing Luigi’s fate if he agreed to King Boo’s trade.

“I accept your offer,” Mario announced while bringing Bowser out of his thoughts. Bowser, King Boo, and Luigi turned towards Mario as the red king was fighting the urge to burn the Poltergust’s nozzle with his Firebrand. “Just let Luigi and Peach go and I’ll give you my crown and my kingdom.”

King Boo was quiet, but it didn’t stop him from facing Luigi’s painting and giving it a gentle, yet very unsettling stroke, an action that sent a chill down both Luigi and Bowser’s spines. Grambi, what Bowser would give to attack King Boo at that moment, but the thing that frustrated him more than anything else was that he couldn’t do anything to stop him. Sure, he could launch a surprise attack on King Boo while his back was turned, but the problem was that Luigi was still in his possession and King Boo could easily used his husband’s painting as a shield to protect himself from any of his or Mario’s attacks.

So instead of attacking him, Bowser mentally forced himself to take a few deep breaths.

“I think you misheard me, my dear little Mario,” King Boo clarified as he kept stroking Luigi’s painting. “I said I would free your spouse if you relinquished your crown and your kingdom and freeing Luigi is purely Bowser’s decision, not yours.”

Bowser didn’t have to look at Mario to know that was when the red king instantly turned almost as pale as King Boo.

“But,” King Boo continued as he stopped stroking Luigi’s painting and faced Mario and Bowser. “Since you are still accepting my offer, I will release Peach from her painting. A deal is a deal, after all.”

Before the two kings could have a chance to react or respond, King Boo quickly started to shoot a laser at Peach’s painting with his crown. At first, Bowser wanted to yell at him for breaking his promise, but he quickly stopped himself when he realized that the ghost king was actually setting her free. It took some time for King Boo to completely set Peach free, but once she was, she started her slow descent to the throne room floor.

And as soon as her feet touched the ground, she noticed Mario and Bowser standing in the middle of the throne room and let out a quiet, but joyous gasp.

“Mario…,” Peach whispered as she quickly ran to her husband’s open arms. Other than her unkept hair and the tears and burnt marks on her dress, the Mushroom Queen seemed relatively unharmed.

And even though that observation was somewhat comforting to Bowser, the pounding feeling of nausea outweighed any other possible emotion he could think of because of one terrifying realization.

They were waiting on him.

The four royals were waiting on him to decide on giving King Boo his kingdom or Luigi.

And he needed to make his choice now.

“Well Bowser, what is it going to be?” King Boo asked with a sickening grin. As a way to add insult to injury to the three royals standing in front of him, King Boo started to fly around Mario, Bowser, and Peach while keeping his eyes glued onto Bowser. “Mario made his choice, so now all that’s left is for you to decide. Are you going to choose the kingdom you have ruled over for so many years where every single one of your minions betrayed you and swore their loyalty to me? Or are you going to choose your husband who you ignored and tossed aside without a second thought all because you wanted your arch-enemy’s approval?”

Bowser could’ve swore he felt his heart stop right then and there.

How did he know?

Oh sweet Grambi, how the fuck did King Boo find out about his fight with Luigi?

The Koopa King couldn’t help but inwardly cursed as he closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. Shit, he didn’t want to mention his and Luigi’s argument to Mario until after this whole ordeal was over, but since it was now out completely out in the open, Bowser knew that Mario was definitely going to interrogate him about King Boo’s snide little comment later.

But Bowser couldn’t dwell on the future conversation with Mario or King Boo’s mysterious knowledge about the fight right now. He needed to focus on the fate of his kingdom and Luigi.

Luigi…

Upon opening his eyes, Bowser noticed right away that Luigi was staring straight at him with that same nervous expression from earlier. However, the thing that Bowser discovered, and ultimately broke his heart more than anything, was that Luigi now had tears slowly coursing down his cheeks.

“Don’t worry about me…,” Luigi softly reassured. His left hand was clenched in a fist, but he still had both hands pressed up against the painting glass wall. “You ruled over the Dark Lands much longer than we have been together and I don’t want you to deal with the guilt of choosing me over your people and kingdom. Please, just deny King Boo’s offer and protect the kingdom like you always have. I’m not worth risking thousands of lives.”

But when King Boo stopped right in front of Luigi’s painting with that sadistic punchable smirk, the choice was as clear as day to the Koopa King. He had no idea what the future was going to hold for him, but he mentally prayed to Grambi and the Star Spirits that his decision wasn’t going to send him to the Underwhere.

Or, at the very least, hoped that his citizens and Luigi would forgive him for what he was about to do.

“I surrender,” Bowser proclaimed while glaring at King Boo. “I relinquish my crown and my kingdom to you on the condition that you release Luigi and never bother any of us again.” 

Bowser didn’t have to look at Luigi to know that the quick and soft gasp came from him.

He didn’t have to look at Mario to know that the red king was silently thrilled that he chose his brother over his kingdom and citizens.

And he didn’t need to look at King Boo to know that his smirk only grew after Bowser made his ultimate decision.

“I’m glad you could see things my way,” King Boo remarked.

Similar to what he did with Peach’s portrait, King Boo shot a laser at Luigi’s painting with his crown. As Luigi slowly started to come out of his painting, one of the reassuring things Mario and Bowser noticed was that it was taking King Boo a shorter amount of time to set Luigi free. However, because Luigi didn’t have any floating abilities like Peach did, he had no time to prepare his landing and face-planted into the ground after he was completely set free.

“Luigi!” Mario screamed. He started to run towards Luigi, but he was only able to take a few steps before Bowser grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back beside him and Peach.

Bowser could feel Mario’s pierce stare and his annoyance was honestly perfectly justified. In fact, Bowser wanted to run to Luigi’s side just as much as Mario did, but what was stopping him was the fact that they were still a pretty decent distance away from both Luigi and King Boo. Bowser didn’t want to risk angering the ghost king when Luigi was still within arm’s reach of his arch-nemesis. 

Everyone watched Luigi as it took him an enormously long time to show any sign of movement. Bowser was the first one to notice his husband opening his eyes and couldn’t help but smile and tear up upon seeing his husband forcing himself to sit up. 

He was alright. 

Luigi was alright and alive.

It was especially reassuring when Luigi noticed him and the royal couple and gave them a heart-warming and innocent smile with tears in his eyes.

“Y-You’re all okay…,” Luigi softly trembled. He didn’t notice how much he was shaking because the only thing he could dwell on was the sole relief that Bowser, Mario, and Peach were all safe and sound.

But Luigi’s happiness instantly turned into confusion when he noticed that his entire body was covered with some sort of magical barrier.

At that exact same moment, both Mario and Bowser noticed King Boo materializing a knife right behind Luigi.

Time stopped for the two kings as they realized what King Boo was planning to do.

“NO!”

Chapter Text

The throne room was filled with the sound of a blood-curdling scream.

Whether the scream was coming from him or from somebody else, he honestly couldn’t tell. But even if he knew, even if the source of the scream was standing right in front of him, he couldn’t even begin to fathom the ways of stopping the ear-splitting noise because of one single overpowering thought.

There was a sharp, excruciating pain in his upper back.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Was that his voice that cried out the question or did the voice belong to someone else? And if that was someone else’s voice, was that question directed at him?

He didn’t know the answer to either of the two questions and by the Stars, he honestly couldn’t care less about it.

He just wanted this pain to stop.

It was when he felt something slice open his back that he knew in an instant that this wasn’t just some horrific nightmare.

This time, he could tell he was the one screaming.

“STOP IT!”

He couldn’t stop. He wanted to stop screaming in hopes of pleasing the mysterious voice, but the unbearable pain he was feeling far easily outweighed any fear of angering the voice more than he likely already was. He inwardly prayed to the Stars and Grambi that his tormentor would take the smallest pity on him and allow him to rest, even if it was just for one minute.

“SHE SAID STOP IT!”

Any remaining strength he had instantly left his body when he felt something being removed from his lower back.

He lost consciousness before he felt the impact of the floor.

Jubilance and satisfaction were just a few of the dozens of different emotions King Boo felt as he watched Mario and Peach instantly rush to Luigi’s side. For years, the ghost king had dreamed of this day and to see it finally, finally, come to life before his very eyes was such a marvelous sight to behold.

Professor Elvin Gadd was finally dead and would never again create all of those ridiculous inventions.

Luigi was dying right in front of him and would never again suck him and his friends up with that infuriating vacuum cleaner.

And the three so-called “heroes” who had such high hopes in saving Luigi and the Dark Lands?

They weren’t even paying attention to the ghost king at all.

Peach was crying her eyes out while begging for Luigi to wake up.

Mario was desperately trying to find a way to stop his brother from bleeding to death.

And Bowser? Well, he hadn’t moved from his original spot in the middle of the throne room. The only thing the Koopa King had the strength to do was watch everything in front of him unfold with nothing but pure terror in his eyes.

Oh yes, the three royals were mere child’s play and it thrilled King Boo to no end that he was just minutes away from accomplishing his ultimate plan. All he had to do was finish off the three royals for good before the world could finally become his to rule.

“YOU FUCKING BASTARD!”

Upon hearing Mario’s voice, King Boo was immediately brought out of his thoughts and noticed how the royal couple was staring at him with vastly different expressions. From Peach’s very pale face to the way her entire body was shaking, it was obvious that the Mushroom Queen was on the verge of passing from pure and utter fear.

But Mario?

This was the first time King Boo had seen him fuming with this much rage and hatred.

In fact, if Mario had defeated him during those haunted adventures, and not Luigi, King Boo would have maybe, just maybe, been a little frightened in seeing nothing but absolute murder in the red king’s eyes.

“HOW DARE YOU BREAK YOUR END OF THE FUCKING TRADE?!” Mario shouted as he gestured at his dying brother. King Boo noticed the tears pouring down Mario’s face, but was silent as Mario continued to shout at him. “YOU SAID YOU WOULDN’T HURT LUIGI IF BOWSER SURRENDERED HIS KINGDOM AND CROWN TO YOU AND HE AGREED TO YOUR SICK AND TWISTED DEAL!”

King Boo couldn’t help but laugh at Mario’s little outburst, knowing full well that he was adding more fuel to Mario’s flame. He didn’t care though. Seeing both of the brothers in pain was worth all of the yelling and death glares the red king could possibly give him.

“I don’t think you understand the actual agreement you and Bowser made with me,” King Boo explained with a grin. “I said I would let your spouse go if you and Bowser each surrendered your crown and kingdom to me. I made no such promise that I wouldn’t hurt Luigi, or even Peach for that matter, after I freed them from their little prison.”

“But both Mario and Bowser gave you exactly what you wanted,” Peach reminded with a disappointed and slightly frustrated tone. King Boo quickly stopped laughing when he heard Peach’s voice as he was genuinely surprised to hear her speak, especially since she seemed very terrified to even be in the same room as him just mere seconds ago. “If you had just let Luigi go without hurting him immediately afterwards, the four of us would’ve walked out of this castle and never bother you or your subjects again. You could’ve had the opportunity to conquer the entire world like you always dreamed of doing without us trying to take back our kingdoms.”

Wait…, what?

There was no way…

There was no way Peach was actually being serious with that empty promise, was she?

But when King Boo noticed the amount of determination Peach suddenly had, he knew right then and there that she honestly believed that she was speaking the truth.

Grambi, King Boo just couldn’t help but let out a laugh of complete disbelief.

“You don’t really expect me to believe your little statement, do you?” King Boo chuckled while shaking his head. In an instant, any sign of laughter was replaced with anger and rage, something the royal couple quickly noticed. “After everything I have went through, do you honestly expect me to believe that you four wouldn’t have tried to take back your kingdoms if I had just kept Luigi alive?!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, King Boo shot a laser at a nearby stone statue of Bowser, an action that startled both Mario and Peach. Even Bowser, who was still hadn’t moved from the middle of the throne room, slightly flinched at King Boo’s unexpected outburst.

“Allow me to paint you a picture of what would’ve actually happened if I hadn’t killed Luigi,” King Boo explained as he started to circle around Mario, Peach, and Luigi. “Yes, you guys would’ve walked out of this castle and not bother me and my subjects for a while, but you and I both know that it would’ve been a matter of time until you idiots realized that you somehow have a functioning Poltergust, even though I made sure that everything in the laboratory in Evershade Valley was destroyed beyond repair. And since Luigi is such the ghost expert between the four of you, you three would’ve sent him back here to take back both the Mushroom Kingdom and the Dark Lands and stop me and my friends, just like he did back in Boo Woods, just like he did back in Evershade Valley, and especially just like he did back at The Last Resort.”

“That’s not true,” Mario argued. “We would’ve kept our p-promise.”

But the slight stutter gave away his lie and everyone in the throne room knew it.

And even though anger was quickly boiling inside of him, King Boo refused to lose his control in front of the three royals. His temper had been the main reason for his past downfalls and he didn’t want to risk losing everything again.

Especially since he was just within arm’s reach of becoming the ultimate supreme ruler.

“There are two things kinds of people I hate more than anything else in the world,” King Boo calmly confessed as he stared at a portrait of Luigi and Bowser on their wedding day. “I hate liars and I especially hate people who want to stop me from accomplishing my ultimate plan. It’s such a shame that you three have the two traits that make me want to take the life right out of your pretty little eyes.”

That was it.

That was the moment when Mario couldn’t deny it any longer.

He didn’t want to believe it when he saw E. Gadd’s body, but what King Boo said right then and there confirmed one of the biggest fears he had throughout this entire adventure.

The King Boo floating in front of him was not who he thought he was.

He wasn’t the same ghost king who kidnapped him three different times nor the same ghost king who helped Bowser ruin his and Peach’s vacation back in Isle Delfino.

No. This King Boo wanted blood on his hands.

Their blood.

“But enough about me,” King Boo said as he broke Mario out of his thoughts. The ghost king faced the three royals with a sickening grin as he used his crown to conjure up a fireball. “Poor Luigi must be suffering all alone in the Underwhere. I think he deserves to have a family reunion after all the trouble he’s been through today, don’t you think?”

If Mario wasn’t terrified before, he sure as hell was now. His brain urged, no, begged, him to move, run, or anything else he could think of to get himself, Peach, and especially Luigi as far away from King Boo as his legs could carry him.

But his stomach dropped when he noticed that the three of them were trapped inside a magical barrier.

This was it.

King Boo was going to kill them and there was nothing he could do to stop him.

Mario quickly wrapped his arms around Peach and Luigi and pulled them as close to him as he closed his eyes and braced for King Boo’s ultimate attack.

The impact never came.

He didn’t know how long he had his eyes closed or how long he had his arms wrapped around Luigi and Peach like his life depended on it, but Mario knew it had been a good bit since King Boo had his little monologue.

They should be dead.

How on Earth were they still alive?

But when Mario finally had enough courage to open his eyes, his question was immediately answered for two different reasons.

King Boo was unconscious on the other side of the throne room.

And Bowser was right in front of them in his Spike Ball.

He saved them.

King Bowser Koopa saved their lives from King Boo’s final wrath.

“Get Luigi out of here,” Bowser demanded after he unrolled himself from his Spike Ball. Mario noticed the way the Koopa King was keeping himself in between the three humans and King Boo while he refused to take his eyes off of the ghost king at the same time.

Mario couldn’t help but stare at Peach and Luigi with worry before looking back at Bowser. He was grateful that Bowser chose to stop King Boo from killing them, he really was, but he was hesitant as he thought about his two conflicting options. His first priority was to get Luigi to a doctor, yes, but he wasn’t comfortable with the idea of Bowser battling King Boo by himself, especially since Bowser would have a difficult time defeating King Boo without the Poltergust.

Plus, Mario also wanted to ask Bowser what the hell King Boo meant with his comment about tossing Luigi aside in order to get his approval.

“Bowser-,”

“We don’t have time to argue about this!” Bowser interrupted while facing the royal couple. Mario could’ve sworn he saw tears in Bowser’s eyes as the Koopa King kneel down to take a closer look at Luigi’s current condition. “The longer you two stand here, the less of a chance Luigi has in surviving from his knife wound, so just get him to a doctor before that damn snowball-,”

But Bowser never got the chance to finish his sentence.

Because that was the moment when the three royals heard a scream that made them stop dead in their tracks.

No.

Oh dear Grambi no.

Mario, Peach, and Bowser quickly shifted their attention back to King Boo as the ghost king floated back off of the ground. 

But the thing that scared Mario was that it only took King Boo a few seconds to remember where he was before giving them that spoke of nothing but murder.

“THAT IS IT!” King Boo roared. “I AM TIRED OF YOU THREE RUINING MY CHANCE OF TAKING OVER THE WORLD! FORGET THE AGREEMENT! I WILL MAKE YOU ALL SUFFER UNTIL YOU TAKE YOUR VERY LAST BREATH AND FORCE YOUR CITIZENS TO LOOK AT YOUR DEAD CORPUSES BEFORE I BURN YOUR KINGDOMS STRAIGHT INTO THE GROUND!”

Mario quickly placed himself right beside Bowser as determination and courage started to flow through his veins. Whether he and Bowser like it or not, they needed to finish King off once and for all right here, right now.

Their kingdoms were counting on them.

The entire world was counting on them.

Most importantly, Luigi was counting on them.

But the thing that confused Mario was that King Boo’s entire demeanor instantly changed once he took one look at Luigi and Peach.

“Oh, and just to make sure no gets any ideas in saving Luigi’s life…”

What happened next was somewhat of a blur to Mario because the next thing he knew, he saw King Boo shot up one of his arms with a sadistic grin.

And immediately heard Peach’s scream afterwards.

“Peach!” Mario screamed while facing his brother and wife. No words could begin to describe the relief he felt when he saw that King Boo just enclosed Luigi and Peach with purple gates.

Granted, he didn’t like the idea of them being trapped in a cell, especially with Luigi still fighting for his life, but it was better than what he initially thought happened.

“That’s better,” King Boo beamed before he looked back at Mario and Bowser. “Now with that out of the way, it’s time to finally get rid of you two kings once and for all. Say hello to Luigi when you see him in the Underwhere, you old fools.”

Chapter Text

The next few seconds were a blur to Bowser as he wasted no time dodging King Boo’s blue fireball. He could’ve sworn he heard Peach’s voice while avoiding the sudden attack, but with King Boo out for his and Mario’s blood and the scary realization that he and Mario had to defeat the ghost king before they could even think about saving Luigi from his life-threatening injury, the queen’s voice sounded so muffled and far away that it was difficult for the Koopa King to even comprehend the words that were coming out of Peach’s mouth.

Or maybe she wasn’t saying anything and was screaming instead.

And if that was the case, then that could only mean…

No. He couldn’t bear to finish that terrifying thought. 

It would destroy Bowser if anything happened to him.

But still…

He needed to know.

He just needed to take a quick look to make sure that he was okay.

If he was, then that would give the Koopa King the strength he needed to fight King Boo. 

When Bowser looked back at the purple cage, no words could express the relief he felt upon seeing that the unexpected fireball didn’t hurt Peach and especially Luigi. It was short-lived as soon as he realized that his husband was still bleeding to death with each passing second, but the Koopa King forced himself to mentally take a few deep breaths while focusing on the positive things.

Luigi was still alive.

Which meant that he and Mario still had a little bit of time to save his life.

The only thing they had to do was stop King Boo once and for all and then they could give the green king the help he so desperately needed.

Easier said than done.

“You know, I kind of wish that Luigi was awake to see me finish you guys off,” King Boo confessed while bringing Bowser out of his thoughts. Out of the corner of his eye, Bowser noticed Mario staring at King Boo with terror on the other side of the throne room. While he couldn’t blame Mario for being so scared of the ghost king, it was at least reassuring for Bowser to see that his brother-in-law also avoided the sudden attack. “It would’ve been such a wonderful treat to hear his screams as I suck the life right out of his big brother’s eyes.”

Without any warning, King Boo suddenly shifted his attention to Bowser, but the thing that made Bowser’s heart skip a beat was the sadistic smirk King Boo had on his face as well as the gleam in his purple eyes.

That alone was a pretty obvious sign that he was not going to like whatever King Boo was currently thinking about.

“Or better yet…,” King Boo pondered as he conjured up a second fireball. “Maybe I should kill his short-tempered husband first and watch their kingdom crumble before making the Mushroom Kingdom my next target.”

Without giving Bowser a chance to react to his response, King Boo threw the second fireball at him. Luckily, the Koopa King instantly snapped out of his mental paralysis and quickly dodged the attack. Bowser took a few moments to recover from the sudden attack, but King Boo noticed this and used those few moments to shoot a laser at the Koopa King. Horror struck Bowser as he realized that he wasn’t going to have enough time to dodge the laser, so he instead curled up into his Spike Ball. The laser reflected off of the Spike Ball and shattered a nearby stone statue, but Bowser neither noticed nor cared about the now-destroyed statue. All he could think about was saving Luigi and his kingdom from this lunatic ghost as he threw himself at King Boo.

But King Boo dodged Bowser’s attack with absolute ease by teleporting to Bowser and Luigi’s thrones.

“Silly Bowser,” King Boo taunted as Bowser crashed into the wall. The Koopa King uncurled himself from the Spike Ball just in time to see King Boo conjuring two more fireballs. “Has it not occurred to you that I am the king among Boos?! I know everything there is to know about you and Mario, including any puny attacks or other tricks you two idiots have up in your sleeves!”

But what King Boo didn’t seem to realize was that only one of the heroes was actively fighting him.

Quickly and quietly, Mario ran to Peach and Luigi while brainstorming different ways to break them out of the cage. As soon as he grabbed one of the purple bars, he immediately discovered that the bars were completely solid and felt as tough as metal, even though they looked translucent enough for anyone to walk through them with no trouble.

“There’s got to be a way to get you two out of this cage,” Mario mumbled just loud enough for Peach to hear. He looked around the cage for any locks he could pick at, but frustration soon started to consume him when he realized that freeing Peach and Luigi wasn’t going to be as easy as he initially thought.

“Don’t worry about us,” Peach reassured while carefully placing Luigi’s head on her lap. She slipped her arm through the gates and gently grabbed Mario’s hand in hopes of easing her husband’s anger. “I’ll do what I can to keep Luigi alive, so just focus on helping Bowser before King Boo realizes-,”

“Mario, move!”

As soon as he heard Bowser’s voice, Mario instantly turned around and moved away from the cage just in time to avoid a laser attack.  While dodging the attack, he heard his wife let out a high-pitched scream, so he quickly looked back at Peach and Luigi once he had time to recover from the attack. Even though his wife was staring at him with fear and worry, the red king noticed that the laser didn’t appear to injury Peach or Luigi.

It was as if the cage had the strange ability to protect them from King Boo’s attacks.

That was one reassuring thing to know.

It was also a miracle that Bowser was kind enough to warn him about the unsuspecting attack because Mario knew he would’ve surely died right then and there if he hadn’t moved out of the way when he did.

“Did you honestly believe I wouldn’t eventually notice you trying to free my prisoners while your archenemy distracts me?!” King Boo shouted before summoning a large spike ball. “Just for that, I’ll make sure your wife watches you die first, plumber boy!”

As soon as King Boo threw the spike ball at Mario, the red king quickly got an idea. Mario immediately took out the Poltergust’s nozzle and used the vacuum to grab the spike ball. Once the vacuum had a grip on the spike ball, Mario aimed it at the ghost king and released the spike ball with maximum blowing power. King Boo quickly noticed that he wasn’t going to have time to dodge the attack, so he instead turned himself invisible to avoid the spike ball.

“I hope you weren’t completely relying on that mere vacuum cleaner to stop me from taking over the entire world,” King Boo scoffed after turning himself visible again. “Because I have not come this far in my master plan to let you two idiots defeat me with that infuriating weapon!”

As King Boo turned his attention towards the red king, Bowser took this time to look at where the spike ball landed and noticed a broken chain next to a portrait of him and Luigi on the day he proposed to the shy and flustered little human. Confusion quickly filled the Koopa King’s mind as he had never recalled seeing a chain next to that particular picture.

That is, until he followed the chain’s path and noticed an enormous golden Bowser statue on the ceiling.

“What do you think?”

Luigi was speechless as he and Bowser watched the minions hoist a giant golden Bowser statue up to the throne room ceiling. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure how he could answer his friend’s question in a way that was both honest and wouldn’t hurt the Koopa King’s feelings.

“It’s…a unique idea,” Luigi hesitantly answered after finding the right word to describe what he was looking at. “But I’m confused on what you want to get out of this.”

“It’s supposed to help intimidate my enemies, so to speak,” Bowser responded with a grin. He wrapped an arm around Luigi’s shoulder as he stared at the golden statue with complete pride. “When I send someone to the dungeon or sentence them to death, I want my face to be the last thing they see as they realize that their life now rest in my hands. Plus, the statue’s eyes also have security cameras in them, so if anyone gets any ideas in the throne room, they’ll get caught red-handed.”

“But there are easier ways to achieve those same goals,” Luigi explained as he looked at Bowser. “Don’t you think this is…, I don’t know…, a little excessive?”

Bowser laughed in response while squeezing Luigi closer to him.

“Oh Luigi,” Bowser chuckled as he wiped a tear off of his eye. “If you think this is excessive, then you’re in for a real treat when you see the rest of my castle.”

But unbeknownst to Bowser, Luigi couldn’t wait to see the rest of the castle. It was difficult for him to explain it, especially since he and Bowser became friends just a few weeks ago, but something the Koopa King said or the way he said it gave the green plumber butterflies in his stomach.

He knew how he could stop King Boo.

But would it be enough to defeat him and save Luigi and his kingdom?

That was a question Bowser didn’t have an answer to, but he didn’t want to think through the steps of his plan or waste time brainstorming other, and most likely better, ideas.

Not when Luigi’s life was hanging by a thread.

“Hey floating eyeball!” Bowser screamed after taking a few steps towards the smaller destroyed statue from earlier. He noticed he had both Mario and King Boo’s attention when they both stopped in their tracks. “How about you actually aim for us instead of missing like a dumbass?! I thought this fight was going to be much more of a challenge!”

“Bowser, what are you doing?!” Mario blurted out. He was happy with the gift of getting a small break from King Boo’s attacks, but the way he got the said break was not how he wanted to get it.

Especially if Bowser’s idiotic distraction was going to lead to fatal results.

But despite Mario’s pleading, King Boo and Bowser ignored the Mushroom King. 

“If it’s a challenging fight you want Bowser, then it’s certainly a challenging fight you’ll get!” King Boo declared after summoning a spike ball. 

Bowser watched King Boo with a neutral expression as the ghost king spat a fireball onto the spike ball. The Koopa King also refused to move from his spot as King Boo threw the fire spike ball at him, despite that his entire body was urging and pleading with him to move out of the way to avoid the attack.

But Bowser forced himself to stay where he was.

He needed his plan to work if he wanted to save Luigi and his kingdom.

It was only when the fire spike ball was barely 10 feet away from him that Bowser listened to his body and avoided the attack.

But despite the fact that the attack missed Bowser, it successfully hit a second chain.

A second chain that just so happened to connect to the enormous golden Bowser statue.

Something that only the Koopa King noticed.

“Is that really the best you can do?!” Bowser taunted with a mocking smile. He placed himself in front of a portrait of him and Luigi with Mario and Peach moments after they signed the peace treaty they all signed what felt like an entirety ago. “No wonder Luigi defeated your sorry ass with ease three times! Hell, my weakest minions’ attacks aren’t as predictable as yours!”

Bowser could tell that particular comment struck one of King Boo’s nerves when the ghost king started to scream in frustration. 

“I will not lose to the likes of you and Mario!” King Boo roared out after conjuring two more spike balls. 

Like before, Bowser watched King Boo with a neutral expression as the ghost king threw the two spike balls at him. Even though his body begged him to dodge the attack again, Bowser once again forced himself to stay in place as the two spike ball came at him with great speed.

And similar to the first time, it was only when the two spike balls were a little over 10 feet away that Bowser quickly moved out of the way and dodged the away. 

And just like before, even though the two spike balls were unsuccessful in hitting Bowser, they broke a third chain.

Something that Mario now noticed.

The red king followed the broken chain’s path and saw the giant golden Bowser statue on the throne room ceiling.

That was when it all clicked in his head.

Mario looked for the last chain and saw it was next to a portrait of Luigi and Bowser on their wedding day.

And he knew at that moment what he had to do.

“It’s such a shame that your attacks are so easy to avoid!” Mario jeered after moving right in front of the fourth chain. “Maybe if you had actual threatening attacks, my brother would’ve lost to you back at The Last Resort!”

Mario knew what he said was especially a sore topic for King Boo, but the red king honestly didn’t care. This fiend, no, this monster, wanted to take away the lives of so many innocent people, including Luigi, gentle, pure-hearted, and innocent Luigi, all because he first defeated him back in Isle Delfino.

Mario couldn’t let his little brother die because of something he did. It would completely devastate the red king.

But he didn’t know just how much of a nerve he struck until he noticed how infuriated and enraged King Boo was.

But the thing that sent chills down the red king’s spine was the sadistic and unsettling smirk King Boo had on his face.

“You want to see threatening attacks so badly?!” King Boo snapped as he summoned an enormous spike ball. “I’ll show you how a threatening attack!”

King Boo took one look at Peach and Luigi and his grin only widen when he suddenly had an idea.

“Let’s see your spouses dodge this!”

Both Mario and Bowser felt their hearts stop upon realizing what King Boo was going to do.

“NO!”

Time slowed down for Bowser.

He swiftly looked around the throne room and saw that the last chain was directly behind Mario.

But the problem he noticed was that the chain was also on the other side of the throne room, not to mention that King Boo was floating between the two kings.

That was when Bowser had an insane and, almost certainly, stupid idea.

The Koopa King immediately rolled into his Spike Ball and threw himself at King Boo. Both Mario and King Boo instantly noticed Bowser hurling towards them, and while Mario quickly moved out of the way, King Boo simply turned himself invisible again.

“Silly, stupid, naive Bowser,” King Boo scoffed after Bowser crashed into the wall. “Did you honestly think that I wouldn’t notice your little sneak attack?”

No one spoke as Bowser took his time in unrolling himself from the Spike Ball. Mario, King Boo, and even Peach honestly expected the Koopa King to be frustrated with the fact that he completely missed the ghost king.

So it was a complete surprise to the three royals when they noticed Bowser with a smug smile.

“I wasn’t aiming for you, dumbass,” Bowser admitted while looking at King Boo in the eyes.

Before King Boo could have a chance to respond, the four royals suddenly heard a loud screeching noise. Bowser, without having to look to know what the sound was, instantly grabbed Mario’s arm and ran to the throne room exit.

But while the two kings were retreating, King Boo only became more confused and angry as he looked around the throne room to find the source of the infuriating noice.

That is, until he looked up a few seconds too late.

It felt like hours before Mario and Bowser had enough confidence to walk back into the throne room. With the way the golden statue shook the entire castle after crashing onto the floor, the two kings wanted to wait until things got quiet before entering the throne room again.

But once they did, they couldn’t help but let out a gasp.

The entire floor was covered with both large and small pieces of the golden Bowser statue. Any smaller statues or portraits that was intact during the fight with King Boo were either destroyed beyond repair or somewhere buried under the remains of the golden statue.

But that was nothing compared to the horror they felt when they remembered that Peach and Luigi were still in the throne room when the golden statue fell.

“PEACH!” Mario screamed as he and Bowser ran to where Peach and Luigi were before. Tears of joy started to form in both of the kings’ eyes, but neither of them cared as they were relieved with the reassurance that the golden didn't crushed them.

Thank the Stars, thank the Stars they were okay.

“Are you guys okay?” Bowser asked as he gently picked up Luigi. He didn’t see any visible wounds on Luigi, which should’ve been a comforting sight to see, but the Koopa King’s worries only grew as he started to feel Luigi’s blood on his arms.

“I’m alright, but we need to take Luigi to a doctor right away,” Peach revealed while tears started to form in her eyes. She wiped the tears off of her eyes before giving the two heroes a terrified look. “He lost a lot of blood while you two were fighting King Boo and I’m terrified that he’s not going to-,”

But Peach never got the chance to finish her statement.

Because that was when the three royals heard a earth-shattering scream.

No.

Oh dear Stars, please don’t let it be true.

Mario, Peach, and Bowser’s blood instantly ran cold as they turned around just in time to see King Boo come out from under the remains of the statue shards.

It just wasn’t possible.

King Boo wasn’t supposed to survive the attack!

“You…you think you’ve won…?!” King Boo huffed with rage. “You think this mere statue can stop me from taking over the world?! HA! This battle…this battle was only just the beginning!”

But King Boo’s anger was soon replaced with fear when he noticed one critical detail he was overseeing.

King Boo didn’t have his crown on.

And without his crown…

He was powerless.

And he wasn’t the only one who noticed this.

Because that was when Mario shined the flashlight at King Boo.

And instantly started to sucking up King Boo with the vacuum.

It was a struggle for Mario to keep his grip on the ghost king with the Poltergust, especially with the way King Boo was moving around the room in a desperate attempt to make Mario let go of him.

But no matter how difficult it was for Mario, he refused to let King Boo go.

He didn’t noticed he was screaming as he started to feel King Boo getting weaker.

He didn’t noticed Bowser was hugging him in an attempt to keep the red king in place.

Because all Mario could think about were the people he wanted to save.

His citizens.

His wife.

And especially his little brother.

From the demon who gave them nothing but absolute hell.

“Don’t you dare ever hurt my family again!” Mario threatened at the top of the lungs.

And then he was finally gone.

Chapter Text

Twenty-four hours.

That was the amount of time it took for Bowser’s life to fall into an endless void of despair.

From leaving his castle at the crack of dawn to rushing Luigi to the castle hospital in the dead of night, everything that happened up to this point all took place in a span of a single day.

It was baffling how so much could happen in such a small timeframe.

But that wasn’t what plagued the Koopa King with immense guilt and regret.

No, it was the gut-wrenching fact that this entire adventure was solely his fault.

Bowser knew how nervous and uncomfortable Luigi felt about the meeting from the moment they read that wretched letter. Hell, after one of their royal council meetings, Luigi had told Kamek and Kammy, the only members of the Koopa Troop Bowser would unquestionably trust with his life, about the mysterious letter and they instantly took the green king’s side. On multiple occasions, the two Magikoopas had gone out of their way to warn the Koopa King about the suspicious letter and even begged him to talk it over with his husband, or at least think about the actual logic behind the letter.

“You should really think this through, My King.”

“Your Burliness, it’s not like King Mario to ask you to meet with him and Queen Peach in private like this.”

“I don’t have a good feeling about this, Bowser.”

But Bowser never listened.

And look where that got him.

3.5 hours ago…

As soon as they heard the waiting room doors open, Mario, Peach, and Bowser shot their heads up and felt their hearts skip a beat upon seeing the doctor walking towards them. The past five hours have been agonizing for the three royals, so for them to finally see the doctor who rushed Luigi to ICU brought them both such an enormous amount of comfort but also an alarming amount of anxiousness.

They just couldn’t stand the wait any longer. They needed to know.

“How is he?” Mario asked with both nervousness and a hint of hopefulness.

The doctor took one look at each of the three royals before he looked back down at his clipboard.

“He’s stable for now…,” the doctor answered after only a few seconds of silence. Bowser would’ve celebrated the reassuring news right then and there, if it wasn’t for the fact that he noticed a very slight hesitance in the Koopa Troopa’s voice. “But, things aren’t looking very good for him…”

“What do you mean…?” Peach nervously inquired as she grabbed Mario’s hand without taking her eyes off the doctor.

It took the Koopa Troopa 15 seconds to respond to Peach’s question, but the three royals could tell that the doctor wasn’t going to give them pleasant news when he carefully removed his glasses and looked straight at them.

“King Luigi lost almost 5 pints of blood, which is a dangerously high amount of blood for anyone to lose, much less a human,” the doctor calmly explained. “To be completely honest with you three, it’s a miracle that he survived for this long, especially when you consider the amount of time that passed between the moment King Boo stabbed him to when you all brought him here.”

“But you can give him a blood transfusion, right?” Mario immediately questioned as he squeezed Peach’s hand with fear. “I don’t know how different Koopa blood is from human blood, but I’m willing-,”

“We already gave His Majesty a blood transfusion and he’s been recovering quite well from it,” the doctor interrupted. “However…, that’s not the main problem we found while treating King Luigi…”

“W-What else did y-you find…?” Peach asked with a noticeable waver in her voice. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she made no effort to wipe them away as she and the two kept their attention on the doctor.

This time, not only did it take the Koopa Troopa an eerily minute to answer Peach’s question, but it was the fact that he started to nervously pull his lab coat collar that filled the three royals with absolute dread.

They knew at that moment that they were not going to like hearing whatever the doctor was going to say next. 

“I’m afraid…King Luigi has been paralyzed from the waist down, Your Majesties,” the doctor hesitantly revealed. “Upon treating his back, we discovered that King Boo had severely damaged his lower spinal cord. Even if he miraculously wakes up from this life-threatening injury, it truly pains me to tell you three that King Luigi will never regain movement in his lower body.

Oh Grambi.

Oh dear Grambi, they felt like they were going throw up.

But wait, it just couldn’t be true, could it? This just had to be some sick and twisted game the doctor is playing on them! Surely he’ll start laughing and tell them that Luigi is actually okay and is just recovering from everything that happened, right?

But when they took one look at the doctor’s face, the three royals knew in an instant that this wasn’t just some terrible nightmare.

This was reality.

Luigi, sweet, gentle, and innocent little Luigi was never going to be the same again.

He could never again accompany Mario on one of their fun adventures or join Bowser in one of his crazy shenanigans.

All because of King Boo.

And his fucking determination to take over the entire world.

Right then and there, Bowser wanted nothing more than to free King Boo from the Poltergust just for the pure purpose of putting the ghost king through eternal hell.

But there was one pounding unanswered question that was stopping him from forcefully removing the vacuum cleaner from Mario’s back.

“What about Kamek and Kammy?” Bowser questioned, but with the slight, yet obvious, crack in his voice, the royal couple and the doctor could tell that it was taking everything in the Koopa King’s power to keep his emotions in check. “I know for a fact that they have the power to heal any physical injury, so why aren’t they, or any Magikoopas, rushing over to Luigi’s side and healing his back wound?”

While Bowser was too focused on waiting for the doctor to answer his question, both Mario and Peach took their eyes off of the Koopa King just in time to notice the apple-sized lump in the Koopa Troopa’s throat.

That small action destroyed any remaining confidence they had left.

“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, My Lord, but both Kamek and Kammy are dead,” the doctor nervously confessed. “When King Boo invaded the Dark Lands, he ordered his Boos to kill every single minion who had any form of healing abilities. The only surviving members of the Koopa Troop who can truly help King Luigi at this point are us doctors and nurses, but even with our combined medical knowledge, His Majesty will never be physically, and possibly even mentally, the same again.”

That was it.

That was the precise moment when Bowser felt his whole world shattering right in front of him.

His most trusted and loyal minions, no, his guardians, who loved and raised him since the day he hatched, were dead.

But it wasn’t because of King Boo or because of any of the Boos who were loyal to the ghost king.

No, the reason, the one singular reason, this whole adventure had even happened in the first place was because of him and his selfish desire to get Mario’s stupid blessing.

“C-Can we see h-him?” Mario tearfully choked out as he brought Bowser back to reality. The Koopa King didn’t have to look at his brother-in-law to know that he was on the verge of breaking down into tears. He honestly couldn’t blame the red king. He wanted to let everything out right then and there too, but his ego and pride forced him to hold it in because he didn’t want anyone to see him cry.

“You can, but because he’s still in ICU, I’m afraid that only one person can see him at a time,” the doctor responded. “If you like, I can take you to him now, but I do want to caution you that what you’re about to see will be unsettling.”

Bowser didn’t have the mental strength to argue or fight with Mario as the red king followed the doctor to ICU. With every soul-crushing news the doctor had just given him and the royal couple, the Koopa King lost all motivation to even do anything anymore.

But the second after Peach left the waiting room to call Toadsworth and inform him of Luigi’s condition, Bowser finally broke.

“What was King Boo talking about?”

When Mario’s voice brought him out of his thoughts, Bowser couldn’t help but quietly sigh in frustration as smoke started to come out of his nostrils. Stars, from trying to figure out his future with Luigi to the fact that he was still mourning for Kamek and Kammy, Mario was honestly the last person the Koopa King wanted to talk to right now. He had half a mind to just flat-out ignoring the red king, but Bowser quickly realized that not acknowledging his brother-in-law would probably lead to another ridiculous argument.

Something he was especially not in the mood to deal with right now.

“Excuse me?” Bowser grudgingly inquired as he looked at Mario with a confused and annoyed expression. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Peach watching them behind the receptionist’s desk, which was truthfully the least reassuring thing for him to see.

It could only mean that this wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation for him.

Great.

“Before you agreed to surrender your kingdom, King Boo said that you ignored Luigi and tossed him aside like some rag doll because you wanted my blessing,” Mario explained. “And I want to know what he meant by that statement.”

Bowser felt his heart stop with horror as he used all his strength to keep a straight face right then and there. Fuck, between the stress of repairing his castle and figuring out his and his kingdom’s future, he completely forgot that King Boo made the heavy indication that he was keeping a secret from the royal couple. He was able to dodge this similar conversation back at the airship before, but since they didn’t have to worry about King Boo anymore, there was nothing stopping Mario from interrogating the Koopa King.

He could lie. Bowser could say that King Boo only said what he said to get a rise out of him, but how long could he keep up that charade? As much as he cared for his minions, they had a terrible habit of spreading rumors and gossip to anyone who showed any remote interest. And considering that he gave Mario and Peach the option to stay at his castle until Luigi woke up, the Koopa King knew it wouldn’t take long for the rumor of his and Luigi’s fight to reach the royal couple’s ears.

Whether he liked it or not, Bowser knew he had to confess what happened between him and Luigi. The scary part was that he was pretty confident Mario knew this as well.

“Luigi…was uncomfortable with me visiting the Mushroom Kingdom yesterday…,” Bowser hesitantly confessed. He ran a hair through his hair in a nervous manner while avoiding eye contact with Mario. “Since the day we received the letter, he had this feeling that something bad was going to happen while I visited you and Peach, but I didn’t listen to him because I was too focused with the thought of getting your approval.”

None of the three royals spoke for what felt like an eternity. How could they though? Both Mario and Peach were too busy digesting the information that was just given to them and Bowser was honestly scared to say anything for fear of making the situation much worse. 

But to both Bowser and Peach’s complete shock, it was Mario who finally broke the silence in the waiting room.

“You knew,” Mario chuckled with a smile so unbelievably forced and strained to the point where Bowser was almost genuinely terrified of the red king. “All this time, you knew exactly how Luigi felt, and yet, you still chose us over him.”

“Mario-,”

“No, I don’t want to hear any of your fucking excuses!” Mario screamed as he stared at Bowser with pure rage. “You mean to tell me that you knew from the very beginning that King Boo was planning to take over both of our kingdoms and you still left Luigi alone to fend himself!? Why?! So that you can have my fucking stamp of approval?! Is how I feel about your relationship with Luigi really that important to you?!”

“We didn’t know King Boo was going to invade our kingdom!” Bowser shouted as he shot up from his chair and kept his focus on Mario. “E. Gadd swore to Luigi that the canisters were secure enough to prevent that psychotic ghost from escaping! If that stupid professor had just warned us about King Boo, I would’ve put the entire castle on lockdown and guard Luigi with my fucking life!”

“Don’t you dare blame E. Gadd for your screw-ups!” Mario threatened as he pointed an accusatory finger at Bowser. Tears started to form in the red king’s eyes, but he used all his strength to not let them fall as he kept his attention on Bowser. “You swore to Peach and me that you were a completely changed Koopa and look where that empty promise got us! Because you were so hellbent on wanting me to like you, Professor E. Gadd is dead and my fratellino has to live with the fact that he can’t do most of the things he loves to do anymore!”

“And do you know why I have been trying nonstop to get you to like me for the past 13 fucking months?!” Bowser hollered with tears in his eyes.

Mario couldn’t help but let out a scoff as he started to shake his head.

“Oh, I know exactly why you want my approval so damn badly,” Mario responded with a smile. “The only reason you’re even doing all of this is because you are just waiting for me to give you my trust so that you can have a much easier time taking over the Mushroom Kingdom! Well, guess what Bowser?! I am not falling for your tricks! I know underneath all that ‘goody two-shoes’ exterior is a short-tempered, cold-hearted, and manipulative Koopa who only cares about himself and the fact that Luigi still can’t see that proves that he is a traitor to me and the Mushroom Kingdom!”

That was the moment.

That was the moment when Bowser couldn’t take it anymore.

He had tried to keep in anger in check throughout the entire argument (although he would admit that he didn’t do a very good job), but what Mario just said threw all formalities out the window.

He wasn’t going to stand there and just take it.

And he made no attempt to hide his anger as his mouth started to produce fire.

“Get out.” 

Peach knew right then and there that she had to intervene. She didn’t want to interrupt the two kings from letting their anger out, but with the way Bowser sounded so furious and outraged right at that moment honestly terrified to the point where she had a bad feeling that things would quickly turn into a slaughterhouse if she didn’t stop them from arguing.

“Bowser-,”

“I SAID GET OUT!” Bowser shouted at the top of his lungs as flames emitted out of his mouth. As he started to take a few steps towards Mario, a hint of fear began to grow in the red king’s stomach as he took a few steps away from Bowser. “IT IS ONE THING FOR YOU TO INSULT ME AND CRITICIZE EVERY SINGLE DAMN THING I DO, BUT THE MOMENT YOU CALL LUIGI A TRAITOR, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU TWO IDIOTS DON’T EVEN KNOW HALF OF THE STRUGGLES HE WENT THROUGH JUST TO HAVE A LITTLE SHRED OF HAPPINESS, THAT’S WHERE I CROSS THE FUCKING LINE! NOW, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY CASTLE AND DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT STEPPING FOOT IN MY KINGDOM EVER AGAIN! YOU TWO HAVE DONE ENOUGH!”

The Koopa King didn’t wait to see Mario or Peach’s reaction as he stormed out of the waiting room. The only thing that mattered to him at that moment was seeing the one person who meant everything to him.

Chapter Text

Today was the day.

And to say that Luigi was nervous was an understatement.

From the moment he decided to take another chance on romance, the green Italian knew he was going to have to eventually tell Mario about his newfound relationship. To find someone who made him the happiest he had felt in a long time was such an enormous milestone for Luigi and he knew that Mario was going to want to know that his younger twin found someone who loved and cared about him just as much as he did.

However, there was one little catch.

Luigi Mario, one of the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom, was dating King Bowser Koopa .

The same Koopa who kidnapped Peach and terrorized thousands of innocent citizens.

The same Koopa who conquered dozens of kingdoms and galaxies.

The same Koopa who was willing to do anything in order to get what he wanted.

And the same Koopa Luigi had been secretly dating for a little over a month now.

Oh yes, with the way the green-clad plumber was pacing back and forth in his guest quarters and with the way he was twiddling his thumbs, it was plain to see that he had been dreading this day for quite a while. No one could blame him for being so timid and anxious. How are you supposed to tell your older twin brother, or anyone else for that matter, that you’re seeing the sworn enemy of the Mushroom Kingdom because you saw a soft, caring, protective, and somewhat sensitive Koopa underneath his tough and threatening exterior?

Luigi had honestly been asking that same question since he and Bowser first became friends.

And he still didn’t know the answer.

“Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

As soon as he heard his boyfriend’s voice, Luigi immediately stopped pacing and turned around to see Bowser staring at him while simultaneously leaning against the doorway. Despite the unreadable expression the Koopa King had on his face, Luigi didn’t miss the very, very , slight waver in Bowser’s voice and could tell that he was also somewhat nervous to reveal their relationship to Mario.

Stars, what Luigi would give to have even a little bit of Bowser’s confidence right now. How was the Koopa King so clam when they were mere minutes away from telling Mario and Peach about their secret relationship? Were fear and anxiety just not part of Bowser’s vocabulary? And if that was the case, then what on Earth impacted the Koopa King’s decision to start dating a cowardly, timid, and clumsy buffoon who can’t even get out of his brother’s shadow-

No words could express the relief Luigi felt at that moment when he suddenly felt a firm, yet gentle, grip on his shoulders. It was strange, yet very reassuring, how Bowser could tell when his thoughts were about to spiral into an endless blackhole.

“Hey, don’t go freaking out on me right now,” Bowser demanded with a calm and soft tone. “This is the first time I’m visiting the Mushroom Kingdom as an ally and I want us to look good in front of your brother and Peach when we tell them about our relationship.”

Grambi, leave it to Bowser to worry more about impressing Mario and Peach while Luigi over here was on the verge of having a panic attack. The green Italian could’ve had half a mind to break it off with the Koopa King right then and there so that he would have to deal with his egotistical personality anymore.

And yet, despite it all, Luigi just couldn’t help but laugh at Bowser’s strange priorities.

Stars, he loved that Koopa very much.

But he also loved Mario too.

And knowing that there was a strong possibility that his older brother could force him to choose between the kingdom he had sworn to protect or the Koopa who chose to be with him was enough to make Luigi’s laughter die down.

Something that the Koopa King instantly noticed.

“Listen, we don’t have to do this if you’re not ready,” Bowser informed in a comforting tone. He noticed tears welling up in Luigi’s eyes, so he let go of his shoulders and used both of his hands to carefully wipe Luigi’s tears away before they could trail down his face. “If you don’t want to tell your brother and Peach about us, then we can turn this airship around and head back to the castle right now. I am okay with keeping our relationship a secret however long you want until you are comfortable enough to tell them that you and I are a couple.”

Every part of Luigi wanted to tell Bowser to turn the airship around and set a course back to the Dark Lands. He was terrified about the hundreds of possible ways this meeting could go wrong and he was panic-stricken with the sole thought of Mario, Peach, and everyone else hating him for putting himself out there and finding someone who saw him as him .

Not as Green Mario.

Not as the scaredy-cat sidekick.

Just Luigi .

But for some reason…, the green-clad plumber just couldn’t bring himself to say the four simple little words.

Because one way or another, Mario was going to find out about their relationship.

And even though Luigi knew that his older twin wasn’t going to take the news very well, he would rather be the one to tell Mario than have him find out from a random stranger who just happened to see him and Bowser together.

Luigi had to be brave.

Just like Mario.

Just like Peach.

And just like Bowser.

“We have to tell them about us,” Luigi quietly affirmed while he leaned into Bowser’s warm touch. He felt nausea rising in his stomach, but he forced himself to take a few deep breaths in hopes of easing his nerves. “I made the choice to be with you and it’s not fair for you to keep our relationship a secret when I know you want to shout it out to the entire world. I want to tell Mario and Peach that we are a couple.”

Bowser didn’t speak as he took some time to digest Luigi’s statement, but it wasn’t long before the Koopa King brought Luigi close to his chest and wrapped his gigantic arms around the tiny human.

“I don’t know what the future has in stored for us,” Bowser quietly admitted while giving the top of Luigi’s head a gentle kiss. “But whatever happens, I want you to know that there is nothing out there that will ever stop me from loving you.”

When he started to regain consciousness, the best words to describe how he was feeling at that moment were dazed and disorientated. Now yes, his mind was somewhat sharp enough to notice the bandages that were wrapped around his body, but with the dozens of needles and tubes that were pumping who-knows-what into his arms and the blinding white light that greeted him when he had the strength to open his eyes, it was honestly difficult for him to tell if this was all part of some weird fever dream if he was in the Overthere.

That is, until he heard one particular voice.

“Morning sleepyhead.”

Could it be…?

No words could express the amount of happiness Luigi felt right then and there when he turned his head and saw the one Koopa who snuck his way into his heart.

“Bowser…,” Luigi cheerfully whispered with one of the biggest smiles Bowser had ever seen. The green king felt tears forming in his eyes, but he allowed them to trail down his face as the full realization of his husband sitting right by his side with no visible injuries positively overwhelmed him.

Bowser was okay. 

Bowser was safe.

Those thoughts are more were all the green king could think about at that moment as he forced himself to sit up in hopes of giving his husband the biggest heartfelt hug the needles and tubes could allow him to give.

But Luigi instantly stopped dead in his tracks and let out a painful cry when he suddenly felt a sharp shooting pain in his back.

“Woah there, take it easy sweetie,” Bowser urged as he carefully helped Luigi lay back down on the bed. “Your body is in a very fragile state right now and any sudden movements may reopen your back wound.”

Wait…, back wound…?

What did he mean by that?

Luigi was quiet as he allowed his husband to help guide him back down to a resting position. As he felt his head softly touching the pillow, he started to notice his back pain going down to a more bearable level. However, despite this, Luigi still didn’t speak because he instead decided to use this time to focus on his breathing to help ease the pain in his back a little more.

Neither king spoke for what felt like hours, but Luigi eventually broke the silence when he no longer felt any current pain in his back.

“What happened to me…?” Luigi asked as he looked at Bowser again.

Luigi noticed how that specific question made Bowser uncomfortable because the Koopa King started to look at everything in the hospital room except at him.

That started to somewhat worry the green king.

Because Bowser only did that when he was nervous about something.

And it was rare for Bowser to be afraid of anything.

“King Boo stabbed you in an attempt to kill you…,” Bowser hesitantly answered when he had enough confidence to look at Luigi.

Oh.

Oh.

That would explain why Bowser was so nervous just moments ago.

Actually, come to think of it, as he was processing what Bowser just said, Luigi couldn’t help but notice that everything around him suddenly made much more sense than they did minutes ago.

His back was in a fragile state because King Boo sliced in open.

There were bandages wrapped around his body to prevent him from bleeding to death in addition to protecting his back wound.

And his arms were covered with needles and tubes because that was the only way for the doctors and nurses to inject fluids and medicine into him while he was unconscious.

Luigi’s face must’ve shown that all the dots were now connecting in his head because the next thing he heard was Bowser speaking in a wobbly and quiet tone.

“I’m sorry.”

Luigi couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow in confusion as he looked at Bowser.

But what he saw made his eyes widen.

Because Bowser Koopa, one of the most fearsome creatures in the entire galaxy, was on the verge of crying.

“There’s no reason to be…,” Luigi quietly argued.

“Yes…, there is…,” Bowser insisted with a croaky voice.

And for the first time since they started dating, Bowser started to cry.

Something that Luigi never thought he would see from his tough and intimidating husband.

“I should’ve listened to you!” Bowser screamed in frustration as he shot up from his chair and started to pace back and forth in the hospital room. While Luigi was surprised by the sudden change in Bowser’s voice as well as the Koopa King’s quick actions, he knew that his husband’s anger wasn’t directed at him. “From the moment we received that letter, you knew that something was off and had even talked to Kamek and Kammy to help you convince me that the meeting was a bad idea, but did I take the time to listen to you guys?! No! I was too bloody consumed with wanting your brother’s stupid approval to realize that I was basically handing you and our kingdom over to King Boo on a fucking silver platter!”

“You couldn’t have known about King Boo,” Luigi argued with a gentle tone. 

“But you still had a bad feeling about the letter and the meeting with Mario and Peach!” Bowser explained while continuing to pace back and forth. “I made a promise to you that I would protect you and our people from anyone who would try to hurt you guys and look how well of a job I did there! Our kingdom is in ruins because of me, Kamek and Kammy are dead because of me, and you will suffer from a permanent injury for the rest of your life because of-,”

“Stop it!”

Bowser stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Luigi upon hearing his husband’s voice.

“Stop blaming yourself for this,” Luigi pleaded as he gave the Koopa King a worried look. “Please, it…it hurts me to see you like this when none of this was your fault to begin with.”

Whatever emotions Bower felt moments ago all died out in his body and were replaced with worry and concern when he started to hear Luigi cry.

“I’m sorry,” Bowser whispered as he rushed to Luigi’s side. He took one of Luigi’s hands in his as he sat back down and used his other hand to wipe Luigi’s tears away. “I didn’t mean to freak you out like that. I just…hate that you and our people are suffering because of the choices I made.”

“This isn’t your fault…,” Luigi quietly replied when he was sure he wasn’t going to break down in tears. “I had two full days to tell you how I truly felt about the meeting and letter, but instead of finding time for both us of sit down and talk about it, I waited until you were moments away from entering the airship to express my concerns and worries to you.”

“I should’ve stopped and listened to you though,” Bowser argued as he used his thumb to rub the top of Luigi’s head in a comforting manner. “If I hadn’t been so focused on getting Mario’s approval-,”

“You did what you did because you were doing what you thought was best for our kingdom,” Luigi interrupted as he leaned into Bowser’s hand that was still touching his face. “You didn’t leave me to rule the Dark Lands by myself out of hatred or because of some petty revenge. You chose to visit the Mushroom Kingdom and meet with Mario and Peach because underneath all of those scales and intimidating features is a Koopa who would do anything for the people he loves. I don’t blame you for making those tough decisions and there is nothing, I repeat, nothing, out there that will ever stop me from loving you.” 

Bowser was completely and utterly speechless as he stared at Luigi with a flabbergasted expression. Stars, from the moment he stepped foot into the airship to visit the Mushroom Kingdom, he regretted the things he said to Luigi and had since been terrified of losing his husband or the possibility of the green king despising him all because of his enormous ego, so for Luigi to not blame him for any part of the adventure was such a perplexing thing for the Koopa King to comprehend.

Grambi, Bowser didn’t deserve to be with someone as forgiving and pure-hearted as Luigi.

But before he could have a chance to tell the green Italian this, the two kings heard an unexpected knock at the door.

“Your Beefiness, please hear me out before you burn me to a crisp for disturbing you,” Jerry begged upon opening the door. “It’s just that you haven’t left the room in almost a week and everyone is terrified about the possibility of war between the Dark Lands and the…”

But the words instantly died on Jerry’s lips when he noticed that Luigi was awake and was staring right at him.

“Hi Jerry…,” Luigi greeted with a smile while speaking in a soft-spoken tone.

No one spoke for what felt like hours, but the silence was quickly broken after Jerry shook his head and looked at Luigi again.

“King Luigi, you’re awake!” Jerry exclaimed with a smile.

What happened next was a bit of a blur to Luigi because this was when the Hammer Brother immediately started to ask him hundreds of different questions. The green king knew that Jerry meant well with his questions, but it didn’t stop the green Italian from hyperventilating as everything started to overwhelm him.

Luckily, this was something Bowser instantly noticed.

“Jerry, enough with the all the questions,” Bowser commanded as before whispering comforting  and reassuring things to his husband. Once Luigi’s breathing went back down to a normal level, Bowser spoke to the Hammer Brother again. “Luigi just woke up a few minutes ago, so he would appreciate you not bombarding him with ridiculous questions.” 

Jerry’s face immediately went red with embarrassment upon realizing that his actions almost caused Luigi to have a panic attack.

“My deepest apologies, Your Majesties,” Jerry apologized as he looked at both Luigi and Bowser. “It’s just that-,”

“I know you meant well and it’s fine,” Bowser interrupted before looking at the Hammer Brother. “Just be useful and let the doctor know that Luigi woke up.”

Jerry nodded and would’ve left the room at that moment, if it wasn’t for one pounding question that suddenly came to him.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Jerry confessed loudly, an action that caused both Luigi and Bowser to look back at him. “Since King Luigi is awake, would you like me to send a minion to inform King Mario and Queen Peach?”

Chapter Text

Mario and Peach?

Where are they?

Are they okay?

Have they already left to go back to the Mushroom Kingdom or are they staying here to help Bowser nurse me back to health?

What did Jerry mean when he said that our kingdom is on the verge of war?

These were just a few of the dozens of questions that ran through Luigi’s head as he and Bowser quietly stared at Jerry for what felt like hours. The green king wanted to break the silence that was hanging in the hospital room, he really did, but truthfully…, he couldn’t. Hundreds, no, thousands, of thoughts and questions started to swarm around in his head at a speed that was much too fast for him to process to the point where he was having trouble remembering what Jerry had even initially asked.

And without something to help him focus on the matter at hand, it wasn’t long before Luigi’s thoughts started to spiral into one enormous snowball. 

How will Mario and Peach react upon finding out that I’m awake?

Will they still love me even though I wasn’t strong enough to stop King Boo from taking over our kingdoms?

What if they want nothing to do with me?

What if Mario thinks of me as a traitor to him and to the Mushroom Kingdom for failing to stop King Boo?

He couldn’t help it. Luigi couldn’t help but hyperventilate as the pure thought of Mario despising him for allowing King Boo to conquer their kingdoms increased his anxiety tenfold. Luigi knew deep down that his older twin would never think less of him, especially for something that neither he nor Bowser were prepared for, but his anxiety always had a terrible habit of latching onto one overwhelming thought to the point where he would start having a panic attack.

But what stopped Luigi from having this specific full-blown panic attack was a gentle grip on his shoulders and Bowser’s calm and soothing voice.

“Hey, it’s okay, my love. Everything is going to be alright. Just take some deep breaths and focus on my voice.”

Luigi listened. He closed his eyes and forced himself to slow his breathing down while he listened to Bowser’s soft and gentle voice. At one point, Luigi thought he heard Jerry and Bowser having a small conversation, but because he wanted to focus on keeping his breathing under control, he ultimately decided to not dwell on his surroundings.

But once Luigi felt calm enough to open his eyes, that was when he saw that he and Bowser were the only two beings in the hospital room.

“Where’s Jerry?” Luigi asked as he looked at Bowser. He noticed that his husband’s hands were now resting on the hospital bed, but Luigi quickly pushed that thought to the side as he was more curious on Jerry’s whereabouts.

“He’s preparing for his trip to the Mushroom Kingdom,” Bowser answered before resting his hands on top of Luigi’s hands. “I told him to inform Mario and Peach about you first thing in the morning because I want us to spend some quality time together before they come and visit you.”

“Why are they at the Mushroom Kingdom?” Luigi questioned before gently grabbing one of Bowser’s hands. “I mean, I understand that they have to put their people and kingdom first, not to mention that Toadsworth would probably want to see them after the adventure we all had, but I would think that Mario would want to stay and help you take care of me while Peach watches over their kingdom.”

“I did give them both the option to stay here until you regained consciousness,” Bowser explained before scratching the back of his head with his free hand. “But…, your brother and I aren’t really on good speaking terms right now…”

That.

That response actually surprised Luigi quite a lot as he noticed that Bowser was starting to avoid eye contact. Okay, yes, the green king knew that Mario and Bowser had always been on thin ice with each other, even after he and Bowser told the Mushroom couple about their relationship, but he honestly thought that Mario and Bowser would at least be on betterish terms after this whole King Boo ordeal.

Luigi just couldn’t wrap his head around it. What on Earth could’ve caused his husband and his older brother to refuse to speak to each other?

“What happened…?” Luigi softly inquired as he used his thumb to rub Bowser’s hand in a circular motion.

The hospital room was quiet for quite a long while as Bowser tried to find a good response to his husband’s question. Luigi didn’t mind the silence. From the way Bowser tensed up immediately after he heard his question, the green king could tell that this was a sensitive topic for his husband. In fact, as a way to reassure Bowser that he could take as much time as he needed, Luigi gave the Koopa King’s hand a gentle squeeze while also giving him a soft and understanding smile.

That small gesture eventually gave Bowser the confidence he needed to answer Luigi’s question.

“…Mario knows about our fight…,” Bowser revealed while staring straight at Luigi.

Oh.

Oh.

This was not the direction Luigi thought this conversation would be going.

And considering that Bowser took a long time to respond to his question, Luigi could only imagine what went down between Mario and Bowser while he was unconscious.

“How…did he take it…?” Luigi hesitantly asked as he looked at his husband with a worrisome expression.

Luigi’s question was immediately met with a forced chuckle from Bowser.

“Bad…,” Bowser admitted while running his free hand through his hair. “He took it really fucking badly…”

Luigi couldn’t help but silently gulp as it took him a lot of strength to speak again.

“Do you…want to talk about it…?” Luigi inquired with a little bit of timidness in his voice.

“There’s not much to talk about,” Bowser responded with a sigh. While Luigi heard the exhaustion and frustration in his husband’s voice, he knew that neither of those emotions were directed at him. “Your brother despises me with every bone in his body and nothing, not even surrendering my entire kingdom in exchange for your life, will ever get rid of that raw and pure hatred he has for me.”

Well fuck, that was rather disheartening for Luigi to hear, if he was being honest with himself. He had hoped for any sign of willingness from Mario or Bowser to at least try to get back on better terms, but based on everything Bowser just said, that optimism was pretty much thrown out the window.

Luigi only had the strength to let out a soft “oh,” before uneasiness and tension started to fill the hospital room. The green king couldn’t stand the painfully awkward silence, but no matter how much he wanted to break it, he honestly didn’t know how to. Breaking the ice had never been his strong suit.

That is, until he thought of one particular question.

“Why do you want Mario’s blessing so badly?”

Now that.

Luigi noticed how that specific question threw Bowser’s whole demeanor off course when the Koopa King suddenly froze up and stared straight at him. Truthfully, this was a question Luigi had thought about for months, but it never occurred to him to bring the topic up with Bowser until he remembered that the reason his husband wanted to visit the Mushroom Kingdom in the first place was because he wanted Mario’s approval.

“Do you remember the first argument we had as a couple?” Bowser asked with a low and rough tone.

While the sudden change of subject was completely unexpected, Luigi quietly nodded as he nervously rubbed his arms in remembrance.

“What happened after that fight is the reason I’ve been trying so hard to get Mario’s blessing,” Bowser confessed while giving Luigi his utmost attention. “The things my minions, my own fucking members of the Koopa Troop, and those idiotic Toads did to push you into doing what you did on that fateful night were, and still are, unacceptable to me as someone with some decent morals and especially to me as someone who loves the wonderful and kind-hearted human being that you are. I never want you to go through that same pain and misery you went through back then, especially with your last living relative. I know you and Mario have one of the strongest brotherly bonds in the entire galaxy and I know sadness wouldn’t even begin to convey how you would feel if your brother started treating you like a traitor, so when I saw your unconscious body after our argument, I made a promise. I promised, myself, Grambi, the Star Spirits, and especially to us as a couple that I would do everything in my power to get Mario to like me so that you would never have to feel that gut-wrenching feeling of your brother hating you because of the relationship you have with me.”

Oh.

Oh Stars.

All this time…

He never thought…

He was doing it for him.

All this time, Bowser had been trying to get Mario’s blessing for HIM.

And he never even realized it until now.

Luigi didn’t noticed the tears that were trailing down his face until he felt Bowser’s hand gently wiping the tears off of his cheeks.

“I-I don’t deserve y-you…,” Luigi softly choked out as more tears began to well up in his eyes.

Bowser brought himself closer to his husband before carefully wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

“Hey now, don’t say that about yourself,” Bowser quietly reassured while rubbing Luigi’s upper  arm in a comforting matter. He kissed the top of Luigi’s head before continuing to wipe the rest of the tears off of Luigi’s face. “If anything, I’m the one who should be saying that.”

That response earned a little laugh out of Luigi as he rested his head against the Koopa King’s shoulder.

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better…,” Luigi whispered as a smile crept up onto his face.

“No, I’m being 100% serious about this,” Bowser promised while continuing to wipe Luigi’s tears away. He inwardly celebrated when he saw Luigi’s smile, so he decided to give the top of Luigi’s head another kiss. “I called you a disgrace and almost got you killed, and yet, you’re still choosing to forgive me for everything I’ve done since we got that letter. It takes a big heart for someone to do that, especially after everything you went through.”

“Maybe we don’t really deserve each other at all and would be better off finding someone else to spend the rest of our lives with,” Luigi jokingly remarked with a smile. “I think Prince Peasley is still into me, so maybe after we make our divorce final, I should give him a call and let him know that I’m available to date again.”

“Oh no, I am not letting you get away from me that easily!” Bowser teased with a mischievous smirk. He gently pulled Luigi closer to him as he placed his snout up against Luigi’s ear and spoke in a low, yet playful tone. “I chose you over an entire kingdom and the way you want to repay me is by dumping me for someone who cares too much about his looks? I would think that a big and strong king such as myself at least deserves a better reward, don’t you think?”

Luigi couldn’t help but laugh uncontrollably at the thought of Bowser using flirtation to help him get what he wanted. However, the laughter was quickly cut short when Luigi let out a painful cry due to a sudden unbearable pain in his back.

Something that Bowser instantly noticed.

“Alright, I think it’s time for you to rest for the night,” Bowser remarked while moving his face away from Luigi.

“But I just woke up,” Luigi pointed out before letting out a yawn, an action that made Bowser raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

“Yes, but the thing you’re not realizing is that it’s almost 1 in the morning, not to mention that your back is still in a very fragile state,” Bowser explained. “And the more you rest, the faster your injury will heal, so let’s get you ready for bed before the doctor yells at me for-,”

“Can you tell me about your adventure with Mario?”

Bowser stopped in his tracks upon hearing Luigi’s unexpected question before looking at him with a confused smile.

“What?”

“Can you tell me about your adventure with Mario?” Luigi repeated while grabbing one of Bowser’s hands. “I promise I’ll go to sleep after you finish the story, but I want to know what it was like for you to team up with my brother.”

Bowser was honestly conflicted. On the one hand, the idea of playfully exaggerating his and Mario’s adventure was rather appealing to him, but at the same time, he wanted Luigi to recover from his injury as quickly as possible and he knew that keeping him awake when he should be resting was going to make the recovery process a little slower.

But when Bowser looked at Luigi and saw that his husband was giving him the puppy eyes, that was when the Koopa King couldn't help but cave in.

Damn, Bowser couldn’t say no to that adorable face.

“Fine, I’ll tell you about my adventure with Mario,” Bowser said with a sigh of defeat. “But, you have to swear to me that you’ll go to bed right after I finish telling the story.”

Luigi smiled and nodded in agreement before better settling himself into the hospital bed.

“Okay… I’ll start off with after I left our castle…"

Chapter Text

The next morning…

When the sun broke through the dark clouds and cast its warming rays onto the Dark Lands just a few hours after their late-night conversation, Luigi and Bowser spent their morning together in the hospital room.

What did they do throughout the morning, you ask?

It’s really quite simple.

Luigi and Bowser just hung out.

You see, since Luigi was still far too injured to get out of bed, much less leave the hospital room, the odd couple had limited options on how they could spend their morning together. However, this setback didn’t stop them from getting creative with the few activities they could do together. From having conversations about all kinds of random and different topics to just silently enjoying each other’s company, the only thing that ultimately mattered to the two kings was spending quality time together before Mario and Peach’s arrival.

However, their happiness was soon interrupted when a Koopa Troopa visited the couple and informed them that General Guy and Goomboss, the last surviving members of the original royal court, requested an urgent audience with King Bowser.

Luigi could instantly tell that the minion’s announcement angered his husband when he saw smoke coming out of Bowser’s nose.

The green king watched the two Koopas with worry and concern as Bowser started to go off on the young minion. He was conflicted. On the one hand, not only was it quite touching to see this protective side of Bowser, especially when he was being protective over him, but it was also especially comforting knowing that his husband was so easily willing to put his needs first.

But on the other hand…, both he and Bowser were kings of the Dark Lands.

And as kings, they had a duty to put their citizens and kingdom before anything else.

Even if that anything else was their significant other.

Upon hearing Bowser threatening the poor Koopa Troopa, Luigi was quickly brought out of his thoughts and wasted no time in grabbing his husband’s hand in order to stop him in his tracks. While the green king was successful in interrupting Bowser, this action also earned a bewildered look from the Koopa King as he was now confused on why Luigi interrupted his conversation. Luigi could feel his husband staring at him with confusion, and maybe a hint of annoyance, and while he was now somewhat afraid to go through with what he wanted to do next, the green king soon pushed his fears aside and told the young minion to let Goomboss and General Guy know that Bowser will meet them in the conference room located near the dining hall.

To say that Bowser was shocked after hearing Luigi’s order was a complete understatement.

“Why did you tell him that I’ll meet with Goomboss and General Guy?” Bowser asked in an annoyed tone after the Koopa Troopa rushed out of the room in nervous haste.

“Because I can’t always be your highest priority,” Luigi answered as he stared straight at Bowser.

“And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Bowser demanded with an accusatory tone as his free hand grabbed the hospital bed railing with a death grip.

Luigi didn’t speak as he grabbed Bowser’s other hand and gently forced him to let go of the railing. While part of the railing was now crushed beyond repair, the green Italian paid it no mind as he brought Bowser’s hand closer to his heart and gave it a gentle squeeze in hopes of calming him down.

“At the end of the day, we still have a kingdom to rule and hundreds of citizens to watch over and protect,” Luigi calmly explained while giving Bowser his utmost attention. To help further reduce Bowser’s temper, the green king started rubbing his husband’s hand in circular motions with his thumb. “And while it’s great that you and Mario defeated King Boo, everyone in our kingdom is in a tough place right now and as their kings, you and I have to step up during these hard times and put our people’s needs above our own.”

“General Guy and Goomboss can take care of the kingdom and citizens’ needs without me,” Bowser grumbled in a much softer tone while looking down at his and Luigi’s hands.

“Bowser…, you and I both know that General Guy and Goomboss can’t watch over the kingdom in our absence,” Luigi admitted with an amused smile. “Don’t get me wrong, while I do appreciate the enormous support they’ve given us since we made our relationship public, you have to admit that General Guy is very disorganized and Goomboss is…well…not the sharpest Goomba in the kingdom.”

As much as Bowser wanted to prove his husband wrong, the Koopa King inwardly knew deep down that Luigi did have a really good point. Goomboss and General Guy, as loyal as they were to the royal family, were honestly two of the last members of the royal court Bowser would trust with anything that could even be remotely important.

The Koopa King couldn’t help but let out a chuckle as the thought of General Guy and Goomboss becoming official rulers of the Dark Lands entered his mind.

Oh yea, their kingdom would surely fall apart if it was under their idiotic rule.

“Alright…, I suppose it would be a good idea for me to meet with them so that we still have a functioning kingdom to rule over after you recover,” Bowser admitted with a smile.

“I would agree with that,” Luigi remarked with a smirk.

“However,” Bowser emphasized. “Even though I’ll give them my audience, you better mark my words, my little green bean: As soon as I finished my meeting with the two nitwits, I swear to Grambi and to the Star Spirits up in the Overthere that I will come straight back here to continue nursing you back to health.”

“And I will be right here waiting for your heroic return,” Luigi teasingly promised before kissing Bowser’s hand.

1 hour later…

When Luigi woke up from his unintentional nap, the first thing he realized was the sound of someone knocking on a door. Now yes, while he was sort of in a daze from being woken up so suddenly, the green king’s haziness only lasted for a few seconds before he looked down at his arms and remembered all the events that led up to this particular moment.

King Boo launched a surprise invasion on the Dark Lands in his new ultimate plan to take over the world.

King Boo conquered the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnapped Peach as a way to have an advantage over Mario.

King Boo stabbed him even after Bowser agreed to surrender their kingdom over to the ghost king.

Wait a minute…

Bowser.

At the mention of his husband’s name, Luigi quickly looked around the room and felt his heart sinking when he noticed that the Koopa King was nowhere in sight. However, this feeling only lasted a few seconds because Luigi quickly remembered that Bowser had to leave his bedside because General Guy and Goomboss wanted to meet with him.

Another knock at the door brought Luigi back to reality before he could have a chance to figure out how much time had passed since his husband left to attend the meeting.

“Come in,” Luigi called out with a horse voice before quickly clearing his throat.

It took the unexpected visitor a little bit of time to open the door (which slightly confused the green king for a few different reasons), but when Luigi finally saw the visitor after they opened the door, he couldn’t help but let out an excited gasp.

Because the mysterious visitor wasn’t really mysterious at all.

“Mario…,” Luigi whispered with a heart-warming smile. If he noticed the few tears that were trailing down his face, he made no effort to wipe them away as the sight of his twin standing right in front of him with no, if not minor, injuries confirmed the questions he had thought about during his late-night conversation with Bowser.

Mario was safe.

Mario was alive.

“Hi fratellino…,” Mario softly responded with one of the most wholesome smiles Luigi had ever seen. As Mario started to walk to his brother’s bedside, his mind urged and begged him to give his twin the biggest hug he could possibly give to make sure that this wasn’t a dream. However, the red king knew that Luigi was still in a very delicate state, so rather than risk hurting his little brother, Mario instead kissed Luigi’s forehead once he was right by his side. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay, especially now that I know that King Boo didn’t hurt you,” Luigi answered. After Mario kissed his forehead, Luigi looked around the room but soon started to get confused when he noticed that he and Mario were the only two beings in the hospital room. “Where’s Peach?”

“Toadsworth and the royal court thought it would be best for her to stay behind while I visit you,” Mario explained before sitting down on the same chair Bowser had sat on for the past week. “She really wanted to come and see you after Jerry told us that you woke up, but both Toadsworth and the entire royal court were really determined in keeping her as far away from King Boo as humanly possible, even if there was no way for him to hurt us again.”

“But wouldn’t it be easier and better to have you guard her instead of the Toads?” Luigi inquired with an amused expression.

“That’s what Peach and I said, but you know how stubborn those old geezers can be, especially when it comes to Peach’s safety,” Mario chuckled before carefully grabbing one of Luigi’s hands.

“Old geezers?” Luigi questioned with a raised eyebrow. “Aren’t most of them younger than you and Peach?”

“Hey, Peach and I are not that old!” Mario exclaimed with a huge smile on his face. “If anything, you’re basically calling yourself old by calling Peach and me old!”

Luigi couldn’t help but laugh uncontrollably as the image of him, Mario, and Peach being senior citizens entered his mind, but his laughter was quickly cut short when he let out a painful cry due to a sudden and unbearable pain in his back.

Something that Mario quickly noticed.

“Maybe I should let you rest for a little bit…,” Mario pondered while looking at Luigi with a worried look.

Luigi waited for the pain to become more bearable before quickly shaking his head in disagreement.

“No, no, I’m okay big bro,” Luigi quickly reassured. As a way to help him change Mario’s mind, he gave his brother’s hand a squeeze while giving him a reassuring look. “My back only hurts like that when I laugh too hard, but it’s fine otherwise. Besides…, this is the first time I’ve seen you since King Boo made that deal with you and Bowser and I want to spend some quality time with my big brother.”

Mario was quiet as he continued to worryingly stare at Luigi, but it only lasted a few seconds before he used his free hand to gently ruffle Luigi’s head.

“Alright, if you say that you’re okay, then I’ll take your word for it,” Mario promised with a genuine smile.

“Thank you, big bro,” Luigi replied with a smile. He looked down at his and Mario’s hands, but quickly looked back up when a sudden thought came to him. “Actually…, since it’s just us here in the hospital room, would it be okay if I ask you something?”

“Of course,” Mario answered while nodding his head in affirmation. “What do you want to ask me?”

Luigi looked down at his and Mario’s hands as he nervously thought about how he could best ask his question. He knew he needed to ask the red king about the one thought that had been in mind since last night, but truthfully…, he was afraid. He was afraid to ask his brother his question because he knew that it would send in a conversation in a whole other direction that neither brother would be prepared for.

Plus, he was also afraid that discussing this topic would further drive the wedge between Mario and Bowser as well as possibly their kingdoms.

He didn’t want the two most important people in his life to hate each other. He couldn’t bear the thought of possibly having to choose his brother or his husband.

It was only when Mario silently and gently squeezed his hand that Luigi was not only brought back to reality, but also eventually gained the confidence he needed to ask the ultimate question.

“Why do you hate Bowser so much?”

With the way Mario’s shoulders instantly tensed up and with the way he immediately froze up with something that resembled fear, Luigi could tell that this was the last thing Mario expected him to ask.

He couldn’t blame his older brother for reacting this way, he really couldn’t, but that wasn’t going to stop Luigi from figuring out the root cause of Mario’s hatred towards Bowser.

“W-What makes you think that I hate Bowser, little b-bro?” Mario asked with an obvious slight stutter in his voice.

Luigi felt Mario’s grip on his hand tightening, but he didn't comment on this as he placed his free hand on top of his and Mario’s hands.

“Bowser told me about the argument you two had after you guys brought me here,” Luigi revealed while giving Mario his full attention. “Plus…, he also told me about how our kingdoms are on the verge of war.”

There was a painful awkward silence between the brothers as they each took their time to process the words that now hung in the air.

But what surprised Luigi more was that it didn’t take Mario long to have an answer to his question.

“I was terrified of losing you…,” Mario revealed as he stared straight at Luigi.

“But that doesn’t explain why you declared war on my kingdom,” Luigi softly responded after taking a few seconds to process Mario’s answer.

Mario couldn’t help but close his eyes and let out an annoyed sigh before looking at Luigi again.

“The reason I declared war on the Dark Lands was because I was, and still am, angry at Bowser for leaving you alone in that castle with no way to defend yourself from a lunatic ghost, even after you told him about the bad feeling you had about the letter,” Mario explained.

“The only reason Bowser left me alone in the first place was because he was following your orders so that you could give us your blessing,” Luigi argued. The green king felt anger rising up inside of him, but he forced himself to take a few deep breaths because he didn't want to yell at his twin. “Throughout my entire relationship with him, you have never once given him the benefit of the doubt, even after he had already proven himself to me.”

“Luigi, look, it’s not that I’m ungrateful for Bowser taking the bullet for you, I really am thankful for what he did to save you,” Mario explained while running his free hand through his hair in a stressful manner. “But you have to see this from my side and understand that the reason you almost got killed in the first place was because he was too damn stubborn to listen to your concerns-,”

“What happened with Boom Boom wasn’t when Bowser proved to me that he was a changed Koopa,” Luigi interrupted. “What I’m talking about was the time when he saved me from killing myself.”

Wait, what?

No…, it just couldn’t be true.

Luigi is kind, gentle, and one of the sweetest people in the entire galaxy.

There’s no way that he just said that he tried to kill himself at one point.

Right?

But when Mario looked at his little brother and saw nothing but seriousness on his face, that was when the red king knew that Luigi wasn’t joking.

He wanted to throw up.

How did he not know about this?

But Mario forced that question down as he gained the strength to only say one word with such a  quiet and croaky voice that he wasn’t even sure if he said anything at all. 

“W…What…?”

Luigi closed his eyes and took one calming deep breath before looking at Mario again.

“Do you remember when I spent that week at the Mushroom Kingdom shortly after Bowser and I made our relationship public?” Luigi softly asked.

Mario only had the strength to nod as he refused to take his eyes off of Luigi.

“During my stay at the castle, the Toads started to treat me differently,” Luigi explained as he kept his eyes glued onto Mario. “At first, it was just the usual bullying, like calling me ‘Green Mario,’ ‘Louis,’ or even ‘Mario’s sidekick,’ but after a short while…they started to treat me very differently. They would give me hurtful nicknames like ‘disgrace’ and ‘traitor to the Mushroom Kingdom,’ they would give me the cold shoulder whenever I would try to say hello to them or give them a friendly wave, and they would even try to convince me that you were ashamed to have me as your brother just because I was dating Bowser.

“But they weren’t the only ones who were giving me a hard time because of my relationship with Bowser. Pretty soon, a lot of Bowser’s minions started bullying me after I visited you and Peach. At first, they did the same things the Toads did to me back at the Mushroom Kingdom…, but…it wasn’t long before they…”

Luigi didn’t finish speaking because he used his free hand to wipe away the tears that were now trickling down his face. Mario, sadden to see Luigi so upset, was quiet as he carefully helped his brother wipe the tears off of his face.

“What…did they do…?” Mario asked in a very quiet and hesitant tone after Luigi calmed down.

Luigi didn’t speak for what felt like an eternity, but when he did finally speak, Mario felt his heart shattering into a million pieces when he heard his little brother speaking with a brittle and quiet voice.

“They…They vandalized my room one night…,” Luigi hesitantly confessed while avoiding eye contact with Mario. “They destroyed all of my things in my room, but the thing that hurt me the most was that they wrote horrible and cruel things on my walls like ‘Go kill yourself’ and ‘You deserve to die.’”

Mario wanted nothing more than to go find the Toads and minions who gave Luigi so much shit for being in a relationship, but there was one pressing question that was stopping him from rushing out of the hospital room.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Luigi was silent, but it wasn’t long before the green king looked at Mario with a sad and worried look.

“Because you hated Bowser so much back then, much more than you do right now,” Luigi whispered. “And I knew that if you found out that I attempted suicide under Bowser’s care, then you would’ve blamed him for something that wasn’t his fault.”

So many thoughts and questions were running through Mario’s head, but they were all quickly dashed away when the two kings heard a sudden knock on the door.

“I’m sorry to interrupt Your Majesties, but Toadsworth called and requested King Mario to return to the Mushroom Kingdom immediately,” Jerry informed while looking at both of the brothers.

Mario had never felt more conflicted than he did at that precise moment. Every part of him wanted to stay by Luigi’s side and asked him the questions that were rushing through his head right at this very moment.

But on the other hand…, he was a king. He knew that he couldn’t just ignore Toadsworth’s request, especially if it was about something significantly important.

Luigi could tell how difficult this decision was for his brother, so he gently tighten his grip on Mario’s hand as a way to snap him out of his internal dilemma. 

“You should go be with Peach and Toadsworth, fratellone,” Luigi suggested. He gave Mario’s hand one last squeeze before letting it go. “I think it’s best if you leave and take some time to process all of this.”

Mario didn’t move for what felt like hours, but eventually, he listened to his brother’s suggestion and reluctantly followed Jerry out of the hospital room.

Chapter Text

8 hours later…

Ever since he was crowned King of the Dark Lands, Luigi’s days have been filled to the brim with all kinds of royal duties, meetings, and other responsibilities. Now yes, Kamek and Kammy had offered to rule in Luigi and Bowser’s place for a few hours (multiple times in fact), but Luigi always turned down their offers. It wasn’t because Luigi didn’t want to relax or spend quality time with his husband, but rather…, he didn’t think he deserved it.

You see, when Luigi and Bowser revealed their relationship to the public, the Dark Lands’ citizens and minions…had really mixed feelings. Luigi didn’t blame them for their reactions, but for some of them to still treat him as an enemy of the Dark Lands was…not reassuring to the green-clad king in the slightest. Even when Luigi took the time to introduce himself to the citizens (which was something he was terrified to do), even when Luigi secretly confided to a few minions that his relationship with the Koopa King caused the Mushroom Kingdom (except for Mario and Peach) to turn against him, it didn’t matter to the Dark Lands. In their eyes, all they saw was a cowardly sidekick who had some long con plot to stop the Dark Lands once and for all.

And even though his hospital room felt quite eerie and sometimes looked like a room in an insane asylum, Luigi secretly appreciated his strange confinement. 

Because staying in this hospital room allowed him to finally…relax.

Luigi was suddenly brought out of his thoughts when he heard a knock on his hospital room door. Before the green Italian could call out a, “Come in,” the mysterious visitor (who turned out to be just Bowser) opened the door and let himself in the room.

“Sorry for taking so long, my love,” Bowser apologized while closing the door with his foot. Luigi’s stomach couldn’t help but growl when he saw the two plates of food Bowser was carrying. “The kitchen was completely out of drumsticks, but the chefs were kind enough to make each of us a piece of steak.”

The green-clad Italian was quiet as he stared at the plate Bowser placed on his hospital bed tray. It looked absolutely delicious. Besides the large piece of steak, there was also a small side of spaghetti with marinara sauce, around 5 pieces of sliced mushrooms with multiple different seasonings, and one bread roll. 

And yet…despite the wonderful presentation and even though he was quite famished, the thought of eating anything (even the simple little bread roll) just didn’t sit well with Luigi.

Something that Bowser started to notice.

“What’s wrong?” Bowser asked with concern.

Luigi didn’t respond. So many thoughts unrelated to the food were running through his head, but the green-clad king wasn’t sure how to convey any of his thoughts to Bowser, especially since he expressed these same thoughts to his husband hours ago.

It was only when he felt Bowser’s gentle grip on his shoulders that Luigi’s mind formed a clear and cohesive thought.

“We need to talk about him,” Luigi stated.

The green-clad king didn’t have to look at his husband to know the different emotions that were now running through his head. Indeed, from the sound of a plate being placed down on the hospital bed tray to the small puffs of smoke that was in his peripheral vision, Luigi knew that this topic was a sore spot for the Koopa King.

“We’ve already talked about this…,” Bowser explained with frustration in his voice. “We agreed that we were going to-,”

“No, you had talked about this!” Luigi suddenly shouted. Immediately realizing how harsh he sounded, the green-clad Italian forced himself to take a few deep breaths before looking at his husband and speaking with a much calmer voice. “Bowser, I love you and I want to support you, but your idea of turning King Boo into a painting and locking him in a safe located in the treasure chamber is a bad idea. The risk of someone breaking King Boo out of his prison is just far too great, and considering that he almost killed you and paralyzed me from the waist down, I…I can’t agree with what you want to do.”

To Luigi’s surprise, Bowser instantly stood up from his chair and started pacing the hospital room back and forth in an anxious manner.

“What do you suppose we do then?” Bowser sarcastically questioned while running his right hand through his hair. With Bowser’s tense posture and with the way his entire left hand was fidgeting, Luigi knew that underneath the sarcasm, the Koopa King was actually terrified. “Do you want to keep King Boo in that damn vacuum cleaner forever?”

“No…,” Luigi nervously whispered before looking down at his hands.

“Do you want to free King Boo so that we don’t have to worry about what to do him?” Bowser scoffed while placing his hands on his hips.

“No!” Luigi instantly screamed while staring straight at Bowser.

The room was quiet for only a few seconds before Bowser let out a stressed laugh.

“Then what can we do?” Bowser inquired with tears in his eyes. “How the fuck are we supposed to permanently get rid of a Boo, much less the King of all Boos?”

Luigi…couldn’t answer Bowser’s question.

Because truthfully…he had no idea how to permanently get rid of a Boo.

Sure, he and Bowser had discussed dozens of different possible ways to get rid of King Boo after Bowser came back from his meeting with General Guy and Goomboss, but no matter how hard they tried, no matter what they discussed, every idea came with one enormous flaw:

There was a risk of King Boo coming back and finishing what he started.

And considering that Professor E. Gadd was dead, Luigi didn’t want to deal with that significant risk.

Not now.

And not ever again.

A light, yet loud, knock on the hospital room door broke the two kings out of their thoughts. Even though Luigi was partially grateful for the unexpected interruption, it also somewhat pained him that this King Boo dilemma had to be put on the back burner.

“Enter,” Bowser called out to the visitor before sitting back down next to Luigi.

When the unknown visitor opened the door, both Luigi and Bowser were relieved to see that it was none other than Jerry the Hammer Brother. Although, the kings’ reassurance was soon replaced with confusion when they saw Jerry nerviously twiddling his thumbs.

“Jerry?” Luigi questioned with concern. “Is everything okay?”

 The Hammer Brother didn’t respond. Instead, he gave the two kings a worried expression that said, “I’m sorry,” before stepping away from the entrance.

And when two different visitors appeared at the doorway, Luigi and Bowser immediately realized why Jerry was so nervous just moments ago.

Because the two visitors were actually King Mario and Queen Peach.

No one spoke for what felt like an eternity. At some point, Jerry left to start his next guard shift, but Luigi never noticed the Hammer Brother’s quiet departure. Instead, all he could focus on was the fact that his older twin brother was standing 15 feet away from him, even though their last conversation essentially turned into an argument.

But the last thing Luigi expected was for Bowser to break the silence.

“I thought I told you two to stay the hell away from us,” Bowser remarked with nothing but hatred in his voice.

“Wait, Bowser, let us explain-,”

“No, I don’t want to hear your damn excuses!” Bowser interrupted Mario while shooting up from his chair. “Luigi told me about your ‘brotherly’ conversation, and quite frankly, I am really fucking sick and tired of you two right now.”

“Bowser, please, let’s just talk about this,” Peach pleaded while placing her right hand on Mario’s shoulder. “We understand that you’re upset-,”

“Oh, anger doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel about you two,” Bowser sneered before taking a few steps towards the Mushroom couple. “Now, get the hell out of my castle before I burn you two to a crisp-,”

“Bowser, wait.”

Mario, Peach, and even Bowser were genuinely surprised when Luigi suddenly interrupted the conversation. In fact, if Luigi wasn’t currently gripping one of his husband’s hands, Bowser would’ve most likely followed through with his threat.

“I want to hear what Mario and Peach have to say,” Luigi explained while staring at the Koopa King.

Mario and Peach watched in both amazement and nervousness as the two kings exchanged a wordless conversation with their eyes. After a few minutes (although it felt much longer to Mario and Peach), Bowser let out a frustrated sign and sat back down next to Luigi.

“Fine,” Bowser growled as smoke started to come out of his nostrils. “But, just know that your brother and Peach are on fucking thin ice right now.”

Mario was quiet as Luigi nodded in understanding and kissed the Koopa King’s hand. As a precautionary measure, the red-clad king waited until Bowser wasn’t on the verge of going through with his earlier threat before he started to speak.

“I wanted to come by and say that I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused to both of you,” Mario  explained while looking at both Luigi and Bowser. “From my actions and words, it’s been pretty obvious that I haven’t been…supportive of your relationship…”

“No shit dumbass…,” Bowser grumbled just loud enough for Luigi to harshly smack his arm.

“But I’m a completely changed man now,” Mario continued while ignoring Bowser’s snide comment. “After my visit this morning, I realized that you’ve had plenty of opportunities to kill Luigi or leave him to die somewhere. But instead of doing any of that, you saved my twin brother because underneath that tough demeanor…, you love him just as much as I do…"

“So does this mean…?” Luigi asked with hopefulness in his eyes.

Mario gave three affirmed nods while looking at Luigi and Bowser.

“If you and Bowser are willing to forgive me for everything I’ve done to you two, then I want to extend an olive branch,” Mario responded with a genuine smile. “With everything that’s happened since you told me and Peach about your relationship, it’s the least I can do for my twin brother and my brother-in-law.”

As he processed everything Mario just said, Luigi felt tears trailing down his face. He didn’t care though. Since the day he and Bowser revealed their relationship to the Mushroom couple, all Luigi wanted was for his brother and Bowser to get along. And now that Mario was extending a real and honest olive branch to his husband, Luigi’s heart was filled with nothing but happiness.

Because his wish was finally coming true.

“No.”

The green-clad king instantly felt his heart stop upon hearing Bowser speak with a deadpan voice. Even worse, Luigi couldn’t help but pale in terror upon comprehending the simple two-letter word his husband actually said.

No.

“Bowser…?” Luigi worryingly asked while squeezing his husband’s hand.

Ignoring Luigi, the Koopa King pulled his hand out of the green Italian’s grasp and stood up.

“I don’t want your fucking olive branch,” Bowser stated with a gravelly voice.

Luigi felt a panic attack slowly coming on as he switched his focus between Bowser and Mario and Peach. He wanted to call out to them, he really did, but the sudden pain in his chest prevented the green Italian from even uttering a sound.

But neither Mario, Peach, nor Bowser noticed this.

“Bowser, I understand that things between you and me are…really fragile right now…,” Mario said. “But please trust me when I say-,”

“Trust you!?” Bowser interrupted with a forced laugh. “Do you really expect me to trust you after every single thing you’ve done to me!”

Scared by Bowser’s sudden changed in demeanor, Mario placed himself in front of Peach while Bowser took five slow steps towards them.

“When we were in my airship on the course to the Dark Lands, I expressed my raw emotions to you for the first time in my life,” Bowser fumed with tears in his eyes. “When we snuck into my and Luigi’s room, I confided in you about your brother’s personal struggles about going from an ordinary citizen to the King of the Dark Lands, even though he wanted me to keep that a secret from you. On top of all of that, I have tried countless times to prove to you that I have stopped my evil ways and have genuine feelings for Luigi. And yet, despite every single good thing I have done, in your eyes, I am always going to be the big bad Koopa King.”

If Luigi noticed Bowser storming out of the hospital room, he didn’t acknowledge it. If he noticed Mario and Peach calling out to Bowser at the hospital room entrance, he didn’t acknowledge it.

Because of a simple two-letter word repeating in his head over and over again.

No.

No.

No.

Bowser was angry. From not knowing what to do with King Boo to having to attend that stupid meeting with General Guy and Goomboss, the Koopa King just…needed to get away. He didn’t have a specific destination in mind, but while he was walking through the stone hallways, one overpowering thought plagued Bowser’s head.

He needed to be as far away from Mario and Peach as he possibly could.

“Bowser, wait!”

Bowser ignored the voice. He had no idea who exactly called out to him, but considering that Luigi was still far too injured to get out of bed, Bowser didn’t bother to give the mysterious voice any of his time.

Unfortunately for the Koopa King, something grabbed his arm and stopped him in his tracks. 

“Bowser, stop!” Peach begged. “Please, just stop and listen to me for five minutes!”

Bowser certainly didn’t want to (and had half a mind to just push Peach to the side), but seeing how stubborn Peach was being, he angrily exhaled and quietly gave the Mushroom queen his attention.

“I don’t blame you for being angry with Mario,” Peach informed while refusing to let go of Bowser’s arm. “Hell, after you kicked us out of your castle, I got so angry at my husband for destroying the fragile peace between out two kingdoms.”

Bowser momentarily paused upon hearing Peach curse for the very first time, but quickly shook that thought out of his head.

“So then why the hell are you stopping me?” Bowser asked in a very hostile manner.

“Because this is about Luigi.”

Hearing his husband’s name immediately broke Bowser out of his angry trance. Noticing this, Peach slowly let go of the Koopa King’s arm.

“You have every right to feel how you feel about Mario, me, and the Mushroom Kingdom,” Peach informed. “But, the fact of the matter is, Mario loves his little brother more than anything else in the world. And while I know you won’t be thrilled to hear this, Luigi loves Mario just as much as he loves you.”

The hallway was silent for about 20 seconds before Peach spoke again.

“I understand that it’s impossible to believe, but Mario really wants to start fresh,” Peach explained with concern in her eyes. “We don’t expect you to forgive us for all we’ve done, but all we’re asking is for you to give Mario one chance to prove himself to you. If you can’t do that for us, then at least do it for Luigi.”

If Bowser noticed Peach walking back towards the direction of Luigi’s hospital room, he didn’t acknowledge it. 

Because Peach’s words kept ringing in his head over and over again.

“If you can’t do it for us, then at least do it for Luigi."

10 minutes later…

Mario was at a complete loss for what to do.

Sure, Luigi has had panic attacks throughout their lives, but this panic attack was easily the worst one by far.

Because nothing was working.

Mario tried speaking in a soothing voice, but that didn’t help Luigi.

Mario tried to help his brother focus on his breathing, but that didn’t help Luigi.

Peach had even tried singing a lullaby Toadsworth sang to her when she was little.

But that still didn’t help Luigi.

Oh yes, it inwardly killed Mario that his little brother was still suffering from his panic attack. Early on, Peach had made the suggestion to call for a nurse or doctor, but Mario explained that he knew how to help Luigi with his panic attacks. But now? The Mushroom king was honestly on the panic verge of slamming that call nurse button himself.

Because maybe they could help Luigi better than he can.

“What is going on here?”

Mario and Peach turned around upon hearing Bowser’s unmistakable voice. While part of them were relieved to see someone who could maybe help bring Luigi out of his panic attack, it was also a little nerve-wracking to see the Koopa they just argued with not even 20 minutes ago.

“Luigi’s having a panic attack,” Peach quickly informed the Koopa King. Mario was entirely grateful for Peach being able to explain everything to Bowser so that he could keep his focus on Luigi. “We’ve tried everything we could think of to help calm him down, but nothing is working. We don’t know what to do-,”

Without a word, Bowser quickly rushed to his husband’s side and gently grabbed Luigi’s left hand. When Mario started to hear the Koopa King speak Italian, he was going to question how the hell Bowser even knew the language, but the red-clad king stopped in his tracks upon seeing that Luigi’s breathing was slowing down.

Realizing that Bowser was successfully bringing Luigi out of his panic attack, both Mario and Peach slowly back away from the odd couple. The thought of giving Luigi and Bowser privacy had crossed the Mushroom couple’s mind more than once, but the thought of leaving Luigi’s side when he needed them the most didn’t sit well with either of them.

Neither Mario nor Peach spoke for what felt like hours. At some point, they realized that Bowser stopped speaking Italian, but they didn’t go back to Luigi’s side. The thought of triggering Luigi’s panic attack again honestly prevented the Mushroom couple from even move a muscle. 

So naturally, Mario and Peach were startled when they heard Bowser speak.

“Do you promise?”

At first, Mario thought that Bowser was asking the question to Luigi. However, when he noticed that both Bowser and Luigi were looking at him, the red Italian realized that the question was directed at him. 

“What…?” Mario quietly asked.

The hospital room was silent for a few moments before Bowser spoke again.

“Do you promise to Grambi and to the Stars above that you’re a changed man?”

At first, the question kind of threw Mario off to the point where he wasn’t sure how to respond to the question. However, when Mario caught sight of Luigi’s nervous expression, he understood the actual purpose of Bowser’s question.

“I do,” Mario responded while looking back at Bowser.

“Do you promise to put this rivalry behind us?”

Mario was quiet for only a second before answering Bowser’s question.

“I do.”

 “And can you please have faith in me, especially when it comes to Luigi’s life?”

“Yes, I can and I will,” Mario immediately responded with a nod.

The Koopa King ignored Mario, Peach, and even Luigi’s gazes as he thought long and hard about each of Mario’s answers. Sensing no malice in the red Italian’s responses, Bowser let out a sign and gave the Mushroom couple his entire attention.

“If you are really serious in keeping those promises, then I will accept your olive branch,” Bowser announced with a genuine smile.

Chapter Text

1 month later…

Bowser was suddenly jolted awake upon hearing thunder booming within the borders of the Dark Lands. As the heavy rain started to tap their songs on the windows, the Koopa King rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and scanned his surroundings. From the bookshelves containing many different books with really boring titles to a very ordinary lamp that was on his large chestnut desk, it didn’t take Bowser very long to realize that he was in his office.

This…was a confusing sight for Bowser to see. Sure, this wasn’t the first time he unintentionally fell asleep in his office, but what was strange about the whole ordeal was that he doesn’t remember feeling tired.

Come to think of it, when was the last time he stepped foot in his office?

“It’s all your fault.”

Bowser could’ve sworn he felt his heart stop as soon as he heard the one voice he never wanted to hear again.

No…, he was probably just hearing things…

He and Mario defeated him over a month ago…

It was impossible for King Boo to escape from his prison again.

Right?

Bowser was scared, but he knew his mind wouldn’t rest until he saw him.

Because if that damn ghost king somehow escaped from his prison again, Bowser would never be able to forgive himself.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Bowser shot up from his chair and rushed to the office entrance. As soon as the Koopa King opened the office doors, the first thing he noticed was a large trail of dark red liquid.

Thunder roared in the distance again right as Bowser horrifically comprehended that the red liquid was actually blood.

Luigi’s blood. 

“No!” Bowser instantly whispered to himself. To prevent himself from hyperventilating, the Koopa King closed his eyes and forced himself to take a few slow deep breaths. “You’re overthinking this, Bowser. The minions are just…playing a sick joke on you! Luigi is fine.”

But the self-reassurance did not ease Bowser’s nerves at all.

Even though his brain told him to go to his and Luigi’s room, Bowser instead decided to follow the trail of blood. With each step he took, the Koopa King couldn’t help but quicken his pace to the point where he was eventually running to the unknown destination.

However, it wasn’t long before King Boo’s voice echoed through the dark stone hallways.

“You shouldn’t have left him alone.”

“He confided in you and you tossed him aside like an old rag doll.”

“I will finish what I’ve started.”

It felt like hours before Bowser discovered that the trail was leading him to the throne room. He was torn at the sight. On the one hand, it was reassuring to see a possible end to this disturbing dark red trail.

But on the other hand, the Koopa King had no idea what lied on the other side of those throne room doors.

And that fear of the unknown honestly terrified him.

Without giving himself a chance to think about his options, Bowser slammed open the throne room doors. However, as he quickly surveyed the room, the Koopa King instantly stopped dead in his tracks upon noticing two significant details.

First, Luigi was unconscious on the floor in the middle of the throne room.

And second, King Boo was floating 10 feet above Luigi with a knife in his hand.

Bowser felt himself turning as pale as a Boo as his mind started to fathom the mere idea of what the ghost king could do.

“This is all your fault, you know,” King Boo explained while floating closer to Luigi. With King Boo’s sadistic grin and the gleam in his purple eyes, it was obvious to Bowser that the ghost king was relishing every single moment. “If you had just taken five insignificant minutes to listen to your husband’s concerns, then maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t be in your throne room right now. But instead, you threw everything away, all because you wanted Mario to like you.”

Bowser was panic-stricken. His body pleaded with him to use any kind of attack to keep King Boo away from Luigi, but some unseen force was keeping him frozen in place. However, one look at King Boo was all Bowser needed to realize that the ghost king was using his magic to keep him in place.

As if responding to Bowser’s silence, King Boo’s grin only grew before he let out a deep chuckle.

“But who am I to deny what has been given to me?” King Boo taunted. “Especially when you have given me my one and only arch-nemesis.”

If Bowser noticed the tears that were starting to stream down his face or the nausea that was creeping up in his throat, he didn’t acknowledge any of it.

Because all he could do was horrifically watch King Boo plunge the knife right into Luigi’s heart.

The sound of a volcano erupting in the distance was able to cover Bowser’s blood-curdling scream as he quickly shot up from his bed. As the Koopa King grabbed his chest and forced himself to slow his breathing down, he allowed himself to hazily study his surroundings.

A fireplace with an impeccable design.

A dark green sofa.

A chestnut dresser.

And a little writing desk with a Bowser-shaped lamp.

Wait a minute…

The Bowser-shaped lamp!

Oddly enough, the sight of the strange object was enough for the Koopa King to realize that what he just witnessed was another nightmare.

Bowser sighed in frustration while he used one hand to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Almost every night since he accepted Mario’s olive branch 4 weeks ago, Bowser had been having all sorts of nightmares that pertained to the one and only ghost king.

But the one thing that terrified him the most was that every nightmare always ended with King Boo killing Luigi.

Wait a second…

Luigi!

No words could describe the horror Bowser felt when he saw an empty spot next to him. At first Bowser started to hyperventilate, but he quickly forced himself to close his eyes and remain calm.

He and Luigi were successful in turning King Boo into a painting almost 2 weeks ago. Hell, as a precautionary measure, they had even told everyone that they hid his painting in a faraway location.

There was no way for King Boo to break out of his prison.

But even still…

He needed to check.

He just needed to see for himself that Luigi was actually safe.

Because if his husband was in any sort of trouble, Bowser would never be able to forgive himself.

Without a moment’s notice, the Koopa King rushed out of bed and ran to his bedroom door. When he violently opened the door, Bowser immediately spotted Jerry and a red-shelled female Koopa Troopa standing at their guard post right outside the master bedroom.

This…did not calm Bowser’s anxiety down in the slightest.

Because this could only mean that Luigi was by himself somewhere in the castle.

A perfect opportunity for King Boo to finish what he started.

“Have either of you seen Luigi?” Bowser questioned after forcing himself to push the petrifying thought out of his head.

Jerry and the female Koopa Troopa looked at Bowser for only a few seconds, but it took every ounce of Bowser’s strength to not panic when he watched the two minions exchange a worried glance.

“He left about 30 minutes ago, Your Majesty,” the red-shelled female Koopa Troopa explained while looking back at Bowser. “Jerry did try to follow him, but King Luigi ordered us to stay at our guard post.”

“But that wasn’t the worst of it,” Jerry added. “He looked…really terrified, Your Beefiness. Sure, both Mary and I know that King Luigi can be a nervous man, but Sire…, this wasn’t his usual nervousness. There was this…unmistakable fear in his eyes that even I have never seen in him before.” 

“Which way did he go?” Bowser quickly asked.

“He went in the direction of Hallway E, Your Burliness,” the female Koopa Troopa, Mary, responded.

Hallway E? That didn’t make any sense to Bowser. Hallway E consisted of a dead end with nothing but empty guest rooms, some paintings, and a single Bowser statue. Why would Luigi have any interest in going there?

Unless…

Bowser turned pale upon grasping the actual reason for Luigi’s interest in Hallway E. After quickly ordering Jerry and Mary to stay at their guard post, the Koopa King ran to Hallway E in posthaste. While each step brought him closer to his destination, the only emotion that plagued the Koopa King’s mind was terror.

Because Hallway E was one of the few places that contained a secret.

A secret that only Luigi and Bowser knew about.

And if his husband was in any sort of trouble…

No, Bowser couldn’t bear to finish that thought.

Because if he did, it probably would’ve sent him into a panic attack right then and there.

When he finally arrived at Hallway E, the first thing Bowser did was scan the entire hallway for any bystanders. Seeing that no one was in the hallway but him, the Koopa King wasted no time in walking to the single Bowser statue.

He was nervous, but this didn’t stop Bowser from pushing the statue’s nose.

It felt much too long for Bowser’s comfort before the wall eventually opened up to reveal a secret elevator. The worried Koopa King was quick to enter the secret elevator and glanced at the elevator buttons for 5 seconds before pressing the only one that consisted of two letters. 

Elevator button TC.

AKA, the Treasure Chamber.

Yes, when the elevator eventually arrived at the selected destination, it opened its doors while letting out a soft “ding”. Hating to waste even another second, Bowser immediately stepped out of the elevator and inspected his surroundings. Under normal circumstances, the Koopa King would usually take a minute or two to admire all the gold, jewelry, and other artifacts he and his ancestors had acquired during their reigns.

But there was no time to look at all the treasures.

Not when his most important treasure might be in grave danger.

As the Koopa King started to make his way to the farthest corner of the room, it wasn’t long before he saw someone staring at King Boo’s painting. Even though the stranger’s back was facing towards him, tears started to form in Bowser’s eyes while he let out the biggest sigh of relief.

Because there was no mistaking the green wheelchair and the stranger’s dark brown hair.

Luigi.

While every part of Bowser wanted to run and give his husband the biggest hug he could give him, the logical part of his brain knew that this would only lead to Luigi getting scared out of his wits (the very last thing Bowser wanted to do). So instead, the Koopa King quietly walked to Luigi’s side.

The Treasure Chamber was quiet for a long while. Even when Bowser was right next to him, Luigi didn’t acknowledge his husband’s presence as all his attention was still on King Boo’s portrait.

“I’m surprised to find you here at 2 in the morning,” Bowser eventually joked with a soft tone. As a passive way to make Luigi aware of his unexpected presence, Bowser gently placed a hand on his husband’s shoulder. “Usually at this hour, you would either be sleeping in our room or I would find you passed out in the library from reading too much.”

Luigi didn’t laugh at Bowser’s attempt at humor. Hell, the green king didn’t even flinch when Bowser placed his hand on his shoulder. It was as if Luigi and King Boo were the only two things in the entire Treasure Chamber.

Something that did not ease Bowser’s nerves.

“I’m glad we were able to find that ghost-painting machine undamaged back in Boo Woods,” Bowser commented in a gentle voice. “I know that he can be quirky at times, but it was really smart of E. Gadd to hide the machine in a portable suitcase. It made these past 2 weeks so much easier to deal with.”

Bowser noticed the way his husband’s blue eyes became much more focused upon the mention of E. Gadd’s name. If Luigi was surprised to see the Koopa King’s presence, he made no indication of this as he briefly looked at Bowser with an unreadable expression before bringing his focus back to King Boo’s painting.

“E. Gadd spoke to me in a dream,” Luigi eventually explained with a soft tone. “And he said that we need to burn King Boo’s painting…”

Oh.

Oh.

This was not something Bowser expected to hear at all.

Sure, Luigi had talked about wanting to permanently get rid of King Boo for weeks, but the idea, the simple idea of burning King Boo’s painting, just…did not sit well with Bowser. 

It wasn’t because he wasn’t open to it, but what made it rather unsettling was that the idea seemed crazy, even for E. Gadd’s standards.

Plus, the fact that Luigi (gentle, kind-hearted, and peaceful Luigi) was also opened to the idea…seemed out of character for him.

“I know the idea sounds insane, but the more I thought about it…, the more that it made sense to me…,” Luigi explained as if he could read Bowser’s thoughts. “I mean…, when you overcook food or burn a tree, there’s no way to bring it back to its original form. By that logic, wouldn’t burning King Boo’s painting permanently stop him from hurting us ever again?”

As Bowser pondered Luigi’s question, he couldn’t help but notice that what his green-clad husband said made a lot of sense to him. King Boo is trapped in a painting (with no means to escape without outside help) and while they had told everyone that they hid his painting in a faraway location, there was still that small possibility of someone eventually finding out about their secret.

And considering that King Boo was so hellbent on wanting to kill them…

Strangely enough, a thought just suddenly occurred to Bowser.

“Is that why you came down here by yourself?” Bowser inquired while looking at Luigi. “So that you can burn his painting?”

Bowser noticed Luigi’s subtle nod as the green king took out a light blue lighter out of his pajama pants pocket.

“I brought this lighter with me so that I can use it to get rid of his painting…,” Luigi whispered while staring at the lighter. “But, every time I try to start the lighter…, I…I hesitate…”

Without any warning, Luigi let out an angry scream and threw the lighter at King Boo’s painting, an action that honestly made Bowser flinch.

“I hate this!” Luigi shouted while staring at King Boo’s painting with nothing but hatred in his eyes. “I hate King Boo for causing us so much pain and suffering, I hate E. Gadd for selling his painting at that stupid garage sale, and I hate myself for being too scared to burn King Boo’s portrait!” 

In a matter of approximately 10 seconds (which was very quick for Bowser), Luigi’s mood suddenly shifted from anger to sadness.

“I just want him to stop hurting us…,” Luigi softly confessed before tears started to trail down his face. 

This…was so heartbreaking for Bowser to see. Devastated, anger, traumatized, the idea that someone as insignificant as King Boo could make his sweet and pure-hearted husband act like this honestly made Bowser want to burn the portrait himself.

Funnily enough, as he thought about it more and more, that particular idea didn’t sound so bad to the Koopa King.

Without a word, Bowser placed himself right in front of Luigi and kneel down to match Luigi’s height. He gently grabbed both of Luigi’s hands before giving the green king a sincere look.

“Do you want me to burn his painting for you?” Bowser asked while staring at Luigi.

Admittedly, it took the green king a while to realize that his husband spoke. However, as he slowly stopped crying and started to wipe his tears away, Luigi couldn’t help but widen his eyes upon actually registering the words Bowser said.

Do you want me to burn his painting for you?

“You…you would do that?” Luigi softly asked while looking at Bowser. “Even after you somehow convinced me to keep his painting in the treasure chamber?”

Bowser slowly nodded while giving his husband a gentle smile.

“Your happiness is more important than keeping King Boo’s stupid painting,” Bowser confessed while wiping the last few tears off of Luigi’s face. “So if you want to burn his painting, then let’s burn his painting.”

As his sadness eventually switched to thoughtfulness, Luigi couldn’t help but switch his attention between Bowser and King Boo’s portrait. Bowser didn’t mind this though. While it was a rather simple question for him, the Koopa King knew that it would take time for Luigi (or anyone with common sense, really) to weigh all the possible outcomes.

“Okay…,” Luigi eventually said with a slow nod. “Let’s burn his painting.”

When he heard Luigi’s response, Bowser didn’t waste any time in making his way to the lighter that landed under King Boo’s portrait. Once he picked up the lighter, the Koopa King stared at the object for a few seconds before looking at Luigi again.

“On the count of three, I’ll start the lighter,” Bowser explained.

Luigi silently nodded in response.

“One.”

Luigi closed his eyes and calmly took one deep breath.

“Two.”

Luigi opened his eyes and stared at King Boo’s painting.

“Three.”

Immediately after the numerical word left his mouth, Bowser started the lighter and allowed the small flame to touch the bottom right corner of King Boo’s portrait. As the small flame turned into a bigger fire, Bowser walked back to Luigi’s side as the two kings watched the painting slowly turning into nothing but ashes.

“I’m proud of you.”

Bowser was brought back to reality when Luigi eventually broke the silence. After he fully comprehended what his green-clad husband actually said, Bowser couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

“For setting King Boo’s painting on fire?” Bowser questioned with a smirk before looking down at Luigi.

In response, Luigi let out a laugh.

“Yes…, but more importantly…, I’m proud of you for accepting Mario’s olive branch,” Luigi explained with a smile. He allowed himself to rest his head on Bowser’s side as he watched the fire destroy the last little bit of King Boo’s painting. “I know things haven’t been easy for either of you since King Boo conquered the Dark Lands, but it really means a lot to me that you and Mario are willing to put everything behind you and start over.”

Bowser was quiet for only a few seconds before he leaned down and kissed the top of Luigi’s head.

“The journey you and I have been through together has been a long and difficult one…,” Bowser admitted. “But, if given the choice, I would do it all over again if it means that I get to spend the rest of my life with you.”

No words could express the joy Bowser felt when he saw Luigi’s face turning as the Koopa King’s hair. Now yes, while it was always fun to try to make his husband blush, the more important thing that mattered to Bowser at that moment was seeing…the smile on his husband’s face.

It was as if…Luigi was happy.

And that thought warmed Bowser’s heart.

However, as Bowser started to stare as his green-clad husband with nothing but love in his eyes, he was brought back to reality when Luigi’s watch alarm unexpectedly goes off.

“We should probably head back…,” Luigi stated while looking at the time on his watch. “Jerry and Mary will probably send out a search party for us if we stay here for too much longer.”

The Koopa King was rather torn. Part of him wanted to stay here and enjoy Luigi’s company for a few more minutes, but he knew deep down that every minute they spent down here was another minute that the minions would start to worry about his and Luigi’s whereabouts.

And considering that Luigi had been in the Treasure Chamber for more than 30 minutes…

“You’re probably right…,” Bowser responded. He briefly glanced at the painting’s remains for a few seconds before giving his green-clad husband his full attention. “Are you ready to go?”

Bowser silently watched Luigi as the green king thoughtfully looked at the remains of King Boo’s painting. Approximately 10 seconds passed before Luigi looked back up at Bowser with a soft smile.

“Yea…,” Luigi answered. “Let’s-a-go.”

The Koopa King couldn’t help but let out a chuckle upon hearing Luigi’s old catchphrase. Neither of the two kings uttered a word as Bowser gently pushed Luigi’s wheelchair farther away from the remains of the frightening and dastardly ghost king.

The same ghost king who can never again try to kidnap the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom and defeat his green-clad younger twin brother.

And the same ghost king who can never again try to break the bonds between the fair Mushroom King and the fearsome Dark Lands.

Because when you burn something, there’s no way to bring it back to its original form.

Not now.

And not ever again.