Chapter Text
"the princess has been captured! she must be saved!" toadsworth spoke to the crowd of panicked toads, who were frantically speaking over each other, trying to make sense of the situation. "where are the mario brothers?"
"here! i'm here!" luigi raised his hand, the toads staring at him as he pushed through the crowd to the front, clearly worried as he spoke to the council of fungi. "mario was taken with the princess! i'll go to save them both!"
"..." the council looked at him, then at each other, then back at him, looking even more worried, a couple grimacing while others shook their heads. "uh, no offense, but is there anybody else that could go?"
"huh..?"
"i mean, you were captured by bowser before, right?" one of them asked, luigi frowning. that was when he had just showed up..! it wasn't his fault!! "you had to be saved by the princess and mario? so, if they're both captured.."
he huffed, clenching his fists tightly. "i'll save them both! i swear!" he spoke confidentially, the toads sharing nervous glances, but not speaking up. sure, he was weaker than his brother, and slower, and a bit scared, okay, a lot scared, but! he had to save his brother! mario would do the same for him! and he had! so he would!
"alright." toadsworth nodded to him, seeming to trust him with this important mission. "it seems the perpetrator flew towards the dark lands.. no doubt one of bowser's minions.."
"don't worry. i'll get them back." he was sure in his word, toadsworth wishing him luck as he headed out past the toads, ready to go save his brother, or die trying. hopefully not dying.
but.. how was he supposed to save them..? he didn't know how to get to the darklands, he didn't know how much time he had to get there, and how was he going to beat that magic koopa..? he had completely overpowered him last time with just a tap of his wand, there was no way..
"luigi!" he jolted, turning to see you running up to him with a backpack and your sleigh strapped to your back, skidding to a halt when you reached him. "i'm coming with you."
"oh, thank goodness, i really didn't wanna go alone.." he sighed in relief, and you laughed a little, shaking your head.
"you're supposed to say, "no, it's too dangerous!" or "i'll do this on my own!"" you mimicked him, holding your hands out and doing a ton of gestures, and he huffed, muttering about how he didn't sound like that. "besides, i've lived here longer than you, i know more about where we're going. i even know some secret shortcuts!"
"shortcuts-? alright, come on!" he nodded, and you cheered, walking beside him, making him laugh a little. "i think we can go to the kongs first for their help. i dunno if they want to fight bowser again, but it can't hurt to ask.."
"good idea. i also have some supplies in my bag, so we shouldn't have any trouble." you clenched the straps of your backpack, and he nodded, finally stepping out of toad town. the clouds didn't seem to clear up at all the further the sky went, making the once sunny mushroom kingdom a land of darkness. not for long, though. the two of you would go save the princess and mario, together, just the two of you, for a super long journey, alone-
"whooo! we're going on another adventure!" you both glanced behind you, toad running up to you both, waving his frying pan above his head. "c'mon guys! let's go rescue the princess!"
well, the more help the better, you sighed, shaking your head and walking past him to lead them. "you're way too cheerful about this. plus, don't you have a brigade to run..?"
"no point being negative! the princess will be fine, she's tough! and my brigade will do fine without me for a the!" he reassured, holding onto the straps of his bag as he jogged to catch up with you, turning his head around to talk to luigi. "plus she's got mario! he won't let anyone hurt her! and, it's not my first time fighting him, either! this'll be a piece of cake!"
"it is mine, though." you sighed, but toad did have a point. the odds were against the koopa king. you glanced around, seeing the plumber looking ahead at the sky nervously. "luigi, you took on bowser, how did you do it?"
"ah! well, actually, mario mostly fought him.." he jolted a little, scratching the back of his neck. "when i first got captured by bowser, i couldn't really do much.. i just got thrown in a cage.."
"a cage?"
"y- yeah. he tried to interrogate me, but i guess.. he didn't like the answers i gave him.." he shuddered a little, not really wanting to remember what had happened. "so i got put in a cage. and almost fell into lava. but mario saved me, and we used the superstar together to defeat bowser!"
"yeah! it was awesome!" toad agreed, laughing as he looked back at him, not noticing the distressed look you had on your face. "we're gonna kick his butt again! i guaranteed it!"
you bit your lip before nodding, sighing as you entered the mushroom forest to head towards your secret shortcut. "i sure hope you're right.."
𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊
in the deepest part of the darklands, a new castle was being built. not nearly as impressive as the king's previous ship, but it would do for now. surrounded by lava and woods full of dry bones, guarded by troops at every angle, with a red flag at the very top with the king's face on it, of course. and inside, princess peach was sitting at a set dinner table, a banquet of food before her, and a tiny koopa across from her, scarfing down plate after plate, dirtying his bib and the table.
"aren't you gonna eat?" he asked through a mouthful of food, peach grimacing a bit at the sight. "it's real good! dad's got the best chefs!"
dad.. she had figured this smaller koopa was related to bowser in some way, thanks to the similarities they shared. apparently bad manners was one of them.
"where's mario?" she asked gently, flinching when the small koopa immediately whined, slamming his tiny fists on the table. so much for asking gently.
"not here! he tried to take mama from me, so dad sent him somewhere he'll never escape!" he cried, peach's eyes widening. mario was sent somewhere else, that meant she was- wait, "mama"? "dad may be tiny right now, but soon we'll fix him, then we can be a happy family!"
she scoffed, looking away with a frown. a "happy family"? she already said no to marrying bowser! there's no way she'd agreed to have a kid with him!! though, with mario gone..
she sighed, turning to the window, a dark, cloudy sky covering what was once a beautiful, starry night. she just hoped her toads were okay, and that somehow she and mario could escape from this and stop bowser's plan. it couldn't be that hard, right..?