Chapter Text
It was a bitter and rainy evening. The stone walls of Bowser’s castle shook intensely under the force of an explosion that tore open a hole to the outside. Through it dashed a stout, mustachioed man, dressed in red with blue overalls and a cap with the letter M printed on it. Over the hero's shoulder was an exhausted but unharmed princess with long, wavy blonde hair, dressed in pink.
A beat after Mario escaped from Bowser’s castle with Princess Peach, his younger brother Luigi followed after him. They had very similar looks, but Luigi was taller, slimmer, arguably more handsome, and wore green instead of red. His good looks were somewhat undermined by his obvious anxiety and the wear and tear of a long journey.
“You get back here, Mario!”
A furious roar burst out, and a hulking figure appeared silhouetted against the hole in the castle wall. It was Bowser, King of the Koopas and owner of the building they had vandalized. He was a fearsome monster, a mix between a turtle and a dragon, with a flaming red mane, sharp horns, fangs, and claws, and a large turtle shell covered in spikes.
“Never!” Mario shouted back in his natural Italian accent. “You lose this time, Bowser!”
Mario continued to run away, his first and only priority being to get the princess back to her kingdom safely.
Luigi, instead, couldn’t help but hesitate. Except for her obvious emotional distress, the princess was fine when they found her. What in the world did Bowser want to accomplish by kidnapping her over and over in the first place? He never even sent a ransom note to the Mushroom Kingdom.
According to the rumors, Bowser was in love with Peach. Was it true?
“Get back here you insufferable human!” Bowser continued to roar, but Luigi noticed that he didn’t jump down to chase after them. When he looked closer, he saw the King Koopa holding his side, blood leaking from some wound on his abdomen.
Luigi felt ice freezing in his veins. Bowser was hurt. Badly. And all of his guards had been incapacitated by none other than he and his brother on their way in. So who would tend to the injured king?
The hero’s brother felt his feet stopping on their own. Mario may have been ruthless with their enemies, but Luigi only fought to save or protect—he couldn’t stand to actually hurt his opponent. Soldiers or whatever, they were people with families who loved them, and he couldn’t bear to take away someone’s precious family.
“Mario, wait. He’s hurt.”
“Don’t stop, Luigi. He deserves all the pain he gets,” Mario called back coldly.
Luigi had a moment of hesitation, one that he immediately hated himself for. “No he doesn’t! Nobody does!”
He turned around and ran back to the castle.
“Luigi!” Mario shouted, half shocked and half furious.
Meanwhile, Bowser no longer had the strength to support himself against the wall, and he collapsed.
“Luigi, you idiot, get back here! You’re gonna get hurt!”
“Don’t worry! Just get the princess back home. I’ll be right behind you.”
With a powerful jump, Luigi leapt back into the castle. He almost couldn’t manage it with his strength, but he managed to roll the giant monster onto his shell. His wound looked worse than Luigi expected. Bandages and pressure probably wouldn’t be enough with how deep it was.
“Oh I sure hope this works on Koopas,” Luigi muttered, pulling a small red and white mushroom out of his overall pocket. He pushed it between Bowser’s fangs, made sure he swallowed it, and as soon as he saw the wound healing he made to escape.
Luigi didn’t want anyone to die, and that included himself. Saving Bowser’s life was great and all, but what would happen after he woke up? Their situations would probably reverse, and Luigi didn’t know if he could count on the same kindness from the Koopa King.
As he tried to jump away, however, Luigi felt a huge hand wrap around his ankle, holding him down.
“L-let me go!” He struggled to escape, but the monster’s grip was strong.
“Please… wait…”
Though he wasn’t at risk of dying anymore, Bowser was still exhausted and very injured. His breathing was laborious and his voice was weaker than Luigi had ever heard it.
And he said please.
Luigi stopped struggling and replied in a trembling voice. “W-what is it? W-w-what do you want?”
“Do you have… more? My… son…”
Luigi’s eyes widened and he kneeled down so Bowser wouldn’t have to strain as much to talk to him.
“I don’t, but I can get some. What happened to your son?”
Luigi was astonished to see tears in the giant turtle dragon’s eyes. “He’s sick. That… rotten Toadstool… won’t let me have… any mushrooms. Please… I’ve tried everything…”
“I understand. I’ll be back with that mushroom, so you just rest.”
Bowser released Luigi’s leg and passed out again, and the handyman-turned-lesser-hero jumped out of the castle again, running to catch up with his brother.
***
“Casualties?” the king demanded, groaning.
It had been over an hour since the green Mario left. He had woken up again, along with many of the unconscious guards throughout the castle. The fact that the human hadn’t returned yet was… disheartening.
He only said it so he could escape. Of course. All humans are the same.
A very bruised and beaten magikoopa reported to Bowser. “Over a hundred confirmed dead, including fifteen royal guards,” Kamek hung his head low.
Bowser thumped the floor with his fist with what strength he had recovered. “Damn that Mario.”
“That green one is soft, thankfully.” Kamek stated. “The guards he fought are all waking up as we speak. If he were more like his brother, the Royal guard would be completely crippled by now.”
“He’s just a hypocrite,” Bowser sighed, forcing himself to his feet. “Everybody who can move, start gathering the dead and the injured. You know the drill.” He looked at Kamek, “Can you fix the wall in that state?”
The magikoopa shook his head and raised his wand. “I really shouldn’t strain myself anymore, but it is a security risk.”
With a sparkle of magic, the bricks floated into the air and put themselves back where they should be. Meanwhile, Kamek doubled over in exhaustion.
“I am going to rest, your majesty.”
Bowser nodded and stared at where the hole had once been.
***
Luigi ran through the dark lands, following the path he was sure Mario would have taken. It took a good ten minutes to catch up to him, and as soon as he saw his brother’s red cap, he called out.
“Mario! Mario wait!”
“Luigi?” Mario looked over his shoulder and stopped running. “Luigi! You’re safe! Oh, I’m so glad you changed your mind about saving Bowser!”
“No Mario,” Luigi panted, coming to a stop himself. “I saved him. But listen, Bowser—”
“You what?!” Mario cut off his brother and held him by the shoulder with the hand that wasn’t supporting the princess. “Luigi, do you know how dangerous that was? He’s a monster! Not to mention, if Bowser died, this war would finally end! I thought you would come to your senses! If I knew you would actually go through with it, I would’ve stayed to stop you!”
“Mario, his son is sick. He needs a mushroom to help him get better.”
Mario laughed. He actually laughed in Luigi’s face, holding his forehead in disbelief.
“Don’t tell me you believed that? Luigi, we fought half a dozen of his sons on the way to the castle! They’re fine! And even if it was true, what kind of war lasts for five years just to get a single mushroom? He was lying to get you to let your guard down and to try to steal resources to strengthen his army, Luigi. You’re lucky you got out of there when you did.”
Luigi’s heart sank, but he couldn’t believe his brother’s words. Bowser’s tears and voice when he begged for a mushroom to heal his son were too genuine. Luigi believed it had to be true.
Not to mention, the original cause of this war that they had been told was because Bowser was in love with Princess Peach and kept kidnapping her to force him to marry her. But to Luigi, it looked like Bowser despised Peach.
“But Mario—”
“No buts!” Mario grabbed his brother’s shoulder tight enough for it to hurt and shook him. “Don’t let the enemy get in your head, Luigi. This is war! The Mushroom Kingdom is suffering, and it’s Bowser’s fault!”
“Mario is right, Luigi.”
The princess, finally awake, spoke up, and Mario let her down to stand on her own. She straightened out her hair and attire, forced a smile on her tired face, and set a dainty hand on Luigi’s shoulder where Mario had bruised it. He barely held back a wince.
“Your kindness is a wonderful trait, Luigi, but you’re too naive. Every mushroom we give Bowser is another soldier on his side and one less on ours. We’re barely holding on as it is, and only thanks to you two.”
Now two against one, Luigi felt defeated. But he knew what he had seen, and if there really was a sick child, if one mushroom could stop this long war, wasn’t it worth a try? Maybe they could have peace if somebody just extended a hand first.
But clearly if he wanted to do this he wouldn’t get any help. So for now he stayed quiet and hung his head.
“Good,” Peach smiled. “Now let’s go home. I’m exhausted and work must be piling up on my desk as we speak.”