Chapter Text
“It’s all gonna be okay!"
“How is this gonna be okay?!”
“I’m telling you! Nothing can harm us as long as we’re together!”
His brother Mario knew the perfect thing to say every time. He always made him smile. He protected him from every harm that came his way. Mario was his world and the dreamer of the two that’d make them the best brother duo in the universe. But, if the Super Mario Brothers were forced apart, what would happen? Mario wasn’t here to tell him. Luigi was on his own.
.
“We found him in a dark lands.” His captor rumbled. Whoever he was talking to growled in response, making Luigi shiver in fear.
Luigi pushed himself off the ground, his hat finally uncovering his eyes. He whimpered as he laid sight on the leader of his captors. It was a large, turtle-like beast that was sitting at the top of a dark stone throne. The being was bathed in red light from the lava falling behind him. He sat forward, staring at Luigi like prey. He growled again, lifting himself off the throne.
"Leave him to me.” He declared gruffly as he descended the stairs. If Luigi was in his place, he'd be terrified of falling. That'd happen to him various times before, so he always made sure to check his feet like Mario told him to. But the beast didn't need to do this. He only kept his piercing gaze on Luigi’s fearful one.
He needed to get away! His tied hands trembling, Luigi looked down at them, extended, and reconfirmed the rope was solidly tied around his wrists. He looked over to the captor on his right and turned away when it didn't acknowledge his desperate glance. Luigi leaned away, continuing to shiver as he couldn't do a thing but state as the leader got further down the steps. His movements were slow and agonizing. An odd looking wizard suddenly appeared next to Luigi in a flurry of light. Leaning away from it, Luigi got blasted by a spell that enveloped his whole body. Making an alarmed noise as he was flung into the air by the wizard, he closed his eyes as he prepared for the worst. When a moment passed, he opened them again and found the menacing leader standing before him.
He was far larger up close and his claws were massive. His eyes were a fiery red that gleamed more than the magma below. He asked with a wicked grin, "What is your name?" And spun Luigi's body around with his claw.
As the world turned, he became confused by the leader's 'calm' demeanor. Every creature he had come across had attacked him immediately. Yet, this leader wasn't doing that. He was trying to talk to him. "Uh… Luigi." He replied with nervous laughter. He tried to keep his gaze on him as he continued to twirl, and the leader stared right back at him. Luigi raised an eyebrow, wondering what the leader exactly wanted with him.
He coolly responded, “Not sure if you know who I am, but I’m about to marry a princess and rule the world.” He stared down at his right claw that was placed in front of Luigi’s face. He sharpened his index fingers claw tip with his thumbs claw and the sparks that flew off frightened and amazed the man.
"Wow, uh, eheheh…" Luigi became torn between making eye contact with the leader or looking down at the claw tip that suddenly poked underneath his chin. Luigi wasn’t given a choice as his head was lifted up to look right at him. “Yay…” He stammered with sheepish laughter, smiling at his blank face.
“But there’s one problem, Luigi,” he continued, adjusting the man’s green hat as his expression became thoughtful. Luigi moved his head a bit. “There’s a human traveling with my fiance. Has a mustache, just like yours.” His finger caressed the bottom of Luigi’s chin as he lifted his head back in his direction. The green man’s eyes followed it, noticing how the scaled finger didn’t feel as rough as he thought it would be. His eyebrows furrowed, not understanding the intimate gesture the leader was giving him. As his clawed tip began to twirl his mustache, the creature asked in an inquisitive tone “Do you know him?”
Luigi glanced away then back at him, crying out in a cracked voice “No!”
The leader gave his mustache one last flicker as he pulled his claw away, rubbing his thumb and index together. He already missed the fluffiness of it. Surprised by his spunk, the leader raised his eyebrows, mildly impressed. “Ah! Tough one, I see.” He noted lightly, reaching his hand back out. “Maybe this’ll get you to talk.” He slowly pulled on a single strand.
Luigi cried out and huffed, asking quickly “Do you think I know every human being with a mustache wearing an identical outfit- ah!- with a letter- ah!- of his first name on it-” he gasped, “because I don’t.”
His sheepish smile was rather unconvincing. He yelped as the strand was ripped out. The leader grabbed his body tightly with his claw, breaking the spell that held him up, and used its other hand to pull on his entire mustache. Luigi clenched his teeth and closed his eyes as the pain jolted through him.
The leader was now angry as it yelled in his face, “Do you know him?!”
Luigi pleaded him to stop. “Stop! Stop! I-I know him-! Yes, I know him- Yeah- He’s my brother Mario and he’s the best guy in the world--” he sobbed out.
“Do princesses find him attractive?!” He growled.
“They do if they have good taste!!”
The rip of his mustache caused Luigi to scream, his cry echoing around them. The man is roughly thrown to the side by the angry leader. He aggressively yelled out to the others with no a sliver of mercy, “Get him out of my sight! We’ll see how tough this Mario is- when he watches me kill his brother!”
Luigi is unable to fight back as the lackeys throw him into a steel cage and throw him over hot lava. He's surrounded by other captives like himself, who have long lost hope of escaping. Luigi believes there must be a way out. If his brother was here he'd surely free them! But he wasn't his brother. He was just Luigi. He muttered in defeat, "Oh Mario… what have we gotten ourselves into? How did you get mixed up with a taken princess of all people?"
"Who is this Mario you speak of?" A fancy penguin dressed like a king, asks him.
Luigi hesitates to respond. "M-My older brother, Mario…"
"This Mario- he has found a Princess?" He asked, "Would that happen to be Princess Peach, of the Mushroom Kingdom?"
"I'm not sure." He replied honestly. "But that giant turtle said-"
The Penguin interrupted him. “Koopa. His name is Bowser, King of the Koopas. But he is no King of ours! He is only a crazed dictator, seeking to destroy all of the Kingdoms so he could rule us all!”
For a penguin, he sure was serious about his deep hatred for the Koopa. Luigi couldn't blame him. "Y-Yeah, him. He said Mario was traveling with his princess fiance! He said Mario was getting in the way of his plans to rule the world and get married and stuff."
The penguin went into a moment of deep thought. It looked odd on his cute features. “Princess Peach and Bowser are not to be wed- she doesn’t view the Koopa favorably. She sees him as a scoundrel as we do. A tyrant that only does more harm than good.”
"Then why do all of this? Why keep me here at all and lie about it?" Luigi didn’t understand. Why would he claim they were fiancees then? Why would he threaten to kill him in front of Mario? Was it all just out of pure jealousy? That’s insane! “So that’s it? Bowser deluded himself and now my brother and I have to pay for it?!”
“I am afraid so, mustache human.” He replied solemnly. “You would have been safe if you and your brother stayed where you came from, like the Princess.”
“Birth is despair. Life is misery and pain.” The flame star announced happily, causing everyone to groan again. Luigi couldn’t react, too hung up about what the penguin said.
“Wait! Back from where we came from? Princess? What do my brother and I have in common with her?” He cried out, pleading with the penguin to respond.
He looked at him like he’d gone crazy. “You’re both human, of course! What did you think she was?”
Luigi blinked. “Well… I sort of thought she was a peach? I mean, it wouldn't be weird? All things considered..."
“Here, you are considered the odd one, mustache human.” He then proudly declared, “Among my people I am the most handsome penguin!”
His words made the man chuckle a bit. If only he had that amount of confidence. It was about time for introductions. "My name is Luigi. I'm a part of the famous Super Mario Brothers duo! What’s yours?”
"To my subjects and all I am known as Penguin King. Therefore, that is what you will call me." Penguin King stated firmly.
"Nice to meet you!"
"Likewise."
They went back to not talking to each other and worrying about their impending doom. Occasionally, the fire star would tell them all depressing truths and they’d all break out into a tired chorus. Luigi’s stomach began to grumble, from nerves or hunger, he wasn’t sure. Yet, remembering his mom’s creamy mushroom pasta had him salivating. How could their night have gone so terribly? By the sounds of it, his brother Mario was otherwise doing okay. Did he know he was being chased down by a terrifying Koopa King? If he did, then no doubt his brother was devising a plan on how to get himself and his princess out of the situation. But would that be enough? Mario was tough, but this Koopa army was no joke. Luigi had to do something. He had to find a way out of his cage. Peering around the inside, if he had his tools he’d be able to saw through the steel real easily. His tools were long gone though, getting lost while he was getting whisked away. If he had least had a blunt object, with repeated force he could break the bars. Sitting down, he was pulled out of his thoughts by a hard object in his back pocket. Pulling it out, he saw it was his phone! He managed to hold onto it, how lucky! Turning it on, it was still fully charged and excitedly he tried giving Mario a call. Getting nothing, he realized he had no bars. He couldn’t believe it.
"I guess pipe world's don't need it…" He sighed in defeat. Was there really no way to get out of here? If there was a guard around, he could try to plead to be freed. It could’ve worked, but maybe that was the optimism in him. Putting his useless phone away, he leaned his head back against the bars and a glare suddenly blinded him. He covered his face with his gloved hand and looked around. The source of the light was coming from Penguin King’s crown! It wasn’t sharp, but it looked durable and heavy. If he could find the bar's weak spot and use enough force, that should be enough to break down the steel so he could slip through the gap and climb up the chain. Luigi leapt to his feet, yelling out “Penguin King! Could you pretty please throw me your crown?"
He stared at Luigi as if he was crazy, shouting back "I shall do no such thing! This crown has been in my royal family for generations. With this I show everyone the might of my Kingdom!"
"Yes, but-"
"Don't listen to him anymore, my liege! Ignore him." His lackey advised him.
Luigi panicked. Stammering out "W-Wait! What if I traded you?!" He patted around his body, trying to find something of equal value. All he had was his phone, but it was practically useless. He had nothing else to give him.
"A trade, you say?" Penguin King sounded intrigued, pointing with his small flipper "Your hat. An eye for an eye, a hat for a crown."
Luigi quickly grabbed the top of his head, squishing his hat. "T-This?! I-I can't trade this! This hat is me and Mario's brand- we've worn them since we were kids. Without this we wouldn't be a duo, I'd look foolish!"
"Hmm. Then give me your mustache."
"Hat… hat it is!" Luigi begrudgingly agreed. Taking off the cap, he stared long at it before tossing it to the king. The breeze felt unfamiliar as it waved through his brown hair. The moment he found Mario he'd trade back for it. He had no need for a crown.
Penguin King played with his hat in fascination. He then placed it on his head, though it fell over his eyes because of the big size. "How fluffy! This color is atrocious, but suits me well. Pass him the crown." He told his lackey. The subordinate tossed it and Luigi barely managed to capture the heavy thing.
"Thank you!" He replied, but the others were now ignoring him in favor of the new item they obtained. Luigi knocked on each of the bars carefully, checking to see which ones sounded off. Luckily for him, one did. Quickly, he banged the heavy crown against the corner of the bar. He repeatedly did so and eventually it fell right off. Cheering, he slipped through the opening and cried out in alarm. The cage was now tilting thanks to the uneven weight. Making his way to the top, he wrapped his arms and legs around the chain and began climbing up. The captives around him began to yell as they saw him successfully escape.
“Alert the others, my friend! Free us before it’s too late!!” Penguin King shouted out.
“I will! Once I find Mario we’ll come back and free all of you! Stay alive!!” Luigi yelled back. He was sweating profusely and he felt like throwing up, but he had to keep going!
When he reached the top of where the chain was coming from, he began to climb through the large hole. He didn’t know if this would lead him anywhere. He placed the crown on his head to not lose it, and his phone was tucked away safely in his pocket. He needed to take a break in between climbing because he was the least athletic of the two brothers. His arms were like jelly and the sweat falling from his forehead due to the heat only burned his eyes. He wondered how much longer he’d need to climb. He saw a railing after an eternity of huffing and puffing. His gloved hand gripped around for something sturdy. Pulling his entire body onto the floor, he rolled on his back and struggled to breathe. His entire body burned and his blue eyes were squeezed shut as he winced from the pounding in his head. All he wanted was a drink of water. Still, he began to grin in silent victory.
“Throw him back down.”
His blue eyes quickly opened. There was a sharp weapon pointed in his face by the Koopa soldier. He was absolutely surrounded.
..
Luigi struggled to find an exit in his damn labyrinth of a castle. He was running like his life depended on it because it did. His limbs were weak and complained about his constant movement, not understanding that it was a life or death situation so he hoped they’d get the memo soon. Turning the corner, he nearly slipped and fell over. Some of the Koopa soldiers ran into each other, which was lucky as they struggled to get back up. Gaining some time, he had a chance to choose which way to go. He chose the left and the hallway he ran down was extra long, making him fear that he’d reach a dead-end. Instead, he saw some large doors at the end of the hall and cheered. Bursting through them, Luigi fell on his stomach and looked up in fear at King Bowser. He was sitting at a piano, playing and singing when he stopped and slammed down on the keys.
“Who dares disturb me?!” He shouted out ferociously, turning his head to stare right into Luigi’s eyes. His fiery red pupils grew smaller as he launched himself upwards and rushed down the stone steps. Luigi struggled to get up, the exhaustion of his body catching up to him, and he could only crawl away. Bowser stood over Luigi’s body and reached out to grab him. Again, he was reminded of how large his claw was as it wrapped around his figure and held him up to the Koopa’s angry face. “How did you escape?”
He squeezed tightly so Luigi choked out an answer. “I-I-I broke down the bars… and climbed all the way up…!!”
“You expect me to believe such an absurdity like that?!” Bowser roared, causing the man to whimper. He said, “I’ll be sure to throw you into the lava myself, along with the traitors that helped you!”
Walking out of the room, Luigi needed to find a solution before he was killed. Anything that would delay his execution and keep him alive long enough so he could find out information for Mario on how to defeat this lunatic?! Racking his brain for anything, he struggled to find a solution. If Mario were here, he would’ve been saved! If Mario were here, he would’ve convinced the Koopa by now! If Mario were here, he-he’d…!!
“You haven’t proposed to the Princess yet, how do you know she’ll say ‘yes’?!” He screamed out.
Bowser stopped in his tracks and turned, throwing him back into the room they were previously in. He opened his mouth, a fireball beginning to form. Shouting, “Forget it. I’ll kill you right now myself!”
The fireball was blasted at Luigi, and he barely jumped away fast enough to miss it. He pleaded, spouting out "W-W-Wait!! I can help you win the Princess' heart-"
"-I already know how to do that!” Bowser spat, launching fire in his direction. Luigi ran up the stone steps, knowing he cornered himself. His hand landing on the piano’s keys, they made an awful nose that made him jump. Taking them off quickly, he saw the framed picture of Peach. She really was a beautiful Princess. A beautiful human princess.
Human.
Bowser’s shadow loomed over Luigi. He stared up at him in terror, causing the Koopa to release a wicked grin. “Ready to die?” He mocked. “Don’t worry, I won’t spare your brother Mario of any of the gruesome details.”
Luigi frowned up at him. It made the Koopa’s smile grow wider. Grabbing the frame, he shoved the image into his sneering face and confidently declared, "No you don't-! Because you've failed before and everyone knows it. You can’t win the Princess’ heart!”
Bowser gripped his arm holding the picture and lifted him into the air. Their faces nearly touched as he only saw red and his wide nostrils released smoke into Luigi’s face. His mouth opened, readying himself for a flame attack as the man racingly continued, "But! But! I can help you win her full heart…!! The Princess is a human- that's why she's rejected you so far because you're using Koopa tactics when you need to use human tactics . Think about it!” He knew he had to up the ante. He waved his free arm and said “You’re the whole package! Look at you! You’re a King, you’re strong, you can play the piano- I can tell because it’s right here- She must like you really, really deep down, but is just nervous because you're not the same species and doesn't think she can connect with you! Since I'm human, I can get you to break through that so you can have her once and for all!"
He flailed as Bowser’s flames began to singe the front of his overalls. Luigi, in a final desperate attempt, cried out "You need me alive! I'll be your human love consultant! You wing-man, as us humans say!! You already have so many great qualities, King Bowser, I'll help you help her see that! When I’m done with you, Princess Peach will be so head-over-heels you’ll be the happiest guy in the universe!”
He yelped as his pant leg caught on fire. He sobbed, “Please, let me help you…!!”
Letting him go, he fell to the ground on his side and used his hands to lift his upper body. He stared up at Bowser. He loomed over Luigi and leaned forward, looking deeply into his eyes, as if searching for something. He then picked up the frame that fell next to him and dusted it off, placing it back into its position on top of his piano. Bowser said, "Okay, Luigi, you can 'help me' seduce Princess Peach. Maybe my Koopa tactics have been too brash and it’s only made her shy.”
“Really…?” Luigi accidentally sputtered, covering his mouth immediately. Excitedly saying, “I mean, thank you, King Bowser! I guarantee you’ll be running off into the sunset together in no time!”
“Yeah, we will.” He repeated happily. “ I like the sound of that.” Luigi grinned, happy everything was going according to plan. That was until Bowser added, “Once Peach and I are happily married, I’ll execute you and your brother for your insolence. That'll be your wedding gift to me. Sound like a deal?” He looked at him. Luigi’s smile faltered, but he couldn’t mess this up now. Instead, he nodded silently.
“Fantastic! Then let’s not waste another minute!” He snapped his fingers. The wizard from earlier appeared next to them.
“You called, s- The prisoner…!!” He pointed his staff in Luigi’s direction. He lifted his gloved hands up, fearing the attack. Bowser's claw was placed in between them as he explained, “There has been a change in plans, Wizard. Luigi is going to serve as my new love advisor and male servant. Put a choker on him. Get him out of that idiotic outfit, or at least change the color. I'm the only green Koopa allowed around here!"
He walked down the steps, ordering “Bring him to my chambers when he’s ready. We have a lot of love advice to get through before my wedding!”
The Wizard watched with an open mouth as Bowser left him in the room alone with Luigi. Luigi looked down at his clothes, wondering what was wrong with them before touching his neck, squeaking out “Choker?!”