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Chapter Text

The clouds of smoke covered the moon more than usual of the Koopa Kingdom. King Blaze and Queen Blair of the Kaiju Koopa kingdom watched in abject horror as their neighboring kingdom of Medeis burned. They could hear the screams from their balcony, they had to do something. anything but the royal koopa’s were frozen in place watching the monster that was their eldest son destroy the kingdom. They recognized his roar, having heard it only a few years ago when he'd been exiled, allying with that..THING. They thought that would be the end of it. They should have known better. The two were finally pulled from their shared shock by Kamek and Kammy flying in on their brooms. 

“Majesties, its-” Kamek started but was interrupted by King Blaze’s loud snarl as he turned, his dark blue eyes flashed in anger.

“Get every available koopa and Kaiju koopa out of bed and over to Medeis now!” 

Before he could make his way toward the door the queen grabbed his hand with her own. “Blaze, what are you going to do? He’s far too strong right now, even in your Giga form you won’t be able to stop him. I know he is dangerous and we banished him but please... don't kill him."

Blaze turned his eyes to lock with the ruby red of his wife's, it had broken her heart terribly when they had to banish Brutus from his own home. But what he'd done.. what he tried to do.. It could not be forgiven. He gently placed his free hand on her pale orange scaled cheek. 

"I'm sorry, Aisuruhito, but he is lost to us. This attack on our allies and one of the Council, will not stand with the others." Blaze shook his head sadly. It killed him to see the pain fill her eyes all over again. "I have to stall him until help can arrive. Kammy, take my wife to our youngest son and get them somewhere safe." Blaze pressed his lips to her forehead before he hurried out of the room followed closely by Kamek.

Blair stared after her husband for a few minutes longer, her clawed hands clutched against her chest. This shouldn't have happened. What went wrong with her family? 

"Majesty, we must go now." Kammy stated as she floated toward her queen. Blair nodded in understanding. 

A sudden high pitched shrieking cry of fear made her heart clench in fear and worry. It came from Bowser's nursery.

Kammy could barely move in time before the queen tore out of her bed chambers heading for her hatchling's room, whatever was terrorizing her child was about to feel the wrath of a queen kaiju koopa.

*Hours later*

The gigantic forms of the prince and king clashed against one another once again, claws and fangs attacking whatever weakness they could exploit. Blaze couldn't help but think back to when he trained with his son, the fun they had. What went wrong? Where had He gone wrong? Blaze was torn from his memories of happier times by massive fangs attacking his shoulder. He let out a shriek of pain as he tried to kick his son off of him, the other had a good grip and would not have let go until he bled to death. If a large fire ball had not been thrown at his exposed purple and red eye that is. Brutus roared in agony letting go of his father. Blaze took the chance to kick the other away from him, the sudden movement made him a little dizzy. 

Blaze knew his giga powers were starting to wane as his scales started to pulse with a familiar red light. Blaze backed away as far as he could before he started to fall backwards. The pulsing light became faster until he started to shrink. He fell back against one of the ruined buildings as he returned to his normal size. 

"Blaze!" A familiar voice called out to him. He looked up to see the king of the Mushroom kingdom, Birch, hurrying toward him. Following close behind was the kings of Sarasaland, Kong, and Luna. He hoped their armies were helping the civilians. 

"Was wondering when you'd get here." Blaze stated, with a grimace of pain as he stood from the rubble. 

"The old fools wouldn't approve of our help when they saw the smoke. Said they needed time to weigh the risks." King Cranky snorted as he lifted a large piece of rubble out of the way of the kaiju koopa king. "By the time they finish squabbling, your kid would be onto the next kingdom." 

"Speaking of Brutus, why is he here? Didn't you banish him for trying to ally with-" King Lunaris was interrupted by a roar, the kings looked up in time to dodge out of the way of a fire blast. 

"Let's not waste anymore time talking." King Ramses stated, drawing his blazing sicles from their sheaths. "What's the plan here, Blaze?"

"We have to stop him here, if not he won't stop until every kingdom has paid." Blaze replied. "Did you order your soldiers to help the civilians?" 

"King Penguin is organizing that as he helps put out the fires." Birch answered him. "No one has seen the Royal Family." 

Blaze cursed in Koopa. Brutus charged toward them, putting their conversations on hold. The kings fought against the monster as best they could for as long as they could, their combined power was still no match for the super powered kaiju koopa ex-prince. As they fought for what felt like several more hours, Blaze couldn't help but notice something.. wasn't right with his son. The way he fought was more savage than just a normal giga transformation. It must have something to do with his ally. 

The kings were knocked back by a single tail swipe, throwing them all into another building. Cranky was the first to pull himself free, he immediately set about helping his friends. 

"Blaze, we can't keep this up. He's just too strong." Cranky stated as he pulled the kaiju koopa king from the rubble. "Look, maybe Renoldus and Heleanor got out? We gotta retreat before that thing you used to call a son kills us all." 

Blaze shook his head. "No, we can't give up. Not now." As he started to straighten to his full height, he felt a rush of dizziness overtake him almost making him fall had Birch and Lunaris not caught him. 

"Blaze, you're barely standing. You're bleeding from everywhere." Birch stated. "There's no dishonor in retreating, the kingdom has fallen." 

Blaze wanted to argue and was about to when the glittering stars on Lunaris's torn armor caught his eye. 

"Power stars." He mumbled at first. 

"What?" Ramses asked. "Power stars, what does that..Blaze, you can't be serious!" The king of Sarassaland caught on to what his friend meant rather quickly. The others did as well. 

"No way!" Cranky shouted. "You know those things are unstable even with the best magician to channel them. Even Renoldus, strong as he was in magic, couldn't use their powers. Hells, Lunaris is the king of stars, and he can’t use their power fully!" 

"Blaze, if you try to use those things, they could kill you. You can't do that to Blair, not after all this." Birch shook his head. 

"Yess, Blaze, listen to the weaklings. Surely they know what they are talking about." A familiar voice laughingly hissed. 

The kings looked up in time to see a familiar shape form above them. The king of Nightmares and Spirits had appeared. Blaze glared at the entity as he tried to stand on his own, "YOU. You caused all of this!" 

The Nightmare king laughed with that annoyingly high-pitched sound as he looked down at the kaiju koopa king, his purple, pink eyes still had that otherworldly glow. "Oh please, you caused this when you decided your little runt was a better candidate for the throne. How else was poor Brutus supposed to feel?" 

As if on cue, the exiled prince came to stop before them. His scales pulsed the same color as the nightmare king's eyes as he returned to his normal form, only it wasn't the same as Blaze remembered. Instead of orange similar to his mother's, they were pitch black veins of pinkish purple scattered around his body. His hair no longer black but white with streaks of purple in it, his eyes were still the same as in his giga form. His under bite was more pronounced now as he grinned maliciously at his father. 

"Shoulda let me take over, pops." Brutus stated. “Instead, you let the runt who’s barely out of his egg have the crown that should have been mine! I will have what’s owed me, especially when I find that little magic prince of Medeis.”

Blaze snarled at the pair. "End this now, before we end you. Brutus, don't make me break your mother's heart more than it already is." 

The nightmare king giggled maniacally at the mention of the queen. "Oh.. I don't think that's going to be a problem now." 

Before Blaze could question what, he meant, the spectral king snapped his fingers summoning the severed head of the queen to his hand. 

Blaze saw red, his scales darkened as he went back to his giga form. He charged at the thing that in his mind was the cause of everything.

Chapter Text

"After several more grueling hours of battle, the kings of Koopa, Mushroom, Kong, Sarassaland and Luna managed to defeat both the Exiled prince Brutus and the Knightmare King. Sadly only King Cranky survived the battle, the remaining kings having  lost their lives. Even sharing the might of the power stars was too much for them to handle." Luigi explained as he drew the symbols for each kingdom on the board where the map he'd drawn earlier was. "After the battle the Council of Kingdoms ruled that since the attack came indirectly from the Kaiju Koopa kingdom they would lose their seat on the council. Banished from the other lands, all trades and exports stopped and they were never to leave their kingdom."

"But that seems unfair!" A little yellow spotted toadette spoke up. "The evil prince was exiled so how was it their fault he came back?"

The teacher of the classroom, Mrs. Toadsworth shot the girl a look, "Bella, you must wait until the end of the lecture to speak." 

Luigi smiled at the older toadette. "It's alright. Yes it was unfair, the council however was hurting from the loss of their rulers even though the kings were allies and friends. They needed someone to blame for the deaths of their kings." 

A blue toad raised his hand, speaking when Luigi nodded at him. "So what happened to Medeis? Did they ever find the king and queen? What about their baby?" 

"From what historians have written after the battle the royal family was never found. They spent many years searching especially for the kingdom's infant son as he was the only heir to the throne but there was no sign of them." Luigi shook his head. "Any other questions?"

Several more hands shot up. Mrs. Toadsworth chuckled a bit as she pointed to a green capped toad. 

"So because they were banished from other places and no one traded with them anymore, is that why Bowser hates our kingdom? And is always trying to kidnap the princess?" He asked.

"Well, I don't believe he hates the Mushroom Kingdom. From what I've seen he really likes Princess Peach. He was just not exactly going about it the right way to get her attention." Luigi answered. "I suppose after that last fight with Mario on the moon two years ago, he gave up his romantic pursuits. It was six months ago he came to sign the peace treaty between their kingdoms, swearing never to attack or kidnap the princess again." 

A different yellow capped toadette waved her hand about trying to get called on next. Luigi pointed at her, "Does he have two kingdoms? I heard from my older sister that he has a floating lava castle and a regular castle." 

"Well from what I know, he uses the lava castle as a transport for his army on campaigns." Luigi explained. "The other castle is in the ancestral home of the kaiju koopa." 

"What's a kaiju koopa?" Another green caped toad asked out of turn. While Mrs. Toadsworth glarred at the boy Luigi answered his question. 

"Well, the kaiju koopa are much larger than the normal koopas you'd see. Bowser is classified as a Kaiju koopa, standing six feet and higher; they are more dragon-like than turtle." Luigi explained, 

"Why don't we see them then? You'd think big dragons would be the ideal army for someone like Bowser." The boy said. 

"Well after the deaths of their king and queen, the kaiju koopa were suffering multiple losses. Between the deaths of their rulers, trade cut off from the other kingdoms I'm sure things were very difficult for them. When Bowser took the throne however, he broke the rule of exile by pursuing Princess Peach. As an honorable people the other Kaiju koopa did not look well at this decision." Luigi replied. "From what I can guess they did not go along with Bowser's plan to marry Peach, therefore they stayed in their own kingdom while he used the lava castle to travel and terrorize the other kingdoms." 

"Alright class, that's enough questions for Mr. Mario, let's all thank him for coming." Mrs. Toadsworth stated as she stood from her stool. The students groaned in disappointment but did as asked, standing together from their chairs they bowed to the human saying 'thank you’ in unison.

"Mr. Mario, I just have one quick question!" A purple toadette stated. 

'"I don't see how one more could hurt." Luigi shrugged at the look Mrs. Toadsworth gave the girl. After the teacher nodded she asked her question. 

"Were you a teacher on Earth?" the girl asked. 

"Sadly no, I had gone to a higher learning facility to get my degree to be a teacher for children in need of special help but I never got to use it." Luigi shook his head. 

"Alright now that's everyone dismissed for the day, enjoy your weekend." Mrs. Toadsworth dismissed the students with a clap of her hands. 

With the final dismissal the students filed out of the classroom saying final goodbyes to their teacher and Luigi. Once they were all gone did Luigi start cleaning up the board with the eraser. 

"Thank you so much once again for giving the history lecture." Mrs. Toadsworth smiled as she approached him. Luigi smiled back at her as he finished cleaning.

"It was my pleasure really, I'm glad I can be useful here now that things have settled down." Luigi said. "Thank you for having me. I'd best get going. I don't want to be late for tea with Mario and the princesses." 

“Oh is it that time already? I’d forgotten it was the girls’ monthly meet up.” She turned to look at him. “Do give my best to the royal couple and Princess Daisy then, and remind my husband he’s to be home for supper this time or I will come drag him out of the castle by his mustache!” She threatened though it sounded more affectionate than malicious. Luigi smiled at her as he nodded, the older couple reminded him of his mama and papa and their way of showing affection to each other. The thought of them almost caused the green plumber’s smile to drop only a little, pushing  the sudden sadness away. He adjusted the strap on his messenger bag as he smiled at her once more and waved goodbye.  

“I’ll be sure to do that.” He said as he walked toward the door. 

The bright sun of the Mushroom Kingdom shone down warmly as he stepped out of the school onto the main street. It was a typical bustling day as the citizens of Toad Town moved about, some shopping others selling goods and wares to their fellow Toads as well as the visitors from other kingdoms Mario had helped recently. It was still a bit unnerving to see a sentient fork walking about wearing a chef's hat. After she’d finished her world travels Peach had opened their borders to all the other kingdoms as a show of goodwill. Though it was also open to the Koopa kingdom as well, no one had seen the turtle creatures since Bowser had come to sign the peace treaty.

There’d been no reports of strange or worrisome behavior in the Darklands nor the other kingdom Bowser was said to rule, most assumed after he finally returned from the moon Bowser had given up. Mario still didn’t trust it but they had no reason to invade so they left it alone. Even the koopalings haven't been seen pulling their usual antics. Once she’d returned home, did Mario and Peach become an official royal couple. He was happy for them, though the home he and Mario had shared since coming to the mushroom kingdom so many years ago now felt a bit empty. 

Speaking of home he’d been so deep in thought he hadn’t realized he was there already. It was a modest home of two stories with a brown outside facade; he'd found it a bit corny as Mario had painted their shingles green and red to match them. Even after Mario had moved out Luigi didn’t have the heart to change them. As he opened the fence gate a familiar high pitched bark caught his attention. Luigi smiled as Polterpup came floating/bounding toward him. 

The spectral canine had stuck around after meeting Luigi in the old mansion and had become a very helpful asset when they fought the Boo at the hotel. Professor E. Gadd had speculated the spirit had formed a sort of bond with Luigi, after several rather uncomfortable tests it had been ruled the dog didn’t pose a threat to Luigi.  He let out a chuckle as the pup leapt into his arms which turned into full laughter as the cold damp tongue made continuous contact with his cheek. 

"Ah! Polty, that tickles!" Luigi giggled out as the pup continued with his excited licking. After a few more licks for good measure the pup finally got down from Luigi's arms. "I gotta go meet up with Mario, Daisy and Peach, so you be on your best behavior while I'm gone ok?"

Polterpup let out an affirmative 'Arf' as he floated behind Luigi toward the front door. It only took a couple minutes for him to drop his bag on the couch and hurry upstairs to get changed into more appropriate attire to have lunch with a princess. Even if said princess was currently dating his brother, he wanted to look nice. He exchanged his overalls and shirt for a dressier emerald button down and black slacks. He ran a comb through his hair and mustache as quickly as he could before he replaced his cap. While he wasn't running exactly late he wanted to hurry so he had time with Daisy. Whenever the princess of Sarassaland visited Mushroom kingdom the pair always got feedback on their outfits. Mario liked to joke that the pair of them were worse than teenage girls when it came to clothes. Daisy usually shot back about his lack of fashion sense wearing the same outfit since coming to this world through the warp pipe over ten years ago.

Luigi went back downstairs, with a final pat to Polterpup's head he walked out of his home. An exclusive fast travel pipe had been set up not too far from his house, it led directly to the inner courtyard of Peach's palace. Peach was kind enough to make sure he had a way to be able to see Mario whenever he wanted. Two Toads with green spots stood guard on either side of the pipe spears in hand. When they saw him they greeted him with warm smiles as they moved their spears to the side so he could pass. With a nod of thanks he leapt onto the pipe and sunk down. The ride always gave him a bit of whiplash with how quick it ended; he was spat out by the pipe into the courtyard.

He expected to land on the hard ground, even braced for it by closing his eyes. What he hadn't braced for was a softness beneath him. He opened his eyes to see he had landed on a rather plush  cushion about the size of a mattress. 

"Figured you'd rather something soft this time instead of eating dirt," Mario chuckled from his left. Luigi smiled gratefully up at his brother, the other still sported his overalls and red shirt even though he was the princess's lover. "Good to see you, bro. How were the kids?" He asked as he helped Luigi off the cushion and onto his feet.

"Fine, inquisitive for certain." Luigi replied. "They were learning about the fall of a kingdom called Medeis a few hundred years ago, I learned something interesting as well. Did you know Bowser is part of a different race of Koopas?”

"Bah, whatever he is, he was a huge pain in the ass." Mario snorted. They left the center courtyard and headed toward the Tea garden where he knew Daisy and Peach would be waiting. "Still not too sure what he's cooking up, but he's got to be playing a long game."

Luigi rolled his eyes with a sigh, "Fratello, for the last time he isn't planning anything. Even Peach knows he isn't, there hasn't been any attacks on any Mushroom kingdom soil nor that of any of our allies in months. He even sent an envoy to Peach and to every other kingdom with a note clearly stating he won't be attacking anymore and war was no longer needed. It had his royal seal as well so it was genuine." Mario grumbled, obviously not convinced but he didn't push anymore.

After walking for a few more minutes the concrete path gave way to freshly trimmed grass. Sat in the center of the garden was a large hedge trimmed to look like Princess Peach, beneath which sat said princess along with Princess Daisy. Both had forgone their usual gowns for identical sun dresses in their favored colors. The iron garden table they sat at was covered in tea cakes, mini sandwiches, and cookies as well as a ceramic teapot and four cups and saucers. The pair looked up in almost unison as the brothers approached.

"Hello Luigi, glad you could make it." Peach greeted brightly.

Daisy looked him up and down in an appraising way before smiling in satisfaction.

"Nice outfit, not too formal but not too casual." She stated as the brothers sat down in the empty chairs.

"Thank you. How many weapons do you have hidden beneath your skirt?" Luigi asked with a grin, he couldn't help the chuckle at the 'afronted' look she gave.

"That is rather rude to ask a lady don't you think?" She stated.

"Don't know, I haven't met a lady yet besides Peach." He grinned, managing to dodge her hand as she went for a head smack.

After a second or two the pair broke out into laughter, Mario and Peach shook their heads, the former also chuckling a bit.

"Too bad the pair of you swing the other way, you make a good couple." Mario said. Peach nodded in agreement but knew better than  to attempt to make any blind date arrangements between the two.

The conversations soon turned to other things, such as the odd crime here and there (the broodals were bored now without Bowser to tell them what to steal), the state of peace in all the kingdoms, eventually the conversation turned to the king koopa.

"Not trying to look a gift Yoshi in the mouth, but he has been rather quiet. Did the envoy say anything as to why? Don't get me wrong it's nice to not read about your kidnapping in the papers, but it's rather dull now." Daisy stated. 

"I'm telling you he's got a long game planned!" Mario stressed.

Peach placed a hand on his to calm him down. "Mario, darling, our soldiers posted at the border between here and the Darklands check with the Koopa soldiers posted there every week. If there was a long game we'd know."

"I still don't trust him." Mario huffed and calmed down. "Least he hasn't tried to take you away again. That moon fight was so intense I was worried we wouldn't get out."

"How in the world was there something like that in the middle of the moon anyhow?" Daisy questioned. Mario had told them about the strange inner chamber of the moon as well as the odd  cubes that had been scattered over the different kingdoms. The power moons that he and Cappy had collected from the blocks were given to the respective rulers. "You'd think Rosalina would tell us about it, she is the Star Princess after all."

"Honestly not sure, Professor E. Gadd is still studying the couple moons we'd kept and hasn't found any difference from our Power Stars, only they aren't as powerful so they are safer to use." Peach replied. “He’s been working non stop to convert the moons to usable energy.” 

"Oh speaking of professors, Luigi, how did your history lecture go today?" Daisy asked, shifting the subject. 

"It went very well, I suppose that it helped that the lecture was interesting." Luigi stated taking a sip from his tea cup. 

"Oh? What was it on?" Daisy asked.

"Well, it was about a kingdom called Medeis that was destroyed in a single night by an exiled prince that was Bowser's older brother." Luigi answered. "After learning your ancestors died in the fight I read more on them, they were very brave and good leaders."

Both women got a bit misty eyed at the mentions of their ancestors.

"Yes. It was hard for our kingdom to get over the loss of its king. I understand the people's grief but banishing all the koopas because of one's rampage?" Peach shook her head. "And especially after they’d lost their own king and queen. It was a bit harsh."

"Its not like they expected him to go insane all of a sudden." Daisy said.

"Hold on, you said Medeis was a kingdom. That mean they had a royal family, yeah?" Mario asked, reaching for another finger sandwich. "What happened to them?"

"Yes, during the attack from what I read they were never found. It was the king and queen along with their infant son, barely five months old." Luigi replied. "Searches were sent all over the lands even to the koopa kingdom, but there was no sign of them anywhere."

"It was a tragedy, I believe your dopplegangers, Wario and Waluigi have familial ties to Medeis as do most humanoids that live in this land Daisy, Paula and myself  included." Peach stated. "You truly enjoy lectures and history discussion don't you, Luigi?"

Luigi smiled at the princess. "I do. Teaching as a whole is very rewarding in and of itself."

"Yeah I know it was your dream. But hey you  made a heck of a plumber, fratello." Mario grinned at the other. "Least if we were still on earth you had a career to fall back on if it got to be too much for you."

Luigi's smile wavered a bit, while Mario was right he remembered the exact same words that came from their papa when he graduated from Child Education classes. Given the nature of the class, mostly focusing on children on the spectrum and with disabilities, it was rather hard but he'd passed top of his class of sadly only five people including himself. 

"Yes, at least I had that." Luigi replied, his brother oblivious to his slight mood change. Daisy picked up on it almost instantly, not wanting to see her best friend upset, she chimed in.

"Speaking of teaching, Luigi, I found a flier in our local paper. There's a kingdom looking for a tutor for the royal children, it didn't say where though just gave coordinates." Daisy stated, pulling said folded flier from her handbag passing it to the man. "Apparently it comes with a room in the palace, a rather generous pay check and access to the royal library."

Luigi took the flier and read over it, as Daisy said it only had coordinates, the salary (his eyes nearly bugged out at the number of zeros; he'd never make this amount as a teacher on earth), as well as perks of the job.

"You aren't gonna take it are you, Weeg?" Mario asked. Luigi kept his eyes on the paper as he answered. He knew the expression Mario would have, the one he always used when he wanted his way. Luigi was the only one immune to it but that didn’t mean he wanted to look at it. 

"Well, it does pay very well and imagine the books I could find  in their library." He looked up, his face falling a bit at the upset look settling over Mario's face.

"Now, Mario, Luigi is his own person." Peach stated placing a hand on his shoulder. "If he wants to take a job he'd love then he should. I'm sure the kingdom isn't outside of the post range so you could still write."

"Well, yeah but.. would you be ok by yourself?" Mario asked.

Luigi knew he meant it in a concerned older brother way but that didn't stop him from feeling a bit offended.

"Mario, I'm not as timid as I was when we first came here, you know." Luigi huffed. "Besides I still have my lightning, fighting techniques, even the parkour we used to do growing up. And should worse come to worse.. I could always call my big brother to help." Mario still didn't look convinced but he nodded anyway.

"Alright but I better get a letter as soon as you get settled. I wanna know what place doesn't even put their kingdom name on a help wanted flier. You don't think it's Bowser setting a trap do you?!"

The others groaned at the shout from the shorter man. Luigi looked down at the flier, his stomach filled with butterflies. He'd be able to put his teaching to use, in an actual teaching position instead of a guest teacher. He knew as soon as he got home he'd have to make all kinds of lesson plans, who knew what sort of students he would have.

As the group continued their light hearted conversation, none noticed the boo floating back down into the ground.

Chapter Text

The airship leisurely floated through the clouds toward Luigi’s hopefully new job. Mario still wasn’t convinced this was a legit job and was a scam, but at least he stopped trying to talk Luigi out of it. The red clad plumber had spent the night with his brother to help him pack and just have quality time. When they’d been younger their mama always reminded Mario to take care of his timid younger twin. He never complained and would always defend the other from bullies. As they’d gotten older Luigi had learned to properly evade said bullies in the form of parkour. Mario learned as well but he’d fallen out of practice when they opened their business while Luigi kept up his training. While Luigi could handle himself now that didn’t stop Mario from worrying. 

It had been that morning that Mario’s friend Cappy had arrived with a spare airship for Luigi to use. Mario had wanted to go with him to make sure it was safe but Luigi just shook his head saying he wasn’t a little boy anymore. After a long hug Luigi boarded the airship followed by Polterpup; the ghostly canine refused to  stay behind, he put the coordinates in the globe causing the ship to instantly lift into the air. Luigi stood on the deck waving goodbye to his brother. Once Mario was out of sight did he go inside, the interior of the ship was rather nice for being so small. There was a comfortable green leather armchair with matching ottoman and coffee table on the bottom floor, as well as a small kitchenette. On the top floor sat a small yet plush bed, a large dresser  for his clothes, a floor length mirror  and half bathroom, it was rather luxurious which Luigi was very thankful for. He didn’t know how far he’d be traveling. According to the wall clock it had been roughly seven hours since he left Mushroom Kingdom air space. Polterpup was curled up on the ottoman in front of him, Luigi had been reading over some lesson plans to hopefully present to the parents of the children. 

He had barely slept last night. He'd been so excited to finally get his dream job. He was a bit nervous, he knew nothing about this kingdom or its rulers. What if they didn’t approve of his lessons? Or him? His mind wandered to the pair of secrets he kept buried at the bottom of his suitcase. The dresses were part of why he’d gotten bullied as an adolescent and teenager, though his family was supportive of his choice of dress he didn’t have the confidence as others did. Though Daisy supported him here, offering to take him shopping, he hadn't revealed his preference for pretty clothes to the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom. He wasn’t sure how they’d react. 

The sudden turbulence that he thought signaled descent pulled him from his thoughts. Luigi smiled as he replaced the papers into the briefcase he kept his lesson plans in and stood. Polterpup sat up realizing his owner was moving about. He walked to the door, he wanted to see what the kingdom looked like from above. Luigi opened the door and flinched back at the blast of heat coming from outside. He looked out of the door and froze. Fire and lava was the sight that greeted him, this.. couldn’t be it could it? There was only one kingdom he knew of that was built on an active volcano. Mario must’ve been right, this was a trap set by Bowser. It was too late to change course now, Cappy had explained that once coordinates had been put in airships didn’t stop their flight path unless something stopped it. The airship flew over the lakes of lava headed for the looming palace in the distance, or so he thought. The ship continued forward, not stopping even as it approached the stone castle with Bowser’s face carved in the front. Instead it passed over the castle barely missing the volcanic mountain. Luigi let out a breath, so maybe it was a kingdom beyond Bowser’s. 

Beneath the scent of sulfur and ash Luigi’s nose picked up a strange scent, it was almost… sweet. After flying forward a few more miles the scene beneath him took his breath away. Massive cherry blossom trees ten times larger than ones on Earth formed a sea of pinks and reds before him. The airship flew upwards and continued over the tops of the trees, on the other side he could see an enormous castle. Even from a distance he could make out the feudal Japanese era design. This had to be it! He was curious how something like this could be in this world but as with most parallels Luigi saw in this world he didn’t think about it too much. As the ship got closer he hurried back inside to make sure his bags were packed up once more. Polterpup was floating around excitedly as Luigi moved about. Going up to the second level and  changing into his best suit. He stopped before the mirror to make sure his tie was straight and make sure his hair was combed back. He thought about keeping his hat on but he wanted to make a good impression so he tucked it into his suitcase. Not sure if he’d get the job he left the large case on the bed.  The ship once again started to slow, this time lowering as it approached the landing area, Luigi assumed. He patted Polterpup on the head, asking the pup to stay on the ship until he was sure the royal family was alright with a ghostly dog roaming around. He headed back downstairs to the first level and back out the door. 

The castle was even more breathtaking up close, the tiles were a dark green while the stonework was red with golden trims. As the ship landed, he could see a massive red double door on the other side of the red zen bridge. Luigi braced as the ship landed on the open platform, it seemed rather odd how there was no one to greet him or even ask his business. 

Perhaps they are at lunch. He thought as the ship powered down and lowered the ramp. 

The castle had to be at least five stories high! Taking a calming breath Luigi stepped off the ship and started across the bridge. He glanced over the side of the bridge to see a sluggish purple liquid miles below flowing like a very slow river. Before he knew it he stood before the massive doors, fiddling with his tie once more he knocked on the door. His knocks barely echoed or even made a sound other than to his ears. Luigi stood there starting to feel a bit awkward, maybe they weren’t expecting anyone to show? After all it was just past Bowser’s lava kingdom, who in their right mind would come out here? He thought about knocking again when something golden caught his eye besides the door trimming. Set into the stone was a golden sign with a familiar symbol on it. 

“Dannazione.” Luigi just managed to get out as the floor beneath his feet opened up revealing a long dark tunnel. He clutched his briefcase to his chest as he dropped screaming. The floor closed back up as if no one had been there. 

*Below the castle*

Luigi continued to scream as the tunnel became a slide to who knows where. This was Bowser’s other kingdom, of course it was! He knew from the history book he’d read that the Koopa kingdom was in the Darklands, one of the very few there. This was the permanent residence of the Koopas. The slide came to an abrupt end as he landed into a rather large cage held up by four chains on either corner. Luigi gasped as he landed on his back and the wind knocked out of him. Before he could get it back the cage was suddenly lifted by what sounded like cranks. It took a minute to get his air back, once he did he sat up to see he was surrounded by Koopas aiming their spears at him. 

“Ha! Knew it was a salesman!” One laughed a little too happy to have captured a prisoner. 

“Man I was hoping it was the Toadette scouts again, really need some cookies.” Another grumbled. 

Another koopa at least 5 feet tall came forward. Unlike the others, his shell was an ashen gray-blue and covered in black spikes with dark blue hair in a buzz cut covering his head. His scales and skin were a coal gray with odd pale blue tattoos. He had an eye patch over his left eye and carried what looked like a sword. He narrowed his one electric blue eye at Luigi who tried to look as small as he could under the piercing gaze. 

“I’ll be damned. Almost didn’t recognize him without the hat.” He laughed. “Get him out and make sure he’s got cuffs on. King’s gonna love this.” 

The two koopas promised to exchange gold coins later as the cage was opened by another koopa. He and a fourth Koopa entered the latter holding iron cuffs. 

“Alright, no funny business. Stand up and keep your hands where we can see ‘em.” The koopa ordered. Luigi scrambled to do so, somehow still holding onto his briefcase. It was quickly snatched away by the koopa who opened the cage, in case he had power flowers hidden in it or other weapons he said. Luigi somehow got his legs moving so he wasn’t dragged out. The chain was taken by the larger koopa who led him to what looked like an elevator. Only the large koopa, he and the one holding his brief case entered the space leaving the others to lower the cage back down. 

He wanted to ask about the flier but knew they would either not say anything or threaten bodily harm for speaking. So he kept quiet, instead he focused on the floors they passed, as there were no doors, he could see the koopas and goombas wandering around each of the floors. Too soon for his liking they came to a stop before a set of golden doors with Bowser’s symbol on it. The small koopa pushed the doors open and he was dragged through by the large Koopa. Keeping with the theme the hall looked as if it had been pulled directly from the Japanese Emperor’s throne room. The red carpet ran all the way up to a dais where, sat in a large throne was the King Koopa himself. His expression was that of someone who was bored, that changed as he looked up from where his cheek rested on his fist.

While Bowser hadn’t been seen in months by anyone, he hadn’t lost that intimidation factor especially when those glowing red eyes focused on the prisoner. The shiver Luigi felt came from the top of his head and went all the way down to his feet. He wasn't really sure if it was fear or somethingelse. The koopas led him to the foot of the dais where they stopped and bowed. 

“King Bowser.” The taller koopa greeted the king with a bow. 

“General Howitzer, you brought me a guest?” Bowser rumbled, not taking his eyes off of Luigi. 

“Yes, Sire, he came down the trap door at the front of the castle.” Howitzer replied, pulling Luigi forward by the chains. “I haven’t questioned him yet as to why he’s here.” 

“Looks like he’s selling something.” Bowser laughed. “What has the saving kingdom’s job stop paying, Green-stache? Looking for other job opportunities? Or is the red pest taking most of the cut now?” 

Luigi had to play this smart. He tapped back into that cowardly voice as he spoke, “N-no, Lord Bowser-” 

“That's KING Bowser to you, peasant.” Howitzer growled, narrowing his single eye at Luigi. 

“Relax, Howitzer, let the man answer before he wets himself.” Bowser stated. Looks like he bought the act, maybe he could get out of here with his skin still intact. The room fell silent as they waited for Luigi to explain himself. 

“W-well, I came here b-because of a flier I was given.” Luigi stuttered. “It had coordinates on it, advertising a position as a live-in tutor for royal children.” 

Bowser’s red bushy brow arched up, “Flier? I sent that thing out months ago. How do I know you weren’t sent here to spy?” He stood from his throne and approached. Luigi wanted to run but knew it wouldn’t end well, considering he wouldn’t get very far so he stood his ground. The king koopa stared down at Luigi, “Especially dressed like you’re selling something. What happened to the hat?” 

“I was.. under the impression I would be coming for a job interview.” Luigi managed to get out. Luigi hadn’t seen the king in so long, he certainly hadn’t lost that air of authority and power about him. Unable to hold the other’s gaze anymore, he lowered his own to stare at his shoes. Those red eyes still blazed with power, like twin suns.  

Bowser didn’t give him a choice; Luigi felt his air leave his lungs as a single claw curled beneath his chin and tilted his head back up to meet the others gaze. “You have proof, Greenie?” The grin he gave showed off all his razor-sharp teeth.

Luigi gulped carefully, “I..in m-my suitcase.” He didn’t dare look away, he couldn’t. Even though his eyes were free to look somewhere, anywhere but Bowser’s it felt as if he was in a trance. 

Bowser motioned with his free hand to the koopa holding the case. Luigi was grateful he didn’t just dump it out on the floor, the other kept his head tilted up until the other koopa made a triumphant noise. He brought the flier to Bowser placing the paper in his outstretched fingers. When Bowser finally broke eye contact and removed his claw, Luigi felt as if his lungs inflated once more with oxygen. 

“Huh didn’t think it made it as far as Mushroom Kingdom.” He hummed. “Yeah, it's the one Kamek sent out for me, alright. Question is: How'd you get it?” 

He didn’t want to rat out Daisy for fear of retaliation against Sarassaland but he couldn’t bring himself to even half-lie. “It was given to me by Princess Daisy. She said it was in their local paper.” 

Bowser rolled his eyes much to Luigi’s shock. “Of course, she found it. Howitzer, let him loose and give him back his case then leave us.” 

The trio of koopas did as ordered, taking the cuffs off of Luigi’s wrists once free the briefcase was placed back into his hands. The koopas left with a bow taking the cuffs with them, soon it was just the pair of them. Bowser looked back down at the human before huffing. 

“I’ll get Kamek in here to escort you back to your ship.” He stated, turning his gaze back to the flier as he blew a small stream of fire at the paper setting it ablaze. “Now that you know who sent it, I’m sure you’d like to get back to your annoying brother. I got too much to deal with to have him showing up here saying I kidnapped you.” 

Luigi blinked up at the Koopa in surprise, he was letting him go? Just like that? That seemed very out of character for the king who always loved keeping prisoners. Maybe he had changed since that last fight two years ago.While one part of him was yelling to just get out of there, the other was curious.

“Um.. King Bowser?” He spoke. 

“Yeah, what?” He growled looking down at Luigi, surprisingly he didn't flinch.

“Are you looking for a tutor?" The human asked.

"Duh, sent out the flier, didn't I?" Bowser snorted as he walked back up the steps to his throne. "Last several I hired were less than adequate. Barely lasted a week any of them. Why? You want the job or something, Greenie?"

“Yes actually.” Bowser froze halfway to his throne, turning to look back toward Luigi in shock. 

“You’re serious? You want to teach MY kids?” He questioned. “You?” 

“Yes, I have a degree in child education specializing in children who need extra attention. I received it when my brother and I were in our home world before we came here. I’ve always wanted to be a teacher but never got the opportunity. I love children and want to help them reach their academic potential in any way I can. I already have potential lesson plans to choose from, and..” Luigi slowed his rambling as he heard the familiar stomps of Bowser coming back down the steps. This time he moved backwards a step as the king koopa stood before him. His expression was unreadable as he looked down at the ex-plumber. “I-if you’d rather it not be me I can- Eek!” He let out a squeak as Bowser grabbed the back of his suit jacket and lifted him up. This way neither had to crane their necks to have eye contact, still it felt odd just dangling there from his claws. Luigi instinctively curled his legs up, almost looking like a kitten being scruffed. He always found it awkward for someone to be taller than him. Back home he'd grown used to being the tallest in his family. Now in a world of dragon turtles, he felt like a dwarf. This must be how Mario felt at the last family reunion they went to in Italy.

Bowser studied the human for a minute or two before nodding. 

“KAMEK!!” He bellowed suddenly causing Luigi to flinch from the loud noise. From the left of the hall a door opened allowing the magi koopa to fly in on his broom. He paused a few inches from the pair. Bowser grinned at the confused look on his right hand’s face. “The kids have a tutor, show him his new room and classroom.” 

Kamek arched a brow at the large koopa before sighing. “As you wish, your Loudness.” 

Bowser looked back at Luigi, “You brought your stuff, right? Clothes and all that?” 

“Yes. My duffle bags are in my airship outside.” Luigi replied. Bowser let out a positive noise but didn’t put him down. Luigi couldn’t tell if he was sizing him up as a threat or possible lunch. Either way the heavy attention was a little embarrassing. Luigi had gotten used to being the background person, having such a heavy gaze on him was starting to bring color to his cheeks. 

“My king,” Kamek stated, breaking up Bowser’s laser focus in the plumber dangling from his hand. “It’s a bit hard to give a tour when the tourist is dangling eight feet from the ground.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Bowser grumbled as he set Luigi back on his feet. “Kamek will show you your areas, then a tour of the castle.” Luigi looked up at him and nodded. “Let’s hope you can last longer than a week. We already had our dinner, so I’ll have the cooks send up something.” With a hand wave he dismissed the human and magikoopa. 

Kamek motioned for Luigi to follow him, as he did, he glanced over his shoulder at Bowser as the koopa climbed back up to his throne. Luigi stopped just before the open door where Kamek waited, turning as he bowed toward Bowser. 

“Thank you for this job. I’ll try not to disappoint your expectations.” He spoke. Before Bowser could reply or even react the human rushed out after Kamek. Leaving the king to stare after him in shock and curiosity.

~art for this chapter~

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Chapter Text

“His highness spends most of his time running the kingdom, trying to right things he should have dealt with years ago., therefore any lesson plans you have are to go through me. Should he have the time or request them will the king see them.” Kamek stated as he floated just ahead of Luigi. “Firstly I find it very important to inform you of the needs of the Royal children as they have different learning needs that I hope you can accommodate as that is where the other tutors failed." He made sure to slow down so he was hovering next to Luigi flying at the same pace as he walked. After all he wanted the man to hear him clearly "I'll start with the most important ones, Roy is blind but I enchanted his favorite sunglasses to help him see without them he has absolutely no sight." Luigi immediately filed the information away, nodding along "Ludwig has selective deafness. He hides his hearing aids beneath his hair, because of the location they do have the possibility of lagging and need to be adjusted.”

That bit of information surprised Luigi, given the music compositions he heard the blue haired koopa play he never would have guessed. Kamek continued on, “Lemmy is completely deaf not even enchanted hearing aids could help him, therefore we developed a form of sign language for him. It is  mandatory for all staff members to learn, so you will be taking lessons yourself from me. Should he have a panic episode his balance ball is to be near him at all times. His twin Larry has an attention problem, unless something really grabs him he will not stay still for longer than five minutes. Iggy’s has been a bit of a challenge for the previous tutors, his mind operates on a different wavelength than his siblings. He is brilliant but once he focuses on one particular thing, he gets extremely distressed if he is disturbed. While Morton and Wendy seem fine on the outside, previous events have caused them to develop high levels of stress and anxiety. Especially when their siblings are concerned.”

Luigi mentally filed away the information on each sibling, some of the troubles sounded very familiar. He may have his work cut out for him but he was determined to be the best tutor for the kids. “I believe I know how best to help them.” 

Kamek turned his gaze on the human as they continued down the hall. “So you say. You haven’t met them in a non combat situation.” 

“True,” Luigi nodded, a sudden realization hit him. “You didn’t mention Bowser Junior, I assume he will also be in attendance of the classes?” 

“The little prince is still young, he is not required to attend classes, but he may only if he wishes.” Kamek suddenly zoomed forward then turned and came nose to beak with the human stopping him in his tracks. “He is to not participate in anything he does not want to. He has a delicate disposition, therefore should anything happen to the prince or any of the children,” Luigi suddenly found it a little difficult to breathe as something wrapped around his neck he couldn’t see. He caught sight of the glowing scepter the magi-koopa carried around. “You would do well to pray to whoever you believe in if King Bowser doesn’t kill you, I will make you wish he had. AM. I. CLEAR. HUMAN?” Kamek held the human's gaze, his magic stretching forth as if to prod the man's mind for any signs of deceit. There was a sudden push back, an invisible wall around the man's mind, but surely that wasn't right. From what he knew of the brothers neither had the ability to block mind magic. Kamek barely managed to hold back his flinch as something shoved his magic away.

"You have my word as an educator that my intentions with the children are nothing but genuine." Luigi spoke around the magic still holding his windpipe. His eyes were so serious it was as if Kamek was looking at someone else, someone older rather than the human he’d seen many times cowering behind his shorter brother. That gaze... it almost looked like... No. Kamek shook his head, and the image was gone.

Kamek didn't increase the pressure nor tried to invade the other's mind again. They stared at each other for a little longer before Kamek finally released the other. To his surprise the man only rubbed at his throat, no coughing fit as he'd expected. Kamek couldn't put his claw on it, but something was different about the usually cowardly Mario brother. He'd be sure to keep an eye on the man. 

"See that they are." Kamek stated, he turned his broom and continued on.

 As the pair continued down the long-carpeted hall, neither were aware of the beady red eyes peeking out of one of the rooms they’d passed. After another few minutes of walking / floating in silence, did they stop at a set of double doors made of what looked like cherry wood. Using his staff Kamek telepathically opened the doors, he motioned for Luigi to enter. He did and gasped at the beautiful room before him.

The walls were covered in painted screens that showed koopas dancing or fighting beneath cherry blossom trees. There were a few winged goombas scattered here and there in the paintings. The wood trim was the same as the doors, sitting in the middle of the tatami covered floor was a beautifully varnished kotatsu table with two legless chairs on either side. It didn’t have the usual cloth covering, though Luigi assumed it didn’t need it given how warm it was. There was a cabinet holding a gorgeous traditional tea set along with a few other pieces of furniture. Kamek floated into the room and over to the left side where he magically opened the sliding screen revealing a covered balcony, an outdoor wooden bathtub and breathtaking view of the large cherry blossom trees. 

“Should you wish to let in some fresh air, we don’t have much in terms of entertainment sadly.” Kamek stated, flying to the other side of the room. “The library is on the same floor where your classroom will be, you have free use of it and may take any and as many books you wish. I’m afraid it isn’t used much by anyone other than myself, Kammy and Iggy.” He lifted his scepter once more, moving the screen at the far right. 

The first thing he saw was the king sized four poster bed placed at the back of the room against the wall, covered in bright red silk blankets with several pillows stacked against the headboard. Against the far wall sat a massive black wooden wardrobe and three matching dressers. To the left was an actual door instead of a screen. Luigi walked into the room and opened the door; the bathroom was much larger than he expected with a few privacy screens folded up against the walls. There was a ceramic dark blue and white clawfoot tub set on a round platform, behind which was a painting of a blue Japanese dragon. A sink of the same make and color sat to the far right, behind a divider wall was a toilet. 

Having seen everything Luigi closed the door and looked at Kamek, his expression was one of wonder yet unsure. 

“Are you sure I can have this room?” Luigi asked. Kamek arched a brow at the man. 

“Did you expect someone who will be teaching the royal children to sleep with the rest of the troops?” Kamek asked. 

“No, I suppose not. But, given our history...” 

“Despite what most say about our people, we do not lock everyone who isn’t a koopa in a cell.” Kamek huffed. “Just so you know this is the royal wing. The king sleeps down the hall and the children are speckled here and there along this hall.” 

Luigi’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. They were putting him up in the royal wing. Even though his brother was dating the princess and he’d helped save the Mushroom kingdom multiple times, he was still put up in the guest wing of Peach’s castle. 

“That is rather generous of you, Mr. Kamek.” Luigi stated. 

“Just, Kamek. And they do call you Luigi, yes?” He asked. Since they were going to be seeing a good bit of each other, Kamek decided they might as well get on first name basis. As the human nodded, Kamek floated back toward the front room. “Your clothes will be here after the tour of the castle and your classroom. And as long as that ghostly mutt doesn’t cause trouble, he may be with you when you are not in your rooms.” 

Luigi stumbled a bit in shock, “How-”

“It is my job to protect this family, I know everything that goes on in this castle and its grounds.” Kamek stated. Luigi supposed that made sense. He followed Kamek out of the rooms that would be his for the foreseeable future. 

They continued from Luigi’s room until they came to another set of doors five down from his, the doors opened revealing the elevator. The doors closed once more as they entered, Kamek flew forward a bit, pressing the tip of his broom against the 4 button. As the elevator lifted, Luigi noticed this time he couldn’t see the floors like in the one that came from he now assumed the dungeons. It went up two floors before it came to a stop once more, Kamek led the way out into an open corridor. On either side of the corridor were six different doors. A few Koopas moved about with mops and buckets, meaning they had to be the cleaners. As they passed them Luigi could hear curious whispers, the magikoopa beside him didn’t seem to pay them any mind so Luigi didn’t either. Kamek pointed his scepter to the first double door on the left, 

“That is the library, beside it is the game room for the children, toward the end of the hall is the Royal Solarium.  Keep this in mind, each day at 5pm the children, his majesty and any deemed welcome enter the solarium to get their few hours of sunlight. It is crucial especially for the children.” Luigi nodded in understanding as Kamek continued pointing to the right. “On that side we have the king’s personal office, you are not to enter unless summoned, and at the very back of the room is the royal pool and baths.” 

As they kept walking Luigi noticed an iron door with glowing chains over it, a padlock with Bowser's symbol holding the chains in place. 

“And that room?” Luigi pointed at it.

Seeing what he was pointing at Kamek went silent for a minute as his broom slowed. Luigi just managed to catch the sad look on the magi-koopa’s face before it was replaced with a blank expression once more.

“That room has not been opened in many years. You would do well to not look into it or try to break in.” he replied. They came to the final room, a set of oak double doors. “This is where you will be teaching the children.” He magicked the doors open and they stepped in. 

The room was bigger than he expected a tutoring room to be, old maps of all the kingdoms lined the walls though they looked worse for ware. The few desks in the room were broken, one even having teeth marks. The teacher’s desk was somehow still intact, made of mahogany though the chair looked as if it had seen better days. The sliding windows at the far side of the room were open letting in the sweet scent of the trees.

“Is it to your liking?” Kamek asked, he expected the human to say no or even complain about the damage the children had did in here over the last several months. What he didn’t expect was the gleeful smile that stretched across the human’s face as he placed his case on the desk. 

“It’s perfect! I’ll be sure to have this room ready for the children tomorrow.” He smiled at Kamek as he turned to face him. “Do you happen to have carpenters around? While I’m sure the children would rather have more comfortable places to sit, it’d be nice to have desks to have a stable work space. Oh, and I’ll need some plush cushions and perhaps a few more large balance balls. I read they help children stay focused when they have one major thing to focus on like their balance. Hopefully someone will have replacement maps! Oh! And I’ll need instruments, music helps decompress after strong focus.” 

As Luigi rambled on and on about what he’d need and what needed to be fixed, Kamek just stared and let him ramble. He certainly showed more interest in actually teaching the children than trying to find a way into Bowser’s good graces. Perhaps.. he would be different. 

*In the game room* 

“Your pullin’ our leg, kid.” Morton said as he turned the console controller just so to get the right drift on the racing game he and Roy were playing. 

“No!  'm serious, green Mario was with grandpa and he was wearing a suit and was holding a box with a handle!” Junior insisted. 

Larry looked up from the color pages he was sharing with Lemmy, “So what you think he’s gonna be the new teacher?” 

Lemmy used one hand to sign at his youngest brother ‘Maybe he’s here as a prisoner.’

“No way he didn't have the cuffs!” Junior stated.

“I highly doubt he has anything to possibly teach us.” Iggy commented from his workstation at the far end of the room. 

“I concur.” Ludwig agreed with his brother not taking his eyes off the composition paper. 

“Ugh, I don’t see why papa insists we have a tutor.” Wendy huffed from her bean bag chair; she’d set her fashion magazine down when Junior came in through his secret elevator. Each of the children had one in their own room, as a way to avoid attention when not wanted. “Those other teachers were so lame and not at all professional.” 

“Yeah, he never made us go to the other ones. Grammy did but even she stopped making us.” Roy piped up. He let out a victorious laugh as he hit his brother’s character with a shell. “HA! That's me 5 you 1, Morry!” 

“That don’t count! I was distracted!” Morton growled, focusing his attention back on the game. “Look, Junior, even if the green Mario is here to be our tutor we don’t need to worry about it cause we ain't going.” 

All of the children nodded in agreement as they each went back to their activities. While he was still curious about the mustached man he agreed with his siblings and simply went back to his toys.

Chapter Text

Luigi sneezed for what felt like the hundredth time as he moved the old bookshelf from one corner to the other. It was a bit worse for wear than the others so he’d decided to put it outside. Kamek had assured him all the things he’d requested would be delivered by tomorrow before leaving him to his cleaning, it had been at least three hours since. He knew he had a lot to get done before the children came, but the work didn’t bother him. He’d shed his suit jacket and tie to make for easier movement. Luigi pulled the old shelf from its corner to the center of the room to the open door. There was the sudden sound of footsteps coming down the hall toward him. He looked up from the shelf, happy to see the general and koopa troopers from earlier walking toward him with a cart full of the supplies he needed. 

“Huh, so the king didn’t throw you out on your ass.” General Howitzer commented. “Even with that flier, figured he wouldn’t take you seriously.” 

“I’m glad he did, thank you for bringing my supplies.” Luigi said. He pushed the shelf further out of the room with the rest of the trash he’d gathered and swept up. Howitzer glanced at the rather large pile, arching his single eye ridge at it. “Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to make such a mess. Soon as I get everything set up I’ll get rid of it.” 

“You know we have servants for that right? And to clean the classroom, you didn’t have to do it by yourself.” He asked, looking back at the human. 

“Yes but I didn’t want to bother them. Plus I’m going to be using this room and I made the mess after all, so I should clean it.” Luigi said. “If your men wouldn’t mind pulling the cart in here I can take it from there.” 

Howitzer stared at the human, unlike his brother or the other kingdom’s citizens he didn’t look at them like the enemy. He wasn’t on the defensive, nor did he look scared of them. It was.. odd to say the least. He remembered some years back during the first war with the Mushroom kingdom he’d tried to help one of the toadettes move a box out of the way of her front door where her children were stuck in a burning building. She screamed at him to get away, and pushed the box aside herself and ran in minutes before a Bobomb was dropped on the house. It was war, but still. He could have helped her get them and herself out but she refused the possible help. All because he was an evil koopa. 

“General?” Luigi’s voice pulled him from the dark memories. The other’s expression was so open, a little confused but also concerned. 

He shook his head, “We’ll help you set up.” He stated, signaling for his men to pull the cart in. 

“I don’t..” 

“We got it. Just tell us where you want stuff.” Howitzer cut him off. 

Luigi wanted to argue further but decided against it, realizing the general wouldn't take no for an answer. He supposed a little help would be nice. They set the balance balls at the back of the room where the new book shelf sat along with the cushions. He planned to get the books from the library or possibly order them. The eight long desks were set up width wise to allow for extra work space leaving the middle of the room open should he need to stand there for lectures. The instruments were set up behind his desk in the corner out of the way but still accessible. A brand new black board and chalk was hung up behind his desk as well. The room was coming together nicely, he set the posters and maps out on his desk and was trying to decide where to hang them up. The sudden thudding of footsteps caught Howitzer and his men’s attention, Luigi was still in his zone moving about holding the posters up by hand to get an idea where to put them. 

A sudden curse from outside the classroom in their native language caught the soldier's attention.

“Where the hell did all this trash come from?! Whoever left it here is getting fried!” Bowser growled as he kicked over one of the old shelves. Howitzer and his men hurried out of the room to stand at attention for their king. Said king narrowed his eyes at the general.“Howitzer, what is this junk and why is it taking up my hallway?” 

“Apologies, Sire, the new tutor was cleaning out the old classroom. We'll get rid of it.” Howitzer saluted the much larger koopa. 

Bowser looked from Howitzer to past him where he saw the human moving about with what looked like posters inside the room. Curious how it was looking he moved toward the door, Howitzer and the other two moved to the side allowing him to pass. He had to duck in so his horns didn’t get stuck. He was a bit impressed with how much the human got done in just a few hours. Bowser had moved to the side in front of the wall taking in the room as he did. Luigi, who was too focused on what he was doing and where the posters would go, didn't notice that he'd tapped one of the posters on the king's chest before moving on.

“What am I a wall?!” Bowser demanded looking down at the picture of what looked like a koopa hanging from a wire. The words ‘hang in there’ printed beneath it. 

Luigi snapped out of his focused state as he spun around, “Your majesty.. Oh dear I’m so sorry!” He moved back toward Bowser pulling  the poster and tape off, trying his best to not let the king hear his small chuckle. “I didn’t notice you came in.” 

“How the hell didn’t you? I ain’t the quietest Koopa you know.” Bowser snorted. “Anyways, the room looks alright. What's with the balls?”  

“Oh those are mostly for Lemmy but the other children are free to use them.” Luigi explained. 

“For Lemmy?” Bowser questioned. 

“Yes, Kamek told me about all of their learning needs and how Lemmy needs his balance ball especially if he gets upset.” Luigi nodded. He continued moving around the room hanging up posters. 

“So you know they have learning problems?” Bowser asked, watching the man. 

“Not so much as problems, just different ways of learning.” Luigi corrected. “Honestly if those other tutors were half the educators they claimed they would have known that.” 

That was the first time anyone addresses the kids’ learning disabilities as unique and not problematic. And it came from the green Mario of all people. 

“I don’t know why you’re doing all this anyways.” Bowser crossed his arms. “They probably ain’t gonna show. I honestly didn’t expect anyone else to show up, so I ain't gonna make them come if they don't wanna." 

“If they don’t then, they don’t.” Luigi shrugged. “I don’t intend to chase them and force them to learn. It does the opposite, especially if they have the disabilities I think they do.”

“Let me guess you still wanna be paid even if they don’t?” Bowser sneered. If the human expected to get a single gold coin from him without earning it he-

“Of course not. Why would I take money for something I haven’t done?” Luigi looked up at the koopa in confusion. 

Didn’t? 

“You don’t wanna be paid for being here?” Bowser questioned. “Oh I get it, you want a free room in a palace like you did at Peach’s place with your brother. Got used to the cushy lifestyle of being the brother of Peach's boytoy did ya?"

He was taken aback just a bit by the glare he got from the human. “I suppose you've been busy with your kingdom the last couple years. You obviously don't know this but I do not live in the palace with Mario and Peach. I have my own home, or did until I took this job. If you wish for me to live elsewhere, I’d be happy to do so. My airship has plenty of room for myself and my dog. If possible I can look into housing nearby if you don't wish me to be here. Now if you don’t mind I need to finish this and get ready for tomorrow.” 

Bowser just stared at the human in complete shock. Did he.. he just.. who speaks to a king like that!? Luigi simply moved past the king, ignoring the smoke coming from the large koopa’s nostrils. He grabbed the nearest feather duster and finished dusting the bookshelves. The two koopa soldiers tried to focus their attention anywhere else besides their silently fuming king. Howitzer was finding it incredibly hard not to laugh out loud, no one, not even Peach spoke to the king like this. Princess Daisy did sure when she came to visit but she only did it when necessary. 

The human finally set the duster down and wiped  his hands off on his dirty slacks before turning to General Howitzer. 

“I truly appreciate the help, general.” Luigi smiled at the koopa gratefully. “That does it for here, I’ll get started hauling out the trash.” 

“Hey, I told you we’d handle it.” Howitzer shook his head. He motioned toward the other two koopas who nodded. Luigi looked as if he wanted to argue but decided not to. 

“Thank you, General.” A sudden low growl caught the remaining three’s attention. Luigi felt his cheeks warm a bit as he realized the sound came from his stomach. “Didn’t realize I was hungry.” 

“How did you not notice?” Bowser questioned. “Howitzer, get one of the cooks to whip something up for Greenie here.” 

“Oh there’s no need.” Luigi shook his head. Bowser and Howitzer stared at him, “It’s late and I’m sure they are in bed.” 

“What can you cook, too?” Bowser scoffed. 

“Yes actually.” Luigi nodded. “How else do you think Mario got so pudgy?” He moved over to his desk and grabbed his jacket and tie. “If one of you could tell me which floor the kitchen is on, I can make my way from there I'm sure. I'm afraid I didn't finish the tour with Kamek before I started in my classroom."

Bowser stared at the human in surprise. “It’s their job to get out of bed when they are ordered.” 

“Yes but why bother them for something I can do myself?” Luigi shook his head. "I'm sure I can manage."

“I’ll show you where the kitchens are.” Howitzer said as he moved toward the door. Luigi smiled gratefully as he left the room behind the koopa general.

Bowser stared after the man, for once in his long life, he was speechless. The human didn’t live in the palace even though his brother was dating the princess, he cooked for himself, he didn’t want money until he actually did the job no one wants, he would move out of the luxurious room if he was ordered to. 

This human was so confusing.

*

Luigi had woken with the sun the next day, probably earlier than most of the castle staff but he was eager to get the day started. He’d made his way back down to the kitchens where he was greeted by the head chef, a koopa named Han. The older koopa had been chef for the royal family for many years and he’d been surprisingly accepting of his intrusion in the kitchen last night. And was especially intrigued about Luigi’s human style of cooking, he grabbed the green coffee cup he’d brought with him from the cupboard. While they didn’t have the electronics he and Mario had grown up with, the coffee press they did have worked just as well. Once his coffee was done he grabbed an apple from the nearest basket on the counter and headed for the classroom. 

Entering he was happy to see it just as he’d left it though the windows were closed now. Luigi set his cup, briefcase and breakfast on the desk and went to open the windows, once done he sat at his desk. Opening the case he pulled out the papers he planned to pass out to hopefully get to know them a bit better. Luigi believed he may have been a bit too early, so he’d brought a book to pass the time until the children showed up. 

One hour turned to two then three. By the fifth hour he glanced at the pocket watch he carried on his person. He didn’t want to push the issue but he was sure they’d told the children they had a new tutor. But as more time passed it became rather clear that the koopalings were not coming. He'd heard the elevator ding from the end of the hall but no one entered the class room.

He had told Bowser that he wouldn’t chase the children and he meant it. Luigi supposed he had his work cut out for him when it came to these children. He sighed as he closed his book and stood. He replaced the papers back in his case, leaving the case on the desk he made his way toward the classroom door. Since it was obvious he wouldn’t have any students today he decided he could give himself a tour.

GROWL… and get something else to eat. 

Tiny red eyes peeked out of the game room once the tall human left the classroom. Soon as the elevator doors closed Junior darted out of the game room and toward the room the human just left. His eyes widened a bit at the sight of it. It looked much nicer than when the other mean teachers had been there, it even had giant balls to play with! Junior looked toward the elevator hoping to see which floor the other had gone to. But he’d been too late looking as the numbers were no longer glowing.

He grumbled to himself as he moved back to the game room and would have entered if his tummy didn’t make a noise of protest. Guess he needed a snack, maybe Han would let him get something before dinner. 

The hall was empty when the elevator arrived and Junior peeked out. Most of the castle workers were ordered by grandpa to stop him from getting any snacks before after noon meals. Thankfully this time there was no one to stop him! The quiet hall was filled with soft little thuds of Junior’s feet hitting the polished hardwood floor as he walked to the kitchen. As he reached the door his small hand reached up to the handle stretching slightly to open the door. He walked in and froze in confusion when he saw Luigi in the kitchen. Ducking behind the nearest counter he eyed the human as he moved about. So this was where the other had gone! The human and Hans seemed to be having some sort of conversation as the human put different ingredients together in a big bowl before the old chef koopa moved away. 

Junior watched the man as he mixed everything together. What was Green Mario making? He walked over to Luigi who hadn’t noticed him yet, there was a very light little pitter patter noise as his feet moved across the stone floor.

He climbed up on the stool near the counter, peaking into the bowl. The sudden sound of the stool being moved caused Luigi to flinch and turn to look at the small koopaling. Luigi hadn’t seen the young koopa in a while but from what he did remember of him he hadn’t grown very much. He was staring down at the bowl he was mixing. Did he want to help or was he just curious?

 "I'm making a human treat called a muffin. I can give you one when I'm done baking them." Luigi offered with a smile. The young koopa turned his gaze from the strange mixture to the man's.

Oh it's a human treat? It sounded yummy so he nodded. A sweet smell hit his nostrils and he looked around where he saw the source was a container of blueberries in a blue liquid. He liked blueberries so he went to reach for them but Green Mario grabbed it before he could. Luigi looked at the berries before looking back at him smiling. 

“You like blueberries huh?” He asked. 

“Uh-huh! They’re my favorite!” Junior nodded excitedly.

“Then you’re really going to enjoy these muffins because they are going in the batter.” He almost laughed out loud as the little red eyes widened to almost comical size. “Would you like to add them in?”

Junior nodded so fast he almost fell off the stool. Luigi passed the container to the little koopa after taking a spoonful out.  Junior dumped the remaining berries into the mixture, not wanting to waste any of the yummy syrup he started licking the package. He made an excited noise as Luigi offered him the spoon of berries which he took and ate in one bite. Luigi chuckled as the little one got syrup all over his hands and snout. He found the nearest rag and offered it to Junior, but it was denied as he started licking his fingers. Shaking his head Luigi set the rag on the counter top close by in case. The young koopa chose to use it. He picked up the whisk he was using earlier and started mixing once more. As he finished cleaning his fingers and muzzle Junior looked down at the bowl and let out a squawk of surprise.

 "It's blue!" He pointed out excitedly.

 "Yes, it gets the color from the sweet syrup the blueberries are in." He smiled at the koopaling "It’ll even stay  like that inside once it's baked, the outside looks brown but inside it's a very pretty color of blue. Do you like the color blue Junior?" He nodded a small smile on his face.

 "I like blue! So does Larry, he says it's a nice color." Junior explained. Luigi made a mental note to find some blue things to put in the classroom should Larry choose to attend. “Can you make more muffins in different colors?” 

“I can, let's get this batch in first then we’ll see about trying different colors.” Junior bounced up and down on his stool excitedly at that. 

Luigi used a scoop to separate the batter evenly into the muffin tin. Afterwards he opened the oven, laying them gently on the middle rack and closing the door. Before turning to Bowser Jr again. 

"Soon as they are done, I’ll give you one and you can take one to Larry" he looked over at the clock "In about half an hour? Does that sound good, Junior?" Junior nodded at him. 

While they waited for the muffins to finish, Luigi cleaned up the mess he’d made. Hans and the rest of his staff watched in curious confusion as the littlest prince followed the human about as he carried dishes from the counter to the sink. Usually when the little koopa prince was in here he was trying to steal snacks, but this time he was focused on the Green Mario. By the time Luigi finished cleaning all his dirty dishes, the timer he’d set buzzed. Junior rushed over to the oven and went to open the door, only to be stopped by Luigi who moved much faster than the staff expected. To their shock he picked up the little koopa to stop him from grabbing the hot handle of the oven.

“Ah, ah, we don’t touch the oven without protection.” Luigi stated as he gently set the prince on the counter top. While he knew Bowser could practically swim in lava, Junior was still a baby and he didn’t want to risk the child burning himself. With Junior out of the way, Luigi pulled on his oven mit and opened the door. The smell of freshly baked muffins filled the kitchen, causing the majority of the kitchen staff to pause what they were doing and sniff. He placed the muffin tin on the counter a safe distance from Junior before closing the door. “Now we just wait a couple minutes for them to set and cool, then they’ll be ready.” 

“They smell so yummy!” Junior bounced in place impatiently waiting for his treat. “Can you put other stuff in muffins?” 

“Yes, chocolate, other fruits.” Luigi nodded. 

“Morry likes chocolate! Wendy really likes sprinkles, can you put sprinkles in ‘em?” Junior asked.

“Well at that point they’d be cupcakes.” Luigi stated. A few minutes had already passed so he knew the muffins were ready. 

“Cupcakes? Is it like a birthday cake?” Junior watched the human move one muffin from the tin and sit it on the plate.

“It is just smaller and easier to hold. I’ll be sure to make some of those too." Luigi nodded. He touched the top of the muffin and nodded. “Alright, it's ready. Now it is still hot so eat it slowly.” 

Junior wanted to scarf the whole thing down but he wanted to see if it actually was blue in the middle. He took a bite off the top and squealed in elation at the taste. It was sweet and tasted just like berries! He looked at the now revealed inside, his eyes widening. 

“It is blue inside! Just like you said!” He cried excitedly. Luigi smiled as he pulled the next muffin out of the tin. 

“Yep! Here’s the other for your brother,” Before he could say anything else, Junior grabbed the other muffin and jumped off the counter. He ran out the kitchen yelling his brother’s name. Luigi blinked at the empty space before chuckling to himself. He had a feeling tomorrow he’d need to have more muffins ready, in case he had a little visitor or two. 

Chapter Text

The next morning found Luigi in the chair at his desk reading his book once more. It was two hours past time for class to start and once more no one had shown up. Not that it bothered him too much, it allowed him time to catch up on his reading. A sudden noise outside the open door caught his attention. 

“I’m not goin’ in first!” a young voice protested. 

“You gotta!” That sounded like Junior, which means he’d dragged one of his siblings to the class. He pretended to still be  reading as he shifted his gaze to the door. He saw a yellow clawed arm stick out in the open door way before it was quickly pulled back out of sight. “C’mon! He may have muffins!” 

“But why do I gotta go in first? You want the muffins too, why don’t you go in?” The sibling asked.

“Or you could both come in together, the door is big enough.” Luigi decided to interject. “And yes, I do have muffins.” 

After a moment of silence, two pairs of feet shuffled out from their hiding spot. Sure enough there was Junior, with him was a little boy koopa at least a foot taller than Junior with a tall blue tuft of hair on top of his green head on either side were two blue stars. His shell was the same shade with a little bit bigger spikes. He had two fangs sticking out on either side of his mouth on the top. 

He smiled at the pair of children as he closed and set his book down. “Hello again, Junior. And you are Larry, yes?”

“Y-yeah, you’re the Green Mario right?” He asked in lieu of greeting. 

“Most people call me that, my name however is Luigi.” Luigi said, he reached over to the plastic covered plate revealing the muffins. “I take it you got your blueberry muffin yesterday?” 

“Yeah, it was really good. But don’t think you can butter me up with snacks so I’ll do school work.” Larry crossed his arms over his small chest, a determined look on his face. Luigi just chuckled as he stood. 

“Who said I was? I had a feeling Junior would bring someone with him today so I came prepared.” He picked up the plate and moved toward the two. “You don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to, you can take these back to where your other siblings are.” He crouched before the pair holding the plate in front of him. “I was going to go sit over there and read, much more comfy than my desk.” 

The pair looked where he gestured to the reading area and its comfy cushions. It did look comfy, Larry was eying the large blue bean bag chair. Junior grabbed a muffin from the plate and rushed over to the reading area. 

“Do you have any superhero books?” he asked, looking up at the shelf. 

“I’m sure I do, over there somewhere.” Luigi answered, he glanced back at Larry who still looked unsure. “You don’t have to stay, Larry.” The blue haired koopa shifted his gaze from the chair back to the human. He could see the kindness in the human’s blue eyes. 

“I don’t have to sit still or stand in a corner, right?” He asked. Luigi cursed rather colorfully in Italian in his mind as he shook his head. 

“Not if you don’t want to.” After a few more minutes of silence, Larry finally took a muffin and walked into the room and over to his little brother. Luigi smiled softly as he stood and followed. He set the plate on one of the desks and walked over to the shelf. “Now I believe there was a request for a superhero book?” 

The trio spent the next couple hours eating muffins while Luigi read outload for them, Junior started out on one of the cushions before moving to the man’s lap so he could see the pictures. Larry would shift from the blue chair to the shelf, even sitting at one of the long desks. He kept one eye on Luigi as he moved about, not once did the human yell at him to sit. He expected it, even prepared to go into his shell but he was never yelled at. After moving from the desk to the window for the third time, 

“Larry,” This was it. He knew it was only a matter of time before he was yelled at. He turned ready to hide in his shell, instead of an annoyed look the man was smiling. There was something blue spinning between his fingers, whatever it was it made some sort of noise that immediately took his focus helping him calm down as he stared at the object. “We were about to head to the library, sadly I don’t have many superhero books.” 

“Ok.. what's that?” He pointed to the object. Luigi looked at where he was pointing. 

“This, it's called a fidget spinner. I’m honestly surprised I was able to find one here after we came.” He explained. “When I’m having trouble focusing, it keeps my mind on its movement while I read. Kids back where I’m from use them all the time.” 

“Does it help? Keep your brain on one thing?” He asked moving toward the human and his brother. 

Luigi nodded as he made the object stop spinning. Larry moved closer to look at the object, it had three points with rings at each point. The middle had some sort of flat smooth bolt that still moved. “It does, would you like to try?” 

Larry nodded. Luigi crouched before him gently grasping his hand, “Place it between your thumb and forefinger, yes like that. Have a good grip on it and,” Larry made a noise of surprise as Luigi pushed on one corner causing the triangle to spin. He couldn’t explain it, but the noise made him almost giddy for some reason. He liked the noise, it's nice.

“This is cool!” He kept spinning the spinner grinning happily. After a few more minutes of spinning, he finally stopped it. “That was fun,” He went to offer it back to the human who shook his head. 

“You can keep it; I don’t need it as much anymore.” Luigi smiled as he stood. Larry looked down at the spinner then back up at the human in shock. 

“Are you sure I can, have it?” Larry questioned. Luigi nodded. “Thanks.” 

“You are most welcome; you are welcome to follow us to the library if you wish.” Luigi stated, holding out his hand to the koopa. Larry nodded as he took the offered hand. Before Luigi could turn to Junior the smaller koopa climbed up the back of his pants and back coming to a stop just before his shoulders. The little head plopped on his shoulder. Luigi blinked in surprise at his new hitchhiker before smiling at him. “Guess we’re ready to go then.” 

They left the class and headed for the library. While not the biggest library he’d ever seen, it had six rows of five shelves with a few chairs scattered around as well as some tables. It was as Kamek had said, the room was empty of all living beings save the elderly female koopa at the desk. She had her beak buried in a rather thick tombe, her half moon glasses perched just at the end of her beak.

“Excuse me?” Luigi spoke. She let out a screech of surprise nearly falling out of her chair. “Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to surprise you.”

“I should hope not!” She huffed and readjusted her glasses. She did a double take as she saw who stood before her. She’d heard about the human that came to tutor the royal children, but she didn’t expect to see him so soon even if they shared a floor.  “May I help you?” 

“Yes, my classroom library is a bit lacking in superhero books and I was hoping you had some.” Luigi replied. 

Well at least he’s polite. she thought to herself, thinking back to the rude instructors that demanded she give up all the books she had for children. 

 “Yes, we have the children’s section, but this is the first I’ve seen either of the young princes here.”  She glanced from Larry, who was half hiding behind Luigi’s leg, to Junior still perched on his back. “Usually, the only one of the royal children that comes in is Prince Iggy.”

“Well, first time for everything.” Luigi smiled. “Which way is the children section?” 

The she-koopa pointed to the right side of the library, Luigi nodded in thanks as he walked toward the section Larry following close at his side. She watched them go, her expression puzzled. The section had shorter shelves for easier reach for the children, a couple short tables and small chairs sat in the middle on a rug that used to be colorful. Junior clamored down from Luigi’s shoulder and ran over to the shelves. 

“Didn’t know there were so many books!” he cried excitedly. Luigi gently shushed him. 

“I know there probably isn’t anyone here, but libraries are places of quiet.” He spoke softly, he looked down to Larry who had let go of his hand and started playing with his spinner. “Would you like to go pick out a book, Larry?” 

The other koopa looked up from his spinner at Luigi. “Do they have any books on colors?” 

“I’m sure they do, let's go look.” He led the other to the shelf. To Larry’s delight and Luigi’s relief they did have a book on all sorts of colors and what creatures in their world had the colors. Luigi had glanced at the author, a small smile pulled at his lips at the name Professor E. Gadd printed on the front. “I’m going to find myself a new book, will you two be, ok?” 

“Yeah!” Junior nodded, not taking his eyes off the picture book he’d gotten. Larry nodded as well. 

“Alright, come find me if you need me ok?” The children just nodded. He shook his head fondly as he left the children’s section and moved between the taller shelves. As he looked through the different titles, a sound caught his attention. He rounded the corner of a shelf and saw an adolescent koopa with a bright green plum of hair sitting at one of the tables. He looked a bit thinner than the others and wore glasses. From what he remembered of the koopalings this had to be Iggy. As he stared at the young koopa he noticed the other looked rather frustrated. 

There were several pieces of paper scattered on the table as well as different books. Even from where he stood, he could see they had forms of equations on the pages. He recognized them as some problems the professor used with his inventions. Luigi gently rapped his knuckles against a shelf catching the green koopa’s attention. The other looked up in slight surprise, seeing him and he frowned. 

“May I help you?” Iggy asked. 

“You seem to be having some trouble there. Iggy, right?” Luigi approached the table, Iggy tensed up a bit as the human approached. 

“These are very complicated equations made by Professor E. Gadd. Forgive my rudeness but I doubt a human who isn’t from this world will be able to understand them.” Iggy adjusted his glasses. He was a bit surprised to see the human didn’t look offended as the other teachers did when he called their intelligence into question. Instead, he smiled, taking a seat close to him but still leaving Iggy space.

“I don’t know, I did study with the professor off and on for a few years.” Luigi said, pulling the nearest paper to him to look at. Iggy stared at the human incredulously, the professor was the greatest mind in their world! Surely, he didn’t take any normal person under his wing to study. Wait.. he said study with. Not under. Before he could comment the human grabbed one of the nearby pencils and blank papers and started writing out a string of numbers and symbols Iggy had never seen before. 

“Those aren’t the professor's equations. Or any I’ve seen.” Iggy stated, watching the human write. 

“I know, this is a form of mathematics called geometry. People where I am from use it for a great number of things.” He explained. “The professor and I combined our forms of mathematics, and they were able to fill in the blanks of the equations he had trouble completing.” 

Luigi put the pencil down and showed his work to Iggy. The young genius’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head from behind his glasses. This.. this looked like the equation to one of the professor's rockets, the distance from the planet to the Lunar kingdom, the projected trajectory and speed of reentering the atmosphere and where it would land. He’d been trying to figure that out for years! And this human just.. wrote it out like it was nothing, as if he memorized the equation. Iggy looked up from the paper to the human as he smiled and got up from the table. 

“Sorry,I didn’t mean to take up your time.” Luigi said. “I should get back to the other two, we are technically in the middle of a class. Enjoy the rest of your day, Iggy.” 

The human walked back the way he came leaving the green haired koopa to his math, Iggy watched him go before looking back down at his papers and the one the human had written out. 

A few minutes later Luig approached the desk and librarian with an arm full of color and superhero books as well as a book or two for himself. Junior once again attached to his back with Larry holding his pants leg. 

“I hope you found all you were looking for.” The female koopa said, picking up her stamp. 

“I believe we did.” Luigi nodded. There was a sudden thud as a stack of books were dropped beside theirs. Iggy stood beside them, not making eye contact. 

“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to know more about your ‘geometry’.” He stated. “Merely as one academic to another of course.” 

Luigi simply smiled, “Of course.” 

As the group gathered their books and left the she-koopa watched them go, prince Iggy had pulled the human in another discussion she couldn’t begin to understand. As most of her usual visitors were gone, she got up from her desk and left the room. She figured Lord Kamek would like to know what was going on with the new tutor. 

Chapter Text

 Kamek glanced over that day’s reports, making a note here and there preparing them for the king to sign off on. It had been a rather pleasant week since Luigi came to teach the children. To his surprise at least three out of the eight had started attending his class. Kamek hadn’t asked for a progress report from the human not expecting any of the children to attend. But when the librarian came to him a week ago telling him of such he had peeked into the class to see for himself. Sure enough he saw Iggy sitting at a desk working on some sort of paper, asking Luigi to check over his work. When the man was finished with that he went back to where Junior was painting happily with one claw, Larry was sitting on a large blue comfy chair playing with some sort of spinner as he read outloud. 

Kamek was honestly impressed, in two days the human had won over three of the koopalings. He’d left them to their work and had gone back to his own. Kamek set his quill down, removing his glasses to rub at his eyes. It was getting late into the afternoon, most likely supper time. He picked up his glasses, hopping down from his desk chair he shuffled toward the front door of the office he shared with the king grabbing his broom from the corner and climbing on. By now he and the children would be leaving the solarium heading for the dining hall. As Kamek flew out of the office through the him sized door Luigi walked out of his class room, closing it behind him. 

Luigi looked up and smiled as he caught sight of him. “Good afternoon, Kamek.” 

“Afternoon, how was your class today?” Kamek asked, nodding to the human as he floated toward him. 

“Good, Junior is enjoying finger painting. I may need to go into town at some point to see if they have more paints. We'ved moved onto third colors this week. He's progressed very well, enjoys mixing the colors to make new ones.” Luigi replied. “Iggy is almost through high school geometry. I’ll need to contact Professor E. Gadd and see if I can get my physics books back so he’ll have a bit more of a challenge. Larry has already made his way through all of the books on colors and shapes. He's ready to read at a third grade level. Hopefully I can find more hero books in town as well, he seems to enjoy those much more."

Kamek watched the man speak of the three princes and their progress, almost like a proud father. How the old king used to speak of... Kamek pushed thoughts of HIM aside as he nodded. While he didn't understand the terminology the man used, Kamek supposed it was positive.

“I see, I am glad you got a few of the children to come to class. Let me know when you wish to go to town, I’ll ask General Howitzer to escort you.” Kamek said. 

“Oh, I don’t want to trouble the general.” Luigi shook his head but Kamek wouldn’t hear it. 

“Nonsense, you haven’t been to the town yet. Though I’m sure most of the town knows you are here by now but not what for. We wouldn’t want someone to get the wrong idea and try to capture you and bring you back here in chains. Or try to ransom you to the Mushroom kingdom.” Kamek stated. “Since you have lasted the week and have more than one student, I would now like to have progress reports at the end of the week.”

“Of course. I made sure to make them during this week in case you asked for them. I’ll bring them to you tomorrow morning if that's alright.” Luigi nodded. Kamek was expecting him to complain about more work but he didn’t. He even had reports ready. It was rather refreshing to not have to fight for reports as he used to when they'd first come back to the ancestral castle. The old council was rather sore about being left to tend to an entire kingdom while the actual king left them. A few council members had to be dismissed since they outright refused even after the king told them Kamek would act in his stead on things of that nature.

The sound of a door opening caught both of their attention, they looked to see the large door leading to the solarium opening up. Bowser exited the room followed by his older children, on his shoulder sat Junior. 

“Ah, Your Majesty, Your Highnesses, I hope the solarium was pleasant as always.” Kamek commented as he floated toward the family. They turned their gazes from each other to the magi-koopa, two sets of eyes however focused on the human just behind him.

“LUI!” Junior cried out happily as he leapt off his father’s shoulder somehow missing the king's outstretched hand. Everyone’s heart jumped as he did, thankfully the little koopa landed on his feet as if he'd done it hundreds of times. He had but that didn't mean it was any easier for his family to see. 

Before Bowser or even Kamek could fuss at the child he ran right for the human still standing in front of his classroom. 

“Junior, that wasn’t very sa-oof!” Not expecting it, Luigi was bowled over by the excited child. Thankfully he didn’t hit his head on the floor, Luigi sat up about to speak when another koopa just a bit bigger and heavier leapt onto him. Craning his head up he saw both Junior and Larry smiling at him from their spots on his chest. 

“Hi!” The pair spoke in unison. Luigi couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his face. 

“Hello, boys. Enjoy the sunlight?” He asked, sitting up. The two boys nodded.

“Yeah! You should come next time, you’re really pale.” Larry pointed out as he gently prodded the man's forehead beneath his hair. The thudding of Bowser’s footsteps caught their attention as he approached. 

“Alright, hatchlings, let the human up. I’m sure he’s got other stuff to do just like we do.” Bowser said, looking down at the trio. Larry nodded as he reluctantly stood up, Junior however latched onto Luigi’s sweater vest with his hands and clawed toes. “Junior, you heard what I said. Let go.” 

“I wanna stay with Lui!” Junior shook his head. Bowser just rolled his eyes saying something about spoiled brats. He reached a hand down to grab the little koopa up by his tail. Unfortunately for Luigi, Junior had a death grip on him and he was lifted as well. “NO!” Bowser let out a low growl as he moved the pair up and down trying to dislodge the toddler’s grip.

His older siblings watched in confusion, usually Junior was only clingy with one of them, Kamek and Kammy or their father. It was a bit concerning how quickly he took to the human who had at one time been their enemy. Though it was only his brother they’d really fought seriously.

Kamek decided to step in, “Prince Junior, it is time for supper-”

“Then Lui can come too!” Junior demanded. Bowser let out a growl as he lifted them up so he could look Luigi in the eyes. 

“The hell did you do to my son to make him like you this much?” Bowser snarled. 

“I didn’t do anything, besides give him blueberry muffins.” Luigi shook his head. “And before you ask, no I didn’t put anything in them to make him so clingy.” 

Bowser narrowed his red red eyes at the human trying to find some form of deceit but there was none. Letting out a low growl he lowered the two back down until Luigi was standing on his own two feet. Luigi instantly put his hands below Junior’s shell as support, though with the grip he had he doubted the little koopa would fall. No longer feeling his father’s hand trying to pull him off the human, Junior looked up at the large koopa. 

“He can come eat with us?” Junior asked, smiling brightly. Bowser was about to say no until those big baby red eyes looked up at him hopefully. It felt as if he’d been stabbed in the heart by an arrow of cuteness. Junior knew, KNEW those baby chainchomp eyes were killer and always got him what he wanted. Sneaky brat. 

“Fine. This time he can.” Bowser growled as he moved past the pair Kamek floating close behind him. Junior cheered happily, still not letting go.

“But, I don’t-” Luigi started to protest not wanting to step on any toes or break protocol, he'd only been here a week after all. He'd hate to get fired this soon. 

“I’m afraid it's too late, Mr. Luigi.” Iggy stated as he walked by patting the human on the shoulder. “Junior has gotten his way, etiquette aside, it looks like you will be having supper with the royal family tonight.” Luigi watched as Bowser hit a large button higher than what the others could reach, opening an elevator beside the one used every day by others. It was large enough to hold the king himself and his children.

“You coming or what, Greenie?” Bowser demanded. This got the man moving toward the large elevator. 

Junior looked more than pleased with himself if the sharp toothed grin was any indication. The little koopa released his hold on Luigi’s sweater vest making the man stop long enough for Junior to clammer around so he was on the human’s back. 

“Seriously, he’s never so clingy with anyone besides dad.” Wendy shook her head. “Even Larry likes him already.” 

As if on cue the little blue haired koopa grabbed Luigi by the hand and started pulling him to the elevator. The other koopas followed a few steps behind them. 

“I guess he ain’t so bad. Pointdexter there joined the class along with those two.” Morton shrugged. “Don’t mean I wanna join.” 

“Whatever trick he’s used on those three will not work on me.” Ludwig stated as he followed his siblings. He wouldn't be tricked again.

With everyone in the elevator Bowser punched a floor number causing the doors to close. The ride was silent other than the sound of the elevator moving down only one floor, they were on the same level as the kitchen if Luigi remembered right. As it stopped and opened he saw the familiar sight of the kitchen doors directly across from them. Luigi followed behind Bowser as the large koopa walked toward the left of the hall. Large double doors with his insignia painted in gold opened just before the king reached them. Much like the rest of the castle, the dining hall was lavishly decorated with a long table in the center. There were enough chairs for the royal family and Kamek, noticing this Junior, looked at his father. 

“You knew there weren’t enough spots when you told me to invite him.” Bowser simply shrugged. He took the largest chair at the head of the table, the rest of the koopalings not clinging to Luigi took their spots. “You two sit down now.” 

Larry looked up at Luigi confused on what to do, Luigi just smiled and gently pulled his hand free from the young koopa’s grip. He placed his hand on the back of Larry’s shell mindful of the spikes. 

“Go on and sit, I’m sure the chefs are waiting to serve once everyone is seated.” Luigi urged the other. Larry looked sad but moved toward the table and his spot. Luigi looked over his shoulder where Junior was still clinging to his back. “Junior.” 

“But… I don’ want you to eat alone.” Junior pouted. 

“I’ll be fine, you need to eat with your family.” Luigi spoke gently to the little koopa who after a few more minutes finally let go. He plopped down on the floor moving around to stand in front of Luigi. Just before the human could urge him to take his own seat, Junior’s eyes lit up.

“We could get you a chair!” He exclaimed. Junior dashed outside of the dining hall suddenly before Luigi or the others could stop him. He sighed, turning his attention to the table. Bowser’s gaze was locked on him, still narrowed in suspicion. 

“Well? Get your ass over here, Greenie.” The koopa king growled. “Might as well get your spot picked out til Junior gets back with your chair.” 

After a few more seconds of hesitation did the human walk toward the table. He was going to sit at the opposite end, not wanting to assume where he was allowed to sit when Junior ran back in followed by another koopa holding another dining chair. 

“Luigi, you sit at the front of the table between me and papa!” Junior stated proudly as he got to the table. He pushed his high chair down a few inches prompting his siblings on that side to do the same. He didn’t mind sitting by Junior, his father on the other hand.. 

Luigi moved back down to the head of the table where Junior stood proudly beside the new chair placed where his had been. Junior climbed up into his high chair, a proud grin still present on his face as Luigi sat down in his own chair. Bowser glared down at the human sitting beside him, he looked awkward but not nervous as he had been his first day. He’d heard rumors of the younger Mario brother taking down King Boo a couple years back for the third time. Something about hotels and mansions, he didn’t bother to hear the whole story. After all: Mario’s cowardly brother taking down a king? Especially if it was King Boo himself. There was no way. Bowser did notice how the human only stuttered when he was first captured, after what few interactions they had the man talked clearly.

The doors opened once more as the castle chefs lead by Hans walked in pushing several carts of food, the aroma coming from under the turines was mouth watering.

“Hans, what did you do to the food this time?” Bowser asked almost eagerly as the largest cart stopped by his chair. 

“Well, sire, I have been taking tips from the new tutor here. Taking into account your carnivorous appetite as well as the children’s dietary needs, I was able to whip up a new menu item.” Hans spoke proudly, turning his attention to Luigi. “Thankfully, Prince Junior notified us of your joining the royal family for dinner.” 

Bowser looked past Hans at Luigi who simply shrugged. “I told you I know how to cook. Between class times I help out in the kitchens.” 

As the kitchen koopas had set the covered plates in front of the children, Luigi and Kamek, two of the winged koopas lifted Bowser’s covered plate from the cart. They gently placed the plate before the koopa king who sniffed once more. “What even is it?” Bowser demanded. It really smelled good and meaty whatever it was.

At the same time the covers were lifted to reveal.. something. Luigi smiled brightly at the plate piled with meat and noodles. 

“Rigatoni alla Genovese.” Luigi supplied happily, already reaching for the fork. 

“Uh.. bless you?” Wendy looked down at the plate, it smelled amazing but she wasn’t too keen on the look of it. 

“The hell? Where the hells are my steaks?!” Bowser demanded turning his enraged gaze at the koopa chef. 

“While I know you enjoy your red meats, too much especially slathered in butter as you like them, is not good for you.” Hans stated. “I can assure you, sire, highnesses, this recipe is quite good. Enjoy.” With that the koopa bowed and signaled for his helpers to follow him out of the dining hall.

Junior looked down at the food, his nose scrunching up in confusion. “Is this food?” 

 Luigi made an affirmative noise as he took the first bite. He let out a quiet groan of bliss, it tasted perfect. “Yes, it is food. Not food I’m sure you are used to but it is very good.” 

 The other koopas stared at the human, not quite believing him. Larry decided to be the second to start eating, picking up his own fork and taking a small bite. His eyes widened as all the flavors hit his tongue at once, yet each could be picked out. When he started scarfing his food down by the fork full, did the others pick up their own forks. Luigi couldn’t help his smile as happy noises came from each of the children and Kamek. Bowser still hadn’t picked up his own fork, still glaring at the food, as if waiting for it to combust on his plate. He looked seconds away from helping it along.

 “It's not going to go away you know.” Luigi spoke up. Bowser glared at the human for a second before glaring back at the plate. 

 “I don’t know what you did to make Hans change my menu, but I want it changed back.” Bowser folded his arms over his large chest. “I ain’t eating this.” 

 “Your majesty, you need to eat.” Kamek stated from his seat at the king’s other side. “It is a bit of an adjustment but the food is not that bad.” 

 “I don’t care if it is good! It ain’t my usual food, therefore I ain’t eating it!” Bowser said with more conviction. A little time had gone by, the children finished their plates even licking them clean. (Luigi swore he heard his Mama at that point chastising them). Now finished, the children dismissed themselves, leaving only Kamek, Luigi and Bowser at the table. Junior had wanted to stay but was pulled away by Morton. “I got work to do.” Bowser had started to push away from the table. He planned to go to the kitchen and get his own food. 

 “Who knew the great king of the koopas is actually an oversized child.” Luigi spoke up from where he still sat. Bowser glared at the man stopping his movements.

 “What did you call me, whimp!?” He snarled. 

 “Then again the actual children ate the new food, not sure what that’d make you.” Luigi took a sip from his glass of water. So casually! Like he didn’t just insult a king! 

 “You got five seconds to apologize, whimp, before I get torched plumber for supper.” Bowser could feel his flames climbing up his throat with the threat. Kamek stared at the human; did he have a death wish? 

 “Honestly, seeing how you’ve acted over the years, losing the tournaments and losing to Mario so many times when it comes to winning Peach over.” Luigi stood from his chair. “I suppose the two of you have something to bond over now, he hates this dish himself. Our mother used to have to force him to even eat it, to think that’d be something you could hold over his head. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be retiring for the night after I meet up with General Howitzer to arrange for my day out tomorrow.” 

 Luigi walked away from the table, any second now he’d hear-

 “FINE! If it means I get one up on plumber boy.” Bowser snarled as he picked up the whole plate and dumped it into his gaping maw. A few bites in he stopped, holding the flavors in his mouth for a couple more minutes. “This is good.” 

 Luigi chuckled to himself as he left the king to his meal. He figured Kamek pointed out the reverse psychology the human used on him because a few seconds after he left the hall he heard: 

 “THAT SON OF A BITCH TRICKED ME!!!!” 

Chapter Text

Luigi combed the rats nest that was his hair into some form of order as he got ready to leave. The green polo shirt he currently wore wouldn’t look place outside of a tennis match though the brown carpenter pants would. Once his look was finished did he grab the messenger bag off the bed where Polterpup lay. The ghostly canine lifted its head as he walked by giving it a gentle pat. As he exited the bedroom portion there was a knock on his door, he had a feeling he knew who it was on the other side. Opening it he was proven right as General Howitzer nodded to him, on either side of the general stood two familiar koopas. They were the ones who first greeted him when he’d been captured. 

“Hello, General.” Luigi greeted, “I didn’t expect other escorts today.” 

“Lord Kamek insisted. Allow me to introduce Corporals Spike and Drake, when I do not escort you in town they will.” Howitzer introduced. 

Luigi made sure to commit their differences to memory, so he didn’t accidentally call one the wrong name. On surface level they looked identical, but looking closer he noticed Spike had small bumps most likely horns protruding from his temples. Drake’s eyes, while the same shade of green as the other koopa’s, had reptilian-like pupils.

Luigi nodded to both of them with a polite smile. “Nice to meet you both.” 

“You too, Teach.” Spike grinned, earning a head slap by the general. 

“Moron his name is Luigi.” Drake corrected, earning a head slap as well. 

“It’s Mr. Mario to you both.” Howitzer stated, glaring out of the corner of his eyes on either side at the shorter koopas. 

“Oh, they don’t have to.” Luigi shook his head. “Luigi is just fine.” 

Howitzer stared at the human for a moment or two before nodding. “As you wish.” 

The general moved to the side allowing the man to fully exit his room closing the door behind him. The group left the royal wing headed for the elevator doors, entering the lift Howitzer pressed a button on the back wall of the elevator. “For going to town the elevator has to go to a different set of floors.” Howitzer explained seeing Luigi’s confused expression. 

The lift doors closed and it lowered by at least two floors, the back of the elevator opened instead of the front revealing what looked like a garage of some sort. Several vehicles and air ships were parked or being worked on, koopas and goombas alike wandered around. Howitzer lead the group to what looked like a miniature sail boat that was lifted up on a platform. Beneath which was a koopa that looked shockingly the same size as Bowser. 

“Torque.” Howitzer called out, Luigi assumed, the man's name causing the koopa to slide out from under it with grease stains covering his plastron and face. The koopa had a jet black mohawk that changed from hair to a long line of black spikes running down his neck and shell, which was similar in coloration to Howitzer's, ending at his tail. His eyes were the same color as the generals. Perhaps they were related? 

“Hey, Howie, didn’t expect to see you down here after being promoted to general!” The koopa laughed as he stood from the roller, he was easily at least a few inches shy of Bowser's seven foot height. “I don't get why you stay so darn short, bro."

"So I can be on equal footing with my men, and you know it's hard for me to keep the other form for too long." Howitzer gritted out crossing his arms over his plastron. 

"Ah, come on, Howie, you gotta practice if you wanna keep it up long. Have you been visiting the brothels like I suggested?" Torque wiggled his eye ridges suggestively. Luigi's face went a little red at the implication. 

"Its General Howitzer when we are at work, Torque. And why would I ever visit one of those houses of ill repute? I have a position to keep." Howitzer stated. He growled something in a language that sounded oddly like Japanese, whatever it was it made the mechanic laugh. The kaiju-koopa's gaze slid toward the human standing beside the general. He studied the other for a few minutes before he spoke. "He looks familiar. Ain't he the brother of that human the king used to fight with all the time over Princess Toadstool?"

"You know about me?" Luigi questioned curiously. Most knew about Mario, given his legendary rivalry with Bowser. He'd gotten used to being a second thought or even forgotten. 

"Well yeah, from what I heard from other troops you were always cowering behind your bro." Torque took a step toward the pair. "No one to cower behind now, Green man. Here there be dragons, sure you can handle it?" The hangar had gone quiet as the other workers had paused what they were doing to watch what their supervisor was going to do to the human.

Howitzer started to get between his brother and the man only for Luigi to move forward. "Torque was it? Two years can make a lot of difference in a person and I can assure you, I can handle anything thrown at me." Luigi replied, his blue eyes flashed green for a few seconds with small electric sparks at the corners. The two held each other's gaze for another minute or so before Torque threw his head back and laughed. 

"You got spunk, I'll give ya that." Torque grinned. “What can I do for you guys?” 

“We need transportation to town. Luigi is unfamiliar with the terrain and it’s possible he will be purchasing things for his class.” Howitzer stated. He supposed that meant Luigi passed Torque's test.

Torque nodded in understanding, “I gotcha, you guys came down just in time actually. Just finished with this baby.” He moved back toward his work bench where a switch sat, the large koopa pressed the green button causing the lift to lower. “Gets good power mileage, smooth ride too.” 

He moved back toward the ship pressing his hand to the scanner just beside the steering wheel. The ship came to life sounding more like a car than he expected, he steered it off the lift and removed his hand. “Simple controls just keep one hand pressed to the scanner here for at least two minutes so it enters the manual / auto pilot.” He pressed a button on the dash causing the side of the ship to open like doors. It had two bench seats on either side of it, leaving the center open save the mast and a stool in front of the wheel.

“After you.” Howitzer motioned toward the ship. Luigi climbed in followed by the general and corporals, the last two closed the doors as they entered. Once everyone was seated, Howitzer placed his hand on the scanner, after a couple minutes the sail moved away from the mast. He pressed on the gas pedal aiming for the.. ramp pointed upwards. 

“Um.. Howitzer?” Luigi questioned. The general did not respond as he gunned it faster toward the ramp. Luigi grabbed onto the seat for dear life soon they were airborne, instead of crashing down like he expected the ships sail opened to the wind as the wheels lifted up into the bottom of the ship. Luigi pressed a hand to his chest trying to get his heart to not climb up his throat. He glared at the back of the koopa’s head as he could hear chuckling. “That was not funny, you know.” 

“It was to me.” Howitzer replied. Luigi just crossed his arms in an annoyed huff.

He happened to glance over the side of the ship, the sea of pinks changed to bright greens as they got further from the castle. Luigi looked up to see the town was just a few yards ahead of them. From this distance he could see it almost looked like the rural parts of Japan, a mix of the modern buildings and the traditional. As they kept flying toward the town, Luigi’s curiosity couldn’t hold out anymore about the large koopa that called him brother.

"That man, he called you brother. He's a kaiju-koopa right?" Luigi asked. 

"He is, I'm surprised you know about the Kaiju-koopa. Most outside of our kingdom have forgotten about them." Howitzer glanced over his shoulder at the man. 

"Before I came to the job here I was giving a lecture on a kingdom that was destroyed by the exiled kaiju koopa prince-"

"DON'T speak that name." Howitzer growled suddenly taking his eyes off where he was flying. "NEVER speak that name in this kingdom." 

Luigi stared at the koopa in slight sock but nodded. "Alright.. is there a taboo on his name or something?" 

Howitzer stared at the man for a few more seconds before returning his gaze to their flight path. "Of sorts. It was forbidden by the old council of which Lord Kamek is part of, its enforced by magic that any who speak his name are to be thrown out and sent to the land of the Forgotten."

"Enforced by magic?" Luigi arched a brow curiously. 

"A glowing manacle appears on the taboo breaker's wrist or throat. They have at least a week to get all affairs in order before they are magically dragged from this kingdom to that place." Howitzer nodded. "Many who sided with him were dragged away along with him." 

"'With him'? So he's still alive?" Luigi asked. "The book I found said he was defeated by the kings I assumed that meant he was killed." 

"He was hurt pretty bad but.. something was off about him. He didn't die just got hurt enough to be chained and caged." Drake supplied. "My pa was there at the trial, guy just looked.. weird. Looked more like a feral beast than a normal kaiju koopa." 

"It's been almost four hundred years since he and his followers were banished." Howitzer explained.

Luigi blinked in shock, four hundred years? The book did not give a time frame of how long ago the battle was, just that it happened and it cost the Mushroom, Sarrassaland and Lunar kingdom their rulers. Thinking on this new information, something clicked.

“Wait if it was four hundred years ago and Bowser was a toddler.. How old Is Bowser?” Luigi asked. 

“The Kaiju-koopas are extremely long lived, one normal year is at least ten in Kaiju. Normal koopas such as the twins here have normal aging.” Howitzer replied. “Currently the king is three hundred and forty-five years old, or thirty five years old by normal time. Kaiju children age normally, up until seventeen or eighteen normal years have passed; that's also when their growth spurts kick in.”

Luigi was shocked by this information. Living in this world as long as he and his brother had, he’d never heard anything of the Kaiju koopas until his lecture at the Toad school. Not even when he and Mario first encountered Bowser. He’d wanted to find out more about the people but to his disappointment there was nothing else on them in the Toad Library.

“Thats.. extraordinary.” Luigi stated.

“If you want to learn more, I’m sure the palace librarian has more books on our history and culture.” Howitzer said. Luigi’s eyes lit up in excitement at the possibility of new knowledge. 

“Of course the teacher is a nerd.” Spike chuckled.

“I can and will dump you out of this ship.” Howitzer said.

The ship flew over a couple buildings before it stopped over a raised platform where a few normal sized para-koopas stood, they all wore aviator goggles. Howitzer angled the ship to where it hovered above the platform as the para-koopas flew up to pull it down. 

“General, we weren’t expecting you and..” One of the Koopas started to say when he caught sight of Luigi. Howitzer stood from the driver's seat walking toward the doors. 

“The new tutor for the royal children.” Howitzer stated. The koopa did not say more as the ship landed on the platform. The sail closed causing the engine to stop as well. Luigi and the other two koopas stood as the doors opened, Howitzer stepped off the ship and stayed close to the door to assist Luigi down. “Welcome to Doragonzu no Mura.” 

Chapter Text

The town looked like it was pulled straight from an anime, so many modern and traditional buildings were put together and they fit seamlessly. The only thing that set it apart from the Japan of earth was the large dragon turtles and two legged turtles. One would think with the large Kaiju koopas walking/flying around the smaller koopas would get stepped on or ran over. Somehow they made it work. Luigi wanted to spend more time exploring the town to see everything they had to offer in terms of shops but he didn’t want to keep the general from his work for too long. Maybe he could come down here himself later on without the entourage.

Luigi couldn’t help but notice all the stares being directed at him, he supposed it had to do with him being the first human here in years. He doubted they had many tourists during their banishment, which was honestly sad. It was a very beautiful place. 

They walked past a shop that sold clothes, and fancy ones at that, wrapped around the mannequins on display. Some of the clothes looked like what you'd see in a five star fashion store back in New York city. Others looked like they came straight from feudal Japan. He thought about going in to see what they had,  but decided against it since the only mannequins he saw in the window were kaiju koopa and Koopa shaped. He doubted they had anything human shaped.

“This is truly an extraordinary town, it reminds me of one of the countries on Earth.” Luigi commented. 

“Eh, it's not much but it's home. Well home for the general here.” Drake said, Howitzer glared at the koopa but didn’t comment. The human was certainly a stubborn one. “What was your home like?” 

“Honestly not much different than this world. Only with more humans, mushrooms didn’t talk, no magic.. and turtles didn’t breathe fire or walk on two legs.” Luigi replied. 

“Sounds boring.” Spike stated. 

“I suppose it was.” Luigi chuckled with a nod. 

A few hours and shops later Luigi had found the supplies he needed: extra notebooks, fidget toys which surprised him honestly and they were designed for little koopaling claws, more paints and some more math books. When he went to pay for the items for some reason none of the shop clerks would let him, saying he could have the items. While he was appreciative, he felt a little bad taking away their possibly already limited revenue. Luigi had wanted to carry his own bags but Howitzer would hear none of it. He'd managed to grab a few of the lighter shopping bags before the general or corporals could take them. If he was being honest with himself, the extra attention and being waited on was a little... off putting. He didn't want to say anything since they offered but still. 

 As they started to round a corner, he caught sight of a familiar koopaling being chased by three kaiju koopas standing between 5'9 and 6 feet tall. Howitzer and the twins didn’t seem to see him, Luigi did. The sight of the trio, all towering over the smaller koopaling by a good foot and a half to two feet, running him into an ally painted  a picture that made his hands crackle with small bolts of electricity. The smell of singed plastic caught the general's nose as he started to look at the human he found his arms full of shopping bags.

Before Howitzer could protest or stop him Luigi took off in the direction of the ally. He rounded another corner in time to see two of the kaiju koopa’s grab Roy by his arms and hold him up so the third could land a rather painful punch to his gut. Judging from the state of their clothes they weren't very well off; Roy let out a pained cough. It shouldn’t have looked as painful as it did, but the bulging muscle of the kaiju showed he had put a good bit of power behind the punch. Even from this distance Luigi could see Roy’s plastron was cracked.

“Not so tough without your loser daddy to save you are ya?” The one who landed the punch jeered, he had to be the leader. “How could you hope to be any kind of leader? You can’t even see without these glasses.” The larger koopa reached out and snatched Roy’s glasses off, leaving a few scratches on his head from his claws. “He’s gotta be a weakling himself if he thinks has to marry some toadstool whench to be taken seriously.” 

“You better hope he doesn’t-” Roy let out a pained cry as the koopa’s fist hit the side of his face. 

“Who cares if he does hear about it?! Everyone here wishes he didn’t come back! Maybe someone better could have taken his place! Someone who isn’t afraid of some banishment and take what they want by force!” The koopa punched the other side of Roy’s face before nodding to his two helpers to drop the koopaling. “All of you disabled street rats he picked up aren’t worthy to be his kids! Just like he ain’t worthy to be king!” 

The leader threw Roy’s glasses away from them, cracking them as they hit the concrete. The three started kicking and punching the helpless koopa hurling verbal abuse along with the physical abuse. Luigi felt his temper snap as his hands began to spark with green lightning, blue eyes changed to green as his power surged through him.

 He rushed out from the ally headed straight for the kaiju’s, “ALLONTANATEVI DA LUI, BASTARDI!” 

By the time the Kaiju teens registered the strange words yelled at them, the leader already had a lightning fist connecting with his cheek. The force threw him back several feet, Luigi landed where the other had been standing. He turned his sparking eyes to the other two who’d stepped away from Roy, no longer being attacked the koopaling had curled into a ball. He let out a pained whimper as Luigi knelt beside him touching his shell.

“Roy?” He said the others' name softly. All he got in reply was another whimper.

“Who the fuck are you?!” The leader demanded, rubbing his throbbing cheek.

“His tutor, and someone who has direct contact with the king.” Luigi replied as he stood up again, his own lips pulled back in a snarl. “I’ll only give you one chance to apologize.” 

The sudden electricity in the air around them made their scales itch. This was a human? 

“Screw that! Get him!” The leader ordered his two friends as he stood, after seeing the small human punch their leader they were unsure. Luigi narrowed his eyes at them as they moved back closer to their leader as they got into fighting stances. He glanced at Roy for a second, deciding to try and move the fight away from the injured prince he rushed toward the leader. 

By the time Howitzer arrived ten minutes later Luigi was mid-fight with the leader, dodging fire blasts from three kaijus and landing hits of his own. Green lightning was leaving his finger tips every few seconds, and while some missed most landed on the kaiju koopas. Even though he was outnumbered and slightly injured he was holding his own.

“Luigi!” he called out. The human did not take his focus off his opponents.

“Get Roy out of here!” He growled leaping up to avoid a claw swipe, he upper cutted the attacking kaiju as he went up knocking the other back. Howitzer gasped as he saw Prince Roy laying on the ground clearly hurt. He rushed to the prince’s side, just barely avoiding stepping on the already cracked sunglasses. 

“Your highness, can you hear me?” Howitzer asked gently touching the prince’s shell. He shethed in anger at the koopas that hurt the prince when he flinched away with a whimper. “Prince Roy, its General Howitzer. We need to get you out of here.” Roy shook his head not wanting to move, he knew it’d hurt more. The sound of running feet caught his attention, Spike and Drake lead a small platoon of koopa troopas into the ally. He pointed at the group, “Arrest those three boys, and get them to the palace! And someone get a medic!” 

The troops nodded as they started toward the still fighting group. 

“Not until I’m done with them!” Luigi growled; this caused the troops to pause. “Get Roy help now!” 

The troops looked from the still fighting human to the general, Howitzer nodded at them. The soldiers shifted their attention from the fight to the prince. A few medic koopas had arrived, carefully they lifted him onto a backboard laying Roy on his side so as not to aggravate his injuries. Howitzer watched them go, ordering Spike and Drake to go with them to make sure Roy got to the palace safely. 

"Dō ka, jihi o!" One of the boys cried holding his hand out in front of him. The three sat on the ground bloody and bruised leaned against the wall, the only thing really keeping them up. "P..please.. we're sorry.."

"Sorry? You nearly killed him and you're 'sorry?'" Luigi demanded, his voice going a couple octaves deeper almost sounding like a growl.  He approached the trio, blood dripping from his knuckles. "Are you sorry you got caught? Or sorry you didn't get away?" 

"We.. we didn't want.. we were told to.." Another boy stuttered out staring at the human in terror. 

Luigi stopped his approach, Howitzer watched as whatever darkness clouded his eyes disappeared as if it were never there. "Who told you to attack the prince?"

The third boy was about to speak but he clamped his mouth shut at the last minute, casting his golden gaze down to the ground. Howitzer approached the group now that the fight was over. "Told to or not you boys are in serious trouble for what you did." Howitzer gestured to his soldiers waiting on the side lines. "Take them to the palace, have the medical koopas meet them in the dungeon. The king will pass judgment when he is ready."

As the soldiers came toward the boys, shackles in hand, Luigi started walking toward the end of the alley where a crowd had formed. He ignored the whispers and outloud comments about his appearance and what he'd just done. As he left, Howitzer noticed a kaiju koopa standing at the mouth of the opposite alley, he had a look of disappointed anger on his face. He just turned and walked down the alley. 

Howitzer had a feeling he just saw who sicked the teens on Roy.

*one hour Later at the palace*

Bowser thundered down the halls toward the medical wing, Kamek flying behind him. He’d been in a meeting with Kamek about the states of the outer region of his kingdom when a soldier burst into his office. He thought about torching the trooper until he explained the reason for the interruption. Someone had put their claws on his son. HIS SON. Smoke was constantly pouring from his nose as his temper built higher and higher. He slammed the doors open startling everyone in the room. 

His glowing red eyes instantly found his son, laying in the bed with a compress held in place against his chest by a wrap. Bandages wrapped around his head and his sunglasses were missing. 

“WHO DID THIS?!”  He snarled, the smoke coming from his nose increased the more enraged he got seeing his son hurt. 

Howitzer, who’d been standing beside the prince’s bed salluted. “He was attacked by three teen kaiju koopas. According to the teens someone told them to do this, they have not divulged who. The teens were arrested and taken to the dungeon where they await judgment.

Bowser stomped into the room over to his son’s bed, Howitzer moved away letting the king have the space. Bowser knelt beside the koopaling’s bedside. “Roy, son.” The prince twitched as he opened his milky brown eyes. 

“Dad..?” He asked, he could hear the pain in Roy’s voice even speaking. 

“Son, I told you not to go into town without guards.” Bowser shook his head though the other couldn’t see it. 

“Sorry.. dad, I ..thought I could get in and.. ow-t before the..ey saw me.” Roy managed to get the words out through the obvious pain. 

Kamek floated to the other side of the bed. “We’ll make sure they and whoever put them up to this pay.” Roy slowly turned his sightless gaze to where he heard the magi-koopa. 

“Thanks, gramps.” Roy managed a smile. 

“Sire, a word.” Howitzer said. Bowser glared at the general not wanting to be away from Roy right now but nodded.

“I’ll be just over there with Howitzer, ok?” Bowser asked, getting a careful nod from Roy he moved from the bedside and followed the general toward the door. “I want those bastards’ heads on spikes and mounted on our wall.” 

"I understand your rage, sire, but they are just children. And they did not come up with this plan on their own as I said. Someone put them up to this, someone who wanted to hurt you specifically." Howitzer spoke softly. 

Bowser felt cold fear and burning rage at once. Who would dare hurt one of his children if not to get to him? "Have the attackers said anything? About who gave the order?" 

"No, sire, Luigi tried to question them after he defeated them but they clammed up tighter than a chain chomp during a vet visit." Howitzer replied.

All of Bowser's thoughts of revenge and murder came to a stop at that. "Wait a minute. Did you say.. Luigi?"

"That is correct, sire. We did not even know the prince was in town when we were. I suppose Luigi spotted him being chased and gave chase himself." Howitzer nodded. "He fought them on his own, when the troops and I arrived on scene he was mid-fight and ordered us to tend to Prince Roy."

Bowser stared at the general, unsure what to say. Greenie, Mario’s scaredy cat brother, who used to be so scared of his own shadow.. fought off his son's attackers? Used to being the key word. Since the human came to his kingdom, Bowser had noticed something was different about the man. He wasn't as cowardly as he used to be or what Bowser remembered him to be. The king koopa looked around the medical wing seeing the human was nowhere to be seen.

“Why ain’t he here then?" Bowser asked.

“He asked me to stay with the prince until you arrived, he retired to his room.” Howitzer shook his head. "He was clearly injured on his hands."

Bowser looked back toward his son’s bed before turning his gaze to Howitzer. “Keep your post until I come back.” 

Howitzer saluted as he returned to Roy’s bedside, Bowser left the room and headed for the elevator. He couldn’t imagine Luigi of all people fighting, when the pair had first come to this world the tall plumber was so timid it was pitiful. Always hiding behind Mario, Peach or whoever happened to be with him. This fight just seemed so out of character for him. He knew the other could fight but still he always seemed to go for the pacifist route rather than actually throwing hands. Bowser was curious what happened in the last two years since he actually interacted with the human. He exited the elevator and headed right for Luigi’s room. He banged on one of the double doors with his fist. 

“Luigi!” He called out. There was no answer, so he banged on the door again. Still no answer. His still frayed nerves came back to life as he got more annoyed the longer he stood there with no call back. “That's it, I’m coming in.” 

He grabbed the handle of both doors, to his surprise they turned meaning he didn't lock them. Pushing the doors open all the way he ducked in and stopped short at the sight before him. Luigi sat at the low table in the middle of the room with bandages and disinfectant covering the surface. A ghostly dog sat beside his thigh letting out small high pitched whines. His bare back to the king as he wrapped bandages around his bloody and blackened hands. Bowser’s eyes widened in shock at the sight of the long lash scars on the human’s back. Who did something like this? And when? Did his brother know? He wanted to ask these questions but was interrupted by the human who still hadn’t turned around to face him.

“Usually when there's no answer to a knock, that means the person doesn’t want to talk.” Luigi spoke in such a monotone Bowser almost didn’t recognize the voice. “I hope you went to see your son first.” 

“You think I’m an idiot?” Bowser demanded in annoyance. “Yes I saw Roy first and those bastards and whoever got them to attack my kid are gonna pay."

"Those bastards are still children. Whoever ordered them is who needs to be punished." Luigi stated. 

Bowser grumbled something under his breath but didn't push. Silence fell between them as Luigi kept wrapping his hand. Bowser still wanted to ask about the scars but chose not to at the moment. He approached the man closing the door behind him as he did, ignoring the ghost dog watching him as he got closer. The pale empty eyes were honestly... creepy. The king koopa walked around the table so he could see the man's face, those normally bright blue eyes were dulled no light reflecting in them. He had a large square bandage on his cheek and a few wrapps on his upper arms. “Howitzer told me you saved him.” Bowser commented. “Three of the Kaiju, even teens, at once is no easy feat.” 

"Whoever sent them after Roy certainly doesn't like you." Luigi said. "As they attacked they kept commenting on what a weakling he was and therefore you were for taking him and the other children in. Even more so for pursuing Peach for as long as you have. It was too well rehearsed to be from them naturally. The one behind it must have told them to say those things."

So not only was it an attack on one of the royal children but they were coming after him for his choices. He knew someone would Kamek even stated as such, but Bowser never imagined they'd go after one of his kids to get to him. Luigi stood from the table revealing that he only wore short exercise sorts, his left upper leg was also bandaged. He had rather long legs for a human, strong looking too. What he knew of humans was the males were naturally hairy but not this one apparently.

 “I take it you are here to make sure I didn't get too hurt to do my job." Luigi stated moving passed the king to put his medical supplies away in the wooden cabinet beside his bedroom door. "Don’t worry I will be in the classroom tomorrow.” 

Blinking out of his thoughts on the human's legs, Bowser stared at the man incredulously, “You serious right now? You just fought three kaiju! I’m a bastard I admit but I’m not heartless. I’ll let Kamek know you’re taking the next couple days off.” 

Luigi shook his head, “I have to earn my keep right? Don’t want people to think I’m getting a free room and not doing anything to earn it.” 

"You're almost as stubborn as your annoying brother." Bowser let out a growl, “You ain’t leaving this room til you are healed.” 

The humans’ eyes narrowed, flashing from blue to green with small electric sparks at the corners. “I am not one of your children, Bowser. You can not make me stay here.” Luigi crossed his arms glaring at the larger koopa.

“Wanna bet?” Bowser turned and stomped toward the door. 

“Bowser don’t you dare!” Luigi warned. “I am not a child you can not-!” He was cut off as the doors slammed closed. Luigi rushed for the door and tried to open them only to find something blocking them. “Did you just sit in front of my doors!?” 

“Until a guard comes by and I can get some chains.” Bowser replied. 

“STRONZO! APRI QUESTA FOTTUTA PORTA!” Luigi screamed as he banged on the door. 

“I don’t know what that means, but you're gonna hurt your hands worse.” Bowser said as he listened to the human scream and pound on the door. He honestly didn’t know why he was doing this.

Sure if the man wanted to work let him, so why wasn't he letting the human out to work? It's not like he cared about the man. He was just the help to teach the kids, thats all. But here he was sitting in front of the man's doors to make sure he got proper rest. Bowser thought about getting up cause this was just ridiculous, though he didn't want to deal with the pissed off human on the other side of the door. If he was honest, seeing the man so enraged was.. kinda hot. He shook his head of thought and settled in, listening to the man bang and scream. It was almost two hours later before Kamek entered the hall from the elevator. Though the banging and screaming had quieted down a little over ten minutes ago, Bowser wanted to make sure before he opened the door. 

“Sire, is Luigi alright? Does he need medical attention?” Kamek asked, floating toward his king, taking in the sight of said king sitting in front of the human’s doors. “Why are you sitting in front of his door?”

“Probably, let the kids know no class for the next couple days.” Bowser shrugged as he stood. “I told him he needed to rest and heal but he wouldn’t listen. So I sat here until someone came or he calmed down.”  He pressed his head to the door ear first listening for any noises. Greeted with nothing he opened the doors gently, he half expected to be attacked as soon as he opened the door. Instead he saw Luigi passed out on the floor, his ghostly dog curled up beside him. Said canine lifted his head as they entered, letting out a high pitched ghostly whine as he did.

“My stars!” Kamek gasped seeing the state of the man. 

“Apparently he saved Roy, fought off his attackers.” Bowser stated. “All three at once.” 

He thought about picking the other up to put him in his bed, not because he cared but.. that floor couldn’t be good for his injuries. Before he could make up his own mind Kamek made it for him, as he levitated the human up from the floor, causing the ghost dog to stand.

He was surprised though as Kamek levitated the unconscious man to Bowser who held his arms out. Kamek released the spell allowing the human to gently land in the king's arms.

“I see, we owe him a great debt then. The medikoopa said one of Roy’s ribs were broken and inches from puncturing a lung and his plastron is cracked. He won’t be leaving the bed for at least a couple weeks.” 

Bowser inhaled trying to keep his temper while he held the sleeping human, he moved toward Luigi’s room placing him in the bed. “I'll pass judgment on the teens since we don't know yet who ordered them to attack. Make sure they get some care but not too much. They are still being punished for attacking a prince."

Kamek nodded, “As you will it, sire.” 

 Kamek watched as his king carefully tucked the human into bed almost tenderly. He had been surprised when Howitzer told him what Luigi had done. The magikoopa supposed there was more to the human than he or any one thought. 

Chapter Text

The shuffling footsteps behind him had become a familiar sound in the last few days. Kamek had convinced Bowser to let him out of his room after the second day ("He is right, your majesty, he is not a child.") To Luigi's annoyance the magikoopa had turned right around and banned him from his own classroom. ("The king is also right, you need to rest. I will inform the children.") The triumphant look that stretched over Bowser's muzzle still annoyed him. The large Koopa didn't seem to trust him to adhere to the 'order' so he assigned Drake and Spike to follow him around to make sure he didn't try to enter the classroom.

Realizing he wouldn't be given much of a choice he stayed away from the wing. He was walking toward the medical wing with a plate of walnut cookies for Roy, Larry had said they were the older koopaling's favorite. As Luigi approached the doors of the infirmary Drake and Spike hurried forward to open them. He walked in and was greeted by the sight of the other koopalings sitting on or next to their brother's bed. Howitzer had retrieved the other's sunglasses and delivered them to Kamek who fixed them. 

"Lui!" Junior called to him happily, though he didn't move from his spot on Roy's bed. Luigi smiled at the kids as he approached.

"Hello, Junior, your highnesses." Luigi replied acknowledging the other royal siblings with a nod. The others nodded back as Iggy stood offering the human his chair. "Iggy, you don't-"

"Sit." Morton said. "Roy told us what happened and what you did to those a- jerks." Luigi arched a brow as the darker skinned Koopa caught the swear. "So you should sit."

Realizing he wouldn't win an argument with the older koopaling he took the seat. "How are you feeling, Roy?"

"I'm alright. Still kinda tender." the koopaling replied gently touching the compress still pressed to his plastron.

"I'm glad you're feeling a little better." Luigi said as he pulled the plastic covering off and held out the plate of cookies. "A little birdie told me you had a taste for walnut cookies."

Roy's face seemed to brighten as he caught a whiff of the freshly baked treats. "Yeah," He nodded. Luigi set the plate on the bed so he wouldn't have to use his arms much. "Thanks. For the cookies and... ya know, saving me."

"You're welcome for both." Luigi smiled, nodding back.

"Where'd ya learn how to fight like that?" Roy asked as he shoved a cookie in his mouth. "You never fought that good when we used to fight all the time. You didn't even use your lightning powers on us like you did those guys."

Luigi rubbed the back of his neck giving the young koopa a tentative smile. "Well, I've always known how to fight that way even before myself and Mario came to this world, except the lightning powers. The fighting lessons came after a particular bad beating by some local bullies."

"You got bullied too?" Larry asked.

"I am afraid the local boys didn't appreciate my taste for fashion or that I was a bit different." Luigi explained, Wendy looked up from her phone at the mention of fashion. Looking at the man's outfit consisting of a long sleeved shirt and jeans she became curious as to what his tastes were. "After I got better, I learned how to properly defend myself without my brother to back me up and when fighting wasn't an option I learned how to get away."

"So let me get this straight, you have this arsenal of fighting skills yet you never fought us seriously?" Ludwig asked from his chair. "You've been what? 'Pulling your punches' as most say, is that right?"

Luigi looked at the musician Koopaling, "Enemies though we were, I did not want to hurt you kids. It's why I always went easy on you, even the koopa troopas. I really don't like fighting if I can avoid it, such violence is unnecessary."

"Oh please, your brother had no problems with it. Why should we believe you do?" Ludwig demanded as he stood from his chair. "You did something to Junior and to Larry! The way they latched onto you so quickly, they've never done that! And now you've tricked Iggy into thinking you're some sort of genius! Saving Roy like some kind of hero? What, you think saving one of his kids, father would grant you a council seat? For all we know you could be spying for Peach, or her other allies. We're just monsters after all waiting to strike, no one would actually like us!" Luigi stood from his own chair and moved toward the koopa. Ludwig didn't realize he had started breathing faster. The rest of the koopalings watched worriedly as Ludwig got himself worked up.

"You fooled father and Kamek somehow and now you're trying to get us to let our guard down! Well I'm not gonna fall for it! I will not let you weedle your way in and hurt my brothers or sister! None of us will come to your stupid class again! You can take your lessons and.." He froze mid sentence as Luigi gently grasped him by the shoulders and knelt in front of him so he was eye level.

"One of the other tutors you had did that, didn't they? Tricked you into letting your guard down then hurt you." Luigi said.

Large tear drops he didn't notice til now fell from Ludwig's eyes. He didn't reply, he didn't need to. Luigi's heart broke for the koopaling as the sound of quiet sobs filled the infirmary. Luigi carefully pulled Ludwig into a hug leaving him room to pull away if he wanted. It hurt a bit as the young koopa buried his scaled face into his still tender shoulder. Luigi gently petted the side of Ludwig's blue hair, being mindful of the hearing aid he had hidden there.

"I am so sorry someone did that to any of you." He spoke gently.

"One of our tutors tried to kidnap Junior. He got us to trust him so we never saw the smoke bomb." Roy spoke softly, his voice tinged in sadness.

"Dad caught the bastard as they went to leave our kingdom, Junior in hand." Morton sounded almost like his father when angered. Luigi glanced over his shoulder at the oldest koopaling, he was currently doing a near perfect imitation of Bowser's face when enraged. Junior had moved from the bed to Wendy's lap as Larry clung to Lemmy, Iggy had moved up to the front of the bed to lay a hand on Roy's shoulder. "Took us all weeks to sleep in our own beds again, that's when dad stopped taking tutoring applicants. Couldn't trust anyone, not even our own kind."

Luigi blinked at that, considering what Howitzer told him of how Bowser spent most of his kingly time chasing after Peach instead of ruling properly. It made sense his subjects resented him. But to take it out on the children? He couldn't understand it. Seems the attack on Roy wasn't the first attack against them. That they've had to deal with this for the last couple years, it was unthinkable. After a few more minutes Ludwig finally pulled away, his cheeks had developed a red tint but at least the tears had stopped.

"I know you don't trust me. but I swear I will never hurt any of you. I am not a spy, and I will protect you when your father can't." Luigi vowed as he stood. "That's my job as a teacher after all."

Before the children could reply there was a knock at the door before Spike poked his head in. “Sorry, sir, Lord Kamek wanted me to tell you and the other kids to come with him.”

"What about Roy?" Luigi asked.

"Me and Drake were ordered to stay here with him." Spike replied.

After a minute or so the kids nodded, Ludwig hurried back over to the bed to join his siblings in saying their goodbyes and giving promises to come back and visit. Luigi headed for the door followed by the other children, youngest to oldest. Leaving the infirmary he was greeted by not only Kamek but Kammy as well. The female Magikoopa had been scarce since his arrival over a week ago.

"Luigi." She acknowledged him. Luigi nodded in greeting.

"The king requests you all be present for the judgment." Kamek stated. As they approached the elevator Kamek informed him of what would be happening. "The king will be taking the throne seat, each of the children are to sit in their own thrones. You myself and Kammy will stand to the sides, you are not to speak out against any of his majesty's rulings."

"Given the situation, what sort of judgment is he going to pass down?" Luigi asked curiously. They arrived at the elevator doors just as they opened and they entered. Morton reached up and pressed the button with Bowser's symbol.

"I'm afraid that is up to the king." Kammy spoke up. "They may seem harsh and archaic, but it is the way of our people. He has taken into account the situation of their attack against the prince."

 The elevator doors opened a couple minutes later, they walked / floated out of the elevator into a foyer. Large golden doors stood before them; voices could be heard on the other side. To the left was another set of double doors which opened suddenly. Bowser stepped out and Luigi almost stopped breathing.

The usually bare koopa wore a long cape made of some sort of black leather attached to a pair of skulls that looked eerily like kaiju koopas. There was a crown-like helm made of tall horns polished to white, in its center sat a glowing red gem cut in the shape of a flame. His large barrel chest was still bare save the leather strap going diagonal across it attaching to the wide leather belt which held up the black hakama pants. He looked every bit the king, like something out of a fairy tale. Or one of the fantasy romance novels Luigi used to read all the time.

"Close your mouth, Greenie, or you'll catch flies." Bowser grinned. Luigi snapped his mouth close; his teeth made an audible clack. "Kamek tell you what's gonna happen?"

“Y-yes." Luigi nodded. He tried to fight down the blush crawling its way up his neck. 

"Good. Kids, you remember how this goes." Bowser addressed his children who nodded. "Good. Let's get this over with."

Kamek floated toward the doors where he waved his wand, blue light surrounded the doors pulling them open. "HIS ROYAL MAJESTY KING BOWSER OF THE NOBLE LINE OF RYUJIN PRESIDING! THEIR HIGHNESSES PRINCE MORTON, IGNATIUS LUDWIG, LAWRENCE, LEMUEL, PRINCESS WYNDOLLYN AND HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS CROWN PRINCE BOWSER RYUJIN JUNIOR, WITNESS." The magikoopa had to have used a spell to make his voice much louder than normal. Ludwig, Larry and Lemmy flinched a bit at the loud noise but regained their composure rather quickly. Bowser entered the hall first followed by his children in order of oldest to youngest. Luigi and Kammy followed behind the children. Bowser's throne was on a higher level than the kids'

Luigi had expected to be in Bowser's throne room, instead it looked more like a courtroom with Bowser's throne being the judge seat at the top of five levels. Just below on the second level sat a chair for each koopaling, one he assumed belonged to Roy sat empty. At the bottom of the third level stood a massive podium, which Kamek flew over to and landed on it. The rounded room had elevated seating areas where several normal and kaiju koopas sat waiting. The noise in the room quieted down as Bowser and the kids took their seats. Kammy floated over to the far end of the kid's platform, stopping not too far from Junior's small throne.

"We gather here today to judge those that dared attack one of my sons in broad daylight." Bowser declared, "As well as slander my rule. Bring the prisoners in."

The doors at the back of the hall opened revealing the three kaiju teens, their clothes looked even worse for wear. Luigi could see bandages peeking out from beneath torn shirts. Metal manacles and chains were wrapped around their wrists. At least they did get some medical assistance.

They were led in by Howitzer and a couple taller kaiju-koopas that were wearing armor. The three were stopped just before the podium, using his wand Kamek summoned a book from out of nowhere and opened it.

“Torch Koopizume, Fang Zenbokoops, and Firen Saitokoopa stand before your king in judgment for the unprovoked attack on one of the princes." Kamek stated. "However the General has said the attack was not unprovoked, that someone ordered you to. Do you have anything to say to this?" The three looked between each other but said nothing. "Very well. The floor is yours, sire." Kamek sighed as he closed the book, turning  away from the kajus and  flew toward Luigi and Kammy.

Whoever gave the order must have put a fear in them that out weighed the fear of prison or whatever Bowser had planned.

Bowser stood from his throne and walked toward the podium. "I had planned to ship you three to the mines at the farthest reaches of our kingdom to dig until the end of your lives. But in light of the new information that you boys were ordered to attack one of your princes, I have decided to be merciful. Howitzer told me the state you three were in when he saw you, therefore you will be given to the general's care. He will decide where you will be stationed. Make no mistake, you will not leave this palace until I and General Howitzer are satisfied with your progress. After which you will be allowed to leave or stay should you choose." 

The relief on the boys' faces was heartbreaking to see, however they were living, must have been awful if being forced to serve was a better option.

"Now unless you boys want to tell me who ordered you to attack Roy, General Howitzer will show you to the barracks." Bowser nodded at the general. Howitzer nodded back, coming forward to remove the manacles and chains. Bowser was showing a lot of trust that the teens wouldn't try anything in open court. 

One of the boys, a kaiju koopa with dark blue scales, stepped forward after his chains were removed. His hair though dirty had a sky blue coloration to it, his eyes were violet. 

"It was my father, Zaraki Saitokoopa who ordered us to attack Prince Roy, sire." The boy stated. Luigi assumed this one was Firen. 

Bowser nodded, "Thank you for coming forward, young one. General, make sure they get cleaned up and-"

"You fucking coward!" The kaiju snarled, interrupting Bowser as he leapt over the partition onto the floor. Luigi could tell by the fear in the boy's  eyes that this was the true mastermind behind the attack, his father. To everyone's shock he did not try to attack Bowser, instead he punched Firen. Continuing to attack the younger kaiju koopa he yelled, "You dare call yourself my son! You're just going to let that weak king decide what to do with you and not fight it!? And how could you let that HUMAN beat you! You're a disappointment just like I always said, I've tried so hard to make you worthy to carry my blood but you couldn't even get rid of a brat not worthy to be a prince!"

The crowd watched in horror as the kaiju attacked his own son while the other two were curled against each other too scared to do anything to help their friend. Howitzer suddenly changed size and shape now resembling Torque in appearance and height. Howitzer grabbed Zaraki by his hair pulling him away from his bleeding crying son, throwing him a good distance away. Zaraki got up letting out an ear splitting roar as he glared at Howitzer who stood over the boy on all fours. The general let out a roar of his own. 

"STAND DOWN, NOW!" Howitzer ordered. The other soldiers in the room had spears in hand while a few others had fire balls ready to go in their jaws. Realizing he wouldn't be getting to the boy anymore he turned his furious gaze toward Bowser who met it with one of his own. 

"You are weak, Bowser." The man hissed. "You left our country in ruins to chase some human bitch who wants nothing to do with you! You got beaten by the weakest human in this place, took in deformed orphans and call them your children, your own blood heir is a sickly, spoiled brat whose egg you should have smashed before it even hatched, and  you let your children be taught by some human who's probably filling their heads with nonsense! Your parents were weak for allying with the other kingdoms instead of taking them over. Its why they died, especially Blaze, he was too weak to handle the power of the stars on his own and he still died because he relied on weak allies! Your brother would have been a better king than you could ever be! At least our kind would be the rightful rulers of this world." He took his gaze off of Bower to address the room at large. "Instead we cower behind our borders, when we have the strength to take the other kingdoms! As the most powerful kingdom and the first creatures to appear in this world it is our right! Your ancestors of old would be rolling in their graves if they could see how far their dynasty has fallen."

"You are two words from being arrested for treason." Bowser growled as he started back down the steps toward the kaiju koopa, smoke had started to pour from his nostrils. Kammy and Kamek had floated down on either side of Bowser wands raised.

Seeing Bowser approaching Zaraki knew he wouldn’t get out of here without doing something drastic. Something whispered in his mind to look up. As he did he caught sight of the ‘royal’ children. A maniacal grin stretched across his maw as he eyed the youngest prince. 

“I invoke the name of Prince Brutus Ryujin.” Bowser froze as his brother’s name was spoken by the other. A golden collar appeared around his throat, before anything else could be said Zaraki inhaled deeply letting out a sickly purple ball of fire. Instead of it going toward Bowser like the king thought, his heart dropped as it headed right for his youngest son.

Chapter Text

Dear Mario,

I'm so sorry it took me so long to actually write to you, I've been so busy this week. With the new job and trying to settle in. The kingdom is one you are actually familiar with. My students are very eager to learn, now that they have gotten used to me and don't see me as a danger. They have been burned in the past I'm afraid by previous tutors. Their father is.. well he can be a little troublesome to deal with but nothing I can't handle. 

I suppose it's best to rip this bandaid off so to speak. The job was offered by Bowser; he'd sent the flier out not long after he signed peace treaties with Princess Peach. He decided since he wasn't going to conquer other lands or kidnap the princess anymore his children needed proper education. I did learn that the children have different learning disabilities or need a little extra help. Thankfully I have the proper degree for it! So far only Junior, Larry and Iggy have attended classes but I think I'm getting the other kids to warm up to me. We fought them for so long, that seeing them be just children and teens is a bit odd. 

Their actual kingdom is the place you told me about that looks like feudal Japan, its even more beautiful here than you described. You only saw the castle for a bit but the town beyond is not just koopas but the other race of koopas, the kaijus! Hopefully when I get time I can find more material on them. 

I know I should have written before something happened but, there really hasn't been any time. I may have gotten myself into a bit of trouble. Nothing I can't handle of course, I was challenged to a fight to the death. Now don't panic, there's time for you and the princess to come and attend. Bowser has given his grumbled permission. The reason I'm fighting is because one of Bowser's rather disgruntled subjects doesn't like him or any of his kids. He ordered his own son and his friends to attack Roy. He attacked his own son in front of the entire court when the boys were being judged. His OWN son, then went after Junior! He challenged me to a fight and after seeing what he did to the poor boy I couldn't say no. 

So by the time this letter reaches you, it'll be a couple days before the fight which should give you time to get here. Please come, even if I agreed to this I need my big brother there cheering me on. And Please, PLEASE be nice to the kids and to Bowser. He's really trying to be a better king

Sincerely

Luigi

Mario stared at the letter the postal toad just delivered to him, he read and reread the words a couple times making sure he was reading it right. Nearly two weeks of no word from Luigi and this was the letter he gets? His skin had gone as pale as a Boo, he stood from his chair suddenly startling Peach.

"Mario? Whatever is-"

"We need to get to Bowser's kingdom. NOW." Mario demanded as he rushed out of the dining hall. 

"Bowser's kingdom? What do you mean? Mario, Wait!" Peach called after the shorter man as she gathered her skirts in her arms. 

 Mario heard Peach calling for him to wait but he couldn't, not now. He knew that ad was too good to be true! Bowser of all people sent it. He knew it was that oversized turtle! To make it worse his baby brother was fighting some death match against something as big as Bowser. He knew Luigi could handle himself in a fight but that didn't mean he should have to! He bet it was Bowser that's making him fight. Mario could hear Peach's foot fall behind him as she ran to catch up.

She called out for him to stop once more but he didn't. He couldn't.

Not when his baby brother could be in trouble. If anything happened to Luigi in Bowser's land, treaty be damned he would hand that turtle bastard his own shell.

*a few days earlier*

There was an almost deafening silence as the royal family and the subjects stared in horrific awe as Luigi stood in front of Junior, a green field of electricity between the two of them and the ball of fire. Even more shocking was how the field also covered the other children who huddled close under Morton who used his own body to shield them. Bowser stared at the human in shock, he knew the man had abilities but this.. was something completely different.

The fire ball finally disappeared after a few more seconds, with the danger gone the electrical force field did as well. Luigi however looked beyond furious. His eyes were glowing bright green as he stared down at the kaiju koopa who suddenly found himself unable to move. Zaraki refused to believe it was fear. Luigi turned his back on the kaiju for a moment to pick up Junior who'd started crying, making sounds of distress that sounded like squeaks and chirps. He soothed the toddler, gently speaking Italian to him, even though he knew the child couldn’t understand him. Luigi turned back around and started down the steps toward Bowser; the other children seeing their protector moving quickly followed.

He stopped at the king's side long enough to pass Junior to him, though the little koopa didn't want to let go, Luigi managed to pry him off as gently as he could. Bowser held the small one close as he started making deep rumbling noises in his throat to calm the child. He could feel his other children gather close to his side, two he assumed was Larry and Lemmy huddled beneath his cape while the rest stood close to him.

Luigi kept walking until he got to the podium and kept down to the ground floor, landing in a crouch to avoid damaging his knees. As he stood his gaze zeroed in on the kaiju koopa, small sparks flashed from the corners of his eyes.

“YOU .” Luigi's voice crackled with electricity as he spoke. "You dare attack the prince in his own home as well as insult him, his siblings, and your king! Attack your own child in front of all these witnesses and you speak of weakness? Planning to remove a child because they didn't fit your idea of worth. Who are you to decide who is worthy or not?!" As he spoke he moved closer and closer to Zaraki, who did not expect this... human to have such power. It just wasn't natural! He must have stolen it from someone, or gotten one of those science creations.

Zaraki sniffed in disdain, "Who are you to speak on what our kind call worthy? You don't belong in this country nor at the side of the king! You and that brother of yours are our enemies. Who knows what you are teaching the royal children."

Luigi now stood toe to claw with the man glaring up at him, his eyes still glowing green with his power. "You believe you know better than the king who allowed me to teach them?'

"I know he's a fool. Allowing the enemy to be this close he's asking for someone to take them. Just like last time." Zaraki grinned, taking his eyes off the human just for a second to look at Bowser's thunderous expression. He looked back down at the human, "And besides what could you possibly teach them other than to be weak like you. The only reason a wimp like you is even here is because you were sent to spy by that toadstool cu-"

Luigi lept up suddenly, an electrically charged fist connecting with the kaiju koopa's under jaw, cutting Zaraki off before he could finish the insult to Peach. The force knocked him about a foot back, the guards behind him had barely moved out of the way in time.

Zaraki snarled as he got back up, spitting out a fang as he did. He spoke words that sounded Japanese but his accent was more growling than words. An audible gasp came up from the crowd at large, Kamek zoomed forward stopping beside Luigi. "You can not make that challenge! He is not a current ruler of our kind, therefore he is not held to the same laws! And you invoked the name of the exiled one, its only a matter of time before you are expelled from the kingdom."

"I have time to show this worthless weakling he doesn't belong here. He wants to prove he isn't against our kind? Then he'll accept and when I remove his head from his shoulders I'm coming for yours next." Zaraki gave Bowser a bloody grin. "And besides if I become the Ryū tei, the taboo is broken right? That's the rules, old man." 

"'What is the challenge?" Luigi asked, not taking his eyes off Zaraki.

Before Kamek could reply there was a loud thump behind him, signifying that Bowser had landed on the ground behind him. Luigi hoped he'd given Junior to one of his siblings or Kammy.

"He is invoking O no chi no arasoi. The King's Blood Feud. It's a fight to the death or until one yields." Bowser growled as he stalked forward. He stopped just on the other side of Kamek, "The challenge is normally presented to the current ruler. A proper challenge should have been given to me. What honor or worth is there in fighting a mere human?" 

'Mere Human?' Luigi thought angrily as he glanced at Bowser.

"Entertainment." Zaraki chuckled maliciously. 

"I forbid it as the current king. You will not fight the human, you will be locked up until the taboo takes effect and you are removed from this land." Bowser stated, nodding for the guards to approach and grab Zaraki. "He wouldn't last very long and you know it." Bowser turned his back in clear dismissal of Zaraki leaving Kamek to read out the traitor's sentence.

That hurt a bit honestly. Bowser didn’t think he could handle it? Alright. 

"As the king ordered, you will be locked in the furthest cell in the dungeon and-" Kamek started to speak, when Luigi stepped forward.

"I accept." Luigi said. His wrist suddenly started glowing as did Zaraki's, leaving a cuff like brand with two kaiju-koopas facing each other getting ready to fight. No one breathed, no one spoke for nearly a minute before the room broke out into loud roars of protest and some cheers. It had been many many years since the challenge was given. The last was when Bowser's great great grandfather, Kodai Ryujinn first became Ryū tei of their land. Bowser stomped toward Luigi, grabbing his wrist in a painful grip as he studied the cuff. One lip curled in a snarl as he looked from the cuff to the human. Beneath the helm his red eyes almost resembled glowing embers in the dark.

"SILENCE!" Bowser roared, breathing a stream of fire into the air above him. Once the room quieted down did he speak again. "The Challenge was given and accepted. It has become binding, as is tradition the challenge will take place in the arena in one week's time." 

Luigi kept trying to pull his wrist free from the king's tight hold but it wasn't budging. Bowser glared down at the human, seeing the barely contained rage, Luigi stopped pulling to get away. 

Kamek nodded as he floated between Zaraki and Luigi. "As the king commands. Guards, take him to a cell to make sure he doesn't cause any more trouble until the fight." 

The guards moved forward, manacles in claw toward Zaraki who to everyone's surprise didn't move instead allowing the guards to put the chains on his wrists. Howitzer who'd kept his protective vigil over Firen stood back up right on his legs, the markings on his upper arms glowed as he changed back to his smaller koopa form. He let out a warning noise as Zaraki was walked by, thankfully at a safe distance. Even at this size Howitzer still managed to sound intimidating, though outwardly Zaraki didn't seem phased. Zaraki sneered down at his son, 

"Waste of my blood and time." The man snorted. 

Once the kaiju koopa was led out of the judgment hall, Bowser roared out dismissed. Once the hall was empty save those on the ground floor did the king release his hold on Luigi's arm. Once he was free Luigif quickly hurried toward  Howitzer and Firen. The other teens, who were no longer cowering in fear, had moved closer to their friend. Seeing the human approach one of the braver ones let out a hiss in warning. 

"Its alright, I'm just checking his pulse." Luigi spoke gently to the boy. The teen sniffed as if to smell any deceit, smelling none the teen moved to the side allowing the human close.

Kneeling by the now unconcious teen, he could feel the guilt building as he looked down at the injured boy. With that monster as a father who knew what this poor boy had been through. And he had made it worse by attacking him. Luigi guessed after the attack he passed out from pain and fear. He gently touched the teen's neck, breathing out a sigh of relief when he felt a pulse.

"He's alive." Luigi stated as he looked up at Howitzer, the general's concerned expression relaxed only a bit. The other teen let out a choked cry of relief, his friend wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"We need medikoopas!" Howitzer called out. Loud stomps sounded behind Luigi and he was pulled up by his shirt before he could move away. Bowser threw Luigi unceremoniously over his shoulder, Luigi tried to wiggle away. 

""Bowser-" Luigi started to protest being carried, his face having gone a little pink. 

"One more word from you and I will throw you in the dungeon." Bowser snarled. He looked down to Howitzer and the teens. "Put these three up in a room in the barracks, make sure that one gets immediate medical attention." Not waiting for any response Bowser stomped toward the entrance doors of the judgment hall. "KAMEK! Make sure the kids get to their rooms and stay there." Shoving the doors open Bowser stomped down the hall, Luigi expected to be taken to an elevator, instead they ended up in the throne room where Bowser tossed him onto the floor. The king koopa turned and yelled into the hall, 'NO ONE IS TO DISTURB US!" With that he slammed the doors shut and turned to face Luigi eyes blazing. "Why in the nine fiery rings of hell did you do that!? Do you have any idea what you’ve done by accepting?"

Luigi was already on his feet glaring at the king koopa. "That bastard needs to be taught a painful lesson. Did you not see what he did to his own kid?! What he tried to do to Junior, what he ordered done to Roy?"

"Of course I did! I was planning on banishing him for attacking his kid alone! I would have his head by now for what he did to my sons." Bowser growled as he removed his crown and cape not needing them anymore. Kamek would bitch about him throwing them on the ground but right now he couldn’t care less. "He would have gone to trial for treason."

"A person like that should not be allowed to go to trial, or be given fair judgment. He should get a taste of his own medicine." Luigi glared at the koopa. "He needed to be dealt with immediately so I plan to. Your sons are traumatized now because of that monster's actions!"

"YOU DON'T THINK I KNOW THAT!?" Bowser roared flames coming from the comers of his mouth. "Believe me I wanted to take his head right there in the court in front of everyone! No one would have stopped me! But what you don't seem to understand is that there is a method to these things, especially in a royal court! Even I know that! Him making that challenge to you a commoner, would not be taken seriously! Or at least it shouldn't have been." Bowser suddenly approached the human. He reached for the human's wrist where the cuff brand was only for Luigi to dodge out of the way. "I'm not playing games with you, Human. COME HERE." 

Luigi shook his head, "I don't think so, Bastardo della Tartaruga." He glanced down at the cuff for a second before looking back up at Bowser. "What even is this?"

"Its a binder, keeps challengers from leaving the kingdom until the challenge is finished and there's a winner. That's the only way you get rid of it, or you cut your arm off." Bowser explained. "You try to leave the kingdom borders it will kill you." 

Luigi stared down at the brand, eyes wide. "That's barbaric." 

"That is our way. You seem to forget you are the stranger here. You don't belong in this kingdom but you insist on butting in where you shouldn't." Bowser snarled. "What I want to know is who the fuck are you really?" 

Luigi snapped his head up to glare at the king. "What is that supposed to mean?" 

"This particular challenge can only be given to the acting ruler of this kingdom. So how the FUCK were you able to accept and get the brand?" Bowser growled. 

"It's your kingdom, why don't you know?" Luigi shot back. 

"Oh I intend to find out, don't you worry about that. In the meantime until I do, you will not be going anywhere near the challenge arena." Bowser snorted with a finality to his voice. Luigi's brow started to twitch in annoyance. 

"The entire hall heard me accept that challenge, if I don't show up how is that going to look?" Luigi questioned.

"It's gonna look like you're a weak coward. Which you are but that's what we want. Last thing we need is someone else thinking you're any sort of challenge." Bowser replied, waving his hand dismissively. "Besides you're used to people thinking that right? So what does it matter?"

Coward.

Weak.

Small sparks of electricity left his fists as these two words buzzed around his mind. Is that what Bowser really thought of him? What other's thought of him? He'd show them.

Bowser turned his back on the man in a clear dismissal, or what he thought would be a clear dismissal. A small bolt of lightning suddenly flew over his shoulder barely missing his cheek. He spun around to glare at the human. 

"You think I'm weak? I saved your damn son and you think I'm weak!? I'm going to that arena, I'm going to fight that asshole and you are not going to stop me." Luigi growled glaring at the man. 

"You really think you can win?" Bowser stomped toward the human. Before Luigi could move away he was grabbed up by the back of his shirt. "I could crush you with one hand! Your brother could barely beat me in a one on one fight! What makes you think a scrawny thing like you could-" Bowser roared out in pain as his nose was hit by a small but painful lightning bolt. The sudden pain made him drop Luigi.

"Yeah, he did but I am not my brother." Luigi snarled, his eyes glowing with electricity again. "I am not the weakling you are used to seeing."

Bowser glared at the human, flames peeking out from the corners of his mouth. Luigi anticipated the next move and dodged as a stream of fire came toward him. Landing on his feet he threw a bolt of lightning at Bowser who dodged as well.

"Prove you aren't a weakling then!" Bowser snarled loudly as he summoned a large fire ball to his hand. "If you can beat me then I'll allow you to fight Zaraki.”

"Are you serious!?" Luigi asked as he cartwheeled out of the way of the flaming ball. "You'll allow me?' I told you already I'm going to fight and there's nothing you can do to stop me! I am not one of your children nor one of your subjects you get to order around." He threw another bolt at Bowser, this one landed on the king's arm causing the koopa to roar in pain.

"You work for me teaching my children, then yeah you are one of my subjects as long as you are in this castle you obey my rules!" Bowser snarled as he charged at Luigi fists raised. The human kept jumping back as Bowser's fists hit the floor where he had been. Not paying attention Bowser was able to get a tail swipe in knocking the human off his feet. Luigi landed on his back with a grunt, before he could recover Bowser planted his foot on his chest. While he didn't put his full weight on the man it was enough to keep him in place. 

Luigi glared up at the man, he had just enough room to lean up and sink his teeth into Bowser's leg. Said koopa roared in pain as he lifted his foot. Luigi wasted no time in getting up despite his aching ribs and chest.

"Long as I'm in this castle, huh? Fine then." Luigi stated. Before Bowser could grab him the human ran out of the doors.

Bowser's loud roar of, "GET BACK HERE!" followed him out into the hall as he ran toward the nearest elevator. He made it into the elevator and hit the button for the royal wing just as Bowser burst out of the throne room.

The elevator doors closed just as Bowser caught sight of him. Luigi's adrenaline was running high, the fight or flight response was blaring in his head screaming at him to escape. He would not be locked up. Not again. The doors opened onto the royal wing floor and he stomped out. He needed a few clothes to at least get him through the week until the challenge. As he made it to his own door another further down opened revealing Morton.

"You look like hell." he said, stepping out. "You and dad have a fight?"

"Something like that." Luigi replied as he entered his own room, Morton followed him in. "Says he won't allow me to fight the challenge without his permission as long as I'm staying here."

"So you're leaving? After what you said to Ludwig, to the rest of us?" Morton crossed his arms watching the human grab a duffle bag from beneath a cabinet.

Luigi paused for a moment, "Just for the week, until its time for the challenge. I will not be locked up again."

"Again? You mean when he made you stay in here for those couple days to heal?" Morton asked. Luigi shook his head and went to grab his clothes.

“It’s not your concern.” Luigi said. Just as he went to enter his room he heard a familiar shuffle of little feet enter the room. He looked up and sure enough there stood Junior, his little eyes were still wet from where he’d been crying. The beady red eyes fell on the suitcase and filled with tears again.

"Lui.. are you leaving?" Junior hiccuped.

"I.. just for -'' Before he could finish Junior ran into the room and lept into Luigi's arms making the man drop his suitcase.

"No! You can't leave us!" Junior demanded clinging onto the front of his shirt. "You're the best teacher we have! You make yummy snacks, and you have fun lessons and you let us play games and.. and you protect us from meanies an..an.. Don' go, Lui." Luigi felt his heart tighten a bit at the pleas, his shirt was growing more and more damp as Junior sobbed into his chest.

While he still wanted to escape before Bowser got to his room, he couldn't leave Junior like this.

"Alright, alright." Luigi spoke softly, holding the crying koopa child close mindful of the spikes. "Perhaps I can talk to your father once he's calmed down."

"Good luck with that. You oughta know dad's temper lasts a bit." Morton snorted. "We were gonna go check on Roy, if you wanna come."

"I thought your father ordered Kamek and Kammy to make sure you stay in your rooms?" Luigi arched a brow at the oldest koopaling who simply smiled and walked out of the room. Luigi just shook his head and followed.

*Several hours later..*

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T FIND HIM!?" Bowser roared at Howitzer. If he wasn't so enraged by Luigi practically vanishing from the castle he would respect that the koopa didn't flinch in the face of his rage.

"He is not in his room nor the library and none of the servants have seen him." Howitzer replied calmly.

Bowser growled, he'd missed the chance to catch him in the elevator. He made sure to have guards posted at all the exits of the palace, even the hidden ones just in case he found them. He couldn't believe the human would accept a death challenge! Bowser was trying to get him out of it, there was no way he could win. Sure he would admit the human had some good skills, and a mean bite. But up against a hundreds year old koopa with years of fighting and who knows how many dirty tricks? There was no way he could win! Plus when did he get those skills? There was no way he got that strong in the two years since he last saw the human. Something happened and Bowser was determined to get to the bottom of the humans' weird strength. He stomped away from Howitzer, "Keep looking-" Kammy suddenly flew into the hall.

"Sire, the children are not in their rooms!" She cried in distress. "I was so sure we made sure they couldn't leave but they got around my enchantments!"

Bowser hissed angrily, rubbing at his mouth. "They're probably with Roy. I'll go get them." He turned to Howitzer "Send troops to town and find that human. When you do.. throw him in the dungeon until I can deal with him." He stomped out of the room followed by Kammy. 

First a run away teacher, now disobedient kids. Bowser could feel his blood pressure building higher. Why was no one listening to him anymore?! He was trying to go the benevolent understanding ruler route but that just seemed to be an open invitation for people to walk all over him. His own children included! After today, no more nice ruler or father. Not if it meant no one feared or listened to him. He arrived at the infirmary hall, and could see Spike and Drake peaking into the room for some reason. His sudden growl made them jump to attention as they turned toward him. Before he could question what they were doing he heard singing. It was clearly male and so soothing. The closer he got the better he could hear the words.

' Baby mine, don't you cry. 

Baby mine, dry your eyes 

Rest your head close to my heart 

Never to part baby of mine

Bowser pushed the door open just enough so he could peek in. Someone had brought in a rocking chair, there sat Luigi holding Junior. The smaller koopa had a death grip on his shirt even though he was asleep. As if he was worried he'd disappear. Larry and Lemmy were piled onto Roy's bed fast asleep, close to the older koopa but not aggravating his injuries. Iggy sat on the bed next to the chair with Wendy curled up close to him. Morton sat on Iggy's other side with Ludwig leaning against his other side.

Little one, when you play.

 Pay no heed what they say, 

Let your eyes sparkle and shine, 

Never a tear, baby of mine.

He guessed the human changed his mind about leaving. Or Junior and the others learned what he was doing and stopped him. As he listened to the human sing he felt his anger and stress slowly disappear. A vague memory of a female koopa came to mind. He assumed it was his mother but he still couldn't make out her face. When he’d lost his parents to his brother’s rampage all images of them had been burned, Kamek always said he had his father’s skin and his mothers eyes.

If they knew all about you

They'd end up loving you, too

 All those same people who scold you. 

What they'd give just for the right to hold you

He’d never sang to the kids, he could but he always was busy with ruling his kingdom or chasing someone who didn’t want him. That other Kaiju was right. He was a neglectful ruler and just because a few defied him he was thinking about going down the tyrannical route. Did his father ever have these problems? No one fought against his rules from what he learned of the man from Kamek. 

From your head down to your toes.

 You're not much, goodness knows,

 but, you're so precious to me

 Sweet as can be, baby of mine.

As he finished singing, Luigi happened to look over to where he was standing. The human stood from his chair carefully. "I'll be right back alright?" He spoke softly, the sleepy koopalings nodded. Mindful not to jostle Junior too much, he slowly walked toward the larger koopa. Realizing the human was coming toward him Bowser stepped back allowing the man to step out into the hall. "Sire." Bowser flinched at the tone.

"You.. don't have to call me that." Bowser sighed. "Look. I'm not gonna apologize for the fight."

"Shocking." Luigi sniffed. This asshole! Bowser had to pause a few seconds so he didn't yell at the human, especially if it meant waking Junior.

"I am gonna apologize for trying to order you around. It's just this guy is dangerous and the kids will be upset if something happens to you. There’s a lot riding on you winning and I got out of hand." Bowser managed to get out. "I'm.. sorry."

Luigi blinked at the larger koopa, as long as he knew Bowser the koopa never apologized. Not to the kingdoms he constantly terrorized, to the people he hurt, not even to Peach for constantly kidnapping her.

"I'm sorry as well for fighting you. I suppose I let my emotions get the best of me. And I’m sorry for biting you."

"Eh don't worry about that. I'm surprised you didn't break your teeth." Bowser chuckled. "I'll let Howitzer know where you are so he can call off the search in town."

Luigi cocked his head to the side (No Not Cute!) in confusion, "He was looking for me? He just left from here twenty minutes ago, he was making sure Firen was doing ok." Junior let out a small whine as he shifted a bit in his sleep, burrowing his face more into Luigi's chest. "I'd best get him back to the others, hopefully I can get him to let go so he can lay down comfortably. We'll talk later alright?"

Bowser gave a small nod, while his mind was churning. He couldn't believe his own general lied to him! Luigi smiled at the koopa before turning to walk back into the infirmary. Bowser felt himself smile back, dropping it soon as the doors closed. Something felt weird. His stomach was doing some sort of.. fluttery thing. He had to be hungry, but his heart was doing some sort of.. thumping? Did he need to see a doctor? Turning from the doors he headed back down the hall trying to figure out what his heart was doing. Kammy who'd appeared in the hall after Bowser had, watched the king as he left the hall before turning her attention to the infirmary doors; she knows she felt something shift in the two's interaction. It didn't feel bad but.. it was something.

Chapter Text

He dodged the fist that was aimed for his head, throwing his own hands up to block the next one. Luigi planted his feet as Howitzer started trying to push him backwards. The general had opted to stay in his smaller form for now. 

"Your front is wide open! Block your front!" Bowser yelled out from the other side of the training ring. Luigi ignored him as he lifted his leg to kick Howitzer in the side, only for it to be caught. "NO! Kicking won't-"

Before the koopa could finish Luigi lifted his other leg in a spiral spin and kick knocking Howitzer away from him and out of the ring.

 "Point! Winner!" Kamek called out by lifting a small flag.

"You were saying?" Luigi huffed, standing from the mat. He walked over offering a hand to Howitzer who took it with a grateful smile, Luigi felt bad for knocking the other onto his shell. “Sorry.” He grimaced.

"Eh, its alright. That was not bad. He is right though, you left your front open to an attack, had I been faster or in my bigger form I would have hit your center." Howitzer stated as he was pulled to his feet.

It was two days before the fight, he'd sent the letter to Mario once he was able to peel himself away from the kids. Hopefully his older brother wouldn't make too much of a fuss. Since he insisted on fighting, Bowser said he would be training until then. The human obviously had skills but the king wanted to make sure he was ready. Bowser showed him to the public training room for the more elite guards as well as the kids. Howitzer had volunteered to help him with regular hand to hand combat. He had magic training with Kamek later today.

The kids cheered for him as they left their seats now that the fight was over. Junior's tiny legs somehow moved faster than his siblings, getting to Luigi first and latching onto the human's leg.

"That was so cool!" He grinned up at the man. Luigi patted the top of Junior’s head as he was surrounded by the koopalings.

"Where’d you learn to fight like that? Sure Mario has a few moves, but he just relies on the items Peach or Toad gave him?" Roy asked. The other koopa was able to move about a bit more now though he couldn't lift anything heavy and had to be easy walking.

"I took lessons when I still lived in Brooklyn as a way to protect myself. I got so good our parents let me finish the classes out and I became a master." Luigi explained as Wendy offered him a towel, he took it with a nod of thanks. "I tried not to use it much though I kept practicing."

"Why not? You kick butt!" Larry cheered, hopping about.

"He didn't want to hurt the other humans who don't know how to leave people alone." Iggy explained.

Bowser snorted, "If anything you should have taught them a lesson." He stomped over to the group, Luigi rolled his eyes.

"Not everything can be solved with violence." He said. "And before you say it, yes I did use violence a few days ago. Unfortunately my passive nature can only take so much."

"I'll say." Roy nodded. "Hey, when you win this fight you think you can teach us? Howitzer doesn't want to anymore."

"It's not that I don't want to," Howitzer said. "I have gotten a bit busy with other duties." 

"I don't mind taking over defense classes. But not until you are completely healed, Roy." Luigi stated. The doors to the training area suddenly were slammed open as a shy guy scout flew in.

"Apologies for interrupting, sire! But our watchers from the lava castle spotted Princess Peach's flag ship headed this way!" The scout saluted Bowser as he stopped just short of Bowser’s nose. "She's flying a flag of peace though we spotted Mario on the bow as well."

Bowser growled a bit, "They're here to watch the challenge. Have the arial Shy guys direct them to the docking area." The scout angled his head in confusion but nodded anyway.

"As you wish, majesty." With another salute the shy guy flew back out.

"Alright you kids head to your rooms, Kamek will come get you when it's safe." Bowser said. The kids groaned in disappointment but obeyed, Junior, Larry and Lemmy gave Luigi a quick hug before following after their siblings and Kamek. Bowser grimaced a bit, "Did we really have to invite them? Peach is ok I guess but Mario?"

"Trust me, it's better that we invite him now to watch than him find out about it later after the fact." Luigi stated. "I gotta go get cleaned up, please try not to start a fight with him?"

"Hey if he starts it I'll finish it." Bowser snorted smoke rings from his nostrils to emphasize his point. Luigi just shook his head as he walked by the large Koopa patting his arm.

"Sure you will." He said. Bowser turned to watch the human as he walked away glaring at the man’s back.

"I will!" He called after the human.

“Certo, certo.” Luigi waved over his shoulder as he kept walking.

Bowser felt his brow twitch in annoyance. "I don't know what you just said but I WILL!" He roared. He snorted again as he watched the human leave. Grumbling to himself he stomped out of the training room Howitzer followed behind him trying to keep his grin hidden from the king.

*Thirty minutes later*

Luigi exited the elevator freshly showered and changed into his usual overalls, hat and a short sleeved green shirt. Polterpup had followed him this time, the ghostly canine had become more comfortable with leaving Luigi's room in the last few days. He’d stopped by the kitchen to let them know they had guests and ask if Hans could prepare a tea cart for them. He’d never seen anyone look so happy to make tea and snacks before. As Luigi got closer to the throne room he could hear Mario yelling at Bowser, why did he expect anything else?

"…ere is my brother!?" Mario demanded

"I told you, Red, he is on his way! He needed to get cleaned up." Bowser growled in answer.

"You haven't been letting him bathe?!" Mario yelled.

"DID I SAY THAT!?" Bowser roared. Polterpup whined at the loud noise, Luigi reached down to pet the ghost dog’s head. "He was training for his fight in a few days and-"

"Speaking of that! Why is my brother fighting in a death fight!? How dare you even force him into this!" Mario demanded.

"Mario, please! We are here as guests." Peach pleaded with the man. Most likely trying to hold him back if the strain in her voice was any indicator.

"He said he told you what was going on in his letter. Can't you read? He agreed to this." Bowser growled at the man. 

"I know my brother, there's no way he willingly agreed to fight! Teaching your kids isn't torture enough?" Mario questioned. "Soon as I find out where you're keeping him, I'm taking him out of this monster kingdom." 

"You do that and he dies." Bowser snarled. 

"IS THAT A THREAT!?" Mario yelled.

Luigi had heard enough, he pushed the doors open catching everyone's attention. Bowser stood on one end of the throne room surprisingly not in a fighting stance. As he assumed Peach was physically holding Mario back by his overall straps, his fists were on fire. Said fire went out immediately as Mario saw his brother, Peach sighed in relief at the sight of him as she finally let Maro's straps go.

"LUIGI!" Mario cried. No longer being held back he barreled toward his brother, seeing the othe man coming toward him Luigi was able to plant his feet opening his arms. Even prepared for it Luigi was nearly knocked off his feet as Mario slammed into him wrapping the other in a tight hug. Polterpup circled the two barking happily. "I'm so glad you're ok! What took you so long to write? Ero cosi preoccupato! Why are you fighting in some death match!? Were you forced? I know your letter said you agreed but.. why would you agree to something like that!? Have they been hurting you? Why did he say you'd die if you left? Did he keep you locked up? Are-"

The shorter man's rapid questions were cut off by Luigi grabbing his face in both hands as he pressed their foreheads together. It was an intimate action that always calmed them both down when one was being hysterical.

"Mario, fratello mio, per favore calmati prima che tu abbia un infarto ." Luigi spoke soothingly to his older brother, holding his gaze. The pinprick panicked pupils finally started to expand little by little as Mario calmed down. After a few more minutes the shorter human calmed down enough he didn't need the contact. Luigi hugged his brother once more before pulling away.

"The fuck was that?" Bowser asked a bit weirded out by the display. Peach only smiled warmly, she’d grown used to their display of brotherly affection and found it heartwarming.

"That was the better alternative to you and Mario fighting here in the throne room. He was panicking so I helped calm him down." Luigi replied as he and Mario walked back toward the two rulers. "Princessa, nice to see you again." Luigi smiled at Peach as he kissed her cheek, causing her to giggle.

"Luigi. you leave us for almost a week and you're already in trouble." Peach smiled at him. Her smile widened as Polterpup floated into view before giving her cheek a cold lick. “I thought you would keep him out of trouble, sweet boy.” She scratched between the dog’s ears.

"I am a trouble magnet." Luigi shrugged. "I stopped by the kitchen after getting cleaned up and asked Chef Hans to get tea ready." He offered his arm to the princess. The three didn't notice Bowser's nose suddenly starting to smoke as he watched the pair's exchange. 

"That sounds lovely, I hope there is a tea room here." Peach said as she looped her arm through Luigi's. “I didn’t get to see much of this castle last time I was here.”

"There is, it's truly beautiful. Just like the Japanese tea rooms I told you about back on Earth." Luigi nodded, leading them out of the throne room Polterpup floating around as he barked happily. None of them noticed how Bower had yet to move.

Bowser looked between the two as they walked out and felt his inner fire roar to life with jealousy. How dare she touch what's his.. well.. not his but still, what gave Peach the right to touch him? Just because she was a princess she thought she could touch his human! Bowser blinked at this thought. Since when has Luigi been 'his human’? Since when has he not thought of Peach as a potential bride and more as competition? Competition for what? It suddenly occurred to him as the doors opened they were leaving him behind.

"Hey! This is My castle! I didn't say you could wander around freely!” He yelled after them as he followed.

Just as Luigi said, the tea room was beautiful; with screen painted screen walls covered in morning glories and little green birds with red faces and long beaks. Though the tea table was a low one they still needed backed stools to sit since it was Bowser size. As all four sat, a sliding door was opened revealing Chef Hans as he rolled in a tray. On it was a beautiful tea set, the pot as well as the three cups looked like a koopa shell. The largest cup, about the size of a soup pot, was already full of Bower's preferred spiced tea. There were also a few tea cakes and sandwiches, some were Bowser sized, Hans parked the cart next to the table and bowed before leaving.

"So.. I know what your letter said but, I wanna hear it from you. Why are you fighting some Koopa in a fight to the finish, and why would you die if you leave?" Mario asked as Luigi poured the tea for them. 

"Well it started when I went to town to get supplies for the classroom, I saw Roy in town running from three larger teens. By the time I caught up with them.. they had Roy cornered and were attacking him." Luigi explained, "I fought them myself while the koopa troopas got Roy to help. I regret not holding back though." 

"Why would you? They attacked a kid younger and smaller than them, like those bastardos that used to pick on you." Mario shrugged. "They got what they deserved if they did what you said." 

"Because one of the boys’ father ordered them to attack Roy and say some pretty awful things to him." As he replied, small sparks of electricity left his fists. Still thinking about it made him angry. "We have a pretty good idea how he got them to comply. When the son finally outed his father, the stronzo jumped the barrier and attacked the kid in front of everyone. He's just now recovering from his injuries."

Peach held her hands to her mouth with another gasp of horror. "Is the boy alright?

"He was taken to the infirmary where he's still healing, General Howitzer has volunteered himself as guardian of the three boys. After the fight, when I win, he plans to officially adopt them as his wards." Luigi explained. It was not as much of a shock, even with his hard exterior the older general was truly kind.

"That's a relief. I can't imagine a parent hurting their own child so severely." Peach shook her head as she picked up her own cup. "Why did the father challenge you to a fight though?"

"He invoked an old challenge rite from the time of the first Ryū tei." Bowser started to explain.

"The fucks a rayou tie?" Mario interrupted. The king felt his temper rise at the blatant disrespectful pronunciation of the sacred title. As the king went to stand a small hand landed on top of his own under the table. Bowser's eyes widened at this sudden action. Luigi was trying to.. comfort him? Or keep him from frying his brother, either way Bowser's heart was doing that weird thing again.

"Firstly it's pronounced 'Ryū tei', fratello." Luigi explained. "Bowser is an ally now so as the princess's lover you should be more respectful. Secondly, watch your language." 

"After everything he's done? Why should I?" Mario crossed his arms stubbornly. Luigi arched a brow giving his older twin a look that scarrily reminded him of their mother.

"Mariano Carmine Edoardo Niccolo Mario, you will show your ally respect. You are associated with royalty and it is expected of you." Luigi stated. "I know Bowser has done some bad things in the past but he's trying to atone for them. You should be making an effort to at least get along with Bowser."

While Peach giggled politely behind her hand, it took everything in Bowser not to laugh out loud. The human's face suddenly became the color of his hat. That was his full name? He'd try to remember it for later black mail.

"Did you have to say my full name?" Mario pouted. "You sound like Mama."

"Well if you didn't act like a child I wouldn't have to." Luigi crossed his arms. Here lately Peach wondered who was really the older twin.

"Bowser, you were explaining the challenge and what it was?" She prompted Bowser, who'd started to chuckle under his breath at Mario getting berated by his brother. 

"Right," Bowser cleared his throat, "As I was saying it was set down by my ancestor, the first ruler of the kaiju koopas and normal koopas millenia ago. It's a very serious challenge usually presented to the current ruler by a challenger. Really it's only supposed to be presented to the ruler, it is a fight to the death or until one yields. The yielder is banished from our kingdom for ever in shame."

"That's rather barbaric." Peach frowned a little. 

"Yeah well, our kingdom wasn't founded on flowers and happiness, Princess. Kaiju koopa have a bloody past long before any other beings were here." Bowser growled out a bit. "It's how the kaiju koopa even got here to begin with. They fought so much it separated their peninsula from the mainland, only some were able to get to land before the new island floated away. My ancestor was one of the ones that made it, he called for the fight so they could choose a king. He won obviously, after they found the koopa village which was this place and they settled." 

"Interesting, and where did the Japanese culture come from?" Luigi asked genuinely curious. 

"Well, the koopas had it first really. From what I know of the history, they found these scrolls that somehow ended up here along with some weird clothes. They were able to use magic to translate the language and learn it, when the kaiju-koopas arrived the koopas viewed them as higher beings. That's how my ancestor got title of Ryū tei, apparently in the japanese language it literally means 'Dragon Emperor.'" Bowser explained. "As for the challenge, it is magically binding." He grasped Luigi's wrist to show the cuff brand on his wrist. "See this? Its keeps either challenger from leaving the kingdom's borders. The second they do, they die."

"Seriously?!" Mario demanded. "And Luigi agreed to this?"

"Yes, Mario, I willingly agreed to this. Not only did he attack his son he tried to attack Junior." Luigi stated as he pulled his arm free. "He will not be getting away with this any longer than he has been." 

"He could have said no, but nooo your brother is as annoyingly stubborn as you apparently." Bowser rolled his eyes. "He invoked a taboo and would have been gone within the week. Been trying to get him ready for this fight which I did try to talk him out of."

"You tried to talk him out of it?" Mario looked at the king koopa in surprise. Said koopa snorted in fake amusement. Bowser wanted to mention his method of ‘convincing’ but he doubted Mario would take kindly to the king koopa attacking his brother.

"Well, duh. I mean look at him!" Luigi let out a small yelp as he was picked up by his overall straps. "He's a noodle! The guy he's fighting is my size!" Bowser set Luigi back in his seat. "He's stubborn as hell and it's too late for him to back out now. Only thing we can do is get him ready."

"I still don't like this." Mario shook his head. "It took you months to recover after that last fight with King Boo. You went into a coma for three weeks! Do you really think you can beat this Koopa?"

Luigi's expression darkened a bit at the mention of the leader of the boos. As far as he knew the Professor still had the poltergeist locked away in a canister. He tried not to think about his time in that place, with that Thing. He'd managed to save his brother and Peach but it had cost him, he never told Mario what happened when they were separated and he never planned to.

"Weegee?" Mario's concerned voice seemed to finally reach him, Luigi blinked looking up at his brother. "You alright?"

"Yes, sorry I got lost in thought for a moment. Yes, with all the extra training from Howitzer and the magic training I'm going to be getting from Kamek I think I have a good chance." Luigi smiled up at the other man, unconsciously he reached his hand down to pet Polterpup.

Bowser narrowed his eyes at the human, something he did notice about the man is when certain subjects were brought up, he seemed to slide on a metaphorical mask. Depending on the people he talked to determined if it was one of quiet anger or happiness. Currently it was the happy one and it made the king koopa a bit concerned. The conversation deviated from the fight to various other topics: how Luigi was settling into the new kingdom, how his classes were going and even his new role as the assistant chef to Hans. Bowser happened to notice the human and the princess had at some point gone off on their own conversation about.. clothes for some reason. Not that he cared that he was being left out of the conversation.

"Oh! Daisy was asking about you in one of her letters, you really need to write to her as well." Peach commented.

"I suppose I should thank her for giving me the flier." Luigi nodded. "She'd love the shopping district here, from what I saw of one of the dress shops she'd adore them!"

"After your fight we should invite her and go shopping!" Peach clapped.

"Hold on a minute there, princess, you can't just go inviting other rulers into my kingdom." Bowser said. "Sides, Greenie here has an obligation to me to help teach my kids." He grinned internally, that should keep her and Daisy away from his Luigi ( Again with the ‘his’!). While he was on good terms with the princess of Sarasaland, he heard rumors the two had become rather close. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. Why should he feel some way about that anyways?

"We could make it as a field trip! I'm sure after the trial no one else would think of coming after the kids. As long as we have guards they should be ok and I'm sure they'd love some outside time away from the castle." Luigi shook his head. "And besides, as you are no longer fighting the other kingdoms it only makes sense to invite one of your potential allies here."

Bowser's brow twitched a bit, to his annoyance the human was right.

He really needed to get back on good terms with his neighboring kingdoms. He just didn't want to.

"Say, Luigi, where is your room? The flier said you’d get your own room, it's not a dungeon cell is it?" Mario questioned looking at Bowser.

"No, Fratello, it's actually really nice. Come I'll show you so you don't worry." Luigi stated as he stood, causing Polterpup to get up as well. "We won't be long and I'll make sure he doesn't go snooping around."

Bowser watched the three leave, leaving him alone with the princess. This was the first time they'd been alone together where he didn't have her chained up or locked in a cage. And she was there of her own free will.

Silence continued between the two for a few more minutes before Peach picked up her cup once more taking a delicate sip. Bowser did the same though his was more of a gulp, it seemed that was a bad idea given what she said next.

"So. When did you start liking Luigi?" She asked. Peach materialized her parasol from nowhere and opened it covering herself and her dress as Bowser spit his tea above her head in shock.

Chapter Text

The loud roars of the crowd echoed outside of the chamber as Luigi got ready for his fight. Kamek had been a harsh taskmaster when it came to practicing his magic and aim but Luigi had rose to the challenge. The older magikoopa had been rather impressed with his control and mastery of his power. The last couple of days had gone by a bit faster than Luigi or Bowser would have liked but he was as prepared as he was going to get.

"This guy is going to fight dirty, no other way someone like him would fight." Bowser growled from his spot leaned against the wall near the stalls.

The human had ducked into one of the stalls to get changed when Kamek had delivered the clothes he would wear for the fight.

"I would be surprised if he didn't." Luigi commented as he emerged. Bowser felt his heart do that weird skip again. Maybe he needed to talk to Kamek about it.

The outfit consisted of a skintight long sleeved shirt beneath a black tank top; both enchanted to protect him from the flames, the black cargo pants were cinched around his ankle and had the same enchantments. Instead of his carpenter boots he wore black ballet flats with grips on the bottoms to help with faster running. The koopas were born with flame retardant skin so why not give Luigi the same edge? 

He almost looked ready for dancing rather than fighting. There was that weird fluttering feeling in his stomach again. He shook his head trying to get rid of the feeling... and Peach’s voice in his head. 

So,  when did you start liking Luigi? 

He didn’t! He was just... hungry! And maybe a bit worried about the human his kids had come to like. And maybe, just maybe, he'd started liking the human himself. The guy just seemed to grow on ya. Unlike when they were enemies Luigi would smile when he saw him in the hall, wave at him. Every once in a while, he'd strike up a conversation with the man. It was nice to talk to someone else who wasn't his kids or advisor. Bowser mentally shook himself free of his thoughts. 

"Remember, kaiju koopas are weak in their sides and on the very tops of their heads where the scales are thin." Bowser explained, for what Luigi felt was the hundredth time. "His size is his strength but also his greatest weakness. If you can get him on his shell, you got a better chance of winning.”

“Like how Mario almost always beats you?” Luigi grinned at the indignant look that crossed the kings face.

"We ain't talking about me right now." Bowser snorted smoke from his nostrils toward Luigi. "Seriously though, you have got to watch out for his tricks."

"I know, Bowser, you've drilled this into my head the last few days. I'm pretty sure any tricks he has up his shell I can handle." Luigi stated, waving the smoke from his face. "I can take care of myself."

"Well, I thought that too. Yet only a few weeks into the new job and I'm attending a fight to the finish." A familiar voice spoke from the chamber doors. Both men looked toward the voice shocked to see Princess Daisy standing there arms crossed over her chest. Yeah she was not happy. Luigi knew she wouldn't be when she found out, he just wished he had more time before she did.

"Daisy! When did you get here?" Luigi asked, moving toward the princess. As he got within arms reach he let out a small yelp of pain as she smacked him on the back of his head. "Ow! What the heck?"

"How could you not tell me about this fight?" She demanded.  "Imagine my shock when I learned second hand from Peach that you were participating in a death match! And you were going to wait til after the fact to even tell me!"

"I didn't want to worry you." Luigi stated.

"Don't give me that, Luigi Antonio Patrizio Leonardo Mario." Daisy held her finger just beneath his nose.

So that’s his full name. Bowser thought as he grinned. Now he had blackmail on both brothers.

 "You should have known that me finding out after would be worse than before! You think your brother is bad? You know I am worse!  Peach did tell me why you are fighting but you still should have told me!" Daisy continued.

Luigi stared at the finger just below his nose before smiling. He grabbed Daisy by the hand and pulled her into a tight hug. "I know, Sorella, I'm sorry." Bowser's grin fell as he felt his blood start to boil. So they were close, was Sorella a term of endearment for a partner? Were the rumors about them true?

"You were supposed to be the passive brother. Not the one getting into fights with koopas five times your size." Daisy huffed as they pulled apart. She glanced over his shoulder at Bowser who looked minutes away from combusting in a ball of fiery jealousy. She smiled inwardly remembering what Peach had written in her letter. Once she found her cousin they'd have to shake on the bet. “Hello to you too, Bowsie.” 

Bowser managed to get his temper back under control before Luigi saw him. He growled a bit at the nickname, Luigi made sure to file the name away for later blackmail. “Don’t call me that, figured you’d already be in the stands with Peach and Mario.” 

"Well I had to come see Luigi first. Besides, they aren't in the royal box." Daisy shrugged. "I asked the guards there and they didn't know where they were."

Bowser grumbled a bit, "They should've been up there by now, kids must be running around."

The sudden sound of yelling and running feet down the hall caught all of their attention, Junior skidded to a halt in front of the door laughing as he ran in. On his head was Mario's hat, Larry was close behind laughing just as hard. A few seconds later Mario skidded to a stop as he ran into the room, his mustache was a little singed on the ends. It seemed the boys knew he wouldn’t try to fight them, so they were taking advantage of picking on the human plumber.

"Give that back, you little gremlins!" Mario demanded. The two kept tossing the hat around like a frisbee getting the spin just right to go around the human. Luigi couldn’t help chuckling a bit at his brother's expense while Bowser just out right laughed. Daisy hid her own laughter behind her hand. The shorter man glared at the laughing trio, "Little help here?"

"Ah, c'mon, Plumber Boy, you can handle some kids, can't ya?" Bowser laughed, enjoying this way too much.

Luigi decided to take pity on his brother, after a few more minutes of the two playing keep away. "Alright‚ boys, that's enough." the man said approaching the two koopalings, the pair pouted but Larry handed over the cap when Luigi held his hand out for it.

"Don't I get an apology?" Mario asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Luigi placed the red cap back on his brother's head.

"You got your hat back; besides they were just playing around." Luigi stated.

"Tormenting me more like it! Piccoli marmocchi malvagi, wait til I get my hands on you." Mario growled as he started to approach the boys. Junior and Larry let out chirps of distress as they hid behind Luigi. Luigi knew his brother's temper tended to blind him when he got really worked up. 

"You won't be doing anything, Mariano." Luigi crossed his arms over his chest. "They are just children. You need to remember that especially now that we are allies with their father." 

Mario glared up at his taller younger twin. They held each other's gaze for a minute or two until Mario sighed, throwing his arms up. 

"Bene, bene I'll leave them alone." Mario said. 

"Grazie." Luigi smiled at his brother. He looked down at the two koopalings who were looking up at him, the two slowly came out from behind his legs.

"Sorry we took your hat." Larry stated with a small bow, Junior followed his brother's motions. 

Mario stared down at them for a moment before nodding accepting their apology. Bowser watched the scene and had been prepered to fry the human, seeing Luigi handle his brother with ease was rather impressive. And maybe a little hot. Before anything else could be said Peach and Kamek along with the rest of the kids walked in. Peach smiled as she saw Daisy standing in the room.

"Daisy, so glad you got here in time." The blonde princess greeted her cousin.

"Of course, I wasn't going to miss my best friend's big fight that he volunteered to participate in." Bowser didn't trust the smile on the Sarasaland Princess's face, nor did Luigi.

“Hey, I tried to talk him out of it.” Bowser shrugged. 

“Yes, by fighting me and trying to lock me in my room like a disobedient teenager.” Luigi crossed his arms looking at the koopa over his shoulder. 

Mario started to comment on that but Peach laid a hand on his shoulder stopping him.

“Well, if you didn’t act like a teenager, I wouldn’t treat you like one.” Bowser countered. 

“If you didn’t act like a jerk then I wouldn’t act like a teenager.” Luigi shot back, turning to face the koopa. 

“Hey, this jerk was trying to save your scrawny neck!” Bowser growled. 

The group watched the pair bicker, gazes moving back and forth between them like watching a tennis match. While Mario looked a bit confused, the princesses and Kamek had knowing looks in their eyes. Kamek glanced at his pocket watch and flew between them, interrupting their bickering.

"Alright that’s enough you two, the fight will be starting soon. Princesses, your highnesses... Mario, we should be getting back to the royal box." Kamek stated.

Though the koopalings groaned in displeasure they nodded. Each one hurried up to Luigi giving the man a hug before filing out of the room. Mario gave his brother a hug as well, followed by the two princesses. While the room at large was distracted, Kamek passed a small box to the king before he flew out. Soon it was just the two of them alone once more, awkward silence followed for a minute or two.

"Here." Bowser said suddenly as he handed Luigi the small box about the size of a dvd case back on Earth. Luigi stared down at the box in his hands in confusion before he lifted the lid. He let out a small gasp, nestled inside was a pair of fingerless leather gloves so dark green they almost looked black. Bowser used one claw to scratch at his scaled cheek, trying to act aloof and uncaring. "I noticed how your hands got blackened when you used too much of your lightning... so, I had Kamek make these for you. They have powerful enchantments so your hands will be safe."

Luigi looked up from the gloves, blue eyes sparkling with excitement. Before he could think better of it he hugged the large koopa. "Thank you so much!" 

As he was putting them on, Bowser seemed lost in his own mind. Other than his kids and Kamek, no one had ever hugged him. Not even unwillingly, even for a brief moment the feeling of those skinny yet strong arms felt... warm. Bowser felt a flash of heat move across his face, before the human could see the reddening scales he quickly turned and hurried toward the door. 

"Well gotta go greet the crowds! See you in the arena!" Bowser announced a little too loud as he almost ran toward the doors, leaving the human to blink after him in surprise.

Roughly twenty minutes later, Luigi stood before a set of heavy looking double doors. As he waited for the doors to open he heard the sound of clawed feet and what sounded like a wooden cane on the stone floor. He turned to see Howitzer in his bigger form and Firen walking toward him, the young Kaiju still looked a bit worse for wear, but he was getting better. Howitzer kept a steadying hand on the teens shell as they approached. 

"Howitzer, why you are in your bigger form?" Luigi questioned.

"Safety precautions." Howitzer shrugged. 

Luigi nodded as he moved closer to the pair. He looked at Firen's injuries, happy to see them somewhat healed. Even though he was using a crutch, he was recovering rather well.

"Firen, I'm happy to see you're doing better. I was hoping to see you so I could apologize in person." Luigi smiled sadly at the young kaiju koopa.

"No its.. fine, Mr. Luigi." Firen shook his head. "We-" 

"Were forced to do what you did." Luigi interrupted, "I don't hold it against you, had I been more level headed I wouldn't have attacked you and your friends so harshly." 

"Firen wished to speak with you before the fight." Howitzer stated as they got closer. He looked a bit nervous, glancing  at Howitzer. The older koopa nodded and the teen spoke.

  "Mr. Luigi, my father is really strong and his power is a bit different than normal koopas. Something.. something is wrong with him. Last few months he's been leaving the house late at night and not coming back til the next day. He's been angrier than normal."

Luigi processed the information before speaking. "I see, you believe that is why he started hurting you?"

"No thats.. that's been happening for a long time." Firen looked down as if ashamed, his tail was curled around his legs in self comfort. Luigi’s anger against the man just multiplied at that. "My friends and I just went along with his way of thinking because it meant we didn't get hurt. But he's got this weird power now, he's always been a fire element but now he can make it turn a weird purple color and it becomes poisonous. I'm sorry I didn't tell anyone sooner.." Firen looked up in surprise as the human placed a hand on his uninjured arm. The smile was one he hadn’t seen since  before his mother passed. Kind and understanding.

“It’s not your fault, Firen.” Luigi assured him. “You were still recovering, I know I’ve already said it but I sincerely apologize for hurting you, this extends to your friends. Thank you for telling me this.”

"Should I inform the king of this development?" Howitzer asked.

"Wait until the fight starts, that way he can't stop it. I want to get a few hits in so he knows how it feels." Luig stated. The sudden sound of a gong being struck made the teen jump a bit as the two adults looked toward the door. "That's my cue."

"Good luck." Howitzer held his hand out for Luigi to shake. "I'll give you five minutes before I let the king know about this.

"That's all I need." Luigi nodded. He gently patted Firen on the arm before turning to face the doors. He rolled his neck popping the bones into more comfortable positions just as the doors were pulled open.

The stone gave way to dirt as he stepped out into the deep arena. When he'd first seen it earlier in the day it almost looked like a Japanese version of the colosseum of Rome; instead of plain stone it was made of wood and mortar. It was built in the shape of an octagon, the seating area was at least ten stories high to keep the spectators safe. As he walked toward the center he looked toward the very back where he could see the koopalings, his brother, and the princesses sitting in the royal box: Kammy and Kamek floated on either side of the king's shoulders who stood at the front of the box. The other set of double doors opened and his opponent walked out wearing nothing but tom hakama pants. His stride was confident as if he believed he'd already won before the fight started. Kamek flew from Bowser's side down to the field where the two fighters met in the center.

"The fight will be fair, use of weapons and armor is prohibited as are power ups, mushrooms and flowers. Elemental attacks are to be kept within the arena, no cheap shots at any of the seats as diversions. First fighter to yield wins, there is no time limit, each fighter gets two chances to call for rests." Kamek explained.

His opponent scoffed at this, "The human can have as many as he wants, a real fighter doesn't need to call for a rest."

Kamek didn't acknowledge his words as he continued speaking. "At the sound of the gong, the fight begins. Good luck to you both." With that the magikoopa flew back toward the king. Luigi had taken up a fighting stance as they waited for the gong. His opponent just stood there smiling

"Is my weakling son still breathing?" He asked. Luigi knew he was trying to make him mad, it was a tactic most used to off balance their opponents. It normally would work for most people, Luigi however was not most people.

"Would it disappoint you if I said yes?" Luigi asked. 

The kaiju koopa had the nerve to laugh, “I'd be impressed, maybe there's hope for him after all. " The man grinned  widely. "Hope you settled your affairs, human. You won’t  be leaving this ring alive.”

The gong sounded and the kaiju leapt forward, mouth open to bite Luigi’s head off.

Chapter Text

The large jaws snapped on empty air, the kaiju koopa blinked in shock as he looked down just in time to see Luigi slide between his legs. As he moved through Luigi wrapped his own legs around one of his opponents and twisted. The sudden movement off balanced Zaraki caused him to fall to the ground head first. Loud 'ooo's sounded from the crowd as the koopa hit. Luigi jumped back up to his feet, smirking.

"And you won't be leaving without a headache." Luigi stated as he moved back away from his opponent.

Zaraki snarled as he looked over his shoulder, the koopa whipped his longer tail out behind himself aiming for Luigi's legs to try and trip him. The human saw the attack coming and was able to leap into the air away from the appendage. As he came back down his fist was covered in lightning aiming it for Zaraki's head. Said koopa dodged back to avoid the fist, but was too late to see the kick aimed for the side of his head. The foot landed knocking him to the side a few steps though he didn't fall. His head rang from the sudden tinnitus, he growled loudly as he glared hateful daggers at the human. Luigi stood in a resting stance holding his hand out in front of him, with a smirk he motioned for the kaiju to come. With a roar Zaraki rushed the human again only to be avoided once more.

The crowd had started cheering for the human who was holding his own surprisingly well. He was smaller making him much more nimble, able to dodge the fists and tail aimed at him while getting a few hits of his own in. While he'd displayed he could use magic he barely did.

The koopalings were bouncing around their seats excitedly as they cheered for their teacher. Even the ones who had yet to attend the class were cheering for the man. Mario was bouncing around just as much as he yelled those weird words at his brother, they at least sounded encouraging. Bowser watched the human bounce around the arena like a cheap cheap out of water. Luigi had yet to even use his lightning power seriously, almost like he was playing with  Zaraki. Bowser was seriously impressed by this, but his curiosity about the man's odd battle skills was at the forefront of his mind. He remembered what the man had told the kids when they asked about his fighting ability. If he had this level of skill there was no way he just didn't fight because he was a coward. Cowards didn't fight this good, right? There was something else, the way he moved like he'd done this sort of fighting for years. But that wasn't possible, was it?

A collective groan came up from the audience as Luigi double punched Zaraki in the gut and chest before uppercutting him again, the koopa fell backwards with a loud grunt of pain. So the man was all bluster and no substance it seems. This time he seemed to have trouble standing back up as he rolled onto his side. Zaraki suddenly started coughing rather hard. This was a fight to the finish, but Bowser had a feeling the finish was coming up faster than the man expected. As the kaiju koopa lay on the ground coughing Luigi waited for his opponent to stand back up. Bowser would have kept attacking but Luigi wasn't an opportunist like he was. It seemed a bit odd though, in the last five or ten minutes of fighting Zaraki hadn't used his flames. The sound of two foot falls caught his attention, Bowser turned in his throne and was a bit surprised to see Howitzer and Firen walking toward him. The teen koopa looked like a scared boo as the pair approached him. The boys had made themselves at home in the soldier's barracks though all three tried to avoid the king any time he saw him.

"Howitzer, figured you and your ward would be down there watching the fight." Bowser said as the general stopped beside his throne.

"Yes, sire, but Firen informed me of some rather distressing information you should know about." Howitzer saluted the king. This caught the attention of both princesses and Kamek, Mario was still wrapped up in the fight as was the koopalings.

"What is it?" Bowser asked, glancing at the teen who was trying to hide behind the other koopa. 

"It appears, Firen's father has acquired some sort of ability that gives him poisonous flames. The boys don't know where he got this ability but from experience they know it is lethal." Howitzer stated. Bowser stood from his throne at this.

This was the sort of dirty trick Bowser expected the other to pull, but poisonous flames that he got from someone? That did not bode well for the human. 

"We need to stop this match." He declared looking at Kamek.

"If we stop now it will be seen as a forfeit, sire." Kamek shook his head. "And if we evacuate the arena the boy's father will know that we know of his ability, who knows what he will try if he learns we are on to him."

"So what in the hells do we do?" Bowser demanded. "Just sit here and wait and see if the ability is used so we can call foul?"

"Even if he uses it, he is within his rights to use it if it is part of his elemental arsenal." Kamek stated. "Is there a reason the boy is telling us about this now?"

"Bit curious about that myself. Howitzer?" Bowser narrowed his red eyes at the koopa.

"Luigi was the first we told of this. He asked that we give him time to get some hits in before telling you." Howitzer stated. Bowser felt a growl bubble in his throat. Of fucking course! "He seems to be handling himself rather well."

"That's not the point!" Bowser snarled. The sound got the attention of the kids and Mario as they all turned to the group behind them.

"What's not?" Mario asked.

"Asshole down there has a secret weapon we didn't know about and its lethal apparently." Bowser answered.

"Papa, you gotta put a coin in your jar." Junior stated.

"Yeah, yeah." Bowser nodded, moving closer to the edge of the box. The kaiju-koopa was still on the ground, not moving. Had Luigi knocked him out? Surely the guy wasn't that weak? His nose caught a strange scent and it wasn’t coming from the ground but the sky.

The sky above the arena suddenly turned a bright purple as walls of light came down on either side of the arena blocking all exits and the openings.

"The fuck is this?!" Bowser snarled. Mario moved to punch the wall of light only to be blasted back with a shriek of pain as his fist connected.

"Mario!!" Peach cried out as she hurried to his side. She gasped seeing the horrible burns that covered the plumber's knuckles. Daisy was at her cousin's side tearing strips of her dress off to wrap the hand.

Maniacal laughter filled the arena as the wind picked up a bit, a purple tornado came down from the sky stopping just above the ground in the center. As the tornado disappeared it left a man floating in the air. His eyes were like a boo's with purple glowing pupils surrounded by black. His hair looked like a living flame as it defied gravity and floated above his head even in a pony tail.  He wore a black pinstripe business suit over his almost translucent skin, he was nearly skeletal thin. Something about that man, tingled at the furthest reaches of his mind.

https://www.tumblr.com/snapple16/736259843721199616/ladies-gentlemen-and-those-in-between-i-present

"Ladies and Gentle-koopa! So pleased to be back in your lovely kingdom. It has been a very long time since I was here, most of my recent time was spent floating about random mansions just absolutely bored to undeath." The ghost man stated, he moved in the air to a lounging position. "Then I thought why not stir up some fun! Things have gotten so boring with all this peace."

There was a sudden noise of electricity as Luigi shot a green lightning bolt at the man with a loud snarl of, "SOLARIS!" His eyes had started to glow again as his hands were encased in electricity, he looked furious like  the very presence of the stranger enraged him. As if he knew the other was going to attack, the ghost man floated upwards, missing the bolt entirely.

He rolled around to float on his stomach as he tucked his hands beneath his chin, floating back downwards facing Luigi.

"Well~ if it isn't the world's worst plumber!" The man's, Solaris, grin stretched almost impossibly wide as his eyes glowed brighter. "Who knew you'd be fighting in a deathmatch, LuLu?"

"What the hell are you doing here? How did you even get out?" Luigi demanded as he prepared another bolt. Bowser could see the obviously fake pout on the ghost man's face.

"Awe, Lu-Lu, didn't you miss me?" The man asked, in a flash he was behind Luigi speaking into his ear as a long tongue came out inches from the shell of the human's ear.

 "I̷̖̹̞̩͌̈́ ̴̞̲͑ͅm̸̗̘̰͠i̶̡̡͉͊̆s̴̠̆̈͑s̸̮̀̐͘ĕ̴̖̩̃̿̿ḑ̷̯͓̅͋̇̔ ̷̼͉̙̟̉͊y̷̛̱̾͜o̸̢̬͚͒̈́͊ǘ̶̼̖̳̲͘ "

 The words were clear but still sounded distorted. Luigi leapt forward as he spun around, throwing another lightning bolt at the ghost. The ghost man cackled as he floated safely away from the attack.

"Oh you are still so much fun!" Solaris laughed as he righted himself to a standing position.

"Hey, Asshole!" Bowser roared as he blew a stream of fire at the wall.

The wall sizzled and hissed but did not give way. The group in the royal box flinched, the younger children crying out in fear clutching each other  as the man's head did a complete 180 to look at them.

"Your majesty." Solaris grinned. "So nice to see you again. You were barely out of your eggshell last time I saw you. You haven't matured very much have you? Kidnapping, forced marriages, takeovers that never panned out. You really are a disappointment to your parents, then again it's hard to be disappointed when you are dead. Speaking of disappointments." He turned his gaze to the children currently hiding behind their father. “Have several of your own I see.”

Bowser's eyes glowed bright red as that purple gaze zeroed in on his kids. Fire peaked out between his teeth as he growled "Who the fuck are you? King Boo's new lackey?"

The rest of Solaris's body turned to face the King koopa and the others. "Not exactly, but why spoil the surprise? I'm here on other business after all." Solaris lowered his gaze to the kaiju-koopa still laying on the ground. "Seems our champion was still no match for the Bloody Exorcist. Poor lizard didn't know how to use the gift we gave him." He tsked. 

“You gave him that ability?” Luigi asked. 

"He said he could handle it, but it seems he already used too much as ‘lessons' for his son. I did warn him if too much rage and evil were fed to the flames they would consume him. Now he can't even fight you, should have known better than to trust a turtle lizard who can't keep his own disappointment in line." Solaris grinned as he eyed the koopa teen who was now shivering behind Bowser's throne. He turned and floated above the arena. "You all wanted a good fight to the death? Well allow me to make this one you'll never forget!"

Solaris shot a purple blast from his open palm at the kaiju koopa still on the ground. The roar of agony that left the man's throat would haunt many dreams. A sickening crack sounded as the koopa started to change form, his bones cracked and twisted as he writhed on the ground screaming. Luigi took a few more steps back as the koopa grew bigger. After several agonizing seconds of shifting the koopa stood, his skin and shell now black. He'd seemed to take on the shape of a T-rex; his spikes, claws and horns were replaced with purple crystals that seemed to pulse with a strange energy. His eyes now glowed the same color, from the tear ducts fell a black ooze. He now stood a few feet taller than before, the tip of his tail had grown crystal spikes like stegosaurus.

"Let the games begin!" Solaris announced as he vanished in a flash of purple light. The sudden flash made the crystalized monster roar in rage, the only thing to take its rage out on was the human standing before it.

"LUIGI!" The group in the royal box cried out as the monster rushed the human. Luigi barely got out of the way as the large jaws came down where he was just standing. Taking the opportunity he shot a bolt of lightning into the monster's eye, the attack worked as the eye exploded and the monster shrieked in pain. Before Luigi could move though the monster swung its head to the side where Luigi stood, it caught him in the shake knocking him back several feet. He stopped rolling just short of the wall.

"Luigi, get up!" Mario screamed at his brother over the roar of the crowd. They did not expect this, this was a completely unfair fight. Fights of this caliber had not been seen since the rule of the first kaiju koopa king millenia ago.

Luigi gasped trying to get his lungs to work as he painfully rolled onto his hands and knees. How did HE even get out? Luigi was sure that when King Boo had been captured and imprisoned, his other half would go with him. Seemed he had assumed wrong and it would cost him if he didn't stop this thing. A shadow passed over him blocking out the sun. Luigi pitched himself to the side avoiding the large jaws as they came down trying to catch him once more. Luigi sat up leaning back on his hands as the creature before him focused his eyes on the human. The monster pulled his lips back revealing blackened teeth, purple saliva dripped from his lips landing on the ground with a hiss. As his adrenalin kicked in Luigi was able to backflip a few times away from the monster as it launched itself forward snapping the large jaws. On the last flip Luigi double jumped as he coated his hand in lightning, throwing a bolt at the creature's head. It landed making the monster growl in pain but it kept coming, said monster kept swiping at Luigi as he moved backwards avoiding the claws.

In the royal box Bowser was still blowing fire at the wall as Kammy and Kamek threw every magic spell they knew at it. Mario had caught his one good fist on fire and was throwing fireballs at the wall. Whatever it was, the wall was not breaking no matter what they threw. Howitzer and Firen had gone toward the door to get reinforcements but even the doors were sealed shut. Peach and Daisy had moved the koopalings to the far back wall of the box away from the front.

Bowser stopped his fire to try and catch his breath, he'd never had to hold it this long. Mario turned to face the king koopa.

'"You can't stop now!" He stated.

"He can't hold his fire that long. Even as king koopa he has his limits." Kamek said as he threw another spell at the wall.

"Then do something else! Throw a rock ball or something!" Maro demanded, throwing another fireball at the wall.

"Why don't you do something else, Red? Oh right you don't have nothing without those power ups." Bowser snarled glaring at the human. "Why didn't you bring any of those?" 

"Against my better judgment I assumed we wouldn't need them!" Mario yelled back. "I should have known you would cause trouble, that's all you do!"

"Looks like assuming made an ass out of just you, Plumber boy." Bowser growled as he moved toward Mario. The human moved forward, his fist catching on fire once more.

“You wanna go, Lizard breath? Let’s go!” Mario said. “I can still beat you with one hand!” 

"Stop it both of you!" Peach demanded. "We need to find a way out of here to help Luigi, not stand around arguing."

"'Wiser words have never been more.. BORING!" A familiar voice said from above them. Solaris was lounging against the ceiling reading what looked like a magazine. He put it down and looked down at the group. "Honestly if I wanted to be bored out of my mind I'd go haunt a grave yard."

"YOU!" Bowser snarled. "When I get my claws on you I'm going to rip out what insides you have left, you son of a bitch!"

"Now, Bowsie, what would your mother say, speaking like that?" Solaris tsked. 

"You don't even know who my mother was, asshole, how would you know what'd she say?" Bowser growled. 

"Awe, you mean you don't remember me? And I sang you such a lovely lullaby." Solaris sighed in disappointment, resting a hand on his pale cheek. "Allow me to remind you." 

Suddenly Solaris was inches from Bowser's face, his eyes becoming purple glowing spirals in their sockets. Bowser tried to look away but something kept his gaze locked on the ghost man's. 

The itsy bitsy, Bowsie, crying in his bed

Bowser suddenly flashed back to an early memory when he was just five. Fires had started outside in the other kingdom. He climbed out of his nest bed toddling over to the window. He was worried, his new friend was out there where the fires were. The little prince wanted to go help, to keep his new friend safe. His nose suddenly itched as weird purple smoke suddenly filled his room. A scary face appeared in his window where his reflection was. The face suddenly came out of the glass snapping large jagged teeth at his nose.

He let out a fearful shriek calling for his mother.

In comes the queen and off goes her head, 

He cowered in the corner of his bed, he tried to blow flames at the man as papa had taught him to but he was too scared. The scary face was now a person but he still looked scary, head scrapping against the ceiling as long claws scratched against the floor. The tall slender figure was getting closer. Bowser's cries got louder. 

Someone save me!

Suddenly the door to his bedroom was thrown open. His mommy was here! And so was Grammy. His mommy roared and tried to attack the monster, he felt himself suddenly start to float toward grammy. Bowser turned to look at his mother. 

Her pretty warm eyes found his own and tried to be reassuring. Suddenly they got wide. Why was her head falling off? Why wasn't she smiling anymore? What was wrong with mommy?

Out comes the blood, covering the floor.

Bowser started to let out loud chirps of distress trying to get her attention. Red stuff was coming out. Why wasn't she moving? She always comforted him when he needed her. He needed his mommy. He was scared. She was always there when he was scared.

Mommy.

Mommy?

Hahaoya? 

Please. Get up.

The itsy bitsy Bowsie will cry never  more.

"BOWSER!" Mario's voice of all things plus a kick to his sternum broke the spell just before long claws could pierce through his neck.

 Bowser fell onto his shell, rolling over to his side he let out quivering breaths as he finally came out of that nightmare. Wetness ran down his cheeks as he sat up. He'd been, crying? 

"You are such a buzz kill, Human." Solaris sighed, retracting his long nails. 

Kammy floated in front of Bowser, her scepter glowing a malicious red. "YOU, I remember you now. You killed our queen. You tried to kill Bowser when he was just a child!" Kammy hissed angrily. 

Bowser could feel his flames climbing up his throat as he stood. His blood boiled in anger. This thing, Killed his mother. The king's eyes suddenly started to glow bright red as his fury grew. 

"You are about to die twice you monster." Bowser growled as he glared at the ghost man, as he started to inhale to blow out a stream of white hot fire he froze. Suddenly in front of the man was Lemmy, the mute koopaling struggled against the magic holding him. "Put. Him. DOWN." Bowser swallowed his flames back down burning his throat just a little.

"And here I thought you cared about him!" Solaris laughed as he conjured what looked like a syringe. Lemmy began out right screaming as tears left his eyes in rivers. "Oh well I suppose deformed pets have to go some time or other."

"NO!" Bowser and the others shouted just as the needle was inches from the sobbing koopaling's arm. Solaris cackled as he made the syringe disappear, flipping through the air pulling Lemmy with him. He perched on the back of Bowser's throne keeping the koopaling suspended above his head away from everyone's reach.

"Honestly getting you guys all riled up is so fun it almost makes me not wanna leave! After all, a king needs a jester!" Solaris snapped his fingers making his suit change to a jester's outfit.

"You are not staying here! Give me my son right now and I'll roast you quickly." Bowser growled. He wanted to roast the freak now, but the thing had Lemmy suspended right in his line of fire once more. Somehow, he silenced Lemmy so no one could hear his crying or chirps, though the tears were still coming.

"Oh I doubt that." Solaris said as he floated just above the throne and was now standing on his head, legs still folded beneath him. "It takes you forever to beat fatso down there even in your overpowered form. And even then, you don't!"

"Who even are you?" Peach demanded. They flinched at the sudden cracking of bones shifting as Solaris angled his head all the way back and turned it right side up to look at her.

His eyes and mouth disappeared from his head, reappearing suddenly right in front of her with a loud distorted,

 “ B̷̛̖̫̟̯̳̗̃̽O̵̹̟͖̙͚̊̆͝Ő̶̰͆̽̓̅!" 

His teeth were now jagged and sharp while his eyes became rings of purple and black.

Peach screamed in pure terror as did Daisy and the koopalings behind them. The younger kids started out right sobbing as Roy, Morton and Iggy held them. The sudden nightmarish face scared them too but they held it in to stay strong for the little ones. Solaris cackled as his face floated back to his head.

"That's the only hint you get!" Solaris stated as he turned the rest of himself rightside up. "Hey, wanna see my new act? Its called "how many koopas can Lu-Lu keep safe as well as himself?'"

Before anyone could react, Larry, Wendy and Junior were ripped from their siblings arms joining Lemmy in suspension. Solaris suddenly flew toward the wall making the trapped koopalings follow. Bowser roared in rage as he tried to grab them from the air, his hands went right through Junior as he and his siblings were turned intangible and went through the wall unharmed. It was a small mercy but now the kids were now in more danger.

Luigi grunted in pain as the tail slammed into his gut knocking him into the ground, blood escaped his mouth in a painful cough. His body couldn't take more of this, the gloves Bowser had given him had started to smoke from overuse. His tank top was completely gone while only half of the long-sleeved shirt remained, his pants were shredded, and he'd lost his shoes. So far he'd managed to avoid being poisoned or eaten but he couldn't keep this up. All open skin was covered in cuts and bruises mostly from being slammed into the ground. He had to figure out how to put this thing down then ring Solaris's undead neck. He stood to his feet, his legs shaking in exhaustion and pain, he went down to one knee unable to keep his balance.

Luigi had heard Bowser and the others yelling from the royal box; he had assumed they were yelling for him. Until he saw Solaris now wearing some sort of jester outfit fly through the wall where the group was, Luigi's heart dropped to his feet as Solaris came to a stop in front of the monster with Junior, Larry, Lemmy and Wendy suspended above him.

"Fottutamente Monstro." Luigi hissed as he stood once more. "Let them go, right now."

"Why would I do that? I've taken up juggling, see?" Solaris laughed as he spun his finger in a circle, the suspended koopalings began to spin in a circle in front of him. Luigi tried to move forward to stop the poltergeist only to fall forward, his legs giving out completely. The kids screamed and cried for him and for their father. "I heard of koopa's without a grin, but a grin without a koopa? Now we're just speaking nonsense!" The screams suddenly stopped as their mouths vanished leaving smooth skin in their places. “There we are! Much better!”

"Bastardo!" Luigi growled as he tried to stand.

"Oh, come no, Lu-Lu! Where's that fighting spirit we helped cultivate for all that time?" Solaris asked. "Do you need more motivation? Perhaps a damsel in distress?" The poltergeist snapped his fingers and in the middle of the circle of koopas appeared Peach.

Mario's screams could be heard from the box, he tried punching the wall once more with his good hand and just like before it burned. "PEACH!"

Bowser had had enough. "Kamek, Kammy, shield everyone in this room right now." He snarled as his skin began to darken, smoke escaped his nostrils and between his growing fangs.

Kamek's eyes widened behind his glasses. "But, sire!"

"The rest of the koopas here can handle it, do as I say!" Bowser growled; his voice strained. He'd started the giga transformation and he couldn't hold it back for very long. Realizing there was no talking the king out of his plan the two magikoopas used their magic to pull everyone together in a huddle and threw up a twofold shield formed into a sphere as Bowser roared and was surrounded in a swirl of fire.

His sudden growth pushed against the wall, even in the giga form it stung his skin. Soon it broke through the wall, shattering all the other walls.

No longer blocked in the arena, seats started to empty, seeing their king in this form meant they needed to hurry for cover. It was about to get ugly.

Chapter Text

The sudden swirl of fire and roar caught the attention of the ghost man and his monster. As the fire disappeared Giga-Bowser now stood on the field, he stood a few feet taller than the crystal monster. Solaris looked over his shoulder at the new addition to the field. The monster roared at the new challenger as he turned, Giga-Bowser roared back louder as he ran forward attacking the thing with his claws and fangs.

"Oh darn, he broke through. And I was having such a good time."

Solaris sighed. While the specter was distracted Luigi ran forward leaping into the air, his fist was aimed for the other's face. Before it could connect Solaris disappeared, without him there to keep them suspended the koopalings and Peach fell. The koopalings' mouths had returned to their proper place. Luigi barely managed to reach each of the kids before they hit the ground. Peach was able to bell out her dress allowing her to float down safely. Luigi held back a shriek of pain as he felt a rib crack beneath their combined weight. He felt a set of small spikes sink into his chest, thankfully not deep enough to be fatal.

"Lui!" Junior cried. They scrambled up and off of him as Peach rushed to his side. Wendy grabbed onto her three youngest brothers moving them out of the princess's way. While they were all worried about him they had to stay out of the way. She knew the princess had some medical training so she would know what to do.

"Luigi, we have to get you out of here!" Peach said as she knelt beside him. She gasped as she saw small holes poked into his chest. "Can you move?'

"..rib..cr-ah-cracked.." He wheezed out but nodded as he tried to sit up. The shield bubble containing the spectators from the royal box suddenly appeared with a pop, the shield dropped and Mario ran for his girlfriend and brother. He knelt on Luigi's other side, gently grabbing his hand. Even hurt, Luigi managed a grin, "Some fight huh?"

"Idiota!" Mario hissed. Kammy flew over to the trio, her wand glowing as she cast a simple wordless diagnostic spell. Her eyes widened in worry at what it told her. 

"We need to get him somewhere safe, he needs immediate medical attention." She stated. Before anyone could react, Luigi was pulled from the ground by some invisible force, Mario tried to hold onto his brother but was unable to.

Luigi was suspended high above the arena by his leg facing the two fighting kaiju-koopas. Then his view was obscured by the face of Solaris as the specter appeared upside down as well.

"Thought this was supposed to be your fight, Lu-lu? Why's your boss fighting it for you?" He asked.

"Bastard.. what is the point of all this?" Luigi gritted out through the pain in his chest.

"Like I said, I was bored!" Solaris giggled. "But enough about me! You gotta fight, you need to get back to! Go get ‘em, Tiger!"

As Solaris floated back up toward the sky he flicked his finger, Luigi flew forward toward the fighting. Before he could land Mario was there to catch him mid air, the two crashed to the ground Mario making sure to angle himself so Luigi landed on top of him. This somewhat cushioned the impact on the taller human's already damaged chest. Solaris hissed in anger, his hair flame seemed to get more intense as he got mad.

"You, Fatso, are starting to become a serious pain." Solaris growled as he turned his body around to face the shorter plumber as he stood in front of his brother protectively. Luigi rolled to his side where the rib wasn't broken, he angled his neck so he could watch for attacks.

“So I've been told, Creep." Mario stated as his fists caught fire. He winced a bit as the flames warmed his already burned fists but it was manageable.

There was a sudden roar of agony, the koopalings, Magikoopas, and Howitzer cried out in worry as Bowser fell. His face now sported three long bloody claw marks over his right eye that seemed to glow and had purple smoke coming out. He glowed red as the power up suddenly disappeared leaving him in his normal size.

"Bowser!" Luigi cried out as he tried to sit up. This was his fight he needed to get back to it, he couldn't let his brother or the king take the blows meant for him. The king suddenly glowed blue as Kamek used his magic to bring the koopa toward them. He immediately tried every spell he knew to stop the poison, Howitzer stood in front of the children protectively as they cried, unable to do anything but watch helplessly. Firen seemed to be panicking at everything happening around him, Daisy was trying to calm him down.

"Lu, stay down! You've done enough, let me handle this!" Mario looked over his shoulder at his little brother.

"Yes, let someone else fight your battles for you, Luigi. It's what you’re used to isn't it?" Solaris grinned. "Not like it’ll cost you an arm or.. LEG!"

At the last word Solaris sent a sudden crescent shaped light rushing toward Mario. The man leapt into the air seeing the attack coming but once he was in the air the attack changed course. Luigi couldn't speak, couldn't breath as he watched helplessly as the attack came in contact with Mario's leg, with a sickening slice the appendage fell to the ground followed seconds later by the shorter plumber. Mario entered a state of shock as he lay on the ground clutching the stump. His pupils became pinpricks as he looked from where his leg used to be to where it lay on the ground a few feet away. Peach and Kammy ran for the man, the former screaming her lover's name. After another inhale Mario let out a piercing scream of pain as it finally hit him. Kammy cast a stasis spell to hopefully keep the man from bleeding out. Peach grasped the still screaming man's face in her hands to keep him focused on her and not what had just happened.

Luigi looked at the scenes around him: Bowser laying on the ground possibly succumbing to the poison of the monster's attack, the kids crying for their father, his brother slowly losing consciousness, Peach now screaming at him to stay awake, Firen panicking, and the monster slowly walking toward him. Solaris laughed maniacally from above the monster.

"Seems this kingdoms gonna lose its ruler again!" Solaris cackled.

NO.

There was a sudden crackle in the atmosphere as the sky changed from purple to an almost fluorescent green. Black storm clouds gathered, green lightning flashing as the wind picked up to near gale force. Luigi stood from the ground, his knees tried to buckle but he was able to fight through it. He looked up at the monster before him, a green glowing light seemed to bleed from one side of his eyes to the other. Markings in the shape of lightning that glowed the same brilliant green seemed to slowly appear starting at the corners of his eyes going down the sides of his cheeks, neck and shoulders all the way to the backs of his hands. Small lightning bolts stretched to the tips of each finger and thumb on both hands.

Luigi leapt up leaving cracked earth below him as he flew into the air, ribbons of green lightning left his palms and circled him like a shield.

"This is new." Solaris grinned. They pushed the human pretty hard when they had him trapped but he never showed this level of power. It seemed they didn't squeeze every secret out of the man. More to squeeze then.

Luigi grabbed the end of one of the lightning ribbons, snapping it out like a whip with a loud crack like thunder. Moving his arm around he snapped the whip out at the roaring monster wrapping around its mouth closing it. With a flick of his wrist the whip tightened and exploded the monster’s muzzle. A shriek of pain left the open hole left by the injury, rivers of poisonous blood flowed from the wound. Luigi pulled the whip back, shrinking the lightning to spear shape. Pulling his arm back he hurled the bolt into the hole down its throat to the middle. A loud boom sounded as the creature exploded into a rain of blood and insides. The magikoopas were just able to shield those near them from the gorey rain, the liquids hissed as they connected with the shields. Even the insides of the monster were poisonous it seemed. The group stared up at the human in shocked awe. Bowser had his uninjured eye open and focused on the glowing human above them.

He had many, many questions.

Solaris looked around with a whistle at the gore covering the arena. “Well now, this is a new level of savagery for you, Lu-Lu.” The ghost man stood his ground as Luigi was suddenly in front of him his eyes glowing brighter.

"LEAVE." Luigi's voice crackled with electricity as he glared at specter.

"As you wish. It was starting to get boring anyways. Don't get too comfortable, Lu-Lu. We and our new partner have plans for everyone. You especially." Solaris grinned as he moved back a ways.  He circled himself with his arm and was covered by a miniature purple tornado before vanishing completely.

As sudden as it had come the strange power disappeared leaving regular Luigi behind. No longer covered in his power the human plummeted to the ground, voices of those still awake called out to him. He blacked out before he hit the earth.

*Three weeks later*

He shifted in his bed without opening his eyes, voices surrounded him.

"He's waking up! Go get Papa and the other grown ups!" That sounded like Larry. The sound of two sets of running feet reached his ears. 

"Lui! Lui, wake up!" Junior seemed to be shaking the bed a bit trying to help his waking along.

"Junior, don't shake the bed!" Wendy scolded.

"Least he's healed now." Ludwig stated.

An ice cold nose gently touched his cheek, the sudden coldness helped him wake a bit more. His eyes opened and he was surrounded by Wendy, Ludwig, Larry, Lemmy, Junior, Iggy and Polterpup. The relieved faces touched his heart, Junior was sitting beside him with Polterpup beside him and looked near tears. Luigi smiled at them as he sat up.

"Nice way to wake up." The sudden use of his vocal cords made his throat itch and he started to cough.

"He needs some water!" Junior declared as he jumped up from the bed and ran for the front room. The little koopa prince rushed back holding a tea cup filled with water. He presented it to Luigi who took it with a grateful nod.

"How are you feeling?" Iggy asked as the man finished his water.

"Bit groggy, but I'm alright." Luigi set the cup on the night stand and patted Junior on the head. "Are all of you ok? Your father and my brother?"

"Father's ok, his eye is a bit damaged from his scar but he can still see out of it some. Just a few night terrors from that weirdo, other than that we’re all ok." Ludwig replied. "Mario.. Grammy wasn't able to save his leg."

Luigi looked down at the bed covers as he clenched his fists. Small sparks of electricity appeared as his anger built. They would pay for this. He managed to push the rage back down and look up at the worried faces of the kids.

"How long was I out?" He asked.

"It's been about three weeks now." Iggy replied. "Apparently the rest of the kingdom is hailing you a hero."

"Oh, no I'm-" Luigi started to deny the claim when the doors to his room slammed open as Bowser ran in. He skidded to a stop at the bedroom door, expression one of relief seeing the human awake. Luigi's gut twisted in guilt at the new scar the king sported over his eye.

"You're awake!" He said happily. Mario hobbled a few seconds later on crutches, Peach and Daisy not far behind along with the magikoopas, Roy and Morton bringing up the rear. Luigi could now see the tiny claw marks on the pre-teen’s head just above his glasses.

"Not fair!" Mario declared as he hit Bowser's shin with one of his crutches. "You know I have a handicap!"

Bowser hissed in slight pain as he moved away from the human.

"What is that, gallows humor?"

"Now, you two, I thought you settled your rivalry." Peach stated.

“You know these two can’t keep the truce forever. They’re like teenage boys.” Daisy chuckled. 

"Sides someone has to keep Plumber Boy on his toes." Bowser snorted.

"Especially since he only has five. Hey, you can take up pirating."

"So that means I can raid your coin vault now right?" Mario smirked.

"Over my.. Luigi?" Bowser had noticed the man's face had gone much paler than before. The others looked toward the man, noticing this as well.

Now seeing the damage done all feelings of anger and revenge left him, leaving behind one feeling: Guilt. Luigi stared at the empty pants leg of his brother's overalls, tears pricked at the comers of his eyes. This was his fault.

His brother was hurt because he couldn't get up in time to push him out of the way of the attack. Bowser nearly lost his eye because he didn't get back into the fight and finish it. The kids probably had nightmares because that freak followed him here. The others seemed to notice his sudden change in demeanor, they called out to him but he couldn't hear. A void of darkness had opened around him blocking out all noise.

He wasn't strong enough to help. He'd never been. He was the weakling. The coward. He always was. No amount of training or skill would change that. Those he cared for had been hurt, traumatized and maimed.

And.. and..

IT

                                               WAS

            ALL 

HIS FAULT!

There was a sudden small hand on his face and the void disappeared letting light back in. Luigi had to blink to clear the water that had filled his eyes. Looking down he saw Junior had placed himself on his lap. The little koopa looked up at him with concern.

"Luí?" He questioned. Unable to help himself anymore Luigi covered his face with his hands and began to sob.

*Elsewhere*

"So, little Weegee has some new skills does he?” King Boo questioned from his container.

"That is correct, your highness." Solaris confirmed. "Cost his brother his leg but it appeared."

King Boo grinned widely as he giggled. "Wonderful, this new ability will come in quite handy when our plan goes into action. Be sure to let our partner know."

The door to the lab opened suddenly as the professor came in. "Who are you talking to, you spectral troublemaker?" E. Gadd looked around but saw no one there.

"Just myself you old coot! Your senile mind is playing tricks on you."

King Boo laughed. Solaris floated intangible behind the professor making a few faces before he phased through the ceiling and roof headed for the Forgotten Lands.

Chapter Text

“You sure you're ok staying here, Bro?" Mario asked for the thousandth time as he reached for another finger sandwich. Luigi rolled his eyes at his older brother as he nodded.

"Yes, Mario, I'm fine here. I don't mind this job." Luigi replied. "I love teaching the kids, even if they wanted nothing to do with me the first couple days. They just had bad experiences with the previous teachers."

It had taken Luigi a couple hours of crying and multiple assurances that no one hated him before he finally calmed down. Mario wanted answers as to who Solaris actually was but decided against it not wanting to push his brother into another attack. The pair sat in Luigi's room on the balcony, some snacks had been prepared for them courtesy of Han who missed his assistant chef.

A couple days had passed and the area around the fight arena was still closed off due to the poisonous blood covering it. Several magikoopa from the royal guild helped form a protective shield to keep the toxic fumes from reaching the town. Knowing it was safe to go, Peach and Daisy had decided to go shopping in town since they were set to leave tomorrow. That was a good bit ago. Luigi had been invited to go with the ladies but he wanted to spend some time with his brother before they left so he declined.

Bowser and the kids had made themselves scarce while the visitors were still around. Luigi assumed it was due to their history; they weren't sure how to act around them, not in a fighting situation. Mario had told him about what Solaris almost did to Bowser and how the king koopa reacted to him. Luigi wanted to check on the man, to make sure he was ok as well as the kids but he didn't want to over step.

“If you say so.” Mario said with a sigh before fixing his brother with a look similar to their mother’s. “Don’t go getting into any more fights, capiche?"

"Yes, mom." Luigi rolled his eyes, his gaze landed on the half empty pants leg pinned just above the knee. "So I wrote to Professor E. Gadd yesterday, hopefully he'll reply before you and the princess go home."

"You really think he can make me a leg that can survive me?" Mario asked. While he knew the professor is a genius and skilled with machines, the older human had his doubts.

"I'm pretty sure he can." Luigi assured him. The pair sat and chatted more about odds and ends until there came a knock at the door and the two princesses came in with their haul. "Did you buy out the whole town?" He eyed the several bags loaded down on both arms of the princesses.

"Of course not. We didn't have any help so we couldn't get as much as we usually do." Peach stated. She'd foregone her usual hair style and had it up in a braid, swapping her usual gown for a pink polo tank top and shorts.

Daisy was identical to her cousin. Instead of pink, her clothes were her favored orange. "Hate you weren't there, we really could have used your input on some outfits."

Luigi smiled as he got up from his cushion to assist Mario as the other man made moves to stand. While the usually independent plumber wanted to brush his brother's hand off to stand on his own. He thought better of it, allowing the other to help. While externally Luigi didn't seem bothered by his brother's injury. Mario knew he was still blaming himself for it. Once up and standing on his single leg and crutch the shorter man made his way over to the princesses.

"You realize you're going to need a whole new wardrobe made to store all those clothes right?" Mario asked. Peach smiled innocently at him as she leaned down to kiss her lover on the cheek.

"That's why I have a castle, darling." She replied. "Perks of being a princess."

Luigi shook his head at them, their relationship was almost tooth rotting sweet to watch most times. Since meeting the princess, his brother had been smitten with her, it had been a little bit before the princess reciprocated his feelings. The group had chatted a bit longer before Mario, Peach and Daisy went to their own rooms to rest and get ready for the journey home. Once alone Luigi gathered up the dirty dishes to take them to the kitchen. As he stepped out of his door another opened a little ways down, a notebook was thrown out following a sound of annoyed disgust.

"FORGET IT!" A voice that sounded like Wendy yelled out as the door was slammed shut once more. Luigi looked down at the notebook laying in the middle of the floor then back at the door. He set the dishes down on the nearest table and walked toward it leaning down to pick it up. It had fallen open to a drawing of what looked like a female kaiju koopa though the proportions seemed a bit off, more masculine. The drawing was of a dress though it was surrounded by several eraser marks, almost ripping the page in some places.

Luigi moved toward the door, he lifted his unoccupied hand and gently rapped his knuckles against the door.

"'Whoever it is, go away!" Wendy called from inside.

"It's just me." Luigi called back.

She went quiet for a few moments before calling, 'come in.' Opening the door he was greeted by the sight of a room that wouldn't look out of place in a typical human girl's home. The walls were a vibrant purple with pictures taped to them of different dresses, some animals, and large stickers from different kingdoms he didn't recognize. Green strips of lights ran along the tops just below the ceiling. A large walk-in closet stood to the left of the room beside another door he assumed was the bathroom, the far right was a makeup desk and stool just beside it was an open window with a view of an open field of flowers. In the center of the room was a floating circle mattress held up by a purple wicker platform and thick ropes.

A pastel pink sheer curtain covered the whole thing barely brushing the floor as it swung a little. Wendy was sitting in the center, her knees pulled up to her chest, her chin rested on the top of them. She didn't move much as he closed the door and approached her gaze, still focused on the bed in front of her.

"So, what did the notebook do to deserve being tossed out?" He asked. 

Wendy didn't answer right away, after a few minutes she finally sighed. "I was.. trying to design a new type of dress but it's not coming out how I want."

"Oh? What type is that?" Luigi asked, not wanting to invade her personal bubble he sat on the floor Indian style.

Wendy looked at him a bit unsure, "Well.. um, it's hard to explain." She looked away from him nervously.

"Does it have something to do with the proportions of your model?" He asked. "How the model looks a bit more masculine than feminine?" Her gaze whipped to him so fast Luigi was worried she'd get whiplash, it almost looked panicked in a way. "You don't need to look so worried, Wendy. Were you trying to design dresses for male kaiju-koopas?"

"I.. well.. yes and no." She took a breath laying her legs flat on the bed before continuing. "You see, when eggs are laid the temperature has to be certain degrees to get males and females. Sometimes the eggs are stuck in the middle, a little warmer or colder than the rest of the clutch. Those that hatch come out as.. well opposite gender despite what the temperature of the egg was. Sometimes they live normally but others just don't feel right and decide to live as the gender they were supposed to be, we call them Sonoaida or In between."

Luigi watched her expression as she explained. This sounded a bit like humans from Earth that were transgender. He didn't expect that to be possible here, then again he never expected talking mushroom people and turtle dragons.

"I see, we call them transgender on Earth." Luigi explained. "Born one way but feel in their hearts and souls they were meant to be another."

"Humans are like this too?" She asked, "So... is it normal?"

"Well to some humans it's not but those people are not exactly comfortable with people different from them. To others who are more accepting and supportive it is." Luigi nodded. He was shocked to see her eyes suddenly well up with tears.

"I'm not a freak? Others like me; we're not monsters?" Luigi stood and moved over to her.

"Oh sweetheart no." He stood in front of the floating bed, Luigi didn't approach instead allowing her to come to him wrapping her arms around his waist as she cried into his middle. He placed his hand on her shell letting her cry out her relief and possibly built up sadness. He hated those that called her such mean things. After a few minutes of her sobbing she finally pulled away wipping at her eyes.

"I'm sorry.. its just... some of the other kaju koopa girls in town.. teased me and called me a freak for starting out as a boy but wanting to be recognized as a girl." Wendy hiccuped as she sat back down on her bed, she'd moved over giving him space to sit. 

“Wendy, you have nothing to apologize for, you hear me?” Luigi urged as he sat beside her. “You are an amazing and beautiful young lady.”

"Daddy, the boys, grammy and gramps and all the staff here in the castle said the same things when I’d come home crying. They’ve all been very nice and accepting of me but.. when I leave the castle the girls in town make fun of me. The dress shop owners have tried to help me when I go shopping but there's none that fit me in the stores and that just adds fuel to the bully's fire so...” She didn’t finish, she didn’t need to.

"So you thought about designing your own dress line for others like you." Luigi finished. "That's a very wonderful idea, Wendy."

"Yeah but I can't get the measurements right. I've only ever lived as a girl so.. I don't know how to picture the right shape. And I don't want to ask my brothers to model, they support me for sure but they want nothing to do with clothes." Wendy sighed. "And I don't want to approach any of the other koopas like me and give them false hope. All the guards and soldiers are so busy and I don’t want to bother them and it'd be so awkward to ask a male koopa stranger to model for a dress design."

"So you need someone with a male perspective on how dresses feel?" Luigi asked. “Like what cuts would be most comfortable?"

"Yes, koopas preferably but anyone would do at this point!" She threw her hands up in frustration as she laid on her side. Luigi looked down at the pad he’d left on the floor, contemplating. "Heck even a human would work, but I don't know of any human guys that wear dresses."

"And if you did?" he asked almost carefully. He didn't want to scare her with his preference for women's clothing. Plus when Bowser found out, he feared the king would toss him out on his ass, or worse.

She sat up and staring at him, her gaze curious. "Do you wear dresses?" 

"Well.. when I told you and your brothers about my bullying as a child, that was one of the reasons for it." Luigi nodded. "Since I was young I always preferred dresses, skirts and pretty things to wear. But when I was growing up that sort of thing was viewed as wrong and sometimes it ended very badly for those people. After I’d been attacked and recovered, my parents and several relatives who accepted me for who I was bought me all kinds of clothes. Even though I could defend myself then, I was afraid of something worse happening to me. So instead of wearing them I just collected clothes and tried them on but I never wore them outside of my room. I'd help female friends and cousins with their own outfits. I didn't know how the people of this world would react to it either so I still kept it hidden. I didn't want anyone to think less of me than they already did for being the cowardly sidekick to my brother." 

He tried to hide his trembles from her as he remembered his attack, and the nightmares he had after and sometimes still did.

Wendy gently grasped his hand with her own, Luigi lifted his gaze from his lap meeting her gaze. She smiled at him, "I’m sorry that happened to you. I don’t think less of you for liking things like that. And I doubt anyone in this kingdom would after you saved us."

Luigi smiled at her. "Thank you, Wendy."

"Do you have any dresses with you?" She asked almost eagerly.

"Well, yes I have two that should still fit. I just haven't worn them." He nodded, almost laughing as her eyes seemed to light up. "I'll go get them."

"Yes!" She nodded, almost pushing him off the bed in a rush. "I wanna see!” 

"Alright, alright. I'll change and be right back." He laughed as he made his way to the door. Luigi had never expected this when coming here, especially not being a model for the koopa kingdom's princess.

He reentered his room and headed right for the wooden dressers, particularly the very bottom as Polterpup barked excitedly. He moved clothes aside and pulled out a dress he hadn't seen in a while. It was a white chemise blouse with long bell sleeves that stopped just at the middle of his hands with a black leather corset tied at the back and long green cotton skirt. While one corner could be pinned up on one side to show leg he would leave it down. He set the outfit on the bed looking down at it, he hadn't really changed much size wise since he'd gotten this outfit from a traveling saleswoman several months ago. She'd even let him try it on and said it suited him well, but he wasn't sure how the rest of the toad citizens would react so he'd just bagged it up and left.

Steeling his nerves he picked up the clothes and headed for the bathroom to change. Polterpup waited patiently for his master, he recognized the look in the human's eyes as he'd pulled the outfit out. He was happy and that made the ghostly canine happy. A few minutes later the bathroom door opened and Luigi stepped out, it still fit perfectly. He'd decided to go with the shoulders on look of the blouse, he went to stand before the mirror and smiled to himself. It felt right. Just as it had the first time he'd put on a skirt, as it had when he first bought this outfit.

 He twirled, allowing the skirt to flare out a bit, "What do you think?" He asked Polterpup as he faced the canine. Polterpup stood on his hind legs and twirled, also barking happily causing Luigi to chuckle as well. "Let's go show Wendy shall we?" He decided to leave off shoes for now and made his way back to his door. Luigi peaked out to make sure no one was coming, just as he left his room with Polterpup following another door opened and Junior came out followed by the rest of the boys.

They'd been discussing game strategies when they spotted the stranger leaving Luigi's room followed by the ghostly dog. The older ones thought it a bit odd the usually protective dog wasn’t barking at the lady. Protective instincts flared up in the princes at the thought of a stranger sneaking around in their tutor's room.

"Hey!" Junior called out out pacing his brothers as he approached the lady. "Who're you?'

Luigi froze at the youngest prince's voice. He knew this was a bad idea. He wanted to run but knew they'd probably chase so with a deep breath he turned and faced them. 

“It's just me, Junior.” Luigi said. 

"Lui?" Junior stared up at the man as he stopped just in front of him. To Luigi's shocked relief, Junior's face lit up excitedly. "You look pretty!"

Luigi let out a small laugh, "You think so huh?"

"Yeah! Like the other princesses, but better!" Junior nodded.

"I like your dress, it's like one of the village maidens from the fairy tale books that get married to the kings and princes instead of the mean royal ladies." Larry also stopped in front of the man smiling brightly. Lemmy signed to the other that he also thought he looked pretty.

"You pull it off well." Morton nodded.

"Well its the figure he has, what would be called svelte. Strong yet delicate." Iggy stated. “Like he is, I believe.” 

"Color brings out the eyes more." Roy said as Ludwig nodded in agreement with the others.

"Thank you, boys." Luigi smiled at them, his cheeks pinked a bit, a large weight he'd been carrying a while lifted from his chest. "I was actually helping Wendy design a new clothing line for others like her."

"She's been stuck on that for a while now." Morton said.

As if summoned, the only princess's door opened and she stepped out now holding her notepad. "Hey what's-" She gasped loudly seeing Luigi in his blouse and skirt. "Oh my gosh! It looks perfect on you!" She rushed over, nearly dropping the pad as she examined him from every angle she could. "Are there certain measurements you use to find the right skirt size? And the sleeves, do they have to be altered or is it like a regular shirt? Is it too tight in the shoulders or around the upper arms? Does the skirt feel uncomfortable, too breezy when you walk?"

She fired off questions and Luigi answered them happily the best he could trying to keep up with her. Junior and Larry also asked their own questions such as if he had more outfits. As the group stood in the hall distracted by their tutor in his outfit none of them noticed Kamek floating back into his own room from where he came after hearing the commotion (he had to admit the human did pull off a skirt well); nor did they notice Daisy peeking out from her own room smiling at how happy her friend looked to be accepted.

Within the king’s room behind a silence ward, the king wept for his mother.

Chapter Text

The docking area was bustling in the early morning a few days later with koopas and toads working together for once in many, many years to help load Princess Peach's ship with her shopping bags and a few gifts from King Bowser. The professor had sent his reply yesterday afternoon; the princess and Mario planned to stop at the castle to drop off their load before going to the lab. Luigi was hugging his brother and Peach, promising to write more and not get into fights. Daisy had already gotten her hug. standing to the side watching the trio. She glanced over to see Bowser a little ways away leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his plastron, it almost looked like he was pouting. She smiled moving closer to the kaiju-koopa.

"So you're really done kidnapping Peach huh?" She asked.

Bowser flinched (He will deny it forever) at her sudden appearance. Looking down at her with his good eye he nodded.

"Said I was didn’t I?" He snorted. "We signed a treaty and everything. I got other stuff to deal with right now." He didn't say it but Daisy had a feeling he meant that thing that attacked them. It was just a couple days into Luigi's coma when she heard the kids crying for their father and for Luigi as was the case with Junior. She had opened her door and would have offered her assistance when Bowser tore out of his chambers so fast she thought he'd rip the doors off. That thing, Solaris, had been responsible for Bowser's mother dying. She had a feeling he feared it would come back and attack his children also. Daisy often saw the children leaving their father's room most mornings instead of their own.

"I understand. I'm sure your subjects will be happy to have their ruler back." Daisy nodded.

"Hey I never left. I was... just distracted." Bowser denied, his gaze focused on Peach and Luigi as they laughed about something, his claws clenched against his arm somehow not piercing his scales. He wasn’t sure why he was getting so worked up. "She's happy with the Plumber, long as he keeps her happy he can keep his other leg."

"Uh-huh, and what about your plumber? Is he happy?" Daisy asked.

"He seems happy here, kids like him now that they've accepted him. The staff likes him, starting to like him myself. He's easy to get along with." Bowser shrugged. Daisy mentally counted down until she saw the burst of color spread across his scales. "I..! ..I didn't mean.. Hes not MY plumber!"

Somehow Bowser was able to keep his voice down so the others didn't hear him. 

Daisy giggled behind her hand. “Peach told me you were starting to get sweet on him. Guess it’s true, huh, Big Guy?”

"NO!" Bowser yelled this time, unable to keep his voice down this time, getting the attention of everyone in the docking area.

"You good over there, Turtle breath?" Mario asked, arching a brow.

Bowser growled a bit, Daisy was surprised at the large koopa's control of his blush as he brushed past her headed for the group.

"Just fine, Hoppy." Bowser replied. Had he been feeling a bit more mean he would have pushed the other over but refrained. He was trying to make this new alliance work after all. He focused his attention on Peach, "It was nice hosting you willingly for once, Princess, even if things got a bit crazy."

Peach blinked up at him in surprise before smiling. Used to that smile always got his heart thumping, now.. nothing. As he thought; he was completely over her. That was good, he supposed. Maybe there was a chance to find someone who wanted to willingly be with him. 

"Thank you for allowing us to come, King Bowser." Peach curtseyed daintily. "If you would be willing in the future once everything has settled down, we could talk trade. I'm sure both of our kingdoms could benefit from it, as they did in the past."

Bowser nodded. "Kamek told me about that when I was younger. I'd be more than happy to open borders for trade again." Bowser held his hand out to the princess who took it and shook. He glanced over at Luigi and he swore he saw a look of.. pride in the others blue eyes, whatever it was it made his heart do that weird fluttering thing again his mind still argued with him but he ignored it as he held his hand out to Mario. "Guess this means we aren't fighting anymore. Plu.. Mario."

Mario looked down at the large hand before looking back up at Bowser with a suspicious narrow of his eyes. "So you're really not gonna kidnap Peach anymore? Or attack the Mushroom Kingdom?”

"I swear on the lives of my children, you have my word as king." Bowser nodded. After so long of fighting and being double crossed he could understand the human's skepticism

Mario glanced at Luigi who nodded encouragingly with a smile, Mario still didn't trust the other but he decided to swallow his own pride and nodded. Balancing on his leg and crutch, he reach his open hand out to shake that of his now ex-enemy. “Imma hold you to that, Bowser. Also try to keep Luigi out of any more fights, yeah?"

“I’ll sit on him if I have to." Bowser nodded. Luigi let out a noise of protest that just earned chuckles from both his brother and the king.

"I don't think I like this new friendship with you two." Luigi crossed his arms with a huff. Daisy came up behind the other hugging him from behind.

"Compared to the constant fighting? I'll take this over that anyday." She smiled, kissing Luigi's cheek. The sudden growl from Bowser got everyone's attention as they looked at him, he cleared his throat to cover it up. 

"Had an itch in my throat. Well, it was somewhat nice having you all here but I have things to tend to. Later." Bowser stated as he hastily turned to leave nearly knocking everyone over with his tail. They watched him go with various looks of confusion and knowing.

"Kinda fast for a turtle ain't he?" Mario asked.

"You should know." Luigi shook his head as Daisy let go. "Be safe getting home, all of you. Mario, be sure to write to me and let me know what E. Gadd makes for you."

"I know and I will." Mario nodded.

With final hugs the Mushroom Kingdom's royal couple and the Sarasaland Princess boarded their respective ships. They waved to Luigi as he stood on the dock alone, soon the ships were just specks on the horizon. Pulling out his pocket watch he checked the time, the kids would be waking up soon. Putting the watch away he left the dock area and headed back toward the main castle.

*Many hours later, in Bowser's office..*

"Progress on the arena is coming along well, the cleaning crews almost have all the poisonous liquid from the stands." Kamek reported, reading from a clipboard. "Subject moral and opinion of you has improved after your fight. sire. It seems more of the koopa and Kaiju are wanting to enlist in the royal army. Also from what our town informants have reported, Luigi has earned the respect of many of the townsfolk after defeating the monster."

Bowser thought back to the fight and could understand why. That raw power was something to witness. He never knew the scaredy cat Mario brother had that sort of ability. He wanted to discuss what had happened that day with the human but between his coma and spending time with the visitors he hasn't had the time. What was really nagging at Bower's mind was that Solaris bastard. He'd been responsible for the death of the old queen and was somehow connected to his brother and the Nightmare King that attacked their kingdom. Now it seems his reign of terror of others was still going strong, his intimate familiarity with Luigi did not sit right with the king. If Bowser ever got his claws into that undead bastard he would kill him again.

"Your Smokiness.. your smoking." Kamek stated, Bowser blinked and sure enough, he could see smoke rising from his nostrils. He waved his hand in front of his face to get rid of it.

"Right.. well I suppose that's a good thing, no one will want to mess with him." Bowser said. "If that's all?"

"Yes, sire. Everything else is being handled we-'' Whatever Kamek was about to say was interrupted by a knock at the door. Kamek glanced at Bowser who looked just as confused, as far as he knew he wasn't expecting guests or a meeting.

Kamek flew toward his small door and opened it, flew out and was speaking to knocker. To his annoyance Bowser couldn't hear who it was or see them. Kamek flew back in, facing the king.

"The children and tutor apologize for the interruption, sire, but they wish to take a trip into town." Kamek stated. Bowser eyed his advisor arching a brow ridge.

"And they couldn't come in and say that?" He asked. "Greenie, if you want to ask something, get in here and ask me."

There were murmurs outside the open door before Luigi finally stepped in and Bowser forgot how to breathe. The human looked up at him with a nervous smile that felt like a punch to the gut, gone were his button up shirts and pants. In their place was a long dress that wouldn't look out of place in a fantasy story. The top was a forest green with half bell sleeves that fell to the bend of his elbow. A black velvet corset was tied in the front showing off his waist. Over the bottom skirt that matched the top half of the dress was black fabric. His feet, barely visible beneath the skirts, were covered in soft brown velvet two inch heeled boots. The children filed in behind him, Wendy clutching her sketch pad to her plastron smiling brightly.

"Doesn't he look pretty, Daddy?" She asked happily. "He helped me design it! I finally know how to make dresses for those like me! We were hoping to go into town and pitch the designs to the seamstresses, and if they like it I'll finally be able to have my own clothing line!"

Bowser found his words still gone staring at the human before him. Honestly the man pulled the dress off perfectly. He had just the right figure for it. The king was still trying to find the words to speak but they kept escaping him. The longer Bowser just stared, his mouth hanging open a bit the redder Luigi's face got. That was not helping the situation! The kids glanced between their blushing tutor and their shocked father, the youngest ones completely missing something. The gears in the older kids's heads began to turn a bit. Kamek cleared his throat, finally snapping the king out of his frozen state.

"I believe it looks lovely. Princess." Kamek smiled as he floated closer. "This is a surprise, Luigi, then again you are full of them these days."

Luigi managed to pull his gaze away from the king and smiled at the older koopa. "Its a gift and a curse some days." Luigi replied. "I only have this and two other dresses I bought some time ago so. I'm afraid I only have the two surprises left."

Only two? Why only two? They suited him perfectly. Why didn't he have more? He should have more than just two, hells he should have a whole wardrobe. Bowser, finally snapping out of his shocked state, quickly wrote something out on a blank piece of paper. Rolling it up he used a small amount of fire to melt a wax stick over it before stamping it with his seal.

 "I guess you all want to go into town on this little outing?" Bowser asked them standing from his desk and making his way toward the group. The koopalings nodded excitedly, they'd been cooped up too long he supposed even if it was by their choice. "Guess a field trip is normal in most classes. But there's gonna be some rules."

The cheers turned to groans almost in the same breaths. Luigi chuckled a bit, "You knew this was coming."

"Yeah. Still sucks." Larry grumbled. Luigi patted the youngster's mohawk comfortingly.

"I'm sending Howitzer and a couple extra guards, just to make sure you are all safe. Who knows how many sympathizers that traitor had? You stay close to Luigi and the guards." Bowser ordered. "Luigi, you stay close to Howitzer and the guards." He couldn't help chuckling at the indignant look he got from the human. "Last time you ditched them you got into a fight, it was to protect Roy but I still can't trust you on your own."

Luigi huffed, crossing his arms over his chest as he turned his nose to the side in annoyance. 

Bleck, why is he so adorable? Bowser whimpered to himself mentally. 

"Anyways, you younger kids need to go get geared up and meet Luigi in the hangar. Older kids, go help." The kids saluted with 'Sir yes sir' before they all rushed out the door nearly trampling over each other in their hurry. Luigi looked over his shoulder where the kids used to be.

"Gear up?" Luigi asked curiously, turning his gaze back to the kaiju koopa.

"Trust me you'll thank me for that. If you don't keep Larry, Lemmy and Junior on child leashes? They'll be all over the town and there will be a sweet shortage." 

Bowser replied. "Kamek, if you wouldn't mind taking this to Howitzer and let him know he and a small platoon is on guard duty." Bowser handed the rolled up paper to the magikoopa who took it with a nod. After a bow to the king Kamek flew out of the room leaving the two alone.

Now alone.. neither knew what to say. They hadn't been alone together since just before the fight, and that wasn't very long.

"So... any particular reason you didn't tell me about the dresses?" Bowser asked.

The question was innocent and lacked malice but that didn't stop Luigi from panicking a bit.

"I'm sorry. I know it looks ridiculous on me and.. I'm sure you find it weird and wrong for a man to wear women's clothes." Luigi shook his head covering his face with his hands. Who in the hells told him that?! Bowser felt his blood boil just a bit at the thought of someone telling Luigi he looked ridiculous. He moved closer to the man, the other was mid panicked rant so he didn’t hear nor see the king approaching. "It's just a silly habit I brought with me from Earth. Even there I was told it made me look stupid. I should have listened. I hope this won't change your opinion of me and you'll let me still teach the kids and-" He froze as his wrists were gently grasped in one large hand and pulled away. His gaze was gently tilted up by a single finger to meet Bowser's, something burned behind those red orbs that Luigi couldn't quite put a name to.

"You look beautiful, Luigi." He rumbled. Heat flared from the tips of Luigi's toes up to his cheeks staining them bright red. "Whoever the assholes were that told you differently are idiots."

Silence fell between them as they stared at each other, words were not needed. Luigi wasn't sure when he started to see Bowser in a different light, not just as the monster that always tried to kidnap Peach. He was a strong fighter, even when his goal was Peach if he noticed one of his kids were struggling in their fight he'd rush to help. Over the last couple weeks before the fight, he noticed how hard the kaiju koopa worked to make sure his kingdom ran smoothly. No matter how much he worked he always stopped to have time with the kids even if it was just in the solarium and late meals. Beneath the flames and temper there was a good king and a good father. Not to mention good looking. Luigi always had an appreciation for things most would call monstrous. Polterpup suddenly floated up through the floor barking, the sudden sound breaking the moment. Bowser released Luigi's wrists, stepping back to give the human space. 

"Well, anyways, you and the kids enjoy your trip to town and be careful." Bowser stated. Luigi nodded trying to fight down the blush, that just was not going away.

"Right, we will. We should be back before time for the solarium." Luigi stated, unable to think of anything else he curtseyed and left the office with Polterpup following behind him.

Bowser stood in his office alone, staring at the place where Luigi had just been. Seeing the other smile set his heart pounding in ways it never did when he saw Peach. Needing some private time, he moved back to his desk and feeling beneath it he pulled open a latch opening a small compartment where a key in the shape of a rose lay. Grabbing it he left his office and went to the chained door. Bowser placed his hand on the symbol as he put the key in its hole and turned. The chains glowed as they disappeared and the door changed shape and size to that of an iron garden gate nearly reaching the ceiling. He pushed the gate open and entered. Only the kids, Kamek and Kammy knew of this place. It was built by his mother, as a safe place for family.

In the Elevator

Luigi couldn't get his heart under control nor his blush as he rode the elevator down to the hanger. What was that? That intense gaze. Bowser called him beautiful. No one on Earth had ever called him beautiful. His family had always said he looked pretty or nice, never beautiful. He was still feeling that heated gaze on him, warming him from his toes up. He couldn't help the smile stretching across his face, maybe..

You must be desperate for attention if you fall so easily. Poor attention hungry Second thought. A hiss drifted from the back of his mind, from the darkest part of his memory he tried to keep locked away.

 He still remembered when King Boo said that to him, standing behind Solaris as he stabbed his claw through his chest, purposely missing his heart by inches. The old wound throbbed as he remembered rather vividly what happened last time he trusted someone with his heart.The warmth was replaced by coldness and rage. He and Solaris had tricked him so easily then, when he'd been trapped in that nightmare world all that time. He was so stupid and trusting, thinking he'd found someone to trust his entire being to. Only to be literally stabbed in the back. Luigi took a deep inhale as he pushed that away. He would not think on that. He couldn’t. He thought back to the arena instead and what the henchman had said.

Solaris had confirmed that the ghostly king was behind the attack, and hinted at another helping. He had to figure out who this third party was. Whoever they were, if they were helping King Boo they were dangerous. He'd find out who they were and he'd make sure all of them paid. A cold snout was pressed against the fist he didn't even realize he'd clenched, pulling Luigi from his dark thoughts. Luigi smiled down at Polterpup as he pet the top of his head.

"I'm alright." He noticed the concerned look on the ghostly canine's face. He pushed the idea back, deciding he'd look into it later when he had more time between lessons.

The elevator doors dinged and Luigi stepped out followed by the pup. All sound in the hanger stopped as all the koopas caught sight of him. He felt a bit self conscious at all the attention, at least none of them looked angry or disgusted. Just curious and shocked. He tried to brush it off as he walked toward where he saw the kids and Howitzer standing beside an airship similar to the one they used last time. This one was a bit longer with two sail masts instead of one, it was divided by a waist high partition this time. The back half of the ship had at least four more koopa soldiers already on board, all openly staring. A couple were even standing on their fellow soldier's backs to get a better look. Howitzer had returned to his smaller state and stared at the human. His expression was unreadable while Drake and Spike gaped openly at him. Morton, Iggy, and Ludwig each held a leash for Junior, Lemmy and Larry. Wendy beamed up at him as she approached.

"So what did Daddy say after we left? Did he like it?" She asked eagerly.

"He did, he said it was beautiful." Luigi nodded smiling down at her, technically he was telling the truth. Wendy's smile widened at that.

"You.. um.." Drake started but he couldn't seem to finish, the scales on his cheeks were turning bright red.

“What he means to say.. um." Spike tried to finish for him but like his partner he seemed to be at a loss for words.

Howitzer rolled his eye as he stepped forward. "You look lovely, Luigi." He stated. Luigi smiled at him, there was a softness in the general's eye as he looked at him.

"Thank you. Howitzer." Luigi said.

"'Lovely? What are ya a poem, lil bro? He looks damn hot!" Torque whistled as he propped his arm on his shorter brother's head. "Didn't know you could pull off a dress that good, Teach. Might have to take you out sometime." The wide toothy grin that stretched across the mechanic's face made Luigi's blush return. Not near the intensity of when Bowser complimented him but close. 

Howitzer growled as he pushed his brother's arm off. "Control yourself, you lecherous kaiju. Let's get going so we can be back in time for the Solarium and supper." Howitzer noticed the soldiers waiting for them were still staring some outright grinning at the human as they eyed him. "As You Were!" At his order they quickly turned back around facing away from the group, those standing on their comrades hit the deck of the ship before clamoring into their seats. 

Torque laughed as he was shoved off, he moved toward the ship and opened the front door for the royal children and their teacher. He bowed with an exaggerated sweep of his arm, “Your chariot, my lords and ladies.” Luigi couldn’t help the small giggle as Howitzer glared at his brother.

 Wendy pulled Luigi on board and onto the bench beside her. Lemmy quickly took the seat to his other side and the rest of the kids filed in on the empty seats as did Drake and Spike. Junior however chose to climb onto Luigi's lap. The human smiled down at him as he curled one arm around his waist. Once everyone was on and seated, Howitzer climbed on and closed the door. As he started the ship up and it began to move. Luigi winced a bit as small claws dug into his arm beside Lemmy. He glanced down and saw the look of fear on the other's face as they neared the ramp. Luigi smiled as he moved his arm and wrapped it around the other's shoulders holding him close. Lemmy looked up gratefully as he buried his face into Luigi's side and clung to him.

Polterpup barked as he leapt onto the ship settling beside Larry who smiled happily at the ghost dog. With a press of the gas they were off and headed for town. From an invisible part of the castle Bowser watched the ship go.

Chapter Text

The streets of the town were back to their normal bustling selves, without the worry of poisonous gas in the air the citizens could go back to their jobs or schools. The airship coming from the royal palace caught a few's attention, after everything that happened no one expected anyone from the palace to leave for a bit longer. The ship landed and armed soldiers got out followed by the royal children and to everyone's shock the human Luigi.

Partly because he was up and about but mostly the dress he was wearing. It was a style no one had seen before, it fit him perfectly almost making him look delicate despite what they saw him do to the monster a few weeks ago.

Luigi ducked his head a bit self conscious at all the eyes that were on him. "Everyone's staring." He mumbled. He was not used to being the center of attention like this, he was much more comfortable in his brother's shadow if he was being honest. 

Wendy beamed beside him, "Because you look amazing!"

The others nodded from either side of him, Morton and Roy still held onto Lemmy and Larry's leashes as the twins bounced around pointing at all the shops. It had been a long while since the kids came to town and the pair wanted to go into every shop. Junior, not wanting to be far from Luigi, opted to ride on the man's back as he'd started doing. Ludwig and Iggy followed on Wendy's other side. Howitzer, seemingly knowing where to go, led the front as the rest of the guards brought up the rear. The group was a sight for sure. 

"Papa was staring at you too and you didn't seem to mind." Junior pointed out innocently. Luigi was starting to wonder how he hasn't spontaneously combusted yet with all the blushing he'd been doing in just the last couple hours.

"He... was just admiring the dress." Luigi brushed off Juniors statement. The older children saw right through it and decided to tease their teacher just a bit.

"I don't know, seemed like he was admiring you more than the dress." Morton grinned.

"Nonsense!" Luigi protested. He would not get his hopes up on a misunderstanding. He couldn't. Not again. "Besides he's always liked Peach. While he has stopped pursuing her, I'm sure his interest still lies with women."

"Not necessarily." Iggy stated adjusting his glasses. "From what I’ve learned he pursued the Toadstool Princess at first for an alliance that was to benefit the whole kingdom and developed a school koopa crush on her. At the first refusal of his advances, Father should have stopped but being part dragon he saw a treasure and coveted it. After that last try he realized she was out of his reach and put an end to his persual."

"I.. I see." Luigi nodded, glancing at the tallest koopaling. That made a lot of sense the more he thought about it. One could only take so many blows to the ego before giving up.

"Not to mention she's tough as nails." Roy said, "Kaiju koopas have a thing for strong mates, it doesn't matter what gender they are if. They’re tough then that makes them more desirable. Hells most of the couples here in town are guys and girls with their own gender."

Luigi blinked in surprise at that; he looked around, actually paying attention to the citizens instead of the scenery this time. As Roy said most of the couples walking the streets were with their own gender. Holding hands, some hanging onto the arms of their taller partner, he even saw one male couple share a short sweet kiss. Had they been on Earth they would have been called every slur in the book if they'd been seen by the wrong people. How had he not noticed this the first time he came to town? The citizens here were free to be who they were without fear of out right ridicule or attack. He caught sight of another couple, one was a much smaller male koopa and a female kaiju whose build was similar to the drawing model Wendy made the other day. That must be the sonoaida kaiju Wendy had explained to him, they looked rather happy together especially when the male koopa was picked up and placed on his partner's shoulder. He kissed the top of the female's head as they walked off. The moment was rather sweet to witness, he couldn't help smiling as they kept waking.

 There was still a lot to learn about this country he supposed, perhaps when they finished in town he'd go to the library and do some reading. A thought, a fleeting flame of hope ignited as he realized if it was seen as normal and accepted to be with someone of the same gender.. could he find love here?

That intense red gaze that had nestled itself in his thoughts came back to the forefront of his mind, as his heart began to speed up a bit. He shoved the thoughts of relationships to the back of his mind. No he was not here for that. He was here to teach the kids until they no longer needed him. Nothing more.

"We're here!" Wendy's sudden announcement had Luigi looking up.

To his surprise it was the same building he'd looked through the window of on his first trip to town. The front facade was a creme color with a colorful sign on the front, written in old English style he guessed was the name of the place: Scales and Needles. Howitzer grasped one of the handles of the double doors as a soldier moved to grab the other, they pulled the doors open causing a bell to jingle above them as the kids and Luigi walked in first. Howitzer ordered the remaining soldiers to stay outside as he entered behind them.

It certainly looked much bigger on the inside than it did on the outside, it was laid out rather simply with racks of clothing scattered everywhere. Against the left wall were shelves lined with so many clothes in every color imaginable. A check out counter sat to their right, glass cases showing off all kinds of jewelry in multiple sizes. Just behind the counter was a spiral staircase leading to a second floor. Against the back wall Luigi could see what he assumed was dressing rooms and three mirrors surrounding a stool.

"Hello there!" A female voice called out from behind a rack of clothes.

A female koopa dressed in a pastel blue petticoat and matching silk blouse walked from behind the rack holding an arm full of clothes. She had strawberry blonde hair put up in a crown braid across the top of her hair, freckles were dusted across her snout. As she caught sight of them. specifically Wendy. her pale pink eyes widened as she smiled brightly. "Oh my stars! Regina, come out and see who's finally come paid us a visit again."

The she-koopa dropped her arm load on the nearest counter as she hurried toward them. Loud thumping above them signaled the movement of someone much larger. Down the stairs came a kaiju koopa at least six feet with russet red scales and a crown of horns protruding just above her forehead. Growing around her horns was burgundy hair styled like that of a woman from the 1920s. She wore an A line black skirt and a white long sleeved shirt beneath a black vest, black armbands circled her upper forearms. She was another sonoaida it seemed.

"Moira, love what is all that fussing about?" The kaju koopa, Regina asked as she came to the bottom of the stairs in time to see her partner hugging the princess. Her mauve colored eyes softened as she smiled. "Well.. now I see. Wendy, darling its been so long since you came to visit."

Regina came around the counter picking both up in a hug.

"I'm sorry, Regina, Moira, I've been meaning to come I just.." Wendy trailed off looking a little guilty.

"No need to apologize, sweetie." Moira said, smiling comfortingly at the girl as they were set back on the ground. "We know it's been hard for you. We're happy you came to visit and you brought guests I see."

Wendy nodded as she turned to the side, "These are my brothers, General Howitzer and our tutor Luigi. Luigi, These are the shop owners and the best designers in the whole kingdom. Moira Dela Rosakoopa and her wife Regina.”

"Ah yes, the one who fought that horrible monster in the arena." Regina nodded. "Thank you for that by the way."

Luigi waved off her thanks. "Oh.. I didn't do much, Bo- King Bowser did much more than I did."

"Goodness, you are painfully modest,dear." Moira giggled a bit. "You did so much, stopping that monster and that mad man, whatever he was."

“We were a bit stuck in one of the seating areas, the crowd was panicking and we couldn't get to the door because of the surge. Honestly for a warrior people they were acting like frightened children." Regina snorted. "We saw what you did to that thing, that ability of yours is nothing to sneeze at for certain." 

"Lovely dress by the way, I haven't seen one in this style before." Moira commented as she moved toward the human. Seeing the woman coming forward Howitzer carefully dislodged Junior from his perch as Wendy beamed, she pulled Luigi forward some by the hand. "It's perfectly formed to accentuate your figure." 

"Luigi helped me finally get over my designer's block, it's actually the main reason we came today. With his help I was able to come up with the designs and measurements to make dresses for other koopas like us, Regina." Wendy said. "I was hoping we three could work together and everyone can have clothes that fit them just right."

Moira paused her inspection of the dress as she stared at Wendy in surprise. "You did? Oh, my dear, that sounds wonderful, its been a bit sad that we didn't have the proper clothing for everyone."

Wendy flipped through her sketch pad showing off the different designs she and Luigi came up with. Regina's smile was a bit teary as she looked at each one carefully. "Wyndolyn, these are perfect. We'd love to go into business with you, let us know when you want to draw up the contract and we'll contact Lord Kamek."

The young she-koopa squealed in delight as she rushed forward to hug Regina's legs. Regina smiled as she picked Wendy up into a hug before placing her on the counter. As the pair started talking about marketing and release dates, Moira continued her inspection of the dress Luigi was currently wearing.

"This really does show off your figure. Do you have many more like it?" She asked. "Are there sonoaidas where you are from?"

"Oh, no I only have this and two other dresses." Luigi shook his head. Moira stopped in front of him looking up at him. "There are but as far as I know they don't have any exclusive clothes."

"Three? Darling, they look amazing on you, why don't you have more?" She asked. Luigi scratched at his arm nervously.

"I wasn't sure how people of this world would react to a man wearing women's clothing. On Earth its tolerated but.. not accepted entirely." Luigi explained. "The three is fine though I don't need more."

"Nonsense! If you find a style that looks good on you then wear it!" Moira shook her head. "Lets get you set up with a wardrobe, hmm?"

Luigi shook his head as he put his hand up in front of him in protest. "Oh no, no I don't wanna be a bother. Plus, I don't really have any money to buy more clothes."

"You've been teaching for a bit, the paycheck should be plenty to pay for whatever you want." Howitzer commented from beside the human. At the sheepish smile he narrowed his eye. "You have been getting paid right? I get the first few days but after that you should have enough to buy as many as you want.”

"It.. may have slipped my mind to remind Bowser or Kamek about my pay?" Luigi said. Howitzer stared at the human incredulously. "I don't need it! I have a place to stay, food and I don't need pay to like my job. Teaching the children is more than enough payment."

"But.. you earned it." Larry cocked his head to the side in curiosity.

"Hells you almost died. Teach. You more than earned it." Morton nodded

"Honestly. guys. I don't need payment." Luigi shook his head. Howitzer moved past the man handing a rolled up scroll to Moira.

"I'm still telling the king," Howitzer stated.

”Please don’t.” Luigi quietly requested.

 Moira read over the scroll, looking up she nodded "Looks like you won't have to pay anyways." She smiled, turning to her wife. "Regina love, we have a royal order."

Regina looked up from where she and Wendy had been discussing their plans. Luigi couldn't help gulping as both sets of eyes began to twinkle happily (maliciously happy).

"What did that note say? Ladies, really. I don't need more clothes." Luigi shook his head as he tried to back up only to be stopped by Iggy and Mortón.

"It is futile to resist, I'm afraid." Iggy shook his head. The two gently pushed Luigi forward where his hand was grabbed by Moira who pulled him toward the back of the store.

"General, be a dear and turn the open sign to close please." Moira called over her shoulder. The general saluted as he did as asked. Regina helped Wendy down as the boys followed the still protesting human and the other owner.

A few hours and hundreds of clothes later…

Luigi stared at the bags that had been loaded into his room after they'd returned from town. His wardrobe and dresser were not big enough to hold all of these! Sun dresses, a couple of gowns, blouses, skirts, something that looked like a kimono. Not to mention the accessories! This was just too much, he was grateful but.. he didn't deserve.. or need all this. A knock at his door pulled him from his thoughts. He got up to answer it and was met by Bowser standing there with his arms crossed over his plastron.

"Why didn't you tell me you hadn't gotten your pay?" He demanded.

Luigi let out a loud groan of frustration as he slammed the door shut and locked it. "I DON'T NEED OR WANT YOUR MONEY!!”

Bowser blinked at the door that had been slammed in his face. He'd caught a glance of the bags pouring out of the human's room, he may have overdid it with that order. Maybe he would look into getting another wardrobe for all the clothes. 

Chapter Text

 He was sitting on the balcony of his room reading when the sound of familiar whispering voices reached his ears. Luigi glanced up from the pages of his book toward his door as did Polterpup, there was no class today since it was a weekend which means the kids should be doing their own thing. He had a sense of deja vu from when Larry had first come to his class with Junior. Not that he minded the visits, it just made him a bit curious. Closing the book  he stood gracefully from the floor dusting off his floor length skirt, he walked toward the door, Polterpup padding along behind him. As he reached the door he leaned against the wall and listened to them with a small smile on his face.

"You knock!" Morton demanded, it sounded like he shoved someone. "It was your idea."

"What if he's busy? I don't wanna bug him." Roy said.

"We were supposed to be at the training room five minutes ago." Iggy stated. “The general is going to be rather cross.”

"Just knock on the door. He said he'd be willing to help us train." Wendy huffed.

Deciding to avoid a further argument, he opened the door smiling down at them warmly. They all wore exercise clothes, sweatpants and tank tops in their varying colors.

"Buonasera, Bambini, Come va?" He greeted them. Junior climbed over the top of Morton and Roy's shoulders leaping into Luigi's arms. The human, already knowing what was coming, had his arms open catching the toddler.

“Sti..amino bean?” Larry attempted to speak the Italian reply Luigi had been teaching them last week when classes had gotten back into session. The human tried to hold in his wince at the butchering of his mother tongue. 

“'Stiamo bene'. Good try though, keep practicing and you'll get it before long.” He stated, with an encouraging nod. “What can I do for you all?” 

"We were wondering if you'd like to come to the training grounds with us." Wendy spoke up.

"We know it is technically your day off. The invitation is to observe if you wish, not teach." Iggy nodded. “Howitzer is retaking up his position as our trainer.”

Luigi remembered back some time ago when they'd asked him to teach them to fight as he does. From what he observed from Roy the teen koopa was doing much better, no longer wincing when he moved. He supposed he could go with them.

"I can spare the rest of the afternoon. Is it the same area where I spared with Howitzer?" He asked. The excitement on their faces at his acceptance made him smile.

"Nope, it's a whole other place." Larry shook his head. "Papa had it built in another courtyard that no one could easily get to.”

Luigi realized he should really take a full tour of the castle when he can. He'd been here going on two months and there were still places he hadn't found but had heard about. There was a hidden garden he was really eager to find.

 "Alright, give me a few minutes to change into proper attire." Dislodging Junior was like pulling off velcro, the toddler pouted as he was passed over to Iggy. Luigi gently pat his head with a reassuring smile. "I'll be just a minute ok, Junior?"

The small koopa still pouted as he nodded. Even after all this time since the fight Junior still stuck to the human when he could. Just a couple nights ago after he’d gotten his new clothes, Luigi was awoken by something crawling into his bed and curling up at the foot. At first he assumed it was Polterpup, he was shocked as he turned on the bedside lamp and saw Junior. He would think the little prince would go to his father when he had night terrors as Luigi assumed was the reason. He had yet to talk to the little koopa about it, not wanting to upset him. Luigi closed the door as he went toward his room and the extra large wardrobe Bowser had put in his room the day after he'd returned from shopping. It nearly took up the whole wall, leaving barely any room for the dresser. He pulled out a black long sleeved crop top with a hoodie attached to it and a black maxi skirt split on either side with built in shorts. Thankfully he also had his favorite ankle high black boots to match. 

He changed quickly in the bathroom, as he checked himself over in the mirror he noticed how his hair was now a little past his shoulders. It had been a while since he had a hair cut, but if he was being honest with himself he kind of liked how it looked. He rummaged through one of  the wardrobe’s smaller drawers and found a black elastic hair tie. Once his hair was put up he went back to the door where the kids were waiting outside. 

As he stepped out Wendy gave a small squeal of delight. “Oh my gosh, where did you get that skirt!? It wasn’t at Moira and Regina's shop." 

"Remember when I said I had just two dresses? I'd forgotten to mention that I had this as well." Luigi replied as he closed the door. "I only use it for exercise purposes." 

Nodding in understanding the group headed for the elevator, Luigi paused long enough for Junior to take up his familiar perch on the human’s shoulders. Polterpup barked happily as he floated around them. 

Instead of entering the elevator, Iggy pressed his thumb against a small sigil beside the door button. A second door slid open beside the elevator, a little smaller than the usual elevator though not by much. Luigi looked over at Iggy as the group piled in.

"We did say it's not easily accessible to others. When we officially moved in, father had all sorts of things changed, made a bit more modern. This elevator being one of those things." Iggy explained.

"He and Gramps gave us a thorough tour once they were done." Morton chimed in. 

"I see, so unless one is familiar with the castle layout they could get lost." Luigi stated. Instead of going down like he was used to or expecting the elevator went backwards a bit then lowering.

"Yep! But don't worry, we won't let you get lost." Larry stated. 

"Honestly surprised he hasn't yet." Roy grinned.

The bell dinged as the doors opened up revealing what looked like a training gym for the Olympics. Equipment of all kinds were scattered around the room, there was even a pool tucked away to the far left. At the very back he saw a large set of double doors. 

Howitzer, surprisingly in his larger form, was waiting for them in front of a balance beam for once without his sword. The usually bare koopa general wore exercise shorts and a tank top, his hands were wrapped all the way up to his forearms as if he was getting ready for boxing training. He was holding what looked like a stopwatch in one hand, looking up he blinked in shock at seeing Luigi with them. 

He narrowed his eye at them, "Is there a reason you kids are late and have your off duty teacher with you?" 

Morton spoke up for the group as he moved around in front, "We just wanted to show him where the personal gym is. For later." 

"And so he can show us how to kick tail!" Larry piped up happily. 

"Larry!" The remaining siblings spoke his name, signed in Lemmy's case, in unison.

Luigi couldn't help but chuckle a bit as the small blue haired koopaling tried to duck into his shell. 

"It's alright, Howitzer, I'm just here to observe. And I don't mind spending more time with them outside of class." Luigi explained as he patted Larry on his mohawk in a reassuring manner causing him to come back out.

Howitzer stared at the man for a second or two before shrugging, "Alright. But that's still five laps around the gym for being late. Get to it!" 

At the order, the kids fell in line of oldest to youngest as they ran the circular track that lined the wall. Wanting to run as well, Polterpup fell into step with the kids. Luigi looked around the room once more as he approached the general. 

"Impressive set up. This is all for the kids to train?" He asked.

"Yep, the king has his own training room through those doors." Howitzer pointed at the large doors at the back. "When prince Morton reaches his birthday in another month he will be graduated to that gym for training with his father. As will the other kids when they reach that age."

Luigi looked up at the man in curiosity, "His birthday?" 

"When the male Kaiju koopas reach seventeen years of age they go through a massive growth spurt overnight. He will be near his father's height by dawn that day." Howitzer explained. "It will be the same for the other boys when they come of age, that is also when the slow aging process kicks in. Since the princess identifies as a young lady her actual party won't be for another year when she turns eighteen." 

Luigi nodded, he really needed to get to the library and find the books on their culture. He watched the kids run with Howitzer for another five minutes or so before they finally stopped. While Morton and Roy looked no worse for wear their younger siblings flopped down as if they'd run a marathon, Polterpup seeing the kids all flopped down flopped down as well on his side before rolling over to his back.  

"Five minutes cool down then it's on to the balance beam for the young ones. Roy, Morton, Iggy and Wendy hit the wall." Howitzer stated, he rolled his eye at the collective groan from the latter two. "You can manage."

While the kids were trying to recover from their laps, Luigi moved toward the wall Howitzer had mentioned. It was at least twelve feet high with ropes hanging, at least five feet down from the very top. At the bottom where he stood there were mats in case anyone fell. On the other side of the very top of the wall there was a rope obstacle course with swinging beans, rope bridges and levitating hurdles, even some swinging ropes. Luigi could see where four sets of claws had dug into the wall to climb up it, only one set made it all the way to the rope and to the top.

"Who made it to the top of the wall?" Luigi asked, turning his gaze back toward the koopalings.  Morton seemed to puff up a bit with pride.

"That would be mine." He smirked as he sat up.

"I see. You must be good at this course then." Luigi motioned to the rest of the course beyond the wall. He could almost see Morton's ego deflate just a bit. 

Confidence was all well and good but too much to the point of ego was a bit worrisome. While he knew the other had a long way to go, Luigi also knew that if the ego wasn't nipped in the bud now it'd bloom into a flower of entitlement.

"Y-yea! I'm the strongest and of course I beat that course." Morton nodded.

"But, Morry, didnt you get to the top and-" Larry started to say only for his mouth to get covered by his brother's oversized hand.

"Kept going? Yeah I did!" Morton smirked. 

Luigi arched a brow at the teen. "I see, alright then how about we both run it this time to see who's faster?"

Howitzer narrowed his eye at the man in suspicion. "What are you doing, Luigi?"  Said human gave him an innocent smile the general did not trust at all.

"What? I'm just offering a friendly challenge. I want to see Morton in action," Luigi stated. "How about it?"

"Yeah, Morton, let's see you beat the course again." Roy grinned at his brother. The other siblings nodded along, Wendy and Iggy knowing what was coming shared Roy's grin.

"Fine! I will!" He growled as smoke rings left his nostrils. Luigi couldn't help but make the comparison to Bowser when he got agitated. He moved away from his siblings toward Luigi. As the teen approached, Luigi was taking the loose parts of the split skirt and pulling them between his legs and tucking them into the back.

"So any bets for this challenge?" Morton asked as he stretched out his muscles.

"No, just a friendly race. No stakes needed." Luigi shook his head. The sudden sound of the back doors opening caught everyone's attention, from his own gym came  Bowser with a towel draped over his neck. Luigi's face suddenly went to bright red at the rather indecently short black shorts the other was sporting. He walked around practically naked most of the time, why was this making him embarrassed?

"Bout time you kids got here" Bowser chuckled. "Howitzer was about to eat his own shell.. Luigi?" He noticed the man standing beside Morton at the wall as he approached. A grin stretched across his face as he took in the red face that was turned away from him. "Figured today was your day off."

"Y..yes. But the kids wanted me to come and observe their training with Howitzer." Luigi stated. "I didn't know you worked out?"

Bowser couldn't help but show off his large arm muscles as he flexed. "How else do you think I got this figure? Certainly wasn't from sitting around on my tail all day making plans to kidnap Peach."

"I see; and with this impressive figure how exactly have you been beaten by a human three times smaller than you?" Luigi couldn't help but grin as the king dropped his arms and crossed them over his chest with a huff.

"I'll… admit for a human plumber he's got skills, but he's more like a flea bouncing around. A really annoying one that packs a punch."  Bowser stated. Luigi chuckled a bit at Bowser's reluctant admittance of his brother's skill. At the sound Bowser's tail seemed to develop a mind of its own as it wagged a bit.

Neither seemed to notice the kids watching the short lived banter go back and forth between them. The older ones were still planning while the younger ones were somewhat oblivious.

"So what are you doing at the wall with Morton?" Bowser asked as he stopped just beside the wall leaning against it.

"Well, I was going to race him on the course that he said he already beat." Luigi replied.

Knowing he hadn't Bowser smirked down at his oldest son. "Is that right?"

With the extra attention of his father Morton wasn't feeling as confident as he had been, "Yeah, but I don't wanna tire Luigi out."

"Ooo sounds like someone's backing out" Roy jeered from the side.

 Before the second oldest could get his siblings in on the teasing, Luigi silenced him with the 'Mom Look'. While none of them had known their mothers, they assumed that's what the look would be. They hadn't said it outright to the man yet, but in privacy when it was just them, they did refer to the man as 'mama Luigi'. It took a lot of bribing for them to convince Junior not to call him that.. not yet. Without having to hear the words the rest of the kids sat down as did Polterpup and Howitzer, though his sitting was out of respect. Not because that look reminded him of his mother. Not at all.

Looking back at Morton Luigi gave the teen a comforting smile. "You don't have to act cool all the time. Though that is a pretty high wall, its impressive you got all the way to the top." 

"You don't have to pity me." Morton grumbled looking down at his toes. He flinched just a bit at the hand that touched his shoulder not from fear but from how warm it was. He looked back up at the human who was still smiling at him.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Luigi said. "I want to race you to see how good you are. Who knows you might even beat me."

"Did you train like this when you were training to fight?" Morton asked curiously.

"No but I did free running a lot when I was younger. On earth it was called Parkour, basically finding the highest building and the most obstacles to get over. 

The thrill of being so high up, knowing one wrong placed foot would end up with a free fall to the ground ten twenty sometimes fifty feet below was a rush." Luigi explained. "This course is somewhat like that only with more ropes and safety nets.

"That sounds awesome." Morton stated honestly "So you still wanna race?"

"Of course." Luigi nodded with a smile.

"Careful, Morry, don't want to get the human too worked up, he might hurt himself from over exhaustion." Bowser couldn't help but tease the human. At the narrow eyed glare the king almost regretted his decision.

"Howitzer, if you could please time us?" Luigi asked.

The general nodded as he pulled his stop watch from around his neck. "Ready when you are."

As Morton showed Luigi where the start line usually was, Bowser moved toward where his other kids sat, taking a seat on the floor beside them. Junior, Larry and Lemmy clamored up his shell, the twins taking up spots on either shoulder while Junior claimed the spot on top of his head.

The two racers stood at the line stretching just a bit before they took their start positions. Seeing  they were ready, Howitzer yelled out 'Go' as he pressed the start button on the stopwatch. And the two were off.

Chapter Text

Familiar adrenaline pumped through Luigi's veins as he reached the wall within a few seconds, being longer legged he got there first. Luigi decided to give the teen a few second head start on the course, he stood at the wall waiting for Morton to get there. As he got to the wall the teen koopa gave a small jump sinking his claws into the wood, pulling  himself up one arm at a time until he reached the rope and continued up. As he got to the top he noticed the human hadn’t climbed with him. Morton turned to look down at the human who just smirked up at him.

"You coming, teach?" He asked. Something in the man's blue eyes seemed to sparkle. Luigi backed up to just before the start line before he took another running start at the wall, to the spectators shock the human did a somersault flipping twice before crouching and jumping up to the rope. With impressive upper body strength he was able to plant his feet below him on the wall and started climbing up rather fast. "Guess that's a yes." Morton turned to face the rest of the course, he froze  seeing the first obstacle was the swinging beams. 

The last time he faced these things, he fell off the first try. And the second and the third. Even before the challenge Morton had trouble keeping his balance on these things. He had plenty of arm strength but balance was something he struggled with, given his stronger upper body compared to his legs. Since the challenge a few weeks ago Morton had been training extra hard to overcome this obstacle. He needed to be strong, to help his father and protect his siblings from all threats to their kingdom and family. If this hurdle was still in the way how could he? 

No one seemed to notice as an invisible form floated into the room through the wall. Polterpup’s ears perked as he sniffed a bit, a familiar scent filling his nostrils. He looked up where the scent was coming from, his ghostly hackles raised. The invisible thing flew against one side of the rope bridge carefully slicing most of the ropes. It moved forward flying toward Morton where it seemed to circle his head. A kind of haze came over Morton’s mind, his eyes seemed to fog over a bit, everything was blocked out but the goal in front of him.

Morton glanced down where the safety net should have been, of course they took it away this time. Why would they keep it? Suddenly an old memory flashed before his eyes as it always did when facing this obstacle. Tall buildings, laughing older kaiju koopas and one standing where he had been watching as he plummeted from on high. An old sharp pain flashed down his shell, making him almost curl in on himself.

Luigi's grunt as he pulled himself up onto the platform snapped him from the memory. The human went to make a joke about not living up to his boast when he saw it. Tightened fists and the teen’s tail was curled around one leg almost protectively. Something wasn't right.

"Morton, are you alright? We don't have to keep going if you aren't comfortable." Luigi stated as he stood.

"No. I am strong and tough. Nothing can beat me as long as I beat it first." Morton recited. Those words were too well rehearsed to come from the boy unless it was beaten into his head.

Before Luigi could stop him the teen ran for the swinging beams. He was doing fine honestly but Luigi knew it was more than adrenaline. It was blind bravado, spurred on by something only Morton knew. Luigi hurried after his student; if the teen could get through the course unscathed, ok, but he was going to have words with him after. Bowser watched proudly as Morton kept his balance on the swinging beam for once. He knew his oldest was coming in here when the other kids were asleep, Bowser had been keeping watch over him to make sure he didn’t hurt himself. From the swinging beams the two jumped to the long narrow platform that led to the rope bridge. That obstacle was a bit more difficult for Morton since the bridge was narrow to a single rope in the center with support ropes on either side. Polterpup started barking and whining at Howitzer, the Kaiju koopa looked over at the ghostly pup who kept looking up at the bridge. His eye widened with worry and a bit of fear.

“Sire, they need to stop.” Howitzer said suddenly as he stood. Bowser looked at the general who was pointing at the bridge. Bowser looked at the ropes and suddenly stood as well, moving his hand to his head to keep Junior from falling. Somehow all the support ropes on the farther side of the bridge were frayed at the top, the right amount of weight could snap them. Morton’s weight.

“Luigi! Don’t let him step on that bridge!” Bowser called out. “It's not safe!” Luigi looked to where Bowser was pointing and tried to reach out to Morton who dodged his hand.

“Morton, stop!” Luigi called out to the teen. 

“I can make it.” Morton called back, his focus was on the bridge itself and the goal on the other side of the swinging ropes. 

“MORTON, STOP RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!” Bowser bellowed. Morton continued to ignore the warnings, he could make it. He was strong, he was the strongest, he had to be. If he let a silly rope bridge beat him then what good was he? Voices started whispering in his mind, they sounded distorted and he couldn’t recognize them:

Useless.

Pathetic

Waste of time

WEAK!

Morton snarled out loud as he took the last leap onto the bridge, “I AM NOT WEAK!” 

The others cried out his name as his weight hit the center of the rope bridge, loud snaps could be heard as one side of the bridge fell away. The haze disappeared as he pitched to the side taking the voices with it, he was too far to the side to be caught by the safety net that was suddenly there again. He was going to fall and hit the ground. His shell was going to be cracked. Again. 

Bowser tried to get to his son, to catch him before he hit but something tripped him up making him fall. He’d barely managed to catch Junior before the toddler hit the ground. What the hells was happening!? There was a loud cry of pain from the ropes, Bowser’s attention snapped up to see Luigi had Morton by one hand while the other had a hold of the rope. The look of pain written across the man’s face made his heart hurt, the human’s arm had been pulled from its socket. He was lucky it wasn’t completely torn off considering Morton weighed nearly two hundred pounds. Quickly getting up he passed Junior to Howitzer and rushed toward them. 

“I got him.” Bowser stated as he moved under them, holding his arms out. Luigi nodded. 

“Morton, I’m going to let go now. Your father is right below you ok?” Luigi managed to say through the pain. The teen could only nod mentally preparing himself for the drop. Luigi let go of the teen’s hand, watching carefully to make sure the boy landed in his father’s arms safely. Once he was sure, Luigi started to try and pull himself up. He winced a bit as he tried to swing the out of socket arm up to wrap around the bridge. 

“Oh no you don’t, you let go too.” Bowser growled up at the man as he set Morton down to be fussed over by his siblings. He still had his arms open to catch the human. Luigi was about to argue when a sharp twinge of pain shot through his out of socket arm, the sudden pain made him gasp as he let go. He landed in Bowser’s arms who immediately turned toward the doors, shifting Luigi to one arm, he grabbed up Morton and ran for the elevator. “Class dismissed!” 

Though the sprint to the elevator was short, the other kids were barely able to keep up with their father. Howitzer and Polterpup were able to squeeze in just before the doors closed. The general shrank down to his smaller size to fit better, surprisingly, his clothes shrunk with him.

“Bowser, I’m fine. Put me down, I can walk on my own. It was my arm that got pulled out, not my legs. Focus on Morton.” Luigi stated, his face having gone a bit red at being carried around like a damsel in distress. The human focused his attention on Morton. “Morton, what happened up there?” 

The teen didn’t answer, focusing his gaze on the elevator doors in front of them. He was weak after all. He couldn’t make it across, he could have. He knows he could! Had he been quicker he could have grabbed the rope and…

“MORTON!” The sudden yell of his name from his teacher caused the teen to flinch and look at him with widened eyes.  The teen expected to see anger or disappointment or at the very least pity in the human’s eyes. Instead he saw concern and a bit of pain from his out of socket shoulder. He glanced up at his father who’s gaze was very much the same. The shame and guilt built up all the more, Morton did not respond instead he looked back down. 

Before Luigi  could question him further the doors opened and Bowser was off running again. Instead of waiting for someone to open the door for him like a normal koopa, Bowser simply kicked the doors open. 

“ Medic! ” He bellowed out startling the attending nurse koopas pittering about the room. 

“NO YELLING IN THE MEDICAL WING!!” Kammy yelled back a bit louder than Bowser. She flew out of her office prepared to chastise the king for yelling, her words froze in her throat as she saw who he was carrying. “Oh my stars, what happened now?” 

“Had a slight training accident.” Bowser replied as he set the two down on their own beds. “Luigi probably pulled his arm out of its socket. Morton looks ok physically.” Kammy flew over to assess the two, she waved her wand over Morton. 

“I’m alright, grammy.” Morton mumbled as he waved her off. “Teach is hurt worse than me, cause of me.” 

“Don’t you start that.” Luigi said. “I don’t know what happened but it was not your fault so stop that thought right now.” 

“I didn’t listen when you told me to stop.” Morton looked up at the man. “I should have listened. Now your arm is torn out cause of me. You got hurt again cause of me this time, should’ve just let me-” 

Morton froze as Luigi sprung up from his hospital bed, placing his good hand on the back of the teens neck, locking eyes with him. The pressure on his neck was oddly comforting instead of intimidating like he thought it’d be. “Don’t you dare finish that. I saved you because I’m your teacher, what happened was a freak accident. You were focused on the task at hand, I’m not blaming you for that. I was not going to let you fall and get hurt. This is not your fault. Do you understand me, Morton Ryujinn?” 

The sincerity of the man’s words and the seriousness of his eyes seemed to break through the cloud of guilt that started to surround the teen. Morton felt tears begin to prick at his eyes as he nodded. Gently as he could he pulled the man in for a quick hug, burrowing his face into Luigi’s chest. Kammy started to protest wanting to check Luigi over but Bowser shook his head. He let them have their moment, while he was Morton’s father he felt a bit responsible for the teen pushing himself so hard. He’d have his time with his son, just not right now.

“I was trying to be strong. I hadn’t finished the course. No matter how much I trained I couldn’t get over that stupid hurdle.” Morton hiccuped a bit. Luigi wrapped the arm around the teen’s shoulders allowing him the time he needed to get his emotions under control. He knew Morton didn’t want his father or siblings to see him crying.

“I know you were, there’s no shame in admitting when you can’t do something. That doesn’t mean you aren’t strong, just takes more time and effort.” Luigi replied. After another minute or two Morton finally pulled away, cleaning away the tears. Luigi smiled down at him, “Maybe we can give it another go another time, alright?”

Morton smiled back up at him and nodded. “Yeah.” 

“Not any time soon that is for sure.” Kammy stated, finally able to wave her wand over Luigi to check his condition. This was a more indepth spell checking for older injuries as well as current. A medical scroll appeared in front of her and the conditions appeared in writing. Her beady eyes widened as she went a pale shade of yellow at everything that popped up on the scroll. 

“I’m fine, honestly it's not the first time I pulled an arm out of socket.” Luigi said as he patted the top of Morton’s head before he sat back down on his bed. “Just give me a shelf or something and I can ram it back into place.” 

He rolled his eyes at the horrified looks he got from not only Kammy but the rest of the kids and Howitzer.

 Bowser narrowed his red eyes at the man as they glowed a bit. “How?” He noticed the scroll that appeared in front of Kammy and how long it was. It shouldn't be that long, right?

“Just an accident a while back.” Luigi waved off his concern. He stood from the bed and started walking toward the nearest book case. “It’s no big deal really.” 

“Luigi, I really don’t think that's-” Howitzer started to protest but was ignored by the man as he rammed his shoulder against the sturdy wood. With a sickening crunch the arm was back in place. To Bowser’s horror, the human didn’t make much noise as he did it, his face winced just a bit. Luigi flexed his hand and fingers making sure the numbness had gone away. “Luigi..”

“I’m fine now, really see?” Luigi moved his arm about showing it was back to full mobility. Polterpup floated toward his master, whining in concern. Luigi just smiled as he pet the ghostly pup with his ‘fixed’ hand. “I think it’s about time for supper. Don't know about you guys but I need a shower."

Bowser let out a loud snarl as he approached the human. “You are not going anywhere until Kammy has done a full check up on you. Do you see the size of that scroll? The hells were you thinking just ramming your arm back in place like that? You could have done serious damage! Long as that scroll is there's gotta be something about you being crazy enough to do something that stupid!"

Luigi’s smile fell almost instantly. “Are you implying that I’m not of my right mind?”

“Are you? You just slammed your arm back into place on a bookcase!” Bowser growled. The younger kids had moved closer to their older siblings as Howitzer moved closer to them. He knew neither would hurt the kids, he would serve more as a buffer from the yelling. Polterpup cowered a bit behind Luigi, his small tail between his legs.  

“Oh like you haven’t done anything crazy when it comes to injuries.” Luigi crossed his arms over his chest. 

Bowser spluttered, caught off guard by the statement. “I.. I have not!” 

“Really? I seem to recall an instance a few years ago during one of the games, something about taking on one of the wild wigglers? Holding onto it as it exploded? And didn’t you refuse medical assistance until you beat Mario?” Luigi arched a brow at the king who had started to turn red in anger and a bit of embarrassment.  

“That was different!” Bowser roared causing the kids to flinch, they hated hearing their father yell. 

“How? You were just stubborn and didn’t get medical attention until after the game. I don’t need medical attention, I took care of it myself.” Luigi replied with painful calm. “Now I am going to go get cleaned up and go out."  

“I said you aren’t going anywhere until we find out what the hells is wrong with you!” Bowser growled standing between the human and his way out. Luigi narrowed his eyes at the man, so much for liking him. 

"Get out of my way, Bowser." Luigi stated in such a monotone voice the kids didn't recognize it. Bowser did, having heard it after he saved Roy. The human's eyes seemed to glow a bit. "I really don't want to fight you in front of the kids."

The king crossed his arms over his plastron, "Make me."

There was a knock at the infirmary door drawing everyone’s attention, standing in the doorway was Torque half carrying a kaijuu koopa mechanic who looked a bit singed around the edges. Torque walked around the king with the other kaiju koopa. His scales prickled a bit at the tension in the room.

“Uh.. this a bad time?” He asked walking the other to an empty bed.

Luigi knew it was a bit petty and honestly not necessary, but his mind was still caught up on how Bowser thought he wasn’t stable. “No actually.” Luigi stated, walking toward the mechanic. “I had planned to go into town and was hoping that the invitation to go out was still open. I was planning to get something to eat from the kitchens but apparently I can’t be trusted on my own so I want to go out with you.” 

Bowser’s blood boiled at that. What was this human playing at? Going out with a lowly mechanic? After getting hurt? After the king, his BOSS told him not to go anywhere?

Torque blinked down at him in shock. “Uh.. yeah. If you want to, that is or you aren’t too busy.” 

“I still have the rest of the afternoon off.” Luigi smiled up at him, “Think you’ll be ready in an hour or two? I need to get cleaned up.” 

“Yeah sure thing, let me go get myself cleaned up and make sure the shop can survive without me for the rest of the night.” Torque said he looked over at Kammy seemingly trying to avoid any and all eye contact with the silently fuming king. Whatever was going on he wanted no part of it. He could tell something was going on and the teach needed some breathing room. Better he be a sacrificial koopa than the two get into it and possibly breaking a wall or two. “Sparky here got too close to an exploding engine, no surface wounds that I can see.” 

Kammy only nodded in understanding, Torque patted Sparky on the shoulder as he left the infirmary. 

“The fuck was that?” Bowser hissed. “Why are you going out with him?” 

The human’s response stung, “Because he doesn’t think I’m unstable.”  Luigi moved toward the kids. “Class will resume tomorrow, ok?” 

The koopalings nodded in understanding, Junior started to go toward the man only to be stopped by Roy. Now was not the time. Luigi smiled at them before turning to leave the infirmary. 

“Luigi..” Bowser snarled the man’s name like a curse, the sudden jealousy he’s never felt before making his blood boil hotter than ever. He never felt this way when he saw Peach with Mario, so why was this skinny human making him so angry?

Luigi did not respond or even look back as he walked out of the room headed for the elevators. Polterpup barked as he hurried after his master. Bowser started panting angrily, smoke pouring from his nostrils. Knowing what was coming, Kammy quickly teleported the king from the infirmary to the closest courtyard just as he let out an ear shattering roar as a stream of fire left his mouth. 

In the shadows of the courtyard, Solaris giggled as he watched the king throw a tantrum. Having done his job he flew away, not turning visible until he was far away from the koopa kingdom. This was going to be easier than he thought.

Chapter Text

Steam filled the bathroom as Luigi scrubbed at his skin, the coating he’d been using for the last several months was always so hard to clean off after it sat for days. He supposed this is what it felt like to be a reptile trying to shed. He paused in his scrubbing as a certain reptile’s face came to mind, especially that expression of anger and he swore he saw a bit of hurt in those red eyes. Luigi shook his head of the image as he kept scrubbing the last of the coating. As more of his reddened skin was revealed he slowed the scrubbing once more. Maybe… he’d gone a bit far accepting Torque’s invitation the way he did especially after what happened to Morton. Bowser was already highly stressed as it was, this certainly wasn’t helping. And maybe it was a bit much slamming his shoulder back into the socket with a practiced ease that would be concerning to others.

Luigi shook his head again as he splashed more of the scalding water over his body to rinse off the remaining residue. Bowser didn’t know what he was talking about. He was fine, he’d been dealing with that sort of injury much longer than the koopa king knew. Not even Mario knew about his experience with this.. he had at one time but... No, now was not the time to think about that. And besides Luigi shouldn’t care what Bowser thought of him going out with someone. Why should a king worry about what his staff was doing anyways? It was pretty obvious now after that display in the infirmary that Bowser didn’t think he was right in the head. So maybe he wasn’t? Luigi came to terms with that months ago. He was fine now, so what should it matter? It wasn’t the king’s or anyone else's business. Pulling the tub stopper, Luigi climbed out and grabbed a fluffy towel from the rack. 

He was fine. 

WARNING: Mentions of scars.

Drying himself off, he walked past a floor length mirror and paused, seeing himself without the coating. Old scars were scattered across his torso, legs and arms: claw marks, knife cuts that he had to stitch close himself, bite wounds. How his face was avoided he'd never know, but he was grateful for that. The scars looked old against his skin, older than they should be on someone who looked his age. Next to where his heart was, was an old stab wound that went through to his back. He hadn’t seen these scars in a long time. Not since he saved E. Gadd, the princess and her attending toads and his brother from the death trap of a hotel almost a year ago now. (END WARNING)

Not since he’d gotten the coating from E. Gadd after he’d.. helped the others forget. Because of the magic used at the time he’d gotten them; the scars would not disappear even when he came back to the real world. Because his older scars didn’t have the magic taint of the nightmare world, the coating didn’t work on them. The coating was the only way to keep them hidden from everyone, it was waterproof up to a certain degree and only with some hard scrubbing under scalding water did it come off. His blue eyes darkened as he remembered who he’d gotten these scars from, what they’d done. As his memories spiraled down a dark tunnel he hadn’t been down in awhile, small sparks of green electricity sparked from his clenched fists. The markings that had appeared during his fight with the monster Zaraki weeks ago reappeared once more. Their sudden appearance pulled the man from his dark memories just a bit. 

He didn’t understand these markings, their appearance had been bothering him a bit since the fight after things had calmed down. He’d never seen them before, not even when he was trapped in the nightmare created by King Boo. So why now? He supposed it had something to do with protecting the kids and his brother and.. Luigi shook his head. He took a calming breath pushing the dark memories to the back of his mind where he kept them, as he did the markings faded away leaving his scars. He didn’t have time to focus on that right now. He grabbed the palm sized container of cream that matched his skin and started to reapply the coating. Once done he wrapped the towel around his waist and left the bathroom going for the wardrobe to find something to wear for his date. 

Polterpup lifted his pale head from where it lay on his paws, seeing his master's real appearance covered made him sad thinking about what they'd gone through forcing him to hide. Hearing the ghostly pup whine, Luigi smiled comfortingly as he walked by the pup patting the canine's head. Standing before the wardrobe Luigi looked through his collection of clothes before settling on something. 

Almost on the dot two hours later, there was a knock on Luigi's door. He was honestly expecting to see Bowser or one of the kids on the other side, Torque stood there instead. Dressing in a rather nice dark green button-down shirt and dark jeans that seemed rather snug. The twinge in his chest was not disappointment, it wasn't. After that argument he shouldn't have expected them to be on the other side of the door. He put on his mask and smiled at the kaiju koopa.

Luigi was somewhat surprised at the mechanics choice of color since it matched the ankle length pleated maxi skirt he was wearing. A spring green bell sleeved off the shoulder blouse was tucked into the black leather belt holding the skirt up. Satin ballet flats peaked out from beneath the skirt. He’d foregone accessories wanting to keep it simple, his hair was pulled back in a small ponytail as it was earlier this time with a green ribbon tied in a bow.

"Great minds, eh, Teach?" Torque grinned down at the human.

 Luigi smiled up at him as he stepped out, closing the door behind himself. "Appears that way."

"So there's a great place to eat in town, I think you'll like it." Torque stated as they walked toward the elevator. 

Further down the hall in his own bedroom, it took everything Bowser had not to slam the door back shut as he closed it. Or to thunder out of his room and torch the mechanic. The king started pacing in front of the door, Howitzer stood a safe distance away in case the king had another tantrum. He decided it was a good idea to stay in his smaller size, to keep him from being a target for the king to take his rage out on.

"I can't believe him. After everything that's happened, how dare he just go out with someone." Bowser snarled smoke pouring from his nostrils. "And a peasant! His status, he could go out with anyone and he chose the mechanic! And why is he going out with anyone to begin with! It's to spite me I know it is!" 

"Sire, given all that's happened Luigi needs a break from the palace." Howitzer tried to calm the king down. This turned out to be the wrong thing to say as in the blink of an eye he was being held up by his shell eye level with his king. 

"With a peasant?!" Bowser snarled.

“It's not like anyone else has shown interest in him. He hasn’t left the palace alone or been alone much since he started teaching here.” Howitzer stated. The general's calm expression just made him angrier as did his statement since Bowser knew it was right. But… What about him? 

No he wasn't showing interest in the human at all! Bowser was just worried about the man. That was why he was so angry. He was concerned that was all! Obviously someone was after Luigi, and the man wasn’t even worried about it! What if something happened on this date? Bowser needed to make sure he was safe, (he didn’t know why) but how would he..?

Then Bowser got an idea. A really good idea. A wonderful, maybe slightly underhanded but still good idea. Howitzer became slightly worried at the grin that graced the king’s face. He only ever saw it when the king was going to be mischievous.

“Um.. sire?” Howitzer asked carefully. 

“We’re going to pay Kamek a visit.” Bowser stated as he headed for his bedroom doors, Howitzer still dangling from his hand. 

*In Kamek’s lab*

The magikoopa held the vile in a delicate grip as he slowly started to tip the contents into the bubbling cauldron. He had to time this just right, the liquid below was slowly changing from dark blue to a lighter blue. Soon as it started to become sky blue he had to drop the current potion in. Almost.. almost.. the bubbling liquid became ocean blue, then cerulean, and.. 

The doors of his chambers were suddenly kicked open as Bowser stormed in holding General Howitzer by his shell. “KAMEK!” 

Kamek yelped as he lost his hold on the vial, dropping the whole thing into the cauldron. As soon as the glass and its contents hit the potion a pale blue foam-like substance shot straight up hitting the ceiling, some of it hitting Kamek in the face dying his yellow scales pale green and coating his glasses. The magikoopa sighed as he got down from his stool, he pulled his glasses off to clean them with the part of his robes that hadn’t been dirtied. He turned his beady eyes toward the king and general. Bowser was trying his best not to laugh at the man’s green face. 

“Is there something I can help you with, Sire?” Kamek asked as he put his cleaned glasses back on. 

“Yeah.. Do we have any mini mushrooms in stock?” Bowser asked. 

“Yes, sire, may I ask why you need them?” Kamek moved from his table and ruined potion (the foam was still up right) and toward the pantry he kept certain ingredients in. “And why are you holding the general by his shell?”

Bowser started to reply then thought better of it. Now that he was put on the spot, he felt a bit embarrassed. He didn't need his advisor / surrogate father knowing he was spying on the tutor's date. “Umm.. you know king stuff.” 

Kamek walked back out of the pantry holding the small blue and white spotted mushroom. He arched a brow ridge at the king, “King stuff? Sire, while you are my king I do need to know what you intend to use this mushroom for. I would hate for something to happen to you and no one can find you.” To Kamek’s surprise the scales on Bowser’s cheeks took on a red color showing his embarrassment. 

“He’s spying on Luigi’s date with my brother.” Howitzer piped up from the king’s hand. 

“Howitzer!” Bowser growled. The general simply shrugged at his king's annoyance.

“Luigi’s date?” Kamek asked. Bowser’s cheeks became a bit darker as he snorted out a puff of dark smoke from his nostrils. “I believe I am missing a few things.” 

Bowser stomped forward and grabbed the mushroom from Kamek’s hand. “We’ll be back later!” Kamek watched as the king stomped out of his lab still holding onto the general’s shell. A loud splat behind him signified the tower of foam had finally fallen. Kamek could only sigh as he turned to cast a cleaning spell with a wave of his hand. A poof sounded from the left of him as Kammy showed up. 

“My goodness, what happened?” She asked curiously, eyeing the mess as it was being cleaned up by magically summoned and controlled mops. 

“Potion mistake, the king and the general payed me a visit to get a shrinking mushroom so the king could spy on Luigi’s date with I’m assuming Torque.” Kamek explained as he turned to face his sister. In her claws was a rolled up scroll.  

“I see, I suppose I will speak to his majesty after he returns.” She nodded. Kamek noticed her expression seemed troubled. 

“Is everything alright, sister?” Kamek asked. 

“I.. I’m not sure.” She shook her head. “There was a training accident earlier today and I’d ran a diagnostic spell on Luigi, this one was a bit more thorough than one I’d used on him before and.. well this is all that appeared on the scroll.” She passed the scroll to her brother, “It honestly does not make sense to me. I am a bit concerned for him, this many injuries it's a miracle he's even walking.” 

Even with his face a different color it paled as he read through everything listed on the scroll. All the injuries and old bone breaks and even fractures. Based on the amount, Luigi should not even be alive. Each injury listed how old it was and when it occurred, the majority of the injuries were dated in a future time. A little over ten years in the future, much older than what the human looked by their calculations.

“It seems, I need to have a word with the tutor when he returns.” Kamek stated, rolling the scroll back up casting a wordless sealing spell on it.

“Should we tell his majesty?” Kammy asked. 

Kamek thought for a moment of everything that has happened since the human has been there, the attacks on him and the royal family for being close. He shook his head. Kamek didn’t think Luigi himself was a danger, just that he seemed to have dangerous enemies.

“Not yet. I wish to speak with the human first, if his majesty is there I doubt I will get a straight answer out of him. We will keep this to ourselves for now until we get to the bottom of this.” He tucked the scroll away in one of his cabinets with several others. “For now I need to get clean.” 

“I don’t know brother, I think green is a good color for you.” Kammy smirked as the pair disappeared from the lab as it continued to be cleaned. 

From the doorway, eight koopalings peaked into the room making sure the coast was clear before moving toward the cabinet. 

Chapter Text

 It felt odd coming to town without any of the kids or even Howitzer to keep him company. The stares of course still landed on him and his current companion, but for once Luigi seemed to not mind. He glanced up at Torque. 

 "Where exactly are we going?" Luigi asked. 

 "It's a nice restaurant that opened several years back, chef found some book on cooking and started making and selling the recipes." Torque explained. "It's been a big hit ever since." 

 "And how long is it going to take us to get in?" Luigi arched a brow. Usually if a place was that popular on earth it was months before you could get a table.

 "Not long, usually takes me five minutes to get a table." Torque shrugged. They continued down the road past Moira and Regina's place, turning a corner, Luigi saw why it didn't take long to get a table. 

 At the end of the street was a massive tree growing out of a building that looked as if it had been built around it. Lights were strung around the branches making it glow in the late afternoon sun. Koopas and Kaiju Koopas moved in and out of the building, everyone looking happy and full, some even carrying what looked like to-go bowls. 

 "Welcome to Grogar's Garden." Torque stated as he placed a hand on Luigi's shoulder and led him forward. 

 As they walked forward, neither noticed a certain koopa general disguised in a hat and overcoat, shades over his one eye. He opted to change into his larger form as he would blend in a bit better. 

 "What are you waiting for?! Follow them!" A voice hissed from beneath the hat. 

 "I don't want to get too close, sire." Howitzer hissed back. "I'm surprised Luigi hasn't sensed us following already." Once they were farther away did Howitzer move. Bowser seethed beneath the hat, smoke escaping his snout in small streams. 

 How dare that peasant put his claws on Luigi. How dare he bring Luigi here. He was going to do that! And as king he could have gotten them the royal dining room instead of whatever normal table the mechanic could afford! And besides that, how did a mere mechanic have the money to get a table here every day for lunch? Such a place had to be exclusive! Right? Bowser didn't really know since he never came to town for anything. He barely let the kids come here. 

 "Sire, I know you're agitated, but could you perhaps calm down a bit?" Howitzer asked. "People are starting to wonder why my hat is smoking, and I really don't want my hair to catch on fire." 

 Bowser thumped the top of Howitzer's head with his tail in reply but managed to stop his smoke from escaping. 

 Torque made it to the front door, opening it for Luigi with a smile which Luigi returned as he walked in. Torque followed and smiled at the hostess koopa standing on a stool behind a wood podium. "Evening, Opal. Usual table please." 

 The she-koopa smiled up at him before glancing over to the human, her bright green eyes widened at the sight of him. "Oh! Oh my stars you’re-! Please wait here a moment!" The pair blinked in surprise as she hopped down from her little stool and hurried toward the back of the restaurant. Howitzer had just managed to squeeze through the door and hide behind a potted plant in the greeting area. Thankfully it was just tall enough to hide his bulk.

 Torque looked from where the hostess had been toward Luigi. "I don't know if that's a good reaction or a bad one, Teach." Torque stated. Luigi sighed as he shook his head. 

 "I honestly don't know either. I'm sorry, perhaps this date wasn't a good idea." Luigi stated. "I'm sorry to drag you into my mess." 

 Howitzer peeked from behind the plant as Bowser peeked from beneath the hat and grinned. This is perfect! Luigi will see this is a bad idea and come back to the castle where he's supposed to be. Where Bowser could keep an eye on him. Thankfully Howitzer took a fast mini clown car, they'd beat the pair back, and Bowser would be there waiting for Luigi to come find him and ask for forgiveness for even entertaining the idea of someone else. And.. maybe they could have supper together. 

 Before the two could leave a loud bang sounded from the back of the restaurant. A deep voice bellowed, "WHERE IS HE!? I MUST SPEAK WITH HIM!!" 

 The loud voice startled the human bad enough that he hid behind Torque. From the back of the restaurant a rather portly kaiju koopa came thundering toward them. Orange scales covered him head to nose tip, his large belly was covered by a stained up frock and apron. A white chef's toke was perched between his curled rams horns, a chef's frock was barely holding on by the buttons. As he laid red-orange eyes on the kaiju koopa at the foyer he started trying to look around him. 

 "I was informed the hero of our kingdom was here! Where is he?" The chef koopa demanded. 

 Torque glanced over his shoulder at Luigi who was trembling against his shell, when the human had ducked behind him Torque had willed his spikes to retract so as to not hurt the man. He looked back at the chef. "I'm sure he'd appreciate it if you lowered your voice first off." Torque crossed his arms over his chest. 

 The chef's eyes widened a bit as he backed up, lowering the pitch of his voice. "My deepest apologies, my hostess informed me of your arrival and I got a bit excited." After a moment or two, Luigi's trembles stopped and he was able to step out from behind Torque. The chef removed his toke as he bowed to the human. "It is a great honor that you have come to my humble restaurant."  

 "I.. wouldn't call this place humble." Luigi chuckled a bit. "And an honor?" 

 "But of course!" The chef beamed as he stood up straight placing his hat back on his head. "Your culinary skills have been raved about by my son and his kitchen staff." 

 "Your son? You mean Hans?" Luigi asked. 

 "Indeed! My son trained here you see and eventually got a job at the palace as the royal chef. It has not been easy with King Bowser's picky palate and exclusive picant for meats. Ever since you came to the palace however, Hans can't stop raving about your skill in the kitchen, and after seeing you in battle I was waiting for you to eventually come here." The chef explained. "From what he has told me you are of the same race as the man who's cook book I found a few centuries ago. Italian, yes?" 

 "Yes I am Italian." Luigi nodded, "I'm surprised you found an Italian cook book from so long ago." 

 "Well it was rather dog eared and worn, somehow I was able to read it. Thank the stars it was in basic language and I could understand it." The chef smiled. "But where are my manners, I am Master Head Chef Grogar. Please allow me to personally escort you to the royal balcony." 

 "Oh, no you don't have to do that. A normal table is fine." Luigi waved him off with a smile. The chef looked at him in confusion but who was he to deny a national hero his request. 

 "As you wish, please this way." The chef started walking back toward the restaurant proper followed by Luigi and Torque. Once they got a good distance away, Howitzer moved out from behind his hiding spot and started to follow them. He had to place a hand on top of the hat to push Bowser down. When Luigi had hid behind Torque he could feel the king prepare to leap out and blow their cover. Thankfully he'd calmed down now.

 "Excuse me." Opal spoke up from her original place behind the podium. Howitzer flinched a bit at being caught, he turned to look at the hostess trying to give his least guilty smile.  

 "Hello, I'd like a table." He stated. 

 Opal arched a brow ridge at this before turning to call over her shoulder. "BRUNO! WE HAVE A CREEPER IN A TRENCH COAT!!" 

 Outside the restaurant the kaiju and normal koopas started as the doors to Grogar's were thrown open and a trench coat wearing koopa was tossed out. Somehow Howitzer was able to keep his hat on keeping the small king safe. As the doors closed Bowser climbed out from under the hat spewing fire and curses in their native language. Had he not been so tiny it would have been a terrifying sight for sure. But this small he looked cute. 

 Howitzer sighed, this was completely out of his job description. "Sire, perhaps we should leave them be and get back to the palace." 

 Bowser snorted smoke from his nostrils angrily as he turned, "Not on your life, general. We are keeping our eyes on that date, one way or the other." Bowser turned back to look at the restaurant and noticed a group of vines hanging down from a window. He grinned as he pointed. "Up there." 

 Howitzer groaned as he face planted back into the ground. Absolutely not in his job description.

 *Inside*

 Luigi stared at the food in awe, it looked and smelled almost like his mama's cooking. Grogar must have been following that book to the letter if he was able to replicate recipes from Earth. They didn't even need to order as the Chef had informed them he'd bring out every dish on the menu for them to try.

 "This smells amazing, Grogar." Luigi smiled up at the chef. The man smiled back, taking off his toke and bowing at the waist. He gently took Luigi's hand and kissed the back of it. 

 At this time Howitzer and Bowser had made it up to the window in time to see the chef kiss Luigi's hand. In his rage Bowser launched from Howitzer's shoulder and attached to the window like an angry tree frog, snorting small plumes of smoke against the window. Howitzer was just quick enough to remove Bowser from the window and hide as the table's occupants and the chef turned to see what the sudden thump was. 

 After the chef had left to tend to his staff, the couple started digging in. The food was amazing even though Luigi didn't want to know what the chef substituted for some of the meat. After a few minutes of eating Torque asked something that had been on his mind for a few hours now. 

 "So, teach, if you don't mind me asking what was going on in the infirmary earlier with you and the king?" 

 Luigi paused, fork full of lasagna halfway to his mouth and sighed, setting the fork and food back down. He supposed he owed the man an explanation, it was only fair considering. "Well, there was a training accident with Roy and the kids. Thankfully none of them were hurt but I dislocated my shoulder. Instead of letting Kammy look at it I.. slammed it back into place using a bookshelf." 

 Torque winced a little. "Yeah that sounds rough, I've had to do that a time or two myself. Sometimes you don't have time for a medic." 

 "Did your boss ever question your sanity because of it?" Luigi chuckled humorlessly. 

 "I mean I got some looks from my workers but it's not uncommon." Torque shrugged. "Though once we were able to go see the medics we did to make sure nothing was seriously damaged. Did.. the king say you were crazy or something?" 

 "Not crazy, just not all there in the head." Luigi shook his head as he sipped his water. "Maybe I'm not but.." 

 "Not something you want pointed out." Torque nodded in understanding. "Maybe he was just concerned. People say stuff when they are worried."

 "Hes just so frustrating!" Luigi growled as he grabbed the nearest free fork and stabbed a piece of (he guessed was beef). Torque instantly felt sorry for the meat. "He acts all high and mighty and like he hasn't done crazy stuff, then he turns around and acts sweet and caring. Then it's like a one eighty again and it's infuriating and so confusing! I don't know what to think when it comes to that.. man! And don't get me started on the flirting!"

 Now he may not be the brainiest kaiju koopa in the kingdom but Torque could smell tension a mile away, whether it be normal tension or sexual he could always tell. This smelled like a bit of both. He hid his smile behind his glass, and it seemed the teach and the king had something going on for sure between them. And a bit of jealousy on the king's side for certain. Torque knew his brother was following them, and knew it since they landed in town. If the smell of brimstone and fire was any indicator, the king was with him. He’d noticed the king's little horns sticking up from the other side of the window still.

 "Well, why not find another job less stressful? You are the kingdom's here after all, anyone would hire you." Torque suggested.

 Luigi looked up at him in surprise and slightly hurt at the mere thought of leaving his students.

  "I couldn't do that to the kids. They've finally gotten an educator that cares about them. And who would keep Bowser on his toes? He's.. not all bad." 

 Outside the window Bowser peaked back in on the two. "I can't hear them! Can you tell what they're saying? Why does Luigi look upset? If your brother hurts his feelings.."

 Howitzer peaked in on the other side of the tiny king. "I can't read lips, Sire. But look, Luigi's perking back up." 

 Sure enough he was. Bowser couldn't hear them but the longer he watched the hotter his blood boiled. He couldn't believe that mechanic thought he was good enough to make Luigi smile and.. what is he laughing about?! How'd he get the human to laugh? Luigi did look beautiful when he laughed. But only he should be able to make the human laugh. Suddenly the chef came back and the pair had to duck back down so they weren't spotted. Bowser was going to put a stop to this date one way or another! After a minute or two did Bowser peak back up.. Right into a pair of blue eyes that seemed to sparkle with electricity. Torque waved the leg of meat he'd been munching on. 

"Why don't you two come in? The food is great!"

 *An hour later back at the palace* 

 "Come on, Iggy, you're the smart guy!" Roy stated. "How can you not know how to open a scroll?" 

 Iggy kept straining against the scroll's seal to break it but it refused to budge. "I'm trying! Gramps must have put a spell or something on it."

 After they'd stollen the scroll from Kamek's potion's room they'd hurried to the class room where they had been trying to open it the last couple hours to no avail. 

 "I'll give it a go again." Morton said. 

 So far all the kids had tried, even after Junior tried to torch it open the seal remained in place. 

 "Or perhaps it was not meant for you children to see the private medical history of your teacher." Kamek stated from where he and Kammy floated in the door way. The kids flinched as Iggy dropped the scroll. Kammy waved her wand and brought the scroll to her.

 "None of you need to see what is in that scroll." She shook her head as she tucked it up her sleeve. "Please, don't try to look at it again." 

 The kids grumbled a bit but nodded anyway. The dinging of the elevator caught the pair of magi koopa siblings' attention as Luigi stepped out into the hall. He blinked as the kids all filed out of the room.

 "Having a class party without the teacher?" Luigi asked with a smile. They all noticed the man was carrying something behind his back.

 "Not at all, what is it you have?" Kamek asked curiously. Luigi's mischievous smile made him slightly concerned. As the human brought what he had hidden around to the front where they could see it, Kamek face-palmed his forehead with a sigh of frustration. 

 "I have two new class pets, they are going to be part of a lesson on how it's rude to spy on people's dates." Luigi stated proudly. In a large glass jar Bowser sat pouting with his arms crossed with smoke rings escaping his nostrils while Howitzer sat on the far side munching on a hunk of meat.

 Kamek was seriously thinking about retiring.

Chapter Text

Luigi finished writing out the math problem on the board with a final tap of the chalk, setting it down he turned to Iggy who had been copying it as fast as he wrote it. "Alright, Iggy, you have until class two weeks from now to finish the equation and solve for the variable. If you get stuck don't hesitate to ask for help alright?" 

The young genius only nodded, his entire attention on the paper before him. Luigi just smiled as he moved from the board and toward the rest of his students, only observing. To his pride they didn't need him as much as they did in the beginning. Today was independent study so they were able to work on whatever they wanted; he was only there to offer assistance when asked for. Wendy was focused on her design sketch book and one of the small wooden models he'd bought for her the other day. They helped her get a better idea of anatomy and what cuts fit the shapes. Larry, Junior and Lemmy were busy making new art pieces to adorn the classroom walls. He'd made it more engaging for them, giving them small simple shapes and animals to try to paint. They were getting better, Junior especially. He could draw and paint cats, and they looked like cats now. Ludwig was busy with his newest composition. Morton was doing his sit ups while Roy held his feet down, it was only a few weeks until his birthday. He had noticed a few more visitors than usual coming from Bowser's office, they were all as tall as the king and dressed in high class attire from what Luigi could tell so they must be governing officials or something close to it. 

A small scowl adorned his face as he thought of the king. He had wanted to keep the king small longer to teach him a lesson about spying on people. He'd even let Howitzer out before Bowser, just to rub a little salt in the wound. Kamek, ever the voice of reason, informed him he had to let the king out since he had a kingdom to rule. Luigi had not so kindly dumped the king out of his jar, as soon as Bowser was big again, he stomped up to Luigi smoke pouring from his nostrils as he demanded an apology. 

Luigi had just said something rude in Italian and left him in the hall fuming. When Bowser tried to corner him to talk or even demand an apology Luigi wouldn't give him the time of day. Was he being petty? Yes. Did he care? Why should he? The king obviously didn't care or trust him when he spied on his date with Torque, so why should he care about what the king felt? He wasn't sure why the other should trust him. It's not like they were a couple. 

Maybe one day. No, that's stupid. Why would he even-

A rather colorful curse in Koopa filled the classroom as Ludwig threw his paper and quill across the room. The three youngest gasped, 

"Luddy said a swear!" The two verbal ones sing-songed in unison while Lemmy signed. 

"Where'd you learn that?" Wendy asked, her gaze already turning toward Morton who'd stopped his sit ups. 

"Ey, don't look at me." Morton shook his head. "Maybe he learned it from dad." 

Luigi paid the other students no mind as he walked toward the musician koopaling leaning down to pick up the quill and paper as he did. "Ludwig, what's wrong?" Ludwig simply crossed his arms and pouted, turning from the human. Luigi arched his brow as he moved around to see the other's face. "Ludwig, I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong." 

After another minute or two of staring the boy down Ludwig finally let out a frustrated groan, "Fine. I can't get that composition right. I know how I want the tune to come off but I can't put it to music." 

Luigi glanced down at the music paper, there were several parts of the notes scratched out and redone and scratched out again. "Hmm, maybe it would help if you played out the tunes on an instrument. Hearing them would help, I'm sure." 

Ludwig looked toward the instruments, "That's what's making it so difficult. It's actually a duet piece." 

Luigi smiled at the koopaling as he reached a hand out to him, Ludwig stared at it for a moment before taking the human's hand in his own. "I can help, I'm pretty good with instruments. What instruments did you envision for this piece?" 

"Piano and viola." Ludwig replied, "Can you play either of those?" 

Luigi nodded as he led the boy toward the music section of the classroom. The other koopalings, even Iggy, abandoned their own projects and followed. If the human could play as good as he sang, they were in for a good performance. Ludwig climbed up onto the large piano seat with Luigi’s help, once Ludwig was settled Luigi went to browse the instruments on display. Letting out a triumphant noise when he found the viola. The human sat beside the koopaling as he set the paper on the piano, Ludwig lifted the cover revealing the keys. 

"Alright, which part is the viola?" Luigi asked. 

Soon the classroom was filled with music as Luigi assisted Ludwig with his composition. It was flowy and easy to follow along with, each new part Ludwig quickly jotted down. His hope for a new masterpiece increased as it all came together soon after it was completed. He smiled brightly up at the human before hugging him. 

"Thank you so much!" He beamed up at the human. Luigi gently patted the child's blue hair as he hugged him back. 

"Siete i benvenuti." Luigi replied. 

"Pretty music!" Junior cheered. "Can you play other stuff?" 

Luigi's smile widened as he nodded, bringing the bow back up and started playing again. 

*In Bowser's office* 

"From our reports, sire, revenue is returning to proper numbers now that trade is opened back up with the other kingdoms. The Mushroom kingdom is the biggest investor in Koopa products, especially our fire stones." The kaiju koopa in charge of import and export, Kido stated. He was an older kaiju koopa who had served many of Bowser's ancestors, his scales were a grayish blue color showing his age. "The other kingdoms are accepting our exports but have yet to send any, they are still trying to feel things out from what I can tell. It hasn't hurt us with The Mushroom kingdom's support as well as Sarasaland following suit."

Bowser simply grunted as he read over the numbers, his mind seemed to be elsewhere. Or rather on someone else. Kamek rolled his eyes behind glasses as he floated up to be level with the old kaiju. "Thank you, Master Kido for your report. Keep an eye on things, hopefully the other kingdoms realize we are genuine in our peace talks." 

Kido bowed toward the two as he moved to gather up his scrolls. A thought seemed to occur to him as he spoke. "I was wondering, sire, if perhaps letting the other kingdoms know that the green Mario brother is staying here will help them realize faster-" 

The blazing red gaze focused on him so fast as the king stood, the older Kaiju flinched at the sudden rage directed at him. "We are not using him that way! And his name is Luigi! Not the green Mario brother, how dare you refer to him as such! He's nothing like the red pest! I ought to fry your scales off right now!" 

Kamek was quick to wave his wand, placing a binding spell over Bowser's mouth before he made good on his threat. "Thank you, Master Kido, you are dismissed." Kamek emphasized. This time the old koopa wasted no time in running out of the office, he didn't close the door as he ran out. Once the man was gone did Kamek release his spell. "Sire, you cannot go around threatening your advisors. They will quit and I will have to take over their jobs. Again." 

Bowser snorted a ring of smoke at the floating magi koopa. "You'd think by now they'd know his name." He stood from his chair; his tail twitched from agitation. Every time the human was even brought up by someone else it set his temper a flare. The man still wouldn't talk to him! And he was his boss. It had been nearly a month since the... date between him and that mechanic. For the last couple weeks whenever he tried to corner the other, he either left or was talking with someone else. He gave all those other koopa attention! Bowser was King! He should get all the attention when it wasn't on his kids. They were the only exceptions to this since they were why he was hired in the first place. 

Bowser started to pace in front of his desk, tail swishing back and forth. Tendrils of smoke flowed from his nostrils. What was it about Luigi that set his blood boiling and made his temper flair so much? He was never like this with Peach, even when he first had a crush on her he never acted so... brash over her. Sure, he was annoyed when Mario stole her back after he put so much effort into kidnapping her, but he never became so enraged. Not like with this human. As he paced, he thought about how different they were. Peach was graceful, beautiful, she commanded a whole kingdom with such accuracy it made the mushroom kingdom a formidable force on par with his own kingdom. For most of his kind she was a perfect candidate for being a mate. 

When Bowser first met the younger Mario brother years ago, sure he thought the other was cute even as he cowered behind his shorter brother. But the idea that he could be anything remotely close to a Kaiju Koopa’s ideal mate never occurred to him. Now though, Bowser let out an unconscious rumbling purr as he thought about the human. Gorgeous blue eyes that seemed to spark with electric energy when he got an idea or even when angered. That soft looking hair that the king was longing to run his claws through now that he was growing it out. That wicked mind that'd he'd been hiding for years apparently as well as a spine of steel. Bonus of course was how he doted on the kids as if they were his own, most new mates that came into the picture of a single parent with offspring usually ended with the kids forced out. Not to mention he could pull off dresses and skirts way better than any princess, including Peach honestly. If only he'd worn them a bit shorter... 

"SIRE!" Kamek's high pitched voice snapped him back to reality as he was inches from slamming into a wall. Bowser let out a growl as he turned from the wall and went to start his pacing up again. Only he was interrupted by Kamek floating in front of his nose. "What has you so distracted, your thoughtfulness?" 

Bowser grumbled as he moved around the magikoopa, his cheek scales having taken on a pink tinge. "Nothing, just thinking is all." 

Kamek arched a brow ridge over his glasses and easily came up with the answer, not that he had to think too hard. Directing his broom, he moved to float back in front of the king who snarled at him. "Really, sire, perhaps you should just go talk to him. Maybe ask him out to lunch just so you two can actually speak instead of yelling at each other, I'm sure Chef Hans would be more than happy to make a meal just for you two."

The pink tinge became a blazing red almost the same shade as his hair. "I.. I don't know what you're talking about! Why would I ever want to have lunch with the tutor? Besides there's nothing to talk about." Bowser crossed his arms in a very childish way, turning his snout to the side so the magikoopa couldn't see the pout that wasn't there.

Kamek narrowed his eyes behind his spectacles as he raised his wand, casting a spell that made Bowser face him. "I have raised you since you were a hatchling, Bowser Ryujinn, I know what's going through that big head of yours. You're pining for him as you did Peach, only this time you are too stubborn to actually admit it or act on it. I am impressed with your restraint not to do something rash, but if you keep acting like an oversized child you will push him away. Now," Kamek snapped his claws, releasing the spell on the king. "You are going to march over to that classroom and invite Luigi for lunch, just the two of you." 

Kamek expected a tantrum or another denial, instead the king let out a noise that was between a growl and a whine. A noise Bowser hadn't made since he was a child. "He won't talk to me, Chichioya, whenever I try, he finds some excuse to get away from me. What if he doesn't like me that way? I mean after all why would he?"

Kamek's gaze softened as he moved closer to his oversized baby boy, he smiled as he touched a clawed hand to the king's cheek. "Then you do what you do best and make him listen, Chisana supaiku, perhaps apologizing will help the situation." He leaned forward on his broom careful not to fall pressing his beak to the large forehead. "Now go on." 

Bowser grumbled as Kamek moved out of the way about not being a hatchling anymore. Trudging toward the open office door a sound caught his attention as he entered the hall. Music, a piano and.. was that a viola? It was a piece he'd never heard before and it sounded amazing. As he got closer to the classroom the music got louder, peeking his head in he saw Ludwig at the piano playing what he could only guess was the musician koopaling's newest piece. Standing beside him was Luigi, viola in hand playing along with the piano, the classroom windows were open letting in some natural light that gave the man's brown hair a golden sheen to it. His heart was doing that weird fluttery thing again. Maybe... Kamek was right about this. Bowser'd never admit it to the old koopa of course. He'd never live it down. 

Ducking a bit, he entered the classroom almost immediately catching his kid's attention as well as Luigi’s. The kids on the floor hurried over to him all smiles, while Luigi's smile fell a bit at seeing him. That stung a bit, he hoped he could fix this. 

As Ludwig jumped down from the seat taking the sheet music with him Luigi set the viola back where it had come from and sat on the piano seat. Even though they were in the middle of class he didn't want to interrupt their time with their father. 

"Father, I finally finished my composition! Luigi was able to help me finish it and it's perfect!" Ludwig gushed excitedly; Bowser was a little taken aback by this. Ludwig was usually more reserved and composed even when talking about music. "You think the maestro at this year's concerto will want to play it?" 

"He just might, I'll be sure to ask him when I can." Bowser nodded; he looked up from his son to focus on the human sitting at the piano. "So... how are classes going?" 

"Fine, I'll give Kamek my report on their progress by the end of the week as promised. If you wish to see it, I’m sure he’d be more than happy to show it to you." His tone was professional and short. Yeah, he was still mad, who knew a human could hold a grudge so long? Before the king could reply further, the alarm clock on the desk sounded signifying the end of class. Luigi's demeanor seemed to change completely as he smiled at the kids. "Alright, kids, tomorrow is a free day so decide amongst yourselves what you want to do." 

The kids hurried back to the human for hugs and goodbyes, as they started for the door Junior noticed their father wasn't following. 

"Papa? You comin?" He asked curiously, catching the attention of the rest of his siblings. The older four looked between their father and Luigi, pieces falling into place. 

Morton picked up Junior, "C'mon, little guy, dad's gotta talk with Teach about... class work. Sides, it's nap time for little koopalings.”

Grateful for his eldest, Bowser nodded looking at the kids, "Yeah. I'll be out in a little while ok?"

Satisfied with his answer the kids left the classroom, leaving the king and tutor alone. The room was awkwardly silent now that the kids were gone, the sound of wind blowing through the window the only noise between them. Before Bowser could speak, Luigi started playing a simple tune on the piano. He walked over to the other carefully as if he was approaching a wild animal, when Luigi made no movements to leave, he got closer and sat down on the bench. 

"Look," Bowser sighed, might as well rip the bandage off, "About spying on your date with the mechanic." 

"Torque." Luigi supplied in a clipped tone unprompted. 

"Right, Torque... I'm... sorry. I let my emotions get away from me." Bowser said. "It was just a really emotional situation. And... I'm sorry for calling your sanity into question. I'm not the best person to do that, given what I've done in the past, I really am sorry." 

Luigi didn't reply, simply kept playing. What more apology did he want? Bowser swallowed his pride, a very big thing to swallow, mind you, and apologized as Kamek suggested. Luigi forgiving him should be expected right? Right? 

The human didn't say anything, the tune sounded upset. He was using the lower pitched keys to play, Bowser guessed apologizing wouldn't be enough but what could he do? 

Listening to the unhappy tune he got an idea, gently he placed his claws over the higher pitched keys. As Luigi played the last note of his tune Bowser started playing a happy, almost jaunty tune. Luigi side eyed the king, blue eyes curious and guarded as they stared up at him. Bowser stopped playing, allowing the human to continue with his somber tone. Bowser decided to try again, this time trying a more whimsical tune his claws flew over the keys naturally. He glanced down at the human with a small smile on his lips, Luigi kept eyeing him curiously.

Was he trying to apologize with music since words didn't work? The King did apologize, that didn't excuse what he did. It was an invasion of privacy he had no right to, but... still the tune sounded light almost submissive in a way. Perhaps he really was sorry. As Bowser started playing his tune softer Luigi decided to play his own tune on the keys again, together the music was harmonious. Luigi's tone grew softer as he smiled at the king beside him, Bowser's became bouncier as he realized he was finally being let back in a grin spread across his face. As they continued to play their hands brushed up against each other. The music stopped as the two realized what happened. Luigi was the first to pull away, 

"Sorry about my enthusiasm. It gets away from me sometimes." Luigi chuckled. 

Bowser turned fully to face the man smiling softly. "I don't mind your enthusiasm, it's infectious really." They stared at each other for a few more minutes before Bowser spoke again. "Look, Luigi, I was hoping we-" 

"Sire! Emergency!" Howitzer rushed into the classroom interrupting the moment between the two. 

"WHAT COULD BE SO IMPORTANT IT COULDN'T WAIT!!" Bowser roared as he stood from the piano bench. Surprisingly he didn't knock it over. 

"Sire, forgive me but King Zukin has been spotted in the nearby forest." Howitzer placed his fist over his heart as he bowed. All of Bowser's anger at being interrupted turned to pure rage at the mention of his skeletal cousin. 

"How close?" He asked, his tone having gone dark.

"Only a hundred yards away from the castle proper, sire. He reports say he isn't getting any closer than the edge of the cherry blossom field. He seems to have come from the badlands with only a handful of dry troopers." Howitzer reported. 

"Send sentries to the kids' rooms, they are not to leave their rooms until I give the order." Bowser stated, he turned to face Luigi. "That goes for you too, get back to your room. Better yet, gather the kids in your room and don't let them leave." 

Luigi stood from the bench. "I can fight and help you know." 

"I know but you have a more important job of protecting your students." Bowser said, "You told me to trust you with them and I am." 

Luigi stared into the king's eyes for a moment before nodding. "You'd better come back in one piece too." After Bowser nodded, did he leave the room headed for the elevator. The elevator ride up to the royal wing seemed to take a little longer than it should have. As the car stopped Polterpup phased through the doors barking in a panicked manner, he was holding something in his ghostly mouth. "Polty, what's wrong?" 

Luigi grabbed the small cloth from the pup's mouth and his blood ran cold. It was Junior's bandana. Luigi noticed the doors didn't open on their own like they should have, he pried them open and recoiled almost instantly at the smell that wafted in. It smelled like knock out gas or at least close to it. He quickly tied the bandana around his mouth and nose, as he rushed out keeping himself low just below the cloud of yellowish green smoke. Laying in the hall half conscious and coughing were the kids, Morton was doing his best to cover Iggy's mouth and nose rather than his own while Roy did the same for Lemmy and Larry. Wendy had pulled her bow off and gave half of it to Ludwig. He couldn't see Junior. 

"Quickly to my room, its closest stay low." Realizing help had arrived the older kids helped the younger make their way to the human where he crouched at his door. Once they were beside him, he opened it, they crawled in as fast as they could. Once they were all in, he slammed it shut. Grabbing the nearest thing he could he covered the bottom seam of the door, once done he rushed toward his windows throwing them open to release the gas that managed to get inside. Polterpup kept moving between the kids gently nuzzling them with his nose as if to help soothe their breathing with his cold snout.

"That was... close..." Morton gasped as he took in lungs full of unpolluted air. As Iggy started coughing again, Morton moved the skinny koopaling closer to the open windows and fresh air. "Breathe, Igs, breathe." 

Iggy had started gasping a bit to Luigi's worry but slowly he started breathing normally. He quickly ran to his bathroom and grabbed several wash clothes, wetting them he brought them back, passing them out so the kids could clean their nasal airways.

"What happened?" Luigi asked as they started getting their breaths back. "Where's Junior?"

Roy was the first to speak. “Gone... we were coming into the hall and these dry bone troopers got the drop on us with the knockout bombs, before we realized what was happening, they took off out of one of the hall windows closing it behind them and Junior was gone with them.” 

“They never attack the castle.” Wendy nodded. “What's happening?” 

Luigi narrowed his eyes a bit in anger, before he could reply, Kammy appeared coughing in the room with a pop. “My stars, what is that awful smell out there?!” She croaked. “Are you children alright?” 

“Grammy!” Larry cried as he hurried toward the old female magikoopa, “Skeletons took Junior!” 

“What?!” She demanded looking up from the little blue haired koopaling wrapped around her waist toward Luigi. The human had gone back into his room, he was only gone a few minutes. Coming back he was dressed all in black, a backpack slung over his shoulder. He had a black nylon rope in his hand.

“They said dry bone troopers attacked inside and took Junior. Bowser just got a message from Howitzer that Zukin is closing in on the castle. They have to be connected.” Luigi walked toward the open window. “I’m going to get Junior; you guys stay with Kammy here.” 

“What in the world do you plan to do?” Kammy demanded. Luigi had tied the rope to the railing and to everyone’s shock he climbed up onto the railing. 

“I’m going to get Junior.” He simply repeated. With that he jumped from the balcony holding onto the rope. The kids rushed toward the railing and looked down just in time to see Luigi use the wall as a kickoff and jump all the way across the mote of sludge. Landing on the other side amongst the trees he took off running. Barking, Polterpup flew over the railing following his master. 

Kammy prayed the human returned safely with the prince, there would be no stopping Bowser if either got hurt.

Chapter Text

Ever since he was old enough to understand Junior had been taught that his rank made him a target. As crown prince more enemies would come after him more so than his siblings. Kamek had always told him that should he ever be kidnapped he was to remain calm and patient. Rescue wouldn't be far behind and he'd be saved. However Junior had his father's stubbornness and impatience. The two dry bones carrying him had opted to fly beneath the trees since they were less likely to be spotted by royal guard. Plus the prince was heavy as hell for being such a little guy, they couldn't keep him above the trees for long. Junior got more and more scared the thinner the trees got, instead of being covered in lively cherry blossoms and green leaves, they were now half dead and pale as a boo. He knew they were getting closer to the Dark lands and further from home. As they were closer to the ground Junior had started to struggle and wiggle to get free of their hold. 

"Hold still, little brat! Or do you want us to drop you?" One of the dry bones hissed.

"Lemme go! Papa is gonna make you sorry!" Junior snapped, he kept wiggling and squirming making it harder for the dry bones to keep hold of his little arms. 

The trio flew on through the now dead forest, none  noticing the shadow quickly gaining ground. A sudden green lightning bolt shot flew at the pair of dry bones, miraculously it didn't affect Junior. The sudden shock caused them to drop the prince onto the ground thankfully not too far below. The magic holding them together disappeared enough for them to fall apart and onto the ground around the prince. Junior didn't waste time getting up from the ground and running to find somewhere safe to hide, knowing it took more than a shock to permanently put them down.  

"What the hells was that?!" One asked as he put his head back onto his neck bone. His partner shook his own replaced head. 

"I don't know, where'd the kid go? Boss is gonna be so mad if we don't get him to the battlefield in time." The other stated. "We’re gonna get refried!"

"Yeah I know that." The first replied. "Here princey, princey. We weren't gonna hurt ya, we were taking ya to your daddy!" As they looked around neither noticed the tall shadow looming over them until a chilling voice spoke from behind. 

"And please pray tell, why were you doing that?" The two froze as a chill came over them, the air electrified. They turned slowly seeing only a smile below sparking blue eyes and screamed.

*With Junior*

The little prince kept running as fast as his tiny legs could carry him, he didn't recognize anything around him but he knew he couldn't stop. The sudden screams from behind him made him even more terrified. He knew they belonged to the two that kidnapped him, but what made them scared? He didn't want to know. As he ran he noticed a dead tree with a large hole in its base, it looked big enough for him to squeeze through if he pulled his spikes in. Junior turned and headed for the hole, willing his spikes into his shell he crawled in moving as far back as he could turning so he could see anything that tried to get in curling his tail around his legs. He could hear something approaching, sniffing around until he could see a large pale snout come into view of the hole's opening. Junior whimpered as he tried to move further back into the hole to get away from the investigating nose but couldn't. Panicked, he shot a small stream of fire out at the snout. The thing let out a small whine as it backed away. There was a pale blue glow and a few seconds later Polterpup crawled slowly into the hole with him staying low so as not to frighten him more.

"Polty!" Junior cried out as the spectral canine approached. Polterpup made himself solid to where the koopaling could wrap his arms around him. Not a minute later, a pair of black shoes came into view of the hole. 

"Junior, it's alright you can come out now." Luigi's voice spoke from outside the hole. 

Polterpup moved out of the way just as Junior launched himself from his hiding spot. Knowing what was coming, Luigi knelt down so he could catch the terrified koopaling prince in his arms. Now safe in the human's arms, Junior let his tears loose, burrowing his face into Luigi's neck crying his little heart out. 

"Sh, sh, it's alright now, piccolo. You're safe." Luigi soothed the toddler as he sat back on his rump to hold him better. As Junior continued to cry, Luigi started rocking back and forth humming softly. Polterpup had left the hole and sat beside the pair. After a few more minutes of crying, did Junior finally calm down. He shifted to look up at the human. "Feeling a little better?" 

Junior nodded, "Yeah, the bone heads said they were taking me to Papa." 

Luigi stood still holding Junior. "I know, I need you to go back to the castle with Polterpup ok? I'm going to go check on your papa."

Junior was reluctant to let go of the man but nodded anyway. "Ok, mama." Luigi froze at the words that left the little Koopa. He didn't seem to notice so Luigi didn't say anything.  Instead he looked toward the ghostly canine and nodded. Polterpup stood and began to glow; instead of a ghostly pup, there now stood a large white wolf, the red collar still in place around his neck. His head was level with Luigi's own."Whoa, Polty is a wolf?" 

"Well he didn't start out that way, I'll tell you about it later some time alright?" Luigi gently placed Junior on the wolf's back. "Hold on tight and he'll get you home safely ok?" 

"Ok." Junior replied. 

"Polty, take care of him." Luigi spoke to the wolf stroking the side of his head. The wolf gave a soft growl as it licked the human's face before walking off in a gentle trot. Luigi watched the two leave until he couldn't see them anymore. Cleaning his face he walked a little ways from the tree to where he left his backpack. Lifting it from the ground he opened it revealing the two dry bones' heads. "Now Boys, you are going to tell me exactly what is going on. For your sakes, don't lie.”

The ice in the man's voice had them fearing for their after lives.

* Further in the dead forest *

Bowser grunted as the boney tail connected with his midsection, knocking him back a few feet. He just managed to  keep his footing. 

"C'mon, Cousin, you can do better than that!" Zukin laughed at the kaiju koopa king. "You seriously got your tail handed to you by some freak show and you expect your subjects to still follow a weak ruler?" 

"Sire!" Howitzer called out to his king. The dry bones army had set traps all throughout the forest capturing all the men he brought. They were all dangling around the clearing in large magic proof cages. Howitzer himself was captured in a magical net that kept him from changing to his larger form. He had to do something to help his king and friend, he'd never felt so.. useless! 

Bowser growled a bit as he glared at the dry bones king. He'd torched the man himself not long after he'd taken the throne, Zukin tried to take over by force as he was the older cousin and didn't think Bowser was fit to rule. He and several koopas that were loyal to him tried to form a coup. Bowser had shown him and the entire council of elders how much stronger his fire was. 

"What's it to you? You were banished so you don't need to worry about what goes on here." Bowser snarled, lunging at the Dry Bones ruler. “You’re lucky you’re my blood and I let you rule the Badlands. Or you'd have been gone from this land entirely.”

The other dodged out of the way of Bowser's claws moving to his blind side and delivered a hard kick to his ribs. Bowser fell over clutching his side; Zukin didn't give him time to recover as he moved forward, quick claws aiming for Bowser's other eye. Bowser just managed to move out of the way only catching his arm on Zukin's sharp claws. Howitzer and the soldiers kept trying to get free as well to save their king, the cages and net were just too strong.

"So? Doesn't mean I can't take it by force again, who knows I might succeed this time." Zukin gave him a toothy grin. "Well unlike last time I do have an ace in the hole on his way here now, should be here any second." 

"The hells are you talking about?" Bowser demanded just managing to get to his feet.

"Oh just a little insurance to make sure you give me what I want." Zukin stated. 

The two stared each other down, waiting for whatever was coming to show. As the minutes went on and no one came, Zukin's grin started to fall. 

"So much for your ace." Bowser smirked. 

Before Zukin could reply there was a twig snap to their right, his grin started to lift until he heard something else. It sounded like bones being dragged across the ground. From the trees came the green Mario brother. His chilling blue eyes were locked on the Zukin as he came into the clearing. The koopas started to cheer but their voices were lost at the site the man made walking forward and what he brought with him.

"Luigi? The hell are you-" Bowser froze mid sentence as he saw what Luigi was dragging along behind him. Several dry bones’ skulls with a rope looped through their eye holes. 

"I had made it up to the royal wing to check on the kids. What do I find? The hall filled with knockout gas, the children gasping for air. Two have breathing problems as is. Heaven knows what would have happened had I not gotten there in time." Luigi spoke, pulling the string of skulls forward. 

"Boss! Save us! He's insane!" One of the skulls cried out. "He- he ain't normal! He shattered our bodies! He wants to use us as decorations!!" 

Luigi waited until the dry bones finished talking before he slammed his foot down on the skull, crushing it. The soldiers and general stared at the man in awe, and a little fear. It took a lot of strength to break the body of a dry bones, even their king struggled with them sometimes.

"Damn, Teach! Nice stomp!" Drake cheered from the cage, only to be elbowed by his partner into silence.

"Two of these tried to bring Junior here as a bargaining chip, I'm guessing that was your 'ace in the hole'? You are lucky I got to him first." Luigi stated.

Holy hells . Bowser thought, eyes wide. While this was just terrifying to watch, Bowser didn't think Luigi could get any hotter. 

"You.. what are you?" Zukin growled glaring blazing embers at the man. 

Luigi simply smiled as he dropped the rope and started walking toward Zukin, "Just a teacher." 

Zukin blew fire at the man who easily lept out of the way. Coating his hand in lightning Luigi angled his body to land on the Dry bones's shell barely missing the spikes. Before Zukin could react the lightning fist punched the back of his neck bone effectively removing the head from the body. Grabbing it by the red pony tail he jumped off causing the body to collapse. Landing on his feet he walked toward the rope. 

"DON'T YOU FUCKIN DARE! I AM KING OF THE BADLANDS! I WILL-" 

"Make a great wall decoration." Luigi grinned as he ran the rope through the eye sockets. As he finished he glanced toward Bowser, smiling. "Where should we hang it?" 

"I think we should put it in the barracks! It’d make great target practice!" Spike supplied.

"Hmm maybe, what do you think, Bowser?" Luigi asked.

Bowser just stared at the man, "..Marry me.." 

All sound in the forest stopped.

"I.. what?" Luigi dropped the skull and rope in shock. His face had strangely turned pale. "You're joking."

Bowser moved toward the man, "I've never been more serious in my life, Luigi. I love-"

"STOP!" Luigi's yell filled the forest. "Just.. stop.." His breathing had turned ragged suddenly. His mind was a jumble in old memories, his own feelings were warring with his mind. "I.. you can't.. love me.. I'm.. I'm not worth anything let alone love.."

Bowser's blood boiled suddenly. "Who the hells told you that? I will kill them for saying something so disgustingly untrue." Bowser went to reach for the man, Luigi flinched back. Before Bowser could stop him he took off in the direction of home. Bowser watched him go, his heart breaking for the man, and he swore to track down whoever told Luigi he wasn't worthy of love. Even if it was to Earth he would find them.

"Too bad for you, Cousin." Zukin laughed, "Not even the weak Mario brother wants to marry you." Bowser paid him no mind as he started helping get his men down. 

In the forest Luigi ran as fast as he could, his eyes blurred with tears. A certain shadow followed him through the trees grinning widely, enjoying the man's suffering. Hopefully he had effectively ruined his self confidence enough to where he wouldn't accept the king's proposal. Only he could have the human. He already did after all, Luigi was his and he intended to keep it that way no matter what the king or their ally wanted.

Run, little plumber, run Solaris whispered. I will have you once more and you will never get away again when I do.

Chapter Text

The clearing was quiet for the most part as Howitzer, still in his larger form, assisted the king in releasing the other soldiers after being freed himself. He’d first made sure to cover Zukin’s mouth with medical gauze, no one wanted to hear the dry bones king’s insults or yelling. They’d done the same with the other dry bones, so far they’d been quiet but why take the chance? As he lowered the last cage, the general’s gaze kept drifting toward his king in worry. Asking the man point blank to marry him? Sure Howitzer and pretty much the entire castle staff could tell there was something brewing between the two ever since the challenge months ago. But still, that was no time to build any sort of relationship. He didn’t blame Luigi for running the way he did, but what he said before. Not being worthy of love. Someone had hurt that man, badly. Howitzer worried for both the human and his king’s current mental states. Especially such a harsh rejection of the king, while it was nothing to do with him personally it was still painful.

“General Howitzer.” The king’s voice cut through his thoughts like a knife. Howitzer turned to face Bowser, giving the king his full attention. “Make sure you get yourself and the troops to medical when you get back.”

“Yes, Sire, you should visit Lady Kammy as well.” Howitzer suggested. He walked toward where Zukin and the other dry bones skulls laid on the ground “Also, what should we do with them?” He poked Zukin’s skull with his foot earning a muffled yell.

“Just string them up in the dungeon for now.” Bowser replied. He didn’t acknowledge Howitzer’s suggestion of visiting medical, instead he started limping back toward the castle. His thoughts were miles away, all centered on one human.

Not worthy of love.

You can’t love me.

Not worth anything.

Bowser was dying to unleash his flames on something, someone. Particularly the someone that fed Luigi those lies. Since the human had come to the castle, he’s seen the man angry, happy, maybe a little embarrassed, and at peace. Never had he seen Luigi reduced to such a terrified shaking mess at the mere idea of someone loving him. The image of those blue eyes filled with tears made his heart constrict painfully. It was almost as painful as watching him run away. There was something seriously wrong, someone had hurt him horribly and he intended to get to the bottom of it. Today. Hopefully the human hadn’t left the kingdom completely.

The castle came into view sooner than Bowser expected, he was relieved to see the air ship was still where Luigi had landed it months ago. As he got closer, he could see Kammy floating back and forth worriedly on the other side of the bridge. As she caught sight of him, she flew toward him, her eyes widening a bit as she saw he was limping.

“Sire! You are limping! What in the world happened out there?! Junior came back on a ghostly wolf, then luigi came running through the trees as if a demon was chasing him.” Kammy squawked.

“First: Is Junior ok? He hurt?” Bowser asked as he continued inside. “And the other kids, they ok?”

“Yes, I treated them for smoke inhalation. Princes Lemuel and Ignatius suffered the worst, but they are alright now. After Junior returned with the wolf, which turned back into Luigi’s ghost dog, they gathered in the playroom.” Kammy explained.

Bowser nodded, letting out a sigh of relief as he pushed open the front doors. “Good, make sure they stay there for now. Luigi and I need to have a talk, if he’s still here.”

“Yes… sire, there’s something I need to show you.” Kammy said waving her wand making a scroll appear from thin air.

“Not now, Kammy.” Bowser shook his head. “I need to talk to Luigi before he takes off.”

“This concerns Luigi, sire.” Kammy stated, floating in front of him causing him to stop. “The day you brought him and Roy in, this is a full list of his medical history and past injuries. Some of them are… strange and rather concerning.”

Bowser narrowed his eyes at the parchment for a moment before grabbing it from her. Kammy was quick to remove the locking spell on the paper letting him unroll it.

*A little earlier…*

Luigi burst through the trees, the castle just a yard away. He could see his air ship still sitting where he’d left it, he thought about just getting on board and flying off… somewhere. Anywhere. He shook his head instead, continuing toward the castle, he saw Kammy floating at the doors but didn’t stop as she called out to him. Instead, he kept running until he was inside. Hitting the elevator button, he climbed in pushing the button for the royal floor. Luigi leaned his forehead against the doors, finally trying to catch his breath.

“Fanculo.” He breathed out at first, resting his fist against the door. “Fanculo. Fanculo. Fanculo. DANNAZIONE!” With each word he punched the door, screaming out the last. He felt his knuckles split but ignored the pain.

The fuck was he doing?  Getting so worked up like that? He hasn’t panicked that bad in years. He thought he was over that, why. Why did it have to flare up now? Why did that stupidly charming kaiju koopa propose after he fought one of his enemies for him? Things were fine as they were. Right? Teaching the kids. That was his job. That’s what he’d been hired for. He wasn’t supposed to become friends with the king. He wasn’t supposed to get attached to his students. He wasn’t supposed to catch feelings for the king.

But.. it was mutual apparently. Why else would he propose? A small timid voice spoke. Almost sounded like his old self. Maybe he does feel for us.

What could we possibly offer a fucking king? We’re the help, that’s how it’s supposed to stay . Another voice, more like him now snapped back. We’re far too damaged to be of any worth to him let alone as a lover.

Luigi shook his head trying to dislodge the voices. Maybe he was crazy. He needed to get away, he needed space and time. Away from Bowser and his stupid glowing red eyes and handsome smile. He stood up straight as he felt the elevator start to slow. Luigi started to walk out only to come nose to beak with Kamek.

“We need to talk. Now.” Kamek stated. Before the man could protest or run, Kamek made them both vanish and reappear in the human’s room. Luigi noticed the kids were gone. That was good he supposed, they didn’t need to be here for this.

“Look..” Luigi started.

“Who are you truly?” Kamek asked, pointing his scepter at the human, the end glowing a bit.

Luigi stared down at the scepter for a moment before looking up at the old magikoopa. “My name is Luigi Antonio Patrizio Leonardo Mario. I’m the brother of Mario, hero of the Mushroom kingdom.”

Kamek stared at the man for a moment longer before lowering the scepter. “You’ve been hiding things: those abilities, your canine coming back in the form of a ghostly wolf, strange injuries and scars that haven’t happened yet, a connection with the being that killed our queen centuries ago. There are far too many mysteries surrounding you for me to be comfortable to let you be near the royal family any longer.”

Luigi felt himself pale as Kamek mentioned the scars. “How.. do you know about my scars?”

“Do you remember the diagnostic scroll Kammy summoned for you when you slammed your shoulder back into place?” Kamek asked.

“Fanculo. Look I can explain, the place I got those scars was outside of this time frame. Time there moved faster, here I’d only been gone ten minutes. There it was ten years. The magic there was very powerful, the scars became part of me and even when I came back to this plain they were still there.” Luigi explained. Kamek studied him as if looking for a lie.

“Why aren’t they visible?” Kamek asked. “Why is it the scars from your younger years can be seen?”

“Because.. I used a special cream made by Professor E. Gadd to cover them. My other scars can be seen since I had them before then.” Luigi replied.

Kamek stared the human down for a minute, “You have exactly five minutes to scrub the cream off, come back out here and explain exactly what is going on with you.”

Luigi blinked in slight surprise at that before nodding. Moving around the floating magikoopa he made his way to the bathroom to get clean. All the while steeling himself for a conversation, he’d hoped he wouldn’t have to have. Ever.

Kamek floated in the living room waiting for the human to return.

Kamek! Kammy’s sudden panicked squawk made him flinch. Being twins, the pair shared a telepathic link.

Kammy, now isn’t a good time I’m afraid. Kamek sent back.

Kamek, the king knows about Luigi’s injuries. Kammy quickly said.

Kamek blinked in surprise, Kammy we were going to tell the king after I spoke with Luigi. To get to the bottom of this human.

Yes, I know but well, he came back and was determined to speak to the man before he disappeared. I couldn’t wait anymore. Kammy said. He could hear the apology in her voice. Also he-

Kamek’s train of thought was interrupted by the bedroom door opening. He turned his broom toward the door and nearly fell off.

There was not an inch of the human’s bared torso, arms and legs left untouched by scars. Claw marks, bites, and even blade wounds covered the man. Just to the right of his heart was the most prominent wound, it was star shaped as if he’d been stabbed through.

“Jōkū.” Kamek breathed his scales had paled considerably.

“I know, I’m hideous.” Luigi managed a sheepish smile.

“I.. how are you still alive?” Was all Kamek could ask.

Before Luigi could reply, the doors to his room were thrown open. Bowser stepped inside and froze at the sight of him. Luigi felt himself shrink at the intense stare being directed at him, he wrapped his arms around his bare chest. The king’s eyes started glowing as the pupils narrowed to slits.

“WHO. DID. THIS?” Bowser’s voice was deeper than usual. It sent shivers down the human’s spine.

Luigi didn’t speak at first, not wanting to give voice to the truth he’s been hiding for so long from everyone. From his brother, Peach, the entire Mushroom kingdom. Unable to hold the intense gaze any longer he turned his face away. “It’s not that big of a deal. It happened, I’m alive. I understand if you don’t want me here any longer. I’ll have my air ship packed with what I brought by the end of the day.”

He missed the quiet footfalls that approached him. Kamek started to protest only for Bowser to hold his hand up to silence the magikoopa. By the time Luigi realized Bowser was standing in front of him, a clawed hand gently grasped his chin turning the man’s gaze back to his. The crimson gaze was still glowing but not as intense as before.

“The truth, Luigi, please.” Hearing the king say ‘please’ surprised the human enough that he started talking.

“It was two years ago.” He began. “Myself, Mario and Peach along with a few of her attending Toads were invited to this new hotel that had just opened up. They wanted us to be the first guests before it was open to the public. The invitation didn’t say why we were invited, nothing seemed off about it so we packed up for a weekend away and headed there. We got there and were greeted by the owner, looking back now we.. I should have sensed something was off. The way she and the staff in the lobby moved wasn't natural. Too fluid. Night fell and I heard Peach scream, I went to check on her and Mario but couldn’t find them. That’s when the owner, Madame Gravely revealed she was a ghost and..”

Luigi broke off moving away from Bowser, he’d started pacing a bit taking a breath before he continued still feeling that gaze on him. “She’d released King Boo from the prison I and E. Gadd had put him in. He’d trapped the others in paintings and would have done the same to me had I not gotten away through a laundry chute. I’d found E. Gadd where he’d been trapped in a painting too, so I got him out and started trying to save my brother. Each floor was a death trap, a little worse than the last. I don’t know how long it took me to get through each, fighting God knows how many ghosts. Some of them weren’t so bad, but finally I’d made it to the top floor where King Boo had my brother and Peach. I thought I could just beat him, save Mario and Peach then we’d go home.” Luigi let out a humorless chuckle as he stopped pacing, his fists clenched at his sides. “I was a fucking moron. Of course Boo would have something planned, just as I thought I was about to beat him something shoved me from behind. He pulled a painting out of thin air, this one wasn’t a blank canvas like the one before. It had a picture in it. I didn't get a good look at it as I fell through before realizing it was a portal painting.”

“Where did it lead?” Kamek spoke in a soft voice.

Luigi looked up at them both, the blank look in his eyes did not sit well with them. “Hell. I was trapped in that realm for ten years, but here it was only ten minutes. I was forced to fight in a death arena after barely managing to survive a few weeks on my own in the wilds. Had it not been for a few friends I’d made in the arena I probably would have never made it home.” 

“Your brother, he doesn’t know, does he?” Bowser asked. Luigi shook his head with a sad smile. 

“No, by the time I made it back to this world I looked very different from what Mario remembered. These scars, torn clothes I looked rather feral. I’d gotten him and Peach free of the paintings before I had a chance to hide my new appearance. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to free them after trapping King Boo.” Luigi replied. “After King Boo was caught, I knocked them both out along with the Toads. Mario, he did not take it well seeing me like that. He was starting to panic, blaming himself for leaving me alone. I was older than him now so I had to protect him from the truth. With E. Gadd’s help I went to the Star Kingdom where I convinced Rosalina to ‘help’ them forget.” 

“What do you mean convince her to help?” Kamek asked. 

“I threatened the lives of her lumas.” Luigi admitted, causing Kamek to gasp in shock. “I didn’t know what else to do, I couldn’t let Mario live with that guilt. And Peach was just as worried, so Rosalina took their memories of what happened on the roof and replaced them with fake memories. I made her swear never to reveal what really happened unless Mario came to her himself or I died.” 

“That’s a bit extreme, so if he never came to her with questions...” Bowser stated. 

“Then he’d never know.” Luigi finished.

The room descended into silence for several minutes, no one knew what to say. Bowser noticed there was something else to the story, something Luigi wasn’t telling involving a certain ghost bastard. He started moving toward the door, 

“I’m not kicking you out or firing you. You can still stay and teach the kids if you so choose, if you wanna leave that's up to you. Just wait til morning so you can say goodbye to the kids.” Bowser did not look at the man as he left, “Kamek, I need to talk to you.” 

“Sire.” Kamek started to protest. 

“NOW.” The king demanded not leaving room for argument. Kamek gave the man one last look as he flew out after his king, leaving the man alone. 

Outside the window the shadow of Solaris grinned before flying off. There was no way Luigi would want to stay after revealing his secret. Only a matter of time now.

Chapter Text

Several hours later…

Luigi sat on his bed; knees pulled to his chest. Sitting at the foot of his bed was an empty suitcase. He was supposed to be packing, he was going to. In a second. Why was this so hard? Bowser said he didn’t have to leave but he should. But he can’t bring himself to leave. He doesn’t belong here. He can’t leave the kids like this. He can’t leave Bowser like this. But they’d be better off without him, ever since he got here one thing after another has happened to them. Because they were near him. He needs to leave, but he doesn’t want to.

There was a sudden ghostly whine as Polterpup floated into the room in his smaller form. The small canine had what looked like a scroll in his mouth. Smiling softly at the ghost canine, he moved from his position on the bed toward Polterpup.

“Whatcha got there?” He asked gently, taking the scroll from his companion. He unrolled it and read.

Luigi,

Look first off I should apologize, shocking coming from me I know. I was so caught up in.. well, how hot you looked taking down a long-time enemy of mine, my mouth spoke before my brain caught up. I’m sure I crossed a line by throwing a proposal at you and I am sorry. Look, I want to talk to you, just us. Been needing to for a little bit but I was just afraid of what you’d say. I understand if you don’t want to. Please meet me outside my office, I won’t hold it against you if you don’t come.

Sincerely yours,

        Bowser

       Luigi absently stroked Polterpup’s ghostly head as he read and reread the letter another few times.

       “What do you think, Polty? Should I go?” He asked the canine.

Outside Bowser’s office about an hour later..

       The king koopa paced outside his office, Kamek and Kammy floating nearby.

       “Sire, given the situation, what if he doesn’t show?” Kammy asked.

       “If he doesn’t then I’ll know his answer.” Bowser replied. “I ain’t forcing him to come, if he wants to talk more than he’ll show up.”

       Kammy started to say more but a look from Kamek had her stop talking.

       “If he does show, are you certain you wish to pursue him romantically? Courtship and marriage in our culture is a serious thing.” Kamek reminded him.

       “Yes, Kamek, I do because I am serious about him. He may not be ready for a while but I am willing to wait as long as it takes for him to be ready.” Bowser nodded.

       “While that sounds lovely in words, are you ready to prove that with actions? You know how impatient you are.” Kammy stated.

       “I intend to.” Bowser responded.

Before anything else was said, the elevator dinged, and Bowser’s heart was suddenly in his throat.

Please let it be him . He prayed silently to whatever deity was listening. The doors opened and to his and the twin magikoopas’ relief, Luigi stepped out.  

He wore a high low green dress with a white piece running from the chest down the center of the green, white mid length sleeves ending at his elbows. His now shoulder length hair was held back in a small ponytail with a green bow. He wore simple green ballet flats and a thin brown belt around his waist. His scars were hidden once more. Kamek and Kammy nodded their heads to Bowser before disappearing. Luigi approached the king with careful steps.

“Glad the pup got my letter to you.” Bowser spoke first as Luigi stopped in front of him. “You look nice.”

“Thank you. You wanted to talk?” Luigi asked.

Bowser nodded, “Yeah but not in the hall.” He gestured for Luigi to follow him and they walked forward a little, stopping at the locked door on the other side of Bowser’s office. As Bowser pulled the key from.. somewhere Luigi stared at him.

“Was told never to try to enter without permission on my first day.” Luigi commented.

“Well, you’re entering with me so that should be permission enough, right?” Bowser smirked over his shoulder at the man as he put the key in the lock. Luigi’s eyes widened a bit as the door turned into an iron garden gate right before his eyes. Bowser pushed the gate open and stepped to the side. “After you.”

Luigi looked from the gate to the king before shrugging, and walked through the gate with Bowser following behind. Neither noticed the koopalings’ or ghostly pup’s heads peaking out of their game room.

The hall was mostly dark, lit only by square Japanese lanterns on the wall, at the far end of the hall was what Luigi hoped was daylight.

“There’s not a drop off at the end of this is there?” Luigi questioned.

Bowser snorted a bit behind him, “What sorta koopa you take me for?”

“Hmm not sure, what kind are you?” Luigi smirked a bit. They came toward the end of the hall and the light got brighter. Suddenly a scaled hand covered his eyes as the other landed on his shoulder. The grip wasn’t tight allowing him room to move. “What are you-?”

“It’s a surprise, you’ll like it I promise.” Bowser spoke softly. Something in his voice sounded vulnerable, almost nervous. Curiosity got the better of the man as he nodded and let Bowser continue to lead him forward. The smell of flowers hit his nose, were they in a garden of some kind? The light got a little brighter between the scaled fingers in front of his eyes, they kept walking, and he could hear and feel gravel beneath his shoes. After walking forward a little more they stopped. “Alright ready?”

“I suppose.” Luigi nodded; he squinted his eyes to keep from being blinded by the sudden light. As the slight glare disappeared, he opened them fully, he let out a quiet gasp at what he saw.

He was right, they now stood in the center of a Japanese garden; flowers of all kinds surrounded them. Some he recognized, others he didn’t, there were even a few piranha plants. What stood out the most were the large sakura trees placed around the garden. To the right, there was a small river that snaked through the garden before running into a pond in a waterfall. There were a few of the wooden Japanese bridges dotted around over the river. On the edge of the pond there was a small bench with something sitting on it.

“This is.. its beautiful.” Luigi breathed out. Bowser moved from behind him to walk toward the bench.

“It was my mother’s… I don’t remember much about her.” Bowser spoke softly. “I do remember that she used to smell of flowers and would sing to me.”

Luigi blinked at the king’s back as he kept walking, not expecting Bowser to speak on his deceased mother. “It's nice you have that memory of her.”

Bowser nodded, “All the portraits of her and my father were burned in the attack when I was around Junior’s age. I don’t remember what either of them look like. All I have left of either of them is this garden and a few vague memories.”

“Because of what happened with your brother and the nightmare king.” Luigi spoke carefully. Bowser turned to face him now, his eyes a bit sad but also determined.

“And that ghost freak Solaris.” Bowser nodded, “How do you know him, Luigi, was he in the nightmare realm too?”

Luigi’s fists suddenly clenched a bit as small green sparks flew from them. “You could say that. I try to forget he exists but like a bad penny he keeps showing up, in my nightmares and when I’m awake. He thinks he has this claim on me because...”

Bowser waited for Luigi to continue if he wanted, he wouldn’t force the answer’s out of him. After a few more minutes of silence the man finally spoke again.

“Because he was my first.” Luigi sighed.

“First?” Bowser questioned; not sure he’d be able to keep his temper at the answer.

Luigi moved a little forward toward the edge of one of the rivers. “When I was trapped in the other realm, I was so scared and lost. Mario wasn’t with me and I had no idea where Polterpup was. I wandered for weeks nearly dying multiple times to the monsters that roamed the place. One day I was cornered by a group of them, I was so sure I’d die there and never see my brother again. Then someone saved me. It was another human, he called himself Serpe. After he took out the monsters and we went somewhere safe he told me he’d been trapped there as well. He knew where a possible exit was and that together we’d be able to escape. So we traveled together. I was so happy to have found another person. I trusted him completely, like the naïve fool I am. We’d traveled together for a few months and in that time I’d... fallen for him. He was kind, gentle and patient with me. He taught me how to use my martial arts against the monsters in that realm and survive. One night I kissed him, and he reciprocated. I gave him everything I had to give, and he took happily.”

Bowser suddenly smelt salty water on the air, realizing Luigi was crying. He wanted to comfort the man but waited. “Serpe was Solaris, wasn’t he?”

The man nodded. “I didn’t know what he was until we got to these ruins, where he said the exit was. I thought I was almost free, that we were free. As I ran for the portal painting we’d found I felt something stab me through the back, I looked down to see a long claw sticking out of my chest. It was yanked out and I’d turned to make sure Serpe was ok.” Luigi let out that humorless, empty chuckle again. “Funny, I’d been stabbed and all I could think about was if my new love was ok. As I turned, I saw the claw retracting back into Serpe’s hand, as I fell the face of the man I thought I knew melted into the creature Solaris. King Boo appeared then, and the painting disappeared, it was just a ploy to catch me. And I fell right into it, when I came to, I was locked in a cell with other people. Polterpup had been locked up there the whole time and he took on a different form, that of a wolf.  For the next ten or so years we all fought for our lives. Somehow, I lived through every fight, every loss, and each time I lost I would be dragged off to a solitary cell where Solaris would torment me psychologically. They wouldn’t let me die. Eventually I stopped losing, just so I wouldn’t be taken to solitary. But that didn’t stop him from coming into my nightmares.”

Bowser approached slowly, “So he’s where you got the idea you aren’t worthy of love?”

Luigi nodded, “I know he was messing with my head trying to break me, and in some way he did. I suppose you were right that day in the medical wing when you said I was crazy.”

Bowser stopped just behind the man, carefully putting a hand on his shoulder, when Luigi didn’t flinch or pull away, he turned the man to face him. Seeing those blue eyes filled with tears made the king’s heart ache and his temper flare. He swore to make them both pay.

“They didn’t break you. You survived, maybe with a few screws loose, but you aren’t broken. You are the strongest person I have met, and you are worthy of love.” Bowser spoke gently. “And I do want to love you.”

“You barely know me.” Luigi shook his head, keeping his gaze down. He blinked as a scaled finger lifted his chin back up.

“Then let me get to know you.” Bowser’s tone was almost pleading. “I’m not forcing you to but asking. I want to show you that everything that freak told you was a lie. I’m not proposing again but I’m offering courtship.” At the man’s curious look he explained. “Its like an engagement but you can break it off anytime you want. It's a way for couples to get to know each other better without being tied down. It has no set time so you can take as long as you want.”

“Bowser, I.. I can’t ask you to wait for me. I can’t trust my heart to someone else, not with it being so shattered.” Luigi shook his head. “I.. do care about you but I can’t-”

Bowser knelt so he was eye level with the human, carefully framing his face with his hands, “I want to wait for you, and I will. You can take as long as you want, I’ll wait.”

Luigi hiccupped a bit as more tears fell. After a minute or two he finally nodded. “Ok.”

Bowser’s relieved sigh fanned over his face, warming it a bit. Suddenly he was picked up in a tight hug, it wasn’t uncomfortable but warm, comforting and safe. Luigi wrapped his arms around the king’s neck as he let the tears he’d been holding in for so long fall completely. They stood there holding each other for so long they’d lost count of the time. They finally pulled a part and Luigi was set back on his feet. Bowser smiled as he gently brushed away the last of the man’s tears.

“I got you something, well I’ve had it for a while.” Luigi watched as the king moved away from him and toward the stone bench, where the item was. Bowser picked it up and walked back over to him. In his large hand was a small rectangular box, to Luigi’s surprise the king looked nervous. “I’ve had it since I was a teen and I shed my first horns. I knew one day, well hoped, one day I’d find the person I’d want to be married to for the rest of my life. While I.. wanted to marry Peach at one point, I never tried to give her this. Something was telling me she wasn’t it but I wouldn’t listen. Not that, you’re ya know a replacement for Peach or anything. And I had it sitting here in case you did agree, I wasn’t gonna guilt you or anything like that and..” Luigi’s hand on his stopped the king’s ramblings.

“Bowser, I already said yes to the courtship. There's no need to be so nervous.” Luigi smiled at the king and the kaiju koopa almost melted. That smile was going to be the death of him, he knew it.

“R-right. Um.. here.” He offered the box to Luigi who took it and opened it, letting out a gasp at what lay inside.

Nestled in the velvet lined box, was a choker necklace made of black leather, embedded in the leather was six stones on either side of a pure white horn dangling from the center. The stones were two amethyst, blue obsidian, and celestite. The necklace had a sort of warmth to it Luigi could feel even before taking it from the box.

“It's beautiful and warm.” Luigi commented as he looked at it. Bowser took the box from the man, dropping it carelessly on the ground.

“Those are the spells.” He nodded. At the man’s curious look he explained. “When I had it made, I asked Kamek and Kammy to put as many spells as they could on it. For protection and tracking if someone was dumb enough to kidnap my potential mate, also it's keyed to my life signature and when you put it on it will connect to yours. So only we can remove it should we choose.”

Luigi looked at the king then back at the necklace before smiling as he put it on. A wash of magic flowed over him as he snapped the clasps into place. “I don’t plan to take it off for a while if you don’t.”

Bowser felt his tail start to wag a bit at the sight of Luigi wearing the necklace he made years ago. It looked good on him. “Not at all. Um... can… I.. ask... I don’t want to seem too forward, we did just enter courtship and... I was wondering.”

“Yes?” Luigi questioned, he had a feeling he knew what the other was going to ask, and he found he didn’t mind if the man would spit it out.

“I.. can I.. kiss you? I understand if you don’t want to... I mean after what you just told me and.. I shouldn’t have asked.. sorry-” The king’s ramblings were interrupted as Luigi reached up and grabbed the front of his plastron, yanking him down to his level. Bowser had all of two seconds to brace himself before warm lips were pressed against his. Bowser’s face turned as red as his hair as his tail started wagging uncontrollably. The mustache tickled a bit but he didn’t mind at all, he smirked a bit into the kiss as he rolled back onto his shell, retracting his spikes, he dragged Luigi with him. The squeak he earned was worth the glare he got when the man sat up on his chest, as was the smile.

Suddenly one of the bushes rustled and Junior ran out. “So Lui is gonna be my new mama!?”

The couple blinked as Luigi went red in the face, “How long have you been in those bushes?”

“Junior! We weren’t supposed to come out til after they were done with the icky adult stuff.” Larry called after the other prince as he hurried out.

“How many of you are here?” Bowser growled a bit as he sat up keeping Luigi close. He got his answer as the rest of the kids and Polterpup came out. “Seriously!?”

“Relax, daddy, we haven’t been here long just long enough to watch you mumble like a nervous teen when you gave him the courtship necklace.” Wendy smirked as they came closer. Junior and Larry were already at home in the human’s lap.

“No respect.” Bowser grumbled as the kids sat around them. Lemmy had opted to climb up his shell and was sitting on his shoulder.

“So we can call you mamma now?” Junior questioned hopefully.

“Hey it ain’t official yet.” Bowser started to protest, Luigi’s hand on his stopped him.
“I don’t mind if they start calling me mamma.” He smiled up at the kaiju koopa warmly. The cheers from the younger children made the man’s smile widen a bit. Bowser couldn’t help but smile as well.

Far in the ruins of what was Medies, a broken power star started to glow faintly.

In the Forgotten lands in a throne room made of bones, the massive creature siting on the throne opened his blood red eyes.

Chapter Text

Previously: two months earlier

With final hugs the Mushroom Kingdom's royal couple and the Sarasaland Princess boarded their respective ships. They waved to Luigi as he stood on the dock alone, soon the ships were just specks on the horizon.

There was fanfare as the princess’s flag ship landed in the royal airfield. Toadsworth wrung his hands a little nervously as the landing crew got to work securing the ship to the tethering posts. The way the princess and Mario left in such a rush almost a month ago worried him to no end. While the princess had sent a letter a few days after it still made his mustache twitch with worry at her being in that creature’s lair. He knew the king of the koopas had signed a peace treaty but years of him being such a big thorn did not go away after only a couple years.

The ship stopped its engine and the gangplank lowered. Straightening his spine best he could, Toadsworth pushed his worry back as he faced the ship. He smiled brightly as the princess came down, dressed more casually than when she left in jean shorts and a pink polo shirt. She was arm in arm with Mario and his smile fell as he saw the condition the man was in. There were audible gasps around him as the other toads saw their hero, the human was missing a leg.

“My word! Princess Peach, what has happened?” He asked, hurrying toward them fast as his small legs could go. “Should I call for a medic?”

“Calm down, old timer, before you have a heart attack. I’m fine.” Mario started to say.

“Fine? Dear boy, this is not fine! What happened to your leg? Did Bowser do this? What of Luigi? Is he hurt as well?” The old toad questioned. Peach gently placed her hand on his withered cap.

“It’s alright, Toadsworth, Bowser didn’t do this, and Luigi is fine.” Peach explained calmly. “Things got rather… intense at the kaiju koopa kingdom. None of it was Bowser’s doing, he was attacked as well but everything is ok.”

“Kaiju… wait, has Bowser returned to his family homeland?” Toadsworth asked, suddenly curious. “It’s been years since he’s sat on the throne there.”

“Seems that way.” Mario piped in. “They’re doing alright for not having him there for so long.”

“We can’t linger long, Toadsworth, we have an appointment with Professor E. Gadd.” Peach stated. “Could you have my shopping bags placed in my dressing room?”

“Of course, Princess.” Toadsworth nodded, motioning for the attending toads. “Shall I call for a driver for the two of you?”

“No thank you, I can drive us.” Peach shook her head as they walked the rest of the way down the plank.

Taking it slow they made their way to the Royal garage where Peach’s personal kart sat. Since E. Gadd lived just on the other side of the Mushroom kingdom, they wouldn’t need the bus. While the hotel was still in working order the professor had opted to return to his old home where his main lab was. Last they’d heard it was being run by the ghosts no longer under King Boo’s control. Once in and buckled did the princess speed out of the garage. After about thirty minutes of driving toward the edge of the Mushroom village. At the far end of the kingdom’s border in Dimple woods, E. Gadd’s home sat amongst the trees. Mario eyed the manor-like house as the kart came to a stop. There were antennas and satellite dishes all over the roof, security cameras swiveled back and forth.

“Least the old man is doing good for himself.” He commented, moving to get out.

“Well, most of the money Luigi found in that hotel he shared with the professor so he could have the means to fund his projects and space for them.” Peach said as she climbed out quicker than the man to hurry to his side of the kart to help him out. “The rest went to the hotel. If I remember, Luigi didn’t take much for himself.”

“I don’t see why not; he did most of the work beating the great marshmallow.” Mario shrugged. Together the royal couple made their way to the front door. One of the cameras turned to focus on them. Mario waved at the camera, “Hey, doc, it's just us.”

As they stood before the front door a small tv monitor that was embedded in the door came online revealing the professor in black and white. “That’s professor to you, Other Luigi.”

“It's Mario.” The human grumbled glaring at the image of E. Gadd. For some reason the small genius treated him like he was incompetent and that he was second compared to his brother. Was this how Luigi felt when other people did the same to him?

“Whatever, come inside I don’t have all day to wait on you.” The professor pressed a button off screen and the front door opened with a buzz. The two entered the house/lab, unfinished projects littered every room they walked through until they reached the lab proper in the back. The professor sat in a rolling chair atop a stack of books with his hand on what looked like a joystick.

“Ah Princess… and … Mary. Welcome! I was beginning to wonder if you would show.” E. Gadd stated, shifting the stick making the chair roll forward stopping in front of them. “Now then, with the measurements Luigi sent ahead I believe I was able to craft a leg that will fit you properly, Martin, and survive your energetic lifestyle.”

“Mario.” The human gritted out. Seriously, this had to be on purpose. “You sure you made something that can survive me? From what I understand you had issues keeping that oversized marshmallow locked up.” 

“And yet you yourself were captured by the ‘oversized marshmallow’ how many times now?” E. Gadd challenged leaning forward in his chair a little. Mario went to lean forward himself to get in the man’s face only for Peach to pull him back.

“Mario, we are here for the professor’s help. Don’t pick fights.” Peach chastised.

“He started it!” The human protested. A look from his girlfriend had Mario backing down. “Fine.”

“Thank you, dear. Now Professor, you have the leg ready?” Peach questioned, leveling the inventor with the same look. The professor found himself biting back the insult he had prepared for the human on the tip of his tongue.

“Yes, your highness, if you would both follow me, please.” The professor put his chair in gear and rolled further into his lab, the couple followed close behind. In the back of the lab was an operating table with various surgical tools laying on a smaller table next to it. On a third table lay a metallic leg, it was sleek and shiny gray with hardly any hint it was mechanical. “Here we are. It tested it with various scenarios therefore you shouldn’t have any trouble in any terrains in the different kingdoms. There is a downside however.”

“I fuckin knew it.” Mario grumbled, earning an elbow to the ribs from Peach.

“In order for it to work properly I will have to operate on what remains of your old leg. The nerve endings will have to be connected to the wire connectors in the leg.” E. Gadd explained. “It will be painful and the normal recovery time is at least a year but I have something that will speed up the healing so you can walk.”

Mario didn’t like the sound of surgery but if it meant he got his other leg back great.

“Lets-a go.” Mario nodded. Peach couldn’t help the giggle as E. Gadd shook his head gesturing toward the operation table.

“Come on then.” The professor said.

*Several hours later…*

Mario slowly came back to consciousness from the anesthesia, it had felt like he’d just gone to sleep.

“Mario?” The voice of an angel spoke to him as she came into blurry view. Her pretty blue eyes were full of concern. “How are you feeling?”

“Sei un angelo?” He mumbled, causing the angel to chuckle a bit.

“No, dearest.” She smiled down at him.

“Its going to take him a few more minutes to come back to himself, Princess. The anesthesia takes a moment to properly wear off.”  A second voice spoke off to the side. “This should help bring him out of it faster. Just a caffeine shot.”

After a minute or two he suddenly felt more alert as the angel.. Peach watched him closely. Mario blinked a few times as he attempted to sit up.

“Not so fast, Martin.” E. Gadd spoke from the left of the room.

“Its Mario, old man.” The Italian grumbled as he turned his glare where he heard the professor.

“And he’s back.” The professor feigned excitement as he rolled his chair closer to the bed side that wasn’t occupied by the princess. “Feeling more like yourself?”

“Yeah, can I sit up now?” Mario asked a little impatiently. “My back feels like it's asleep.”

“While physically impossible, I suppose it shouldn’t aggravate your leg.” E. Gadd nodded. “Pretty sure you should be healed by now.”

With Peach’s help Mario carefully sat up in the bed, now vertical he could see the metal appendage replacing the flesh leg. He stared at it, not really sure how to feel about it. Least he didn’t have to walk with crutches or help anymore. Mario stared at the metal toes and tried to wiggle them with a thought, to his and Peach’s relief the response.

“Ah good the nerve connection worked.” E. Gadd hummed as he rolled closer, inspecting the metal cap where the leg was connected to the stump. “Whatever did this made a clean enough cut, so I didn’t need to repair much, just reroute the main vein and artery. Let’s try standing up to make sure it's sturdy.”

Mario nodded as he carefully swung his legs over the side of the bed, thankfully he didn’t feel any pain as he set his foot on the ground. He blinked as he registered what the professor just said.

“Hang on, Luigi didn’t tell you what it was that did this?” Mario asked.

“He did not, all he said in his letter was there was an accident, and you lost your leg.” E. Gadd shook his head as he studied the leg closer. “What did happen?”

“Well, somehow my baby brother got pulled into a deathmatch with this dick kaiju koopa who attacked his own kid. Then this ghost freak showed up and caused all kinds of chaos! Apparently, he traumatized Bowser when he was a kid, killed his mom or something. When I tried to fight the freak, he cut my leg off.” Mario explained. “Called himself Solaris.”

E. Gadd froze as he went slightly pale. No, that couldn’t be right when Luigi emerged from the painting, he battled King Boo and that… thing, before sucking them up in the poltergust. He would have to investigate this after the two left.

“Never heard of such a ghost. He must’ve met him after you lot left the hotel.” E. Gadd shook his head quickly, regaining his composure. “Alright stand up.”

Mario stared at the professor, noticing his sudden pause, the old man knew something, but he wasn’t talking. Leaving it for later the plumber got to his feet. He was slightly off balance having the second leg back after being with only one for so long. Peach kept a steadying hand on his shoulder, once he felt balanced, he nodded at her, and she moved her hand. He took a step forward and all the shakiness was gone thankfully. More confident in his steps Mario started jogging a bit.

“Good, you have all the movement in your leg.” E. Gadd nodded approvingly as he watched the human jog around the lab. “The hydraulics should be fully functional as well so your power jumps will be much higher than they used to be.”

Mario came to a stop at that. “Higher jumps huh?” the human grinned. Peach, realizing what her lover was thinking, gave him a look.

“Mario, don’t you dare we are still inside.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“The princess is right, if you wish to test the jump let’s go outside first.” E. Gadd nodded. And Mario thought about it, he really did. Until he looked up at the skylight just above him and smirked.
"Mariano, don't you-!" Before Peach could stop him, Mario crouched a bit before leaping straight up through the sky light. A loud 'wahoo' following behind him as he flew through the window.

This was just like jumping around on the moon! He could practically see Peach’s castle way off in the distance. The height and temporary weightlessness felt amazing, he’d have to get better control of the jump now like when he first came to this world. As he started to come down, Mario realized exactly how high he really was.

“This is probably gonna hurt.” He said aloud as he descended back down toward the professor’s house. Instead of where he first jumped out of, he was aimed toward what looked like a glass dome. This was definitely gonna hurt. Mario quickly reoriented so his back would hit first, he curled in on himself to minimize damage. Thankfully his clothes didn’t shred as he fell through the glass, landing on what felt like a stack of empty boxes. He groaned as he uncurled laying flat on his back. “That was fun.”

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the older Mario brother.” An annoyingly high-pitched voice spoke from behind him. Mario craned his head back to look at the upside-down visage of King Boo, still in the glass prison Luigi had put him in. “Nice of you to drop in.”

Mario glared at the boo as he rolled over onto his stomach before standing. “I see you are still trapped, Marshmallow.”

“No thanks to that pain in the ass brother of yours.” King Boo smirked. “How is Luigi doing by the way? I hear he’s working with Bowser now. Must be a major blow to your ego to have him working with your nemesis.”

“He works for Bowser, and we aren’t nemesis anymore. We buried that hatchet.” Mario glared at the ghost king crossing his arms. “And how’d you know about that? Solaris been by for conjugal visits?”

Boo laughed high pitched at that, “So you have met my second in command have you? I can see his handy work on you.” Those purple eyes focused on the metal leg attached to the human. “Honestly, your brother can fight him no problem.”

“He would have if the coward hadn’t disappeared.” Mario sneered. “Wait, Solaris did know Luigi. When did they fight?”

“Oh? You mean you don’t remember?” King Boo grinned. In a dark corner of the room behind Mario a pair of purple spiral eyes opened as a cheshire grin spread beneath them in the dark. “I would have thought Luigi would share his experience with his big brother.”

“What are you talking about?” Mario asked suspiciously. He felt ‘something’ crack in his mind, a blurred image of someone that looked vaguely like Luigi standing before him.

“You really don’t remember do you?” King Boo teased, before turning his back to the human. Mario felt a sudden anger course through him. “Well I wouldn’t want to ruin Luigi’s personal fame after all.”

“What the hell are you talking about?!” Mario demanded as he approached the shelf where King Boo’s container sat. He could vaguely hear approaching footsteps but that didn’t matter. All that did right now was this bastard telling him what happened to his brother. Mario was nose to glass with the container. “What don’t I remember?!”

King Boo whipped around so fast he almost blurred in the container; his mostly black eyes now glowed deep pink as he came right up to the glass. “Why, your brother becoming a killer in the nightmare realm of course. He is much stronger than you now, he knows it of course and laughs at you behind your back. Why else do you think he removed your memories? So he can pretend to be this weak little coward who needs his big brother to protect him. So when you get your ass handed to you he can swoop in. Do you think it was a coincidence that he suddenly had those abilities? Surely you aren’t that much of a fool, but then again the star princess is good with mind altering. Who knows what else he had her alter for him?”

As the boo spoke Mario felt the anger boil into rage. Luigi wouldn’t do that… would he? Mario knows his brother’s abilities, what he did at that fight arena… it was so out of character for the other. Luigi was hiding something from him. And what did Rosalina have to do with this?

“And really shacking up with the monster that caused you and your princess so much heartache over the years? That’s just the ultimate slap to the face don’t you think?” King Boo chuckled. “They must be planning something together, laughing at you, waiting for the moment to pull the rug from under you.” Mario felt his hands start to catch fire as the anger built. “Face it, Mario, you aren’t the great hero you once were. If you ever were. To them… You are a joke.” Mario’s fist was lifted to punch the container before he realized what he was doing. Only Peach’s voice stopped him.

“MARIO!” She cried out hurrying into the room followed closely by E. Gadd. “What are you-?”

Mario glarred at the still grinning boo before suddenly spinning on his heel and storming out. “I’m getting my clothes, we’re done.” As he stormed past the professor and princess neither noticed the faint purple ring around his blue iris.

“I… Mario!” Peach called after him but the man ignored her. Peach turned to look at the still grinning boo, narrowing her eyes at the ghost before addressing the professor. “Thank you for the help, Professor.”

“Not at all, Princess, I’ll see what that nuisance said to him.” E. Gadd glared at the ghost. Nodding Peach hurried after Mario, hoping he didn’t leave without her. Once she was gone, E. Gadd rolled into the room toward the machine that kept his record of ghosts. “I don’t know what you said to him, but I’m moving you and that friend of yours to a dark container, so you won’t cause any more mischief.” E. Gadd searched the ghost registry looking for Solaris. He paled as it came back negative. There was no ghost with that name. E. Gadd turned a glare at the suddenly laughing King Boo.

“What have you done?” E. Gadd demanded.

“Oh, you old fool, you should really keep track of your prisoners.” King Boo cackled. “He escaped MONTHS AGO!! Solaris is far too strong to be kept in a feeble ghost trap. Why else is he my second?”

“He did attack Luigi and the others then. I need to get them, to provide some protection so he can’t hurt them more.” E. Gadd started to move around his lab when his chair suddenly stopped working, dumping him out onto the floor. The computers and lights started to flicker and glow dark purple. E. Gadd sat up as a sinister laugh filled the lab. “What?”

“Should really put some protections out for yourself, Doc.” A voice snickered behind the professor. As E. Gadd turned the last thought through his mind was a prayer to whoever listened that Luigi and his family would be safe.

Then everything went dark.

Peach’s cart was too far away for either rider to hear the warning alarms sounding throughout E. Gadd’s lab as all the containers were opened.

Chapter Text

Two months later:

          Princess Peach sat in her study going over the recent reports of their newly opened trades with the Kaiju Koopa kingdom, so far it was going well. Daisy had written to her and said she was still in talks with her own council about resuming trade. After a couple centuries of ignoring the other kingdom and Bowser’s trouble making, it was taking a bit more convincing of the Sarassaland council members that the king of koopas had actually turned over a new leaf. Her reading was interrupted by Toadsworth’s entrance, as her right-hand Toad he was permitted unannounced visits.

“Princess, we’ve received a couple letters from the kaiju koopa kingdom. One from Luigi and the other seems to have the royal seal.” The old toad informed her as he shuffled in. Peach set her own papers down as she stood.

“Oh wonderful, did Luigi write to me as well as Mario?” She asked coming around her desk.

“No, Princess, it was addressed to you both but when I went to give it to Mario first… he didn’t want to read it.” Toadsworth shook his head. Peach’s expression became troubled. After their return from E. Gadd’s her lover seemed different, angrier especially when his brother was brought up. She tried asking him what King Boo had said to him as that seemed to be the beginning of Mario’s strange behavior. He would not tell her anything and it worried her, she’d written to the professor not long after they’d left two months ago but ha yet to hear back from the man. 

Peach took the letters from the older toad opening the royal seal letter first. 

To the current ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, You and a guest of your choosing have been invited to attend the hatch day of Prince Morton Tsuyoi Ryuujin as his coming-of-age celebration. As well as the renewal of the Hi No Matsuri Both events will be held within two weeks’ time. RSVP with Lord Luigi.

                    Signed Ryu Tie Bowser Ryuujin.

          Peach read over the short letter a couple more times before smiling to herself. So Luigi had a lord title, much seems to have changed since they left the kingdom two months ago.

“Toadsworth, could you send an RSVP addressed to Luigi. Mario and I have been invited to the Hi no Matsuri of the Kaiju koopa kingdom and Morton’s birthday.” Peach stated as she set the letter on her desk. Toadsworth blinked a couple times.

“The festival of Fire? They haven’t hosted one in hundreds of years, since the deaths of the previous king and queen. I wonder why they’ve decided to revive the tradition and why must you Rsvp through Luigi.” The old toad asked as Peach opened the second letter.

“Well, a lot has changed between Bower and Luigi since he went to teach his children. The two have gotten rather close and…” Peach trailed off as she read the contents of the letter. Twice, then three times. Toadsworth jumped a few inches as the princess let out a girlish squeal, something she hasn’t done since she was a teen.

“Princess?” Toadsworth questioned.

“Took them long enough, any longer and I would have owed Daisy money.” Peach giggled. At the older Toad’s confused look, she showed him the letter, his old eyes scanned the page quickly and Peach smiled as a look of surprise came across his face.

“Well, this is unexpected.” He stated outloud. “I never expected Luigi of all people to court the enemy of his brother.”

“Ex-enemy, Toadsworth, and our new ally.” Peach reminded him as she took the letter back from him and headed for the office door. “I’ll go speak with Mario, he’s been off since we got back from E. Gadd’s and I’m worried about him.”

“As am I, princess.” Toadsworth nodded.

“Hopefully he’ll talk to me today and I can find out what’s wrong with him.” She stated as she left the office and her attendant behind. She had a feeling she knew where her lover would be.

*In Peach’s Garden / Mario’s target practice area*

Mario threw another fireball at the next target, while it may have been too strong as it caught the nearby bushes on fire, he couldn’t bring himself to care. Weeks with no word once again, and Luigi finally decided to write. What about this time? Another great fight he agreed to? Saving another kingdom? Becoming a great hero while Mario the actual hero was playing lap dog in the Mushroom Kingdom. He grits his teeth at the thought. King Boo may have been on to something, why else wouldn’t Luigi immediately write to tell them it was Bowser that sent the flyer? The sound of heels on stone caught his attention but he didn’t turn, already knowing who it was.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t set my bushes on fire.” Peach spoke from behind him as she approached him.

Mario just glanced over his shoulder at her before turning back to is targets, or what was left of them. “Not my fault they’re in the way.”

Peach pursed her lips in annoyance watching as he readied another fire ball. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Mariano, but it’s starting to become concerning.”

Mario threw the ball as he rounded on her, “What’s concerning is the fact that my brother has been keeping secrets and I wanna know why.”

“What secrets?” Peach questioned, “Is this what King Boo said to you weeks ago when you saw him in E. Gadd’s lab?”

“He hinted at something but, you gotta admit something ain’t right with my brother. Those abilities? That Solaris freak?” Mario questioned. “He’s hiding something. Been hiding something and I wanna know what.”

“So that’s why you ignored his letter?” She asked arching a brow at him.

Mario eyed the papers in her hands. “What’d he say? He get into another fight or something?”

“No actually, one is an invitation to the *Fire Festival in the koopa kingdom. Its been a long time since they had it and it’s going to be a big celebration.” Peach explained. “The other letter is informing us that he and Bowser have begun courting.”

She blinked as the human snatched the letter from her hands, watching as two emotions played across his face: shock and rage. His hands began to smoke as he seethed.

Luigi was marrying that monster, after everything he did to them for years. This was the ultimate betrayal in Mario’s mind. A small voice seemed to hiss from the darkening corners of his mind.

See? He’s just been playing a long game to make you look like a fool.

Mario let out a loud growl as he threw the now flaming paper on the ground. “I can’t believe that bastard! He’s completely stabbed me in the back with this, he’s been planning something with that monster for months since he got to that kingdom, I know it. He’s not to be welcomed in this kingdom again as a friend. Or my brother, that marshmallow was right after all. We need to fortify our defenses and reach out to the other kingdoms for assistance in the event they attack us. I’ll contact” A loud smack sounded throughout the garden as Peach’s hand connected with Mario’s face, knocking his hat off as his head turned from the force.

The darkness seemed to recede a bit as he touched his still stinging cheek, he stared at the blue eyes brimmed with anger and hurt. “How could you even say that?! ‘Stabbed you in the back’? Why in the world would you ever think Luigi, Your brother would do something like that? So what if he and Bowser have decided to be together? They deserve to be happy and if what they want is each other then of course I support it. And planning an attack? Bowser may have been our enemy in the past but he’s changed. He’s an honorable leader and would never breach a contract of peace. I don’t know what King Boo said to you in E. Gadd’s lab but if it was enough to make you doubt your own brother..”

Peach froze as tears began to brim from Mario’s eyes.

“I.. I am sorry, Peach.. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve been so angry every day since we got back from the professor’s. It started with that great marshmallow he said things about Luigi, about him hiding something from me and.. I keep seeing these visions of him but he doesn’t look like the brother I know, he’s something else and.. I’m worried about him. I know he’d never hurt me, us..” He sunk to his knees; his head hurt as much as his face. He didn’t know what was going on anymore.

Peach looked at her lover with concerned sympathy as she approached, she knelt down before him pulling him close. “Its alright, love, we’ll figure it out together as we always do. Thank the stars you’re at least back in your right mind.”

Stars… Mario thought. He suddenly stood up surprising Peach.

“Stars, King Boo mentioned the star princess had something to do with Luigi. Maybe she knows what’s going on.” Mario stated, grabbing his hat from the ground. He gently grasped Peach’s hand and pulled her up. “We need to pay Rosalina a visit.”

While Peach didn’t mind visiting her ancestor among the stars, she was still a bit concerned that King Boo brought her up. If she could clear this mess up then they could go back to normal.

“I’ll let Toadsworth know we’re taking a trip to the star kingdom and send her a messenger luma.” She nodded.

The two departed the gardens missing the grinning shadow.

In the star kingdom an hour later…

Rosalina waited by the landing platform waiting for her great niece to arrive with her lover. The messenger Luma had said the royal couple of the Mushroom kingdom needed to speak with her about something rather vital. Curious and concerned she watched for Mario’s airship to land. Soon the large golden balloon came into view from below the platform. She smiled seeing the pair exit the cabin of the ship, waiting until it landed and the platform lowered, Rosalina approached them.

“Peach, darling niece, its always wonderful to see you and the galaxies hero Mario of course.” Rosalina said as she and Peach air kissed on the cheek. She looked at Mario, immediately noticing the serious expression on the human’s face. He was not smiling as he usually did. “The message stated that your visit was of importance?”

“Yeah, I need to ask you about something. Did my brother come to you for help with something, regarding memories? Specifically, ours?” Mario asked. He watched as the Star princess’s expression became concerned.

“Has something happened to Luigi?” She asked.

“What does that have to do with anything? I’m asking you.” Mario narrowed his eyes at her ignoring the look from Peach. “Did he?”

“I.. yes. It was two years ago, when you went to that hotel. Your memories of the place were altered at a certain point. It was with good reason, Luigi didn’t want you to worry about him.” Rosalina nodded. “It was… rather traumatic what you saw.”

 “Our memories were altered?! Can you undo it? I want the truth.” Mario demanded approaching.

“Well..” Rosalina backed up a bit as the human approached. She wrung her hands nervously. “He made me swear on the lives of my lumas.. not to tell you unless you came to me asking on your own or…”

“Or?” Peach prompted gently.

“..or he dies.” She finally spoke looking physically ill. Mario’s eyes widened. Was it that serious? “Please you must understand he threatened the lives of my lumas if I didn’t do as he asked.” Several lumas gathered around the princess sensing she was upset.

“Luigi? He would never do something like that.” Peach denied.

“He did. I don’t know what happened to him, but he wasn’t the same Luigi I remember.” Rosalina shook her head.

Mario was silent for a minute more before speaking. “I want the truth. Now. I came to you on my own right? So you can tell me the truth of what happened at that hotel.”

Rosalina stared at him for a moment before nodding. “Very well, both of you follow me.”

The two followed the star princess into her inner sanctum, they bypassed the main room heading for the very back, an area neither of them have seen before. It was much smaller than the main room, two lounge couches sat opposite each other in the center of the room a table with a crystal ball nestled in a cushion on a small round table sat in the center.

“What is this?” Mario asked.

“This allows me to enter the mind safely and in extreme cases alter memories. Lay on either couch please.” She directed as they entered, she turned and locked the door to keep out any interruptions. The walls were a wash with blue magic as soon as the lock turned, this would keep out any spectral saboteurs. Once the two did as asked she approached the crystal ball. “Close your eyes and clear your minds so that I can have a clear path to the memory I need to unblock.”

She placed her hands on the ball, and it began to glow, two white strings flowed from the ball toward the other princess and the plumber’s foreheads. As the strings connected the two were plunged into the past through their memories….

Two years ago: In the ruins of Last hotel…

          The group embraced finally back together. Mario carefully studied his baby brother close. While he saw some scrapes and bruises, there was thankfully nothing serious. The other ghosts had started moving about to start the repairs of their home.

          Everything was right. King Boo was trapped once more, everyone was safe and accounted for.

          Except..

                              Something wasn’t right..

This wasn’t right..

Mario watched as Luigi pulled away from him and went to speak to E. Gadd. He looked normal.

The images before him started to shift and change like bad tv reception from his nonna’s old rabbit ear tv from the 70s. Instead of a bright moon lit sky, they were back on the roof of the hotel. King Boo floating at the edge of the roof, looking like an angry marshmallow. Luigi stood in front of their group protecting them with what looked like a vacuum.

He almost had him, he almost won. King Boo landed on the roof just at the edge, that long purple tongue stuck out as he panted. Luigi charged forward to suck up the ghost’s long tongue, King Boo suddenly started laughing as he sat up. Another picture frame appeared from behind him. This one, however, had something in it, instead of the swirl of the other paintings used to trap them. It looked like a wasteland with a green sky.

Luigi stopped himself just short, but it wasn’t enough apparently as he pitched forward into the painting. The vacuum on his back was pulled away using the kings powers and his brother was gone.

“LUIGI!” Mario cried out, he rushed the ghost to try and get to the painting. Even if he got sent there too at least they’d be together. “Give him back you bastard!”

King Boo pulled it just out of reach before he could however, suspending it in midair.

“Too late, Mario! Your brother’s fate is a long time coming, and I wanna relish this.” King Boo cackled.

“You Fiend! Where did you send him!?” E. Gadd yelled at the ghost.

“Somewhere you can’t save him from this time.” King Boo replied.

He summoned another painting this time much larger to trap everyone. They couldn’t escape as the painting came down. Mario didn’t remember anything between that moment and coming out of the painting. Peach was at his side quickly helping him up.

He looked up expecting to see his baby brother, who else could it have been? Instead, what he saw was a man hardened by years of fighting wearing his brother’s face. His clothes were in tatters, scars new and old littered what skin he could see some still bleeding, his hair was long and wild. A ghostly wolf stood behind him growling at the multiple boos surrounding them, and a familiar person he now knew to be Solaris.

“I’m done with your games.” The man spoke, his voice like gravel. “We end this now. I’ll make sure you NEVER hurt anyone else again.”

A few more boos appeared and charged forward only to be dispelled by multiple strikes of green lightning. No capture, just immediate end. The other hotel ghosts cowered at the far end of the roof.  

“Now.. now, Luigi, Let's talk about this…” King Boo tried to hide behind Solaris.

“C’mon, Lu-Lu, we can work this out.” Solaris held his hands up in a surrender motion. It was odd seeing the pompous face from the arena look so worried.

“I’m done listening to either of you!” Luigi growled.

He had the vacuum hose in hand, it glowed and cracked with green electricity making its suction power much stronger than before. King Boo and Solaris tried to escape its strength, but they could not. Soon they were gone, Luigi dropped the hose with a look of disgust as he turned it off.

“..L..Luigi…?” Mario asked. The ghostly wolf came to stand behind the man as he turned to face Mario. Those blue eyes did not reflect any light as he looked at the shorter man. “Is.. that you? Why.. why do you look older? Where did all those injuries come from? What happened to you?”

“Fratello.” Luigi spoke with a broken tone as he looked at his brother. As if he thought he’d never see him again. “It’s been a lot longer than you think.”

The memory seemed to jump ahead to the star kingdom to the very room they sat in now, Mario found himself a passenger in his own body, unable to move or speak.

“I want their memories changed. They can’t remember any of what happened on that roof.” Luigi ordered Rosalina.

“Luigi, please think about this. Think about what this could do to their psyche.” Rosalina pleaded. “To alter so much…”

“She’s right, Luigi, the human mind is a fragile thing.” E. Gadd spoke from the side. He had been looking over Peach who seemed to be in a similar state as him. “This could hurt them both psychologically.”

“I don’t want to try and explain to Mario or Peach what happened in that painting. It would eat my brother alive from the guilt, and I don’t want that. It needs to be done. They can handle it.” Luigi shook his head. “Do it. And I want you to swear, you will never tell them about this unless they come to you on their own or I’m dead. No sooner.”

Rosalina gasped at his words. “You can’t be serious! That’s too far..”

Luigi suddenly grabbed the nearest Luma raising an electrified hand far too close. “I haven’t began to go too far, Princess. Swear it.” Luigi growled.

“Luigi!” E. Gadd exclaimed. “Have you lost your sanity?”

Luigi let out a small almost inaudible chuckle. “I’m pretty sure I lost that years ago in that hell hole. Now you going to do as I ask?” He moved the hand closer to the crying Luma.

Rosalina let out a cry reaching for the now weeping Luma. “Please, don’t hurt my Luma! I’ll do as you ask, I swear I won’t tell them anything unless your conditions are met!”

Luigi moved his lightning covered hand closer for a moment to show his seriousness before releasing the Luma. The small star rushed into it’s princess’s arms. Ignoring E. Gadd’s disappointed look, he pulled a folded piece of paper from what was left of his shirt, placing it on the table. “That’s what I want done, what will be altered.”

“As you wish.” Rosalina hung her head hugging her Luma close. Their was a flash of white and.

In the present…

Mario sat up with a gasp and immediately lost what lunch he had all over the floor. Rosalina moved closer to him to help only for her hands to be slapped away. He turned his rage and hurt filled eyes on her.

“He lied to me. He changed my memories without my permission and lied for two years.” Mario snarled angrily. “The old man lied to me. He knew what Luigi had done.”

“He.. he did it to protect you. He didn’t want you to worry about him.” Rosalina tried to explain.

Mario glared at the princess before standing on shaky legs. Peach was just sitting up as the man stormed out leaving his hat behind. Her head hurt from the memories being unblocked. She had many questions she wanted to ask Rosalina but she couldn’t bring herself to speak as she watched her lover go.

She was unsure what to do or if there was any coming back from this for the Mario brothers.

Chapter Text

The elevator door dinged signaling the arrival at the occupant's destination. Luigi exited with Junior perched happily on his shoulder. The other kids followed close behind.

"So, when you and papa get married are you still gonna teach us?" Junior questioned.

"If they get married, Kiddo." Morton said, "They may be courting, that don't mean they're gonna stay together."

"Sure they will!" Junior huffed. He moved around gingerly so he was nose to snout with Luigi. "You will.. right?"

Luigi chuckled as he carefully reached up and displaced Junior from his perch as they arrived at the library door. "We'll see, Junior. These things are a little complicated.”

“Whats so complicated? You like papa and Papa likes you.” Junior cocked his head to the side curiously as he was set down. “Why shouldn’t you guys get married?” 

Luigi blinked at the little Koopa’s innocent reply, before giving him a fond smile. “I wish it was that easy, bambino.  And yes I do intend to remain your teacher until you've all aged out of my classes."

Morton and Roy pushed the door open allowing the rest of the group inside. The sudden noise caught the attention of the librarian Chishiki, glancing up from the book she'd been reading, she smiled as they walked toward her desk.  “Ah, your highnesses, Lord Luigi." She greeted them with a small bow.

"Chishiki, you don't have to address me as lord you know." Luigi shook his head. He still wasn't used to his new title: Bowser had made sure the entire castle staff was aware of Luigi's new position as courted consort. No matter how much Luigi tried to tell them otherwise, they kept referring to him as such.

"Oh no, my lord, that would be disrespectful." She shook her head. See? He wanted to argue further but realized it would be futile. He should've known it would be given that the order came directly from Bowser. He glanced down as his arms were pulled impatiently by Lemmy and Larry.

"C'mon! We wanna go find more hero books!" Larry said.

"Alright, Bambinos, just a second." Luigi smiled at the two affectionately. He glanced back up at Chishiki. "Would you mind telling me where the Kaiju-koopa culture and history books are?"

"Oh of course, they are on aisle C12 in the middle." Chishiki replied. What Luigi didn’t know was Kamek had been by earlier and asked her to pull those books out of storage, he knew Luigi would be by for them after the proposal. 

"Thank you." Luigi nodded as he was fully pulled from her desk by the twins.

The other kids were already at the table with their respective books in claw. Once he helped the twins and Junior find the books they wanted, he excused himself to go find the section Chishiki mentioned. As he searched, he couldn’t help but think about everything that led to this point. He never thought that after the nightmare he’d survived, he’d end up engaged to his brother’s ex-nemesis. Or that he’d start to develop feelings for the kaiju-koopa king. In his true kingdom and not fighting Mario for Peach’s attention, Bowser was a really good ruler and even better father. Luigi let out a small noise of triumph as he found the section he was looking for. Searching through the titles (Thankfully in English) he found the one on the culture of the kaiju-koopas. Pulling it free he flipped through the pages until he got to the section about courtship. 

Courtship and marriage: 

Courtship may be proposed by either the dominant or Submissive in a pairing. Once a verbal request is given, the one asked will either accept or deny the proposal. If the proposal is denied no further pursuits are to be made. Breaking this rule will result in banishment. 

Luigi couldn’t help but be impressed by this. It's a wonder the kaiju koopas let Bowser come back after his many failed attempts at getting Peach to marry him. By their own laws he shouldn’t have been welcome back into the kingdom. Pushing the thought aside he continued reading. 

There are three stages of courtship, the length of each stage can vary depending on the couple: 

1st Stage: The first stage usually begins after an accepted courtship proposal. Any outings or time spent together are to be chaperoned. The chaperone is usually a friend or close relative of the submissive. 

Luigi first thought about Mario coming back to chaperone him and Bowser’s dates. He chuckled to himself a bit, shaking his head. As much as he’d love getting back at his brother for all the times he had to watch Mario make goo goo eyes at Peach, he decided not to torment his brother that way. Besides, he was most likely still recovering from his surgery with E. Gadd. Maybe he could convince Howitzer to be their chaperone. 

2nd stage: Once trust between the pair is established, the chaperones are no longer needed. Gifts may be presented by either pair during this time. 

3rd Stage: In the last stage, either of the two may show their strength and capabilities. This shows their partner that they are able to protect the nest and future hatchlings. When both are ready to move on to marriage the dominant will present their chosen submissive mate with a collar necklace made from their own horn, claw or fang.

Luigi reached up touching the fang around his neck, this was supposed to be a third stage gift? He knew Bowser wasn’t rushing things, he said as much and Luigi did trust him. And if Luigil was being completely honest with himself, the both of them have been unconsciously participating in the stages of courtship before it was ever a factor. Luigi fighting Zaraki, taking Zukon’s head along with those of his men. Then there was Bowser giving him the gloves. That could be considered a gift he supposed. Luigi hasn’t given the king anything, he wondered if he could find out from Kamek what the king liked. It occurred to him then that he didn’t really know much about his betrothed. He’d need to change that. 

Before he could continue reading, Luigi heard the kids start screaming for him. He dropped the book carelessly as he ran back to where he’d left them. 

“Bambinos!” He yelled as he came around the bookshelf. His anger sparked a bit as he saw a group of Boos harassing the kids. The three littlest ones were tucked into their shells in fear while the older ones swatted at the ghosts. While he knew there were still some of the little ghosts still running loose after he defeated King Boo, that didn’t mean he had to like them. Luigi’s hands started to spark with the green electricity as he approached quickly. “Get away from my children!” 

The boos turn giggling until they see who is challenging them. “Uh-oh!” One of them whimpers. 

“Yeah. Uh-oh.” Luigi growled. “You aren’t welcome in this castle any longer! Get lost!”

The Boos flew away crying, once gone did Luigi pull his lightning back into himself and hurried to the kids. The sound of claws on the wood floor signaled the arrival of Chishiki. 

“What happened?! I heard the children crying as I was alphabetizing the books.” She said looking around for any dangers. 

“It's alright now, I took care of it.” Luigi shook his head as he knelt down opening his arms. “It's alright, Bambinos, they're gone now."

“Mama!” Junior cried rushing into the now crouching man’s open arms, soon joined by Larry and Lemmy. 

“Its alright, Piccoli.” Luigi soothed them best he could as the older kids approached. As he soothed the smaller ones he glanced up at the older kids. “You kids ok?”

“Yeah.” Morton nodded as he knelt beside the group. “Forget those jerks are still floating around. After the mess at the arena the kids want nothing to do with them, guess they remind them of that bastard.” 

“Considering he works for their king I’m not surprised.” Luigi stated. “He’s basically a boo with a full body. I will speak to your father and Kamek about banning them from the castle, at least until we find out what Solaris is up to.” 

After a few more minutes the younger kids finally calmed down enough to be moved. Luigi had Junior on his shoulders once more as Iggy and Morton carried Larry and Lemmy, Wendy and Roy carried the books they’d chosen out of the library. As they stepped into the hall voices drew their attention to Bowser’s office where. Howitzer in his tall form stood in front of the door with Kamek floating beside him. Standing in front of them was a rather beautiful female Kaiju koopa. Her short shoulder length hair and her shell were an icy blue and scales the color of freshly fallen snow. She was wearing a baby blue dress suit. 

“Please, Lord Kamek, it will only take a moment of the king’s time.” She said, “Surely he can spare some time for the mayor.” 

“I apologize, Mayor Arashi, but his majesty can barely spare time to eat. I will have to ask you to leave.” Kamek shook his head. 

“I would be happy to escort you to town if you’d like.” Howitzer nodded though he looked anything but happy. 

At first Luigi thought surely she’d force the issue but after a few tense minutes she finally nodded. 

“Very well, I will try another day.” She stated as she turned to leave. “Please express to his majesty that I need to speak with him.” As she walked toward them going to the elevators she smiled slowly as she spotted the kids. “Hello children, it has been quite some time since I last saw you.” 

“Mayor Arashi.” Morton greeted as he moved to stand in front of his siblings and teacher. 

“Oh come now, Morton, I may not be in the palace anymore but you can still call me Auntie Ara.” She said as she approached. Alarm bells started going off as Luigi felt Junior flinch a bit as she stopped before them. “The same with the rest of you.” 

“Mayor Arashi, though you had a close relationship with our father you are still to address us properly.” Iggy stated, shifting Lemmy to his back as he retracted his spikes. He stepped forward to stand beside his brother. “After the incident I believe our personal bond with you was severed.” 

Luigi noticed her eyes darken a bit as they narrowed at the two princes. She looked as if she wanted to say something and was going to until Kamek cleared his throat. 

“Lord Luigi, your highnesses.” Kamek called them. “I’d like a word about the next activities before the break.”

“Coming, Gramps.” Morton called back not taking his eyes off the female kaiju koopa. “Excuse us, Mayor Arashi.” 

Morton used one hand to balance the books while the other one grasped Luigi’s hand and pulled him along prompting the others to keep walking. As they passed Arashi Luigi glanced up at her and saw the forming hatred in her eyes which seemed to be locked on the courtship necklace he was wearing. 

They kept walking until they were in front of the two men before the office door. No one spoke until they heard the elevator doors open and close. 

“I don’t like the ice lady.” Junior said, poking his head back up.

“Ditto, little guy.” Roy nodded as did Iggy.

“Ain’t she got anything better to do than hang around dad’s office?” Morton said.

“Why is she even still allowed in the castle?” Wendy demanded. 

“Peace, Princess and Princes she is still a town official much as we hate it. She has to be allowed in especially for council meetings.” Howitzer shook his head as he shrank back to normal size.

“There isn’t a council meeting right now therefore she has no business here, let alone to see the king.” Kamek sniffed. “She thinks she can charm her way back into the castle, not as long as I’m head of staff.” 

“Hold on, she used to work here?” Luigi asked. “And what did you mean she had a personal relationship with Bowser?”

“It was a while ago, no need to worry about it now.” Kamek shook his head as he noticed the state of the three younger ones. “What has happened to the little princes?” 

Luigi explained what happened in the library, though as he did his mind couldn’t help but churn at the implications of a ‘personal relationship’ with the king. And the fact that the kids used to call her Auntie. He supposed she was pretty, of course Bowser would be attracted to her. Why wouldn’t he? She was a successful official in town and he was just a broken human. 

“I see, we will have to implement protective measures to keep the boos out. We don’t know if they work with that monster from before.” Kamek said. He noticed the human seemed lost in thought. He hoped Arashi’s arrival didn’t upset the man. “Luigi, if you’d like to discuss these measures with his highness I’m sure he’d be more than happy to see you.” 

Luigi snapped out of his spiraling doubt as he looked at the magikoopa. “But you said he was busy.” 

“Not too busy for his mate to be.” Kamek smiled as he used his want to lift Junior from the man’s shoulder. “I will take the children for the rest of the afternoon so you two can have some time together.” 

“But..” Luigi tried to protest, not wanting to get in the way. Howitzer already had the door open for him to step through. With a sigh Luigi walked through the open door. There sat Bowser at his desk going over paper, his half moon glasses perched on his nose. Luigi couldn’t help  but smile at the image he made, he wished he had a camera. 

Bowser looked up to see who interrupted him only to smile brightly at the approaching human. He was already up and moving to greet the man,“Luigi, what brings you by?” 

“Just checking in, Kamek took the kids the rest of the day.” Luigi replied.

As they hugged, the cloud of doubt in his mind disappeared as he was wrapped up in the king’s strong warm arms. Though it didn’t completely vanish. In town in the mayor’s office, the mayor raged in anger and planned.