#bowuisley

“Bowser is humbly requesting the Princess’ presence in the room down the hall. He said you are also welcome to join if she so desires. What shall I tell him?”

“One moment please, the princess and I need to discuss this before she answers.” Toadette says before closing the door.

Toadette turns to Luigi, “Ultimately this is your choice, but I highly advise you don’t go.”

“Why not? I’ve been with him this entire time, I think I can handle myself fine with him.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about- I mean I was worried about that but-”

“I’m going to accept, I can’t just sit in here the whole time, who knows when Mario is going to rescue us, now if you’ll excuse me I’d like to get out of this and get myself cleaned up at the very least, I’m pretty sure there are leaves in my hair.” Luigi gestures to his wig.

Toadette did her best to hold her tongue but still let something slip.

“The princess would NEVER accept that request this quickly… I’ll help you clean up and get ready I suppose, would you also like me to accompany you?” Toadette asked, somewhat irritated.

“Thank you, I think it would be a better idea if I were to go alone.”

Toadette let out a frustrated sigh but didn’t push Luigi any further seeing as he isn’t going to listen to her. The air was tense as Toadette helped Luigi get the corset off and began picking out his next outfit, a simple puffy pale blue dress with a high collar and frilly long sleeves.

Toadette told the koopa at the door that the princess would be out shortly and has decided to join Bowser by herself, and to stay by the door so he can assist her once she’s ready.

By the time she was finished with everything Luigi was ready for Toadette to help with his corsets once again.

“How did they get you?” Luigi asked suddenly.

“What do you mean?”

“How did they manage to get you here?”

“They got me when they sent most of the guards out to try to intercept you and Bowser.” Toadette said while tightening and tying the corset together.

“Well princess you’re ready for your… date.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Luigi scoffed and limped his way to the door, ignoring Toadette. He allowed the koopa who was outside the door to help him get down the hall. 

Once they approached the room where Bowser was waiting, the koopa ran over to open the doors revealing a large room barely illuminated by candles that were scattered around the room. There were some servants and guards around the perimeter of the room watching and waiting. In the center of the room there was a long narrow table decorated with various flowers, two sets of flatware, and more candles near the center. Bowser was seated at the end furthest from the door. When Luigi made eye contact with Bowser, he noticed the look of shock plastered to his face. Luigi quickly looked away, now both embarrassed and more irritated than before, took a seat at the other end of the table. 

Bowser regained his composure and made a gesture at the servants standing in the room causing them to practically run out of the room. 

“Well don’t you look stunning.” Bowser purred, he rested his arm and leaned over the table. A smug grin growing on his face. Ugh. Luigi wanted to slap that look off his face.

Luigi scoffed, not bothering to humor him any further.

“What’s wrong Peaches? Why so cold, isn’t this what you wanted? A date with the most handsome man in the land? Someone to have you on his arm, if only you smiled more–”

Luigi scowled, raised his finger and opened his mouth to say something when the doors burst open, an array of servants rushing in with countless different dishes. They hastily laid them on the table and served both Bowser and Luigi. Everything was going smoothly until one of the servants missed Luigi’s plate.

The servant apologized profusely to Luigi and Bowser saying that they will do better and it won’t happen again. They had dropped to their knees pleading for forgiveness before they felt a hand on their shoulder, and were promptly brought to their feet and turned around being met with Bowser looming over them. Bowser crouched down to be at eye-level with them, his hand still resting on their shoulder.

Bowser leaned closer to the trembling servant, whispering, the burning rage in his fiery eyes not matching his calm smile. “I told you, one more fuck up–” he points to the window, “Out you go.”

He lifted them up by the shoulder with ease, and strode towards the window, moved the curtain and held them outside. The servant was hysterical, yet Bowser said nothing. He looked down upon them, then let go.

Luigi stared at Bowser, his mouth wide open, he was utterly terrified. He felt as if there was glue sticking him to his seat. He wanted to do nothing more than run at that very moment.

Bowser dusted himself off, took a deep breath and turned back towards Luigi, now smiling.

“Anyways– what’s wrong Peaches? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Luigi said nothing. What could he say? This was completely INSANE behavior. He really hoped Mario would get him out of this mess as soon as possible.

Bowser interrupted Luigi’s thoughts. He sounded worried, “That guy? He’s fine, I swear, look!” He moved away from the window.

Luigi slowly and shakily stood up, approaching the window. He cautiously peered over the edge expecting the worst. He saw the servant looking back up at him from a trough, he looked wet and oh-so pathetic, limbs dangling over the edges. Luigi looked back at Bowser, mouth agape.

“See!? I told you! He’s FINE!” Bowser dramatically threw his arms towards the window.

“You could have KILLED him! Why would you do that?!” Luigi screamed, tears now threatening to fall.

Bowser recoiled, for once he had nothing to defend himself with. The princess had never seen him discipline anyone before, after all.

“The only reason why I accepted this—” Luigi gestured wildly to the table; “WHATEVER- was because I am absolutely STARVING. If I knew this was how you were going to treat both me and your staff then I would have told you to ROT in HELL.” Luigi was sobbing, his arms still resting on the window sill.

Bowser tried to approach Luigi and rested his hand on him, causing Luigi to flinch away and hiss, “Don’t you DARE touch me!”

Luigi limped away to the table, bracing himself, laughing, “Ha. To think I was going to hear you out mere minutes ago, hoping you were going to apologize.”

Luigi straightened up and hobbled his way to the door, turning around once he reached it, “You’re utterly inhuman.” Luigi stated, emotionless, before he walked through the doors, slamming them behind him.

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Back in the Mushroom Kingdom at Princess Peach’s castle, Mario stood at the head of a long table, surrounded by guards; the idle chattering throwing echoes around the conference room.

“Due to the absence of Sir Luigi we will have to proceed without him.” Mario spoke, causing the room to fall silent.

“Has anyone received any messages regarding my brother?” He spoke again in a vain attempt to learn anything about his whereabouts.

Only a few solemn shakes of heads and deafening silence followed. He didn’t want to show it but he was destroying himself over his brother’s disappearance. He refused to believe that Luigi had run away or that something had happened to him.

Mario took a deep breath, silencing his thoughts and focusing on the task at hand.

“We are here today to discuss the plans of finding our beloved princess to bring her home and reunite her with her fiance-”

Before Mario could finish, the doors burst open catching the attention of everyone in the room. A short figure could be seen striding into the conference room, making his way to Mario’s side.

“Your highness, I thought we discussed that you needn’t be here today-”

“WOE, WOE IS ME-” Prince Peasley cried, draping an arm over his forehead. 

“Sir Mario, how could you expect ME to stay on the side whilst my betrothed is being held captive by that repulsive BEAST- that repulsive KING OF BEASTS-” Prince Peasley was clutching his chest with his free hand.

“Your HIGHNESS-” Mario interjected, “I understand your worries and frustrations, however, this display of emotions is precisely why I thought it best for you to not attend. We must do our best not to panic. If you insist upon being here please take a moment to soothe yourself, while we discuss our next course of action.”

Prince Peasley looked like a wounded animal, clearly a harsh blow had been dealt to his ego. In one final vain attempt at getting the upper hand, opened his mouth and pointed at Mario.

“Well I never- how DARE you-”

“One more outburst, and I will have you escorted out of here, your highness. You may rule the Bean Bean Kingdom but in this room I am in charge.” Mario said through gritted teeth.

The knights around the table stared in awe at the scene before them. The prince was about to say something further but pursed his lips and huffed walking towards an empty seat.

Mario took a deep breath to regain his composure.

“As I was saying, we need to gather our troops to set out and rescue her majesty. They should be arriving at Bowser’s castle any day now. Does anyone have any ideas before I continue?”

Prince Peasley opened his mouth when a lone toad spoke,

“How about we send a small group to go in under cover and sneak her out and have another troop be a distraction?”

Mario nodded slowly, “Not bad, not bad at all, what else do we have?”

“I would suggest Toadette to be in charge of the undercover party, but due to her unexpected kidnapping I am offering to hire two mercenaries to lead instead-”

Prince Peasley leapt from his seat and jumped onto the table, completely disrupting the diorama of Bowser’s castle shouting,

“Then I shall lead the distraction and whisk the lovely princess off her feet while the beast is distracted!”

Mario shot him a look that could kill, “No, you will under no circumstances be joining us, it is far too dangerous for you to be there. It is in the best interest of both your kingdom and our kingdom that you stay here. I will lead the distraction group, he will be expecting me to be there.”

Prince Peasley pouted, sitting down on the table resting his head on his hand. 

“I will need you to be on your way, I fear you are not mentally well enough to stay, it is clear to me that this kidnapping has damaged your psyche.” Mario said, barely masking the relief in his voice.

Now completely dejected, Prince Peasley got off the table and sulked his way out of the room, the doors closing and locking behind him.

“Finally, now- without any more distractions-”

~~~~~~~

They had arrived at the castle, this was the first time Luigi had seen it from the front. He was in awe, it truly was as magnificent as it was daunting. The castle was surrounded by a large moat filled with lava that illuminated the ornate stone exterior. Luigi was just standing there mesmerized by every last detail.

“What is with you Peaches? You’re acting like you’ve never seen my glorious castle before. Are you sure that fall didn’t mess with your head at all?” 

Luigi looked away from the castle to Bowser and silently glared at him. Bowser noticed this and stopped talking.

The atmosphere for the rest of the walk was thick, permeating with awkward silence and the occasional sound of Luigi’s crutch hitting the carpet. Luigi was still admiring the castle’s interior, albeit less outwardly. The halls were adorned with paintings of Bowser and what Luigi assumed to be his relatives; he couldn’t help but admire the sublime quality each painting had. One painting had stuck out to him— a large painting of Bowser with a child that resembled him, was that his son?! Bowser has a SON?? 

How had he never heard- nay SEEN his son?

Luigi had directed his gaze towards the stone floor that was covered in a long red carpet trimmed with gold. He was embarrassed to say the least, what else did he not know about Bowser? More importantly, why didn’t the princess OR Toadette mention this beforehand— the possibility of this happening was there why didn’t they tell him-

“What’s on your mind Peaches?” Bowser asked carefully.

“My ankle is bothering me, that’s all.” He sighed.

“Well then, why don’t you allow me to carry you?”

Luigi paused, the offer was tempting, very tempting. However, he wasn’t desperate enough to sacrifice his dignity, not yet.

“Not unless there’s a massive staircase or something similar.” Luigi stated coldly.

“If you say so.” Bowser chuckled.

At this point they were rounding a corner revealing a large spiral staircase with an occasional window allowing light to flood in.

“...”

Bowser went to open his mouth to say something before Luigi cut him off.

“Don’t. Don’t say anything, just get me up the stairs.”

Bowser smirked before gently scooping Luigi up to carry him bridal style and began the ascent. The trek up the stairs was quiet as Luigi refused to say anything until he was on the ground again, how humiliating.

As they reached the top, where the stairs ended, a hallway lined with doors on either side began. Bowser took two steps into the hallway when Luigi was demanding to be put down.

“Alright, alright stop moving or I’ll drop you- NOT on purpose.”

Luigi relented as Bowser carefully placed him back onto the ground, then he used the crutch to begin hobbling again.

“We’re almost there Peaches, I would have changed your room to a room on the lower levels but I couldn’t get them up to your standards in time. I wasn’t anticipating an opening so soon. However, I digress. If you would like, I could begin getting one of the rooms on a lower floor ready for you.”

“That would be nice- What do you mean ‘an opening’?” 

“To bring you here, of course.”

Luigi was dumbfounded, did he seriously not view THIS as KIDNAPPING?!

“...oh…” Luigi couldn’t muster anything else.

“Ah! Here we are- behind this door is where you’ll be staying until the next room is ready.”

Bowser opened the door, ushering Luigi to go in front of him. As soon as Luigi looked into the room he saw a large ornate mirror sitting on a dresser, and the first thing that caught his attention was his own reflection. Specifically his nose, then where his mustache used to sit.

Luigi burst into tears, which quickly turned into full blown wailing. He dropped to the floor and put his face in his hands, barely muffling the sound of his sobs. Bowser froze for a moment before crouching down to Luigi’s level.

“Aw Peaches, is this about your nose again? I really think you look more beautiful with your [new] nose.”

Luigi wailed even louder than Bowser could have ever imagined… times 4. Bowser tensed further, completely lost as to what he should say to help calm the princess down.

“Peaches, why is this bothering you so much, were you cursed by a magician or something?-” Luigi, in between sobs, screamed at Bowser. “MY NOSE IS COMPLETELY NORMAL AND THAT IS NOT WHAT I AM UPSET ABOUT-”

Luigi’s voice cracked and he returned to sobbing into his hands.

“Then what’s got you so-”

“Ahem.” A familiar voice interrupted.

Luigi lifted his head and faced the source of the voice and found none other than Toadette surrounded by koopas. 

“King Bowser I can take things from here, I must kindly ask you to leave, now. All of you.” Toadette stated firmly.

Bowser nodded, gathered the koopas, and closed the door behind them.

Luigi had calmed down slightly after being reunited with Toadette.

“Luigi what happened to your dress? Why do you have a crutch? Are you okay?” Toadette rushed to his side helping up and got him situated on a chair.

“I twisted my ankle and got caught in a few bushes, other than that I think I’m okay.” Luigi sniffled.

“Then why are you crying so loudly? Did something else happen?” Toadette was concerned at this point, thinking he hit his head or worse.

“I’m still torn up about my mustache and my ankle is killing me-”

“Are you joking? The ankle I understand, I’ll have someone fetch something cold for it. But the mustache? STILL?! You’ll be able to grow it back once the princess returns.”

“Have you heard from her, or Mario?” Luigi said no longer crying at this point.

“Still nothing from the princess. As for Mario he was searching for you and even came to the castle to plan your rescue. I believe the meeting should have been held a day or so ago…”

“Mario is looking for me?”

“Of course he is. He came to the castle for you not to help us rescue the ‘princess’.”

“I didn’t think he’d notice this soon. I had written to him when I had arrived at the castle.”

“Regardless- He’s going to get us out of here, I don’t know when and I don’t know how but he will. We just have to be calm until then, and maybe try not to get injured and destroy our clothes.”

Luigi nodded, allowing himself to relax when there was a knock at the door. Toadette scowled before getting up and answering the door.

“Bowser is humbly requesting the Princess’ presence in the room down the hall. He said you are also welcome to join if she so desires. What shall I tell him?”

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