Chapter Text
Luigi was used to being left behind in Mario’s shadow, through no fault of his own, he was sure. He didn’t blame Mario, how could he when Mario had always been beside him, a smile in place and a slap to the back? No, Mario never saw him as lesser, and he definitely never tried to outshine Luigi in any way that mattered. He was just naturally better.
Still, Luigi couldn’t help the cutting pang in his chest every time someone commented on the gaping canyon of a distance between their worths. Whether it be sports or people or manliness, Mario was just better and more fit for society in every way when compared to his lesser twin.
Maybe that explains why Luigi had a bit of a nervous breakdown and broke his ridiculously old piggy bank, took all of his life’s savings to the nearest mall, and remade his entire self in the image of defiance. His family’s stupid, scathing comments got on his nerves one last time, okay!? So what if he was freaking out so badly about his ripped up black clothing and piercings and spiky jewelry so badly he couldn’t move, he was just a little upset is all!
After standing around for long enough, his thoughts racing, Luigi felt an eery calm wash over him. He had worried so much that it had faded into nothingness and he couldn’t feel anything now. With this odd courage that felt more like numbness, Luigi made his way upstairs to their apartment and entered, walking by silently until someone noticed him. Sure enough, it was his mama that noticed first.
Her eyes widened and she dropped her pot of unfinished dinner, bringing her hands up to her mouth with a loud gasp. The noises and mess drew everyone’s eyes and in less than a few seconds almost the entirety of Luigi’s family was all over him, differing reactions all around. Much, much scolding was happening for the most part. A couple of “calm down, he’ll get over it, it’s just a phase, you know how kids are” ringing from mediators, but Luigi kept his cool and huffed.
He scoffed, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. Turning away from his mother, he didn’t see the winces on the nearby faces.
“Luigi, how could you do this to your mother, you know she can’t handle you being all crazy like this, and what about-“ his mother gasped and her face paled dramatically.
“What about pictures!? Your senior pictures are tomorrow, those holes in your face won’t close up all the way by then! Oh no oh no, maybe if you take them out right now-“
Luigi backed up immediately, pushing hands away from him. He glared and felt his temper rise as everyone spoke over one another. “No!” Everyone quieted as he yelled. “Maybe this is just who I want to be, have you considered that? Maybe I WANT my senior photo to look like this, what then? What if this isn’t a phase and it’s just who I am, huh?” He pulled at his hair in frustration, watching as everyone immediately responded at once, once again clambering over each other to tell him he was “being rash” and “would regret it” and wondering “where Mario was when this happened”, and that last one really had his blood boiling.
“UGH!” He threw his bag of old clothes to the floor, his hat skidding across the floor to the door. The quiet came back much quicker this time. “None of you understand me! I’m not a part of Mario or something, it’s not like I only do things when he does things, I’m my own person! I can’t stand you!” And then he was turning and running and crashing shoulders with Mario of all people in the doorway. He ignored him and kept running until he didn’t see anyone anymore, which was definitely a feat in Brooklyn of all places.
He slowed down, breath ragged, as he turned his run into a jog and then a walk. Luigi felt an odd tugging for a moment, and he almost thought maybe it was all in his head, but then his body was dragging forward against his will and he looked up to see a glowing portal of some kind, sucking him in. He yelped and scrambled to get away, trying to find something to hold onto, but he was in an alleyway with only bits of trash littering the ground. He screamed and flailed his arms and legs, but soon enough he was being pulled by some magical current into somewhere unknown.
“LUIGI!” He turned, and an overwhelming feeling of relief hit him. “MARIO!” Mario had run after him, Luigi’s hat in his hand, and jumped in the portal right after him.
“Luigi! Grab on, hurry!” He reached out desperately, his fingers touching the hat, and he got pushed forward just enough to grab hold. “Mario! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to run away!”
Mario shook his head and frowned. “It’s okay, we’ll talk about it later, but you need to hold on, okay? Everything is gonna be okay, as long as we stay together.” Luigi teared up, his grip on the hat tightening. “How can you be sure, how do you know it’ll be okay? I got us sucked into some kind of portal heading who knows where!” Mario just shook his head again, attempting a smile.
“Because everything is okay as long we’re together.” And Luigi nearly cried. “But Mario, I- what if that’s the problem?” Mario’s mouth dropped open and his hand loosened just a smidge. “Lu, what are you saying?” Luigi sniffled.
“What if we’re around each other so much that I’m lost? No one knows who I am when I’m with you.” Mario sputtered, a hurt look on his face. “You’re my bro!”
Luigi’s face scrunched up. “That’s the problem!” ‘That’s all they see me as’, he was about to say, but Mario’s face dropped and his hand slipped and he flailed to get his hand back on the hat, but suddenly they were being sucked in opposite directions and screaming for each other.
“WAIT, MARIO!!” Luigi felt a cold seep into him as Mario got farther and farther away. “LUIGI! I’LL FIND YOU, I PROMISE!”
“MARIO I’M SORRY!”
“IT’LL BE OKAY, WE’LL BE OKAY WHEN WE’RE TOGETHER!”
And then he was gone and Luigi felt like he was falling. Looking down, the last thing he saw before he hit the ground was a fiery wasteland, covered in black and red, dead trees and and cracks filled with lava.
———
When Luigi came to, he forgot where he was, what he was doing here, and why he felt so sad and angry and frustrated. Who was he? What was he looking for? He was looking for something, but what? And who was he? His name was Luigi, but where was he from? Was he from here? A quick glance around didn’t ping anything in his head, but he couldn’t remember anything other than his name, so maybe he was.
Looking around, he saw a hat on the ground that definitely didn’t match what he was wearing, but had to be important if it was right next to him. He took it in his hands, observing the green interrupted by the blocky white “L” on the front. For his name, he was guessing. He hung the hat from a random hook on his belt and checked his pockets. A pocket knife, some odd green papers with numbers, and some little round metals in silver and copper were in one pocket. A lighter, some paper (white, this time, and obviously torn from something) with a long string of numbers and a little heart, a bit of gum, and a pamphlet about. Rock music? Were in his other pocket.
With no more clues on who he was or what he was doing here, Luigi picked a direction and started walking. It was better than sitting around and waiting for someone to come and save him, if he even had anyone that would. Every tree looked the same and he couldn’t tell if he was even making progress.
Eventually Luigi took out his knife and started marking trees to see how far he’d been going and kept count in his head. At tree number seventy-nine, Luigi had the oddest feeling he was being preyed upon.
Luigi felt as if his every move was being watched, carefully observed, by a beast looking for the perfect moment to strike. His fears were confirmed when a branch cracked just behind him; much too close for comfort. With a swiftness that surprised even himself, he spun around and stabbed forward with the pocket knife in his hand, slashing wildly in hopes of scaring off whatever was stalking him.
“Woah!” A voice yelled in, delight? Surprise? Delighted surprise? Some odd combination of the two. When Luigi finally saw what was stalking him, his blood drained from his face. Still, he kept his cool and steadied his voice.
“Who are you and what are you following me for?” He demanded. He brandished his knife in a silent threat, glaring up at the tall creature. If the conversation went well he would ask WHAT he was, but that wasn’t the most pressing issue at the moment. The beast laughed and seemed to find amusement in his threat. Luckily, he seemed to find it amusing enough to humor his questions.
The creature placed its large hands on its equally large hips, grinning while it answered him. “I am prince Bowser of the koopa kingdom!” He leaned in a bit towards Luigi, hot steam leaving his breath as he huffed in amusement. “I’m following you because you’re a human. In the Darklands, no less. You must be very, very brave, or very, very stupid, little human.” His voice was booming, commanding respect, and Luigi finally noticed the small crown on his head. “So tell me, little human, which one is it?”
Luigi felt petrified for all of two seconds too long before an icy coldness washed over him and he glared. He would trust this prince Bowser, but only because he didn’t know what else to do. “I’m not sure. Right now, I don’t remember anything but my name and that I’m looking for something or someone. But I’d like to think I’m more brave than stupid.” He glanced back up to the crown and tacked on a quick “your nosiness.” Something in the prince stilled for a moment at that, his face losing all expression, and Luigi almost worried he had pushed it too far, but he then let out a booming laugh, holding his belly as he leaned back with the force of his laugh.
He wiped away a tear as he calmed down, still chuckling, as he looked down at Luigi. “You reminded me of someone for a second there, heh. You got guts talking to me like that, little human.” He leered at Luigi. “But that’s cool, you’re tough.” He gave a pointed look at the still raised knife, raising an eyebrow and smirking. His sharp teeth glinted in the barely there light peeking through the darkness all around them. “Well? What’s your name, then? Since that’s the only thing you remember right now. Maybe I’ve heard of you, humans are pretty rare after all.” There was a dangerous glint in his eyes, and Luigi almost didn’t want to trust him, but he really didn’t know literally anyone else in the world right now, so he’d take his chances.
“The name is Luigi.” He searched his eyes for any hint of recognition, but nothing appeared. Luigi sighed tiredly and lowered his knife just a bit. “I’m guessing you’ve never heard of me?” Bowser shook his head and observed as Luigi wilted like a dying plant. He hummed and stepped a bit closer. Tensing, Luigi prepared to cut him however he could if he needed to, but Bowser only seemed to find excitement in the threat. He slowly raised a clawed hand to Luigi’s face, holding it, and slowly turned him this way and that, his eyes focused. Eventually he huffed in obvious defeat and backed away again. “Unfortunately not, and you definitely don’t look like any other human I’ve seen. Your nose is bigger than theirs, and your eyes aren’t the right shade of blue. So I don’t think you’re related to any of them.” The wrong shade of blue?? Luigi supposed his eyes could be significantly lighter or darker than theirs, but that’s still a very small thing to notice. This prince was very observant.
“But.” He started again, “I’m sure we can figure something out. And besides, if you were too important, my kingdom might have to hold you hostage, so it’s a good thing you’re not related to them!” His tail wagged and thumped on the ground as he laughed once again, though not as intensely. Luigi felt a cold fear grip his heart. He said it so casually, Luigi certainly shouldn’t be here, and yet it was where he had awoken. Why would he come to such a dangerous place?
Luigi’s grip on the knife tightened, his fingers shaking and his palms sweaty. “Right.” He made eye contact with Bowser once again. “So you want to help me? How noble of you, helping a random stranger in the woods.” Bowser chuckled, still in a good mood apparently, and found obvious humor in something Luigi just said.
He gestured to their surroundings, an eyebrow raised. “More like the backyard just behind my royal garden, but close enough to you I’m sure.” Luigi’s heart was beating so fast he was almost sure he was going to pass out, but it ended up making him laugh instead. “My apologies, your brattiness, but humans aren’t able to see in the dark very well, we’re almost entirely blind in it.” Bowser blinked in what looked like shock, but then he made a thoughtful hum and seemed to look for something. Soon enough, he made a little, “Aha!” And returned to stand in front of Luigi. He seemed to be holding some sort of torch, but it had no fire.
Luigi sent him an unimpressed look, and the prince only looked at him in even more obvious delight. He looked like a kid about to show off their new toy or cool trick. Sure enough, all he said was “Watch!” And then he was breathing fire out of his mouth and into the torch, lighting their surroundings up with the blazing heat. An involuntary “Woah” left his mouth as he gaped at the sight, awed by what the prince could do. All this earned him was a smug face and a wagging tail thumping on the ground.
Bowser handed him the torch and gestured once again to their surroundings. This time, Luigi could see that there were unlit torches in every other tree, too high up for him to notice in the dark. Just to his left, a few rows of trees away, was a ginormous fence that spanned for as far as he could see. He had been walking alongside the fence the entire time. “Wha…? Am I on the inside or the outside of the fence?” He turned back to Bowser with a confused face and watched his eyes sparkle with amusement. “The inside! I noticed you from a bit away and approached to see who or what was in my yard, and of all things it ended up being you! A human! Who has no clue who he is! This is just like the start to all of my-“ He stopped himself and his cheeks seemed to warm as he coughed into his fist, glancing away in obvious embarrassment.
“I mean, it’s a mystery, an adventure, and isn’t that exciting?” His cheeks were flushed, his eyes were sparkling, and his tail was wagging. All Luigi could think was how cute prince Bowser was. “I, uh, yes. Very exciting. Mhm.” Luigi felt heat flood his own cheeks as Bowser grabbed his arm holding the knife and started leading him inwards, towards the castle, chatting away all the while.
Luigi was still confused and lost and looking for something, but he felt that maybe things will work out with Bowser here to help.