Luigi was hiding in the oddest places today. When he first woke up, he left a note saying that he would stay inside and not talk to anyone the whole day till tomorrow. When Bowser and Kamek saw that note, they knew he was doing it because of what Neville had told him, and they knew that today was the 25th day. However, Junior, on the other hand, was hurt by this and wanted to play with Luigi. Bowser and Kamek try to devise an excuse until Peach tells him that Luigi is playing a game of hide and seek. Junior was glad about this and started looking for Luigi, while Peach stayed back, asking about what was going on now.
But so far, Luigi has hidden in the walls. Behind statutes and inside armor suits. In the pots in the kitchen and the laundry basket with the dairy laundry. Now, it was noon, and Luigi was currently hiding in the fireplaces of an unused setting room. He knew it was unused as the furnace was covered by dust cover as the fireplace was left dirty from the last time it was used. It still had cinders in it as Luigi used it to cover himself. It may be a bit crazy, but Luigi wasn't going to take any chances, as he had painted himself black with the cinder and lay in wait on the side where no one could see him. It was lonely and reminded him of all those years as he sighed. Luigi was unhappy right now as sitting in a cold fireplace brought back memories. Maybe he should have stayed in bed today, but thinking about being in one place all day scared him as he didn't want to feel trapped right now. However, feeling lost and forgotten wasn't helping him either. It was a lose-lose right now for him, and he didn't know what to do.
It didn't matter as he soon heard the door open. Luigi pecked out just to see a Koopa head peeking in. He soon pushed himself against the wall, covering his mouth so he didn't make a sound as he heard what sounded like multiple Koopas coming in. He didn't move as he heard the door closed and the sound of cracking bones being heard; Luigi closed his eyes when he heard that awful noise. Only opening it when he heard a thump.
"Body...breaking..." said an almost robotic voice, and Luigi knew who that was without even looking. It was the Pink Clockwork Soldier, and another set of cracking bones was heard as Luigi tried not to yelp from that noise.
"Let...body...rest...then...fix," said the Blue Clockwork Soldier as he always acted like the leader of the three before the last set of carking was heard.
"Look...for... master's...toy..." said the Green Clockwork Soldier as Luigi could guess what he meant by that.
"No...must...wait..." said Blue as he pulled out a bottle from the blue shell Koopa's body, "fix...body."
Soon, the Blue Clockwork Soldier floats over to the red shell Koopa and pours the liquid down its throat. It shook violently, letting out an awful noise as if in pain. Luigi didn't want to know what was happening, but it sent a chilling feeling as it went quiet. He wanted to look, but he was scared they would see him. When Luigi heard the cracking of bones again, he was sick and needed to know what was going on. He peeks just a little to see the Clockwork Soldier returning into the body, moving like dry bone as they get up. Then, it sends goosebumps when they talk again.
"That should work," said the Blue shell Koopa, her voice mixed with the robotic male agent that sent chills down Luigi's spine.
"We shouldn't wait; let's at least get rid of that old man," the Green shell Koopa said, the robotic voice slowly and smoothly going back to the regular voice of the Koopa as if it was never there in the first place.
"We stick to the plan. Master will tell us when we'll attack," The Blue shell spoke again, this time only having the female voice to her as she opened the door. "Let's go"
One by one, they left, shutting the door as Luigi started to breathe crazy. He jumped up and wiped most of the cinders off him as he went to his exit. That was too close of a call for him, and he needed to hide somewhere else before they decided to return and take him away. He went to the mouse hole in the wall to escape.
The day was still young, and Luigi hated it.
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"Do we really need to do this?" Mario asked as Peach took his hat.
"It's just a night with the boys, I think it would be great bonding time with them," Peach said as she ruffled his hair.
"As fun as that sounds, I would have much preferred a date night that we had planned for tonight." Mario tells her, grabbing her hand into his, "Can't Daisy wait till tomorrow night to have a girl night?"
"You know how she is. Besides, we haven't had just a girl night since we've been here, and you need to get along with not just Bowser but the Wario Brothers, too." Peach told him as she pulled him along. Mario just groaned at this last-minute change. Peach did this infrequently, but it was a bit annoying when she did. Especially when he has to spend time with people he dislikes.
"Just be ready for a fight to break out," Mario warned her, but she just rolled her eyes as they went to the meeting spot. Bowser was already there as Peach showed up with Mario in hand, while Daisy showed up with the Wario brothers being dragged in by their ears. They were just yelling for her to let go and how they would behave, but Daisy still held on for now.
"Um," Bowsers said as Peach let go of Mario's hand, kissed him on the cheek, and pushed him in front of her. On the other hand, Daisy only kisses Wario on the cheek as she tosses them till they fall on the floor.
"You two better behave," Daisy said as she shook her finger at the two, "I don't need you two making any more trouble, do you hear me?!"
"Yes, ma'am. Yes, love," they both said simultaneously, rubbing their ears as they stood up.
"And Bowser, please be nice," Peach said as she had a feeling that something may go wrong, "if they do something stupid, just tell us. Okay?"
"No promises but I'll try," Bowser said as the girls shared a look.
"We'll be in my room," Daisy said as she locked her arm with Peach, "see you boys in the morning."
With that, the girls left, leaving the boys in awkward silence as they had no clue what to do. It felt like a standoff; the first one to move would be the one everyone else would jump on as they glared at each other. This was supposed to be a calm evening, but it felt like a final battle. It felt like hours even though it had been just 7 minutes till Waluigi broke it.
"So, are we just playing an award game of 7 minutes in heaven, or are we actually going to do something fun?" Waluigi asks, which got him a punch from Wario. Waluigi rubs his arms as Bowser walks away, Mario watching him.
"I don't have many ideas, but I'll leave you three be. I'm busy." Bowser told them as they raised a brow.
"Doing what?" Mario asked, coming off a bit demanding as Bowser let out a sign so he wouldn't be the one who started the fight.
"If you must know, I'm looking for Luigi," Bowser said as he turned toward them; however, he wasn't expecting their reaction when they said that.
"Ooooooooh," they said. Wario and Waluigi said it cheerfully as they shared a smirk. While Mario was more concerned as he crossed his arms and looked at the ground. Browser looks between the three, confused, before he crosses his arm.
"What was that about?" he asked as the two brothers shared a laugh while Mario avoided eye contact.
"Nothing," Wario said as his smile got bigger.
"Yeah, you don't need to worry too much." Waluigi added with a giggle.
"You two are a bunch of idiots," Mario said as he let out a sigh before looking at Bowser and asking, "Why are you looking for him?"
"He's been hiding the whole day. I'm just worried about him," Bowser explained as the Wario brothers shook their heads.
"Look like there is trouble in paradise," Waluigi whispers to Wario.
"Tell me about it," Wario whispered back as Mario turned to the two. Bowser also turned to them; something was going on, and he wanted to know what that was.
"Okay, why are you three acting so weird about this? It's starting to piss me off," Bowser told them as the three looked at each other before Mario spoke up.
"They're idiots. They don't know what they're talking about. Bowser, we only act weird because of the way you act around him." Mario explained as he tried to get off the topic they were trying to pull. He didn't know if the Wario brothers knew about Luigi's feelings for Bowser. Still, Mario would like to keep it a secret since Luigi wanted to keep it that way.
"Sure," Wario said as he rubbed his nose, "after all Bowser, you sure have a favorite when it comes to your subjects."
"Or is he more like your plaything like Mario is to Peach," Waluigi said that pissed off both Mario and Bowser.
"You don't know anything about Me and Peach," Mario said as Bowser stepped forward.
"Or me and Luigi. So before you start causing more trouble, remember whose home you're in." Bowser growled that last part as the brothers rolled their eyes.
"Yeah, yeah yeah. We know." Wario started as Waluigi took over
"But you can't deny the fact that your two are close for just being a ruler and a subject. Admit it, you two have something going on. Your little toy thing so"
Bowser raised his brow. What did he mean by that? Did Luigi say something to them? Did Luigi think of them as something he didn't want to put a label on just yet in fear that he'd scare Luigi away? Are they just saying that to get him to talk? Or were they telling the truth? It was confusing, but Bowser wasn't going to tell them anything.
"He's Junior's toy. He tells me things about my son. That's all," Bowser said as he turned and walked away. He didn't stop as he left the three behind; Mario couldn't help and got mad at them.
"What the hell was that about!?" Mario asked as the two just shared a look. They both nodded before replying.
"We overhear the toy talk. He's in love with Bowser." Wario said as Waluigi added.
"And we thought we'd help the little guy. Bowser did say to be nice to the thing." Waluigi said in a teasing manner. They both shared a snigger, trying to hold it in so no one else could hear them.
"That's not your place," Mario scolds them. "Let Luigi tell Bowser about his feelings. It feels wrong since he's not a Koopa or human but just leave them be, okay!"
Mario also just stormed off afterward. He started to remember the night when Luigi told him about his crush on Bowser. He felt confident about it as, on the one hand, he felt terrible that he had told Luigi that Bowser would end up mistreating him and that No one should love Bowser because he's evil. But on the other hand, just watching Bowser these last few days shows that Luigi was right. Bowser wasn't in love with Peach, and there were some things that Mario had never seen him do. It wasn't wrong in the scene where his feelings came from, but Mario can't help that they both may be hoping for a life they can't have. Mario sighed as he turned the corner and soon felt something hit his leg. When he looked down, it was Luigi, looking like he had just seen a ghost.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Mario asks as he lowers his hand so he can pick up Luigi; however, when he does, Luigi crawls into his shirt. It tickled him as he tried to get Luigi out of the back of his shirt but stopped when he heard his voice.'
"Y-you never saw me, o-okay?" Luigi said, hearing the terror in his voice as Mario stopped moving. Before he could ask what he meant, a green shell Koopa came into his view.
"Hey!" yelled the Koopa as he walked up to Mario, "have you seen Luigi?"
Mario looked at this Koopa up and down. Nothing seems wrong with him - a bit rude - but nothing seems off. Mario did notice his eyes. They were almost lifeless with the shade of light gray they were, almost coming off as pure white. It was odd since most Koopa eyes were black or blue, with a few having green, yellow, or red. Mario crossed his hands behind his back to touch Luigi as he ensured his back was toward the wall.
"Why? You need him or something?" Mario asked, wondering where this was going. The Koopa let out an annoying huff before answering him.
"Bowser is asking for him in his bedchamber. Need to talk to him about something. Now have you seen him or are you just wasting my time?" was all he said. Mario knew he was lying. Bowser was just with him a minute ago. Something was going on.
"No, I ha-" Mario said, but the Koopa just shaved him out of the way. Mumbling to himself as he walks away. Mario didn't say a word; he just waited for the Koopa to be gone before he went to look for Bowser. It wasn't long as he just followed the hallway he had gone down and found himself in the kitchen. Bowser was on his knees, lifting stuff as if he had dropped something underneath them.
"Are you still looking for Luigi?" Mario said as he worked on getting Luigi out of his shirt, and Bowser not looking at him as he stayed on the floor.
"Yes, and unless you're going to help, I would very much like it if you left me alone," Bowser said as the other two walked in.
"Ugh! I thought we lost you two!" Wario said as he sat, wondering what Mario and Bowser were doing.
"Yeah! We were just going to start our pie eating contest," Waluigi added as he waited for Bowser to put down the fridge. Bowser just sighs, putting the fridge down with a thump and getting off the floor.
"I can say the same- what on earth are you doing?" Bowser asks as he sees Mario moving all crazy.
"Trying to get Luigi out of my shirt!" Mario said, getting annoyed with him, "would you get out already!"
"No!" Luigi yelled as the three looked at Mario. "I'm staying right here till midnight!"
Bowser soon walked over and reached into Mario's shirt, getting a yelp out of Mario and Luigi as he got a hold of him. When Bowser pulled him out, he placed Luigi on the table -who immediately went over to the fruit bowl, knocking out the apples and pears and flipping the bowl over. He hid right underneath it as Mario had to hold his shirt close since the top buttons popped off when Bowser reached in. Everyone was cornered and confused about what was going on- everyone except Bowser.
"Luigi, you don't have to hide right now." Bowser said, tapping on the Bowl so Luigi knew he was okay.
"Nope! I'm not safe right now! Not with them wandering around!" Luigi shouted, but it sounded like a muffle as the boy leaned in.
"What is he going on about?" Wario asks Bowser. Bowser sighed as he rubbed his neck, and Mario spoke before he could say anything.
"I think it has something to do with the Koopa that was chasing him." When Mario said that, Bowser placed his hands on his shoulders and forced him to face him.
"What did this Koopa look like? How did he act? Was there anything that will set him apart from the others like a scar or him being a dry bone?" Bowser asked, trying not to shake the answer out of Mario, but he was unintendedly digging his claws into him.
"One, your claws are starting to draw blood-" Mario said as Bowser let go of him, saying a small sorry before he answered," -and two, nothing really. He looked like most Koopas, but the one thing I did see was his eyes. They were a gray color - almost white- but that's about it."
"It was awful," Luigi yelled again, lifting to bowl up only a little so they could hear him better. "I heard what happened when they possessed the poor Koopa."
"Wait, did he say possess?" Waluigi said as they turned to Bowser since Luigi wasn't going to give them answers.
"It's a long story." Bowser sighs, "But all you need to know is that I'm having a ghost problem. A nasty one that involved my Koopas being possessed and chasing after Luigi."
"Why do a bunch of Boos what a toy?" Wario said that made Luigi yelp. It made them stare at the bowl while Bowser turned to him with a piss-off look, smacking him on the back of his head.
"That word is forbidden in this castle, so don't use it," Bowser growls the last part, making Wario mumble as Mario starts to form questions about all this.
"Fine, we won't say it but you should at least answer his question - why are they after him." Mario asks again, not letting Bowser dodge the question.
"That-" Bowser sighs as he runs his hand through his hair. "-that's not my place to say. All I can say is that Luigi is scared and needs our help."
The three men looked at the bowl, wondering what had happened to the toy that made it so terrified. It was clear that Browser wouldn't say anymore, and Luigi was too scared to think straight. So they only had their imagination and the info they had to wonder about all the bad things that could have caused this.
"I say we just found out what we're doing for this boy's night." Wario said as Waluigi smiled.
"I think I know where this is going- Mario what color was the shell?" Waluigi said as Bowser Mario and Bowser started to pick up on what the two were going on about.
"His shell was green," Mario told them as Bowser added.
"Good, so we're looking for a Green shell Koopa with gray eyes. There are a total of three ghosts in my Castle right now. If you see any Koopa with gray eyes - stop them." The Wario brother's smile turns into a devilish one; Mario shoots them a glance before just nodding as Bowser taps on the bowl- making Luigi pop out for a moment.
"When you have the chance, go to my room or Kamek's, okay?" Bowser told him. Luigi nodded as he went back under the bowl again.
"Time for some ghost hunting!" Waluigi said as he and Wario ran out of the kitchen, and Bowser followed them. Mario, however, stays in the kitchen, lifting the bowl to see a scared Luigi, shaking as he tries to hold back his tears. Mario soon places his hand down so Luigi can get on.
"Hey, it's okay Lu," Mario said as Luigi's eyes went wide at the nickname, the tears forming as the childhood name came back, "lets put you somewhere safer than here."
Luigi wiped the tears as he got on Mario's hand. Mario put him in his overalls this time as he left the kitchen, letting Luigi tell him where to go so that he could leave him there, knowing he was safe.
Meanwhile, the clockwork soldier was looking for Luigi, opening doors and asking other Koopas if they had seen him since Bowser was looking for him. Everyone told him no, but they'd let him know if they did see him. The Clockwork soldier was annoyed with that answer but just said thanks, not to blow his cover. He wonders till he decides to look for the other two, feeling that the Koopa's body is starting to fight back again.
On his way to the meet-up spot, Wario and Waluigi were walking down the hallway with rope in their hands. The Soldier ignores them as he walks down the same hallway, but they spot him as they look him up and down.
"Hey," said Wario as he stepped in front of the Koopa, Making the Clockwork Soldier step back.
"What?" The Clockwork Soldier said, almost snapping back at him as Waluigi went next to him. They spotted the gray eyes, sharing glances before Wario talked again.
"Are you the Koopa that's looking for that toy?" Wario asked. The Clockwork Soldier narrowed his eyes at that question.
"Why do you want to know?" he asked, finding it a bit suspicious.
"We have the little guy, but...." Wario said, starting to giggle at the idea with Waluigi
"We hang him upside down in one of the sitting rooms," Waluigi finishes for Wario as they burst out laughing. The Clockwork Soldier started to laugh alongside them, too. This sounds like an easy job now, and he can finally leave this flesh body he hated so much.
"That's funny as hell, but I need the little guy, mind showing me where he is?" The Clockwork soldier said as they nodded, taking him down the hallway. They didn't take him far, as they took only a few turns before Wario opened the door to show an empty sitting room. The Soldier walked in to see if Luigi had fallen from the ceiling, but the space was empty as Wario and Waluigi locked the door behind them.
"He's not here!" the Koopa yelled, his voice coming out wrong, as if he was sick or something.
"We know." Wario said. Soon, they rushed the Koopa while he was off guard.
The Clockwork Soldier got tackled by the two. He punched Wario in the face before kicking Waluigi off. As he tries to get up, Waluigi grabs his tail, pulling him so he can fall back. But it didn't work, as it only led to a kick to the face; lucky Wario jumped on his back and knocked him to the ground. The Koopa let out a non-human screech, making Wario cover his ears as the Koopa elbowed him in the side. It didn't push him off, only making him groan as Waluigi grabbed the rope. Wario grabs the Koopa's wrist and pulls them behind his shell, letting Waluigi tie up his hands.
"You idiots! Let. me...go..." it said, slowly turning in a robotic voice with the hit of the Koopa voice mixed in. The Koopa started to shake, its eyes rolling behind his skull as its mouth opened. They both saw a hand come out of its mouth. Waluigi soon jumped on his mouth, closing it as a muffled screech was heard. Waluigi soon ties the month shut as Wario gets off the Koopa and watches as it unruly struggles against the rope. The outline of his eyes slowly became stained by black, heavy breathing and muffled screams as they saw the pupils come back, staring at the two in fear and anger as they now showed different eye colors.
One ghost down. Two more to go.