Bowser sat at his piano, his finger on autopilot as he kept playing the same song over and over again. Mario once again had come and defeated him, as is the norm at this point, and to add insult to injury, Junior had watched the whole thing. Just seeing Junior's face turn from him rooting for Bowser to utter heartbreak that Peach was leaving once again made Bowser feel so weak. His fingers stop as Junior's face pops up again, and him letting out a sigh. Kamek pops out of thin air on his broom as if Bowser sighing was his cue to come to see him.
"Your nastiness! Your nastiness!" Kamek yelled; Bowser turned around to the sudden exhilaration in his voice as he continued, "Princess Peach has sent you a letter!"
"She did?!" he yelled, knocking over the piano stool as he stood up. "Head it over!" Peach was rescued just a few days ago, and this was the first time that she was sending a letter first. So this was by far the most heart-pounding experience he has ever had. As he read, his heartbeat slowed down. His face of disappointment came on as he read that she was sending the cost of the damage, followed by asking that he not kidnap her for the next four months since she wouldn't be in the Mushroom Kingdom. He couldn't help but rip the letter in half in a fit of rage before throwing it on the floor.
"My boy-"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Bowser roared at him, making Kamek bow.
"I'm sorry, your nastiness. I-"
"STOP!" He roared again, "Don't call me that either! Just- Just get out!" he yelled, turning away from Kamek. Kamek had a frown on his face, seeing his King and child in so much distress. Kamek simply patted Bowser's shoulder, letting him know that if he changed his mind and wanted to talk, he just had to call him, and in a puff of smoke, Kamek was gone.
Bowser stood still until he looked around the room, wanting to let his anger out. He walked past the instruments to the door since he wasn't going to smash any of those, but the door was far game. He pulled back and punched right through the door as if it was nothing. Then he grabbed hold of it, yanking on it with a force that the hinges started to pull out of the wall. When the hinges came off, Bowser moved backward; the door swung as it hit a gong, making it fall over. Once balanced, Bowser grabs it by its side, lifting it over his head. Then, with a slight running start, he threw it against the hallway wall, smashing it even more as it broke on impact. He let out smoke from his mouth as he watched the door pieces burn from the lava river that ran before storming down the hall.
His anger is still on the rampage.
"Careful, careful, careful! Careful, Junior, care-!" Luigi yelled as a bag of nut flour fell on top of him. Junior is standing on a wobbling stool, holding onto some ingredients.
"Ah! Are you ok, Luigi?!" Junior yelled, almost falling as he balanced himself.
"Mhm!" Luigi sounded as he waved his free arm. He even tried pushing it off, but it didn't work. Junior jumped off the stool onto the counter, knocking it over as he dropped more ingredients. He placed whatever he had in his arm on the ground and moved over to take the flour off of Luigi. He shook his head, taking a deep breath.
"Mamma mia, thank you Junior." Luigi said, taking deep breaths.
"Sorry about that, I'll be more careful," Junior said, putting the flour down before helping Luigi up.
"It's fine. I was more scared of you falling."
Junior and Luigi had watched the fight between Bowser and Mario several days ago. Peach waved goodbye to Junior as Mario took her away. Junior was upset but was more upset that his father was sad, so he wanted to cheer him up. So Luigi suggested they make Bowser some sugar plum candy to cheer him up, which is why they were in the kitchen. It didn't take much to make them, so Luigi thought it was a quick pick-me-up; he never thought that it would cause him so much worry.
"Ok, so what did we need again Luigi?"
"We need dried fruit, some nuts, nut flour, spices, honey, and sugar," Luigi said, moving over to what Junior had gotten. It was a mixture of different things, but they only needed some of it. So he first moved to the nuts to see what they should use.
"Is your dad more of an almond or walnut kind of fellow?"
"Walnut," Junior said, moving over to the spices, "He also loves Cinnamon. We have to add that."
Luigi let out a giggle. He never imagined that the King of Koopa, A Beast Luigi feared for his intimidating figure, had a sweet tooth. In fact, being in the castle has made him learn a lot about Bowser and his people. Like on his sleepless nights, Bowser would go on walks in the garden. Sometimes he was sitting down and writing something; Luigi heard it once, it was a poem for Peach, and it was indeed one that a hopeless romantic wrote. Or the times that Bowser would be with Junior and Kamek, like an actual family. The last time they were together, they were in the music room. Bowser showed Junior how to play the piano, while Kamek used his magic to get the other instruments to play themself. Peach was even listening from outside when she was here, a smile on her face, slowly dancing as she heard the beautiful music that followed along with laughter.
"Don't forget to grab some Cardamom and Rosemary; that will help," Luigi told him as Junior got the other spices to add.
"I got them! What else-"
"Who are you talking to Junior?"
They both froze, Luigi, dropping the walnuts and making himself look lifeless. Junior turns around to see Kamek on his broom.
"I was just talking to my toy," Junior said, trying to cover Luigi.
"But I heard someone in here with you," Kamek said, trying to see Luigi, but Junior kept blocking him. "Junior, why do you keep covering your toy?"
"I just don't want you taking it away. Besides grandpa, you're getting old, maybe you just heard something." Kamek was getting annoyed at Junior's behavior, so he made Junior float in the air, "Hey!"
Kamek looked at his toy and found it odd. It wasn't because it was a wooden doll or because it looked like Mario, but because of the purple light surrounding it. To a non-magic user, it would be naked to the eye, but to Kamek, there was magic on this doll. He picked it up, only to drop Luigi on the floor, as it had sung his hand. This also affected Luigi, making him gasp as he lay on the floor. This was a first for him, and he didn't like it as his air was being stuck out of him. Luigi looks up at Kamek in horror before wandering over to Junior, who only yells to run.
Luigi did so, as Kamek put Junior down to use his magic on Luigi. It was hard to breathe as he dodged the lighting shooting at him, listening to Junior scream for Kamek to stop. Luigi made his way to the door as a Koopa opened it, letting him out of the kitchen as lightning hit the poor guy. Luigi wanted to stop running and catch his breath, but he couldn't as he heard the old Koopa yelling for him to return. He didn't understand what happened when Kamek grabbed him, the sudden loss of air, his body getting poked by a thousand needles, the ringing in his ears, and the white light. Where did the white light come from? Was that him passing on to the afterlife? No, he didn't want to believe that; that was just another side effect; it had to be. So he ran, avoiding the lava rivers trying not to pass out from the lack of air he still felt. The lack of air soon became the least of his problems.
The wind was knocked out of him again as he hit something soft but firm. Luigi was gasping as he tried to catch his breath, not noticing that the thing he hit was Bowser's leg.
On the other hand, Bowser had noticed, looking down at what hit him with anger in his eyes. His head started to hurt as he stared at the doll, making him close his eyes; he shook his head, forced his eyes to open, and stared at it again. It was becoming blurring, but soon it started to focus, as the tiny green dot soon turned into a red human wheezing.
"Mario," Bowser snarled, which made Luigi look at him in horror. Bowser stomps closer to him as he tries to crawl away, yelping as he hits some lava, burning his arm. "HOW DARE YOU COME BACK HERE AGAIN!"
"N-n-n-no!" Luigi said, struggling to say just that, "I- I'm not Mario- I-"
"LAIR!" Bowser roared as he slammed his hand on Luigi, pinning him to the floor. Luigi was now trapped between Bowser's fingers and the lava river above him, feeling the dreadful heat from it and Bowser's mouth. Luigi's eyes started to water, desperately trying to move Bowser's finger, but it was useless.
"Don't give me those crocodile tears!" Bowser growls as he pushes down on Luigi. This got a painful scream out of him, and the sobbing soon followed. Luigi now wished that he had just been struck by lightning, as the pressure was hurting him even more.
"Please, Bowser! I'm begging you!" Luigi cries, "Just listen! Mario-"
Bowser curled his finger, lifting Luigi in the air as he hung over the lava, getting even angrier that Luigi wasn't admitting that he was Mario.
"Are you calling me stupid?! I know how you look, Mario! With your stupid overall with the red hat, and mustache! You can't trick me!" Bowser yells in his face as smoke spills out, "Admit it already! Or else."
"Please..." Luigi whispers, begging. HOPING. That Bowser would listen and look past the effect of the curse. "It's Greenie," He said as he looked Bowser straight in his hateful red eyes, watching his clouded eyes with the same hit of the purple lining that Luigi saw with everyone who got hit with the full effect of the curse.
"Please...remember me..." but Luigi's heart broke again.
"Lair," Bowser said once more, grabbing Luigi's left arm. Luigi tried to pull away, terrified, as he felt the pain of his shoulder being ripped from its socket. His hand went numb as his vision became blurry from the tears; Luigi wanted it to stop, for everything to stop. Before he knew it, a pop could be heard as he got a glimpse of his arm in Bowser's hand.
Next, Darkness.