"What was that about?" Peach asks as King Boo and his ghost leave, leaving the three of them in the room.
"Nothing but trouble," Bowser said as he moved to the exit, "I'll be in my room if needed," and left.
"You'll have to forgive Bowser. Him and Boo were once good friends that went south."
"What do you mean?" Peach asks.
"Well, I have known King Boo longer than Bowser has. We would talk about magic and he would help with some of the problems in the Darklands. When Bowser met him, he wanted to grow up to be a good ruler, and King Boo took him under his wing. Promising him that he'll teach him how to be a ruler."
"What happened to make them bitter towards each other?" Peach asks as she looks at the door, wondering if Bowser is okay.
"He learned the truth," Kamek said, "King Boo was using him, and the damage had already been done."
"Should we-?"
"No, he needs some time. He needs to let his anger out." Kamek said as he pushed her out of the throne room. "Besides you need to change, so off you go."
Peach looked back at Kamek, who was going down the hall that took him to his tower, before looking down the hall that brought her to her room. She sighed, thinking that maybe he was right about Bowser, that she should leave him alone. She picks at her dress, feeling the giant rip in it; she must take care of herself first before caring for someone else.
Meanwhile, Kamek heads to his tower. Think about what that ghost had told him, his head lost in thought as he replayed their little talk.
"Look, no need for violence."
"That's funny coming from one of King Boo ghosts. Why were you after Luigi, who cursed him, and what do you mean when you said if King Boo found him?" Kamek asked as his wand light got brighter.
"The fact that you know that it's a curse is shocking: most don't remain in their original body, they all get turned to stone." Neville said, placing his hand on the armchair.
"I'm not afraid to zip you," Kamek said, zipping sounds from his wand.
"I can tell," Neville said, "but if you want me to answer your questions then a little less hostility towards me."
Kamek only stopped the zip from his wand, but it was still pointing at Neville. Neville could see that this was the best he could get out of him.
"Look, Luigi and I are friends," Neville started, "I was only talking to him, giving him an update. I wasn't going to turn him in."
"It didn't look like that," Kamek said, "and you still haven't answered my questions."
"If you let me finish then you would have had them. King Boo is after him; he was the one who did this and he wants Luigi back in his procession" Neville told him. Kamek lowered his wand in shock. He had connected the dots to what the ghost was telling him; King Boo was the one who cures Luigi. This also confused him. He recognized King Boo's magic and the kind of curse he does, so why is this one different?
Before he could think of an answer, he saw the armchair approaching him. He shot it with a blast from his wand, causing an explosion; Neville was nowhere in sight when the pieces of the chairs fell.
It didn't take long afterward to find both ghosts in the library, but Kamek kept thinking of those words after today's events. King Boo was behind Luigi's curse and wanted him, but why? Did Luigi do something that made King Boo so mad that he turned him into a nutcracker and is now hunting him down?
Kamek needed to talk to Luigi about this to avoid jumping to conclusions. When he got to his magic room in his tower, he realized that he had forgotten something, more like someone. He forgot that he told Luigi to hide in Bowser's room.
"Oh boy; I forgot, didn't I?" He spoke to himself, "Oh, he'll be fine...I think"
On his way to his room, Bowser couldn't help but get annoyed and angry at what happened. King Boo had shown his face in his home after so many years. Sure, Bowser had let a few boos in and out of his castle, but not once had he allowed King Boo to return once he was crowned King. He was a fool for thinking King Boo wouldn't try to return to his life.
When he opened the door to his room, he slammed it shut without a second thought when he entered. Bowser's room was massive that it was divided into two parts. The front part was a setting area where most enter from. It was more open space as bookshelves were on the far right next to some plants he's been taking care of that didn't want to grow in the garden. There were two red Victorian Parlor Chairs next to the shelves with some children's books on the floor that Junior forgot to pick up. On the far left was a fireplace with another Victorian Parlor Chair and lounge on top of a black fluffy rug. The fireplace wall was lined with drawings from Junior and paintings and photos of Bowser with either Junior or Kamek; some had all three. Last was the middle, where a large round table with a small lace table topper and a glass flower centerpiece.
The table would become the first victim of Bowser's anger as he flipped it over, causing the centerpiece to shatter on the floor and the table to hit the sliding door that divided the sitting room and where his bed was.
"I swear! It's like that madman knows when I'm at my most happiest and just comes and ruins it!" Bowser yells as he knocks over the chairs by the bookshelf, pulling out books from self-worth to help books of being a good father and ruler. All getting thrown to the floor or across the room, hiding the painting, and those paintings falling to the ground. "He lives to torment me!"
Nothing was safe as he went for the plants and smashed them on the ground. The chair and lounge by the fireplace were thrown against the sliding door, too, the lounge making a hole in the door to show the second part of his bedroom. The photos were soon ripped off as if he didn't want to see the happy time with his family. One of the photos was a Self-portrait of when he was crowned King of the Koopas. Instead of ripping it off the wall, he dug his claws into it. Ripping the actual hand-painted portrait and destroying it.
His anger still lingers as he moves to the sliding door, throwing the round table and chair to the side. The lounge was stuck in the door, so he just ripped the whole door off and tossed it with the other furniture. In the second part of his room was his personal area, where his bed, restroom, and walk-in closet were; He also had a desk that he used to work on when he was not in his office, with a full body mirror next to it. He stomped to his nightstand, grabbing the Candelabra with some lit candles on it. He didn't wait as he threw it at the mirror, shattering it too, but he didn't expect a yelp to be heard behind him, coming from under the bed.
When Bowser heard the yelp coming from under his bed, he couldn't help but wonder who was under there. He bent down, getting on his hands and knees to lift the bed lightly, thinking that Junor was hiding in his room. However, Bowser didn't see his son. Instead, he saw a scared green nutcracker, his arm and hand up in the air covering his head. Bowser's eyes went straight to the glass that poked out of his hands as the nutcracker shivered in fear.
"Greenie? What happened to you?" Bowser asks as he reaches his hand out to Luigi. Luigi lowered his arms when he heard that it was Bowser, letting out a shaking breath in relief that Bowser had found him and not one of the ghosts. But his eyes started darting when he thought that.
"T-t-they're gone, r-right?"
"Who's gone?"
"The g-g-ghosts..." Luigi said as he reached out to grab Bowser's hand, stopping himself from touching him. Luigi pulled away, only noticing that his hands were covered in glass; he didn't want the glass to hurt Bowser. So he pulled his hands to his chest, lowering his head as if he was apologizing.
When Bowser saw Luigi pull back, his anger got worse. Did King Boo and his stupid ghosts come to destroy his home and hurt his subject? Were they the ones who caused this to Luigi? Luigi may be a toy, but he was still a subject as long as he worked with Bowser. He started to crush the bed frame as he scoped Luigi up before dropping the bed. Luigi got scared as the bed hit the floor, making a loud bang noise.
"What happened?" Bowser growled, making Luigi shake even more.
"I-I-I got scared. I don't do w-well with ghosts. Didn't help when Spooky chased me...."
"Spooky?"
"T-the ghost dog...that was what the other ghost called him..." Luigi explained, forgetting that no one knew that he knew the ghosts. He could see Bowser's finger trying to not crawl up into a fist as Luigi lay in his hand before he continued. "They c-chase me till I ended up o-outside. I-I had to run on the ledge as I came in through the w-window. Forgive me, your nastiness, I d-didn't mean to break into your room...I-I just need to escape t-them."
Bowser's anger boiled as he heard Luigi tell his story, only to feel instant guilt and sorrow for him. Luigi was asking for forgiveness for something that wasn't his fault. Bowser looked up to see the broken window he came from. Bowser didn't even notice the window was broken, but when he looked at it, the drop from up there for someone tiny like Luigi would have been like a vase falling and breaking. He could have broken bones or worse if he wasn't made of wood. Bowser couldn't believe that Luigi would care more about a broken window and coming into his room without permission when he was being tormented by ghosts. Bowser looked back down at him, Luigi's hands in his chest as he looked down at the floor, shaking as if he was freezing. He moved over to his desk, softly putting Luigi down as he opened the top drawer and pulled out a first aid kit.
"Your nastiness, I-"
"Quiet," Bowser hissed as he opened the first aid, pulling out tweezers. "Give me your hands."
"I don't need-"
"I said, give me your hands," Bowser demanded more harshly than he would have liked, but his anger was coming back as the fact that that bastard came back and caused fear in someone so helpless. Luigi flinched at his demand, slowly reaching his hand out. Grabbing his hand with his claws, Bowser slowly started to pull out the glass from Luigi's hand in a slow manner to not cause him more pain - if he even felt pain, that is.
"If I ever hear you apologize like that again, I will make sure it really was your fault." Bowser started, "You get chased and you think that breaking a window that saves you is something you need to apologize for?! Do you think I would care more about a stupid window than my own subject?!"
"N-no, your nastiness...but-"
"NO BUTS!" Bowser roared as he let go of Luigi's hand to slam the table. His angry red eyes stared at Luigi as he bared his teeth, but slowly softened into worry and a frown as Luigi rolled into a ball on his desk, eyes shut tight as if trying to hold back tears.
"I-I'm sorry..." Bowser whispers softly as he rubs Luigi's head, "I let my anger get the best of me...I promise I won't raise my voice again."
"A-a-and the slamming?" Luigi asks, slowly moving away out of habit.
"I promise no more." Bowser said as he grabbed Luigi's hand again, pulling out the remaining glass. "But I mean it. I don't care about a window, I'm used to my castle being destroyed by a plumber."
Luigi didn't say anything as he kept shaking. Bowser focuses on pulling out the glass from the block of wood that Luigi calls a hand.
"Your nastiness-"
"Bowser. Just Bowser."
"Bowser... it's pointless. You don't-"
"If you keep trying to tell me what to do, I'm going to lose my temper again," Bowser said, trying not to raise his voice again. Luigi shut his mouth again as Bowser worked with the tweezer to pull out the glass. Luigi watched, trying not to yank his hand away as he really didn't want Bowser to do this. It was pointless as the pain would have gone away at some point, then he would have just wiped the glass off, not like his body healed like it used to. As he watched, he also listened to Bowser's grumpy mumbling; it sounded like nonsense since Luigi didn't know what Bowser was saying, just that he was mad. When he finished both hands, Bowser pulled out two little bandages to wrap Luigi's hands.
"Thank you Bowser." Luigi said as Bowser finished wrapping his hands.
"I understand what it's like to be scared of ghosts. I was once controlled by one, both figurative and literally." As he put the kit away, Bowser said, "I know what it's like to have to fight your way out to escape, getting hurt in the process just to be safe. I don't want anyone to feel that way, even if you're just a toy." Soon he got up, picking up Luigi as he entered the destroyed sitting area. He opened the door to his room, placing Luigi outside so he could make his way to Kamek Tower.
"Bowser-"
"Only in private, Greenie. Off you go now." Bowser said, closing the door. Luigi stared at the door before looking at his hands. He was tempted to rip off the bandages, but he smiled at the fact that they were there. He walked down the hall, just a bit away from Bowser's doors, when he ran into Junior.
"Luigi! Are you okay?!" Junior asked as he saw his hands.
"I'm fine Junior, just cut myself when I was running is all." Luigi told him, "What are you doing over here?"
"I came to check on dad. I heard he was sad, so I wanted to cheer him up." Junior said. This gives Luigi an idea of how he can repay Bowser.
"Then why don't we do that together? We never got to make him any sugar plums, why don't we do that now?" Luigi asks as he grabs Junior's hand. Junior got excited about cooking something with Luigi for his dad. He picks Luigi up and places him on his shoulder.
"Yeah! Let's go work on that now!" He said as he ran down the hallway with Luigi.