Sticks and stones

Chapter 1: Bloody and bruised

Another day, another miserable attempt at kidnapping a princess. After so many years of trying, he was almost starting to lose hope. Key word; almost. The koopa king was not one to give up easily, especially when it came to romancing a future wife.

Bowser was rushing through the castle corridors, he had a busy day today. It was yet again time for another attempt at kidnapping and marrying the princess of the mushroom kingdom, Peach.

Bowser wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he had given up on Peach reciprocating his feelings a long time ago. At this point him trying to marry her was just for political purposes, for resources and whatnot. He would be lying if he said he didn't still have feelings for her, but he knew she would never have the same feelings for him.

The koopa king had his royal advisor Kamek floating on his trusty broom next to him like he always did as they handled errands and preparations for the day. Bowser yelled orders and demands to Koopa Troopas and Goombas alike as he marched down the hall.

"C'mon, hurry up everyone. We don't have all day! We're supposed to leave at sundown." Bowser roared at his minions as he continued to stomp through the castle. He was in a bad mood today, just like he was most days.

"Your grumpiness, please, you must calm down! I assure you the preparations are taken care of, we are in no rush." Kamek reassured the koopa king.

Bowser growled slightly at his advisor and huffed out a puff of smoke as he continued his stride towards his clown car.

Bowser finally arrived at the castle gates and walked outside. The air was thick and warm as always and the sky was grey with smoke and clouds. The sky was always dark and somber over the dark lands, but it never stopped feeling so lonely and suffocating. Bowser took a deep breath and felt the strong smell of ash and smoke unpleasantly filling his nostrils. Home sweet home.

As he walked outside he saw three Shy Guys tinkering with and fixing his clown car. While waiting for them to finish up he continued yelling orders to his troops.

A small koopa ran up from behind Bowser and started sputtering out his message to the king. "E-Excuse me your rudeness but there is an emergency in the castle, you must come, quickly!" The koopa fiddled nervously with his clawed hands.

Bowser turned his attention to the little koopa and scowled at him. "What is it now?" He huffed out, annoyance grumbling in his voice.

The koopa tried to find the right words to explain the situation but ultimately gave up. "Just f-follow me!" the koopa stuttered out in a hurry and bolted towards the castle gates.

The koopa was much smaller than Bowser so he could walk in his normal pace and easily keep up with the troop's speed. The koopa led Bowser through a few hallways before they arrived at their destination.

"Here, h-he should be somewhere around here." The koopa breathed out while trying to catch his breath from running.

He? Bowser thought. What the hell did this short stack call me here for, did someone invade the castle? But he quickly dismissed the thought, his castle was so secure no one would ever dare even try to invade it. He was the koopa king after all! Everyone FEARS him!

Bowser and the little koopa troopa continued walking down the long hallway. At the end of the hallway they turned the corner and what Bowser saw shook him to his core.

"I-I'm sorry.. I didn't know where else to go."

Bowser froze for a second, just staring at the small green clad human infront of him.

Luigi limped slowly towards bowser, one hand wrapped around his own blood drenched stomach and the other holding onto the wall as he dragged himself along it. His face was bruised and bloody and he had several cuts and wounds sprinkled all over his body. His face was scrunched up in pain and he was breathing heavily, he was obviously exhausted. He probably ran here.

Luigi took another step forward before his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed—

—right into Bowser's arms, as he swooped forward and caught the plumber before he could hit the ground.

"He needs medical attention, NOW!" Bowser roared at the small koopa. "HURRY!" The koopa yelped and immediately ran off to get help.

Bowser looked at the smaller unconscious man in his arms and growled, mostly directed at himself. What the fuck am I doing.

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Luigi stirred a bit before finally regaining his consciousness. He tried to sit up but immediately felt a surge of pain spread from his stomach throughout his whole body and settled on leaning on his elbows.

He was shirtless and had tons of bandages wrapped around his stomach and torso as well as his left arm.

The plumber lifted one hand to rub at the headache building at his temples.

A goomba who seemed to have been tending to his wounds jumped when it saw that he was awake and immediately sprinted out of the room, presumably to inform Bowser that Luigi had woken up.

Wait, goomba? Bowser? Where the hell is he?

When Luigi started coming back to his senses, he remembered what had happened the night before. In a panic he had stumbled in through the back door of the koopa king's castle, bloodied and bruised to a pulp.

He must have passed out once he got into the castle, but why wouldn't Bowser just throw him out? Why let him stay and treat his wounds? This really was strange.

Luigi's thoughts were interrupted when the koopa king himself barged into the room, he looked angry, confused and worried at the same time but Luigi had a feeling he was mostly angry right now.

"WHAT THE HELL, GREENIE?!"

Luigi jumped out of his skin when Bowser barged into his room and growled at him.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?! WHY ARE YOU HERE!?!?!?!" Bowser kept roaring his questions at Luigi and puffed out a cloud of smoke through his snout.

"B-bowser, please-a calm down! Let-a me explain!" Luigi pleaded as he sat up in the bed. He hissed in pain but ignored it for the time being.

Bowser snapped back to reality when he remembered that Luigi was still severely hurt, maybe he should save the scolding for later.

Bowser cleared his throat and stomped closer to the bed Luigi sat in.

"So can you tell me what the actual fuck happened to you? And why didn't you just go to that dumbass brother of yours for help?!" Bowser questioned the plumber, hands on his hips to display his irritation.

Luigi sighed and searched his vocabulary for the right words for a second before he opened his mouth to speak.

A/N

Hope you liked this first chapter!!! I'm writing chapter 2 rn so stay tuned ^^