Chapter Text
The freezing winds tore through the night sky in an unforgiving rage. The only sign of life that could be seen was a lone figure dragging a large canvas bag. Red hair whipped around in the wind and a clawed hand blocked his eyes from the snow. He looked down at the canvas bag that carried what was most important to him. “Don’t worry, Papa! We’ve already escaped the mean lady. Now we just need to figure out how to get everything we need…”
He looked back at the canvas bag in hopes of getting some sort of reply, but it seemed that the storm was too loud. That made sense…he couldn’t even hear himself out here in the unforgiving blizzard. He tightened his grip, internally resenting his father’s so-called ‘friends’. If they really cared, why would they have left them in prison with that psycho lady? His dad was right. Friends will stab you in the back.
It felt like hours or even days had passed and yet the storm hadn’t let up in the slightest. Freezing and exhausted, Jr. decided that they needed to find some sort of shelter. He held out his arm in front of him, feeling for anything solid that could indicate a wall but his hand passed through nothing but air. With a sheer look of desperation and determination he charged as quickly as he could, muttering to himself. “Just you wait! I’m going to make Papa proud! You can’t hold us back with lousy snow!”
That was what he had thought anyways, but his stubbornness hadn’t proven itself useful. One moment the ground was solid beneath his feet but the next it was gone! “Papa!” was the only thing Jr. had time to shout as they plummeted into the abyss below. With a crash they were surrounded by bone chilling water and the young Koopa struggled to keep the canvas bag in his grasp. One moment the bag was there…then it was not. He could have sworn he heard his papa calling to him. With terror in his eyes Bowser Jr. flailed in the waves, but his exhaustion overtook him. His vision faded to black.
*****
It was a bright and sunny day in the Mushroom Kingdom and its residents were out and about enjoying all that the Kingdom had to offer. Of course that also included its newest arrivals, the Mario Brothers. A few Toads waved at them as the twins passed by them, arms full of groceries. As they entered the mushroom forest Luigi nudged Mario’s side with his elbow. “Look at you, big bro! We finished our errands so you know what that means!”
Mario’s cheeks turned a bit pink as he cleared his throat. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m going on a-”
“You’re going on a date with the Princess!” Luigi laughed.
“I wouldn’t say- You know it’s not officially a date or anything.”
“Oh come on, Mario! You even got ingredients from Brooklyn! You can’t tell me that you got cooking advice from Ma for something that’s not even a date! Besides, I know that the Princess is just as excited!”
“Well I don’t know about that…but I hope so.” Mario smiled softly.
“Of course!” Luigi exclaimed before he stepped on something hard and nearly tripped over himself. Huh. That’s strange…there’s usually nothing metal in the woods…
He picked up the object at his feet and his eyes widened in recognition. “Mario, this is Bowser’s cauldron! It must have fallen out of the castle when it collapsed!”
Mario raised a brow. “Huh. You’re right about that, Lu.”
Luigi stared at it with a pout. “Awh Mario, do you think he misses it?”
“What? Of course not! That thing is probably the size of a thimble to him now! Besides, he's in prison with his kid. There’s no need for him to cook his own food.” Not that it would carry enough to feed either of them anyways. He may have been reduced to a skeleton now but at least he wasn’t small anymore.
“I guess you’re right but you know what? I kind of miss the grumpy guy. I know we ended up having that spat in the end but I still think he really did have some heart in him.”
“He betrayed us!” Mario blinked in disbelief. However, upon seeing the sincere look on Luigi’s face he couldn’t help but sigh. Leave it to his little brother to always see the best sides of people…even if they didn't necessarily exist. He shook his head with a small smile. “Alright, Lu. If you think he wants it back then who am I to stop you? I’m sure he can’t do much with it anyways.”
“Right?! Thanks Mario! I knew you’d seen the good in him! That settles it! I’ll-”
He was interrupted when a familiar chime sounded from behind them. A purple Toad dressed in a mail man’s uniform blew a small whistle and approached them with a yellow envelope. “Excuse me Mario and Luigi! I’m here to deliver a letter from the town of Shiveria!”
“Shiveria huh? That’s a new one.” Mario hummed as he opened the envelope and read its contents. “‘To the famed Mario Brothers that have saved countless others, please visit us in Shiveria at your earliest convenience. There’s a map included and we’re located just below the ice’s surface. Stomp hard enough and you’ll find us…’Hmm. It doesn’t seem that urgent but I guess they’re asking for help…I think we should grab our supplies and head over.”
Luigi quickly snatched the letter from his hand and stuffed it into the pocket of his overalls. “Oh no! Absolutely not Mario! You are not missing that date!”
“Huh? But Lu, you know that we always do these things together.” It was true, but Mario conveniently left out that Luigi was famously a scaredy cat. This was an unknown territory and an unknown situation. What if it was something way more dangerous than it sounded like in the letter? What would Luigi do?
As if he read his mind, Luigi confidently held out his hand like a lawyer stating his case. “Now I know what you’re thinking! ‘But Lu! You’re famously a scaredy cat! What if it’s a big scary monster! While I’ll say this: I’ve been on way more crazy adventures with you here versus the haunted houses in Brooklyn. I’m way better at handling myself in scary situations! Besides, you can’t leave the Princess all alone! It’s not gentleman-like!”
“Well of course I wouldn’t leave her alone. You know Peach, she’s stronger than both of us combined. As a ruler herself she’s used to helping out a Kingdom.”
Mario’s excuses went unacknowledged as Luigi lightly pushed his brother in the direction of their home. “No excuses! You’re going to enjoy your date tonight and I’ll carry the responsibilities of saving an entire kingdom on my shoulders! Besides, I have a map and a phone. I’ll call ya if I need help.”
Mario laughed and shook his head. “Alright, you’ve convinced me. I trust you, but if I don’t hear from ya or from down the grape vine I’m going to come save you.”
“Deal! Let’s-a-go!” Luigi cheered and the two laughed as they made their way back home.
*****
Luigi’s motorcycle skidded to a stop above the marked area on his map. After circling the area and ensuring that he was in the right spot he hopped off. He pulled his scarf up to his goggles and studied the letter once more. ‘Stomp hard enough and you’ll find us’…
With a few swift stomps the information in the letter had proven itself truthful. A trap door made of ice flipped over and sent him tumbling down into a thick blanket of snow. Luigi climbed out of the snow pile, thankful that the fall was actually a lot less painful than he was expecting. That’s when he realized what had surrounded him.
A large room made of sculpted ice and snow surrounded him and large seal-like townspeople walked past him. Each gave him a curious glance but continued on without much more acknowledgment than a nod hello. It seemed like even though he was an outsider they weren’t too alarmed by him. He figured it must have been a rather quiet and friendly town.
He wandered past some shops, admiring their architecture and warmth of the candles that lined the walls, his gaze lingering on the trinkets within. This was such a lovely place…if it most certainly did not hold some mysterious danger behind the scenes. Finally he came to a halt when he felt a tug on the back of his jacket. He turned around, his eyes landing on a seal-like creature about his height.
“Hey! My name’s Luigi! Do you happen to know who was requesting my help? Is it you?”
The seal-like creature shook their head. This one seemed much smaller than the others. Perhaps she was a kid of some sort?
“No, but I can take you to him. Call me Yuki!” She exclaimed as if she was excited to finally have something to do in this peaceful town.
Before Luigi could reply she rolled away, turning down a large hallway to the left and bouncing along the walls. Luigi ran after her in a haste, mentally preparing himself for whatever situation had arisen.
He jogged beside the bouncing ball until they came to a stop in front of a large set of double doors. Luigi stared at them and was glad to find that it was actually pretty quiet. A little too quiet.
“So…I’m assuming that the silence means that this is, in fact, not a giant scary monster?”
“Well. It’s definitely a monster.” Yuki replied before pushing the door open.
Bracing himself for the worst case scenario Luigi held up his fists in a boxing position as the now opened door revealed…nothing but a hospital…? An empty one at that. “That’s it?”
A much larger seal-like creature rolled up before him and popped up, adjusting his glasses. This one had a clipboard and a badge that read ‘doctor’. “I’m assuming you’re Luigi?” He mumbled. “Welcome to Shiveria. Now if you could just follow me.”
Luigi and Yuki followed suit and the Shiverian doctor led them to a lone bed that was surrounded by a privacy curtain in the corner. His flipper grabbed the curtain and he paused, seemingly preparing for a surprise attack. “You see here, there was a huge blizzard a few days ago and we sent our scout Yuki to ensure that all the entrances were still sound and stable. However when she claimed that she had found a monster that had drowned and washed up on our shore she couldn’t just leave him there to suffer. For obvious reasons we can’t keep him here. We fear that if he wakes, Shiveria might be the target of his wrath.”
Without warning he yanked the curtain back with a clank and it revealed an unconscious figure that was curled up underneath a sheet. Luigi cringed as he stared at the doctor, who motioned to Luigi that it was fine to proceed. Terrified of whatever large monster was lurking under the sheet, Luigi put on a brave face and walked over. Why did he think that this was a good idea again?
His gloved hand gripped the corner of the sheet carefully and he counted down in his head. On one he quickly yanked the sheet back and prepared for the worst.
…
…
“Huh…” He breathed a sigh of relief when a familiar face revealed itself.
“Oh! That’s just Bows-wait, Bowser Jr.?!” He jumped up and his face went white as a sheet. He was supposed to be in prison! The father and son must have escaped right under their noses!
He studied the young Koopa a bit more and relaxed a little when the kid let out a small breath. “Aww, man. Is he okay?”
The doctor and Yuki seemed to have relaxed a little too now that it was confirmed that there was no immediate danger. “I believe that he’s just exhausted but for some reason his vitals are showing high levels of stress. How his heart rate has been so high in his sleep, I can not explain.”
Luigi’s face shifted a bit in worry. “Aww, poor little guy. He’s probably missing his dad. By the way…you didn’t happen to find a skeleton or a paintbrush with him, right…?”
Yuki and the doctor looked at each other and back at Luigi in confusion and the doctor cleared his throat. “Well if you think that he’s terrifying enough to travel with a skeleton then I’d prefer he leave sooner rather than later…but no. He was by himself.”
Thank god! Luigi sighed in relief. At least without a paintbrush Jr. wouldn’t be able to attack him with an axe immediately upon waking. All he had to do was make sure he was okay and then take him back to Bowser in prison! At least he assumed that Bowser was there. He knew for a fact that Jr. would do anything to be with his father. He’d experienced it first hand!
He sat down in the chair next to the hospital bed and tapped his fingers lightly on his knees. So far so good! Now, he just had to wait for the son of the Koopa King to awaken.