-
Luigi stared at the ceiling, bleary eyed and still feeling exhausted, even though he had slept for who knows how long. He semi remembered what had happened the past few days, and what had happened had resulted in his sore legs. He recalled the times he had and Wendy had made love, he couldn’t count how many times, but he remembered vague glimpses.
“Good morning my love,” Wendy ran the tips of her claws through his hair. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah,” Luigi sighed.
“You sound like you are still sleepy.”
“My body feels tired,” Luigi said. “My mind and eyes are awake.” He felt a rumble in his stomach. “And my belly is awake.”
“I don’t think there will be a basket of goodies waiting for us,” Wendy sat up. “Mario had mentioned something about Iggy explaining our season to him.”
“Food in a basket,” there were vague flashes of a basket and various foods. There were breads, fruits, and cheeses, along with warm meals, more calzones and strombolli, fried chicken, cookies and cakes and other foods he couldn’t identify.
“It would be nice to have breakfast at the table this time,” Wendy slid out of bed. “We might have to apologize for ruining Peach’s bedroom sheets.”
“You want to apologize to your enemy?” Luigi sat up, and paused when his vision blurred again.
“She has put up with us the past few days,” Wendy explained. “And since she is going to be married to your brother she will be like a sister.” Wendy’s eyes brightened. “I’ll have two sisters, three when Roy proposes.” She walked over to his side of the bed. “We should shower before we join them.”
Luigi nodded. “We don’t want to stink up the kitchen, although even when clean Mario, Gadd, and Daisy don’t smell nearly as nice as you.”
“Humans are not the best smelling to us,” Wendy took his hand. “Daddy can tolerate Peach because she has some toad blood in her.”
“I’ve met King Toadstool’s mother,” Luigi remembered the warm and kind old toad who resided in the castle.
“I haven’t seen her,” Wendy brushed her fingers against the top of Luigi’s hand. “I have seen that clumsy king when we first arrived her. He was talking with Toadsworth.”
“She said something about wanting to see the world before she died.”
“Who wouldn’t want to do that?” She placed Luigi’s hand on her stomach. “Of course it will have to wait until our children are old enough to be on their own.”
“Our children,” Luigi smiled. He was going to be a father. “I have to tell Mario he is going to be-,”a new memory flashed before his eyes. He could see Mario holding onto his arm, and he struck his own brother with his claws. “I slashed at him.” He stared at his talons. “I injured my own brother.”
“You didn’t mean to.” She said in a soft tone. “You were controlled by your instincts. If Mario hadn’t touched you then you wouldn’t have injured him.”
“I don’t know how badly I have scratched him,” he stared at his claws again. They were as thick as they were long. If his claws had dug in deep then they would have caused some serious damage. “He might have been rushed to the hospital and needed stitches.”
“It wasn’t serious,” she blinked when Luigi gave her look. “Not too serious. Mario delivered most of the food baskets. He even mentioned that one contained a whole wheel of provolone.”
“My favorite kind of cheese,” Luigi smiled. He felt a little better tat Mario wasn’t seriously injured, but felt even guiltier than earlier.
“He is probably not even expecting a apology.”
“I still have to say something,” he pulled back the sheets.
“We will at breakfast.”
-
Luigi went through his morning routine of shower, dressing, combing his hair and brushing his teeth before he and Wendy made their way to the dining hall.
Everyone was at the table, including both Toadsworth and the king, there was something off about the table, there were the bowls of fresh cut fruit and baked goods as usual, except instead of muffins, bagels or croissants they were rolls. There was no coffee pot, or pitchers of orange juice, instead pitchers of iced water, iced tea, and lemonade, and Luigi smelled ground beef, tomato sauce and spices.
“Good morning?” Wendy greeted the group. She sounded as awkward as Luigi felt.
“Good afternoon,” Toadette said cheerfully. “Your just in time for lunch.”
“Lunch?” Luigi stumbled backward. “You are kidding right?”
“It is noon by my clock,” Toadsworth pulled out a small brass pocket watch and held it up. “As you can see where the hands of the clock are pointing. If you woke up at a proper hour then it would still be morning.”
“Who knows how much sleep have they gotten during their,” Toad paused when everyone blushed. He coughed into his hand. “Activities.”
“We did get some sleep,” Wendy said. Luigi didn’t sleep until he had completely worn himself out and the second he woke up he was ready to go again.
“What kind of activities?” King Toadstool asked. He was trying to butter his roll but instead his knifed was crumbling it into bits. “Blasted hard butter, Toadsworth tell the cooks to order the softer kind.”
“Wouldn’t that be more of a margarine?” Toadsworth raised his bushy eyebrows.
“Yes,” the king nodded. “That would be the stuff. Now what kind of activity was going on?”
“It is something we can’t mention,” Toadette’s face turned as pink as her cap.
“I know you like to be an early riser, Weege,” Mario decided to change the subject. He was pouring ice water into two glasses. “You will probably wake up earlier tomorrow.”
“I guess I’m just shocked,” Luigi could not look Mario in the eyes. “I wasn’t aware we had slept that long.”
“You will feel better after you gotten something to eat,” Mario said. “I know I feel better if I eat something when I’m a little down.”
“Mario,” Luigi stared at his water as he sat down. He might as well get this out now. “I’m sorry about the other day.”
“Luigi don’t mention it,” Mario said. “You just went along with your instincts. It really couldn’t have been helped.”
“I hurt you. What if it had been serious?”
“It wasn’t. I took that scratch as a warning swipe. Lunch is almost ready and I know you like tortellini,” Mario smiled at Wendy. “Have you made him that?”
“Not yet,” Wendy took a sip from her glass. “Hopefully I can get the recipe from the chefs.”
“You need to rebuild your strength,” Mario rubbed his elbow against Luigi’s. “And Wendy is now eating for two. I want my nephew, or niece to be a strong one.”
“Goodness,” Toadsworth nearly chocked on his water. “She is expecting? Why haven’t I been properly informed?”
“I have only recently found out.” Wendy placed her hand on top of Luigi’s.
-
Larry leaned with his back against the cab of the pickup truck, only half listening to everyone, including Kamron sing some made up ditty about fighting zombies as they continued their drive to the small town of Jazz.
“The zombies try to bite, but Larry has put up a fight,” Rusty continued to lead the group. He was the biggest and brawniest member of the group, and more feline than Silhouette. His whole body was covered with reddish brown fur, save for his chest and his face and that was covered with a think pelt, almost like goose down. His fingers were thicker than Silhouette’s and he had the nose of a cat.
“We gotta add more parts now,” Tad stuck his head out from the passenger side. He was a toad with a striped cap. He wore a flannel jacket and had a noticeable gap in his front teeth. “We have to have a line about Kamron and Silhouette.”
“We will,” Rusty took another sip from his can of beer. “Just get your ugly face back in there.” He turned to the only human member of their group. “Jean, your good with words. You make up some lyrics.”
“Why does it always gotta be me?” Jean asked. He was a spry and slender figure, fast on his feet. He wore a backwards baseball cap and about three days worth of growth on his chin.
“Cause you are good at it,” Rusty belched.
“Should they be in one line together, or in their own separate lines?” Jean asked.
“Separate,” Kamron pointed his wand at him.
“Oh and don’t forget the ghost girl,” Rusty added. “She helped us bunches.”
Larry bristled up. How could they just refer to Chloe as the ghost girl, not too mention even entertain the thought of including her in their drunken song?
“No,” Silhouette said coldly. “She wouldn’t want to be in the song with us.”
“How would you know?” Rusty asked.
“Larry knew her when she was alive. She died saving his life.”
“Really?” Jean nearly dropped the little pencil in his hand. It was one of those pencils used for golf and bowling games. “Why didn’t he say anything earlier when we were fighting?”
“I didn’t feel like sharing,” Larry said softly. He didn’t mind sharing with Kamron and Silhouette. He was what he considered to be friends. He didn’t want to mention everything about Chloe to the redneck four.
“Leave him alone,” Dwayne shouted. The Snifit was busy driving the truck to actually do anything else. “We are just about to enter the town. Y’all want me to take you to the nearest hotel or just left ya off at the outskirts.”
“The outskirts will be fine,” Larry called back to him. “You four need to get back home before sunset.”
“Aw hells,” Rusty took another long gulp from his can. “We flushed most of those ghouls outta town.”
“There still might be a few more lingering,” Larry said. “You and the crew in the blue jeep are the only ones to defend it.”
“He has a point,” Jean said.
The truck finally pulled up to a stop at a gas station at the end of town.
“You better hurry and find a nice motel,” Dwayne said as the trio climbed out. “I know y’all are itching to go and kill more of them. “But you gotta have some place to go and crash for the night.”
“Thanks for the ride,” Kamron said.
“Drive safe,” Silhouette added.
Larry said nothing, just stared the ground. He didn’t move until he heard the truck drive away and felt a hand on his shoulder. “I shouldn’t allow it to get to me.”
“They shouldn’t have called her that,” Silhouette said. “They were good fighters, but not the brightest or the most sensitive.”
“I know,” Larry sighed. “I wish we were able to find where these guys were coming from.”
“I have a feeling we are getting closer to the Lazarus stone,” Silhouette said.
“How do you know?” Kamron asked.
“It’s just a feeling.”
“We’ll go over battle plans later,” Larry stared at the entrance of the convenience store. They would know where the closest motel was. “Lets find a place to bunk up for a few nights.”
-
“Your father is not going to be angry?” Luigi asked as he and Wendy stepped into the fortress. “We were supposed to report back after the ball.”
“I think he would understand,” Wendy said. “He knows that we had our first breeding.”
“Not that part,” Luigi felt his face blush. He was still sensitive about talking about it. “I meant the part where we spent the night after the ball at the enemy’s castle.” He held up his talons and made quotation marks at the word enemy.
“Hmm,” she stopped and pressed two fingers against her chin. “That may be a small problem, but I am certain daddy will overlook it.” Her pleased smile turned into a frown when Junior sighted them. “Oh great, the brat.”
“Hey sis,” Junior smiled when he caught sight of them. “You two have been out for a while, like days.”
“Scram,” Wendy hissed.
“Were you two someplace where you shouldn’t be?” his smile grew larger.
“I think that is for Bowser’s concern alone,” Luigi said. He decided to be civil with the youngest koopaling. He was still a child.
“As future king I should be updated on such matters,” Junior folded his arms across his chest.
“Ludwig is going to be king, not you,” Wendy glared at him.
“I’m his favorite, so I’m gonna be king.”
“I guess Koopa royalty is different,” Luigi shrugged. “It most places it is the first born who is first in line to the throne.”
“That is the way it is here,” Wendy nodded.
“But,” Junior’s jaw fell. “But I’m gonna tell Daddy you are here and he is going ground you worst that Morton.”
“Morton is still grounded?” Luigi was little surprised. “Five days is a little harsh.”
“It wasn’t because he was being stupid at breakfast,” the smile returned to his face. “He wasn’t supposed to be online, and Kammy used a spell on his computer to make sure he wasn’t using it. Guess what, he did his show thing, and now he is grounded for a full week.”
“Mistress Wendy,” a Goomba ran up them. “Master Luigi, you have returned, and the news of your return has reached King Bowser.”
“Busted,” Junior continued to chuckle.
“Does he wish to see the both of us?” Wendy asked.
The Goomba shook his head. “No, just Master Luigi.”
Wendy sighed. “Good luck.” She kissed Luigi.
“Thanks,” Luigi gulped.
-
Luigi took a deep breath before eh stepped through the double doors into Bowser’s throne room. He had already thought of the perfect excuse to use on his father in law, of why they went to Peach’s palace after the ball.
“Don’t lose it,” he swallowed and pushed the two doors open.
The room seemed emptier than the last time. Kamek and Kammy were not there, but there was a line of Troopas waiting to serve their master, or in present case, masters. Roy and Ludwig were also in the room.
“You have returned,” Bowser said. He was standing in front of a table with his back turned to Luigi. “You do not have to explain what you and my daughter were doing for three of those days.”
“Congrats Weege,” Roy held up a fist. “Our first breeding season.”
“Wait,” Luigi turned to the two brothers. “Did you and Tethys also engage in this season?”
“Yes,” Ludwig turned a disappointed eye on Roy. “He has told me he had proposed this morning.”
“Congratulations,” Luigi ran over to Roy and held out his hand. “It must be marriage season, Mario proposed to Peach at the ball.”
“What?” The word was first said by both Roy and Ludwig a same time and repeated by Bowser.
“Mario proposed to Peach,” Luigi swallowed.
“So he finally proposed,” Bowser said. He was doing something, but the bulk of his shell blocked Luigi’s view.
“A lot of people are using that word,” Luigi said. Bowser still hadn’t looked at him. “The ball ended at pretty late hour and Peach invited Wendy and I to her castle, cause she, Mario and the others still thinks we are on their side.”
“Oh,” Bowser chuckled. “That is clever. What splendid news, the princess and Mario are engaged, my third eldest has proposed, and I’m going to be a grandfather.” He spun around revealing two champagne glasses in his hands. “I believe that calls for a celebration.” He handed the glasses to Ludwig and Luigi.
“I just thought of something,” Ludwig smiled as he examined the glass. “If Peach marries Mario then she would be an in-law of ours, thanks to our new brother here.”
“I was already thinking that,” Bowser returned with two more glasses and handed one to Roy. “A toast is in order.” He held up his glass. “To the ever growing Koopa clan.”
“To our wives,” Ludwig clinked his glass against his father’s.
“To the downfall of the Mushroom Kingdom.” Roy added his.
“To the future,” Luigi completed the quartet.
-