Chapter 37:

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“Luigi,” the sweet voice sounded familiar and it was close. “Please wake up.”

“Mama?” Luigi moaned. His left leg and the side of his head were throbbing.

“Si il mio bambino piccolo,” the voice belonged to Madam S, his mother. “The demon’s physical form has been destroyed. All that is left is a shade.”

“Shade?” Luigi blinked. “You mean like a spirit?”

His mother nodded. “Kamron is trying to confine it into an egg, so it will not posses anyone else again.”

Luigi tried to sit up and ignored the shooting pain in his left arm. His head still hurt, but it was not as bad as his arm, which was nothing compared to his leg. “I don’t think I can stand up.”

“Then don’t,” she kissed the top of his head. “I still can’t believe this.”

“Neither can I,” Luigi watched as Kamron stood in front of the stone slab, wand held in the air while he shouted. A dark mist was gathering around one of Yoshi’s eggs which was placed on the round slab. “I thought you were dead.”

“I didn’t know what to think,” Madam S said. Two Beezos landed next to them, both of them were watching the display. “When I finally returned to the Mushroom Kingdom I have discovered Lysander was murdered, and the warp pipe in Boo Woods had been destroyed.”

“I’m sorry,” Luigi had no idea what had happened to the Lakitu who had brought both him and Mario to Brooklyn. “They rebuilt the pipe, although this one sticks up from the ground and there is a mansion in the woods now.”

“We have located their whereabouts of everyone,” one of the two Beezos had turned to him. “We have also brought the Koopa Witch to the infirmary.”

“How is she?” Luigi asked. The two guardsmen shrugged. “What do you mean you do not know?”

“We have only ordered others to carry her,” the second one said. “Mr. Gingerbread has ordered us and several of the enlisted and drafted to assist us.” He pointed towards the direction of the gate entrance. Several soldiers were riding in on Ostros, lead by Peach. “We have yet to locate the whereabouts of King Nougat.”

“His soul, if that is what you want to call it is over there,” Luigi pointed to the egg. The last bit of the mist had been drawn inside and the shell had turned black. “His body is over there.” He pointed to the pile of decaying dark blue insect limbs.

“The king has been turned into a monster?” One of the Beezos gasped. “And you killed him?”

“We,” Luigi corrected.

“He was always a monster,” Madam S said. “He had confessed to ordering Nosferus to kill his father, and he killed his mother while she slept. All of us who had fought will tell you the same.”

Kamron sat down after the spell had been completed. Luigi wanted to check on him, but the pain was holding him back. Larry and Silhouette were already by him, along with Daisy, who had also reverted back to a human.

“Mario,” Peach gave her Ostro a pat on the neck. The bird crouched down and she slid off its back. “Mario what has happened.”

“Lots,” Mario was still in his Koopa form. “Luigi, Larry, and Iggy killed Nosferus.”

“Our mother helped,” Luigi interrupted. If it weren’t for their mother then Nosferus would have kept on teleporting.

“Your mother?” Peach stared at them.

“We just found out Madam S is our mother,” Mario added. “And she has been alive all this time. King Nougat was a demon, not possessed by a demon, but he was an actual demon and we had to destroy him, well Luigi did it. He stabbed him right in the middle eye.”

“How many eyes did this demon have?” Peach shuddered.

“Three,” Mario noticed the Calvary. “Who are these guys? Where is Kammy?”

“I staid by her side until the soldiers came to take her to the infirmary,” Peach explained. “They took her and other injured near the gate to be healed as well as those who have died.”

“We need to get everyone out of here,” Mario said. Several of the soldiers and guardsmen were already carrying the dead an injured away. Squishy had waved away those who went near Howls’s body before he picked up the fallen Hunter himself. “How you feeling Weege?”

“I think I may have broken something,” Luigi said.

“Yoshi,” Mario called out to their dinosaur friend. His horns, shell spikes, and tail were shrinking.

“Is Luigi going to be okay,” Yoshi ran up to him.

“Yeah, he just needs a ride to the medical wing,” Mario’s scales were fading and his shell was shrinking.

Yoshi crouched down and Peach, Mario and Madam S helped Luigi to climb into Yoshi’s saddle.

“What are we going to do about that bad egg?” Luigi asked.

“We are going to leave it here,” Mario said. “While we were fighting, Kamron went around to see where the other gate locations where. Once we seal the gate behind us no one can enter this dimension again.”

“Is that enough?” Luigi asked.

Mario shrugged. “I guess Kamron will explain better, after he had gotten some sleep.”

“I have so many questions,” Luigi said.

“So do I little bro.”

“I also have questions,” Madam S said.

“I think you three should ride together,” Peach brought her Ostro over to them. “I’ll be with Daisy.”

“Doesn’t she mean four?” Yoshi asked as Mario and Madam S climbed onto the tall bird.

“You are going to hear it no matter what,” Luigi gave his friend a pat on the head. “But she means as a family. Madam S is our mother, and she has been alive all these years,” he turned to his mother. “I still don’t know how.”

“Nosferus wanted to know where you were,” Madam S said as they started to ride back to the gate. “I refused to tell him. I had a feeling he could not get through a warp pipe, but I still refused. He knocked me out and took me to a dungeon. He kept me chained up in a dungeon and tortured me. He tried starving the answers out of me, before beating me.”

“Please tell me he didn’t force himself on you,” Mario asked. The idea of that fiend trying to assault his mother in such a way sent a chill down Luigi’s spine. Yoshi had also shuddered.

“No,” Madam S shook her head. “He tried to seduce me when the torture didn’t work. My prison changed from a dungeon to large and lavish bedroom. He gave me the most beautiful dresses you could imagine, a pirate’s treasure worth of jewelry. He brought me flowers, kneeled before me, kissed the back of my hand. He may have fallen for me because he tried to sire me, or maybe he thought that if I were also a vampire I would tell him your location.”

“What happened?” Luigi asked. “How did you escape?”

“He took too much blood when he tried to turn me,” Madam S explained. “There had been an attack on his lair, because when I woke up I was in a hospital and was receiving a transfusion. I met Howls at that hospital.” Tears streamed down from her eyes. “Poor Howls. Il resto del dio la sua anima, può lui reunited con il suoi derivato e moglie nel cielo.”

“I’m sorry,” Mario said.

Their mother wiped away her tears. “I’m not quite human anymore, but I am not a vampire either. I have to drink a special medicine and sleep in an energy chamber for a few hours. Sunlight causes my skin to blister. Your mother is a freak.”

“Mom,” Mario grabbed her hand. “Your sons turn into Koopas when we get adrenalized. If any one is a freak it’s us.”

“Thank you,” Madam S gave Mario a small kiss on the top of his head. “How did you find your way back to this world?”

“For some reason someone’s bathtub drain lead to a warp pipe to the Mushroom Kingdom,” Luigi said. “It got clogged one day and Mario and I unplugged it. Unclogging it triggered a whirlpool that was strong enough to pull us down. The drain and pipe had also grown larger for us to fit.”

“It was like some magical force,” Mario added. “We now know that we were meant to come here.”

“You two were both plumbers once?”

“We both are,” Luigi said. He hoped his mother wasn’t disappointed with their vocation. “We both went to community college. Mario got a job first as a carpenter, but he lost that job because he couldn’t catch a monkey.”

“He was an ape, weege.” Mario corrected. “I was dating a woman who worked at a circus. She had trained this large ape, and one day he escaped and we tried to catch him. Then he grabbed her and took her up into a construction work. I chased after him and he threw barrels after me.”

“It was on the news,” Luigi said as several Beezos had rushed towards them. “What’s going on?”

“I think they are here to take you to the medical bay,” Mario pointed at him. “My brother has a broken leg.”

“Hey,” Luigi tried to wave the guardsmen off with his good arm. “Yoshi can carry me the rest of the way.”

“Luigi,” Madam S waved her finger at him. “Let them do their job and be a good boy for the doctor.”

Luigi sighed. “Yes mama.”

-

Luigi stared at his left leg as it was held up in traction. The doctor said he had received two breaks, and was lucky they were the only ones. His left arm had some damage to various tendons and had it wrapped in an ace bandage and held in a sling. He also had a bruised lump on the left side of the head, and several more bruises on the left side of his body.

“How do you feel?” Madam S asked him.

“Good,” Luigi leaned back. “The painkillers have kicked in, and I don’t feel loopy in the head.”

“I’m more concerned about Kamron,” Luigi looked over to his roommate. Kamron was still sleeping with an IV drip hooked up to his arm. The young magic student was able to close and seal the gate after everyone had left before he sealed it behind him. “And Kammy.”

“We had just checked up on her,” Iggy said. His shoulder was bandaged up. “She is awake and demanding Jell-O, and not just any, but the green kind.”

“He’s waking up,” Silhouette pointed to Kamron. Everyone had gathered in their room, even Squishy who barely said anything.

Kamron blinked his eyes and yawned. “Is it closed?”

“It’s closed,” Madam S told him.

“Good, how is Luigi?”

“My son is fine,” Madam S said.

“That is good.” He blinked. “Wait you’re the mother of the Mario Brothers?”

“Trust me It was a shock for me,” Larry told him.

“I never really heard of you guys until now,” Silhouette pointed at them. “But I figured her sons had to be at least as cool as her.”

“Here that Luigi,” Mario smiled. “We’re the ones with the cool mom.”

“I heard,” Luigi turned back to Kamron. “Kammy is also awake and feisty as ever.”

“Good,” Kamron sighed.

“Yeah,” Luigi bit down on his upper lip. He was certain it was awkward to ask the question while they were both in their hospital beds, not to mention how Mario or their mother was going to accept it. “When you both are rested, could you see if you can keep me in Koopa form, forever?”

“Luigi?” Mario just stared at him.

“Trying to be turned back was a gut reaction,” Luigi closed his eyes. “I shouldn’t have asked to be turned back. I like being a Koopa.”

“You won’t be able to use power ups,” Mario said.

“I know, but you were always better at using power ups. I told you about Kammy’s alternate view and how it ends up the same. I was meant to be a Koopa and husband to Wendy. Look what asking to be changed back into a human has caused. You, Peach, and Daisy have become some sort of Werekoopa, and I know Daisy wants to be a normal human.”

“Do you?” Iggy asked her.

“I still do,” Daisy nodded. “I hope you are not insulted.”

Iggy shook his head. “I’m not. I just want to tell you that I think you are beautiful in both forms.”

“Thank you,” Daisy kissed him.

“I like having this ability,” Mario said. “The way that I see it is that I gained a new power up. I’m not sure about Peach.”

“I also like having the ability,” Peach took Mario’s hand.

“Luigi if this is what you want,” his mother gave him a pat on top of his head. “Then I will stand right by it.”

“I’m not sure if I can,” Kamron said.

“Don’t say that,” Luigi frowned. “I don’t want to hear those words ever come from you. You were amazing on the battlefield. You were able to seal Nougat’s shade in an egg, seal of the doors and turn a lead knife into gold.”

“Wait,” Larry held up a hand. “Kamron did a metal transmutation spell?”

“I saw the knife was on the philosopher’s stone.” Kamron explained. “And I took two risks. I had hoped that it was a steel knife and not silver one, and it was steel.”

“Steel is an alloy,” Iggy said. “I thought you could only transmute pure metals.”

“Howls had said that no one has ever tried before,” Squishy said from where he stood.

“He also said that many demons could be killed by a weapon made from bronze,” Kamron said. “Which is another alloy. I used the stone to turn one alloy into another.”

“Where did you learn how to do that?” Larry asked. “At the start of this you got winded from casting flares and you threw up after teleporting.”

“I studied in the library.”

“You see,” Luigi said. “I know you and Kammy could do it.”

“That is not what I meant by not knowing if I can do it,” Kamron frowned. “I’m more confident now than I was. I just want to make certain it won’t cause anything wonky since the original spell was altered by science.”

“Oh,” Luigi sat back.

“I also want to make sure your bones are mended. She might want to also wait on that.”

“Ah,” Luigi stared at the ceiling. That did make sense.

There was a tap at the door. “May I have a word?” Mr. Gingerbread asked on the other side.

“You may enter,” Mario said. Who put him in charge?

“Thank you,” the advisor entered. His eyes were bloodshot. There was a good possibility he was crying.

“I’m sorry,” Daisy said.

“We all though he was innocent,” Gingerbread closed his eyes and nodded. “I have been informed of what had happened in the pocket dimension. We have begun to use paint thinner and remove what layer of paints do exist over that one space in the wall and on the ceiling.” He coughed into his wrist. “Before Nougat was born there were these strange marks that were drawn on both locations overnight.”

“Runes and glyphs,” Larry had guessed.

Gingerbread nodded. “Instead of having them properly removed we only had them painted over.”

“You didn’t know at the time,” Daisy told him.

“None of us have. Some of your hunter friends are speaking with a Mr. Avery about removing the same marks in Symphony City.”

“The demon will be trapped forever,” Kamron said.

Gingerbread nodded. “I’m also here to address another matter. In Sugar Land the crown is passed onto the first born of the previous ruler. Nougat did not have any heirs, or any named heirs.”

“What about you?” Peach pointed at him.

“I cannot take the crown for myself,” Gingerbread held up his hands. “I have also never married or have any children. The crown goes to the firstborn, to one who has been named in the will, or to the one who has killed the king in battle.” He kneeled down in front of Luigi’s bed. “That would be you, your majesty.”

“Wait,” Luigi couldn’t believe what was happening. “It was a combined effort. We should all share the crown.”

“You were the one who stabbed him in the eye,” Mario said. “Will you stop being modest?”

“But I don’t know how to be a king.” Luigi stared into the eyes of the others. “And I plan on becoming a pure Koopa gain. How will they take it?”

“We have been ruled by cat people and toads in the past,” Gingerbread told him. “Two hundred years ago our ruler was Marzipan the Great. She was also a Koopa.”

“I’m going to be king,” Luigi swallowed. “King Luigi of Sugar Land.”

“If you would like, we will wait until you can at least be wheeled around before your coronation,” Gingerbread told him.

“I need to wait,” he had to tell Wendy. Boy is she going to be in for a surprise. “I’m married.” Oh crap. He never told his mother. “Mom I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“I guessed by your ring,” his mother smiled. “You have been through a lot.”

“Wendy is going to love this,” Larry smiled.

“We will wait for the arrival of your wife, and our queen,” Gingerbread said.

“Can I make a few decrees before I get some rest?” Luigi asked.

“What are they?” Gingerbread asked.

“I want the borders to be opened up again, stop with the crippling taxes and rations since there is no war, and release all soldiers under eighteen. Let them go back and be kids again.”

“I will inform the kingdom,” Gingerbread nodded before he stepped out.

“You see,” Mario smiled. “You can do this.”

“I guess I can,” Luigi leaned his head back. Right now, all that he wanted to do was get some rest.