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istadris · 1 year

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Bend or Break : The Tipping Point

[Because people seem REALLY interested, here’s how Bend or Break would go if I made it a full fic.

Some details : in this AU, the timeline is (probably) much longer than in the actual movie; it takes several weeks for Mario to actually reach a decent fighting level, and as long for Luigi to get better at his own skills. Bowser takes over at least one other kingdom before reaching the Mushroom Kingdom.

Fair warning, it does not get better.

[EDIT] What happens in the meantime : The Strain ]

Technically, Luigi is free to leave.

Bowser has assured him so, and as the days go by, Luigi is more and more inclined to believe the king’s word above other’s.

Luigi’s cell isn’t locked anymore, he’s free to wander the castle except in some specific parts (fair, he guesses, given this is a military campaign after all), and if he were to ask to leave, no one would stop him. But they’re above the middle of the ocean, days away from the nearest land. Even if he made it there with a Clown Car or by swimming (Bowser asks him with a chuckle if humans can breathe underwater), he doesn’t know if he could survive the dangers of this world alone (he still wakes up at night feeling bony jaws chomping at his legs). So he stays, and tries to convince himself it’s only out of necessity.

Bowser has promised him that as long as Mario comes for Luigi, and Luigi alone, he would not harm him, and Luigi would be free to go with him.

So Luigi holds onto hope a little longer. He tries to not think about the king’s comforting presence in his darkest hour. He’s kept updated about reports. Summoned to the throne room for everything new about Mario.

He’s in the Mushroom Kingdom (and he tries again and again and again to get strong enough to leave). He’s still in the Mushroom Kingdom (and Peach tries desperately to find allies because as strong as Mario is becoming, he won’t be enough against an army) He’s still in the Mushroom Kingdom (and he’s breaking down slowly) He’s still in the Mushroom Kingdom, and he’s taking part in a local festival (Toad dragged Mario by force, begging him to at least relax one night, arguing that "you should know what to show to your brother once we’ve freed him!” and only Mario’s affection for his friend made him relent). He’s still in the Mushroom Kingdom, but rumour says he’s about to leave (Peach knows where to find allies, but it will be a long road. She has her first real argument with Mario when she tells him of her plan)

When Luigi learns Mario left with the Princess for another kingdom, on the opposite direction of the Darklands, he stops asking about reports. He stops talking about Mario altogether.

In the meantime, he has first grown weary and bitter. Snappish. He even talks back to Bowser, to everyone’s shock and horror, and maybe he’s just trying to give him a reason to hurt him so Luigi doesn’t have to think about the harshest pain he ever lived through. Instead, Bowser laughs and praises his bravery. This is what drew him to the human in the first place, he says : that beneath his frail and weak appearance, there’s a will, a fire that only needs to ignite.

Luigi doesn’t know if he believes him. But he finds himself craving the king’s approval. He wants to prove himself worth of the attention. Bowser’s words have wormed themselves in his brain and he wants to show his value beyond his brother’s shadow. By the time he stops asking about his brother, he has started offering his services to his benefactor. He throws himself into work, first as a plumber, as he always did with Mario, but he finds himself a knack for engineering, and he works, and he trains, and he does everything to earn the praise of the king. By pulling his own weight, on top of being favoured by the king, Luigi endears himself to the troops and for the first time of his life Luigi is not “Someone’s Brother”. He is...himself. And it both terrifies, depresses and delights him.

At some point, Bowser tempts him with the offer of sending a message to Mario. On his word, he swears he will make sure Luigi’s brother would get it. The temptation is so strong. But what if Mario doesn’t answer? What if his answer is what Luigi fears the most ? So he declines the offer. He feels disgust at himself for his own cowardice, but he can’t bring himself to take that step and risk hurting himself more.

Bowser has grown fond of the human, in his own way. The more Luigi turns himself into a loyal subject, the more possessive Bowser feels of him. He is very, very careful as well : if Luigi came to learn the whole truth, he would definitely break, and Bowser realises he has no uses for a broken weapon, when he could shape this human into the perfect minion. How sincere he is in his intentions is left to the reader’s discretion.

But he makes sure Luigi feels at home. He's acting soft, gentle even, always threatening (the day Bowser doesn’t instil fear by his very presence is the day he needs to die) but in the way of a dragon protecting his hoard :

I can keep you safe. I’ll never abandon you. Be mine, and you’ll be the most precious of my treasures.

Luigi loses himself into these promises. He savours the attention of the king, he seeks his presence, he offers him the best he has to give. He melts under his touch and relishes in his affection.

And slowly, bit by bit, Luigi grows into a new man.

Meanwhile, Mario is falling apart.

Guilt has been eating him alive for months.

He should have held on just a bit more. He shouldn’t have insisted to explore this underground complex. He shouldn’t have decided to form their own business and find themselves strapped on cash to the point of getting reckless.

He should have held on Luigi’s hand just a bit more. Just a bit stronger.

Now he’s feeling guilty for taking so long. For not being better. He should be better, he has to be better.

War is brewing on the horizon and Peach is looking for solutions everywhere, but he knows she counts on him more than anyone. He can’t let her down. She wants to help him find his brother, and they need allies for that.

He feels so angry at everything. At himself. At Peach, for being the reasonable one with so many people depending on her. At Toad, for being a good friend that nothing can keep down even in the worst circumstances. At Bowser. At every kingdom Peach contacts that answers with a refusal, preferring to submit to the Koopa King rather than face his wrath.

And at some point, he starts feeling angry at Luigi too.

Maybe it’s his only way to not drive himself mad with guilt. But insidious thoughts start slipping into his brain, and he can’t make them go away.

Why couldn’t Luigi hold on just a little bit more ? Wasn’t Mario as terrified in that warp zone? Why did Mario have to make most of the effort, to be the one to find the words to comfort his brother, why did he have to be the one to keep them together ??

Why does he always have to make efforts?? He has always looked after Luigi, always kept him around, he has never allowed himself to be apart from his brother longer than necessary -and Luigi never minded, didn’t he ? Always taking him for granted and being content with Mario looking after him, taking every decision, dealing with the consequences of both brothers’ mistakes.

He’s ashamed of these thoughts. He keeps them buried inside, swirling in his brain as he works himself ragged. He doesn’t dare to burden his friends with them, not when they’re doing everything they can to help him. He knows these thoughts are wrong. But they help him feel other emotions than sadness and guilt.

So he let them fester inside his heart.

When the brothers meet again, on the battlefield between two armies, it is a disaster.

Months of pent up stress, anger and resentment boil up to the surface and explode without any restraint.

Luigi is furious. He has waited weeks, months for Mario to come, and he never did.He had to survive, he had to find a way to be something without his brother. He was getting better. He was starting to be happy. And now Mario shows up and is trying to rip apart everything he has built, his stability, his protector, and for what? For everything to return to normal? Back to a life where Luigi is nothing more than Mario’s shadow? As if nothing happened? As if Mario didn’t give up on him??

Mario, for his part, is enraged. All these months of stress and guilt, all these wounds to train like a beast and manage to get back to bis brother, all the sleepless nights haunted by Luigi’s scream as he drifted away in the warp zone, only to find out he has been alive, healthy, happy all this time, and cosying up with the tyrant terrorising the kingdoms ??

They exchange angry, hurtful words, cruel insults they regret the moment they come out of their months but are afraid to take back. They can’t stop, they know they’re going too far but they can’t help themselves, this has been brewing inside both of them for too long and now they have to get it out, escalating to the point of violence.

Bowser has a vicious, delighted smirk when Luigi throws the first punch, aiming it at Peach (which he has grown to hate without having met her, for keeping his brother away) and prompting an instinctive protective reaction from Mario -which only enrages both brothers more. It devolves into a vicious brawl, an awful spectacle of anger and violence where there should have been a heartfelt reunion.

When both armies are forced to withdrawn, each monarch dragging their champion away, both brothers are devastated. They never meant to say any of these words, they feel horrified at the wounds they left on each other. They want to take it back, all of it.

They both fear they have gone too far for the other to ever forgive them.

Bowser comforts Luigi, soothes his sadness and strokes his anger toward Peach. If she had not insisted on resisting Bowser, if she had accepted her fate, Mario wouldn’t have had a reason to fight Luigi. Even now, he’s staying by her side because she won’t stop until Bowser is dead. And Luigi realises, he doesn’t want Bowser dead. He wants his brother back, and his king to reign supreme.

Peach, as much as she cares about Mario, has trouble seeing Luigi as his own person. She’s aware he is one, but she mostly considers him as Mario’s goal, his motivation. And clearly, if he has joined with Bowser, that means he is either not quite sound of mind or too dangerous to reason with. She insists to Mario that this is why they have to stop Bowser -because Luigi won’t leave his side as long as he’s alive. And Mario believes her, because if he doesn’t, he’ll fall apart.

What should have been a climactic battle soon turns into a long, harrowing campaign, as both brothers have now the same goal in mind: to get the other back by winning the war. No matter the price.

#super mario bros #mario movie #bowuigi #a bit between the lines #Ista writes #my writing #my stuff #Bend or Break #no kidding writing this left me a wreck and now I can't wait to go back writing silly wholesome shenanigans #but if you have questions about this AU. I still have ideas.#Might even write separate snippets if I get around it someday

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