A Nutcracker and the Beast

Chapter 1: A Lonely Nutcracker

Luigi woke up in the dark, aware of where he was. This could have scared him, even in his current situation, but he was more afraid of something else than the darkness around him.

Deep breath, Luigi. Deep breath. He thought as he breathed in and out as he got up. His body felt heavy and stiff as he worked on waking up. His mind went into panic mode like always, but he pushed through them, focusing on what needed to be done. He got up and placed his hand on the wall, following it slowly before picking up speed into a run. This was his daily routine: making sure his body felt light and free, calming the mind, and focusing on feeling like himself again.

Luigi wouldn't need to do this daily if he was normal and back home. Instead, he could be caring for his garden, cooking food for his brother, or having tea with the Princess and reading an excellent book after a long day of work. At the same time, Mario returns with a story of his new adventure.

But instead, he was hiding in the castle walls, watching everyone live their life as if he never existed. He had to watch as the Toads screamed at him in terror before forgetting that they ever saw him, the Princesses didn't remember who was supposed to be joining them, and his brother admitted that he didn't have a sibling. It had slowly broken him over the past years.

Luigi made it out of his hiding hole, making his way to the throne room with planks that he's placed to get around by the ceiling instead of the floor. This was the easy part of his day, moving around and watching people, but it got more challenging as the day went on. After all, his loneliness can only last for so long - it has been at its breaking point for a while now; anything can break it if he keeps at this way of life.

He soon made it to the throne room, going to his hand-made balcony to watch Mario act out his adventure to Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, and all the Toads. They all laugh and clap as he pretends to be Donkey Kong and the silly thing he did. This honesty brought a sad smile to Luigi's face, making him remember the time he would just do this for him.

"And then I sat on the ground and slid all the way down on the mountain!" Mario said as he slid across the living room floor. Luigi covered his face as laughter came out.

"At least that explains why your whole bottom half was wet." Luigi said, a smile across his face

"What can I say? It was the fastest way to get down the snowy mountain." Mario shrugged as he got up, "Next time I go, I'll take you with me. That way, you can see the penguins. I know you'll love -Achoo!" he sneezes.

"You need to get in bed and rest first." Luigi pushes him toward the bedrooms.

"Fine. But promise you'll tag along next time."

"I promise, Mario. Now bed rest."

"Yes, Mamma, hehe."

Just a little longer, that's all I need. A little longer, Luigi thought as he wiped the tears that came from the happy memory and the happy time that was below him. He had repeatedly wished that it would be just a bit longer till he was back to normal and not a wooden doll anymore. But till then, he was just that, a Nutcracker everyone had forgotten about. A Nutcracker that was becoming more wood than human.

He returned to the show his brother was putting on. Listening to his story in the jungle, he imagines the adventures that Mario used to take him on when they were younger and had more time together. Those memories cheer him up a bit, but only when Mario talks; if he remembers what had happened on those adventures, he will cry himself to sleep.

It wasn't a blessing or a curse when Luigi realized that the laughing and the clapping turned into screaming and rumbling. He watched as the wall came down, Mario grabbing Peach and making a run for it. At the same time, Daisy and some beaver Toads stayed behind to fight the Koopas that entered the palaces. Finally, he got up and ran out of there himself, his balcony falling behind him as he ran to the hole in the wall. It was terrifying for him as some rubble fell on top and around him. Luigi luckily didn't get trapped, but he started to feel that way as he descended to the ground. However, the ground wasn't as safe as he thought. Both Toads and Koopas were fighting as the castle was falling apart. Luigi was terrified as these small rooks that could once fit in his human hand felt like borders coming down. He looked around; his only goal was to help his brother.

He knew who was attacking but kept dodging the Koopas and Toads as they fought. Finally, he made his way to the outside world, escaping the castle's chaos and seeing the royal gardens for the first time in years. He soon saw the blond hair of the Princess and ran toward it; his plan backfired as he couldn't see anything.

It was just a maze to him at his current height. However, he kept running until he ran into something. That something was a person - no, more like a Koopa.

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Junior looked down to see what hit him. When he saw the little Nutcracker on the ground, he couldn't help but pick him up and look at him.

Junior was here helping his father kidnap the Princess again, but he had lost sight of her and the red human. He was about to return to the fortress when the Nutcracker hit him. He looked around to see if anyone had thrown it at him or if it could have fallen from somewhere. Still, nothing like that could have happened. So he took a closer look at the wooden doll.

To Junior, it looks like the red human that always saves the Princess but different. This one was tall, skinny, and green; his face looked sad and sacred. It had cut marks, dirt, and fading paint all over him as if he had just forgotten about it in the garden. The little Koopa felt terrible for the broken toy. He knew he should look for the Princess but wanted to help the toy first.

With a whistle, Junior summoned his Clown Car and hopped in. "Don't worry, little guy, I'll take care of you. You'll be brand new by the time I'm done!" He yelled as they both made their way to the fortress.

Once home, Junior ran to his room. Like every six-year-old, it was a mess - toys and drawing supplies on the floor, the bed was undone, and some uneaten food from that day was lying around. He places Luigi on some cardboard he uses to paint as he looks for paint that matches Luigi's old colors. He had a darker shade of green that he lightened with some white before painting Luigi's hat and shirt; the blue matched the overall nicely, and the brown was a little too dark, but it looked about the right shade in the light. Junior added red to his little dot on his cheeks before the white in coats since it didn't want to stay white, but he made it work, but now he had a problem with the eyes. The eyes were so bad that Junior couldn't tell what color they once were as if they were dull and had become broken over the years. Junior thought of the red human his father always fought; he moved over to his paint to make baby blue paint and painted Luigi's eyes, letting it dry before adding white eye shine. Proud of his work, Junior imagined the Nutcracker was someone he had just given a makeover and moved it over to the full-body mirror in his room.

"What did you think of my work, Mr. Wooden-Doll?" he said

"I look brand new! Thank you, Junior!" Junior said in a fake voice as he moved Luigi to match the voice.

"See! I told you so, hehe!" he giggled. Junior looks at Luigi, happy to give his new toy a new life. Before he would keep playing, a knock could be heard. An old Koopa could be seen poking his head into the room; his pointy blue hat and round glass could be seen.

"Junior, your father wishes to see you." the old Koopa said.

"Yes, grandpa Kamek" he placed Luigi back on the cardboard, "I'll be back soon," he promised before he left the room.

Luigi blinks, looking over his new environment before looking at his hands. A fresh paint of white gloves was on him as his boot and overall was also new. Then, he wanders over to the mirror again, giving himself a prover look over - especially his face. Tears formed in his eyes, both from joy and the overwhelming feeling of pretending to be just a Nutcracker and the kindness he had missed all these years. He couldn't stop touching every little detail that Junior did for him, even painting the cut marks to hide them as best he could.

His pleasure soon turned to horror when he realized he was no longer in the Mushroom Kingdom but in Bower's Castle. He had too many emotions at once to tell which to feel right now, but he knew that Bowser's son thought of him as a new toy that he would play with for the next few days. Junior would just play with him, not hurt him if he didn't move. Luigi just needed a plan, so he moved back to the cardboard in case Junior came back and started to think.

Luigi soon thought of a plan: Get the layout of the castle, see if the Princess was here while he played with the prince, and escape without anyone seeing him.

Easier said than done.