Norman Whitesmith back to conclude my first series! This is the first multi-chaptered story of mine to get an end and I'm excited. This story had a good run and thanks be to you, the readers, for giving me feedback in order to improve it. Even if you're late to the party and the story ended long ago, please still do leave a review! I read every one and it helps me know as a writer if I'm doing alright and where I need to be. All in all, I was wanting to give this story an end long ago, but life came up and made writing this an impossibility. But now's my chance and I'm going to give you the finale you've all been wanting! So without further ado, here's chapter seven, the final chapter of Adored By All.

((edit: Thanks to Rockster for helping me edit and fix small errors))

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Chapter 7: Sacrifice and Maturity

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It was a beautiful day over the Mushroom Kingdom. A day where all the clouds in the sky sang of brightness and promise, while the expanse above them shimmered a perfect blue that made stars jealous. Everything seemed to be going right with the world and nothing could change it. But if one were to look closely at the sky bordering the Dark Lands, the place in perpetual darkness in smog, the place people refused to think of in order to preserve their happy thoughts, then they'd see a small speck traveling through the sky. Helicopters and planes weren't that common in the Mushroom Kingdom as there wasn't much of a use for them, but what was this? All who saw the speck simply ignored it though, wanting to not worry about what ominous omen this meant, or how their perfect day could be ruined.

In truth, this speck flying through the sky towards the Dark Lands was indeed proof that this day wasn't perfect. In fact, far from it. This speck fortold of the doom to the Mushroom Kingdom if nothing was done. It told of captured heroes and kidnapped royalty and how perhaps this might just be the last perfect day the Kingdom may see.

This speck was none other than Kamek, a royal Magikoopa of Bowser at his right hand, who was carrying the last two heroes that could have saved the Kingdom- the last hope. The last hope failed.

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Luigi shivered as the cold air rushed through the gaps in the cloth, penetrating his core and chilling him. Although he had tried to make a futile attempt to escape already that composed of him kicking his tiny little legs against his cloth prison, Luigi stopped as soon as he realized how far up he must be. This was confirmed when Luigi stuck his head out of the sack and saw the scrawling landscapes many miles beneath him. Maybe it would be better to wait and see what Kamek does. Although Luigi couldn't remember the events, stories from the elder Toads told of infant Mario plummeting out of the sky onto the back of a Yoshi where he hastened to rescue Luigi. Luigi took this story at face value as the same unchanged story was told among the Yoshi tribes as well, confirming the tale hadn't been butchered through the years.

But how a newborn child could plummet out of the sky at terminal velocity onto the waiting back of a Yoshi without harm to either of them was beyond him. Luigi always assumed that Death had been on a coffee break and was too lazy to go get Mario, so he let that one slide. Either that or the Star Spirits decided that perhaps the prophecised hero of the Mushroom Kingdom wouldn't be able to do his future job very well as a red smear in some bushes on a far off tropical island. But either way, Luigi didn't want to test the mercy of the Star Spirits and just slumped down in the sack, wondering when they were going to land and what was going to become of him.

Starlow had also made multiple attempts to escape, but alas, the bird cage had the most diabolical thing of all keeping her inside: a latch. One that required hands. Foiled again! Starlow couldn't help but feel useless as she saw Luigi's fruitless escape attempts fail and he gave up. They were the heroes. This was never supposed to happen to the heroes. They were supposed to overcome all odds and win. But life wasn't a fairytale and heroes did fall sometimes.

It was when Starlow smelled sulfur and the air took on an acrid density, that she knew they had arrived at their destination. The giant cobblestone castle screamed of death and despair, the lava surrounding it making it unlivable for most species with the exception of few. A rush of heat hit the traveling trio as soon as they crossed the threshold between fertile green grass and burnt unyielding ground. Luigi could feel the acrid air burning his rather fragile eyes, causing them to tear up and water. Starlow, however, was a magical entity and rules weren't exactly the same for her, so all she felt was the heat rush and increase of air density, though she could see the discomfort on Luigi's face as he poked his head out of his sack.

It wasn't long before Kamek swooped in for a landing atop a platform on the roof of a section of the castle. Luigi initially worried how they were going to land without him getting squished considering he was hanging from the bottom of the broomstick and ergo, would be the first thing to touch the ground, but those fears were assuaged when Kamek left the broomstick hovering two feet off the ground when he got off. But it became clear to Luigi that being squished by a Magikoopa was the least of his worries when his sack and Starlow's cage were roughly grabbed off the broomstick, the way Kamek did it suggesting that he wasn't being careful and didn't care if either of them got hurt.

It was only a matter of moments before Luigi felt overwhelming fear shake his being, but he couldn't cry no matter how hard the tears pushed against his eyelids. Not now. What would Kamek do to an annoying infant crying incessently? And how many days in the hospital ICU would it earn him? Those were some questions that Luigi didn't want to test the answer to, so he tried his hardest to keep his mouth shut, only a few whimpers escaping.

Kamek ignored the whimpering and entered a door that was off to the side of the platform which lead to a long row of prison cells inside, two Hammer Bro guards standing by the door and walking up to meet Kamek.

"Your orders, sir?" asked one of the Hammer Bro guards.

Kamek tossed the sack containing Luigi to one guard (who luckily caught it before it hit the ground) and the bird cage with Starlow to the other.

"Guard these two while I go and report to King Bowser. And make sure they don't escape, which with this duo, I think escape right now would be impossible. Don't prove me wrong or I'll have your shells."

With that, Kamek walked off, leaving the two Hammer Bros alone with the prisoners. Almost as soon as Kamek had left, the bros opened up a cage door and threw the prisoners into the cell. Fortunately, Starlow's cage absorbed the impact pretty well, only tipping the cage on the side. Unfortunately, Luigi wasn't as luckly and cracked his head on the stone floor. It was only an underhand toss, luckily, so it didn't hurt Luigi too badly, but it was still hitting his head on a stone floor and the tears pushing against his eyes since landing flooded out as well as the most heartbreaking cry one could hear from an infant.

"Oi, shut up," said one of the guards, twirling a hammer in his hand impatiently.

However, it was beyond Luigi's control to stop now and his loud pitiful wailing continued.

"How do you expect him to shut up when you hurt him?" Starlow practically screamed at the guard.

"I didn't ask you," the Hammer Bro walked inside the cage over to Luigi. "Listen, you better shut up now before I make you."

The wailing continued.

"Okay, you had your chance." A clatter was heard as the Hammer Bro tossed his hammer to the floor and raised his fist. "I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice."

Starlow gasped as she saw what the Hammer Bro did. Momentary silence followed the blow before Luigi's crying came back louder than ever with a tone of strong pain to it.

"I told you to shut up!" yelled the Hammer Bro over the screaming child. "Now I'm going to keep doing it until you stop."

Tears flowed from Starlow's eyes as she watched the scene unfold in front of her, helpless to change anything. Feeling useless, Starlow turned her face away. It was after one last sickening thud, silence rang out and the Hammer Bro left the cell and resumed his spot outside wordlessly. Starlow couldn't bring herself to look at Luigi.

Ten minutes later, Kamek finally came back and talked to the guards. Within her haze, Starlow heard arguing about how Mario was going to react to his younger sibling and the Hammer Bro saying it refused to shut up. Either way, Starlow wasn't listening very well as she couldn't help but feel responsible for everything that happened to Luigi. If only she had stopped bullying him. If only she had been nicer. If only she had appologized. It wasn't long before the arguing stopped and she felt her cage lifted from the ground by Kamek. The swinging motion caused by movement lulled Starlow off into a momentary doze, a welcome respite for what is to come.

What seemed like moments later to Starlow, the loud clang of throne room doors startled her awake and she was brought back to harsh reality by the sight of giant looking cage containing Daisy, Mario, and Peach, all looking expectantly at Kamek as he brought forward the other two prisoners. A scream rang out almost immediately when Mario saw poor tiny Luigi.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" Mario yelled.

"Relax," Kamek replied without an ounce of caring in his voice, "the little brat is still alive, just bruised pretty badly. And you know what? He deserved it for making too much noise."

The outrage on Mario's face instantly dissolved when Luigi was roughly shoved into his arms through the bars of the cage. Tears welled up in Mario's eyes as he saw the state of his little brother. He was covered in bruises everywhere, like a coat of spots and his breathing sounded labored. Luigi was in bad shape. Another clank signaled the leaving of Kamek, him leaving Starlow's cage on the ground outside of the bigger prison. The sound of soft crying filled the air as the princesses, Mario, and even Starlow (who finally looked at Luigi and was shocked at how badly hurt he looked) , cried over Luigi. He did nothing to deserve this.

Mario felt a small tug at the back of his overalls from outside the cage and turned around to find a small Shy Guy child, red in color with a small puff of mint green hair peeking out from above her mask, holding a small bottle full of a light green cream.

"I'm so sorry for how you were treated," said the small child that one had to strain their ears in order to hear, "There's some 1-UP salve in there to help him get better. It takes care of wounds very quickly."

Mario turned for a second to hand the bottle to Peach, but when he turned back, the Shy Guy was gone before Mario could thank her. I guess they had their names for a reason. And that's not mentioning how she got into the room without being noticed.

Mario wasted no time grabbing the bottle and applying the salve to all of Luigi's bruises, and was delighted when the bruises already started to look lighter and his breathing sounded more peaceful. Mario held his little brother close, tears spilling from his eyes and darkening Luigi's hair as the moisture soaked in. Seconds later, a small moan was heard as Luigi's eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Ma- hi-o?" asked Luigi in an adorably slurred voice.

"Luigi!" Mario cried in an overjoyed tone, pulling Luigi in close for another embrace, "are you okay?"

Luigi made a tiny nodding motion before being swept out of Mario's arms by the princesses. Daisy hugged him close and both princesses planted kisses on his forehead, Mario wondering how he could easily be upstaged in the love department by his baby brother that wasn't even out of diapers yet.

"Day-e, Peek!" Luigi responded, which only resulted in more love getting given to him and him giggling in response, happy to be back with the people he loved, pushing the memory of the Hammer Bro guard out of his mind.

"Well, well, well, isn't this quite the happy reunion?" boomed a loud voice.

Everyone turned to see Bowser with a malicious grin on his face holding an odd yellow box with a long stick attached to one of the faces.

"I'm so glad you're enjoying each other, because it might be the last time that you do!" A loud booming laugh lept from Bowser's mouth, echoing throughout the room as he started his obligatory 'evil plan' speech. "Now that I have all of you together, not a thing can stop me from world domination and creating an everlasting Koopa empire."

"We'll break free, you'll see!" Mario shouted as he grabbed Luigi back from the princesses and held him protectively, not ready to lose him to the hands of Bowser any time soon.

"Oh, you won't need to break free when you're working for me willingly."

"I'll never work for you!"

"Oh yes you will. In fact, all of you will!" Bowser held up the yellow looking box by the stick and let them see it. "As you can see, this looks kind of like a cheap craft to be done in church, but it is much more. It is in fact the workings for a powerful wand, one that will solidify my place as a ruler. However, it needs a power source and luckily, we just got one."

Bowser moved faster than what seemed possible for a giant turtle and snatched up the cage containing Starlow.

"Behold, the power source! All we have to do is put her in this box and her life force will power my wildest dreams. Then all I have to do is hypnotize you all, and I'll have the perfect set of supporters."

"Yeah, good luck with that, bozo," snapped Starlow. "You can't make me."

Bowser's hand shot into the cage and closed around Starlow, squeezing hard, talons digging into her as she had a look of excruciating pain on her face. Luigi watched every second of this, his own heart breaking for the Star Sprite that was starting to grow on him more.

It was then that reality hit Luigi like a ton of bricks. Starlow was going to die. If she made it into that wand, she was going to die. It seemed as though time was slowing down as Luigi surveyed the situation and Bowser started to pull Starlow out of her cage in slow motion. Fear was glued on the faces of everyone; Mario, the princesses, Starlow herself, and even though he couldn't see his own face, he knew he shared the fear with everyone else. They were all trapped and nothing could be done. Unless... No! Luigi wanted to stay a baby. Even though all it would take is him getting outside of the cage bars he could easily slip through and him taking the cure and the battle would be as good as won, Luigi still wanted to grow up again. He still wanted his second chance, the chance to become a perfect man in the eyes of everyone else. He had an entire new world open to him. But... what good would it be if it cost the life of Starlow? As much as Luigi wanted to hate her in this moment, decide her life wasn't worth the cost of his bright new start, he knew that it was a lie and he truly did like her. She didn't deserve death.

Sure, she always insulted him, sure she targeted him, sure there was no logical reason for this, but does that constitute her impending death? Luigi was now faced with a choice: Let Starlow get her life drained from her and maintain his fresh start, or take the cure and fight back. His choice he was going to make was rather clear from the start. He couldn't be a hero and live with himself if he let Starlow die.

Luigi jumped into action as time still went slow, taking off his hat, his hands steady and true for once, and pulled the cure out, preparing to plunge it into his mouth and resume adulthood.

"Nuhuh, hold it there, greenstache... baby. I wouldn't do that yet if I were you," started Bowser as time suddenly caught up with Luigi again, leaving him holding the cure near his open mouth, startled.

Bowser in the confusion of the moment quickly put his arms in the cage and snatched him away once more from Mario, who desperately stuck his arms out the cage and tried to no avail to grab his brother back.

"Now, I wouldn't do that, greenie. What about all your dreams you wanted to accomplish by growing up again?"

Looks of confusion from everyone in the room greeted Bowser, who simply chuckled.

"You realize that Kamek has a crystal ball too and can easily look into any of your lives, right? It's amazing how easy it is to realize other's hopes and dreams without them knowing," Bowser chuckled, slightly bouncing Luigi in his arms, "and that means I know you dream of being a perfect prince, greenboy. But alas, you may never escape your past with your no-good brother nearby, and with two princesses who clearly remember your true identity at hand. But relax, I'm going to give you the offer of a lifetime. Your lifetime, in fact."

Bowser's face seemed genuinely nice for a moment, filling Luigi with doubt as to whether he could be trusted, but the smallest inkling telling him that perhaps Bowser was going to treat him right.

"So, I will let you be a prince. In fact, you can grow up again as my son with all the power in the world, even with your own continent to rule after I finish my world conquest when you're older. And there are no strings attached. In fact, as a bonus, I'll make Mario your servant, obeying your every command; serving him right for being a jerk to you when you were a kid originally. What do you say? All you have to do is give me the pill and let me absorb the life from the Star Sprite that mistreated you and you'll have all your dreams and more come true. Isn't it better to be adored by all like you are right now? So what do you say, Luigi, will you accept my offer?"

Temptation swarmed Luigi's mind as this seemed to be the perfect solution to his dilemma. Why not be a prestigious prince with jurisdiction over an entire continent? But all thoughts of accepting left Luigi as soon as his eyes settled upon Mario, whose head was hanging low and tears flooding his eyes. Although the childhood issue was solved between them years ago, Luigi knew that Mario was still guilt-ridden from the entire ordeal of his 21 years of mistreating Luigi, his only little brother. Even though Mario could be annoying at times, he was still his twin brother that he didn't want to be a mindless slave, no matter what he did in the past.

Then Luigi's eyes shifted over to Starlow, the small yellow and perky Star Sprite, who had kept her mouth shut this entire time due to expecting Luigi to give up and let her die. After all, with all the tormenting she did to him, she deserved it. What reason did Luigi have to save her life? The princesses too, stared on silently with hope in their eyes accented with a hint of sadness, for it seemed clear what the best choice for himself would be. Luigi would have everything, so why would he give it all up just for them?

Luigi stared at the cure in his tiny and chubby hand after surveying the room. He knew what he had to do. Luigi shoved his fist containing the cure into his mouth and felt the pill dissolve, the bitter juices flowing down his throat. A warm feeling spread through Luigi, from his head to his toes, and he suddenly felt stronger and more mobile.

Bowser's face had nothing but shock on it. "B-but I offered everything that you ever wanted to you. You should have accepted!"

Luigi started to slowly grow in size and he jumped out of Bowser's arms and stood strongly on his own, glaring at Bowser.

"Dats wha you think, Bowsa," said two year old Luigi before another sudden growth spurt overtook him.

Luigi started to walk towards Starlow's cage. "You think it's only about reward," said a five year old Luigi as he drew closer to the cage.

"B-b-but that's where you're w-wrong," the seven year old Luigi that developed the iconic stutter began opening the latch on the cage, springing loose a grateful Star Sprite who instantly snuggled up to Luigi momentarily to show her gratitude.

"There's more to life than empty adoration!" twelve year old Luigi's voice was much louder and stronger and gaining in strength as he regained his years.

"And it's something you'll never understand!" Luigi was 16 and hit puberty, causing his voice to crack on every word, also causing him to get taller with every step as he began to walk towards the shocked Bowser that could only watch.

The acne-ridden 18 year old firmly gripped Bowser's tail. "No matter how hated I am now, no matter who hates me, no matter how much life sucks..." Luigi's voice was finally at its correct and final pitch and he faltered a second as a burst of strength returned to his arms.

Luigi began to mimic what he had heard Mario talk about doing when retelling the story of swinging Bowser by the tail, his 20 year old strength that was gaining by the second assisting. "There is no reason you can't be happy. I have all I need with a loving older brother and a small yellow buddy to assist me in improvement by pointing out my flaws." The swing reached its zenith and Luigi let go, flinging Bowser a record distance away, smacking him unconscious against the castle wall before he sank into the lava.

Luigi was 24 again and stood tall and strong. "It's all in how you look at it. I'm already adored as an adult. I have a loving older brother and great friends, which are all I need, and in that respect, all my dreams have already come true," Luigi finished as he rushed over to the others. With the help of Starlow, they quickly broke the lock and freed them.

Luigi was instantly mobbed by the princesses, Starlow, and Mario with giant hugs and that-was-so-sweet's. He truly did have all he needed and more. How could he not see it before?

"Uh, Luigi...," said Mario as he drew away from the hug.

"Yes Mario?"

"You might want to... I don't know... maybe put some clothes on."

Luigi's entire head went blood red from embarrassment as Daisy and Peach couldn't help but giggle as they averted their eyes, as well as Starlow as she turned a shade of orange.

"Aww, less than five minutes of being an adult and I'm already dealing with this again!" moaned Luigi.

"What was that 'again' supposed to mean?" asked Daisy.

"Let's leave it at college was pretty wild," Mario quickly butt in, remembering that particular party all too well with a shudder.

Daisy paused for a second. She just remembered, she wore her go karting outfit underneath her dress in hopes of doing some laps after the meeting! Thank goodness for convenient plot points! Daisy quickly whipped off her dress and slipped it over Luigi before he could protest.

"There we go!" said Daisy to a very embarrassed Luigi. "Problem solved!"

"But orange isn't my color, pink is..." murmured Luigi as he stared down at what he was wearing.

"Oh relax, the orange doesn't look half bad on you either," chimed Starlow.

And that is the story of how Luigi came into town wearing a dress.

X-EPILOGUE-X

After the laughter died down from Luigi's outfit, the clamor calmed down and people went back to their business of what they were doing, ignoring the man in the dress. Luigi sighed, but also felt a good chunk of relief. Things were as they were meant to be once more. Luigi being the laughing stock or ignored, while Mario was the hero. It was just meant to be that way.

"Hey, Luigi?"

The sudden higher pitched feminine voice startled Luigi. "Yes?" asked Luigi as he turned to face Starlow.

"I just wanted to say... thank you. You saved my life after I was a jerk to you since we've met, you gave up what was considered the perfect life. I don't know how to thank you."

"Then don't. I don't need to live for praise and I think I lost sight of that, which started this in the first place."

Silence between the two rang out and they wordlessly decided to go on a walk around together. It was nice between the two of them as they just walked around without words or a destination in mind, just simple walking. It was after awhile of walking that Luigi decided to start doing an odd strutting walk.

"Wow, I still can't believe how comfortable this dress is. Maybe I should start wearing one more often!"

"Luigi, this day was really great up until you said that. How about we go to your house and you put on some real and normal clothes."

Before Luigi could respond that he was joking about the dress thing, he was already getting pushed along by Starlow towards his house. Starlow eventually stopped pushing and the pleasant walk resumed as the sunset began, casting long shadows. Strangely enough, Luigi didn't seem scared at all this time and started to whistle a creepy tune in an upbeat fashion.

"Hey Luigi, why aren't you-"

"Scared? I'm not scared right now because I'm just simply happy to be alive and happy to be with my friend right now."

Starlow looked around until she realized that she was the friend he spoke of. That reminded her of something that needed to be said.

"I'm sorry for always being a jerk to you, Luigi."

"It's alright. Let's just put this all behind us and accept this as a new start."

And the two went off into the distance, more adventures awaiting the newly formed friends.

THE END

Well this was quite an adventure. Please leave a review with your thoughts on the story. This is my first completed multi-chaptered story and I'm excited. Echoes of Yesterday has now become a collaboration between Rockster and I and it's in the making right now. I also am now taking writing commissions to where I can write you a story. For details, see my DA page. I have nothing else to say other than thank you for reading, so until next time, Norm out. And don't forget to never leave your drink cup unattended at college parties!