Set after Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and Super Paper Mario, things haven't been at peace for long when King Boo decides to instigate his plan to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, namely by controlling his hated enemy Luigi via a potion known as Possession Poison which had originally been created by Bowser's minions for pretty much the same reasons, as Bowser witnessed Luigi's actions during the events of Super Paper Mario. Bowser, of course, finds out about this theft.
At the beginning of the story, a lonely and cowardly Boo named Booigi, belonging to King's Boo clan, is sent to Toad Town with the purpose of spying on the Mario Bros.. However, he quickly befriends Luigi and, when Luigi gets inflicted with Possession Poison, helps him, Mario and several of Mario's friends including Lady Bow to find the ingredients for his cure.
Meanwhile, the destruction of the Star Temple creates a powerful Dark Star that threatens to ravage Star Haven. Starlow enlists the help of Geno and Mallow in order to retrieve a mystical object known as the Aura Stone to turn the Dark Star back to a normal star. And they better hurry, because that Dark Star is connected to Luigi...
The story can be found here.
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Aerith and Bob: Boos such as those living in King Boo's mansion have names like Boomerang, Taboo, Kung Boo, etc. Boos living in Gusty Gulch have names like Stanley, Bob and Herbert.
- A Father to His Men: Captain Boomerang of the Boo Army.
- Affably Evil: King Boo, especially towards Luigi.
- Ascended Extra: Doctor Toadley plays a big role here in diagnosing the Possession Poison, working out the ingredients for the antidote and occasionally advising Peach on certain actions.
- Booigi was just one random Boo released in Luigi's Mansion. Here, he's a good Boo and one of the central protagonists.
- Battle Butler: Lady Bow's butler, Bootler, gets in on the action against Bogmire.
- Big Brother Instinct: Mario is seriously protective of Luigi here, heightened by the sense of guilt he feels in not being able to protect Luigi before in the events of Super Paper Mario. And when Mario confronts King Boo the first time round... hoo boy...Mario: GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER OR I WILL KILL YOU!
- Big Damn Heroes: Mario bursts out of Forever Forest just in to save Luigi from being completely possessed by King Boo.
- The Big Guy: Tubba Blubba.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Under the influence of Possession Poison, Luigi nearly sets Peach and a number of Toads on fire and would have done it properly had King Boo not only intended it as a warning and probably as a bit of fun.
- Burning with Anger: Both brothers, with fireballs at the ready. Mario, when he's getting angry at the newspaper Toads and Luigi when Kamek reckons that King Boo doesn't realise Luigi's full potential. Luigi's normal fire also produces black sparks when he's in this state, showing that the Possession Poison is affecting him even without King Boo's influence. In Chapter 15, Mario finds out that not only Luigi was accused of arson and murder and had to stand trial for it, but also that people believed that he would deliberately do it, he gets so mad that flames appear again, leading Booigi to tell him to not do anything rash when he notices it.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: King Boo does not hesitate to use brutal means in order to make Luigi submit to his will, to the point of excruciating agony. According to King Boo, those under the affliction of Possession Poison cannot actually die either. So, if King Boo wanted to, he could basically carry on torturing Luigi for as long as he desired.
- Conversational Troping: Starlow, Geno and Mallow discuss why they make dungeons so completely over the top and make it a pain for the heroes to get through. Geno theorises that because heroes have experience in getting through dungeons and puzzles whereas villains don't, only heroes can get to the dungeon's end and get the item with villains finding it too difficult. Mallow then says that the villain could just warp to the dungeon's end and get the treasure that way.
- Courtroom Episode: When the Star Temple gets destroyed by Luigi and creates a Dark Star, Luigi gets arrested and hauled into court with the same judge that Mario had in Super Mario Sunshine. It's very much touch and go for poor Luigi until Dr Toadley steps in with his Crystal Ball.
- Dark and Troubled Past: When very young, Booigi's clan was captured by King Boo's clan and apart from the young children, all the other Boos were executed as they weren't considered 'true Boos' since they were striking up friendships with non-Boo races.
- Death Glare: In Chapter 15, when he finds out that Bowser had previously planned to take over the Mushroom Kingdom by corrupting and brainwashing Luigi with the Possession Poison, Mario gives a scary glare, and he's so furious that it scares Marich half to death and everyone is left in shock by his overwhelming anger. In the very next chapter, Chapter 16, both Mario and Luigi give an epic one to a Toad who asks if Luigi is always getting controlled by something else and whether it's just an excuse for his own actions or if he's just that weak. The other Toads are smart enough to get the hell away from this Toad at this point considering the brothers' barely controlled anger.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Luigi has a dream in which King Boo tortures him to break his will. It comes true alright.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Sergeant Kung Boo, training the Ironhead division of Boos who are all terrified of him. He's certainly very loud as well.
- Evil Sorceror: King Boo. What do you expect?
- Fantastic Racism: King Boo believes that all other races are inferior compared to Boos. He also believes that Boos could run things in a much more efficient manner than the foolish Toads and that if he ruled the world, everyone would know their place and wars would cease to exist.
- Fate Worse than Death: In Forever Forest, Bogmire, temporarily working for King Boo tells Mario that his mind will be ripped asunder so he can't even beg for mercy, his name will be cursed and spat upon by even the lowliest creatures and that he'll be reduced to less than nothing.Bogmire: You shall be reduced to less than nothing and even then, the part of you that still exists will forever be placed under the king of ghosts' control so you can witness what darkness is then wrought by your very own brother's hands…
- Gentle Giant: Tubba Blubba. He isn't really the fighting type, you know?
- Happily Adopted: Pretty much confirmed by Mario when Bow and Booigi are looking through a photo album and see a photo of the brothers with their Toad parents when they were young, after losing their parents at less than a year old. When asked about if they were close to their adopted parents, Mario says they were but then excuses himself to help Luigi as he might not have organised things in the attic well, heavily implying that they have since deceased.
- Heel–Face Turn: Malich the Magikoopa goes to help the Mario Bros. after being thrown out of the Magikoopa Council in disgrace by Kamek. Being punished via torture probably prompted that decision. Though he had planned to go to the Boos first.
- Heroic Will Power: Luigi tries to resist the powers of Possession Poison for as long as possible, even though the process of it is excruciating.
- Hero of Another Story: Starlow, Geno and Mallow have to travel to the Shadow Pits to retrieve the Aura Stone in order to stop the Dark Star while Mario, Luigi and co deal with things on ground.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: Malicious Valley.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Before meeting with Luigi, Booigi's only friend is Taboo and that is very much a stretch at best.
- Insistent Terminology: Dr Toadley constantly refers to the Miracle Cure as 'Miracle Toadley Cure'. The Mario Bros. beg to differ.
- Interspecies Friendship: The team consisting of the Mario Bros., the Boos and a Magikoopa.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Booigi doesn't get involved in trying to scare people at all; he'd rather learn about the world and he thinks there's no point in King Boo trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom when Peach is already running it fine.
- Not So Stoic: In Chapter 15, feeling unable to help Luigi, Mario cries in front of his brother after yelling at his friends due to the excessive stress. Luigi comforts him for a change.
- Oh, Crap!: Mario, when he realises that there's now a Dark Star about.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Mario yells at his friends including Peach, Toadsworth and Lady Bow, saying that he's sick of him and Luigi having to be The Hero all the time and he's basically had enough of it all. He then cries on the castle roof after Luigi catches up to him. Everyone's understandably shaken by this.
- After a Toad callously asks Luigi if getting brainwashed was because he is a weakling or that he actually faked this and caused a catastrophe deliberately, both brothers get very angry, and it's even more uncharacteristic coming from Luigi because of his normally shy nature, to the point that the other Toads around him thought that he went too far.
Luigi: [barely holding back his anger] Do you think? Do you think that I chose to do this? I assume you were at the Court. Do you think I was screaming in pain just to deceive you in some way? That King Boo would do this stuff to me because I allowed him to? Do you think that my efforts in saving the kingdom and your lives is all just an act? Heaven knows why I do it at times but I do because I can't imagine anything else. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything did happen to everyone here if I thought it wasn't worth protecting. - One-Steve Limit: Averted. There is a Boo and a Magikoopa both named Herbert although the latter is only mentioned a couple of times.
- Playing with Fire: Both Luigi and Mario use fire a lot during their battles, coloured green and red respectively of course.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Boomerang isn't really one for violence, preferring diplomacy, and he only stays with King Boo because it's not as if he could suddenly give up his job when he feels like that. That and the oblique threat towards his wife and child of course...
- Rage Breaking Point: In Chapter 15, after Malich the Magikoopa explains to him that Bowser was planning to corrupt Luigi with the Possession Poison and control him to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, the stress from everything that has happened, from Luigi getting controlled by the Possession Poison to the destruction of the Star Shrine and the creation of the Dark Star, the way he is forced to defend himself at court and how people blamed him for what happened by believing the rumours that he would have done it deliberately (Chief Inspector Banks even went as far as accusing Luigi of siding with Bowser and betraying Mario out of spite for not receiving the same credit and attention as him, which outraged Toadsworth and led Peach to forcefully disprove it, saying that he would never do such a thing by his own free will and that he was hypnotized or brainwashed), causes Mario to go on a rage and scare everyone with his screams before leaving the room in a foul mood.Mario: I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! I'VE HAD ENOUGH! WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE US ALL THE TIME?! WHY CAN'T SOMEBODY ELSE BE THE HERO ALL THE TIME?! I AM SICK TO DEATH OF THIS! WE CAN'T DO EVERYTHING BY OURSELVES! WHAT IS THE POINT IN US FIGHTING ALL THE TIME?!
- Shock and Awe: Luigi retains his Thunderhand ability from Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and is also able to combine it with his fire ability. This nearly damns him during his trial as no-one else is supposed to have this ability.
- Shout-Out: Stanley invokes Monty's Python's 'dead parrot' sketch of all things.
- Slasher Smile: A particular trait of King Boo, as seen in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. It unnerves many, even Kamek.
- The Stoic: Mario always tries to be this because he's viewed as the Hope Bringer for people and what would people think if he suddenly broke down? This has led Mario to try and suppress his emotions for years because he needs to be seen as strong for the people. When he finally loses it, he loses it ''big time.'' Peach tells Mario that he should open up more so they can understand what's he going through.
- Suddenly Shouting: Done by Mario of all people, when he's yelling at the Toad newsreporters to leave his brother alone while he's at Dr Toadley's Clinic, especially as he hasn't even seen him yet. He also screams and completely loses it when Malich tells him exactly why Bowser planned to use Luigi for world-domination purposes.
- Talking in Your Dreams: The Star Spirits converse with Mario and Luigi in their dreams to let them know of the situation at hand and tell them they have their support. The first time round though, Mario and Luigi block communication as they are too angry with them for their lack of help in previous dire situations.
- Those Three Guys: The Gusty Gulch Boos: Stanley, Bob and Herbert.
- Twin Telepathy: Over a certain distance, Mario and Luigi can sense each other's whereabouts.
- Verbal Tic: Malich appears to go 'heh' a lot.
- What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: Stated word for word when Luigi and Dr Toadley head out to meet with Princess Peach as Beanish traders come to Toad Town at not quite the usual time of the year. Luigi thinks something is up. They're not Beanish traders. They're Magikoopas.
