Hello! My name is Zeragii. ;) I've been inspired to write my own Mario Fanfiction, and so I thought I'd give it a try. :) Inspired by the game "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon".
I do not own anything related to the characters or worlds of the Mario franchise. I do not write for profit, but for my own enjoyment, and (hopefully) the enjoyment of others. ;) Thank you!
We all have things that scare us. Things that happened once, and that we braved the best we could; but, after it's done and over, we're very certain we'd never be able to do it again. That, if another situation like that should ever again find its way into our lives, we'd probably just faint dead away; give up the fight. We all have fears. Things that make us shake in our boots and want to crawl under the nearest bed. Hide. But that isn't how it usually works. It is often that the things we fear most, show up in our lives again and again. Like some cruel joke. But the truth is, as harmful to our souls as they may feel, they often make us stronger; and prepare us for the next adventure...
Luigi studied the crinkly, worn letter in his hands as he walked behind his brother. He was shaking slightly, which was making the words jiggle around in his vision; making it hard to read them. Not that he needed to read it. He already knew what it said. But, somehow, he thought that maybe, just maybe, if he studied the words carefully enough; hard enough, that the content might change, and they could go home. But that, of course, was nonsense. No matter how much Luigi wished and willed those words to fade, they continued to exist, bold and mocking on the page he held. With a shuddering sigh, Luigi lowered his hands to his sides, glancing forward at his shorter, but older brother, Mario.
Mario was walking confidently, like he always did. It gave one a sense of calm to see the way he charged ahead purposefully, never once flinching back from danger. At least, not in a way that anyone could tell. Mario, who was a number of years older than Luigi himself, had always been the more confident one. Not that he didn't get frightened. Everybody does. But Luigi often found himself wishing he could shield his fear as easily, and as effectively, as Mario could. The man dressed in a red shirt, and blue overalls; the hero that every world needs. That was Mario. And, though Luigi loved his brother, and admired him greatly; it didn't make his feeling of being second-best any less painful sometimes. But those thoughts were for another day. Or night, as that was the case.
The forest around them was dark, cold, and, in all possible definitions, unbelievably spooky. Just as Luigi remembered it. The ominous chill in the air of Evershade Valley was a permanent feature of the place, sending icy winds through the trees above them; causing dark, drifting leaves to shower down. It all gave the feeling of an oncoming storm; which wouldn't be surprising. Evershade Valley was always shrouded in either rain, or swirling, gray clouds. The sun never shone here, but that was due to the extensive amount of paranormal activity in the area. The ghosts' presence had changed the land; though no one could remember what it had been like before. It had been far too long ago since it had resembled anything remotely normal. But the spiritly inhabitants were friendly and harmless, usually; and the mansions of Evershade Valley were abandoned, normally. The only living soul for miles was Professor Elvin Gadd.
And that was the purpose of Mario and Luigi's trip.
Luigi lifted the letter in his hands again. It was moderately dark, making the exact words rather hazy, but readable in the faint light that did exist. The letter had arrived the day before, in an envelope that had clearly been handled poorly. It had been crumbles and torn in various places, and not entirely sealed; as though someone had been in far too much of a hurry to bother to do it properly. The letter itself, luckily, had been intact, though the handwriting had been hurried and sloppy. Luigi went over the contents in his mind, the words now permanently burned in his memory.
Dear friends Mario and Luigi,
I am in dire need of your help here in Evershade Valley. Something has gone terribly wrong. I can't explain now, but please hurry. Time is growing short.
- Professor E. Gadd
That had been it. Plain, short, and simply; but no less worrying. Professor Elvin Gadd, or E. Gadd, as he was better known by the brothers, was an accomplished inventor, among other things; as well as a dedicated observer of ghosts and paranormal activities. Mario and Luigi had worked beside him through two previous adventures. Or, more accurately, Luigi had. Mario, through both instances, had been...indisposed; trapped by King Boo in a painting in their enemy's clutches. While that may have been traumatic enough; being caged motionless inside a flat world where nothing truly existed; the road that Luigi had been forced to take to save his brother had been no less agonizing. Maybe even more so. The younger brother had had no choice other than to face his deepest fears; struggling through one task to another with knees knocking and heart pounding. To that day, no one could truly figure out how Luigi had done it; without suffering a heart-attack. But the fact remained that he had done it, proving to everyone of what he was capable of; most of all to himself.
But that didn't help him now. Of all the places he would love to go, Evershade Valley was the one furthest down on Luigi's list. Memories of his adventures there had haunted him for weeks, and he had no desire to welcome more nightmares into his already strained nights of restless sleep. Even a year after his adventure of reassembling the Dark Moon, he still shook whenever it was mentioned. Mario, though not always the most observant of people, had noticed and had done his best to avoid the subject. Until now.
When it came to missions and cries for help, Mario was as hard as stone; set in his task to help, no matter what. Elvin Gadd had specifically asked for them both. There was no way to weasel out of going. Mario had practically had to drag Luigi out the front door, and still he continually glanced behind him from time to time to reassure himself that Luigi hadn't turned back around. Though he knew his brother to contain an amazing store of hidden bravery, Mario knew his brother's fears could sometimes get the better of him. Which was something they couldn't deal with at the moment. They didn't have time.
Turning a glance over his shoulder, Mario sent Luigi an encouraging smile, which faded when he found his brother occupied with gazing down at the letter held tightly in his hands. He shook his head, slowing a bit to allow his taller brother to catch up. "Don't-a get to worked up, Luigi," he commented cheerfully. "I'm-a sure the professor will explain everything when-a we arrive."
Luigi nodded distractedly, still focused on the note. He didn't really want to have everything explained. He knew all he needed to. Creepy mansion; Evershade Valley; something terribly wrong. What more could he possibly need to know? That this adventure was sure to end up just as horrifying as all the others? He hoped not. For once, he'd just like to be invited anywhere just for a friendly chat, rather than to face some life-threatening peril. Giving a sigh, Luigi stuffed the letter into his pocket.
It wasn't long before the duo had reached the long, winding path that led up to the professor's mansion. Above it, as always, glowing with that calm and eerie purple light, the Dark Moon was held in its place by whatever invisible force thrived within it. Its presence was a comfort, in that it meant that whatever emergency the professor was having, it had nothing to do with ghosts going hostile and out of control. Small blessings.
"A-are you...Are you sure w-we-a have to do this?"
Mario sighed. "Yes. The professor said it was-a urgent." Taking hold of his brother's wrist and pulling him along, Mario and Luigi finally broke out of the cover of the forest.
A few straggling trees perched here in there, but for the most part the landscape had become flat and grassy. In the distance, looming over them like a great, dark monstrosity, stood the mansion. Its windows were all aglow with the warm, golden beams of lamplight; but somehow that wasn't any comfort to Luigi. He tried pulling back from his brother's grip slightly, giving up the moment Mario's hold refused to loosen. The older brother was down-right determined, and Luigi was not going to fight it any longer. It was too late anyway.
It took several more moments to cross the fields and reach the last stretch of the path leading to the home of the professor. It was lined with lanterns, their soft light doing very little to chase away the heavy fog that was gathering. A picket fence marked its way along, coming to a halt at a pair of white, ornately designed metal gates. They were closed, which wasn't so unusual. In fact, for a creepy haunted mansion, it looked quite normal. As though nothing in the least was wrong.
Luigi gulped. But looks could be deceiving.
Mario let go of Luigi's wrist, leaning forward to inspect the gate. Reaching forward he gave the rusty structure a quick, strong nudge. The action caused them to swing open, inward and easily, breaking the silence with a long, audible creak. It was funny, but Luigi seemed to remember them opening on their own accord before; the last time he had been there. The grating sound of iron on iron caused him to flinch, startling Mario.
"Momma mia, Luigi!" he exclaimed, taking in his brother's trembling form. "Will-a you calm down!"
Luigi muttered a shaky apology, trying to get himself together. As Mario moved forward to walk through, Luigi followed close behind. The entrance was just as it had been before. Ominous and lonely. At least this time he had Mario with him; that made things a little less terrifying. Luigi kept his eyes locked suspiciously on the iron gates as they passed through them, expecting them to slam shut once they had entered. But they didn't. In fact, they hung there, completely lifeless, swinging and creaking as they shifted slightly in the breeze. Mario noticed his brother's line of gaze and sent him a questioning one of his own.
"I-it moved on its-a own," Luigi explained, almost defensively. "The l-last time I-a was here."
Mario raised an eyebrow, giving the gates his own, far less fearful version of a glance. "Well...they're-a not moving now." He gave Luigi an encouraging smile. "Come on, Weegie. It'll be-a fine. You'll see." He then turned and started his way through the courtyard.
Luigi, after hesitating, continued to follow; rubbing his hands together in front of him nervously and looking all around at the scenery that surrounded them. Though he was still terribly frightened, Mario's optimism often wore off on the people around him, and Luigi was no exception. Despite his fear, he put one foot in front of the other; following in his brother's footsteps.
The courtyard was perfectly quiet. A few telltale drops of rainwater dripped down, attributing to the far darker clouds that had rolled in. That was the only audible sound; raindrops hitting against the grass, leaves, flowers, and a small fountain to their left. That, and the sound of Mario's heavy footsteps stomping across the ground, boots grinding into the wet, gritty soil and pebbles. Luigi's far lighter and softer footsteps mirroring his own.
The two brothers made their way up a small case of wooden steps leading to the front porch of the mansion. The boards were wet and slippery with years of moist weather and gloom. A hint of a green color was evidence of moss, or possibly some other kind of grime. The porch itself was equally saturated, creaking with age beneath both their boots. All that occupied the space was a large urn-like object and an old rocking chair. Essentially, exactly the way it had been since the last time they had been there, especially from Luigi's point of view.
Mario didn't hesitate; walking right up to the double, oaken doors, he gave the woodwork a series of quick, confident knocks. The resounding echo of the taps ringing out in the chamber behind it, it gave the whole event a feeling of solemn foreboding. Luigi stood next to his brother, fidgeting nervously, still glancing in every direction possible. They waited like that for several moments, feet squishing into the thick, soaking-wet mat beneath them, before Mario gave the door another try. This time louder. The echo was far more pronounced this time, traveling through the mansion as if to affirm its totally unoccupied state.
Mario frowned. "That's-a strange." He stepped back, placing a hand on his chin in thought. After a moment he exchanged a glance with his brother. Luigi nodded, knowing what Mario's unasked question might be. Mario returned the gesture before stepping back a few steps and then moving forward; throwing his weight against one side of the door. Luigi startled, and Mario cried out in surprise, when the door opened very easily and Mario found himself tumbling right through and landing in the entrance room with a grunt.
"M-Mario? A-are-a you okey dokey?" Luigi's voice echoed around Mario as though his brother surrounded him on all sides.
"Yeah, Luigi; I'm-a fine. Come on-a in."
A flash of lightening and a loud crash of thunder persuaded Luigi to do just that. With a squeak of terror, the green-clad plumber dashed inside, slamming the door shut behind him. Mario lifted himself to his feet, sending his brother a rather teasing grin, but was otherwise silent about his jittery relative's frayed nerves. Dusting himself off, Mario glanced about the well furbished room with curiosity. The wooden tiling of the floor was quite unique, as was the thick, rectangular rug that rested in its center. All around the walls hung pictures of various things, mostly portraits of people long since gone from this world. It gave everything a sense of ancient domain; like a museum, as did the two sets of medieval armor guarding the entrance to yet another double door in front of them. There were also two, much smaller doors to the side; one on the left and one on the right.
"E. Gadd?" Mario's voice sounded uncommonly loud in the silence of the house.
They waited a moment, and than Luigi added his own shaky call. "P-professore?"
Silence. Utter and complete.
Mario took off his red cap, giving his head a bewildered scratch. "That's-a funny. He-a knew we were coming...Why isn't he-a here?"
"M-maybe somethings-a w-wrong?"
Mario huffed. "Well, that's-a obvious. The note-a, remember?" He tapped Luigi's side pocket, where the note lay stashed. Stepping forward, Mario leaned to peer through the keyhole of the double doors. Through it, he could hardly see, other than when the lightening flashed. Then he was able to make out, briefly, a long hallway lined with more suits of silver armor. The metal caught the light, glinting it all around. The flash was quickly followed by another crash of thunder. Mario instinctively felt Luigi move closer to him. Stepping back, the older brother began to look more concerned. "E. Gadd would have-a met us at-a the door. If he was-a able too..." His face became grave as he took another, slower look around the entrance room. "Somethings not-a right."
Despite his shivers of fear, Luigi managed to send his brother an exasperated glance. Hadn't he predicted this all along?But Mario didn't give him a chance to say anything.
"I don't think that he's-a here in the mansion..." Turning, he gave Luigi a serious look. "Is there anywhere else that the professor may have gone-a to?"
Luigi thought hard for a moment or two; going through the unpleasant memories of his last visit. That adventure had all begun with the Professor dragging him through his television screen, with the use of E. Gadd's Pixelator; a device that could teleport persons and objects over a distance to re-materialize someplace else. At the time, the professor had been in hiding, trying to stay clear of the hostile ghosts that, during that period, had run amuck in Evershade Valley, due to the destruction of the Dark Moon. If the professor had been forced into hiding again, than, perhaps, he had returned to his previous, impenetrable hideout. "H-He might be in-a the bunker."
"The bunker?"
"Sí." Luigi paused. "I...I have-a never walked to it, since the prefessore always used the Pixelator to bring-a me there. But I think it is close-a by."
Mario nodded, already heading back through the doors leading outside.
Thunder and lightening filled the air; causing a sort of electrical excitement in the atmosphere. Storms were frequent in the valley, though rarely severe. The wind had picked up, but not dreadfully so. It was raining harder now, and it wasn't long before the two brothers were soaked to the skin. The air wasn't frigid, thankfully, but a definite chill existed. Though, what else would one expect from a paranormally active residence.
Luigi shivered, with cold now, rather than fear. He felt better with his back to the mansion; walking away from it. The professor's bunker was a much more appealing place, since, during his last adventure, Luigi had always felt safe within its walls. No ghosts had been able to slip in; nothing frightening had jumped out at him, as long as he had been in the bunker with E. Gadd. And, though the professor certainly wasn't the most sane company, in Luigi's mind, it beat being around hostile ghosts any day.
Mario consciously slowed his pace. He had a habit of charging ahead, full speed; a characteristic he had always born. But, as humorous as Luigi's nervous state could be, Mario was slightly worried for his brother sometimes. Luigi's past experiences in Evershade Valley weren't pleasant ones. Of course, then again, neither were his. But Mario had always been strong; a fast healer, both in mind and body. But Luigi...Well, Luigi was a bit more sensitive. While Mario tended to live by his actions, Luigi tended to live by his emotions. Not that Mario didn't have any, but it was easier for him to just march ever forward; always moving ahead. Luigi was a thinker; a ponderer. And, as of the moment, Mario could only guess what his brother was thinking.
He didn't want to coddle him; protect Luigi from whatever had happened before, but he didn't want to abandon him either. It was like walking a tightrope, suspended over a great chasm. Move too far one way and you would fall, move too far the other way and suffer the same result. And so Mario tried to balance himself somewhere in between caring and indifferent; never truly knowing whether he was succeeding or not.
"It's-a still there."
Luigi's soft voice jolted Mario from his thoughts. The red plumber looked at his brother questioningly as they walked, before following Luigi's gaze to the sky.
Far above them, but not above the ominous clouds, glowed the ever present, purple glow of the Dark Moon. Suspended in space, it appeared very unnatural, floating there the way it did. And what exactly it was, even Professor E. Gadd wasn't sure. That was why the man had taken up residence in this dark and gloomy place; to study the Moon's power to pacify ghosts. A dangerous occupation, if ever one existed. One could never anticipate what discovery the professor might make that could possibly attract the attention of an old foe; or even a new one. E. Gadd was a genius; no one could deny that. His inventions and observations had helped improve life for many people, even reaching as far as the Mushroom Kingdom. And, as unpredictable as he could be, E. Gadd never sent out a call for help unless it was well warrented. The fact that he had neglected to meet up with them now was worrying; especially after sending such a serious letter.
It took a little while, but they finally found the professor's bunker. It was an odd, mechanical, dome-shaped structure. The professor had built it himself, some time ago. It took even longer to local the door, which was so well hidden it was almost impossible to find. Mario, who had never been to the bunker himself, thought it strange that Luigi didn't know where to find the entrance, but Luigi reminded him that he had never just walked in. His constant trips to the bunker had been with the use of the Pixelator; so he had never actually even seen the door. But, knowing the professor, he had known one had to exist, in case of as emergency. Luigi proved to be right.
First, giving a firm knock, Mario listened for any telltale signs of life within the structure. But, just like the mansion, there was no answer. Reaching forward, the eldest brother tried turning the odd-shaped handle, but couldn't get it to budge. "It's-a locked." That having been established, Mario threw his weight against the door, like he had done back at the mansion. Only this time, instead of opening, it clanked and rattled in protest; as though informing him that such efforts would be futile. "We'll have to-a try together."
Luigi nodded meekly, positioning himself beside his brother.
"Uno...Due...Tre!"
At Mario's signal, the two men launched themselves forward and into the metal plating of the door. It thumped loudly under the pressure of their combined weight, but still only moved a little. The boys backed up and went at it again; pressing their shoulders against the cold, hard surface. Their feet were slipping in the wet, muddied earth, and they might have given the exercise up, if not for the loud, creaking groan the door gave on their third try. The metal, obviously a far less sturdy compound than the rest of the structure, was beginning to bow inward.
"Just a little more!" Mario encouraged. "All-a we have to do is break-a the lock!"
Stepping back and then surging forward one last time, Mario and Luigi gave the door one more solid ram with their bodies. Luigi gave a light gasp, having hit harder than he had intended. There was an audible snap, like something being broken in half, and the door, dented and a little askew, slowly swung open as the Mario brothers quickly jumped back. The metal door slammed to the left, hanging beside the gaping hole it now accompanied; darkness the only thing within.
Luigi took several steps backward, his nervousness returning, but Mario edged closer, trying to get his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting both within and without the dome-shaped building. "Professor Gadd?! Hello?!"
Silence was the only thing he received.
"Per carità!*" he muttered in frustration. Placing a hand on either side of the frame, he stepped up and into the darkness.
Luigi began to do the same, but a bang, followed by what sounded like a yelp and a curse, resounded from within the gaping hope, stopped him. Luigi paused, trembling because he was afraid to go inside, but far more afraid of staying outside; alone. He waited a moment as the sound of things being knocked over ensued, before Mario's voice rang out loud and clear.
"Hold on, bro...I'm-a looking for a light-a-switch! There's all kinds of things-a in here, but it's too dark to tell-a what they are!" There was a few more clumsy fumbles, and the clatter of something heavy falling onto the floor, before there was a click, and the two brothers found themselves blinking in the sudden light.
"Mamma mia!" Mario's mouth hung slack with shock, and his surprise was well founded. Luigi climbed in through the door to join his sibling, feeling that same sense of shock hit his own mind as he too took in the bunker's surroundings.
The place was in shambles. Papers littered the floor, as did a number of hard-covered volumes; their pages crumbled and torn. It was obvious that they had fallen from the bookshelf on their right, which had partially leaned forward, before it had come to rest against other, less-recognizable objects. On the left of the floor, water had spilled over a large portion of the documents, leaking slowly from what appeared to be a knocked over water cooler. On the wall, opposite the Mario brothers, countless screens and monitors, for the professor's various experiments and observations, had been smashed; their surfaces spider-webbed with cracks and breaks. Not all of them, but certainly most of them. Besides a few sparking wires, and a few white moths fluttering around the overhead light, the bunker was utterly void of any moving thing.
E. Gadd was nowhere in sight.
Mario's shoulders slumped in obvious disappointment. This was not what they had expected to find. All that work getting in, and for what? A ransacked room, and even more unanswered questions. "Maybe he left-a us a note," he suggested, and immediately started forward, making his way around the debris. Luigi joined him.
Most of the professor's belongings were unsalvageable; too ripped or saturated to be of any good. It was kind of sad, all of E. Gadd's work strewn about in such a careless way. It was easy to see that something had happened. Elvin Gadd would never have done all this on purpose; to his own life's work. This had to have been done by something else. And, as eccentric as the professor was, he still knew how to use his mind to find an alternative option. Somehow, he had sent Mario and Luigi that letter. If he had been in the bunker, he was sure to have left a clue or direction...something. Anything.
The two brothers split up, Mario taking the right side half, and Luigi the left. The green-clad plumber nearly slipped in the ever growing puddle of cooler water. He set the tank upright, stopping the flow trickling out and onto the floor. Not that it really mattered; there hadn't been much liquid left in it anyway. Luigi tried to search the soaked pile of parchments, many of which had stuck together in clumps of puffing, white fiber. Typed lettering, smudged and distorted beyond comprehension, created black streaks in patterns across the papers, giving them a distinctly slimy look. Luigi attempted to pick one up, but it flopped and fell apart in his hands, too moist to hold together any longer. The younger Mario brother sighed, carefully trying to step around the mess; about ready to give up the search. If the professor had left anything, it certainly wasn't of any use to them now. He started back toward Mario, guessing that if any hope of finding a clue existed, it would be on the dry side of the bunker. However, just as he passed the edge of the puddle's watery reach, his eye was caught by something, only just slightly soaked around the margins. Hastily scribbled at the top was his and Mario's names, in dark, thick, sloppy writing. But it was not that which suddenly caused Luigi to freeze in place.
It was the dark, red stain that blotched one entire section of the note.
Blood.
*Per carità! = Italian for "For goodness sake!"
So there you have it. Chapter one. I hope it's not too slow, but I have of things to build up to. Some intense action next chapter, promise. ;)