Okay. I originally wrote this for English class (it got a 100, if my memory is cooperating), and later I submitted it for Camp Hyrule 2004's Ghost Story contest. It was chosen to be posted for everyone to see (out of everyone else in my cabin), and now I've randomaly decided to post it here. Take note that this is occuring just as Mario and Peach are arriving at Isle Delfino, and a few things may make more sense.
Return of the Mansion
by Luigi2
"This sleepover party was a great idea, Luigi," said Diddy, a monkey from DK Island and friend to Luigi, the mustached human owner of the large house they're currently in. "I haven't been able to relax like this for a while."
"Thanks, Diddy," Luigi replied. "But it was really Tails's idea. I'm just supplying the location, since I happen to have this great mansion."
"Well, I guess this was my idea," shrugged Miles "Tails" Prower, a two-tailed fox from nearby Planet Mobius. Tails is famous for his ability to spin his tails like a propeller and fly. "I just thought all of us needed some R n' R after our latest adventures, so I called up Luigi and asked him to host. By the way, Luigi, I've been meaning to ask you how you came across this awesome place. What's the story?"
"Yeah, Luigi," said Toad excitedly. Toad is a mushroom person from Luigi's home, the Mushroom Kingdom, and a longtime friend of the mustached hero and his brother Mario. "Tell them the story! I love this story because I'm in it!"
"All right, guys!" Luigi said. "This is how it goes: I got a letter saying that I won a mansion in some contest. When Mario, Toad, and I went to check it out, we found a big spooky house filled to bursting with ghosts and treasure! Using a strange vacuum cleaner, I sucked up all of the ghosts and picked up most of the treasure. The mansion and ghosts then disappeared, but the treasure stuck around and I used it to build this unhaunted mansion in the very spot where the haunted one used to be."
"That's a great story, and kinda creepy, too," said Tails. "Okay, who wants to play some Mario Kart: Double Dash!?"
"Me!" the other three chorused. So they stayed up late into the night playing video games together.
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BOOM!
"What in the…!" Luigi's head shot up as he sat up abruptly in his sleeping bag.
CRASH!
"What in Eldstar's name was that!" Toad cried.
"Calm down, guys," Diddy, who was looking out of a window with Tails, responded. "It's just a thunderstorm."
KABLAM!
"Or an angry herd of Pikachu," Tails joked. Everyone laughed at the joke about the electric mouse Pokémon. Luigi felt more at ease, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was…wrong.
BOOOM!
"Well," Luigi said, stretching in his green, star-patterned pajamas, "I don't think we're going to be able to sleep now."
"I'm hungry. Let's go grab some grub!" suggested Diddy, jumping up from the windowsill.
"Good idea, Did," Tails agreed, also standing up. "Let's go check out the contents of the giant fridge down in the kitchen. I hope there's some leftover chili dogs or something." The monkey and fox bounded down the carpeted stairs in the direction of Luigi's large kitchen.
KERSMASH!
"Don't get lost, guys!" Luigi called after them. His only response was some laughter echoing back up the stairs.
"Ugh." Toad stood up and stretched mightily. "I'm headin' to the bathroom, 'kay, Lou?" he called over his shoulder as he stumbled groggily into the dark hallway.
"Alright, bud. I'm just going to stay here," Luigi replied as he plopped down in Diddy's spot near the window to watch the increasingly violent storm. He wasn't worried, however, because his mansion sported a state-of-the-art architecture that could withstand the strongest hurricane the Star Spirits could cook up.
Suddenly, there was a gigantic CRRAAASH, and Luigi saw a giant bolt of lightning strike the large oak tree next to the house. He was blinded by a sudden bright light and knew no more…
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"Ugh," groaned Luigi as he struggled to sit up and open his eyes. When he succeeded, he might have as well kept them closed. Everything was pitch black. He groped around for the light switch but couldn't find it. He did find a flashlight, however, and flicked it on.
He was in a large broom closet that seemed familiar, but he didn't recognize it as one in his own house. He waved the light around and his eyes grew wide as he realized why the place seemed so familiar.
"Th-This is the h-haunted mansion," Luigi whispered to himself. "But…I-I thought it was g-gone!"
Luigi turned the old-fashioned doorknob and stepped into the dark and dusty hallway. Shining the flashlight around again, he mentally confirmed that this was definitely the haunted mansion that he, Mario, and Toad had escaped from before.
Suddenly he remembered Toad, Tails, and Diddy. "I h-hope they're okay…"
"Oh don't worry about those pipsqueaks! I've taken good care of them! Eh heh heh heh heh!" Luigi nearly jumped out of his red-striped socks as he heard the high-pitched, cackling voice behind him. He jumped around and played his flashlight on the speaker.
"Who the mushroom are you!" he exclaimed as he looked up at an almost insect-like, green skinned witch in a dark purple cloak.
"Ehehehehehehehehe!" she cackled again. "I am called Cackletta, and I'm here to recruit King Boo to aid me in my quest for power!"
"B-b-but King Boo is g-g-gone! I got rid of h-him last time I was in this p-place!"
"That's what you thought! I know otherwise. I will go now to meet with him, and I can't have you interfering with my plans." The green-skinned witch glanced over her shoulder. "Fawful, take care of this pest!"
"Yes, Your Cackleness!" A small green creature with large teeth and spectacles came out from behind her, sporting a red cloak and a large mechanical helmet that also had what appeared to be teeth. "This fink-rat will be crushed by my helmet of power!"
With another of her namesake cackles, Cackletta disappeared in a puff of green smoke. Fawful cried, "I HAVE FURY!" and his helmet detached itself from his head and flew at Luigi.
Luigi gritted his teeth and waited until the helmet was close. Then a jumped and kicked them helmet back at Fawful, whose eyes grew wide as the contraption collided with him. Both disappeared in another puff of green smoke.
"Whew, that was close," Luigi sighed.
"Luigi? Is that you?" a small voice said. Luigi looked around and spotted a spotted a door that seemed to be shaking. As he opened it, Toad stumbled out and tripped onto the floor.
"Toad! Are you alright," Luigi inquired as he helped his friend back onto his feet.
"I think so." The mushroom kid replied. "The last thing I remember is that I was coming back from the bathroom, and then there was a big crash and a bright light. I woke up in there and heard your voice just now."
"The same thing happened to me. We had better go find Diddy and Tails before those weird green guys come back."
They wandered down the creepy hallway but didn't see or hear anything. The thunderstorm appeared to be over. They came to a flight of stairs and tiptoed down, Luigi still waving the flashlight this way and that, expecting a ghost to fly out of a wall at them at any moment. They wandered through the entire first floor, opening every door, but still found no one. Finally they found the stairs that led down to the basement.
"Th-that's where K-K-King Boo likes t-t-to hang out," Luigi told Toad. They were both now shivering, not only with fright, but also coldness. The mansion's heat obviously wasn't on because ghosts prefer the cold. Giving each other one last look, they crept down the stairs. One step creaked when they stepped on it, and Toad jumped.
Luigi led the way down the winding hallway, playing the flashlight on all of the hanging paintings of ghosts he remembered defeating his first time in the mansion. I thought that Professor E. Gadd has those paintings, he thought to himself. King Boo must have stolen them or something.
"Woah!" Suddenly Luigi's foot caught on something on the dark floor and he tripped flat on his face, Toad landing on top of him. Scrambling back to their feet, the two gazed at the floor as Luigi shined his flashlight on it.
"Tails! Diddy," Toad cried as they spotted their two unconscious friends tied together on the floor. Luigi squatted down and untied the rope, and Toad and he helped their friends get to their feet when they came to.
"Where are we?" mumbled Tails.
"Remember the mansion from my story?" Luigi responded.
"How did we get here?" Diddy inquired.
"I brought you here! Ehehehe!"
All four of them yelped and spun around to face Cackletta. King Boo was hovering next to her, his white bulbous body and the new golden crown perched on top glowing eerily in the darkness.
"She used her magic to bring me and my mansion back!" the large ghost king laughed. "So I've agreed to help her. And my first task is to eliminate you four!"
"I'll hope to see you later, Your Highness," Cackletta cackled, appealing to King Boo's ego by referring to him so. Turning to the four friends she said, "However, I don't hope to see any of you. Ehehehehe!" She once again faded from sight in a cloud of green smoke.
"Now we fight!" cried King Boo. Unfortunately for him, Cackletta had gravely underestimated the combined power of the four heroes.
The battle was short. Tails and Diddy used their agile tails to pound on the ghost while Luigi used his jumping ability to stomp on his head. Toad used mushrooms to heal his friends when King Boo attacked them.
"I can't take any more!" King Boo cried in pain as Luigi jumped on him again. "I don't really care about this Cackletta! I'm going to take a long vacation on Isle Delfino. I hear they have a nice casino." And with that, he zoomed away through the open window into the night sky.
The four friends smiled at each other as the haunted mansion faded out of existence and they found themselves once again in Luigi's real mansion.