Luigi's Mansion Adventure

Chapter 2: Ghostly Training

Once they had escaped the mansion, they went to the professor's lab that was located outside somewhere. Tails and Luigi explained everything to the old man and told them why they were there in the first place!

"So your name's Luigi and sonny boy?" The professor questioned for confirmation.

"Tails!"

"I think our paths were destined to cross. Well met, Luigi and sonny boy." The grandpa muttered in a pondering tone.

"Once again, it's Tails!" Tails yipped.

"Uh, if you don't mind me asking, where are we right now?" Luigi wanted to know, surveying their new surroundings with his large eyes.

"Hmm? Where's this, you ask?" Professor E. Gadd answered his question with a question.

Luigi nodded. "Yeah!"

"Why, these cozy quarters are where I do my ghost-studying." The Professor E. Gadd guy revealed, gesturing around the place with his hands.

"Which is quite interesting!" Tails put in, looking around at all of the technology in great interest, wondering what every little contraption did.

The old man grinned. "Thank you, sonny boy! Professor E. Gadd's Ghost research laboratory! The Lab, if you're of a shortening mind."

"Cool," Luigi yawped. "So, anyway, I won this mansion in a contest I don't even remember entering…"

Tails whipped around to look at Luigi in surprise. "Wait a minute, you won this mansion in an imaginary contest?!" He caterwauled in question.

Professor E. Gadd gave the plumber a look. "You won this mansion in a contest you didn't even enter?"

"Kind of…" Luigi trailed, sweat-dropping.

"Wow!" Tails threw up his hands, completely astonished and surprised by how silly Luigi could be. "Didn't that seem odd to you or anything?"

"Not at the time!" Luigi defended himself. "I thought my wish came true or something!"

"You wished for a creepy-looking mansion?"

"Doesn't everybody?"

Tails stared at him. "No. No they don't."

Luigi went silent, ruminating on what he said.

"Settle down, youngsters," Professor E. Gadd said, flapping his hands about. "Sounds pretty fishy to me."

"Of course that's fishy! It's incredibly odd and doesn't make any sense whatsoever." Tails caterwauled while shaking his head with a frown painting his features.

"I have a feeling you're insulting me somehow…" Luigi murmured.

Tails grinned sheepishly.

"So you believe the mansion actually exists, then…Strange," Professor E. Gadd remarked thoughtfully. "I've been living here since I was a lad of twenty or so, and I'll tell you: that mansion appeared just a few days ago!"

Luigi and Tails were simultaneously shocked out of their minds at the startling information that they had just received from the old dude.

"WHAT?!"

"The spirits have fooled you!" The professor told Luigi.

"That's just crazy!" Luigi exclaimed, eyes wide.

"You can say that again!" Tails input, trying to figure out why the spirits set all of this up for Luigi.

"That's just crazy!"

"Not literally…"

"Sorry."

"I don't know if it's a dream, an illusion, or what-all, but I surely wouldn't be too happy winning a haunted house!" Professor E. Gadd informed the plumber, waving his hands around wildly.

"Neither would I!" Tails agreed.

"You all already know how I feel!" Luigi declared, shaking his head.

Professor E. Gadd suddenly examined Luigi closely as if remembering something. "Now that I get a look at you, I just recalled…A guy with a red hat kind of like yours went up to the mansion without even stopping to chat…and he never returned. Was he a dream, too?"

"What? No!" Luigi quickly exclaimed in horror. "That guy you're talking about is my brother, Mario!"

Tails suddenly jumped forward. "Did you happen to see a blue hedgehog go into that mansion, professor?" The fox questioned hopefully.

Professor E. Gadd thought about it for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Ah yes! I did! Right after that mysterious guy went into the mansion, a blue hedgehog came and went inside too! And boy, was he fast!"

"That's Sonic!" Tails cheered.

"But was he a dream as well?" The old dude asked, pondering with a frown on his face.

"No! Sonic is very real and he's my best friend!" Tails retorted immediately.

"What?" The professor looked shocked. "That blue thing was your friend?" then he turned to Luigi. "And that guy was your brother?"

Tails and Luigi nodded simultaneously.

The old man gasped loudly. "Oh no! That's horrible!"

"Tell me about it!" Luigi groaned, now feeling extremely worried for his brother.

"I hope Sonic's okay…" Tails muttered worriedly to himself.

"They wouldn't stand a chance against those ghosts without my help!" Professor E. Gadd informed them seriously. "You both have to go after them!"

Luigi appeared scared. "G-Go after them? W-We h-have to g-go b-back into th-that haunted mansion?!" He squawked.

"But how? There are ghosts roaming the place!" Tails told the professor. "We need a plan or something!"

The old guy thought for a moment before grinning and bouncing up and down, flapping his arms like wings. "I got it! Here's the plan: I'll teach you both to deal with ghosts so you can rescue your brother and friend, Luigi and sonny boy!"

"It's Tails!"

"Awesome!" Luigi cheered, pumping a fist into the air in triumph. Sure, he was scared out of his mind, but he wasn't going to let his brother stay trapped in that horrific mansion while being assaulted by horrendous ghosts!

[Later…]

Professor E. Gadd had taken Luigi and Tails to his Training Room, equipping them with vacuum cleaner things, the same one that he had used on the ghost back in the mansion, except Luigi's was red and Tails' was yellow. Tails and Luigi currently had 100 HP.

Lifting up his new Game Boy Horror, Luigi looked at the screen, seeing the old dude's face there. Tails moved over to look too, wanting to hear what the guy had to say.

"Those are the vacuum cleaners I engineered to catch ghosts," The professor explained to them happily. "I call it…this is genius…the Poltergust 3000! It can suck up all kinds of things. Let 'er rip!"

"These are pretty impressive." Tails complimented as he inspected his in immense interest.

"Well, thanks, sonny boy!" The professor exclaimed from the Game Boy Horror.

"How many times do I have to tell you? My name is Tails!" Tails snipped, slightly annoyed.

However, he went ignored. "Now, you both try out the Poltergust 3000! Go ahead! Give it a try!"

"Alright then!" Luigi caterwauled, pulling out the vacuum's hose and immediately turning it on. The vacuum began sucking in the air around him, dust flying everywhere. "Whoa! This is pretty cool! Tails, look!"

"I can see that!" Tails yawped, now using his own Poltergust 3000.

When the plumber and fox got used to using their vacuums, Luigi took out his Game Boy Horror again and the professor began talking once more.

"No matter how strong you think your brother and friend are…" he began. "Ghosts are mysterious beings…They can't be caught using conventional means."

"Of course." Tails input.

"So you'd better use this! It's the only way to foil'em!" Professor E. Gadd announced in elation. "This is the only thing they fear! Or something to that effect…Ahem! Well, how's about we start your training?"

"Sure, let's do it!" Tails chirped, ready to get it over with and stuff.

Luigi nodded hesitantly, unsure of what this 'training' consisted of. "Bring it." he challenged, trying to stop his knees from shaking due to his fear.

"Ghosts seem to like darkness, and they avoid the light," the professor claimed. "So if you hit'em with a flashlight beam all of a sudden, you can stun'em momentarily! Then it's vacuuming time!"

"Cool!" Tails said.

"Right…" Luigi mumbled.

"When you see your chance, just whip out your flashlight and shine it at them ghosts, you hear?" the old guy commanded. "Just give it a try. You'll learn more that way than just listening to me yap about it."

Suddenly, the lights in the Training Room went out.

Luigi screeched and ran in circles. "Holy macaroni with extra cheese and bread on the side, what happened to the lights?!"

"Relax, Luigi!" Tails tried to calm him down. "This is supposed to happen!"

"Well I don't like it!"

"Meh…"

Trembling in trepidation, Luigi whipped out his flashlight and shined it everywhere in a very erratic manner. Then, all of a sudden, his flashlight's light penetrated an orange ghost. The ghost's beating heart showed as well as its HP, which was 10. Luigi screamed and almost dropped his flashlight. The plumber lost his chance to suck up the spirit and the ghost vanished into thin air.

"Aw, Luigi you missed your chance!" Tails pointed out in disappointment.

From the Game Boy Horror, the professor spoke while he did a little shadowboxing, "Remember, as soon as you see a ghost's heart, that's your chance to vacuum 'em up!"

"Leave it to me!" Tails declared bravely, preparing himself for the next ghost that decided to show its ugly face. When it did show up, Tails shined his flashlight at it and immediately used his vacuum to suck the ghost in. He watched as the ghost's HP depleted rapidly. The ghost shrieked loudly before being sucked up entirely.

"Whoa, good job, Tails!" Luigi praised through chattering teeth.

Tails laughed. "Thanks!"

"When that surprised ghost's heart appears, vacuum it up quick!" Professor E. Gadd boomed from the Game Boy Horror, still showing off his shadowboxing.

"I'll let you handle this one, Luigi!" Tails decided, stepping back a bit and turning off his flashlight.

Luigi looked at him like he was insane. "Huh?!"

Suddenly, the next ghost showed up, which was another orange one with the same amount of HP. It released ugly noises as it approached Luigi. Luigi resisted the urge to call out for Mario and shined his flashlight at the ghost, surprising it and showing its heart. Then, without hesitating, the green plumber vacuumed the ghost right into his Poltergust 3000.

"Awesome!" Tails cheered.

"Heh heh heh!" the old dude laughed from the Game Boy Horror. "You have to get as close as you can before flashing the light," he informed the duo. "Surprise 'em with the light when they get too close! Pow! Pow! The more, the better! Got it?"

Tails nodded. "Got it!"

"Yeah." Luigi nodded too.

This time two orange ghosts showed up, screeching and floating towards Tails and Luigi. The both of them shined their flashlights at it and instantly used their Poltergust 3000s to vacuum them up quick.

"Hey kids, shape up!" The professor barked from the Game Boy Horror suddenly, still showing off his shadowboxing skills. "You can't go looking for your brother and friend the way you're carrying on!"

"Hey!" Luigi yawped, offended. "I'm doing my best here, old guy!"

Tails wholeheartedly agreed with the plumber. "Yeah! Me too!"

"There! Here they come!" The old dude exclaimed suddenly.

This time five orange ghosts popped up and headed towards the duo, releasing their strange noises. Luigi freaked and didn't know what to do while Tails used his vacuum to get three of them at the same time.

"Luigi, get the other two, will you?" Tails insisted.

Luigi managed to calm himself down and he immediately shined his flashlight at the other two remaining ones. He vacuumed them all up with his Poltergust 3000 and then released a loud sigh of relief.

"Catching ghosts means using the flashlight and the Poltergust 3000 as a team, you get me, young fellers?" The professor questioned from Luigi's Game Boy Horror.

"We get you!" Tails answered with a smile. "That was actually pretty fun and easy!"

Luigi gave him a look. "Terrifying, Tails. It was terrifying." He told him.

"For you." Tails corrected him.

"That'll do!" Professor E. Gadd announced all of a sudden from the Game Boy Horror. "Well, how many did you get?"

"Eight!" Tails and Luigi responded in unison.

Suddenly, the lights in the Training Room popped on and miniature fireworks exploded all around in celebration. "Yowzer, eight ghosts! Go get those ghouls, Luigi and sonny boy!"

"Tails. Tails. Tails. It's Tails!" Tails reminded him for the seemingly hundredth time.

He went unheard. "I'd say you're both ready to look for your brother and friend now!"

"Yeah, yeah," Luigi commented. "Can we get going now? Not that I'm eager to go back into that horror house or anything, but I really want to find Mario!"

"And Sonic!" Tails put in.

"Fine, fine. Looks like you worked up quite a sweat there," the old professor caterwauled through a sigh. "How about a little cool-down in the gallery? I'm quite proud of it, you know…"

Tails' ears perked up in interest and he looked at the Game Boy Horror Luigi held in his hand. "You have a gallery? How cool!" He complimented.

"No thanks." Luigi butted in.

"Really? You're not interested?" The professor seemed genuinely surprised with a dash of disappointment.

"I'm interested!" Tails exclaimed.

"Nope!" Luigi interrupted, shaking his head.

"Fine!" Professor E. Gadd angrily said before vanishing from the screen of the Game Boy Horror.

Tails sighed dramatically. "Why did you do that? I was interested in seeing the gallery! He probably had a lot of cool things in there!"

"What cool things would be in his gallery? Ghost sculptures and ghoul paintings?" Luigi retorted with fright coloring his facial features. He shook his head and then said, "No way am I going in a place like that! It sounds too creepy!"

Tails snorted. "Creepier than the ghost filled mansion you supposedly won in a contest that you never entered?"

Luigi had no comment.

Tails shrugged. "Come on, Luigi. We have a long search ahead of us!" He exited the Training Room and Luigi quickly followed behind.