Wow... has it been so long? How on earth did it take me so long to finish what for me, is a relatively short story? Well first, I sincerely apologise for leaving it for a ridiculously long time. It's been so long that we finally did get a Luigi's Mansion game for the 3DS (which is excellent I must say.)

I'll admit I forgot about this for a while. Then I guess I got distracted by my other works and I wondered whether it should remain a two-parter after all or make it a three-parter. (There are four parts now but that's because I had to split it; the document came in at over 11, 000 words!) I eventually came to the conclusion that it would be somewhat unfinished at a mere two parts and so after fulfilling requests, doing university work, trying to set some time aside for my other stories, etc, I finally got round to finishing off my poor, neglected story. I guess there's a lesson to be had out of this: don't do too my stories at once. That is my weak point I'll admit. Too many ideas, not enough time to do them in. (And probably other excuses to be had but I'm glad that it's not just me with them.)

Anyway, that's enough waffling from me. I hope you enjoy the rest of Brother, Where are You? and your kind reviews are eagerly accepted and read as always. :)

Being A Brother

What a night it had been, Luigi thought, as he made his way through the old, haunted Mansion once again, clutching the nozzle of his Poltergust 3000 as if it was his only lifeline, which, all due things considered, it was. He was relieved when some of the ghosts had started avoiding him since this could only make things easier for the green-capped plumber. Of course, there were still many ghosts roaming about the corridors who loved nothing more than to try and play some pranks on the human that had so foolishly wandered into their midst. Luigi was currently sporting a bloodied nose as the result of opening a fake door that had immediately slammed him against the wall, all for the amusement of the ghosts of course.

As Luigi climbed the stairs that would eventually lead him to the balcony, he thought about the ghosts he had met and captured so far. Melody Pianissima, whom he had met in the piano room, was a spectral delight who enjoyed playing some oddly familiar tunes when she wasn't attacking the hapless plumber with her own song sheets. Truth be told, he wouldn't have minded listening to more of her music if the circumstances were different; she must have been quite the musician when she was alive he supposed.

Miss Petunia, Nana and Biff Atlas were just a few more of the ghosts that he had to do battle with, all of them wishing to do away with this living presence disturbing their apparently peaceful afterlife (if one forgot about the disputes between Nana and Miss Petunia that is). The Elemental Medals that Luigi had earlier acquired certainly proved their use when dealing with the Mansion's ghosts; using the Ice Medal to freeze Miss Petunia's bath in order to weaken her was quite the lucky stroke. The Water Medal he could use to douse any flaming spectres and the Fire Medal was a handy tool to let him set other ghosts alight and drain their health. Such were the items that he needed to make use of and such items that he would hand over to Professor E. Gadd once his night's work was accomplished since Luigi had no intention of becoming a master of ghosts. Any future adventures would seem a doddle compared to this he tried to tell himself. What monsters could be as terrifying as the spectres who had tried to drain his life force on a repeated basis? Well…

Bogmire… Luigi was just thankful that that battle did not last too long for he discovered that this particular phantom was the manifestation of the Mansion's fear and despair, and as far as Luigi was concerned, the manifestation of fear and despair in general. He could barely stop shuddering when he faced down that ghost; a ghost that did not even say a word and stared straight through him with blank, soulless eyes. During that battle, Luigi had the horrifying feeling that if Bogmire and the Black Bogmires it summoned had somehow been able to overpower him, it would have sucked out his soul and taken over his body. Considering that it was known as a Cemetery Shadow, the idea was not all that far-fetched. The shadows that tried to engulf him, the darkness that tried its utmost to infect his heart… let us say that Luigi could barely wait to turn this phantasmal creature into a painting though he never asked why E. Gadd wanted this particular specimen as a painting in the first place, that cold, soul-destroying… no. He needed to think of something else.

Though he had been terrified by all of the other ghosts, Luigi could not help but feel unusually sad and downhearted when Madame Clairvoya requested that she be turned back into a painting where she could rest in peace in the comfort of oils now that her purpose had been accomplished. Luigi had been most unwilling at first, not wishing to banish her to a still painting when she had assisted him so much. But the clairvoyant had been insistent and Luigi was shocked to stillness when she had floated over and planted a kiss on his lips, making a not unpleasant chill run down his entire body. He seemed to find his composure then and fulfilled her request though not without a heavy heart.

Destiny chooses our paths, she had told him. Her destiny had been fulfilled but Luigi's still stretched a long way yet. Rescuing Mario from King Boo was merely one strand of his destiny, part of a cluster of destinies in protecting the Mushroom Kingdom, the world, and eventually the universe. And even then, the brothers' destinies did not end there…

Thinking about her words, Luigi was troubled by Madame Clairvoya's prediction of seeing Bowser within the Mansion. Like her, Luigi was sure that Mario had soundly defeated Bowser, maybe for good this time. The brothers certainly hadn't heard anything of him for weeks, which, in Bowser's terms, was an awfully long time. And if he had been revived say, why was the Mansion not overrun with Koopas and Magikoopas and the like? And indeed, why would Bowser and King Boo join forces at all? They absolutely hated each other and Luigi wasn't entirely convinced that they would cooperate for the sake of bringing down the brothers since neither would want assistance from the other who would then take all the glory. And surely, with all these Boos about, Luigi would have heard word about Bowser by now and he was not even mentioned in Mario's letter. Luigi sighed. All these questions and he was getting no answers.

He was onto the balcony now and Luigi flinched when he heard the close rumble of thunder and saw the occasional flash of purple lightning illuminating the inky-black sky. He then noticed that the Boo Radar on his Game Boy Horror was flashing red and beeping like crazy. Luigi gulped when he spotted the group of Boos in the centre of the balcony and, knowing that it was his duty to capture them all, he cautiously crept towards them. The Boos were not doing anything malicious at the moment, rather, they were holding hands and moving about in a circle so they all must surely have realised his presence. And yet they were doing nothing else. This increased Luigi's apprehensions rather than decreasing them.

"That scaredy-cat Luigi has made it this far…" one of them mumbled loud enough for Luigi to hear. If he wasn't feeling so scared, he would have considered that statement rather insulting. "Oh, we're so frightened!" it said mockingly. "I guess it's our turn then. All right, Boos, let's assume our real form. But first, how about giving him a little scare?!"

What?! Before Luigi could confront them, the Boos suddenly vanished before his eyes and reappeared surrounding the hapless plumber. They merrily cackled as they circled him getting increasingly faster with Luigi quivering all the while. There was no way he would able to dispatch these Boos in the same manner as the others! If he tried to suck one of them up, the others could simply attack him while his back was exposed. Luigi only dared to look up when he realised that they had not attacked him yet. There was that familiar psychedelic background; that odd spectrum of colours that told him he was in for a world of pain delivered by a bunch of supernatural beings. He noticed too, how cold it had now become, a usual occurrence with such a large concentration of ghostly manifestations. In fact, ice had crystallised on the horned statues on both sides of the balcony. But now… where were the Boos?

"Mamma mia!" Luigi screamed. Those Boos had joined together to form one extraordinarily large Boo, Boolossus, and it was speeding down towards him. Luigi was frozen in place and only managed to move at the last second, narrowly avoiding the crushing weight of the giant Boo that was now madly laughing at him.

"Think you can deal with us?!" Boolossus laughed mockingly. "A puny, cowardly human like you? Ha! You're not fit to polish King Boo's crown! You're not even fit to hang on the wall next to your brother! (Luigi gulped at that particular phrasing. When he had been in the telephone room, answering a call from Toad, lightning flashed and Luigi had caught a glimpse of his shadow thrown onto the wall, looking very much suspended from the ceiling and lifeless. He wasn't sure whether it was his imagination playing tricks on him or a subtle message from the Boos.) "King Boo didn't tell us if we were to bring you back alive or not! Won't it be nice to be reunited with your brother again? It's a shame you won't be alive to witness it!"

"Threaten me all you want!" Luigi snarled. "You might be trying to scare me now but there's no way I'm going to let you kill me and there's no way I'm going to let Mario be imprisoned any longer!"

Boolossus snickered at this declaration of… was it supposed to be bravery? and lunged forward with the intention of crushing Luigi's very bones into the cold stone beneath. The green-capped plumber then caught the giant ghost in the Poltergust 3000's suction but if he thought that he could suck Boolossus into that tiny machine, then he was not only a coward, but an idiot too.

But wait! This was not supposed to happen! Luigi had directed Boolossus to the frozen horn of the statue upon which Boolossus suddenly popped and split into all fifteen Boos. He saw that these Boos were somehow different to the ones he had encountered earlier so that the best method available to dispatch these ghosts was to make use of that Ice Medal, and suck up the Ice Podoboos to freeze those cackling spirits with.

"Why are you giving us such a cold reception?" one of them howled as Luigi froze its nearest companion with a well-aimed ice shard before vacuuming up its chilled body.

Luigi did not answer. Instead, he focussed all of his attention on taking out the Boos one by one. "I fight ghosts…" he muttered to himself. "I fight ghosts…" He gasped and panted for breath as the Boos assembled themselves again with Boolossus showing off its extraordinarily large teeth. Luigi tried not to think about those crunching into his body and attempted to ignore those large, glowing devilish eyes. "I fight ghosts… Ghosts don't scare me…" A blatant lie of course but if he could convince himself of it for a short while, then perhaps he would win this battle almost completely unscathed, almost being the operative word for several of the Boos, when split up, had already launched their full-bodied assaults on him.

Lightning continued to streak across the black sky and it now began to rain torrentially. Luigi was soon soaked to the skin although the Boos didn't pay any attention to the tumultuous weather. Rather, they revelled in it and flitted to and from Luigi as if this was all rather a fun game. They wouldn't have minded playing games like this more often since the look of terror on Luigi's face was just so satisfying.

A couple more of their companions were sucked up when they had been split up again but there were still plenty of Boos to deliver punishment unto the human that had so foolishly wandered into their midst. One of them even sank its overly-large fangs into Luigi causing the hero to yelp in pain and slip in one of the puddles, causing another jolt of pain to run through him. The Boos laughed gleefully at this spectacle and resumed their gigantic form.

"Do you honestly think that you can defeat us?!" Boolossus laughed mockingly, even though it was quite a few Boos down. "You're the most cowardly human we've ever seen! Actually, make that the most cowardly mortal we've ever seen! We'll have such fun tormenting you in your dreams; we'll make them into your worst nightmares ever! Don't think that you can escape from us even if you somehow manage to suck every last one of us into that vile machine of yours. No, we'll make sure that you'll suffer. Because even if you do survive and we decide that you can live, your brother certainly won't. You'll only ever see him again in your darkest, most terrifying dreams, and you'll be begging for our mercy. And we don't have mercy…"

Luigi let out a full-throated scream, greatly startling Boolossus, but less so than the piercing glare he gave it now. He ran forwards faster than it anticipated and it backed into the frozen unicorn statue only to be split into individual Boos again. The ferocity with which he tackled them now was astounding. Many of them were too afraid to tackle him and the ones that still had their courage had no way of landing their blows; the green-hatted plumber simply dodged each one of them. Many of them did not even have time to squeal before Luigi deftly froze them and sent them packing to the Poltergust 3000 while being utterly drenched. Luigi did not look washed-out and pathetic; rather, he looked even more ferocious because of it.

Soon, Luigi had whittled down the group to just one remaining Boo. It looked just as tired as Luigi felt but that didn't mean it was going to stop there and accept defeat. In fact, it managed to land several blows on Luigi, being quicker on its own than it was when in a large group.

"Humph. You can be quite strong when you want to be, can't you? I have to say, I'm kinda impressed." Luigi raised an eyebrow, wondering what the Boo was planning to do. "I don't know what His Majesty is thinking exactly but I bet he won't be displeased in having a strong opponent. Haha! Even stronger than Mario, I guess! He went down so easily it wasn't even funny. Well, maybe it was a little. Oh, alright, it was hilarious. You should have seen the look on his face," the Boo suddenly smirked. "Scared to death practically, knowing that our king was behind this. And that was before we took him to that portrait machine. He almost looked… cowardly. Just like you."

Luigi lunged forwards with the Poltergust 3000, unable to listen to anymore. He launched an ice ball and struck the Boo freezing its expression into that of a mocking grin. He vacuumed the last one up and wiped excess raindrops from his eyes.

"Nobody messes with my bro," Luigi said quietly. "And nobody messes with me either."

He slung the nozzle of the Poltergust 3000 onto his back and retrieved the key that he needed to open the next door.

"There shouldn't be that many Boos left now…" he muttered to himself. "There aren't that many Portrait Ghosts left either. I'll get you out of that painting soon, big bro. Just you wait and see."

Once again, Luigi had made the trip to Professor E. Gadd's lab to offload the Poltergust 3000 of the new Portrait Ghosts he had collected and Luigi was especially glad to see Boolossus in canvas after that difficult battle. Professor E. Gadd also insisted that despite Luigi's protests, he at least take a short rest and have some dinner. Luigi would have disagreed to this had his stomach not growled so hungrily.

Now Luigi was back on the balcony and wishing that he was able to rid himself of the taste of pickled dandelions with barnacles in a diesel marinade; old family recipe indeed. Luigi only ate a little of it to seem polite and said that he couldn't manage the whole portion when he was so worried about Mario which, in his defence, wasn't exactly untrue; he generally couldn't eat when worried sick about anything. Now Luigi had to fight off the urge to throw it all back up; E. Gadd might have been a brilliant scientist but he sure as hell wasn't a good cook.

Luigi fumbled in his pockets for the key he retrieved earlier, thinking that perhaps fighting off some ghosts would do him some good at the moment even if most of them were bloodthirsty and hankering for his life-force much of the time. He went to place the key in its lock but at that moment, the number of lightning bolts seemed to suddenly increase, striking everywhere without hesitation. One such bolt struck the Mansion roof, shorting out its electricity supply.

All had been plunged into darkness.

Mario did not notice the Mansion suddenly descending into darkness as the room he was still trapped in was lit by fire lanterns only par King Boo's particular tastes. The only thing he really noticed was his face reflected in King Boo's substantial collection of treasure and he was getting increasingly sick of it. He desperately hoped that if there was to be another occasion in which he was to be captured, then he wanted some entertainment at hand or at least something in which he did not notice time passing. His monotony was only broken when the Toad he had spoken to before came down the dark corridor and placed his face in the gap where Mario could see him. Mario had flinched at the sound of the footsteps. I've definitely been in here way too long.

"Hey," said Mario as the Toad got his breath back. "Is Luigi OK? How is he doing? How many of those Boos has he captured? Has he seen King Boo yet? Has he-"

"Slow down, Mario!" the Toad gasped. "I only came down here to see how you were coping. Not very well, I guess." He pointed to Mario's slightly singed hat and his rather roughed-up appearance. Though escape from the portrait was absolutely futile, Mario was still attempting it out of sheer boredom or whenever King Boo provoked him enough. King Boo found it especially amusing in any case. Indeed, Mario had begun to dread King Boo's little visits; his heart jumped every time the door creaked open for he kept expecting the grinning monarch to be followed by his cohort of Boos dragging behind them an unconscious Luigi, or perhaps even worse…

"I've coped with worse," Mario muttered, telling himself not to snap. Having almost been killed by Bowser one time was definitely one and had it not been for the timely intervention of a young Goomba girl, Mario would undoubtedly have died. Luigi would not have known what had happened until it was too late. He still didn't know about that, truth be told. Why bring up such a subject now? Why plant the seeds of your worst nightmares? "Anyway, can you answer any of my questions?"

"Well, he's doing alright, I guess," the young Toad confirmed. "I mean, I wouldn't fancy going up against those ghosts. Th-that's why I'm h-here now as a m-matter of fact…"

Mario raised an eyebrow and for a moment, considered how on earth the Toads had the audacity to call his little brother a coward. "I thought all those ghosts had been cleared from that area."

"Th-they were. But the power's g-gone out so they've all come back. I only just avoided that ghost at the bottom of the well. At least it doesn't want to follow me…"

All of Luigi's hard work undone, Mario thought sadly. "I'm pretty sure my bro will be getting round to fixing that now," said Mario confidently. "He knows what he's doing. My bro gets things done."

If Mario was meaning to drop a hint on the Toad, then it wasn't being taken on. "Well, I hope he does it quickly," he shivered. "I can't stand being outside with all those ghosts out there."

"I'd rather be out there with all those ghosts than trapped in here with one ghost for company," Mario said quietly. As if words were magically heard from elsewhere, the door began to unlock itself once again. The Toad ducked out of sight and put out his torch. Mario almost gave a sigh of relief when it was just King Boo; he hadn't brought Luigi with him. Unless, of course, King Boo decided to announce that he had a surprise for Mario, one that he would never forget…

"Isn't this wonderful?" King Boo smiled as he decided to polish the gold frame surrounding Mario yet again.

"What? You mean the fact that Luigi has been taking care of every one of your damn Boos and Portrait Ghosts. Oh, I agree, it's wonderful," said Mario, trying to keep his eyes level with King Boo's. "How many are you down to now? Ten? Or even less?" Mario could not hide the fact that he was unnerved when King Boo did not glare back at him or even give him a blank expression, but instead, a small smile that scared Mario more than anything.

"Would you like to see your brother?" King Boo asked delicately.

Mario froze. He felt something in his chest tighten. "…What do you mean by that?"

"What do you think I mean? Dear me, I do believe imprisonment is making you quite slow, my old foe. Now Boos, bring in my favourite prisoner."

Mario pressed himself against the glass as the door swung open once again. He saw the glowing Boos carrying something, something like a dead weight in fact. Please no, please no…

"NO!" Mario screamed as Luigi's body was dumped in front of him. His brother was unmoving; a single streak of blood ran down his face, past his closed eyes and into the luxurious moustache he was so proud of. His little brother was lying at an odd angle, as if each bone in his body had been viciously broken. How odd then, that he looked relatively peaceful in death, as if he was just sleeping. But then, Mario could not ignore the other injuries brought against Luigi; the blood staining a dark patch on his overalls where his heart rested, a slash mark on his right arm and another one on the lower part of his torso. A shoe was also missing. Even a shoe was missing, showing a red and white striped sock.

"Luigi…" Mario's entire frame was shaking. It couldn't be. This could not be happening. Tears rolled down his cheeks before he could do anything to stop them. "Little bro… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry. I wish… we had more adventures together. I believed in you, Luigi… even when others didn't…" Mario couldn't look up for several minutes and could not compose himself when he glared at King Boo. "You… you… murderer. You murdered my brother. He was just trying to rescue me, this idiot that ran off without waiting for him. But you killed him… you just killed him…"

"He tried putting up a fight you know," said one of King Boo's cohorts. "But it was a piece of cake once we got rid of that machine he was carrying. He was cowering and crying out for you when we all surrounded him." The Boo gave a smirk. "He barely did anything. He knew he couldn't be saved or anything like that because no-one else cares about your little brother. He just stood there and accepted his death."

"You liar!" Mario screamed. "My brother wouldn't just give up like that! And others do care for him!" Then why do they keep forgetting his name? a little voice in the back of his mind told him. How come they just ignore him at times? "Don't presume that you know Luigi the way I do because you never can."

"Knew," King Boo whispered. "You knew somebody who is now dead."

Mario lost all control then. He tried his utmost to smash the glass in front of him, painfully wishing that he had his hammer with him. The small room was filled with Mario's screams as he ferociously tried to set himself free, slamming his fists against his prison, throwing his whole weight against it. Anything, just anything, so that he might taste freedom and be with his brother again. No prison could be entirely unbreakable surely. And Mario was not going to sit back when for all he knew, the Boos could well decide to taunt Mario even further and humiliate Luigi even in death.

"How touching," King Boo sneered, wearing the most triumphant of expressions. "What shall you be like when I convert Luigi into a painting I wonder? Well, well, well, I shall hopefully look forward to seeing this performance again."

Mario paused, quivering with his exertions. His fists throbbed painfully where he had slammed them against the unbreakable glass. "Wha-" Mario's breath caught in his throat as Luigi's body suddenly disappeared before his eyes. "What have you done to him?!" he yelled.

"An illusion. Nothing more than an illusion. A quite fantastic illusion." King Boo waited for the light to dawn on Mario and cackled upon the moment of realisation. "I am quite gifted with this delicate art, you know. It is not an easy art to master but oh, I daresay the results were well worth the effort. Come, come now, you should not be looking at me as if you want to kill me, for, as I think you ought to have realised, I am in a position of power here whereas you are trapped inside a painting that despite all of your amusing antics, have not even managed to scratch."

"Is Luigi alive?" Mario growled through gritted teeth, wishing that there was something he could grip in his rage.

"Now, I don't know about you, my fellow Boos," King Boo mused. "But I don't think our prisoner here is being particularly polite to us. Dear me, where are your manners? I thought you heroes were generally politer than this. Now, if you wish for an answer, you must at least say please."

"Please tell me if Luigi is alive." Mario tried to keep his face expressionless.

"Hmm… better, but I still detect the tone of insolence. This will not do at all." King Boo's red eyes gleamed with malice. "Start begging and I might think about giving you an answer."

Mario had never needed to beg for anything in his life, so to have to start doing it now in such circumstances was all the more humiliating. "Please, please tell me, King Boo, if my brother is still alive."

"More."

Mario placed his palms on the glass and looked to where his brother had been lying. "I am begging you, King Boo, please tell me if my brother is still alive!"

"Good. Now say that again but with the words 'my gracious and most wise and benevolent King Boo.'" The minion Boos were laughing themselves sick behind their monarch.

Mario momentarily clenched his fists but he knew he would probably be made to do or say something even more humiliating if he refused. "I am begging you, my most gracious and most wise and benevolent King Boo, please, please tell me if my little brother is alive or not. KING BOO, I AM ON MY KNEES BEGGING YOU TO TELL ME IF LUIGI IS ALIVE! PLEASE TELL ME THAT MY BROTHER IS SAFE!"

King Boo laughed merrily, seeing that Mario had indeed sunk to his knees in desperation for news. One of the Boos even took a picture for him. "Very well then, you have pleased me immensely. Luigi is alive for the time being though after having defeated Boolossus, I shall not reckon on his chances if and when he finally does make it here. I am surprised he has got that far. I suppose there is something to be said about the power of siblings, hmm? But do not get your hopes up, my old foe. There are still some Portrait Ghosts to account for and there are a few of my Boos roaming about the Mansion still. And if he does get through all that… he still has me to face."

King Boo left Mario with that thought and sealed the entrance once again. The Toad, who had been lying out of sight throughout the entire exchange, picked himself up again and looked at Mario's painting. He was immensely shocked to see that Mario was trying and failing to hold back his tears.

"Mario," he called out. "Are… are you alright?" It was a stupid question really, but one that he really needed to ask.

"I… really thought Luigi was dead," Mario whispered. "And yet… now King Boo's gone away, I feel that I can sense my brother out there. I should have known… but, just seeing that…"

"Anybody would be shocked if they thought that they saw a family member dead in front of them," the Toad said in what he hoped was a reasonable tone of voice. "And if that King Boo can make such an illusion, he can probably make sure that you can't sense Luigi either with some sort of Booish magic."

"Y-yeah," Mario mumbled. He sat down heavily and took off his cap, turning it this way and that. Luigi was forever telling him to hand-wash that cap instead of sticking it in the washing machine. He always said that he would and then usually forgot and chucked it in with the rest of the clothes anyway. Thinking about that now, Mario knew that it was something he would miss immensely if anything did happen to Luigi.

"You know," he sighed, more to himself than to the Toad. "You guys seem to think that I'm invincible; that nothing can deter me or stand in my way; that nothing could take me down. Well, you're wrong. I'm not invincible, as you can see now. And if anything happened to Luigi… I honestly think that I'd be finished. I wouldn't know what to do other than taking revenge on whoever was responsible for the deed."

"You think so?" the Toad said quietly. He doubted that anyone had ever seen Mario like this ever. It was a stark reminder that for all of Mario's power, he had feelings like the rest of them. He could be scared and he could be devastated.

"Yeah. Because we don't have anybody else. We have friends, sure, but as for family, all me and my bro have is each other. If anything did happen to either of us, then the other would be alone. Alone for the rest of our lives…"

The Toad didn't say anything to that. What could he say? The pair sat in silence for a long time listening to nothing but the sound of the howling wind and the pelting rain. It was quite some time before the Toad noticed the lights had come back on.