In this chapter, Luigi and Zelda are going to enter Area 2 of the mansion. There's going to be more powerful ghosts waiting for them though. Oh, and more powerful portrait ghosts!

They'll be starting with the Floating Whirlindas. However, they're going to be stronger than before.

Chapter 4: Playing With Fire

"So, are you ready to go back to the mansion?" asked the Red Toad. He was hoping that they would rescue his friends. It was pretty lonely in the lab without them.

Luigi nodded. However, they got the feeling that rescuing the rest of the Toads wasn't going to be as easy.

Still, they might as well get started, right? Since they already rescued one Toad, they could probably rescue another one.

Luigi and Zelda got ready and entered the mansion.

They unlocked the red door and went to the 1st floor.

It looked the same as before, though the wallpaper was green this time.

However, there were ghosts waiting for them. The second floor had been rather quiet, but the ghosts on the first floor were more aggressive, it seemed.

One of them was a Ceiling Surprise.

This time, they seemed more aggressive. Before they were content with simply scaring Luigi after dropping from the ceiling.

However, this time they wanted to slap him in the face, not just startle him.

Luckily, Luigi moved out of the way in time.

He shined his flashlight on the Ceiling Surprise and gave him a surprise of his own.

The Ceiling Surprise gasped.

Luigi then vacuumed him.

"Gotcha!" exclaimed the green plumber,

Also present were the Bowling Ghosts. They wanted to strike Luigi and Zelda down...literally. Perhaps they competed in bowling tournaments in life?

However, Zelda was perfectly capable of sending the bowling balls right back at them by batting them with her scythe, as one unfortunate Bowling Ghost found out.

It seemed that as long as the hallways weren't lit, more ghosts would keep appearing.

Perhaps it would be best if they found a way to light them up.

How many ghosts were there in the hallways, anyway?

For now, it was time to explore the first floor of the mansion.

Luigi attempted to open a door...

...only for it to slam him in the face.

"Ow!" exclaimed Luigi.

It seemed that door was fake.

"You OK?" asked Zelda.

Luigi nodded. He had forgotten about the traps that the Boos always seemed to place around the mansion. It seemed that they liked to play mean jokes on people.

Fortunately, they had the Game Boy Horrors so that they could tell which ones were real and which ones were not.

The bathroom was unlocked, so it seemed like it would be a good place to visit.

Inside the bathroom were some grabbing ghosts.

Two of them proceeded to latch onto Zelda.

"Hey! Let go!" exclaimed Zelda.

Some ghosts wouldn't keep their hands to themselves. These ghosts were no exception.

Unfortunately, using melee put her at a disadvantage against these ghosts.

Luigi startled the grappling ghosts with the flashlight, causing them to let go of Zelda.

"Whew." said Zelda.

Luigi then vacuumed up the Grabbing Ghosts.

"Thanks." said the princess.

Aside from the grabbing ghosts, there was also a new one.

This ghost happened to be slimy. It was shaped much like a Gold Ghost, but was sticking its tongue out like a Boo. Its eyes were blue.

As soon as it saw Luigi, it tossed slime in his face.

"Oof!" exclaimed Luigi.

"Teehee!" laughed the specter.

This restricted his sight for a few seconds.

Fortunately, there was a sink Luigi could use to wash his face. He was in a bathroom, after all.

He decided to do just that.

As the specter prepared to launch another slime ball, Zelda exposed its heart using her flashlight.

The Slime Specter gasped.

Zelda slashed the Slime Specter and it was sucked inside the scythe.

"Serves that slimeball right." thought the princess. Personally she found it ironic that there was a ghost like that inside a bathroom.

The lights turned on.

Luigi noted that the ghosts had more tricks up their ethereal sleeves than before.

Well, he beat King Boo once, he could do it again. Besides, Mario needed their help, and so did his friend Link.

Curiously enough, this key led to a washroom.

"Do ghosts wash their hands?" asked Zelda.

"Maybe." answered Luigi. Perhaps they liked to practice scaring people using mirrors. That was what Uncle Grimmly did.

Luigi picked it up and put it in his pocket.

Off to the washroom they went.

As the duo entere the washroom, they noticed something out of the ordinary.

There seemed to be a key inside the toilet.

"How did that get in there?" questioned Zelda.

It was most peculiar.

Luigi sucked it up with his vacuum.

Naturally, the key happened to be wet.

Suddenly, a ghost emerged from the toilet.

"Oh." said the princess.

This ghost happened to be a Speedy Spirit.

It sped right into Luigi.

"Ow!" exclaimed the plumber, who was knocked off his feet.

Zelda slashed it with her scythe...

...and a bunch of money came out. There was even a sapphire.

"Whoa! That's a lot of cash!" exclaimed Zelda in astonishment.

Of course, she happened to have a lot of cash already.

"Yeah...Speedy Spirits are loaded." remarked Luigi. He had to wonder why they were always carrying so much cash.

Personally he was rather impressed that Zelda managed to capture a Speedy Spirit. Capturing them tended to be a challenge, and they had a habit of hiding themselves.

The lights turned back on.

"I guess we've cleared this room." noted Zelda.

Luigi nodded.

It always felt refreshing whenever the lights turned back on. That way he knew he was safe.

Apparently, Zelda was starting to notice that as well.

The key that they had uncovered from the toilet led to the Ball Room.

"They have a ball room?" asked Zelda.

"Perhaps the ghosts like listening to scary music." noted Luigi.

Zelda thought that was a good theory.

Now that he thought of it, there did seem to be music coming from the ball room. Were there ghosts having a party there?

Something told Luigi that he would find the Floating Whirlindas there.

They had a mutual fondness for dancing.

However, they would likely have to deal with the ghosts there first. Chances are the two weren't alone in the ball room. They hadn't been alone the first time.

As before, there were Ghost Guys.

Luckily, it seemed that they were too busy dancing to notice them.

Sure enough, there was scary music playing in the background.

Zelda wondered what would happen if the music turned off.

She decided to do just that.

Quickly, the Ghost Guys took notice.

"Hey! What happened to the music?" asked one of the Ghost Guys.

"I don't know!" answered his partner.

Curious, he went to turn the music back on.

However, Zelda slashed off his mask with her scythe.

"Aah! My mask!" shouted the ghost. He just couldn't be seen without it...not like most people would ever see a ghost.

She slashed him again, and he was sucked inside the magical scythe.

"That's one down." noted Zelda.

However, she was attacked by another Ghost Guy.

It seemed that they liked carrying pitchforks.

"Ow! That's pointy!" exclaimed Zelda.

Luigi sucked the mask off his face.

"Aah! My mask!" shouted the Ghost Guy.

He then began to vacuum him up.

"Well, at least I won't have to worry about people looking at my face..." thought the Ghost Guy.

The Ghost Guy was sucked inside.

However, there were still four more.

One of them jabbed Luigi.

"Ow!" exclaimed Luigi.

However, Zelda captured him.

They then worked on capturing the rest of the Ghost Guys.

They eventually succeeded.

However, they still had more ghosts to capture before the Floating Whirlindas would make their debut onstage.

This time, silver ghosts appeared. They were rather skinny, and they had green eyes.

They were known as Wind Devils, and they manipulated wind. Again, it seemed that King Boo was adding new ghosts to his army.

"Woo!" exclaimed one of the Wind Devils.

As soon as they saw Luigi, they dashed towards him spinning like a tornado.

Luigi tried vacuuming them, but they seemed resistant to wind. Wind was their element, after all.

Perhaps he shouldn't try sucking them up.

However, Zelda's scythe worked just fine. Apparently using a different approach worked a lot better.

Perhaps the duo both had ghosts that they were strong against and ghosts they were weak against.

It was good that they were working together.

A familiar song began to play.

"Here they come!" exclaimed Luigi.

Now that he thought of it, the two of them seemed to dress much like Mario and Luigi did. However, they were husband and wife, not brother and sister.

Unfortunately for Luigi, it seemed that the pair were more aggressive than last time.

Also, they were more...fiery.

As the two danced, flames began to spread across the ballroom.

"Oh a-no!" exclaimed Luigi.

Quickly, the two of them moved to avoid the flames.

However, they weren't able to avoid them all.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Luigi.

"Ow!" shouted Zelda.

Fortunately, all the dancing eventually left the Floating Whirlindas' hearts exposed.

The duo seized their opportunity.

Luigi vacuumed Ms. Whirlinda (since like him, she dressed in green) while Zelda captured Mr. Whirlinda.

As soon as the duo were captured, the lights turned back on.

Also, there was a key on the ground.

However, there was also a treasure chest on the ground as well.

It felt rather hot to the touch.

"What's inside?" asked Zelda.

Luigi scratched his head. It didn't seem like it was a key. Keys weren't hot to the touch.

He decided to open it.

As it turned out, the Fire Element Medal was inside.

He remembered that from his previous ghost hunt.

Apparently, this was how the Whirlindas managed to utilize fire against the duo.

Well, now they could use it to their advantage.

The Red Toad contacted them on the Game Boy Horror.

"Did you find something?" asked the Toad.

"We found a medal...a fiery one." noted Zelda.

"Great! You can use that against the ghosts! Just remember that it isn't a toy." said the Red Toad. It would probably be best if they didn't burn the mansion to the ground before they rescued Mario and Link.

"Right..." nodded Luigi. No doubt it would be useful against certain ghosts.

The key that the Whirlindas dropped just so happened to lead to the Storage Room.

Luigi seemed to recall it being where all the Boos were hiding.

However, when they went to investigate, they found a bunch of crates instead.

Something told Luigi that there were ghosts hiding inside of them.

He decided to check what was inside one.

As it turned out, there was a Speedy Spirit.

"Boooo!" exclaimed the spirit.

"Mamamia!" bellowed Luigi in surprise.

Luigi quickly startled it with his flashlight and then vacuumed it up and got a ton of cash, including a Ruby.

"Yay!" cheered the plumber. This would most likely help him buy something precious. Maybe he could buy something for Daisy while he was at it.

It would probably be best if they opened the crates with caution. There could be more ghosts hiding inside of them.

Zelda investigated another crate.

This time, it was a normal Gold Ghost.

"Booo!" exclaimed the ghost.

"Yeah?" asked Zelda.

The Gold Ghost frowned. Zelda was hard to scare.

Zelda swiped him with her scythe and he was captured.

Inside another crate was a Purple Puncher.

It attempted to punch Luigi in the face.

Luigi narrowly ducked in time.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Luigi. That had been a close call.

Zelda opened another crate.

There was a bomb inside of it.

"Aah!" exclaimed Zelda, who was now covered in soot.

Fortunately, she was fine, though she had been rather shocked to find a bomb inside the crate.

Although, how did a bomb get inside that crate?

Luigi found out.

"Hee Hee!" exclaimed a Boo that had been hiding inside a crate.

His name was Boomer.

Luigi quickly vacuumed him before he could toss another bomb.

The lights turned on, and another key appeared.

"Oh Yeah!" exclaimed Luigi.

This key led to the Butler's Room.

Something told Luigi that was where Shivers was hiding.

Chances are he had a key hidden away in that tuxedo of his.

Ironically, the portrait ghost happened to remind him of himself. It seemed that Shivers scared easily.

Inside the butler's room there was some cheese.

The cheese attracted a Gold Mouse.

Luigi quickly sucked it up and it dropped some cash.

"I wonder why that mouse had so much cash." said Zelda.

Luigi shrugged. How could it even carry that much?

Suddenly, they began to feel rather cold.

"D-did someone turn d-down the air c-conditioning?" asked Luigi.

"I d-don't know!" exclaimed Zelda. It hadn't been cold when they had first entered the room.

At that very moment, Shivers returned from the hallway.

He was rather surprised to see Luigi.

The butler ghost grabbed a wrench from the wall.

Shivers then swung it at Luigi.

It looked as if he was more aggressive than before.

"Ow!" exclaimed Shivers.

He then noticed that Luigi had brought a friend.

It looked as if he had taken somebody to go ghost hunting with him.

Well, he would be having none of that.

He picked up a saw and swung it at Zelda.

Zelda parried it with her scythe.

She wondered how she was going to make Shivers expose his heart.

The princess of Hyrule then noticed that Shivers seemed to be carrying a candlestick.

She remembered that she had gotten the Fire Element Medal a short while ago.

Zelda then got an idea.

Casting a spell, she ignited Shivers' candlestick.

As soon as Shivers noticed his candlestick was on fire, he began to panic.

"Aah! Put it out! Put it out!" exclaimed the butler, shaking his candlestick back and forth.

This caused Shivers' heart to become exposed.

Zelda then slashed Shivers with her scythe. Repeatedly.

Shivers was sucked inside of it.

On the lighter side of things, he didn't have to worry about the fire anymore.

Although, perhaps he should have been more concerned about Zelda's scythe.

"That was-a clever." remarked Luigi.

Zelda smiled.

The light came on, and the ghostly chill suddenly stopped.

Also, there was another key.

This key happened to lead to the Conservatory.

Perhaps that was where Melody Pianissima was. Music was her life...as well as her afterlife.

The two of them decided to enter.

Inside were two Boos playing the drums.

"Quick! Capture them!" exclaimed Luigi.

Zelda nodded and slashed them with her scythe.

The two of them were captured.

However, there were more ghosts playing musical instruments as well.

One of them was a Gold Ghost.

Luigi quickly vacuumed him.

There was also a Purple Puncher playing music.

Zelda slashed him with her scythe.

Another Slime Specter appeared. He was playing a violin.

Luigi vacuumed him up, careful to avoid the slime.

Suddenly, the piano began to play music.

As it turned out, it was Melody Pianissima.

"Can you guess what song I'm playing?" asked Melody.

She began to play a song.

However, Luigi wasn't familiar with it.

"Hmm..." thought Luigi. It didn't seem like any song from a Mario game.

Just what song was it?

However, though Luigi wasn't familiar with the song, Zelda was.

"I know! It's the Legend Of Zelda theme song!" exclaimed Zelda.

Melody applauded.

"Very good! Now why don't you do battle with my musical instruments?" asked Melody Pianissima.

"Oh great..." said the princess.

Suddenly, the musical instruments began to float around.

The trumpet fired off music notes at Luigi.

"Aah!" exclaimed Luigi.

Likewise, the violin whacked Zelda on the head.

"Ow!" shouted Zelda.

Zelda slashed it with her scythe, and the violin collapsed on the ground.

Likewise, Luigi ignited the trumpet, and it too fell on the floor.

The harp fired off more music notes at the pair.

However, it returned to normal once Zelda slashed it.

This was followed by the drums, who began to roll towards the duo.

Luigi retaliated by setting them on fire, causing them to stop moving.

Melody followed by launching music sheets at Luigi.

However, Luigi sucked them up.

Finally, the piano itself came to life.

It had rather sharp fangs.

Luigi seemed to recall there being a similar piano in Big Boo's Haunt.

The piano was more resilient than the other instruments, on account on being much bigger.

It took a bite out of Zelda.

"Ow!" exclaimed Zelda.

However, it too would go down.

Feeling worn out from using her powers to their fullest extent, Melody's heart was now exposed.

Luigi seized his opportunity to vacuum up the ghost musician.

The lights turned back on.

"That was one musical battle." remarked the princess.

Luigi nodded.

Since they had defeated Melody, they now had access to her key.

This key led to the Maid's Room.

"A Maid's Room? I don't-a recall that being-a in the-a mansion before..." noted Luigi.

"It seems appropriate considering that there's a butler room." remarked Zelda.

Perhaps they would find another Portrait Ghost there? Granted, it was probably one that E. Gadd hadn't caught during his long ghost career, so they weren't quite sure what they were facing.

Still, a portrait ghost was a portrait ghost.

Off they went to catch it.

It looks like our heroes have the Fire Element Medal...that will come in handy with certain ghosts. It did come in handy with Shivers, after all. He certainly is pyrophobic. One wonders how he became a ghost in the first place.

I figured I would have Melody attack with more than just music sheets. And yes, there were more ghosts in the conservatory than simply Pianissima this time. I figured that would make things more interesting.

Expect more spookiness in the next chapter! That's what you want, right?