Hey, this is the shortest chapter so far, I believe.I'm really glad to have finally gotten a review; it moved me to stir my lazy rear and put up the rest of these chapters - Thanks!
Disclamer: Blah, blah, blah. I own northing but Henry and the storyline.
The Plot
"NOOOO!" the cry rang through the house, making Luigi and Prof. E. Gadd jump. They both stopped what they were doing and ran through the house, trying to find the source of the cry of despair. At last they entered a huge room, at almost exactly the same time, found Henry, floating in the middle of a disaster area.
"My library!" he sobbed. "Look at this mess! Vandals, thieves! What they didn't take they destroyed, the villains!"
"Who?" the humans both said at once.
"I have NO IDEA!" Henry cried passionately. "Do you realize what this means? All my research! Years and years of tireless studying, gone! All gone! Someone's stolen it all! And that's not the worst of it, either!" He slumped into an armchair, looking hopelessly around what was once a magnificent library.
"Why? What's worse than this?" Luigi said, beckoning around the room with a gloved hand.
"The research that they stole… was almost all about you!" he wailed. "I was following your lives, writing down everything I observed! Those notes contain all sorts of information, from your favorite food to your ages to your… well, to cut it short, EVERYTHING! Both of you, and Mario, and Peach and Toad and Bowser and, and… it's all my fault, all that information has probably fallen into the wrong hands and it's all my fault!"
Luigi patted his back consolingly. "C'mon, it can't be that bad. Don't sweat it; it's not all your fault. We'll get that stuff back, won't we, Professor?"
"We certainly must try," Gadd said. "With all that info, our enemies may well have the upper hand on us. We've got to get back to the lab as soon as possible."
In a dingy dungeon-like room, King Boo and his three most trusted advisors had the notes spread out across a huge table, and were reading through them with interest.
"Hey, did you know Luigi's afraid of spiders?"
"That's not news; Luigi's afraid of everything."
"Well it's better than what you've gotten so far."
"Oh yeah? Listen to this: Toad still sleeps with a teddy bear."
"Hahaha, I'm not even surprised!"
"Who CARES?"
"No one cares, but it's funny!"
"SHUT UP!" King Boo shouted, ending their bickering. "I'm not interested in trivialities. I need major things, like what they most fear, or what they hold most dear."
"Hey, that rhymed, boss."
The king shot an icy glare at the ghost who'd spoken. The boo shrank back and fell silent, fearful of the wrath of his king. "Now," King Boo continued calmly. "I believe I've found something. In fact, I think I may just have found everything I need. These few pages are devoted to Gadd, and these are for Luigi. All of the basics, none of that silly nit-picky stuff. Listen," he said, and, clearing his throat, he picked up a paper and began to read it aloud.
"Professor Elvin Z. Gadd is a dedicated scientist, whose passion is studying ghosts. His life is devoted to his work, and to his inventions, not to mention the two businesses he runs; Gadd Sciences, Inc. and Starbeans Café, both successful businesses that he loves. He was once afraid of ghosts but obviously isn't any more...'
"Hmm… so, what would hurt him most would be to destroy his life's work. I say we burn his precious lab, demolish Starbeans Café, shut down Gadd Science, Inc., and basically ruin his life. Sound good?"
There were murmurs of general agreement. With that settled he shuffled though some more papers until he got to some about Luigi.
"'Luigi Mario is not what you'd call cowardly, per-say. He is able to face his fears when he knows he must, which is technically the definition of bravery, but as it stands he is undoubtedly afraid of practically everything, including but not limited to: ghosts, the dark, Bowser, spiders, snakes, mold, monsters, graveyards…'"
"Er, pardon me, sir, but perhaps you should skip ahead a bit. We already know all that."
"You're right. Let's see, um… 'Luigi is rather sensitive and compassionate, and loves his brother Mario, and his friends Toad, Yoshi, Peach, and Daisy.' Aww, ain't that sweet? 'It is rumored that he has a special place in his heart for Daisy, the flower-loving Sarasaland princess. Though these rumors are admittedly unconfirmed, almost everyone agrees that they'd make a nice couple, and that Luigi definitely has at least some feelings for her…'
"This is it, boys. That right there was the answer. We do the totally unoriginal steal-the-girlfriend trick, and lure him to us… and then we kill her. Right in front of him. And then, after he's all heartbroken and distraught, we kill him, too."
There was a rousing cheer at this proposition. There was nothing like cruelty and bloodshed to make these boos' day. So they put their heads together and began to plot their moves, cackling madly at their own abominable plans.
