A/C: Again, I skipped another A/C session. Sorry 'bout that. I thought it might interrupt the flow of the story. AND OMG!!!! GADD'S COUSIN?! WTFLOLROFLMAO?! If you know me on DeviantART, you know Nikolai. Sadly, he ain't comin' for several chapters, so be patient. Oh, and if you know Nikolai, don't give any assumations here. Send me a PM or something. I don't mind you guessing and stuff, just don't spoil it for others.
In other news, I've already gotten over a hundred hits! OMGLIEKYAI!
And now for the chapter.
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"Are you serious?!"
"Yes. Completely."
"So… this guy, Nikolai Asimov… is your cousin?"
"Did you not hear me? Yes!"
Luigi stood, looking a little stunned. He'd never really taken the time to think that Gadd had a family. He knew that, obviously, he had to have one, he couldn't just appear out of thin air… but it was strange to think about, nonetheless.
"Well then, just call him up for a cure!" Luigi cried.
"Umm… I can't." Gadd said, lowering his head.
"Why not?!"
"He doesn't have a phone. Hell, I don't think there's a phone within several hundred square miles of him."
"Well, where does he live?"
"He lives way up in the North. It's a farther distance from here to there then it is from Rogueport to the Fahr Fahr Outpost. The warp pipes don't even come anywhere close to the area." Gadd raised an eyebrow.
"So how were you supposing we contact him then? Why would we even want to? If he only wrote this much, how do we know that he knows more?" A hint of anger laced Luigi's voice.
"To answer the second question, he is a werewolf researcher, just as I am a ghost researcher."
Luigi gave Gadd an odd look. "Does everyone in your family have a weird job?" Gadd thought for a moment.
"Well, I do have this another cousin who lives on Isle Delfino. He's really more of a hippie-slash-bum though… Ahem, uh, to answer the third question, as a werewolf researcher who's been doin' his job for almost as long as I have, he must know more than what's in this book. As I said, it was written nearly forty years ago."
"To answer the first question, I was thinking we meet him in person. I went to his wedding as best man, so I know where the village is that he lives near. Finding him from there shouldn't be too hard."
Luigi shook his head.
"Gadd… this sounds crazy. Why not just send a parakarry so he can come to us?"
"Even the parakarries don't know where he lives. I don't even know how he got this book to me. He sends me a letter every decade or so, but he's such a reclusive fellow. Dudn't even leave a return address." The Professor stroked his chin.
Luigi perked up as an idea came to his head.
"Gadd, maybe we don't have to visit him."
"Whaddyou mean?"
"Couldn't you just… invent a cure for me or something?"
Gadd snorted. "Boy, you need to understand somethin'. Science and magic don't work on each other. You can't give a scientific cure for a magical ailment, which is what lycanthropism is, and vice-versa. Why do you think the Black Plague went so horribly? It was a disease caused by micro-organisms, which meant that the magic of the posies and spells would have no affect on it, though if it had been a magical ailment, those things would have worked just fine." For the most part, Luigi understood.
"If I could, I would have done it when you walked in the front door. But since I can't, I really think meeting Nikolai is the best option for a cure."
"All right. We'll do that. But how?"
Gadd turned on his large computer and produced a map of the world. Using a stylus and tablet, he circled a small forest on the map.
"This is where we are." He said. The cursor moved upwards to an illustration of Shiver City, far in the North.
"That's Shiver City. Mario went there on an adventure of his."
"Yes. Now look how much farther we must go." The cursor moved quite a ways Northward, until stopping in the middle of a large chain of mountains.
"That's so far… Gadd… do you think you'll be able to make it?" Luigi said quietly. He knew Gadd was an energetic little man, but that far North?
"You forget I traveled the world when I was younger."
"Yes, when you were younger." Luigi covered his mouth. He hadn't expected to sound so callous.
"It's alright, I understand whatchyer sayin'. But I'm still comin' with you. I said I'd help, and I will. I let you go up in that mansion alone because I thought you could completely handle yourself. Now, you're a strong lad, but I really do think you'll need my help. Besides," he paused, "My Gameboy Horror SPs won't work up there."
"Okay, okay. But you still didn't answer just how we would get there."
"Well, I was thinking we take a warp pipe to Shiver City, since that's the farthest North they go. Once we're there, we'll find some transport to the mountains I showed you, and then to the village, called 'Volktravagrad...' I think. All under cover of dark. We'll stay hidden during the day. We'll leave tomorrow, after sunset."
"Jeez, sounds like some spy-movie."
"First, I need to get you some clothes from the house. Second, we need some supplies like winter-coats and what not. It may only be Fall, but up there we'll freeze our behinds off without the proper things. I'll do that while I'm out today."
"Wait, you're leaving?" Luigi looked surprised. His mustache twitched as he frowned.
"Yep," Gadd said, grabbing a labcoat and draping it over his arm. He grabbed a few empty vials and headed towards the ladder.
"Why?"
"Research. You can take a shower while I'm gone. I'll give you some new bandages after."
"Hey… Gadd?" Luigi called quietly.
"Yes?"
"Thanks again."
About an hour later, the Professor calmly walked into the Toad Town Police Station, searching for the morgue. Several mushroom-heads turned as the small man dressed in the lab coat passed, and several eyebrows rose, including those of a certain Toad officer.
A Toad-woman finally stepped in front of the Professor.
"Sir, this is a restricted area."
"Yes, I understand that," Gadd calmly stated, "however, I am an Anatomy professor for the Woohoo Hooniversity, and as a man of science, I'm here to conduct some anatomy research on some of your 'clientele' in the morgue. I'm not going to cut them up or anything, I just need a few samples." He adjusted his spectacles. Other than his last statement, almost all of it was a lie.
The woman, somewhat taken aback at the morbidity of the statement, chose not to question it. She stepped aside, as the small man passed.
She apparently was not very good at her job.
The Toad officer observed quietly from the side. He narrowed his eyes.
Professor Gadd passed several doors before finding one with the word, "MORGUE," written on the plaque beside it. He stepped into the chilly room, and the clack of his heels against the tile floor echoed against the walls. He buttoned his red shirt a little higher.
His work was cut out for him, as the Toad-guard's cadaver lay in an outstretched cabinet. Apparently, the coroner hadn't done anything with him yet. Gadd stared, not in morbid fascination, but in pure scientific inquisition. Years of work with ghosts and, inevitably, dead bodies had left him unphased to such things. Still, even he had to admit…
Luigi really did do a number on the fellow.
The Professor took out a notepad and his vials, and went to work.
In the darkness of the Lab, Luigi sat in contemplation. So much had happened in the past couple hours, and in only a few more, he'd be headed off to the North, looking for some guy Luigi had a feeling might even be dead.
What if we find him, and he can't tell us anything more? Then the whole thing would be a waste.
He thought back to Gadd.
And Gadd… he's pretty spry for his age, but such a distance… I really don't think he'd be able to go all that way. Sure, Mario and I can do it; we've probably walked twice as far in only one mission to beat Bowser, but Gadd… Gadd's an old man, and shouldn't these kinds of things. Especially not for me.
He sighed.
No. He won't…
I'll do it alone.
Truth be told, he was scared to death of going it alone. He didn't know the way, he didn't have any supplies, and it'd be quite a distance from home.
This is my problem though. He shouldn't have to deal with this, no matter what he says.
Luigi made up his mind. A foolish decision… yes… but his own.
I just need those supplies.
Gadd soon returned with several, large bags in tow. One included a thick jacket, green, just for Luigi. Others included some backpacks, food, and other survival tools, such as matches and knives.
"Gadd, I thought you said you went for research?"
"I did!" Gadd produced the vials, now full with several substances, and his notebook. One vial contained a dark red liquid, obviously blood. Another contained several hairs. A third contained a thick, clear-ish liquid. Luigi pointed to that one.
"What's in this one?"
"Saliva."
"I will not ask why you have that one."
Luigi inspected the bags.
"Hey… how come you don't have a jacket? Aren't you gonna be freezing?"
"Nope, I already got m'self a jacket." From within a closet, Gadd produced a long, pale-blue parka-looking thing. Thick, thick, white fur trim decorated the inside of the coat and hood, and down the front. Strangely, it looked quite familiar to Luigi…
"Wait a minute that's your Ghost Suit! You showed it to me in the Beanbean Kingdom!"
"Ahh, that it was, that it was. Uuuunfortunately, as of late it hasn't been working too well, so I've just been keeping it as a regular coat." He put the coat on and shrugged, smiling as he felt the soft fur bunch around him. Satisfied, he took off the coat and returned it to the closet, along with Luigi's. Gadd glanced to an old clock on the wall.
"Phew, gettin' late. You should rest Luigi."
"But it's only, like, 9 pm!"
"Doesn't matter. You've had one helluva day. Go ahead and sleep as long as you want down here. We aren't leavin' till sunset tomorrow anyway. In fact, I think I'll get some shut-eye too."
Luigi groaned, but said nothing. It wasn't worth making a fuss. Gadd went up the ladder to get his jammies on again. He hollered a "G'night!" from above.
Luigi lay back on the couch in the main room of the lab. He was wide-awake, however.
He would not be sleeping tonight.
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A/C: OMG?! What will happen?!
On a random note, when "several, large bags," pops up, it totally sounds like body bags. I know. HE'S NOT A GRAVEROBBER, I SWEAR!