Chapter 9:
E. Gadd watched as Mario finished clearing the Boneyard of ghosts. The boy was still a bit slow when it came to catching them, but he was showing improvement. As the last ghost was caught, they were rewarded with the lights turning on. Mario looked around seeming satisfied with his work. As nice as it was watching the kid practice, they needed to be making their way toward the basement. E. Gadd walked up to the door leading inside and motioned for Mario to follow closely. The professor opened the door surprised to find it unlocked. They stepped into what appeared to be the kitchen. The kitchen looked like it was recently used, but no one was in sight. E. Gadd eyed a suspicious looking bowl of popcorn on the counter. It was still hot; whoever left it must have been here recently. He started walking around examining the room. There was something strange going on here. The Gameboy Horror was giving him mixed signals. One moment it would signal that a Boo was nearby and then it would stop. The device did that a few times. He had bad feeling about that. The Gameboy appeared to be functioning properly, so that could mean one other thing; they were being watched. If the Boos already knew they were here, their mission was about to become a whole lot harder. The professor looked back at Mario and his eyes went wide. Mario was shoving his face full of popcorn.
"Mario what do you think you're doing!"
"What's it look like? I'm eating."
"That much is obvious, but why?! It could be a trap for all we know."
"But I'm hungry. Plus, how can popcorn be a trap?"
"The possibilities and variables are endless. Who knows? The popcorn could have been poisoned."
"But it's popcorn!" The Gameboy Horror beeped again.
"They know we're here. We better get moving."
Mario nodded and with one swift movement, dumped the rest of the popcorn into his mouth. E. Gadd gave him an unamused look. He hoped for Mario's sake that the popcorn was just regular popcorn; Mario was so stubborn. They opened the next door and entered the dining room.
…
King Boo was currently floating with TurBoo in between walls. They hid in the wall when they heard the door open; he didn't feel like dealing with two Poltergusts right now. The King regretted not taking his popcorn with him. He held back curses as he watched that stupid plumber devour it all. TurBoo noticed the king's distress and laughed silently to himself. At least he was able to eat a handful of popcorn before Mario ate it. They took turns peering through the wall spying on the heroes. They couldn't get any closer without the Gameboy Horror giving them away. Mario and E. Gadd didn't give any information about where they were going, but the king had a pretty good idea. King Boo laughed. Humans were so gullible! Unknowingly they would play right into his hands. The Boos watched as the duo left the kitchen and then came out of the wall. King Boo looked at the empty popcorn bowl with utter distain. Maybe he should have poisoned the popcorn.
"So, are you going to make more popcorn?"
"Nope. I've got business to attend to." The king now grinned.
King Boo phased through the wall. What he had planned was far better than popcorn.
…
Mario and Professor E. Gadd ran through the hall as fast as they could, a huge crowd of ghosts chasing them. How did they get to this point? It all started in the dining room. Mario had underestimated the power of the vacuum again and somehow managed to knock over both of the large china cabinets. Let's just say the ghosts hiding inside weren't too happy and called in some of their friends. That led to their current situation of sprinting through the hall. As they ran, it seemed like the hallway wasn't getting any shorter. Mario noticed that the old man was starting to fall behind, it was partially due to the fact that the professor was attempting to read the map while running. Trying not to slow down, Mario picked up the professor as quick as he could and had him sit on his shoulders. The professor objected at first, but then realized the tactical advantage it gave them. E. Gadd could now clearly read the map and use his vacuum to start sucking up the ghosts behind them.
"Turn left then head straight through that door."
Mario nodded and continued as fast as he could. What they both were not anticipating was for Mario's foot to get caught on a section of loose carpet. Mario tripped and down they both went. Mario looked up, the professor was next to him. The old man seemed fine besides the fact that his glasses flew off somewhere during the fall. They didn't have time to stop and look for them as the crowd was upon them. They were surrounded by ghosts. From the professor's perspective, they appeared to be surrounded by colorful blurry shapes. Mario smirked, these ghosts seemed awfully confident. Did they not notice that they had vacuums on them? Mario and the somewhat blind professor turned on their vacuums and started sucking up ghosts left and right. It was hard to do because of the limited room, but they managed to do it. After a good eight minutes, they managed to clear away the rest of the crowd that was chasing them. Professor E. Gadd was busy vacuuming up the last purple blur when Mario noticed there was something shiny on the ground near the professor. Mario immediately recognized it as the professor's glasses. He was about to call out a warning to the old man, but he was too late. E. Gadd took a step forward and…
*CRUNCH*
E. Gadd heard the sound of grass cracking and instantly knew what had happened. He just hoped that the glasses would be still usable. Mario rushed over, picked up the broken pair of glasses and handed them to E. Gadd. The professor brushed the dust off it and put the glasses back on. Mario looked at the glasses. The frame was slightly bent and the left lens had a large web of cracks that took over most of the glass. Mario was glad that the other lens came out undamaged, at least the professor was able to see properly out of one eye. Mario spoke up.
"It doesn't look that bad." E. Gadd chuckled.
"You flatter me Mario. We should probably get going before I crack the other lens."
Mario opened the door and they walked down the stairs down to the basement. They took a left turn and entered the storage room. Man, that room was messy. There were giant piles of dust on the floor. Mario was wondering how they were going to get around them when a certain broken pair of glasses hit him on the head. Mario looked up. The professor was standing on the ceiling like some sort of bat!
"Woah. How did you get up there?!"
"Go step on that circle in the corner."
Mario hesitantly stepped on the circle. It felt like gravity changed and he flipped onto the ceiling.
"Woah this is so cool!"
"Isn't it?"
Mario handed the glasses back to the professor and they crossed the room. The professor stepped on another circle at the other end of the room and Mario did the same. They both flipped back onto the floor. Mario looked back at the ceiling amazed as E. Gadd opened the door into another hallway. This hallway looked a lot different than the other halls. This hallway was all grey brick and stone. The place looked almost medieval. Not to mention that it looked extra creepy. The mansion was already creepy looking, but this hallway took the cake.
"According to the Gameboy Horror, Luigi's Gameboy should be right in this room next to us."
"Alright. The sooner we grab it and find Luigi the better."
They entered the room. The room was full of ice with one lit torch in the corner. There was no doubt that this was the freezer room. The room was absolutely freezing! Mario was glad that they didn't find Luigi in here. He didn't want to have come all this way to find a Luigi popsicle. Wherever Luigi was, Mario hoped that he was ok. Mario started shivering; he didn't want to know how cold the room would be without that giant torch in the corner. He walked over to the professor. E. Gadd was crouched over a small suspicious looking chest in the middle of the room. The professor handed Mario the second Gameboy Horror and then continued examining the chest.
"I don't like the looks of this."
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Luigi's Gameboy Horror was in this chest. Someone had to have put it here and probability says that it wasn't likely Luigi."
"What does that mean then?"
"It means that this is most likely a tra-"
E. Gadd was interrupted by the door slamming shut and locking. Both Gameboys then started beeping wildly. King Boo entered through the wall clapping mockingly slow.
"Well done Professor. If only you had figured it out sooner…"
"You foul Boo! Where's Luigi!"
"Ah yes Luigi. He's so fun to mess with. You should have seen when my subjects dropped him off the roof."
"The roof?! You maniac!" Mario joined the conversation.
"You bastard! What have you done with my brother?!"
"You will see soon enough Mario. For now, why don't you guys chill in here for a while."
King Boo flew over to the torch and dropped a block of ice on it. The flames were extinguished with a loud sizzling sound. The king laughed and disappeared through the wall again. Mario became nervous. Without the torch, the room's temperature was decreasing rapidly. The ice on the floor started to spread and creep up the walls at an alarming pace. He started stomping his feet when he noticed that the ice was starting to make its way up his shoe.
"Professor what do we do?!"
