After defeating Il Piantissimo, F.L.U.D.D. was not sure what to do the ten thousand coins it still had left over. While the robot was beginning to realize that money had its uses, there was no way that it was going to carry all that gold around in its pockets without being severely hindered. So, F.L.U.D.D. pocketed around thirty coins and proceeded to dump the rest into a nearby garbage can. The robot was not even two steps away from bin before desperate gamblers descended upon the dirty money like a pack of rabid wolves.
"Remember to wash your hands after touching trash" F.L.U.D.D. reminded the Piantas as they violently trampled over one another and security began to descend upon them.
Paying no mind to the scuffle, F.L.U.D.D. started heading towards the exit of the casino to try and continue searching for Shadow Mario.
"What in the world is wrong with this thing?" a male voice said from somewhere behind the robot. "Is it broken or something?"
"Broken?" F.L.U.D.D. said, spinning around on its heel. "May I be of assistance?"
Two Pianta janitors were standing in front of the giant roulette wheel in the center of the room and eyeing it curiously. One of them turned to look at F.L.U.D.D. and shrugged his shoulders.
"Knock yourself out, kid" he replied. "It was working just fine a minute ago, but all of a sudden it just stopped spinning".
"I will see what I can do" F.L.U.D.D. said as it climbed up onto the wheel.
The android began searching for a maintenance hatch to reach the inner workings of the wheel, but couldn't find one anywhere. Instead, it found an odd purple roulette panel that seemed very out of place among all the red and green panels surrounding it.
"Is this normal?" F.L.U.D.D. asked the janitors.
"I don't think so" came the simple response.
F.L.U.D.D. stepped onto the panel and it began sinking under its feet, pressing into the wheel like button. This was followed by series of loud clanking noises before the roulette wheel finally started spinning again.
"I believe I fixed it" F.L.U.D.D. said, unsure of what just happened.
"Good job!" called one of the janitors. "Now get off before you break it again!"
Before the robot could make its way back off the wheel, however, the contraption began loudly clanging again and started to sink into the floor. Before F.L.U.D.D. could even react, it was swiftly lowered to into a dark room beneath the casino, and a trapdoor cut off all remaining light from the outside as the robot was plunged into the depths.
F.L.U.D.D. turned on its flashlight and began looking around the strange hidden room, its cameras straining to see anything through the blackness.
"Hello?" F.L.U.D.D. called out, unsure if it whether or not it wanted a response. "Is anyone there?"
After a few minutes of silence, F.L.U.D.D. carefully lowered itself off of the roulette wheel and started exploring the basement. The cold concrete floor was absolutely covered in dust, but F.L.U.D.D. resisted the urge to clean it and remained on high alert. The empty crates and boxes that littered the cellar were even filthier, and carried the stench of the long dead corpses of fruits past, but they had to be ignored too. F.L.U.D.D. could not logically say why, but it could tell that it wasn't alone in that room.
F.L.U.D.D. felt a hand tapping on its right shoulder, but simply brushed it away to focus on its search. Persistent, the hand tapped again only for the robot to shoo it away once more.
"Please refrain from distracting me" the android calmly requested. "Someone may be hiding-"
Finally realizing what was going on, F.L.U.D.D. stopped dead in its tracks and turned around, only find that no one was there.
"Are my systems malfunctioning?" F.L.U.D.D. asked itself.
"Maybe" a voice said right next to F.L.U.D.D.'s right microphone.
The robot turned and found itself face to face with a pair of piercing red eyes and jagged sharp teeth.
"Boo!"
F.L.U.D.D. leapt back but didn't panic, instead firing its squirt nozzle full force towards the mysterious figure.
"Augh, so annoying!" the figure said as he became drenched in F.L.U.D.D.'s water. "You really are one of E. Gadd's toys, aren't you?"
"You are not being hurt?" F.L.U.D.D. asked, confused.
"Correct" he replied. "But, if you enjoy making other people wet so much, I might as well return the favor".
F.L.U.D.D. abruptly lost its balance when a hand gripped it by the foot and lifted the android upside down into the air. A long and slimy blue tongue then extended from the man's maniacal smile and licked the robot from head to toe, covering F.L.U.D.D. in a thick coat of saliva.
It was now that the robot began to panic.
"Ew, ew, ew!" the robot shouted, flailing its arms helplessly through the air. "Do you have any idea how much bacteria there is on a person's tongue?"
"Hahaha!" the figure laughed gleefully. "Now that's much better!"
"Please, let me down!" F.L.U.D.D. begged. "I will clean whatever you want me to, no matter how disgusting it is".
"Ah, but that's just the problem, isn't it?" the figure asked, his glowing red eyes still staring menacingly into F.L.U.D.D.'s cameras. "You're obsession with cleaning has been causing me nothing but trouble!"
"What are you talking about?" F.L.U.D.D. asked. "Who are you?"
"Ah yes, I forgot to introduce myself" the figure said. "How rude of me".
The dark figure finally let F.L.U.D.D. go, but the robot quickly found itself pinned on its back by pairs of invisible hands.
"I take it back" F.L.U.D.D. said as it felt the grime of the basement rub against its back. "Please, pick me up again".
The figure ignored the android's plight and simply snapped its unseen fingers, lighting several candles around the room with dark flames. They revealed that the man was actually a Boo, but he was much taller than the ones that F.L.U.D.D. had encountered earlier. He was also wearing many more cloves than the average boo, including a dark black suit with a black tie and a white undershirt, a puffy black coat with a white interior, and an enormous red jewel in a tiny gold crown sitting upon his short white hair.
"I am King Boo" he announced, bowing. "But, I suppose you already know about me".
Indeed, F.L.U.D.D.'s Gadd Science databases were filled information on the legendary specter, including his weaknesses, but none of them were going to do any good with the robot still bound to the floor. Without many options, F.L.U.D.D. decided to try the tactic that Il Piantissimo called 'bluffing' to try and survive the situation.
"It would be wise of you to flee immediately" F.L.U.D.D. as menacingly as its soft androgynous voice could muster. "Professor E. Gadd will be here at any moment to capture you with is Poltergust 2000".
"Oh, you mean that old crone?" King Boo laughed. "He's probably still off chasing imaginary zombies on the other side of the world".
"What?" F.L.U.D.D. said, shocked. "How do you know about that?"
"How do you think?" King Boo asked gloatingly. Then, with another snap of his fingers, King Boo transformed into E. Gadd's assistant, Toadsten.
"Oh Professor, you have to save me, because I'm too fat and stupid to do anything myself" King Boo said, recreating Toadsten's nasally voice perfectly.
"I did not know you could do that" said F.L.U.D.D.
"Of course not" King Boo said as he transformed back. "That stupid scientist thinks he knows everything about me, but even I still have a few aces up my sleeve. Stopping you from contacting him was even easier than that".
"Why are you doing this?" F.L.U.D.D. asked.
"To make Delfino a darker place, of course!" King Boo announced proudly. "This island will be a paradise for Boos everywhere once all the Shine Sprites are taken care of for good".
"No, I meant 'why are you explaining all this to me?'" said F.L.U.D.D. "Are you not just going to destroy me?"
"Ah, you are smarter than you look" said King Boo. "I tell you this because Elvin is going to come back whether I like it or not, so I want you to record a message for him when he gets back".
King Boo then grabbed onto F.L.U.D.D.'s face with his right hand and brought his face as close as he could, his piercing red eyes never leaving the robot's cameras.
"This island is ours now" he announced threateningly. "And no matter how many of your little toys you send after us, they will all meet the same fate".
Gripping with both hands now, King Boo ripped F.L.U.D.D.'s head from its body, tearing cables and sending sparks everywhere as he brutally decapitated the robot. Water that was being stored inside the android's body began pouring out the new wound, soaking the floor beneath the ghost's floating form. The lights in F.L.U.D.D.'s eyes went out a few seconds later, and the head went completely limp.
"I'm glad that's finished" he said, tossing F.L.U.D.D.'s head carelessly to the side and releasing the hands that held its body down. "It's too bad egg beaters can't come back to haunt you; the look on E. Gadd's face would have been priceless".
King Boo laughed one last time before fazing through a nearby wall and leaving F.L.U.D.D.'s dead body alone to rot in the candle lit room. Or, at least he thought it was dead.
A short antenna extended from F.L.U.D.D.'s head and sent out a signal to F.L.U.D.D.'s body, which slowly got on its feet and started walking towards where the robot's head was lying. The head's eyes blinked a few times as the robot's body picked the cranium up off the ground.
"That exposed wiring is going to be a serious issue" F.L.U.D.D. thought as it eyed its mutilated neck and torso. "I must repair that as soon as I can".
It took some time for F.L.U.D.D. to become accustomed to its new point of view, but it eventually adjusted and made its way over to the brick wall that King Boo had left through. It did not take the robot long to find a loose brick within the framework and press it down, causing a section to slide away and reveal a hidden passage.
Inside there was a long, dark hallway with a glimmering light on the far end. Carefully, F.L.U.D.D. made its way down the hallway as quietly as it could.
At the end of the hall, F.L.U.D.D. found a large steel door with light leaking out from around the edges. The robot opened the door as quietly as it could and looked inside. It was nearly blinded by glittering gold interior of the room, which was decorated with glimmering chandeliers and candles everywhere. King Boo was floating on the other side of the room in front of a large computer and next to a familiar looking wooden crate.
"Why would a Boo have a room so well lit?" F.L.U.D.D. thought to itself. "Perhaps it is to dissuade other, weaker ghosts from invading his privacy".
"You finally got the twerp?" Bowser Jr.'s voice said from King Boo's computer. "Really!?"
"Don't worry, he won't be coming out ahead again" King Boo assured his partner. "I assume this means you'll keep your end of the deal?"
"Yeah, yeah" Bowser Jr. said dismissively. "I'll draw a new Phantamanta to slop the hotel again tomorrow. You still got that spare Shine Sprite?"
"Augh, don't remind me" King Boo said, tapping the box next to him. "The sooner you leave and take this disgusting thing with you, the better".
"Disgusting?" F.L.U.D.D. asked, interrupting the two villains' conversation. "Shine Sprites are actually quite hygienic".
King Boo shut off his computer and turned around with a roar.
"I see Gadd had some aces of his own" he said, enraged that the robot somehow survived his ambush. "But your luck is about to run out!"
The King snapped his fingers to summon the ethereal hands again to once again restrain F.L.U.D.D., but the android was quick on its feet and leapt forward to avoid the grasping fingers. King Boo tried to charge the little yellow robot threw its own head directly into the attacking ghost's, head-butting him midair.
"Why you little-" he said, recovering from the unexpected assault. "I don't know if it's possible to kill a robot, but I'm going to find out".
King Boo picked up F.L.U.D.D.'s head and was about to crush it, but he had completely failed to notice that its body was still moving, and had made its way over to the crate it was standing next to.
"Perhaps another day" F.L.U.D.D. said as its body revealed the concealed Shine Sprite to the room. The spirit's already bright light was amplified by the reflectiveness of the room, practically burning King Boo's non-existent skin, and blinding him completely.
"Aaah!" he screamed, dropping F.L.U.D.D.'s head and flying wildly around the room. "I will remember this!"
"I will too" the robot said as it permanently saved all the footage from that day to its hard drive. "Professor Gadd is going to be very interested in this new information".