A/N: UPDATE- I start school next Monday. Because it's an important year for me, the story will be uploaded either every two weeks or once a month instead of once a week. Nonetheless, new uploads are posted on Mondays only.
Anyways, it's back-to-back chapters with a boss fight! This time, it's the Overset Possessor. What will he possess this time as he faces our green hero?
Disclaimer: I only take credit for Edge and my other OCs, as well as the story plot. Everything related to Mario and Sonic is not included.
Chapter 34: Overset the Outcome
Inside the Haunted Shipwreck was a labyrinth of rooms that contained hidden paths and doors, both real and fake, underwater sections, Ghost Blocks, Fish Bones, and a large horde of Boos. When Mario and friends completed the ghost level, they would later access the second half of Sparkling Waters. However, that part of the world was basically idle; pointless in this scenario. Because found in that ship were the same prisoners whom were held there for the past several days. And that's who the heroes needed to rescue, despite three of them being Sonic's adversaries while another was an irascible frenemy. The only one who had a somewhat positive influence was Yoshi, except he's not fond of being locked in a ship without a lot of nutrition. And you know how hungry the green dinosaur can be.
Yoshi and Knuckles sat on one of the berths while Orbot and Cubot laid on the one near the porthole. They all heard a flush from the bathroom that the doctor used. But when he opened the door, everyone pinched their noses.
"What?!" Eggman put his hands on his hips.
"We don't even need to answer. Nor should you even question why we're doing this," the echidna spoke nasally.
Right now, he had duct tape covering his fists. He sustained some hand injuries over his temper. But since the guards treated them with little to no comfortable service, he discovered a roll of it inside the lonely drawer of the dresser and decided to wrap them. Why it was even there was a question on its own, but he didn't bother to contemplate on it since he had no other options. At least there was also an air refresher spray to eliminate the terrible odor. Orbot squirted the bottle as a refreshing smell spread throughout the cabin and into the bathroom. Everyone except Eggman released their noses and sighed of relief.
"I hate all of you," the doctor crossed his arms and looked away from them.
Yoshi's stomach growled for the fifth time today. "If only I had some juicy apples to eat. I miss the taste of fruit. The prison food they gave us is so gross."
"Oh, I don't know. The bread wasn't so bad. And I thought the juice was decent," Cubot commented, his voice chip back to normal after going through his pirate phase.
"Ugh, are you really serious? Part of that bread looked expired, not to mention, moldy. And the juice tasted like sweat squeezed from dirty socks," Orbot shook his head in disgust.
Yoshi stuck out his tongue and put a hand to his chest. "Okay, that's too much information. Now I lost my appetite."
Eggman walked over to the right bed and grabbed Orbot and Cubot's heads and threw on the floor… again.
"Ooof! You know it's a bit better to tell us to get off rather than throw us off," Orbot groaned as he rubbed his left arm while getting up.
"I've done it to you imbeciles in the past so you either expect me to throw you off or deal with it," said Eggman.
"I sure hope Mario and his pals can find us. I miss them," Yoshi yearned.
"Even though I'm not really on good terms with that overgrowing hedgehog, I feel the same way about Sonic," Knuckles reciprocated his mindset.
"Hmph! For all I care, if that irritating rat does come here, I'm going to finally get rid of him, if it's the last thing I do! Right after I get my vengeance against the stupid shadow with the abnormal looking nose!"
"Like you don't have a weird nose of your own. Not to mention, but you also have some ugly hair growing out of it. It's the main reason why Sonic calls you Baldy McNosehair all the time." (1)
"You could say that to either Wario or Waluigi, except neither of them are bald. They just have bizarre noses and bad-looking mustaches. Not as clean as Mario or Luigi's," Yoshi stated.
"I wonder where he even got that nickname from?" Cubot scratched his noggin.
"Grr… Would you duncebuckets stop talking about that stupid name?! Every time someone mentions it, it drives me insane! Now quit it!"
"Yeesh, no need to act like a baby," the echidna rolled his eyes.
"Let's at least hope they can help us out of here," Orbot tried to look on the bright side.
Colombo, Tails, and Sonic exited the tower and reached the outside to find the path to the Haunted Shipwreck accessible. But before they could move on, they needed to wait for the Mario Bros. They were twenty feet away from the dwindling stronghold, and a couple feet close to the water.
"Where the heck are they?! They could be stuck under the debris if they don't get out of there in time," Sonic wondered.
"Come on, guys… Hurry up," Tails begged quietly.
"GRARRRGH!"
The three heard Bowser falling from the sky along with the other Koopas, his roar draining out the others' screams. They all plunged into the ocean creating a humongous splash altogether. A giant wave of water came across them, causing Sonic to run away. However, before he could dash, Colombo stopped him and became inconspicuous, touching both Mobians as they disappeared with him. After the wave crashed, the Polterpup reappeared with them. At the same time, Mario was running out of the entrance as more stones fell. But he wasn't paying attention to what was in front of him. As a result, he inadvertently ran into the hedgehog.
"Ugh! W-WHOA!" He lost his balance and fell into the water.
Mario dropped a beat of sweat in embarrassment. "Oops…"
"Sonic!" Tails flew over to the spot where he fell and waited for him to float back up. When he was in view, the fox gripped his hands tightly and got him out. He reached land and carefully placed his friend down. "Phew, that was close."
Sonic shook his fur and quills like a wet dog coming out of a dirty bath. Drops of water flew from his body. Then, he glared at Mario. "Yeah, too close for me to almost drown! Watch where you're going next time!"
"I'm sorry! I wasn't looking, and I didn't mean to knock you in!"
"Sure. Just be lucky I was smart enough to bring my life jacket."
"Never mind that, where's Luigi?" Tails asked.
"About that, I-" Mario couldn't resume his answer when he heard a large explosion behind him. Everyone saw the building eradicated as a ton of rocks, broken skewers, and water drained out from the once stable fort. "Run!"
But again, Colombo was there to make him, Sonic, and Tails invisible as Mario was the only one to flee the wreckage. It was a close call for him considering the Polterpup was only capable enough to help two other people. The man in red had to defend himself and he got out in time without getting hurt.
Mario panted in relief and turned around to perceive a ruined pile where the Giant Skewer Tower once stood. He also saw the other three resurface. "I guess that was karma for accidentally plunging you into water."
"I'd consider it karma if you ended up getting hurt. But frankly, that's a little dark, so I guess I'll take that instead."
Mario lowered his eyelids, forming an unenthusiastic expression.
Just then, they all heard an irate roar from Bowser. They looked behind to see him in his own Koopa Clown vehicle, Jr. in his damaged one with Kamek riding beside him, and the Koopalings in another large one with Roy, Ludwig, Morton, Wendy, and Iggy standing inside with Larry and Lemmy hanging on to the rim.
"You're lucky you got us this time, Mario! But just wait until I plot my next plan for revenge! One where I'll finally demolish you for good!" the Koopa King raised a fist.
"Just fly back to your castle, Bowser. You're nothing but an annoyance to us, and it'd be much better to not see your ugly face," retorted Mario.
"I'm going to make you eat those words soon enough. Just you wait, I will end you and your friends! KOOPAS! LET'S GO!" he ordered the others.
"We'll see ya later, punks! Don't think we'll go easy on you next time!" Jr. pointed at them before he followed his dad.
"Like you idiots haven't been trying the past two times?" Sonic scoffed to himself, shaking his head.
The Koopalings glowered at the heroes without saying a single word. But all their eyes translated to 'Watch your backs', or something along those lines.
"Mario, where is Luigi?" Tails reminded with worriment in his tone.
He gaped his eyes back open in shock. "Oh no!" He ran up to the stone heap, afraid that his brother was buried under. "Luigi! Luigi!" He scuffled through the rubble. "Luigi, where are you?!" He couldn't find him as he searched recklessly. The rest of them ran up to him.
"Mario?" Sonic murmured.
He didn't answer as he dug through more of the broken fortress. Colombo whimpered as he slowly approached him.
"He's got to be here. He has to!"
"Mario!" Tails gasped. "Look up there!"
Everyone lifted their heads in Tails' direction. Suddenly, their mouths became wide open. There, they saw Luigi floating in the air, face up, eyes closed, arms and legs spread out. They noticed that he was in another Shriek Shield, this one probably initiated before the explosion occurred. The barrier slowly dropped near the group. It soon disappeared and the man hit on the ground with a small thud. His eyes were still closed and didn't move.
Mario started shaking his shoulder. "Luigi. Luigi? Luigi, wake up, please."
The younger sibling slightly groaned, his face scrunched up.
"Luigi, it's us," Tails joined in. "Are you okay?"
"Say something, Weege. I'm begging you!"
Then, his eyes started to open. To Mario's relief, he saw azure, not just white.
"Oh…" Luigi raised his head, and tried to sit upright. His muscles felt weak, but he pushed himself. He blinked to refocus his vision, and he saw his friends with concerned looks on their faces. "M-Mario? What… What happened?"
The older Italian raised an eyebrow. "That's what I was going to ask you. What happened to you?"
Luigi took a moment to ponder. He looked down at his lap. "I-I don't… know. I can't remember what was going on earlier. Can you guys fill me in?"
The others gazed at each other before turning back to Luigi.
"Well," Sonic started, "we were about to finish off Bowser and his bratty son after defeating the Koopalings."
"Then, you just yelled out of nowhere. It kinda spooked me, to be honest," described Tails.
"I yelled? Why? What for?"
"You seemed to be angry at their comments against you. The next thing we noticed was you in some demented trance. When the tower was collapsing, we had to escape. But you… You didn't move at all," Mario explained.
Everyone was now staring at Mario since he seemed to be the only one who knew what happened minutes ago.
"Mario, do you know something that we don't?" Sonic questioned.
"You see, after you three exited the room, I stopped to tell Luigi to get out of here. He didn't though." He faced Luigi again. "You shot right at me, demanding me to leave you. I was so confused. I wanted to ask why you were acting like that, but I couldn't. You just wanted me to go. The next thing I knew, the tower blew up, Bowser and the others are gone, and here you are. Did you have something to do with that? Don't you remember anything at all?"
Luigi pondered. Unfortunately, he had no recollection of the events that transpired since entering the boss room. "I… I seriously can't recall. I didn't harm you at all, did I?" he asked concernedly.
"Oh no! No, you didn't. But, I don't know why you had a random outburst like that. It was phenomenal, yet very disturbing."
An awkward silence flew past the heroes' heads until Colombo started barking to get them back on track.
"I guess we should move forward, then?" Tails implied.
Sonic shrugged. "We got no other choice. Besides, the sooner we rescue Baldy McNosehair and the others, the faster we can get out of this place."
"I mean you do have a point there," Mario agreed. "Let's go right now."
Colombo, Sonic, and Tails hopped onto the geyser to reach the entrance of the haunted ghost ship. Before Mario plodded forward, he turned to see Luigi with a worried face.
"Luigi?"
"Mario, are you sure I didn't hurt you?"
Mario exhaled through his nose. He walked up to his brother and placed his hand on his shoulder. "You didn't hurt me, or anyone else."
Luigi stared at his shoes. "You asked me if I destroyed the fort. If I did do something, hypothetically speaking, was my rage the trigger for it happening? Do you think the afterglow from the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Moon pieces had something to do with it?"
Mario's head began to spin. "I rather not think of that right now. There's too much going on that I can't keep up. Sorry for bringing it up."
"But did I? What if I destroy something on accident, like Peach's Castle? Or Toad Town? Or-"
"Luigi, calm down! We'll discuss about this later. Maybe E. Gadd can draw up a conclusion. For now, let's go rescue our friends. And Eggman."
"If you say so."
The brothers moved forward to catch up with the Polterpup and the Mobians. What they didn't see was the villain emerging from his invisibility state. He happened to witness Luigi's rage from their rematch against the Koopas.
"Hmm… His anger was quite unexpected. Then again, I did get a taste of it when I screwed him up the first time. He doesn't know that he can control such powers like that. And soon, he will learn the ways. For it will be satisfying to manipulate him for my benefit. Oh, Luigi, you innocent fool… This is just the beginning."
Myster Edge disappeared out of sight as he discreetly followed the heroes.
Luigi and the gang entered the Haunted Shipwreck, knowing that the prisoners were stuck inside one of the rooms. They high jumped across the water to land on some levitating blocks while avoiding a Ghost Block that tried to home in on them. They waited for the platforms rise to reach the upper path. Next, they slid down some poles and hopped over more big blocks. They waited on one of the thin pillars until another one hovered near them. As they leapt onto it, the block took its time to reach the next platform. From there, the group entered the next door.
Along the way, the man in green did his best to face his fears against the onslaught of Boos that were individually hiding their faces when the group faces them, or spinning in circles with a bunch of other ghosts. On the bright side, none of them gave him a surprise heart attack. They swam underwater, much to Sonic's displeasure, and swam past even more Boos while avoiding the Fish Bones that tried to home into them.
Once they conquered that section, they reached a maze with translucent walls that contained hidden doorways and nooks for the heroes to discover. Luigi stunned a few Boos with his flashlight to keep them distracted. At other times, he confronted some unexpected Greenies, Slammers, and Sneakers who tried to knock them into the water below. He flashed the Strobulb and sucked every ghoul into the 6000. When he bested all of them, a key popped out of the Poltergust.
Mario picked it up. "Hmm… So a ghost was holding onto this. Must be important."
"Maybe it will unlock the door that Eggman and the others are in," assumed Tails.
"Probably. But I'm not gonna be happy one bit once we save him," Sonic crossed his arms.
"There's no sign of Overset so far. I wonder if he's hiding somewhere," Luigi thought.
"Alright, everyone. This way." Mario led the party to reveal a hidden door on a high platform. He wall-jumped up to it. "The exit should be through here. And I bet they're somewhere nearby."
"Bark! Bark!" Colombo woofed.
"AAAAHHHH!"
Luigi jumped three feet in the air and fell on his butt when a random Sneaker appeared centimeters from his face. Everyone else was startled from how high-pitched his shriek was.
"God damn, Luigi! Give us a warning next time!" Sonic rubbed his ears.
Luigi got back up and pulled the pink ghost into the nozzle. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't help it!"
"What the heck was that?" the guys heard a gruff voice.
"Was that a girl screaming?" came a robotic sound.
"Did you guys hear that?" asked Tails.
"Yeah," Mario nodded. "I think it's in that room up ahead."
"Hold on… I know that scream from everywhere." That statement came from the dinosaur, which made Luigi blush in embarrassment.
"Yoshi? Is that you in there?"
"Hey! That was Mario! He and the others are here!" Yoshi cheered.
"Finally! We can get out of this stupid ship!" Eggman accentuated.
Just as Mario was about to insert the key, Luigi felt a disturbance. He switched to his Dark Light Device to uncover anything hidden.
And there was.
Mario didn't realize it, but floating in front of him was a strong, white entity.
"Mario! Look out!" He shot a Shriek Shield at his brother.
The Overset Possessor materialized in front of the heroes. This distinguishable boss had a curved horn at its forehead with two more protruding towards the back. Not only did he gleam with white lines on his skin, but he had a purple glow from the Dark Moon fragment inside his body. He tried to push Mario, but the barrier made it to him on time. Mario got pushed back from the force of the shield, but he remained unscathed.
"Good lord! That was close!" Mario gasped in relief.
The Overset Possessor grumbled some incoherent noises, but it was easily discernible that he wasn't content. He vanished through the door and entered the captives' chamber. He glared at all of them before he traveled through the ship and dove into the blue. They were confused, giving each other awkward glances at one another. Before anyone could say a word, the door unlocked and was busted open.
"Yoshi!" the Mario Bros. yelled.
"Mario! Luigi!" Yoshi chirped happily. "Boy, I'm so happy to see you two again!"
"Knuckles! We finally found you!" Tails ran up to him, followed by Sonic.
"What's with the duct tape?" he pointed out.
"Gee, I'm fine, thanks for caring," Knuckles rolled his eyes. "I got my knuckles hurt from walloping that door so much. I guess I feel a little better now that we can get the heck out of here."
"Might as well. But first, we got some business to take care of. Come on, guys! We gotta find that freak sheet!"
Sonic sped out the cabin, with Mario, Luigi, Tails, Colombo, Yoshi, and Knuckles running behind him. Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot remained there for awhile, the first of them throwing a fit.
"So no one's gonna ask me if I'm alright?! How rude! Some people can be such ignorant fools!"
The doctor stomped out of the room.
"And some people can just be quite obnoxious to work for," Orbot complained.
"Like who?"
Cubot clearly didn't catch the red robot's drift. Orbot let out a monotone bleep and shook his head as he exited. Cubot scratched his head before he trailed after him.
Moments later, all ten escaped the spooky labyrinth and reached the main deck of the cargo ship.
"Now where is that Possessor ghost?" Mario wondered.
"We saw him become invisible through the wall and lunged into the Sparkling Waters," answered Yoshi.
"So now what?" asked Luigi.
"If anyone brings up swimming, count me out. Because there's no way I'm gonna- GOOOOOOOOO!"
Everyone turned at the sound of Sonic screaming. And everyone went bug-eyed. Out in the waters was a familiar foe, one who Mario has fought several times, especially back on Isle Delfino. It was holding the hedgehog with one of its tentacles.
"Seriously, why am I the one who gets stuck in a place like this again?!"
"Gooper Blooper! What the hell is he doing here?!" Mario shouted.
Knuckles was confused. "Goopy Bloo-what now?"
Luigi took a glance at the gargantuan sea creature. He noticed a purple aura beaming from his tentacles.
"Overset must have somehow revived Gooper Blooper. How did he manage to get him here though?!"
"Sonic! I'm coming!" Tails cried out to his seized friend.
Luigi was out of his thoughts when he heard the fox. At the same time, he saw an incoming tentacle. "Tails, watch out!" He pulled him back when it tried to smack the fox and take him too. "Tails, the Overset Possessor has possessed Gooper. If you're not careful, he could take you, too!"
"Well I can't just do nothing! My best friend is in trouble! I gotta help him!"
Tails flew off the ship, dodging the tentacles left and right. But Gooper spat some ink towards the kit, depriving his vision and tarring his tails to stop rotating.
"AHHH!"
"Tails! No!" Sonic was extremely worried.
When he was blinded, he crashed into the water. The Blooper grabbed him with a separate tentacle. Tails didn't react as he soon became unconscious.
"Uh, guys?! A little help, please?! We really don't want to be squid bait!" he panicked loudly.
"Who is that beast?" Orbot inquired while he and Cubot were hiding behind Eggman's legs.
"He's this overgrown Blooper with large tentacles that he uses to slap anyone in his way. I had to face this guy three times during my ruined vacation," explained Mario.
"He's also found in other places, too! Princess Daisy's Cruiser, a pirate ship we played basketball, which I don't even know why we decided to use that as a court, and many other places where there's water! (2) Yikes!" Yoshi exclaimed as everyone darted from a slimy appendage coming right at them. "That was a close one!"
"Basically, he's the biggest and worst Blooper in existence! His tentacles can pack a punch!" Mario highlighted while he ducked under another.
"Hey! Less talking, more saving! And it's us in this case! Because if you haven't noticed by now, we're stuck as side dishes for calamari!" Sonic yelled as Gooper flailed him around.
Eggman snickered. "I don't know. I like the looks of this. Yeah! Drown that hedgehog! Give him what he deserves!"
"NOT HELPING, EGGHEAD!"
Eggman wasn't paying attention to the tentacle that lunged for him. Gooper easily wrapped it around his colossal stomach.
"Huh? YEOW!" he screamed as he was pulled near Sonic.
"That's what you get for being a helpless cheerleader!" the hedgehog jeered.
"Hey! I'll have you know I was the head leader of my cheerleading squad back in grade school! All the girls were entranced by my enthusiasm and flexibility!"
"Are you sure you didn't mean 'disturbed by wearing tight pants and your silly tutu'?" Knuckles mocked.
"It wasn't a tutu! It was a special kind of kilt!"
"We don't care what kind of uniform you wore. The point is, no girls would fall for you, your smarts, or your flexibility as you'd put it. And we're still stuck in these tentacles!" screamed Sonic.
Meanwhile, Gooper continued his harassment towards the others. He managed to grab Knuckles with his last oversized tentacle.
"Urgh! What's the big deal, ink boy?! I'm gonna… AAH!" The echidna got interrupted when the Blooper splattered ink on him. "Ugh! Gross!"
"We have to stop him somehow!" declared Yoshi.
"One of Gooper's weak spots is his mouth. We have to damage it somehow," considered Mario.
"Bark! Bark!" Colombo yipped to warn his friends.
Everyone looked down at the water's surface to see a horde of smaller Bloopers hurling Urchins at the ship.
"Duck!" Luigi squealed.
The robots noticed his stress call and jumped behind some barrels.
"Oh my! That was unexpected!" said Orbot.
Cubot popped his head up to sneak a peek, only for an Urchin to knock his processor and ruin his voice chip. "Argh! You're telling me, matey! He's gonna haunt the seven seas with his army of squids! And who knows what land rubbish he has up his sleeves!"
"Oh, boy. He's at it again."
"Luigi, maybe you can suck up the Urchins and aim at the tentacles to free our friends… and Eggman!"
"Wouldn't that ruin the vacuum though?"
"I don't think so, Yoshi. I've used the last version to shoot spiked plant balls at some carnivorous plants before. I'm sure Urchins can suffice. I just need to aim well to get the others out of his grasp and summon Overset so I can weaken him."
"Argh! If that's the plan, better keep your eyes open wide! 'Cause here comes some more!" Cubot pointed.
There, the plumbers, the dinosaur, and the Polterpup were bombarded with more Urchins. Luigi clicked the green button to activate a Shriek Shield to Mario and Yoshi while Colombo used his invisible ability again. The green man remained vulnerable as he sucked in a spiked enemy where it was stuck on the nozzle. He switched the control and blew the Urchin away. He managed to hit the tentacle holding Tails. Gooper shrieked in pain as he threw the unconscious fox back at the Shipwreck. Mario was there to catch him as he avoided more incoming Urchins.
"Orbot! Cubot! Keep an eye on Tails! Don't even think about throwing him in the water or anything stupid like that!" he demanded.
The two nodded. They carried Tails into the ship to prevent him from getting further wounded. Mario, Yoshi, and Colombo teamed up to whack the unattended tentacle. Yoshi ground-pounded it onto the deck. Mario and Colombo pulled with force to detach the appendage. Gooper shook violently, as well as the other victims.
Sonic looked like he was going to barf. "Oh! I think I'm gonna be sick."
"Whatever you do, don't hurl on me!" warned Eggman.
Luigi spewed out more Urchins from his Poltergust where most of them missed Gooper, but knocked out some of the smaller Bloopers. A couple hurt Gooper's head, but one eventually smashed the mouth. Once the weak point was injured, the Possessor was forced out of the Blooper and regained his eyesight. Since Gooper was possessed, his body became limp and started to sink the ocean. Sonic called Luigi to hurry up before they become submerged.
On the ship's deck, the ghost glared at the group and aimed his charging attack at them. Mario, Yoshi, and Colombo ran away to manipulate his path to run into Luigi. The green man activated a last-second Shriek Shield to stun him. Then, Overset got struck with the Strobulb and was trapped by the Poltergust. With better suction power, Luigi took less time to eliminate the white skin.
Overset was now orange as he re-entered Gooper. Eggman, Knuckles, and Sonic were a few feet away from going underwater, but were brought back up as the boss repossessed the squid.
"Hey, Green 'Stache, at least let us free before you actually make us drown, you twit!" the doctor told him impolitely.
"Seriously, even he's calling me that?" Luigi grumbled to himself.
He waited for the Bloopers to throw more Urchins. Once they did, he aimed one at the tentacle holding Sonic. When he was free, the other three executed the same procedure by ground pounding and pulling off the limb. The hedgehog got in on the action by spin dashing the tentacle into the water.
"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about! And thanks for getting me out of that!"
"Sonic, Tails is with Orbot and Cubot back inside the ship. We'll handle Overset and Gooper," Mario commanded.
"Alright. Good luck out there!" He ran into the cabin to find his best friend.
Luigi shot an Urchin near Knuckles and Gooper threw the echidna on the Shipwreck. When he landed, some random Evershade ghosts appeared on the deck to interfere with the group. In a quick move, he used three more Shriek Shields to guard Mario, Yoshi, and Knuckles. He wasn't risking the idea of them getting hurt. However, he only had one left, so he had to strategically save it for later. He focused on sucking up the smaller ghosts before going back to the Possessor. The remaining fighters repeated their strategy with Knuckles finishing off the third long tentacle.
"Luigi! You need to hit Gooper again!" Yoshi pleaded.
"Gotcha!" he shouted when he captured the last ghost. He ran up and waited for more Urchins to be thrown. He got one in position and aimed perfectly at the mouth. The Possessor exited out of the Blooper a second time, leaving Eggman alone in the middle of the ocean.
"I mean, you could have saved me before you decided to refight him! I see how it is, Greenie!"
Luigi rolled his eyes and prepared to dodge. The Possessor hit a couple walls on the boat before he became dizzy. That's when he took advantage and charged the Poltergust to full power to rip off the orange layer. As Overset beamed red, he returned to Gooper's body. However, he upped the ante by spitting tons of ink blots at the heroes. The deck became very slippery and could make them fall if they weren't careful. Knuckles punctured the Urchins tossed at him while Mario, Yoshi, and Colombo evaded the spiked organisms. Luigi nearly dodged the ink as if a bunch of Tenta Missiles locked in to destroy him. (3) He remained attentive, ignoring the screeches and taunts of Gooper and Overset. Another Urchin was launched from the 6000 and punctured Eggman's tentacle. The boss chucked the obese man onto the deck and crashed into an ink puddle.
"Bleck! Just great! This is my best and only outfit I wear!"
Knuckles made a face. "Don't be such a fashionista, Eggman!"
Eggman was about to protest, but Mario spoke before he could. "This isn't the time to argue! Just go to the cabin for safety! Your robots, Sonic, and Tails are inside."
"I couldn't care less about them. I only want to clean this goop off me!"
"And I thought Amy was more irritating when it comes to clothes…" the echidna shook his head.
"Knuckles! Watch out!" Yoshi pointed.
The tentacle that held Eggman was about to slap him, but Knuckles punched his sharp fists onto the floor. Mario and Colombo grabbed the appendage and disconnected it. Gooper was now in trouble as he only had his puny, useless tentacles left. All he could was spew more ink.
"Okay, time to end this!" Luigi shouted determinedly. He claimed another Urchin and perforated Gooper's mouth a third time.
The Blooper was immobile since Overset withdrew from him. Overset was flared up. He charged up his dash attack and floated quickly at his opponents. Knuckles dove away, Yoshi huddled up in an egg as defense, Mario jumped over the force field, Colombo disappeared, and Luigi simply ran away. The ghost flew into some barrels, making them fly overboard. He became dizzy from the collision and Luigi put him to rest. With the Poltergust powered up, the red-skinned Possessor was effectively trapped inside. The hose shook, and the purple fragment shot out of the vacuum.
"Nice going, Luigi! You got another Possessor down and another Dark Moon piece!" praised Mario.
"Yeah! You did great against him and Gooper! And I'm glad we all worked together!" Yoshi jumped with excitement.
"Bark! Bark!" Colombo did a back flip.
"I must say, you sure knew how to show those stupid ghosts what the real deal is," Knuckles complimented, which he rarely does.
Luigi awkwardly smiled. "Thanks, guys. For the support and the help."
The five of them heard the door open and saw Sonic and a restored Tails. The inseparable duo ran up to them while Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot slowly strolled out.
"Way to go, everyone! Thanks for saving our butts out there. I would have been fish food!" Sonic threw his hands up.
"Yeah, it'd be bad to lose any of you. Well, maybe not Eggman," Mario whispered the last part to the hedgehog, earning a smirk from him.
"How polite of you guys to think of me," McNosehair expressed his sarcasm.
"Tails, do you feel okay?" asked Luigi.
"I am now! Sonic helped me with the Chaos Emeralds."
"And for some reason, they seemed to heal him this time. I just don't know why it didn't work the last time he was hurt," Sonic explained.
"Hmm, that is peculiar," Luigi agreed.
Suddenly, an unexpected, yet familiar, event happened. A lightning bolt flashed out of nowhere and struck the green man's chest.
"Urgh! Ooof!" He fell backwards as the Poltergust cushioned the fall, but it hurt his back.
"Luigi!" Mario was about to run up to him, until he ran into an invisible wall. "Huh?! Hey! Why am I stuck?" He soon noticed he was inside a barrier. He turned around to see the others caught in the same bubble. However, the Polterpup was missing, but only he noticed.
"What the heck is going on?" Sonic wondered as he bobbed his head left and right.
"I don't know!" Tails answered.
"Hey, does this seem familiar to you guys at all?" Orbot thought.
"You mean about us getting trapped again?" Cubot said in his normal voice since Eggman reluctantly fixed his voice chip again.
"Ooh… W-what h-happened?" Luigi stuttered. He sat up and his eyes became wide. "Mario! Sonic! Tails! Everyone!" He headed towards the bubble, but his body abruptly stopped. "Wha… W-why can't I… m-move?!"
Another lightning bolt was released towards him as he was immobile. When he used his last Shriek Shield to defend himself, it proved to be worthless. The electricity shot through to strike him in the chest.
"AAAAHHHH!"
"LUIGI!"
The younger brother was thrown overboard off the Haunted Shipwreck and splashed into the Sparkling Waters. Everyone was shocked, even Eggman.
"What is the meaning of this?!"
Subsequently, Knuckles saw a familiar face from above. "Guys! It's him!"
Everyone tilted their heads up and went wide-eyed. Mario, Sonic, Robotnik, and Knuckles showed fury. Tails, Yoshi, Cubot, and Orbot expressed fright.
"So, I've heard you've had some help with… Chaos Emeralds? Well then. Since I'm done with my revenge, I think I'll take you guys with me."
END OF CHAPTER
The Overset Possessor has been defeated, but this battle didn't conclude as a fulfilled victory. With Luigi abused and separated, Colombo missing, and the rest of the party kidnapped, what will happen next?
As a reminder, one more chapter of Hidden Bravery will be released as soon as I go back to school. Then, the story will either be updated every two weeks, or once a month depending on how busy my schedule is.
Please review, follow/favorite, and keep your eyes open for Ch. 35. This is TGN, signing off.
Post-Chapter Notes:
(1): Baldy McNosehair, a very clever and funny name to make fun of Eggman. It originated in Sonic Colors when Yacker, a Wisp, expressed his hatred towards the doctor, which was translated by Tails. (The 'Mc' part was later added on by Sonic, but either way it's hilarious when they refer Eggman by that name.)
(2): Gooper Blooper made his debut in Mario Sunshine as a boss Mario had to face thrice; twice in Ricco Harbor, once in Noki Bay. He was added in various sports and spin-off games (i.e.- Mario Super Sluggers, Mario Hoops 3-on-3, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, and more).
(3): Tenta Missiles is one of the 'Special Weapons' in Splatoon 2, which locks ink targets on the opposing team's members to potentially splat them. The idea of Gooper spewing ink in this action originates from this aspect, just not in the form of missiles.