A/N: Filler content is not the most entertaining. Sorry about this, but I'll make sure to get right into the thick of things once our heroes have settled down.
I also took some time to re-edit some of the previous chapters because of poor grammar, or I wanted to add extra dialogue. A prime example is in Ch. 17 where Mario consoled Luigi. (You can go back and reread it, only if you want to.)
And third, New Brotherhood is on hiatus until I'm done with finals, which ends after the following week. I sincerely apologize for the delay and for not posting an update earlier. Wish me luck on that, because I'm so stressed out.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the franchises or characters of Mario and Sonic. I only take credit for the plot and my OCs.
Chapter 42: Coming Clean
In the Inseparable Duo's household, one of the clocks chimed eight times, indicating it was 8 a.m. in Mobius. The sun already peeked out of the sky, shining its rays down on the ruins. But the Oblivion remained foreboding from its fixed spot.
Mario walked out of the steamy bathroom with a towel covering the waist down. He went to Tails' room where he and Peach spent the night. He grabbed his new clothes off the chair. After dressing up, he exited out of the room to find the kitsune climbing up the stairs.
"Good morning, Mario," he greeted.
"Morning, Tails."
"I woke up early today to finish constructing our new communicators, and I made you one!" He handed him a red device, imprinted with his signature 'M' symbol. "I also connected it to Luigi's 3DS so you have his contact, likewise with the others I built."
He attached the watch to his left wrist. "Thanks, Tails. I appreciate it."
"You're welcome. I'll be leaving for Angel Island to deliver a new one for Knuckles. Any word on Luigi yet?"
"I was going to go check on him, actually."
With the fox following him, Mario gently knocked on the guest bedroom's door. After no response, he slowly opened it, wondering if Luigi was either immobile or conscious. However, he walked into an awkward situation. He raised a hand behind him to stop Tails from entering.
Mario saw Daisy, lying beside Luigi under the blankets. On the floor, right next to the bed, was the princess' orange dress and his brother's green shorts. Mario closed the door, cringing from the small creaking noises. His face was flushed.
"What's wrong?"
Mario knew that Tails was a young child. He may comprehend and speak swear words on rare occasion, but he's still innocent to witness anything like this. He kept the secret to himself. "Nothing. He's just asleep. Don't want to bother him."
Tails raised an eyebrow. "Okay… If you say so."
"Come on. Let's head downstairs."
Tails and Mario descended to the first floor where they saw Peach, Yoshi, and Sonic enjoying some breakfast. Colombo was drinking a bowl of water nearby.
"What's up, you two?" Sonic casually waved his hand.
"I just completed the final touches for our new communicators. So here's yours." Tails handed his buddy a brand new, blue one.
"Awesome job, Tails!"
"Please, take a seat, both of you," Peach kindly offered.
Mario and Tails took their seats and ate quietly at the dining table. After a solid minute of silence, Yoshi started another conversation.
"So, any sign of Luigi being healthy?"
Mario chewed his pancakes before answering. "Not yet."
Peach perceived his embarrassed expression. "Mario, why is your face red?"
"Is it?" he slapped a hand on his cheek.
"Yeah. Is something wrong?"
"I got out of the shower recently. I must be warm from that, I guess."
"You sure about that?" Sonic didn't buy his excuse.
"Um, no. But all I can say is that Luigi is not awake, from what I'm aware of."
The hedgehog shrugged and chugged his glass of milk. He turned to the fox sitting next to him. "Hey, Tails. Have you found a way that we can make him heal faster, like you did with the Chaos Emeralds?"
"No, I haven't. I could've spent my free time making a fake Emerald so the dimensions and properties would be similar to the real deal. But since I don't have a single one to work with, it's basically impossible for me to create a copy."
"What about the Dark Moon piece?" Yoshi suggested.
"I don't think we can utilize it if it has those corrupted sparks all over it."
"Should we head over to the professor's lab to clean it off then?" Sonic asked. "He's been waiting for days already."
"I thought we would have to wait for another image to pop up," reminded Peach.
"I don't think it's necessary at this time," considered Mario. "I mean, it's pretty obvious that we have to travel to Treacherous Mansion, all the way in Evershade Valley. So we can just ignore that. It would probably be a waste of time to go from here to Boo Woods, then all the way back to heal Luigi, only to return to the kingdom a second time. Nothing's wrong with a lot of footwork, but it would be too tiring. And we need to keep our energy up in the case Edge makes another ambush or does anything unexpected."
"I guess the best bet is to simply wait until he recovers," Tails concluded.
After finishing breakfast, the guys did whatever they wanted as they waited for Luigi to feel better. Tails told Sonic that he was heading to Angel Island to give Knuckles his new communicator. Once he was aware, the fox took out the Tornado and flew to his destination. Yoshi and Peach decided to take a walk around the Mystic Ruins to find Daisy. (Little did they know she never left the house.) Mario, Sonic, and Colombo were the remaining ones, and they relaxed in the living room. Sonic was chilling on the couch, legs crossed, hands behind his head, and eyes closed. Mario was in a recliner, watching the news on the widescreen television. Colombo was sleeping on his lap.
"So why exactly did you look embarrassed at the table?"
Mario rotated his head, a bit uneasy when he was asked the question. He saw Sonic didn't move an inch from his resting position, nor did he open his eyelids.
"I mean, if you're okay with me answering, I'll tell you the truth. But it's not very decent."
"Not decent?"
"It's a little awkward to explain. Actually, very awkward."
Sonic opened one of his green eyes to glance at his friend. "Go on."
Mario twiddled his fingers as he shifted his view at the screen. "So… Tails and I wanted to check on my bro to see if he was finally awoken or not."
"Was he?"
"Probably."
"What do you mean, probably?"
The plumber became red again. He turned away from the TV and stared out the window to hide his face. "At one point, he might have been awake. You see… Daisy hasn't been up."
"So? What's she gotta do with this? I mean, I'm pretty sure she was staying up late. That's probably why she's still tired. I mean it's only," he paused to look at his wrist, "8:30."
"True. But do you remember where she said she was supposed to sleep?"
"Yeah, the living r-" That's when Sonic realized his point. He sat up, his pupils now wide open. "Did she go outside or something?"
Mario faced him and shook his head. "She's still inside with Weege."
"Wait, did she…"
"What do you think I walked into when I knocked on the guest room?"
When he put two and two together, a blush formed on Sonic's cheeks. "Oh, shit…"
Mario peered at Colombo, still resting on top of him. "Yeah, I don't need to explain anymore. Sorry about that. And just in case, when they're gone, you might want to change those sheets."
"I was gonna wash them anyway. But after you said that, ugh…" The hedgehog groaned and hit his head back on the sofa's arm. His right arm drooped over the side.
"To reiterate, I apologize for talking about this."
"And I regret my decision for asking."
Daisy stirred her head, educing a groan. Groggily opening her eyes, she woke up next to her special one. His mouth formed a small 'o' as he was lightly snoring. Daisy couldn't help but giggle.
"Mmm…" he struggled to stretch his arms. He gazed over at Daisy and smiled. "Morning."
"Morning, Luigi," she whispered. "Sorry I woke you up."
"It's alright. You didn't do anything wrong."
"Are you feeling better?"
"Much, all because of you." He clasped his hand with her, holding it tightly.
"I wish we could stay like this."
"Me, too. But sadly, we have to return to our world. I have to give E. Gadd the Dark Moon piece. Then we have to reach Treacherous Mansion so we can find the Tough Possessor. Plus, it would be awkward if Mario or anyone walks in us like… this."
"I know. Either way, I was more than happy about last night."
"Me too, Daisy."
"You're still okay? I didn't hurt you or anything?"
"I'm perfectly fine. And thanks."
The princess leaned forward to plant another kiss. Before she could though, they both heard something. It came from behind Luigi.
"Is that Colombo hiding under the bed?"
"I don't think so. I didn't hear him- What the?" He turned his body and saw the Dark Moon piece shining on the cabinet. Luigi reached over to grab it. Daisy huddled near him to see what was happening.
"Is it another vision?"
"It should be."
The two kept their eyes on the fragment. And by no surprise, the visual showed them a front view of the humongous mansion of Evershade, except it was covered by the purple fog.
"Well that's inconvenient. I can't see a thing!"
"Hold on. What the heck is that?" Luigi squinted.
"What are you talking about?"
"Right there."
He pointed at something through the thick wall of clouds. He hardly saw a white figure. Thankfully, the scene zoomed in to give them a clearer perspective. That's when they barely caught the back of a white figure passing by the stained-glass window. Unfortunately, it was gone at the wrong time.
"What was that?"
"I don't know. It looked too small to be a Boo. And it was walking on the floor."
The scene panned to a different area of the mansion. It first showed the Jungle Exhibit, one of the rooms in the east side. And Luigi found something very similar to when he first visited there. Above a small stream of running water was a stubborn Flytrap. And behind the killer plant was a painting.
"Hey, it's Vector! He's trapped inside!"
"But where's Espio and Charmy? And Silver? And Shadow?"
Luigi's questions were immediately answered when the fragment switched to the Ice Age Exhibit. Within the frozen ice cave, Silver was stuck. Next, Shadow was seen in the Ancient Exhibit. The picture frame was above the E-Gate. A painting of Espio was beside a rocket in the Space Exhibit, located on the second level in the west wing. And finally, Charmy was confined in the Train Exhibit, beyond the model display where he once entered when he tried to save Mario.
Just as the visual was about to diminish, Luigi got one last surprise. And to his discontent…
"WAAAHHH!"
…it was the Tough Possessor spooking him from out of nowhere. The jump scare made him throw the object across the room, and it hit the wall. He backed up against the headboard and covered his face with his hands.
"Luigi?"
"I'm such a coward," she heard his muffled voice.
"You weren't expecting that. Neither did I."
"But I overreacted. That's what I do because I'm nothing but a big baby."
Daisy was getting upset at his words. "Luigi, don't criticize yourself. Everyone gets scared sometimes. Even myself, although I hate to admit it."
"You may be afraid of some things, but I'm scared of everything. Ghosts, monsters, the dark… It's humiliating… How could you like me if I'm not strong or brave?"
She pulled his hands away so she could see him. When Luigi tried to look away, she gently pushed his chin so that he could face her. She was remorseful to see him like this again.
"Luigi, you are strong and brave. I don't care about your fears or weaknesses. Those things don't overpower your other traits. You're kind, sweet, unselfish, and handsome in my eyes. That's why I like you."
This time, she actually kissed him on the lips. The feeling was blissful to soothe him. It was also perfect as they enjoyed their moment without interruption. Well, that is until…
*SLAM*
The two backed away and jumped from the sound of the door hitting the wall. And in the entryway were Mario, Sonic, and Colombo. Daisy pulled up the blankets to cover herself, even though she still had underclothing on. Luigi was immediately blushing in embarrassment. Mario didn't say anything, Sonic was also speechless, and Colombo hopped on the bed to join his owner.
"Um… Hey, guys," she wavered.
"This is awkward…" Mario had the courage to say something.
"That's exactly what I said," Luigi thought.
"We heard a loud scream and a smashing sound when we were downstairs. You guys alright?" Sonic asked.
Luigi lowered the bill of his hat to shield his eyes. "Sorry… That was me. I… I threw the Dark Moon piece across the room."
"Why?"
"Because I saw another visual from it."
"Was it the Treacherous Mansion?" Mario wondered.
"Hold on, guys," Daisy interposed. "Can we finish this discussion after we… you know…" She pointed down at the clothes on the floor.
"Oh, yeah. That would be more appropriate."
"And when you're done, I'm stripping the sheets and putting new ones on that bed."
The two had red cheeks as they left the room. Once they showered and redressed, Daisy in her same dress and Luigi in his new shirt and overalls, they went downstairs to sit in the living room. After the hedgehog cleaned up the guest room, he jumped over the couch and landed in his casual, relaxed position.
"Sonic, I'm sorry about what happened earlier," the green man murmured.
"Just forget about it, dude. I rather not think about it or bring it up for discussion. And as long as Tails doesn't know, I'm fine."
"That's why I kept that secret to myself when I walked in the first time."
"Wait, you saw us sleeping together?" Daisy glared at Mario.
"Only because I wanted to know if Luigi was okay!"
"Guys! I told you to stop talking about that!"
They apologized to Sonic, who only shrugged it off as he got comfy.
Mario let out a deep breath to compose himself. "Okay then. Luigi, what did you see?"
"Like you asked earlier, the Dark Moon piece did show us the Treacherous Mansion. There seemed to be someone inside, but it was unfamiliar to me and Daisy."
"Was it a Boo or some kind of ghost?"
"I don't think so. It was white, yet it wasn't floating in the air. It didn't look like an Evershade ghost, either."
"Hmm… That's weird. Was there anything else?"
"Yeah. We saw the rest of Sonic's friends trapped in paintings. Vector, Espio, Charmy, Silver, and Shadow. They're separated in different rooms, too."
"They've been missing for so long," Sonic recalled. "But at least we know for sure on where they are."
"And… Out of nowhere, the Tough Possessor screeched in front of my face. It scared me, and I hurled it at the wall."
"So that's why we heard that crash. I'm just glad you didn't get hurt or something," Mario sighed of relief.
"By the way, now that you're finally up, you ready to move on?"
"I think so. But where's Peach, Tails, and Yoshi?"
"Tails is at Angel Island to give Knuckles his new thingamajig."
"And Yoshi and Peach went out for a walk earlier. They should be back any minute."
Luigi nodded and leaned back in his seat. He was about to take a nap before Mario talked to him once more.
"Hey, Luigi. Can I see you in the kitchen, alone?"
"Uh, yeah. Sure."
The brothers got up and left the room. When they sat down in private, Mario gave Luigi a serious stare. He kept his voice low. "Weegie, is there something else you want to tell me?"
He already knew where this was going. He lowered his head, fixing his eyes at the table. To confirm, he asked, "Is this about my nightmares?"
Mario nodded. "Mm-hmm."
The taller sibling sighed deeply. "Alright, Mario. I promised you before, so I'll fulfill it. But just a small disclaimer, you're probably not going to like what you're about to hear."
"I don't care if these dreams were life-threatening, scary, or dumb. Please, fratellino. I'll understand."
Luigi gulped before he divulged his nightmares to Mario. Word by word, he slowly explained everything from the very beginning.
Location: Evershade Valley
Where the Dark Moon should be shining down on the ghost valley was a vacant spot for the Oblivion to swirl in the sky. The possessed ghouls, however, weren't affected by it. They continued to cause mischief, but more towards each other rather than destroying the mansions at this point. Greenies pulled cheeky stunts and pranks, Slammers put up physical fights, Hiders chucked random objects, Sneakers surprised others from behind, and Gobblers satisfied themselves by swallowing tons of food and leaving trails of slippery goo all over the floors.
In the meantime, at the Treacherous Mansion, Duplicit was roaming the halls. He was absolutely bored.
"This is taking forever. When's that green guy going to be here? We don't have all day!"
He shook his head and decided to give his partner a call. The communicator dialed for a few seconds before the recipient picked up.
"What's up, Duplicit?" Duplimore started.
"Dude, have you gotten any word on the hero yet? When is he coming here?"
"I know you're impatient, but I haven't seen him or his friends return to the kingdom. I've been stalking the warp pipe, and not a single person popped out of that thing."
"Then what's the problem?"
"How the heck should I know?!"
"Alright, jeez. No need to act all worked up."
Duplimore grunted. "I don't know when they'll be here. I'll give a quick update as soon as I see them."
Duplicit followed with a heavy sigh. "Okay, then. And for the record, you owe me a hundred coins."
"What? What are you talking about?" Duplimore huffed.
"For that wager you made on the day he left for Chemical Plant Zone. After speaking to the boss, I called you and asked when the green guy is going to come to Evershade. After some back and forth discussions, you told me, quote, 'I can bet you a hundred coins that the guy will come here in three days tops.' End quote. Those are the exact words. And would you look at the date. Saturday and Sunday have come and gone. It's now Monday, the third day, and he's not here yet."
"I did not say anything like that."
"Yes, you did. I recorded our conversation."
"What are you, a professional phone-tapper? Listen here, Linda Tripp. (1) You did not have my consent to record anything. And even I did say that, that wasn't a real bet!"
"So are you gonna pay up later or not?"
Duplimore rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Goodbye, Duplicit. You're a dolt sometimes."
"I technically am an adult."
"Not adult. A dolt. As in, you freaking idiot."
"Geez. Now who's starting to get impatient?"
"Oh, forget you, dude."
"Harsh." Before he could make an additional remark, Duplimore disconnected the call. Duplicit shrugged to himself before he continued lurking around. "He still owes me a hundred coins."
The large, glaring eyes of the red plumber made Luigi shiver. Unbeknownst to the latter though, Mario was angry at himself for not protecting and comforting his younger brother. They were siblings by blood, after all. And he felt that he was a failure for not being there for him when he needed it the most.
"Is that all true?"
"These are mostly nightmares, Mario. I don't know if it's real or fake. But regardless, Myster Edge is a major threat as the end of all worlds is approaching fast. And I know for a fact that he wants me under his thumb."
Mario breathed in deeply, trying to contain his anger against the Shadow Spirit. "What about the most recent one?"
Eyes still glued to the table, Luigi shuddered. "I already spoke to Daisy about this. It… It involved you, her, Peach, Sonic, and just about everybody else, good and bad people."
"And?"
Luigi didn't want to be teary-eyed, let alone in front of his older bro which has occurred numerous times in the past.
"In another dream of the Oblivion, I found you and the rest of our friends. I was okay at first, up until…" Mario raised an eyebrow, then became surprised about what he said next. "…Until I heard you scorn me."
"…How so?"
Luigi took the next several minutes to explain the drama and breakdown of his dreamy self and vision. Despite all that, he didn't release any tears. His expression, nevertheless, was crestfallen.
Mario leaned back in the wooden chair, utterly baffled from hearing that story. "Is that everything you know?"
"Yeah… I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I wasn't feeling myself lately, and I was in denial when I kept this away from you."
Sighing with sympathy, he gazed at him. "Fratello, I'm not going to hate you for that. However, I wish you did tell me about this, save for the last nightmare, before we got separated."
Luigi could only nod his head without moving his mouth.
"Luigi, just because that all went down, doesn't mean that you're a bad person. If there's anyone to blame here, it's Edge. For torturing, manipulating, and scaring you. He's not going to get away with this. But in order to do so, I need you. In fact, we all need you. When we get back to the Mushroom Kingdom, I'm joining you to Evershade Valley so we can save the rest of Sonic's friends, capture Tough, defeat Edge, and get rid of the Oblivion. How the last two things will work out, I'm not sure. But no matter what, I'll support you all the way."
"Okay, Mario. I appreciate it."
"You're welcome. Well, since that's now off the table, I have another question."
The younger plumber felt some sweat falling down his forehead. "Yeah?"
"Did you and Daisy…" He looked around and behind him before eyeing back to him. He ensued to make an obscene action with his hands.
Luigi sputtered, but kept his voice low. "M-Mario! No, we didn't do anything like that!"
"I'm just saying that I saw clothes on the floor."
"We did NOT go that far. First of all, she entered my room last night when she heard me scream from my most recent dream. Two, she comforted me, which led to… personal matters. And three, trying to keep this discreet, we were just making out!"
"Alright, alright," he put his hands up. "Mamma Mia, you don't have to sound so hostile."
"Because you thought I was going to commit a bold move, which I wouldn't do! That would be me crossing a line!"
"Over what?"
"What kind of a fucking question is that?! We're at Sonic and Tails' house, so if I did decide to take things further, I would at least respect their property by not doing it here. And I do not intend to rush things in our relationship until the timing's right. It's way too early to think about that."
A moment of silence came from Mario before he opened his mouth. "Oh, that's what you meant. I thought you were gonna mention about taking-"
"Mario! Enough!"
"Were the old sheets clean, at least?"
"MARIO!"
He tried his best not to snicker from the hot-headed look of his brother.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Sonic heard his communicator beeping. He sat up, pressed the button, and saw Knuckles on the device.
"Sonic, you there?"
"Gee, I dunno. Am I here on this couch, talking to you on this fine, lazy Monday? Or am I taking cheerleading lessons with Egghead?"
"Okay, wise ass. Get with the program. I got my new communicator from Tails. Though he looked peeved when he gave it to me."
"You know Tails wouldn't be like that if you didn't drench your old one in grape soda."
"It was lemon lime, and I was testing something!"
"On why you don't own a brain, knucklehead?" he retorted with a chuckle.
"CAN I HAVE A CHANCE TO SPEAK?!"
"Go right ahead, princess." Daisy gave him a look. "Oh, not you, Daisy. I'm talking to this beauty," he pointed at the echidna.
He showed an irritated scowl and grunted furiously, causing the hedgehog to grin. "I already contacted Amy, Blaze, and the rest of our group. We have another problem on our hands."
The hedgehog's smile went away. "What is it this time?"
"I tried utilizing the Master Emerald's powers to indicate how much time we have before the Oblivion potentially destroys everything."
Colombo and Daisy huddled near Sonic to listen closely.
"Did you get any answers?"
"The moment Edge constructed the Oblivion, it will take no longer than five days to cover the entire sky in all dimensions. Once that threshold is reached, it's an apocalypse from there on.
"Five days? The first time we saw one was in Station Square on Friday. And since it's the third day, that means we only have until Wednesday before everything's gone!" Daisy exclaimed.
"This is not good at all. We better tell Mario and Luigi about this."
"Ruff!"
Then, the front door opened to reveal Yoshi and Peach. When they saw the three huddled near each other, the pink princess opened her mouth.
"Daisy! There you are! What's going on?"
"Knuckles just gave us an update. And it's terrible," she mentioned.
Peach was immediately concerned. "What's wrong?"
"From what he said, we only have until Wednesday to somehow stop Edge," informed Sonic.
"Wednesday?" Yoshi reiterated. "How did he find out about that?"
"The Master Emerald," Knuckles spoke up to them. "To add to this bad news, Edge has summoned more of his robots to attack both of our worlds, likely as another distraction. But this time, we're ahead of his little game. The others and I will stay in Mobius to fend them off. You guys take off for the Mushroom Kingdom."
"Sounds like a plan to us," Sonic gave a thumbs-up.
Not too long after, everyone looked up when they heard footsteps. Coming out of the kitchen were the mustachioed brothers.
"Luigi! You're awake and okay!" Peach said with relief.
"Good to see you again!" Yoshi gave his friend a lick with his tongue.
The taller plumber let out a small laugh. "Glad to see you too, Yoshi. Same with you, Princess."
"How do you feel?"
"A lot better. Not as strong as those times when I suddenly absorbed the powers of the Chaos Emeralds, but I'm fine. Just some slight pain in my arm, and my chest almost feels normal."
"Which makes me wonder again; how is it possible to receive the energy from the Emeralds? I mean, no offense, but you don't have any connections with them."
"No, I understand your point, Sonic. I don't know myself."
"What were you guys talking about anyway?" Mario queried.
"Oh, yeah. Knucklehead told us we only have five days before the Oblivion consumes every single world. Well, technically three days."
"HEY! I'M STILL ON CALL, DIMWIT!"
Sonic shifted his eyes to see his irate echidna friend. "Oh, whoops. Sorry about that, Mr. Gullible Pants."
"If I wasn't on Angel Island right now, I'd rearrange your stupid face so badly."
"Shucks to be you."
"Hey, should we head back to our world now? Everyone must be worried sick," said Yoshi.
"We will, once Tails gets back. Thanks for telling us, Knuckles."
"Sure. But watch your back the next time I come face to face with you."
"Okay. I'll handle a simple fist fight. And I'll win like I always do." Before Knuckles could interject, Sonic pressed the button to end the call. Mario rolled his eyes over Sonic's arrogance.
Luigi, on the other hand, had a fretful expression. "Three days? But why?"
"Knuckles explained that the Oblivion would take five days to destruct every world, starting at the time when Edge created it. Because we first saw it on Friday, and two days have already gone by, we have today, tomorrow, and Wednesday to stop him and get rid of the black holes. But I don't know how we can pull that off."
Luigi was sweating bullets from Daisy's response. He mentally took the blame for making his friends waste their time.
Afterwards, the two-tailed fox entered the house to see the gang in the living room. "I take it that Knuckles told you about the situation?"
"Correctamundo, little buddy," said Sonic.
Tails nodded, then noticed the man in green. "Hey, Luigi! How you feeling?"
"Pretty good," he clasped his hand for a shake. "Feels nice to be on my feet. But now we got a bigger problem."
"Well thank goodness we didn't lose you. We have to meet up with Professor E. Gadd and clean off the Dark Moon piece. I know we're on a time crunch, but do you want to leave now, or do you need more time to convalesce?"
"Like I told them, I'm not entirely healed like the times the Emeralds gave me unexpected power. Although, I am able to walk. And besides, we don't have time to linger around."
"Alright. We can head out as soon as possible."
"Let me go get my Poltergust and 3DS."
"I'll pack up your old clothes for you."
"Thanks, Tails."
As they headed upstairs, the other six waited in the living room.
"So Daisy, where were you this morning?" Peach wondered. "I didn't see you here sleeping last night, and you weren't outside when Yoshi and I went around the ruins."
Daisy cautiously glanced at her friend as her cheeks reddened. Peach happened to catch this, drawing similarities to Mario's reaction earlier. Sonic walked to the bathroom on purpose, avoiding the topic of conversation. The red hero stared at a wall to conceal another blush.
"Uh… I was outside, too. You and Yoshi must have searched somewhere else or you didn't catch up to me as I took a breather."
"Where did you walk around?" asked the dinosaur.
"You know, the train station, the plains, near the big staircase. Nowhere far away."
"Okay, just wondering, Daisy."
Said princess grimaced for lying, but it was for the best for them not to know about her intimate night with Luigi. Mario hid his face with his hand. Colombo stared at him with a tilted head.
After Sonic rejoined the party, they all turned their attention to the stairs to see Tails and Luigi with the Poltergust reattached to his body.
"Okay, everyone. Let's return to the Mushroom Kingdom."
END OF CHAPTER
Not the most interesting chapter out there, but I tried my best to add some humor here and there. But on serious matters, Luigi and the heroes only have three days to prevent Myster Edge from achieving world destruction and domination.
As for Ch. 43, we will see the professor and resume the journey, leading up to the location of Luigi's first Dark Moon Quest: Evershade Valley. It'll be more than just chills and thrills for the green plumber. It'd be spooks and… well, that's about it, but you get the picture.
I appreciate everyone for reading and to those who leave nice reviews. Be sure to follow/favorite, let me know how I did, and I'll see you next time! This is TGN, signing off.
Post-Chapter Notes:
(1): I don't want to explain this, but I bet most of you will get the inside joke. If you don't though, do some research and you'll see for yourself.
Disclaimer: This reference relates to something suggestive, likewise with the ending scene of Ch. 41. Do not look it up if you don't want to know.
