A/N: Yesterday marked a full year since I started writing and drafting this story. Sounds unbelievable, right? Well, that's the truth. It's also a week away until Christmas, and a week from Tuesday that will mark the one-year anniversary of Hidden Bravery on FFN! I'll try to get a chapter in by next Monday as a special holiday gift for you guys! Other than that, I hope you enjoy this one!


Disclaimer: As always, I don't own anything but the story and my OCs.


Chapter 43: Return to Evershade Valley

Tails locked up the house, and everyone made their way down to the ruins' train station. They hopped on the next available ride to reach the center city. Minutes elapsed as the speeding vehicle rode the rails at a blistering speed. Tens of people crowded inside with the passengers either sitting down or standing while holding tightly onto the metal poles to avoid losing their balance.

Mario and Luigi were next to each other while Peach and Daisy sat opposite of them, having some small talk with each other. But during that time, the flower princess kept shifting her gaze between her best friend and her special one, curiously wondering about what was running through his mind.

Sonic and Tails were in the seats behind the Mario Bros., their backs facing theirs while conversing with Yoshi. Colombo laid in the seat beside him. The three animals also had a conversation.

But Luigi ignored everything as their voices were drained out from his current thoughts. Sitting beside the glass pane, his chin resting on his palm and his elbow on top on the armrest, he pinned his eyes to the Oblivion that was floating over the Mystic Ruins. That black hole became out of view before he saw the one above Station Square. Mario, sitting next to him, noticed this, too. It not only drew comparisons to the Void, but it also reminded him of those times the Subspace bombs were triggered in the World of Trophies. (1) How multiple black holes were found in the same dimension at the same time. It sounds unbelievable, but it takes one good look to see the proof.

Moments later, the train reached the city station. They got off and found Amy, Blaze, Rouge, Cream, and Cheese waiting on the platform. Everyone looked happy to see the man in green in front of them.

"Luigi! Great to see you again!" Amy waved her hand eagerly at him and the others.

"Hi, Amy. The feeling's mutual for everyone else. But we got to get going really quick."

"Have any of Edge's underlings invaded Mobius yet?" Tails asked.

"As of now, no," Blaze answered. "Knuckles only found out that they're planning to invade, but their arrival is impending."

"Either way, we'll do our best to defend this place," Rouge winked.

"We'll help out in any way possible!" Cream offered.

"Chao!" Cheese chirped.

"Here, Amy. Keep this with you," Luigi handed her one of the Power Stars. "It's just in case you need to return to the Mushroom Kingdom alongside Knuckles."

"Don't worry, Luigi. I'll keep it safe and sound."

"And we'll make sure Rouge doesn't lose this one as well."

"Oh, stop it, Blaze. I'm not going to screw us over again."

"Come on, we shouldn't waste any more time," urged Sonic.

"Please be safe, guys," prayed Peach.

"Make sure to keep in contact if necessary," Daisy reminded.

"Arf! Arf!" Colombo barked.

After they gave their partings and split ways, the group of eight headed to the Mushroom Warp Pipe. Luigi placed the other star in the slot and typed in the code. The hatch to the pipe unlocked.

Mario jumped on top of the opening. "Alright, everyone. We're finally heading back to Toad Town. And after that, Boo Woods." He entered inside, and the rest of the heroes followed him. Luigi locked the door before warping towards home.


Location: Evershade Valley

A cruiser landed in front of the large mansion. The door opened and turned into a ramp for three individuals to walk out of the vehicle. Those people were Myster Edge, Clawdio, and Slimmer.

"Sir, remind me again why you desire to return here?" asked the chrome robot.

Edge ignored him and opened the doors with the power of his scepter. The front doors slammed against the interior walls before he stepped into the lobby. Clawdio and Slimmer followed him.

"Excuse me, Myster Edge, you didn't answer my question."

Edge shut the doors with his staff. "Oh, I heard you, Slimmer. I just refused to respond until later."

"Pfft. Rude," he muttered to himself.

"Like he gives a damn about manners," Clawdio mumbled.

Edge was inspecting the room for a few seconds before he charged up his weapon. From there, he sent out several lightning orbs to the E-Gates that were found throughout the Front Entrance. They disabled the transportation devices, thus disconnecting the portals and the corresponding ones in the various exhibits found throughout the residence.

"Now to answer your query, Slim, if that plumber wants to rescue his friends here, he'll have to do it the long way. These gates no longer gain him quick access to transport unless he finds the original ones to activate. But that will take him hours, at least. And with the time he'll waste, the Oblivion will grow larger here and in every other dimension. But that's just part one."

"Part one? You mean there's a part two?"

Edge gave him a disapproving look.

Clawdio facepalmed with his orange claw from Slimmer's stupidity. "You're such an idiot," he muttered to himself.

"Part two is where I expect him to save his stupid pals, just like he did in Vanilla Dome, the Monkey Mines, the Haunted Shipwreck before I interfered with him, and the Chemical Plant Zone. But for this situation, I'll make sure to plan my next plot of revenge against him."

"Wait. I thought mentioned that you were going to manipulate that red guy, the one who is more popular than him."

"I will. That doesn't mean I'm going to let the Green 'Stache off the hook that easily."

"You've said that before the previous times though."

"WILL YOU LET ME FINISH?!"

"Seriously, Slimmer, shut up already."

The lanky minion obeyed his leader and stopped talking.

"I am going to make sure that Luigi will get another serving of revenge before I fully complete my resurrection plan. It all boils down to his temper. Now before you even try to interject me, I'll explain…

"The man isn't the kind of person you'll see on the battlefield as courageous, determined, or fearless. But I admit, much to my displeasure, he's strategic, athletic, and persevering. He's endured too many trials against me and the Possessors. Nonetheless, he's come all this way to try to restore the ghosts and the valley back to normal with the Dark Moon pieces. But deep down inside, there's bravery hidden in his soul, allowing him to continue despite the hardships I throw across at him. It sickens me, really…

"There are times when he unable to control his emotions. Sometimes he'll ignore his surroundings and let the negativity seep into his soul. When that happens, a trigger will occur. He becomes transformed and out of character compared to his typical, cheery self. But anyways, what's inside his soul is the reason why I'm targeting him in the first place. Because there's a part of him that's vital to my plan on not only taking him as my slave, but to bring back my friend…

"I did tell Alpha a while back that this was merely a test to see if he can be a true hero. But in reality, it's just a waste of his time until I have him in my hands, awaiting the moment to reconstruct that same artifact he could've used to obliterate the entire universe. Thus, I'll influence and brainwash the man in green so he can finally rejoin me after countless years of separation…

"It's the icing on the cake to my ultimate revenge. And I'll make it even worse by killing his puny friends. With his body, Luigi will be immortal, yet he'll die in the process."

"Alright. But, how does the red guy work in your plan again?"

"Oh, in due time, I'll make him do something so dastardly that the green wimp will chicken out and be forced to join my side. And that's where you two will help me accomplish my ploy."

As Edge discussed his plot to Slimmer whereas Clawdio stood there with boredom, an eye was peeking out the window from inside the Inner Courtyard. The individual eavesdropped on the Shadow Spirit.

"Oh, shoot… That green guy is going to be in trouble if this doesn't go well…" Duplicit ran away to confront his boss. Concurrently, he was about to contact Duplimore, except he received a call from him.


Location: Toad Town

The heroes jumped out of the pipe in front of Peach's Castle, startling Toadsworth who almost had a heart attack after seeing the princess again for days, which was way too long to his standards. Toad and Toadette had to catch him from nearly falling.

"Welcome back, guys!" Toadette greeted.

"Yeah! Glad you're finally here again!" Toad jumped with joy.

"Princess Peach! My goodness you've returned!"

"Toadsworth, I told you I would be okay," she tried to ease him.

He noticed her bare arms and hands. "Why, what happened to your gloves?"

"It's not a big deal, really."

"Not a big deal? You must be dressed properly all the time for the most appropriate occasions!"

"Toadsworth, I don't mean to interrupt, but this occasion is anything but appropriate. And it's discernible by the Oblivion up there," Mario pointed at the sky. There was another glitchy hole that loomed over the castle. And like the ones they saw from the Mystic Ruins and Station Square, it was fairly large.

"At least tell me what happened to your gloves!"

"Really? You're more worried about some articles of clothing than a hole of death?" Sonic unenthusiastically groaned with his eyelids half open.

"Toadsworth," Luigi stood up to him, "that's on me. I got hurt when I wasn't looking, and she offered to cover up my wound with her gloves so I wouldn't have a major blood loss. She was looking out for me. That's it."

The old Toad poured his anxiety to the green plumber. "Oh my… I'm sorry, Master Luigi."

"It's okay. It was my fault anyway."

"Luigi, don't feel down on yourself again," Mario told him.

"But you're okay, right?" Toadette empathized.

"Better than how I felt over the last two days when I was comatose."

"I bet," Toad nodded. "When I saw you in bed, I was scared you wouldn't wake up."

"But we're sure happy he did. I didn't want to lose my buddy," said Yoshi.

"Hey, guys. Can we please get back to why we're here again?" Daisy brought up.

"Yeah. We need to get to Boo Woods, find the professor, clean the moon piece, and travel to Evershade Valley!" responded Tails.

"Then you might as well take the Mushroom Copter. I called a repair team to carry it from Sparkling Waters and rebuild it at the castle. Luckily, they finished it last night! And it's much more enhanced than the old version."

"Cool! Let's get going now!" Sonic ran past everyone.

Once they gathered at the helipad, they saw the Mushroom Copter in brand-new condition, as if Edge never electrocuted it.

"I think it's best if we stay here actually," Peach considered. "Because if Edge sends his robots to invade the kingdom, we might have to engage in combat."

"Just like Knuckles, Amy, and the others who are still in Mobius," Daisy understood her logic. "I guess you're right. And besides, we all can't fit inside."

"Aww, I wanted to join, too."

Mario patted the saddle of his dinosaur friend. "Don't be sad, Yoshi. I promise, we'll go on another adventure sometime together. Maybe we'll hang out at your island once we handle all of this and save the worlds."

"Okay. I'll be waiting for you and help out at the castle then. Good luck!"

"Thanks, Yoshi."

"Hurry up, Mario!" Sonic called from the doorway.

"Coming!"

He hopped inside and took his seat next to Luigi at the front of the cockpit. Tails and Sonic got themselves situated in the back. Colombo was already resting on Luigi's lap.

"Return to us safely again, Masters! We're counting on you!"

"We'll do our best, Toadsworth!"

"Good luck, Mario!" Peach yelled.

"You can do it, Luigi!" Daisy cheered.

"Sonic, Tails! I'll be rooting for you!" Yoshi waved.

The dynamic quartet waved back as Colombo let out a hearty bark to them. Then, the chopper lifted off the ground and left the town, making their way to the southern forest.

Meanwhile, Duplimore was still hiding in the grounds, this time concealed in an apple bush. He watched the heroes fly away from the castle. "It's about time. They've finally returned." He immediately called his partner. "Duplicit. I've got to tell you something."

"Weird. I was about to call you to say something, too. You beat me to it though."

"Yeah, well, I just want to inform you that Luigi and his friends have made it back to the Mushroom Kingdom. They're heading to Boo Woods first before departing to Evershade."

"Well at least that's good."

Duplimore raised an eyebrow. "You mean your news is bad?"

"Yes. No joking aside, this is what I found out. And believe me, it does NOT sound good at all."

"Lay it on me." Duplicit thoroughly explained what he overheard from the Shadow Spirit. It left Duplimore in shock. "Oh no. That isn't good."

"I told you so."

"Alright. I'm gonna make my way there. Tell the boss on my behalf."

"Gotcha. I was going to tell him about this, and I'll make sure he knows of your impending arrival."

"Cool. Thanks."

"And by the way, when am I going to get my bet money?"

"Really, dude? Stop it," Duplimore scowled at him.


Location: Boo Woods

Another hole of the Oblivion floated high above Luigi's Mansion. By the time Mario landed the Copter in the woods, the five waddled to E. Gadd's front door. They heard his voice shortly after. "Fellows! Come on in, quickly."

The door unlocked, and they entered the lab. The professor and the Greenie ghost were both ecstatic and relieved to be reunited. Zephyr made a welcoming sound, eliciting a cheerful bark from Colombo.

"Welcome back! I'm very excited you've returned after all that mayhem!" the professor extended his arms out.

"Yeah, don't get us started on that, please," Sonic moaned.

"I presume you and the others from Sparkling Waters were saved, correct?"

"Yeah. Us three," Tails referred to Mario, Sonic, and himself, "Yoshi, Knuckles, Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot."

"Yoshi is with the princesses at the castle, and Eggman and his robots decided to stay at Chemical Plant to mend Metal Sonic," Mario clarified.

"Metal Sonic? You mean you faced that blue robotic doppelganger?"

"Luigi and the girls did. And Shrewd was the one to bring him to life."

"Criminy! No kidding?! I almost forgot about that darn ghost! Here, why don't you hand Zeph the Poltergust and you can tell me the gist of what happened in Mobius?"

Luigi nodded and removed the vacuum off his back. While they walked to the Storage Room, the heroes explained everything to E. Gadd. In the meantime, Zephyr attached the nozzle to the hose that sent the Shrewd Possessor down into the canister where the other possessed ghosts were held. He then attached the generator cord to recharge the Shriek Shields.

"Never in a million years would I ever expected Metal to be the next possessed entity. First a Cheep Chomp, then a gigantic tree monster, then Gooper Blooper, and Sonic's metal counterpart? It makes me wonder what Tough might have up his metaphorical sleeves."

"I rather not think about it," Luigi shuddered.

"Eh, that's beside the point. Let's get that Dark Moon piece cleaned up now. We already know the last one is at Evershade, likely in the Treacherous Mansion." E. Gadd gave Zephyr a thumbs-up, signaling him to turn on the Energy Suppressor.

"I did get another vision, though," Luigi mentioned as he placed the fragment on the turntable. As the piece got refurbished, he continued his anecdote. "The rest of Sonic's friends are definitely trapped there; in paintings, too."

"Your friends include those two hedgehogs and that detective agency, am I correct?"

"Silver, Faker, and the Chaotix. Yep, that's them."

"Sonic, was it really necessary to call Shadow that?"

"If it's better than Shads, then I'll refer to him as that," he smirked. His fox friend followed with a hand pinching his bangs, shaking his head with his eyes closed.

The Suppressor finished cleaning the fragment, but something happened before it got transferred into the Vault. Yes, the remaining fog over Treacherous Mansion did dissipate, but another event occurred inside the room. While the purple object glowed brightly, it shined brighter than before.

"Luigi, what's with your body?" Mario pointed at him.

He looked down to see himself glowing. He raised his right hand, examining the front and back of it. He did the same to his left, and peered at his feet. When he lifted his face, an energy orb shot out of the Dark Moon and rushed into him. Luigi was entranced with wide eyes and mouth agape. He almost lost his balance before Mario and Sonic ran to catch him by the underarms.

"Luigi?"

"Dude, you alright?"

Tails, Colombo, Zephyr, and E. Gadd watched him intrigue and concern. The green man blinked a couple times before shaking his head rapidly. He got back on his feet, thanks to his friends.

"Sorry. I didn't expect that."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. But I can say that I feel healthy again. Like, completely." He rolled up the left sleeve. There was supposed to be a scar from Scythe's blade. But it was gone, as if the body part was untouched. "My arm doesn't feel weak, and my scar disappeared, too. Everything in my body also feels normal, but exuberant."

"It's so similar to what took place the last three times," Tails deduced. "Whenever a powerful source glowed brightly, part of that energy entered Luigi's body to restore his condition. It happened with a combination of the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Moon pieces at the hospital and that one night we spent here. And I tried using our Emeralds along with the third fragment to restore him prior to our adventure in the Sparkling Waters. This time, even though we don't have any of the Chaos Emeralds, this Dark Moon piece was able to recover his most recent injuries."

"But again," Sonic scratched his noggin, "why is this happening? What's the connection between the Emeralds and Dark Moon pieces? And why was this one capable to help him when we don't even a Chaos Emerald to try and combine their powers?"

"It's still mind-boggling to me too, Sonic. Regardless, I feel much better than how I was this morning," Luigi twitched his neck to the sides, letting out a loud crack.

"How do you feel about returning to Evershade, lad?" E. Gadd questioned.

"I'm not anticipating anything good, but lingering around isn't a choice. We only have three days before the Oblivion destroys everything."

"As long as we can recover the Dark Moon piece by tonight, we have two days to retaliate and override Edge," Mario dictated.

"But we're wasting more time waiting for this vacuum to regenerate the shields," complained Sonic.

"Actually, Zephyr and I spent the last three days enhancing the power generator. After all our hard work, this baby can recharge a Shriek Shield for every five minutes instead of thirty! Since you've used only twelve in your last run, that means it'll take an hour to get it up to max count."

"I mean, it's more efficient than waiting for several hours," praised Tails.

"But that's way too long for me. I hate waiting."

"It's better to be safe with those shields than sorry without them," Mario contemplated. "We might as well go shopping for the time being."

"Fine. But I'm gonna go for a run. Shopping just makes me think of Amy. And I like to count myself out." With that, Sonic dashed out of the lab.

"Are you going to run after him, Tails?"

"Him going on runs doesn't surprise me in the slightest," Tails sighed to Luigi. "I rather not follow because I hate chasing after him when he's miles ahead of me."

"Do you want to join us to shop for items?" Mario offered.

"Sure."

"When you get back, I can make some tea before we can head to Evershade."

"You mean you're going to join us?" Luigi asked.

"Precisely! I can just hide- I mean, do some more research in my secondary bunker there. We'll also take the other Dark Moon pieces with us, which is why I haven't transferred this one down into the Vault," he pointed at the one that settled on the Energy Suppressor. "Once we restore the last one, we can rebuild the entire moon and reverse the curse for all the ghosts!"

"Okay, then. And I would like some tea."

"Me, too," Mario added.

"I wouldn't mind as well," said Tails.

E. Gadd chuckled. "Anything for my friends." Colombo barked at him, his eyes begging for something. "Sure, I'll get you a golden bone, sonny."

"Bark! Bark!"

Luigi, Mario, and Tails left the bunker as Colombo stayed with E. Gadd and Zephyr. The three hopped onto the Mushroom Copter to fly back to Toad Town.


"What did you say, Duplicit?" the boss' deep voice boomed.

"Everything that I heard recently, sir. It's all verbatim. He's targeting not just the man in green, again, but his brother as well!" he spoke to his leader.

"Hmm… I am not satisfied with this at all."

"I'm sorry, but I don't how to stop him from accomplishing this. I don't have that much power besides metamorphosis. And neither Duplimore nor I have used that ability since we were hired. Instead, we've been browsing and eavesdropping, giving you updates every time something happens. Speaking of Duplimore, he called me to say he's on his way here. Same thing with the green hero and his friends."

"Is that so? At least that's one small detail that I can look up to."

"I'm going to return to my post and await Duplimore's arrival. Are you fine, sir?"

The figure had a grim look on his face, but he remained calm and collected. "Yes. I am fine. You can leave now, thank you."

Duplicit bowed and left the hidden headquarters. At the same time, another individual walked in from the shadows from the other side of the room.

"I could barely hear what Duplicit said. What was that about?"

The man turned to the woman who questioned him. "Dear, there's imminent danger from what it looks like."

"What kind of danger?"

"Something that could affect the green hero and his brother in a terrible way. We can only hope Duplimore and Duplicit can fulfill their jobs so we exploit everything to him. And if possible, we'll have to protect the man in red, too."

The female gasped softly. "You mean Mario?" He nodded. "But, what is Edge plotting against those two?"

A deep frown was expressed on the man's face. "He's going to force Luigi to fight against his brother."


By the time the trio returned, the Poltergust 6000 was replenished with the maximum count of Shriek Shields. The plumbers and the fox sat around the table, enjoying the professor's Honey Syrup-flavored tea he brewed. Colombo was gnawing on a bone underneath them. Meanwhile, E. Gadd retrieved the first four pieces of the Dark Moon from the basement and placed them next to the one Luigi retrieved from Shrewd. He went to his computer, adjusting the frequency of the Pixelator. Minutes later, Sonic came rushing in, skidding on his red kicks while blowing the tea out of his friends' cups. Unfortunately, some of Tails' hot drink spilled on Luigi's overalls.

"Ouch!" he reacted, getting up from his chair. "Aw… So much for this pair of clothes."

"Damn it, Sonic. Did you really have run by us like that?" Tails narrowed his eyes.

"Whoops. Sorry about that."

"You seriously can't take things slow, can't you?" Mario shook his head.

"I don't associate with anything related to 'slow'. You should already know that, Mario."

"Well neither 'patient' nor 'smart' are two other things that don't describe you."

"Hey, I said I was sorry! Don't say that crap to me!"

Mario rolled his eyes, giving up on this conversation.

"Sigh, boys will be boys," E. Gadd said to himself as he continued typing away.

Zephyr hovered into the room with a roll of paper towels and a wireless hair dryer. He turned on the appliance, drying the wet spot for a couple minutes. He also took care of the spilled tea on the floor.

"Thanks, Zephyr."

The Greenie acknowledged his appreciation as he threw away the towels.

An image of the professor's shelter in Evershade appeared on the computer screen. E. Gadd rotated and hopped off his high chair. "Gentlemen, I got the Pixelator ready to send us to Evershade Valley. Does anyone have any questions before we take off?"

"Yeah. Why are we using the Pixelator when we have the Mushroom Copter? And two, since when did you plan on going with us?"

"Clearly you weren't here for that lecture. And I thought you knew better when it comes to speed." Tails had to explain everything Sonic missed after he ran off.

When he was done, E. Gadd handed a Dark Moon piece to each of the four protagonists. He kept the fifth one in the pocket of his lab coat. "I already gave word to Toadsworth that we'll have the helicopter on lock so that anyone won't try to hijack or destroy it while we're gone. Zephyr has taken the liberty to send us to the valley and stay behind to look after the lab."

"If everything's in check, then I guess we're ready," said Mario.

"Just wait for a sec." Luigi put the Poltergust on his back. "Now we're ready."

"Alrighty. Sonic and Tails, you youngsters will head out first. Mario and Colombo will go next. Luigi and I will follow suit. Just a warning though, my bunker in Evershade is not too big on square feet, so try not to accidentally bump into each other when you get there."

"Come on! Let's get there now!" Sonic spoke impatiently.

"Okay, Zephyr! Hit the switch!"

The ghost made a noise and gave a hand gesture to signal he was ready. However, he grabbed a wrench from the tool rack and floated over to a tablet-like device with two detachable controllers, held inside a rectangular dock. He raised the metal item and…

"ZEPHYR! Not that Switch! (2) The switch on my chair!"

"You could've said 'joystick' to avoid confusion," Luigi rolled his eyes.

The Greenie now understood what Gadd meant. He pressed the joystick on the professor's chair to activate the red camera. Once he did, the computer screen shot a beam at Tails and Sonic to transform them into pixels. He did it again to send Mario and Colombo through the green subspace. Luigi breathed in deeply as Zephyr was about to press the button a third time.

"Don't worry, Luigi. I'll be right next to you."

"Thanks, Professor. But that's not what I'm worried about most," he thought that last sentence with a hint of dread. He lowered his head and placed his hands on his hat, crouching as he awaited to be pixelated.

By then, the two entered the screen as their materialized bodies transported to their destination. Luigi was now one step closer to saving the Evershade ghosts again, and another step further to prevent Edge from fulfilling his master plan. Still, he could only wonder how he and his friends were going to pull it off.

END OF CHAPTER


I chose to postpone Luigi's true return to Evershade Valley until the start of Ch. 44, so I'm sorry if I got your hopes up too early. Regardless, he, alongside Mario, Sonic, Tails, and Colombo, must find their friends and save them from the paintings. Afterwards, they'll have to fight the Tough Possessor and defeat him to claim the final Dark Moon fragment. But will Myster Edge hinder our heroes before they could get the chance?

I'll do my best to get the next chapter in by Christmas. Once that happens, Hidden Bravery will go back to its schedule of one upload every other Monday (unless I'm busy). But until we meet again, this is TGN, signing off.


Post-Chapter Notes:

(1): In the story mode of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Subspace Bombs were detonated to consume many stages throughout the World of Trophies. The regions were then combined to form 'The Great Maze', the WORST part of the campaign. But anyways, the multiple black holes replaced the lost colonies. I wanted to compare those to the Oblivion in this story.

(2): I don't even need to explain this PCN.