"Any news?"
"Still no word," said Conrad. "A few Toads are on their way to his house for a welfare check."
Luigi's heart dropped into his stomach. A welfare check? This was definitely more serious than he imagined!
"D—mit! I should've been there, Conrad! Maybe I could've helped him and…"
"We'll get to the bottom of this," said Conrad. "Don't worry. But Peach doesn't want the MK thrown into panic. While Mario's well-being is her top priority, so is maintaining order over her dominion."
"Yes, I understand that, but…"
"Luigi?" Gadd's voice sounded.
Luigi let out a huff. "I gotta go," he said. "Keep me posted."
He hung up and rejoined Gadd and Fred. "What is it?" he asked.
"We're not quite done with the Haunted Towers yet," said the professor. "Remember when the Gloomy Manor had some—unexpected visitors? Those ghosts that came out of nowhere?"
"Yeah. Did it—happen again?"
"Yes. Only this time, the paranormal signals seem—stronger."
"Yikes," said Luigi. "That sounds like a hostile intrusion if you ask me."
"I agree," said Fred. "The professor and I are playing it safe and sending you in to investigate."
"As usual, I'll be watching your progress and guiding you from here," said Gadd. "Look lively!"
"Okeydokey!" said Luigi.
With that, Gadd pixelated Luigi to the Haunted Towers' entrance.
…
"Luigi, am I coming in loud and clear?"
Luigi stood up and brushed himself off. "Yeah," he replied.
"All right. I've marked the location of the ghosts on your map. Hop to it!"
Luigi studied the Dual Scream, found the exclamation points, plugged in his earbuds and then set off.
The first ghosts were located in the Hydro Generator room, in the greenhouse and in the gardener's dwelling. In the Hydro Generator room, Luigi tangled with lots of Slammers, followed by Greenies and a few Hiders. He tried to deal with the Hiders first, only for the powerful Slammers to distract him. Eventually, he just sought to capture the ghosts causing him the most trouble at the moment. That throwdown got his blood pumping, and good thing, too, because what awaited him in the greenhouse and in the gardener's dwelling was tougher. First, there were Greenies armed with shovels, using them to defend themselves against the Strobulb as well as viciously jabbing them at Luigi. They left half-moon-shaped bruises on his skin, paired with similarly shaped cuts which stung and bled but otherwise weren't dangerous. Whenever the ghosts hurt him, he just walked it off and didn't stop fighting until they all were in the Poltergust.
He licked the sweat off his upper lip as Gadd's voice came in over the Dual Scream.
"More ghosts about, youngster!" he warned. "Check your map, and give them what for!"
This second round of ghosts had taken over the plant nursery, the conservatory and the toolshed. And here, there were a lot of Creepers joining the party in the form of innocuous puddles. Whenever Luigi saw a purple puddle, he shone the DLD on it, causing the puddle to form into a Creeper, and then yanked them off the ground with a powerful surge. These Creepers could get pretty large, too, and they enjoyed giving him gelatinous hugs whenever he came upon them. There were a lot more armed Greenies in the mix, too, along with those gross Gobbers. But the more Creepers, armed Greenies and Gobbers he came across, the more opportunities he had to practice dealing with them. Live and learn, and all that good stuff.
And not once had he entertained the idea of throwing in the towel and making a beeline for home. Perhaps he was getting used to this—
Gadd's voice broke him out of his thoughts.
"Holy [bleep]! More, still? Why are they back there?"
"Beats me," said Luigi.
He started in the west bedroom and worked his way down from there, encountering more Creepers and Gobbers, along with Sneakers, Slammers and Hiders. There were a few Greenies, but they tended to appear after Luigi defeated the stronger ghosts. Not that it mattered, since they were armed, anyway.
From the west bedroom to the family room to the solarium and the botany lab, Luigi fought nonstop against the ghosts still wandering around the Haunted Towers. Along the way, he collected plentiful gold bars and dollar bills, even another golden bone. And no matter how big the ghostly horde and how much of a fight they gave him, he still didn't think about abandoning the venture. At this rate, he could finish retrieving the other Dark Moon pieces and still have time to uncover his brother's whereabouts. And Gadd had sounded extremely shaken when he'd called. If it was serious enough to shake up an experienced man of science, then it was serious enough to call in a "timid" man with a ghost vacuum.
By the time Luigi finished clearing out the courtyard, his blood was practically thrumming.
The Dual Scream rang.
"Yello?"
"That's the last of them, Luigi!" Gadd reported. "Hopefully, we won't get another event like this anytime soon."
"Don't tempt the Fates, Professor," cautioned Luigi.
"Uh—okay," said Gadd. "I'm bringing you back now."
"Ciao," said Luigi before hanging up and dancing happily about the courtyard.
…
"I knew I could depend on you, Luigi," said Gadd. "Good job!"
"Thank you very much," replied Luigi.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're starting to enjoy this gig," Gadd craftily went on.
Luigi blushed, for he knew Gadd wasn't completely wrong.
"Beneath that cautious, nervous exterior lies a daring thrill seeker with a heart of gold," Fred chimed in.
"You're—right about the 'heart of gold' part," said Luigi as he emptied the Poltergust.
"Now, where were we?" asked Gadd. "Ah, yes—the ghosts. Always with the ghosts."
"Well—you've dealt with them all your life," said Luigi. "I've dealt with them—directly—only once, and frankly, I planned for it to stay that way."
"Plans have a peculiar habit of changing," Gadd said wisely. "Getting back to the subject, though, I still don't understand where all of those ghosts are coming from."
Fred and Luigi hummed in agreement.
"The Parascope doesn't detect them until they're here, so I can't trace their origin." Gadd sighed deeply. "Well, they're gone now, so let's get back to our quest."
"I'm with you there," said Luigi.
He was quite curious as to what would await him in the Old Clockworks.
…
"He's claimed another Dark Moon piece!" reported the Boo. "Should we be concerned, Your Grace?"
"On the contrary, we should be happy," King Boo replied. "Each Dark Moon piece he collects will bring him closer to our surprise for him."
"But if he gets all of the Dark Moon pieces," said another Boo, "then the local ghosts will be back to their pacifist selves, and all of this will be for nothing."
"I assure you," smirked King Boo, "he won't make that far before I get my hands on him. I defy him to get past our new friends waiting for him at the Old Clockworks—especially our muscle laying in wait atop the Clock Tower."
The Boos exchanged a look before sharing their King's smile.
"Run along now, and check on the rest of the valley," said King Boo. "I'm going to pay a visit to our red-clad friend."
The Boos nodded and departed, and King Boo took his leave as well, cackling softly to himself.
Please R&R.