Setting down his mug of cocoa, Luigi took out his phone and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Luigi…" Brad's voice was hushed and solemn. "I think we may have a clue regarding Mario's situation."
"You know where he is?" Luigi asked hopefully.
Brad cleared his throat. "There's a rumor floating around," he said. "Right now, they're saying—that King Boo escaped."
Luigi's heart stood still. "Who…?" he demanded.
"It's just a rumor for now," said Brad, "but if King Boo has in fact escaped, then he likely wants to hurt you for what you did to him."
Bile rose in Luigi's throat as he remembered the image of the portrait in the burlap sack. Those shoes. That cap. That shadow…
"Knowing his m.o.," Brad went on, "my best bet is that he'll want to lure both you and Mario into a trap, make you watch as he does whatever he pleases to your brother, and then…" He didn't need to finish that sentence, and they both knew it. "I think you should have your guard up over these next few days."
"So should you—along with Chad, Thad, Conrad and Peach," Luigi said as he clutched his stomach. "I don't know if he knows about the Princess, but I'm not taking any chances."
"We'll guard Peach with our lives, Luigi," said Brad. "Stay safe, okay?"
"Same to you."
Luigi hung up, dove for the trash bin and retched.
"Wow. Are you okay?" asked Ned as he walked into the lounge.
Luigi shook his head. "There's talk—that King Boo—somehow—escaped."
He wiped his mouth, splashed some water on his face and rejoined the Professor to warn him.
"I just got off the phone with an old friend in the MK," said Luigi. "King Boo is rumored to have escaped, and if that's true, then we'll both be in his crosshairs."
Fred and Zed exchanged alarmed looks.
"He'll probably want to set a trap for me and…" Luigi trailed off. "Dio. Maybe this is the trap. Maybe he arranged for the Dark Moon to be shattered, knowing that you'd call me, and then…"
"If he's in fact behind this," said Gadd, "then we need to stay on our toes. Fred, Zed and Ned—you're not leaving this Bunker without my say-so. Is that understood?"
The Toad Assistants nodded vigorously.
"We've got to get that Dark Moon piece now," Luigi said urgently. "Professor, is that Possessor still in the workshop?"
"Yes—the Parascope is still picking up that strong signal," Gadd replied.
"Great. Send me over there."
"These Possessors are smarter than your average ghost," said Gadd, "but I know you can beat them."
"Really?"
"Really, really."
Luigi blushed. "Thanks, Professor."
"Let's show this next Possessor what we're made of," said Gadd. "Off you go!"
Luigi gave a determined nod before Gadd pixelated him out.
…
There was no sign of a possessor, or of any ghost, when Luigi entered the workshop. There was a huge sheet of ice in the center of the room, some barrels, a few crates and a bobsled.
"Hello?" Luigi called.
No answer.
Cautiously, Luigi pulled the door shut behind him. And when he swiveled back around—
There was the Possessor!
This Possessor had four horns, and like the others, a Dark Moon piece floated inside of them. Their sudden appearance caused Luigi to jolt back in alarm, losing his balance and falling on his bum. Laughing, the Possessor dove into the large ice sheet, which began crackling and glowing ominously. Back on his feet, Luigi saw an icy face grin at him, pupil-less eyes flashing open and a mouth opening in a roar. The face then descended into a pit, sending several barrels rolling across the ground. Luigi just stood there in shock, staring after the icy face, not seeing the bobsled coming at him. He gave a cry of surprise as the bobsled knocked him off his feet, but he was able to grab onto it and hop aboard. This bobsled also came with some sort of bomb-launching mechanism. Perfect! Luigi broke into a [bleep]-eating grin as he steered the sled after the icy face.
Thick sheets of ice formed around the icy face, and Luigi had to destroy those sheets one by one by firing bombs. It should've been easy, but appearances were deceiving. Luigi had to aim carefully, and the launcher had a limited range of movement. With the icy face constantly rotating, he had to time his shots, as well. There was no worry over running out of bombs, but he had to keep an eye on a temperature gauge to his right. With each bomb Luigi let loose, the bobsled's temperature slowly increased, and he couldn't let it overheat. Once it did, the vehicle could explode, and he'd be unlikely to survive that. And the cherry on this f—ing sundae? If he let the icy face slide out of range, then the protective ice sheets would regenerate, making him start all over again.
But thinking negatively wouldn't get him the Dark Moon piece. Luigi sat high on that bobsled, the icy wind shrieking in his ears and blowing his bangs back as he blasted away the ice sheets protecting the icy face. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards into a smile as his blood pumped faster and faster. Fighting this ice monster was a hassle, but it wouldn't stop him from making the most of it.
Luigi destroyed the last ice sheet and then gasped as the ice monster lunged at him, mouth open to swallow him whole! Thinking quickly, he fired a bomb into the monster's mouth. Their eyes turned red, and then an explosion rocked the frozen pit. The Possessor was forced out of the ice and landed on solid ground, the bobsled coming to an abrupt halt and bucking Luigi off.
As usual, the Possessor surrounded themselves with a paranormal shield before attempting to ram Luigi. But this one created small portals for ingress and egress, allowing Luigi to evade their charge easier. When the Possessor bashed into an icy wall, they dropped their shield, dazed, and Luigi pounced. He quickly found purchase on the frozen ground as he stunned the Possessor and vacuumed away their first coat.
Then, the Possessor leaped back into the ice and retreated further into the frozen pit, Luigi hopping back onto the bobsled as it slid toward him. More protective sheets had formed around the ice monster, more icy sheets that Luigi had to blast away while simultaneously trying to keep the bobsled from overheating. But aside from that, Luigi hung on and enjoyed the chilly ride, launching bombs with surprising precision as he screamed like a little boy on a roller coaster. When the ice monster tried to eat him, he launched a bomb inside their wide open mouth, forcing the Possessor back out of the ice.
With the ground even icier, Luigi found it harder to dodge the Possessor's charge, even slipping into their trajectory. Despite ending up on the ground with half of the wind knocked from him, Luigi let the Poltergust rip the second he saw the Possessor drop their shield, sweating despite the cold as he sucked up his adversary's second coat.
Back the Possessor dove into the ice sheet, Luigi on their tail aboard the bomb-launching bobsled. His cries and laughter echoed throughout the frozen pit as he let the bombs fly, the cold numbing his face. A great whoop tore from him, as if he was ziplining across a mountain range, when the ice monster opened wide and barreled at him. He sent one last bomb flying into the ice monster's mouth, knocking the Possessor out of their host.
Breathing heavily, Luigi flashed the Strobulb at this shrewd Possessor before they had time to form their paranormal shield, one good Surge sending them into the vacuum. The nozzle shuddered, and then the Dark Moon piece ejected itself from the vacuum, knocking Luigi backward.
The ghost-hunter's body was shaking, in the throes of a major adrenaline high. Despite being deep underground in a cold mine, Luigi felt incredibly warm. Soft laughter escaped him as he stepped over to the Dark Moon piece, scooped it up and pocketed it.
The Dual Scream rang.
"Yello?" he answered, his voice breathy and shaky.
The static was so bad that he could barely hear what Gadd was saying. But he did manage to hear the Professor say, "Hold on!"
"Ciao." Luigi hung up and started to do a victory dance, only to reconsider when he slipped a little on the frozen ground.
It was only a stretch of luck that the Pixelator was able to work.
…
"Where in God's name were you, Luigi?" Gadd wanted to know. "Fred, Zed, Ned and I could barely follow you!"
"That was one of the shrewdest Possessors I've ever met," said Luigi. "They possessed the ice, and I had to chase them on a bomb-launching sled down a frozen pit!"
"Sounds like a lot of fun," opined Ned.
"Trust me—it was," replied Luigi.
"We were just worried you were too deep into the mountain for the Pixelator to bring you back," Fred put in.
"So—you captured the Possessor?" asked Gadd.
"I did," replied Luigi.
"What about the Dark Moon piece?"
Luigi patted his pocket. "I have it here."
Gadd jumped in his seat. "Great job, Luigi! Let's send that Possessor down to the Vault."
Luigi did just that, and then he gave the Professor the Dark Moon piece, watching as the machine cleaned off the corrupting dark magic.
"I reckon some more fog has lifted," said Gadd. "Let's take a look."
They consulted the digital map, where a fifth building appeared.
"Hmm—that place," murmured Gadd. "I'd better take a reading with the Parascope." His fingers flew across his keyboard.
"I won't disturb you, then," said Luigi, heading back into the lounge.
He needed something to calm his nerves, anyway.
Please R&R.