Professor Gadd, Fred, Zed, Ned, Ted, Ed and Luigi stood in the Bunker, staring at the security image that Ed and Ted had provided. They all hoped that it would give them clues regarding the last Dark Moon piece's whereabouts. All it did, however, was make the direness of the situation abundantly clear.
"Oh, my holy God," murmured Fred.
"No way," said Ned.
"This can't be real," gasped Gadd.
Luigi said nothing, the color drained from his face and his eye pupils dilated, as he kept staring at the image on the monitor. His wide-eyed gaze was drilled on the portrait in the sack that the Boos had carried around the valley. The piece of artwork had partially slipped out of the burlap, and as soon as Luigi had a good look at it, he was inconsolable. For there, helpless and unmoving against the monochrome canvas, was none other than—
"M—Mario…!"
The man in red was in horrific shape—nasty bruises splotched on his skin, blood seeping from his nose, mouth and the gashes adorning his body. From his posture, Luigi deduced that Mario had been trying to ward off something—or someone—whoever was responsible for doing this to him. At least he'd endeavored to resist—there were some defensive wounds on his hands to prove it. But that hardly did anything to comfort Luigi—he was locked in on the pain, terror and borderline hysteria he saw in his brother's eyes.
"Mario…" he breathed.
"How the [bleep] did those b—ds get their hands on him?!" shrieked Zed. "This is downright awful!"
Luigi ignored him, moving forward as if in a trance. He reached out and gently touched Mario's image on the monitor, hoping that it would somehow let him know that he was there and that rescue was on the way. His lips trembled, his breath shuddered and his eyes squeezed shut as he bowed his head.
He stayed that way for a few seconds. Then, his eyes snapped open, his jaw tightened, and his free hand clenched into a fist. When he swung around to face Gadd and the Toad Assistants, they were taken aback by the plumber's fierce but determined facial expression.
"Hey," Gadd said comfortingly. "You're gonna get him out of this. You did it before, and by God, you'll do it again!"
Luigi nodded briskly.
"Wait a sec—the background…" Ed squinted. "That's the train exhibit! What are they doing in there?"
"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Ted solemnly stated.
Any further discourse on the matter was halted when they all sensed—movement—within the security image. To the image's right was a large, imposing Boo wearing a familiar-looking crown. And that Boo suddenly turned around and looked right at Luigi, laughing that evil, wicked laugh which chilled the blood in his veins.
"Dio Omnipotente," he managed to gasp out. "It's him!"
King Boo's violet eyes burned hatefully into everyone in the room, and he let out one final cackle before the image glitched and fuzzed out.
"D—mit! God—mit!" hissed Gadd. "This is all my fault! I gave King Boo's painting away—and now I put Mario in danger! Oh, Luigi—you must hate me now!"
"Professor—it was an honest mistake," Luigi said in a forgiving tone. "You had no way of knowing he was behind it—if he was behind it."
"He was," said Ned. "No doubt about it."
"He was in Evershade Valley all along," realized Fred. "He could've attacked us directly at any time, and he could've attacked Luigi at any time—but he didn't."
"Because he wants us to play a game," said Luigi. "That's his m.o. He wants to toy with us first before going for the kill."
"That sick [bleep]!" spat Gadd. "If he thinks we're gonna just sit by and…" He composed himself. "Ed—you said they have him in the train exhibit?"
"Yeah," replied Ed.
"Gimme a minute." Gadd mapped the location on the Dual Scream. "It seems that wherever King Boo goes, he takes Mario's painting with him. Luigi—you've got to get to that train exhibit and rescue your brother!"
"Maybe he can help us locate the final Dark Moon piece and give us tips on how to beat King Boo," added Zed.
Luigi made a tight fist and smacked it into his palm. "I'm gonna send him into that Vault of yours where he belongs," he vowed. "Or I'll die trying."
Gadd handed Luigi a makeshift rotor. "You'll need this," he said. "It'll let you turn that huge staircase that rose from the ground."
"Thanks," Luigi said distractedly.
"Look lively, Luigi!" exhorted Ned. "Your brother needs you!"
Luigi steeled his face as Gadd activated the Pixelator.
…
Once inside the Treacherous Mansion, Luigi ran straight toward the Inner Courtyard and screwed the makeshift rotor into place. Just as he finished tightening it, the Dual Scream rang. Blowing air between his lips, Luigi answered it.
"Yello?"
"Wow, that's one nifty stairway," mused Gadd. "Now head to the train exhibit!"
"You don't have to tell me twice," said Luigi. "Ciao."
He hung up and used his vacuum to spin the rotor, and by extension, the staircase. Once the staircase was facing right, Luigi stopped vacuuming the rotor and raced upstairs, taking the steps two at a time. This took him into the east corridor.
Ghostly laughter came from all around as Luigi moved briskly but cautiously down the east corridor. He pushed through a door into a nautical exhibit, where a Strong Slammer leered at him. But with so much mist in the room, he couldn't use the Strobulb. The mist seemed to be coming from an open porthole-styled window, which he closed. Once he vacuumed up the remaining mist, Luigi turned his attention on the Strong Slammer, stunning them as they fiddled around with a ship's wheel. As he struggled with the Strong Slammer, Luigi saw a Strong Greenie wearing a diver's helmet arrive on the scene. He dodged the incoming attack, only for the Strong Slammer to break free and send him stumbling with a shockwave clap. Then, another Strong Greenie appeared.
This is for you, Bro, Luigi thought as he narrowed his eyes and fired off his Strobulb again. The Strong Slammer and the unarmed Strong Greenie were stunned, while the Strong Greenie in the diver's helmet flitted around Luigi, throwing punches whenever possible. After he wrestled the unarmed Strong Greenie into the Poltergust, the Strong Slammer broke free again. At that point, Luigi dodged or tried to dodge the attacks from the two remaining enhanced ghosts until the remaining Strong Greenie removed the diver's helmet to taunt him. He pounced as soon as opportunity knocked, vacuuming up the ghosts in a matter of minutes. Giving himself no time to catch his breath, he activated the E-Gate below the window and used it to return to the front entrance.
He made a stop in the Dark Age exhibit to grab that bucket before returning to the nautical exhibit. By placing the bucket onto a life raft, he uncovered a door which took him to the exhibit's model ship. To his delight, there was a diamond in a small chest. Before leaving the room, he spun the wheel the Strong Slammer had played with until the compass on the ground pointed north, flipping the E-Gate around.
The next room Luigi explored was a study, where one of the books on the bookshelf was missing. Using the DLD, he found the missing book on a small table, and out of force of habit, he slid the book into its proper place on the bookshelf.
And then a ghostly hand pushed the book back out.
Luigi heard a familiar laugh as he peered through the space where the book was supposed to be. "Hello?" he asked.
He found himself roughly shoved to the floor, and a Strong Poltergeist materialized in the study, telekinetically picking up the book and flying off with it.
As Luigi got to his feet, the Dual Scream rang.
"Yello?"
"You need to go after that Poltergeist!" said Gadd. "The passage in the bookshelf won't open without the book they took!"
"Just my luck," huffed Luigi.
"The Parascope doesn't work well in the Treacherous Mansion, but I'll try to find them!" Gadd went on. "Okay—here we go—eureka! They're located somewhere on this floor—on the west side. I know—not very precise, but better than nothing! Start searching while I keep trying."
"Ciao." Luigi hung up before peering through a nearby crack in the wall.
"My God—that looks like the train exhibit," he mused. "I need to get that book back!"
Luigi went back to the inner courtyard and used the rotor to turn the staircase until it faced left. From there, he accessed the west corridor. Right off the bat, he noticed a purple gelatinous puddle on the floor and shone the DLD on it before the puddle shaped itself into a Creeper. After vacuuming up the Creeper, he continued down the west corridor, capturing more Creepers as he went, a few of them surprising him and giving him gelatinous hugs before he turned the tables on them. After that, he had to fend off a few spiders before heading into an aviation exhibit.
Several Strong Hiders and Strong Greenies were hiding in a giant hot air balloon model, and they attacked Luigi the second he approached them. After he defeated the ghosts, he released the hot air balloon model from its tether, uncovering a diamond hidden in a grate below. Back in the west corridor, he came upon a hidden door, turning it visible with his DLD and heading into a space exhibit.
The space exhibit consisted of a model rocket, a couple of telescopes, a smaller model rocket and a model of the moon's surface. An E-Gate happened to be concealed in the rocket, which Luigi quickly activated. One of the telescopes ominously rattled, and Luigi, suspicious, decided to look through it.
He saw the Strong Poltergeist, telekinetically manipulating the book he needed, floating atop a crater-laden planet surrounded by rocks. There were additional planets in the background, along with orbiting moons and a bright, light blue star. Luigi couldn't help but be entranced by the sight, as it reminded him that on the grand scale of things, he was quite small.
And then he was standing on the planet, the Strong Poltergeist laughing at him. He recovered his wits and readied himself to fight as his opponent disappeared into one of the planet's craters. The surrounding rocks began to spin around the planet at a steadily increasing speed, and the Strong Poltergeist hurled star-shaped projectiles at Luigi. Skillfully maintaining his balance, he waited for the enhanced ghost to rematerialize before stunning them with the Strobulb. There was barely anything to anchor himself against here, except for maybe the planet's rough surface, so when the Strong Poltergeist tugged at him, he just tugged back harder. Finally, the Strong Poltergeist broke free, and the rocks surrounding the planet starting spinning counterclockwise.
Now, Luigi had to watch out for numerous bombs popping out of the planet's craters, in addition to the star-shaped projectiles. The bombs' fuses were too short, so he couldn't risk throwing the bombs back at his adversary. In addition to the bombs, the Strong Poltergeist would summon those pesky beetles. But Luigi thought about Mario, once again in a portrait and paraded around in a burlap sack like a prize, this time unable to move or scream. He could only see the book that would allow him into the train exhibit. And so he took it all—the beetle bites, the bombs and the star-shaped projectiles—he took everything his enhanced foe threw at him to get that book in his hands.
Luigi was nearly dead on his feet when he overcame the Strong Poltergeist and reclaimed the book, but two of those hearts replenished his health. He returned to the study and slid the book into the bookshelf, which lifted to reveal a door.
"I did it!" he cried.
He was about to walk through the door when he hesitated. There were probably more Boos in the area, more Boos he needed to capture so they wouldn't even entertain the idea of threatening Mario again. His gaze landed on some gum-like plants to his right. If there were more areas to explore, then he couldn't afford to leave any stone unturned. But what if it was a distraction, allowing King Boo to whisk Mario away?
Go, he heard a voice say. I'll be fine. You need to get rid of any Boos out and about. They won't let you near me.
Unwillingly, Luigi sucked up a gum-like plant, headed back into the main entrance and floated up to a gargoyle statue. Flashing the Strobulb at the statue caused it to drop a book similar to the ones he saw in the Dark Age exhibit. Returning the book to the small bookshelf there yielded another diamond.
Using the gum-like plants, Luigi was able to access more areas in the exhibits he'd explored earlier. By completing mini-games and solving puzzles, he earned additional treasure and diamonds. But there was still a Boo lurking around—he could feel it.
He found the Boo after solving a puzzle in the Dark Age exhibit, which involved collecting floating coins arranged in a Boo shape within a certain time limit. The Boo hid inside a treasure chest which materialized upon the puzzle's successful completion.
"Ahem—I am Booreaucrat! This mansion is now under the ownership of King Boo, Esquire," said the Boo. "I take it you have the proper credentials to be here, including ID and a mansion-roaming license?"
"How's this for a mansion-roaming license?" snapped Luigi, pointing the Poltergust's nozzle at Booreaucrat.
"I'll take that as a 'no'," cackled Booreaucrat. "I guess you'll have to be penalized!"
But Luigi wound up penalizing Booreaucrat—by launching them all over the Dark Age exhibit and then shoving them into the Poltergust to join their Boo buddies.
Good, the voice said. You did good. Now head back to the study—quickly!
That's just what Luigi did, finally entering the train exhibit. He coldly took down the enhanced Sneakers and Hiders who made the mistake of trying to attack him, and then he searched the exhibit top to bottom for Mario.
Look in the miniature train model, said the voice.
When Luigi obliged, he stopped breathing. He could see his imprisoned brother, shrunken to bite size, as bite-sized Boos formed a semi-circle in front of him. They giggled at him, made faces at him, taunted him—and sensually licked the canvas from time to time. Luigi's knees gave out, tears coming to his eyes.
"Mario…"
A Boo suddenly jumped into his face, giggling evilly.
"Come along, you green p—y," they challenged. "We have him. Now come get him."
Luigi's blood boiled, but before he could rebuke the Boo, his Dual Scream rang.
"What?" he barked.
"Do you see him?" asked Gadd.
"They—he—he's in the—miniature train—model," spluttered Luigi. "They're hovering around him, laughing at him and licking the canvas. He's immobile, but I think he can hear what they're saying and…"
"Steady, my boy," said Gadd. "I'm bringing you back so we can formulate a game plan. Hold on tight."
"Okay," exhaled Luigi.
He hung up and took one last look at his imperiled big bro.
"It's okay, Mario," he said. "I'm here now. I'm here now…"
…
"Chin up, Luigi," said Gadd. "We'll get your brother back."
"How?" Luigi wanted to know. "They shrunk him down to bite-size and stashed him in the miniature train model."
"I know a way," said Gadd. "Empty your Poltergust, and then I'll tell you."
Once all of the ghosts Luigi had captured were safely in the Vault, Gadd began to detail his plan.
"Did you happen to see that tiny camera inside the miniature model of the train exhibit?" he asked.
"Not really. No," replied Luigi.
"I might be able to route the Pixelator to it and send you in!" announced Gadd. "Of course, it's incredibly dangerous. I've never tried pixelating anything or anyone with such a small camera."
"If it's the only way, then it's worth a shot," said Luigi.
"You're absolutely right," said Gadd.
Luigi headed into the lounge and whipped out his phone. He had to warn the MK!
Please R&R.