Fred, Zed, Ned, Ted and Ed finished ministering to the last of Luigi's wounds as Gadd sat at the console, searching for any sign of King Boo. Then, the man in green poured himself some more sweet wine to soothe and steady his nerves. Just as he finished the glass, Gadd stiffened.
"Mary, mother of God…" he uttered.
"What's wrong?" asked Luigi.
"The Parascope just picked something up," Gadd told him, "and it looks really serious."
"Is it King Boo?" asked Fred.
"No," replied Gadd. "It's the Treacherous Mansion—it's crawling with ghosts! They're trying to reclaim the property like the previous four locales, and I'm starting to think that King Boo is behind it!"
"Who else is there to consider?" Ned wanted to know. "My guess is that King Boo flew into a rage every time we recovered a Dark Moon piece."
"But we still haven't recovered the last Dark Moon piece," said Luigi. "Maybe this is a preemptive strike to keep us from doing so."
"You're on the ball with that one, my friend," said Zed.
"That psycho just sent out a horde of ghosts to take the Treacherous Mansion back!" reported Gadd. "And not just any ghosts—he's sending the strongest ghosts he's got! A terrifying invasion if there ever was one!"
"If he succeeds, then his army of ghosts will be able to invade all of Evershade Valley and beyond!" Ed chimed in.
Luigi snatched at his hair. "What if—he escapes with my bro while I'm dealing with these ghosts? What then?"
"You have a chance of nipping this in a bud, Luigi," Ted said comfortingly. "Then, you can chase after King Boo, kick his [bleep] and whisk Mario to safety."
"I hope so," said Luigi.
"You'll need to give this everything you have, Luigi!" said Fred. "We have faith in you, and we know your bro does, too!"
"Okeydokey—let's do this!" cried Luigi.
He hardly even flinched as Gadd Pixelated him out.
…
"There they are!" shouted Gadd once Luigi arrived at the front entrance. "Check your map, my boy!"
The first batch of ghosts were located in the Dark Age exhibit, and most of them were enhanced and armed with swords and shields. Luigi plugged in his earbuds, let out a breath and let those ghosts have it. He barely felt the swords when they slashed him or the heavy shields when they bashed him. His mind was fixed on capturing these ghosts and getting to Mario in time. Eventually, he found an opening, stunned the ghosts and sucked them into the Poltergust.
"No time to rest, youngster!" Gadd exclaimed. "I've pinpointed the next bunch for you!"
More enhanced ghosts had taken over the study and the east corridor. There were Strong Greenies, Strong Slammers and "mummies" in the latter location, and Strong Sneakers, Strong Hiders and enhanced ghosts wearing some sort of eye protection in the former location. Luigi's body was sore by the time he'd cleared out both rooms, but he was too wired, worried and motivated to acknowledge it.
"Don't give up—the final wave has appeared!" cried Gadd. "You can do it!"
This final wave had taken over the archives, the nautical exhibit and the space exhibit. As Luigi trekked through each of these rooms, battling every enhanced ghost that came his way, his blood was pumping harder, faster. His skin was hot, perspiration sparkled on his face and his shirt was stuck to him. He had to remind himself to breathe at a steady pace at least twice. None of these ghosts went down without a fight, but now, Luigi no longer expected them to. The Treacherous Mansion echoed with the Strobulb's ZZAPP, the Poltergust's whirring, the enhanced ghosts' chattering and the ghost-hunter's deep breaths and occasional grunts with effort. It wasn't long before Luigi's fingers ached from gripping the nozzle, his hands wet with sweat. Without even stopping, he shifted his grip before pressing on harder than ever. These ghosts wouldn't stand in the way of helping his sibling, enhanced or otherwise!
Through sheer will, Luigi put an end to this terrifying invasion. Hearing the Dual Scream ring, he answered it with a breathless "Yeah?"
"Amazing, Luigi! Simply amazing!" gushed Gadd. "You're the finest ghost hunter I've ever laid eyes on! They never knew what hit 'em!"
"We're not out of it yet, though," said Luigi.
"I want you to rest before we plan our next move, all right?" asked Gadd. "Sit tight—I'm firing up the Pixelator."
"Ciao," said Luigi before hanging up.
When it came to dealing with King Boo, a well thought-out plan was key.
…
"Another crisis has been averted, Luigi!" cheered Gadd. "However, I didn't think the Poltergust 5000 could hold that many ghosts! Let's unload her, posthaste!"
Luigi emptied his reliable ghost vacuum before allowing the Toad Assistants to fuss over his fresh wounds.
"I still can't believe you pulled that off," Gadd said in wonder.
"Me, neither," said Luigi.
"However, something tells me that King Boo has a far more destructive scheme up his sleeve," Gadd went on. "That this takeover attempt—was merely a warm-up of things to come."
Silence.
"Like I said—it was probably a preemptive strike," said Luigi, "and now that I've foiled it…"
He was cut off when an alarm sounded.
Gadd's face paled as he ran over to check the Parascope. And his 72 years of paranormal research couldn't prepare him for what he saw…
More to come!