His hands still trembled as he dialed Brad's number, and he was close to tears. Thanks to him, an epic disaster had been narrowly avoided. Yet for the life of him, he couldn't stop mulling over what would've happened had he been only a fraction of a second too late.

"Hey, Luigi," said Brad when he picked up.

Luigi swallowed back a sob. "Oh, Brad," he said. "Tell Peach—that she's been an important part of my life. Falling down that pipe into her kingdom and rescuing her alongside Mario was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Could you—could you tell her that, please? And tell her—I said—thank you."

"Luigi, I—I don't follow," Brad said nervously.

"King Boo—he's gone bat-[bleep] insane! He ripped open a paranormal portal and sent out a bunch of crazed ghosts and…" His voice broke, and he covered his mouth to muffle the hysterical sobs that escaped from him.

The five Toad Assistants tottered over to comfort him. On the other end of the line, he heard another familiar voice say something to Brad.

"All right, Luigi," said Brad. "The Princess is standing next to me. I'm gonna put her on, okay?"

"Okay," Luigi managed to reply.

"Luigi? Can you hear me?" asked Peach's dulcet voice.

"Y-yeah. Can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can. Now, what's this talk about thanking me? It's almost like—you're saying goodbye."

"Well—it doesn't look good right now, and I just want you to know—you've offered me the adventure of a lifetime," Luigi said through his tears. "Did you hear what happened?"

"Yes. A shelter-in-place warning, as well as a civil danger warning, is currently in effect," Peach replied. "Now listen to me, Luigi, and listen good. Your game—your story—your adventure—is far from over. I have faith in you. My constituents have faith in you. The Professor has faith in you. In short, we all have faith in you. You are gonna look King Boo in the eye and remind him who you truly are. You're gonna fight him tooth and nail and send him back where he belongs. You're gonna find your big brother, and you're gonna bring him home."

"You're right," Luigi hiccupped. In a stronger voice, he repeated. "You're right. I will."

"You can't give up now," said Peach. "Not when you're so close."

"And I won't," Luigi told her. "Thank you, Princess. I feel much better now."

"Great," breathed Peach. "Now go get him! We'll be waiting for you!"

"Stay safe," said Luigi before hanging up.

Then, he ducked into the bathroom and washed his face.

"Luigi…" Gadd started to say when the plumber emerged.

"He needs me," Luigi said simply. "I can't abandon him."

Gadd bit his lip. "I want to be brave," he said.

Luigi slid his hand over the Professor's. "You are," he told him, looking him deep in the eyes. "You're one of the bravest people I know."

Gadd reached up and took off his glasses. "I've spent the past 72 years trying to be strong," he said softly. "When I was a child, I used to be afraid of ghosts. They'd keep me up at night. After I started researching them, I realized that they're nothing to be scared of. But at this moment—I'm afraid. I'm afraid of losing you because of a stupid mistake I made. If you die…"

"Tonight is not the night I die," said Luigi. "You're not gonna lose me. That's a promise."

Gadd leaned forward and pressed his forehead to Luigi's. They stayed that way for a few moments before the elderly professor composed himself, wiped his eyes and slid his glasses back on.

Silence in the Bunker.

"This is it," Luigi said finally. "It all comes down to this."

Gadd nodded, having reacquired his professional and unflappable demeanor. "All paths seem to be pointing toward that mysterious portal on the terrace," he said. "The Parascope can't find the Dark Moon piece anywhere. There's no place left for it to be. And the same goes for King Boo—and Mario!"

"King Boo must be p—ed that you captured all of the ghosts he sent through that portal," added Fred.

"And when King Boo's p—ed," Ted put in, "then the target of his wrath is certainly marked for death."

"Well, there's only one thing I have to say to Death," said Luigi. "'Not today'."

"You're right, Luigi," said Gadd. "This is it. This is the moment of truth."

Luigi took a deep breath and adjusted the Poltergust's straps. "Okay," he said. "I'm ready."

"Wait," said Gadd. "Before I send you into that portal and possibly toward certain death—I—there's something you need to know, Luigi."

"What's that, Professor?"

"I want you to know—that I'm very proud of you, my boy," Gadd said tearfully. "Very proud. You've come a long way."

Luigi gave a broad smile. "Grazie, Professor. That means so much to me."

Gadd sniffled. "Good luck, youngster," he said.

Luigi rolled his shoulders a few times before sucking in another breath and slowly streaming it out, calming the butterflies in his stomach. "For my bro," he said solemnly.

"For Mario," said Gadd.

"For Mario," said Fred.

"For Mario," said Zed.

"For Mario," said Ned.

"For Mario," said Ted.

"For Mario," said Ed.

Reluctantly, Gadd activated the Pixelator and sent Luigi to the terrace. Then, he and the Toad Assistants breathed a prayer for the ghost hunter as he was almost immediately sucked into the paranormal portal.

…

Luigi landed on the ground hard and then rolled onto his back, swearing in pain. Once he'd recovered, he hopped to his feet and drank in his surroundings.

He now stood in a strange room with three crimson carpets, which had gold borders on them. There were suits of armor propped up against the walls, and outside, he could see swirls of different shades of purple. However, Luigi also spotted the final Dark Moon piece, floating above one of the suits of armor! All he had to do was grab it, find Mario, defeat King Boo and then get the [bleep] out of here!

Luigi let out a hearty laugh as he ran toward the Dark Moon piece. But as he reached out to take it, a Possessor (surprise, surprise) materialized! With a casual hand motion, the Possessor sent a wave of energy slamming into Luigi, knocking him backward. As he sought to regain his wind, Luigi could only watch as the Possessor split themselves in two, each copy diving into a suit of armor.

Possessors can clone themselves?! Just my luck…

He was back on his feet as the possessed suits of armor charged at him, swinging at him with their maces. Recalling the suit of armor he'd faced in the ceremonial chamber, Luigi lured the two suits onto one of the carpets before sharply yanking it out from under their feet, sending them crashing to the floor. The Possessor copies flew out of the downed suits and then merged into a single Possessor, which formed a shield around their body. Then, the Possessor tried to ram Luigi, and when they tired themselves out, Luigi blasted them with the Strobulb, balanced himself on his heels and vacuumed away their first coat.

All right. Two more to go.

Glaring at Luigi, the Possessor split themselves into more copies, which possessed the remaining suits of armor. He ended up taking a few slashes from swords and axes, as well as blows from clubs and maces, before getting all of the suits onto a single carpet and knocking them down with another sharp yank. Then, the Possessor merged and glanced Luigi several times before he braced himself against several boxes and sucked up their second coat. He swallowed back the pain and intently watched for his opponent's next move. This was the toughest Possessor he'd battled by far!

The Possessor let out a mirthless laugh before multiplying rapidly. Then, all of the copies flew out of the room, much to Luigi's surprise.

"What's left to possess?" he wondered aloud.

An ominous, metallic CLANK provided the answer.

"What in the Inferno…?"

There was another CLANK, and another, and another, and another, a large shadow beginning to pass over Luigi. And when he glanced up and saw the Possessor's ultimate host, he didn't know if he was going to live much longer.

"God protect me," he whispered, crossing himself.

A giant, possessed suit of armor towered over Luigi, its visor glowing orange. Bringing a wicked-looking sword to bear, the giant armor sliced through the walls as easily as if they were cheese. Luigi dodged the falling debris, cursing loudly as two giant, armor clad feet stepped inside the room, one of them missing him by a hair and the shockwave briefly sending him off his feet. This—knightmare—was twelve times more menacing than the Mountain from Game of Thrones!

"Okay—okay—I can do this," he whispered to himself.

And then, the knightmare stomped after him, trying to reduce him to paste with those giant feet. Simultaneously, it stabbed and sliced at him with that massive, floor-piercing sword as debris continued to rain earthward. Luigi soon realized that in order to force the tough Possessor out of this host, he needed to get one foot onto one carpet, and then get the remaining foot onto another. It was infinitesimally harder than it sounded.

While attempting to enact this battle plan, Luigi was nearly struck by debris, almost stomped on by giant feet and almost bisected by that huge sword. Smaller pieces of debris would glance off of him, and the knightmare managed to cut him with the sword, but the cuts weren't too serious. After much maneuvering, Luigi got the knightmare's right foot onto the leftmost carpet. After God-knows-how many more suspenseful minutes, he tricked the knightmare's left foot onto the rightmost carpet.

In two quick, fluid motions, Luigi yanked the two carpets away, first knocking the knightmare off balance, and then sending it clattering uselessly to the floor. The Possessor copies tumbled out, dazed, landing on the floor in a pile. The man in green let out a cross between a laugh and a sob as the Possessor copies merged back into the tough Possessor for the final time.

A scream tore from Luigi's lungs as he stunned that Possessor in their tracks, activating a powerful Surge which sent them into the Poltergust once and for all. And then he braced himself for the recoil as the final Dark Moon piece launched itself out of the nozzle.

"Oh, my God," Luigi gasped out, over and over. "Oh, my God…"

When his body stopped shaking and his stomach stopped flopping, Luigi rose to his feet and walked over to the Dark Moon piece.

"Oh, yeah!" he cried, holding it up triumphantly. "I did it!"

Just as he pocketed the final Dark Moon piece, the Dual Scream rang.

"Yello?" he breathed.

"You've done it, my boy!" Gadd exclaimed as the Toad Assistants cheered in the background. "You've actually done it! The final Dark Moon piece!"

"It wasn't easy," said Luigi, "but I got it done."

"It's not gonna be easy, but I'll try to bring you out of that horrible illusion," said Gadd.

"Wait!" cried Luigi. "What about King Boo? What about my bro?!"

"Don't you want to send that Possessor into the Vault and drop off the Dark Moon piece before that big fight?"

Luigi thought it over. "Yeah."

"With the Dark Moon repaired, it'll be easier to subdue that fiend," reasoned Gadd. "Plus, I'll feel more comfortable with that Possessor in the Vault until the danger has passed."

"Okeydokey then," conceded Luigi. "I could use a stiff drink before facing him, anyway."

"All righty," said Gadd. "Come on, Pixelshifter! This one is crucial, baby! Don't fail me now!"

"Ciao."

Luigi hung up and wiped his sweaty brow before placing his hands on his hips, nodding in satisfaction.

The worst was over.

…

"Oh, no you don't," the King muttered as he ensnared the cluster of pixels with a bolt of dark energy. "You're not getting off that easily…"

…

"Now what?" asked Fred.

Gadd smiled brightly. "We fix the Dark Moon, restore the ghosts to their gentle selves and then track down King Boo to foil his plans and save Mario," he answered. "It should be easy, now that most of the Boos have been captured."

"I wanna be there when Luigi kicks that monster's [bleep]," said Ned.

"Seconded," said Ed.

"We all should be present," said Fred, "so that we can look him in the eye and tell him that he can no longer frighten us."

"You said it!" laughed Ted.

However, all of the levity was sucked from the Bunker, the temperature dropping at least ten degrees, when the last Dark Moon piece pixelated in, landing on the floor with a sharp tinkle.

There was a nasty silence.

No—no… thought Gadd. God, please, no…

"Luigi!" everyone screamed in unison.

Stay tuned!