A/N: Surprise! It's TGN presenting another new chapter of Hotel Horror right now! A big special thanks goes out to my friend, Crystal Rose of Pollux, for favoriting and reviewing. She has some incredible fanfics on her profile, including a rewrite of LM3! And I would highly recommend reading her Smash Bros. stories since they revolve around the 'World of Light' campaign. You won't regret reading them!

Last time, Luigi and his friends finished their Boo hunt on the previous floors, and they've caught some more Portrait Ghosts from E. Gadd's collection. Their next objective will be a lot more dangerous than anything they've faced so far. What's in store for our ghost-hunting heroes?

I forgot to mention that I bumped the rating to 'T' because there will be a scene that involves a somewhat graphic injury. I just wanted to warn you all.

Also in advance, please forgive me as I will be using Old English for the boss ghost on this floor. If I've used it for New Brotherhood, I might as well add it in here, too. Keep in mind that not all the words are 'medieval talk'. Rose also helped me with the dialogue here, so another huge thanks goes out to her!


Disclaimer: Spoilers to the sixth floor and the entire plot of LM3 moving forward will be found here. Please exit this page if you want to avoid this stuff. Otherwise, you can continue. Either way, I don't own anything that is Nintendo's property.


Chapter 13: An Arrow in the Knee

Location: 6F – Castle MacFrights

Luigi, Daisy, and Colombo returned to the lab and emptied their vacuums with all the Boos and Portrait Ghosts they've caught. Once they were finished, they returned to the elevator where the plumber inserted the '6' button to its respective slot. On the way up, the tracker revealed the name of the next floor: Castle MacFrights. While it intrigued the heroes, they had a strong feeling that the theme was nothing like Peach's Castle.

Once they reached their destination, Luigi was the first to walk outside the doors. He took two steps forward and-

*CLANG*

"Eeee!" Luigi became startled when a sharp halberd fell in front of him. Daisy and Colombo jumped back since they also didn't expect that to happen.

"God, my heart is racing!" Daisy held a hand over her chest. "Whose idea was it to place that in front of the elevator?!"

"I don't know! But I almost got split in half!"

Luigi peered over with his flashlight as he spotted a standing knight statue to his left. There was another on his right that held a blade. A couple of flags, tapestries, sword displays, and a lit fireplace were the main decorations of the elevator lobby, setting a dim atmosphere from within the brick walls. From what it looked like, he and the others have stepped into a medieval-themed level.

"No wonder the Last Resort is completely different than any other normal hotel. This place looks massive based on what the map shows. It's much larger than the other ones!" exclaimed Daisy.

Luigi took a gander using the VB goggles. He realized she wasn't lying when he saw that there were three individual levels in this gargantuan floor.

"Unless this place is linear, it's going to take forever to find the button!"

"We might as well get going."

The adjacent room they stumbled upon was blocked by a metal gate. Seeing that they had nowhere to go, they were confused on how to progress. Thankfully, Colombo jumped through the fence and yapped when he saw a rope contraption attached to the gate. Smiling at his pet, Luigi ejected his green clone and controlled him to slip through the bars. To the left, he tugged on the large rope, slowly pulling the Front Gate open. It led to a drawbridge and a door up north. While Gooigi was immobile, Luigi returned to his own body to walk past the gate with Daisy. Once they were clear, he summoned Gooigi back into the tank.

They soon walked down a small hallway with three arches that displayed suits of armor. Daisy noticed how the top-right spot was completely bare until she discovered a hidden one with her Dark-Light Device. After her sucking up the Spirit Balls, Luigi used a Suction Shot and slammed the armor onto the floor. A special, red gem in the shape of a sword came out of the debris.

"Ooh, nice find, Daisy!" he picked it up.

"Thanks! We haven't collected a lot of these, but they look pretty interesting!"

Entering the next chamber, the heroes gasped at the sight. They stood on the Coliseum Balcony with a huge view of a giant arena below them. Getting a closer view from the circular region, they froze when a ceremonious fanfare played out loud. Two Goobs blew a pair of horns before a new ghost emerged on the throne from across the ghost hunters. He had red facial hair, gloves, and a crown decorated with rubies sitting on top of his head.

"Hear ye! Hear ye!" he announced in a Scottish accent. "I am the most wondrous King MacFrights, the prime ruler and caretaker of this luxurious castle! I seeth we hast some special guests entering mine home! If I'm not mistaken, it's Luigi, the main VIP whom Hellen Gravely invited! It's an honor to meeteth thee, good sir," he bowed.

"What am I, chopped Turtley Leaves?" Daisy narrowed her eyes. Colombo felt the same way.

"In case thou were curious, Hellen Gravely madeth a generous offer to buildeth a castle for me to owneth! In exchange for such a fabulous prize, the lady gaveth me one simple responsibility. Alloweth me to point out the obvious, what exactly is mine objective? That, mine dear guests, is to maketh sure thou don't advance any further up the hotel!"

"And why would you even consider that?"

"Because I'm certain I hast the one thing thou desperately needeth!" King MacFrights taunted as he waved a shiny, circular object in his hand. Even from a far distance, Luigi's eyes bulged when he realized that the apparition was carrying an elevator button. "Oh ho ho! I can easily bid by the looks on thy faces that thou wanteth this in thy collection, aye?"

"Oh, no... We're not here for that. All we wanted was to get our heads chopped up by your precious, sharp axes," the princess replied sardonically.

"Daisy! Don't give him the wrong idea!" Luigi panicked.

Suddenly, several ghosts appeared behind the ghost hunters. An army of ghouls – all dressed up in armor – were holding weapons in their hands. They pointed the sharp edges at the heroes as they cornered them to the balcony's edge. Colombo barked angrily, growling his teeth as he stood in front of the humans. Just when the ghosts were about to swing at them, King MacFrights shouted.

"Halt!" he extended his hand forward. "Do not killeth these folk. Our master, Hellen Gravely, and her partner, King Boo, art the only ones allowed to settleth their fates." The ghosts begrudgingly obeyed his order. "As much as I wouldst loveth to receiveth bragging rights for stopping thee peasants, I'll striketh a deal with thee."

"A deal?" Luigi echoed.

"I challenge thee to an old-fashioned medieval joust. Meeteth me down at the Coliseum's base and taketh part in a glorious square to the death."

"What?! I thought you said you weren't going to kill us!"

"As a king, I don't really maketh any promises," MacFrights snickered.

"What's the point in this duel anyway? What kind of incentive do we get out of this?" inquired Daisy.

"You can retrieveth this elevator button out of mine possession as long as you winneth the battle, fair and square! However, if you faileth to best me, I shall earneth all the credit of defeating thee! And if you don't wanteth to accepteth the challenge, that is if you're too chicken, thou might as well sayeth goodbye to your trapped friends..."

Luigi was at a crossroads. As much as he doesn't want to get pierced by a sword, let alone die in medieval combat, he needed that elevator button to progress and find the other Toads, Peach, and his brother. Since he was intimidated though, he couldn't come up with a proper response.

Daisy ended up doing the favor. "Luigi, Colombo, and I are not scared to take on your trial! Bring it on, Knight Shadow! Or... whatever your name is!"

"You dareth to acknowledge me by incorrectly stating mine name? Foolish! I can just bid you're determined yet incompetent," the royal ruler seethed as his burning, red aura amplified.

"I'll show you 'incompetent', MacDonald's. I'll also order a side of fries with our MacVictory!"

Luigi slapped his forehead in embarrassment. The king was raging before the Goobs calmed him down.

"Very well then. Maketh thy way down to mine own Coliseum. Enter the door to thy left behind thee," he gestured.

"Why can't we just go through the gate over there?" Luigi pointed to his right. He soon got his answer when the king snapped his fingers. His ghostly knights threatened the group with their axes and swords again. "Okay! Okay! We'll take the long route," he fretted.

"Mine own knights shall act as obstacles to testeth thy strength and courage. If thou can defeat them, then haply I'll bethink twice about underestimating thee. Either way, just maketh sure thou don't get killed along the way... Ho ho ho!" MacFrights chortled.

"Oh, boy..."

"Guards! To thy battle stations!" he directed. The ghosts nodded before heading through the western wall. King MacFrights laid back on his throne as the Goobs played their horns as a sign that he was finished with his speech.

"Come on, Luigi! How exciting is this?! We'll teach that arrogant king a lesson!" Daisy tried to get his hopes up.

The plumber didn't reply as he watched the metal doors open on their own, giving him access to the next area. Tightening his green hat on his head, he inhaled deeply before leading his friends into the Armory.


Right off the bat, Luigi shuddered when he saw two floating swords whacking against each other in midair. He didn't need to guess what was going on or who was holding the metallic objects. There were more weapons placed on racks in the dark room, consisting of spears, axes, and rapiers.

"Come on, Luigi. We'll just flash these stubborn ghosts like we normally do!"

"In case you aren't aware, I don't want to be impaled or scathed! You heard what King MacFrights said! He wasn't keeping any promises on not killing us!" he complained

"Technically, he said, and I quote, 'As a king, I don't really maketh any promises.' Unquote."

Luigi lowered his eyebrows. "Was that really necessary? Even with the accent?"

"Arf! Arf!" Colombo needed the ghost catchers to focus since a Goob and a Greenie became visible in front of them. A set of paranormal gates blocked the entrance and the door on the other side of the room. They both chuckled as they started spinning with their blades.

Luigi shrieked and ran off to the side while pulling Daisy's hand. As they barely evaded the attack, Colombo rushed over and stole the Goob's sword with his teeth. Unequipped, the blue ghost complained before he got stunned with the Strobulb. Luigi sucked up his tail and smashed him near a suit of armor in the corner. Daisy waited patiently for the Greenie to swing at her. Once he did, he immediately became dizzy and was vulnerable to her flash. The Greenie screamed as his body got sucked into the Poltergust 5000.

After the room was cleared, the gates disappeared, allowing them entry to the following area. They reached an old, cobblestone stairway that led to a wooden deck and a lower level. The trio saw a treasure chest on the other side, but they stopped when they nearly got pierced by some spikes that shot up.

"How are we going to open that? It could have something important like a key," Luigi rubbed his chin.

"Can't Gooigi walk through spiked floors? If his body is malleable to go through fences, can't he also be invincible from these?"

"I'm glad you asked that, Daisy!" E. Gadd exulted through the VB's microphone.

"Gah!" Luigi pressed his fingers into his earlobes. "Professor! Lower the volume on your end!"

"Whoops, my bad. There, that should do it. Anyway, Gooigi can indeed not only pass through tight spaces, but he can also walk through sharp stuff, including spiked floors! I have a good feeling that Gooigi will once again be supplemental to help you on your current quest."

Luigi took his word for it, even though he didn't truly trust the professor. After all, he locked him up in a freaking cage yesterday.

Nonetheless, he expelled Gooigi and walked over to the chest, passing through the spikes without any difficulty. He lifted the top, only to reveal some gold bars, bills, coins, and pearls.

"That's not exactly what I expected."

"It's not a key, but at least we're richer!" Daisy looked on the bright side.

As they went further down, a new set of spikes appeared in front of a door. A rope contraption was connected to the trap. Since Gooigi was still active, he walked over and pulled the rope to bring the spikes down. Daisy and Colombo were safe to traverse, but Luigi's own body needed to pass as well.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it for you," told Daisy.

Gooigi appreciated it as he let go of the rope and returned to the tank. With Luigi awake, he waited for Daisy to bring the spikes down, allowing him to cross.

"That was a pretty simple puzzle right there. If only the joust will be as easy as that," the plumber wished.

"How far are we until we get to the Coliseum?" Daisy wondered.

Luigi decided to check the map on his Virtual Boo. After examining the individual levels, he noticed they had a long way to go.

"It says here that the entrance to the Coliseum is on Level 1 of this floor. We just arrived at Level 2 after descending the Stairway. Mamma Mia, there are so many rooms to explore that I'm going to faint!"

"Oh, ye of little faith, Luigi! We'll get through this together. I mean, this will probably be the most dangerous floor we'll explore. It can't get much worse than this, right?"

Luigi wanted to press 'X'. He saved his doubts to himself though.

Entering the castle's Cellar, they came across multiple barrels of tomatoes within the dimly lit room. Most of the larger ones along the back wall were covered with green lids. Because of how quiet, dark, and eerie the place was, Luigi had a suspicion that more of MacFrights's guards would spook him at any given point. He mindfully sauntered around the smaller barrels and opened the next door. Or at least, he tried to. It was completely locked.

"So there has to be a key around here somewhere," Daisy mumbled.

"I would expect it's in one of the barrels. But if it's stuffed inside- YAAAH!" Luigi dropped his flashlight when an Oozer burst out of the barrel, destroying it entirely as several tomatoes scattered all over the concrete. He cackled before hiding in a different one.

"Ugh! I'm so over those stupid Hiders!"

"You're thinking of the wrong ghost, Luigi. The Hiders from Evershade are blue. That orange one is an Oozer," E. Gadd corrected him. "You've seen one before down in 2F if I'm correct."

"Like I care about the names of the ghosts! They still hide in places just to pop out of nowhere! D'oh!" he felt something smash into his face.

His perpetrator momentarily peeked out of the barrel, guffawing after he threw a tomato at Luigi. Red sauce, juices, and seeds spilled down to his brown boots.

"That was so not cool! You wanna start a food fight?!" Daisy threatened as she hurled a tomato back at him.

He was able to dodge the attack, but he didn't appreciate her hostile move. The Oozer whistled to call in some reinforcements. A Greenie entered the Cellar while holding a shield and a sword. Meanwhile, a different green ghoul materialized in front of Luigi. It was a Garbage Can Ghost, joining the Oozer by littering banana peels on the ground. While they never directly attacked the plumber in the past, they truly made a mess. Luigi was always unlucky whenever he skidded on their discarded rinds.

Colombo swiftly cleared the floor so that the humans wouldn't slip. Spitting them out into a corner, he soon charged at the Greenie, causing him to drop his gear. Luigi chose to suck up the Garbage Can Ghost and implored Daisy to reveal the Oozer from his hiding spot. The princess nodded and pushed the barrel he was hiding in. Instead of flashing the orange phantom with the Strobulb, she retaliated by throwing another tomato at him. She beamed as her plan worked, and the ghost squealed from the direct hit. Daisy finished the job by slamming onto the neighboring cask. She soon took care of the Greenie when Colombo pinned him to the wall. As for Luigi, the man held onto this hose tightly when the Garbage Can Ghost struggled to escape. He was finally able to whack him into the middle barrel, smashing its lid. After trapping the ghost, Luigi found a sparkling key in a pile of tomatoes.

"Hey, just what we needed! Good thing we took care of those hooligans or else we would be searching for hours!" Daisy exulted.

"Yeah, I guess it's kinda funny how I found this on accident," Luigi scratched his head.

"What are we waiting for? We're one step closer to the arena."

He nodded and went over to the door, inserting the key. The following area was the Antechamber, more or less an empty room aside from some cardboard boxes, tapestries, and a large banner that depicted a profile shot of the ghostly king. The most noticeable part, however, was another metal strip that had spikes.

"Luigi?"

The plumber transferred his conscience to the gooey man. "Say no more. I'll pull the rope over there."

Once he reached the other side, he grabbed the ball with the hose of his Poltergust. But when he dragged it with him, the spikes didn't go down like the previous set.

"Huh? Why is this not working?"

"What happens if you pull on it?" Daisy wondered.

When Gooigi gave it a sharp tug, the rope loosened up to the ceiling. Then, four chained balls dropped from some secret compartments. One of them nearly hit Daisy in the head.

"AAAHH!" she ran away. "Holy crap... I could've suffered a concussion or something!"

In Gooigi's body, Luigi felt guilty. If he wasn't paying attention, the princess could've been hurt. "S-Sorry, Daisy..."

She glanced at him, befuddled at his apology. "It's not your fault, Luigi. I'm just saying that almost knocked me out, and I barely saw it coming."

"Yeah, but... I was careless when I pulled the rope. If you got injured, I would be the one to blame."

Daisy shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I'm perfectly fine, see? It's not necessary to make a big deal out of this."

"Only if you say so."

"I promise, you did nothing wrong."

That made Gooigi, or technically Luigi, smile on the inside.

Colombo yipped as he brought Daisy's attention back to the chained balls. She went over to pull them with the 5000, one at a time. Some money, swords, and spiders fell when she got the first couple of chains. After activating the last one, a trapdoor opened up in the corner.

"Luigi, let's head this way. Maybe there's a secret passage underground."

With Gooigi in the container, the plumber regained consciousness as he and Colombo followed the princess down the hatch.

"Eek! What the hell?!"

"Neat! It's a dragon!" Daisy exclaimed. "Ooh, but there's a giant cobweb in the way. How do we get through it?"

Luigi remembered how he had to burn a ton of spider webs in the Gloomy Manor by lighting them on fire. He discovered a torch on the ground, but there wasn't a flame nearby. Not even a Fire Flower could help him since he didn't have any in his arsenal. However, Colombo spotted a machine to the left with a blinking light. When he guided Luigi to flash it, a burning blaze lit out from a spout in the dragon's mouth.

"Good boy! We can light up this torch and burn these webs!"

"Awesome! Do you want me to handle it?"

"If you want to."

Daisy sucked up the torch with her nozzle and carefully brought it close to the flame. Slowly but surely, she brought it over to the cobwebs, scorching them in mere seconds. Reaching the other end, they found another ball attached to some rope. Luigi pulled it down, revealing a small ladder.

"Would you look at that? That should take us back up and past the spikes!" Daisy chirped. "Let's move!"

They took turns climbing the ladder while Colombo floated up to the surface. A dust cloud made Luigi sneeze as he entered the next room. He, Daisy, and Colombo found themselves on a wooden catwalk, high above the lower level. The princess spotted a fan on the northern wall.

"I wonder what this does," she sucked the air, causing it to rotate clockwise. Simultaneously, an elevator lift rose up beside them.

"Interesting..." Luigi snapped his fingers as he had an idea. "If this activates the elevator, maybe I should use Gooigi to spin the fan so we can reach the bottom!"

"That sounds like it could work! Guess I'm not the only one who's a good puzzle solver!" Daisy complimented, causing her partner to blush.

As the three rode on the lift, Luigi switched to Gooigi, running back onto the catwalk and blowing air onto the fan. As it spun the opposite way, the elevator traveled to the castle's lower level. The plumber went back to his body as they exited the lift. Yet once again, their path was blocked by a locked door.

"Seriously? How many of these does King MacDoofus have to make us go through?!" Daisy became frustrated.

Luigi was about to look for any clues until the wooden stocks behind him unexpectedly closed. Afraid that another ghost was haunting him, he went over to Colombo who was sniffing near the eastern wall.

"What is it, boy?" he crouched down with his hands on his knees.

The Polterpup seemed to discover something hidden, but he couldn't exactly tell what it was. With everyone clueless, Luigi decided to call the E. Gadd Hotline.

"Ah, Luigi! What's up, sonny?"

"Well, we made it to the lowest level of Castle MacFrights. But we're stuck in this room, and we need a key! We don't know where to go, yet Colombo senses something nearby."

"Hmm... I believe that the wall has an archway pattern. Perhaps there's a secret door that you need to reveal with the Dark-Light?"

Taking his advice, Luigi shined the rainbow beam at the empty space on the wall. Sucking up the Spirit Balls caused a coffin to appear. He soon realized that it acted as a doorway.

"Wow, I would've never thought of that!"

"Neither would I," Daisy added. "I guess the hotline proved to be helpful whenever we can't figure out the problem ourselves!"

"Truly. Thanks, Professor."

"Glad I could be of assistance!"

As the coffin opened, Luigi and Daisy squeezed themselves inside the tight space. The wall revolved so that the casket brought them to the Waterwheel Room. They awkwardly fell onto the concrete. Colombo joined them by hopping through the stone partition. After getting up and brushing the dust off her clothes, Daisy eagerly spotted a treasure chest.

"Hey, I bet that has the key! Come on, Luigi!"

Suddenly, his eyes widened when he saw three cloaked statues holding bows and arrows. Daisy didn't take notice of them as she got closer to the wooden platform. Luigi scuttled over and pulled Daisy back. The motions triggered the figures to shoot their arrows repeatedly.

"AUGH!"

Daisy fell back onto the floor as she heard him yelp in pain. "Luigi!"

The man whimpered softly as he crawled over to her where it was safe. He was unable to move quickly because he felt an intense amount of pain in his leg. Once he was out of range, the statues stopped firing. Unfortunately, the damage was done. Before he knew it, he adjusted his position so he could sit with his back against the nearby bench. Looking down at his legs, an arrow cut through the overalls, perforating his left knee.

Colombo and Daisy were horrified. The latter felt more guilty since she didn't pay attention to her surroundings. It felt even worse considering Luigi accepted the blame when those chained balls nearly hurt her, to which he didn't trigger on purpose. However, she knew this was her fault.

"Oh my god... I'm so sorry, Luigi! I wasn't looking at where I was going!"

The man hissed again, clutching his kneecap. "Don't worry about me. At least you're safe."

"Don't be selfless. Just stay still."

Daisy lifted him up so he could rest on the bench. Then, she kneeled in front of the gash. She carefully gripped the arrow without putting a lot of force into it. As she attempted to pull it out slowly, Luigi couldn't bear the sting.

"Aah!"

"Sorry! Sorry! Ugh, this is going to be tough." She kept struggling to remove it from his skin, but every time she did, it only made things severe as the pain became intolerable.

"D-Don't pull it anymore. I'll just go through the rest of the floor like this."

"There's no way I'm gonna let that happen," she sounded stubborn but for a legitimate reason.

"Really, Daisy. It's no big deal."

"Yes, it is!" the princess denounced, causing him to flinch. She soon sighed with remorse. "I'm sorry again. I didn't mean to yell. It's just... I can't believe I didn't see that! I should've been warier, and I feel like I've always been careless at the wrong time. I appreciate you saving me, but it's not fair on your end. You got injured because I was stupid."

Luigi could tell from her tone that she was agitated and mad at herself. The princess hardly felt this way whenever she was around him or in general. And for her to say that she was dumb, he was shocked, for lack of a better term.

"Daisy, don't berate yourself. I know you were excited to explore the hotel and help me catch ghosts. And to your credit, you've done such a good job."

His words made Daisy contemplate for a moment. Eventually, her lips slightly curved upward as he continued.

"In fact, you've probably caught more ghosts than me at this point! It shows that you're brave and determined to help out when I can't do the job myself. Plus, it's nice to be with someone next to me. I've always felt comfortable when you, Mario, or Peach are around."

"Arf! Arf!"

"Oh, yeah. I can't forget about you, cagnetto," Luigi petted Colombo.

Daisy started giggling when he playfully licked his nose. "You really think of me that way?"

"Yeah. Actually, can I be honest with you?"

She sat beside him, feeling curious. "What's up?"

"Well..." he twiddled his thumbs. "When E. Gadd invited you to join me on catching the ghosts, I was actually against it. I was afraid that something bad would happen to you, whether King Boo, Hellen, or someone else would try to kidnap you again. Or even worse..."

He paused as he felt a shiver down his spine. While Daisy hasn't moved from her spot, she began to comprehend his inner feelings.

"The professor convinced me to believe in you. Frankly, I know you can be dependable, whether you're flying solo or when you're on a team. I should know better considering I got to pair up with you in sports events, or you would kick my butt in tennis and basketball."

"Heh, you do bring up a good point. I totally dominated in that one singles match at the Bask Kingdom."

"Hey! My shoelaces became untied halfway through the match!" Luigi whined.

"And whose fault was that?"

"I was more focused on you doing your special shot that I couldn't look down at my feet!"

"Yeah, and I remember you accidentally tripped when you tried to block it! You ended up breaking your racket!" Daisy burst into laughter.

"To be fair, I was in the lead during that game," his cheeks reddened.

"It was still a KO match, and I won fair and square," she teased back at him.

"Okay, okay, you don't need to rub it in my face again," he said in good fun. "Anyway, going back on topic, the point is that you've proven to me that I can't do this alone. I'm indebted that you've been with me this whole time. Again, I keep repeating this, but I don't think I would make it this far without you because I've had to travel through the other mansions by myself most of the time. I feel more relaxed when I have some company, you know? I need you, Daisy. Or I would drop dead if I was all alone."

The orange princess smiled before leaning towards him, pressing her lips against his. Even for how timid the guy can be, he had a way with words to make people feel respected and welcome. Considering she hardly joined his friends on perilous adventures, this was relatively new for her. But thanks to her man in green, she felt like an expert gleaming with confidence, ready to take on any obstacle. She eventually pulled away from their kiss.

First things first, she wanted to get that arrow out of his knee. Luigi nearly forgot about it until he felt the pain return in his left leg.

"Oh, man. It's starting to bleed," Daisy noticed. "If I can't pull it out, can Gooigi grab it himself? Or will that not work since sharp objects go through him?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Unless... I can transfer my conscience to Gooigi. That way, I can leave my body to fall asleep, and I won't feel the pain if you take it out quickly."

"I'm probably gonna regret this, but... if you're honestly okay with it..." Daisy wanted confirmation.

Luigi gave her a firm nod. He tapped the button on his Poltergust G-00, summoning Gooigi as he stood next to his sleeping form.

"Just go for it. I trust you."

Daisy furrowed her eyebrows, but she mirrored his nod. Exhaling deeply, she embraced the inevitable. Gooigi also let out a gurgling breath. Colombo closed his eyes and turned his head away. Once she was ready, Daisy gripped the arrow and pulled it out of his knee in a quick motion. She successfully removed the pointed shaft, but the momentum caused Luigi's body to fall forward.

She cringed. "Did you feel anything?"

"Surprisingly, I felt nothing. No pain at all! But maybe it will hurt when I return to my body."

"Maybe you should stay like that for a while, just in case."

"That's alright," Gooigi replied. Afterward, he took a closer look at the wooden platform. "Hey, I think I know how to block these statues. I'll be right back."

"Okay, take your time," Daisy said as he carried Luigi's dozing figure.

Meanwhile, Gooigi yanked a nearby rope, causing the wooden roof from above to lean down. As he walked across, he triggered the statues to shoot the arrows again. However, Gooigi was unharmed, not a single projectile damaged his viscous body. He used the Poltergust to pull on another rope. A giant log and the entire roof collapsed in front of the cloaked statues.

As he returned to his friends, Gooigi heard a tearing sound. He checked beside Colombo and his own body only to fathom what Daisy was doing. The lower half of her sleeves were torn off her white shirt. She placed them over the scarlet pool of blood, soaking up the mess. Daisy bandaged them over his wound.

"W-What? Why are you-"

"I needed something to prevent the blood from flowing."

"But your shirt..."

"No worries," she waved it off. "It's not like I'm ruining one of my royal dresses. I got this casual shirt at a thrift store anyway. It was quite a steal, too. Betcha don't expect a princess like me to be shopping in one of those places."

"Well, thank you," he referred to the makeshift bandage.

"No problem! Even better, now those stupid archers won't impale us!" Daisy grinned.

"Ruff! Ruff!"

"Not only that, we can get to the treasure chest over there! But I can't walk across the water because... um, you know."

"Understood. I'll search inside the chest. You stay next to Colombo and... yourself."

Gooigi humbly chuckled as he watched Daisy rush over to the opposite end of the Waterwheel Room. Since the figures were blocked, traversing the platform was a piece of cake. Daisy was able to collect some money and the key that they were looking for.

"Great! Now we can finally advance through the castle!"

"Should we keep going right now? If you want, we can take a break," Daisy offered.

"As much as I would like to, I think we should move while we can. If I feel any pain though, I'll let you know."

"Sounds like a plan!"

Gooigi went into his storage tank while Luigi regained control. To be honest, most of the pain subsided, yet his knee felt somewhat feeble. As the trio returned to the Cage-Lift Room, they went straight for the locked door. Suddenly, they heard a creaking sound near the lift.

"Wait a second," Daisy paused. "Is it just me, or was the elevator down before we found the coffin door?"

Colombo and Luigi realized her point. "Yeah, you're right. I didn't rotate the fan though."

"Neither did I."

When the humans looked down at Colombo, he felt offended. "Ruff!"

Before any of them could figure out what was going on, the fan on the wall began to sputter, barely moving inconsistently as if it was jammed. Seconds later, it spun uncontrollably as the elevator crashed onto the bottom floor. Luigi, Daisy, and Colombo jumped from the unexpected slam. To make matters worse, they froze when a swarm of spectral visitors approached them. With swords and axes in their possession, they charged at the heroes.

END OF CHAPTER


Castle MacFrights was a very interesting level to traverse through. It's sad to admit that it took me forever to find the hidden coffin, but there are some future puzzles that I struggled with, and it's not even funny. Regardless, we're getting closer to the boss fight against the king of 6F. Will Luigi, Daisy, and Colombo stay alive before they can reach their destination? And who did the heroes come across from the elevator?

As always, I appreciate everyone for reading, reviewing, or both! Be sure to follow and favorite for more updates so you won't miss a single chapter. Until then, I'll see you in the second part of Castle MacFrights! This is TGN, signing off.