There he goes again—blaming himself for what happened to us. When is he gonna realize that none of this is his fault?
That's just how he is—always wanting to protect us. He's always wanted to protect me since we could crawl.
Hey, guys! He's approaching the fourth floor now! That's where I'm at!
Really?
Yeah! King Boo decided to—uh—gift me to this pianist ghost, and now I'm being displayed in the performance hall. I've been listening to the pianist perform for hours.
Well, you don't have to listen to classical music for much longer, Thad.
Yeah—thank God! Sweet freedom is just around the corner!
…
Piano music greeted Luigi, Gooigi and Polterpup as they arrived at the Great Stage. At once, the former started thinking about Melody, as well as the Library Poltergeist. In every ghostly adventure he'd been on so far, there was always something piano-related. What was up with that?
Gooigi's body softly vibrated to the music. "This is so—relaxing," he opined.
"Yeah," said Luigi. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"
"It's coming from—that direction," said Gooigi, pointing to his right.
"Of course—this floor has a concert-hall theme," said Luigi.
Polterpup barked urgently.
"What is it, doggie? Do you think something important is in there?"
Polterpup barked again.
Luigi's eyes widened. "Someone?" he asked. "One—one of my friends?"
With another woof, Polterpup took off toward the performance hall.
Luigi and Gooigi were about to follow him when the VB rang.
"Yello?"
"Hey, Luigi," said Gadd, "if you need to return to the Lab quickly, then I have just the solution. I've streamlined an instant transfer system for you. Just press the yellow button on the VB, and we'll be face-to-face in an instant!"
"It beats having to walk to the elevator all the time," said Luigi, "though I kinda like riding the elevator…"
"The system works both ways, as well," said Gadd.
"Thanks, Professor," said Luigi. "I gotta go now. Bye."
He hung up, turned to Gooigi and nodded to him. Then, the duo strode down the hallway together.
At the end of the hallway, they encountered a Goob dressed as an usher, making "waves" with the red carpet. Gooigi and Luigi used that burst of air, which the latter decided to simply name Burst, to vault over each wave and close the distance between them and the Goob. Then, they easily captured the Goob and proceeded into the auditorium.
And sure enough, there was Thad, hanging on the wall next to the piano, which was seemingly playing by itself.
"Thad!" shouted Luigi, hurrying towards the stage and bounding up the stairs onto it.
Hey, Luigi. Fancy seeing you here.
"How long has he kept you here?"
Er—long enough. I'm getting a little tired of listening to piano music.
Luigi gave a relieved giggle. "I can fix that," he said.
Oh, Lord. Here comes trouble.
Luigi glanced back toward the piano, where a lavender ghost with silver hair materialized, attired in a lavender suit, white shirt and dark purple bow tie. His long fingers moved gently over the keys as he continued to play. Suddenly, he paused, the last note lingering, as he spotted Luigi.
"Oh! Hello," said the ghost, with a slight Austrian accent.
"Hi," Luigi nervously replied. "Listen, I don't mean to bother you, but…"
"No, no, no. You're not bothering me at all," the ghost said genially. "I enjoy having people listening to my music." He smiled. "Amadeus Wolfgeist, at your service. And you are…?"
"Luigi. I'm Luigi."
"Luigi, huh? I was told to look out for an individual by that name, wearing that device on their back."
"I don't want any trouble, Mr. Wolfgeist…"
"Amadeus is fine."
"Okeydokey, Amadeus. I'm just gonna get my friend over there, and then I'll leave you to your devices."
Wolfgeist glanced toward Thad. "Is that your friend?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"Then we have a serious problem," said Wolfgeist. "He, as it turns out, is a present from a mutual friend."
"King Boo?"
"Ja. He told me that I'm to hold on to my new present at all costs, and not to let him fall into your hands." Wolfgeist spread his hands. "I am truly sorry, Luigi, but I must follow his instructions to the letter. There's no telling what he and his girlfriend might to do me otherwise."
"They coerced you into this."
"Well—you can say that."
"That wasn't a question. I know they coerced you into helping them. You don't have a good poker face."
"Okay—they may have dug up some dirt on me, but the truth of the matter is—they scare me—especially King Boo. He is someone so evil that Hell itself probably spat him back out."
"You don't have to tell me that," shuddered Luigi. "Listen to me, though. My Poltergust is his worst fear, just like he's mine. I can protect you from him. Just—just let me have Thad, okay?"
Wolfgeist bit his lip. "Do you play?" he asked.
"What?"
"Do you play piano?"
"Yes, I do. I took some lessons when I was a kid."
"Well, then," said Wolfgeist, scooting over. "Let's see it."
Tightening his grip on his vacuum, Luigi advanced toward the piano.
"I'll watch your back," whispered Gooigi.
"Thanks," Luigi whispered back.
"This isn't a trick or a trap, I assure you," said Wolfgeist.
The man in green sat next to Wolfgeist on the piano bench, took a deep breath, stretched his fingers over the keys and closed his eyes.
And then he began to play.
He played that singular composition he'd dreamed up eighteen years ago after the battle with Melody. Spilling all of the doubt and dread and worry out of his mind and onto the ebony and ivory keys. Tears squeezed out of his closed eyelids as the melody darkened, the intensity cresting like a tidal wave as those persistent questions swirled around in his head.
"Just let it go," Wolfgeist softly encouraged, his eyes also closed. "Just let it go…"
And Luigi obliged, letting the melody grow stormier and stormier as he contemplated his current situation. Instead of one life, five lives are on the line. Five lives in the hands of someone who could care less about them. Five lives—and they only have one lifeline. Me. His brows were knit, the back of his throat ached and the tears just kept coming. I was supposed to protect them. Why didn't I keep a better eye on that psycho? Why didn't I tell them my suspicions earlier? Now look what's happened. I've won over him twice before, but can I deliver again? Can I? Can I? Can I?!
Oh, yes, I can. And I will. I have to.
His facial muscles relaxed, and he allowed a smile to scatter the storm on his visage as the melody lightened. The questioning and doubting was firmly expelled from his mind, replaced by hope and self-confidence. The third time was the charm, wasn't it? Wasn't there a rule of threes? A third defeat was likely to convince the King to back off. And the fact that they all had faith in him from the get-go—that was hope enough.
He played on until his fingers ached. And as the final note echoed through the concert hall, Luigi opened his eyes and let out a breath. Wolfgeist, however, was awestruck.
"Wow," he said. "That was amazing! How did…?"
"I just thought it up," said Luigi, rising from the bench.
"You should make a career out of this," said Wolfgeist.
Luigi shrugged. "I didn't have the heart to go for it," he said.
"It seems to me—that you needed the opportunity," said Wolfgeist. "There's a lot on your mind, if I'm not mistaken."
"True," said Luigi.
Wolfgeist smiled in approval. "You've shown me that I don't need to go easy on you," he said. "I hope you've saved some of that energy, Luigi. Because I'm not giving up your friend without a proper fight."
Wolfgeist rolled up his sleeves and began to play a frenetic tune on the piano. Gooigi and Polterpup hastened Luigi off the stage, just as the steps retracted inward.
You can beat him, Luigi. I believe in you!
In sync with Wolfgeist's piano playing, the auditorium's seats began levitating off the ground and hurtling themselves at Luigi. For at least two minutes, he had to dodge chairs crashing around him, with Gooigi or Polterpup occasionally pushing him out of harm's way. Gradually, the music's tempo increased, which caused the seats to arc toward him faster and faster, making them harder to evade. And for the grand finale, the last of the chairs were launched at him all at once. Luigi wound up sagged against a wall, out of breath and moderately bruised.
"Oh, my goodness!" shouted Gooigi, racing over.
Luigi stopped him with a gesture. "I'm not dead yet," he said.
Wolfgeist smirked as he looked Luigi over. "Impressive," he said. "Let's see if you can survive Act 2."
He played a slightly peppier tune, this time in a major key. And as he played, two tutu-clad Goobs pirouetted onto the stage, masks over their eyes. Luigi readied his vacuum as the Goobs ballet-danced toward him, and then he set to work vacuuming the masks off his opponents. Once he'd accomplished that, he stunned one of them and wrestled them into the suction before slamming them into the other Goob. At this, the piano music took on a more frantic pace, reverting to the previous tune whenever the Goob broke free.
Three more Goobs wearing tutus and masks appeared, and Gooigi battled them as Luigi finished battling the other two Goobs. Once those two were in the Poltergust, Luigi rushed over to help his gooey buddy, clearing out all of the ghosts together. Both wound up taking a few punches, but they were still standing once the skirmish reached its end.
Wolfgeist was beside himself. "Impossible!" he exclaimed. "I just sent out the best of the best at you!"
Luigi wiped his brow and leveled the Poltergust at the ghostly pianist. "I'm done asking nicely," he said. "Hand over my friend, and I won't bother you anymore."
"Oh, we aren't done yet, Luigi!" thundered Wolfgeist, leaping off the bench. "We're just approaching the final act! Let's see you weasel your way out of this!"
Wolfgeist's immaculate silver hair became wild as he slammed down on the piano keys, forcefully enough to make the piano itself open. The ghostly pianist then flew into his instrument, which came to life with two glowing "eyes" and the keys resembling teeth, leaping forward with a discordant key pound.
The piano jumped off the stage, attempting to smash onto Luigi, who leaped aside just in time. Over and over, the piano pounced after him, trying to flatten him. Once, it slammed down so hard that it produced a shock wave, which Luigi had to Burst over. Wolfgeist popped out of the piano long enough to glare at his opponent, and then the instrument hopped back onto the stage before spitting out a few bombs.
Luigi turned to Gooigi. "Quick! Try to grab one of those bombs!" he cried. "I have a plan!"
The duo managed to snag a bomb each, avoiding those that were flashing red. They aimed at the inside of the piano cover before firing them, causing the bombs to bounce off of the cover and into the piano. The bombs detonated, knocking the piano onto its side, and then the two took aim with their Suction Shots, each launching a plunger onto the piano's base.
With a deep grunt, Luigi and Gooigi heaved the piano off the stage and slammed it onto the floor, driving Wolfgeist out. Swearing in German, Wolfgeist attacked the duo with his long arms, but they were simply too fast for him. Luigi was the first to stun the ghostly pianist, Gooigi watching him vacuum away a good portion of Wolfgeist's HP before harshly slamming him against the floor, grunting emphatically with each slam.
"You can't beat me!" Wolfgeist boasted when he broke free. "I'm a master pianist!"
He jumped back into his piano, which began firing keys at the two ghost-wranglers. About half of the keys cut Luigi, but he hardly felt the pain. All he was worried about was trying to memorize Wolfgeist's attack pattern and watching out for those bombs, so he could launch them back into the piano.
After firing another round of keys, the piano tried to pounce on Luigi a few times before retreating to the stage, this time firing a mix of bombs and flaming musical notes. He did his best to shield Gooigi against the open flame while the two carefully selected one bomb each to fire into the piano. Then, they heaved the instrument to the floor a second time, forcing Wolfgeist back out.
Yeah! You're doing it!
"Just a minute, Thad," gasped Luigi as he slid under Wolfgeist's long arms before stunning and slamming him once again.
Take your time. It's not like I'm going anywhere.
Wolfgeist wore a puzzled look as he escaped the suction. "All of this for a mushroom-head in a portrait," he said in disbelief.
Luigi tightened his vacuum's shoulder straps. "He doesn't belong in a portrait," he said, "and his name—is Thad."
Wolfgeist was genuinely confused. He couldn't understand why this man was fighting so fiercely for a little guy with a red-spotted mushroom cap. But his orders were to defeat Luigi, so that was what he had to do.
"I didn't want to fight you," huffed Wolfgeist. "You should've left when you had the chance."
"I have no choice!" Luigi said vehemently.
"Yes, well—neither do I." On those words, Wolfgeist went back inside his piano and repeated his attack pattern.
After several volleys of piano keys, the pianist ghost tried for the final time to stomp Luigi into the floor, nearly succeeding a few times. Following a shockwave-producing stomp, he sent out bombs with shorter fuses his way. After being knocked around by a few detonating bombs, Luigi and Gooigi still managed to launch a bomb back at their foe before firing a Suction Shot at the piano, this time destroying it for good.
With his piano out of commission, Wolfgeist was more infuriated than ever. He sent out those flaming musical notes which knocked Luigi backwards and melted Gooigi at the slightest contact. Eventually, Luigi settled for keeping Gooigi in his Plexiglass tank until the last portion of this battle was over.
And finally—finally—with Thad's face burned into his mind—Luigi did it. He stunned Wolfgeist one last time, slamming him into the floor over and over with all of his strength.
"This—is what—you get—for messing—around with—Toads!"
Amadeus Wolfgeist seemed to know that he was beat. As the suction began to draw him into the Poltergust, the ghostly pianist took one last deep bow.
"Thank you—and farewell!" cried Wolfgeist before he was finally sucked inside.
The nozzle shuddered, and another elevator button ejected itself from the vacuum. Luigi stood there, gasping deeply, before leaning down and picking up the button.
"Bravo!" he cried.
Polterpup trotted over to the stage and kicked the stairs back up before bounding over to Thad's portrait. Quickly, Luigi joined him, flashing his DLD at the imprisoned Toad.
Thad tumbled out of the portrait and into Luigi's arms, looking shaken and disoriented. For a second, he forgot where he was and how he got there. But then, he gazed into Luigi's face, and that made everything better.
"I knew it!" he said brightly, hugging his rescuer. "I f—ing knew it! I kept telling them you'd come through!"
Luigi hugged him back. "Thank God you're okay," he said.
Thad laughed. "Oh, Luigi—I'm definitely giving this place one star," he said.
"So am I," said Luigi, "but right now, I need to get you to a place where you can wait things out."
Thad frowned. "Maybe I can help," he said.
"I don't know, Thad. It's only gonna get more perilous from here, and I can't risk you getting hurt."
"But…"
Thad was interrupted when Gadd's voice crackled over the VB. "Thad? Is that you?"
"Hi, Professor!" chirped Thad.
"It appears that Luigi found you," said Gadd.
"Well, duh," said Thad. "Wha—where are you?"
"In my portable Lab on the basement floor," replied the Professor. "It'd probably be best if you waited out the storm here with me."
"That's—perfect!" Luigi chimed in. "I'll bring him down there."
"All righty. See you two soon," Gadd said before hanging up.
"Before that," said Thad. "I've gotta—you know…"
"Of course," said Luigi. "The restrooms are out the door, and the men's room is to your left."
"Okay!" Thad chirped as he raced out of the auditorium, Luigi and Gooigi following close behind.
"Guess I'd better answer the call of nature, too," murmured Luigi as he walked into the men's room alongside Thad.
…
"Brad, Chad and I were in my room, having fun and playing a drinking game," said Thad as he and Luigi tended to their business. "Then, we realized that it was getting dark and creepy and gloomy, and the lamps weren't working. The flashlights on our phones worked somewhat, but then—Hellen showed up without so much as a by-your-leave. She was acting really strange, even sliding into the bed with us. And then she told us that there was someone she wanted us to meet—and—there he was. We tried fighting those two off with golf clubs, but King Boo managed to immobilize us. I'm not gonna tell you what Hellen did before they sealed us in those paintings, because you don't need those images in your head."
"That's just what Mario said," said Luigi as he zipped himself back up and flushed the toilet.
"He's a very wise man," said Thad. "I don't wanna alarm you, but there's a door shaped like a Boo next to my stall."
"I saw it when I came in," Luigi told him, washing his hands.
Thad finished his own business, flushed and emerged from the stall. "I think that door opens to a secret room," he said as he stood on his tiptoes, trying to reach the sink.
"I'll take a look around later," said Luigi. "Here—let me."
He knelt down and boosted Thad up on his knee, allowing him to wash his hands.
"Thanks," Thad said softly. "FYI, Wolfgeist has a dressing room to the left of the stage. Let's take a look around together."
"Fine," relented Luigi, "but I want you to stay close to me, okay?"
"Okay."
The two exited the bathroom and walked back toward the auditorium, Thad directing Luigi to launch him at some speakers mounted on the ceiling along the way. He also helped uncover gold coins, gold bars and gems as he led the man in green toward Wolfgeist's dressing room. But Luigi wasn't about to let Thad take point—he walked beside him, Poltergust leveled.
And sure enough, there was a Goob in the dressing room, dusting off an upright piano. Pushing Thad behind him, Luigi stunned the Goob and vacuumed them up before they even knew they had company. Then, he noticed that some of the piano keys were missing and trained his DLD on the piano, revealing the instrument in its entirety.
He played several notes on the upright piano before launching into a tune he'd learned from the Library Poltergeist. However, he'd only played several bars when the piano top flipped open, spilling coins and a gem.
"Whoa," said Luigi.
"Whoa," added Thad. "You play pretty good."
Luigi beamed. "Thanks."
The two inspected a briefcase, jumping back when a Gold Goob popped out. Luigi stunned the ghost, and Thad wrapped his arms around Luigi's middle to give him extra leverage. After subduing the Gold Goob and vacuuming up the treasure they spilled, Luigi gave Thad a high-five.
Then, Luigi felt that singular rumbling at his back. A Boo was hiding nearby.
"Thad," he said, low and urgent. "Wait for me outside."
Seeing the look on Luigi's face, Thad obliged without question. Carefully, the man in green scanned the dressing room, using Gooigi's vibrations as a guide. Eventually, he found the Boo in a small laundry basket near the upright piano.
"Ta-daaa! I'm Boogie! This hotel is pretty swanky!" cackled the Boo.
"J—s! Is that a Boo?" Thad called from outside the dressing room.
"Yes, it is—so stay where you are!" shouted Luigi as he trained his DLD on Boogie.
Fierce protectiveness surged through Luigi as he grabbed Boogie by their tongue and slammed them into the upright piano, several shelves and the floor. He didn't stop until Boogie was in the Poltergust where they belonged. He was breathing heavily as he walked out of the room and rejoined Thad.
"Thad," he said. "What did Hellen do to you?"
"She ogled me and the others and made some creepy remarks," said Thad. "Leave it at that. For now. I'll tell you everything after you beat King Boo, okay?"
"Okay."
"And I found—that," Thad went on, pointing to some sort of socket on the stage. "I don't know what it does."
"Me, neither," said Luigi. "I guess I'll find out later."
He let Gooigi out of the Plexiglass tank, the gooey humanoid looking around before his gaze settled on Thad.
"You must be Thad," said Gooigi.
"And you must be Gooigi," replied Thad. "Thanks for helping L."
"Don't mention it," Gooigi told him before the two warmly hugged.
The three walked out of the auditorium and toward the elevator, Polterpup trotting behind them.
…
Hellen sat in her penthouse, watching the surveillance monitors, wearing only a dark blue halter-top with "[Bleep] you, you f—ing [bleep]" printed on it in white letters. A purple kitten was in her lap, which she methodically stroked as she studied the image of the man in green, her lip curled with contempt. He thought he was so high-and-mighty with that vacuum on his back, but she and her King would get the last laugh, no doubt about it.
Sensing two Goobs behind her, she banished them from her presence with a point and a growl, feeling some satisfaction in how quickly they fled. Her eyes burned into Luigi's image, watching him board the elevator along with Thad, that ghost dog and some gooey blob shaped like Luigi. Thanks to him, her plan was beginning to unravel, and that didn't sit very well with her, to say the least.
"I'll get you, you stupid plumber," spat Hellen. "I'll get you…"
Please R&R.