Way to go, Bro! You sure made Johnny Deepend feel the burn! But the cooldown will have to wait. You're just a couple of floors away from me, and Hellen's waiting. I can't wait to be free of her.
That Goob beforehand was very generous, though—letting Luigi have that key after completing an intense workout rather than attacking him.
Eh—that Goob just wanted to see my bro sweat it out.
Who wouldn't? I mean, that film director ghost has taken an interest in him. And even Gooigi's taken an interest in him. Guess he's just that kind of person.
Yeah. He is, isn't he?
Thank God he made it through the 13th floor in one piece, though. Now let's see what he'll encounter on the next floor!
…
"I was thinking," Gooigi was saying, "before we head to the 14th floor, how about you drop off your duffel bag in your room? It'll be one less thing to carry."
Luigi nodded. "Sure," he said, dropping the duffel bag onto the ground and holding up the elevator button. "All right—where are we headed to next?"
The elevator button fit itself into its proper socket—only to pop back out—once again in Polterkitty's jaws!
"You gotta be s—ing me," Luigi said in disbelief.
Polterkitty sailed out of the elevator panel and onto the floor, swallowing the elevator button with a devious grin. As she turned to leave, Polterpup trotted over to her, playfully barking and staring at her with puppy-dog eyes.
"Yeah—nice kitty," Luigi said softly as he observed the scene. "Do you wanna play with the nice doggie?"
But Polterkitty turned up her nose at the ghost pup and strutted out of the elevator. Polterpup whined, his eyes and tail drooping.
"Aw—puppy," said Luigi, kneeling down and giving Polterpup a comforting hug. "You'll still have me."
Polterpup perked up, bounded out of the elevator and stood on his hind legs.
"You'll help me find her?" asked Luigi.
"Arf!"
"Oh, yeah! Good puppy!" laughed Luigi. "Let's go get that bad kitty."
Polterpup led Luigi and Gooigi toward the showers, the latter two scanning the ground in front of them with their Dark-Lights to search for purple paw prints. Once inside the shower room, Polterpup pounced on a hamper, knocking aside the lid to reveal Polterkitty.
"You are a very, very bad kitty!" Luigi scolded, hands on his hips. "My doggie just wanted to play with you, and you were rude and dismissive to him! Apologize to him, right now!"
But Polterkitty just flounced away as Polterpup forlornly stared after her.
"Hey," Luigi said softly. "She's not worth it."
Polterpup licked Luigi's cheek and took off toward the locker room, with Gooigi and Luigi close behind. The two ghost hunters trained their Dark-Lights on the walls and floors around them, but they couldn't find any pawprints. A woof from the ghost doggie caught their attention.
Luigi knelt down so he was at eye-level with the pet. "Where do you think she is?" he asked.
"Arf! Arf! Woof!"
"The weight room?"
"Woof!"
"Okeydokey—let's take a look!"
The trio walked into the weight room, where Polterpup trotted over to the punching bag. Luigi strode up to the bag, raised his fists and gave the bag a good one-two punch, jostling Polterkitty from her hiding spot.
"There you are!" shouted Gooigi.
Polterkitty hissed at them and then jumped onto one of the light fixtures. Suddenly, her pursuers were surrounded by Goobs, Hammers and Slinkers. The ghostly kitty sat back on her haunches and watched as Luigi and Gooigi engaged the ghosts. Polterpup helped out in any way he could, from distracting the ghosts to latching onto the waistband of Luigi's pants to help him pull back against any ghosts struggling against the suction. When a blow from a ghost knocked Luigi down, Polterpup would jump on him, a litany of licks and doggie kisses getting him back in the game. And when the ghosts were finally cleared out, Polterpup rewarded his master with a victory nuzzle.
They glanced up at Polterkitty, who fled. With Polterpup in the lead, they gave chase, cornering her at the front desk, where Luigi nailed her with a Strobulb flash.
With a growl, Polterkitty took on her menacing cat-beast form. Remembering his last encounter with her, Luigi faced away, holding down the button on his Strobulb as he listened to the cat-beast stalking toward him. He saw her shadow cast on the wall, approaching his shadow. He felt her sniff at the back of his neck, he heard her purr in satisfaction, he heard her snarl as she reared up to attack—
Polterpup woofed urgently in warning, and Luigi whirled, stunning Polterkitty again and suctioning one of her tails onto his vacuum's nozzle. His heart did about a hundred as he slammed Polterkitty into the floor over and over, not stopping until the tail detached, squirming around a little before he wrestled it into the Poltergust.
He glared at Polterkitty, who gave him a haughty look and phased through the floorboards.
"She's gone downstairs," said Luigi.
He, Gooigi and Polterpup left the Fitness Center's front office and took the elevator to the Spectral Catch, Luigi petting his ghost doggie the whole way.
Polterpup leaped out of the elevator as soon as it opened, and Luigi followed him inside the restaurant, Gooigi bringing up the rear. Both Polterkitty's and Polterpup's pawprints crisscrossed the bar area, the latter managing to startle Luigi every so often. But the ghost doggie also pointed out golden mice he could vacuum and was actively helping him search for Polterkitty, intently sniffing the ground like a trained police dog.
They walked out of the bar area and into the beach area, where they were accosted by Goobs, Oozers and snakes. Luigi and Gooigi dealt with the ghosts, while Polterpup lashed out at any snake who dared attack his master. Following this skirmish, Luigi and Gooigi vacuumed up mounds of sand, discovering Polterkitty hiding under one of them. Together, they flashed her with their Strobulbs, causing her to transform into the cat-beast and leap onto a branch of one of the palm trees.
Luigi faced away from her, Strobulb charging, his breathing quiet as Polterkitty toyed with him. She approached him, smelled him, growled and raised her claws to strike, only to be met with a fully-charged Strobulb to the face. In short order, Luigi slammed her all over the beach area, emerging with her second tail inside the Poltergust.
Polterkitty retreated as Luigi composed himself, turning around to see Polterpup wearing a despondent expression.
"What's wrong?" he asked. "Are you still upset over Polterkitty rejecting you?"
Polterpup whimpered.
"I think," said Gooigi, "he wishes that he could do what she did—transform into a tall and imposing animal—to protect you."
"Oh, puppy," said Luigi. "Puppy—you've already protected me. You led me straight to the Poltergust, remember?"
He knelt down and threw his arms around Polterpup, entangling his fingers in his fur and whispering affectionate words to him. After about two minutes of this, the ghost puppy felt better, leading Luigi and Gooigi back into the bar area.
Polterkitty gave the trio a snooty look before escaping to the floor below them. Polterpup jumped down after her, while Luigi and Gooigi rode the elevator to the Twisted Suites.
En route, however—the elevator jerked abruptly, Luigi giving a sharp cry as three Goobs flew in. They tried to use the small space to box Luigi in, but he was able to stun them all at once, slamming them into submission. After he captured them, there was a pregnant pause before the elevator started moving again.
"I think it would be really great if that didn't happen again," Luigi said in between gasps.
Gooigi and Luigi reached the Twisted Suites, stepped off the elevator and tracked down Polterpup to a bathroom, where the paranormal puppy helped them uncover a Gold Goob. After defeating the Gold Goob, Polterpup led them to the lopsided room, where top hats were strewn everywhere.
"Polterkitty must be hiding under one of them," said Luigi.
He and Gooigi exchanged a nod and simultaneously activated their Burst functions, knocking the hats into the air and exposing Polterkitty. Unfortunately, one of the hats fell on top of Luigi, briefly plunging him into darkness. In the ensuing confusion, Polterkitty made good her escape. After Gooigi and Polterpup helped Luigi knock the top hat off of him, they dashed off in pursuit.
Both Polterpup and the DLD led Luigi and Gooigi to the Twisted Suites' stage area and onto the stage itself, where there was a long, wooden box with some knives stuck into it. The two ghost hunters each fired a Suction Shot onto the box and yanked it open to reveal Polterkitty hiding inside. Luigi stunned Polterkitty with the Strobulb, and she turned back into the cat-beast, blasting the wooden box to shreds and bounding onto the stage ceiling.
Luigi turned away, held down the Strobulb button and waited.
"No worries, Luigi!" crowed Gooigi. "I've got this one!"
He walked right up to Polterkitty and stunned her, allowing Luigi to grab her by her last tail and slam some manners into her, finally sucking her into the Poltergust once and for all.
The elevator button shot out of the nozzle and onto the stage, where Polterpup briefly played with it.
"Thanks, puppy," said Luigi when Polterpup used his nose to nudge the elevator button into his hand.
He gave the paranormal pup a belly rub before feeding him one of those golden bones as a reward.
Triumphantly, the three walked back to the elevator and slid the new elevator button into place.
"A Dance Hall, eh?" mused Luigi when he studied the VB's layout. "Well, I do love to dance."
After dropping off the duffel bag on the 5th floor, Luigi, Gooigi and Polterpup boogied on over to the 14th floor—and toward the final elevator button.
Please R&R.