October 31, 2019

10:51 p.m.

Nathan pounded his desk in frustration, completely fed up with being a sadistic tyrant's plaything.

"King Boo!" he snapped. "King Boo, enough! For goodness sake, let it end! Vicky, Jacqui, Elegant, Melanie, Sophie, Flynn, Janelle, Emily—they were innocent people who didn't do anything! Just—just let Luigi and the others go, okay? Let them go, and I swear to you that we'll forget this! I swear with Almighty God as my witness, we'll take no vengeance!"

This game ends when I decide it ends, King Boo typed into the chat. Besides, I'm having too much fun.

"Take me for a hostage!" cried Nathan. "But let Luigi and his friends go! They don't deserve this!"

That's a generous offer, Nathan. But I must respectfully decline. I have no interest in you or in the Easton Kingdom. I only have eyes for Luigi.

By now, Luigi had recovered, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "Nathan," he said. "I appreciate that you're trying to protect me. But there's no use trying to reason with him. Sometimes, you have to meet force with force."

Are you all ready for the next round? It's gonna be a doozy. 3:D

"No! I've had it with this!" bellowed Noah. "I'm ready for you, you giant piece of marshmallow [bleep]! Come on over, man! I'll [bleep] you up!" He brandished a metal baseball bat as he spoke.

It's just so hilarious, watching you trying to act tough, typed King Boo. Perhaps I should pay you a visit next and remind you who's the powerful one here. 3:D

Luigi clenched his fists. "If you threaten either of them again…" he warned.

Threaten? As in, "I'm going to hunt down every last person in your fanbase and every last Smash player who mains you and make them regret ever associating with you"?

"Not if I can help it," spat Luigi.

My minions could be pinpointing them rn. And you're stuck in a haunted hotel, trying to save your beloved brother and the rest of your friends. Get your priorities straight, Luigi, because you can't save them all.

"You can be d—n sure I'll save as many as I can," Luigi said evenly.

"Noah and I will be fine, Luigi," said Nathan. "Don't worry about us. Just focus on Mario, Peach and the others."

But when he saw Luigi's eyes shining, he knew his plea had fallen on deaf ears.

"Everything's gonna work out," Nathan said gently.

Are you sure about that?

"Yes, I am," Nathan said firmly.

That plumber stands no chance against me, and neither do you.

"I've defeated you twice before," said Luigi, his eyes narrowed. "I will defeat you again, and I'll vacuum up every last ghost and Boo standing in my way. No matter what you do—no matter how badly you hurt me—I won't stop fighting until my loved ones are out of your clutches. You think you put people through Hell? It will rain back down on you."

Then let it rain.

"Luigi," Gadd spoke up. "You should head back to the Lab. I don't feel comfortable with you further exploring the hotel in your current condition."

Luigi bit his lip, but he nodded in agreement. "Okay," he said quietly.

"And stop at your hotel room to grab your laptop," said Noah.

"Why?"

"I'll tell you when you reach the Lab," Noah told him.

Luigi sucked in a breath before wheeling around and walking toward the elevator bay. He called the elevator and stepped inside. Nathan, Noah and Gadd saw the elevator doors close before King Boo's video feed cut to black.

There was a flutter of activity on Luigi's feed, his cell phone back out of his pocket. The other users watched him disembark from the elevator and walk toward what was presumably his hotel room, tangling with ghosts along the way. He entered the room, grabbed and pocketed his laptop and then fought his way back to the elevator before proceeding to the Lab.

When Luigi arrived, Gadd sat him down and got to work fussing over his wounds.

"Okay, I have my laptop," said Luigi. "Now will you tell me what you're planning?"

"I'm not planning anything," said Noah. "There's just this epic game I wanna share with you guys."

"I'm in no mood to play games right now," said Luigi.

"C'mon, Luigi, trust me. It's an awesome game," said Noah. "When the Professor's done patching you up, boot up your laptop and check your inbox. I just sent the download link."

Nathan saw the email notification. "I got it," he said.

"Don't click on it until Luigi's on his laptop," instructed Noah. "We're playing the game together. Professor, do you have the link?"

"I do," replied Gadd. "All righty, youngster. I've tended to the worst of your injuries. Now hop on your computer, posthaste!"

Luigi obliged.

"Okay, I'm online, and I just signed into my Gmail account," he said.

"Great," said Noah. "On the count of three, we'll click the link together. Ready?"

Everyone responded in the affirmative.

"Here we go. One—two—three!"

Nathan clicked the link Noah had sent, everyone else following suit.

It was a virus removal software.

Perfect, thought Nathan as he clicked "Run".

And just what do you think you're doing? King Boo demanded.

"Oh, we're just playing a game," Noah innocently responded. "You like playing games, yes? So, how about we play? This is the perfect game for you, Your Highness."

"I've got something for you, you old scoundrel," muttered Gadd.

"Everyone's running the program, right?" asked Noah.

"Right," said Luigi.

You all have one minute to stop this, warned King Boo.

A timer appeared on King Boo's feed, initiating a countdown from 60 seconds.

"Does anyone have flags yet?" asked Noah. "Let's all wait until we have flags. Everyone should have more than one flag."

"Mine's flagging," said Luigi.

"So's mine," said Nathan.

"Mine, too," said Gadd.

"So far, so good," said Noah. "Once the scan's complete, trash everything that was flagged. Then, open your recycle bins and empty them. Quickly now!"

The timer continued counting down as everyone followed Noah's instructions.

"Mine's done!" announced Gadd.

"Mine's done, too," said Luigi.

"Mine just finished," said Nathan.

"Okay, trash all of them," said Noah.

Nathan clicked on the trash can icon.

"My recycling bin's almost full," said Gadd, "so it's taking a while."

"That's fine," Noah told him. "I'm getting the same problem."

"All right—finished!" cried Nathan.

"Professor, how goes it?" asked Noah.

"Finally—it's done," breathed Gadd.

"Luigi?" queried Noah.

"I've got a pinwheel!" Luigi reported. "I've got the beach ball of death!"

The timer began flashing red as King Boo cackled evilly.

"Dio, can this f—ing thing please go faster?!" Luigi frantically exclaimed.

"Hey, it's gonna be cool," Noah assured him. "It's gonna be cool, I promise."

"Are you good, Noah?" asked Nathan.

"Yeah. We're just waiting on Luigi."

Just as the timer reached one second, Luigi exclaimed. "All right—I'm done!"

The quartet waited in suspense as the timer hit zero.

"Did it work?" asked Gadd.

"Is he gone?" asked Nathan. "Is he out?"

King Boo's video feed disappeared, and Messenger rebooted.

Everyone cheered.

"Vaffanculo, King Boo!" crowed Luigi. "Suck on that, psycho!"

Nathan laughed.

"Grazie, Noah," Luigi said in a softer voice.

"My pleasure, of course," said Noah.

The pink barriers had disappeared from Noah's room.

"Noah, grab your stuff and head to the light rail station," said Luigi. "And hurry!"

Noah nodded, gathering his things.

Luigi closed his laptop and stood.

"You're going back out there, lad?" Gadd questioned.

"I have to," Luigi quietly responded.

He turned on his heel and was out the door before the Professor could say anything else.

Nathan glanced at his phone when it chirped. "Welp," he said. "My Lyft ride was just cancelled. Professor, is there any news on your associate?"

"Unfortunately not," replied Gadd. "I've lost all contact with her."

Nathan cursed softly. "This night just can't get any worse," he groused.

He glanced at Noah's feed and saw that he was on the phone with someone.

"Yes, hi," he was saying. "My name is Noah Mitchener, and there's someone terrorizing me and my friends online. Yeah, I live at…" He gave his home address and then continued. "That's right. We were all online, and then some psychopath hacked into our Skype chat and threatened us, and they also threatened the Crown Prince of the Easton Kingdom. Not only that, but also this guy had a bunch of people killed in front of us. And he went after us because we're all friends with someone he hates."

"Noah," said Gadd. "Switch to speaker phone."

Noah nodded and pressed a button on his phone, allowing the others to hear the voice on the other end.

"Uh-huh. He just—found his way into our chat and started attacking us. His minions presumably massacred the entire Waffle Kingdom Royal Family after killing Princess Éclair's pregnant daughter. Another friend of mine was turned into a mural. A professional Smash player was swatted, with fatal results, and another of my friends was thrown to her death, along with her fiancée, after her sister and niece were gruesomely killed."

"The Easton Kingdom," said the voice on the other end, presumably a 9-1-1 operator. "That's in Sarasaland, correct?"

"Correct. Which brings me to my next point. I need you to perform a welfare check on Princess Daisy. My surviving friends and I have reason to believe she's in imminent danger. An extremely dangerous individual has a vendetta against her boyfriend, and this individual could target her to get to him."

"I know who you're referring to," said the operator, "and we'll send a car over to Daisy's to make sure she's safe. What's her boyfriend's current location?"

"This hotel called the Last Resort," replied Noah.

"Do you know the address?"

"Uh—just a sec." Noah covered the speaker with one hand. "Nathan—could you…?"

"Sure, sure," said Nathan, sending the address to Noah via a private message.

Noah then gave the address to the operator.

Nathan, messaged Gadd. I could use your help with something.

Anything, Professor, replied Nathan.

In situations like these, Luigi is all kinds of stubborn. He'll put the safety and well-being of his friends and loved ones before his own. It's an admirable trait, but I fear it might get him killed.

I see what you're saying.

Nathan, I need you to make sure that Luigi drops by the Lab after a tough battle. Because how can he rescue his friends when he's half-dead and exhausted—or worse, completely dead?

I'll talk to him.

Thanks, Nathan.

You're welcome.

As Noah continued talking to the operator, Nathan messaged Luigi.

Hey, L. Just checking in. Where r u?

A seafood restaurant.

Yummy. I like seafood.

It's called the Spectral Catch. And I have this feeling in my gut—that more of my friends are being held in this restaurant.

After rescuing them, maybe you should order carry-out on your way back to the Lab.

?

L—I'm doing this because I care about you. The Prof and I want you to take frequent breaks, bcuz it's only gonna get deadlier from here.

Every minute I spend dawdling is another minute my friends spend in his clutches.

Yes, I understand that. But don't you wanna refresh and get some energy back before jumping back into it?

I do.

Please, stop at the Lab periodically.

Fine. U talked me into it.

Gr8. Good luck.

Nathan glanced at Luigi's video feed and saw the ghost-wrangler giving a little wave to the camera before setting off to explore the Spectral Catch.

"Look—the person attacking us, along with Princess Daisy's boyfriend, is very powerful," Noah was saying to the operator. "He's a King, which means that he could have his minions everywhere. Because of that, I'd like to remain anonymous for the time being."

"Don't worry. Your call is being treated as confidential. The Crown Prince of the Easton Kingdom—is he still at home?"

"He is."

"And what's his address?"

Noah told the operator.

"Are you safe?"

"Yeah."

"All of you?"

"Yup. We're good. We're trying to hold on, but we're good."

"Even Luigi?"

"Well—kinda. He's willingly marching into the danger zone to try and save his friends."

"And even the Professor?"

"Oh, yeah, he's…" Noah trailed off. "Wait, what?"

"Don't hang up," the operator said in an ominous monotone.

"Excuse me?" asked Noah.

"Noah?" Gadd piped up. "What's going on? What's happening?"

Noah shushed him.

"I said," the operator spoke. "Don't. Hang. Up."

"Who did you call?" asked Gadd.

Noah cursed, slamming on his desk.

"What is it?" Nathan worriedly asked.

"It's him!" yelled Noah. "It's that f—ing a—hole!"

Nathan's blood froze as King Boo's feed rejoined the group conversation.

Noah, you just made the worst mistake of your sorry excuse of a life, typed the King.

Noah brandished his bat and held it in front of him. "Don't you try anything!" he barked. "I'm armed!"

Two more feeds appeared. One showed what appeared to be a cave or a grotto, and the other showed—

"Huh?" uttered Nathan as he stared at the second feed. "Is that a lattice—a crate?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Luigi, Gooigi and Polterpup wandering through the grotto. Gooigi saw the camera and lightly tugged on Luigi's sleeve, the two of them hurrying over.

"What are you doing in a grotto?" asked Nathan.

"It's not a real grotto," said Luigi. "It's a bar and lounge area made to look like one."

"That's pretty neat," said Nathan.

Luigi then saw the other feed. "What's that?" he asked. "Is that also in the hotel?"

"You got me," said Noah, propping his bat over his shoulder.

Nathan saw the tip of the bat through the lattice or crate. "Noah!"

"What?"

"Stand up for a second," said Nathan.

"Why…?"

"Just do it, man."

Noah pushed back his chair and stood up, confirming Nathan's suspicions. The second mysterious feed was in Noah's room.

"Turn around, Noah," said Luigi, transfixed.

Noah did so, his eyes falling on the camera. Briefly, he disappeared from view, and the other heard him moving things around.

"Luigi," Nathan said urgently. "Don't worry about us. You suspected that some of your friends are in this restaurant, right?"

Luigi nodded. "Yeah."

He turned to leave, only for those pink barriers to trap him. In response, he swore in Italian.

"[Bleep], guys," he said softly.

Noah came back into view after clearing some stuff away, crouched down and then lifted the crate. He remained there for a few long seconds, staring hugely at the camera.

"Noah, WTF is going on?" Nathan asked, a little sharply.

Noah didn't reply, the color draining from his face, his body starting to shake and his breath coming fast.

And then all feeds disconnected.

"Are you kidding?" huffed Nathan as he waited for Skype to reboot and then reestablished the video call.

Noah's feed was the first to come back online, buffering as it showed a frozen image of his shirt.

"Noah…" Nathan said softly.

He jumped as the feed came back to life, showing Noah screaming and struggling as Boos cackled at his distress.

Gadd and Luigi were back online, as well, watching the scene in horror.

"God Almighty!" Gadd exclaimed. "Noah?!"

"What are you doing with him?!" Luigi demanded as he and Gooigi clung to each other.

You'll see. 3:D

"Help!" Noah screamed. "Somebody! Help!"

And then his feed cut to black.

"What in the name of everything holy?!" shouted Gadd.

Luigi was pacing back and forth, grabbing at his hair as Gooigi futilely tried to calm him down.

Another feed came online, panning around Noah's room before zooming in on his computer.

And then they saw him.

Noah was now trapped inside his own computer screen, frantically banging on it. His eyes were wild, and his face was bruised. It was just like Mario back in 2001, but while the man in red had been trapped in a painting, Noah was imprisoned in cyberspace. Not that the difference really mattered.

"Get me outta here!" screamed Noah, his voice muffled.

Comfortable? King Boo typed.

"You'd better let me out of here right now, you b—d!" hollered Noah.

I'll take that as a "yes".

Beside Noah, another window popped up, loading some sort of program. And not just any program—

"An antivirus program," breathed Nathan.

"Oh, God," choked Luigi.

Noah's eyes widened as the cursor hovered over the "Run" command.

"No!" he cried. "You can't do this! You can't!"

Yes, I can. And yes, I am.

"Please—no…" whimpered Noah.

The cursor clicked on the "Run" command, and the program began scanning the computer for viruses. When it was finished, the program displayed the message "VIRUS FOUND" in big, red letters.

A dialogue box appeared, releasing scores of dark purple icons with glowing red eyes on them. These icons quickly swarmed Noah as he tried to bat them away.

"No! No!" screamed Noah. "Professor—Luigi—Nathan! HELP ME!"

Then, the unthinkable happened.

The icons began eating away at Noah, slowly reducing him to ribbons of pixelated flesh and blood. He screamed and screamed and screamed as his attackers chewed away, praying aloud for God or any deity to help him.

Nathan, Gadd and Luigi had no choice but to watch.

The icons completely covered Noah now, feasting on him and treating him like a malignant computer virus. He let out one final scream before the others heard the sound of something being rent open.

Finally, the icons dispersed, and Noah was no more.

Another dialogue box appeared, displaying the message "VIRUS REMOVAL COMPLETE. HAVE A NICE DAY!" in bright green letters, accompanied by a smiley face.

The feed faded to black, and then Noah was booted from the Skype chat.

Noah—game over. 3:D

"Criminy!" Gadd exclaimed. "This is downright macabre!"

Luigi had both hands pressed against his mouth, and Nathan heard him trying to keep his breathing under control.

Luigi, chill, typed King Boo.

"You—you…" Luigi managed to say. "You f—ing…"

Language, chided King Boo.

"You'd swear like a sailor too if you were going through something like this!" Luigi retorted.

"Bro…" Gooigi said softly.

Luigi looked at his gooey doppelganger in surprise. "Wha…?"

"Bro," Gooigi said again. "My Bro. I'm with you. Okay? I'm with you."

"Oh, Gooigi…" uttered Luigi as he moved into Gooigi's arms.

"S'okay," cooed Gooigi as the two of them hugged. "S'okay."

"No, it's not," Luigi said softly.

"You're right," conceded Gooigi, "but it is what it is."

He kissed Luigi on the forehead before lancing the camera with a glare.

"You are so merged with your own sadism," he charged, "you don't even identify it as sadism anymore! You're such a d—k!"

"You tell him, Gooigi!" Nathan added.

You only have Luigi to thank for that, typed King Boo. He made me and my subjects who we are today.

Luigi raised his head, giving the camera a fiercely defiant look.

Well, it looks like it's just Nathan, the geezer and Luigi, typed King Boo. Who will walk out alive?

Please R&R.