Both this chapter and the previous chapter go out to TheGameNguyener, as they were both inspired by one of his stories.
Be warned: This chapter contains quite bloody and graphic imagery!
November 1, 2019
12:26 a.m.
"Answer it," said Gadd.
Nathan's cursor hovered over the "Accept" button. "Are you sure?" he asked.
Gadd jerked a nod. "Now could be the only time to repair things between us," he said, a hint of trepidation in his voice.
Nathan clicked "Accept", and then Luigi's feed reappeared in the chat.
The first things Nathan and Gadd registered were the sobbing, whimpering breaths and the jittery camera movements. Without a doubt, Luigi had just endured another Hellish encounter with a ghost and appeared mere seconds away from losing it. The second thing they noticed was the blood. Dark crimson was in splotches and puddles all over the floor. The room bore signs of a harrowing fight, the furniture knocked over and smears of blood on several objects. Then, the camera swiveled around, revealing Luigi.
"Criminy!" exclaimed Gadd.
"Oh, [bleep]!" added Nathan.
Luigi sat against a wall, breathing heavily, unshed tears in his dilated eyes, his body shaking. But that wasn't what horrified Gadd and Nathan. The sources of their horrified reactions were the numerous bloody claw marks raked all over Luigi's face and body, and they looked quite deep, too. Gooigi, seated next to him, looked like he'd been used as a scratching post, as well, but his wounds were gradually healing. Polterpup was audible, as well, barking and growling at unseen threats.
"What…?" Nathan started to ask, only for Luigi to stop him with a gesture.
"I—I need to talk to the Professor for a moment," said Luigi, his voice shaking. "Could you—could you mute your mic, please?"
Nodding, Nathan obliged.
Gadd and Luigi stared intently at each other.
"Luigi, my boy…" Gadd said quietly. "Everything you said was true. This is all my fault. I'll take the blame, and I'll take your fury. The promise of fame blinded me, and many people died tonight because of that. I've been selfish, foolish and incompetent—a lousy scientist and a lousier mentor. I—I deserve your contempt, because I've brought you nothing but trauma and nightmares." His voice cracked, and he began to cry. "Oh, God—what have I done?" He wept bitterly.
Luigi was crying, too, the tears washing away the blood on his face.
"Professor," he managed to say. "I—I can't think about the horrible things I said to you and not feel sick. And I just want you to know—I didn't mean it. I didn't mean any of it! I'm—I'm so sorry! My temper got the better of me, and…" He couldn't finish.
"There's nothing to apologize for, youngster," sniffled Gadd. "I deserved every syllable of that."
"No, you didn't," said Luigi. "You may have caused this situation, but it was no excuse for me to explode like that! Just when I needed you the most, I pushed you away from me! Why—why did I do that?" He sobbed.
"Luigi, I will happily strip off my shirt and flagellate myself for you and the world to see," sobbed Gadd, "if that what it takes to make this right."
"N—no! Don't do that!" cried Luigi. "I didn't mean to make you feel like [bleep], Professor. Honestly, I didn't."
"I know," whispered Gadd.
"This situation's got us all f—ed up," spluttered Luigi. "All I could think about was Vicky and her baby being butchered, Jacqui being turned into a mural, Elegant being swatted, Noah being decimated by his own antivirus program, and Flynn, Melanie, Sophie, Janelle, Emily, Ryder and Rian gruesomely dying mere seconds away from safety! And then you told me that you brought King Boo here of your own free will, and I just lost it! I feel so horrible!"
"So do I," said Gadd. "How could I have been so gullible?"
"You're just as much the victim as my friends and I are, and I should've realized that," said Luigi. "If anyone deserve my rage, then it's King Boo—and Hellen, too. You know I've always been slow to anger, Professor. And whenever I wind up blowing up at somebody like I did at you, I regret it almost instantly, but there's a side of my brain that keeps trying to justify it, which is why I don't apologize right away. I have to step aside and cool off before trying to mend fences. Oh, Professor—while selling King Boo's portrait allowed the Dark Moon incident to happen, at least you rectified it by equipping me with a better Poltergust, and I know that you called me because I was the only person you knew with the proper experience to handle it. And while you kickstarted our current predicament, I can see that you're trying to make up for putting me and my friends in danger. You made some mistakes, Professor, but don't we all? We're only human, you know?"
"Yeah," said Gadd. "I just can't believe that I didn't learn from the Dark Moon debacle. I f—ed up, Luigi. I f—ed up big time. Choosing to kowtow to Hellen instead of listening to my gut is something I'll have to live with for the rest of my days. God knows that I don't deserve your forgiveness."
"I don't deserve yours, either," said Luigi. "What I said to you was immature and unacceptable, and I'll have to live with that for the rest of my life."
"I don't hold it against you, because after what you've endured up to that point, it was within your rights," said Gadd. "I will fix what I've broken, and I'll get you out of the mess I made. Somehow, I'll make this up to you."
"And I'll make it up to you," vowed Luigi. "It's gonna be really difficult for me to trust you again, but we'll make it work."
"Yes, we will," said Gadd.
Nathan had been crying unashamedly throughout this entire exchange, and he presently blew his nose into a Puffs tissue before washing his hands and pouring himself some water.
Okay, Nate, messaged Luigi. U can turn your mic back on.
Nathan did just that.
"Luigi," he said. "Curse me! It's my fault that…"
"Nathan, please, let me speak," said Luigi. "This isn't your fault. You had no way of knowing that the Boos had something up their sleeve when they invited you to that tournament. They can be very deceptive like that. And while you shouldn't have kept Gadd's actions from me, I feel really bad that I took out my frustrations on you. King Boo's been torturing you as much as he's been torturing me, and my lashing out at you definitely didn't help matters. I'm so sorry about the way I acted. It was stupid and wrong, and I don't wanna lose our friendship."
"I don't wanna lose our friendship, either," said Nathan, "and I'm sorry, too. If I'd declined the invitation to that tournament, my fiancée and my friends would still be alive, and I'd still have a son or daughter on the way. Not to mention that I subjected you to more trauma, since they all died in front of you. And I should've told you about Gadd, I admit it. But he made me swear."
"If I'd declined the invite to this hotel, then we'd all be having a good night's sleep right now," Luigi told him.
"Just like me, you had no way of knowing," Nathan said consolingly. "Ah, Luigi—what's it gonna take for you to forgive us?"
"What's it gonna take for you both to forgive me?" asked Luigi.
"There's nothing to forgive," Gadd and Nathan said in unison.
Luigi's eyes glistened. "I forgive you," he said. "Both of you. I'll have to learn to trust you guys again—but I forgive you."
Nathan felt a great weight lifting from his soul, and he was positive that Gadd felt the same way, too.
"Now that we've put that dust-up behind us," said Nathan, "could you please tell us what happened?"
"Turns out—Hellen has a pet, just like me," said Luigi, "but while I have a puppy, she has a kitty cat—a kitty cat who can turn into a ferocious spectral cat-beast when the need arises!"
"Yeah—I was gonna say that you look like you've been mauled by the Hound of the Baskervilles," said Nathan.
"Polterkitty was worse than the Hound of the Baskervilles," said Luigi.
"Polterkitty?" asked Gadd. "That's the name of Hellen's pet?"
"Indeed. After the—incident—I continued exploring the penthouse, letting off steam by fighting off some ghosts. I realized that I had to uncover four special keys to unlock the door to Hellen's office. While I was doing that, Polterkitty attacked me and stole the keys. I easily chased her down and cornered her—but when I flashed her with the Strobulb, she morphed into a ghostly panther! She stalked me throughout the penthouse and leaped out at me from the shadows! The only way I could defend myself was to try and catch her off guard. She had three tails, you see, and I had to vacuum them up before I could subdue and capture her. Polterpup and Gooigi did what they could to help, but…" He indicated the horrific claw slashes covering him.
"Polterkitty used you as a scratching post," said Gadd. "Are you sure you don't want to stop at the Lab and let me take a look?"
"Positive," said Luigi. "I can't turn around now. Something tells me that I'm almost at the end of this nightmare. But while I was fighting Polterkitty, I realized that I couldn't afford to remain on bad terms with you. I don't want my last interactions with you to be acrimonious."
"Ditto," said Gadd.
"I'd cooled off significantly after that throwdown," said Luigi, "although I was still a little raw. Even now, I'm still upset. But I don't want this hanging over our heads, in case the worst should happen. And as I've said before, I feel really s—y after lashing out at people."
"I got you into this," said Gadd, "but I'm gonna get you out. Whatever it takes."
"I'm with you there," said Nathan, "and after you put King Boo back where he belongs, we'll have dinner sometime. My treat."
"Sounds good," said Luigi.
He took a deep breath, rose to his feet and went on. "I only have to find two more keys, and then I'll be in Hellen's office, where Mario is presumably waiting for me."
"Huh. I thought King Boo would want to keep Mario for himself," said Nathan.
"Me, too," said Luigi, "but judging by the way Hellen was looking at Mario when we were checking in, King Boo must've caught on and given her to him. That way, he could really hurt both of us—through Peach." He shuddered. "I can't imagine what he's doing to her right now."
"Then don't waste your time gabbing with us," said Gadd. "Hop to it!"
Something seemed to dawn on Luigi. "Virginia…" He said. "She—he didn't spare her after all, did he?"
Gadd dropped his eyes. "No," he mournfully replied. "He didn't."
"I'm really sorry, Professor," said Luigi. "About everything."
"Me, too," said Gadd.
"On a lighter note, I'm glad we talked things out," said Luigi. "King Boo's wrong. An empire toppled from within can rise again, stronger than ever."
"Give 'em Hell, Luigi," said Nathan.
Luigi pocketed his phone, once again plunging his Skype feed into blueness.
Nathan exhaled, leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms behind his head. He, Luigi and Gadd weren't quite out of the danger zone yet, but even so, he allowed a tiny peace to wing its way through his soul.
Mere moments later, the peace would be permanently shattered.
Darn. I really thought that revelation would be the end of your fellowship.
"Yes, well—you thought wrong," Gadd said crisply.
"Luigi's coming for you, and he's gonna make you pay," added Nathan.
Not if I have anything to say about it.
"You're gonna lose," snapped Gadd. "You always do. It's your nature. Your overconfidence will be your undoing."
That's what *you* think. But unlike you, I learn from my mistakes.
"At least I own up to them," Gadd said hotly.
The cunning warrior attacks neither body nor mind.
"Professor…" warned Nathan.
It's the heart, gentlemen. First, I'll attack his heart. And the rest will be easy from there.
"D—mit," hissed Gadd. "We gotta warn Luigi!"
King Boo's feed came back to life, showing another area of Hellen's penthouse.
"It's a…" murmured Gadd. "It's a hallway."
They saw Luigi, trailed by his two companions, round a corner and approach the camera feed.
"What the…?" Luigi asked softly as he scrutinized the feed.
"Have you obtained the last of the keys?" asked Gadd.
"Yeah," replied Luigi. "It was quicker than I thought, because while Gooigi and I were looking for one of them, Polterpup fetched the last one by himself." He smiled. "He's such a dependable little puppy."
"So—you're on your way to the office?" asked Nathan.
"I am. It's blocked by a door shaped like King Boo." Luigi shuddered. "There's a lot of King Boo-related artwork and imagery in here. She really loves him. Hey, Professor—do me a favor and house them in the same containment unit. That way, they'll be together forever."
Nathan and Gadd snickered.
"Anyway, the door to her office is in King Boo's likeness, and there are four keyholes on the tongue. When I saw those keyholes, I knew that the four keys were hidden somewhere in the penthouse. Hellen didn't make it easy for me—there were lasers everywhere, and I told you about making Polterkitty's acquaintance. But I did it. I got them. And Hellen had better start to say her prayers."
Not so fast, Luigi, typed King Boo. I'd hate to trample on your recent reconciliation with the gamer and the geezer, but I have something special in store for you.
Luigi gasped as those gated barriers slammed down around him and the penthouse lights dimmed.
Now, it's REALLY time to party.
Nathan, Gadd and Luigi hardly dared to breathe.
"What are you gonna do?" Luigi asked.
You'll see. 3:D
Nathan heard Polterpup once again barking urgently. Luigi gathered his puppy into his arms and tried to soothe him.
"Show him no weakness," said Gadd. "No fear."
Luigi nodded vigorously.
Another feed popped up, showing a program called Drillbit running.
"What in the Inferno are you up to, King Boo?" asked Luigi.
The program finished running, and the feed began to play a video of the Mario Bros, cuddling together and relaxing after a long day. They'd obviously returned from a rescue mission, judging by their bruised and bandaged state.
Luigi had his eyes glued to the screen as he hugged Polterpup close. The paranormal puppy was nigh inconsolable now, as if sensing his human's distress.
"Hey, Luigi," video!Mario was saying.
"Hm?" asked video!Luigi.
"I shouldn't be telling you, this, but I've had a recurring dream—or rather, a recurring nightmare," whispered video!Mario.
Video!Luigi listened intently.
"It's a nightmare I've had for a very long time now," video!Mario went on, "and in it—Koopa—does something terrible."
"What does he do?" asked video!Luigi.
"He—tries to make me—choose," said video!Mario, "between you and Peachy. And…" He trailed off, tears streaming down his face.
"I know you'd find a way to save both of us," said video!Luigi.
"That's—that's the problem," said video!Mario. "What if there isn't a way? How can he expect me to…?"
"Because he wants to hurt you," said video!Luigi. "You can't let him do that, Mario—you just can't. You have to stand up and say, 'I'm not giving you any power over me'. And God knows—I'd rather die than have that turtle use me against you."
"I'll always put my family first," said video!Mario, "and Peachy understands that. But still—if I left either of you to that turtle's mercy, then I'll never forgive myself."
"Bro," said video!Luigi. "Bro, look at me."
Video!Mario obliged.
"I can certainly hold my own against him," said video!Luigi. "I'm confident that it'll never get to that point. But if it does—I can take whatever he sees fit to dish out at me. I'm not someone's kid brother anymore."
"Luigi…"
"Mario—it's okay. I don't want you to think you have to choose between me and Peach. That's—that's not right."
The video rewound itself.
"I don't want you to think you have to choose…"
Rewind.
"I don't want you to think you have to choose…"
Rewind.
"I don't want you to think you have to choose…"
The video cut to black.
There was ominous silence.
"Okay," Nathan said finally. "You're a f—ing creep, or—what do you want?"
The feed once again became active, showing none other than—
"M—M—Mario…!" whispered Luigi, reaching out a shaky hand.
The elder Mario brother, trapped in a portrait frame for the third time in his life, looked positively horrified. His face was moderately bruised and cut, his right eye was swelling up, and there were bloody bite marks on his arms and upper body. A violet aura encircled the portrait, which appeared to be levitating against a starry backdrop.
"W—wait," said Nathan. "That's not Hellen's office. That's the hotel's roof. Which could only mean—uh, KB? I—I don't like where this is going."
Seconds later, another video feed popped up, showing an auburn-haired woman wearing an orange negligee, relaxing in her room without a care in the world.
Luigi's lips began to tremble as he stared at the woman, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Luigi," Gadd said slowly. "Is that…?"
Luigi nodded, and in a barely audible voice, he rasped out, "That's Princess Daisy."
King Boo's face once again appeared on the Skype chat, his monstrous gaze locked completely on Luigi.
And then he did the unthinkable.
CHOOSE 3:D
"Wha…?" uttered Luigi.
The Master of Illusions cackled as he initiated yet another countdown from one minute.
Luigi's entire body quivered as he shook his head in disbelief. "N—no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no!" he shouted.
"Oh, you've gotta be s—ing me!" snapped Nathan.
"For C—st's sake, man—haven't you tortured the poor youngster enough?!" roared Gadd.
King Boo muted both of their microphones in response.
Luigi whimpered and sobbed. "Please!" he cried. "She doesn't even know who you are; I never told her about you! Do what you want to me; I don't care—but just leave her out of this!"
King Boo ignored him. CHOOSE 3:D
"Don't hurt them, I'm begging you! I'll do anything you ask of me! I'll surrender myself to you right here and now, just—please! Please—I'll do anything!" Luigi was completely inconsolable, tears racing down his face as he sobbed explosively.
"No—no—NO!" he pleaded. "Oh—no! I can't—I can't! Please, don't make me do this! For God's sake, what more do you want from me?!"
CHOOSE 3:D
A few more Boos joined their King on the Skype chat, drinking in the sight of Luigi freaking out as he pleaded fruitlessly for the lives of the two people he cared about most in the world. His head fell into his hands, deep sobs heaving his frame, as the countdown relentlessly went on. King Boo wore an infuriating smirk on his face, his violet eyes dilated with pleasure as he studied Luigi's every move and listened to his every sob and entreaty. He cackled, and his brethren cackled along with him.
CHOOSE 3:D
But then, Luigi's breathing steadied, his sobs quieted, and he composed himself, narrowing his reddened eyes at King Boo.
"No," he defied as the countdown approached zero. "No. I won't."
?
"I'm not gonna let you do this," spat Luigi. "I'm not gonna let you control me. So [bleep] off."
King Boo cackled.
So be it.
Nathan, Luigi and Gadd watched as multitudes of Boos floated into Daisy's room and accosted her.
"NOOOOOOO!" screamed Luigi as he watched his beloved attempting to fight off her assailants while they dragged her into the bathroom. "Daisy!"
At that moment, the feed went to static.
"I'm sorry, Princess—I'm so sorry!" sniffled Luigi.
Cackling.
On the other feed, Mario's painting was lowered onto what appeared to be a tarp, and then the camera panned over to a large white container with a hazard symbol on it.
"N—n—no…" Luigi croaked out.
Gadd had his hands pressed over his mouth, for as a man of science, he knew that the symbol identified whatever was in that container as some sort of corrosive acid.
"Luigi—don't look!" he said, his voice slightly cracking. "Just—don't look, okay?"
But it was no use. Luigi was frozen in his seat, unable to tear his gaze away as the camera switched to a high-angle view and the Boos slowly tipped over the container, its contents gushing out onto his elder brother's portrait.
Luigi let out a bloodcurdling scream, as if he was the one having corrosive acid poured onto him. Polterpup whined in sympathy. Nathan rubbed his jaw, and Gadd crossed himself.
"No!" Luigi cried out. "God—mit!"
"You fool," Nathan said to King Boo. "You d—n fool."
The feed zoomed back in, so that everyone could see Mario's portrait dissolve and melt into an unrecognizable puddle of goop. King Boo laughed evilly the whole time.
A .jpg attachment was posted to the chat.
"N—nobody open that," said Gadd.
But once again, King Boo took control of the cursor and clicked on the attachment.
It was a photo of Daisy, her wrists bound to the shower head. Her nude body was peppered with bloody slashes and bite marks, and there was an absolute mess below the belt—just a gaping and shredded hole down there, which ensured that Daisy's final moments had been in absolute agony. Her eyes were wide open and dimmed, drying blood painting her chin. And there were three Boos on either side of her, posing for the camera.
"Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, n…" Luigi was practically hyperventilating at this point. Gooigi and Polterpup were doing their best to comfort him, but understandably, their efforts did no good.
"I'm so sorry, lad," Gadd said sorrowfully. "I'm so sorry."
"Daisy—Mario—I didn't even get a chance…" whispered Luigi.
He fell to his knees and sobbed.
King Boo and his minions just laughed and laughed.
Nathan clenched his fists. "Have you no shame?"
Nope, and I'm proud of it. Whatever shame I had flew out the window after the first time Luigi humiliated me.
"Here you go again, blaming Luigi for everything!" said Gadd. "When are you going to realize that you brought all of this on yourself?"
When will *he* realize that he can't save his friends and that he should give up right now?
"Ha! Fat chance!" Gadd retorted.
No matter. I can always dream up more ways to have fun with my favorite man in green. Right now, I believe an intermission is in order, but we'll see each other again soon. 3:D
King Boo's feed, along with those of his brethren, cut to black.
There was no other sound except for Luigi's pain-filled sobs.