October 31, 2020

9:30 p.m.

The ghostly director sighed in satisfaction as the end credits began to roll, having finished viewing his own work. He looked over at his new favorite leading man, seated to his right, also sporting a contented look. To the director's left was his new favorite supporting actor, his gooey features glowing with pride.

"Wow," breathed Chase "Morty" Mortimer, once again a director of great renown. "Is that how you make a horror film, or is that how you make a horror film?"

"Indeed," smiled Luigi.

"I must say, Luigi—your creative juices surprised me," said Morty. "Who knew that someone like you could dream up something so—dark?"

"We both needed it," said Luigi. "That stuff wouldn't let go of me until I put it on paper."

"Like most writers," added Gooigi.

It had been several days since CyBooNatural had been released to the viewing public, just in time for Halloween. The project was the second collaboration between Luigi and Morty, but this time around, Luigi had written the film's screenplay as well as starred in the leading role, impressing the rest of the crew with his vivid storytelling. While the "monster vs. monster" film Morty had done exactly a year ago had rekindled the ghostly director's flame, CyBooNatural had put him firmly back on the map.

When Morty had screened the film at the annual Scream Film Festival two days ago, the consensus had been that "Chase Mortimer is back with a vengeance!" His direction and cinematography had been heavily praised, as well as Luigi's performance in the lead role, Nathan's performance as a co-lead, and Gooigi's, Vicky's, Melanie's, Sophie's, Jacqui's, Noah's, Elegant's and Gadd's performances as the supporting cast. A Golden Globe and an Oscar seemed to be on the horizon for Morty, Luigi and practically everyone involved in bringing CyBooNatural to life.

For Luigi, however, CyBooNatural had been more than just a film project—it had been closure and an opportunity to finally heal from his third encounter with King Boo. Writing the screenplay had allowed him to purge his mind of the "what ifs" keeping him awake at night and to make peace with what had actually happened. He'd been up for nights on end, sleeping when he felt like it, working on the screenplay with the worst-case scenario in his head. The actual events were harrowing, but he couldn't put the memories to rest until those "what ifs" were dealt with.

Nathan hadn't been stupid, and neither had Elegant. When the Boos had invited them to that tournament, they'd immediately sensed something, declining to attend. Which meant that Nathan didn't wind up with King Boo's laptop, and he and his friends hadn't wound up dragged into the Last Resort debacle and ultimately dying gruesomely and graphically. Oh, yes—Nathan and his friends were still very much alive, as were Janelle, Emily, Daisy, Mario, Peach, Gadd, Flynn, Ryder, Rian and even Nathan's friend in Daisy's castle. All were alive and doing quite well.

Although—

Luigi had mixed fiction with fact while writing CyBooNatural. Nathan and co. had chatted with him via Messenger and Skype before everything went pear-shaped. There had been some contention between him and Gadd over the latter allowing King Boo to escape a second time. The man in green had given his mentor the third degree over putting him and his loved ones in danger, needing some time to cool off. Luckily, the two had the opportunity to clear the air after Luigi had freed Ryder from a museum-themed floor. Battling a caveman ghost possessing a T-Rex had not only blasted that anger out of him but also had reminded him of his priorities.

Also, Luigi did encounter Boolossus in a spacious ballroom, the right-hand Boo ambushing the green-clad hero on the vile King's orders. But Luigi and Gooigi had worked together to cut Boolossus down to size, the former taking many hits from both Boolossus and the Boos making them up but not stopping until all of those Boos were in the Poltergust G-00.

And the touch of something emerging between Luigi and Gooigi? Also true.

The two had really bonded during the adventure, saving each other time and again during intense battles with boss ghosts. Gooigi was all Luigi had, aside from Polterpup, and vice versa. And Luigi had made Gooigi feel like a person, rather than Goo shaped to look like Luigi. As they fought their way up the Last Resort, Luigi and Gooigi had shared many charged moments, from physical displays of affection and concern to Gooigi tending to Luigi's wounds after a particularly brutal fight. Whenever Gadd insisted that Luigi take a nap in one of the Lab's spare bedrooms, Gooigi had snuggled up next to him. The hints of something more than friendship had culminated thrice. First was a near-kiss between Gooigi and Luigi in the elevator after chasing down Polterkitty for the first time. Then, the two had shared a fiery kiss on the deck of Cap'n Fishhook's ship after defeating the ghostly pirate shark and his crew and before freeing Rian. And finally, in Hellen's penthouse suite, the hotel owner had thrown every remaining ghost in her arsenal at the duo, but she'd made the mistake of revealing that she had Mario inside her office, making Luigi an unstoppable juggernaut, shaking off every blow the ghosts landed on him. When it was over, Gooigi had taken him to Hellen's Master Bedroom, patched him up, and then—

Well—

Let's just say that they got to know each other extremely intimately.

Finally, both the film and the actual incident climaxed with a no-holds-barred battle against King Boo atop the roof of the Last Resort. However, while Luigi had lost everyone who mattered to him, followed by his own life, in the former, things ended on a considerably happier note in the latter. In actuality, King Boo had used Peach to lure Mario and Luigi onto the roof, hijacked Gadd's Lab and then proceeded to attempt to trap everyone in an ensemble portrait, with Polterpup's last-second intervention sparing Luigi. What had followed was an all-out fight for Luigi's loved ones, the stakes freedom or eternal imprisonment. And then King Boo had completely lost his [bleep], enlarged the portrait frame imprisoning the sextet and started to bring it down on the entire planet! Also during that last phase, he'd armed himself with a sword and split himself into three. But none of his attacks stopped Luigi—all he could think about was them, repeating their names over and over in his mind like a mantra. And with Gooigi and Polterpup by his side, Luigi had prevailed—against all odds, without hesitation and at any cost.

Luigi and Gooigi had given their adversary one last resounding slam, the latter losing his grip on the King's long tongue. And then King Boo had practically lunged forward, giving Luigi a hateful snarl and warning that he'd never be free of him. The intensity of the King's glare was enough to make Luigi avert his gaze—initially. But then strength and warmth had surged through the man in green as he thought about his brother, his "sister", his mentor, his friends and all of his fans—all of those who would back him up until his dying day. And he'd lanced the 18-year bane of his existence with a hard, determined look, steely blue eyes searing into those crazed violet orbs as King Boo was finally sent into the Poltergust's confines.

King Boo had tried to break Luigi. But in the end, he'd failed.

The hotel had fallen to pieces, and the ghosts, except Hellen, had been mind-controlled by a gem on King Boo's crown. However, everyone had put aside their differences and rebuilt a brand-new hotel, which had opened just four months ago.

So, the actual outcome was far less bleak then what was depicted in the film, but the "what ifs" and worst-case scenarios had tormented Luigi still—until now.

While Nathan, his fiancée and his friends thankfully hadn't been directly involved in the incident, they were informed of it after the fact, responding with armfuls of well-wishes and visiting Luigi in the hospital during his recovery. And at the exact moment Luigi had wrestled King Boo into the Poltergust for the final time, Vicky's water had broken, and she'd given birth to a daughter and Nathan's heir, Brianna. Shortly after Luigi was released from the hospital, Nathan and Vicky wed in Sarasaland's capital, with the man in green and his Flower Princess among the happy witnesses. Both were now retired from the Smash tournaments, preparing for their inevitable roles as the Easton Kingdom's future King and Queen.

Melanie and Sophie had also tied the knot, at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day. Luigi had also been a guest of honor, and he'd also been the lucky recipient of the garter toss. Elegant was still going strong as a Luigi main and had helped promote CyBooNatural. Noah and Jacqui remained strong tournament players, as well, the latter mainly based in her native Quebec. And when Morty and Luigi had pitched the film to them, they'd quickly signed on.

Filming the project had been so much fun. The cast and crew had laughed and joked around when the cameras weren't rolling, and all of the actors enjoyed getting covered with fake blood, even though it took weeks to fully wash it off. Emily and Janelle had kicked around the latter's fake "head" like a soccer ball after filming their death scenes, and Vicky was pleased to know that the fake viscera for her death scene had been made out of confection, trolling Nathan by pretending to eat their unborn child. With each day of filming, the atmosphere had lightened, and the night after the last scene was filmed saw the best sleep Luigi had enjoyed in, well, ever.

Luigi smiled at Morty. "Thank you for helping me do this," he said.

"My pleasure, of course," Morty replied. "I figured that you could use that release."

"That's the truth of it," smiled Luigi, "and it helped. I feel better, I've slept better, and I haven't thought about him." He leaned his head against Morty's shoulder, an action which Gooigi parroted. "You met me at a very strange time in my life."

"And you had me at 'hello'," mused Morty.

"Do you think we'll get to work together again?" asked Luigi.

"I surely hope so," answered Morty.

"So do I," grinned Luigi, "but for now—how about we celebrate our cinematic achievement—just the three of us? We can go out to dinner, and then we'll come home for some extra—dessert?"

"I was thinking—dessert first," said Morty. "Then we'll go out to dinner, and then we'll have our second helping of dessert. I am in the mood for some Jell-O tonight."

Gooigi blushed and giggled.

"How about it, Gooigi?" asked Luigi. "Are you up for some Halloween treats before dinner?"

"Oh, yeah!" Gooigi eagerly replied.

"Okeydokey," said Luigi, sharing a steamy kiss with his gooey doppelganger before the two of them lavished Morty with sweet kisses.

Morty chuckled, lifting both ghost hunters into his arms. "Come along, then, lovebirds," he said, kissing them both on the lips. "This Halloween night is still young."

Exchanging loving looks, the trio headed upstairs.

The End

Please R&R. And Happy Halloween!