"Hey, look!" Luigi pointed next to the lying body of Marisa. "It's a potion of some sort! I bet that's a key item for the teleporter! Thanks, magician..."
Luigi slowly bent down to pick up the potion, but something - or someONE swiped in to nab it!"
"..Of course it's never THAT easy..."
Luigi turned to the culprit. A brown-hair cat with two tails. Luigi recognised her... "Hey... aren't you... Chen?"
"Yesh! It's me, Chen! And Yukari-sama said you can't have it! So back off now and lemme go back!"
"Nononono! Nice kitty, now hand it over..." Luigi beckoned with his fingers.
"HISSSSSS!"
Chen suddenly had large fangs and threatening purple eyes.
Luigi squealed. Those eyes weren't normal!... oh yeah, and the teeth too.
"AH!" Luigi jumped back in response. Blue Toad was even more scared (surprisingly) and hid behind Luigi.
He clenched his fist. "Give me back that key item! NOW!" He practically demanded.
Chen floated up using regular Touhou logic to float and fly away.
Luigi growled. "Curse you, Chen..."
Blue Toad walked next to Luigi. "Well, we cant sit down and do nothing! Let's set sail and catch that feline!"
"Aye-aye!" Luigi saluted and pressed a button on the ship as it started to move back to land. Yes, the ship has buttons to move. Nitori in a nutshell.
A wooden plank came into view. Perfect for Luigi to hop on. He jumped on the dock and caught Blue Toad in his arms. Luigi turned around to go back into Gensokyo, then heard the ship creaking. He turned around just to see someone in a sailor outfit sinking it.
"AAAAH!" Luigi and Blue Toad both screamed as they both got OUT of there.
Luigi was still carrying Blue Toad as they made their way up a steep incline.
They stopped just before a huge ravine, catching their breath. "Hooh..." Luigi wiped some sweat. "THAT was a close call..."
He peered down the ravine. Pipes. "We're back at Nitori's place? What are the odds..."
And then, someone busted out of their workshop. Nitori herself! "Hey! Luigi! About time! I was brainstorming ideas for your dingy little vacuum there!"
Luigi turned his head to the Poltergust and spoke to it as if it were actually alive. "She didn't mean that, baby, no she didn't..."
He then turned to Nitori. "Alright, what is it." He took his Poltergust off and handed it over.
"You complied rather quickly! Just gimmie a tick." She ran into the workshop as whirring and machinery were heard.
Blue Toad raised an... eyebrow. If he even has any. "You know her?"
"Female E. Gadd. That's all I'm gonna say." He shook his hand dismissively.
Nitori peeked out. "Hey, you can come in, if you want!"
"We can?" Luigi turned. "Pardon the intrusion then..."
Luigi and Blue Toad entered the little workshop.
Small note to canon here, Nitori has a small wooden workshop to cover up her massive one in the ravine. But it doesn't matter - as she likes to brag about it a lot. Showoff.
It was a small room, with a table, blueprints on said table, a cooling fan, a working TV as well as other nifty gadgets.
"Aaaah..." Luigi was already in front of the cooling fan, taking in all the artificial air it produced.
Nitori set the Poltergust on the workbench as she turned her head to Luigi. "Why are you using the fan? It's not even that warm - Heck! The winter season's approaching too!"
"Had to run from a danger..." Blue Toad covered for Luigi.
"I see." Nitori sighed. "Shouldn't have asked. Well, just don't hog it."
As Luigi was taking in the air, he turned back to Nitori to see her working on the Poltergust. "Nitori. I have a question."
She didn't turn, but simply stated: "Go ahead."
He had one question in mind. Reimu's mentions of 'incidents' are basically disasters in this world... And Chen had purple eyes for a brief second - so...
"Have you seen anyone who had purple eyes for a brief period?"
"Hmm..." Nitori thought. Luigi could see that she was slower on her work when he asked that question.
"Dodgy subject?" He asked. "I'm sorry-"
"I have, actually. Hina had them for a bit, then she wakes up with her normal eyes as if nothing ever happened..."
Luigi clicked it all together. During his blur after waking up from his husk phase, he attacked Ichirin... And she had purple eyes too. When everyone explained the concept of the Hourai Elixr to Luigi, her eyes were blue.
An interesting puzzle, indeed.
Nitori was Luigi's prime source of knowledge, so he kept asking.
"How did E. Gadd know about our battle?"
"Aaaah... I knew something was up. I had some communications jammed, so I peeked around - and there's cameras everywhere! I bet this 'E Gadd' you're referring to has them set up!"
Luigi had an unamused stare. "Bruh." Overprotective, much? "Ooookay? Then do you know where the next portrait is?"
"The what now?"
Oh yeah. Luigi forgot. He wasn't speaking to E. Gadd.
Nitori shook her head. "Eh, I don't wanna dive into it. Regardless... It is done!" She wiped sweat off her forehead, proud of her work.
She held it up like a prized item.
Luigi blinked. "I don't see anything different."
"...Really? Have you learned NOTHING from last time?! It's very different! I'm sure you'll see the new feature when you're out battling those bosses!"
"Dammit..." Luigi bit his lip. "I totally forgot about the boss fights - and Chen!" He smacked himself in the face. "Come on, Blue Toad! We gotta go."
Luigi sprinted out of the door, carrying Blue Toad with him. But Luigi peeked back in and gave him a thumbs up. "Nitori! Thank you!" He then went back to running.
"Dammit!" He kept sprinting. "Where'd that damn cat go?!"
Blue Toad remembered. "Luigi! Don't you have a Dark Light?!"
Oh! Right! FINALLY, a use for that function! Luigi nodded and whipped out his Dark Light, a rainbow hue on the floor. He saw some footprints.
"Despite the different rules here, Chen can't hide from the light..." He aimed his flashlight. "Straight ahead!"
He sprinted, with Red Toad right behind him.
"Found a good wide open area, perfect for a-"
Luigi tripped on something.
"WAH-!"
Blue Toad screeched to a halt. "Luigi!"
Luigi tumbled down, feeling the sharp pain of every rock he collided against. "Agh! OW!"
The rocks even scraped his face, as he closed his eyes to not get stabbed in the eye.
He finally landed, his eyes opening, thank goodness they weren't hit.
"Ow... Owowowowowoow...!" Luigi winced in pain.
He helplessly got his Poltergust off his back and turned around on his back, looking at his wounds. Scratch marks on his belly, as well as various bruises all around. "Ooooow..."
Luigi's pain was the only thing he could vocalise. Those scratch marks didn't look like they came from the rocks... But rather, claws...
Cat claws.
"Did Chen...?"
"I did!"
Luigi noticed that voice, but was too much in pain to notice it. He rolled over on his stomach side again, his belly scalding in pain. And sure enough...
There was Chen.
Luigi's wounds already started to heal thanks to the Hourai Elixr, as he slowly staggered his way up, grabbing his Poltergust.
"You... but why...?" Luigi couldn't understand.
"Ran-sama said I should not trust green giant-nose goblins! And here you are! So I can't give anything to ya!"
Luigi tilted his head. "Okay? How do you explain the sharp teeth and purple eyes? And the claws?"
"Oh, these?" Chen held her hand up. Sure enough, her fingers grew sharp claws. "I had these the entire time." She grinned with sharp teeth, showing purple eyes again.
Luigi had fear at first, but it turned into pure anger. "Cut the crap, Chen! HAND IT OVER!"
Chen yelped, showing her normal eyes. "A-ah! What'd I do?!"
Luigi found the new button that Nitori installed. A hammer appeared out of the vacuum nozzle. In other words, he can use the Poltergust as a hammer!
"Give it up!" Luigi swung his hammer, and Chen dropped the potion and ran away crying.
"That's right!" Luigi grinned. "Run back to Yukari!"
Blue Toad peeked out from a tree in fear. "Luigi... you're scaring me."
"If it's to get my key item back, I don't care."
Luigi grabbed the potion and stuffed it in his pocket.
He noticed something VERY odd... "Wait... This is the same arena I had faced that crow tengu in..."
He walked down a bit, and went into an oddly specific tropical area in the mountain. A nice lush greenery area, with a bath with steam coming out.
"A hot springs? In the mountain? Never saw that before." He inspected it.
He then backed up, and saw a security camera. Thankfully, looking away from the hot springs. "Thank goodness. I didn't want a fanservice hot spring episode this early on..."
He tapped the camera lightly. The camera head turning to Luigi. He waved at the camera and gave a thumbs up.
Instantly, the camera whirred to life, and brought Luigi and Blue Toad inside. He realised too late - it was a Pixelator.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-"
Luigi gets mentally traumatised by inter-dimensional travelling: the fanfiction.
Luigi screeched to a halt, his soles clinging to the metal floors of the now-present lab. His vision was a spiral as he handed the potion to E. Gadd.
"Take this, find the next portrait, and let me get some rest..."
Luigi immediately booked it to Alice's house to sit down before he inevitably collapses.
Luigi bursted in, kicking off his shoes, getting his Poltergust off his back and laying down on the bed. "Aaah... Much better!"
Alice blinked. "Welcome back, by the way."
"I'm not resting just yet, though." Luigi kept his eyes wide open. "I've got a LOT of questions that need answering..."
"...I see... Alright, I'll try to answer them." Alice was sitting still on her table, while sipping tea.
Luigi folded his arms and wrapped them around his knees as he sat up. "First and foremost, what do you know about people's eyes suddenly turning purple?"
"I've heard of it - and I saw it one time... with Ichirin." She stopped sipping her teacup as she went into thought. "But I've never delved into that concerning thought - until you brought it up. It could be bad - it could even be a bigger incident than your arrival."
"I see... I suppose that's pretty bad."
Just what was this? People getting purple eye contacts just to spook him? There were two people he hated to death with purple eyes - his arch nemesis, King Boo, and now Yukari.
"Wait, no..." Luigi corrected himself. "It's REALLY bad... It might be something even more."
Luigi just remembered his painful experience that happened a few moments ago.
"That damn cat... She grew claws and scratched at me... I don't think that's normal..." He then spoke up to Alice again. "What about that blue-theme girl that I randomly attacked?"
"Ichirin? Uhmm.. What about her?"
"What about her was so strange lately?"
Alice clicked it in her brain. "I've heard Mokou complaining that she got a LOT stronger during that 'fight'... I laughed it off and told her she just needed to get stronger... but.."
"Hm." Luigi thought.
"Ichirin also told me she was completely out of energy after."
Luigi tried to fit the puzzle in his tiny brain, but came up with a billion more questions in his mind. So naturally, he told Alice the most pressing thought on his mind. "Alright, and why does Marisa have a shop in town?"
"O-oh..." Alice stuttered. "She usually has one in the forest, but there's only one reason why she would set up shop in town..."
"And that is?"
"Money."
Luigi facepalmed. "Walked right into that one..."
He then tucked himself in the bed blanket. "Whatever. I'm gonna think that over when I wake up."
Alice turned to the window. "But it's daytime."
"It's called a nap." Luigi eventually closed his eyes.
But before he drifted into unconsciousness, he had a few worrying thoughts on his mind.
"A nap? When was the last time I had that?"
"Oh yeah, back on the bus ride from the Last Resort..."
Luigi woke up... in the Dream World.
A lot of conscious thoughts rushing through his thoughts. "Agh! What is..."
Through Luigi's haze, he saw something within the spiral of conscious thoughts.
A portrait of a Toad.
And then Luigi woke up in a cold sweat. It was still daytime... Wait, no, he saw Alice sleeping.
Did he manage to skip a whole day? Impressive for him... but...
"I need to tell E. Gadd. Right now."
Luigi booked it out of the house again without eating breakfast.
He bursted into E. Gadd's lab, the professor already hard at work, with the two Toads eating ice cream.
E. Gadd turned. "Oh, Luigi. Aaaah, funny story, I cannot find the next portrait. But I already put the key item in the slot, so-"
"I know where the next portrait is." Luigi interrupted.
"Ah, you do? Great! Let me launch the Pixelator, and send you to it's location-"
Then Luigi uttered something that would be impossible for E. Gadd.
"It's in the Dream World."