Chapter five: King of Ghosts

(Unknown Location)

"The Koopa Bros. failed to defeat Luigi's team." The dark figure said from the shadows of the room. A lone, round figure was floating in front of him, shrouded in the shadows as well. "But it was expected. At least they found the crystal. We now have two." He looked towards the round figure. "Now, I'm assuming that you remember where I told you the next crystal is?"

"Yes, but I don't see how I should be taking orders from you." The round figure replied.

"Hey, the deal was that you would work for me in return for me helping you get your revenge on Luigi." The figure pointed out.

The round figure floated out of the shadows, revealing a Boo with a blue tongue wearing a red crown. "Okay. I'm on my way." King Boo sighed.

(Donut Plains)

"So you're saying that you found the crystal, but the Koopa Bros. took it?" Luigi asked the young Shyguy that had emerged from the depths of Soda Lake.

"Yes." Sonar nodded. "Ah, man! I was SO close!"

"Well, there's not much we can do now." Melody sighed. "We'd better get back to Russ T and find out where the next crystal is."

(Mushroom Kingdom)

"I'm terribly sorry, but I honestly don't know where any of the other crystals are." Russ T said, his head low.

"Why not?" Goombaria asked.

"We had a rule." Russ T replied. "Those of us remaining who found the original crystal would only keep track on where one of the pieces are." He shook his head. "That means that I only have the knowledge on where the crystal you had just found was."

"Then where to we go to next?" Waluigi asked.

"You'll have to seek out the remaining number of my colleagues to locate the rest of the crystals." The elderly toad replied. "You should try Koopa Koot first. He might know."

"Well, thanks for your help, Russ T." Luigi said.

After everyone had left Russ T's house, they started walking through Toad Town, deciding to take the sewers again to reach Koopa Village faster.

(Koopa Village)

After jumping back down the pipe to the sewers, it was a very short trip to the pipe that reached Koopa Village. After emerging from the pipe, the team walked to Koopa Koot's house, which was just across from the pipe.

Luigi knocked on the door, expecting the elder Koopa to answer. When Koopa Koot didn't answer the door, Luigi tried again. Again, the knocking went unanswered. "Something's up." Luigi said. "Let's go in."

Everyone quickly went into the house, expecting to see Koopa Koot passed out on the floor from a heart attack or something. Instead, they all sweatdropped when they saw Koopa Koot standing upright, sound asleep, snoring like a train.

"Um...Koopa Koot?" Luigi asked, poking the old Koopa in the shoulder. Koopa Koot remained asleep.

"There's got to be some way to wake him up." Waluigi said.

"Let's try asking some of the Koopas out there." Fice T suggested.

Everyone agreed as they left Koopa Koot's house and walked over to the nearest Koopa.

"Excuse us, but Koopa Koot's sound asleep and we need to speak with him." Luigi said.

"Is he standing up?" The Koopa asked.

"Yeah."

"Then he'll sleep for a good seven hours unless you give him a couple of his caffeine pills." The Koopa replied.

"Where does he keep them?" Sonar asked.

"I'm afraid that he doesn't have any at the moment." The Koopa replied, rubbing the back of his head. "A Bandit came by not more than five minutes ago and swiped the pills."

"And you didn't stop him?" Goombaria asked.

"A couple of the others ran off after him." The Koopa replied. He looked away from the team. "Oh, look. Here they come now."

Everyone turned to see two Koopas walking over to them. "Sorry." One of them said. "We couldn't catch him."

"What would a Bandit want with caffeine pills?" Melody thought aloud.

"You got us." The other Koopa replied. "But then again, you all know how those Bandits will swipe anything they get their mitts on."

"Well, we can't wait for him to wake up on his own!" Luigi insisted. "Where did the Bandit go?"

"He went running along Mushroom Way, away from Toad Town."

"Thanks!" Luigi said as he and the team ran off.

After leaving Koopa Village, the team ran up a few platforms and did a hard right turn to run through Mushroom Way, leading away from Toad Town.

The team ran down the path, having to fight off the occasional Goomba or Dark Koopa. Still, they couldn't find the Bandit anywhere. As they ran, the team looked in all different directions. They were currently running underneath the stone arches just outside the Koopa Bros. old fortress.

"Where could that freak have gone?" Goombaria asked.

Everyone would've thought that her question would go unanswered, but they were all in for a surprise. Melody saw something fly from the bushes at the side of the path and land near the team's feet. On closer inspection, they saw that it was a glowing, white orb.

Seeing the orb, Melody's eyes widened. "Get down!" She cried.

No one had time to react, as the orb suddenly exploded in a ball of white light, blinding everyone and knocking them back.

When the light cleared, Fice T was the only one left standing. Everyone else had collapsed. The nervous guard looked at where the orb had come from.

"C-Come out of there!" Fice T said, wringing his spear as he pointed it at the bushes.

"Heehee. Very well." A voice replied.

Fice T's eyes widened when he saw a small and thin figure lunge out of the bushes, straight at him. Thinking quick, Fice T swerved to the side, allowing the figure to pass. The figure rolled along the ground for a little bit before stopping, standing on his feet.

For the first time, Fice T got a glimpse of a Bandit. He was surprised at how similar it looked to a Shyguy. The little guy was slightly taller and thinner than a Shyguy, and there was an actual face on his mask, complete with a mischievous grin. He also saw that the mask could change its facial expressions to that of it's wearer, including moving the mouth. He wore a light blue cloak.

"Oh! It's just a little guy!" Fice T said, all fear leaving him. "This is gonna be easy!"

"Don't be so sure." The Bandit smirked, putting up his fists. "They don't call me a master thief for nothing."

[BATTLE: START]

[MINI-BOSS: BANDIT - HEALTH: 3]

Instead of rushing at Fice T, the Bandit dove into one of the bushes surrounding the makeshift arena. Wondering what the Bandit was thinking of doing, Fice T went over to the bush and brushed the branches away.

"Hey! Where'd he go?" Fice T asked himself when he saw nothing in the bush.

"Back here, loser!" The Bandit replied from behind.

Spinning around instantly, Fice T saw the Bandit leaping out from another bush not too far away. The Bandit placed his hands against the sides of his head and stuck his tongue out at Fice T before diving back into the bush.

Fice T charged over to the bush and searched it, again coming up with nothing.

"You're too slow!" The Bandit taunted as he leapt out from another bush.

"It's almost like this guy's warping." Fice T thought. "He's too fast for me!"

Fice T instantly turned around and charged at the Bandit, who had come out of another bush two bushes away from the previous one. Fice T lunged at the Bandit with his spear, but what the Bandit did next surprised the guard: He held up his left fist, which had some sort of strange bracelet on it, and stayed still. Fice T's spear went beside the Bandit's fist, but struck what felt like an invisible wall.

"A force field!" Fice T thought. "He must've swiped it from the WooHoo Hooniversity!"

The Bandit taunted Fice T again as he did an about-face and dove into the bush he had just come out of.

"He'll use the force field if I attack him out in the open!" Fice T thought, trying to come up with a plan. "Maybe I should try and see if he has a pattern."

The Bandit leapt out of another bush, again two bushes away from the previous one. The Bandit taunted the guard again as he leapt back into the bush.

Fice T's eyes widened. "Did I just see a pattern?" He thought.

Deciding to try the theory out, Fice T ran to the bush that was two bushes away from the one the Bandit had vanished into. The guard plunged the handle of his spear into the bush, suddenly hearing and feeling it connect to something. Fice T smirked as the bandit stumbled out from the bush, holding his head.

Fice T quickly initiated the next phase of his attack, spinning around with his spear outstretched. The spear clobbered the Bandit in the back, sending the Shyguy-lookalike to the ground. [HIT]

The Bandit moaned as he quickly got to his feet. "He's better than I thought." He muttered loud enough for Fice T to hear.

The Bandit quickly dove into the nearest bush as Fice T stopped himself from spinning.

Quickly recovering from the dizziness, Fice T ran towards a bush, expecting the Bandit to perform the same pattern of attacks.

He was right in which bush the Bandit came out of, but unfortunately, Fice T was a little too late. The Bandit was already out in the open. Suddenly, the Bandit used a new attack. Reaching into his pocket, the Bandit hurled three small, round bombs at Fice T.

Fice T's eyes widened, recognizing the bombs. Fice T quickly stopped in his tracks and dodged the bombs as they hit the ground. Fice T ran to safety as the small bombs exploded, resulting in three surprisingly big explosions of water.

"Water Bombs." Fice T thought. "Obviously stolen from Moleville."

Fice T knew that he had to act quick if he was to attack the Bandit again. He saw that the Bandit was just diving into the bush again. The guard rushed over to the next predicted bush and plunged the handle of his spear into it, again hitting something. The Bandit stumbled out of the bush, and Fice T again spun around, attacking the bandit for the second time, sending him to the ground. [HIT]

"Man! Am I losing my touch?" The Bandit asked himself as he got to his feet and ran to another bush, diving in.

Fice T rushed towards the next predicted bush, but stopped short when he heard something.

"You'll never defeat me!" The Bandit yelled as he leapt out from another bush, clutching a glowing white orb in each of his hands.

Fice T's eyes widened as he suddenly thought that it was a very good idea to stay clear of the Bandit. He was right, as the Bandit plunged the orb into the ground by his feet, creating a dome of white energy that quickly spread out, almost making it to where Fice T was standing before vanishing.

"I don't know where he got those, but they're real powerful." Fice T thought. As Fice T charged at the Bandit, the crook was already running towards the bush again. The Bandit dove into the bush as Fice T ran towards the bush he knew the bandit would come out of next.

Like before, unfortunately, Fice T was just a little too late, as the Bandit already leapt out from the bush, reached into his pocket and threw three more Water Bombs at the guard. Fice T managed to avoid the bombs and their explosions, and allowed the bandit to dive back into the bush.

As quick as he could, Fice T ran towards the next bush and quickly plunged his spear into it. He grinned when he heard the handle striking something again. The Bandit stumbled out of the bush again, leaving himself open for a third spin attack from Fice T. [HIT]

"Impossible...I'm the ultimate Shadow Thief." The Bandit said as he finally collapsed.

"Whew!" Fice T said, spinning his spear around in his left hand before plunging the handle into the ground, then raising it above his head. "That was almost TOO close."

[END BATTLE. FICE T WINS]

When the rest of the team woke up, they saw a scene that none of them would've expected: Fice T standing triumphant over the defeated body of the Bandit.

"Fice T did it!" Goombaria said. "He defeated the Bandit."

"Well, let's search him for those pills for Koopa Koot." Luigi said.

Waluigi and Fice T pulled the Bandit to his feet and started searching through his pockets.

"Let's see." Waluigi said as he pulled out a couple squares of candy. "Caramel chewy candy."

"Hey, I like those things." The Bandit insisted.

Waluigi pulled out about two dozens empty wrappers. "Yeah. I can see that."

"POW Block." Fice T said, pulling out a POW Block.

"It's for emergencies!" The Bandit replied.

"A couple storeroom keys." Waluigi said, pulling out a pair of blue keys.

"Uh...Those are family heirlooms." The Bandit said, trying to come up with an excuse.

"A toy train." Fice T said, pulling out a train that looked like the one from the Shyguy Toybox.

"That's my brothers! Honest!" The Bandit insisted.

Waluigi pulled out a strange-looking object from the Bandit's pocket that was clearly five times bigger than the Bandit. "Rocket Launcher."

"I have a permit for that." The Bandit said.

Fice T pulled out a small container containing several pills. "Hey! I think I found them!"

"Thank goodness." Luigi said. "I'm almost afraid to find out what's in the rest of his pockets."

(Koopa Village)

Luigi and the team stood back in Koopa Koot's house, where the old Koopa was still asleep. Luigi opened up the capsule and dumped two pills into his hand.

"This should do it." Luigi said.

Luigi dropped the two pills into Koopa Koot's mouth and waited impatiently with the rest of his team.

After a couple seconds, Koopa Koot's eyes sprang open. "Huh? Wha?" He asked, looking around.

"Finally!" Luigi said, placing the pills back on the shelf. "Now, could you tell us what you know about the Power Crystals?"

Koopa Koot, wide-eyed, instantly gave his reply. "There I was, surrounded by a bunch of BeanBean soldiers, when one of them, a Platypus as I recall it, hit me with a carp!"

The old Koopa was about to continue when Melody interrupted. "What does this have to do with the Power Crystals?" She asked.

"Not a thing!" Koopa Koot replied quickly. "Now I had never reasoned with a Platypus before, let alone a BeanBean one, so I-"

"THE POWER CRYSTALS!" An aggravated Waluigi shouted.

"Oh, alright." Koopa Koot slightly pouted. "Now, as you all might know, I'm one of the researchers that originally found the full crystal. However, once we all realized what evil it could cause, we destroyed it, scattering its seven pieces all over. Once there were only a select few of us still alive, we each decided to keep track on one of the Power Crystal shards."

"Yes, we know that." Sonar pointed out. "But someone evil is after them, and we've already lost two shards to this guy."

The old Koopa's eyes sprang open. "WHAT? We can't let this person get all seven. Do you all know what could happen?"

"Just tell us where the crystal shard you were keeping track of is and we'll try to get to it before this guy sends another one of his cronies after it." Luigi insisted.

"Okay." Koopa Koot replied. "As I recall, it's hidden within an old wooden house..."

"W-Wooden house?" Fice T whimpered, eyes wide in fear.

"...At the Edge of Forever Forest."

"F-Forever F-Forest?" Fice T asked, trembling.

"You know. The one that inhabited by all those Boos."

"B-B-B-BOOS?" Fice T screamed as he leapt into Melody's arms and wrapped his arms around her neck.

"Well, thank you for the information, Koopa Koot." Luigi said, shaking the old Koopa's hand. "We'll make sure that whoever's behind this will not succeed."

(Forever Forest)

Deciding to take a Warp Pipe rather than go all the way through Forever Forest to help reduce Fice T's fear, Luigi led the team through Toad Town again, again leaping down the sewers, followed by everyone else. Another short trip later and they were just outside of the haunted Boo Mansion. It took the combined effort of Luigi, Waluigi AND Sonar to push Fice T to the mansion, but they were soon all at the front door.

"I'm sure Lady Bow won't wind us barging in on her." Luigi said, pushing the door open and walking inside. The rest of the team followed, but not before Waluigi and Sonar pushed the terrified Fice T inside.

Inside was Fice T's worst nightmare. Boos. Dozens and dozens of Boos. They were all flying around, every last one of them looking like they were in a state of panic.

Luigi looked around, confused. "What's the heck's going on?" He asked aloud.

"Ah, master Luigi!" A Boo with a mustache cried as he floated down from the upper floor.

"Hello, Bootler. What seems to be the problem?" Luigi asked.

"Bootler?" Fice T thought aloud, starting to tremble again. "It's the ghost that sent me that spooky letter. It has to be." The guard quickly hid behind Waluigi.

"You came at the perfect time!" Bootler explained. "We have an intruder, and he's holding Lady Bow in the highest room, interrogating her about some sort of crystal!"

"Why can't you guys just float into the room and rescue her, then?" Luigi asked.

"Because that's mistress Bow's room, and none of us ghosts can go through the door! It's made out of some strange ghost-proof material that even I have no clue about!" Bootler replied.

"Well, is there anything we can do to help?" Luigi asked.

"Well, the door is locked, and the only way for you humans to access it is no longer accessible." Bootler replied, scratching his non-existent chin. Suddenly, he brightened up a little. "Tell me, is there anyone among you that is afraid of ghosts?"

Almost instantly, four hands were pointing directly at Fice T. Because she had no hands, Goombaria simply jerked her head in Fice T's direction. The guard looked around, confused.

Bootler rubbed his hands together. "Perfect! Absolutely perfect!" He put the tip of his 'hand' into his mouth and gave a whistle.

Fice T looked around. Almost instantly, every ghost in the house was surrounding him, each giving him an evil grin. Bootler quickly joined in. The circle of ghosts encircled the already-terrified guard and started to close around him.

As much as Fice T tried to control it, he couldn't handle this many ghosts. Letting out a terrified scream, Fice T rocketed into the air, flapping his arms in an attempt to give himself more air. The guard was sent high into the air, arched over the balcony on the top floor and plowed into the doors, breaking them open.

On the ground floor, all of the Boos were rejoicing. "Please remind me to thank your friend later." Bootler said to Luigi before turned to the rest of the ghosts. "Okay, everyone! This is it! Let's not fail mistress Bow!"

Just as all of the Boos were about to take to the air, everyone heard Fice T screaming again. They all watched as the guard leapt off the third floor, screaming the whole way down. Fice T landed on the ground by the rest of the team.

"What did you see up there?" Sonar asked, helping Fice T to his feet.

"Boo...With...Crown." Fice T said in between breaths.

Luigi's eyes widened in shock. "A Boo with a crown?"

Suddenly, Luigi and Melody heard an all-too-familiar laugh as they saw a Boo with a blue tongue wearing a red crown appear on the top floor.

"King Boo!" Luigi shouted in shock.

"Yes. It is I, my pathetic friend." King Boo replied with a sly smirk. "Surprised to see me? Wondering how I escaped my painting prison to begin with?" His grin turned evil. "That all doesn't matter! What matters is that I want revenge, and I-"

King Boo cut himself off when he caught a glimpse of Melody, who was standing beside Luigi. At first, he looked surprised, but that look was quickly masked.

"Melody Pianissima." King Boo smirked. "You look so much different since the last time I saw you."

Melody gulped. She was too afraid to say anything now that King Boo recognized her. Even Luigi was surprised at how King Boo could recognize Melody now.

"Yes, I remember you." King Boo said, seeing Melody's fear. "I remember how you were never loyal to me at all, just like the strongman, pool player and stupid butler."

Instantly, all of Melody's fear left her as she glared at King Boo angrily and balled her hands. "Don't you dare say such things about Shivers! He cared for everyone almost as much as Nana did!"

King Boo smirked as he turned to Luigi. "I was originally going to get my revenge on you, Luigi. But you know what? I think I want revenge on her just a little bit more."

The evil Boo swept down from the upper balcony and flew right at Melody. Too afraid to run, Melody shielded herself with her arms. She could do nothing as King Boo engulfed her, making the two of them vanish in a bright light.

(Nth Dimension)

Melody waited for King Boo to strike, but couldn't feel anything. She dared to uncover her eyes, but once she did, she was in total shock. Just like Goombaria and Sonar explained it, she was in the Nth Dimension. The arena looked just like the arena where Luigi did battle with King Boo before. It was obvious that King Boo wanted his rematch against Luigi.

The frightened girl quickly saw her enemy floating not too far away, his long, blue tongue hanging out of his mouth.

"Scared yet, Melody?" King Boo asked.

Melody quickly stood straight. "No way! I was once a ghost too! If Luigi can overcome his fears to beat you, then so can I!" She replied confidently.

King Boo snickered. "We'll just see how scared you get, Meldoy!" He looked around. "Okay, guys! Let's do this!"

Melody's eyes widened when she saw seven normal Boos fly into the arena that started circling King Boo. The Boos closed around King Boo, creating a bright light. Melody shielded her eyes.

When Melody uncovered her eyes, she was expecting to see King Boo floating there with a little backup, but what she saw instead was something that made her glad that Fice T wasn't with her.

King Boo was now ten times his normal size.

The giant ghost laughed. "Scared now?" He taunted.

Melody didn't reply. She just screamed.

[BATTLE: START]

[BOSS: KING BOO – HEALTH: 3]

Melody stopped herself from screaming when she saw King Boo rush at her, lashing his gigantic tongue around in an attempt to strike her. Melody dove to the side as King Boo flew by.

After seeing that his rush attack had failed, King Boo turned around and again rushed at Melody. The girl again jumped to the side, but decided to try and attack her opponent at the same time. Before King Boo had time to turn around, Melody lunged at King Boo and attempted to land her foot against the evil king's body. While her kick was a success, she bounced off of the giant Boo, her attack having no effect.

"You can't harm me while I'm this big!" King Boo laughed. "Nothing can harm me!"

Melody gulped. None of her attacks would work? She could only watch as King Boo turned around and charged her again.

Melody knew that she wouldn't have enough time to dodge now, and simply backed up against one of the stone pillars on the arena.

Although, once she felt that the pillar was a little warm, Melody looked down. She saw a little bit of light coming from the cracks in the bricks of the pillar, almost as if there was a giant light bulb inside.

Not being able to think of anything else to do, Melody grabbed a loose brick and ripped it out of the pillar, sending a small beam of light straight at the giant ghost. The beam of light struck King Boo in the face, making him recoil slightly.

Melody slightly smirked as her eyes widened slightly. She just might have been able to find King Boo's weakness. Thinking quickly, Melody ripped several more bricks from the pillar, making the light even brighter and more powerful. The amount of light was apparently too much for King Boo to handle, and he suddenly stretched out and suddenly returned to his normal size, as all of the other Boos had run away from their king.

Melody was about to rush in and attack King Boo, but the king had floated high into the air, clearly out of her reach. Although Melody tried jumping, she couldn't reach her opponent.

"He's cheating!" Melody thought as she balled her fists in anger. "I can't hit him when he's that high!"

Suddenly, she felt her right hand feeling very warm. Looking at her fist, she saw that it was engulfed in a bright red fireball. Melody's eyes widened. She forgot all about the Firebrand! She actually had a projectile she could use once King Boo was out of reach!

She didn't have time to test the theory, as the rest of the Boos had come to their senses and reformed the giant King Boo. The giant fell from the sky and Melody had to dive out of the way to avoid getting crushed. The giant landed on the open pillar, destroying it and the light within it.

Melody rushed to another pillar before King Boo had time to rush her and felt around for a loose brick. Once she found one, she pulled it from the pillar, exposing a small beam of light, which struck King Boo between the eyes.

As King Boo recoiled from the light, Melody pulled a few more bricks, making a big enough light to make the Boos scatter, reverting King Boo to his normal size again. King Boo floated high above the arena, out of Melody's reach.

Or so he thought.

Melody pulled her hand back and created a fireball in it. Once it was big enough, Melody thrust her hand out in King Boo's direction, sending the fireball straight at him. The fireball struck King Boo in the side, finally damaging him. [HIT]

"Grrrr..." King Boo growled before he shouted. "Get back here, you morons!"

The rest of the Boos instantly complied with King Boo's order and rejoined, again turning the evil king into a giant. The giant ghost came crashing down on top of the pillar Melody had just used, destroying it.

King Boo suddenly spun around, sticking his tongue out as far as it could go, which was pretty far. Melody had to duck to avoid getting hit in the face. As soon as King Boo stopped spinning, Melody got up and charged over to another pillar and started to feel around for a loose brick.

Unfortunately, King Boo knew what she was up to. He charged at Melody, who had just seen him coming. Forgetting about the pillar, Melody ran out of the way, just as King Boo plowed into the pillar, destroying it and its light source. There were only a few pillars left now.

Melody saw that King Boo was preparing to spin again, so she ran away from him, towards another pillar. Using the precious seconds she had, Melody quickly felt around the pillar for a loose brick. She quickly found one, but held her hand over it and looked at King Boo, who had just stopped spinning.

King Boo saw Melody and started to charge at her, not expecting what she was up to. Once he was close enough, Melody ripped the brick from the pillar, shooting a beam of light into King Boo's forehead.

As the evil ghost recoiled in pain, Melody worked on getting more bricks out. She managed to get enough bricks out before King Boo recovered and allowed the light to shine on her evil opponent. King Boo shrieked in pain as all of the Boos raced away from their leader, reverting him to normal size.

Melody watched as King Boo again lifted off the ground, out of her reach. Again, he was wrong. Melody charged up her Firebrand and hurled another fireball, striking him in the side. [HIT]

"Gah!" King Boo shouted. "That's it, Melody! You're in for it now!"

The other Boos quickly raced back and merged with King Boo again, forming the giant. Like before, King Boo landed on the pillar Melody had just used, destroying it.

"I'll show you!" King Boo shouted as he shot both stubby arms into the air.

Melody watched in shock as lightning bolts rained down on the arena, instantly destroying all of the remaining pillars.

Except one.

Melody but her lip. She only had one chance to defeat King Boo now. King Boo stuck his tongue out and prepared to start spinning. Melody saw this and wisely ran around the king as he started spinning.

Melody charged towards the final pillar and felt around it, hoping that she'd find a loose brick. Once she found one, she exhaled in relief. Looking over her shoulder, she saw king Boo charging at her. Melody pulled the brick from the pillar and allowed the beam of light to strike King Boo in the eye.

As the evil ghost recoiled, Melody got to work, pulling more bricks from the pillar. Once she made a big enough hole, she allowed the light to pass her and strike King Boo. The evil king shrieked as the other Boos darted away, leaving King Boo half Melody's size.

King Boo raised into the air, and Melody wanted to make sure that it was the last time he did that. After charging up her Firebrand, Melody threw a ball of flames, this time striking King Boo in the face. [HIT]

"Noooo..." King Boo said as he slowly floated to the ground, collapsing. "I can't lose to Melody..."

Melody jumped in the air, clapping a couple of times with a wide smile. "Take THAT, King Boo!" She said.

Before Melody could do anything else, a white light blinded her.

[END BATTLE. MELODY WINS.]

(Boo's Mansion)

When Melody opened her eyes, she saw that she was back in Boo Mansion, everyone else surrounding her. King Boo was lying on the ground, practically unconscious, if that could even happen to a Boo.

"You did it, Melody!" Luigi said.

Melody exhaled in relief. "He almost killed me back there!"

"Someone quickly grab the crystal!" Bow, who was floating down from the third floor with Bootler by her side, cried. "He took it from me while he was interrogating me!"

Luigi and his team were about to rush at King Boo and grab the crystal, which they had noticed was underneath the king's crown. Unfortunately, before they had time, a shining energy had appeared, engulfing King Boo. When the energy faded, King Boo, crystal and all, was gone.

Luigi held his head in shame. "I don't believe it. They've got three of the crystals!" He said. "We have to get o the next one first!"