Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon

Chapter Two: Gloomy Manor

Luigi absolutely did not like the idea of going into another house that was filled with ghosts, but there were three things working against his original plan to run screaming from Evershade Valley as fast as his legs could carry him. The first was that if the ghosts weren't contained, then they could escape the valley and run amok all over Sarasaland, and after seeing what that trapped family could do inside their own mansion, that wasn't a good prospect. The second was that E. Gadd was his friend and he had helped when Mario was captured by King Boo, so the green plumber couldn't just run out on him no matter how much he wanted to. Finally, the third was that Princess Daisy, the love of his life, was standing there with so much hope and awe in her eyes, waiting to see him be a hero once again.

"Oh… oh, all right, I'll do it." Luigi sighed, looking around the bunker again. "Let's fire up the old Poltergust 3000, and get to it."

"You're so brave, Luigi!" Daisy exclaimed, hugging him and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "You'll have those ghosts vacuumed up in no time, I just know it."

"Oh yes, about that." The old man said after a second of looking around himself. "I was actually working on upgrading the Poltergust with new features, but that was around the time that the Dark Moon vanished, so I'm afraid that your new and improved Poltergust 5000… is still inside Gloomy Manor."

What little bit of bravery had been on the green plumber's face a moment ago faded very quickly upon finding out that not only was he going to have to enter another haunted house filled with ghosts, but it was without a Poltergust. Clear memories of what happened last time he entered a haunted house without that vacuum were flashing through Luigi's mind; remembering how the ghosts tossed him around like a rag doll and would have trapped him inside a portrait like poor Mario if the Professor hadn't shown up with the Poltergust at the last minute. He was so visibly frightened that his knees were shaking, sweat was dripping from the green plumber's forehead, and his mouth ran dry.

"My God, Daisy, look at this animal." The old man said, almost laughing. "He's so bloodthirsty for a fight and thrilled by the challenge that he's shaking with adrenaline. Now, look here boy, I know you're a man on the edge, and you only feel alive when you're looking death in the eyes, but you need to understand that until you get the Poltergust there is no… way… for… you… to… fight… them. Daisy, talk some sense into this lunatic, quick, before he goes charging in."

"Luigi, please, I need you to be careful until you get the vacuum." The Princess said, hugging him again. "I know you defeated Tatanga, and you've hunted ghosts before, but I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you, so will you promise to be careful… for me?"

"I, er, uh, well." Luigi struggled to speak any words at all. "Uh, I… what I mean is, uh… okay, I'll do it for you, Daisy."

The Professor rolled his eyes behind those thick glasses, commenting that finally there was someone who could talk the green plumber out of the death wish he seemed to have, and now it was time to get to work. Using one of the monitor screens, the old man puled up a map of the first floor of the house, explaining that getting the vacuum itself shouldn't be too hard, since right before the ghosts turned hostile he had been about to drive it and some of its newest features into town for some help with the assembly, so the unit itself should still be inside his car's trunk in the garage. However, the new upgrades were still inside the room he was using for a laboratory, and those upgrades were absolutely needed if the green plumber wanted to have any real chance of success.

As far as Luigi was concerned, as long as he had the unit itself and a flashlight to stun any ghosts he ran into, then things should go a lot smoother than they had when he first entered the mansion looking for Mario, and besides, Gloomy Manor wasn't nearly the size of that one, so hopefully this whole ordeal shouldn't take all night. The only thing that the Professor could give him for now was a flashlight that could be locked onto the vacuum once he had it, so the green plumber took it, got another kiss from the Princess, and then stepped outside the bunker, to where of course it was raining. Jumping a little at a flash of lightning followed by a loud crash of thunder, Luigi saw in that brief flash of light that except for the area between the bunker and gloomy manor, the fog was too thick to see anything else.

The terrain ahead was mostly dirt with a few random shrubs, and a path made of old brick pavers that led from the bunker to the house's front porch where surprisingly there was a light on. From his time with ghosts before, a good rule of thumb was that if the lights were on there were no ghosts around, and since the green plumber didn't want to just stand there in the rain, he jogged down the paver path, reaching the old wooden porch in no time at all. Climbing the two steps to get under cover from the rain, now Luigi needed to find the quickest way into the garage, but this time instead of running right into the building, he was going to be smart and look in through a couple windows first.

Each one accessible from the porch was dirty, looking like they hadn't been cleaned in a long time, if ever, so he used his gloved hand to wipe off the dirt and dust as best he could, peering inside to see what looked like the entrance hall of any old, expensive house. Fancy, if not really old curtains and tapestries on the walls, a dusty area rug on the hardwood floor, but only a couple candles for light, even though there were fixtures inside that were just as modern as the porch light. Moving over to the next window and wiping it clean, this room was even darker than the first one, forcing the green plumber to shine his flashlight through the glass in order to see what looked like a really old car, like really old, sitting in the middle of a mostly empty room.

"Hi, Luigi!" A happy voice said in his ear, startling him almost to the point of dropping the flashlight. "I can see you on the camera up there in the corner, can you hear me?"

"Huh? Oh, yes I can hear you, Professor." Luigi replied, almost forgetting about the earpiece he had been given just like last time. "I can see the garage, but I don't see any ghosts around… can you still scan for them like before?"

Expecting to hear a simple yes, the old man instead explained that although he had the equipment to scan for paranormal energy, the remaining fog was interfering with it to the point where the green plumber was going to have to drive at least one ghost out of hiding in order for the scanner to be calibrated properly. Taking another look inside the garage's window, Luigi could see toolboxes, a work bench, and lots of cobwebs… like, a lot of them. Moving the flashlight's beam around one more time just to make sure, if he didn't know any better he would think it was a perfectly normal garage. First, the green plumber got down from the porch and walked around the manor to where the large rolldown door was, hoping to take a shortcut into the garage, but it was locked, and the rusted metal was far to sturdy to force or break open.

"Sorry, Luigi, but the door's locked up tight, and I don't remember where the key is." The Professor's voice explained. "You'll have to go through the front door, and then the garage is the first door on your left."

The rain was quickly soaking him, so Luigi ran back around the front of the house, but stopped in front of the wooden double doors that led inside, deciding to take another look into the entrance hall just in case something was in there. Just like with the garage, there was nothing that could be seen except for a couple decorative suits of medieval armor and the decorations he had seen earlier, so the green plumber walked back over to the door and slowly turned the latch. Opening with a soft click, the door swung open with a drawn out creaking noise, and the air was so dusty that it made Luigi cough as he slowly peeked his head around the door. Everything was still as silent as it had been through the window, with only the candles giving off a dim light, so the green plumber made his move.

Darting into the entrance hall and over toward the first door on the left, in the same way as a frightened child running up the basement stairs after turning off the light, Luigi pulled open the door and stepped through into the garage, slamming the door shut behind him and leaning against it as if trying to use his body to keep something from following him in. That was silly since so far he had seen nothing inside the manor house, not to mention that ghosts could simply pass through anything, even his body, if they wanted. Eyes wide and his heart racing, the green plumber scanned the flashlight around every inch of the garage, before settling it on the old fashioned car. All he had to do was get the Poltergust, and he would be safe, the green plumber told himself… a few times.

So far nothing was happening, and he didn't want to give it a chance to, so Luigi carefully made his way across the concrete floor, trying not to let the dust make him cough as he went around to the back of… no, wait a second, the storage areas in these old cars were in the front, not the back. Yeah, there was a small compartment right near the motor, and it easily lifted open as soon as he turned the small handle, revealing something that made him smile. There it was, the Poltergust 3000, er, 5000. It's red frame looked a little different, but that was to be expected with an upgrade, so the green plumber started to reach inside for it, when he had to quickly pull his fingers back to avoid getting them smashed when something slammed the hatch cover back down again.

That something was a glowing green arm, transparent, and belonging to a smiling figure that was floating above the car. An eerie yellow glow came from inside its empty eyes and mouth, all of these features making Luigi freeze from fear, especially when it laughed at him loudly before… before passing through the car's engine hood and vanishing from sight? Everything was silent for a few seconds as the figure's green glow faded away, and he was just about to try getting the Poltergust again, when the car's motor suddenly roared to life, making the green plumber jump back and cry out as its headlights came on.

Now the car was moving, backing up slowly and turning until those bright headlights were shining right onto Luigi… and then that ghostly laughter was heard again as the tires squealed and the car ran right toward him.