Author Notes - Well, this is a little interesting, isn't it? Welcome to the Tomb Service: Redux project! Now, I love the original story of mine. I started it about three years ago and finished it almost two. However, I feel like my grandest project could've been even grander. So now, I'm re-releasing the whole story but with some pretty major edits.
This will be mostly the same story as before, but with a lot of things changed. One of my main goals is to make this story at least 80% shorter, since I feel like I was trying way too hard to make it long. The tone will be more consistent, the pacing a little quicker, and I won't be suddenly having whole new ideas halfway through the story. So that way, there should be some proper foreshadowing to stuff. I'm keeping the original story up, in case anyone prefers the longer and original deal.
First major change? I split this prologue into two separate chapters!
CHAPTER ONE - WELCOME TO THE LAST RESORT
The lovely landscape of this land, far away from the Mushroom Kingdom, was filled with green hills, healthy trees, and a beautiful mountain scape that oversaw it all. A simple dirt road rolled over those green hills. The birds chirped happily, just to make it seem even sweeter. A bus ruined everything by driving down the aforementioned dirt road completely haphazardly, past a sign for what seemed to be a tower.
Perhaps the reason why the bus was driving around so crazily was because the guy driving was a Toad, who could barely even see past the steering wheel.
Aboard this official Royal Mushroom Kingdom Bus, were a couple more Toads of different colours, two princesses, and twin brothers. Most of the luggage was located on shelves above them, but a couple suitcases lay on spare seats. Mario and Princess Peach were of course sitting right next to each other at the front, chatting casually. The two Toads were chilling together right behind them. One was throwing a small ball into the air and catching it again, while the other was reading a book.
Way at the back were Luigi and Princess Daisy. A few hours ago, they grew bored of this long bus trip and thus fell fast asleep. Rather adorably, Daisy - who had swapped her dress for more comfortable sportswear this vacation - leaned up against Luigi, while he leaned on the wall of the bus. Neither were in a particularly dignified position.
Soff T. the Red Toad, the one at the front, lifted his head over the steering wheel, just to make sure that he was still on the road. Then he noticed that he just passed the sign telling him to go right.
'Ahhhh!' He cried, before he turned that steering wheel all the way to the right.
He made the turn all right, the bus just barely keeping all four wheels on the ground, but just about everything and everyone on board got tossed about. The people all yelped in shock but managed to stay in their spots, while the baggage that rested on the seats fell to the floor.
'Hey, watch where you're driving!' Gus T. the Blue Toad yelled, holding on tight to his toy. 'I wanna get to that hotel in one piece, ya know.'
Soff checked the road once more. Fortunately, it seemed as though the road was pretty straight from here.
'S-Sorry guys!' He stammered. 'I'm not good on roads I've never driven on before.'
Mario's attention immediately fell onto the princess by his side. 'Peach, are you okay?'
Peach giggled as she readjusted her tiara. 'Calm down, Mario. I'm okay. If I can survive Bowser, I'm sure I can live through a bad driver.'
Mario sighed in relief. 'I'm just worried.'
'That's alright. I don't blame you either. I'm certain I'll find some way to get kidnapped in a luxury hotel.'
The two shared a cute little laugh. They were not the only ones shaken up by the poor driving. The moment the bus hit a nasty bump in the road...
'Ahhh!'
'I'M UP! I'm up!'
Luigi and Daisy jolted awake. It only took Daisy a few moments to get over her shock and realise what had happened. Luigi, on the other hand, pinned himself into the corner and hung on for dear life.
His eyes darted back and forth. 'Oh. Heh heh...'
Daisy couldn't help but to giggle at our green-clad hero. Blush dotted his cheeks, which she just found adorable. Upon breathing a little, he relaxed back into his seat and yawned.
'Going back to sleep already, huh?' Daisy said with a grin.
'Yep.' He responded, slowly closing his eyes. 'You're not?'
'Nope! We're super close now. I can feel it. I can't possibly get to sleep now!'
'Well, wake me up when we get there…'
'ARF ARF!'
He jumped again as his beloved new pet, his Polterpup, jumped out of the suitcase on the floor and into his lap. The man freaked out for a moment, thanks to the ghost dog being in his face with a piece of paper in its mouth.
'Hey!' He cried. 'Get down, boy!'
Polterpup barely complied to his request, and hopped onto Daisy's lap instead. He rolled over onto his back, and panted incessantly as he gave her 'puppy-dog-eyes'.
'Aw, someone wants to cuddle. Doncha boy?' She got her face very close to his and adopted that baby-talk voice. 'Doncha boy? Yes you do. Yes you do!'
Polterpup absolutely soaked that up, kicking his legs into the air while his tail wagged like no tomorrow. With his dog taken care of, Luigi - with great difficulty - yanked that piece of paper out from the doggy's jaws.
'Congratulations, Luigi!' It read. 'You're the lucky winner of a free stay at a world-class hotel, The Last Resort! We look forward to dazzling you with first-rate hospitality and service. Please be sure to invite any friends or family that you'd like to bring, as well!'
It was signed 'Hellen Gravely'. He sighed in total bliss, thinking about the wondrous and relaxing time he was sure to have. His dreamy thoughts got cut off by Polterpup licking him.
'Ooh, hey!' He said, trying to get him off his face.
The ghost pup returned to laying belly-up on Daisy's lap, whimpering and begging through his eyes for a rub. Of course, Luigi could not deny such an adorable look.
'Who's a good puppy!' He said. 'Who's a good boy?'
He gave the dog a soft but incredibly loving belly rub, to which the pet responded by panting and wagging his tail even harder. Suddenly, Luigi didn't mind that he wouldn't be getting any sleep anytime soon.
'Hey look, Luigi!' Daisy yelled, causing Polterpup to hop off her and scamper away. 'We're almost there.'
Luigi looked out the window at her command, to see that she was indeed correct. That tall golden tower seemed to be getting really close now. In fact, they were nearly at the gates. The same gates that Soff T almost - actually, scratch the 'almost' part - bumped into as he drove into the hotel's front yard. As the bus came in for a park, Luigi stared out the window in utter awe. He even placed his hands against the glass, like an excited kid at a candy store that wasn't open yet.
'Ooh... wooow...'
The hotel was, to say the least, grand. It must've been at least fifteen floors tall, and its golden walls glimmered so much, they'd blind Luigi if they were just a bit shinier. It even sparkled in the sunlight!
'Looks like we really hit the jackpot with this one!' Daisy said, hopping to her feet the moment the bus stopped.
Soff shifted the gear into park, and opened up the bus doors.
'Okay, everybody out!' He yelled with a smile.
Gus grunted as he stuffed his ball into his pocket somehow. 'It's about time...'
Parr T the Yellow Toad packed his book away into his bag, bobbing up and down on his feet. 'Be happy! We've made it!'
Gus pouted and crossed his arms. 'Yeah, which means we gotta carry the princess's luggage.'
'I know! Isn't it great?'
Mario jumped to his feet, grabbed his red suitcase, and held his hand out for his princess. Though she really didn't need it, she took it and let him lift her off her seat, just as he wanted. As he led her off the bus, she looked back to her Toads.
'Take care of my luggage, please!' She said. 'I've brought only my essentials.'
Considering that she had a whole bus full of pink suitcases for a fairly short vacation, Gus saw this as a total lie. With the look of 'I should have stayed in bed today' strong on his face, he picked up one of the pink suitcases and hoisted it into his arms.
'Okay, I got one.' He glanced up at his yellow partner. 'You can carry the rest. Including mine.'
'YAAAY!' Parr yelled, shaking his hands.
While the sunny Toad went to gather all those pink suitcases, our favourite couple picked up their own luggage. Daisy only had one suitcase, easily identifiable by its orange colouring and flower symbol. Though she had packed it to the brim, she lifted it up quite easily. Luigi, on the other hand, struggled to lift his own green suitcase even though it wasn't much heavier.
'You need help there, Luigi?' Daisy asked.
'N-No no, I'm good.'
By the time the two had gotten out of their seats, they were surprised to find that Parr had already gathered up all of the princess's remaining luggage, and now carried all of it in one massive pile on his arms. He wobbled around quite a bit as he attempted to walk forward, nearly tripping a few times to boot, but otherwise he carried them like it was nothing. Soff jumped off the driver's seat just as that pile of pink got close. He raised an eyebrow; his yellow-pigmented friend's dedication never ceased to amaze him.
'Uh, Party?' He said, side-stepping out of the way. 'You okay there?'
'Yeah, I got this!' Parr replied. 'Want me to carry yours too?'
'N-No, that's fine, you don't-'
Clearly Parr didn't give a poison mushroom what the red guy said, and - using his foot - flung the spotted-red suitcase right on top.
'Always happy to help!'
Parr bounced down the steps of the bus, somehow keeping the luggage balanced. Soff continued to watch him for a bit before going to leave, tripping over his own feet and falling out through the door in the process. He landed on his big cap head, which bounced him back up onto his rear. Gus appeared behind him, giving him one heck of a look from behind the suitcase.
'Really?' He said, raising an eyebrow.
'I-I trip once and you never let me forget it...'
'Trip once?'
Soff got to his feet, and walked away before he could give his blue-capped friend any more ammo. Said friend rolled his eyes and followed after him. Daisy reached the top step, and leapt over the rest like a horse in a jumping competition. She struck the landing with only a little stumbling, and turned back to the steps.
'Com'on Luigi!' She yelled. 'The more time you take, the less time we'll have to relax!'
Then our green-clad hero finally got to the door, heaving his suitcase along as he took his steps down. He inhaled that fresh mountain air, and exhaled mostly in relief from being off that bus. He could finally relax... until Polterpup came leaping out the door, forcing him to duck and hold onto his cap. The skinny plumber chuckled as his dog sat by his side panting.
'Let's get going!' Daisy said, catching his attention. 'We'll be left behind at this rate.'
She charged off around the corner to join up with the rest of her gang. Luigi, being followed by his loyal ghost dog, dragged his suitcase about as he - much more slowly - went after his wonderful princess. He walked around the corner of the bus, and was once again left in total awe at the grand hotel in front of him. Looking at it from behind the bus windows was one thing, but actually seeing its sparkly golden glory up close in person? Something else entirely.
'Oh... wowie zowie!'
He'd never seen anything like it! And he couldn't be more excited. Granted, he'd probably be asleep for most of this vacation, but still.
'Let's go, bro!'
Mario's call managed to get to him through his awed trance. Upon looking back down, he noticed that everyone else except Mario had already gone inside, and Mario himself was going in at that moment.
'Oh, coming bro!'
With his suitcase in his weakening arms, he walked up the gloriously shiny stairs, and through the big golden doors.
'Aw, wow...!'
Somehow, things looked even more impressive on the inside. What a grand lobby! Across the spanning floor, stood the receptionist desk. Above that, pictures of all the guests hung from some rope. Two big staircases that sandwiched the desk led up to the second floor and a grand set of doors. Mario, unsurprisingly, stood by all the sweet pastries, ogling at the delicious-looking desserts laying on the table. He especially had his eye on a slice of cream cake.
He turned to Luigi. 'Oh hey bro!'
In that one moment of distraction, Polterpup leapt onto the table and snatched up that slice for himself. Mario only saw him running off to enjoy his cake in peace.
'Oh! Bad doggy!'
On the second floor, he could see a maid dusting the handrails. Wait, was she... floating? Luigi blinked a couple times, only to see no one at all. He stared at that spot for a bit, wondering if he had just been seeing things.
'Good evening sir!'
'Wah!'
Luigi jumped and dropped his suitcase. Looking to his right, he saw who the voice belonged to. The bellhop stood next to him, and Luigi couldn't help but feel unnerved by his... face. The entire face. Why it was so off, Luigi couldn't quite tell. The eyes and mouth were a little too wide open, he knew that. The expression was just forced enough to kinda look like a mask.
'Is this suitcase all your luggage?' The bellhop asked.
'U-Uh, it's everything I had.' Luigi replied. 'But, uh, most of it's over there.'
Luigi pointed to Peach's belongings, stacked up by the front desk. While Peach herself was busy marvelling the décor, Parr tried to keep the pink stack from collapsing as Gus sat on his blue suitcase reading his book.
The bellhop sighed. 'Yes, I see that. But I will worry about it. We provide only the best service.'
He picked up the green suitcase, groaning and struggling as he hoisted it into his arms. As he walked over to the luggage cart by the elevator, he stepped so smoothly that he almost seemed to be floating.
'Hey Luigi!' Daisy called.
Luigi noticed her by the elevator, waving to him. She stood by a map of the skyscraper that showcased the theme of every floor, and it seemed to excite the tomboyish princess.
'Look at this!' She said, pointing at various symbols on the map when he got closer. 'This hotel has everything! A fitness centre, a dance hall, a movie room, and a... OH!' She gasped, and then squealed. 'They have an indoor garden! Oh, they must have sooo many beautiful flowers. Can you imagine? Roses, lilies, geraniums, sunflowers, chrysanthemums, buttercups...'
'And Daisies?'
She giggled as he blushed. 'And daisies!'
'Good afternoon, sir!'
Luigi jumped from the unknown voice. 'Yah!'
Twice now, one of the hotel staff had snuck up behind him and scared him. It was a different guy from before, as his black hair was not covered by the bellhop's little red hat. Regardless, he still had the freaky eyes and mouth that seemingly only Luigi noticed.
'I do apologise for intruding sir,' This man said. 'But it appears that none of you have checked in yet.'
'Oh. I can do that!' Luigi said.
The staff member put his hands together. 'That would be splendid. Feel free to take your time, as our bellhop Steward has not yet begun to pick up the Mushroom Kingdom's princess's luggage yet.'
The bellhop, now named Steward, slumped his shoulders upon loading Mario's stuff onto the cart. Luigi made his way over to the front desk, passing by Princess Peach as he did so. Her eyes sparkled from the sheer glory of the grand lobby.
'This hotel is so big, Luigi!' She said. 'It's gorgeously decorated too. We're so lucky to have gotten an invitation to come here!'
As he approached the desk, he saw the Toads among Peach's luggage up close. Parr still struggled to keep it from falling over, keeping a smile on. Gus glanced up at him, and sighed. Soff opted to gulp and back away.
'The princess never forgets to pack anything!' Parr said, before turning around to look at Luigi. 'Hey Lou, what's up?'
Unfortunately, by turning around he was no longer holding onto the suitcases. Thus, the tower that had been stacked up collapsed. Right by Gus. The tower didn't crush him beneath it as it fell, but it did spring him up into the air. He landed with his big mushroom head totally stuck amongst the pink rubble.
'AHHH! My head's stuck!' He yelled as he kicked his feet about. 'I can't get out! Parr, I swear, when I get outta here... you won't have a mushroom's chance in soup!'
Parr cried out, and hopped on the pink boxes over to his grumpy friend. He grabbed hold of his legs, but couldn't quite yank him out no matter how hard he pulled.
'I'm so sorry!' He said. 'I'll... I'll make it up to you! I'll buy you anything you want from the shops, no matter how expensive. How does that sound?'
'Great. Fantastic. Wonderful. Just get my head out of here, ya Goomba-brain!'
Soff was in no position to help the two of them out; he was too busy laughing to himself, just quietly enough so Gus couldn't hear him. Luigi, after laughing a bit too, finally made his way over to the desk. He rung the little bell, and... what was with these staff members and their freaky faces? He didn't want to be judgemental, but why did they all look so unsettling?
'Welcome, green man, to the Last Resort.' The creepy man behind the desk said. 'Will you and your guests be checking in?'
'Oh yeah!' He said.
The man behind the desk said nothing, and merely nodded.
'Guests!' Said a nice voice. 'Welcome to the Last Resort!'
Everyone's attention fell to the top of the stairs, where a new person awaited. Well, she certainly didn't have the disturbing faces of the others, or at least her creepy eyes remained hidden behind dark glasses. Not to mention that... she was quite the looker. With her smooth face and slim figure, one couldn't care about her absurd blue beehive hairstyle. Her long sky-blue dress only accentuated her whole look.
'My name is Hellen Gravely, and I am the owner of this hotel.' She said. 'I am absolutely delighted that you decided to accept my invitation.'
Hellen Gravely waltzed down the stairs with nothing but grace, like she had no legs. She stopped at the foot of the staircase, looking right at Luigi. Her smile grew as her eyes fell upon him.
'You all must be very tired.' She said. 'Come! Allow me to show you to your rooms.'
Despite her not having the same uncanny face as the others, Luigi still sensed something... off, about her. She had some unnatural vibe emanating from her, and he could've sworn he saw a small glow behind those glasses.
'No need to worry about your luggage.' Hellen continued. 'Our exceptional staff will take care of it for you!'
Steward the Bellhop grabbed one of the pink suitcases and dragged it along the floor. He definitely struggled, but his face didn't show that at all. He chucked it onto the cart, and groaned upon realising just how much work he had to do.
'Hey, uh, Steward...' Luigi said. 'Do you want any h-?'
He got cut off by Hellen getting very close to his face. He leaned backwards slightly, rather uncomfortable.
'Oh, there's no need!' She repeated. 'Though I'm sure Steward appreciates the offer from such a kind-hearted, sweet man.'
Something in her tone changed a little at the end there. It was barely noticeable, but it sounded as if her anger rose for a split second. As if responding to that, she pulled out a little casing, and from that she pulled out a powder puff.
'You're our VIPs, after all!' She said.
She proceeded to powder up her cheeks, while her and Luigi's faces were still mere inches away from each other. The powder scattered into pink clouds, and it tickled Luigi's nose. It took a lot of willpower not to sneeze right in her face.
'We've prepared a first-rate experience for you. All the trappings of luxury! Shall we get going?'
Struggling to even keep his eyes open at this point, he nodded.
'Fantastic!' Hellen finally said. 'Let's get to your rooms at once.'
At last, she stopped powdering and moved away. It wasn't enough.
'Ahh... AHH-CHOO!'
Daisy giggled behind him, making him blush a little. She rolled her eyes; it wasn't her fault his sneezes were so adorably funny.
'Come everyone!' Hellen said. 'We must go to your rooms at once. I'm sure you'll find them perfect and comfortable for even the most eternal of rests.'
Luigi shivered as an uneasy chill ran through his bones. Even as the others followed Hellen to the elevator, he stood still trying to shake off that chilly feeling. He knew that he was overreacting and paranoid, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
'Let's-a get going, Weegee!'
Upon hearing Mario's voice calling out to him, his nerves relaxed. He supposed that. Now all together, the guests followed Hellen Gravely into the elevator. No one noticed her smirk as the doors closed. The place was a bit cramped with the eight of them packed in there.
'How much do you wanna bet that this'll end up just like that Isle Delfino vacation?' Daisy joked, leaning up against the mirror. 'I mean, I wasn't there, but it sounded crazy! A magic paintbrush, a talking water gun, an annoying task involving a melon, swimming in a bottle, a drooling King Boo wannabe, and-!'
Mario shuddered, just enough to be noticeable.
'You okay, bro?' Luigi asked, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
'Don't... mention King Boo...'
Everyone went silent. Daisy gasped and clamped her hands over her mouth.
'Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Mario!' She cried. 'I totally forgot that I'm not supposed to bring up, you know, him!'
'Don't worry, Daisy. It's alright.' Mario said. 'Let's just have a nice vacation, okay?'
The conversation, to the relief of everyone, could not be continued, due to the elevator reaching its destination - floor five, the 'Rest-In-Peace' suites - and opening up. Even then, Luigi still couldn't shake the feeling that something about about to go horribly wrong. He tried his hardest to ignore this feeling.
It was just a vacation, right?
Author Notes - Aside from the obvious 'split into two' thing, this chapter didn't change too much from the original. I just toned down the goofy tone and shorted a bunch of stuff. That's what most of the edits are going to be, though I will also be rearranging scenes and adding more consistency. Some chapters, like those in the Paranormal Productions, will be almost ENTIRELY rewritten, so look out for that. I plan to release one chapter every three-to-four days, depending on whether or not I have other things I have to proofread or do.
Really, the only thing I have to keep in mind is that I need this story to remain within the continuity of 'Last Resort Wedding' and 'The Stories of the Last Resort'. So, no major retconning allowed. Clem has a twin sister, Charles and Sam are major players, Morty's fate will remain unchanged, etc. Otherwise, it's all fair game.
Oh, and by the way, Luigi will still be written as autistic, as per the original. I'm mentioning this now because I don't plan to state it explicitly in this version, seeing how bringing it up really isn't that relevant to the story. But it's still how he's being written, because I like to project myself onto all of my favourite characters.
