Author Notes - Oops, I was a little late. To be fair to me, not only is Scarlet and Violet coming out soon, but I'm currently involved in a theatre production that opens this Friday (at the time of writing). And I've been putting a lot of focus on that, especially since we're rehearsing almost every day now. We're doing the Aussie play 'Cosi', if you wanna look it up. I'm playing Ruth!
Hopefully I didn't just dox myself by saying that...
CHAPTER FIVE - SUITE OR SOUR
'Goodness! How do those mortals and ghosts deal with all this dust?!'
Chambrea brushed her feather duster against just about every surface in that red plumber's room. She wrinkled her nose at the very sight of the half-eaten pizzas on the floor.
'What a hero... can't even clean up after himself! Why can't he be more like the nice green boy? There isn't even anything worth taking!'
After a while, she finally finished with that room. She sighed, and nearly dropped her duster in exhaustion.
'I swear, if the mushrooms are even worse... I need a raise...'
She looked down to her impressive gut, and the painting that lay within it. The terrified look Daisy gave her through the portrait put a smile on her face.
'So, what do you think? Did I do a good job at fixing up this mess of a room?'
Daisy couldn't respond, but Chambrea could see the fear and frustration in her eyes. It made the maid chuckle.
'Of course you agree. I don't slave away for hours for nothing, you know. Oh, wait. I DO! ... Now... time to clean up the mush rooms.'
If Daisy could have, she would've groaned at Chambrea's terrible joke.
'Wait just a moment, sonny.' E. Gadd said as he approached his car. 'You'll see it soon enough.'
He walked up to the trunk of his car, and without even looking he booted it with his elbow. The latch flew open, revealing a silver dome-looking device with lines criss-crossing over it, whose sheen reflected the ceiling lights well. E. Gadd took it out, making it much more obvious how big it was in comparison to him. Luigi's eyes sparkled at the sheer shine the thing gave off.
'Shiny...' He muttered, reaching for the Shiny. 'Me like shiny...'
'Luigi!' E. Gadd snapped. 'Don't touch!'
Luigi yelped and backed away, his arms stuck to his straightened sides.
E. Gadd sighed. 'This is why I never had children…'
'Okay. What is it?' Luigi asked.
'Just another one of my brilliant inventions. Come on. I'm certain you'll be amazed.'
Polterpup gave him a questioning look. Regardless, Luigi followed E. Gadd to the middle of the carpark.
'Behold!' E. Gadd announced, motioning to the wall. 'The Portable-' He turned around, and remembered that he hadn't activated the thing yet. 'Oh, for goodness' sake...'
As he settled the invention on the floor, Luigi contemplated getting the guy thrown into a retirement home. E. Gadd pressed the big red button on the top, and the crossing lines glowed bright green. E. Gadd backed up all the way until he stood by Luigi's side. The man in green leaned forward with his curiosity piqued, until E. Gadd held his arm out to stop him.
'So, uh, what does it-?' Luigi asked.
'Just a few more seconds...'
For a few seconds, the invention just sat there, emitting steam like an overheated car engine. Until, of course, it suddenly grew about fifty times its size and sprouted very E. Gadd-like features on its walls.
'I... wait, what?!' Luigi exclaimed.
The dome now resembled both E. Gadd's bunker in Evershade Valley and his very own face. Before Luigi could piece any thoughts together, a couple of satellites burst from its top and into the ceiling. They left a noticeable dent in the concrete above, scattering dust everywhere.
'So sonny, what do you think?' The professor asked.
Words were completely beyond Luigi at this point. All he could do was stare with his jaw wide open.
'I. I. You. The. Huh?' Was the most coherent statement he could come up with.
'Impressive, isn't it?' E. Gadd said, approaching the mouth-door. 'It's another one of my brilliant inventions: a portable lab! Thank goodness I packed this for my trip, eh? It's sturdy, safe, and air conditioned!'
Luigi still stared with his mouth agape.
'Well? Get in here, boys! This bunker is a hundred percent ghost-proof - except for Polterpup, of course - so you best get in posthaste!'
Polterpup realised his owner wasn't going to stop staring, so he grabbed his arm and pulled him along. Once he finally got inside the lab, Luigi snapped out of his trance. It reminded him of the bunker from Evershade Valley, with the various computer screens hanging from the wall above E. Gadd's desk. The ghost container unit rested in the corner. E. Gadd already had himself placed on the spinning chair.
'Wow... this is impressive.' Luigi said, mostly just happy to have breathable air and no phantoms to worry about.
'Of course it's impressive! When do I create anything less than impressive?'
A shiny bit of paper on the desk caught his attention. Upon peering at it closer, he noticed how familiar it was. 'Congratulations, Elvin Gadd! 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-'
He gasped. 'You were invited too?'
E. Gadd nodded, his expression far more serious than usual. 'Long story short... I was tricked. They said they had a precious collection of ghosts, gathered from all over the world! No self-respecting ghost researcher would pass up on such an appealing offer, obviously!' He grinned, but then frowned again. 'They captured me, and got their spindly little arms on my ghost collection! Fortunately, it seems most of them are still in the container. If that hotel owner took away King Boo, that'd really get under my skin! He's my favourite...'
Luigi's eyes widened, and he scratched the back of his neck.
He laughed nervously. 'Uh, y-yeah... um, about that...'
'What? They've released King Boo?!' E. Gadd yelled, his jaw and glasses falling. He buried his face in his hands. 'Ugh! That hotel owner! What has she done?!'
Luigi played with his hands for a moment, trying to soothe the stress of his current predicament.
'Luigi!' E. Gadd said, lifting his head back up. 'You're our only hope! Against all odds, without any hesitation, and at any cost...get my favourite ghost back!'
The plumber sighed again; he wasn't surprised that the professor had skewed priorities. Just disappointed.
'What's with that look, Luigi? Am I forgetting something important?'
Luigi raised an eyebrow at him.
'Oh. Oh! That's right! I forgot about saving your friends and family. Completely and totally forgot. Regardless! To find ghosts and your friends, you'll need to explore this hotel! To help you out, I'll give you one of my greatest inventions yet!'
Seemingly from his pocket, he pulled out a big red device bigger than his body.
'I call it...the Virtual Boo! VB for short!'
Luigi's eyes widened. The VB didn't just look somewhat familiar. It was practically identical to that old Virtual Boy that literally everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom thought was the dumbest thing ever. Luigi himself thought it was alright, or at least he would have if it didn't give him a headache every time he tried to use it.
'It's a state-of-the-art virtual-reality device fitted with a fancy red screen!' E. Gadd said. 'Really cutting-edge stuff. And red is all the rage, you know? Just wait until I finish the marketing materials on this. It'll fly off the shelves!'
Luigi just barely managed to stifle his laughter. Polterpup glanced at him, as if to say 'just let him have this one'. Luigi simply took it and stuffed it into his own oversized pockets.
'You can use the VB to communicate with me at any time.' E. Gadd said. 'Hey, maybe we can test out the communications system later! Oh, and I have one more thing to give you.'
From presumably the same pocket, he pulled out a red cylinder looking thing. At least, that was how Luigi saw it.
Luigi took it, and inspected it all over. 'Okay? What is it? What do I do with this?'
'The very first thing you need to do is install this elevator tracker inside the elevator for me, OK? As for what it does... I'll tell you later! Go on and get it installed! Head for the elevator! I'm counting on you, Luigi!'
'I am not telling her. You can go tell her.'
'And face her wrath? Heck no! You tell her.'
'Look, how about we play on it. Okay?'
'Alright... scissors, paper, roc... DANG IT!'
'Congratulations honey! You get to tell Ms Gravely that we done goofed.'
'Uh... best of three?'
'Sam, get going.'
Sam sighed, in frustration and despair. She and her partner Charles stood just outside Hellen Gravely's office.
'I don't wanna...' She whined.
'Okay, how about this?' Charles said. 'You have to talk to her now. I have to talk to her next. Deal?'
She grinned. 'You mean when she's probably gonna be even more furious? Heck yeah!'
With an air of confidence, she flew into Hellen's office. The hotel owner was looking away, focused on her screens. She must've been paying a lot of attention to them, because she didn't make any sounds. And instantly all of Sam's confidence vanished.
She cleared her throat and waved. 'So, Ms Gravely, we-'
The chair spun around, greeting her with a peeved-off Hellen. 'YOU IMBECILES!'
Hellen took out her make-up and powdered her whole face, multiple times. With that done, she slammed her hands into her desk.
'How could you let him get a hold of that blasted vacuum cleaner?!' She yelled. 'That was the ONE thing we couldn't let happen! And what did you do?'
Sam chuckled nervously, just loud enough so she couldn't hear her partner violently bashing his forehead into the wall.
'Er... we let-'
'YOU LET IT HAPPEN!'
Sam unleashed a loud yelp and covered her face with her arms, all while muttering 'please don't hit me' over and over again to herself.
'How do you work for me for this long and still remain as INCOMPETENT AS HELL?!'
Sam had been reduced to a shivering pile of blue, but still tried to look her boss in the eye. 'T-To be fair to us, all you told Charles and I to do was mark off those pictures and keep an eye on him. And we did exactly that. AND, Owen and whats-her-name did hide that Dark-Light thingy like you told them to.'
'So why does Luigi have the 'Dark-Light thingy' on him then, hm?' Hellen questioned, much more calmly.
'Wait, he got the light thingy?! Oh my Jaydes, we're doomed!'
Charles groaned, and drifted into the room. Upon seeing her partner, Sam smiled and relaxed.
'Let's not panic right now.' He said. 'He still hasn't saved anyone, has he?'
'Other than that professor, no.' Hellen responded, tapping her fingers on the desk. 'Which I'll take the blame for. I should've known putting him in the mezzanine was a bad idea. But I wouldn't worry too much about that.'
She glanced at the Mario portrait leaning up against the wall. The terrified look in his eyes made her happy.
'Luigi, being the 'hero' he is, will refuse to leave without Mario. So by the time he gets up here, I'm sure you'll have taken care of him. And if you don't...' She slammed her hands down again. 'YOU'LL KNOW WHY THEY CALL ME MS GRAVELY!'
Charles went stiff, and nodded like a broken bobble head. 'Y-Yes ma'am. I assure you that Sam and I will keep watch of him. Isn't that right, Sam? Sam?'
Sam had made her way into the corner, by a fluffy cat bed. She crawled along on her hands, getting her smiling face very close to a pink ghost cat that slept in the bed.
'Hi there, Polterkitty.' She said.
The cat, Polterkitty, slowly lifted her head and opened her blue eyes. Her three tails lashed, and she looked at Sam with her eyes half-closed.
'You're such a cutie, ya know that?' Sam said, holding her hand out.
Polterkitty rubbed her cheeks against the open palm, purring contently. 'Mrow!'
'N'awww, you're so cute!'
'Polterkitty, darling.' Hellen said.
Sam retracted her arm as soon as she heard her boss's voice. Polterkitty looked up at her owner with wide eyes, not blinking once. Hellen gave her a smile that was a little too sweet.
'I'm sure you know that our workers aren't worthy enough to pat you. We all know only I can do that.'
Polterkitty kept up her wide-eyed stare, but nodded.
'Good. Glad to see you still remember that. Now, as for you two...'
Charles and Sam waited, hating how every second of silence built up the dread for her inevitable orders.
'MAKE SURE MY STAFF HAVE THEIR CRAP TOGETHER!'
The couple soared out of the office, screaming their heads off. Hellen groaned, her eyes falling upon a framed photo on her desk. Oh, how she loved that photo. It was of King Boo, and all of his handsome glory. She placed her head in her hands, and sighed blissfully.
'Don't worry. I'll make sure you get what you want. Then I'll get what I want.'
She lifted her feather boa up to her face and gave it a sniff. It made her exhale with glee; thanks to a special detergent, it smelled exactly like King Boo.
Luigi - after nearly dropping the thing several times in the process - managed to install the elevator tracker right where E. Gadd wanted him to. It opened up into two screens that hung from the wall, one that showed the layout of the floor he was on, and the other much smaller one above it that was blank, until E. Gadd popped up on the feed.
'Hello Luigi!' He said. 'It seems the installation was a success! That device takes the data of the floor layout and displays it on the monitor. Isn't that great? Hey, why don't you take those elevator buttons you've collected, and insert them into the panel?'
Of course, Luigi still had those buttons on his person. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the one labelled '1'.
'A-ha!' He said, holding it up like a trophy.
But as he went to install it into place, it began jiggling around in his hand like a wild animal trying to break free. He glanced at it for a moment, before it flew right out of his hand.
'Whoa!'
It came in for a landing, and twisted itself into place.
'Uh, that works too.'
He took out the '5' button and, just like the last one, it flew into its correct spot.
'Oh yeah!'
'Oh, did I mention that the data is automatically sent to the Virtual Boo?' E. Gadd continued. 'So you'll be able to check the map at any time! Those buttons will let you reach new floors, ripe for exploration! Oh, and you might find your friends there. No guarantee though!'
Whether that ending comment was more of E. Gadd's wonderful priorities that made Luigi very concerned, or him reminding Luigi to keep his expectations down, was something Luigi couldn't figure out.
'Before you head off, we'll need to test the VB's communication capabilities. You should be getting a call, right about...'
Luigi jumped a little as the ringtone played rather suddenly. It was a familiar one, similar to the song he hummed in that first mansion. He answered the call by putting the clunky VB up to his eyes. The red-on-black graphics were already hurting his eyes, but fortunately for him they were far more subdued this time around, making any headaches unlikely.
E. Gadd popped up right in the middle of the screen. 'Testing, testing, one two three. This is E. Gadd, resident genius! Am I coming through loud and clear?'
It sounded like the voice was coming from directly inside his head.
'Uh, yep.' Luigi responded.
'Fantastic! It appears to be working perfectly! Which means you can contact me at any time if need be.'
Luigi smiled. Between this and his Polterpup, he knew he'd be a lot less lonely this time around.
'OK! Testing my inventions is fun, but we should get back to work. Speaking of which... I have a job for you!'
His smile faded.
'I was actually staying in a room on floor five. There's a briefcase in there. Could you fetch it for me?'
'S-Sure, I guess.'
'Wonderful! My room number is... oh blast, what was it? I believe it was all the way at the back. Eh, you'll know when you see it. Good luck, Luigi! Try to come back alive!'
E. Gadd's laughter was the last thing Luigi heard before the call ended. The plumber put it away, groaning. He looked down to his dog, who was wagging his tail.
'Heh. At least one of us is excited.'
The elevator ride up there was both too long and too short. The doors opened up, and the only brevity Luigi had was that the floor would be at least a little familiar. Polterpup waltzed out rather calmly, considering the situation. Luigi followed after him, his knees shaking the most they had yet that night.
'How do you do it?' He asked his partner.
'Woof!'
'Heh. So that's your secret.'
He barely got five steps out the door, until E. Gadd called him again.
'Sorry for the call sonny, but I just realised I forgot to tell you about another of the Poltergust G-00's new capabilities. I call it... the Suction Shot!'
Though one couldn't see it through the VB, Luigi had a very concerned look on his face.
'It fires out a plunger at whatever you're aiming at, and if you use your Poltergust on it you can hoist anything over your shoulders! Okay, maybe not everything. Some things may require double the power, but we'll get to that later. Try it out!'
With the call over, Luigi inspected the nozzle of his weapon and noticed another button at the back. He held the button, and suddenly his flashlight got replaced by the end of a plunger.
'Ah! O-Okay. So I...'
He let go of the button, and the Poltergust fired the plunger - which had a rope attached to the end of it - exactly where he was 'aiming' at. It stuck to the wall, before popping off and vanishing.
'Ah, I get it! So now I know I can do that. Something about hoisting objects into the air? Maybe we should be looking for that suitcase, huh? You think you can find E. Gadd's room for me?'
Polterpup nodded, and put his nose to the ground. He picked up a lot of scents on the floor, each one unique for every guest. The aroma of pizza was definitely Mario. The perfume that made him sneeze belonged to Peach. And the smell of coffee and ectoplasm...
His head shot up. 'Arf arf!'
Luigi smiled. 'You got something? Take me there!'
The ghostly puppy dashed off to the left hallway, where the Toads' rooms were. He leapt over some suitcases that blocked the way. Luigi, on the other hand, was totally weighed down by the vacuum on his back. That's when an idea came to his head. He aimed a plunger at one of the suitcases, and fired. It latched onto the side of it, and unlike the last shot this one stayed in place, no doubt a very consumer-friendly feature. Intuitively, the end of the rope fit into his Poltergust perfectly. With the rope in his grasp, he backed away and threw the suitcase right over his head.
'Eee... YAH!'
Like a charm, the suitcase crashed into the floor behind him. It fell to pieces, and practically nothing remained except shards of broken leather and shattered bits of luggage.
'Oh, I like this!'
Luigi joined his dog on the other side of the suitcases now that he could walk on through. He saw a little lounging area in front of him, and to his left the rest of the hallway. The moon provided him with plenty of soft natural light.
He looked down to Polterpup. 'You think the professor's room is down there?'
'Arf arf!'
'Well, then let's get the briefcase and then out of here.'
The duo walked down the hallway, enjoying the beautiful moonlight while they still had it. Luigi had the Strobulb in his hand, just in case something leapt out at him. Polterpup led him around the corner and down the next corridor. For each room they passed, Luigi grew more and more uneasy. Maybe it was how the candles lit themselves as they walked past them. After several minutes of paranoia later, they arrived at the last room in the hallway, No. 508, exactly where the coffee-ectoplasm trail led to.
'So, this is the professor's room?' Luigi asked.
'Yip!'
Luigi breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, just like his parents taught him, and pushed the door open. It seemed that Polterpup was right. Vials filled with unknown fluids were scattered across the floor. Blueprints and diagrams of various inventions dotted the walls. Wrenches and screwdrivers covered the bed and desk. It had E. Gadd proverbially written all over it. Luigi couldn't focus on these details, as his attention was set on the ghost in the room.
She was the same ghost Luigi saw from before, the maid ghost who was dusting the railing back when the hotel was golden. Chambrea. Polterpup growled at her, just quietly enough that she couldn't hear him. It took Luigi a lot of might not to scream immediately. Chambrea hadn't noticed them yet. She was too busy dusting the desk, with a look of obvious disgust on her face. She picked up some of those papers, and arranged them into a pile.
'Ugh, the professor is even worse than the red boy!' She cried. 'This isn't even organised chaos. It's just insanity! Couldn't even be bothered to put these papers in numerical order...'
Her eyes fell upon a briefcase resting against the desk. It had E. Gadd's face on it, and the shininess of it attracted her attention.
'Ooh, this looks neat.' She said, lifting it off the floor. 'Most of this professor's junk is just nonsense words, but this could be interesting... wonder what's in it?'
Actually, Luigi wasn't paying attention to her, nor the important briefcase that she was holding. No, he was focused on what lay in her belly. It was a portrait. But not any ordinary portrait. The terrified woman inside was very familiar to Luigi.
'Daisy!'
He slapped his hand over his mouth, but knew it was already too late. Chambrea turned to him immediately and gasped.
'You're... you're that green boy!'
She held the briefcase close to her chest, wrapping it in her arms like it was her child.
'You want to take my briefcase, don't you?!'
Luigi blinked at her, trying to piece a coherent sentence together.
'Uh, it's not your-'
'How DARE you?!' Chambrea yelled. 'I found this briefcase first, so now it's MINE!'
Luigi attempted to approach her, but she just hugged it tighter, reminding him of his preschool days.
'Can you just-?'
'Do you know how little compensation I get for the hours I slave away, doing this work?!' She spat. 'I put so much effort into keeping everything clean, then you mortals and those ghosts show up and mess it all up again! I think I deserve something, don't you think?'
'Uh, h-here's a deal.' He said, laughing nervously. 'J-Just give me the briefcase, and I'll-'
'You just won't give it up, will you? Fine then. I'll just make sure you can't get it.'
Luigi and Polterpup did not expect her next move. She lifted the briefcase up, opened her mouth wide, and shoved it down her throat. Somehow, she didn't just choke on it, and it slid through her throat like it was greased.
'Huh?' Luigi said. 'No!'
The briefcase - the entire reason they were here to begin with - landed in her gut and joined the portrait of Daisy.
'Wait, I-I needed that!'
Chambrea ignored his pleas, and flew into the wall. She got half-way through until her belly got stuck.
'Ugh... dang it! Come... on...' She muttered, struggling in place. 'Just... get... through!'
She managed to squeeze her way through after much struggling. Luigi stared at the spot where she disappeared into. There was only one thing on his mind…
'Daisy...'
The VB began calling him, but he didn't notice it. The thoughts of Daisy overtook anything else, her look of terror buried into his mind. Polterpup nudged his leg.
'Huh?'
Then he noticed the VB calling.
'Oh!'
E. Gadd had a steaming cup of coffee on his desk, and appeared to be getting comfortable. He picked up his coffee and looked at the camera.
'Sorry sonny. I was just brewing up a Lunoman Greenie blend, so I hadn't the time to check on you. Have you gotten my briefcase back, by any chance?'
Luigi lifted up the VB to stare at the spot in the wall again for a moment, and returned to the call.
'Uh... I found it.' He said. 'But, uh, the maid ate it.'
'She ate-?! … Ghost maids eating people's luggage? That's a new one. You'll have to go after her to get my briefcase back!'
'What's in it anyway?'
'It's a surprise, Luigi! But we'll both need it.' There was a small ding in the background. 'Ooh, sounds like my whipping cream is ready. I'll have to call you later. Hope you get that important briefcase back!'
'Oh, and I found-'
E. Gadd hung up on him abruptly before he could mention the more exciting discovery. Luigi put the VB away, and armed himself with the Strobulb. He headed for the door with his chest puffed out.
'Okay boy.' He said. 'Let's go after that maid.'
'Arf?'
Even Polterpup couldn't believe his owner's change in attitude. Heck, Luigi could barely believe it. The next time his mouth opened, however, the confidence had disappeared. His voice sounded weaker, and close to tears.
'I just want Daisy back.'
It didn't take Luigi long to find Chambrea again. After her glorious attempt at phasing through the wall, she snuck off into the adjacent room. Judging by the deflated balloons and streamers on the floor - and the yellow luggage - this had to be Parr T's room. The sunny fungus always felt the need to carry around a portable party with him wherever he went.
Chambrea floated in the middle of the room, leering at all the garbage on the floor. 'Ugh... the floor is still a lost cause.'
She hadn't quite noticed Luigi in the doorway yet. He stared at the shiny trunk in her stomach, the same trunk that hid the Daisy portrait away from him.
That stupid briefcase can wait... I gotta save Daisy first.
'I wonder why the green boy even wants my briefcase in the first place...' She muttered, sweeping away at the streamers. 'It clearly isn't his! His belongings have that green L on them, not some weird face. And he gets mad at me for stealing! I've seen that guy's mansion. He's well-off!'
With her distracted by rainbow-coloured pieces of string, Luigi approached her slowly but surely. He had the Strobulb a-charging for the right moment.
'And it's such a shame too.' Chambrea said. 'I thought a boy who holds cleanliness in such high regards would know better than to steal things that don't belong to-'
She noticed some green at the corner of her eye. She turned her head, and next thing she knew she was greeted with a blinding flash of light. It froze her in place. Luigi could see Daisy looking at him through the ghost's gut, and it gave him all the courage he needed to get the maid's tail into his weapon.
'No, no!' She cried. 'Get off me!'
Just one problem: she wasn't moving at all. She remained with her tail stuck in the nozzle thanks to the briefcase, no matter what.
'I... believe this isn't how this is supposed to happen, is it?' Chambrea asked.
'Uh... no.' Luigi answered simply.
He held down the button anyway, in hopes that she could end up going down thus pushing both the briefcase and portrait out of her. It was clear it wasn't going to work, but he didn't want to give up.
'T-This might take a while...' He said.
Chambrea wasn't prepared for this to 'take a while'. Smiling, she reached out her feather duster, and began tickling his face.
'You look like you could use a tickle!'
Luigi struggled to keep his grip on the Poltergust. The feathers irritated his face, and that wasn't even getting into all the dust that was making him choke.
He felt a tickle in his nose.
Gah! D-Don't sneeze now!
'Ah... ahhh...' But it was a hopeless fight. 'AHHH-CHOOO!'
He felt relief that the irritation had come to an end, but it went away when he realised that he - just as he had guessed - had let go of the Poltergust. Sniffling and wiping his watery eyes, he gasped upon seeing that Chambrea had gotten free. She was waving at him with a big smirk on her face.
'Thanks for letting me free, Green Boy.' She said. 'I'd hate to say it, but it's about time I left. I can't have you getting a hold of my precious briefcase!'
She zipped out the door, managing to slip through the wall with ease this time. Taking Daisy's portrait with her. Luigi gazed at the door, and growled to himself.
'Gah! I can't even fight a maid without screwing up!'
'Yip?'
The sound of Polterpup whimpering melted most of his anger away almost instantly. The puppy's eyes couldn't have been any more heart-wrenching to look at, at least to him.
'You okay, boy?'
'Arf...'
'You saying that I shouldn't be so hard on myself?'
Polterpup nodded. 'Yip!'
He smiled. 'Y-Yeah... I gotta save Daisy!'
He adopted a more serious, determined expression, the same Mario often had when going to face Bowser.
'Let's go, boy.'
'Woof!'
Author Notes - Chambrea is an excellent example of an author's story getting away from them. She ended up a lot feistier and more aggressive than I was intending her to be. I just saw a connection between her lack of pay and habit of stealing things, and ran with it. Then Chambrea decided that she wanted to write the story and I was just along for the ride. Whatever happened, I really enjoy how she turned out. Plus, it's always fun to take a minor character and give them a much greater role in the story.
