In this chapter, we're going to be introduced to Bow. Apparently female Boos like to wear accessories and yet the male Boos do not. The exception is King Boo, who wears a crown on his head.
But before we introduce her our protagonists are going to have to search the mansion. Seems Bow wants to test our heroes first. It seems that she wants to know whether Mario is really Super Mario or not.
It might be best for our heroes to hurry up because Bowser's Minions are searching for the Star Spirit as well. It would be bad if they got their hands on it. Of course, they probably wouldn't hand it back to Tubba Blubba since he ended up losing the Star Spirit.
Chapter 24: Boo's Mansion
"Can you take us to Lady Bow?" asked Lincoln. They were going to have a hard time finding her in such a large mansion without guidance.
"I love this place." remarked Lucy. Personally she wished that her house was more like Lady Bow's mansion. She was starting to feel jealous of her.
Then again, Lady Bow was no longer amongst the living.
"I don't! It gives me the chills!" exclaimed Kooper. He was shivering.
Although, now that he thought of it, it had similarities to the tombs that Kolorado liked exploring. It was dark and spooky.
And to make matters worse, if he were attacked by Boos, he wouldn't be able to fight back, since he couldn't hit flying enemies. Sometimes he envied Parakarry.
On the other hand, he imagined himself as more of an archaeologist than a mailman.
"We'll do that, but Lady Bow wants you to pass some tests of hers first." answered the Boo escorting them.
"What kind of tests? My sister excels at that." questioned the white-haired boy. She had gotten an A on her last one.
Mario wondered that question himself.
"Look around the mansion and you'll see." stated the Boo.
Lincoln shrugged and he along with his younger sisters decided to look around. They had a better chance of finding Lady Bow if they split up.
Mario and his partners did so as well. Maybe they would find something interesting.
They quickly noticed that the mansion was rather spooky, much like the forest it was located in. It wasn't much of a surprise considering that the mansion in question was owned by a Boo. You don't typically see a Boo out in the sunlight.
Looking out the window, they could see a gulch.
"By the way, where is Lady Bow?" inquired Lincoln.
"On the third floor." answered Boo.
"But there's only two floors." stated Lisa.
"There might be a way to change that." hinted the Boo.
Lincoln shrugged. Perhaps they needed to find a way to get to Lady Bow.
Suddenly, Lily pulled out a record.
"You found a record?" asked Lincoln.
Lily nodded.
"I wonder what we can use this for..." questioned the boy. Perhaps they could use it to play music.
"I hope it plays something good." said Lana. Fortunately it didn't seem that the record was broken.
Speaking of music, it would be nice if they could play their preferred songs. Perhaps music from the Super Mario Bros. series would be appropriate. Or maybe they could play the Loud House theme song. Both of them seemed like good choices.
They decided to see if there was a record player.
As it turned out, there was a record player, along with a Boo.
"You're not getting what's inside this treasure chest on my watch!" exclaimed the Boo.
It appeared that he was guarding something. They were going to have to find a way past him. It could contain a key of some kind.
"I would like to hear something spooky right about now..." said the Boo.
This gave Lucy an idea.
Lucy put the record in the record player.
A scary song began to play.
The Boo raised an eyebrow upon hearing the melody.
That song was familiar to him.
"Is that the Moonlight Sonata?" inquired the Boo.
He really liked that song.
He began to listen to the song.
"La la la..." said the Boo.
However, he forgot to guard the treasure chest.
Lana opened the chest while he was distracted.
"Haha!" laughed Lana.
The Boo then realized what had happened.
He put his hand on his face.
"D'oh!" exclaimed the Boo. He knew that he was forgetting something.
He needed to guard treasure chests a bit better. Bow would be disappointed with him if she let someone steal her precious belongings.
As it turned out, there was a weight inside the chest.
"Why is there a weight inside the chest? And why was that Boo guarding it?" inquired Kooper.
"I don't know, but it could prove useful." noted Lisa.
Perhaps they should keep the weight.
However, they had a problem...who could lift such a heavy weight? They needed someone who was really strong.
As it turned out, that person was Lincoln.
Now the question was what they could do with the weight. Surely that Boo was guarding that weight for a reason.
Wanting to have some fun, Lily began to bounce on the couch.
"Hee hee hee!" laughed Lily.
"Having fun, Lily?" asked Lisa.
Lily nodded. She WAS having fun. Just because she was in a spooky mansion didn't mean that she couldn't have a good time.
"That does look like fun..." remarked Lana. Then again, she would probably get in trouble with her parents if she tried that. The couch was not a trampoline.
However, she ended up being sent flying. Seems she jumped a bit too high. Mario of all people was impressed with her jumping skills.
"Whoa!" shouted Lily.
"Lily!" shouted Lincoln.
Fortunately, she landed on the chandelier, so she was fine.
Although, she seemed to weigh down the chandelier, even though she wasn't very heavy.
This gave Lincoln an idea.
He decided now was the time to use the weight.
Weighing down the chandelier opened up a door to the left.
"It looks like we've found a secret door." noted Goombario.
They opened it to see where it led.
However, it didn't lead to Lady Bow. They were going to have to look harder than that.
It seems she still wanted to test their skills.
"I guess we'll have to keep looking." noted Bombette.
Suddenly, some Boos appeared.
"Huh?" asked Lincoln.
Unfortunately, it seemed that these Boos were affiliated with Bowser.
"Hahahahaha!" laughed one of the Boos.
Perhaps they had gone to the mansion to search for the Star Spirit.
Either way, it looked like they were going to have to fight.
One of the Boos scared Lola.
She shivered with fear.
However, Mario was brave and began to jump on the Boos.
The Boos began to burst into Star Points. They were lucky that Luigi wasn't with him, even if he was afraid of ghosts.
Another Boo tossed a Bob-Omb at Bombette.
The Boo then giggled.
However, the Bob-Omb was infatuated with her.
The Boo sweatdropped. Maybe he should have picked a different target.
Parakarry lunged at the Boo and he burst into Star Points.
Also present in the mansion were Scaredy Rats.
One of them bit Lincoln on the leg.
"Ow!" exclaimed Lincoln.
It seemed that the mansion had a rat problem.
Either that, or these Scaredy Rats were also working for Bowser.
"Aah!" exclaimed Lola. The Scaredy Rats were nibbling on her dress.
Fortunately, Lana's animal taming skills were coming in handy.
Apparently, the Scaredy Rats wouldn't attack her.
However, they still couldn't seem to find Lady Bow.
"Dang it." said the girl.
However, they did find a Boo that was selling items.
"Hello?" asked Bombette.
"You'll probably need these if you're going to fight Bowser's forces." suggested the Boo.
"That's not a bad idea." answered Goombario.
Also present were several Boos. For some strange reason they were guarding a pair of boots.
However, they weren't any pair of boots. They were Super Boots!
"If you can guess which one of us have the Super Boots, you can have them!" exclaimed the Boos. Like the weight, they were going to need those if they wanted to get to Lady Bow.
The Boos proceeded to shuffle around.
However, Lucy was paying attention and tapped the Boo who had the Super Boots.
"You're good!" exclaimed one of the Boos. Personally she reminded them of their mistress, Lady Bow.
Well, they promised that they could have the Super Boots if they won their game.
One of the Boos handed the Super Boots to Lucy.
However, she didn't have a use for it. She already had a broomstick so she probably didn't need to jump too high.
However, she knew somebody that DID have a use for the Super Boots.
"Here you go, Mario." said Lucy.
Mario smiled and put on the Super Boots.
Now that Mario had the Super Boots, he could jump higher and hit harder.
That would be useful to have when fighting Bowser's minions. Of course, they wouldn't help against spiky enemies, but they would definitely help against flying ones.
There was a giant switch nearby. Perhaps Mario could use that switch using his new Super Boots.
Mario decided to try it.
He pressed the switch.
A staircase that led back to the entrance appeared.
"I guess it's time for us to go back..." noted Lincoln.
Mario nodded.
The party climbed up the stairs.
"Can we go to the library? I figure I should try reading some of the books here..." suggested Lisa.
"That doesn't seem like a bad idea." agreed Goombario.
The party decided to head to the library.
Lola found a Star Piece.
"Yes!" exclaimed Lola.
Parakarry picked up a portrait of a Boo. It was on top of one of the bookcases.
"That portrait's got to go in the mansion somewhere..." noted Lincoln.
Perhaps it was the key to finding Lady Bow.
Suddenly, they began to hear a loud noise.
"Huh?" asked Kooper.
This was followed by evil laughter.
"This can't be good." said Goombario.
Kamella then burst through the wall.
The party gasped in shock.
"I heard that there was a Star Spirit around here..." noted Kamella.
"Oh no! It's Kamella!" exclaimed Lincoln.
"I guess we're going to have to fight her..." answered Lana.
She wouldn't happen to be related to Kammy, now would she?
Kamella waved her wand, and a fireball was sent towards Mario.
"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.
Quickly, he jumped over the fireball.
Kamella then followed by using her wand to send Green Shells toward the party. Considering she was up against several different opponents, it was worth the time to cast a spell that could hit multiple targets at once.
"Oof!" exclaimed Mario.
"Ouch!" shouted Goombario.
"Hey!" exclaimed Lola.
However, Kooper was able to reflect one of the shells back at Kamella by withdrawing into his own shell.
"Ow!" exclaimed Kamella.
Kamella then teleported to one of the bookcases.
She cast a spell, and books were sent flying out from the shelves towards the party.
Quickly, the heroes took cover.
"Is it just me, or is Kamella awfully big for a Magikoopa?" questioned Goombario.
"I know..." nodded Lisa.
Parakarry attacked Kamella.
"Ouch!" shouted the Magikoopa.
She proceeded to create a copy of herself.
"Which one?" asked Kooper.
Lucy started to play the Kamek boss theme song from Yoshi's New Island.
One of the Kamellas began to dance.
"I think that's the real one." answered Lucy.
Mario hit Kamella on the head with a hammer.
As it turned out, Lucy was right.
Kamella then attacked using a ring of fire.
The party was forced to leap through the rings.
Lincoln finished the fight with a punch.
Kamella burst into Star Points.
"Whew! I wasn't expecting her to show up..." noted Lincoln.
"Well, she's gone now." answered Lisa.
Curious, they noticed that there was a painting where Kamella once stood.
It was a portrait of a Boo.
"I wonder what this portrait is doing here..." questioned Bombette.
"Maybe we need to put it somewhere..." answered Goombario.
They decided to look around to where they could put it.
As it turned out, there was a place that was missing a portrait.
Lincoln placed it on the wall.
"Thanks, I appreciate it." said the Boo in the portrait.
"Mamamia!" exclaimed Mario.
"Surprised I can talk? This IS a haunted mansion..." answered the Boo in the portrait.
"True..." answered Lincoln.
"Do you want me to take you to the third floor? It's the least I can do." stated the Boo in the painting.
"Yes!" exclaimed the boy.
The Boo nodded and the party was whisked away to the third floor.
Lady Bow was waiting for them.
"There you are!" shouted Lincoln.
"I've been waiting for you! I heard that you're the great Mario...are these friends of yours?" asked Lady Bow.
"Yes!" nodded Mario.
"Well, it's nice to meet Mario in the flesh...I had to provide a few tests for you to make sure it was really you." answered the ghost.
Mario nodded.
"I'm not sure if now is the time...your mansion's being attacked..." said Lincoln.
"It was frightful!" exclaimed Parakarry.
"I know...luckily I hid the Star Spirit where people wouldn't find it..." answered Bow. "We were hoping to use it to grant wishes...but unfortunately it seems we need more Star Spirits if we want to get rid of Tubba Blubba..."
"I hear he's causing a lot of problems..." stated Kooper.
"He sure is. We need your help. You want the Star Spirit, don't you?" inquired the female Boo.
"But if he's invincible, how can we beat him?" asked Lana.
"Well, he wasn't always this way. He used to be easily scared by us, so we liked to pull pranks on him. But unfortunately it seems that he got fed up with and made a deal with Bowser so that he could get his revenge on us." answered Bow.
"Maybe you shouldn't have bullied him so much." stated Lincoln. Of course, his school bully turned out to be a loving bully.
"I know...still, it was pretty tempting." answered the Boo.
"I scare my siblings a lot." stated Lucy.
"Then maybe we'll see eye to eye. Can you help us?" asked Bow.
"Sure...I'm quite fond of ghosts so I don't think I can let them be eaten by a monster." answered the girl.
Lucy shook Bow's hand.
"You sure you want to go along with her?" asked Lincoln.
"We need that Star Spirit. Besides, I think we can trust her." answered Lucy.
"Then it's settled then!" exclaimed Bow.
"Are you sure you want to go out there? It's pretty dangerous out there..." warned Bootler. He would die of fright if Tubba Blubba ate her.
Oh wait, maybe that was a poor choice of words.
"I'm not a little girl anymore! I can fend for myself...or at least with Mario at my side!" exclaimed Bow.
"Alright. But be careful out there..." said Bow's butler.
"Bootler is so overprotective of me sometimes..." answered Bow.
"Are you ready to leave?" asked Lincoln.
"As I'll ever be." answered Bow.
With that, Bow joined the party.
Well, that mansion sure was spooky, wasn't it? No wonder Lucy enjoyed it. Also, it looks like Kamella has been defeated. You think that she'll be back? You never know. Maybe I'll also bring the Koopa Kids.
In the next chapter, our heroes will be heading to Gusty Gulch.