Author Notes - Ah, Amadeus Wolfgeist... this guy has a special place in my heart. Why? Cos his fight was the point where the game went from 'really good' to 'freaking FANTASTIC'. I can only hope I do the guy justice. Note though, the final phase is normally three cycles in the game itself. And since I need to cram detail into everything, repeating the same process three times is tedious. So I'll be cutting it down to just the one.

Random note time: I often watch Luigi's Mansion 3 speedruns when I'm writing this. I think at this point this game is literally etched in my DNA now. Original chapter name: Für Release. Named after the Beethoven song 'Für Elise'.

Thanks to cartoon seer for the favourite, and Dario Flaman for the follow!

UPDATE 4/04/21 - Less typos, less paragraph breaks, and changed the title to something MUCH better

CHAPTER NINE - PHANTOM OF THE THEATRE

An old purple ghost, dressed in his best suit, sighed and played a little tune on his piano. Unlike his usual compositions, he barely poured effort into this one. All he wanted to do was overpower the annoying voices of the two Goobs talking to him.

'That green kid is way stronger than we predicted.' Sam explained. 'He and that princess just captured, like, four staff members!'

'And you needed to tell me this... why?' The old ghost asked with a light Austrian accent. 'I've heard.'

Charles put his face in his hands and sighed. 'Because he's coming here next, Mr Wolfgeist.'

Amadeus rolled his eyes, and continued playing his aimless ditty. All he desired was for these peasants to leave him be.

'Aren't you worried he's gonna capture you?' Sam asked.

He shook his head. 'Please. I doubt he'll be a problem. I'll just give him the button - and his friend too, of course - and he'll leave me alone.'

He glanced over to the portrait he had on the wall behind him, making a great decoration for his glorious stage. It contained a Toad, and he couldn't care less as to which one.

Sam smiled. 'Aw, that's nice!'

'Not nice. Just pragmatic.' Amadeus said. 'If I give the mortals what they want, then I am spared from a fight. Do you wish to argue?'

Sam opened her mouth to do so, but she left it hanging with no arguments to be heard.

Charles groaned. 'Do you want Ms Gravely to get angry with you? Because this is how you get Ms Gravely angry with you.'

'Never mind my boss. I can deal with her. She's nothing I can't-'

He winced, slamming multiple keys at once and creating a horrid loud sound. His hands shot to his head, and he emitted a long, low groan.

'Mr Wolfgeist!' Sam cried.

Charles grabbed her wrist and held her back before she could get anywhere near close to him.

'Curse you, Hellen...' Amadeus muttered as a voice spoke to him.

What are you doing, Mr Wolfgeist? She spoke directly into his mind. Don't give that disgusting mortal the button! How dare you stoop down to his level!

Amadeus groaned. 'I'm wiser than you think, Ms Gravely. I never let myself get involved in your abhorrent schemes, and I'm certainly not starting now.'

Sam grabbed onto Charles, and he returned the embrace. Neither of them liked seeing their fellow ghosts deal with Hellen Gravely trying to infest their minds.

But you don't understand! You absolutely must capture that man for me!

He scoffed. 'And why is that?'

Didn't you hear? He hurt your sweet Gloria!

'WHAT?!' He yelled, slamming his fists into his precious piano.

Though neither Goob could hear what was going on inside his head, they knew exactly what sparked such a reaction.

'THAT GREEN MAN THINKS HE CAN HURT MY GLORIA?!'

Sam stammered, before words finally came back to her. 'But Mr Wolfgeist, Gloria is alright! The green kid doesn't even know she exists yet. He never-!'

'THAT MAN WILL PAY FOR WHAT HE DID!'

Charles pulled her in closer and shook his head. No matter how empty her eyes were, one could see how much they were pleading.

'There's no point.' He said. 'Once Ms Gravely implants a thought, there's no changing it. If she tells Mr Wolfgeist that Gloria has been hurt, there's nothing we can do.'

'But... but... it isn't fair! Why does he have to think that the green kid's captured Gloria? You know how much that terrifies him!'

He sighed, far more solemnly than before. 'I know. It's awful. But when he's angry, there's no use trying to convince him. We... we need to get out of here.'

Amadeus directed his furious glare at the shuddering couple. They froze on the spot.

'What are you two still doing here?! GET OUT! I don't want ANYONE in my way when I teach that green man a lesson for laying his hands on my sweet little Gloria!'


According to the hotel tracker map, the fourth floor - known as the Great Stage - was rather smaller than last few, much to Luigi's relief and Daisy's disappointment.

The doors opened up, and Luigi had to stay still for a moment to marvel at the elevator hall. Like the mezzanine before, the place didn't even look like the rest of the horrible hotel. The walls retained their golden colour, albeit far less shiny, and the red carpet appeared to have been cleaned recently. A couple of grand instruments - a double bass and a tuba - stood on display, looking as if someone polished them on a daily basis. All in all, it was just like walking into an opera house.

He held his hand up to his ear and listened to the beautiful piano music in the air. Though the sound was muffled, he managed to pick out a couple of notes. You didn't need to know what the notes were to appreciate their flawless flow.

'Sounds nice!' Daisy said, piercing through his little bubble.

'Ah!' Luigi yelped as he flinched.

'Oh, sorry!'

'It's... it's okay.'

Daisy strutted out of the elevator cart, admiring the obvious care that the owner of the floor put into the place. She inhaled the sweet aroma of orchestras and popcorn.

'Come on, sweetie.' She said. 'You don't need to keep waiting for me to go first.'

Luigi, allured by the lovely music, walked to her side. Polterpup, allured by the smell of popcorn, followed his owner as loyally as ever. Daisy didn't find the music quite as nice as Luigi did; she was more into rock, country, and Bubble Gusties music herself.

'So, uh, where should we look first?' The man in green asked.

'Hm...' Daisy pondered, tapping her chin. 'Well, judging by our last few encounters, I'm guessing our next button is held by that pianist ghost on the great stage itself. Five bucks I'm right.'

He stared at her for a very brief moment. Why were they betting? Even as a joke, it made little sense; he had no reason to disagree.

'Here.' She said. 'I'll lead the way.'

And she did just that, continuing her confident strutting down the hall that led to the Great Stage itself. Luigi followed close behind, not at all showing his issues with the situation. Why is she leading? He thought. Shouldn't I be leading? I'm the one with the experience. Would she be offended if I say anything? She shouldn't though, right? I mean, I should be the one-

'WAH!'

An unknown object rolled towards him. He grabbed his flashlight and got ready to Strobulb. A small ember of courage began to swell up within him...

Only for that tiny spark to extinguish itself immediately when it turned out that what was rolling towards him was nothing but a cymbal on its side. It slowed down and came to a stop with the smallest crash sound imaginable. Luigi's shoulders slumped. Oh. That's why I'm not leading.

He heard Daisy chuckling, the kind of chuckle that one tries to stifle to avoid hurting someone's feelings but does so unsuccessfully. It was a sound he had heard enough times to easily identify it.

She smirked. 'I'm gonna find the ghost that threw that and give 'em a piece of my mind.' She said before charging down the hallway.

'W-Wait! Daisy!' Luigi called before charging after her.

His pace slowed down as he noticed the art on display on the faded golden walls. Several paintings had been hung up, showing various musical instruments in a more abstract design. One in particular that stood out to him was a violin that looked like it was painted by Cruella's hairstylist. He shuddered as something laid a hand on his chest. Turned out to just be Daisy, holding him back to stop him from stepping onto the long red rug that lead to the other side of the hall.

'Hold up.' She said, glaring at the other end of the rug.

A Goob wearing a little red hat held on to that end of the carpet. Every few seconds he lifted it up and flung it back down immediately, creating a hill nearly as tall as Luigi himself. The 'hills' travelled down, retaining their shape until they reached the end.

'Man these ghosts are crafty.' Daisy said. 'I mean, a carpet isn't exactly threatening, but it's something.'

The Goob on the other end looked up to her, confused. 'Crafty? Crafty about what?! I'm just doing my dang job here!' He yelled in a Spanish accent, still playing with the rug. 'Ms Gravely just told me I was 'too useless for the plan' and that I should 'just clean the carpets', so I am.'

He spoke nonchalantly, like he didn't understand that the words were not exactly complimentary.

'Surely there's a more efficient way to do that.' Daisy remarked. 'Mr... what's your name?'

'Gustavo, and I ain't being paid for efficiency here.'

'Are... you being paid at all?'

'Exactly. I ain't getting paid, and that's final.'

He flicked the carpet up again, as basically a 'screw you' to our heroes. If anything, he just did it faster. Luigi had to step back from all the dust it scattered. Polterpup, on the other hand, sat in the middle of the rug and yipped in joy every time it lifted him into the air.

Daisy growled. 'We really don't have time for this.' She said to Luigi. 'I'm about to go and punch Mr Gusty in the face.'

'I think I can just burst over those hills and-'

'HEY MR GUSTY!'

Luigi sighed. Between the two of them, he was certainly the only diplomatic one. He muttered her name a few times, more exasperated each time.

Gustavo stopped playing with the carpet to glare at her. 'What?!'

'We gotta get to the guy on the stage, so if you could just-'

The Goob smiled. 'You're here to see Mr Wolfgeist? Why didn't ya just say so! Here I thought you were just a bunch of hooligans.'

He dropped the carpet in a flash, and floated over to the popcorn machine behind him. As he and his princess approached the Goob, Luigi couldn't help but notice that the popcorn smelled a little stale.

Gustavo filled up a bag with the slightly-expired confectionary. 'So, buttered or plain?'

Both the mortals stared at him blankly. Polterpup jumped up, knocked the bag out of his hand, and licked up every last bit of popcorn, caring not for its use-by-date.

Gustavo just smiled. 'Oh, my first sale in years! Five dollars please.' He said, holding his hand out.

Polterpup glared at him, as if to say 'what a ripoff', but regardless he puked up a five dollar note. Luigi had so many questions, he didn't know where to begin. Gustavo simply picked up the note and put it away without even cleaning it off first.

'Cinco whole dollars! I bet I could buy a really good coffee with this!'

Daisy stared at him for a moment, before snapping herself out of it. 'Sorry Gusty, but we're not here to watch Mr Wolfgeist's performance, as beautiful as it sounds. We hear he's got an elevator button.'

Gustavo's smile disappeared. He rubbed his elbow and averted his gaze.

'Oh.' He said. 'So you are the ones Ms Gravely talked about. Oh querido...' He sighed. 'I'm not gonna stop you. Not after your puppy's charity! But I warn you, Amadeus may seem calm and collected, but right now he is furious.'

'Why?' Luigi asked.

'Apparently you hurt Gloria. Do you even know DJ Phantasmagloria?'

Despite his struggles with names, that one seemed vaguely familiar. He recognised it from the pamphlet, as the DJ in the Dance Hall. Beyond that, he didn't even know what she looked like.

'Phantasma-who?' Daisy replied.

'Yeah, that's what I thought.' Gustavo said. 'He's right through those great big doors. And... he'll give you one infierno of a battle.'

The trio looked to the grand double doors that led to the great stage. Akin to the restaurant doors down below, the golden covering of the beautiful hand-carvings shimmered in the dim ceiling lights.

Daisy turned to Luigi. 'You ready?'

He gulped. 'Y-Yeah. Just, uh, one thing first.'

Leaving it at that, he dashed to the men's bathroom.

Daisy shrugged. 'Seems like a good idea.' She said, before making her way into the bathroom after him.

Why the same bathroom? She had to make sure he was safe.


With their quick - and fortunately uneventful aside from Luigi screaming like a girl upon noticing that Daisy followed him in - bathroom break, they passed through the grand doors and marvelled at the sight on the other side. It felt like they both walked into the Mushroom Opera House itself. It looked just like a big grand theatre, albeit on a smaller scale. Rows of wooden seats with crimson cosy felt faced the stage. The red curtains had been drawn back, and the spotlights focused on a gorgeous grand piano.

... A piano playing itself with no one in sight.

'Don't worry, Luigi!' Daisy said. 'I'm sure it's just a player piano.'

'It doesn't look like a player pia-'

'Like I said, player piano!'

Another spotlight turned on, not aimed at the player-less piano but instead a painting hung up behind it.

'Oh my gosh!' Daisy cried. 'That's one of the Toads!'

Whichever Toad he was - the desaturated brown of the portrait made it hard to tell them apart - he looked no less terrified than he did before.

'We have to save him!' Luigi said.

Daisy rushed off for the portrait like a superhero running into action. 'Hang on Toad! I'm coming for ya!'

Luigi did not have the energy to even try talking her out of it. Giving a frustrated sigh, he ran after her. A small set of stairs led onto the stage, and the mortals - and their ghostly pup - barely made it halfway to the portrait before Mr Wolfgeist showed himself. Amadeus emerged from thin air, revealing himself to be the one playing the divine instrument. He glanced at the mortals, as though they were nothing more than a couple of young miscreants. No matter how weak the 'stare' was, it stopped our heroes dead in their tracks.

Luigi hid behind Daisy while she waved nervously. 'Hiya Mr Wolfgeist! We were just about to grab this dusty old painting. That okay with you?'

Something about seeing that man in green felt weird to Amadeus. He could've sworn he had more friendly feelings towards him before. Still, Amadeus was not one to tear into his foes immediately. He was no Chef Soulfflé, after all.

'I suggest you get off my stage.' He said. 'Now. That way it will be more fun for all of us.'

Luigi casually backed away off the stage, nothing more than a tumbleweed rolling away in the background.

Daisy crossed her arms and grinned. 'What? You too scared to fight me one-on-one?'

Amadeus simply rolled up his sleeves, and played a far more aggressive song. The princess laughed at his failed attempt to intimidate her.

'Sorry, but you'll be darned if you can make a piano scary.' She said.

Luigi made a little whining sound in his throat. He and Mario had first hand experience on just how scary a piano could be. Curse Big Boo Haunt and curse that piano... As if responding to her snide comments, all four chairs in one of the back rows shot up from the floor. They hovered in place, bobbing up and down a little as some mysterious yellow force held them up. The energy surrounding them disappeared, and like someone threw them the four chairs hurtled towards Daisy all in a row. Amadeus's music took on a crescendo and an accelerando, getting louder and faster for every second they approached her.

'Whoa!'

She leapt off the stage. The first chair just barely rubbed against her heel, before they all crumbled into debris right where she was standing. She landed on her chest, but took only a moment to grunt before climbing back onto her feet. Luigi ran to her side before anything else could happen. The piano music now played more softly and slowly, shifting into a calm adagio.

Daisy dusted herself off. 'You made chairs scary. I'll give ya that one!'

Amadeus chuckled. 'So you really believe I'm done, do you? No one who messes with my Gloria is let off that easily.'

'Can you be done now?' Luigi asked like a weak little puppy dog.

Amadeus ignored his request, and returned to playing his instrument. It started off nice and calm, before abruptly shifting to several heavy singular notes. With each big note played, one chair rose into the air. The notes only stopped once every chair hovered above the ground, ready to be chucked.

'Any last words?' The pianist asked.

Luigi gulped. 'Uh...'

'RUN!' Daisy shouted.

Amadeus shifted the music to something dramatic and going full presto. The chairs flew towards them as they broke into a dash.

*CRASH* *CRASH* *CRASH*

Daisy outran the seating projectiles like nothing, charging with stride despite actually being terrified of them on the inside. She kept her vision up, watching the chairs to make sure they didn't suddenly change direction. Luigi trailed behind her, the never-ending crashing sounds tearing at his senses. Though he didn't dare to look behind him for even a moment, he felt the vibrations under his feet of the chairs just barely missing him. The dust that scattered with each broken chair made him cough and choke.

'I'd recommend you sit still.' Amadeus said, unfazed by the chaos he created. 'That will make it easier for all of us.'

Through her increasingly-heavy breathing, Daisy muttered a word she wished she could shout. 'Never...'

Polterpup sat still, his ethereal body unaffected by the flying furniture. He watched his owner running around in panic and barely avoiding getting crushed. And he watched in helplessness. There his owner was, almost getting hurt every second, and he couldn't do a thing about it. He turned to the old pianist and snarled at him. Amadeus barely even looked at him.

'Don't fear, my canine friend. Your mortal ally shall join you soon.'

The mortals continued to run around in a loop on the carpet that surrounded the middle set of chairs, even if there were no chairs on the floor anymore. Daisy mentally counted the ones left, allowing Luigi to focus purely on survival. Only one row to go. She grinned, sure that they would escape the chair assault no worse for wear.

Until the last few chairs, instead of flying upwards briefly like being thrown, zoomed at them directly like arrows shot from a bow.

'Look out!' Daisy yelled.

She dove to the side in a heartbeat, not even flinching as her knees scraped against the carpet. Luigi, however, saw his impending doom but hadn't nearly enough time to react to it. With the Poltergust weighing him down, he accepted his fate and stood still.

'Arf arf!'

A second later, he did not expect the result that he got. No chair had slammed directly into his face, or any part of his body. He lay, relatively unharmed, on the floor. Polterpup licked his owner's cheek gently but thoroughly.

Luigi, piecing it together, patted the head of his loyal pet. 'Thanks boy.'

'Hey Mr Wolfgeist!' Daisy shouted with an incredibly smug look on her face. 'Looks like your little chair-ity did nothing!'

Amadeus flinched, like a guitar's string that just broke and whacked you in the face. Anger seized up through him for a moment, before he turned to his usual elegance.

'I... understand.' He said. 'It appears I underestimated you mortals and your traitorous canine.'

'Good.' Daisy said. 'Can you just hand over that button already?'

He didn't even acknowledge her. I'm not sure what she was expecting. Instead, he changed his tune to one more befitting a ballet, a la Swan Lake or the Nutcracker. It was a more graceful piece full of gentle high notes. Luigi could easily imagine a couple of ghosts in tutus dancing in a way that only ballerinas could. The man in green didn't need to imagine for long, as two Goobs in shockingly-clean tutus emerged from behind the curtains on both sides. Thanks to their lack of legs, they twirled around with ease, almost like they were part of the breeze itself. While Luigi watched them in awe, Daisy just rolled her eyes.

'Really?' She said. 'You're gonna try to-?'

Luigi elbowed her. 'Don't ask how he'll make ballerinas scary. He'll find a way.'

'Uh, point taken.'

Stopping her from jinxing them did nothing to help, as the ballerinas spun faster and faster while retaining their grace. They changed direction from waltzing around aimlessly on stage to homing their spinning attacks onto our heroes.

'And that's how!' Luigi yelled.

One ballerina spun towards Luigi, while the other decided to go for Daisy instead.

'A one-on-one match-up, eh?' Daisy said, clenching her fists and smirking. 'Good to see you're being fair for once!'

Luigi did not share her confidence. At all.

Daisy backed away from her attacker, waiting for him to stop spinning. Just one problem: he didn't. His twirl of death only got faster. And faster. And faster.

'Hey, uh, buddy? Could ya slow it down a little?'

Expectedly, he did not comply to her request. She held her arms out in front of her, the gloves lighting up. The temptation to reach her hands in and risk it for the biscuit almost overtook her, but the more logical part of her - as small as it was compared to Luigi's, as far as she was aware - told her no. The ballerino would've made some snarky comments at her expense, but he couldn't open his mouth lest he puke out ectoplasm all over the floor. Daisy noticed the instruments on display on the sides of the grand hall. The bass guitar in particular caught her interest. She always wanted to do a guitar smash.

Luigi, on the other hand, had a slightly better time against his ballerina. He flashed the Strobulb at her several times, hoping that eventually he'd get her eyes. After a few attempts, he realised that nothing was working. Though difficult to tell due to how fast the dancer spun, Luigi noticed a little bit of black in the blue tornado where the eyes should've been. He put it together. The mask is blocking my light! I bet that if I do what I did for Kruller... He gulped down the feelings associated with that name.

Not wanting to think about that mall cop for a second longer, he activated the burst and knocked the ballerina off her tail. Her spinning proceeded at a much slower rate, and continued to slow until it stopped completely.

She felt around her face for her missing mask. 'I needed that. I needed that!'

Luigi paid her no mind and simply stunned her with his Strobulb. Defeating her was just a matter of slamming her into the floor until she disappeared into the Poltergust, tutu and all. The man in green looked over to his female counterpart, only to see her snapping off a bass guitar from its stand, raising it over her shoulders, and slamming it down onto the face of the ballerino.

'Oh!' He said, flinching. 'I... guess that works too.'

Rather unsurprisingly, the guitar broke apart upon impact, but it did stop the incessant spinning. The dancer lay on the floor, watching the stars float in his vision with gleeful bliss.

'Aren't the fireworks purty tonight?' He said.

And that glorious statement was his last, as Daisy grabbed his tail and smashed him into oblivion. She dusted her hands off, and gave a smug look to Amadeus.

'Got anything else?' She asked.

Amadeus pressed several keys at once. His hands balled into fists, fists that he had to restrain from breaking his beloved instrument. He got out of his seat and glared directly at the mortals. Luigi froze on the spot.

'You...!' Amadeus yelled.

Daisy chuckled. 'What? You finally given up?'

Luigi flashed her a look, one that said 'for the love of Grambi, stop antagonising him!'.

The pianist had tried his hardest to contain his rage at such despicable mortals, but now he gave up on trying. His hands shot to his head as his neatly combed hair went everywhere like Medusa's snakes. His lavender aura shifted to a menacing red, and grew thicker like an ominous fog.

'I tried to be easy on you mortal scum, but you have given me no choice!' He yelled. 'No one who hurts my Gloria deserves to see me at my best!'

'W-We never hurt Gloria!' Luigi replied without thinking. 'I-I haven't even met her. Please Mr Wolfgeist... believe me.'

Amadeus aimed his glare dead straight at him. Luigi had to look away. Already, he hated eye contact, and there was no way he could look at that much fury.

'I will not believe the lies of loathsome mortals!' The pianist yelled back. 'I don't know why I ever was nice to you to begin with. I suppose I didn't want to waste my energy on such garbage!'

'Hey!' Daisy cried. 'Luigi is telling the truth! And if you don't believe us, we'll simply have to take our friend back by force!'

Amadeus slammed his fists into several keys at once, breaking a few of them in the process. Those mortals needed to thank their lucky stars that he hadn't mounted their heads on the wall by now.

'So after you hurt my Gloria, you can't stop yourself? You have to capture me to? Then fine! If that's how you want to do it, then I'll make you suffer the same way Gloria did!'

Without another word, he disappeared into his piano, slamming the lid down on himself. The room that was once filled with his furious shouting and beautiful music suddenly went totally silent. The piano stood still, and nothing else moved.

'Um, is that it?' Daisy asked. 'With how angry he sounded, I expected him to snap my neck! Not return to his piano for a nap.'

She lifted herself onto the stage and began to approach the dormant instrument. Watching it threw Luigi into some horrid flashbacks, ones about a certain mad piano in Big Boo's Haunt. He remembered the seemingly harmless instrument suddenly springing to life the moment he approached it, not too long before King Boo captured him.

'Wait, Daisy!' He yelled. 'Don't go near that!'

She chuckled as she neared it. 'Luigi, it's a piano. And there's no way in the Underwhere that anyone is gonna make a piano-'

The piano lid shot up, revealing an endless mouth and two rows of extremely sharp teeth staring right at her. It chomped before her like an aggressive crocodile, just barely missing her hand.

'AHHHHHH!' Daisy screamed.

She fell back onto her rear, and backed away as quickly as she could. The piano did not stay in place and slowly but surely chased after her. Each chomp came with the loud sound of someone mashing keys at random.

'Oh my Grambi!' She shouted, scrambling to her feet. 'OH MY GRAMBI! What in the everlasting HELL is THAT?!'

She tumbled off the stage and fell flat on her face. Her desperate need to get as far away from that, that... thing as possible gave her the fuel to get up immediately and duck behind Luigi. The plumber stared at her in shock. He had never seen her that genuinely terrified before. Her hands shook against his shoulders.

'I don't care what you do to beat that thing, sweetie.' She said. 'Just make sure it doesn't get near ME!'

'Did you think the stories about the mad piano were exaggerated?'

'Obviously! I didn't think a piano could be that horrific! But at least it's stuck on that-'

Luigi clamped his hand over her mouth. 'I don't like saying this, but... please stop talking.'

Once again, his attempt at stopping a jinx did not succeed. The possessed-piano buckled about like a mechanical bull, staring at them with glowing red eyes resting above the keys, and leapt into the air nearly high enough to hit the pole the curtains hung by.

'What in the Lost Levels?!' Daisy shouted. Luigi couldn't say a word.

The piano angled its descent downwards jaw first. It dove down with its mouth open in such a way that it would clamp upon the two heroes the moment it made contact with the ground. Luigi froze on the spot. The bottomless void that was the piano's mouth got closer to consuming him with every millisecond. Thoughts of being chomped to pieces flooded his mind and stopped his instincts from doing anything.

'Whoa now, sweetie!' Daisy yelled as she tackled him to the ground.

Getting slammed onto the floor and crushed beneath the princess got Luigi's brain working again. He was about to ask her the meaning behind her random act of physical contact, when the piano landed on the floor jaw first where the plumber had been standing.

Daisy got to her feet and dragged him off the floor by his shoulder. 'What was that?! You can't just freeze while a giant scary piano is about to chomp your head off! Or in any battle, for that matter.'

Luigi wanted to tell her that nerves were beyond his control, but the piano caught his attention. It rattled about again, just like it did the first time it jumped. A spotlight turned on and beamed down on the mortals. Luigi's eyes were safe underneath his cap, but Daisy had to shelter hers. The possessed instrument played its own keys in an aimless but still dramatic fashion.

'Um, what is it doing...?!' Daisy asked, backing away slightly.

Luigi's eyes widened. 'He's about to jump again.'

'About to what?! You gotta be kidding me!'

Just as Luigi predicted, the buckling came to a stop and the piano leapt into the air once again, now chomping its jaw as it flew.

'And now we run!' Daisy cried. Like they'd do anything else.

The mortals picked themselves up and ran out of the blinding spotlight. Polterpup followed, though the instrument had no way of affecting him.

'Okay Luigi,' Daisy said as they escaped the light. 'You said you've dealt with possessors before. What did you do?'

*CRASH*

The piano landed in the middle of the spotlight, and cried out in high-pitched and pained frustration.

Luigi took the moment of brevity to think. 'Uh, the, uh, possessors from Evershade Valley were hard to deal with but, um...'

'Start with the first one.' Daisy said. 'The spider one, right?'

'Erm, right. The Grouchy Possessor possessed a spider queen, and I had to set fire to the web to force him out.'

Daisy snapped her fingers and smiled. 'Force him out! That's what we gotta do! ... How?'

Polterpup yipped to catch their attention, and pointed his tail at the still very much possessed piano. It no longer buckled about, but half of its keys glowed.

'Oh Grambi.' Daisy huffed. 'What's he doing now?'

The glowing keys floated from their home and into the air. They moved in a smooth wave-like pattern, in an almost hypnotic fashion. The piano lifted up its 'head' and fired its ebony projectiles like guided missiles at our heroes.

'Wah!'

'Did that Mad Piano do that?'

The keys left behind yellow comet trails as they zipped towards Luigi and Daisy, homing in on them every moment.

'We ain't outrunning those!' Daisy cried.

Luigi switched into instinct mode, and activated a burst without thinking about this decision first. Daisy stumbled around as air erupted from the Poltergust, lifting the plumber off the ground. The burst of air interrupted the flying keys, stopping them in place and throwing them off their course. They fell to the floor like regular old keys, and after a few seconds passed flew back into place on the keyboard.

'Good thinking, sweetie!'

Luigi blushed, thankful for the encouragement. The piano's 'eyes' glowed a deeper red and it roared, creating a sound that, although like one made by the instrument, sounded more like a dying animal in distress.

'Oh no.' Daisy said. 'I think we've really peeved him off now.'

In the middle of that ear-piercing roar, one could barely make out two words: 'For Gloria'. Luigi managed to hear it, and for a moment he put down his weapon. With each grand ghost he fought, he felt more and more like he simply couldn't fight them. A father protecting his child... that's all this was. Surely if Luigi did this to protect his child if he had one, such extreme aggression would be applauded. And yet, this was a battle to overcome. A battle to be beaten.

Why did a protective father deserve to be beaten, Luigi wondered. Why was he being treated as a bad guy for merely being angry that his loved one was supposedly hurt?

'You can cry later, Luigi!' Daisy yelled. 'Now is not the time.'

He was crying? He rubbed his eyes, but saw no tears on his gloves. Why did she...? No time for questions, as the piano buckled again like it was getting ready to pounce once more. There was something different about this buckling though, that Luigi noticed. Instead of slow and gentle rattling, it rocked about like a bull on the loose. The spotlight turned to the mortals, much bigger and brighter than before.

'Who's operating those lights?' Luigi asked.

'Cogsworth and Lumière.' Daisy said, totally deadpanned. 'Does that really matter right now?!'

Indeed, it did not. Amadeus sent his vessel flying into the air, going so high this time it scraped against the ceiling. One of the spotlights got knocked off and fell to the floor, shattering into dust upon impact.

'We don't wanna be under that!' Daisy yelled, grabbing Luigi by the hand.

Giving him no time to ready himself, she yanked him out of the light and into the relative safety of the darkness. The piano hovered in the air for a moment, leaving our heroes in suspense. Then the spotlight shifted, moving back onto our heroes. The piano shifted its direction to follow it. Luigi looked up into the blinding light, only to see the bottom of the piano getting closer. The shadow that covered them got bigger and bigger.

'OH BOY!'

Grabbing Luigi's arm again, she dragged him and herself out of harm's way. Not even a second after they fled the spotlight, the piano slammed into the floor like a great big steam press. The impact created a big shockwave that knocked Luigi and Daisy off their feet. Daisy's gloves helped cushion her fall, but Luigi fell cheek first into a steel bar that a row of chairs used to rest on. He made no sound at all, but his face and hands seized as the pain shot through his nerves. Polterpup approached him and frowned.

'Arf arf?'

He licked his owner's face, lacking the power granted to him by Golden Bones to properly heal him. All the same, Luigi smiled for his pet and slowly got to his feet.

'Luigi, look!'

After the heavy slam into the floor, the piano had stopped moving entirely. The lid opened up, and revealed not a bottomless mouth but the old pianist ghost holding his dizzy head.

'Ow...' He muttered. 'Das war eine schlechte idee...'

Luigi charged up his Strobulb and flashed Amadeus as quickly as he could. The hope he had to finish this harrowing fight there and then was dashed when the stunned ghost simply fell back into his piano like a pharaoh returning to his coffin, and slammed the lid back down. The 'eyes' began to glow again.

Daisy charged at him. 'You're not getting away from me!'

She reached out for the possessed instrument, hoping to get the lid open, when the lid opened itself for her. It gave her a face full of teeth as it roared out that horrific dying animal sound. She jumped back and barely managed to stop a heart attack.

'GAH! Just STOP it, please!'

The piano leapt into the air once again, but instead of trying to flatten our heroes it flew back onto the stage, and landed with two of its legs right on the very edge.

Daisy growled in sheer frustration, before slumping her shoulders and sighing. 'I swear to Grambi... I'm about to smash that piano to smithereens!'

Luigi shuddered, suddenly feeling more scared of her than he did of Amadeus. That changed, however, when the piano's 'mouth' opened wide showing off all those razor sharp teeth. It held its jaw wide open, almost resembling a dumpster.

'Come at me, Amadeus!' Daisy shouted. 'So I can kill you for a second time!'

The piano made a sound best described as a T. Rex getting ready to puke out its meal. After making that bizarre emission, it spat out lit bombs. And they were heading for our heroes.

'DAHHH!'

'He's throwing b- you have got to be f-!'

The bombs spread themselves out, each flashing red at their own times, and were set on their targets. Luigi and Daisy ran back well out of their way. The moment they hit the ground they detonated, leaving our heroes just barely out of the blast zone. The smoke that was left behind scattered. The musty smell of napalm made Luigi sneeze.

'Okay Luigi, got any ideas?' Daisy asked. 'At all? Anything. I'll take jumping out the window if you think it's best!'

Luigi tried to think for even a second, but as soon as he began brainstorming any way to win this fight, Amadeus sent another round of lit bombs their way, along with a few big musical notes made entirely of a fiery energy.

'I... I don't know!' He cried as he avoided the second round. 'I-I don't even think we can run away with the portrait! He'd have the button we need...'

Though he'd never let anyone know, he seriously felt like he was moments away from a mental breakdown. His heart raced so fast that he could hear it thumping, to the point where it overpowered any other sound. His brain couldn't focus on a single thought. The risk of death by getting blown to pieces, plus the pressure of Daisy asking for help, combined with the cacophony the piano created... It wreaked havoc on his mind. He didn't even notice Daisy pulling him away from a third wave of bombs.

She gasped. 'Luigi, look at Polterpup!'

He almost couldn't do it, assuming that all he'd see was his loyal pet succumbing to the never-ending swarm of explosives. When he dared to look, it was nothing like what he was expecting. Polterpup held one of the lit bombs in his mouth, and gulped it down in one bite. It exploded inside his body, which did little to him beyond making his abdomen expand for a second. He coughed out some smoke, and looked to his owner with a smile.

'You think he's trying to tell us something?' Daisy asked.

Luigi smiled as the lightbulb went off. 'Daisy, if a video game boss is throwing bombs at you, what do you do?'

'Easy. You-' She grinned. 'I got this.'

Amadeus unleashed a fourth wave of bombs, determined to blow up either our heroes or the hotel - whatever came first. Daisy leapt into the air and, like an olympic basketball player, grabbed one of the explosive spheres from midair. Everything seemed to slow down. Memories of losing her gold medal in Volleyball to Blaze annoyed her, and now was the time to prove those judges that she deserved that gold.

'I'm gonna teach that fire cat what for.' She muttered.

Luigi wondered where the heck this came from. Daisy held the bomb up like a basketball. She narrowed her eyes. In a split second, a sports announcer that totally wasn't her own inner voice narrated for her.

'Can Daisy make this one-in-a-thousand shot? Or will she walk away defeated and dejected?'

Just throw the bomb already.

'And she... goes for it!'

She threw the bomb over her shoulders and tossed it at the piano's open jaw. Unfortunately she was so focused on the throw that she hit the ground face-first. Luigi was about to yell her name out, but stopped himself upon remembering that she didn't like him doing that. Daisy didn't stay on the ground for long, as she had to see her little plan succeed. The bomb fell directly down into the instrument's bottomless throat. The piano's jaws came to a stop and stayed wide open, as if to say 'ah... crud'.

*BOOM*

Smoke billowed from the jaws, seeping into the air and dissipating. The explosion knocked the piano over onto its side, showing off the bottom of it for all to see.

'Yay!' Luigi cheered, doing a little hopping dance. 'You did it!'

Daisy smirked, but only for a moment. 'We're not out of the haunted woods yet, sweetie! We still gotta seperate this guy from his host.'

Pressure fell onto Luigi again, but this time he thought of a plan much quicker. The bottom of the currently-stunned piano had a little white sun pattern in the middle, which looked awfully like a target. He aimed his Suction Shot directly at that little sun, and fired. The plunger stuck like nails to a magnet.

'Good thinkin', Luigi!'

Luigi grabbed onto the rope dangling from the plunger with his Poltergust, and backed away until the rope got tight. He lifted the nozzle up to slam the instrument, but it wouldn't budge. He pulled against it, again and again, growing more and more stressed with each failed attempt.

'It's too heavy!' He cried.

Not one to leave her plumber in distress, Daisy rubbed her gloved hands together and grabbed onto the Poltergust nozzle alongside him.

'No way we're letting you do this on your own!' Daisy yelled. 'Hey Polterpuppy!'

The spectral hound nodded, and grabbed onto the rope with his mouth. He pulled on it slightly, growling like he were in a game of tug-o-war.

Luigi stared at his partners in shock. He almost couldn't believe his luck, being able to go on this adventure with such loyal and loving team-mates. From his last two horror quests by himself, the very thought of having great friends by his side made his heart soar.

'Okay boys,' Daisy said. 'We all pull on the same time on the count of three.'

Luigi nodded, sharing her determined grin.

'Alright! Three...'

'Two...'

'ARF!'

Everyone lifted the nozzle up at once. The piano flew over their heads, and they didn't let go until the piano slammed into the ground.

*SMASH*

The instrument immediately shattered into pieces beyond repair.

'Yeah!' Daisy yelled as she fist-pumped.

'Gah!' Luigi exclaimed. 'S-Sorry!'

From the wreck of the formal grand instrument, emerged a very furious Amadeus Wolfgeist. His hands grasped his matted hair as he stared at what remained of his beautiful piano.

'You...' He spat. 'You mortal SCUM! First you bring harm to my sweet little Gloria, then you destroy the one thing I had left. Hellen was right about you. You are reprehensible!'

Luigi stammered out about fifty more apologies.

'Don't get mad at us!' Daisy said. 'If you just handed the button over, we wouldn't have to fight you like this.'

'As if I'd ever let you go after you brought harm to my Gloria!'

Daisy groaned in pure, unadulterated frustration and agony. 'Good lord, can you stop going on about her?! We ne-'

'We never hurt her!' Luigi blurted out.

All eyes in the room fell onto him, including those of the furious pianist. He gulped.

'I-I swear! W-We haven't even gone near her! S-She's all the way on floor fourteen, and the h-highest we've gone is floor five. H-How could we have hurt her?'

Amadeus felt about ready to scream in the green man's face and denounce his blatant lies, but something about the man's voice stopped him.

'I-I don't wanna hurt anyone! I-I didn't even want to hurt you! But you were ruthless... and I understand why.'

Every quiver, every stammer, every voice-crack sounded genuine to Amadeus. The man sounded like he was on the verge of tears. Daisy, meanwhile, watched Luigi in shock.

'You thought your daughter was in danger. Anyone would act the way you did. And... and... I'm sorry.'

The man stopped to take sharp and heavy breaths. Amadeus thought over his words carefully. Now that anger no longer clouded his judgement, he could put the pieces together more logically. He was there when Hellen handed them all buttons to keep hold of, up to and including when she gave Steward two to 'make up for all his hard work', much to Chambrea's anger. That maid would've grabbed all the buttons for herself if she could. Gloria had been gifted the grand final button, for reasons Hellen did not explain. If Amadeus remembered correctly, there really was no way the mortals could be anywhere near the Dance Hall.

His long-fingered hands relaxed their grip on his head. 'Y-Yes. Of course. If you captured our excitable DJ, I would have been told by every Goob and Oozer in this country.'

He slumped his arms, and sighed. His hands clenched into fists and he gritted his teeth.

'You didn't hurt my precious Gloria at all.' He said in a frighteningly serene voice. 'I've tried to kill you for nothing.'

Luigi stood on high alert, waiting for any sort of movement. Amadeus reached out for him with his unnaturally long arms. He jolted and tried to charge his Strobulb, but found his flashlight in the hands of the pianist.

'Get away from my-!' Daisy yelled, until Amadeus silenced her with a simple look.

The old pianist sighed. 'Green man, what is your name?'

Luigi blinked at him.

'Um... Luigi?'

'Luigi, I request that you capture me right now.'

'What?!' Luigi and Daisy yelled at once.

Amadeus's expression did not change at all, retaining an unsettling serenity. He aimed the flashlight at his own face.

'I do not wish to work for Hellen Gravely a second longer. Though I've never taken part in her schemes before, my performance tonight has convinced me that I must stop at once. I don't even want to imagine what horror she'll force me to commit next.'

Luigi glanced at Daisy, who could only shrug. With nothing else to turn to, he charged up his ray-based weapon.

'Just promise me one more thing, Luigi.'

'What's that?'

'Make sure that Hellen does not hurt Gloria. And punish her greatly if she does.'

Luigi nodded, and repeated that promise in his head over and over to make sure he had it committed to memory. It took a lot of willpower to let go of the Strobulb button, and he immediately used his Poltergust, getting Amadeus's tail stuck.

'And I must give you something in return.'

An elevator button appeared in his hand, seemingly from thin air. He handed it over to Daisy, who took it without a word. The last thing Amadeus did before he disappeared was bow. The great stage fell into silence, aside from a couple more stage lights falling and breaking apart. Most of the lights dimmed or turned off completely, with the exception of the one that pointed at Toad.

The silence broke when Daisy sighed in relief. 'Geez, I'll be honest, I thought we were goners for sure. And, uh, I definitely have Post Piano Stress Disorder now. You stay here. I'll go get the Toad.'

Daisy ran up the stage and unhooked the painting from the wall, leaving Luigi to get over what just happened. He wiped his brow, and he stared in shock at just how much sweat was on his glove. Geez, he must've been sweating like a squeezed sponge. He winced, imaging how awful he must've smelled. Fortunately, Daisy was just as - if not more - sweaty as he was, so she wouldn't notice at all.

Luigi began to chuckle. Why? Even he didn't know. After all the stress from the past few floors and especially that fight, a feeling of lightheadedness took its place. It was like all that panic had reached its peak before suddenly disappearing.

*THUD*

He fell onto the floor as his consciousness vanished.

Daisy tossed the painting aside and rushed to him. 'Oh my gosh, Luigi!'

She knelt down before him, and breathed a sigh of relief; he had just fallen asleep. Goodness, could his ability to get to sleep quickly cause scares sometimes. She didn't know what caused this sudden slip into dreamland, but she wasn't going to ruin it for him. Polterpup whimpered, and tugged on his owner's moustache. It snapped back like elastic, getting no response beyond a slight wince. He licked his owner's nose thoroughly, hoping it would bring him out of unconsciousness. Luigi sneezed, but somehow remained asleep.

Daisy chuckled, imaging the hurricane going on his dreams. 'Don't worry Polterpup. He's just asleep.'

The ghost doggy smiled and wagged his tail, cuddling up to his sleeping owner. Daisy glanced at the Toad portrait laying on the floor. She propped it up with one hand, and grabbed the Dark-Light Device with the other. The device enveloped the fun guy, and pushed him out of his painted prison. She didn't need to check the colour to know which one he was.

'YEAH, I'M FREE!' Parr T yelled as he fell flat on his face. 'Hallelujah!'

He bounced back onto his feet, and did a little dance. You wouldn't think he had been imprisoned mere moments ago. In fact, he was so happy to be free that he didn't even notice how rank Daisy was.

'You okay Pa-?'

'Okay? Of course I'm okay! You and Luigi just freed me! I think that piano guy wanted to save me too, but Luigi freed me! Hey, is he okay?'

'You mean Luigi? He's just sleeping.'

The VB went off, filling the quiet room with its catchy ringtone. Despite its volume, all Luigi did was stir in his sleep a little. Daisy rolled her eyes, and searched for the device in his pockets.

'That guy deserves a rest.' Parr said. 'Did you see that epic stuff he did? He did the thing, and then grabbed the thing with that other thing...'

Daisy zoned out the yellow-capped Toad's rambling, and answered the VB by putting it up to her eyes. The red-and-black graphics took her aback. E. Gadd had what appeared to be popcorn scattered all over his desk. She envied his ability to just sit around in safety.

'Woah sonny! Now that was a... Daisy? Where's Luigi?'

'Asleep on the floor. I'm not sure why, but he just sort of collapsed after that fight.'

E. Gadd sighed. 'Now isn't the time for a nap! You have a boo to return to me!'

She gave him a look, not that she could completely blame him; they certainly had to save everyone fast.

'Well, I suppose we can't have Luigi exhausted the whole time, can we? He's got five minutes, then you must get going. Posthaste!'

'Noted. We managed to rescue Parr T, one of the trapped Toads. What do we-?'

'You saved one of the Toads? Wonderful! So that just leaves... two more Toads and a princess!'

She rolled her eyes again. 'And Mario.'

'And Mario, yes! The Toad will be safe in my ghost-proof bunker. Give Luigi his five-minute rest, and go explore the next floor!' And the call ended like that.

Daisy put the VB away into her pocket with a huff. Was this really what Luigi had to deal with in the last ghostly adventures?

'Ooh, what did the scientist guy say?' Parr asked, a big smile on his face.

'He wants you to return to his bunker.'

'Oh, okay! ... Where is it?'

'Floor B1. Go down the hallway and into the carpark. You can't miss it. Just be careful about the g-'

'YAY!' Parr yelled as he ran out the doors. 'Another adventure!'

Daisy giggled. That mushroom's enthusiasm never failed to make her beam. She turned to her sleeping partner, giving a soft smile.

She brushed her hand across his cheek and, in-spite of the metallic gloves she donned, he smiled contently, emitting a cute 'hmmm...'. Polterpup laying beside him just made it all the more adorable. How were already cute things even cuter when asleep?

'How am I meant to wake you up?' She asked no one in particular. 'You look too peaceful.'

Daisy remained there for a few minutes, able to listen to his peaceful breathing for hours on end. Only one ghost approached them, and Daisy slammed her into nonexistence. No more ghosts came to bother the sleeping plumber after that. How much time had passed? She didn't really know. She could've been there for a few minutes or a few hours. But she did know that E. Gadd's time limit was coming to an end.

'Mmhhh...'

The murmur in his sleep brought her back to Earth. Compared to all the happy sounds he'd made before, this one was noticeably worried.

'Luigi?'

He stirred in his sleep, his soft smile turning into a frown. 'M-Mario?'

Daisy gasped. 'Luigi? Luigi, sweetie!'

'Mario!'

'LUIGI!'

'ARF!'

Luigi's eyes shot wide open. He sat himself up and failed to control his erratic breathing. The sight of his princess and dog watching him with worry slowed his heart rate a bit.

'D-Daisy! I-I'm so sorry! I-I...'

'Breathe Luigi, breathe.'

He followed her advice, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. It took a few cycles until he recovered from his shock.

'Feeling better?'

'Y-Yeah.'

'Nightmare?'

'... Yeah.'

'Wanna tell me about it?'

In a few moments of thought, he tried to recall what he saw. Perhaps fortunately, most of it was a blur.

'I saw, um, a lotta things. Giant pineapples, a golden robot, some dancers, some redneck twins...'

'Uh, what?'

'Yeah, I don't either. But then I saw... Mario trapped in that portrait. And I ran for him, b-but I couldn't get any closer. It was like that endless staircase!' A pause. 'Do you think it's King Boo's doing?'

Daisy's eyes widened. 'Uh... maybe. Whether it's to discourage you or lure you into a trap, I have no idea.'

Luigi straightened up the straps on his Poltergust, and got to his feet.

'If it was to discourage me, he failed.'


Parr T had made it to E. Gadd's bunker without a scratch, and button number six had warped itself into place.

'So,' Daisy said. 'Do you remember what floor six was?'

'Uh, I'm not sure. It mentioned something about a jousting tournament, but according to the elevator tracker it's a... castle?'

The elevator tracker showed them the map of the very big floor, naming it 'Castle MacFrights'.

'You trying to tell me they put a castle in this hotel?' Daisy said. 'Just as long as there aren't any pianos, I'm sure we'll be fine.'

She reached out to press the button...

'MROW!'

And jumped back when a ghostly pink cat stuck her head out of the tiny hole, holding the button in her mouth.

'Whoa, hello!'

Polterpup perked up at the sight of a fellow ghost pet, while Luigi stared. Why a ghost cat surprised him so much was beyond him. Ghost dogs were a thing after all, even since the beginning. The jewel on her necklace had dark blue writing on it that spelled out her name downwards - 'Polterkitty'.

She squeezed the rest of her body out and perched herself on the floor, revealing herself to have not one, not two, but three tails. Luigi couldn't help but think she looked like a Ghost-type regional form of Espeon. Though he was more partial to Leafeon himself, he thought she looked rather cute.

Daisy thought otherwise. 'Bad kitty! Drop that button right now. Drop it. Drop it!'

Like most cats, Polterkitty was not one to obey commands, at least from anyone who wasn't her master. Instead, she threw the button into the air, caught it in her mouth again...

And swallowed it in one gulp.


AMADEUS WOLFGEIST, THE PROTECTIVE PIANIST

AGE - 60

GENDER - Male

CAUSE OF DEATH - Unknown

Amadeus Wolfgeist's death left many of his compositions unfinished. He spends most of his afterlife playing his works, finished or not. When he was alive, he wanted nothing more than to start a family, but all but one of his children died in infancy. He has since adopted DJ Gloria, and thanks to his many losses he is fiercely protective over her. He is usually quite patient, but hurting his daughter is a one-way ticket to hell.

PARR T, THE CHEERY FUN GUY

Parr T. is the yellow Toad invited along for the vacation, before getting held capture by Amadeus. As his name implies, he's very cheerful. If you were to set him on fire, for instance, he'd happily declare that he was warm and cosy, as opposed to being fried. Don't ask me how I know this.


Author Notes - The Super Mario 64 reference was just too easy to make.

I love Amadeus Wolfgeist so, so much. Notice me, senpai. ... I am so, so sorry. I'll, uh, see myself out now.

Amadeus's familiar love for Gloria was inspired by how they're both music-based, albeit in two different genres. And it all went from there. No, the two are not actually father-and-daughter biologically, considering one died in the 1980's and the other three centuries ago. Adoptively, however...

His protectiveness over her was certainly not supposed to be as big of a thing as it was, but I like it better like that.


Amadeus Wolfgeist travelled the world, everywhere from the Steam Gardens, to Sarasaland, to the Forgotten Isle, to the Beanbean Kingdom, to Cramalot, to the Waffle Kingdom, to Isle Defino, to... everywhere. No longer held down by mortal limits, he went everywhere to hear all the beautiful and unique music he could.

But his musical adventure had come to a halt one day, when he stumbled into a place known as 'Glitterville'. He came across what appeared to be an abandoned disco hall. Though he wasn't particularly fond of this new 'disco' music, it still saddened him to see a place where people could appreciate the music they loved now lost to the sands of time. 'Disco was dead', as he heard. He would've just up and left the place immediately, had he not noticed someone still inside. It was a young woman, no older than eighteen, with very short hair, trying to use the turntable even though the thing was falling apart.

'What's everyone's damage?' She called to the empty hall. 'I'm, like, back in the hood dawg! I'm pumped for a gnarly party!'

Ignoring her incomprehensible slang, Amadeus noticed her translucent skin and lack of legs. The poor thing was a ghost. He drifted into the hall, and went to confront the confused girl.

'Pardon my intrusion, but I couldn't help but notice you-'

Her eyes widened. 'GH-GHOOOOST!'

She fell backwards onto the floor and shuffled away. At first, he rolled his eyes from her stupid joke. But after looking into her terrified eyes, he realised she wasn't kidding. Oh, this poor young woman. It was a common 'side-effect' of becoming a ghost; it often took a while for one to realise they were a ghost. He got through it easily, but this woman seemed to have a much harder time.

'I'm sorry to say this,' He said, reaching his arm out for her. 'But it seems you are a ghost yourself.'

'What?! B-But I, like, can't be! I... I was all green in the hospital, but then they let me out, so I...'

He placed her hand in his, and when they collided like solid objects she gasped.

'N-No... I can't be a ghost. I-I gotta, like, take a chill pill! That totally didn't happen. I... I...'

Against his better judgement, he brought her into a hug. For reasons he didn't know, it felt like he was comforting his own daughter. She returned the gesture without any question.

'I understand.' He said. 'Learning you're a ghost is a scary time. But you won't have to do it alone. How about you stay with me?'

The young woman broke up the hug to look him in the eyes. Tears flowed down her cheeks, yet she smiled.

'Y-Yeah... that would be tubular.' She chuckled. 'I'm, uh, DJ Phantasmagloria, d-disco star! B-But you can, like, call me Gloria.'

He smiled too. 'Amadeus Wolfgeist. And I'll keep you safe. No matter what.'

And even when the two of them were hired to work at the Last Resort, he never broke that promise. Unlike all the children he lost when he was still alive, he'd keep this one happy and safe until the day he faded away.