Author Notes - I both love and hate the Garden Suites. It looks absolutely gorgeous and the mystic atmosphere is amazing. But have you ever tried to speedrun it? You will hate it afterwards if you do.

And Dr Potter? The guy's a jerkface and his battle is annoying, even when you know the tricks.

Also I can never do those pineapple segments without getting hit once. Unlike my mom when we were co-oping, who did it on her first try. BOTH times we played through the game together. And I know she's reading this so HI THERE!

Some might be wondering how I manage to update with such long chapters as quickly as I do. Well, it's not because I'm some awesome multi-talented genius. It'd because I have literally nothing better to do. Not having a life comes with perks.

Thanks to... actually, let me mix this up. Gratitude to KZJester, Nintengamer55, Mr. Enlightment, Minima42, and Hunter Lloyd for the favourites/follows! This is the most attention I've gotten in quite some time. It makes me happy.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - AIN'T NO KINDER-GARDEN

The entire elevator ride up, Daisy couldn't contain her excitement. She couldn't sit still, preferring to run about the elevator cart like a four-year-old high on sugar, while Luigi and Polterpup watched her from the middle of the room.

'Can you believe it?!' She said, prancing around the room. 'We're going up to the garden! The GARDEN! Are you excited? Because I'm excited. Like, really, REALLY excited!'

Luigi smiled, the same kind of smile one makes at a litter of kittens sleeping together in a pile. Daisy's moments of childlike excitement were rare, but that just made them all the more special.

'I'm excited if you're excited.' He said. And it couldn't be more truthful.

The elevator dinged, and came to a stop. Daisy emitted high-pitched sounds of joy as she waited for the doors to open, and the moment they did she went charging out through them. In sharp contrast to her never-ending squealing, once she ran out into the elevator hall she quieted down almost completely. She looked around the room, gasping in joyous awe.

'Wow... oh, you have to see this.'

Luigi stepped out of the elevator cage quietly, not wanting to disturb her peace. As opposed to the horrid odour of decay the castle had, the aroma of various plants was much nicer. He felt like he had walked into Daisy's own garden.

The hall was noticeably dimmer than those before it, but in a way that relaxed Luigi instead of giving him fear. Two trees grew by the entrance and another in the opposite corner, their shiny leaves falling every few seconds and littering the floor. A stone path could barely been seen underneath the foot-deep grass. Flower pots hung from the ceiling, and little gardens filled with many kinds of flowers rested by the walls.

Polterpup sniffed at one of the little gardens, particularly in the fire-hydrant-red bunch. Once certain it was fine enough territory, he lifted his hindleg up and did his business.

Luigi gasped. 'Polterpup, don't do that!'

Daisy gasped as well, but much more happily. 'Oh, never mind him. Look at this.'

He joined her kneeling down in front of a different garden. She smiled intently at one flower in particular, the one with smooth white petals vaguely resembling a ghost. She reached out, watching to touch it, before stopping herself.

'That, Luigi,' She said. 'Is a Dendrophylax lindenii, known commonly as a Ghost Orchid. The appropriate name is not lost on me. Notice how it doesn't have any leaves? It has to photosynthesise with its roots instead. They usually require very specific requirements to grow this well. The gardener must be amazing if they get this baby to bloom!'

Luigi marvelled at the Ghost Orchid, listening to every word she said. 'You know a lot about flowers.'

Daisy chuckled. 'My parents named me Daisy. I was kinda roped into it.' She stood up. 'But that's enough of that. We really should be - OH MY GOSH there's more!'

Like the floor before, the elevator hall had a hallway leading to the left. And Daisy disappeared down it faster than you can say 'hi I'm Daisy!'.

'Ah, Daisy!' Luigi yelled. 'We have to stick together.' He glanced at the dog guarding his territory. 'That includes you, boy.'

The boys ran after the princess, expecting to find her long gone. Instead, she was barely halfway down to the next turn, merely waltzing down quietly and glancing around at the flowers and vines taking over the walls.

Paintings had been hung on the wall, but Luigi couldn't tell of what past the sheer amount of greenery growing over them. The only 'path' was simply the grass being a couple inches shorter.

Luigi gulped. He wasn't going to get lost amongst all this green, was he?

Daisy moved her hand through the many leaves, noting the genuine sheen they reflected from Luigi's flashlight. It was the first time since putting them on that she disliked the Phantasma-Gloves; she wanted to feel the real leaves, but didn't want to take the gloves off in case of an unexpected attack.

'They're real...' She muttered, just loud enough for Luigi to hear. 'I can't believe it. How do you grow this many real plants inside a dim hotel?'

'Um... ghost magic?' Luigi guessed.

'Can't argue with that. I gotta find this gardener. If they hate working for Ms Gravely as much as the other guys do, I'll gladly hire them myself. Come on!'

The words 'come on' rarely filled Luigi with joy, and this time was no exception. The excited princess ran around the corner, leaving her plumber lost in a sea of green. Unlike Polterpup, whose bright white fur stood out gloriously, Luigi's green and dark blue clothes made him blend into the background.

'Daisy! I can't keep up with you with the Poltergust on my back!'

The corner led to another long hallway, which led to another corner, which led to yet another hallway, each no less covered in flora than the last. If anything, it only got more intense.

Luigi and his ghost dog arrived at a set of golden doors, which stood out due to the lack of any plant-life covering it. Even then, the carvings on it resembled invading vines. Daisy waited for him right in front of the doors, dancing on the spot and emitting adorable squealing sounds.

'You ready, sweetie? I'm just waiting for you.'

'Y-Yeah, I think I'm ready.'

'And AWAY we go!'

Once again, contrasting with her rough excitement she opened the grand doors slowly and carefully. Both mortals squinted from the light that hit their eyes. Once their eyes adjusted, they gaped at the sight.

'Oh... my...'

'Dang...'

'Yip?'

The cramped hallway opened up to what appeared to be the inside of a tower, seemingly tall enough to rival even Tall Tall Mountain or Grumble Volcano. Stairs wrapped around the walls, leading to three great storeys and presumably the guest rooms.

Moonlight seeped in through the giant mossy window that took up almost the entire back wall. Stone paths and a couple benches took up most of the bottom floor, but some flowers still managed to break through.

Luigi stared, his eyes constantly moving and scanning for new details.

'H... How?' Daisy gasped. 'This is... there are... how is this here?! It's like the one of the Haunted Towers was just... just... put here!'

Only then did he become aware of how nonsensical this whole floor was. How was a tower this massive in the hotel at all? And why did it only count as the one 'floor'?

'Arf arf!'

Polterpup brought their attention to a small ceramic stand in the middle of the room. A certain shiny gold object rested upon it.

Luigi's eyes lit up. 'There it is! There's the button!'

He looked left and right, seeing nothing more than greenery. There the button was, up for the taking.

'Careful, Luigi.' Daisy said, putting her hand on his shoulder. 'I smell a trap. All it's missing is a great big neon sign.'

His eyes widened. Though he saw no threats to speak of, he could sense some ghostly aura. Without thinking, he ran over to the button.

'Luigi? What are you doing?' Daisy asked, running after him.

He yanked the button from the stone platform and held it close, bracing for any sort of attack. Nothing seemed to happen.

'I had to grab the button quick,' He said. 'Before anything ha...'

His voice trailed off when something moved in the corner of his eye. A watering can, seemingly on its own, floated over the ground and watered a spot in the grass. A blue stem sprouted up from that spot, a flytrap-like head at the top opening up.

Daisy cocked an eyebrow. 'Uh... oookay?'

Luigi stared at it, waiting for it to do, well, anything.

'GED OFFA MA LAWN, YEH WHIPPERSNAPPERS!'

'Yah!'

An elderly voice yelled from nowhere and made Luigi flinch. And drop the button.

The button bounced off the stand, and straight into the plant's mouth. Its jaws clamped over it tight.

'Luigi!' Daisy yelled, far harsher than she intended to.

The plumber had no time to think about what he just did, as a green ghost materialised and revealed himself to be the one holding the watering can. His human-like appearance made his status as one of the 'grand ghosts' clear.

And he did not look happy.

Compared to the grand ghosts before, who were mostly young, he was much older than even Chambrea, or Nana from the original mansion. He had to be at least in his eighties, and his long scrawny beard added to his visible age. A small daisy grew out of his woven hat.

The real Daisy smiled. 'Wait, are you the gardener of this place?'

'Yer darn tootin' I am!' The ghost replied. 'Only Dr Ramos Potter coulda grown a garden this impressive. And I don't appreciate tha damage yer causin'!'

'Damage? What damage?'

The ghost, known as Dr Potter, pointed at her feet. She lifted her foot up, to see she had crushed a petunia underneath her.

'Oops. Sorry. I didn't-'

'I suggest yeh ged outta ma garden right this minute!' Dr Potter continued to yell. 'If yeh get yer rear ends out right now, I might be nice ta yeh. Such disregard fer ma flora friends is why I don't let strangers in!'

The gardener ghost glanced to his right, and saw Polterpup marking his territory once again, this time on a lily.

'And that! I don't need no mutt doin' his business on ma flowers!'

Luigi gulped. 'Uh, y-yeah, we can do that. If we could just have that button back...'

Dr Potter looked him over. Was this really the man that King Boo was so scared of?

He chuckled. 'Yeh want the button? Alright...'

He sprinkled more water onto the button-snatching plant, and like all good gardeners let it grow on its own. And by that I mean it IMMEDIATELY grew upwards like a beanstalk, its 'trunk' growing thicker than most trees.

'WHOA!'

Daisy tackled Luigi to the ground, throwing the both of them away from the sprouting stalk and the rubble it left tumbling down in its path. Little stones plinked against her face as the stalk tore through parts of the staircase.

It only stopped growing once it practically reached the ceiling, leaving the giant blue beanstalk looking like it was supporting the whole place. Luigi couldn't even see the top of it.

Daisy looked back down at him. He could see the fear in her eyes. Guilt began to sink in.

If only I didn't drop that button...

Dr Potter laughed. 'Have fun geddin' that button now! Ma friends ain't happy wit' yeh messin' wit' their family!'

Daisy growled. 'You kidding me?! Dude, if you just gave us the button we would've just left! That... that doesn't even make sense!'

The old ghost, along with his watering can, vanished into air, leaving our heroes with the skyscraper of a plant to climb.

Daisy stood up and helped Luigi get onto his feet. 'Well, we could've gotten out of here in two seconds, but I suppose another adventure works too.'

She intended for that remark to be aimed at no one in particular, or at the very most Dr Potter. Luigi whimpered.

'Luigi, you okay?' She asked.

He opened his mouth to say something, but immediately closed it and turned away from her. He strummed his fingers against his flashlight, a stim that Daisy recognised from before. She made a mental note to watch for that.

She smiled gently. 'Hey, it'll be fine. So what that old fart thought it'd be funny to make things hard for us? We've proven we can get through anything.'

He tried to smile too. 'Yeah. Yeah! We can do it! ... Right?'

'Arf arf!'

Polterpup, who had marked his territory with impunity while the plant had been growing, rejoined the group and sat by Luigi's feet.

'You too, boy.'

'And, if you can, please don't scent-mark anything else.'

Daisy looked up to the very top of the stalk, nearly falling backwards. She put her hands on her hips, her eyes scanning the trunk, before she sighed.

'Yeah, no way we're climbing this flora beast.' She said. 'We gotta find another way.'

Luigi focused on the stairs, following them all the way around as they spiralled upwards.

'We have to climb the stairs.' He said. 'That'll get us up there.'

Daisy huffed. 'Oh great.'


'I don't trust them whippersnappers. Did yeh see what that missy did ta ma Penny? She crushed her beneath her foot wit'out a care!'

Dr Potter went into hiding in a bedroom filled with thorny vines, a room chosen due to it being unreachable to mere mortals past the overgrown door. He floated around the room, just pacing about as he rambled.

'That missy is heartless. She don't care about our family. We're all innit together, and she mercilessly murders one o' us!'

Most of the audience did not respond to him, due to being regular old flowers. He stared at a lonely zinnia.

'Why, yes Zeke! Yeh're correct! That green kid is certainly not much bedder. He didn't react to tha cruel killin' at all.'

He turned to a tulip, as if it actually spoke to him.

'What's that, Tully? Yeh doubt he'll make it out o' our garden alive? Oh ho, don't I know it! We're too close ofa family ta let some mortals destroy us all. Isn't that right, my friends?'

He imagined them cheering all as once, celebrating their inevitable victory over the murderous mortals.

In reality, only one sound other than Dr Potter's own rambling could be heard: low, vaguely dog-like sounds coming from the corner. In that corner, among all the non-sentient plant life, stood a venus flytrap in a pot. One with scraggy orange skin and glowing yellow eyes. She cheered on her ghostly friend the best way she could.

'O' course ma little Audrey would cheer tha loudest oudda all o' yeh. That's right, sweetie. We will join together and show those mortals what they ged fer messin' wit' tha family!'


'WAH!'

They had only reached the first storey, when a branch from the behemoth plant broke through the floor between the door and a hole in the wall further down. Nothing remained of that section of the walkway except for dust and rubble as the plant extended through it, branching off like it was trying to overgrow the entire wall.

Luigi got off the floor, and whined. He couldn't articulate the words to describe his feelings. Daisy, after the years of hanging out with him, could recognise the subtle signs of an upcoming meltdown. Polterpup, meanwhile, couldn't understand why his owner wouldn't look at him no matter how much he cuddled up against him.

'Don't worry about that, Luigi.' Daisy said, opening the door next to them. 'We'll just go around.'

'If we can...'

The door brought them into one of the several suites on the floor, something not very obvious aside from the bed. Leafy vines and overgrown grass covered most of the bedroom. The ceiling lantern barely emitted any light, and a thick layer of leaves prevented much moonlight at all from shining through the window.

Daisy paid no attention to how dim everything was. Her mind went blank at the sight of the sizeable buds on tall stems growing on various spots in the room. The mostly-hidden pink petals glowed in the dark, and they emitted little white specks of illuminating pollen.

She approached one of the buds with wide eyes. 'Oh... my... gosh! I never thought I'd see one of these for real!'

Luigi walked up to her, feeling his eyes sting a little. 'You know what that is?'

'This, sweetie, is the incredibly rare Candentis Rosea, commonly known as the Glowing Hibiscus. I've see these in pictures and TV shows, and I can't believe there's one in front of me right now!'

Polterpup floated up, and sniffed the bud. He found a rather odd yet lovely aroma. Luigi rubbed his watery eyes - why were they watering now?

'See, the Glowing Hibiscus displays bioluminescence.' Daisy explained. 'And it is gorgeous. But they only bloom when exposed to a strong light.'

'A strong light?' Luigi repeated. 'Oh, I bet the Strobulb could do that!'

He held the flashlight up, and charged its beam. The unleashed flash consumed the entire plant, and the Glowing Hibiscus soaked it all up. Its petals opened up into a pink star, and its pollen burst into the air.

'EEEEE!' Daisy squealed. 'It looks even prettier in person!' She leaned over and inhaled its aroma. 'Oh... and it has an aroma that I just can't describe! It smells like... a misty forest under the moonlight.'

Luigi really wanted to experience its aroma too, but he was too busy rubbing his itchy eyes, which had only gotten worse when the flower bloomed.

'You okay there?' Daisy asked, noticing his red eyes.

'Yeah, I'm...' He paused to sniff. 'I'm okay.'

She frowned. 'Aww, you must be allergic to its pollen! You poor thing. Let's get you out of here. The door to the next room is right there.'

As they approached the next door, Luigi couldn't help feeling a little guilty.

'S-Sorry...' He muttered. 'For ruining this for you.'

Daisy scoffed. 'You didn't ruin anything! We have to keep going anyway.'

He remembered being told when he was young that sometimes, he had to lie to make people feel better. It made him wonder, how many of those sweet words were lies? His thoughts got cut off by a paranormal gate forming and blocking off the door. While Luigi yelped, Daisy rolled her eyes.

'Seriously?' She said. 'This again?'

A Goob popped in through the floor - just how many of these blue ghosts were there? She held up one of those glowing flowers by the stalk, and sniffed it.

'Ah, you gotta love these glowing things.' She looked at our heroes. 'What are you guys doing here?'

'To bust you!' Daisy yelled. 'Get 'er, sweetie!'

Luigi nodded, and unleashed a strong flash into her face. With killer reflexes, the Goob held the flower in front of her, and it took the brunt of the beam. The flower bloomed on cue, spewing its pollen directly into Luigi's face.

'Ah... AHH-CHOOO!'

Daisy gasped. Luigi sneezed a few more times and dropped his flashlight.

'Hey!' The princess yelled at the ghost. 'Stop hiding behind that flower and fight him for real!'

The Goob chuckled. 'If he gets defeated by a flower, I doubt it'd be a fun fight.'

She threw mocking laughter at them, and wouldn't stop laughing at their expense until Polterpup grabbed her flower and tore it to absolute shreds. She held her hands up and backed away from the rapid dog.

'Okay, okay, I surrender.' The Goob said, causally. 'Let's not go crazy here.'

Daisy sighed. 'Great. Now if you could just-

'PSYCHE!'

The Goob delivered a sucker punch into Daisy's chest. The princess grunted as she fell backwards onto the floor.

'Daisy!' Luigi cried.

Through his watery eyes he couldn't quite see anything, but just by listening he knew what happened. He looked around, failing to discern a thing through his blurry vision. With a blind leap of faith, he flashed at random.

'AH!'

He grinned. Activating the Poltergust, he felt himself being dragged around through the overgrown grass.

'Hey hey hey, I'm sorry!'

He doubted her apology, and for that he slammed her into the floor four times, enough times to get her into that Poltergust. With the ghost gone, the paranormal gate vanished. Luigi rubbed his eyes and blinked rapidly. Nothing seemed to stop the irritation.

Daisy stood up with a growl. 'How did I let myself fall for that?'

Polterpup snickered.

'Oh, you know the pun wasn't intended. I can't believe I did something so stupid.'

Luigi frowned. 'No, it's my fault. If it wasn't for me and my stupid allergies...'

He jolted as he felt her touch his shoulder. Daisy gave him a reassuring smile.

'Don't beat yourself up over something ya can't help.'

He smiled. Yeah. Why do that when there's so many things I can help?

His eyes continued to sting. Despite knowing it wouldn't help, he rubbed them like he was trying to sand them down.

'Speaking of which,' Daisy said. 'Let's get out of here.'

Luigi still didn't feel right with forcing his princess to leave the glowing flowers behind, but regardless followed her through the door. Away from the sparkly pollen, his eyes began to sooth. Wherever he was now, it was much brighter and pink was everywhere.

Daisy squealed once again. 'Oh, this place just keeps on getting prettier and prettier!'

He gave his eyes one last rub, and... oh Grambi, Daisy was right. Thanks to the tree branches holding up the ceiling, cherry blossom petals fell like snow flakes, blanketing the floor with soft pink piles.

Polterpup yipped in joy and belly-flopped into one of the piles. The petals scattered everywhere. With all the blossoms around, you'd be forgiven for not realising the room was a regular bathroom underneath.

Luigi looked up at the falling petals, and sighed blissfully. With all the terror his ghostbusting adventures always brought, it made him appreciate the quieter moments more.

Daisy grabbed a handful of petals and rubbed them against her face. 'I just don't understand it... why bother with the kidnapping? I would absolutely pay to come here.'

She noticed light seeping into the room through a hole in the wall. It clearly wasn't a hole for a door, as it looked more like someone crashed their way through it. She kicked a large pile of cherry blossoms away and looked out.

'Hey Luigi...'

Luigi didn't turn to look at her, but still he listened to her words. He simply couldn't look away from the calming branches.

'If we go through here, we'll be able to keep going!'

That managed to move his attention. Daisy, brushing off a few of the petals, ducked through the great hole in the wall. Luigi, followed by a very pink and flowery Polterpup, ran through and smiled at the sight of the rest of the Garden Suites.

'That... that was lucky.' He said.

'If that hole wasn't there,' Daisy cracked her knuckles. 'I would've made one. Let's make a mental note to come back here, and keep going.'

In the back of Luigi's mind, he hoped for a easy time for the rest of the floor. The remainder of him knew never to get that optimistic.

And how right he was.

They almost reached the top of that flight of stairs when the floating watering can reappeared, accompanied by Dr Potter's mocking laughter. The very sight of it made Daisy groan.

'Really?' She said. 'Again? Listen Hairy, I've already had enough of you.'

Dr Potter, remaining invisible, laughed again. 'I could say tha same thing to yeh too, yeh whippersnapper. Tha way yer doggy tore right through one o' ma Glowing Hibiscuses was heartless! Yeh're murderers, tha lot of yeh. But if yeh want plant life ta mess wit'...

He sprinkled water on a little fern, that did not remain little for long. Leaf by leaf it grew ten times its size. Then, it grew a pineapple. Not a regular-sized one, mind you, but one big enough to provide a makeshift shelter for all three heroes. The hulking fruit towered over them.

Daisy chuckled very nervously. 'Uh, hehe... a p-pineapple?' She squeaked, her confident persona crumbling at its seams. 'W-What do you expect to do with that? Make a fruit salad or-'

Luigi, for once, took her wrist. 'We gotta run!'

And that's precisely what they did, back down the stairs. The fern 'spat' the giant pineapple into the air, and it slammed back into the ground. Juice splattered everywhere, but the fruit bounced back up. Like a slinky, it made its way downwards.

The loud squishy THUD each impact made only got louder each time. It made Luigi scream incessantly as he charged down the stairs. Daisy glanced back. Never did she think a pineapple would scare her this much. She took a moment to judge whether or not jumping off was a good idea.

Nope. Absolutely not.

They were approaching the end of the flight. She eyed the path to the right.

'Hang on, sweetie!'

She grabbed Luigi by the Poltergust and threw both him and herself down, out the way of the tumbling pineapple as it crashed into the wall and shattered into pieces.

Luigi breathed heavily, coughing from all the various particles in the air. Daisy winced from the pain in her knees.

'Ooh...' She muttered. 'That could've been a smoother landing...'

Despite the pineapple breaking apart and leaving fruit chunks everywhere, another came tumbling after it. And another. And another. And ano- how many pineapples were there?!

Daisy stood up. 'How many pineapples are there?!'

That's what I just said! Apparently, whatever Dr Potter's magical watering can did made the tiny fern into an infinite giant pineapple dispenser. The chunks began to pile up, before the ones on the bottom dissolved into mulch and disappeared back into the floor.

The princess sighed. 'How did we end up in this mess?'

Luigi glanced away from her. I'm sorry...

'Luigi!'

He flinched, nearly dropping his flashlight. 'Uh, y-yeah?'

'Got any ideas?'

He gulped. Well, I am the idea guy. For some reason...

Approaching the railing, he peered at the pineapple-generating fern. In spite of its now-magical properties, it looked to be no stronger than a regular fern. If anything, it seemed weaker due to having to expend so much energy into creating gigantic fruits.

'We have to destroy that fern.' He said. 'It's the only way it'll stop.'

'Yeah, I kinda got that.' Daisy said. 'But how do we actually - oh!'

She noticed Polterpup sitting right in the middle of a major impact sight, taking every single hit like nothing. Mostly thanks to the pineapples passing right through his ghostly skin. He nibbled at the fruit chunks in front of him.

'Hey Polterpup!'

The spectral hound perked his head at her call.

'You think you could break that fern for us?'

With a cheerful yelp, he got to his paws and pranced up the stairs. The pineapples hit him every time without fail, but none managed to strike him for real.

'I gotta ask.' Daisy said, turning to Luigi. 'You seriously got through two - wait, no, six - mansions by yourself? How did ya do that?'

The plumber shrugged. 'I just did, I guess.'

Polterpup reached the haunted fern, and for a moment pondered its ability to at least aid with world hunger. He quickly shrugged it off - they could just ask that Hairy Potter guy to make some more later.

An organic rope-looking-thing rested on the ground, and was wrapped around the base of the fern. Polterpup yanked this odd rope, and unravelled the entire thing. The leafs opened up and fell to the floor in pieces.

No more pineapples came tumbling down.

Daisy threw her fist into the air. 'Yeah! Teamwork!'

'You did it, boy!' Luigi cheered, making his way up the stairs. 'Good boy!'

Polterpup, always ecstatic to received even the weakest of compliments from his owner, wagged his tail and leapt into Luigi's arms. The man in green hugged him tight like he was a beloved teddy bear, and wouldn't stop babbling about how much of a 'good boy' Polterpup was.

'Please don't tell anyone I did this.' Daisy said. 'But... EEEEE! You and Polterpup are the cutest thing ever!'

As Luigi cuddled his loving pet, a random question managed to sneak its way into his thoughts.

I wonder if Polterkitty gets this much love...?

Whether he realised it or not, that spectral cat hung in the back of his mind all the time. Little debates over her innocence went on in his brain without him even knowing.

'Uh, Luigi, we have a slight problem.'

Luigi set Polterpup down and joined Daisy on the next flat platform, almost immediately seeing what the 'slight problem' was. A large vine covered in great red thorns had grown over the path and the railing. It, alongside about five other branches, seeped out from a giant hole in the wall.

Daisy knelt down, and inspected the obtrusive vine. 'Yep, just as I thought. I've dealt with one of these before. This is the Thorny Menace. But us gardeners prefer to call it the Plant Equivalent of Stepping on a Lego Brick. If this thing sprouts up, your flowers are doomed. And it's a pain in the butt to get rid of.'

'So, uh, how do you get rid of it?' Luigi asked. 'You know how to, right?'

Daisy stood up, and followed the vine through the hole, stepping slowly to make sure the thorns didn't scratch her. She entered a bathroom, hardly visible due to the vines covering the sink and bath. Not to mention the broken floor tiles. Piles of autumn leaves from the branches above covered more of the floor than the cherry blossoms in the last room did.

Its respective bedroom? Unreachable past the aggressive vines covering the door.

Luigi poked his head through the wall, looked around for danger, and walked in as carefully as he could. His pant leg got caught on one of the thorns. He tugged on his leg, his blood pressure rising.

'... help...' He muttered in a weak voice.

Daisy was too busy following the vine to hear. Polterpup jumped through without a care, and unhooked him.

'There's only one way to get rid of the Thorny Menace, and that's to kill it at the source. The problem is that the source is nearly impossible to find in all that dirt. In fact, sometimes the source will be buried deep, deep underground. In fact, I needed to call some excavators to get even close to the-'

She found the source, a green ball of wrapped-up vines, resting perfectly in reach in the toilet bowl.

'Eh.' She said with a shrug. 'That works too.'

She reached for the vine's source.

'What are you doing?' Luigi asked, wincing.

'Er, going for the source. Why do you ask?'

He wrinkled his nose. 'In the toilet?'

'Yeah. That's where it is. Surprisingly this is the third time I've reached into the toilet to clear put some weeds.'

Luigi had many questions, and locked them away into the vault because he wanted to never think of this again. Daisy pulled out the source - which fortunately was dry - and crushed it into a salad in her hands.

'There we go.'

Without its source, that branch of Thorny Menace twitched and jerked until it disintegrated into green dust, disappearing inch by inch.

'The one good thing about the Thorny Menace is that when you finally do find the freaking source, it becomes pathetically easy to get rid off.' She said. 'That should've cleared the way. Come on!'

Luigi nodded, and headed for the way out.

'Wah!'

He jumped back as a set of paranormal gates implanted themselves in front of the hole.

Daisy rolled her eyes. 'This again, huh?'

Luigi shivered, feeling a chill breathing down his neck. His nerves tingled, similar to how they did when he first connected with Gooigi.

Daisy's eyes widened. 'Um, I'm not the paranormal expert here, but... leaves aren't supposed to do that.'

The orange and red leaves moved around like they were in a swirling breeze, despite there being no wind in the room. Polterpup intently watched seemingly nothing.

Luigi gasped. 'It's like the Sneakers... where is it?'

He turned around...

'BOOYA!'

'AHHH!'

A pink ghost with shoulders above his face popped out behind him, reaching his arms up like a theme park zombie.

'Luigi!' Daisy cried.

The pink ghost - a Slinker - floated away, leaving behind afterimages as he dissipated into thin air.

'What's a Sneaker?' Daisy asked. 'And most importantly, how is it important to know?'

'Ghosts from Evershade Valley. They were great at hiding themselves. But they sometimes gave themselves away, by water, or dust, or... leaves.'

The leaves swayed like someone moving their invisible hand through them. Polterpup followed the movements perfectly, growling at the unseen foe. Luigi watched the dog hunting for the Slinker, seeing the swirl of the leaves approaching-

'Daisy!' Luigi yelled. 'Look out?'

'For what? The ghost's invisible!'

Something grabbed her arms, and pulled them down to her side. Something shook her around. Something stopped her from punching it.

'Hey! Get off me, ya ectoplasmic twit!'

'Oh no.' The Slinker whispered in her ear. 'I wouldn't want to do that. I won't get paid otherwise.'

Seeing his beloved princess struggling and hearing her grunting in pain made something in Luigi break, the same way it broke against Chambrea.

His clenched his fists, and did the only thing he knew to do when angry: yell.

'GET AWAY FROM HER!'

Without giving either the ghost or Daisy any warning, he fully-charged the Strobulb and unleashed the blinding light.

'Gah, Luigi!' Daisy cried, covering her eyes with her hand. 'Warn me before you do that!'

Wait, with her hand? She turned around, and jumped back with a small yelp. The Slinker stood behind her, totally visible, stunned by the Strobulb.

'Gah, I hate light!' The ghost said. 'I hate it when mortals can see!'

Daisy flashed Luigi a quick wink. 'Thanks sweetie. As for our ghostly pest...'

'Hey!'

Before the Strobulb's effects could wear off, Daisy grabbed his two tails - one in each hand - and flung him into the floor. He broke free of her grasp, and shuffled away with his hands until he once again turned invisible.

Daisy sighed. 'Now you're just stalling out the fight! Shame you forget that my sweetie has the Dark-Light Device.'

'Excuse me, the what now?' The ghost replied. 'If you mortals think that you can beat ghosts with your silly technology...'

Luigi switched the Strobulb over to the Dark-Light Device, and used it to scan the area. Thank goodness it no longer overloaded after overuse. He followed where Polterpup was looking, circling around.

Clearly, the Slinker was looking for a weak spot. So, Luigi turned the other way.

The Slinker's transparent skin fell under the light, turning translucent and the same colour of oil on the water's surface.

He gasped. 'What kind of supernatural power is this?'

Had E. Gadd been there or at least successfully hacked the camera, he would've been quite angry hearing a ghost call his scientific breakthroughs 'supernatural power'.

Luigi just flashed the ghost for a second time. The Poltergust got a grip on one of its tails, and wouldn't let go no matter how much the Slinker panicked.

'No one told me you had such power! No one ever tells me these things...'

The Slinker swung his arms around like a drowning Olympic swimmer, before Luigi got a good enough grip on him to slam him into the floor. Orange leaves scattered everywhere with each bash.

Luigi could feel the Slinker pulling away from him, but his slams did not relent.

'You're not very nice!'

And that somewhat childish comeback was the last thing that ghost said before he disappeared into the Poltergust, rejoining his many friends in the container unit. The leaves settled back on the floor, and the paranormal gate vanished.

The man in green wiped his brow. 'How much more to go?'

Daisy stuck her head through the hole and looked up. 'I'd say we're about half-way up.'

Luigi whimpered. They'd be on the next floor by now if he didn't-

'Well? What are you doing just standing there? We won't make any progress at all if we just sit here.'

The plumber stepped after her, but alas the other branches of Thorny Menace remained around the big hole, and Luigi got his pants caught again. In a spike of frustration, he yanked his leg forward with a growl.

*ri-ip*

His eyes shot wide open. A small patch of his overalls remained caught on the thorn, leaving his red-and-white sock partially exposed.

He whimpered. 'These were my favourite pair...'

'Really? Why?' Daisy asked.

'They were the same pair I met you in.'

She smiled, both from her heart warming due to his genuine love, and from the cheesiness of his response.

'It's just a little patch.' She said. 'It'll be fine. Nice socks by the way.'

Luigi blushed profusely, and hooked one leg over the other to hide his socks. His failed attempt and subsequent wobbling made her chuckle.

'And I'm wearing underwear with smiley faces on it.' Daisy said, continuing past where the thorns were. 'So what?'

Luigi and Polterpup looked at each with the same incredulous expression. A part of the plumber wanted to ask for confirmation, but the rest of him told him not to.


Little did our heroes know, Dr Potter watched over them from the very top of the towering plant. He slammed his fist into one of the giant leaves in frustration.

'Can yeh believe them whippersnappers, Venus?' He spoke to the plant. 'They just keep killin' our family! How can they tear through ma plants tha way they do?'

He watched the mortals making their way up to the next room. Though part of the behemoth stalk ahead would block their progression, forcing another detour, he did not appreciate how quickly they were making progress.

'Them darn whippersnappers...'

Many, many seconds of silence passed. He turned around to the giant flytrap behind him.

'What's that, Venus? Yeh say yeh have a brilliant plan ta stop them, and all yeh need is for me ta sprinkle yeh wit' some water? Oh Venus, I never should o' doubted yeh!'


Our heroes were only halfway up the next flight, when...

'Oh no...' Daisy muttered, slumping her shoulders.

'W-What?'

'The can's back.'

The floating watering can sprinkled a little of the mystical water onto a random spot of the hulking blue stalk.

Daisy bent her knees, ready to jump out of the way.

A branch sprouted from the watered spot, and grew out about fifty times faster than even cress grew. The mortals jumped backwards as the branch pierced through the solid wooden staircase, leaving a massive hole between the heroes and the next door. Another branch shot out, breaking even more of the staircase a little higher up.

The watering can vanished, with the sound of Dr Potter's laughter echoing throughout all layers of the overgrown tower.

Luigi choked from the dust that had been thrown into the air. Luckily, the flying floorboards didn't quite hit the mortals. Daisy stepped up to the edge of the broken stairway, trying her hardest not to look down. In spite of her Olympic talents, she had doubts she could jump that gap.

'Oooh, yeah...' She said. 'We're not making that. If we had another way around - oh!'

Upon looking at the extended branches, she hatched a brilliant idea. One branch had connected itself to one side of the hole, while the second grew over to the other side. Each grew sizeable leaves, and between the pair was a vine growing down from a higher branch.

She walked across the one attached to her side, barely wobbling thanks to its fair width.

Luigi didn't approve so much. 'D-Daisy! What are you doing?'

Daisy stepped onto one of the big leaves, which managed to support her weight with hardly any drooping. Taking a breath, she leapt for the vine.

'Daisy!'

She didn't understand his concern, but greatly appreciated it. The force from her speed propelled the vine forward like a swing. And, well, you know how a swing works. It swung back, and forth. Back, and forth. Swinging further each time.

Once she was satisfied with her distance, she let go of the vine and let gravity do the work. Her feet landed firm on the next branch, with only a little bit of toppling. The sight of the floor far below stiffened her nerves, but no way she was letting Luigi see that. She gave him a determined grin to counter his look of utter horror.

'What are ya looking at me like that for?' Daisy said. 'Come on!'

His eyes darted down, for a millisecond, and still the sheer height made him shiver. Part of him wanted to ask her 'Can you go on without me?'. The rest of him felt shame for even considering such an option.

'Um... b-boy? Could you, uh, make sure I'm safe?'

Polterpup barked in affirmation.

'You'll be fine!' Daisy said. 'Didn't you fall off the top of Tall Tall Mountain and only, like, half die or something? And then you swam into water and got fully healed or... something?'

'That doesn't make me feel any better.'

Luigi began making his way across the surprisingly sturdy - sturdier than the stairs themselves - branch of the massive plant. He stood by the base of the leaf, needing a few seconds to actually step onto it.

'Take your time, sweetie. But I assure you, it'll hold your weight.'

With a gulp, he stepped onto the leaf. It wobbled under his weight, but otherwise held him well. He sucked the vine up into his Poltergust and, taking a deep breath, jumped. He held onto his 'harness' for dear life, trying to swing his dangling legs back and forth.

Daisy reached out for him. 'I'll catch you! I promise.'

It wasn't just her usual love for him that fuelled her decision. The red hand mark on his cheek would haunt her until the end of her days. Polterpup floated behind Luigi and pushed him forward, like a parent at the swing-set. The man in green began to get vertigo, and the dizziness only made him feel worse.

'You promise you'll catch me?' He slurred.

'With my life, babe!'

He mentally counted down to letting go. Three... two... one-and-a-half... one-and-a-quarter... oh just let go!

And that's what he did, closing his eyes and praying for the best.

Daisy gasped. 'Oh boy!'

She grabbed him by the straps of the Poltergust and tried to rope him in. Him opening his eyes and flailing around only made her task harder. To say the least, she had not expected him to be that heavy.

'Oh boy...' She grunted. 'Oh, that Poltergust adds a lot...'

Luigi could feel his feet slipping on the glossy leaf. He closed his eyes again and waited. Polterpup, not taking this lying down, lowered his head and pushed him forward by the Poltergust.

Luigi's feet finally met solid ground again. He embraced Daisy like a safety pole, hugging her so tight she could barely breathe.

'Am... am I alive?' He asked.

Daisy, carefully and slowly, unhooked his strong cuddle from her body. 'Yes. You are alive.'

Before he could get his bearings, Polterpup came in and gave him all of the doggy kisses. Luigi giggled, and gently pushed him away.

'Okay okay, boy. I'm good.'

Him and Daisy walked across the second branch, and couldn't be more relieved to be on solid ground again. Luigi knelt down and moved his hands through the moss and grass, as if to assure himself that it was real.

Daisy looked back at the branches, and groaned. 'When I get my hands on that Potter, I swear to Grambi...'

Luigi frowned. Don't blame Dr Potter. It wasn't his fault...

'And we have to go through the suites again. Let's hope those Glowing Hibiscuses aren't in the rooms, eh?'

'Uh, y-yeah.'

The next room highly resembled the suite with the glowing flowers - a very similar layout, and the same dim lighting. Except, instead of those pollen-spamming plants, heavy cyan vines grew on the walls and all the furniture. A little workbench with a circular saw resting on it sat in the middle of the room.

The beds and couches looked unusable past the invading pest. And the vines covered up the hardly visible door to the bathroom.

Luigi's arms hung lifelessly. 'Oh no... what do we do now?'

'Now hang on.' Daisy said. 'I think I know what this is.'

She approached the vines covering the door, and looked at them as closely as she could before her vision got blurry. She took note of the subtle purple lines swirling down like spilling paint in a river.

'I've read about this.' She said. 'The Hardy Creeper. Far less annoying than the Thorny Menace. No need to found a source or anything obnoxious like that. You just gotta saw right through it.'

'A saw?'

He walked up to the circular saw resting on the table. It had a Strobulb-sensitive light on it, so of course he gave it a flash. It turned on in an instant, not requiring anything to pull or press. It began to cut right through the wooden boards it lay on. Sawdust filled the air, flying everywhere. Luigi clambered away and covered his mouth and nose with his cap, fighting the urge to sneeze.

'Ooh, a mechanical saw is even better!' Daisy said. 'Seems like even Hairy Potter thinks these have grown out of control.'

She picked up the chugging saw, grinning like a horror movie villain. The furniture piqued her interest.

'I'm not the only one tempted to saw right through everything, right?'

Luigi put his cap back on and coughed into his hand. 'Not really.'

She pouted. 'Fine then. Ruin my fun.' She paused. 'That was a joke, by the way.'

Wielding that saw like a true weapon, she returned to the blocked-off door and lowered the spinning blade into the vines. She aimed the saw down the left of the door, where the vines were growing from. Though the Hardy Creeper had a tough exterior, the saw cut through them no problem.

It passed through the vines like a hot knife through gravy. She loved the sensation she felt in her arms. No doubt it was the most satisfying part of clearing away weeds.

'Oh yeah!'

Large roots of the vine fell to the floor as she cut them at the base. It took her no time at all to saw through the flora blocking her path. She tossed the saw aside perhaps too causally, and dusted off her hands.

'Alrighty! That was easy.'

Luigi shuddered, but he didn't know why. A shiver shook through all his nerves. His gut told him something horrible was about to happen. And after what got them involved in this hotel mess to begin with, he was not ready to ignore it ever again.

Daisy reached for the door.

'Daisy! Look out!'

She looked at him with an incredulous expression. 'What?'

A wrinkly blue vine burst through the corner, scattering debris everywhere. It lifted its 'head' up like a panicked horse. And it 'looked' straight at Daisy.

The princess jumped. 'Oh my good lord!'

She didn't even have time to turn around. The seemingly sentient vine wrapped itself around her torso like a constrictor, and grasped her tighter than a desperate soul. It kept her arms locked in place.

'DAISY!'

The vine lifted her up and grabbed her even tighter, leaving her legs hanging and her lungs almost entirely empty. She tried to yell out for help, but all that came out was a raspy sigh.

Author Notes - Can I be honest with you? The Garden Suites may be my least favourite floor in the game. Mind you, I actually like the Boilerworks. If only the Garden Suites had music played almost entirely with a banjo...

Before anyone asks, the Ghost Orchid is a real thing. Then again, you've probably Googled it already anyway.

Dr Ramos Potter, in addition to being that 'get off my lawn' type of old man, takes inspiration from (and is named after) Pokémon X/Y's Ramos. Notice how he speaks in a very similar manner.

I named him 'Ramos Potter' as naming him 'Harry Potter' would be too obvious. ... Said the person who used the names 'Paul Kruller' and 'Gordon Soulfflé'.

I find it funnier than I should that when I was looking up the Garden Suites on the Super Mario Wiki, my phone suggested Googling something Harry Potter related. Took me a second to realise why it would suggest that.


Dr Ron Weedly hadn't seen his best friend Dr Ramos Potter in what felt like years, ever since the both of them were twenty-five. Ramos had certainly been getting closer to his plants than his human companions, but this long disappearance was a whole other thing.

Finally giving up on waiting, Ron decided that he was going to meet up with Ramos in person himself. None of his other colleagues wanted to go, so Ron was by himself. He tracked down his old friend's house... and arrived in complete shock.

There was barely even a house left anymore. The entire building had been overtaken by plants growing out of every little crack in the wall. He could hear Ramos's crazy laughter and one-sided conversations from the outside.

'R-Ramos?'

Ron couldn't even find the door to the place, let alone get in. He looked around for any sort of entrance for hours until he just gave up.

No one even bothered looking for Ramos since.