Author Notes - Got massively distracted playing some Pikmin 3 Deluxe. What's going on? Oh, right.

Holy crap, the big 3-0. I never thought that I would actually get a project up to this point, and I'm sure as heck not complaining. DEDICATION! Or, as I prefer to call it, STUBBORNESS! Or, even better, NOT HAVING ANYTHING BETTER TO DO! Sorry that this one is a little shorter than the others before it; the fitness centre didn't exactly give me that much to work with.

In all seriousness, Johnny Deepend is an... interesting boss. In that he's really not interesting in the slightest. I like the idea of his fight being more of a puzzle than an actual fight, but it really feels like it needed a bit more time in the oven.

I say that, but... it took me far longer than I care to admit to defeat him. I understood the puzzle pretty quickly, but it took me forever to realise I could throw the volleyballs at him to knock him out for a few seconds. I'm... I'm smart, I swear. I will say this, however: Johnny Deepend is a bloody awesome name.

I hope you've all brought your gym memberships, for digimonhero has added a favourite/follow! (Up to fifty followers now! EEEEE!)

CHAPTER THIRTY - DIVING INTO THE DEEP END

'Not comfortable.' Gooigi said as he sensed the mist in the air. 'No like water. Vapour harmless, but still scary.'

Steam and mist weren't the only things in the air. Luigi could easily hear multiple showers going off, and at least three ghosts washing themselves beneath them. Peering through the impenetrable fog, he could barely make out two blue glows. He could also barely see Daisy walking forward blindly, feeling her way around as she tried to follow the direction of the sounds.

'Daisy, what are you doing?' Luigi asked.

'Trying to find those showers so I can turn them off.' She replied. 'Maybe then the steam will let up.'

She felt what appeared to be a shower block in the wall, and seeing as there wasn't any curtain or anything in the way she walked right on in. The sound of flowing water got especially loud, and she could feel her feet splashing in a puddle. She ignored the Goob singing off-key nearby and reached for what she thought may have been the tap.

'Oh sweet mother of Jaydes!' The Goob in the shower block yelled as Daisy grabbed his tail.

Daisy jumped back with a yelp, blushingly intensely. Even though she still couldn't see anything, she knew exactly what just happened.

'S-Sorry sir!' She stammered. 'I-I was just-'

'Sorry missy,' The Goob said. 'But this shower is occupied! Just wait your turn.' He paused. 'Even if you smell like you really need one right now'.

'Okay, now that was just uncalled for.'

The Goob pushed her away, and continued to bathe himself underneath the running water. Daisy backed away with her reddening cheeks getting hotter.

'Denisha!' The ghost yelled. 'I thought I told you to lock the doors! We don't want anyone waltzing on in here while we're showering.'

'Don't go accusing me, Darius!' The second Goob cried. 'I locked both the dang doors like you told me too. It was probably Dakota's fault again.'

'I'm not dealing with this.' The third muttered. 'I actually took a shower curtain with me. I am not a part of this conversation.'

Luigi cringed - the second Goob had a much more feminine voice than the other two, meaning that the shower room did not have a divide between male or female ghosts.

'Listen guys,' Daisy said. 'I swear I didn't mean to intrude. We just really need to make it to the swimming pool to deal with something. If you could kindly turn off your showers so we can actually see what we're doing, that would be nice.'

The first Goob, Darius, groaned. 'Hmph! We're busy here, and we're not gonna stop for some random ghosts who just came waltzing in.'

'Gh- you think I'm a ghost? Okay then.'

She peered through the fog once again but this time really concentrated and felt around the room far more carefully. Her hands came across something round that spun around in her grip. Giving the ghost a smirk - assuming she was looking in the right direction - she spun the faucet around until it wouldn't turn anymore. Water stopped flowing from the shower head, reducing the amount of fog just enough so Daisy and Darius could actually see each other.

The moment the Goob could actually see her, he screamed. 'Oh my Jadyes! I am SO sorry!'

Denisha moaned. 'Don't apologise. It drags you down to their level.'

'You don't understand! It isn't some random intruder. It's the mortals!'

'Wait, the mortals?!'

Denisha turned her own shower off, once again reducing the amount of mist. Thanks to the third shower being behind a curtain, less steam came from it so the room was mostly visible now. The female Goob emerged from her spot, and bore witness to our heroes. She yelped once she recognised them.

'Oh my gosh, it is!' She yelled. 'And we've ticked them off! Oh god, they're gonna kill us.'

'Or you could just not panic.' Dakota said. 'They don't fight ghosts who refuse to fight. So maybe if you stop you'll be fine.'

The room fell into a silence only filled by the third shower, which Dakota refused to turn off.

Darius gasped. 'Holy ectoplasm! That means we need to get you to Johnny straight away! Oh, we do apologise.'

'I don't.' Dakota said. 'Cos I didn't do anything.'

'NOBODY ASKED YOU!' Denisha yelled.

Luigi and Polterpup glanced at each other, neither saying anything but conveying their 'yeah, I dunno either' feelings through their expressions. The plumber just shrugged.

'So, in other words,' Daisy said. 'You'll forget about this whole thing and let us go?'

'Forget that you grabbed me? No.' Darius replied. 'Let you go? Absolutely. Johnny's just through that door over there.'

He pointed at the door on the opposite side of the room to the other, which was now visible thanks to most of the fog disappearing. Sounds of splashing and flexing could be heard on the other side.

'Noice.' Daisy said. 'How much trouble do you think Mr Deepend's gonna give us?'

Denisha chuckled. 'Have fun.'

Luigi gulped - that did not boost his confidence at all. Still, our heroes embarked for the final room without their panther friend following close behind.

'Have bad feeling about this.' Gooigi said. 'Sense big scary ghost on other side.'

'We'll be fine.' Luigi said. 'I will be just fine.'

'Know there'll be a lot of water, but will defend big bro all the same. No matter what.'

Once our heroes opened the next - and hopefully final - door, they were greeted by the heavy smell of chlorine. Most of the room was dark except for the pool lights, and the water's surface reflected on the walls and roof. The pool itself took up most of the floor, and was surrounded by mostly-soaked towels. A scoreboard, which listed Johnny's score as '3674', stood up the pool's edge. No one had any time to see where Johnny was, as the first thing that entered their point-of-view was a volleyball aimed right for their heads.

'LOOK OUT!' Daisy yelled.

She shoved Luigi to the floor and behind the scoreboard. The volleyball hit the door so hard it smashed a hole through the wood. The Goobs in the shower room groaned.

'Dang it, Johnny!' Denisha yelled.

The Grand Ghost himself emerged from the water, holding up one of the many balls in the pool. His wet abs glistened in the pool lights, an effect he no doubt was doing on purpose.

'What's up dudes!' He greeted. 'I see you made it through my bodacious gym. Now, are you dudes ready for a totally gnarly challenge?'

Daisy peeked her head around the scoreboard, only to dive back into safety when another volleyball came her way. Johnny laughed to himself, and caught it when it hit the wall and bounced back to him.

'Woah dude.' He said. 'That was, like, totally cowardly.'

Daisy growled through her teeth. 'If you're so brave, why don't you get out of that water and fight me head on?'

'Ooh, no can do babe. Do you, like, think I fight like that just cos my muscles are righteous? Dude, I've learnt from the mistakes of the dudes on the floors below me.'

He chucked another volleyball, this one aimed straight at the scoreboard. It bounced off and back into the water, but not before making the mortals feel like their shelter was crumbling away.

The princess groaned. 'Gah... I was hoping the ripped guy would be an idiot. They usually are.'

'I heard that, dude!'

He responded to her remark by throwing yet another ball, this time with a little more force. Daisy gripped her hairs and pulled on them nearly hard enough to rip the roots right out.

'W-We can do this.' Luigi said. 'I-I hope.'

'I'd hope so too.' Daisy added. 'This scoreboard can only take so much, and then we'll be playing dodgeball. I've never told you this, but... I freaking hate dodgeball. Absolutely loathe it. Some other girl in high school got me right in the stomach, and I've never played it since.'

'Great fun fact about your life.' Polterpup remarked. 'That really helps us out here.'

'Boy,' Luigi said. 'Don't think that you can insult Daisy just because she can't understand you.'

Johnny had stopped throwing the balls at them, just so he could do a little show-off-y dance to absolutely no one, flexing his pecs in particular. Daisy peeped out from her barricade just in time to see him flashing a cheeky wink at her. Luigi took this opportunity to try flashing him with the Strobulb, but Johnny just dove back into the water the moment the Poltergust came out. When he tried flashing directly into the pool, the water diffused the rays too much for them to have any effect.

'Dang it.' Luigi said before he returned to safety. 'If only Polterkitty was here. She might be able to tell us what to do.'

'Well, there's too much water here for her.' Daisy said. 'So we have to make do with what we have.'

'Have fun with that, dudes!' Johnny yelled. 'No one's as bodacious in the gnarly waves as me!'

Suddenly, Luigi got an idea, albeit one that potentially put his beloved ghost dog in danger. The very thought of it made him uncomfortable, but up against a ghost with that much strength he had limited options.

'Polterpup...'

The ghost dog perked up at the mere sound of his owner's voice. 'Awaiting an order, Master!'

'Do you think you could scout the room? Maybe we can find something that will help us beat this guy.'

Polterpup gave him one of his tail-salutes, and took to the air. Johnny didn't pay much attention to him, focusing more on the mortals who would give him much more money than a mere pest.

'I'll tell you what I'm gonna do.' Daisy said, clenching her fists. 'I'm gonna dive into that water and punch him in the nose.'

'I... wouldn't do that if I were you.' Luigi said. 'The water is his domain, and with muscles like his he might drown you before you get the chance to do anything.'

The princess shuddered. 'Oh Grambi... anything but that. And that Poltergust will make you sink like a rock. I know that from experience.'

'Right. So let's just let Polterpup scout and see if he can find anything. We won't get anywhere by jumping into our literal watery graves.'

Polterpup could see a lot by just hanging by the ceiling. The pool had at least ten or twenty volleyballs, ensuring that Johnny couldn't possibly run out of ammo. The bottom of the pool had what the doggy presumed to be some sort of drain, and that alone gave him an idea.

'(If Mister Deepend likes the water so much, I'd like to see what he'd do without it)'.

The drain by itself was useless if they couldn't actually use it. His attention was immediately drawn to an exposed waterpipe in between two pillars, on the opposite side of the pool to where his friends were stationed. The arrow on the wheel pointed to the far right of the meter, but the very end of the left side abruptly changed colour from blue to yellow. If Polterpup had to guess, the two had to have been connected.

'(Well. This seems simple enough.')

Thanks to Johnny being totally distracted, Polterpup could easily float over to the valve. He grabbed onto it, and began to spin it to the left. The arrow slowly made its way over to the yellow section.

'WOAH, don't touch that, doggy dude!'

Johnny threw yet another one of his balls at the puppy, and just barely missed. Polterpup yelped, and dashed away from the valve and back into hiding. He jumped into Master's arms, who welcomed him with a loving and slightly overbearing hug.

'Boy!' Luigi said. 'Did you find anything?'

'Oh, I found something alright. This pool's got a drain, and on the other side of the pool is a valve thingy that I'm thinking will drain the water away. With the water gone, this 'dude' is gonna be 'totally' defenceless. Just one problem - pulling on it will leave you completely vulnerable to those volleyballs.'

Luigi translated the entire thing to Daisy, who immediately got to hatching a plan. The occasional balls being thrown their way did not make the process much easier, especially when Daisy could see a small but no less concerning crack in the scoreboard.

'Okay, so we've got to get over there and turn the thing.' She said. 'Without getting our skin punched in by a game of dodge-or-die-ball. We'll need to distract him.'

Polterpup heard his cue to jump to action again, and floated out of safety. He yipped at the bodybuilder, and shook his butt at him for the extra level of taunt. Johnny took the bait, and tossed a ball his way. Polterpup dodged it without a worry.

'Yip yip!'

Johnny slammed his fists into the surface of the water in frustration. 'Can you, like, stand still, doggy dude? It's totally not tubular if you keep dodging my shots.'

Daisy peeped her head out from behind her barrier, and saw a thoroughly distracted Johnny and a Polterpup enjoying himself a little too much. She narrowed her eyes on the valve, and put her hand on Luigi's shoulder.

'I'm going in.' She said. 'You stay here in case anything goes horribly wrong.'

'Um, okay.'

The princess stepped out from behind the scoreboard, taking great delight in the fact that Johnny still hadn't noticed her. She tip-toed around the edge of the pool, making sure that her every step was quiet and that she didn't slip into the pool.

'HEY!' Johnny yelled. 'Don't think I can't see what you're doing, dudette! What kinda moron do you take me for?'

She shrieked as he tossed another ball, this one whisking past her chest. With her heart beating like a sugar-high clock, she retreated back to her crumbling safe spot. Unfortunately, she didn't quite make it in time. Johnny fired another shot, and this one slammed into her shoulder and chucked her to the floor.

'DAISY!'

She screamed out in pain and held her shoulder like her arm would fall off otherwise. Luigi picked her up by her other arm and dragged her back behind the scoreboard.

'D-Daisy! Are you okay?'

He wondered why he bothered asking that question.

'Oh, I'm just fine! Scrapped knees, an aching shoulder... I've had worse I guess. Good Grambi... I swear, if Johnny hit me any harder, my arm would be broken right now.'

'We just can't risk going out. A shot coming from muscles like those could easily kill us if Johnny wanted.'

Gooigi listened to the conversation, and thought about the situation. He had witnessed the whole thing from his little home, and couldn't bare to think about Big Bro or his friends getting hurt. After all those nights of inactivity, he was going to change it once and for all. Without even warning Luigi, he deployed himself. Thankfully, the floor surrounding the pool was just barely damp enough for him to keep his molecules together.

'AH!' Daisy yelled. 'Oh my g- could ya at least warn me next time?'

'Sorry.' Gooigi said. 'Wanna help. Turn valve for friends so you don't get hurt. Can regenerate, so will be fine. Friends could get hurt though. So, will do it for friends. I will do it myself.'

'Are you sure?' Luigi asked. 'Johnny could defeat you by just splashing water onto you.'

'Sure. Very sure. I will deal with Johnny. Friends distract Johnny. I not worry about risk.'

Daisy groaned. She was beginning to get a kneejerk murderous reaction upon hearing the word 'distract' now.

'Well that solves one problem.' She said. 'But if Polterpup can't serve a good enough distraction, what will?' She gasped, and smiled. 'Ooh, I got something. Now, what's something that surfer dudes like Johnny here can't resist?'

'Um... waves?' Luigi guessed.

'That, and smoking hot babes. Now, watch as I do my thing.'

Luigi was about to ask what the heck 'her thing' was, when she emerged from her hiding spot and swung her hips at Johnny's way. The bodybuilder almost chucked another ball at her, but the way she walked with her swaying hips and flirty eyes made him stop. She flashed a wink at him, and it was enough to make both Luigi's and Polterpup's jaws drop.

'Uh, babe?' Johnny questioned. 'What are you...?'

Daisy battered her eyes. 'Oh, Johnny. Why even fight us? Someone with your glorious and amazing muscles would demolish us anyway. Don't waste your energy, honey. You don't need to show off. I know you're handsome.'

Even Johnny looked apprehensive, but that didn't stop Daisy for a moment. She got a little closer and blew him a kiss. While she was distracting the surfer with her magic, Gooigi was making his way over to the valve.

'Babe,' Johnny said. 'Why are you-?'

Daisy chuckled. 'No need to talk. I know how much you want this. I work out a lot too, you know. I'd be perfect for someone like you. So, how about we forget about this whole hotel and go elope?'

Luigi's jaw dropped further, which he didn't even think was possible. Now, he obviously knew that Daisy would never drop him for anyone, let alone a ghost so full of himself, but that was the least of his concerns.

'Uh, babe.' Johnny said. 'You-'

'What is it, my HOT honey?'

His eyes darted around the room, and he scratched the back of his head.

'Sorry babe, but it's not gonna work out.' He said.

'What?! Why not? Can't you see we're made for each other?'

'Yeah, about that... I'm kinda into dudes.'

Daisy's expression went blank. In that moment, she felt far more embarrassed than the shower room incident just a little while ago. Her whole face turned red enough to raise concerns for anyone, and her eyes twitched.

'O-Oh, so you're... gay. Uh...'

She backed away from him, and into the corner. She proceeded to press her knees against her chest and sit there to die in her own embarrassment. The only sound she made was a low and humiliated whimper.

'Hey, it's totally cool!' Johnny said. 'A lotta babes hit on me without knowing. Don't be so flushed, dude!'

His words of reassurance did not help her at all. She remained in her little corner, refusing to even acknowledge the rest of the world in that moment. Luckily for her, Johnny took pity on her and didn't bother targeting her with more bombardment.

This did not help Luigi's nerves. 'Oh no... now what do we do? With Daisy too embarrassed to fight...'

He gasped, and peered out to see Gooigi on the other side of the pool. Despite not going quite as she had planned, Daisy's distraction had indeed worked. Gooigi had made it most of the way, but instead of going straight for the valve he hid behind one of the pillars. Just in time too, as Johnny spat out a long stream of water from his mouth that barely missed Gooigi as he dove under cover.

'That's a bodacious plan, dudes!' Johnny said. 'But I know that green dude's got one gnarly weakness. And my totally awesome pool is full of it!'

'I don't like water.' Gooigi said. 'Water is scary. Water messes with my body.'

It appeared that Polterpup's distraction would only serve to give Luigi a chance to think of some sort of idea. With Daisy out of commission, it gave him even less options. He slapped his cheeks lightly - cringing as the paper cut accrued two floors ago reminded him it existed - and tried to get those gears in his mind working. With a gulp, he decided on his go-to strategy: diplomacy. He stood up, and left the safe confides of the scoreboard that appeared to be on its last legs anyway.

Johnny Deepend, for a moment, darted his attention from Luigi to Gooigi and back again with a panicked look on his face. He settled for the gooey man, figuring that he was much more of a problem and not feeling like dealing with the Strobulb.

'Um, Mr Deepend sir,' Luigi said, approaching the pool's edge. 'C-Can we talk about this?'

Johnny did not turn around as he spoke to him. 'You try that a lot, don't you dude? I mean, it totally doesn't work so I don't know why you, like, keep trying it all the time.'

'Well, it works sometimes. And it might work for you.'

'No can do, dude. That babe on the top floor wants me to capture ya, and I ain't disobeying her orders. I mean, you might have a better chance at flirting with me than your dudette, but it's still not gonna work.'

Luigi sighed and took another step forward, ignoring Polterpup's warnings about getting a little too close. The plumber's feet stood right on the edge of the pool.

'Can we just talk about something else, then?' He asked. 'Like, um, what do you like to do?'

'I see what you're trying to do, dude. And it's not gonna work. Nothing will distract me from this weird gummy bear dude.'

Luigi groaned, and took another step forward. 'Johnny, I just want to-!'

He took one step too many, and fell into the water. The sound of his screams followed by a splash woke Daisy out of her trance.

'Oh my Grambi... LUIGI!'

Luigi flailed his arms and legs in a desperate attempt to return to the surface, but the Poltergust dragged him right now. Daisy kneeled by the pool's edge and tried to reach in, but the pool was deeper than double Luigi's height and he was simply too far for her to grab. Polterpup stopped his little distraction game and dove straight into the water, but he couldn't quite lift the panicking man off the floor. Luigi reached his arm up towards his princess, but could only hold it up for so long.

The splash immediately caught Johnny's attention, and for just a moment he fought a mental battle. Did he continue focusing on Gooigi for the sake of his boss, or did he obey his normal instincts and help? He took a quick glance at the drowning man before returning Gooigi. His mind demanded that he focus on the task at hand, but his heart (if he had one) just wouldn't let him to do it.

He made his mind very quickly.

'Hold on, Green Dude!' He yelled. 'I'll save you!'

The bodybuilder dove into the water and picked up Luigi by his underarms. The Poltergust was no match for his powerful muscles, and he brought the man back up to the surface without a sweat. Luigi gasped for air, not yet able to understand what just happened. Daisy was no less relieved.

'Oh my gosh!' She cried. 'SWEETIE!'

'Master!'

Luigi spluttered out a mouthful of water, and turned to the face of the one who saved him. He was certainly not expecting his saviour to be the ghost who just mere minutes before had tried to kill his princess.

'J-Johnny?'

The ghost sighed in relief. 'Oh thank Jaydes. I thought you wiped out for a moment there, dude.'

'You... you saved me? You had the opportunity to please your boss, and you didn't take it? Why?'

Johnny smiled. 'Because, dude, I save people from the gnarly waters no matter what! Friend or enemy, the only thing that matters to me is saving their life.'

He heaved Luigi onto the pool's edge, making sure to leave him just far away enough so he wouldn't repeat such a stunt. The pride he felt for another life saved got cut short when he heard the sounds of a vacuum cleaner blowing out air and an old pipe creaking.

His eyes widened. 'Oh no... OH NO!'

Everyone looked to Gooigi, who in the confusion had moved himself forward towards the valve. By the time he had been noticed, he had already used the Poltergoo to move the arrow all the way into that tiny yellow zone.

'I will do good!' He declared. 'For big bro!'

Johnny gasped. 'Wait, NONONO!'

The drain at the bottom of the pool activated, and it spewed out a swirl of bubbles that rushed to the surface.

'Aw man...' Johnny muttered. 'That is totally bogus...'

The water in the pool swirled around like a whirlpool as the level began to lower, and poor Johnny Deepend found himself caught up in the vicious tide. The moment he realised that he was moving with the tide, he attempted his best freestyle stroke to fight against the pull. It was all for naught as the tide grabbed onto him and dragged him down.

Daisy laughed. 'Not so tough now, are ya!'

Gooigi held his free arm up and cheered. 'I did it! I helped big bro!'

Though he had nearly killed them multiple times, Luigi couldn't help but feel bad for the surfer as he fell victim to the drain. The plumber knew that had Johnny not bothered and let him drown, he would've won by now. Now, he was witnessing a ghost who had saved his life literally going down the drain. Once the water disappeared down the drainage pipe completely, you'd except Johnny to go down with it. Fate had other ideas and, as if life itself was just mocking him, he got his tail stuck in the drain itself. He pulled and heaved, but his body couldn't move.

Daisy laughed even harder. 'Wow! I guess it's true what they say - the bigger they are, the harder they fall!'

Johnny groaned. 'Come on, dude. That was totally uncalled for.'

'Daisy, that's mean.' Luigi said with a serious tone.

The princess scoffed. 'Did we just forget he's been trying to kill us this whole time?'

'Did you just forget that he saved my life just a minute ago?'

Daisy fell silent. Her attention returned to the squirming lifeguard in the drain, struggling against its grip. Part of her wanted to pound him with the volleyball herself, but there was no resisting those big blue eyes of Luigi's.

'I don't want to hurt him.' Gooigi said, slowly making his way back. 'He helped big bro. Not fair to punish him.'

The princess sighed. 'But then what do we do? He had the button, remember?'

Johnny bashed his fist on the pool floor to get their attention. It worked very well, scaring Luigi in the process.

'Hey dudes, I got a deal for you!' He said. 'I'll give you the button if you let me out.'

Daisy crossed her arms. 'How can we so sure that you won't just pound us into paste the moment we free you?'

'Because, dude, I wanna be captured!'

'You wanna be what now?'

Johnny nodded. 'Yeah, dudes! My boss will totally get mad at me for saving you when I totally should've let you drown, and she'll, like, give me a totally gnarly punishment. The bad kind of gnarly, I mean. So, if you capture me into that vacuum thingy of yours, I'll totally be free!'

Luigi turned to Daisy, and gave her those pleading puppy-dog eyes. At this point, he was doing it on purpose because he knew how well it worked. As expected, Daisy fell victim to the look.

'GAH, fine! It would be unfair to leave him there after he saved your life. Come on.'

Gooigi returned himself to his glass home as Luigi and Daisy climbed down the ladder to where the stuck bodybuilder remained... stuck. He lifted up his goggles from his eyes, and beckoned for a flash attack.

'Wait!' He said, holding his hands up. 'Before you suck me up, can I ask you just one thing? You captured Steward right? The bellhop?'

'Uh, yeah.' Luigi replied. 'Why him?'

Johnny smiled. 'He's my boyfriend. And I bet he's been missing me.'

'Well, I'll be glad to reunite you with him.'

Luigi unleashed a weak Strobulb into his exposed eyes, and Johnny didn't put up any sort of fight. He flexed his muscles a few more times, really emphasising his pecs and abs to no one but himself, before he allowed the Poltergust to swallow him up. The nozzle rattled around, and the button shot out of it, landing on the pool's edge up above.

'Oh Grambi, and he was taken too.' Daisy said, her blush returning.

'Don't worry about it, Daisy.' Luigi said, hooking up the Poltergust nozzle. 'I'm sure he didn't mind.'

The mortals and their puppy climbed out of the pool one by one, and went to retrieve the next elevator button. They did not find the button, but instead a little mouse where the button would've landed. The rodent's body glowed with the same light as the button.

Daisy groaned. 'Oh my god, AGAIN?! Haven't we dealt with this already?'

Luigi sighed. 'Boy, go after it!'

'Well do, Master!'

Polterpup charged after the little mouse as it ducked through a hole in the room, and into the shower room. This mouse seemed even more annoying than those from the mezzanine, as it charged across the - still occupied - room without looking back once.

Denisha grunted. 'They still haven't solved their mouse problem?!'

'That's what happens when you ban the cat.' Dakota commented.


Polterkitty was not entirely sure what came of her teammates. The water in both the pool room and the shower room terrified her far too much to even go near those rooms, so she had remained in the yoga room along with the family of ghosts. She had spent her entire time there sleeping on one of the mats - she was a cat after all, and cats needed their sixteen hours of sleep a day, and sleep was not something Master allowed her to have very often.

Her ears twitched at the sound of squeaking. Her eyes shot wide open, and immediately caught the sight of a mouse scurrying across the floor. Polterpup jumped through the room after it, snarling. Judging by his aggression and the glowing light inside the mouse, she figured it had swallowed the elevator button. She shot to her feet, and hissed at the little rodent.

'(Tell your friends to get to the elevator. I'll take care of this pest myself.)'

'(Uh, alright. If you insist.)'

Polterpup returned to his master, allowing Polterkitty to chase after the mouse herself. It ran past her, back into the training room. The Panthergeist pounced through the door, or at least she tried to. Like always, her pendant prevented anything past her head from getting through. It allowed her to see the little guy ducking into another mouse hole, and she growled multiple curses to herself. That hole in the wall did not lead to another room on that floor, as she had once learnt the hard way. She pushed the rest of her body through with great difficulty, and scratched at the hole. No good.

Snarling, she leapt through the floor with the usual amount of struggle. She could only hope that the floor beneath her was not covered in sea water.


'Wait, he wants us to do what now?' Daisy asked.

'Yep. He says that Polterkitty wants us to wait by the elevator while she hunts that mouse down.'

'Well, alright.'

Daisy wouldn't say it, but she seriously had doubts that the kitty would return the button to them. She still remembered their little encounter in the Great Stage, and the trouble that she had caused them. In the back of her mind, she still believed that Polterkitty would turn on them. She did not let that belief go.


Luckily for her, Polterkitty arrived in the cavern in the twelfth floor. Despite living there since it was built, she still didn't understand the crazy way the whole hotel was arranged. Why on earth was that garden just one floor anyway? Regardless, she made her way through the cavern towards the dreaded beach. She prayed that the pest had not gone for a swim, because then she'd never get that button back.

As she travelled through the relaxing cave, she couldn't help wondering... was this what it felt like when she stole the floor six button? She was just obeying Master's orders, but hunting for such an important object was far less fun than she could've imagined. What if she took the fourteenth button herself? Would she be leading those mortals and their ghost dog on this goose chase? Most importantly, did she feel okay with that thought?

She arrived at the double doors that lead to the beach, and decided to open them the old-fashioned way. Little mousy footprints covered the sandy beach, ending at a tiny mouse-sized sand pile. Thanking her lucky stars that the rodent had not gone swimming, she stalked over to that little sand pile. For a moment, she imagined that she was prowling for Green Man, but shut that thought away when it quickly made her feel ill.

Why? Why did the thoughts of stalking Green Man like she had done before without a problem make her feel so sick now?

'Squeak!'

Polterkitty jumped up. The mouse stuck its head out of the sand, and threw sand into her face. The irritating particles tickled her nose, and she took a quick moment to sneeze. Unfortunately, the mouse took that opportunity to squeeze itself through the door while it was still ajar. The Panthergeist cursed to herself, and charged after it. By the time she had opened the door again, it had already disappeared halfway down the hallway. She groaned - her mouse hunting skills had atrophied from the lack of practise.

As she chased after it once again, she hoped to the gods both above and below that it wouldn't find another sneaky mouse hole to duck into. That wish was not to be. The mouse found another little tunnel, and waved to her before it disappeared into it. Polterkitty arrived at the tunnel at the other end of the cavern too late, and unleashed a roar of frustration and irritation. She had never been so tempted to remove that pendant around her neck and smash it to pieces, but she couldn't do that. Master would be very angry if she did something like that.

Once again, from experience, she knew exactly where that blasted mouse tunnel led - the Twisted Suites.


'I'm sorry Sweetie, but I don't trust her.'

Luigi couldn't blame her for her distrust, but it didn't make him any more happy about it.

'Is it because of... that?' He asked, pointing to the gashes on her chest.

'These? Oh, these are nothing.'

'Then... why haven't you forgiven her for it yet?'

'Easy. If she was aiming for me, I would've forgiven her a few floors ago. It's because she was aiming for you that makes such an action unforgivable in my eyes. I'm sure she could find a way to earn my forgiveness, but she really has to own it first.'

While the mortals chatted with each other about the Panthergeist, Polterpup began to regret his decision. Unlike his master, he had long caught onto Polterkitty's little scheme. The longer it took her to return, the longer he began to think that she truly had not changed.


Polterkitty did not find the Twisted Suites all that fun to venture through the first time, especially after the rooms got scrambled, but it felt so empty and quiet without the trouble-making triplets around to greet and cuddle her. She had picked up the mouse's scent somewhere in the gravity-defying room, and managed to find it hiding under one of the many top hats strewn across the floor and ceiling after she chucked it into the air.

'ROAARR!'

She did not account for the hat falling back down and landing on her head, enveloping her in darkness. She shook the hat off, only to find the mouse getting away from her yet again and escaping into the stage room. At this rate, she would tear the wall to smithereens. The mouse had to have been doing it on purpose, and she didn't like that at all. Having to open the door like a mortal instead being able to seamlessly pass through it like her fellow ghosts didn't help.

The mouse stood on the stage, basking in the spotlight. It waved at her and laughed. That did it for the Panthergeist, and she leapt onto the stage. The mouse squeaked in fear and tried to run away, but before it could get anywhere Polterkitty grabbed it with her mouth and swallowed it in one bite. She sighed in relief - that hellish chase was finally over, and now she could... do what?

She wasn't so sure of it herself, but she had a feeling that she only went after the button so she could keep it all to herself and run off with it. By the time the mortals realised she was never coming back, she'd be long gone. But, now that she had the button, it didn't feel right to run away with it anymore. She stared into the spotlight above her, hearing Master's voice in her head even though Master hardly noticed her anymore.

Don't return to that green man. Keep that button and present him to me. I will reward you greatly.

Polterkitty ignored this inner voice. She had her doubts that Master truly would reward her the same way Green Man would. So, she made up her mind.


'I'm giving her five more minutes.' Daisy said, leaning up against the elevator mirror. 'If she's not back by then, I will go looking for her.'

Luigi strummed his fingers against his flashlight. 'I-I'm sure she'll be here soon. It took us a while to get that first mouse, remember?'

Slowly, the thought that she had indeed abandoned them was taking over his mind. He chose to ignore it, but he could only ignore it for so long before he began to believe it. Polterpup had his own doubts. He gave Polterkitty just as much time as Daisy did, and decided that he would spill her less-than-pleasant secret if she failed to return in time.

'MIAOW!'

Which, fortunately, did not come to pass, as Polterkitty frightened everyone by emerging through the elevator floor.

'Gattina!' Luigi cried in joy. 'You returned!'

He wrapped his arms around her neck and hugged her tight, pressing his cheek up against her ethereal yet soft fur. She found it rather bizarre; she hadn't even given the button back to him yet, and he was already showing her love for it. Did he already know that she was here to deliver the button? Or, perhaps, did he not care about the button at all and was just happy to see her again? She couldn't remember the last time Master did that.

'Do you have the button?' Daisy demanded.

Polterkitty nodded, and puked the button onto the floor minus the rat who had already been swiftly digested in her body. Luigi wrinkled his nose, but Daisy didn't care and picked up the slimy button anyway.

'Wow. I'm impressed.' She said. 'You actually returned it! I was worried you were gonna run off with it or something.'

The button flew out of her hand, and screwed itself into place. Luigi could almost feel his brother in his arms as he stared up at the mostly-filled elevator panel. After all the weird and out-there floors, Daisy dreaded what on earth the penultimate floor would possibly have been. She did not expect what the elevator tracker told her.

'Um... a dance hall?'


On floor fourteen, the DJ ghost preferred to spend her time doing what she always did - listening to her jams and playing them on the turntable for her fellow dancing ghosts. As she rocked the disco with her tunes, she couldn't help but notice the button in her possession: button number fifteen. It was the final button, and the one that led to Hellen Gravely's own penthouse suite. One would think that such a valuable button would be given to a powerful ghost like Amadeus or Serpci, or one with clever plans like Ug or the triplets. Instead, it had been handed to Gloria, who spent most of her time just having fun.

She could easily remember the conversation she had with Hellen about it. The hotel owner refused to tell anyone why Gloria of all ghosts had the honour of holding such an important button, even though she was willing to admit that she gave Steward two to 'reward him for all his hard work', a sentiment that Chambrea had more than a few problems with. Once everyone else left, Gloria announced her pride for being chosen.

'Thanks, like, so much! This is, like, totes amaze!'

It took Hellen a few moments to comprehend that sentence, and a few more to understand what she was talking about.

'Gloria,' She said with faux kindness. 'Do you know why I gifted you the final button?'

'Um, because my skills are, like, totes to the max?'

Hellen giggled. 'Oh no, my sweetie. Do you really think you are that powerful? I have gifted you this all important button because, simply put, once Luigi gets it that means that everyone else has failed. That means he has successfully defeated everyone before you, and at that point you and my other workers have already lost. So, I give you this button so the battle can be over and done with. He'll tear through you like a tank, and he'll get to me far quicker. Do you understand?'

Gloria hesitated, and nodded.

That conversation was still fresh in her mind, and it wouldn't stop nagging at her. It was slowly making her angry, and she rarely felt anything that wasn't 'unstoppable excitement'. Though she didn't stop her jams, she gritted her teeth. She was going to prove her stupid boss wrong, even if it killed her a second time.


JOHNNY DEEPEND, THE COCKY LIFEGUARD

AGE - 24

GENDER - Male

CAUSE OF DEATH - Drowned

Despite being full of himself, Johnny Deepend was actually a heroic lifeguard who was willing to sacrifice his life to save people. Literally. Now surrounded by other ghosts who don't need saving, he spends his time swimming and showing off his muscles.


Author Notes - So, I wanted my story to have a gay couple because why the heck not? I'm not the only one to make some of the Last Resort staff be interested in the same gender, but I may be the first one to really address that almost all of these ghosts died decades ago. So, if Johnny lived in the 50's and 60's, how well would that end for him?

Polterkitty chasing after the mouse to grab the button is, of course, referencing the fact that the second Polterkitty chase takes place after the fitness centre, where she drags you through three different floors. With her story arc, her stealing the button wouldn't make any sense for multiple reasons.

Oh, I've been doing NOTHING BUT WRITING THIS for the past few weeks or so. Okay, so exaggeration, but I've been working on the last few chapters far faster than before, because I'm just that excited to finish. For the sake of not finishing the story too quickly for you guys, I'll be releasing the remaining (almost entirely finished) chapters on a weekly basis from now on. We don't want this fun adventure to end too suddenly, do we now?


After the hell he went through when he was alive, Johnny Deepend felt as uneasy as ever when his feelings for that lanky hotel worker resurfaced in the form of Steward the bellhop. He had already made great friends with everyone in the hotel, and he didn't want to have them turn on him the same way everyone in the Seaside Kingdom did.

It took all of his willpower, but he finally admitted his feelings for the bellhop. To his pleasant surprise, Steward said he had the exact same feelings for him too! Unlike Johnny, the bellhop had never felt like that before, and so didn't know how people like that used to be treated. He ended up outing the both of them to the rest of the hotel, which Johnny dreaded.

Imagine how happy he was when the dread mounted to nothing. Every ghost living in that hotel accepted him, and even the grumpy Dr Potter hated everyone anyway regardless of orientation. Newlyweds Serpci and William especially showered them with buckets of praise and love. The two have been dating for a while now, and someday Johnny hopes to propose to his beloved boyfriend.