Chapter 6: The Plan
And here is the 6th part. Getting closer to the end.
Luigi's Mansion 3 is owned by Nintendo.
When your employer happened to be a scientist specializing in the paranormal, and you happened to be a ghost, then you were likely to have been inside E. Gadd's lab for one of his many experiments at some point. It was annoying, yes (and just the slightest bit disturbing,) but the professor paid them decently enough. Plus, he had even given Steward his first day off in the many years he had worked at the hotel (poor guy didn't even know what a break was,) which made him a drastic improvement over Hellen in their eyes.
Point being, a lot of the hotel staff had become familiar with some of the professors inventions over the course of the month. And one of those inventions was what the ragtag group needed to complete their investigation. At least according to Serpci.
Said group was currently floating in front off the door to the lab, watching as Nikki dug inside her hat for something: the key. The professor had the audacity of ghost-proofing the door and walls of the lab, so the ghosts had to actually open the door, like mortals!
Nikki pulled out a magazine labeled "The Secrets to Running a Bridal Boutique, by Waluigi," only to toss it aside. "That's Kruller's book." She pulled out a miniature statuette of herself. "Oh, I was wondering where that ended up." She put in her pocket and dug into the hat once more, pulling out a key ring full of keys. "Got it!" She handed it over to Clem.
"Ya sure Steward won't notice?" He asked as he started checking the keys for the one to the lab.
"Nah, no one ever does. Me and my sisters do it all the time with you guys, and you've never noticed."
Deciding to ignore that chilling detail, the ghosts watched as Clem pulled out a key with the professor's distinct emblem decorating the bow. He slotted the key into the keyhole and unlocked the lab door, and then stared at the handle.
"Any a ya'll now how ta open a door again?"
"It's got one of those handles, so I think ye pull it down and push. That's what the professor said at the meeting, right?" Fishook said.
Clem simply followed the captain's steps and succeeded at the now alien art of door opening. They all entered the lab of the professor, which was full of papers and foam coffee cups scattered all over the floor. A bookcase containing a wide variety of books, folders and magazines on everything paranormal sat next to a wall of containment chambers. The professor's Pixelator lay on the other side of the room, a panel at the bottom open, and a toolcase laying next to it. A sign of the professor's attempts to fix the machine. And sitting next to the Pixelator was the object of the ghost's search: the Parascope.
"Dr. Potter, you've collaborated with the professor a few times. Do you know how to use this?" Serpci asked the botanist ghost.
"Yeah, I had to help him with that herbal ghost ointment idea of his. Something about branching out towards beauty products to boost income, or something. Heck if I care." The doctor said as he fiddled with the Parascope, activating it and watching as it booted up. "We need a sample first. The professor measured our spectral energies while we were in his Containment Unit, but he explained to me that it can work with even the smallest piece of ghost matter, like a hair."
"Alright, I have a plan for that." MacFrights started. "First, I will challenge him to a sword fight, ta prove who of us is the most skilled warrior, then- "
"No need, I have a clump of hair right here." Nikki interrupted as she pulled out a bunch of hairs from her pocket. She noticed the stares the other were giving her. "What? We wanted to get Kruller a gift. No strings attached."
"Yeah. Sure." Potter simply grabbed the ghostly hair strands and deposited them inside the Parascopes Ghost Matter Receptacle. The machine wirred to life as it started to run calculations, numbers flashing on the screen revealing details about the guest. Right now, it revealed his Spectral Health of 350.
"Aye, that's a decent amount of health." MacFrights commented out loud. He started to snicker and bumped Serpci's shoulder with his own. "Heh, remember when we found out Johnny's?"
"Oh, yes. I just loved how flustered he looked when the Professor said the number out loud."
"Ya know what I found weird?" Fishook piped up. "That Gloria somehow had more health than me. I'm at least a few hundred years old, and she's still more durable than me!"
"Because she has energy, Fishook."
"Umm, could we get on with the important stuff, Miss Serpci?" Nikki interrupted the trio's conversation.
"Oh, right! Let me see." The queen examined the display panel, trying to see what would be most likely to help prove her hunch. "Hmmm, Potter? Is there a way to tell a ghosts age with this?" She turned to the botanist and asked him.
"Yeah, hang on." He fiddled with the Parascope, swiping the display screen until it landed on a screen labeled "Spectral Age." He pushed the analyze button and stepped back as the ghosts watched the number tick up…
And up…
And up…
The number was still ticking up.
The ghosts simply stared numbly as the counter continued to tick, with Clem piping up with his thoughts on the matter. "Huh… Well ain't that interestin?"
Steward whistled happily as he drove the guest's car across the valley, looking for a good place to park it away from prying eyes. At no point did it cross his mind to question why he was asked to do this. Why question the orders of their most important guest? He was going to save the hotel somehow, so pleasing him every step of the way was necessary for success.
The bellhop drove over a bump in the road, causing the car the shake heavily. But was Steward's hearing fooling him, or did he just hear a thump coming from the back seat? He watched through the dividers window to see the seats completely empty. Where did that sound come from?...
Eh, probably something in the trunk. Maybe a toolbox or something. Steward decided to ignore the sound and continue the drive. The guest needed to be pleased, of course. Nothing would get in the way of that.
The ghosts stared at the screen of the Parascope, the number 2300~ displayed on it.
"Huh. This guys almost as old as you, lass." Fishook nudged the queen, who had a look of concentration on her face, as if she was trying to remember something.
"But that doesn't make any sense. Ghoulanu Graves died like 8 years ago? How can he be that old? Was he a ghost all along and no one ever noticed?" Nikki said.
As the others talked amongst each other, Serpci glared at the number, her suspicions fully supported by what the Parascope revealed.
"The reason that our current V.I.P. is so old is because he's not who he says he is." The other ghosts turned to the queen; their attention being grabbed by what she was saying.
"You, uh, care ta explain this to us, lass?" Fishook asked.
"Well, to do that, I need to explain some details of my past."
"Oooooh, you're finally gonna reveal your dark secrets to us?"
"No, Nikki, this is something else."
"Awww."
"You see, sometime after my death, I had developed the habit of leaving my tomb every few years to oversee my kingdom, to ensure that my people remained safe after my passing."
Serpci greeted her people, watching as they took a moment off their day to bow before her presence. She blew a kiss to one of the bowing women, who fainted at the sight of her former queen noticing her.
"Once I saw that things were well, and that I wasn't needed, I would head back to my tomb and sleep for another few years. Rinse and repeat."
"And what does this have ta do with the Graves fella?"
"I'm getting there Clem."
Several years later, Serpci was once again overseeing her kingdom. But something was off about everyone.
"On one very memorable occasion, I had woken up to my people behaving very strangely. Friendly, personable, and just a bit out of it, constantly speaking about how great their new ruler was."
"I think I see where this is going. That was around the time Alexander the Great took over, correct?"
"Yes. How do you know this?"
"Because apparently, I'm the only person in this hotel who ever went to college."
"…Okay then. Now, where was I?"
Serpci glared hatefully at the statue of the current ruler of her kingdom. His bearded face and smug look mocked her.
"I ruled independently over my own part of the kingdom, and apparently this man had come along and charmed his way into a position of leadership. He took my kingdom and had the audacity of plastering his face all over the place."
She saw the man just wandering around her kingdom, chatting with her people, like he owned the place.
"I found and confronted the man and learned that his name was Julius. He called himself a benevolent ruler. Even tried to use his little skill on me."
"But it didn't work?"
"Are you doubting my ability to resist manipulation, MacFrights?"
"We were all brainwashed by King Boo, lass."
"… Ok, he almost succeeded, but I shook it off not long after. During that little brainwashed period, he was overconfident enough to explain to me how he was using his little 'gift' to conquer kingdoms for his ruler, and how he was planning to usurp him by enthralling everyone into his loyal servants."
Julius was sound asleep in his bedroom, unaware of the ghostly presence glaring at him from the other side of the room.
"I took care of him in the way most commonly used by us royals. I snuck into his room while he was sleeping, pulled out a dagger- "
Serpci drove the dagger into the man's chest, watching with a cold stare as the life drained away from his face.
"-and stabbed him. His little spell wore off, people celebrated my heroism, the old ruler returned to the throne and promised to fight back against the invaders, and I went back to sleep for a job well done."
"But it turns out the bastard came back as a ghost and took the place of our guest, didn't he?" MacFrights pointed out, to which Serpci confirmed with a nod.
"I had my suspicions ever since he mentioned my name in the elevator. Everything else that has happened with the others helped fuel it." Serpci said.
"Ok, so let me see if I get it." Nikki started pacing around, trying to connect all of the dots. "So, the Ghoulanu Graves that's currently staying at our hotel is not the real one, but an old enemy from your past that turned into a ghost after dying, made it all the way to our time, disguised himself as Ghoulanu Graves and is brainwashing everyone in the hotel for some weird, sinister purpose?"
"Yes, that's pretty much the gist of it all."
Nikki's face morphed into one of anger. "Then that means he brainwashed my sisters! Who does that guy think he is, trying to take advantage of my sisters? I'm the only one who's allowed to do that!" She started making her way to the door, developing a particularly evil revenge prank in her head. "Clem, where can I get the uranium rods?"
"Now, young lady, a prank ain't gonna be enough for this feller." Clem simply grabbed the magician and stopped her in her tracks. "Ah don't think even the uranium rods are gonna be enough. We need a plan of attack."
"And a plan of attack we will have. Thanks to me, of course." MacFrights started to pace around the floors with his hands behind his back, already in full Warrior-King Mode. "We will need a way to capture the man, of course. But to do that, we need Luigi's ghost sucking machine, and he's not here. Otherwise, the bastard will just reform somewhere else if we destroy him normally. We can't use the gooey one either since he was in the sucking machine when Luigi and the professor left." He turned to the other ghosts, pointing at them. "Any suggestions?"
As they all tried to brainstorm a plan, ranging from "eating him," to "bury him in several tons of sand," Potter took the time to survey the room. His eyes landed on the busted Pixelator, and an imaginary lightbulb lit up above his head.
"We could fix the Pixelator and call Luigi over here!" His suggestion was meant with resounding nods from everyone. "Clem!" The mechanic stood at attention. "Do you think you can fix this thing?"
The sewer mechanic stuck his head inside the machine, trying to make sense of its complexity. "Hmm, Ah think Ah can, but I'll need the schematics of this thing ta understand it all."
"Then it's settled." MacFrights proclaimed. "While you, Nikki and Potter remain here to fix this machine, the rest of us will lead the charge and confront this Julius fellow and maintain his attention until Luigi arrives. Understood?" A chorus of affirmation resounded through the room, and MacFrights pulled out his sword to lead the charge. "Good, now let's confront this man and take back what's rightfully ours."
The trio of king, queen and shark exited the room, after a few seconds of fumbling with the door handle. Nikki and Potter started rummaging through the bookcase in search of a schematic or instruction manual for the Pixelator, with Clem still inside the machine itself.
In the hallway on the way to the elevator, the intrepid trio discussed their strategy.
"We'll have to find out where he's gone to. From what I remember of him, he never liked staying in one place." Serpci pointed out.
"Then we just interrogate someone fer that information. I have a pretty good threat I've been saving up fer just this occasion." Fishook said, a hint of excitement creeping into his shark mug. When they reached the elevator hall, the captain had already spotted his quarry: a lone goob wandering out of the elevator. The goob turned around and took notice of the very threatening pirate shark baring his teeth at her. She didn't really give any indication of being threatened, though.
"Hello there, lassie. I got a question fer you. Where's this Graves fella I keep hearing about? And if yer thinking of even- "
"Oh, he's at the 9th floor. Unnatural History Museum. Can't miss it." The goob gave away the information with absolutely no resistance and continued her on merry way past the three ghosts and into the hallway. The captain visibly deflated at this, while Serpci shouted at the goob.
"Could you please pass by the professor's lab and tell the others that?"
"Sure thing, ma'am!"
After that anticlimactic debacle, the three filed into the elevator, pressed the 9F button, and waited as it made its way towards its destination. Serpci and MacFrights took notice of their friends deflated mood, clearly having wanted to properly threaten the goob.
"… So, what was your threat?" The captain immediately cheered up when MacFrights asked the question.
"And if yer thinking of even lying to me face, then I'll make sure that ye have ta feel yer way around the room fer the rest of yer life!"
"Aye, a spin on the classic eye gouging threat, I see."
"Yeah, it's been a while since I get ta be threatening. It's the most fun part of being a pirate."
"I'm more partial to threatening people with snake pits or pouring copious amounts of sand into their mouths."
"To each their own."
Next time, the confrontation is begun.