Chapter 6: The Confrontation.
Due to college related time constraints, I've decided to split the finally in two. To make up for that, I'll post the second part next week friday.
Luigi's Mansion 3 belongs to Nintendo.
"Sooooo… does he ever wake up?" Ghoulanu asked as he stared at the main attraction of the Unnatural History Museum: the T-Rex exhibit, currently possessed by one(1) caveman ghost.
Well, that's what Chambrea said anyway.
"Yes, but his naps are a bit on the long side. Why don't you explore around the museum and I call you when he wakes up, sir?"
"Yeah, that's fine. It kinda throws a wrench into my plans, but I'm ok with that." He said as he started to leave the main exhibit hall. The maid was confused for a moment, and she asked him something.
"Can I ask you what this plan of yours is sir?"
"It's nothing you need to worry about. Just call me when he's up." Ghoulanu waved dismissively at the maid as he tried to leave the hall…
Only to bump into someone standing in his way. When he recovered, he tried to yell at the culprit, only to have to look up to see Serpci looming over him, a deadpan look on her face that did not at all hide her menacing intentions.
"Serpci! I didn't know you were here. Sorry about bumping into you. You must be so offended that someone as lowly as me would stand in the way of- "
"Cut the crap, Julius, I know it's you." Serpci interrupted, spitting out his real name in a venomous tone.
Julius, shocked at how quickly she had found out who he was, tried to come up with an excuse or an alibi to prove her wrong. It didn't take long for him to give up that endeavor and address the queen with a smug tone of voice. "Ugh, you figured that out that soon. What, couldn't forget my pretty face?"
"Hardly. In fact, seeing your face contort into one of terror as you bled to death is one of my more enjoyable memories."
Julius shuddered at that part.
"Now, explain. Why are you here?"
As Julius backed away from the angry queen, examining his surroundings for anything he could use to his advantage, he took notice of a very confused Chambrea staring at the confrontation going on in front of her.
"Uh, Chambrea! Why don't you go upstairs and tell the others about what's happening down here! And have some of them look for any stragglers that I haven't met, yeah?" He shouted at her, and the maid, still trying to process everything, nodded numbly and flew upwards into the next floor. He turned back to look at Serpci, confused when he sees that she was still glaring at him. "You, uh, not gonna do anything about that?"
"I trust in Chambrea to figure it all out before she reaches the others. Now," From the hall behind Serpci, a positively gigantic serpent made of sand slowly slithered into view, stopping behind the queen to let out a very loud and very angry sounding hiss at the cornered imposter. "Explain!" She demanded.
Once he realized that he was well and truly cornered, the imposter ghost sighed to himself and began his explanation. "Alright. Where do you want me to start? Like, from when I died, or before the whole hotel thing?"
The sand snake hissed at him, a clear representation of Serpci's opinion on the question.
"Beginning it is!"
"Ok, so, ever since you stabbed me in my bed and left me to die, thanks for that by the way, I woke up to find myself as a ghost."
Julius stared at his now transparent, purple colored hands, nodding in approval to his newfound state.
"Pretty much the best outcome you could get from dying. I tried to take over the place when you went back to sleep again, but pretty much everyone made sure to avoid me and not listen to a word I said, which basically made my whole shtick useless.
He started to wander the desert, looking back at the kingdom in anger.
"So, I left the place and started floating around, explore the world and figure out some stuff."
A few years later, he came across a kingdom of stone castles reaching all the way up and beyond the clouds.
"I ended up finding another kingdom, and I thought "hey, why not take it over and see how well that goes."
He lurked in the shadows, chatting up passersby and enthralling them with his voice one by one, causing them to slowly drop what they were doing to tend to his needs.
"They were apparently trying to fight some 'Lord of Lightning' or something along those lines, and as I was about to completely take over,"
The tower that Julius had his eyes on was blasted by a surge of lightning coming from the Ruined Dragon's mouth.
"This giant dragon, which the kingdom was apparently trying to fight, showed up and destroyed everything. There were no survivors."
Julius stared at the carnage in front of him, the fruits of his labor rendered worthless by the destruction of the kingdom that he was technically responsible for.
"And I loved every part of it."
A smile started to grow on his face as he looked over the remains of the kingdom
"Seeing the whole place be destroyed made me realize what I could have been doing with my power all along! At first, I just wanted people to worship me, and I still do actually. But that day showed me that I could just as easily destroy a kingdom with them."
"So, I travelled the world for the next two thousand years, taking over kingdoms and making them destroy themselves. And let me tell you those were the most enjoyable two thousand years I've ever had." Julius finished with a smile on his face.
Serpci looked at the man in front of her in disgust. To think someone would go about their powers by using it to destroy everything for their own enjoyment was something that would make even the most evil of overlords shudder in disgust.
"And I guess you plan to do the same with the hotel?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Ever since I heard about what happened with this King Boo guy, I decided that this place could be my next target. Problem is, you lived here as I found out, so I needed a disguise. And what do you know, I break into some celebrity actors house and I find out I look a lot like him. So, I knock him out, dress up in his clothes, change my style and study up on him so I could come to this hotel without anyone knowing who I am." Julius said with his hands behind his head, affecting an aura of smugness. "Sure, you figured things out pretty damn fast, probably because I said your name in the elevator earlier today, but it doesn't matter anyway. I got a pretty good chunk of this hotel under my control, so, all I have to do is get you and your little friends under my control, and then I'll have my own personal army of undead to help me destroy the Mushroom Kingdom!"
Serpci's reaction was to thrust her hand forward, causing the giant sand snake to move at an alarming speed and wrap itself around Julius. Making a fist with said hand and tightening it, the snake began to crush its prey as it hung its open maw over him.
"Hmph, all I heard in that little spiel of yours is that you're a terrible person who deserved to die."
The snake bit down on Julius and trashed him around, before flinging him into one of the marble pillars of the museum. As he slid down it, Serpci guided her creation to his position.
"But I'll admit to my mistakes, if I hadn't killed you, you wouldn't have become a ghost."
Julius tried to get up, only to be slammed down by the snake's tail.
"You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't because of me."
Serpci floated over to the conquerors squashed form and hoisted him upward by the neck so she could look him in the eye.
"I should have stayed for longer so that I could finish the job."
Julius watched as the sand snake glared at him from behind Serpci, baring its fangs as it prepared to strike.
"But you know what they say, better late than never." She said as she glared at the man, before holding him further away from her body so that her creation could smash him into the ground again. A shout coming from the other side of the room took her attention away, however.
Before Serpci could react, a Hammer slammed into her, knocking Julius out of her grip and dragging her all the way into a supply closet. The Hammer grabbed the still startled queen, opened the door, tossed her inside, and slammed it closed, laying on it to ensure that the captured queen could not open it.
The sand snake, after a few seconds of not moving, dissolved into a pile of sand, its creator no longer around to control it or to keep it in its snake inspired shape. Julius shook his head as he witnessed this, coming to from the nasty beating that Serpci gave him.
"Owwwwwww. What took you so long?" He groaned out as he held his head.
"I was in the bathroom, sir. Sorry bout that."
"Ugh, well just, oof, keep blocking that door until I can talk to her. Clear things up, you know." Julius said as he straightened his body. "Hopefully the maid's told the others to look for any stragglers, cause I could really use some backup." He looked at the giant pile of sand, shuddering at the beatdown he got. What he didn't see before he started to float away was the sand pile starting to move around.
Feeling like he should examine the sand pile closer, Julius turned around to see as Captain Fishook lunged out of it, his chompers aimed right for his head. Julius had just enough time to drop down on the floor, barely dodging the pirates surprise attack.
Fishook scraped his hook on the museum floor as he turned around to address his prey. "Hello, laddie. We saw that little spectacle our lady friend did, and we'd just love to have a little slice of it."
Before Julius could even react to this, a second form burst from the sand, galloping towards him, lifting him up from the ground with his lance, and launching him to the other side of the room.
"Believe us when we tell ya that we don't take kindly ta intruders in our hotel, ya lying knave." King MacFrights proclaimed, having possessed his suit of armor for just the occasion.
The two slowly approached the recovering Julius, baring manic grins as they did so. Julius shook his head clear, grabbed one of the bones from the exhibit he was laying next to, and brandished it as a makeshift weapon. "I guess this is what I get for only planning for Serpci. Enough playing dumb then." He blocked a hook slash from Fishook with the bone. "Let's dance!"
"Damnit, Carl! Release me this instant!"
"No way, ma'am! We need this guys help and he says you guys want to hurt him."
Serpci slammed her fist on the door one last time before giving up, groaning loudly as she straightened out her hair. It was a good thing Fishook had suggested they hide in her sand construct in case something like this happened, though she will admit, she didn't think Julius had planned that far ahead. But now she was stuck in a closet due to her own overconfidence.
Note to self, make sure Fishook and MacFrights don't tell the others about this.
Once she was composed, she began to examine the closet she was stuck in to see if there was anything useful she could use. She didn't know nearly enough about cleaning supplies to replicate what the triplets had done that time. She had proclaimed that she was too regal to wield melee weapons (MacFrights ranted at her for two hours for that) so she couldn't use the brooms and mops for anything. She could ask Gloria for help, since she was sitting on a bucket at the back of the closet with her arms crossed, but she wanted to try and solve the problem without help…
Wait a minute.
"Gloria, what are you doing here?" She asked the DJ.
"Oh, nothing. Just got thrown into a closet by Carl. How are you?"
"I'm trying to take down the bastard that brainwashed everyone in the hotel, if Carl would let me out to do that!"
"I'm not gonna let you out unless you promise to not hurt the guest!"
"Hnnnnngggghhhh!" Serpci groaned out in pure frustration, banging her fist on the door repeatedly. Gloria, meanwhile, had a realization.
"Oooooohhhh, so that's what happened to everyone else! I was wondering why they were acting so weirdly."
The queen stopped banging on door and stared at the DJ in confusion. "Wait, you haven't been brainwashed? But you and Kruller went to see him after Morty's tour? He talked to you?"
"I might have zoned out when he said something about Alexander the Great. I still don't get what that's a reference to, anyway."
"I can explain that."
"I found the thing!" Nikki triumphantly held up the object of their search: a hardcover book with an illustration of E. Gadd explaining something to a cross eyed Luigi, labeled Pixelators for Dummies.
She handed the book over to Clem, and the mechanic began to quickly leaf through it to find the desired page. His inspection revealed that one of the couplings had somehow broken, separating one of the tubes. If his mechanical know-how told him anything, it's that he needs to weld it back together, and the book would likely prove it.
Potter, meanwhile, was floating back and forth while staring at the door. A goob had passed by to explain to them where the others had gone, apparently at Serpci's request, and he was nervous that the ghost was going to blab to the brainwashed residents about their location.
"Oh, calm down Mister Potter." The magician tried to calm down the botanist in her usual way, that is rudely. "You know the goobs are about as smart Mister Deepend. She probably forgot about our little meeting already."
"… Yeah, you have a point." The botanist was still calmed down by Nikki's words. "Have you found anything yet, Clem?"
"Nope, this darn thing don't have a page of contents. Gimme a few minutes, Ah gotta look through the whole book."
A bang on the door to the lab put an end to the calm. Nikki, Clem and Potter were startled by this. The botanist floated towards the door and peaked through the window to see Johnny Deepend preparing to bang on the door again, an army of assorted ghosts and the other brainwashed staff members floating behind him.
"Yo, Potter! Guest wants to speak with you and the others!" The swimmer shouted.
The three ghosts in the lab could only stare at each other in fear, having realized that their cover was blown. Potter signaled Clem to keep searching the book, while he cleared his throat and addressed the group outside.
"Oh, sorry, Johnny, we can't right now! The professor asked us to do something in his lab, and we simply have to finish it now!"
"But he's our V.I.P!" Morty shouted from his place in the group. "He's the one who will save our hotel! You must meet him!"
Shuddering at Morty's uncharacteristically undramatic sentence, Nikki took her shot at appeasing the group. "Yeah, sorry, Morty! But the boss is kinda more important than a V.I.P. Hierarchy and stuff, you know?"
"Aw, come on, sis!" Either Ginny or Lindsey shouted. "Is this because you're still angry that he insulted your act? Maybe you should learn to take constructive criticism instead of running off and whining about things"
Potter had to clamp Nikki's mouth shut, preventing the middle triplet from launching into a tirade defending her ego. "Look, it's the Professors orders! We can't just ignore it just because the guest says so."
"Well sorry, bros, but the Professor isn't gonna be the boss anymore, Mr. Graves is! We'll just have to take you to him by force!"
Nikki and Potter backed away from the door the moment Johnny slammed into it. The door didn't budge in the slightest, and after a few seconds, Johnny was heard from the other side.
"Uh, does anyone remember how to open a door?"
Seizing the chance, Potter quickly rummaged through his jacket pocket and tossed a few seeds onto the floor in front of the door. Pulling out his trusty watering can, he watered the seeds and stood back as they grew and covered the door in a wall of vines.
Just in time too, since Kruller could be heard shouting "Oh! Try pulling the handle!" and the door bumped into the thick blockade of vines. "Oh, come on! Did you guys really just block the door?" The ghosts continued to try and force their way into the room, the banging of someone trying to smash it in startling the lab occupants.
"Gah! Clem! Hurry up with that book!"
Fishook trashed around the museum floor, trying to buck off a clinging Julius off his body. When he suddenly stood still, Julius saw MacFrights charge towards them, aiming to knock him off the shark. In that split second, he managed to pull on Fishook's fin, causing him to arc upwards and take a lance to the face.
Having jumped off the shark, Julius watched as the Captain recovered from the hit and glared at MacFrights, before turning to glare at him and diving into the floor. MacFrights started to gallop around the floor, preparing himself for his next attack.
"You guys are kinda bad at this whole tag team thing! Just saying!" Julius said as he tried to pay attention to both the floor and MacFrights. He turned around just in time to smack Fishook in the face when he lunged at him from the floor.
MacFrights saw his opening, hooking Julius on his lance while he was distracted, twirling him around and flicking him into a pillar. "Aye, we don't really get the chance often ta fight people together. But it's still two against one." He saw his target turn invisible, like the coward he was.
Fishook sniffed the air as he tried to get the scent of Julius. "What is taking the lassie so long to get out, anyway?" He complained as he did so, staring at the hammer that was blocking the supply closet door. He and MacFrights would go deal with that one, but they couldn't risk letting Julius sneak away.
"Hah!" Fishook lunged towards the exhibit closest to the exit, causing Julius to become visible…
And to thrust a bone in between Fishook's teeth, jamming his mouth open. The shark trashed about, trying to get the bone out of his mouth while Julius laughed at him and grabbed another bone. "Hah! That should keep you out of the fight for a good while." He turned to MacFrights and pointed the bone at the king, challenging him. The king shouted a battle cry before charging at his opponent, the other responding in kind by charging as well.
"-And we are trying to keep him distracted until Clem can fix the Pixelator and summon Luigi to capture him." Serpci finished her explanation, now leaning on the door after having found nothing of use in the closet.
"Huh, so that explains why Wolfgeist was being so weird." Gloria said. When she heard Serpci make a little confused grunt, she decided to elaborate. "Yeah, I went to Wolfgeists floor because he didn't show up to gloat about how he was gonna win the bet. You remember that, righ?"
"Yes, I do."
"Oh, good. Anyway, I went to his floor, I enter his auditorium and I see him playing the piano with a smile on his face. A smile!"
Wolfgeist noticed the DJ enter his auditorium, and the pianist stopped playing for a second to greet her with a wave.
"It was the scariest thing I've seen in my entire life!"
Gloria had a very disturbed look on her face as she waved back.
"I go talk to him, ask him how he's doing, how he felt about his chances for winning the bet, that kind of thing."
"Ah, let's just drop that silly thing and simply agree that we are both great musicians." The pianist said.
"The Wolfgeist I know would never, ever say something like that."
"So, I go talk to the guest, and he just puts me in the closet and tells me to wait for you. I've been waiting here ever since." Gloria finished.
"Wait, why did he tell you to wait for me?" Serpci asked.
"Eh, something about you hating my music. I didn't believe him, but I decided to wait here anyway. And here you are now." Gloria got up from her bucket. "Now let's get out of here so I can watch you beat up that… guy." She faltered when she saw, for just a quick second, Serpci flinch about something. That was a very rare occurrence when it came to the pharaoh ghost, and it only ever happened when she was caught lying about something. "Hey, is something wrong."
"Oh, nothing. Everything is perfectly fine, and Julius is a filthy liar." The queen said casually. Gloria was not fooled in the slightest.
"Are you hiding something from me?"
"No! No. You know I don't hide anything from you my beloved! Now help me open this door, if you would?" Serpci said as she started to push on the door nervously.
Inside the head of the DJ, a record needle was slowly lowering onto the vinyl disc underneath. When Gloria put two and two together, the record needle landed on the disc, and Gloria snapped her fingers. "You don't like my music, don't you?"
The very awkward smile on Serpci's face confirmed the DJ's suspicions, and she put her hands on her hips and addressed her girlfriend. "Yeah, we're not leaving until we've talked about this."
"But- "
"No buts, if we do this later, then you'll just try to delay this until I forget about it."
Ug was trying to sleep, as nice clean lady had told him. An important man had come here, and clean lady wanted Ug to leave important man alone, so Ug decided to sleep. But there was a lot of noise in his territory, and it was getting on Ug's nerves.
Ug opened his eyes, and he saw as shark man and small beard man were fighting another beard man right in front of him. Small beard man was in his armor trying to stab other beard man with pointy metal stick, but it looked like shark man was making it difficult, since shark man was being moved around by other beard man to block pointy metal stick attack. Shark man was chewing other beard mans bone club, and Ug saw as shark man get's a good grip on the bone and flings other beard man away.
The shark man turns around, and shakes his head when he sees Ug staring at them. Then the shark man speaks to Ug.
"Oi! Ug! Yer finally awake! Come help us get rid off this intruder!" The shark man told him. Ug thought about it. If he remembered correctly, shark man and small beard man were friends with clean lady, so he should help them. On the other hand, other beard man could be the very important man clean lady told him not to bother.
"No! Don't listen to them! I'm the V.I.P. guest! The important man!"
Oh, other beard man was very important man! Well, Ug always listened to clean lady, so he was gonna do nothing about this and leave other beard man alone.
"Bah! You're not a V.I.P! You are a filthy impostor!"
Wait, very important man was not very important man? Ug confused.
"Hey, don't listen to them! You're a smart caveghost! You can figure out that I'm the guy you should be helping!"
Everybody flinched when they heard the T-Rex skeleton growl. Ug was getting very annoyed. Should Ug help shark man and small beard man in fighting other beard man, even if the man was probably important man? Or should Ug help important man fight clean ladies' friends? It all make Ug very confused.
The T-Rex slammed its tail on one of the pillars, destroying it.
Ug annoyed!
It started to trash around, causing the pole that was holding it up to bend and creak…
Ug! Angry!
The pole broke off, releasing the T-Rex from its restraint. It stomped towards the three clashing ghosts, who now realized how screwed they all were.
"Ah poop." They all said simultaneously. Ug responded by roaring in the air, which could be heard across the entire hotel.