Chapter 9: The Solution
The ending of my first ever, full length, multi chapter story. I'm glad you guys ended up enjoying this, and I promise that anything else I come up with is even better than this story. Pinky promise.
Luigi's Mansion 3 is owned by Nintendo.
The doors to the hotel parted open as Steward returned from his own little adventure. For whatever reason, he had helped the guest hide his car as far away from the hotel as possible, and he could not fathom the reasoning as to why anyone would want to do that. Plus, his memories were a little hazy ever since he talked to the guest. He had questions, and he wanted answer, and he was going to (politely) ask for them.
"Stewy! There you are!" Kruller immediately grabbed him into a hug that would have crushed his bones. You know, if he still had them. "I was worried sick!"
With no way to escape the clutches of the security guard, Steward simply listened to him ramble about how their guest turned out to be some sort of ancient conqueror from Serpci's time who had come to the hotel to brainwash the residents and transform them into an army to wipe out the Mushroom Kingdom. Once he finished processing the information provided, and he was let go from the hug, did he respond.
"This is the second time we've been brainwashed. Is this going to be theme now? Every few months, some maniac shows up to our hotel for some insane reason and brainwashes everyone?"
"Well, if it helps, Clem, Potter and Nikki managed to get Luigi back here and captured the bad guy, so the hotel is safe." Kruller's smile dropped as he saw that the bellhop was not cheered up by this.
"Yeah, except since the guy wasn't our "special celebrity guest," our hotel is still in trouble. In a few weeks, we're gonna be out of a job." Steward drooped over, letting depression take over.
With the mood ruined, Kruller led Steward to the lounge, where the other ghosts were recovering from the events of the night.
"…and that's how I was singlehandedly responsible for saving all of your butts. You're welcome." Nikki boasted about her actions to her sisters, who's faces showed that they were not buying her embellishments.
MacFrights was regaling some of the ghosts about his actions in the battle against Julius, similarly embellishing his story like the middle triplet did. Johnny Deepend and Ug were at the front of the group, listening intently like young children listening to a fairy tale.
Soulfflë and Amadeus were complaining to Chambrea about being brainwashed again, the pianist seeming more offended by the fact that he had complimented Gloria's music than anything else. The maid simply nodded along and signaled the chef to start airing his grievances when Wolfgeist was finished.
Fishook and Serpci were overseeing the groups, checking on everyone and making sure that the spell had worn off on everyone. Signs pointed to yes.
And Gloria and Morty, who were chatting about how Morty was inspired by the whole event to make a movie about it, went over to greet the two arrivals.
"Yo, Steward, where've you been? Ya missed out on a crazy fight."
"We really have to check the security footage of the floor. I require it if I am to properly match the level of chaos and skill that MacFrights describes. Either way, where have you been indeed, Steward?"
"Sigh, I was told by the guest to drive his car and hide it somewhere in the woods outside." A look of thoughtfulness came to Stewards face. "I still wonder why he would want me to do that."
"Well, if movie logic is anything to go by, the guy probably had something in there he didn't want anyone to find. Why don't we go look for it and see what secrets he was trying to keep from us?" Gloria said, surprising everyone with insight. She noticed the look of confusion from everyone and got angry. "What? It's movie logic, anyone could have figured that out!"
Steward bit his lip as he thought out Gloria's suggestion. "Hmm, you do have a point. We're going to need Ug and Johnny, though."
"Why?" Kruller asked.
"So, huff, what made you think, huff, it was a good idea, huff, to drive a limo off a cliff?" Johnny huffed out as he and Ug struggled to lift the banged-up Limo up the cliff.
"Where else was I gonna hide it? I was brainwashed, I clearly wasn't thinking things through."
Once the limo was set up on the ground, and Ug pried the door off the car and threw it to the side without a care in the world, Kruller shined his flashlight inside of it, investigating for clue's. "Hmm, I don't see anything out of the ordinary in here. Stewy, did you happen to notice anything weird while you were driving?"
"Hmm… Oh! Yeah, I did. I heard a loud thud coming from the passenger area when I drove over a bump."
"Have you checked the cooler? I've been inside this brand of limo before, and I do believe that these tend to come with a hidden cooling compartment under the seats."
"Yeah, they always do. I used to keep wigs inside those things for the summer months."
Heeding Morty's suggestion, Kruller examined the chairs, feeling under the cushions until he could find one that would flip open. When his search bore in the form of one of the cushions shifting upwards with a click, he opened the cooler to find out what exactly Julius had been finding.
"Holy crap! Guys, you won't believe what I just found!"
Gathering around the limo in curiosity, everyone except Ug gasped when they saw what Kruller had in his hands: the unconscious form of celebrity actor Ghoulanu Graves!
"More tea, Mr. Graves?"
"Yeah, thank you lady." Graves accepted the beverage offered by the maid, sitting in the hotel lounge as he recovered from his two weeklong stint of being stuck inside a cooler. The hotel management managed to successfully clear up the confusion on who kidnapped him and had given him a full explanation of everything that had happened.
"Uhm, excuse us, sir." He turned to see a DJ, a mall cop, and the famous film director Morty approaching him nervously. "Can we have your autograph?" The DJ awkwardly presented a vinyl containing the soundtrack of the Matrix.
"Sure, anything for a fan." Writing his name on the vinyl, and then doing it for the mall cops' badge and the film directors reel of his favorite Ghoulanu Graves clips. He watched the odd group leave as they all giggled with each other like schoolgirls who just met their favorite celebrity. Well, probably because they did just meet him.
Once he felt he had recovered fully, he went over to talk to the one manning the receptionist desk, a fellow named Steward, who was rapidly sorting through the mail he had stopped organizing when he was brainwashed. He rung the bell to get the bellhops attention.
"Ah, Mr. Graves!" Steward said as he turned towards the celebrity. "Are you feeling better? I can guarantee you that our mechanic, Clem, will have it fixed by Monday, sir. Feel free to stay here and partake in the events we have organized, all for free, of course." Nervousness was clear in his voice.
"No need to bother yourself with that, we've all had a rough night. I called a cab that's gonna pick me up tomorrow morning, I'm just not feeling it tonight."
"Oh, that's perfectly understandable sir." Steward said with disappointment clear in his voice. "We'll be giving you a full refund for all of the expenses your impostor has made."
"Hey, speaking of impostors, whatever happened to that guy?"
"We managed to capture him. One of our VIP's managed to gather those of us who weren't under his control and managed to distract him long enough until they could rebuild a machine our owner had made. We used it to bring Luigi over here and he captured him-"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. Luigi?"
Steward nodded in response, confusion clear on his face.
"THE Luigi, savior of Evershade Valley, the legendary ghosthunter Luigi?"
"Uhm, yes, he was the one who saved us in an incident we had just last month. We're good friends with him."
"Can I meet him? I'm a huge fan of his work!"
"Well, he just returned back to Evershade Valley, so he won't come back until Monday."
"Well consider my mind changed. Guess I'll stay here until he comes back. I've always wanted to get his autograph since I've heard of him."
Steward's mood, and the mood of those eavesdropping in on the conversation, was immediately raised by the actor's proclamation. He moved out from behind the reception desk and gestured towards the elevator. "Well why don't I show you to your room? You may have missed some of our organized events for today, but we still have plenty to do tomorrow."
With Graves' decision to stay at the hotel, the mood in the hotel had risen from gloomy to excited, especially since this one was the real deal. Their hopes of getting a good enough review to restore the hotel's reputation actually seemed to be in reach now and judging by how he was enjoying their organized events, it might have been even likelier.
MacFrights' jousting tournament was a spectacle, as it always tended to be. The King would often live up to the feats he so often boasted about in these tournaments, and they always ended up wowing his audiences. Ghoulanu was no different, clapping enthusiastically as MacFrights bowed over his defeated opponent.
The trip to Dr. Potter's botanical garden went swimmingly for once, largely due to sterner littering rules and a very stern death threat from Potter himself. He got to show off his entire plant collection, from his own modified strain of Flytraps, to a demonstration of his fast-acting growth formula and managed to wow his audience with his encyclopedic knowledge of all things plant.
The party at the Dance Hall was another one of DJ Phantasmagloria's best works, and the beats of her freshly curated music selection could be heard across the whole hotel, to the annoyance of pretty much everyone. Luckily for the staff, the only opinions of the event that mattered were those of the patrons attending the dance party, so that was good.
The end of the day had Captain Fishook's performance at the Spectral Catch. The patrons cheerfully sang along to the sea shanty of the legendary battle of Fishook vs the King Blooper, enjoying their delicious seafood dinners. Fishook basked in the applause of the patrons, fully understanding why MacFrights loved it so much now.
All in all, the day had gone swimmingly, and they could tell their special guest had enjoyed it immensely. Tomorrow was the day of reckoning.
Outside the Last Resort, Ghoulanu Graves was inside his freshly repaired limo, watching in excitement as Luigi gave him his autograph.
"He-here you go. One autograph from me, Luigi." Luigi nervously handed over a picture of himself, signed with Ghoulanus name, to the actor, who giddily snatched it up.
"You have no idea how famous you are in the ghost community. Seriously, you're a legend to us. Thanks for taking the time to meet up with me."
"Heh, you're welcome. Make sure to leave a good review for the hotel!"
Luigi waved the man goodbye, watching the limo disappear into the horizon.
"So, how big do you think our chances are?"
Luigi screamed in terror, causing Steward to scream as well. Once their first interaction of the day was done with and both calmed down, Luigi responded.
"Heh, I think you guys have a pretty good chance."
"Are you sure?"
"Yep."
"Are you really sure?"
"Uhuh."
"Are you really really sure?"
"Yeah."
"Are you really really really sure?"
"Oh, look at the time! Mario usually likes to come visit my house around this time. Ciao!" Luigi rapidly took out the small box, letting it enlarge so that he could step inside it and head to the professor's lab for pixelation.
Still nervous about their prospects for success, Steward returned to the lobby, where the rest of the staff where huddled around the DJ looking at her phone, waiting for the review to go live.
"Anything up yet, Gloria?"
"Nothing yet."
As they all waited, Serpci nudged Amadeus' shoulder, trying to boast for her queen's chances of victory. "Are you prepared to lose, Wolfgeist? My queen will definitely look forward to seeing you praise her musical talents in front of the entire hotel."
The pianist stared at her as if she had grown a second head. "What are you talking about? We never made a bet. Her horrid music must have made you mishear us."
"Are you really chickening out again? Every time it comes time to choose a victor one of you always chickens out. Ugh, coward." She spat out. They always had a habit of doing this with their bets.
"We can't chicken out of things we never made, babe. That's just science." A notification from her phone caught her attention. "Aha! He just dropped the review. "A wonderful experience all the way through, I can sincerely proclaim that the amenities provided at the Last Resort are some of the best I have ever seen. 10 out of 10 stars, would stay in again."
"Haha! Success." MacFrights as everyone began to celebrate a job well done. "So, now what?" It was over just as quickly as everyone wondered exactly what they would do now.
The answer to that question was answered when one of the phones in the reception began to ring. Grabbing the phone, Steward gave his usual spiel. "Hello, welcome to the Last Resort, you'll enjoy your stay here so much you wish you could die here, how can I help you?... Yes, we do have rooms open… This week, indeed… yes, we'll have your room prepared for your arrival. Have a nice day."
Just as Steward hung up, the phone rang again. Another one began to ring as well, followed by another, and another, and another, until the lobby was flooded by the sound of calling customers. Their plan worked!
Raising his head in triumph, Steward shared the good news. "Everyone, the Last Resort is back in business! Everybody start preparing, we'll be having a busy week!"
"So, what are you in here for?" King Boo asked his new neighbor, who was sulking in his containment pod.
"I tried to brainwash everyone into my own personal army. You?"
"Same."
"… Wanna hear my cool backstory?"
"… Sure."
And so ends the adventure of The Last Resort's Special Guest. What will our favorite hotel staff and up doing next you might ask?
Well:
The Isle Delfino Vacation Special starts next week Friday! See you all then!