(The following is an expansion of a previous fanfic of mine, "Dying To Treat You". Reading it is not necessary to understanding this story, but it will help you see where I plan to take this narrative. So turn the lights down, and relax. Today, you are my guest of honor...)
One bright and cheery morning in the mushroom kingdom, Luigi, Mario, Daisy, and Peach were all on a shuttle bus, on their merry way to their destination. What destination, you may ask? Why, none other than the famed Midnight Hotel. A renowned and luxurious place to stay and relax. In fact, it's famous for its solid gold paint job, courtesy of the many coins it had collected over the years. And lucky them, they invited to stay for a week for the bargain price of free! The invitation stated the reason for such generosity was that Mario and Luigi were idolized the world over, and their presence at the hotel would help boost profits even further. Needless to say, the gang was all excited for the trip. Luigi had brought along polterpup as well, him having made a good pet ever since his adventures in Evershade Valley. Peach was reading the brochure, Daisy was thrashing to some tunes on the radio, and Mario was just taking in the comfy texture of his seat.
Before long, the gang had arrived at their destination. Everyone was left awestruck at the alluring glow of the hotel's walls. Immediately, they were greeted by a bellhop. His uniform a nice shade of red. "Welcome, guests! Please, allow us to handle your luggage." Everybody then handed their suitcases to him. For someone so scrawny, he was surprisingly good at supporting all that weight. "Thank you so much, mister..." Peach began, pausing to read his name tag. "Murphy". Murphy nodded, and walked in through the front doors. The rest of the crew followed behind. The lobby was just as glossy and beautiful as the outside. Flowers in every vase, a perfume-like aroma pumped through the ventilation system, and plenty of staff bustling around the joint.
(The song "Welcome To The Hotel" from Eloise, starts playing on the PA system)
Daisy whistled, to emphasize how impressed she was. "Fancy joint they've got here. I hope their pool has a diving board." Peach chuckled, "Come now, Daisy. We just got here. Besides, I thought you and me would hit the spa first." Daisy thought about it for a second. "Okay, Peachy. Fine by me. But seriously, that pool is calling my name. For once, I wanna swim outside of an Olympic event." They then heard a voice. A female voice, that sounded formal and mature, yet youthful. "There will be plenty of time for whatever you fancy here, madam."
They all looked, to see a little girl in a uniform very similar to Murphy's, only it was blue instead of red. She had black hair in twintails, blue eyes, and stood in an upright manner with her hands folded behind her back. By the looks of it, she was somewhere in her early teen years. "But before you explore our facility, it would be best to show you your rooms first." Luigi and the others walked over to her. Peach smiling. "Aren't you an adorable little thing~ But it's okay, we're just waiting for our tour guide to show up." There was a pause, before the girl responded. "Yes... Hence why I'm here." After a second, everyone realized what she meant by that. Daisy squinted her eyes. "Wait... you're our tour guide? I mean, no offense and all, but you look a bit... young." The girl didn't seem offended in the slightest. Her blank expression plastered to her face. "Age and ability are not directly correlated, madam. I would not have been selected for this task if I wasn't qualified."
Polterpup then playfully barked at her, which didn't even so much as attract the gaze of the hotel employee. "Please excuse my friend, she didn't mean to be rude. So then, can you tell us your name?" The girl started leading them over to the elevator. "Vinny." As they all got on, Vinny included, Luigi and the others exchanged confused glances at the situation. With the elevator moving, Vinny took this time to notice polterpup. "It is recommended that you do what you can to keep any pets to a decent volume past a certain time. Many of our guests don't like being disturbed by loud noises." Peach awkwardly stood there. "Don't worry, he doesn't cause any trouble... Erm... You can't actually be working for this place, right?" Vinny blinked, once again failing to show emotion. "I merely help in small matters, such as this. Enforcing policies, troubleshooting with guests, that sort of stuff. I assure you, no child labor laws are being challenged."
They arrived at floor 5. There, Vinny walked them through the hallway. "So then, all your rooms will be in close proximity to one another. Princess Peach and Daisy will be staying in rooms 7 and 10, Mario and Luigi will be in rooms 8 and 9. If you have any problems or concerns, please ring the buzzer on your wall for help. Anything else I can do for you?" Peach curtsied, while Mario and Daisy have a thumbs up. Luigi just gave a puzzled glance. "We're all good. Thanks, Vinny." Vinny nodded in an almost robotic fashion, and walked away. Daisy scratched her head. "That girl was weird. And not in a typical weird kid fashion." Peach shrugged. "Maybe her parents just raised her very well. Anyway, you boys have your fun. Me and Daisy will be heading up to floor 8 shortly, if you need anything." Mario and Luigi nodded, and went into their respective rooms.
Luigi was not disappointed by his room at all. Not surprising, given the beauty of the hotel so far. A comfy bed, fancy decor, there were even gifts on the table! And seemingly purchased for him specifically. Luigi definitely appreciated the VIP treatment. One of the gifts was a Mini Mario figure, from his brother's hit toy line. The second was a comfy looking pillow that seemed to originate from the pi'illo kingdom. Gee, that brought back memories. And the third was... a crystal ball...? Wait a minute, Luigi remembers this! It was that crystal ball Madam Clairvoya used to use, wasn't it? How'd they manage to track down this thing? Meh. Probably wasn't important. It's not like she really needs that dusty old ball anyway, being peacefully returned to her portrait, and all. Why, they even went the extra mile and had a golden bone on the bed for polterpup. How nice! Luigi tested out the bed. Man, this thing was like a cloud. It had The Green Thunder's seal of approval. Luigi yawned. Even though it was still morning, Luigi couldn't help but feel enticed by the bed... Oh, it's not like the others would hold it against him if he... if he hit snooze for a while... Before he knew it, he was asleep in a matter of seconds.
Running. Running. Was he really even going anywhere? Every hallway looked exactly the same! Oh, why did he always have to find himself in such predicaments? "I know you're here somewhere, you mustached string bean..." Gah! He sounded close by, he should probably keep running! After a minute or two of fleeing, he stopped to catch his breath only for a nearby shot of armor's arms to give away, and almost cut him in half with its axe! " I hear you, Luigiiii. Come on, you and me should catch up after all this time!" A cold draft invaded the air, as a sinister purple glow was getting brighter from around the corner! Luigi had only seconds to think, so he dashed into the nearest door and slammed it shut behind him. A broom closet. Not much room between him and the door. He frantically blockaded the door with whatever he could find nearby, until he felt something was on the other side. He held his breathe, and stayed silent.
He shook, as that same purple glow radiated through the cracks in the door. Please don't find him, please don't find him! "...Heh." He then felt his pursuer leave, as the purple glow diminished. He breathed a sigh of relief, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He then felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Turning around slowly, he screamed as King Boo laughed at him! "Good thinking, Luigi! He'll never find us in here! Bwahaha!" Darn it, DARN IT, he forgot he could go through walls! He backed up as much as he could, but it was hopeless! He had trapped himself in!Luigi's fear turned to terror as King Boo summoned a painting to his side. "Hold still now! I wanna get all the details just right!" Luigi could do nothing but helplessly struggle as the painting got closer and closer, drawing him in, until...!
He woke up screaming. Thank the crystal stars for that it was just a dream. Yeesh. He almost had a heart attack there. Luigi looked out the window, to see a full moon out. He must've really overdid it in terms of napping. He searched around for polterpup, but he wasn't in the room anywhere. So he went over to his dog bowl to see a note. For an animal without opposable thumbs, he had some oddly good penmanship.
Arf arf! Woof! Bark! (Translation: Gone off to play)
Luigi sighed. Old habits die hard, he guessed. Fortunately for him, he had just the thing for finding him this late at night: he dug through his suitcase and pulled out his old flashlight from his adventures in Evershade Valley. Strobulb still included. Such a shame E. Gadd didn't let him keep the poltergust, otherwise this would be easier. But it was only now that Luigi realized the decor of his room had changed completely. Instead of the shiny gold paint job he remembered seeing, the room was dominated by gray walls, purple curtains, dark greens and blues, and the floor was coated in a foreboding coat of fog. An owl was heard outside. Hopefully polterpup wasn't far, he didn't want to be out there wandering in the darkness for any longer than he has to. Slowly creaking open the door, he waved his flashlight towards both sides of the hall, he saw nothing was out there. Atleast... not anything he could see.
(The music "Telescope Towers Main Theme 1" from Skylanders: Trap Team plays)
Tiptoeing out of the safety of his room, he gently closed the door behind him and nervously looked around. Same as his room: the hallway's appearance had changed completely. What was going on here!? Okay. Okay. Think about this... Maybe waking up Mario would be the smart thing to do. He'd be able to handle this situation much better than him. So despite Luigi not wanting to disturb his brother's sleep, he went into Mario's room. And sure enough, there was a Mario shaped protrusion under his bedsheets. Luigi walked over, and tried to wake Mario up by shaking him. No answer. So he pulled back the sheets, and saw a pile of discarded clothes in the shape of Mario! There was no way this was an accident. He needed to tell the princesses! But to his disbelief, they were gone as well! Vanished, without a trace!
Luigi was starting to get really freaked out now. Something really screwy was going on here. Swallowing hard, Luigi decided he should find the elevator. Maybe he could find Peach and Daisy on the 8th floor, like they said. It was highly unlikely they'd be there, given how late it was, but he had to try. So he creeped through the hallway. The carpet thankfully muffling his footsteps. He kept quiet, not knowing what could be lurking in the shadows. He then saw a painting on the wall that he didn't see before: it was a painting of a dry bones. It started to wobble for a reason Luigi didn't want to know. Luigi kept his eyes on it, as it shook harder, and more violently until it was practically spasming on the wall. And then... it stopped. Luigi paused for a moment just to be safe. Then suddlenly, a ghost jumped out of the painting at him! Luigi shook, and pointed his flashlight warningly at the ghost. But the ghost playfully floated towards him, before whispering its imitation of a chain chomp sound, causing Luigi to scream.
The ghost laughed, as it stole a sword from a nearby suit of armor. This ghost was known as a goob. Blue and skinny. Not very dangerous on their own... unless you happen to have no means of containing them. Luigi ran for his life, as the goob whistled to summon its friends, and they all chased after him. Why could Mario and Luigi never have a normal vacation!? Luigi ran for his life, but soon found himself cornered at a dead end. The only thing he could see was the laundry chute. He hesitantly looked at it, and then back to the horde of ghosts gleefully closing in on him. He knew what he had to do. And he didn't like it. But it was better than getting caught. Luigi stuffed himself down the laundry chute, where he fell down into the darkness. Eventually landing in a mound of laundry. Thank goodness they helped cushion his fall. Getting out, and taking a sock off his shoulder, he then exited the laundry room. It felt good being on the ground floor, but he sadly knew his friends were most likely still trapped in this place. And he was NOT leaving without them. No matter how terrified he was. But first, he wanted to get his bearings. On his way to the parking lot, to form a plan, he walked through another hallway.
And upon turning a corner, he gasped. It was Vinny. But she was noticeably different: her pupils were missing, and her body was translucent. She was a ghost too! But she looked alive when they saw her earlier that day! Luigi hid back behind the corner while he calmed down. "I'm sorry, is there a problem, sir?" Luigi jumped out of his skin, as Vinny had somehow noticed him, and walked up to him without making a sound.
(The music "Deadbird Studio Reception" from A Hat in Time plays)
"Please try not to scream. I doubt many at this hour would appreciate it." Wait... She didn't seem like she wanted to hurt him at all. Vinny promptly responded to Luigi's shocked expression. "Oh. You're confused about my appearance. I wear eye contacts during the day shift, see?" She pulled out colored contacts, that gave the illusion she had pupils. Luigi lowered his flashlight, seeing she wasn't dangerous. "Anyway, I must ask you to return to your room. Unwarranted wandering of the premises may throw off our staff's daily rounds."
Luigi then spoke up to her. "What's that? You can't find your friends, and you're looking for them? So I'm guessing they haven't turned in for the night?" Luigi nodded. "My. That is rather peculiar. My apologies, I probably should've provided a map to you four. It's easy to get lost in a building with such scale. Please, allow me to accompany you. I'm more familiar with the floor layout, so it should make your search less tedious. Besides, I can't have a guest blindly roaming the hotel at night by himself." He was a tad perplexed to have a friendly ghost with him. But her rationality did make sense. So he agreed, and the two of them started exploring. Something told Luigi he had a loooong night ahead of him.