And so Luigi wandered through the darkness with his new ghost companion, Vinny. The two of them walked into the parking lot. "I truly do not see how searching outside the building will be of use in finding your friends." Luigi then explained to her. "I suppose you're right. It's best to leave no stone unturned." They then walked past the shuttle bus Luigi and co arrived in, and saw a red car behind it that had a very familiar paint job. Luigi approached it, and saw plenty of high tech contraptions worked into it. Luigi then asked about it. "That rusty old thing? Yes, I believe it belongs to a strange looking old man. He arrived a few hours before you did. He must've been important. President Midnight came down to personally greet him. Other than that, I know very little." Luigi put a hand on his chin, before getting an idea.
He flashed his strobulb at the green light on the trunk. Turning it on, and opening it. "Sir, I don't think I need to remind you that it's a crime to tamper with other people's belongings like this." Luigi rummaged through the trunk, and there it was! A poltergust! Looks like a new model, too! Luigi couldn't help but be impressed by its shiny appearance. "What on earth is that thing? It's best that you return it immediately, before you have the chance to break it." But before he could respond, something wooshed in, and practically tackled Luigi as it swiped the poltergust from his hands! Upon getting up, he realized it was Murphy! But he was a ghost too. And he seemed like he wasn't there to be his friend. "Ah! Thank you for recovering this device. We do not allow weapons anywhere near our fine establishment." Vinny stared, perplexed. "Good grief, Murphy! What's gotten into you!? You just body-slammed a guest!"
Murphy then looked back, seemingly just as confused. "Vinny? What are you doing here? Oh, whatever. I got what I came for." Vinny's expression was that of disbelief. "'What you came for'? President Midnight is gonna be furious, when he hears of this appalling behavior." Murphy rolled his nonexistent pupils. "You couldn't be more wrong, kiddo. Just leave this to the adul-" but before he could finish his sentence, Luigi grabbed onto the poltergust. The two of them then engaged in a tug of war. Both seemed to have equal strength, until a shoe came crashing into Murphy's face, causing him to lose his grip and fall over. Looking in the direction it came, Luigi saw Vinny had thrown her shoe at him. "I will not tolerate such unacceptable behavior from our staff." As Murphy was dazed, Luigi quickly strapped on the poltergust, preventing him from taking it again.
"Argh. I don't get paid enough for this job. Fine! You wanna play rough? Let's play rough!" He then picked up a nearby suitcase, and threw it at them. But Luigi immediately activated his poltergust, and sucked it up mid-flight. Getting it pressed against the vacuum of his poltergust. He then shot it back out at Murphy, and the ghost bellhop ducked under the attack. "I hope you realize that's coming out of your paycheck, you brute." Luigi then flashed Murphy with the strobulb, and proceeded to suck him in. Murphy fled from the wind as best he could, and grabbed onto a luggage trolley. Seeing what he was thinking, Luigi stopped the suction, but not in time to avoid being smashed in the face with the runaway trolley.
Thinking fast, Murphy looked around, a smirk appearing on his face as he went on to possess E. Gadd's car! Luigi stood back in shock, and Vinny watched for any sudden movements. The car then screeched, as it barreled uncontrollably towards them. Vinny leaped out of the way, but Luigi got completely bodied by the haunted vehicle. Hanging for dear life on the windshield, Murphy crashed the car into the walls again and again to try and piledrive Luigi into them. Being flipped off of the car as it sped around the room, Luigi gasped as it revved its engine at him, skidding its tires, as it came at him at full speed with the intention of running him over. Not knowing what to do, Luigi braced for impact and accidentally flashed the strobulb.
The light on E. Gadd's car activated, and the trunk opened, sending Murphy flying out of the car and into the wall, while the car came to a stop just before it hurt Luigi. The car then pretty much collapsed from all the damage it took, one of the tires rolling away from the wreckage. Murphy dizzily rose back up, as Luigi seized the moment to flash him again, and get a capture stream on him. He panted, as he desperately tried to flee. "What? Ever... ever heard of road rage before!?" In the struggle, Murphy held onto the entrance to the shuttle bus with all his might. Trying his best to pull himself in, away from the suction. But to his horror, Vinny was gleefully sitting in the driver's seat, giving him a mocking smile with her hand on a lever. "Sorry passengers, this is our last stop." She joked. Murphy gave her a pleading expression, but she pulled the leve back. Closing the bus door on his fingers, and causing him to lose his grip. "I was on my way to retirement anywaaaay!" He yelled, as he was sucked up into the poltergust. Captured.
Luigi caught his breath, as Vinny stepped off the bus. "Well... that was quite a trying ordeal. I'm terribly sorry you had to be involved in that." Luigi smiled to show it was okay. Vinny then looked at the poltergust. "The way you used that thing... you've done this before, haven't you?" He nodded. "Well, I am in your debt for helping deal with that hooligan. I don't understand, he's never acted like this before." Luigi then spoke up. "As much as I hate to admit, I think you're right. This could very much be linked to the disappearance of your companions." Then something floated out of the poltergust: a note of sorts. "Hmm? What's this?" She snatched it out of the air, and began to read it. "Torn in half. Probably from all the chaos that just ensued. Let's see... 'sure to place him on the 2nd floor, where he can be admired. Then search for the poltergust.' No name at the bottom. Figures."
Luigi thought about what it could mean. "So we have some unknown individual ordering around staff? Such despicable actions are irreconcilable." Vinny paused for a moment, and then turned back to Luigi. "With that device on your back... the 'poltergust', I take it...? With it, I very well may require your services more than you do mine. I know it's... not really your problem exactly, but... while we search for your friends, can you help me find and contain this shadowy mastermind along the way? I don't know how, but I promise you that you'll be compensated for your hard work." He gave a thumbs up. "Thank you so much. Given what this note says, I believe the 2nd floor would be the logical place to start. What day you?" He nodded, and then walked away a moment. "Where are you going?"
A second later, he returned with her shoe. The one she threw at Murphy. "Oh. Erm... thanks." She put it back on, and the two of them went back into the hotel, to try and find some clue as to what's going on...