Again, they rose to floor 9. The same ambience as before came washing in, as Vinny and Luigi left the elevator once more. "What happened down there, youngsters? We lost connection for a while, there." E. Gadd chimed, on the Joyconnector. Vinny was thankful they were back to a floor that was sufficiently clean. "We ran into some obstacles, but we got the part you needed." They approached the same ship hull that was blocking their way before. "That's great! Then chances are, you already know what to do. Luigi, my boy, if you would do the honors?" Luigi nodded, and stood near the power conduit as the poltergust was sent into overdrive once again. As his typhoon of suction activated once again, the ship hull started falling apart, wooden boards came flying out of it and into the poltergust with awe-inspiring speed. And after a minute or two of suction, it was done. The door was accessible. Luigi stepped away from the conduit, glad they were successful.
"Eureka! It worked! And looking at the schematics on this map, you shouldn't have that much ground to cover." As they approached the door, Vinny turned to Luigi. "Yes. Even so, we don't know what Captain Vincent will have in place for our arrival. One wrong decision may very well end with a burial at sea." Luigi swallowed hard, showing he agreed. And the two of them walked through the door, their guard up for whatever awaited them. They found themselves on a small beach, complete with a palm tree here and there. Beyond that, was a long dock made exclusively out of wood. The long runway of lumber leading up to a foreboding pirate ship with tattered black sails, and an ominous light blue glow around it. It quietly sat there, on the body of water underneath it. The calm before the storm.
(The music "Tower's Puzzle" from Mario Rabbids Kingdom Battle plays)
"He's waiting for us..." Vinny stated, even though neither of them saw anyone on board. "If Daisy wasn't in a painting right now, she'd probably think this was awesome." Peach remarked, as the duo ventured onto the dock. The planks beneath them creaking with each step. The water had no fish in it, which was understandable, considering it'd be a pain to have to take care of them in such a huge tank. As they got closer, Luigi stopped for a moment. "What is it?" Luigi pointed to the ship, prompting Vinny to look and see the cannons were slowly turning by themselves to point at them. "Oh, crud..." They than began opening fire on them, blowing apart chunks of the dock with each shot. Vinny and Luigi were engaged in a sprint, as shards of wood and cannonballs filled the air. It was a less than joyful prospect, having to run towards the source of the whizzing iron balls of death, but they didn't have a choice in the matter. The both of them made it on board the ship, just in time as the last remnants of the dock had been blasted into the sea.
By the looks of it, the cannons were out of ammo. But still no sign of Captain Vincent. Unfortunately, getting up to Daisy meant climbing up the nets. And as pirate movies often show, it is incredibly easy to fall off. "Don't get too comfortable, fellers. I'm sensing some really volatile ghost energy flaring up in your location." E. Gadd warned. The blue glow around the ship started to condense into the center of the ship. Luigi and Vinny forming some distance from it. The mist congealed into a pillar of blue fog, and then a figure took shape within it. The sound of a buoy bell echoing across the ship. The fog then started to dissipate, revealing the nightmarish spirit within. It was a skeleton ghost, 7 feet tall. Dressed in a pirate coat, pants, boots, and a hat. He didn't wear an eyepatch, but his eyes gleamed with an ominous red light. He didn't wear a shirt either. While he wasn't particularly buff, his bones did seem sturdy. "Mine be the pirate's life..." His voice was dry, like someone who was really thirsty, but without a drink.
Vinny grimaced. "Yikes. You've seen better days." Vincent was looked down at them. Vinny putting on a brave face, while Luigi screamed in fear at the towering beast of a man looming over him. "By Poseidon's breath, if it isn't wee little Vinny Midnight. Been an eternity since ye've come by, lassee." Vinny dawned a puzzled expression. "What are you talking about? I've never set foot on this death trap of a vessel in my life." Captain Vincent then exhaled, as if remembering something. "Arrr, slipped my mind a moment, there. Can't blame ye fer fergettin'." He pulled up a wooden chair, and sat in it like a parent explaining something to their child. The shortness of said chair only bringing more attention to the staggering length of his limbs. "I'm very certain I would remember such a bizarre sight. But enough of the Sphinx riddles. You're the one holding Daisy captive, correct?" Vincent pulled out a gold coin from his coat pocket, and started turning it in his hand.
"Not exactly. It's true that I'm the one guardin' it, but if I'm being honest with mesself, I know how crooked this scheme of his is." Vinny and Luigi stood close to one another, in case he was setting them up. "So... what are you gonna do, then? Are you just gonna let us take her back...?" He then placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, still in its sheath. "Don't go makin' assumptions now, little lady." He then swiftly took out his sword, and plunged it into the floor. But because this ship had a lower deck, it didn't put them at risk for sinking. He rested his hands on his blade, and then his chin on his hands. "We buccaneers operate through raids, see? To the victor go the spoils, and all that. So I'll make you a deal: the three of us will battle right here, right now. And the victor keeps the paintin'. Sound fair?" Luigi and his ghostly companion looked at one another, to come to a consensus on the matter. After a minute, they had their answer. "We accept your challenge, Captain." Vincent smirked, or atleast as much as he could, since he didn't have lips. He stood up, and kicked his chair overboard as he drew his sword from the ground. "Hehehe. Somewhere in these old bones, I knew you were still the same deep down. Prepare yerself!"
(The music "Mako Tsunami Theme" from Yugioh: Duel Links plays)
Vincent tossed Vinny a sword, so that she had a means to defend herself before stomping so hard that the ship shook, and then utilizing the paralyzed state of his opponents to get a slice at them. Thankfully, Vinny weaved under the attack just in time, and Luigi shielded himself with the poltergust. Causing Vincent's blade to ding off of its metallic surface. "Back to Davy Jones' locker with you!" Vinny proclaimed, as she and the captain engaged in a duel. Luigi used his poltergust on on Vincent, but he was shocked to see it had no effect on him! "It appears he's too heavy for the poltergust to suck him up in one go, sonny!" Vinny gritted her teeth, as she struggled to keep up with the vicious flurry of sword swipes, looking for an opening. "Yar, this takes me back. The excitement in yer eyes when you played here. I'll admit, yer cheer was awfully infectious back then." Vinny wasn't in the mood for him spouting what sounded like mumbo jumbo to her in the middle of a sword fight. Taking advantage of her small size relative to him, she rolled under his legs and slashed at the back of his knee, forcing him to fall down.
Seeing his chance, Luigi used his poltergust, sucking up Vincent's arm. It wasn't his sword arm, but it was better than nothing. "I was hopin' to see that again in this fight. That's why I'm doin' this." Vinny was about to start attacking again, but saw Vincent was charging up an attack. He thrusted his sword forward, as some ghost sharks leaped out of the water, and swam across the deck in a straight line towards them. Scattering to avoid the attack, Luigi sucked up one of the ghost sharks by the tail and launched it at Vincent, but to his shock and slight amazement, Vincent sliced the airborne animal clean in half! That's when he got an idea. He spawned Gooigi, and the both of them sucked up a shark. But Vincent was definitely aware of what they had in mind, and got out his pistol. But Vinny sprang to action, swatting his weapon out of his hand and cutting off his leg.
Before he could retaliate, Luigi and Gooigi launches their sharks at him, blowing him backwards and knocking him over the railing. Luigi then sucked up his detached leg before it could reattach to the rest of him. Captain Vincent was now dangling over the edge of the ship. "Well, I'm sorry to say I don't remember any of that, Vincent. Besides, I've changed. I'm more responsible, more mature. It's just better this way." Vincent then vaulted back onto the ship, before proceeding to yank his anchor out of the sea and brandishing it as his new weapon. "I'm glad ye wanna improve. But ask yerself this: are these changes actually makin' you happy?" Vinny paused. She actually didn't have an answer for that. Was she actually happier, now that she was a more exemplary person? Somewhere along the way, did she lose sight of what she really wanted, without even noticing it? "Yer so committed to makin' yer daddy proud, that ye've forgotten how to live fer yerself." Vinny sighed. Vincent's statement, and Vinny's response told everyone listening that this was what she was so upset about on floor 8. "Maybe you're right... I wanted his approval more than anything in the world. Soon enough, nothing else seemed to matter anymore..."
"Bad things may have happened, Vinny. But that doesn't mean ye can't make things better." Vinny didn't know what to say. "Search yerself. Start over with a clean slate. I'm sure ye'll find the answers ye seek." Vinny looked back at Luigi, only now noticing a stray tear trailing down her face. But instead of wiping it away, she just let it fall. The first step to fixing a problem, was acknowledging it existed. "Alright then. Thanks for the advice. Now then... are you ready, captain?" Vincent smirked once more, and once again, he lacked the facial features to express it. "Have at me." Vinny and Luigi charged at him, as the captain swung that massive anchor in a way that showed how heavy it was, but could easily put the hurt on them. Taking advantage of his slower attacks, Vinny did combat with Vincent like a fencer, dodging the blunt object in his grip as she ripped his ribs to ribbons with her sword. Luigi meanwhile, mostly scurried behind him, sucking him up bit by bit, aided by Vinny whittling him down. Eventually his other leg was suctioned from underneath him, causing him to drop the anchor. And before he knew it, he was reduced to just a head and an arm.
They stopped their assault, as their opponent was unable to do any harm to them now. "Magnificent. I haven't had a spar like that in years. Ye have won, so as agreed, ye may have yer prize." The two of them nodded. "I'm glad we got to chat, captain." Vinny added. The two of them turned to start climbing the nest. "Wait. There is one more thing ye must know." They turned back around to face their skeletal friend. "On the next floor, floor 10, those magicians have some diary pages hidden away somewhere. He will do whatever he can to stop ye from findin' them, but ye must." Vinny raised an eyebrow. "Who is 'he'? Are you referring to the perpetrator?" Vincent would nod, if he could. "Aye. I thought ye'd have figured it out by now. He's-" but before he could finish his sentence, the water started to shake violently. Blue robotic tentacles rose from the tides! "What the!? What's going on!?"
Vincent looked at the tentacles, as they started to wrap around the ship. "The kraken robot...! But that was s'pposed to be deactivated a long time ago- Argh, I see what's happenin'. He's tryin' to destroy me so I can't tell ye the truth. You two climb the nets!" Vinny furrowed her brow. "And leave you here!? You can't be serious!" Vincent laughed. "Don't worry, lass. I've been evadin' death for a while now." Luigi took her hand, and the two climbed as the boat crackled and shook as the kraken started crushing it, with its mechanical might. Hanging on with all their might, as they got closer to Daisy. Sure enough, they got to the crow's nest. But what would they do now!? The bridge to land was destroyed, and they'd never get down in time! Were they going down with the ship!? But far below them, they spotted Vincent holding his sword in the only hand he had left. He sliced down the mast, causing them to be sent teetering down, but as he was trying to accomplish, the mast was just long enough to land them safely on the beach, Daisy's painting intact. And just in time, as the kraken submerged the ship under the ocean, never to be seen again.
As the duo dusted the sand off of themselves, they gazed back at where the ship used to be. "To think that the ghost of a floor would end up saving us..." Vinny spoke aloud. "His sacrifice won't be in vain. It's thanks to him we were able to save Daisy." E. Gadd exclaimed. Remembering that, Luigi propped Daisy's painting against a palm tree and used the darklight on it. To his joy and relief, Daisy popped out of the painting. Safe and sound. "Woah, that was... Golly, what was that...?" She scanned her surroundings. "Luigi? How did I get here? What's that silly thing on your back?" Peach then spoke up on the Joyconnector. "We were kidnapped by ghosts. I'm glad to see you're safe, Daisy." Daisy's eyes then lit up. "Wait, you mean this place is haunted? Wow! This place keeps getting better and better." Everyone just stood there in disbelief. "But then again, it was incredibly rude of them to stuff me into a picture frame. I swore Tatanga would be the last person to ever capture me. To this day, I STILL have him doing community service for his mischief."
She sighed. "All that, and I never got a chance to try out the pool. I told you Peach, it was my destiny to give it a shot, but does anyone listen to me around here?" Peach awkwardly paused. "This isn't the time for petty arguments, Daisy. You should come here to the lab, where it's safe." Daisy then looked at Luigi. "Yeah, you're probably right. Oh! And thanks for coming to my rescue Luigi. I can always count on my knight in shining overalls." She kissed him on the cheek, causing his face to go red. The three of them walked back to the elevator, only one more of Luigi's friends left trapped in this hotel: Mario. E. Gadd then realized something. "Wait a minute... Vinny, didn't Captain Vincent say your last name is Midnight?" He asked. "Yeah. Vinny Ikana Midnight. What about it?" E. Gadd gasped. "That means your father is Maxill! All this time I thought you were the daughter of one of the servants. But now that I think about it... I somewhat recall Maxill having a kid. Feels like a whole other lifetime ago." Vinny shrugged. "Yeah. Me and my dad aren't very close anymore... but I have a lot to think about. I don't know how, but maybe, just maybe, I can right the wrongs of our relationship." They all went in the elevator, and went back down...
Meanwhile, somewhere else in the building...
A shadowy figure sat in a chair, in an office. Their seat facing the window, which showed the moonlit sky in all its glory. Because their chair is turned away, it is hard to decipher who they are. "You um... wanted to see us, sir?" Three magician girls walked into the office. Elline standing outside the door like a guard. Each girl was blonde, and had pinkish-purple skin. They had white eyes, and their uniforms were that of a traditional magician, with the addition of capes. All colored violet. The figure did not spin around to face them. His silence making the triplets nervous. "S-sir?" The figure then spoke. His voice sounded tired, and lacked any emotion. "Nikki. Lindsey. Ginny. I'm certain I don't need to remind you of the oath you all swore. You would protect our secret at all costs..." the girls all shuddered, fearful of what he might say. Lindsey then broke the silence. "Indeed, sir. We remember quite... quite well." The figure seemed satisfied with that response. "Good. Because now it's time to put that commitment to the test. They're coming for you. I trust you're adequately prepared."
Nikki nervously twiddled her thumbs. "No- I mean yes! Yes yes, totally! We've even made a new spell to make sure everything goes to plan, haha!" Her sisters looked at her in a way that signaled she should stop talking before she says something that'd get them in trouble. The figure leaned back slightly in their chair. "For your sake, I hope so." Nikki squealed a bit, and Ginny cleared her throat. "Any particular orders for us, sir?" A minute went by of agonizing silence, before the figure responded. "Get our little interloper under control. And if you harm one hair on the girl's head..." His sentence trailed off in a way that made the three of them understand exactly the severity of their hypothetical punishment. They sat there quietly. Lindsey tugging at her collar uncomfortably. The figure sat back up straight. "You are dismissed." His voice had no anger in it, but they could tell he meant business. The three of them scurried out of his office like mice fleeing from a cat. The figure not reacting in any way. Continuing to stare out at the moon...