Some people yearn for the truth. Some yearn only for happiness. There are some truths that once learned, those who know them would do anything to forget. But regardless of how fiercely the darkness clings to your soul, will you seek out the strength to stand again and press on? When you look up at the night sky, will you see the looming void of blackness, or the stars contained within it? The most powerful strength in the world, is to hold onto hope in the face of despair. So when the world reaches out its hand, will yours be able to take it?
Vinny and Luigi entered the lobby once again. When coming face to face with the door to floor 2, they could see it was submerged in ectoplasm. Vinny hesitantly plucked a flower out of a nearby vase, and pressed it against the door to see it wilt instantly upon contact. "Yeah... Probably best not to touch that stuff." She then looked to the side to see a vent. One that was miraculously spared the contamination. Taking a breath, she turned back to Luigi. "I'm sorry I have to get you guys tangled up in my family's problems. But I can't leave her like this anymore. I just can't." Luigi put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "You're doing the right thing, Vinny. I'm sure your parents would be proud of you." Peach exclaimed. Vinny was grateful for the support, but also knew that if they started getting mushy now, it'd only mean Nivyn would have to suffer longer. Luigi used his rope plunger to yank down the vent's cover, and the two of them crawled in. It was dustier than Tostarena Ruins in here, but atleast it was safe. The duo ended up taking the vents into room E-001. The floor around the vent hadn't yet been consumed by the black mucus, but the rest of the room was. The bed, the walls, most of the floor, and even bits of the ceiling.
Most of the drawings they found the first time in here had been drowned in the ectoplasm. But thankfully, one was spared. The one of Vinny and her family. Carefully retrieving it from the slowly spreading ooze, she folded it up into her pocket for later. "How are you guys gonna get through this place, if you can barely touch anything in it?" Daisy asked. "Well, we're gonna have to get creative, I guess." The door of this room was thankfully left open. It was only a question of traversing the sea of slime. "I guess I'll have to carry you, Luigi... Let's hope all this exercise tonight has prepared me for this." Luigi knew she didn't mean to imply he was heavy. Lifting someone almost the same size as you would be difficult for anyone. So Luigi reluctantly held up his arms, and Vinny pulled him up. She moved slowly, as to avoid dropping him. It was a very awkward sight to behold. But the decaying state of the floor was enough to keep their minds off that.
The ectoplasm churned, and sloshed on every surface. Something straight out of a home renovator's worst nightmares. "Goodness gracious! This is the highest concentration of ectoplasm I've ever seen in a single place!" E. Gadd added. "Do you know what that stuff is, Professor?" Peach asked, slightly horrified by the visuals. E. Gadd adjusted his glasses. "Yes. It's a common misconception that ectoplasm is what ghosts are made of. But in actuality, it's a physical manifestation of a spirit's negativity. Toxic thoughts that a ghost lacks the ability to consciously handle. So instead, they're expelled from the mind through-" Vinny cut him off. "Tears." E. Gadd gasped. "How did you know that?" Vinny and Luigi then found their way into the room they fought Nivyn in before, and sure enough, there she was. Slouched against a corner with her head slumped over. And yet, they could clearly black tear stains trailing down her face. "That's how."
There was a safe spot in the middle of the room. The remains of the dolls that had been smashed earlier that night barely remained. The ectoplasm visibly struggling to consume them. Vinny gladly placed Luigi down on the safe spot, it appeared Nivyn hadn't noticed them yet. But it was still clear she wasn't asleep either. "Nivyn..." Nivyn barely even stirred, upon hearing her name. Vinny slowly and cautiously began walking towards her. "Nivyn, it's me." They could hear Nivyn's ragged breathing. Her only response was in the form of a low mutter. "...What do you want?" As if in response, their amount of available ground slipped away slightly under the dark liquid. "I-I want to help you. I think I'm close to figuring out what went wrong." Nivyn merely growled to herself. "I know it sounds hypocritical, considering I've left you to wallow in all this for so long. But please, I wanna make things right again." Nivyn finally looked up at them, and everyone was taken by surprise to see her eyes were red. They looked like they stung to even keep open. "...Go away." She quietly warned.
Vinny took a moment to regain her composure. "I'm sorry, I can't do that. Asking you to trust me, or anyone for that matter, probably feels like an insult after everything you've had to endure. But all I ask is this one last chance." Nivyn's face contorted into a crooked smile that did nothing to hide her pent up rage. "Go... away..." Her voice cracked, as her facial expression trembled with the emotions inside. By now, Vinny had to float in order to give Luigi room to stand. She'd want to think carefully about her next words, but if she didn't say something fast, they would have to face the bone-scorching inferno of Nivyn's wrath. "I'll prove it to you! Anything you want, and I'll do it! I swear!" That seemed to calm Nivyn down a bit. The ectoplasm stopped spreading just in the nick of time. But it wasn't over just yet. All it took was one wrong word, and that dam would burst.
"...Anything... you say?" Nivyn asked. Vinny's answer very likely being the deciding factor in if they leave that room at all. "Yes... Even if I don't fully know what those things are, it's clear that you're a good person who's been through some horrible events. I can be here for you, but only if you let me." Nivyn paused. She was thinking. Vinny didn't know if that was good or bad. Nivyn took a few deep breaths. "A game." Vinny didn't wanna accidentally provoke her, but she needed more specifics to go on. "A game?" Nivyn stood up, her fury dissipating to simple irritation. "The three of us will play a game. Win or lose, I don't care. But if I feel the slightest hint of hesitation on your part. I. Will. DESTROY you." Her anger began bubbling up again, as she approached Vinny, and looked her dead in the eyes. "Understand?" Vinny gulped, and nodded her head. "Yes... What kind of game do you wanna play...?" Nivyn did not respond. Her expression shifting to that of indifference as suddenly the walls exploded with torrents of ectoplasm! Geysers of black erupting all around them like a raging waterfall, or an angry volcano. Despite their best efforts to avoid the incoming flood, it wasn't long before the entire room was filled. The last thing they saw before they were submerged was Nivyn's salt-irritated eyes...
And yet... strangely, they were alive. Well, Luigi was, since Vinny is a ghost, but you get what I'm saying. Despite being sunken in this void, they were still fine. And then... the shadows dispelled, and they found themselves in some strange city with white buildings, and a cloud coated sky. "What in the world is going on!?" Peach asked, in shock. E. Gadd frantically clicked on his keyboard. "I don't know, somehow Nivyn has projected her own thoughts onto the environment. It's just like with King Boo's Illusion. She's created a world that doesn't actually exist." Vinny gasped. She recognized this place! Looking down at her hand, she saw it was covered in a red latex with black polka dots. She found she was in a jumpsuit of the same color scheme, and had a domino mask that also matched this motif. "Oh. My. Gosh! Luigi, are you seeing thi-" she looked to see Luigi was there as well. He was wearing a suit as well. Only his was purely black, his hat included. He had a black domino mask, and black cat ears growing out of his hat. "This is so... wow!" Luigi looked at their new attire, and was equally surprised.
"What's with the costume change?" Daisy pondered, scratching her head. Vinny reached around her waist, and found exactly what she expected: a yo-yo that stuck with her established colors. "Guys. I don't know how she did it, but we're somehow in the world of Miraculous Ladybug!" Everyone went silent. Having no idea what she's talking about. "You don't know? It's a TV show. My favorite TV show, in fact. And if we're here... I think I can guess what Nivyn has in store." She looked up at the sky. "Hmm... judging by the ominous boiling storm clouds above us..." She looked off into the distance to see the clouds looked their scariest above a glass building. "Stormy Weather. You never quite forget your first, I suppose." She walked over to the edge of the building they were on, before turning back to Luigi and taking a bow. "Welcome to Paris, Luigi. Well... not the real Paris, but you know. We have a supervillain to defeat. And don't fret, you won't need the poltergust for this one. I'll explain the situation on the way there." Luigi was still quite confused, but he nodded anyway. "Alright. Follow me." She leaped over to the neighboring rooftop, and Luigi frantically followed behind.
At the tower...
Vinny and Luigi ran through the empty offices of the building, as they scaled closer and closer to the epicenter of the thunderstorm above. "Stormy Weather has power over... well... the weather. If we want to stop her, We'll need to break her parasol. But that same parasol also serves as her main weapon, so be careful in how you go about it." Luigi wondered by fictional media had to be so complicated. They hopped on the elevator and headed up to the roof. As the elevator brought them towards the top, the two of them used these last few minutes to brace themselves. "Alright, ace. Get ready." Vinny stated. Ding! When the elevator opened, they saw a giant shard of ice heading straight for them! They barreled out of the way, avoiding any harm, but leaving the elevator completely obliterated in the process. "You're very poorly dressed for the rain, sis." Vinny and Luigi gazed up. The entire tower was surrounded by the walls of a black tornado. And up in the sky, in the center of it was none other than Stormy Weather herself. Except it was clear that the one piloting her was Nivyn.
Stormy Weather adhered to a strict color scheme of milky whites, and pure blacks. Her paper white skin, black dress, and opera-length gloves living by that unspoken rule. Gripped tight in her hand was her parasol. "I have to say, this is much more pleasant than what I thought you had in mind. I'll gladly demonstrate my conviction right here, and now." Vinny boldly proclaimed, yo-yo in hand. Stormy Weather frowned grimly. "Perhaps the gravity of the situation hasn't yet been made apparent. I predict multi-scattered lightning strikes, and the both of you buffoons on the pavement begging for mercy!" She pointed her parasol towards the sky, as it got struck by lightning. Leading to her weapon sparking with deadly bolts of electricity.
(The song "Light and Shadow" from League of Legends plays. Once this story is over, you NEED to hear it. It'll help carry over the weight of this scene better than anything else.)
"If this is what you wanted, I'll do what I can to deliver." Stormy Weather closed her eyes dismissively. "It's too late for apologies. Our fighting will do the talking now." She shot the building with lightning, causing chunks of it to be blown into the sky. Vinny and Luigi managed to avoid the attack, hitching a ride on the debris to get closer to Stormy Weather. The open starry sky visible up above the black tendrils of the tornado. Vinny used her yo-yo to rope herself higher up the swirling scraps of concrete. Stormy Weather cast her open palm out at her, as fissures of lava scaled up the mighty gales of wind towards her and Luigi. Luigi jumped for his life, as the streams of fiery death inches closer and closer to him. Vinny skillfully pounced higher away from Nivyn's blistering vengeance. Eventually, Vinny and Luigi veered towards one another, and just before they were about to collide, the somersaulted backwards, causing the lava to crash into itself. From there, they both made a triumphant vault toward Stormy Weather, who merely scowled. "Fall." She commanded, in a flat whisper, as she cast her arms to the side to bring forth a gust of wind to blow her opponents sky high.
As they tore through the heavens, Vinny grabbed Luigi's arm and used her yo-yo to latch onto a stop sign sticking out of a chunk of the street below. They held on for dear life, mere feet away from the edge of the tornado. Seeing this, Stormy Weather held her parasol to her chest, creating a giant golem made of hail! But Vinny literally and figuratively held on. This wasn't the end. Not yet. She threw Luigi down, aiming for any bit of land that hadn't been destroyed yet. Stormy Weather summoned forth a ferocious cyclone to propel her monster up towards Vinny. But Vinny hoisted herself towards the golem, and vaulted over it. Sliding down its back like a policeman sliding across the hood of their car. As Luigi landed safely, he tried to take advantage of Stormy Weather's gaze being focused on Vinny, and bolted off the platform to tackle her. But Stormy Weather heard him coming, and sculpted a giant wall of snow to block him. Luigi's determination turned to fear as he was on a one way trip into a solid sheet of snow. And just before he hit it, he thought about how much of a cataclysm this was...
He stopped himself from with his hands, and when his hand touched the snow, it turned black, and started falling apart. What was happening!? Did he do that!? He kicked off the snow as it gave away, with Vinny diving down towards her target from above. She threw out her yo-yo to the side. "Lucky charm!" And in a flash of light, it turned into a sword. Vinny took a moment to look at it. "Cool." Stormy Weather opened up her parasol to generate a line of storm clouds to obscure her vision. Unable to see anything, Vinny missed her, but was able to grab onto the edge of a desk swirling in the wind current's iron grip. Finding her footing on it, she hopped over to Luigi and awaited Stormy Weather's next attack. She was now looking more frustrated by their resilience. "You will never understand how this feels. This raging storm in my heart." She gloomily stayed, as she charged up for another electric charge. At that moment, Vinny saw a water tower floating in the wreckage. And that's when she figured out how to use her lucky charm.
"Luigi, you get the parasol. I'll handle Nivyn." Luigi didn't know what she meant yet, but he trusted her. She winded back her arm. "Aim, don't fail me now..." She chucked her sword across the chasm, and towards the water tower. Hitting it dead on, as the now gaping hole in it unleashed the water inside. Stormy Weather saw what she was up to, but it was too late, she couldn't get out of the way, and when the water soaked her, she got electrocuted by her own lightning! As steam rose from her body, she dropped her parasol and began falling. Vinny diver after her, while Luigi focused on securing the parasol. Vinny was successful, catching Stormy Weather in the air and safely tackling her onto a shard of land. Luigi also snatched up the parasol, and made his way down to the building again. With everyone back on solid ground, Luigi broke the parasol in two, prompting a small black butterfly to fly out of it. Vinny smirked, and stood up. "No more evil doing for you, little akuma." She flung her yo-yo at it, catching the butterfly inside. After swinging it around a bit, she released the butterfly again. But now, it was pure white.
Stormy Weather stirred from her dazed state, as the tornado died down, and the sky began clearing up. "I can't believe... I lost." Vinny walked over to her. "But you had fun, didn't you? Even though I was in danger the whole time, I did." She reached out her hand to her. Stormy Weather gazed at it suspiciously, as she reverted to her true form of Nivyn. "Yeah, I... guess so. But... why? Why do you suddenly care about me?" Luigi watched the exchange. "I've always had a guilty conscience about you. Even though your sadness never really came from me, at first. But some recent events spurred me to look deeper, and... now that we've fought, I know without a shadow of a doubt who you are." She paused, and smiled. "You're me. My other half." Everyone watching looked on in amazement, Daisy in particular shouting 'What!?'. Nivyn sighed. "You always did things better than me. When we were split, daddy and mommy had no interest in me. They only wanted you. Living in that shadow, knowing you got ditched for someone else... it hurts. But regardless, you were the only one I had. The only one who even remotely showed interest in me. I wanted to be a part of your family..."
She took her hand, and got up. "But I guess after all I've done, I just don't deserve that. You were a victim too, in all of this. It wasn't fair for me to take out my anger on you." Vinny hugged her, catching her by surprise. "The past is the past, Nivyn. There's still much to do, but if we can just put all this behind us, maybe one day it'll all seem like a mere bad dream. I want us to move on toward a brighter future. Can I count on you to walk towards it with me?" Nivyn was silent for a minute, before hugging her back. "I would like that... very much." The whole world faded in a flash of white light, and when Luigi's vision returned, they found themselves back in floor 2. Only all the ectoplasm was gone. The wallpaper was mended, and the colors on them were back in their prime. The lights were working too, and everything was all around as clean and pristine as when it was first built.
And there stood Vinny, glimmering with a blue light. Nivyn was nowhere to be seen, but Vinny's attire looked slightly different. Her uniform was now black, with traces of blue here and there. And instead of wearing a bellhop hat, she wore a black three-pointed jester hat, with a silver tiara attached to the front. Said tiara had a dark blue jewel in the center.
(The Dire Dire Docks Remix, by AJ DiSpirito plays)
Vinny opened her eyes. Said eyes finally had her pupils return to them. She looked calm, refreshed, and overall... happy. "I see what happened, now. In order to make us obedient to the contract, King Boo empowered the aspects of my parents' minds that would make them loyal to him. But me? I had no negative emotions he could twist into that sort of compliance. So when he found me, instead of manipulating what was already there, he tore out the memories and emotions that would've been disloyal to him. Thus, Nivyn was born." She straightened her hair. "But now, we're one person again. And I have you to thank for that, Luigi. You, E. Gadd, and all the others." She approached Luigi, and took his hand. "Remember though, our work isn't done yet. My parents are still likely bound by the contract. And it's likely we'll find your brother along the way." Luigi smiled, and nodded. The both of them headed back to the elevator. The night wasn't over, but it was proving to be a new dawn for the Midnights...
(So that's my very first crossover of any kind. I mean, technically it wasn't a crossover, because none of the real characters from the show made an appearance, but I have to say that this is the best chapter I've written yet! In my opinion, anyway. Hope you're all having a fantastic new year!)