Captain's log, #1969
Day? Night? I've long since lost my sense of time. At this point, I can't even remember the faces of my crew. But I suppose, it's not really like it matters anymore... I can't help but wonder if the people of earth have forgotten about us? Or... perhaps it's more accurate to say me, now? Whatever the case, it's a rather depressing thought. That the people on earth, young and old, have no idea we're stuck up here. Or even that we exist. I just... Thinking about it will get me nowhere. I'll have to sign off for now...
Sherman Sputnik, Hubble 18
Stepping off the elevator, Luigi was somewhat relieved to see that they would not be traversing a floor based around the past, but the future. This floor had a very futuristic vibe to it. Everything had a metallic shine to it, the walls decorated with pixel art, and the floors designed to resemble conveyor belts.
(The music "The Gallery ~Living Dead Party~" from Rayman Legends plays)
"So what's the deal with this floor, Vinny?" Peach asked. The duo walked through the dimly lit corridors, the poor visibility giving the place a creepy look to it. "In this hotel, we used to get visitors from every corner of this planet. And as that fame grew, we eventually started getting visitors from beyond the stars themselves. So this floor was designed to make them feel more at home... but in the time since then, you can see its fallen into a state of disrepair." This was giving Luigi some bad vibes. He distinctly remembers how in his earlier adventures, lit rooms were sanctuaries, and dark rooms were the other side of the border. "Man, where's Rosalina when you need her?" Daisy joked. But before they could get very far, they heard something. "Psst." They looked to their side to see a ghost woman in an astronaut suit. One with long red hair. She was on the other side of a window into one of the other rooms, seemingly trying to avoid drawing too much attention to herself.
"Who are you? I've never seen you before." Vinny stated. The woman darted her eyes down both ends of the hallway. Scanning the area for some unspoken threat. "Listen carefully, I don't have much time to explain. My name is Nayla Constantine. I was an astronaut on board the Hubble 18. You two need to get out of here before he sees you-" Then without warning, she saw something in the corner of her eye and ducked out of view. Following her gaze, Vinny and Luigi were met with the sight of another astronaut. This one was a man. A skinny man, who barely seemed to fit in his suit. His eyelids drooped downwards like a man who forces himself to stay awake with coffee. And it was clear by looking at him that he hasn't given much care to his appearance. His facial hair was poorly shaved off, with a stray hair or two poking out of his face, and his hair awkwardly sagged over his eyes a bit. Even though the duo didn't know who he was, they slowly started backing away just in case.
The man walked towards them at the same pace. "More visitors. Don't be afraid. In fact, I'm happy to have people here. Haven't seen another soul in... well, it doesn't matter." He dryly mumbled. "Heehee, that's erm... arhm, that's okay, we were just... looking for someone." The astronaut stopped advancing, prompting them to stop reversing. "Looking for someone? Sorry to say, but I doubt you'll find anyone but me here. I had a crew once... but they left, I think. To be quite honest, I don't even know if you're real. In all likelihood, I'm just talking to a hallucination." Luigi wasn't sure if he was dangerous, so he kept his poltergust on standby. The astronaut resumed approaching them, to which they saw he had a lazy eye. "Besides, why bother wasting breath? Everybody leaves at some point. That's just how things go around here." He was now a few feet from them. But before he could get any closer, a door opened and Nayla bolted out. "Get away from her, Corrosive!" The instant she spoke, the astronaut's face morphed into a glowing red skull with black eyeholes, and he let out an unearthly shriek as he charged at her.
(The "White Jungle/Eggman's Facility Remix" by YouTuber Turret 3471 plays)
Nayla blasted him with a taser gun, temporarily immobilizing him. "Get somewhere safe! I'll catch up with you later!" Luigi didn't hesitate. Running for the hills right then and there, with Vinny not far behind. As they heard the monster's unearthly roars, they looked for somewhere to hide. "Why are we running? We can take him!" But then E. Gadd chimed in. "Actually, you can't. My calculations say that his suit would protect him from the poltergust's effects. It IS made to protect astronauts, after all." They didn't dare look back, but they could hear the Red Skull cosplayer catching up with them. Upon turning a corner, they saw another ghost. But this one wore much more casual clothes. He had short hair, and glasses, and seemed the same age as Vinny. In his hands was a GameCube controller. "Best get down, you two." He said, with a blank expression. Vinny and Luigi did exactly that, and just as the monster leaped out at them, the ghost blasted a jolt of electricity at it. Shattering it into pixels. "Back to respawn with you, Sherman."
Getting back up, Vinny gasped. "Enahs!?" The ghost, whom Luigi could assume was named Enahs, approached them. "Been a while since I've seen you." Peach then rang up on the Joyconnector. "You know this guy, Vinny?" Vinny smiled. "Yeah, he's cool. We were friends back before the hotel went to heck." Enahs silently observed, in case he needed to speak in the conversation. It was clear he had emotions, it's just that he wasn't that good at physically expressing them. "Well, mister erm... 'Enahs', do you have any idea what that thing was?" E. Gadd inquired. Enahs tucked his controller into his pocket. "Yeah. Its a good thing you showed up when you did. That guy's making a real mess of things. Come on, I'll show you." So they followed him to his room. Said room had game cases stacked on the shelves, a poster here and there, and a few LEGO creations on display, which he had a policy against touching without permission. Sitting down in one of those fun little spinny chairs, he explained the situation.
"That guy was Sherman Sputnik. Main antagonist of the propaganda game, Red Scare. See, Red Scare was made during the Cold War. And so it capitalized on the fears present in the space race. Sherman's lore depicts him as a Soviet astronaut. But on his voyage, the ship was contaminated by a space parasite. It infected him, and made him into what you saw there. The mutated monster, Corrosive. And so he wanders the space shuttle he once commanded, unaware that he was carrying the virus." Vinny sat on a beanbag chair. "That's neat. But I'm guessing he's not done for yet?" Enahs shook his head. "Sadly, no. I knew old-school games were hard, but he was making my playthrough a complete nightmare. And me being the completionist I am, I tried using my ghost powers to remove him from the game so I could beat it. But you saw what happened as a result. Now that he knows you're here, he's gonna come looking for you the instant he respawns."
E. Gadd hopped in his chair. "Oh! A ghost made of code? This gets me giddy to do some research!" Vinny ignored the professor. "So do you have a plan to fix this whole mess?" Enahs pulled out the cartridge for Red Scare. Cheesy retro cover art included. "Yes. I'll start playing the game, and you two lure him here. If I've thought this all out, he should get sucked in. From there, you should dive in and distract him long enough for the game to box him in." Vinny made sure to listen to what he said. She remembered how much he hated having to repeat himself. Vinny got up and did some quick aerobics. "Sounds like we've got ourselves a strategy guide. If Sputnik wants to play, let's play." Luigi sighed. Wishing they wouldn't have to seek out the ghost for once.
A few minutes later...
Once again, they journeyed out into the spooky atmosphere of the halls. While they waded through the corridors, Vinny felt her inner gamer coming to the surface. "You know, those old 8 but games seemed to have a thing with space. Space invaders, Galaga, Sinistar, I suppose it was the sandbox game of its age." Before long, they felt a pair of eyes sizing them down, as well as growling coming from just behind them. The two slowly turned to see Corrosive. "What? It's true, isn't it?" Vinny remarked, as Luigi quickly sent out Gooigi. The slime clone hopping onto Corrosive's helmet, and temporarily blinding it. In a mad dash back to Enahs' room, Luigi toppled over trash cans and plants as he passed them, hoping they'd slow down their pursuer. But looking back, he could only watch in disbelief as Corrosive plowed straight through all the obstacles in its path. This was Battletoads level of unfair here! Throwing the door open, Vinny and Luigi hugged the walls of the room as Enahs played.
Corrosive came bursting into the room, but when he noticed where he was, it was too late. The screen sucked him up in a flash of light. Enahs kept his composure, completely unfazed by what just went down. "Hope you're not rusty after all these years, Vinny." He joked. Vinny chuckled. "I want every news reporter the world over to see this. It's about time I shut 'em up." She cracked her knuckles, and jumped in. Luigi stayed out. Deciding it was probably best to leave this to the profession. Especially since he didn't want to waste any of her lives. Vinny found herself in the cockpit of her own little spaceship, in a sleek astronaut suit. She couldn't help but be impressed by her surroundings. "Okay, this is pretty sweet." And then Enahs appeared on the screen. "This really takes me back. Still think you have what it takes to keep up?" Vinny remembered she should probably address him by his gaming alias, since they're playing together. "Enoch, I've been fighting dragons, pirates, and weather controlling super villains all night. I think I can handle my favorite hobby."
(The music "Chemical Plant, Act 2 from Sonic Mania plays)
Enahs smirked. "Noted. Just don't get frustrated if I'm sitting on a mountain of points after this." Vinny took the controls. "In your dreams. I'm here to win!" So she flew through space, eventually coming across another spaceship. One covered in some sort of gross red tendrils. And inside the cockpit was Corrosive. "Target acquired. Light him up!" She pushed down on the fire button, blasting the ship with a hail of gunfire. But a tumorous looking red tentacle erupted from the ship and blocked the attack, before swerving towards her in retaliation. Fortunately, Vinny steered around the slimy squid arm. "Has the giant enemy crab taught you nothing, Vinny?" At that moment, she saw another ship join the fray. The masked pilot inside undoubtably being Enoch. "Attack the weakpoint." Taking in his words, Vinny pinpointed the thrusters as the place to focus her attacks.
"Wanna do the whole 'white knight riding in to save the day' shtick? Well, I'll be the knight. I'll kite him, you toast his thrusters." She said, before flying in to distract Corrosive. Enahs shrugged. "Fine by me." Vinny soared her ship through the swarm of laser blasts originating from their opponent, and steering his attention away from her player 2. Enoch cracked a smile, as he started rinsing Corrosive's healthbar. The AI in games always seem to prioritize fighting over survival, so the disgruntled alien parasite didn't even notice. But then, Corrosive blasted out a huge front-mounted laserbeam. Vinny tried to avoid it, but the attack blew off her left wing. "Drat, this game has wing damage!?" With Vinny losing altitude, Corrosive then fixed its gaze on Enoch. And he was almost defeated too! "I don't think all the facial cream in the world is gonna fix that ugly mug up, Sherman." Enoch taunted, as he employed evasive maneuvers. Meanwhile, Vinny was getting dangerously close to the edge of the screen, where the death barrier was.
"This is so cheap! Surely there's something that can even the playing field." She nervously said to herself. But as she drifted downwards, her ship touched a rocket icon. Missile powerup acquired. Vinny leaned forward in her chair. "That'll do. Now, come on... just get in range..." As Enoch and Corrosive swarmed one another like angry wasps, Corrosive unknowingly flew in front of Vinny's ship. Target locked. "Give my regards to Kruschev, space scum." She fired, and time seemed to slow down as the missile launched towards Corrosive. And in the blink of an eye, the missile connected. Corrosive's spacecraft exploded, in a ball of fire that would embarrass Michael Bay. Vinny mockingly saluted, as the ash flew by her. "And that is how you deliver a one-liner." She added. Enahs laughed. "Good show. I'll give you this one. Think it's time to come on back to central command, hmm?"
Back in Enah's room, Enahs stood up. "That's the last time I play with a sticky controller. Thanks for the help." They shook hands. "No problem. Now, what about Nayla? Should we do something about her?" Enahs raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry... who?" Vinny paused confusedly. "Nayla. She was out in the hallway as well. I thought by her choice of outfit that she might be from Red Scare too." Enahs dusted himself off. "The only space-bound woman in gaming back then was Samus Aran. You know that." Vinny was puzzled. "But if she's not from your game, then who...?" She then looked around, and noticed Luigi was gone. "Uh oh."
Meanwhile in another room...
Nayla held Luigi against a wall. Clutching him by the throat, with a look of unchecked anger in her eyes. "You stay away from my little girl, you hear me!? I've given her all the warmth and affection left in my heart, and you have to come and try to steal her away from me! Do you have any idea. ANY IDEA. Just how little I have left!?" She chucked him into a bed, crashing him through it, as she panted like a wild animal. She took a moment to regain her composure. "At this point, I don't even care that I've lost my husband to his job. But no one's gonna rip me away from my own daughter. It will not stand!" But then, they heard the door open. "That's enough, mother!" Vinny walked in. Nayla looking panicked, as her eyes darted from side to side. "Vinny, sweetheart, you're supposed to be in bed." Vinny approached her with sincerity in her eyes. "Please listen, I know you mean well. I found out what happened. Just hear me out, is all I ask."
Nayla then shifted into her true form: Elline. It was then she noticed Vinny's hat. "Vinny... what is that you're wearing?" Her voice trembled, a bunch of painful memories were flooding back. "Our family has been broken for years now. And Luigi is the one who helped me realize that. If none of this ever happened, I'd probably still be an unquestioning member of the staff, obediently chasing the approval of my peers. So can you give us permission to do this? If you don't remember, I have the diary pages." She said, pulling out the pages that helped her see the truth. But Elline merely sighed. "Even if I don't remember something important, that's not what matters. What matters is you. Me. I can't be alone after all this..." Vinny furrowed her brow, and looked up at her. "We'll still be a family. We always will. That's never gonna change."
Elline's face was that of fear. The look of someone who was afraid of the possible drawbacks of change. "Your father has become so unpredictable, Vinny. I don't even know if there's a man inside him anymore. If you keep disobeying him like this, I don't know what he's gonna do..." Vinny looked at her with a puppy eyed stare. Elline bit her lip. "Okay... there has to be a compromise in this..." She couldn't make eye contact with her. "Alright. How about this: There are two ghosts you have yet to face, excluding Maxill. One of them is Phantasmagloria, the other is me. If you can prove yourself against both of us, I'll let you confront your father." Vinny held her hand. "Very well. Deal. I promise you won't regret this." Elline looked dejectedly into her daughter's eyes. "I hope so." And like that, she was gone.
Vinny went over and helped Luigi. Thankfully, he was unharmed. The poltergust's incredibly durable metal protecting him from the brunt of her attack. "Come on Luigi. Why don't we head down to the lab for a bit. Get you some more of Peach's cake." Luigi agreed, anywhere was better than here right now. And so they went back down. Only 3 floors remained. And at the top was the haunted haunter, looming over the hotel...
(I was actually very fond of history in school. So any of these chapters that includes bits from real world history, I try to make as accurate as possible. Also, I apologize that it took so long to get this chapter out. Real life issues crept up that slowed my progress. But know this: Blueshade Seraphim ALWAYS finishes her stories. And we're almost at the finale anyway, so it won't be long until then. Thanks for sticking with me.)