(I'd like to give a special shoutout to Agent OmegaX, for being such a huge supporter of this story. Praise is often my biggest motivator for getting through longer stories like this, so I appreciate the kind words. As for what my plans are after this story's done? I'll probably get back to finishing Mariana. But if necessary, I'll take a short break inbetween. Good things are worth waiting for.)
With all the heartache that's been going on through the night for the Midnights, the gang was quite thankful that this next floor would help them decompress, and get some good vibes flowing in. Floor 13: the dance hall. Haunted by the groovy gal who digs disco, Phantasmagloria. As everyone chatted, E. Gadd found some of her music videos by means of The Wayback Machine, (it's an actual thing, look it up), and played them on the monitor. And from them, they saw this dame had quite the smile, even if it wasn't real. "From what I could gather on your next opponent, Gloria Te'ka was once a DJ. One deeply in love with a fellow musician. But mere days before they would get married, he ended up being drafted into the Vietnam war. Sadly, he never made it back home." E. Gadd explained. Vinny nodded. "Correct. From what I've seen of her, she has a facade of cheer, but I could always tell that her commitment to her music was some form of denial. In all likelihood, she probably never got over that loss."
Vinny then had the professor hack into one of the cameras in the dance hall. Namely, the dance floor. And unsurprisingly, they couldn't see any ghosts in view, because they can't show up on film. Even so, they saw the turntable was currently being used. "A note of warning for you all: Phantasmagloria has a special power that makes her very dangerous. I've seen no proof of it, but rumor has it she has the ability to rewind time by a few minutes." Daisy put a hand on her chin. "Rewinding time? Wow. That actually sounds like a fun idea for an RPG." E. Gadd then smiled in realization. "Ah! Don't you youngsters worry. It just so happens I have exactly the bit of hardware for the job. Now lemme see here..." He then leaped off his chair, and started digging through and old suitcase of his that looked ominously similar to Stuffwell. "Nope... Nope..." He then pulled out a chaos emerald, and gazed at it confusedly. "How did this get in there?" A second later, he found what he was looking for. "There we go, just what I need..."
He then turned around, and gave Vinny and Luigi two metallic wristbands. "These were made with the same technology as my time machine. Unfortunately, they cannot actually affect the flow of time, but they can detect anomalies in the space-time continuum." The room went silent. "Just... if it glows, that means she's gone back in time. And therefore, you should do something other than what she expects." Sounded simple enough, explained that way. "Oh, and don't worry about creating any time paradoxes. I've run the numbers, and there's a 95% chance nothing bad will come of this." Peach raised an eyebrow. "And the other 5%...?" E. Gadd dawned a nonchalant expression. "Then the universe will collapse on itself. But atleast we'd take her down with us." Luigi hesitantly nodded, wondering if the professor quite understood the gravity of that possibility, but it was the best shot they had. So he and Vinny ventured out onto the elevator.
(The song "pursuing my true self" from Persona 4 plays, as they exit the elevator and enter floor 13.)
The walls were strut with neon lights, and the entire hallway was lit up like a pinball machine. Decorating the area was comfy red furniture, hippie posters, and the occasional standee dressed in Phantasmagloria's clothing line. "You know, this place actually has a diner-style restaurant. It goes by the name 'hot flash'. Sometimes I grab a bite to eat up here on my off hours, but I try not to stay long. Phantasmagloria likes to invite hordes of ghosts, and have ear-meltingly loud dance parties." Vinny explained. Luigi had to admit, he was a fan of the LED lighting, but the heat given off by said lights made it a bit warmer than he's comfortable with. How Phantasmagloria isn't burning a hole in the hotel's electric bill, he'll never know. But as they proceeded down the hallway, they started hearing music. Very sinister sounding music, with a sort of funky beat to it.
(The music "Killing Two Birds Anticipation" from A Hat in Time plays)
As if in response, the lights in the room dimmed until they were off altogether. The walls coated in a sort of glow-in-the-dark paint, applied to the walls to make murals of Phantasmagloria's parties. She herself is depicted at her turntables, as what appeared to be living shadows with red eyes were painted dancing to the rhythm. Did it mean something? "Well, that's creepy." Vinny thought aloud. Whatever it was trying to convey, something told them they'd wanna scope out the threat this time around, before charging in. "Hmm..." That's when they noticed something quite peculiar: a photo booth. And inside was an entire 80's outfit, hung up on a coat hanger. One that was Vinny's size. At a glance, they knew it wasn't there by accident. Vinny's mother was a fashion designer, after all.
Vinny stepped in, and inspected it. "I think I see what she had in mind. Luigi, I'll go in the front entrance and blend in with the crowd. Hopefully I'll see what our afro-bearing friend can do without being caught. You go backstage, and find a way onto the lighting rigs. When I give you the signal, you get the jump on her." Luigi swallowed, not wanting to jump down from that high, but he nodded anyway. Vinny then closed the shades and quickly changed into her new outfit. A pink headband, a purple jumpsuit, platform shoes, under normal circumstances she'd be easy to spot in a crowd. But this was an 80's disco party, so she'd fit right in. Her legs wobble slightly as she walked. "Goodness gracious, how does anyone walk in these things?" Peach then spoke up. "It was awfully nice of Elline to leave you that disguise." Vinny nervously chuckled, "Yeah, let's just hope the other guests don't actually have red eyes, or we may be in trouble."
At the end of the hallway was a pair of double doors. The music seemed to be coming from within, with colored smoke slightly fuming through its cracks. E. Gadd watched carefully. "These readings indicate a large quantity of ghosts in there. And until you get backstage, you run the risk of being spotted, sonny. Let's cross our fingers that your uncanny ability to not get noticed will help us out here." At this point, Luigi was used to such comments from the professor. So they creaked closet to the door, and went inside...
(The music "Killing Two Birds Boss Battle" from A Hat in Time plays)
As the professor suspected, the dance floor was FULL of ghosts! All of them thankfully distracted by their DJ's hot beats. Phantasmagloria was an orange skinned ghost, with an afro, a red tank top, and a purple blouse. And she thrashed her head along to her own jams. Vinny and Luigi hid behind a table. "You get moving. I'll get up there and dance... as much as I have to." She said, sneaking over to the dance floor before anyone noticed, and awkwardly dancing along to keep a low profile. Luigi moved from cover to cover, hoping no one would see him. One of the ghosts leaned on the next table between him and the backstage entrance. Said ghost was laughing, and blowing bubble gum as she was having a conversation with her friends. Luigi sprinted over to get there as fast as he could, but ended up tripping on a bump in the rug.
Scrambling to his feet, he dashed behind the table. Wow! People were incredibly oblivious when they were talking to someone else. And in this case, it lead to something other than having to wait for them to move when they're blocking your way to something. But he did manage to reach the door, and bolt through it before he alerted anyone. And so he sighed a relief, now being out of the danger zone... or so he thought. Turning around from the door, to start getting into position, he gasped as a bouncer ghost was standing directly in front of him. And it appears he saw him come in, trying to be all sneaky. Luigi tried to think of an excuse as the bouncer's frown deepened.
Meanwhile on the dance floor, Vinny tried her best to move with the crowd, and edge as close as she could to Phantasmagloria without overdoing it. The DJ bopped her head to the beat, and made a 'radical' gesture with her hands. "Y'all having a great time out there?" She asked. The crowd cheered in response. "I'm sorry, did I just hear a whisper? I said, are y'all having a great time out there!?" The dancers all cheered louder in response. "All righty! That's what I like to hear! Now then, let's take this thing to the next level. It's time for the dance off!" Vinny then saw the ghosts clearing the dance floor, and scrambled to do so as well, teetering nervously in her infernal shoes. Impatiently wondering what was taking Luigi so long to get in place. One by one, the ghosts all got up to do their own dance. Each signaled that they were up by a spotlight shining on them. And before she knew it... it was her turn.
She froze like a deer in the headlights, as the spotlight shined on her. "What's the matter, sweet stuff? Cold feet?" Phantasmagloria joked, as the crowd chuckled. But then her expression shifted into realization as the music stopped. Vinny started speaking words as they came to her. "Erm... uh... Come on, homies, we all know I'm... ahem... totally tubular with kriss krossin on the... The jig is up, isn't it?" Phantasmagloria raises up her afro to reveal her eyes, so as to get a good look at her. In the process, she also revealed she was wearing a wig. "Put some ice in my drink, do we have a party crasher here?" Vinny grabbed a lava lamp, just so she'd have something to stand in for a weapon. "Let's just say, I came here on accounts of noise pollution." She said, before kicking off one of her oversized shoes at Phantasmagloria. But Phantasmagloria smirked. "Remix!" She spun her records, and rewound time.
"Let's just say I'm here on accounts of-" Vinny saw her bracelet light up. Phantasmagloria knew what she was about to do. "Well, sweetums, if you wanna join the jam, I think you'll need to prove your dancing skills." She then pushed a button on her turntables, causing red shockwaves to emit from her amps. The other ghosts started groaning in pain as the sound somehow began mutating them! Their skin and clothes turned jet black, making them look like a 3D silhouette. And just like the mural, they had red eyes comparable to zombies. They all stood there, surrounding her in a circle. "What are you doing to them!?" Vinny asked, horrified at the transformation, and relieved her outfit seemed to protect her from the sound's effects somehow. "Heeheehee. Like my rave slaves? Courtesy of Hellen Gravely, before you did her in." She leaned over her turntables with a nonchalant smile.
"You know, I thought dear ol' Ellie was joking when she said she wanted me to test you. But considering you're here now..." she giggled to herself. "Well, that means I gotta keep things interesting, y'know?" Vinny was vastly outnumbered, but she wasn't gonna give up. "Then bring it on." Hearing that seemed to send Phantasmagloria in a euphoric frenzy. "Then let's PUMP UP THE JAM!" The music started back up, as the tiles on the dance floor started changing color. Some tiles forming a diagonal line from her turned red, and a minute or two afterwards, some rave slaves charged at her like feral animals from that same direction! Vinny's reflexes literally kicked in, as she booted them across the face with her heels in rhythm with the music. Purposefully hitting them as hard as possible, so as to send said footwear flying off her. She just couldn't fight in these things.
Then some more red lines flashed on the tiles. And at this point, Vinny caught wind of what was going on. "A little memory game, huh? How bout you freakshows tell Balthazar Bratt he wants his style back." Memorizing the lines, she attacked the oncoming hordes as they mirrored the same pattern. Punching one of the rave slaves straight in the face. Personally, she believed that one deserved it, considering he had a mullet. Vinny honestly was kinda getting into this thing. But sensing her comfort, Phantasmagloria started pressing more buttons. "Smokin' moves out there, short stuff. How's about we crank out the pyrotechnics in here?" Vinny tried to rush over and stop her, but with the wall of hypnotized partygoers in her way, she wasn't getting near the DJ at this rate. Fire erupted across the room, making it so bright that it was hard to see, on top of making the room even more sweltering than it already was from the electrics.
"Are you serious!? This should be illegal!" Phantasmagloria turned up the volume. "Sorry kiddo, you gotta learn to live your afterlife, yeah?" Vinny was starting to get frustrated. But as more rave slaves prepared to drop the beatdown, someone jumped down from the lighting rig. Surprisingly, it was Gooigi, and not the man himself. Gooigi gave a thumbs up, indicating he would handle the brainwashed masses. Vinny nodded, and started closing in on Phantasmagloria. "Hey, you never told me you had a dance partner. That's groovy. Now then..." She then got out some records, that happened to be on fire. "How's about you take a HIT! Haha! See what I did there?" She threw them at Vinny, prompting her to seek out her inner Neo.
Vinny then caught one mid-air, and chucked it back at her. But Phantasmagloria smirked. "Remix!" She rewound time again, and Vinny was able to see her bracelet flash in the corner of her eye. She caught the record, but before she could act on her opponent's new edge, Phantasmagloria fired another record at her, knocking it out of her hand, also causing the young girl to shake her hand from the heat. "I don't understand how you're not sweating to death in this microwave of a dance studio." She commented, getting some serious Chef Sargossa vibes from this chick. Phantasmagloria struck a sassy pose. "Oh, I just got out more when I was alive. Lemme tell ya, that California heat is no joke." Vinny stifled a laugh. "Doesn't that mean you're a California Gir-" but Phantasmagloria cut her off. "Hey! Only I get to make song jokes around here!" She danced in and out of the flames, taking potshots at Vinny along the way.
Vinny sucked and swerved, spotting something up above them waiting for their cue. Taking off her headband, she caught another record and used it to slingshot the lethal disc of music back at her foe. "I've seen this song and dance before, kid. Remix!" Once more rewinding time, Phantasmagloria ran in as Vinny caught her record, and tackled her down. But Vinny seemed oddly untroubled. "Now, Luigi!" Before she could react, Phantasmagloria was crunched to the floor of an Italian plumber. A second later, Gooigi slammed one of the rave slaves into the DJ's unguarded turntable, and smashed it to pieces. The fire stopped, as well as the music. And the dancers returned to their senses. Even if Phantasmagloria rewound time now, there's no way she could stop all three of them at once.
Some of the partygoers were still dizzy and disoriented from the episode, but those that weren't bolted from the room as soon as possible. "Where are you guys going? I thought you guys liked it crazy!" Phantasmagloria desperately pleaded. The bubblegum girl from before folded her arms as she left. "That was like, totally not radical." Another ghost was rubbing the bruises on him. "There comes a point where fun ain't fun no more. That was it." Phantasmagloria sighed. "Why does everyone leave me? It's all the government's fault, and their stupid war against communism." Vinny then had a thought pop into her head. "Um... Gloria? You are a ghost, aren't you?" Phantasmagloria raised an eyebrow. "Yeah." Vinny scratched her head. "So you do realize you could just pass on, and be with your husband-to-be, right...?" A cricket could be heard, as Phantasmagloria sat there feeling like a complete idiot.
"That's a very good question, but you see, the reason I haven't passed on is..." She couldn't think of an excuse. She sighed. "Well... this is awkward. Anyway, you beat me fair and square. Ellie's gonna be really proud of you for making it this far. But don't think that means she's gonna go easy on you, when you get to her." She said, immediately changing the subject. Gooigi returned to his capsule in the poltergust as E. Gadd joined the conversation. "Regardless, we have a mission to complete. And proving to her that we deserve that key card is the last step to reaching Maxill." Phantasmagloria dusted herself off. "Good luck with that, I say. There's a reason why even Mordread is afraid of him. But I won't tell you what song to dance to." Vinny and Luigi waves goodbye as they hopped back on the elevator. "So Luigi... how come it took you so long to reach us?" Luigi explained that the bouncer saw him. But just when he expected him to beat the stuffing out of him, he proceeded to go on one giant rant about how hard his work day was. Luigi didn't dare leave prematurely and risk angering him, so he had Gooigi go on ahead until he was done.
His peers couldn't help but find the story funny. And they had to admit, danger aside, it was indeed the break from all the drama that they do desperately needed. But now it was time to head back to the present. Two final ghosts stood between them, and finally closing the book on this long and rather exhausting adventure of a night. And regrettably, those two final ghosts were Vinny's parents. But this was the homestretch. The last few hurdles to jump over. And there was no going back to the lives the Midnights had been living for so long before tonight. The fate of Mario. Of Elline. And of Maxill... were in their hands...
(Not much longer, everybody. One more chapter to go before the finale. Doesn't it just get you teeming with anticipation? I've deliberately shown off as little of Maxill's character as possible. I mean, the dude only actually speaks in one scene with the magician trio in this story thus far. Other than that, he's a whisper on the wind, and the reader just has to go off who he was in the prequel story, and the way other characters describe him. That was no accident. He's supposed to be this huge mystery, built up across the entire story. And I'm oh so close to getting to reveal it to you all. Look forward to it.)