Chapter 12: Inept Influence

The party coalesced at the entrance to the lab. As they bid farewell, Adrian and Gadd exchanged meaningful glances, the likes of which evaded Luigi and Skyder was informed to keep classified. The adventurers started down the hill with great haste, but also immense trepidation. Knowing that the enemy could be anywhere, the drone was sent onward to survey the woods ahead.

Luigi and Adrian stepped side by side, both keeping sharp ears, and Adrian half-watching Skyder's video feed. In the quiet, he could not help but mull over his situation as a whole- only 24 hours ago, he was preparing for a simple hike, none the wiser that he was being sought after for a power he had no idea he possessed because it only became active after he consumed magic coffee. 'What the hell kind of scheme is at play here? …'

"So, uh," Luigi piped up suddenly, now that the pair set foot on the bridge of yestereve's horror. "Power to control, huh? Are you psychic?" The plumber asked, removing the flashlight from his pocket in the same manner as the previous evening.

Adrian gave him an inquisitive look, first for the way Luigi phrased his question, then for using a light while the sun was up. "... I don't think it's like that. This is new to me- Do you really need that during the day?"

Luigi looked down at his torch and bashfully rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, uh, no… It's just a habit." He fiddled with the battery cap.

As he stared at Luigi, a bizarre prickling sensation cropped up on Adrian's scalp, starting as an itch but then bursting into full-body goosebumps. He became enveloped in a deep haze, a sphere of shadows. All his inner dialogues, for once, were silenced. A swell of dismaying senses brushed by the back of his thoughts, whispers of unsettling emotions that he vaguely knew but could not articulate. The essence of a memory drifted into his mind's eye, of wide grins full of fangs flickering closer, like a nightmare zoetrope closing in around him.

Adrian gasped and staggered back against the bridge rail, breaking the mirage. Jumping and shuffling backward in shock, Luigi had his hands up to fight before he realized that there was no foe.

"W-what just happened?" Luigi inquired, a still anxious tremble in his tone.

Adrian opened his eyes and remembered to breathe, then he realized that Skyder was in his hand and he quickly checked on the controller's condition. No damage.

"I don't know…" As he stood straight, Adrian became frustratingly aware that his abilities extended beyond just mind control. "I think I was… seeing your thoughts? No. A memory." He paused for a beat, then spoke softly. "You really are terrified of them, aren't you? The boos."

Luigi recoiled. He took a harsh breath. "How can I not be? They follow you when you're not looking, they have those beady eyes and big teeth, they kidnapped my brother-" He had to stop, as he did not want to work himself up to the point of rambling. "That was a while ago now, but still…" He clutched the light to the point of creaking.

It was odd for Adrian to be in this position; he was fine keeping to himself what he knew about the brothers, the ghosts, and the mansion, but that was not what bothered him at the moment. Adrian felt inclined to offer comfort, but not only was this too dangerous a time and place, with each passing moment his powers seemed to grow more unpredictable. The only viable option was to move on.

"L-look, it's okay. After last night, I definitely don't blame you... We better keep going." Adrian tried to come off as consoling, smiling in Luigi's direction as he started again toward the woods. Luigi quietly nodded and matched pace.

Their first few steps back into the lifeless grove were wary. Dry, scraggly arms of ashen branches reaching for the heavens greeted the team again, though less unsettling in the daylight. Skyder's body could be seen hovering across the path some ways into the thick of the brush. It had yet to detect a threat.

"Well," Luigi began, idly tapping his light against his palm, "the good thing about boos is that they're less aggressive in the light. But hopefully we won't come across any at all…"

Adrian cracked a sideways grin. "Don't worry. If we see any, I'll just hiss at them again. Heheh."

"Tsh- I still can't believe that worked." He earned a chuckle from the plumber.

For a time, they made peaceful progress through the woods, chatting intermittently while Skyder did much of the looking out. Once a silence did befall the group, Adrian had something of an epiphany.

'...I've almost died three times since I got here. The fall, the boos, and the chomp. I can't imagine the amount of times Luigi actually has died, and the two times we've been attacked together were because of me. Now, he's helping me find a way home... Can I even make up for all the trouble he's going to? All the trouble that's following me, that he has no part of?' Adrian shrunk into himself, unconsciously drifting toward the treeline.

Luigi had been vehemently watching in the opposite direction, ready to swing his flashlight like a hammer at the first sign of danger. When he did glance back to ask if Skyder had found anything, he blinked in surprise. Adrian was walking the whole path's width away. Had he been offended? What did Luigi do? Should he even ask, or would that make it worse? He decided to try.

"Is something wrong?" Luigi called in a hushed tone. Adrian startled and gazed up at him with hard eyes, but they softened instantly.

"Wh… No, I just-" Adrian closed some of the distance between them and kept his head down. "I just, um… I have gas."

"O- oh." Luigi bristled and turned away again.

'Dammit, now I'm lying to him! What's wrong with me? I mean, I was already keeping secrets, but this? And such an embarrassing fib, too-' Adrian mentally slapped himself. 'Now is not the time for this nonsense. We need to keep a lookout.' His eyes slid up to his travel companion and he felt his resolve strengthening. 'I have to help him fight for me. I'll keep him safe. This kingdom depends on it.'

Bzzz, chirp-chirp! Skyder's face flashed a warning signal. Luigi and Adrian stopped dead in their tracks and gathered over the screen.

"I have detected movement at the end of the path. I am now in pursuit." Through Skyder's camera feed, they all caught a glimpse of something dashing from bush to bush, behind tree trunks, and past fallen logs. It was too fast to get a clear view of and scuttled low to the ground, seemingly running from the flying spyer. The blur lunged just in front of the drone, rattling the image for a second before the frame panned up to the branches, where the creature appeared to have gone. It had disappeared from sight.

Luigi scratched his head. "Maybe it was a squirrel?" he supplied hopefully.

Adrian swung a cautious glance over his shoulder before responding. "I dunno… the only life I've seen in this forest is corvids, and even they're really scarce. Do you think-"

RARGH! A snarl could be heard from the area of their destination. Skyder's screen flashed a warning that radio contact to the drone had been lost and the camera feed was stopped on the last frame it had captured. To Adrian, it looked like a mouth.

"Oh no!" Luigi put his hands to his head with concern. "That's no squirrel! Did it just eat Skyder?"

Skyder's screen displayed its face looking sad. "All communications are unresponsive. My tracker is disabled. Should we turn back?"

Adrian was enraged. He growled, "No." His eyes narrowed at the end of the path and he tucked the controller in his backpack's outer pocket. "I'm sorry, Skyder. You're very special to me, but this is a diversion. We have to run for it, before we end up caught too."

Luigi nodded in agreement. Adrian raised his bent arm, silently commanding Luigi to do the same and hook onto him so they would stay together. They took off, steps connecting with the ground in sync as they rushed the pipe clearing, focused only on escaping with their lives. Once in range to make the leap into the warp, they jumped together and Adrian let go first, falling to the depths at the toe of the other. They made it past whatever was out there, aware of the risk that it might follow.

Emerging back from the side yard of the brothers' cabin, Adrian touched down and stepped aside for Luigi, who had thankfully remained right behind him. They spared a moment, poised and ready, just in case the enemy did come through, but the pipe sunk back into the grass with no sign of the aggressor.

"Thank goodness!" Luigi wiped his brow of sweat and put his arm around Adrian's shoulders. "I don't know about you, but I've had just about enough of almost being eaten today!"

Adrian tried to chuckle but he was out of breath. "Same here. Too bad for Skyder..."

"I will survive," the controller called from inside the pack. "The professor saved a blueprint from my repairs, so theoretically, I can be rebuilt whenever that brute who swallowed me has passed me back out. I am sure he will regret his actions."

"Ew!"

"Yeah, that's nasty, Skyder."