Our heroic plumber in green, having taken his leave for the spooky valley itself, embarks on a journey to rescue Mario and friends from the mischievous ghosts!

DISCLAIMER: Mario and WarioWare Inc. are owned by Nintendo, while Wreck-It Ralph belongs to Disney. Bomberman is a property of Hudson Soft (even though Konami already took it over back in March 2012). The rest of the characters featured from other game franchises are properties of their respective owners. The only characters I own thus far are as follows: Arctic Bomber (Mistress of the Cold), Blaze Bomber (Brother in Flame), Billy and Sid (Wario's fraternity brothers), Phoebe (9-Volt's best friend from another world), and finally, Purple Basilisk and his five Chaotic Bombers.


Chapter 2: A ghost-huntin' Luigi will go

[Overworld BGM: Gloomy Manor (Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon)]

It was a dark, but not so stormy night at Evershade Valley, as Luigi came to Professor E. Gadd's lab in the bunker stationed close to Gloomy Manor. From there, he saw the professor shaken up with fear, as if it were deja vu all over again. He had never been afraid of ghosts before to say the least, but Luigi investigated anyway to figure out what's going on, much less the reason why Mario and the others were kidnapped.

"L-L-Luigi...I..."

"What happened?" asked Luigi. "Has the Dark-a Moon broke again?"

"Y-Y-Yes...b-b-but I d-d-don't know why..."

Luigi became concerned about his mentor. "You okay?"

E. Gadd shook his head no. "I...I really don't know!"

"Didn't I capture King Boo long ago?"

"Well, yes...b-but..."

"And what about-a Mario and the others?"

"T-T-Taken prisoner..."

Realizing how unnaturally shaken the professor was, Luigi thought it would be best if he explored the valley on his own. Apparently, E. Gadd doesn't seem to remember how or why the Dark Moon shattered again. Something strange was going on, but Luigi knew it couldn't have been King Boo this time. He single-handedly defeated King Boo and imprisoned him - along with the other Boos - inside the Boo Canister. But now the terrifying event repeated itself, only with E. Gadd being too terrified to even operate the Pixelator he used to "pixelate" Luigi to and from the various mansions in his previous adventure. Henceforth, Luigi picked up the Poltergust 5000, which came equipped with a flashlight that had two different light devices to use: the Strobulb for stunning ghosts with a flash, and a Dark-Light Device for detecting hidden objects (usually caused by the Spirit Balls that must be sucked in, or the object won't be revealed).

He walked inside Gloomy Manor, intent on saving his friends before finding out what caused E. Gadd to be so scared all of a sudden. Remembering from his last visit, he made sure to clean up the place of all the ghosts inhabiting dark rooms, and took the stairs to a hallway where the elevator was. He got inside, and rode the elevator to the basement, hoping it wouldn't break this time - after all, wouldn't you feel your heart racing if the elevator suddenly broke down and fell all the way to the cellar?

Down in the basement, it was filled with cobwebs all over the place. Luigi noticed a large spider in the background, whom he recognized as the same creature possessed by the Grouchy Possessor. Recalling from last time (whilst trying not to be scared), Luigi blinded the spider with a Strobulb and pulled the webbing from its web with the Poltergust 5000, whilst kicking the red spiders away and dodging the purple goop shot from the spider's abdomen. He dragged the webbing toward a suit of armor, which struck it with a torch to set it ablaze. Afterwards, the fire burned the whole web, causing the large spider to fall onto its back. The Grouchy Possessor popped out, now vulnerable to the Poltergust 5000. Luigi wasted no time sucking the first layer of the ghost's skin, and repeated the process of dodging the spider's attacks (and setting the web ablaze) twice more, eventually winning the fight with no harm done to himself. With the Possessor trapped inside the Poltergust 5000 and the Dark Moon piece in Luigi's hands, he noticed a portrait of Toad and Toadette freaking out. He got out a Dark-Light Device and pointed it at the portrait, setting the two Toads free.

[End BGM]

"YIPPEE! It's Luigi!" Toad hugged Luigi's legs tightly.

"Glad to-a see you again," said Luigi. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," replied Toadette. "The last thing we remembered was showing up at your house to the party."

Toad added, "But the next minute, we're stuffed inside that painting. Everybody else was captured, too!"

Luigi nodded. "I know...I've gotta save-a them!"

"Mm-hmm. Anyway, before the Boos trapped us in, we overheard them saying something about a circus being in town."

"I think Professor E. Gadd can help us," said Toadette.

Luigi scratched his head in doubt. "I hope-a so. He sounded unusual when I stopped by."

Just then, a ringtone went off on one other gadget Luigi picked up from E. Gadd's bunker: the Dual Scream. Upon answering the call, he got word that E. Gadd just calmed down and apologized for being unusually scared earlier. Then he pixelated Luigi, Toad, and Toadette out of Gloomy Manor and back to the bunker, where they deposited the captured ghosts into the Ghost Container.

"Sorry about before, Luigi, my boy. The assailants that attacked my lab warned me not to tell anyone who's behind all this, or they'd make sure my bunker goes ka-blooey!"

"I'll bet that mean jerk, Bowser, is behind this madness!" Toadette imagined Bowser using a remote control to move Luigi-Droid around at Treacherous Mansion, laughing heartily as if he were more than happy to destroy Luigi's reputation for helping Mario spoil his plans on Pi'illo Island one time.

"Nah, couldn't have been him," said Toad. "He doesn't even know where Evershade Valley is, much less the fact that it exists in the world."

"We'll worry about it later," stated E. Gadd. "Right now, I've just picked up strange paranormal signals coming from a circus tent that just appeared from out of nowhere, somewhere between Gloomy Manor and Haunted Towers. I'll try and pixelate you there, Luigi, but the rest is up to you."

"Okey-dokey."


[Stage BGM: Spin Dizzy (Pac-Man World)]

By typing in some keys, E. Gadd teleported Luigi through the Pixelator all the way to the big circus tent just outside the entrance. From there, Luigi gulped, hoping the clowns inside weren't scary. As he stepped on through, he saw an audience full of Greenies, Slammers, Hiders, and Sneakers. A voice from out of nowhere boomed over the speakers placed around the interior of the tent.

Ladies and gentle-ghouls, welcome to tonight's grand opening of the most extraordinary show in Evershade Valley, and perhaps even the Mushroom World: The Booling Bros. and The Three Sisters! First up this evening, we have a special guest appearance in paranormal history; let's hear it for the great Sparkly Candle!

"Sp-Sparkly C-Candle...?" Luigi whispered nervously.

That's right, folks! The Sparkly Candle will be lighting up our night with pure joy, for her marvelous performance begins with juggling three glass balls!

Shortly after the "Sparkly Candle" took the stage, Luigi couldn't tell it was none other than Candlehead, mostly because he had never met her before (at least, not in reality). With her cupcake beanie's candle lit, she tossed three glass balls up high and began juggling them nonstop. Why a human girl - much less a Sugar Rush racer - was performing at a circus in front of a wide audience of ghosts was anybody's guess, but Luigi held a sneaky suspicion that something seemed off here.

The Sparkly Candle will walk on a big, bouncy ball - twice as big as herself - but don't you worry folks; she's certain that she'll never fall off!

Luigi imagined a Magikoopa working for hire at the tent, mind-controlling the performers with his magic wand. Though he didn't know Candlehead, he could tell she's an innocent person, and because his friends are being held prisoner, he knew by then he had to stop the show by any means necessary. On top of that, the words "Three Sisters" clicked in his mind, reminding him of the three ghostly sisters he encountered at the Haunted Towers' old graveyard: Lucinda, Belinda, and Herlinda.

"Okay...here goes-a nothing. Ahem...STOP! This Sparkly Candle is coming home to the bunker with me!"

Immediately, the audience ceased cheering and stood silent, then the unseen announcer spoke up: Ladies and gentle-ghouls, it seems we have an unexpected guest...but no matter. The show must go on, and we have an extra-special performance to celebrate his casual intrusion. So never fear, folks, the Sparkly Candle is here to punish him for his sins against our kind! We hereby give you...THE BOWL OVER! That's right, the Sparkly Candle will be balancing on the ball after the evil one in green, and won't stop till she bowls him over really good!

[End BGM]
[Boss BGM: Stage Boss (Super Mario 64)]

"YEEEEK!" shrieked Luigi. "No! No! Not that! Mario, wherever you are now...HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLP!"

Now it was safe to assume Candlehead wasn't performing out of kindness. She was brainwashed, but who the mastermind was had yet to be found out; Luigi was more concerned about his life. Not even the Poltergust 5000 could help him, but he didn't want to hurt Candlehead. STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE! The ghosts chanted in unison, eager to see Luigi get bowled over like a helpless bowling pin. The green-clad plumber ran around the arena, unable to even defend himself, until he came to a dead end. As the brainwashed Candlehead was about to make her move, Luigi readied his flashlight and stunned her with the Strobulb's flash, causing her to stumble and fall off the big ball. He quickly ran closer and caught her in his hands. She shook her head about, opening her eyes to see that Luigi had indeed saved her.

"Wh-who are you? And what have I been doing?"

"I'm Luigi, and..."

But before he could explain himself, the previously-unseen announcer, revealed as a Boo, interrupted him. Luigi and Candlehead guessed him to be the ringmaster of the circus, and they got it right the first time. "So, the foolish Luigi dares spoil our beloved show, does he?"

"N-No!" shouted Candlehead. "He came here to save me! What have you done with my poor Candle Ball?!"

"You mean your pet Bob-omb? Heh! Silly little girl, Bob-ombs are meant to be bombs!"

"You can't set him off. He's already been patched up so he doesn't explode on anyone."

Luigi stepped up front to protect Candlehead. "I'm-a crashing this evil party here and now!"

The Boo Ringmaster stuck out his tongue in denial. "Oh no, you don't! Lucinda, Belinda, Herlinda, get them both! They must not crash our main party at Treacherous Mansion!"

Without saying anything in response, the Three Sisters nodded and pulled out their mirrors to do battle with Luigi and Candlehead. Lucinda, the small yellow ghost with a pink bow and one tooth hanging from her mouth, stuck out her tongue to taunt Luigi. Belinda, the thin sea-green ghost with a small purple fedora and mid-sized of the trio, grabbed the three glass balls and chucked them at Luigi to inflict damage. Then Herlinda, the large purple ghost with a big straw hat, pounded away with the mirror like a rolling pin at his head. In the meantime, the Boo Ringmaster taunted the heroic pair.

"Let's see you get out of this one, scaredy-cats! We'll make sure you never reach the other mansions alive!"

Candlehead huffed angrily in response, having had enough of the Boo threatening to endanger her friends. "Oh no, you're NOT!"

Bellowing like an Amazon warrior, albeit out of character in accordance to her code, she flung herself at the Boo Ringmaster, using the big bouncy ball as a makeshift trampoline. Then she grabbed him from behind, threw him to the ground, and inflicted additional damage with a well-timed hip drop, causing him to drop Candle Ball from his hands. Finally, she kicked him towards the audience of Greenies, Slammers, Hiders, and Sneakers, knocking a good number of them over in the process.

Meanwhile, Luigi recalled the last time he fought the Three Sisters. They were rather tricky, for everytime he flashed a Strobulb at them, they'd block it with their mirrors and pound away at him in retaliation. It was a difficult fight, until a while later he found out a way to defeat them. Even tonight, he still remembered how to beat them: he waited until one of the Sisters spun around, leaving her vulnerable to the flash. One by one, he sucked up the stunned sibling with the Poltergust 5000, whilst making certain to avoid getting hit by the other two. A few moments later, he stood victorious over the evil circus - though he admittedly couldn't have done it without Candlehead's help. The Boo Ringmaster, sensing he might be next to sucked in, retreated along with the ghostly audience.

[End BGM]

"Candle Ball!" Candlehead squealed happily, hugging and kissing her pet Bob-omb affectionately. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you!"

"Whew..." said Luigi. "I'm-a glad this nightmarish circus is over..."

"I know, right? Thanks again for finding me. Just for that, I'll come with you to help save all your other friends in any way I can!"

"Gee, I dunno. We'd have to talk to Professor E. Gadd about-a this." Henceforth, Luigi left the now-abandoned circus tent with Candlehead and Candle Ball accompanying him, eventually letting E. Gadd pixelate them back to the bunker.

TO BE CONTINUED...


Only four more mansions to go, though Luigi still has other friends - old and new - to save.