Chapter 27 All Sorts of Gadgets

Luigi exchanged a look with Daisy as they waited for E Gadd to finish getting his gadgets ready. He smiled at her, not because she looked nervous and he wanted to disquell her fear, but more so because he was happy to be around her. He felt safer with her, almost as safe as he felt when he was around his older brother. Looking into her cerulean eyes, which glittered with bravery and determination, he didn't feel in over his head or overwhelmed or anything. He felt as if the task that he had volunteered to do was going to be a piece of cake. He felt as if everything was going to turn out alright, that he was going to rescue Peach successfully and that Mario was going to change the course of Fortune's Comet without any major complications. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this confident.

Daisy returned the smile, albeit her version of it looked a little like a smirk. "What?"

"Nothing." Luigi went over to her and took her hand. "I'm just happy that I'm doing this. Especially with you." He grinned at her, showing more teeth than he was used to showing. "I have a feeling this is gonna be a fun adventure."

Daisy chuckled. "That's the hope." She took in a breath. "Is that how most rescue missions with Mario go for you?"

"Well…for the most part. Getting to go through the different worlds can be a treat under the right circumstances." He frowned. "Granted, when we have to deal with extreme temperature changes, like when in ice worlds, desert worlds or lava world, it can get more than a little difficult." Luigi wiped some sweat off of his brow. "Not to mention that fighting off bosses can be a pain too."

Daisy nodded, her mouth in a firm line. "That does sound like a daunting task."

Before Luigi knew it, the whole of his brother's body was covered in sweat so sticky that it gave honey a run for its money. "You…you know, it's okay if you want to sit this one out. Rescue missions can get dangerous, especially the further and further you progress…"

"I'm not sitting this one out Lou," Daisy protested. "If it's as dangerous as you say it is, you need someone to watch your back."

Luigi blushed. "That…that's true. I mean, even Mario makes sure to bring other people on missions where the stakes are extremely high…"

"Exactly." Daisy smiled and took his hand. "Besides, I can handle myself."

Luigi laughed. "Off that, I have no doubt. You're one of the most tough people I've ever met." He giggled, his face feeling warm all over again. "It's an amazing thing,"

"Thanks," Daisy replied. Luigi leaned forward, all of a sudden wanting to plant a kiss on the Princess's lips. However, Daisy stopped him by placing her hand on his mouth. "Weegee…I don't think this is the right time for that." Daisy studied him up and down with her eyes, alerting Luigi to what exactly she meant.

As a result, Luigi turned away with the feeling of shame creeping up his spine. "Sorry. I just…I guess I was just in the moment."

"It's okay." Daisy smiled. "Tell you what; we can smooch all you want once you and Mario are swapped back."

Luigi smiled, his heart soaring at that proposition. "That sounds perfect."

Right at that moment, Mario came around the bend. He took in a deep breath once he got a full view of his brother and the Princess. "Well, Rosalina and I are almost all set to take off."

"Perfect," Luigi said. "I hope that the journey goes smoothly for you to."

"Oh believe me Luigi, I do too." He sighed. "Although, my track record with my reasons for going into space isn't exactly picture perfect. It's always 'Oh, Bowser kidnapped Peach and is bringing her to the center of the universe,' or 'Bowser wants to marry Peach on the moon!'" Mario shook his head.

Luigi chuckled despite that. "Well, this particular instance doesn't involve a Peach rescue mission, at least for you. So, if anything, I guess you could call this particular scenario an improvement over the last few times."

Mario snorted. "I guess that's one way to look at it, and I do think looking at the glass as half full is a good thing to do." He paused, hesitating over what to say next. "Still though, I think…" he paused before shaking his head. "You know what, it doesn't matter. Going into space this time around is definitely the best thing to do."

"Of course it is!" Luigi said. "Of course it is."

With that, there were a few moments of silence. Both plumbers and the princess kept their eyes on the door that led into E Gadd's house. Luigi didn't know how long it had been exactly since E Gadd had gone in; it felt an awful lot like just a ten minute time interval, but it was possible that it could've been a lot longer. Or shorter; that was probably the most likely scenario since Luigi was feeling a little impatient this time around. Impatience did always seem to make the clock move at a snail's pace.

"Man, this is taking forever!" Daisy groaned, fully encapsulating Luigi's current mood. She turned toward the two plumbers. "Don't you think it'd be much better to wait inside Elvin's house? I sure could use a nice sofa under my butt right about now."

Luigi and Mario exchanged a look and burst into laughter. "Oh, Daisy!" Luigi exclaimed, trying his best to keep his laughter under complete and total control. "Have you seen the inside of E Gadd's house?"

Daisy blinked. "Uh…well, no…"

"Well we have," Mario said. "It makes garbage dumps look like Princess Peach's Castle!"

Daisy snickered. "Come on, it can't be that bad." She went up to E Gadd's door. When she opened it, she seized up and her jaw dropped. "Oh. Oh…" her shoulders slumped a little as she went back over to Mario and Luigi. "You know what? Forget I said anything." She directed her gaze down toward the ground. "I know I'm not the most tidy Princess, but even I can tell that place is absolutely condemnable…" she muttered under her breath.

Luigi nodded, once again falling back into the practice of wishing E Gadd would clean his house, for the sake of the Professor's health more than anything else. Seriously, keeping radioactive, toxic waste in your living room, on top of all the other bits of junk, simply couldn't be good for you no matter what perspective you chose to view the situation from.

Well anyway, it wasn't even six minutes later that E Gadd came out into the yard (thank the Good Lord in Heaven above; Luigi was growing antsy beyond belief). He had a satchel strapped over his left shoulder, and he wore a smile that dripped with pride.

"Well well well, you guys. I think I really outdid myself with the doohickeys that I am going to bestow upon you."

"Oh really, is that so?" Mario asked.

"Indubitably," E Gadd replied, his smile growing bigger. He set the satchel on the ground, all while Luigi vehemently refused to take his eyes off of it. "Well, let's get right into my favorite part of making any invention; showing it off to an audience." He reached into the satchel, and out of it, he held what looked like a small orb the size of a snowglobe. In terms of appearance, it was very similar to the orbs and capsules that Luigi and his friends had used during certain games of Mario Party.

"What's that, E Gadd?" Luigi asked.

"Something brilliant; what else!" E Gadd stood up, holding the capsule in his right hand. "This little doodad is something that I like to call the Power Trapper."

"Power Trapper?" Daisy asked.

"Yes!" E Gadd stepped closer to her. "Allow me to showcase how it operates…"

In a swift, blink and you'll miss moment, E Gadd opened the capsule. A light shot out of it, shining on Daisy in particular. The Princess gasped while both Mario brothers shielded their eyes. When the light cleared, and the bros were able to keep their eyes open without the fear of being blinded, Daisy was gone.

Luigi gasped. "Where…where did she go?"

"Why, inside the Power Trapper of course!" E Gadd exclaimed. He opened the orb back up, and the light appeared again. Once it cleared, Daisy once again stood where she had been previously. She gave the Professor a stern, borderline outraged glare.

"Don't you ever and I mean EVER do that again!"

E Gadd laughed. "I have no intentions of doing so, your highness; I only did that in order to showcase the device's function." He displayed the orb again, looking like he was holding a loft a gem or a power star or something like that. "The Power Trapper can trap up to fifty objects, animals, people, or anything really; as long as it is carbon based. The main function that I hope you two can use it for is storing power ups; it can be quite difficult to keep a lot of power ups in one place, so this thing will act as the ideal storage compartment."

Luigi grinned. "That's awesome!" Definitely something that would come in handy. Of course, he was now wondering if the device could really trap anything they wished. Could it encase a bigger, badder being within its walls? Say…Bowser?

Well, Luigi didn't have a lot of time to think about that, as E Gadd moved onto the next invention. Or, rather, the next two inventions, as the Professor pulled out a pair of shoes from the satchel.

"Now, these babies are what a lot of the youth nowadays would label as 'cool.'" He took off his shoes and put the other ones on. "These are called Springy Steppers. They will increase your height when you jump and increase the strength of when you land." To showcase this, he jumped into the air. Luigi gawked as he soared a good fifteen feet into the air. When he landed, he created a crater.

"Woah!" Luigi said. "That's awesome!"

"And way better than the last invention!" Daisy said. She took off her heels and put on the Springy Steppers after E Gadd took them off. "I can see myself causing a lot of damage with these!"

"Indeed!" E Gadd said. "Goombas and Koopa Troopas alike will quake at the might you possess with these!" He laughed before reaching into the satchel one last time. "Now, as for the last invention of mine I wish to showcase…" He pulled out a purple spray bottle. "This is what I call the ultra ultra ULTRA sunblock! It's so effective that it'll even protect you from FIRE!"

"Fire?" Luigi beamed. "Oh, that'll be perfect when we're in World 8 and especially when we're going toe to toe with Bowser!" He took the bottle. "Thanks Elvin!"

"It is my pleasure, dear boy." E Gadd took a bow. "Anything that'll help you on your mission."

Luigi continued beaming. He turned the triple ultra sunblock and the Power Trapper around in his hands, all of a sudden feeling mightily powerful. He felt more like Mario than he had ever felt during this whole debacle; fearless, strong, ready to take on even the biggest challenge that life threw his way…oh man, this feeling was amazing!

"Well," Mario said. "Now that that's out of the way, I suppose this is where the four of us will depart." He smiled at Daisy and Luigi. "Good luck rescuing Peach you two."

Daisy laughed. "Oh, we don't need luck when we have the most powerful gadgets in the world!" As if to further illustrate her point, she bounced into the air once again. The satisfaction that she had on her face when she landed was so strong that it actually rubbed off on Luigi, helping bring his mood up an exponential degree.

"Well, that's good," Mario said. "You guys having E Gadd's inventions to aid you does help me feel a little bit better." He looked Luigi in the eye. "Still though, I hope that you can do this." He furrowed his brow. "If anything were to happen to you guys…"

"Don't worry, Mario." Luigi smiled and put his hand around his brother's shoulder. "We can do this. I know we can."

Mario's brow remained furrowed for a little bit before he sighed. "Well…if you're that confident…" he backed away from his brother. "Seriously, good luck on your mission."

"Thanks!" Daisy exclaimed with a grin. "And good luck to you too, Mario!"

"Yeah," Luigi said. "I know you can do it, Mario."

With one last nod, Mario turned on his heel and walked away.