Dusty was searching the mansion carefully, walking through the hallway. He looked at the door lading to the dining room and felt the doorknob. It felt warm to him, making him look suspiciously around. "Someone was recently here... I just know it."
One thing that was good now was that the lights were on in the hallway thanks to the elimination of Nightrogin.
"So I finally find the first floor of the mansion," Dusty said while crossing his arms. "Too bad I can't go any further. The door leading upstairs is locked, and the door leading outside is covered in an electric fence. I'm gonna have to try something else…"
Dusty jumped up onto the ceiling and clanged onto it. A grin had formed on his face (if Dry Bones can even do that). "Yes… I think surprising them would be a good idea. That Ghost Star belongs to me! …Well mostly it's for an experiment, but that will help me get my promotion!"
Now all he had to do was wait.
King Boo's Secret Altar-
"According to what I sssaw… Nightrogin hasss lossst the fight againssst Chopper… It hasss been confirmed that he…hasss become a painting." the Shadow Boo explained.
"Oh, we don't really need him," King Boo assured. "I never even liked him or his plans anyway. He was nothing compared to us Boos and those other Portrait Ghosts! Now then, I have a plan I must share."
The king began to whisper to the Shadow Boo, while Bow tried to listen in. Unfortunately, she couldn't get much of an idea on what they were saying.
"Ooooooooooooo… That isss sssomething I like… I'll do what you asssk, Your Majesty!" With that, the Shadow Boo flew out of the room.
"Now then…" King Boo turned to Bow, only to notice something different about her. "…Hold on a second… You had two Bows. What happened to one of them?"
"If you must know, they're somewhere in the mansion," Bow smirked. "Not even YOU know where they are! As soon as Chopper finds those, he'll know how to defeat you! Gwah hee haa!"
"Defeat me? Like a couple of items will do much to stop me!" King Boo cackled. "Do all you want with those! It won't stop me from turning you into a painting permanently! ...On the other hand, I also enjoy seeing you suffer like this."
"Or maybe you just don't want to be alone in this chamber," Bow replied, her smirk still remaining on her face. "But you know what I don't get? How you managed to even escape that painting you were supposedly in. Something like that is nearly impossible."
"Yes. Nearly. It was all thanks to a demon that managed to break the seal from my painting. It was also thanks to him that I was given the Ghost Star to free the other Portrait Ghosts. And what better way than to make you and your friends pay by becoming paintings as well? Chopper doesn't know what's coming to him when I zap him into a painting!"
"Demon? Who is this demon who speak of?"
"A great evil that has powers that even surpass mine," King Boo explained. "I was a bit unsure at first, but after realizing what capabilities I now possessed with this new crown, I hardly cared! All that matters is that the Boo Woods and your Boos will rightfully be mine! Those that refuse will join you."
"We'll see about that," Bow taunted, crossing her stubby arms. "Trust me, I've traveled with Chopper, and we've faced obstacles that surpass even you. You'll see when you get your butt kicked for good."
"Heh heh heh! Well I'll be interested to see what he can do! For now, I've got some other business to attend to."
King Boo phased through the floor, disappearing from Bow's sight.
King Boo's Mansion, first floor-
"Hey, the hallway's no longer dark! That's nice!" Chopper smiled as he walked into the first floor hallway to find light rather than darkness.
"This is pretty cool! We can actually see what's around us! Sweet!" Sonic grinned.
Just as they were about to go to the barricaded door near the shower room, a figure had landed in front of them with his weapon pointed at them.
"Halt! You shall go no further!" Dusty proclaimed. "Your little venture through this mansion ends here!"
"Dry Bones? Here?" Bombette gawked. "But this makes no sense! There are only ghosts in this mansion!"
"Just who are you?" Shadower asked.
"My name is Dusty. I USED to work for Bowser, but I ended up getting fired because of something pretty stupid," Dusty explained. "Don't get all friendly with me, because I'm not exactly on good terms with 'heroes'. I work at a place called Boomo Inc., a laboratory that makes new inventions, specifically explosions. I've come for the Ghost Star that's here."
"Why do you need the Crystal Star?" Chopper asked.
"We need improved explosives. The Ghost Star's power has the power to make explosives that opponents can not even see. Obviously that's something very good for us. Not only that, but I'll be getting a promotion!" Dusty's eyes appeared happy from thinking of a promotion. "Of course, all violence getting the star is highly recommended by Boomo Inc."
"Fine, if you won't let us pass, then we're going through ourselves!" the antennae hero attempted to pass Dusty, but he shot ink at the floor, causing him to slip and fall. "Ow! What is that?!"
"It's my specialized Blooper Gun," Dusty answered while spinning it. "However, I like to call it my KO gun, because it's good at KOing people like you guys!"
"KO? That's it?" Scrub raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't sound too threatening..."
Chopper tried to continuously get past Dusty, but each time he ended up slipping thanks to the ink fired at the ground. After slipping one last time, he let out a sigh and turned the other way.
"Good choice, kid," Dusty said proudly, aiming his gun at the others. "You do the same."
Everyone decided to follow Chopper back into the main room. Though his look didn't appear positive at first, a smirk had appeared on his face.
"Poyo? (What's with the smirk?)" Kirby asked.
"Follow me, guys," Chopper suggested, heading back upstairs. They all followed him back into the wardrobe. "I remember there being costumes in here, and maybe with them, we can get past Dusty."
"But he'd probably just shoot at us anyway," Berry noted.
"Well... I like the costumes in here, so I wanna try 'em on!"
"So we're basically going to be dressing in costumes like it's Halloween? Are we going to be going trick or treating?" Scrub asked."'Cause I'd like a lot of candy!"
Chopper put on a black hood, a mask that kept the upper part of his face hidden, making his eyes turn white, black gloves, a cape and a green C on the top of his hood.
"Not necessarily…" Chopper said in a lower (but not really that low) voice. "We'll be doing the tricking and the ghosts will be the ones who's giving us the treats!"
"What's with the low voice, Chop?" Sonic asked. "Are you trying to be like a superhero or something?"
"Sorta..."
"Well I'll do what Choppy is doing and find a costume myself," Berry checked through the closet and noticed a pink princess dress. She shook her head at it and found a halo and glowing light wings (only activated by a small switch). She also took a staff and found a red, sleeveless robe. Along with that, she grabbed a staff with a top resembling a heavenly symbol that glowed many colors
"Don't call me Choppy, nor shall you call me Chopper!" Chopper declared. "Why? Well… We gotta think of a name in these costumes! So… I guess I'll be called… The Mysteri C! It's like mysterious and C, which is the first letter of my name."
"Well then I am Berluna, the Goddess of Light," Berluna declared, raising her toy staff. "I banish evil such as the evil Desuza, the Goddess of Darkness!"
Scrub, meanwhile, had found a pair of plain white underwear and wore it over his head.
"That better be clean," Shadower hoped.
"It doesn't smell, but I guess I'll call myself The Underwear," Scrub decided.
Sonic looked through the closet and found a Blooper costume around his size. "…Is this all I can wear?" he shrugged and put it on, receiving some giggles from the others. "I guess you can call me Blooperquill. Though it sounds TOO lame for my liking..."
Mario put a white sheet on himself with holes and simply called himself "A Ghost", which was a highly original name.
The rest eventually got in their costumes as well. Kirby found a cake costume and called himself "Cake Mix", Shadower called himself "Afro Disco", being in a disco outfit with sunglasses. Bombette was forced into a costume with fairy wings and was deemed "Tinkerbell". This nearly made her fuse light up in anger as well. Now all that remained was Vivian...
"Well, Vivian… Are you going to get in a costume?" Mysteri C asked.
"I don't really need a costume," Vivian replied, shaking her head. "I'd rather not take my hat off anyway..."
"Ummm… OK, you don't need to wear a costume if you don't want. Anyway, let's get back to business and go back into that hallway!"
First floor hallway-
When they reached the barricaded door, Dusty had his gun ready to aim and fire.
"Hold it right there! I know who you a-" Mysteri C cut him off by jumping on him, making him collapse like most Dry Bones. The rest went over to the door covered in electric vines and watched it go away.
"Couldn't we have done that before?" The Underwhere asked.
"...Good point," Mysteri C sweat dropped.
"Well, all we can do is open the door," Tinkerbell said angrily, still annoyed with her costume.
Mysteri C took the key out and unlocked the door with the Boss Ghost Key, bringing them all outside. He pulled his flashlight out to take a look around them. There was a well, a birdhouse, a fountain, some trees, and also a statue. Mysteri C noticed some Dark Boos lurking around as well. Unlike most ghosts, they could not be defeated with the Poltergust 3000.
"There are Dark Boos around here…" Vivian warned. "I don't think we've run into them before.
The Dark Boos noticed them show up and they looked at each other with a grin. However, when they attacked, Mysteri C tossed two fireballs, causing them to be set on fire, making them disappear. This caused the lights to turn on and make the birdhouse shake. This caught A Ghost's attention, who walked over to the birdhouse.
A Ghost: There's something in here!
Mysteri C walked over to the birdhouse and felt a pink envelope hit his face after Mario touched it. After shaking his head, he saw an envelope in his hands.
"What's that?" Berluna asked, looking over at the envelope. "Is this some kind of love letter, Choppy?"
"...Hey! That's not my name!" Mysteri C whined, his voice turning normal. "...I mean, my name is Mysteri C, Berluna. I'm a superhero, OK?"
"Not my fault you're cute. I bet you think the same thing since I'm a Goddess."
"...Oh, look at the time! I've got some work to do!" Mysteri C backed away, not noticing the well he was standing right next to. This caused him to fall and land after a few seconds. "I'm OK!"
"Oops..." Berluna sweat dropped.
"Ooooog… That didn't feel so good…" Mysteri C moaned, standing up in the bottom of the well. He noticed a small glimmering light through a tunnel up ahead. "Hold on a moment. What's this?"
When he reached the end of the tunnel, he noticed two stone fangs on the bottom and top of the hole. He soon realized he was standing right in the statue of a lion's mouth. However, that wasn't all that he saw. He found an altar with blue, long candles, statues similar to the one he was in with orbs in their mouths, a mirror, King Boo, and a painting of Bow.
...Wait a minute.
"You're not going to get away with this, King Boo," Bow growled, banging on the painting's wall.
"But I already have! Heh heh heh!" King Boo cackled. "You and those friends of yours will be history!"
"I can't stand to watch her suffer…" Mysteri C trailed sadly. "I need to get her out this instant!"
Turning around, a Dark Boo appeared and attempted to scare him, but his hammer did all the talking and wiped out the enemy, making the lights turn on in the well. A key had dropped onto the floor, which Chopper picked up.
"Excellent! I finally got the key…and I finally know where King Boo is. I just have to find out how I can actually GET in that room…"
He climbed out of the well and showed his friends the key.
"Are you OK, Ch—I mean Mysteri C?" Vivian asked.
"Yeah, I am," Mysteri C assured, checking his Gameboy Horror SP for the door location. He saw that there was a locked door at the other side of the courtyard, so he headed over there and unlocked the door into a weight room. "What the… There's a weight room in here?"
Mysteri C turned his flashlight on and got a glimpse of the many weights, mats, treadmills and punching bags around the room. They could also hear someone lifting weights. He checked to see who it was with the Gameboy Horror SP and saw a ghost wearing a red tank top named Biff Atlas. He was lifting some heavy weights, that's for sure.
"Huff… Huff… Man, I've been working out ALL NIGHT…" Biff Atlas sighed. "I think I should actually take a break! …No! I can't take a break just yet! I must be ready for the Ghost Olympics soon! It starts tomorrow night!"
"Another ghost for us to catch..." Mysteri C trailed, wrapping part of his cape around himself. "My friends, we must find a way to catch his weak point."
A Ghost had inspected the punching bags around Biff Atlas. He gave it a good punch, sending it flying away from him. However, what he wasn't planning on was trying to hit Biff Atlas. The punching bag had managed to knock him back.
"Oof! What… What was that? Who just hit me?!" Biff looked around for any suspects, but he had not caught glimpse of anyone. "Meh… Whatever. I bet it was just the wind."
Afro Disco had made everyone reappear, allowing everyone to sigh in relief. What was also nice was that they knew how to beat him. Mysteri C decided to give the punching bag a good kick and sent it flying toward Biff again, knocking him back. Unlike before, he had managed to spot them, and boy was he angry.
"What's the big idea?! Why are you distracting me from my training? Trying to be a little prankster, are ya? Well, I'm not going to let that happen! You're gonna get what's coming" Biff swung his arms around at the heroes, who jumped back to avoid them.
"Take this!" Tinkerbell shouted, ramming herself into Biff and knocking him over, leaving his heart revealed. Mysteri C took out the Poltergust 300 and began to suck him inside. Being the athlete he was, Biff Atlas had enough strength to escape, but not for long. Once he got caught in the vacuum, the lights turned on.
"Good work, Tinkerbell," Blooperquills complimented, attempting to give a thumbs up through his costume.
"Call me that again and I'll explode in your face!"
Blooperquills backed away from the Bob-omb and found himself on the treadmill. Upon moving on it, it managed to cough up a key He picked it up with a grin. "Oh... Well what do ya know? A key's here!"
"Well all we can do now is leave this room," Afro Disco suggested.
As soon as they left the room, they found a hallway with a door to the left and a staircase going up to the second floor to the right. Mysteri C took the key from Blooperquills and used it to unlock the door into the first floor hallway.
"Huh… That's pretty convenient." Berluna said.
Mysteri C brought his flashlight over to the stairs and made his way up to the second floor with his friends and said, "We gotta make sure that we don't split up. I might take this slow if you guys want me to."
A Ghost: That's all right.
"Good. Now let's see where this door leads us." Mysteri C opened the door on the second floor, and they found themselves in another dark hallway. It looked somewhat similar to the first floor, but it wasn't as big.
"Another dark hallway? Boy, it's like they're crawling with these! How many are we expected to see? Three of them?" Blooperquill asked.
"Beats me," The Underwear shrugged, following the group dead ahead and up north, where there were at least three doors. There was also a red ghost covered in spikes called a Spark, which could blow up in their faces. They entered the door to their right into a room with a rocking chair, a table with a basket of yarn and a couple of couches.
"That rocking chair reminds me of that first Portrait Ghost," Afro Disco recalled.
In the rocking chair, there was an old lady with white hair, a pink dress and some knitting tools, and over on a book shelf was a little something interesting they found, specifically a little journal Mysteri C opened and read.
What a hilarious trick I played on Miss Petunia today! She jumped into the bathtub after I filled it with ice from the freezer! She actually started shivering pretty badly, and I felt a bit guilty for a second... But Miss Petunia is made of solid stuff! She took a hot shower and felt like new again! Once she'd warmed up, she wasn't even that mad!
Nana
"Poyo? (Who the heck is Miss Petunia?)" Cake Mix asked, leaning against the table with yarn. He had unintentionally made the yarn knock over, causing Nana to show herself. She was even moving around in her rocking chair!
The Underwear had thought of an idea and threw one of the yarn balls at Nana. It was surprisingly effective.
"Ow! Why you… How could you hit a poor defenseless ghost like that? UNACCEPTABLE!" Nana yelled, now firing lasers from her eyes at the group and also leaving them surprised.
"Since when can a grandmother fire lasers? That's just…messed up." Afro Disco commented.
"Well this is working, so let's try hitting her with more of these," Mysteri C grabbed a yarn ball rolling on the ground and, while dodging a laser Nana shot, he threw it at her, causing her to let out another cry. "Go get the last one, Berluna!"
Berluna picked up the last yarn ball and aimed it at Nana. With one throw, the old ghost got thrown off of her chair and was lying on the ground.
"She's all yours, Mysteri C!" Berluna exclaimed.
Mysteri C nodded and shined his flashlight at Nana. When he sucked her into the vacuum, the lights turned on, and a chest appeared. Mysteri C opened the chest to find a Mansion Key, and once he checked his Gameboy Horror SP, he saw that the key would take them back to the hallway they found the first three Portrait Ghosts.
"That's where we first started catching those Portrait Ghosts," Vivian noticed. "I guess there was still one room missing."
"Well it'll be a nice treat for us! Let's go!" Mysteri C and his friends left the room, but they stopped when they heard some singing coming from across the room.
"Poyo, (Hear both water and singing," Cake Mix remarked.
"Sounds like another ghost for us to catch!" Mysteri C opened the door that led into a dark shower room. They could all see a shadow of a beautiful lady taking a shower. "Oh... So someone IS taking a shower. This should be easy."
Just as he was about to open the curtains, A Ghost pulled him away. "Hey! What was that for?"
A Ghost: Maybe you should let one of the girls open the curtain...
"Why?" Tinkerbell asked. "I don't have have arms to do it..."
Vivian sighed and floated over to the curtains. Once she opened them, however, the ghost in the shower was not what they thought. In fact, it was a hot pink, pig-like ghost wearing a shower cap and a bathing suit.
"Eeeeeeeeeeek! Get out of here!" Miss Petunia shot some water at Vivian, making her cover her face and back away. The curtains closed after that.
"That…THING is some pig ghost?" Mysteri C gawked. "I don't believe it..."
"Didn't that Nana say something about using ice?" Afro Disco recalled.
Mysteri C conjured up an ice ball and opened the curtains again. Just as Miss Petunia was about to shoot more water, he threw the ice ball at her, causing her to shiver and reveal her weak point.
"Brrrrrrrr! S-S-S-So c-c-c-cold!"
Miss Petunia was unfortunate and suffered the same fate as the other ghosts by getting sucked into the Poltergust 3000. The lights turned on, and a chest was revealed. The key they found had led to one locked door back on the first floor.
Leaving the room, They walked down to the southern hallway to find a door nearby and another one barricaded by wood. Seeing that the non-barricaded door was unlocked, they decided to enter to find a room with black and white checkered floors, walls, and ceilings. In the center of the room was a chandelier up on the ceiling and a pedestal on the floor shaped like a star. Surrounding the pedestal were five unlit candles
"Light them up if you want to, Vivian," Mysteri C suggested. Vivian nodded and used her Fiery Jinx to light up all the candles. This caused them all to change purple and slowly disappear. The doors were soon covered in electric vines, and a couple of Gold Ghosts, Shy Guy Ghosts and even lavender Grabbing Ghosts appeared in the room.
They took on the ghosts using all their abilities and the Poltergust 3000, and once they were gone, the lights turned on and the doors were no longer barricaded. With that, they progressed into the next room.
"Hmmm? What's this?" Mysteri C saw some astronomy material such as a telescope and a globe in the wooden room. There was also a window the telescope was pointing at. Curious, Mysteri C looked through the telescope and caught a glimpse of the many stars in space. "Gosh... Look at all those stars... I hope one day I can travel through space again."
"Going through space is always a fun thing to do," Blooperquills agreed.
"Yeah... Hey, what's this?" Getting a glimpse of a moon, the window and the wall the telescope was facing had vanished. Yellow comets were now raining from the starry sky.
"Poyo! (This looks so cool!)" Cake Mix remarked.
"I bet I can hit that moon with one of these," Mysteri C declared, grabbing a comet and throwing it toward the moon, only to miss. "Oh... Well that didn't work."
A Ghost decided to catch a comet, and he threw it straight at the moon. It made contact, causing the moon to shiine and then explode. An aurora pathway had appeared before them leading to the remaining half of the moon. A certain familiar object had made Mysteri C's eyes widen in surprise.
"It can't be… Is that Bow's fan?" Mysteri C turned off his flashlight and walked across the aurora road. He grabbed Bow's fan and quickly returned to the others. "Let's go, guys! We're heading over to where we found those three ghosts, such as Chauncey. I believe we'll be able to catch another Portrait Ghost over there… No wasting time, though!"
Second floor, Area 1-
"So this is it, huh? Well, time to see what's through here." Mysteri C suggested, grabbing the knob and opening the door into a what appeared to be a boy's room with a blue rug, a desk and a bunk bed.
Upon standing on the rug, two twin boys with blonde hair had appeared. One was in red, while the other was in bluish purple.
"Hey there, you nine! What are you all doing here?" the one in bluish purple named Henry asked.
"Wait a second… Henry! Maybe they can play hide and seek with us!" the one on red named Orville suggested. "Oh, and by the way… Nice costumes! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Hide and seek?" Mysteri C wrapped his cape around himself. "Well, while I go fighting crime, perhaps I can play a little hide and seek!"
"Excellent! Then you all can wait outside so we can hide!"
The group agreed and decided to head back outside. Some were a bit unsure about this, while others like Mysteri C and Cake Mix did not mind playing a little game.
"OK! You can come on in now!"
Hearing that, they all walked in to find five boxes. Mysteri C looked around at the boxes. He walked up to one but Afro Disco stopped him.
"Hold on, don't open that. Try the one furthest from you." Afro Disco told him. Mysteri C walked over to the furthest box and opened it. Henry came out as a result.
"Hey, not bad!"
"…So I suppose the other one is in here, then!" Afro Disco opened up the one furthest to the north and Orville came out of that. Electric vines had covered the fence, which Vivian noticed.
"Something's not right..." Vivian muttered.
"Hey! You cheated!" Henry shouted. "That guy with the cool afro helped you find one of us! You know what we do to cheaters like you in weird costumes? Well we'll show you!"
The two boys got on their own vehicles. Henry got on a toy car and Orville got on a toy airplane.
"Oh, a fight, huh? I think this should be a piece of cake!" Blooperquill smired. Mysteri C smirked as well and threw a fireball at Henry's toy car and an ice ball at Orville's toy airplane, knocking them off of their vehicles.
"That looked too easy," Berluna realized. "Any of us could do that..."
"Sorry..." Mysteri C apologized as he sucked the two boys into the vacuum, causing the lights to turn on. A chest had appeared as well, and inside was a picture of both Bow and Chopper. Getting a closer glimpse of it, he noticed that the background was in Star Haven. "I remember this picture... Back when we were trying to save the Stars in the Mushroom Kingdom from Bowser and Maquano."
"Sounds like you were both good friends," Blooperquills remarked.
"Well I was good friends with all of those people," Mysteri C said. "Anyway, we can show this to that fortune teller later. For now, let's unlock that door on the first floor!"
First floor hallway-
Mysteri C unlocked the door and he walked into the room with his flashlight out. Everyone noticed a pool table, a black and white checkered floor and a large mirror were in the room. Along with that was a ghost with purple hair wearing a white shirt and a black vest over it. He was also carrying a cue stick used to play 3-ball with some billiard balls.
"Sometimes I wish I got to play against a living soul," Slim Bankshot remarked as he hit the white ball into the three balls, causing them to fly around the room.
"I think I might know what to do," Vivian realized, grabbing one of the balls. As much as she didn't want to do this, she threw the ball at Slim and left him stunned briefly. Though she was guilty, it was probably the only way to win.
"Hey, Vivian… Let me give it a try too!" Mysteri C grabbed one of the billiard balls and threw it at Slim, knocking him to the ground. With that, he sucked Slim into the vacuum and turned the lights on.
"So… Where do we go to next?" Berluna asked.
"Well... I guess the only thing we can do now is go see that fortune teller. She did tell us to bring some items that belonged to Bow, so that's probably a good idea."
"But we also know that she's a ghost," Tinkerbell mentioned. "You sure she's trustworthy?"
"I don't know if we have much of a choice... It's probably for the better anyway."
With everyone having no choice but to agree, they headed back to the fortune teller's room. Clairvoya was sitting on her stool, waiting for them.
"So you finally return," Clarirvoya said, foretelling their arrival. She also noticed some items Chopper held. "Hm? What is this object you have here? Show it, please, to Madame Clairvoya."
Chopper decided to show her the picture of him and Bow first. "Wh-What is this? If it isn't Bow's picture! It shows a friendship between you and her. The black and white must also indicate that it is old!" As she finished her magic, she got a glimpse of Bow in a painting. "Ahh... I see it now. Your Bow is imprisoned, but where? Yes! A painting! Your Bow has been imprisoned within a painting! My orb shows and odd altar, and...c'mon you stupid orb... Yes! Above it, your Bow! Trapped in a painting!"
Unfortunately, her magic had not lasted long enough. "Acch! I cannot concentrate... The spirits are leaving me..."
"Then this should help you out," Chopper said, bringing out Bow's letter.
"Wh-What's this? If it isn't Bow's letter! Give it to me! I will read it at once!"
"Are you sure about that?" The Underwear asked.
"Erm... Sure, it's OK, I'm a licensed letter-reader!" Clairvoya assured. Chopper sighed and handed the letter to her, which she began to read. "What what? Hmm... Let's see... 'L-o-o-k-o-u-t-f-o-r-K-i-n-g-B-o-o-a-n-d-h-i-s-m-i-n-i-o-n-s-C-h-o-p-p-e-r-!' Is that all? Not much of a novelist, your Bow. Perhaps this was written in a hurry." After finishing her chant, she had found another vision. "Listen! Can you hear it? The inner voice of your dear friend!"
Everyone listened in carefully and heard the sound of a familiar cackle.
"That's King Boo, isn't it?" Mysteri C gawked.
"I do not understand what she means, but... Beware of King Boo! This is what Bow wishes to say to you. Ohhh, yes, a Boo who wears a crown with incredible power, I see! This is King Boo! ...SO! He is the one who has captured your Bow!" Clairvoya explained until the vision had worn off. "Unfortunately, I can say no more! Perhaps if you bring me one more thing, the spirits shall finally return to me!"
Mysteri C smirked as he took out Bow's fan. "Here's a little something!"
"Wh-What's this? If it isn't Bow's fan! The weapon Bow uses to fight off evil! Perhaps with this one last item, the spirits shall finally return to me!" Using her power, she delved more into the crystal ball and got a new image. This time, everyone could get a glimpse of glowing, red eyes.
"That image... What is that?" Blooperquills wondered, hearing the sounds of cackling. They all looked in shock as they saw King Boo in the image as well, but with what appeared to be the Ghost Star. "Hey, that's the Crystal Star, isn't it?"
"Wh-What is this! It appears that the orb is giving me a glimpse of King Boo gaining such awful power!" Clairvoya gasped, seeing the Crystal Star transform into a crown for the king of Boos. "But these red eyes... What could they possibly be? Perhaps there is something greater in terms of evil than King Boo himself... But I cannot identify what it is or its location... This could be very bad! Well, for you, that is."
A look of uneasiness enveloped Vivian's mind upon looking at the eyes.
Unfortunately, the image on the crystal ball faded, making Clairvoya sigh. "...Uggghh! Ahhh no, the powers leave me! The spirits depart! This is all I can show you, Chopper… That was the last of my power. But I have given words to what the spirits have shown…so I can return to my painting satisfied this time."
"Return to your painting? Wh-What do you mean?" Mysteri C asked, his voice not sounding too low.
"I have given you all the help I had, and that is what I had intended before going into my painting. Now I can finally be at peace. I thank you… I thank you, kind Chopper!"
Feeling guilty, Mysteri C aimed the Poltergust 3000 at her and began to suck her in. She hardly struggled, making it very easy for him to capture her. Though the lights had turned on and a chest appeared, Mysteri C did not feel so satisfied.
"She was one of the few ghosts that were helpful... If only we didn't have to do that..." Myster C trailed.
"Well, it's what she wanted, Ch- I mean Mysteri C," Blooperquills said, trying to put a hand on his shoulder. "She probably wants us to go after King Boo so what do you say we go do that?"
"OK..." Mysteri C opened the chest and got a key from inside. Checking the Gameboy Horror SP, he noticed the key led up to the third floor. "The third floor? I don't think we've been there."
"That should be pretty interesting," Tinkerbell remarked, following the group out of the room.
Second floor, hallway-
When they returned to the second floor, they headed down the hallway with the one barricaded door and found a hallway leading up to a staircase. Being replaced with the nice and shiny floor and walls were a wooden floor and walls. The ceiling was also taller, being in the shape of a roof.
"I guess this must be the top floor," Berluna deduced.
"Hopefully that leads us closer to King Boo," Afro Disco wished.
Mysteri C unlocked the door to the south to find a room with leopard fur, moose heads up on the wall and also a spiky helmet on the table. A ghost resembling a Purple Puncher appeared, except it was larger in both height and width. It was also light blue like a usual elemental ghost, and its heart was being protected by water. Despite the water heart, it was called a Blue Blaze.
Mysteri C had obviously known what to do and exposed its heart with the help of an ice ball. Now that it was stunned, he sucked it into the vacuum. It was definitely a lot harder to catch compared to a Gold Ghost or Purple Puncher. Even some Garbage Can Ghosts appeared and dropped bananas, which The Underwear had unintentionally slipped on.
"Ouch..." The Underwear groaned.
After doing away with the Blue Blazes and Garbage Can Ghosts, the lights had turned on, and a chest had appeared. Inside was a key that would lead out to the balcony. Mysteri C, however, paid more attention to the spiked helmet.
"Hmmm… What's this spike helmet?" Mysteri C walked over to the spiked helmet and grabbed it. He opened his mouth and he swallowed it, making his skin turn a yellow color and turn his gloves and feet orange. His hood ended up coming down to reveal a pink, spiky helmet. "Yeah... This is the Needle ability! Maybe it might come in handy!"
With that out of the way, they entered the door to their left and entered a small hallway with some cobwebs on the ceiling and a door dead ahead. There were also a couple of doors around, but only one of them was real aside from the door dead ahead.
"Yeesh... Looks like this part of the mansion was not finished." Berluna commented. "Or this is just the attic..."
Unlocking the door ahead, they had walked outside into the balcony. There were two statues of unicorns, and on the corners of the balcony were plants. Compared to the hallway, this looked much better, especially out in the night.
"This balcony looks pretty nice," Mysteri C commented, looking around at the quality and the railings. However, one thing that caught him off guard were a large group of Shadow Boos in a circle. "Whoa... Are those Boos?! But they don't look like Dark Boos!"
A Ghost: I don't think I know what they are...
"We should see what they have to say," Afro Disco suggested, pounding a fist in his hand. "Maybe they just might know a thing about getting to King Boo!"
"Now you're thinkin' like me!" Blooperquills grinned, trying to give a thumbs up if it weren't for the stupid costume. "So, Mysteri C... What do you think?"
"Obviously!" Mysteri C replied. "Let's show 'em!"
The group approached the group of Shadow Boos, but before making a strike, they happened to hear in on what they were saying.
"Heh heh heh heh! So it turns out that that kid Chopper and his puny friends have made it this far…" one Shadow Boo remarked. "Oh, we're so frightened! They'll never save their precious friend! Now it's our turn to get them!"
"Oh, yes!"
"Smash the scaredy-cats!"
"Then let's assume our real form and give them a little scare! Heh heh heh heh heh heh!"
The Shadow Boos turned around to face the heroes and surrounded them. Everyone got in their fighting stances as they were circled. As soon as the Shadow Boos flew up, the starry night sky had vanished, being replaced with the distorted kind.
One thing for sure was that this was going to be just like Chauncey and Nightrogin.
Looking up, they noticed one Shadow Boo flying down toward them. However, as it got closer, it was getting bigger.
"Uh oh... Move!" Mysteri C cried, jumping out of the way as it crashed onto the floor.
"Heh heh heh heh heh!" the Shadow Boolossus cackled.
"How the heck do these guys become this?"
"Thanks to our great king, we have become much more powerful than before! You're all history now! Just try attacking! It won't finish us! It's not like you can make us pop with something pointy!"
Tattle: That's the great Shadow Boolossus. This is one of the few ghosts that is possibly second-in-command to King Boo himself! Max HP is 130, Attack is 11, and Defense is 6. Geez... With that kind of defense, it's nearly IMPOSSIBLE to defeat this thing! It would take FOREVER to do so too! Don't you have something that can, I dunno, make this thing pop? Y'know, something pointy? That could probably weaken it and make it much easier for you to defeat.
"Poyo! (Let's pop this ting!)" Cake Mix cheered.
"My thought exactly, Cake Mix," Mysteri C smirked, bringing his hood down and jumping up to the Shadow Boolossus. With his spikes out of his helmet, it made contact with the giant Boo, causing it to pop. All fifteen Shadow Boos were split, and at least five of them decided to fight against the heroes.
"Unlike most Boos, we're not afraid of taking you on!" one Shadow Boo cackled. "Our powers grant us enough power to fight without fear!"
Tattle: That's a Shadow Boo. It's a freaky Boo that was apparently powered up thanks to King Boo. Ugh... These guys are kinda freaky, to be honest. Max HP is 20, Attack is 10, and Defense is 0. Apparently they have the ability to shoot energy from their mouths, and their tongues can actually poison you if you're not careful! My suggestion? Use something that can attack it and any others that are with it. Trust me, it'll make life a lot easier for you.
Since Mysteri C had already made his turn, Vivian made her move and used her Fiery Jinx to strike all five Shadow Boos and leave them with a burn. Two of them tackled Mysteri C, while two shot dark energy balls at Vivian. The last one attacked Cake Mix with its tongue, but he managed to guard it and avoid being poisoned.
Mysteri C used his Spike Ball attack, which allowed him to roll up in a spiky ball and charge into all five Shadow Boos to deal 6 damage. Tinkerbell finished the five off thanks to her Bob-omb Blast.
"It feels great to do that," Tinkerbell commented as the remaining Shadow Boos formed up into the Shadow Boolossus. Unlike last time, however, it was a bit smaller than before.
Mysteri C popped the Shadow Boolossus with another spike attack and five Shadow Boos faced the heroes. Berluna was about to throw her staff at them, but she realized it wasn't the correct weapon, so she got her hammer out and attacked them with a Hammerang. This led to one Shadow Boo shooting and energy ball at her, while the remaining tackled Mysteri C, Vivian, Afro Disco, and A Ghost.
"I think we can finish 'em off if we make two more moves," Blooperquills grinned, getting in a ball and attacking them with a Spin Dash. Mysteri C attacked them in a spike ball, and he took them out, leaving five Shadow Boos remaining.
"Oh, boo hoo! Now only five of us are left!" one Shadow Boo cried.
"Yeesh! You guys are much easier than the previous two Boss Ghosts!" Mysteri C remarked. "Just give up already so you can make it easier for us!"
"Not a chance!" the five Shadow Boos formed up into a Shadow Boolossus and fell on top of Mysteri C, dealing 11 damage to him. However, that did not stop him from popping it once again and splitting them into five. That's when The Underwear whistled and summoned his Stampede to attack the remaining Shadow Boos.
Three Shadow Boos attacked Mysteri C, and, while he guarded two of them, he lost his ability in the aftermath. One Shadow Boo tackled The Underwear, and the final one hit Tinkerbell. That did not stop her from hitting them with a Bob-omb Blast, however. Mysteri C finished them off by using his Ultra Gloves to freeze them.
"I think you get catch them in the vacuum," Berluna informed.
"Oh..." Mysteri C took out the vacuum and sucked in the Shadow Boos, giving them a nice victory and taking them back to the balcony. As usual, a large chest had appeared before them.
"I can't believe we beat them!" Blooperquill smiled. "That…was pretty easy, I'll admit!"
"Yeah... For a second I thought that fight would be much tougher." The Underwear remarked. "But we beat the living snot out of 'em! ...If they're alive, that is."
Mysteri C opened up the chest to find a light blue Boss Ghost Key in the shape of a diamond. "Yes! We can go even further into the mansion now!"
Just as he was about to cheer, he heard the Gameboy Horror SP go off.
"KRZZZ…Ch…o…p…p…e…r…KRZZZ."
Knowing what he had to do, Mysteri C took out the device and he found Professor E. Gadd contacting him once again.
"…Chopper, can you hear me? Oh, phew, what a relief!" E. Gadd sighed. "That white mist interrupted your signal. …And what's with the costume?"
"Ehh… Long story." Mysteri C replied.
"Hmmm. You seem to have done some serious work there! You should come back to the lab! We can have some dinner while we gaze at those ghost paintings! Maybe I'll make an old family recipe of mine, and perhaps you can speak normally."
"Uhhh… Sure. But this is part of the costume!"
As he turned off the device, his friends looked over at him in confusion. "Uhhhh... Let's not worry about that. We keep the costumes for now."
Professor E. Gadd's Lab-
"Excellent work, guys!" E. Gadd congratulated. "You've managed to gather more than half of the Portrait Ghosts in the mansion! What do you say we put 'em through the ol' Ghost Portificationizer!"
"I'm on it!" Mysteri C put the vacuum's mouth into the Portificationizer and let them go into the tank. With that, they began to go through the procedure of turning into paintings, and boy, did they look pretty!
"Hmmm… Well, we managed to turn those ghosts back into paintings. Thanks for your help, everyone! Why don't we take a break for once and have a nice meal!"
"Poyo! (Hooray for food!)" Cake Mix cheered.
Everyone else nodded in agreement and decided to take a break for a chance. After all, filling their bellies was important, and it would help restore their energy they had lost during their travels in King Boo's mansion.
I thought I'd put in some costume to give the chapter a bit more personality than before. Some of the costumes are basically parodies of a few things. Mysteri C is kind of like a parody of batman, and Berluna is kinda based off Palutena from Kid Icarus. The others... Well, I'm sure you can figure them out yourself.
Next up, the heroes travel through the fourth area and get much closer to facing King Boo!