A/N: Happy late Mother's Day, everyone.

The good news is that the email notifications seem to be working again. As for the story, we got ourselves a long, action-filled chapter as a battle will commence! This is the first time since Ch. 10 that I wrote up a fight scene. Who is the featured boss? Read to find out!

Disclaimer: I do not own Mario and Sonic. I only take credit for my OCs and the storyline.

Chapter 21: Grouchy Encounter

With Colombo keeping the robot guards busy, Mario and Luigi made their way inside the door they were guarding. Little did they know they were being followed…

"Great. More darkness… And there's still no sign of our friends anywhere," Luigi groaned as they walked further into the cavern. Even with the flashlight, he still felt uncomfortable.

"I wonder how Sonic and Tails are doing. Either they found the Chaos Emerald, or one of Edge's minions took it before them," said Mario.

"Maybe they're also busy fighting the robots, assuming if they run into them."

"Can you call them on your 3DS right now?"

"Hmm… Let me check." Luigi detached the flashlight from the Poltergust's hose and handed it to Mario. He took out the dual screen device out of his back pocket. He turned on the software and was about to contact Tails' communicator. However, he noticed something strange on the screen. "That's weird."

"What's wrong, bro?"

"I don't know. I think this thing's picking up some type of high frequency or power nearby." He showed him a map of the Vanilla Dome Caverns. There were two dots with arrows, one red and one green, that tracked their current location and the direction they were heading. But what caught both of their eyes was a set of white lines in the form of a circle flashing on the screen. Its appearance was a couple yards south of their standing point.

"Do you think it's the Dark Moon piece? I remember E. Gadd mentioned he invented the Parascope to find paranormal activity and the locations of the fragments. And that's what helped you go through the mansions in Evershade."

Luigi's knees started shaking in fear. "If that's the case, that means a Possessor ghost, or any ghost, could be close to us right now. The question is, do we go back to check, or do we continue forward? Oh, boy. I really don't want to be freaked out, but I can't help myself," he shuddered, referring to his legs that were still moving with distress.

"I understand how you're feeling. I felt that way back when King Boo ambushed me by surprise and kidnapped me. I was about to turn in that one night and all of a sudden, I get the chills as if someone was watching me from behind. Then those damn Boos came out of nowhere to corner me in my bedroom. And when I turned around to try to harm them with light, I saw his dark purple eyes. And before I knew it, he trapped in that painting for what seemed to be an eternity." (1)

Luigi shivered. "And I remember how scared I was when I saw you got captured again." He gulped nervously before continuing. "I was afraid I was going to lose you again."

Mario was trying to find a way to get out of this awkward conversation. "…Let's not talk about that again. For now, let's call Sonic and Tails."

Luigi nodded as he searched for Tails' communicator contact. They waited for a call as the ringing tone played from the speakers. But after twenty seconds, there was no response.

"That's odd. Tails always picks up his calls instantly. I don't know why he didn't answer."

"Try calling Sonic's communicator," Mario suggested.

Luigi went to Sonic's contact and they waited again for an answer. This time, the recipient picked up.

"Hello?" he asked as his face was shown on screen.

"Sonic? It's us, Mario and Luigi. We were wondering if you and Tails found the Chaos Emerald in your world."

"Well, we did find the green Emerald, so now we have two in our possession."

"Really? That's good at least," replied the taller brother.

"Actually, Luigi, there's one problem."

"What's that?"

"You see, we traveled to Emerald Hill to find it and Tails came across a cavern hidden behind a waterfall. He went alone and was ambushed by one of Edge's robot followers inside. Then, Tails came out and tossed me the Emeralds we kept. But as soon as he did, he got kidnapped."

"What?! Is he okay?" Mario asked with worriment.

"At this point, no. Listen, I'm still running as we're talking. I'm following the robot who took off with him."

"I bet that's why he didn't pick up our call."

"Luckily, that idiot doesn't know that Tails handed me the Chaos Emeralds. Meanwhile, I was wondering how you guys were doing. Any sign of our friends yet?"

"Not yet. But my 3DS picked up some strange signals nearby in the Vanilla Dome. We were discussing whether it could be the Dark Moon piece that's here, or some ghosts waiting to spook us." Luigi turned his head back at the door and away from Mario for just a second. "At this point, I'm not sure if we should turn back to where we started, or if we should keep going." While talking to Sonic, he didn't expect what was about to happen next.

Mario flinched when he thought he heard a voice deep within the passage. He squinted his eyes and shined the flashlight to the path ahead. With curiosity killing him, he walked away from Luigi as he was busy with his conversation. He stopped momentarily when he tried to hear the noise again.

"I could've sworn I heard someone. Is it Peach? Or one of Edge's slaves?"

After a moment of silence, he shrugged and looked back at Luigi who was still talking to Sonic. He was about to return to his side, until something held him back. He felt a strange sensation on his right arm.

"What the... MMMMPPH!" His mouth was covered and tried to flail from whatever was restraining him. Unfortunately, he dropped the flashlight in the process and was taken away into the darkness where he was out of sight.

"By the way, have you seen Edge anywhere?" Sonic asked the man in green.

"We haven't seen him either. We only came across these two robots who were guarding a door. Colombo was smart enough to distract them as we entered."

"I see. So if Colombo's sidetracking them, now it's just you and Mario?"

"Yeah, and he's…" he paused when he looked to his right only to see that Mario wasn't there. Instead, he found his flashlight, still lit, on the ground. Luigi's eyes widened as he was not only confused, but frightened that he's suddenly alone.

"…Luigi? You there?"

He turned to back to see Sonic with a concerned look. "Yeah?"

"What's the matter?"

"Mario's not…" He got interrupted with a scream that echoed through the dark corridor. It sounded familiar to him. Because it came from his older brother.

"LUIGIIIIIII!"

It was so loud and unexpected that he bobbled the 3DS in his hands and almost dropped it.

"What the hell was that?" Sonic asked with large, curious eyes.

Luigi didn't respond to his question, but he called out. "Mario?! Where are you?!"

"Wait a minute, I thought Mario was with you."

"He was! But when I turned around, he wasn't there! I gave him my flashlight as I was speaking to you and he must have gone ahead or something when I wasn't paying attention. The next thing I know, the flashlight was on the floor, and Mario's not here!"

"Where is he now?"

"That's what I was wondering! Oh, Mamma Mia… What if he gets hurt because of me?! It will be all my fault!"

"Luigi! Calm down!" Sonic can understand why Luigi was panicking, but he didn't want to see him like this. "Just move forward and try to find him. He didn't go back to where you guys came from, did he?"

"No, but I'm not sure because I didn't keep a close eye on him. But it seems likely he's up ahead. Someone must have taken him. Or he found something dangerous."

"Just take a deep breath, and remain calm. It's worked for me and Tails whenever we're stuck in a dilemma. And that's the situation I'm in right now as well."

Luigi did what he was told and exhaled deeply.

"How you feeling now?" the hedgehog asked.

"I feel a little better than before," Luigi replied honestly.

"Good. Now go find Mario and fast. Meanwhile, I've gotta rescue Tails. Call me again whenever you get the chance."

"Thanks Sonic, and good luck to you."

"No problem, dude. I'll talk to 'ya later." Sonic turned off his communicator and his image disappeared off the 3DS screen.

Luigi closed the device and stored it in his pocket. He reattached the flashlight as soon as he heard his brother's voice again.

"LUIGIIIIIII! HELP!"

"I'm coming, Mario!" Luigi yelled before he took another deep breath. After letting it out, he curled his fingers to grip the flashlight and put on a determined face.

"Just hang on, bro. Oh, I pray to Grambi that you're safe…"

Without hesitation, the man in green sprinted down the rocky path.

Luigi kept on running. It felt like he was ascending an endless staircase, unable to reach the top step. Eventually, he stopped when he got to the next room. As he caught his breath, he came across a humongous chasm. Within the region, he stood on a bridge that connected to a large, circular platform. There were three more rocky paths that led to the north, west, and east passageways. Down below was another lake that was approximately ten feet deep of water, but was about a thirty foot drop if someone fell off. Luigi peered over the edge of the bridge and noticed an array of fish swimming in the water. Ranging from Porcupuffers to Cheep Chomps, regular Cheep Cheeps and the dreaded Big Berthas, looking at all the water creatures made him uneasy.

"I definitely do not want to be swimming with the fishes in here," he thought fearfully. "I've already had enough experiences getting hurt and eaten alive by them."

He made his way towards the center of the room. The place was eerily dark with only a few lit torches found on the walls of the cavern. Still worried for his older brother, Luigi put a hand near his mouth and called out his name.

"Mario?" he said with a quivering tone.

Nothing. Nothing but the sounds of his voice trailing off from the echoes. He waved his flashlight all around the cave. It seemed like there was no sign of Mario, nor any of Edge's robot and ghost henchmen.

Suddenly, the rocky bridges started to shake. Luigi veered his head and noticed that the four pathways started to move away, causing large gaps between the passageways and the center platform. His jaw started to jitter as he had a bad feeling about what was happening. If only Mario was here to comfort him. He tried calling for him again.

"Mario! Mario, where are you?!"

This time, he got a response. "Luigi!"

He looked around to find out where the distress call came from.

"Mario?!"

"I'm up here!"

The green plumber shined the light towards the ceiling and went into utter shock when he saw his brother tied up in ropes, dangling from above.

"MARIO!" he gasped out loud.

"Luigi! Thank goodness you're here!" the red clad man replied with a mix of relief and anxiety.

"How did this happen to you?"

"While you were talking to Sonic, I heard a voice coming from the far end of the cave. So I left you to inspect. When I was about to head back though, someone took me and tied me up here!"

"Well who captured you?" he asked, not realizing that someone appeared from behind.

Mario noticed this and tried to warn him. "Luigi! Look out!"

But it was too late.

"Huh?" He turned around and before he could catch a glimpse, he was pushed to the ground by the entity. "WAHHH!"

"No! Luigi!"

He fell on his stomach and quickly turned around. His facial expression became surprised with the one who harassed him. It was a Possessor. Specifically, it was the Grouchy Possessor, the one Luigi faced in the Gloomy Manor's Cellar when the entity took over the soul of a spider queen. The boss had a white outercoat, a horn at the top of its head, individual white lines to mark his increased strength, and the Dark Moon piece inside its body.

"Oh, b-b-boy…" he stuttered.

Grouchy roared loudly causing Luigi to cover his ears from the ear-pitching shriek. The next thing he did was dive below the platform and into the water. Luigi removed his hands and walked over to the edge. He looked down at the lake once again, wondering what the Possessor was planning.

"Luigi? What's going on?" Mario's voice shuddered when he watched the scene from up high.

"I don't know, Mario," he answered truthfully.

Then, the two plumbers heard several waves crashing against the walls as water whooshed and whirled down below. Suddenly, the water rose until it was about level with the lonely platform. Luigi took a couple steps back when he noticed a couple of Cheep Cheeps swimming near the edge. Subsequently, a purple Cheep Chomp jumped out of the lake and bounced onto the ground with a lot of force that it made Luigi fall on his bottom.

"Yow! My goodness, that's a large fish!" he yelled. He soon noticed that the stubborn creature had an ominous white and purple glow around its body. That could only mean one thing. The Grouchy Possessor is controlling the Cheep Chomp!

"Luigi! Be careful!"

The green clad plumber gulped and got up from his shaking legs. He clutched the flashlight with both hands and prepared for what was about to be his first ghostly boss fight since he captured King Boo from the Dark Moon quest.

The Cheep Chomp may have goat-like eyes, but his expression was angry, no doubt. He waved his white side fins and lunged right at the scared hero.

With his quick instincts, he rolled out of the landing spot to avoid getting plunged. He dodged a second time when the Cheep Chomp attacked with the same strategy. Luigi began to run away, trying to think of a plan to lure the boss out of the fish's body. He didn't have any extra Fire Flowers, so killing it with fireballs was not an option. Ice Flowers couldn't freeze the big fish, and Boomerang Flowers proved useless when he tried to whack it with the blue projectiles, only for them to break in half. Plus, he didn't have any Super Stars to become invincible to take it down easily.

"Damn! How does this fish manage to stay out of the water for so long? It should be gasping for water to breathe!" Mario yelled as he was enthralled by the action taking place.

"I wish I knew, but all I can do is run away from this torture!" Luigi responded back.

"Running away from this problem isn't going to solve anything!"

"It's worked for me in the past, so I might as well do it to distract him or tire him out! Either way, I'm freaking scared!"

"Come on, Weege! I know you can do it! Face your fears and don't give up! I believe in you!"

Mario threw out more encouraging words to his brother as he fought against the Possessor. Well, more like he was avoiding the possessed Cheep Chomp pouncing on the rocky stage. Luigi felt more determined, however, as he heard his older bro cheer for him.

After dodging for quite some time, the Cheep Chomp became tired that it stopped flopping. Luigi noticed this lucky break and did what he was best at: jumping. With a talented triple jump and a swift kick of his legs, he perfected a powerful jump attack on the fish's noggin and bounced right off. The impact caused the Possessor to escape the fish and shake its head to regain consciousness. He glared angrily at Luigi as he charged up a purple glow of energy. The green man recognized this charge attack from before, so he prepared himself. After powering up from the negative energy of the Dark Moon piece, Grouchy hovered quickly towards his opponent at a faster speed than Luigi could have imagined. He wasn't as fast as the Blue Blur, but the ghost was speedy nonetheless.

"Whoa!" he cried as he barely dodged the rushing figure. He turned around and noticed the Possessor flying towards him. "EEK!" The next thing he did was flip the metal switch on the Poltergust and a Shriek Shield popped out to guard Luigi's body. It was utilized at the right moment while the Possessor bumped into the barrier, causing him to feel dizzy.

"Luigi! Now's your chance!"

Even with the shield around him, Luigi had covered himself with his arms as extra protection. But when he heard Mario call his name, he realized that Grouchy was defenseless. He got his flashlight at the ready, held the red button down to charge up the Strobulb, and released it to flash a massive amount of light, stunning the white ghoul effectively. He switched to the vacuum hose and turned on the suction power as he pulled the ghost into the nozzle while building up power.

"Come on! Get in here!" But Luigi knew this wasn't going to be easy. He remembered that each Possessor had three layers of defense, with the red form being their last, and most vulnerable, coating. With the Poltergust 6000's Power Gauge filled up to its maximum, he pressed the red button once again to suck up the ghost. Within seconds, the white ghost skin was gone. Now, Grouchy was in its second layer, beaming with an orange color. He returned to the unconscious Cheep Chomp to reclaim its body.

"Mamma Mia! Here we go again!" By the time he finished his statement, the Shriek Shield vanished from its thirty-second time limit. He now had eight Shields left to use before he could get a chance to recharge the vacuum back at E. Gadd's lab. (2)

The Cheep Chomp shook its body as it was repossessed. The vexed sea creature waved its fins and, once again, targeted Luigi with a large bounce. This time, the bounce caused some of the water to splash against the walls and some of it managed to spill onto the arena.

"Luigi! Watch out for the puddles in case you slip and fall!"

Luigi received Mario's warning and nodded back at him, still being aware of the Cheep Chomp's moves. He avoided the puddles that were scattered on the floor as the fish continued bouncing around to eat up the mustached man. Later, he was standing near the edge of the platform until he saw the Cheep Chomp lunging right at him. But instead of activating another Shriek Shield, he crouched his knees and ducked down. The Cheep Chomp was about to land in the water until an unexpected Porcupuffer jumped in its way. The spiky fish was in the Cheep Chomp's path that the two bloated fishes collided and fell!

"Whoa… How coincidental…" Mario whispered to himself.

The Porcupuffer landed back in the raging waters, but the big-lipped bass tumbled onto the platform. The Grouchy Possessor was forced out of the body again. Luigi got back to action as he saw Grouchy start another powerful charge attack. The ghost rushed at blazing speed while Luigi ran off and leaned back as if he were dodging bullets. (3)

Unfortunately, the boss suffered a similar fate when he rammed into a Cheep Cheep that emerged from the water. After the collision, the Possessor became dizzy again which opened an opportunity for Luigi to remove the second skin. He repeated his actions by stunning him with the Strobulb and turning on the Poltergust's suction power. Luigi charged it up and successfully got rid of the second layer to reveal the Possessor's red-tinted form.

"That's it, Luigi! You almost got him!"

The ghost hunter respired heavily as he tried to catch his breath from all the running and dodging. Once again, he witnessed the Possessor re-enter the Cheep Chomp and began to bounce frantically with fury.

"Just keep him distracted, and he'll either tire out or run into a fish like before. You're almost there…"

The water creature repeatedly pounced and leaped into the air as he tried to injure Luigi. The hero maintained his plan of running away to cause the Possessor to fatigue himself or make a mistake. Mario remained tied up as he prayed that Luigi can get through this fight without being severely hurt. So far, the worst Luigi faced was being pushed by the Possessor itself. But the red man couldn't help but worry if the ghost had something up his metaphorical sleeve.

The Cheep Chomp showed no mercy as the fish leapt from one spot on the platform to another as it attempted to outsmart the plumber. But as Luigi was dodging the Cheep Chomp, he didn't realize that more fish started jumping out of the lake and onto the arena. However, Mario was aware of this.

"Luigi! Watch out behind you!"

"OH GOD!" Luigi cried as he saw several Cheep Cheeps, a Big Bertha, and another Porcupuffer land on the stage. They started flopping around like the madly-influenced Cheep Chomp and hindered Luigi's path to escape any of its attacks. While trying to dodge, Luigi got ambushed by the Porcupuffer before he could press the green button to defend himself with another Shriek Shield. "OWWW! Stupid spikes… That hurt!" he groaned with his body planted on the ground.

Mario cringed he saw some of Luigi's clothing ripped from the attack. "Come on, Luigi! Get up!"

Luigi's legs twitched before he could get back up. But as he lifted his head, the next thing he saw was an open mouth.

"Oh, sh-" Luigi couldn't even finish his statement as the Cheep Chomp swallowed him whole.

"LUIGI! NO!"

"Hey! Let me out!" he yelled from inside.

Mario was horrified that his brother was in trouble. He couldn't stand being helpless so he made his move. He squirmed inside the ropes that kept him immobile. He tried to swing back and forth to break the rope that was hanging from the ceiling. Despite him struggling, Mario was able to fall on the ground. Thankfully, he landed flawlessly without stumbling. Even though his arms were still tied behind his back, his legs were free to run and the first thing he did once he landed was run up to the possessed Cheep Chomp and slammed his boots onto the fish's head.

That caused Luigi to be spat out from the mouth while the Possessor was forced out from the sudden hit.

"Ugh! Gross! I hate getting eaten by fish!" Luigi moaned with disgust.

"Luigi! Look out!"

"Huh?" He turned to his brother's voice and was surprised to find him on the platform instead of midair. "Mario! I… OH GOLLY!" It took a couple of seconds for Luigi to realize that the Possessor was aiming at him yet again with his charge attack. He got up from his feet and ran away from the red-skinned ghost. Mario also had to dodge on the battlefield while avoiding the other fish and the water puddles.

"Hey, wise guy! Come at me!" Mario shouted.

The Possessor took note of the shorter Mario brother and started to hover towards him at full speed.

"Luigi! Send me a shield!"

He knew what Mario was referring to, so he aimed the hose towards Mario, held down the green button, and used the blowing function to shoot a Shriek Shield at his partner. It was shot in time, too. The Possessor was taken aback when he ran into the barrier and became stunned from the impact.

"Go get him, Weegie!"

The ghost hunter charged the Strobulb a third time and flashed the light at the Possessor. With him frozen, Luigi powered up the gauge at maximum power. And when the timing was right, he caught the ghost inside the Poltergust. The vacuum shook rapidly until he fell backwards as the Dark Moon piece came out of the hose. Not only that, but a cell key shot out from the Poltergust as well. Luigi sighed with relief as he stood up. Meanwhile, the water level reduced to its original state, the fish flopped back down into the lake, and the bridges were reconnected with the large platform.

"Luigi! You did it! You were amazing!" Mario complimented as he ran towards him.

"Thanks, M-Mario. I got to be honest, that was probably one of the scariest battles I partook in."

"Well despite how difficult that was, you made me proud, fratello," he said with a genuine smile, causing his younger sibling to smile back.

"Here, let me help you with that." Luigi put away the vacuum hose and used his hands to release his brother from the ropes. "There you go."

"Thanks, Luigi. I was afraid you were going to get hurt. You're alright, are you?"

"Yeah, I am. That is if you exclude the parts where my shirt got ripped and I was eaten alive again. Those Cheep Chomps really freak me out whenever they open their big mouths."

Mario chuckled before he turned to the fallen items found in the center of the room. They walked over to see the Dark Moon fragment glittering with purple sparks while the key glimmered in gold. Mario picked up the key while Luigi held the moon chunk.

"That's two down, four to go," he stated as he stuffed it in his pocket. "Now then, with that key, I bet that can unlock the cell where our friends are trapped."

"I agree with you on that. Now that the question is, where are they?"

"Only one way to find out." He took out his flashlight and turned it on. "So, where do you think we should go?"

Mario looked at the other three bridges that they've yet to cross. "We came from the south, so there's no reason to go back. Hmm… Let's try going north and hope for the best. If they aren't there, we can backtrack and try one of the other caves."

"Sounds like a plan. Okay, Mario. Let's-a-go!" The brotherly duo trekked up the northern bridge now that they've escaped the ghostly fight. Luigi already captured the Grouchy Possessor and claimed the second fragment of the Dark Moon. He was proud that the fight ended well in his favor. But in his mind, he knew that this was only the beginning…

END OF CHAPTER

I had to brainstorm on how I wanted to set up this boss fight. And I got to say, it was fun writing this chapter! I hoped you guys enjoyed it as much as I did. Now, Luigi and Mario are one step closer of recovering the Dark Moon pieces. But before they can head out to another location, their next task is to rescue their friends whom are still stuck inside Vanilla Dome. And speaking of rescuing, we'll go back to Sonic to see how he's going to save his fox friend.

Thanks for reading as always! Be sure to follow/favorite the story to catch up on updates and leave a review to let me know how I did in this chapter. And I'll see you guys in the next one! This is TGN, signing off.

Post-Chapter Notes:

(1): This is my take on how Mario was kidnapped prior to the start of Dark Moon.

(2): Keep in mind that Luigi used up the first Shriek Shield as a demonstration to reveal E. Gadd's newest accessory to the Poltergust 6000. And after using another one in this boss fight, he would have eight left after that moment, considering he had ten to start with since he was given the vacuum.

(3): Think of this as a cliché of the 'Bullet Dodge' scene taken from The Matrix. I'm not original, okay guys?