A/N: Celebrated my birthday last weekend, and I had fun with my friends and family. But now it's that time of year...
We shall never forget. God bless the brave souls who sacrificed their lives 16 years ago. God bless everyone. God bless America.
On another note, I hope everyone down south is recovering from Hurricane Harvey. And for those in Florida, the southeast, and in the affected islands, I give my blessings to you to stay strong and be safe.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OCs and the story idea.
Chapter 36: The New Recruits
Location: E. Gadd's Lab
A couple minutes elapsed since the call between the professor and the green plumber ended. (1) Sitting in his high chair, E. Gadd was holding the joystick button to teleport Luigi and Colombo to his bunker. As he waited for their arrival, Zephyr floated to him, carrying a phone with someone on the other line. The professor held the device to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Professor! It's me, Princess Peach," she urgently answered.
"Your Majesty. What are you here to talk about?"
"It's about Luigi. Where is he?"
"I'm bringing him back to my lab through the Pixelator."
"The Pixelator? But what about the Mushroom Copter?"
"Luigi told me that Edge damaged it. You should make a note to Toadsworth about this. Although he's probably not going to like it one bit. Hope he has insurance on that."
"Oh, my… I'll tell him as soon as I can. Just please keep the phone on until Luigi appears. Daisy's worried sick and we just found out that Mario, Sonic, and Tails were taken by Edge, alongside the others who were trapped in Sparkling Waters."
"Don't worry, Princess. I'll be on hold. I don't think the Pixelator will be malfunctioning this time… Oh! Here they come right now!"
Several colored cubes emitted out of the camera and the two bodies reformed to normal. Colombo and Luigi landed perfectly on the floor without falling.
Luigi wiped off the sweat from his forehead. "Thanks, Professor."
E. Gadd nodded at him. "Princess, Luigi is back. Would you like to talk to him?"
"Yes, please. I'm also back with Toadsworth and the girls," she replied as she approached them. Toad and Toadette were absent because they quickly ran to the kitchen to brew the flower princess some Mushroom Tea, considering how horrible she felt.
"Well? What's the news?" Amy asked.
Peach lowered the phone from her ear, and covered the receiver with her hand. "Luigi's safe and returned to the lab," she smiled.
Daisy exhaled a sigh of relief. Toadsworth, Blaze, Cream, Cheese, and Amy were glad, as well.
"Hello?" Luigi's voice muffled.
"Luigi! Are you okay?"
He excused himself into the hallway away from the professor and the ghosts. "Not really," he responded truthfully. "Princess, I'm so sorry!"
"Sorry?" she furrowed her eyebrows. Everyone seemed concerned after hearing his apology.
"I was caught off guard, and I couldn't help Mario. And because of that, he, Sonic, Tails, and everyone from the ship are in deeper trouble. This is all my fault!" he cried.
"What? Why?" Peach was getting worried for her green friend.
Daisy grabbed the phone away from her. "Luigi! What exactly happened?"
The man in green described the dastardly events since he captured the Overset Possessor and recovered the fourth moon piece. The party listened to him on speaker and were shocked about Edge's ambush.
Amy was both concerned and infuriated. "I can't believe that dirty shadow did that to you guys!"
"But you're still fine, right, Mr. Luigi?" asked Cream.
"Sort of. But no. I should've done something, and I couldn't!"
"Luigi, this is not your fault," Peach dictated. "Don't discourage yourself from this."
"I'm sorry… B-But I can't help but feel guilty about this."
"Please don't. For your own sake and ours, too."
Luigi spent the next several seconds trying to recompose. He took some deep breaths, gulped some air, and exhaled calmly.
"Now listen, Luigi. Clean the Dark Moon piece like you've done with the others. When you're finished, please head back to the castle. I'd like to arrange a meeting on what we should do next."
"Do you want me to invite E. Gadd along? I mean, I technically dragged him into this mess."
"Yes, he can join. As well as Zephyr and Polterpup."
"Hold on, Peach. Let me talk to him," requested Amy. The princess gave the phone to her. "Luigi, it's me. Do you have the Dark Moon piece?"
"Yeah. I still have it in my pocket."
"Has it ever shown an image of something? Like the last one when we saw the Haunted Shipwreck in the Sparkling Waters?"
"As of now, no. I don't feel any strong energy radiating from it."
"Do you know how long it will take for it to happen? Or when it might pop up?"
"I can't predict that. The foreshadowing images appear at random times, from what it looks like. But I can say that they only happen before they get cleaned off."
"Okay. Well, I would hold onto that piece before you give it to the Professor and put it on his… Supreme-thingy, or whatever it's called. Maybe it'll depict the location of the next hidden Possessor ghost. And I can bet a thousand rings that's where Edge's robots have taken Sonic, Mario, and everyone else."
"I will, Amy. But it could take a while for it to give me a clue. And it'll probably be dark by the time we could even discuss the matters at hand."
"Hmm… how about we head to Boo Woods and discuss there, instead of you guys coming over to Peach's Castle? We can at least rest in the mansion for the night once we're done conversing."
"I mean, is everyone okay with that?"
"Hold on a minute." The female hedgehog removed the phone away from her ear. "Do you guys mind if we head to the professor's lab for the night?"
"I suppose that's another way to deal with the situation," considered Blaze.
"And I would like to see Mr. Luigi's big mansion!" Cream replied.
"Chao Chao!" Cheese cheered.
Daisy nodded. "As long as I get to see Luigi again, I'm fine with any decision. What about you, Peach?"
"If it's for the best and to not waste a lot of time, I'll have to agree to it. Do you mind at all, Toadsworth?"
"Hmm…" the elderly Toad scratched his head. "I'll allow it. Just make sure you girls are relatively safe from any unexpected danger from your stroll to Boo Woods. I'll have to stay here to make sure the castle remains secure under all circumstances."
"We'll be sure of it," Peach assured him.
"So we're all set?" Amy received nods from everyone. She returned to the phone call. "Alright, Luigi. We're coming over there as soon as possible."
"Okay. We'll see you soon."
"And Luigi… Thank goodness you're with us, at least."
That made him smile a little. "Thanks, Amy."
They gave their goodbyes before hanging up. Luigi walked back into the main lab where the three individuals gave him concerned looks.
Zephyr floated to him and gave him a reassuring pat on the back. Colombo walked up and wagged his tail, hoping it could make his owner happy. Luigi expressed a small grin at first, but it disappeared almost immediately. E. Gadd stepped forward to ask the green man a question.
"I assume you want some time to yourself?"
He sighed. "That, and the girls are going to visit the bunker so we can discuss what to do. For now, I still want to wait if an image will pop up on the Dark Moon piece before we restore it."
The professor nodded, understanding the circumstances. "Alright, young chap. I'm going to tidy up the lab while we wait. Before I do though, I'll take the Poltergust, recharge the Shriek Shield counter, and send the captured ghosts into the canister downstairs. Zephyr, please brew some tea for our friend and the arriving guests."
The Greenie nodded and made his way to the kitchen. E. Gadd helped the younger brother take the vacuum off his back. Once the professor left the room, Luigi decided to rest at the table. He took a seat, folded his arms, and laid his head down. Colombo jumped up to the seat next to him and stared at the sleeping human. He made a small noise before laying down to take a nap as well.
Slowly opening his eyes, Luigi woke up in a deserted area. He got into a sitting position, and rubbed his head. When he snapped to reality, he felt that something was definitely off. And the answer was the first thing he saw.
He looked up and noticed the sky.
"What the hell?"
What was wrong with it, you might ask? It was purple. Dark. Mysterious. Ominous, to say the least. It was so peculiar, but familiar to him. The hero felt like he was back in the Void where the castle of a former count stood tall. But he wasn't at Castle Bleck nor inside the Void. He assumed only one logical explanation.
He was back in the Oblivion.
But, was this a hallucination, or a dream? Was Edge manipulating with his mind again? Or did he truly bring the Oblivion to the real world? Thinking for a bit, Luigi refused to believe so.
Then again, he was aware that the Shadow Spirit captured Sonic and Tails, which led to the idea that he stole the last two Chaos Emeralds. He also remembered overhearing Edge's plan on visiting Star Hill, the coveted location where he said he was to summon the dark hole there. Like the Void, it would probably be floating high in the skies of all worlds and dimensions. And if it's possible to be inside the darkness, there had to be a way to prevent the phenomenon from consuming everyone and everything.
The question is, how? Not only that, why was he here again?
The plumber twitched his head when he heard something.
"Hey, w-who's there?" he stuttered in a nervous voice.
He looked left and right, in front of and behind him. But there was nothing but a mix of purple clouds and darkness. He finally stood up, still nervous at the thought of someone creeping up behind him. He hoped it was only Colombo, real or imaginary. But he couldn't detect his presence within the region.
The same noise Luigi heard occurred again.
"Okay… This isn't funny, whoever or whatever you are! C-Come out! I know you're h-here!"
Again, he huddled his fists close to his chest and shivered in fear.
"Come on, Luigi. Why do you have to be such a scaredy-cat?" he mocked himself.
He decided to walk forward, cautiously looking at his surroundings to expect the unexpected. A random ghost could appear and spook the crap out of him. Colombo could somehow find his owner by barking at him. Or maybe Myster Edge can surprise him with another lightning strike. Either way, Luigi was not comfortable whatsoever.
Although minutes have passed, no signs of danger popped out to frighten Luigi. However, he did come across a land of some familiar looking pieces. More specifically, Dark Moon pieces. To further elaborate, copies of them. He remembered them from his first nightmare.
"These must be the Dark Shards Edge was talking about. They must have made hundreds or even thousands of copies of the broken Dark Moon fragments. And their energy, their negative energy, must be vital to not only give Edge more power, but to combine that with the Chaos Emeralds to summon the Oblivion. And they were probably transported here to fasten the pace for obliteration." He paused for a moment. "Man, I'm starting to think like Tails for a bit. Is this what he usually does?"
For the third time, the Italian heard the sound and flinched. Only this time, he detected a dim light from several feet away. It wasn't a white light like before, which led to Edge appearing in front of him. Instead, it was a dark glow, coming from a different source. Curious, yet afraid, Luigi slowly lifted his head and spotted a figure. He froze and stared at the entity. The figure was already in view from head to toe. He wasn't as tall nor slim as Myster Edge. And he didn't look like him from the previous bad dream. However, he looked very familiar. He was shorter and a bit rounder than the younger Mario brother.
"H-Hello?" he stammered. "Wait, why am I even asking that?"
The figure soon revealed his eyes. They were bloodshot red, making Luigi blink and freeze from the cold stare. And just when things couldn't be more disturbing, the shadow came from out of nowhere and floated beside the mysterious individual.
"Not him again," his mind filled with rage and distress.
"Get ready to attack. I have to go to desperate measures against this green fool. If he dares to stop me, I'll force him to face someone I know he wouldn't hurt. And that's where you come in," Edge spoke to the entity.
"And I will follow your orders, Myster Edge," the person replied.
Luigi bulged his eyes open when he heard him speak. He could only know one person with that distinct voice.
"N-No… Is it…"
Before Luigi could finish his thoughts, the shadow quickly drifted his gaze and sought the target. "There he is! Now go get him!"
"As you wish."
The other enemy dashed forward at the green man. Luigi reacted late, but ran away. If only he was as fast as the Blue Blur, he would at least have a chance to evade him. Then, he clumsily tripped and fell near a pile of shards. When he got up, he found himself surrounded by a ring of fire. He flipped on his back and stared at the person, frightened. He broke off a crystal from the heap, and pointed the sharp edge at Luigi's chest.
The green hero stretched his hand out with pleading eyes. "P-Please, don't kill me! Don't you know who I am?!"
The next thing the figure said made Luigi's heart break. "No. But I hope you enjoy your demise." Soon after that, he raised the shard as he was about to impale the helpless man.
"NOOOOO!"
"Luigi! Luigi!"
"HUH?! WHOA!"
Luigi woke up from his horrid dream. Unfortunately, it caused him to fall backwards and off his chair, hitting the ceramic floor. Colombo yipped and jumped off his chair when he saw his owner hurt.
"Ohhh… Mamma Mia…" he groaned.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" the female voice spoke again.
He shook his head and was surprised to see everyone surrounding him. Peach, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Blaze, Rouge, and Daisy, the one who woke Luigi up, were standing over him with vexed looks. Rouge rejoined the group when Blaze contacted her, much to the bat's disappointment after spending her day admiring jewels.
"W-When did you g-guys get here?" he stumbled.
"A few minutes ago," answered Amy. "The professor let us in when he was busy cleaning up. We walked in, only to find you having some kind of nightmare from what it looked like."
"Are you alright, Luigi?" Daisy kneeled to him.
"I… guess so. Edge didn't summon the Oblivion, has he?"
"Um, no. At least we don't think so."
"It'd probably look like the Void if it was floating in the sky. But so far, we haven't seen a sign of it. Nothing suspicious or ominous yet," added Peach.
"But we can expect it to appear soon now that the shadow has all seven Chaos Emeralds," muttered Blaze.
"And to think, I could have had one in my hands right now," Rouge crossed her arms.
"Get over it, Rouge. Like you had a chance against a demon," Amy rolled her eyes.
Rouge scoffed and turned her head away.
"So, did you at least get one of the vision things from the moon?" Cream wondered.
"No, I haven't-" Luigi paused when he felt energy emitting from the corrupted fragment. He pulled it out of his pocket, and an image started to appear on one of the faces. "Now it's happening."
The girls gathered around Luigi and waited for the scene to be lucid. Once it did, it featured the Chemical Plant Zone. Blue goop, machine-driven enemies, pipes, ducts, and mechanical terrain were found throughout the factory. And within the deepest depths of the complex location, they found Knuckles, Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot inside a cage, hanging over a river of pink, toxic water. Yoshi, Tails, Sonic, and Mario were in a separate prison beside them.
"There they are! It's the Chemical Plant Zone Sonic and Tails went through," Amy pointed out.
"That water reminds of the purple acid water from Soda Jungle," Peach gulped.
"It's not only toxic, but dangerous to fall in," concluded Blaze.
"Ah, so you're all here now." Everyone looked up to see E. Gadd. Zephyr floated next to him while holding a tray of tea cups and a hot kettle. As the Greenie handed out drinks to everyone, E. Gadd spoke again. "Anyways, have you managed to find the next location of the Dark Moon piece?"
"Yep, it's the Chemical Plant Zone," said Amy.
E. Gadd fixed his glasses and rubbed the inside of his ear. "Excuse me? Did I hear that right? You said the Chemical Plant Zone?" The group nodded at him. "So that's why I couldn't detect that piece's location. My radar could only search within the Mushroom Kingdom, not Sonic's home world!"
"And they have to be rescued before that creepy guy takes over everything!" Cream pleaded. Cheese agreed with the rabbit.
"I might as well go soon," Luigi said determinedly.
"But, Luigi! Shouldn't you at least rest? We heard you nearly drowned from Edge again!" Daisy stopped him.
"Yeah, you need time to recover. We even agreed to stay at the mansion before you could depart," stated Amy.
Then, Luigi pinned a serious question to the pink hedgehog. "If you were put into my shoes, wouldn't you want to rescue Sonic as soon as possible, though? Think about it. Both him and Mario are more determined and braver than I am. They wouldn't bear to go on a break when there's imminent danger. And after what went down, there's no time to waste. Things have gotten progressively worse to the point where we have to make sacrifices and persevere through tough tasks. We need to find a way to stop that damn shadow before it's too late!"
Everyone was shocked to hear Luigi speak like this. They didn't say a word as he continued speaking.
"I'm sorry I'm being vindictive, but I can't stand the fact that our friends are in trouble. And I could care less about Eggman since he's not the main issue. The point is, I want to rescue them so they wouldn't have to deal with the same kind of abuse I experienced. I can't stand it when people get hurt for no reason. And most of all…" He clenched his right fist furiously. "…I want revenge."
To reiterate, everyone was speechless after what they heard. And from the look on his face, it was obvious to discern that he was livid. Narrowed blue eyes, lowered brows, twitched nose, and a distinct frown. The fact that he was atypical from his cheerful self was slightly intimidating to everyone in the room. Peach and Daisy were familiar with his unnerving stare, and it's making them scared for their green friend.
"Luigi?"
Luigi shut his eyes before reopening them, cooling down his irate demeanor. "Yes, Princess?"
Peach took a few seconds to establish her word choice without making him angry. "I'm as concerned as you are. Everyone else is, too. I agree that they need to be saved quickly, but you should consider taking things slow. Mario did mention that you were hospitalized from a coma, and you tried to rush things when you weren't 100% healthy. I'm not saying you're wrong, yet it's a bad decision to move on if you're not prepared."
"That, and you have to wait for the Poltergust to recharge. Because without the Shriek Shields, you are completely vulnerable from attacks," reminded E. Gadd.
Amy stood in front of Luigi, conveying a serious, yet compassionate look. "To answer your question, Luigi, I do miss Sonic. I want to save him as much as you want to rescue Mario. We just have to take it slow. If I was speaking to Sonic, he would refuse to listen to my speech. But I would warn him that if he were to jump the gun, it could lead to accidents. For our sakes, you have to watch out for your health. I know it's frustrating, but you need to trust us."
Luigi had to admit; they were right. This scenario drew similarities to his fight with Mario back at the clinic. He didn't want to start another verbal fight. Even though the situation was more towards the brink of falling apart right now compared to what it was several days ago, he understood the consequences of hastiness when he's not set for combat. He gave in by nodding his head.
"I understand," he sighed.
"Tell you what. I'm going to rejoin you and help you on your next quest."
"I'll join, too. I want to get a piece of the action," Blaze clenched a fist in determination.
"I want to help, too! And I won't take 'no' for an answer! I want to prove that I'm strong and helpful!" Cream shouted.
"Chao!" Cheese squealed.
"And since I haven't participated in battle for a while, I'd like to accompany you as well," offered Peach.
"And don't forget about me! I'll be right next to you for support, Luigi!" Daisy beamed.
Rouge put a hand to her hip. "Well, since everyone's agreeing to go along, I guess I'll hop on the bandwagon. Besides, my sleuthing skills can be proficient to help scope out the zone and avoid any unexpected danger."
"Bark! Bark!" Colombo barked and performed a back flip.
Luigi had to chuckle at that. "Okay. So, first thing tomorrow morning, we'll set off for Mobius."
"But before everyone goes to bed, let's restore the moon piece."
"Oh, that's right." He handed the fragment to the professor.
"Thank you, my boy."
E. Gadd walked into the Storage Room and the rest of the party followed him inside. After bringing up the Energy Suppressor, the machine did the rest of the work. The brushes wiped off the corrupted sparks until it glimmered with a purple shine. At that moment, more fog in Evershade Valley disappeared, revealing the Secret Mine. The Suppressor was put away, and the piece was transferred down into the vault's safe.
"Four pieces cleaned off, two more to go. And once the fifth one gets restored, we can finally access the Treacherous Mansion," E. Gadd adjusted his glasses.
"I wonder if Silver, Shadow, and the Chaotix are there. It's been so long since we've seen any of them," murmured Blaze.
"Now that you mention it, they probably are," Rouge thought. "Even though I have no idea what that place looks like. Although for it to be a mansion, I bet I could find some hidden gems inside the vicinity," she smirked.
"Sorry, but I already found the gems in Evershade, including the Diamonds from that specific mansion," Luigi told her. (2)
Rouge frowned. "Drat!"
"We'll just make sure we defend each other's backs, and look out for any danger that Edge may send our way," Peach changed the subject. "We must stop him, and rescue Mario and the others!"
"Yeah!" the other girls, except Rouge, rallied.
E. Gadd leaned back with his hands over his torso and chuckled. "Hohoho! Glad to see you girls full of energy! And you better make sure you sustain it for tomorrow's journey. Now then, Zephyr, can you please escort the ladies to the mansion? Luigi, you're free to stay in my guest room, unless you want to join the others."
"That's okay. I can sleep here, thank you."
"Arf! Arf!"
"And Colombo, too."
"No problem."
The Greenie guided the girls outside of the bunker and up to the mansion where they made themselves comfortable. Amy returned to the room where she slept last time. Cream and Cheese joined her to share one bed while Blaze took the last one. Rouge, Daisy, and Peach received their own private chambers and cruised into dream land.
Luigi and Colombo made their way to the professor's second bedroom and got into bed. Colombo circled around before laying on top of the sheets. Luigi watched him until his eyes closed before staring at the wall in front of him. He didn't turn in immediately as he had some more thoughts lingering on his mind. And it had to do with his nightmares, including the most recent one.
"If my dreams are foreshadowing the future, would I have to face either one of them later on? But, if he was to turn into an enemy, I wouldn't bear to think about fighting him. I… I wouldn't! I couldn't hurt him if I was forced to!"
Luigi grasped his forehead as he laid against the headboard.
"This is too much stress to handle. I've made a statement that I wanted revenge against Edge. But now that I think about it, I don't know if I'm capable enough to stop him."
He decided to shift his doubts aside and go to sleep. But his confidence remained lackluster as the nightmares continue to mess with his brain.
Meanwhile, outside of the bunker in Boo Woods, the same, lurking character was hiding behind a tree. He contacted his mystery partner again.
"Duplicit. This is Duplimore, again. Word has been confirmed that the green guy restored another Dark Moon piece. They're one step closer to stopping all of this."
"Good. That means they'll have access to the mansion soon," Duplicit responded from inside the building's entrance.
"And when he arrives, we have to take him to our boss. He's gonna find out one way or another. But in the case he doesn't, he and his partner will explain it all."
"I just hope they can do it before the end of all worlds."
"Time is of the essence. But, I still feel confident."
"I'm surprised to hear you say that of all things."
"Whatever. We just need to make sure Luigi is aware of the troubles ahead. We'll wait once he can reach Treacherous Mansion."
"Roger. That is our goal, after all. Thanks for the update, Duplimore."
"No prob. Over and out." He ended the call on his communicator. From there, the drifter laid against the bare trunk as he stared at the moon hanging high in the dark sky. He eventually shut his eyes to rest for the night.
END OF CHAPTER
More plot, more nightmares, and more questions to consider. What did Luigi dream of this time? What are Duplimore and Duplicit even planning for the hero? And when will the Oblivion come to life?
Thanks again for reading. Be sure to follow/favorite, write a review, and I'll see you later for Ch. 37. This is TGN, signing off.
Post-Chapter Notes:
(1): As of 9/4/17, Nintendo's Japanese website announced that Mario was no longer a plumber. That probably applies to Luigi, too. (Not that it matters; JUST KIDDING.) But honestly, I couldn't care less about his profession or role, nor do I want to edit this entire story to get rid of the word 'plumber'. Thus, I'm sticking with this term.
(2): I was referring to the gems you can find from the five mansions in Evershade. However, they don't have any significance besides getting five individual statues of Luigi when you collect all sets. I mean they're not bad, but I kind of wished the gems were more than just plain treasure.