A/N: A week into 2018, and I want to thank you guys for helping this story reach 30 favorites, 140+ reviews, and 12,500+ hits! This is the last chapter before I start my spring semester, but I'll try my best to stick to the upload schedule.
Disclaimer: I only own the story idea and nothing more.
Chapter 45: Suspicions
Walking into the Jungle Exhibit, Luigi and Colombo saw that the room was dark. Other than that, everything looked the same as it was when the former first discovered this place. Plants, vines, roots, and shrubberies were found below the wooden deck while tree-like platforms grew above near the ceiling. It was sort of similar to the Haunted Towers. The only disturbing part was the Flytrap blocking the stream of water, flowing down to the lower level. And behind that the voracious plant was Vector the Crocodile. Colombo looked up to see his owner pondering.
"It seems I have to repeat what I did the first time I was here. To get rid of the Flytrap, I need to feed it a spiked plant ball. But if I also remember correctly, there should be some ghosts to pop up."
Luigi spoke too soon as two purple gates blocked the doors. Two strong Greenies appeared to spook him.
"EYAAH!" he jumped, fumbling the flashlight. The enemies chuckled together before turning invisible.
Colombo barked in his direction, indicating one holding a spear nearby. Luigi shined the Dark-Light Device to reveal the first green ghost. As he was about to poke him, he got stunned by the Strobulb and was struggling from the suction power. Luigi dragged his feet as he endured against the ghost trying to escape. He had to jump and lose his power gauge when the second Greenie attempted to punch him. The ghoul missed and disappeared. Luigi managed to capture the first one.
"Colombo, do you sense him nearby?"
The Polterpup sniffed the air to find the hidden Greenie. He woofed down towards the bottom. Luigi understood and ran over to the far end of the exhibit, passing by the Flytrap who tried to chomp him. He grabbed a vine cord with the vacuum and descended. He turned on the Dark-Light Device, searching for the invisible ghost. The rainbow shine uncovered him hiding behind a wooden post. He tried scaring Luigi, but that time he didn't falter. Luigi charged the light to freeze the foe. He pulled the spirit in the hose successfully. When the ghosts were gone, the purple gates went away, and the lights turned on.
Luigi put a hand over his heart, feeling relieved. "Whew. Thanks, boy."
"Arf!"
"Alright. We got this little stem we need to grow to get the spiked plant ball. (1) This flower spring should take us back up. But instead, we need to take the E-Gate which should be behind the water over here."
The man walked underneath the waterfall, but decided to wash up a little after that minor fight. (2) He flashed the Strobulb on the green, circular panel to activate the portal.
"Now that the shortcut is open, let's head to the Dark Age Exhibit and find a bucket."
"Ruff!"
"Ugh… Ngh…" a voice mumbled. The individual managed to wake up, blinking his eyes repeatedly. He found himself lying on his stomach. Pushing against his gloved hands, he got up on his knees and looked around. After rubbing his temple, which somehow hurt like hell, he found himself in a cell.
"Oh, come on. I'm being held against my will again? When will this stop?"
The person heard something from behind. He turned around and gasped. He found someone else lying against the stone wall with their eyes closed.
"Tails!"
"Mmm…" he groaned. He barely managed to open his eyes. When he did, he was fully awake. "S-Sonic?!"
"Yeah, it's me, buddy," he laid a hand on his shoulder for comfort. "You okay?" He cringed when he stared at the small bruises on his body.
"I don't know. Where are we?"
"I was going to ask you. But, what even happened? I can't recall anything."
"I'm not sure either. The last thing I remembered-" Tails' eyes bulged as his memory came to him. "I went outside the bunker after you and Mario were fighting. But while I was there, these ghosts came out nowhere!"
…
"I need some fresh air," he walked out of the bunker.
The fox stood five feet away from the door and took in his surroundings. The Gloomy Manor stood tall from a short distance. And far away, he could see the other four buildings: the Haunted Towers, the Old Clockworks, the Secret Mine, and the Treacherous Mansion. He slightly shuddered from seeing how ominous the Oblivion was, spinning in a circular motion like an inescapable black hole in space.
"Chaos, that's so disturbing to look at. I better head back ins- Mmmph!" Someone from behind managed to restrain Tails.
"Let's just get to the mansion already. I'll go get Tails so we can leave soon."
Sonic left the shelter, leaving the professor, the Polterpup, and the Mario Bros. alone. He searched for his fox friend, but didn't see him anywhere.
"Tails? Buddy?" He didn't get a response. "Tails, where are you?" He was getting impatient at the moment. "If you're hiding from me, this better not be a joke. We need to get going."
Suddenly, he heard a shriek that made his heart race with dread. "Sonic!"
He easily knew whose voice that was. "Tails!"
Sonic heard it from behind, so he ran around to the other side of the bunker. The last thing he wanted was his best friend being kidnapped, hurt, or both. His shoes skidded on the grass when he approached a horde of strong Evershade ghosts. A Slammer was holding Tails, who was shaking tremendously. A Greenie and a Sneaker harassed the yellow kitsune by spooking him, inches away from his frightened face. Tears developed in his eyes.
"S-Stop! Let me go!"
Sonic furiously growled at the scene. He tried to attack them while they were off guard. Unluckily, a strong Hider came out of a bush to throw a banana peel in Sonic's path. The hedgehog slipped, and his body hit the ground hard.
"Urgh!" he grunted.
"Sonic! Help! AAHHH!"
He heard the loud yelps from the fox. Getting up slowly, he made another run at the ghosts. Yet again, he was obstructed by more ghosts coming out of nowhere. This time, a Slammer bashed his hands to form a shock wave. As Sonic was stunned, a different Sneaker pushed him to the ground. To make matters worse, a second Greenie slammed a shovel on his head, knocking the lights out of him.
"SONIC!"
Before he passed out, he made a mental apology. "Tails… Mario… I'm sorry…"
…
"I guess those ghosts also made me unconscious after they took you down. They must have placed us here afterwards."
"Damn it. I wish I would've see those ghosts coming." He breathed through his nose and stared at the fox. "I'm sorry, bud."
Tails looked at him with confusion.
"I'm sorry that I fought with Mario. You were right. We should've focused on the task at hand, but all we did was do something stupid and regrettable. Plus, I didn't save you from those ghosts. Now we're stuck again."
"Well, I forgive you, Sonic. But let's focus on how to get out of here."
"Sonic? Tails? Is that you?"
The two heard an old voice.
"Where's that coming from?"
"Sonic, look!" he pointed at one of the side walls.
A concrete brick was being pushed towards their cell. When it fell, a familiar figure was seen from the small hole. They gasped when they saw who was on the other side.
Reaching the west wing, Luigi inspected the layout of the Dark Age Exhibit. Unlike the time Mario passed this room, the lights were out. He saw one of the iron maidens shaking. Two bookcases were both missing a red and blue book, respectively. A treasure chest was emitting a purple aura, being unable to open at the moment.
Luigi gulped. "Time for some more jump scares."
He opened the coffin-like box. A strong Sneaker scared the living daylights out of him.
"AAHHH!"
Falling onto his bottom, he got back up and searched with the Dark-Light Device. Colombo sniffed around for any other incoming ghouls. When Luigi spotted the entity, he shined the Strobulb to stun him. He struggled heavily against the purple ghost, but captured him successfully.
Afterwards, Colombo barked near a knight. Luigi followed him and shook the metal suit. Three more ghosts appeared: two strong Greenies, and a Strong Hider. One of the Greenies had a bucket over his head. Luigi flashed the light on the other since his face was visible. He jumped to dodge the flying objects the Hider was throwing at him. After finishing off the first Greenie, the one with the bucket punched him, only to miss when Luigi ducked and rolled. He waited for the moment he raised it over his head to reveal his face. He shined it and sucked up the second green ghost.
Colombo traced the Hider in another suit of armor, this one being next to the treasure chest. The plumber caused him to pop out of his hiding spot. From there, he finished the ghost hunt by trapping him in the Poltergust with the other three he caught.
After the lights turned on, Luigi took off his cap and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Another hunt completed. Thanks again, boy."
"Bark! Bark!"
"The E-Gate should be behind this red bookcase. But where is this missing book?"
"Arf!" Colombo barked near the treasure chest.
"Maybe you're right. Let's open it."
When he lifted the top, a blue book was resting inside.
"Well, that's where the blue one is. But there was a gem here the last time I inserted it."
Nonetheless, he placed it in the empty slot. The bookcase shifted to reveal the red book. But they also stumbled upon a metal key.
"Huh, this doesn't look like the usual golden keys that unlock the doors in the mansions. I wonder what this is for. Might as well keep it, just in case."
Luigi pushed the red book in place to expose the hidden portal.
"Next, let's bring this bucket to the Jungle Exhibit to water the plant.
He and Colombo warped to the Front Entrance, then back to the Jungle Exhibit via shortcut. He strolled under the waterfall to fill the wooden pail. Reaching the small sprout, he poured the water for the spiked plant ball to grow.
"Nice! Now we can get rid of the Flytrap and save Vector!"
"Arf!"
They sprung up from the flower with the spiked ball attached to the Poltergust. Luigi aimed it at the plant who was looking back hungrily. The ball shot in its mouth, and it chomped on it before decaying. Luigi grinned before he realized something.
"Hey, Colombo. Should we wait until we take his painting to the Terrace? Or should we free him now?"
The Polterpup tilted his head before he barked twice, implying to go with the second option.
"Alright. I'm going against Sonic and Tails here, but he's been trapped for over a week at this point. He deserves freedom. Let me inform Mario and them before we do."
He pulled out his 3DS to call Mario first. But he wasn't picking up. Confused, he tried Tails' communicator. When that didn't work, he contacted Sonic. The result was the same.
Luigi raised an eyebrow. "I don't know why they're not answering me. It's not like them to just ignore the call. Unless… something bad happened to them."
He got a bit worried, yet he was skeptical, too. That conversation with the Mobians didn't seem normal for the right reasons.
"Should I call E. Gadd?"
Colombo tilted his head, as a way of shrugging.
"Might as well."
He tapped the professor's name on his device. Waiting for a response, all he heard was the constant tone.
"I don't get it. Why are none of them picking up? First Mario, then Tails, Sonic, and E. Gadd, too! What the hell is going on?"
Colombo wished he knew the answer. With no other choice, Luigi walked up to the portrait and shined the Dark-Light Device. Slowly but surely, the crocodile emerged from the painting.
"Huh? Whoa!" Vector yelled as he fell onto the stream.
"Vector? Are you okay?"
"Ugh… Oh, hey Luigi! It's been so long since I've seen you!"
"Same here."
"Last time I remember, the evil shadow guy hurt you at the princess' castle. But you seem to rebound yourself!"
"Thanks, Vector. But listen. There's no time to stand here and talk. We need to rescue the others before the Oblivion consumes everything by Wednesday!"
"The Oblivion? What's that?"
"I'll explain everything on the way. But right now, follow us to the Ancient Exhibit."
"Ruff!"
"Whatever you say. I'll help out in any way possible."
"Professor E. Gadd?!"
"Eh, funny meeting you two youngsters here," the old man scratched the back of his head.
"What the heck are you doing here?!" Sonic was blinking and shaking his head to see if he was dreaming or not.
"More like how did you get here?" Tails asked the real question.
"I was wondering the same thing for you two. But since you asked first, I was in my Evershade bunker with Mario, Luigi, and Colombo. I was about to send you guys after them, until…"
…
"Good luck out there!" E. Gadd pressed the joystick, and the large screen pulled in the plumbers and the Polterpup. Once there were gone, he was about to transport the Mobians through the Pixelator, but not before he received a small farewell message. (3)
"Hey, Professor."
"Yes, Sonic?"
"We just wanted to ask you a question before we leave."
"What's that?" His finger was hovering over the button.
"Did you know you look cute when you're asleep?" Tails queried.
"Um…" E. Gadd didn't know how to respond to that. "I guess I'll take that as a compliment. Not trying to sound weird or anything, but have you ever seen me slee-"
He was interrupted by some gas emitting from behind. He smelled the stench, and his head wobbled from the dizzy effect before he fell off his chair. 'Sonic' and 'Tails' smirked as a figure appeared from being invisible.
"Hehe, excellent work, Slimmer and Clawdio. My transformation skills worked out perfectly," said Myster Edge.
"No problem, boss," Slimmer replied, posing as the Sonic clone.
"What's next, sir?" Clawdio, as the fake Tails, asked.
"The ghosts will bring him to the basement with the real hedgehog and fox. You two will follow those stupid plumbers to the mansion. Make sure you separate the red one from Luigi. If successful, I'll handle the rest. If not, then expect some punishment as I do the work myself."
"A little harsh, but we got it."
"Send us through."
Edge pushed the joystick to send his robots through the screen. Once Slimmer and Clawdio were gone, the Shadow Spirit used his scepter to carry the scientist outside. He was met with another set of ghosts.
"Ghouls, bring him to the Dungeon Cells. Lock him up with the others."
They listened to his orders and floated over to the faraway mansion. Edge snickered to himself.
"Oh, Luigi. Your friends will have a great time rotting in prison again. And your brother will suffer a different fate before I finish you off. And the Oblivion will finally consume everything to my advantage! HAHAHAHA!"
…
"So Edge kidnapped you, too?" Sonic made a fist. "That son of a bitch… Urgh! I'm gonna give him a taste of my own medicine when I get out of here!"
"And to make matters worse, our new communicators were taken away. I just spent the last two days building them! Now we can't contact Luigi, Mario, or anyone else!" Tails groaned.
"Speaking of the Mario Bros., I wonder where they are at this point," E. Gadd thought.
"I'm not comfortable with the fact that Edge or those ghosts could capture them as well. But I know Mario can handle tough situations. And Luigi has gotten through a lot to overcome anything that gets in his way."
"I just hope either one can help us out." Little did Tails or the others know that the older brother was helpless while the younger one was still helping out their friends, unaware of Edge's evil motives.
"Now that I answered your question, can you reciprocate by telling me how you fellas got here?"
Sonic and Tails explained their story to him about the ghosts ambushing them.
"How unfortunate. But I can't say I blame them because of how they're negatively influenced without the Dark Moon's presence. If only we could get that last fragment as soon as possible."
"And to get out of this dungeon," Sonic complained. "I really hope Mario's okay," he thought to himself.
Luigi filled in from the get-go of what transpired over the past week, as well as the mission he and his friends needed to accomplish. Vector understood as they entered the Ancient Exhibit.
"So you said you saw a vision of Shadow being in this room?"
"Mm-hmm. But last time I checked, this room wasn't filled with sand. Since it is, I have to activate those panels," he pointed at the two green circles, which pertained as eyes in the Egyptian-style statue they approached. "Stay alert. The sand will sink."
"I'm ready."
Luigi flashed the sensors for the sand to lower into the basement level. When they reached the bottom, there were four sarcophagi and a rock wall with a ball and chain attached to it.
"What now?"
"I have to tug on this chain. There's an E-Gate behind here that would take us to the lobby. But I have a good feeling we'll get some deadly visitors."
"What do you mean?"
"How good are you at fighting Mummies?"
"Um, never had any experience."
"Well now you're going to have some."
Luigi destroyed the wall to uncover the portal. And above it was Shadow's portrait. Then, the four coffins opened up, each with a Mummy walking out towards the trio.
"We need to guide them to the torches for their bandages fall off. They're basically Greenies in disguise, but we need to reveal their faces so I can suck them in the Poltergust."
"Gotcha. Let's get them!"
Luigi ran around the two Mummies on the left and flashed the Strobulb at them. As they were blinded, they ran towards his direction. He swiftly moved out of the way so they could run into the fire. Their wrappings fell apart, and two Greenies came into view. He struck both of them simultaneously and pulled them into the vacuum.
Meanwhile, Vector whipped his tail at one to whack one of them into the wall. He did the same thing to the last Mummy. Colombo went ahead to rip their disguises apart since they didn't move. Luigi took care of the unveiled Greenies to light up the room.
"Great job, you two."
"Thanks! You weren't half bad catching those ghosts."
"I appreciate it. Although sometimes they give me the creeps."
"What matters is that we got rid of them."
"You're right. Now let's release Shadow."
Vector climbed up to grab the painting off the wall. Luigi shined his Dark-Light Device to unleash the ebony hedgehog. He landed on his feet and dusted his shoulders.
"Hmm. Haven't seen you in a while," Shadow commented.
"Good to see you again, Shadow."
"Whatever. Now where am I, and what's going on?"
"You really know how to start a meetup, Shadow," Vector sardonically remarked.
"Oh, it's you, Vector. I see the green plumber has rescued you as well."
"And we still need to find Silver and my detective crew."
"By the way, where's that blue faker, along with your brother?"
"To be honest, Shadow, I have no clue. We split up to find your paintings. But when I tried calling them, none of them responded back."
"That does seem peculiar," he pondered, surprisingly without showing any sarcasm.
"I know that Mario, Sonic, and Tails were supposed to be in the Ice Age Exhibit to find Silver. But I have a hunch that something's gone wrong. So before we go find Espio or Charmy, I want to go check in that room."
"Fair enough," Vector said.
"Let's get going then," urged Shadow.
Luigi opened up the E-Gate and allowed the others to warp before following them.
The plumber opened the door to the freezing room. First, he entered the igloo to activate the E-Gate shortcut. He rejoined Shadow, Vector, and Colombo who were gazing at the contents the exhibit had to offer.
"Man, these rooms feel realistic in terms of temperature and layout. It does feel like we're stuck in an ice age or something," Vector shivered.
"A bit too cold for my taste, but I can handle anything," Shadow muttered.
The Polterpup was sniffing around the cave with the frozen wall. He barked at Luigi to gain his attention.
"Colombo? What's wrong?" He found the answer when he saw Silver's painting. "There's Silver. But, the others said they would bring his painting to the Terrace. Either they're somewhere else to find a way to get rid of it, decided to go find Espio like they mentioned before…"
"Or they could be seized by those ghosts," Vector concluded.
"Unless they decided to dawdle around and make you do all the work. If you ask me, that's lazy, even for your brother who's considered a hero in your world," Shadow shook his head.
"I'm not going to jump to conclusions that Mario and the others are being lazy. I just know that we need to melt the ice to reach Silver's painting. Even though they said would bring the paintings over to the Terrace, I'll just help him. First, I need to do some warping."
"What does warping have to do with thawing ice?"
"I can take a log from the Jungle Exhibit, head over to the Ancient Exhibit to set it on fire from a torch, then carry it to get rid of the barricade. It's just like rescuing one of the professor's Toad assistants who was stuck here the first time I ventured through this mansion."
"Wow, that some smarts right there. Even I wouldn't manage to think of that!" Vector complimented.
"I'll be back soon. Unless you want to come along in case some ghosts might ambush you."
"I'd rather isolate myself in here. But I'll keep an eye out for anything that might appear."
"I'll follow you, Luigi."
"Thanks, Vector."
After a few minutes of teleporting to the mentioned exhibits, Luigi returned to the igloo while carrying the burning wood. He let it settle near the ice wall as it melted away for him to enter. After disposing the log, he shined the ultraviolet light on the painting to free the silver hedgehog.
"Whoa…" Silver breathed as he landed on the floor. "Hey! Luigi, Vector, Shadow! You guys are alright!"
"Bark!"
"Oh, and you too, Colombo. Thanks for getting me out of the painting."
"No problem."
"So what's going on? I have a strong feeling I missed out on a lot of stuff." Luigi nodded and explained everything to him. "Shoot. That's a lot to process, but I understand. Now that I'm out, I'll assist you guys in finding the others!"
"Excellent! Now we have to find Espio and Charmy. Where did you remember finding them?" Vector asked the man in green.
He opened up his 3DS to navigate the map of Treacherous Mansion. "Their paintings are on the second floor of this mansion. Espio is in the Space Exhibit, which in the west wing. Charmy is in the Train Exhibit, in the east wing."
"By the way, where's Sonic and Tails? And your brother, too?"
"That's the thing, Silver. I have no clue. We actually split up with the three of them planning to take your portrait to the Terrace. But I haven't seen them since, nor did they manage to rescue you. And I tried calling them, yet they didn't answer."
"That's odd. I know for a fact Tails doesn't keep the person waiting on the other line for too long. He picks up his calls almost immediately when he gets one."
"He didn't pick up this one time when he got taken away by one of Edge's robots earlier. I'm afraid he either got kidnapped again, or something else bad. The same goes for Mario and Sonic."
"Don't worry, Luigi," Vector reassured. "I'm sure we'll find them soon. For now, let's save Espio and Charmy."
"And maybe we'll see that damn shadow so I can deal him an ass whooping," mumbled Shadow.
"Okay. Let's-a-go, everyone."
Before they could exit, another pack of ghosts invaded the exhibit. Shadow, Silver, Vector, and Colombo used their abilities to stun them so Luigi could pull them into the 6000. Once they cleared the room, they made their way to the Inner Courtyard.
END OF CHAPTER
Alright, a lot of things went down. So let's go over the facts.
Luigi and Colombo managed to rescue Vector, Shadow, and Silver, leaving just Espio and Charmy waiting to be freed. The real Sonic and Tails are held captive in the mansion's basement where the Dungeon Cells are located. Not only that, E. Gadd is stuck there, too. There's no sign of Mario, but he's in grave danger since he's taken from Slimmer and Clawdio, who were disguised as the Mobians with the help of Myster Edge. The Tough Possessor has yet to be found, but will appear in the next one.
Now that we've gotten through all that, Luigi and his rescued partners must save Espio and Charmy, then find Mario, Sonic, and Tails. However, Edge has something planned for the green hero, which involves his brother. How so? You'll see eventually.
Next time on Hidden Bravery, not everything is what it seems. Stay tuned to see what I mean. I'll try my best to continue writing once I return to college. If I need to delay the story, I'll put up a personal update to explain. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this one. Be sure to review, follow/favorite, and keep your eyes out for Ch. 46! This is TGN, signing off.
Post-Chapter Notes:
(1): Most of Luigi's actions throughout this chapter and from this point forward are repetitive to how he traversed in Mission E-2: 'Double Trouble' of the Treacherous Mansion in Dark Moon. Even though there are other ways to get through this (such as using his palms to carry the water and pour it on the plant), I'm making him do it the long and intended way like it's done in the game.
(2): A small, fun thing to see is making Luigi stand under falling water. When he does, he'll act as if he was taking a shower, whistling and cleansing himself. Such a cool detail, in my opinion.
(3): Due to the context of this flashback, I went back to Ch. 44 to edit this paragraph, where I originally wrote that 'he managed to send the Mobians…'.