Author Notes - You may call this chapter long, but it was almost 3,000 words longer in the original. So, uh, that was a thing. Because I wanted to get this short and simple floor down in one chapter, and proceeded to make it not so short and simple. Which is my entire literary life in a nutshell, I swear.

CHAPTER NINE - PUT HIM TO REST(AURANT)

As Luigi stepped out the doors and glanced around, he hoped deep in his heart that he'd see the lobby in its sparkly gold glory. He prayed that the welcoming light of day had returned and the nightmare had ended. Yet, when he saw the lobby no different than before, he wasn't disappointed. Daisy leaned on the guard rails, looking over the room like she was on the edge of a cruise ship. She had a small smile on her face, as if wanting to jump into the pretend water.

'I still think this place looks pretty cool.' She said. 'Well, not so much after they tried to kill us.'

'ARF!'

Both mortals turned to the excitable ghost dog, who had his nose in the air and was sniffing about. His tail wagged as he picked up a great variety of scents, just about all of them delicious. He scampered towards the yummy aromas, running around the corner, and jumped through a door at the end of the path.

'Wait boy!' Luigi said, running after him. 'Where are you going?'

He just barely saw Polterpup phase through the door, the same door that Luigi had seen before. It still had all those cleaning supplies in front of it, all stacked on a rickety cart. Since it had a flat surface, all Luigi had to do was plunger it and fling it over his shoulders. It was destroyed on impact.

He cringed as the debris settled. 'It doesn't feel right, destroying all their stuff like this.'

Daisy scoffed. 'What? After they kidnapped your brother? They should be thankful you haven't bombed this entire freaking hotel yet!'

He pushed the door open, gulping. Having no idea what lay beyond filled him with dread. He couldn't be more relieved to see nothing more than a regular, surprisingly well-lit hallway. The red rug that stretched all the way from one end to the other had beautiful golden accents, and was clearly washed often. The walls were well-painted with hardly any chipping, and the lights functioned perfectly. It looked like something straight out of a real, non-haunted hotel. Aside from the wanted posters on the wall. They served to remind Luigi that he was still a victim of a trap.

Daisy stepped through the door and marvelled at the sight. 'Ooh. Wow! Is this even the same hotel?' She then noticed the posters. 'Oh, right. Of course.'

Polterpup had already made it down the hallway. He stood by what appeared to be a knocked-over food cart, investigating all the spilled food. More specifically, he sniffed at a big chunk of cheese that Luigi could smell all the way from the entrance.

'Yip yip!'

Polterpup snatched the piece of cheese up into his jaw, and ran off with it like anyone was going to take it from him.

'Hey!' Luigi yelled. 'Why do you keep running off?'

The ghost dog carried the cheese with him through the golden doors at the end of the hallway, the doors that led to the restaurant.

'Welp, I guess that's where we're going. Let's-a go, sweetie.'

The doors to the restaurant shone under the artificial lights, in a similar manner to the hotel's masquerade. The wood underneath the gold paint appeared to have been hand-carved, decorated with a meal fit for a Greek pantheon. Luigi took a look at the gorgeous woodwork, and opened up the beautiful doors. Before he even got a good look at the place, several aromas greeted him. Though they all combined into a bit of a mess that was hard to decipher, he could identify several kinds of pastry, more cheese, and even some wine.

Daisy inhaled the lovely smells in the air. 'Oh, I gotta meet the chef. If this stuff tastes half as good as it smells...!'

The door delivered them to the reception, of which no one was serving. What caught Luigi's attention was the menu, printed on a sign. It had a large list of all the food that consumers could order, and it had quite the variety - everything between basic fish-n-chips to a complex lasagne, the latter in particular making him salivate. Luigi couldn't make out much else, as most of it had been scribbled over with a red marker. It had a note on the bottom, written in the same manner as the rest - 'By the orders of Ms Hellen Gravely'.

'Found him!' Daisy announced.

Polterpup had gone past the reception and into the dining room, and hopped onto the display shelf that extended all the way down to the other end of the long room. Various pastries and cheeses showed off their delectable appearances and smells. The baguettes in particular attracted the dog with the smell of its crispy crust. He picked up an entire loaf with his mouth, and vanished into the wall to eat his spoils in peace.

'I think we're doing this mission as a duo, sweetie.' Daisy said. 'Hey, Luigi? You see that?'

She pointed over to the other side of the restaurant, where the doors to the kitchen lay. Heavy black smoke seeped out through doors, before it dissipated into the air. If the restaurant had nearly as many patrons as it usually did, the mortals wouldn't be able to hear the voice on the other side of the doors.

'Hoh hoh! Now zis... yes, zis! Zis shall be my comeback. With Ms Gravely distracted, I can finally create a chef-d'oeuvre!'

Daisy grinned as she stepped down the stairs from the reception and into the dining room. 'My gut tells me the next elevator button lies behind those doors. Come on.'

Luigi followed her onto that beautiful tiled floor, and gasped.

'What?' Daisy asked.

'Shh! Over there.' He whispered.

He motioned to a table far off in the corner. Unlike the others, which were totally empty, this one had five Goobs sitting at it. Each had a cream-filled pastry laid out in front of them, and a couple of them had glasses of wine to go with them.

One of them gulped down her wine and slammed the glass back onto the table. 'And then she says to me, go tell Serpci to take down those horrid banners!' She said, mockingly imitating her boss's voice.

All the other ghosts gasped and groaned.

One nearly choked on his meal. 'Wait, you serious? Serpci loves those banners. Doesn't Ms Gravely know she'll get hell for even trying that?'

A third sipped at his wine and scoffed. 'You think that's bad? I heard she ordered Dr Potter to carve that king's mug into every plant he had. Have fun convincing Old Man Ramos to defile his friends like that.'

A fourth laughed so hard, crumbs came flying out of her mouth. 'Pffft, really? And I thought forcing Amadeus to play King Boo's favourite tune for a whole night was awful!'

The last one didn't say anything. He was too busy burying his face in his arms and groaning in pain to properly contribute.

Luigi gulped. 'L-Let's-a try to avoid them for now.'

Daisy sighed in disappointment while Luigi put his back up against the display shelf.

'Well, I guess we can't waste time capturing ghosts when we don't need to.' She said, joining him against the wall.

'Why do you sound disappointed?'

'Because busting ghosts is kind of fun.'

The two shuffled along as the five Goobs continued to rant among themselves about their awful boss and her stupid and rather tyrannical decisions. Luigi didn't even breathe as he got closer and closer to the door and the ghosts.

'Almost there, Luigi...' Daisy whispered.

He stopped dead. His head bumped into something. Daring to move his eyes just a little, he saw a big bottle of wine standing on the edge just barely in his way. And it was wobbling.

Oh no...

'Luigi? What's the hold-up?'

The bottle moved in every which way and settled on falling towards the floor.

'No no no...!'

*SMASH*

He cringed. The bottle crashed into the floor and shattered, scattering wine and glass shards everywhere and filling the room with that awful cracking noise.

Daisy jumped. 'Oh my goodness!'

All of the Goobs - with the exception of the silent one, who had fallen to the floor - turned around to look at him, wondering what the heck that crash was about.

'George?' The first ghost guessed as she turned around. 'You being a complete idiot aga-?'

All five faces lit up at the sight of Luigi standing there like a practise target.

'Woo-hoo! We've done it!' The Goob who choked on his food yelled, throwing his fist into the air. 'We'll make it big now!'

The laughing one played an air guitar. 'Oh yeah! That prize money is ours!'

The silent Goob tapped on the shoulder of his friend (the one sipping his wine) and pointed at the princess standing next to their target. The friend peered at her, and gasped.

'Guys, guys!' He cried. 'That's the princess!'

'The who?'

He rolled his eyes. 'Ya know? The one who bashed Harold into particles with her bare hands?'

All five looked at her closer. She waved to them, and with that the gaggle of Goobs proceeded to panic and fly around the room.

'Run away! Run away!'

'Princess on the loose!'

'Everyone panic!'

'There's no need to-'

'I SAID PANIC!'

While Luigi stared in shock, Daisy giggled.

'Yeah, that's right!' She declared. 'Better be careful or I'll kick your ass!'

Luigi gasped. Such... language! It only made the ghosts panic more.

Daisy grabbed his wrist and pulled him along. 'They're distracted. Let's book it!' She dragged him like he was just an empty toy wagon. 'Come on! Let's get in here!'

She pushed the door open, and brought both herself and Luigi inside. He resisted the urge to sneeze as the smell of heavy smoke hit him like a truck.

'Ooh, that ain't good...' Daisy said, wrinkling her nose.

The otherwise clean and fancy kitchen, loaded to the brim with various and aromatic ingredients stacked neatly on the shelves, had its beauty ruined by a big black cloud of smoke that covered up the entire other half of it. The choky smell overwhelmed that of the ingredients.

'I would like to see Ms Gravely see through zis smog! Prend ça, patron!' A voice announced from the heavy cloud.

Luigi shuddered; he could sense a ghost hiding in the dark smog. He heard the ghost humming, and something being flipped in a frying pan.

'Hey buddy!' Daisy called to the ghost, waving smoke out of her face. 'Could ya clear this up please?'

The flipping sounds continued, though the humming stopped.

'I understand zat zee smoke is somewhat overwhelming. Let it be known zat I am doing so on purpose.'

Daisy groaned. 'Really? Why?'

'Why? You silly mortals ask why? You should be grateful zat I am not whacking you with my frying pan as we speak.'

Amongst all that smog, Luigi saw the dim shine of an elevator button. He stared at the smoke, judging whether or not he could get through. Trying not to sneeze from the very smell of it alone was hard enough. He picked up his Poltergust nozzle, and began sucking in large amounts of the noxious smoke.

'Ooh, clever!' Daisy said. 'Buuut... I don't think you have enough power.'

It was one of those rare times that she hated being right. While Luigi's Poltergust had made a noticeable dent in the fog, they didn't seem any closer to exposing the ghost within it.

Daisy snapped her fingers. 'Hey, I got an idea! I bet if you and Gooigi used both your Poltergusts at once, you'd have enough power to suck it all up! E. Gadd mentioned being able to do something like that, right?'

'Yeah, he did! It's worth a try.'

He deployed Gooigi, and now the process of switching over to the green-filtered view with the wobbly legs felt as natural as walking for him.

Daisy, on the other hand, still laughed like a soldier trying to keep himself sane. 'Why?' She muttered. 'Why is that so creepy?'

Gooigi got right into sucking up the smoke, and through his translucent skin, Daisy could see the smoke travelling through the pipe before it seemingly vanished into nothing. The food flipping stopped again.

'Hm? I cannot say for certain what it is you mortals are doing. But I can say zat it does not concern me.'

'We'll see about that!' Daisy said.

Luigi switched back to his own body and activated the Poltergust alongside his unconscious gooey counterpart. Just like Daisy had predicted, the smoke began to actually disappear. The horrid smell went away with it, and now Luigi could properly appreciate the amazing aroma of those ingredients. The dissipating smoke gave away to reveal a clean gas stove, a couple of empty sinks, and - most importantly - a ghost.

He donned a less-than-clean chef's outfit with an oversized mushroom hat, a very appropriate outfit considering his job. He had a fish, a whole fish at that, sizzling in his frying pan. The fish got flipped many times for that perfect subtle but crispy taste. The chef was so into his cooking that he didn't notice his smoky veil gone.

'It will be a simple creation to be sure.' He said, before deeply inhaling the nautical aroma. 'But zee simple meals can be just as good as zee...'

His voice trailed off when he noticed his lack of a cover. His attention fell over to the two green guys and the princess staring at him. Who noticed him staring at them.

'AHHHH!' Luigi yelped.

Daisy just waved, while Gooigi did absolutely nothing.

The chef's grasp on his frying pan tightened, and his hands shook. 'You... you destroyed my secretive veil...'

*plop*

The fish fell out of the frying pain and dropped unceremoniously to the floor.

'Uh oh...' Luigi muttered.

The chef glanced down to his ruined creation staring back at him. He looked back at the Italian man, his eye twitching very, very noticeably.

'Uh, we can clean that up for you.' Daisy offered.

The chef slammed his pan onto his burner, for the sole purpose of creating an incredibly loud CLANK to get their attention. Luigi cringed as the sound attacked his ear drums.

'Hey, calm down!' Daisy yelled, adopting a more serious look. 'It's just one fish.'

'DO YOU MORTALS REALISE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?!'

She crossed her arms. 'We made you drop a single fish, and that was mostly on you by the way. You'll be fine.'

'Stop your insolence AT ONCE, you fauteur de troubles!'

Before she could even think, he chucked his frying pan right at her head. The big metal implement smacked right into her face.

'Ah! Daisy!' Luigi cried. 'Daisy, are you okay?'

She wobbled around dizzily and giggled. 'Nice of the princess to invite us over for a picnic, g'eh Luigi?'

'Uh... what?'

'I hope she made lotsa SPAGHETTI!'

*THUD*

That was the last thing she said before she fell conscious, collapsing to the floor face-first.

'Ahh! Daisy!'

Luigi's dread of being alone was only magnified when he realised he had a very peeved off chef ghost looking right at him.

'Do you mortals realise what you have done?!' The chef yelled, staring dead into Luigi's soul.

'Uh... n-n-no?' Luigi replied.

The chef sighed for five seconds in complete and utter frustration. He pulled on his red hair hard enough for it to stretch like rubber.

'You and your confounded friend destroyed my hazy vein, crétin!'

Luigi held his hands up and backed away slowly.

'I-I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what you mean.'

'Zee smoke, niais! ZEE SMOKE!' The ghost shouted. 'What, did you assume zat I would set fire to my creations by accident? What kind of chef do you zink I am?!'

Luigi shook his head. 'I-I admit, I'm not quite sure who you are.'

'YOU DON'T KNOW WHO I AM?!' The ghost yelled. 'I am Chef Gordon Soulfflé, zee BEST and ONLY chef for MILES AROUND!'

Luigi jumped, and covered his head with his arms that he held up defensively. When he dared to look again, he saw Chef Soulfflé no longer giving him the death glare but burying his face into his hands.

'Of course you would've never heard of me.' He said, far calmer in comparison but still obviously furious. 'But my boss is so ennuyeux and exigeante! How can I make myself known when she's around?'

'So, uh, what was with all that smoke?' Luigi asked, reaching for the Strobulb.

'Is it not obvious?! My boss has cameras absolutely everywhere! I believe zere's four of zem in my cooler alone. If I have any hope of creating my masterpieces, I must hide myself by any means I have!'

Daisy slowly, very slowly, began coming to. The world was still a badly-animated haze of fifty toasters and opening doors, and the two voices she could hear blended together into nonsense.

'B-But why would you need to do that?' Luigi asked.

'Did you not SEE zee menu at zee entrance? Did you not notice how RUINED it was?!'

'Actually, I-I did. Why was it like that?'

'It was Ms Gravely's orders!' Soulfflé cried, slamming his fist directly into the fire that couldn't hurt his ethereal skin. 'She claimed it was to save resources, but I know it's just because she only wants whatever she believes her precious King Boo wants!'

Luigi hooked the flashlight up to the Poltergust, and approached Soulfflé as carefully as possible. Despite how badly his previous attempts at diplomacy failed, he hoped that this attempt worked.

Soulfflé's breathing picked up, and he audibly seethed with every breath. 'Zat woman has forced me to cook zee same three meals for years. I haine that woman... so, so much...'

He shifted his glare back onto Luigi. It made the plumber turn as stiff as a block of lead.

'And yet... I am compelled to follow her orders, for reasons zat I can't begin to explain.'

Luigi gulped. 'And those orders are to...?'

Without an answer, Chef Soulfflé vanished into thin air. Luigi gasped, and grabbed his flashlight after multiple failed attempts at reaching for it. By the time he got a grip on it, the cook rematerialised floating by where his frying pan lay. Brushing aside a couple of melons that rested on the floor, he grabbed his pan and held it like a sword pointing right at the green plumber.

'Dah!' Luigi cried. 'U-Uh, Mr Soulfflé... can't we talk this out?'

'I cannot! Ms Gravely demands zat I capture a green gentleman and deliver him to her. And you match zat description perfectly. Maybe zen she will let me create what I want!'

To demonstrate his power, he floated over to the unconscious Gooigi and delivered a power whack into his torso. The gooey man burst into scattering droplets, and Chef Soulfflé winced with every muscle in his face at the sight of the green slime that covered his precious pan. Wiping it clean on his apron, he redirected his look of death to Luigi.

'I suggest you and your girlfriend leave zis room at once, before I turn your brains into minced meat!'

'I-I didn't mean to ruin your meal.' Luigi said. 'Honest! I just want the button so we can-'

'You want zee button? You cannot have it! Ms Gravely told me clearly zat under no circumstances should you be allowed to have it. If you want it, I'm afraid you'll have to tear it from me by force!'

Soulfflé wound his pan up like it was a baseball bat, and launched into a tornado spin attack like he was the Tasmanian Devil himself. He spun so fast that he looked more like an orange-and-grey spinning top.

'Wah!'

Luigi spent only a split-second searching for an opening to flash him in the eyes, but that attempt at logical thinking got overridden quickly by his survival instinct to run. Chef Soulfflé spun after Luigi with unrelenting persistence.

'C-Can't we just talk this over?' Luigi said between exhausted breaths. 'I-I prefer diplomacy over violence.'

'SILENCE!' Soulfflé yelled as the world began to get blurry. 'You have long past zee point of deserving diplomacy!'

Soulfflé, however, knew he couldn't spin forever and came to a stop. Despite being dizzy, his glare caught up with Luigi no problem. The green-clad man leaned against the kitchen counter, his attention falling upon a mouse hiding in the sink for a moment.

'Why do you struggle?' Soulfflé demanded. 'Make like an animal and let me capture you!'

Daisy lifted her head up from the floor. All the doors that clouded her vision opened up and revealed the real world behind them.

She gasped. 'Luigi!'

It seemed that Soulfflé had forgotten she existed after knocking her unconscious; he paid her absolutely no mind, focusing more on trying to strike the man who didn't really do anything.

'Why do you have to fight me?' Luigi pleaded.

'Only when Ms Gravely rewards me will I be allowed to make what I want to make!'

Luigi charged up a beam and went for it now that the ghost was not spinning around wildly, but Soulfflé merely blocked the rays with his pan.

'Did you not expect zat I would see zat coming? I know how you captured my friends. Zee light is our only weakness!'

Luigi took a sharp breath. Wait, that frying pan has a flat surface! Maybe I could plunger it... He engaged this thought process immediately, and got his plunger ready to fire. Alas, it seemed Soulfflé expected this, and began his spinning attack once again.

'Oh no!'

Luigi fired his shot anyway, but it merely went flying off and landed on the stove, which burnt it away into ashes. In a fit of panic, he jumped to another strategy as the spinning chef got close to him. He deployed Gooigi directly into Soulfflé's path, and switched back to his normal body the moment he could. As he anticipated, Soulfflé's pan struck the gooey man and blasted his body into nothing more than a green splash, stopping the chef's spiralling attack.

'Gah! You are just frustrating as zee others led me to believe.' Soulfflé said, flinging the goop off his pan. 'I do not understand why you are not just surrendering and accepting defeat. Do you zink I fought against zee fire zat killed me? No! I accepted my loss and got it over with! Why can't you do zee same?'

Daisy growled through her teeth as she stared up at him from the floor. 'I could say the same thing about you, buddy...'

Soulfflé seemed about ready to charge at the plumber once again. Daisy slammed her fist into the floor, and she noticed the melons lying around her.

'A-ha!'

She jumped to her feet, just a little dizzy as the blood rushed back to her head, and yanked a melon clean off the floor. Holding it as if it were a shot put ball, she took aim at the cooking-utensil-turned-weapon.

'Hey, Chef Boyardee!' She called.

With a sign, Soulfflé interrupted his attack before he began, and turned to her. 'I zought I dealt with you. What is it zat you want?'

'Take this!'

She chucked the melon square at the frying pan and sent it flying out of his hand. In two pieces, no less; the handle had broken clean off. The two separate bits of pan collided against the wall and fell to the floor.

Soulfflé gasped. 'Zat was my favourite pan! Quelle tragédie...'

Daisy scoffed. 'It was just a frying pan. Don't be so melon-cholic!'

As much as he thought that she was taking things a little too far, Luigi couldn't help laughing at her little pun. Soulfflé wasn't quite so partial however. He cried out in pure rage, to the point where she half-expected him to morph into some hulking beast.

'YOU WILL PAY FOR ZAT, you princesse gênante!' He shouted. 'I WILL MAKE SURE ZAT MS GRAVELY LOCKS YOU UP FOR DEFILING MY-'

Luigi cut off his furious rant by flashing him in his now-exposed eyes. Into the Poltergust nozzle he went.

'GET OFF ME, YOU RAVAGEUR!' Soulfflé shouted, doing as all ghosts did and dragging him around. 'If Ms Gravely doesn't kill you both for such flagrant behaviour, I WILL!'

Daisy chuckled. 'It'll be hard to do that once you're in a vacuum cleaner. Ged 'em, sweetie!'

Luigi needed that little bit of encouragement, as no ghost prior had fought the Poltergust nearly as hard as Soulfflé was, not even Chambrea. No matter how hard he pulled his suction in the opposite direction, Soulfflé kept dragging him around the kitchen.

'As if I would let myself get captured by a cretin like you! If I am to be defeated, it'll be to something as powerful as a fire. Not a little green wimp!'

But the powerful vibrations he felt in his hands told him he was doing his job right. Just a little further and he could...

Slam!

He flung Soulfflé into the ground with all his might, perhaps a little harder than necessary. Soulfflé, now not even trying to fight back, looked up to his captor. Though stunned by the impact, he gave a weak smile.

'I... I see zat I was wrong. You are indeed as powerful as a raging fire.'

Neither Luigi nor Daisy had any idea what that was about, but Luigi did notice that the second slam took him significantly less power than the first. Each subsequent slam got even easier. Despite his oncoming fate inside the Poltergust, Soulfflé gave Luigi a defeated smile.

'Zee bravest artistes admit failure when it comes... and zis is a failure for me.'

And though his gigantic hat jammed the nozzle for a moment, soon he was sucked in without a trace. Well, except for the three still very much alive fish that came flying out, landing on the floor and flopping about.

'Ew...' Luigi muttered as a flailing fish got a little too close to his feet. 'Sacre bleu...'

A frustrated voice echoed from the Poltergust. 'Never heard zat one before!'

The nozzle rattled, and a button shot out of it and landed in the sink.

'Oh yeah!' Daisy said as Luigi walked over to the landing spot. 'I'm starting to see a pattern here. Human-looking ghost, elevator button. Pretty basic.'

Luigi chuckled and reached for the button.

'EEK!'

And fell backwards into a puddle on the floor upon seeing a mouse right next to it.

'I know that scream! That's a mouse scream.' Daisy said. 'Where is it?'

The mouse crawled out of the sink with the button in its mouth, before it gulped it down in one bite.

'Oh no...' Luigi murmured.

Giving him a smug little look, it hopped off the bench and ran for the door.

'No... no no no!'

Daisy watched the little rodent scurry by her feet, and clenched her fists. 'Hey! You get back here!'

She chased it all the way to the door, whereupon it simply ducked into a hole in the wall and disappeared through to the other side.

Her shoulders slumped. 'Dang it.'

Luigi put his hand to his forehead and sighed. 'Aw, come on...'

Daisy, not one to give up for even a moment, kicked the door wide open. Much to Luigi's shock.

'Get back here, ya vermin!' She cried, before running out the door.

Luigi stood up and wiped the water off himself. 'Wait for me!'

By the time he got out of the kitchen, she was already at the reception. Luigi couldn't quite see from his position, but judging by Daisy's cry of utter exasperation, the mouse went straight through the wall once again.

'I swear to Grambi, I'm gonna kill that rat!'

And out the door she went. Luigi sighed; though fast enough on his own, no way he'd catch up to her with the heavyweight weaponry on his back.

'Daaaisyyy...' He whined, before running after her.

Daisy burst the door open with her hands this time, not noticing the small dents she left in the wood as she did so. All the way down the hall, she saw a little grey dot fleeing into the wall.

She cracked her knuckles and charged off again. 'Give me that button or I'll take it back the hard way!'

The door opened up to an entertainment room. A billiards table stood in front of her, its balls all in place ready for a game. A dartboard hung on the distant front wall, and so the other side of that was a… pig butt mounted up. A sword had been stuck into the dartboard's bullseye. The brown-wood walls and the faded green carpet gave off the vibes of an old pub. What Daisy would kill for a beer…

Her eyes scanned the room like a lioness searching for prey. She spotted her target by the pig rear, chilling under a table that had an empty mug resting on it.

'Hey Remy!' She shouted at it.

It responded to her shouting by ducking through yet another mouse-sized hole in the wall.

Daisy opened her mouth to vent her frustration, but she scratched the back of her head instead. 'Okay, that one was on me.'

Seeing nothing left to do in that room, she shrugged and turned around. She reached for the door handle, but a paranormal gate manifested and locked in place in front of that door.

She jumped back. 'Gah! I don't need this. I need to get back to Luigi!'

She grabbed onto the purple swirling bars, not surprised at all that the gloves allowed her to hold them. It didn't do her any good, as even her gloves wouldn't let her shake the bars, let alone remove the gate.

'Hey princess.'

With a groan she turned around, and her eyes widened at the sight: a new kind of ghost she hadn't seen before, bouncing the black billiard ball in his hand. He had a smirk on his skinny yellow face.

'Name's Owen. Wanna have a game with me?' He asked.

Daisy cocked an eyebrow. 'Who goes first? You or me? I'll let you go first if you want.'

The Oozer just chuckled, and turned to the cupboard behind him. 'So sis, are you gonna run away again or actually help me this time?'

Another Oozer stuck her head out of the cupboard and gave him a look. 'That wasn't running away! It was a tactical exit. Oh, and thanks for giving my position away!'

Owen rolled his eyes, and glanced back at Daisy. 'Just ignore Olivia over there.'

Olivia growled, but returned to her hiding spot. Owen sighed without even looking at her, and stopped throwing the black ball.

'I'm excited for this.' He said. 'With that precious Poltergust locked away, you're up for the taking. I go first. Take this!'

He tossed that ball with all of his might, aiming right for her face. With the cockiest smirk you will ever see, Daisy caught it in midair like a tennis ball.

Owen gasped.

'So, your turn again.' She said, crushing it into dust - a feat that managed to surprise her.

Owen looked around like a bird on high alert, searching for any sort of weapon to use. Hesitantly, he picked up the orange ball and took aim.

'Nice move.' Daisy said. 'My turn!'

Giving him no time to react, she grabbed his tail and yanked it so hard that he fell to the table. He looked up at her with fear in those empty eyes.

'Your move.' She said, grinning to show all her teeth, including those impressive canines.

The Oozer gaped at the hands that held him down. A mortal capable of touching ghosts? Impossible, surely.

Owen gulped. 'Hey, uh, s-sis. You know what you said about tactical exits?'

'Uh, y-yeah?' Olivia's trembling voice came muffled from behind the doors.

'I think it's about time we take our tactical exit!'

Daisy loosened his grip on him just enough so he could barely free himself. He flew straight up in a panic, vanishing through the ceiling. Olivia never showed herself but, judging by the paranormal gates dissipating away, she had followed her brother.

The princess laughed. 'The ghosts can only hope that they warn everyone else that this princess is not to be messed with. Now where was I?' She groaned. 'Right. The stupid mouse.' She turned around and opened the door. 'Maybe Luigi has- AH!'

'AHHHH!'

Neither expected to find the other on the opposite side of the door.

'Oh. I-It's just you.' Luigi stammered, doing a poor job at hiding his reddening cheeks. 'I-I was trying to get to you before, but the gate stopped me. Sorry.'

'That's fine.' She said. 'The ghosts weren't any trouble. You have any idea where that stupid mouse could've gone?'

'Uh, actually, yeah.'

She did not expect him to bring her to the location where he did.

'The... bathrooms?' She said, looking at the mouse hole.

'Uh, yeah.'

She looked the door up and down, and failed to see anything wrong with it.

'And you didn't go in and get the button yourself... why?' She asked, before stammering. 'Uh, I-I'm just curious.'

He pointed at the sign on the door, the one of a person in a dress. 'It's the ladies' bathroom.'

Daisy stifled a chuckle. 'Luigi, no one's gonna care.'

He opened his mouth.

'And before you ask, I would absolutely go into the men's bathroom if I had to. But, I get it, I get it. I can go in there for you if you want.'

'N-no. No. You're right. I should've just gone in there and grabbed the button while you were distracted.'

'Yeah, that's probably for the better.' Daisy said as he opened the door. 'I was just scaring the little guy away on account of my-'

'AHHHH!'

His oncoming-heart-attack came to a halt when he realised that the ghost at his feet was a certain loyal pet, bread and cheese crumbs all over his muzzle.

'Oh thank goodness...' Luigi gasped. 'It's just you, boy.'

Polterpup barked in joy and nodded. He turned around, and wagged his tail like a signal.

'Oh, coming!'

He stepped inside the bathroom, his feet making tiny splashes in the puddles on the floor. Against his expectations, the room smelled like a buffet, thanks to the scraps of fruit and pastry desserts scattered around. Some soggy, mouldy bread clogged one of the sinks. Cringing, Luigi remembered why he wasn't a full-time plumber anymore.

Polterpup pointed his nose at the middle stall. The echoing sounds of mice squeaking and chatting among themselves came from behind the door. Gulping, Luigi approached the door and pushed it open.

'Dah!'

'Luigi? What's wro... oh.'

It wasn't just a single mouse sitting on that toilet seat. At least ten or twenty mice piled on top of each other, creating a big lump of grey dirty fur. More than thirty eyes looked at him. However, despite all the targets, Luigi could see a glowing yellow light in one of them. Then the mice scattered. They crawled onto the floor and surrounded him.

He balanced on one foot in a failed attempt to get away from them. 'G-Get away!'

Polterpup glared down at the rodents surrounding his master, and snarled at them. They all looked at him, frozen like an introvert in the spotlight.

'RUFF!'

The mice squeaked in fear, and ran off to the hole in the back wall like Pikmin running in panic. One mouse, the one with the glow inside it, failed to escape and found itself in the jaws of the ghostly beasts. He growled at it, which translated to a firm 'DROP IT'. The mouse, ears hanging in defeat, puked up the elevator button onto the floor. With the conditions fulfilled, Polterpup dropped it nice and gently and the mouse fled the scene.

Luigi wiped his brow. 'Phew...'

'Yeah!' Daisy yelled. 'Now pick it up before a second mouse comes along and snatches it up.'

With a smile, Luigi grabbed the button and held it tight in his hand. His triumphant pride vanished the moment he realised that the button was covered in mouse saliva.

'Bleh...' He muttered, sticking his tongue out.

It was enough to make him gag and drop the button. Daisy stepped in, grabbed the button for him, and wiped it clean with the inside of her shirt.

'Floor number four... hm. Don't remember what was on that floor. Do you?'

He gave her the best smile he could as he wiped his glove on the back of his pants (so he wouldn't have to see it).

'Uh, I didn't study the map too well,' He replied. 'But I think it was called the Great Stage. I, uh, remember something about a pianist.'

'A pianist, huh? I'm willing to bet my bottom dollar that he's the guy holding the next button.' She put the button away into her pocket, in case another mouse showed up. 'Let's get out of this stupid bathroom and get this button back in.'


'WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER WITH THESE INCOMPETENT MORONS?!'

Hellen Gravely couldn't believe it. She had witnessed not one, not two, not even three, but four of her hopeless staff members fall to the green idiot and his Poltergust.

'How do we follow through the same trap for decades and fail at the most important moment?! The MOUSE did a better job holding onto that button!'

She pulled at her hair, in any attempt she could to control her rage before it happened. No matter how hard she tried, the rage continued to build. Growling, she pulled out her make-up and applied it thoroughly. Only then did she calm down.

'Okay Hellen, don't freak out yet just because you lost your weakest workers. As if the four of them ever did anything. All Soulfflé ever did was try cooking them a meal. I trust Amadeus will be able to finish him off.'

She looked at the security feed of the Great Stage, to see her pianist doing what he typically did in his spare time: playing his grand piano.

'Assuming he decides to actually help me out this time. I hope my servants do a good enough job convincing him.'

She smirked as her eyes fell upon one of the cameras for floor fourteen. A DJ with a giant afro stood behind her neon turntable, a big smile on her face as she ignored her orders and played her infernal disco music.

'And if they don't, I know exactly how to push his buttons.'

A shiver, a joyful one, went down her back. She was certain it was King Boo, smiling down upon her in approval.

'Yes darling! I will make you proud!'

Polterkitty, resting in her bed and trying to get those sixteen hours of daily sleep, groaned. Just hearing her owner declare her love for that guy gave her the same feeling she had when she licked that three-year-old salmon. Hellen heard the quiet groan and, remembering that her pet existed, spun her chair around to face her with a big (and faux) smile.

'Polterkitty, my sweet little darling!'

The kitty in question stretched her legs out and stood up. She recognised that as the 'I want you to do something' tone.

'I'm sure we can both agree that my staff are just a bunch of idiots, right?'

Polterkitty had to disagree. She found the staff rather nice and welcoming. They treated her really well, when they were allowed to. Regardless, she nodded.

'Of course we can! We just can't trust our staff, can we?'

She shook her head.

'Exactly! So I'm entrusting you with a very important mission. Since my staff cannot be trusted to hold onto the buttons themselves, perhaps you could swipe one for yourself. Just one button, and he won't be able to do anything about it.'

Her eyes widened. That seemed a little too diabolical. But if Master want, then Master shall get. Polterkitty left her warm fluffy bed, and dove through the floor. It took a bit of pushing to get herself all the way through.

'That's a good girl! Do your job right, and I'll give you extra catnip tomorrow!'

The spectral cat found offers like this useless. All that mattered to her was pleasing Master.


CHEF SOULFFLÉ, THE COOK WITH SOUL

AGE - 43

GENDER - Male

CAUSE OF DEATH - Kitchen Fire

Chef Gordon Soulfflé is the head - and only - chef in the Last Resort. Surprisingly, the inevitable stress is not why he's so quick-to-anger; he was always like that. He cooks just for pleasure, not stopping even when he lost his life to a kitchen fire. He doesn't care a single bit about money, spending all his earnings on ingredients and bills. He prefers to work in privacy, and he is not afraid to weaponize his frying pan.

Author Notes - Chef Soulfflé is in a weird position in the game. He isn't seen once before he shows up, and the level keeps going after his defeat. Because of this, he doesn't get much screen-time and doesn't feel much like a climatic boss. Still, I like what I managed to do with him. Oh, and 'Gordon' is a reference to the obvious. Even thought he doesn't really act like the obvious reference.

I know y'all are probably sick of me bringing up Hotel Horror so often, but I find it kinda funny that 1TGN cut out the bathroom scene because he found it pointless and kinda gross. Which is definitely true, and I think cutting it out makes the most narrative sense. And then I keep the scene and make it even grosser. Because... I dunno. I just think it's kinda fun to do something kinda gross from time to time. Within reason, of course: I don't wanna, you know, LOSE MY READERS.