Author Notes - I said in the author notes of the original chapter that Amadeus Wolfgeist was my favourite of the Boss Ghosts. This hasn't changed after three years. It's mostly a sentimental thing: his boss fight was when I decided that I didn't just like the game, but LOVED it. So, I gave him a far more sympathetic backstory and motivation than most people tend to give him.

CHAPTER TEN - PHANTOM OF THE THEATRE

An old purple ghost, dressed in his best suit, sighed and played a little tune on his piano. There was no care or love put into it; all he wanted was to overpower the annoying voices of the two Goobs talking to him.

'That green kid is way stronger than we predicted.' Sam explained. 'He - and that princess - just captured, like, four staff members!'

'And you needed to tell me this... why?' The old ghost asked, with a light Austrian accent. 'I've heard.'

Charles put his face in his hands and sighed. 'Because he's coming here next, Mr Wolfgeist.'

Amadeus rolled his eyes, and continued playing his aimless ditty.

'Aren't you worried he's gonna capture you?' Sam asked.

He shook his head. 'Please. I doubt he'll be a problem. I'll just give him the button - and his friend too, of course - and he'll leave me alone.'

He glanced over to the portrait he had on the wall behind him, making a great decoration for his glorious stage. It contained a Toad, and he couldn't care less as to which one.

Sam smiled. 'Aw, that's nice!'

'Not nice. Just pragmatic.' Amadeus said. 'If I give the mortals what they want, then I am spared from a fight. Do you wish to argue?'

Charles groaned. 'Do you want Ms Gravely to get angry with you? Because this is how you get Ms Gravely angry with you.'

'Never mind my boss. I can deal with her. She's nothing I can't-'

He winced, slamming multiple keys at once and creating a horrid loud sound. His hands shot to his head, and he emitted a long, low groan.

'Mr Wolfgeist!' Sam cried.

Charles grabbed her wrist and held her back before she could get anywhere near close to him.

'Curse you, Hellen...' Amadeus muttered as a voice spoke to him. 'I'm wiser than you think, Ms Gravely. I never let myself get involved in your abhorrent schemes, and I'm certainly not starting now.'

Sam grabbed onto Charles, and he returned the embrace. Neither of them liked seeing their fellow ghosts deal with Hellen Gravely trying to infest their minds.

The pianist scoffed. 'And why is that?'

Just a few seconds later, he slammed his hands down into the keys. The Goobs floated away from him, instinctively.

'WHAT?! THAT GREEN MAN THINKS HE CAN HURT MY GLORIA?!'

Sam stammered, before words finally came back to her. 'But Mr Wolfgeist, Gloria is alright! The green kid doesn't even know she exists yet. He never-!'

'THAT MAN WILL PAY FOR WHAT HE DID!'

Charles pulled her in closer and shook his head. No matter how empty her eyes were, one could see how much they were pleading. Amadeus directed his furious glare at the shuddering couple. They froze on the spot.

'What are you two still doing here?! GET OUT! I don't want ANYONE in my way when I teach that green man a lesson for laying his hands on my sweet little Gloria!'


According to the hotel tracker map, the fourth floor - known as the Great Stage - was rather smaller than the last few, much to Luigi's relief and Daisy's disappointment.

The doors opened up, and Luigi had to stay still for a moment to marvel at the elevator hall. The walls retained their golden colour, albeit far less shiny, and the red carpet appeared to have been cleaned recently. A couple of grand instruments - a double bass and a tuba - stood on display, looking as if someone polished them on a daily basis. All in all, it was just like walking into an opera house. He held his hand up to his ear and listened to the beautiful piano music in the air. Though the sound was muffled, he managed to pick out a couple of notes.

'Sounds nice.' Daisy said. 'I'm more into rock and country myself, but it sounds nice.'

Daisy strutted out of the elevator cart, admiring the obvious care that the owner of the floor put into the place. She inhaled the sweet aroma of orchestras and popcorn. Luigi, allured by the lovely music, walked to her side. Polterpup, allured by the smell of popcorn, followed his owner as loyally as ever.

'So, uh, where should we look first?' The man in green asked.

'Hm...' Daisy pondered, tapping her chin. 'Well, judging by our last few encounters, I'm guessing our next button is held by that pianist ghost on the great stage itself. Five bucks I'm right.'

'I wouldn't disagree.'

'Here.' She said. 'I'll lead the way.'

And she did just that, continuing her confident strut down the hall that led to the Great Stage itself. Luigi followed behind her, ready for whatever would come his way.

'WAH!'

An unknown object rolled towards him. He grabbed his flashlight and got ready to Strobulb. Fortunately - but much to his embarrassment - it turned out that what was rolling towards him was nothing more than a cymbal on its side. It slowed down and came to a stop with the smallest crash sound imaginable. Luigi sighed in relief.

Daisy smirked. 'I'm gonna find the ghost that threw that and give 'em a piece of my mind.' She said before charging down the hallway.

'W-Wait! Daisy!' Luigi called before charging after her.

His pace slowed down as he noticed the art on display on the faded golden walls. Several paintings had been hung up, showing various musical instruments in a more abstract design. He shuddered as something laid a hand on his chest. Turned out to just be Daisy, holding him back to stop him from stepping onto the long red rug that led to the other side of the hall.

'Hold up.' She said, glaring at the other end of the rug.

A Goob wearing a little red hat held on to that end of the carpet. Every few seconds he lifted it up and flung it back down immediately, creating a hill nearly as tall as Luigi himself. The 'hills' travelled down, retaining their shape until they reached the end.

'Man these ghosts are crafty.' Daisy said. 'I mean, a carpet isn't exactly threatening, but it's something.'

The Goob on the other end looked up to her, confused. 'Crafty? Crafty about what?! I'm just doing my dang job here!' He yelled in a Spanish accent, still playing with the rug. 'Ms Gravely just told me I was 'too useless for the plan' and that I should 'just clean the carpets', so I am.'

'Surely there's a more efficient way to do that.' Daisy remarked. 'Mr... what's your name?'

'Gustavo, and I ain't being paid for efficiency here.'

'Are... you being paid at all?'

'Exactly. I ain't getting paid, and that's final.'

He flicked the carpet up again, as basically a 'screw you' to our heroes. If anything, he just did it faster. Luigi had to step back from all the dust it scattered. Polterpup, on the other hand, sat in the middle of the rug and yipped in joy every time it lifted him into the air.

Daisy growled. 'We really don't have time for this.' She said to Luigi. 'I'm about to go and punch Mr Gusty in the face.'

'I think I can just burst over those hills and-'

'HEY MR GUSTY!'

Luigi sighed.

Gustavo stopped playing with the carpet to glare at her. 'What?!'

'We gotta get to the guy on the stage,' Daisy said. 'So if you could just-'

The Goob smiled. 'You're here to see Mr Wolfgeist? Why didn't ya just say so! Here I thought you were just a bunch of hooligans.'

Daisy's arms immediately relaxed. 'Oh.'


After a quick bathroom break, they passed through the grand doors and marvelled at the sight on the other side. It felt like they both walked into the Mushroom Opera House itself. It looked just like a big grand theatre, albeit on a smaller scale. Rows of wooden seats with crimson cosy felt faced the stage. The red curtains had been drawn back, and the spotlights focused on a gorgeous grand piano.

... A piano playing itself with no one in sight.

'Don't worry, Luigi!' Daisy said. 'I'm sure it's just a player piano.'

'It doesn't look like a player pia-'

'Like I said, player piano!'

Another spotlight turned on, aimed at a painting hung up behind the piano.

'Oh my gosh!' Daisy cried. 'That's one of the Toads!'

Whichever Toad he was - the desaturated brown of the portrait made it hard to tell them apart - he looked no less terrified than he did before.

'We have to save him!' Luigi said.

Daisy rushed off for the portrait like a superhero running into action. 'Hang on Toad! I'm coming for ya!'

Giving a frustrated sigh, Luigi ran after her. A small set of stairs led onto the stage, and the mortals - and their ghostly pup - barely made it halfway to the portrait before Mr Wolfgeist showed himself. Amadeus emerged from thin air, revealing himself to be the one playing the divine instrument. He glanced at the mortals, as though they were nothing more than a couple of young miscreants.

Luigi hid behind Daisy while she waved nervously. 'Hiya Mr Wolfgeist! We were just about to grab this dusty old painting. Is that okay with you?'

Something about seeing that man in green felt weird to Amadeus. He could've sworn he had more friendly feelings towards him before.

'I suggest you get off my stage.' He said. 'Now. That way it will be more fun for all of us.'

Luigi casually backed away off the stage, nothing more than a tumbleweed rolling away.

Daisy crossed her arms and grinned. 'What? You too scared to fight me one-on-one?'

Amadeus simply rolled up his sleeves, and played a far more aggressive song. The princess laughed at his failed attempt to intimidate her.

'Sorry, but you'll be darned if you can make a piano scary.' She said.

Luigi made a little whining sound in his throat; he and Mario had first hand experience on just how scary a piano could be. As if responding to her snide comments, all four chairs in one of the back rows shot up from the floor. They hovered in place, bobbing up and down a little as some mysterious yellow force held them up. The energy surrounding them disappeared, and the four chairs hurtled towards Daisy all in a row. Amadeus's music took on a crescendo and an accelerando.

'Whoa!'

She leapt off the stage. The first chair just barely rubbed against her heel, before they all crumbled into debris right where she was standing. She landed on her chest, but took only a moment to grunt before climbing back onto her feet. Luigi ran to her side before anything else could happen. The piano music now played more softly and slowly, shifting into a calm adagio.

Daisy dusted herself off. 'You made chairs scary. I'll give ya that one!'

Amadeus chuckled. 'So you really believe I'm done, do you? No one who messes with my Gloria is let off that easily.'

'Can you be done now?' Luigi asked.

Amadeus ignored his request, and returned to playing his instrument. It started off nice and calm, before abruptly shifting to several heavy singular notes. With each big note played, one chair rose into the air. The notes only stopped once every chair hovered above the ground, ready to be chucked.

'Any last words?' The pianist asked.

Luigi gulped. 'Uh...'

'RUN!' Daisy shouted.

Amadeus shifted the music to something dramatic and going full presto. The chairs flew towards them as they broke into a dash.

*CRASH* *CRASH* *CRASH*

Daisy outran the attack easily, charging with stride. She kept her vision up, watching the chairs. Luigi trailed behind her, the never-ending crashing sounds tearing at his senses. Though he didn't dare to look behind him for even a moment, he felt the vibrations under his feet of the chair hitting the floor. The dust that scattered with each broken chair made him cough and choke.

'I'd recommend you sit still.' Amadeus said, unfazed by the chaos he created. 'That will make it easier for all of us.'

Through her increasingly-heavy breathing, Daisy muttered a word she wished she could shout. 'Never...'

Polterpup sat still, his ethereal body unaffected by the flying furniture. He turned to the old pianist and snarled at him. Amadeus barely even looked at him.

'Don't fear, my canine friend.' The pianist said. 'Your mortal ally shall join you soon.'

The mortals continued to run around in a loop on the carpet that surrounded the middle set of chairs, even if there were no chairs on the floor anymore. Daisy counted the ones left, allowing Luigi to focus purely on survival. Only one row to go. She grinned, sure that they would escape the chair assault no worse for wear. Until the last few chairs, instead of flying upwards briefly like being thrown, zoomed at them directly like arrows shot from a bow.

'Look out!' Daisy yelled.

She dove to the side in a heartbeat, not even flinching as her knees scraped against the carpet. Luigi, however, saw his impending doom but hadn't nearly enough time to react to it. With the Poltergust weighing him down, he accepted his fate and stood still.

'Arf arf!'

A second later, he did not expect the result that he got. No chair had slammed directly into his face, or any part of his body. He lay, relatively unharmed, on the floor. Polterpup licked his owner's cheek gently but thoroughly.

Luigi patted the head of his loyal pet. 'Thanks boy.'

'Hey Mr Wolfgeist!' Daisy shouted with an incredibly smug look on her face. 'Looks like your little chair-ity did nothing!'

Amadeus flinched, like a guitar's string that just broke and whacked you in the face.

'It... appears I underestimated you mortals and your traitorous canine.' He muttered.

'Good.' Daisy said. 'Now, are ya gonna hand us over that button?'

The ghost slammed his hands into the keys. 'You...!'

Daisy chuckled. 'What? You finally gave up?'

Luigi flashed her a look, one that said 'for the love of Grambi, stop antagonising him!'. The pianist had tried his hardest to contain his rage at such despicable mortals, but now he gave up on trying. His hands shot to his head as his neatly combed hair went everywhere like Medusa's snakes. His lavender aura shifted to a menacing red, and grew thicker like an ominous fog.

'I tried to be easy on you mortal scum, but you have given me no choice!' He yelled. 'No one who hurts my Gloria deserves to see me at my best!'

'Wait, Gloria?' Daisy asked. 'Who the heck is-?'

'W-We never hurt Gloria!' Luigi replied without thinking. 'I-I haven't even met her. Please Mr Wolfgeist... believe me.'

Amadeus aimed his glare dead straight at him. Luigi had to look away.

'I will not believe the lies of loathsome mortals!' The pianist yelled back. 'I don't know why I was ever nice to you to begin with. I suppose I didn't want to waste my energy on such garbage!'

'Hey!' Daisy cried. 'Luigi is telling the truth! And if you don't believe us, we'll simply have to take our friend back by force!'

Amadeus slammed his fists into several keys at once, breaking a few of them in the process. 'So after you hurt my Gloria, you can't stop yourself? You have to capture me too? Then fine! If that's how you want to do it, then I'll make you suffer the same way Gloria did!'

Without another word, he disappeared into his piano, slamming the lid down on himself. The room that was once filled with his furious shouting and beautiful music suddenly went totally silent. The piano stood still, and nothing else moved.

'Um, is that it?' Daisy asked. 'With how angry he sounded, I expected him to snap my neck! Not return to his piano for a nap.'

She lifted herself onto the stage and began to approach the dormant instrument. Watching it reminded Luigi too much of a certain mad piano in Big Boo's Haunt. He remembered the seemingly harmless instrument suddenly springing to life the moment he approached it, not too long before King Boo captured him.

'Wait, Daisy!' He yelled. 'Don't go near that!'

She chuckled as she neared it. 'Luigi, it's a piano. And there's no way in the Underwhere that anyone is gonna make a piano-'

The piano lid shot up, revealing an endless mouth and two rows of extremely sharp teeth staring right at her. It chomped before her like an aggressive crocodile, just barely missing her hand.

'AHHHHHH!' Daisy screamed.

She fell back onto her rear, and backed away as quickly as she could. The piano did not stay in place and slowly but surely chased after her. Each chomp came with the loud sound of someone mashing keys at random.

'Oh my Grambi!' She shouted, scrambling to her feet. 'OH MY GRAMBI! What in the everlasting HELL is THAT?!'

She tumbled off the stage and fell flat on her face. Her desperate need to get as far away from that... thing as possible gave her the fuel to get up immediately and duck behind Luigi. The plumber stared at her in shock. He had never seen her that genuinely terrified before. Her hands shook against his shoulders.

'I don't care what you do to beat that thing, sweetie.' She said. 'Just make sure it doesn't get near ME!'

'Did you think the stories about the mad piano were exaggerated?'

'Obviously! I didn't think a piano could be that horrific!'

The possessed-piano buckled about like a mechanical bull, staring at them with glowing red eyes resting above the keys, and leapt into the air nearly high enough to hit the pole the curtains hung by.

'WHAT IN THE LOST LEVELS?!' Daisy shouted. Luigi couldn't say a word.

The piano angled its descent downwards jaw first, diving down with its mouth open. Luigi froze on the spot. The bottomless void that was the piano's mouth got closer to consuming him with every millisecond.

'Whoa now, sweetie!' Daisy yelled as she tackled him to the ground.

Getting slammed onto the floor and crushed beneath the princess got Luigi's brain working again. The piano landed on the floor jaw first where the plumber had been standing.

Daisy got to her feet and dragged him off the floor by his shoulder. 'Alright! That was waaay too close for my liking.'

The piano rattled about again, just like it did the first time it jumped. A spotlight turned on and beamed down on the mortals. Luigi's eyes were safe underneath his cap, but Daisy had to shelter hers. The possessed instrument played its own keys in an aimless but still dramatic fashion.

'Um, what is it doing...?!' Daisy asked, backing away slightly.

Luigi's eyes widened. 'He's about to jump again.'

'About to what?! You gotta be kidding me!'

Just as Luigi predicted, the buckling came to a stop and the piano leapt into the air once again, now chomping its jaw as it flew.

'And now we run!' Daisy cried. Like they'd do anything else.

The mortals picked themselves up and ran out of the blinding spotlight. Polterpup followed, though the instrument had no way of affecting him.

'Okay Luigi,' Daisy said as they escaped the light. 'You said you've dealt with possessors before. What did you do?'

*CRASH*

The piano landed in the middle of the spotlight, and cried out in high-pitched and pained frustration.

Luigi took the moment of brevity to think. 'Uh, the, uh, possessors from Evershade Valley were hard to deal with but, um...'

'Start with the first one.' Daisy said. 'The spider one, right?'

'Erm, right. The Grouchy Possessor possessed a spider queen, and I had to set fire to the web to force him out.'

Daisy snapped her fingers and smiled. 'Force him out! That's what we gotta do! ... How?'

Polterpup yipped to catch their attention, and pointed his tail at the still-very-much-possessed piano. It no longer buckled about, but half of its keys glowed.

'Oh Grambi.' Daisy huffed. 'What's he doing now?'

The glowing keys floated from their home and into the air. They moved in a smooth wave-like pattern, in an almost hypnotic fashion. The piano lifted up its 'head' and fired its ebony projectiles like guided missiles at our heroes.

'Wah!'

'Did that Mad Piano do that?'

The keys left behind yellow comet trails as they zipped towards Luigi and Daisy, homing in on them every moment.

'We ain't outrunning those!' Daisy cried.

Luigi switched into instinct mode, and activated a burst. Daisy stumbled around as air erupted from the Poltergust, lifting the plumber off the ground. The burst of air interrupted the flying keys, stopping them in place and throwing them off their course. They fell to the floor like regular old keys, and after a few seconds passed flew back into place on the keyboard.

'Good thinking, sweetie!'

Luigi blushed, thankful for the encouragement. The piano's 'eyes' glowed a deeper red and it roared, creating a sound that, although like one made by the instrument, sounded more like a dying animal in distress.

'Oh no.' Daisy said. 'I think we've really peeved him off now.'

In the middle of that ear-piercing roar, one could barely make out two words: 'For Gloria'. Luigi managed to hear it, and for a moment he put down his weapon. With each grand ghost he fought, he felt more and more like he simply couldn't fight them. A father protecting his child... that's all this was. And yet, this was a battle to overcome. A battle to be beaten.

No time to think about that, as the piano buckled again. There was something different about this buckling though, that Luigi noticed. Instead of slow and gentle rattling, it rocked about like a bull on the loose. The spotlight turned to the mortals, much bigger and brighter than before.

'Who's operating those lights?' Luigi asked.

'Cogsworth and Lumière.' Daisy said, totally deadpanned. 'Does that really matter right now?!'

Amadeus sent his vessel flying into the air, going so high this time it scraped against the ceiling. One of the spotlights got knocked off and fell to the floor, shattering into dust upon impact.

'We don't wanna be under that!' Daisy yelled, grabbing Luigi by the hand.

She yanked him out of the light and into the relative safety of the darkness. The piano hovered in the air for a moment, leaving our heroes in suspense. Then the spotlight shifted, moving back onto our heroes. The piano shifted its direction to follow it. Luigi looked up into the blinding light, only to see the bottom of the piano getting closer. The shadow that covered them got bigger and bigger.

'OH BOY!'

Grabbing Luigi's arm again, she dragged him and herself out of harm's way. Not even a second after they fled the spotlight, the piano slammed into the floor like a great big steam press. The impact created a big shockwave that knocked Luigi and Daisy off their feet. Daisy's gloves helped cushion her fall, but Luigi fell face first into a steel bar that a row of chairs used to rest on. He made no sound at all, but his face and hands seized as the pain shot through his nerves. Polterpup approached him and frowned.

'Arf arf?'

He licked his owner's face, lacking the power granted to him by Golden Bones to properly heal him. All the same, Luigi smiled for his pet and slowly got to his feet.

'Luigi, look!'

After the heavy slam into the floor, the piano had stopped moving entirely. The lid opened up, and revealed the old pianist ghost holding his dizzy head.

'Ow...' He muttered. 'Das war eine schlechte idee...'

Luigi charged up his Strobulb and flashed Amadeus as quickly as he could, but the stunned ghost simply fell back into his piano like a pharaoh returning to his coffin. He slammed the lid back down, and the 'eyes' began to glow again.

Daisy charged at him. 'You're not getting away from me!'

She reached out for the possessed instrument, hoping to get the lid open, when the lid opened itself for her. It gave her a face full of teeth as it roared out that horrific dying animal sound. She jumped back and barely managed to stop a heart attack.

'GAH! Just STOP it, please!'

The piano leapt into the air once again, but instead of trying to flatten our heroes it flew back onto the stage.

Daisy growled in sheer frustration, before slumping her shoulders and sighing. 'I swear to Grambi... I'm about to smash that piano to smithereens!'

Luigi shuddered, suddenly feeling more scared of her than he did of Amadeus. That changed, however, when the piano's 'mouth' opened wide showing off all those razor sharp teeth. It held its jaw wide open, almost resembling a dumpster.

'Come at me, Amadeus!' Daisy shouted. 'So I can kill you for a second time!'

The piano made a sound best described as a T. Rex getting ready to puke out its meal. After making that bizarre sound, it spat out lit bombs. And they were heading for our heroes.

'DAHHH!'

'He's throwing b- you have got to be f-!'

The bombs spread themselves out, each flashing red. Luigi and Daisy ran back well out of their way. They detonated the moment they hit the ground, leaving our heroes just barely out of the blast zone. The smoke that was left behind scattered. The musty smell of napalm made Luigi sneeze.

'Okay Luigi, got any ideas?' Daisy asked. 'At all? Anything. I'll take jumping out the window if you think it's best!'

Luigi tried to think for even a second, but as soon as he began brainstorming any way to win this fight, Amadeus sent another round of lit bombs their way, along with a few big musical notes made entirely of a fiery energy.

'I... I don't know!' He cried as he avoided the second round. 'I-I don't even think we can run away with the portrait! He'd have the button we need...'

His heart raced so fast that he could hear it thumping, to the point where it overpowered any other sound. His brain couldn't focus on a single thought. Everything wreaked havoc on his mind. He didn't even notice Daisy pulling him away from a third wave of bombs.

She gasped. 'Luigi, look at Polterpup!'

Polterpup held one of the lit bombs in his mouth, and gulped it down in one bite. It exploded inside his body, which did almost nothing to him. He coughed out some smoke, and looked to his owner with a smile.

'You think he's trying to tell us something?' Daisy asked.

Luigi smiled as the lightbulb went off. 'Daisy, if a video game boss is throwing bombs at you, what do you do?'

'Easy. You-' She grinned. 'I got this.'

Amadeus unleashed a fourth wave of bombs, determined to blow up either our heroes or the hotel - whatever came first. Daisy leapt into the air and, like an Olympic basketball player, grabbed one of the explosive spheres from midair. Holding the bomb like a ball, she narrowed her eyes, and gave herself her own little sports announcer in her mind.

'Can Daisy make this one-in-a-thousand shot? Or will she walk away defeated and dejected?'

'Uh, D-Daisy?' Luigi said. 'Do you wanna… throw the bomb now?!'

'And she... goes for it!'

She threw the bomb over her shoulders and tossed it at the piano's open jaw. Unfortunately, she was so focused on the throw that she hit the ground face-first. She didn't stay on the ground for long, though. The bomb fell directly down into the instrument's bottomless throat.

*BOOM*

Smoke billowed from the jaws, seeping into the air and dissipating. The explosion knocked the piano over onto its side, showing off the bottom of it for all to see.

'Yay!' Luigi cheered, doing a little hopping dance. 'You did it!'

Daisy smirked, but only for a moment. 'We're not out of the haunted woods yet, sweetie! We still gotta seperate this guy from his host.'

'I think I have an idea!'

The bottom of the currently-stunned piano had a little white sun pattern in the middle, which looked awfully like a target. Luigi aimed his Suction Shot directly at that little sun, and fired. The plunger stuck like nails to a magnet.

'Good thinkin', Luigi!'

Luigi grabbed onto the rope dangling from the plunger with his Poltergust, and backed away until the rope got tight. He lifted the nozzle up to slam the instrument, but it wouldn't budge.

'It's too heavy!' He cried.

Not one to leave her plumber in distress, Daisy rubbed her gloved hands together and grabbed onto the Poltergust nozzle alongside him.

'No way we're letting you do this on your own!' Daisy yelled. 'Hey Polterpuppy!'

The spectral hound nodded, and grabbed onto the rope with his mouth.

'Okay boys,' Daisy said. 'We all pull on the count of three.'

Luigi nodded, sharing her determined grin.

'Alright! Three...'

'Two...'

'ARF!'

Everyone lifted the nozzle up at once. The piano flew over their heads, and they didn't let go until the piano slammed into the ground.

*SMASH*

The instrument immediately shattered into pieces beyond repair.

'Yeah!' Daisy yelled as she fist-pumped.

'Gah!' Luigi exclaimed. 'S-Sorry!'

From the wreck of the formal grand instrument, emerged a very furious Amadeus Wolfgeist. His hands grasped his matted hair as he stared at what remained of his beautiful piano.

'You...' He spat. 'You mortal SCUM! First you bring harm to my sweet little Gloria, then you destroy the one thing I had left. Hellen was right about you. You are reprehensible!'

Luigi stammered out about fifty more apologies.

'Don't get mad at us!' Daisy said. 'If you just handed the button over, we wouldn't have to fight you like this.'

'As if I'd ever let you go after you brought harm to my Gloria!'

Daisy groaned in pure, unadulterated frustration and agony. 'Good lord, can you stop going on about her?! We ne-'

'We never hurt her!' Luigi blurted out.

All eyes in the room fell onto him, including those of the furious pianist. He gulped.

'I-I swear!' He said. 'W-We haven't even gone near her! S-She's all the way on floor fourteen, and the h-highest we've gone is floor five. H-How could we have hurt her?'

Amadeus was about ready to scream in the green man's face and denounce his blatant lies, but something about the man's voice stopped him.

'I-I don't wanna hurt anyone! I-I didn't even want to hurt you! But you were ruthless... and I understand why.'

Every quiver, every stammer, every voice-crack sounded genuine to Amadeus. The man sounded like he was on the verge of tears. Daisy, meanwhile, watched Luigi in shock.

'You thought your daughter was in danger. Anyone would act the way you did. And... and... I'm sorry.'

The man stopped to take sharp and heavy breaths. Amadeus thought over his words carefully. Gloria had been given the grand final button, for reasons Hellen did not explain. If Amadeus remembered correctly, there really was no way the mortals could be anywhere near the Dance Hall.

His long-fingered hands relaxed their grip on his head. 'Y-Yes. Of course. If you captured our excitable DJ, I would have been told by every Goob and Oozer in this country.'

He slumped his arms, and sighed. His hands clenched into fists and he gritted his teeth.

'You didn't hurt my precious Gloria at all.' He said in a frighteningly serene voice. 'I've tried to kill you for nothing.'

Luigi stood on high alert, waiting for any sort of movement. Amadeus reached out for him with his unnaturally long arms. He jolted and tried to charge his Strobulb, but found his flashlight in the hands of the pianist.

'Get away from my-!' Daisy yelled, until Amadeus silenced her with a simple look.

The old pianist sighed. 'Green man, what is your name?'

Luigi blinked at him.

'Um... Luigi?'

'Luigi, I request that you capture me right now.'

'What?!' Luigi and Daisy yelled at once.

Amadeus's expression did not change at all, retaining an unsettling serenity. He aimed the flashlight at his own face.

'I do not wish to work for Hellen Gravely a second longer.' He said. 'My performance tonight has convinced me that I must stop at once. I don't even want to imagine what horror she'll force me to commit next.'

Luigi glanced at Daisy, who could only shrug. With nothing else to turn to, he charged up his ray-based weapon.

'Just promise me one more thing, Luigi.'

'What's that?'

'Make sure that Hellen does not hurt Gloria. And punish her greatly if she does.'

Luigi nodded, and repeated that promise in his head over and over to make sure he had it committed to memory. It took a lot of willpower to let go of the Strobulb button, and he immediately used his Poltergust, getting Amadeus's tail stuck.

'And I must give you something in return.'

An elevator button appeared in his hand, seemingly from thin air. He handed it over to Daisy, who took it without a word. The last thing Amadeus did before he disappeared was bow. The great stage fell into silence, aside from a couple more stage lights falling and breaking apart. Most of the lights dimmed or turned off completely, with the exception of the one that pointed at Toad.

The silence broke when Daisy sighed in relief. 'Geez, I'll be honest, I thought we were goners for sure. And, uh, I definitely have Post Piano Stress Disorder now. You stay here. I'll go get the Toad.'

Daisy ran up the stage and unhooked the painting from the wall, leaving Luigi to get over what just happened. He wiped his brow, and he stared in shock at just how much sweat was on his glove. Geez, he must've been sweating like a squeezed sponge. He winced, imagining how awful he must've smelled. Fortunately, Daisy was just as sweaty as he was, and perhaps even more, so she wouldn't notice at all.

Luigi began to chuckle. Why? Even he didn't know. After all the stress from the past few floors and especially that fight, a feeling of lightheadedness took its place. It was like all that panic had reached its peak before suddenly disappearing.

He collapsed to the floor, still perfectly conscious, and took a big sigh of relief.

'Mamma mia…' He murmured.

'You could use the rest.' Daisy said. 'You lie there for a minute, and I'll deal with this instead.

Daisy glanced at the Toad portrait laying on the floor. She propped it up with one hand, and grabbed the Dark-Light Device with the other. The device enveloped the fun guy, and pushed him out of his painted prison. She didn't need to check the colour to know which one he was.

'YEAH, I'M FREE!' Parr T yelled as he fell flat on his face. 'Hallelujah!'

He bounced back onto his feet, and did a little dance. In fact, he was so happy to be free that he didn't even notice how rank Daisy was.

'You okay Pa-?'

'Okay? Of course I'm okay! You and Luigi just freed me! I think that piano guy wanted to save me too, but Luigi freed me! Hey, is he okay?'

'You mean Luigi? He's just sleeping.'

The VB went off, filling the quiet room with its catchy ringtone. Luigi tried to reach for the device in his pockets, but Daisy already swiped it from him.

'You deserve a rest, Luigi!' Parr said. 'That was some epic stuff you did! You did the thing, and then grabbed the thing with that other thing...'

Daisy zoned out the yellow-capped Toad's rambling, and answered the VB by putting it up to her eyes. The red-and-black graphics took her aback. E. Gadd had what appeared to be popcorn scattered all over his desk. She envied his ability to just sit around in safety.

'Woah sonny! Now that was a... Daisy? Where's Luigi?'

'He's fine. Just a little tired, that's all. That fight took a lot out of him.'

E. Gadd sighed. 'Now isn't the time for a nap! You have a boo to return to me!'

She gave him a look, to which the professor sighed a second time.

'Well, I suppose we can't have Luigi exhausted the whole time, can we? He's got five minutes, then you must get going. Posthaste!'

'Noted. We managed to rescue Parr T, one of the trapped Toads. What do we-?'

'You saved one of the Toads? Wonderful! So that just leaves... two more Toads and a princess!'

She rolled her eyes again. 'And Mario.'

'And Mario, yes! The Toad will be safe in my ghost-proof bunker. Give Luigi his five-minute rest, and go explore the next floor!' And the call ended like that.

Daisy put the VB away into her pocket with a huff.

'Ooh, what did the scientist guy say?' Parr asked, a big smile on his face.

'He wants you to return to his bunker.'

'Oh, okay! ... Where is it?'

'Floor B1. Go down the hallway and into the carpark. You can't miss it. Just be careful about the g-'

'YAY!' Parr yelled as he ran out the doors. 'Another adventure!'

Daisy giggled. That mushroom's enthusiasm never failed to make her beam. Luigi remained on the floor, trying to get his energy back as quickly as he could.

'Take your time, Sweetie.' Daisy said. 'We don't have to leave just yet.'

'We should leave as soon as possible.' Luigi said. 'The longer we sit around, the longer Mario has to be stuck in that portrait.'

'Luigi, don't push yourself. If you push yourself too hard, then you'll be too tired to do anything. And you won't be saving anyone if you work yourself to death.'

The green-clad man sighed. 'I… I guess you're right. Five minutes, and then we're leaving.'


AMADEUS WOLFGEIST, THE PROTECTIVE PIANIST

AGE - 60

GENDER - Male

CAUSE OF DEATH - Unknown

Amadeus Wolfgeist's death left many of his compositions unfinished. He spends most of his afterlife playing his works, finished or not. When he was alive, he wanted nothing more than to start a family, but all but one of his children died in infancy. He has since adopted DJ Gloria, and thanks to his many losses he is fiercely protective over her. He is usually quite patient, but hurting his daughter is a one-way ticket to hell.

PARR T, THE CHEERY FUN GUY

Parr T. is the yellow Toad invited along for the vacation, before getting captured by Amadeus. As his name implies, he's very cheerful. If you were to set him on fire, for instance, he'd happily declare that he was warm and cosy, as opposed to being fried. Don't ask me how I know this.

Author Notes - I remember when I was first writing this story, the revelation that Amadeus had adopted Gloria was something that was only going to be revealed much later on. Then I looked further into the real Mozart's life, and learnt that only two of his six children survived to adulthood. So, I thought... why not make a connection between all the loss he's suffered, and why he might be so aggressive during the boss fight?

I really like what I did with Amadeus, especially since it's very different to how most people seem to characterise him. Usually, a focus is put on his temper and narcissism. Which, to be fair, is definitely accurate to what little we see of him. But I wanted to focus on the family aspect, and why exactly he would want to hurt you so badly.

Oh, and I deleted the phase with the ballerinas, seeing as it just kinda happened and wasn't really important to the story.