Author Notes - Oh boy, Paranormal Productions. It's the one part of the original story that I actually kind of regret. The script format was fun, but it's obvious that I was trying way too hard to shove in as many references as possible. And I'm not talking about the whole 'sprinkle in a bunch of famous movie lines', which is an idea I'm proud of. I'm talking about that... 'cameo' that was totally unnecessary. Especially since I apparently didn't think about what would happen when my special interest inevitably changed.

Thus, the Paranormal Productions is the only level in the game whose chapters are totally rewritten.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN - GET A MOVIE ON!

After the trap-loaded 'castle' and the mountainous garden, the heroes expected things to only get worse from there. So when the doors opened to floor number eight, you can imagine their surprise when they saw, well, absolutely nothing like that at all. The purple carpet on the floor had a film reel pattern on it. A well-painted set of a gorgeous mountain scape took up the entire right wall. A film camera mounted on the other wall pointed right at it. A shiny red helicopter prop hung from the ceiling.

Daisy chuckled. 'Luigi, I have a feeling we're not in danger anymore.'

Luigi sheltered his eyes from the blinding spotlight that moved around aimlessly. He paid attention to the sounds - nothing much aside from the quiet camera swirling.

'HI THERE!' Oh, and the sound of a third voice.

'Wah!'

Luigi did not expect a ghost to squeeze her body out of the camera lens and float up to him with a smile. From her pink skin alone he recognised her as a 'Slinker'. Daisy heard her plumber's cry for help, spun around, and took on a defensive pose with her fists clenched and ready for battle.

'Get away from him you b-!'

The Slinker held up her arms. 'Whoa, calm down! I'm not going to hurt anyone.'

Daisy cocked an eyebrow. 'How can I be so sure?'

The Slinker shrugged, a strange sight considering her shoulders were above her face. 'Ya can't. But you're just gonna have to trust me. I'm Scarlett, and you're in a safe haven.'

Luigi clipped the Poltergust nozzle back onto the storage tank, and approached the Slinker known as Scarlett slowly and carefully.

'What are you doing, Luigi?' Daisy asked.

'I... I trust her. And I want her to know that.'

'Luigi!'

Despite Daisy's apprehension, Scarlett's face lit up. She brought Luigi into a sweet little hug, making sure not to squeeze him too tight. Daisy was too shocked to attack; all she could do was stare with her mouth agape.

Scarlett backed away, and motioned to the camera. 'In that case, say hello to my little friend!'

A little yellow head stuck out of the camera lens, and the ghost it belonged to pushed himself out, revealing himself to be a Oozer half the size of a regular one. A 'Mini-Oozer', if you will. Compared to all the younger Minis from before, he had to be at least fourteen.

'Hey there!' He said, waving. 'The name is Brad, and welcome to the Paranormal Productions! Allow us to show you around.'

The duo of ghosts drifted over to a hallway that started on the left of the room. Said hallway turned to the left immediately, turning back on itself.

'Well? Come on!' Scarlett said, beckoning for them to come. 'No need to just lounge around here.'

Luigi smiled, and took a step forward. That was as far as he got before Daisy grabbed his shoulder.

'What makes you think you can trust them?' She asked. 'I don't doubt your judgement, but most of the ghosts haven't exactly shown themselves to be nice.'

'Some of them have.' He replied. 'What about Mr Wolfgeist? He only attacked us because he thought we hurt his daughter. Not all ghosts are mean.'

Daisy glanced down at Polterpup, who was giving her his trademark puppy dog eyes. After much consideration, she sighed.

'Alright.' She said. 'I don't trust the ghosts but I do trust you. But I will remain armed and ready.' She looked at the ghosts. 'Alright, we'll follow you!'

Scarlett and Brad grinned, the latter clapping his hands like an excited young child.

'Fantastic!' Scarlett said. 'Follow us to our safe haven.'

Our three heroes followed them into the hallway, which wasn't particularly long but still packed with detail. The pattern on the floor resembled a film reel, practically directing them to the main lobby. Dim lights shone on all the movie posters hung up on the walls. Luigi walked through the hallway a little slower than the others, wanting to read every single poster he passed.

Citizen Kamek, The Wizard of Odyssey, Snow White and the Seven Toads, Raiders of the Belome Temple, Gone With the Lakitu, Sleeping Birdo, Peoplebusters (and its questionable-looking all-female remake)...

'You can look at these posters as long as you like.' Brad said. 'No one's gonna attack you here.'

Daisy left the poster hallway, and entered the studio entrance. A red carpet, appropriately, extended to the grand doors, above which was a giant clapperboard prop. A shelf on the right had many golden Goob-shaped awards stacked upon it. Speakers hung from the corners. It made her feel like she was about ready to buy overly-priced popcorn.

She scoffed. 'And what makes you so sure?'

'Hello there!'

'Dah!'

She jumped back a whole foot as a ghost suddenly popped up behind the front desk. He was a Trapper, wearing a little blue hat and bowtie that did little to weaken the fright.

'Welcome to the Paranormal Productions!' The Trapper said, holding his arms out wide. 'I am Leonardo, your helpful introduction-er! ... Is there a word for that? Do you have any questions?'

While Daisy stood there a little speechless, Luigi approached the front desk instead. 'Y-Yes, actually. Is this place really as safe as, um, Scarlett and Brad say it is?'

The Trapper tipped his hat with one of his tongues. 'Why, absolutely sir! Compared to the horror of the other floors, the Paranormal Productions is a safe haven. Here we are safe from Hellen Gravely's mind tricks. We are the peaceful ghosts, the ones that our boss ignores due to our calm natures. No one will attack you while you relax here!'

Luigi smiled; what a relief.

Daisy nodded. 'Oh, I see. This is all just some crazy trap. Well I'm not falling for it! You ghosts can all...'

She caught sight of Brad giving Polterpup a belly rub. The ghost doggy soaked it all up, not questioning their intent at all.

'A trap, you say?' Scarlett said, floating in front of her. 'What makes you think we would set up a trap?'

Daisy stammered. 'Well, you- I- a lot of ghosts have tried to hurt us.'

'And you assume that we are just like the other ghosts?'

Daisy's mouth fell open.

'Well, um, to be fair,' Luigi said. 'We're not quite sure what separates you from the others.'

'Simple.' Scarlett said. 'Hellen Gravely prefers to pretend we don't exist.'

'Uh-huh. Right.' Daisy said, cocking an eyebrow. 'I'll draw my own conclusions when I meet the grand boss who owns the place. Where are they?'

Brad looked up to her. 'Oh, you mean Morty? He's the main director!'

Leonardo tapped his fingers against the front desk. He looked as though he had some less than pleasant news to spill.

Scarlett approached him. 'What, they still haven't returned his megaphone yet?'

The Trapper shook his head. 'I'm afraid not. Those cobwebs are mighty strong.'

The Slinker sighed. 'Of course.'

Daisy - unlike Luigi, who hated interrupting - willingly waltzed between the conversing ghosts like she had been invited.

'I'd hate to break up your discussion,' She said. 'But can you take us to Morty? I'm sure he'll give us a good impression of this place.'

Scarlett nodded. 'Right away, Princess! I warn you though. He might be a bit... inconsolable.'

She and her Mini-Oozer friend grabbed onto their own halves of the door, and opened them up like they were unveiling a new movie.

Through the grand doors, was a small director's studio off to the right. But far more interestingly was the massive backstage studio right in front of them. Rafters hung from the ceiling, and spotlights hung from those. The wall all the way at the end had a massive '5' on it. Four mysterious TVs stood in the middle of the room, in a slightly-curved line. A table with delectable food sat by the wall on the left, where Polterpup immediately jumped to.

All-in-all, it looked just like a professional backstage set.

Daisy blinked a couple times, making sure she was seeing this right. 'Okay, when that map said there was a movie room, I didn't expect it to be a studio.'

Luigi focused on just one spot: the director's chair, dead in the middle of the room. A blue ghost looking more human than the others sat in the chair, his face in his hands.

Daisy smiled. 'That's gotta be him!'

Luigi was not so happy to see him. With how quiet the rest of the stage was, he could easily hear Morty crying. The grand ghost weeped into his arms, muttering something about a megaphone. The green-clad man's heart sank.

'M-Morty...?' He muttered.

Leaving his weapon hooked up onto the Poltergust, he ran towards the crying director without a second thought.

'Luigi, where are you going?' Daisy asked, going after him. 'You have to be careful!'

He ignored her warnings, seeing them as pointless when up against such a sad-looking ghost. When he got close, Morty sheltered his eyes and looked away from him as though he noticed the mortal was there.

'The tragedy!' Morty wailed. 'Oooooh ho ho ho! Is this my end? Is this what I, Morty, director of the finest films, am destined for?'

Daisy rolled her eyes. 'Don't mind him, Luigi. He's clearly a drama queen.'

Luigi didn't give her the dignity of giving her a look, focusing only on the dramatic director. Morty only wailed harder, before his crying became a little more subdued.

'I am a puny, worthless movie director... that's all...'

Luigi cringed. Those words hit him a little too close to home.

He fiddled with his hands. 'Um, Mr Morty, can I h-?'

Morty threw his arms up, unleashing one particularly loud cry of agony. In his fit of sadness, he pulled out a shiny golden object from his pocket and held it in the air.

'Even the sparkle from this beautiful button is now nothing but a dull hue!'

Both Luigi and Daisy's eyes sparkled. An elevator button! Numbered '9'. The plumber reached out slowly, not making any sound at all, darting his eyes back to Morty for a moment.

'Oh my Grambi, he has a button!' Daisy declared.

She ran across the room, inadvertently pushing Luigi aside as she dashed to the drama king's side.

'Hey Morty, if you don't mind me asking, may we have that button?' She asked.

Morty turned his head slowly, and gave her the kind of 'please adopt me' look a beaten-up puppy would give you. He glanced at the button, and cried out again.

'AHHH! It is the one thing I have left, and still someone wants to take it from me! But for my utter failure...' His lips quivered. 'It is all that I deserve.'

He tossed it her way, like a piece of rolled up paper. She grabbed it with both hands, and cradled it like it was a handful of water.

'Wow, uh, thanks!' She said. 'I didn't think it'd be that easy.'

He waved her away dismissively. 'I do not deserve to have such a beautiful object! Give it to someone of more worth than me! Or keep it to yourself. That button is worthier than this failure of a director!'

She held the button close to her chest, in case that forsaken kitty decided to hop through the wall and swallow it again.

'Come on Luigi!' She said. 'Let's go. There's no crying in ghostbusting.'

She began making her way back to the elevator, but stopped after only a few steps. Luigi hadn't moved an inch from his spot.

'Uh, Luigi, it's time to go. Come on. We have the button.'

'We have to make this right.' He said.

'Ugh, Luigi! We can't-'

Oh no, he was doing those puppy-dog eyes again. He had to be doing that on purpose.

'It's what Mario would do.' He said. 'Big bro never left someone in need.'

She sighed; she'd get him and his toothache-inducing cuteness one day. 'Alright. We'll help Morty out. But we gotta do it quickly.'

Luigi sidestepped quietly in front of Morty, and fiddled with his hands some more as he debated how to go about this.

'Um, Mr Morty...?'

The crying ghost looked up at him. 'Someone approaching me? It can't be. Who would ever bother to even glance at a puny director such as I?! I am not worthy to be spoken to by even a rock!'

'C-Can I ask, what's wrong?'

Scarlett and Brad watched him with surprise.

Morty leaned back in his chair so much, he'd snap his spine if he had one. 'What is wrong, he asks. WHAT IS WRONG?! What is right is a better question! Nothing is right anymore, ever since I lost my bright red megaphone!'

And with that, he made a loud, almost indescribable wailing sound. Daisy rolled her eyes, and Luigi jumped back.

'AHHHHH! My bright red megaphone! Where art thou?! I would give anything to be able to hold my dear, sweet megaphone again...'

He quieted down a bit, and by that I mean he still cried just as hard but just into his hands now. While still leaning backwards.

'My sweet megaphone... at least we always had Lake Lamode...' He muttered one last time.

The backstage returned to an almost complete silence, aside from Morty's quiet sobs.

'Kay, so correct me if I'm wrong.' Daisy said. 'We're looking for a bright red saxophone, right?'

Scarlett flashed her a look.

'What? It was a joke! We'll help him find his precious megaphone.'

'Oh, don't worry about finding it.' The Slinker said. 'We already know where it is.'

Now it was time for Daisy to flash her a look.

'You serious?' She said. 'Then why don't you go and get it?!'

'That's the problem. Follow us.'

Scarlett and Brad floated over to the red TV on the far left. Its screen showed what appeared to be a cardboard box surrounded by nails and a plastic bottle. The two friendly ghosts proceeded to enter and disappear into the screen, with nothing more than a bright blue glow.

'What?!' Daisy exclaimed, peering at the TV. 'How are we supposed to do that?'

Luigi knelt down in front of the screen, and suddenly found himself allured by it. Why? Who knows. But he leaned forward, caught in the pull of the mysterious TV.

'Uh, Luigi? What are you doing?'

He leaned in closer, so close his nose nearly touched the screen. Cyan sparks emitted by the TV clung onto his skin.

'Luigi!'

'Yah!'

The man in green jumped to his feet and backed away, batting at his nose to make those annoying sparks disappear.

'Why did you do that?' Daisy asked.

'I... don't know. It just, um, attracted me for some reason.'

Polterpup, now done with the roast turkey, scampered across the room and jumped into the screen, phasing through Luigi to do so.

'Ah! Boy, where are you going?'

Without really thinking, Luigi ducked through the TV screen after him. Wait, through? A mortal like him going through the solid glass? Well, yes. He slipped through the screen just like a ghost, and vanished into it.

Daisy's eyes shot wide open. 'AHH! Luigi, what the heck did you just do?!'

Luigi emerged as if he had stepped through a portal, and found himself in a totally different room. It highly resembled what was on the screen he just passed through. In fact, it was borderline identical.

Except, it turned out to be nothing more than a film set. The cardboard box and table-like floor were up against a blue screen, with a film camera pointed at it. Most noticeably, the box was actually huge. It had to be at least the size of a garage, and the nails were as tall as Luigi himself. The empty plastic bottle to the left of the box seemed big enough to be a simple spaceship. The whole thing made him feel like some sort of incredible shrinking man.

'Ooh...'

Scarlett and Brad waited for him, floating at the base of the gigantic box.

'Luigi?!'

'Ah!'

Daisy's terrified head stuck out of the TV behind him, looking around at her surroundings with increasing shock.

'Um, excuse me?!' She said. 'You go through the TV and end up in another set? How are you so okay with this?!'

Luigi shrugged. 'It kinda reminded me of the E-Gates from Evershade Valley.'

'Oh, I really need to go on your adventures more often.'

She pushed the rest of her body through, stumbling about thanks to the portal equivalent of jet lag.

'Are doors too good for ya?!' She yelled in a slightly drunk manner.

'We're ghosts.' Brad said like it was obvious. 'We didn't bother building doors on this floor. So we use TVs to move our props around.'

'Yeah. Sure. Why not?'

Luigi gasped, happily for the first time in a while. The box, which appeared to be on its side, had the top flap of the lid open, leaning on a tall pencil. It revealed -

'Morty's megaphone!'

Morty's sweet megaphone could be seen in the corner of the box. Just one problem: the shiny red object of desire was caught up in cobwebs, ones much thicker than those the plumber was used to. The mortals stood next to the ghosts, all four parties looking up at the trapped device.

Daisy cocked an eyebrow. 'So... why don't you just yank it out?'

Scarlett crossed her arms. 'You think we haven't tried that? We gave up after the twentieth time.'

'Those cobwebs are impossible!' Brad added.

Polterpup, passing through the webs, grabbed onto the megaphone by the handle. He tugged on it, but it didn't budge at all. Luigi remembered the last time he had to deal with cobwebs with a shudder. Oh, the Gloomy Manor. Those icky webs were absolutely everywhere, to the point where E. Gadd told him to clear them out using...

He snapped his fingers. 'Fire! You need to burn the cobwebs away!'

The two ghosts proceeded to look at each other with that 'why didn't we think of that' expression.

'Wait, you never thought to burn the webs away?' Daisy asked. 'Seriously?'

Scarlett put her chin in her hand. 'Well, to be fair, it's only been caught for five minutes.'

'Five mi-?! It's been lost for only five minutes? Why is Morty freaking out so much?!'

'If you knew Morty as well as we do,' Brad said. 'You'd be answering your own question.'

Luigi looked around the set for any source of fire, only to come up short. If only the Poltergust G-00 was capable of shooting fire like the 3000 model, this would be so easy.

'Wait, hang on!' Scarlet said. 'I know exactly where we can get fire. Come on!'

'Do we have to go through those TVs again?' Daisy asked, with a slight whine.

'Yep!'


The second TV to the left brought them to a totally different set: part of a suburban city. There were multiple buildings that were a few storeys high, complete with balconies and even a little cafe set. A bike, with a mysterious bundle of cloth in the basket, was resting by a fire hydrant. Polterpup ate an old hamburger that was resting on a bench, only to spit it out when he realised it was only plastic.

'Uh, okay?' Daisy said. 'Where's the fire?'

'The fire's only on when the camera is rolling.' Scarlet said, floating behind the camera. 'So if you two could just get on the set-'

'Hold on.' Luigi said. 'How are we supposed to move the fire?'

Brad groaned. 'That's a good point. Unless you want to set yourselves on fire, which I doubt you do.'

Daisy walked onto the set and peered through the door of one of the buildings. Inside, there was nothing that could possibly create fire, real or otherwise.

'So, uh, is the fire supposed to be real?' She asked.

'Definitely.' Brad said. 'But, like we said, it only appears when the camera is on. Which it isn't. So, no fire for you.'

Luigi rubbed his chin in thought. 'Well, we might be able to carry fire with something like a torch. Do you have one of those?'

Scarlett snapped her fingers. 'Of course! We know exactly where you can find a torch!'

'I don't like where this is going…' Daisy murmured.


By the third time she had to enter a set through one of these portals, Daisy was already beginning to feel queasy.

'Luigi…' She muttered. 'I finally understand why you don't like rollercoasters…'

The third set was totally different from the first two: it depicted a stone tower made of old grey bricks, with old barrels scattered around the rock-hard floor. A wagon full of hay stood by the base of the tower. There was another ghost on the set: a big Hammer, using her raw strength to easily move some big rocks around.

'ANGELINA'S WORK NEVER DONE!' She said, grunting. 'BUT ANGELINA HAPPY TO WORK. ANGELINA JUST WISH FOR MORE PAY!'

Luigi carefully stepped around to avoid her, and looked up to the top of the tower. It had no roof and was missing part of the wall, and he could see a metal torch attached to a wall up there. The sight made him smile.

'We've got a torch!' He said.

'Right where it should be!' Scarlett said. 'Now, we'll just have to take it.'

Angelina dropped one of the rocks she was carrying, just to get their attention. It certainly worked.

'NO TAKE TORCH!' She yelled. 'Torch can't move unless camera rolling. And torch impossible for mortals to reach.'

Daisy sighed. 'You gotta be kidding me. Alright, fine. We'll set my glove on fire.'

Luigi approached the base of the tower and peered behind the wagon. There was a tiny sprout growing there, looking rather parched.

'What kind of plant is this?' He asked.

'SPECIAL PLANT!' Angelina said. 'Will grow quite tall and strong if watered. Only when camera rolling. Needs water.'

Daisy pinched the bridge of her nose. 'Oh for Grambi's… alright, lemme get this straight. To get the megaphone, we need fire. To get the fire, we need a torch. But to get the torch, we need water. … Now where the hell do we get the water to make the little rosebud grow?! And if you say another set, I swear, I'm going to-'


'YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!'

By this point, Daisy felt like throwing up for real. It sounded like she was going to need the bucket, but not to contain the water. Luigi didn't like this fourth (and hopefully final) set all too much. It was built to resemble a spooky forest, with all the dead trees and greyed grass you could ever want. The very middle of the set contained a stone well, with a random rubber ducky sitting on the rim.

'What is with these sets?' Daisy asked. 'I can't imagine they're all for the same movie.'

'Oh no, they are.' Scarlett said. 'Morty is directing one hell of a movie right now. Well, at least he was. Then he lost his megaphone.'

'He claims it's going to be his masterpiece.' Brad said. 'And we're all hoping that's true.'

Angelina had followed them into this new set, carrying a wooden bucket. Without even attaching it to a rope first, she dropped the bucket right into the well. There was a distinct but distant splash when it finally hit the water.

'Why did you do that?!' Daisy said, throwing her arms up.

'MORTALS CAN GET BUCKET BACK!' Angelina said. 'But mortals need to stand here.'

Polterpup yipped and ran onto the set, peering into the deep well and wagging his tail. Even though he struggled to see the bucket through the darkness, he was still happy about it. Daisy turned to her green-clad partner, who seemingly shrugged.

'It's worth a try.' Luigi said. 'After all, they've been nice to us so far. And who knows? Maybe it'll actually work.'

Daisy sighed. 'Alright, we'll do it. But I'm almost certain it's a trap.'

Luigi and Daisy walked onto the set together. Even though it was just a set, Luigi could feel a shiver going down his spine. It reminded him of the first mansion a little too much.

Scarlett floated behind the camera. 'And… ACTION!'

The Slinker turned on the camera, and our heroes could barely believe their eyes. The set and the blue screen surrounding them had vanished, and instead they found themselves standing in the middle of a chilling spooky forest. They could feel the cold wind lapping at their necks, and could hear the crows crying away in the distance. It was as if they were in a real forest, and not a mere set.

The strangest part? Our heroes didn't see the transition. It was simply there. And yet, as far as their brains could recall, the set had always looked like this.

'AHH!' Luigi yelped. 'W-What just happened?'

Daisy inched towards him, just a little. 'I-I'm not sure. Some warning would've been nice!'.'

'Just go towards the well.' Brad said, his voice coming from seemingly nowhere. 'Oh, heads up. There's a nasty surprise in that well.'

'Oh great.'

Luigi and Daisy approached the well, slowly and carefully. The rubber duck had fallen in without them even noticing. When they reached the well and peered into it, the world suddenly went silent. The wind came to a stop, and the crows stopped crowing. It was far too quiet. That was until, however, music started playing from unseen speakers. It was slow and foreboding, signalling that something was sure to suddenly appear and attack them.

Luigi shuddered, and Daisy held his hand. The music grew louder and louder, until it blared out a loud and ominous note at the same time a blue long-haired lady suddenly popped out of the well.

'WAAHHH!'

Luigi jumped away in fright, and even Daisy had to step back. Polterpup, on the other hand, was too distracted by the rubber duck resting on her head. In fact, the closer our heroes looked at this lady, the less frightened they became. Her dark soulless eyes were merely sunglasses, and she was holding the bucket they so desperately needed.

'Hello, gorgeous...' Daisy said as she took the bucket out of her hands, and peered into it. 'Well, we've got the water! Not the way I was expecting to get it, but that works too.'

'T-There was definitely a better way to go about this…' Luigi murmured.

'Does it matter?' Scarlett asked, floating away from the camera. 'You have the bucket, don't you?'

The moment she drifted away from the camera, the magical set vanished. Luigi stared around, finding himself on a movie set once again. Like before, he didn't see the transition, and it felt like it had been days since he had seen the expansive forest.

'So all we have to do now,' Daisy said. 'Is take this bucket to that set with the castle.'

'Wait,' Luigi said, before turning to the friendly ghosts. 'Is this weird set thing gonna happen for the other sets as well?'

'Strap in.' Brad said. 'Because it only gets weirder from here.'


Luigi and Daisy brought the bucket into the castle set. Daisy almost dropped and spilled the bucket thanks to the portal-induced nausea, so Luigi had to take over carrying it once they were inside.

'Thanks, Sweetie…' She said. 'How do you handle something like this?'

'Well, I've wrestled with the paranormal for a few years, Daisy,' He replied. 'And I'm happy to say that I'm finally winning out over it...'

Angelina put the last barrel down into place, and flew off the set to make room for our heroes and their dog. Luigi couldn't help feeling a little weak in the knees; if the last set gave him such a sudden jump scare, he couldn't imagine what this set would throw at him. Literally or otherwise.

'Mortals get ready!' Angelina said. 'Set about to change. IT SHOWTIME!'

This time, it was the Hammer who turned the camera on. The set changed in an instant, and it was nothing like the previous set at all. The singular tower turned out to be part of a great castle wall that our heroes were stuck behind, leaving them in a dilapidated backyard of sorts. The air, once again, was rather chilling, and the dark clouds up high were raining down snow. Snow that turned to watery slush before hitting the ground. Luigi and Daisy were strangely spared from this rain.

Sounds of clashing swords and yelling soldiers could easily be heard on the other side of the room, and Luigi prayed that it was mere sound effects and not an actual army.

'This is part of the same movie as the last scene?!' Daisy cried. 'How do these two things connect?!'

'NOT IMPORTANT!' Angelina shouted. 'HEADS UP!'

Luigi ducked and wrapped his arms around the bucket, half-expecting another spooky lady to suddenly emerge. What he got instead, however, was a massive boulder being catapulted over the great wall. Before he or Daisy had the chance to react, the boulder crashed into the wagon and smashed it into splintered smithereens.

Daisy gulped. 'Uh, t-that rock was made of styrofoam, r-right? Like, if that hit us, we wouldn't actually be dead?'

Luigi glanced at her, cocking an eyebrow; did she really just sound frightened over a rock that didn't even come close?

'ALSO NOT IMPORTANT!' Angelina said. 'Sprout visible now!'

The little sprout, previously hidden by the wagon, was now clear as day. Luigi, though his knees were still shaking from the 'war' going on, ran across the castle grounds and dumped the entire bucket of water onto the plant.

'Uh oh…' He murmured. 'Do you think that may have been a little too much?'

His question was answered when the tiny sprout soaked up all of the water and grew towards the sky in a matter of seconds. It stopped growing once it reached the top of the tower, and it sprouted several leaves that grew outwards like steps on a ladder. Luigi wasn't certain if it would be able to hold his weight, but it supported him just fine as he climbed upwards. The only thing that made him nervous was seeing all those arrows flying around outside of the castle walls.

Once he reached the top, he could easily remove the torch from its post. 'Got it!'

Daisy raised her arms. 'Alright, throw it down to me!'

'Uh, okay!'

Luigi chucked the torch her way, and she caught it after almost dropping it once or twice. With that step taken care of, Luigi climbed back down the ladder and flinched when a wayward arrow came a little too close to him.

'CUT!' Angelina shouted.

Once the camera was off, the regular set remained. The sprout had vanished, and the wagon stood where it was before like it had never even been struck. It looked as though those last few minutes never happened, but Daisy still had the torch in her hands.

'... HOW-?' She yelled, unable to say much else.

'Don't question it.' Brad said. 'Our minds can barely handle it. If you mere mortals try to comprehend it, your brain will explode.'

Luigi gulped. 'S-So, uh, let's get the fire now.'


The very moment that Scarlett turned the camera on, every building on the set was suddenly in flames. The embers didn't burn the walls or anything of the sort, but our favourite couple could still feel the heat emanating through the room. It was so hot that Polterpup was already panting.

There was a bridge up above, and a firetruck was already speeding down it with its alarm blaring. Daisy grabbed Luigi's hand and pulled him aside, in case the vehicle came gunning around the corner, only for the 'firetruck' to be nothing more than Angelina with a flashing light attached to her head.

'FIRE!' She said. 'MORGAN put out fire!'

There was another ghost riding on her back: a Trapper, one a little smaller than Leonardo, who was wearing a firefighter helmet. He carried a fire extinguisher in one of his tongues, and held the nozzle of it in the other.

'On it!' He said, speaking surprisingly clearly.

Morgan (which was presumably his name) floated over to one of the burning buildings and fired his fire extinguisher on it. It didn't appear to really be doing anything, probably because both the fire and the extinguishing form were mere illusions created for the movie.

'Uh, are we supposed to be here?' Luigi asked. 'It seems like you're already kinda busy.'

'Ignore them!' Brad said. 'It's fine. Just focus on getting the fire.'

Daisy shrugged. 'Alright then.'

She waltzed over to another fiery building, wiping the pooling sweat off her forehead with the back of her head. For a fake fire, it sure was hot. She held the torch out in front of her, just in case those flames could still burn her flesh or hair. The end of the torch caught fire almost immediately, and the strong coals inside ensured that it would keep burning.

'Alright!' She said. 'Got the fire!'

Luigi gave her a thumbs-up. 'Good job!'

Scarlett turned the camera off, and all the fire disappeared like it never even happened. Luigi tried to think about how this was possible, but - like Brad said before - it felt like his brain was going to explode trying to comprehend this all.

'Nice!' The Slinker said, turning the camera off. 'Now, we've finally got the fire we've been after for at least ten minutes now.'

'Sweet!' Daisy said. 'What are we waiting for? Let's get that megaphone back!'


The giant box and the like remained, but the blue screen that surrounded them walls turned to a wide, open - and astronomically huge - workshop, with a desk and shelves covered with various tools. The floorboards they stood on turned out to be a small table, suspending them miles above the floor. Luigi felt absolutely tiny.

'T-This must be what it's like to be a Pikmin…' He murmured.

'Gah! I'm still not used to that.' Daisy said, still holding the flaming torch. 'I'm just glad this will be the last time. Hopefully.'

'The box can only open up when the camera's rolling.' Scarlett answered. 'So it won't break before its time.'

'Uh-huh. Right. And how do we do that?'

Luigi noticed a red 'fragile' sticker stuck onto the stapled-up flap that looked kinda like a target. He fired out a plunger onto it and nailed a bullseye. He dragged the rope back as far as it would go, neither mortal noticing the box shuffling around slightly.

'Oh, and I should warn you.' Brad said. 'There's a-'

Luigi yanked on the rope and tore the box open before Brad could finish his warning, which turned out to be an awful idea as from the opened box emerged a giant spider that unleashed a horrid shrieking sound the moment it was set free. It rushed at our heroes in an unrelenting struggle. Daisy stepped back, just a little - okay, very - surprised at the arachnid coming at her. Luigi on the other hand...

'AHHH! SPIIIDER!'

'Luigi. Luigi? Luigi! There's no need to worry.'

'T-There isn't?' His voice came out as a squeak.

'It's a prop.'

His cheeks turned a bright red. Yep, the giant spider thing in front of him was made of plastic, no matter how realistic-looking it was.

'Spiders...' He muttered. 'Why did it have to be spiders?'

'Don't worry about it.' Daisy said, stepping forward. 'I bet the spider wouldn't appreciate a little bit of fire!'

She approached the scary spider prop and jabbed its face with the flaming torch. This was done partially as a joke, so imagine her surprise when the entire spider burst into flames and vanished into a pile of ash. Luigi and Daisy stared at the accidental destruction for a few silent seconds.

'Don't worry about that!' Scarlett said. 'Everything resets itself when the camera's off anyway.'

'Uh, oops.' Daisy said. 'Let's get that megaphone and get out of here!'

Daisy looked up at the web for a moment. She held the torch up to the cobwebs, and the embers ignited the web and destroyed it in mere seconds. The webbing vanished with a literal puff of smoke, and the megaphone fell right into her free hand.

'Thank Grambi…' She said. 'Well, I suppose compared to the rest of this damn hotel, this was nothing. Our lives weren't even in danger!'

'Awesome!' Scarlett said. 'Now just step out of the box, or it'll trap you in.'

Daisy did as instructed. The gigantic workshop vanished, and returned to a mundane blue screen. The box flap went back to being stabled on, and the set came back into view. As for Scarlett and Brad, the scenery didn't change at all. There was no workshop, or giant spider, or even a torch. Everything that happened could only be truly seen through the camera lens. Polterpup, now at his owner's feet, looked around in utter shock. Since when was he here? Wasn't he miles away a second ago?

Brad gave them a thumbs-up. 'And cut! Good job guys. Let's get that megaphone back to its rightful owner!'

The friendly ghosts popped through the red TV again, leaving our heroes behind.

Luigi stared at the megaphone and smiled. 'I hope this makes Morty happy!'

'So do I.' Daisy said. 'This better be worth it.'

'Isn't it always worth it to make someone smile?'

'Dang it, Luigi. You're too cute.'

As the trio went for the TV, they didn't seem to realise that this was indeed not the end of the Paranormal Productions.

Author Notes - *googles the AFI's top 100 quotes list, and all the quotes that were nominated* And there we go. Hey, look! IT'S ACTUALLY ACCURATE TO THE THING I WAS ADAPTING! Who. Freaking. Knew? Albeit, I still rapid-fired through the movie sets, because the whole point of this level in my story is that the ghosts are friendly. The ghost fights wouldn't make much sense if I included them.