Author Notes - I combined the revisit into the initial visit because I want to be rid of this level and going back here again would be annoying. You don't even get the awesome banjos the second time round! Up to and including the Toad, except this time I used the Blue Toad because the personality I gave him provided more comedy that way.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - DELVING THROUGH THE DEEP SOUTH

E. Gadd was right - the Poltergust made her sink like a rock. She caught a single breath before sinking, but she knew it'd only last her a few minutes. She kicked her legs and flailed her hands, desperate to return to the surface that only moved away from her more every second.

One of the Goobs wearing a shark fin floated in front of her and waved her goodbye. Daisy punched him in the face, and he fled the scene in seconds. The princess, now on the floor, walked towards a helpful ladder and began to climb. Or, at least, she tried to. The density of the water plus the weight of the Poltergust equaled an impossible mountain to climb. As she tried to lift herself up, her hands and feet slipped off the bars.

Daisy's grip on the ladder loosened, and gave away completely. This was it, she decided. Why fight a losing battle? Unleashing that burning breath she held, she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable to greet her...

'RAAAOORR!'

'AH!'

She opened her eyes slowly, and saw Polterkitty as a hulked up panther. The Panthergeist backed away, shaking her head violently. She wiped her face, unable to stop whining. Daisy found herself lying on a hard metal floor.

'K-Kitty?'

Polterkitty only calmed down once her face was dried. When she did, she rushed over to the princess.

'Are you okay?' The kitty asked. 'Tell me you're okay!'

Daisy lifted herself to her hands and knees, used to chest pains at this point. The moment she raised her head, Polterkitty rubbed her cheeks against her forehead.

'Yes, yes!' Daisy cried. 'I'm okay, I'm okay. You can calm down now.'

Polterkitty returned to her house cat form, and rubbed her cheeks against Daisy's arms. The princess couldn't help but to give her a soft pat on the head.

'You... you saved me?' Daisy asked.

'I-I guess...'

'W-Why?'

Polterkitty stared at the floor. The answer escaped her.

'I-I don't know. It just felt, um, right.'

Daisy coughed out one last bit of water, and smiled. 'Well good. Keep doing that. Thanks, by the way, for saving me.'

That last sentence hit Polterkitty like a truck.

'Well that's just great.' Gus said. 'Do you mind saving ME now?!'

'Oh, sorry!'

Daisy stepped down onto the slightly-lower part of the platform, which was flooded by about an inch or two of water, and stood right underneath the blue-capped Toad. He was a fair distance above her, and carried around a strange object in his arms. The object was the size of his body, and somewhat resembled a golden snail shell.

'Um, what is that?' Daisy asked.

'Heck if I know!' He yelled. 'Apparently it's an upgrade for the Poltergust, but at this point I DON'T CARE!'

'An upgrade, huh?' The princess held her arms up. 'We'll worry about that later. Com'on!'

Gus gave her a look. 'You're kidding. You're not seriously suggesting I jump into your arms, right?'

'You have the consistency of a marshmallow. You'll be okay.'

Gus didn't seem any more convinced, but still he closed his eyes and leapt off the ledge. Daisy caught his squishy body with ease, but cringed when his soft head pressed up against her chest.

'Woah, you okay there?' Gus asked.

'Mmm... yeah. I'm fine.'

Daisy settled the complaining mushroom onto the dry part of the floor, and his feet touched the ground with a rather adorable 'squeak!'.

'Okay Gust,' She said. 'Why are you here? And what the heck is that thing you're carrying?'

'I cannot answer that second question.' He replied. 'But I can answer the first! The crazy professor told me to go fetch this thing from the sewers. How or why or what, I'll never know. I found the dang thing, and then a purple ghost thought it'd be funny to put me up there! Next thing I know, that mechanic ghost floods the place. Of course this happens to me.'

Daisy groaned. 'And you didn't flip the switch while you were up there, because...?'

'Hey, don't insinuate that I didn't try! You'd need the might of ten Toads to move that thing.'

Daisy looked up at the big heavy switch, up above on the platform. A series of pipes led up to the machine, but had so many turns and conjunctions that she desired to avoid them if possible. She turned around and looked at Polterkitty.

'Hey Kitty,' She said. 'Do you think your panther form would be strong enough to push that lever? Or would you just break it?'

'Um, I can try.'

'Trying is better than nothing.'

'Wait, you can understand her?' Gus asked, only to be ignored.

Polterkitty did what most cats excelled at - climbing. She climbed onto one of the pipes, and hopped from pipe to pipe as she climbed up. She took her time, shivering from the mere thought of falling into the drink below.

'You're nearly there, Kitty.' Daisy said. 'Just keep going!'

The kitty hopped onto the tallest platform with a satisfied 'mew'. She looked over the ledge, and tried her hardest to look at the princess standing in the water and not the water itself. To her surprise, Mean Lady smiled. Not an evil glare, like she was used to from Master, but a genuine 'I am so proud of you' smile.

'Ya did it!' Daisy said. 'Nice one, Kitty! Now, all you have to do is lower that switch, and all the scary water will be gone.'

Polterkitty nodded, and transformed into a massive panther. She grabbed the red lever with her shark-like teeth, and pulled down on it slowly and carefully. The switch barely moved, if at all.

'Can ya hurry it up a little?' Gus demanded.

'Give her time.' Daisy said. 'If she accidentally breaks it, we're screwed.'

As Polterkitty made slight progress on flipping the switch, the hairs on the back of Daisy's neck stood up. She shivered - a horrible feeling suddenly loomed over her.

'What?' Gus questioned, looking around. 'What's wrong?!'

Something moved just above the water that Daisy stood in; she could barely see a disturbance on the surface. Whatever that something was, it appeared to scoop water into its hands. Daisy worried it would drop the water onto Polterkitty, but her dread only got much worse when she saw where it was going: towards Gooigi, who was still holding up the gate.

Daisy reached her arm out. 'NO!'

The 'something' responded with nothing but mocking laughter. Gooigi lifted his head up and glanced at this being before it tossed the water directly into his face. Though he tried to hold onto the pulley for as long as he could, his gooey body dissolved into a green puddle on the floor.

*CLANK!*

The gate slammed shut on the tunnel, locking them out of their only exit.

'HEY!' The princess shouted.

'Oh no...' Gus muttered. 'Oh no oh no oh no...'

Daisy could feel her hair moving slightly in a ghostly breeze. She pressed a couple buttons at random - accidentally firing a plunger at Gus ('Hey!') - until she managed to activate the Dark-Light device. She shone the rainbow light across the water, following the disturbance. A ghostly figure, a Slinker, materialised, and the princess watched it float over to Gus.

'Ah!'

She pressed what she thought was the Strobulb, but only reactivated the Dark-Light.

'Uh... Daisy? DAISY?!'

The Slinker, now totally invisible, grabbed Gus and hoisted him into her arms. A bizarre portal, just big enough for the Toad, leading to a swirly purple hell opened beneath her, and she slowly lowered Gus towards it. The terrified Toad squirmed and screamed as his wide eyes witnessed the portal getting closer and closer. Despite his horror, he held onto the mysterious object.

'Say yer prayers, Fun Guy.' The Slinker muttered, laughing at him. 'Cos where y'all are goin', y'all'll have no one ta pray ta.'

Daisy, in panic, pressed all of the buttons at once. It unleashed a burst, sending water everywhere. Gus flew out of the Slinker's arms and landed with a soft splash. The ghost went flying backwards, judging by the watery disturbance, and the portal vanished alongside her focus.

'GAH!' The Slinker cried. 'Ah'll get ya fer this!'

Gus yelped, and ran behind Daisy's legs with his whole body shaking. 'D-D-Daisy, do something!'

Daisy swallowed back her fear. 'I-I don't plan on doing anything else.'

She fiddled with the buttons some more, until she managed to switch back to Strobulb mode and unleash a quick flash. By luck - or, perhaps, a ghost getting cocky - the Slinker fell into the light and was stunned.

'Arg, come on!'

Daisy's heart raced fast. She got one of the tails caught, and the Slinker wasted no time fighting back. Though the Slinker didn't drag nearly as much as Ug did, the water made it just as hard as before.

'Ged 'er Daisy!' Gus cheered from the sidelines. 'Get her good!'

*THUD* *SPLASH*

'Oh.'

And, just like Ug, the Slinker knocked Daisy's grip off and sent her falling to the floor. This time, she got a mouthful of awful-tasting water.

Daisy slammed her fist into the water. 'Why can't I just use the damn Poltergust right?!'

The Slinker laughed, and vanished into thin air. Daisy got to her feet and shone the Dark-Light around everywhere, but nothing appeared.

She relaxed her arms with a great big sigh. 'At least that pest is gone now. Polterkitty, are you done with that yet?'

Right on time, Polterkitty applied enough pressure to the switch to get it to move back up.

'I did it!'

Daisy gave her a thumbs-up. 'Good job! And the water level should lower any second now.'

Right on cue, whatever was blocking the outlet moved out of the way. The water flowed through, and Daisy stood on the edge to watch the water level practically disappear.

'HOOO-WEEE!' She yelled, stealing a catchphrase from the grand ghosts of the floor. 'We actually did it!'

Soon, all the water except for a few small puddles had disappeared.

'You did it!' Gus declared. 'Now what?'

'Simple.' Daisy said. 'We go back the way we... oh.'

She totally forgot that the gate had come back down, blocking any way of going back down that path, despite the ladder leading back up to the tunnel.

'Don't panic, Gus.' She said, more to herself than him.

'I wasn't pa-'

'Normally, we would be boned, but we have an inside kitty on our side. Speaking of which... Kitty! Please tell me there's another way to get back there. I'll take anything.'

Polterkitty returned to her usual kitten form, hopped off that platform, and proceeded to hop off that one to get to the lower, concrete level. That level had a few bricks and bits of garbage lying around, in addition to the occasional puddle.

'Those Hayseed twins gave me a tour around this place once.' She explained. 'Master wasn't happy... But that doesn't matter right now. I remember that there's another way down here.'

There was a ladder that led to the bottom level, but Daisy chose to vault over the railing instead.

'Ow... com'on Gust.' She said. 'If I caught ya the first time, I can do it again.'

'As long as you stop calling me Gust.'

As she promised, she caught him in her arms for a second time.

Polterkitty pointed to the same outlet that all the water flowed into. 'If we keep going this way, then we'll end up back at the elevator.' The glare she received from the princess made her speak faster. 'And from the elevator, we can go back to where we were and save your boyfriend.'

'Alright, that works.' Daisy said. 'We'll follow you. Just remember that I have the Poltergust now.'

'Uh, u-understood.'

Polterkitty scampered through the outlet, calling out to Daisy to follow her. Gus cocked an eyebrow in response.

'Isn't that the kitty who gave you those scars?' He asked.

'Why, yes.' Daisy replied. 'Yes she is. Point being?'

'You seriously trust her? At all?'

'It's either that, or sit here starving to death as Luigi is being held captive by a couple of rednecks. To say it's our best option is incorrect; it's our only option.'

Gus opened his mouth to complain - as he usually did - but came up with nothing and so dealt with it, albeit with a grumpy look on his face. Daisy followed the kitty through the outlet, ducking to get through, with Gus coming after her with the Poltergust upgrade in his arms. The princess found that the outlet arrived into what could only be described as a sewer.

The floor and walls consisted of nothing but concrete infested with moss. The path dipped down a bit, where some water pooled up right next to a grate. It had to be one of the darker parts of the hotel so far. And it definitely smelled like a sewer too.

Gus was not amused. 'I think I prefer starving to death.' His voice echoed in the narrow tunnel.

'Hey, you're the lucky one.' Daisy remarked, stepping through the murky water. 'At least you don't have a nose. Seriously, this place reeks more than a truck-stop bathroom. If I can deal with it, you can-'

Her voice stopped. Dead.

'I can what? What are you staring at?'

'... That...'

Daisy pointed at a pile of garbage resting by the wall. A purple balloon loaded with helium was attached to the pile via a piece of string. She couldn't phantom why, but the sight of that party supply chilling out in a silent sewer made her feel never-ending dread. Trying to ignore that oddly nerve-wracking balloon, she continued to navigate the icky sewer. The squishes of her feet in the water echoed in the dead-silent tunnel.

'You seriously want me to cross that?' Gus said with a scoff. 'No way.'

Daisy sighed. 'Oh Ghostie! Want some free mushroom stew?'

Gus yelped, and charged through the water. 'Waitwaitwait! It's cool. I-I'll cross!'

The unhappy duo followed Polterkitty through the dark and dank dungeon, until their progress came to a swift stop thanks to a brick wall that had been shoddily built in the way. Considering its lack of moss, it had to have been built recently.

Daisy put her hand against it. 'Ooo-kay. Why is there a random brick wall here?'

Polterkitty shrugged. 'Billie seems to think bricking up the sewers will filter the water better. Clem knows it's an awful idea, but he's never been bothered to do anything about it.'

The princess tapped the wall with her fist. It didn't feel particularly sturdy.

'You got a plan?' Gus asked. 'Preferably one that doesn't involve my face getting smashed against it?'

The lights on the gloves grew brighter with her increasing frustration. Despite that, she grinned, waiting for Gus to do what he did best.

'Seriously,' The Toad continued. 'With how much that's been going on, I'd believe you'd want to do that. It seems to be how my luck has been going! I was invited into a trap, given an unfinished room, got kidnapped by a caveman, had to deal with Parr's idiocy when I went to the lab, almost immediately was sent out on a mission, and NOW-!'

'Would you STOP COMPLAINING?!'

Daisy slammed her fist into the brick wall.

*SMASH*

The mortar between the bricks shattered and crumbled completely. The bricks themselves went flying, demolishing the wall. While Gus stared at the scene looking more shocked than he did when Ug kidnapped him, Daisy nonchalantly cleaned her dusty glove on her shirt.

'Shall we proceed?' She said.

'How...? But... Huh?!' Gus stammered.

'I know, right? Who knew your complaining would be useful for once?'

Once again, Gus was about ready to yell his little blue head off, but rightfully decided against it. The path behind the brick wall was not much longer, as they quickly arrived at another roadblock. It was a latched door, nearly identical to the one Daisy had seen earlier. In fact, it had only one difference - the valve used for opening it was missing.

Polterkitty approached the spot where the valve should've been. 'Huh. That's strange.'

'I take it there's supposed to be a valve there.' Daisy said. 'Great. Got any clue where it could be?'

'Uh... I'm not sure. Billie doesn't realise she needs to hide it, so it couldn't have been her. It was probably Clem, and he never bothers to go very far with it. It has to be nearby.'

Mid-conversation, Daisy used the Strobulb on what she recognised to be a flashable button embedded in the wall. A panel located in the ceiling opened, spilling a pile of garbage onto the floor behind them. It mostly consisted of rotting fruit and broken banjo strings.

Gus gave Daisy a look, again. 'Good job. Cos this place wasn't gross enough already.'

The princess ignored his remark and shone her light up the shaft that the opened panel revealed. She saw that it turned off to the side, but to where she couldn't see.

'Hey Kitty,' She said. 'What are the chances of the valve-thingy being up there?'

'High. Clem sometimes hides weird things up there, because he knows that Billie will never think to look.'

'Billie sounds like a reeeal genius.'

Daisy knew she had to get up into that shaft, but it was too high off the floor for her to even touch the bottom of it. The tunnel was small; perhaps she could bounce something up there.

'Can I just ask, how did you get this far into this adventure?' Gus commented. 'I know Luigi would've done most of the puzzle solving, but come on. Surely you have some good ideas. Then again, I'm starting to doubt that.'

At the rate he was going at, Daisy would have enough power to demolish the entire hotel. Instead, she silently walked up to him with the Poltergust sucking.

'Seriously, I'm doubting my chances of survival. You got the might, but if you can't solve puzzles, then we are absolutely-' His rant stopped when Daisy got his big head stuck in the Poltergust nozzle. 'WAITWAITWAIT, I'm sorry! I take it back!'

Silently and stoically, Daisy aimed Gus up into the shaft.

'Daisy, Daisy, Daisy! I see where you're going with this. And I hate it. Can we think about this first? Maybe? Please...?'

'Daisy to mission control,' The princess said in a monotone voice. 'The launch is a go.'

'I'M NOT READY!'

She fired him away like he had never pleaded for mercy.

'Oof! Ouch! OW!'

His squishy body bounced off the concrete walls multiple times, emitting a loud squeak with each bounce. Daisy did not feel guilty for laughing. In his ricocheting, he dropped the Poltergust upgrade. So, she picked it up and stored it in her own bottomless pocket.

'I'M GONNA - ow - KILL YOU!'

After a few bounces, he managed to get into the tunnel. He got his face out of the dirt to see a whole lot of random objects stored up there. Wrenches, a banjo, a bunch of rubber ducks dressed in various attires, and - oh! - that valve they were looking for.

'Found it!'

'Awesome. Bring it here.'

Gus, to her surprise, jumped down with the valve in his arms instead of just dropping that first.

'GERONIMOOOO!'

'Oh!'

The metal valve added to his weight quite a bit, but still Daisy held her ground when he fell into her arms, even when Gus bumped directly into her gashes. She seethed through her teeth, trying hard to smile.

'Good job Gus.' She said, settling him on the floor. 'Ya... ow... did it.'

'You sure you're okay?' He asked. 'Seriously, those are nasty scars.'

'I have little choice. It's either that, or crawl into a ball and die. And I gotta life to live.'

Daisy plonked that valve into place, squelching her worries that it wouldn't fit. She twisted it to the right, and the arrow moved from pointing to the 'locked' symbol to the 'unlocked' one.

'Well, that wasn't so - EEP!'

She jumped back as steam suddenly burst from its outlets. While the door popped open, her cheeks reddened.

'What was that?' Gus asked.

'Please don't ask.'

'What. Was. That?'

'Tell Luigi, and I will turn you into soup.'

'Shutting up.'

Turning the valve had barely opened the door at all, but Daisy got her hands through the tiny gap and pulled it open. Unsurprisingly, the giant steel door was quite heavy. She pulled the door open just wide enough for all three of them to fit through. The very first thing she stepped on once through the vault was yet another metallic platform. This room was more open than the last, consisting of brick walls and a concrete floor. Spiders crawled along the ceiling.

On the floor below was just a bunch of tools and supplies, such as a few wrenches and some buckets of paint. Oh, and a few hundred rubber ducks scattered around. Each duck had its own little costume, like a chef, policeman, princess, magician, pirate, plumber whose outfit looked strikingly similar to Luigi's...

Daisy peered over the edge, eyebrow cocked. 'I... I have no words.'

'What the heck is that about?!' Gus yelled, motioning at the ducks.

Polterkitty smiled at the sight of the rubber bath toys. 'That's their rubber duck collection. This is where they keep it, safe from Master.'

Daisy unleashed a quiet but very long groan, feeling her sanity dripping out her ears.

'That's neat and all.' Gus said. 'But what does that have to do with getting out of here?!'

The kitty flinched. 'Oh, r-right. That.'

She hopped onto the railing and stood on it perfectly balanced. An L-shaped platform, not unlike the one from before, had one end pointing at another platform that led to the next door, but the other in the opposite direction to where they were standing.

'We need to spin that platform over here.' She said. 'And to do that, we need to find a thingy with a fan.'

She scampered over to the wall, near a chunk of it that seemed as poorly built as the last brick wall.

'Hmm... it seems they've bricked it up.' She said. 'The thingy with a fan is on the other side of this.'

'Well, that's easy.' Gus remarked. 'We just gotta peeve off Daisy enough, and then we will-'

He did not expect Daisy putting his head back into the Poltergust, or her walking over to the wall like that, or her aiming his face directly at the brick wall.

'Woah woah woah, what the heck are ya doing?!' He cried. 'I thought you would-'

'You complain about help, you taste bricks. BOOOMBS AWAAAY!'

'WAAHHHH!'

*CRASH*

The moment his big mushy head hit the wall, the bricks fell apart and collapsed to the floor. Polterkitty found herself chuckling at his misery. Gus, in his newfound anger, got to his feet in moments and glared at the princess.

'What the heck was that for?! Why didn't you just do what you did before?'

'I felt like it. Be thankful I'm not dropping you into the rubber duckies.'

Gus rubbed his head - difficult, thanks to his short arms and giant head - as Daisy walked past him to the 'thingy with the fan' hidden behind the wall. It was like a big red box with a siren light on top, and a fan embedded in its front side.

'I take it if I spin the fan, that'll spin the platform?' She guessed.

'Yep. Just use the vacuum on it for a bit, and I'll tell you when you've got it.'

Daisy used the Poltergust to blow air onto the fan, getting it to fillet-inducing speed, and the orange light turned on. She heard thudding sounds behind her as the platform moved.

'Not quite... almost there... got it!'

Her trust in the kitty was not unfounded, as the platform was now perfectly angled between their platform and the one they needed to get to.

'At least you bumped my head for a good reason.' Gus said. 'But that doesn't mean I'm forgiving you.'

'And I don't blame you. Let's go, Polter... kitty?'

The kitty in question was looking over the edge, staring at an empty space among all the yellow rubber.

'Huh... where did Daphne go? She was the favourite...'

'That's enough spying, Kitty. Come on!'


Luigi hadn't moved from his spot. What was the point? Polterpup remained in his lap, refusing to move.

'Hey li'l plumber!' Billie mocked him from the other side of the paranormal gate. 'How ya doin'? Y'all havin' fun yet? Cuz I dunno 'bouts y'all, but Ah'm havin' tha time of ma life!'

A long time ago, Luigi had managed to zone her out. At least Clem was too busy napping to annoy him too.

He groaned. 'Can you stop? I don't feel like it...'

'That's what makes it a hoot!'

He glanced over to the sleeping brother. 'Why isn't your bro doing anything?'

Billie groaned. 'Oh, don't even get me started. Ah tell him that he has chores tah do, and it never listens tah me! He just tells me that he's busy. Lookit 'im! Does he look busy tah ya? And when he claims it's cuz he has a headache, tha argument goes on fer hours! He thinks that just cuz he's older than me by a few minutes, that he's better than me. But Ah keep tellin' him that it don't mean nothin'!'

The mortal blinked, snapping out of his apathy for a moment.

'Yeah, I know what you mean.' He said. 'My big bro can be like that sometimes, even though I'm only younger by a few minutes.'

The frustration and mocking grins on Billie's face faded away, in favour of genuine curiosity.

'Wait a cotton-pickin' moment here.' She said. 'Ya saying y'all a younger twin too?'

He nodded. She looked back at her elder twin brother for a brief second, pondering her next decision. Then, she sat on the floor by the gate.

'Tell me moar 'bout yah brother.'


Another open room, one that had a toilet in the corner for some reason, before it led to stairs, which went down to a much bigger area. The moment the stairs stopped, they gave way to a floor completely covered with stagnant water. The odour of it was heavy in the air.

Daisy wrinkled her nose. 'Geez... Luigi would've hated this.'

She took just one more step forward, and five Spirit Balls popped out of the ground one at a time, floating around in the air. Unlike the blue wisps from before, these were the same pink as Polterkitty and made a vaguely-purring sound as they flew about.

'DAH!' Gus yelled, jumping back. 'What the heck are those?!'

'Spirit Balls.' Daisy answered. 'Nothing to worry about with the Dark-Light on our side.'

The floating orbs changed their trajectory, zooming towards the toilet until they disappeared into it. The lid flapped up for a moment, but other than that nothing happened. It didn't even turn invisible.

'I take it those Spirit Balls are defective?' Daisy said. 'I can still see the thing.'

Polterkitty's eyes widened. 'I-I think we should get going. Right now.'

The toilet's lid flipped all the way open. Then, the entire seat began to shake. It twisted itself around, breaking its own foundations.

Daisy shined her trembling light on it. 'Um, K-Kitty... what is it doing?'

Polterkitty hung her head. 'I'm so sorry. I created those special Spirit Balls years ago. When they get into an object, they-'

A light glowed underneath the toilet's handle, and its lid grew razor-sharp teeth. Its glowing 'eye' darted straight to the heroes.

'EEP!' Daisy yelped.

The now-alive toilet leapt across the room and roared in Daisy's face. The princess froze as it spewed water from its bowl all over her. The Toad and kitty hid behind her, shaking.

'OH GRAMBI!' She yelled.

Her instinct made her kick it, hard enough that it fell over. Despite being on its side, it continued to thrash about and spew its water around everywhere. Daisy's heart raced. With its reign stopped in its tracks, if only for a moment, she could think.

'Alright Kitty, what the hell is that and what the hell do I do?!'

Polterkitty scampered down the stairs. 'We RUN!'

Daisy wasted no time and lifted Gus into her arms, holding him as tightly as she could. Right on time, the toilet got itself right-side-up and hopped towards her. Its roars soaked her more than she already was.

'First a piano, and now a freaking toilet... what's next? A turntable?!'

'Well-'

'No! NO! I do not want to know!'

The princess charged down the stairs, only stopping when both her feet splashed in the water. Polterkitty hopped onto the Poltergust with a distressed meow.

'Yeah, how do you think I feel?!'

Daisy silently prayed to Grambi, asking him what she did to deserve this. It clambered down the stairs with great haste, right after her.

'MROW!'

'Oh gee, good idea. I never would have thought of that!'

The way the toilet chomped its seat like a jaw reminded Daisy too much of the possessed piano from the Great Stage. She charged across the water, holding onto Gus like he was her child.

'RRAAARRR!'

Her heart beat so fast, she nearly puked, a sensation not helped by the rotten smell in the air. She ducked under a short bridge resembling an arched water transport system. The princess arrived at a ladder that led to the top of the bridge and - more importantly - a door. She glanced back for a moment. The toilet was right behind her, bearing its teeth like an angry crocodile. And it would certainly bite her head off like one.

'Alright Gus, you're going up!'

'No, I am NOT going through this a-!'

She ignored his disagreement and tossed him up onto the bridge. He landed flat on his face with a rather pathetic thudding sound.

'-gain...'

Daisy jumped onto the ladder and fought against the weight of the Poltergust as she lifted herself up slowly.

'Get up there, Kitty! Don't worry about me.'

Polterkitty looked down at the aggressive toilet below, and hesitated before joining the fungus on dry land.

'I can make this… I-I can-'

*CHOMP*

'GAAH!'

Every part of Daisy's body cringed and twitched. Pain shot through her body as the toilet clamped its teeth on her foot. The bystanders couldn't say anything, or do anything beyond staring in horror.

The princess fought back tears, and shook her foot about as if it was nothing more than an angry dog. 'Get off me, ya crap bowl!'

Gus and Polterkitty both grabbed her shoulders, one each. They pulled against the grip of the glorified bucket, which had a greater hold than either expected.

Daisy had a few more, much more vulgar nicknames for her attacker, but settled for kicking it in the 'face' with her free foot. It let go of her and fell to the floor with a deep yelp, but not without a consolation prize. Though Daisy's foot remained attached to her body, albeit with bite marks, it shredded her shoe and sock to pieces.

'And that's all ya getting!' Daisy yelled.

With the help of her teammates, she managed to drag what was left of herself onto the ledge. Thankfully, the toilet was incapable of climbing ladders, and had been reduced to whining like a sad little puppy dog.

'Okay, your foot is still attached.' Gus said, only somewhat relieved. 'And the bite marks aren't too deep either. Sorry about your shoe.'

She chuckled. 'You think I care about that? I survived... whatever the hell that was.' She looked at the kitty. 'Aight, you got some questions to answer. You said you created those balls yourself a while back. When and why?'

Polterkitty's eyes shot open wide, and she hung her head in shame.

'It's something my kind can do.' She explained. 'Master told me to make a ton of them years ago, as another way to trap and kill mortals.'

'I'm sorry, do WHAT to mortals?'

'I thought they had all dissipated by now. I can't really get rid of them once they spawn, and... please don't punish me!' She suddenly yelled. 'I-I didn't know they'd make things even harder for you. I swear!'

Daisy flinched. The kitty looked up to her with the most pleading eyes she had ever seen. Seeing the small animal so distressed, she could think of nothing better to do than lift her up into her arms and cuddle her. Polterkitty squirmed around for a bit, but quickly relaxed in the warm embrace. She'd forgotten how much she liked cuddles.

'That's in the past now, Kitty.' She whispered, stroking the cat's head. 'The first step to redemption is realising that you've done wrong. So you're one step ahead of a lot of people. You just need to - have you fallen asleep in my lap?'

The kitty jolted awake, and shook her head to the unconvinced Daisy.

'So...' The princess said. 'Should we do something about that crapper or just move on?'

'Uh, move on. It's incapable of opening doors. Or even climbing ladders. And I'm sure the Hayseed twins will deal with it later. Eventually Clem will get off his tail and present Green Man to Master, but knowing him we still have some time. And we're nearly at the elevator too.'

And that was the best news that Daisy had heard all day.


'... so I had to get my own balloon!'

Luigi appreciated the fact that, in a time of such stress, he had someone to talk to. Even if that someone was a hillbilly ghost gal. To his surprise, Billie didn't laugh at his story. Her mouth was too agape to laugh.

'Wait, he left ya outta a hot air balloon that y'all brought just fer him? He din't even notice ya?!'

He shrugged. 'To be fair, he had just rescued Princess Peach from Bowser and wanted some 'alone time' with her.'

'Still! That's no way tah treat yer own brother! Ah mean, if'n t'was ma brother, that's exactly how Ah'd treat 'im. But still!'

Luigi's eyes darted over to Clem for a moment. He slept like a log, looking rather peaceful in his duck floaty.

'You know Billie,' He said. 'You've just been saying mean things about your brother. Don't you have anything nice to say about him?'

'Y'all know how siblin's are. We git along worser than cats and dogs, but that's tha way we loves each other. But if'n y'all want somethin' moar posative... y'all mind if'n Ah tell ya a moar personal story?'

'Only if you want to.'

Billie smiled, but only for a moment. 'Well, it's kinda a sad story, y'all knows. Y'all don't want no details. But Ah'll tell ya this. When me and ma brother were drownin', he let me use 'im as a step-stool tah git out. Y'all can see that it din't work, but it t'was nice at tha time.'

'Oh, your poor things...'

'Eh. Don't worry none.'


The next room was more of a tunnel of concrete and big pipes, but Daisy wasn't going to complain. Despite all the smoky steam being blown into her face.

'We're nearly there.' Polterkitty said, scampering into a more empty but no less musty part of the room. 'We just gotta go up this ladder, and the elevator will be right there.'

'Oh, I have never been happier to hear those words.'

This little open area - aside from the small part of the back wall that led directly into a giant fan of death - resembled a very low-budget hotel room. A table and chairs in the corner stood out among all the dustiness due to looking straight out of a middle-class restaurant. That wasn't the weird part. One chair was totally empty, but the other was 'occupied' by a bucket on a mop. The bucket had a woman's face crudely drawn on it.

Daisy approached Ms Buckethead, and knocked her over with a little tap. 'Yeah, I think I can see the story here. Dude was so desperate for a date, he made one. When that didn't work, he married his own sister.'

Gus cringed. 'Argh, what is wrong with you?!'

'Don't act like you haven't been thinking that too.'

'Ugh... I'll be leaving you and your twisted mind behind as I get out of here myself.'

He proceeded to climb up the golden ladder after Polterkitty, which led him right to the elevator just as the Panthergeist said.

'You coming, Daze?'

'No, I was thinking about hanging with this guy's date for a bit.'

'I don't think she's your type. She's a little too hardheaded. Just get up here!'

Daisy climbed up the bright yellow ladder and, to her absolute joy (that she was too tired to express), it arrived directly into the elevator room. The vertical transport was directly in front of her. Gus was so happy to see it that he ran over and hugged it. And maybe gave it a kiss too.

'You won't mind if I head straight back to the lab now, would ya?' He asked.

'Not for a moment. This has been horribly stressful for all of us.'

The fungus jumped up, pressed the button, and waited for his ride to arrive. He watched the wrench-shaped pointer above the elevator go from pointing at the fifteen to... pointing at the fifteen. He pressed the button again, and the pointer shifted to the fourteen before returning to its original position.

'Oh come on! Work, you stupid-!'

The pointer went straight for 'B2' in a split second, followed by the elevator cart crashing into the floor behind the closed doors.

'AH!' Gus yelled, jumping back.

Daisy went stiff. 'You... you didn't break it, did you?'

'Hey, if it breaks when I press the button twice, then it isn't my fault!'

The doors opened wide, revealing that the cart inside hadn't broken at all. A familiar laugh echoed in the room.

'Bet y'all t'wert expectin' me tah come back, were ya?'

Daisy's eyes widened. 'She's back...'

'She? Who's she?!'

Daisy switched to the Dark-Light, much more smoothly this time.

'Gus, stand still.'

'Uh, why?'

She didn't want to tell him that he was the bait. Polterkitty stared off into space with wide eyes, shivering on the spot. Daisy figured that's where the Slinker was, and shined the rainbow light over that spot. The translucent mass floated towards Gus with her arms out front. Daisy yanked her away by her wrist. Though the mortals couldn't see anything in her hand, she could feel the ghostly arm in her grasp.

'How in tarnation didja just grab me like that?!' The Slinker cried. 'Ain't no mortal grabbin' me!'

'Too bad. Now, maybe I'm just being 'ghostist' and thinking you all look the same, but aren't you that same Slinker from before?'

The Slinker scoffed. 'Just like a mortal tah assume all Slinkers are tha same! But yer right. I am. Tammy is tha name.'

Daisy groaned. 'What's your deal?! You said earlier that you wouldn't attack us specifically so this didn't happen.'

She rubbed her forehead, and gasped as she realised that she just casually let go of the ghost.

'It's tha boss's orders.' Tammy said from all around. 'If'n she tells me ta do somethin', Ah ain't in no position ta argue.'

'You could at least try!'

'No can do, missy. If'n we disobey her, we git shocked. Assumin' we can even fight back 'gainst her mind powers tah begin wit'.'

Daisy chose not to argue further, and just followed Polterkitty's gaze. Gus shuddered.

'GOTCHA!'

The princess unleashed the Strobulb in Gus's direction, not just blinding him but stunning Tammy. As Daisy approached the confused Slinker with the Poltergust, she told herself one thing.

I will not fail this time.

Just like before, the panicking ghost dragged her all along the room. At least this time, the floor wasn't covered in inches of water. Still, she struggled to get a hold on the floor, and the rough terrain did wonders for her bare foot.

Tammy, despite slowly getting sucked in, laughed. 'Looks like y'all have gotten no better than tha last time Ah metcha!'

Daisy gritted her teeth, but refused to let go. She took just a moment to think - how did Luigi do it? A grin flashed on her face as the answer dawned on her. She put both her hands on the nozzle, and pulled it up against the ghost's drag like she was fishing. In moments, she slowed down significantly. Though Tammy still dragged her a little, now she had her footing.

Tammy's face turned from mocking to terrified as she flailed her arms. 'HEY HEY HEY! That is NAWT how this is supposed tah work. Ah'm supposed tah hurt Y'ALL. Not tha other way round!'

Daisy stepped backwards slowly, fighting against the pull of the Slinker with as much might as her body could manage.

'Give up yet?'

'What kinda glue have y'all been puttin' yer nose in? I ain't givin' up till tha end.'

'Alright. I can't believe I'm doing this, but... GIT ALONG LI'L SLINKER!'

Daisy flung the ghost over her shoulder and slammed her into the floor. The unadulterated satisfaction that coursed through her veins made her shudder with pleasure. She slammed that sucker again and again. The pained screams of that annoying ghost was music to her ears.

'TAKE THAT!'

'Uh, Daze...' Gus said.

'Aha! I'm not useless anymore!'

'Daisy.'

'What's that? Crying for your ma? Your ma ain't gonna help you ya little-!'

'DAISY.'

The sound of her name snapped her out of it. Only then did she notice that the Slinker had disappeared. Polterkitty stared at her in utter terror.

'Oh crap!' She said. 'Where did that Slinker go?'

'Daisy,' Gus said. 'That ghost got sucked up, like, five slams ago. You okay?'

To her horror, she could feel her cheeks reddening. 'I, uh, guess I got a little carried away. Uh... hey look, the elevator!'

With a happy gasp, Gus ran into the vacant elevator. He got to his knees and rubbed the floor with both palms, and then whispered some weird things to it that Daisy did not want to know.

'Ohhh, I am booking it back to the lab.' He said. 'Oh, speaking of which, I'll need that upgrade thingy back. After what I just went through, no way in heck I'm returning without the dang thing I came out here to get.'

'Can do.' Daisy said, grabbing it from her pocket and handing it over to him. 'Elvin's gonna get way more use out of it than I ever will. See you, Gust.'

'I told you, would you stop...? Oh, whatever. Hopefully, I see you later, Daze.'

He pressed the button to take him up to the basement, and Daisy kept her eyes on him until the doors closed completely.

'I hope he got what he needed...'

Polterkitty tugged on her pants. 'We should hurry before those twins realise the w-water's been lowered. We won't be able to get to them otherwise.'

'Oh heck yeah. And I'm sure as hell not going through that again unless you paid me.' She inhaled deeply. 'You ready?'

The spectral cat paused for a moment. She couldn't bare to tell Mean Lady just how low their odds of winning were.

'Yes.' She eventually said. 'I'm ready. We'll save Green Man. I mean, Luigi.'

Author Notes - I remember that having Luigi and Billie bond over being the younger twin was a spur of the moment thing. Just like most of what I really like about this story. Unfortunately, my habit of not planning things out definitely bit me in the ass a few times.

The idea of Polterkitty creating the special pink Spirit Balls came from a misunderstanding on my part. See, the balls are pink, make purring sounds, and first appear during the initial Polterkitty section. I concluded that they were coming from Polterkitty herself. In hindsight, I don't think that's what the game intended to imply. But it makes it cool for my story and the Polterkitty redemption arc!