Author Notes - Alright! Time for the final boss fight that I probably made more complicated than it really needed to be but I love it too much to change it!

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX - A NIGHTMARE TO FORGET

'Harder!' Chambrea yelled. 'HARDER!'

Every ghost inside the unit threw all their power at the gates. Even the ghosts with no weapons or muscles to speak of joined in, coming together with unified rage and the desire to help out their newest friend.

'Come on, everyone!' Amadeus cried. 'We're not getting through unless we give it our all!'

'Ug see crack!' Ug said. 'Ghosts making progress. Keep going!'

'Is dis worth it?' Kruller asked. 'I don't t'ink we're gettin' through...'

'Not with that attitude we ain't!' Ginny yelled.

On the other side, Lou helped them out by bashing the gates in himself. Slowly but surely, that crack was growing.

'Oh, crikey!' Fishook exclaimed. 'I think we're doing it, mates!'

'Oh, my poor frying pan...' Soulfflé murmured. 'Zis one was my second favourite... but it is worth it if we can break out.'

'Stupid spindly arms...' Steward muttered.

'Don't fret about that, dude.' Johnny said. 'Your muscles are totally gnarly enough.'

Clem and Billie found themselves making a pretty good beat against the metallic wall as they banged their wrenches against it. Gloria even hummed a decently catchy tune to it.

'HOOO-WEEEE!' Billie hollered. 'This is moar fun than rattlesnakes at a rodeo!'

'Y'all are tellin' me, sis!' Clem agreed. 'Who thunk that gettin' up and doin' somethin' would be this much of a hoot!'

'That's a bopping beat, ma home skillets!' Gloria said, throwing her vinyls to the beat.

'Come on everyone!' Lindsey cried. 'We have to help Luigi out!'

Serpci not only wanted to do the right thing to begin with, but she so desperately wanted to help out her idol. After all he had done for them, he certainly deserved a little bit of extra help.

'How are you going, honey?' She asked her husband. 'I know I won't be stopping until I save the brave and glorious Luigi, but what about you?'

MacFrights wiped his brow. 'If me fair maiden is tryingeth her 'ardest to breaketh through yon jail, then I will tryeth me 'ardest too!'

'Stop yappin' and get ta smashin', yeh lovebirds!' Dr Potter demanded, not caring one about how that sounded.

Chambrea delivered her strongest bash she had ever given anything...

'WOAH!'

And was blinded by a bright light. When she regained her vision, she found that she was no longer surrounded by impenetrable metal walls. And Luigi couldn't believe what he saw.

'Ch-Chambrea?' He stammered.

The maid ghost had burst right through the gates and now stood outside the container unit. She looked just as peeved off as when he last saw her.

'You bet your ass it's me!' She declared. 'Did you really think that weak little cage was going to hold me back?'

Luigi gulped. 'I-I'm sorry that I stole your briefcase! I-If it makes you feel any better, I can-'

'Forget about the stupid briefcase for a moment! I may hate your guts, but even I'll admit that there's something I hate even more than you.' Her glare snapped to her boss. 'HELLEN. GRAVELY.'

To her delight, the Siren ghost seemed shocked. Terrified. Concerned. As angry as ever.

'What are you doing out?!' She shrieked. 'LUIGI TOOK CARE OF ALL YOU USELESS GHOSTS!'

'Excusez-moi? What was zat about us being useless?'

Soulfflé emerged from the container unit right after the maid. Despite his frying pan being bent all out of shape, it still looked like an effective bat. The rest of them appeared one by one, all ready for one hell of a fight.

'If you think you can hurt my idol and get away with it, prepare to meet the wrath of the Queen of the Sands herself!'

'Back down now, dudette. Unless you want a gnarly fight.'

'You think that just because my arms are like noodles that I won't fight till the end?'

'I've put up with you endangering my precious daughter for far too long.'

'Get the hell over here, ya bloody jessie!'

'It's 'bout time we end this, sheila.'

'We're gonna, like, totes mess ya up, floozy!'

'Are y'all ready fer tha hoe-down ofa lifetime?' 'Cos I bet y'all aint!'

'Scary boss go down tonight.'

'Yeh won't be murderin' ma family anymore!'

'Enough messing with my little sisters.'

'Thou will be smitedeth by me warrior spirit!'

'You won't hurt Luigi or Pudding anymore!'

'I may be a coward, but like dat green bud I'll stand up for what's roight.'

Hellen gasped. Luigi did too. Most of the sixteen ghosts glared at their boss - Kruller, Lindsey, and Serpci looked to Luigi instead.

'W-Wait.' Luigi stammered. 'Y-You're helping me?'

Serpci nodded. 'After all you've done for us, we thought it was about time that we finally repay you!'

'We know youse really didn't wanna hurt us.' Kruller said.

Through everything that was happening, this managed to get Luigi to smile. Better yet, Hellen seemed to be legitimately frightened by them all. King Mario noticed this, and gave her a look.

'Ms Gravely,' He said. 'I thought you said that your staff was useless.'

Hellen held onto the crown, and stammered out complete nonsense before she could say anything coherent. 'I... I... I... I-It wasn't me who said that, I swear! It... it... it was Luigi!'

Chambrea scoffed. 'Wow. You must've really lost it if you think we're falling for that.'

For the first time in her life, Hellen truly felt that she had lost all control of the situation. Up against ghosts more powerful and clever than her with a great army to back them up.

'And, if you'll allow me,' Chambrea continued. 'GIMME THAT!'

She slammed her feather duster to the floor and yanked onto the crown instead. Hellen kept a strong hold on it, forcing the maid into a game of tug-o-war. The Siren's strength overpowered Chambrea's by a mile, but it was the maid who had the stubbornness.

'I said, GIMME!'

'NEVER!'

While Hellen and Chambrea engaged in their little game, King Mario groaned. 'Why am I surprised? Why am I shocked that Hellen is being beaten by a maid?! WHY DO I EVEN-?!'

Kruller cut off his little tirade by firing his water gun and splashing him in the face. The royal phantom turned to the police ghost, who flinched and trembled but did not let up his aim.

'Sure, it's justa water gun.' Kruller said. 'But distractin' youse is better than nothin'.'

Lindsey gasped at the sight of Polterkitty laying hurt on the ground, and rushed over to her. The Panthergeist mewed and purred like a motor boat.

'It's okay, Pudding.' The youngest triplet said, stroking the feline's head. 'I just know we'll get through this together.'

Serpci clapped loudly, snapping everyone's attention to her. 'Okay, I-I know we haven't rehearsed what to do when a Boo possesses the brother of a friend of ours, but I'm sure we can still handle this! Whatever you do, don't go charging into battle unless I tell you too! Johnny, hold that red plumber in place!'

Johnny gave her a salute. 'Can do, dudette!'

He entrapped King Mario in an unpleasant hug before the king could hurt Luigi again. King Mario squirmed and cursed, but the bodybuilder's strength was simply too much for the mortal human body to handle. Unfortunately for Johnny, the plumber did not let up at all and was already pushing his strength to its limit.

'Whatever you're about to do, dude,' Johnny said. 'Can you, like, hurry it up a little? This squirmy dude is totally draining my strength.'

'Alright, William! Fishook!' Serpci called.

The titular ghosts saluted to their queen. Well, Fishook tried his best to salute with a hook for an arm.

'Keep your eyes on Mario in case he breaks out before we're ready! Now, Clem and Billie, you can try to annoy- ... oh dear.'

She had wanted to order the trashy twins to distract Hellen, but the Siren now seemed angry enough to make Gus, Soulfflé, and Dr Potter combined look like a ray of sunshine. While Fishook and MacFrights surrounded King Mario as they were ordered, Hellen yanked the crown directly out of Chambrea's arms.

'Do you really think a couple of weaklings like you can defeat ME?!' She shrieked. 'If you love that green scum so much, why don't you SPEND THE REST OF ETERNITY WITH HIM?!'

'Rest of-? What are you on about?' Chambrea questioned.

Hellen aimed the crown up at the painting behind her and zapped it with purple energy. Using every bit of strength that she had, she transformed the picture within the frame to a swirly blue void and commanded the entire painting to grow.

And grow.

And grow.

Hellen just cackled like mad all the while.

'Holy mother of mercy!' King Mario yelled.

The portrait did not stop growing until Hellen had run out of strength, but it didn't matter. It was now almost as big as the hotel itself. It shadowed over everyone yet lit everything up with a bluish glow and ripped the trees out of the ground by their roots. Luigi turned around and saw the trees themselves slowly but surely getting sucked into the giant painting above.

Everyone, even King Mario, looked up at the portrait with horror.

Serpci gasped. 'My sarcophagus!'

'Hey!' Ginny yelled. 'That bloody painting is stealing our spotlights!'

'Oh my...' Amadeus murmured. 'That's my piano! Or, what's left of it, at least.'

Only Chambrea did not react to the sight with fear, or anything beyond anger and fury.

'So what?' She asked. 'You really think that'll scare me? The moment I grab that crown thing away from you, I'll make that cursed portrait shrink away!'

Hellen smirked. 'How can you be so sure?! If I can't use it, NO ONE CAN!'

She slammed the crown towards the floor with all her remaining strength. It shattered on impact. Everyone, even Chambrea, gasped in shock. King Mario, meanwhile, glared at the Siren as he continued to struggle in Johnny's grip.

'You... YOU IDIOT!' He yelled. 'Why the hell did you do that?!'

Hellen cackled. 'Don't you see, darling?! Now, EVERYONE ELSE HAS NO CHANCE! The portrait will remain giant, and there's NOTHING THEY CAN DO ABOUT IT!'

Ginny scoffed. 'You sure about that, ya duck hunt? My sisters and I can use our magic to shrink that bloody portrait, crown or no crown!'

Lindsey hung onto Polterkitty's neck, holding her tight even as her own hat was caught in the pull. Nikki sat in the corner, on the verge of a panic attack.

Amadeus's hair flew out of place as he turned to his caveman friend. 'Ug, how much time do you think we have? For the love of Jaydes, tell me we have a chance!'

Ug took just a moment to think about it. 'Ug predict ten minutes max. Four minutes at worst.'

Amadeus buried his head into his hands, trying his hardest not to cry. 'Oh god... oh god. This... this could be it. Oh god. GLORIA!'

Gloria was no longer by his side, but - before he could panic - he saw her by Nikki's side instead. Using some encouraging words, she had managed to break the oldest triplet out of her funk, but Nikki still looked unsure with herself.

'Eh, Lindsey!' Gloria called.

Lindsey apologised to 'Pudding' before joining up with her older sister and the DJ. Ginny, wanting to spend her last moments with her family, joined them too. Gloria, partially thanks to her lack of a wig, never looked so serious.

'Okay girls!' She said, slapping her palms together. 'You're, like, the only home fries in this entire crib who can, like, do anything about this totes grody painting thing.'

'I know we can do it.' Nikki said, only somewhat confident. 'But it's gonna be really hard...'

'Who cares how bloody hard it's gonna be!' Ginny yelled. 'If we can do it, we will do it!'

'But there's no way Ms Gravely will let us.' Lindsey explained. 'She never really liked us, even when we first met. I don't think she'll be okay with us trying to stop her plan.'

'I'm still gonna try it!'

Serpci could hear the young girls debating their little plan, and she had to agree with them. No way Hellen would let them get away with it. So, the pharaoh turned to the twins.

'Clem! Billie! I want you two to do what you do best.'

In response to her order, the twins grinned and pulled out banjos seemingly from thin air. They approached their angry boss while strumming their instruments, much to her annoyance.

'Gimme a home where tha Polterpups roam!' They sang in perfect harmony with surprisingly good singing voices. 'Where tha mice an' tha deadly snakes play. Where seldom is heard a discouragin' word. And the skies are nice and cloudy all day!'

Hellen clamped her hands over her ears, to no avail. With her distracted, the triplets all turned to the giant painting and aimed their wands at it.

'Ready?' Nikki asked her younger sisters.

'I'm ready to help out Luigi! What about you, GinGin?'

'Ready to put that harlot in her place!'

At once, they chanted: 'Now creepy portrait, towering over us in the skies. How about you let us bring you down to size!'

All three summoned a beam of energy from each of their wands. The zaps hit the portrait and surrounded it with a multi-coloured veil. The massive painting didn't seem to be getting any smaller, but it certainly wasn't getting any bigger either.

'GET OFF ME!' King Mario shouted.

He broke free from the grasp of the bodybuilder and charged for Luigi. The green-clad plumber screamed, feeling even more defenceless than before. King Mario's charge came to stop when Fishook implanted his hook directly in front of him.

The Ozzie shark grinned. 'G'day, mate. I hope you weren't plannin' on hurting your own bro. How about we just go down to the bottle-O and have a nice drink?'

MacFrights bellowed. 'Don't bothereth wit' that, me laddie! I 'aveth me doubts that yon king willeth accepteth thy offer.'

'I know, but if it works for our green mate it's worth a shot, ain't it?'

King Mario vaulted over the hook, but Fishook reacted fast. He slashed his hook around, scooping up King Mario and pushing him away from Luigi.

'D-DON'T HURT HIM!' Luigi cried.

MacFrights gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 'Don't worryeth, me green warrior! We understandeth that thou doth not want thy brother to be hurteth.'

Soulfflé approached the red plumber with his out-of-shape frying pan in hand. He whacked King Mario upside the head, not hard enough to kill him but enough to knock him unconscious for a moment.

'Soulfflé!' Luigi yelled. 'Why did you do that?!'

The French chef just smirked. 'It worked, did it not? It gives you an extra second to zink about your next move.'

Polterkitty watched the insanity unfolding around her with shame. With how much everyone else was helping out, it made her feel awful for being unable to do anything. At the same time though, she didn't let it bother her too much. She had pushed Master out of the way, after all.

Gloria laughed at Hellen as the twins distracted and irritated her. With how much torment that witch put them all through, it was hilarious to watch. Amadeus rushed over to her and brought her into a hug without a warning.

'Woah, Daddy-O!' She exclaimed. 'Why are you, like, doin' that for?'

'Let me honest, sweetie.' Amadeus said, his tone low. 'I fear that if we are caught up in the portrait, I may never get to hug you again.'

The DJ sighed. 'I know this is, like, a totes stressful time for all of us. But we can't, like, let our totes wack emotions take over now! If those boppin' triplets don't succeed in stopping that painting... we need to be strong.'

The old pianist smiled. 'This... this is why I love you so much, Gloria. Your optimism and your excitement never fail to impress me.' He let go of the hug and clenched his fists. 'And I'm going to prove it.'

Kruller lightly fired his water gun in Luigi's face to cool down his stress. It actually helped, if only a little. From experience, Luigi knew that the best way to get a ghost to stop possessing something was to force it out. But how?

He had only one way to find out.

King Mario's eyes shot wide open. 'Alright, I'M ENDING THIS RIGHT NOW!'

He snatched Soulfflé's frying pain right out of the chef's hands and snapped it. Tossing the remains of it aside, he put his attention back on Luigi.

'NO CAN DO, DUDE!'

Johnny leapt from the floor and pinned King Mario to the ground, face-down.

MacFrights laughed like a hyena. 'Now looketh at yon! Methinketh that possessingeth a mortal body art not a good idea.'

King Mario cursed at him through his gritted teeth. Luigi, after another quick splash of water, ran over to his entrapped brother and knelt down to his level. The red-clad plumber was like an angry dog tied down by a leash.

'Mario,' Luigi said, his voice choking. 'Big bro. I don't know if you can still hear me, but if you can, I wanna let you know... you can still fight this. You can still overcome this despicable king and free yourself.'

If King Mario was saying anything to him, Luigi wasn't listening.

'W-Weegee...?'

Luigi cringed. Maybe it was just King Boo trying to trick him, but it sounded so much like Mario.

'Yes bro, it's me. It's Weegee. And I'll be here for you no matter what. Come on, Mario. I know you can fight it. You're so much stronger than I will ever be! Come on, Mario!'

For a moment - just a moment - Luigi could see Mario's real blue eyes looking into his, pleading for help..

'I'm not sure if I can really help anymore.' Luigi said. 'But if I can... fight it, Mario! King Boo is a weakling compared to you!'

'WEEGEE!' Mario cried. 'I-I'm-a trying, b-but he's still holding on!'

Luigi jumped backwards to his feet. That was Mario, begging for help. Unfortunately, Luigi wasn't sure how much more of it he could give. Speaking of not being sure how to help, Steward stood on the sidelines watching his friends do all the work for him. Even Dr Potter, who was not participating in the battle at all, had floated all the way down to his garden to grow some more of his plants. What he was doing that for, nobody knew. As for Steward, he wasn't doing much of anything. And that wasn't right! As the first worker hired by Hellen Gravely, he felt an inherent duty to help take her down.

'Hello.'

Steward screamed and jumped; Gooigi had appeared right behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

'W-What do you want?' He asked.

'I have an idea, but it requires that big bro has his Poltergust. I would carry it over myself, but my hands aren't good at picking heavy things up. You don't seem to be doing anything, so can you help me carry the Poltergust over to big bro?'

Steward smiled - an opportunity to help!

Amadeus and Chambrea approached their boss. The maid wanted to scream out many, many expletives and insults her way, but Amadeus convinced her not to.

'Greeting, Ms Gravely.' Amadeus said, crossing his arms. 'I see that your plan has finally crumbled away. Luigi has nearly freed his brother from King Boo's possession, and there is nothing left for you. And even if Luigi fails, you still have me to contend with.'

Clem and Billie gave Hellen smirks from behind her back. The Siren was yet to notice that the portrait had shrunk considerably, even if it was absolutely draining the young triplets. The Siren glared at Amadeus, but said nothing.

'How does it feel, Hellen?' Amadeus asked. 'Tell me, how does it feel to have everything taken away from you? To fear that your loved ones will be ripped from your grasp? To be treated like garbage? On second thought, don't bother answering. I already know exactly what that's like.'

Hellen clenched her fists and growled through her sharp gritted teeth. She launched her arms out to grab the pianist and the maid by their necks and strangle them, but little did she realise what was happening in the garden below her. A plant, consisting entirely of vines, burst from the greenhouse and climbed the walls at the speed of a bullet until they reached the Siren. The vines wrapped themselves around her body until she had no way out. Amadeus smirked while Chambrea pointed and laughed.

Hellen gasped. 'No... NO! What the HELL?!'

Dr Potter emerged from behind her with his watering can in his hand. 'I don't know if yeh know this, but yeh lead ta the death of ma Audrey! It wasn't tha mortals' fault that she's gone now. It was ALL YOURS!'

'A-Audrey? Who-?!'

'IT'S ABOUT TIME I STEPPED UP FER ALL MA PLANT BRETHEN!'

Luigi wanted to scream. Though Mario's pleading blue eyes had managed to win against King Boo's angry glare, he still wasn't freed. He reached out for his brother as tears fell from his eyes. Luigi took his hand without question. MacFrights had joined Johnny at keeping him pinned to the floor, and Fishook watched for the very moment the king broke free.

'W-Weegee, I-I'm scared. I wanna go home...'

'It's okay, Mario. We'll be home soon. Just keep fighting a little bit longer.'

'I don't wanna keep fighting. I... I just want this to end.'

Luigi gulped down his fear. 'D-Don't say that, bro. I'll be here for you, and I will not leave your side. Just keep fighting, bro. You're too strong to let King Boo win.'

Whatever Luigi was doing, it seemed to be working. He shuddered thinking about what it would be like to be in Mario's position - fighting against yourself as your own body tried to kill your brother.

'Hey Green Guy!' Steward announced his presence.

Luigi took his eyes off his brother for just a moment, but did not let go of him. Steward held the Poltergust in his arms did so with a smile. He dropped the fancy vacuum cleaner onto the floor next to its rightful owner.

The bellhop wiped his brow. 'Phew! It's really weird carrying the same weapon that was used to capture me.'

Gooigi had followed him, shining his own Dark-Light Device on King Mario.

'W-What are you doing?' Luigi asked.

'Using the Dark-Light.' Gooigi replied. 'It has been used to remove the Spirit Balls from objects, and regular Spirit Balls were made by Boos. I think it could be used to separate King Boo from Mario, now that Mario has done a good job at keeping him at bay.'

Luigi gasped. 'Of course!'

'I'll do it for you, so you can hold Mario's hand. I don't think it'll work if you're not there for him.'

Luigi held onto his brother's hand tighter as he began to scream and yowl. Mario emitted a bright white light that grew brighter and brighter every second.

'AAARRRRGGH!'

The light flashed, stunning all the ghosts in the vicinity, including Polterkitty. Once it faded, Luigi dared to look again. He saw his brother half-unconscious on the floor, and King Boo flying out of his body and twirling around in the air from the dizziness.

'WOO-HOO!' Gloria cheered. 'Ya got 'em!'

King Boo stopped spinning around and snarled at the green plumber below him. Luigi lifted Mario into his arms and held him close. Seeing that both the royal phantom and the insane Siren were practically defenceless, Luigi chuckled.

'Give up now, King Boo.' He said. 'There's no hope for you now! Just look at the portrait behind you.'

Right on cue, Ginny had exhausted all of her energy and fell to the floor. Lindsey followed soon. Nikki, however, kept going. She didn't stop until she made sure that the portrait had safely returned to its normal size. Once she was certain that her work had been done, she fainted alongside her younger sisters.

'We... we did it, girls.' She murmured.

King Boo grunted. 'It doesn't matter! Even if I cannot possibly fight back against you now, you have no chance of beating me! That puny vacuum of yours is no match for us anymore. YOU'VE LOST, LUIGI!'

Hellen screamed from inside her trap. 'YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING YOU DISGUSTING, REPREHENSIBLE GREEN MAN!'

Luigi narrowed his eyes and gave the Poltergust to Mario. The red-clad plumber didn't know what to do and took it in a panic.

'W-Weegee, what are you doing?!' He asked. 'I-I have no idea how to use this thing!'

'You don't need to.' Luigi said. 'Gooigi can control it from the inside.'

'Yep! I will do whatever I can to help out big bro!'

Gooigi gave the brothers a thumbs-up before he recalled himself into the glass container. Hesitating for a moment, Mario slipped it onto his own shoulders and held up the Poltergust nozzle.

'Weegee, I-I don't understand.' He said. 'I-I can't possibly help you out.'

'Mario, all I need you to do is press the 'suck' button when I tell you to. I know you can do that.'

Mario gulped. 'A-Alright.'

'Good.' He turned to the other ghosts. 'EVERYONE! I need you all to back away and get to a safe place. That includes you, Polterkitty!'

Serpci clapped her hands together once again. 'Alright guys! Fishook, I want you to get those poor girls a lift. Johnny, help the kitty. Everyone, go all the way to the basement!'

The other ghosts nodded, and followed her orders. Fishook invited the triplets into his mouth. Johnny heaved Polterkitty over his shoulders. Amadeus took Gloria into his arms as everyone fled for the basement. One ghost stayed behind for a moment, to give her boss a grin.

'Ah, what fun this is!' Chambrea said. 'I'd love to say I miss the days when you were a good boss, but those days don't exist. Toodles!'

Leaving it at that, she followed her friends into safety. King Boo had no idea what was to follow, and Hellen had no way of breaking free from Dr Potter's plant trap. Luigi poured all his strength into his hand, summoning a big ball of electricity.

Mario gasped. 'W-Weegee? Is that...?'

'The Thunderhand? You bet it is. Wait for it...'

The ball of electricity in his palm connected to the Poltergust's engine via a surge. It revved like an airplane engine begging for more juice and the nozzle doubled in size, much to Mario's shock.

'Weegee? What is going on?'

Luigi couldn't answer. He only had enough strength to say one thing.

'NOW!'

Mario yelped and slammed that 'suck' button all the way down. Right before his eyes, the Poltergust summoned a massive tornado from its nozzle, consuming everything around him. Gooigi guided it towards both the royal phantom and the Siren.

Luigi seethed in pain. 'It's time, King Boo... for you to pay! You too, Hellen Gravely!'

King Boo's eyes widened as he was dragged in. He looked just as terrified as Mario.

'No... NO!' He shouted. 'It can't end like this! Everything was so perfectly set out... IT CAN'T END LIKE THIS!'

Hellen Gravely fared no better. All that came out of her mouth was incoherent gibberish of pure rage, cursing out just about everyone and Polterkitty most of all. The vines that ensnared her disappeared into the Poltergust within seconds, and they dragged Hellen along with them. Once her tail got stuck in the mighty vacuum, she had just enough time to glance at Luigi. He gave her a mighty death stare.

'YOU... YOU DISGUSTING MORTAL!'

There was a pop, and Hellen Gravely was gone.

King Boo fought against the suction, but even he could not escape the Poltergust. He was dragged in by his own tongue, the tip of which got stuck in the nozzle. Luigi pushed himself harder, generating even more electricity for the extra push.

Mario screamed as King Boo's eyes met his. For a moment, he had to look away. Then, he glared right at King Boo with a stare befitting his brother.

'I WILL GET YOU LUIGI!' The royal phantom yelled.

'NO ONE WILL HURT MY LITTLE BROTHER!' Mario screamed back. 'YOU HEAR ME?!'

Luigi clamped his eyes shut as he poured all the energy he had into that Thunderhand.

He heard a pop from the Poltergust.

Then, Gooigi stopped the vacuum cleaner.

Then... silence.

Complete and utter silence, aside from the portrait slamming into the floor.

Luigi opened his eyes. All he saw was Gooigi and a heavily-panting Mario. No King Boo or Hellen Gravely could be seen.

Mario fell to his knees. 'We... we did it.'

Luigi could not believe it. He really couldn't. Were they really gone? He couldn't see them anywhere, and Gooigi smiled despite his lack of a mouth.

'WE DID IT!' The gooey man cheered. 'WE CAPTURED KING BOO AND HELLEN GRAVELY!'

No. It couldn't be. Luigi refused to believe it. He refused to believe that the several floors and several days of nightmares had finally come to an end. He should've been celebrating, but he simply didn't have it in him.

He fell to his knees and laughed. 'I did it... I did it!'

That was the last thing he said before he fainted. Mario gasped, and chucked the Poltergust off his back.

'WEEGEE!'

Mario did not want to think that, after everything, he had still managed to lose his brother. Imagine his relief when he saw that Weegee was still breathing just fine.

'Oh, Weegee... you deserve so much.'

It was then Mario noticed something wrong. Why was Gooigi vibrating so much? And why was an ocean's worth of water pouring from the twelfth floor?

He gulped. 'I-I have a bad feeling about this…'

A horrible realisation hit him: the hotel was about to collapse! Even the rooftop itself began to crack up and fall away at its edges. The first thing the red-clad plumber did was shake his brother awake.

'Weegee? WEEGEE!'

Luigi's eyes slowly opened. It took him a few seconds to process what was going on, but when he did, he screamed.

'Oh sweet Grambi!' He cried, getting to his feet. 'T-That massive portrait must've ruined the foundation or something!'

Without another thought, he ran over to the portrait and held onto it. Everyone within it - Peach, Daisy, the Toads, E. Gadd, Polterpup, even the golden robot - remained trapped in the tapestry.

'I-I'm sorry, guys!' He stammered. 'I-I wanna free you... b-but the hotel's about to collapse!'

The Mario brothers turned to Gooigi. All the gooey man did was wave.

'Bye-bye!' He said, far more cheerfully than he should've.

If these were indeed Mario's last moments, he knew exactly how he wanted to spend them. He rushed over to his little brother with his arms out wide.

'Weegee!'

The roof collapsed before he could make it.

Neither plumber could even see the ground far below them through the thick dust that surrounded them. Without his brother there, Luigi held the portrait close to his chest like it would somehow save his life.

So, this is how I go. I manage to capture King Boo and Hellen Gravely, but die because the hotel collapsed. I guess this is what they call 'cruel irony'.

The only thing he could hear were his brother's horrified screams - the last thing he wanted to hear before his death. He closed his eyes and waited for the impact.

'Don't yeh whippersnappers just sit there while Luigi falls ta his death! GIT GOIN'!'

Luigi opened his eyes again. That was definitely Dr Potter's voice.

'Catch mortals carefully! Catch mortals slowly. If mortals caught too quickly, G-forces kill anyway.'

And that had to be Ug. Next thing he knew, his fall had come to a slow secure stop far above the ground below. He was surrounded by the triplets, who had all gotten a grip on him. MacFrights helped the girls out by holding the plumber from underneath. Chambrea snatched the portrait away from Luigi while vehemently promising to give it back.

'You did it!' Lindsey cheered. 'You captured that mean king and our meanie of a boss!'

'You okay there?' Nikki asked.

Ginny groaned. 'What kind of a bloody question is that? O'course he's not fine, ya berk!'

'Can thou fair maidens not argueth?' MacFrights requested. 'We 'ast dealteth with too much today.'

Luigi gasped. His brother continued to plummet to the ground far below.

'MARIO!' He cried.

'Don't worry about him.' Chambrea said. 'The others are on it.'

Mario's fall too came to a slow stop. He looked up to his saviour and nearly screamed when he saw the nose of a ghostly shark. Fishook had grabbed onto the back of his shirt with his teeth. Johnny swooped down, and held Mario in his arms.

'Don't fret, dude!' He said. 'We totally won't let you fall.'

Gloria showed up with the Poltergust in her arms. 'Woah. This is, like, totes the killer vacuum used to, like, catch us. OMGosh, so it also caught our grody boss! That's totes ROCKIN'!'

Mario felt a little awkward holding onto Johnny Deepend as intensely as he did. 'I-I would like to touch the ground again.'

'Ya gettin' ahead of us, mate.' Fishook said with a laugh.

Carefully and slowly, the Last Resort staff carried the Mario Brothers down to the ground. Once at the ground, Ginny simply dropped her grip on Luigi's legs, causing him to drop abruptly. He sneezed a couple of times thanks to all the dirt and dust in the air, but was otherwise unharmed.

Nikki gave her middle sister a look. 'Ginny, what was that for?'

Ginny shrugged. 'You just told me to carry him to the ground. Nothin' about dropping him nicely. If ya wanted that, ya should've bloody said so.'

'Oh, I don't care!' Lindsey declared, giving the man a hug. 'I'm just glad he's okay!'

Luigi was about to get up, but Polterkitty went in for a massive cuddle. And he had to deliver. She purred the hardest that night.

'Master is okay! I was so worried for you...'

'I'm fine, Polterkitty. Just fine.'

He wanted to celebrate his victory with the other ghosts, but no one was happy. The Last Resort was no more, now just a pile of rubble barely resembling its former self.

Serpci dug through the piles of golden bricks that used to be her pyramid, only to find a green-and-blue shard buried among the rubble. It didn't take her long to realise that her Luigi carving had been reduced to dust like everything else. She held it close to her chest and began to cry. MacFrights put his hand on her shoulder, no happier than her.

'Cryeth all thou wants, me fairest maiden. I too 'ast losteth me castle. T'was the only thing lefteth of me glorious kingdom...'

Ginny cursed as she pricked herself on one of the shards remaining from the stage lights. Nikki didn't even try to hide her despair.

'You gotta be bloody kidding me...' Ginny muttered, trying to contain her tears.

Gloria jumped into her father's arms the moment she witnessed what was left of her dance floor. Unfortunately for Amadeus, seeing her cry made him cry too. Dr Potter rushed around, trying to gather the few surviving plants while mourning the ones that didn't make it. Luckily for him, the baby Audrey 2 had survived and seemed no less happy to see him again.

'C'mon fellas, where are yeh? There's Zeke, and Peonia... where's Venus?'

'Yip yip!' Audrey 2 playfully barked.

Steward and Johnny comforted each other through such a hard time. Chambrea, with the portrait tucked under her arm, punched the rubble into even smaller pieces. Ug gathered whatever bones he could find and attempted to rearrange them back into shape. Soulfflé sat among the remains of his restaurant, unsettlingly serene about it. Kruller wondered what he was supposed to do now.

And there was someone else floating around the rubble…

'Oh my!' Morty cried, looking around in horror. 'Our beloved home has been levelled to the ground! How did this happen? How could something so cruel happen to us, after all the horrible things we've already been through?!' He gasped 'Oh no… I hope my movie has survived this tragic event! It would be a tragedy on top of a tragedy if all that hard work from Luigi and Daisy ended up being for naught!'

Kruller picked up a film reel from the rubble. 'Uh… is dis it?'

The only ones who weren't mourning the loss of their floor were Clem and Billie, since their home was buried underground. Still, they were searching around for their rubber duckies.

'Oh no…' Luigi murmured.

'WEEGEE!'

Mario leapt into another hug once again. Polterkitty joined in on the cuddle. No one noticed Gooigi plummeting into the ground and splattering everywhere, but he sprung up from the puddle and stood beside Luigi. The heartwarming reunion came to a stop when Chambrea pried Luigi away from his brother and shoved the portrait in his face.

'See? I told you I would give it back.' She said. 'This is, ugh... rightfully yours. I hope you like it.'

Luigi smiled. 'Yes, that's exactly what I want! Hold it right there for me.'

'Right right right.' She paused. 'Sorry if this is an inappropriate question, but can I-?'

'Yes Chambrea, you can keep the portrait once I'm done with it.'

'Oh, good.' She grinned wickedly. 'Cos I have a great plan for it.'

Luigi enveloped the portrait with the Dark-Light device with most of his family surrounding him. The first one to leave the confines of the tapestry was Princess Peach, floating to the ground in her usual graceful fashion.

'Mario!'

As soon as her feet touched the ground, she ran over to Mario and hugged him. The three Toads came next. Soff T managed to land on his feet and run away.

'Oh sweet Grambi, I'M FREE!' He cried.

Gus T, on the other hand, fell flat on his face. To add insult to injury, Parr T proceeded to land on him.

The blue-capped Toad groaned. 'Get off me!'

Parr giggled. 'I thought you said you loved me!'

'I didn't mean it like that and you know it.' He paused. 'Uh, I mean... I SAID NOTHING!'

Luigi chuckled, appreciating the levity while he still had it. Next was E. Gadd. Luigi reacted fast and caught him before his old bones could slam against the ground too. He helped the professor to his feet while Gooigi continued to Dark-Light the portrait for him.

'I know I don't say this very often, sonny, but...' He said. 'I truly am proud of you. I may not have any children, but I can rest easily knowing that I have someone as amazing as you to pass the torch onto.'

'Thanks for that, professor. Really. It means a lot. What about the container unit?'

While the two discussed with each other, Polterpup popped out of the portrait with excited yipping. The first being he leapt to was not Master but instead Polterkitty, so he could get some nice Panthergeist cuddles.

'That? Oh, don't worry about that.' E. Gadd replied. 'I will ensure that our royal phantom and that hotel owner can never cause chaos for us ever again. Luckily, I had a separate room planned for them so they won't be breaking out like the others did. As for the other ghosts who worked here... it's not fair to punish them for their boss's doing, is it?'

As E. Gadd walked away to tend to his container unit, the final person was finally released from the portrait. Luigi's eyes lit up and sparkled at the sight, and he helped her out of her jail, making sure that her leg stayed off the ground.

'Well.' Daisy remarked. 'That was just about the most horrifying thing I've ever witnessed.'

Luigi laughed. 'Me too, Daisy.'

Daisy leaned in, clearly intending to kiss the guy on the lips, when-

'ALRIGHT EVERYONE!' E. Gadd yelled. 'Time to release everyone who isn't King Boo or Hellen Gravely!'

He pressed a button on the container unit, and within moments many Goobs, Hammers, Oozers, Slinkers and Trappers flew out the top and soared through the air. They created a gorgeous light display as they flew around, cheering and wooing. Their dance attracted the other ghosts who had fled the scene, and everyone joined together for a celebration. Their cheering came to a quick stop as they saw what was left of their home.

'Oh dear Jaydes!' George (remember him?) cried. 'What the heck happened to our home?'

'ANGELINA UPSET THAT HOME IS GONE!' Angelina screamed.

'Oh geez...' Owen muttered.

'Well, I guess me business t'was doomed ta fail anyway...' Barkeep sighed.

Many other ghosts were just happy to be reunited. Harry, the Hammer from the Tomb Suites, found his Mini-Oozer daughter and hugged her tight. Owen was content to see his pwetty-key-loving niece again. Mabel and Mason nearly crushed each other with their hugs. As for Sam and Charles... they had never been so relieved to see their precious son again.

'Good job, bro!' Mario said, patting his bro on the back. 'You didn't just save us. You saved all these ghosties too!'

Luigi was too focused on the ghosts around him. They should've been happy with the defeat of their boss, but no one would be happy with seeing their beloved home now nothing but a pile of rubble.

'You okay, Sweetie?' Daisy asked, as Polterpup helped lift her broken leg off the ground.

'These poor ghosts...' Luigi said. 'That hotel was their home.'

'Awww! I love how much you care.' She frowned. 'But, geez. That's awful. They're finally freed from their boss, and now they don't have a place to call home anymore.'

Polterpup and Polterkitty frowned, the latter especially. The Last Resort staff had always loved her more than Ex-Master ever did.

'We can't just leave them like this.' Mario said. 'It wouldn't be right.'

E. Gadd tapped his chin, and grinned. 'Say, do any of you have anything important to do over the next few months?'

The humans and the Toads looked at each other, all of them settling with just a simple shrug. E. Gadd promptly pulled out a few construction hardhats from his pockets somehow, and handed one to each of the humans. Except for Daisy - she needed rest more than anything.

'Um, why are you giving these hats to us?' Luigi asked.

'Don't you see, sonny?' E. Gadd said. 'We're gonna help the ghosts rebuild this hotel!'

All of the ghosts in the area turned to the professor. Almost all of them seemed to have varying degrees of doubt in their looks. In fact, the only two who didn't were Clem and Billie. In response to the professor's sentiment, they pulled out their wrenches.

'HAWTDOG!' Billie exclaimed. 'We're 'bouts tah have an ol'-fashioned barn raisin'!'

Clem nodded. 'We can help y'all build it up again! After all, tha boilerworks are just fine. All we gots ta do it make sure tha foundation is stable, and we can build on topa it!'

Upon hearing the term 'foundation', Serpci put her carving shard down and wiped her tears. 'Yeah! Dirt's not too different from sand, so I'll be able to make the ground stable again without a problem!'

Johnny grinned. 'I can totally lift up the pillars and stuff without a sweat.'

'I'm not sure how much it'll help,' Dr Potter said. 'But I'm sure I can regrow all them flowers in seconds!'

Soulfflé picked up the remains of his frying pans. 'I may not have much experience when it comes to construction, but I know zat it is a tiring job. I will gladly provide my friends with zee finest foods I can.'

Nikki put one hand on her hips and twirled her wand about. 'Sure, our magic won't be nearly strong enough to simply 'magic' the hotel back to normal, but it will certainly help.'

Lindsey smiled. 'Yeah! Like this!' She cleared her throat. 'When it comes to music, we won't just settle with spoons. So, my magic, help Gloria and Mr Wolfgeist make some awesome tunes!'

'And I would do anything for the amazing Luigi and Daisy!' Morty cried. 'The very people who saved me from my depressive bout of creator's block and filled me with the inspiration to create the greatest movie I've ever made!'

The youngest triplet waved her wand about, and the green-heart particles surrounded many bits of rubble among the mess. They floated out of the ground and formed together, making for slightly-iffy recreations of Gloria's turntable and Amadeus's piano.

'You'll be helping us rebuild our home, right Luigi?' Lindsey asked.

'Ookey dokey!' Luigi said, pointing to the musical family. 'Amadeus, Gloria? HIT IT!'

The father and daughter looked at each other, and played the night away. The odd mix of a turntable and a piano blended together surprisingly well, mostly thanks to their players' brilliant synergy.

'Okay everyone!' Luigi declared. 'Let's get to building!'

'Aw, come on!' Clem complained. 'After all that we just went through, y'all really want us tah start buildin' now?'

'Yeah!' Ginny agreed. 'I think we all deserve a bloody break first.'

'Oh, okay. We can have a quick break. Then we'll get to building!'


KING BOO, THE VENGEFUL KING

AGE - ?

GENDER - Male

CAUSE OF DEATH - None

King Boo is a phantom with a mysterious past, but is still the ruler of the Boos and cares about his subjects very dearly. With how much humans despised his kind (for partially warranted reasons), he swore revenge on Mario. Luigi intercepted this plan, and now King Boo has made it his life's goal to make the green-clad man suffer. He could just kill Luigi, but making him suffer in agony for all of eternity is far more fun.

Author Notes - And there we go. The final boss is down. At this point, all we have left is the two-part epilogue. The biggest change is going to be that this is when we're going to watch Morty's movie, instead of just after the Ug fight like the original story. Hopefully, I managed to include Morty in this re-released chapter without it being obvious that he wasn't even around anymore in the not-re-released chapter.

I used the Super Suction one last time because, let's be real, it should have been used for the final boss. One of King Boo's attacks even involves summoning lightning, which could've been used to power it up! The Super Suction is severely underused in the game proper, but I've complained about that before.