Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon
Chapter Seven: Big Brain
Now that all the commotion involved with capturing both the blue and red phantoms was over with, Gloomy Manor was suddenly a lot quieter, so much now that Luigi was actually a little more nervous now than before as he passed the flashlight beam around. His eyes had gradually gotten used to the dim light coming from the candles in every room, and he knew that there was only one more ghost in this place, but that didn't stop the green plumber from being cautious as he made his way toward the library on the first floor. Aside from his own footsteps and the random crack of thunder, the only constant sound now was the rain that could be heard hitting the roof and now…
"You're doing great so far, my boy." The Professor's voice said, making him jump. "I knew you'd make short work of those ghosts once you had the Poltergust upgraded, but you need to be careful with this last one. That big brain will try to outsmart you, so capturing this one won't be as easy as Mr. Hammer."
"You think that red ghost was easy?!" Luigi exclaimed, shuddering for a second remembering Mr. Hammer coming at him. "Just… just tell me the yellow one's still in the library."
According to the old man's security equipment, the big brained phantom was still there as it had been before, and with luck maybe it didn't even realize that the green plumber had captured its friends yet. Yeah, he thought while quietly pulling open the door into that first hallway he had tried to hide down, all Luigi had to do was sneak up on the yellow ghost, blast it's eyes with the strobulb, and then vacuum it up before it could even react. Then the Professor could put the Dark Moon back together, and he and Daisy could go back home to his own mansion where there were absolutely no ghosts.
Turning off the flashlight again while making his way down the hall, trying to step as lightly as possible to keep the noise down, the green plumber followed the old man's directions around the next corner to the door that led into the library. Crouching down so that he could look through the large, old fashioned keyhole, Luigi wasn't able to see anything except for the flame of a couple more candles inside the otherwise dark room… no, wait a second. A flash of lightning from the window showed him that there were several stacks of books piled up on the floor as if someone had been reading them and then was too lazy to put them back on the shelf. However, there was no sign of the reader itself, leaving the green plumber no choice but to sneak in.
Reaching his shaky hand up, and slowly turning the knob until it clicked open, Luigi even more slowly pulled the door open, trying to wait for the next crack of thunder so that the squeaky hinges would be muffled, and then doing the same to close the door behind him. Now he listened, straining his eyes in the dim light to see or hear anything that was moving around, but there was just… nothing. Taking cautious steps forward to avoid knocking any of the stacked books over, what the green plumber didn't see was the slightly brighter yellow glow materializing behind him as the yellow ghost came into view. The big brained phantom moved just as slowly, staying right behind Luigi as he crept around the first book stacks, waiting until he was in the middle of stepping over a short one, before screaming loudly in his ear.
His own startled scream drowning out the ghost's, the green plumber was already off balance as he rushed forward, causing him to knock over several of the stacks of books while stumbling and flailing his arms, this all ending with Luigi knocking a small reading table over when he finally fell down on top of it. Stunned and laying there on the floor, half buried with books, the green plumber looked up at the yellow phantom as it nasally chuckled during its slow approach. Scrambling to get up, Luigi found himself slipping on the open books, falling back down a couple times until being able to steady himself while leaning on the broken table's wooden chair.
"I say, old boy, scaring the daylights out of the living is great fun." The yellow ghost chuckled. "Can't seem to remember why we all used to try and get along with you lot, but oh well, I can ponder such things while Mr. Hammer takes you away. Mr. Hammer? Mr. Hammer, I've got him in the library! Where the devil is he? Blue boy, did Mr. Hammer get lost again? Blue boy?!"
"Your friends aren't coming." Luigi replied, trying to sound brave as he charged the strobulb. "So just… hold still so you can join them."
Releasing the intense flash of light once the strobulb was ready, the yellow ghost cried out and shielded its eyes with a transparent arm while floating backwards out of the light cone, and then it waved its other arm, stopping the green plumber from coming after it when a flying book smacked him in the face. Shaking it off, Luigi tried to get close enough to use the vacuum head, but between the slippery open books and the ones that were flying at him, there was just no way to reach the big brained ghost before it was able to open its eyes again, and now… and now the strobulb and even his regular flashlight were going to be useless for a short time while they recharged.
"Hey, just give me the Dark Moon piece, all right?" The green plumber asked. "Then I can go home and this whole valley can go back to normal, what do you say?"
"I say you're not just a brutish ruffian, but a thief as well." The yellow phantom replied. "We don't want to go back to the way things were, and once I get rid of you we will never have to make nice with the living again. So en guard, sir!"
As it was saying these last words, the big brained ghost vanished, and for a moment the library was still and quiet again… at least before one of the nearby books flew at Luigi, hitting him in the nose before it dropped to the floor with the others. Another book flew at him a second later, this time hitting him in the back of the head from behind and making him stumble one step forward. The flashlight had come back on by this time, and even though its normal setting couldn't stun the ghosts of Evershade Valley, it could still show where they were hiding even while invisible to the naked eye, so the green plumber started scanning it over the shelves and book stacks, only to cry out in surprise when a flying book hit him in the back of the knee, making him fall onto his back.
Then something else moved, not another one of the books, but the tall and very heavy looking bookcase that was right above him, the yellow phantom visible for long enough to push the solid wood, and completely full shelving unit forward until it was falling over right toward where Luigi was laying. Unable to quickly stand up because of the slippery open books, the green plumber's only option was to roll himself out of the way, rolling over several times until the falling case missed him by mere inches as it landed with an echoing CRASH! Silence followed again once the noise died down, leaving a scared and out of breath Luigi to scan the flashlight beam all around the library as he got up.
Not wanting to give the yellow phantom another opportunity like that, the green plumber kept moving while watching for both flying books as well as toppling furniture, but for some reason now there was no sign of the ghost anywhere. He searched the floors, walls, and was getting over to the empty fireplace when a soft yellow glow began to become visible, not in front of him, but as a sight in the mirror above the fireplace that showed the big brained ghost with a wooden chair raised above its enlarged head in preparation to strike. Gasping as he reflexively pressed the button, the strobulb's built up charge was released so that it went off right into the mirror as well as Luigi's face, causing him and the yellow phantom to cry out in pain and surprise.
He had to cover his eyes as everything went from white to black, falling to his knees while waiting for his eyes to recover, and soon the darkness was replaced with a bunch of multicolored spots overlayed on top of the library where… where the big brained phantom was also laying on the floor, holding its transparent arms over its glowing eyes and screaming. Something flew past the green plumber's face, and it wasn't until a second flying book hit him in the side that he realized the panicked ghost was now blindly throwing books in all directions in order to keep itself from being captured. So Luigi stayed low, crawling underneath the books toward the last ghost, and getting ready to use the vacuum head while… while the yellow phantom slowly started to recover.
He doubted that a trick like the mirror would ever work again, so the green plumber jumped up, trying to ignore being hit by more books as he dove forward, landing underneath the big brained ghost just as it was starting to float up into the air, and pushing the button. Since it had been caught completely by surprise, the yellow phantom's tail was not only sucked down into the Poltergust, but most of its body as well at least up until its arms were able to grab onto the sides. Like the others, it tried to fly away, to kick and fight to avoid capture, but unlike the others in Gloomy Manor, the big brained ghost wasn't exactly a physical powerhouse. After a couple seconds of the green plumber being lifted into the air a couple times, the ghost lost its grip and then all the flying books dropped to the floor when it vanished into the vacuum.
Remaining on his hands and knees to catch his breath, Luigi let out a long sigh of relief since this was the last ghost of Gloomy Manor, and now he could take the Dark Moon piece back to the Professor and… and where was the Dark Moon? Looking around for something similar to the one the old man had shown him, there was no purple gem in sight, and how come it was still dark? Back in his own mansion, when the ghosts were taken care of the lights came back on, so why was this not happening? Had the ghost hidden the Dark Moon piece somewhere?
"I got the ghost in the library." He reported over the radio. "But I don't see the Dark Moon anywhere… can you find it with your cameras?"
"I can't see it anywhere, no." The Professor replied. "But there is a strong surge of energy coming from the manor's basement, it must be down there."
Of course it was, the green plumber thought as he laned against the book cases, of course the ghosts would hide their most valuable treasure down in the darkest, scariest part of the house… why would he have ever thought otherwise?
