Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon

Chapter Twenty Eight: The Key

As cold and miserable as the area around that cabin in the mountains had been, at least the falling snow didn't leave Luigi once again completely soaked only seconds after he stepped back outside. Leaving the safety of the research bunker behind, and making his way down the stone path beyond Gloomy Manor, Haunted Towers, and all the rest toward the cliffs where the infamous Treacherous Mansion sat, all the green plumber could think about at the moment was how much the storm had intensified. The rain was coming down so hard that he had to keep a hand up underneath the brim of his hat to keep some of the water from running down into his eyes, and now the flashes of lightning and thunder were happening every few seconds.

If the Professor was saying anything on the radio, the wind was blowing too hard for Luigi to hear it, and besides he needed to concentrate anyhow if there was going to be a confrontation with King Boo. Swallowing hard as the mansion appeared in the distance, the green plumber became nervous just thinking about the big ghost, as in the biggest one that he had ever seen… and toughest… and meanest… and scariest… and on top of all that, King Boo was really mad at him and was holding Princess Daisy prisoner. It was true that his brother, Mario, had once been the big ghost's prisoner, too, but this was different… and he had to do anything it would take to get her back.

Suddenly the wind gusted, nearly making Luigi lose his balance, which would have been bad since he was standing on the edge of the cliffs between the mainland and Treacherous Mansion, connected by a bridge of natural rock that was… not exactly confidence-inspiring to look at. Maybe a hundred years ago it might have looked safe to walk on, but now the rock bridge was thin in both width and depth, and when the wind made the green plumber stumble like that, he got a good look at what lay far below the cliffs… nothing. Well, at least nothing he could see, just a few meters of rock wall that his flashlight could reach, and then nothing but a horrible, empty darkness that his imagination told him was reaching out.

After the second gust of wind almost made him take a closer look, Luigi cried out in fright as he dropped to the ground and crawled the rest of the way across the natural bridge on his hands and knees. The wind wasn't as bad once he reached the plateau, now that there were more solid things to block it a little, including a tall metal gate that surrounded the mansion. Like the building beyond, the construction was gothic and dark, with hard corners, and each fencepost topped with a sharp point like a spear to discourage trespassers, leaving only the heavy gate with a skull engraved across the center as the way in. Unlocked, but with hinges so heavily rusted that the whole thing didn't move at first, there was a long, drawn out screeeeech when the green plumber pushed against it with his shoulder and all his strength.

If King Boo or any other ghosts were keeping a lookout for him, that horrible, ear-splitting noise would have given him away for sure if not for the rapid crashes of thunder that were still going off. Once inside, the gate stayed open, probably just as hard to put back into place, but there wasn't much of a yard to speak of beyond some stone stairs and a few decorative fountains. Water overflowed from the largest fountain from the storm, while two polished staircases went up toward the front door around it, separating again at the top into a patio that spanned the whole front of the mansion. No light was coming through the diamond-sectioned glass windows, but there was something strange coming into view when the beam from Luigi's flashlight focused on the front double doors.

One of the two keyholes had something green sticking out from inside it, and once the green plumber got close enough to the door to be protected from the rain by the awning, he was able to see that it was the end of a key. Yes, the key to the front door of Trecherous Mansion was just sitting there, and he was about to grab it, but stopped when he noticed something else. Behind the key, up on the wooden door itself, the barely readable words COME ON IN LUIGI were scratched in big, slanted letters along with an even worse drawn smiley face that somehow looked even scarier than the written words. This was clearly some kind of trap, but there was nothing else the green plumber could do, so he slowly reached for the key…

Suddenly, just as his white gloved fingers wrapped themselves around the key in preparation to turn it, Luigi screamed in fright when a large white face with a big open mouth passed through the door right in front of him. Pulling the key out as he stumbled backwards, the small metal object fell onto the stone patio at the same time that the green plumber fell onto his back, certain that King Boo had come to destroy him. However, as he shut his eyes and looked away, it wasn't the crunch of King Boo's sharp teeth that he felt… but a long, wet tongue… and barking?

Finally opening his eyes after feeling that wet tongue a few more times, the green plumber sat up to see that it wasn't King Boo, but that white ghost dog that had ambushed him. For a moment it sat there on his chest, tongue hanging out and panting heavily until looking up as if the ghost dog had just noticed the rain. So it jumped off, allowing Luigi to sit up while it… while it picked up the key in its mouth!

"No, no, doggie!" He exclaimed, crawling toward the ghost dog when it started to prance away. "Here, doggie, nice doggie… give me the key."

Now looking excited as it ran around in circles, barking again before floating up into the air and then heading away from the front doors. No matter how much Luigi called and tried to catch it, the ghost dog was just too fast, floating over to the left toward a set of downward stairs and then he lost sight of it. Checking the front door to see that it was actually still locked, the green plumber got up and followed in that same direction, nearly slipping on the smooth stone, and then heading down that other staircase to where it ended a lot sooner than he expected. Another wooden door was at the bottom, but this one was in worse condition than the front door, and actually fell off its hinges when he pulled on the metal ring in place of a latch.

There wasn't much sound from the fall, since the door was mostly rotted and wet wood, and now as Luigi shined his flashlight into the passageway beyond, he was able to see rock walls and some old wooden support beams as if this part of the property had been carved right into the plateau. No sign of the ghost dog, though, and aside from the rain heard pouring above once he stepped inside, the green plumber couldn't hear anything at all. One cautious step at a time, he made his way down the passage, not only trying to be careful, but also because he didn't want King Boo to know he was there until absolutely necessary.

"Luigi, be very careful!" The Professor's voice shouted, startling him. "I know you're trying to have fun with your new dog, but this is not the place for a game of fetch!"

"I didn't exactly plan on him running down here, Professor." The green plumber replied. "What is this place? Is it part of Trecherous Mansion?"

He had been hoping that there was a way to get up inside the mansion from these tunnels, but once the old man was finished berating him about not being a very responsible pet owner, Luigi was disappointed to find that this wasn't the case. Apparently these tunnels had been built even before the Trecherous Mansion, but were just a few remnants and most were collapsed anyway. All right, so all he had to do was find the ghost dog, get the key, and then finally get into the Trecherous Mansion. It was hard for Luigi to imagine himself looking forward to entering such a place, but it was the only way to rescue Daisy.

"Here, doggie, doggie, doggie." The green plumber whispered, trying to be quiet while turning at the first junction in the tunnel. "Nice doggie, here doggie… where did you go?"

Entering a small room within the tunnels that was empty except for an old rusted suit of armor sitting in the corner, just as he asked this question, Luigi found himself casually saying thank you when the suit of armor moved so that its hand was pointing down another branch of the tunnel, and even taking a few steps before jumping with fright and turning back around. The suit of armor was still moving when his flashlight beam focused on it, squeaking and creaking as the whole thing struggled to stand up, dust and cobwebs falling as it got to its feet. Now standing taller than the green plumber, the knight was wobbly and shaky as it reached for something hidden in a darkened corner… something that turned out to be an old rusted battle axe.

Now picking up the axe and making an overhand swing before Luigi could react, there was a hollow thunk sound as the weapon went over the knight's head… and stopped suddenly when it struck one of the support beams. Not only had this move saved his life, but now the knight seemed to be having trouble removing the blade from the old wood… or even standing up without falling over. The whole thing was constantly shaking and adjusting its weight as if the suit of armor didn't know how to control itself, each of its efforts to free the old weapon stopped by its own clumsiness until its armored gauntlet actually lost its grip and fell backwards.

"Whoa… whoa… whoa!" A voice came from inside as it fell back, and back, and back. "Look out!"

There was an echoing crash when the knight fell, its armored pieces scattering across the stone floor while leaving something in the center, a rounded white figure that was passing through the breastplate as it started to float. Looking around at the scattered parts as if disappointed, the Boo turned its black eyes back toward Luigi while floating upward just enough to be above the green plumber's head. As expected, the rounded ghost started to make some kind of speech, but while it had been stumbling around in that armor, Luigi had been charging up the strobulb. The dark light device was too valuable and took too long to cool down to use unless it was an emergency, but the strobulb was fine for a Boo that probably didn't have the Dark Moon piece.

"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa!" The rounded ghost yelled, covering its eyes and backing off after the bright flash of light. "Watch it with that thing, will ya?! At least until I get another suit of armor! Bye, sucker!"

Laughing in a high pitch echoing noise as it passed through the nearest wall, the Boo was gone and Luigi realized that he was in trouble. He could defeat one of the rounded ghosts on their own, but what happened if it got tired of playing and told King Boo that the green plumber was there. No, there was no choice but to both find the key and catch that Boo before that happened.

"Hey, Luigi, let's play a game!" The rounded ghost called form somewhere. "There's a lot of armor suits down here, so let's see if you can catch me before I chop you in half with an axe!"