Hello again everyone! I have some news regarding this story, but first, onto reviews!
Tiana Koopa: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Guest: Yes, I have been very fond of cliifhangers in this story. Hopefully this chapter will answer some of your questions. ;) Thanks for reviewing!
Now, special thanks to Tiana Koopa and Dark Moon Cat for following and favouriting this story! Thank you so much. :)
Now, onto my news. So, as many of you know, this was originally supposed to be a seven chapter story. Recently however, I have made the decision to extend this into ten chapters. I want to clarify, though, that the story has remained mostly the same as it was at the beginning. This decision to extend the chapter count was not made out of a want to add more detail and to make the story longer than it should have been; the story has not changed. However, I decided to write more chapters simply for the fact that the story has turned out to be much longer than I anticipated. I'm sure many of you noticed that the word count for chapters keeps going up and up. If I had left this as a seven chapter story, this chapter in itself would have been over ten thousand words. So, I simply decided to split it up so the chapters are easier to read. I hope that makes sense.
Basically, my original plans for chapters five, six, and seven were all split into two. That's the simple way to put it, at least. I also want to clarify that, because they were originally one chapter, the events of my new chapters five and six (this and the next chapter) run concurrently to one another. Hopefully that will clear some things up.
Anyway, with that out of the way, let's continue with the story!
V
Yoshi and Birdo pulled themselves painfully out of the basement. They had spent many minutes trying to reopen the door to the room full of sand, but they had no luck. Even after throwing the switches multiple times, and putting the full force of their combined weight against it, it still would not budge. It had felt as though something had been bracing the door from the other side, keeping it firmly shut, and keeping them irrevocably out.
After countless tries and dozens of failures, they had to accept the awful fact that they had no chance of opening the door. Tearfully, they were forced to leave. Yoshi in particular had been especially distraught at the idea of abandoning Captain Toad alone in the room, and it had taken all of Birdo's comforting abilities to convince him to go. Taking charge of the situation, she had gently soothed him and reminded him that they needed to check on the others upstairs. Thinking quickly, she had also pointed out that by working together with the others, they might be able to open the door.
Mind you, Birdo actually had no idea if the others were even still there. She shuddered, remembering the walky-talky call they had received from Toad, Toadette, and Bowser Jr. According to them, they were being chased by some sort of ghost, and had been separated from Wolley as he tried to fight a different ghost. And that wasn't to say anything about Yvan, who had switched off his walky-talky too, leaving them with no knowledge of where anyone was.
Not that it would have mattered, they had no way to check in with the others again anyway, no matter who had what walky-talky on or off. When they entered the room of sand, they had carried with them two walky-talkies. One had been in Captain Toad's possession - and it still was, actually, it just probably would not do him any good while he was trapped in the sand room, as the signal would most likely continue to be blocked. The other walky-talky had still been with Birdo when they had fallen out of the room. Unfortunately, it had cracked when Birdo had fallen in the sand, the antenna snapping under her weight and hanging limply off by one end.
They had no way of contacting anyone.
To make matters worse, they had both received numerous burns and scratches from the intense sandstorms. Birdo's hands and knees were painfully scrapped up, and Yoshi's eyes were red from the stinging sand.
Now, painfully dragging themselves out of the basement, both of their minds were filled with prayers that the others were safe. As soon as they climbed up the last step of the basement, Yoshi ran out of the room, Birdo moving more slowly behind him. Yoshi ran down the hall as fast as his legs could carry him, and practically flew into the living room. He stood still in the doorway, squinting into the room, dread slowly filling him up.
"It's like we expected" he said to Birdo, still several paces behind him in the hall. Yoshi spoke quietly, softly, yet his voice carried clearly down the hall. "No one's here. They're all… gone somewhere."
Birdo opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, a loud knocking sound was heard from the front of the mansion, echoing loudly up to where they stood. The two looked at each other, and hesitated. Then, they slowly crept towards the door that led back into the foyer. Yoshi put his ear gently against the door, listening closely. Birdo held her breath behind him.
Yoshi frowned as he listened. Coming from behind the door was the sound of voices. The sound was muffled and distorted weirdly through the wooden door, but it was unmistakably the sound of voices talking over one another. Many voices. And that was the problem. If they were lucky, that could mean that their friends were all outside of this room. Maybe they had all gotten out of their individual messes and had gathered together, ready to leave the mansion. But if they weren't lucky…
From what they had already seen, Yoshi knew that anything could be behind that door.
Yoshi gestured for Birdo to join him, and she too put her ear against the door, listening closely. The voices all sounded in different pitches, some low, some high, although it was hard to accurately judge through the distortion of the door. Birdo looked at Yoshi, her expression laced with apprehension. Yoshi returned the look in a similar way.
There was no way to know what was beyond the door. If it truly was a haunted figure - or figures - then they could be in a whole world of trouble. But if it was their friends - if there was even a chance that the others were out there, waiting for them - then they had to go and see.
Yoshi placed his hands steadily on the doorknob, while Birdo stepped a few paces back. Yoshi was the faster runner of the two, and both understood that he would have a better chance of getting away if there was something bad in the foyer. Yoshi took a deep, long breath, and exhaled slowly, trying to calm his trembling nerves. He sent one last look at Birdo, both of them filled with fear, before he turned back to the door, turned the door knob, and threw the door open.
Yoshi and Birdo both instantly jumped back, hoping to distance themselves from whatever was in the room, but they quickly came to a stop. Inside the room were not the horrors they had been fearing. Unfortunately, their friends were not there either.
However, it was what could be a source of aid in this terrible situation. Inside of the foyer, all now shining flashlights in Yoshi and Birdo's faces, stood the seven Koopalings.
There they all were: Ludwig, Lemmy, Roy, Iggy, Wendy, Morton, and Larry. They all blinked through the light of their flashlights, surprised at the sudden appearances of the others, until Roy finally spoke.
"What on Earth are you lot doin' here?"
"Well, what are you doing here?" Birdo shot back, mostly because it was the first response that came to her head. She hadn't quite gotten over her surprise at seeing the Koopalings yet.
Before any of the Koopalings could respond themselves, Yoshi spoke.
"You're looking for Bowser Jr., aren't you?" The dinosaur said.
The Koopalings looked even more surprised.
"What, do you mean you've seen Jr.?" Lemmy asked.
When the other two nodded, the Koopalings all formed relieved smiles.
"Ah, thank goodness! We've been running after the squirt the whole day" Roy grinned.
"He did choose a weird spot to hang out in" Larry observed, shining his flashlight around the room. "Creepy place."
"Even weirder was who he was apparently with" Wendy said, staring skeptically at Yoshi and Birdo.
"My sister raises an excellent point" Ludwig said, stepping forward to glare at the two dinosaurs. "Vy vere you vith zee young Prince(1)?"
"Ah, kind of a long story" Birdo said. "To start with, we found him in the woods, and decided to take him with us."
"And then we came to this mansion, and things started to -" Yoshi began, but was quickly cut off by Lemmy.
"Hold on" the rainbow-haired koopa said. "You mean he was just sitting in the woods, all by himself."
"Well, yeah. We assume that's where you guys left him" Yoshi frowned.
The Koopalings now all wore looks of various levels of shame and guilt. Some, like Lemmy and Morton, looked as though they might cry, while others, like Ludwig and Wendy, were attempting to look uncaring and stoic, though there was a very clear level of guilt still apparent in the way they held themselves.
"Also a long story" Larry cut in. "But anyway, where is Jr. now?"
"Um… we aren't entirely sure" Yoshi admitted.
"Vhat! Vhat do you mean you don't know vhere he is!"
"Surely he is still in the house somewhere?" Iggy questioned. "There seems to be a low probability that he would have wished to exit a shelter by himself in the middle of the night, whether or not he wanted to travel with you."
"Honestly, Iggy" Birdo said, "I would bet a lot that anybody would want to leave this house, no matter if it was night or day. This mansion is haunted."
If told that a house is haunted, many people would respond with shock or disbelief, and once they got over that initial reaction, would probably become scared or panicked. The Koopalings just groaned.
"Gross" Wendy muttered.
"HOW HAUNTED?" Morton asked. His voice was loud and direct, and it seemed as if this was his way of responding to the strong emotions he was feeling.
"Yeah, is this house like, just a boo house?" Larry asked. "Or is it…"
"It's worse" Birdo said. "Much, much worse."
"Very vell" Ludwig said. He turned back to the other Koopalings, addressing them. "In zhat case, some of us vill have to go in and find Jr., but zee younger of you vill stay outside."
This command was met with a huge amount of shouting and cursing.
"Hey, hey, zhat is an order!" Ludwig shouted.
One of the koopalings threw a flower pot at Ludwig's head.
"Wait, wait" Birdo said, getting an idea. "If you're going in anyway, could you help us too? See, some of our friends are stuck in the house as well, and we don't know where-"
"Enough" Ludwig interjected. "Zee Koopalings do not take charity cases. Find your friends yourself."
"Ludwig" Lemmy said, tugging on the blue haired Koopaling's arm. Ludwig looked down in annoyance at his younger sibling, who stared back up innocently.
"Maybe we should help them" Lemmy continued. "After all, we're going to be in there anyway, we might as well."
Ludwig scowled. "Alright, fine! You and your bleeding heart are going to get us all killed one day… But if vee help zhem, zhen zhey had better help us asvell! And look at zhem, zhey're in no condition to to anyzhing!"
Here, Ludwig gestured to the many cuts and burns that coated the dinosaurs' bodies. Birdo looked away in embarrassment.
"Maybe they can" Lemmy said thoughtfully. "Yoshi is a Yoshi, and Yoshis are known as protectors of children. Maybe they could help us make sure our younger siblings don't try to come in after us."
Ludwig frowned, considering Lemmy's suggestion. He turned to Yoshi and Birdo.
"Vell, vhat do you two think? Vould you be able to do zhat."
"Of course" Yoshi exclaimed, already nodding eagerly. "If you help us find our friends, we'll be more than happy to watch the other Koopalings for you!"
Birdo nodded as well.
"Good" Ludwig said. Leaning close, his voice became very serious. "Keep. Zhem. Safe." He whispered.
Yoshi and Birdo nodded.
"Now, do you have anyway to communicate with your friends?" Lemmy asked.
"We did, but it broke" Birdo said. She pulled out the cracked remains of their walky-talky.
"Oh, that's no problem, Iggy can fix that for you in minutes" Lemmy laughed.
Ludwig nodded. He turned back to the other Koopalings.
"Alright everyone, here is zee plan" he said. "Everyone aged from Iggy and below vill vait outside." Ludwig dodged the flower pot that was thrown at him this time. "Me, Lemmy, and Roy vill search for Jr.. In zhe meantime, zhese two vill vait vith you outside."
He turned back to Yoshi and Birdo. "Now, vhat else do vee need to know about zhis haunted house?"
Wolley had been at a loss for what to do for close to an hour, trying to find a way to get out of the kitchen. Upon arriving in the kitchen, he had been excited. After all, kitchen's usually had food, and he was exhausted from all of the running and screaming he had been doing. Not only that, but kitchen's also held objects like pots and pans, heavy items that he could use as weapons if he needed to.
However, these initial hopes soon faded. This mansion was abandoned, after all, so he supposed he should have been unsurprised when he found that the pantry was empty. And also, the house was so old that it did not even have an icebox inside of it, most likely keeping the icebox in a storage cellar somewhere in the yard. Then again, that would probably be empty too. Ghosts didn't need to eat.
As for the pots and pans, Wolley had managed to find those. He had gleefully grabbed at a frying pan, imagining himself bashing a ghost's light's out with it, when reason suddenly caught up with his imagination. He realized that the frying pan - or any weapon, really - would pass through a ghost's ethereal body without harming it. Feeling quite silly, Wolley had put the frying pan back.
Wolley had found one thing he thought might be useful, at least. He had discovered a fire extinguisher hanging from the wall of the pantry. After much tugging, he had managed to pull the red device off of the wall. Its weight had knocked him to the floor, and after crawling out from under it, he found it to be too heavy to carry, and resigned himself to dragging it slowly on the floor behind him. Wolley figured that since the koopa ghost who had been chasing him had been on fire, maybe a fire extinguisher would do it harm. At the very least, it made him feel more comfortable having some sort of weapon to protect himself with.
That lead him to his current problem, figuring out how to get out of the kitchen. His first thought was to climb up the ovens chimney. Unfortunately, the chimney was so coated in dirt, soot, and grime from years of not being cleaned that, not only were the walls too slimy to get a grip on, it felt as though his lungs and eyes were constantly under assault from the dust, making the climb painful too.
With that having failed, Wolley had forced himself to try to sneak back out through the dining room. He had been hoping to avoid going back this way, not wanting to re-experience what had gone down in that room. However, he tried to reason to himself that all the plates and glasses had already been broken, and that, with any luck, there would be nothing else out there to attack him. So, his hand shaking slightly, he turned the door handle…
And the door stayed shut.
It seemed to Wolley that something was pressing against the door from the other side, preventing it from reopening. This annoyed him greatly, as he had spent the last few minutes working himself up for nothing.
Sighing, Wolley turned himself back to take a closer look at the kitchen. There was nothing especially remarkable about the kitchen. The far wall was lined entirely with ovens of various sizes and shapes, each of which - Wolley could only assume - were meant to serve a different purpose. There was something of a water basin in one corner of the room, and the rest of the large space was filled with nothing but cabinets and counters.
Wolley let his gaze shift along the room again. His eyes came to rest on a large vent cover on the floor beside the counters. He looked at it, considering its size as a new idea came to him. Seeing that it was large enough in diameter, he hauled himself over and began unfastening the screws on it.
Wolley had seen spies do this in many movies. And not just spies. Really, it seemed like everyone had experienced a good vent-crawling espionage adventure except for him. With that said, despite the fear that was still eating at him, he had to admit that he felt a little excited about the prospect of escaping in this manner. And Yvan would be so jealous when he heard about it later!
Finishing with the screws, Wolley pulled the heavy iron grating off of the wall. He cast it on to the floor, where it bounced once with a resounding clang. Wolley cringed, remaining perfectly still. Nothing came.
Wolley let out a breath of air that he had apparently been holding and knelt down, now eye level with the dark tunnel of the vent that was laid out before him. He gripped his fire extinguisher by the top and forced it ahead of him into the vent. He paused only momentarily, now considering whether or not putting a fire extinguisher into a vent was a good idea. He couldn't remember anything from toad school that told him it was not a good idea, so he went with it.
Admittedly, school wasn't really his strong suit.
Wolley climbed in after the fire extinguisher. Once his whole body was in the dark, dusty tunnel, he pushed himself to his hands and knees. Slowly, he crawled ahead, pushing the fire extinguisher in front of him.
The crawl was long and tiring. Wolley felt himself repeatedly coughing and hacking from the layers of dust, undisturbed for years, that he now stirred with his passing. The dust got into his eyes, nose, and mouth, making his eyes water and his lungs ache as he hacked and coughed. His arms became sore from pushing on the fire extinguisher, and his flashlight, which he had tucked into his pocket, jostled against his leg in a painful way.
At one point, he came to a vent in the wall, and through its grating he could see grey leaves and brown dirt. Outside! He thought, overwhelmed with excitement. If he could get out, maybe there would be someone out there to help him and the others. The Toad Brigade was supposed to be in this area, and, according to Bowser Jr., the Koopalings should have been nearby too.
Wolley pressed himself against the grate, using his full weight against it. It did not budge. He tried again, pulling and pushing with all of his might. It still did not budge. Finally, Wolley tried the screws. However, unlike the last vent, where the screws popped off with only a tiny amount of force, these screws felt as though they had been melded to the vent cover and the wall, bonding them together. They dug into Wolley's fingers as he pulled on them, painfully indenting themselves in his skin.
Finally, after minutes of failed attempts, Wolley sighed and removed his hands. He looked around. How did he get here again? Let's see, after entering the vent he had gone, left, then straight for a bit, then… left again? No, then right. Then straight some more, with a few odd twists, and then… right again? Oh darn it!
Wolley looked up, and noticed that one tunnel of the vent went straight up. Figuring retracing his steps would be harder anyway, he turned towards this new tunnel.
Carefully considering his movements, he unwound the cord of his fire extinguisher. He swung it vertically, methodically getting faster, and then released it as it swung up. The cord sailed upwards, and to Wolley's delight, landed on a ledge of vent above him.
With that, Wolley stood up and channeled his platforming abilities. He wall jumped(2) up the sides of the vent tunnel. He landed on top, and was forced back down to a crouching position. Wolley then grabbed the cord of the fire extinguisher, and, using the limit of his strength, hauled the extinguisher up beside him on the ledge. There he lay panting for a few moments, trying to catch his breath - which was especially hard as he lay in the dust. He pushed himself back up, and once again crawled ahead.
It did not take long before Wolley found another vent cover. Not caring whether it took him outside or in, he pushed on it. Luckily, this one swung open almost immediately, and Wolley dragged himself through, the extinguisher trailing loosely in his hand.
Wolley's first feeling was annoyance. This room was covered in dust too. He looked around more closely, eyeing the tall brown shelves. Though there were no longer many books on them, it was still clear what this room was.
At one point, this had been a library.
Although there were not many left, several ancient looking volumes lined the shelves. A few odd tables sat around the room, on which sat various trinkets, such as an old brass globe and round, crystal ball. In the room's centre sat an old yet plush arm chair.
Wolley's body ached, and he wanted nothing more than to be able to lay down in that chair. And yet, as he thought about it, he knew he could not stop. The room he was in was historical, and these books were obviously artifacts. He knew that the Toad Brigade had originally come here looking for treasure, and for all he knew, this might just be that treasure. Even if he did not really think much of the treasure hunting business himself, he knew the Brigade did, and honestly… saving some of these books and trinkets was the least he could do to help them right now.
So, with his body sore and tired, Wolley hauled himself upright and got to work.
Yvan ran screaming down the hallway, away from the observatory, from which the strange light was growing brighter by the second. There were a couple of windows on this floor, and the pale moonlight illuminated the hall, enlarging his shadow as he ran. He clutched the communications radio close to his chest, and the silver knife was dangling loosely in his right hand. The walky-talky had been discarded somewhere on the observatory floor, but he doubted he would need it now that he had the radio. Although, the radio was not picking up signals anymore, something he thought might have to do with paranormal interference.
Scampering down the hallway as the light grew ever brighter, Yvan shoved open a nearby door on his right. It lead in to more hallway. Which hallway was this again? In all the confusion he had gotten turned around. Not to mention that whoever designed this house had no sense of practically.
He ignored his confusion in favour of his survival instinct and ran into the hall. Behind him, the lights were taking on darker, more red colours. He chanced a look behind him and saw three round spheres, all about the size of a tennis ball, rounding the corner. They looked to be completely made of red light. Yvan turned his back to them and continued running.
He took a corner sharply, and nearly fell onto the carpet. He caught himself as one knee hit the floor, resulting in him sliding forward painfully before he regained his balance. He continued to run, trying to ignore thethrobbing carpet burns on his knee. From behind him he could hear a faint humming sound coming from the three orbs, and he did his best not to panic. Inside he was screaming.
In another hallway, he turned to the nearest door he could see and ran through it. He found himself once again standing in the mansion's master bedroom. It was just as large and sparse as he remembered, with the only major point of interest being the large canopy bed in the room's centre. On both the west and north sides of the room sat other doors.
Yvan considered turning back - after all, this was something of a dead end - but before he could do so, he noticed that a faint red glow was becoming brighter from under the door. Turning back now would force him to directly confront the mysterious spectres. He didn't stop for a moment then, and ran to each of the other doors, throwing both open.
The door on the west side of the room led into a bathroom, while the one on the north end led to an office. The bathroom was large, but with a lot of open space, and it mainly consisted of a large tub at one end, and something that was… probably supposed to be an old-timey toilet?
The other room, the office, was much more cluttered. In its centre sat a large desk, and the walls were lined with shelves containing various knickknacks, articles, and books. The back wall was framed with large set windows overlooking the back of the house. As with everything else in the mansion, there was a thick layer of dust coating every surface in the room, and cobwebs clung to the corners and windows.
Yvan turned back around to look at the door he came through. His heart nearly stopped. As it turned out, the spheres that had been chasing him were not entirely made of light as they appeared, but rather, were made of a sort of slimy, liquid substance. How did he know this? Because he was now watching as they oozed under the door.
He watched for a moment, stunned into silence as the spheres oozed their way through the crack under the door, seeping their way into the master bedroom where he now stood, their slimy bodies leaving drops on the carpet.
"Oh stars" Yvan hoarsely whispered.
Yvan quickly came to his senses. He slammed the bathroom door shut as loudly as he could, hoping it would draw the spheres' attention. Then, he attempted to quietly run over to the office door. Running and being quiet at the same time was already a hard task, and this was made even harder by the radio that Yvan still carried. He made it quickly enough though, and then tried to quietly close the door. He latched it shut.
Yvan ducked under the desk. The desk was lower on front, and he was hoping that the spheres would overlook him if they entered the room. It would be even better if they passed him by. Even as he tried to calm his own breathing, he doubted he would receive such luck.
And he was right. Yvan, still in the midst of trying to slow his rapidly beating heart, suddenly choked on air as he heard the humming of the spheres return. He chanced a look under the table and saw that the three were indeed squeezing their way under the door again. Swallowing hard, Yvan clutched his knife tightly.
He wanted to look away as the spheres continued their terrible motion, but knew that an error like that could cost him his life. He held his breath as the last of the spheres squeezed under the door, and then returned to their round shape, floating in the air above him.
For one sweet, blissful second, he thought he may have gotten lucky. But then one of the spheres flew down under the desk, directly at his eyes level.
Yvan let out a shriek of terror, and swung his knife at the terrible apparition. The sphere moved out of the way simply, and then struck forward. It latched itself around his face and slammed his head backwards into the desk leg. Yvan shrieked as the other two spheres also latched onto him. He tried to stand up but every time the spheres would push him back down, slamming him back into the desk. He was beginning to see stars he had been hit so many times.
Clutching the dagger, he slipped its sharp blade under one of the spheres, the one that currently was trying to hold his leg, and then thrust it upwards. The sphere came loose with a snapping sound. He then did it with another. Then, with a nimbleness only a seasoned adventurer like himself would have, he rolled directly under the front of the desk and leaped to his feet, where he then wrenched the final sphere free of his arm. He grabbed his radio, carrying it under one arm, and ran for the door.
He suddenly froze in place as he heard a low growling. He turned around, not wanting to see but knowing he must, and what he saw sent his heart pounding. The three spheres were squishing themselves together, pulling and flexing into shapes. Yvan watched with horror and disgust as the spheres grotesquely pulsed into one another, taking the shape of heads and legs, forming appendages out from their now amalgamated body. When they were finished, a red, slimy wolf, made out of the same substance as the spheres, stood on the desk.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!" Yvan screamed.
He had the locks on the door undone in seconds, and was racing back into the bedroom faster than anyone should have been able to run, fuelled by his terror. The spectre of the wolf bounded after him, and even at Yvan's breakneck speed the wolf outpaced him. The wolf went directly for the kill, attempting to bight into Yvan's neck with full force. Yvan barely managed to catch the wolf's jaws in his arms, wrapping them around the wolfs head as the two tumbled back into the large bed, still laden with its pillows and blankets. The radio slipped to the floor.
Yvan and the wolf tussled on the bed, trying to stay atop of the other. The wolf swiped with its claws as Yvan ducked, and it tore into pillows sending bits of stuffing raining down on them. Yvan attempted to shove the wolf's head under the blankets, tangling it in them, but as the wolf got tangled it simply bit through the fabric again, further decimating the once pristine bedding.
As the two tousled, Yvan found him self slipping under the weight of the wolf. The wolf slammed its paws on his chest, pinning him down. As the terrible creature bared its teeth, Yvan seized his moment, readjusted his grip to be firm, and slammed his knife into the creature's shoulder. The red beast let out a surprisingly realistic whimper of pain as the knife sunk into its body. As Yvan pulled the knife back out, Drops of the red slime that made the creature sprayed outwards, staining the bedding and Yvan's body. Yvan noticed that some of the red also stained his knife now, and it reminded him sickeningly of blood, making his stomach churn even more. Even as the wolf backed away, clearly in distress, It bared its teeth as if grinning at him, as though it found Yvan's discomfort highly amusing.
Yvan didn't waste any more time. As the wolf picked itself back up, Yvan snatched his radio from up off the ground and ran back out of the bedroom. He could hear the wolf picking itself up behind him. Yvan turned towards the stairs, but then stopped in alarm.
Not another one!
There, blocking the path to the stairs, was another ghost. It was of a koopa, with pale blue skin. Where its shell should have been burned a strange blue flame, and its eyes pooled with thick smoke. Deep within the eyes, a small blazing glow was visible.
"Leave!" The new apparition wailed. "Leave this place, or die!"
It started toward Yvan. From behind him, he could hear an otherworldly howl, and knew the wolf was close. Yvan ducked out of the way as the wolf bounded out of the bedroom. The koopa spectre opened its mouth. As the wolf turned to face Yvan, a jet of blue flame came out of the koopa's mouth. Yvan barely had time to pull himself back around a corner as the flame past. The wolf was caught in the burn, and it cried out in anguish.
Yvan took this moment to run. As the flames momentarily subsided, he darted past both ghosts and ran down the hallway.
"Leave!" The ghost shouted again.
Yvan barely paid mind to where he was going as he ran down the hallways, taking turns at random, trying to escape the terrible fight. But everywhere he ran, it still sounded as though the ghosts were just behind him, just out of sight, ready to strike.
Finally, Yvan stopped in front of a window. He glanced down. Three stories below lay some soft looking bushes.
Could I make it?
Yvan slammed his knife into the windows glass. It shattered, sending shards into both the hallway and the courtyard below. Yvan put one foot on the ledge, trying to accept what he was about to try.
"LEAVE!" The ghost bellowed again. The room shook as if the ghost was right next to him.
From the same distance, the wolf's howl once again echoed.
Yvan did not hesitate any longer. His foot left the window ledge, and his body soared out as he jumped.
Then, he fell down into the courtyard below.
(1): Ludwig's accent is completely fake and is not based on any real dialect. It is based on how I have seen it portrayed in other fanfictions.
(2): Wall jumping, sometimes called wall kicking, is an ability in many Mario games, in which the character can bounce from wall to wall to reach higher or lower areas.
Well, that's it for now. The next chapter should probably be out in the next couple of weeks. It will cover what the other groups were doing at this time. See you all then!