Chapter 15: Sleeping with The Fishes

(12th floor of the hotel in present day)

The Elevator arrived at the 12th floor of the hotel. When the door opened, Luigi hid behind part of the elevator shined his flashlight out the elevator door.

Bandana Dee- Luigi…I think the coast is clear.

Then Tails and Bandana Dee walked off the elevator.

Tails- Nothing here but props for a pirate themed seafood restaurant.

Rottytops- Pirate themed?! Oh shit!

Diddy Kong- Something wrong?

Rottytops- Don't tell me Risky Boots is involved?!

Luigi- I think if Bowser or anyone from his team were involved, we would've heard from them by now.

Rottytops- Sorry, but everyone back in Scuttle Town doesn't like anything relating to pirates, because it reminds them of Risky Boots and her pirate crew. We don't even like to watch Pirates of the Caribbean even if that was a great movie. Similar to how you guys don't want to mention Tabuu since we all know the last thing we want is for him to get involved in this mess somehow.

Luigi, Diddy Kong, Bandana Dee, Tails, and Rottytops walked down the hallway until they saw a huge pirate ship in the middle of the hallway.

Diddy Kong- That's seems out of place.

Tails- Why? It's a pirate…

Diddy Kong- I mean it looks more like it would get in someone's way than be a display for this restaurant.

Tails- You have a point there, Diddy.

Then Luigi looked through an opening in the wooden planks of the ship and saw a door on the other side.

Luigi- I see the door to the next room, but I think I know why this boat is placed here. To prevent us from getting to the other side.

Suddenly, the Virtual Boo began to ring.

Tails- Must be E. Gadd again.

Luigi- I better take this call.

Luigi put the Virtual Boo on his head and answered Professor E. Gadd's call.

Professor E. Gadd- Luigi! Thanks to that boat in your way, it doesn't look like you can go any further. What is that boat even doing there?

Luigi- Probably to slow us down. The door to the next room is on the other side of it.

Professor E. Gadd- Maybe this is a good opportunity to test out my latest feature to the Poltergust G-00.

Luigi- A new feature?

Tails- How come you never mentioned about this before?

Professor E. Gadd- Because this was never tested. I don't know what the results would be if you used it. Anyway, I call it the Super Suction. But like how Gooigi is only accessible through Luigi's Poltergust, so is the Super Suction. First, you must plug Luigi's Poltergust G-00 into a special electrical socket that looks like a ghost's face.

Tails- I think I see an outlet on the other side of the pirate ship.

Professor E. Gadd- Excellent! Plug Luigi's Poltergust G-00 into that socket and stand back!

Then Tails pulls an electrical cord out of Luigi's Poltergust and walked over to the electrical socket to plug it in.

Bandana Dee- What did he mean by stand back?

Tails plugged Luigi's Poltergust in and the cable became charged with electricity and it was causing Luigi's Poltergust to shake.

Rottytops- I think I understand what he meant by stand back!

Then Diddy Kong, Bandana Dee, Tails, and Rottytops took cover as Luigi turned on the Super Suction. Luigi's Poltergust G-00 began sucking like a tornado and ripped the ship apart board by board. Eventually, it sucked up everything, literally. A huge chunk of the hallway surrounding the door and where the ship had been was all sucked up and parts of the inner walls were exposed.

Luigi- Wow! That's some powerful stuff!

Professor E. Gadd- Yes, but remember, the Super Suction can only work with those electrical sockets and it uses up a large amount of power from the Poltergust G-00. So, it's not something you want to just use willy-nilly. Like how Sonic doesn't want to waste the Chaos Emeralds' power since it drains energy from him and depletes his ring supply.

Tails- He does have a point there, Luigi.

(Another room on the 12th floor)

Luigi, Diddy Kong, Bandana Dee, Tails, and Rottytops arrived in a room that almost appeared that they were outside. The room looked like a giant beach with a boating deck and even had a vast sea inside of it.

Diddy Kong- This hotel is just full of surprises.

Tails- First a desert, and now a beach.

Bandana Dee- What's next? A space station?

Luigi- Hang on…I think I see a ship in the fog over there.

Tails- I think I see it too.

Rottytops- That bell over on the dock looks just the ones at the docks in Sequin Land to call in delivery boats. Maybe if we ring that…

Then Rottytops walks over to the bell and gives it a ring.

Luigi- Rotty, I don't know if getting that ship is such a good idea…

Rottytops- Well…too late now…

Then Luigi noticed the spooky ship in the fog was already at the dock. And it even lowered a wooden plank for Luigi and the others to board the ship.

Luigi- This is giving me warning signs all over!

Diddy Kong- But I think that the ghost we're looking for on this floor is the one inviting us on their ship. Meaning, if we want to get to the next floor and rescue the others, we'll have to play this little game.

Luigi- Fair point…

Luigi, Diddy Kong, Bandana Dee, Tails, and Rottytops got on board the ship. There was a table, three seats, and some lit candles, but no one around. But then Luigi looked up near the steering wheel of the ship and saw Yellow Toad's portrait.

Luigi- Over there! Yellow Toad!

Bandana Dee- Then that must mean the ghost that's supposed to be guarding him must be close…

Before Bandana Dee could finish, Tails saw a glowing shark fin swimming above the surface of the water nearby.

Tails- Guys…

Suddenly, a great white shark ghost with an eye patch and a hook fin jumped out of the water and attempted to bite Tails. Luckily, Diddy Kong charged into Tails and rushed Tails and himself out of the way as the shark ghost landed on board.

Captain Fishhook- Arrgh! I see five stowaways aboard me ship and after me cargo!

Luigi- Take it easy! We just want our friend over there!

Captain Fishhook- Too bad, matey! Hellen told me to guard the prisoner Toad on me ship and to make anyone who try to rescue him walk the plank!

Then Captain Fishhook lifts his eyepatch with his hook fin, revealing the elevator button for the 13th floor in his eye socket.

Bandana Dee- Are you kidding me?!

Luigi- Doesn't look like he is!

Then Captain Fishhook dived into the floor of the ship like it was water and possessed part of the deck. A face appeared on the floor as four ghosts appeared above the ship with barrels to throw at them.

Diddy Kong- Are you serious?! The barrels?!

The ghosts threw the barrels at Luigi and the others. They dodged them, but the face on the floor moved around and used this moment to grab hold and bite Rottytops by her ankle.

Rottytops- Hey! Let go!

At first, Rottytops tried to get her foot out of Captain Fishhook's maw, but then Rottytops got another idea.

Rottytops- You know what…if you want this leg so bad…you can have it…

Then Rottytops detached her leg from the rest of her body and managed to hop away from the face on the floor.

Captain Fishhook- What the…

Rottytops almost fell over after hopping on one leg, but Luigi managed to catch her before she fell over.

Luigi- I gotcha!

Rottytops- Thanks, Luigi!

Captain Fishhook- I forgot, one of yee be a zombie and can detach body parts like a doll.

Then Captain Fishhook spat out Rottytops' leg and it hit Luigi in the face and knocked him to the floor.

Luigi- Why always me…?

Then Tails noticed one of the barrels the ghosts were throwing was actually TNT. Tails waited until the TNT barrel was thrown and used his Poltergust to suck it up.

Tails- Hey shark face…over here!

Then Tails stuck his rear and two tails at the face on the floor in a taunting manner to get Captain Fishhook's attention. Bust as Captain Fishhook was rushing for Tails, Tails then had his Poltergust spit out the TNT barrel into Captain Fishhook's maw. After Captain Fishhook swallowed the TNT, it exploded in his face and he jumped out of the ship's deck.

Captain Fishhook- Why you two tailed fleabag…I'll keel 'hall yee for that!

Then Captain Fishhook extended his hook fin and attempted to slash at Tails. Tails got out of the way and dodged the attack, but Captain Fishhook got his hook stuck in the floorboards of the ship. As he was trying to get himself free, Diddy Kong stunned Captain Fishhook with his flashlight while Bandana Dee attempted to suck him up with his Poltergust. However, Captain Fishhook was putting up more of a fight than the other ghosts they've encountered. Bandana Dee attempted to slam Captain Fishhook a few times, but Captain Fishhook got free after a few slams.

Bandana Dee- How did he managed to break free like that?

Tails- I remember Luigi told me that some ghosts are more resistant than others to the Poltergust. I guess he's one of them.

Luigi- However, his stamina won't recover if we get him in the suction again.

Captain Fishhook- A chance I won't let yee landlubbers make!

Then Captain Fishhook possessed another part of the ship as his face appeared on that instead of the floor. Then the ship began to lift upward, like it was tipping over. Thinking quickly, Luigi shot a plunger on the other side of the ship and used to Poltergust to suck onto the rope the plunger was attached to. As the ship tipped over, Luigi hang from the part of the ship the plunger was stuck to. But then Rottytops grabbed hold of Luigi's leg to prevent her from falling into Captain Fishhook's maw. And then Diddy Kong wrapped his tail around Rottytops' ankle as he hung upside-down above Captain Fishhook's maw. Tails was using his two tails to fly to keep himself from falling and Bandana Dee had wedged his spear into the deck and clung to it.

Tails- We need something to make him shut the big mouth of his!

Then Bandana Dee saw a hatch near where he was hanging from and saw certain barrels inside of it.

Bandana Dee- And I think I know just how to do that!

Bandana Dee managed to open the hatch in the deck and several TNT barrels rolled out and into Captain Fishhook's maw.

Captain Fishhook- Not again…

Then the TNT exploded in his mouth again and Captain Fishhook jumped out of his ship, returning it to be on the water in the correct position. While he was choking on the TNT, Rottytops stunned him with the flashlight so Luigi could suck him up with the Poltergust. Then Luigi's Poltergust G-00 spat out the elevator button for the 13th floor.

Luigi- We did it.

Diddy Kong- I guess that shark walked the plank!

Rottytops- Seriously, Diddy!

Then they heard a barking sound. When they looked over towards the steering wheel and where Yellow Toad's portrait was, they saw the Polterpup barking for their attention.

Luigi- Hey, it's the Polterpup!

Bandana Dee- But what's he doing here?

Then the Polterpup dropped a rope ladder so Luigi and the others could climb up and reach Yellow Toad.

Luigi- Good puppy! Remind me to give you a treat later.

Once they climbed up the rope ladder, Luigi shined the Dark Light at Yellow Toad's portrait and restored Yellow Toad. However, he then rode the nearby cannon like a slide and Luigi caught him before Yellow Toad hit the ground.

Yellow Toad- Sorry. That was a bit of a ruff re-entry into the land of the living.

Luigi- At least you're safe, Yellow Toad.

Diddy Kong- I think this means all the Toads have been rescued.

Tails- But Sonic and the others are still trapped in their paintings.

Rottytops- Let's just get Yellow Toad to Professor E. Gadd's bunker with the other Toads so we can focus on finding out where Shantae and the rest of our friends' portraits are being kept.

(Hellen Gravely's office)

Hellen was watching the security footage of Luigi, Diddy Kong, Bandana Dee, Tails, and Rottytops escorting Yellow Toad to the elevator.

Hellen Gravely- GRRRRRR! Can't those simple-minded employees of mind do anything right?! I worked hard to get King Boo to notice me and…

Then Hellen Gravely noticed King Boo was standing behind her.

King Boo- Trouble, Hellen?

Hellen Gravely- Oh! King Boo! There was just a tiny slipup…But it's no problem! We'll have Luigi locked away soon! If I could just have a little more time…

King Boo- Fine, but just so you know, I'm losing my patience!

Then King Boo moves over to a stack of paintings. There were Mario, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Sonic, Shantae, and Princess Peach's portraits. However, King Boo only took Princess Peach's portrait.

Hellen Gravely- What are you…

King Boo- I'm just putting something together in case you screw things up again and I have to take matters into my own hands.

Then King Boo flies through the bookcase in Hellen's office and so does Princess Peach's portrait. Hellen Gravely glares at Mario, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Sonic, and Shantae's portraits before turning to look at her Polterkitty.

Hellen Gravely- Polterkitty…I have a job for you…