King Boo hovered in his room, and found himself musing over his private diary. Making sure the door was closed, he picked it up and read aloud the last paragraph.
"As yesterday evening seemed to work out well enough, I am off to see that scientist again. He seems to give good advice. Seeing the princess-" He paused, before deciding to use his magic to make the word 'princess' disappear, and he wrote 'Peach' where it had been. She'd asked for him to reject her title last night anyway. Should he put in a note about that?
He quickly scribbled in the next part. "Seeing Peach (she has asked me to call her such) happier and more confident yesterday was simply delightful to me." He paused again, and thought over his wording and its implications, before adding in a little extra line. "-me and my plan." He put the book down and tied the ribbon with his magic, so only he could open it, before checking the other things on his desk.
One was a note from Bootstrap, saying that the three Boos were ShamBoo, Boodacious and Boo La La and they'd like to see him as soon as possible. He put that one aside; he'd see them later, after his visit out.
The second was again from Bootstrap, asking him if he'd be willing to take in a couple of Boos from Lady Bow, as her mansion was getting too full and some of the Boos craved more adventure.
He scribbled a 'Yes' on the corner of the message and magicked it away onto Bootstrap's noteboard.
The third was from Boovelope, saying that Peach had sent her first letter, and it had arrived successfully. King Boo was quite amazed at the speed, and decided to leave it out once he'd finished reading it as a reminder to personally thank Boovelope for doing it so quickly. He continued reading it, and he saw there was an added note that he was sure she'd been crying before he'd arrived to pick up the letter. He remembered that when he'd floated past her room this morning, he was sure he could hear her crying again. It made his whole body feel strangely heavy, like he was wearing a thick coat a few sizes too big. Putting the sheet of paper aside, he flew out over his balcony to the professor's place.
Once he arrived, he gave a few quick knocks at the door, and waited for the professor to arrive.
He took a lifetime again, and remarked how he'd just been visited by Luigi, and King Boo had just missed him as he let the ghostly king in.
"Good. I'd rather not see him."
"Well my boy, how come you've come to see me again? Coffee? Tea?" King Boo went to remind him of his lack of necessity for such things, before E. Gadd cut him off. "Oh! Yes, you don't drink, do you? Well, I hope you don't mind if I make myself one."
"Knock yourself out."
King Boo saw the place was a little tidier, if only because Luigi had been round, as he could be just as much of a neat freak as the ghost king himself. That, and their hatred for each other, were probably the only things they had in common. He couldn't quite believe he was back at the professor's house for more advice about his royal problem. Turning to the mirror over the fireplace, he stuck his blue tongue out and pulled a slightly scary face. At least he still looked intimidating, even if he didn't seem to act it sometimes.
After giving King Boo advice on Princess Peach, E. Gadd was sure he'd come for some sort of invention, and made sure he had enough room on his coffee table to sketch any ideas if he needed to.
"What do you need making, sonny? I'll be willing to make it if you're willing to answer a few questions again for my research."
King Boo raised an eyebrow. "I… don't need anything made."
The professor took a sip of his coffee and made a quick 'hm?' noise to indicate for him to continue.
"I followed your advice, but she still seems to be upset." He averted his eyes and waved an arm around a little as he explained himself. "I asked her before I tried anything, and I'm letting her write - she's already sent something! I think she's a little more-" he brought his arms in front of him and signed makeshift quotation marks in the air, "-'comfortable' with me, but she's still upset. Why didn't it work?"
put his notebook aside again. "You might have to change a few things up, my boy! Tell me, what does she like?"
His mouth opened to speak, but then he shut it as he realized that he had no idea. Breaking eye contact once more and staring at the ceiling, he pondered over the question before giving the professor a smirk and replying as uninterested in her as he could.
"Pink! And crying a lot!" He thought about his phrasing and decided that a quick laugh wouldn't hurt.
The old man gulped. This was a little worse than he thought. "Well, my boy, it seems like you've got a bit of an assignment ahead of you!"
"Aaaaaa ha ha huh?" King Boo shook off his shocked expression. "What?"
"You're going to have to find out what she likes, posthaste!"
"And then what do I do?"
"Didn't you say last time that you can materialize objects? I'm sure you could sort out something fancy for her."
Starting to feel the embarrassment of asking E. Gadd for more advice hit him, he brushed his hands together. "Well, I better get going then… What did you say? 'Posthaste'?" He got up from his lower-than-usual hover that he used to mimic sitting and floated into E. Gadd's narrow hallway. "I better be going, posthaste!"
"Criminy! I thought you were going to let me ask you some questions!"
King Boo hovered through the door instead of opening it, and rolled his eyes. "What a shame!" When he got outside, he covered his face in embarrassment from the encounter. Damn the natural shy nature of Boos!
Well, he couldn't hang around there forever - he was off to the Mushroom Kingdom to do some detective work.
"Boovelope, where in the Underwhere is this?"
"Gentlemen," he began, "We're here to see an important ally."
"I do wish you'd explain what this is about, postboy," said Boo La La, never a fan of long travels.
The four boos stopped as they looked up at the towers in front of them. There were two either side of a grand oak tree, and the whole location was overrun with plant life. Boovelope stuffed the map he was carrying back into his satchel. "Here we are."
Boovelope hovered through the gate and over to the right tower and gave the door a characteristic knock.
Rah-ta-ta-tar, rah-da-tat, tar.
Leaning against the door, Boovelope listened for the familiar reply.
Rah-ta-ta-tar, rah-ta-tah, rah-da, ta.
The lock clicked, before Boovelope took a step back and the door swung open. A big Boo hovered behind it, with a worn, almost aggressive expression as he laid eyes on three of the Boos, but his face warmed up as he looked down at the front-most Boo.
"I didn't expect to see you here any time soon."
"I'm not here because I'm banished," began Boovelope, "I'm here for a little help with some homework, because that's what big brothers do, right? They help their younger siblings with their homework."
"Indeed."
ShamBoo, Boodacious and Boo La La were a little nervous in front of the Big Boo, who stared them down like he could knock them out with one Lady Bow-style slap. Few Big Boos ever worked for King Boo, as he often didn't like ones who thought they could equal him in strength.
The Boo in front of them - the recently banished Big Boo scribe whose act of treason had nearly taken down King Boo himself - was Boovelope's brother. In front of them, hovered Booseus.
"Are you going to let me in?"
Booseus smirked. "Why don't you introduce me to your friends first?"
Boovelope pointed to them in turn. "This is ShamBoo, Boodacious and Boo La La, original Boos from Operation: Luigi's Mansion."
ShamBoo stuck an arm out, and Booseus shook it slowly. "Pleasure."
He showed the four Boos into a rather empty room, furnished with a table and not much else.
Booseus nudged his younger brother affectionately. "So, you little loser, what do you need?"
"I've got an anti-King Boo plan of my own, and it involves some spying, some befriending of Bootstrap, some letter delivery, and where you come in." Boovelope shot a glare at his lackeys.
"Although I must add, these three didn't exactly 'befriend' him but threaten him, but hopefully he'll turn around anyway. As useless as he is, he seems to value efficiency, so things might just work in our favor if we mix in my role and yours."
Booseus inwardly judged the three other Boos. "So what's the plan-ly, Stanley?"
Boovelope reached into his satchel and produced an oddly pale letter from Princess Peach. "King Boo's got me sending his new bride-to-be's letters. You've heard the whole Princess Peach ordeal, right?"
Booseus leaned a little on the table. "Don't you think a journalist would read the paper?"
"Well, I hope you can put your writing skills to good use." Boovelope slid the letter in front of his brother, while the other three watched his plan unfold, literally. "I made a copy of that princess's letter before I sent it. It'll only hang around for a few days, but surely that's enough time for you to get her handwriting down."
ShamBoo wanted to ask what in Grambi's name was going on, but Booseus was still quite intimidating to him, even if he hid it well.
Booseus read the letter, making a note of the swirls that dotted the 'i's. "And why do you need my forgery skills?"
"Well, you big loser, King Boo's becoming a huge softy because of this princess, and he's forgetting about us." Boovelope caught his brother's eye contact and continued. "He's letting her write, and she's probably going to reassure those at home that she's doing fine.
Boovelope made sure that his new friends heard the next part of his plan. "I reckon if we hijack the mail, those infernal brothers will eventually come after him, and he'll realize that he has to give up on her and focus back on us and the invasion. We five Boos can change exactly how he thinks, and even get one of us back in the mansion, and all I need are a few friends and some forged letters."
"Stupid king." Booseus put the letter down. "Mind if I keep this a few days?"
"It's yours. I'll be back in a few days once she's sent a few more letters."
The last thing Toadette, Daisy, Peasley, Toadsworth and the Mario Bros. expected at Peach's castle was a visit from King Boo, especially a one that hadn't been confirmed in writing, and one that wasn't aggressive in nature. The ghostly king had first laid eyes on Daisy, who went and told everyone else. When they all came out to face him, Mario and Toadette wore quite a stern expression, Peasley carried his rapier and Luigi had the Poltergust 5000 on his back.
That had shocked King Boo, who hadn't come on any malicious terms.
"In fact," he continued, "quite the opposite! I'd like to ask you all a few questions about Peach."
Toadsworth entered the room. "That's Princess Peach to you."
"Actually," corrected King Boo, "she's allowed me to call her such!"
"Got-a that down in writing?" asked Mario.
King Boo rolled his eyes. "Tell me Mario, what does she like?"
"I know she doesn't like a-people holding her hostage."
Luigi shakingly held up his Poltergust, and King Boo backed up a little.
"Peach came willingly, and I aim to make her... comfortable." If being comfortable made her smile a little more, then he wanted to make her more comfortable. It made him smile a bit. And it was important to his plan, of course.
"So tell me: What does she like?"
They all looked at him like he'd lost it. Daisy however, didn't quite catch on to what the others were thinking.
"She likes baking!"
Luigi gave her an anxious look as King Boo hovered up to her and raised an eyebrow. "Go on."
"We used to bake a lot together, but I always made a mess of the kitchen, but Peach loves it! And she's always neat and tidy. Peach's baking is the best, right Mario?"
"She's... she is a-right." Mario admitted reluctantly, cheeks tinting and belly growling as he missed her baked goods terribly.
King Boo was surprised at how easy that was. "Is that it?"
Peasley, although a little intimidated, flicked his hair. "I presume she likes other things too. I've heard that she makes her own dresses on occasion."
Luigi nervously adjusted the Poltergust on his back, knowing the strength of King Boo better than the other did. "Oh, y-yes! I-I took an interest in her-a dresses, a-a-and the princess showed me how she-a makes them." He remembered when she made him one, and when Peasley and Daisy had said how much it suited him, and he blushed a little. "She likes sewing."
"Anything else?"
"She really likes visits from friends!" Toadette offered suddenly. And the room went still with tension.
The brothers, the royals and Toadsworth all marveled at the sneaky loophole of an idea, but it was still up to King Boo to even allow visitations so they all waited with baited breath.
King Boo was stunned by the moxie of the little Toad girl, but then he vaguely remembered that she must've been Peach's handmaiden, and more importantly her sole lady in waiting. He recognized the look on her face, it was the same brave political face Peach wore when she had to put her courage first. He raised a brow as an indication that he was listening and for her to go on.
"Just one person at a time is all we're asking, per week, you can even send a Boo to escort us there and chaperone the visit. The letters are nice and we greatly appreciate them, but more can be conveyed in honesty with face to face conversation. Though Prince Peasley and Princess Daisy really do need to get back to their own kingdoms so if you could let them both visit first that would be really nice, please?"
King Boo faked breathing in deeply, hand nubs together, as he thought about it. It was reasonable. And Peach having visitors from those already in her life would make her more comfortable, more… trusting of him. Chaperones to watch the visit were also an extremely viable compromise. This little Toad girl had obviously thought a lot about this, and this entire proposition she thought of that was within the peace agreement was very impressive.
"I am thoroughly impressed by how reasonable this proposition is, so yes, I will allow it. But how about I sweeten the deal a little, because of the urgency of the Flower Princess and Bean Boy's remaining time here, I will allow all of you to visit her next week, as I need to prepare the chaperones as well as the space for you all to visit her in. I will send the same Boos who are to chaperone you will also escort you to the mansion. The same will go for the one at a time thing, the following week. Sound fair?" King Boo finally answered, keeping his face as neutral as possible.
Everyone looked to each other in astonishment at how nice he was actually being about this, but at the same time they were all scared to say anything about how too good to be true this even was.
But what would he even gain from this from a shady deal perspective? No one could think of anything. So they all answered the affirmative that it was a fair sounding deal.
"Excellent! Anything else she likes that you can think of before I pop off to prepare for your visit among other things?" King Boo asked curiously.
Toadsworth stepped forward, wanting only for the princess's happiness, he found it strange that she wasn't around. "Toadette dear, Prince Peasley, Princess Daisy and Masters Mario and Luigi, if I may intervene, the princess has always had a slight soft spot for cute things, especially cute animals."
"Well!" exclaimed King Boo. "This has been useful! I am grateful for your cooperation, please remember that your visit will be a surprise so please refrain from mentioning it in your letters, ta-ta!"
And with that, he faded into nothing and left the castle.
Toadette walked up to Daisy and whispered, "I don't think he really knows what he's doing anymore. Either that, or he's actually falling for her and doesn't even know it."
Daisy shrugged her shoulders as she replied simply with, "Possibly."
A.N: That secret knock is to the tune of the original Luigi's Mansion.