In this chapter, our heroes will enter a haunted house!
I decided to reference Luigi's Mansion with the title.
It was nice Luigi got to be the star of the game. Though a lot of games have him share the spotlight with his brother.
Chapter 15: Luigi U's Mansion
HAUNTED SHIPWRECK
"This is my first time adventuring into a haunted house." noted Jade. Though it wasn't her first time fighting undead.
"It's not mine. I have a history of going into them." said Luigi. "Though they were technically haunted mansions."
In one case, it was a haunted hotel.
Some Wax Murderers appeared.
"You can't hold a candle to us!" exclaimed one of the candle monsters.
They attacked using their sharp knives…as well as fire magic.
Our heroes noticed that much of the house was flooded.
It was appropriate given that it was located in Sparkling Waters.
But they could look at their surroundings when they weren't in the middle of a fight.
The four of them fought against the animate candles.
Luigi had an idea.
He would use the Poltergust to put out the Wax Murderers' flames.
He turned it on and out went the flames.
"Oh no! Our flames!" exclaimed the Wax Murderers.
Without their flames, they could not use their magic.
They felt weak. And they were decidedly at a disadvantage.
Taking advantage of their panic, Jade hit them with her legs.
The Wax Murderers toppled like dominoes.
Unfortunately, there were Frightbaits swimming in the waters. So they had more than candles to deal with.
"Oh look. An undead enemy that's also aquatic." noted Jessica. It seemed those two kinds of monsters could overlap.
"The author figured we would be the perfect enemies for this level!" exclaimed one of the Frightbaits.
"We'll let the fans decide on that." answered Jade.
Peach whacked them with her frying pan.
"Ouch! Some morsels are hard to chew!" exclaimed one of the Frightbaits.
They too were vulnerable to Luigi's Thunderhand.
"Ouch! Don't put a toaster in the bathtub!" demanded one of the Frightbaits.
"My brother told me that all toasters toast toast." noted Luigi.
"You should watch out for the water. It'll put out your candle." warned Peach to a Wax Murderer.
"Thanks! Maybe I should go somewhere a little less flooded." noted the candle monster. Though she did like the spooky atmosphere of the house.
"I can take you somewhere." notified Peach.
"Sounds good!" exclaimed the Wax Murderer.
"Wait, isn't she a murderer?" pointed out Luigi. This monster sounded dangerous.
"Actually, that's just a case of Dragon Quest making puns." explained the Wax Murderer. She had never killed anybody. Besides, everyone else in the mansion was already dead.
"I see." nodded Jessica. Hopefully they could trust her.
There were Putrefidos roaming the castle.
It seemed they were being used as guard dogs.
If they sniffed them out, it would be best if they prepared for a fight.
They could also use Deceleratle. Which made it harder to run from them.
However, it wasn't hard to sniff them out either. Undead enemies didn't usually smell good.
One of them barked at them, then charged forward.
Luckily, Peach had learned Midheal.
She used it to attack the undead dog.
The Putrefido whined.
One of them bit into Luigi.
"Ouch!" exclaimed Luigi.
He wished that they were more like Polterpup. He was harmless.
He zapped the Putrefido with Thunderhand in retaliation.
There were Phantom Fencers roaming the house as well.
"Care to see our fencing skills?" asked one of the fencers. They had been working on them.
He lunged at Luigi with his sword.
"Care to see-a my vacuum?" asked Luigi in turn.
"Vacuum?" asked the fencer.
The fencer was sucked inside the Poltergust.
"I was defeated by a mere house-cleaning device!" shouted the fencer.
The boss of the level was a Bone Baron. It seemed Gracos had chosen a strong undead monster to rule over the house.
"This is my haunted house! Exit back the way you came!" demanded the baron. He didn't appreciate it when adventurers trespassed in it.
He didn't mind sharing it with other monsters though. It was actually a bit lonely. Even if he did have his trusty steed with him.
"Isn't your house kind of flooded?" questioned Peach. Perhaps they should consult Luigi. It couod be a plumbing issue.
"Well, I don't need oxygen!" explained the baron.
"We'll-a leave your house once we pull the flag." agreed Luigi. It shouldn't take them long. His brother and himself had been doing it for years.
"That is my flagpole! You shall not touch it!" exclaimed the skeleton on a steed.
"I guess diplomacy has failed." noted Peach. It did work with one of the wax murderers though.
"Well, I'm ready for a fight." said Jade.
The Bone Baron charged towards them.
"I hope you're ready for a fight. I know I am!" exclaimed the baron.
"Don't worry. We are." nodded Jessica.
She launched a fireball at him, but he blocked it with his shield.
"You'll have to do better than that!" shouted the undead rider.
"This guy's good." noted Jessica.
"How about this?" asked Jade.
She kicked the Baron off his horse.
"Ouch!" exclaimed the Baron. Jade was fast.
However, he leapt back on.
He then stabbed Jade with his spear.
"Ow!" exclaimed the martial artist.
That spear was kind of pointy.
He then summoned Spirits to attack them.
"What do you think of our scythes?" asked one of the Spirits. He was very proud of it.
"Not bad." said Jade. "But I'm not sure they'll save you."
"Huh?" questioned one of the Spirits.
Luigi vacuumed them up.
"Hmm, I need stronger spirits." noted the Bone Baron. That first wave hadn't done well at all.
He summoned Mean Spirits.
These ones were more resistant to Luigi's vacuum.
One slashed Luigi with his scythe, causing him to lose the connection.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Luigi.
Luckily, Peach summoned a Cyclown.
"How can I help you? Do you want me to make a funny face?" asked the clown. He was great at making those.
"Actually, I was hoping you would help us in combat." explained Peach.
"OK!" exclaimed the Cyclown. He was glad to let a helping hand.
He cast a spell and the Mean Spirits were blown away.
It would teach them a lesson about being nice to people.
The Bone Baron struggled to stay on his horse.
Peach then summoned the Mad Moai to crush him with.
"Whoa!" exclaimed the Bone Baron.
He narrowly avoided being crushed.
"Phew!" shouted the skeleton with a hat.
That could have ended with disaster.
After dodging the attack, his horse rushed towards the Mad Moai and tipped him over.
"Well, this is just perfect! You tipped me over!" exclaimed the moai.
Peach noted that she needed to recharge her SP. A monster of the size of a Mad Moai cost a lot of summon points.
Luigi leapt on the Bone Baron.
"You four are tough." noted the baron.
Jade finished off the baron with a punch to the face.
"Fine, you can pull the flagpole. But make it quick!" requested the Bone Baron.
"Don't worry, we will." nodded Jade.
She pulled the flagpole.
The Bone Baron dropped a summoning scroll.
Luigi examined it.
Apparently, he could now summon Polterpup.
"Great!" exclaimed the plumber.
It would be helpful to have him around.
The four of them left the house afterwards.
"I'm-a glad to be out of that-a haunted house!" exclaimed Luigi.
That had certainly been a frightening experience.
"There's likely going to be more of those haunted houses." warned Peach. So perhaps Luigi shouldn't be throwing a Mario Party just yet.
"I know…" nodded the plumber in green. In one of his adventures there were five haunted residences.
But he would cross that bridge when he came to it.
Mario gave the thumbs up.
"That must have been a haunting experience." noted Angelo.
Jade nodded. But the party had pulled through.
Luckily, the next level wasn't haunted at all.
There were still aquatic monsters, however.
"Hi there! Ready to go to the next level?" greeted the Squid Kid. He waved at them with his tentacle.
"We will after we check on Alena and her friends." nodded Jade.
And after they had gone shopping.
"OK!" exclaimed the kid. That shouldn't take long.
Meanwhile…
Peasley cut down the Piranha Plants with his sword.
"Ouch!" exclaimed one of the Piranha Plants. It seemed the prince was a bit too fast for them. His speed with a blade was nothing short of impressive.
They attempted to bite Nera, but she dodged.
Some spat fireballs at her.
"Toasty!" exclaimed one of the Piranha Plants.
Nera launched a fireball of her own at the airship.
"Incoming!" exclaimed a Shy Guy with a telescope.
"Huh?" asked the captain.
It was a direct hit.
The airship began to smoke…then began to descend from the sky.
"Mayday! Mayday!" exclaimed the captain of the ship. It looked like he was going down with the ship.
The airship crashed into the ground.
"We thought we had you here!" shouted the captain, who was now as black as an Anti Guy. But it seemed the heroes were stronger than they thought.
The Shy Guys decided they would retreat for now. It would be best if they waited for reinforcements to arrive before they attacked again.
Likewise, the Piranha Plants decided to retreat underground.
"It looks like we won't have to worry about them for a while." noted Alena. They had broken their morale, it seemed.
"We should go to town and spend our gold on weapons and armor." suggested Peasley.
Alena nodded.
Sure enough, the citizens were happy to see Peasley back.
"Did you complete your quest?" asked a Bean girl. She was looking forward to the end of the invasion. Unless it ended with Bowser conquering the kingdom, of course. None of them wanted that.
"Not yet. But I did take out one of their commanders." explained Peasley. Larry wouldn't be causing trouble in Hoohoo Village, that was for sure. They had taught him a lesson.
"That's still good news!" exclaimed a Bean guy.
The four of them went shopping.
Peasley got a suit of iron armor for himself to wear.
He was glad to have additional protection after all the fights he did to make his way here.
Alena bought an iron cuirass.
Kiryl bought a tortoise shell. He wondered where they had gotten a tortoise shell from. But whatever defended him in combat.
Nera was content with her current equipment so she bought medicinal items instead.
Peasley went to see his mother, Queen Bean.
"I take it that defending the kingdom is going well?" asked the queen. She certainly hoped that it was. The kingdom was counting on him and his companions.
She suspected they weren't done yet, but she got the feeling progress had been made.
"It is. But we encountered Shy Guys on our way here." noted Peasley.
"Yes. We're worried that the Bowser Baddies might be planning to invade the castle." informed Lady Lima.
It might be best for them to stay in the castle in case anything happened.
Alena decided to look around the castle.
They might be defending it later, so it would be best if she got a good view of it.
She noticed what appeared to be a star.
"This is the Beanstar. It can grant all wishes." informed the royal guard. It was always nice to have something that could provide people with hope.
"Can you use it to make the Koopa Troop leave?" asked Alena.
"We would, but there's a problem. The Beanstar can only be awakened by someone pure of heart." explained the guard. Some things in life just weren't simple.
The Beans had been very careful not to let the Beanstar be able to be used for evil. What if King Boo got his hands on it?
Alena decided to try singing to it. Perhaps it would answer her call.
The Beanstar woke up. It let out a yawn.
"What do you know? You're pure of heart!" exclaimed the guard.
That was not someone you met every day. Though it turned out he didn't need to go to the Mushroom Kingdom to meet Princess Peach after all.
"Can you help us with Bowser's army?" asked Alena.
"I'm sorry, but I'm feeling kind of weak. I've been asleep for years." explained the Beanstar. It seemed people that were pure of heart were rare these days.
"That would probably make our quest too easy anyway." noted the princess.
"Yeah…there might be another story for the audience to read in this fanfic but still." agreed Nera.
"However, I can help you locate the enemy's commanders." said the Beanstar.
"That's great!" exclaimed Alena. That was something they could definitely use to their advantage.
"One of them is located in a cavern…that can be accessed through the Beanbean sewers." informed the magical star.
"You don't suppose they're planning to infiltrate the castle this way, do you?" asked Kiryl. To his knowledge, the guards did not patrol the sewers.
"If they are we need to stop them. And fast!" exclaimed Alena.
"We should check the sewers for any signs of Bowser Baddies." noted Peasley. If what the Beanstar said was true, they might not only be in the cave. They could be in the immediate area as well.
Luckily, there was a manhole they could use to reach the sewers.
The four of them descended down the ladder.
It didn't take them long to find Bowser Baddies.
"How did you know we were in the sewers?" asked the Spiny. It seemed like a good hiding spot to him.
It was a shame they had been discovered. Morton was plotting to launch the attack soon…after he finished watching the Super Mario Bros. Movie.
"This is more or less what I feared." noted Peasley. It seemed that the enemies had found a way to sneak into the castle without being detected by the guard.
"We have to stop the castle from being overrun!" exclaimed Nera. If the Beanbean Castle fell, then the whole kingdom could follow suit.
"Let's get ready to fight then." said Alena.
The four of them prepared for battle.
I decided to feature the Beanstar in this fanfic. Luckily, Bowser doesn't know about it.
I didn't want to make the Beanstar story breaking but I figured it would be fine if it helped them locate the commanders.
I also decided to make the Beanstar sentient since it can express anger and happiness.
