Index
It was his genuine pleasure to hear the old man scream. King boo rose from the grate, eyes aglow with anticipation, then he froze as he saw a very different person backpedaling across the room. His grin grew wider.
“Well, look who finally arrived,” he drolled. “I had begun to think you weren’t coming.”
The courtyard group watched with exhausted satisfaction as Boolsome’s boos lead the charge, cutting off Luigi’s frantic retreat and driving him into the corner. He recoiled, cowering and protecting his head as they dove at him like a swarm of bees, then fell back, scrabbling, onto the floor.
The boos hovered over him leisurely, laughing and mocking:
“Look guys! Luigi’s finally here! We’re going to do to you what we did to your brother, only worse!”
Sparks of lightning jumped across his form and Luigi made a spasmodic swipe at the crowd, one hand still protecting his face. The boos darted back with an excited yatter, then pressed in again as he tried to rise, snickering. Luigi made a grab for something at his side. King boo got a glimpse of red.
His grin faltered. It was the poltergust. How did he have the poltergust?
The thought was a mistake.
The instant the other boos felt his uncertainty they faltered. Luigi had recovered himself by now. He was up; pale, pressed against the wall, obviously shaking, but he was up with the poltergust nozzle clutched in his hands. The boos around him recoiled. King Boo watched the hose like something venomous, eyes flashing red and the cracks in his jem sparking as what was left of his magic tried to build. Luigi’s eyes were on him now. He seemed to be trying to speak, but the words wouldn’t come. His face was a twist of extreme fear, but there was anger there too, and a hardness in his eyes King Boo recognized from the all-too-recent encounter in the courtyard.
This was not the fight he had come for.
“Scatter!” he barked. That was all it took to dissolve the mass. Boos plunged everywhere, through the walls, roof, and floor. In seconds, the room was empty.
• • •
Luigi collapsed against the wall, breath coming in short, sharp gasps. He clutched at the poltergust nozzle, eyes locked on the hatch where the largest boo had retreated. He couldn’t believe—why had they just...
The hatch sealed shut with a soft, electric click. Luigi jolted upright.
He had to follow them.
He stumbled forward and dropped down by the cap. It was smooth under his frantic hands, not offering enough purchase to even begin to pry. Its lock pulsed an agitating red.
Luigi knelt there, almost in a stupor as the full weight of what had happened leaked through his panic. There were boos here—more boos than he’d ever seen before. And they had Mario.
His head was spinning so fast he hardly noticed the gameboy ringing from where he had left it. After a moment, it stopped and there was silence, then it started all over again with its cheery tune.
Slowly, shakily, Luigi made his way toward it and removed it from the slot in the wall.
“Luigi! Thank heavens!” Blurted E. Gadd. “When you didn’t pick up I thought…” The professor trailed off as he saw Luigi’s pale face. “Never mind what I thought. Are you alright?”
Luigi gave a short, jerking nod.
“Are you hurt, lad? What happened?”
“I need to come back to the lab,” Luigi whispered, the words sticking in his throat.
“Of course. Do you—should I stay on the line?”
Luigi gave a jerky shake of his head.
“No.”
The professor hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“Alright, if you’re sure. I’ll meet you at the front of the place.”
Luigi nodded again.
Despite the conversation being formally over, E. Gadd seemed hesitant to drop the call.
“It’s going to be fine lad,” he said after a moment of uncertain hovering.
Luigi nodded one last time and flipped the device closed. He only hoped the professor was right.
• • •
There was an instant of shock, then Mario ran.
He ran like a drunken man, pushing off the walls with his hands and making for the half-open door at the other side of the lab. Beyond lay a dank stone passage—what looked to be part of the dungeon.
An unpleasant image of Luigi strung up in his old cell flashed across Mario’s mind. His heart pounded, and that yell rang in his ears.
The tunnel stretched out in front of him, growing steadily broader. His steps echoed off the stones, rattling among the black passages that riddled the walls ahead. His heart twisted as he lurched past the first entrance. Where should he go? Straight? How was he supposed to know? Then Mario slid to a halt, necked craning round to see the white glow leaking from the tunnel.
He doubled back and rounded the corner. There was King Boo.
The monarch had his back to him and was speaking earnestly to a group of his subjects. It was the smaller boos who saw Mario first, and their eyes bugged almost out of their heads. It was no wonder—he looked like a thing possessed.
The king saw their expressions and turned sharply, eyes locking onto the hero in red. For an instant there was disbelief, then murderous, horrifying rage. Then he was back to his calm persona, albeit with a particularly nasty smile.
“Ah, Mario. I was just coming to fetch you.”
“Where is he?!” Mario shouted.
The king ignored the question, drifting forward with his gaggle of minions.
“I said where is he!”
“I admit, I am thoroughly impressed. But as far as your ingenuity has brought you, you’re in no state for the fight you’re so obviously looking for,” Said the king.
What did King Boo expect him to do? surrender? Mario held his battle-stance, mouth set and grim. The king made no move at first, giving him time to lose his resolve.
“Take him,” he said finally.
The boos darted forward, mouths hanging open and squealing. Mario stepped to the side and smashed the first to the floor with a flaming downward slam. The next went much the same way. Then he was thrown back by a crackling purple bolt.
King Boo hovered at the end of the passage; his eyes glowed a dull red and his white aura flickered like a near-spent flashlight. Magic snapped around the broken gem of his crown, turning the air metallic until Mario could taste it.
“You’re beginning to try my patience,” hissed the king.
Mario charged him.
King Boo held his ground, grin changed to a snarl as the weak sparks amassed around him. He took another shot, a pathetic, lose blob of energy, then vanished into the air. Mario braced himself, trying to muster a blast of fire. Then his hair stood on end as the buzz of loose magic brush through him. He whipped around just in time to see the king materialize, expression seeping with rage.
There was no fancy magic this time. King Boo slammed bodily into him, crushing Mario into the wall. But he didn’t stop there. Mario cried out in shock as the stones gave way behind him, like a puddle of thick glue. The king kept pushing, driving Mario through until he fell to the floor on the other side.
“Find your way out of this. If you can,” Snarled the King.
Mario choked down a breath of sharp, cold air and rolled to his feet, wet clothes peeling up from the frozen floor. The king was already going—vanishing through the wall; Mario lunged after him and slammed into solid stones.
He shouted, pounding on the wall, his breath steaming in the air around him. No one bothered to respond. It was viciously cold. After a moment, he rounded on the rest of the room.
He was in some sort of walk-in freezer.
• • •
Luigi all but ran to the front of the mansion, flattening the few ghosts stupid enough to get in his way. He burst, squinting, into the foyer to find the professor waiting for him, just inside the double-doors.
The man’s face was tense and drawn, eyes darting anxiously over the room—it was touching in a way. He eyed Luigi intently as he approached, but much to Luigi’s relief, didn’t ask any questions—just held the door open for him and followed back to the lab.
Neither of them spoke at all until they had sealed the night out behind them and slid down the ladder.
“What happened?” The professor asked.
Luigi stripped the Poltergust from his shoulders and set it gently on the floor.
“I was ambushed.”
“By boos?”
Luigi nodded, chest heaving.
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
Luigi stepped shakily to the old sofa and tried to sit down, but in a moment he was up again, clutching his hat. E. Gadd watched him with a piercing intensity.
“Lad, you have got to tell me what happened.”
Luigi’s face twisted and he took another deep, calming breath. Quietly, he began to recount the incident. The professor listened without a word.
“And Mario’s your brother?” He said, when Luigi had finished. Luigi gave a miserable nod.
“Poor fella…”
The sound of rain clattered against the tin roof far above, and there was a soft, drip- drip- drip between the rafters. Faint humming escaped from the half-open door to the computer-lab. Luigi began pacing anxious circles around the room, looking dazed and still wringing his hat between his hands.
“Your brother’s that foreign treasure hunter, isn’t he?” Said E. Gadd. “The one the princess is so taken with. I dare say that explains a lot.”
“What-” Luigi took another deep breath. “What will the boos do to him?”
E. Gadd hesitated.
“I don’t know. I’ve seen some weird stuff, but I’ve never heard of boos taking a person like that. Whatever’s happened, I doubt they’ll kill him. Did you manage to catch any boos before theaway?”
“No…”
“Ah. No matter. You’ve got one already, and at least you managed to split them up. Now you can pick them off before they regather.”
There was another moment of silence.
“Professor,” said Luigi, looking up sharply. “In that room, there was a combination to open the grate. What is it?”
Again, E. Gadd hesitated. “To open the trapdoor, you mean?”
Luigi nodded, still watching him intently. It was the Professor's turn to take a deep breath. “Lad, I don’t think you understand how lucky you got back there. Boos grow in power as their numbers increase. And if King Boo is still here... You wouldn’t stand a chance against all of ‘em at once, poltergust or not.
“Besides there's a good chance your brother isn’t down there at all. There are plenty of old dungeons in that place. He could be in any one of them.”
Luigi visibly flinched at the concept.
“But- why else would they all be in one place like that?” he said.
“I don’t think that ambush was meant for you, lad. They were probably after me.”
“Why?”
“I’m a ghost hunter. The boos are ghosts—well, spirits. I can’t imagine there are many people they’re less fond of than me.
‘And more importantly, that trapdoor leads to my lab.” The professor chuckled at Luigi’s confused look. “What, did you think this shabby place is where I do my work? This is hardly more than a shed—a panic room.”
The professor’s grin faded, and he once again became serious. “Anyhow, there’s not a living soul other than me who knows about that trapdoor, let alone how to open it. It makes no sense for the boos to lay a trap there for you.”
“I have to check down there,” Said Luigi firmly, “The boos aren’t there now. This is the only chance I’ll get.”
E. Gadd hesitated for another moment, then turned to one of the crowded work-benches with a half-shake of his head. Luigi watched him intently as he teased a notepad and pencil from one of the stacks of junk and scribbled a short number combination. He ripped off the sheet and offred it to Luigi; he took it, clenching it in one hand.
“Have you notice that the gameboy beeps whenever you encounter boos?” Asked E. Gadd.
“Yes.”
“That’s the boo radar: it’s kept me out of a lot of trouble over the years. If that thing starts beeping and flashing red while you’re in the lab, you get out quick. Don’t count on the poltergust to scare the boos off twice because it won’t—I can hardly believe it happened the first time.”
“I understand.”
Silent and grim-faced, Luigi went back to where he left the poltergust, shrugging it awkwardly onto his shoulders. E. Gadd followed behind him.
“Don’t look so nervous, lad. It won’t help you in there, let me tell you. Just be careful, and stay sharp. Keep an eye on the boo radar,” he said in his usual enthusiastic tone. “I’ll keep monitoring your progress from here.”
“Thanks,” said Luigi, and began his resolute climb back up the ladder, the bit of note paper still crushed in one hand.
Notes:
Welp, it looks like this chapter is just short. It’s not 100% how I want it (I’m not sold on the scene between E. Gadd and Luigi), but it’s not horrible and staring at it isn’t making it any better.
I’ll give it a week-ish, so all my regulars can read the new parts, but I think I’ll move the part with Mario in the well to the beginning of this chapter, too. That way chapters 13 and 14 will be normal lengths rather than a massive abomination and a skipy shrimp back to back.
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