Concerning Bycatch Ch. 12

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Index

As soon as the other ghosts left, Clive shut and locked the door on the far side of the room, closing off any chance Comet had of getting into the halls.

The other door was still open, a straight shot to the sparring room and the courtyard beyond. More than once Comet considered taking it, but what would she do then? Go back to the graveyard? Climb the twelve foot, rain slicked fence?

And what if the ghosts did find Novi? What would happen if Comet was gone when they came back? And so, against all better judgment, she stayed.

Concerning Bycatch: Chapter 10

First Chapter
Index

The ground under the window had turned to slurry a long time ago. It was a good thing too, or Comet’s landing would have come off a lot worse than it had.

She stayed where she had fallen for a long time, half sunk in mud, looking up at the sky in a shell-shocked way. The gummy ghost had stuck its head out of the window and yelled abuse, but hadn’t seemed keen on following. Eventually it had gone back inside.

When she was sure it was gone Comet had pushed herself up, slowly and stiffly stumbling into the yard.

Concerning Bycatch: Chapter 9

  



First Chapter
Index

    Luigi staggered to the side of the crib, gripping the bars in the last moments he had before his knees gave out. He had done it. He had beat him, sucked the ghost into the Poltergust.

    Slowly the frenzic, biting panic left him and he slid down on the cushions, utterly drained. He didn’t even have the energy to wonder how he was to get out of here. As it turned out, though, he didn’t have to worry about that.

 

    Gently he felt the bars begin to melt between his fingers. When he opened his eyes he found himself once again on the nursery floor. The lights were on.

Concerning Bycatch: Chapter 8

 

First Chapter
Index

    Beyond the locked door was just what the professor had said: a long, dark hallway.

    The passage stretched away into the murky distance, numerous etched doorways branching off to either side. The wall-mounted candles were here too, running in even rows and casting little pools of dim, flickering light. Luigi closed the entrance to the foyer behind him and waited, ready to face the next wave of ghosts, but for the first time that evening there really did seem to be nothing. After a few long moments he clipped the Poltergust nozzle back into its holster and reached for the Gameboy Horror.

    The study E. Gadd had pointed out flashed dully on the screen, a key shaped emblem spinning slowly in front of it. It was the second right hand door in the hall. He made his way to it quickly and began coaxing the lock, keeping one eye on the dark expanse to his left.

    After a few moments of fiddling the door swung inward with a low, deep-throated creak.
 

Concerning Bycatch: Chapter 7

First Chapter
Index

    Mario’s position was not improving much.

    Ghosts were no longer an issue. They were still present, cropping up in practically every chamber he entered, but for some reason they seemed to have developed an unholy terror of his presence. All he had to do was poke his nose into a room and the majority of them would scatter like so much wind-blown tissue paper. There were a brave few who still tried to attack him, but even these would shrivel back and vanish before breaching a six-foot radius around his person.

    It was helpful, yes, but also exceedingly unnerving.

    Nothing had changed since his escape from the dungeon, at least nothing he knew of, and definitely nothing that should trigger this kind of response. So the question was, why was it happening? No answer he came up with made any sense. No comforting answers anyways.

Concerning Bycatch: Chapter 6

 

First Chapter
Index

  Luigi wasn't sure what he had expected when the professor offered to help him. One thing was for certain, though, it hadn't been this.

  At first E.Gadd had put together a field kit. In addition to the device--which looked for all the world like some sort of vacuum cleaner--he had given him a set of emergency tools, five or six mansion keys, the rest of the mushroom drops, a more powerful flashlight, and some sort of tablet called a 'Gameboy Horror'. Each of these items had been stashed in a storage compartment on the vacuum, and Luigi should have been ready to go.

  How he had gone from that to being locked in the professor's cellar was something Luigi was still figuring out.

Concerning Bycatch: Chapter 5

 

First Chapter
Index

  The mansion was in chaos.

  Mario was loose, a pair of beasts had taken up residence in the south wing; the human called Comet was rampaging around the halls, making herself a living terror to the lesser ghosts and the other girl had set up some sort of fortress in the council room and utterly refused to move.

  Naturally, that was about when the final guest arrived, and he had the distinct honor of being the first to use the front door.

Concerning Bycatch - Chapter 4

 First Chapter
Index

   Novi sprinted down the halls, breathing hard and reasonably dissatisfied.


   Her sister’s steps pounded ahead of her, always a turn or two away.
   “Wai- wait up!” called Novi.
   Why didn’t she stop? 
   “This way!” shouted Comet, just as Novi passed another doorway. She skidded and turned back.
   “You have to stop!” she shouted “Stop!”
   There was no response, just the sound of boots on stone.


    Novi whipped around the frame and yelled as her next step hit air. She panicked, throwing herself back, trying to break the forward momentum. Her foot hit ground again and slipped, sending her sliding down the next three steps of a long, stone staircase.

Concerning Bycatch - Chapter 3

 

First Chapter
Index

  King boo hovered at the head of the procession as his prized prisoner was dragged through the halls.

 How the tables had turned, and after such an evening of unnecessary discomfort. The great Mario had delivered himself up on a silver platter, things couldn't have turned out much better than this.  The king was so exuberant he almost didn't mind the mud being tracked across the fine (if a bit dusty) carpet. Though that would need to be dealt with sooner than later; it wouldn't do to leave a trail for their next 'guest' to follow.

Concerning Bycatch - Chapter 2

 

 

First Chapter

Index

  

    Mario took off his hat and wrung it out on the ground; he couldn't have been more wet if he had fallen in a lake.

   The wind was picking up again, roaring through the bare trees, sucking away what little heat he had left to his name. He fumbled with his pocket, fishing out the sodden map plastered inside, and squinted at it through the glow of his flashlight. The ink had run some and there were a few chunks missing (probably still clinging to the fabric of his overalls), but as far as he could tell, he was still on track.

   Emphasis on 'as far as he could tell'. The trees all looked the same around here.

Concerning Bycatch - Chapter 1

  

   The building stood just a few feet off a cliff overlooking a bay, surrounded on three sides by dense, black forest. It was huge with elegant lines to its structure, almost a castle, but not quite. The place had probably been picturesque once, but that would have been a long time ago. Now it was a forgotten, abandoned husk: a shadow of something that had once been.


   Thick clouds had brought on a premature evening, something that was not needed given how short the days were around here. The wind was picking up as well, shrieking awfully through the bare branches of the trees; the building was adding its own two cents to the situation, like an old man complaining about his rheumatism. Then it started to rain.


  Two massive figures glided over the gate and landed in the courtyard.