Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon (Slow Updates)

Chapter 5- A-2 Gear Up

"M-M-Mario?" Luigi asked in a timorous manner to his older brother. He wasn't sure about the question he wanted to ask but it was always bothering him and he figured his brother could give him a straight answer.

"What it is, bro?" Mario asked, in his normal reassuring and carefree tone of voice Luigi was all too familiar with.

The often apprehensive younger sibling had his gloved hands clasped together in front of him indicating that he was obviously nervous about something. He noticed that his brother was giving him eye contact, waiting patiently for his response as he sat on the red couch beside his own green chair. "I've been wondering... What if King Boo returns..."

Mario sighed. "Not this subject again, Luigi... There's nothing to worry about. King Boo has been gone for years now. I don't think we'll see him ever again. Besides, King Boo's been preserved in his own artful prison. Something he most certainly deserved after trying to trap a living host in one. If I couldn't escape from my own painting without assistance, there's no way King Boo can."

Luigi didn't respond at first. He only nodded as he listened to his brother's confident answer. Mario thought that would be the end of the conversation but then Luigi finally made a reply with another question. "But doesn't King Boo have alliances like other boos, other ghosts or even the King of the Koopas himself. I could've sworn he mentioned that he was an ally to Bowser too."

At that point, Mario was unable to answer. Luigi was right about that but there was still a strong possibility that he didn't have any alliances worthy enough to even attempt to restore the King from E. Gadd's Laboratory. He suddenly shook his head. "Even if that's the case, it still has been years. If someone could theoretically manage to retrieve the King's portrait, they would've done it a long time ago."

"I guess you're right, bro..." Luigi replied. He was still unsure but he decided to let go of the thought for now. It would only bring back the painful memories again if he continued. Mario seemed to have been convinced that the King really had no chance of ever escaping his fate but in truth, Mario wasn't really assured of his own response himself. He just didn't want Luigi to panic over the whole prospect of King Boo striking back after all these years of absence.

Luigi awoke from his slumber with a jolt. He didn't know that he even fell asleep. The last thing he remembered doing was healing his bruises with an ice pack and he probably ended up dozing off in the process. That one memory flooded back to him while he was asleep and just thinking about it gave him more anxiety. "What if King Boo is the cause of the Dark Moon shattering? Could Mario be wrong...? Did King Boo really return after all these years...? There's no way..." He shook the thought out of his head and stood up from the couch he was previously sleeping on.

All of a sudden, he heard the Professor call out for him. It was already time for his next mission. Luigi only sighed in desperation. "Let's just get this over with... As soon as this is over, the quicker I can go home... I just hope Mario is doing alright..."

"Luigi! There you are! Ready for some more action?"

"I'm not really sure I'm really looking forward to this but I don't think I have much of a choice if the world is at risk..."

"Ah, you're a courageous lad. You know, you remind me of myself at your age, feller. Ho ho! Those were the days..."

"You mean... The days when you were afraid of ghosts too?"

"Precisely, my boy. Anyhoo, we need to start searching for the rest of the Dark Moon. Luckily, I've got just the invention to make our job easier! I call it the Parascope, a tip-top device that detects and measures distant paranormal signals. In fact, I just used it to scan the Gloomy Manor, and I found some strong activity in the north rooms. That's where we'll start our search."