Brother's Loyalty

House of Boos

"Any updates?" asked Thad when Luigi walked into the foyer.

Luigi held up the pink key. "I had to fight a ghost baby to get this," he said.

A pink light briefly emitted from the heart etched on the door in front of him.

"But you still haven't found him?"

"Not yet," said Luigi, "but I'm not giving up. Oh, I found your friend Brad on the upstairs balcony. He's okay—just shaken up."

"Keep us updated—please," entreated Thad.

"Okay," said Luigi.

He unlocked the door with the pink key and ventured into the mansion's second area.

Luigi was now in a network of dark corridors, the hallways teeming with ghosts. There were so many doors, and he had no idea which ones were unlocked. He just had to play it by ear for now.

Humming a made-up tune to calm his nerves, Luigi crept down the hallways. Large ghosts dropped down from the ceiling to give him a fright, a couple of them tossing bombs and other projectiles, but Luigi would recover his nerves and swiftly capture them. These ceiling ghosts would respawn after a while, but at least it was good practice. He'd also suck up more ghost mice and ghost bats along the way.

In a bathroom, Luigi encountered white ghosts which attacked by grabbing him from behind and squeezing him. Twisting his body, he'd manage to escape their grasps before they dealt significant harm and defeat them the usual way. However, they were more difficult to handle than the first ghosts he'd battled.

When the skirmish was finished, Gadd called him.

"Looks like you've run into a bit of trouble there," he said.

"You think?" asked Luigi.

"There are some ghosts, like the ones you just captured, who'll try to get ahold of you—literally," cautioned Gadd.

"Now you tell me," said Luigi.

"When that happens, you must do what you can to shake them off," Gadd told him. "It's the age-old struggle for survival, my boy! Don't lose heart!"

"I don't intend to," said Luigi. "Will that be all?"

"Yes—for now," said Gadd before hanging up.

Luigi wiped his brow, noticed a key perched on a high shelf and vacuumed it down.

"Let the exploration continue," he mused as he let himself out of the bathroom.

Passing one of the rooms, he heard someone playing the piano, and quite beautifully. Unfortunately, the key didn't unlock that door, so Luigi would have to investigate at a later time. Instead, he wound up accessing the ball room, where upbeat music played and small, familiar-shaped ghosts spun round and round.

"Shy Guys?" he wondered.

The Shy Guy ghosts noticed him and advanced, armed with pitchforks. Luigi dodged their attacks and vacuumed away their trademark white masks. And behind those masks were glowing yellow eyes. He couldn't see the rest of their faces, though—and maybe that was a good thing.