Brother's Loyalty

Turns Like Clockwork

Now that the power was restored, Luigi combed through the rooms he'd recently uncovered, sucking up every Boo he came across. These later Boos became harder to capture and had more HP, quickly darting through walls whenever he approached them. However, his GBH wasn't a liar, and when it started to beep, he kept his eyes peeled for Boo activity.

Following the mini Boo hunt, Luigi walked into the clockworks room, where brightly painted cuckoo clocks and other clock-related junk sat on the benches and tables. Some Clockwork Soldiers stood at attention in front of a giant dollhouse, and once Luigi activated all of the cuckoo clocks, they stiffly turned and marched toward him, attacking with their toy muskets. These muskets didn't actually fire bullets, but a cork-like structure attached to—something—which could push Luigi backwards and double him over. Thanks to their generally slow speed, however, Luigi could outmaneuver the four Clockwork Soldiers, using his vacuum to separate them from their windup valves so he could capture them. He tried to capture all four of them at once, since any who managed to escape the suction would try to come to their comrades' aid. Unfortunately, he had to settle for vacuuming up one at a time, since they were strong enough to break free.

After Luigi defeated the last Clockwork Soldier and captured yet another Boo, the door to the large dollhouse opened, revealing itself as a secret passageway to the roof.

On the roof, Luigi saw some Shy Guy Ghosts dancing around a campfire, and when he approached, they all tried to attack him with their pitchforks. Maintaining a safe distance, Luigi pulled off their masks before stunning and capturing them, shrugging off the pokes and swipes he took and vacuuming a Fire Elemental Ghost because you'll never know.

He was glad he did so—after defeating the Shy Guy ghosts, he had to fight several water-based ghosts. Using the fire element, he quickly depleted their HP before vacuuming them up. Upon subduing them, a chest appeared atop the leftmost chimney, which contained—you guessed it—a key.

But when Luigi scaled up the ladder to the rightmost chimney, however, he was dropped down a fireplace and into a sealed room filled with treasure chests!

Some of these chests contained various amounts of treasure, some were empty, and some concealed some tough and pesky ghosts! Granted, some of these ghosts dropped a few extra coins and bills, but still. Anyway, Luigi overcame them all, and after he'd opened all of the chests, the lights came back on, and he was rewarded with a key. He managed to leave the room by scanning the mirror with the GBH, which took him back to the foyer.

"Thanks for turning on the generator," said Thad. "I was just about to lose my [bleep] in the dark!"

"Me, too," admitted Luigi. "I had to take a brief break after restoring the power."

"Where are you off to now?"

"I need to find my way into the secret altar where Mario's being held," said Luigi, "and I just so happen to earn keys to locked rooms by defeating ghosts."

"Good luck!" chirped Thad.

Luigi smiled at the Toad before making his way to a sitting room. After using the fire element to light all of the candles, four gold ghosts attacked him. They landed some good blows on him before he managed to vacuum them up, and then he took on several ice-based ghosts, absorbing a water ghost from a nearby fishbowl to help him. He captured a Boo named Boolivia before proceeding into the guestroom.

This room was upside down, with Luigi walking on the ceiling and the bed and furniture above his head. A ghostly girl was asleep in the bed, murmuring, "Don't try to wake me—you'll regret it if you do..." According to the GBH, this was Sue Pea.

"I won't wet the bed—I promise," Sue Pea said in her sleep.

Wet the bed—maybe I'll do that.

After refilling the water meter, Luigi lightly doused the slumbering Sue Pea. She sat up, staring at him, before quietly falling back asleep. But after Luigi doused her twice more, she came fully awake, glaring at him.

"I warned you!" she cried before summoning dolls to launch at him.

Luigi vacuumed up the dolls without much hassle before stunning the ghostly girl and wrestling her into the Poltergust. Upon her capture, a treasure chest appeared above him.

"How am I supposed to open that if the room is upside down?" asked Luigi.

He stalked out of the room, only to catch himself when he heard a rumbling noise.

"What in the Inferno...?" he uttered as he walked back inside to find the guestroom right side up.

At least it solved that problem.

The Boo Radar started flashing, and Luigi uncovered a Boo under the covers of Sue Pea's bed, which he handily captured. Then, he opened the green chest, which contained lots of treasure.

Before continuing on, Luigi checked in with Brad, Chad and Conrad.

"I'm close," he said. "I can feel it."

"You must've caught a lot of Boos," said Conrad. "I don't feel their presence as strongly anymore."

"Me, neither," said Brad.

"I—I have a favor to ask," said Luigi.

"Anything," said Chad.

"I think you all should meet up with Thad in the foyer," said Luigi. "It's more spacious, and it's the safest area in this mansion. And if anything should happen—then don't come back for me."

Brad's face paled. "You want us to abandon you?!" he cried. "Well, that's not gonna happen!"

"Do. Not. Come. Back. For. Me," Luigi said emphatically, and the Toads knew that he wasn't kidding around.

The three of them bit their lips but didn't object. However, they fired Luigi concerned looks before tottering off to the foyer.

"Don't look at me like that," he muttered after they'd gone. "I know what I'm doing."

Spinning around, Luigi dutifully headed back into the danger zone.

Mario's suffering was nearing its end...