Why... why...

   Luigi sniffed and lifted his head. How could such a terrible thing have happened? How had it happened?

   Gazing again up and down at the grim substance that painted and splattered the wall before him, Luigi felt something inside him move. He wasn't sure what it was, exactly; but quite suddenly he scrambled up with a gasp.

   He knew what he needed to do.

   Mario was in serious danger! This was no time to be wasting or weeping!

   Turning left, then right, Luigi looked desperately up and down the hall, the explored and the unexplored. What could he possibly find if he went back; hadn't all the other doors been blocked off? And then... here, the crimson trail clearly showed the way he ought to go. But...

   Pausing in a terrible indecision, Luigi halted. He didn't have much time and he knew it. He knew what the evidence suggested. And yet... what was it that he was really trying to stop?

   Turning to stare at the floor behind him, he felt the turmoil stir within him like a storm. Maybe it was the biggest mistake of his life. Maybe this entire night had been a huge, terrible deadly mistake. None of this was supposed to happen this way. But it had.

   Slowly, Luigi looked down at the Poltergust in his hands. He carefully curled his fingers around it, suddenly his mind made up. He was taking his own life, Mario's, and likely countless others into his hands and he knew it. But he had to take this risk. He knew what must be done; and it had to be done quickly.

   Turning away from the bloody trail, Luigi turned and followed his heart back down the stairs.

~

   Moving more swiftly with each passing second, Luigi broke into a run. The same old first floor hallways were similar to those on the floor above it, so this all felt strange; but then at the same time Luigi knew where he was going. He knew where he wanted to go.

   Rounding a corner, he breathed a small sigh of relief. Here: he had found it. The wall of crates.

   Quickly coming forward, Luigi inspected them in an instant. Grabbing one nearest him on the bottom of the pile, he began to drag it away; it was heavy, but still seemed hollow somehow. What was their deal?

   Still, after dragging one a satisfactory distance out of the way, Luigi quickly came to a conclusion. He didn't have time for this - he was on a mission. And he didn't even care what happened to the mansion anyway.

   Immediately turning to his secret pocket arsenal, Luigi busted out his other tool - the fire nozzle. Switching it out with the vacuum, he stood back, took a deep breath, and opened fire.

   Almost in a single explosion the crates caught and burst into flame with a shocking heat. The intense glow filled the section of the hallway with a light it had likely not seen in a very long time. The air filled with loud crackling as the crates began to disintegrate and burn fumes all around him. But Luigi didn't have time to care. Standing back, he quickly turned to his water nozzle and set to put the fires out once again. Destroyed and ashy, the remains of the wood lay everywhere - and the mansion beneath looked none the worse.

   For just an instant's curiosity Luigi paused, looking down among the remains. But it was then that his path was truly clear: they were empty. There had been nothing inside them all along.

~

   Luigi had never been more determined to plunge into the unknown as he pressed on down the dark, creaky staircase that led into an ancient basement. He trusted his flashlight to show the way; but it was his heart that led him through the darkness. He knew where he was going.

   Opening into the creepy grey cellar door at the base of the stairs, Luigi hardly paused to even look around. Shuffling quickly through the dust and the junk, he didn't even think about what else might be here. He was close now, and he could feel him. That thought excited him enough to press forward with almost careless abandon.

   At last he paused, if only for a couple of seconds, when he opened into the dank, dark passageway that resembled a morgue more than anything else. He must have been deep underground, in an abandoned sewer or dungeon of some sort; and that was what spurred him ever faster forward.

   Several other ancient doors lined the hallway before him, but he ignored them all. Suddenly he had spotted it, and he knew exactly where he wanted to go.

   There, at the end of the tunnel, a beaten, creepy metal door stood waiting.

   Luigi held his breath as he stared at it in the dim flashlight. The perfect place for a king and his captives.

   Rushing forward, Luigi seized upon it. He was aware how, in another life, in another, better story, this place should have been hard-reached. It could have been locked, at least. But this was not that tale. Now everything hinged on this single rusty hinge.

   And then it opened. And then Luigi entered into a different world; a golden, bright, sparkling world of ancient riches and pillars of jewels. And there before him at the end of the short path was a crowned monarch at the altar; and a single golden image that made Luigi's heart swirl and rage, burst and melt all in one moment.

   A painting with his brother trapped inside.

   There they both sat, waiting almost as if for him; and at first sight of them Luigi could not breathe at all.

   At his entrance the both of them moved. Looking up to see a dirty, exhausted and rather bedraggled young man with a vacuum burst into the secret altar, they both stared. He wasn't very impressive; but he was a welcome sight.

   King Boo was the first to address him. "Ah, Luigi!" he greeted, floating away from his painting to come nearer. "So you come at last."

   Swallowing with ripe determination and fear, Luigi stared at him with enormous eyes filled with anger and sorrow. Then his gaze flitted past him, to the one who hung back, unable to come forward.

   Mario stirred as if from a sleepy fervor and met his eyes. Suddenly in that moment their sapphire gazes joined, Luigi felt an intense strength filling him. Mario...

   "L-Luigi...!" he abruptly cried, almost as if afraid. But that never happened. It was something else, Luigi knew. And the only something else it could be was pain.

   He was shocked at first, to hear that the painting could cry out. But that single word was all it could manage.

   With a growl of exasperation King Boo turned. "Oh, shut up, Mario," he snapped. "Haven't you learned yet to silence your own yapping?"

   As if in answer, the dazed prisoner sagged forward, leaning on the invisible glass of his own prison; and with a bloodied glove to hold himself he laid there motionless.

   Luigi stared, horrified, at the worn image of the one who had forever been his friend and his shelter, his hero; and with the greatest of control he kept himself from rushing to his side. Suddenly he felt it wash over him like a wave, and he wanted to cry again. How he had missed him.

   But something was wrong; this wasn't over yet. Snatching the Poltergust, he turned on the king. "What have you done?!"

   King Boo snorted. "Oh, please. It's not gonna kill him," he chuckled. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

   Luigi didn't respond, just stood, staring and shaking his head in terror at the silent painting of his brother. Mario didn't look up, didn't respond; he seemed to have fallen out of it entirely.

   Finally King Boo said, "It's nothing out of the ordinary, you know. He's like that most of the time - when he's not in a fit of rage. Doesn't know what's good for him. Been very feverish and insensible all night."

   Luigi stood like a rock, rigid and stony. Suddenly he had changed; and in one angry glare he turned on him. "Why."

   King Boo frowned. "Why what?"

   "Why... How could you do this?"

   "There's much more to life than just you and your brother, boy," he informed icily. "I'm going to teach you a lesson you won't soon forget. Mario is doomed to be my prize... thanks to his stupid gullibility. Seriously, can't you see a scam when you read one?"

   Luigi stared, horrified, as the king continued his tirade. "But the hell you went through is not quite enough yet. You didn't do it right, I know. I hadn't planned it to go this way. But still, there is something left." He fixed Luigi with an unsettling grin.

   "Now join your brother..."

   There wasn't time for Luigi to reply. He only knew that suddenly the altar was plunged into darkness, and a strong wind began to whistle around him. He was afraid; but not so much for himself this time. Just before it swept him away, his heart-stopping cry rose above the uproar.

   "Hang on, Mario!"

~

   The air was warm. All around him the sky blazed as if it were made of fire; and the ground beneath him was of the blackest shingle and stone. It took him several long moments to realize where he was.

   Luigi was on the roof.

   Looking down, he realized that the Poltergust was in his hand; and in silent dread he noticed the enormous dark shadow growing on the stones before him. This was it.

   Like a scene from a nightmare a huge monster landed on the roof in front of him, just waiting to be fought; and when he reared up his enormous head Luigi gasped a terrible gasp. It wasn't just any monster.

   It was Bowser.

   Mario's arch-nemesis stared down at the tiny man almost as if ready to eat; and for a second Luigi had absolutely no words. He didn't know what Bowser could possibly be doing here; it might have been a dream, an illusion, something. But with all the horrors Luigi had previously been through, the monster must have felt a little left out.

   "Hey, puny plumber," it roared, a terrifying grumble in the back of his throat. Luigi hadn't expected Bowser to speak; but his surprise went unnoticed.

   "Surprised to see you make it here," he cackled, booming voice shaking the very mansion. "You're doomed to stay here forever, you know... you and your pathetic brother!" Pausing to shake his giant head, he added, "But enough talk! Let's end this... here and now."

Quivering in his shoes, Luigi slowly raised the Poltergust before him. He knew he would never be ready for this fight. He knew that he could never beat Bowser with a vacuum.

But he had to try.

Coming to think of it, he had no idea where King Boo had gone; but there was no time to think about that. From nowhere Bowser had suddenly produced a trio of giant, metallic cannonball-like weapons, studded in sharp spikes. Another instant and he had hurled them forward, one after another.

And then it began; Luigi scrambled about the roof like a headless chicken, running and dodging for his life as he avoided the enormous weapons, certainly big enough to crush and impale him. Bowser stampeded forward, roaring up a storm; and it wasn't until he spotted one of the balls, sitting at a standstill near the chimney, that it struck Luigi.

Of course... the way to beat him was by his own weapons!

Making sure that the beast was a safe distance away, Luigi darted towards it and activated the Poltergust. Bowser, instantly seeing him, began to tramp closer. It was now or never.

Holding his breath, Luigi raised the heavy metal ball and groaned. Bowser began to bend down, the grumble of the fire in his throat sounding warningly.

Wait... wait... Now!

The instant his mouth opened Luigi released the enormous burden. Immediately there was a terrible crash; before the fire could come forth in a relentless wave and swallow him, the deadly weapon met the monster head-on. Falling back to the ground in the tremendous explosion that followed, Luigi squinted through the smoke; and there on the ground beside him was a sight that made him let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Bowser's head.

At the sight of his brother's decapitated enemy Luigi screamed. And screamed and screamed and screamed some more. He knew it had been terrifying... but the thought of having killed him in such a way was still terrifying more.

He might have sat there for quite a while if it weren't for the strange airy sound he heard behind him. Glancing up, Luigi saw that Bowser's body still stood; and pouring forth from his open neck hole, jittering and twitching like a convulsing spirit, came King Boo.

He had been controlling him; it was all a fake. Realizing this was the only reason Luigi didn't pass out at the sight of Bowser's lone head picking itself up, and begin circling him like some brainless hawk.

Scrambling to his feet, Luigi grabbed his vacuum one last time. Bowser or no, there was the king; this was his chance!

But it wouldn't be as simple as the other boos. Sure enough, like most of the other human ghosts, King Boo proved to be more than stubborn, resisting the pull of his vacuum for a long, tiring struggle. It only got worse when the Bowser head suddenly began to violate his namesake's rules, shooting great balls of ice down at him.

Dodging one as it smashed into the ground beside him, Luigi held on. Come on! he thought.

It was then that he noticed the Poltergust was shuddering; smoke was beginning to rise in the air around him as he pulled, and suddenly Luigi remembered the words of the professor: If it overheats...

But how could he let go? He was so close...!

And then it exploded. In a huge burst of flames and smoke, the suction suddenly gave way; and Luigi tumbled head over heels backwards onto the rough ground. Glancing in horror at his weapon for an instant, he saw the Poltergust's tank pouring with black fumes.

Turning wildly, Luigi gasped. But no one was there.

Scrambling up, he whirled in a circle, on the alert; but it was for naught. The Bowser head had fallen, and the body beside him reared up one last time before crashing to the ground at his feet with a heavy thud.

And then all fell to silence.

Luigi was almost unable to believe for a moment until he saw the gorgeous prize lying on the ground nearby; and his fear dispelled in one moment. King Boo's crown.

Picking up the weighty thing, Luigi felt his head spin. He still didn't know who exactly the Boo was, or why all that had happened had. What this whole night was about.

But suddenly he knew one thing: and it broke over him like the glorious waterfall of light that came to take him away.

It was finally ending.

~

The altar was aglow like a pharaoh's tomb, sparkling flecks of gold even from the rocky pillars supporting its ceiling. The air here was warm, and not cold; and as Luigi appeared once again in the middle of the aisle he found it more lovely than he could have imagined.

Quite suddenly the air had lightened and it felt almost free; but still one last doubt remained. Turning to the small altar, Luigi held his breath.

There in the frame of gold the painting rested, the same as ever; alone and still, its inhabitant seemed barely conscious. Or perhaps it was better than that: Mario was asleep.

Luigi didn't know how or why this had happened. He didn't know what in the great wide world this sorcery was; but for a second it almost didn't matter. It was Mario; and he was still alive.

With the most ginger reverence Luigi came forward. He hated to dare, hated to even think of disturbing his brother; but he had to do this. He'd get the professor's help. He was smart; he'd figure a way to get Mario out of this nightmare. But for now Luigi would have to carry him there.

Reaching up for the jeweled frame, Luigi couldn't help but pause. It saddened him almost beyond belief at the up-close sight of him; clearly it had been the most dreadful time before he was sealed in the painting. Thinking of the possibilities made him shudder in terror, staring at his restlessly slumbering brother whom he still couldn't reach. It must have been awful.

Forcing himself to forget all that, Luigi turned back to the task at hand. This whole night had gone wrong, maybe, and it should never have happened this way. But Luigi had a feeling he had made it through to the end regardless. And now... he would make it right.

He could still finish it the way it was meant to be; and gently lifting the frame from the rocky wall, he did.

~

"He'll be alright, I promise," E. Gadd said as he and Luigi stood by the Ghost Portrificationizer later that morning.

   Luigi had safely made it back to the lab at long last to be received by the professor with the warmest welcome. He had not only found his brother, but he had captured the mastermind King Boo; and for this feat the professor was eternally grateful.

   "I don't quite understand what his whole deal was, but I reckon you'll sleep easier once he's in a painting of his own," the professor had said.

   Now, the painting was leaned up against the wall nearby, waiting to be hung; and staring again at it's frightening image, Luigi couldn't help feeling intimidated.

   Bowser stared upwards to the comparatively small Boo before a fiery orange background. Luigi didn't understand how Bowser showed up in the painting as well, but it was the king's eyes that really got him. Piercing red and dripping with evil, Luigi couldn't entirely shake the shadow of doubt that would forever remain; the possibility of his someday escape.

   The nightmare he'd been through at the mansion's hand was the longest night of his life; and both figuratively and literally, Luigi was tired. Now, the only thing keeping him from dropping was the Portrificationizer before him working in reverse, extracting his brother from his painting.

   Luigi winced at every jolt, every zap that the frame went through; more than once he thought he heard the cry of pain or surprise from the inside. Then, at last, it came to an end. Timidly approaching the start of the machine, where he normally would plug the Poltergust in, he held his breath.

   And then the opening exploded, nearly burst from the inside, sending a big, heavy thing catapulting out on to the floor a few feet away. With a gasp, Luigi turned and rushed over.

   Mario was still. Like one near death he lay on his side on the ground, as if tossed there by a fearsome warrior; and kneeling by his side Luigi felt his heart pound in worry.

   "Mario... Mario!"

   As gently as he could, Luigi pulled his brother's limp body up into his lap, then propped him upright carefully, holding him; and with his head against Luigi's heart Mario began to stir.

   At his first feeble cough Luigi shushed him. "There bro... there... it's okay," he murmured, holding him against his chest. He expected Mario to push him off, say it was no big deal, shrug it away. But none of that happened.

   With a nearly inaudible moan he lifted his head just a bit, to see the one holding him; and as he was taking several long moments to focus, Luigi managed a sad smile.

   "Hi Mario," he said, little above a whisper. Their eyes met and for a moment that was all.

   Then Mario blinked and frowned, staring at him; and then as if in one moment the recognition hit, and his face lit into a weak smile. Trembling, he slowly lifted a feeble hand and touched Luigi's cheek with a blood-dried glove. Blinking back tears, Luigi let out a choked laugh and rested his head there.

   "Hey, Luigi," Mario murmured, scarcely able to get the words out. At this he started a slight coughing fit, shaking terribly; and Luigi held onto him a little tighter. When it had passed, Mario panted for air and turned tired eyes back to his brother.

   "A-are you... okay?"

   "I'm fine, bro," he replied dismissively, looking him over seriously. Never in all his life had he seen Mario this winded and utterly struggling to function. He could barely keep his eyes open.

   Grasping Mario's frail hand, he clutched it tightly and held on. For a moment they didn't move at all, just held on; and then Mario sagged his head back on Luigi's arm.

   "Th-thank... goodness," he whispered, relaxing into a faint smile. Luigi felt his heart wrench and twist with every passing second; he felt utterly awful just looking at him. A kind of guilt began to rise within him, a guilt he hadn't expected; the survivor guilt. Mario hadn't died, but he had suffered much more than Luigi had.

   Luigi couldn't even imagine how all of this had happened. A few smaller cuts and bruises adorned his face, already making him look terrible; his gloves were dirty with the bloodstains, as if from touching his own wounds; his sleeves were torn and soaked badly, and on one arm Luigi could tell he'd been bitten by something deep; he was covered with strange fluid from the machine on top of that; and then there was his side. Luigi could already feel his damp side even leaking through his clothes, although his overalls didn't appear torn. He might have been badly hit by something...

   In view of all this, Luigi suddenly began to tremble; and carefully pulling Mario into his chest, he held him close. He didn't care that his white gloves were getting stained with red; he didn't care about any of it but one thing. Mario was here, and he had fallen into another sleep against him; but it was a calmer, more peaceful sleep this time. Resting under Luigi's chin, his breathing slowly grew more normal; and with the most ginger patience in the world, Luigi sat and cradled his worn, beaten body. He soon grew a little more bold and began to caress his head, stroking and whispering tiny things that no one else would understand. Once he put a hand over his chest, just to make sure he was breathing; and he found a heartbeat in sync with his own.

   Silently sobbing, Luigi stayed over his brother for a long time, washing his wounds with his tears.

~

   Holding his breath, Luigi clutched his flashlight and shifted in a slow circle. There was another here; he could feel it.

   Suddenly there was a loud slam in the darkness, as of metal; and with a gasp, he whirled to reveal an eerie face illuminated by his flashlight.

   "Ah!"

   Stumbling back, he nearly tripped over a metal hatch in the floor.

   "Gotcha!" A voice chuckled mischievously.

   Backing up, Luigi frowned. "Mario!" he scolded. Shining his light ahead, he focused on his brother's figure in the dark ahead of him, wielding the shiny vacuum nozzle and laughing spontaneously. Mario was the king of spontaneous laughter.

   With a sigh, Luigi shook his head in pretend exasperation. How he wished he had a gift like that - but how did one learn to laugh in the dark?

   Glancing up at something just over Luigi's shoulder, Mario widened his eyes for half a second. Jolting his machine to life, he sucked up the purple ghost and almost pulled Luigi along with it.

   "But of course, you missed one," Mario chuckled as the dim lights overhead came on and he turned for the door.

   "I still won by two," the younger brother replied, following him out.

   "Well, I didn't do bad for all the light directly in my eyes," his brother retorted with a snort. "Mama mia, hold your flashlight a little steady, bro!"

   Exiting the training room, the two made their way into the professor's underground gallery, the place where all his ghost paintings were kept. Luigi quite liked it down here; it was cool and quiet, and the giant unicorn statues and overall feel made it seem almost like something out of a fairytale. There on a wall nearby, Lydia and her husband hung in happy repose.

   E. Gadd had recently been happy to unveil his newest creation: a newer model of the Poltergust that he'd been working on over the past several weeks. On learning of Mario's interest and overall impressed attitude towards Luigi's ghostbusting adventure, he had offered to let him use it to practice in the training room in his lab. The two had since been competing and mostly playing around in there quite a bit.

   On his first receiving the new Poltergust, which the professor had dubbed the Poltergust 3000, Mario first whispered to Luigi, "Do you think he's made 2999 before this?"

   Luigi rolled his eyes but couldn't help laughing. "Hey, why does he get the newer one?" He complained.

   "Well I just figured you'd like the one you've already been using," E. Gadd replied. "Unless you want a Poltergust that can't be ridden?"

   Then Luigi had been satisfied enough with his old 400.

   Now, walking into the gallery side by side, Luigi looked over the sleeker, smaller machine on his brother's back.

   "Hey, no one teaches me how to use a flashlight," Luigi defended, punching his arm.

   The lighthearted teasing of the moment was cut short when Mario jumped and gasped, clutching his arm; and Luigi instantly felt like shooting himself. With a gasp he stopped.

   "Oh Mario, I'm so sorry! I - "

   Shaking his head in worry, Luigi watched him guiltily as Mario carefully cradled his arm with the tenderness of an infant. He knew he was supposed to be careful around Mario's side wound... and his fang wound... but it was hard to remember sometimes when Mario didn't wear any outward bandages over his clothes. Mario loved to insist he was fine and then discover later that that hurt! It was the stubborn streak that Luigi had missed.

   "Here... you can punch me back!" Luigi said, offering his own arm.

   Mario cocked a less-than-pleased eyebrow at him and paused. Looking him over, Luigi felt the same old guilt he now felt every time he saw his brother's face. The professor had said he looked good, and he'd really meant it, but... even with all the injuries cleaned up, which was no small amount of work, Luigi couldn't help but cringe to see the bruises and healing cuts that adorned his brother's face. People mistook it for a fist fight or maybe a car accident; but no one ever shared how it had really happened.

   Forgetting for a moment about the previous incident, Luigi suddenly reached out a tender hand; and with the most respectful meekness he touched the deep slash across his brother's cheekbone. It would heal just like all the others; but that one might take a bit longer.

   Surprised, Mario stopped and looked up at him; but the sadness began to reflect in his gaze again. Shaking his head, Mario pushed his arm down.

   "Don't look, Weegie," Mario instructed, allowing a small smile. Coming forward, he pulled Luigi into a hug.

   "Look behind me instead."

-The End-