It was about midnight and Lightning was still restless. She got up and walked towards Luigi who was fast asleep, laying his head down on his ghost Greavard friend. Lightning sighed, "I wished I could protect you better... But I feel so weak..." she slowly and carefully put a paw on the back of his neck. "How strong was Polterkitty's bite on you?" She suddenly felt something cold and wet. She moved her paw away quickly and inspected it. "Blood!" She gasped in horror, her eyes widened. She carefully shook her friend awake. "Luigi... Luigi, wake up..." she whispered, trying not to wake up Mario, Polterpup or E. Gadd too. Luigi muttered and groaned until he finally opened his eyes with a jolt. "L-Lightning! What is it?!" He asked.

"Shhh!" Lightning shushed him, hoping he didn't wake up anyone.

"Luigi... You- You're bleeding..." Lightning whispered.

"I-I am?" He put a paw on the back of his neck and also moved it away after feeling something damp. "Did Polterkitty really get me that deep?"

Lightning lit up a small Electro Ball to use as a light source to see in the dark den. "It doesn't look too deep, but we should probably clean it so it doesn't get infected."

Lightning peeked her head out of the den to see an Umbreon, Leafeon, Glaceon, and Vaporeon outside standing guard. She then turned back to Luigi. "I'll be right back. You stay here, okay?"

Luigi didn't argue with her and just nodded in agreement. She slowly walked out of the den to confront one of the guards. "Excuse me...?" She spoke calmly to a Vaporeon.

"What are you doing outside of your den, Pikachu?!" The male Vaporeon questioned in a harsh tone.

"My friend is hurt. The back of his neck is bleeding from the cat attack earlier and I just noticed it. Am I able to get some water so I can clean it?" Lightning asked.

"Should you be going to the Healer's Den instead?!" The hasty Vaporeon grunted.

"It's not that bad of a wound, but it needs to be cleaned or it will become infected," Lightning explained, starting to lose her patience with this rude Vaporeon.

"Who made you, Healer?!" The Vaporeon asked, rather brashly.

"You're really testing my patience here, sir!" Lightning snarled. "Can you just let me pass so I can get water for my friend, please?!"

"Oh, sure! I can give you some water!" The Vaporeon replied, mockingly before shooting her with a Water Gun to the face.

Lightning shook the water off and growled. "That's not what I meant!" Her red electric sacs sparked to life in anger but she quickly calmed down when the Leafeon intervened.

"Please excuse, CloudBurst for his temperament. He's not exactly the nicest Vaporeon," the male Leafeon spoke up, receiving a growl from the Vaporeon. "What seems to be the problem here?"

Lightning took a breath to calm herself down. "My friend, Luigi, has been wounded and I need some water to clean it."

"Oh I see! Go right ahead!" They let her pass to get to the pond.

"Thank you!" She told the Leafeon before glaring at the Vaporeon as she went by him.

She overheard the Vaporeon muttering to the Leafeon, "are you kidding me, Fern! You're letting the Pikachu that we don't even know use our water?!"

Lightning picked up a nearby wooden bowl and filled it up with water as she was listening. "She is a friend of the Eevees that we have to look after. She's not a threat..." Fern insisted.

"Pfft... Not a threat?! That's preposterous?! She's a Pikachu! Do you remember that Pikachu and Eevee used to be enemies?! How do you know we can trust this Pikachu?" CloudBurst scoffed.

"That Pikachu, came with the Eevees and she promised that she would protect them. Besides, she's friends with some of the Eeveelutions here. What makes you think she is a threat?! We can't just exile her. Besides, you attacked her. She didn't attack you."

"Yeah, but she almost did. You saw her cheeks spark up."

"I don't blame her after the way you acted towards her! She has the right to defend herself you know!"

The two Eeveelutions continued to bicker at each other as Lightning picked up a large leaf and placed it in the water bowl before walking back to the den. She turned around for a moment to see the female Umbreon of the group trying to break up the argument. "Can you two knock it off, we have to be on the look out for any intruders!"

"Fine! But the only intruder I see is that Pikachu!"

Both the Umbreon and Leafeon rolled their eyes in annoyance. "Can you cut it out already?!" They both groaned in unison.

Lightning shook her head and finally entered the den. "Sorry it took so long. I had to deal with a rather rude guard."

"It's fine..." Luigi responded.

"Are you sure?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah... Don't sweat it!"

Lightning set the bowl down next to him and smiled back at him before turning back with a frown. "I'll forewarn you that this might sting a little..." She grabbed the wet leaf from the bowl and placed it gently on the back of Luigi's neck, he flinched a little as it was placed down on his wound. Lightning began to rub the wound clean until it stopped bleeding at last. "There... better!" She remarked before placing the dirty leaf back into the water.

"Thanks..." Luigi told her.

"You're welcome, Luigi..." she replied back. "You can go back to sleep now. Sleep well!" She told him.

Luigi suddenly raised his head up slowly and added. "You're a great help to us, Lightning. You're very strong! And we're glad to have you with us."

Lightning's ears perked up and turned to look at him with a big smile. "Really?! I'm strong? You mean it?!"

"Yeah, of course we do. Mario thinks so too. I know he does. Don't underestimate yourself, Lightning. You're helping us a lot! And we appreciate your help." Luigi exclaimed to her with a smile back before laying his head back down on Polterpup.

"How did he know? How did he know what to say?" She thought to herself before laying down herself to finally let sleep take over at last.

                                    ***
Meanwhile, the Dark One and King Boo were still waiting for their groups to come back, hoping they would return with the brothers but when all of them finally returned, they were greatly disappointed to find out that they failed to complete their tasks. "We've failed you, Master..." The Shadow Vikavolt, Overdrive, was the first to speak up to the Dark One. "We apologize for the unfortunate news that you have not counted on... The Mario Brothers have outsmarted us and put us at a disarray... They were stronger than we thought, Great Master Dark One!" Overdrive bowed in shame.

King Boo only chuckled. "I told you it wouldn't be as easy as you'd think. Those two twin brothers are stronger together as a team. We need a way to separate them and keep them apart just long enough to get them both one by one."

"And what about the annoying Pikachu pest?! The one that travels with them!" The Dark One asked. "What do we do to get rid of her?"

"Hmmm..." King Boo thought about it for a moment. The Shiny Gengar with a jeweled crown on his head was floating in the air in a pacing motion. Then he stopped and grinned mischievously to signal that he had a diabolical idea. "Doesn't she have any dangerous enemies? A nemesis of her own?" He questioned.

"I would assume that she does, but I don't know much about this one particular little Pikachu that we'll dealing with," the Dark One responded. "I know you mentioned that her name was Lightning but that name isn't exactly unique to an electric type Pokémon. Although, I can think of some that has beef with her if it's the Lightning that I'm thinking about right now. However, we still need more information then maybe I can figure that out and find them. Maybe even strike a deal with them so they could help us."

"Then that's exactly what we'll do first then we'll take care of the Mario Brothers once and for all!"

"Karasu!!!" The Dark One called for his Murkrow friend. The Murkrow flew from a nearby tree branch to his side. "I want you to spy on that Pikachu and find any information about her at once...!" The Dark One paused for a moment. "...And while you are out go find Inferno the Infernape!"

"I'm on it!" The bird was about to take off but then halted. "Wait, Inferno the Infernape?! But isn't he dead? He fell off a cliff didn't he?"

The Dark One only grinned at the bird before breaking into a low laugh. "That's what they all think! But I know this Infernape is mighty strong! He can't be stopped so easily! In fact, he may be with others that are as strong as he is! Old friends of his!"

The Murkrow didn't say anything else. He only nodded in response to signal that he understood him and flew off to do his master's bidding.

The Dark One then turned to face multiple Shadow Pokémon's eyes staring back at him through the shadows. "Where is Calypso?"

From the sound of his name, a little shadowy humanoid figure materialized from the ground in front of him and bowed in respect.

He appeared to be made of smoky gray shadows himself. Of course he wasn't particularly a Shadow Pokémon but he was an ally of the Dark One. The area around its face resembles headgear, similar to a helmet. He seemed to be like a loyal soldier to the Dark One. On top of the helmet were two curled horns or ears with a wispy horn between them. As if he was a Shadow demon. "Yes, my liege!" The little Shadowy Gloomdweller Pokémon spoke in a soft whispery voice. His orange-red eyes gazed up at the Shadowy Eeveelution.

"Calypso!! My little Marshadow friend, I want you to go with Karasu! Spy on the Mario Brothers and the Pikachu from below! From within their own shadows! Find out more about our so-called heroes and find out what their weaknesses are! I want the Mario Brothers sooner rather than later and time is still ticking! We must not waste anymore time!"

The Marshadow nodded in understanding. "As you wish, My Lord!" He remarked before vanishing back down into the ground.

Overdrive was starting to think the Dark One was done speaking with him so he was about to fly off, but he was soon proven wrong. "Where do you think you're going?! I'm not finished with you yet?!"

"W-what do you want, Master?!" Overdrive asked.

"I thought I sent you out with five other allies?! Why did you come back with only three?!" The Dark One snarled.

"I-I couldn't carry them back with the others, sir... I apologize for the inconvenience..." the Shadow Vikavolt responded, shakily.

"SO YOU LEFT THEM WITH THE ENEMIES?! YOU IDIOT!! THEY WILL ONLY GET INFORMATION FROM OUR SIDE BECAUSE OF THAT AND THEY WOULD LATER BE PURIFIED ONCE THEY GOT THE INFORMATION THEY NEED!!!" The Dark One howled in rage.

"I-I'm sorry, Master... I didn't mean for that to happen..." Overdrive apologized.

"Apologies and forgiveness are for the weak! Punishment and vengeance are for the strong! You may have just showed the Eevees how weak we are!! You may have just showed them that we let our guard down!!"

"B-B-But we're not weak! We know that!"

"Yes, but they are not us!! You have failed me for the last time Overdrive, now you must face the consequences!!" The Dark One's eyes turned blood red and he roared loudly into the Shadow Vikavolt's face, turning him into stone immediately in the process. The Dark One took a breath to calm himself. His strength rose after absorbing the Shadow Vikavolt's life force.

The Shadow Lucario, Marowak and Butterfree looked at the stone Vikavolt in complete shock.

"The rest of you can leave!! Just take this as a warning to never fail me!!" The Dark One growled in anger. The three Shadow Pokémon disappeared soon after.

King Boo floated towards the Vikavolt statue and inspected it with admiration. He grinned with pleasure. "So... You can make fascinating art as well! If anyone is stupid enough to disrespect me like that, they would end up hung from the walls of my throne room."

The ghost Gengar's expression changed. He couldn't help but think about something that really got on his nerves... His grin disappeared and replaced with a scowl. "Eughhh, I HATE Luigi... He's such an irritating individual! If only that old coot of a Professor didn't save him, I would already have him and Mario by now! Maybe even the Professor too. One could argue he deserves it the most."

Although he felt more personally angry at Luigi for capturing him in the Poltergust and being such a huge part of his worst memories, he saw E. Gadd as the start of the whole ordeal. He was the mentor of Luigi after all. However, his main issue was the green plumber himself.

King Boo continued. "I did capture the old Professor and put him in a painting and I thought that would be the end of it. Luigi's mentor was captured, there was no possible way that he could be able to capture me, but I was proven wrong when that old geezer brought a new and improved Poltergust with him and of course Luigi came crawling back to defy me once more!! I swear when I finally have him in my clutches, he's going to get no mercy from me!!! I will make sure he suffers the worst of it!!

One day... I will have my revenge!!!" King Boo declared.

"If you can turn beings into paintings, how come you haven't done it to the ghosts that failed you just now?!" The Dark One questioned.

The Gengar sighed in frustration. "They did just disappear before I could atleast attack them but my true powers are limited here...!"

"Must be the work of the Alpha Pokémon, Arceus! He doesn't want you to have otherworldly powers here, it seems! But don't worry, we'll beat him as well! We don't need him if we're going to have a new Alpha in our perfect new world once we're finished!" The Dark One explained with a menacing smile.

"Good! And with my full power here! Mario and Luigi will have no chance against me!!" The ghost Gengar chortled.

"Do you mean us!" The Dark One corrected.

"Yeah.... Us... That's what I meant!" King Boo replies with a sigh.

"That's what I thought, Boo! If you think you can play a trick on me... You got another thing coming!"

"So what shall our main plan be?" King Boo asked.

"First, we must get rid of the Pikachu pest then we have to get the brothers and once we have them we can continue from there!! With their power, we can pretty much do what we want with them!" The Dark One explained.

"But when would I get them for myself?!" King Boo asked.

"Once this world finally collapses and we build a new one, then you can have them and return to your world if it's what you desire to do... They will have no use to me anymore once I got what I want!" He explained with a deep, unsettling laugh of pleasure.

_________________________________
Now the Dark One is sending out spies, what will the heroes do now? The Dark One also still feels that King Boo can't be trusted. Is King Boo just using the Dark One to get to the brothers or will they actually learn to trust each other and finally work as a true team?

That's another chapter this month. I was in the mood to write a lot this month. I hope you enjoyed ^U^ More will be coming soon... But I will be focusing more on my Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon story adaptation so I can get another update done. As I was working on ideas for that though, it caused me to get two more story ideas that I wish I could work on but I already got other stories I plan to do before them that I haven't started. Both of the stories are more related to the first game but it's more like before the events of them.

One would be about King Boo and his origins and another about the Portrait ghosts and how they died. But the portrait ghost one will be more mature because it involves a lot of death obviously.

The King Boo one was actually inspired on the canceled Retro Studios Boo DS game called "Haunt" but will still be about King Boo's origins mixed into that which would be an interesting idea. I have decided on boo names for some of the characters which a lot are original but I could still always use Boos from the Luigi's Mansion series as well. If you got any boo names too, you can share them in the comments and their meanings. I prefer to use boo pun names but if you got any that are really good but don't have puns, you can share them and if I like them, they might be featured in the story.

Boo names and their original counterparts they are based on I have now are:

Sullivan- Boollivan (King Boo's name) [it's not supposed to be a Monsters INC. reference, it's more because the name means "Dark Eyes" apparently and I feel like it fits him]
Sylvester- Boovester
Elizabeth- Elizaboo
Duality- Booality (feel like this boo could represent the good and evil sides of the boos. Not sure if she will have a big role or not. I plan to make her like the Mysterious power of the boos as an actual character. She was created by King Boo's power and refers him as a father figure. One eye is blue and the other is purple but she has a bit of a dark side. Her dark form turns her purple eye to red and her blue eye to pupiless black. She is weakened whenever the power is weakened itself of course since she isn't really a boo and was created by the mysterious power. I feel that once the power is weakened it would upset King Boo more if he was losing his daughter boo and could make him more angry and dangerous if the Mysterious power of the boos had a bigger inpact. She is unsure why she was created exactly and why she takes the form of a boo but she might find out her true purpose one day)
Alicia- Boolicia
Lucille- Boocille
Bernard- Boonard
Bernadette- Boonadette
Virginia- Booginia
Eustace- Boostace
Laurence- Boorence
Eugene- Boogene
Lucian- Boocian
Lucifer- Boocifer
Luana- Booana
Bruce-Booruce
Boulevard- Boolevard
Eubulus- Euboolus (girl)
Eufrasia- Boofrasia
Orenda- Boorenda
Ortrun- Boortrun
Buddha- Booddha
Ebba- Ebboo
Jabbar- Jabboo
Bertram- Bootram
Brooklyn- Booklyn
And... Baby Boo who may or may not be used in the Haunt story but may still be important one day. Her real name is Boola which is a boo name for Lula. She would have a big role but she again may or may not appear in the Haunt story but could make a debut in her very own story that has no title and no plan as of yet.

Haunt will be the first story before the portrait ghost story though because the events of that story come first before the portrait ghosts come in later on. Boollivan is one of the Boo students in the Haunt University dipped in a magic cauldron by his Boonstructor (boo instructor) that gifted him magic powers. His magic powers take a slower time to develop but it is soon revealed that he got the strongest of the powers and is destined to become the new King of the boos for the new generation of boos. Without spoiling too much of that story, that is all the information you will be getting for the time being.

So what do you think of these new story ideas?