Brother's Loyalty: Battle for Evershade Valley

E-2: Double Trouble

When he heard the Facebook notification chime on his phone, he expected it to be one of the Toad retainers, spreading word of Mario's mysterious situation on social media. He expected it to be Mario, having escaped from whoever attacked him, telling everyone that he was safe. He even expected it to be Peach, starting a Safety Check regarding the incident.

But Luigi wound up with none of those things. Instead, the phone gave him a chilling notification.

King Boo sent you a friend request.

Luigi was frozen where he sat, staring at the notification. How on Earth did King Boo have a Facebook account? And how long did he have it? Was he using it to stalk him, Mario and their friends? And how did King Boo even know that Luigi had a Facebook account?

He wanted to convince himself that this was a joke, that this was a parody account that decided to rattle him for some cheap laughs. But deep down, he knew that this was really King Boo who sent him a friend request.

Somehow, Luigi found the strength to dismiss the notification and put his phone away. Then, he refilled his wine glass, put it to his lips and sipped.

"Oh—that's not good," he heard Gadd say. "That's not good at all."

Luigi raced over to join his mentor. "What isn't?" he asked.

"The paranormal readings in the Treacherous Mansion are getting stronger," said Gadd. "With the Parascope going bonkers like this, there's no way it'll be able to find the Dark Moon piece."

"So—what do we do?" asked Luigi.

"I was just getting to that part," Gadd told him. "The increased paranormal activity has me worried about the safety of my Toad assistant. You see, the mansion contains exhibits full of artifacts from all over Evershade Valley and beyond. They're very valuable, so I sent a Toad curator to look after them. His name's Ted, and he takes his job very seriously."

"Ted," repeated Luigi, recalling what he'd seen the Boos do to those two Toads.

"But looking at these readings, I reckon that he may be in a hostile work environment," Gadd worriedly went on. "We need to help him!"

"He might know where the ghosts are hiding the last Dark Moon piece, too," Fred chimed in.

"I'll get him out of there," said Luigi. "You have my word."

"Okay," said Gadd. "Don't drop the front-door key this time."

Luigi rolled his eyes. "I didn't drop it—Polterpup took it."

Gadd blinked. "Don't lose it, then."

"Please, bring Ted back safely," said Ned.

"Okeydokey," said Luigi before Gadd pixelated him to the Treacherous Mansion.

...

At this point, Luigi figured that he'd seen everything. Possessed spider queens, possessed staircases, a possessed clock, ice monsters, enhanced ghosts, paranormal puppies, crystals with magical properties. That being said, Luigi approached the front door with a confident stride, inserted the key in the lock and turned it.

I guess I am starting to get the hang of this, he thought.

That feeling lasted until he swung the door open.