"And take this," E. Gadd said, shoving a small, white device of some sort into Luigi's hands. "It'll help me contact you."

   "What is it?" Luigi asked, inspecting the thing with a moment's curiosity.

   "Modified Game Boy," the professor replied absent-mindedly. "It's got a camera on both sides, for whatever that's worth. It can also warn you when there are ghosts in the vicinity, so be wary!"

   With a slight shiver, Luigi put the thing in his pocket. He had already been given a flashlight - the most valuable of the tools as far as Luigi was concerned - aside from the ghost-catching machine itself.

   Shifting a little uncomfortably, he glanced back at the bulky thing strapped to his back. The Poltergust 400 was basically a big, rectangular tank with four tiny wheels on the back and a hose sticking out one end. It was made entirely of metal and yet, still didn't strike Luigi as extremely heavy. He wondered if he was really going to have to use it.

   "That thing can also carry you in a pinch, too," E. Gadd had added as Luigi put it on. "Press that button on the back to start up the motor and hitch a ride. Just beware, no matter what mode you're using: if that engine gets too hot, it'll overheat and it could explode on you. So don't ever go vacuuming or riding around for too long."

   Head slightly swimming as he tried to remember it all, Luigi had felt overwhelmed for a moment. He felt like a child being suddenly thrust into war - unprepared, uninformed, and completely responsible for the outcome.

Sorting through the junk on one shelf in dissatisfaction, E. Gadd frowned. "I had some additional nozzles for that thing - special attachments that let you store and fire water and such - but for the life of me I can't seem to remember where I placed them." Pausing thoughtfully, he added, "Can't imagine you want to wait around, though. I'll keep looking here and let you know if I turn up with 'em."

Following him as he scurried busily about the room, Luigi looked no less relieved to hear so. "Yes... um... Professor..." He paused, unable to find the right words. He felt so scrambled up inside that he feared he might explode at the prospect of what he was about to do.

"Um... what exactly do I do?"

"You look for Mario and catch the ghosts in your way," E. Gadd had replied, as if nothing were simpler. "Look for signs of him. I'd start out by the gate and in these woods, if I were you," he advised. "Something weird is afoot, I know, and I'll leave it at that."

Shivering, Luigi began to make for the ladder that was mounted into the wall. Everything seemed so spur-of-the-moment and rushed, so that Luigi barely knew what he was doing; but suddenly his job was before him and there was no turning back.

"I'll keep in touch with you by Game Boy," E. Gadd called. "Oh, and Luigi..." he paused as he came to stand at the ladder's base, looking up to where Luigi was already hanging high above.

"Be extremely careful!"

~

The last words of the old professor echoed over and over in Luigi's mind as he emerged into the dark night above, blanketed in strange gray clouds. Pushing open the shed door, he crawled forward through the ferns and rose to his feet, taking a deep breath. Here he was... in the middle of nowhere.

   Glancing around, Luigi fell to silence as a strange hush seemed to fall over the area. Dead, scary-looking trees snaked all around him, thick roots hidden beneath endless plants. Only the little-used path leading up to the mansion itself was relatively clear in this jungle.

   Pausing for a moment, Luigi wondered what he was supposed to do. He had a feeling that question would guide every decision he made tonight, along with its scary answer: he didn't know. He only knew that he had to do.

   Coming out into the middle of the little path, he turned in all directions, scanning the trees for signs of... anything. The Game Boy was silent, so he assumed there were no ghosts around - thank goodness. Taking out his flashlight, he began to search the ground with his beam, slowly beginning to head in the direction of the clearing. Like it or not, he knew the mansion would be his ultimate destination.

   He felt like some no-good thief, slinking around in the night like this, looking for certainly nothing but trouble. And like any night-crawler, he soon found trouble indeed.

It at first didn't appear very threatening. In fact, peering at it beneath a large leaf from some giant weed by the path, it looked like some old tool or something.

Instantly attracted by the faint glint it reflected in the flashlight, Luigi paused and came forward, cautiously moving the leaves aside. Kneeling, he finally picked the old thing up and inspected it in his hands.

It didn't look very impressive. To be honest, it didn't appear to be anything more than an ancient lantern of some sort once he'd identified it, partially smashed and covered in dirt. What could it be doing out here?

A small, strange beeping from his pocket arose in answer to his thought. Freezing in place for a second, Luigi dropped the lantern and glanced around for a wild second before he remembered: ghosts!

Scrambling to his feet and fumbling for the handle to his vacuum, he whirled in a circle, scanning everywhere he could at once. Slowly backing into the center of the path, he tried not to chatter uncontrollably as he watched with bated breathe for possible attackers.

Then he saw it - a tiny flash of colorful movement in the corner of his eye. Heart leaping from his chest, Luigi turned to stare at it - and found himself quickly relieved.

It may have been a ghost - but if it was, it didn't seem to bear any ill will towards Luigi. It was just a little round-shaped blob - white on one side, pinkish on the other - and as it floated peacefully through the air nearby it was soon joined by a couple more. They all 'wore' different colors, and seemed to enjoy lingering around each other.

Still reluctant to breathe, Luigi raised his vacuum nozzle near one and timidly brought it to life. Like magic, the thing suddenly roared on and in an instant had sucked up and consumed the little things.

With a blink of surprise Luigi stared at the end of his vacuum. Wow.

The thing was pretty amazing - much more power than he had ever expected, and not difficult to use, either. Maybe - just maybe - he would get the hang of this thing.

So were they just little harmless ghosts, then? He didn't mind if they were - much better than actual ghosts like the ones they'd seen in the mansion.

Remembering the mansion, Luigi sighed as he carefully began to move on, knowing there was no reason to hang around here. He felt safer the closer he was to the lab, but at the same time... the thought of Mario somewhere in that mansion made him more and more antsy to get moving.

So Mario had arrived before he had, then... he had been right here. Something had happened...

The reality of it all suddenly hitting him like a ton of bricks, Luigi gasped and almost darted forward, straight through the leaves and up the path towards the mansion. He was about halfway there when he finally slowed a bit to catch his breath, and paused, observing with some interest the old, broken horse cart beside the path which he had previously ignored. Why would it have just been left out here like this?

Tilting his head, Luigi raised his flashlight and curiously came a step closer. He thought he could see something inside -

In an instant, a flash of blue and a hulking shape sprang from behind the cart, sending Luigi scrambling backwards. Heart threatening to explode, he grabbed the handle of the Poltergust as quickly as he could manage and froze, staring with horror into the eyes of the ghostly creature just before him.

This ghost was unlike any from the living room; he was bigger, large enough to flatten Luigi if he had wanted to. It was certainly 'ugly', to say the least; enormous, over-reaching shoulders and long, spindly arms coupled with a rather rotund body that illuminated the whole area a spectral blue. It hurt Luigi's eyes almost as much as the sight of its face did; big yellow eyes stared blankly at him over an enormous round nose. The fangs weren't particularly noticeable, at least right now; but that really didn't matter to Luigi.

With a shriek that rang through the entire surrounding forest, he wheeled in an instant and took off for the mansion, seeking some sort of refuge behind its closed doors. Never did he ever want to see another ghost look at him like that up close again.

   Luigi didn't slow until he was 'safely' inside the mansion's entrance once again. Panting heavily against the front doors, he was just beginning to catch his breath when another small sound reached him - from somewhere in the very room.

   Jerking up and slamming into the door, Luigi stared, terrified all over again, as a small shape peeked out from behind the chair in the corner and stared at him. Another second and it was all over.

   "L-Luigi?" a tiny voice asked, figure stepping timidly out into the open. Luigi stared and felt his fear relax in a rush. It was none other than a little green toad!

   "Toad? What are you doing here?"

   The toad ran over and grabbed Luigi's leg, burying his face in it as if he'd lost all pretense of bravery. "I came here to look for Mario... he left earlier and I followed him." The Toad paused to sniff and Luigi raised his eyebrows slowly. Kneeling down, he quickly grabbed the toad's shoulders.

   "Do you know where he is?" Luigi asked seriously.

   Here the toad shook his head. "I've been running around in here forever, Luigi," he murmured. "I couldn't find him. Oh, I'm just so glad you're here... please let it end!"

   "Let what end?"

   The green toad raised his eyes up to Luigi, tears beginning to fall. "Everything!"

   Luigi widened his eyes and bit back a cry of despair. No. It couldn't be all that bad. It just couldn't.

   "Oh Toad," he murmured, sadness reflected in his voice but still refusing to cry. Gently, the two fell into an embrace, darkness around them momentarily fading away as they clung to each other.

   Finally they parted. "Listen," Luigi instructed quietly. "I need you to go home. Get out of here as soon as possible."

   "But..."

   "I mean it," Luigi replied firmly. "Don't worry about me. I'm going to find Mario... and we'll return later."

   The toad widened his fearful eyes. "Are you sure Luigi? There's... horrible things in this house..."

   Luigi felt his spine tingle at the tone he heard in Toad's voice then. It terrified him nearly out of his wits; perhaps that was why he managed to say what he did next.

   "I... I don't care."

   Rising again to his feet, he looked around the dark entrance and up again to the living room doors, where he'd encountered E. Gadd. That was where he supposed he'd start.

   "Well... good luck, Luigi," the toad said quietly, starting for the door. Luigi closed his eyes for a second and wished sincerely that he could follow him. He wished that they could trade places; he wished that he could be anyone else in the world right now. But that was not to be.

   Taking a deep breath, he started for the living room doors.

~

   Upon entering the room Luigi was immediately greeted with a strange sound; he wasn't sure what it was at first, but it sounded like bumping and shuffling of some sort. Flesh crawling, he carefully inched forward and raised his flashlight.

   The living room before him had become alive before his very eyes; furniture and nearly every inanimate object he saw was not without motion. Curtains that framed the odd ghost paintings on the walls were untied and loose, flowing as if in an invisible wind; enormous whole couches and cupboards shook and trembled, as if trying to rise from their places; and a small picture hanging over the far fireplace spun in mad circles on its nail, before finally coming loose and crashing to the floor. Then a smaller chair, sitting by one of the little coffee tables, suddenly picked itself up in air, lingered for a moment, turning upside down, and then quite literally threw itself across the room as if it could fly.

   For several long seconds Luigi stayed rooted to the spot, staring at the chair which smashed into the wall and tumbled to the floor elsewhere. Never in all his life had he ever seen anything like this. This house was more than just infested; the place was actually haunted!

   He had just begun to creep backwards towards the door when suddenly he heard a low moan behind him. Whirling on a dime, he gasped and jumped back to see a pair of those strange bluish ghosts peeking at him from around the door, watching him. Just watching.

   Losing all sensation in his nerves, Luigi slowly backed up more, forced into the center of the living room. He was so petrified he couldn't even think for a moment; at least until the blue ghost appeared with bared fangs inches from his face.

   "AHHHH!!"

   With a gleeful hiss, the ghost started towards him, as if intending to take his face off. Scrambling back, Luigi jumped into the center of the floor, ears ringing with its foreboding scowls. For a moment the ghost disappeared, and Luigi seemed to be left alone. Trying desperately just to get out each breath, Luigi swallowed and rigidly began turning in a circle.

   And then they all appeared.

   Moving as one, a huge ring of them suddenly appeared around him, surrounding him on all sides. There were maybe a dozen - the huge, hulking ghosts that slightly resembled human forms, with the giant noses and almost grinning expressions. Spinning about him in a circle as if playing some game, they would have seemed to be enjoying themselves.

   Quaking as if on unsteady ground, Luigi tried to turn in all directions, keep them before him; but any such attempt was futile. Breaking out in a cold sweat, he tried to crunch down and become as small as possible.

   But then as abruptly as it had happened the ghosts were gone. Vanishing into thin air as if they had merely been an illusion, the ghosts each disappeared, one after another; and then Luigi was alone again.

   Peeking up, he slowly straightened up, scarcely daring to hope; and then, almost expectedly, a harsh, screechy voice suddenly arose behind him.

   "There he isssss... Get him!"

   Whirling to face the voice, Luigi stared in horror at the new orange ghost that had appeared nearby. He was smaller and less human-esque, if that was of any comfort; and his glowing yellow eyes and stocky orange body seemed more real than the others'. Astounded to find a ghost with a voice, Luigi crept back and slowly shook his head.

   If he had been able to speak he might have asked how exactly they knew him. What could he be talking about? Was he working for someone? What did they want with him?

   In response, another ghostly voice grunted, a rather uncivilized sound; and as Luigi jerked to the new voice he was further startled to see, now sitting peaceably around a small coffee table playing cards as any humans might, three of the similar bluish ghosts. They each seemed a bit varied this time; one was shorter and fatter than another, and they seemed rather oblivious to the gold ghost's orders.

   "I sssaid, get him!"

   The three ghosts vanished in response, playing cards dispersing through the air as their holders disappeared. Luigi held frozen for a petrified second until suddenly one of them appeared again, much closer this time; and as Luigi turned his terrified gaze to him it became clear he intended to carry out his bidding.

   Shrinking back under his ravenous gaze, Luigi shook his head in feeble denial. There was another door, he noted, in the far corner of the room; but it was boarded up, blocked off by a couple of nailed wooden planks. Then he only had one escape route.

   An instant later, the living room doors burst open on the entrance's high balcony and Luigi tore out, looking around in desperation. A low snarl sounded behind him, and powered by adrenaline he sprang forward.

   Throwing himself onto the staircase's railing, Luigi pushed forward, sliding off to the ground floor in no time flat, closely pursued by the blue ghost that was on his tail.

   Upon landing somehow on shaky feet, Luigi heard yet another sound: an odd clink of glass above him. The ghost had suddenly vanished, and...

   Looking up in the nick of time, Luigi jumped forward just as the giant chandelier that had hung overhead came crashing down onto the entrance's floor, shattered glass and mess flying everywhere. Slamming against the wall, Luigi paused and panted heavily, trying to catch his breath; and staring at the now destroyed chandelier before him, he paled.

   Wiping an arm across his sweat-soaked forehead, he closed his eyes and trembled, trying to keep from wetting his pants. The ghost was gone... and it had left only broken destruction behind.