Chapter 34:
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The worst part was the waiting, and it wasn’t just waiting to see if Kammy would awaken soon, but the waiting for what the doctors are going to say. Luigi kept walking across the floor, not staring at anyone, just the opposite walls as he walked. It was what he did when was at the hospital. He had done it whenever his grandmother had to go to the hospital. He had paced whenever one of his cousins was about to welcome a new baby into their life. He paced in the Mushroom Kingdom hospitals whenever Mario was injured from fighting against Bowser, and if he hadn’t gone out to get the Crabbie grass to save his brother from becoming a bean, he would have paced around in the room.
Mario was seated in one of the chairs, staring at his shoes. His gloves were folded and placed on his lap. That was what he did in waiting rooms. He would constantly remove and put on his gloves. Yoshi was seated next to him. He kept a hand on Mario’s shoulders. Peach was at the desk, talking with one of the nurses. Luigi couldn’t hear what they were exactly saying due to the low volume of their voices. Daisy and Nougat were handing out small paper cups filled with cool water to everyone. Iggy was frozen. He was just staring out into space.
“Here you are,” Nougat held out the cup of water in front of Iggy, despite the lack of reaction from the young koopaling. “You should drink something.” Iggy didn’t stir or say anything.
“Iggy please,” Daisy said in a soothing tone. “I know you are close to Kammy, but you can’t sit there like that all day.”
“Thank you,” Iggy croaked. He took the cup from Nougat and took a sip.
“Does anyone remember what had actually happened?” Daisy asked. “I have only been told she had fainted.”
“We were being shown the dungeon,” Luigi paused in his pacing. “They had renovations a few days ago, but there was one space on the back wall that hadn’t been painted. She put her hand on it and a few seconds later she had fainted.”
“There has always seems to be trouble with that one spot,” Nougat frowned. “Workers get ill when they paint it. One of the guards had said he had been plagued by nightmares a few days after he had touched it. Mr. Gingerbread has told me that I shouldn’t be too worried about it, but now I want a full investigation.”
“Gingerbread said he wanted that area investigated,” Luigi said. “He had ordered some of the Beezos to keep everyone out of the dungeon while it was being looked at.”
“Hmm,” Mario pursed his lips together, but didn’t say anything.
Yoshi stared him and sat back. “I didn’t like the way it smelled.”
“Did it smell bad?” Daisy asked. Luigi remembered how Iggy was bothered by the scent of the disinfectant while they were in the dungeon.
“No,” Yoshi shook his head. “When we were there I noticed there was no scent at all. I even had my nose up against the surface and breathed in deeply. There was no scent. It was odd and Mario said it felt cold.”
“Cold?” Luigi turned to his brother.
“They usually are cold,” Daisy said.
“This isn’t that kind of cold,” Luigi told her. “You don’t just feel it on the palm of your hand. You feel this kind of cold coursing through your entire body, all the way to your bones, and that cold just lingers, even after you touch it.”
“That was exactly how it felt,” Mario slipped his gloves back onto his hands.
“I have an evil space on the wall in my dungeon,” Nougat looked ill. “It those monsters. They are going to strike within. Princesses, please ask your kingdoms for their help. I have to order all the soldiers to prepare to be at the castle.”
“Your highness,” Mr. Gingerbread called from the entrance. “You are jumping to conclusions.”
“I don’t think he is really jumping,” Luigi stared into the chocolate brown eyes of the advisor. “You both are aware of the threat that is heading towards this kingdom and who knows how many other lands it will plague. I felt the presence of a ghost last night. You have an odd space on the wall that caused several painters to become ill and sent one of our friends into a coma. He is trying to do what is best for his kingdom.”
“He is also just a boy who is still new at being a regent,” Gingerbread’s voice grew colder. “Do you think the same thought had not crossed my mind? That is why I have several Beezos dispatched to guard the dungeon. I have had word sent out to the soldiers to be prepared. Before we can officially do anything we have to meet with the council in the war room. Your highness, will you please come with me?”
“Yes sir,” Nougat nodded and turned to Daisy. “We may send word for both you and Princess Peach to join us.” He held onto her hands. “Hopefully this will not be long.” He ignored Iggy’s growl.
“I know,” Daisy released her hold on his hands.
“Actually we require the presence of both Princesses,” Gingerbread said. “Prince Iggy as well if he wishes to send some of Dark Land’s forces our way.”
“I don’t think I will be much help,” Iggy had stopped glaring at Nougat. “I could ask my father, but I doubt he would do anything.”
The advisor nodded. “This way.”
“Don’t worry,” Daisy brushed her fingers through Iggy’s hair. “I have a feeling Kammy will pull through this.” She kissed the top of his snout before she followed Nougat and Gingerbread.
“Thank you,” Peach smiled at the nurse and followed after Daisy.
“The doctor still hasn’t come out,” Mario said a few minutes later. “How long has he been in there anyway?”
“Thirty two minutes,” Yoshi said. “I’ve been watching the clock. It has been thirty-two, no make that thirty-three minutes since the doctor went into her room.
“I hate feeling useless,” Luigi sat down next to Iggy. “I wish I knew what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything,” Iggy’s face was still pink from the kiss. “Just knowing that you both care is good enough.”
“Can I ask you something?” Luigi stared into Iggy’s eyes. “What was that growling a few minutes ago?”
“I was growling at Gingerbread,” Iggy explained. “The guy was being a jerk.”
“No you weren’t,” Luigi shook his head. “You were growling at Nougat. You were growling because he was holding Daisy’s hands.” Iggy just stared at him. “You like her. You have a crush on her.”
“So,” Iggy swallowed. “So what if I am?”
“Nothing really,” Luigi placed his hands behind his head. “I think the two of you are cute together.”
“What?” Mario looked at the two of them. “Daisy and Iggy are dating?”
“No,” Iggy’s entire face turned pink again. “We haven’t actually started to date or anything. We spent time together, but I haven’t asked her out for cheeseburgers or to a movie or anything.”
“Would you?” Luigi asked. “I mean after Kammy wakes up and after we help King Nougat out?”
“Sure,” Iggy shrugged. “I mean I guess. I have no idea what to s-“ the door to Kammy’s room opened and cut him off.
“Doctor?” Luigi looked up at the doctor. He was a tall man with dark hair cropped short and a nose almost as large as Waluigi’s. He was staring at the clipboard in his hand. “How is she?”
“Hard to tell,” the doctor said. “I examined her, did several tests. She is very healthy for her age. She shouldn’t have even collapsed. I will set up a cat scan for her for this afternoon.”
“Is she going to wake up soon?” Yoshi asked.
The doctor sighed. “We are uncertain at this point. After the scan we may know what exactly is wrong with her. She may have had a stroke.”
“No,” Iggy stood up. “She can’t. She is too strong for that.”
“I’m sorry son,” the doctor placed his hand on Iggy’s shoulder. “I know you think of her as strong and immune considering she is a magikoopa, but she isn’t immune to such medical problems. Magic cannot stop a stroke, or even a heart attack. It may prevent it, if they think of protection, but once it happens it cannot be stopped.”
“You have to wake her,” Iggy grabbed onto his collar. “Not shake her shoulder alarm clock wake her. You have to wake her up medically.”
“Iggy,” Luigi grabbed onto his arm. “That is what they are trying to do.”
“We will let you know if there are any improvements,” The doctor said. “But right now visiting hours have ended. In fact it has ended minutes ago.” He glanced at his watch. “Maybe you should try and get some lunch.”
“We can’t leave,” Iggy gasped. “Not now.”
“I’m sorry son, but you have to.”
“Not yet,” Iggy shook his head.
“Iggy, we have to go,” Luigi grabbed onto his shoulders. “We can visit again in a few hours, after the scan.”
“No,” Iggy closed his eyes.
“We can search around the castle,” Luigi whispered into Iggy’s ear. “We can help everyone by looking for ghosts.” The idea of searching around for spirits did not exactly appeal to him, but he had to get Iggy’s mind of Kammy for a bit.
“We’ll search and then come back?” Iggy asked in a hopeful tone.
“Yes,” Luigi nodded. They would search right after lunch. Knowing his brother and Yoshi, they would insist on having something to eat before they did any sort of investigating.
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To Luigi’s surprise Mario had said he wasn’t that hungry and they agreed to have something simple along the lines of soups and sandwiches. Yoshi himself only had two bowls of soup and four sandwiches before they split into two groups and would communicate through their cell phones.
“We have to be extremely careful,” Iggy said. He was partnered with Luigi and they decided to take the western half of the castle. “We don’t want to rouse any suspicion of any of the guards.”
“We have the perfect cover if they do ask us what we are doing,” Luigi and Mario had figured out the cover themselves. “We would just tell them that we are lost. We would ask directions on how to get back to our rooms, or we will ask if they have something like a tennis court or a library.”
“Why exactly would we be looking for those?” Iggy had lowered his voice to a whisper.
“To help get our minds off Kammy,” Luigi whispered back.
“That would make sense,” Iggy pulled something from his pocket that resembled a gameboy horror. “I’m going to use this to help look for any possible spectre energy.”
“I had a feeling this castle was haunted,” Luigi shuddered. “I have a feeling Mario doesn’t like Mr. Gingerbread. I’m not fond of him either.”
“He is my number one suspect.” Iggy kept his eyes on the horror. “It almost seems like he trying to take his sweet time to launch an attack on the dark forces. He did dismiss your claim to the ghost this morning, and he knew there was something suspicious about that one area on the dungeon wall, but he didn’t try to do anything until now.”
“Are you saying he is trying to rule the land though Nougat?” Luigi clenched his fists. The man was taking advantage of Nougat’s fear and naiveté. “That figlio di una femmina.”
“I’m pretty certain you just said something that you wouldn’t normally say around children.”
Luigi nodded. “Have you found anything?”
“Yeah,” Iggy pointed to the two rooms. “There is something up there, but the energy is biological.”
“Right up ahead?” Luigi tried to make his whisper even quieter than before.
Iggy nodded and approached the door on the left. He closed his eyes and sniffed. “Toads?”
The door opened by a crack and a pair of hands, one was made of metal, reach out and grab Iggy by the shoulders. The metal hand clamped down his snout.
“Iggy,” Luigi gasped and ran after him. Something long and dark darted under his feet and tripped him. He had barely hit the carpet before he was grabbed from behind and pulled into the darkened room.
“Wait,” a voice Luigi hadn’t heard in a long time said. “Let him go.”
“Okay,” a girl said before she released her hold on him.
“What is going on?” Luigi pulled out a flashlight and shone it on one of his captors. It was the girl. She was around Nougat’s age and had long dark hair.
“Get that out of my face,” her pupil’s thinned into slits and she covered up her face with her hands. “That was right in my eyes.” She had a pair of upper and lower fangs.
“Luigi?” Larry Koopa was another of the captors.
“Larry?” Luigi moved the beam onto the young Koopa. He was dressed in the same outfit Luigi had seen him last, except there were slash like tears in his shirt. He also had a large and strange gun strapped to his back, vials of water in a bandolier across his chest and several knives and what looked like a wooden stake on his belt. “What are you doing here?”
“Tracking down something you could not possibly understand,” the third figure in the room said. He was an old toad with long gray hair and an unkempt beard. “Now turn off that light.”
“No,” Luigi turned back to Larry. “Someone on the other side of the hall got Iggy.”
“Iggy is here?” Larry blinked.
“Yeah, and so is Mario, Yoshi, Peach, Daisy and Kammy. Kammy is in a coma.”
“Kammy, but how?”
“We were on a tour of the castle and there was this wall in the dungeon. There was a section that wasn’t painted and Kammy examined it with her wand and she put her hand on the space.”
“How big was this space?” The old toad asked.
“It was the size of a doorway,” Luigi turned to him, but he did not shine the light on him. “Why?”
“Doorway,” The old toad rubbed his beard. “I knew it. I knew those bastards had a pocket set up.”
“What are you talking about?” Luigi had no idea what the hell was going on, or who these other people were, not to mention how they got in the castle.
“A pocket dimension,” The girl tried to explain. “They aren’t too big, about the size of a stadium. Howls thinks that there is a pocket dimension connecting the castle to the theater house in Symphony City.”
“What is going on?”
“I heard there were zombies in Harmony Land and Kamron and I went to fight them,” Larry explained. “We met up with Silhouette and then Howls and his friends and we found out it is connected with a group of vampires-“
“And the vampires are coming here,” Luigi finished. “King Nougat has been preparing for a battle against them, but he had thought they were still in Harmony Land.”
“The elder and his hell beasts moved on here,” the girl said.
Luigi grabbed onto his head. “Okay. More of your friends are in the other room?”
“Yeah,” Larry nodded. “Where is Kammy?”
“She’s in the medical wing, but they won’t let us in.”
“Kamron can make us invisible for a bit.” The girl explained.
“Maybe Kamron can wake her,” Larry said. “We got to get there now.”
“You and Kamron will go see your friend,” the old toad, Howls instructed. “We will stay hidden here.”
“Okay,” Luigi grabbed onto Larry’s hand. “Remember that you and Kamron have to stay hidden in this spell.”
“No problem,” Larry nodded. “Can I ask you one thing? When did you turn back into a human?”
“Long story,” Luigi shook his head. “Your brother can explain.”
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They had contacted Mario and Yoshi and asked to meet with them outside the medical wing. Iggy hadn’t explained anything to Mario. He just told her they were going to meet at the wing as soon as possible.
Kamron turned out to be a young magikoopa dressed in orangish red robes and had a matching curl of hair poke out from under his hat and a splash of freckles on each cheek. That was what Luigi saw of the kid until he and Larry had vanished.
“What is going on?” Mario had beaten them to the wing.
“Larry is here,” Iggy explained. “And he brought his vampire hunting buddies with him.”
“Where is he?” Yoshi asked.
The door to the medical wing opened, no one stepped out.
“Right there,” Iggy pointed at the open door before it closed. “He and Kamron has some sort of cloaking ability over them.”
“Whoa,” Mario rubbed his forehead. “When did they get here?”
“Kamron told me about an hour ago,” Iggy smiled. “And you two should be proud. He said that it was Larry’s idea and he got the idea from you guys. They came up through the pipes.”
“Huh,” Mario smiled. “Who would have thought we would have been a positive influence on the Koopalings?”
“Not our father,” Iggy shook his head. “I don’t know about you Luigi, but there were some interesting people with me.”
“I would say the same,” Luigi watched several Beezos fly off towards the direction of the boardroom. “There was a girl with cat ears and a tail, and cat eyes and fangs.”
“I was with a really tall strong looking toad with a robotic hand,” Iggy said. “And a lady with a veil. She was nice.”
“We’ll probably get to meet them soon.” Mario was also staring at the Beezos. “I don’t like this Weege.”
“Did a fight break out in the boardroom?” Yoshi asked.
“I aint waiting to find out,” Mario jumped onto the dinosaur’s back. “Follow those Beezos.”
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