Luigi's Arc

Chapter 3 of 4

Luigi clicked on his flashlight and stepped onto the stairs. The beam cut a thin line through the dark. Yoshi came close behind, his claws tapping the wood. The green door hung open above them. Below, wet footprints led down into the black. Somewhere down there, Mario waited. Luigi took the steps one at a time. The cold air smelled like old water. The stairs ended in a wide room with a low ceiling. Luigi swept the light across the floor. It landed on a small white ghost with big black eyes and tiny teeth. This was Boo, the same ghost that had dragged Mario deeper into the house. Boo floated near a bright green pipe set into the far wall. It giggled and covered its face with little arms. Then it peeked out, daring Luigi to come closer. "Where is he?" Luigi said. "Where's my brother?" Boo laughed and slipped into the green pipe. But it did not go alone. Three brown creatures shuffled out of the shadows. They had round mushroom caps and angry, frowning faces. Goombas. They marched straight at Luigi with their teeth bared. Yoshi hissed and pushed in front of him. Luigi had no time to think. The lead Goomba lunged. Luigi jumped and came down hard on its cap. It flattened with a squeak and vanished in a puff. "Yoshi, the others!" Yoshi opened his mouth wide. His long tongue shot out and grabbed the second Goomba. He gulped it down in one bite, then spat out a hard egg that knocked the last one against the wall. The room went quiet. The Goombas were gone. Luigi's chest heaved, but he was still standing. Yoshi nudged his leg, proud. Luigi rubbed the little dinosaur's head. "Good boy. We did it." He pointed the flashlight at the green pipe where Boo had escaped. That was the way down. That was where Mario had gone. Luigi walked to the pipe and looked inside. The beam showed a shaft dropping far below, deeper than the stairs had gone. Warm air pushed up from the bottom, carrying the faint smell of Mario. But something was wrong. From down in the pipe came a heavy, dragging sound, slow and huge. It was not Boo. It was not a Goomba. It was much bigger than both. Luigi swallowed. He had cleared the room and found the way forward. But the ghost had led him exactly here on purpose. Whatever waited at the bottom of that pipe was the reason. He looked at Yoshi. Yoshi looked back and did not run. Luigi climbed onto the rim of the pipe. "Mario's down there. So we go down." He held the flashlight tight and dropped into the dark.