Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon (On Hiatus)

Chapter 2- 0-2: A hero falls and a hero rises

Toad Town, Mushroom Kingdom

A lone young man, dressed in a red long-sleeve shirt and blue overalls, and wore white gloves, brown work boots and a red hat with the letter 'M' embroidered on the visor walked down the deserted streets of Toad Town. It was a surprise to him to see it in this ghost town like state. It was usually a very lively place, full of colorful Toads happily living their carefree lives. However, once he glanced up at the night sky, he noticed why the streets were now so bare and quiet tonight—dark clouds covered the entire sky, obscuring the stars and the moon from sight.

It was very peculiar that the weather forecast didn't mention anything about a storm. It just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Never the less, he didn't want to be caught in the middle of an impending storm. The man held his red cap down against the wind with one hand and tightened his grip on the large red toolbox, filled to the brim with plumbing tools, he carried in the other and increased his pace.

He wanted to get home as fast as possible. He quickly headed into one of the many back alleys that ran through the town and expertly navigated the narrow streets until he came to a dead end. Sitting in the center of the alleyway was a huge, green warp pipe, one of many that could be found throughout this world. And that was precisely why it was here, hidden in the shadows away from any prying eyes, especially of any certain enemies lurking around on stand by, waiting for the perfect moment to abruptly strike from behind anyone who was unaware of their presence.

It was a warp pipe known only to a select few, and served its purpose as a way of quick transportation but, more importantly, it kept its destination a secret. It was used as a detour for him whenever he was in a rush to get home. The young man however, leapt into the pipe without hesitation and soon found himself experiencing the strange sensation that was warp travel. But, after traveling by pipe so many times, he was used to this kind of transportation and jumped out of the destination pipe without giving it a second thought.

He now stood in front of a small, two story yellow house with a red roof. He felt a drop of rain hit his big, rounded nose. The storm was going to start very soon, he could already feel it looming. The wind picked up quickly and brushed against the man's face, causing his well-groomed lumpy mustache to stir. He hurried across the front yard, ignoring the cobblestone pathway and instead going right through the clean cut lawn. He ducked underneath a clothesline in the middle of the lawn, in the process. Once he reached the porch, he unlocked the front door of the house and quickly flung it open, stepping inside just as the sky opened up in a torrential downpour.

Sighing in relief for just missing the storm, he shut the door behind him and threw his toolbox carelessly on the red couch that dominated the living room. Whistling cheerfully, he walked over to a nearby light switch and flicked on the lights as he did so. Fully illuminating the house, it was clear that although it wasn't very large, the house was bigger than it looked on the outside. The living room had the red couch and a green chair occupying it, with a set of stairs that led presumably to a bedroom off to the side. There was a small kitchen, a dining area, a workroom and one bathroom that made up the rest of the house. He sat down on the red chair beside his tool box in exhaustion, he felt his sapphire-blue eyes gaze at the green chair right beside him, left unoccupied.

His younger brother, who used to sit on that chair beside him, had been acting more and more distant lately, choosing to stay at the little cottage he had near Boo Woods rather than at their shared home here in Toad Town with him. He wasn't quite sure what triggered his mood swings and why he left him behind on such short notice or why exactly—he thought their last mission to rescue the young ruler of this world, Princess Peach and her castle from the evil Koopa King, Bowser, had gone relatively well. Maybe it was this whole year in general that may be going too rough for him, putting way too much pressure on his little brother, and he just needed time by himself to relax. The man had learned not to really question how he felt after they had learned that they were stuck in the dimension known by the natives as the "Mushroom Kingdom." He had adapted fairly quickly, while his brother had taken it particularly hard. He had soon found out that his brother, Luigi, needed space when dealing with these type of feelings, and made sure to keep his distance. He didn't want to upset him more than he already was. Any attempts to convince Luigi to stay with him otherwise always failed, anyways.