Junk in the Trunk

("Luigi's Mansion 3" is, as the kids these days say, Really FunTM.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Mario, the "Luigi's Mansion" series, or any of its characters. Does anyone else suck up anything that isn't nailed down or is that just me?

*Minor spoilers ahead for one gadget not mentioned in the trailers and a boss ghost on one of the early floors*

Junk in the Trunk

As the bunker door whirred and a small whoosh sounded, E. Gadd felt his spirits rise.

Well, that is to say, he got more excited. His actual 'spirits' were technically in the Gallery, resting neatly on shelves where he could study them while Luigi was exploring the rest of the hotel.

It felt a little odd to joke about spirits when a whole collection of real ones in a variety of shapes and colors happened to be less than five feet away from you.

"Um... professor?"

E. Gadd spun in his chair and a wicked grin plastered to his face as he clapped his hands together.

Luigi stood just a foot away from him, his posture ducked and radiating with nervous energy. A forced smile decorated his face and he shuffled the Poltergust G-00 on his shoulders.

If E. Gadd had to take a guess, it was from the fact that the last floor had about scared the overalls off his green-clad friend. Luigi was usually like that after a tough floor or area, always terrified even after the Big Bad of the area was sucked into any of the Poltergusts versions. Fear was a hard thing for Luigi to shake off, no matter the circumstance.

Though if he was still scared... that meant he got something good.

E. Gadd rubbed his hands together. "Welcome back, Luigi! I've been working hard on another invention for you, but first, you may want to empty the Poltergust and put the ghosts you collected into the Gallery. I even upgraded the Gallery machine to empty out any miscellaneous things you sucked up besides the ghosts!"

At the mention of another invention, Luigi's face brightened. His posture immediately straightened, and the fearful look disappeared. It went without saying that each new invention made his quest easier, and the recent addition of Gooigi was a happy one.

The professor nodded and waved his hands at the Gallery machine. As Luigi stepped over, lifting the handle of the vacuum and hooking the nozzle into the machine's port, E. Gadd bounced in his seat. What could have gotten Luigi so scared? He had just recently gone through the kitchens, and while he had the slightest glimpse of what the chef looked like, the Virtual Boo hadn't given too many details, and the scientist was just itching to see what the chef looked like outside of the Virtual Boo's screen-

Ear-splitting thumps reverberated around every corner of the bunker.

With a noise of distress, E. Gadd threw up his hands to cover his ears. "Luigi!" he cried over the sharp clanks and whining screeches, "What on Earth did you suck into the Poltergust?!"

The noise lowered in volume. Luigi's eyes dipped to the floor as he murmured, "That... um... might have been the wrenches I sucked up when leaving the garage."

Then a fluttering noise sounded, growing in volume as the clanks died down.

E. Gadd narrowed his eyes behind his glasses. Luigi's eyes flicked to the ceiling, and he shuffled from foot-to-foot.

"That's... probably the paper menus I sucked up when I went through the restaurant's dining space."

The fluttering increased, until it sounded like several epic novels worth of paper was being dumped into the machine.

Luigi looked to the side E. Gadd wasn't on. "There were a lot of menus... and maybe some of it is the toilet paper from the restrooms."

The fluttering stretched on.

"There was..." Luigi lifted his free hand to his neck, "...a lot of... toilet paper."

E. Gadd looked to the machine, and his jaw dropped slightly in surprise. He adjusted his round glasses, a stuttered noise coming from him as the crinkling started to quiet down. "What did you suck up in the rest of the restaurant area?" he asked.

Luigi's eyes went wide as he looked down at the floor again. One of his shoes lifted, and the toe part of the shoe lightly ground against the metal floor in unease. "So..."

SCHLORP!

Wet squishing sounds filled the entire bunker.

The ghost-obsessed professor clapped his hands to his forehead as the squishing and sloshing sounds grew in volume.

It dragged on for over a full minute, E. Gadd silently counting out the seconds in his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Luigi shift in place and rub his neck a little harder.

By the time the squishing sounds started to die down, E. Gadd counted out eighty-three seconds.

Luigi piped up as E. Gadd ran his fingers over his eyes and under his glasses. "I... may have... sucked up all the fruits in the restaurant... and the breads... and some cheese crumbs..." The green-clad plumber licked his lips as his hand dropped from his neck and jiggled nervously by his side. "...And some fish... some vegetables... a couple... boxes of tangerines..."

Thuds, the usual telltale sound of ghosts being unloaded into the machine, finally began to resonate.

The second the thuds stopped, Luigi wrenched the nozzle away from the machine, embarrassment shining on his face.

"Why...?" E. Gadd murmured, dropping his hands back to the sides of his chair.

Luigi shrugged, a sheepish grin under his mustache. "I found more money and coins when I sucked up random things... so I... just... sucked up anything that I could."

A defeated look crossed E. Gadd's face as he looked to the machine. "I... have to clean that out..." He looked to the plumber, hope filling his voice. "I don't suppose you would help an old man out-"

The bunker door whirred as Luigi darted out the door, waving as he darted outside. "Off to the next floor for me! Got to get back to saving my friends! Goodbye, professor!"

The old scientist couldn't get a word in before Luigi was gone, the bunker door slamming shut behind him.

E. Gadd facepalmed as he looked over at the machine. He grumbled as he rolled up his sleeves, hums of indignation coming from him as he reached for his toolbox.

The machine was only going to take ghosts like it usually did, which meant the Poltergust G-00 was going to get very heavy if Luigi kept sucking up everything in sight.

As the first piles of goop, paper, and metal spilled out of the machine's back part, the smell of mixed fruits, vegetables, and fish reaching his nose, E. Gadd figured a back-breaking Poltergust would be good enough karma.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I haven't even finished the game yet, and already I had to write a little story for this game.

Since I also haven't written for Mario, or the Luigi's Mansion series, before, this is meant to be a little practice/warm-up drabble to get into the universe. I may write more, but I'll see how I feel. The game may inspire me some more, but for now, here's this lil story.

...Couldn't help but feel awkward when I was unloading ghosts into the Gallery machine. I thought of all the random wrenches and other bits of junk I picked up from each floor, which then led to this story.

Hope everyone enjoyed! I hope I can finish the game soon! :D

XD