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Chapter Text

Chapter Text

World 1-2: Bad News

After I had considered the life decisions that had led me to this moment, E. Gadd and I entered the small establishment.

"E. Gadd, can you turn on-a the lights, please?" I ask, not wanting this to become more haunting than already is.

"Aye, sonny" he says as he approaches the wall close to the right door where we came from, pressing a switch.

Luckily for me, the lights do turn on, showing a lovely cafe with cute decorations, such as wooden chairs with circular forms, wooden tables with the finest shine, and mushroom lamp holders with decorated napkins akin to a Yoshi egg design.

Wow, E. Gadd put a lot of effort into this place. It's hard to believe this place was created in the Beanbean Kingdom... Oh my god, there are bathrooms! He learned the importance of having them! I'm legit perplexed!

E. Gadd starts to stare a me while I'm looking at the bathrooms, to which I, while sweat coming out of my face, quickly try to disguise as just looking around and whistling a bit. It seems the old man hasn't forgotten the little incident that both of us caused back then, hehe.

"Anyway, sonny. The apparition is located on the 2nd floor of the cafe, really simple stuff." He claims it as he walks towards the stairs.

I must say, this is going quite nicely for a change. Usually, when I go helping E. Gadd out, something chaotic happens like, I don't know... ghosts showing up or something? Nah, no wait this can happen... After all, we aren't even close to his labs or something.

... Right?

"Let me get the key... Aha!" E. Gadd then pulls a golden key from his labcoat and tries to put the key in, only to not turn around as it should.

"Eh?" He says, confused. "I'm sure this is the key..."

As he tries to look around in his coat, the lights start to dim. No, this can't be. It couldn't possibly be...!

As I try to deny it the most probable of situations, E. Gadd gets punched in the face by an orange-like figure, making him roll down the stairs we climbed from.

"E. Gadd?!" I rush down the stairs and make my towards E. Gadd, worried that he might have gotten seriously hurt, raised him just a bit.

"Ow... That was quite the punch." He says while putting his hand in front of his nose, where the fist connected to his face.

Relieved, I sigh. That's good, he's not hurt. But what the heck was that?

My eyes go back to the door, which now has 3 orange figures and one of them took the key E. Gadd was holding.

As they noticed our gaze, they quickly ran away towards the opposite stairway... Towards the basement of the building.

"E. Gadd! Why are ghosts-a here?! You told me that there-a would be an apparition here only!" I can't help but complain out loud to the poor doctor, shaking him.

"U-Ugh, I-I c-can E-explain-in!" He tries to say, only to be jabbled by my panic action.

Thankfully (For both me and him) I calm down enough to let him go of my desperate attempt at not accepting reality right now.

As he fixes his coat, he slowly says "Ok, sonny, I may or may not have built this cafe in a very specific place..."

"What-a specific place?" I look at him with a stare that could kill a man.

"... You know... Hehehe... I had to leave the Boo Woods after what happened there, so you know... I had to find a new place to supervise the Portrait Ghosts..." He tries not to look at me in the eyes, to not see the anger I'm expelling from my eyes.

"It was around that time that I needed to move to Evershade Valley to continue my studies about paranormal phenomena, so ummm... I left them here... under this building at the time..."

"So... You know... Vincent Van Gore might have escaped his portrait while we were coming here. You know, the ghost artist that was making the ghosts for King Boo during our first work together." He concludes.

...

... Was this the reason why King Boo managed to escape his portrait so easily and went to Evershade Valley after E. Gadd and then attract me to that dreadful and scary place?!

Because E. Gadd left the Portrait Ghosts abandoned inside an empty building all this time without any supervision or anything to stop them from leaving?!

And now you are telling me that a berserk ghost artist is on the loose in here and probably wants revenge on me?!

...

...I think I gonna pass out from stress.

"A-Anyway, my boy. No time for that! We must get the key back and look for Vincent on the top floor before he runs away!" He urges me.

Ugh... I knew this would happen, but I still came... I can only blame myself for this.

Understanding the situation, I grab my suitcase and equip the Poltergust and the flashlight.

"Alright-a, Lu... You can do this, no problemo." I reassure myself as I head towards the basement, as E. Gadd stays in the cafe's lobby.

"Anything I should-a know about the basement before going there?" I ask him, making sure to not get lost down there.

"Well, there's the kitchen, the employee's cabinets, and the gallery where the portraits were located, I'm sure. So probably nothing to worry about." He guarantees me to which I'm grateful.

"If anything, use the new Dual Scream I gave you, alright? It should have a wireless headphone on it for you to put on your ear as one of its new attachments" He tells me.

I nod as I find the piece of equipment and put it on my left ear.

"You hear me sonny? This is the new technology I was given. It's called Bluetooth!" It feels kinda weird to hear E. Gadd's voice without a cable, I'm always more comfortable with a cable connected to the console anyway.

But... What does he mean by "given"? No time for that, I must pay attention to the task ahead.

As I open the Dual Scream, it shows 4 rooms on the basement level: One large room, a rectangular one, and another huge room with two roads in it, which must be the gallery and one last small room at the end of it, probably being where King Boo was stored.

It doesn't seem to be a labyrinth down there, so it shouldn't take too long. We still have that apparition to deal with.

As I open the door to the basement, I can already feel the chills coming down my spine as I enter. I can't help but move slowly as I'm not sure what I'm dealing with. It could be anything or even new times of ghosts, who knows?

First came the kitchen, a large white and gray room filled with utensils for cooking. Fridges, sinks, furnaces, and stoves, filled with pots and pans, with two vent areas to let the smoke out of it. I wanted to move quickly, but it seemed that the door to the next room had been plagued with haunted spikes or something. So I can't just hurry up... Great, just great.

As I enter, I hear something coming from the far end of the room, inside the largest fridge, as I see her moving from the left to the right, like in a rhythm.

"Keep an eye out for any activity, sonny. You know how playful these ghosts can be." E. Gadd carefully tells me not to put myself in danger.

I check the surroundings as best as anyone could, opening the many drawers and objects as I can, it's just a shame that here there aren't coins or bills popping up like they do on the mansions, I could use the extra financial aid.

Finally, I get in front of the shaking device and knock it with the back of my hand, opening to a... pie? Huh, that's weird.

"Well, I'm-a sure the room is just emp-" I tried to say it, but then I got attacked by an orange laughing blob of spookiness as he threw the same pie I saw on the fridge onto my face.

I stand still for a moment, processing what just happened. Did this ghost, not like the ones from Evershade Valley, just throw a pie on my face?!

As I clean my face distracted by what just happened, the paranormal blob screams to let his presence known, making me scream out loud as the pots and pans start floating atop the stoves, somehow creating a poltergeist effect on the room.

I get myself together and know that the only way to make things come back to normal is to suck those ghosts up, so I activate the Poltergust.

I just need to time it right like I always did... Just don't look at him...! But it's so scary!

I start shaking, but that seems to somehow make the ghost even more interested in giving me a good smack in the face, so I just go with it.

As he raises his fist, I turn around and flash him with a good light beam with the Strobulb, causing him to get stunned in place, allowing me to start my trusty machine and suck him up as quickly as I can, pulling him with all my might.

He screams as if to request help, only to fall on deaf ears. The blob didn't stand a chance as I pulled him towards the Poltergust, but the little guy was still giving a nice fight.

But in all seriousness, I'm about done with this. I'm legit angry with this ghost!

As emoticons got the best of me, I just decided violence was the best answer as I slammed the stupid ghost on the floor repeatedly, to the left, to the right... That felt good!

I laugh as the traumatized ghost is sucked right into the Poltergust, thus restoring the light to the kitchen, all the pots and pans falling to the floor.

As much as I want to help clean this place up, I need to hurry and find the other 2 mischievous ghosts, so I tell E. Gadd that umm... His kitchen needs some maintenance.

"Luigi, you have learned how to use the new Slam function by yourself! You are amazing!" E. Gadd claims, although I'm a bit confused.

"Once you start sucking ghosts and force them to enter the Poltergust, a power gauge will fill up. Once it is filled, you can slam the ghosts onto the floor, taking off the morale to struggle against you!" He explains to me.

So there are other new functions to this version of the Poltergust, huh? Interesting. Plus, this Slam thing will be good to vent some anger and stress out of my mind. I'm going to enjoy this function, hehe.

"There's still the Suction Shot, the Burst, and a special function that you should be able to field-test before going to the second floor!" He says.

Hmmm... 3 more, huh? Alright, I'm getting a bit pumped up now!

I open the door to the next room. It's a rectangular middle-sized room with a few lockers, some small changing room spaces, and a few benches to sit down. A normal employee locker room, although it's dark and scary right now.

Sigh... The door to the gallery is also locked by those strange spikes, so it's searching time again.

"HMGFG!" I try to open one of the lockers with sheer force, only to fail spectacularly... Those lockers are too tight for me to open with my bare hands. Now what?

"Luigi! Use the Suction Shot!" E. Gadd tells me. Very well then, let's do this.

As I change the Poltergust's settings to the option said, the vacuum nozzle becomes a rubber plunger tied to a rough rope.

"... E. Gadd, it's just a plunger attached-a to a rope." I tell him with a straight face.

"You mean an infinite amount of plungers attached to a rope that comes from the Poltergust!" He objects to me.

"Use the Slam function alongside the Suction Shot to force open the lockers! You just need to suck the rope connected to the plunger like you would do with the ghosts and pull once the power gauge is full!" He exclaims, probably having a smug smile on his face.

Well, it's worth the shot, I suppose.

I aim the plunger towards the closest locker door and shoot it, making it stay glued to the cabinet. Now the rope is begging me to pull it with all my might.

I change it back to the vacuum nozzle and start sucking the rope and... it got stuck on the nozzle. Now I have to use the Slam once the power gauge is full... Done!

And now the part I like! Slamming and pulling the rope with the strength of the Poltergust was enough to force open the locker and um... There's nothing there, just a few photos of a green toad with a fire flower.

A-anyway, there's more to go!

One had a Hammer Bro Suit on it, but I can't help but be curious about it as to why a Toad would have that in the first place... another had a ticket for an express train located somewhere far away... This one had some kind of gel on it and I don't know why, but the droplets from it are making the cloth below it kinda transparent.

Alright... The last one must have the ghost inside of it, I'm sure of it!

As I open it, of course, the room goes crazy with the poltergeist and things start flying around like they are birds collecting treasure or hats, like that one from the desert.

The ghost shows up and... it's using some kind of wooden shield to protect himself. That's something new.

Well, let's just do the same strategy I used on the other ghost... Wait what?! That thing doesn't seem affected by the Strobulb flash! I can't suck him this way because the shield is in the way!

W-Wait, calm down Luigi! Don't start panicking right now just because you can't defeat a single ghost! B-b-b-but how I am gonna stop that thing from getting close to me?!

"Luigi, use the Suction Shot to break his shield! Quickly" E. Gadd tells me, as if he was seeing me panic or something.

I desperately shoot the plunger on the ghost, sticking it to the shield. It's my chance!

The shield breaks down as I pull the plunger with the Poltergust's suck and slam abilities. Haha! Not even the paranormal forces can't go against the might of a plunger and the power of the wind!

Without his protection, the ghost panics and tries to run, only to fall victim to the strong gusts of my trusty machine. The door opens, giving me access to the gallery.

This is going smoothly, to which I'm thankful. These new functions are indeed helpful.

E. Gadd surpassed any expectations I had so far.

Now, just one more room and I can deal with the original objective and go back home to my bed and puppy.

I open the door. And I'm not surprised in the slightest as to what happened here, but I know one single thing about it... I'm going to have a huge headache until this is all solved.

The gallery interior is the same as I remember from Boo Woods, except this one is... filled with debris. More specifically, portrait frames, rotten wood, and scrap metal filled the floor. I can't move at all in this place!

The broken frames only mean one thing... The ghosts... They are all free. Why? What did I do to deserve this, Lord? Ugh, first things first, let's just get that stupid key!

"So, it's everything alright there, my boy?" E. Gadd asks, hoping for an ideal answer from me.

"No, this place is-a all destroyed, with your frames all broken down... The ghosts are all out-a there again in the world." I just revealed to him as straight as I could be.

If this headache is going to happen one way or another, I'm not the only one suffering from it.

"I see..." E. Gadd says, a bit disappointed in himself. Most likely, identifying that it was indeed his fault all of this was happening.

Anyway, I must get to the end of the gallery, where the King Boo portrait was. That must be the place where the last ghost is.

The Poltergust tries to suck the debris, only to fail at this, which is surprising. Perhaps it is because there's way too much trash.

"Hehe, I haven't cleaned this room since forever!" E. Gadd says it while giggling. Of course you haven't cleaned it, you abandoned this place for god knows how long!

"So what now, Prof? I can't move with all the stuff in the way." I tell him.

"Have you tried the Burst function, sonny?" He asks.

I say no as he picks up a note from his coat.

"Okay sonny, so first things first, you need to press two buttons simultaneously to activate it. They should be in the arms of the machine. Try it." He reads the note and instructs me to do it.

Alright, it shouldn't be too hard... Ah, I found them.

I pressed them both and a gust of high-pressure wind came out from the bag, destroying nearby debris in the process.

My god, I was legit shaking! It felt like a small jump, although it was a bit way too violent and I can still jump just fine. This is gonna be good to stun ghosts and destroy blockades, hehe!

I quickly clean the gallery from its mighty force of trash and slowly advance to the last checkpoint available to explore.

As I enter King Boo's old accommodations, all I see is a ghost holding a key while sitting down on a throne-like chair.

He starts mocking me, as he is protected by some iron bars that block my path toward him... and the little blob smirks nervously.

The iron bars were there probably from stopping anyone with a physical body from taking King Boo away, but... it didn't exactly work out as he was able to escape by himself.

"Tsk. There must be a way to get him..." I try to think of something to utilize to finalize my mission on this basement as quickly as possible but... Nothing comes to mind.

"Hehehehe! I reckon it's nigh time we use my latest technology then!" E. Gadd exclaims to all in the room, already smelling the air of Victory.

"Sonny, press the blue button on your flashlight. It will activate... him."

... Him? At this point, I might as well not question it and just do it. As I press the blue button, the goo that was inside the glass container in the new version of the Poltergust comes out, and... This thing is morphing to me?! Why there's a slime Luigi in front of me?!

"Luigi, meet Gooigi. The latest technology in resistance and slipperiness I ever had the fortune to create!" He says it proudly to me as if I'm happy to see a slime version of me.

Ugh, beggars can't be choosers. Let's see what this slime thing can do.

"Alright, so Gooigi can do everything you should be able to. But he can phase through iron bars or other iron railings without any difficulties." He says it.

"But! Don't ever let him touch water, it will disintegrate him into his liquid form and then will be put back on the Poltergust. Or at least, that was what I found out during test runs." He finishes the explanation.

I shrug. I'm better than this slime thing, for sure. After all, I can swim and stay in water for long periods.

"Alright, just tell him to do something, and you're good to go." E. Gadd simplifies the instructions for me.

"Ok... So, Gooigi... Cross these-a iron bars and capture that ghost for-a me... please?"

As I asked him to do the action, he swiftly moved towards it and crossed the bars flawlessly, which caused the ghost to start to panic as he saw his plans were foiled easily.

Needless to say, that was so easy it even made me proud of this puddle of slime goo.

As the goo returns to me and gives me the key, it disappears and returns to the Poltergust. Perhaps I still need to check what happens when it comes into contact with water later.

I breathe in and out, preparing myself for what awaits us there. I start walking back to the stairs to the lounge, hopeful that E. Gadd and I can create a plan of action for what might be one of the chaotic missions I participated in.

Sigh, I wanna go home...

Chapter Text

World 1-3: Girl from Another World

Once back at the cafe's lounge, E. Gadd and I decide to think of a strategy before entering what seems to be Vincent's lair as of now.

And heck, we don't even know if that "apparition" is working alongside him or something. That only makes me more nervous, as I'm the one who has to enter that dreadful place since let's be honest... E. Gadd is not in shape for ghost hunting anymore.

"Ugh... This is-a not good, E. Gadd! This has to be the worst situation possible! Now upstairs both-a Vincent and the apparition are there and we don't even know if they are partners in-a crime and stuff! What do we-a do?!" The nervousness turned into a bit, just a bit of panic leakage from me.

"No worries, sonny. The apparition... She... She wouldn't help them, I'm sure of it." He says it with a smile and comforting eyes, but he looks down.

... Wait, what do you mean by "She", and he seems to be... proud of "her"? E. Gadd knows the apparition? But to what extent?!

That's it.

I'm not doing anything until E. Gadd explains himself. I may be a coward and even a fool, but I'm not a moron that goes headfirst to evil entities' lairs like that without solid reason!

"E. Gadd, we-a need to talk." I look at him with the most serious stare I could make.

"Yes, youngster?" E. Gadd looks at me, confused.

"Please, tell-a me everything about this apparition and what or who "She" is right-a now. I'm not-a helping if you don't explain to me why you-a have... so much faith in this thing?"

"..." He just looks at me.

... I wonder if I was too aggressive... maybe I should have asked him more nicely? Ugh... I'm not on a good day, am I...?

"... It was her who told me about the Bluetooth function that I implemented to your Dual Scream." He starts while I quiet down.

"I don't think she's from this world, sonny."

"But I can guarantee for sure, my boy! She is the sweetest girl I ever met."

"Please! You will understand once you see her! So please!" He then goes on his knees and begs me to help him.

...

E. Gadd was never the kind of man to beg.

This girl, whoever she is, manages to make E. Gadd's old heart transform, like those star kids from that spaceship once they ate enough bits to turn into new galaxies. Not even I managed to do it and I helped him in his research. A lot!

... Sigh. I'm too weak against these kinds of things, aren't I...?

"Fine... I'll see this-a girl apparition you respect so much, and I'll see if I trust-a her or not."

I cross my arms but answer him without any anger or remorse.

"Thank you, sonny. That girl... I kinda see her as someone from the family so..." He smiles.

... That's true. E. Gadd never had a family as far as I know since he was always focused on his research on the paranormal.

So for a paranormal girl to conquer his heart to the point that he calls her part of his family... I suppose I can give her a chance after all.

Now with that out of the way, the only thing left to be done was the strategy to deal with said fugitive ghosts. However, we also need to see if the apparition that E. Gadd trusted was secured or captured by them.

As we were climbing the stairs to the second floor, I kept thinking about the plan of action we came up with... which was just to go in and get all the ghosts... It's not very impressive, but it has worked sometimes before.

Using the Strobulb against Vincent's ghosts would most likely be effective, but I have no idea just how many ghosts will he be able to summon at once or how many has he already summoned, since our last encounter with him, the mansion was filled with them and we didn't know for how long Vincent was freed from his painting.

I needed something to stop the ghosts, maybe even eliminate them. But that would mean using elemental attacks on them... I could use my Thunder Hand, but would that be enough?

I don't know and this is making me paranoid... Sigh. At least we did arrive at the second floor without any problems awaiting us.

As I grabbed the door's key, suddenly we heard a loud noise coming from the room in front of us. It was the scream of a girl, I think.

Fearing for the worst, E. Gadd snatched the key out of my hands and opened the door, running inside with all his might, or at least as fast as his stubby legs could muster.

"Oh-a no, E. Gadd! Wait!" I let out a complaint as I entered the room in a hurry.

As I entered the room, I could see that this was a huge cafe and library area, but all the tables, chairs, and furniture became rubble... It seems Vincent was busy before we got here.

As I see E. Gadd standing in the middle of the room, I quickly hide behind one of the many plant vases as I see Vincent Van Gore in front of what seems to be... a timehole?! What's a timehole doing here?! But... the swirling circles on it don't have pink and yellow colors, but blue and gray colors.

"So... Eet eez you, my old acquaintance? The old coot fellow zat imprisoned me before." Vincent speaks as he turns around to see E. Gadd, insulting him.

"Heh, long time no see, you artist of poor quality." E. Gadd counters it, mocking the ghost.

"MY ART EEZ NOT OF POOR QUALITY! PEOPLE NEVER UNDERSTOOD ZEE TRUE TALENT!" He screams, making all the rubble float in the air.

"You think zat just because you captured me once, you can do eet again?!" He angrily states as he observes.

E. Gadd smirks at the ghost. "Of course, you think I'm not the same ghost Hunter as I was before?"

"... You underestimate too much, you cheeky hag. But fine, I zill take zee bait." He says as he snaps his finger.

As he does so, a curtain opens up, revealing... a girl with blue and pinkish short hair, almost violet-like, adorned in a white jacket over a long double-breasted with gold buttons and a bunch of badges on her shirt. She's stuck inside a cage while shy guy ghosts keep guard of her. But what's weirder is that she has... a halo above her head, a blue ring with a star on its middle, a bit slightly to the right.

Is she... an angel or something? The only angel I know is that boy from the fighting tournaments.

"Sniff... I'm sorry, Professor... I tried to stop them... But there were so many of them..." The girl sobs, trying to calm herself down but failing.

Although her appearance looks like she's a serious girl, she's very emotional, like me.

"You...! Let her go! She has nothing to do with this!" E. Gadd demands it.

Vincent simply laughs at the order. "You think zat I would let such a chance go by?! I'll make you join me in the afterlife! Hahahahahahaha!"

He snaps his finger and, from what I managed to count, two dozen ghosts appeared around E. Gadd.

He looks around himself and clicks his tongue. "You think I'm scared of a few ghosts?" He says a bit of sweat dripping from his forehead.

"Of course not, monsieur! Zis eez just a guarantee for your end! Go, my minions!" As he orders them to attack with a smile, they slowly approach E. Gadd.

... I'm scared. There are so many ghosts that I might lose my cool. But...

"Professor, No!" The girl screams in distress.

I'm not gonna allow people to be hurt. I refuse to let things happen when I can do something to stop it.

I quickly leave my hiding spot and call Gooigi, asking him to activate his Strobulb alongside mine.

Before they have time to react to my sudden appearance, both flashlights burst in front of them, paralyzing their movements.

"Now Gooigi, catch them all with me!" I say it out loud.

The ghosts quickly try to flee or to fight back, but it's all futile. The power of two poltergusts is simply too much for the little things to handle. It was over before it even began.

"Sonny, you came to help me!" He speaks up, happy to see me to which I nod.

"Wait, is that...?" The girl looks perplexed, as if she is seeing a ghost... although there's one right beside her.

"What happened?! Eez impossible! Unless...!" Vincent then looks at me and my hat, reminiscing our last encounter.

"YOU! YOU ARE ZEE FOOL WHO LOCKED ME BEFORE! LU... LU...! LUDWIG!" He exclaims.

"... Ludwig? Seriously?" I just look at him flabbergasted.

"Hey, his name is not Ludwig! His name is Luigi sensei!" The girl corrects the ghost while pouting her cheeks.

... Sensei? What is that? Some kind of food? And how the heck does she know who I am?

"Whatever! Zis save me time to look after you, green hat! I shall destroy zee with my creations!" He proclaims victory before it even happens.

He summons a painting frame in front of him and begins to paint in it.

As he finishes painting, ghosts start to pop out from the frame, coming to life.

"After zis stache, my minions!" He screams.

Ghosts of different colors start showing up all around, with no signs of stopping.

It's time to show why Luigi is number 1!

Although I thought that, I wanted to take care of them without putting E. Gadd and the girl in danger.

I command Gooigi to protect E. Gadd and help him in any way he asks, to which he nods.

I ran to the other side of the room, taunting the phantom creatures by throwing a few pieces of debris onto Vincent, which only seems to make him even more pissed at me. With a shout, he orders all of the ghosts to hunt me down and to forget about the 'disgusting' green goo thingie.

Preparing to initiate combat, I charge the Strobulb and wait for the right moment, letting the ghosts try to punch me. Before I could feel their phantasmagoric knuckles, a beam of light released and I'm able to stun the majority of them, quickly sucking and slamming them onto the ground, directly on top of the other ghosts, destroying them.

That was... incredibly satisfying. I love this Slam ability, hehehe~.

"Useless! Useless! Useless! Eet ezz just one fellow!" Vincent complains as he continues to paint more ghosts. There's just no end this way!

"Luigi, quick!" E. Gadd calls me.

"Give me the weapons you got from the van!"

I nod as I open the suitcase he gave me pick up the two objects and throw them at Gooigi, who catches them with flawless caution and gives them to E. Gadd.

"Keep them busy as I finish setting them up, my boy!" He starts tinkering with both gears.

How to keep them busy... Oh, I know. It may look a bit embarrassing, but well... Beggars can't be choosers.

I stand lifting my hands up and down in sync while moving my body side to side... creating a random dance.

"Wha...?" Vincent is somehow confused by my moves, which is exactly what I want.

"I thought-a you needed a handicap since you can't deal with-a me right now, so I just started dancing to see if you can come-a up with something!" I taunt him with the sickest moves my mind could think of. That adventure to get the keynotes has paid off, hehe.

I swear, if he had veins, they would pop from the amount of anger he's feeling right now. If glares could kill, he would one-shot me.

Not only is he creating ghosts, but he's also throwing scraps at me! Geez, I'm sorry that my smooth moves are insulting to you...

I keep dodging all their attacks, using the Poltergust to throw the launched debris back to his sender, in hopes of distracting him further.

As I focus on dodging, I hear the sound of something familiar as the pencil from Vincent's hand is knocked out and disappears, making the ghost unable to paint anymore.

It was E. Gadd, wielding a... Poltergust? No, it's a gun in the shape of the Poltergust!

"Dang it! Dang it! Zis is not over! I wanted to crush you both, but zee other ghosts are waiting for me on zee other side of zis portal! I'll regroup and come up with a bigger plan! Just you wait!"

Upon saying that, he runs away onto the timehole, diving headfirst into it. As he does so, flashing lights and shining stars come out of the hole, sucking the ghost.

Everything quiets down as the lights come back to the room and furniture drops down to the floor as the poltergeist's influence dissipates.

Soon, everything went back to normal.

"Oh my god! We won! Luigi is the superstar, haha!" I scream as victory is certain, waving my arms into the air in happiness.

"Go, Weegee! Go, Weegee! Oh yeah, oh yeah!" I simply cannot contain my excitement.

"Hey, sonny! I know you are happy, but could you help me out here?" E. Gadd calls me out, trying to pry open the cage the girl is still locked in.

"Oh, um, on it!" I get a bit embarrassed, but I quickly recompose myself and help the professor open the nasty iron trapper.

Upon releasing the girl, she walks out from the iron cube and sits down on the wooden floor, sighing heavily.

"Phew... I thought I was a goner for sure..." The girl says it, tired from all the chaos.

"You are still young, girlie. I almost had a heart attack." E. Gadd says jokingly.

"Says the old man that left me here all alone. Where were you, Ossan?" She asks annoyed.

"Weren't you the one who told me to bring a hero to help you out? Luigi here fits the bill perfectly!" He says, proud of Luigi's achievements as his assistant.

Luigi puffs his chest up with pride at those words. A hero. Finally, I'm receiving the respect I deserve! No more being in Mario's shadow!

... Wait, but help in what? Weren't you an apparition? Why does E. Gadd has poltergust gun? And what is that a timehole here?!

More questions to be answered, ugh.

The two figures in front of me have the answers, and I'm not leaving or helping anyone before I get a good response for it.

As they are reminiscing about stuff that just happened with smiles on their faces, I snap my fingers to get their attention.

"Alright-a, alright-a. It's-a nice that everything is good and all. But I have-a even more questions that need to be answered. And I'm not helping unless they are given a good-a response." I cross my arms and look at the two with curious eyes.

Something is going on and I do want to help, but basic info should be a priority, isn't it?

The girl stands up and nods.

"Sure, I'll try to answer them as best as I can, Luigi sensei!" She excitedly gestures with one of her hands doing a thumbs-up.

"Alright-a then, first things first... How do you know me, girl?" I'm very curious about this.

"Everybody knows you from where I come from, sensei! You helped us so much after all!"

... Another world that somehow knows me? It's like having a secret fan club or something... but I'll let it slide for now. I'm more curious about her and the land itself than myself for them.

"Oki-doki then. Continuing... Who are you? Are you a spirit or apparition?" I ask her the most obvious question.

"Well, I'm sure I'm human. At least I think I am..." She dives into deep thought.

"But I can say for sure that I'm not the original. I'm just a copy of the actual girl that was supposed to come here!" She says.

"Copy? Original? What-a do you mean?" Confused, I ask her.

"That I can explain, sonny." E. Gadd raises from the floor.

"You see, that timehole appeared a few months ago and well, me being the great scientist that I am, decided to do a few experiments with it." He answers it.

"And um... I might have accidentally dropped a Double Cherry on the timehole by accident." He tries not to look at me, putting a hand on the back of his head, and scratching it.

"And the original picked it up, thus I was created!" The girl finishes the sentence, smiling brightly.

"And to differentiate me from the original, I cut my hair to be shorter than her. Everybody back at the academy was so confused when I showed up, hehe~" She laughs as she remembers something.

Academy, huh...? More questions... sigh.

"Alrighty. Where-a are you from?" I want to see if this question answers both the questions that just came up.

"Little me? I'm from Academy City of Kivotos." She says it.

"Kivotos? I never heard-a of this place." I put my hand on my chin.

"It's because it's from that spiral hole over there." She points to the timehole.

... So she really comes from another world, huh? ...And the portrait ghosts went to this new world that could be filled with all sorts of stuff they could use against us?!

My goodness... I can feel my head hurt already.

"Also, sonny. Here, take this. I'm sure you know what this is." E. Gadd hands me the poltergun... wait, I remember this thing!

"I think the name of it was Suction Destruction isn't it, my boy? I saw recordings of you using it during the incident with the bunny people and I figured you could use these abilities again. You can hit enemies with this from a safe distance, it's kinda like a sniper rifle, I think is the name of it?" He elaborates.

Man, that event was crazy, that's for sure. But why would I need this thing?

"Oh, that's great, professor! Kivotos is filled with students with guns, so having this will make Sensei more respectable for sure!" She hugs the professor, making him blush a bit proudly, like a dad showing up his work to his daughter.

Ok... I feel like this is gonna end up like the rabbits incident all over again...

"Ummm... I see. Can I ask how you ended up-a here?"

"I was coming here during a few explorations because the original was making some... terrible choices, you see? She wanted me to find a hero to fix the city, but I didn't think I would meet you here, Luigi sensei!" She smiles upon saying that.

"Oki Doki... What's a sensei?" I asked, curious.

"Sensei is a teacher, you didn't know?" She tilts her head.

Me? A teacher...? I remember teaching a few kids back in the day but... A teacher in a city filled with students with guns? That's so weird...

But... for some reason, when she told me about being a teacher... Memories started flooding my head, making me put my hand in my head to stop the sudden pain, to no avail.

"Ugh...!" I complain as the pain continues to grow, not showing any signs of stopping as my body keeps moving on its own.

But I remember...!

The school in the vast desert, left abandoned by the other academies...

The huge academy filled with technology...

The chaotic school filled with demons...

The district of angels and aristocrats...

The military that was left without a place to go back to...

The land of festivals...

And so much more...!

"Sensei! Are you alright?!"

"Snap out of it, sonny!"

Their voices echo alongside the rapid memories that flow inside my mind. I can't think straight as the continuous itching refuses to cease.

I come to a full stop in front of the timehole, holding his side with all my might. The pain subsided enough for me to come back to my senses, or at least, to see what was happening around me.

The girl, knowing that this was more like an act of destiny, tells me the following, to which I manage to pay full attention.

"Sensei! Something is making you go to Kivotos by force!" She says it loud enough to be heard.

An unknown force...? Like... that stupid sapling from the Black Void incident...?

Before I could even grasp the current situation, I felt a hit coming from my back strong enough to make me lose my footing.

"Ah." The three of us say it as I see Polterpup giving me a huge headbutt with a surprise attack. Where did he come from? Did I forget to feed him? Must have been that...

Then both of us step inside the timehole.

A huge whirlwind made of light and stars appears and launches both of me and Polterpup up into the air and starts pulling us towards the swirling circle under us.

"Sensei! The GSC President is mostly behind this! She always does weird things like that! Please, I beg you! When you see her, help her if you can!"

I don't understand what's happening anymore, but...

"Alright-a, I'll try! Um... What's your name-a again?!" I tried to ask for her name but the whirlwind swallow us as quickly as it came.

I couldn't hear her name as I was being transported to another world alongside my ghostly dog.

E. Gadd's POV:

After Luigi got sucked into the timehole, the suspicious-looking opening on the ground started closing, as if its objective has been concluded.

"My god... Luigi...!" I can't help but be surprised by all the events that just happened.

What I am gonna do? Especially... When his brother finds out that his sibling got sucked all by himself to a dangerous location without any help or strategy?

Thankfully, Luigi had all the tools he used before with him. The Poltergust, his flashlight, the Dual Scream 3D, and the Suction Destruction gun. He will be ok... Hopefully.

But what worries me is seeing the lonely girl touching the floor with her hand, the place that once stood as her only way back home.

"Are you okay, girlie?" I ask.

"... I don't know, professor." She tries to hold her emotions in.

"My mission is complete, you see? I managed to bring a hero to Kivotos... I'm sure everyone will be alright, thanks to Luigi sensei." She says, proud of herself.
"But... You know? I was feeling homesick before you arrived, so I tried to go back to Kivotos."

I nod, it's understandable after all. A child gets homesick fast.

"Once I stepped in, I was ready to make a quick visit and come back as fast as I could, but... nothing happened." She concludes.

"What you mean nothing happened?" I sit down next to her.

"The portal... rejected me. It's like my world was telling me to not come back." She smiles, but I know she's trying to hide her sadness.

"I-I know what the GSC president was thinking about doing was against the laws of the world, but to have affected me as well, it's...! I-I...! I have nowhere to go...!" She starts to break down. Tears start to come out of her eyes.

"Shhhhhh. Calm down, dearie." I gently put my hand on her shoulder.

"It's not easy to come to terms with something like this, I understand it completely. But you need to remember, you are not alone here, remember?" I remind her of all the inventions and conversations we had a few months before today.

"If anything, you helped Luigi be prepared for a lot of things, girlie. Be proud of it. And most importantly of all, you ain't just a copy. If you were just a copy, you would have disappeared a long time ago."

The Double Cherry usually lasts for a few minutes only. If she managed to exist for more time than that, then...

"I think your world modified the Double Cherry you came from, making you a whole new being, not just a blatant copy, you see?" I assure her.

"P-Professor...! Bwaaaaahhh!" She starts allowing herself to cry out loud, hugging me in the process.

"I did good, didn't I?!" She asks me.

"You did, girlie. You did." I answer it as I pet her head softly.

I just allowed her to cry on my shoulder, letting minutes pass by as the thoughts that were stuck inside of her were slowly leaking out from her eyes.

After about half an hour passed by, she stopped crying and went face to face towards me.

"Sniff... I'm so sorry, professor..." She looks at me, embarrassed and with red eyes.

"It's alright, dear." I chuckle a bit.

But she's right, she needs help... and I wish to help her with it.

"Say... Would you be willing to be my assistant for the time being? I'm going to need a new person to substitute Luigi for now. I can give you shelter and life essentials." I tell her.

"A-A-Are you sure?" She looks at me with awe.

"Of course! You are like a granddaughter to me already, ho ho ho!" I laugh.

"A-Alright! I won't disappoint you!" Determined, she waves a big smile at me.

What a good time to be alive, hoho.

"Oh yeah, dear. What's your name? I never had the pleasure to ask before." I asked, curiosity getting the best out of me.

"... Azula. That's what the GSC President used to call me back in Kivotos." He blushes a bit as she smiles. She must be proud of that name.

"Alright, Azula. Now just one last question from this old man, is that ok for you?"

"Yes, go for it, Ossan!" She gives me the thumbs up.

"What was it that GSC girl did that made your world go against the both of you?" That's the only question I need answers to.

"..." She thinks for a bit and snaps her fingers while nodding.

"She said that... She wanted to reset the world. To before everything started to fall apart." She said as calmly as the sea at night.

...

Luigi, sonny. I think you are going on a trip of a lifetime. Good luck out there, my boy.

Chapter Text

World 1-4: The World of Halos

...

...

...

It feels so weird.

I can’t move my body but I feel it moving through a current.

It’s like I’m floating, but not on water.

Just... nothingness.

And most importantly, the feeling of deja vu I’m currently having with the scenery in front of me...

A brilliant sky surrounded by golden and pinkish clouds filled my eyes.

[Source: The Super Mario Bros. Movie]

I thought the timeholes were simply spirals of colors transporting someone to a location in the past...

This is definitely NOT a timehole.

So this is a portal to another world... another universe, maybe?

I still remember the first time I saw this scene, back when Mario and I first came to the Mushroom Kingdom. It was... terrifying.

But I’m not saying this because I’m going to end up in an ashen place filled with Dry Bones, Shy Guys, and lava.

Right?

...

Right?!

As I try to move around in this place, I notice two things.

One: Polterpup is lying down on top of my belly, which is adorable.

Two: The clouds, once pink and gold, started to change color to blue, white, and gray.

Does that mean I’m reaching my final destination?

Polterpup and I reach the other end as a flash of light hits us. Not knowing what might happen...

I can only pray that everything will be alright.

Once the light dissipated and allowed me to open my eyes, I found myself in a corridor of a moving vehicle.

Is this a train? Must be. But it’s so different from the ones I know... Well, I know the ones from Mario’s stories but this? This is surreal. It’s like I’m inside a science fiction movie!

 As I gather my thoughts, observing the amazing construction I’m currently in, I hear a bark.

“Polterpup! Thank-a goodness, you came with-a me!” Relieved, I let out a tired sigh. We didn’t get separated.

As I called him, he came and petted my legs with his small head, thankful that I was alright.

“Hehe, good to see you are good-a as well, buddy!” I say it as I pet his head.

After making sure I was ok, Polterpup ran towards the door in front of the passenger car and started scratching it, barking out loudly.

Is he... telling me to follow him?

Well, I trust my dog as much as I trust my friends, so I see no reason not to follow.

As I open it, the light from outside the train makes contact with my vision... It’s a beautiful blue sky with a rising sun. But what caught me off guard, was not it...

It was the huge rings that crowned the heavens. It’s like the halo from the girl E. Gadd trusted, but it wasn’t on top of a person...

It was in the sky itself.

In the distance, I could see a city covered in halo rings, one structure above all releasing a pillar of light.

As I ponder what that structure could be, Polterpup barks loudly again as he directs me to the next car, which I quickly follow.

As I enter the new car, Polterpup rushes to something ahead of me and sits beside it, barking and licking it.

As my eyes focus on the figure ahead of me, a shocked face surges in my face.

Is that... the girl from E. Gadd’s cafe? No... This one has long hair, instead of short hair.

“Hehe... this tickles, little one.” The girl giggles a bit, seeing the excited ghostly pup wag his tail side to side quickly.

It’s almost as if... Polterpup knows her... No, I know her as well. I’m sure of it. But why? Why do I know this person, like she is an old acquaintance? I’m so confused...

“Are you... The GSC President? A haloed girl asked me to help you.” I ask her.

She softly nods.

“Hehe... To think the hero I asked Azula to bring would be none other than Luigi Sensei... I’m glad.” She speaks up, signaling me to approach with a slow but precise hand gesture.

As I get closer to her, I see something dreadful.

Blood. Something so rare to appear in the Mushroom Kingdom. And something that I learned the hard way during my medicine classes... She’s wounded, badly!

I rushed towards her and quickly took a better look at her.

“Oh god...! A-A-Are you a-ok?! A-Are you in pain?! O-O-Oh my god, we need-a medic! ... Wait, I am-a doctor! B-b-but what can I do without-a my equipment?!” I panic as I try to calm down to help her, only to fail miserably and cold sweat drips from my head.

She must be in so much pain! I need to help her or... Or else she will...!

“Sensei.” She calls me by the title given to me earlier today, making me look at her with concern.

“I’m okay. Thank you for always putting others' safety above all... But please, if you could... Sit down.” She gives me a big smile, signalizing with her hand to sit in front of her to which I... begrudgingly do so.

“Thank you, sensei.” She nods.

“If you could be so kind as to listen to my request... Would that be okay?” She asks, her voice a bit off... like she is disappointed in herself for having to ask me for help.

“But of course! You can ask me anything!” I blurt it out. I promised the haloed girl back home that I would help her but...

I want to help this girl. I have to. I know I must. It’s... my responsability.

“Hehe... Once again, thank you.” She smiles.

...

Silence fills the location as she tries to find the right words to transmit her message loud and clear.

“... It was all my fault.” She begins.

“My decisions, and everything they caused.”

A flashback comes to my head.

A girl with long grey hair corrupted by a dark power unknown to us with a concerned face pointing a gun at me and what seems to be an apparatus with 3 shot marks on it.

“It had to come to this for me to finally realize you were right all along...” Her smile disappears and becomes a frown.

“So forgive me for being so bold, but I must ask for your help.” She says as both her hands squeeze together, nervously.

“Luigi Sensei.” She looks at me in the eyes.

“You’ll forget these words, but it won’t matter.”

“Even without your memories, you’ll probably make the same decision in the same situation...”

... She’s holding her tears, I can see it.

“Therefore, I believe what matters most are the choices we make, not the experiences we have.”

“There are choices only you can make.”

... Her smile is slowly trembling.

“I’ve spoken of responsibility before.”

“I didn’t truly understand it then, but now I do.”

I slowly get up from my seat as she continues to tell the details with her eyes closed.

“Adulthood, responsibility, obligation... and the choices you make that extend beyond those ideals.”

“I even understand their implications.”

... She’s barely able to contain it anymore. It’s time for a bit of comforting.

I sit next to her and hug her.

“You did-a well, dear. Your hard work won’t be in-a vain.” I say it, proud of her.

“...”

“You are so unfair, Sensei... I was trying so hard to be serious... and to not cry...!”

She lets her tears drop a bit from her eyes.

“Mhm.” I just nod and smile.

“Hehe... I’ll... miss this...” She recovers her bright smile as she hugs me back.

The warmth and comfort of this action make her happy, and that’s good enough for me.

...

After a bit, she continues to speak, satisfied with the gesture.

“Therefore, Sensei...”

“... You are the only one I can trust.”

She then gives me a letter. It’s addressed to someone named “Rin-chan”.

“Find my best friend Rin-chan and help her out.”

“Only you can free us from this twisted, distorted fate...”

“... And find the choices that will lead us to a new reality.”

“So, Sensei. Please... Save Kivotos. Like you have done to your world before.” She finishes.

“Oki-doki!” I assure her of my decision.

Slowly, my vision starts to black out. Meaning my time with her is soon coming to an end.

“Goodbye, Luigi Sensei... and remember...”

“We thirst for the seven wailings. We bear the Koan of Jericho.”

As she says the last sentence, I nod and wave my hand to her as I fall into darkness.

I wonder if I’ll ever see her again..............

“...e me” A voice calls.

“... cuse me, sir?” She seems to be calling someone...

“Excuse me, mister with the green hat! Wake up!” She shouts.

“Uwaaaaahh!” I let out a silly scream as I got up from my seat.

All the other passengers of the train car I’m currently in look at me in either shock or nervousness.

“I-I’m-a so sorry!” I apologize profusely to everybody, bowing like a madman as seemingly being accepted by the annoyed folk... Which seems to be animals, mostly dogs, cats, and birds walking on two legs and girls with guns and halos... wait, guns and halos?!

As the apology ended, a girl who seemed to be an attendant approached me.

Wait, does she have a gun and a halo as well?

“I’m sorry for shouting, sir. But the next stop will be the last our train does for today, so we cannot allow you to continue traveling with us. You must disembark at the next stop: The Sanctum Tower, alright?” She explains.

“Ah... N-No worries, I’ll do as told.” I scratch the back of my head while giving an awkward smile.

And soon enough, the train comes to a stop, with the intercom speaking up.

[Last stop, Sanctum Tower. I repeat. Last stop, Sanctum Tower. Do not forget to get your belongings and exit slowly to not hurt anybody on the way out.]

I saw my suitcase next to me, which I quickly grabbed and checked.

Everything is here. Thank god!

... And there’s one more thing. It’s a letter.

A-Anyway, let’s leave before the attendant calls me out again.

As I disembark the train, there are a few things I notice.

First... There are a lot of bipedal animals here. However, it doesn’t surprise me since I have seen Yoshis doing the same thing.

Second... There are a lot of haloed girls in school uniforms, all of them with guns. But I have not seen a single male around... is this an all-girls school or something?

And third... The place that I saw on the train ride back then... This is the huge pillar of light I saw... The Sanctum Tower.

Before I get lost in my thoughts again, I slap my cheeks and check my suitcase again.

The Poltergust... The gun... My Dual Scream... my flashlight... and most mysterious...

The letter. Where did I get this? Although... I know it is very important for some reason.

Oh, there’s something written on the other side. “To Rin-chan.”

A lead! I just need to find this Rin girl and maybe I can understand what’s going on! Heck, I might even find a way back to the Mushroom Kingdom.

...

... Now, where do I even begin?

As I ask myself that, Polterpup suddenly appears from inside my suitcase and nabs the letter from my hand, running off to the metro’s exit.

“H-Hey! I need this, boy!” I ran towards the phantasmagoric dog to the exit, to reveal multiple buildings covering my surroundings.

I can’t help but be amazed by everything! It’s bigger than the kingdom where Pauline became mayor! Wow!

... What was I doing again? Oh yeah, the letter.

...

...

...

POLTERPUP, WHERE ARE YOU?! WHERE DID YOU GO?!

I swiftly pick up the Dual Scream and activate the Ghost Radar... There it is!

He’s going to a random building?! But that building does have a city logo on it... Perhaps that Rin girl is there?!

Breathing in and out, I decide to ask for help.

“E-excuse-a me!” I inquired a girl who was passing by.

She has orange hair with ribbons on her bangs, green cat headphones, and is wearing a green and white hoodie. She seems to have a green long-range rifle and a green halo with 4 pointy kites going inwards...

Oh wow, she does resemble someone to me... but who?

“Y-Yes...?” She sheepishly responds.

“Do you know if there’s a Rin on that building over there with the city logo?”

“Umm...!” She tries to respond, only to freeze... I know how it feels, green girl. I know how it feels!

“Hey, mister! Are you bullying my sister?” A girl with the same clothes and halo, except with a pink color appears, looking a bit angry at me.

Must be twins.

“No! I-I’m so sorry if I made you feel-a uncomfortable!” I bow profusely.

 “Nah, it’s okay, mister! What was it that you wanted?” Her easygoing personality seems to calm not just my nerves, but her sister’s as well, which is good.

I say my question one more time, this time to the pink girl.

“If you are talking about the Vice President of the General Student Council Nanagami Rin, then yes, she’s probably there.” She tells me.

Bingo, ohoho! It’s better than having no Rin!

“T-Thank you so much-a for your help! I-I must-a hurry!” I bow and hastily run towards the tower, leaving the two girls behind perplexed.

“Now that was weird. Are you alright, Midori?” She asks her sister.

“Y-Yes, sis... Thanks.”

“Anyway, I found a nice gaming store over there! I even saw a copy of Broly’s Mansion in there! C’mon, let’s go!” She holds her sister’s hand and swiftly goes towards the gaming store.

“W-Wait, Momoi! Y-You’re going to make me fall over!” She begs her to slow down, only to fall on deaf ears.

But little do they know, Midori and Luigi are going to meet again... sooner than you expect.

Upon reaching the entrance of the GSC Headquarters, all I can think is how am I gonna explain everything to the people here...

[Hey, I got this mysterious letter from someone I do not remember but she knows you, so please read it!]

Ugh, I can see their look of disgust coming towards me if I go like this!

But still, where’s Polterpup? I’m sure this is where he went...

“Eeeeeeeeeeek!?!” I hear screams coming inside of the building.

And that’s my cue to enter.

As I step into the reception room of the edifice, I see a few students trying their best to catch what seems to be a small puff of cloudy fog that was Polterpup.

“Somebody catch that thing! Is this one of the strange phenomena that has been happening lately?!” One of them speaks up.

The girl has long, navy blue hair with pigtails, using a uniform resembling the girls I talked to before, and a halo that looks like a black circle with a blue line in the middle tries to put their hands on the ghostly pup, and only to phase through her delicate hands.

One thing that does get my attention is the design of her guns, which look very futuristic.

“I do not know, but this little one sure is slippery! He’s too fast.” Another raises her voice.

This time is a girl with long black hair, red eyes, and a crop top. Her halo has red sharp daggers on her star-shaped circle with a four-pointed star in the middle. She’s wearing a very appealing set of clothing, but what’s more interesting is that she has black wings on her back! And her gun looks so luxurious too!

But my god, she is tall! Taller than me, for sure!

“Perhaps we could use something to bait into stopping? Does someone here have a bone?” One of them suggests it while throwing herself on the pup to catch it, only to fail and quickly get up to chase him again.

The girl has long white hair reaching to her waist, is wearing a gray sailor uniform and her halo has a pale purple crosshair with arrows pointing outward along the edges, and her gun syncs with her colors and appearance.

But what’s more interesting is that she has a white wing coming out of her hair! So cool!

“I’m afraid not. Should we call someone that specializes in that sort of stuff? I don’t want to hurt him... He’s adorable.” She says smiling as she sees my pup wag his tail.

The next girl has long shoulder-length blonde hair tied in pigtails with red bands each and a black ribbon hairband, her halo is a small red circle with four red points forming a crosshair. She’s wearing a white collared uniform shirt with a few decors, a red string tie and red armband on her left sleeve, and a huge bag filled with medical supplies with a small handgun. I can see long ears from her...

Is she related to the hero of the kingdom of Hyrule in any way?

“P-Please! J-Just help me g-get him o-out of here!” The last spoke.

This girl has long wavy blonde hair and green eyes, on her forehead is a blue crystal and two black and she has angelic wings that extend from her lower back, just like the black uniform girl. Her halo is two concentric yellow rings. It’s as if they are chasing one another.

She's also wearing a white uniform resembling the girl from the cafe, so she must be important!

As I was distracted by the 5 girls trying to catch a ghost barehanded, I didn’t notice the ghostly animal rushing towards me with all his might.

“W-Watch out!” The blonde-haired girl tried to warn me, but it was too late.

Pain begins to surge through my body as my dear pup headbutts me right in the stomach and rubs his head on it, relieved that I indeed followed him as he did not see me entering the building with him before.

He must have gone berserk upon not seeing me with him...

“O-Ow... There, there, Polterpup... No need-a to worry, my boy...” I reassure him while my hat slowly falls on my head.

“Wow, he caught that thing so easily...!” The girl with blue hair speaks to the others.

“... Perhaps it is his owner?” The girl with long black hair reaffirms the other.

“Must be. The puppy stopped acting like a madman once he saw him.” The girl with white hair tells the others.

“Rubbing his head on him and wagging his tail like that... So cute~!” The girl with glasses softly speaks. She must love animals.

“T-Thank you so much for s-stopping him, sir! The p-papers were flying everywhere!” The blonde girl approaches and bows while thanking me abundantly.

“I-It’s alright! I was following him to this place anyway!” I explain to them.

As quickly as I could, I picked up the letter inside Polterpup's ghostly stomach, shocking the girls.

“D-Did his hand just passed through the pup?! How is that possible?!”  the blue-haired girl, confused, speaks up.

“Well, when we tried to get him, I did feel my hand slipping through him somehow... But how?” The black-haired girl tries to make sense of it.

“Wait, he doesn’t have pupils or... skin...” The white-haired girl notices.

“... A ghost?” The girl with glasses concludes.

Wow, the girl with glasses is perceptive! I’m almost convinced she’s related to at least one of the heroes from Hyrule now!

“G-G-Ghost?! But this is impossible, it is not scientifically possible!” She tries to deny it.

“But haven’t you noticed the strange events around Kivotos as of late? Objects floating and people being hit by something that wasn’t there?” The tall one makes sense of the situation, going against the science girl.

The white-haired girl ponders about all the new events while the short-haired blonde girl with glasses approaches.

“Sir, can I... touch him?” She asks.

“Oki Doki, dear.” I say with a smile. It’s not every day that Polterpup gets new friends other than me and the ghosts from different places.

The girl slowly approaches the spectral dog, and he becomes wary of her.

“Don’t worry, pup. She’s a friend.” I soothe him, making him drop his guard a bit.

She advances her arm towards him, not to pet, but to let him smell her and let him know that she is not an enemy.

Upon identifying her, he completely drops his guard and jumps at her, licking her face all around.

“Hahahaha! T-This tickles~! The girl amusingly proclaims, with a huge smile on her face, petting him as he licks her.

“B-But if it's a ghost, how he can touch you or you touch him?! I don’t understand anything anymore!” The blue-haired girl is about to give up thinking.

“Just accept it, Yuuka. It’s something we are yet to understand.” The tall figure assures her.

“It’s easy for you to say that, Hasumi...” She responds, giving up.

The white-haired girl just looks at the other girl playing with Polterpup.

“Must be so nice... I’m jealous...” She says it.

As I let them play around with my pup, I go to the reception desk.

“Excuse-a me.” I ask for the people around the counter.

“Ah, yes sir! How can we help you?” The blonde girl with dark wings from before comes to my aid.

‘You see, I have a letter for a “Rin-chan”. Is this Rin-chan in here?” I question her. Hopefully, this Nanagami Rin is the correct Rin.

“Rin-chan...? But the only one who used to call her that is...”

“!!!”

She quickly pulls a paper under the counter.

“A tall man with green clothes and a green hat... a nice mustache...!” She looks at me with awe.

“Are you perhaps Luigi Sensei?!” She then questions me.

“Y-Yes!” I say it, surprised.

 She then quickly grabs the table phone and makes a call.

“A-Acting President Rin! I-It’s urgent!” She proclaims, getting the attention of everybody in the room.

...

“Y-Yes, a tall man wearing green clothes and a green hat with a nice mustache! It’s Sensei! He said that he has a letter for ‘Rin-chan’!”

... 

“O-Okay, I’ll do that!” She turns off the phone and puts it back in its place.

“Luigi Sensei! The Acting President Nanagami Rin wishes to speak with you!” She affirms me.

“Please follow me!” She hurries towards the elevator, to which I follow.

“W-Wait! What about us?! We have been waiting here makes almost 3 hours! We demand to see her too!” The girl with blue hair angrily comments while the other girls nod, even though the one with glasses is still playing with Polterpup.

“I-I’m afraid the acting president has only allowed Luigi Sensei to see her at the moment...” She shyly responds to her, to which she gets glared at with pure hatred by the blue-haired girl.

“H-Hold on, may I?” I speak up.

“S-Say ummm... You were curious about-a my puppy, right? How about I let you guys-a play with him while I go talk with-a Rin? I’ll tell her to come-a see you guys after this.”

The girl is stunned. She just wants to go back to her academy with answers to all the chaos happening, but seeing an actual ghost in front of her and even playing with him? That’s a chance of a lifetime!

“Ugh... Fine... I’ll trust you!” She begrudgingly accepts my condition.

“Alrighty. I’ll do my best!” I smile at her, making her blush a bit.

“Polterpup, I’m-a going to talk with someone right-a now, so stay here and-a make new friends with the girls here, okay?”

Polterpup barks in affirmation, sitting down a well.

“How the heck does a ghost dog speak without its vocal cords...?” The girl with blue hair slowly approaches the small gathering of girls that gathered at the reception desk. But she didn’t realize that Polterpup suddenly jumped at her and started licking her, to her dismay.

Everybody there giggles a bit and starts to call him “Cute” or “Adorable” many times.

Sometimes I feel like Polterpup is more popular than me... Sigh.

Anyway, I follow the dark-winged angel to the elevator.

As I entered, she clicked on the 12th-floor button.

...

Will I find answers to everything happening right now through her? I hope so...

I still need to hunt down the Portrait Ghosts and ensure they aren’t causing too much destruction.

But most importantly...

I remember all the smiles of the girls playing with Polterpup. A weird feeling comes to my chest, but it’s warm. It’s a reassurance, I think. A promise that I forgot? But whatever it is...

I’ll protect their smiles. I’m not allowing anything to hurt them.

I’ll be the hero that this city needs. Just you wait!

Chapter Text

World 1-5: Introductions

As we waited for the elevator to reach the desired floor, I decided to chat with the helpful and shy blonde girl.

"Tell-a me, dear. What's your name?" I ask her.

"M-My name is Iwabitsu Ayumu, Sensei. Nice to meet you." She responds with a quick nod.

"Oki Doki, Ayumu. Nice to meetcha too." I nod as I let out a smile.

"But-uh... Could I ask something from-a you? I'm-a still new to this city, you see." Curious, I request her help.

"B-But of course! If there's anything I can do to help you, I'll try my best!" She perks up, determined to aid me, which I appreciate.

"So um, I saw a bunch of students on the way-a over here... but I didn't see any-a male students. Why is-a that?" I question her.

"I'm sure Kivotos only has girls as students, Sensei... The only males I have seen are the animal folk and the robots that assist our city with c-commerce and trading." She explains.

So Kivotos is an all-girls school/city, huh...

...

Wait, robots?! Was I so focused on Polterpup that I didn't notice them?

"I-I see..." I scratch my forehead. I need to pay more attention to my surroundings...

"Tell-a me, Ayumu. Am I gonna need an ID? I don't think I brought mine from home." I question her once more.

"B-But of course! If you don't have one, we can easily make a new one exclusive to Kivotos!" She answers it, nodding profusely.

"Hmm... Hold on, maybe I forgot to take it off my suitcase and it is still there." I tell her while taking out my suitcase and commence the scavenging inside of it.

I asked her to hold some stuff that was inside of it, such as my flashlight and Suction Destruction.

"Is this... a compressed air gun?" She says it to me.

"Yeah, I used-a many weapons before, but this-a one is the only one that I feel at ease to use."

I pick up the Poltergust. "It and my Poltergust are my weapons of-a choice, it's like-a they are part of my body."

I wear it and dig even further into my suitcase, putting my Dual Scream 3D in my pockets, and I seem to find three things deeper in the suitcase.

One: My old passport from the time I went to the Beanbean Kingdom with Mario. It even has the old photo with me posing like I'm ready to fight, hehe.

Two: One of those mushroom-shaped phones that I used during one of the many parties I had with my friends... Good memories. But the Dual Scream exceeds in everything so I'll probably have to sell it or something.

Three: A black rectangular card... What is this?

"Ah, that's a credit card, Sensei!" Ayumu tells me upon seeing the card.

"What's a credit card?" I ask her back as she looks at me confused.

"You don't have credit cards where you live, Sensei?"

"Nope. We always-a pay for our stuff with coins, since they-a are everywhere." I respond to her.

"Coins?" She asks me, confused.

"Mhm... Oh?" I found some leftover coins inside this suitcase! Lucky me!

A total of 50 gold coins. Not bad!

"Here." I gave Ayumu 1 coin, just to show her how we did transactions.

"T-T-This is...!" She starts trembling rapidly.

"W-What's wrong, Ayumu?" I get nervous.

"I-I-Is this gold? No... p-pure gold?!" She exclaims loudly.

"I... I think so?" I ponder, putting my hand on my chin.

Nobody ever questioned them back at the Mushroom Kingdom since they were always in the open and were easily obtainable so... I guess? Especially since there are red, purple, blue... so many coins back home!

"S-Sensei, y-you p-probably don't u-understand, b-but finding gold in Kivotos is r-rare to come by!" She tells me, still anxious.

"Y-You could say a single coin that you have could be equal to an e-entire piece of Wolfsegg Ore!" She finishes while trying to catch her breath.

"... Is that-a lot?" I ask.

"IT IS!" She blurts it out while puffing her cheeks... Adorable.

So it seems that I have a small fortune in my hands, huh? And if I find the right buyer, I can increase it even further, like that bank game with streets I played alongside the dragon folk.

"A-Anyway!" She gives me the coin back while blushing a bit. "T-The credit card is used to make transactions in Kivotos. But make sure to use it wisely!" She warns me.

A credit card, huh? But... Why is it that... I feel like this thing is not supposed to be used for that. Like... it is for something else, but I don't know what. Sigh, I'll have to find out later.

BEEP*

Before I could ask her for more information, the elevator came to a stop as we reached the 12th floor.

"Luigi Sensei, The Vice President Nanagami Rin awaits you."

Two girls await for me outside of the elevator, most likely to guide me to her as I exit the elevator.

"Thank you, Ayumu. Go play with-a Polterpup too while I talk with-a her, ok?" I tell her.

She nods... and I can see a small smile forming on her face before the door closes. She probably wanted to play with him as well, hehe.

As the two students guide me to Rin's office, I observe the environment in which the GSC works.

From what I can see, the GSC mainly works with paperwork and some political stuff... Which I have no idea how it works.

In the Mushroom Kingdom, everything was solved through a council of Toads, but the final call was always given by either Princess Peach or Toadsworth.

I guess you could say that Rin-chan is the Princess Peach of this place. I just hope there's no Bowser around here wanting to kidnap her or something.

'Defence Office', 'Finance Office'... They must work hard to keep this place safe and alive, kudos to them.

"Luigi Sensei, we have arrived" The girl with light blue hair speaks up as we stop in front of an office... 'Supervision Office'.

She knocks on the door and slightly opens it. "Acting President Rin, he's here." She announces.

"Let him in." I can hear a voice coming out of the room. Must be her.

The two students bow as they leave to their prior posts. As for me? I gently open the door and prepare myself for who seems to be the acting leader of Kivotos.

Upon entering the room, I see a bunch of windows behind a desk right in front of them.

The room is quite beautiful, I'll say.

Sitting down behind the desk was a girl, looking tired from the paperwork that seemed to be neverending on top of her table. Upon seeing me, and seeing a chance to rest her head and hands, quickly gets up and approaches me.

The girl has long, straight black hair, dark blue on the inner side, getting more saturated towards the bottom, with full black bangs on the front. She also wears glasses and has big ears like the blonde girl from before, but she has an air of... maturity around her. If the girl below was a descendant of the Hero, this one is the descendant of the Princess of Hyrule, for sure.

Her halo appears as a dark blue crown that becomes lighter at the front with three stars of different sizes. Her garments are almost the same as those of the girl back in the Mushroom Kingdom, except that she wears a dark blue tie with 3 stars on it and a pair of white short gloves, different from mine. She also uses a coat that, from what I can see, looks almost like the starry sky on its inside.

My god, there's just a word for her. She's gorgeous, no joke.

"It's nice to meet you, Luigi Sensei." She starts, bowing as well.

"My name is Nanagami Rin, Vice President of the General Student Council, Chief Administrative Officer, and the current Acting President of Kivotos, the academy city."

"It's-a nice to meet you as well, Rin-chan." I respond, only for her to get annoyed by what I just said.

"Sensei, please refrain from calling me 'Rin-chan'. It's unprofessional." She says with a cold stare at me.

Uwah... She must be the tough type of person... B-But no worries, I can manage that.

"I-I apologize, Rin."

"...Apologies accepted. That also confirms a few things." She puts her hand on her chin.

"Now... Could I see the letter entrusted to you?" She raises her hand waiting for it.

I quickly give her the letter addressed to her, which she quickly opens and reads its contents.

"..."

"... I see." She deeply sighs, with a bit of disappointment on her face.

"It is her handwriting... and her goofy demeanor, it's just like her to do something like this." She gives a soft and small smile before going back to me.

"Pardon my uncertainty towards you, Sensei. But I only say that because I still don't fully understand your abilities or your capabilities."

"No, it's-a okay, Rin. I must-a earn respect somehow, right?" I tell her.

It was like that back home, it will be like this here as well. I got nothing to lose.

Liking the answer I gave her, Rin nods and decides to trust me.

"Luigi Sensei. I know everything must be very confusing to you right now." She shows concern for me, and I affirm to her that it is okay.

"Firstly, I would like you to follow me for now."

"There's something I require your help with."

"Let's just say that it is a grave matter... That could determine the very fate of the academy city." She finishes and kinda gets me nervous, making me gulp.

I can do this...! If not, the city is gonna suffer a lot! I told myself that I would be this city's hero, didn't I? Now it's time to show my worth!

She then starts walking towards the elevator, which I follow. She presses the button for the reception area.

Oh my, I didn't even have to say anything for her to go down to the others... I should still tell her though.

As the elevator slowly descends to our current destination, Rin goes towards the windowed part of the elevator and calls my name.

"Luigi Sensei, albeit our meeting was abrupt, allow me to properly say this."

She then raises her hand and shows the entirety of Kivotos to me through the window.

"Welcome to Kivotos, Luigi Sensei."

"I know our situation is not the most appropriate, but I hope you can enjoy your time with us."

Although she looks like a cold-hearted and harsh person... Deep down, she is a sweetheart of a girl.

I simply smile at her, knowing the truth.

Knowing how this elevator takes forever to move...

"Rin, may I ask-a few questions?"

I decided to ask a few things to Rin. Every bit of information might help me on how to become a hero here.

"Of course, Sensei." She nods.

"What is Kivotos exactly?" I ask.

Rin is taken aback by this, probably being the first time someone asked about Kivotos as a whole.

She puts her hand on her chin and thinks, concluding. "Hm... What I can say is that Kivotos is a massive city, home to thousands of academies."

"The city is bound to be different from where you come from. You might even find it hard to fit in at first... But something tells me that you will adjust in due time."

"After all, you were chosen by the GSC President and her twin sister, Azula."

Huh, so the name of that girl back home is Azula? Good to know.

Yeah, it was just like when I was moving out from home... It will be hard at first, but I'll manage.

"We can leave the details for later. Right now there's a big problem that needs to be solved as fast as possible."

"What is it?" I ask.

"The city is in total anarchy." As she says that, explosions can be heard from outside, prompting me to quickly glance out the window.

What I see is... unbelievable. Groups of girls fighting against each other, one with police uniforms and the other with delinquent-like clothes and black masks with an X on them, with what seems to be different types of guns, but unlike my Suction Destruction, their guns shoot small bronze versions of Bullet Bills, except they aren't homing towards them like the ones back home, but it is so quick, you may not see them coming at all!

But what surprises me is the fact that those same bullets are hitting the girls head first but... they aren't wounded at all... To which I'm thankful. I mean sure, they are shooting each other with what seems to be deadly weapons, but just like in my world, they don't seem to sustain terrible wounds that might bring the worst situation possible... Death.

A concept that unfortunately I'm familiar with.

I still remember some folk during the Black Void incident... Tippi and Count Bleck, who left the world together... I still remember what happened to the Sammer's Kingdom once the void caught them. It was a white and blank space with some debris of what was once a land filled with great warriors that Mario brought me to. He said he wanted to pay respects. I don't know what the warrior's faces were during the moment since I wasn't with Mario at the time, but he just told me that they were... "In utter despair" and "completely hopeless".

God, that adventure sucked and I hate remembering it! I'm just glad that Flipside is not a part of the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Sensei?" Rin asks concerned. I was lost in my thoughts once more... *Sigh*

"Yeah... Just-uh... Recalling some-a bad memories." I try to hide my worries with a smile... But I doubt Rin trusted it. She's smart after all.

Before she had the chance to say something, the elevator makes a *Ding* sound.

We have arrived.

"O-Oh yeah, Rin. A few people were waiting for you." I warned her.

"Ugh... I knew it would come to this eventually. It's ok, I'll deal with it." Anger comes from her eyes, almost the same as someone very dear to me when she's pestered with something annoying.

Note to myself... Never make Rin angry.

As the elevator door opens, we see that the reception room has been filled with even more students than before, most likely because of a certain haunting animal.

"Polterpup, I'm-a done talking to her! Come-a here now!" I call him.

The moment he hears my voice, the pup ejects himself from the crowd of girls and launches himself onto my face, which he uncontrollably starts licking.

"S-Sensei?!" Rin, although looking angry, is showing genuine concern towards me.

"I-It's-a alright, Rin. This is-a my pet. He always-a does that when I get back-a home." I answer her with a grin followed by a few giggles.

Before Rin could say anything, the girl with blue hair and ponytails quickly approached us.

"Wow, I can't believe you managed to get her down here. Thank you!" She gives me a bright smile.

"Now, Acting President! We're been waiting for far too long! We want to talk with the GSC President right this instance!" She demands.

"Indeed. I was waiting for you, Chief Officer. Things are escalating to a whole new level and we need to discuss possible actions." Said the tall girl.

"The doggy is leaving...? I-I mean, T-The Head Prefect wants to discuss some terms with the GSC President!" The girl with glass responds, trying to hide her blushing face and the fact that she wants to be with Polterpup for longer.

The girl with white hair just stays silent. I think it's because she's just accompanying someone.

Wait... They don't know what happened to the president.

With a swift snap of her fingers, Rin gets the attention of all the demanding students.

"Hello, representatives of neighboring academies' student councils, disciplinary boards, and those who have way too much free time on their hands." With her eyes closed and an annoyed smile, she starts speaking.

"I'm well aware why you irksome- I mean, important representatives have come here today." She nonchalantly comments while looking at them with an irritated look.

Yup, she's totally angry.

"If you know why we are here, then do something ab-" Before she could finish, Rin put a hand in front of her face.

"I understand your worries... After all, I'm not blind to all the happenings outside."

"Increase in the number of thugs..." She says to the white-haired girl,

"...power outages everywhere..." She points to the blue-haired one,

"...some escapees from the Federal Correction Bureau..." she speaks to the girl with glasses,

"...unknown weapons and transportation going all over Kivotos by 2000%" and finally to the tall girl.

"...and all the fuss." she finishes.

The girls looked at her flabbergasted, as if she had answered everything they were going to ask her to fix.

"Sigh... Believe me, I know that all the academies are in a critical position and if I could do something about it, I would..." She tries to explain...

"Then where is the GSC President?! If you can't fix it, then get her and make her fix all this mess!" ...Just to be interrupted by the blue-haired girl once more.

"That's the problem..." She looks at her ID. "...Millenium-chan."

The girl simply looks at her with anger in her eyes, clearly showing hostility towards her.

"The GSC president is not here at the moment. She has gone missing." She tells everyone this important piece of info.

... Wait, so that means that since the president is gone, they can't do anything? Is this a hierarchy thing or what?

"Wait what?!" The girl with blue ponytails says it out loud while the elf girl with glasses gasps.

"So the rumors were true..." The tall girl speaks.

"Indeed, so I'll keep this short. The General Student Council has no authority because the top administrator of the Sanctum Tower has disappeared without any warning." Rin drops a huge bombshell on them.

W-Wait, if she's not here... Then how are we gonna restore the city?! C-Calm down, Lu! There must be a way to fix the city still, right?...

Right?!

"But." Thank god there's a 'but'!

"We were searching for a way to bypass the verification scan, and it just so happens that the solution is right here in this room." She proclaims.

"You mean you've found a way, Chief Officer?" The tall girl asks, hoping for a good answer.

"Yes, that's correct." She answers her, making everybody there relieved.

Uwah... I wonder what that could be...

And then she starts looking at me.

"Sensei here is the solution to our problems." She tells them.

"... Eh? Me?!" I point towards myself.

... Wait, I do?! I know I said I wanted to be a hero, but right now?! I-I mean, I'm not mentally prepared for this!

I start sweating, hoping that the girls won't notice... Only to be approached by the one with medical knowledge.

"Are you alright, Sensei? You are sweating a lot in a well-ventilated room..." She looks at me with worry in her eyes, acknowledging my new title.

"A-Ah... It's-a alright, I'm j-just a bit anxious, that's-a all... But thank you so much-a for checking." I pet her head gently, making her blush a bit.

"O-Of course, I'm a medic! ... And you are the owner of the cute pup so... I don't want him to be sad." She says while I giggle a bit.

"Well, he did show us that he can be trustworthy..." The sci-fi guns girl comments.

"And that he's very caring of animals... Or at least, ones with... certain conditions." The tall says it, still a bit confused with the ghostly pup.

"Plus, he does have this air of... I don't know... brave aura on him?" The white haired-girl questions.

Upon hearing that, I puff my chest with pride.

Yeah, they are right. I'm supposed to be a hero right now, so act like Mario just for this once, Lu! You don't need the help of a hypnotist this time to be like him!

Although I seem to assure them, they are still doubtful of my abilities, much like Rin was.

"But he doesn't seem to be from Kivotos. Am I wrong?" The elegant girl with black hair says.

Rin nods. "Yes, This is Luigi Sensei. May not seem like it, but he was personally selected by the GSC president herself."

"She chose him... the missing president? This is not making any more sense than what that dog is." She complains out loud.

Well, I suppose so... but right now is not the time to think about that. Let's introduce ourselves to them.

"Hello, girls! My name is Luigi and I'll be your new Sensei starting today so, nice to meet you all!" I bow to them.

"A-Ah yes. Nice to meet you too, Sensei. I'm Millenium's Science School..." She stops.

"Wait, why am I even introducing myself?! I'm here for-"

"Don't you worry about that irritating girl, Sensei. We have other things to do right now." I feel like Rin's glare could kill a goomba with a single look... geez.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING IRRITATING?! I am Hayase Yuuka, so don't you dare forget that name, Sensei!" She angrily tells me her name.

"Nice to meet you too, Yuuka." I tell her with a smile.

The other girls also introduce themselves.

The tall girl begins. "I'm Hanekawa Hasumi, vice-president of the Trinity's Justice Task Force. Nice to meet you, Sensei." She bows.

"I'm Morizuki Suzumi, a member of Trinity's Vigilante Corps! It's an honor to meet you, Luigi Sensei!" She shakes my hand.

"I'm Hinomiya Chinatsu, I'm the medic of Gehenna's Prefect Team. A pleasure to meet you, Sensei... and your pup as well." She smiles at me and Polterpup.

"It's my pleasure, everybody!"

With a clap, Rin redirects our attention to her.

"Alright, now that you all know each other. It's time for us to move, Sensei." She explains to me.

"You are to serve as the advisor of the new club the GSC president created by the missing GSC president. The Federal Investigation Club: Schale."

"And it's not your average club either – It's more akin to an extrajudicial organization that focuses on solving problems that students may have all around Kivotos."

You mean I can help as many students as possible and I don't need to do this alone?

"And since it's a federal club, you will be allowed to register students from any of the academies to become members of Schale. And you don't have to worry, as each academy region can perform battle activities with restriction."

And I can go to missions with any students just like the ones I went alongside Mario, beating the bad guys too? Heck yeah, I'm already feeling pumped for it!

"As to why the president created a club with so much power? I have no idea." She shrugs.

"So first things first, we need to take you back to the Schale building, located 30 kilometers from here, Sensei. There's something in its basement, at the president's request for you." She finishes.

"I shall take you there myself." She concludes.

I simply nod, hoping that nothing bad happens...

She then picks up what appears to be a cellphone and starts touching its screen with her fingers, different from my mushroom phone, which only has buttons! Is this... Technology at its finest?

"Momoka, I need a helicopter to take Sensei to the Schale building as fast as possible."

A figure shows up from the little rectangle! I-Is this a ghost?! I'm quite shaken by this!

What appears is a girl of small stature who has short pink hair tied into two twin tails on the sides with a pair of tiny black horns with mint green tips and mint green eyes, but what surprises me is the long blue tail she has!

She's wearing a sleeveless uniform with golden buttons with a dark-blue tie alongside a white leather jacket with golden buttons, zippers, and black, gold-buttoned cuffs and her halo looks like it's made up of five individual four-tipped stars connected to each other's side, forming a circle.

A small demoness... eating chips?

"Ah, that club room located on the outskirts of the D.U., right? I'm afraid I can't do that."

"And why is that, Momoka?" Rin glances at Momoka with a deathly stare.

"One of the seven prisoners has escaped the Correction Bureau and it's wreaking havoc around the area. It's crazy!" She explains.

Chinatsu can't help but sigh... This was the reason she came here after all.

"What?" Rin remarks with a displeased look.

"It seems that she gathered all the thugs in the area and started destroying everything to get revenge on us. They even got a Crusader Tank of all things!"

Oh no... I suspected that the General Student Council had enemies, but immediately after I got to know them...

"I think they want to enter the Schale building because it belongs to the GSC president. They must think that there's something valuable there." She says.

... Me and the girls can't help but just open my mouth by the amount of coincidences with all that is happening right now.

Like c'mon...

"Ah, my food arrived! Sorry senpai, I'll talk to you soon!" As Momoka says this, the hologram disappears, meaning the call is over.

I think after hearing this, Rin started to lose her temper to which I quickly tried to calm her down, touching her shoulder gently. I think that she would have punched anything or anyone in sight if I hadn't stopped her right there.

"T-Thank you, Sensei... I'm fine. This is just a minor setback, that's all."

Although she says that... she is not fine at all. How can I help her...

!

"E-Excuse-a me, girls!" I call the 4 girls still next to us, which looks at me in return.

"Please! Can-a you help us take-a the Schale building back from these-a thugs?" I ask them.

"What? Why do we have to do th-" Before Yuuka had the chance to finish it.

"It's so reassuring to have you trustworthy academy representatives here with us." Rin took her torch and nab it, grabbing everybody's attention by surprise.

"Eh?" Yuuka says, kinda scared by the sudden rise in confidence in Rin's voice.

"You guys are going to help us bring peace to Kivotos, so let's go." Rin orders them to do so as she walks towards the heliport, telling Ayumu to call a helicopter big enough to transport 6 people.

"W-Wait, I never agree to this!" Yuuka screams, just to fall under deaf ears once again.

But as we slowly follow behind her, I talk to them.

"Girls, I'm-a sorry for Rin's outburst towards you... She must-a be extremely stressed by all of the current events."

"But please, help us restore order to Kivotos!" I bow to them.

They quickly wave their hands from side to side.

"S-Sensei, there's no need for you to act like this!" Yuuka tells me, concerned.

"That's right, we will gladly help you!" Suzumi excitedly tells me.

Both Chinatsu and Hasumi nod in affirmation.

"Hehe, thank you girls!" I tell them, giving them a big smile.

...

I don't know what awaits us close to the Schale building...

A battlefield filled with girls with guns... and a dangerous criminal.

I'm kinda scared... But also excited! This is going to be my first time in combat ever since I left the cafe back home!

Are they strong? Maybe even stronger than Mario? The curiosity is killing me!

I hate to think this but... I can't wait to reach that battlefield, hehe!

Chapter Text

World 1-6: Schale

"What are you people doing?" Rin complains. "Walk faster! We must reach the Schale building before they do something to it!"

We quickly leave the GSC Headquarters, progressing to the Heliport outside where a large helicopter awaits us.

I have seen those machines during our kart races with everyone, and my trips to New Donk City to visit Pauline with Mario. Heck, we have power-ups that resemble the blades on this thing!

But this helicopter in particular... seems so advanced, armored, and filled with, most likely, guns. Like if it was made for battle, I can tell that much! must be able to shoot so many mini Bullet Bills at once! This for sure could be even stronger than Bowser's Airship armada!

I can't help but admire the majestic metallic beast in front of me... and then I notice that everybody else is climbing inside the heli. Oh god, h-hold on! D-Don't leave me behind!

I don't want another hot air balloon incident happening to me again! That was enough embarrassment for me!

I quickly climb onboard the machine and sit down next to Rin, in front of Hasumi's seat.

As I put my seatbelt, (because safety is top priority after all), Rin calls me.

"Sensei, here. Take this with you." She then gives me a small rectangular device and a headphone, similar to the one E. Gadd gave me back at the cafe. Is this the Bluetooth thingy?

"We will be in contact with you through this, so please don't lose it." She asks to which I nod.

The chopper starts taking off, getting me by surprise as I take my head towards the window beside me as the aircraft slowly rises to the blue skies.

This view is astonishing! It's almost as beautiful as the prospering land of the Mushroom Kingdom! The city goes on and on without end, just like Rin told me!

I know I'm capable of flight thanks to the many power-ups such as that feather from the Island of Yoshis, or the leaf from the Tanooki Tree but... this feels different. Very different!

The girls quietly stare at me, my face brighter than a Shine Sprite upon looking outside.

"Um... Have you never ridden a helicopter before, Sensei?" Yuuka asks me out of curiousity.

"No. But I have-a flown before... But it's nothing like-a this." I say, my eyes still glued to the glass.

"... How do you fly without a chopper? A plane?" Suzumi questions me, confused by remarks I made.

"Well... I did-a ride on a hot air balloon before, but no. I flew-a without a machine or vehicle." I explained.

"Then how...?" Hasumi tries to understand what Luigi Sensei is trying to say.

"I have-a my ways, girls. I'll explain it once-a everything is solved, I promise." I tell them, leaving the girls very curious.

Although I say that, how am I gonna explain that I'm able to obtain superpowers by eating and collecting mushrooms and flowers? Or in this case, feathers and leaves?

But with the power-ups, I usually have to focus so much to not hit my face on a wall and getting a good landing that I forget to observe the scenario in front of me.

Sigh... I'll leave the explanation for another time after all this chaos.

"... Is this perhaps related to the strange items that the GSC president wrote about on the letter...?" Rin mumbles to herself.

"Is everything alright, Rin?" I ask because I didn't hear her correctly.

"N-No. Everything is ok." She shuts down immediately.

And as for Chinatsu? Polterpup is glued to her lap, not wanting to leave the elf girl's side as she pets the dog quietly and happily.

I guess he found a new best friend in Kivotos already, haha!

After a few minutes contemplating the different landscapes and territories my eyes could observe, especially the different climates which somehow kinda reminds me of the weird lands of my own home, the pilot picks up a radio and starts talking.

"Ladies and Sensei! We are fast approaching the outskirts of Shiratori City District of Utnapishtim! Soon you will be able to see the Schale Building!"

As she says that, I can't help but look outside. What I see is simply amazing!

A whole territory divided into two main areas: A Residence Hall and an Office area... And weirdly enough, there's a huge garden close to its Office Area!

And in the center of it all, stood tall a huge building below some of the halos in the sky... That must be the Schale Building, no doubt about that!

"Wow... How did the GSC President obtain so much land for a single club?" Yuuka asks Rin.

"Beats me. But our Chief of Finance didn't notice any type of embezzlement involved so if I have to guess... She took it out of her own pocket to build all of this." Rin says out loud, surprising Yuuka.

"Wha? But how did she get so much money in such a short amount of time!?"

"I don't know... But she told me once that her twin Azula found a "easy way to get rich" and well... it seems to have worked." She said.

... Wait. Azula is in the Mushroom Kingdom... And E. Gadd said that he "accidentally" dropped a Double Cherry on that portal and it ended up in Kivotos so...

Did Azula bring a bunch of gold coins from my home and just throw them into the portal to give all the money to her twin?!

...

Better not to think about it. I'll just stay quiet on this one. Good on them for exploiting that portal. I don't know anything!

Sigh...

But before anyone could comment on this mysterious gain of funds, the pilot quickly turns the vehicle around, dodging what seems to be rockets. I remember the big bad Koopa King using the same type of weapon before!

"AMBUSH! STARTING EMERGENCY MANEUVERS!" The pilot screams as she tries to leave the area, only to be blocked by more rockets.

It seems that the thugs were planning to catch any airborne transport trying to approach the building by surprise, and unfortunately it has worked on us!

The pilot skillfully dodged every rocket that tried to hit us, which I must say, is worth a medal. I have never seen this kind of driving outside of the gravity wheels and paragliders from my racing days!

"Wait, that's...!" Chinatsu points to something... no, someone outside the helicopter, on top of a building!

"T-That's the Fox of Calamity!" She proclaims, making everybody panic as the individual points a massive rocket launcher on her shoulder onto us, preparing to shoot.

"GET US OUT OF HERE, NOW!" Rin screams to the pilot, who seems to be crying.

"I CAN'T! THE LZ IS TOO HOT!" She tells her, not knowing what to do.

I can feel the smug coming from the black fox as she shoots the rocket towards us.

Rin's POV:

...

All hell broke loose.

...

The plane fills with screaming and begging, telling the pilot to drop down... but it's all futile.

"C'mon, you are our pilot! Get us out of here right this instant!" The irritating member of Millenium exclaims while the pilot complains about having way too many enemies down there.

"Damn it, if only I wasn't so big for this helicopter...!" The Justice Force representative curses.

"I can't shoot it down! That rocket must have protective armor!" The person accompanying the Trinity representative tries shooting the rocket, only for her bullets to ricochet from it.

"I-I don't know if I have enough medical supplies for a full-on impact!" The prefect team medic worriedly says.

Hehe... Was I so stupid to think I could do the same work as you did, president?

...

I hate this.

...

I don't wanna continue being the acting president, but if I don't... then who is gonna do it?

Ayumu? She's too shy for that...

Aoi? She's too strict...

Kaya? No way, she's an idiot...

Momoka? ... I must be going crazy. Is this what they call 'Life flashing before your eyes'?

...

This is gonna hurt so badly... hehe...

I close my eyes and prepare myself to bear what will be a very painful and explosive hit...

...

Only to... not feel anything? The explosion never happens.

What happened? I can only hear some kind of... vacuum cleaner?

I open my eyes in amazement as I see Luigi Sensei using some kind of vacuum apparatus to create strong winds to not only stop the rocket, but make it spin in circles, taking off its speed and slowly suck the volatile ammo to his machine...

"Rin, girls! Don't-a panic!" Luigi claims.

"If you girls are ever in-a distress, you can always-a rely on me! After all... I'm-a more than just a teacher. I'm-a the one who will be responsible to help-a every single student in this-a place, hehe!" He raises a hand, giving a thumbs-up.

... I don't know what to say, really.

Cringy?

Quirky?

But somehow... I feel like what he said might be true.

The rocket then gets stuck inside the nozzle of Sensei's machine, stopping the winds as well.

As Luigi takes way towards the fox, he says.

"No one under my-a wing will get hurt, because I won't-a allow it! No, I refuse to let-a it happen!"

He then shoots the rocket with a mighty blow from his machine, launching the explosive bomb at high speed towards the fox, which quickly evades, still not understanding what the hell just happened.

"Rin." Luigi Sensei looks at me.

"Y-Yes?" Still perplexed, I respond.

"I'll be-a going ahead. You girls try to catch up with-a me once the LZ is safe!"

W-Wait, what does he mean by...

"?!" Everybody is caught off-guard by his next move.

He jumped.

He freaking jumped off the helicopter.

WHAT THE FUCK!

Everybody, including me, the girls in the helicopter, and even the thugs watch in horror as Sensei quickly drops into the street floor.

As he reaches the ground floor, everybody closes their eyes with the exception of Yuuka as they do not wish to see the splattered body of the one who was supposed to help us save Kivotos! How are we going to bypass the scan now?!

"No! Sensei, you big dummy! He... He's fine?!" Yuuka scolds him, only to quickly be confused by the fact that Sensei seems to not have sustained any injury from the fall whatsoever as everybody open their eyes and see him fine as dandy.

After doing some... stretches(?), he starts running at a fast pace! What is going on?! Anybody would die, or at least break their legs by falling from this height! And he just started moving like nothing happened at all!

But then it clicked to me... The letter! I remember it!

[Dear Rin-chan.

Me and Azula won't be able to come back for the unforeseeable future. But do not fret.

I sent you a hero! His name is Luigi Sensei.

At first, you may see him as a coward or timid man trying to make sure everybody is ok... But he is more than that! He's amazing! Especially when someone is in need of help! I can guarantee it! Your jaw will drop once you see him in action! It's like nothing can stop him! He can even use strange items to become even stronger and do impossible things!

Luigi Sensei is the hero Kivotos needs in these times of chaos!

So please... Trust him.

With love, GSC President.]

Luigi Sensei, just where do you come from? I'm so curious...

Wakamo's POV:

What just happened?

That helicopter somehow created a gust of wind that swallowed my beautiful rocket and sent him back to me like it was a toy. I even put reinformed armor so that it wouldn't be easily destroyed by feeble bullets.

It doesn't make sense!

Are you telling me that the disgusting GSC managed to find a new weapon that could counter me?! Disgraceful!

I refuse to accept this. But for them to bring this kind of force... That building must have something valuable to them! It's the only answer that comes to my mind!

... I must get there, and destroy everything. They don't deserve what's inside of it, those charlatans!

It was at that moment that something happened.

The thugs I convinced to cause as much chaos as possible started gasping in horror, for some reason.

As I turned around to see what was going on, I saw him.

A green man with a green cap jumping out of the helicopter and quickly falling to the street below.

Hmph. As if I would care for that. In fact, it will be interesting to see the GSC losing one of their assets.

But what I saw wasn't someone falling and suffering a huge injury.

Instead... I saw him completely fine after hitting the floor. And running like nothing ever happened after moving around a bit.

How?

And not only that... His aura. I can feel something... familiar to it. As if... he's kin.

...

No matter, I must get to the building before him... Maybe I'll even get to meet him in person, who knows?

"Heeheehee...~ I can't wait for what's going to happen next~." I say while giggling.

It seems things will be interesting from now on~.

Back to Luigi's POV:

Phew! Thank goodness this world doesn't seem to have a strong gravity like in the paintings me and co. went back at the castle! I was scared I would end up hurting myself.

The benefits of being a jump master, haha! But with that, I was able to see all the rocketeers that are on the rooftops!

There were around 5 of them...

Alright, it's finally Luigi's time to shine!

I started doing a few stretches and running as I hear something.

"Sensei! Sensei, are you there?" I hear Rin's voice from the headphone piece she gave me.

"Yes, I'm-a fine, Rin!" Upon hearing my voice, she relaxes.

"Thank god, Sensei. Unfortunately we cannot land until the rocket launchers are dealt with. If you can take care of them, we'll appreciate it." She gives my first task.

"Okie Dokie, Rin!" I happily tell her.

I started running towards the buildings where I saw the girls with rockets.

While doing so, a few more students with the black X mask appear, but this time with different weapons. They seem eager to stop me in my tracks as they aim their guns in my direction.

"Be careful, Sensei! They are armed with Snipers, Sub-Machine Guns and Assault Rifles!" Rin warns me.

I have seen them using them through the window of the GSC building, but up close I don't know what kind of damage they could do to someone like myself. Especially since the guns people used on the fighting tournaments were just like these.

It's better not to risk it.

I hid behind a few debris that were scattered through the battlefield as the girls commence the firing of the tiny bullet bills.

What I have learned during the Rabbids incident back home is that I must take out high priority targets like rockets and snipers before dealing with the small fries. I can see a few of them back there.

Alright… Let's do this!

One thing that I also noticed during the elevator ride with Rin is that those guns need to reload, differently from my Suction Destruction. Once they need to reload, it's time to strike!

I wait for it to happen… NOW! The girls are changing the little boxes under their guns!

I quickly get out of the debris and run into the girls, catching them off guard and shoot them with my compressed air rifle. Most of my shots miss, but the ones who hit…

Kinda ended up hitting some of the girls' faces.

"Ahhh! My eyes! I can't see!" The girl with a ponytail starts screaming, blindly shooting in any direction and accidentally hitting two of the vanguards close to her.

"A blinding weapon…?" Rin comments on my choice of weapon.

I recall it! Suction Destruction is a long range compressed air rifle that shoots high-compressed air and… has a chance of blinding its enemies!

Seizing the opportunity given to me, I raise my speed and catch up with the snipers, who started panicking and shooting.

"H-How is he so fast?!" One of them asks her fellow snipers.

"I-I don't know! I-It's like he's as fast as lightning or something!" The girl speaks as I approach her at high speed.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! He's not normal at all! That fox didn't tell us about this guy!" The last sniper screams as I reach them.

Before they have time to process how in the world I manage to run so fast, I raise my hands against them and prepare a classic attack.

"Fireball!"

As green fire comes out from my hands, the girls are quickly one by one hit by the flames, some running in circles as the fire burns their backs. I kind of feel bad for them…

"I'm-a sorry girls, but I'm in-a hurry right now!" I apologize for burning them, seeing how their hair became puffed and smoked from the fire as they fall to the ground unconscious.

Now, only the rocketeers left!

"S-Sensei! H-How did you make that fire appear?!" Rin is shocked by my display of power as the girls gasp in surprise.

"I'll-a answer your questions later, Rin! Not-a right-a now." I ask her.

I see her figure nodding from the rectangular apparatus, her shaking a bit from the helicopter dodging.

I see their rockets flying above me, trying to hit the helicopter where the girls are. I must get there, and quick!

I see an alleyway beside me. Lucky!

I stand between the two buildings and focus. It's for the…!

"Wall… Jump!"

I start by jumping onto the wall on the left and quickly jumping to the right one, raising the height by each jump.

Soon, I reach the rooftop of the building to the right, where the rocketeers are located.

"S-So fast! He didn't even take the stairs." I hear Hasumi commenting through Rin's communicator.

"W-What?! H-H-How did he get here?! One of the rocket launcher girls notice my presence, as I appear from the side of the structure, confused.

"D-Damn it! Stop shooting the helicopter and focus on the green man!" The one who seems to be their leader of their group proclaims.

Thank goodness, Rin and the others are no longer in danger. That's good!

Now, to take care of these rockets once for all!

"What happened to the units on the street floor?!" The leader demands answers.

"I-I don't know! We lost contact with them!" One of the minions responds while the leader grunts.

Taking down the girls below was a good idea.

The girls in front of me start shooting rockets in my direction, one shooting while the other reloads. It's really good teamwork, not gonna lie.

I could either wait for their ammo to end or go all out… but that would totally end up with me being hurt.

Hmmmmmm… Say, I'm kinda curious about a thing. If my gun can shoot high-compressed air… does that mean I can combine the air inside of it with my Fireballs? I never tried using that during the invasion of rabbids.

I put my left hand on top of the green light of my gun and focus. Green fire comes out from my hand, except this time I try to put said fire on the instrument in my right hand.

I hear a *beep* sound. Oh my goodness, it worked! It seems that I can shoot heat compressed air bullets after all! Does that mean this thing has the medals' powers as well?

I aim my gun towards their leader, just to test the efficiency of the fiery menace I ended up creating and shoot.

The only thing I see is the girl screaming in agony as the heat imprints on her body, her body sweating as she runs side to side, trying to pull out a fire that doesn't exist and falls unconscious.

… I hope I didn't put too much power into it.

"B-Boss! What happenHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!" The girl tries to understand the situation, only to fall victim to the same thing that happened to her boss as I quickly shoot the other girls, making them too scared to deal with me.

"S-Sensei…" Rin and the others kinda feel a bit intimidated by the brutal power I just unleashed.

I swiftly approach the fallen students and check their bodies, see if they got badly hurt or something.

…

Thank God, it doesn't seem to have caused any permanent injuries, just a few burns. I was scared that I might have caused too much pain for them… I need to better control the output of this thing.

After checking them, I saw that the helicopter I was in managed to land safely, dropping the representatives' students.

"Sensei, we managed to land safely. Rendezvous with the students as fast as you can." Rin informs me.

I need to hurry and meet up with them.

Hmm, perhaps this skill could help.

I duck and charge a bit of stamina to my legs and arms.

"Backwards… Somersault!"

[I know this is the Luigi Cyclone attack from smash, but just depict it as his backwards somersault from SM64DS]

I jump backwards and start spinning, slowly making my descent to the street's floor in no time!

As Yuuka and co. start running towards the building where I was, they can only look at confusion as they see me spinning and slowly getting down from the building.

"… Is he even human?" Yuuka questions.

"Well, one thing is for sure… He's more than what he seems to be." Hasumi tells Yuuka, surprised by the capabilities Sensei has shown them.

The other girls nod, and I finally reach the ground floor without any problems, not even dizzy from all the spinning.

Polterpup swiftly joins my side as I walk towards them.

"Hey, girls! Are you all-a alright-y?" I asked them, worried that they might have hurt themselves before I could stop the rockets.

"We are alright, Sensei. But what about you?! You jumped off the building, started sprinting like it was nothing and did all those athletic movements! You were so cool back then!" Suzumi eyes brightens as she comments on my show of skills, raising her arms in excitement.

"Hehe… This is-a nothing! I used to-a do a lotsa more back-a home. I even-a participated in the Olympics!" I blush and smile with the sudden compliment given by Suzumi.

So, is this how it feels to be a role model for other people? That feels… great.

"Excuse me, Sensei." Chinatsu calls for me. "I need to do a check-up on you, in case anything has happened."

Hmmm… I'm totally sure nothing happened, but you never know.

"Okie dokie, Chinatsu!" I allow her to check me for any injuries I might have caused from the fights.

"Good job, Sensei." Hasumi approaches me. "That was an amazing display of skill."

"Hehehe… Thank-a so much!" Really… I'm not accustomed to being complimented like this, hehe.

"Sensei! Is everything alright? Did you manage to regroup with the team?" Rin calls me, worried.

"Yes, Rin. we just-a regrouped. Chinatsu here is-a doing a quick-a check-up on me right-a now."

Rin sighs relaxed… It seems I made her worry too much.

"Check-up done. There's nothing wrong with you, Sensei… It's hard to believe."

I simply let out a smile and start scratching the back of my head.

Is it difficult to do all the actions back then? They're so easy to do in the Mushroom Kingdom, even a Toad could do it.

Relieved, Rin starts once again.

"Sensei, thanks to you, we managed to arrive at the LZ safely unscathed. In the name of the GSC, thank you." Rin smiles.

"Yeah, if you weren't with us… I don't even want to imagine what would have happened." Yuuka tells me, trusting me a bit more than before as the other girls agree.

I nodded with a smile. Perhaps I'm really becoming the hero I wish to be!

"Now." Rin catches everybody's attention to explain our next movement.

"You guys are 5km away from your objective. The Fox of Calamity was deemed the main culprit to this attack but remember that our main objective is the Schale building! Do not engage with her. Only if necessary! I'll provide air support so you guys can go ahead."

"Okie dokie, Rin! We'll be-a moving now!" I told her, ending the call.

"Alright-y, girls. Let's get-a moving!"

"Yes, Sensei!" They cheerfully raise their arms to the air as we start our journey towards the Schale building…

Only for me to stop abruptly in front of the previous 5 delinquents I took down.

"Um… W-What about them? What's gonna happen to them?" I ask my students, curious as to how justice is done in this city.

"Don't worry Sensei, Valkyrie Police School and the GSC will quickly come and take them to their correction facility. And if they are badly hurt, they will take them to the nearest hospital." Chinatsu explains to me.

"I-I see… I'm-a glad. I just hope they-a can also pick up the rocket launcher girls on the-a rooftops as well. I kinda burned them-a before getting down the building." I casually tell my squad.

"…"

"… You did what?!" Yuuka screams, catching everybody off-guard.

Hehe, it seems that I am the uncommon one in this place, hehe…

We've been running for about 10 minutes now, with no enemies in sight… something is not right.

Although, I don't think I'm the one confused here…

"Fireballs from your hand… How does someone like that exist?" Yuuka kept questioning her sanity after I told her how I used my Fireball skill.

It seems that there's a lot of things that don't exist in this dimension, differently from the Mushroom Kingdom… And I broke Yuuka's sense of logic.

If she's like that with just my Fireball… I better not tell her about the other power-ups... She would probably freak out.

The girls simply shrug and come to the same understanding while I tilt my head a bit to the side.

Suddenly, Rin calls me.

"Sensei, you guys are almost at the Schale building! Be careful!"

"Understood-a! We will call once-a- !" Before I could finish our call, gunshots were fired towards us, making us seek shelter behind some debris.

"Enemies inbound!" Hasumi screams, alerting everybody of the confrontation ahead of us.

"I'm-a sorry Rin, we are engaging in-a combat!" I tell her.

She quickly analyzes the area from the helicopter.

"Sensei, there's a lot of delinquents with miniguns, they won't allow you to peek for an attack this way." Rin gives me the information.

We quickly hide behind some building debris and some destroyed cars as the bullet bills pellets hit our location.

"Sensei! We need to fight back!" Yuuka says to me, her eyes filled with determination. "We will show you what we are all capable of!"

The girls nodded as they wish to show off their skills to me. To be completely honest… I don't want them to get hurt, but seeing as this world is different from mine, especially when it comes to their amazing resistance to these bullet bill pellets, I'll comply.

"Alright-y! I'll help-a you all with coordination, so show-a me what you all-a got!" I tell them, making them smile in return.

Yuuka is the first to move, getting out of the cover and shooting our enemies, immediately becoming their main target.

I want to stop this at once as I see her getting shot, but I need to be strong…!

I do notice something. Yuuka pulls a… calculator?

She then starts pressing buttons on it, activating what seems to be a blue barrier around her!

Is this like the bubbles from the tournaments? Although I don't think she's going to faint when that thing comes off.

I sigh with relief upon seeing the mini bullet bills ricochet from her shield, protecting her from any harm while she pulls another gun from her back and shoots a stream of bullet bills at her enemies.

As quickly as she activated it, her shield turned off, exposing her to danger as bullets start hitting her.

As fate tends to be cruel, a girl using a white coat and white hat accompanied by a huge minigun appears and starts revving her gun. Yuuka is in danger!

"Suzumi! You and I will deal with-a the gunners who escaped Yuuka's flank before they-a have a chance of hurting her too much. Hasumi, you will deal with the-a one with the big gun! If Yuuka gets hurt, Chinatsu will heal her!" I explain to them our next course of action.

"Roger that!" They hear it loud and clear as they prepare for their attack.

We leave our cover and quickly approach Yuuka's position, giving her much-needed assistance. I quickly utilize Poltergust's blow feature to spray the battlefield with dust, hiding Yuuka from our enemies.

"Ow, that hurts! What the heck?! Are they using JHP rounds? That's cheating!" She complains out loud.

"Just take cover, Yuuka. And besides, hollow-points aren't considered illegal." Hasumi tells her, trying to calm her down.

"Well, they are illegal at our academy starting now! That might have left a mark!" She groans, but goes to cover as she was told.

Polterpup approaches Yuuka and starts licking her, worried. That somehow manages to calm Yuuka down as she pets him.

JHP rounds? Hollow point? What is that? One of the many things I'll have to learn later.

"Chinatsu." I call out. "See if-a Yuuka needs healing, please." I ask her.

"On it, Sensei."

Chinatsu approaches Yuuka and checks if she's badly wounded. Luckily, it seems that the barrage of bullet bills didn't cause too much damage to her.

"Phew… Thank you, Chinatsu." She thanks the elf, who smiles and nods in return.

Now with our vanguard healed, we are prepared as the dust subsides and the delinquents start shooting us.

I shoot compressed air shots towards the remaining snipers, some end up blinded and becoming easy picks for Hasumi.

Suzumi however, shows me extreme prowess with her combat rifle, quickly shifting from aggressive to assertive in different situations. But what gets me by surprise is the weird tube she throws at her enemies, which blows up into a light explosion, some of them fainting while others get stunned. It's like she's using a throwable version of the Strobulb! She took down groups of them in mere seconds!

Chinatsu picks her targets based on their status, mostly focusing on the blind and stunned ones, which is ok, since she's mainly a doctor.

The white coat girl, seeing her squad being decimated, starts to panic.

"Y-You will pay for this!" She shoots in every direction, forcing us to hide once again but this time she's not giving us time to fight back.

"Hasumi, can-a you take her-a out? I ask.

"But of course. Hold them off while I focus my shot." She requests of us.

"Alright-y! You heard-a her, girls!"

"Yes, Sensei!"

We fast approach her location, pressuring her into using her ammunition. If there's something that I have learned while fighting these girls is that they rely a lot on these bullet bill pellets. They don't seem to know how to perform close combat as proactively as I do.

Soon enough, after distracting her for a bit, her gun starts to click. As she looks, her bullet bill box behind her back is empty!

"Hasumi! Now!" I scream, giving Hasumi her desired moment of glory.

"Roger!" She then breathes in and focus on her target, her aura growing stronger as she finally pulls the trigger… releasing a huge shockwave alongside her bullet bill, knocking the girl unconscious the moment it hit her.

As we gather together to continue advancing to the building, I can't help but be impressed.

"Girls! You all-a are amazing!" I tell them, happy to see that they can handle things themselves just fine.

The girls blush slightly. It seems that they also aren't accustomed to compliments, huh? I understand you, hehe.

Rin calls me after the combat ends and we continue to move on fast.

"Sensei, the Schale building should be in front of you! Do you see it?" Rin asks.

As we clear the road using the Burst function of my Poltergust. We finally reached the plaza in front of the Schale building.

"That's it! We entered the entrance area of the Schale building!" Yuuka says it.

…

There's just a small problem…

"… Huh? What's that sound?" We start hearing some kind of steering wheel noise.

I know this sound like the back of my hand! It's a tank!

"Take-a cover everybody! Now!" I order them to do so.

As they do, a brownish colored tank with dark green marks appears before us, threatening us with his huge cannon.

This tank… It's not like the metal and wood tanks from King Koopa's army. This is made fully of metal material! I don't know if this thing has a weakness or something…

"Be careful now, Yuuka! That's a Crusader Tank!" Chinatsu warns her about it.

"It's a Type-1! The same is used at our academy! How did they manage to get their hands on one?" Hasumi questions it.

"Must have been stolen! But I doubt normal thugs would have been capable of stealing it by themselves…" Suzumi says, concerned about something.

That something ended being someone as a girl shows up on top of the tank. It's the same girl from before, who tried to hit us with a rocket!

The girl wears a short black kimono, accentuated with golden and white cherry blossoms, a lace choker on her neck and asymmetrical leggings and boots, where the left leg adorns a glossy red sock with a black strap attached to her thigh while the right leg uses a ripped flower-patterned legging with a bluish black shoe and her halo looks like a black cherry blossom with red outlines and a red star in its center… But most importantly…

The mask of a fox that she's wearing and her tail… She's really a fox, huh.

"Well now. It seems that the puppies from the General Student Council have come to play. How adorable." The girl says with a soft, yet mocking tone of voice.

After saying it, she turns around and starts walking towards the Schale building.

"Damn it! She's gonna get away!" Yuuka complains.

"So that-a was the Fox of Calamity?" I question my students, tilting my head a bit.

"Yes, Sensei. That's Kosaka Wakamo, one of the seven prisoners that escaped the Correctional Facility earlier today. She's a suspended student from the Hyakkiyako Academy and very dangerous." Chinatsu explains to me.

"Is-a that so? She looks-a a bit lonely…" I say as my eyes follow her.

"Girls, for now let her go. Our main priority is the Schale building, remember." Rin tell us.

But it doesn't take long for the tank to aim its tubular cannon towards us.

The building is right in front of us… I wanted to talk to that girl but the mission needs to be finished first… I'll have to do something, and quick!

"Alright-y. We need to be quick!" I say to them.

I then press one button, freeing the green goo from its glass capsule.

The girls squeak as they see the slime transforming into my image.

"Girls, this is-a Gooigi. He will-a help us." I tell them.

"I-Is this… A monster or something?" Rin tries to reason with me about it.

"First a ghost… then a firebender… Now a slime tamer?" Yuuka murmurs to herself, although I can still hear her.

The others were kind of confused, until Suzumi approached the slime and touched it.

"It's like jelly, huh?" She looks at her hand, filled with slime now… and licks it, catching everybody off-guard.

"Mhm, tastes like coffee!" She speaks. Seriously? That's weird.

"A-Anyway! Gooigi, run there and take-a few hits as I prepare-a my attack!"

He just nods as he goes to the open field, the tank now aiming at him.

"And-a you, Polterpup!" The ghostly pup raises his head. "Go inside the-a tank and scare the people inside of-a it!"

He simply barks and runs towards the tank.

"Now while-a he distracts the tank, who here is strong-a enough to lift me to the air?"

"What is that? It's walking gelatin?" As they see the green pile of goo that looks like a middle aged man approaching them.

"Who cares! Take it down! I don't wanna be defeated by literal sentient jelly!"

The guns shoot Gooigi with everything they got. Throwing balls that explode like Bob-ombs, bullet bills pellets and such.

Only to not do anything to the goo, which just takes the hit like a boss.

The delinquents are caught off-guard by this and freak out, thinking this jelly might lead the way back to the correction facility. Some run away while some keep shooting it, only to fail spectacularly.

As the thugs disperse, the tank can no longer ignore the green menace in front of it and fire a few rounds on him… with no effect as well.

Thanks to this, Polterpup manages to reach the vehicle and begins to haunt it, stopping the tank's movements.

I think I'm seeing it shake up a bit… Thank god it's not me inside of that thing.

As I see the funny scene unfolding in front of me, I finish what I wanted to do.

I charge a big ball of electricity in my hands and hold it steady, ready to shoot it.

"You can bend electricity as well?!" Yuuka is losing her marbles at the sight of the lightning in my hands.

I ignore it. I need to focus now, so I'm sorry Yuuka.

"Hasumi, let's-a do this!" I tell her.

"Yes, Sensei!" She responds, happy to be of help.

With the electro ball in hands, I jump in Hasumi's hands as she propels me to the air like Mario used to do with me before.

"Polterpup, get-a out of there!" I scream, hoping that he will listen and escape from my attack.

He leaves the tank and goes back to being at Chinatsu's side.

"Phew… Alright-y." Relieved, I start.

As I begin aiming it, the tank tries to quickly put me on his sight, but it's too late.

"Thunder…"

"BROS.!"

What happens next is a huge lightning bolt exiting my hands and hitting the tank with the full force of a real thunder.

Maybe it was a bit much? I don't know…

As the thugs observe the huge thunderbolt dissipate, they all begin to flee the scene as they become too scared to fight.

"H-He ain't normal! H-He can control lightning!"

"H-He's like a green thunder!"

" H-H-He's faster than a thunderbolt, no way in hell I'm fighting that!"

The thugs that were inside the tank all scream as they run away from the debris of said machine.

"Good job, girls! We showed-a them who's boss!" I excitedly proclaim our victory.

"Finally!" Yuuka says it with a bright smile.

"Indeed." Hasumi says, content with her help during my lightning strike.

The other two can't help but simply nod and smile, for they didn't really do much, but nonetheless, I thank their help as I pet their shoulders.

I decide to call Rin and tell her the good news.

"Thank goodness, Sensei. You have successfully reclaimed the Schale building. I'll be arriving shortly." She tells me.

…

Wow, the girls really made me proud of them. They showed me that even without power-ups, they can put on a heavy fight!

But what scares me right now is that fox girl named Wakamo, she did enter the club room before we were able to take down that tank.

From what the students described, she is a sadistic and destructive girl who has been suspended for causing chaos wherever she goes…

But for me, she feels like a lonely girl facing the world alone.

I wanna talk to her if possible, she doesn't see that bad…

Well… the best I can do now is to wait for Rin and plan our next move.

Author's Notes:

Did I made you wait for too long? Hehe!

This time the chapter had 6,7k words to its name! Incredible, isn't? Thank you for joining me on this road to becoming a better writer by reading the story!

I must thank my beta readers "Soundwave" and "random boat" who helped me with grammar errors and stuff! I hope this story has become bearable to read now.

After much effort, the green thunder himself finally reaches the endgame of the Tutorial level of Blue Archive. I wonder what's gonna happen next chapter. But with his skills at play, anything that comes by will be easy to deal with... right?

With that said, I must say. I decided to create a discord server.

It's on my profile page.

Feel free to join in and talk with me about stories, ideas, waifus and etc.

That's it for now. Thank you once again for reading my little story~.

Chapter Text

World 1-F: Possession

As we await Rin to arrive, I decide to rest a bit, sitting on one of Schale’s benches on the plaza.

“Phew… I’m-a tired!” I sigh after experiencing the chaos Kivotos can show in one single day… Is this a daily occurrence? I hope not.

Soon, Polterpup and the girls join me on it, slowly sitting next to me.

“Good work, Sensei. It’s the first time I see those delinquents all running away in unison.” Hasumi says, holding a can of soda that she bought from the nearby vending machine.

“I mean, have you seen what Sensei is capable of? If I was against him, I would be scared as well.” Yuuka says nonchalantly as she sits beside me.

“It’s so impressive! I barely even used my medical equipment.” Chinatsu compliments me on my performance while petting Polterpup, who is sitting on her lap once more.

“Sensei really showed them who’s boss, that’s for sure! He was so cool!” Suzumi voices her excitement of my combat prowess, although hers is much better than mine for sure.

… I’m happy that the girls see my value.

Seeing the girls genuinely impressed by what I did makes me question everything I have done until now while I was back home, at least most of it… ghost hunting, although extremely scary for me, it had its merits and it wasn’t that bad. It was the first time that I saved someone important to me: Mario.

I keep remembering the adventures I went along with Mario... and how the world can be cruel at times.

I mean, sure. They were amazing and I’m sure Mario appreciated my company, but in reality… I think everything could have been solved without me tagging along for the ride to be honest.

So many times I have heard how “The great Super Mario” saved the entire world and such, but me? I barely got what Mario achieved. Heck, Mario is well known by every single Toad back home while me? I was simply “The brother of Mario”, “Green Stache” or “The Green Mario”.

Ugh, now I remember why I left our home. It was after a few Toads showed up at our house and asked for a plumber job. I told them I could do it if they wanted but they shot me down instantly, asking for Mario instead. It probably didn’t seem like much for anyone, but something inside me just screamed “That’s it”.

The same day, I packed up my stuff and almost left without Mario knowing… But then he came back home just in time to catch me leaving.

Of course, he stopped me and asked what was wrong. We talked but I told him nothing was going to change my mind, I needed to find myself elsewhere. It was either my small mansion close to Boo Woods or I would have moved to Sarasaland.

Ever since that adventure with the paper folk from another dimension, I feel like people didn’t treat me with respect anymore, even if it was just teasing.

Perhaps what I wanted was for people to rely on me more or maybe respect me for at least trying to do what Mario could do easily. Perhaps what I’m looking for is here in Kivotos.

A chance for a new beginning.

I simply sigh. Thinking too hard about the past only comes with regret and disappointment with yourself.

Polterpup barks. Perhaps to take me out of my depressing state I was in.

“Sensei?” I hear the girls calling me out.

Yeah… Let’s not focus on the past.

“Yes?” I ask them, smiling to the future that awaits me as Rin arrives at the Schale building.

“It’s time to finish this mission, Sensei.” Yuuka claims, putting her hand in front of me as the others nod.

“Mhm! Let’s-a go!” I grab her hands and get up as Rin descends from the helicopter she was in.

And I could swear, I think I saw a bit of red in Yuuka’s face just now. Is she okay?

Wakamo’s POV:

…

…

…

There’s nothing here!

I looked everywhere!

The offices, the dorms, the classrooms! Nothing of value!

Was the GSC mocking me when they made this place?! They knew I would come for revenge?!

Impossible, they aren’t that reliable to show a strategy of that capability!

…

There’s only one place I haven't gone to yet…

The basement.

It’s only a matter of time before the GSC arrives at this place with reinforcements, curses! If I don’t find anything of value there, I’ll just blow this place to the ground!

I run towards the door to the basement and kick the door open… only to feel… a weird aura lurking around this place. Something eerie and… scary?

Me, scared?! This is not possible! What is going on?! Destruction follows me around like a magnet and suddenly this place is making it seem useless in comparison?!

There must be something here! I know it!

I quickly ran inside the room.

…

There’s a weird floating stone in the middle of the room. But that’s about it? Where’s the source of the weird aura?

“…OoOoOOoooOo…” I hear a weird sound, immediately going to a fighting stance.

…

Was it my imagination?

“Damn it! What am I even supposed to destroy in this useless building?!” I say out loud, losing my patience...

“… OoOoOoOoOoOOoOoOooOoOooOoO…!” The noises are getting stronger, what’s going on?!

“.. YoU… FiLled… wItH… FeAr… DeSpAiR…!” It’s like this thing is speaking directly to my mind!

“W-Who are you?! S-Show yourself!” With my eyes wide open, I try to locate the source of these noises, but to no avail.

“... aTtRaCtEd… bY… yOuR… aUrA…”

“…sO… mUcH… hAtReD… wIThIn…”

“yOu… aRe… tHe… pErFecT… vEsSeL…!”

“D-don’t play with me! I-I take orders from no one!”  I angrily shouted, trying to intimidate the voice while looking behind my shoulder.

“… YoUr… EfForTs… fUtIlE…”

“… mY… nAmE…” A shade appears under me and grabs my legs.

I try shooting the floor, only for my bullets to phase through the shadowy hands.

I try to use might to break free, but these things are too strong! Am I losing in ranks of strength?!

“W-What’s going on?! W-Why is it not working?!” I nervously try to break free, but I can’t even touch the damn thing!

“…iS… bOgMiRe…!” What happens next shakes me to the core.

It’s a purple thing that resembles a Crystal Haniwa but this thing has a large mouth, yellow eyes, and thin, constantly outstretched arms.

I-Its approaching me…! I-I-I’m scared…! I-It’s not from this world…!

“… AnD… yOu… aRe… mInE…!”

This thing is covering me with his body?! I-I can’t feel my body...!!

“G-G-Gyahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! W-What’s happening?!” I scream, hoping that someone, even the GSC hears it… But no one does.

“S-Some… one… h-help… me….!” One last plea comes out of my mouth.

…Only for no one to come. Once again I was abandoned…

Everything went dark.

Back to Luigi POV:

As we entered the club room, it’s clear that this place wasn’t really taken care of… it’s filled with spiderwebs and heaps of dust here and there. Ugh, I’m totally sure this place would not pass the white glove test and this makes me a bit upset!

The structure was also lacking in the energy department, strangely as it sounds. It was devoid of any light sources except for a hexagonal monument in the center of the lounge area. I quickly bring my flashlight out and shine our way through the entrance.

After Rin collects some backup flashlights from the classroom close to where we were, she informs us of our next mission.

“The Fox of Calamity is still inside this building… But my radar is not picking up any signals of her on this floor.” Rin tells everyone.

“Hasumi, Yuuka. You guys are coming with me to the upper floor. Chinatsu and Suzumi will follow Luigi Sensei to the basement. Is that alright?”

The girls nod in unison as Rin gets surprised by the sudden obedience of the former stubborn representatives as she looks at me. I swear I didn’t do anything, so could you stop looking at me like that, Rin?

“Remember, the fox can be quite unpredictable so always be cautious. It took a specialized military team to capture her, after all.”

The more Rin talks about what it was necessary to contain this certain student, the more curious I get… If I don’t recall, Chinatsu said “Seven” prisoners before?

An entire military to stop one of these seven students? No wonder people call her a calamity, but I can’t shake the feeling that she’s just misunderstood…

But as I thought about it, Rin, Yuuka and Hasumi had already left us behind as Polterpup barks to catch my attention. Soon I turn around to see both the students waiting for me.

“Sensei?” Chinatsu calls me. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, Chinatsu. I was-a lost in thought for a bit.” I tell her. “I’m-a just curious about a few-a things.” I can always do a bit of research on them later. Let’s focus on the task ahead of me now.

I picked up the rectangle Rin gave me. It doesn’t really have a lot of functions apart from being able to communicate with her, huh?

I then decide to get and open my Dual Scream 3D. I wonder if this thing can download the layout of this place… Gotcha! A map of the building appears on E. Gadd’s small handheld. This will save us a lot of time!

I have to be honest. E. Gadd never fails to surprise me even in other worlds.

“Sensei, you’re going to play video games right now?” Suzumi asks, pointing at my Dual Scream.

So, this world knows the concept of games? That’s good to know…

“Not-a really, Suzumi. Here.” I show her the map of Schale. “It’s a little-a apparatus created by an old friend of mine. It will show us where-a to go.” Both her and Chinatsu stare at the gear in my hands curiously.

Suzumi’s eyes shine at the sight of this unknown handheld machine and its screen. It’s like a little kid discovering a new toy to play with. I giggle at this sight alongside Chinatsu.

As I mark our destination point on the map, I just can’t help but have a bad feeling that something is going to happen… I just hope I’m wrong.

As we reach the door to the basement, it feels so… uncanny.

There’s some kind of purple smoke leaking through it, as if it was telling us that after this door… Danger lurks. Something so strong, the girls here might have a hard time dealing with this.

This is not just the Fox of Calamity. It’s something else, I’m sure of it.

The girls behind me are feeling the same, if not, more anxiety than myself. I don’t want to put them through some tough times, but it is necessary…

I tried using the communicator Rin gave, but only to hear static on the other side. This is not good, something is jamming the signal… I have no other choice.

“Chinatsu.” I call her out, startling her.

“Y-Yes, Sensei?” Her voice comes out, trembling a bit. 

Chinatsu, although being of great help with her medical equipment and knowledge, won’t do much against what is lurking in there and I do not wish for her to get hurt like this. We need backup.

“It seems that-a the communicator Rin gave me is not-a working… I need you to call-a her and the others to this place immediately, alright-y?” I ask her, trying to show as much confidence as I can.

“Me and Suzumi will-a await here… We do not know if what is inside this place is just the Fox.” I nervously ask her.

“V-Very well, Sensei…” She seems disappointed, but I can tell.

She’s scared. Chinatsu and the girls were terrified of the Fox's presence once she showed up on the rooftops, but this? It’s a mix of hers and something far more sinister. And the worst part is that… I feel like I know this aura. I have seen and even felt it in my skin before.

… It couldn’t be… right? I shake my head, pleading that it is not what I think it is.

Only to be interrupted by two things… my Dual Scream, beeping like crazy and Polterpup snarling at the door. Oh no, it can only mean one thing!

This is bad. Extremely bad!

“Polterpup, guide-a Chinatsu out-a here! NOW!” I scream, hoping that Polterpup would listen to me.

Thankfully, he hears me and runs towards Chinatsu, taking her towards the stairways to the top floor. The problem now is that Suzumi is here with me. 

“Suzumi!” I speak out loud, hoping that she will listen to my ramblings.

“Y-Yes, Sensei?!” She gets startled by my sudden change of mood. I’ll have to apologize to her later.

“My Dual Scream has-a the function to detect paranormal activities! Right-a now the levels are increasing at a rapid pace and-a coming this way!” I say it as seriously as I could.

“W-What?” She questions it confused… But before she could say anything, the door to the basement burst open, the entryway launched towards the outside, breaking the windows of the building.

“IT MEANS THAT THERE’S A G–G-G-G-G-G-GHOST HERE! AND A STRONG-A ONE AT THAT!” I scream at her with my eyes wide open, no longer holding my emotions.

A huge purple ghostly hand surges from the door, propping me to scream out loud at the appearance of it. I hope I haven’t destroyed my image of a hero to Suzumi with this… 

Wait, this is not the time to care for my public image! I take a look at Suzumi… Oh no, she’s completely frozen in place! 

With this, I’m totally sure now. There were no ghosts here before the Portrait Ghosts arrived in Kivotos! The girls don’t know how to deal with this new menace!

Before I could help Suzumi, the hand opens itself as if to slap the ground before us.

I quickly jump towards Suzumi, taking her out of the way before the hand hits the floor, destroying it.

“Suzumi, snap-a out of it!” I shake her a bit, trying to break her free from her current condition.

“E-Eh?” Thankfully, she answers me back, snapping out of her fear state.

Before I have a chance to react to its next move, I’m grabbed by my collar by what seems to be a shadowy purple figure with a bushy tail. It drags me through the window, breaking it in the process. 

“Whuh—AAAAAAAAAAHHHH?! Suzumi, please help me!!” I scream, fearing that I might be at a really bad spot right now.

“Sensei!!!” Suzumi screams, trying to get up but failing to do so due to the lingering effects of the fear she felt. “Damn it!” She curses, hitting the floor with her fist.

All I can do is scream as the figure launches me to the garden of the Schale building, making me hit the dirt floor with my face.

I quickly dig my face from the ground and look around. This is not good. This is way too familiar! Even the sky has become unstable, almost as if it is going to rain with the numbers of black clouds forming above the garden.

This reminds me of the graveyard of the first mansion, just without the graves. And that ghost that attacked me once I was there.

What was his name again? I remember E. Gadd told me about him before. I believe he said it was…

“...GrEeN sTaChE…!” I hear a voice coming from behind me, filled with anger as if it covers the entire garden with a chilling and sinister atmosphere. I stiff my back and freeze in place.

I don’t want to turn around… But I have to. I slowly turn around…

To see that girl with black kimono from before! What's going on? She didn’t speak like this before… Something is clearly wrong!

“...DiDn’T ThOuGhT i WoUlD gEt My ReVeNgE sO sOoN…!” Her body is surrounded by that purple aura from the basement… and the weird goopy wings behind her back…!

Ah! I remember now! The ghost from the mansion’s graveyard! The one with weird looking hands that resemble wings!

“I-I-It’s you! B-B-B-Bogmire!” I say it out loud, still very scared of the presence in front of me.

  “...sO yOu ReMeMbEr Me…? I’m DeLigHtEd…” He says. I can completely sense the smugness in his voice.

But I don’t understand! He wasn’t capable of doing this back at the mansion!

“W-w-w-what did you do to her?" I angrily question him, trying to comprehend what’s in front of me.

“... InTrIgUeD bY tHiS nEwFoUnD pOwEr…? IT’s NoT sO sPeCiaL… aS aLl Of Us MaNaGeD tO dEvEloP tHiS nEw sKiLl…!”

“... ItS cAlLeD… pOsSeSsiOn! hAhAhAhAhA!” He laughs, maniacally.

Are. You. Kidding. Me?! This should have been a skill only Possessors have! This doesn’t make any sense!

And now all the Portrait Ghosts have it?! You are telling me they could be possessing anyone in this huge academy city with millions of students?!

Worst part of all, he took one of my students as a hostage! I won’t stand for this!

…

Gosh, I knew I was in for a ride, but this is ridiculous!

But before I could ponder more about it, the sinister aura in the form of a tail hurled towards me, coming from the Fox of Calamity’s back.

I quickly evade, utilizing the Burst function of my Poltergust to boost me out there. This girl sure has a lot of brute force, not going to lie.

“... GrRrRrR… EvEn In ThIs PaRaDiSe… ThAt DrEaDfUl MaChInE cHaSeS aFtEr Us…!” He curses the Poltergust, showing extreme scorn towards it.

“... It MuSt Be DeStRoYeD…!”  His sinister aura covers the entire Schale area. “... aLoNgSiDe YoU, gReEn MaN…!

E-Ehehe… T-This is gonna be awful to deal with, isn't it? 

Suzumi’s POV:

…

My body is so heavy right now… It doesn’t want to get up… My mind is a mess right now.

…

I tried getting up, only for my arms to give up before I could even raise my back.

Damn it… Why is it that my body gave up on me…? Am I… scared? But what about Sensei? He’s fighting that sinister figure right now, probably as scared as I am while I’m here trembling in fear… No, I’m sure that he’s being brave instead. He has shown me how amazing he is, after all.

…

This is so humiliating. What would the members of the Vigilante Crew think if they saw me like this…? 

What would Reisa think of me…

Heh… She would probably try to cheer me up or something with her big smile and charisma…

…

No.

“Get up.” I tell myself.

My body doesn’t react. It’s terrified of whatever that thing outside is.

“Get up!” I increase the tone of my voice.

Slowly, my body tries to respond to my demands.

It hurts like hell. Like my whole body is being shocked and my muscles are being stimulated by it.

But I don’t want to accept it. I won’t allow this fear to control me!

I grit my teeth, my vision swimming, but I refuse to fall. Not yet.

“GET UP!” I scream, forcing my body to listen to me.

I kneel, using the buttstock of my weapon to balance myself. 

“C’MON! GET UP ALREADY!” I say it loudly. 

My body manages to raise me into my two feets, but my legs continue to shake violently. 

I try walking… It’s so painful.

I breathe heavily as I use the wall as my support. I slowly make it to the exit to the garden area of Schale… but I stop…

I can’t… It hurts so bad… my legs are giving up… my vision… is going… blank…

“... Mi!” I hear someone.

“Suzumi!” It’s Hasumi and the others… Hehe, Chinatsu and Polterpup did it…

Before I fall onto the floor, Hasumi manages to grab me just in time.

“What happened?!” Hasumi asks, worried like a mother would be with her child.

“G…h…o…” My voice is too weak right now…

“Do not speak, Suzumi. Let me treat you first.” Chinatsu takes a syringe out of her medical bag and injects something to me. 

I start to feel a bit better thanks to that.

“It’s… a ghost…!” I say, catching everybody off guard.

“A ghost like Polterpup here?!” Yuuka exclaims as Polterpup tilts his head to the side.

I nod. “But… more dangerous…!” I angrily say.

“Wait, where’s Luigi Sensei?!” Rin says while looking around worried.

The other girls start looking as well, only for Polterpup to start barking towards the garden.

“The ghostly figure… took him to the garden…” I tell them.

As I relay this information to them, a huge purple aura emerges from the garden, giving a haunting feeling to those close to it… That means us.

The others can’t help but shake to the intense energy coming from the area.

“W-What is this… scary power…!” Hasumi questions, not understanding where it comes from.

“A-And Sensei is there… By himself?!” Chinatsu said worriedly.

Rin curses. She probably didn’t think something so powerful and scary was hiding inside of the club room.

I try to stand up again… holding the wall close to the door as my legs continue to wobble around.

“H-Hey! You aren’t thinking about going there like this, right?!” Yuuka holds my arm, stopping me from moving.

“That’s right… You need rest, Suzumi.” Hasumi holds my other arm.

I know they mean well, but…!

“But… Sensei needs our help.” I say it, looking determined in their eyes.

Everyone stays in silence for a moment.

…

“Sheesh. Are all Trinity students a handful to deal with?” Yuuka says while sighing, preparing her guns.

“Hehe. Just a few, but they always make us ready to deal with any trouble it comes our way.” Hasumi helps me get up. “Chinatsu, could you help her walk?” 

“On it.” She slowly puts my arm around her shoulders. “If you want to help, make sure to not overdo, alright?” She gives me a smile.

“... I will.” I return the smile back at her.

“Alright, students!” Rin exclaims. “I have a new mission to give you all! Assist Luigi Sensei in defeating the new menace ahead of us!”

“Yes!” They shout, determined.

Polterpup rushes ahead of us, leading us to what may be one of our strangest battles we ever had in all of Kivotos… But, I feel we can manage just fine. 

Rin’s POV:

As I run behind the students, one single thought doesn’t want to leave my head.

All the representatives are working together without any complaints at all.

Usually, you see small bickering here and there. I can’t believe it. 

And the most important… Trinity and Gehenna students are working together…

Although they are from the security clubs of each academy… They are working in unison.

…

President, I take back my opinion about what you said before.

Luigi Sensei may be the solution to our problems.

…

He may as well make your dream of the Eden Treaty come to fruition.

Perhaps this is… hope? Hehehe. That’s a first in a while.

I can’t help but smile.

Back to Luigi’s POV:

“U-Uwaaaahhhh!” I jump out of the way as the gigantic goopy wings of the ghostly possession ahead of me try to hit me at full force.

“... StAnD sTiLl YoU wOrM…!” Bogmire exclaims, irritated by my constant evading of his attacks.

 Dang it! This situation has to be the worst possible… How am I supposed to defeat him while helping Wakamo? I have no power-ups right now and my options are limited.

I can always aim for the incapacitation route, but I do not wish to hurt the girl he’s controlling, even if she has one of those resistance halos.

Capture her using the Poltergust? This could work, but she would still be possessed by Bogmire, so it’s useless.

I have to try something!

I run around the possessed girl, going for her blind spot. As it comes into view, I try shooting her with my gun… But with no effect as the compressed air is blocked by the ghostly aura surrounding her body.

“... HuMpF… yOuR pAtHeTiC LitTlE aIr mAcHiNe WoN’t Be AbLe To Do HaRm tO mE…!” He grunts, unamused by my performance.

He covers the girl’s fox tail with his sinister aura and quickly swings it at me, nearly connecting to me as I jump to the side to avoid the hit.

… Wait. As I observe more closely, the purple aura covering Wakamo… It’s circling around like a current inside the ocean or something…! It’s focusing where I’m aiming!

That’s it! I need to get rid of this ectoplasmic forcefield around her to be able to stop her movements and free her! Perhaps using the Poltergust to suck chunks of it will work?

I got to put this into work.

I do the same thing as before, shooting compressed air to her back to entice the ghost to use his tail once more and it works. He smashes the ground floor next to me, stopping a bit.

As quickly as possible, I call Gooigi to help me and start sucking her tail together. Soon, both our Poltergusts are stuck on it, leaving us to utilize a special skill.

“Double Slam!”

Both me and Gooigi raise the ghostly figure up to the sky and quickly slam him side to side as it staggers. It’s time to do it! 

I quickly suck part of the ectoplasm as Bogmire recovers from my little trick, angrier than I’ve ever seen it before.

“... StUpId LiTtLe TrIcKs…!” He complains as he starts shrinking his essence, his wings disappearing to Wakamo’s body.

“... EnOuGh PlAyInG aRoUnD…!” The ghost roars, annoyed by failed attempts to incapacitate me as I take off his ghostly energy from his newly acquired vessel.

“... DoPpElGaNgErS… EmErGe…!”

Out of nowhere, shadowy translucent copies of Wakamo start appearing throughout the area as they start dashing towards me at full speed, trying to hit me with punches and kicks.

I have no choice except to dodge or tank the haunting doppelgangers, utilizing my arms and hands to block their attacks, the thud of each connection loudly being heard through the battlefield as my breathing starts to become gasping.

“T-There’s too many of them!” I blurt it out as their attacks become more frantic… Until one of their kicks collided to my stomach, sending me flying backwards.

As I landed on the dirt floor, I quickly get up while holding the spot where the powerful kick smacked me with my hand… 

Only to see the original close to me with her fist ready to strike me.

“... GoTcHa GrEeN oNe…!” He lunges his strike with all his might, or at least Wakamo’s, towards my face.

Aw man… This is gonna hurt…

I close my eyes and prepare to suffer what appears to be one hell of a nose breaker… Except I don’t feel anything. Why is that?

As I open my eyes, I see something unexpected. Polterpup is in front of me… More specifically, in front of the attack that was going for me.

“... WhAt Is GoInG oN…?” Bogmire pronounces his confusion, trying to move his fist, but failing.

“Bark, Bark, Bark!” The small pup speaks as he licks the knuckle in front of him.

Once that happens, Wakamo puts her hands on her head and starts clenching it hard.

“U-U-Ugh…! I’m not hurting an innocent animal…!” She proclaims, refusing to continue the onslaught ordered by her possessor.

“... CeAsE ThIs PiTiFuL sTrUgGlE nOw…!” He demands of her, but she continues to fight against his control.

That’s great! Wakamo is still there! We can free her!

“Hang on, Wakamo! I’m-a gonna set you free from this-a ghost!”

The fox’s ear twitches as she hears it. Did she perhaps hear my call?

“Sensei! Are you alright?” I hear voices coming from behind me! It’s Rin and co.! 

Thank the stars! Backup has arrived at last… Now this situation can be turned around for sure!

“... IrRiTtAtInG… DoPpElGaNgErS aTtAcK…!”  He summons the shadowy clones once again as he knocks Wakamo out with his own aura. It’s our chance to strike!

As they rush towards us, they are met with a heavy rush of bullet bills coming from Yuuka’s and Suzumi’s guns, dissipating back to the shadows.

“Sensei, I know we are in the middle of a fight… BUT WHAT’S GOING ON?!” Yuuka screams, trying to make sense of the infinite shadow Wakamos attacking us.

“Umm… Looks-a like that-a The Fox of Calamity kinda got-a… Possessed by a frightful old-a enemy of-a mine.” I said while grinning nervously, still in shock from her screaming.

“Huh… Great. Now we have ghosts that can enter our bodies, that’s absolutely great!” She says with somber in her eyes and a smile.

“A-Are you a-okay, Yuuka?” I asked, worried that the stress might be getting to her.

‘I’M FINE, SENSEI!!” She screams at me once more.

“Hiiiiiiiiiiiii!” I quickly become frightened as I crouch and hide my face inside of my hat, my body trembling as I await the inevitable punishment for enraging her.

Polterpup starts barking at her, almost as if to say “Don’t bully him” or something.

Note to self: These girls are scary! Don’t make them angry at all!

“There, there Yuuka… We are already fighting something fearsome, there’s no need to add more to the scary factor.” Hasumi tells her as she shoots her weapon towards the real Wakamo, only for her bullet to bounce off.

“Tsk… No effect…” A face of concern appears on Hasumi. But after saying that, Suzumi seems to have thrown that light pipe from before onto the ghostly figure, hitting it right in the face.

“... AhHhHhHhHhHhH mY eYeS…!!” The ectoplasmic creature screams out of pain, covering its eyes as it starts hitting everything around it with extreme force.

… Oh yeah! Bogmire is currently inside of a person so of course a light pipe would work!

We can monetize this situation before it recovers!

“Girls! Distract the shadows! I’ll try to suck-a bit of its shielding aura!” I tell them as I run towards the struggling fox.

“W-Wait, you can’t just…! Grrrrr!!” I can feel Yuuka’s anger being directed to me… I’m sorry!

Hasumi can’t help but laugh while Chinatsu facepalms.

“I just hope what you are doing will work, Sensei…” Suzumi is a bit worried, not knowing what will happen next, but it’s hopeful that it will go as intended.

As I dodge the shadows and rush towards the possessed fox, it opens one of its eyes and starts cursing.

“... DaMn YoU gReEn StAcHe…!” It rushes towards me like a torpedo, hoping to hit me at full speed and force.

I carefully dodge each slam, utilizing the Burst function and my finest jumps to differentiate my distance between the ghostly threat and myself. Heck, I even get some nice counters by jumping on its face at the right time, hehe!

But it seems that Bogmire is not a huge fan of those as it prepares a huge attack… By turning his aura into a huge hammer?! Ah, crap! I don’t have my hammer, what now?!

I quickly run towards the menace in front of me and charge a Strobulb charge.

“C’mon…” The gigaton hammer starts dropping towards the floor.

“C’mon, charge already!” It’s slowly dropping above me. Even Polterpup tries to stop it by biting its hands, but to no effect.

“There!” I let my thumb go off the charge button on my flashlight, releasing a huge light bomb from it. This caused the ghost to stumble backwards trying to close his eyes with her hands, making the hammer disappear.

Thank the stars, I thought. 

No way in heck I would have come unscathed from that. Probably would have needed a Mushroom to get back from that.

I fastly let Gooigi out of his glass container and started sucking the aura around her, only leaving a portion of it behind as the figure fixes itself in place.

“... DoN’t ThInK tHiS iS oVeR… I’m StIlL iN cOnTrOl…!” He furiously remarks, only to feel Wakamo’s hands trying to pull her mask away from her face as she awakens again trying to break free.

“ ...GrRrRrRrRrR! I cOmMaNd YoU tO LiStEn…!” He slams the back of her face with his remaining aura, putting her out of commission.

Dang it! As much as I want to stop him from doing that… Wakamo has given me a big clue! Bogmire is using the Mask as a controller for the possession. If I take the mask off, we will be able to save her!

The ghost manages to get control once again, focusing all his aura around the mask.

“... GrRrRrRrRrR! So YoU gOt PeAsHoOtErs! I cAn Do ThE SaMe…!” 

As it calls one of the many shadows to his side, it pulls a rifle from one of the shadows he summons… Wakamo was carrying during the rocket attack back in the streets, I remember.

He observes the gun attentively and not a second later, makes his shadowy clones transform into the same gun and aim them at me.

“... ThIs Is ThE eNd GrEeN sTaChE… YoUr SoUl iS mInE…!” A firestorm of bullets come out from the guns, aiming in every direction, causing massive destruction to the entire garden.

I rush back to Rin and the others with Polterpup under my arms, leaping into one of the covers created by its tails’ strikes from before, standing beside Suzumi and Chinatsu on the left side while the others are hiding on the right side.

“Sensei, are you alright?” Rin asks through the communicator. 

“Fine and dandy, Rin! Just-a bit tired from all the running and dodging.” I give her a thumbs up, making her calm a bit. “Also, I got-a great news, girls!” 

They all look at me as I look at them. They are tired and bruised… especially Suzumi, whose body is still trembling from the fear factor from before. Although their halos protect them from lethal damage, it doesn’t stop accumulated physical or mental damage.

I need to finish this fight here and now.

“See Wakamo’s mask? That’s-a where all the ghost’s power is accumulated.” I tell them.

“What does it mean, Sensei?” Chinatsu asks, confused.

“It means that if we take that mask off her face, we can stop the ghost’s rampage!”   Yuuka answers her through the communicator as I nod to her. She gives out a smug smile.

“This will prove to be rather difficult however… We can’t move from our position.” Hasumi elaborates. “I’m afraid there’s no end to these ghost bullets.” 

One of said bullets graze my head as the covers are almost destroyed. We need a plan of action.

“Suzumi.” I ask the angel girl beside me. “Do you still have one more of those light tubes?”

“You mean the flashbangs? I got…” She checks her pockets. “One more left.” She answers me.

One shot. We got one single shot. We can do this.

We need to make this count, otherwise this will prove to be a lot more difficult than I thought.

I nod. “Alright-y. Let’s-a make this count.” I rise from the spot I’m in and hold my hand in front of Suzumi.

“Together.” I tell her.

“... Yeah, let’s do this Sensei!” She grabs my hand, determined.

Suzumi’s POV: 

As I see Luigi Sensei’s hand in front of me, my heart stops.

What can I do? I’m so weak and afraid…

…

But then I see it. Sensei’s arm.

It’s trembling. Sensei is as frightened as me.

He can be very strong and capable… But even he is not made of steel.

Sensei is scared. Just like us… 

…

Heh… Hehehehehe.

Why was I so scared in the first place? I don’t even remember.

I grab Sensei’s hand with determination.

“... Yeah, let’s do this Sensei!”

If it is him… We will be alright. For sure. 

I rise, no longer letting that fear control me no more.

“Any plans, anyone?” Rin asks curiously. “Our barriers will be destroyed in a few moments!”

We think for a moment as Yuuka raises her hand.

“Sensei, can you use your vacuum cleaner to spread dust again, like you did with the delinquents from before?”  Yuuka questions me to which I nod.

“Then we can use it to confuse the ghost by using someone as bait.” Yuuka finishes, looking at me.

“E-Ehh? M-Me?” I say, trembling a bit.

“Well, duh? That thing seems to have a lot of hatred towards you, Sensei. You’re the most logical person to be used as bait.” Yuuka crosses her arms.

Although she says that, I can see how uncomfortable she is to send me as bait by the movements of her fingers.

“A-Alright-y, I can do the bait thingy.” I say it while trying to be brave, but my cowardice leaks out.

“His guns are still doppelgangers, shoot them down first and afterwards focus on the fox… Alright.” Hasumi reassures herself.

“I’m almost out of healing items, so please be careful everyone.” Chinatsu asks us as we nod.

Polterpup barks excitedly.

Both Yuuka and Suzumi reload their rifles and nod to me. It’s time to begin the final assault!

I spread the dirt dust around our area with the Poltergust, quickly covering our current position. As it grows, I quickly run to the left, making Bogmire pay attention to me only.

“... PfFfF… GiVeN uP, HaVeN’t YoU…! ThEn PeRiSh…!” It focuses the firepower of his shadow guns in my direction and starts shooting uncontrollably.

That’s exactly what I wanted.

“Now!” I scream, letting the girls know what’s going on.

They leave the dust cloud to the right side and start shooting the floating guns, taking down each with astounding aim. 

The ghost starts aiming the remaining guns towards the girls… Which means it’s step 2! 

“Suzumi! Now!” I warn the white winged girl.

“ Yes, Sensei!” She picks up the last flashbang thingie she has and throws it onto Bogmire’s face. It hits him directly, making him scream in pain while holding his eyes with his hands.

Time for step 3!

I start sucking the shadowy guns with Poltergust, turning them into a big ball of darkness, just like in the graveyard with his own shadow clones.

“And-a with-a this…!” Grinning nervously, I suck the giant shadowy ball and aim towards the possessed girl. “Will finish this once-and-a for all!” I launch it at full force towards the fox.

It tries to block blindly, but Hasumi is quicker than the spectral creature. Her bullet bill hits Wakamo’s mask right in the forehead area, making her flinch.

Soon, the black ball of darkness hits Wakamo head-on and covers her in it.

It’s my chance!

I approach Wakamo’s paralyzed body, aiming my Poltergust straight to the mask.

“... t-ThIs C-cAn’T Be…! I bEcAmE sO mUcH sTrOnGeR… JuSt To LoSe AgAiN…?!” He curses, knowing that his plans are over.

The Poltergust begins to pull the mask from Wakamo’s face, its vacuum roaring back to life as it sucks it, my feet begin to steel itself across the dirt floor of the garden, making sure to not leave the spot I’m in.

“... CuRsE YoU pLuMbEr AnD yOu MeDdLiNg KiDs…!” He angrily shouts before he loses his last bits of strength and loses the will to fight back.

I pull the mask off Wakamo’s face, making the black fox fall onto the floor unconscious as the mask flies a few centimeters away from her.

Silence befalls the battlefield for a few moments. Not even I seem to know if the battle really ended… until someone opens their mouths and speaks.

“... Did… we win?” Rin speaks to the empty space, a single sweat dripping from her face.

“I… think so.” Chinatsu responds as surprised as I am.

“... Thank god… I’m out of ammo as well.” Hasumi remarks this. This could have been bad if it was a second too late.

“Hahaha…” Yuuka simply laughs, not believing in all that happened until now, I suppose.

“... We…” Suzumi starts.

“We did it!!” Suzumi then screams our victory to the world as the dark clouds in the sky are slowly drifting away.

“Bark, Bark, Bark!” Polterpup wags his tails side to side rapidly. 

We cheer happily knowing that a major threat is finally down. But there’s still things to do.

I approach the unconscious fox and her mask… I knew it. 

“... UgH…” The mask lets out a grunt, meaning one last thing…

Bogmire is still inside the mask. 

“Huh… I thought-a you would-a ran away like-a the other ghosts did-a before.” I ask him, legit confused by his boldness.

“... I… CaN’t…” He says.

“Wha?” My confusion only rises with what he says.

“... ThE PoSsEsSiOn SkIlL hAs A hUgE dRaWbAcK… wE lOsE oUr FrEeDoM… bUt We GeT iMmEsUaBlE pOwEr…” He explained it to me.

“... My WiSh FoR vEnGeAnCe WaS sTrOnGeR…” 

“... i KnEw I sHoUlDn’T hAvE tRuStEd ThAt HeAdLeSs MaN aNd HiS pOrTrAiT fAcE aNd ThAt TwO-hEaDeD MaNnEqUin…” He says as he falls into a state of hibernation.

T-T-Two headed m-m-mannequin?! H-H-Headless man a-and a p-p-portrait f-f-face?! Y-Y-You telling me there’s even more horrors in this place that I do not know of…?!

C-Courage, Luigi! I-If it is to protect your students, you will have to face these eventually! B-But I’m not ready for it at all… Uhuhul…

I’ll just keep this mask away from any student… I don’t wanna know what may happen if this gets into the wrong hands. I put it inside my suitcase.

“No matter worrying about-a it now!” I say it out loud, getting the attention of everybody as I look at the fox. She’s filled with bruises and wounds.

With no questions asked, I lift the fox and princess-carry her.

“S-Sensei?! W-What are you doing?!” Yuuka points at me, or more specifically, to the girl I’m carrying with a huge red tinge of color on her cheeks.

“She’s hurt, Yuuka. I’m-a going to take her to a place to rest-a well.” I answered her without delay.

“B-But Sensei! She’s one of the Seven Prisoners, it’s dangerous!” Chinatsu intervenes, trying to make sense of my decision to help a literal terrorist.

“Plus she was just under the control of an unknown entity, we need to put her into custody as quickly as we can!” Hasumi backs Chinatsu up.

Suzumi tries to calm them both, but simply fails.

“It does-a not matter to me. She’s a student, just like-a all of you. If she needs-a my help, I shall-a help her as well.” I tell them with the most serious face I have done.

After seeing how serious I was, the girls quickly turned silent as Suzumi sighs in relaxation.

“Rin.” I call her out.

“Yes, Sensei?” She asks.

“Let’s-a leave her resting in-a resting area… Then we will-a go to the basement, alright-y?”

“...” Rin just nods.

She guides me and girls inside the residential area of Schale. Hopefully soon, everybody will be able to go back home all safe and sound.

After leaving Wakamo resting on the sofa of the lounge inside the residential area, I asked the girls to rest as well while checking on the fox girl. They decided it was the best choice and nodded.

Before leaving, I can see Polterpup resting beside the fox girl… Hehe. Little rascal already wants to befriend her, huh?

…

Now, Rin and I are slowly walking to the basement of the Schale building.

“So… You're telling me things like that from before happen all the time in your homeland?” Rin asks, worried that my home town might be way too dangerous for my own sake.

“Well… Not-a all the time… But there are places where-a ummm…” I think about it a bit and I just shiver. “...Where the location is-a infested with ghosts.”

No need for them to learn about the Boos… Or even worse. Him. The one who has caused me so much trouble back home… 

But it’s okay! He’s not here, nor his spooky minions! It’s just the Portrait Ghosts! Please, I beg you, God or whoever you are in Kivotos!

Rin just looks at me with a worried look. Perhaps it would be better to keep things from my world a secret to the people here. 

The ghosts caused a lot of damage and they most likely will cause more in the future, so I’ll need to be prepared for it.

…

Soon, we reached… well, what remained of the entrance to the basement of the Schale building. After all that hand smashing caused by Bogmire transformed this place to a broken mess filled with broken glass shards and debris everywhere.

“... Sensei.” Rin calls me.

“Y-Yes, Rin?” I answer her.

“... I’m sorry for the unsightly display in front of you.” She sighs.

“B-But it was-a the ghost’s fault! No need-a to apologize!” I shake my hands, showing that Rin wasn’t in the wrong here.

“ Heh… Thanks Sensei. But it was my fault for not sending a team to make sure this place was secured before you arrived.” She shakes her head.

“So I apologize on behalf of the General Student Council!” She bows her head towards me.

… A girl as young as her is trying her best to keep everybody secure in this chaotic city. If this was the Mushroom Kingdom, I would totally say that she’s part of Peach’s or Daisy’s family, hehe.

“Now now, Rin.” I hold my hand on her shoulder. “As long-a as you’re learning from all-a this, it’s good enough for-a me.” I smile at her.

“...” She looks at me, with a small smile. “... Thank you, Sensei.”

Haha! Now that’s what I wanted to see. A Nanagami Rin smiling, what a rare sight!

“Sensei, you aren’t thinking of something weird about me, aren’t you?” She says while looking at me with disgust.

“N-No! Of-a course not!” She got me there…!

“L-Let’s-a get down to the basement, y-yes?” I try to run away by changing locations, so please don’t hit me…!

She sighs but quickly composes herself. “Hopefully, the item is intact…”

She goes first as I follow her downstairs.

The basement of the building… it looks like it should, to be honest. Completely wrecked.

It seems that Wakamo may have fought Bogmire before he possessed her or even tried to negate his control, resulting in this… Wasteland-type of scenario.

A medium size room, with bookshelves, sofas and a table… which unfortunately, are all destroyed, either by her gun or sheer force of Bogmire’s aura.

But what surprises me is the floating stone in the middle of the room! It’s like the floating platforms from back home… But how and why is something akin to my home here?

“Oh no…!” Rin runs towards one of the many broken bookshelves, digging through them with her hands. “Please, be intact!” She says in desperation.

“Rin, stop right-a now!” I hit her head with a weak karate chop. “Doing this-a will only result in your hands being-a hurt.”

“B-But!” She tries to argue, only to be interrupted again by me.

“Remember, Rin.” I raise my Poltergust. “We do have-a the best vacuum cleaner science could-a create!”

I start sucking all the wooden debris in front of us, leaving everything cleaned… Until a strange device stops the vacuum by being stuck in the nozzle.

It’s a bigger version of the communicator Rin gave me earlier today, like a big screen that you can hold in your hand or something.

“Oh thank heavens, it’s still intact!” Rin beams up in happiness.

Wait, THIS is what we were looking for? A small machine? …Kinda anticlimactic, if you ask me… I expected to be like a Star Spirit from Mario’s tales or a god like my master from Oho Oasis.

“Here.” Rin calls me after cleaning the screen of the apparatus a bit. 

“Thankfully, it doesn’t have a scratch on it.”

She gives me the strange mechanical rectangle.

“This is the item the General Student Council president left behind for you, Luigi Sensei.”

“The Shittim Chest.”

Huh… This name… Kinda feels familiar for some reason. I don’t know why.

“It may seem similar to the other technology you have seen around, but this tablet’s origins are a complete mystery. Its manufacturer, OS, system structure and components are completely unknown.” 

… I didn’t understand anything she said, but it must be something smart!

“And the president left it to you, Sensei. She said that you would be able to take control of the Sanctum Tower with it.”

… Wait, really? 

B-But can I really be given such an amazing tool?! 

“None of our members or even our best hackers, the team from Veritas, managed to crack open the Shittim Chest. We hope that you are able to figure out how to open it, but if not…”

Then chaos and destruction will continue to reign supreme on Kivotos…

Damn it… I wasn’t ready to be given such a task…

I can’t stop sweating…!

I clench my fist.

“... Rin.” I call her.

“Yes, Sensei.” She responds.

“Give-a me some time alone with-a this thing, please…” I ask her.

“I’ll… Try my best!” I tell her, trying not to lose hope while I grit my teeth.

“... Mhm. I’ll be waiting for you at the lounge area, Sensei.” Rin acknowledges it and decides to trust me, giving me a small smile in return.

After Rin leaves, I stare at the rectangle in my hands. 

It’s a white and blue machine that has a huge screen, meaning this is used for something akin to communication. I have seen many inventions before thanks to E. Gadd… but for some reason, I know for a fact that the Shittim Chest doesn’t even compare to it. It far surpasses E. Gadd’s technology…!

Heck, I would even say that makes his inventions look like toys in comparison!

Whoever created this thing… is a genius that only comes once every millenia or so!

…

Now… How do I even open this thing? 

I touch the screen. Nothing.

I observe the sides. No button.

… I try to see if there’s anything akin to a power button with my Dual Scream…

I compare the two… There’s a button on each machine. Perhaps it is this big button below the screen?

I press it.

…! 

Suddenly the machine shines brightly as it comes to life to a new image in front of me.

[...]

[... Connecting to Shittim Chest…]

[Please enter the system password.]

…

Password?! Wait, do I even know anything that seems to be a password in any way?!

Oh god! W-W-What do I do?!

I run in circles thinking what could be this mysterious password, but I can’t think of anything!

Uhhhhhh…!

Ok! Relax, Luigi! You can do this! If anything, you can guess the password!

I breathe in and out.

I look once again at the screen.

[Please enter the system password.]

I touch the screen and what seems to be a virtual keyboard appears.

… What should I try typing now…?

Ugh, I have no idea… I’ll try…!

The password is… Super Star!

But what I type is not that… I type another thing… a phrase.

[We thirst for the seven wailings. We bear the koan of Jericho.] and pressed Enter without paying attention.

What just happened?! That wasn’t what I typed!

Please don’t lock me out, I beg you!

[...]

I wait in desperation.

[Password accepted. User identified as Luigi. Confirmed.]

Huuuuuuuuuuuuh?! It worked?! How?!

[Welcome to the Shittim Chest, Luigi Sensei.]

I-I-I mean, Thank the stars it worked! Woohoo!

[Converting to operating system ARONA for biological authentication and generation of verification certificate.]

Suddenly, a bright light comes from the apparatus, catching me off-guard.

But what happens… makes me amazingly confused.

I fear that I… teleported to an unknown place. A really strange place.

I think this is a classroom… But the walls are broken and there are school tables piled on themselves, creating a mountain of it.

And I can see… a huge ocean. So big and far as the eye can see. It’s beautiful, just like the vast ocean of home.

Am I getting homesick already? Hehe…

“Zzz…” 

… Did I just hear snoring?

I turn around from the broken wall to see… a little girl sleeping?

It’s a small girl with short sky blue and violet hair with bangs covering her left eye, a white headband with a large bow, and braids tied to her left side and her halo is a simple blue ring above her head.

I approach the girl slowly, after all I don’t know what she’s capable of…

“Zzz…” She’s fast asleep.

“Zzz…” I don’t think she’s going to wake up right…

“Hmmm…” Oh? Is she going to wake up?

“*now* Castella cake… Banana milk… goes better than strawberry milk…” The little one says during her sleep.

“Zzz…” And then goes back to sleep.

… I don’t want to be annoying, but I’m kinda in a hurry right now so…

I decided to poke her cheek.

It doesn’t work.

She is still asleep. I poke her again.

It doesn’t work.

She is still sound asleep. I poke her again.

It doesn’t work.

She’s definitely still asleep. I poke her again.

It doesn’t work.

I think she’s sawing logs in her dreams. I poke her again.

It doesn’t work.

She couldn’t be more asleep. I poke her again.

It doesn’t work.

She’s counting halos. I poke her again.

She woke… Nah, she’s still asleep. It didn’t work.

She’s sleeping like a little baby. I poke once more.

It doesn’t work.

She doesn’t even budge, my goodness. I poke her one more time.

It doesn’t work.

She’s still snoring away. Maybe one more time…!

“... Huh?” She answers.

Oh my god, it took a while, huh?

“H-Huh?!” The girl starts to freak out, quickly standing up from the table she was using to sleep on.

“W-What’s going on?! W-Who-” She stutters as she looks at me.

“W-Wait! Green hat and green shirt with blue overalls… with a great moustache…!”

“S-Sensei?! Are you Luigi Sensei?!” She asks me, trying to understand the current situation.

“That’s-a me, yes. But-a who are you, little one?” I question her.

“Oh god, I was right?! O-Ok… Calm down…” She breathes in and out.

“Alright… Oh! Let me introduce myself!” She brushes her dress a bit and fixes her white ribbon a bit.

“My name is Arona! I’m the system manager that lives inside the Shittim Chest. I serve as its main OS! Think of me as your trusty secretary, Sensei!” She introduces herself to me.

Wait… I’m inside the Shittim Chest? Well… I ended up in a lot of unusual places so it doesn’t really happen often but still…

And a secretary? Now that’s something new… I never had a secretary before, unless the boys from my adventure on the Eclair Kingdom count as that.

“I’m so glad I finally got to meet you! I missed you for a long time!” She beams a big smile at me. She’s adorable, hehe.

“But-a… weren’t you asleep just-a now?” I tease Arona.

“I-I might have dozed off while waiting for you… Ehehe…” She scratches the back of her head.

This little girl was waiting for me for so long, it’s only fair for me to accept it as well.

“Nice-a to meet you, Arona. I’m-a Luigi!” I tell her, head petting her in the process.

She’s like a little daughter, hehe.

“Ehehe~ This is nice~.” It seems she likes headpets… Oh, her halo changes appearances with her emotions as well. Her halo turned into the shape of a heart… Must be happiness then.

“A-Anyway! I’ll be glad to be useful to you, Sensei. But we need to finish the biological authentication first!” She says it, blushing a little bit.

“What-a we need to do, Arona?” I ask her.

“All we need to do is…” She approaches me and raises her hand and her point finger. “Is to place our fingertips together!” She says, full of energy.

Well, it’s not that bad. Here we go!

I touch her fingertip with mine, connecting both of us onto something… akin to something like a promise or something.

“Hehe, it looks like we are making a promise, isn’t it?” She cheerfully says.

Hahaha! Perhaps we really are!

A few moments pass as Arona successfully registers me as the new master of the Shittim Chest. I spend those moments telling Arona what has been happening to the city while she was asleep.

“All done~!” She says happily as I nod.

“So… a lot has happened, huh? The GSC president has gone missing and the access to the Sanctum Tower was cut off…” She says, understanding the present situation.

“Do you know-a anything about the GSC president or her twin sister, Arona?” I asked, curious to see if she has any info about this mysterious girl.

“I have a lot of data about Kivotos, but there’s little to none info about them… It’s like it was taken out of my database without me knowing.” She puts her hand on her chin, thinking.

“I’m sorry for not being of much help…” She apologizes, her halo becoming dark blue and little teardrops coming out of it.

“No! It’s-a okie, Arona.” I try to cheer her up, working as she wants to help me some more.

“Well, I can’t help with the president and her twin, but I can help with the Sanctum Tower problem!” She cheerfully announces, her halo becoming a bright green color.

She can?! Thank goodness, that’s what I was aiming for!

“Thank you so much, Arona!” I thanked her with a big smile.

“Hehe~. Just let me restore the access permissions to the Sanctum Tower. It should take only a few minutes.” She says smiling to me.

After a few moments, Arona comes back to me.

“Sanctum Tower’s Admin access permission acquired.” She says, excitedly.

“We’ve successfully regained the Sanctum Tower, Sensei! The tower is all under my control!”

R-Really? Arona is… kinda scary, seeing how she easily managed to enter the tower’s security system without any problems.

“You know what that means, Sensei?” She asks me.

“Not-a really…” I answered her.

“It means you have all of Kivotos in the palm of your hand, Sensei!”

“... Yeah… No thanks, can you transfer the control-a to the GSC instead?” I tell her to do it.

“B-But Sensei, you will be giving them full control of the tower to them! Are you really sure, Sensei?” She asks me, just to make sure.

“Arona, my dearest… I’m-a just a plumber. I can’t-a be the president or owner of-a city that I barely know, alright-y? They will-a do just fine with-a it.” I headpet her and ask her to transfer it.

“Plus-uh…” I remember all the bad decisions I made during that game of monopoly and buying estates back at home from that circus tour… As much as I know what I’m doing, taking care of a huge city like Kivotos is not on my to-do list. “I’m-a not good with management.” I tell her.

“Alright, Sensei! Control of the Sanctum Tower will now be transferred to the General Student Council.” She acknowledges my decision.

She closes her eyes.

“Done!”

“Great-a job, Arona!” I pet her head more.

“Ehehe~”

“But-a now, I need to go back-a to where I came from… Do you know how I can-a do that, Arona?”

“Hmm… I can try, Sensei. But um…” 

“Yes, Arona?”

“Can you… come back here and play with me more…?” She asks while looking at me shyly.

God, I feel like a father spoiling her daughter already, hehe. Is this what happened when I always carried my baby self around? Must have been.

“Of-a course, Arona.” I put my hand on her shoulder. “If you continue to do a good-a job, I’ll even-a give you a delicious treat!”

“T-Treat?! L-Like a Castella cake with strawberry milk?!”

“Yup! No problemo for-a me!”

“Yay!” She rushes and hugs me. “Thank you, Sensei!”

Wow… This is something new, but… a welcome one.

I smile and hug her back.

…

After hugging me, she lets me go.

“Alright, Sensei. I’ll take you out for now. I’ll do my best to help you!” She says as a white light covers me… 

I’m back in the destroyed basement room of the Schale building… Except the lights are on! It worked!

“Sensei!” I look at the Shittim Chest. It’s Arona. She really is inside the machine… That means I was really inside the Shittim Chest this whole time, huh…

“If you need help, feel free to call me! I’ll give you any information if it is available to me! I’ll be resting for now, ok?” She gives me a smile to confirm it.

“Roger that, Arona! I’ll be relying-a on you from-a now on!” I tell her, making her even happier than before.

The Shittim Chest turns off as she confirms it. 

…

Now with the situation done with, I need to talk with Rin.

I climb the stairs of the basement room and return to the lounge area where everybody is to explain what we can do from now on.

As I enter the area where everybody is resting, I’m received by Rin as the other girls are talking on their small communicators, finishing some calls.

“Sensei, welcome back.” Rin calls me. “We’re just received confirmation of the Sanctum Tower control transfer to the GSC.”

“This will allow us to manage the academy city without the presence of the missing president.”

“Sensei. On behalf of the General Student Council, I thank you for preventing Kivotos from becoming utter chaos.” She bows to me, surprising all the academy representatives.

“Hehe, I told-a you I would do my best, Rin.” I place my hand on top of her shoulder and give her a thumbs up with a big grin on my face as she lets out a small smile.

“Not too shabby, Sensei!” Yuuka calls me as the girls approach me, after finishing their calls.

“We just received confirmation from our academies that the power has returned. Things should be going back to normal thanks to you, Sensei.” She says while the others nod in agreement.

“Everybody in Kivotos will be talking about you, Sensei. It’s all on social media.”

…What's social media?

“Um… Not-a being difficult but-a… What’s social media?” I ask the girls about it… And they are looking at me weird.

“Umm… You don’t have a phone, Sensei?” Hasumi asks.

“Is that the small rectangle you girls gave me before?” I show them the communicator Rin gave me before.

“No, that’s a comm… Your home didn’t have any phones or social media?” Chinatsu tries to understand the situation a bit better.

“Nope. Our-a homes were always close-a by and we have TV for news-a and stuff and we have the best-a postal service someone could-a have asked for so… I probably think-a it wasn’t-a necessary…?” I tell them, dumbfounding them to the point they leave their jaws a bit open.

“Sensei, here.” Suzumi shows me her phone thingy. What appears on it is some kind of broadcast… Wait, is this my fight with the delinquents… My fight with the rocketeers… My thunderhand attack on the tank… and our fight with Bogmire?! B-But how?!

“It’s all over social media. It seems the thugs had a person focusing completely on recording all the action for their online Kivotube channel.” Suzumi tells me.

“Oh my goodness. It has more than 500.000 views already? But our fight was 1 hour ago.” Hasumi says, thinking about how to use this video to her advantage, most likely.

Ugh… There goes my plan on keeping my abilities and powers as well the fact that the ghosts from my world came to this place hidden from the public. Sigh.

And now I have to pay attention to this social media thing? I’ll have to ask Arona to help me out with that.

“Well… now with that all sorted out, I guess it’s time for us to go back to our academies, isn’t it? We still need to take care of the mess accumulated on them.” Yuuka says it as the girls do get worried about what remains of the problems they came here to solve.

“Sensei, once you have a phone of your own, make sure to visit us at Millenium Science Academy! We will be waiting for you, alright?” Yuuka says with a bright smile.

“But-a of course, Yuuka! I’ll-a be happy to visit.” I tell her and shake her hand, making her blush a little for some reason. 

“Indeed. We’ll have to say goodbye for now, but know that Trinity General School will welcome you with open arms, Sensei.” Hasumi raises her hand and shakes my hand as well.

“Sensei, I learned a lot with you! I hope we can meet again as well!” Suzumi says, excited for our next meeting. “I hope I’ll be able to introduce my team to you another time.”

I nod, shaking her hand as well. “Okie dokie! I’ll-a make sure to visit your school as well, you two!”

“I’ll make sure to report about you to the head prefect. You will always be welcome to Gehenna Academy, Sensei.” Chinatsu smiles as she looks at Polterpup, who seems to be sleeping next to Wakamo. “... Can I visit Schale to see Polterpup as well?”

“Hehe! You are welcome to do-a so, Chinatsu! I’ll make sure to visit your academy as-a well!” I shake her hand as her face brightens up more than the sun.

…

With all that said, the four leave the residential area of Schale while waving goodbye to me and hopefully, they will get back to their homes and have a deserved rest for the efforts today.

“Sensei, now… About the fox.” Rin asks.

“Yes, Rin?” I answer her.

“What are we going to do about her? I could call Valkyrie to take her away immediately if you-” She tries to finish it, but I stop her.

“Nah, I’ll-a take care of her. She needs-a total rest right-a now. She must-a be exhausted right-a now.”

“But Sensei…!” Rin tries to change my mind, but…

“Shhhhh… You’re going to wake-a Polterpup up.” I try giving the cheesiest excuse to let her know I’m not letting them do anything to Wakamo.

“Sigh… Very well, Sensei. I just hope you know what you’re doing.” She looks at me extremely tired. Today was a ride for all of us.

“At least let me show you the building while we’re here and the activities you will be doing from now on.” She asks me.

I nod to her.

“I’ll show you around then. Follow me, please.” She tells me.

Soon we were discussing my activities as the club advisor of the Independent Federal Investigation Club, or Schale to shorten it as we visited each facility inside the building.

And after a while, she takes me to a medium size office, located behind a huge theater screen in the cinema room. 

The room has a lot of cardboard boxes and bookshelves, a whiteboard, a gun cabinet and a table with two sets of twin computer screens, one being for me and another for an assistant of some sorts?

It’s pretty cozy, but this place will need a nice cleaning once I have the time to do so.

“And this is the place you will be working from now on, Sensei.”

There, I learned a few things from Rin. 

One. Schale has extrajudicial authority, meaning that if I deem it necessary, I might act on any conflict or confrontation that might go out of control. Hopefully I won’t need to for a long time… But knowing how this place is, I’ll probably have to use this a lot. And it doesn’t make me very happy about it.

Two. Although it doesn’t have an important mission given to yet, Schale has the duty to help out students in need or have any sort of problem, so long as they send a request of help to me that is. Thanks to this, the club has received the authority to enter any academy district freely, meaning I can visit the girls without any problems.

Most of the problems vary from requests for support materials, pet rescues, helping a student out with her studies, saving other clubs, and so on.

Knowing how much free time I have now and how the GSC is probably full of important stuff to solve right now, I’ll gladly help out the students, it might even allow me to meet more new places to visit and meet new faces altogether.

Three. I can register students to join Schale, since this is a club. They will help me as assistants both with paperwork and in the field. They just need to apply through the website, and I shall call the applied students for a quick talk.

“If you ever need help, feel free to visit us at the GSC Headquarters or call us once you have a cellphone, ok?” Rin asks me. 

I nod. “I will, Rin. Thanks for the explanation, but-a please go home and rest-a well. Today was-a really tiresome for all-a of us.” I tell her, worried that she might overwork herself while I’m not looking.

“...” She looks at me surprised. She wasn’t expecting me to be worried about her? Nope, good lady, I’ll worry. 

“... I will, Sensei. Thank you.” She smiles.

After that, Rin leaves the building and goes back to the GSC headquarters using the same helicopter from before.

I wave goodbye to her. 

The only thing left to do before ending this stressful day is to check Wakamo.

Knowing how everybody was calling her dangerous and strong, she most likely woke up by now. 

I start making my way to the lounge area, hoping nothing bad might happen.

Wakamo’s POV:

…

It’s so dark.

…

What made me want destruction and anarchy so badly…?

Was it that incident in Hyakkiyako that nobody decided to trust me? 

After that, all the people I trusted betrayed me, the promises we made broken easily like glass.

I was so damn tired…

Tired of being used, tired of being told broken promises, tired of everybody and everything.

…

Then I blew up. 

I wanted to burn everything.

I wanted every single person who wronged me to pay for the crimes.

And so I did. 

And I loved it.

The smell of smoke. The voices of anguish as my victims scream for help. The destruction left behind by me only filled me with joy and happiness.

Something they stole from me. 

It’s like a drug. 

I can’t live without it. 

I don’t have anything to live for without it.

…

I was labeled a terrorist in their eyes.

Good. 

That’s what I wanted. 

I’m different from the sorry excuses of people that only lie their way to victory… I hunt victory with my own bare hands.

…

I was caught. SRT’s Fox Squad.

By my own kin.

I was betrayed once again.

I hate it.

…

Then that girl appeared.

That blond little girl with a smug on her face.

Told us to follow her as she freed us during the beautiful chaos that was the disappearance of the GSC president. 

I didn’t trust her at all.

But the others labeled like me did.

Of course, why did I think these people would be like me?

Another betrayal for the book, ha!

I left them behind.

…

I’m all alone.

Nobody will follow me.

That’s why I’ll search for the destruction of everything. 

Only then will I see the answer of what I’m looking for.

…

The scary purple aura happened. 

I can’t move.

I can’t break free.

My strength, to which I was so proud of, betrayed me.

It wanted to use me, like those bastards from before. 

It wanted me to hurt an innocent dog.

I hate it.

I hate it!

I HATE IT!

I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT!I HATE IT! I HATE IT! I HATE IT! I HATE IT!

…

I fought him and he beat me… I was betrayed by myself.

…

But then I heard his voice.

[“Hang on, Wakamo! I’m-a gonna set you free from this-a ghost!”]

…

There was something in this mysterious voice.

I do not know how to describe it.

It’s a feeling lost to me.

…

Was it… 

Warmth?

Comfort?

…

Why?

Why was I feeling… happiness by that voice?

Somehow… I feel like… This voice will not betray me, for some reason.

…

Soon the darkness that surrounded me started to be dominated by the light, creating a sea of flowers below me.

A figure appeared before me, putting his arm in front of me. 

The light is too intense for me to see his face.

He wants to help me get up.

…

I raise my hand and take his hand…

And I wake up. Inside of the Schale building… more specifically, in the lounge area of the residential area.

And beside me there’s an adorable puppy… Although he looks a little pale?

I looked around this part before I went to the basement… Why am I here?

I try to get up. My body hurts too much for that.

I touch my face. 

Where’s my beloved mask?! I look around, trying to find it.

I need to find it, otherwise I…!

“Looking for-a this?” I heard a voice… no, a familiar voice.

“There’s a ghost inside-a of it. I don’t recommend-a you using it.” He says. 

The pale pup approaches the man as I turn around, following the puppy to the figure.

I see a tall figure. It’s the green man from before holding my beloved mask in his hand!

But… something’s different. He’s… He’s…!

He’s so handsome!!! My face is becoming so hot out of nowhere!

Oh my god, no matter where I look, everything about him is gorgeous!!!

His blue roundy eyes… His long head… His amazing moustache…!

C-C-Calm down, Kosaka Wakamo! T-This is happening way too fast…!

My heart is beating too fast just by looking at him!

I-I’m not ready for all this! I want to run away, but my body still hurts!

Gyahhhhhhhhhh!! I don’t know if I can handle such sexiness in front of me!

“Umm… Wakamo?” His voice calls for me.

“Y-Yes?” I respond, trying to keep my calm as my face reddens more.

“Are you alright? Being possessed by-a ghost is-a not-a a walk in-a park, you know? I’m-a worried about you.”

… Oh my god! Oh my god! This handsome moustached man is worried about me?!

D-D-Do I really deserve to be wanted safe?!

“I-I’m fine, umm… Who are you, moustached man?

“Me? I’m-a Luigi, the new Sensei of the Schale club.” He tells me in a voice I can only describe as beautiful music to my fluffy ears.

“Luigi Sensei…” I look at him more and more… I can’t get enough of it.

“Yup, nice to meet-a you, Wakamo.” He puts his hand in front of me.

I-I don’t know if I can do this…! Can my hands really touch the marvelous things that are Luigi Sensei’s white gloves? 

Ah, whatever! I’m going for the kill!

I grab onto Luigi Sensei’s gloves with both my hands. 

… The sensation is indescribable. It’s amazing. I haven't felt like this in a long while.

Gyahhhhhh!! I feel like I'm gonna die from embarrassment alone!! But… Ehehehe~ It was worth it…!

“Haha! I can see-a you are already feeling-a lotsa better, aren't you?” He gives me the brightest smile I have seen someone give me.

I can die happy now… No! I must not die! I need to make sure Luigi Sensei is fine and well!

…

I found a new reason to live. Not just destruction, but my beloved’s protection!

Ehehehehehe~ 

I’m so happy right now~ I found someone I can trust with my heart… My sweet darling~!

Back to Luigi’s POV:

Well, it’s nice that the fox is feeling better, but not being able to move must be agonizing… Maybe I still have mushrooms in my suitcase?

I look inside my suitcase one more time to see if I have one… 

Oh! I have one! 

I take it out and take a good look at it.

It seems to be a normal red mushroom, perfect to heal Wakamo’s wounds.

“Wakamo.” I call her.

“Y-Yes, darling!” She calls me a weird nickname… I don’t know how to feel about this.

“I want you to eat-a this mushroom for-a me.” I tell her.

… And I just realized that it must be so weird to be asked to eat a mushroom… I understand if she doesn’t want to do that.

“Or maybe-a not, ehehe…”

“I’ll do it!” She screams. “If it is from you darling, then it must be something amazing!” She says with sparkly eyes.

“...Okie dokie then.” I shrug as I give her the mushroom.

And she immediately shoves the whole thing down her throat, catching me off guard as I widen my eyes in worry.

Thankfully she didn’t choke on it as she gulped the whole thing down.

And surprisingly, its effects work just as intended as Wakamo’s wounds and bruises quickly start to disappear.

Wakamo can feel her wounds healing, getting up from the sofa she was lying down on.

“W-Wow…! This is stronger than that rat’s drugs! Darling, you are amazing~!” She tells me.

Rat? drugs…? It’s better not to ask for now, I’m too tired for this. Too much information on one single day, and this is still not my first day on the job!

Polterpup approaches her and barks. She then gets on her knees and starts playing with him.

This mischievous pup can become friends with anybody this quick, haha.

And that also reveals something very important. This proves that the power-ups from the Mushroom Kingdom also affects the students… Although it was kind of obvious since the ghosts from there can possess them… 

If only I had a way to obtain those power-ups…

Although I’m still curious about the Two headed mannequin, the headless man and the face inside of a portrait and how they managed to teach the Portrait Ghosts on how to use the Possession skill…

But before I can do anything, Wakamo snatches the mask from my hand and quickly heads to the window of the room.

“Darling~! Thank you so much for everything~! I’ll make sure to repay you for everything you did for me~!” She says, with a big smile.

“Just-a make sure to not cause-a too much destruction from now on, alright-y? Your face-a is too pretty to have-a any scars on it!” I give her a bright smile as I tell her.

Usually when I say this to Daisy, she always looks at me funny. Daisy always gave me that “What are you saying?” before moving her head to the opposite side of mine. I always wondered why she does that…

Must have been embarrassing as I see Wakamo’s face becoming even redder as I say that. 

“I-I-I-I will be going now…!!!” She says with her voice trembling for some reason. Maybe a side effect of the mushroom?

She leaves the building giggling without a single trace of her presence in here.

Polterpup whimpers a bit as I get down and pet his head. “No worries, Pup… She will-a be fine. I’m-a sure of it.”

“We will-a see her again sometime in-a future, not-a far from here.” 

I leave the lounge area and think about what to do before going to bed…

I look at the clock on the Shittim Chest. 5:36 PM. I still got time to clean stuff up while night falls.

“Arona. Are you there?” I call my AI assistant.

“Yes, Sensei. Super Assistant Arona is ready to help!” The Shittim Chest brightens up and Arona appears, thrilled to be of help to me.

“Say, how about-a we talk-a about ourselves while-a I clean my office? I want-a learn more about you, Arona.” I say with a happy smile.

She gasps but quickly recomposes herself. “Yes!” Exhilarated, she accepts.

We talked about a lot of things before I finished. I told her stories from back home, my adventures with my brother, my skill and abilities while Arona told me a few interesting things. I even told her about my weapons and equipment. 

But what surprised me is that she was more interested in the Dual Scream. She asked me if I could lend it to her during my free time, to which I agreed. Nothing wrong with that… right? 

She told me what she liked, which was sweets of course. It’s interesting because she is supposed to be virtual, right? How does a virtual AI have a need for food?

Another interesting thing she told me is that she can create a shield around me so long as she is with me. Does that mean I have a shield that’s equivalent to the students’ haloes now? Feels kind of broken but, I’m not complaining.

After finishing tidying things up, I look at the clock. 10:12 PM.

Perhaps it’s time for me to rest. It was one of those days after all.

I call Polterpup and decide to look for a room for me to call it a day.

Wakamo’s POV:

I ran. 

I couldn’t stay for much longer there.

I felt like my heart was going to explode!

But I just couldn’t stop giggling like an idiot~!

…

I stop after running for about 10 minutes in an empty alleyway and just sit down on the concrete floor.

Sigh… I legit think I would have died if I couldn’t control my emotions.

But… Sensei… was so handsome I couldn’t control it. And the fact that his smile is still in my head makes me want him even more~! Darling~!

…

He must be protected. If anything happens to me, I don’t know what will happen to me. I think I’ll go crazy without him!

I’ll kill anyone who brings harm to my darling.

I’ll start with this.

I picked up the beloved mask my darling was holding. He said that the ghost bastard that was possessing me is still here.

Well… Time for me to get me a little servant.

“You.” I speak dominatingly. I will not take insubordination from a fool like this pitiful ghost.

“...” No response. Trying to fool me, aren’t you? 

I point my gun at the mask. “Feel like talking now, ghost?”

“... UgH… dOn’T sHoOt…” He answers it without complaining. Must be really painful for them to have their possessed object hit by something, huh.

This will be useful.

“Good boy. Now answer my questions or I’ll blast you to oblivion.” I threaten him without mercy. This ghost has tried to hurt my darling, so I’ll make him pay.

“...oK…” He begrudgingly accepts. 

I give him one of my best sadistic smiles.

“I’m going to make it simple for you, little ghost.”

I change to a serious face, my eyes looking at it with disgust.

“You want to harm my darling, but I won’t allow that. You will now work for me and not hunt him down any more, capiche?”

“... WhO dO yOu ThInK yOu ArE-” Before he can finish, I hit him with the back of my gun.

I look at him with anger in my eyes, enough to kill even the smallest animal with just a glare.

That seems to work fine, as I feel him shrinking in fear.

“I’m not asking. I’m demanding it! And if you don’t comply, well… Let’s just say you will wish you weren’t reborn as a ghost.” As I tell him that, I crush a small rock with my bare hands.

“HiIiIiI!!!”  The ghost cries out in fear. Good.

“You will learn about me as I learn more about you, ghost~! So let’s get along from now on~!” I give him the most sadistic smile I could do.

“Y-YeS…! M-MaStEr!” See? He even started speaking like a normal person in my presence, ehehe…~

This will be fun~.

Bogmire’s POV:

I once thought that nothing would be able to scare me.

I was wrong.

For the first time in my ghostly life… I’m fearing something. And it is a goddamn fox girl of all things! The humiliation!

I’ll get you for this, Green Stache… 

Author's Notes:

That's it folks! We finally managed to finish the Prologue/Tutorial level of Blue Archive! Originally I was going to make it more chapters, but I thought to myself... "I want to make it a big ending."

Needless to say, 15k words and 3 weeks of hard work have paid off beautifully.

Thank you so much for my beta readers "random boat" and "Soundwave" on discord once again! If it wasn't for them, this would have been a grammar disaster!

I wonder what Luigi's first day at work will be, as this day was chaotic to the extreme, haha!

Thank you so much for reading this little story! I made sure to put some nice references in here, so tell me them if you find them!

Chapter Text

World 1 - EX: Preparations

???’s Location:

…

In a small room, only having a tint of the color red as its light, three individuals were sitting in the middle of a circular table.

“Our paranormal experiment failed.” Spoke the monochromatic portrait of a man facing away from the viewer with a black bowler hat inside of a tablet being held down by a headless man wearing a brown trench coat. 

“Are you certain of it?” This time it was the two-headed wooden doll with cracked heads who began to speak.

“BUT OF COURSE!” The headless man, which seemingly has smoke coming out from his neck, raised his voice as if to attract attention to himself or to simply confirm the wooden figure’s question.

“But how is this possible? The mystic being had abilities above the ones found in Kivotos. Artistically speaking, the students wouldn’t be able to do anything, much less understand its beautiful display of power… Unless…”

“Someone interfered with the test.” A woman with red skin and wears an absurdly long white dress speaks. “Great, now we have an annoying pest to deal with.” she says, irritated by the sudden appearance of a new factor in her plans.

“Don’t be like that, Lady Beatrice.” Says the face on the tablet. “Perhaps this is a sign to further our knowledge in the matter of the mysticism of the new land provided to us.”

“As if! You saw what that ghost was capable of! How in the hell did that powerful being manage to lose to mere students?!” She asks, throwing all her anger towards the tablet.

“It’s because the person responsible for his defeat comes from the same world as him.” Before the woman in red could complain more, a figure appears from the darkness of the room, revealing himself to the others who look in his direction.

A man covered in dark with an eerie appearance, possessing glossy black "skin" with cracks and other deformations speaks. “It is very intriguing, hehehe…” His voice suggests humour instead of anger towards the unexpected element from the particular being.

“What do you mean, Black Suit?” The mannequin speaks. “My beautiful show of Terror was stopped because of such a person? We even sent him specifically to tame that dangerous fox and make her join our ranks as a disposable tool of study.”

“BUT OF COURSE!” The headless man raises its voice once more.

“Maestro, my friend. Don’t forget that you're not the one focused on the paranormal. That's me.” The tablet speaks, clearly mocking the mannequin.

“Although you say that, that mystical spirit was one of the finest pieces of art I ever made. I cannot simply accept the fact that it was defeated so easily… Surely you jest, Golconde!” The mannequin tries to change the narrative to his side.

“BUT OF COURSE!”

“Sigh… I have to ask you to tell your buddy to quiet down while we talk. ”

The two start bickering to one another as they cannot reach a conclusion satisfactory to both their ideals.

“Well, it seems we have reached an impasse, doesn’t it?” Black Suits claps his hands and speaks. “We shall continue this reunion once we gather more information on this mysterious man, yes?”

“Golconde, you told us that your experiments with the paranormal within the Slumpia region are finally paying off?”

“Indeed. Utilizing all the data I collected from that mystic creature made my most recent creation come forth faster than I thought.” He happily communicates his findings. “In fact, I shall go back to it and add its finishing touches.” He makes his headless self bow. “Farewell, you three.”

“BUT OF COURSE!” He screams as both disappear into the darkness.

“Perhaps I shall take this loss as a way for my art to grow more beautifully and elegantly then…! The supposed individual simply proved that I cannot achieve what I wish for with my current mindset. I’ll just have to go back to Trinity and study more of those ancient texts once again.” The mannequin tells the other two as he giggles. “It’s almost as if… He wants me to perfect my art! Yes, splendid!” As soon as he finishes complimenting the man behind his defeat, he vanishes to the darkness of the room.

“Hmph, such a waste of my time.” Beatrice gets up from her chair and starts leaving. “But I’ll say this, Black Suit. If this person continues to stay between us and my objective, we need to eliminate this threat as fast as possible, you hear me?!” She demands it.

“Who knows, Lady Beatrice.” He simply shrugs, making the red woman even angrier.

“What matters now for me is the capture of the strongest mystic right now.” He tells her. “Soon, my plans will finally pay off, hehehe…” As he disappears into the darkness.

“Bunch of idiots… A threat appears and you aren’t taking immediate action? Fools, I say!” She grunts out loud in the empty room. “... Tsk. Soon they will see… My objective to achieve the power of a god continues the same.” As she also disappears into the darkness.

The red room now goes back onto being soundless, simply awaiting for the next time its members would show up.

Gematria. They will return again, like they will always do.

The morning sun rises as Polterpup barks in my face to wake up.

I found myself on top of an amazingly comfortable bed in the residential area of the Schale building. More specifically, the room designed for the Sensei of Schale located in it. My body is aching a bit from all that happened yesterday.

It still feels like what went down was a huge dream that took me forever to wake up from. All the technology, powers and chaos…

Sigh, I suppose this is my new life, huh? Not that I’m complaining. 

I raise my arms and stretch them a bit before getting up from the warm bed, which proved to be extremely difficult, hehe.

“Sensei, good morning!” As the Shittim Chest turns itself on, Arona receives me with a warm smile.

“Good-a morning for you too, Arona. Didja sleep well?” I ask, curious as to how a computer can sleep.

“Yes! It was the best sleep I had in a long time!” She says excitedly. “I really wanted to play with that console you have, so I kind of just dreamed about playing it.”

Arona playing with the Dual Scream 3D? Now that’s an image I didn’t think I was going to imagine, but I guess there’s a beginning for everything.

And I did promise her that, and a promise is to be kept always.

I look around my new room as I didn’t have enough time to see it as I immediately went to sleep after cleaning my office.

It’s pretty spacious, all things considered. A big bed, a wardrobe with a few clothes inside of it and a bunch of modern furniture I have never seen before.

But what caught my attention was the leather mail bag hanging beside the wardrobe. 

I checked it. It’s… a normal leather bag, with a lot of space to put stuff on. It’s not like my suitcase, but I think I can put the Shittim Chest and my Dual Scream here.

I take the bag, put my Dual Screen on Sleep Mode so that Arona can examine the thing and put both my apparatus in there. Seems good and comfortable enough.

Now… What should I do? It’s my first day at my new job… But it doesn’t feel any different from my normal life in the Mushroom Kingdom.

“Perhaps-a Rin can tell-a me what I can-a do.” I say while scratching the back of my head.

I didn’t want to disturb her since her work probably doubled after the chaotic affairs were solved thanks to me.

Oh well, she did tell me to ask her for guidance so I’m not turning it down.

I pick up the rest of my items and put them all on my suitcase. 

Now… Maybe she could also tell me a place where I can buy some new clothing? I hate to admit it, but I didn’t bring more pairs of clothes with me.

After leaving Polterpup on guard duty at Schale as yesterday caused the pup to become more serious when it came to protect my place of rest, I set out to the GSC HQ, hoping to find answers to my problem.

After one hour of walking from Schale to the district close to the GSC, I noticed one particular problem that needs resolution immediately.

I need a vehicle. This academy city is bigger than I imagined! Even if I run, it will take me forever to visit a single district and that’s gonna make my work very difficult to do.

I should take this to Rin as well. Golly, so many things to take care of and this is my first day still.

…

Soon enough, I managed to get to the GSC Headquarters and get a bit scared from what’s happening inside.

As I enter the building, a lot of students are running around with mountains of papers on their arms, doing their best to not drop them on the floor.

Rin wasn’t kidding when she said she was going to be busy… I’m kind of sorry for her right now.

I go to the reception table, hoping to be able to get an audience with Rin… But I feel like this is not going the way I intended to. Everybody is so busy, they can’t spend a bit of time with the little old me. It’s understandable, since they finally recovered their access to the Sanctum Tower and now must resume their previous activities that were suddenly stalled.

That until someone trips on the blue carpet floor and starts sobbing… Wait, Ayumu?!

The poor girl tries her best to pick up the fallen papers that she was carrying around as fast as she could, trying to not get them wet as her tears fall into the floor below her.

I immediately got down to my knees and started to pick up some of her papers.

“Thank you so much…!” She lifts her head to see her benefactor being none other than the person she helped yesterday. “S-Sensei?!” She concludes, trying to stop her tears from falling.

“Yello, Ayumu. Tough-a day already?” I greet her, picking up papers on the floor and seeing a few of them. A request from a place called Red Winter about an enormous amount of copper… A request from a place called Odyssey requesting engineers to fix their latest shipwreck… 

The GSC is having a lot of problems to fix, I’m afraid to say.

“Y-Yes… B-But what are you doing here?!” She nervously asks.

“Truth-a be told… I came-a to talk-a with-a Rin about-a few things for-a me to do my job as a Sensei.” I tell her. “Although the situation here is-a bit out of-a control, is it not?”

She sadly nods. “After you gave us access to the Sanctum Tower, all of the districts started filling our forums with requests and soon everything became flooded with them.”

I see… The GSC really had it rough, huh…

Alright, I know what to do for now.

After gathering all of the fallen papers, I placed them on top of the documents Ayumu has and grabbed half of it for myself. 

“S-Sensei?” She asked in confusion. “What are you doing?”

“Well, instead-a of just seeing all of you hard-working students having-a hard-a time, I want-a help you girls out. I have to say though… I can-a be quite the clumsy guy, ya know?” 

She just looks at me flabbergasted, with her eyes wide open.

“So?” I smile. “Mind-a telling me where-a to take these documents, dear?”

“Ah. Y-Yes!” She shakes her head and goes ahead of me, guiding me around the headquarters as we carry the many mountains of paperwork to their specific areas.

It might take the entire day to help out, but I don’t mind at all. Helping the students is my job and GSC are still students after all.

I just hope I don’t mess something up… Hehehe.

Rin’s POV:

Ugh… Luigi Sensei told me to rest well, but I feel like that is not gonna be able to happen so soon…

Instead of giving us priority requests, the districts decided to just dump everything on us like we could do everything in a blink of an eye! What were they thinking?!

There’s no way we can solve every single one of their problems by just sending us requests! I feel like I’m going crazy with just the recent mountain that entered the room a few minutes ago!

Sigh… I placed my hand on my forehead, trying to stop the headache I’m constantly suffering while looking at all of these documents.

Luckily I finished this mountain of papers… Time for the next one… Ugh.

“Bring me the next bunch of papers, please!” I say out loud, warning the students outside my room.

One of the many students that were outside enters the room, a bit confused.

“Um, President Rin… There’s no papers coming up here.” She tells me.

“What do you mean there’s no documents to sign up for?” I tell her, really curious as to why this is happening. “There were enough documents to fill the first floor of this building, it can’t just simply disappear.”

The girl simply shrugs. “I don’t know. Perhaps something happened with the team downstairs? Should I check it out?”

… Let’s have a little rest with this, yes?

“No. I shall check it, as I’m the one responsible for it.” I tell her as I rise from my table, saying a terrible lie to get away from the dreadful place that it is my office.

I leave the room and go to the elevator and press the button to the first floor where all the documents should be… I just hope I won’t get more of a headache than I already have.

… Until I saw a hand holding the elevator door. 

“Good morning, Acting President Rin. I presume you are going to check the documents on the first floor?” One of my colleagues enters the elevator. A girl with navy blue short hair and elven ears.

Oki Aoi, the Chief Finance Director.

“Yes, Finance Director. It seems that they stopped arriving at our offices. I need to see if something happened with them as fast as possible to resume our work.” I told her.

If there’s one thing that I don’t want right now is to get on the bad side of the other key members of the GSC. Aoi is known to be strict when it comes to rules and regulations, so if anything is out of the ordinary, she will immediately check it out and even go against the person in question.

“Agree. I have reviewed the requests for financial support given to me, but most of them are simply beyond unbelievable.” She pinches the bridge of her nose in distress. “Millennium requesting 70.531.000 credits to create a “Railgun” of some sorts… Trinity is requesting 6.082.000 credits to buy luxury tea leaves and cake rolls… But the worst of all has to be Gehenna. A request of 100 million credits to buy gold of all things to make a statue of their student council’s representative! Who in their sane minds asks for gold like it’s something that grows on trees?! This is unacceptable!” She clenches her fist as she seems to growl a bit.

She is having it rough as well, huh? I know how it feels… Some of the documents I checked also had unreasonable demands, such as rare materials and new rules that would only benefit their academies in the long run and possibly cause distraught between districts.

We already have to worry about Trinity and Gehenna being at each other's throats all the time. We do not need another rivalry happening right now.

“My condolences, Finance Director.” I give her a simple reply and a pat on her shoulder. 

Perhaps some of Luigi Sensei’s personality or kindness is rubbing on to me, who knows.

Once the elevator reaches its goal, we step out of it and end up surprised from what we see.

Our club members all gathered in one place separating most requests and documents not by just randoming putting papers on top of each other, but by importance, emergency, time consumption and reviewing for later.

It’s so organized that I would doubt myself would be able to do such a feat. Maybe the GSC president would be able to do such a thing but it’s highly unlikely… Just how did our messy crew manage to get their stuff together and create an amazing accomplishment like this?

“Ah! Ayumu, this-a paper goes to-a the review bunch. Since we do not-a know if we have-a the budget for that.” I hear a familiar voice coming from the middle of the room. It’s… Luigi Sensei?

“Y-Yes, Sensei! Thank you!” I also hear Ayumu, happily accepting Sensei’s words of guidance as she places the paper on the review pile.

And it’s not just Ayumu… Everybody here is actively talking and comparing requests to see which pile they should be put in and they are quickly reviewed by other students. If this continues as it is, it shouldn’t take more than one or two weeks to check it all out.

“This is… Impressive, to say the least.” Director Aoi says, amazed by the demonstration of competency as she observes some of the financial papers on top of the table.

“Ah.” One of the many students catches a glimpse of us staring at them. “Director Aoi and Acting President Rin?!” She screams out loud, making everybody stop their work to focus on us.

Almost like that story with the old man that used a cane to open up a way through the sea, the members of our institute open a path towards their source of positivism. Sensei.

“Ah, Rin! Good-a morning!” Sensei finally notices me and greets me. “... And you are?” He looks towards Aoi curiously.

“Good morning, Sensei of Schale. My name is Oki Aoi, the Chief Finance Director of the General Student Council.” She bows as she ends her sentence.

“Oh, it’s-a good to meet-cha Aoi!” He bows as well. 

“But Sensei… What are you doing here?” I ask the obvious question.

“Ah, actually… I wanted to talk-a with-a you about a few things, but you were-a so busy with all these-a papers that-a I didn’t wanted to bother you.” He scratches the back of his head, trying not to sound worrisome, but it’s kind of transparent as clear water. 

“And-a after seeing how-a everybody here was making-a huge effort to help you out, I had-a to step in and-a help, ya know?” He looks to every single student helping him out. “I’m-a quite the clumsy man, so I admit-a that I would only get-a in the way…”

“But you know, Rin? These-a students are really competent and-a intelligent once they-a have an objective on their mind.” He approaches us slowly and stands in front of us. “You have-a an amazing team, Rin!” He simply smiles, believing in their capabilities.

“S-Sensei…!” Soon all the members that were working together with him all started sobbing in unison. “W-We will put everything you taught us into motion!” They say as they salute him.

“H-Hey, now… I just-a taught you girls how to organize-a documents, it’s nothing that-a amazing, you know?” He waves his arms around, trying to hide his embarrassment. “Plus, you guys did-a forget to bring-a Rin and Aoi the documents for-a them to check, didn’t you?” 

“Nyah! Sorry, Sensei…” They say, fearing that Luigi Sensei would be disappointed in them… But instead he reached them. 

“Now now, girls. I didn’t-a expected perfection from the get-go, you know? You all are still-a students learning how to take care of this-a city you call home, isn’t it?” He reassures all of them. “You girls have-a showed me how capable you all are, so keep-a learning and make-a Kivotos a better place-a to live on!” He cheers as everybody claps to his speech.

Amazing. Sensei managed to give all the tired and fatigued members the motivation to keep going… I hate to admit it, but Sensei is far better than me when it comes to cheering people on and stuff… Is this why they call me the Ice Queen of the GSC?

“Sensei, thanks to your guidance, we think we can take care of these without your help! Thank you so much!” Ayumu raises her voice and thanks him for all the help he provided to them.

Ayumu… She has a huge smile on her face. Ever since she joined the GSC, all I saw from her was frowns and worried faces from her. This is the first time where I have seen her so… happy and proud of herself. 

… It seems change really has arrived in Kivotos, thanks to Luigi Sensei.

Back to Luigi’s POV:

“Sensei… What did you do for them to be so… motivated out of nowhere?” Rin approaches me and questions about the sudden change of humour of her colleagues.

“Well, if-a there’s-a anything I learned from being-a elementary school teacher before is that-a… Kids learn fast, Rin.” I guide her eyes with my hand. “I’m-a sure that what they-a needed was just-a helping hand-a to get used to the hard-a work, that’s-a all.” I tell her.

…

As the students wave goodbye to me and go back to their job organizing the documents, I turn myself back to the two heads of the institute.

“Perhaps-a we can talk now, yes?” I ask, trying not to be rude to the already busy higher-ups. “Since Aoi is-a here, I wanted to speak-a with her about-a budget to Schale, if possible.”

Aoi silently nods.

“Yes, you just gave us a bit of time to catch our breaths after all, Sensei.” Rin chuckles. “Let’s move to the lobby, shall we?” 

…

As we sit in the building’s lobby area, I tell her about my necessities.

“First things-a first… I need to tell you that-a I need-a new clothes, perhaps you know a place where-a a tailoring shop is?” I ask her.

“Hmmm… The Trinity District would be the best place to visit then, Sensei. I heard the demand there for handmade clothing has increased lately.” Rin tells me.

Handmade clothing? This will be quite luxurious then… I wonder if they will make clothing of my size. But then again, Hasumi was taller than me in comparison, so it’s probably my best bet.

“Okie dokey! The next-a one would be… A vehicle.” I tell her.

“A vehicle? Well, we have cars and jeeps if that’s what you want, Sensei.”

“Ah, no no! These big 4 wheelers are not-a my style, I’m-a afraid…” I say it, looking at them a bit gloomy.

“I was-a wondering if-a you have a kart-a or something.” I tell her.

“... A kart?” She looks at me as if I told her about how Bowser managed to come back from the dead after Mario threw him in lava, that one time back home. I still don’t know how he managed to come back from being bare bones to full on flesh with just a magic cauldron.

“Y-Yes. I’m-a quite the racer myself. I even won a few-a cups if-a you ask me!” I proudly tell them. 

Winning those cups wasn't easy, the Mushroom and Flower ones… Above that, it’s simply too much for-a little old me.

“So… Basically you want a customized vehicle, Sensei?” She explains in the simplest way possible.

“I think-a so, yes.” I nod.

“Well… Millennium Academy would be the best place to ask for something technological customized. Should I contact Yuuka and send her a request for this vehicle for you?” Rin asks, still wondering why I would prefer a kart over a car, I’m sure of it.

“Yes, please! And-a… could you umm… give-a me a cellphone? I need-a to get in-a contact with-a the students somehow…” 

“Oh… It was my blunder, Sensei. I shall inquire about it right at this instant.” She bows and rises from the chair she was sitting on.

She leaves the room to get me the cellphone, leaving me alone with Aoi, to which converses with me.

“So, Luigi Sensei, correct?” She starts.

“Yup, that’s-a me.” I tell her.

“Could you answer one question I currently have, Sensei?” She asks.

“Go ahead-a, Aoi. I’m-a all ears.”

“How do you plan on paying for the things you just asked for, Sensei? Surely, you don’t think that the GSC will handle all the costs for it, right?” Aoi sternly asks me the important question… Payment.

“Well-a, uh-” I try to start my explanation, but Aoi quickly grabs the conversation to her favour.

“We are currently trying to divide all of our credits to help out actual emergency financial requests from the various academies, you are not possibly thinking of obtaining such scarce resources from us, yes?” 

“Actually, Aoi-”

“We need to give out our resources only, but only to the most needed ones! Are you SURELY not going to take it from us, yes?!” Her face is practically in front of mine.

“Aoi, please… A little bit-a of private space…” 

“Ah.” She goes back to sitting in front of me. “I apologize, Sensei… Recently, we have received some ‘untrustworthy’ requests from all the academies and we simply do not have what they need. We have to make sure only the most important ones get the materials and money.” She sighs as her cheeks become a pinkish red. “Needless to say, I’m very… stressed lately.”

“It’s-a ok, Aoi. The last-a few days must have-a been tough on-all of you.” I give her a smile. “I wanted-a to ask where-a I could-a find a respectable gold buyer somewhere in the-a city.”

“... Gold? What do you mean, Sensei?” She looks at me very confused, as if I told her something impossible to happen here, like riding Rainbow Road or something.

“Ah, hold-a on.” I pick up the small pouch inside of my leather bag and take out one gold coin and give it to Aoi. “I want-a to sell these, if possible.”

“...!” She observes the coin attentively, almost as if she’s looking at a masterpiece of art or something.

“Sensei…! Where did you get this?” She asks, extremely dumbfounded. “This coin… It’s the size of my hand, just how much gold was used to make this? It must have cost a fortune to make just one!” She gives the coin back.

“Not-a really. I used-a to get these-a coins everywhere back at-a home.” I simply shrug.

She looks at me even more weirded out, as if I’m an idiot for not understanding the true value of the thing I’m holding.

She ponders a bit, looking at the coin. After a bit, she snaps her fingers.

“Sensei. You said you were looking for someone that will buy your gold, right?”

“Mhm. That’s-a right!” 

“Well, I know a person who might just do that.” She takes her phone out and shows me a picture of a girl with gray/silver hair with some military clothes, her halo plus shape with sharp edges and a asymmetric three quarter circle with the color red on its center and black on its tips.

“Her name is Hanuma Makoto, Leader of the Pandemonium Society of Gehenna Academy, it’s like their Student Council and stuff. She sent us a request for gold not too long ago, but we cannot allow ourselves to give out such a rare material like that.” She then looks at me and points to my nose. “But if there was an outside source willing to sell their gold to her… Who knows how much she would offer for it?”

I laugh at this remark. “Haha! Aoi, you are-a genius, you know-a that?”

She blushes, not expecting to be praised by something she’s been good at for so long. “W-Well, if you help her, it will take her out of our backs so, it’s a win-win situation for both of us.” She looks away from me… I wonder why.

…

After a bit, Rin enters the room once again… Only to see her friend Aoi all red in the face while hiding her face from me.

“Is everything alright here?” Rin asks, worried that something bad happened.

“N-No, I was just helping Sensei out and him helping me as well, t-that’s all.” Aoi says timidly, only making Rin even more confused.

“A-Anyway, I must enter in contact with the person in question for Sensei. Excuse me.” Aoi then gets up and tries to leave the room, but I call her out.

“Aoi!” I shout.

“Yes?” She asks.

“Thank you for-a your help, ok? Good luck with-a your work as well!” I give her a thumbs-up as she nods, leaving the room afterwards. I think I saw a small smile on her face, hehe. This makes an old man such as myself smile as well.

Rin just looks at me weird, her eyes squished and her mouth showing her white teeth. Is she looking at me with disgust or something?!

“Sensei… Please don’t play with the girls’ hearts.” She tells me, like a warning or something.

“O-Okey Dokey…?” I didn’t really get it, but ummm… I’m sorry for that, I guess?

“Anyway, Sensei.” She fixes her glasses as she sits next to me and gives me a box. “Here’s the cellphone you requested. It has my contact information, so if you need anything, just send me a message through MomoTalk, alright?” She smiles.

“Thank-a you so much, Rin!” I’m very happy to have obtained one of the things I needed to do my job, but there’s just one thing that I absolutely need an answer to right now.

“Ummm… What’s-a MomoTalk?” I tell Rin, who facepalmed her own face. I think she forgot that I never used a cellphone before.

I spent the rest of the morning learning how to use the Momotalk app thanks to Rin, who explained everything to me, from contact information, to stickers and even the other apps such as Kivotube. I’m really thankful to her.

...

Afterwards, I went around the building obtaining a few more contacts, such as Ayumu’s and Aoi’s, but of course, I still haven’t tried using the app itself…

I decided to test the Momotalk app by sending a message to Rin.

Alright! This rectangle is amazing, I never expected such technology in the palm of my hands! But then again, I have Arona and the Shittim Chest in my bag so…A-anyway!

Someone from Millennium is coming to Schale this afternoon…It’s better to go back to it and prepare a room for this meeting.

I wonder who it will be though?

Knowing that I have a few hours to spend before Millennium’s envoy arrives, I decided to kill some time by browsing around the closest area to my workplace… The D.U. Shiratori City district. And I can’t help but be amazed with all the amazing construction feats and the design chosen to identify the place.

It’s a mix between futuristic look but at the same time it looks modern enough to see itself as contemporary architecture, not losing its aura of fresh yet technologically advanced appearance.

I know I have helped Mario rebuild Princess Peach’s Castle before, but this… I would never be able to replicate this accomplishment that it is this district.

…

After walking a little bit around the area, I have seen a lot of interesting spots, like Plato Avenue, Ramini Town, The Tri-Square… There’s even a neighborhood park and a pier. This place has everything!

And from what I saw, they sell a bunch of things as well, such as sweets, food, equipment and the weirdest of all, but I guess it's normal here… Ammunition. Like tiny bronze bullet bills stuck inside cartridges that the girls use to reload their weapons. I probably never gonna understand this concept since you know… I usually fought cannons that shot bullets the size of Mario’s head before.

…

I tried buying some food but they refused to take my coins, saying that they don’t accept that huge amount of money or don’t have the money to give it away for such a high value… Aw, man, not being able to buy food is depressing. What to do now?

I knew I forgot to ask something! I forgot to ask Aoi or Rin for some pocket change… Now I’m kinda penniless in a new city.

I cross my arms, thinking on my next plan of action. I suppose I can send a message to Aoi about that Makoto girl after the meeting with Millennium… See if she still wants my gold or something because I desperately need this city’s currency.

“Hey, you!” I hear a female voice coming from behind me.

“Y-Yes?” I answer her sheepishly, as I do not know how it is.

All I see are a group of three girls using motorcycle helmets, for some reason. Do they like using motorcycles or something?

“I saw that you had literal gold coins with you! Hand them over!” She demands it from me.

…

… Am I getting mugged? In a city filled with guns?

I can’t help but let out a little giggle at that thought.

“What are you laughing about?! This is a robbery! You should be scared!” She points her gun at me. 

“H-Hey, no need-a to point that-a thing at-a me, right-a?” I raise my voice. “You could end up hurting someone, you know?”

While I trust my resistance to dangerous stuff like that as I have been hit by artillery before thanks to Bowser’s tanks and cannons, I cannot say the same to the animal folk close to me as I see that they do not have a halo like I do. If possible, I want to solve this without violence.

“You…!” But ummm… I feel like I made the situation worse as the girl leading the small is getting angrier and angrier. I was totally sure I saw the veins in her head pop up.

“U-U-Ummmm…! I-I’mma gonna go!” I quickly start running away from my current spot, not wishing for a sudden gun fight to begin where I stand. There’s too many innocent people gathered here.

“COME BACK HERE, YOU SCOUNDREL!!!” The girl screams, chasing after me with all her might that her legs can muster as her friends follow her.

… why though?! Was it something I said?!

…

After running for what felt like at most half an hour, we ended up in the same park that I visited earlier today… except that it wasn’t just the 3 girls following.

IT GREW UP TO A BATTALION OF MOTORCYCLE HELMET GIRLS CHASING ME!

I think there are at least 30 girls there now! Why is this happening to me?!

From what I remembered, the girl kept screaming about me handling my gold coins to her and that probably attracted the other girls.

Note to self: Never go out of Schale with any type of gold whatsoever!

But… Although I’m still running without catching my breath, the girls look… the opposite. It feels like they are going to collapse on the floor from exhaustion.

“J-Just… how much… Can he run…!” The leader of the first group looks like she is desperate for rest and water. 

… Do these girls don’t exercise? Back home I had to exercise daily to keep up with Mario’s speed and strength, and I have to say… I may be close to it, but that’s about it.

Maybe it’s better to stop… But I hear a sound that makes me jump in place. 

A loud bang comes from beside us. It’s a group of shielded students with white hair and light blue caps and a black jacket covering their body, most likely to protect them from the bullet bills… It’s the cops, or at least they should be.

“Stop right there, Helmet Gang!” A girl different from the group appears screaming, rushing to where the helmet girls are and not actually observing her surroundings.

As she finishes screaming, she picks up a metal can and takes it off a ring on its side and tries throwing it, but it fails, letting the gas inside come out… And what intrigued me the most was that she didn’t give up midway, no. She proceeds to kick the can towards them… only to be aimed at… MY FACE?!

There’s not enough time as the can expelling smoke slowly approaches my face until… It hits me right in my forehead, making me fall on the floor below me as it covers me in the stunning gas. 

I gotta say… that kick would be worth seeing it play out during a strikers’ match. If anything, I would love to meet the girl who kicked the can as from what I saw, she’s just as clumsy as I am but she does have the physical capabilities to participate in a tournament…

Ahhh, now I’m seeing a bunch of cuckoos, hehehe… Without wanting to, I pass out from the sudden hit. 

…

After a bit, my conscience starts to come back… Geez, this was a big hit between my eyes. I think it’s going to leave a big lump in my head for a while… That legit hurted more than a Koopa shell. And those hurt a lot, especially the blue ones.

“...r!” Ow… My head still hurts… Am I hallucinating that I’m hearing something…?

“Sir!” The voice calls me out, making me slowly open my eyes. 

“Ow… Yes?” I call out to the voice.

“Oh, thank god you are okay! I’m so sorry for hitting you with a smoke grenade!” The voice panics as she tries to apologize for what happened before. From what I can see, she used her legs as a pillow for my head, very considerate of her part.

Now that I see the figure from where the voice comes from, I can think of one thing for sure.

This girl must be clumsy, just like me.

I raise my head from her legs and sit down in front of her and fix my hat, giving her a good look to identify her traits.

She’s a police officer, or at least a student from the police school seems different from the rest. She’s wearing normal police officer attire, along with the white overcoat and boots, and a purple armband with a logo that must represent the Valkyrie School. But differently from the other girls, this one has white, hip-length hair tied into two pigtails and blue eyes and her hair frames her face with its bangs.

Before I ask her more questions, I make sure to look around… It seems that the helmet girls known as the Helmet Gang were quickly apprehended by the other cop students that were here.

And from what I’m seeing, the thugs most likely tried running away… only to fall on the floor exhausted from all the running we had before. Their faces give it away, it’s almost as if their souls are leaving their bodies since they had to take their helmets off for identification.

Well, I guess it’s a good thing that I kept my daily routine in check back home… I should go back to it once things settle down with Schale.

“Sir.” The girl from before calls me out, making me face her once more. Although her eyes…

“You were amazing back then! Running around to distract them from our secretive pursuit until they were too tired to react! What a genius tactic!” Her eyes are sparkling, almost as if she’s staring at a celebrity or something.

“Ehehe… I’m-a sorry, but I’m-a not a strategist or something-a of the sort. I’m-a just a humble plumber.” Although I should start saying that I’m also a teacher from now on, shouldn't I?

“Oh! I have forgotten my manners for a second!” She gets up. “My name is Nakatsukasa Kirino, a member of the Valkyrie Police School.” She tells me.

“What about you, mister?” She asks.

“My name is-a Luigi, dear. Just-a your average looking-a plumber passing by.” I thumbs up to her with a smile.

She smiles back at me. It almost feels like we have met each other for a long time, hehe.

Before we could talk a bit more, my leather bag started vibrating.

I quickly picked it up and opened it, only to see that it wasn’t the Shittim Chest doing it, but my Dual Scream, of all things.

“Ummm… Could-a have a little bit-a of time?” I ask Kirino.

“Ah, no problem.” She smiles as she starts walking towards her colleagues.

I open my Dual Scream.

“Ahh! Finally, I’m free from that place!” All I hear is the sound of a relieved, yet irritated Arona coming out of the apparatus.

“Arona? What-a happened?” I ask her, worried.

Before she could continue, she leaves the Dual Scream system and enters the Shittim Chest  once again, relieved that she’s back home.

“Sensei, you won’t believe what happened inside this thing! It was like… I was sucked into the world of a videogame!” My little assistant exclaims.

“... A videogame?” Confused, I tell her.

“Yeah, like… I don’t know. The mechanism inside this machine was so different from the ones in Kivotos that it left me very curious, so I decided to enter his main hardware. But what I found was so weird!” She says. “A bright light covered me and transported me somewhere I didn’t know! I was stuck inside of a castle all this time and I had to collect stars with some small mushroom people, I don’t know why!”

A castle? Stars? Small mushroom people? She couldn’t possibly be talking about…

“And the worst part was that there was this big turtle thing trying to roast me alive, for some reason! He had this rainbow shade to him and he roared and stuff! The last thing I remembered was picking up a huge star and somehow I gained access to the vibration function of the machine!” She tells me, almost like a daughter telling her parents about the new adventure she just went to.

But the turtle comment just confirms it. E.Gadd somehow put the memories of Mario’s great deeds on his machine, or at least that one where Mario went to Peach’s Castle but Bowser stole the Power Stars and created painting dimensions/teleporters with their powers.

I remember being invited to this “cake” Mario went to, but I knew about the relationship between my brother and the princess, so I didn’t want to be a third wheel. But now I regret not going.

Sigh… I wanted to go on that adventure.

And then she did it again and this time I went with him… Only to be stuffed inside of a room for as long as I can remember. Thankfully, we were saved, not by Mario or Wario… But by a Yoshi that was sleeping on the rooftop of the castle. 

“Sensei, are you paying attention?” Arona berates me for ignoring her, puffing her cheeks as I was lost in my thoughts once again, hehe. 

This really feels like a daughter scolding her father for not paying attention to her.

“As I was saying, I managed to get two things from that wacky adventure I had. The vibration and the bluetooth function of that strange gadget.

Bluetooth? You mean the earpiece? I picked it up and saw that it’s not damaged at all from the cafe heist that happened before I came to Kivotos.

“Ah, can we test the bluetooth function then?” It seems Arona caught me picking the earpiece up. Well, why not? I simply give her a thumbs up.

I put the earpiece on my ear and wait for Arona to start the test.

“Testing, testing. 1, 2, 3.” Arona says clearly. I think it’s coming from the earpiece…

“Ok, now take off the earpiece and see if you can hear me, Sensei.” 

I do as she says and wait a few seconds. She then signals me to put it back on. It was a success.

I put the earpiece back on.

“Great! Now I can speak with you from anywhere as long as you are close to me, Sensei!” She smiles at the outcome achieved.

“The only downside would be that if they see you talking to nothing, people may think that you are crazy, hehe…” She gives me a small smile while touching her cheek with her finger.

Well, let’s be honest… If it was the other way around, people would think I’m weird or something for talking with my phone or something so it’s pretty handy. I just need to be mindful of my current position and the number of people around me.

“It’s-a alright, Arona. I’ll make-a sure to only speak-a only when necessary.” I wink as I give her a thumbs up, to which she does the same with a big smile.

After making sure that Arona could go back to the Shittim Chest safely, I closed the Dual Scream and returned to Kirino.

From what I’m seeing, the girls are almost done picking up the helmet gang members and putting them inside a police van.

Hopefully, I didn’t forget anything, right?

…

Right?

After I gather my thoughts, I return both the Dual Scream and the Shittim Chest back to the leather bag. As I finish doing so, Kirino approaches me.

“Mr. Luigi, thank you so much for helping us arrest these evildoers!” She salutes me as she speaks.

“Hehe… C’mon, I didn’t-a do anything do much-a. I was-a just running-a away from them.” I tell her, not trying to sound too cocky or proud of what I did.

“For more than 30 minutes?! Mister, not all of us would be capable of such a feat! You are like a superhuman or something!” She speaks with eyes even brighter than my flashlight, I swear.

“Please!” She takes her phone out. “Can I get your contact info? Perhaps you can help us with more cases in the future!” She asks with puppy eyes, making it almost impossible to negate her…

“U-Ummm… Sure?” Well, she is a student and as the club advisor of Schale, I shall take any request given to me by a student, right?

Her face beams with excitement and happiness as I give her my contact info.

“Hehehe! I’m so happy! And it’s just lunch time right now~!” She says.

… Wait. Lunch time. Meaning afternoon. Afternoon… Afternoon…!

OH MY GOD, MY REUNION WITH THE MILLENNIUM REPRESENTATIVE! I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT IT!

If I start running right now, I think I can get back to Schale in 30 minutes. No, 25 minutes if I’m not stopped by anything on the way back! But I need to run now!

“Kirino, I’m-a so sorry! I just-a remembered something extremely important-a right now! I must hurry!” I tell her nervously as I headstart my race to Schale. 

“If you want to talk to me, use the contact I gave you or come to the Schale Club Building!!” I scream to her.

I quickly left the park.

…

Kirino’s POV:

W-Wow! Mister Luigi ran away with such speed, it almost makes you think that all the race he had to escape the Helmet Gang was just a quick jog for him.

I have to admit that he has to be the fastest person I have ever met. Heck, I have been chasing criminals for as long as I have enrolled in Valkyrie and, not wanting to sound arrogant or anything, I have total confidence in my legs. Plus, I know a lot of people from the Community Safety Bureau that have a lot of credit on their names, such as Director Kanna. Nobody can compete with her when it comes to strength, speed and intimidation tactics… But I have a feeling that Luigi might be one of the few people capable of keeping up with Director’s speed. 

“Kirino! We finished putting all the criminals in the van! Let’s go back, I’m tired…”

My colleague, Nemugaki Fubuki, approaches me as she yawns.

I swear, we could do so much more to stop crime around this place if she wasn’t so lazy. 

“Good work today!” I salute her. Although I wish she could change, I don’t mind the person she currently is.

“Heh… Call me surprised, Kirino. Today you didn’t do anything extreme like you usually do.” Fubuki remarks, giving me a nice smug.

“H-Hey!” I call her out, making her giggle in return. “Well… I was more focused on the mister that managed to outrun them. I can’t help but be curious about him. Plus you saw how fast he left the park!” I point it out the way he ran into my finger.

“Can’t deny that.” She shrugs. “He's been making the rounds around town ever since he showed up yesterday.”

“Wait, you know him, Fubuki?” I ask her this question, not knowing what’s going on.

“... Wait, you don’t know who that guy was?” She asks this question, which legit makes me confused.

“What do you mean? Isn’t he just a normal citizen of Kivotos?” I tell her as she facepalms her face. What, am I wrong?

“Kirino, that guy is the one whose face is planted all over Kivotube and Kivostagram! How come you don’t know him?!” She tells me with an annoyed face.

“U-Ummm… I was studying for the exam to join the Public Peace Bureau, so I had to focus solely on that!” It’s not easy to study and stay online together, y’know!? I tell her.

“Ugh…” She groans as she goes for her phone, selecting a video. “Here, this will make things clear.”

What I watch is a 5-minute video of the same man in green doing some amazing movements while fighting some tough-looking thugs.

“His name is Luigi Sensei, he’s the new advisor of the Schale Club.” She tells me, expecting me to finally understand what I just did. “... Kirino? Are you there?” She calls me as she waves her hand in front of my face.

I’m so dumbfounded. I just spoke to a famous person and got his phone number…

“Wait, you're telling me I met someone famous and spoke to him?!” I tell her, which makes her even more annoyed, but she nods.

“…”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeh?!” I scream, prompting Fubuki to hit me in my head.

“Shut up, will ya!” Irritated, she tells me. “Let’s go back to HQ, you will be buying us donuts.” She says with a grumpy voice, although I’m totally sure she just giggled as well.

I let out a few tears from the lump that appeared on my head, caressing it to soften the pain as I followed Fubuki back to our police car…

…

I wonder… If Mister would help me with my problem… I wonder if it would be too much to ask for.

Back to Luigi’s POV:

After leaving the park and desperately running towards the outskirts of the D.U., I quickly found out that… Kivotos has way too many people and automobiles walking around its roads and walkways.

Firstly were the students, which were different in many ways. 

There were girls with normal attributes, mostly being normal in any way. But then, there were girls with animal ears, such as dog and cat ears and girls with wings, more specifically either angel wings on the backs of their shoulders or close to their hips, and either had the white or black colors. It’s fascinating, really.

But what fascinated me much more were the animal and robot folk. Dogs, cats and even birds walking around, living their daily lives like another normal day, like people.

I know a few folk like this, mainly Donkey Kong, Isabelle and that blue robot from the fighting tournaments and the tabletop games, but still… It’s so cool to see all of this with my own eyes.

“Sensei! You didn’t tell me the reason we are in such a hurry!” Arona proclaims, still trying to understand my circumstances. 

“You see, I have-a reunion with-a Millennium representative in Schale but I lost-a track of-a time! I must-a not keep them-a waiting!” I explain to her while avoiding the people around as quickly as possible, running around any opening the crowd could show.

“B-But can’t they wait? You haven’t eaten anything since you woke up!” Arona tells me with a worried tone. Although I cannot see her face, I can clearly notice her distress in my situation.

“It’s-a alright, Arona! Sometimes-a I spend most hours of the-a day without-a food, especially when-a there is something happening-a back home!” I assured her, but that did nothing to console her as she just pouts, letting out a cute grunt in response.

As I continue to run, the number of stationary people seems to have grown for some reason… Until the source of it appears before my eyes.

The crossroad on the street in front of me is completely destroyed. 

From what I found out by asking people around, it seems like a bunch of girls involved with a specific club from Gehenna blew the whole place up saying that there were “Hot Springs” here… Only to find out that there was no water current under it and they just left it like that. Kinda irresponsible if you ask me.

Now the path is blocked with the yellow “Do not cross” caution tapes, stopping anyone from trying to pass without authorization.

“... Arona.” I call my assistant.

“Yes, Sensei?” She returns, tilting her head.

“What-a time is it right-a now?” I ask her.

“It’s ummm… 12:30 right now.” She tells me.

Oh no, they most likely are already there, waiting for me! I need to reach the other side now! My anxiety won’t go away because of it!

“Arona… Would-a you get-a mad at me if I did-a something stupid?” I ask her.

“Of course! You need to take care of yourself, Sensei!” She pouts, locking her arms in the process.

“... Wait, you are not going to-” The Ai quickly caught up to what was on my mind as I rushed backwards a few meters to get a headstart to what I want to do.

“Sensei! I know what you are trying to do! Don’t you dare!” Arona angrily asks me to stop what I’m doing. Unfortunately for her, my idea remains. 

I’m a jumpmaster, I can do this jump. I know I can!

“Sensei! Stop this instant! I’ll count to 3 and you will stop!” She nervously and angrily shouts on the earpiece for me to stop.

“...1!” She counts. And this gives me an idea, making me think on my racing days with Mario and co.

“...2! Sensei, you better not…!” She really doesn’t want to count the next number from what I can hear in her voice.

“...3! Don’t you dare!!” She counts. And as she does so, I sprint with all the power I could muster on my legs towards the huge crater ahead of me.

First comes a normal jump. Followed by a large, impulsion jump. Now comes the best part… The third jump.

Right as I reach the end of the line, where people are gathered, I jump a third time as high as I could, aiming for the wall of the building right next to me as I pin myself towards that wall.

As quickly as I jumped, I kick the wall with my legs and propelled my body towards the other side of the crater as the crowd of people start seeing me flying towards it.

“Sensei, I told you to stop!!! Uwahhhhhh!!!” She screams. I can picture her letting tears come out of her eyes as she feels like we are going to fall on the hole below us.

“No worries, Arona! I have-a secret ability that-a I learned with-a few friends back-a home!”

I quickly start running in the air, as if I’m still on the ground. This makes my descent slow down significantly as I approach the other side.

“W-Wha?! Y-You are flying?!” Arona proclaims, absolutely confused by her tone of voice from what I’m doing.

“I’m not-a flying, silly! I’m-a scuttling!” I tell her.

One of the special abilities I have learned throughout the years, thanks to the Yoshis back home for teaching me this skill. I may not be able to float like they do, but to be able to pseudo-glide it’s still amazing!

…

After a bit, I reach the other side without any problem as the people started taking photos or making videos of me start opening a path for me.

Well now! This gives me time to reach my destination quickly now! I run as fast as I could to the direction of Schale.

And I swear, I think I heard people saying “Is that the legendary Green Thunder?!” or “How can a person do all of that?!” 

Do people not exercise around here? It’s as easy as eating spaghetti…

I shake my head as Arona screams at me for not listening to her and starts rambling about how I should take care of myself better so as to not put me or her in danger.

“Sensei, if you do this again, I’m not talking to you for a long time!” I feel like her cheeks have become red as she puffs them.

“Well uh… I suppose-a I exaggerated this-a time, but it was-a the only way to get-a back in time so please-a forgive me Arona! I’ll give-a you your favorite sweet-a, so forgive me!” I begged her.

“... Castella Cake and with Strawberry Milk and headpats for one week.” She asks for it.

“... U-Ugh, okie dokie…” With no other choice, I accept her conditions.

“Hehehe~ You said it! No going back now~” She simply laughs at my misery with a smile.

It seems that I can beat enemies like Bowser and stuff… But no enemy I ever fought can’t even compare to the power Arona has on me…

???’s POV:

… What did I just witnessed?

While waiting for the path to open up, I was thinking about going through the longest route back to the train station to go back to Millennium… When it happened.

A man in green clothing burst out from the long crowd and did the unthinkable followed by using the wall of a building as an impulsive place, pushing himself long enough to get him onto the next side of the blocked road as he “ran” in the air, almost gliding without wings!

How was that even possible? Just how much training did this man have to go through to achieve such muscles?

From all the info I collected from the books about the human body, the muscles that are used for jumping are the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves. You also need to take into consideration the regimen of exercises that will increase the usage of said muscles the more you utilize them, such as Hip Thrusts or Barbell Back Squats on a daily basis.

And not only that, the way he achieved the height of each jump he did… It followed the Triple Extension Diagram exactly like in theory.

First you flex your leg muscles downward, as to prepare the ankle, knee and hip extension for the jump. Then you extend them, beginning the jump and finally fully extend them, achieving the max power to reach a high position to go airborne.

Usually, this is used for volleyball or basketball players to do vertical jumps for area protection or to score using their arms while jumping. But this man used a version of it that I never saw before!

He managed to do all these precise muscle extensions three times in a row to do what I would call a triple jump, one of the many movements that gymnastics dream of being able to do like it was a common thing, but he managed to change the formula by jumping diagonally, not vertically! 

A long jump that could defy the rules of gravity to obtain maximum height and longitude! If anything, people would say that this was a world record without any doubt at all!

… I have decided.

I need to find this man… No! I must do so!

That man is what I was looking for! A trainer! Someone who will teach me all about keeping your body in shape and getting into new heights!

I clench my fist as I prepare to run after the man in green… But I stop, hearing something interesting.

“Hey, wasn’t that the Green Thunder of Schale?!” I heard one student telling her friend about him.

“Yeah, the same one who managed to climb a building using an alleyway to wall jump instead of climbing the stairs! I saw everything on Kivotube!” The friend replies.

“First it was using a weird spinning move to descend a fall, but now he used his legs to descend like he was walking in air?! He is so cool!” The girls giggle as they talk to each other.

… My objective was clear now. I need to go to Schale right now!

I quickly leave the area and start my long run towards the Schale building, which seems to be where the man in green was headed to. 

I pick up my phone and search for it… I found it! It’s literally down the destroyed street!

Just wait for me, Green Thunder… I have so many questions to ask you, my heart is pounding like crazy! Ahhh… How I wish to become your apprentice! My muscles are brimming with excitement already just with the thought alone!

Soon, I disappeared from the crowded place as fast as I could. My destiny and goal finally set in place.

Author's Notes:

There you go, folks! A new chapter for you all! This is more of a filler episode to showcase a bit of the Blue Archive's world to Luigi before going to Abydos. I guarantee you that next chapter he will go there.

On another note, we have a few students already going to enter in contact with Luigi! Who is the secret student at the end of this chapter? Who knows...

Thank you so much for my beta readers "random boat" and "Soundwave" on discord once again! I feel like my grammar mistakes are lowering by each passing day thanks to them!

And on a side note, did you got the references in this chapter? Hehe~ Other that that, thanks for reading this chapter! 

Chapter Text

World 2-1: Request

Luigi’s POV:

…

I thought I managed to avoid the worst case scenario by following the fastest route, but that wasn't the problem.

I did not expect what happened…!

I looked at the figure before me. A crimson aura emanating from her body, boiling with an unbridled fury that was itching to blow like a wound-up Bomb-omb. I fled the scene, like when my enemies managed to break our guards in battle and we had to quickly come up with a strategic retreat, as fast as I possibly could.

Throughout the many rooms available in Schale, I hid in each one. I was hoping that I wouldn’t be found, only to be disappointed by the sad truth that it was a fruitless endeavor, all because of a single reason.

Polterpup.

As I entered each room, my ghostly pet kept following me. And if he found me…

I could hear it. Steps coming from outside of the room I was hiding in became stronger and louder until she entered the room...

“S-E-N-S-E-I…!” The figure speaks, no longer capable of holding it back as she sees me and starts approaching.

I’m able to see one student alongside her, giggling as the scene unfolded…

While another was trying to stop her from lashing out on me and two others that followed were as scared out of their teeth as I was, like they had seen a monster or something.

All I can do is hide behind my dear, ghostly pet before the bomb before me explodes like that mini-game with the levers my friends and I used to play.

Uguu… What am I supposed to do in this situation?! How did it even happen in the first place?!

…

A few moments ago…

After running for a good 10 minutes from the broken street, I finally reached the Schale building without further delay. 

I checked the clocks in the Shittim Chest and on the walls of my office. They're the same—12:49. A bit past lunch...

It was almost 1 o’clock… Maybe with a little bit of luck, hopefully nobody from Millennium had arrived yet, and they simply went for lunch before coming here.

I caught my breath as I entered the office to rest a bit after all the race and exercise I did to get here.

As soon as I entered the office, however, the Shittim Chest started beeping. It sounded like  my Dual Scream when  there was a ghost nearby. I picked it up, worried that Schale might have been invaded by ghosts once again.

“Sensei,” Arona called me, "The representatives from Millennium have just arrived.”

Would you look at that! Just in time, hehe! I knew rushing to reach SCHALE would pay off! Thank goddess it wasn’t a ghost.

“Alright-y! Please-a call them-a now. Thank you, Arona!” I praised my cute assistant as she giggled with a smile on her face.

Now… Who could it be? Perhaps it was someone I knew?

Since this was a serious conference between SCHALE and Millennium, I decided to change my clothes to something more formal. There were some clothes in my wardrobe if I recalled correctly. 

Without wasting any time, I rushed to my room to change into better attire for this meeting.

After getting a new set of clothes and finally having the confidence to receive them, I called one of the many volunteers from the GSC to come to my office.

As the General Student Council was still busy, they could only send a few of their members to help. I put them as SCHALE’s receptionists for now, but I was sure they will do a good job just like their friends back at the GSC headquarters.

A girl, similar to her colleagues I met earlier that morning, opened the door to my office. “Sensei, the representatives are here. Should I let them in?” She asked politely with a shy smile.

“Yes, thank-a so much!” I tell her, making her nod as she leaves to bring the students in question.

… But before they enter, I picked up the Shittim Chest and call out for Arona.

“Arona, could-a you give-a me your opinion about-a my new uniform?” I ask her, hoping that what I chose wasn’t something bad looking or something.

“Hmmmmmm…” Arona inspects me intensely, even putting her hand on her chin.

“You look dashing, Sensei!” She tells me with a thumbs up.

I managed to relax with her comment on my new set of clothes.

I’m wearing a white coat, resembling a doctor’s coat, just like the ones I used during my medical specialist days, just without my stethoscope. Alongside it, I’m wearing a nice-looking green tie and a pair of white pants. Besides that, it’s still my normal look, with the hat and shoes.

I don’t know about using this everywhere I go, but I should use this for anything important, like special events or reunions.

But my god, I really look like a doctor more than a teacher… Perhaps I should wear an ID showing that I’m from Schale or something? Probably should do that, yes.

“... Pfft.” I can hear my AI assistant trying to hold her giggling. “Hehe…! Sensei, should I call you Dr. Sensei or Dr. Luigi instead, or maybe Dr. Luigi Sensei from now on?” She comments, no longer hiding the fact that she is laughing out loud.

“Hey, now. I’m-a not a doctor no more.” I tell her, even though I know she’s just teasing her.

“Wait… You were an actual doctor, Sensei?!” Surprised, she exclaims. 

“Hehe, my dear assistant… I was-a many thing-as back-a home! Didn’t I told-a yesterday?” Trying to show off, I smugly proclaim to my AI as she shakes her head in curiosity.

Before we could continue our little bantering about my past jobs, the same GSC students knocked at the door.

“We will talk about this later, ok?” I whispered to Arona, who nodded with a lot of expectations.

“Sensei, the Millennium representatives are here. Can they enter?” The girl asks as she opens the door.

“Of-a course, dear! Let them in!” I gave her the approval.

“Roger that, Sensei!” She said, letting the students outside enter my office.

Upon opening the door, four students entered alongside a very happy Polterpup, who seemed to be jumping for joy after reuniting with a particular student.

One of them was Yuuka. I was happy to see her again. However, her fellow students I had yet to meet. 

One of them was wearing a white version of Yuuka’s uniform. Her halo also looked a bit like Yuuka’s, but with a white tint to it… Her uniform consisted of white and blue low heel boots, black tights, a pleated white skirt, and a blazer with a tech adorned jacket hung over her arms. Underneath the blazer was a white dress-shirt and blue tie with her Millennium access card clipped onto the blazer's side pocket.

Her purple eyes bring an aura of seriousness, but at the same time… I felt like she would tease the heck out of me if I was distracted enough.

The other student was a girl different from the others… She was a dog girl! More specifically, she had black wavy hair tied into ponytails on either side with a pair of yellow and purple orbs connected to a band and engineering goggles hanging on her forehead, but what caught my attention was her black floppy dog ears and black tail with a white tip! She was so adorable! 

She seemed to be wearing a white and yellow hoodie, a black and gray tank top with short pants underneath, webbed stockings, and black boots with a Millennium logo on the rim and sole print. Do all Millennium students wear a colored hoodie? Most likely. And her halo was a small yellow barred circle surrounded by two larger circles. I liked the simplicity of it.

I kinda want to pet her just like I do with Polterpup. I wonder if she would allow it…

But the last student seems to be very shy, seemingly hiding behind Yuuka so I can’t really comment on her just yet. I’ll have to wait to see if she opens up. But I can see that she has a green halo… I think I have seen something like that before, but where? I can’t seem to recall… Anyway, no time to think. I must receive them with utmost respect.

“Yello, girls!” I say it out loud as I rise from the office chair I was sitting on to greet them. “Welcome to the SCHALE clubroom!” I bow, as to show respect to them. 

“... Pffft. Hahahahaha! What’s with the formality out of nowhere, Sensei?” Yuuka laughs, trying to compare my attitude from yesterday’s to this moment right now.

“Well, I’m-a trying to be-a respectful to your friends-a from Millennium, ya know?” I remarked back, being cheeky with her.

“... Pfft.” We both started giggling like two old friends. 

After concluding that the girls are indeed not bad people, Polterpup leaves the office through the wall beside me, making some of the girls stutter in confusion, but they try their best to not show it.

“It’s-a good to-a see you again, Yuuka. Did’ja rested-a well?” I asked, shaking her hand.

“I did, Sensei. Thanks to you, the energy crisis at Millennium was immediately fixed. But we are still trying to solve the small problems that appeared alongside it.” She says, giving me peace in my mind.

“That’s-a great!” I jump in happiness. “Well? Aren’t-cha gonna introduce your friends-a to me?”

“Ah yes, of course!” She turns around to the other members of the representatives.

“The one with the notepad in hand is a member from Seminar and my colleague and friend.” She gestures to the girl to introduce herself.

“Nice to meet you, Sensei.” The girl with silver hair speaks. “My name is Ushio Noa, secretary of Seminar, the student council of Millennium Science School.” She bows, but quickly approaches me. “And Yuuka-chan’s best friend, hehe.” She proclaims, giggling.

“H-Hey! Was the last part really necessary to say it out loud?!” Yuuka blushes as Noa tells me their relationship, giggling from the tease she did.

“Haha! It’s-a so good to see that you have great-a companions in-a here!” I laughed heartily.

I shake my hands with Noa’s “It’s-a nice to meet you too, Noa. It’s-a very good to know that Yuuka has-a very reliable friend-a on her side!” I tell her.

“S-Sensei, not you too…!” Yuuka tries to say something, but Noa quickly cuts her off.

“It’s an honor to be recognized by the Green Thunder of Schale~!” She says, catching me off-guard as I look at her with wide eyes and straight mouth then look at Yuuka, which simply shakes it off, telling me to just deal with it.

“G-Green Thunder? Where did-a that came-a from?” I ask around, wondering how I received such a title…

“Remember the video I showed you yesterday, Sensei?” Yuuka tells me. “A lot of students started calling you that because the most liked comment there is “The Legend of the Green Thunder of SCHALE Shall Begin to Reign Over Kivotos!” or maybe because of your speed and ability to wield thunder. Who knows?” She shrugs.

… I’m baffled. It took a single day for me to become something more than just an average joe. The power of this… This ‘internet’ thing is scary, way too scary.

“Although I'm not familiar with how you do things here, I’ll thank you in advance for your understanding.” Noa tells me as she moves beside Yuuka, nodding to her.

“Not-a problemo, Noa! If anything, come-a ask me for anything-a you may need!” I give her a thumbs-up as she gives a warm smile.

Yuuka then continues to introduce the others, this time presenting the dog girl.

“The one with the engineer goggles is a member of one of our many clubs at Millennium. She will be the one to introduce your request to the other members of her club.” She gestures to the girl to introduce herself, just like she did with Noa.

“H-Hello, Sensei. I’m Nekozuka Hibiki, a member of the Engineering Department located at Millennium Science School. A request was sent to us to construct something, right?” She shyly introduces herself to me. It’s cute.

“Nice-a to meet you, Hibiki!” I greet her. “And yes, I want-a to ask your club to-a make me a few things!” 

Hibiki looks at me with both excitement and worry in her eyes, but much to her dismay, I’m not asking for something complicated… I think?

“First-a things first, can-ya girls make hammers?” I ask her, curious.

It’s true that I need a customized kart for me to go around the huge city of Kivotos, but I also want a reliable weapon for when my jumps or my gun doesn’t affect my enemy… Meaning that I’ll probably have to go to close combat. Having a hammer alongside my Thunderhand and Fireballs will assure me of it.

“... Hammer?” She tilts her head in confusion. “Like this one?” She takes a small construction hammer from the school bag she is carrying.

“Oh no-no, dear. I meant-a like a…” I paused for a second as I brush my stache with my hand, thinking about the hammers I have been using. Certainly, their destruction capabilities are in pair to a sledgehammer, but they aren’t strong enough to destroy the environment where my adventures with Mario took me and it has the appearance of a mallet. So maybe a mix of both? “Hmmm… It’s-a like a mallet in appearance and strength to not destroy the surface, but having enough strength to break-a big blocks and-a stuff like-a sledgehammer!” I gesture to her how I would use it, lifting my arms and quickly air smashing the floor below me, almost like I’m breaking something.

“Ooooh! I get it! Let me pick a notepad.” She grabs it from her bag. “A big mallet in appearance and surface protection… Able to smash big blocks like a sledgehammer… Something else?” She asks, her eyes filled with curiosity.

“Well… What’s-a the best metal used-a in Kivotos?” I asked her.

“That would be Wolfseggs Steel, Sensei. But it’s very expensive.” She explains. “Our club doesn’t have funds for it because… Umm… We kinda made a huge mistake at Millennium last week so…” She looks at Yuuka, who returns the look with an irritated grin.

“A-A-Anyway! W-We can’t afford to use that! U-Unless you can give us t-the funds for it…!” She says, trembling like a little chihuahua.

“Are you seriously asking Sensei to pay for you guys?” Yuuka raises her eyebrows and approaches us. “I’m sorry Sensei, we had to cut their budget after they ended up blowing part of the school during an ‘experiment’ of theirs.” She glares at Hibiki angrily, the other girl shrinking in size by the intense stare.

“I can-a pay though.” I say it while tilting my head, making all the Millennium students change their attention to me, their eyes widened.

“... What do you mean by that, Sensei? You just arrived in Kivotos yesterday, didn’t you?” Yuuka tries to make sense of what I just said, scratching the side of her head in motion to it.

“Well, you see, I think I brought-a something unexpected from-a home that can give-a me a small-a fortune in-a Kivotos…” I scratch the back of my head, giggling a bit.

The students can’t help but be curious about the comment I just made… I mean, who wouldn’t? An outsider out of nowhere says he can pay for a high-grade material.

Yeah… I would also be suspicious of myself.

“... C-Can you show us then…?” A small voice comes from behind Yuuka, revealing to me that the girl with the green halo is indeed someone I met before! It’s the girl with the twin that helped me with locating the GSC building!

“Ah! I remember you! You and-a your sister helped me locate the GSC building! Thank you so-a much!” I greet the little girl with a green halo with a big smile. “May I ask-a who are you, dear?”

The girl manages to gather enough courage to leave Yuuka’s back to introduce herself. She is using the same attire as yesterday as well, so it must be a uniform of some sorts.

“H-Hello, Sensei… M-My name is Saiba Midori. I’m a member of the Game Development Department and I’m responsible for the illustration part of the games…!” She tells me without pausing herself, almost losing her composure.

“I’m sorry… Usually my sister is the one who does the talking instead of me, so I tend to be more reserved to myself.” She reveals it to me.

“Don’t-cha worry, Midori. Take your time-a and breathe calmly. I’m-a not gonna bite you.” I gently tell the small girl, who nods.

But umm… Why is the Game Department here though?

“Ah. Midori is here to gain a few volunteer hours for her club.” Yuuka starts telling me. “Lately the members of the Game Development Department have been struggling to produce anything… How do I say this… ‘acceptable’ for the public. So they need to have those hours to sustain themselves for now.” Yuuka finishes as Midori tries not to feel depressed from what she just said.

“I see…” I state. It is a huge shame that there’s students suffering from such situations like those. “Well, if anything-a, feel-a free to come to me for help-a if you want, Midori.”

Although she appreciates the gesture, I don’t think she’s comfortable enough with me, as she just nods. Gonna have to work hard to get their trust, after all.

But before anything, I invited them to sit down on the sofa next to my computer table, they must have been tired from all the introductions as we have much to discuss from now on.

After sitting down on a chair in front of the sofa where the girls rested comfortably, I picked up my suitcase and grabbed my coin pouch from inside of it.

I take one coin and give it to Yuuka.

“... Huh?!” Yuuka cannot contain the surprise and shock in her voice as her eyes widened alongside the others. “I–I-Is this gold?! 24 karat gold?!” She screams as Noa takes the coin from her hands and inspects it.

“So shiny as well… I wonder how many times it had to be scrubbed to achieve it.” She says, appreciating the brightness the coin was giving out.

“I don’t-a know for sure, hehe…” I force a laugh, but that seems to make Yuuka even more angry.

“Sensei! This is not a joke!” She exclaims, almost shoving the coin into my face.

“Ehehe… I wonder about-a that as well…” I try to fool her by saying that, but I feel her glare on my face as Noa simply giggles at what’s currently happening.

I also give one of the coins to Hibiki, who can’t help herself but be admired by the craftsmanship of the enormous coin she just obtained. Even going as far as seeing if the coin was bigger than Midori’s hand… Which it was.

As for Midori herself, she couldn’t help but compare my currency as something she would only see in a ‘video game’ as an ‘incredibly valuable item to sell for a lot of money.’.

“A-Anyway.” I call the students. “Can-ya make-a me a big mallet with-a the strength of a sledgehammer using-a this umm… High purity wolfseggs steel that-a you said it was expensive?” I ask for Hibiki.

“W-Well… I suppose we could…” She nervously says.

“Then, let’s-a go to the next request!” I say it happily as Hibiki gives me a ‘there’s more?!’ kind of look towards me. Having one more weapon to my arsenal will be good, especially something that I’m very accustomed to using!

“The next-a request is a…” I begin, as the girl simply looks at me with suspense in their eyes, not knowing what I could ask for now.

“It’s-a kart.” I tell her nonchalantly.

“… A kart? You mean those four-wheeled small vehicles made for kids?” She looks at me with a blank expression.

“Hey! Don’t-cha look down on-a nice kart! They have-a given me a few trophies before!” I puffed my cheeks as I got annoyed by Hibiki’s remarks.

[How adorable…] The girls thought in sync, giggling at the sight of the adult in front of them.

I noticed their stares and quickly returned to business, hoping that they didn’t see a bad side of me. “A-Anyway!” I tried to change the subject.

“Here.” I give them something that I carry around like a precious treasure, something I refuse to forget.

It’s a photo of me and Mario racing together on his kart during the double race championship. He is driving his mighty Red Fire kart while I’m on the back, holding a green Koopa Shell, ready for anything that comes our way… It continues to be one of the best memories I had with my brother.

I can’t help but melancholically smile at the photo before giving it to the girls, who began to observe it to notice the smallest details on the vehicle.

“... Sensei?” Noticing my sudden mood swing, Arona calls me with a worried voice from the earpiece.

Heh, I’ve been here for 2 days and I’m already missing Mario… I mean, if there’s something I’m proud of is my bond with him. We did everything together, from always sticking together when we were toddlers to the great adventures in other continents and worlds.

Being in Kivotos is actually one of the few times where I can’t reach out to him. Like at all.

I can’t help but be worried about that… that…!

…

I shake my head. Let’s not think about it.

Mario is okay. He will be okay. He always does. I have a duty right now, to catch the portrait ghosts and to make sure these girls are guided to the right path.

“Nn.” I make a sound to Arona. Hopefully we got that as an affirmation to “I’m ok, no worries.” 

I only hear a sigh coming from the earpiece, Arona must have gotten the message… hopefully.

…

A few minutes passed since I gave them the photo. From what I’m capable of seeing, both Hibiki and Noa were focused on writing up the important bits from the kart, like the iron bars and body of the vehicle. You don’t want the poor thing to end up blowing up in your face, right? 

Yuuka was using her calculator, probably evaluating just how much money will be used to make both the kart and the hammer I requested.

“Ummm… Sensei?” My head turns to the voice calling me. It’s Midori, looking at the photo with curious eyes.

“Can I ask who is this red guy with you in the photo?” She asks, pointing to the mustachioed man in red.

“Is it Mario? Because of the names written in the wheels, I suppose?” Yuuka says, pointing to the names in the wheels of the kart.

“They have the same outfit, but with different colors. They must be siblings!” Noa exclaims, pointing to our mustaches with her fingers.

“Ah yes, who is this guy?” Hibiki, now curious, asks me wondering about the connection between me and him.

Yuuka and Noa simply nod alongside the two.

Haha! Even without being here, you still manage to make people be curious about you, brother!

“Well, since-a we are pretty done-a with the requests, how about-a I tell-a story about this person?”

Their eyes brighten, eager to hear just who this mysterious man seems to be of high affinity with their new teacher.

“Hehe…!” I cannot help but giggle. “Alright-y, let me tell-a the story of-a the man who always saved-a the day and is considered-a the hope of my hometown…”

I picked up the photo from the girls and can’t help but let out a big warm smile.

“... And my older twin brother.” I grin happily as the little cat girl (at least I think she is) blank expression turns into a cheerful one. It seems we have a lot in common!

As I told them a few stories such as the time I won a gold medal during the Olympics to the time me and Mario were kidnapped by Bowser’s forces, something weird happened.

“...!” The earpiece vibrates. “Sensei, someone has entered the SCHALE building without authorization!” Arona warns me with a concerned voice.

Before I could even acknowledge what was happening, me and the girls started hearing voices and barks outside the office, startling some of them as they held their guns tight, prepared to deal with what’s to come.

“...ou can’t enter…!” We hear the voluntary student from GSC trying to stop something… or someone from entering our location.

But it is clear that she failed as the door flips open, revealing a new girl I have never seen before. She barges in the room, tired and sweaty. It feels like she just ran a marathon! Polterpup barks angrily, trying to protect the room, all the while the volunteer tries to pull her outside, but it’s not capable of moving her one bit, giving up and leaving the room as she knows it’s useless now. Poor thing…

“Wait… What are you doing here, Sumire?!” Yuuka calls her out in a surprised tone, trying to make sense of the sudden invasion as the girl watches in confusion as to why Yuuka is here. 

The girl has long black hair reaching her legs tied to a ponytail with a purple scrunchie and purple eyes, while her halo is a violet bulky dashed pentagon with a hollowed five-petal flower inside a circle.

From what I can see, she wears a shiny white jacket with black line, a flower patterned sports bra, black stretchy pants, purple slings with a purple belt, and silver sneakers with purple shoelaces and green soles. She has violet flower hairpins on her right bangs and a green belted choker, and for accessories, she wears a green armband, a clover necklace and an orange visor hanging on her sports bra. It’s almost as if she is always ready for sports.

“So, ummm… Do you girls know-a each other?” I ask, curious like a kid receiving a present from their parents without it being their birthday.

“Ah yes. This is Otohana Sumire, also a member of Millennium Science School. She’s the president of the Gym Training Department.” She points at her, who tries to catch her breath.

Gym Training? I remember training with that kind of equipment before for the Olympics, as it was made for professionals and stuff. Perhaps I found a place to keep my body in shape.

“Are you ok?” Noa asks Sumire, worried about the excessive amount of sweat dripping from her body. “It’s unusual for you to be like this.”

Sumire simply nods, catching her breath as she approaches me and stares at me in the eyes, causing Polterpup to groan with discomfort.

“U-Ummm, yes?” I asked her, a bit worried.

“Please…” She starts and then immediately goes for the sports bag and grabs something… a piece of paper?

“PLEASE LET ME JOIN SCHALE AS YOUR APPRENTICE, GREEN THUNDER!” She strongly proclaims, bowing rigorously while handing me what seems to be a pink envelope.

“... Eh?” I let out a confused sound from my mouth. Is this… my first recruitment? I didn’t think there would be someone interested in joining during my first day, but it seems it was not the case for me. Even Polterpup is caught off-guard by it.

“W-Wait, what do you mean, Sumire?! You don’t even know Sensei yet!” Yuuka refutes, trying to understand what caused her schoolmate to act brashly. “Don’t you think you are being a little too quick on the uptake?” 

“No, I have seen what the Green Thunder is capable of. I will not accept any other person as my trainer, only him!” Sumire declares with her head high. “If the price for it is to become his apprentice and join SCHALE, so be it!”

“G-Geez, where did she take all that motivation from?” Yuuka, confused from the sudden burst of enthusiasm of her friend, tries to understand what might have caused it.

“Ehem… Yuuka-chan?” Noa calls for Yuuka, picking up her shirt sleeves. “Here…”  She shows her a video on her phone, made half-a hour ago depicting a certain green man running away from the infamous Helmet Gang, who were screaming ‘Give me all your gold!’.

I could see that Yuuka is trying her best to not scream at my face as she glares at me for letting thugs know about the high amount of money I currently have in my pockets.

As the video continues to play, the other girls curiously begin to watch alongside Yuuka as the video cuts to an incredible triple jump followed by a wall jump, all to cross a huge crater on the street, almost as if the green man was walking in air.

“W-Wow, Sensei looks almost like a video-game character…!” Midori comments, absolutely baffled by my performance.

“Did you jump without any equipment? Only with normal boots?” Hibiki says, trying to make sense as to how someone could jump like that.

“That’s right! And I saw it all happen with my own two eyes! The Green Thunder is amazing!” Sumire smugly proclaims to her friends.

I can’t help but be flustered by all the compliments towards me. Although I admit that back home I had a few fans, heck I had a fan club… That doesn’t even compare to here... In fact, it took me years to gain the small respect from the folk of the Mushroom Kingdom. And this is just my first day on the job!

“Groooooowl….” And now I’m flustered and embarrassed, as my stomach starts growling from the lack of nutrients since this morning.

I try to pass it off with a small giggle, but clearly everybody here also heard it.

“Are you perhaps hungry, Sensei?” Noa gets up from her chair and asks me, a bit worried about my face, which seems to be a bit pale right now.

“Well umm-” Before I could even try to come up with an excuse to change the subject…

“Wait. You have been with us since you have arrived here, haven't you, Sensei?” Yuuka unfortunately ponders about it… And looks at me in shock from learning the harsh truth that I haven't eaten anything at all since I got here. “Don’t tell me you haven’t eaten anything since you got here?!”

“...” I nod in silence. Fortunately, water wasn’t really a problem thanks to public drinkers, but food was another thing entirely.

“Sensei! Don’t you know that all that could have caused a health problem with your body?! Why didn’t you tell us about it?!” Yuuka's worry turns into anger as she realizes my situation.

“I-I mean, we-a were so busy with-a the SCHALE that-a I-” I try once again to give an excuse, only to be interrupted again.

“THAT’S NOT AN GOOD EXCUSE FOR STARVING FOR A WHOLE DAY, SENSEI!” She screams at me with a demanding tone in her voice.

The other students can only look and hear, as they know this feeling like the back of their hand.

“AND YOU DID ALL THOSE ACROBATIC MOVEMENTS WITHOUT FEEDING YOURSELF?!” I feel like she’s about to explode or something as I try to calm her down.

“Well, w-when you put it like-a that-a umm…” I desperately think of a good excuse to calm her… I got it! 

I snap my fingers, remembering an important item that has helped both me and Mario in times of need. “I have-a eaten a few Nuts and Candies so-a I’mma fine!” I proudly raise my chin with a smug, I totally got her with this one! Back home, those items were useful for long lasting fights, ehehe!

“...” Silence conquers the entire room. 

And then… It happened. A crimson aura enveloped Yuuka and she started glaring at me angrily as she let out a war scream.

“S-E-N-S-E-I!!!!” 

I can’t do much except try to flee from what I fear it’s the embodiment of the Koopa King in the body of a high school girl.

… So I kind of did just that. All the while my ghostly pup runs after me barking, making Yuuka’s chase after me easier.

Which resulted in my current position at the present time. I have no one to blame but myself for my blunder.

After that little cat and mouse chase we had, Yuuka gave me an earful and literally pulled my ear to a restaurant and bought me a nice lunch. Although I feel like it was kinda forced of her, I can’t help but accept it as it was wrong of my part to kinda let myself starve so… Hehehe… 

Afterwards, we spent some time discussing the important parts of my future vehicle, like its chassis, engine, brake system, steering wheel and of course, wheels. Each part must be crafted with precise and consistent attention so as to not fall apart from all the chaos Kivotos traffic presents… like tanks, mines and artillery sentries on top of their vehicles.

It’s just a shame that there’s no item boxes around here, but I’m totally sure throwing banana peels on the streets would get me a nice fine in Kivotos. Even so, I’m kinda relieved as there’s no blue shells and bomb-ombs here, as far as I can tell.

As for the pseudo hammer/mallet/sledgehammer, it’s all about acquiring the purest ore of Wolfseggs and turning into my weapon of choice.

Although I’m certain that Kivotos has the best individuals to craft my requirements, this will take a while to build, for sure. So color me surprised when Hibiki and Yuuka told me that it would only take around four or five days to manufacture everything I asked for.

Although not as fast as E. Gadd when it comes to inventions, they sure are as capable as him. Millennium would totally make the doctor widen his small eyes and open his jaws to new heights if he knew this place existed.

After discussing everything and calculating all the revenue that will be used, it was decided that I would have to pay a total of… 10 gold coins for their services. 

Which to me it kinda feels like a scam for them. I would gladly paid more gold coins, since in the Mushroom Kingdom, after every big adventure me and Mario went to, we would donate around 80% of the coins we obtained to craft or repair areas and vehicles for our future parties, like karting and partying. But they refused on the spot, saying that “They do not condone daylight theft”, especially with Yuuka’s watchful eyes observing their every move. I guess it serves to show that I’m really in another place, just like the BeanBean Kingdom.

And I also took a bit of time to talk with my new apprentice and member of SCHALE about the usual exercises she does. As Yuuka told me earlier, Sumire is the president of the Gym Training Department.

From what she could tell me, Sumire created the club with the intention of showing all the students of Millennium the importance, benefits, and fun of sports… But since the students of the school prefer to study over training their bodies, she is the only person in it and gives her a lot of free time, thus allowing her to join SCHALE without damaging her schedule. In fact, she wants me to visit her club to check her equipment and make a new exercise schedule for the both of us. I like her enthusiasm, so I’m not going to hold back.

We were finishing the food we ordered and I must say… This place has delicious spaghetti and meatballs to my Italian delight. Thanks to Tayce T., I never had to worry about not eating delicious spaghetti back in the Mushroom Kingdom. But my god, ordering pasta from the desert outpost far away from home was such a handful, I barely got to enjoy it back home. So being able to eat lotsa spaghetti whenever I want in Kivotos is proving to be quite the nice experience.

“... And that’s about it everybody.” Noa says, clapping her hands happily as both parties finish their food. She must have finished writing everything we were discussing up to this point.

“Wow. You really wrote-a everything-a in the notepad, Noa!” Surprised, I can’t help but compliment the amazing ability she possesses.

“Hehe, this is nothing, Sensei. I simply have better memory than most people, that’s all.”

She giggles, smiling from the sudden praise she got from me.

“She says that, but her memory could legit be better than a supercomputer.” Yuuka chimes in, double complimenting her. “You need to stop putting yourself down like that, Noa. You are amazing in your own right.”

Although, differently from my praise, Noa lowers her head and from what I’m able to see before she does so, her face becomes a nice tint of red on her cheeks, meaning that she’s probably blushing from it… I wonder why. 

“I-I’ll do that, Y-Yuuka-chan…” She says, pressuring herself to not trip on her words as she tries to hide her smile, but failing nonetheless.

Midori and Hibiki stay silent, probably as to not unleash the wrath of Seminar, but something tells me they know the reason for what's happening with Noa. I tilt my head in curiosity. “I suppose-a relationships have-a different ways to be-a shown to the public-a here, huh?” I say it in a small voice. 

As for Sumire, she left after I told her that I would visit her club once my requests were finished. I think she went back earlier to tide the place up for me. She did tell me that her club was quite a huge place. Luckily before she left, she gave me her phone number, so I can always call her if anything happens.

Soon, me and the Millennium students parted ways. Before leaving however, I asked the girls to exchange numbers, to which they gladly gave it to me. I’m slowly creating my network of contacts.

Hibiki assured me that she would stay in contact with me, telling me that once everything was finished, she would call me to pick it up once all the payment was given to Seminar.

“And for the love of Kivotos, don’t you dare starve again, Sensei!” Yuuka scolds me like an angry mom, saying that she would visit me more often to make sure of it.

I did tell her it wasn’t necessary, but as I say that, she immediately picked up an envelope akin to Sumire’s but yellow, and gave it to me, saying that she will join SCHALE and there was no going back. I simply sighed and accepted it.

While window shopping, my leather bag started to vibrate intensively, almost like the times the Dual Scream started playing that nostalgic tune back at the Evershade Valley.

“Sensei, you got a new message on your MomoTalk! ” Arona’s voice comes out from the earpiece, catching me by surprise.

I picked up my phone... it’s a message from Rin. I quickly respond to her message.

With that in mind, I decided that I should go back to SCHALE. Knowing how chaotic it was earlier today, Rin most likely will want me to deal with that paperwork as fast as possible.

…

As I arrive at the SCHALE building,  one thing comes to my mind.

I haven’t visited all that this structure has to offer, right? I mean, I was running away like crazy from Yuuka back then, but I didn’t even have the time to check them with enough attention.

I also remember not exploring yesterday as I was too tired from cleaning my office and from the fight against Bogmire.

“Arona?” I called my AI assistant. 

“Yes, Sensei?” She asks, curious.

“How much-a time do we-a have until Rin gets-a here?” 

“Around one hour or so. Why?” Curious, she questions me.

I smiled and took the Shittim Chest off my leather bag, to my assistant’s surprise.

“How about-a we have a tour of the entire-a place with-a me? There’s-a few places I didn’t-a visited yet, dear.” 

Her expression brightens, excitement clearly showing up in her eyes.

“Ahem… Really, now?” She is trying so hard to cover her smile, but I can see the edges of her mouth going up. It’s cute, hehe.

“Then allow me to be your tutorial level to this fine establishment, Sensei!” She puffs her chest, with pride and a huge smug on her face.

“Oh yeah!” I replied, my enthusiasm going to the roof with the beaming attitude of my AI companion.

Soon, Arona started acting like a tourist guide, showing me the different areas of my new working place, this time with time and attention in our hands. Arona proudly explained each area to the best of her abilities, which I’m greatly thankful for.

There were many places of interest, like a laboratory and an arcade area… There’s a cafe as well, but it’s currently closed. Arona told me that as the club advisor or SCHALE, I can re-open this place for students to pass the time and meet new people and even sell things for them if possible. I wonder if I could get some mushroom kingdom cuisine and furniture in case I really do re-open this place… It would be a waste to leave this place to rot. 

But what caught my attention was the gym located at the right wing of the building. It has two tennis and one basketball court and a medium sized area where the audience could sit down to watch the games happen. The area is also big enough for my daily jogging when it’s raining… It’s quite nice.

And of course, there’s that floating piece of stone that brings back memories of the flying islands from back home in the basement. I’m legit curious as to how it does to keep itself above the floor.

Perhaps I should check that thing out, my curiosity is killing me.

With that in mind, I decided to go down to the basement and maybe test the amazing power of that levitating stone I saw before.

Rin’s POV:

…

Ugh, I’m so tired from all that paperwork…!

Request after request after request…! And the worst part is that it doesn’t seem to have an end to it!

Thankfully, the shifts for our work only goes until 6pm, otherwise I would go absolutely bonkers with the stress… Although I’ll probably have to work overtime if I want all this to be over before the weekend. Coming to it with a car was the best idea, for sure.

… Well, at least one thing is for sure. Looking outside from the vehicle’s windows, everything looks calmer than yesterday, almost as if the chaos never actually happened and it was just a bad dream.

If it wasn’t for Sensei, I don’t even know what would come of it… I’m actually too afraid to think about it myself.

… I simply shake my head. Enough with the bad thoughts, I already had my fill with those nightmarish papers on top of my table for today, no need to add more.

As of now, I need to focus. Getting to SCHALE with all these documents is the priority right now.

Ugh… I feel my head hurting again…

“It’s everything alright, President Rin?” Ayumu, who came with me, spoke with a worried tone in her voice.

“I’m alright, Ayumu. Don’t worry… Just a minor headache.” I tell her, trying to shoo her off.

But… She does something that I never expected her to do, especially because of her shy nature. 

She picks my face by the cheeks with her hands and places her forehead on mine.

“Ummm… It doesn’t seem to be a fever…” She says, not realizing what she is doing right now. I can’t help but be surprised and blush a bit.

But… looking at her now, she became different. Before she was timid, not to the point of her voice not coming out, but she had difficulty communicating with others… But thanks to Sensei’s guidance, I can clearly see it. She is changing, little by little.

“Ummm… Ayumu?” I called her. She is becoming bolder and I can’t help but be aware of it.

“Hm… !?” She realizes what she is doing and quickly puts her head away from me. “I-I-I’m so sorry! I-I did something I shouldn’t have…!”

… Was Ayumu always this expressive? 

“... Heh.” I let out a small giggle. “It’s alright, Ayumu.” Oh damn it… I can’t stop smiling.

I take back what I said before… Perhaps I’m also changing. 

Yeah… For now, let’s work on getting rid of this “Ice Queen of the GSC” title off my back.

And as I say that, our vehicle arrives at SCHALE.

“Now, Ayumu. Let’s go bring these papers to Sensei, right?” I tell her, the smile not leaving my face for some odd reason.

But Ayumu is strangely quiet. Heck, her face is red like an apple… Was touching our foreheads together really that embarrassing?

“...” Her eyes were distant, as if she was seeing something strange or unique.

“Ayumu?” I called her out once more.

“Y-Yes?” She answers, coming to her senses.

“Are you okay?” I tell her, hoping that nothing is wrong with her.

“A-Ah! I-I was j-just spacing out f-for a bit!” She replies.

“Well… if you say so. Let’s get these documents to Sensei, then.” 

“Y-Yes!”

Although Rin couldn’t understand why Ayumu was like that, there was only one thought inside her mind.

Her smile. 

Something she thought she would never witness in her lifetime.

But as to how it will turn out? That’s a story for another time.

After arriving in the building, the both of us, alongside the members of the GSC that were brought here as receptionists, brought the papers to Sensei’s office. 

But there’s just one thing… Where’s Sensei? He should have been here waiting for us…

“Hey, you two know where Sensei went?” I asked the assistants, hoping they might know.

“Hmmm… I think I saw him going to the basement a few minutes ago.” One of them replies as the other one nods.

Hmm… What could he be doing down there? I’m totally sure I didn’t teach him how to use that yet.

Well, I guess I’ll go check on him.

“Ayumu, I’m going where Sensei is. Stay here and rest for a bit, ok?” I tell my blonde companion, but she’s more occupied right now, playing with Sensei’s ghost pet with a big smile on her face.

With a sigh of relief, I leave the room and head towards the basement.

…

Upon reaching and getting down to the underground room, I kept hearing something akin to a strong attack at a… hard surface? It’s almost like someone is slapping the ground floor but the strength of a fierce animal… like a gorilla or something.

I decided to rush a bit to the end of it.

As I descend the last set of steps towards my goal, my vision finally catches the source of the noise.

I stood in shock at what I’m witnessing right now.

Luigi Sensei is on top of the Crafting Chamber, doing what seems to be an athletic movement that causes him to be stationary on the air while doing a flip, followed by falling with full force with his umm… Rear end.

Is he trying to destroy it?!

“Hmmm… Well, this thing-a has-a the resistance of-a the floating islands from back-a home that’s-a for sure…” Sensei says, putting his hand on his chin. “It doesn’t-a even flinch with-a my ground pounds at all.” 

He gets up, preparing to do it again. “Alright-y, this-a time for sur-” But before he could even finish his sentence…

“What are you doing, Sensei?!”  I interrupted him with a loud shout.

“R-RinUWAHHHHHHHHHH!!!?” Caught by surprise by the sudden uproar, Luigi Sensei ended up tripping on his own feet, falling from the top of the flying stone piece to the floor below.

I quickly rushed to where he stumbled, feeling guilty for causing it to happen in the first place.

“Owww…” He sits down on the ground, putting his head on his head, probably to ease the pain from his head.

“What were you trying to do, Sensei?!” I asked him, both furious and nervous, as to the reason behind this stupid act. “And how the hell did you get on top of the Crafting Chamber?!”

… Wait. I forgot that he could drop from a helicopter high up in the air and not take fall damage. Climbing that thing would be easy if it is Luigi Sensei.

“First… I thought-a that the stone was some-a kind of mechanism that-a you need-a to ground pound to activate it.” … What? G-Ground pound?  “Well… As for-a the going up-a the stone… I just-a jumped.”

…

Calm down, Nanagami Rin. Sensei is someone outside of the common sense of Kivotos. There must be an explanation for that.

I breathe in and out slowly… and then asked. “What do you mean you just jumped, Sensei?”

“Like-a this.” Sensei backs away from me a bit and impulses himself upwards, almost jumping twice my height.

… Calm down, Rin. Breathe in… Breathe out… Sensei is a good guy, but he is clearly physically different from all of us.

“Oh yeah, Rin.” Sensei calls for my attention. “What’s-a Crafting Chamber?” He asks, tilting his head to the side. “The closest-a thing from it that-a I know it’s-a Crafting Table from a blocky friend-a of mine.”

Thankfully, Sensei’s curiosity takes me out of my confused trance.

“Ah. It’s the big floating rock you were trying to ‘ground pound’, Sensei” I tell him as I sigh.

“Oh… I’mma so sorry…” He apologizes as he didn’t know that the floating rocky platform was one of SCHALE’s equipment.

“It’s-a just that usually those-a floating rocks are some-a kind of puzzle that it is solved-a with  a nice ground pound-a back home.” He says. 

My head is gonna blow up in pain if I try to process this, so I’ll just shrug it off for now…

“Ehem… Anyway, I see that you were curious about the Crafting Chamber?” I tell Sensei, trying to change the subject.

“Crafting Chamber?” Confused, he questions. “The floating stone pillar?” He points at it.

“Yes, Sensei.” I reach out for my pocket and take out a small rock, which makes Sensei really curious.

“This is a Keystone. You use this to activate the machine.” I give him the strange stone object.

All he does is inspect the stone with his eyes. Then he starts to shake it. Then he sniffs. 

“... It’s-a pebble, Rin.” Sensei blatantly tells me the obvious.

I think I facepalmed so hard, my headache went away.

A bit angry, I picked up the Keystone from Sensei’s hand and placed it on the console in front of the machine.

“Now.” Trying to hold in the stress, I asked him. “Just choose an option.”

“Y-Yes, madam!” Scared, he answered as I glared at him.

He quickly started messing around with the chamber’s options, probably learning how to use it while choosing it.

But then, he stopped. For a moment, I think I heard him mumbling “A mushroom symbol…?”

After saying that, he clicks on it, activating the machine as its bright lights turn on.

“O-Oh! It’s-a working, Rin!” He says, surprised like a child upon getting his first toy. “Now-a what?” He asks.

“We wait. The Chamber takes a little while to finish its products.” I tell him as he nods.

“So as we wait for it to complete itself… Could you accompany me to your office room? I wish to explain to you how to do the documents I brought you.”

“Ah, of-a course, Rin! Let’s-a go!” He gives me a small jump, to confirm his decision. 

We left the basement room and returned together to his office.

From there, Ayumu and I did our best in explaining to him the know-hows of reading, processing and signing the documents, especially with the parts involving the signatures and numbers.

Sensei seems to be quite fast at understanding it…

But unfortunately, I have to say. He is very clumsy when he gets nervous. The moment I raised my voice a bit, he seemed a bit frightened out of nowhere for some reason. 

I guess even adults can have a few weaknesses just like us.

Back to Luigi’s POV:

It’s been a few minutes since Rin and Ayumu brought me these papers and taught me how to do the documents, but if I have to be honest here?

It’s not that bad.

Sure, it’s annoying that I have to sit on this chair for hours on end as the mountain load of paper never seems to go down at all.

But that’s why I have students' requests to check from time to time. One time I shall pass inside SCHALE, verifying any documents the GSC sends me while on the other I’ll be going out to one of the many academy cities to help out students with their problems.

It’s the perfect solution, at least for someone like me. I’ll just have to organize a time schedule somehow, but I’ll manage it.

Luckily, the papers I signed seem to make Rin happy as she gives me a thumbs up… After I have failed 4 times in a row. But I was nervous at that time so it doesn’t count!

Before I could even think about the schedule, I heard what seemed to be a bell ringing coming from my leather bag.

I took the Shittim Chest from it and saw a notification message from Arona. 

“Sensei! The Crafting Chamber has finished your product! Go get it so that I can see what you choose!” She says, her excitement firing up her systems.

Oh, it’s time! After I saw that mushroom symbol labeled on the machine, I had hoped that the GSC president had installed something akin to the Mushroom Kingdom in there.

So needless to say, I’m also excited and curious to see if it is what I think it is.

I get up from my office chair and immediately go to the Crafting Chamber, completely forgetting the fact that Rin and Ayumu are still there.

Worried about my sudden burst of energy, they followed me, wondering what caused me to outburst like that.

When I reached the Chamber, it no longer had the shining lights from before, but they were focused at the base of the floating rock.

I gently raised my hand and grabbed the item inside of it. 

It’s… a bag of seeds. I just stand still, holding it in my hand.

“Seeds?” Clearly disappointed by it, Arona questions it. “What a bummer…” 

Shortly after, Rin and Ayumu arrived as well, seeing me holding what seemed to be the product the chamber created.

“It’s not just seeds… It’s seeds from products found back in my hometown!” I let it out, surprise echoing throughout the room.

“Sensei?” She asks, startled by my sudden voice burst.

“Rin, look! It’s-a seeds from my hometown! I can-a plant these here-a in SCHALE’s garden, right-a?!” Excitedly, I begged Rin, even shaking her a bit from all the outburst.

“T-The g-garden is p-property of S-SCHALE, so of c-course you can do s-so…!” She says, even though it was hard to do so while her whole body was being shaken down.

“I-I mean, you can plant some pretty flowers, Sensei!” Ayumu comments, hoping that I will stop shaking Rin up and down. It works, Rin giving her a thumbs-up.

Of course! These could be anything really! From Fire Flowers to those smiling turnips  I can plant them to create something akin to the Fire Flower Fields close to the Jungle Kingdom!

But… I never farmed before… Can I do this? The best I ever did was pulling out vegetables from the ground… 

… Only one way to find out.

“You know-a what? Yeah! I’ll plant-a these!” I said it, confidence swelling inside of me with Ayumu’s words.

Both Arona and Ayumu cheer a bit confused, but they got the spirit!

After that… Everything fell into silence.

…

“Can we go back to the papers now?” Rin exclaims, wanting to finish what she came here for as fast as possible.

“Hehe… Sure.” I said.

They couldn’t hear it, but Arona was laughing loud out when Rin spoke the last line.

After Rin taught me, but mostly scolded me from making many mistakes, I finally seemed to understand the principles behind the documents.

It just needed my sweat and my tears to catch on to what I was supposed to do.

Shortly after, both of them leave me on my own, giving me time to catch up with my thoughts.

Today was umm… very eventful. Met new students, like Kirino and Aoi, got into a few weird situations like that marathon with the helmet gangsters and even got my first recruitment papers from Sumire and Yuuka. I wasn’t expecting any of that at all, to be honest.

And now… I’m doing the documents at a slow pace, much to the dismay of my cute Ai assistant.

“Geez, Sensei. You are way too careful for your own good. Can’t you be faster?” Arona speaks from the Shittim Chest, which is beside me.

“Patience is-a virtue, Arona!” I tell her, still focused on the papers. “It’s-a necessary for me to not make-a mistakes like-a before.”

“Sensei, mistakes are bound to happen. You can’t expect everything to be perfect, you know?” She explains, trying to put some common sense into my head. 

“Me, being perfect? I’mma the opposite of-a that… I didn’t-a knew if I should-a fought the helmet girls, so I ended-a up running away from-a them instead.” I tell her, expecting her to agree with me.

“But thanks to that, the girls didn’t fire their guns against innocent bystanders, since they were completely focused on you though.” But she disagrees, countering my argument.

“Sure, you took the coward’s way out of the situation, but it was also the one where nobody ended up hurt thanks to your quick thinking.” She finishes it.

I stopped writing on the papers, distracted but concentrated on what Arona just told me.

It’s true that the way I chose saved people from getting hurt, but was it really the best choice? I always wanted to be a hero, but differently from Mario, I always overthink things instead of facing danger headfirst.

Can I really be called a hero with that kind of mindset? I can’t help but look down on myself a bit… 

“Sensei, I want to ask you something.” Arona, worried about the look I have on my face, curiously asks me to answer her.

“I can’t-a stop ya, dear. Go ahead-a!” Trying to hide my anxiety from the sudden question, I tell her.

“Why do you always seem to compare yourself to someone else when it comes to being a hero?” Ouch, she asks right in the wound, huh?

“...” That caught me off-guard.

How do I even answer that? Should I tell her the truth? Or maybe try to change the subject?

“...” The AI must have seen the anxiety building up in my body as she falls silent. 

She then began speaking once more.

“It’s ok if you don’t wanna answer it Sensei… I probably went a little bit too far with that one, haha…” She scratches the back of her head, trying to make me ignore what she just said as she tries to hide her disappointment with a smile.

… Am I really overthinking something that should be so simple? Arona has been helping me ever since we met… Although we only met for a few days, I think…

I think it’s okay to trust her.

“... Do you remember-a when I started-a talking about my big-a bro to the Millennium girls this afternoon, Arona?” I turn my head to Arona, looking a little sad.

I can see her simply nodding to me.

“Well, you see… I always-a have lived my whole-a life under his-a shadow. For me, my brother was-a the perfect example of a hero. I keep thinking that I have-a to be like-a him if I want-a to be someone able to save-a Kivotos…” I tell her, putting myself down in the process.

“When something bad-a happened back home, he was-a always the first-a one to charge at-a the villains with-a determination in his eyes. I never saw him feel fear, if I don’t-a recall. While I always-a checked the map around-a 3 to 4 times just-a to open a single door.”

“But no matter what-a I did, I was-a always the scared-a one. It’s-a… kinda pathetic for-a hero to-a shake in-a fear.”

I close my eyes. Perhaps I’m also fearing what Arona would think of this. Heh… I’m so ridiculous.

“Sensei…” She begins while I braise for impact.

“That doesn’t mean you’re less than him.” 

She says, looking at me with an upset look on her face. 

“ Being cautious isn’t a flaw. It’s part of your strength. You care enough to get it right.” 

“You… You really think-a so?” I question her, wondering if I truly can be a hero without needing to be like my brother, my hero.

“Perfection doesn’t mean flawless. It means whole. Real. You’re someone who does his best, even when he’s afraid. That’s more powerful than being fearless.”

She continues, saying sweet yet powerful words…

“... Arona, did you downloaded-a a dictionary or-a something?” I comment on it, trying to hold my giggling mouth.

“... Maybe?” She confirms it.

“Hahahaha!” I couldn’t hold it any longer.

“I guess that’s-a nice way to-a look at it, isn't-a it?” I clean the tears from my eyes with my hand.

“H-Hey, it's not that bad! You meanie!” She pouts at my comment, crossing her arms as she looks away.

“But-a… Grazie, Arona. I’mma feeling much-a better now.” I let out a small smile as my eyes narrowed to a relieved expression.

“Hehe! Your super cute and adorable AI assistant always got your back, Sensei!” Happy to see me back to normal, she proclaims.

“Oh yeah! How about-a we finish this-a mountain of-a documents before-a we go to-a bed for-a tonight?” 

“Yes, Sensei!” She gives me a big smile.

Well… It’s good to know that in the case of something bad happening, I know Arona will be by my side to pull me back. 

I let out a relaxed sigh. It’s time to show to this world what Luigi is capable of, even if my methods are different from a great hero like Mario.

But little did I know that my abilities as a hero would be put to test sooner than I expected...

Author's Notes:

Remember when I said it was guaranteed that Luigi would go to Abydos? Yeah... Sorry about that.

Originally I was going to write a lot more for the first chapter of Vol.1 but I was having mental block after mental block, so I decided to post it with just 10k words. 

I didn't wanted you guys to wait any longer!

That and I'm kinda addicted to Minecraft and Helldivers 2. 

Also, a nice curiosity. Sumire was my first 3* character when I joined Blue Archive, so putting her as Luigi's first recruit feels great.

and Luigi is gonna be getting more stuff, this man be having a arsenal of weapons XD

Thank you so much for reading the first chapter of World 2/Vol.1 of my little fanfic! Thank you to my beta readers "random boat", "Soundwave" and "Fubuma" for fixing any gramar mistakes I've made!

I wonder how many references will you guys catch on this chapter, hehe!

Chapter Text

World 2-2: Desert

It’s been a week since I became the Advisor of SCHALE.

It was quite the same-y routine, as in each morning, Polterpup would wake me up and go back to guard duty for the building, I would eat, water my plants in the garden and then I would start my work.

From thoroughly examining documents that Rin sent me to the requests from students from all over Kivotos. The days passed in the blink of an eye. 

As much as I wanted to help the academies as best as I could, my mobility was still limited since the students couldn't exchange my gold coins for credits, making it impossible to catch the metro or taxis. 

Unfortunately, the things I asked from the Engineering Department seemed to have been delayed after something unexpected happened at Millennium, but they haven't told me what had happened. But Hibiki messaged me saying that they resumed operating yesterday, so they should be ready either tomorrow or after it.

Although Rin and Aoi said I could request funds from the GSC, I refused. I know their intentions were good, but just as they said, their organization needed that money much more than I did.

Therefore, I focused on the requests close to SCHALE and Shiratori D.U. for now. From stopping shoplifters, stopping gang activities, rescuing pets stuck on trees and helping students with body movements and studies, I never felt bored during these. 

Well, thanks to the new recruits of SCHALE, Yuuka and Sumire, most of the financial documents and material requests were done very quickly.

Thanks to that, I have met so many students from different academies throughout Kivotos. Most of them were from the big three, as they call it: Trinity, Gehenna and Millennium with the occasional request from another school, like an oriental-themed school named Hyakkiyako, which interested me as the girl who asked for help was wearing a familiar piece of clothing — a pink yukata.

I wonder if someday I’ll be able to visit that school…

Another thing that I have noticed from all the sidequesting is that every time I went to do those requests, most of the students I have seen were… kinda identical. Reminds me of the Toads from about everywhere in the Mushroom Kingdom, hehe.

Some were unique, others were similar in more ways than you think. There were the Toads from the Desert Outpost, the ones from the Shiver City, etc.

The few differences being their clothes, colours and personalities, so I should take note of these things here, for sure.

“And… Sent, Sensei!” My cheerful A.I.assistant warns me, signaling the end of one more mountain of paper that Rin gave to me.

“Thank you, Arona.” I praised her. “We are-a almost done with-a the document pile Rin sent-a last time she was-a here!”

“Thank god! We’ve been doing these papers non-stop ever since they arrived!” Arona complains, to which I do have to agree.

Although I’m making my reputation rise in popularity thanks to the help requests given by the students, I haven’t done anything major to solidify it.

As I lost myself in my own thoughts, I rose from my work chair and decided to pick up another pile of papers from the one Rin gave to me.

I need something big, something different! Something that will make people scream “There’s Luigi, the hero of Kivotos!” or something of the sort, yes! I know this is a bit much to think about, but I can imagine, you know?

… And as I say that, I stumbled on my own foot, causing me to fall down onto the ground alongside the huge stack of documents following suit.

“Sensei?! Are you alright?!” Arona cried out, clearly in distress.

“I’mma alright-y, Arona… I just-a tripped on my own feet, hehe…” I tried to cover my embarrassment with a smile.

“Sheesh, Sensei… You really are clumsy. You need to be careful!” The AI demanded of me.

“I’mma sorry…” Ashamed, I told her. I really need to stop being so clumsy.

As I approached the fallen papers, I quickly started grabbing them and putting them on top of my work table.

But one thing caught my attention. It wasn’t a document… It was a letter. Although letters are nothing new to me, as there are students who asked for help through these… but I don’t know why, but this envelope felt… different. And ragged, filled with dust as well.

“Sensei, is there something wrong?” Arona asked, curious.

“Ah, not-a really. Just got-a this letter in-a the pile…” I told her.

“Hmmm…Strange, there shouldn’t be a letter within the documents… I think we should take a look, then.” She tells me.

I simply nod, taking the letter with me as I sat down on the chair in front of the Shittim Chest.

Clearly, something was not right. I opened and started reading the letter.

To the advisor of the Federal Investigation Club:

Hello, my name is Okusora Ayane, and I’m a student at Abydos High School.

I’m writing this letter because I want to ask for your help.

Our academy is being harassed.

One of the local gangs has been tormenting us.

It’s a long story, but we think…

… this gang is after the school building itself.

We are doing our best to stop them.

But it’s only a matter of time before we run out of ammunition and supplies.

At this rate, the school will fall to them.

That’s why I’m writing to ask for your help.

Can you please help us, Sensei?

I stood silent, in shock.

This… This is more complex from the things I have done up until this point. I know I asked for something more serious, but I didn’t mean like this!

“Hmm… Abydos High School, huh?” Arona comments with her eyes closed.

“You-a know this-a school, Arona?” I asked her, hoping to obtain some kind of information.

“From what I know, it used to be a thriving district, large enough to stand its ground against the big three academies… Well, it was at least.” She begins, putting her hand on her chin.

“What-a happened to it-a?” 

“Climate change happened, Sensei!” She answers me, but only manages to make me even more confused.

“In a more simple way, the school fell on hard due to constant sandstorms around its territory, Sensei!” She says.

Sandstorms? So Abydos is located inside a desert? I mean, I have gone to deserts before, but never with sandstorms… Well, there were the Tweesters, who always forcefully threw people inside their vast and heated deserts with a big grin on their spinning bodies. Do they count as sandstorms?

“It was said that Abydos was so big, you could get lost inside its city! Although, I feel like this sounds ridiculous… I mean, who gets lost inside of a modern civilization?” She smiles awkwardly.

Well, I often got lost inside the mansions I explored… If it wasn’t for E.Gadd’s inventions, I’m sure I would have a hard time trying to locate myself for sure. But let’s not tell her that.

“Anyway, it’s weird to think that a school is being harassed by gangs of all things. I wonder what is making them attack Abydos…”

Arona is right. And this is what makes it sound even stranger… There’s only one that I can do then.

“Arona.” I called for my AI assistant.

“Yes, Sensei!” She answers, her eyes açready brightening with expectation.

“We’ll-a be going to-a Abydos!”

“Roger that, Sensei!” She says, thinking that she was finally done with all the paperwork in front of her.

“... But-a let’s-a finish organizing these-a documents first.” I told her, bringing her back to the current reality we are in.

“Awwww… Okay…” And she went from happy to disappointed in less than 10 seconds, that’s a new record, hehe.

But if we want to go to the desert without any distractions, that’s the way to do it. Plus… I still need to learn where I can get the ammunition Ayane is asking for. 

Although, I hope the store somehow manages to exchange my gold for credits… That Makoto girl still hasn't replied to Aoi, which makes it an inconvenience for me, but I’m sure she is busy with something else.

For now, let’s spend the rest of the day finishing this assignment and rush towards Abydos!

“Castella Cake with Strawberry Milk~ Let’s go~” The young AI sang as we headed outside the building to the store to buy some supplies.

Somehow, we managed to finish the rest of the documents in about 6 to 7 hours nonstop, which was exhausting… But thanks to that, we got time to go to Abydos!

Although I still have no idea how to get the bullet bills pellets for the students…

“Sensei, here! This is the place!” Arona’s voice burst into my ear as the AI warned me.

“Angel 24! This place has a little bit of everything!” As I picked up the Shittim Chest, the little girl inside the tablet kept pointing out to the store in front of me.

One of the GSC students, more specifically, the little demoness from last time named Momoka sent me a field request after we finished the document piles. It’s really simple, at least in her words.

“Can you buy me more chips, Sensei? I have eaten all my packages and since we are still super busy around here, I haven’t found the time to do so. There’s a new shop opening on the SCHALE building so could you do me this small favour? Thanksies.”  

That, and Yuuka practically demanded me to buy supplies for myself after I told her and Sumire that I would be going to Abydos tomorrow.

“You better buy some food and water for the trip this time, Sensei! I’m not going to forgive you if you don’t!” She said… 

But forcing me to hold a bit of her earnings feels a bit much… Sigh, guess I’ll have to buy the essentials then.

As we entered the shop, I can’t help but be intrigued by the huge selection of goods this place has! Is… Is this the power of the so-called “convenience store”?!

It has so much! To food and drinks to medications, newspapers, magazines…

But the most important…! The bullet bill pellets! There’s so many of them here! How come this store has so many of them?! And why?! And not only that, there’s also the Light Bombs that Suzumi used and the weird green bob-omb-like eggs that I remember my bear and bird friends using back in the fighting tournament!

Market places back home also had some of the strongest equipment and consumables but this?! This is a whole new level of convenience!

I can’t help but end up observing everything this place has to offer from the entrance of this establishment… until a voice catches my attention.

“I’m so bored…” As my face goes towards the voice, I see a small girl messing with a pink cellphone behind the counter.

She has long, straight blonde hair, with bangs parted in the middle, making her forehead have quite the… appearance. She also has two small angel wings, which is pretty cute.

Her halo has two white circles, the outer one having spiky ends as in its center, there’s a small blue stone with the same color as her eyes.

As for her uniform, as far as I can see, it’s a polo shirt that looks like a blouse, alongside a blue apron and black bowtie. I can even see a name on her I.D… Sora.

It seems that she is so focused on her phone that she didn’t notice that I entered the store.

Well, Momoka did say that the store just opened today, so that means that the place barely got any clients.

Well, first things first, let’s secure the supplies Yuuka told to get and the chips Momoka asked for.

…

After picking up all the groceries I needed for Momoka’s and Yuuka’s requests, I proceeded to pick up a little bit of everything. From the rectangles filled with the bullet bills to the boxes of those long red cylindrical tubes, and of course, Arona’s sweets.

As to why I’m picking up everything? Seeing all the ammunition this place has to offer, one thought came up in my mind… What kind of bullet bill do they use? As far as I know, everybody uses the same thing!

So yeah… I’m just going to pick up a bit of each type I find. It can’t be that expensive, right?

I approached the counter, carefully placing the shopping basket above it.

“Hm?” She mumbles.

With a thumping noise, the blonde girl finally seemed to snap out of the phone screen. I felt like I could see an interrogation mark appear above her head as her eyes were drawn to the basket… and then to my face.

“Wha… W-W-What?! C-C-Customers?!” She claims as her face went from normal to pure terror in mere seconds.

“I-I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t notice you, sir!” She apologizes, bowing her head profusely.

“Ah, nonono. It’s-a ok, dear! I just-a finished picking the stuff I wanted-a to buy!” I told her as I pointed to the basket beside me.

Her eyes open wide as she sees the basket. It’s full to the brim, almost impossible to take anything off without something falling off of it.

“U-Ummm… I-Is this everything you want to buy?” She asked, her face showing a confused look.

“Oh yeah!” I told her, shocking her even more. 

Although she looks legit scared of my groceries, she slowly begins to take the stuff out of the basket as carefully as she can and scans them.

As I wait for her to do so, my leather bag starts to vibrate, meaning that…

“Sensei! You got a message on your Momotalk!” Arona warns me.

I quickly pulled my phone out of my bag and checked the sender. It’s Hibiki!

Looking forward to any news about the requisitions I made for her club, I quickly responded to her messages.

As I gain a new objective to do, I see that Sora has finished scanning and packing all the items I have collected.

“Phew… U-Um… It will be this much…!” The small girl showed me a parcel… with a lot of zeros. Oh boy.

“U-Ummm… S-Say, do you guys-a accept-a gold coins?” I asked the girl, knowing that she probably would say no…

“O-Oh! A-Are you perhaps Luigi Sensei?” Sora spoke, completely catching me off guard.

I nodded.

“The owner of the store and the Acting President Nanagami Rin came here earlier today discussing that as long as you only buy 1 gold coin worth of items per month, we can finish the transaction.”

“R-Really?!” I slammed my hands on the counter as I couldn’t contain the excitement of finding an actual store that can exchange my coins… even if it is restricted like that!

“Y-Yes, sir…!” She tries to protect her face, scared of my actions.

“A-Ah… I-I’mma sorry!” I apologized profusely to Sora. 

What happened next was an exchange of bows and apologies that lasted for almost 10 minutes.

…

Sora’s POV:

Ah… The sound of chime as the door opens as Luigi Sensei leaves with the various packages he bought is like music to my ears…

I-I mean! H-He’s not as bad and weird like the rumours said on the internet, but I can’t help but be surprised by the sudden visit to the store, especially on its first day!

Sigh…

I picked up the gold coin he used to pay for his absurd amount of items.

“I-I can’t believe I’m legit holding a coin made of gold…It’s bigger than my hands.”

It feels almost surreal, since gold is amazingly rare… But it’s even more amazing that the Acting GSC president managed to change my boss’ mind about the change…

… Now that I think about it, he didn’t even ask me why a middle schooler is working at an Angel 24 store… I can’t help but feel annoyed by that.

Next time he comes here, I’ll ask him about it.

…

Wait, there’s one thing I didn’t understand! How come he carried all that weight with only his two arms?! He was carrying a bit of it inside a leather bag, but most of it he was carrying by hand!

I knew it! That person is legit scary! 

Hibiki’s POV:

“... Sensei sure is late.” I let out a deep sigh as I swung my legs, trying to distract myself from the boredom by playing around with the wooden mallet I decided to give to Sensei for now as the Wolfseggs one is still being made.

He told me he was going to take a bit to come back, but it has been five minutes already… I wonder if something happened.

Sigh… Perhaps I need to distract myself with something else.

I rose from the chair I was sitting on and put the mallet on top of my shoulder, leaving the reception lounge as I walked around the building area. I remember not seeing the rest of it last time as we were too focused on helping Yuuka as the Millennium’s representatives.

But since I’m here on my club’s behalf, I got all the time in the world… Or at least, a few hours before I have to come back to Millenium.

… And now that I see, most of the equipment here is top-notch! I'm part of the Engineering Department, so I know my way around machines and mechanical equipment. I wonder where they got all that?

And do they have self-destruction buttons? I can’t help but ponder.

…

After a bit of walking, I ended up in front of SCHALE’s garden…? This feels more like a farm than a garden to be honest.

There are small fields filled with flowers of all colors like red and blue, logs put under the sunlight as… for some reason seemed to have a few mushrooms growing from them, a few vegetable patches… to what looks like carrots and turnips and a few saplings, which strangely, one of them has a racoon tail on it.

Huh. I didn’t know Sensei had a farming hobby. If it was me, I would make sure to put an automatic watering system for the plants.

But as far as I can see, Sensei must be working alone in it, since there are only a few patches, and most of it has yet to bloom. 

Except… for a single red flower, which strangely enough… It has eyes on it. 

It’s almost as if… it’s staring at me. To my soul. Telling me to do something.

Telling me to approach it.

“... From the weird requests you made a week ago to this strange force of nature… You don’t stop surprising me, Sensei…!” I dropped the mallet on the ground as I approached the red flower.

As I started to get closer, I could feel it… The temperature is slowly rising, making me sweat a bit… I can tell.

… It’s the flower. It’s generating heat! How is that possible?!

That only makes me even more curious! I need to know how it works, and how it could be implemented on new technologies that my club could build!

Ah, the possibilities! The excitement! It’s not leaving my body as I reach it.

I crouched as I felt the mightiness of its heat force hitting my face directly.

The energy is soothing. There’s no danger in it. So if it is safe…

I wonder what will happen if I touch it?

I raised my hand as I slowly moved it towards its petals.

Back to Luigi’s POV:

“Phew! That-a was-a nice exercise!” I said, putting all the things I bought on top of my working table back at my office as I arrived back at SCHALE, Polterpup following right behind me.

I took a little bit more to get back as the bags almost ripped themselves open, so I had to walk slowly… Thank goodness Angel 24 is really close by!

Slowly, I separated all the chips Momoka asked me to buy for her from groceries I bought for myself.

And as far as I can tell, the receptionists must have already gone back home, which I don’t mind. They did have to deliver documents to the GSC headquarters like a vicious cycle today. They gained a well-deserved rest.

With that said.. I didn’t see Hibiki back at the reception lounge. I wonder where she went.

I should probably look for her as I don’t want to keep her waiting for too long. It’s almost nighttime and I don’t want her to go back to her school late as it could be dangerous.

Before I could even begin my search for her…

“GYAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!” A sudden scream echoes throughout the SCHALE building, causing Polterpup to violently bark as he ran towards the direction of the voice in distress.

Fearing that the voice might be Hibiki’s, I followed my ghostly pet to see what happened.

…

After a while, Polterpup entered an area I wasn’t expecting him to come to.

The garden where I planted my power-ups.

I learned that after finishing some of the students' requests, they would give me keystones that Rin mentioned to me during our little rendezvous in the basement.

And of course, I used them to see if I could get something different than usual.

But to my surprise, the mushroom symbol didn’t always show up when I tried selecting it.

So I had to be careful with the way I was spending the keystones.

And the spoils of my efforts are all here.

From fire and ice flowers to mushrooms and even a sapling of the Tanooki Tree!

Heck, I even got some furniture from back home… I don’t know how that happened though.

But I’m quite happy with what I got. 

Wait, shouldn’t I be focused on what’s going on in my garden right now?

Oops, I ended up being distracted by my own thoughts once again… I really need to stop doing that.

“Sob… sob…” Suddenly, I started hearing sobbing coming from one of the windows.

“Hibiki? Is-a that-a you?” I called out.

“Sniff… Sensei…?” She responds, trying to hold her tears.

“Yes, it’s-a me! What’s-a happened?” I asked the crying dog girl. 

“Sensei…!” She says, her voice shaking.

“Sensei!!!” Followed by a sudden tackle to my chest, together with my pet barking at her hysterically.

“I’m sorry! I don’t know what happened! I touched it without permission and now I think I’m going to die!!! I’m so sorry!!! Bwahhhhhhh!!!” She screams, hugging me desperately as if she was holding onto precious life.

“H-Huh? W-What are ya talking-a about, d-dear?”

It doesn’t seem to work as the girl continues to let her emotions take control of her, drowning my clothes in tears.

For now… Let’s just find a place where she can rest for now. I’m sure she can explain everything once she calms down.

…

A few minutes have passed since we left the garden and moved to a more comfortable place around the lounge area, where I asked Hibiki to sit down.

Recognizing her smell, Polterpup stopped barking and lay down close to her, letting her relax as she petted the ghostly dog.

And now that I’m looking at her closely… Her outfit changed.

The white part of her hoodie gained a pinkish red tone and her shirt sleeves became a lighter resonance than before… Her eyes also changed color to a darker timbre of red.

But the most important aspect of it had to be her halo. Half of it has the same color tone as the hoodie, mixing itself to the original yellow-ish color. 

Almost as if she fused with something. 

“I’m so sorry, Sensei… I get emotional sometimes…” Hibiki says, her eyes a bit swollen from all the crying as she looks down, trying to avoid eye contact with me. I think she is… embarrassed or something?

“It’s-a okay, Hibiki. But-a can you tell-a me what happened-a?” I asked her with a gentle voice.

She nods. She explained how she came a bit earlier to give me the kart and something else, but since I was taking a long time to return… She decided to walk around to distract herself. And then she found my garden.

“And then there was that red flower with eyes. She was staring at me, as if telling me to grab her…”

“A-And then… When I touched it, I felt my body being covered in flames as it started spreading everywhere! I…I thought I was going to die so I screamed… And then I kneeled in panic, thinking that I became all burned…!” She says in a distressed voice.

Differently from me, who had Mario and the princess helping me out with my first time… Hibiki didn’t. She is most likely conflicted with all that has happened.

“A red-a flower?” I asked.

She nods. “Yes… It’s the only flower that seemed to have bloomed.”

“I see.” I nod as I go towards the garden again.

Hibiki, noticing that I’m going there, follows me worried that something bad might happen to me… Although this is farther from what’s going to happen, hehe.

Soon, I’m in front of the red flower that terrified Hibiki.

“Hibiki, this is-a Fire Flower.” I told her.

“A Fire Flower…?” She tilts her head, one of her fluffy ears rising in confusion.

“Pay close-a attention, okay?” I raised my arm and placed my hand on the flower, much to Hibiki’s dismay.

As I touched the plant, a nostalgic energy envelops me as I’m surrounded by its mystical flames. 

I can see that Hibiki is scared that something is happening to me, but soon she realizes what’s going on.

The fiery energy covered my clothes and soon, the energy disappeared as my clothes changed color, just like Hibiki’s. 

Her eyes, once scared of the embers, were now mesmerized as my clothes slowly changed colors, the power-up finalizing the transformation.

My shirt and hat, once with the green color, turned into a nice tone of white, alongside my overalls, which were green instead of blue.

“This-a flower… gives-a us special abilities, ya see?” I told her, with a smile on my face, hopeful that she will turn this experience into one of her new strengths.

I proceeded to create a small fire on top of my hand, almost juggling it.

“It allows us-a to create-a fire from our hands. Well, most-a of the time I just-a shoot fireballs from it.” I smile towards the impressed girl in front of me.

Differently from the green fireballs that I could make without it, the fire created from the Fire Flower is more potent and easier to control. Perfect for newcomers and from what I am seeing right now… Even the students are able to use them, just like the Toads.

“Now-a try it out-a as well!” I told her.

“Imagine-a ball of fire in your hands.” 

Curious, Hibiki started messing with her newfound ability. She did manage to create small balls, but soon as it was created, they disappeared. She has much to learn.

Amazed by the fast-paced learning skill she possesses, or perhaps her management of explosives since she did tell me that she uses a metal catapult to launch rockets, I asked her if she could sleep here in the residential area of SCHALE, as to obtain more knowledge about the flower that captivated her.

Although at first she was apprehensive, she came to be astounded by the limitless possibilities a Fire Flower could open. She nods as she picks up her phone to call someone, most likely one of her club friends, telling them of her current situation.

After resolving with her friends, we spend the rest of the night talking and training about the usage of the fire powers granted by the magical plant. 

Once it was almost midnight, we both went to our respective rooms.

“...OH!” But before we could move on, Hibiki suddenly came to a realization.

“I forgot why I came here in the first place! The kart and the mallet!” …Oh yeah, the kart. I also forgot about it.

Hibiki went back to the garden and retrieved what seemed to be a wooden mallet, one who looked just like the one Mario used back during his adventures around the Mushroom Kingdom.

She politely gives it to me, which I gratefully accepted.

As for the kart, we decided to leave for tomorrow as it was too late to do a test drive.

For now… Let’s rest. The day was already long enough as it is.

After waking up, eating breakfast and picking up the essentials for my trip to Abydos the next morning, Hibiki and I went to an empty space close to SCHALE to test out the new vehicle that the Engineering Club managed to create.

But umm… I see no kart around in sight.

“Hibiki, where-a is the kart?” I asked her, confused as I looked around for it.

“Ah yes, it’s right here.” She picks up something from one of her many pockets… It’s a small capsule. She hands it to me as I hold it in my hands.

… I glare at it, I observe it attentively… Yeah, it’s a capsule, alright.

I have seen those before though. It’s almost like those from the fighting tournaments, but this one has the logo of Yuuka’s school and has the purple color on the below part of it.

“... I’m-a confused, Hibiki. What-a I’m-a supposed to do with-a this?” 

“Just press the orange button on top of it.” She says in anticipation.

I did as she said as I pressed the capsule’s button.

“Now, throw it on the floor!” She tells me.

I quickly let the capsule hit the floor close to me as I do what Hibikis asks me to do.

Soon, a non-explosive boom happened as the space where I dropped the capsule was consumed by smoke.

As the smoke fastly dissipates itself, from it… a nostalgic sight enters my view.

My old ride, one I used to win the grand prix back home with Mario back then...

Green Fire was once again by my side.

I slowly approached it as Hibiki started talking about it. “It looks exactly like that kart from the photo, doesn't it? We changed the color to green and added an ‘L’ on its front to symbolize you, Sensei! What do you think?” She awaited my feedback.

“Hibiki…” Once in front of the vehicle, I couldn’t help but put my hand on top of his chassis. “It’s-a beautiful…” I tell her, my voice being a bit emotional.

Hibiki simply smiles as she allows her Sensei to have his time with the kart she and her friends spend a long time building for him.

…

After a quick discussion with Hibiki about how the kart works, I found out that the kart cannot run for a long time unfortunately, since its gasoline tank is not infinite. That means I’m still going to take the train to the place I wish to go to. Luckily, since I used the gold coin to pay for the supplies, I didn’t use the credits Yuuka gave me, so I can buy the ticket now!

Hibiki also showed me behind the kart there’s a button that turns the vehicle back to his capsule form in case that I either run out of gasoline or simply for transportation. 

When I asked how she thought about this specific way of safekeeping, she told me the following.

“Me and the girls from the Engineering Club have been watching an anime called ‘Kitten Cubes X’ and we ended up seeing it happen there… And we wanted to do it out of curiosity. Can’t believe it actually worked, to be honest” She said, with an awkward smile.

As Hibiki was satisfied with the data I helped her obtain, she happily left to return to Millennium.

And now… I find myself inside of Shiratori D.U. train station. Or perhaps I should call it a metro station, as this place is even bigger than the small terminal we got back home connecting to the Dry Dry Railroad.

And I have to say… This place is huge! It’s almost like Coconut Mall, but the interior has the rustic feel to it, a perfect mix between ancient and modern design. The bricks and glass rooftop alongside the metallic aesthetic is simply remarkable!

…Wait! I’m not here for sightseeing! I’m here to go to Abydos!

I quickly go to one of the ticket booths and buy one to the Abydos Desert, which goes… in 5 minutes?!

I rapidly sprang towards the railroad embark area as the locomotive was ready to take off, all the ammunition and supplies stuffed together inside my suitcase.

I take it back, this is not a steam locomotive like K64 back in Toad Town… This is equal to that luxurious train back in Rogueport! I think the name was… Excess Express? I remember being able to take it once to go to Poshley Heights where I met that weird fan that mixed me with Mario when he was dressed like me… It was so good, I couldn’t believe it was a vehicle at first!

Slowly, the train passengers like myself started grouping on different lines to enter the humongous vehicle.

Although, for the queue I was in, people were taking their time entering the wagon… I wonder what’s going on.

As I was approaching the door, I was able to see what was happening. It seems that the ticket checker is taking her time stapling the ticket she receives… I-Is she making a bird on that student’s ticket?! Called me impressed! I wonder if she would make a shape if I asked her…

Once it was my turn to enter, I was greeted by the artist girl.

She is a petite girl with light green hair, elf-like ears, golden eyes and a tail almost like Momoka, except it was black and has a heart shaped spade on its end.

She is using a dark blue machinist’s uniform, alongside a conductor’s hat and a light blue armband, as her green halo is almost like an arrow of a compass, with a small circle inside of it. The hat also has an insignia… Is that the school where she studies? Must be.

I wonder how much she truly knows about trains now…

“Welcome, passenger~. Ticket, please~” She says with a soft voice, gesturing a weird pose that uses her hands on top of her head.

“There-a you go, dear!” I gave my train ticket.

“And ummm…”

“Yes~?” she asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

“ C-Can you make-a mushroom shape on-a my ticket please?” I told the girl, a bit embarrassed.

An adult asking for something so childish like a shape on your ticket? C’mon now…

“Ok~. I’ll do my best~.” 

It took a few minutes, but she did manage to create a mushroom shape! And It’s so well done, it’s hard to believe!

“W-Wow…! It’s-a so well done…!” I exclaimed to the girl, incredibly amazed by her craftsmanship.

“Thank you~! This is the first time someone asked me for a particular shape on their ticket~” She nonchalantly revealed it for me, catching me by surprise.

“B-But-a this is so gorgeous and-a creative! And-” Before I could finish telling her what I wanted to tell her…

“Hey! I wanna go to my school in time, hurry up already!” Another student who was waiting in the line starts complaining, understandably so.

“C’mon now!” 

“Hurry up already, I wanna go home!”

“I’m already late for my club activities!”

Soon, the crowd of people behind me started complaining alongside her.

“I-I’m-a so sorry! I’ll-a get-a going!” As the anxiety filled my head, I immediately rushed towards the door to enter the train. 

I wanted to finish my sentence with that girl… Sigh, I wonder if I’ll see her again someday, she must only work here during the ticket inspection check.

But unbeknownst to me, meeting her would happen sooner than I ever expected…

The girl couldn’t help but be interested in the adult she just met as he entered the wagon. He’s different from the ones she knows. 

She could only stare at the man until he disappeared among the people entering the wagon entrance… And then returned to doing her job, although just a bit differently..

 She started marking their tickets a little bit faster than before. 

???’ POV:

“All aboard~! Be careful as the train will start moving now~!” A soft voice left my mouth as I exclaimed to the passengers close to the train stop to move away from the platform’s end.

In a few minutes, this train will go to the Abydos Border.

and along with it… The Mysterious Green Moustached man.

The thought of the man in green wouldn’t leave my mind, ever since he asked for that particular shape on his ticket.

And of course, about what he was going to tell me… It is one of the many mysteries I wish to know the truth of.

“Hikari, there you are~!” I hear the voice calling out to me from the other side of the stop.

It’s from my dear sister. I rushed to her side of the station, giving her a big hug while sighing.

“Nozomi~ I’m tired…~” I let out as my sister held me in her arms.

“Pahyaha! Always so aloof, Hikari!” She gently pets my head, making me feel so comfortable~

”Hmmm~ It’s part of who I am~” I tell her in a joking manner as the both of us laugh in sync.

After enjoying our reunion, the train to Abydos slowly starts to move its metallic wheels out of the station, unconsciously making my eyes follow it as the green man comes to mind again.

“...Oya? What’s wrong, Hikari?” Curious as to why I was so focused on the exiting train, she glued her eyes to the train too.

“Is something wrong about the Abydos Line?” She questions, her eyes returning to me.

“Ah~! You know~? There was this weird guy that I met while I was working as the train stapler for that train~! He even asked to do a specific shape on his ticket~” I start to relay to my sister all about the mustachioed man in green. I ended up doing all of this with a smile.

“Oooh! It must have been someone important for you to be like this. Hikari~. How did he look like?”

“Hmmmmmm~ He had a green hat, and a staunch mustache with a green shirt and blue overalls~!” 

“Huh…?” Nozomi tilts her head and puts her hand on her chin. “... Wait, was he tall?” She asks.

“Yes~! He was so much bigger than Hikari~!” I tried raising my hand higher, only to get tired doing so and returned to my dear sister’s arms.

“H-Hold on! I think I know the guy!” Sister quickly picked her phone, with a somehow worried face on her. She swiped an image of a tall man in green who recently became the head of news as of late. “Is this the guy?”

I nod as I let out a small smile. I’m happy to know that my sister knows who the man in green was!

“Hikari, that man is the new Sensei from the SCHALE Club! Pahyaha! You met someone really famous!” Sister starts giggling like crazy, almost dropping on the floor.

“Eh~? Is that so~?” Although I don’t really understand the situation… I have something on my mind.

I wonder if I’ll be able to see him again though… I still want to hear what he wanted to tell me.

I can’t wait for it~.

Back to Luigi’s POV:

It’s been a few minutes since I entered the Abydos District as I left the train station to follow the path in front of me. Thanks to the kart, the ride has been smooth, but from what I can see… I’m not even close to civilization. Although there is a yellow, sandy road showing me where to go… All I see are empty buildings, both destroyed and even some intact, buried under the sand of the burning desert.

It reminds me of Dry Dry Desert, with all the ancient debris and old constructions.

As if this land was lost in time, abandoned by Kivotos.

As I’m left alone under the harsh heat of the sun, a particular feeling starts filling my heart, one that I haven’t felt in a long time.

Loneliness. 

This place, compared to the Shiratori D.U., feels so desolated from the world. Sigh… I really didn’t want to remember it.

“Is anything wrong, Sensei?” Arona appears on my earphone, asking for my condition.

“It’s-a nothing-a wrong, Arona… It’s-a just…bad memories, that’s-a all.” I told her, not specifying it.

I mean, how would you explain the concept of being alone to a computer program?

“Like what?” The curious AI asks, confusion seemingly printed on her voice.

“Well-a… Have-a you ever felt-a like you are the only one in-a empty world, even-a though you can see a bunch-a other people?” I gave her an example, to see if she could decode it by herself.

“Yes.” She said, surprising me. “The Shittim Chest was always kept inside of the SCHALE Building so… I never had the chance to see new faces except for… ummm…” She seems to be struggling with something.

“Ummmm… I don’t remember exactly, but there was a girl who used to see me every once in a while. But a few weeks before you came to SCHALE, she disappeared.” She continues.

“The last thing she told me was to ‘Wait for Luigi-Sensei to come, alright?’. During the time it took for you to arrive… I think I felt like what you described. What was the word again… Lonely?”

Oh my god… Arona might have had a small amount of time compared to me with this sort of thing, but, at least for me, she is still just a child… She shouldn’t have had this kind of experience in the first place, even if she is a program.

“Arona…” My voice was wavering as I spoke with her.

“But it’s okay! Because Sensei is here now! So I know I’ll never be alone again! Hehe~!” I swear, this program makes my heart flutter harder than when I met Daisy for the first time!

Once we reach the school grounds and have some time in our hands, I’ll give Arona a good hug.

As we were having this conversation, the road changed from sand to asphalt. It seems we reached the residential area of Abydos without realizing.

… And I have to say, I had no idea where we were. I tried looking around, speeding up the kart as in the least, we could find someone who may know where the Abydos School was located. But then…

“Sensei! Watch out! There’s a student in front of us!!” She screams.

“What?!” As I finally focus on what’s in front of me, I see it. It’s a girl with grey hair walking around on a bicycle approaching our vehicle… No, it’s us approaching her at high speed!

I instinctively drove away from her, so as to not ram her over. What happened instead was the kart went directly to a sand dune that was right beside the silver haired girl, launching the kart up high into the sky, myself screaming as it all happened. It was almost as if I was hit by an exploding Bob-omb during my kart racing days, except without all the pain.

Soon my kart landed first onto the soft sand of the dunes as I fell right after, my head digging inside of it.

As the girl realized what happened and saw what happened, she tried to understand what just happened.

“... Are you alright?” She comes closer to my location, asking if I’m alright as a sweat comes down her cheek, confused and scared from what just happened.

I tried getting up from the sand dune with my hands, trying to get my head out with them, until I managed to roll out of it, going backwards and I hit the back of my head on a wall.

“Ow!” I say it out loud. “Yes, I’mma a-ok!” I give her a big thumbs up, but she doesn’t seem to trust my words.

Although I said that, for some reason, my head hurts after seeing her face to face for the first time... It's as if I had an important event with her or something.

I forgot that the same girl, but with long hair and a black dress is aiming a gun at you, ready to shoot... She looks at me, tearing up as she readies herself for the kill.

I shrugged. It's probably nothing too major to worry about for now. I have confirmed that I didn’t hit her, so I get to take a good look at her.

It’s a beast girl, just like Hibiki! She has grey hair and two fluffy ears as well, but they are pointy instead of floppy, it must be a wolf’s. She is using a standard white tucked shirt with a dark blue blazer with white lines and a striped skirt. She also has a lime green glove that she must use to ride her bicycle and… a cyan scarf. I wonder what would make her use a scarf in the middle of the desert.

As for her halo… It looks like one of those gun crosshairs that I saw when I was checking everything back at Angel 24. It has a nice cyan tone to it and a small circle inside of it, with points in each cardinal spot.

“Well… At least you are alive. I thought you were a goner after you passed me and went flying with such speed.” She said, oblivious of the maneuvers I did to not hit her head first on the back of the bike she was riding.

“Hehe, sorry about-a that-a…” I apologized to her, probably to make her not realize what I did.

As I got up from the huge amount of sand and fixed the position of my kart, I could see the wolf girl glancing at me intensely.

“I-Is-a something-a wrong?” I asked, confused as to why she is doing that.

“I think I’ve seen you before… But I can’t seem to remember where.” She puts her gloved hand on her chin, thinking about where she could possibly have seen me.

“Hehehe… I wonder as-a well.” I tried to change the subject. “So, um… Are you from-a around-a here? I’mma looking for-a specific place-a around-a here.”

“In Abydos? Are you sure that you are in the right place?” She questions it with a serious face, tilting as if I’m the weird one here. 

“I’mma totally sure it-a is!” I told her, returning her glaze with a sincere look as a single sweat dropped from the side of my head..

It must be really bad if even the people living here say that to strangers…

“I’mma looking for-a Abydos High School. Do ya know where it-a is?”

The name seems to catch her by surprise as her ears perk up as the words come out of my mouth.

“Are you… Luigi Sensei?” She asked, her eyes opened wide as she finally remembered me.

“Yup! It’s-a me, Luigi!” I told the girl in front of me as I did my iconic nodding jump.

“Then you must have received Ayane’s Letter, isn’t it?” Her eyes begin to show something I couldn’t think students in Kivotos would ever have a problem showing… Hope.

“I have-a. I got-a some-a supplies like-a she asked in my suitcase right-a here!” I quickly took out my suitcase from my clothes, making the wolf girl even more confused.

“How did the suitcase appear from there…?” I heard her say in a muffled voice.

I know, I know… The Mushroom Kingdom tech really is one of a kind, hehe.

Once I opened it, the girl stared in disbelief as she saw not just a few supplies… It was supplies that could last for an entire year!

“Nn. Did you steal all of this, Sensei?” She questions me, but not with suspicion… But with a bright shine in her eyes. Is she thinking that I’m a thief?! And why is she happy with that?!

“Ah, nononono! I bought it! I would-a never steal!” Anxiety came out of my voice as I explained myself to her. She couldn’t help but let out a ‘Nn’ in disappointment.

“A-Anyway! Do you know where-a Abydos High School is?” As this is getting out of hand, I returned to the main point of this conversation.

“Nn. I’m going there right now, actually.” She tells me, showing her ID card that was on her blazer.

‘Abydos Student: Sunaookami Shiroko’

“Oh! Could-a show me where-a the school is then?” With a smile, I asked Shiroko for guidance towards our destination.

“Nn.” She nodded. 

“Okie Dokie!” I let out a happy smile as my voice came out.

I quickly go back to my kart, carrying it and putting him on the floor in his normal position.

“Strong…!” I heard Shiroko say as I turned around to see her after putting the vehicle together nicely, her hand was on her chin.

]She was probably trying to understand how a thin man such as myself could pick up a kart just like that. Never stop exercising, always train your muscles. Hehe.

As I finished positioning the kart in the right direction, I asked Shiroko to show me the academy where she studies.

“...” But before she could, she simply stared at the back of my kart.

“Can I really climb and hold on the metal bar here?” She asked me, trying to understand the mechanical prowess of the car in front of her.

“Mhm. If it is-a like the old-a model, it-a should work-a fine.” If it is anything like the model from back home, it should be able to hold even someone as big as Bowser, so I’m not afraid of any accidents happening.

Relieved by my choice of words, she gets on top of the backseat.

“Nn. I’ll carry my bicycle on my back, so drive for me, Sensei.” She gently grabs her bike and puts on her back like it’s nothing. 

“Roger that-a!” I give her a thumbs up as I sit on the driver’s seat, prepping the kart as its engines turn on, letting out a mighty roar.

Picking up the driving wheel of my kart, I can’t help but think about the other students of Abydos… I wonder what they look like as well.

“Lets-a go to Abydos High School! Yahoo!” I said it out loud, excited to the premise of my objective being so close to be reached.

“Nn!” As if my excitement became contagious, Shiroko also says her usual humming in a positive way as she raises her fist to the air.

Although, needless to say… It ended up becoming so much more than just helping a dying school. So much more…

Author's Notes:

Hey guys, how are yall doing on this fine day?

I got this chapter done before legit crashing out cuz of classes and stuff, so hopefully it didn't affect the overall quality of it.

Luckily I managed to tough it up and with the help of my beta testers random boat, Fubuma and Soundwave and the friends I made on discord [Especially the ones I made on Mojave Outpost and etc.]. 

That's it for now, have a good one and let's see if you guys can find the references I put in the chapter as well, hehe~.

Also, credits for ThatguyProfum for the Hibiki being a hot dog cuz of the fire flower pun, kek.

Chapter Text

World 2-3: Task Force

???’s POV:

I’m tired… Even though I’m in a room overflowing with an aura of power and glamour. Exotic paintings and luxurious sofas and a silver chandelier adorn the room,while  the bright sun pours through the windows. Red banners adorned with an infamous symbol hang from the wall.

This is Gehenna Academy.

Sitting behind one of the many lavish tables, is one of the most important figures of all Gehenna, leader of one of the most powerful clubs,  and a friend of mine. She’s a very… passionate girl.… A very charismatic girl.

And my superior. Ugh… I hope nothing crazy happens today.

“Kiheheheh… Today, for sure, will be the day the new Sensei from SCHALE will answer my call to arms on my quest to conquer Kivotos!” 

Hanuma Makoto. Leader of the Pandemonium Society, the Student Council of Gehenna. 

She’s the president of this chaotic school. And I’m still trying to figure out how this club hasn’t collapsed yet...

I know, I know… I shouldn’t be saying that, but Makoto isn’t the brightest person ever. 

To be completey honest? She’s an idiot. Most of the plans she comes up with either fail or cause so much destruction that she has to fix all of it… And consequently makes me do that for her, which I despise.

But I have to give her credit, she has such a strong will that everytime she falls, she comes back after a few hours. It’s amazing.

But also very annoying and irritating, but to be honest, If I don’t do it, then who will? The other members of the council aren’t much different from her. Well, except for Ibuki, who is an absolute angel that saves me from a stress overdose.

The huge doors at the entrance of the room open, revealing said students I was just talking about.

First, there’s the redheaded girl that seems to not show any shame showing that huge cleavage, Kyougoku Satsuki, the head of the Information Department. Mine and Makoto’s childhood friend.

She’s been with us for as long as we remember and she has always been interested in psychic powers, most specifically hypnosis. She has always tried learning how to do it… But thankfully it never worked on anyone.

I just hope this new thing she’s trying to do doesn’t cause us any more headaches.

The one with long black hair is Motomiya Chiaki, the secretary of the club. She used to be part of the Gehenna’s photography club, but after one thing led to another, she decided it was her mission to report any of Makoto’s losses, as in her own words…

“It’s more fun if I’m close enough to see it happen myself!” I remember her saying that as she gave me her application paper. It was weird… But as long as she is doing her job, I don’t mind.

I just hope she doesn’t post anything weird on that weekly paper that she writes…

And the petite blonde girl… The angel, the miracle, the blessing that keeps all of us together through all the hard times, Tanga Ibuki, our dearest junior. If it wasn’t for her, I would have strangled Makoto at least 3 times just this week.

Thanks to her brilliant and creative mind, she was able to skip classes. Somehow Makoto saw potential in her and brought her to Pandemonium… But I’m sure that she saw how adorable she was and made her our mascot just to pamper her. I mean, I would have done the same.

As for me? I’m Natsume Iroha. Not much to say here except that I’m the one who always fixes Makoto’s antics after they fail. And I despise it.

But you know what they say… Someone is gonna do it otherwise chaos is going to reign in this place, more than normal at least. That’s why slacking off is the best.

“Makoto, I want uppies~!” Ibuki asks, a bright smile forming on her angelic face.

“Kiheheheh… Certainly, dear Ibuki!”

Makoto quickly raises Ibuki and begins to spin her around, as her face glowing with happiness alongside Makoto’s

“Yay~~!” 

Flash~!

Chiaki, seeing this amazing moment which needed to be recorded for the history of Gehenna, begins taking various photos from different angles.

“Simply astonishing! Ibuki has captured Makoto’s attention before she could start yapping about conquering Kivotos for the fifth time this week! It’s a new record! Let’s commemorate this beautiful moment with a photo, Ibuki!”

Ibuki starts smiling brightly as Makoto helps her by making silly poses alongside her. The three of them are simply having so much right now, even my slacker of a heart is filling up with the sugary feel from the cute act in front of me.

…

“Hey, Chiaki.” 

“Yes, Iroha?”

“Save me a copy of each of these photos, ok?”

“You got it!”

Just another day in the Pandemonium Society, without terrible worries that I’ll have to fix later today. What a good day.

“Oh yeah, Makoto.” Satsuki begins speaking, grabbing our attention.

“What is it, Satsuki? Can’t you see I’m busy entertaining our dear Ibuki at the moment?” Makoto lets out with a grumbling tone to her voice.

“I know, but it’s about the gold you requested from the GSC. We still need it to send the invitation to that Sensei of SCHALE. Or at least ask for his number from the financial head of the GSC.”

“!!” Suddenly, Makoto stood still, cold sweat coming from her face as she most likely remembered something important. 

Sigh… I knew it was too good to be true.

“Y-Yes, I-I was just waiting for him to b-be free. What about it?” She says as Ibuki started to puff her cheeks since she stopped moving.

“Really? I thought he was free ever since last week.” 

“... Did you send a message to him about our intentions or something?” Chiaki said, trying her hardest not to smile for what she already knew had happened.

“W-what do you m-mean? Of course I, the great Makoto, did that…!”

“... I think.”

I sighed heavily as Chiaki’s laughter filled the room.

“Oh my god, that’s such a Makoto moment! She probably forgot to send the invitation because she was busy dealing with the Head Prefect again! Haha!”

I opened my mouth to once again fix her mistakes, not being happy with that.

“Fine then, we can just send another invitation to him. We still need the gold for your surprise event, right?”

Makoto simply nods as she goes back to playing with Ibuki, her face clearly feeling soothed after all the anxiety that came before her.

Sigh… Am I gonna be able to rest well one of these days?

Back to Luigi’s POV:

After a few minutes, thanks to Shiroko’s directions, we soon arrived at the Abydos High School building.

And from what I could see… This school has seen better days. The green foliage of some trees planted around the structure’s premises are one of the few things here giving this place color. But above all, the walkway… the entrance… Just about everywhere had sand scattered around.

It kinda looks like Shy Guy Bazaar, except without all the people and minions walking around, either to watch us race or to overall do groceries under the starlight.

It’s like Arona said. After seeing what it currently has, Abydos lost so much, it really has fallen from grace and it’s now trying to survive with the little it still has left.

I parked my kart beside the entrance of the school and entered the building with Shiroko, and it was exactly as I thought. Dust and dirt everywhere on the windows and the floor. This place would never pass the white glove test, for sure.

“Sensei, this way.” Before I could lose myself in my own thoughts once again, Shiroko called me as she opened the door to one of the many classrooms. This one had a name on its plaque.

Foreclosure Task Force.

Before I could enter the room, I could hear chattering inside. It’s most likely the other students of this establishment. But I wonder… I brought so much ammunition, but I don’t even know how many students are here. Hopefully it should be good enough with what I currently have.

“I’m back.” Shiroko opens the door and greets her schoolmates as I slowly follow her inside the room.

One of the three other students present in the room turns around and sees the silver-haired wolf girl barging in and greets her.

The girl in question had dark navy colored hair alongside a twintail, each reaching her knees and having cyan colored ribbons tying it up. But what caught my attention were her animal traits, which were similar to Hibiki’s, but differently from her, she was a cat girl.

Her uniform had the same color as her hair, alongside her ID card, white shirt and a blue tie underneath. I can also see a black gloves with the palm being red. This girl is ready for combat. Her halo also looks like the one Shiroko has, but with a pinkish red color and a smaller circle on its center.

“Welcome back, Shiro…ko?” She says before locking her eyes towards me. I even had to double check behind my back to see if there was someone else there.

“Hey… Who is the green guy with the mustache?” As she approaches me, the eye locking turns into a glare, which to be honest… Kinda makes me shiver a bit.

“Oh my! Shiroko kidnapped someone!” Another student begins to speak, her voice having a teasing feel to it, differently from the cat girl.

The student currently talking has long blonde hair with a side bun on her left side. Not only does she have a green halo, she also has green eyes, resembling those emeralds that I could find inside the mansions I visited.

Unlike the other students in here, she uses a beige cardigan with black piping, the top almost falling, only to be stopped from it by her elbows.

And from what I could see from her face, I could say she is the person responsible for public relationships or something, for she has a very cheerful aura around her alongside a bright smile that kinda resembles that of Daisy.

“...” A cold sweat drops from Shiroko’s face as she tries to unveil their comments as either being a joke or actual commentary on her actions. She then goes behind me and starts pushing me inside the room.

“I didn’t kidnap anybody. He came to visit our school.” She says, defending herself from the brutal yet truthful eyes of judgement of her companions. “C’mon, introduce yourselves to him.”

“Someone asked for help…? Wait! Are you Luigi-Sensei?!” The last girl raised her voice, startling both me and the rest of the girls as I let out a small whimper, nodding my head as fast as I could.

“Ah! I’m Okusora Ayane, first year. I was the one who asked for your help. I still can’t believe the letter somehow worked.” She says with her eyes closed, scratching the back of her head as she giggles just a little bit.

“Hai~!” The blonde girl raises her hand, a big smile shows up on her face. “My name is Izayoi Nonomi, and I'm in my second year! Nice to meet you, Sensei~ ☆!” Somehow it feels like she is shining like a Shine Sprite by the amount of positivity she is emanating as she goes for a hug with Ayane. “Thank you for agreeing to help our dear junior~!” She says as Ayane's cheek begins to slightly become red from embarrassment.

“...” The cat girl continues to stare at my very soul, but I feel she is soothing up… At least for now. She grumbles, but she starts speaking. “Kuromi Serika, first year. I still don’t know why Ayane decided to put her trust in an outsider, but I’ll see for myself if you are reliable or not.” 

“Nn, I didn’t introduce myself properly. I’m Sunaookami Shiroko, second year. Nice to meet you, Sensei.” With a smile, she presents herself to me once more.

After remembering each girl’s names, I caught my breath as I said that, trying to calm down my nerves as I picked up my suitcase from my clothes. “Well, first-a things first-a… Here’s what you asked for, Ayane.” 

One thing that could attentively see is that all the girls in the room started to tilt their heads to the side. And I swear I heard Nonomi whispering “Where did that suitcase come from?” to Shiroko as she simply shrugs it off, saying “Beats me.”

As I opened the suitcase, their faces went from baffled and confused to surprise and happiness in seconds as they noticed what I brought to the table.

“Oh my! So much ammunition and supplies!” Nonomi cheerfully proclaimed as the students rushed to the table to pick up the bullet bills that are compatible with their guns.

“Geez! Just how much ammunition did you put inside of this thing?!” Serika complains, but I can see that there’s no malicious intent on it, although I’m sure she is weirded out about not understanding how the item keeper of mine works.

“Nn… Interesting bag.” Shiroko speaks as she looks at me. “Sensei.”

“Y-Yes?” I looked at Shiroko, curious.

“Can I flip this thing around?”

“... Yes?” Confused, I said.

“Nn. Thank you.” With a satisfied smile, she immediately goes for the suitcase as I realize what I just did.

“W-wait, Shiro-!” I tried to stop her from doing that, but it was too late.

Everything that was inside my suitcase fell off the moment Shiroko flipped it. From clothes, my Poltergust and all the ammunition I had inside of it, all started gushing out like a waterfall flowing until its last drop of water came out.

“W-What the heck! Is this thing a black hole or something?!” Now Serika went from flustered to outright bewildered as I simply giggled a bit, putting on my poltergust on my back as I put all my clothing and badges inside of the case again.

After doing so, there was a small mountain of ammunition and supplies on top of the center table. 

“W-Whoa! I think there’s enough supplies for a few months!” Ayane’s face was overflowing with delight as she couldn’t believe what was in front of her.

“I-I should get Hoshino to see this too!” Serika says as she rushes out of the room to pick up another student named Hoshino. So there was another one, huh?

As I observed the girls organizing all the supplies they received, I redirected my attention to the girl with glasses once more.

The first thing that caught my attention were her elf ears, just like Chinatsu. Are those two descendants of Hylians, like Link and Zelda? Although her hair isn’t blonde nor brown, as it is black like coal, I can feel that she is quite strong herself. I can also see that she is holding something that looks like the Shittim Chest… I think Rin called it a “Tablet”?

Her halo is just like Shiroko and the cat girl’s, although her halo has a circle before it. It’s almost as if they are like a big family all together, using almost the same uniform and gear. It kinda reminds me of myself and Mario when we started our plumbing careers.

Soon, Ayane looks at me with a huge smile on her face. Her plan actually worked out, quickly breathing in and out as she calmed down and once again spoke, full of confidence this time.

“Thank you, thank you so much, Sensei! With this, we don’t need to worry about running out of ammunition against the Helmet Gang for a while!” She says, hopeful for the future ahead of not just her, but perhaps her entire classroom.

Although happiness seemed to be untouchable at the moment, soon chaos invaded the classroom as gunfire came from outside the school grounds. 

“...!” Shiroko’s ears rise up, quickly going for the window and looking outside. Upon inspecting the ordeal outside, she moves to the table and starts messing with the ammunition… Is she organizing the cartridges?

“W-What-a happening?!” I asked, not understanding what she is currently doing.

“It’s the Kata Kata Helmet Gang. They are approaching our school!” Shiroko says out loud, catching both mine and her friend's attention. The same girls from the Shiratori D.U.? Or perhaps they are all from the same group of students?

But before I could say or do anything, the door behind me burst open, revealing Serika carrying another girl, this one having long pinkish hair.

Different from the other girls, this one is not using the usual navy blue blazer, almost as if she forgot it, going for more… aloof type of uniform. A white shirt that has the top two shirt buttons undone and a light blue tie quite loose, going with fingerless gloves as well. Her halo is pinkish with 3 circles, with a line that cuts outside of its center… It kinda looks like an eye in a way.

And… Is she sleeping? In the middle of gunfire? Either she has a strong mental health or something tells me she has experience with it.

If there was something to say about her, she makes me remember Mario in a way. He would always take naps between saving the world and helping others.

“I’ve got Hoshino! But only if she’d wake up!” She grumpily explains to her friends, shaking herself as she attempts to wake Hoshino up.

“Yawn… Five more minutes, please…” The pink haired girl mumbles, not making an effort to get up nor fully wake up.

“Enough of that! The helmet gang is here, help us defend our school!” Ayane loudly proclaims to Hoshino. “Also, this is Sensei from Schale.”

“That’s a big problem… Nice to meet ya, Sensei. My name's Takahashi Hoshino, by the way.” She says as she brushes her eyes with her hands.

“Who cares for presentations right now?! The Kata-Kata Helmet Gang is right at our school gates!” Serika angrily proclaims, shaking Hoshino off her back, dropping her on the floor.

“Ow… My nap time was disrupted because of those youngsters? I hate the Helmet Gang.” She quickly gets up, yawning heavily, blocking her mouth with her hand.

But as she takes her hand off and opens her eyes, suddenly they become wide open as she finally sees the huge amount of ammunition on top of the table.

“Oho! Did Serika win the lottery or something? That amount of ammo is crazy.” Hoshino smugly comments on this, clearly making fun of Serika.

“Hey!” Serika seemed to have taken this to heart, as it almost feels like she is covered in fire as her anger builds up.

“Sensei brought this ammunition and supplies to us. We can fight back without worries now.” Shiroko says, confident in their abilities to fight back against their enemies.

Her eyes start to focus on me. For a second, I swear she was observing me, but it was different from the way Serika did. It’s almost as if she was analyzing me. “...He’s the one who brought them, huh?”

But before I had a chance to present myself to them, the gunshots from before started to become stronger.

The Helmet Gang is right outside the school’s gate. We need to act now or they will invade the schoolgrounds!

“Well, we can leave the introductions for later, Sensei.” Hoshino says as she gets up, her hand quickly picking up the red cylinder boxes for herself.

“Alright, everybody! Let’s show those good-for-nothing thugs what happens when you mess with Abydos!” Serika growls as she goes to the entrance of the academy ready to fight.

“We will sortie them all~!” Nonomi cheers as she picks up a huge gun, half her size and most likely more heavier than herself. Color me surprised, she does look like a cheerful bubble of happiness, but she can carry as much weight as Wario as far as I know.

Somehow I keep forgetting that these girls are different from the Toads back home. Well, it’s not like I’m different either.

“Sensei! I’ll stay behind and give them support. It’s safer if you sta-!” But before the elf girl could finish her sentence, I was already following the girls outside, leaving her a bit confused and baffled Ayane behind.

“B-But you don’t have a halo! …S-Sensei? Sensei?!” 

Upon reaching the gates of Abydos, we were greeted by a battalion of thugs with helmets, varying in colors from black to red.

“About time you showed up, Abydos students!” The girl with the red helmet spoke, almost as if she knew that victory was already theirs. “We know that you are without supplies, so hand over the school property if you don’t wanna get hurt!”

“... So annoying.” Shiroko growls, readying her weapon for the worst to come. 

“Do you really think we are going to agree with that stupid idea of yours?! Think again, you blockhead!” Serika screams to the helmet gang, insulting them as she puts her tongue out to them in an insulting way.

“... Blockhead…!?” Although blocked by her helmet, I feel like one of her blood veins are sticking out as her anger grows rapidly, reminding me of a certain koopa I fought before.

Before chaos could ensue, I tried raising my voice to stop the impending fight, but ended up falling into deaf ears. Instead, I walked towards Nonomi and whispered to her ear. “Nonomi, can-a help me with-a something?”

Although she blushed a bit, she nodded. “What can I do to help?”

“This is what we will do for now…” As I whisper my ideas, I can feel someone’s stare on me, although I’m too busy telling Nonomi my plan to look into it. This is more important.

“...” Hoshino simply stares, without any comment nor with malicious intent.

“That’s it! We are taking this place, whether you want it or not!” As she screeches, she ready her gun, her subordinates doing the same.

The Abydos crew does the same, but that’s when my plan begins!

“NONOMI, NOW!” I scream, making everybody turn their eyes towards me as I turn on my Poltergust and prepare it for what’s to come.

“I’m going all out~☆!” Nonomi quickly revs her giant gun, shooting the ground below her, spreading sand and dust everywhere, blinding both parties.

Upon seeing this, I quickly use the blowing function of the Poltergust to scatter the mini sandstorm to the enemy’s side, blinding only them.

“W-What the hell?! What just happened?!” The girls start to randomly fire their guns everywhere, except to our direction as their complaints mix themselves with the environment and the gunshots.

“I can’t see! Where’s everybody?!” One of the girls speaks out, clear despair coming from it.

“Stop shooting me, you idiot! I’m on your side!” Another angrily comments, her irritation seemingly mixed with the others around her.

… Somehow I feel this fight just became one sided because of the environment itself.

“Wow! It worked! You are so smart, Sensei!” Nonomi flashed a smile similar to the shine that comes from the gold coins as our strategy showed results, even though I just did the same thing from the incident one week prior.

“I-Impressive!” Ayane’s voice resonates through the entrance, as her voice comes from the comms.

“Nn, I liked it.” Shiroko simply nods with a silent smug face.

“Hmph. I guess it was a good idea…” Serika says, trying her best not to actually say that was a good idea. Somehow she reminds me a lot of Daisy when we first met. She was always saying things that she didn’t mean to.

“Sensei is quite the scary adult, ain’t it? Hehe.” Hoshino says, giggling a bit.

“I-I didn’t mean to end-a up like-a this, but-a this will have-a to work.” I tell the Abydos crew as the sandstorm starts to calm down.

As it subsides, it is shown that half of the thug girls had their helmet visors broken by the gunfire between themselves. And for some reason, they refused to fight back at all as they ran away with tears in their eyes.

“Wait! Where are you girls going?!” Their leader yells, demanding them to come back… But to no avail.

“L-L-Leader…! T-T-That vacuum cleaner…!” One of the girls that didn’t have their visors broken suddenly started trembling in fear as she pointed at me.

“H-H-He’s that Sensei from Schale! The one who took down the Fox of Calamity!”

“W-We stand no chance against him!”

“H-How did these Abydos brats manage to get the Green Menace on their side?! I’m outta here!”

As each member of the gang seems to recognize my presence, they start to run away from the area, leaving their leader behind.

Do I really look that terrifying? Is it my moustache? I barely had time to make sure my stache was as gorgeous as the beautiful hair of some students I have seen close to SCHALE so maybe that is the answer?

“YOU COWARDS! You guys dare leave me behind?!” She screeches, trying to communicate with their long gone gang members… Only to be met with silence as a single tumbleweed passes her with the wind from the desert.

And then she looks at us, more specifically, to Hoshino, who is approaching her with a shotgun pointed at her helmet.

“You were saying that you were going to seize our school, didn’t ya, youngster?” She looks at her, intimidation clearly being shown towards her.

The girl in red steps away for a bit.

“C’mon, little girl. This old man right here ought to teach you good manners.” Hoshino is clearly enjoying this as she starts to smile menacingly.

“I-I…!” She begins to run the opposite way from Hoshino. “I’ll make you pay for this humiliation!!!”

That was… kinda familiar in a way. Some of Bowser’s minions like that trio from my adventures with Mario would always do that. I’m feeling kinda nostalgic right now.

“Nn, all bark and no bite. We didn’t even use the ammunition Sensei brought us, talk about bad luck to them.” Shiroko proudly says, kinda as if I’m some kind of amazing big shot.

“Yay~! We won~!”

“Haha, didn’t see that one coming, did ya?” 

Both Serika and Nonomi were shining with happiness as they were able to stop this menace from attacking their school.

“Wow, Sensei. Didn’t know you had that in you. Are you perhaps a super hero or something.” Hoshinno says in an amused tone, almost as if she is playing around with me.

“E-eh?! I-I’m-a no superhero but-a… Ehehe, I’m-a glad you see me like-a that~” I let out, trying to hold back from smiling like a little child.

Only one thing could come out from the Abydos students at that moment, as Luigi’s smile was seen by their eyes… [He is so easy to please.].

“Good job, everybody! We managed to protect our school again. It’s safe to come back now.” Ayane confirms that no Helmet Gang member came back or tried a surprise attack on us, which is good.

Needless to say, it’s great to know that my actions seem to have saved another place from destruction… But why is my gut feeling telling me that this time, it’s not gonna be as easy as reaching the SCHALE office?

The only thing I can do is ponder as I follow the students back to the Foreclosure classroom.

“Wow, I still can believe we won by doing absolutely nothing.” Hoshino says as a huge smile appears on her face. 

“Hoshino, don’t say that. We could have lost the school if we lost.” With a worried face, Ayane calls Hoshino out as the pink haired girl leans on the table and begins to fall asleep immediately. I swear, this girl is almost as sleepy as Mario.

“Don’t go back to sleep, Hoshino! Didn’t you sleep enough for today?!” Serika lashes out on Hoshino. It seems Hoshino sleeps more than Mario, actually.

“Uhee, there’s never enough sleep for this old man, my dear Serika.” Teasing her even more, the two seem to be good friends at least.

“Hoshino got yelled at~” Nonomi just happily comments on their happy-go-around way of showing affection to each other.

“Nn, but the fact is that Sensei helped us with both supplies and in our time of need.” Shiroko talks, a smile forming as she speaks highly of me. I can’t help but blush a bit by the sudden compliments.

As I stood there, sat down in one of the many chairs inside the room, seeing the cheerful yet confident aura surrounding the students in the classroom, I can’t help but smile at the sight of this. Perhaps is this what I want to be able to bring to the students of Kivotos, just like Mario brings to the Mushroom Kingdom… Gosh, I’m getting nostalgia from all this out of nowhere.

“Ah yes, you were going to introduce yourself to us before all that happened, right, Sensei?” Ayane raised her voice, collecting the attention of the others in the room as they stared at me.

“Oh yes! I almost-a forgot about-a it!” I quickly get up from the chair I was sitting on and brush my clothes a bit, taking a bit of dust from it. “I’m-a Luigi Mario, the advisor of the Federal Investigation Club, SCHALE. It’s-a nice-a to meet you all!”

I bow towards them, as a gesture of respect.

“Nice to meet you, Luigi Sensei. As I said before, we are the Abydos’ Foreclosure Task Force. The only club of this school right now.”

The only club? Well, from the state of this school, it wouldn’t surprise me that money would be a problem here but, just one?

“The only club?” I asked out of curiosity, simply because I don’t know if I should wait for more students to show up or something.

“Yes, Sensei. The Foreclosure Task Force has one goal shared by all of us. We want to bring Abydos back to its former glory.”

As in bring it back to the megapolis that was before I arrived here? That’s a pretty respectful and amazing dream to chase after.

“If it wasn’t for you, we would have lost the school to those thugs, so let me say again on behalf of all the students of Abydos… Thank you.” She simply gives a warm smile towards me.

“You see… It’s because this club has every student of Abydos as a member!” Nonomi chimes in, trying her best to explain the situation, but this only baffles me.

You’re telling me that Abydos is just these five students?! Look, I know that even a single person can save the world, but five kids living and fighting for a territory is unheard of!

I know I didn’t ask Arona about the exact number of students Abydos had, but this hit me like a rock!

“U-um, if-a you don’t-a mind me asking-a you all… What-a happened to the other students?” I asked, extremely worried about their situation.

“Either dropped out from the school or transferred elsewhere.” Shiroko answers my question, her emotion not changing from the normal face. “I don’t blame them for leaving to be honest, especially because of the situation Abydos is currently in.”

“I… see.” I can’t help but feel sad for them.

They have been fighting for this place for God knows how long… Can my help really resolve everything?

“Sensei.” Ayane calls for me.

“Thanks to you, not only have we gotten the supplies we desperately needed, but you also fought for this place too. We would have been in serious trouble if you didn’t show up, really." She tells me, each word filled with sincerity.

“I’m-a glad then.” I’m happy that I was able to help, even if it was a little bit.

“But seriously, those thugs are getting more annoying. They’re probably gonna come back in a few days.” Serika loudly says to the others, as it must have happened before I arrived.

“I know… This is getting out of control. Especially when we must focus our attention on more important things.” Nonomi lets out a deep sigh, answering the cat girl beside her as the others nod alongside her.  

“I have a plan for that.” Hoshino speaks up, raising from the chair she was sitting on… and cleaning a bit of drool from the table her head was on.

“How about we go on the offensive this time? We didn’t use any of Sensei’s supplies and we still can catch up to those delinquents if we leave immediately. Right now, they must be sulking from losing to Sensei and Nonomi.”

“With Sensei here, I’m sure we can deal a huge amount of damage to their morale.”

… The room went silent, the girls trying to process what Hoshino just said.

“Hoshino coming up with an actual good plan?! What’s going on?!” Serika was the first one to break the silence, looking at Hoshino with wide eyes, not seemingly believing what she just heard.

“Even I am surprised!” Ayane also comments on the matter, her eyes also widen from it.

“Hey, c’mon now. I can come up with a good idea when I feel like it!” Hoshino answers their juniors, a bit annoyed at them.

“Nn, their base is 30 kilometers away from here, so we have plenty of time if we leave now.” Shiroko explains, a smug smile shows up on her face. And how she knows where they are, it’s a mystery to me.

“So what do you say, girls? Let’s hit them while the iron is still hot.” Hoshino claims, her confidence going to the roof.

“I’m all for it! The last thing they will expect from us is a strike now.” Nonomi cheerfully says, a smile glued to her face.

“Let’s make them regret attacking Abydos!” Serika says, pumping her fist to the air in excitement.

“I don’t mind, but… What about you, Sensei?” Ayane looked at me determined but decided to ask me what I think about the matter.

Certainly, attacking the enemy while they are in a vulnerable state would be ideal. And the bullet bill pellets that I gave them are still here so I see no problem with it. If we can solve the problem right now, it would be great.

“Let’s-a go with-a Hoshino’s plan! Just-a remember to be-a careful.” I give them a small jump to show my agreement with the plan.

“Well, since Sensei gave the green light, let’s do this!”

Soon, we were going outside, Ayane said she would bring their vehicle out of the school’s garage.

As for me, I would follow them using my kart.

“Wait... You came in that, Sensei?” Serika asks, confused by my choice of automobile.

“Yes, I did-a.” I simply answer her with full honesty. “Well… I did-a have to take-a train here and then-a drive towards-a the school.”

She gets even more confused, tilting her head to the side as I explained that to her.

I guess the capsule thingies are not that common, huh?

“I think it’s cute!” Nonomi approaches my kart, rubbing her hand carefully around his exterior. “Sensei must really like this vehicle~!”

“I do, indeed-a!” I smiled, brushing my finger under my nose. I have a lot of pride put into Green Fire, even if this one is just a copy created by Hibiki and her friends.

“... Weirdo.” As Serika says that I could feel a harsh pain in my heart. Is this what they call emotional damage?

After a bit, Ayane shows up driving a… jeep? I mean, those girls could ride tanks, so jeeps shouldn’t be too much of a problem to them…

“Alright! Let’s go, Foreclosure Task Force!” Hoshino raises her voice as everybody enters the vehicle… Except for Shiroko and Ayane.

Ayane is staying in the school, as she is a non-combatant, and because the school grounds would be defenseless if everybody were to leave. So, she will be giving directions through our comms.

As for Shiroko, she goes to my kart and climbs to the back like before.

“I like it here. Good place to shoot my enemies too.” She comments.

… I never thought Green Fire could be used like that but… I suppose there’s a first time for everything, right?

As the jeep leaves the school grounds, I follow them, hopeful that nothing bad will happen. After all, I have yet to see them in an actual combat scenario.

Author's Notes:

I've crashed out. Legit took me an entire month to write just the beginning of this chapter and then another to write the rest... I apologize for the delay.

To be more specific, I needed to distract myself a bit from this story to gain new ideas. Thankfully, it didn't take that long for me to write it all again. Although it still took 2 months for me to come back, sorry. Also, if there's any grammar mistakes, I probably forgot to fix it.

Also, there's another 2 reasons as to why I was not focused on the story. The first one being that I was writing something else that I'll be posting in the future, so you can expect that hehe.

The other reason being... I'm addicted to Umamusume Pretty Derby and Deep Rock Galactic. 

Anyway, I'll try to write the story without much delay this time, hopefully. Who knows? I might do something else instead.

Thank you so much for reading and for waiting for this new chapter to come out. Love y'all <3