Evershade Valley
Moments before disaster:

It was another peculiar night in Evershade Valley when the sky was clear and not covered in the purple storm clouds that was mentioned to be customary of the region. That's just how it's been as of late. Maybe this was the normal weather and the purple clouds were just a fake rumor?

The elderly Professor E. Gadd sat in a darkened laboratory, tinkering with one of the inner mechanisms of his latest invention. A device that resembled a flashlight but its true purpose was unknown for the time being. Only the inventor of it knew the capabilities of his new invention in progress. This laboratory was located in the mansion known only as the Gloomy Manor, one of five such abandoned— and quite notably haunted mansions— that could be found throughout Evershade Valley. It was also the mansion that was closest to his newly built and furnished Bunker, and it was also his laboratory of choice.

Despite only having lived in Evershade Valley for only a few days now, the professor had managed to complete an astonishing amount of work in that short amount of time. Far more than an average professor could manage. He had managed to practically perfect his Pixelator— give or take a few misplaced pixels here and there, sent a couple of his toad assistants to scout out the other four mansions, and had begun recording some of the most detailed and in-depth research ever orchestrated on spiritual beings. Everything was coming together nicely for him in his new location at last.

He even managed to invent a successor to one of his greatest inventions, the good old reliable Poltergust 3000. He dubbed the new and improved ghost-busting vacuum— the Poltergust 5000. It was bigger in size compared to the 3000 counterpart and it included many different new features. In fact, he was working on an attachment for the new Poltergust right now. These achievements, which would have been almost impossible for any regular person to achieve in such a short time period, was summed up to just another ordinary couple of days in this professor's eyes. Needless to say, he enjoyed this type of work so it didn't feel like a chore to him.

Now he was contently mulling over his new project—he called it the Dark-Light device, carefully fine tuning its gears. The purpose it would soon serve once it was reassembled was to uncover invisible objects with a rainbow light, similar to an ultraviolet black light but it would be useful for ghost research. Unbeknownst to him, in the darkness behind him lurked a greenie, one of the few ghosts native to Evershade Valley. True to its name, its semi-transparent body was completely green in color. It floated up beside the professor silently, mischief gleaming in its narrowed eyes. Feeling a presence behind him, Gadd turned around quickly. The greenie's expression suddenly changed, the slightly menacing gaze turning into a pleasant smile as it laughed at its failed attempt to scare him. Gadd chuckled and waved to it before turning back to his work, shaking his head in amusement. The laboratory behind him was now illuminated with the glow of many greenies as they floated around the room, playing, reading and sweeping. One of the many greenies that occupied the room moved too close to a spark of electricity and stunned itself for a second, surprising a nearby greenie holding chalk. When it recollected itself, it chortled in amusement as the greenie near it rolled its eyes in annoyance before turning back to the chalkboard and continued writing on it. Basically they were having fun and helping a little on the side.

In fact, these ghosts were partially the reason why the professor had gotten so much work done in these past few days recently. They had proved immensely helpful as laboratory assistants and were willing to participate in any kind of experiment—unlike his Toad assistants who often complained about it. The professor had developed an amicable relationship with them that an average person would have contemplated as strange to even consider, but was actually quite natural to him in a weird sort of way. The ghostly residents of Evershade Valley had become not only the professor's research subjects, but also his new-found friends.

It was shaping up to be another normal night inside of the mansion until an explosion was heard in the distance, followed by a few dull thuds. The professor barely lifted his head in acknowledgement of this, expecting it was just one of the greenies messing around again but the ghosts behind him suddenly froze in place simultaneously. Instantaneously, the natural friendly pupils in the center of their eyes shrank down to nothing, leaving behind only the sinister blank white of the sclera. Then, all chaos broke loose as the ghosts suddenly turned violent and destructive, wrecking the laboratory in the process. Books were torn, test tubes and beakers were smashed, and various objects were flung about as Gadd watched in horror as his playful assistants turned into viable threats.

The professor ducked as a bottle flew by his head, narrowly missing him and smashing into the wall. He quickly deduced that it was unsafe to remain in his current position and formulated an escape plan. Practically falling off of his tall stool, Gadd made a wild dash for the door and made for a brief escape to his makeshift laboratory. The greenies clamored angrily behind him as he made the short sprint from the lab to the foyer. Luckily for him, no other ghosts had yet to infiltrate the mansion and the greenies were still occupying themselves in the lab, causing as much havoc as possible and making a huge mess of everything. Panting, the professor darted through the darkened foyer, underneath the flickering lights of a dusty chandelier and past two suits of armor. The helmets of the armor twisted slowly to follow his labored movements as he pushed open the front door of the mansion.

Outside, the clear night had become shrouded in a dense purple fog that settled over the landscape like a damp blanket. Now the professor knew that the rumors he thought were fake turned out to be true after all. Gadd stumbled out onto the front porch of the mansion, shutting the door behind him and then leaning against it, gasping for breath. Although he was certainly spryer than the average fellow his age would be, he was not immune to the arduous effects old age had on the body especially after a sudden act of cardio like this. And right now, the professor clearly felt fatigue setting in as he practically doubled over on the porch.

"I'm getting... too old for... this tomfoolery...," he wheezed and panted in exhaustion, an unsettling realization sinking in.

He knew that this problem, whatever it would turn out to be, was definitely too large and too energy-absorbing for him to tackle on his own with his old age, scientific genius or not. He was going to need some serious help from someone younger and more agile but still experienced with ghost hunting if he wanted to return things to normal, and sooner rather than later would be advised. But for now, as he finally began to recover and breathe a little easier, he had a more pressing issue to address. Straightening himself, Gadd squinted behind his glasses as he peered into the thick fog that surrounded him. Now he was experiencing what Evershade Valley was known for with his own eyes but he didn't fully understand what kind of predicament he was actually in quite yet.

He needed to get to his Bunker as quickly as possible, and judging by the raucous sounds of the greenies inside the mansion, he didn't have much time left before they would find him. However, not being able to see his hand in front of his face made what was normally a short walk look like a mile-long maze with the purple fog covering his field of vision. He had to make the decision to either stay here on the porch and risk the ghosts easily discovering his location and getting caught by them, or make a hazardous run for his specter-resistant safety fortress. The professor was running all of the worst-case scenarios through his mind, ranging from simply getting lost to getting attacked by the deranged spirits, when the front door to the mansion burst open and released a torrent of ghosts.

The professor quickly had his mind made up for him as he worked to dodge the greenies, running blindly down the porch steps, across the front yard, and out through the squealing front gate. With little regard to direction or his own safety, the professor sprinted willy-nilly across the grassy plain, a sight that would have been comical had the man not been running for his life. The sounds of the greenies echoed faintly over the plain and the professor doubled his pace, feeling the presence of the spectral pursuers that may or may not have been only works of his imagination. Just then, however, a strange rock—or atleast what he thought was a rock, appeared right in the center of his path, right under his own feet.

Too late to dodge it, the professor tripped and fell head over heels, rolling slightly until he came to a stop. Confident that this was the end of his existence, Gadd lay still, save for his quickened breaths, and waited. Five minutes passed by before he realized that he was not dead and, hopefully, would not be anytime soon, that is if he gets a move on and pick up the pace so he can make it safely to his destination. Cautiously raising his head, the professor scrambled into a sitting position and surveyed the fog around him. No greenie or other supernatural entity had materialized next to him yet, so it appeared that he was safe for the time being. He began to rise and return to his frantic run when a purple glimmer caught his eye.

Wedged into the grassy ground was the supposed "rock" that he had stumbled over. Walking closer, the professor observed that the glimmer he had seen was in fact not a reflection of light, but a spark of energy that coursed over the entire surface of the object. The dirt surrounding it looked freshly upturned, as if the object had recently crashed there. Gadd examined it shrewdly, wondering if the energy surrounding it was dangerous. Eventually, however, scientific curiosity got the better of him and he kneeled down and grasped the object feeling some kind of strong force of power radiating from the strange treasure. Grunting, he managed to pull it out of the ground with some effort.

He now held an object that was significantly larger than the palm of his hand and crystal-like in structure. Clearly, it was no ordinary rock. Could it be a rare variant meteorite? Maybe even a rare gemstone? The faint glow it cast over the dense fog around him was enough to tell him that much. As he gazed further into the beautiful depths of the crystal, he was hit with a bizarre feeling of déjà vu. Somewhere, somehow, he had seen this thing before—but for the life of him he couldn't remember where or when. Did he really hit his head that hard from the sudden stumble that he developed amnesia? Intrigued by the newly discovered treasure, he resolved to tote his new find back to the Bunker and examine it further there.

If he could find his Bunker that is. Gadd realized he was completely disoriented after his accidental tumble and had no idea where he was, let alone which direction he should walk in. With a sigh he resettled back on the ground to see if he could perhaps wait out the fog. After all, regular fog normally disappeared with enough sunlight but to his dismay he came to a realization that this was by no means ordinary fog and he was just wasting much needed time being a sitting duck when he should really get a move on.

With another, deeper sigh, the professor finally remembered that it was called Evershade Valley for a reason and prepared to spend some time sitting alone in the deep, dark violet purple mist. He ruminated on his current predicament. At least the ghosts weren't chasing him anymore, so he had one less thing to worry about. Plus, he had his splendid crystal. The professor turned his attention back to the object he held in his hands, he rubbed a little of the dirt off of the crystal as it gave off a brighter and much more eerie purple glow, holding it up in an attempt to get a better look at it. If only he could get it back to the Bunker-

Suddenly the fog above his head disappeared. The professor blinked, looking up at the top of a tree he didn't know existed until now. Slowly, he lowered the crystal back onto his lap. The fog rolled back in, obscuring the tree once more. He repeated this a few more times, watching as the fog disappeared and reappeared as he moved the crystal towards and away from it.

"Fascinating," he murmured, reexamining the crystal with renewed interest, completely astounded by its abilities. Although the area of fog it cleared was small, a few feet at the most, it was enough to make a noticeable difference in visibility. And, he realized with growing excitement, it would be enough to help him find his way back to the Bunker. He sprang to his feet, holding the object out in front of him like a lantern in the darkness to guide his way through the valley to his safe zone. The fog shrank back at his approach, revealing a few feet of ground that would soon be obscured again if he faced the crystal in another direction. He began slowly and tediously making his way across the plain, walking in multiple different directions as he hunted for any sort of familiar landmark. From behind him, the fog reappeared but in front of him and the strange rock, it was cleared up.

Eventually he finally found a tree that looked vaguely familiar. Walking further he recognized a distinctive rock, then a group of shrubs. He was getting somewhere at last. He was getting closer to where he needed to go. Finally, he found himself running down the path that led to his beloved Bunker. He had never been so happy to see an oversized version of his own head in his life and fairly hollered with joy as he flung open the door to his sanctuary. The Bunker, though small, was equipped with everything he could ever want or need—from this one location, he could monitor almost everything that happened in the various mansions of Evershade Valley via his multiple cameras. The Bunker was also fitted with various pieces of scientific equipment, perfect for any sort of research or experimentation he could think of. With a contented sigh he pushed the reinforced door closed, effectively sealing himself inside and protecting him from any unwanted spectral guests from entering his abode uninvited.

Clasping the crystal to his chest, he shuffled over to the chair in front of his wall of monitors and heaved himself up onto it. He set the crystal down on a bench underneath his chair and examined the multitude of screens, adjusting his glasses as he peered intently at them. The various green monitors depicted seemingly random squiggles and dots that the professor studied, muttering under his breath in astonishment as he interpreted the data.

"These energy readings are off the charts. Paranormal activity has increased 500% across all sectors in the last few hours and it is still skyrocketing. What in blazes is going on here....? It's like a chaotic storm has hit the area all of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere and it's spiraling out of control!"

With a few taps of a keyboard, more graphs appeared on the main screen as the professor struggled to make sense of it all. His Parascope, which would have normally been able to pinpoint the exact source of the phantasmal chaos, was proving ineffective against the otherworldly fog. However, he could deduce that the energy spike had begun only recently, around the time the ghosts at the Gloomy Manor had turned feral and before his flight across the foggy plain. The fog...

The professor immediately pulled up a live outside feed of the Bunker and the surrounding plain. It was still enveloped in the mysterious fog, so much so that he could not even make out where the Gloomy Manor should have stood. A quick check of the other cameras revealed the same situation at all of the other mansions throughout the valley. Could this unusual phenomenon have something to do with the new hostile nature of the ghosts? Perplexed, he leaned back in his chair, letting his eyes drift over the wall of information.

Wait. He turned back to the bench underneath the chair where the crystal now lay, still glowing with a faint purple light and crackling with intermittent flashes of energy. The object obviously had some sort of connection to the fog, but he needed to figure out exactly what it was. To do this, he was going to need it analyzed. Luckily, he had built a device capable of this back when he had been conducting research on the rocks surrounding Thwomp Volcano many, many years ago. It had been one of his very first inventions long before he began ghost researching, and he had kept it around mostly for sentimental reasons. Although it was currently being used as a decorative display case for his prototype Poltergust 400–his first attempt at creating the ghost hunting machine. He was sure a little effort and elbow grease could restore it to its former glory.

About ten minutes later, Gadd had made his own prediction come true and now stood in front of a full functioning rock and mineral analyzer, or as he had dubbed it, the Rockin' Analyzer 3000. It was a simple machine consisting only of a glass dome and the stand it rested on, all attached to the main monitor via a mass of cables. Carefully, he lifted the dome, set the crystal inside, and then replaced the dome over it. Scurrying back into his chair, he typed a few instructions and a soft glow enveloped the crystal, pulsing slowly throughout the small room. He watched in satisfaction as data came streaming into the monitor. Now he could finally get some answers.

A list began to compile itself on the main monitor. Some of the characteristics of the object had been fairly apparent from the start. The rock was in fact a crystalline solid, and it had most of the characteristics any regular crystal would have. However, when it came to other facts that should have been simple to determine, like age, things suddenly got complicated. According to the screen, the age of the crystal currently sitting in the lab was in fact ancient, ranging from between a couple million to a couple billion years old. Even after running the machine multiple times the results refused to come back any different. And when it came to location of origin, the best answer the machine could offer was a big question mark. Gadd now found himself with more questions than answers and banged his fists against the keyboard in frustration. He had a mysterious crystal that was somehow connected to a cloud of purple mist that was in one way or another responsible for turning the ghosts into enemies and ruining the greatest research opportunity of his life-

That suddenly struck a chord in his mind. What was the reason he had moved here again, his entire motive for going through the hassles of building a new lab and making a new life for himself in a strange location? To study the pacifying effects the Dark Moon had on the resident ghosts of Evershade Valley. Resisting the urge to punch something, the professor aimed all of his cameras at the night sky, even going so far as to open the two hatches that made up the "glasses" of the Bunker. Each and every one confirmed the same thing—the Dark Moon was gone. It suddenly vanished from its original position in the sky. Unless...

Cursing his own lack of common sense, the professor accepted that the only logical conclusion was to assume that the crystal he found was a fragment of the Dark Moon. Which meant the lavender purple crystallized crescent moon was broken! But what could've possibly caused that to happen. Something or rather someone had to be responsible for this and E.Gadd would stop at nothing to find out who the culprit was. No wonder he had experienced déjà vu upon seeing it. He had studied the Dark Moon for literally hours on end before moving to Evershade Valley.

Instead of feeling the typical relief that came with solving a difficult problem, however, the professor found himself growing more and more panicked about the entire situation. He only had one shard of the Dark Moon here, and he assumed that the rest of the pieces must have been scattered throughout the valley somewhere. How, with the hostile ghosts and the impenetrable fog blocking his way, would he be able to retrieve the rest of the pieces? Furthermore, with the Dark Moon's calming effect nullified, the ghosts were now free to roam beyond Evershade Valley and wreak havoc anywhere they saw fit. Even, possibly, causing destruction outside Evershade Valley like the Mushroom Kingdom! The entire world could be in peril if nothing was done immediately!

E. Gadd clenched his jaw, realizing that he had a full-blown crisis on his hands. His instincts had proved correct earlier—he was going to need a lot of help, and quickly. He cracked his knuckles and got down to work, beginning to research both the lesser-known qualities of the Dark Moon and the whereabouts of a certain green-capped plumber he knew from certain events years ago. He had been looking forward to another adventure, but when it rained in Evershade Valley, it sure did pour.

"Five days," he thought grimly. "I couldn't even have five days before something went wrong? We have to get this whole situation resolved as quickly as possible or we're all going to be doomed! I'm sorry that it must come to this on such short notice my friend but we have no other choice. Desperate times lead to desperate measures."

Luigi's Cottage in Boo Woods:

Back in his cottage, Luigi was still sound asleep. An empty plate and glass were left on the side table next to him. Only a few chocolate chip cookie crumbs and a small amount of milk remained on the plate and glass. He shifted in his chair, scratching his black mustache as he dozed. His soft snores and the crackle of a dying fire were suddenly interrupted as the television image at the front of the room changed from its normal "standby" screen to one of flickering static. The sounds of electricity jolting through the device were loud enough to rouse Luigi from his nap. Sleepily he pushed up the green cap that had fallen down over his eyes and stared uncomprehendingly at the tv screen. Still in the strange half-asleep or groggy stage that comes after waking up from a nap promptly, he stumbled over to the set and blearily eyed it. He had never seen a TV do this before. He had just gotten this set, too. How could it be broken already? Maybe he could fix it, somehow?

As he stood in front of the television, he realized that he had no idea how to even begin going about fixing a TV. However, as the sounds emitting from the set became louder and more garbled he figured he had to do something and reached hesitantly for one of the dials on the box—more notably the power button. He only knew one of the most common ways of fixing an electronic device not working properly and that's simply restarting it but he didn't get the chance when...

"Luigi!" A face of a short elderly man suddenly appeared on his tv screen without warning seemingly trying to respond to the man in green by calling his name but it only succeeded on startling the timid man.

With a cry Luigi fell over and scrambled backwards, slamming into his chair as he struggled to distance himself from the set and the bizarre face that now filled it all of a sudden. The impact had pushed his hat over his eyes again, and he hastily pushed it back up as he prepared to confront whatever had invaded his TV.

"I need your help, sonny! It's an emergency! The ghosts have gone hostile!" The crazed old man continued, putting his hands on his face in a panicked state.

Fully awake now, Luigi recognized the face as that of Professor E. Gadd, albeit a little distorted due to the extreme close-up. Still somewhat in a state of shock, he could only rub his eyes and stare up at the screen, almost missing the question the professor asked him. "Wait...Ghosts?! Hostile?!"

"Ah... What are you doing on the floor?"

Luigi felt heat rush into his face from mild embarrassment as he quickly rose from his sitting position. Yet another incident where his cowardice had gotten the better of him. Before he could reflect on it too deeply, the professor continued on.

"Never mind that. I'm preparing the Pixelator!"

"The...what...?" Luigi was still lost for words and couldn't really find his voice. But there was one thing he did know; the gleeful look on the professor's face only served to raise a warning flag in his mind. Luigi had learned over the years that whenever Professor Gadd got excited about something, it typically did not bode well for him in the future. Protesting vehemently, Luigi stepped backwards, as he tried to get the professor's attention. Waving his arms in protest, he shouted repeatedly, "no no no no no! Wait P-Professor! I-" Unfortunately for him, Gadd was already typing out the commands as he prepared for what would be his Pixelator's fourth attempt transporting a living organism.

"Hold still, young feller!" Gadd responded, not particularly caring about Luigi's cowardice demeanor.

The TV screen became fuzzy again as electricity surged through it, a bright green light filling the dim sitting room. "Here...We...goooo!!" The professor's excited voice was barely decipherable as it became distorted while the Pixelator powered up. Panicking now, Luigi frantically looked for a means of escape from his possessed TV set. Out of options, he began to run away before he suddenly found himself frozen in place. Luigi could only scream in terror as the green light became brighter and he found his body dissolving before his very eyes, the small cubed-shaped pieces of green and blue flying into the set. He felt as if he was being pulled apart. Soon enough he felt the last pieces fly away and he entered a state of nonexistence, similar to that of a warp pipe but penetrated by flashes of light and a swirling feeling. The last thing he remembered was being fully absorbed into his tv set and into what he thought was cyberspace then everything went black.

_______________________________
Another chapter is finally finished. I actually planned to finish this chapter earlier but got a bit too sidetracked. At least it is finally done now. Hope you enjoyed it ^U^ To be continued...!

Finally we're getting to the events in the actual game!

I still need to find a good place to add Gooigi's back story though. I hope they add something like that in the remake. I think that would be a cool new side story to be included.

I think I did forget to mention that the development of the Pixelator took since the events of the  first game to actually perfect as a reference since it was actually shown in the gallery in the 3DS remake of the first Luigi's Mansion game. It appears to be the Pixelator Screen that can be seen in the Gallery by using the search function on the Game Boy Horror to look at the corner of the southwest wall. When it is scanned, Luigi says, "A huge monitor... I wonder what it's for..." so fun fact there.