Ghost Busting 3

by Edguy0009

Chapter 3

There wasn't much to the fourth floor, the auditorium, the restrooms, the concession stand and the dressing room that's always locked, though things were about to get interesting on the fourth floor as the elevator opened with a ding with three fillies and one Makuta stepping out, the four of them noticed how gloomy it was thanks to the "statues" with the sight of them angering the Makuta.

I swear by the shadows that gave birth to me, You. Will. Suffer. Eternal Rest. Kratus thought as the fillies holding a conversation about pianos and those who played them, with Twilight surprised that she destroyed one, but once they got to the last adventure Apple Bloom and Makuta had.

"Don't remind me of the fight with Dark Magic." Apple Bloom said, shuddering at the memories.

"Why not?" Little Ghost asked.

"The brief moment of darkness before the cold wind when Makuta became enraged along with the terror that I felt along with it in his friend's voice when he urged me ta run, as I saw the beast in control of Makuta's body attack after the primal roar it unleashed… they frighten me ta this day." Apple Bloom said, shivering at the memory with Kratus feeling remorseful for what happened to Applejack.

None her age should've gone through what she did, the trauma of seeing the death of a sibling like that or me when the beast comes out. Kratus thought before a cymbal came in from the hall and hit the Makuta's right foot, "Pathetic." He said, looking up and towards the direction the instrument came from.

"Ya know ghosts. They love the atmosphere." Apple Bloom said, shrugging.

Advancing through the hallway, the group came across a trickster holding the carpet with both hands and flapping it, creating waves until the Little Ghost sent a wave of energy at the ghost, knocking it over as she flew over to capture it.

"Good idea when there's support, but not so much when solo." Kratus said, getting an idea on how to upgrade the defenses of the facilities under his control before the quadrio went to check the restrooms first, starting with the mares', though both the Makuta and Sweetie Belle stopped and listened to the music, the latter humming along before identifying that it was written by Piano Virtuoso, the former just likes orchestral music before they checked the restrooms, finding only a ghost in the stallions before checking the concession stand, finding a safe with bits and a key before a dozen little tricksters, a few little bulkies and three yellow ghosts that Apple Bloom dubbed throwers attacked, though the ghosts ended up captured, "Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. They should've learned by now that attacking us is a pointless endeavor." Kratus said, as Apple Bloom grabbed the key and bits, with the former unlocking the auditorium, and who they found there surprised them.

Rarity dancing and Piano Virtuoso, with the latter ordering the former to go into the dressing room before locking the door and noticed that Sweetie Belle was a fan before the ghost noticed the Makuta.

"Are you also a fan?" The pianist asked.

"Nope, I just like orchestral music."

"Sing like the little one here?" The pianist asked, glancing at Sweetie Belle, "Or do you play an instrument like I do.”

"Neither, but I got a friend who knows how to play wind instruments." Kratus replied, before tapping a finger against his chin, "Don't know how long it's been since he's played though." He added, "But, it's unlikely he'll play with one who follows one like who you call mistress."

"A pity." Piano Virtuoso said before the battle started with Twilight telling them that the pianist got angered when something didn't go his way… and that gave Kratus an idea to enact later at the right time as the battle started with chairs thrown at them.

"What a waste of good furniture." Kratus said, looking at the chairs that broke upon impact with his armor or blasted by his skyblaster before the pianist praised the fillies and the Makuta.

Round 2 started with the pianist playing again with tricksters dancing in tutus attacking in coordination. The same attack pattern didn't impress the Makuta as the group with them, each one captured frustrating the pianist.

“Defeated quickly? Yeah, not gonna happen to someone underequipped and underprepared as you, especially against me as you don't got any abilities with the necessary power that'll harm my armor or me." Kratus said after the pianist voiced his frustration. “Now, the four of us shall sweep you away like the speck of dust you are.” He added with a smirk, but if that didn't anger the stallion then what Little Ghost said next did.

"Besides, we're ghost hunters! How could you think that we would be easy victims?" She asked smugly before she patted Apple Bloom then Kratus. "Especially these two. Throwing chairs? Dancing ghosts? Please! It's almost insulting for them! Piano Virtuoso? More like Lame Virtuoso!" She added, worrying Sweetie Belle before the pianist spoke again.

"Not at all!"

Piano Virtuoso yelled in rage after Sweetie Belle voiced said worry, mane a mess before he possessed the piano with two glowing angry eyes appearing before playing again as the possessed instrument attacked by jumping off the stage, charging at the fillies who ran with the Makuta grabbing the piano before flipping it while decreasing the effect of gravity to send it flying into the wall before returning it to normal, causing the piano to crack, giving Sweetie Belle an idea.

"Let's have Makuta damage the piano!" She told her friends, the Makuta gained an evil grin and nodded in approval with fillies drawing the Piano to the Makuta who delivered a melee attack such as slamming both fists into it or flipping it again while delivering a kick after dodging before the Makuta enacted his plan.

"You know." The Makuta began, causing the battle to cease. "That locked door will stop the fillies as they need the key to unlock the door."

"And what about you?" Piano Virtuoso asked from the piano, causing the Makuta to smile.

"I am the key." He said, teleporting to the door, after increasing the density of his fist, punched through the lock, destroying it and the part of the doorframe that housed it in the process. The onyx and gun metal colored Makuta found the shocked look on the stallion's face as he left the piano priceless while he opened the door opened and freed Rarity from her hypnotic state and grabbing her after blasting the trickster inside with his skyblaster. But before the enraged stallion could repossess the piano, Kratus' Shadow Hand surged out and pulled the ghost towards the Makuta who then punched him in the face, sending him flying before pulling the ghost towards him again and punched him in the face once more starting the process all over again, turning the pianist… into a paddle ball with the fillies just staring at the sight while Samuel, somehow amused, laughed as he watched the Makuta play with the stallion before he tossed the battered, and humiliated ghost at the filles who captured the ghost while unsure of what they just watched before Samuel spoke.

"I haven't laughed like that in a long time!" He said, voice still filled with merriment.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Kratus said, bowing like a conductor, causing his divine friend to laugh again, this time clutching his sides as Rarity awoke with a groan.

"Whoever is laughing, please stop as it's doing nothing for my headache." She said with said affliction disappearing.

"Apologies, m'lady. That would be my fault." Kratus said in a faux gentleman's tone.

"I never thought'd you'd be such a gentlecolt." Rarity said, causing Samuel to laugh harder.

"Okay, stop with the acting, it's making it hard for me to monitor your progress." He said, struggling to calm himself down.

"It's always satisfying when I annoy him, or cause him to laugh." The Makuta said before turning to Rarity, "I assume you want to know what happened?" He asked, earning a nod from the unicorn. "This hotel is one big trap, Eternal Rest is a ghost working for Thanatos, and we just fought a ghost forced to work for Eternal Rest going by the name of Piano Virtuoso during which I freed you from hypnosis." He said with Rarity very surprised that they fought the famous pianist, with Samuel laughing again.

"What's so funny?" Rarity asked.

"Our friend here used Piano as a paddle ball after freeing from your hypnosis!" The deity said between laughter, though before Rarity could faint, the back wall of the stage rose with more ghosts attacking, including the ghost from the dressing room who earned a backhand from the Makuta who then told Rarity to stick close as the fight began, though the fight didn't last long, though the ghost from the dressing room earned another backhand from the Makuta before its capture with a conversation about Sweetie Belle's skills starting.

After escorting Rarity back to the caravan where the pony received some hugs, the ghost hunting team headed to the sixth floor which had a castle theme with the fillies guessing that they'd fight a prince or similar royalty, though the Makuta guess from the looks of the armor, that they wouldn't fight a pony, but a gryphon before turning the armor to puddles of goo with his inorganic molecular disruption before they discovered a chest that caused Rarity's eyes to sparkle.

"Ugh, that reminds me, I'm running low on my gold stocks for upgrading the facilities under my control, especially my lairs."

"The parts must be expensive to buy." Rarity said.

"Actually, I have foundries that build the parts, it's the electrical systems that drain most of the gold, despite the recycling process it goes through."

"I might be able ta help replenish them stocks of yers." Apple Bloom said.

"Doubtful." Kratus replied, giving the amount of bits that he'd need to repurpose after including recycling the worn-out parts for a complete refill.

"Yeah, I don't think that all the bits in the fortune could refill your stocks." Little Ghost said.

"Nope, besides, before I was called back, I was in the process of dismantling some of the facilities as I deemed them unnecessary after so long thanks to my efforts, which means that a quarter of the stocks will return." Kratus said as they approached the gates with the Makuta phasing through them with his density control before pulling the rope. But when Twilight saw the black armor, she panicked before telling them who'll they'll face.

Goro, The Black Knight, with Twilight giving a background on him with Apple Bloom making a declaration.

"Ah, the power of unity, few can stand against those who both embrace and are backed by it."

"Power of unity?" Twilight asked, causing Kratus to chuckle.

"Unity is the first of the Three Matoran Virtues. Through it, they perform their duty, while bound to the destiny that awaits them." The Makuta replied as Apple Bloom knocked over the legs of a statue, giving her an idea with Twilight enacting the idea before the four ghost hunters entered a coliseum, with Goros appearing, though one part causing the Makuta to laugh.

"Did I say something that amuses you, armored one?"

"You are not the first to make the declaration of being undefeatable and threatened to use my mask as a trophy, and you want to know what happened to them?"

"I presume you defeated them as you're still around?"

"Correct." Kratus replied, "And you won't be the first royalty I had a hand in defeating." He added before Goro left with the four ghost hunters entering the armory and dealing with the ghosts there and the ones that arrived with the Makuta dealing with the armor that four ghosts possessed, allowing for their capture before the Makuta revealed a hidden chest after pressing some levers that upon emptying they used the door on the other side and found a staircase that led to the lower level, though on the way down, they found a chest guarded by a spike trap that Apple Bloom activated with Little Ghost grabbing the bits inside.

The end of the staircase had a spike trap that had a rope that Little Ghost used to lower them allowing for the passage of the two fillies and Makuta with them finding another hidden chest in a hall that led to a cellar with barrels full of tomatoes along with larger barrels on their sides before tricksters with shields along with throwers appeared from the barrels, the Makuta rolled his eyes as his blade sliced through the shields, allowing for their capture along with the throwers with one of the larger barrels holding a key before moving on to a room with a door blocked by spikes, though when Little Ghost pulled on the rope, the spikes didn't lower, but metal balls and chains did, the Makuta, suspicious, used his gravitational power on them, causing a helmet, a sword along with a bit, a dozen bits to fall, and a trapdoor to open the group collected the bits before going down the trap door the room below had a dragon costume in ruins, with the mouth of the dragon on a machine attached to a pipe that probably allowed for the costume to breathe fire. However, most of the room had spikes blocking it along with a large spider web that the Makuta dealt with by using his heat vision, allowing them passage into a small room, with a walkway, a banner, a cage and a crank that raised an elevator, with Little Ghost turning the crank as the others used the elevator to go down.

The room below had more cages with two cranks, one to lower two of the cages, a basin with water and a bucket that had water in it after Apple Bloom pulled a rope that caused the bucket to fall with one of the fillies using their DLD to reveal a hidden coffin opposite of the door they couldn't open without the Makuta acting as a key again. Fortunately, the coffin didn't have a corpse along with it being the way forward, though it sent Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle to the other side of the wall with Kratus and Little Ghost phasing through.

"It's one of those trick doors." The Makuta said, noticing that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are alright with them not expecting that to happen to them, though the room had three hooded figures that held crossbows guarding a chest, the Makuta rolled his eyes and summoned two tendrils of shadow that pulled both ropes to collapse the platform above the two figures allow for the safe retrieval of the key and bits inside before they returned to the previous room and after dealing with the little bulkies that dropped from the elevator, used the key to unlock the door that led to a dungeon with a cell taking up half of it, said cell had a key in it with it opened by a metallic ball.

"Hang on, let me retrieve the key." Kratus said, suspicious about the cell.

"And how are you going to that?" Sweetie Belle asked, only for the Makuta to phase through bars and as he suspected, the cell turned out to be a trap with both left and right walls closing in after spikes appeared. After grabbing the key, the Makuta teleported out of the cell, causing the walls to stop with ghosts appearing, frustrated their trap failed with Makuta giving them a smug grin, angering them before they attacked with the Makuta using his chain lightning, allowing for the capture of the ghosts.

The key unlocked a door separated in two by a bridge along with a statue of Goro's head on the wall that had eyes that followed Apple Bloom's every movement, after raising the bridge and activating a trap that caused giant axes to swing. The Makuta teleported the Apple Bloom along with Sweetie Belle across to the other side as Little Ghost retrieved the bits from the chest on the floor below.

"I'm certain that we'll face traps like that in Thanatos' castle." Kratus said before the group entered the door to the right of the statue, finding themselves in a room with more hooded figures guarding a trail with the Makuta going first, causing the figures to launcher their bolts at him, with said bolts unable to damage the Makuta with them either bouncing off or crumpling against his armor, after dealing with the little tricksters, they entered a long hallway with banners, armor for the Black Knight along with a pair of pressure plate activated axes that the Makuta reduced to nothing with disintegration, and behind one of the banners, they found Goro's treasure room, full of gold and gems that the fillies plundered before they opened the giant double doors, where along with a booing crowd, stood Goro, The Black Knight who swung his sword in the air and laughed.

"So, you reached me successfully. Not sure if you're good or just lucky. It doesn't matter, your adventure ends here. Right, everyone? Are you ready to see those four fall before my mighty sword?" He asked the crowd before the Makuta laughed.

"You called those traps? I use deadlier things as obstacles in my training!" He said, causing the crowd to boo before he spoke again. "And mighty sword? That's a butter knife compared to the strength of my blade." He added, readying his weapon. "And those foes that I mentioned whom I defeated before? You are naught but a gnat to them!" He added.

"Burn! Makuta burned the Black Night! Respect!" Spike said.

"If you wish to die so easily, then so be it!" Goro said, grabbing his shield before charging at the Makuta who, much to the confusion of the dead gryphon and the spectators, remained where he was even as the gryphon swung his sword.

Clink.

That was the sound of the gryphon's sword hitting the left palm of the Makuta who, unlike the deceased king and the spectators, remained unsurprised at the result before the former smiled and with one swipe of his sword, sliced through the king's armor as if it were butter.

"Impossible." Goro said, red beak revealed.

"Yet, reality says otherwise." Kratus said as he crushed the king's blade in his hand, "And I told you before, compared to what I've faced, you are naught but a gnat." He added, putting his skyblaster right up against the king's armor, and fired at point-blank range, shattering the armor and sending the king flying, though as the armor fell off, the gryphon revealed himself to be an endoskeleton that the Makuta destroyed with his vacuum ability, revealing the real Goros that Makuta slammed into the ground, stunning the gryphon long enough for the fillies to capture, the crowd too was stunned long enough for the fillies to capture without resistance