That day started off so normal. Luigi had woken up, feeling equally as off as he did every day. He rolled out of bed, knowing that Mario was already up and about toad town, made himself some breakfast, and spent his time trying to distract himself from his own thoughts. It lightly rained outside, so the man in green did get to relax for a few short hours, sitting outside and allowing the rain to wash away everything that had happened, but that was short-lived.

He did debate whether or not to call Daisy just to have something new to think about, but ended up deciding against it since he didn't wish to bring her down with his seemingly permanent grim mood. He already felt guilty enough for bringing Mario down.

He didn't join Mario on his adventures anymore. Ever since the... unfortunate incident, he hadn't gone on many daring journeys.

However he did get to go on one of his own, which was traumatizing in its own way, but at least he got a friend out of it. A small white ghost dog that remained nameless. He just called it 'Polterpup,' since no other names seemed to stick. The dog made great company and Luigi never had to worry about bringing it down, since it was always up. However, being a poltergeist, it was very difficult to control, so that was quite fun. Dealing with its shenanigans was a very good way of clearing his mind.

But this day Polterpup had been oddly calm. Luigi was actually somewhat shocked. Polterpup almost ALWAYS barked when anyone came anywhere within a twenty-foot radius of the house, including Mario.

So why didn't it bark when this intruder came in? Why was it so silent?

Luigi had cooked himself a simple dinner and had just finished storing the leftovers in the fridge for his brother. He was just about to take the empty plates to the kitchen sink when he heard a small voice which he had most undoubtedly heard before say, "rain," in a questioning manner.

He felt his heart stop. He knew that voice. He wasn't sure what to feel upon hearing it come from his own home. Perhaps mortified because hearing that voice must have meant that the person it belonged to was indeed alive. Which could only lead to trouble, trouble, and more trouble.

Why was that voice coming from his own home?! Why would that person be in his living room? To get revenge? To kill him perhaps?

A part of the man in green wanted to jump out the window and find his brother, but he wasn't sure if that would be the best plan, due to Mario's "attack first, think later," tactics. Perhaps it would be best for him to first find out what was going on.

So, still holding onto his plate, he carefully stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room, which was where he heard the voice come from. This was where he saw him.

Luigi silently gasped and immediately dropped the plate he was holding, all his worst fears flaring up in his mind, telling him any and everything that possibly could go wrong at this moment. His mind was already quick to make a list of scenarios.

However, Polterpup didn't bark. It just jumped back behind the man in green at the sound of the shattering plate, then stood behind his foot, acting as if no one else was there, which was odd. Luigi however was too afraid to be appalled by how calm the ghost dog was.

Luigi could feel his heart accelerate, electricity flaring through his blood and veins as he stood there, prepping him to fight should he need to. "W-w-who..." Luigi started, his voice not working the way he wanted it to. He wanted to sound steady and strong but came off sounding more weak and afraid. He then slowly pointed a shaking finger at the cloaked figure who had seemingly just appeared in his household, desperately trying and failing to keep his hand and voice still. "W-who are you?!"

An empty question. He heard the voice. He already knew who this was. It had to be Dimentio here to finally finish him off once and for all.

The cloaked figure let out a small squeak in surprise and quickly jumped around so he was facing Luigi, holding up both his hands as if he was surrendering. His hood cast a shadow over his face, so Luigi couldn't quite see it, but that didn't matter. What mattered was the bloody red cloth covering one of the cloaked boy's arms, and the bloody knife being held by the other.

Luigi felt his face go ghostly pale upon seeing the bloodied weapon. Oh dear Grambi, he thought silently to himself. He's really here to kill me.

The cloaked boy frowned in confusion as Luigi's face paled. Him, curious as to why the heck this man wearing his favorite color looked so mortified, followed Luigi's gaze until he was looking at the bloody knife which he was holding up.

"Oh!" The cloaked boy chimed, quickly lowering the knife and hitting his own forehead with his other hand, lightly chuckling. "I see why you look so terrified. D-Don't worry! It's not the blood of anyone you know or love, I assure you," he said in a joyful tone.

However, this didn't put the man in green at ease like the cloaked boy thought it would. This, in fact, seemed to actually worry the man in green more.

"W-What?!" Luigi squeaked, taking a shaky step backward and readying his thunderhand, sparks circling his fingertips. "W-Why are you here? What have you DONE?!" He cried, fearing that the Dimentio he had encountered before had just soundly murdered someone, then strolled into his own home, planning to make him his next victim.

"Me?" The boy asked, offering a small casual shrug. "I mean... I guess I woke up this morning, stole this knife, did some stuff, and now I'm here!"

"Uh-huh..." Luigi trailed off, still terrified, though not quite sure what the cloaked boy meant by 'some stuff'. Did he mean that he just murdered some poor innocent souls? "And what are you planning to do now?"

"Oh, well you see, I have this little plan thing. A goal, if you will. I've kinda spent my whole life trying to achieve this goal. OOH! Say, maybe you could help me!" The cloaked boy exclaimed, holding his arms out as if this stranger was a business parter he was pitching an idea to.

This seemed to make Luigi somehow even MORE terrified than before. "WHAT?! No, no, no. Not again. I am not going to be a part of this game!" Luigi cried, holding his fists up and getting into a fighting stance. "I won't let you do this."

"Whoa, okay then. N-no need to get all upset!" The cloaked boy exclaimed, dropping the knife and holding his hands out in front of him, seeing the electricity spike at the man in green's fingertips and immediately feeling as if he crossed a line somehow. "I-If you don't want to help, t-that's fine! No need to get all violent! I'm just trying to-"

"To what? Use me for another one of your sick plans?!" Luigi cried, trembling.

"...Sick plans?" The cloaked boy muttered, slightly confused. "W...what about my plan is sick?" He then looked down and eyed the bloody knife. "....Oh. Well, I guess that WAS pretty graphic. But I did what I had to!"

"YOU DID WHAT YOU HAD TO?!" Luigi exclaimed, completely and utterly mortified.

"Yeah. It's fine! I mean, yes, it hurt, but it's done now! I'm totally fine! See?" The cloaked boy chimed, smiling to show that he was a-okay!

Luigi shook his head in disbelief and horror. How could Dimentio be so calm about brutally murdering some innocent soul?! "You know what, that's enough!" Luigi cried. He couldn't just stand there and talk. What would Mario do? What would Mario do?

That's when Luigi suddenly charged forward, delivering a swift kick to the cloaked boy whom he believed to be Dimentio's gut, causing him to squeak and go flying across the room, hitting his head on the wall.

"Um, OW! W-what the heck was that for-"

The boy was cut off by Luigi marching over to him and holding an activated thunderhand inches from the cloaked boy's head, telling himself that this is what Mario would do. To be brave, and think of protecting the people around him. "G-Give me one reason why I shouldn't send you to the Underwhere right now..." Luigi started, doing his best to sound steady and intimidating.

"Y-You're threatening me now?!" The cloaked boy cried, voice shaking. Now HE was the scared one. "Why?! Okay, I'm sorry that I ended up at your house. If it bothers you THAT much, I can leave. I'm just looking for-"

"ENOUGH WITH THE LIES, DIMENTIO!" Luigi yelled, trembling.

....

The cloaked guy froze up, feeling his body go stiff.

He frowned slightly, then slowly tilted his head to the side, furrowing his eyebrows and looking up at Luigi with a lost expression on his face.

"W...What did you call me?"

Luigi was slightly thrown off by the confused tone. Why did the cloaked boy sound genuinely surprised to hear himself being called that? This WAS Dimentio... Right?

Luigi paused, then deactivated the thunderhand and carefully reached for the man's hood, pulling it off and revealing a terrified face. The cloaked boy looked about twenty. Maybe nineteen. He had black hair and grey skin. But both his eyes were black. There was no glowing yellow eye. There was no sadistic grin.

He wasn't Dimentio. He was just some terrified kid!

"O-Oh my Grambi..." Luigi squeaked, letting him go and taking a step back, covering his mouth. "No, no, no, no. Oh my Grambi, I-I'm so sorry!"

However, the boy didn't seem to hear Luigi. He just frowned at him, his eyebrows knitted together.

"How..." He trailed off, slowly standing up. "How did you know my name?"