Dio happily skipped ahead of the group, walking past the castle and through the forest. He said it was a long trek to his hometown, but "If we skip, we can get there faster"

Yeah... Mr. L and Luigi didn't skip. Luigi simply because he didn't have the energy to, and Mr. L because, though annoying Luigi was fun, he wasn't five and he didn't want to look like an idiot. Dio seemed not to care about looking foolish, which was ironic because he wasn't the Dimentio who wore the jester attire.

As far as appearances go, he actually looked fairly normal. In fact, he was somewhat attractive. Yes, he was small and a little too thin, but his facial features were sharp and fairly symmetrical. He knew how to wear his expressions and his big eyes gave him an almost innocent look. He was almost like a baby deer. So oblivious, yet his manner was almost adorable. He didn't quite complain often, and his energy seemed endless. He only seemed hurt when he unintentionally hurt others. He didn't even seem to care about his own well-being.

"It's been so long since I've been in this forest!" Dio beamed, lightly giggling. "Even if it wasn't technically THIS forest! I wonder if this universe has the same traps!"

"I'm sorry, did you say traps?" Mr. L asked, raising an eyebrow as Dio skipped ahead.

"Yeah! Back home my village would set traps way out in the woods beyond our town to try to keep tribesmen away. D-Don't worry though! They're not deadly. And I don't know if they'd still even be here," Dio assured, making both Luigi and Mr. L let out their own sighs of relief.

So, Dio continued skipping ahead, occasionally stopping so Luigi and Mr. L could catch up. The pattern continued for miles. It was weird how Dio was so much faster, even though his legs were so much shorter than both Luigi and Mr. L's.

"We should be getting close," Dio promised after a few hours, his energy still as high as ever. Unfortunately, neither Mr. L nor Luigi could match HALF of his energy. They were exhausted, their feet hurt, and they were feeling pretty dehydrated. But they didn't ask to take any breaks because they didn't want to seem weak. They both were odd like that. They usually preferred to suck up the pain rather than asking for breaks and slowing the group down.

That was when it happened. Dio skipped forward, going on about how they were almost there. Only about a mile and a half left, in his words. Although he said that five miles ago, so who knew. Luigi and Mr. L both exhaustedly followed when they both suddenly felt something latch around their ankles. Before they knew it, they were yanked upwards by the feet, turning them upside down.

Dio quickly turned around and gasped, seeing as an old trap got them. It was nothing dangerous. Just a simple rope which was tied around a tree, hanging them upside down from the foot. Luigi looked around in fear, terrified for his life while Mr. L crossed his arms, wearing a more annoyed expression.

"Are you guys alright?" Dio called up to them, bringing his hands to his mouth as if he was trying to amplify his voice. He was trying not to laugh, but it was difficult. They looked pretty silly just hanging up there, upside down. Gravity caused their hats to fall off their heads and onto the ground. It was interesting how similar they actually looked. They had the same hairstyle too, only Mr. L's hair appeared ever so slightly darker. But it may have just been the lighting.

"Yeah, yeah, we're fine. Just get us down," Mr. L calmly breathed as Luigi frantically tried reaching for the rope tied around his foot. The knot was really tight, so he couldn't undo it, but that didn't stop him from trying.

"On it!" Dio beamed, quickly stumbling over to the bottom of the tree, when the edge of the rope was secured. "Umm.... problem. How do I do that?"

"Just take a knife and cut it!" Mr. L exclaimed, holding his arms out.

"I don't have a knife. I-I mean, I HAD one, but Luigi wouldn't let me keep it..." Dio trailed off.

Mr. L groaned and glared at Luigi, who was still hopelessly trying to undo the knot around his ankle. "Fine!" Mr. L spat. "Just teleport and grab one. Easy."

"Oh. Okay!" Dio chimed, closing his eyes and focusing with all his might.

This time he teleported a total of FIVE INCHES! He's getting better!

"....WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!" Mr. L exclaimed.

Dio nervously laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Ah ha ha, funny story..." Dio trailed off, shyly looking up at Mr. L. "I... don't really know how to do magic...."

Mr. L felt his eye twitch briefly. He then sighed and covered his face with his hands. "Of course..." He muttered. "So we're just stuck up here. The blood is going to rush to our heads, and we're going to die."

"NO, no! We are NOT going to die," Luigi exclaimed, giving up on the knot and fumbling through his pockets until he took out his cell phone. He smiled and began to press a few numbers on it when the device suddenly slipped from his grip and fell to the ground. "No, no NO!" Luigi exclaimed as the phone fell out of his grasp.

"Great going, genius!" Mr. L sarcastically snapped, punching the other man in green in the arm.

Luckily, the phone wasn't damaged. Just... out of reach. Luigi paused, then groaned, letting his arms relax in a defeated manner. "Dio..." He muttered.

"Yes?" Dio asked, perking up.

Luigi paused, then shook his head and sighed, reaching one of his arms up and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Dio... I need you to use my phone to call for help."

"Huh?" Dio asked, cocking his head to the side. "You want me to use your cellular device?"

"Cellular device!? Ha! Who calls it that?" Mr. L laughed as Luigi rolled his eyes.

"Just call for help. I'm starting to get dizzy!" Luigi exclaimed.

"But you told me not to touch it!" Dio pointed out.

"IGNORE WHAT I SAID! JUST CALL FOR HELP!" Luigi begged in a harsher tone than he meant.

So, Dio listened, quickly scrambling over to the phone, unlocking it, and looking through Luigi's contacts.

"Did you tell him your password...?" Mr. L wondered aloud.

"No," Dio giggled. "I just figured it out on my own. It's really not a secure password,"

"Just call," Luigi breathed, covering his face in embarrassment.

"Okay, okay. OOH! Who should I call?" Dio wondered aloud.

"ANYONE!" Luigi cried.

"I'm gonna call Daisy

"EXCEPT HER!" Luigi yelled, his face suddenly going red while Mr. L burst out into a fit of laughter.

"DAISY

"SHHHH," Luigi cried, covering his own ears as if he was trying to block the coming mockery out. "J-JUST CALL SOMEONE ELSE-"

"Too late!" Dio giggled, having already dialed the number. He then held the phone up to his ear and patiently waited, tapping his foot as the phone rang. Luigi turned a shade of red and covered his face while Mr. L continued laughing at his alter ego's embarrassment.

The phone rang twice before Daisy answered with, "LUIGI?! ARE YOU OKAY?! WHY DID YOU TURN YOUR LOCATION OFF?! WHAT WAS WITH THOSE TEXTS?! I'VE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER FOR YOU!!!"

She was so loud that even Mr. L and Luigi could hear, even though the phone was NOT set to speaker. Dio just smiled and lowered the phone, giving Luigi a wink. "Awww, she was worried about you~!"

Luigi continued to whine and cover his face, utterly humiliated while Mr. L continued laughing as if this was the funniest thing he had ever seen.

So, Dio giggled and went back to the phone. "Greetings Daisy

On the other end, Daisy suddenly fell deathly silent upon not hearing Luigi's voice. She seemed to go still as if a chill was filling the air. "Who are you..." She started, suddenly sounding about as cold as a block of ice.

"It's me! The one who sent you the electronic messages earlier!" Dio giggled as if he was reconnecting with an old friend. "What is the tea?"

"WHERE IS LUIGI?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HIM?!" She suddenly yelled, sounding harsh and firm.

"Oh? Luigi? He's a little tied up right now," Dio explained with a smile as if this would comfort her.

It did not.

"WHAT?!" She cried, her voice suddenly shaking slightly.

"Yup! He's hanging from a tree as we speak!" Dio giggled. "Isn't that silly?"

"...W-what are you saying?" Daisy asked, getting much quieter. "I-is he... he's not dead, is he...?"

"Dead? Oh, no! Not yet!" Dio assured.

Daisy let out a loud sigh of relief on the other line, then raised her voice ever so slightly. "Okay, listen here, if you lay a single finger on him, I swear to Grambi-"

"That's why I called," Dio interrupted. "I'm giving you the opportunity to save him. You have only a few hours to get here." He stated, trying to estimate how long it would take for Luigi and Mr. L to pass out from the blood rushing to their head.

Daisy waited a moment on the other line, seeming to pause to think this over. "Give me your location." She eventually said in a low tone.

Dio quickly nodded, even though he knew she couldn't see, swiping through the phone's settings until he saw the location label, quickly pressing it so it would light up and turn on. "Done!" He chimed.

"Great," Daisy breathed on the other end. "You best prepare yourself for a WORLD of pain,"

This was a little confusing. What did she mean by that? "Huh-" Dio was about to ask when she suddenly hung up.

He lowered the phone so it was in front of him and eyed it, before shrugging and looking back up at Luigi and Mr. L. "I think that went well!" He beamed.

Luigi just shook his head in embarrassment while Mr. L continued laughing.

"HA HA HA, Oh my Grambi, you're adorable," Mr. L said without even realizing it. "You realize she's going to think you're holding her boyfriend captive or something, right?!"

"I'M NOT HER-" Luigi started, when Dio suddenly gasped loudly, interrupting him.

"YOU THINK I'M ADORABLE?!" Dio interrupted, his eyes seeming to light up.

"Huh?" Mr. L asked, his laughter slowly fading. "What do you mean? I never said that."

"Yes, you did," Luigi muttered, still covering his face, which was about as red as a ripe tomato.

"WHEN?!" Mr. L exclaimed.

Luigi groaned and explained exactly when it was said, and Mr. L argued back, claiming that he had said no such thing. They continued arguing as Dio looked up at them, feeling an odd sense of joy.

When he was a young child people had called him adorable, but that felt different. He was a child back then. It was different hearing it now. Something just felt so... nice about being called that. Even though Mr. L may have meant it as more of an insult.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about," Dio assured Mr. L as he continued bickering with Luigi. "It was kind. Hearing it was like listening to a lullaby."

Mr. L fell silent.

If Dio squinted, he could almost see a small blush forming on the man in green's cheeks. It was quite interesting. Had he done that? Had he made Mr. L lightly blush? Was he blushing too? He couldn't even tell.

They stayed silent like this for a moment, until they suddenly heard the sound of... an engine? A go-cart? Something of the sort.

Not a moment later, a small cart came speeding through the forest, running over nearly everything in its path and skidding to a stop.

The next moment happened all too fast. One moment, Luigi and Mr. L were hanging upside down from a tree, and the next someone had driven by, screeched to a stop, hopped out of her vehicle, took a blade, cut the rope, then ran over and tackled Dio to the ground, an angry expression on her face.

"YOU!" She hissed. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH HIM?!"

"Um, ow. W-what are you talking about?!" Dio stuttered, almost afraid.

"DAISY," Luigi exclaimed, quickly sitting up and rubbing his head, which hit the ground pretty hard when he fell. He quickly ran up to her and tried prying her off Dio. However, it wasn't very effective. After all, she was significantly stronger than he was.

"Daisy?! OH, IS THIS YOUR DAISY?!" Dio asked, his eyes going wide. "Whoa. She's so pretty! I see why you like her! Her beauty is as refreshing as a slap to the face on a crisp winter day-"

"EXCUSE ME?!" Daisy exclaimed, voice filled with rage. "How DARE you!!!"

"Okay, whoa whoa whoa Ms. FeistyPants, calm down," Mr. L exclaimed, prying her off as well. With both Luigi and Mr. L's strength, they were finally able to get her off, but she didn't stop kicking and screaming.

"MR. L TOO?!" She exclaimed, glaring at Dio. "YOU MAKE ME SICK! DON'T WORRY, LUIGI! I'LL SAVE YOU FROM-"

"Daisy, I'm okay," Luigi assured in a gentle voice. "Calm down. They aren't threatening me. This isn't what it looks like."

"REALLY?!" Daisy shouted. "BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE ISN'T WHERE HE BELONGS!" She cried, still glaring at Dio.

"You're right!" Dio exclaimed, smiling and nervously backing away while Luigi and Mr. L held her back. "You're right! I'm not where I belong! Okay... I can't help but feel like there is a misunderstanding here."

"YOU THINK?!" Mr. L exclaimed. "She's literally trying to rip your eyes out."

"Daisy..." Luigi trailed off, trying to soothe and calm her down. "Please, j-just let me explain."

Her struggling and squirming slowly slowed, until it faded to nothing. Once Luigi and Mr. L were pretty sure she wouldn't leap forward and murder Dio, they slowly let her go. To this, she crossed her arms and looked at Luigi.

"You have two minutes to explain this."