Two minutes. Daisy crossed her arms and impatiently waited for an explanation as Luigi nervously began to sweat, not exactly sure how to phrase this all. He had told her long ago about the Ultimate Show and all the trauma that had come with it, so she was well aware of who Dimentio was.

Because of that, it may be difficult to explain exactly what Dio was.

"Ummm," Luigi nervously started, taking a deep inhale so he could get as much of this out in one breath as possible. He was running out of time, after all. The clock was ticking before she would do something crazy, and he didn't doubt that she would. "Okay, so this is kinda-sorta Dimentio, but not Dimentio. He's kinda-sorta-maybe a different version of him, and we're trying to help him get home to his own universe. This Dimentio doesn't know how to use his magic, so we're looking for the first Dimentio so he can teach this Dimentio how to teleport back to his own home. SO, we went down to the Underwhere, where we found Mr. L, only to find that the first Dimentio broke out of his cell down at the bottom of the River of Twygz. So now we're walking/skipping to Dimentio's hometown to try to find the first Dimentio so we can get THIS Dimentio home." Luigi quickly stated, gasping for breath once he was finished.

Daisy just paused, cocking her head to the side.

"Okay... I got like half of that." She admitted.

"Okay... just give me a minute..." Luigi squeaked, trying to regain his breath when Mr. L held up his hand, signaling that he would explain.

"Long story short, this is Dio. Dio needs to get home. We're looking for Dimentio so we can get Dio home." Mr. L slowly explained in a much clearer voice than Luigi's rushed version.

"Ahhh," Daisy nodded, as if understanding.

She then frowned at Dio. "Wait, then why were you talking like that on the phone then? You made it seem like you were trying to murder him..."

Dio opened his mouth to speak when Luigi interrupted, speaking for him. "He's never seen a phone before, so he doesn't really know what sounds threatening and what doesn't."

Daisy slowly nodded in understanding. "I guess that makes sense..." She trailed off. "But what about you, Luigi?"

"W-what about me?" Luigi repeated, furrowing his eyebrows, confused. This wasn't about him. The fact that she asked such a random question was almost confusing.

"What about you?" She repeated, gesturing to him. "Mario is REALLY worried."

"What?! Why's Mario worried?!" Luigi exclaimed, holding his arms out. "I-I left him a note!"

"Well...." Daisy sheepishly replied, lightly smiling a guilty smile. "After getting those texts, I got worried and told him that I thought you were in trouble. We've all been kinda looking for you. He get especially worried when he saw that your location was turned off...."

"Helicopter brother..." Mr. L whispered under his breath, lightly laughing.

Luigi ignored him and groaned, covering his face. Of course, Mario was worried. Luigi NEVER turned his location off, so of course the one time he did Mario would start searching the Mushroom Kingdom for him.

"Well, I can't exactly go back. I promised I'd help Dio. I can't leave him behind. He's been alone his whole life," Luigi whispered to Daisy.

He was keeping a low voice in an attempt to not let Dio hear. Of course, Dio heard anyway. He wasn't deaf, and Luigi was literally just a few feet away from him.

And he couldn't help but feel a warm feeling. Luigi was willing to risk letting his brother remain worried just so he wouldn't be alone? How kind.

But, Dio didn't want to be the reason Luigi's brother worried. He knew that if he was in this Mario person's position, looking for HIS brother, he'd want him to return.

"You can go if you want" Dio assured, making both Luigi and Daisy turn to him.

"W-What?" Luigi asked. "But you're not home yet-"

"I'll just have Mr. L help me find other me! We're not far now. I don't want you to worry your brother. Especially after all the kindness you've shown me." Dio stated, softly smiling.

"N-No! But what if you go home and I don't get to say goodbye?" Luigi frowned, not having realized what he said.

He didn't think it would have mattered so much... but for some reason, he found the idea of himself not being there to send Dio off a little heartbreaking.

"Don't worry about it. Before I go, I'll find you. I won't go without saying goodbye to my first friend in this world," Dio breathed. "I promise."

Luigi exchanged glances between Dio and Mr. L, somewhat unsure. What if Mr. L changed his mind and decided to ditch him, leaving Dio all alone again? Yes, he knew how to be on his own, but the thought of it was sad. Luigi didn't want Dio to be alone anymore.

"Go," Dio smiled, waving Luigi forward. "I promise I'll be okay."

Luigi paused for another moment, pausing as if he was thinking his options over. But the truth was, there was only one option. He needed to find Mario and assure him that he was safe. He needed to go back home. He was no longer needed on this journey. He did his part for now.

Luigi waited another minute, then rushed up and hugged Dio tightly, squeezing his eyes shut. He didn't think he would grow to actually care about the guy in such a short amount of time, but here he was.

"You better come see me before you leave," Luigi squeaked. "Or I'll never forgive you."

"Of course," Dio smiled, slowly hugging back. It had been too long since he had been embraced. It felt nice, safe, and warm. He liked it. "Thank you for helping me... my friend."

"Anytime..." Luigi breathed, pulling back, then looking over at Mr. L. "Don't ditch him," Luigi breathed, his sentimental tone washing away and turning into a more serious one.

"Pffft, who do you think I am? A monster?" Mr. L laughed, shrugging.

"Yeah. Kinda," Luigi admitted. Daisy giggled, grabbing his hand and hopping into her go-cart, allowing Luigi to his it the back right behind her.

"Touche," Mr. L admitted, smirking as Daisy started the engine. The princess smiled back at Luigi, still just so grateful that he wasn't ACTUALLY in danger, then waved to the pair.

"I hope you find your way home," She waved before punching the gas pedal and speeding off, taking Luigi home with her.

And just like that, he was gone.

"Farewell Luigi! Thank you for everything!" Dio called, bringing one hand to the side of his mouth as if he was amplifying his voice and using the other to wave.

Mr. L and Dio just waited there in silence, watching as she drove off and took Luigi away until they were both out of sight and out of mind.

"... Do you think she could have given us a ride to your Dimentio's home town?" Dio eventually pointed out, raising an eyebrow after they were long gone.

Mr. L froze, then groaned and lowered his face into his hands. "DARN IT!" He exclaimed, leading to Dio breaking into a fit of laughter.

"It'll be okay. We're actually REALLY close!" Dio assured.

"Yeah, yeah, you say that all the time," Mr. L complained, slowly walking behind Dio as the cloaked boy happily skipped ahead, swinging his arms in a jolly manner as he did so.

Mr. L continued to groan. How on earth did Dio's feet not hurt? The Dimentio he knew actually had hardly walked at all. He always had treated walking like a waste of energy, choosing to float instead. In fact, he couldn't even recall a single time he had seen Dimentio walking. Did his feet even work?

Truth to be told, it must have been hard for Dimentio to walk often, since he always wore those uncomfortable-looking jester shoes. The man in green looked down at Dio's feet to see that instead of pointy shoes, Dio had worn two black boots which stopped up by his mid-shin. They were fairly sturdy, but the bottoms were a tad muddy from the trek. Since Dio's feet were such a small size, he would estimate that the boots were probably designed for children or teenagers. They were probably much better for walking than Dimentio's pointy shoes.

"Where did you get your shoes...?" Mr. L found himself asking, trying to distract himself from the pain of walking.

"Oh, these?" Dio asked, lightly laughing. "I'm not really sure. I stole them from a store once I grew out of my old shoes."

"You stole them?" Mr. L clarified, smirking at the thought of Dimentio being a thief. He thought of Dimentio as cunning and clever, yes, but not as a thief.

"That is correct. I had to steal things in order to get by..." Dio muttered. "I was only nine years old when I got lost, so I quickly grew out of everything I owned and had to replace it all. Well, everything except this cloak!"

"Where'd you get the cloak...?" Mr. L asked, cocking his head to the side in a slightly curious manner.

"It was my dad's. You know, the guy who died. Aha... It was his tribesman cloak. It's still a little big, but my dad was fairly short, a lot like myself, so it fits almost like a glove." Dio explained.

Interesting. Mr. L wondered if his Dimentio had a matching cloak. Maybe he did, but he never wore it. Or perhaps he lost it.

He would like to ask him about it, but Dimentio was not one to talk about his past. All the other minions at Castle Bleck didn't talk to him much because he never seemed to want to talk. Yes, he spoke often, but he didn't seem like the type of person who generally enjoyed socializing or talking about his own life.

But maybe he was. After all, Dio seemed to LOVE talking and socializing. Maybe Dimentio had been that way once upon a time. Maybe long ago that was the way things were.

"What was other me like?" Dio blurted out, interrupting Mr. L's train of thought.

"Huh?" Mr. L asked, genuinely not having heard Dio over the sound of his own thoughts. "Come again?"

"What was other me like?" Dio repeated. "I mean... I know that Luigi said he was bad, but you don't seem to see him that way. You seem to know him better."

Mr. L paused, then slowly shrugged. "I guess you could say that."

"So what was he like? Was he amazing?" Dio eagerly questioned.

Mr. L wasn't quite sure how to reply to this. He actually wasn't sure what he thought of Dimentio anymore. When they first met, he was honestly intrigued. He thought Dimentio was an interesting character who he looked forward to learning about.

Would he have called the jester his friend? ....Yes. He did. In fact, some some strange reason Dimentio was one of the only people he had ever felt comfortable letting his guard down with.

The only person he trusted.

Until the betrayal.

Now, he wasn't sure what he thought. Should he still be upset with him? Or should he feel bad, after learning about his horrible past? He wasn't sure.

"I... thought he was," Mr. L finally admitted.

"Do you still?" Dio asked.

He wasn't sure.

He really wasn't.

"I don't know," Mr. L admitted, trying to be honest. Because he truly didn't know. He wasn't sure how he'd even react to seeing Dimentio again should they find him. He didn't want to think about what he would say or how he would act. He didn't want to think about that reunion.

But he did know one thing. He was rather enjoying his time with Dio. It was so different from the Dimentio he knew. It was hard now to believe that they were technically the same person.

"Well, do you trust me yet?" Dio asked next.

"I don't trust anyone," Mr. L plainly replied.

"That's not what I asked. I asked if you trusted me. Not anyone," Dio clarified. "Do you trust me?"

Mr. L waited another minute, thinking it over. Because the truth was, he didn't think it was even possible for him to trust anyone after what had happened with Dimentio. No matter how hard anyone tried, he would never be the same.

But then here Dio was...

"Not yet," Mr. L replied.

"Yet," Dio repeated, with a small smile, as if hearing the simple word was like hearing sweet bells chime in the distance.

"Yes," Mr. L nodded. "Yet."

Because he believed... he didn't believe before, but he believed now that maybe... maybe someday he could trust again.