Okay, what is with people in this dimension attacking me?! Dio thought to himself.

"Where. Did. You. Get. That. Cloak."

It sounded less like a question and more like a demand. Actually, it was almost more of a confirmation. Dimentio saw that cloak burn up. It was in ashes. So why. Why was some random man here with Mr. L, wearing it?! He could tell it was his father's. It had the same shape. The same special fabric. It was the exact hue of purple that his father's cloak was. It couldn't be another cloak, because he had searched and searched for a cloak like that one after everything was taken from him. They simply didn't make ancient cloaks and hand them out. So what was this man doing with one?!

"DIMENTIO! GET OFF OF HIM!" Mr. L exclaimed, grabbing Dimentio's shoulder and trying to pull him back, when Dimenito ripped his arm away from the man in green, looking as if he was about to strangle Dio.

"NO, YOU TRAITOR! WHERE DID YOU GET IT?!" Dimentio exclaimed, almost sounding emotional now, as if seeing the cloak awoke something from deep within himself. "IT'S MINE! WHERE DID YOU GET IT?!"

"M-My dad gave it to me!" Dio cried, holding his hands up as if he was surrendering. His hood still covered his face, so Dimentio couldn't quite see what he had looked like.

But he could hear the voice.

His voice.

Dimentio's eyes softened to an utterly lost look, then narrowed back to anger as if he was dismissing the small detail. He clenched his free fist as he held the projectile even closer to Dio's face.

He could kill him in a second and take the cloak back for himself. It would be pretty easy, no doubt. Even easier than killing L was.

"DIMENTIO! It's not yours!" Mr. L harshly exclaimed, trying to pull him back once again. Dimentio however, fought against him with all his might, as if this was more important than anything.

"YES, IT IS!" Dimentio cried. "IT'S MINE! LET ME GO L! IT'S MINE!"

"You're right! You're right!" Dio quickly exclaimed, reaching up and taking his hood off his face so Dimentio could see. "You're right..."

Dimentio froze up upon seeing that face.

Seeing HIS face.

He suddenly stopped struggling, giving Mr. L the chance to pry him off of Dio, holding him back so he wouldn't gouge the cloaked boy's eyes out or something.

"What in all things holy..." Dimentio whispered under his breath, looking at Dio in horror. It was getting harder and harder to hide the emotion in his eyes now. He was so thankful for the mask he wore. Had he been dreaming? He must have been dreaming. This couldn't be real. "I'm about as lost as a mouse in a maze."

Dio's fear quickly melted away as his eyes lit up, a small smile snaking its way onto his face.

"And I'm as useless as a gun with no trigger," Dio laughed, standing up and smiling as he did so, almost acting as if his life wasn't just being so brutally threatened. "Why don't we start over-"

"What are you?!" Dimentio exclaimed in an accusing tone. "Shadoo?! Some sort of demon?! A faulty clone? A reflection that had somehow gained consciousness?! Answer me!"

"Um, I don't know who Shadoo is. I'm not a demon. I am definitely not a reflection. My name is-"

"GET TO THE POINT!" Dimentio demanded.

"I-I'm trying! I'm-"

"JUST SPIT IT OUT!"

"JUST LET ME!" Dio exclaimed, sounding much louder and harsher than he meant to. He fell silent for a second, then lightly smiled. "Oh my Grambi... I..."

Mr. L raised an eyebrow, still holding Dimentio back by the arm as both of them stared at Dio, who was looking at his hands almost longingly. "You...?" Mr. L trailed off.

"I... can't believe how much I missed that!" Dio smiled, lightly giggling then brushing his hand through his hair.

This was confusing.

"I beg your pardon?" Dimentio sarcastically stated. "You've missed yelling? You've missed refusing to answer questions? You've missed stealing cloaks?"

"No, no," Dio smiled. But he wasn't smiling at himself or Mr. L anymore. He smiled at Dimentio this time. "I've missed "fighting" with my brother. And I don't know why... but when I spoke to you just now, it was almost like... it was almost like he was there." Dio shook his head, then cleared his throat, taking a step closer to Dimentio. "You had a brother too, right? Oitnemid?"

Dimentio didn't reply. He just stared at Dio, unsure of what to do. What to say. He hadn't heard anyone say that name in thousands of years. Everyone else had forgotten his brother. Everyone else had forgotten his home. Everyone else had forgotten. He was the only survivor of that tragedy.

So who was this... and how did he know? Why hadn't this strange clone thing forgotten too?

"How..." Dimentio breathed, sounding less accusing and more lost than before. His mind was a roller coaster of thoughts, each telling him different ways to feel. "How did you know his name?"

"Come on... look at me," Dio smiled, gesturing to himself. "You already know the answer to that."

".... Long lost twin?" Dimentio asked since there was clearly no other option that made sense.

"No. Not a long-lost twin," Dio giggled, stepping forward once again and holding his hand out to Dimentio. "I'm Dimentio."

Dimentio didn't shake his hand. Instead, he just looked down at it, then back up at Dio's incredibly normal-looking eyes.

Why were his eyes normal?

"....L, I'm scared," Dimentio whispered. "What did you do?"

"What makes you think I did this?! I didn't do anything!" Mr. L exclaimed. "Dimentio, this is another version of you from some alternate universe thing. He apparently got lost or something, and he never learned how to do magic. We came looking for you so you could teach him how to get home."

"Oh? Real believable," Dimentio sarcastically retorted. "Is this a rogue clone? Or a machine of yours, perhaps? It does look rather life-like, I've got to say. Far better than your dysfunctional brobot, which was half a mechanical catastrophe. However, I do wish to know how you managed to replicate my face so accurately, considering the fact that you've never even seen it..."

"Okay, first of all, he isn't a clone or a robot," Mr. L corrected. "Second of all, Brobot was a work of GENIUS. He had everything, so don't you dare insult him!"

"Ah. My mistake. Please tell the recycling bin he's currently residing in that I offer my most sincere apologies," Dimentio spat.

"Okay, let's just calm-" Dio started, when Mr. L suddenly gasped, an insulted expression on his face.

"OH, LIKE SUPER DIMENTIO DID ANY BETTER!" Mr. L argued. "AT LEAST I MADE MY THING ON MY OWN! YOU HAD NOT ONLY YOURSELF, BUT LUIGI AND THE CHAOS HEART ON YOUR SIDE, AND STILL SOMEHOW MANAGED TO FAIL!"

"Guys-" Dio begged.

"OH, WELL THE HEROES HAD THE PURE HEARTS! THEY DIDN'T EVEN NEED THE PURE HEARTS TO DESTROY YOUR LITTLE SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT!" Dimentio retorted.

"GUYS!" Dio yelled as loud as he could, making the other two fall silent and look at him. He was honestly somewhat shocked by how loud he had managed to make his voice once again. He hadn't used the older brother tone in so long.

It didn't quite fit him anymore.

"...Sorry for yelling," Dio breathed. "But your two are quite literally fighting like an elderly couple on a Sunday afternoon."

Mr. L rolled his eyes and crossed his arms while Dimentio just stared at Dio as if he was trying to figure him out. Not many others spoke in similar ways to himself. He was often looked down upon for using similes, so seeing another use them so naturally felt off. If Dio was a machine, he was certainly a well-designed one.

"Thank you," Dio breathed at their silence, smiling at Dimentio. "And I promise. I'm not a machine. Here, I can prove it!"

"Oh? And how, do tell?" Dimentio asked, squinting his eyes from behind the mask.

"Simple!" Dio chimed, holding up his wrist where the cut he had inflicted upon himself earlier had resided. It had mostly healed over, but it was still lightly bleeding from a corner where he had picked the scab off to prove his point. "Machines don't bleed."

Dimentio watched the gentle stream of blood drip from Dio's arm, his gaze following it down as it fell to the ground, creating a small fleck of red on the dark black floor of his hometown.

"... That means nothing," Dimentio stated, making his voice seem to sound empty once again. But both Dio and Mr. L could clearly tell that the gears in his head were turning. He was starting to waver. They could tell that he was at least considering the possibility. Because, as Dimentio should know, there is nothing that's truly impossible.

"Come on. Just hear me out," Dio begged.

"... Alright..." Dimentio muttered, yanking his arm away from Mr. L and levitating about a foot into the air, slowly floating around Dio in a questioning manner, like a cop interrogating a suspect. However, while he meant to look intimidating, Dio was instead impressed with how easily Dimentio was able to do that. The amount of control he had over the levitation was fascinating. He wasn't just floating, but moving around without even creating wind or affecting the air currents.

"If what you say IS true... then what would make you think I would help you? My apologies, but I am a tad busy with my own ambitions." Dimentio stated.

"Well... we both have something in common," Dio pointed out, trying to do his best to match Dimentio's tone. It was evident that he was trying, but his voice was slightly higher pitched and it held far more emotion than Dimentio's. "We've both seemed to have lost everything. But I have a chance to get everything back. I have a chance to see my brother and mom again. If you had that chance... wouldn't you do anything for it?"

"I don't have that chance," Dimentio pointed out.

"But if you did. If you did... wouldn't you?" Dio asked. He then took a deep breath and looked down. "Even if he's gone for you... my Oitnemid is still out there. My little brother needs me. Could you please do this? Not for me, but for him."

Ah. Trying to guilt him into helping, was he? If Dio thought that trying to emotionally wound Dimentio was going to work, he was sadly mistaken. Dimentio had caged his emotions and locked them away long ago, leaving nothing but a rock-hard, icy exterior.

"I don't have time for your sentiment," Dimentio replied.

Dio cursed under his breath, unsure of how else he could convince this other version of him to help. How could he get through to him?!

They were the same person, technically. So what could he offer to get him to help? He had nothing on him except-

No.

He couldn't give that up. He loved it. It was all he had of his family.

But... then again, he would give anything to get back home. No matter how important.

"... If you help me I'll give you the cloak." Dio offered.