The Surge [SPM Halloween Story!]

(5) The Attic

The man in green - who was back to wearing his normal overalls and hat - followed closely behind Polterpup with his Poltergust strapped to his back. The ghostly dog was low to the ground, sniffing as it neared the entrance to the attic.

"So? Is he up there, then?" Luigi asked in a quiet voice.

Polterpup gave the near area a close inspection before letting out a loud bark, breaking the silence Luigi was trying to keep. The man in green sighed but still pet Polterpup on the head to say "good job".

"Alright, let's check it out then," Luigi told him.

Polterpup continued to yip and run around Luigi as he reached for the ladder to the attic, pulling it down. The man in green climbed up with a grunt, Polterpup simply floating up through the floor instead.

"Hey! Di-" Luigi froze up again, mentally cursing himself for not being able to say a simple name. "A-are you still in here?"

Luigi climbed all the way inside with Polterpup by his feet, tail wagging while panting. The man in green pulled out his Poltergust to use the flashlight for light, unable to see anything but the glow coming from Polterpup.

"Hello?" Luigi called out.

The man in green pushed past a few boxes and cobwebs, cringing and making a mental note to clean this place later as he did. After trekking through the dusty attic filled with boxes and mementos, he eventually did find Dimentio.

Although, he looked different again.

Dimentio still had the mask, hat, and cloak on, but his entire body was a see-through purple color like his tail and hands were. On top of that, he was leaning against the wall on the floor while humming a tune to himself, looking around with the normal smile on his mask as if dazed.

"Um... A-are you feeling alright?" Luigi warily asked, pushing aside a box as he stepped towards him.

The jester ghost immediately stopped humming and whipped his head around to face Luigi, looking like he had just realized there was someone else there.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Dimentio questioned, eyes narrowed as he frowned.

Now Luigi was perplexed about what was happening. Was this an act of some kind..? Dimentio at least appeared to not know who Luigi was despite talking to him almost ten minutes ago, TOPS.

Luigi stood there with the flashlight at his side, trying to figure out what the act was for, and why he looked different again. Polterpup simply seemed to be ignoring them both in favor of looking through the rest of the dusty attic and sniffing all the old boxes.

"Um, you know who I am," Luigi stated, his eyes narrowed.

The man in green sighed as Dimentio tilted his head to the side.

"After everything you did, it would be insulting if you didn't remember at this point!" Luigi mentally added on a sour note.

Dimentio hummed, narrowing his eyes in turn as if thinking. Luigi noted that because his mask was not black and white at the moment, both of his eyes were glowing a faint yellow.

"No..?" Dimentio replied, shrugging - or at least trying to shrug with only hands.

Luigi's jaw dropped when the word left his mouth.

"You DON'T remember me?" Luigi repeated.

"No. Should I?" Dimentio bluntly questioned.

The man in green watched for any sign of Dimentio joking or just trying to play on his nerves, but if anything, Dimentio seemed to be trying to ignore him. Luigi couldn't help but grow angry at him, gripping his Poltergust a little too tight.