The Surge [SPM Halloween Story!]

(8) "Friends"

AN: I drew the Toad possessed by Dimentio just cuz, for a picture reference. XD

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Dimentio seemed to fidget nervously as he inched towards the sidewalk that went through the middle of Toad Town. The jester flinched as Luigi placed a hand on his shoulder, walking up behind him. The man in green let out a breath and nodded to himself, a somewhat confident expression on his face.

"It's going to be fine! We'll just walk down the street until we reach the castle, go to the Warp Zone nearby, and then we're practically done!" Luigi cheered. "No problem! R-right?"

"Luigi," Dimentio started.

"Yes?" Luigi asked, looking down at him.

"You are gripping the Toad's shoulder rather hard..." Dimentio muttered through grit teeth.

Dimentio winced as Luigi quickly released his grasp on the Toad's shoulder. The jester rubbed his upper arm as the man in green gave him a sheepish apologetic smile.

"Um... Just a bit of an idea, b-but maybe don't say 'the Toad' when referring to your current, um, body..." Luigi requested.

"And why not? This is clearly not MY body," Dimentio retorted. "I'm quite certain that's obvious."

Luigi quickly made sure to note that mentioning anything close to the subject of him being DEAD made him a tad upset...

"I-I'm just saying, s-so other people won't hear you say things like that! I-it sounds a bit out of place, don't you think..?" Luigi replied.

Dimentio grit his teeth into a bit of a scowl before turning to face down the road.

"Yes, fine," Dimentio simply said, his neutral voice completely the opposite of his ticked-off expression.

The man in green was surprised as Dimentio walked off, his calm but also enraged behavior perplexing. Luigi didn't know what he could do except follow behind.

It didn't take long before the two of them attracted attention. Toads and Toadettes would watch curiously and wave to them as both Dimentio and Luigi walked along the sidewalk. It was hard to tell which one of them was grabbing more pairs of eyes. On one hand, Luigi was, well, Luigi, and he hadn't been around much since the Ultimate Show. On the other hand, Dimentio currently looked like a very pale blue-spotted Toad with a black scarf and sunglasses on, and he was keeping his head down as much as he could.

"Hey, Luigi!" Another Toad called out with a wave.

Luigi waved back with a smile, which the Toad returned. However, Dimentio growled under his breath in irritation, not wanting to have to interact with anyone.

"That has to be about the fourteenth Toad that's pestered us so far," Dimentio thought to himself bitterly.

"Hi!" Luigi exclaimed back.

"Where are you heading?" The Toad asked.

Before Luigi could reply, Dimentio grabbed the man in green's hand and tugged him along at a rather fast pace. Luigi had to shout an apology behind himself as Dimentio seemed to just want to plow ahead.

"Can't I just say 'hi' back? That was mean!" Luigi complained.

Dimentio huffed and snatched his hand away from Luigi's.

"I don't want to spend all day waiting on you to finish talking to FUNGUS!" Dimentio spat, making sure to keep his voice quiet enough so no Toadstools could hear. "It's already practically two hours past noon!"