I've Got the Strangest Feeling This Isn't Our First Time Around

72

"You were supposed to dreamwalk through Merlee's dreams to find out who petrified her." Clark reminds Luigi as they and Mario walk towards the studio.

"I know." Luigi says. "My guess is someone petrified her because she attacked them, she was fighting with this guy..."

"I've already looked into it." Clark insists. "There's no one matching the description of either of the two people you mentioned, in this world or any other."

"Maybe they're too scared to rat on her." Luigi theorizes.

"We need to focus on her." Clark corrects as they walk inside the studio.

"Look, whoever she was attacking, if we find them, that's who petrified her." Luigi says. "Makes sense they worked in the same studio, no?"

"Lot of people to look into." Mario notes as they look around.

"That's her." Luigi points. "The woman I saw with the other woman in Merlee's dreams."

"With Merlee?" Clark asks.

" No ." Luigi shakes his head, frustrated. "With the woman Merlee attacked. I'd say she has to know something."

"Knows something about something that we don't even know if Merlee did." Clark says skeptically, before sighing and walking over.

Mario decides it's the perfect excuse to stare at Luigi, who in some time since they left the lab, seems to have slicked his hair back.

"I'm not crazy." Luigi insists. "Unless you have a better explanation."

"A glitch in the matrix?" Mario jokes, but Luigi just walks away, clearly not up for jokes, as Mario follows, asking, "What's with the slick updo?"

They approach right as they hear the woman tell Clark, "Yes, this is my studio. Merlee's been with me for years."

"Horrible what happened to her." Clark says.

"Especially now that one of our biggest shows is out of commission." She says, then upon noticing Mario and Luigi. "Can I help you?"

"They're with me." Clark waves off.

"Aren't they a little old to need a babysitter?" She jokes.

"Yes, yes we are." Luigi says in a deadpan. "Clark?"

"One of your biggest shows out of commission?" Clark repeats. "Isn't the show free?"

"The channel itself, sure." The woman shrugs. "But all the one-on-one sessions and merchandise wasn't."

"And that's how you fund the network?" Clark guesses.

"Everyone with a 'gift' eventually comes here hoping to profit from it." The woman shrugs. "If the gift is intriguing enough, I give them a chance to show me what they can do."

"Aw, how sweet." Luigi says sarcastically. "Who were you arguing with?", ignoring the looks from Mario and Clark.

"Pardon?" the woman asks.

"You were in a very heated argument with someone. Girl with green skin, pigtails?"

"I thought you came to talk about Merlee." The woman says, clearly confused.

"We did." Clark says quickly. "Let's go somewhere else to talk."

She shoots Luigi a pointed look before leaving with the other woman, so Mario lays into Luigi, "Are you determined to make us look bad, is that it? Like it's not bad enough when you're talking about attacks we know actually happened."

"Merlee attacked someone first." Luigi insists. "And that attack is connected to her petrification. Why else would we be seeing it in her dreams?"