World of Darkness

Veil of Lies

"Like the darkness? Why would I wanna trust you?" Luigi asked.

"Just as I anticipated; in the past, darkness has always been seen as the prime corruptor, but look at what the light has done to the world you once called home; everyone you know is dead."

"No. It's not true. I-I refuse to believe it! You're lying. All of this is darkness. You did this!" Luigi charged turning to him, Fireball in hand.

Dharkon laughed. "Naïve child, I only reacted to Galeem's wrath. If it weren't for him and the Master Hands, I would not have had to release my army of monsters against the Light's puppets, nor end up killing your friends in the process."

"Why? Why did this have to happen?"

"Because Galeem thinks of all life what many of them thought about you. He uses them and then he throws them away when he tires of them. You have a few close friends, sure, but the others, they don't care about you. They don't miss you. Why, I'm sure if they were alive, they'd still be laughing at you."

"None of that's true! Surely there has to be someone—Anyone!?"

Then, a cloud of darkness appeared—showing Luigi a tinted projection of the extent of each of the massacres, which Dharkon manipulated to make it appear as though absolutely no one had been spared and removed all personal involvement. He couldn't bear to watch it and begged Dharkon to stop, especially after witnessing his dear brother and betrothed being vaporized into oblivion. Then, came the others until Meta Knight was blasted by Marx, and Cloud fell before the combined forces of the Crazy Hands and Ganon. Finally, it shifted toward a scene of pure nightmare: a hologram of Death; its scythe inches from Luigi's chest.

The sequences struck Luigi relentlessly. "No! I-It can't be. I don't wanna die! I can't!"

At that moment, Dharkon knew this stage in his plan had worked; he continued to listen to Luigi's emotional breakdown out of sheer amusement before offering an answer. "I am aware, but thanks to you, it doesn't have to be that way forever."

"How? What do you mean?"

"You must really value your life to be willing to endure all this pain and misery. That takes a lot of courage. Anyway, naturally, Galeem grew exhausted after committing omnicide upon countless worlds. My forces and I have been bashing at his barrier and now is the time to attack. I am asking you to help me to finish our destiny. I'll even let you keep your soul if you prove yourself willing to cooperate, for puppets are just that: beings with no identity of their own; no nerves to strategize—nothing but a burden to the forces that pull the strings."

"Keep...my...soul?" an aghast Luigi stammered before closing his eyes, "I have no choice...I'll do what you ask of me, Dharkon." He kneeled before the Lord of Darkness.

"Good." Dharkon gifted unto Luigi his sinister blessing. "Your fear of death, your hatred of Galeem, the hole left by those who are lost. Use them and embrace your inner darkness." After the ritual, Luigi stood up once more--breathing heavily, and with a dark aura surrounding him.

Dharkon then gave him a Death's Scythe and threw out a couple of the remaining Galeem-controlled puppet fighters for him to slay. Luigi mercilessly reaped the Spirits inside most of them with one single slice. Another, he hit with a fireball, before stabbing it with the tip, and the last one—a Simon clone—he sank the scythe deep into until he could hear it gasp in pain. Only then did he pull the scythe away, releasing the Spirit trapped within.

Dharkon was more than pleased with the results, especially with the murderous grin on Luigi's face as he carried out the massacre.

"Even better than I could've imagined. It will only be a matter of time before you have weathered Galeem's influence enough to where we can face him head-on and reclaim this world and everything in it, including your brother."