Mario blinked as he found himself on a completely different island than the one that he and Link had been on not too long ago.
"…Where is this…?" he wondered aloud.
"This is Koholint Island, in the heart of the Dream World."
Mario whirled around to see Cresslia's spirit.
"You're not under Galeem's control," Mario noticed.
"Not anymore," she transmitted.
"…You've been freed," Mario realized. "And if this is the Dream World, then that must mean…"
"Yes, your brother was the one who freed me—he and his group of spirits," she said. "They are still on the island; they have freed Darkrai and are confronting the two spirits that have taken the Wind Fish hostage in the egg on Mt. Tamaranch."
He followed her gaze to the egg on the mountain, which now had a hole in its front face.
"Cresslia, can you take me there?"
"…There are dark spirits at work," she warned. "I, myself, have been keeping away from them, as I am weak to them."
"But if my little brother is facing them, and I have the chance to help, I'm not going to let that chance slip away. Just get me to that egg; that's all I need." He gazed back at the legendary Pokémon. "Please…"
She gazed at him with a soft expression.
"I sense much sorrow in your heart," she said. "Much has happened to cause this pain—and not just Galeem's attack."
Mario nodded.
"You can say that again," he said. "I just want to be able to help him—especially when he asked for my help before…"
"Then come with me," Cresslia said, using her psychic abilities to levitate Mario. "I will take you to your brother."
Dreamy Luigi was on the alert as they wandered through the interior of the egg—he hadn't expected it to have rooms and hallways like the other dungeons. Being in tune with the Dream World, he could sense the location of a powerful dream energy and led his team of spirits in that direction.
They caught a glimpse of a gigantic Jigglypuff puppet, sound asleep, before the doors in front of it closed.
"No!" Dreamy Luigi exclaimed. "I think that was the Wind Fish! Darkrai, you're the biggest one of all of us—can you try to get the doors open again?"
Darkrai attempted to do so, but he soon found his path blocked by a Robin puppet, gently twirling his copy of the Levin sword.
"So, ve meet again…" Antasma's accent still managed to bleed through Robin's voice. "The coward who just happened to harness the powers of this vorld? How ironic."
"Antasma, we've defeated you before," Dreambert warned. "Make things easy for yourself and surrender—you and your accomplice—wherever he is."
"It vas not you who defeated me!" Antasma shot back. "It vas the other brother—all this one did was use his power to support him. He does not have the nerve to face me!"
"Oh, I'm here to face you, Antasma," Luigi said, trying his hardest not to stammer in the face of the puppet Robin. "I've managed to lead this group of spirits and get the eight Sirens' Instruments to get here, freeing any spirits we found. I remember how my big bro took you down—I'm sure I can, too!"
"So you say, but I, too, am not alone!" Antasma hissed. A puppet of Meta Knight now appeared beside him.
"It's that other spirit!" Dreambert muttered. "I still don't know who it could be—but be careful, Dreamy Luigi."
"Uh-huh," the plumber replied, with a nod.
Richard and Peasley attacked the Meta Knight puppet, dueling with their swords as Luigi led the others in the fight against Antasma.
"The fight seems to have left you as a spirit, Antasma!" Dreambert observed of his old foe. "Or is it that you recognize that Dreamy Luigi's power is greater than yours?"
After one more Thunderbolt from Raichu, Luigi sprang forward with Fire Jump Punch, knocking Antasma out of the Robin puppet. The spirit glared at them.
"Yes, his powers are great—greater than he could ever realize if only he vould free himself of all inhibitions."
Dreamy Luigi just scoffed and now moved to back up Peasley and Richard, who were still parrying the Meta Knight puppet's blade. Dreamy Luigi grabbed him and grew him in with a plunger from the Poltergust, threw him up into the air, and followed through with a few aerial attacks and finished with his Luigi Cyclone move, which sent the puppet crashing into the ceiling, and then the floor, defeated.
"He didn't put up much of a fight, either," Dream Luigi mused. He turned back to Antasma. "Open that door and let us free the Wind Fish!"
Antasma didn't speak or move, much to Dreamy Luigi's confusion.
"Didn't you hear me?"
"Oh, he heard you, my green friend," a new voice said. "But he's not the one in control anymore."
If it had been possible for a spirit to go pale, Mr. L would have done it at the sound of this voice.
"No…" he managed to choke out as a Floro Sprout now appeared on Antasma's head, despite being a spirit.
"What is this…?" Dreambert wondered aloud.
"An old acquaintance of Mr. L's," the voice taunted, as Dreamy Luigi turned to see the spirit emerging from the fallen Meta Knight puppet. "My, but it is a truly magical reunion, isn't it?"
Dreamy Luigi could only stare. He had never met him personally—thank goodness—but he had known who he was all too well after reading of what he had done in the book that housed the Paper world.
"Dimentio…?" he asked, stunned.
"The one and only—master of dimensions and magician extraordinaire!" the spirit said, with an exaggerated bow.
Anything Dreamy Luigi had planned to say was forgotten as Mr. L frantically tugged on his arm.
"Get out. Now!" his counterpart hissed. "Before he Floro Sprouts us, too! You read the book; you know what he can do—what he did to me…!" He let out a quiet screech of panic as the other spirits, except Veran and the Boo-in-the-Jigglypuff-puppet, now moved to advance on Dimentio. "No! Stay back!"
"Tsk tsk, such a cold reception, Mr. L? After everything we've been through together?" Dimentio said, in a mock-heartbroken tone of voice. "Why, our hearts and spirits were once combined to one magnificent being!"
"Ugh, he's just as bothersome as Veran," Peasley scoffed.
"Since you've so coldly cast me aside, then, perhaps, your counterpart will be more receptive to me," Dimentio went on, ignoring Peasley.
"Never!" Dreamy Luigi shot back, brandishing his Poltergust.
"…It wasn't a request," Dimentio replied, with a serene smile that caused Dreamy Luigi to retreat immediately. "You see, Mr. L would be a wonderful choice to merge with again—but, unfortunately, here in the Dream World, he doesn't seem to have the powers that you seem to have… Antasma told me all about them, and, well… not only can they get me exactly what I'm looking for…" He chuckled. "But I've always wanted to merge with someone from the third dimension!"
"We have no intention of letting you do that!" Dreambert insisted.
"Did you miss the part where I said that it wasn't a request…?"
Another pair of doors opened, revealing another puppet fighter: a gigantic puppet of Luigi himself, but it was idle—no spirits seemed to be in it.
"This will ensure that you stay out of our way…" Dimentio smirked. He snapped his fingers and Antasma obediently floated into the giant Luigi puppet, and Dimentio soon joined him.
The puppet's eyes opened, glowing as it advanced on the spirits standing between it and Dreamy Luigi.
"Get back!" Mr. L cried, frantically.
But his warning came too late; the puppet whipped out the Poltergust and switched it on; one by one, their army of spirits were trapped in its holding tank.
"NO!" Dreamy Luigi cried.
While Mr. L still clung to his arm, Veran turned herself into a shadowy mist form and fled to the ceiling while the Boo sought cover from the suction behind a small, stone alcove in the room.
"So, now it's just you and me—and my old friend, of course," Dimentio said, speaking through the puppet. "Antasma was useful in helping me conjure this vessel, but now his spirit energy can serve as a useful generator to power it. All I need now is you—with your abilities to manipulate this place, you can conjure up a Dream World version of the Chaos Heart! Super Dimentio will rise again, and all worlds will be mine!"
"No way!" Dreamy Luigi shot back. "And you'd better let my friends go this instant!"
Dimentio cackled in response—and it was most unnerving hearing it manifest in the puppet Luigi's voice.
Mr. L gave his arm a forceful tug, forcing Dreamy Luigi to run as the giant puppet began to approach them.
"We need to figure out how to get to the other room and free the Wind Fish!" Dreamy Luigi gasped. "He might be the only one powerful enough to stop him!"
"I can phase through the door, but I don't know how to get you through it!" Mr. L exclaimed. He shot a dark look at Veran, whose glowing eyes still watched from the mist in the ceiling. "Maybe we can convince Dimentio to go after her—we can try opening the door while he's distracted."
Whether or not Veran heard him, the two counterparts couldn't be sure, but her misty form from the ceiling now took the shape of a giant spider, whose full height while on all eight legs reached the torso of Dimentio's Luigi puppet. She leaped from the ceiling, rearing on her back four legs and grabbing at the puppet with her front four, attempting to deliver a venomous bite to the puppet's shoulder.
"Mimi was so much better at this than you," Dimentio scoffed, not at all worried. "She really knew how to make a transformation—such flair! Such presentation!"
He kicked her off and drew out the puppet's Poltergust again; Veran immediately turned back into a shadowy mist and fled back to the ceiling, out of reach, prompting the puppet to smirk and turn back to Dreamy Luigi, who was desperately trying to use fireballs to melt the lock off of the door blocking them to the Wind Fish.
"Now, where were we?" Dimentio mused. "Ah, yes, I was about to merge you with me—there's plenty of room in here for you! You'll have to leave that pesky 'free will' of yours behind, but once you realize your true power and potential, you'll wonder why you never gave in sooner!"
"I know why I never gave in—why I won't give in!" Dreamy Luigi shot back, his back now to the door as Dimentio advanced the puppet on him. "It's because I know I have too many people counting on me—waiting for me to come back to them! And I have to be there for them—for Peach, Daisy, Ness, Dedede, Pit, Link, Mewtwo, Peasley, Dreambert, Raichu… for all of my friends, and, of course, for my big bro!"
Dreamy Luigi began to glow, and more Luiginoids appeared, merging with him, causing him to grow…
"I have to help them… Have to help my big bro…" he repeated, and then he glanced at Mr. L, even as he continued to grow in size, and reached a hand out to the troubled spirit. "C'mon!"
"Wh-what?" Mr. L asked, stunned. "Me?"
"You're one of us, too!" Dreamy Luigi said. "You're not going to let Dimentio get away with what he did to you, are you?"
Mr. L blinked, and then a confident smirk crossed his features.
"Not a chance!" he said, and he joined the other Luiginoids as they also merged and made Dreamy Luigi grow further.
"This is all so touching," Dimentio said, through a yawn. "But you're forgetting one thing—your transformation takes an unimpressively long time, and here I am, already full size… This battle will be over before it'll even begin. Maybe then, I can proceed without this foolish resistance."
He readied a charging karate chop aimed right at the growing Dreamy Luigi's heart.
"Ciao," he taunted.
There was nothing Dreamy Luigi could do in mid-transformation other than try to stare down Dimentio's puppet—
"HEEEEE-YAAAH!"
It was the exact distraction that Dreamy Luigi needed; the fierce fire attack, the Mario Finale, slammed into the puppet's head and upper body, throwing him off-balance and sending him crashing to the ground. Dimentio quickly got the puppet back on its feet, but, by that time, Giant Luigi had reached his full size—equal to that of Dimentio's puppet.
But Giant Luigi was looking around frantically now; the source of the fire could only have come from one person—the one whose name was proudly attached to that of the attack…
"Up here, Fratellino!"
Giant Luigi looked up to see his brother, still being held aloft by Cresslia; as Giant Luigi ran underneath them, she gently released him, allowing him to land on the bill of Giant Luigi's cap.
"You're here…! You're actually here in the Dream World…!" Giant Luigi said, trying his hardest to blink back the tears of sheer relief that were forming in his eyes. "How…!?"
"By a much-needed nap, but we can talk about that later," Mario replied, and then glared at Dimentio's puppet. "Right now, we've got work to do."
"Oh, yeah!"
Giant Luigi charged forward just as the puppet did; they locked hands, trying to push the other away. They were evenly matched in strength; thankfully, Mario assisted with several well-aimed fireballs to the puppet's face.
Out of reflex, the puppet retreated a few steps back.
"I hardly call that playing fair!" Dimentio protested. The puppet's hand now filled with green fire. "Seems like it's time I made you disappear!"
"Don't even think about it!" Giant Luigi snarled, leaping into the air and coming at him with an aerial down-kick.
Dimentio's puppet now karate chopped Giant Luigi in the stomach, sending him crashing to his knees.
"Luigi!" Mario yelled, still hanging on to the bill of the cap.
"Now that I think about it, making you disappear would be ill-advised. What good is a magician without an audience?" Dimentio smirked. "Of course, in this case, I'd be much better off with a captive audience…"
He had the puppet make a grab for Mario, trying to pluck him from the cap while Giant Luigi was still winded.
Mario, thankfully, had pieced together Dimentio's plan and leaped off of the cap, landing on the puppet's arm. Dimentio made another grab for him, but Mario then leaped onto that arm, and then jumped once more until he was level with the puppet's face, used his cape to leap forward, and bounced off of the puppet's nose and onto his head.
"Mario!" Giant Luigi cried.
"Keep fighting him, Little Bro!" Mario called, as he now jumped off of the puppet's head and onto the Poltergust, struggling to keep his balance as he attempted to reach the release mechanism while Giant Luigi grappled with the puppet again. "Got it!"
The rush of spirits emerged from the Poltergust; Peasley, Dreambert, and Raichu quickly grabbed Mario off of the Poltergust and attempted to airlift him. Seething with fury, Dimentio aimed another giant fireball at them, but was slammed by Giant Luigi's Green Missile before he could throw it.
Dimentio's puppet crashed into the wall; before he could get up again, Darkrai held him in place with Dark Void, allowing Giant Luigi to finish him off with Fire Jump Punch.
And as Antasma and Dimentio were forced out of the puppet, Luigi quickly vacuumed them up with his Poltergust, sealing them in the containment unit.
With the two spirits defeated, the door to the Wind Fish opened, and one round of Finishing Bros was all it took to free his spirit. Thanking them, the Wind Fish's spirit slipped back into slumber—something needed to sustain the island.
And with the battles over, the Luiginoids that had banded together to form Giant Luigi now separated and scattered, leaving behind Dreamy Luigi and Mr. L.
"Well, how was it?" Dreamy Luigi asked him.
"Incredibly satisfying," Mr. L replied, and his expression softened. "Grazie."
Dreamy Luigi nodded, and then turned as Mario now ran over to them with a triumphant grin.
"Way to go, Luigi!" Mario exclaimed, pulling his brother into a hug.
"Couldn't have done it without you, Big Bro," Luigi replied, hugging him back.
"Nuh-uh," Mario returned. "I saw you reach your giant form without my help; I'm sure you could have tanked that hit and still reached it. But… I just couldn't stand by and let him hit you." He pulled back from the hug and placed his hands on Dreamy Luigi's shoulders. "Luigi, you have no idea how proud of you I am. I knew you could do it."
"Well, I… I don't know… I had some close calls…"
"But you still made it through in the end."
"Mmh…" Dreamy Luigi sighed, looking away. There was so much on his mind still—how he still hadn't had closure from Dracula's Castle, and how Veran was still finding ways to mess with his head. And yet, he didn't want his brother to worry.
Mario now turned to Mr. L, who looked a bit nervous, not sure what he would say while seeing him like that.
"And I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you sooner during that time our worlds collided," Mario said. "Paper Luigi, right?"
"…Yeah, that's right," Mr. L said, after a moment's hesitation. "Is my bro alright?"
"As alright as a spirit can be," Mario promised. "Thanks for looking out for my bro, too."
Mr. L nodded, and Mario then turned back to Dreamy Luigi, who was still looking upset about something.
"Luigi…?" Mario asked, as Mr. L and the other spirits now backed off to give the brothers some time to talk.
"Mario, it means the world to me that you believe in me," Dreamy Luigi said. "But… I just think that maybe, you might be a bit biased in thinking that. I'm not as good as you think I am, Big Bro."
"Of course not—you're better!"
"No… No, I'm really not-"
But Mario held up a hand to silence him.
"Give me some credit, Bro; I know you well enough to know exactly what you're capable of. I wouldn't ask you to do anything you couldn't do—never forget that. …And, that actually leads me to something I need to tell you."
Dreamy Luigi's heart sank.
"Something's gone wrong," he realized. "Is it to do with that bright light that suddenly appeared?"
"You saw it?" Mario asked.
"Through the Dream Portal," the younger plumber replied, with a nod. "I'm not sure what it means, but Veran couldn't even stand to go near it. I felt fine, though; it shouldn't affect me, even when I wake up."
"Well, it's not just the light, it's what Galeem found out…" Mario sighed deeply, trying to find the right words. "Galeem knows that someone was trying to look into his mind with darkness. He doesn't know who—only that the perpetrator was in the chasm. He'd sent Master Hands there to look for you, but Peach and I bluffed them out—we said that whoever it was went back into the abyss. They're going to be watching the chasm very, very carefully from now on, Luigi. I… I'm afraid that means…"
Dreamy Luigi trembled.
"I can't climb out…?" he finished. "I have to stay down there…? For how long!?"
"I don't know how long exactly," Mario said. "It has to be after enough time for Galeem and Master Hand to have forgotten."
"But there's no way to know how long that'll take!" Dreamy Luigi cried. "Big Bro, please don't leave me down there! Please!"
Mario drew him into a hug.
"I'm sorry, Luigi; I'm so sorry," he said. "But do you have any idea what Galeem will do to you if he finds out you've been using darkness to spy on him? You have to lay low until we have a chance to rescue you."
Dreamy Luigi looked away again.
"I can't promise that."
"What!? You have to!"
"I'm not going to make a promise I might not be able to keep!" Dreamy Luigi insisted. "It's so awful down there; the thing that kept me going was the thought of joining you and the others. And now, I don't even have that!?"
"Luigi, I promise I'll come back for you," Mario vowed. "I don't know when, but I will. This battle proved just how great we are as a team—I'm not going to miss a chance to have my little brother on my team again. You know that."
"I know," Dreamy Luigi sighed. "And I know this isn't your fault. If anything, it's mine—you warned me not to try to look into Galeem's mind, and I did anyway. I deserve this, but I still hate it."
"You do not deserve this—any of this," Mario insisted. "Especially when all you wanted to do was help me." He gave a wan smile. "I couldn't ask for a better brother."
Dreamy Luigi was about to say something in response when he suddenly let out a cry.
"Mario!? You're… you're fading…!?"
Mario glanced at himself.
"Oh… I'm waking up," he realized. He quickly drew Dreamy Luigi into one more hug. "Luigi, you have to stay strong out there, okay? I know you can—you've just gotta believe that you can, too."
"You make it sound so easy…" Dreamy Luigi sighed.
"…And I know it's not," Mario admitted, and his voice wavered ever so slightly. "Because I'm right there in that same boat—I just want my brother back, too."
Dreamy Luigi saw the mask of positivity slip from his brother's face for a fraction of an instant, but in that moment, he saw the weight his brother was carrying, and the pain he had to shoulder. This was hurting him just as much—if not moreso. And that was when he realized that Mario wasn't just trying to give Dreamy Luigi hope—he was trying to spark some for himself, as well.
"Alright, Big Bro," he promised, hugging him back. "I'll hang in there—and you do, too, okay?"
"Mm-hmm," Mario replied, nodding. "Let me know when you wake up."
"Right," Dreamy Luigi promised, and he continued to hug his brother until he had faded away.