Luigi woke up, the cold metal XPM cutting into his this is the afterlife it kinda sucks - oh.
He felt a jolt and simply let it throw him around like a ragdoll - it didn't hurt if he didn't fight it. From what he could see on the floor Dimentio was controlling the puppet they were both part of with a mixture of mechanical controls and what he guessed was magic. He was paying no attention to Luigi.
Luigi sat up gingerly. His scalp stung like hell but he felt strangely OK. His hair and shirt were soaked with blood but the bleeding seemed to have stopped for now. It had been in need of a cut and was getting long enough to be annoying. He guessed that was why he hadn't bled out - his hair had got in the way.
Heeelllp
What?
HEEELLLPP USSSS
He heard it in his head - it would have been impossible to have heard it from the clanking and metallic screaming. Jolts of electricity and the smell of burnt plastic filled the air. Sickly purple light filtered through the smoke. He blinked and shut his eyes.
Who are you? he thought.
I/We/Are over there to your top right...I/We/Have been following you...
BUT YOU WILL NOT LISTEN - a different voice - more demanding?
Luigi turned his head carefully. There it was. The Chaos Heart. It was black and shimmered like a oil slick. It hurt to look at it.
Oh.
Yes. You are the One. not the lovesick nobleman. not the clown. you. I/We need you. Stop us. it.
Gasping, Luigi looked further to the right. There it was, as there was no other possibility. The Dark Prognosticus. It hovered under its own power. Streamers of purple-greenish light connected the Chaos Heart to the tome as they hovered behind Dimentio. It seemed that Dimentio was too preoccupied by keeping the construct under some semblance of control to notice Luigi was no longer prone on the floor.
A jolt pinned him back on the floor, with an earsplitting metallic shriek, then followed by the lurch of free fall and another CLANG and the shock of impact, which threw him into the air. He cried out - still no response from Dimentio who was tugging at the levers jutting out of the floor as if in a trance.
YOU ARE THE ONE. THERE IS NOT MUCH TIME COME TO ME MAN IN GREEN.
Luigi sagged against the floor. All the jolting seemed to hurt less if he didn't fight it. But the voice, mostly hidden was NOT Dimentio but two other things. Even with the drunken stupor brought on by blood loss that left two options - the Heart and the Prognosticus - was it both of them?!
He blinked as he slid across the floor in response to where Dimentio was steering them - his comrades were still in the fight! But what could HE do? Nothing for it but to listen.
ooooooooeooeooeooOOOOO No nnnno noo - A painful keening sound that rose and fell and seemed to pass straight through his ears -
help us. please. help us. destroy us-
JOIN US
Luigi flattened his hand against the rough porous metal floor, slick with blood in places.
What do you want from me? - he thought since if he could hear them they could hear him.
I. Don't. Know. What's. Going. ON! TELL ME DAMN IT!
COME
OooooOOOOOoo
A rustling - then another shudder followed by a jolt and a loud BANG. Showers of sparks rained down on Luigi and Dimentio, making him drop the controls while fighting small fires in his felt himself almost float then slam down hard onto the floor. The Dark Prognosticus hovered above him, unperturbed. It seemed to be somehow moving nearer, but not in any way he could see.
A high pitched keening joined the aural assault lead by the metallic screaming as the Dark Prognosticus centered itself inside Luigi's center of vision. It turned and opened its covers - a brilliant green-tinted light spilling out.
ACCEPT YOUR DESTINY, MAN IN GREEN
A wave of warmth and elation flowed over Luigi. The metal hell and the irritating whine in his head all but forgotten. Even the growing fatigue from his injuries and blood loss seemed unimportant. Strange, alluring images flickered in his mind's eye - a few lingered briefly.
Rolling swathes of green land, oceans, a magnificent thrown dressed in green and silver - power at his fingertips. All coming at a rush - all interspersed with other images - a mixture from his own mind remembered from the news and textbooks - other more troubling ones - a war in a familiar desert never ending - massive tsunami moving inexorably across farmland destroying everything in its path - two towers burning and collapsing in a hauntingly familiar location -.
YOU ARE THE ONE TO FINALISE DESTINY -
The pages billowed and the light flickered - Luigi was suddenly back in the claustrophobic cabin. The keening was unbearable and made bubbly noises in his head. He felt is limbs twitch - seemed Dimentio had gained control of the vessel. He felt a wave of heat behind him - for how long?
NOOooooooooooooooooooooooooo
TAKE THE TOME. SEAL YOUR DESTINY.
Luigi whipped his head around as if pulled. His arms lifted, hands outstretched without consciously doing so. The keening, now like a buzzing in his head grew louder. Outside of the green-tinted light he could just about see the Chaos Heart looking matt - almost like it was sick. Unbidden, he started to smile and got onto his knees -
Then a rather more human sounding scream of despair from behind.
"NOOOOOoooo! Don't touch! MINE!"
