E. Gadd simply stared, flabbergasted at Luigi. Luigi's expression remained serious, glaring at the professor.
"Luigi... care to utter what you just said... But slower?"
Luigi repeated himself. "I know the location of the next portrait. It's in the Dream World. I need to be in the Dream World."
"...You know, Luigi..." E. Gadd got off his chair. "Perhaps we should talk this out in Alice's home."
"I'll... uh... bring a safety measure to keep me safe in my dreams..." Luigi set up the coordinates of the Pixelator himself. "Alrighty! See ya on the other side!"
Interdimension plots; I lost count how many times...
Luigi landed straight outside the Human Village, immediately walking in. "I don't understand what the logic is that the next one's in the Dream World... Whoever's torturing me this way must really be getting a kick out of it."
He felt his back.
"Ah, I forgot my Poltergust. Let's just hope I don't stumble into any more flower fields."
Luigi ran through the village, in a nervous sweat. GOD, he would hope he wouldn't run into Yuuka.
He ran past Marisa's shop... "So, that magician is just desperate for money, huh? Reminds me of a certain shrine maiden.."
He kept running, as he turned his back to where he was looking, running right smack into someone, knocking him onto his butt.
"O-ow..." He looked at this feet, to see a head lying there. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-"
The head floated up and landed on a familiar girl.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-Oh, it's just YOU, Sekibanki." Luigi put his fists onto his hips and glared at her.
"Geez, Luigi... You should stop screaming... It'll attract unwanted attention." She rubbed her head. "At least nobody saw me being headless."
Luigi shook his head. "I need to get to Reimu."
"I know, I know." Sekibanki raised her hands in a surrender pose. "Just... be... careful..." She started shivering in fear.
"..." Luigi gulped. "There's someone right behind me, isn't there?"
Sekibanki nodded... "Ah... Ah..." Luigi couldn't see Sekibanki's mouth, but she just ran away in fear. "LUIGI, RUN!"
Luigi slowly turned to meet...
Another girl with short red hair. But this time her hat choice was...
Luigi squinted. Did she have a PLANET for a hat? Luigi looked at her arms, and they were holding two other planets that looked like the Earth and the Moon.
Then her fashion outfit choice... Just... a simple T-Shirt that said 'WELCOME HELL' on it...
And her legs, well... uh... they wore nothing. Barefoot it is, then.
"..." Luigi turned to face the girl, rubbing his eyes to make sure he was seeing this correctly...
No, wait, Sekibanki definitely saw it. "Alright, you terrified me! Who are-"
He opened his eyes to find the girl gone.
"...Huh." He blinked. She was definitely there, she was definitely real. It couldn't have been a hallucination.
It seemed like a harmless interaction, but Luigi felt this overwhelming dread on his shoulders, heaver than what any Poltergust can handle. He should've heeded Sekibanki's warnings and run. Speaking of run...
He ran up to the shrine... Panting and wheezing. "What... Who was that? A hard boss fight that I'd have the pleasure of annihilating...?"
Luigi realised.
Dramatic thunder storm.
"Wait... I've been going around, telling people to not take things out of context... But my own worse enemy... is... me!"
He was about to fall to his knees, but he shook his head. "Drama can wait for later... Grgh!" He clenched his palm into a fist as he knocked on the shrine door.
And there was a cold harsh voice that Luigi expected. Reimu. "Nobody's home."
"...You literally just answered, though." Luigi deadpanned.
"I'm in the shower." Reimu retorted.
"You're broke as hell -" Luigi came back, using a genius pun he learned from that weird girl's T-Shirt. "- you don't have a shower."
"Huh. Usually, when I say that excuse to a guy, they'd just open the door immediately. Uuuuh..." She looked for another excuse not to let him in. "How do you explain my smell then?"
"Are you implying I sniff you?" Luigi went red in the face a bit.
"...Do you?"
"Absolutely not. Apparently, you sweat a lot when travelling and battling." Back to being calm.
"I swear to GOD, I'm gonna kill Marisa for spoiling that."
"Marisa didn't tell me, I just sorta made a guess." He shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm gonna kill you then."
"Can't. Hourai Elixr. Plus I don't wanna be traumatized again."
"God, just go away, Luigi!" Reimu was in her tsundere mode. Luigi peeked into her donation box while she was ranting. Empty. Maybe that's why she's cranky right now. "Are you in love with me or something?"
"You can't fall in love with someone you just met." Luigi spat out something familiar. "And I wouldn't anyway. I love Daisy."
"Who's Daisy?"
"Someone who's not you." Ooooh snap!
Reimu growled. Luigi took a step back from the door. Reimu made her final excuse. "Shoo, Luigi."
Time to bait her.
"I have food!"
Rustling was heard inside the shrine as the door opened, showing a cheery Reimu's face. "Come on in!"
...Finally, that useless bickering ended. But Luigi raised his palm. "I actually need you at Alice's house. Don't worry, I know a quick method to get there."
"...So you don't have food?" Reimu folded her arms.
"I-"
Door shut in Luigi's face. Reimu literally went back inside.
"..."
Luigi knocked on the door.
"I'm in the shower!" Reimu replied.
"..." He sighed. He literally opened the shrine doors himself and grabbed Reimu by the back of the collar.
"E-eh?!" Reimu was surprised. "So you DO open the door when I say I'm in the shower!"
"We're going. To Alice's house." Luigi was just as angry as Reimu as he dragged her along.
"Grrr... She better have food there..."
Luigi went through the entire Human Village and then outside. He tapped the Pixelator camera with his glove, and then they were zapped.
Interdimensional travels; Collision Course.
They landed right outside E. Gadd's lab. Outside, mind you.
Reimu looked around. "It's awfully dark..."
Luigi looked up at the sky. "That's because..."
Lightning strike in the distance! It was now pouring rain.
Reimu groaned. "Great. Now you made me wet."
"..." Luigi glared at Reimu.
"...by being out in the rain too long. Come on, let's get inside."
Luigi nodded as both he and Reimu went inside Alice's house.
Reimu went in first as Luigi slammed the door behind him, panting.
Everyone looked at the two. Luigi pointed at Reimu. "Got my... safety measure..."
The house was... a little busy. Alice, E. Gadd, the two Toads, and of course, Luigi and Reimu.
Luigi was the first to point it out. "Isn't this house a little crowded?"
Alice simply dismissed it. "It's nothing. When I'm alone, it's a pretty big house."
E. Gadd stared at Luigi. "So, Luigi, you wanna explain yourself to the entire gang?"
All eyes on Luigi. No pressure... "Aaaalright... Uh... you two Toads."
Red Toad raised his hand. "Oh, that's me!"
"I know where your friend, Yellow Toad, is."
"You do?!" Both Toads exclaimed.
"Buuuuut he's in the Dream World."
"...wuh." They both stared.
Luigi turned to the bed. "I'm gonna be THERE for a while... Hopefully I'll, like, lucid dream or something."
"Wait!" E. Gadd pointed his finger up. "Just a second! I don't think you can bring anything from the dreams into reality!"
Luigi thought to himself.
E. Gadd continued. "We'd need someone physical here to go inside the Dream World. Almost like a portal."
Luigi remembered! "That's IT!"
Everyone turned to Luigi in hopes.
"There was this one island that me and my bro went to. Pi'llo Island! I could sleep on a pillow and open up a dream portal for my bro to hop in!"
...Everyone was confused.
"Oh... right. None of you were there." He scratched his head awkwardly. "Uuuh... I need someone strong and capable to jump into the Dream World to help me."
Everyone turned to Reimu.
She sighed. "What? Why does everyone treat me like a main protagonist? Fine, I'll go in.. Not like I can go outside anyway..."
Thunder boomed after she said that, indicating she was right.
E. Gadd looked outside. "Yeah, it sorta just came down all of a sudden. It's unnatural. Almost as if it were caused on purpose."
Luigi derped out. "Wait, so it wasn't just some comical timing to my demise?"
"Demise? Uuuh, nope... I'll try to look into it..." E. Gadd made a mental note to himself.
Luigi looked at everyone who was staring at him.
"I really gotta do this, huh..."
They all nodded at the same time.
Luigi hopped on the bed regardless and closed his eyes.
...
...
...
Reimu looked at her imaginary watch.
...
...
...
Alice sipped tea.
...
...
...
Blue Toad coughed.
...
...
...
Reimu eventually got agitated. "Why isn't it working?! Are you LYING, Luigi?!"
Luigi spoke while his eyes were still closed. "I can't sleep."
Everyone sighed.
Reimu put her hands on her hips. "What? You need a lap pillow?"
"Would love to, but you're the one getting into the Dream World with me... plus I'd like my head to be comfortable."
"Ouch." Reimu groaned. "Another sharp insult." She grabbed Alice's pillow. "In fact, I've got something to hurt you back!"
"But that level of immaturity can only be achieved by Maris-"
Luigi felt his head getting slammed by a pillow, knocking him out.
Alice looked at Reimu, shocked. "Did you really have to throw that with such force? The same force you use to exterminate youkais?"
"It worked." Reimu glared.
Then a bright beam of light blinded the entire room.
"Ah! Look!" Red Toad pointed, and nobody could believe the sight.
A giant, cloud-shaped rainbow portal was above Luigi's head!
E. Gadd pulled out his camera and took a snapshot. "I definitely need to study this at the lab."
Alice pointed at the portal. "Reimu!"
Reimu nodded, holding her purification stick. "I'm ready. I'm going in!"
Red Toad sighed. "If Luigi were awake, he'd tell you to rephrase!"
Reimu jumped in, ignoring Red Toad's remark.
A mass cloud of fluffiness wrapped Reimu in a gentle hug. A rainbow set of clouds...
"Ah... The Dream World."
She swam to another rainbow portal, going deep within.
Grass formed below Reimu's feet, allowing for a safe and comforting landing. The only thing odd about this was the rainbow cloudy sky.
"So, this is Luigi's dreams? It's already all Gensokyo... Did he forget his old home?"
A green light sparked behind Reimu. She turned with her purification stick to find... Luigi!
"...Eh?" She eased her grip. "..So, Luigi... You ARE here?"
"Yeah! Wait..." Luigi thought. "Ooooh, the sky's weird. Yep! It's-a-me, Dreamy Luigi!" He posed.
"...You look the same."
"Ah-ah!" Luigi raised his finger and waved it like a classic blue hedgehog. "I'm taller, and handsomer! Although I'm already handsome in the real world."
"...no you aren't." Reimu put it bluntly.
"He is." A voice spoke up.
"Thank you!" Luigi closed his eyes and smirked. "Wait, who spoke just now?"
The voice continued. "I'll explain later. But first, I gotta give you something that'll balance out my fun."
Another portal opened up and Luigi was forced into it, immediately closing behind him.
Well, there goes the option of Reimu's help.
Luigi landed on the floor.
"Ow..."
He got up, and looked around. It was the same grass field, without Reimu.
"Great... Now I'm all alone."
"You have me!" The voice spoke again. Luigi turned to it and found a smug face looking right at him.
During Luigi's inevitable panicking, he stepped back to see an overly long hat, and poofy clothing, mostly made of cotton. "Nice to meet you! I'm Doremy Sweet."
"...Doremy?" Luigi blinked.
"Mmmhmm!" She nodded. "And you're Luigi!"
Luigi started to move his mouth on how she knows his name, but she explained for him.
"You see, I've been watching you in your dreams. You're the best incident that's happened in a long time, you know? So naturally, I basked myself in knowledge about you! I also know why you're here. To rescue a friend?"
Luigi nodded.
"Well, there's no Poltergust for starters, sooo you're kinda already stuck!"
He groaned, half-asleep expression. "Do not mock me, Doremy. I'm powerful even without it."
"Oooh, against people who live in Gensokyo?" She went even more smug. "I doubt that very much. But still! You want to save your friend, and I want to play, let's make a way around this."
Luigi rolled his eyes. "Defeat the boss, rescue the friend, go back."
"...TECHNICALLY true... Buuuut!"
She clicked her fingers, as three portals opened.
"Pass three trials of past, present and future, and I'll grant you access to fight me!" She also thought. "Oh, right! You might want somebody to comfort you when you inevitably fail these trials." She teased, then another finger click.
A dreamy cloud started to form into a human figure, as it eventually turned into that. A human. The human's features were...
"..." Luigi gaped. "A... maid."
A maid, with a blue maid outfit, and short yellow hair with yellow eyes.
Doremy waved. "Tah tah! Have fun!" She disappeared.
Luigi and the maid awkwardly looked at each other.
"...Greetings.." The maid spoke first. "Uhm, I'm Mugetsu. I'm a dream world demon maid."
"...I'm Luigi..." Luigi awkwardly greeted back.
...They both awkwardly look at each other. Again.
"..." Luigi pointed to one of the Dream Portals. "I should just jump in."
"...Yeah, you should." Mugetsu nodded.
Luigi felt behind his back. Truly no Poltergust. "...here goes."
He then jumped in.
...And then he felt freezing cold.