Welcome come to the last update for this month! This is probably the shortest chapter in the entire story, which is not something I'm proud of, but it does introduce a character that will be coming back quite a lot.

REVIEW TIME!

Ems602- My apologies that your chapter 7 review was eaten by the void, lets hope it doesn't happen again. As for Mr.L, I also forgot to talk about him because he's tricky to explain. He's in the story, but not as you'd expect him to be. And yeah, Merlon made a desperate sacrifice for a desperate time, lets hope it was worth it.

EAParakeet- I'm glad you like the story!

DISCLAIMER: Super Paper Mario is not my property, but rather the property of Nintendo. Please support its official release.

"Don't hurt me!" Luigi cried out. A voice in front of him made the same plea in unison to his own, but it sounded forced and like it had been rehearsed many times before. He opened his eyes to a jester-like figure feigning weakness. The figure's body language was enough to call out their charade, which quickly melted off when they observed the plumber and his lack of aggression.

The crouching figure in their faded and scuffed up half-white, half-black mask looked at Luigi with disgust as they levitated themself into a standing position, brushing off their off-plumb poncho of near-pastel yellow and purple while mumbling to no one in particular in a almost masculine tone.

"Aren't you going to attack me?" Luigi finally asked, scooping up the Pure Heart from the ground and sliding it into his bag.

"Of course not. I only have quarrels with those that are in my way, which you are not." The torn hat on the jester's head swayed in tune to its owner's speech, moving up and down with the tone he gave.

"Do you at least want my name then?"

"There's no need for that, I already know who you are, Luigi."

"How?" He tensed up.

The stranger stared at Luigi with his empty eyes as a small grin lifted on the mask's face. Instead of answering, he hummed to himself in amusement.

"Can I at least get your name then?"

"Dimentio, Master of Dimensions. Formerly the Pleaser of Crowds as well before, well, the obvious."

So his name was Dimentio? A strange name. A familiar name too; Luigi couldn't recall where he'd heard it from. Maybe it was from a book somewhere.

"I couldn't help but notice the stone you carry. It's Pure Heart, is it not?" Dimentio stated.

"What do you know about them?"

"I know that they're all conveniently spread across different sections of The Wasteland."

"The what?"

"This large mish-mash of worlds you living on, we call it The Wasteland now."

That was news to him. He'd keep that mind, just in case.

"I also know your wasting your time if you plan to find that Heart's other parts. It's a dead artifact Luigi, nothing but a giant magnet for disappointment."

"You don't know that."

"Pardon?"

"I was mentioned in the Light Prognosticus' passages, I was destined to guide this Heart."

Dimentio scoffed. "You got that Heart from Merlon didn't you? I told that fool he'd waste his time waiting for someone. but he INSISTED that a hero would appear. He's probably corrupted now, that Heart was the only thing keeping him safe and he's given it to you." He was obviously trying to get a ride off of him.

"I have to go." Luigi declared as he picked himself up from the ground.

"Already? I suppose there's no point in talking to a brick wall like yourself. Go on then, go and complete your suicide march, I won't stop you."

He trudged past Dimentio, who grabbed the neck of his shirt before leaving.

"If I could make one recommendation though, I'd suggest you get use to getting your hands dirty sooner rather than later. Having to murder in cold blood due to pressure is a lot more traumatizing then doing it out of instinct, and it'll only become instinct if you start early on." He let go of Luigi's shirt. "Ciao, for now Man in Green. I'm certain we'll meet again."

Luigi did not respond.

Huge apologies again for the short chapter, but hey, we have Dimentio now.

Anywho, expect some updates of Super Paper Swap next month, or the month after depending on if I get those chapters finished in time.

And as usual, Adios.