Toad town was being set up and decorated for the Star Festival. Banners were being hung and music was being played. Typically in the Mushroom Kingdom, celebrations began the moment people started preparing, as everyone would already be smiling and having a good time, even if the actual Star Festival wasn't for quite some time still.

Mario stayed home while Luigi went out to help people set up. Going out and helping was one of the ways for him to really feel connected with the townspeople. Mario hardly ever helped with setting up for festivals and stuff because, well, he was Mario. He was the local hero, everyone knew him. Yes, Luigi was fairly well known too, but on a much smaller scale, so it was easier for him to go out and do simple tasks like helping set up for a festival without being swarmed with fans. 

There was one time when a small toad asked him for his autograph. That felt nice... he would never forget the way the child's eyes lit up when they saw him. He hoped that someday, he could bring that much joy to everyone by simply existing, just like Mario does. It's almost like magic, whenever Mario walks into town. Just by being there, he's somehow able to put smiles on all the people's faces.

"Ditched us to set up banners, I see," Dimentio chuckled from behind Luigi, grinning and holding his arms behind his back.

Luigi ignored him, continuing to unroll a banner when he suddenly froze.

"Dimentio?!" Luigi asked, whirling around. Surely enough, there the jester was, grinning at him with an amused smile. Luigi felt a heavy feeling in his stomach as his muscles went ridged. "What are you doing here?!"

"Did you seriously think you could leave me all alone in the hands of the count and your brother?" Dimentio asked. "No, that would be too cruel for someone as noble and heroic as you."

Luigi rolled his eyes, then went back to unrolling banners, which were dark blue, covered in glitter and images of stars. He didn't want to deal with Dimentio and his desperate attempts to annoy him.

"Isn't this breaking the rules?" Luigi asked. 

"No, you're watching me, are you not?" Dimentio asked.

Although, the jester was slightly worried. He knew that he was too far away from Blumiere, but usually, things were fine as long as he wasn't separated from him for too long. On top of that, he didn't know if Jaydes could even do anything about it, since he was in the living world now. Did she even have power over him anymore?

"I wasn't," Luigi stated, letting out a tired sigh. "You're lucky no one here knows who you are, otherwise we'd be having a lot of problems-"

"Wait, the mushroom people don't know who I am?!" Dimentio interrupted, for once sounding genuinely surprised.

Luigi nodded, shrugging slightly as he did so. "How would they? You've never been here before."

"Yeah, but I'm the one who practically destroyed ALL worlds," Dimentio exclaimed, holding his arms out, seeming to think that doing something so drastic would give him at least some fame amongst the Mushroom Kingdom. "You would think they would know of me after something like that."

"Well, did you teleport over here and introduce yourself while you were destroying everything?" Luigi asked, a small hint of amusement and sarcasm in his voice that reminded Dimentio of the way Mr. L used to talk.

Dimentio opened his mouth to speak, then drew back slightly, unable to come up with a comeback. 

He wasn't sure why hearing the news that people in the Mushroom Kingdom didn't know about him seemed like such a shock. It was technically a good thing because it meant they wouldn't be afraid of the sight of him. However... it was just weird to think about. Dimentio would have thought that Mario, Luigi, or even Peach would have at least mentioned him. Was he really that irrelevant? 

"If it makes you feel better, most of them don't know about most of the bad guys we encounter," Luigi offered. "I mean, they know about Bowser, but that's because he shows up at least once a month. I don't think the majority of them even know who King Boo is."

"King who?" Dimentio asked, pausing, then quietly chuckling. 

What kind of name was that?! It sounded adorable.

"King Boo. Basically my arch-enemy. He's just this dead guy who hates me," Luigi explained casually. 

"Oh, no, no, no, no, I'm the only dead guy who's allowed to hate you," Dimentio corrected.

"Funny, King Boo would probably say the same thing," Luigi shrugged. 

Dimentio clenched his fists slightly, feeling just a tad annoyed. He knew that Mario had his usual arch-enemy, but he didn't realize that the position had been taken for Luigi too. That seemed unfair. Besides, Dimentio was sure that he was far more worthy of the title, since he manipulated Luigi, planted a floral sprout in his head, turned him into Super Dimentio, AND nearly destroyed all worlds. What did this King Boo do to be worthy? 

"Okay, perhaps, but I-"

"You're not seriously about to try to convince me that you're a better villain than him, are you?" Luigi asked.

"No!" Dimentio corrected. "I'm saying I'm a better villain for YOU than him."

"You've never even met him!" Luigi pointed out, the corner of his lips twitching upward slightly.

"Fine, just point me in his direction. Let me challenge him to a duel. We'll see who's the better arch-enemy!"

"You're not dueling him," Luigi chuckled, rolling his eyes. "And you're not my arch-enemy. Sorry, Dimentio."

Dimentio shook his head, sitting down with an annoyed huff. After everything he did, after all that work and all that betrayal, he was nothing more than a common enemy to Luigi?! That didn't seem fair. He had to have put at least four times the amount of effort into his evil plans as this King Boo character. 

"Fine, then what am I?" Dimentio asked. "If I'm not the arch-enemy, can I at least be the most memorable antagonist? Or-"

"Dimentio, I don't view you as the villain or a bad guy," Luigi breathed. "Well, I mean, you are a bad guy, but you're not my bad guy."

Oh, so King Boo was his bad guy. What was that supposed to mean?! What was being implied? Whatever it was, Dimentio didn't like it.

"Ouch, you could at least be gentle with my heart before tearing it out and throwing it to the wolves," Dimentio stated, crossing his arms.

Luigi rolled his eyes.

"What I mean by that is... I don't know, when we first met, I thought you were my friend. So... even though you betrayed me and even though you've done all these awful things... no matter what you do, you won't be my arch-enemy." Luigi explained.

Dimentio paused, blinking as Luigi's words processed in his mind.

Dang it, the stupid concept of friendship was ruining his chances of having any actual meaning in his life. 

"That's stupid!!!" Dimentio exclaimed, holding his arms out. "If anything, that should make me more qualified to be your arch-enemy! That just makes the rivalry more personal! Your logic is flawed, L."

"Meh, oh well," Luigi shrugged. "Does it matter? At the end of the day, I'm the one who chooses who I want to hate."

"So you don't hate me, then?" Dimentio questioned.

"Oh no, I definitely hate you," Luigi admitted. 

Again, Dimentio was starting to see more and more of Mr. L in Luigi. Perhaps the two weren't as different as most people assumed.

"I'm just saying, I hate him a whole lot more than I'll ever hate you," Luigi explained.

Dimentio crossed his arms. Honestly, he was both upset and relieved at the same time. A small part of him was comforted by the fact that he wasn't the person Luigi hated most in the world. However, there was still that twinge of jealousy. He was far more worthy of being the most hated, he was sure. What did King Boo do that was so hateable.

"I thought you heroes weren't capable of such feelings like hate," Dimentio huffed.

"Everyone's capable of hate," Luigi corrected. "Just like everyone's capable of love."

Ah, there was that heroic logic. Just like that, Mr. L was gone and Luigi was back. 

Dimentio paused for a second, remembering what he needed to do in order to get to the Overthere. He needed forgiveness from one specific person.

He had a running theory that this mystery person would be Luigi. After all, he had done so many horrible things to the man in green. He manipulated, controlled, and even killed him. The bad deeds ranged from full-blown murder to betrayal. If the book wanted to make Dimentio's task difficult, it would surely have chosen Luigi, the person he perhaps had wronged the most.

"Do you think everyone's capable of forgiveness, then?" Dimentio questioned.

"Depends," Luigi quickly answered. "I... think everyone's capable of it, but it really depends on a lot of things, actually. What kind of person they want to be, what was done to them, and who the person asking for forgiveness is to them."

Dimentio nodded, for once, almost feeling nervous. He wasn't a fan of the feeling of his pulse racing and the sound of his heartbeat in his ears. 

"Do... you think you could ever forgive me?" Dimentio questioned.

Luigi paused, looking down at all the sparkling banners he had rolled out.

"I... don't know," Luigi admitted. 

Dimentio expected an answer like that. Still, it hurt to hear.

He nodded, keeping his gaze away from Luigi.

"How can I get forgiveness, then? What can I do to make it up to you?" Dimentio questioned.

"Dimentio, that's not how it works," Luigi breathed.

"Who do I need to be to you? What do I need to do? Whatever it is, I can try!" Dimentio exclaimed, unsure why his own attitude had shifted so drastically all of the sudden.

"Dimentio, you can't... you can't force forgiveness," Luigi stated. "There's no one you can be that would make me forgive you. I'm sorry."

Dimentio frowned slightly, then stood up, brushing himself off. A wave of embarrassment washed over him, and he wished he could take back that sudden outburst.

He knew that Luigi would probably react like that. He knew that the man in green would never forgive him after what he did, even if he wasn't his arch-enemy. Still, it hurt. It hurt knowing that he'd probably never get the forgiveness he needed to get to the Overthere. It hurt knowing that Blumiere was on track to get his happy ending, while Dimentio was still alone and lost.

"I.. apologize," Dimentio breathed, turning away, silently kicking himself for getting all desperate. How pathetic he must have looked. 

He let out a shaky breath, then began to walk, one foot after the other. He had grown used to walking, even though he still had his magic. He wasn't sure why he would opt to walk more often as opposed to flying now. It was just one of the small changes he made to himself after Super Dimentio failed. After he gave up on his true goals and dreams.

He thought of Blumiere and Timpani. He thought of how much they cared for one another and how Timpani made Blumiere want to be a good person. Whenever he thought of the concept of love, he would think of Luigi. Not because he was in love, but because... well, he wasn't sure why he would think of Luigi. He didn't even know what love was, to be honest. He supposed he just wanted something. Someone to want to live and be good for. He had no idea if that could have been Luigi or Mr. L or whatever, but... he didn't know. At the end of the day, he was just confused. He had always hated being confused. He used to plan each and every move to eliminate any confusion in his life. Now, there was nothing but confusion. He felt like he was trapped in a bubble, no longer dead, but not alive either. 

"I never stood a chance with you, did I?" Dimentio quietly muttered.

Luigi frowned, then looked up from the banners he was unrolling, over at Dimentio, who was still slowly walking away. His steps were even, yet slow. His shoes looked like they hurt, but the jester was probably used to them at that point. 

"That's the sad part," Luigi breathed, looking down. "You did once."