A/N: This took way too long to write. Way too many summer projects. What the hell.
Uh, this is probably the most pointless chapter out of all of them.
I definitely needed some quality time with the twins.
Review please? :x

t e n

It had been a week since O'Chunks' departure from the group. Everything had been quite gloomy ever since. Mimi did not once come out of her room, which was actually unexpected. The twins took a break from constantly teasing the girl, which made the castle a bit quieter. Even Dimentio, who had been so anxious to find the last Pure Heart and destroy it, had somewhat relaxed and wasn't pushing to continue with the Dark Prognosticus' plans.

Until, of course, the 8th day since O'Chunks had left arrived.

I opened my eyes slowly, sitting up and squinting. Somehow, I was being blinded by light. How was this happening? The castle was always dark...

"Are you up?" a voice hissed, and I nodded slowly. The light disappeared, and I opened my eyes a little more. There stood Carlos, holding a flashlight. I glared at him, and he grinned. "Today, we're going to cheer up Mimi! She's so boring lately, and I've been so bored because no one is talking, and I need your help because Conrad won't do it! I asked Boss, but he hit me with a metal pole. I don't know where he got that from. Who keeps metal poles in their bedrooms when they sleep? Anyway, you're my last hope! Please come with me, I can't face the demon girl alone!"

I sighed. "Fine..."

"Yay! Oh, thank you Amanda, you're my only friend!" he exclaimed, grabbing my wrist and dragging me down the hallway. He was stronger than he seemed. I yanked my arm out of his grip and scowled at him, then followed him to Mimi's room.

When we reached her door, Carlos cleared his throat loudly and pulled, from his pocket, a sledge hammer. My eyes widened and I tried to pull it away from him, but he was too fast. He slammed the hammer into the door, making a huge hole in it, and through it, we saw Mimi. She had been sadly admiring her ruby collection, but she screamed with terror as Carlos' hammer crashed through the door. When she realized who it was, she grew angry. Carlos, however, smiled a goofy grin. "We have come to your rescue, Mimi!"

"What are you doing? What happened to my door?" Mimi shrieked, strutting over and gaping at the huge hole. I bit my lip and tried to move out of her sight, not wanting to have to take any blame for helping create this, but she saw me. "And you let him do this? You bitch!"

"We're here to make you happy!" Carlos beamed, but Mimi slapped him. "By breaking my door? Ugh! The only thing that would make me happy is O'Chunks!" And with that, the girl rolled under her bed, and we could hear her loud sobs.

Carlos sighed, looking at me and shaking his head. "That was terrible, Amanda. You're not very good at cheering people up." He turned and started walking away, and I glared at the back of his stupid head. Was he serious? I darted after him, and he suddenly stopped and whirled around. I ran into him, and stumbled backwards onto the floor. "I have the greatest idea!" he exclaimed. "Amanda, this is it! We're going to find O'Chunks! Together!"

I groaned, and he nodded anxiously. "It'll be fun! We can use our animal mating calls to get his attention! Here, let me teach you!" he said, and began flapping his arms and making a noise that sounded like he was trying to make himself puke. I backed away slowly.

Conrad suddenly came running down the hallway. "Carlos! Are you okay? You sound like you're dying! Oh, you're just trying to find a mate..." He shook his head, his gaze shifting to me. "Boss and I have decided to start training him not to do these things. When he does, scold him. When he's being quiet, give him one of these." The twin reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of small cookies and threw them at me. I sighed. "Okay..."

"Oh Conrad! What perfect timing! Amanda and I were just about to go look for O'Chunks to make Mimi happy again! You can come with us!" Carlos exclaimed, doing a small dance. Conrad pursed his lips. "Sorry, dear brother, but I have a lot of work to do. See, I'm trying to create a device that will-"

"Pleeease? It'll be fun!" Carlos begged, getting down on his knees. Conrad sighed. "No Carlos, I have things to do."

Carlos blinked a few times, and made an odd face. Conrad's expression grew pained, and he looked away. "No, Carlos. Your constipated face won't work on me this time."

Carlos jumped up, stamping his feet like a child. "I want you to come with me and Amanda!" he screamed, bursting into tears. Conrad rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, I'll join you, for Amanda's sake. She doesn't need to deal with you for more than ten minutes. And promise me that you won't have another tantrum again, you're much too old for those."

The obnoxious twin threw his arms around Conrad, bursting into a fit of happy laughter. "Oh, thank you, Conrad! It means so much to me!"

"Alright, let's go, then," Conrad said, clearing his throat again. Suddenly, the three of us disappeared, teleporting to a new dimension.

We arrived in a familiar looking little area. It was hot and sandy, a few trees here and there. Koopas and Goombas covered the ground, waiting for the arrival of the Heroes so that they could try to defeat them before we had to. I knew they wouldn't try to hurt the twins and I, since Dimentio was their master. We were in the Yold Desert.

"This is where you first had to battle O'Chunks in the game," I said to myself. Carlos laughed. "What are you talking about, Amanda? O'Chunks isn't a game, he's just a dumb man!"

"Carlos, that's rude!" Conrad hissed, and Carlos stuck his tongue out at him. I rolled my eyes at them, and we walked slowly through the sand, looking around for O'Chunks. Carlos began calling his name, each time in a different voice. Each time was more irritating than the next, and eventually, Conrad reached down, took a handful of sand, and shoved it down his twin's throat. Carlos surprisingly got the message and shut up.

"What's that up there?" I asked, pointing. Beside me, Conrad squinted, trying to see what I was seeing, and he gasped. "That's O'Chunks...and he's talking to Blumiere and Timpani! Hurry, we have to interfere before he tells them anything of importance!"

Carlos suddenly became invisible, as did Conrad. I cleared my throat loudly, and two hands grabbed my arms. I looked down at my feet, but thankfully couldn't see them. The three of us ran as quickly as we could to where O'Chunks, Blumiere, and Timpani stood. However, when we reached where they stood, Blumiere had already wrapped an arm around his wife's waist and teleported themselves away. The twins came to a sudden halt, and I stopped as well. O'Chunks sighed sadly, sitting on the hot sand. Carlos and Conrad simultaneously released my arms, and while they stayed invisible to the Scottish thug, I didn't. O'Chunks gasped, jumping up and pointing at me. "Y-yer 'ere alone! Where's the others? Wha's goin' on?"

I looked behind me, trying to see if either twin was there, but they were not. I could almost feel them smirking at me. I rolled my eyes, looking back at O'Chunks. "Yeah, I'm by myself. The twins dropped me here."

"Eh..." he mumbled, shaking his head. "Those twins 're a 'andful. Never stop causin' trouble at teh castle. It was worse before yeh came. Teasin' meh and Mimi all o' teh time, never leavin' us alone fer ten seconds! Yeh always 'ad teh be careful with whatever yeh were sayin', just in case they were listenin' to yeh or watchin' yeh or somethin'. Little bastards, they are. Always makin' trouble for yeh, always..."

I smiled as O'Chunks babbled on about the twins. It seemed to comfort him, make him remember about times in the castle. When he was finished, he looked at me with sad eyes. "How's Mimi been doin'? I 'ope she isn't causin' too much trouble for yeh, she gets pretty bad when she's upset 'bout somethin'..."

"She's pretty upset," I said slowly. I knew I had to say the exact right thing if I wanted to convince O'Chunks to return to our side. "She's mad at herself for getting so upset at you for no reason."

O'Chunks' bushy eyebrows shot up. "She is? Eh, is she not as selfish as I thought she was? She loves 'er rubies a whole lot, are yeh sure yeh got teh right story?"

"I'm sure," I said, hoping he'd believe it and come back. To my relief, a huge, sweet smile spread across his face. "Well, what're yeh waitin' fer? We gotta get back teh the castle so I can apologize teh 'er!" With that, the twins appeared on either side of me, leaning on my shoulders. "She's done it, all by herself!" Conrad exclaimed, grinning at me. Carlos made a funny face.

"Eh, I should 'ave known yeh two were 'ere!" O'Chunks growled. "Come on, kids!"

With that, O'Chunks jumped high into the sky, disappearing into the clouds. The twins again took hold of my wrists and we, too, teleported to the entrance of the castle. Carlos quickly dashed in, screaming, "I did it! I got O'Chunks back and it was all my idea! I'm so smart, I'm so much smarter than my stupid brother! Yippee!"

Conrad and I calmly walked in, only to be joined by Dimentio, who grinned. "Ah ha ha ha ha...so the dumbass actually accomplished something?"

"No," Conrad said with an almost angry tone. "It was all Amanda, sir."

Dimentio chuckled, and the three of us headed past Mimi's room, peering into the hole in the door and seeing Mimi and O'Chunks making up. Dimentio stopped short, pointing at the hole. "What's this?"

"Carlos," I muttered. "Don't even bother." The jester rolled his eyes and grunted. We watched as Carlos came running down the hallway at us, jumping onto Conrad and laughing like a child. Conrad desperately tried to kick him off, but Carlos wouldn't let go. I sighed at them, wondering if they would ever grow up.