Act 2: The Exciting Middle Part

Chapter 24: A Fated Destiny

Edit Finished On 11/10/18

Published On 11/30/18

Author Note: NEW STEVEN UNIVERSE EPISODES HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED! FINALLY! Anyway, I'm hyped for the new weekly episodes coming in December. So, because of this, I'm going to change up my schedule a little. So, the next update won't be until December 21st, but afterward, I'm going to post weekly chapters until new SU episodes stop airing, which will probably be five or six weeks after the new, temporary schedule.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter! A lot of stuff happens here!

Review Response

Wishmaker1028: You bet it is :)

"…And that is how the ruffians managed to best me." Dimentio finished. Today, there was another minion meeting at Castle Bleck, with Count Bleck, Nastasia, O'Chunks, Mimi, and Dimentio all being in attendance.

Dimentio laughed. "They are strong, to be sure… Very strong. Dare I say… They might be strong enough to defy the prophecy!"

Count Bleck put a hand to his chin. "Spare Count Bleck your theatrics. The Light Prognosticus is false." He said. "The Dark Prognosticus holds the answer to eliminating heroes that rise to stop us."

"Oh my. That's the first time that morsel of information has touched my ears. Do tell!" Dimentio responded, intrigued.

Count Bleck laughed a little. "In due time, Dimentio. In due time." He turned to face Nastasia. "Oh, Nastasia? It's time we set him on these pests. I trust that Bill has done a fine job of training him."

"Yeah, um, I can take care of that for you, Count." Nastasia said.

Count Bleck turned back around to once again face the other minions. "Lovely, exclaimed Count Bleck. Return to your posts, my dear minions."

"As you command, Count!" Dimentio, O'Chunks, and Mimi all said. The three all left the room, leaving Count Bleck and Nastasia standing alone. Nastasia sighed.

"Does something trouble you, Nastasia?" Count Bleck asked.

"Yeah, Count…" Nastasia answered. "You know, there's still time… You can still change your mind."

"That is enough, Nastasia. We've already come this far, so we shall forge on!" Count Bleck said. "But you needn't stay by Count Bleck's side. You can depart with my blessing."

Nastasia was a little surprised and perked up. "Um, no, my count. I won't be doing that. My life is already sworn to you. Yeah, it's belonged to you since the day you saved me… I'll be sticking it out with you until my game ends, 'K?"

"If that pleases you…" Count Bleck said. He left, Nastasia shortly following after.

…

"My my my! How interesting!" A voice rang out. "Nastasia and the count have such DEEP conversations!" Dimentio soon reappeared. "Mm… Just what is our dear count playing at? Ah, well. I'll let him worry about that. I must attend to my own…projects." He left again.

"Timpani, why? Why do you avoid me?"

"Ow… OW! Unhand me!"

"Huh You're crying! Why? Timpani, you must tell me what has happened!"

"It's nothing… Don't worry about it… Just forget it…"

"Oh no… Timpani, is my father behind this?"

"I'm… I'm just an ordinary girl. No matter how much I love you, we must part."

"Timpani… I…"

"This is good-bye, Blumiere. There's no other choice. This is our fate…"

Mr. L was exceeding expectations, to say the least.

Though, that was mostly thanks to Bill's help. Mr. L didn't even need to get brainwashed. He basically considered his past life dead. Following the Count was his new life. And Bill would help him every step of the way.

Wanting to further eradicate his older life, Mr. L sported an entirely new costume. His hat was still green, though the L was backwards and surrounding it was black instead of white. His boots were gray, and so were his gloves. He wore a green bandana on his neck. His overalls and shirt were both black, making it hard to tell what part was the shirt, and additionally he wore an orange and yellow belt. Lastly, he wore a black bandana around his eyes, with holes for his eyes so he could see.

Training had gone much faster thanks to Bill's help. Some of the time, Mr. L himself would be training, but most of the time, Bill would be contro-helping Mr. L. Though, right now, he was currently taking a break, sitting down in one of the 'elite' minion rooms in the castle. There weren't many in here right now, though that could be thanks to that most of the elite minions were doing other missions.

Mr. L's thoughts drifted. Right now, he was in cont-not being helped by Bill. There wasn't much point to it right now, he was taking a break. But… why did his mind keep going back to the word 'control'? That would imply that it wasn't being done willingly, but it was. So why did he keep coming back to it?"

'It's because everything you know now is a lie.' A small, insignificant voice in the back of his mind said to him. The voice was persistent. Almost like an echo of his past self. He tried to make it go away by blocking it out with thinking about other stuff. It never worked. He needed to try a new tactic.

"Yeah, everything I did know was a lie. And that's why I'm living this new life." Mr. L said out loud. Thankfully no one paid attention to what he said.

'No, you don't get it. Why do you trust these people over the ones who care about you?' The voice was annoying, almost like a bug. Never leaving you alone.

"These people do care about me. Not… those other assholes." Why did he hesitate?

'How could you call them assholes? Mario, Violet, Peach, and all of your other friends would die for you!'

Mr. L snorted as if this was a joke. "Bullcrap. They'd rather pull some elaborate scheme to act like my birthday doesn't exist than help me in any way."

'Is that what you really believe?'

"Yes." Mr. L crossed his arms. "It's the truth."

'Are you so sure about that?' The voice got more annoying with every word.

"Of course I'm sure. Nobody here would lie to me."

'Why do insist on lying to yourself? If you stopped to think about it for a damn moment instead of looking through it with rose-colored glasses, you'll see just how many holes are in this so-called 'truth' of yours!'

Wow, this voice was getting persistent. Though… it might have a point? No. Stop lying. What Bill told him was nothing but the truth. The voice was trying to mess with him, trying to stop him from helping create the better world Count Bleck promised.

"I'm not going to sit here and listen to you spout off useless gibberish." Mr. L stated. "Get the hell out of my head. Now. I know what the right choice is."

'You can't get rid of me. I'll stick around like a weed until you realize just how much you're doing wrong. Do you not see what truth lies in front of you? Are you really that stupid, blinded by WHAT C-'

Mr. L slapped his hands around his ears. He strained hard, and the voice suddenly stopped. Good. He was tired of hearing the annoying thing, anyway.

Not too long ago, Mr. L had gotten news on where he would be stationed. Near the next Pure Heart those worthless heroes would inevitably go after. He'd stop them right there. He had to prove that he was worthy of Count Bleck.

And with Bill's help, he just might.

Terrance hadn't thought much about breakfast that morning. Terrance had made the usual; just a bowl of cereal, some bacon, and a glass of orange juice for the each of them.

The past few days had been… weird. They had gone to the KISS Concert, right? They had even invited Crocker along for the ride. So… why did it feel so weird?

Breakfast between him and Tamara was quieter than usual. The most obvious reason was… Timmy was gone.

Tamara couldn't eat. She said what she was thinking. "I can't believe that we forgot about our own son for several days and called him a street urchin."

"I know." Terrance said. He took a sip of his orange juice and picked at his cereal with his spoon, and then took his fork and ate a bite of his bacon. "How could we have done something like that? We're awful parents."

"Well, hang on a second." Tamara interjected. "It's not like we chose to forget about him. Something else had to have been the cause." She ate some of her cereal.

"You might be onto something." Terrance replied. "But what?"

"Well, when Timmy walked in here a couple days ago, he didn't seem to know that our memories of him were gone." Tamara pointed out. "And… it was right after we wanted to talk to him about… what was it?"

"How almost everything he owns is either pink or green?" Terrance answered. "And more recently also purple?"

"Just how long has this been going on?" Tamara asked.

"Over a year." Terrance ate some of his cereal. "I wish Timmy was here so we could all talk about it together. But now he's just… gone."

Tamara stood up. "Then we should file a missing persons report, like we should've done! I don't want my baby in any danger!"

"…I think it's too late for that." Terrance said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Terrance began. "Remember on our way to the concert, we saw that newspaper about how Timmy was chased by some robot? Or how we actually saw it earlier while we were getting ready to go? Or when we finally made it to the concert, it looked like a warzone? The ceiling was blown off!"

Tamara slowly sat back down. "What's your point, dear?" She drank a sip of her orange juice.

"I'm saying that… well… I'm not really sure." Terrance admitted. "But!" He quickly added. "This may sound really far-fetched, but… you know how in movies such as Harry Potter, or The Matrix, or even Lord Of The Rings, how the main characters have a destiny?"

Terrance paused, waiting to see if Tamara would answer. When she didn't, he continued. "I think Timmy… might have one of these destinies. And honestly, it would explain a lot."

Tamara thought for a moment. How much would it really explain? Hm… considering that they didn't get to see much at all, she couldn't really pinpoint any specific details, so she didn't have a lot to work with.

Well… how long would Timmy have had this 'destiny' for, anyway? Hm… perhaps as long as he's had the pink and green things? That could work. But what about the purple one? She couldn't explain that.

"I think I'm starting to get it." Tamara said. "So, those pink, green, and purple things could act as Timmy's guardians, right?"

"I could see that. But why would he needs those guardians?" Terrance asked. "We're right here."

"Well, maybe there's an event that caused this to happen." Tamara reasoned. She ate some of her bacon. "I have to admit, this is good bacon."

"Thanks!" Terrance said. "Anyway, what event could possibly have led to this happening?" He thought for a moment, while taking a sip of his orange juice. It was nearly empty. "Hmm… it did happen right after we hired that babysitter for him so we could go out more."

"You mean Vicky? Doesn't she have a sore throat right now?" Tamara asked. "I feel bad for her because of that."

"Well, I don't think you should." Terrance said. "Timmy tried to tell us multiple times that she wasn't a good babysitter, or that she was evil and punished him for nothing."

"He has told us that multiple times." Tamara said. "But-" Wait. The two events clicked. A frown. Tamara got up and walked over to her cell phone, which she left on the counter. She dialed a number.

As Terrance got up out of his seat and walked up to her, Tamara waited for the person on the other end to pick up. After a couple of rings, she eventually did. On the other end, there was coughing.

"Ugh, what-COUGH is it?" It was Vicky, still sick. "Sorry, I-COUGH COUGH still can't-COUGH babysit Timmy, cause-"

"Vicky, you're fired." Tamara put it bluntly. She hung up. She took a deep breath. "Well, that takes care of one problem."

"I don't think that'll magically fix things." Terrance said.

"I know it won't." Tamara responded. "But at least it's a step towards helping to prevent our son from being in danger."

"You're right." Terrance said. "You know, we need a little break from all this. Timmy is bound to come back soon." He paused for a moment, gauging Tamara's reaction. "Why don't we just get our breakfast and go watch some TV to clear our heads?"

"Alright. Sounds good." Tamara agreed.

"Just let me get one thing I think might help us." Terrance said. As he went to get his breakfast, there was a camera on the counter he left there. He picked it up, and it sparkled. "This might help us figure out everything…"

The group of 5, now including Tippi, who was very grateful to be back, went back through the yellow door, returning to Flipside.

"That was…a little weird for a while, but we seem to have gotten through it OK…" Peach commented.

"I agree, what with the nerdy giant chameleon, his castle, and all the other strange stuff we encountered." Violet agreed.

"I'm so sorry…" Tippi apologized. "It was all my fault… And… Then… You all… Thank you all so much…"

"You're welcome." Mario said.

Bowser was less than impressed. "Pbbtth! Wanna know how to thank me, bugface? Just stay outta my way, OK?"

"Don't you think that's a little rude?" Peach asked. "Also, come to think of it… could you be our next hero?"

"That would be convenient." Junior pointed out.

Just then, Merlon walked up to them. "Ho there! I have been waiting for you, young heroes! Did you succeed in your search for the next Pure Heart?"

"I guess we did…" Tippi sadly answered.

"It was weird, though." Mario started to explain. "Tippi got kidnapped by this chameleon guy called Francis, and when we rescued her at Francis's castle, the Pure Heart… sort of came out her."

"Intriguing…" Merlon said, pondering the information. "I think that castle was once a dwelling of the Ancients I told you of earlier. It seems that my ancestors have roamed far and wide in their dimensional travels. 'In the castle beyond the great sea, we hid a Pure Heart and sealed it safely…' Yes, I remember reading such a passage in the Light Prognosticus. The seal could only have been broken by a powerful pulse of love and trust…"

"So, it was because Tippi began to trust us that we found the Pure Heart?" Violet asked, trying to make sense of it all. "That's…" She couldn't find the right words.

"And now there is an additional hero!" Merlon said with a laugh. "I don't know where the rest are, but waste no time in searching, my friends."

"Oh, please! Come on, people!" Bowser said. "With me here, you don't need anybody else, seriously! Trust me, any problem comes up, I'll stomp it into next week! I'll Bowserize it!"

"Oh ho! Well met, Mr. Bowser!" Merlon said. Then, he remembered something he read not too long ago. "It is odd, though. The Light Prognosticus only had a mention of one koopa being a part of the ten heroes. Though, I'm sure it's nothing. May your strength protect this grou-"

Merlon was interrupted by a sudden shaking feeling like it was coming from everywhere. And what happened, everyone in the group dreaded would happen. The Void grew. Again.

"It seems The Void has expanded once more…" Merlon said. "Time is short!"

"We have to keep going… We must start looking for the next Heart Pillar…" Tippi said, urgency in her voice.

"There are matters I must attend to as well…" Merlon added. "I must search for any item of significance in the Light Prognosticus…" He walked away, back to his house.

There was a moment of silence.

"So… what's gonna happen now?" Bowser asked, a little confused.

"First, we're gonna find the next Heart Pillar to put the Pure Heart in." Mario said. "And then…" He stopped to yawn. "Maybe… get some sleep. I'm tired." Mario felt like every bone in his body was aching. How long had it been since he'd gotten some decent rest? Aside from passing out at Merlee's Mansion, it was all the way back when he, Peach, and Tippi had only gotten the second Pure Heart.

"I think we all need to sleep." Junior said. He also yawned.

The rest of the group unanimously agreed to this. After all, getting the Pure Hearts would practically be impossible if they were sleep-deprived for too long. But first, they would put the Pure Heart in the correct pillar. And then, they would get the rest they needed and deserved.

The group made their way down the elevator to the second floor. They walked on the path they had been on previously when trying to find the previous Pure Heart, and they came across the lowered pillars again. Now that they had Thudley, they were able to use his ground pound ability to get the 5 small pillars in the correct sequence.

And it just so happened that from doing that, the Heart Pillar rose up out of the ground. Mario put the Green Pure Heart in the pillar only moments later. Like all the others, the Heart Pillar glowed green. A beam of that same color soon shot into the sky. The next door had appeared.

But they weren't going to rush things. They needed to sleep, even if it would only be for a couple hours. That wouldn't hurt, right? They stayed at the inn and paid the fee necessary for all of them stay. And then… before drifting to sleep, they got lost within their thoughts.

Mario was worried, but he tried not to show it. Tippi finally being rescued was a small bit of relief to him, but that was only just a small weight lifted in all that has been thrown his way. The threat of The Void, Bill Cipher, and Luigi's unknown fate all plagued him constantly. It's as if every time he woke up, a new threat would come his way. Just what could happen next?

Peach never felt more conflicted. The more she thought about it, the more she… wanted to be herself. She didn't want to have to constantly be rescued, or be forced into marrying someone she didn't want to. Sure, Mario was… acting a bit odd right now, but she still… trusted him more than Bowser. For now. She didn't know what would happen in the future. But what would happen… would be her decision, and hers alone.

Violet almost constantly had one thing sticking out in her mind. The note she found during her brief visit to her house. She had reread it over and over in her mind dozens of times. What did it mean? What would've happened if she did go into one of those rooms? …Maybe it was best she didn't know.

Bowser felt like… well, he didn't know what he felt. Especially toward Mario. They were supposed to be enemies, right? So why… did it feel… much different than that? No, he wasn't in love with him. That would just be gross. It was more like… two very good friends. Bowser did have a softer side, he just preferred not to show it. His pride was hard to let go of, after all.

Junior found it very hard to sleep. What did Merlon mean when the Light Prognosticus said that only one koopa among them was one of the heroes? Was… was it meaning that… he wasn't? Only his dad? Junior shed a small tear at this. Though… it wasn't wrong. Nothing would erase the atrocity he committed down in that sewer days ago. He wished that it could just be erased from existence. But that wasn't possible. That event was a part of him… forever. Dimentio was right when he said that Junior wasn't a hero.

Tippi… couldn't help but feel… different. Being trapped in that cage for so long while some giant chameleon was taking pictures of you constantly would take a huge toll on your psyche. But when she finally rescued, she felt something. And… it felt familiar? But she didn't know where the feeling came from. So, she tried to sleep.

And so did the rest of the group. All of them eventually fell asleep, hoping that they would be able to tackle whatever would be behind the green door. They would be able to handle it… right?

Yugopatamia was a planet that thankfully, wasn't Gem controlled, as it was deemed "too-unsanitary" to colonize. There was a good reason for it being called that, due to how… disgusting everything there was. It was basically the opposite of Earth. Chocolate was deadly, mulch was a delicacy, and those upon many other things were what made it pretty much an opposite of Earth.

The main inhabitants were Yugopatamians; squid-like aliens. Right now, nothing eventful was happening, which was why at this moment in time, King Gripullon walked to the patio of the capitol to join his wife, Queen Jipjorrulac in sightseeing,

"Ah, another glorious Yugopatamian day!" Gripullon said, looking at the scenery. "The garbage is in bloom, the swamp monsters are singing," Just then, one of the said swamp monsters let out an unearthly gargling noise.

"And the sky is full of giant fireballs heading right for us." Jipjorrulac added, just as happily.

"It's just like the night we first-" Gripullon started, only to shortly realize that the event Jipjorrulac described never usually takes place on Yugopatamia. "Giant fireballs?!"

Dozens of the giant fireballs began raining down from the sky, landing on various structures and the ground. "We're under attack!" Gripullon yelled before running back into the capitol, accidentally knocking over Jipjorrulac.

The fireballs that rained down weren't just a stray meteor shower. No, they weren't even fireballs. Well, technically, they were fireballs. It's just that they were ships. And out of those ships came… Eliminators.

The Yugopatamians came prepared, with many tanks and fighter jets. Though… they thought they were prepared. Even though they managed to take down a couple Eliminators, all it took was a couple blasts and nearly all of the available fighters were out of commission, the tanks and fighter jets being incinerated.

Inside the capitol, Gripullon pressed a button on the wall, and three escape pods rose out of the floor, which both him and Jipjorrulac both ran up to.

"Are you sure you know how to operate the royal escape pods?" Jipjorrulac asked.

"Of course, I'm the king!" Gripullon answered. He grabbed a small remote with a single blue button that's only purpose was to activate the three escape pods. "Watch." He pressed the button, and the middle escape pod activated and took off. "Um, one of us probably should've been on that."

Jipjorrulac tried to take the remote before something else happened. "Oh give me that remote before you-" She stopped upon realizing that in taking the remote, she accidentally pressed the button, causing yet another one of the escape pods to take off, leaving only the one on the right. "My bad." Jipjorrulac said with a nervous laugh.

"Only the prince's pod is left!" Gripullon exclaimed, gesturing to the pod in front of him. "But Mark is spending his days on Earth hating his home planet, and chilling with the great space warrior, Timmy Turner." Gripullon got a picture of Timmy and showed it to his wife to emphasize his point.

"Isn't that Mark right there?" Jipjorrulac asked, pointing a tentacle to the other side of the room.

"Yo, parental units! Sup?" Mark himself said, and then walked over to them. "Ok, I came home for a new Fake-i-Fier as my old one's on the fritzo and only converts me into ladies' footwear." To demonstrate his point, he spun the pink Fake-i-Fier, and proceeded to turn into multiple different kinds of ladies' shoes.

"Oh, nice pump." Jipjorrulac commented on one of them.

After Mark transformed back to normal, he went over to the stash of spare Fake-i-Fiers in the room. He took his malfunctioning one off, dropped it, and was about to grab a new one when suddenly two of the fireballs crashed into the room, Eliminators walking out of them.

At this, Gripullon grabbed Mark and practically threw him into the only escape pod. "Quick! Go to Earth, my son." Gripullon said. "And carry on the legacy of our beloved planet. Though you will be superior to earthlings, do not set yourself abo-"

He paused as the escape pod suddenly took off, courtesy of Jipjorrulac, who pressed the button on the remote right then. "I wasn't finished!" Gripullon yelled.

The Eliminators started to close in around them as they were backed up against the wall. "But I think we are!" Jipjorrulac yelled in return.

"Well then, let me protect you, my sweet!" Gripullon said, only for him to hold Jipjorrulac in front of him. The Eliminators soon unleashed their vortexes, quickly sucking in the King and Queen.

Just then, the Lead Eliminator burst in through the wall. "He will not escape us this time." He walked toward the boxes of Fake-i-Fiers, and picked one of them up. "Because this time, he'll come right to us."

The roof of the capitol was torn off, as the Darkness was right above it. All of the boxes, including the one the Lead Eliminator was holding were sucked into the Darkness.

"And now, he won't be the only one we'll eliminate." The Lead Eliminator added. He and the other two Eliminators flew up into the Darkness as it consumed Yugopatamia.

The only thing they didn't account for at that moment was Mark flying away in the escape pod, en route to Earth. "Can like, anybody save us?" Mark asked to nobody in particular.

So, the Darkness was back, despite contrary beliefs...