Chapter 29: Crushing Pain

Dimentio

'We'll be stopping at Nautoville's pit stop later on in the afternoon,' Esmine said. 'Says the conductor at least.' She chuckled. 'It's so fun messing with minds. A simple charm is all you need to make someone forget you were even there.' She snapped her dainty fingers, a spark of black magic flaring up from them.

'You seem to be a natural,' Dimentio noted from his vantage point in mid air. 'I suppose being a demon to begin with heightens one's magical abilities.'

Esmine looked away, her face shadowed. 'I hate that word. "Demon." It's so...horrible.'

'And you really believe you're any more human than I? You seduce poor, unsuspecting young men, then when you're finished with them you end their lives.'

'Not...ALL the time—'

'And I...' the jester interjected. 'I hurt, maim, and murder, seeking the destruction of all things by the Void's eternal hunger for nothingness.' He smiled, looking Esmine's way. 'What else are we, but senseless monsters?'

'We still have emotions though,' Esmine argued calmly. 'Other than hate and uncompassionate rage. We can feel happiness and joy, we can think rationally, we...um, I can love. You can't.'

'Ah ha ha...yes, yes. Perhaps we are merely dedicated to our goals.' Dimentio noticed Esmine fiddling with Rosalina's magical wand and realized that he hadn't checked up on her.

'Rosalina's fine,' the succubus said as if she had read his mind. 'I can feel her presence whenever I hold this. She's still in the castle, and hasn't moved since we left.'

'...I'm not sure whether a connection with her is reassuring or disturbing.'

'She talks to me sometimes. Only little questions, like "How are you?" It's...strange. She's a captive of ours, and yet she talks to me like I'm an old friend of hers.'

'Perhaps I should choose disturbing.' The magician tapped the cheek of the mask that rested on his face idly.

Esmine was looking at his masked face with curiosity. 'I have a question,' she stated plainly.

'Perhaps I have an answer for you.'

'Why do you wear that mask?'

Dimentio raised an eyebrow (though this was not nearly as apparent to Esmine). 'I'm not quite sure what you mean.'

'People wear masks to hide things about themselves. They wear facemasks to hide their identity, they put masks over their hearts to hide their emotions, they have mental masks to hide their personalities. Everyone who wears some kind of mask has something to hide.' She didn't smile or grin in that sly way that she usually did—her expression remained calm, yet curious—yet her eyes sparkled. 'What are you hiding?'

Dimentio didn't answer for a very long time. His face remained trained on the cabin floor, his ears listening to the silent humming of the wheels on the tracks. It was an interesting question to be sure, one that made him think more than he had in a long while. Finally, he spoke; when he did, his voice was quiet. 'There is nothing more frightening than the unknown. No one likes not knowing everything. It frustrates us and, even more so, scares us. A monster in plain view is far less frightening than one hidden by darkness. A high school exam is far less stressful when one knows the questions that will be on it. I am not so known. I am not hidden in plain sight, but rather, in a blanket of darkness. I am enigmatic, mysterious...my mental capabilities know no bounds, the lengths I will go to go well past insane. I instil fear into the hearts of my enemies, I cause even the most calm and collected heroes and the most hardened criminals to hesitate to fight me...and why? Because when they look at me...when they look at this mask...they don't know what they see. I am a mystery, and my mask is a mere physical extension of that.' He turned to her and smiled. 'Nothing more...nothing less.'

At last, the grin he knew Esmine wanted to make was made. 'That's very interesting...I didn't expect that answer.'

'And what answer did you expect?' Dimentio asked.

'Well, I met Mimi today, and...what was that?'

Dimentio had suddenly started, stumbling where he floated and smacked against the ground, grabbing onto the bunk bed for support. 'You what?' he hissed. She had "met Mimi?" The comment had come out of nowhere, and Dimentio hadn't been expecting it at all; it had hit him like a slap to the face.

'I said I...' Esmine laughed smugly. 'I met Mimi today. I don't really get what you see in her, but based on what is so painfully obvious about you I think you wear that mask to hide your emotions. You block out your feelings, just like the Chaos Heart is literally doing with love. You're scared to be betrayed again and you're hiding all your compassion...from others, AND from yourself.'

'Nonsense...' The jester's heart was beating wildly and he struggled to his feet. 'What do you know?'

'Dimentio, I've been alive for over a thousand years,' the girl said with a sigh. 'You don't think that I haven't picked up emotional traits in people by now, do you?' The magician just growled. 'If you want her so much, why don't you let the love come back? Why not make her yours...just like you want.' A shadow passed over her face and she had what looked like a small glare on her face for a moment; oh the wonders of female jealousy.

'I...will never...love...again...' he seethed angrily. 'Don't you understand? Love is just something that will get in the way, and I will not let three thousand years of effort go to waste over my emotions!' Silently, Dimentio was berating himself once again; he knew Esmine was right, and he hated it.

'It's written all over your face,' Esmine said. 'Why can't you have her and your perfect world?'

The jester hesitated, then sighed and straightened himself up. 'I recall a time when I thought that might work...but that girl has made her allegiance perfectly clear. I will rule alone.'

'What about Doopliss and Grubba and I? We're helping you.'

'Ha...ahahaha...HA! Of course, of course, you too shall reap the rewards for helping me. A perfect world free of strife...and no more murderers to kill unsuspecting little boys.'

Esmine started. 'My brother...' She sighed. 'It's too bad that murderer isn't alive. I'd—'

'You would kill him yourself, yes. However, that is not an option and the only thing we can do is prevent the universe from repeating itself again. No more strife.'

'Yeah,' the girl agreed. 'No more strife.'

'And no more distracting little girls,' the Chaos Heart added slyly.

Dimentio winced as his heart pounded, sending a fresh burst of the love-deprived pain through his body.

Fawful

Fawful's legs couldn't carry him away fast enough. When he had come bursting out of the storage car running breathlessly for what felt like his life, the conductor had looked on in bafflement. The boy himself didn't even really know why he was running...only that Crubba had scared the wits out of him. The fact that someone could raise such a fuss at such an old age...

It reminded him of another Clubba he knew.

He would have been a lot more suspicious had he not seen Crubba sleeping in his cabin on the very night Grubba was in the storage car. It was conclusive proof, if anything...but he would still have to be on his guard.

Suddenly, Fawful felt his feet hit something very hard and fell forward, smacking his face against the floor of the train. 'Ouches...' he muttered after the initial pain subsided.

'Um...could you move please?'

Fawful got up and turned around angrily to the thing that had caused him to fall: Bub the bronze Bob-Omb. 'What is the idea that has bigness of yours, little explosive who is getting on the nerves of Fawful?'

'You tripped over me!' Bub retorted.

'Hng...' Fawful groaned, facepalming. 'This has pointlessness...'

The two stood their awkwardly for a few moments. 'Uh...did you like the food?'

'Yesing,' the Bean replied. 'And what of you?'

'You bet I did! But...' The little bomb made a strange gesture that slightly resembled looking downward in embarrassment. 'I think I ate too much. My stomach hurts.'

'You are having a stomach?' For some reason it had never occurred to Fawful that Bob-Ombs had any internal organs.

'Yeah, why wouldn't I?'

More awkward silence.

'Y'know,' Bub said after a short time. 'You don't seem as evil as people say you are.'

Fawful sighed and slumped. 'I am having a...a break.' He decided not to get into a lengthy conversation.

'Can you do that?'

'Yesing, now cease with the talking.'

'Hey,' the Bob-Omb said, completely disregarding Fawful's command. 'Did you see that weird lady with the red hair today?'

The Beanish boy started. 'Where is she being located?' he demanded.

'Whoa, don't yell at me!'

'JUST HAVE THE TELLING OF ME!'

'WAAAAH!'

It went on like this for about a minute. Finally, Fawful sighed and tried speaking calmly. 'Which cabin is the lady of red-hairedness having the sleeping in?'

'Uh...well, I saw her heading to cabin 1. I think that's where she's staying.'

Fawful started. '...the cabin in which the Clubba of richness is staying?'

'That Crubba guy? Yeah, that's the same cabin. Why, do you know those two?'

The Bean frowned. 'I am having a feeling of suspiciousness again...' He turned around towards the end of the hall. 'I have the thankings.'

'Wait a sec!' Bub cried. 'I wanna ask you something.'

Fawful sighed inwardly and turned around. 'Yesing?'

'You're with Mario, right?' Fawful nodded. 'And that means you're gonna stop that big thing in the sky from killing all of us right?' After a moment's hesitation, Fawful nodded again. 'Okay...so, why do you want to find that lady? Is she a bad person?'

'I am not knowing...yet. That is what I am wanting to find out.'

'Be careful...' the Bob-Omb said, worried. 'She's...weird.'

Fawful remembered the strange reaction he had had to meeting her eyes and silently agreed with the small boy. 'I will have carefulness.'

'All right, thanks.' He turned and waddled off to his cabin. Fawful set off in the opposite direction, determined to find out everything he wanted to know about her.

He knocked three times. Three brisk raps, sending a dull thunk through the door each time. When no one answered, he just opened the door himself, walking right in and shutting the door behind him.

The cabin was empty. Crubba was nowhere to be seen, and the red-haired girl wasn't either. He took a seat on the couch and crossed his arms; he would wait until one of them showed up. He waited for twenty minutes straight, closing his eyes and yawning. Finally, he heard a voice.

'Boy you're patient.' Fawful's eyes snapped open and he looked towards the door; the red-haired girl was there again, this time wearing a different black dress with short sleeves. White ribbons were tied around her knee and elbow joints and small black boots were on her feet. She idly played with one of the ribbons, leaning against the door; her red eyes shimmered mischievously. 'You've been here for what, twenty minutes?'

'You!' Fawful spat. 'Who are you and what do you want with the one who is me?'

'Now now...don't be so hasty to judge me. I haven't done anything to you yet.'

'Yet?'

'Yes...not yet...surely that isn't too bad, hm?' She smiled and her eyes began to glow; suddenly, all of Fawful's suspicions and anger left him immediately. He smiled contently; of course it wasn't too bad. After all, she hadn't done anything to him. She was an innocent...and such a pretty one...

'No...' the young Bean agreed, chuckling nervously. 'No badness.'

'See? Nothing's wrong with just being gorgeous right?' The glow intensified and Fawful's heart suddenly pounded with fear and embarrassment; he gave a quiet yelp and stepped backwards.

'N...n-no, nothing has wr-wrongness...' he stuttered. What a beautiful woman, and here he was acting like an idiot, accusing her of things she didn't do! Stupid!

'Are you okay...Fawful?' She smiled endearingly and the boy's heart melted into putty. 'I don't want to upset you...'

'N-no!' Fawful shouted loudly. 'Y-you are not upsetting Fawful, I have promising!'

'Good, thank you.' She laughed sweetly. 'You're cute Fawful.'

'Cu...cute?' The Bean blushed. 'I have cuteness...?'

'Yes!' the lady beamed. 'Yes, you are...' She stepped closer. 'I like cute boys, you know...'

'...u-uh...ha...hahaheheh...' Fawful smiled widely. 'I have nervous...ness...'

'You don't have to...' she pouted. 'That's no fun.'

'B-but—'

'Then again,' she cut in, running a finger up his chin, causing him to shiver and gulp. 'There's a certain...appeal...' Her eyes pierced his heart, filling it with overflowing love and adoration. He wanted her...he needed her. She was all he needed, forever. Nothing else mattered. Nothing.

And then, suddenly, she leaned forward and kissed him passionately. His whole being exploded with a youthful euphoria, making his heart leap and his body warm with ecstasy. He couldn't help it; he returned her affections, savouring every second, not caring about anything else in the world. This was perfect...utter rapture.

Then the door to the cabin opened and the new arrival gasped. A full five seconds passed before the woman noticed anything and broke the kiss, all the gleam and power draining from her gaze. 'Oh,' she said. 'Hi.'

All the feelings Fawful had been filled to the brim with were suddenly sucked out of his heart as if with a straw, leaving a confused emptiness. He gaped at the woman for a second and then turned sideways to see the person who had walked in. When he did, his heart did a back flip and his skin paled.

Mimi was standing in the doorway, her eyes wide and her hand covering her open mouth. '...you...you didn't...' Her voice was small and hurt; tears had begun forming in her eyes.

'Oh, is he your boyfriend?' she asked, her voice mocking in an infuriatingly sly manner. 'Sorry...I had no idea.'

'You...you just...' Mimi still couldn't form her sentences.

'M...Mimi,' Fawful whispered, horrified. What had he just done?

Mimi clenched her hand into a fist and dropped it down; her face was contorted with sheer rage, the tears still present on her cheeks. 'I HATE YOU!' she screamed. 'I can't believe it! I can't believe you'd do this to me! I thought we had something!'

'Mimi!' Fawful cried again in despair. This couldn't be happening; he didn't know what was going on.

'YOU LIAR!' she howled. 'You're a horrible, horrible person! I hate you I hate you I HATE YOU!'

'N-no!' the Bean yelled. 'Mimi, I have—'

He barely had enough time to duck as a Rubee soared through the air and sliced right through the window, shattering a hole in it. 'GO BACK TO THE UNDERWHERE!' she bawled. 'IT'S WHERE YOU BELONG!'

The words hit Fawful like a punch to the gut. He winced and looked on in grief as Mimi turned around and ran away, slamming the door shut behind her.

He spun around to the red-haired woman, looking at her incredulously. 'What?' she said. 'It's not my fault your emotions got the better of you?' The grin on her face was nothing short of sadistic. 'Was it?' She chuckled and waved him goodbye. Fawful growled at her and ran out of the room.

Esmine snickered, snapping her fingers like Dimentio so often did; a spark of black electricity crackled. She loved being a succubus sometimes.

Mimi

Mimi slammed the door to her cabin shut, eyes squinted shut, breathing deeply. Peach wasn't in the cabin, which was all the better. She stumbled over and fell onto the couch, crying.

How could he? she thought furiously over and over. How could he do that? I thought he...I thought I... It wasn't fair. She had finally found someone to give her heart to and he went and...she didn't want to think about the image, but she couldn't help it.

Fawful had cheated on her.

'What relation are we having to each other?'

Nothing. There was nothing between them, not anymore. Fawful had seen to that.

'We had the sharing of a...'

Mimi slammed her fists down on the couch's cushiony surface; that Grambi-forsaken scum! What had she meant to him? He had told her...that he loved her.

Obviously he hadn't.

Had she loved him? She thought she had, but...

She shook, getting up from the couch and briskly walking to window ledge. She slammed her fists on the ledge. 'I hate you!' she screamed. 'I hate you Fawful! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!'

She hated Fawful.

She hated Fawful.

She hated Fawful.

She hated Dimentio.

'Everything is your fault!' she sobbed. 'If you hadn't come back to life none of this would be happening! The Void wouldn't be in the sky, Fawful wouldn't even be here, Nastasia wouldn't be dead, and I could have gone on working at Merlee's Mansion in peace without risking my life for everyone! I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU!'

She stopped; she had switched people unintentionally. Then she started; there was someone else's reflection in the glass besides her own:

Dimentio's.

She spun around to find...nothing. Nobody was there. Nobody...and yet she knew there was. She could feel it.

'I hate you...' she whispered. Then her heart pounded and anger welled up inside her. 'I hate you!' she screamed. 'I can't believe I ever loved you! I HATE YOU!'

Silence. Perhaps Mimi had been wrong after all. She considered this for a moment before another voice from nowhere broke that train of thought; a voice she knew too well.

'No,' said Dimentio solemnly. 'No, you don't.'

Mimi, thinking without truly thinking, grabbed the pillow from the bed and hurled it to where she heard the voice. It flew unstopped and smacked into the wall on the other side of the room. 'Yes I do!' she shrieked.

'Your heart cries out to me,' the jester continued. 'Your heart needs me...'

'N-no! No it doesn't!' The girl was in hysterics.

'It welcomes me...just as mine rejects you.'

An audible ping! sound filled the air for a split second; Dimentio had warped away.

The sun had begun to really sink beyond the horizon by the time the train stopped and the conductor's voice came over the intercom telling everyone to disembark while the train refuelled at the station. The second day was ending. After that, there would be only one more before they arrived at Nautoville. Then...the final item. The last ingredient to the Purity Heart. Then they could stop Dimentio. Only then.

Fawful had knocked on her door plenty of times throughout the rest of the day's journey, desperately begging for an apology, but she wouldn't give him one. He had betrayed her. He hadn't killed anyone else, he hadn't helped Dimentio, but he had betrayed her. He had betrayed her heart, and she would never forgive him for that. So it was that when she opened the door and made to go out, she ignored Fawful completely.

As far as the station went, it was impressive. Large by its standards and very technological, it had a very urban look to it, almost futuristic. The entrance to the building was automatic double doors that opened when you approached, and the inside had various shops for souvenirs and the like. Thankfully there were restrooms for those who didn't trust the ones on the Excess Express, and Mimi bought a brand new dress to change into, flipping the old one out of the dimension.

'Keep the change,' Mimi said upon showing him the large Rubee she conjured out of thin air.

The red-haired girl that she had seen was nowhere around the station. She did see the rest of her friends, as well as Crubba and the rest of the other passengers though. Crubba was laying in a rocking chair by the entrance to the station; its antique look was out of place with the rest of the building.

'Howdy-do, 'lil girly?' he called.

'Hi Crubba,' she said half-heartedly.

'Hey now,' he said. 'I can hear some grief righ' there. What's on yer mind?'

'Uh...' Mimi shifted. 'I don't think I want to talk about it.' A pit had formed in her chest.

'Ya sure? Talkin' can help.' He leaned forward and spoke quietly. 'S'it trouble with that 'lil Beany boy o' yours?'

Mimi started, then nodded. 'Yeah, he...well...I don't really want to...'

'All right all right,' Crubba replied. 'Ya don't wanna talk about it, I understand. I don't really know how ta deal with boy trouble anyway, hyuk hyuk!' He chuckled. 'Sorry, always laughin' at the worst times.' He got up and stretched.

'What's with the chair?' the girl asked, desperate to change the subject.

'Oh, this?' The Clubba got up and looked at it. 'Thing was here when I got here.'

'Doesn't seem to fit the mood,' Mimi noted.

'Aye...that it doesn't.'

POOF! Suddenly, the chair was engulfed in purple smoke and a white Duplighost appeared. 'SURPRISE!' he yelled. 'Guess who it is, slick?'

'WHAT N'TARNATION?' Crubba sputtered.

'Doopliss!' Mimi exclaimed, already conjuring up a Rubee.

'Hey now, don't go throwing that around!' the Duplighost warned. 'People might overhear.' He rocketed into Mimi's stomach, knocking the wind out of her and throwing her back onto the ground. 'Hyuk hyuk! Smell ya later!' He ran off. The ensuing sounds of alarm told Mimi that Mario and the rest of them had seen Doopliss and were giving chase, but she was too winded to give much notice.

'Fink-rat!' Fawful screeched at the top of his lungs. 'Have the dying and be getting it over with! GAAAAH!' Utter rage filled his words, which was transferred into a large explosion which caused several people to scream.

Mimi heaved herself off the ground and wiped her watering eyes on her arm. Every one of her friends plus Fawful had given chase, with Doopliss hooting and hollering with glee at the chase. 'Stupid freak...' she muttered, before taking to the air and shooting off after them all.

They were quite far from the station by the time the fight actually started. Doopliss stopped, turned around, and shot at Mario, smashing him into Luigi. Mimi hit the ground feet first and threw a Rubee at him, which collided with the ghost's head.

'Hey!' he groaned. 'That hurt!'

'That's the point!' Mimi shot.

'Well, I'm not fighting alone, that's for sure!' A two-dimensional box appeared and flipped around, revealing the portly form of Midbus. 'We'll double-team all of you!'

'Muh muh muh,' Midbus laughed. 'You will all be squashed. Then you will cry.' He smashed his fists together. 'And then you will DIE!'

'Bring it, ya big luggin' pig!' O'Chunks challenged, running at Midbus. The pig rolled into a ball and smashed into the armoured man while Doopliss flew up and turned into a stone Chain Chomp just as Mario punched him.

'YAAARGH!' the plumber howled in pain. Luigi jumped off his head and stomped down on Chain Chomp-Doopliss' top, driving him into the ground. A poof of smoke exploded from the small impact crater and a huge golden Banzai Bill came shooting out of it. Mimi shot a dozen Rubees at it and it blew itself to pieces. The party-hatted Duplighost fell from seemingly nowhere in the sky and plopped down on the ground. Mario, still clutching his fist, ran at Doopliss with a vengeance. The ghost couldn't react quickly enough before the hero brought his fist in an uppercut to his face. Doopliss flew up into the air; Mario spun around, took out an Ice Storm and crushed it in his hand. Holding both his palms in the air, a freezing gale of icy wind blew everywhere. Ice shards battered Doopliss' and Midbus' bodies, slicing at their bodies and causing them to roar in pain, while the Ice Storm's particles passed harmlessly through his teammates, sparkling in the setting sunlight.

'Nrgh...' Midbus grunted. 'You are a coward. Battle without items!'

Mario wiped some snow off his glove and onto his overalls. 'Luigi, how about it?'

Without another word he leaped into the air, flipping upside down. Luigi ran underneath him and jumped up, grabbing Mario's hands. Bouncing off of the ground, Luigi spun in the air, spinning Mario with him. After a few quick spins Luigi sent his older brother rocketing towards Midbus, both of them yelling 'YAHOOOOO!' Midbus curled up into an armoured ball; Mario collided feet first, sending a tremor through Midbus even in the state he was in and shooting him off. Bowser withdrew into his shell and Midbus smashed into him, making him ricochet up into the air. O'Chunks jumped up and brought both his fists down upon the pig, making him crash into Doopliss who up until then had been contending with Blumiere and Timpani.

'I never knew you could...fight,' Blumiere said, surprised.

'Thought I was just another pretty face?' Timpani smiled. 'I'm not too helpless you know.'

'BRAAAAGH!' Midbus bellowed. 'YOU WILL BE CRUSHED!'

'Yeah!' Doopliss huffed. He disappeared into another poof of purple smoke and a second Midbus was among them. 'You will be crushed.'

Doopliss-Midbus rolled into a ball and regular Midbus pulled out a chain from Hammerspace, attaching his lookalike to it. 'Fury,' Midbus boomed. 'I have fury.'

Fawful made a sound that sounded like phlegm in his throat. 'Steal the catchphrase of Fawful? Then you shall have DEATH!' He rocketed towards them, his Headgear's mouth agape. Mimi snarled and took off after him, Rubees appearing in her hands.

'Death is not mine,' Midbus countered. 'Now, you eat death!' He heaved the chain up in the air and spun it around, smashing aside a few Rubees thrown by Mimi and bringing the makeshift mace upon Fawful at full force. He flung his hands out in front of his face and squeezed his eyes shut, instinctively bracing himself for the bone-crushing impact. His Headgear opened its mouth wider than Mimi would have thought was possible and took the full brunt of the blow; Doopliss-Midbus became lodged halfway in the helmet's throat, with Fawful being forced to the ground by the weight. He held up the Headgear's mouth with his hands and strained to make sure his legs didn't give out on him.

Mimi had half a mind to let him struggle; the jerk deserved it after all the things he had done.

Then again, he was probably going to kill himself under all that weight.

Not such a bad thought really...

No! He was an ally, like it or not, and she wasn't going to abandon him because of her emotions!

She ran beside him and a poof of purple pixelated smoke enveloped her. Her body underwent a strange instant tingling and burning and when the smoke cleared she was Bowser. With all her might she punched the underside of the Headgear's jaw, popping Doopliss-Midbus out.

Fawful slumped, gasping for breath; he was sweating profusely. 'Th...thanking...you...M-Mimi...'

With another poof she was back to normal. 'Don't mention it.' She snapped her fingers and two Rubees appeared in her hands. Fawful deactivated his Headgear, making the neck retract and the head close its eyes. He took his blaster out from its holster and switched it on. The rest of their allies backed them up. 'I think they're done for anyway.

Doopliss transformed back to normal, injuries reflected on his face. 'Ugh...that was some powerful punch...'

'Muh muh muh. Not too strong.' Midbus was beginning to become spent as well, however.

'You're finished!' Luigi shot. 'We beat you guys!'

'Muh muh. No. Not finished. Only just begun.' He raised his meaty arms up high. 'He comes now, to destroy.' Darkness had begun to leak from the pig's fingertips, spraying up into the air like a smog. 'He waits for me to call him, if things get bad. Things are bad. So I will call him.'

Mimi knew exactly who "he" was; he needed no introduction, and the thought set her heart pounding. 'OH NO YOU DON'T!' she screamed. 'THAT CLOWN'S STAYING PUT!' She performed an awkward dimensional flip as she conjured up more Rubees in the air around her, appearing right in front of Midbus. Before she could strike, Doopliss head butted her out of the way.

'Don't think so, slick-ette!' he challenged. 'He's our boss, you know?'

The cloud of darkness had begun to intensify and clump together into something almost solid. 'Now, with him we will crush you!'

'...damn,' Mimi spat, running out of any other words to use.

'Ahahahahaha!' Dimentio's laughter echoed through the battlefield, making everyone brace themselves. 'And so I am called for an encore! Well, who am I to disappoint? I say...' The dark bubble burst, revealing once again the one behind all of their troubles. 'On with the show!'

He wasted no time; a loud clapping of the hands set simultaneous explosions off right on every one of the heroes. Mimi shrieked in pain and Fawful jumped back in surprise. Mario and Luigi shook themselves off after the initial blasts and ran into the fray.

'We'll just beat you again!' Luigi shouted, his Thunderhand coming to life, bright blue sparks crackling across his fingers. 'Just like all the other times!' Jumping up into the air, he shot blasts of lightning at the jester, who dodged the blows like they were nothing. Mario ran underneath him, his Firebrand blazing around his palms. Echoing his brother's tactic, he jumped into the air and scorched Dimentio from behind. He writhed in pain, creating an opening for Luigi to attack him as well. The electricity sent him into midair spasms.

'Haha...HA!' Dimentio spat. 'Your efforts are futile.' He snapped his fingers. 'Midbus! Doopliss! I think I'll give you some incentive.' Black lightning bolts struck them, filling them with power.

'MUH MUH MUH!' Midbus laughed deeply. 'Strength. I like it.'

'Now it's go time, slicks!' Doopliss laughed, wicked excitement forming his words. With a lightning fast jump forward he rammed himself into the earth, disappearing into a hole. Midbus leaped up into the air with newfound ability and rolled into his ball, black spikes appearing all over his body.

'EEEEK!' Peach screamed as the minion came down upon her. In one swift movement she had her parasol open and covering her; Midbus bounced off of it like a trampoline, the silk canopy absorbing every inch of the crushing blow.

'Oh, you wanna play rough?' Bowser roared. 'Well two can play at that game!' Bowser mimicked Midbus, rolling up into a ball using his shell, his trademark spikes adorning all sides. The two super powerful villains collided head on, crashing off of each other and rattling each other's brains. They both turned abruptly, with Bowser nearly running over Fawful in his blind assault.

'Fink-rat!' Fawful cursed. 'Be watching where you are going!'

The two brutes clashed and rebounded, neither of them coming out on top over the other. They unrolled and faced each other, gasping.

Fawful activated his Headgear again and shot off over Bowser, landing in front of Midbus. 'Koopa who is king!' he called behind him. 'I will have the fighting of him!'

'Oh no, this guy's mine! I'll kick his butt into next Thurs—'

'URNGH!' The voice of a loud, booming Thwomp echoed through the air as one exploded out of the ground and threw Bowser into the air.

Master and minion stared into the sky as the Thwomp turned itself around and crashed into the ground, flattening Bowser under its weight. In the brief moment that it was on the ground, Doopliss' eyes and mouth could clearly be seen taking up where a regular Thwomp's face would be. It shot off into the sky, leaving the king groaning on the ground.

'Fawful,' Midbus boomed. 'You will hurt like him.'

'PAH!' Fawful spat. 'Traitorous fink-rats will feel the fury of Fawful!'

The Bean fired a dozen quick shots from his Headgear and took to the skies. Hurling his round, silver explosives down, Midbus was assaulted with a flurry of explosions. 'Hahaha! Come have the getting of me!'

'Hmph,' Midbus grunted, shaking himself off. 'I will.' And Midbus did. An aura of darkness surrounded him and lifted him up into the air. He cracked his fists menacingly. 'Now you will die.'

Fawful gulped. 'Uh...' he started, then ducked abruptly as the pig sailed over his head. Spinning around, he flew up to Midbus and rammed into his stomach Headgear-first. The minion's portly stomach made him bounce right off into the ground. Midbus rolled into a ball and became engulfed by the darkness; like a huge fireball, he soared at the unfortunate Bean, who bent his head backwards and sent himself rocketing along the ground. He skidded across the earth, sending a burning pain across his back. He flipped over and landed, crying out in pain. 'OUCHES!' he yelled. 'It brings the pain of hurt!'

CRASH! Midbus smashed into the ground right in front of him, unrolling and punching him with overwhelming power. He fell to the ground, with Midbus standing over him. 'Muh muh muh,' he laughed. 'Now you die.' He punched downward, only for his fist to be swallowed by the scientist's Headgear. 'Gnh...let go!' He flung his arm into the air, a very dizzy Fawful being flung twice as hard. The world spun and jerked around him as the pig tried vainly to shake the mechanical mouth off of him, the metal teeth sinking into his chubby arm.

'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!' Fawful screamed in terror. 'H...H...HEADGEAR! L-L-LET GOOOOO!' Headgear complied, releasing its death grip on the Bean's enemy, which sent him hurtling in another direction. 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!' he screamed in terror again.

'URNGH! URNGH! URNGH!' Thwomp-Doopliss crashed down upon Bowser again and again, the helpless Koopa King taking all of the stony impacts.

'Mario, Luigi, you have to help Bowser!' Peach cried. 'He's getting killed!'

'How?' Luigi exclaimed. 'Doopliss'll flatten us!'

'I have an idea!' Mario said. 'C'mon Luigi, get next to Bowser and hold out your hands! Peach, you jump onto mine and get out your parasol!'

'You are gonna get me killed one of these days,' the green plumber mumbled under his breath.

Luigi, Mario, and Peach ran as fast as they could to Bowser's side. Luigi put up his hands, Mario jumped up and put his hands up, and Peach hastily got up on Mario's, getting her parasol open just as Doopliss came back down.

'URNGH!' The Thwomp bounced right off Peach's parasol and back up into the air, giving them enough time to pull Bowser to safely and for Luigi to crack Doopliss in half with a powerful thunderbolt. The two pieces hit the ground and burst into smoke, converging and revealing Doopliss as he normally was. 'What a rush!' he cackled. 'You shmucks don't stand a chance...not a single chance!' He flung his arms into the air and two shadowy Dooplisses appeared. Their cloaks billowed in the wind, red eyes glowing. They shot themselves forward in the air, smashing their heads into all three of the heroes. Luigi recovered with a flip and a feet first landing while Mario hit the ground rolling and caught a gasping Peach.

'...o-ouch...' she rasped.

'I'll protect you,' Mario vowed as the two Doopliss doppelgangers advanced. 'We aren't done yet.' He laid her on the ground and clenched his fists. 'Come on, fight me!' he yelled. They both flew at him and Mario flipped up into the air, kicking one in the face and grabbing one by the cloak, throwing it down to the ground. He landed over Peach and let his Firebrand engulf his hands, leaping over her and driving his burning palm into the stomach of one of the shadowy foes, then pivoting abruptly and ramming his skull down onto the other that had come to fight. A huge fist slammed into his back and turned back into a Doopliss clone, which then turned into a Chain Chomp. The older brother put his hands out and stopped himself from fully hitting the ground. He grabbed Peach's parasol and whirled around; the dark Chain Chomp bounced right off with a humorous BOINK! He closed the parasol and used it as a bludgeon to fend off the other clone. There were several poofs of black smoke and then there were four Dooplisses facing him.

Peach rolled over onto her stomach, trying to get herself up off the ground. 'Mario...are you okay?'

'I'm fine,' he assured her. He slammed the parasol into the head of a clone, then dropped it and jumped on another's head. Two transformed into Bullet Bills to which he quickly swung his Ultra Hammer at, blowing them both to smithereens. 'Just gotta keep fighting...for Peach...!' he grunted to himself.

Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof! More Doopliss replicas were appearing, now a grand total of ten. They all cackled evilly, jumping and transforming into various creatures; still, the hero fought them off. He was, however, tiring, and that was apparent in his movements. One Doopliss transformed into a steel Cleft and jumped onto his back hard; he heard bones snap and crack under the weight.

Mario screamed in agony, a burning, white hot pain exploding up his spine and across his body as the largest part of his entire nervous system was shattered. His vision blanked and he heard the cackling of the ten Doopliss clones, reverberating in their shadowed vocal chords.

'Mario!' Peach screamed. She struggled to her feet and grabbed her parasol. She swung it, bonking one of the clones on the head. It spun around angrily and smashed the princess to the ground. Peach screamed as the nine available clones advanced on her.

Suddenly, one of them gave a yelp as a pair of clawed hands grabbed it and literally tore it in half, throwing the pieces onto the ground which splattered in a gooey mess. 'GRAAH!' Bowser, the King of the Koopas, burned them all with his fiery breath, melting them into a paste. 'No one messes with my Peach!' he growled. The one dealing with Mario turned back to normal and dove at him, only to be met with a bone-shattering punch. He walked over to Mario. 'Hey,' he said. 'You alive?' Mario groaned, eyes crammed shut. 'Good, have this,' adding in a "Wimp!" for good measure. He took an Ultra Shroom out of Hammerspace and popped it in Mario's mouth. 'Thank Grambi for Kamek,' he muttered.

Mario got to his feet. '...that really hurt,' he said simply.

'Yeah, and don't you forget it!' the Koopa King snorted. 'You'd be dead meat if it weren't for me!'

'Look out!' Peach cried. Luigi crashed into the ground in front of them all. The real Doopliss flew in and assaulted them all with black fire, headbutting Luigi. The younger brother managed to land on his feet and throw his hammer, getting the Duplighost in the stomach. Mario and Luigi both jumped up into the air, interlocking one hand each and using their Firebrand and Thunderhand together. Spinning around fast they became a huge ball of fire and electricity, and came down on their foe. The resulting explosion created a small crater, making dust and dirt fly everywhere.

The Mario Bros. hopped out of it. 'Gotta love those Bros. Attacks, eh bro?' Mario said with a grin.

'Hoo...yeah. Mamma mia, I am beat!'

'You...you aren't beat yet...!' Doopliss crawled out of the hole. 'Freaking plumbers and they're kicking my—'

'WHEN DO YOU GIVE UP?' They all screamed at him.

'NEVER!' Doopliss screamed back, surrounding himself again with dark flames. 'I'll give up when the Underwhere starts giving swimming lessons in the Twygz!'

'I'll let Jaydes know that she should personally if it'll make you quit,' Mario huffed, swinging his hammer tiredly.

Meanwhile, the former minions of Count Bleck (plus Timpani) were having their own battle.

'My friends...' Dimentio said, false friendliness oozing from his voice. 'Why not join me? I have room in my world for everyone, after all. I have such fond memories of our time together. Ah ha ha.'

'Oh, away an' bile yer head!' O'Chunks snorted.

Boom! An explosion sent the warrior flying into the air. 'Oh, forgive me,' the magician leered. 'I couldn't understand you through your idiocy, Chunky.' Flinging out his arms to his sides, he laughed loudly. 'Oh how good it feels to finally have you all at my mercy!'

'We aren't finished quite yet, Dimentio,' Blumiere stated firmly. He pointed at the jester with his jewelled sceptre. 'Your dimensional tomfoolery ends today!'

'Such a thing is impossible, my brother.' Dimentio did a back flip in midair and waved his hands, magical energy floating off from them. 'My magical abilities far outweigh yours. Such meaningless assertions are nothing but empty words!'

The two Tribe of Darkness members attacked with their own style of energy blasts, taking to the skies. Blumiere swung his sceptre at the jester's head, who put out his hands and blocked it with an invisible barrier. 'Traitor...' the prince growled.

'I could say the same about YOU!' Flinging his hand out, the barrier shattered, throwing Blumiere off balance. Dimentio pressed his two fingers on Blumiere's forehead, sending a paralyzing wave through his entire body. Wrenching the sceptre from his grasp, the jester brought the jewelled tip across his half-brother's face. Blumiere whirled through the air to the ground, a gash of black blood slashing across his cheek.

'Blumiere!' Timpani cried as he hit the ground.

'Take care of the Count, Timpani, I'll take Dimentio!' Mimi told her.

'Be careful!' the girl warned as she took to the skies.

'Aha!' the magician beamed; he swung the sceptre and narrowly missed Mimi, who attempted to impale him with one of her Rubees, but failed as Dimentio warped behind her, bringing Blumiere's weapon down on the back of her head. 'Such impudence, it makes me laugh.'

'Doesn't everything?' Mimi yelled, flipping dimensions and winding up right in front of Dimentio. She slapped him in the face, regretting it as her hand smacked into his mask. She swung again and he grabbed her arm.

'Why yes, yes it does. Ah ha ha. Except, of course...' His voice dropped to little more than a whisper, his masked eyes narrowing dangerously. 'Your absence, my dear.'

'A...absence?' Mimi's heart missed a beat. 'What're you talking about?'

'Your...absence...' he drew closer to her, whispering in her ear. 'In my heart...it haunts me...taunts me...every time you're mentioned or seen I am reminded of exactly what I used to feel...and it's awful.'

Mimi stared at Dimentio with fear. 'How can you just block off love? How can you be like this when you've got so much conflict in your heart?'

'Ah ha ha...' the jester laughed. 'The answer to that, my dear...is acting.' He spun her around and hurled her towards the ground.

Mimi shrieked for the few seconds it took for her to stop falling, going quiet as she came to an abrupt and sickening halt. Her eyes, which she had crammed shut, opened; she was in Blumiere's arms. 'Oogh...' she burbled. 'I think I'm gonna be sick...'

'Are you hurt?' the man asked, concerned.

'N-no...I'll live.' Her head was spinning. Blumiere set her down and raced up to the sky. Mimi kneeled on the ground, clutching her stomach.

'Ahahahaha!' Dimentio cackled. 'You are like a tiny Chihuahua going to battle against a Great Dane!'

'Conceited little fool...' Blumiere grunted, gritting his teeth. He flipped dimensions and punched his traitorous minion in the gut.

Dimentio sucked in his breath and doubled over; he giggled, grinning insanely. 'I always did have...a weak body...' He fell like a stone towards the ground. A ping sounded and he reappeared behind Blumiere, shoving a block of dimensional magic into the back of his head. A loud boink! sounded as it burst, flinging the man away. 'But such a strong knowledge of magic!' the magician finished. He turned around and dropped to the ground feet-first, smiling as he approached Mimi and Timpani. 'Such wonderful friends, aren't we? Ah ha ha.'

Mimi got up to her feet. 'You wish.'

'I could say the same for you, my little lovebird.'

The grin on Dimentio's face was too much for Mimi. 'YOU DAMN FREAK!' she screamed, her anger and embarrassment boiling over. She got up and ran at full tilt at him, conjuring up Rubees as she ran. She didn't last long; the jester swung Blumiere's sceptre and it connected with the side of her head, black magic making her fly to the side.

'Such an impudent girl.' He turned to her and concentrated the Chaos Heart's energy on the point at the end of the sceptre's tip; it glowed dangerously. 'What do I do when I long for you?' he asked to her. 'I simply remove the problem. Goodbye.'

His concentration broke as somebody punched him in the side of his face. His small body fell off balance and he hit the earth below him. 'Leave her alone you monster!' Timpani yelled. She kicked Dimentio in the side.

Mimi's heart missed a few beats as she saw this unfolding. 'Timpani, don't do it!'

'ENOUGH!' Dimentio screamed in rage. He swung his arm and threw the girl up into the air; grabbing the sceptre, he got up as Timpani came down. 'Insolent human! YOU'RE the reason I lost the Prognosticus in the first place!'

Timpani got up. 'And we'll take it away again!' she shouted defiantly.

'GRAH GOOGLY!' O'Chunks bellowed, coming down in a protective stance in front of his former master's wife. 'Tha's right, what she said! An' ta get ta her you'll hafta go through ol' O'Chunks!'

'Are they insane?' Blumiere had gone to Mimi's side. 'They'll be killed!'

'Get him now!' Mimi yelled.

Dimentio stuck up a hand and snapped his fingers, causing an explosion at both of their feet. They fell backwards and hit the ground on their backs. 'O'Chunks you blithering nitwit! I am tired of your foolish attempts at battle!' Swinging Blumiere's sceptre in a wide arc, he created a mass of blackness. 'Drown in the darkness, alone!' The mass overtook him and swept him off the ground; he yelled out in muffled horror for a moment before the mass shrank and O'Chunks was gone. 'Brute strength only gets you so far, my meat headed friend.' He set his eyes on the woman before him, her face pale. 'And as for you, you disgusting, pathetic girl...' He snapped his fingers, freezing her in place, and brought the sceptre back. 'Join Nastasia in the aftergame!'

'Timpani!' Mimi screamed.

Blumiere practically flew to his feet, his eyes wild with horror. 'NOOOOOOOO!'

There was a split second of ice cold fear for every one of the heroes; all eyes turned in terror to Dimentio and Timpani. They could all hear their hearts pounding in their chests.

And then Dimentio drove the sceptre through the woman's heart.

Timpani lurched only slightly, her eyes widened in pain. A small gasp escaped her mouth as blood began to pour out of the wound. The paralyzing spell was released and she fell over the jester's shoulder. He slid the sceptre out of her body and let her fall to the ground. He regarded her plainly for a moment, then whirled around, slashing the air above her body as he did so. A huge gash carved the woman in half, a cascade of blood exploding out into the air. 'NOW!' Dimentio yelled at Blumiere. 'Feel the true pain of love!' He threw the sceptre at the man's feet and disappeared laughing, bringing Midbus and Doopliss with him.

The whole place was silent. The only noise was the whistling of the wind. The sun was beginning to disappear, casting a blue and red haze over the land. Blumiere's eyes were fixed on the bloodied sceptre lying on the ground in front of him. In a daze, he knelt down and picked it up, holding it with trembling hands. He slowly moved his gaze to the mass of flesh and blood lying on the ground, limbs splayed outwards. Blumiere walked forward and his arms dropped to his sides as he looked at his wife's face, frozen with terror.

Tears had begun to form in his eyes; Mimi could only watch as she the man she regarded as one of her greatest companions in life stood there emotionally scarred. O'Chunks had been taken from her in the blink of an eye, and now this. 'C...Count?' she managed to squeak out.

Blumiere hung his head and the sceptre fell from his hand. Dropping down to his knees he dug his fingers into the dirt; strangled sobs escaped his lips. 'T...T...Ti...' He shuddered; Mimi's heart broke. Then he brought his head back and screamed a scream that shook every single one of them. It was the sound of a loss, a loss that each and every one of them had either felt before or feared they would have to feel. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Mimi, and Fawful...each and every one of them felt sadness well up inside of their hearts, and there wasn't a single one that didn't shed a tear. 'TIMPANI!' he howled in emotional agony. 'TIMPANI! COME BACK TO ME! COME BACK! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!' His whole heart was breaking to pieces; the one thing in the world that mattered most to him, more than his own life and the entirety of existence, had been brutally mutilated. His wife. His other half. His love. She was gone forever, and he had borne witness to it. He screamed again, clawing at his own face, digging scratches into his skin; thick, black blood oozing out.

Mimi cried, her own heart throbbing with grief for her former Count. 'Why...to go this far...why is he...?' She buried her head in her hands, sobbing. Why was Dimentio doing all this, causing all this pain? More importantly, why, even after all this, did she still...?

Fawful came and stood beside her. '...Mimi.' His voice cracked with sadness, eyes frozen on the screaming man. She looked at the Bean and knew what he was going to do. He was going to give some excuse, tell her that he didn't mean to do what he did and that she shouldn't be upset with him. He was going to put the blame on the woman, he was going to try and make things seem less than they were.

Instead, he said: 'I am sorry.'

Mimi shook and looked at Fawful's tearful eyes. Forgetting everything he had done, she grabbed him and hugged him tightly, coveting a source of warmth in this cold and dark world.