Chapter 37: Darkness Breeds Despair
*Heart*
Fawful felt his heart racing along with Mimi's against his chest as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He could feel the dark energy thick in the air and knew he needed to get out of the room now. He had crossed the length of the room and his Headgear's rockets hummed with energy.
'Fawful!' Mimi screamed in terror. 'Fly now!'
The Bean jumped before his rockets turned on; he was halfway out the window when a loud roar exploded inside his eardrums. A huge wave of heat passed over him and his skin burned and stung as if he had been thrown into acidic fire. At the same time, a powerful shockwave knocked the wind out of his body, his gasp of pain abruptly cut off. The sound of shattering glass and cracking stone filled his ears and he could hear his own bones break inside of his body. His head was yanked painfully as his Headgear jerked forward; suddenly the world spun and he flew through the air, spiralling uncontrollably. Fawful yelled as Mimi flew from his grasp, falling limply to the ground below.
'MIMI!' he screamed, his voice nearly breaking altogether from the sheer volume of the noise. His cry continued as he fell as well, the ground spinning as he approached it. He slammed his eyes shut. A few seconds of falling passed and then he slammed against the hard earth with the force of a missile. His skull shattered like brittle glass and the resulting crunch! was all he could hear. The metal from his Headgear dug into his head, bringing a stabbing agony along with the rest of his wounds. The impact of the crash made him bounce back up, limbs flailing, broken and dead, as he hit the ground again and rolled.
He came to a stop. He didn't move. He didn't breathe. He couldn't even feel anything. He was as good as dead...yet his heart still beat in his chest. Darkness spilled out of all of his wounds, stitching them back together, reconnecting bone to tendon to muscle to skin. The cracks in his bones disappeared, blood was rejuvenated in his blackened veins, and his crushed skull slowly crackled back into its normal size and shape, pushing the Headgear out and off of it. A few seconds of pain exploded through Fawful as his nervous system kicked in, but it soon disappeared as the Chaos Heart healed him completely. His clothes and glasses were even mended perfectly. He couldn't die with the Chaos Heart inside his chest...not until he wasted away to nothing.
He turned over on his stomach and slowly pulled his still-recovering body to its feet. He looked at his Headgear; the wonderful little machine that had survived so much was a complete wreck. Its glass dome was shattered and the metal that had held the base to the esophagus-like tube was bent and broken. The tube itself was punctured full of holes and leaked energy stabilizing fluid. One of the two rockets had been torn off completely, rocket fuel oozing out. The other wasn't in much better shape; it was twisted around. The worst part was the Headgear's head; both of its eyes were broken and black and the inside of its metal jaw had been skewered by its own teeth. It twitched, a depressing bzzt, bzzt, bzzt! sounding from its circuits. After a few seconds, it shut down completely.
Fawful staggered. 'H...Headgear...' Even though it was just a machine, it was still horrible to see his own creation be utterly destroyed like that.
A sound brought him back to the scene at hand; a loud sound like that of crunching stone. He whirled around to look at Princess Peach's Castle; it was a mere shell of the magnificent building it had once been. Holes dotted the walls and roof, all of the windows had been broken, and the stained glass window of Peach herself on the central tower was even now shedding pieces. The sound came again; Fawful saw the castle sink and buckle. The explosion had come from the basement of the castle...it wasn't stable. He couldn't do anything as it swayed twice more, then finally collapsed.
The noise was ear-splitting; it fell in on itself, the stone bricks breaking themselves apart. The bridge leading to the front door broke into rubble, the moat rapidly being filled with the castle's remains. The point that the Beanish boy was focussed on, however, was the tower. In what seemed like slow motion, it fell. The tall, iconic castle tower, its giant window's remains still glinting like gems, sunk lower and lower, and as it sunk Fawful felt his heart sinking. This was a symbol; Princess Peach's Castle had fallen, and the rest of the world would follow very soon.
A gigantic crash brought a cloud of dust and rubble spewing out from what was left of the huge building. Fawful covered his eyes with his arm and squinted them shut. When it all died down, he looked again; the castle was gone. In its place was a huge pile of rocks. The Bean was speechless for several moments before he finally remembered who he had been holding onto as he had leapt out of the window. Frantically, he looked around; he found Mimi lying in a heap. 'MIMI!' he screamed again, hopping up and running as fast as he could towards her. He tripped and stumbled, but he made it to her side.
She looked awful. Her limbs were splayed out at unnatural angles, her green skin had become a charred black. Her hair was singed and dry, breaking as the girl tried to move in vain. Half of her face was practically gone, burnt and scarred. Her head was tilted at a gruesome angle, twitching as if trying to move all the way around but failing. Each twitch made a horrible crack! sound. 'Nn...' she breathed weakly. 'Dnn...'
'M...Mimi!' Fawful couldn't stand it; he couldn't stand seeing her like this. His heart couldn't take it. It was a horrible, crushing feeling. He had never felt anything like it.
Dimentio was in complete shock. His eyes were like saucers as he stared at what he had turned Peach's Castle into. Broken, choked squeaks escaped his lips. 'No...n-no...it...it's not possible...I...' The full reality of the situation hit him hard in the chest: he had killed Mimi. There was no way she survived that. 'M...M...Mi...' Tears were falling down his cheeks as his heart convulsed. He threw his head down and buried his face in the dirt. He had done this. He had killed the one he loved. The thing he had been trying to do for so long was only giving him pain. It was unbearable...horrible, unbearable pain.
'Mimi...Mimi, have speaking!' Fawful cried desperately. 'Have the answering of Fawful! Please...please!' He shook her; she gave a weak cry of pain.
'D...Di...' Her eyes were glazed.
'Mimi...it is being me, Fawful!' the Bean told her, trying to fight back his sorrow.
'Di...Dim...ent...io...?' Tears were forming in Mimi's eyes.
'N...no, no!' Fawful shook his head. 'No, it is being Fawful, Fawful!'
'F...Fawful...?' Her eyes seemed to focus. 'Faw...ful...'
'Yes...yes Mimi, Fawful! It is being me!' He shook her despite her painful moans; he had no control over himself anymore.
'I...d...dying...' she choked.
'No!' the boy exclaimed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his storage cube. He was pressing the buttons too hastily; he made incorrect selections. 'No, no, I am not wanting that!' he screamed hysterically at his invention. 'You device of s-stupid! STUPID!' He shook it angrily and pressed a few more buttons. A Life Shroom appeared in his hand. He put the cube away. 'Mimi, have eat!' he demanded. He put the Shroom up to her mouth. 'Eat...eat!' he yelled, forcing it against her mouth. 'EAT! PLEASE!' Mimi just stared at him; she made no effort to do anything more.
'Fawful...' she whispered faintly. Her breaths were getting more and more laboured and quiet, her eyes more and more dead. 'I...I need...to...a-ask...'
The young inventor clasped her hand and looked into her eyes; her head still twitched and cracked every second, but he knew she was looking at him. 'Yes, anything!'
'Is it wrong...that I...still love him...?'
'L...love who?' Fawful's heart felt like it was freezing solid.
'Dimen...tio...' the shape-shifter replied. She was fading away; Fawful could see it in her eyes. 'I...still love...Dim...en...' She stopped.
Fawful remained locked on her gaze. Her eyes were half closed but he knew they saw nothing. All the life had left Mimi's body. She was no longer with him. Dimentio had killed her.
Dimentio had killed her...
A spike of pain shot through his head; he clutched it and fell forward, his head hitting the ground hard. He groaned in agony; he could feel his heart breaking, chipping apart, a pressure building on his mind. 'N...no...Mi...mi...'
The two Chaos Heart vessels were in emotional torture. Their hearts were experiencing nothing but a cold, merciless pain. They squirmed where they knelt, the same girl occupying both of their minds. At the bottom of their hearts stirred an untapped darkness, shifting and swirling, savouring the pain the two of them felt.
'I am your salvation...' it said. 'I am the darkness in your hearts...I am hate...I am rage...I am chaos.'
They both heard it, and their hearts both spoke back without words. This was unparalleled anguish. They could feel the dark power growing, spreading. The power that they had both been utilizing for so long yet not fully experiencing. The complete scope of odium and fury that they had not wholly embraced. It was there, calling them.
This power...
It beckoned.
I want...the power...
It had been waiting for so long.
The power to save me...from this torment.
'Embrace me...let me into your hearts.'
Yes...come into my heart.
Have the saving of me...
Help...
To them, there was a moment of tense, otherworldly silence.
Two simultaneous, agonized screams filled the sky. Dimentio and Fawful let out their sorrows to the heavens and let the dark power of the Chaos Heart seep into their beings. Clouds of darkness covered their bodies, sinking into their skin. Fawful felt the darkness altering his clothing; his black body suit was becoming a hue of dark purple, his white shoes turning jet black. His cloak turned from red to purple and from yellow at the outlines to red, and the bottom of the cloak took on a jagged pattern. His hood turned completely gray and spiked and the buttons and chain holding his cloak on him became red. On the centre of his chest appeared a symbol: a black heart.
The screaming stopped. Dimentio and Fawful stayed stock still where they knelt, their hearts pounding. Slowly, they opened their eyes and stood up.
'Such power...' the magician sighed. His signature smile lit up his face. He snapped his fingers; a crack! went through the air and a hole opened up in the sky, the remainder of his Inverse army piling out like the battalions of the Underwhere. 'Ahahahahaha...now I see.' His eyes glinted dangerously; the look in them was a level of insanity not seen before. 'The prophecies will be correct either way. All this time, all the conflict and strife between us has been leading the vessels of the Chaos Heart to one single, crushing point. It matters not whether I am the victor or Fawful is. Either way, darkness will pour over all worlds like a blanket.'
'You have regained love,' the Chaos Heart noted. 'I know your emotions, Dimentio...yet even I can't fathom your mind at this moment. What course will you take?'
Dimentio's smile was dark. 'I will finish what I have started.' He looked up into the sky, the sight of the Void filling him with a sadistic pleasure. The ground shook more powerfully than ever before. 'All worlds will be consumed...for the sake of those who have already fallen. My perfect world that I have dreamed of for three thousand years...will become a reality.'
Fawful's head had cleared. He could feel the Chaos Heart's power from his toes to his fingertips...and it felt so good. A wide, toothy grin spread across his face; Dark Fawful had returned. 'I HAVE DARKNESS!' he yelled to the heavens. A burst of power exploded from him, killing all the plant life around him. 'My enemies shall be fearing the name of Lord Fawful! HAHAHAHAHA!'
Dimentio's army of monsters was falling from the sky. No matter, there was no way they could stand up to him. He looked around the area; the Toads that had been outside the blast radius of the Dark Energy Bomb were going crazy, running around screaming for their mothers and proclaiming the end of the world.
The dark Bean's gaze froze; standing on a cliff overlooking the entire scene was Dimentio, the same dark energy surrounding him that currently surrounded Fawful. Suddenly, rage overtook his heart as he remembered Mimi's fate. 'Mimi...' A bloodthirsty snarl escaped his lips. 'I will have the avenging of you!' As an Inverse leapt at him he put his hand up and utterly vaporized it with darkness. Another tried a sneak attack from behind, only for Fawful to spin around and shoot a hole through its chest. He let loose a yell. 'DIMENTIO!' he hollered lividly. 'YOU WILL HAVE DEATH!'
Fawful ran through the throngs of creatures, utterly destroying anything that got in his way. He jumped on one's head, turning it into a paste. He extended a coil of blackness that crushed one's chest, then used it as a whip to smash a group of five others into the dust. He covered himself in darkness and shot himself at a monster, going right through its stomach and spraying black gloop everywhere. The Void raged on in the sky, shaking the world again and again. The universe would end very soon, but Fawful couldn't care less. He was on a mission to destroy the one who had taken Mimi from him, and he was going to do so with a passion.
Two people suddenly appeared in front of him. 'Muh muh muh!' the far larger of the two laughed. 'You will be crushed!'
'You die here, boy,' the other said. 'Ha, ha, ha, ha!'
Fawful's enraged look deepened. 'Get out of the way of me!' he yelled. 'Or I will have the killing of you both!'
'Muh muh muh! You won't. I will kill.' Midbus cracked his knuckles. 'Goodbye...Lord Fawful.'
The angry Bean gritted his teeth. For so long, he had trusted Midbus. He had worked alongside him to take over the Mushroom Kingdom...he had battled Bowser with him at his right hand...he had revived him from the ice and brought him with him, and all Midbus did was betray him. All the trust he had put in the giant pig had been for nothing. 'Midbus...' Fawful muttered as his former minion came at him with a giant fist. He put his hands out in front of his body and grabbed Midbus' hand. The look of shock that came over his face was the most satisfying thing Fawful had yet seen. His eyes shot venom into Midbus', glowing red with fury. 'DIE!' he screamed. He forced energy up through his hands and into Midbus; the pig's howl faded into the air as he exploded into particles of dark energy.
Valex stepped back in surprise. He clenched his fists. 'You have no right to control the Chaos Heart's powers!' he shot.
Fawful eyed the Inverse. 'Valex,' he said. 'Since Fawful first had the meeting of you, he had always wanted to have the saying of something to the one who is you.'
'And?' the creature asked.
In the blink of an eye the Bean was in front of Valex, his fist ready to strike. 'Up shut,' he growled. Fawful brought his fist forward; the impact, empowered by dark energy, was enough to send Valex flying across the battlefield and into the base of the cliff Fawful was heading towards.
There were too many enemies to fight, he'd never get across the field in time. Summoning a very large amount of energy to his hand, he stuck his palm out; a gigantic blast of energy shot out of it, disintegrating just about every foe in his path. 'Now...DEAAAATH!' he screamed, and ran.
He had nearly covered the distance between him and the cliff when he stopped suddenly; he had stepped on something hard. Moving his foot, he looked down; on the ground at his feet was a large, pink, heart-shaped stone. He frowned and tried to pick it up; it sent an electric shock down his arm. He grimaced and, carefully this time, picked up the stone. As he looked into it, he could see Dimentio's face reflected off of the many facets of the gem. He also saw others: Cackletta and Mimi were there, and...everyone else he had travelled with as well. He didn't like it. He put it away in his storage cube.
'Well well well...' Fawful's head jerked up instantly. 'Your prowess with the Chaos Heart's powers is certainly impressive.' Dimentio had dropped down from the cliff, wearing a smart smile on his face.
'You!' the Bean spat furiously. 'You had the killing of Mimi!'
The jester's smile lessened. 'It was necessary,' he laughed all the same. 'She was an obstacle in my plan and had to be removed.' His expression turned sinister. 'As you are as well. While you walk the worlds, I cannot rest in peace. My dream of a perfect world will never be a reality.'
'You...you...GRAAAH!' Fawful ran at Dimentio, a fire burning in his eyes. 'FINK-RAAAAAAAT!' He fired a blast of energy at the magician that blew bigger hole in the cliff around the one Valex had left.
'Ahahahaha! Try again!' Dimentio laughed. He snapped his fingers and a spark of black magic appeared on his fingertip; he whipped his hand forward and small energy spheres flew at Fawful, who brought up a shield around himself, deflecting them away. He took to the air, showering Dimentio with a hail of small orbs. They met their marks; each made a tiny explosion upon impact. 'Aaaauh!' he yelled. 'Augh...ahahahaha!' Spinning around to face Fawful, he shot two blasts out at opposite sides. The Bean shot up into the air to avoid them, only for Dimentio to teleport up and snap his fingers, sending Fawful back down to both blasts' path using an explosion. The two attacks connected at the same time, burning the boy's skin.
Fawful landed on his two feet and shot two coils of darkness out of his hands, wrapping them around the jester's hands. 'Have pain, fink-rat!' he cried, smashing him into the ground. He threw Dimentio up into the air and whipped him around, sending him crashing into the cliff base. Fawful yanked him towards him and prepared to throw Dimentio around more; the jester planted his feet firmly on the ground and threw his hands up, sending a whip across the lines and flinging the Bean up with a sickening lurch. Fawful screamed in pain as the dark magician sent an electric shock down the whip and into the boy. He spasmed for a few seconds and the line dissipated.
Dimentio didn't waste Fawful's moment of vulnerability; he came down hard upon the young inventor, bringing his entire body weight against his stomach. Fawful wheezed and coughed, the wind knocked out of his body. The jester teleported a few feet away and let loose a burst of darkness at the Bean; it exploded upon contact. 'Ahahaha!' he cackled. 'Can you unravel my tricks?'
Fawful appeared behind Dimentio and put his hand on the jester's back; the other was clutching his chest. 'I say to you, YES!' he roared, and replicated Dimentio's attack at point-blank. The magician was sent flying, rolling head-over-heels along the ground and smashing his face into the dust. Dimentio staggered to his feet; his mask was heavily dented on the black side. 'Hahahahaha!' Fawful chortled. 'Fawful is laughing at you, like hearty chortling hyenas who have humour! HahahahahaHAAK!'
Dimentio grabbed Fawful by the throat and lifted him up into the air, dark wisps curling off of his hand. 'And I return the sentiment, like a hilarity-deprived audience watching a video of a poor unsuspecting man being hit in the nether regions by a flying projectile!' He slammed Fawful against the ground and stomped on his chest. Smiling, he put his hand out and brought energy up to his palm. In response, the Bean grunted and did the same. They let the energy loose at simultaneously, causing a dark energy explosion to throw the jester up in the air and send the Bean flying across the ground. They picked themselves up quickly.
The world trembled at its core and a thunderous crack rang out through the air. The very sky shook with the might of the Void, engulfing all the world. 'Grr...' Fawful growled; Dimentio was too irritating.
'AHAHAHAHA!' The jester spread out his hands and looked to the sky. 'The Void has done its work! This world is on the verge of absolute collapse! The Mushroom World will be consumed! Ahahahahaha!'
Fawful clenched his fists and ran at the jester. 'DIMENTIOOOO!' he screamed. 'I HAVE FURYYYY!'
The jester snapped his fingers, an explosion throwing the boy into the air. The Bean flipped in the air and assaulted Dimentio with a hail of black blasts. The magician summoned a shield and then turned it into an orb; he threw it at Fawful and it burst on the boy's chest. He hit the ground and attacked with a large blast of power; it hit Dimentio square in the face, sending him flipping over himself and smashing off the ground.
Fawful was gasping for breath; he was wearing himself out, using so much power. 'Fink...rat...' he huffed.
Dimentio picked himself off the ground; his mask was completely totalled and his hat had been blown off his head exposing his black and white hair. He ripped the mask off his face, a mad grin taking up most of his expression. His bright, life-filled eye, once a brilliant yellow, now glowed with a red menace to match Fawful's. His second, grey eye remained just as dead and lifeless as before. 'You are indeed mighty, Fawful. Your power matches mine now, I dare say. Ah ha ha ha.' He looked to the sky as another gigantic tremor shook the planet; a horrible, grating noise echoed in their ears and a huge white tear appeared in the sky as the dimension began to fall apart under the Void's limitless hunger. Fawful's eyes were drawn to it: a completely blank scar in the sky without any substance at all to it. The Void was literally tearing his home apart.
'And so one of the last worlds meets its end,' Dimentio proclaimed. 'The Underwhere will follow, and then...my castle, located at the centre of the Void, will crumble! Fawful!' He pointed his finger at the Bean and Fawful looked down at him. 'Come to the place you briefly called home: my castle! Come, and we will settle old scores there. The future of the worlds will be decided.' He smiled and waggled his fingers. 'Ciao!'
'Dimentio! Have battle!' Fawful shrieked in ire. 'I WILL HAVE VENGANCE!' It was no use; the jester disappeared.
Fawful slumped, all of his energy suddenly depleted. Another horrible tearing sound brought another gash in the dimension. The Bean looked around; there were bodies everywhere. Lifeless, decaying goo bubbled throughout the field, the remains of the last of Dimentio's army. Innocent victims of slaughter lay bleeding, either dead or dying. Others were sitting on the ground, huddled up to their loved ones, crying for the existence they were leaving behind. Others still had simply laid down and passed away from the sheer, unimaginable shock of it all. For mere moments, the entire world was unified. The citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom, the servants from Bowser's lands, and every being spread throughout the universe was feeling the same thing: hopelessness. No one stood but Fawful; no one laughed or smiled or even spoke. The Mushroom World had laid down to die.
The world shook and the worst sound yet exploded from the sky, the Void rending the dimension like never before. A tear escaped Fawful's eye; the only world he had ever considered home was about to be wiped off the face of anything there ever was. 'I have sadness...' he whispered. '...time to be going.' Wiping away the tear, Fawful flipped out.
Dimentio reappeared close to the site of the Dark Energy Bomb's detonation. Lying on the ground was Mimi's lifeless corpse, mangled and burnt, but not enough to be unrecognizable. He sighed, sadness filling his heart. 'Oh Mimi...' he sighed. 'If only our paths had taken us down the same destiny. You really were...the one I loved more than anybody. The only person I had ever opened up to after her...' He clenched his fist as he remembered what Rosabella had done to him. It didn't matter anymore; the Overthere would be destroyed and the Nimbi that was now Rosabella would be swallowed by the darkness. 'But now...' His red eye shone. 'I can't turn back. The world that I've been fighting for for three thousand years will come to be. I won't let...your sacrifice be in vain. Ah ha ha...that's right, you sacrificed your life fighting against me. I can't let your death be in vain...haha.' He giggled. The smile that had appeared on his face left him; he wasn't happy right now. Not at all. 'At least I can do one thing for you now...' Extending his hand, he gathered darkness into a shape he remembered well: the rose he had given Mimi what seemed like a lifetime ago, right down to the brilliant white hue. He rested it on her chest. 'Enjoy your brief stay in the Underwhere...I imagine it doesn't discriminate anymore.'
As he got up and prepared to leave, he stopped. 'So...' he said aloud to himself. 'The Prognosticuses were true then.' He stole one final glance at Mimi's body. 'Darkness really does...breed despair.' A tear fell to the ground.
Dimentio, the Dark One of the Dark Prognosticus, left the dimension just in time to hear the terrifying blast that accompanied the destruction of a world...and just in time to witness all that existed tear itself to pieces.