Hey everyone! Thanks to you all for reading and reviewing. No this is not the last chapter, I'm just feeling extra thankful. This chapter will probably answer most of your questions. Enjoy the chapter! By the way, thanks for the pie!!

Chapter 5:

The Shadows Part 1: Secrets

"And so I return, like a boomerang thrown by an innocent child!" Dimentio yelled when he entered Bowser's Castle, located on Vista Hill. He had just come back from releasing more of the goombas Grodus made into even more towns.

"Quit your yelling you belly aching imbecile!" Grodus yelled at Dimentio.

"Cut the fancy talk you idiots. Geez why did I choose to bring those guys back from the dead?" Bowser asked himself.

"Actually, I was pondering the same matter. If I'm not mistaken, wasn't it you that helped that fellow in red to destroy me in the first place?" Dimentio asked, suspicious of Bowser's plans.

"Funny you should ask that Clownio." Bowser said.

"It's Dimentio."

"Whatever. As I was saying, I brought you back because you're the only villain with magic powerful enough to get the job done."

"I understand that but what exactly do you wish to accomplish by destroying this little Kingdom?"

"I thought you'd never ask! You see, by destroying this Kingdom I can make an entirely different kingdom where I can be king!"

"GACK ACK ACK ACK! That's the single most idiotic plan ever imagined."

"I dare say that Grodus is right. Hasn't this been tried already by Count Bleck?"

"Yeah but he was trying to make a new world; I just want a new kingdom."

"So how are we apart of this again?" Dimentio asked.

"Well I need you two to help me. You see, I have the brawn, Grodus has the brains, and you Dimentio have the magic. Together we'll be unstoppable!"

"Well what do we get out of it?" Grodus asked.

"Well I guess you could be co-kings or something."

"Fine." Both Dimentio and Grodus said.

"By the way, where did Kammy send those idiots anyway?" Dimentio asked.

"I have no clue. That old hag said something about a dimesion of darkness. It's supposed to occupy a person by reaching into their past, or something like that."

"So it reaches out into their innermost thoughts and feelings? That is rather peculiar magic she has there. It's nowhere as good as mine, but it should keep them occupied none-the-less."

"Ugh… my head is killing me. Wait where am I? Where is everybody?" Doopliss woke up only to be surrounded by darkness. His friends, or allies, were all gone. Mimi, Crash, Koops, and Vivian were nowhere to seen. As a matter of fact, Doopliss could not see anything.

"Oh yeah, that stupid old hag used her magic on me. I guess it transported me here, but where is here?"

"HEY! GUYS, WHERE ARE YOU? CRASH, KOOPS, VIVIAN! Mimi." Doopliss started to grow sad, a feeling he thought he did not have.

"Why do I even care I barely knew them anyway. It's only been a few days. Holy cow! I only had 10 days to begin with! Okay, don't panic, you just have to find out how many days are left before the big ka-boom." Doopliss sat down and he tried to think. And so he thought, and thought, and thought. Since he did not know how long he was asleep it was pretty hard to tell how much time was left.

"Maybe there is someone here that can tell me what day it is. Than again they probably would have heard me yelling like a maniac. Maybe I ca-ow! Dang it, why am I always bumping into people?" When he looked up it was not a person but a thing, more like a big screen.

"What the heck is this thing doing here?" The screen turned on to show Doopliss in Shiver City, bumping into Mimi.

"Hey this is when I first met Mimi." He blushed when he looked up at the screen again. It showed him grabbing Mimi's hand and Mimi reminding him that he was still holding it.

"Stupid stupid stupid! Why would you do that?" Doopliss scolded himself. The screen continued to show how Mimi blushed when he dragged her along to Toad Town to visit Luigi.

"What? I didn't know she blushed when I did that. Duh of course not, I'm so stupid that I didn't even look back when I took her hand. Or maybe… maybe I just didn't want to look back. Why are you showing me this you stupid screen? You're making me feel all… weird." Than it him, like one of Cupid's arrows.

Flashback:

Luigi had just finished telling Doopliss about the story of the Chaos Heart.

"It sounds too sappy for a guy like me." Doopliss had said to Luigi.

"You never know, one day you might fall in love" Luigi told Doopliss.

End Flashback

"Is this what I've been feeling all of this time, love? No! I can't be! I'm Doopliss, master shape shifter! I can't fall in love, especially with Mimi. She's so girly and weird and beautiful and lovely and… snap out of it Doopliss! Wait a minute, what if she likes me back? Well I can't just sit here and wonder, I have to find the others."

"Stupid icky darkness! I can't see anything."

"Will you stop yellin' in my ear, I think it's already starting to bleed."

"Well sorry Mr. Grouchy pants, but this isn't my ideal vacation either." Mimi and Crash ended up together in the darkness, unlike Doopliss who was alone.

"Where is he anyway?" Mimi asked.

"Don't you mean 'they'?"

"Uh right that's what I said." Apparently Mimi was more worried about Doopliss than the rest of the gang.

"Where do you think we are anyway?" Crash asked.

"I don't know. Golly, not even the Count's castle was this dark."

"Man, even when I'm unconscious it isn't this dark." Crash added.

"Okay enough about the darkness, it's creeping me out."

"So what do we do now?"

"Well obviously we find Doopliss."

"And Koops and Vivian."

"That's what I just said Crash."

"Okay, okay whatever let's just get out of here."

"Alright where do you think we… should…" Mimi was staring at the largest TV she had ever seen.

"Sweet! Check out the TV! I wonder if it gets cable around here. Actually, where's the outlet? Does it even work?" Crash asked. He looked around for the power switch and found one near the bottom of the TV.

"Found it!" He said. The screen turned on to show Crash at the Glitz Pit, taking down Rawk Hawk and winning the championship belt.

"Ha! I rock!" Crash yelled, still looking at the screen. It than showed him in the champs room, looking lonelier than ever. He had everything he could ever want: fame, glory, the champ's belt, but he did not have any friends. He did not become a professional wrestler to make friends, he did it to control his anger. Still, he missed all of his friends. Especially Koops and Goombella. Koops was his best friend, they talked about everything from girls to food. He even asked Koops for girl advice on occasion.

And than there was Goombella. He always had a little crush on her, but he was scared to tell her. She was smart, he was dumb. She talked intellectually, he used slang. They were polar opposites and yet he was sort of attracted to her.

"Okay enough! I can't watch anymore of this!" Crash yelled.

"I know I was afraid to admit it but I did miss all of my friends, especially Goombella. I guess I did like her and… I accept that now so just stop you stupid screen!"

And as if by magic the screen shut off, for a few seconds. The screen turned back on to reveal Mimi at Flopside. She was in Count Bleck's castle with her associates and friends O'Chunks and Dimentio. They were discussing what they would do when they had their own world.

O'Chunks said would be the warrior who protected everyone, sort of like a knight. He would help Mimi and Dimentio whenever they needed it. Dimentio wanted to be a master magician and astonish people with his illusions; of course he said he would let Mimi and O'Chunks see his shows for free, or at least at a discount. And as for Mimi, she wanted to be a top fashion designer. She would even get O'Chunks and Dimentio new wardrobes.

It seemed as though they were best friends, and they were, until Dimentio found out about Count Bleck's plot. Dimentio had spun his own evil web and made a plan just like the Count's. Unlike the Count though, Dimentio would make a perfect, ideal world where he would be king. The screen continued to show how Dimentio betrayed them and was killed by the four heroes and how true love prevailed.

The worlds were saved but Mimi was still sad. Yes she was sad about the Count, but she was also sad about Dimentio and how their dreams would not come true. She saw herself leave to Shiver City to start a new life to forget her past. She saw herself meet Doopliss and immediately she fell in love. Mimi started to cry.

"Why?! It's not fair! I had a perfect life: I was beautiful, I lived in a castle, and I had two best friends. And now it's all gone! Why couldn't Dimentio have turned out good? Maybe than we would be living in our own world, with knights and magic shows and fashion. I really did miss you Diementio, but I missed the old you. I missed the Dimentio who would keep me company when I was bored and fix my toys when they broke and help me when I got hurt."

Crash was stunned. He did not know what to say. He did not want to see her cry, but he left her alone to think.

"And than I met you Doopliss. You were funny and smart; you still are. I love you Doopliss and that's why I will find you no matter what." The screen shut off as Mimi and Crash walked away to find their friends.

"Koops, how long have we been walking?" Vivian asked Koops.

"I'm not sure, I don't wear a watch." Koops replied. They awoke in the same place as the others but in what area was unknown to them.

"Dang it! We shouldn't even be here!" Koops half yelled.

"What do you mean?"

"I should've been able to see Kammy's attack coming. I'm supposed to be smart but I couldn't even see her attack coming."

"Koops, it's not your fault. Everyone was caught off guard when she used her magic. It was a cheap shot."

"Even so I promised I would make sure nothing bad happened to you and look at what happened: we get sent to some alternate dimension!"

"You never promised me that."

"No, but I promised myself that. I don't really want to talk anymore so let's just keep walking."

"Okay." They continued to walk until they suddenly came face to face with a giant screen.

"What the heck is a giant TV doing in a place like this?" Vivian asked.

"I don't know but maybe it can give us some information on how to get out of here." Koops turned it on and the screen worked its magic. The screen turned on to reveal Koops and Vivian in Petalburg, helping Vivian unpack her stuff so she can stay with Koops while her sisters were away. It showed how Koopie Koo grew jealous and abruptly dumped Koops without a second thought, leaving him a crumpled and broken mess on the floor.

It showed Vivian comforting him, telling him that everything would be alright when she clearly knew it would not. It showed the kinship the two formed with each other. They were in their own little world of loneliness, separated form outside distractions. It also showed the feelings the two started to develop for each other.

"Uh…" Was all the two could say, that is until they started moving in closer to each other. Than without a moment of hesitation, they started kissing right there in the darkness.

"Vivian, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier but I just didn't think you would feel the same way about me as I did about you. Ever since Koopie Koo broke up with me you were there for me and iI guess I really just started to like you."

"That's exactly how I was feeling. My sisters always made me feel lonely, but with you around I wasn't lonely anymore. I... I love you Koops."

"And I love you too Vivian, but I really think we should find a way out of here."

"Oh right, but how do we get out of here Koops?"

"I'm… not sure." And so the Fearsome Five were still stuck in the never ending darkness. How will they return to the world of light? And more importantly, would they be able to stop Bowser's plot in time?