"I am Mr. L!" Luigi proudly proclaimed, giving a low bow to the charming magician. "Master Dimentio… what is your bidding?"

"When did this happen?" Princess Peach gasped, completely dumbstruck.

"When I sent Luigi here, I planted a seed in the fertile soil of his unconsciousness…" The jester happily explained, his twisted smile growing ever-wider. "And now, that seed has sprouted spectacularly!"

Dimentio ignored the heroes as they started to beg and plead Luigi to snap out of it. He simply drifted his hands over the throbbing heart, then, lifting his hands up in the air, the heart pulled itself up so it floated over his head, resting between his gloved hands. "Mr. L…" He called to Luigi, who instantly straightened up. "Run along now and get ready for your big entrance."

Luigi bowed again, and started to jump up the many platforms in the meeting room, completely ignoring his forgotten friends as they called out to him.

"Now… Ladies and Gentlemen…" Dimentio began in a loud voice, floating up higher and carrying the Chaos Heart with him. "Get ready for the greatest magic show you'll ever see!"

"So… that's it?" Kamek asked in disbelief. "He just… betrayed everyone? He hypnotized you?"

"Yup." Luigi said flatly, looking very grim as he pressed the buttons as fast as he could. "He turned me into a monster—literally—and he forced me to hurt my friends… I had no idea what I was doing…"

"Well, then it's not your fault." Kamek said sympathetically.

He was starting to get why Luigi had tried to dodge explaining who exactly this warped little jester was. With no better way to tell the horrible tale of Dimentio, Luigi and Kamek were now lying on their stomachs on Livi's bed, Kamek watching intently and analyzing the characters as Luigi played through rather quickly. They had been doing this since early this morning. After only one afternoon with him, Livi had grown tired of Fawful and now started her rantings on her favorite character, the Charming Magician, which had finally peaked Kamek's curiosity.

"Do you remember what it was like?" The Magikoopa asked.

Luigi shook his head. "Thankfully, he at least spared me of that. He snapped his fingers, I got one hell of a headache, then… nothing. The next thing I remember is waking up to see the others, and Dimentio was already gone."

"Gone?" Kamek turned to face Luigi. "What do you mean? Did he just disappear?"

"He died. Thank Grambi." Luigi said flatly, not looking away from the screen.

"He died?" Kamek questioned. "How?"

Luigi started mashing the buttons quicker. "If everyone would friggin shut up, I could start the battle and show you… basically, after you beat the monster, Dimentio gives up his life so the Chaos Heart can live long enough to finish the void."

"Then how did you stop it?"

"It's complicated. Just watch."

Kamek sighed, laying his head back on his folded arms. Luigi had taken on an extremely sour mood for the entirety of the game, which was, of course, putting Kamek in a bad mood. He felt a little guilty dragging up all of Luigi's worst memories, but he had to figure all this mess out, and this was the only way he knew how.

"Wait a minute…" Kamek mumbled, a thought suddenly occurring to him. "Isn't Livi obsessed with Dimentio… like, more so than the rest of us?"

"Yeah, he's her favorite… Grambi knows why." Luigi said, not turning to look at him.

Kamek looked over at Luigi. "So, he's in the top five, right?" Luigi nodded, and Kamek continued. "Well, if he's dead, how does she expect us to go find him?"

Suddenly, the noisy chaos of the battle and The Ultimate Show music came to an abrupt halt as Luigi paused the game. He sighed heavily, staring down at the floor, his hands trembling slightly. "Dimentio… was dead."

Kamek seemed stunned. "What do you mean?"

Luigi finally turned to face him, his eyes clouded with grief and fear. "He's back. He's been living at Castle Bleck with the others for the past four months."

Kamek's jaw dropped slightly. "Are you kidding me?!"

"I wish I was…" Luigi sighed. "He spent about six months down in Bonechill's Prison, then suddenly… he's just… back…"

The tense conversation was suddenly interrupted as the bedroom door slammed open. Livi ran inside, yelling at Fawful, who was looking very pleased with himself as he shut the door, following her inside. Both of them were soaking wet, as it had been raining for the past few hours.

Luigi looked stunned to see them come in. "Have you two been outside this whole time?"

"Yes!" Livi snapped. "We got lost in Peach's stupid garden maze because somebody—" here, she cast an angry glare at Fawful. "—was bein' a jerk and wouldn't tell me how to get back to the friggin castle!"

Kamek waved his wand, two towels suddenly appearing in front of him. He handed one to Luigi as he jumped off the bed to take care of Livi, and carelessly tossed the other one to Fawful. Luigi and Kamek had quickly picked up on the fact that Fawful wanted nothing to do with anyone, but that never stopped Livi from dragging him around like her personal plaything.

"I don't believe you!" Livi continued screaming at Fawful as Luigi made her sit down. "It's, like, below-freezing out there! I could have frozen to death!"

"Good! Then maybe you will finally be shutting your stupid mouth, which is always possessing the non-stop talkings!" Fawful snapped back.

"Okay, you have no right to lecture anyone on how to talk, okay?!" Livi yelled.

"What is that supposed to be meaning?!" Fawful snapped, suddenly looking very mad.

"It means you talk like a weirdo!" Livi yelled. Sarcastically smiling, she continued with, "Oh, yeah, and thanks for pushing me off the balcony!!"

Fawful grinned ecstatically. "Of coursing, you are being most the welcomes!"

"Guys, stop it!" Luigi finally interrupted. "Can you please at least pretend to be mature?"

"I am mature!" Both children shouted indignantly.

Luigi breathed a heavy sigh, then went back to wringing out Livi's hair. "I swear…" He mumbled under his breath. "To think I'm taking you to Castle Bleck…"

"What?!" Livi yelled, whipping around to interrupt her glaring contest with Fawful. "We're going to Castle Bleck again?! YES!!" Livi jumped up, screaming her lungs out yet again.

"Again?" Kamek asked over Livi's ranting. "You've been before?"

"Yes! It's awesome! It looks all dark and creepy and scary—it's JUST like the game! It's A-MA-ZING!" She yelled, waving her hands around spastically for emphasis.

Kamek raised an eyebrow to Luigi. "She doesn't know?"

Livi suddenly stopped spazzing (for once in her life) and looked around, utterly confused. "Doesn't know what?"

Luigi sighed. "No, Kamek, she doesn't know… The last time she was here was about six or seven months ago…"

"Yeah, and it's really annoying! Because, that's, like, a whole year in my world!" Livi shouted, stomping her foot.

"Well?" Kamek prompted, gesturing to Livi. "Are you going to tell her?"

Luigi looked down at the floor, breathing a bit shakily now.

"Weegee? Whassa matter?" Livi asked, walking over to stand beside him. "Tell me what?"

There was a long silence, then Luigi said quietly, "Dimentio's alive."

Livi looked stunned for a moment, as any fangirl would be, should they be given such information. Then, she started to smile, narrowing her eyes. "Alright, alright, very funny…" She said, laughing a bit. "Pick on the fangirl… I get it…"

"Livi, I'm serious." Luigi said flatly, looking Livi in the eyes. "Dimentio's alive. He's been living at Castle Bleck for the past four months."

Livi blinked twice. "Wh… what? He's back? He's back?! My Charming Magician's alive, and you didn't tell me?!" Livi's voice grew louder and louder as she spoke.

"Livi, I'm sorry…" Luigi said. "I was kind of hoping you wouldn't find out."

"Not find out?!" Livi shrieked. "We go to Castle Bleck all the time!! How long did you think you could keep him hidden from me?!"

"Well, he may not even be here that long!" Luigi said, trying to defend himself.

Livi's eyes went wide with shock. "What? What do you mean? He's alive, isn't—"

"Conditionally, yes, he's alive… He's struck a deal with Jaydes… Nastasia explained all of this to us when we first found out he was back."

"He… struck a deal… with Jaydes?" Livi looked like she was trying to figure this out, but only succeeded in getting herself more lost.

Luigi sighed, then placed a hand on her shoulder and lead her over to the bed. "Here… I'll explain it to you… okay?"

"WHAT? A second chance? You've got to be kidding me!" Nastasia was over-flowing with anger as she spoke. She stood in an extremely dark room, the only light source being a misty orb in the center of the room, replaying Dimentio's trail of destruction over and over and over…

Queen Jaydes stood on the opposite side of the orb, and the jester himself stood right behind the Queen, just out of the light's comforting reach, as if he feared to come into contact with something so pure. He floated to peer over Jaydes' shoulder, watching his past life replay with interest, but the usual sadistic smile was absent from his face.

Queen Jaydes had just explained her plans to Nastasia, news she did not expect the secretary to take lightly. "Nastasia, please, calm yourself. You are over-reacting."

"Over-reacting?!" Nastasia yelled. "Are you insane?! Look at this!" She flicked a hand out at the orb, making Dimentio flinch a bit further into the shadows. "Look at everything he's done! Look at who he was—who he still is!! How could you even think of sending him back?!"

"The man you met today in my realm is not the same man that betrayed you." Jaydes explained calmly. "Dimentio has changed his ways."

"Changed his ways?" Nastasia repeated with a disgusted look on her face. "I'd sooner believe a Goomba sprouted arms than Dimentio change anything!"

Dimentio hung his head at that comment, slowly floating backwards away from them.

"Now, now, Nastasia… I've been monitoring Dimentio carefully while he dwelled in Bonechill's Prison. There has been a significant change in his thinking patterns. He wants to fix everything, to right all of his wrongs."

"He doesn't want to fix anything, he wants out!" Nastasia yelled.

Jaydes shook her head. "He honestly craves redemption."

"He's insane." Nastasia said flatly.

"Not anymore." Jaydes explained, casting a pitying glance over to her shoulder to the jester sulking in the corner. "My D-Men in Bonechill's Prison have rather effective torture methods for the condemned souls there… of course, with such a violent mental instability, Dimentio could simply laugh everything off… so, they came up with the ultimate torture for our charming magician…"

Nastasia stared at Dimentio, mouth agape. "They restored his sanity?" She whispered.

"That is correct." Jaydes said. "He's more mentally sound than before you met him."

"Oh…" Nastasia said, still looking stunned. She shook it off, glaring at Jaydes again. "So, uh… what about this… 'redemption' thing, huh? You're just gonna, ya know, let him off the hook?"

"I am giving Dimentio a chance at redemption." She clarified, loud enough to make Dimentio cringe. "Not redemption. He must earn his place back in the world."

"And how does he, uh, do that?" Nastasia prompted.

"After I send him back…" Jaydes started to explain. "I will send two people. The first, a savior, shall come in a form unexpected… they will attempt to correct Dimentio, restore him to goodness, just as you, Mimi, and O'Chunks have done amongst yourselves. The second, a destroyer, shall be very familiar to him… they will attempt to corrupt Dimentio through any means possible, and drag him back into his ways of old."

"And… then what?"

"Then, I will present Dimentio with a test. He will not expect it in the least, and in a split-second decision, I will determine the course for his life."

"Ah, right then…" Nastasia said. She was starting to get a bit uncomfortable. "And you want me to let him back into Castle Bleck?" She asked, cringing a bit when she said her former master's name.

"Well, my path-determinants cannot find him locked away down here, could they?"

Nastasia sighed heavily. "No, I guess not… but, why should I let him, ya know, come back? Who's to say he'll behave any, uh, different from the last time before the savior gets here?"

"I have laid a curse on Dimentio…" Jaydes explained. Nastasia noticed Dimentio try to back away, pushing himself against the wall, his face downcast. "I assure you, as long as my curse holds, and it will until he returns for his judgment, he will have no interest in his old tricks…"

Nastasia eyed the jester carefully, still seeming unconvinced.

"You still doubt me…" Jaydes stated, matter-of-factly.

"Can you really, uh, blame me?" Nastasia asked.

Jaydes considered that a moment. Rather than answering Nastasia, however, she turned her head slightly to face the jester. "Dimentio."

The jester looked up at her upon being called. Jaydes extended a clawed finger and beckoned him over, turning back to Nastasia. Dimentio causally pushed himself off the wall, and obediently floated over to the Queen, still staring down at the floor.

"Dimentio…" Jaydes said very gently, as though she was speaking to a child. "Why don't you show Nastasia your little toy, hm?"

Dimentio turned his mismatched eyes up to the Queen for a moment, then quickly looked back down, shaking his head.

"Come on, don't be shy… I'm sure she'd be very interested to see it… don't you think?" Jaydes gently encouraged him.

"Well?" Nastasia asked him. "Go on… you might as well show me… I'm the only hope you have left at this point." She said, a bit of spite in her voice.

Dimentio cringed a bit. Then, he slowly reached up into his poncho, pulled something out of his belt, and extended both hands to Nastasia. When he unwound his fingers, Nastasia gasped in surprise, putting a hand to her mouth.

In his worn-out-gloved hands, the jester held a sparkling, shining, bright red Rubee.

Nastasia looked from the gem, to Dimentio, then up to Jaydes. "Are you serious?"

Jaydes smiled and nodded. "He clings to that little Rubee for dear life, don't you, Dimentio?"

Dimentio slowly nodded his head, staring adoringly at his precious jewel.

"Where did he get that?" Nastasia asked.

"The D-Men find it humorous to throw them at him." Jaydes explained. "Dimentio somehow managed to catch one, but they quickly found a way to make him drop it and they took it away… I gave this one to him when I pulled him out of the Prison, as a bit of a gift."

Nastasia kept staring at the gem. "Why would they use Rubees? Surely there's better ways to torture him?"

Jaydes smiled sympathetically at Dimentio. "Would you like to explain that?"

Dimentio lifted his eyes from the Rubee to stare at Nastasia, and was quiet for a moment. Then, for the first time since Nastasia had been summoned here, the jester spoke. "They torture me with them… because it reminds me of Mimi…"

Nastasia was completely stunned. She said absolutely nothing at all for a very long time, just staring at Dimentio. When she didn't respond, Dimentio ignored her, looking at the Rubee again as he snuggled it close to his chest. A warm smile lit up his face for a moment, confusing the secretary even more.

Finally, Nastasia turned to Jaydes. "You can't be serious…" She whispered, knowing Dimentio wasn't listening anymore, yet not wanting to risk it.

Jaydes smiled. "I am perfectly serious. Dimentio has changed. And he can change even more if you will allow him the chance…"

Nastasia thought about that, then she turned back to Dimentio, and slowly walked over so she was standing about a foot from him. "Dimentio…" She said softly, to catch his attention.

Dimentio's smile instantly vanished as he looked up from the Rubee, his expression switching from contentment to confusion. Nastasia looking into his eyes and asked softly, "You really want this… you really want out of here, don't you?"

Dimentio thought about that, staring at the floor, then sighed heavily. "Nastasia, please…" He looked up at her again, his eyes sparkling with mixed emotions. "I just want to go home…"

"Livi's coming, Livi's coming, Livi's coming, Livi's coming!!" Mimi screamed as she skipped and twirled down the hallways.

Nastasia couldn't help but smile, laughing under her breath at the little girl. "You're really, uh, excited, huh, Mimi?"

"Well, duh!" Mimi said, running back over to Nastasia and O'Chunks. "She's only, like, my best friend ever!"

"Ay, we can tell…" O'Chunks said, laughing a bit to himself. "Yeh two are quite da pair, aren't yeh?"

"Of course!! Oh, golly, I can't wait! When's she gonna be here, huh, Nassy?" Mimi asked loudly, bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Peach said they're, uh, bringing her tomorrow." Nastasia said, smiling. "And, she says Livi's picked up a few new friends."

"Really?!" Mimi said, her eyes twinkling with delight. "Oh, golly, this is going to be great! I can't wait to meet them!! I can't wait 'til she gets here!!! Omigosh, Livi's coming, Livi's coming, Livi's coming!!"

"What's going on?" A quiet voice asked. Everyone suddenly stopped, noticing Dimentio floating in from around the corner, looking very confused.

"Dimmy!" Mimi shrieked, running over to him. "Omigosh, you're never going to believe it!! Guess what, guess what, guess what!!" She yelled, taking his hands in hers and bouncing up and down again.

Dimentio sighed heavily. "Mimi, just tell me… what is it?"

"Livi's coming!!" She yelled again. Dimentio just looked more confused, so Mimi kept screaming. "That girl I told you about! Remember?! That super-cool fangirl! She's all the way from Real World!! She fell down a Warp Pipe, and she's played all the games, and she totally loves us! We're best friends!"

Dimentio was stunned for a moment at her lengthy explanation, then sighed heavily, looking down at the floor. "Played that silly game has she? Perfect…"

The jester released Mimi's hand, snapping his fingers and teleporting away. Mimi stood there a moment, utterly stunned, her excitement vanishing entirely. "What's wrong with Dimmy?" She asked, turning around to face Nastasia and O'Chunks.

Nastasia knew very well what was troubling Dimentio, but she simply shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno, Mimi… I've told you before, he's insane… no one knows what he's thinking."

Mimi's eyes narrowed into slits as she blushed with rage. "He is not insane."

O'Chunks sighed. "Oy, lass, not this again… yeh heard wha da Queen said…"

"Dimentio has to fix everything as if he never left…" Nastasia explained flatly. "They gave him his sanity back in Bonechill's Prison, but as soon as he came back…" Here, she paused to shake her head, staring at the ground. "He's insane, Mimi."

"No, he's not!!" She shrieked, stomping her stilt-like legs on the ground. "He's not insane!! He's just… just…"

"Just what?" Nastasia challenged. "You've seen him yourself—all he does anymore is mope around the castle, being all, um, dark and creepy."

"Maybe if you two weren't so mean all the time, he wouldn't be like that!" Mimi yelled.

"Mimi, that's enough!" Nastasia snapped.

Mimi stood there a moment, glaring at Nastasia, then quickly spun on her heels and teleported away after Dimentio. The secretary watched her go, then simply sighed, walking off down the corridors and motioning for O'Chunks to follow her.

Mimi arrived in Dimentio's hall of mirrors, the never-ending corridor leading to several parts of the castle at once through the many false mirrors. The little green girl ran over to the right side of the hall, running past each of the mirrors, and watching her reflection closely. Finally, she stopped abruptly when she came to a mirror with no reflection—not a hole in the wall—a glass mirror mounted in the wall that showed no reflection.

Mimi placed a hand in the corner of the mirror, gave it a gentle push, and the glass gave way like a door, leading to small, dark room with a door at the end. She jumped into the mirror frame, closing it behind her, and ran over to the charming magician's room, throwing it open and running inside.

"Dimmy!" she called, instantly spying the jester sitting on his bed, his head in his hands. Mimi jumped up onto the bed beside him, throwing her arms around his shoulders. "What's wrong, Dimmy? Are you okay?"

Dimentio shook his head. "Why is she doing this to me?" he wondered aloud.

"Who?" Mimi asked.

"Jaydes!" The jester said, finally looking at Mimi. "How can she do this to me? Couldn't she cut me a break just once? I can't fix anything, I can't do anything, I'm just stuck at this stupid castle, Nastasia's little prisoner, dealing with one miserable hell-bent torture after another!"

"Aw, Dimentio…" Mimi moaned, hugging him tighter. "What's wrong now? Did something we said upset you?"

Dimentio sighed. "That fangirl you told me about… you said she's played the games… she knows what I've done… she must hate me… just like everyone else…" the jester's voice grew quieter and quieter as he spoke.

"Hate you?" Mimi asked, smiling. "Dimentio, are you kidding me? She loves you!"

Dimentio's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

"She loves you!" Mimi chirped. "She thinks you're the coolest thing ever! All that bad stuff you did in the game? That's her favorite parts! She thinks you're hilarious, and adorable, and cute and sweet and funny and—"

"Are you serious?" Dimentio interrupted, looking very confused. "She actually likes me?"

"She adores you, Dimmy…" Mimi said, smiling sweetly. "Just trust me, okay? I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you…"

Dimentio smiled for a brief moment, hugging Mimi tightly. "I know, Mimi… thank you…"

A/N: Hey, guys! Okay, we're ALMOST done with the revisions… I'm really sorry! I know I SHOULDN'T change the next chapter, but I'm going to anyway, okay? Is that okay?

It isn't much, really. Then, on all the others, I'm just going to be fixing a few type-os, adding a few things that didn't show up right, and correcting a grammatical error here and there. That's going to run smoothly and quickly, though, and we'll be back to updating before you know it! Sound good?