Oi… and I thought the Underwhere was dark… Mr. L thought bitterly to himself, huffing as he crossed his arms over his chest in a vain attempt to keep himself warm. He stepped nimbly through the darkness, carefully avoiding the small patches of ice rooted to the floor.
The cave was dark. Much, much too dark for his liking. The only thing he could see was the ice, glimmering from a dim light (so weak he hardly dared to call it 'light') he couldn't quite locate the source of, and the thin wisps of fog his breath made in the cool air.
"This bites." Mr. L grumbled to himself. However, in that statement, Mr. L found himself thanking his lucky stars he hadn't been sentenced to an eternity in the Underwhere. When Jaydes had weighed his sins, of course in the few short weeks he'd been alive, he had done nothing but evil. However, upon closer inspection from the Queen, Mr. L had had no opportunity to be good. He had never known anything but a life of villainy. Nastasia had hypnotized him to give undying loyalty to the Count, which is exactly what he'd done—he couldn't help it. He never had a choice.
As much as he had come to resent it, and though that was probably what landed him in the Underwhere, that was the one thing keeping him out of Bonechill's Prison. For that, at least, Mr. L was thankful.
Mr. L suddenly growled under his breath, coming back to the present moment. He looked up and all around him. "Where is that stupid girl? Honestly! How hard can it be to find a freaking fangirl!"
Suddenly, Mr. L yelped in surprise, reflexively ducking under his arms when he heard a loud scream echo through the passageway. Straightening up, he looked around curiously. The caves had fallen completely silent yet again. "What… the hell…?" he finally mumbled to himself.
He flinched again as a second scream met his ears. Curious, Mr. L took off in the general direction they seemed to be coming from. As he chased the echoing noises, much to Mr. L's surprise, the ice was glistening brighter, lightening in color. The dark black of the walls and floor faded to a dull gray.
No way… Mr. L thought in amazement. Is that… light? First of all, when was the last time he had seen anything close to light? And second, what was it doing any number of miles underground? Under the Underwhere, for that matter.
There is was; there was an opening in one wall, no bigger than a large window. The light was radiating from that spot, framed by solid sheets of ice that were snaking out into thick patches on the walls.
Mr. L cautiously crept towards the opening, hearing another scream. He could hear more noises with it now—lots of scuffling, loud sounds like the shattering of glass, some clanking of aged machinery. Whatever it was, none of it sounded good.
Gulping nervously, placing his hands on the edge of the ice frames, Mr. L leaned over the edge to stare down into the cavern below. There was another scream as he did so, but this time, the source was visible.
Some five hundred feet below, there was a young human girl trying, and miserably failing, to escape an enraged Bonechill, who was hot on her heels. The huge monster roared menacingly, shooting large icicles at her, causing more screams as the girl was struck by them, or ran into the icy walls in a failed attempt to dodge.
That's her! Mr. L thought to himself. That's gotta be the fangirl! Now to the problem—he had to find a way down to her. Mr. L delicately leaned over the edge to look around the chamber, trying very hard to keep his grip on the ice. The cavern was completely covered in ice, and was very brightly lit. All the ice was glimmering and shining, reflecting light from… somewhere.
Ugh! I'll worry about that later! Mr. L told himself, firmly shaking his distractions off. How'm I supposed to get down there? Looking around frantically, however, he came up empty. From his current position, there was no way down to the girl save for a death-drop.
"Aw, man…" Mr. L moaned to himself. "Now what?"
Kamek walked in silence down the seemingly-never-ending passageways, lost deep in his thoughts. His body had finally gotten over whatever was wrong with Dimentio, but Kamek was still exhausting himself. It felt like they had been searching these passages for hours, and had found nothing. All this time, Kamek's wand illuminated their way, but as the Magikoopa grew more tired, the soft glow grew dimmer.
Kamek turned ever-so-slightly to glance at Luigi. His arms were crossed over his chest, his face downcast. Even through the flickering shadows, Luigi's face wasn't as pleasant as it could be. Kamek felt a twinge at his heart, part of him feeling sorry for Luigi, and another part being furious with himself for pitying one of the heroes.
There's no 'heroes and villains'… Luigi's words rang in the Magikoopa's mind. But, what about when he went home? What would King Bowser say if he could see him acting like this now?
I'll worry about that later… Kamek firmly decided, nudging Fawful from behind to catch the child's attention. When he turned around, Kamek nodded in the direction of Dimentio floating ahead. Fawful grimaced when he realized what Kamek was asking, but sighed anyway and ran ahead to catch up to the jester. Kamek made a mental note of the way Dimentio jumped when Fawful startled him, then he instantly relaxed, gratefully accepting the way their idle chattering occupied the darkness.
Kamek smirked. Dimentio was distracted, his full attention on Fawful. With that, Kamek started to walk closer to Luigi, gently nudging his arm. "Are you alright?"
Luigi shook his head.
"What, no lies this time?" Kamek asked gently with a playful smirk.
Luigi shrugged. "What good would it do now? You always see right through it…"
"Good. Then don't lie to me." Kamek said, inwardly feeling a slight twinge of happiness that Luigi didn't plan on hiding things from him anymore. "What's eating you now, then?"
"What do you think?" Luigi grumbled. "I can't stand any of this. I hope Livi's okay when we find her—because I'm going to kill her."
Kamek felt his heart drop in sympathy for Luigi. "Because she's forcing you to work with Dimentio?"
"It's not just him…" Luigi said miserably. "Mr. L's back too… some of the worst things that have ever happened to me I can trace right back to those two…"
Kamek took a deep breath. He knew Luigi was perfectly right to think like this, but the Magikoopa was very tired tonight, and was in no mood to have this argument again. "Look… I know this is tough on you… but you're going to have to get over it…"
Luigi looked up in surprise, but he didn't argue when Kamek continued. "You want all this mess to be over—we all do—but, that's not going to happen anytime soon… Livi won't stop until she gets what she wants. You know that."
Luigi nodded. "But, here's the thing…" Kamek continued. "If you want them gone as soon as possible, you'll have to suck it up and deal with them for the present moment… Let Livi take over; do what she wants with them. Once she's had her fun, she'll fix everything and put it back where it was. I promise."
Luigi looked away. "I hate… when you're right…"
Kamek stared at him a moment. "…You hesitated." He stated bluntly.
"…I wish I could say I hated you… but, I can't anymore…" Luigi said, his voice growing quieter and quieter.
Kamek smiled to himself. "I wish I could hate you too… that's not going to happen, though… is it?"
Luigi shook his head. "Nope. We've really done it now…"
Kamek fought the urge to laugh. Part of him wanted to burst out laughing, the other part felt like he wanted to cry. Why had he done this to himself? They had just stood there and admitted it—they were friends now. They couldn't fight each other in battle anymore. They couldn't go back to good vs. evil anymore. They couldn't do anything of the sort.
Bowser… is going… to kill me… Kamek thought grimly.
"Yo, guys!" A loud voice suddenly said from behind the group. Everyone turned around to see Mr. L running out of a split in the passageway to catch up with them. "Okay, look, we got a major problem here…"
"What about?" Luigi asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.
"That chick you guys're lookin' for—" Mr. L started.
Fawful interrupted, saying, "You are meaning the one who is Livi."
Mr. L stared at him a moment, then waved him off saying, "Like it matters… Livi, then… Livi's in a bit… of a… um…" Mr. L was trailing off, eventually saying nothing at all. He was standing there, frozen, staring at the back of the group. His eyes widened in fear, his jaw dropping slightly. Glancing back, Luigi, Kamek, and Fawful each confirmed their identical fears…
Mr. L had seen Dimentio.
Dimentio had seen Mr. L.
Oh shit… Kamek thought, glancing from one to the other. The two stood a good distance apart, staring at each other, both looking stunned and scared out of their wits. No one said anything for a very long time.
At last, Mr. L broke the silence, choking out, "Dim… D-Dimentio?" He trembled slightly, looking terrified, as though his worst fears had sprung to life. Actually… they kind of had.
Dimentio said absolutely nothing. To be perfectly honest, he didn't look capable of speech anymore. He just floated there, staring at Mr. L.
After a moment or two, Mr. L trembled again. Not with fear—this time, with rage. His anxious face twisted into anger as his hands clenched into tight fists. He snarled, and growled through clenched teeth, "Dimentio…"
Without warning of any sort, the Green Thunder flung himself at the jester, catching him off guard, sending them both tumbling to the ground. It only took Mr. L a matter of seconds to gain the upper hand in the fight, Dimentio still being fairly stunned, only able to block a few harsh blows at best.
"YOU LOW-LIFE, TWO-FACE, BACK-STABBING DEMON! HOW COULD I EVER HAVE LET MYSELF TRUST YOU?" Mr. L screamed amidst the fight.
"Oh, so suddenly, it's my fault that you're an idiotic, easily-tricked, mindless puppet?" Dimentio retorted. He was suddenly thrown into the far wall, screaming out as his head struck the sharp rocks, shattering the ice. The jester moaned, rubbing the back of his head as he struggled to sit up. Feeling a nearby presence, he looked up to see Mr. L standing over him, fists clenched, glaring down at him.
"I still don't believe you…" Mr. L growled through clenched teeth. "All I ever did was trust you, help you, risk my own life for you… and how do you thank me? You murdered me!"
"That's funny…" Dimentio growled, glaring up at Mr. L "I don't recall ever promising you life… and you are correct, you did greatly aid in my plans—by allowing me to end your game…" He added with a teasing smirk.
Mr. L growled, eyes narrowing when Dimentio smiled. "You're a monster," was all he said.
"Yes…" Dimentio paused, wincing in pain as he tried to sit up. "I am a monster." He finally admitted. "I always have been. You aren't the first to have noticed."
"No, I'm just the one who paid the price." Mr. L growled.
"Oh, what are you going on about?" Dimentio asked, dripping with sarcasm.
"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" Mr. L snapped, enraged. "Don't you?"
Dimentio didn't reply. "Well?" Mr. L prompted, making the jester flinch as he looked away.
"A'right, then… here's a little refresher for ya…" Mr. L growled, suddenly very close to Dimentio, resting one hand on either side of him on the rocky walls. Dimentio pressed his back up against the wall, but he couldn't get far enough away from him.
"You're the one who snatched the Chaos Heart…" Mr. L hissed, his voice dropping to a spine-tingling whisper. "You're the one who tried to destroy all the worlds… You're the one who read the stupid book… You're the one who tried to kill the Count… You're the one who turned around and stabbed every one of your friends in the back… isn't that right?"
Dimentio took a shaky breath, turning his head away. "And somehow… I'm the one who gets banished to the Underwhere for it! For everything you did!" Dimentio flinched when Mr. L yelled.
There was silence for a while. "You don't even care… do you?" Mr. L growled. He grabbed Dimentio's jaw, forcing the jester to look up at him. "Look at me!" He yelled. "I'm dead! Because of you! I took the fall down here for you—and you, meanwhile, get a second freaking chance!"
Dimentio clenched his teeth, fighting back the urge to scream at the top of his lungs everything he'd had to suffer through to earn his redemption, and he was still only halfway there. He just kept telling himself that, especially in this position, he couldn't let Mr. L see how weak he truly was.
So, the jester, desperate to get away, did the only thing he knew to do in such a predicament. Keeping his hand carefully close to the ground, he poised his fingers to snap. Mr. L's eyes flashed away from Dimentio's for an instant, well-trained to notice the miniscule movement, and Dimentio was instantly yanked up and thrown across the passageway.
The two went back to their previous fighting, rolling around the dirt floor, hitting, kicking, and clawing at each other, both of them desperate beyond measure to gain the upper hand. Unfortunately, that victory fell once again to Mr. L. The Green Thunder wound up on top of Dimentio, grabbing his hands to drive them into the sharp shards of fragmented ice they had kicked up. The jester screamed out in pain, trying in vain to either snap his fingers or wrench his arm out of Mr. L's painful grip—neither of which proved effective.
"You're tryin' to kill me again, ain't ya?" Mr. L growled, grinning like mad. "Good luck…"
Dimentio suddenly stopped struggling as Mr. L leaned in close to him, glaring daggers at the jester and wearing the sadistic smile he had previously worn so proudly. "You can't kill a ghost…" Mr. L hissed to him. "Looks like you're the one in trouble this time, eh, Dimmy?"
Dimentio started to panic, gasping for breath and struggling madly. He couldn't let Mr. L kill him now—but if he didn't do something quick, his game was as good as over. He couldn't let it end like this. He had finally found his savior (or, rather, she had kidnapped him) and she was supposed to finally free him. He couldn't give up now.
He wouldn't give up now. Dimentio kicked his feet up, driving them into Mr. L's gut and shoving him off. It worked in getting him off, but Dimentio's hands were still caught in the Green Thunder's. He couldn't work any magic like this. So, the two simply wound up rolling across the floor again, Dimentio simply trying and repeatedly failing to keep Mr. L off of him. He'd just have to keep buying time—but just how long could he keep that up?
Kamek smacked Luigi upside the head. "Will you knock it off? This is serious!"
"I am being serious!" Luigi said, rubbing his sore head. "I said 'Why can't we just let them kill each other'?"
"Because then the fangirl of obsessions will have the killing of us!" Fawful snapped.
"And besides that…" Kamek said, glaring at Fawful. "…because it's the right thing to do. You're a hero, aren't you? Stop their fighting!"
"Well, you're a villain, aren't you?" Luigi retorted. "Let them fight."
Kamek growled, clapping a hand over his face. "Look… we don't have time to argue about something stupid like this!"
The argument was interrupted by a loud shriek of pain. The two brawlers had rolled over to a group of sharp rock formations on the ground, one of which Dimentio had bashed his head on. In that fleeting moment of shock, Mr. L had him pinned down again.
"Luigi, we have to do something!" Kamek begged, realizing quickly that they were running out of time.
Mr. L grabbed Dimentio's throat with one hand, choking him. Dimentio didn't even bother with snapping, his freed hands instantly flying to claw at Mr. L's hand as it wound tighter and tighter around his throat, completely strangling him.
"Why should we?" Luigi said, shrugging off-handedly. "I do good for them—it's hell for me. Give me a good reason why I should save them."
Mr. L's knee suddenly kicked into Dimentio's gut, making him quickly cough out the last he had of air. Dimentio's eyes widened in fear as he fought to breathe, still clawing at Mr. L's hand.
"Because you're a hero!" Kamek snapped, angry now. "You're supposed to help others, no matter what! I told you already to stop acting like an idiot and get over this, didn't I?"
Obviously, strangling his rival was too slow a death for Mr. L's liking. He leaned over Dimentio to grab a large, heavy-looking chunk of rock. Dimentio started to struggle frantically as a malicious grin crept across Mr. L's face—he, apparently, planning to bash the jester's mask in with it.
"Well, too bad… I'll put up with them all you want, but there's no way I'll save either of their lives…" Luigi spat. He glared at Kamek, gesturing to the other two with a wave of his arm. "If you want them saved so bad, go separate them yourself."
"You think I can't?" Kamek challenged. "Fine, watch."
"You're tired." Luigi reminded him as Kamek hesitantly approached Mr. L and Dimentio, neither of which noticed him. "You won't be able to do much magic and keep that light going later."
Kamek smirked at him. "Who needs magic?" He asked, and proceeded to strike Mr. L harshly over the head with the orb on the end of his wand.
Mr. L took a dizzied look in his eyes, swaying back and forth slightly. Just as his grip began to relax on the jester's throat, Kamek grabbed Mr. L by the back of his scarf and yanked him off of Dimentio. Dimentio quickly scrambled out of the way, taking in heavy gulps of air.
Kamek yanked back on Mr. L's scarf to restrain him from Dimentio. Mr. L ignored the scarf choking him and threw the rock in Dimentio's direction. He hardly managed to scramble out of the way, the rock striking him harshly on the back, knocking him to the ground. Mr. L lashed out, attempting to grab him again, but was cut off by Kamek, allowing Dimentio to scramble a few feet away to catch his breath.
Kamek sighed to himself as Luigi came over and took Mr. L from him, hooking his arms beneath his twin's to hold him back, Dimentio casting him a very grateful look. These two were going to need a lot of work. Livi wasn't going to be very happy when they caught up to her…
How long had she been playing this ridiculous game? Hours? Days? Years? She had no idea… time flew by so fast down here—or did it stand still?
Another scream rang out through the chamber as a cluster of icicles struck the wall—destroying her temporary refuge. Whatever the timing—she had no time for questions. Shoving off the wall, Livi took off running yet again.
Her lungs were on fire, her muscles burning, her head aching, her face stained with tears. She couldn't keep this up much longer—she knew that much.
Why is he doing this to me? Livi thought, panicked, as her feet glided over the ice—more skating that running. I haven't done anything except lost my way! And now Bonechill wants to kill me?
There was another wall up ahead. Livi was already sore from running, bruised from innumerable crashes onto unforgiving ice, and cut and bleeding in a few places from razor-sharp fragments of glittering shards. She couldn't afford another hit.
Throwing her feet sideways and kicking up mist, Livi tried to stop on the sleek ice. Mistake number one.
Another icicle barely missed her, the impact harshly throwing her sideways. She hit the wall anyway, tumbling down to wind up sprawled-out on the floor. No time to waste—she quickly pulled herself up and looked straight ahead.
Never in all her life had Livi been so happy to see a dark, creepy-looking cave.
The exit! Livi thought as she regained her footing. I'm free! The fangirl jumped up and started forward, exhausting every bit of strength she had left. She had to get out of here, and she was almost there.
Suddenly, Bonechill was right in front of her. She could have beat him, maybe, if she had pressed a little harder.
But, no. She hesitated, screeching to a halt. Mistake number two.
Bonechill's skeleton-fist slammed into Livi, throwing her backwards against a wall, indenting the ice slightly. Livi braced herself against the cracked ice, pushing her back against the wall in an attempt to avoid the giant monster towering over her, growling menacingly. Run? No. Dodge? No.
Terrified, she froze. Mistake number three.
Strike three… and I'm out… The fangirl grimly thought, shutting her eyes tight.
Reflexively, she threw her hands up over her head, a desperate and futile attempt to shield herself from the freezing winds that spewed out of Bonechill's mouth. At alarming speeds, the mist began to solidify, forming new ice that quickly crept over her skin, fusing her into the wall. Her blood froze to a stand-still in her veins. Her mind refused to function. Soon, she couldn't move at all—not even open her eyes.
As her mind dimmed to darkness, the fangirl saw a few final thoughts. Thoughts of this crazy scheme she now bitterly regretted… thoughts of her dear fandoms, which were now lost without her… thoughts of Mr. L, who she would never get to meet…
And thoughts of Luigi… her closest friend… who she would never see again…