"Have the hurrying! It is just being in the over of hereness!" Fawful said ecstatically as he ran through the woods. Kamek was close behind him, carrying Livi across his arms, trying to keep up with Fawful without dropping the fangirl.

"Slow down, Fawful!" Kamek begged, exasperated.

Fawful stopped suddenly, looking around wildly, trying to find the next path. "Where is it being?" He mumbled to himself.

Kamek caught up to him, re-adjusting his grip on Livi. "Ugh… I'm getting to old for this… where are we now?"

"Um… I have the knowing… it is being around the area which is here…" Fawful's eyes lit up as he spotted a Shayde just a little ways off. In an instant, Fawful was running down the path, calling out to the mysterious figure, Kamek trying to keep up again.

"Hey! You who are having the darkness!" Fawful called.

The Shayde, seeming a bit confused, turned slowly around to face the child, stopping in its tracks. "Are you referring to me?"

"Yessing!" Fawful said, slowing down to stand in front of it. "We are requiring assistance from the one who is you."

"Is that so?" The Shayde asked, sounding a tad amused.

Fawful suddenly lost his train of thought, staring at the Shayde as though examining it very closely. Judging by the voice, this one appeared to have been female in its mortal years, and sounded more aged than others.

Kamek pushed Fawful aside as the Shayde looked questioningly at him. "I'm very sorry about him… he's only a child—who knows what he's thinking, right?"

"Mm, I don't know… Some children, I've heard, could easily outwit adults, am I right?" She asked, winking at Fawful.

"Ah, true that… Fawful's a clever one… Now, about your assistance…" Kamek said. "We really need to get to the Fountain of Life."

"Ah yes…" The Shayde mused, taking note of Livi's limp form. "And quite quickly, I'd presume."

"Yes, we do. Could you tell us where it is?"

"Well… I suppose… it couldn't hurt to help out a fellow villain…" The Shayde nodded off down the dirt path. "This path will take you right to the River Twygz. Take the ferry across, and the fountain is just on the other side—ask the captain to show you the way."

"Alright, thank you very much." Kamek started off, Fawful snapping out of his daze and following after him.

"And good luck, Fawful! You will soon need it!" The Shayde called after them.

Fawful stopped, stunned. "Wait… how are you—"

However, spinning around to face the Shayde, Fawful only found that she had already disappeared. Rather than disappointment, the beanish child felt a familiar grin creeping over his face as realization hit like a bolt of lightning.

"Ca… Cackletta?" Fawful whispered into the darkness.

"Fawful!" Kamek called. "Come on! We have to hurry!"

Fawful pointed frantically down the path. "No! It is her! It has being of the Great Cackletta! I must have the finding of her!"

Kamek shook his head. "It couldn't have been her, Fawful… Cackletta was a Gold Rank boss—she should be under very high security, not wandering around in the forest."

Fawful's face fell, looking back down the path. "But… it is her… I am having the certainty…"

"Well, whoever it was…" Kamek said, looking out into the darkness. "She's long gone now… We need to get going…"

"Al… alrighting…" Fawful said pitifully, turning and slowly following Kamek as they ran off towards the ferry dock.

"I have fury…" he mumbled.

"I know you do." Kamek said, rolling his eyes.

Meanwhile, the very same Shayde stepped out of the shadows, cackling quietly to herself as she watched her young apprentice disappear yet again…

Dimentio hit the ground with a heavy thud, groaning in pain as he clutched his sore head. Mr. L stood over him, smiling triumphantly.

"Had enough?" He taunted.

"Please, L…" Dimentio pleaded. "No more… I beg of you, please spare me…"

"Spare you?" Luigi sneered, pacing around the jester. "You don't deserve our mercy… why Jaydes tried to help you for so long, I'll never know…"

"I told you…" The jester moaned. "I'm innocent… I didn't try to kill Li—"

Mr. L kicked him harshly, sending him rolling a few feet off. "Then answer us this: Did you try to destroy all worlds?"

Dimentio gasped for breath, clutching his sides painfully. "Yes."

"Did you betray The Count?" Luigi asked.

"Yes." Dimentio replied bitterly, attempting to pick himself up.

"What about killing me and Nastasia?" Mr. L growled through gritted teeth.

"Yes…" Dimentio turned away, unable to look at them.

"What about Mimi?" Luigi said with a bit of arrogance. "You broke her fragile little heart when you betrayed everyone… wasn't that you?

Dimentio closed his eyes in grief. "…yes."

Mr. L grabbed the collar of Dimentio's cloak, leaning down to hiss in his ear. "Then you're a traitor, a murderer, and a monster… you deserve to die."

Dimentio was suddenly yanked off the ground, Mr. L pinning him to a cliff wall. The jester grabbed Mr. L's arm, simply trying to keep the Green Thunder from strangling him, too tired to even fight back anymore.

"Now, we're going to make sure you get what's coming to you." Mr. L growled, tightening his grip.

Dimentio smiled a bit, laughing under his breath.

"What?" Luigi asked, anger rising in his voice. "What's so funny?"

Dimentio glanced over at the two, smiling deviously. "Let's think about this, shall we? Do the two of you really want my blood on your hands? Then, aren't you just as bad as I?"

"It'll be worth it to see you dead." Mr. L growled, eyes narrowing.

"And besides." Luigi pointed out. "It isn't really evil, if we're righting all your wrongs."

Dimentio shrugged. "If that's what you need to tell yourself…"

"Enough games!" Mr. L yelled, silencing Dimentio. "Luigi's right—we're killing for good! Not sick games like you!"

"Unless…" Luigi said, laying a hand on Mr. L's shoulder to stop him from punching Dimentio's lights out.

"What?" Mr. L screamed, stunned. "Don't tell me you're agreeing with him!"

"Look, I'm just saying… maybe he is right… we're killing him for our revenge, not because of everything he's done."

"We're getting revenge because of everything he's done!"

"But, it's still an impure motive! I'm a hero, I can't shed innocent blood!"

"It's not innocent! It's Dimentio! Are you trying to ignore everything he's done? All the people he's hurt, the lives he's ruined, the worlds he's destroyed!"

"No! That's not at all what I'm saying!"

"Then shut up!"

Dimentio laughed to himself. "In a bit of a situation, aren't we Luigi? I knew it… you couple of goody-two-shoes couldn't kill me… Now, why don't you two let me go, let me correct your rather irrational thinking, and we can sort this whole mess out…"

"NO!" Mr. L shrieked, throwing Dimentio into a far wall. Dimentio shrieked in pain, collapsing to the ground. He placed a hand over the left side of his mask, feeling a painful crack beginning to form over his eye. The jester looked up at his rival, terrified for his life.

"No…" Mr. L growled, advancing on him. "I don't care what Luigi says… I don't care what you say either… I've been waiting for this chance since the day I woke up down here, and I'm not about to let you get away."

Mr. L grabbed Dimentio by the throat, lifting him off the ground, and drew back his fist. "I'm gonna enjoy wiping that stupid smile off your face…"

"HALT!" All three fandoms froze, turning to the sound of the harsh, sharp voice. A small troop of D-men was approaching them. They stopped at the signal from their leader, who went on to approach Mr. L and Luigi.

"Yeah, so here's the thing—this isn't flyin' with the Queen. We were sent here to break up the fight—should've known you were in the middle of this, L."

Mr. L growled. "Shut it, ya Queeny-Kiss-Up…"

The D-Men leader stepped right up to Mr. L, who had yet to release Dimentio. "Uh, no. We were sent here directly by the Queen herself. We're not to come back until our mission is complete and if we have to resort to brute force…" he paused to laugh smugly at Mr. L. "… I don't have to remind you that we won't hesitate…"

Mr. L tightened his grip on Dimentio, resisting the urge to drop him and rip the sorry little D-Man limb from limb.

"No worries." Mr. L said. "As soon as Dimentio's dead, we'll be finished here."

"Yeah…" the D-Man smiled up at him. "That's not really gonna work… See, Jaydes has specifically requested we bring the jester to her alive… she plans to punish him harshly for straying so far from her instruction."

Mr. L grinned a bit, lowering Dimentio down so the jester was kneeling at his feet, his eyes widening in terror. "Oh really… Jaydes is going to deal with him, eh?"

The D-Man nodded. "That's right. She's very upset with him. I overheard her speaking with the young Princess. She said he's had his chance at redemption, and he failed. He won't be getting another chance."

Dimentio's face fell into horror. "No…" he whispered. "No, no, no…"

Mr. L looked back at Luigi, who nodded, smiling. "Let Jaydes take care of it, Mr. L. You're not going to get a better chance at revenge than that…"

The Green Thunder smirked down at Dimentio, who was looking up at him with sad, pleading eyes. "A'right then…"

With that, Mr. L threw Dimentio to the waiting D-Men troop, who had his hands chained together in an instant. Dimentio shrieked in pain as the chains wound around his wrists. "What was that?"

"Anti-magic spell." One of the D-Men informed him. "Queen's orders—can't have you slipping away, ya know?"

Dimentio looked up at his rivals. "Mr. L, Luigi, please… I'm begging you… You can't send me to Jaydes! She'll destroy me!"

"Good!" They both said.

Before Dimentio could argue any further, the D-Men grabbed the extension of chain hanging off the jester's wrists, and pulled him along as the marched off back to the Palace. Dimentio, now unable to float, stumbled clumsily after them, casting a mournful glance over his shoulder at them.

Mr. L smugly waved him off. "L-ater, Dimentio!"

SPLASH!

Livi shot up out of the orange waters, choking and gasping for breath. She could feel a tingling sensation all over her body, mainly in her chest and aching head, as the cleansing waters revived her.

Suddenly, all sorts of sensations flooded over the young fangirl as the world re-appeared around her. The freezing winds of the Underwhere swirled around her, the cool fountain water splashing all around her and falling over her head, the sights and sound of the town square suddenly became clear. There were numerous Shaydes gathering around, discussing quietly the strange creature in their fountain.

Livi shook her head to clear it a bit, then turned to look around, finding Kamek and Fawful standing just off to the side. Fawful jumped into the fountain with her, hugging Livi tightly. "Livi! I have such gladness! You are possessing the aliveness!"

The fangirl was stunned at first, then slowly came to, wrapping her arms tightly around Fawful. "It's okay, Fawful… I'm alright now… were you… were you seriously worried about me?"

"Yessing! I had much of the worries! I had the fears that you would have the… be having the…"

"Dead?" Livi asked, stunned.

Fawful blinked back tears in his eyes, burying his face in Livi's shirt. "Yessing… I do not wish to have the losing of you."

"Aw, Fawful!" Livi said sweetly, hugging him affectionately. "That's so sweet!"

Kamek offered Livi a hand, which she gratefully took, still holding Fawful around his waist, and pulled her up out of the water. Livi stepped out of the fountain, smiling stupidly at the Shaydes as they gawked and stared at her. Kamek lead her away down a path towards the River Twygz, Livi setting Fawful on the ground, the two still keeping a firm grip on each other's hand.

"Where are the others?" Livi asked, rubbing her head.

"Off in the valleys still…" Kamek answered bluntly. "Do you remember anything that happened?"

"Um… it's a little fuzzy, but… I think I remember…"

"So, you are knowing?" Fawful asked.

"Knowing what?" Livi asked, reflexively mimicking his speech.

"About the jester of dementedness?"

"Oh, yeah, Dimentio. I wonder where he got to…"

Kamek raised an eyebrow. "Um… that's it? 'I wonder where he got to?' No reaction whatsoever?"

"Reaction? To what?" Livi asked, laughing a bit.

"He tried to have the killing of you!" Fawful stated.

There was a long period of silence, Livi looking from one to the other.

"…What?" She finally asked, her voice simply a hoarse whisper.

"Dimentio…" Kamek said. "He tried to kill you. He pushed you off the cliff—don't you remember?"

There was more silence, Livi's face twisting in… rage.

"He didn't push me, you idiots…" Livi growled. "The cliff crumbled and Dimentio was trying to CATCH ME, YOU FRIGGIN IDIOTS!"

"What?" Kamek and Fawful were both shocked.

"Dimentio didn't try to kill me! He was trying to catch me!"

"Dimentio?" Livi asked, terrified. "What… what are you doing?"

"Shhh…The cliff's going to fall out from under you…" Dimentio held out a hand to her. "Here, take my hand."

"Wha—AHH!" The cliff shifted again, Livi sinking down a bit. Her instincts told her to move, to jump to the other part of the cliff, but then it would only crumble as well. "Dimentio! Please help!"

"Livi, it's alright, calm down!" Dimentio said soothingly. "Just take my hand—everything will be alright…"

But, everything wasn't alright—the cliff shattered completely, Livi falling backwards off of it. Dimentio flew forward without even thinking, snatching at thin air as the fangirl fell down into the valley below.

He watched her hit the ground, his eyes widening in terror. Just like that—she was gone.

"He was…" Kamek said, stunned. "He tried to save you?"

"Yes! Why is that so hard for you to understand! Dimentio's changed! He cares about me just as much as any of you! He doesn't want to see me hurt either!"

Silence.

"That has being of problem…"

Livi turned to face Fawful, still looking kind of ticked off. "What? What's a problem?"

"Well, like we said, we thought Dimentio tried to kill you…" Kamek said sheepishly, looking away.

Livi raised an eyebrow irritably. "…and?"

Kamek sighed, looking down at the ground. "Luigi and Mr. L had finally had enough… they went off to… end his game."

Livi's eyes widened in horror. "They're going to go kill him?"

Kamek nodded.

"And you LET them?" Livi screamed, pushing Kamek backwards a bit.

"Hey! I had a good reason—we thought you were dying! I kind of thought Dimentio needed to be stopped!"

"Well, you thought wrong!" Livi continued screaming. "What are we gonna do?"

"We can have doing of the nothingness!" Fawful said. "They have much of the hatings of him! We cannot have that which is stopping!"

"Oh, yes we can!" Livi said, suddenly looking very determined. "I don't care who did what—the past is the past, and I'm not about to let them kill Dimentio for something he didn't do. Where are they?"

Kamek sighed, then pointed up to Jaydes' Castle. "We ran into Luigi and Mr. L on our way to the fountain. Apparently, some D-Men came to collect Dimentio and bring him to Queen Jaydes—everyone's already at the Palace by now."

Livi was silent for a very long time.

"Queen Jaydes?" She asked.

"Yessing." Fawful said. "That has correctness."

"Oh no…" Livi suddenly paled over, looking horrified. "No, this can't be happening. She must think he tried to kill me, too!"

"She will have the ending of his game!"

"NO!" Livi shrieked. "We can't let her! Oh… this isn't happening, this isn't happening…"

"Livi, calm down!" Kamek reassured her. "It's not too late! If we hurry, maybe we can still stop Jaydes!"

Livi's eyes lit up with realization. "You're right… you're right! We've got to hurry, we don't have any time to lose!"

With that, Livi took off running down the path, Fawful and Kamek scurrying after her. She was a very strange girl, for certain. After cheating death for the second time today, Livi's first thought is saving Dimentio's life, with little to no concern for the consequences.

Well… at least she was back to normal…

Epicness is happening! Mwa ha ha… I laugh with sadistic squee…

A'right then… one little note: Yes, Cackletta really SHOULD be in Bonechill's Prison, but… let's see… excuse, excuse… Aha!

Let's say (for the sake of saying) when Livi's retarded bunch went and woke up Bonechill and mass chaos ensued, the living residents (those that could still walk around and feel the freezing to death) who looked like Shaydes, were all evacuated into the safety of the Underwhere. Sound good?

I noticed when Kamek pointed it out to Fawful "Crap, yeah, she should be in Bonechill's Prison, huh?" Oh well… what's done is done…

More epicness soon to come!