I actually hacked about half of this chapter off, because it was, like, 12 pages long in Word, so now I've started the next chapter as well! Woo-hoo!

Anyways… enjoy the epicness! (I really REALLY like this chapter!)

This was, most defiantly, a problem.

Dimentio stumbled clumsily after the D-Men as they lead him through the corridors of Jaydes' Palace. The enchanted chains had sucked every scrap of magic from his being, and—this being the first time the jester found himself in such a predicament—he was left completely helpless.

Horrible thoughts of the near future clouded Dimentio's mind, making him too distracted to even bother with escaping of any sort. (What did it matter anyway? If Jaydes wanted him, Jaydes would find him) The Queen of the Underwhere had been exceptionally generous in allowing Dimentio a chance at redemption, especially when he didn't deserve it. And now, with all the odds against him,

Mr. L and Luigi (both of which she trusted) out for revenge, and the Fangirl's blood on his hands, things weren't looking so good.

That stupid little fangirl… Dimentio found himself thinking. She just had to go and get herself killed… So, of course everyone has to go and pin the blame on me… even when I was just trying to help her—Grambi knows why…

Dimentio thought about it a moment, then sighed deeply, an odd sense of regret washing over him. Stupid little me…if I hadn't been such an idiot, and betrayed the only friends I'd ever had, I wouldn't be in this mess… they wouldn't have a reason to blame me…

The more Dimentio thought about it, the more he realized that it really was his entire fault. Mr. L and Luigi were right about everything they said, and so much more. What if Dimentio hadn't betrayed everyone? What if he hadn't killed Mr. L? What if he hadn't tried to kill the Count, and wound up killing Nastasia? What if he hadn't tried to capture the Chaos Heart? What if things had gone differently?

An image flashed into Dimentio's mind of the answer to his question. It was a perfect world, just as all the minions of their dear Count had planned. It was a beautiful, prosperous nation, with wondrous, majestic creatures and people that inhabited the land. On the throne, before her loyal subjects, sat the Queen—Mimi.

Dimentio faked a smile at the child's delusions. "I think that's a lovely idea, Mimi… I can hardly wait to see it."

"Well, of course you're gonna see it! You'll be there all the time!" Mimi said ecstatically, continuing to sketch out the landscapes around her castle.

"Whatever could you mean?" Dimentio asked, playfully. It was always interesting to hear Mimi go on and on about these things.

"Well, golly…" Mimi murmured, blushing a bit. "My world wouldn't be perfect without you there…"

Dimentio's smile fell for the briefest of moments, not even long enough for Mimi to catch. "Is… is that so?" he said, a bit nervously.

Mimi played with her skirt, not looking up at him. "Yeah… You're my best friend, Dimentio… As great as my world would be—and it's pretty amazing—I wouldn't care a bit if you weren't there."

The small little girl looked up at Dimentio with big sad eyes as he tried to take that in. "You'll come visit me, like, everyday, right? And you can even spend the night in my castles and junk!"

"Ah… of course, Mimi…" Dimentio said, trying to remain composed. "That sounds delightful."

Mimi giggled. "Awesome!" She went back to sketching, adding Dimentio and herself on the thrones of the castle. "So… what's your perfect world going to be like?"

Dimentio lost his smile completely. His world was full of death and destruction, which he—the ruler—brought on his miserable victims. Mimi would have to be destroyed along with the others before that could be accomplished. "Ah… what do you say we let it be a surprise?"

Dimentio sighed heavily, looking up and finding himself at the doors to Jaydes' throne room. It was much to late for what ifs, and whatever good Dimentio had left—in himself and in those he had so foolishly grown attached to—was about to come crashing down once again.

This time, however, there would be no chance to pick up the pieces…

"Mother! Thou cannot doeth this!" Luvbi shrieked, flying frantically after Jaydes.

"Luvbi, dear, I've told you. There's nothing I can do now." Jaydes explained tiredly, massaging her temples with long, sharp fingers. "Dimentio's fate has already been decided."

The Queen and her daughter were walking down the corridors of the castle, on their way to the throne room to meet the D-Men with Dimentio.

"But, this doth be most unfair! Hast thou yet heard Dimentio's side of ye tale?" Luvbi begged.

"Dimentio will be given a chance to explain himself, but we saw the whole thing. I doubt he will have much to say."

Just then, Mr. L and Luigi came bounding up to Jaydes, their D-Men escorts trying desperately to keep up. "Jaydes! We're here!" Mr. L said ecstatically.

"Calm down, Mr. L…" Jaydes said, laying a hand on his shoulder, waving the D-Men off over his head. "Have a good time outside of the castle?"

"Heck yeah! You gotta let me out more often, it's just one thing after another out there! It was awesome!"

"Good, because you're not leaving my sight again for the next three centuries."

Mr. L's face dropped as Jaydes walked off. "…what?"

"You heard me, Mr. L. You've caused quite enough trouble today."

"But it was Dimentio's fault! I didn't do anything!"

"Really? From what I saw, regardless of what Dimentio did, you attacked first on both fights… would you care to argue that?"

"Okay, so I was a little reckless, we both know that, but—"

Luigi placed a hand over Mr. L's mouth, whispering to him. "Let's think about this… The Queen of the Underwhere in on her way to wipe our arch nemesis out of existence forever… Do we really want to make her mad at us?"

"Uh… no?" Mr. L said stupidly.

"Good." Luigi patted his back. "Then let's stick with the problem at hand, alright?"

"What problem? Dimentio's going to be executed! Our troubles are over! She'll lock him away in Bonechill's prison for the rest of eternity!"

"IF he is found guilty." Jaydes reminded them, stopping in front of the chamber doors.

"What are you talking about? Of course he's guilty! Just look at everything he's done, before and after his second chance!"

Jaydes sighed as the D-Men opened the door and she stepped inside. "I know, Mr. L… it seems Dimentio really was a lost cause after all."

Mr. L jumped in front of the Queen, stopping her as she entered the room. "Wait a minute… I wanna hear you say it."

"Please, Mr. L, this is not the time or place to make a fool of yourself." Jaydes said. "Do you want Dimentio judged or not?"

"Yes, but first, I wanna hear you say it." The Green Thunder answered smugly.

"Fine… you were right, Mr. L. There's no help for Dimentio, and there never will be. I was horribly wrong, and now everything about that 'stupid little jester' has backfired on me as proof. Happy?"

Mr. L grinned. "Yup."

"Good, now be a dear and escort my daughter back to the Overthere." Jaydes stepped around Mr. L and took a seat on her throne, frantic D-Men scurrying around her.

"What? No! I ain't goin' all the way up to the Overthere, just to drop off your snobby little daughter, and get kicked right back down here!"

"Then take Luigi with you." Jaydes said simply, waving them off.

"What did I do?" Luigi moaned. "I hate that stupid passage! It's just a staircase of death-waiting-to-happen!"

"Then, I suppose I'll be seeing you both very soon, won't I?" Jaydes said, grinning evilly. "D-Men! Show these three out, will you?"

Suddenly, D-Men surrounded Mr. L, Luigi, and Luvbi, ushering them back out into the corridor, the large stone doors slamming shut behind them. Simultaneously, the doors at the front of the room opened wide, revealing a troop of D-Men scurrying inside. They lead Dimentio in on the magic chain she had given them, then yanked on it, so Dimentio stumbled forward, falling down on his knees before the Queen, his face stopping about an inch off the ground.

Jaydes surveyed Dimentio carefully. He was certainly different than the day he left her realm, but in no means a good way. The mask he wore had a large crack over the left side, and a few pieces had splintered off. His clothes were dirty and torn, and the jester himself looked very weak and tired.

Above all else, Dimentio looked hopeless. It was painted on every feature of his face that he had given up entirely.

"Dimentio." Jaydes said, standing before him. "It has been brought to my attention that you are causing trouble again. Up to your old tricks, eh?"

Dimentio said nothing, staring at the ground.

Jaydes stepped forward so she was standing about a foot away from him. "Do you deny any of this?"

Again, Dimentio said nothing, refusing to even look up at her.

Jaydes grabbed the chin of Dimentio's mask, harshly jerking it upwards and forcing him to look up at her. "Answer me, jester. Do you deny this?"

"…No… your majesty…" Dimentio said flatly.

Jaydes released him, allowing him to fall back down to the ground. "Then, you admit you are guilty."

In spite of the situation, Dimentio found himself laughing. "Ah ha ha ha… I never said that, did I?"

Suddenly, Jaydes raked her claw-like fingers down the side of Dimentio's face, leaving three dark cuts on the right side of his mask and knocking him over onto his side, moaning in pain. "I'll not tolerate any of your games, Dimentio. Are you, or are you not, guilty of all charges?"

"That depends…" Dimentio choked out, gasping for breath. "To which accusation are you referring?"

"Luigi and Mr. L inform me that you murdered the very girl I sent to save you."

"They're liars." Dimentio said simply.

"Explain yourself."

"I know very well you sent Livi to save me… do you honestly think I would risk my own freedom for some petty game with them?"

"They seem quite convinced that you would."

"It's not true…" Dimentio finally sat up and looked Jaydes in the eyes. "You banished me to the Underwhere in the start for stealing the Chaos Heart, betraying Count Bleck, killing Mr. L and Nastasia, hypnotizing Luigi, manipulating my friends, and many others… I've done plenty of horrible things in my life, Jaydes, but I swear to you, I would never harm Livi."

"Why? You would betray anyone else in a heartbeat. What makes the fangirl any different?"

Dimentio sighed, looking down at his feet. "You told me to change, did you not? I would have harmed anyone else… but, Livi is the first one to trust me since you allowed me to return… I wouldn't betray her trust for anything."

Livi was off the boat before it hit the shore, Fawful jumping out close behind her. "Livi! Have the waiting!"

"We can't wait! Jaydes could be killing Dimentio right now!"

Kamek ran up to Livi, catching her arm and yanking her back. "Livi, hold on! You don't know what you're doing!"

"I didn't know what I was doing the other times I ran off!"

"And be looking where you had the getting!" Fawful said. "You were almost having the death! Twicing!"

"Just calm down a minute, and we can think of something!" Kamek insisted.

"No! We don't have any time! Dimentio needs us!"

"Well, what good are we to him if we screw something up? You need a plan Livi!"

"Okay, here's what we'll do…" Livi said, clasping her hands together. "You two stay here… think of a great plan… sort everything out all nice and neat… and I'll go run inside and save Dimentio!"

"No, Livi!" Kamek tried to stop her, but Livi had already reached the castle steps, running up them as fast as she could. Fawful growled, chasing after her with Kamek closely following.

Just as Livi was about to yank open the chamber doors, they flew open, smacking Livi backwards into a column. Luigi and Mr. L stepped out, with Luvbi gloomily following them.

"Wha… Livi?" Luigi asked, stunned. "Oh my gosh! Livi, you're alive!"

Luigi ran over and hugged Livi tight as he could, Livi hugging back. "It's okay, Weegee! I'm alright, I swear!"

"Why do you always have to scare me like that?" Luigi asked, pulling back. "Why can't you be normal, just for once?"

Livi waved him off, picking herself up. "Normal's too boring. I like a little adventure in my day."

"Wait…" Luvbi mused, coming over to examine Livi. "Doth this not be ye fangirl Dimentio killed?"

"Yeah, that would be her." Mr. L said, looking very stunned.

"Yes, I'm alive!" Livi said, irritated. "Dimentio didn't kill me, so everything's good now, right?"

"Hell yeah—everything's perfect!" Mr. L exclaimed. "Dimentio's about to be Game-Overed for killing you, only to find that you're not dead at all!"

"So, yeah, everything's great!" Luigi said.

"No, no, no!" Livi said, waving them off spastically. "Everything's NOT good! Dimentio didn't try to kill me at all!"

"What?" They asked simultaneously.

"Apparently, we've had a bit of a mix-up…" Kamek said, a little sheepishly. "Dimentio wasn't trying to kill Livi… the cliff she was standing on crumbled on its own…"

"But Fawful said—"

"Dimentio did have the pushing of her!" Fawful said. Then, after a harsh kick-in-the-back from Livi: "As he was trying to have the catching…"

"I don't believe it." Luigi said. "Dimentio tried to save you?"

"Yes! Dimentio's changed! Why aren't any of you believing me?"

"Well, it doesn't even matter now!" Mr. L snapped. "It's too late to fix anything, so just leave it alone!"

"Wha… what do you mean, it's too late?" Livi asked.

"My mother hath already determined yon jester's fate! She shall soon be ending yon game!" Luvbi threw in, looking frantic.

"Wait… 'soon'?" Livi asked. "As in… she hasn't killed him yet?"

"Nay. Yon D-Men hath just arrived with yon jester in tow."

"Then there's still time!" Livi said, rushing inside. Luvbi and the fandoms followed after her quickly as possible. "Where's she keeping him?" she asked Luvbi.

"They be-eth in yon throne room!" Luvbi said. She suddenly stopped, turning a corner, and motioning for Livi to follow.

Luvbi stopped in front of the doors to the throne room, pressing the side of her head to the door. "It doth be Dimentio! There still be-eth some time!"

Livi tried to yank open the door, but Mr. L caught her arm, yanking her back. "Oh, no you don't!"

"What are you doing? Let me go! We have to save Dimentio!" Livi said, struggling against him. Unfortunately, Mr. L was a lot stronger than she'd come to expect from Luigi, and Livi was having trouble fighting him off.

"No! Whether you're dead or not, Dimentio deserves to die! He never deserved a second chance for his past!"

"What?" Livi shrieked. "But, Jaydes is about to kill him, because of this! Dimentio's innocent!"

"You think I care which crime he dies for?" Mr. L sneered. "Ha! As long as he finally gets it, I couldn't care less what for!"

Livi's face twisted in rage. "I don't believe you… Of all the crimes Dimentio's committed, of all the heartless things he's done, you're going to stand here and watch him be condemned for the one good thing he's ever done for someone else?"

"Yeah, I am." Mr. L said. "And in about five seconds it's gonna be too late for you to do anything about it."

"NO!" Livi started shrieking, struggling again. "DIMENTIO! JAYDES, STOP!"

"She can't hear you!" Mr. L laughed.

"Mr. L, stop!" Kamek said, stepping forward. "This is wrong, and you know it!"

"It doesn't matter what's right and wrong anymore! Wake up, kiddies! You're in the Underwhere—a dark, never-ending nightmare full of liars, and villains, and cheaters, and murderers, and manipulators, and everything terribleabout the world! Dimentio belongs down here with us!"

As Mr. L argued with Kamek, Livi twisted around to look over her shoulder at Fawful. She smiled, remembering one of his earlier schemes, and whispered to him so Mr. L couldn't hear. "Hey, Fawful… wouldn't happen to have any more Pocket-Chomps, would ya?"

Fawful smiled, then placed a small, red sphere in Livi's free hand.

"THINK FAST!" She yelled, popping the top off, and throwing it in Mr. L's face. Suddenly, a massive Chain Chomp exploded out of thin air, jumping around, knocking things over, and destroying everything in sight, but most importantly, ripping Mr. L and Livi apart.

Livi wasted no time running for the door and throwing it open. She was inside the throne room before anyone could stop her, running up to the throne at the front.

"JAYDES, STOP!"

The room fell still, Jaydes releasing Dimentio and allowing him to slump to the ground. "And what do we have here?"

Dimentio turned to look over his shoulder, his glowing eyes sparkling with delight. "L… Livi? You're… you're alive!"

"Yes, I'm alive!" Livi spread out her arms as the fandoms rushed up behind her. "I'm in perfectly stable conditions—nothing's wrong with me at all!"

"I see…" Jaydes mused. "And would you care to explain to me why you've interrupted an execution?"

"Queen Jaydes, with all due respect, you're wrong. Dimentio is completely innocent. He has done absolutely nothing that you've accused him of. And I refuse to allow you to condemn him for it…"

"Oh, really?" Jaydes stepped forward, until she was standing directly over Livi, who looked defiantly up at her. "And why should I believe you over everyone else?"

Livi thought for a while, looking from each of her fandoms, to Dimentio, and back to Jaydes. "Look… whatever happened in the past… whatever happened since he came back… whatever happened between him, and Mr. L, and Luigi…

"I know for a fact that Dimentio has changed… if he didn't… why would I betray everyone else to defend him?"