Fawful was in the bathroom, brushing his teeth with his favorite toothpaste, "Fury". He seemed to be rather cheerful, despite the fact that a couple of worlds were destroyed. But why did he care? He's Fawful!

"I have satisfaction!" Fawful squealed as he spat the water into the sink after gurgling it. "With the heroes losing the planets that they had loving, we had the hitting of their weak spot, which makes Fawful squeal in delight!"

However, he heard knocking on the bathroom door. It was loud banging, which could only come from one person.

"Will yeh hurry up in there? Me bladder's not goin' teh hold on ferever!"

"Midbus, why do you have the knocking?"

"Midbus?! I ain't the pink boar! I'm O'Chunks! Yeh know, the chunkiest!"

Once Fawful opened the door, O'Chunks charged into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Before Fawful could do anything else, he heard Nastasia calling out for his name.

"What is it, pink-haired blue face?" Fawful asked.

"…Yeah, I might suggest that you don't call me that, 'K?" Nastasia stated. "But anyway, have you seen Tipral? He was expected to return at this moment, but he's twenty minutes late!"

"…?"

"You didn't see him, didn't you?"

"I have no answering…"

"'K…" Nastasia sighed. "I'm actually starting to get a little worried about him. After all, he's actually treated us very well. I actually expected him to be cruel at first…"

"…Wait, Tippy's missing?!" Mimi gaped as she busted out of her room. "What did those dummies do this time?!"

"I'm not so sure… In fact, we don't even know whether something bad happened to him or not."

"BUT I CAN'T HAVE HIM LEAVE US AGAIN, NASSY!" Mimi cried as she began to shake Nastasia.

"Will you shut up already, Mimi?" Mr. L snapped as he opened the door to his room, looking a bit tired. "I'm trying to take a nap here! It doesn't help when you're being loud!"

"But Tippy's gone!"

"…Wait, what? How do you know this?"

"Because… Because I do!"

"Tipral was supposed to show up twenty minutes ago," Nastasia explained. "He's usually not one to be late. Seeing as he is late now, I'm actually starting to get a little worried about him now…"

"Huh… Well this is bad. I wanted to get a chance to trounce the heroes again!"

"You still lost to the heroes, so you need to go rethink what went wrong, 'K?"

"What?! And who put you in charge, lady?!"

"Tipral told me if he was ever out, I would be in charge. That means you must listen to me at all costs."

"Dang… I guess he does trust you. But fine." Mr. L pouted as he returned to his room before opening the door again. "…Right after I get some rest!"

Once the door shut, O'Chunks came out of the bathroom, relieved. "Ahhhhh… Me bladder's empty now! Just the way I want it!"

"Ummmmm… That's great to hear, O'Chunks." Nastasia said with no concern. "Anyway, I want everyone to search for Tipral around the whole palace. We can't make any plans without him."

"Whaa…? But… I don't want to search the entire palace!" Mimi whined.

"Yeah, wee Mimi's correct," O'Chunks agreed. "Searchin' the whole palace is back-breakin' work!"

"Well, would you want anything in return if you did that?" Nastasia asked.

"Errmmm... Maybe..." the bearded warrior sweated. "Do yeh...'ave any spare time once we're done?"

"I'll have to look at my schedule."

"Hey, what do I get?" Mimi asked, making a fit.

"I'll take you wherever you want, 'K?"

"Well, that doesn't sound so bad! I guess I'll do it!"

Dark's room-

"I can't believe it!" Dark hissed as he watched a couple of Dark Creatures leave the palace through the window. "I've lost nearly all my minions, and all because Shade is 'better' in their eyes! Shouldn't they realize that I'VE been in their command for years?! They trusted me, yet they leave me!"

He slammed his fists on his desk as he looked at a picture of him and Shade. Both of them didn't look exactly happy, but he noticed Shade was grinning. But something seemed odd about the grin he gave. Nothing looked happy about it. To Dark, it was more fit for a killer.

"You know, I actually start to question Shade whether he's actually insane or not. Five months ago, he murdered one of my own men! Dark Creatures don't go around doing that! Unless…"

Dark pondered until his eyes widened. "No way… That couldn't be possible. Was my father lying to me for my whole life when he was born? I've gotta find out about this. Sadly, I don't know where that…thing lives!"

He grumbled as he left his room, only to receive some bad news.

"Great to see you, Dark," Nastasia said as she adjusted her glasses. "We have a little problem, and it requires your help…"

"Now?! I was a little busy thinking about my traitorous minion. What could possibly be more important than that?!"

"Apparently Tipral's gone missing…"

"Tipral's missing? Great… This makes things worse. Well, what do you want me to do about it?"

"I need your help in searching for him all over the palace. If you do that, I'll give you anything in return."

"Hmmmmmm… How about you get my army back? You know, the Dark Creatures?"

"What happened to them?"

"They're leaving me for Shade! Apparently, they think that he's stronger than me, even though I've been commanding them for YEARS! I swear, if those heroes manage to bring him down, I'll be PLEASED."

"Well, I could try... But it might take a lot of work. I'll try to fit that in my schedule, 'K?"

"Thank you. Perhaps I could give you something else in return as well."

"No, that's not necessary."

"Suit yourself," Dark shrugged as he went off to search the palace. However, before Mimi could search, she went back into her room and began to write something down on a piece of paper.

Nastasia already told Fawful and Midbus to go search the palace, even though they didn't ask for anything in return. Needless to say, she knew taking over would be pretty difficult.

"Please, Tipral… Come back safely…"

"Blumiere... Why are you crying? What's wrong?"

"Oh, my dear sweet Timpani..."

"Timpani? Where is she?"

"She's... She's gone..."

"Gone? What do you mean gone? Do you mean that...?"

"I don't know... I've searched everywhere for her... But I couldn't find her..."

"No... But why?"

"It's my father... He hated our love... He always told me that the Tribe of Ancients and Darkness do not mix... But I didn't care... She meant the whole world to me... I guess he didn't want her to be a part of my world..."

"But... Timpani is a great person! We need to do something!"

"Tipral, was it? Can you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Please... Get as far away from this world as you can... And never turn back."

Merlon's house-

"…Oh? You heroes have returned?" Merlon gasped as the six heroes made their entry into his house. However, he noticed their looks. "What happened to you, heroes? You don't look so good…"

"Tipral… He…" Chopper stammered.

"Poyo… (He destroyed our worlds…)" Kirby finished.

"Wh-What?! Your worlds were destroyed?!" Merlon gaped. "But… How…?"

The heroes began to explain everything to him. They explained about meeting Ortorain, Sammer's Kingdom, Mobius, the Mushroom Kingdom, Pop Star, Clara, and their friends.

"You met the creator Ortorain? That is someone who I always wanted to meet… But, it appears that he gave up his life to help save you guys?"

Everyone gave him a nod.

"This is not good. Six worlds were already destroyed! I fear that our dear Flipside could be next…"

"The Void's rather big here," Blade recalled. "But, the good news is that we got the Pure Heart! …Sorta."

"Yeah, right here," Chopper announced as he held the Pure Heart in his hand. "Although, it's already dead…"

"Mmmmmmm… I don't feel its power in here. I'm not sure how you manage to bring back the seventh Pure Heart before, but I believe there's a chance if you did that, you could be led to the world where the last Pure Heart awaits. After that, we can finally put an end to Tipral and The Void!"

"Yeah, we'll just go to Queen Jaydes and ask her to revive it! Simple as that!"

"Oh… But it won't…be as easy…as you think!"

"Huh? Who just said that?"

"If I introduced…myself, I would be…wasting your precious…time, like…a switch…that needs changing!"

"I don't like the sound of that scary voice…" Luigi shuddered.

Mario: You should really tell us who you are!

"Hold on… I feel as if I remember that voice…" Chopper pondered. "But the way it sounds kind of makes me feel confused."

"Sadly, it seems…you won't be able…to get help…from the Queen of…The Underwhere!" the shadow mist cackled. "You see… She…has gone…missing!"

"Missing?!" Sonic gawked. "Then how do we…"

"I demand you leave my house!" Merlon demanded.

"I will…right after…THIS!" the shadowy mist created six boxes that surrounded the heroes. They all tried to break their way out, but they had no luck.

"Let us go!" Luigi cried. "We know who you are, Dimentio! It's obvious that these boxes belong to you!"

"Wait… Dimentio?!" Chopper gaped. "But… Weren't you destroyed?!"

"Ah…ha…ha…ha… Yes, I was! But…I don't wish to…bore you the…details! Allow me…to give you a gift…from Shadow Dimentio!"

With a snap, the boxes began to explode, leaving the six heroes to scream in horror. After a large flash, they were gone, leaving only Merlon and Shadow Dimentio.

"You… You just murdered the heroes!" Merlon cried.

"Not…necessarily!" Shadow Dimentio grinned. "You see… I…brought them to…where they need…to go! Ciao…for now, Merlon!"

After Shadow Dimentio faded away, Merlon was left to shudder in horror.

"The heroes are gone!" Thoreau gaped.

"Zis isn't good at all!" Bonjourang cried. "Zee heroes are important for our quest!"

"Chopper… Kirby… Sonic… Blade… Mario… Luigi…" Merlon trailed as his head hung low. "Ohhhhh…"

Yeah, this is a short interlude compared to Chapter 18-5, which was pretty long. :P

I know some people are probably going to tell me that I'm just repeating the interlude of Chapter 6 and are expected to go to The Underwhere. Trust me, it's a lot different here. Next chapter also happens to be one of my favorites!

...And I also noticed this is Chapter 111. Interesting, huh?