A/N: This is it, everybody. The final main chapter of my first story on Fanfiction. I want to thank everyone who has either reviewed, favorited, followed, or read the story up to this point. It's been over a year and a half since I published this, and it's quite shocking to think that I'm about to complete this soon. Following the finale will be an epilogue to wrap things up, along with some special thanks to some people out there. And then, this fanfic will be officially completed and will no longer be updated (unless I need to fix grammar/spelling mistakes that I've missed).
Also, just to let you guys know, sometimes I'll be excluding the '2.0' part of Super Dimentio throughout most of the fight because I think it's superfluous, if that makes sense. Either way, I hope I made this interesting enough for you guys to be satisfied with the end result. So without any more interruptions, I present to you the conclusion of Hidden Bravery!
Disclaimer: This story and my original characters are the only things I take credit for. Mario and Sonic are owned by Nintendo and Sega, respectively.
Chapter 58: Rise of the Green Thunder
Location: Memory Hill
"Blumiere?"
The Count was resting against the trunk of the apple tree on top of the large hill. When he heard his significant other, he opened his blue eye.
"Yes, Timpani?"
"Duplimore and Duplicit have warned us that there are only ten minutes remaining. This could be our last standing moments with each other, for real this time."
Blumiere exhaled through his nose, feeling indifferent. "Hmm... I can definitely say that I'm not entirely confident now as I used to be. But I still think that he's got a fighting chance."
"You don't think something bad happened to Luigi, do you?"
He shook his head. "I can't tell you for sure. I don't know what's going on up there. For all I know, Edge could be torturing him again to the point where he might eradicate him for good. Dimentio could be revived at this point, too. But who knows? We're not there with him."
Timpani kneeled down and crawled to his side, cuddling her head against his shoulder and squeezing his hand tightly. "If we somehow don't get out of this alive, I just want to let you know that I love you, Blumiere."
The top-hatted man mirrored her loving stare. "And I love you, too, Timpani. But promise me that you won't blame Luigi if he doesn't save the worlds."
"Not in a million years. He's done everything up to this point, and this is his most difficult mission to handle. And I'm sure he's got the help of his friends, right?"
"I hope so, my dear. I hope so."
His hope would have been crushed if he found out about Luigi's decision to send his friends back home. But instead, his mindset was only focused on whether the man in green would be triumphant or his brother will induce the end of all worlds. The latter would be true, if he was the one conducting it in the first place.
Location: The Oblivion
Like a deer standing in the middle of the road with a pair of headlights coming right at them. Like a scientist in awe at the sight of food raining down from the cloudy sky. Like a saber-toothed squirrel stuck in a block of ice trying to reach his beloved acorn. (1)
If Dimentio was still active, he'd be flinging similes left and right to describe the predicament Luigi was in. He stood there, frozen. Except he was horrified at what occurred.
"Is something wrong, Mr. L? You can tell me all about it, when I see you in your new home, the Underwhere!" the jester's voice chortled as the mouth moved to synchronize with his diction.
Luigi gulped as he stood his ground. He noticed that the invisible wall was now gone, meaning that he wasn't stuck in such a small area at the top of Star Hill. Nevertheless, what was in front of him was gargantuan, dangerous, terrifying, you name it. Dimentio took control of the Chaos Heart duplicate and his ex-cohort, Myster Edge, who was lied to about ruling the universe alongside the deceiving jester. It was only an illusory statement so that he could be revived and lead the Shadow Spirit astray. And now, Super Dimentio 2.0 towered over the green ghost catcher.
"I have to do this. I have to do this. I need to do this," he repeated to himself. He opened his mouth to take in a deep breath, then he exhaled through his nostrils. Luigi narrowed his blue eyes, crouched into a fighting position, and compressed his hands that charged up with thunder.
He extended a finger right at Super Dimentio's face. The thunderbolt hit the left eye of the gigantic head, but it didn't seem to be effective. The purple hands tightened into fists to try and slam the plumber down. However, Luigi used his super jump to leap backward to avoid both the hands and the shockwaves that followed after. He hopped on one of them and jumped closer to the body. Luigi punched the face, but again his efforts were futile. Super Dimentio didn't take any damage. When he landed on the ground, he had to dodge the hands that undulated near him in a quick motion. Super Dimentio's right hand nearly caught the plumber in his grasp. Luigi was able to escape as he ran back to the other side of the summit.
"Come on, Luigi. Don't be afraid to attack. Trust me, I don't bite," Dimentio derided from inside his creation.
"I don't need your condescension!" grunted Luigi.
He fired another shot of thunder at the monster. When that hardly did anything, he pushed forward to get in closer range again. Luigi triple jumped up to Myster Edge's head and performed a ground pound over the cloak's hood. He activated his Thunderhand, this time aiming at Super Dimentio's back and lower half. But his body glimmered in a golden, translucent coat with some rainbow effects.
"Ah ha ha ha. I didn't feel a single thing from all that. Was that really your best effort? That's just pathetic, like a child getting his amateur drawing rejected by his parents," mocked Dimentio.
"The Chaos Heart is keeping him safe inside?! He's unstoppable then! I have to get rid of that invincibility!" Luigi panicked. Another rumble shook the entire area. "I'm running out of time, too!"
Super Dimentio 2.0 used his magic to summon the Dark Shards on Star Hill to rise up from the ground. They broke into smaller chunks and were hurled at the plumber. Luigi shifted to the side, ducked down, jumped over, and hurried away from the sharp fragments. He continued to use his Thunderhand against the psychotic beast. Still, Super Dimentio was unaffected by his attempts.
"Another failed attempt. Come on, Mr. L. You can do better than that."
"Be quiet!" Luigi gritted his teeth in anger.
Then, the demonic eyes discharged two lightning orbs. "Surprise!" Blazing at high speed, they were able to shock and immobilize Luigi before he could evade them.
"YAAAAAH!" he shrieked. He fell forward on his hands, panting through his clenched teeth from the agonizing pain. Luigi got up quickly when the hands tried to capture him. He dashed around the perimeter of the apex, desperate to discover a weak point.
However, one of the fists pounded the surface in front of him. His traction made him slide into the knuckle. He bounced back with a bruised nose. Luigi didn't have time to recover as Super Dimentio's fingers pinched the right suspender of his overalls. The hand flicked Luigi across the peak. The plumber collapsed roughly on his chest. Super Dimentio floated in the air before landing near the fallen hero.
"Ah ha ha ha ha ha! You foolish, big-nosed plumber! Just like the original Chaos Heart, my copy can grant me the power of invincibility! You can't possibly hurt me with your silly, little attacks! Which means your thunder powers are of no use against my ultimate form! And this time, the Pure Hearts are nowhere to be found or utilized to weaken me! Not even your older brother in red can help you, too! You and everyone else will experience the eventual doom as the Oblivion, or as I like to call it 'The Reawakening of the Void', to destroy everything in existence for good!"
Luigi lifted and shook his head as he stared back at the fifty-foot demon. "Is this what happened to Mario when he faced him in Castle Bleck?" the man pondered.
Suddenly, as he was about to stand, the entire world shook once again, causing Luigi to be a bit off-balanced. The end of all worlds was getting closer.
"It's all coming together! With everything about to be wiped out, I shall have my revenge after leaving this pointless world for many years!"
"If I can't hurt him, what am I going to do?! There has to be a way to beat him!"
Luigi looked at something behind Super Dimentio. It was Myster Edge's scepter, glowing with the seven Chaos Emeralds inside the cracked glass orb. Then, he had an idea.
"Could it be possible to weaken him with the powers of both the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Shards? They are associated with everything here: Dimentio, the Chaos Heart copy, the Super Dimentio figure... And maybe, since I'm somewhat linked to their powers as well, can I control the staff?"
"I'm as clueless as a lost kid in the middle of a crowded mall. I have no idea what you're thinking about right now, but I presume it entails to your worthless attempts to take me down."
"I don't know how I else I can deal damage to him if my Thunderhand isn't sufficient. It has to be worth a shot. But if it doesn't, then I'm really doomed."
Luigi went straight for the distraction, sending out more volts of thunder at Super Dimentio. Obviously, he knew it wasn't going to inflict him, but he needed a way to keep the enemy busy as he ran over to Edge's scepter.
"Haven't you learned by now, Mr. L?" Dimentio taunted as he slammed a fist near Luigi before he hopped over it. "Your stupid, little thunderbolts are as incompetent as a wooden hammer trying to kill a Bald Cleft."
He shot out more lightning orbs from his eyes, but the green-clad Italian barely evaded them.
"Almost there," whispered Luigi.
"Besides, is that all you're going to do? Let out a weak thunderstorm and run away like a headless chicken?"
Avoiding another electric orb, Luigi reached the other side and scooped up the large staff in his hands. He pointed the orb directly at Super Dimentio.
"What the? Are you kidding me?"
"No, I'm not," Luigi growled.
"Ah ha ha ha ha ha," Dimentio couldn't help but laugh at him. "Don't you think it sounds ridiculous for you to handle such a powerful tool? Sure, Mr. E may have left it unattended, but that doesn't mean that you can simply take control of it."
"Only one way to find out." Somehow, he managed to feel a presence from Edge's weapon. He thought his eyes were deceiving him, but the light of the Chaos Emeralds became a little bit brighter than before.
"Anyways, I've had enough of you already. Mr. E did his part, and he's now under my influence. Meanwhile, you have already finished your first performance on the stage. And this time, it's time for your final bow. Now let's get started, shall we? Ciao, Mr. L!"
Super Dimentio 2.0 was ready to fire more electricity at the hero as his eyes began to light up. Luigi readied himself with the staff. As soon as the giant figure ejected a big, lightning orb from his eyes, Luigi aimed at the sphere and surprisingly disintegrated it with a projectile of his own. But unlike Edge's attacks, this was a greenish-blue bolt of thunder.
"What?!" Dimentio bellowed. "But how?!"
Even Luigi didn't know. But, he targeted Super Dimentio's face and released a large flash. The thunder penetrated through his invulnerability coat which had vanished instantly.
"NO! H-HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?"
Luigi lowered the staff to face him. "Maybe it was a lucky guess, or maybe it's because that I'm somewhat linked to Edge's powers. After all, he was the one who put a spell on me. He used the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Shards to mature the heart at a fast pace. On top of that, he shocked me internally to torture me. And I'm not finished. The combination of the Chaos Emeralds and the original Dark Moon pieces, when cleaned off, also made the Chaos Heart stronger every time their combined powers healed my injuries. In some way, it kind of makes sense. To a different extent, it may not. Nevertheless, I used Edge's scepter to make you completely defenseless. So by that logic..." (2)
Luigi used the scepter again to shoot another thunderbolt at Super Dimentio. This time, it punctured the forehead.
"OWWW!" the boss roared. "That can't be feasible!"
"You could say that I have a slight edge in the competition now," he gave a small smirk.
Dimentio was now furious, and probably psychotic at the same time. "Whether or not you intended to make a pun right there, this ends now! You may have found a way to hurt me, but I'll do the same to you tenfold! You're going to be roasted and carved like a holiday turkey before the Oblivion even kills you!"
"I like to see you try."
"Feeling cocky, huh?"
"No. Determined," Luigi spat back with a death stare.
Super Dimentio 2.0 manipulated his magic to crush more Dark Shards into smaller chunks and hurl them at Luigi. He also returned to slamming his fists at him while hovering in midair. The plumber timed his jumps and dodges accordingly to elude them. Keeping the staff in his grip, he countered back with more thunder. Because of his oversized physique, Super Dimentio was too slow to fly away and was easily targetable. Thus, the puppet monster suffered various instances of electrifying pain as they slowly became more intense and depleted his health status rapidly.
Luigi fired more thunder from the weapon. Zapping Super Dimentio's body, he was immobilized for a few seconds. He leaped on top of the enormous fist and whacked the scepter across the face. He jabbed the orb in the eyes to disable them. He later hopped onto the cloaked head and performed another ground pound, except he managed to harm him. Landing back on the ground, Luigi took some time to heal himself with his last Super Mushroom and a Refreshing Herb.
When the puppet moved again, he rotated around to glare at the plumber. "This isn't over yet!"
"It will be in the next few minutes!"
"Oh, ain't that the truth!"
Super Dimentio reached out with his long arm to throw a fist at him. Luigi noticed this and hastened away instantly. He slid against the crystal surface, passing by the other fist that nearly crushed him. In a quick motion, Luigi flashed more of his green thunderbolts from the scepter. Super Dimentio went the extra mile to shoot out several homing missiles from the gigantic mouth. Unfortunately, one of them rammed Luigi in the stomach while another scraped his neck. He skidded back ten feet, barely reaching the edge of the mountain. Thankfully, he didn't fall backward, but he was wheezing from the damage. A black patch appeared between the buttons of his overalls. A couple of scars covered his right cheek and neck.
"Mushrooms aren't going to help you this time!"
"Considering I don't have any left, it all comes down to this. And I'm not going to lose!" Luigi shouted with willpower.
Actively, the green-clothed man didn't waste more time as he sent three streaks of thunder at Super Dimentio. He also released a few bolts to destroy the Dark Shards that flew towards him. Without receiving any hits, Luigi ran forward as Super Dimentio was inert from the shocking sensation of the merged powers between the Chaos Emeralds, the Dark Shards, and his Thunderhand. He whacked across Super Dimentio's face. He stabbed the glass sphere in the eyes. He then followed through with a triple jump to soar above his head and jammed the stick into the hooded scalp.
"GAAAH! I can't be getting weaker at this point! I'm supposed to be powerful! The continuation of the Dark Prognosticus shouldn't be like this!"
"Come on! I got to be close!"
Luigi waited on the mountain with the scepter pointed at Super Dimentio's back. Super Dimentio turned around with an irate expression. Before he could say anything, he received another jolt on the forehead.
"I shouldn't be losing! Especially not to the one who was supposed to drown the whole universe in darkness for all eternity!"
"Well, it turns out that the prophecy is for naught. And even your backup plan to cajole Myster Edge into getting the Chaos Emeralds and creating the Dark Shards has come to a failure, though I must admit you were quite sneaky with it. Edge may have created the Oblivion and brought you back to life for his vengeance. But now that we both know the truth that it was just a scam, I was not going to put up with it. Even for your second attempt to get rid of the worlds, you will not succeed."
"But don't you want him to suffer a slow, cruel death? He has been the one who tortured you since you two met each other."
"He may have done too many bad things to me, and I may hate him for it, but you're the real villain here. And it's time for you to finally have your games to be over!"
"Don't you dare!"
"Say 'Ciao', Dimentio!"
In a last-second effort, Super Dimentio 2.0 extended his knuckles at the green protagonist. Luigi gripped the staff tightly until the Chaos Emeralds radiated with an extreme luminescence. By the time they almost punched him, a huge thunderbolt escaped the scepter and shocked the fists so much that they shot back at Super Dimentio's face. He didn't expect it until it was too late.
"AAAHHH!"
The large puppet flew backward and fell down to the bottom of Star Hill. The monster landed at the base and exploded in a dramatic fashion. Super Dimentio lost all of its body parts except for the colossal head of Myster Edge.
Luigi peered from the summit to see the eyes dazed with the pupils spiraling in circles. The mouth was agape as if he was surprised at something. In this case, it was the utter shock that Dimentio lost once again by a hero of the Light Prognosticus. Luigi scurried down to the remnants of the boss to encounter him up close. Panting heavily with lowered eyebrows and a small victory smile, he felt more accomplished than he did in any of his previous battles.
"Y-You... How did... you defeat me? I... I had at all! After leaving my shadow behind, Edge followed my orders. He stole the Chaos Emeralds. He broke the Dark Moon. He... took my artificial Chaos Heart and resuscitated me! That was all I needed to be back! Urk! And after I brainwashed him, I was about to crush you and... and rule the worlds!"
Luigi washed away his smile as he indignantly spoke to him. "I feel like I should reiterate myself. Your dark prophecy was for nothing. You didn't win the first time, and you sure as hell didn't win the second time. Face it and weep, Dimentio."
"Urgh... This... isn't... over yet... There's still about a few minutes left until everything is wiped out. So even if... I don't survive, I still get to kill each and every innocent being who is living in your wretched worlds..."
Luigi's eyes bulged wide. "That's right. The Oblivion has to be gone somehow. But, how do I get rid of it?!"
"Ah ha ha ha ha. I bet you didn't figure that out, now did you, Mr. L? I guess I should depart for my destiny."
"Oh no you don't. Not this time."
"Wait. What are you-"
Luigi charged up Edge's scepter and released one final green thunderbolt at the head of Super Dimentio 2.0. As soon as it made contact, more explosions occurred until the head began to disintegrate. The jester from inside howled in pain.
"NOOOOO! NOT LIKE THIS! I WAS GOING TO-"
"Leave another shadow of yours behind? Yeah, I don't think so. I hope you permanently go away, Dimentio. Whether it's to the depths of the Underwhere or some other rotten place, I hope you experience a living hell for your deceitful nature."
"ARGH! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, MR. L!"
"For the last time, don't call me by that stupid nickname. Don't even call me the Green Thunder. My name is Luigi."
The head melted into the ground from the blasts. By then, to Luigi's surprise, the Chaos Heart copy and Myster Edge flew out of the head and landed right near his feet. Once Super Dimentio's noggin was completely gone, the world inside the Oblivion trembled violently, more than any other tremor he experienced. Luigi thought for a second as he stared at the rotating heart in front of him.
"Count Blumiere and Lady Timpani got rid of the first Chaos Heart, and that allowed the Void to disappear forever. Maybe if I eradicate this one, the Oblivion in all of the worlds and dimensions will be gone, too!"
He stared down at Edge's scepter. Then, he shifted over to the unconscious Shadow Spirit.
"Edge may have been my adversary since the day he attacked me on my birthday. But, he wasn't at fault when Dimentio tricked him. And he's still Blumiere's brother."
He paused for another few seconds despite the fact that he was wasting precious time.
"Dimentio may be known for his lies and deception. But if what he said about Edge's feelings was true..."
The shaking continued throughout the dark world that the Shards began to crumble on their own. By then, Luigi had made his decision. He dragged Edge's body several feet away from the Chaos Heart. Once they were at a far distance, Luigi activated his final Shriek Shield to cover both himself and Edge. He aligned the scepter right at the gray artifact and charged up the power. When the inside of the glass was completely bright, he was ready at the moment. Luigi shut his eyes and took a deep breath. In the process, a single teardrop ran down his cheek.
"If I don't make it out alive, then so be it. But if it means that the Oblivion is gone, everyone is still alive, and Blumiere can reunite with his younger brother at least one more time, then I'll be happy. Just in case though...
"Thank you, Sonic and Tails, for being such great friends and battle partners even though I sent you away...
"Thank you, Professor E. Gadd, for supporting me on this journey while your inventions proved to be effective...
"Thank you, Colombo, for living up to the title of man's best friend and helping me out when I needed you...
"Thank you, Princess Peach, for giving me the confidence to continue throughout this perilous adventure...
"Thank you, Princess Daisy, for loving me for who I am and believing in me when I doubted myself...
"Thank you, everyone else, to all my other friends and even my foes, for listening to me whenever danger struck us at a bad time...
"And thank you, Mario, the one who has been with me forever since we were babies... Thank you for being my loving, older brother and for being one of the many people to make me realize that I can be strong and brave."
Swallowing in the large lump in his throat, Luigi was prepared.
"THUNDER!"
He fired one last green bolt through the shield, going directly at the Chaos Heart. The result ended with a flash of white light and a thunderous boom.
Location: Boo Woods
Several of the naked trees toppled onto the grass from the earthquake that struck the Mushroom Kingdom. The people within the vicinity were all stuck in E. Gadd's bunker with the Oblivion causing the worlds to shake. Mario was alone near the front window, gripping the edge of the windowsill as he cringed at the sight of the black hole. It was already 8:59, and nothing had changed. He was already under in the impression that his brother was lost inside the paranormal dimension.
He lowered his head and shuddered. "Luigi, I'm sorry... You don't deserve this..."
Suddenly, the earthquake began to subside. Eventually, the shaking had stopped. When Mario opened his eyes, he stared outside at the sky. And to his astonishment, the Oblivion slowly reduced in size.
"What?" he was completely bewildered.
"Mario," a voice called out to him. "The shaking had stopped."
"I know, Sonic."
"What are you staring at?"
He turned to the hedgehog. "See for yourself."
Sonic sauntered up next to the red-clad man and widened his eyes. "No way..."
By then, the Oblivion was just a small hole before it receded entirely. Blue, partly cloudy skies returned with the sun shining down.
"It's gone. It's really gone," murmured Sonic. "That means... Luigi must have done it. He defeated Myster Edge!"
Mario's mind thought otherwise. "Did he really beat him? And where he is now?"
Sonic noticed the worried look on his face. "Is something wrong?"
"What if... What if he's gone? If the Oblivion disappeared, wouldn't everything inside be lost forever?"
Sonic soon realized his point. "Oh, shoot. I didn't think of that."
Everyone congregated out to where Mario and Sonic were.
"Guys! We just saw the Oblivion fade away!" Peach told them.
"That means Edge must have been whitewashed!" deduced Tails.
"And we're all still living!" Toad jumped with joy.
"Bark! Bark!" Colombo added. Zephyr also made some enthusiastic sounds while clapping his hands.
However, they finally realized how desolate Mario and Sonic appeared.
"What's the matter, young fellers?" asked E. Gadd.
"Luigi... We don't know what happened to him," Mario answered.
"Is he... dead?" Daisy regrettably questioned.
"Like he said, we don't know," Sonic shrugged.
"If he managed to escape the Oblivion, we should initiate a search party," Toadsworth suggested.
"That's a good idea," said Toadette.
"Come on. We better go right now," urged Sonic. Everyone agreed as they all departed the lab. He was the last to leave alongside Mario. "I don't know why, but part of me is saying that he made it out alive."
"If he did, I just hope he's alright," Mario stared down at his feet. Sonic hung an arm over his shoulder as the two left the forest.
Location: Angel Island
Beforehand, the floating island in Mobius was in peril when it nearly fell from the sky. However, when the Oblivion disappeared from the sky, the shaking stopped, and the isle remained intact despite several fallen trees and some rubble that crumbled off from the Master Emerald's shrine.
"Whoa... What just happened?" Wave wondered.
"The dark hole in the sky is gone," Jet pointed out.
"And the earthquake is gone, too," said Storm.
"I think Luigi did it. He got rid of Myster Edge!" Knuckles smiled before it faded away. "But what about the Chaos Emeralds?"
"Maybe he managed to protect them," guessed Big.
"Or, some aliens might have kidnapped him and taken the Emeralds themselves! It could be another saga of world domination!" Sticks flailed her arms around, eliciting some eye rolls and moans from the others.
"In any case, I think it's safe to say that we don't have to worry about something like this for a while," the echidna presumed.
"That is until Eggman causes more trouble," Jet told him.
"True. But at least we have some breathing room. And thanks for helping me protect the island."
"No problem. But I think it's time we hover on out of here," Wave replied.
"Yeah. Me and Froggy will probably go back to fishing."
"Ribbit!"
"That's fine by me. And I don't know about what you're going to do, Sticks."
"Eh, I think I'll go back to planting my berry orchard."
"Alright. I better check on the others then." Everyone went their separate ways with Knuckles leaving last, soaring towards the city.
Location: Station Square
"Oh my god! Guys, look! The Oblivion is gone!" Amy shouted with delight.
The animals and the humans all went outside to see the beautiful sun in the skies of Mobius once again. Although part of the city got destroyed again, there wasn't much damage compared to the night Edge's robots attacked the square. Everyone was relieved to see the world back to normal that numerous cheers were heard throughout the streets along with some whistles and applause.
"Yay! We're all safe!" Cream cheered.
"Chao!" Cheese hugged the rabbit.
"That's amazing! Luigi and the others did it!" Silver raised a fist.
Shadow crossed his arms, but he expressed a small smirk. "Hmm... They actually did. I must say, I'm impressed."
"We should check up on everyone else's progress," Vector recommended.
"You're right. As long as the black hole is gone in all of the other places, then we're good," said Espio.
"Let's ask Blaze and Rouge," Charmy told them.
The pink hedgehog contacted the purple cat with her communicator. "Blaze, do you read me?"
"Amy! Yeah, I hear you. I'm with Rouge, Mighty, and Ray."
"And guess what? The black hole in Emerald Hill is gone!" the armadillo told them.
"Really?! That's great!"
"Glad we got to be a part of defending this area. And I'm pretty sure all the other zones are safe, too," Ray implied.
"Anyways, I think Ray and I will be heading out now."
"And we'll probably head back to you guys in Station Square. We should check up on the others in the Mushroom Kingdom," Rouge mentioned.
"Cool! We'll see you guys later!" Amy hung up the call. "Phew. Glad to hear that from them."
"Hey, guys!" everyone heard a scream.
"Who was that?" Vector looked around.
"Up there! It's Knuckles!" Silver pointed at the echidna.
He landed right in front of them. "I see that the Oblivion is gone here, too."
"Yeah. And the same should be for Emerald Hill and the other areas in Mobius," Cream cited.
"Blaze and Rouge should be heading back right now. And then we're going to go back to Mario's world to see how they're doing," Silver explained.
"Sounds good. Hey, out of curiosity, how's Eggman doing?"
After no response from the party, Shadow shrugged his shoulders. "Let's just assume he, Orbot, and Cubot are fine for now."
Location: Chemical Plant Zone
The dark red sky of clouds emerged after the Oblivion disappeared. Cubot was the first one to notice.
"Boss! That dark hole is gone now!"
"He's right. Chemical Plant is back to normal," Orbot exclaimed.
Eggman gave a low grunt. "Apparently the green guy did have some fight in him," he mumbled to himself.
"Did you say something?"
"Grr, nothing. I didn't say anything."
Eggman searched his pockets to find a small remote. He pushed the button and waited for a few seconds. Soon, his Egg Mobile flew over to his destination.
"At least my Egg Mobile is working properly now. I tried to get this thing to teleport over here, but it was overridden by that arrogant shadow."
"Well, at least we can now go home," Cubot gushed.
"Thank Chaos," Orbot sighed.
Metal Sonic made a noise at the doctor.
"Yes, I'm going to repair you first thing when I get back to my base. Just as long as those robots are inactive," Eggman responded. The four hopped inside the vehicle and made their way home.
Location: Yoshi's Island
"Yoshi, do you see what I see?" asked Birdo.
The green dinosaur looked outside the temple to see a cloudless sky over the tropical isle. The other Yoshis saw this and jumped in excitement.
"Yippee!"
"Hurray!"
"It's gone!"
"We're all safe!"
Yoshi flutter-jumped as a celebratory move. "Yoshi! Luigi and the others have done it! We should head over to congratulate them!"
"Okay!"
As the two ran off, the Village Leader ambled to the entrance of the temple to bask in the sun's rays. "Ah, that feels wonderful. Well done, heroes."
Location: Kongo Jungle
"Well, would you look at that?" Cranky adjusted his glasses.
The other Kongs looked outside DK's treehouse to see the view. In front of them was a clear, blue sky with no signs of the Oblivion.
Diddy danced on their feet, clapping their hands above their hands. "Ooh! The jungle is now free of that dark hole!"
Dixie copied his actions. "That's wonderful! Now we don't have to worry about that or those pesky androids!"
Funky Kong went into a break dance, ending with a thumbs-up. "I bet those Mario Bros. and their other friends managed to wallop that beast to save this place!"
"I think so, too," Donkey Kong agreed. "I think this calls for a banana buffet!"
"Oh, I'm down for that!" Diddy yelled.
"Me, too!" Dixie added.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go celebrate!" DK pounded his chest.
Location: Bowser's Castle
Standing near one of the windows, Bowser Jr. and the seven Koopalings were looking outside the glass pane.
"Whoa... Am I seeing things?" Iggy rubbed his eyes behind his glasses.
"No, I don't think so," thought Ludwig.
"This isn't a joke, is it?" Larry questioned.
"If it was a joke, then someone must have pulled off the biggest prank ever to give us false hope," Roy grunted.
"What are you Koopalings staring at?"
They all turned around to see Kammy and Kamek from behind with the latter asking the question.
"You know that black hole that kept spawning those dirty robots?" Wendy asked the Magikoopas.
"Yes. What about it?" the purple mage raised an eyebrow.
"It's actually gone," Morton answered.
"Gone?" they both repeated.
"Yeah, gone. As in 'poof', no longer there anymore."
"We know what gone means, Lemmy," Kamek rolled his eyes even though no one could tell. "I better report this to Lord Bowser."
Once Kamek left the hallway, Kammy took a look outside as well. "Why, biscuits and gravy! You kids were telling the truth after all."
"We told you," Jr. crossed his arms.
"You didn't say anything," Wendy narrowed his eyes.
"Did too! I was the first one to notice it!"
"No, you didn't. Stop being braggadocious," Ludwig scoffed.
"Brag-a-what now?"
Meanwhile, Kamek entered the throne room to see Bowser standing at the same window from before.
"Your Evilness, I have some news. The black hole in the sky is nowhere in sight."
"I can see that, Kamek," Bowser grumbled.
"I guess that the green plumber and his animal allies were able to reverse the fate of the worlds. And that means you can go back to planning your scheme to kidnap the princess or whatever you desire."
"Yeah, I will. Now leave."
"I'm sorry?"
"Do I have to repeat myself?! Leave my room!" he roared.
"Sorry, Master."
Kamek closed the door as the Koopa King was isolated again.
"I don't know how he did it. But yet again, Green 'Stache has proven me wrong, which I hate. But just you wait. I'll let you and the others slide for a while. But don't be surprised if I come back to wreck the Mushroom Kingdom again." His frown slowly turned into an evil smile. "And maybe next time, I'll pounce on you and Mario for good!"
Some things just never change.
Location: Memory Hill
The Count and the Lady turned their attention to what was above them. The Oblivion shrunk slowly until there was no remnant of it in the sky.
"Oh, my. Blumiere... The Oblivion..."
"It's gone, my dear. Luigi has done it." Blumiere curved his lips upward. "The worlds are safe again."
"Thank goodness we're still here, together and forever until the day we finally pass."
"And I wouldn't want to spend a day without you."
Timpani grinned happily at his comment before placing her lips on his lover's. After they parted away, their Duplighost assistants ran up the hill.
"Count! Lady! This is absolutely spectacular!" shouted Duplimore.
"Luigi saved us all! The Oblivion is no more, and it won't eat up the worlds!" Duplicit babbled.
"Yes. It's a relief that he's done it." Timpani then frowned. "But, what became of him? Is he back home safely?"
"I don't know," Blumiere responded.
"By the way," Duplimore interrupted, "we're all sorry about... you-know-who."
The Count shook his head and raised a hand. "It's fine. It was for the best to keep these dimensions safe and sound. Even if he died, as long as Luigi delivered my message, then I'll be okay." He cleared his throat and adjusted the front of his cape. "Maybe I can find out what has happened to him. I never used this ability before, not even during my evil days. But, I'll give it a shot."
Blumiere pointed his scepter in front of the four of them as a virtual cloud materialized. Then, it showed an image of Luigi's current location. Shockingly, they found Luigi at the top of Star Hill. He was lying on his torso with his arms and legs spread out. But what caught their attention was the object in Luigi's right hand.
It was Edge's staff with the seven Chaos Emeralds.
Not only that, but just a few feet away from him, there was another figure on the ground.
"It's... my brother..." Blumiere gasped.
"Are they... breathing?" Duplicit pondered.
"I don't know," Timpani responded.
"What do we do?" queried Duplimore.
"We're going to transport to Star Hill. We should bring him back to his home, find Mario and his friends, and get him some medical help. Even if it means we have to show our faces in public, we can't just leave him there to potentially die if no one else is going to discover him."
"Then let's get going," the Lady grabbed his shoulder.
"And we shall," Blumiere waved his wand to teleport them to the magical mountain.
Location: Toad Town
It's been about thirty minutes after the Oblivion faded away in every location. While the Toads were cleaning up the mess made in the town, Wario and Waluigi attempted to sneak out so they wouldn't be forced to help. That is until the same Blue Toad from earlier asked them to lend some hands. Right now, they were cleaning up broken glass from the castle windows.
"This sucks. Why do we have to clean up something that we didn't do?" Waluigi complained.
"I know, right? All these mushroom heads do is linger around and scream in terror whenever something bad happens to the kingdom or Peach," Wario muttered.
After sweeping up and discarding the sharp glass, they threw their dustpans and brooms carelessly.
"Alright, we're done with that. Now let's leave already."
"Hold on, guys!" the Blue Toad yelled from the top of the stairs. "Can you guys also sweep up the glass for the other buildings, too? Thanks!"
"Oh, come on!" they groaned. Wario and Waluigi picked up their tools and headed outside. Just then, they saw several people running near the front of the castle.
"Wario! Waluigi!" Peach called to them. "You guys alright?"
"Yeah, we're good," Wario replied.
Everyone else stopped in front of them. Then, Daisy snickered. "So, did you guys get hired as cleaning maids?"
"We've been forced into labor to help these Toads clean," Waluigi grunted.
"You guys have done enough. Thank you, though," Peach let them off the hook.
"So, what are you guys doing here?"
"We need to find Luigi. Have you seen him?" Mario sounded slightly desperate, but he was downright worried.
"No, we haven't seen him at all," Wario responded.
"Oh, Mamma Mia... Where could he be?"
Later, the trapdoor of the Mushroom Warp Pipe opened as all of Sonic's friends popped out.
"Hey! The scary black hole is gone here, too!" Cream smiled.
"Sonic! You're back!" Amy ran up to him with yet another everlasting hug.
"A-AMY! PLEASE! LET GO OF ME!"
"Tails! You and the others alright?" Knuckles gave him a fist bump.
"We are," he returned the gesture. "But there's just one problem."
"What's that?" Blaze asked.
"Luigi's not here," said Daisy.
Everyone blinked for a second. "Wait a minute. What did you say?" Silver asked, wondering if he heard the Sarasaland princess correctly.
"He's not here!" Toad and Toadette shouted.
"What do you mean?" Shadow cocked an eyebrow.
"Luigi was trapped in the Oblivion to find Myster Edge after he sent Mario, Sonic, Colombo, and me back to E. Gadd's lab."
"Hold on. So, Luigi faced Myster Edge by himself?" Espio realized.
"Uh-huh," Sonic nodded. "It happened after we rescued and beat Mario."
"You beat Mario? Why?" Blaze was confused.
"Yeah. I thought you were on the same team," Rouge added.
"Well, back at the Treacherous Mansion when he separated the brothers, Edge made the real Tough Possessor take control of Mario after roboticizing him," Tails clarified.
"You're kidding!" Amy was shocked as well as everyone else who wasn't aware of this.
"They're telling the truth," Mario shook his head. "They told me all about it."
"And you're saying that he had no way out of there even though the black hole disappeared?" questioned Wario.
"That's right," said Sonic.
"Oh, boy. That wasn't what I expected to hear," Vector shivered.
"I don't think any of us expected that," corrected Knuckles.
"And you don't know where he is, assuming he did get out of there?" Waluigi asked.
"That's exactly correct!" E. Gadd bit his lip. Colombo and Zephyr both looked uncomfortable.
"I can't believe this," Charmy breathed.
"Hey, everybody!" The entire party looked over to see Yoshi and Birdo. "Glad to see everyone's here."
They then realized their distressed faces. "What happened?" Birdo tilted her head.
"It's a very long story," Toadsworth put a hand on his cheek.
"Well, long story short, we're under the impression that Luigi faced Myster Edge himself, but he was also trapped in the Oblivion and couldn't get out," Sonic was straightforward.
"He..." Yoshi took some time to register all that. "But didn't you guys go with him?"
"We did. Then he sent us back here to face Edge alone," Tails responded.
"Well, where is he?"
"We don't know!" everyone yelled.
While the party was in a fuss, Colombo felt a presence from far away. He walked away over to the pathway that led up to Star Hill. Seconds later, he saw the sight in front of him, causing him to yip.
"Arf! Arf!"
All of the characters stopped talking as Mario walked over to the Polterpup.
"Colombo? What are you barking at-" the plumber paused. It was at that time when he recognized what Colombo noticed. Coming towards them was a familiar face. With a top hat and a magical scepter in one hand, he was with a woman and two Duplighosts. Not only that, but there were two more individuals.
In the hands of Duplimore and Duplicit was the green plumber. In between Blumiere and Timpani was the Shadow Spirit. Every single person was either shocked, confused, or both.
"Luigi!" Mario ran up to him.
"Careful now. He's knocked out, and he's got more injuries," Duplimore warned.
"But we did feel a pulse. He made it out alive," Duplicit reassured.
Mario exhaled through his nose in relief. But when he turned to the Count and the Lady, he was astonished. "Tippi? Bleck?" They nodded their heads at him. Mario realized he went by their secondary names. "Timpani. Blumiere. What are you doing here?"
"We can explain later, Mario. But it's great to see you again after so long," Timpani greeted.
"Same here." The man then realized the person they were holding. His face scrunched in ire. "What the hell? Why is he here?"
"Like Timpani said, we'll tell you what happened. And maybe Luigi will too once he's awake. I feel as if something occurred in the Oblivion and that there's something we don't know."
"But right now, he needs immediate medical assistance," Timpani cried.
"Same with my brother."
"Your brother?" Mario repeated.
The Count cringed. "This will be a bit complicated to explain. But since you don't know about it, I'll tell you soon enough."
Mario turned his attention back to his younger brother who was held by the Duplighosts. He thanked them and decided to carry him over to the Toadley Clinic. Daisy rushed over to help him, and they made their way to the hospital with everyone else following them.
As for the storytelling aspect of what occurred earlier, it was going to be a long day for the heroes.
END OF CHAPTER
Okay. Technically, this isn't the actual conclusion to the story. But what's safe to say is that Luigi reigned over Super Dimentio 2.0 and vanquished the conniving jester for good. Not only that, he has saved all of the worlds from this. However, although Luigi may have survived the cataclysm with his enemy, both remain unconscious after the events. And I will say this, there will be at least one more death involved by the time this story is completed. Who will perish? Who will survive? What will happen next time?
Thank you everybody for reading Ch. 58 of this adventure. One more upload will complete this journey before I leave it as it is. Please review down below, give this a favorite if you've enjoyed it up to this point, follow the story for the final update, and tell me if I need to fix any errors I might have made. Until we meet again, I'll see you guys for the epilogue of Hidden Bravery! This is TGN, signing off.
Post-Chapter Notes:
(1): Two small movie references right there, specifically from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Ice Age.
(2): I hope this explanation gives you the idea of how Luigi was able to weaken Super Dimentio's power, similar to how the Pure Hearts got rid of the Chaos Heart's invincibility in Super Paper Mario.