A Second Chance (Super Paper Mario)

[Nas]

Hi, guys. I decided that I would write this after all! This takes place after the events of Super Paper Mario, and if you wanted to read this and didn't play the game you might wanna read a little background.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Paper_Mario#Plot

(obviously this is a really long article D: )

Anyway, there's not a lot of sneezing yet, but I will add more later! Please tell me what you think if you have time!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

A weak male figure trudged through what seemed like never ending darkness; it was apparent that he didn’t care where he was going. Finally, he sat cross-legged in the grass, growing even more exhausted. A monstrous tickle formed in his right nostril and spread to the back of his nose, becoming more and more unbearable.

“Ngg’ixch!” He stifled a sneeze, pinching his masked nose. He sniffled a little bit, and changed his sitting position. The figure shadowed by the Underwhere's hellish trees slumped into a tiny ball. Today, he was scheduled to be judged by Queen Jaydes; this would determine where he would spend all eternity. He wore a charred poncho, and a dented mask. All of the shaydes did their best to avoid him in the three weeks he had been there. He clutched his heavy head in his hands, and buried them in his legs.

"Come on, kid, it's time to see Queen Jaydes." A magenta D-men, said tapping his shoulder. He froze in place when the boy looked up, "y-you're that guy...Dimentio!" He trembled in fear before composing himself.

"Who were you expecting me to be?" Dimentio returned with his signature smile suddenly appearing on his mask.

"I dunno, the queen just said 'get the guy in purple and yellow'." He told Dimentio, realizing that all of the jester's magic was gone, so there was no way that he could harm anyone. He began speaking again, "c'mon, get up; were on a schedule here!" Dimentio obliged, and since he could not float in the Underwhere, he walked behind the D-men.

When they approached Queen Jaydes' throne, Dimentio was slightly surprised to see her daughter, Luvbi standing beside the queen.

"Are you ready for me to weigh your sins, Dimentio?" Queen Jaydes asked in a cold voice. Dimentio nodded, still smiling through his mask, although he was anything but happy. He was faintly aware of the D-men scampering away. A large golden balanceappeared with the sound of a mysterious chime. Queen Jaydes began chanting a spell, getting louder with each syllable. There was nothing more that Dimentio could do other than watch as the scale wavered back and forth. Then, with a 'ding' it stopped in perfect balance.

"Mother, why has the scale neither proclaimed 'yea' or 'nay'?" Luvbi asked in bewilderment.

"His sins match his good deeds as well as his special circumstances." The Queen said quietly, "that means he gets a second chance at life."

"But he tried to destroy all dimensions, including this very one. Surely thou cannot let him walk the dimensions again!" Luvbi exclaimed.

"I don't want to, Luvbi, but I am bound by the scale." Queen Jaydes told her daughter. Then she turned to Dimentio and said, “you have been given the gift of a new life. In order for you to receive it, you have to return to Castle Bleck and apologize to all the people you stabbed in the back.” She paused for a moment, either expecting a response, or coming up with another rule. Then she continued after all she got was a blank stare from Dimentio, “and you have to take Mr. L. Since he was forced into behaving in the evil way he did, he deserves a better chance at life, and his own body.”

“And so I must go back to my master like a sorrowful dog with its tail between its legs.” He said quietly to himself. Queen Jaydes chanted another spell, and Mr. L materialized in the thin air. His body was almost identical to Luigi’s, but it was slightly slimmer and more muscular. Mr. L was clad in his usual black jumpsuit with the gold buttons, his small mask, and his mirror image ‘L’ hat. Immediately, the man lunged at Dimentio, shouting “traitor!” and many vulgar words, only to be pulled away by the queen herself.

“Enough! You two are to return to Castle Bleck to repent for your sins, and for another chance at life. You will neither stay in the Underwhere nor go to the Overthere.” She commanded. Mr. L glared.

“Are you out of your mind? He’s a sociopath! He’ll kill me...again!” He shrieked, but then stopped as he felt a hard stare come from the queen of the Underwhere.

“It’s time to go. GAMEOVERGAMEOVERGAMEOVERGAMEOVER…...CONTINUE!” Queen Jaydes yelled, extending her arms wide. The world swirled around Dimentio and Mr. L, until they suddenly arrived at the total darkness of the inside of the void where Castle Bleck was. Mr. L brushed off Dimentio, and knocked on the front door with the silver knocker. Tiny footsteps were soon heard, and a small green girl appeared at the door. She froze as she saw her original fellow minions, her arms visibly trembling.

“You’re dead! You’re dead! Go away! This isn’t real! Dimentio go the Underwhere away, you two aren’t real!” She screamed, beginning to tear up with emotion.

“Mimi, hey, it’s okay. We’re real, we get a second chance to live with you guys again. Queen Jaydes said we could live here again.” Mr. L explained, his sincerity almost out of character.

“B-but how? How could she give that stupid-head a second chance?” She questioned fiercely.

“It’s a long story...can we come in?” Mr. L asked, flinching slightly. Mimi stiffly opened the door wider to them without looking Dimentio in the eye-or mask.

[SterlingSilver]

I've never played Paper Mario, but after looking up the game and the character images, I really, really am enjoying this story!

I like the way you portray the characters--even though I am not familiar with the fandom, I knew they were well written!

And I always love an evil/disliked person getting sick >w<. It's always so heart-breakingly adorable~

Thank you so much for writing it, and I go hope you continue soon~! <3

[MaiMai]

Aww I love this sooo much!! You've captured the characters perfectly, and I love just...everything!!! Can't wait to see what happens next!

[SpookyScarySkeleton]

I love it pls continue

[Nas]

Thank you so much, guys! Your support totally made my day! I'm not even kidding, I was smiling like an idiot for like three hours.

Haha, hopefully I'll have the next part up today or tomorrow depending on how it goes.

[Nas]

Here's the next update!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mr. L explained the recent events of what happened with Queen Jaydes and Dimentio. Surprisingly, Mimi remained quiet until he was done, still refusing to so much as look in Dimentio’s general direction. The three were all sitting on the black couches in the living room.

“That makes no sense! He tried to kill...well...everyone! How in the worlds could he possibly be free?” Mimi yelled at Mr. L after a short silence, as if Dimentio weren’t there.

“I don’t know! She didn’t say…” Mr. L returned, throwing up his arms.

“Well, I don’t want him here, and I don’t think Nassy and O’Chunks do either!” Mimi pouted with a fierce look in her eyes.

“Perhaps the feeling is mutual, Mimikins.” Dimentio finally spoke, his voice quiet, but stable. Another awkward silence filled the room, until more footsteps were heard through the halls. A blue woman with pink glasses, and a large bearded man entered from the kitchen.

“What’s all the yelling-” The woman started, but soon silenced herself, stiffening. The man behind her stopped and stared at the two previously dead minions. In an instant the man charged over to the couch, grabbed Dimentio by the feet, and before the latter could react, threw him across the room. Mimi shrieked, unsure if she should be concerned for the jester, or happy that he had been attacked.

“Yeh traitor! ‘Ow did you get ‘ere, I thought you were dead!” The man yelled at Dimentio, not even acknowledging Mr. L, who had also been dead. The woman stared at Mr. L, who had barely flinched. Dimentio remained in a ball beside the wall, taking a few seconds, to pull himself together. After a few disguised shaky breaths, he rose, and hovered in midair as he always did.

“Ahahaha, nice to see you as well, O’Chunks. As it happens, Queen Jaydes decided that Mr. L and I deserved another chance, and sent us back here.” He explained, pretending that he didn’t notice O’Chunks’ aggression. The warrior’s face began turning red, and the blue woman stepped next to him, not restraining him, but glaring at Dimentio.

“Um, yeah no, I don’t believe you. Mr. L, what really happened?” The woman said coldly, masking as much emotion as she could.

“Actually, that’s basically it, Nastasia.” Mr. L replied, rubbing that back of his neck, totally relaxed. Nastasia fixed her glasses with a stiff hand. Memories of being assaulted-nearly killed-by one of the jester’s magic orbs invaded her mind. She began clenching and unclenching her hands to alleviate stress.

“I oughta send you back there!” O’Chunks told Dimentio in a threatening voice, even more hateful than when he would fight the heroes. He took a step toward the floating jester, who backed away slightly.

“Wait! Guys if you’re gonna fight don’t do it in the living room!” Mimi suddenly cried out desperately. Both O’Chunks and Dimentio froze in place, surprised by her outburst. The whole room grew silent again, until she announced in a shaky voice, “I’ll be in my room.” She stood up and flipped out of the room.

“H-hey speaking of rooms, is mine still here?” Mr. L asked, slightly louder than he needed to.

“Yup, we didn’t move anything.” Nastasia replied to her ‘creation’, Mr. L.

“I’ll go look. I miss Brobot.” He said, running up the stairs, leaving Dimentio alone with Nastasia and O’Chunks. He was not about to get stuck in the pending crossfire.

“If you think you’re going to get away with the crap you pulled, you’re even more out of your mind than I thought.” Nastasia told Dimentio, starting quietly, but getting louder with every word, “you can either obey me by choice-” she gestured to her glasses, indicating her mind controlling abilities, “or by force...’K?”

“Of course, Nastasia! I thought we were close, like two kidnapped children in a sa-sack.” His voice began wavering at the end. Nastasia smirked at his now-exposed discomfort.

“Dimentio, uh, we were never close. You were always the same monster as you are now.” She said, glasses meeting mask. O’Chunks cracked his knuckles in the background, until Nastasia said, with a slight smirk, “so you want a chance? You’re my-our slave until further notice. You obey O’Chunks, Mimi, Mr. L, and me. Make yourself useful, and maybe we’ll forgive you.” O’Chunks’ eyes widened with rage, but said nothing. Dimentio put his gloved fingers, and rubbed the bridge of his masked nose, discreetly.

“Why of course, Nastasia! Anything t-to restore our friendship.” He replied in a fakely merry voice, then continued, “and with that, I’ll be off to my room as well!” Without waiting for an answer, he snapped his fingers, and appeared in his room with a whoosh. Nastasia and O’Chunks were left alone in the living room.

“Lass! Why’d yeh let ‘im go?” O’Chunks asked, disappointed that he didn’t get to beat the jester down.

“Because, this way, we can make him pay both mentally and physically. He will feel the p-pain h-he caused us and-” warm tears trickled down from behind her glasses, and she was pulled into a hug. O’Chunks knew she had lost a lot when Count Bleck-Lord Blumiere disappeared with the love of his life; a boss, a friend, a crush and a love.

______________________________________________________________________________

In his room, Dimentio collapsed face first on his bed, index finger and thumb squeezed forcefully over the nose of his mask. His body jerked down with three stifled sneezes. He sighed, he almost had to do that in front of the other former minions.

“A slave, hm? I suppose it’s better than than hell.” He mumbled to himself in a voice heavy with congestion. He flinched at the sound of his voice and went to the full-length mirror and pulled off his hat and mask. He looked normal-the rims of his nostrils were becoming chapped and slightly pink, but that wasn’t a big deal. Summoning a tissue, he lightly wiped and slightly blew his nose. He drew a box in it, then blew it up to tiny particles as if it had never existed in the first place. Sighing again, this time in relief, he put the mask back on, then matted his hybrid black and white hair down before placing his hat on top. Suddenly feeling paranoid, he looked behind him at the door to make sure no one was there.

“Don’t be silly like a stereotypic clown, Dimentio. You have the doors sealed...with MAGIC. Ahahah-h’gntch!” He said, taken by surprise at his sneeze. “At least it’s still sound proof.” He muttered.

[SpookyScarySkeleton]

Wow That's amazing ! Can't wait for the next part thanks for writing this

[SterlingSilver]

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~! It's progressing nicely~

I love how he's trying to keep it a secret >w<~ Can't wait for more!

[MaiMai]

Oohh this is awesome!! I love how it's playing out, and your characterisation is great and your writing is superb! Thank you so much for posting this adorable story, can't wait to see what happens in the next part!!!

[Nas]

Hey, I had a lot of free time, so I decided to do an update!

@DeathNoteOwner: You're welcome! Thanks for your support!

@BlackScatter: Heehee, thanks.

@MaiMai: Thanks, that means a lot!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A single night had passed since Dimentio and Mr. L returned to Castle Bleck. True to her threat, Nastasia began ordering Dimentio around. This morning he was to make breakfast, while Mimi was in charge of making sure he didn't ‘poison’ anything.

"Ahahaha, this is really unnecessary, Mimikins! You don't have to supervise me like a mother watches her troublesome child at the playground." He told her that morning in a forced voice. He could feel his hair stick to his forehead from the sweat of standing over the frying pan, although he had been a little sweaty when he woke up. He felt a light tingling in his nose, as the steam came from the pan. He immediately quelled it by sticking the back of his wrist to the bridge of his nose.

"Do you really expect me to trust you?" Mimi returned fiercely, half expecting a facetious answer, but got none. She was sitting in one of the dark wooden chairs, which had been positioned so she could watch the counter and stove. Then she said, "just finish the pancakes." She watched silently as he flipped each pancake with both feet on the ground. That was odd...Dimentio usually hovered about a few inches above ground. Mimi gave him a confused look, but decided to say nothing; why should she care? Now that she really looked at him, she realized that were about the same height...okay maybe he was a little taller, but he was shorter than she once thought. After a short time, he finished, and dumped each pancake into a very tall tower on the plate. In total there were about twenty pancakes.

“Guys! Breakfast is ready!” Mimi called to the others who were watching television in the living room. The sound from the TV stopped shortly, and O’Chunks ran through the door and sat at his respective place at the table. When everyone else had sat down, Dimentio noticed two empty chairs; his and Count Bleck’s. A shudder ran through his spine, but to his relief no one noticed. Why had they kept those chairs? He made his way over to his seat, but was stopped by O’Chunks.

“Oh, no! Yeh don’ get teh eat! Nassy told yeh to go wash the ‘windahs!” O’Chunks commanded him, poking him in the chest with his index finger.

“Of course not, I was merely going to ask Nastasia which cleaner she wanted me to use.” Dimentio said with a wide smile without missing a beat.

“Uh, the only one we have in the cabinet in the boys’ bathroom.” Nastasia cut in, a forkful of pancake raised to her lips.

“Ahahaha, just checking to make sure you didn’t have a secret supply or anything.” He replied, shaking off Nastasia’s tone, “well then, I think I’ll go begin!” He walked out of the room, raising Mimi’s suspicions even more. When he was out of sight, Dimentio snapped his fingers to teleport to the bathroom, but instead arrived in the corridor leading to the bedrooms and bathrooms. He lightly banged his head against the wall as if in defeat, then got up and trudged into the room, and snatched the cleaner, and a towel. He teleported to outside the castle, to begin his next job.

He started with the kitchen windows, so the other minions could see that he was, in fact, doing his ‘job’. As he began wiping the cleaner he sprayed on the glass, he saw that a layer of dirt, grime, and who knows what else was all over the towel. He muttered something under his breath, and summoned another towel from the bathroom. He concentrated deeply on bending dimensions, when he wasn't met with an instant result. After a brief pause the towel landed in his hand, and he ran over to the next giant window.

"Why does this castle even need windows? All there is to look at is darkness." Dimentio mumbled to himself. He considered cloning himself to make the job go faster, but squashed that idea, remembering how oddly his magic was behaving.

After an hour of boring window washing, Dimentio only had to do the windows at the top of the tower. He began levitating, not even surprised when his body felt twice as heavy than it normally did. The jester began spraying the first window with the little remains of the cleaner, and quickly wiped it off, realizing that his energy was diminishing rapidly. When he reached the last tinted window, his entire body was trembling. He finished cleaning it, and accidentally dropped the nearly empty cleaner bottle, and the new filthy rag. Before he knew what was happening, Dimentio was plummeting toward the ground. In a panic, he was able to lessen the speed of his plummet, but still hit the ground with a soft thud.

Dimentio quickly pulled himself up, fighting a wave of dizziness. He looked around, and it looked as if no one saw him. Checking his body for pain, he only found a few sore spots on his abdomen. Deciding that the windows were clean enough, he stood up straight, and teleported to his room. Once again as the dimensions shifted, he ended up in the corridor instead of his room. He sighed; the only way to get into his room was to teleport or flip in. He went to the boy minions’ bathroom to clean up before confronting anyone, and locked the door behind him.

When he looked in the mirror, Dimentio found that he looked decent, save for a little dirt. Just as he heard tiny footsteps coming up the stairs, his nose felt a tickling sensation. He felt his nostrils twitch as he tried to control himself. Steadily, he put his fist under his nose, as Mimi’s voice rang out.

“Dimentio! Nassy wants you!” She said, knocking on the door impatiently. He took a steady breath in, and willed his voice to not quaver.

“Of course, I’ll be down in a second.” He replied, not even trying to make any bizarre similes. He sat, hugging his knees on the bathroom floor, with his head between his legs.

“Okay, hurry up, dummy.” The girl called before Dimentio heard her run down the stairs. as soon as she was at least halfway down the stairs, Dimentio felt himself lose control.

“N’gtchhx! Hi’chx!” He stifled violently against his arms, his lower back hitting the wall with each recovery. The jester groaned a little bit at the force of each quiet explosion, only to be met with one more sneeze that he barely stopped. He rose again and looked at his reflection, just in case, and found that he still looked the same. Then he decided that he would go find what Nastasia wanted, and started down the stairs. He almost collided with the woman while he was walking through the main hallway.

“Uh, did you finish the windows?” Nastasia asked him.

“Yes! Can you not tell? Look at all the darkness streaming through!” He said theatrically, moving his arms as he spoke.

“Great.” She checked off something on the clipboard she was holding. “‘K go do the dishes now. They’re still there from breakfast.” She walked off without waiting for a reply. The jester’s stomach growled; he still hadn’t eaten anything...well since he came back to life. He rolled his eyes a little; this was going to be a terrible life.

[SterlingSilver]

Awwwwww Q Q!! The poor guy... this is just delicious~~

You're pacing this so well, and I'm really enjoying reading it!

Dimentio is so adorably heartbreaking </3

Like Cinderella, or something~

Can't wait for more~!

[MaiMai]

Awww this is lovely!! I love the way that you're pacing it and how it's playing out, and it's so so adorable!

Can't wait to see what happens next!!

[Nas]

A/N: Hey, guys! I wanted to say thanks for all of your really nice reviews! I think I actually might continue this! Idk if I'll ever finish this story, but I'll try.

After a day of long, tedious chores, Dimentio ended up sleeping on the couch for the night, after everyone went to their beds. He didn’t even bother to change into pajamas, mostly because he had no access to them. He knew he couldn't get back into his room with his fading powers, so he decided that he would just have to be awake before the rest of the former minions to avoid interrogation.

At least that was the plan.

“D-Dimentio?” The jester was awakened by a startled male voice that he immediately recognized as Mr. L. He quickly sat up in response, fighting a brief flash of dizziness.

“Why are you sleeping on the couch?” Mr L asked, sounding suspicious of his motives. He could see the vague glint of the jester’s mask even in the darkness. He found himself wondering if Dimentio even took it off to go to sleep...or shower.

“I…” Dimentio paused for a second, “Camb to get a glass of water, and it seembs that I ended up falli’g asleep.” He inwardly smacked himself for his congested voice, but decided that he could pass it off as being tired. To his relief, Mr. L didn't comment on that and for awhile didn’t say anything.

“Do you know how much it sucks to die twice?” Mr. L suddenly questioned, although it was rhetorical. He continued in a mutter, “Especially when it was for the same freaking thing.”

“I suppose I’ll find out; I meand about the first part.”

“For awhile I thought we were actually friends; you really played all of us, huh?” The mechanic returned bitterly.

“It’s very comblicated, like a color-blind person attebting to solve a rubik's cube.” Was Dimentio’s only answer.

“Not really, basically you’re a psycho-maniac who just wanted to destroy all the worlds and make a perfect new one.” Mr. L’s eyes widened as he realized how similar that sounded to Count Bleck and added, “And you murdered me.”

“Ahahaha, that’s only a bit of it.” he laughed weakly.

“Whatever. I also just came down to get a drink anyway-not to talk to you.” Dimentio sighed as he remembered one of the conditions of his life. He certainly didn’t want to go back to the hell known as the Underwhere. Although there weren’t pits of fire, the Shaydes had the same conversations and did the same things every day in a constant loop of insanity.

“I’b sorry, Mr. L. For betraying your trust and killing you both directly and i’directly.” The apology was quiet, and surprisingly sincere for the usual mocking jester. Mr. L’s silver eyes darted away from the jester’s mismatched ones.

“Th-that doesn’t fix what you did, you know,” he sighed, “I guess it’s the Luigi in me, but I kinda forgive you. I guess none of us really were good; we all added to the destruction in a way. But, I’ll never forget what you did.” Mr. L seemed thrown at the apology and uncertain in his words but still managed to respond. He turned to finally get a glass of water.

“Perhaps we could...try to be more friendly.” Dimentio forced. He really didn’t know if he even wanted to be friends with the man, but decided it was a good way to seal the apology. Surely if he continued this with the other three he would achieve redemption, so that when he finally dies permanently his soul could move on to the Overthere.

“I dunno...Maybe.” he called over his shoulder, still walking to the kitchen. Dimentio could hear a few clanks coming from where Mr. L was. After a minute, he came back out and turned to the stairs.

“Are you coming back upstairs?” Mr. L asked.

“No, I-I thi’dk I’ll stay here.” Dimentio replied as Mr. L started ascending. The former heard the latter hesitate as if he were trying to interpret the brief stutter. Dimentio tensed as he tried to stop the buildup from growing. He could feel his eyes squinting without his permission, and he fought to keep them open. At last, Mr. L climbed the rest of the stairs to the upper floor. Dimentio pinched his nostrils in an air-tight seal and allowed his abdomen to fold from the force of his silent sneeze. The jester released a shaky breath after he had recovered.

The burning sensation in his nose did was not appeased in the least, and he felt his nostrils flare as if the walls of his flesh were trying to get away from the itch within.

“Hh-px!” Once again, his fingers trapped his nose in a death grip, trying to be as quiet as possible. Shivering slightly, Dimentio wished he could summon a blanket-or even a tissue to stop his nose from running. Well, he could go to the bathroom upstairs to get one, but that would involve not waking up the entire castle. Could he do it?

-----

After he gave up on falling asleep again, Dimentio decided that he would feel better if he ventured upstairs to get a tissue, and perhaps to wash his face. It took him at least two minutes to steady himself enough to stand up from the couch. His legs felt as if they were made of jelly, and he struggled to stand straight. After fighting a few dizzy spells, he pushed one leg in front of the other, only to be met with the hard floor of Castle Bleck. He groaned and rolled to his side, determined to make it upstairs.

By the time he got to the stair base, Dimentio was convinced that at least ten minutes had passed. He gripped the banister with all of his fading strength and forced himself to ascend the stairs. By the sixth step he had already gotten into a slow and steady pace; however, he nearly fell down the stairs when his foot slipped on the seventh step. With a sharp inhale, he continued his climb until he finally reached the top.

Dimentio stumbled along the pitch-black halls, with his right hand braced against the wall for support. By the time he made it to the dark bathroom, his legs gave out, and he landed harshly on his knees with a thud. The master of dimensions winced, but also sighed with relief as he was now behind a locked door. The silhouette small box of tissues on the counter caught his eye when he finally managed to stand. Out of habit, he snapped his fingers in an attempt to summon it; of course, he was too weak for the gesture to do more than move the box a centimeter. He slowly pulled himself up and snatched a few of the soft tissues, and took off his mask. He used one to soak up the minor leakage from his nostrils with small dabs, and crumpled it into a tiny ball. He resisted the urge to disintegrate the evidence, but remembered how tired his magic made him feel. Defeated, the magician threw it into the trash can; picking up a clean tissue he blew his nose one nostril at a time, making as little noise as possible.

His nose throbbed with an irritated soreness, and a familiar tickle formed in the back of his sinuses. Dimentio winced, and accidently caught his reflection in the mirror; however, the bathroom was too dim for him to see his reflection. He stumbled over to the lightswitch, so that he could check on his current appearance.

After flipping the switch, his eyes burned from the bright light, and the urge to sneeze grew stronger.

“N’gtchhhx! Hhh’NG!” He felt his head throb in protest to stifling his sneezes, so he released his nose and decided to close his mouth. “N’psch! Spch!” Dimentio groggily blew his nose when he was sure that the fit was over. He threw away the tissue that was essentially a pulp, and went over the sink to clean himself up.

After washing his hands and splashing warm water on his face, Dimentio left the bathroom. He started for the direction of the stairs when he was stopped by a childish female voice.

“Where’re you going, Dummy?”

~~~

Aaaand cliffy!

[sneezymui]

Aaah cliffhanger! @@

I love this though! Can't wait to see the rest. I actually feel sorry for Dimentio, which I didn't think was possible XD and honestly just seeing a Super Paper Mario fic period made me squeal because I love it so much. Always will be one of my favorite games.

[Nas]

A/N: HA! Writer's Block will not defeat me this time! Unfortunately, there isn't much sneezing in this part, but there definitely will be in the next one.

Aaah cliffhanger! @@

I love this though! Can't wait to see the rest. I actually feel sorry for Dimentio, which I didn't think was possible XD and honestly just seeing a Super Paper Mario fic period made me squeal because I love it so much. Always will be one of my favorite games.

Awww, I'm so happy to see another SPM fan! I was never really into Dimentio until I started reading fanfiction. Thanks so much for your review; it totally made my day!

~ASC~

In the darkness, Dimentio could see that Mimi’s arms were crossed in hostility or perhaps only anticipation. He released what he hoped was a silent breath as his disoriented mind tried to come up with an excuse.

“I merely had to use the lavatory.” he answered, pointing to the bathroom. He was slightly relieved that his voice sounded a bit better.

“That doesn’t answer my question, though!” Mimi whispered loudly. “Where are you going now? Your room is over there.” Dimentio squirmed at the last two words remembering his terms for being alive. The jester scrambled for another excuse to explain why he was going downstairs. If he uses the “I’m thirsty” excuse, would Mimi wait for him to go back up? Would she follow him down to make sure that’s truly what he’s doing?

“I don’t quite rembember the...magical key to open my room’s door; I thi’k after I died, I forgot sub small things.” It seemed like a plausible excuse, but made him look rather stupid.

“Oh.” Mimi’s arms were crossed again. It was a long moment before she spoke again. “So, I guess you slept downstairs yesterday...right?” He felt his face hot with embarrassment, and his mask stuck uncomfortably to his clammy skin. The jester tensed, hoping that she truly didn’t realize that he was able to get into his room yesterday.

“Yes.” It was one of the shortest answers he had ever given, but the darkness seemed to cling heavily to his body, as if it were draining him of his energy.

“Look,” Mimi started carefully, “Do not tell anyone what I’m about to say, but, you can crash in my room. Just for tonight, though.” Dimentio shifted, shocked at her offer, but before he could respond she added, “And make sure you’re out before Nassy wakes up.”

“That’s very kind of you. Tha’g you.” he replied, too tired to protest.

“Alright,” she lead the way, “don’t make me regret this, Dim.”

~ASC~

Mimi’s room was about how he remembered it-not that he visited it often! Her bed was a hot pink, and her walls were decorated with pastel hearts. The only changes he noticed were the addition of the Flint Cragley poster (which had likely been given to her by O’Chunks), the missing nightlight, and the lack of diary on her desk.

“I don’t have a diary anymore, so you can forget about stealing it.” she murmured, after seeing him gaze at her desk.

“That’s quite alright, I don’t really read diaries these days.” he replied, making her lips form a half-smile. She quickly turned away, and walked over to her closet. After a few minutes, she had a blanket and pillow in her arms.

“Here, I don’t think it would be real appropriate if-”

“Say no more, I agree.” he cut her off, accepting the blanket and pillow. He let out a small cough, and placed them down on her soft rug next to her bed. Mimi raised an eyebrow, but said nothing further, and turned off her lights.

And then, reality and dreams blurred into one.

A teenage boy with hybrid black and white hair, and a duke with a dark cloak are alone in the servant’s headquarters.

“Dimidium! Kill her, Dimidium!” The large duke commands.

“B-but, why? What evil has she done?”

“She has tempted the Lord of Darkness with her wicked Ancient magic. She must be destroyed, lest they create an abomination semialbus like you.”

“I am not a murderer.”

The boy is stricken in the eye with the duke’s staff.

“But you will be, or I will kill both the Lord and his bitch in your presence. And then, you.” There was a sickly silence, “So, Dimidium, what will it be? One life...or three?”

And then the forest leading to the cliff. She is there wearing all white, waiting for her love to take her to that place they promised they would go to. Her long golden hair catches the sunlight, and her pale skin seems to glow. He could easily send her off the cliff with but a snap of the finger. She must be destroyed.

But how could he deprive the worlds of such an innocent beauty. A fragile white rose where most are stained red or gray. He reveals himself to her.

“You must go away, so that your love shall not die.”

“You’re that servant! Dim...right?” she asks gently, thinking he just knew that she and her Lord were eloping.

“Forgive me, Dear Lady.”

Her mouth opens,and her face grows fearful. She holds out her hand, as if it would stop time.

SNAP.

Dimentio gasped and coughed, entangled in something foreign. He struggled, thrashing his legs against something soft. Everything was dark, and all he knew was that he had to get out of wherever he was now. He continued to struggle until he got one of his feet free.

And then, there was a bright light.

“Dimentio?” A tired female voice hit his ears. He looked up to see Mimi, and all of his memories of what had happened came back.

He froze.

“Did you have a bad dream?” she asked with softened eyes. She was kneeling next to him now.

“I-” he cleared his throat, “I suppose so. It’s beend erased fromb my mi’d like...a pencil mistake on paper.” He grimaced at how pathetic that simile was, but figured that if he didn’t make any at all, it would seem suspicious.

“Are you okay?” Mimi asked, shifting so that she was lying on her side with her right arm propping her up.

“Yes, of course. Why would I ndot be okay?”

“Well, you’ve been acting kind of weird since...uh-” she hesitated and abandoned the whole end of the original sentence, “Do you always sleep with your mask and hat on?” He mentally stiffened.

“It’s ndot like I cand go get mby ndight clothes.” he retorted in an aggravated tone.

“And you sound kind of congested,” she paused, “Are you sick or somethin’?”

“No, I feel well.” he enunciated. Although the shapeshifter had been generous and compassionate, he wasn’t about to give her a weakness to exploit. He quickly changed the subject, “Where is your night light?”

Now it was Mimi’s turn to stiffen.

To the magician’s surprise, she let out a slow breath.

“That little light isn’t gonna get rid of all of the darkness, so it just seems silly to keep it on all the time.” she said carefully, averting her eyes. He wondered vaguely if she meant that in a literal or figurative sense, but decided she meant a little bit of both. After all of the darkness they brought on the worlds, it would seem almost hypocritical to fear the dark.

“I thi’k I should shower.” he said after a pause, “Nastasia will likely wake up soond.” He slowly began to stand up so that he wouldn’t fall back down.

“Okay, see you at breakfast, I guess.”

“Tha’k you for letti’g me s-sleep here.” His breath began to hitch, and he knew that sneezing would be inevitable. Nevertheless, he tried in vain quell the tickle by twitching his nose. His head whipped down with a silent explosion at the same time Mimi said “sure.” In the darkness he might have gotten away with it, but-

“Bless you.” Great.

“Thags.” he replied, sure that his cheeks were crimson under his mask. He quickly made his exit before his nose could betray him again.

[SterlingSilver]

Waaaaah~! I've been in love with this story since you first started posting it, Pollen, and I'm so excited to see another part up! I can't seem to get enough of Dimentio's suffering the amazing plot of this story, as well as the wonderful way you write. You capture the characters so well, and even though I am not entire familiar with this fandom, I can tell that you know it very well! Thank you so much for sharing, and I look forward to the next part >w<!