Dimentio didn't have the chance to process what had even happened. He couldn't feel anything, he couldn't hear anything. For a moment, everything around him seemed to pause. All he could feel were Dio's arms wrapped tightly around him.

Then... it all hit like a tsunami.

Mr. L let out a horrified gasp.

Dio's arms loosened around Dimentio.

GEM drew his sword black, the silver blade now tainted with red blood, and Dimentio knew what happened.

"No," He whispered as the realization hit him. "Oh no no no no..."

Dio slowly let go and fell back onto the ground, curling up into himself silently as a pool of red blood formed from the fresh wound on his back.

Dimentio shook his head, hoping and praying that his eyes were lying to him. Desperately wishing that he was having some sort of horrible hallucination.

But he wasn't. This was as real as the day itself.

"Hmmm... well would you look at that," GEM laughed as Dimentio dropped to his knees by Dio, gently reaching for him, tears already staining his face, falling from his mismatched eyes.

Just before Dimentio could reach him, however, GEM grabbed the cloaked boy, holding him up by the arm as if presenting a trophy at an award ceremony. Dio squeezed his eyes shut in pain and whimpered for a moment, then fell silent once again, his eyes half-shut. He looked tired. Tired and nearly lifeless.

"P-Put him down!" Dimentio begged, holding a shaking hand out. He had never felt weaker. Never felt more like a helpless child.

How could he let this happen again?

Why did this happen again? Was the world really that horribly cruel?

"I remember you..." GEM trailed off, smiling evilly at Dimentio, recalling that last time they encountered one another. The very moment he killed this Dimentio's younger brother. Remembering the pain in this helpless boy's voice as his family was taken away. He remembered the expression well. It was satisfying.

"PUT HIM DOWN!" Dimentio begged, louder now.

"Oh? Attached, are we?" GEM asked in a taunting manner, gripping Dio's cut wrist tighter, earning a small helpless squeak from the cloaked boy.

"P-please... I haven't done anything to you. Why are you doing this?" Dio softly asked, though his voice was barely even audible. The blood still gushed from his back, soaking his purple cloak.

"Please, I haven't done anything to you. Why are you doing this?" Oitnemid begged, tightly hugging his mother, minutes before his death.

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Dimentio cried, standing up and reaching for them, only for GEM to draw back and smirk as if this was all humorous.

"Oh... I get it now," The evil green-eyed man smiled.

Get what, Dimentio wanted to say, though he couldn't seem to form the words. He was almost to terrified to talk.

"He's your new little brother... isn't he?" GEM mused.

Dimentio froze in place, his eyes softening as his arm slowly lowered.

"You're trying to replace that one missing piece... aren't you?" GEM asked. "He's just another innocent child you're trying to protect from me..."

Dimentio began to tremble more as GEM squeezed Dio's wrist tighter. But this time, the cloaked boy didn't whimper in pain. He just coughed lightly, a small stream of red blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Dimentio furrowed his eyebrows, a horrified expression on his face.

"Awww... and look at that," GEM teased.

"Dimentio..." Dio helplessly whispered, sounding both hopeless and desperate at the same time.

GEM then smirked and threw the boy onto the ground, earning nothing but silence from Dio as he fell limp.

"You've failed again."

Dimentio let out a horrified squeak as Dio's head hit the ground.

How could he let this happen again? How could he just stand by and let this happen again?

"W-Why..." Dimentio whispered, looking up into those horrible green eyes.

This was the shade of green that ruined his life before. The shade of green that ruined all green for him. The shade of green that cursed him to be unhappy until he finally found what he had lost. And now here it was, trying to take everything all over again.

"I'm simply ridding the world of impurity. I'm making the world a better place, and won't stop until every last impure disgrace is gone," The man stated, but instead of his voice being ghostly cold, it was almost song-like now, as if he was singing an old tune.

"You're a little late for that," Dimentio stated in a heartbroken tone, doing his best to keep his voice steady as he thought of Blumiere, Timpani, and the life they were now living. "The world has changed. It's become more accepting of us, 'impures.' Looks like someone forgot to deliver the memo to you."

Dimentio wiped a tear, then turned and pointed at L.

"See that man? That's L. I love him. I bet your world wouldn't accept that either, now would it?"

Dimentio quickly turned back before he could even see the softened look in Mr. L's eyes upon hearing those words for the first time. Dimentio had just said it so quickly as if it was nothing. As if it wasn't something he used to seem so uncertain about. "Your idea of a perfect world isn't the same as mine. And mine isn't the same as anyone else's. One man's perfection could be quite the opposite for another." Dimentio explained, waving his hand and trapping GEM in another execution box.

Mr. L felt his heart stop. Was he going to set this one off?

"I suppose you wouldn't be able to see that, though, now would you? In fact... who am I to judge you when I spent years searching for the same thing. It wasn't until I accepted defeat that I found happiness from within the imperfection." Dimentio explained.

He then gestured down to Dio, feeling as another tear fell, this one slower, yet heavier. "Even when things seem perfect... they never are. And that's okay..."

GEM frowned slightly, touching the tip of his sword to the box, then laughing. "What are you going to do, boy? Kill me?"

"No," Dimentio stated, narrowing his eyes. "I think I'm done with murder. And besides... you've taken almost everything from me. Death would be an act of mercy at this point."

Dimentio then walked closer to the box, lowering his tone with each step. "I'm going to send you away... to someplace where you'll spend every waking minute... of every single day... alone, searching for something you'll never find. You won't find me there. You won't find anyone. And since your blood is oh so pure... you won't be able to escape."

GEM cocked his head to the side when Dimentio snapped his fingers, seeming to make GEM vanish. No explosions, no screams of agony, no blood. He didn't kill him.

A weight had been lifted.

Dimentio waved his hand, making the box disappear as well. That had been surprisingly easy.

"...Where did you send him?" Mr. L asked, carefully walking up next to Dimentio.

"Where he belongs," Dimentio stated emptily. It was almost harsh to hear his voice without emotion once again, but Mr. L could tell that Dimentio was just desperately trying not to break down, and this was nothing more than the result. "It's not Dio's home. Or, at least I don't think it is. It's just... one of the many alternate universes that got destroyed at one point in time. A place where he can be alone, searching for me forever."

"You didn't kill him," Mr. L pointed out.

"That is true." Dimentio agreed.

"I'm proud-"

"I'm not," Dimentio interrupted, clenching his fists. He then looked over to Dio, who was lying lifelessly on the ground on top of a puddle of blood.

Tears formed in the jester's eyes once again. Only now... he didn't do anything to stop them from falling. He just let them out. He broke down, leaning into Mr. L and covering his face. The man in green himself was fighting back his own tears, doing his best to be the strong one in this moment.

"... He's still breathing I think," Mr. L whispered. "If... if you want to say... say..."

Say goodbye.

That's what Mr. L was telling him to do. Say goodbye.

But Dimentio didn't want to say goodbye. Goodbye hurt. He almost didn't want to say goodbye. Maybe leaving would have been easier if he didn't...

But Dio deserved a farewell.

Dimentio shakily nodded, then sat down next to Dio. Only he found that words could not come. Instead, he broke down and lay over him, hugging the cloaked boy tightly and sobbing.

Sobbing over the fact that he let this happen again. He had finally found someone who had felt like family, he finally found the thing that had been missing from his life all these years. Finally found someone to not replace, but more so to help fill the hole his little brother left empty. And now he too was going away, leaving an even bigger hole in Dimentio's heart.

"I'M HERE! I'M HERE! ARE WE TOO-" Someone shouted, speeding in through the woods on a go-cart with three other people all squeezed onto the back of it. The car wheels screeched to a halt when the driver saw the desperate scene. He immediately slammed on the brakes and hopped out, a horrified expression on his face.

His wide eyes immediately got glassy.

It was Luigi, and in the car with him, Nastasia, Mimi, and O'Chunks (Who could barely even fit.)

"No..." Luigi whispered softly as his eyes locked onto Dimentio sobbing over Dio. Everyone else gasped and covered their mouths, the air suddenly filled with melancholy.

Mr. L paused, then took his hat off and bowed his head, blinking a few tears away.

Too late, Luigi told himself. I was too late.

Dimentio ignored all their stares. He didn't care that he was exposed without a mask. He didn't care who was watching anymore. It didn't matter anyhow. He just cared about listening to the sound of Dio's heartbeat, which was getting fainter and fainter.

"T-There has to be a way to save him, r-right?" Dimentio whispered, his voice muffled by his own sobbing. "T-There has to be a way."

Good guys always made things work out. They always got their happy endings. He wished he was a good guy so much at that moment. Dio was certainly a good guy, so why wasn't he getting a happy ending?? That wasn't fair! It simply wasn't fair.

"I... it," Dio whispered, which pretty much shocked everyone. They almost all thought he was already dead. He didn't move and his eyes remained closed, but his speaking at least confirmed that he could still hear. "It...is...too..."

Late. He was trying to say that it was too late.

Dimentio shook his head, still sobbing. Dio could feel Dimentio's short and quick breaths as he gasped and sobbed, hiccuping every now and then. It felt nice. He knew he was selfish for thinking that another's sadness made him happy, but it showed that someone had cared for him after all.

He had always wondered if anyone would really be sad if he were gone. Now he knew.

"It's.... okay," Dio whispered, not moving. His breathing slowed even more so as he let out a strained sigh.

"NO! I-it's not," Dimentio snapped back. "NOTHING about this is okay-"

"No yelling..." Dio begged, sounding almost loopy now. "No yelling... let's just please... stay like this. Happy... happy is good."

Dimentio shook his head, still sobbing, which in turn made Dio slightly sadder.

"Please... be happy... just for a minute. Let's be happy for just a minute..." Dio begged.

That's all he wanted in this life of infinite pain and loneliness. Just one moment of happiness, surrounded by people who loved him.

"...Okay," Dimentio whispered, though the tears were still falling. He hugged Dio slightly tighter and calmed his breathing, trying to put on a convincing act. "I'm happy..."

He tried thinking about the situation. Being there, with the people he spent his life with. His former teammates, who were once almost like a family to him, even though he had never seen them that way until now, (he hated himself for never seeing them as anything more than coworkers until this moment,) Mr. L, who he loved, (he could see that now,) And Dio, another version of himself, who was yet so different.

"I'm happy..." Dimentio whispered once again.

A small, weak smile formed on Dio's face.

"Me too..." Dio trailed off.

And for the first time in many many years... all the bad thoughts in his head were gone. All the sorrow and all the sadness had just disappeared, and he felt content.

He didn't feel the stinging sensation of the cuts on his arms, nor the stab wound in his back.

Everything was just, quiet.

Then everything was dark, and he no longer felt any pain.