Mr. L slowly opens his eyes to only see white above him. He waits a moment, mind not processing anything that has happened, before a panic washes over him.

He suddenly snaps up, breathing heavily. "DIMENTIO! WHERE'S DIMENTIO-"

"Shhh," Timpani gently urges, placing a hand on his chest and lying him back down. She wears a soft, warm smile on her face. "Dimentio's fine. He's just over there, see?"

Mr. L slowly tilts his head to the side to see Dimentio sleeping in a hospital bed about five feet away from his own. He could tell he was in a hospital now, due to all the wires hooked up to Dimentio. He let out a shaky sigh and relaxed a tad.

"He's okay?" The man in green quietly asks.

"Yes, he's going to be alright," Timpani assures. "The doctors say that if you didn't give him that initial shock to jumpstart his heart that he wouldn't have made it. So you saved him."

"Don't," Mr. L starts, only for his voice to come out too soft. He swallows, then repeats himself more clearly. "Don't tell him."

"Tell him what?" Timpani questions, confused. "That you saved him?"

"Yes," Mr. L spits. "Don't tell him. I don't want him to know."

"But-"

"Please," Mr. L whispers. "Please, just don't tell him."

"Okay, okay, I won't!" Timpani says, holding her hands up. "I don't understand why you don't want him knowing though. If I saved someone's life I'd want them to know-"

"Don't tell him I cared either! Just say that you guys found us and saved us. Don't mention me!" Mr. L urges. "Please."

"What? Mr. L, why are you acting so-" She suddenly stops herself as Blumiere walks in.

"Oh, good. You woke up," He tells Mr. L as he brings in some tea. "It's been about a week. I was worried."

"Yeah, Yeah, I'm fine. Has Dimentio woken up?!" Mr. L quickly asks. "What did he say? Did-"

"Relax, shhh, relax..." Blumiere whispers. "He hasn't woken up yet. But he's alright."

"Good... good...," Mr. L sighs, closing his eyes again.

"Pffft," The girl starts, bursting into laughter.

"What is it now?" Mr. L asks.

"You were a simp!" She giggles, pointing at him, leading him to cross his arms and roll his eyes.

"It was a long time ago." He admits, smiling at her laughter.

"Like, wow. You know, by looking at you, I wouldn't take you for a simp. But here we are. What was it like? Share your simping ways!" She chuckles.

"Okay, do you want me to actually tell the story, or do you want to sit here and make fun of me?"

"Question! Can I do both?" She asks, raising her hand.

"No."

"Aww... fine. Proceed..." She mutters, still giggling.

It takes another week for Dimentio to wake up. By then, Mr. L had been already cleared to leave the hospital. However, he chose to stay and wait for Dimentio. He made sure everyone knew not to tell the jester that he was the one who saved him, and though everyone seemed confused by his request, they eventually agreed. Blumiere and Timpani waited with him, explaining their situation to him. There was a small town they found. A town where people like them could disappear to, no strings attached. Yes, it wasn't much, but for Timpani and Blumiere, they didn't need anything else.

They said that Mr. L was invited to stay with them since he had nowhere else to be. No one else knew he was alive, and it would surely cause problems if he were to just reappear. They all assumed Dimentio would do the same.

When Dimentio finally did wake up, Mr. L was the only one there. He was sitting next to Dimentio's bed, reading a book he found on astrology. It was actually quite a wonderful, eye-opening book. It reminded him of his dreams to stand on the sky one day. To travel the world and live amongst the stars. He was caught up in his little dream when he heard the jester begin to stir.

His eyes immediately light up and he drops the book, gently placing a hand on Dimentio's shoulder. "Dimentio?! Dimentio!!! You're okay!"

Dimentio's eyes slowly fluttered open, his vision blurry. A soft "huh?" is all he could manage.

And Mr. L beams, so grateful to hear his voice again. "It's okay. You're in a hospital. We're getting you healed."

"What?" Dimentio softly askes again, his voice slightly stronger. "Mr. L?"

"Yes. Yes, it's me. Don't worry. Everything is ok-"

Suddenly Dimentio snaps up and grabs Mr. L's neck, squeezing it with a deadly glare in his eyes. "YOU! WHY ARE YOU HERE?! WHERE'S THE PERFECT WORLD-"

"Dimentio... let go!" Mr. L pleads, voice soft from the lack of air.

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" Dimentio demands, rage making his voice quake. Suddenly, Timpani and Blumiere come strolling in, Blumiere holding a breakfast tray. "I've brought your tea-" He starts, before seeing the dangerous scene unfolding in front of him, causing him to immediately drop the tray and rush to the man in green's aid.

"Dimentio! Let go!" Blumiere commands, trying to pry his hands off. Dimentio hisses and shake his head, seeming even more so angry now due to the former Count's sudden entrance. "NO! WHERE'S THE PERFECT WORLD?! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE?!"

"Enough, Dimentio! You didn't get the perfect world! You lost!" Blumiere spits. Dimentio immediately gasps and lets go, causing Mr. L to stumble backward and cough, trying to regain his breath.

"What?" Dimentio asks, voice softer and hands shaking.

"You," Mr. L coughs, catching his breath. "You didn't win."

Dimentio waits a moment, before shaking his head frantically. "No, No, I had to win. My plan was flawless. FLAWLESS!!!"

"Dimentio," Blumiere starts.

"NO! I NEED TO FINISH WHAT I STARTED!!!" Dimentio interrupts, trying to snap his fingers to teleport away.

Nothing happens.

"You can't teleport right now," Blumiere explains with a blank expression on his face. Dimentio nervously laughs and continued snapping his fingers. "Ah ha ha, that's funny. Like an overused joke about a nearly flightless bird crossing a street. What do you mean?!"

"I mean," Blumiere states, "You've lost your magical abilities. You can't. Teleport. Away."

"WHAT?!" Both Mr. L and Dimentio shout at the same time, equally shocked.

"While you were both still unconscious, the doctors treating Dimentio told us that to keep him alive, they'd have to reroute his magic to his life force. So you can't use your magic anymore. We're sorry."

Dimentio just sits there, processing this information for a second. "You took... my magic?"

"No," Blumiere says. "We didn't TAKE it. It's still there, it's just being used for something else now."

Dimentio shakes his head, a horrified expression on his face. Then he brings his hands to his face, only to pause.

"....Where's my mask?"

Everyone just stands there, silently exchanging nervous glances.

"Answer me," Dimentio demands. "Where. Is. My. MASK?!"

"Well," Blumiere nervously mutters. "When we found you it was lying on the ground, broken."

Dimentio makes a horrified squeak, then quickly stands himself up.

"I'm leaving."

"What?!" Timpani asks.

"I'm leaving." Dimentio repeats.

"Where?!" Mr. L asked. "Where exactly will you go now?! You have no plan!"

"Doesn't matter! As long as it's away from you!"

Mr. L winces.

Blumiere steps in front of the door and blocks the jester from leaving. "Dimentio..."

"My Count, move aside," Dimentio commands, his voice shaky knowing he had no real power anymore. "Move, before I make you move."

"You can't make me move. Dimentio, we have a place. A place all of us can stay and be accepted. A place where our past won't come to haunt us!"

"Will you guys be there?" Dimentio asked.

"Yes," Blumiere stated.

"Then what you just said isn't true, now is it? Let me out now."

"Dimentio, be rational! Think about this! There's nowhere else for you to go!!" Timpani cries.

"Doesn't matter. All that matters is that I never see any of you again. You should have left me for dead. It was foolish of all of you not to."

"But Dimentio-" Mr. L starts.

"I HATE YOU!" Dimentio snaps, shaking. "ALL OF YOU! MY HATRED FOR YOU BURNS LIKE A RAGING FOREST FIRE IN A DRY SUMMER DAY!"

Mr. L winces, then slowly looks down.

"Fine."

He slowly turns and starts walking out, Blumiere and Timpani exchanging confused glances, before following behind him. They leave the room and shut the door behind them, leaving Dimentio alone with his rage.

"I don't know what I expected," Mr. L admits.

"None of us have anywhere else to go, and without his magic, he can't leave. This place is quite far from any other cities," Timpani explains.

"Yeah, about that, where even are we? I haven't left the hospital."

Blumiere slowly smiles, then guides him outside. To Mr. L's surprise, it looked like an old, run-down city block. Shady-looking people were walking around just outside and across the street, he could see a bunch of stray cats covered in trash and fleas.

"This," Mr. L starts, slightly disgusted. "Is the place you ran away to?"

"It's perfect!" Blumiere enthusiastically chimes. "No one cares who we are here! We can finally be together!!!"

"Perfect... isn't the first thing that came to my mind," Mr. L admits. "Where are you guys staying?"

"Oh, let us show you! You'll love it! There's an empty shop next to it, but it's abandoned. And here, basically, any open building is up for grabs!" Timpani explains.

"Cool..." Mr. L mutters as they start leading him through the sketchy town.

For a while, they just all walk in awkward silence.

"He'll come around," Timpani randomly states as they continue walking for a while.

"Huh?" Mr. L responds.

"Dimentio. He'll come around. He has to. I mean, there's nothing else for him to do..."

"Oh. Yeah...." Mr. L murmurs.

"So," Blumiere starts. "Are you gonna tell us why you were acting so weird?"

"Huh?"

"Ya know," Timpani giggles. "Why you were so determined to save him. Or why you wouldn't leave the hospital until you knew he was alright!"

Mr. L just stays silent, face going slightly red.

"Oh.... I've seen that look! You LIKE HIM, don't you!!" Timpani excitedly squeals, making Mr. L's face go even redder.

"What?! No, no! I just... well... I wanted to just make sure he was okay!"

"Yes," Blumiere adds, with a more serious tone. "Because you love him. I mean, I saw the way you were constantly trying to impress him, with your advanced machines and stuff."

"I was mainly trying to impress you with those, Count." Mr. L quietly replies, causing Blumiere to chuckle and tip his hat. "No need to call me Count anymore. It's just Blumiere, now."

Mr. L gives him a small confused look but shrugs it off quickly. "Alright, Blumiere. Well, I wasn't doing all that to impress Dimentio. I was trying to impress you and show you that I was capable. That I was stronger than I appeared. Luigi had always been the underdog, so I was trying to improve that I was capable of being the best. That I deserved the spotlight."

Blumiere and Timpani both just stare at him for a moment, smiles slowly creeping onto their faces.

"... WHAT?! That's it! Really!" Mr. L urges.

"Sure, sure," Timpani sighed. "So what made you care for him so much these past few weeks then?"

"I DON'T... I don't know." Mr. L admits. "I guess I was wondering why he killed me. I mean, maybe I did something wrong to him, so I was trying to make up for it-"

"Hold on, hold on, hold on, he killed you?" Blumiere asks, shock in his voice.

"Yeah? Did- did he not mention that...?" Mr. L questions, voice softening. Both Timpani and Blumiere shake their heads.

"I didn't know HE killed you. I didn't even see you after your second robot battle until..." Timpani trails off.

"Until...?" Mr. L questions.

"Until we found Luigi in the Underwhere," She admits, suddenly gasping. "Oh My Grambi, he DID kill you!!"

"He told me the heroes killed you!!" Blumiere shouts. "I can't believe this!!!"

"Didn't he betray you too? It's not really that shocking," Mr. L mutters. "I mean. It was for me because I was heartbroken over my loss to the heroes, and when he showed up, a part of me actually thought he came to comfort me. But..."

"Aw, Mr. L..." Timpani breathes, suffocating him with an unwanted hug. "That's so sad."

"You don't need to hug me," He mutters, secretly comforted by it. "And it's fine. I'm okay now."

"Are you?" Timpani asks. Mr. L waits a moment to answer, Timpani's arms still suffocating him in a useless hug.

"I don't know," He admits. "He didn't mean that... right?"

"Mean what?" Blumiere asks.

"That he never wanted to see me again. Plus... When he first woke up... when he saw me, he was upset because he realized he wasn't in his perfect world. Meaning... I wouldn't be in his perfect world." Mr. L explains with a hint of sadness in his tone. "Plus, before he killed me he essentially told me I was useless. That I was a disappointment and that no one would accept my failures."

"Mr. L," Blumiere starts with a sigh. "I've known Dimentio for quite some time. And.. he is... a strange fellow to say the least. You can never fully trust his words."

Mr. L sighs, as they all come up to a rundown block with a few small buildings crammed together. The paint was chipped off the walls and the streets were filled with debris and garbage.

"It's okay. He'll come around. Now... let's go home," Blumiere smiles, leading Mr. L inside.

______

Dimentio waits until everyone had gone, then lays back down, holding both his hands to the side of his head.

He couldn't believe how crummy this situation was. He lost, he no longer could use his magic, and he was stuck somewhere with who but the three people he wronged the most. And worst of all, he had nowhere else to go! If he left this place, surely Mario or one of his old teammates would find him. And knowing what he did, they wouldn't act nearly as forgiving as these fools. He's surely be sent to the Underwhere in a heartbeat, which was not an option. He knew his crimes from how he spent his life would only win him the worst of punishments from Jaydes.

No, the only option was to make do with what he had and figure this all out later.

But seeing Blumiere, Timpani, and L acting so kind? It was very offputting. He would think they'd all be furious. They should have been the angriest.

Guess they're just softer than he thought. Pitiful, really.

Mr. L didn't visit anymore now that he knew Dimentio was okay. Dimentio was grateful for not having to see him or anyone from his past. He got out of the hospital as soon as the doctors let him and made his way through the town.

Boy, did it disgust him. The streets, the buildings, the people, everything. But he could see downtown a fancier section. A section with bigger houses, a school, a real shop, and a park. THAT, was where he wanted to go. He tried walking up to it, only for a policeman to hold his hand out, preventing the jester from doing so. "I'm sorry, sir," The officer states. "This is a private area for people who own houses in here."

"Ah," Dimentio coldly chuckles. "So you give the rich a good place to stay while the poor all live out here in this filth?"

"I'm sorry, sir. It's the way things are."

He shoos Dimentio away, leading the jester to turn and start grumbling to himself as he walks off about how he'd find a way in there. He was not going to spend the rest of his game in such filth. No way. If he had to be here, it would be in one of those fancier houses.

And... he needed a goal. Something to work towards. His last one had failed, so he needed to be successful at something. This seemed easy enough. Right?

As time went on, he found a shabby old apartment near a very noisy street. He did his very best to avoid Blumiere, Timpani, and Mr. L, living a few blocks away from them. Although he did occasionally see them all. He'd never really speak to them, but after time his hatred began to melt away, and they became not enemies in his eyes. But they weren't friends either. Just acquaintances.

This all would take some time getting used to.