Super Poyo Mario! (An SPM AU)

Monster?

"W-WHAT?!" All of them exclaimed.

"M-monster?!" Mario squeaked.

"Here?!" Luigi questioned.

"The Count is a monster?!" Mr.L yelled, "I mean, he's a jerk. BUT STILL!"

Dimentio nodded with a smirk.

"Oh yes, but not in the sense that you might think." Dimentio stated, "You see, I'm sure you're all acquainted with monsters of the observable kind. What with physicalities and such that resemble one."

The rest of them blinked in confusion.

"Can you please speak actual words?" Luigi asked.

Dimentio sighed heavily in response.

"Count Bleck is not a monster physically, but in the mental state of mind." Dimentio reiterated, "He may appear to be the same man as Blumiere... But he is Blumiere no longer."

Timpani shook her head in disbelief.

"I-impossible! You say Blumiere is alive yet you also claim him to be dead!" Timpani said.

Dimentio chuckled again, his grin spreading ear to ear.

"Perhaps it would be best if I start by recalling some memories you might have had pre-incident, hm?" Dimentio hummed, "Allow me to shed some light on your tainted memory... Circa only mere moments before Blumiere tried to come to your rescue..."

Dimentio snapped his fingers and all of them seemed to fall asleep into a shared dream made by the jester himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Timpani hummed as she warily looked around at the new and unfamiliar scenery, feeling a little exposed despite the thick crowd blocking anyone's view of her. She now stood in the midst of a large space station, namely the central station for all inter-world transport. 

She clutched her stomach, honestly feeling a little woozy. It wasn't normal for her to get space-sickness after travel, but the flight had made her queazy regardless. The feeling passed and she sighed in relief.

"I can't thank you enough... I know that we haven't exactly been on the best of terms, eh-heh..." Timpani trailed off.

Timpani turned back towards the shuttle she was just in mere moments prior to see none other than Blumiere's father trail out behind her. He gave her a half-hearted sigh as he brushed some non-existent dust from his armor.

"Yes, well, I would've wished to not have to do this at such an un-Grambi-like hour as this." Blumiere's father replied, "But the need to leave was urgent, indeed."

Timpani chuckled sheepishly in response, tilting her head a little down.

"Sorry again..." Timpani murmured, "But... You won't tell Blu, right?"

Blumiere's father sighed and pinched the bridge of his mask, shaking his head in frustration.

"Yes, because it'll be SO easy to tell him you had to vanish for reasons I can't tell him." He sarcastically retorted, "He OBVIOUSLY will just look over his fianceé's sudden disappearance."

"Please..?" Timpani pleaded.

She looked up at him with big begging puppy eyes and he felt his stern gaze soften. He paused for a moment before he turned with a huff, crossing his arms with a sigh of defeat.

"Fine. I won't tell Blumiere." Blumiere's father spat, "But this is proving to be too much trouble."

"I know, and I'm really sorry, sir," Timpani replied.

The two stood in silence for a moment. Suddenly, the silence was broken by Blumiere's father, who started to chuckle a little.

"Heh, fine. It's not like he'll never see you again." He stated, "And if he doesn't completely hate me by the end of this forsaken war, I would still like to attend the wedding."

Timpani giggled in response with a smile and a cheerful nod.

"Of course, sir. I promise that you'll be invited." Timpani replied.

Timpani paused for a moment before leaping forward and wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

"Thank you so much for your help," Timpani murmured.

Timpani pulled back and waved goodbye to him with a smile as she walked off, ready to find some means of transport back to her homeworld.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mario, Mr.L, Timpani, and Luigi all blinked simultaneously as if waking up. Their vision cleared and they groaned a little or clutched their heads as if they had a headache as well. Dimentio simply watched with a smirk as they struggled to regain coordination.

"Enjoying the little show?" Dimentio taunted, "Surely you must have remembered the carnage that followed, Timpani..."

Timpani shook her head, allowing her mind to clear up enough so she could shoot him a glare.

"Hey! Stop messing around!" Luigi exclaimed, rubbing one of his eyes still.

Dimentio chuckled, causing shivers to run down everyone's spines.

"Messing around? Oh, no. Magic is no laughing matter. I am always deadly serious." Dimentio replied.

"Good to know." Mr.L retorted, "How about you warn us next time you plan to dish out headaches?"

He chuckled again in amusement before continuing.

"I have been watching you all... You are the only ones who can stand up to Count Bleck." Dimentio stated.

Timpani furrowed her eyebrows in response, trying to figure out what he might be implying.

"So... I have a favor to ask." Dimentio continued, "Will you help me... destroy the Count?"

Timpani, Mario, and Luigi all gasped while Mr.L seemed unfazed.

"What are you talking about?! You want to betray him?!" Luigi questioned.

Dimentio laughed again and shook his head, as if Luigi had just said the stupidest thing.

"Betray him? Ah ha ha ha. Oh, no. It is Count Bleck who has betrayed ME!" Dimentio exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Mario asked.

"Gee, I dunno, from the Count leaving us all to die on the starship to the Count leaving Dimentio and me by the Amazing Mirror to be caught, I'm SURE there's a betrayal in there somewhere." Mr.L replied sarcastically.

Timpani shook her head in disbelief. She knew that this was no longer the Blumiere she had known and loved, but imagining anything so cruel seemed foreign to her still.

"I have always suspected his nefarious goal, but I could never hope to stop him on my own. I feigned loyalty to him as I searched for someone who could defeat him with me!" Dimentio exclaimed.

Dimentio turned away from them, folding his hands behind his back as his yellow eye turned a thoughtful green.

"Well, you see... That is why... I came up with an alternative to killing the original warrior in green." Dimentio started, "It's also why I also attempted to save my loyal teammates only for a fruitless effort."

Dimentio turned and grinned at Mr.L.

"And also why I freed a certain warrior in green from the clutches of the Mirror World's abyss..." Dimentio said, "Now do you see?"

"You've..... Been helping people entire time..?" Timpani questioned, a small hopeful smile forming on her face.

Dimentio smiled triumphantly, happily accepting blame on her accusation.

"Ahhh, you've got me pegged. Now, how about you return the favor?" Dimentio ventured, "I'll give you the power you need to crush Count Bleck... Just fight by my side!"