Flipped (Super Paper Mario SWAP AU)

Thank You (27)

Prince L watched from his place as Daisy and Peach reunited, then joined up with Pierre once again. Peach was a lot denser than she seemed because she clearly had no idea that Ms. D and Daisy were the same. Although to be fair, Daisy didn't seem to know either. 

He was sure that if the roles were reversed and there was a Ms. P, Daisy would have been able to tell.

"What has happened?" Dimentio asked, teleporting back into the room and looking up at the large window.

Prince L remained silent and narrowed his eyes out of spite. He clutched his umbrella as if it was a staff. For some reason, ever since seeing Ms. D and the heroes meet their ends, he had been holding it closer, as if it was an old friend. 

The jester waited patiently for an answer, tapping his food. Prince L didn't speak, though. He wasn't going to. Why should he when Dimentio wasn't trusting enough to tell him things?

"Whatever," the jester muttered. "Get up. We have a mission."

"Something else for Nastasia?" the prince remarked. He made sure his tone was dripping with annoyance.

"No," Dimentio stated. "This is for someone else."

Prince L crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, waiting for more context.

The jester let out a strained sigh, then grasped the prince's arm, teleporting them both into what looked like an overly bright, cloudy place. This world was somehow even brighter than Countess Tippi's palace.

"We're in the Overthere," Dimentio explained.

"So you've killed us?"

"L, do you really think either of us could get into the Overthere?" the jester asked, laughing slightly.

The prince wanted to argue, but the jester did have a point. Prince L didn't want to believe that he was destined to freeze for all eternity in the Underwhere, but just standing by as Dimentio murdered people was surely an act wrong enough to put him down there, which sucked, but what could he do about it now?

"The sky is still blue here," Prince L noted as he looked up. The horizon faded to a yellow color as if the sun was just starting to set. But it never got darker. Maybe the sun was just starting to rise, forever stuck in that state of early morning.

Dimentio led the prince in green toward what looked to be some kind of temple. The prince wasn't sure if it was wise for them to be just walking in, but he didn't have much of another choice. He could turn and leave, but he didn't want to leave Dimentio on his own, even if his feelings toward the jester were a little tense at the moment.

The prince picked up the pace to keep up. Dimentio floated at a fairly quick rate, so he had to almost run to keep up.

"Dimentio, where are we even going—" the prince started to ask when the ground rumbled violently. As if on instinct, the prince reached out for Dimentio's hand, only to draw back.

This was just a simple earthquake. There was no need to freak out or panic.

Suddenly, a large red mechanical dragon appeared, towering over the two of them. 

The prince's eyes widened at the glorious creation. How much energy was required to fuel such a complex-looking machine?

Dimentio remained still and calm as if he was used to seeing machines like this one as the robotic dragon's eyes seemed to twirl, like it was scanning the two of them.

"INTRUSION DETECTED," it commanded in a robotic voice. "LEAVE IMMEDIATELY OR BE PURGED."

The prince's eyes widened further as the jester remained calm.