Chase the Nightmares Away

5: Honor

Every night, someone woke up screaming. Tonight, it was Mr. L. Count Bleck no longer showed his other minions as much kindness as he first had, finding it harder and harder to keep up the evil act as time ran out. It was easier to avoid them than to let them see who he really was.

Out of all of the ways he had recruited his minions, Mr. L's creation made him feel the worst. He knew who Luigi had been before all this. He had turned the hero's own brother against him, chased away the light in him in a necessary attempt to create the man in green the Dark Prognosticus called for.

It had been a long process. Nastasia had never done something like that before. He still woke up in a cold sweat, hearing the man's screaming echoing in his ears...

He entered the cell, spotting the man in green huddling in the far corner. The brim of his green hat was pulled over his eyes, as if to hide from the dark.

"Man in green..." Count Bleck said carefully. The man looked up at him, his blue eyes going wide in fright at the sight of his blood-red eyes glowing in the dark. He conjured up a purple flame and cupped it in the palm of his hand, lowering himself down to the prisoner's eye level. "What's your name...?"

"L-Luigi," the man answered hesitantly.

"Do you know who I am, Luigi?"

Luigi nodded. "Yeah... You're that Count Bleck guy who kidnapped the princess. I-I tried to stop you and your phony wedding, but I was too weak..."

The count's expression softened minutely. He thought it would be harder to find a weakness, a focal point for the hypnotic personality switch. He hated the fact that he was going to have to abuse it. If only it had been someone else who had touched the Chaos Heart, someone without so much innocence in them.

"Correct," he said in a loud, blustering voice, covering up his sympathy. "You were not even close." He paused, narrowing his expression into a scornful grin. "You will always be worthless, pathetic... You aren't a hero. Heck, you aren't even villain material! Count Bleck should strike you down."

'Villain material' was Nastasia's cue to start her hypnosis. He heard her shift somewhere behind him, the waves of her hypnosis invisibly passing him by and focusing on the poor, defeated man. He raised his staff, hating the way the man cringed away. He hated it even more when he brought it down, striking him and producing a choked yelp. "You are weak. Even your own brother spits on you."

There was another scream, this time followed by a sob. "So, you will not even fight back?"

"I-I can't!" Luigi cried out, blood dripping to the floor.

"Fight!" the count snarled, leaving a third line of red.

Luigi only howled in pain.

Count Bleck hit him again and again and again...each time yelling at him to fight back. But he never did. Nastasia gasped in shock and fright with each thud, but did not cease her hypnotism. She knew this was the work of the other, the thing that pushed the once pure Blumiere into darkness.

The staff was lifted tremblingly high in the air, but it fell uselessly to his side. There was a clatter as the count dropped it, his white cloak now stained by flecks of crimson.

Luigi lay on the floor, legs hugged to his chest in a passive effort to protect himself, sobs raking painfully through his body. Count Bleck could not bear to push him further today. He shakily left the dungeon, leaving Nastasia to clean up. He went to his bedroom. Blumiere wanted to cry, but Count Bleck would not let him.

It continued like that for days and days, Count Bleck abusing him time and time again until, finally, Luigi caught the staff as it was descending, and said in a firm voice, "NO." After that, his part was blessedly done. From that one simple change which he had forced into the man, Nastasia could bend and shape his soul into that of a different person. She would and had been telling him that it was the man in red who was the source of the pain, of his feelings of worthlessness.

She would convince him that Count Bleck believed in him. He did believe, and only wished that he could express that support to the man who was really there, not this facsimile that had been put in his place.

He looked up, startled to find that he had gone to Mr. L's hangar/bedroom on autopilot. He had planned to go back to bed. No, his heart was right. He owed it to this man whom he'd tortured for days on end to offer him comfort if he could.

He stood there in the middle of the hangar, looking around but not seeing the man in green. In the quiet, he heard the soft sound of sobbing and headed towards it. "Mr. L?"

There was a bang and a clatter as something was dropped. Mr. L darted out from behind one of the many projects littering his room, saluting hastily. He was missing his hat and mask, and had clearly fallen asleep working on something. "Count Bleck! Wh-What do you need?"

The count sighed sadly, despising the man's frightened respect. "Have you been having nightmares?"

Mr. L looked taken aback at the abruptness of the unexpected question. "Y-Yeah, so?" He gasped and looked worried. "Is it affecting my efficiency?!"

"No! ...Er, ahem. Count Bleck does not expect one hundred percent efficiency out of anyone, even himself."

Mr. L shook his head. "But I've gotta be perfect... For you! I owe you for everything you've done for me!"

Count Bleck bit his lip, torn between telling the man about his past, hightailing it out of there, or giving him a hug. After fighting with himself for a moment, he actually opted for the last one. Count Bleck delicately tucked his minion against his chest, leaving Mr. L confused and stiff, unable to return it.

"You owe me nothing, Mr. L," the count said quietly in a choked voice. "Please, tell me what your nightmare was about."

"I-It was nothing..." Mr. L said, finally resting his head against the count's shoulder. "Just those weird dreams about the heroes again... Nothing to worry about, right?"

Count Bleck hated himself for this. "Yes..." He released the mechanic, whose head was bowed down towards the floor. "Mr. L, if you ever need anything, promise you will come find me. I will always help you," he said solemnly.

Mr. L looked up at him and smiled slightly, hints of Luigi contained in that smile. "Thank you..."

Count Bleck nodded before turning with a flourish of his cloak and exiting the hangar just as mechanically as he'd arrived.