Dysfunctional Family

Time For a Change

Dimentio chuckled with a sadistic grin on his mask and face, his eyes wide with excitement as he pursed his two fingers together. Mr.L on the other hand had miraculously dodged just in time from an explosion in a desperate last-ditch effort to survive Dimentio's sudden spark of insanity.

"Whoa, now! Hey! What are you doing?!" Mr.L shouted.

"You said it yourself. You can't go back to the count now. So get lost." Dimentio hissed.

Mr.L shook his head as he breathed heavily, struggling not to let his fear show through.

"Not funny Dimentio... If I wanted to laugh, your face is inspiration enough!" Mr.L spat.

Dimentio frowned but quickly turned it upward with a smirk as he simply laughed in reply.

"Such temper! Your nostrils, they flare out like the hood of a hissing cobra! I can't have you around the count. If I am rid of you here, I won't be found out. And the others will be sure to find you. Yes, this is my moment to grasp..." Dimentio chuckled darkly.

Dimentio waved his hands and before Mr.L could even think of dodging, he was trapped.

"It's time for you to take your final bow," Dimentio said, "Mr.L-"

"ALASTOR!!! Desist this instant!!!"

Dimentio choked and the execution box surrounding Mr.L vanished into thin air, causing the man in green to collapse to the floor. The jester whipped around to glare at whoever managed to find them in the Void and then found himself tackled to the floor by none other than Astor.

"ACK! What do you think you are doing?! How did you get here?!" Dimentio demanded, "I am Count Bleck's master of dimensions and pleaser of crowds! And you should be wise to stay on my GOOD side!"

Dimentio snapped and Astor flew off of himself and quickly stood up, summoning a projectile in each gloved hand. Astor skid across the floor before righting himself with his staff.

"Calm down, I mean no harm this time around," Astor stated.

"I hate to correct you, but you just TACKLED ME." Dimentio spat, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have matters to attend to."

Dimentio waved his hand and Mr.L was once again trapped inside of an execution box.

"Not again!" Mr.L exclaimed, placing his hands on the walls, "What in the worlds is going on?! Why do you look like the count?!"

Astor scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Obviously, the count looks like me, not the other way around." Astor stated, "And I cannot allow you to end the man in green's game!"

Astor waved his hand and a box-shaped shield of sorts appeared inside of the execution box around Mr.L, protecting him from the possibility of the box igniting. Dimentio scowled at Astor and didn't even bother to try and hide how annoyed he was on his mask.

"What is the meaning of this?! Who are you?! Did the count send you here?! ANSWER ME!" Dimentio demanded, his normal calm and collected demeanor falling away completely as he just sounded deranged.

"I am Lord Astor, Blumiere's father, and I am currently here to stop you from making a decision you will regret for the rest of your game!" Astor exclaimed.

Dimentio paused as his mask's expression went blank.

"Impossible. All members of the Tribe of Darkness were murdered by Count Bleck himself." Dimentio stated flatly, his psychotic demeanor completely dropping all at once.

Astor shook his head and pointed at Dimentio.

"And I know for a fact that Dimentio is NOT your birth name." Astor told him, "Alastor."

"Alastor?! Who the heck is Alastor?!" Mr.L exclaimed, still trapped under two layers of magic boxes.

Dimentio ignored Mr.L as he went wide-eyed, staring at Astor stupified.

"I-impossible. Nobody knows that name, I never told anyone, I had no one to tell it to!" Dimentio stated, "You're bluffing. You have to be bluffing."

"Bluffing? Would a man who's bluffing know that your parents are none other than Lady Timpani and Lord Blumiere? Would a man who's bluffing know that your birth name is none other than Alastor Bleck? Would a man who's bluffing know that you plan to utilize the Chaos Heart to remake all worlds into perfection?" Astor questioned sarcastically, "And would a man who is bluffing... Know that the only reason you're going through with killing this man is because you're afraid to emotionally attach yourself to anyone after you believed your parents abandoned you? You love that man but you're scared that he'll abandon you."

Dimentio simply stood frozen as blush quickly heated up his face below his mask, his mouth hanging slightly ajar as he remained stupified; Astor had just relayed every dark secret he held as if it was common knowledge.

"Excuse me, WHAT?!" Mr.L questioned.

Dimentio took a shaky breath and stepped up to Astor, his mask a blank expression as he lowered his voice down to a whisper.

"You're not just some passerby, are you?" Dimentio spat, his voice venomous, "What do you want from me you demon of the past!?"

"Let the man in green go or you shall be miserable for the rest of your life," Astor stated.

Dimentio simply remained frozen like a statue, unmoving with a blank face.

"You know that you don't want to kill him. Just release the box and I shall tell you why I am here." Astor said.

Dimentio twitched slightly before flicking his wrist, causing the execution box to vanish. Astor smirked and waved his own hand, making the final cage dissipate. Mr.L fell to the floor and took in a sharp inhale of air, trying to stop himself from dying of a heart attack from the two attempts on his life in a row.

"Oh my Grambi... I can't breathe... I can hardly process....." Mr.L wheezed, trying to catch his breath.

After a moment of Dimentio and Astor watching Mr.L trying not to puke, Mr.L finally righted himself and pointed back and forth between the two of them.

"Let me get this straight... Dimentio, whose real name isn't even Dimentio, is ACTUALLY called Alastor BLECK?" Mr.L questioned, "As in related to COUNT BLECK?!"

"N-NO!" Dimentio quickly stated.

"Yes, Count Bleck is the name my son, Lord Blumiere, is now using," Astor replied.

Dimentio and Mr.L both turned and gawked at Astor.

"YOU are the count's father?!" Dimentio and Mr.L exclaimed.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, WAIT! That tattle Pixl with that plumber-! And if Count Bleck is ALSO someone named Blumiere-!" Mr.L started.

Dimentio pinched the bridge of his masked nose and cringed.

"Oh NOOOOoooooooo..." Dimentio groaned.

"That butterfly said that her name was TIMPANI! So that means that your FATHER is the COUNT and that butterfly trying to help kill him is your MOTHER!?!?!" Mr.L shouted.

Dimentio shook his head to himself as he practically melted from embarrassment.

"Nope. I don't want this. I'm going to find a new life elsewhere." Dimentio said.

Dimentio went to teleport away only for Astor to grab him by the hand.

"You are not going anywhere until you help me fix everything," Astor stated, "Starting with him."

Astor pointed at Mr.L, who was still rambling to himself trying to process everything in the last half hour of life. Dimentio looked up at Astor pleadingly.

"Anything but that..." Dimentio begged.

"Don't make me do it myself," Astor warned.

Dimentio groaned in response as looked over at Mr.L, knowing that more than just a wrench was probably thrown into his plan.

More like the whole tool box.