Mr. L collided with the ground abruptly. He heard the laughter of the three heroes around him.

'How?' he wondered. 'How did I loose again?' Heavy steps stomped to him, shaking the earth he laid on. Mr. L instantly knew who it was and cowered in fear.

"This was too easy!" Bowser exclaimed proudly as he towered over Mr. L's curled up body.

Mr. L tried to sit up, but found he was so weak he couldn't even do that. Brobot had once again been destroyed, and he had flown to the ground from the explosion. Along with all of Brobot's parts and his hard work.

Usually he could bounce up from something like this, but he had landed wrong, and suspected he broke a rib in the process.

"Have at you." He muttered softly, which was the only thing he could manage to

do by now.

Bowser laughed darkly and raised up his hand, along with his claws.

"Wait!" Princess Peach called out, momentarily stalling Bowser.

He turned to her, "What is it?"

The Princess twisted her fingers. "Well," she began nervously, not quite knowing why she had stopped Bowser in the first place. "Do we have to do this?" She finished.

Mr. L mustered up all the strength he had in him to see what was happening.

'Why is she doing this?' he wondered to himself.

"Of course we do!" Bowser declared loudly. "We can't have him follow us."

Peach glanced at Mr. L and frowned. "I doubt he can follow us as of now." She turned to Mario. "Right?"

Mario's eyes flashed to Mr. L as well. He appeared to be saddened for a bit, then looked back to his two friends. "Bowser's right," he sighed.

Mr. L felt as if he deflated as he heard this. He laid his head down with a thud.

The princess shot a look of surprise at Mario. He refused to look back at her, and instead looked to Bowser, who was looking even more proud then usual now.

"Just... Don't kill him." Mario finished quietly.

Bowser seemed disappointed, but reluctantly agreed and raised his hand again.

Mr. L closed his eyes tightly and prepared for the worst.

Bowser's claws went through the man in green's chest, instantly causing blood to come from the wound.

Mr. L yelped in pain. He had expected this to hurt, but not this bad. As soon as the claws left his body he curled up and turned his face to the ground. He tried to focus on his breathing, which was hard because even breathing hurt now.

The princess cowered behind Mario, not wanting to see anyone in this kind of torture. Not even a villain.

"C'mon." Mario said softly. He then turned and headed on. Hiding the unsure feeling he had. Bowser followed closely behind, feeling no remorse for the action he had just done.

Peach trailed behind, and even stopped to look back once. When she saw the way Mr. L looked she quickly turned and ran to Mario. Trying as hard as she could to fight back her tears.

Mr. L's legs were pressed against his chest. He felt the warmth of blood against his clothes. He was sweating, yet shivering.

'This is it...' he thought. 'The end of my game...' It was then that he realized he wanted this to be the end of his game. At least then he would be out of this pain. He nearly fell unconscious when he heard a familiar teleporting sound above him.

"Ah ah ah!" he sang. "Soiled again. Like a..." His voice tailed off when he noticed the severity of his ally's injury. He floated down so his feet touched the ground.

Then he noticed the blood.

Mr. L's eyes fluttered open. "Dimentio?" he asked weakly.

"L..." the jester whispered still studying the injuries. "You're hurt."

"No really?" Mr. L scoffed.

Dimentio gently picked up the injured man and held him softly him in his arms.

"Don't worry," he said calm as usual, even in a condition as grave as this. "I'll get you back to the castle. Then everything will be all right." He assured.

Mr. L nodded weakly, then leaned his head on the magician's chest.

'I need you alive.' Dimentio thought in his mind as they appeared back to Castle

Bleck.

Dimentio laid the unconscious Mr. L onto his bed, while being careful not to hurt him even more. Then, with a snap of his fingers he appeared in front of Nastasia.

The pink haired girl's eyes were glued to a clipboard, and she didn't even need to look up to know who was in front of her.

"Dimentio, I'm very busy and don't have time for your games today, 'K?" she proclaimed while adjusting her glasses.

"Ah, my dear, I'm afraid I am not playing games." The jester said.

Nastasia looked up and instantly dropped her clipboard. "Dimentio!" she exclaimed. "What happened?"

"Nothing. At least not to me." he stated while realizing Mr. L's blood was now coated onto him as well. "As for L, I cannot say the same."

"Where is he?" Nastasia questioned urgently.

"In his room."

The girl quickly ran past Dimentio and headed up the stairs to where all the rooms were magician stayed behind for a bit.

The safety of Mr. L was vital to all of his plans. If he died, everything would be in ruin.

Not only that, but Dimentio found that he really did like Mr. L. His personality was a splash of color on his usually dull life. Though, they did clash, he enjoyed the company. Besides, who wouldn't get annoyed by having to be with O' Chunks and Mimi.

'No.' Dimentio thought to himself. 'It's dangerous to become attached to him.'

He shook his head. Growing attached to the man in green would only back-fire on him in the end.

Dimentio heard his name being called from upstairs. He left his thoughts alone and floated up the staircase and into Mr. L's room.

Nastasia's fearful eyes looked to Dimentio for help. "This is bad." she said.

The jester floated next to Mr. L, whose bloody shirt lay on the floor. He kneeled down beside Mr. L. His eyes studied the injuries once more. They were easier to examine now that they had been cleaned a bit. It was now obvious Bowser's claws had gotten the best of him.

"Well," Nastasia began fearfully. "Can your magic save him?"

Dimentio's eyes didn't leave Mr. L. "I believe they can keep him alive, yes. But save him entirely... That is doubtful."

"Do what you can." The girl urged.

Dimentio responded with a nod then placed a hand on Mr. L's bare chest.

Mr. L moaned quietly in pain, then stirred a bit.

"Shhh," Dimentio whispered while focusing all the power he could into his healing powers.

He soon started to feel light-headed, and let his hand come off of his friend's chest and return to his side.

They sat in silence. Waiting for some sort of response.

Nastasia turned to Dimentio. "Did it work?"

He thought for a moment. Then replied, "Yes."

The secretary turned her attention back to Mr. L. The blood had stopped almost entirely, and the abrasions had cleared up a bit as well.

"I need a towel." The magician said looking to Nastasia.

She nodded, then rose to her feet.

"While you're at it, you might want to get a real doctor. He needs stitches."

"That second request might take awhile," Nastasia said. "You need to stay with him 'til the doctor gets here, 'K?"

Dimentio nodded in understanding, and Nastasia left the room.

The jester waited patiently. Staring blankly at his ally's motionless frame.

After a bit, Nastasia came back, gave Dimentio the towel, and exited again.

He went straight to work, pressing the towel against his friend. He tried to be as soft as he could while still being effective in stopping the bleeding entirely.

The pressure on his chest caused Mr. L to moan, but he stayed unconscious.

Dimentio sat relaxed at Mr. L's bedside, waiting for some form of life to come from his friend. With out thinking, his hand reached out and grabbed Mr. L's. His saddened eyes starred at the unconscious person in front of him.

The door creaked open, and with a flash Dimentio removed his hand from Mr. L's.

A green little girl wearing a pink and white flowered sundress peaked her head inside the room.

"Come in." Dimentio sighed.

Mimi made her way in, and her eyes locked on her seemingly lifeless friend.

Dimentio watched her carefully, wondering how she would handle seeing someone so close to her in this condition.

She remained silent, but sat down next to Dimentio.

Together, they sat in the noiseless room. Eventually, Mimi rested her head on the trickster's shoulder. Under normal circumstances Dimentio would have pushed her away, but right now, he didn't mind too much.

"Dimmy?" Mimi asked quietly, breaking the hush of the room.

"Yes?" Dimentio responded, turning his attention to the girl beside him.

"Will L be okay?" she questioned.

"Well..." Dimentio began, but stopped himself. Mimi didn't need to worry. "Yes." he finished.

Hope shinned into her eyes. Then, the two both turned their attention back to their wounded friend.

After sometime, the pair heard O' Chuncks proclaim dinner was ready.

Mimi, who had nearly fallen asleep, lifted her head away from Dimentio. She looked at him, waiting for him to get up.

"You go ahead." he finally said. "I'll stay with L."

Mimi tilted her head. "You sure?"

Dimentio nodded for a response. When he turned back he found a surprise.

"Ah!" he sang happily. "Sleeping beauty finally awakens!"

Mr. L's gray eyes were staring at him blankly. "Dim?" he asked.

"Naturally." he greeted.

Mr. L tried to sit up, and fell back down in pain. Dimentio quickly helped him, and propped him up with some pillows.

Mr. L murmured a thanks quietly, then turned back to the jester.

Dimentio gave him a questionable look, "Yes?"

"Why are you here?" The mustached man asked weakly.

Dimentio glared. "Do you wish for me to leave?"

The injured man quickly shook his head. "No," he assured. "I Just... Didn't expect you to care." He muttered.

The magician looked at the man in green, but said nothing.

It was then they both heard the injured man's stomach growl.

"Hungry?" Dimentio snickered.

Mr. L looked surprised, and didn't answer. But his friend took this as an excuse to leave the quiet room for a change.

"I'll be back," Dimentio said as he floated off the ground. "I'm going to get food."

When he came back in, Mr. L looked as if he was about to go to sleep again.

Dimentio took advantage of this moment to study the bandit.

His injuries were getting much better, which was a relief to him. The blood was completely stopped by now. His bangs were folded across his gray eyes. Sweat was coming down his forehead, though he was trembling as if he was cold.

Dimentio floated to his friend and whispered, "L?"

Mr. L eyes opened, and he winced with pain as he turned to face the person that had spoken to him.

Dimentio held up the food he had gotten.

Hours past, and Dimentio never left Mr. L's side. People came and went, the doctor had even arrived and stitched up Mr. L's injury. It was getting late, and Dimentio suggested that his ally get some much needed sleep.

Mr. L shook his head. "I don't need anymore rest."

"I disagree." Dimentio stated as he pulled the covers up over his friend. "Now sleep." He demanded.

Mr. L looked as if he truly was exhausted, but was keeping himself awake.

Dimentio thought for a moment, trying to figure out why his colleague would want to do this to himself.

He snapped his fingers together and the lights went out. Mr. L looked to Dimentio. His eyes looked almost scared. Dimentio frowned.

'Is he... Afraid of the dark?' the jester pondered to himself.

Mr. L's eyes would close, then pop open again. As if when he was about to sleep, he remembered and shot his eyes open again.

Then, when he realized he couldn't stay awake any longer, and kept his eyes closed.

Dimentio watched until he thought Mr. L was asleep, then lightly brushed the bangs out of his face.

"Dim?" Mr. L murmered, with his eyes still closed. He sounded half-asleep. "Will you stay?"

Dimentio was shocked, as he had thought Mr. L was asleep. He smiled, then laid his back on the hard ground. "I was planning on it."