The first thing I felt was confusion. I had no idea what was happening to me. 

The second was fear. It was dark. Too dark. Dark and cold. I wanted light and warmth. 

The third feeling was the strongest. Loneliness. It was far too quiet for my liking. I wanted someone to say something. Anyone.

"There's always a choice," Count Bleck's voice breathed.

...Anyone but him.

I looked up. Everything was dark except for him. There his image was, standing in front of me. He smiled as if he was an old friend.

"Huh?" I asked, though it wasn't my voice. It wasn't me who asked that. It's hard for me to put it into words.

I frowned, then tried speaking again, just to see if I could. 

Unfortunately, we were met with silence.

"Mr. L. It's been a while," Count Bleck smiled. "Do you still draw?"

"Shut up, Count. You're not real," I said once again.

Ah, NOW I recognized the voice coming from me. It was Mr. L!

Ugh, this was so weird...

"Ah, Mr. L. Always the clever one," Count Bleck shrugged.

"I'm scared. What the heck is happening?!" Mr. L demanded.

"We are one, of course," Count Bleck explained. "Wasn't that your goal? Although I don't see why. Why would you do that? We've already won, haven't we?"

"What part of this is winning?!" Mr. L exclaimed. "You know what? Just do us all a favor and shut up!"

"Ever the brave one," Count Bleck teased. "Don't you want Count Bleck to offer his words of wisdom in your hour of terror? Don't you want him to tell you that the past doesn't define you, nor does the future?"

I did my best to tune him out. He wasn't real. He was just the Heart, presenting itself as the last person it had a clear hold on. It wasn't me. The heart was just trying to twist the story and manipulate us.

"But Count Bleck is not trying to manipulate you, Blumiere." Count Bleck said.

Oh, likely story. That's all anyone ever does! First, it was my father, then it was the Dark Prognosticus, and now it's the Chaos Heart!  Get out of my head! Quit reading my thoughts!

Count Bleck stayed silent for a while. Mr. L didn't speak out either. It felt like we were all just waiting around for something to happen.

"... You're all tired. I can tell," Count Bleck finally said with a sigh, his unusual third person speech pattern briefly dissappearing. "This... isn't the world you wanted. You wanted peace, but instead, you got chaos."

"Well, that's what happens when you mess with literal chaos hearts," Mr. L muttered.

I winced slightly. 

"I know, and at the end of the day, I'm not real," Count Bleck breathed. "It's too late. You can't undo what happened. It's over. I'm sorry."

No! It's never too late.

We're going to get out of here. The posters all keep advertising the idea that just a pencil and a dream could get anyone anywhere, but it's not enough. We need support. We need inspiration. We need someone to fight for. 

I need a future. A life with Timpani.

This is the end. The real end. We were going to end this entire world and bring our futures back. 

I may have been born of darkness, but that doesn't mean I belong to it. We're always free to choose.

I'm not quite sure how fusion works. According to Dimentio, the Chaos Heart has to be at its full potential. When he explained it, there were three things involved. The power source, the host, and the one in command. 

Count Bleck seemed to squint at us, then shrugged and vanished. 

It got dark and cold. I was starting to hear voices in my head that weren't my own. By the time my vision cleared, I didn't feel just like myself anymore. I felt overwhelmed. All my anger and all of Mr. L's fears were spiraling through my head like an uncontrolled blizzard.

"I don't like this," Mr. L had said, though the words were still coming out of my mouth.

I don't either, I thought. I tried speaking the words, but they still couldn't seem to form.

I wasn't sure what we looked like anymore. Dimentio said that "Super Dimentio," was his name for the monstrous fusion of the man in green, the Chaos Heart, and the one harnessing the power. Although, I had no idea why he would call it "Super Dimentio," since it clearly had nothing to do with him. I also had no idea how he knew about this. I mean, he hadn't read the Dark Prognosticus as far as I was aware, so how would he know about this fusion stuff?

"Blumiere, you have to control us," Mr. L said.

Huh? Oh, right, I was the one primarily in charge, I guess. 

I slowly looked around until I spotted Timpani. She looked much smaller than before. She didn't look afraid, however. If anything, she looked relieved. 

My father, on the other hand, looked HORRIFIED. He was trembling at the sight. I don't honestly know what we looked like, but-

"Hey, Timp! What do we look like?" Mr. L asked as if he was reading my thoughts, which he probably was now.

"Um, kinda like the Ink Demon, but really big. But you've also got the classic Brooks tophat! And... you're not really shaped like the Ink Demon anymore. It's hard to explain 

"A monster," my father answered. "You look like a monster. What have you done?!"

"We're ending this story," Mr. L answered.

"ARE WE LATE?!" Peach's voice asked. I could see my father flinch and quickly whirl around. Surely enough, there was Peach, Mario, and Dimentio.

"Did someone order three legendary heroes?" Peach asked.

I could hear Mr. L laugh in my mind about the fact that Dimentio was being referred to as a "legendary hero." 

"The Ink Demon rises..." Dimentio murmured, looking at me in awe. "It's time to believe-"

"Dimentio, stay focused," Peach politely told him.

My father looked at the three of them in disgust. "Angel, Brooks, and the music director," He asked in an almost mocking tone while shakily standing up and slowly back up towards the pure hearts. "You're joking, right?"

"Nope, and we're going to need you to stand aside," Timpani smiled, grasping his arm and pulling him away from the pure hearts. "We're going to need those."

"Why?!" He exclaimed.

"Because," Dimentio explained while softly humming a melody that I did not quite recognize. "By sacrificing the creator to the Ink Demon, we will finally be freed from this world."

"We're gonna defeat the Ink Demon!" Peach added. Mario stood next to her, holding a metal wrench and grinning.

"I was already planning on doing that-" My father started, when Timpani cut him off.

"Yes, yes, but you see, if YOU defeated the Ink Demon by using the pure hearts, it wouldn't work." She stated.

"And why not?" 

"Because you're fighting for yourself," Timpani shrugged. "Pure hearts are powered by love, not thirst for power and control."

"We're fighting for each other," Peach stated while grabbing Mario's free hand.

My father visibly rolled his eyes, then began slowly clapping in a sarcastic manner.

"Ah, I see. So you're going to save the day with the power of love."

"Pretty much," Mr. L said. "Cheesy, right?"

"YES!" My father cried. "Cheesy, and downright a terrible plan. Do you even know how you're going to use the pure hearts to end this?!"

"Easy," Peach smiled. "It's the final boss. We have to defeat him by running right and jumping. I can tell you're new to this, so maybe you should just sit back and watch."

"Enjoy the show," Dimentio breathed. "This is the end."