"It was Merlon," Dimentio explained, nodding over at the pile of bodies. Merlon was on the top, covering the rest. "He was still clinging to life, so I had to finish him off. That's why I screamed. He just gave me a fright, that's all."

"Right," Count Bleck replied. He resumed his restless pacing, back and forth, back and forth. "And Luigi?"

Dimentio froze, his gaze momentarily shifting towards the trapdoor where Luigi had sought refuge.

Dimentio's heart sank as memories flooded his mind. He couldn't forget the fear and the overwhelming sense of betrayal he saw in Luigi's eyes. There was a time when Luigi used to look at him with admiration and trust, a look that no one else had ever given him. But now, that connection was shattered. Things would never be the same again.

"I haven't seen him yet," Dimentio lied.

The count released a weary sigh and reluctantly nodded, his irritation with Dimentio evident. He couldn't help but wonder if things would have unfolded more smoothly if Dimentio had taken a different course of action, perhaps finishing off Luigi instead of locking him in the bakehouse. The count even considered how this situation could have been avoided entirely if Dimentio had allowed him to kill Luigi when Mario first was murdered like he initially wanted.

"We'll find him," Count Bleck stated, dropping his staff. "We have to. But first, we need to destroy the evidence. Open the oven."

Dimentio gave a nod of understanding and hurried over to the oven. With swift movements, he yanked open the heavy door and then returned to the lifeless bodies. Recognizing the urgency, Dimentio swiftly moved Merlon aside. However, Count Bleck grew impatient with the perceived slowness and took matters into his own hands, retrieving the body himself.

That's when Dimentio quietly gasped.

"What is it now?" Count Bleck demanded with an annoyed tone as he continued to drag Merlon toward the oven. 

"N-Nothing, nothing," Dimentio quickly stated, grasping the beggar woman by the hands and slowly dragging her over as well. "Maybe you should go up to the streets. Search for Luigi there! And-"

Count Bleck's frustration reached its peak as he hissed, "No!" He abruptly released Merlon, letting him fall onto the ground in front of the oven, and sharply turned towards Dimentio. With an eye roll of exasperation, he snatched the woman from the jester's grasp.

"NO, DON'T TOUCH HER!" Dimentio screamed as he desperately tried to take her back.

"Why not?!" Count Bleck demanded, his voice filled with disdain. "She's just some meddling beggar-"

But his words trailed off as his gaze fell upon her. The sight of her blood-stained hair falling from her face brought a sudden stillness to his demeanor. Blood continued to drip from her throat, staining the floor beneath. Her eyes, still open and wide with fear, mirrored the same terror she had in her final moments before he took her life.

"No..." Blumiere gasped, his voice filled with disbelief. His entire body started to tremble uncontrollably. 

Dimentio's body grew tense, and he instinctively took a few steps back, his hand covering his mouth.

Blumiere shook his head, a mix of shock and recognition clouding his thoughts. He slowly sank to his knees, cradling the beggar woman in his arms. 

Her face, her eyes, he knew her. 

"Don't I know you, she said..." he whispered, his voice barely audible. "I..." 

His words trailed off as he struggled to find the right words, his mind racing with memories and emotions.

He suddenly looked up at Dimentio, his eyes filled with a mix of hurt and anger. The feeling of complete and utter betrayal overwhelmed him.

"You knew..." he whispered, his voice filled with a mix of disbelief and accusation. "You knew my Timpani was alive this whole time. From the moment I walked into your shop, you knew my Timpani lived!"

"I-I was only thinking about you!" Dimentio cried out, his voice trembling with desperation. "She had gone nuts! Begging, muttering, screaming, she wasn't the same Timpani you knew! Would you have wanted to know that was all that was left of her-" 

"YOU LIED TO ME!" Blumiere sobbed, his voice choked with pain and anguish. "Timpani..." His voice cracked as the weight of betrayal and loss consumed him, leaving him shattered and heartbroken.

"No, no, no, I never lied! I never lied at all," Dimentio explained, his voice quivering with desperation. His entire body trembled, mirroring the turmoil within. "I said she took the poison. She did! I never said she died!" 

"Timpani..." Blumiere cried, barely even listening to Dimentio anymore. His mind had been too clouded with guilt and grief. All the pain he felt before had come rushing back, now stronger than ever.

"She couldn't even remember her own name!" Dimentio frantically explained. "It would have been worse seeing her like this. You'd never be able to move past it!"

His words echoed with a mix of desperation and protectiveness as he tried to justify his actions. The pain of witnessing Timpani's deteriorating state was too much to bear. Dimentio truly believed that shielding his friend from that agony was the right choice, even if it meant keeping the truth hidden.

"I've come home," Blumiere whispered, his voice choked with sorrow. He looked down at the lifeless girl in his arms, tears streaming down his face. With a trembling hand stained with blood, he gently touched her cheek, leaving a bloody handprint. "I've come home to you..."

"I lied because I care about you!" Dimentio shouted. "You're my friend and I care about you! We're both surrounded by dark magic, but together, we can survive this world! Survive in a world designed to keep us down! I only wanted what was best for people like us!"

"What have I done...?" Blumiere whispered between tears as he carefully set her down. 

"She'd only serve to remind you of the past," Dimentio continued. "She'd-"

"You're right, Dimentio," Count Bleck stated, his voice taking on a happy tone as a grin stretched across his face and he held his arms out. "There's little point in dwelling on the past, right? It's like you always say. Count Bleck must move on! Why, you're just the friend he needs in times like this." 

Dimentio's heart raced with anxiety as Count Bleck stood up and started to approach him, each step bringing him closer and closer. The jester's retreat came to a halt as his back pressed against the cold wall, leaving him trapped. His voice trembled with fear as he meekly asked, "You mean that, count?"

"Yes, of course," Count Bleck grinned, his eyes gleaming with unsettling intensity as he firmly grasped Dimentio's shoulders, pulling him back into the center of the dimly lit room. "Why, Count Bleck would be so lost without you, my friend." 

This had been the first time Count Bleck ever called Dimentio a friend. The words hung in the air, carrying an eerie weight, as if a dark pact had been sealed between them.

At first, that was all Dimentio wanted. A friend in this world. Someone who understood him. 

In a way, it was still all he wanted. 

"You mean that?" Dimentio asked.

"Yes," Count Bleck grinned, his voice dripping with an unsettling charm. "Don't be afraid, my friend. What's dead is dead. The secret to living a happy life is to learn forgiveness and try to forget, right? You've mentioned time after time that there's dwelling on the past gets us nowhere."

Dimentio slowly nodded, his heart pounding in his chest as Count Bleck kept walking him around the room with one arm tightly wrapped around his shoulder. The count's grip felt suffocating, but that meant he cared, right?

"We only get one chance at life, my friend, so let's just keep living it," Count Bleck grinned, his voice carrying an eerie undertone. 

"Keep living it," Dimentio quietly agreed, his voice barely a whisper.

"Yes," Count Bleck smiled, his eyes gleaming with an unsettling intensity. He stopped in front of the open oven, its fiery glow casting an eerie light on his face. Slowly, he turned, his hands gripping both of Dimentio's shoulders with a bone-chilling firmness. "Life goes on."

"Life goes on," Dimentio repeated with a small smile, his voice trembling ever so slightly. 

Before he could comprehend the count's true intentions, a sudden force propelled him backward, his body crashing into the scorching depths of the oven. The searing heat enveloped him, suffocating and terrifying, as the darkness swallowed him whole.

Dimentio's anguished scream pierced the air, filled with pain and desperation, as the count forcefully closed the massive doors. The soft red glow emanating from the oven suddenly intensified, erupting into a fiery burst of vibrant orange light. In those fleeting moments, Dimentio pounded on the scorching metal, his cries for help echoing in the air. However, as the seconds ticked by, the screams gradually faded into silence, leaving behind a haunting stillness.

When the flames had died down, Count Bleck stilled to catch his breath, his gaze filled with a profound sadness. Slowly, he turned to face his beloved Timpani, his eyes brimming with unspoken regret and longing. The weight of his actions and the consequences left him in shambles, leaving him with a bittersweet ache that could never be erased.

Blumiere let out a faint cry as he crumbled to the ground next to her lifeless body. With trembling hands, he gently pulled her into his lap, cradling her head with utmost tenderness. His world shattered into a million pieces, leaving him broken and consumed by inconsolable grief.

He remembered a life. The life he lived so long ago where every moment was filled with her kindness, compassion, and unwavering love. In his memories, he could still feel the warmth of her embrace, the way she held him close, and the genuine smiles they shared. She was not just a part of his life, but the very reason he found purpose in each passing day. 

The weight of his longing grew heavier as he realized that those cherished moments were forever lost. 

Merlon hadn't killed her. 

Count Bleck did. 

The sounds of his cries echoed throughout the room, but he didn't care who heard anymore.

"Hey... ho.... nobody's home...." Luigi hummed, his voice echoing through the dimly lit basement as he emerged from the depths of the trapdoor, his movements slow and disjointed. His voice now carried an eerie resemblance to Olivia's. "Meat nor drink nor money have I none...."

His head shook meekly, his glassy eyes fixated on the oven. The screams of Dimentio echoed through his mind, piercing his very soul. Every agonizing sound, every whispered plea, he heard it all. The haunting symphony of torment played on an endless loop, driving him to the brink of madness. The walls of reality crumbled, and he was left trapped in a nightmarish realm where there was no escape from the horrors that surrounded him.

He quietly laughed, then looked down at Blumiere. 

"Mr. Bleck..." he whispered.

His gaze then shifted to the woman in the sobbing man's arms. Blumiere's heartbroken cries had become quiet and defeated now. 

"It's the old woman..." Luigi whispered. "You've hurt her too... haven't you?"

Luigi quietly chuckled, then leaned over Blumiere's shoulder to get a closer look at the red line across her throat. 

"You shouldn't, you know..." Luigi muttered. "You shouldn't harm anybody-"

"Leave me be!" Count Bleck hissed, pushing the man in green back. 

Luigi's laughter grew more unsettling as he stumbled backward, his eyes fixated on the large staff resting on the floor. With each step he took toward it, his laughter became eerily hushed. As he reached out and grasped the staff, his fingers brushed against the still-wet blood staining its tip, turning his white gloves a deep red color.

"Still I will..." Luigi whispered, his voice barely audible, filled with a sinister delight. He continued to quietly play with the staff, relishing in the darkness that consumed his thoughts. Slowly, he crept back behind Blumiere, his footsteps barely making a sound. "Be very merry... hey, ho... nobody's home..."

Luigi's laughter turned softer as he chuckled, his eyes glinting with a twisted delight. In a swift, chilling motion, he reached in front of Count Bleck and swiftly slit his throat. The count gasped for air, his voice silenced. He clung to Timpani, his blood dripping from his neck and staining her delicate face.

Luigi's gaze grew eerily focused as he nodded. With deliberate steps, he approached the meat grinder.

"Work to be done..." he muttered, his voice laced with a chilling determination. "So much work. Three times, that's the secret. Three times through the grinder to make them just right..."

He quietly chuckled, then continued humming to himself. 

"City on fire... city on fire..."

"BLECK!" Bobby called from the top of the stairs. He ran down as fast as he could, looking for the person he had thought was his friend. "I NEED ANSWERS!"

The man in green stilled and looked up at the bob-omb. Their eyes were locked for a brief moment. 

Then, Bobby's gaze shifted behind the man in green, where Bleck was waiting, more still than ever before. 

"Dear Grambi," Bobby whispered.

Luigi silently walked closer to him, then stood right next to the bob-omb, who was frozen in his fear. 

"S-Sir?" Bobby asked, his voice soft. 

Luigi smiled at him. He was nothing more than a small, insignificant Bob-Omb.

Then, the man in green lit a match.