Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sun had just set on the horizon. Meta Knight sheathed his sword and sat in front of a table to eat the chocolate cake he had snuck out of Castle Dedede. Showing very little restraint, he wolfed it down in under a minute. He looked out at the moon. It was quiet, peaceful. Somewhat uncommon, what with people like Marx and Magolor around. The quiet didn’t last long. His trusty Sailor Dee scampered onto the deck. “Sir Meta Knight! Something’s wrong!”

“Elaborate.”

He flailed his hands around. “I was standing guard while Axe and Blade went into the armory, but I don’t know where they went!” 

Meta Knight went into the ship. He sprinted in the direction of the elevator to take him down to the armory, and paused when he got there for Sailor Dee to catch up. A strangely long time passed. He looked around the floor they were on, but saw no one. He hit the button on the elevator with the intention of leaving the ship entirely and regrouping. Halfway to the bottom floor, the elevator stopped unexpectedly. The door did not open. Meta Knight, stricken by panic, tried to pry the door open. It didn’t work. He pulled out his cell phone in an attempt to call for help. As he was doing so, a sound came from above him, and the elevator filled with smoke. In a fit of coughing, the last thing he saw before falling unconscious was the time on the phone. 9:00 pm.

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Gooey was on his way back to Kirby’s house, where he lived with Kirby and Elfilin. The two of them were still out doing something or other, he didn’t remember. While he was making his way through the forest, he heard an odd noise. It sounded like a clock ticking. He went to the source of the noise, and saw the clock. The hand had just struck 10:00 pm. He had scarcely seen the clock before complete darkness descended upon him, and he felt himself being dragged away. Try as he might, he couldn’t comprehend his surroundings, and eventually he lost consciousness.

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“You sure you don’t want to stay over? It’s just intuition, but something about tonight is giving me bad vibes.” Magolor said from the screen on the computer. 

“Are you sure your intuition isn’t just you being clingy?” Taranza grinned.

“I guess it wouldn’t be the first time.”

“I really am tired though, so I should be going to bed.” Taranza pulled the knot on his scarf to the other side of his face.

Magolor nodded. “Okay. Good night. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Taranza disconnected from the call, and started getting ready for bed. Before he closed the laptop on his desk, he took notice of the time being 11:00 pm exactly. He landed in bed and pulled the covers over himself. He rolled to one side and opened the drawer in his nightstand to pull out the book he was reading. Instead of the book, an explosion of white dust came from the drawer. He coughed, and felt his eyes start to water. The dust continued filling the room, and he could no longer see. Eventually, he felt someone grab him, but he was no longer capable of resisting. He wasn’t quite sure when he lost consciousness.

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The quiet, slow stream of refreshingly cool water rolled through the forest where Coo dwelled. Night owl that he was, he was used to being awake at the odd hours of the night. The time had just turned to 12:00 am when an unseen projectile flew out from a bush and knocked him into the stream. He tried to fly out, but his feathers were too heavy to get him out of the water. The stream started to speed up, and it took Coo a short distance before he collided with a rock and his eyesight began to fade. The last things he remembered were Rick jumping towards him to pull him out of the water, and Kine shouting that Coo was crushing him. 

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Dark Meta Knight kept a watchful eye on the mirror. The gateway between his world and that of those annoying do-gooders usually offered nothing but trouble, but the strange flashes it was emitting now seemed to be just weird and nothing more. Still, it didn’t look good. The shape of a clock appeared in the glass. It showed the current time: 1:00 am. Suddenly, the mirror flashed again, much brighter than usual. It gleamed so bright that he lost all vision. When the light faded, he was out cold.

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The bed in Bandee’s room remained vacant for far longer than usual. For a reason they couldn’t quite place, they felt too uneasy to sleep. They looked out the window in an effort to settle their nerves, but were interrupted by their alarm clock going off. They didn’t quite know what to make of this, on account of them never setting an alarm for 2:00 am, but they turned away from the window to shut it off. The alarm was so loud, Bandee didn’t hear the sound of the window breaking, but they did notice the bandana being pulled off of their head. By that point, it was too late. The alarm shut off by itself, the bandana was drawn around their face like a blindfold and tightened so much they couldn’t struggle against the attacker. Eventually, the decreased blood flow got to them, and they lost consciousness.

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Zan Partizanne awoke to the sound of something sliding. She was faintly aware that she was moving, but she couldn’t quite perceive how until her head connected with something metal. Francisca and Flamberge were next to her, but they were both still asleep. The injury on her head had rendered her largely immobile, and her consciousness was eroding again. The last thing she saw before her eyes closed again was some kind of metal door closing, and an analog clock on the door that showed the current time: 3:00 am on the dot.

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“Hey, Kirby, don’t you think it’s weird? We don’t know where Gooey went.” Elfilin tried to wake up Kirby, but he didn’t seem to hear him. As Kirby was still fast asleep, Elfilin went out of the house to try and clear his head. He scanned the area for any sign of Gooey, and then went back in through the door. Maybe Gooey just did this sort of thing often? He was a little odd. Elfilin was about to try to get some sleep, but then he noticed something off about the house. Kirby was gone. “...Kirby?” He shuddered. It made no sense. He just vanished while he was asleep. How? Where did he go? Where did the clock that said 4:00 am come from? Would it happen to Elfilin next? He fled the house.

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There were some strangely moving shadows. Daroach was investigating them, yet he couldn’t seem to find out what they were or where they were going. They were moving around in a forested area, and he couldn’t help but wonder why they would be milling about at… 5:00 am. He stepped into a clearing and found himself falling very fast. He landed on something soft, and was quickly covered in it. He couldn’t see, and there seemed to be some sort of chemical on the surface of the cover. It was making him sleepy, and the urge to pass out overpowered his desire to escape whatever trap this was.

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6:00 am. Susie was taking a robot model she’d been working on for a test drive when she was knocked out cold by a blow to the back of the head.

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7:00 am. Magolor wakes up, and brushes off the lack of a “Good morning!” message from Taranza as him sleeping late. Nonetheless, he sends a “Good morning!” and goes outside to get a bit of fresh air. He sees Marx wandering around aimlessly, before being pinned to the ground by a net that someone fired from behind a bush. He goes to the bush to try and find the culprit, but he can’t seem to see anyone. When he turns around, Marx has completely vanished.

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Adeleine, Ribbon, King Dedede and Magolor frantically searched the castle trying to find any of the other Star Allies. Magolor burst into Taranza’s room and saw the storm of dust that seemed to have blown through the room. “Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no no no no noooooo…” 

Dedede walked up behind him. “I can’t get a hold of Meta Knight. None of his subordinates have seen him at all since before nine last night.” 

Adeleine sprinted down the hall, Ribbon on her shoulder. She started shouting before she reached the two panicked faces in front of Taranza’s room. “Guys! There’s a ghost in the castle!” 

The two of them couldn’t get a word in response before a figure clad in a white cloth flew towards them from where Adeleine was running. Dedede froze for a split second, which gave Magolor a perfect chance to fly out in front of them and hold his hands out in a protective position. “I got this.”

He did not, in fact, have it. An explosion knocked the four of them off balance. It came from behind them, and knocked them forward. None of them saw anything after that, but a voice rang out from what they presumed to be the figure in the cloth. “Ｅｉｇｈｔ 　ＡＭ．”

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Elfilin had been booking it in a random direction for almost five hours now. He was tired. He was sleep deprived, hungry, he couldn’t tell illusion from reality. He hoped he had made it far enough that whatever malicious force was afoot wouldn’t get him now. He curled up beneath a bush, and looked up towards the odd branch formation in the tree. It somehow had the shape of a circle with one short branch pointing straight up, and a longer branch pointing to the left. It looked eerily similar to a clock indicating a time of 9:00. His vision blurred, and his eyes closed. He opened them again, slightly, when the sound of something falling reached his ears. He was in a cage. Before he drifted off again, he could’ve sworn he caught a glimpse of his assailant.

Chapter Text

“Ow… ow ow ow ow ow ow ow…” Susie opened her eyes. “I hope I’m not bleeding from that.” She rubbed the back of her head. Didn’t look like anything too serious, but it hurt a fair bit. The room she was in didn’t look familiar at all, and it had a pretty creepy atmosphere. She was on the floor of a room with very dim lighting, a few beds, and some machines that she couldn’t even begin to identify. There were no windows. The lone door in the room had a sign on it that said: “ｗｅｌｃｏｍｅ 　ｔｏ 　ｙｏｕｒ 　ｎｅｗ 　ｈｏｍｅ！ 　ｅｎｊｏｙ 　ｙｏｕｒ　ｐ　ｅ　ｒ　ｍ　ａ　ｎ　ｅ　ｎ　ｔ 　ｖｉｓｉｔ　：）” 

Fully sure that the door wouldn’t open, she tried turning the knob. To her surprise, it opened with no resistance. She went out of the room and found herself in a hallway. The door she had just walked out of had a plate with her name on it. There were nineteen other doors in the same hallway, each displaying the name of one of the other Star Allies. She tried opening the other doors, but to no avail. “Helloooooo! Anyone? If you can hear me, open the door!” Nothing. There were two more doors in the hallway, both at each end. One was unlabeled, the other said “ｗａｒｅｈｏｕｓｅ”. She opened the door to the warehouse and looked around. It was surprisingly large. Shelves were piled high with food and basic supplies, but what her attention was immediately drawn to was the person on the floor. “King Dedede?” She rushed over to him and shook him.

“Wh… wha…” He opened his eyes slowly. “Where… oh… you.” He didn’t have his hammer. “Oh, no. What horrible thing is happening this time?”

“Seems like everyone got kidnapped. I just woke up a few minutes ago, and I’m looking around. Get up.” She continued looking around the room while Dedede raised himself to his feet.

“Thanks for the warm welcome. I’m leaving.” King Dedede pulled the door open and went out. Susie followed behind, after verifying that there was nothing else of major importance. 

The two of them checked out the hallway with the twenty rooms. While looking around, they realized that the doors with the names on them only open at the touch of the person whose name is on the door. Only Susie could open her door, but she couldn’t open any others, et cetera. Before they went for the unmarked door, Dedede spoke up. “Wait.”

“What is it?”

“I want to know what happened to you. I was with Adeleine, Ribbon, and Magolor when this thing wearing a cloth showed up and we got knocked out by an explosion. Next thing I knew, I’m in that warehouse. What happened to you?” Dedede crossed his arms.

“I was just… wandering around. It was six AM, and I like going out early in the morning. Got hit in the back of the head.” She averted her eyes.

“Is that all?”

“Yes. That’s all.”

Without another word, Dedede opened the door. On the other side, there was a moderately large room with hallways extending to the left and right. On the far end, there was a door with a plate on it that read: “ｌｏｕｎｇｅ 　ｃ” Dedede opened the door, and they saw someone passed out on the couch. “Ugh, this guy.”

“This is that copy of Meta Knight who’s much more rude and unreasonable, right?”

Turns out he was awake the whole time. “You must realize I hear you.”

King Dedede slapped a hand over his eyes. “You know what, I’m leaving you two alone. I’ll go look for the others down this hallway on our right.” He left the room, leaving Susie and Dark Meta Knight alone in the lounge. 

“I don’t believe I’ve ever asked this before, but what are your thoughts on cybernetic enhancements?”

“Get the fuck out of here and never speak to me again.”

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Francisca’s eyes snapped open. Standing, or the closest they could get to standing, above her were Gooey and Bandee. “Er, bonjam. What is happening?” 

Bandee elected to take care of the talking themself, as Gooey wasn’t exactly verbose. “Do you not remember? It looks like we all got kidnapped. We’re in this big room with a long table and a bunch of chairs. We don’t know where this place is.” 

Francisca got up. “I don’t have my weapons. Looks like you don’t either.” She scanned the room. “Where do these two doors go?”

Gooey stretched his tongue in the direction of one of the doors. “Hallway… there…”

There was also a tank on the table filled with water and Kine. “Hey guys, did you know I can drive this thing?” The tank sprouted arms and legs, and Kine started stomping around. “I’m surprised this thing didn’t wake you guys up sooner.” 

Francisca blinked. “I’m going to pretend I never saw that. What’s behind the other door?”

Bandee put a hand behind their head. “Actually, we haven’t checked back there. Gooey came in here from the hallway and found both of us on the floor.”

Kine sprang into action, and the legs of the tank hit the floor with such force that the room shook. “Let’s find out what’s back there!”

They opened the door. Bandee waved their hands excitedly. “Oh! It’s Taranza and Ribbon!”

Gooey stared absentmindedly at the fridge. “No… Ban… this is a kitchen…” 

Ribbon opened her eyes and slowly fluttered into the air. “What’s going on?” 

Francisca rubbed one of her temples. “Should we really be explaining things to everyone individually, or should we just gather everyone and go over all we know then?”

Ribbon smiled. “Alright, I can wait. What are we doing? …Why is Kine piloting a death machine?”

“Isn’t it cool?”

“Uh, yes. Please do not crush me to death.”

Taranza woke up at that moment. He raised himself to his usual position, and then scanned his surroundings. “Should I even bother asking?”

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Susie, Dedede, Dark Meta Knight, Kine, Ribbon, Bandee, Gooey, Taranza, and Francisca sorted out all the information they had gathered. The only parts of the area they had left unexplored were the bathroom in the hallway and the elevator in the other hallway. They checked the bathroom first. Inside was Zan Partizanne. Above all else, she was happy to see Francisca again, but they eventually all left for the elevator.

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Elfilin came to in a dark enclosed space. Still freaked out by what he saw before losing consciousness, he trashed about wildly. Suddenly, light flooded the room, and he heard a voice belonging to Magolor. Before speaking, he yawned. “Geez, kid. You think maybe you could panic quietly next time?” He seemed pretty happy to see Elfilin, though. 

“Where am I?”

Magolor examined the small room that Elfilin had been in. “From the looks of it, you just came out of the closet. Congratulations!”

“No, I mean where is this closet? Where are we?” The surrounding room was almost entirely metal, with some tools and equipment that Elfilin couldn’t identify.

“Not sure. I just woke up. Seems like some kind of manufacturing room, I think. There are a few blowtorches, bolt cutters, and that tray is full of soapstone. Yep, definitely a manufacturing shop.” Magolor snapped his fingers.

“Wow. I couldn’t tell you what most of this even is, let alone where you’d usually find it.” Elfilin flew around the room, looking around at the machines and messing with a few of them. 

“Wait! Don’t touch the trigger on-”

“AAHHH!” a flash of bright light came from the strangely shaped gun-like object.

“Yeah you should definitely not touch the arc welders, because they can blind you. That’s what these helmets here are for. I think we should probably leave here before you kill us both.” Magolor opened the door, then moved next to it, motioning for Elfilin to leave first. “The treachery awaits.” 

In the hallway, There was a door that seemed to lead to a bathroom, and Meta Knight on the floor in front of it. Magolor made sure to back away from him as soon as he ascertained that he was unconscious. “Elfilin, you handle this. Last time I woke him up I had to spend two days in the hospital.”

Elfilin looked back at him, visibly distressed. “Why would that make me want to do it?”

“He actually likes you, he does not like me. I promise you’ll be fine. I think.”

They argued quietly for the next two minutes before they noticed Meta Knight being awake. “What are you two imbeciles arguing about?”

Magolor stared. “You know, I’m just now realizing you don’t have a weapon.”

“It is truly a miracle of existence that I just woke up after getting trapped in an elevator with a smoke grenade, and yet hearing your voice is still the most displeasurable experience in recent memory.” He walked away. 

Elfilin’s face fell. “I don’t think that was needed at all.”

Magolor opened the door to the bathroom. “Riiiiick, good morning!” He didn’t answer. Magolor went right next to him and clapped his hands.

“Huh? What? What’s going on? Where am I?”

“Hi, hello, good morning, salutations, bonjam, whatever term you prefer! It’s Magolor, by the way. Sorry if that was a little jarring.”

Rick scratched his head. “Oh, that’s fine. Do you know where we are?

Magolor looked back at Elfilin, who seemed to have something on his mind. Quickly, the idea came to him. “No, we don’t. Meta Knight seems to have some idea, though. He went that way. Elfilin and I’ll check out that door right there, you can go after Meta Knight.” Rick nodded and left.

Elfilin shuddered. “Why did you do that?”

A sly smile crossed Magolor’s face. “I have something important to tell you. You’ll want to hear it, I’m sure.”

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Rick, Meta Knight, Daroach, Adeleine, and Coo were discussing the new rooms they’d checked out. They had been discussing the library they were currently in, that Coo and Adeleine had been asleep in. Daroach flipped the topic once it seemed like they were mostly finished. “Does lounge H imply the existence of a lounge A through G?”

Meta Knight didn’t seem to think that question worthy of an answer. “We should also check that door in the back. There might be more people there.”

“Hi, what are we doing?” Magolor seemed to just appear amidst the five of them, as Elfilin slowly flew in behind him, looking troubled.

Meta Knight jumped on that like white on rice. “What did you do to him?”

Magolor was as nonchalant as always. “Me? I’ve done nothing to him. Isn’t that right, Elfilin?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. That’s right. He didn’t do anything.”

That was more than a little concerning, but they decided that it would be best for the time being to check the room in the back. “What in the-” Everyone began with those three words, but none of them ended their question the same way. The room was pure white, with no discernable ceiling, walls, or floor. Or, that would be the case if not for Flamberge and Marx asleep on the floor. After waking them up, the nine of them went to the elevator, having nowhere else to go. Meta Knight was hesitant to get on the elevator, but the door opened. Kirby was on the floor. Meta Knight picked him up, still sound asleep, and they all piled in.

Daroach pointed at the buttons. “Looks like we can only go to H and C.” Given they were already on H, they hit the C button. When the doors opened on floor C, the other ten of them were waiting on the other side. It was at this moment that Kirby finally woke up. The meeting was cordial, but it had an underlying tension to it that indicated something bad was lurking close by. 

The twenty of them gathered in the room with all the chairs and the big table, and King Dedede slammed his hands on it to get everyone to stop talking. “Alright everyone, let’s exchange information. We need to find out what’s going on here. Don’t be afraid to say anything and everything that crosses your mind.”

Chapter Text

Meta Knight began the discussion. “I was eating on the deck of the Halberd when-” 

Magolor raised his hand. “What were you eating?”

“Shut the fuck up. I was eating when Sailor Dee showed up and explained that some of the crew had gone missing. I ran to the elevator as fast as I could, but while I was riding it, it stopped and I got hit with a smoke grenade. This happened at nine in the evening.”

Dedede took his gaze off of him. “Checks out. Before I got grabbed, I called you over and over again and none of your crew had seen you since before nine. …Wait a minute, was this at nine on the dot?”

“Pretty much. Why?”

You could almost hear the lightbulb go off in Taranza’s head. “I got kidnapped at exactly eleven! I had just finished talking to Magolor and was going to bed when the room got flooded with this white dust and I got knocked out.”

Bandee looked around. “Two in the morning for me. Did everyone else get grabbed at an exact hour?” A wave of nods swept across the room. The only ones who weren’t nodding were Kirby, Francisca, Flamberge, and Marx.

“Marx, you’re a part of that as well. Seven in the morning, I saw it happen.” Magolor casually waved in Marx’s direction.

Kine shifted and almost broke the chair the water mech was sitting on. “There were witnesses to some of these?” 

Zan Partizanne put her hands on the table. “I don’t know about that, but Francisca and Flamberge got kidnapped at the same time as me. Three AM.”

Everyone went over what time it was when they were kidnapped, and they deduced that, despite no one speaking up at all about it, that Kirby had probably gotten grabbed at four in the morning. They decided that they’d spend the rest of the day investigating the locations more carefully. The meeting broke, and the twenty of them split for the time being.

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Marx rolled into the white room. “How did you get here so much faster than I did? We left the big room at the same time.” 

“I move at lightning speed. Why are you here?” Zan Partizanne didn’t seem particularly pleased with the presence of Marx.

“I thought this room was really weird! I mean, why would they ever make something like this? There are just random walls in here that you can’t see because everything is exactly the same. Whoever made this place either doesn’t care about practicality at all, or they’re just completely insane.”

She moved around and furrowed her brow at the strange obstructions that she would not be able to see were it not for Marx and the door. “The sad clown can make some good points.” They searched the room in silence.

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The couch in lounge H had a rather heavy load to bear. “Hmm. It’s definitely very well-made. A lot of this stuff is incredibly advanced. I wonder where they got it.” Susie examined Kine’s mechanized fish tank.

“I think I’ve heard you’re good with machines. Do you know where anyone might have gotten the materials for this?”

She paused for a moment. “No. I have no idea.” After looking over the build some more, they set to searching the lounge for any clues.

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“Couldn’t help but notice that you never got out of your chair. Is something troubling you?” After getting no response, Dedede continued. “Usually, at a time like this, you’d be following around Magolor or Marx to make sure they’re not making mischief.” 

“It may be too late for that.” Meta Knight spoke for the first time since everyone scattered around.

King Dedede sat next to him. “What do you mean by that?”

“Did you get a good look at Elfilin during the meeting? He was clearly troubled by something, and I know it has something to do with Magolor.” He was visibly holding back the urge to slam a fist on the table.

At that moment, the door to the hallway opened. It was Elfilin. “Oh, hi. I was just, uh…” He trailed off and went to check the kitchen. After opening the door and looking inside for a moment, he closed it again and quickly left the room.

Dedede called after him. “Hey, wait! Are you looking for someone?” Elfilin had vanished after that. He didn’t answer the question, of course. “You’re right. That’s really weird. What did he have to do with Magolor, though?”

“He was mostly normal before he showed up in the library after being alone with Magolor. I have to assume there’s some foul play afoot.”

“Wait a minute.” Dedede walked over to the door to the kitchen, and peeked inside. He closed the door again seconds later. “Why would he not have talked to Kirby about it?”

“Maybe…” Meta Knight got out of his chair and walked over to the hall door. “He doesn’t trust him anymore.”

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“I just realized something. You know how everyone had their weapons taken away? Shouldn’t that not be much of a problem for you?” Coo scratched under his wing. “After all, you and a few of the others use magic.”

Francisca paused her lonely battle of attempting to put the couch cover back on. “Hmmm. That’s… difficult to explain. For me at least, it’s like whatever part of my body that controls my ability to summon things like icicles has been blocked somehow. It’s a similar sensation to how I felt before I almost froze to death, so not being able to do things that I’ve been doing for many years is… oddly familiar.” 

“Wow. I didn’t know that happened to you.”

“I don’t have much of a problem talking about it. It actually ended up making my life a whole lot better. Because of that snowstorm, I met Lord Hyness, Zan, and Flamberge.” 

Coo flew over and tried pulling a corner of the couch cover over the back with his talons. “So, would it be a safe bet to assume that something similar is happening to the other magic users right now?”

“I imagine it would be. At the very least, the eyes of the Easter Egg seemed to have stopped glowing. I doubt he did that on purpose.”

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“It’s no good. I don’t know what to do.” Kirby closed the door to the cupboard that had a safe with a keypad on it. “I think we should get someone smarter than me to try it. I’ve never been good at this kind of thing.”

Gooey looked up from the food he had just devoured. “Well… I think it’s… really good… that you can see… when you can’t do something…”

Kirby stared off into a corner. “I know. It’s just that I’m always supposed to be able to solve problems. People depend on me when things are going wrong, and now things are going very, very wrong, and I don’t know what to do…” He trailed off.

Gooey came up behind him. “Panicking… won’t help… I think.”

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“I feel like we should have found something by now.” Bandee put the book in their hands back on the shelf.

“I know! This room is a library! It’s one of the best places to hide something, like behind a waterfall, or under the bed!” Magolor was being significantly more methodical, despite the exuberance in his voice. 

“That’s such a weird thing to hear from you. Honestly, the concept of you sleeping is almost completely foreign to me, let alone you owning a bed.”

Magolor moved some books around. “You should be grateful for that. I’ve been told my snoring is one of the most distracting sounds in the universe, by four different people, for two different reasons.”

“I have learned more about you in this interaction than in every other conversation we’ve had combined.” The door to the hallway creaked open. “Oh! Elfilin!” Bandee trotted over, leaving Magolor out of sight.

“Uh, hi.” Elfilin came in and looked around. He opened the door to the white room in the back, and quickly closed it again. “I don’t really want to talk to Marx. Do either of you know where Taranza is?”

Looking at some books in the front of the room, Bandee called out in response. “I think he’s somewhere on this floor, but I’m not sure where.”

Elfilin hesitated before nodding, and left the room. After the front door closed, they heard an odd sound from a direction they couldn’t quite identify. “You heard that, right Bandee?”

“Yeah… what was that? Where did it come from?” Bandee put the book they were holding back on the shelf, then walked past the shelves to the back of the room, where Magolor was still investigating the same shelf. “You’ve spent a lot of time there.”

“I’m trying to be thorough.” He turned around. “Whoa, is it just me, or is there a heavy sense of impending doom in the air?”

- .... . / -... --- --- -.- ... / .... .- ...- . / . -.-- . …

“There’s eleven buttons, but we can only go to two floors.” Ribbon examined the buttons on the elevator. “I wonder why the only ones that even have labels are C and H.”

Silently, Dark Meta Knight slammed a closed fist against one of the unlabeled buttons.

“I really don’t think you should be fighting the elevator…”

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“Oh! You’re here.” Elfilin entered the manufacturing room. 

“Were you looking for me?” Taranza turned around.

“Oh. Uh, yeah, but are you okay? You look like you’ve been crying.” 

“Oh, yeah. Ribbon was here earlier with… the significantly more unpleasant counterpart of Meta Knight. He really knows how to hit all the wrong nerves.”

Elfilin glanced around the room. There was a weird smell in the air. “Did something happen here?”

Taranza glanced off to one side. “Well, they had to leave when I pulled out one of those arc welders and tried to melt his mask while he was wearing it. I was… not happy with him.” He stopped when he noticed Elfilin’s face. “I don’t think you wanted to hear that. Why were you looking for me?”

“Right! It’s about Magolor. You two are close, right?”

Taranza resisted the urge to laugh. “Yes, we are. Why?”

“Would you say he gives good advice?”

“Depends. Has it backfired yet?”

Elfilin landed on one of the welding bays. “No… does that mean it’s good?”

“Usually. With the good advice, I find it helps to imagine what he would say in that moment, and listen to that.”

“Thanks. I’ll… keep that in mind.”

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“You remember the time Dedede said we should meet at, right? Because I definitely forgot.” Daroach stepped out of his room, closing the door behind him.

Flamberge called out from her own room. “Nine PM, in an hour and a half!”

“I’d say we have a good amount of info to report. Only the room’s owner can open the door to a room, so anyone else trying to get into a bedroom can only do so with the owner’s explicit consent.”

“Yeah, but that’s it.”

Daroach looked down the hallway. “Have we been wasting our time?”

“Maybe.”

. ...- . .-. -.-- / --. .-. --- ..- .--. / .--. .-. --- .--- . -.-. - / .... .- ... / .- - / .-.. . .- ... - / --- -. . / -.- .. -.. / .-.. .. -.- . / - .... .. …

“Rick and I investigated the warehouse on this floor, but we didn’t find anything.” Adeleine offered this information a little early, as there was only about three minutes left until the Star Allies were supposed to reconvene. Marx and Zan Partizanne had yet to make an appearance.

Meta Knight, standing on Dedede’s shoulder, felt the need to question the circumstances. “I do not believe Zan Partizanne to be the type to cut things this close. Perhaps Marx is keeping her?”

At that moment, the elevator door opened. Only Marx was inside. “Why isn’t she here?” 

Flamberge approached him, with fire in her eyes that could have been either figurative, literal, or both. “I could ask you the same thing.”

“Guys, she’s gone. I have no idea where she went.”

The hallway was silent for a moment, then Magolor found a snarky comment to make. “That would explain the impending doom.”

Chapter Text

“O-okay, everyone, don’t panic yet.” Daroach’s voice wavered. “She’s not actually late yet, right? There’s still… one minute…” That minute went by in complete silence, save for the clock ticking. Zan Partizanne did not appear. “Shit.”

“It might not be anything bad! Maybe she just… forgot?” Kirby’s face gave away that even he didn’t believe what he was saying.

Dedede hit the button on the elevator. “We’re all going down there to look for her. Ten PM, we’re meeting back in… I guess it’s a dining room. Get back to the dining room by ten.”

“Wait.” Adeleine interjected. “What if we all go down there and then she comes back up?”

“Good point. I’ll stay up here.” Dedede picked someone out of the crowd. “Rick. You stay up here with me. Everyone else go downstairs.”

“But there are no stairs.”

“Shut up, Marx.”

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“Okay, so me, Kirby, Magolor, Meta Knight, Marx, Elfilin, Francisca, Ribbon, Coo, and Susie will investigate the white room. Dark Meta Knight and Kine will keep an eye on the library, and the five others will look around the rest of the floor.” Bandee summarized the plan they had come up with.

“Yep. Everyone got it clear?” Daroach looked around at the seventeen nods. “Right. Let’s go!”

“There are way more nooks and crannies in here than you would think. This room is really confusing…” Ribbon checked the oddly uneven ceiling alongside Elfilin and Meta Knight.

Francisca had taken to spouting ideas that she didn’t really believe in the hopes that it would calm her nerves. “Maybe she got lost in here, I wouldn’t put it past anyone. Everything in here is way too confusing for someone to reliably find their way around.”

“But wouldn’t she be hearing us and trying to call for help or something?”

“Thanks for the reality check, Bandee.”

-- .- --.. . / .. -. / - .... . / ... .... .- .--. . / --- ..-. / -. --- - .... .. -. --.

“Hey, everyone! I found something!” Elfilin called out to everyone else. It took a few minutes for everyone to find him. He was indicating a hole in the ceiling. “It looks like there’s some kind of passageway here. Let’s follow it!” They all began entering the strange passage, one after the other. Francisca entered last, then all was silent. However, even through all that silence, none of them, not even Magolor, were able to hear the voice of Dark Meta Knight saying that time was almost up.

They couldn’t exactly tell where they were going. It was like travelling through an air duct in a heist movie, except the team got confused about their roles and ended up all doing the exact same thing. That, and most heist movies generally believe that people will stay quiet when they’re trespassing somewhere they clearly were not intended to be. That’s because none of them cast Marx as an actor. “This place smells worse than Castle Dedede after quesadilla night.” Or something in that vein, every thirty seconds, give or take. Every single time, someone different would respond with an explanation as to why he should shut up.

“What if someone hears us?”

“We might get caught!”

“The sound of your voice makes me wish I was deaf!”

“We’re trying to join Zan Partizanne in a good way, this is not the good way.”

“If whoever’s running the show here doesn’t kill you, I will.”

“I hope you look back on this fondly when this place gets flooded with a deadly neurotoxin.”

Ribbon, leading the way, got to a dead end. “What now?” 

Elfilin was right behind her. “I don’t see anything we can do here…”

Kirby, who couldn’t exactly fly through the passage, dragged himself closer to the dead end. At that moment, the floor seemed to vanish beneath him. “Aaahhhh!” He hit the floor beneath. 

Ribbon, Elfilin, and Bandee looked at the hole he had fallen through. Ribbon and Elfilin went first, catching Bandee and letting them down gently. Elfilin flew back into the passage and beckoned the others to get down. “What is this room?” Bandee asked. Of course, the others had no answers to give. 

As Marx tumbled through the hole, Elfilin went up to check the other side of the part of the passage that opened. “It says ‘Blank labyrinth’.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Magolor remarked as he gracefully descended from the tunnel. Shortly after, Meta Knight, then Coo, then Susie, then Francisca descended into the room. 

There were monitors showing what was going on elsewhere on floor h,another door that led to an unknown location, and an elevator. Without missing a beat, Kirby hit one of the buttons to call the elevator. The button didn’t light up. There were some other spots in the ceiling that were labeled with the other rooms on floor h, and a desk with various papers on it. Before anyone looked at the papers, Susie piped up about the elevator. “Hey, maybe this works the way the living rooms work.”

Everyone turned around and looked at her. Francisca asked what they were all thinking. “What’s unique about those rooms?”

“Maybe the only person who can get the elevator to respond is the person who’s meant to use i-Magolor, what are you doing?”

Magolor looked away from the desk, right into Susie’s eyes. “I have no idea what you mean.”

“Uh, anyway. Only the owner of the room can open the door. If someone else tries, it just won’t open.”

Bandee froze. “So, you’re saying that someone’s supposed to operate that elevator? And whoever that is might… be here?”

Without another word, Elfilin flew to the elevator and hit the up button. “Nothing. It can’t be me or Kirby.”

Coo went to follow suit, kicking the button with one of his talons. “I’m innocent.” Just then, the room filled with smoke. A crescendo of coughing came from everyone in the room, but that eventually fell silent as all sound fell to the hissing of the smoke.

.... . . / .... . . / .... . . / .... . . / .... . .

“What do you mean, they’re all gone? Surely at least one of them has to be nearby!” Dedede was already on his way to the elevator, with Rick and the seven who did not enter the room in tow.

“I really hope they’re alright…” Taranza whispered to no one in particular. No one spoke until the elevator got back down to floor h, but Dedede did have one arm around Taranza after seeing his worry. 

They all immediately walked through the library and into the white room. Daroach stumbled into a crevice in the wall with nothing in it. “Damn, what IS this?”

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Elfilin opened his eyes. Bandee was looking down at him. “Hey, you’re up. We’re all here, but you and I are the only ones awake right now. I tried getting the others, but none of them woke up.”

They left the room they were in, looking strangely uneasy. Elfilin tried on his own to wake up the others, from Susie to Magolor. The only one who woke up was Magolor, but he did so pretty easily. They tried to wake the others again, but to no avail. They were there for a few minutes, but Bandee didn’t come back. Having nothing to do but wait, Elfilin asked Magolor a question. “About what you told me earlier, I was wondering… why?”

“Did I not tell you then?”

“Well, you told me a reason, but I don’t think that was all of it.”

The room they were in, save for the door, and the seven people on the floor, was mostly empty. Magolor went to one of the walls and leaned against it. He motioned for Elfilin to sit next to him. “How much do you remember about where you came from?”

“N-not a whole lot… do you know about it?”

Magolor clasped his hands together. “I know a great many things. Besides, it’s a little weird to be unnerved about me knowing about where you came from, considering what you said to me when we met for the first time.”

One of Elfilin’s ears twitched. “I guess that’s fair… what were we talking about?”

“Well, being there probably taught you a few things about the basics of scientific research, right?” 

“I guess?”

Magolor looked up, closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them again. “Consider a researcher trying to figure out how the temperature of a room effects a computer inside. They pose a question, but don’t immediately jump to putting two identical computers in separate rooms to check the difference in performance. That’s because they haven’t come up with a hypothesis yet. Those are important for a few reasons, but the one that sticks out to me is that investigating a specific avenue of thinking for a given scenario usually gives more specific results than an investigation on a broader scale. They get an idea in mind, and focus on proving that idea either true or false. From the moment they have that thought at all, the procedure of looking for an answer will change, even if it’s only slightly.”

Elfilin looked up at him. “I think I get it, but what does that have to do with anything?”

Magolor gestured broadly at their surroundings. “Don’t you think this is the same?”

Soon after, the others were waking up, one after the other. They left the room together, and found themselves back where the elevator was. Bandee was still nowhere to be seen, but as Ribbon opened the hatch and entered the passageway to the white room, she saw them waving in the distance. “Ribbon! We’re going back now, everyone’s really worried! We’re three hours late!” 

The nine of them scrambled through the passage after Bandee. Upon getting out the other end, they were greeted by the nine that hadn’t come with them. Meta Knight nodded to Dedede. “Sire.”

Dedede was visibly holding back tears. “Don’t bother apologizing. I’m just… it’s good to see you’re safe.”

Everyone was too tired to feel like discussing the events of the day at length, so they just agreed to meet back in the dining room in the morning. Everyone except for Meta Knight and Zan Partizanne went to their rooms to sleep. Zan because she was still nowhere to be seen, and Meta Knight because he chose to go with Dedede instead.

Taranza awoke to a knock on the door. “Magolor? Is something wrong?”

“No, I just missed you. I feel like we haven’t seen each other at all today.”

“Well, you’re welcome to join me if you want.”

“My room has an alarm that goes off every fifteen minutes telling me to do my laundry. I get enough of that at my real home. They also gave me a second lock for some reason, in case I wanted to lock my door again while it was already locked. Basically, what I’m saying is…” Magolor put one hand behind Taranza’s head and pulled him in for a kiss. After a few seconds, he leaned back out. “If you catch my meaning.” They went into Taranza’s room together, seemingly unaware of what was going on in the hallway. The door to Kirby’s room was cracked open, and the resident of that room was staring out into the hall contemplatively. After a few seconds, the door fully closed.

-. .. --. .... - / --- -. .

“Where is it, where is it? Who has it?” The elevator that had previously failed to open for three of those who attempted to call it now held someone within. They were looking over a stack of papers they held. “Not good, not good at all! I knew I should have put security cameras in the living quarters!” They stepped out of the elevator into a room with photos of everyone present in the building. “As much as I don’t like it, it’s necessary. I have to find the thief… and punish them accordingly.” They opened the door right next to them, and looked at Zan Partizanne. "If all goes well, someone will be joining you soon." She, of course, couldn't have responded even if she wanted to. Not that it mattered, since being in a state like that wouldn't exactly allow her to be wanting much of anything.

Chapter Text

It was difficult for anyone to greet the morning with their usual cheer. The walls, the floor, and even the air felt cold and bleary, like there was an unseen fog that had permeated the minds of everyone present. They half dragged themselves out of their rooms, a crowd of zombies just looking for something to give their brains back. Some went into the kitchen to try and make something to eat. Others just sat in silence while waiting for everyone to get there. It was about ten in the morning by now, and everyone but Magolor, Taranza, Kirby, Elfilin, Marx, and Dark Meta Knight had arrived by now. 

When Marx finally arrived, he got in one of the chairs in the dining room and scarfed down almost half of the food there. “Anyone else hear the weird noise from Taranza’s room? Something in there was... I dunno.” He was the only one in the room with any sort of spring in his step. 

Magolor entered soon after. “Yeah, Taranza does that sometimes. I was a little freaked out when I learned that, I thought it was coming from me.” He added an addendum after seeing everyone looking at him strangely. “Oh yeah, I can do that too, by the way.”

“I’ve never heard you do that before…” Bandee wondered out loud.

“Oh, I can clear that up. I only do that when I'm relaxed, and you scare me.” Magolor delivered those words as if he was a waiter at a restaurant explaining the difference between linguine and fettuccine.

Dedede looked up for a moment, then looked back down at his food. “Not even gonna ask…”

When the later arrivals showed up, Dedede informed them that they’d all get whatever breakfast they could, and then discuss amongst themselves to try and figure out what was going on. After Dark Meta Knight intentionally took almost an hour to eat, the discussion began.

“Alright, what happened to Zan?” Flamberge took no time at all getting to the most pressing issue on everyone’s minds.

Ribbon tried to mediate the immediate tension. “Before we get there, maybe we should go over what we found out before she vanished? For example, Dark Meta Knight and I looked at the manufacturing room, but we had to leave because he can’t get along with Taranza. We spent the rest of the time looking at the elevator and the bathrooms, but didn’t find anything too important.”

“I suppose that’s a good idea. Speaking of where I was, the only important things I found in that room are tools that I can use to make him go away.” He was pointing to Dark Meta Knight, who was currently getting out of his chair to walk around the table and pummel him. 

On the way over, Magolor grabbed his cape. “I assure you, going any further will result in me crumpling you like an empty soda can. Kirby, could you pass me that plate?” Kirby obliged, and Magolor took the plate in one hand and clenched it so tightly that it shattered. “You’re a grown adult, you know how to make a wise decision.” Dark Meta Knight walked away petulantly. “I guess, since I’ve already spoken, I should bring up that Bandee and I looked pretty much everywhere in the library, and, you guessed it, nothing.”

The one who started the discussion seemed to begrudgingly accept the different direction it took. “Fine. I checked the bedrooms with Daroach, and we have nothing other than the knowledge that only a room’s owner can open the door.”

Bandee put a hand up. “Hey, while we’re talking about the dorms, my room had another lock. Does anyone else have a second lock?”

Most of them were shaking their heads, with the exception of Marx, Magolor, and Elfilin, who were nodding. Marx looked around at the others. “Now how does that make any sense?” 

“No idea.” Elfilin shrugged. “I can’t think of anything the four of us have in common that doesn’t extend to someone else.”

That revelation seemed to have caught everyone’s attention, but no one had an idea as to what it could mean. “Uh, alright then.” Bandee tried to shift the topic elsewhere. “Did anyone else find anything?”

“There’s a safe in the kitchen!” Kirby exclaimed. “You can put in up to twenty characters, but we don’t have any idea what the code could be.”

Having nothing else to bring up at that particular moment, Kirby led Taranza, Ribbon, Francisca, Rick, and Elfilin to the kitchen to look at the safe. They came back a few minutes later. “We have no idea.” Rick summarized it pretty concisely.

“Okay, now that we’re done with all that useless stuff, let’s get to that secret passage you guys found!” Flamberge was seemingly desperate to get to that topic.

Meta Knight folded his hands in front of him. “Very well. I will say what happened, and any of you can correct me if I get something wrong.” After a few moments of silence, he continued. “Elfilin discovered the entrance in a corner of the white room, and we went through to a room on floor h that cannot be accessed from elsewhere. There was an elevator there that we seemingly could not use, and while we were in the middle of trying, the room filled with smoke. When we all woke up, we were in another room that was attached to the main one. We left immediately after that.”

As the ones who hadn’t been there pondered the scenario, Magolor snapped his fingers. “Well then, I think it’s about time to drop a bomb in the room.” He pulled a sheet of paper out of his robes. “I stole this from the room with the elevator. I figure if I read it out in front of everybody, then everyone will know. If everyone knows, no one’s going to get singled out like Parmesan Cheese was. With that being said, this note seemed to have been written by the person behind all this. May I?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Here’s what it says: ‘ＯＳＯ：　Ｙｏｕ　ｍｕｓｔ　ｋｅｅｐ　ａｌｌ　ｉｎｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎ　ｒｅｇａｒｄｉｎｇ　ｔｈｅ　ｐｌａｎ　ｕｎｄｅｒ　ｗｒａｐｓ．　Ｙｏｕ　ｋｎｏｗ　ｗｈａｔ　ｈａｐｐｅｎｓ　ｉｆ　ｔｈｅｙ　ｆｉｎｄ　ｏｕｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｒｕｔｈ．　Ｗｅ　ｃａｎｎｏｔ　ａｆｆｏｒｄ　ｆａｉｌｕｒｅ．’ I don’t know how much this explains, but I think it’s pretty valuable.”

Dedede ran a hand under his hat. “Was the weird voice necessary?”

“Absolutely. Anyway, if you’re interested in my thoughts on the matter, I believe this is written to someone here, from someone who's not here.” As he said that, Magolor directed a meaningful stare at everyone else in the room. “Think about it. The room with the elevator filled with smoke after Susie came up with the plan to check if it worked with any of us. The only reason why that makes any sense is if someone there really didn’t want us to continue… because they were able to operate the elevator. Me, Marx, Bandee, Ribbon, Susie, Meta Knight, and Francisca. One of us… is this OSO person who’s keeping us here.” 

Despite the nineteen living beings in the room, well aware of each other’s presence, every single one of them felt much more alone than they had before. They had to concede the high probability that Magolor was right. Though, that didn’t stop Dedede from protesting. “There’s no way it’s Bandana, Meta, or Ribbon! It’s not in their nature!” 

“Nature? I thought you were smarter than that. The Dreamstalk, the mechanization, the Jamba hearts, all of these events led to plenty of people doing things that were decidedly not in their nature. Maybe those three would never set up anything like this, but that hardly matters, does it?” His voice was cold, but when he started talking again, it carried some of the lightheartedness he usually had. “By the by, I’m pretty sure we’re not on Popstar. None of you look like you slept well. You all look like me, but in the bad way.”

“Horrifying possibilities aside…” Meta Knight shot Magolor a glare as if to tell him to shut up. “There is a point of interest worth discussing. That being you, Elfilin. You seem to be acting… strangely. More reserved. Any reason why?”

“Uh… well, I kind of… had a feeling, I guess? I had the idea that there might be someone untrustworthy here, but I’m glad that I know it’s not Kirby!”

Bandee sighed. “Look guys, I really don’t think we’re going to get anywhere staring daggers at each other. Should we just split this meeting for today and gather again if we think there’s something to say?”

“They’re not wrong.” Coo flapped his wings. “Is there anything else, or do we just try to chill out for the rest of the day?”

After a long silence, Daroach pulled his hat off and twirled it on his claw. “I guess that’s it, then.”

Chapter Text

“When did you start thinking that?” Taranza entered lounge C to talk to Magolor, who was laying on the couch. “About the paper, I mean.”

Magolor got off the couch and looked around to see if there was anyone else there. There wasn’t. “I read that paper after I got back to my room. The laundry thing wasn’t actually true, but when I read that paper, I got really scared. I wanted to stay close to you after that, because I know I can trust you. That, and I really did miss you.”

“You’re really not worried that there’s more than one OSO and that I might be possessed?”

“I’m positive that’s the real you. I see it in your eyes. I would believe you if you told me you were being hunted by a big blade of grass with googly eyes.”

Taranza looked about ready to start having some kind of emotional outburst, but he held it back. “You promise?”

Magolor flinched. “Are you being hunted by a big blade of grass with googly eyes?”

“Not that I know of, no. It’s not impossible, though.”

Magolor giggled a little, then rubbed the side of his head. “You know, now that I think about it, you might be onto something with there maybe being more than one OSO.”

--. .- -.-- / .--. . --- .--. .-.. .

“Oh, good afternoon, Kirby. Are you well?” Meta Knight opened the door to the hallway, and saw Kirby looking distressed.

“Since we got here, I learned that my thoughts don’t make for very good company when everything is scary and I don’t know where I am.”

“...Would you like to come in?”

Without another word, Kirby stepped through the door and hugged Meta Knight. Before anything else happened, they heard the sounds of Kine stomping down the hallway and into the warehouse. Kirby let go and walked further into the room. “I really don’t think you’re doing anything bad.” He sat down on the bed.

Meta Knight sat next to him. “I never thought you did.”

Kirby stared blankly at him for almost fifteen seconds, and then ran out of the room. He skidded to a halt, then took a sharp right turn and opened the door to the warehouse. The scene that played out before his eyes grounded his vague fear into something much easier to visualize. An arm, made of metal. A leg, also made of metal. One more of each of those. 

They all lay in a heap on the floor.

Meta Knight rushed in. “Kirby, are you-” He stopped cold. “What?” He took a step back. “I’ll get the others. Kirby, see if he’s okay.” He turned to leave. “Kirby? Can you hear me?” Of course he was in shock. The limbs that had been attached to Kine’s tank were completely severed, and the tank itself was nowhere to be seen. No matter how you looked at it, it was wrong. 

Shakily, Kirby staggered to the pile of severed limbs. He pulled something out of it. It was a blue piece of cloth with white spots on it. Immediately, he recognized where it came from. “M-Marx…” 

The door opened again. It was Rick. “Hey guys, what’s all the hub… bub…” He started shaking. “Kine?”

Meta Knight turned away from his two distraught companions. “I’ll get everyone else.” He left.

.. - / ... . . -- ... / ... --- -- . --- -. . / .... .- ... / --. --- -. . / ..-. .. ... .... .. -. --.

“The king is out rounding up everyone on floor H. Kirby, have you calmed down?”

Kirby sat on the floor, looking like a shell of himself. “I’m sorry for running, I just got a little freaked out and I thought that maybe, since it’s happened before…” Tears were welling up in his eyes. “Now, I’m definitely sure though!” He put on a smile that was visibly forced. 

Behind Kirby and Meta Knight were the others who were on floor C. Magolor and Taranza looked at each other and decided not to say anything about their idea to Kirby at the moment. Soon, King Dedede arrived with everyone else. That made for sixteen people in total. Daroach scratched his head. “Why are there only sixteen of us? Where are Marx and Bandee?”

Kirby already had a guess as to why Marx wasn’t there, but the mention of Bandee being missing seemed to significantly worsen his already delicate mental state. “Th-They’re not here either?” 

Just then, Bandee burst into the room. “You guys took the elevator without me!”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but that was ruined by Kirby pulling out the scrap of Marx’s hat he found among the scattered limbs of Kine’s mech. In the ensuing scramble, they practically tore the warehouse apart, but never found anything. “We need to try and figure out who did this.” King Dedede’s voice was solemn.

“Actually, before that…” Bandee raised their hand. “When I took the elevator up, there was a third button that was lit up. It had a J on it.”

Adeleine put her hand on the waddle dee’s head. “That’s… clearly really important, but wouldn’t it be better to make sure we know who we can trust?”

“Well, if we check out that floor, we might find the ones who disappeared, or clues to where they went, or a way out, or clues to who might be behind everything.” The rest of the room was put into silence. You could almost hear the sounds of people thinking. Bandee tightened the knot on their bandana. “I mean… am I wrong? Does that sound wrong to you guys? I get that everyone’s worried, but if we go in larger groups, we should be okay, right?”

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They stepped out of the elevator on floor J. Ribbon looked around at the walls. “This place looks a little… dim. It’s like an old barn.”

Coo scratched a talon on a wall. “Probably could be burnt to a crisp in a matter of minutes. If anyone starts a fire down here, we’re dead.”

Elfilin clapped his hands. “How about we split into groups of four, four, four, and five? For example, I want to go with Ribbon, Magolor, and Bandee.” 

Magolor tilted his head. “I don’t have a problem with that.”

After a bit more deliberation, the others split into Daroach, Taranza, Dedede, Rick, and Gooey, another group of Susie, Dark Meta Knight, Coo, and Adeleine, and the final group of Kirby, Meta Knight, Francisca, and Flamberge. Cautiously optimistic, they split off from each other to search the dingy floor.

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“It’s just another lounge like on the other floors.” Flamberge looked around the lounge. 

“We should look around to see if there’s anything hidden here.” Kirby said that, then started checking the shelves. Flamberge followed suit.

Meta Knight was about to join them, but he noticed a troubled expression on Francisca’s face. “Is something bothering you? …Other than the obvious, I mean.”

“I’ve just felt like there’s something off ever since yesterday. When I heard the stories about what happened to everyone, there was just something about it that… didn’t sit right with me.” 

“Do you know what it was?”

“No.”

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“Looks like we’re in jail, fellas.” Daroach observed as they entered the room.

Gooey frowned. “But what did we do?”

Dedede walked over to a back wall and pulled a ring of keys off a hook. “We didn’t get arrested, this is just a place that looks like a jail. We’re more like visitors.”

Taranza wasn’t about to let the keys go unnoticed. “Hey, what are those?”

“Looks like they’re for the cells.”

Rick started scanning each cell, one at a time. “You guys wanna help look around these?” 

They set to searching.

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“Can we all PLEASE just calm down?” Coo called out to Dark Meta Knight, who was in the middle of an extremely angry tirade. 

“Calm down? CALM DOWN? I told you HOW MANY FUCKING TIMES THAT I DIDN’T WANT TO GO ANYWHERE WITH THIS BITCH ONLY FOR YOU ALL TO STICK US TOGETHER ANYWAY, AND YOU THINK I’M GONNA TAKE THAT SHIT?!?”

“Hey!” Susie snapped. “You were hardly my first choice either. You don’t exactly have a winning personality yourself.”

“Guys, really, try to make some kind of truce here. You’re making Adeleine uncomfortable.”

“Maybe she wouldn’t be uncomfortable if she didn’t have to go with HER!”

- .... . -.-- / .-- . .-. . / .. -. / - .... . / -... .- - .... .-. --- --- -- / -... - .--

“Looks like a biotope. Taranza would like this place, I think.” Magolor took in the almost grand sight of the garden he had found himself in.

Bandee walked over to a few flowers. “These look like the ones that bloomed on the dreamstalk.” 

Magolor plucked one out of the ground, then looked around. “Where are Ribbon and Elfilin?” 

“We’re over here!” Elfilin called. They were in what seemed to be a sort of toolshed. It was pretty big. 

The four of them all had the same thought, but elected not to vocalize it. Except for, of course, Magolor. “These tools are the closest things to weapons we’ve gotten this entire time, and right now people are so paranoid that someone might get hurt. We should leave them alone.”

Ribbon backed away from some of the tools she was near. “Some of these look kinda scary… let’s not touch them, I don’t think.” 

Bandee shivered a little. “Good idea. Let’s just look at the garden, or the biodome, or whatever Magolor called it.” They left the shed, and looked around the garden. 

When they were done, Magolor and Elfilin approached Bandee at the door. Elfilin scanned the area. “Where’s Ribbon?”

Bandee started yelling across the room. “Ribbon! Where are you?” 

Their eyes alighted on the toolshed. Ribbon was flying out of it with… “Why does she have a chainsaw?!” Magolor was audibly panicked. She turned on the chainsaw, flew up toward the ceiling…

Elfilin tugged on Magolor’s hand and Bandee’s bandana. “Guys, I don’t think that plant’s supposed to be moving.”

They scarcely even heard him. “She’s trying to find the way to the secret room!” Bandee almost sounded excited. Of course, they should have listened. The plant Elfilin was referring to spewed out an immense amount of pollen, filling the air in seconds. The three who were near the door quickly lost sight of each other. It wasn’t long before they heard the chainsaw stop running. A few minutes later, when the dust settled, Bandee saw Magolor, with his cape pulled over Elfilin to shelter him.

Try as they might, none of them were able to find Ribbon or the chainsaw.

Chapter Text

“I’d like the record to show that the next time Bandee suggests something, I will be against it.” Magolor, covered in yellow powder, kicked off the discussion in the dining room. Everyone else looked pretty much the same.

Dedede was clearly displeased with the events of the day. “I take it you three know how we all got blasted like this?”

Bandee sighed. “Yeah, a flower exploded and pollen went everywhere. I imagine you got covered in it thanks to the ducts.”

Coo raised a wing. “Now that we know it happened to everybody, how do we proceed?”

“How about we go over everyone here and consider what the grounds might be for suspecting them?” Taranza suggested. “I mean, it’s entirely possible we’re looking for more than one person here, but it’d be good to see where everyone stands, right?”

“Fine.” Meta Knight agreed. “Let’s start with Kirby. As far as I am aware, there is no reason whatsoever to be suspicious of him. He pressed the elevator button, and he was with me when Kine and Marx disappeared.” It was an easy pill to swallow for everyone there. “Now for King Dedede, for whom there are also no grounds for suspicion.”

“Whoa there,” Daroach interjected. “I get that you’re biased and all, but I can’t agree with what you’re saying here.”

“...Pardon?”

“Earlier, when we were checking out the jail room, he went and got the keys to the cells without saying anything beforehand. If you ask me, that’s at least worthy of considering.”

Dedede sighed. “I just took those because I knew I’d be able to keep them safe. You can’t really think I’m shady just because of a ring of keys, can you?”

Daroach waved a hand in the air nonchalantly. “Not really, but that’s not what I’d call nothing. Worth keeping an eye on, anyway.”

The argument continued for another minute, but they agreed to move on to someone else after some urging from Meta Knight. That someone being Meta Knight himself. The only things worth going over for him were that he was one of the seven unconfirmed in the room with the elevator. Bandee was in the library, which was near where Zan Partizanne was when she would have vanished, but there wasn’t much other than that. There was hardly anything to go over with Rick, Coo, Gooey, and Adeleine, and Dark Meta Knight was ruled unlikely for behaving far too recklessly to have anything to do with something that took this much setup. Daroach and Magolor were both under a decent amount of suspicion, particularly the latter, but they were able to sidestep any potential allegations with clever wording. When the subject turned to Taranza, Magolor had no hesitation blocking any suspicion by providing his alibi for Marx and Kine’s disappearance. When Bandee brought up the fact that Taranza was alone for quite a while while Zan disappeared, Magolor looked about ready to throttle them. While there was nothing concrete to say regarding Susie, most people agreed that something was slightly off about her. Francisca and Flamberge didn’t have many points of information for the others to go off of, and Elfilin was protected from any questions by Magolor, slightly derailing the conversation. Despite all the unease and suspicion in the air, everyone was much too cagey to be able to really get to the bottom of any kind of mystery. The meeting split, with a silent agreement for everyone to try to look after themselves and each other.

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The group splitting up, even if most were going to be back soon, had given an OSO a good opportunity to call someone on their transceiver. They were sequestered away from any potential visitors well enough that there was no way for them to be caught in the act. “Well, I was wondering something.”

“Ĩ̶̞̗̙̺̲̫̪͚̙̘s̵͈̺̬̆̈́͜͠ ̸͎̬̳͕̣̥̆̂̒͆͜t̵̫̞͕̬̮̦̘̹̱͂̐h̷̠͕̩̄̓́͐̏͗͠e̸̼̫̤͕̝͌̓̈̊̈́͝ͅŕ̵̫͊̃̋͘͜͝͠͠͠e̸̢̘͉͈̰̪͔̭̞̮̊̽̌̿̆̃ ̸͚̩͇̲̗̮͇̄̐̈́́͠s̶̡͖̙̩̭̭͉̊̄̀̀̍̅͆̀͘o̸̧͉͈̖͖̟̘̬͋͒̿m̸̧̦̦̜͚̞̮̘̱̺͠é̴̹̠̋͋̀̿̈̂̚ẗ̶̼́̊̅̿̈̆̃̀ĥ̵͓͐̄͌̈͗̆͝í̶̹̳̖͙͔͜ń̷͍̼̱͓̩͆̈́̎͌̏͗̇g̸̨̨̫̘͔̼̤̪̬̽͊́̈́̍͆̏́̾ ̶̡̪͚̲̣͔̬̠͙̆͛̈́I̷̧͖̮̜͈͕͖̦̪͒́ ̵̢̻̖͉̻̼̲̒̕͝͝n̷̡͔̗̭͚̮͑̉̌́͘e̵͔̬̾͌̒͊̽͗̂g̶̣̩̊̈́̓̀̊͒̀̏͝l̶̩͐̓ę̷̨̞̖̣̰͙͓͚̿͒̃̓ć̷̡̠̟̬͉͍̳̲͑͊̈́̒̄̅̚͜͜͝t̸̫̦̰̝͛͐̈́͂̕͘͝͠ͅë̸̹͚̮̫̬̝͓̘̲́͆̔d̷̘̟̓̂̅̔̎̀̔̔ ̴̡̥̫͈͖̭͙̭̀̑̀͂̒̂̈̂͘t̵͓͎̺̮̮̯͕͈̠̀̈́o̴̧̮̼͈̖̜͎̍̈͠ͅ ̵̧͔̝͔̣͂d̸̲̫̰̜̬͆̽͐͝͠í̷̢̻̼̮̫̅v̴̢̯̝͈̞̬̥͑͊͆͗̀͗̎̀̀͜ú̵̧̮̜̿͋̏̆̋͝l̷̝͈̄͐̈́́̓͆̅̾̿g̸̙̀̎̒͆͘͜ę̸͚̩̘̮͎̀̇̊̽͘̚?̶͓͖̑͊̈́”

“It’s about the safe in the kitchen. Nothing that you gave me says how to open it.”

“Ȃ̴͙͍͍̘̰̙͙̍̇̓͊̍h̴͚̄̋̑̐̈̑̅̈́͠͠,̷̖̟͉̯̠͚̘̬̺̌̏̈́̀͂͒̆͝͠ ̴̣̮͕͚͕̮͑̂̄̽̎͑̆͗͗͜t̸̨͚͊͊͊̋̚h̸̗̪̼̿͂̐̀͆̓́͠ë̷̲̭͙́͠ ̵̧͓͔̫̩͔̠̭͔̻́̐̄n̸̦̤̲̱̣̲͈̥̤̓͆͌ǘ̴̖͈̗͔̹͖̺̽͆̕͜͜͝m̸̘̗͚͋̄̒̚b̶̧̜͎̦̖̜͒̈́̔ȇ̴̬͎̑͆͘͘r̸̬̗̣̋̔̓̏̂̎́͆́́.̸̡̢͚̟̹̿̏̓̽ ̴̛͙̥̞̩͐̈̐̾̓͋͝Ȳ̵̗͓̠̲͈̞͜o̵̟͓̖̓̆ṳ̴͔̺̅̓̎̂̀̕͝͠͝ ̵̛̲̜̳͈̻̔̌̄ś̶̬͍̤̱̻̬͚̓͋h̶͉̺̮͙͈͙͍̊͌͒̈́̍͊͝͝o̴̹̪̍̊̌̎̂͛̈̚u̴̢̠̼̜̩̜̹̱̓̑̐̽͝l̸̛̯̬͔̒̄̾̋d̶̳͊̀͂͐̑̐ ̶̡̡̲̭̝̙͙͐̐̃̎̒̾͜͜͝k̷͈͌́̚͝ń̷͓ò̵̧̑̊̉̈̎̽͝ẅ̶̧̨̥̙͓͉͕́͗͋̏̐͐̃̈ ̶̧̹͉̭̙̣͔̥̼̮́͋͋̚͝i̷̛̜͎̹̳͖̘̣̹̇̈́͋t̴̫̩͑̆ ̴̧̫͍̩̟̼̳̯̰̉͊̈́̈͒̃̉̍́͜v̷̯̲̝͈̩̩̇̊͌̓͂̃é̸̯͈̳̘r̵̳͎̼̭̮̀͑̈̋͛̆̿͂̌y̶̢̗̲̳̻̣̏̒ ̵͙̣̅̆̓ẉ̷̡̡̨̗̔͗̿́̊͊͘̚͜͠è̶̢̖̘͔̲̗͎̘̹̇̾̐̃̄̚ͅl̴̢̛̘̋̅̾͋͂͌̚l̴̨̖̬̟̥̤͇̀͛͂͂̈́͂́̍̚͠ ̷̢̮͖̺̰͙͈̥̖̺͋b̴̢̞̫͈̩̲͔̗͂̒y̴̪͊͊̽̓͑̊̐̈́͘ ̴̱̖̯͈̱̰͉͑̇́́͜ͅn̸͖̬̻͇̲̤̏̈́͊̆́̾̊ȏ̷̗͈̰̋̕ẃ̴̢͇̥͇̩̘̀̾̅̈́̂̓͠.̴̢̜̰͍͔̞̞̍̃̽̚.̷̪͕̙̳̫͓̝̅̑͐̈̎̅̓͗͒.̸̢̣̲̗̐͐̅̒̂”

“But I-” It was too late. The call was cut short. The OSO picked up a pillow off the floor and buried their face in it. “I need a break.”

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It seemed as if no one had seen anyone for quite a while. Magolor figured that maybe he’d have some company in the library, but no one showed up for what felt like hours. Slightly worried, he got up from the table he was at and opened the door to the hallway. To his surprise, Daroach and Kirby were right outside the door. “Oh! Uh, hello. Is something wrong?”

They strode through the door. Daroach looked around at the library. “You’ve been here by yourself?”

“Yeah, I guess. I wanted some time to myself to think things over.” At that moment, Kirby turned and ran out the door, going somewhere the other two weren’t quite sure of. “What’s with him?”

“Don’t know.” Daroach pulled a second chair up to the table and sat down. “How about you? You look like you’ve aged more in the last two days than the other six years we’ve known each other combined.”

“Is it that bad? No wonder you were looking for me.” Magolor managed a self-deprecating laugh.

“Yeah, I would’ve brought Taranza as well, but I don’t know where he is.”

Magolor’s casual tone immediately shifted into something more panicked. “You don’t?” 

“Relax, I’ve only checked floor c and this library. I’m sure nothing’s happened.” In response, Magolor bowed his head and let out a relieved sigh. Suddenly, he fell out of the chair he was in, having gone completely limp on the floor beneath the table. Daroach leapt over the table and was at Magolor’s side immediately. “Hey, hey! Are you okay?”

His eyes fluttered open. “Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. …What were you saying?” His words were something of a slurred whisper, and it did nothing to ease Daroach’s concerns.

“Just hold on! I’ll get you some hel-” Daroach reconsidered before finishing the sentence. Leaving him alone in a state like this… was not something he could conceivably do. “Uh, I’ll take you to the dining room, okay? I don’t think you’ve eaten this entire time.” He picked up Magolor and carried him through the door and down the hall to the elevator. By this point in their friendship, Daroach was well aware of Magolor’s general discomfort towards physical contact. Generally, words of reassurance were helpful in suppressing his fight-or-flight instincts. “There’s no need to worry. It’s me. I’m just trying to help.” This usually wasn’t necessary if he was aware beforehand of what would be happening.

When Daroach half-led, half-carried Magolor into the dining hall, he saw Meta Knight, King Dedede, and Gooey sitting at the table. Dedede took notice almost immediately. “Uh, hey. What is going on here?”

Magolor tried to wave to them, but he didn’t have enough energy for the others to understand what it was. Daroach winced and set him down in a chair in the most stable position he could manage. “This bozo here forgot to eat this entire time and now it’s coming back to bite him. Keep an eye on him while I get him something to eat, okay?”

Meta Knight nodded. “Understood. I did not take you for the caring type.”

“I’m an adoptive father of seventy six children, and he’s one of my best friends.” Without another word, he went into the kitchen. He came back about a minute later with a tuna sandwich, and set it in front of Magolor. “Here, eat this.” Magolor obliged.

After finishing the sandwich, he looked directly at Daroach, who was standing protectively next to him. “I haven’t slept either…”

“Oh- okay, okay. You’re too out of it to go on your own, I’ll take you.”

“Thenk you… Darch.”

Daroach brought Magolor to his room. “Right here. Get some sleep, all right?”

Magolor just grabbed Daroach’s cape weakly. “No, no, your room. Then you can let Taranza in.” 

“Oh. Okay.” Daroach went further down the hall to open the door to his room. After opening it, he escorted Magolor in. “Take care of yourself, I’ll bring Taranza over when I find him.”

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“Blue rodent.” Dark Meta Knight walked into the manufacturing room. He spoke with a tone that wasn’t exactly antagonistic, but something very similar. It immediately put Elfilin on edge.

“Y-yes?” 

“Tell me about the garden.”

Elfilin relaxed, but only slightly. “There were some gardening tools in a shed, and a lot of plants I’ve never heard of before-” Dark Meta Knight didn’t let him finish. He turned around and headed for the door. Daroach briskly walked in, interrupting him.

“Ah, DMK. What are you doing… threatening this fragile-looking child?” 

“I was just about to leave. Anything that may have been perceived as a threat was not intended that way. Goodbye.” Dark Meta Knight strode into the hallway.

Elfilin flew up to Daroach. “Are you actually friends with him?”

“As close as you can get to friendship with a guy like that, anyway. He puts up with me more than he does with most other people, maybe that could be called friendship?”

Elfilin’s eyes sparkled. “Wow! I didn’t know he could tolerate anybody!”

Daroach stepped further into the room. “I’m looking for Taranza. Have you seen him?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Hmm. Alright then.” With a theatrical flourish of his cape, Daroach left as well. 

A minute later, the closet door opened, and Bandee tumbled out. “Remind me why I was supposed to hide in there again?”

“I was worried.”

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The door to the dining room flew open and Adeleine and Rick stormed in. They both started shouting at the same time. “Guys! Garden! It’s bad! It’s really really bad! Come on!”

Gooey, Dedede, and Meta Knight were following them down the hallway to the elevator. They got on and Rick hit the button to take them down to floor J. Adeleine shuddered the whole way down. “I hope we’re not too late…”

Dedede had no idea what she meant, but he sincerely held the same hope.

Chapter Text

The five of them burst into the garden and saw something none of them would forget in a hurry. Daroach and Taranza were hurt. They were on opposite sides of Susie, who seemed to be in the worst position of all. She was flat on the ground, with Dark Meta Knight standing on her back holding a sickle. Dedede rushed in and tackled him. “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?”

Dark Meta Knight struggled to escape the king’s grip. “Keeping my distance isn’t enough, I want her to die!” 

Staggered, Taranza got up off the ground. Blood seeped from cuts  on his palms and back, but none of them looked deep enough to be too serious. “Do you… EVER… think before you act?”

“Grrrh! One of you get this fatass off of me!” He didn’t seem to be listening.

Gooey looked around nervously. “What… do?”

Meta Knight walked up to his struggling counterpart, pried the sickle out of his hands, and looked Dedede in the eyes. “Jail?”

The king nodded. “Jail.”

.--- .- .. .-..

After putting the mirror knight in jail, they all slowly went back to the elevator. Once the elevator stopped on floor c, they filed out. As they were moving to their respective rooms, Daroach grabbed one of Taranza’s hands. “Actually, before you go in there, I left Magolor in my room. He collapsed earlier because he forgot how to sustain himself, and he wanted me to let you in.” He opened the door to his own room, and indicated Magolor on the bed.

Taranza went in and crouched next to Magolor to see if he was awake or not. He opened his eyes, and smiled weakly. “Hope you weren’t worried…”

Taranza took one of his non-bloody hands and ran it down Magolor’s side, over the covers. “Of course I was.” 

“...You dork.” He sat up slightly and gently touched his forehead against Taranza’s.

“Geez, guys, could you get a room? I’m right here!” Daroach shouted in that tone he had when he was obviously not upset, and just wanted to make a joke.

Taranza laughed quietly. “Okay, okay. Magolor, do you want to go to my room?” 

“Yeah, let’s do that.” Then he started putting on his ‘obviously lying’ voice. “Oh… but I’m… too weak… to go myself…”

Taranza picked Magolor up out of the bed. “Okay, you big baby. I’ll carry you.” He made for the door. 

Daroach held up a hand to block them from leaving. “That’s still my blanket, you know. I need sleep too.” 

Rolling his eyes, Magolor pulled the blanket off of himself, balled it up, and threw it at him. Then, he looked at Taranza. “Are you bleeding?”

“A little.” 

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“Meta, it seems like something’s bothering you. Are you okay?”

“Just something nagging me.” Meta Knight paced around the room. “I don’t think Kirby ate supper. I actually haven’t seen him at all in a while.”

Dedede sat up in the bed. “You worried about him?”

“Something like that.”

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Magolor opened his eyes, and glanced around the room. The clock said 7:04 am. He figured most of the others wouldn’t be up by now. Trying not to wake Taranza, he slid out of the bed and noticed a piece of paper by the door. He picked it up, read it over, and slipped it into his robes. He’d do something about it later. Magolor just climbed back into bed and looked at Taranza. Despite what had happened earlier in the garden, he was sleeping peacefully, with no signs of him having a nightmare. Then, his breathing quickened. Using his exceptional hearing, he was able to tell what he was saying in his slumber. “No… don’t call… they won’t help…” He sounded quite distressed for someone who was asleep. 

Magolor knew what Taranza had been through in the past, and could guess what kind of scenario he was reliving right now. He shifted him into a sitting position, gently held him, and spoke softly. “Taranza, you don’t need to worry about them anymore. I’m here. I’ll always be there to help when you need me.” 

After a minute of silence, Taranza’s breathing calmed down. It was another few minutes before he opened his eyes. “Morning.”

“You’re up early.”

A tear rolled down Taranza’s cheek. “I saw her again…”

Magolor couldn’t think of a way to respond to that. They sat in silence for a few minutes before he found a question to ask. “Do any of the wounds from the sickle still hurt?”

Before answering, Taranza hugged him tightly. “Thank you. Thank you for caring.”

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At breakfast, the fourteen people who had gathered were in somber spirits, thanks to the three disappearances and one attempted murder that happened the previous day. …Well, maybe it was five. After all, Kirby wasn’t here. Everyone was thinking about it, and everyone knew the others were thinking about it, but no one wanted to say anything, presumably to avoid suspicion. Once Magolor had finished eating his breakfast, he headed for the elevator. Unexpectedly, he showed up back in the dining room less than half a minute later. “Hey, Bandee, when you’re done, could you come with me?”

They turned to Taranza. “Can you translate that for me?”

“He’s being straightforward.”

Bandee quickly finished their breakfast and followed Magolor to the elevator. When they got on, they looked at the buttons, and saw that a fourth floor was available. Bandee quickly stepped out. “Mag, c’mon! We have to get the others!”

“Wait-” No use continuing, they were already out of earshot. He got off the elevator.

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Floor E was pristine, for the first part of the hallway. The second part was lit up like a children’s arcade, or something Magolor might build. They split up to cover as much ground as they could, just like they did with floor J.

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“And to absolutely no one’s surprise, it’s another bathroom.” Magolor announced after opening the door. “We’re wasting our time just being here.”

Bandee opened a stall door. “Can’t say I disagree. Doubt there’s ever gonna be anything in any of these.”

“You know, earlier I was trying to bring you to look at the garden. See if there was anything different from before. Do you think that’s more worth doing than this?”

“Even if it isn’t, Francisca’ll still be here. She can tell us if we missed anything.” With that rationalization, they left for the elevator. Strangely, Francisca never said a word, but the two who left her behind didn’t seem to notice.

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“It’s a little unsettling.” Coo examined the table. “This room looks like a fun place, but… fun for who?”

“Does it look like anyone else is here?” Dedede did an elaborate wind up to throw a dart at the dartboard. He scored two points.

Taranza threw a dart of his own and scored thirty six points. “I must admit, this rec room is a lot better than the one I used to have.”

Gooey flicked the pool balls with his tongue and watched as they all somehow managed to reform into their original triangle shape. “Do you not have that other one anymore?”

Taranza looked down slightly as King Dedede managed to miss the dartboard completely. “That’s a long story.”

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“I was always creeped out by hospitals, and this one having no people in it anywhere certainly isn’t helping.” Adeleine shuddered as she looked around at the empty beds.

Daroach ripped an entire huge sheet of parchment off a cardboard tube and started bonking Rick on the head with it. “Alright kid, if any zombies show up, you can hide behind me.”

Adeleine froze, and when she spoke, she sounded even more scared than before. “They keep ZOMBIES in here?”

“Hold on, everybody shut up. I found something.” Susie beckoned the  group over to a heart monitor embedded in the wall. “This thing’s turned on. And it’s showing a pulse.”

Rick pulled the tube out of Daroach’s hands and gave it to Adeleine. “So someone’s hooked up to it right now? And they’re alive?”

Daroach took the tube from Adeleine’s hands and bonked Rick on the head again. “Not just anyone, there’s a name in the top right corner: Marx.”

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The fourteen of them reunited in front of the elevator. Dedede looked around. “Looks like everyone made it out okay. Daroach, how about you go talk to your serial killer friend and figure out why he pulled that stunt?”

“You’ll have to be more specific, which serial killer friend are you talking about?”

“Dark Meta Knight.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” Daroach whirled around and pressed the button on the elevator. The door opened immediately.

Everyone was surprised to see that someone was already there, but finding someone they previously couldn’t was cause for celebration anyway. They all shouted in unison, “Kirby!”

Chapter Text

“Nothing. He didn’t say a single word.” Daroach announced bitterly as he threw open the door to the dining room. “No one’s here. I wasted that entrance on nothing.” 

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At that moment, most of the group was down in the garden. Elfilin didn’t quite feel like going with them at the moment. He’d seen enough of the garden. Now, he was looking around the rec room for clues. It didn’t seem like anyone would show up any time soon. He looked around at the  pool table, the dartboard, the kid’s ride that rocks around when you put a coin in, the jukebox… the unidentifiable screen. What was up with the thing? It didn’t have any discernible connection to anything, and it displayed nothing. While Elfilin was trying to figure out how a pool cue worked, he heard the sounds of static. It was coming from the weird screen. A voice broke through the static. “Ａｈａ．．．　ａｈａｈａｈａ．．．　ａｈｅｅｈｅｅｈｅｅｈｅｅ！　Ｏｈ，　ａｐｏｌｏｇｉｅｓ．　Ｉ　ｓｈｏｕｌｄ　ｐｒｏｂａｂｌｙ　ｔｕｒｎ　ｏｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｖｉｄｅｏ　ｆｅｅｄ，　ｓｈｏｕｌｄｎ＇ｔ　Ｉ？”

The monitor displayed an image. It was someone wearing a white cloak over their head, with a voice changer to disguise their identity. The background was black. Elfilin tried to respond, voice wavering. “Who a-are you?”

“Ｉ　ｂｅｌｉｅｖｅ　ｙｏｕ　ｋｎｏｗ　ｍｅ　ａｓ　ｔｈｅ　ＯＳＯ．　Ｔｈｅ　ｏｎｅ　ｙｏｕ　ｃａｎ　ｃｒｅｄｉｔ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｋｅｅｐｉｎｇ　ｔｈｉｎｇｓ　ｕｐ　ａｎｄ　ｒｕｎｎｉｎｇ　ａｒｏｕｎｄ　ｈｅｒｅ．”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Ｄｏ　ｙｏｕ　ｍｅａｎ　ｗｈｙ　Ｉ＇ｍ　ｓｐｅａｋｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｙｏｕ？　Ｉｆ　ｙｏｕ　ｍｕｓｔ　ｋｎｏｗ，　Ｉ＇ｍ　ｂｏｒｅｄ．” Elfilin was frozen, unable to speak. “Ｉ　ｍｕｓｔ　ａｐｏｌｏｇｉｚｅ　ｉｆ　ｍｙ　ｓｏｃｉａｌ　ｓｋｉｌｌｓ　ｌｅａｖｅ　ｓｏｍｅｔｈｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｂｅ　ｄｅｓｉｒｅｄ．　Ｉ＇ｖｅ　ｂｅｅｎ　ｈｅｒｅ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｎｏ　ｏｎｅ　ｔｏ　ｔａｌｋ　ｔｏ　ｆｏｒ　ｍｏｎｔｈｓ．” 

“Why me in particular?”

“Ｙｏｕ　ｓｅｅｍ　ｌｏｎｅｌｙ．　Ｐｅｒｈａｐｓ　ｙｏｕ＇ｄ　ｌｉｋｅ　ｍｅ　ｔｏ　ｊｏｉｎ　ｙｏｕ　ｆｏｒ　ａ　ｇａｍｅ　ｏｆ　ｄａｒｔｓ？　Ｏｒ　ｗｏｕｌｄ　ｉｔ　ｂｅ　ｂｅｓｔ　ｉｆ　Ｉ　ｓｔａｙｅｄ　ａｗａｙ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｙｏｕ？　Ｉ　ｃａｎ　ｇｅｔ　ｔｈａｔ　ｊｕｋｅｂｏｘ　ｔｈｅｒｅ　ｔｏ　ｐｌａｙ　ｗｈａｔｅｖｅｒ　ｍｕｓｉｃ　Ｉ　ｗａｎｔ，　ｙｏｕ　ｋｎｏｗ．” At that moment, music started blasting out of the jukebox. “Ｓｏｒｒｙ！　Ｔｏｏ　ｌｏｕｄ！” It turned down to a much more listenable volume. 

Elfilin recognized it from one of those creepy escape room games that Magolor liked, but the music itself was fairly pleasant. “Do you mind if I ask you any questions about what’s going on here?”

“Ａｈ，　ｔｈｅｒｅ　ｉｔ　ｉｓ．　Ｙｏｕ　ｒｕｉｎｅｄ　ｔｈｅ　ｍｏｍｅｎｔ．　Ｉ＇ｍ　ｏｕｔｔａ　ｈｅｒｅ．” The monitor flicked off, leaving Elfilin alone with nothing but confusion and low quality music. 

A minute later, the door opened and Magolor entered. “There you are. I wanted to ask you something.” He moved closer to Elfilin. “...Why are you just staring at the dartboard? Do you wanna play?” Elfilin’s body seized up, then he shot out of the room faster than he even knew was possible. Magolor tried to catch up with him, but he couldn’t.

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Lounge J had gotten uncharacteristically crowded. The four people in there was significantly higher than the usual zero. Susie had pulled Taranza aside to have a private conversation, and Francisca and Flamberge weren’t about to let it go unnoticed. Susie was beginning to get aggravated. “Would you two go away? I need to talk to him.”

Flamberge hopped over the back of the couch to land in a sitting position. “You can still talk while we’re here. I think it’s weird that you aren’t okay with that, personally.”

“Fine!” Susie huffed. “Taranza, do you know why most of the Star Allies don’t like me?”

His response was quick and blunt. “It’s because you’re selfish, callous, unapologetic, and a terrorist.”

“..........I don’t follow.”

“You’re not a good person.”

She gestured angrily toward the ceiling. “That’s never been a problem for any of the others!” She pointed at Francisca and Flamberge. “No one has a problem with them! No one has a problem with Marx! No one has a problem with the evil marble! No one takes issue with Magolor! There isn’t even anyone with just the slightest bit of reluctance accepting you as a friend!”

Taranza stared at her in  slightly angered confusion. “For someone so proficient in programming, that’s a whole lot of logic errors. First of all, Kirby and Daroach are the only ones who are able to exist in the same room as Dark Meta Knight without either getting scared and running, or getting mad at him. Actually, everyone you just listed still has people who doubt them. The only reason you get worse treatment is because you’ve made no indication whatsoever that you feel remorse for your past actions, and you see everyone as just a means to an end. If I didn’t feel bad for you, I wouldn’t give you the time of day myself!”

The lounge fell deathly silent, save for the sound of Flamberge eating popcorn that seemed to have just appeared out of nowhere. Susie backed toward the door, and when she responded, her voice carried a shaken version of the coldness it usually had. “Why exactly do you feel bad for me?”

Taranza took a deep breath. “What happened with your father… I’ve been there. Or, somewhere very similar. If there’s any part of you that’s like me, you had to have been just as devastated as I was. Even if you don’t show it much.”

Susie turned away. “I see. I may have some things to consider.” She left. After taking a moment to regain his composure, Taranza left as well. 

Flamberge pulled her hand out of the bag and held it out toward Francisca. “Popcorn?”

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“Ah, I found someone.” Daroach entered the manufacturing room. “What are you two doing here?”

Adeleine adjusted a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. “I’m staying near Kirby, because he seems to not be doing very well.” Kirby nodded solemnly.

Daroach tilted his head. “Have you two had lunch yet? I’m sure you’re hungry.”

Kirby perked up a little at the mention of lunch. “We haven’t had any yet. Can you cook, Daroach?”

“Who do you think made you all those strawberry shortcakes after the Dark Nebula debacle?”

After they had eaten, Adeleine began picking up the plates. “The point is, Kirby, you don’t need to be so hard on yourself.”

“She’s right.” Daroach handed her a fork he’d dropped on the floor. “It’s not fair to expect someone to do everything. And at a time like this, I’d be more than impressed if someone was able to to do something , let alone everything.”

Kirby thought for a second. “Hey, that’s a good idea! I’ll do something! …I just need to figure out what the something is.”

The thief got out of his chair. “You’ve always got the spirit, kid. Never let go of that.”

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“Oh, people.” Taranza halted his gait down the hallway when he saw Dedede and Rick in the hospital room. “Have either of you seen Susie? I might need to apologize to her.”

Dedede chuckled. “No offense Ranza, but every time you’ve told me you might need to apologize to someone, the thing you did was completely justified. But no, we haven’t seen her. Sorry for interrupting you, Rick, what about this screen?”

“Right! It had Marx’s name on it when we were first here. Looks like it got disconnected since then.”

Taranza moved closer to the wall. “Do you… hear music from the rec room?”

Rick trotted to the door. “Let’s check it out.”

Taranza opened the door. “Magolor!” 

He waved. “Hi guys. I wanted to check this place out and I think I love it here.” He was twirling a pool cue.

Rick looked at the table. “Can you play?”

Magolor propped the cue on the pool table. “Well, my hamster friend, I pilot a ship that was revered as a god. I hold the current record for ruling the universe at a whopping twenty three minutes. I taught myself to stop eating shrapnel at the young age of nineteen, so yeah. I can play pool.” He lined up the shot, and… “I think I just impaled my hand on this thing.”

Dedede turned to Taranza and whispered in his ear. “I understand you so much more now.”

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After pulling out the pool cue and bandaging Magolor’s hand, Meta Knight burst into the room, holding Elfilin in his hands. “Does this place have any medication for mental health? Because I'm sure Elfilin needs that.”

Chapter Text

They put Elfilin into one of the readily available hospital beds. Dedede firmly, yet gently held the somewhat unstable Meta Knight in place. “Do you know what’s wrong with him?”

“He’s not talking, and he has this terrorized look in his eyes. He needs help.”

The door opened, with Daroach and Kirby standing outside. Kirby looked completely distraught. “B-bad news…”

Daroach didn’t look too good either. “Did we catch you at a bad time?” 

Magolor looked around at the others. “We should talk in the hall. Taranza, stay here with Elfilin. I’ll tell you everything later.” Taranza nodded.

Kirby wasn’t in much of a state to talk, so Daroach took the reins on the conversation. “Adeleine went to put the dishes away at lunch, and then we heard her say through the door, ‘What are you doing here?’ Then a pause, then she said, ‘Wait, you aren’t-’ and then her voice got all muffled. We tried to get in, but the door was locked. Once I was able to break it down, we saw that it was empty. That room went from having two people to zero without the door opening once, and I think we can be sure that one of them won’t be coming back anytime soon. Also, DMK didn’t tell me anything. Bad news all around.”

Dedede winced. “We should go look.” Him, Meta Knight, Daroach, and Rick walked off toward the elevator.

Kirby looked up at Magolor, who had an unreadable expression on his face, but it definitely wasn’t a happy one. “Is something wrong? More than the obvious, I mean?”

“Nothing. Come on.” Magolor opened the door to the hospital. “Kirby, you stay here with Elfilin. I don’t think he’s in a state to hear what happened at the moment, so I’ll tell Taranza in the hallway.”

Taranza picked up Kirby and placed him next to Elfilin on the bed. Then he went out into the hallway. “What was it?”

Magolor closed the door. “Adeleine disappeared. That’s the bad news. But despite what they said, there is good news. We have a clue.”

“We do?”

“Daroach and Kirby heard her before she got grabbed. From what she said, it’s clear that she saw someone she thought she knew, but upon closer inspection, it wasn’t them at all. I’m not sure what that means, but it’s not nothing.”

Taranza grabbed one of Magolor’s hands and led him back to the door. “At least you see some kind of silver lining here. You’ve always been good at that.”

The door opened before they could open it themselves. Kirby stepped out and into the hallway. “Elfilin wants to say sorry.”

Magolor’s ears perked up. “He’s talking?”

“Yeah. He said he wanted to talk to you alone.”

Magolor gave Taranza a somewhat worried look, then entered the room and closed the door. “Hi.”

Elfilin was perched on top of some piece of equipment or other. “I’m sorry for running away earlier, I panicked a little.”

“That’s fine, really! But I did want to ask you something. Have you seen a computer in this place?”

“A computer? Where would I have found one of those?” Elfilin asked with a puzzled look.

“I thought so.” Magolor’s expression went grave.

“Do you want to know why I started freaking out?”

“Uh, yeah? I’d like to know what’s been on your mind.”

Elfilin started hovering in the air. “Follow me.” He went to the door and opened it. They went out into the hallway.

Magolor looked down the hallway both ways. “That’s weird. They’re not here.” He was trying to sound thoughtful, but there was a very clear concern in his voice.

Even if the words didn’t make it apparent, Elfilin clearly felt the same way. “They’re probably just in the rec room. That’s where we’re going anyway. It’s nothing. It’s definitely nothing. There’s no way it’s not nothing.” Those words did nothing to reassure them. They entered the rec room, which was empty. “Maybe they took the elevator-why is there blood on that pool cue?”

“That’s mine. What did you want to show me?” 

Elfilin flew toward the screen on the wall. “This. I was looking around here when a person wearing a white cloth appeared on the monitor. They called themselves the OSO. The weirdest part was, it actually seemed like they just wanted to talk about nothing. Like they were just lonely or something.”

Magolor picked up the pool cue and started tapping the top of the monitor with it. “And why did me showing up after the fact make you freak out?”

“You both offered to play darts.”

There was no sign of anyone else in the bathroom or lounge. They even checked the hospital again and it was completely empty. With undeniable dread hanging over them, they got on the elevator. “They probably went to find the others.” Magolor pushed the button with the C on it. On the way up, he informed Elfilin of Adeleine’s disappearance in the kitchen. The elevator doors opened, and they slowly, agonizingly, made their way to the door to the dining room at the end. 

Empty. The atmosphere was so oppressive, it was as if the two of them were being crushed to death in a hydraulic press. Through strangled, ineffective breaths, Magolor got to the door to the kitchen and opened it. There was no one inside, but a whole lot of things were knocked over. There was a single number shining on the safe’s display. “2”. Magolor gingerly made his way to it and hit the enter key. It didn’t open. Only then did he realize that Elfilin had not followed him. Why not? He went back into the dining room. No Elfilin.

Everything about the situation was so deeply wrong that Magolor had to sit down to process it all. This room, where there was usually at least one person, that four people went to go check out very recently, where everyone sat in the morning, had hit him with a crushing emptiness that he hadn’t felt in a long time. It brought back everything he thought he left behind, the feeling that no one was there for him, that he had no one to turn to, the solution he eventually sought out, and the devastating regret that resulted. Involuntarily, his body started shaking. “No… no… why…” The thought hit him that he should be doing everything in his power to not fall back all those years, and he forcibly dragged himself to the door and opened it. Of course, there was no one in the hallway. He figured that if there was anyone on the floor, they’d likely be in the dorms. Summoning what remained of his splintering consciousness, he went to the door that led there. When he opened the door, the encroaching darkness on his heart was, at least partially, dispelled. Taranza turned toward him. “Whoa, you don’t look so good. Are you alright?”

A tear rolled down Magolor’s cheek before getting absorbed by the fluff on his face. “I was so worried, I thought everyone was gone…” He covered his face with one of his hands.

Taranza rushed over to him. “Oh, Magolor!” He embraced him. As more tears came gushing out, Magolor pressed his face into Taranza’s scarf. Taranza tried to keep his hands steady. “It’ll be okay, I know it will. I’ll always be here for you, I promise.”

The tension throughout Magolor’s body eased, and the tears slowed. “Okay. ...Okay. I'm okay. Thanks for helping me calm down.”

Taranza’s look of concern faded as he was able to see that Magolor had calmed down. “Of course. I'd do it anytime.”

Still in the embrace, Magolor started trying to get back to business. “So why did you come here?”

“Kirby brought me. He said he wanted company while he checked something out. I’m still not sure what he was looking for, but he said he was going to be right back, and that he was going to the dining hall.” Taranza backed away slightly,and brushed his thumbs across Magolor’s face to wipe the tears that remained.

Magolor frowned. “But he wasn’t there. Neither was anyone else.” 

Taranza flinched. “Oh, wow… That would explain why you were so freaked out. Let’s check floor J. There would have been a lot of people down there originally, maybe some still are.”

Magolor turned around and opened the door to the hallway. “Well then, let’s go.” They went to the elevator and hit the J button. On the way down, he looked up. “Something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. But something about this elevator isn’t right.”

As the elevator stopped on floor J, Taranza and Magolor got off and immediately went to the garden. There was someone there, but only one. Bandee turned toward the door. “Hi.”

Taranza rubbed his temples. “Where is everyone?”

Bandee shrugged. “I dunno. I’ve been by myself for a while now.

“Did you hear about Adeleine? She vanished.”

They looked down and sighed loudly. “How long is this gonna go  on?”

Magolor jumped as though he had just made a realization. “I know what was wrong with the elevator! You know how when we got on, we were on floor C? I heard the elevator coming down from above us, where there are no available floors!”

Bandee recoiled. “What?”

“Someone took the elevator somewhere it wasn’t supposed to go!”

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After much confused scrambling around the building, Kirby, Dedede, Meta Knight, Bandee, Rick, Daroach, Magolor, Taranza, Susie, Francisca, Flamberge, and Elfilin had gathered in the dining room. It was almost ten in the evening by now, and most of them just wanted to have a meal and go to bed. Still, it was difficult to overlook the absence of Coo and Gooey. Magolor brought up the thing with the elevator and informed the group that the two of them had likely gone to one of the higher floors. As worried as they were, everyone was  simply too mentally drained to go looking for them. After eating supper, they went to their rooms.

Chapter Text

Magolor pulled the covers over himself. “For as much as I hate this place, the bed’s really comfortable. Then again, maybe that’s just because everywhere feels safe with you.”

Taranza squinted. There was something in Magolor’s tone that was off. “You seem agitated. Is something the matter?”

“No, everything’s fine.”

Taranza flipped Magolor on his side and stared into his eyes. “Magolor. I’ve had this exact conversation before, word for word. I’ve replayed it hundreds, if not thousands of times in my head. I will not make the same mistake twice. Please, tell me what’s wrong.” Magolor just averted his eyes. “I know you prefer to handle things yourself, but what if you can’t? I won’t let you go the same way she did. I won’t. I can’t.”

Magolor sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He sat up. “I think I’m being set up.”

“How so?”

“It’s just a hunch, but there are too many coincidences lining up that make me look suspicious. The smoke in front of the elevator, Zan disappearing, what happened to Elfilin in the rec room, it’s all pointing in my direction. I didn’t want to worry you about something that might not even be happening, that’s all.”

Taranza sprung up from his laying position and cupped Magolor’s face in his hands. “I don’t ever want you to feel like you can’t talk to me. No matter what it is, you can tell me about it. Especially if it’s troubling you. If you think Kirby is plotting to eat your hands, I’ll listen and stay by your side.”

Magolor grinned and brushed a hand on one of Taranza’s horns. “Promise?”

“Wait, is he?”

“This song and dance sounds familiar.” He gave Taranza a kiss on the forehead. “Now lie back down, you need sleep.” He lay Taranza back down, and shifted himself to be next to him. It wasn’t long before Taranza drifted off to the sea of unconsciousness.

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“Meta, your shoes are too loud. Can you stop pacing and come to bed please?” He continued pacing, and it was unclear if he had even heard Dedede. “Will you at least tell me what you’re thinking about?” No response. “Could you at least take your shoes off?” Nothing. “Can you even hear me?” Didn’t look like it. Dedede got out of bed and went to his own room.

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“Excuse me, madam. Could you please help me?” Taranza approached the well-off looking woman on the park bench.

“Oh, my. You are rather young to be out alone this late, aren’t you?”

He’d gotten that a lot by now. “I… am older than I look. I would like directions to the docks where they keep the airships. Please, it is an emergency.”

She didn’t seem convinced. “Aren’t you one of the children of the aristocrats? Your style is exceptionally fancy.”

Taranza began to panic. “N-no. I’m no one. I just really need directions to the docks-”

“Oh, this simply will not do! I must contact a guard to bring you back to the castle. Please, stay here while I get help.” She got off the bench and started running to the castle. 

He threw out a hand. “Stop!” He immediately realized his mistake. He had surely alerted everyone nearby by shouting this loud in the middle of the night. Alarms would be going off. Everyone just heard a screaming child outside at night, and if they recognized it as him, he’d be caught immediately and put under the tightest security possible, a treatment only reserved for the royal family themselves. Curse this wardrobe shunned by the common folk! Why must I attract attention wherever I go? He had no choice. He had to sneak back into his bedroom and pretend like nothing happened. Get back, and do not get caught. Avoid being seen at all costs. Being spotted means I will never have my chance.

..-. .-.. .- ... .... -... .- -.-. -.- / .--- ..- -- .--. ... -.-. .- .-. .

Taranza opened his eyes. He was wrapped in the blanket, held by Magolor. “Sorry. The usual method didn’t work, and you were keeping me up, so I… guess I just started doing this.”

Taranza simply gazed fondly into his eyes. I don’t know what I did to earn the adoration of someone so wonderful. “I love you so much.”

Magolor’s face reddened slightly under his fur. “I love you too. So, so much. Now go back to sleep and try not to scream in my ear again, alright?” Taranza was already asleep again. Magolor looked at the clock on the wall. 4:25 am. Unfortunately, he had yet to get even a wink of sleep.

... .--. .. -.. . .-. / -... ..- .-. .-. .. - ---

Daroach slid out of bed and walked into the hallway. There, he saw Bandee. “Morning.”

Bandee nodded. “Looks like we’re the first ones up. I hope Coo and Gooey came back last night.” They sighed.

The door to Taranza’s door opened. Magolor popped his head out. “Oh, you two are up. Good. Stay safe, okay?” He went back in and the door closed.

Daroach tilted his head. “He doesn’t look like he slept.” The door to Meta Knight’s door opened as well. “You also don’t look like you slept.” Then Dedede came out of his own room. “Hey, you too. Did anyone sleep?” 

Then Susie came out into the hallway, looking barely any better than the others. “I hate mornings… why can’t I just sleep until eleven?”

Bandee walked over to the door to the hallway. “It’s too crowded here. I’m going to the dining room.” As the group followed them, Dedede paused, as though something about the previous few minutes was stuck in his head.

--. .-.. --- --- -- -.-- / -- --- .-. -. .. -. --.

“They’re not here.” Daroach said what was on everyone’s mind, speaking of Coo and Gooey. “Ha… hahahahaha… What are we supposed to do?” He doubled over, repeatedly slamming his hand on the table. Most of the group had no idea what to do when Daroach had never been like this before.

Magolor moved over to the seat next to him. “Hey, don’t give up. We’ll find something, I know we can.” He put his hand on Daroach’s back. “We’ll save everyone.”

“How?”

Magolor smirked. “If I let questions like that bother me, I’d have died countless times by now.”

Kirby ran into the room. “Guys! We might be able to find them! Floor A is available!” After hearing that, everyone immediately got up and ran to the elevator. The A button was hit repeatedly, but the elevator carried up the cargo anyway. 

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Rick’s eyes locked on what lay on the floor outside. “One of Coo’s feathers… He did come up here!”

Dedede started shoving everyone out of the elevator. “We’re searching every inch of the place. Come on, MOVE!” They split into two groups of six to check the only two doors that would have anything meaningful behind them.

.-- .... .- - / -.. --- . ... / - .... .. ... / -. . .-- / ..-. .-.. --- --- .-. / .... .- ...- . / - --- / --- ..-. ..-. . .-.

“Looks like a… Salon?” Flamberge looked around. “Why is this here? It seems kinda pointle-”

Daroach cut her off. “Magolor has already stolen a razor.”

He was holding the razor in front of him with an almost crazed look in his eyes. “MY SKIN REQUIRES OXYGEN BEFORE I DIE OF HEAT STROKE!”

Taranza shook his head. “Can you please just say your fur is too thick and you need to trim it like a normal person?” He was grinning throughout that entire sentence.

Magolor slipped the razor into his robes. “No, you don’t get it. I need to be overdramatic or else I’ll die.”

Bandee walked past everyone to the door in the back. “Taranza, you’re one of the strongest people in the universe. How do you put up with him all the time?”

Elfilin jittered as though he was going to explode if he didn’t get the energy out of his system. “Who cares? Open the door! I want to know what’s back there!”

The room was small. Inside was a reclining chair, a tiny desk, and… “Is that a phone?” Daroach's eyes lit up. He picked it up and dialed a number. “It connects! …No one’s picking up, though…” He dialed a different number. Nothing. He tried another number. Nothing again. “Damn, none of the squeaks are available.” 

Magolor grabbed the phone out of his hands. “Let me try.” He hit only one button. 

Immediately, he heard a voice from the other side. “If you wish to speak with the captain, he is currently unavailable. You may leave a message, but I cannot guarantee that he will hear it on the grounds that he is a complete idiot who can and has forgotten things that were said to him five seconds prior.”

He squeezed his eyes shut to try and hold back the tears. “Lor? If this isn’t automated, it’s me.”

“...Magolor? Are you really all right?”

“I don’t know if I’d put it that way, exactly, but I’m not hurt, and there isn’t any tangible threat of death, so it’s an above average experience for how my life is.” Taranza hugged him from behind, which made his efforts to hold back tears a pointless endeavor. “H-how are things on Popstar?” 

“I wouldn’t know. I left there on the day everyone inexplicably vanished. I’ve been looking for you for months, captain.”

“Months? We’ve been gone for months?” 

“Were you not aware?” 

“No, I- look, Lor, I don’t know how long I’ll be able to talk for, so I need to tell you something. If you find any planets with a ten-story building, crash through the side of it like the juice guy from the commercials.”

“I see. Captain, if that is the situation, I need to tell you something myself. These few months have been very difficult for me, and it made me realize how much I hold you dearly in my figurative heart. Without you, I feel քʊʀքօֆɛʟɛֆֆ

b̶̼͈̰̜̯̣͉͓͍̓͆̔̄̈́͊̐̀͘͘ͅā̴̰̼͈̘͖̥̝̩͎̟͋̒̆͐̔͝͝d̵̛̛̤͍̹̼̭̼̊̆̄̊̆͠ͅ ̴͎̞̣̭͖̰̥̪͋̿̿b̵̯̈͆͌ḁ̸͖̳͖̩̣͖͉̗̂̓̆̓͑̅̃̈̈̕d̸̨͚͍̫̼͚̣̮̟͕́͌̀̌͛̕̕͝͝ ̵̟͎͚̀̔͌͜b̶͑͋̾͐̅͊͊̿̾̈́ͅą̴̖̱̦͉̳͍͒̈́̆͋ḑ̴̤̰̼̥̮̮̣́͐͂̏̋̈́̍̓ͅ ̵̖̞̹͚̫͖̘͒̆͝͠ͅḅ̸̢͖̦̬͎̻̐̑à̴̺̦̲͚͙d̶͈̰͈̖̦̞̯̼̃͆͌̆̌̀̚̚͠ ̴̧̈́̈́͝b̷̛̗̥̅̾̽̓̏̏͋͠ḁ̵̲̃͗̔͐̇͝d̷̨͔̖͔̳̦̦̞̣̼̉̒̉͆̾ ̵̮̦̻̘͋̀̐͊̂͌ͅb̶̢̖̯̋̍̑͗̍̈͠͠å̵̦̄̇d̸͉̻̦̼̋̍̽̎ͅ ̷̝͎̆b̴̰̪̟̆͒̑͌̔̾̌͆͝͠ͅą̶̜͚̟͎̺̲͛ď̶͓͍͎͓͖͍̄̚ͅ ̶̢̫̼̘̀̿̿͘ͅb̷̲̖̳̈́͑̈̀̑̒͒̚̚a̴̛̲̯͓̲̖͊͌̓̈́̋̿̾̊͘d̵̯͉̟̞̞̥̗͈̠͚̀́̓̿̀͘͘͝ ̸͖̫̞̤̀̀̍͒̈́̃̋̇͐͝b̶͔̲͔̼̮̤͗̉̉̂̅͠ả̷͇̦ď̵̼̣̮͉͋̏̔̃͛͝͝ͅ ̵̢̘̭͎̹͇̯̺̪̻̏̓̉̋̍̓͌͘͝b̴̨͙̭͚̲̖͇͎̣̻̋͂̈͐͛̕͝ą̸̳̙͖͔̼̭̻̦̈́̂͘ḏ̸͆̅̍͋ ̷̜̙͓͇̜̹̦̪͎̿b̸̦̭̱̆͒̆͋̕a̴̙͎͔͕̣͒̽̇ḓ̷̺͖̠̠̯́͊̂̍́͒̅̿̓ ̷̳̹̱̙̝̤̦̜̘̒̈́͋̍͋̒b̸͚͖̜̫̦̪̾̓̾̈́̕͝a̴̧̡̬̪̾̈́ͅḍ̸͉̺̱̭̩͕̤̇̐͒́ ̸̮̥̄͆́̾̀̔͠i̵̜͈̣̲̗̜̣͎̿͒̎̐͑͆͜n̶͕͙̥͐͛̕̕͝s̶̛̙̓̎̈̈͌͑̂̊ṷ̴́͒̔b̴̲̹̿͑ǒ̷͇̭̤͑͌̓͜͠ŗ̸̥̼̩̙͕̺̥̈̿̅́͗͝͝d̶̤̓́̉̒̂͛͛ì̵̫̔͐ń̶̡͈̙̘̭͖̜̤̌́̈́͗͆͐̓͋͘ả̵̞̬̺̯̾̑̇̑̇̐ṱ̸͑͒́̂̄̆̉͌̌̚ẻ̴̤̖̽͑̊͊̄̅͐̅͝ ̶͍̚̕͝i̴̳̰̦̰͎͖̼͔̺̇̑̓̒͌̈̑͊n̵̺͉̳̹͕̲͙͍͆͋͑̎͗͘͠ͅḟ̸̱̙͂̀̿ḛ̴͈̠̀r̷̢͚̳̯̣̱̻̂̓ͅǐ̸̱̳̥̣̙̻̲͉̟̩̊͘͝ó̷̱̳̫̩̫͖͙̓͋̌͐̈́͋͆̏̕r̷͙̉̿̐͐͘ ̵̨̛̞̪͓̗̣̤̼̤̇̑̉̎͜v̸͉̑̃͌̇͆̒͠ȩ̵̪̱̱̀͋̃̈́̌̎s̸̯̘͇̦͎̻̩̿͌̌̑͝s̶̟̙̪̓̔͗̓̋̆̈͜ͅe̶͇̭̫͙̻̫͇̙͚̅̆͊̇̽́͜͠l̸̻̩̠͋̽ͅͅͅ ̴͎̙̞̠͙̩̈́̓̀ͅi̴̟̺̝͈̘̤̜̩̓̕̚ ̸̛͉̋̎̏̑̑̀ḭ̸̡̨̜͖̯̘͙̟͗̀͋́̈̽̒͝͝ņ̶̒̇́͑̄͋́̐f̸̭͕̏̑̿̃̽̊͂̉͐͑ơ̶̢̢̜̜͚̾̏͑͝ȓ̶̙̰̒̃̄͆̉͋͌͘m̴̡̺͎̻̭̼̖͈̹̎̔̂͛̍ë̴̟̥́͌͘d̷͕̱̣̜̫̼̲̤̀͊͗̚͝͝ ̴̢̛̘̳̫̟̗̜̣͗͐̅̽̈͆̔͝y̴̛͉͉͚̭͔̫̾̀͋̓̚͜ö̵̡̘̠̠͔͖̻́͜u̵̢͖̯̬̮̮̖̰͔̭̾̌̈́̅͝͝ ̷̢̧̘̀̽̿̀̂͂̔͑̕̕ṭ̸̀̐h̶̨̼̤̝̝͍̣̪̑ḁ̸̛̓́́̾͂̍̅̔͋ẗ̷̺͓̩̖́͊̆̚ ̵̡̣̟̻̟͉̱̼͐́̈́͛̐̅͂͝͝ẙ̷̘̉̓͝ǫ̶̧̲̾́̌̈́͛͌̈́̕͘͠ư̶̲̺̋̓̓̃̑͋̃ ̶̝͙̫̣̟͓̙̳͚̈́͊͐̂̔̚s̷̨̨̱̳͍̱̤̝̓̆̄͊̾̾̿h̶͔̘͉̣͍͆͊̑̿̎ȯ̶͕̦̒͗͗̇ǘ̴͔̪̰̩̲̐̚ĺ̴͕̤̜͚̲͇̯̉̓̽̋̌̈́̕ͅḓ̴͍̳̤̥̺̠̌͒̄̄͊͝n̶͓̼̦͍̥̬̅̽̍̋͌̓͘̕͠'̷̨̟̭̺͉͔̼̪̈́̆͒͛͂̐͘ͅt̷̓̍̂̿́̃͘͜ ̸̪̝̬̠̱̩̭̐̋̓̀̀̊͗̎͑̚b̶͙͖͕̩̪̳̘̩̾͗̒̍̈́̓̄̕͜͜e̴͎̐́͠ͅ ̶̦̜̄̈́c̸̡͍̬̻̟̪̞̲͈͐̎͆̏ͅơ̸̘̠̘̞̲͙̭̗͆̓̂̿͐̀͜m̷̲̉̂͘m̷̟̺͎̅͌͊̅̂͒̀͝ứ̷͎̤͚̦͕͗̎͌̾̊̃̐͝n̶̞̰͓͒͛́̈́i̶̡̥̰̻̫͓͉̾͌͗͐̍̒͘c̶̤̼̻̀͗̇̈́̔̅̉͐͂ȁ̴̛̠̩͇̄̓̌̃́t̵̡̢̲̖̹̳̓̀̆͐͝i̴̙̝͎͙̒̓̈́̇̾͗̇n̶̫͈͈̝̤̥̊g̷̡̢̤̮̥̺̪̬̗͊͊ ̷̨͍̘͙̫͇̃̿͝ẇ̴͔͍͉̩͕̙̖̤̣̌́i̴̹̭̭̫͉̓̒̏̉̇̆̎͒͜͜͝ͅẗ̴̞̰̬̯͙̳͖͔̮́̓̔̇͒̾̆͜ḧ̸̨̯̮̦̭͇̳̰̹́̓̈̀́̕̚̚͝ ̵͔̗̱͖̼͊̒͊̇̏̈́͜͝t̵̹́̈́̍͒͝͠ḩ̶̹͕̬̇̿̈̑͝ȩ̶̙̏̌ ̸̻̌͆ơ̴̧͈̘͍̗̰̤̘͙͉͒́̿͂̂̏̈́͗b̸̫̒s̶̢͉̹͎̪͇̳͙̭̑̂̂́̂͒̐͑̊͊t̷̖̱̬͈̘͕̉̃͌̕á̷͈̍̕ç̵̼̖̤͔͈̰͛̀̐͋̅ͅͅͅl̸͍͐̅͠͝l̵̢̏͘l̶͇͌̃̇͊̔̈́͛l̸̡̧̢̛͇̲̝̤̠̟̻͛̌́ļ̶͙̻̱̻̟̣̤̳̠̌͌͐̅̃̽͒̉l̴̡̢͉̘̝̗͌̋̄̑̃͒͌͘ļ̸͔̣̼̹̠̹̣̕l̴̛̹̟̲̣̖͚͈̘͚̔͑͛̄̄̉̾̈́͒ͅl̴̨̻̒̃̂̇̚ļ̸̝̮̲͙̰̗̖̩̽͊̾͊̉͂l̵͙̼͉̦̓̏͛̈́̿̕̕l̴͇͙̺̲̦̘̰̜̠̀̎̒̀͌̒͗͋̕b̶̡̭͎̙̜̮̓͆͊̑͒̔̒̕͠ĵ̸͉͇̙͖̰̖̀̈́̿́̀̊ḧ̵̨̨̡̢̘̩̳͈͔́́̇̌̃̄̀͊k̶̝̻̯̹̲͌̇̑̆͂̌̋͠s̵̪̀̓̽̃̇͘b̵͎͎͚̀v̸̡̛̀̅͊̄̅͘͝l̸̡̰̫̬̯͔̽͒̂̀̑̑̊́͊͝d̷̰̣͎̟̺̩̓̈́k̵͇̳̤̞̜̞͉̈́̔͂̿j̸̧͙̹̤̠̗̰̄̓͐̿̒f̴̢͉̘̦͕̮̟̜͗͛̈́̕͠v̵͉̫̼̪͍̊̀̍͐́͠b̷̢̻̭͕͕̬͐͛̍̌̔͋̈́̕̕͝a̵̛̙̖̗̗͈̤̭͑̋͋̈́̿̄͘̕͠s̷̨̡̙̩̼̳̣̙͚̗̀̍͐͆ḣ̴̡̧̹̙̜̲͉̣̳̄͘ͅb̶̧͈̳̠̌̎͒̌̎̍̏̐v̴̛̛̜̈͌̌͌̋̔͝k̸̛̙͖̼̮͓̙̜͕͙̄̈́̇̉̓̒̆͝j̵̟̣̭̜̣̝̻̅͑͑͌̽̊̕b̴͎̺͖̻̭͈́͂f̴̨̲̺̗̻͎̊v̵̨̫͔̟̤̗͑͒̔̚̚ͅl̷̜̩͉͖̯͎͎̤̯͐̉̐ķ̷̤̱̻͍̺̾̈́̒h̵̨̝͕̼͍̟̔͋͌̎̐̽͛d̶̳͌͑́̍͠b̸̨̻̰̲͕͒̽͐̆̾͝f̶̥̽v̶̙̌̚h̵̲̥̗̦̦̏́̃̇͛̌͝l̶̛̪̹͍̳̜̗̖͋̐͜d̸̡̬̫͖͌̔b̷̠̗͚͕̣̞̟̑̊͊̈̔͜͝v̴̨̛̮̤̥͙̰̞̼̹͂͐̀͘͠k̸͕̜̞̦̤̗͈̠̗͓̾̓͒̍s̵̙͍̈̓̽ͅͅͅb̸̭̙̝̱̳̝̹̖͈̺̈̾f̴͈̗͉͈̾͌l̷̨̢̧͓̲̲̲͍͇̿̈́̌̆͘k̶̨͎̮̭̠̮̰̞̥̹̔̐̊͂̈͒̕͝ĥ̴̞̲̹̥̞̿̌̈̈́̄̽v̷̢͓̹̗͗b̵̟̩̦̥͍̤̫́̆͑̀͌͠ä̵͚̝͇͍̗̗́̊̋͗͠s̷̥̤̖̺̙̀̍̇̅̿͒h̴̠̘̄͜k̴̼͖̘̜͖̲͐͗͆͗̒̈́̈́̄͘b̷͈̘̦̀̇̔̔̒s̷͉͍͉͍̪̼̤̘͎̎͌̓͛́̒̂̚͝f̶̢̨̯̱͎͚̼͇̹͛̆͊͠ͅv̵̖͎̙̘̑̄̐͊̆̕ȁ̴̰̐̈͘b̶̬̰̞͈͙̺̠̿͌͒̿͋͆̃̚ş̸͕̝̫͓̩̠̞̆̾̋̈́̏̉̉͝ͅḟ̸̛̻͍̝̖̪̖̱̤͎́k̷͓͂̆́̌̀̔̏̄̈́̃v̶̧̢͓̪͖̻̟͍͐b̴͚̳̞͎̝͎̝̝̳̞̅k̵̼͎̘̰̼̘̗͔̣̈́̊͒̕;̶̙̳͎͕͖̬̯͖̜̔͆̃̈́̃͘f̶̰̺̌͋̚̕j̴͍̝̣͂́̓̈͝͝v̴̛̗͙̿̑̈̐̂̀̇͘͝b̵̠͙̏̎̓͝ą̶̛̭̰̤̣̗͔͉̘͙̊̀̑̓͌̓̽̂́d̶͓̻̩̹̹̺͛̍͋́̈́͜͝f̴̡͎̪͔͉̹̱̭͕̔̽͋̊ş̸̧̩̫̙̠̠̝͉̄͝ķ̴̢͚͔̩͙̠̠̉j̴̛̼̝̒̀̿̏͒͆͐v̴̨̔͗̋̆̑͐̒͝a̸͔̮͇͚̋;̶̡̢͓͈̣̩͌̅͑̋̍̓̈́̐̓̕ḵ̴̡̢͚̰̝͕̗̭̓̊͑̉͊͌j̸̨̺̯̙̦͖̞̋̽̊̀̔̚͝͠͠f̴̰̯͇̥͍͇̀̔̽͊̓̉̀̓͠v̸̧̝͎̗͙̳͆́̃͝b̸̨͍̙̗͆;̵̛̤͈̗̺̐̊̀̒k̵̡͖͓͊̈̄̎̄͒̈̇ͅj̸͎̭̏͝f̵̲̠̩͕͔͙̞͆͛ͅv̸̬̣̎͛̀͗͝ͅḃ̶̤͙̰̞̜̩̦͍̻͎͌̈́̚f̸̧̠̫̟̩͚̹̼̹͋̑̽̅̒͗̈́̕͝͝k̸͎͕̗̠̻̫̻̺͈̿͐̎͜͝j̸̧̠̺̺͇͉͙̲͇͕̀͊̅̈̿̀̀̚͝v̵͖̥͙͚̋̒͆̓͆̅̓̑b̵̡̢̧̲͉͖͓̑̽̍́̑̉̈f̶̙͖̞͓͈͖͕̺̖̉́̃̄͋ͅḱ̷͖̯͖̼j̶̟̥͆͂̂̅̋̕͘͝͝v̵͖̺̺͇̙̹̾͊̅͛ͅv̵̻̅̇̂̄̑̿̂͠ş̸́̋̐̒̽̋̈́f̴̳͌̏́͗͂v̸̥̎͗f̴̹̜͆ḅ̵̢̨͉͇̬̘̳̞͑̔̇̏͊͌̆͂͜k̷̮̻̦̰͍̠͇̠̐͒́s̴̨͓̪̺̱̰̘̞̠͋͋̃͜;̷͈͎͉̫͖̭̜̀͋́̇̎͂f̶̨̨̛̺̻̞̻̭̜̤͋̌̌͑b̶͔͉̜̀̋̀͘v̸̼̬̭̜́ķ̶͔̦͑̀̌̃͝͝j̸̍̋̉̌̈́̂̐̀͝ͅd̷̫̥͙̼̮̤͓̾̈́́̑̓͆̕͝ͅg̸̢͎̻̙̘͎̍̈́̆̉ͅb̸̯̤̰̓ñ̶̟̹͖͉̺̻̓d̸̟̺̭͓̩̳̣̐́͋̌f̴͉̹͎̝̯̲̊̑͌̈̉͋͌̈́̚k̵̘̺̗̞̩͇͕̫̟̹̊́͑h̶̢̢̡͈̋̍̇̾̑̊̉̄͂͝ṽ̴̧̨̳̪̫̠̝̫͔͆͂͗͗́͝b̴̢͈͎͑̂̾f̴͚̤̼̘̭̘͒ḑ̶̤̺̺͔͓͉̎͊̽̚j̷̲̈͑́̐h̸̛̛͉̱͆̄̊̿͂͂̚v̶̭̄͊͐̿̋̏͝͠͝b̴͔͎̯̫͚̞̆̔j̵̳̱̫̦̟̥̥̪̈̎͒͛̚͜k̶̡̥͙̠̙̾̔͐̓̈́v̵̘͇̜͂̿͊́͂͑͠͝s̴̟͔͔̣͑͝j̷̼̺̝̲̃̈̂́͌̅͝͝ͅv̵̨͕̻̞̯̎͗͒̓̐̈̆̚ͅͅb̷̹͍̫̘̣̘̹͋̈͋͑f̶̧̨̦͓͔̖̱̩͈̖̍͐v̶̢̗̰̱̼̪͉͚͇̩̄̀͒̔̌͂͒̈̎h̵̯͠s̵̩̖̞̹̞̭͉̩̦͕͌̅̃̚h̷̳̲̭̓̇ļ̸͔͉͖͗̆́̏̉͠ͅr̵̨̢̥̱͍̠͙̽̾g̶̡̯̖̝̀̇̑̄̈́͑̕͘ĺ̸͔̬̰̙̜́̾̽̓̃̆̈́́ę̷̛͖͎͉̭͗̓̌̅̃̚͠͠u̸̬̳̰̜̹̒͐͑͒̄̄͒i̵̡̗̥̗̙͇̒ḩ̷̭̱̎̉̄ẉ̸͋͘ė̶̢̯͓̣͍̍̋̔̒͜k̶͓̜͗́̿̀̀̎̾́͠j̶͕̈́́̔̔̑̿͝v̷̺̥̙͗̿̇̽b̸̗͙̞̏̿͌̍͊̓͊s̴̪̟̳̯̮͍̝͇͂͊͂f̵̗̹̋̆v̸̰͈͘d̵̬̻̬͓̲̼͙̖͌b̴̢͉͚̠̠̃̃̍͂v̶̮̥͔͕̞̥̥͆̓͌̓̋͋̋j̸̰̦̜͖͙̫̽͋ͅh̶͎̖̪́́̿͋͝f̵̩̤̈̈̓̉̅d̵̖́v̵̢̫̣̻̺̯̬̈́́k̵͈̤̲̾̂̀͗̀̀l̴̙͈̲̝̜͘d̵̨͕͉͔̻̼̬̻̄̍̀̏l̴̛̻͆̌͐́̎-”

The call was cut short. Stunned into silence, Magolor went stiff, frozen. The phone fell out of his hand, only missing the floor because of the wire keeping it attached to the landline.

... .... . ... / .--. .-. --- -... .- -... .-.. -.-- / ..-. .. -. .

Francisca picked up a sheet of music. “It doesn’t say what instrument this is for.” 

Rick strolled up behind her. “I can do that on a harmonica.”

Susie was sitting over by an organ. “Father had one of these…” She whispered to herself.

Dedede sat across from Meta Knight, who hadn’t spoken since yesterday. Behind him, Kirby was playing the saxophone badly. “Meta, you haven’t spoken in so long. Are you really okay?”

“I’ve been thinking through the events of the last few days. I believe I have my eye on our culprit.”

That got the attention of everyone else in the room. “Really?” Rick turned to him.

Meta Knight adjusted his cape. “There is, of course, room for error. However, from the information I have, there is a plausible answer.” Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him intently. “Very well. I’ll explain. 

When Zan Partizanne went missing, she was in the white room at the back of the library. The obvious suspect is Marx, but since he was taken too, he’s off the list. Thanks to the hidden room and the way the ducts work, anyone who was alone for long enough would be able to get into the room with her. Elfilin was frequently alone, but he was moving around enough that he wouldn’t have time to get to the white room. Magolor, however, did. I spoke to Bandee personally, and they said they looked around the library without checking on each other often. In other words, Magolor easily could have gone into the white room and disposed of Zan Partizanne unnoticed.

Ribbon disappeared from the garden, when Magolor was with her and saw her plan to chainsaw the ceiling to find the duct. He easily would have known to do that.

My counterpart refused to say even a single word, likely because Magolor went down there and convinced him not to.

In addition, Magolor was alone when Adeleine vanished, and likely when Coo and Gooey went missing too. There’s far too much that lines up if you assume that he is one of the OSOs, and it opens up the most possibilities for who the other one, or other ones could be.”

Dedede scratched his chin. “That’s definitely something to look into. We should keep an eye on him.”

Francisca, Susie, and Kirby all bore a very similar troubled expression, but it didn’t look like it was for the same reason. Rick pointed to the door. “There’s nothing in the room. Let’s go.”

In the hallway, the two groups reunited. There was no sign of Coo or Gooey. Dejectedly, they went back to the elevator. Flamberge stopped. “Hey, where’s-” She turned around, and the door to the lounge was open. “Hey! Egg! What are you doing in there?” 

He came out of the room and closed the door behind him. “Nothing, they’re not there.”

She pointed at his hand. “Why were you just-” She was cut off by a strong electric shock that flooded the hallway with a blinding light. No one could see anything or anyone.

The light faded slightly, and Flamberge was no longer there. Francisca’s pupils constricted. “No… NO… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Magolor stumbled backwards. “W-why are you all looking at me like that?”

“...”

“Oh… You all think it was me, don’t you?”

“...”

Magolor averted his eyes from the others and looked at the door. “I see. In that case…” He backed away from the elevator and went closer to the music room door. The others drew nearer. Seeing his chance, he flew over their heads as fast as he could and got on the elevator, closing the door before anyone could catch him. He pressed a button and rode the elevator down, trying not to lose his grip on reality. “It’ll be okay, it’ll be okay, I’ll be fine. I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine…” The door opened and he got off. “I’m not fine.”

Chapter Text

Kirby knocked on the door again. “Magolor, no one thinks you did anything wrong. Please, come out. I’m worried about you.” No response. “Magolor, I know you’re in there. I heard you.” Nothing. “I know you. The real you. If we leave you alone, you’ll get really sad, and I can’t stand the thought of one of my friends losing themselves when I could’ve helped.”

The door opened, and Magolor emerged, face soaked from tears. “Thank you, Kirby. You’re too good to me.” 

“C’mon! Taranza’s making your favourite soup in the kitchen! You want some, right?”

 Magolor patted Kirby on the head, and gazed fondly in the direction of the dining room. “Yeah, I do. It’s almost ten in the evening and I haven’t eaten in more than a full day.” 

Kirby giggled. “How do you even do that?”

Magolor’s ears stuck out sideways. “Childhood thing. Did you hear that just now? There was a weird sound.” 

Kirby tilted his head. “I didn’t hear anything. You look really tired, I think you should go to sleep soon.” He led Magolor to the hallway as the door to Magolor’s room closed behind them. 

The soup was delicious. Taranza downed three bowls, Magolor had four, and Kirby had nine. It was amazing that no one showed up the entire time. “Ranz, I’m really tired. It’s been great, but I need to go to bed.”

Taranza got up alongside him. “I’ll come with you. Someone needs to make sure you actually sleep.”

Magolor grinned. “Even if everyone else does think I’m an OSO, I’m not worried. I have you two in my corner. …Uh, usually, Kirby, you’re supposed to look at people when they talk.”

“Huh… oh.” Kirby turned around, seemingly trying to blink himself awake. “I think I need to sleep too.”

In the dorm hallway, Taranza led Magolor into his room. Kirby entered his own room, collapsed onto the bed, and the weight of his actions felt as if it could crush him to death. In order to muster the will to keep going, he decided to wait. Hours passed. They must be asleep by now, I should go. He got up and went to the hallway. Good. Everything was the way it should have been. He went to Dedede’s room and knocked on the door. Then he knocked again. One more time… “It’s three in the morning. What do you want, Kirby?”

“Shh! I don’t want to wake them up. You know how everyone was thinking about Magolor being suspicious?” Kirby whispered.

Dedede quietly stepped into the hallway. “Yeah, why?”

“So we should, you know, look harder.”

“Kirby, what are we doing?”

He started tugging Dedede’s arm down the hall. “We’ll look in his room.”

Dedede stopped them. “How are we going to do that?”

“It’s easy. We’ll go over to the door, open it, and go in.” After saying that, Kirby walked up to Magolor’s door, opened it, and held it open for Dedede to pass by.

“How did you do that?” Dedede looked incredulous.

“This is important. I’ll tell you later. We need to search this place quickly.” Kirby ran into the room and let the door close behind him. “Let’s start with that desk.”

There were a few sheets of paper spread out on the desk. Dedede scanned them. “I’ll read them out loud, okay? Whispering, of course.” Kirby nodded. Dedede began reading.

Ｍａｇｏｌｏｒ：　

Ｔｈｅｓｅ　ａｒｅ　ｂａｓｉｃ　ｉｎｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎ　ｓｈｅｅｔｓ　ｔｏ　ｄｅｔａｉｌ　ｙｏｕｒ　ｍｉｓｓｉｏｎ　ａｔ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｓｉｔｅ．　Ｙｏｕ，　ａｎｄ　ｔｈｅ　ｏｔｈｅｒ，　ｗｉｌｌ　ｂｅ　ｒｅｆｅｒｒｅｄ　ｔｏ　ａｓ　"ＯＳＯ"　ｆｏｒｔｈｗｉｔｈ．　Ｍｏｎｉｔｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ａｃｔｉｖｉｔｙ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅ　ｅｉｇｈｔｅｅｎ　ｏｔｈｅｒｓ，　ａｎｄ　ｉｆ　ｎｅｃｅｓｓａｒｙ，　ｓｅｐａｒａｔｅ　ｔｈｅｍ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｔｈｅ　ｏｔｈｅｒｓ　ｉｆ　ｔｈｅｙ　ｇｅｔ　ｔｏｏ　ｃｌｏｓｅ　ｔｏ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｒｕｔｈ．　Ｉｆ　ｙｏｕ　ｆａｉｌ　ｔｏ　ｄｏ　ｓｏ．．．　ｙｏｕ　ｋｎｏｗ　ｗｈａｔ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｈａｐｐｅｎ　ｔｏ　ｙｏｕ．　Ｙｏｕ　ａｒｅ　ｏｆ　ｃｏｕｒｓｅ　ｇｉｖｅｎ　ｐｌｅｎｔｙ　ｏｆ　ｍｅｄｉｃａｌ　ｅｑｕｉｐｍｅｎｔ　ｔｏ　ｅｎｓｕｒｅ　ｔｈｅｉｒ　ｓａｆｅｔｙ，　ａｎｄ　ｙｏｕ　ｎｅｅｄ　ｏｎｌｙ　ａｓｋ　ｆｏｒ　ｈｅｌｐ　ｕｓｉｎｇ　ｉｔ．（１／３）

Kirby looked down at the floor. “No way… Really?”

“What are you two doing in here?” Kirby and Dedede whipped around to see Magolor in the doorway, glaring at them. “How did you even get in here?”

“That’s not important!” Dedede snapped and held up the sheet of paper. “Explain this!”

Magolor recoiled. “W-what is that? Who wrote it? How did that get there?”

Without further warning, Dedede grabbed him and hauled him bodily into the hallway and carried him to the elevator. Kirby joined them. “You’ll explain yourself in the morning.”

While he had previously been struggling against Dedede’s grip, his escape efforts stopped completely, as though his mind had shut down. “ʷʰʸ...?” 

The doors opened on floor J, and Dedede took him to the jail and threw him in the cell on the opposite corner of Dark Meta Knight. “Now don’t go getting any funny ideas, egg boy.”

He called out. “Kirby!” Kirby turned around and looked him in the eyes. “You know this is all a lie, right? Please, tell me you still believe in me! You know I’d do the same! You know it!”

“...”

“...Right?”

Kirby shook his head. “Wrong.” He walked out.

Back on floor C, Kirby was still trying to keep some semblance of composure. Dedede carried him up on his shoulder. They split off and went to bed. Dedede awoke some time later. There was knocking at the door. He opened it and saw Daroach on the other side. “I heard you shouting earlier. I wanted to make sure everything was alright.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine. Let me get back to sleep, please.”

Daroach turned around and walked away, waving while looking over his shoulder. “Fair enough.”

.-.. --- -.-. .- .-.. / .-- .. --.. .- .-. -.. / ... . -. - / - --- / .-- .. --.. .- .-. -.. / .--- .- .. .-.. / - --- / .- - --- -. . / ..-. --- .-. / .... .. ... / ... .. -. …

Dedede woke up. It was six in the morning. He got up and figured he’d try to get some answers from Magolor. He knocked on Kirby’s door, but nothing happened. “Figures…” He got on the elevator and headed down to floor J to talk to him. But as soon as the door opened, all he saw were the flames. Burning brightly, covering the entire floor. He couldn’t see very far. Dedede immediately started slamming the ‘close door’ button and returned to floor C. He almost passed out from smoke inhalation on the way up, but the door opened on floor C and he was able to stamp out the sparks on his clothes. He wandered to the dining room to try and eat some thoughts into his head, but the only thing he found when he opened the door was a question. He blurted it out instantly. “WHAT THE FUCK?”

“That’s excessive. Am I not allowed to get breakfast after not eating for days?” Dark Meta Knight shot back. 

A few hours later, everyone else arrived, all of them being shocked and confused by Dark Meta Knight’s sudden appearance, but not once did he explain how it happened. After everyone had showed up, Dedede checked his clothes for the cell keys. He still had all of them. Although… there was an unexplained absence. “Where’s Taranza?” He asked the group. 

Elfilin, with no context to the situation, was understandably confused by Dedede’s demeanor, as was everyone else. “So are we just ignoring that Magolor also vanished off the face of the universe? Because that seems really mean…”

They finished eating. Dedede sent his trusted Meta Knight to stay on floor C, while he took everyone else to the elevator. Susie pointed out the new button on the elevator. “F?” 

Elfilin backed away from the panel. “Let’s check the other floors first…” he hit the E button. Only Bandee got off. “I’ll look around here, you guys check everywhere else!” They ran off to the rec room. 

Dedede hit the J button. “We might need everyone we can get down there. Let’s wait on F for a bit.”

The fire had died. Everyone was awestruck by the floor that was burnt to a crisp. Rick looked down at the ashes below his feet. “Didn’t Coo say so? Could be burnt to a crisp in a matter of minutes.”

They painstakingly made their way to the jail, the only room that would have been relatively safe. The hot air made their eyesight warped and hazy, but eventually Kirby reached the door. He threw it open. “Empty. Completely empty.”

Dedede could hear his own heart beating out of his chest. “This is bad, this is bad, this is so awful, we need to go!”

Elfilin shook. “F?”

Dedede nodded. “F.”

They dashed off the elevator as soon as the door opened. “GUYS!” Taranza was moving faster than anyone had ever seen him move before.

“Ranz, where have you-” 

Taranza grabbed one person in each of his hands. “NO MORE QUESTIONS! YOU NEED TO FOLLOW ME! COME ON!”

Chapter Text

“Taranza… wake up…” Somewhere in his mind, he heard Magolor’s voice. His eyes opened. 

“Huh…? Isn’t it still the middle of the night? What’s going on?” 

Magolor was getting out of bed. “I heard voices outside. I need to go check it out.”

Taranza nodded. “Did you really need to wake me up for that?”

“I wanted you to know. I once saw you start getting visibly worried when I fell asleep next to you and wasn’t still there when you woke up.” He chuckled.

“Wait, how did you know that?” Taranza sat up in the bed.

“I was still in the room. I’m gonna go look at what’s happening outside, but keep your ears open. I have… a bad feeling about this.” He opened the door and left. 

Taranza flew to the door, listening to what was happening outside. It sounded like Dedede and Magolor talking to each other, but it didn’t seem to last long before the voices stopped. Taranza poked his head out of the door into the empty hallway. He went from the dorm hall to the main hall, and saw Dedede’s back as the elevator door closed. He could only guess what was happening, but he knew that the best idea was to wait for him to get back. While he was waiting, he went over to the nightstand and picked something out of the drawer. It was the flower from the garden that Magolor had given him after he went there for the first time. “Please be okay.” Obviously, the flower wasn’t listening, but it gave him some comfort.

He left his room after hearing Dedede return. Immediately, he went to the elevator and took it down to floor J. If Dedede wasn’t taking Magolor to one of those hidden duct rooms, he was taking him to jail. He opened the door and saw a sad looking shadow out of the corner of his eye. The occupied cell that didn’t have Dark Meta Knight held Magolor, who was sitting against the wall, a hollow look in his eyes. Taranza approached the locked door, and sat on the floor in front of it. “Are you hurt?”

Magolor didn’t even look up. “In what way?”

“Thought so. Do you want to talk about it now or later?” Taranza leaned back. 

“Later.”

“Alright. I’ll be back in an hour to break you out of here, try to hold yourself together until then.” Taranza got up and moved to leave.

“Wait! Wait!” Magolor went to the door, wrapping his hands around the bars. “What are you doing?”

Taranza turned around. “I’m going to get you out of here. Is there a problem?” 

Magolor reached through the door and grabbed one of Taranza’s hands. “This isn’t like you. I know it’s hardly my place to say, but you need to calm down.”

“I am calm. I am also about to commit a crime. The two can coexist.”

“No. I can see it. You’re losing yourself. Whenever you start acting cold and calculated, it’s because you’re angry or upset. You don’t think I forgot about the day Marx accidentally ran over those flowers I gave you, did you?” Magolor managed a smile, but there was clear concern in his eyes. Despite the fact that he was in jail, the concern was clearly more for Taranza than for himself.

Taranza looked down. “This isn’t like that.”

“Yes it is!” He blinked and tears were in his eyes. “Taranza, why do you go so far? It’s just me, you know? You don’t need to act that drastically for a guy who lives in a boat, gets in trouble all the time, and needs literal hours of mental preparation to go outside when it’s cold! Not to mention, I got arrested for nineteen counts of kidnapping fifteen minutes ago!”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“You know, sometimes I wonder the same thing.” Taranza finally met Magolor’s gaze. “If only you could see yourself the way I see you, it would make so much more sense. You’d see just how wonderful you are. And because I can see all your great qualities, I know that if I had said something similar, you’d respond the same way.”

Magolor wiped his tears, but they returned pretty much immediately. “Haha, I got you…” He paused his sentence to make a futile attempt to stop crying. “Tricked you into complimenting yourself…” A sob. “I bet you feel really stupid right now.” His head fell forward and hit the door softly. “I love you so much.”

“The feeling is mutual. Now, will you let me break you out of jail?” Taranza cocked his head.

“You don’t even know that I’m innocent yet.” Magolor protested,

“Yes I do. If you were responsible, they wouldn’t have caught you.”

“Thanks, Ranz. I should probably tell you that Kirby and Dedede got into my room somehow and found a fabricated piece of paper that said I was one of two OSO. That’s why they put me in here.”

Taranza nodded. “Got it. I’ll keep that in mind. Don’t go anywhere, okay?” He left the room.

- .... . / -... .-. . .- -.- .. -. --. / .--. --- .. -. -

Daroach answered the door far quicker than Taranza thought he would. “It’s almost four in the morning. This better be important.”

“It is important.” Taranza deadpanned. “I’m breaking Magolor out of jail.”

Daroach nodded. “I see. Go to the library on floor H, I’ll meet you there.” Taranza got on the elevator, went down to floor H, and entered the library. Less than a minute later, Daroach came in after him, holding a ring of keys. “Here. Go nuts.”

“How did you do that?” Taranza asked, amazed.

“Talent. I’ll wait here until you get him out so I can return these unnoticed.”

“Thanks, Daroach. I’ll be back soon, I promise.” Taranza headed for the elevator and took it down to the bottom floor.

Magolor perked up immediately upon seeing Taranza enter. Taranza unlocked his cell, and he hopped out and hugged him tightly. As they were about to leave the room, Magolor paused. “Do you have a plan?”

“No.”

“Okay, just making sure.” He turned Taranza around. “Give me the keys.”

Taranza’s brow furrowed. “Why?”

“Because I do have a plan. What happens after we leave here? We get found, I get thrown back in here, You get thrown in too for cooperating, and they get Daroach too because I know for sure that he was the one who got these keys.” Magolor smirked. “That’s why we need to do things that don’t make sense. The less they can understand, the faster they can come to the conclusion that they’re wrong about me.”

Taranza handed the keys over. “What are you going to do?”

“This.” Magolor headed over to Dark Meta Knight’s cell and opened the door, immediately getting punched in the gut. Taranza rushed to his side and got put on the floor almost immediately. Dark Meta Knight immediately took to rifling through Magolor’s clothes. “Hey! Get your hands out of my-AAAAGH!” He emerged with a box, and then fled to the hallway. Magolor slowly got up. “Wasn’t expecting that.” He dusted himself off.

Taranza pulled himself up. “WHY did you do that?”

“I’m sorry, it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

How could you have possibly-” Taranza cut himself off. What’s done is done. “Let’s go.”

Magolor’s face shifted to one of fear. “I don’t think we can do that.”

“Why not?”

“You remember when I went into lounge A alone right before Flamberge disappeared? I found a matchbox on the table in there and I took it. Anyways, the point is that he stole the box and set the hallway on fire.” Magolor pointed at the open door. “We should probably not leave this room, because the walls in here aren’t going to be letting any fire in.”

Frantically, Taranza slammed the door shut. “What do we do?”

Magolor handed the keys back. “Take a bed and sit there until we either burn to death or the fire dies down.” He changed his tune after seeing the look in Taranza’s eyes. “Don’t worry. We won’t die. We’ll be safe. You seem really tired, you should take a nap while we wait.”

“You’re definitely more tired than I am-”

Magolor cut him off, putting a finger over Taranza’s mouth. “Shhhh. This is about you, not me.” 

.. / --. ..- .. -.. . / --- - .... . .-. ... / - --- / .- / - .-. . .- ... ..- .-. . / .. / -.-. .- -. -. --- - / .--. --- ... ... . ... …

“Taranza, a woman in the park last night reported seeing someone exactly like you at two in the morning. Would you happen to know why that is?”

Taranza sat up in his bed. “No, mother, I have been here the entire night. The armed guards you sent saw me sleeping, did they not?”

She stared down at him sternly. “You would not happen to be lying, would you?”

“Of course not. Lies are unbecoming of one with a status to maintain, as you always say.” He forced himself to smile cordially. “May I please speak with Her Majesty’s heir when she is available? I would like to converse with her regarding an abnormality in the night guard shift.”

“Why would madame Sectonia be involved with the night guards?” She frowned.

Taranza had his answer prepared long before she had even entered the room. “Did the guards not tell you? They said they would need to lighten up on the rest of the aristocracy last night to pay her extra attention. I was concerned about what could have been important enough to compromise my safety.”

“Very well. If you can be on your very best behaviour, I will request that Her Majesty allow you to meet her. Do not be late for your piano recital, and make sure you play every note perfectly. Any less would be failure, and you are well aware of our stance on failure.” She left the room.

Taranza entered the room. “It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Taranza.”

She grinned. “My, you seem stiff. Your parents must be a nightmare. As I imagine you know, my name is Sectonia. The heir to the throne. …You can stop bowing now. Please, make yourself at home. …Why are you not moving?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “It is improper to… ‘make yourself at home’ in a royal residence, correct?”

Sectonia’s face displayed a lot of emotion, but the most easily identifiable was worry. “Would you not be listening to someone who lives there on that topic? Forgive me for asking, but… should I be informing my mother about your unhealthy living situation?”

Taranza averted his eyes. “You are… making a significant amount of assumptions.”

Sectonia drew closer than she had previously. “I see. You are afraid. I understand that you visited to ask about the guard shift three nights ago, but you definitely need someone to talk to. Please, sit down.”

Taranza reluctantly obliged.

- .... . -.-- / .- .-. . / -... --- - .... / - . -. / -.-- . .- .-. ... / --- .-.. -..

When he woke up again, he saw Magolor looking down at him. “Good morning, Ranz.” He had a gentle smile on his face.

Taranza shifted, reached up, and grabbed Magolor’s scarf. “I’m so glad you’re real…”

“You still asleep?”

“No.” He flipped himself over. “I just don’t know where I’d be without you.”

Magolor didn’t say anything. They lay there in silence for a few minutes. “Well, now that you’re done your nap, let’s see how the fire’s doing.” They went to open the door. The fire had largely died down, and they went to the elevator as fast as possible. “F?”

“Floor F is interesting, but I need to return these keys first.” Taranza pressed the H button. 

After delivering the keys, the two of them and Daroach got back on the elevator. On the way back to floor C, Taranza and Magolor got off on floor F. The first room they entered was a hallway. There were two other doors in the hallway, both on the left. The closer one led into a room with a lot of boxes, and a microphone setup. There was a window near the microphone that led to what was beyond the other door. It was just a table with two chairs. They decided to label it the interrogation room. There didn’t seem to be anything in the boxes. 

The other room was a hallway as well. Four other doors, one on either side of the hallway. The doors were numbered 1 through 4. Magolor opened one of the doors. “It’d be faster if we split up to check these. I’ll take 1, you take 2.” 

Taranza entered door 2. Inside, there was a bed that folded out of the wall, a comfortable-looking sofa, a suit of armour holding an axe, and a lamp on a bookshelf. He left the room. Magolor was waiting in the hallway. “Find anything?” Taranza asked.

“Nope. Couldn’t even pull the axe off that suit.” They split up to search rooms 3 and 4.

In room 4, Taranza’s eye was caught by a monitor on the wall. It flickered to life, showing a figure wearing a while cloth. “Ｇｏｏｄ　ｍｏｒｎｉｎｇ， ａｒｔｈｒｏｐｏｄ．”

Taranza recoiled. “Who are you?”

“Ｙｏｕ　ｓｈｏｕｌｄ　ｋｎｏｗ　ｂｙ　ｎｏｗ．　Ｉ　ａｍ　ｗｈａｔ　ｙｏｕ　ｃａｌｌ　ａｎ　ＯＳＯ．”

He froze, feeling his own heartbeat throughout his entire body. Trying to keep the conversation going, he attempted to calm his nerves. “Why are you contacting me?”

“Ｉ　ｔｈｏｕｇｈｔ　ｙｏｕ　ｍｉｇｈｔ　ｎｅｅｄ　ｓｏｍｅｏｎｅ　ｗｈｏ＇ｓ　ｗｉｌｌｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｌｉｓｔｅｎ　ｔｏ　ｙｏｕ．”

Taranza was hit by a wave of inexplicable dread. “W-why would I need that? I already have Magolor…”

“Ｈｍｍ．　Ｉ　ｗｏｎｄｅｒ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ｔｈａｔ．” The monitor shut off. 

Desperate to escape the fear that was building within him, Taranza rushed out of the room. Magolor seemed to still be in room 3. Taranza pulled on the handle. It didn’t move. At that moment, he heard an extremely loud crash, followed by: “ GHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! ”

Taranza rattled the handle. “Magolor! MAGOLOR! ARE YOU DOING OKAY?” There was no response from the other side. He tried with all his might to break the door down, but to no avail. He went back to the main hallway, and looked down the hallway to the elevator. There were six people just getting off the elevator. He scrambled towards them as fast as he could. “GUYS!” 

“Ranz, where have you-”

Taranza grabbed one person in each of his hands. “NO MORE QUESTIONS! YOU NEED TO FOLLOW ME! COME ON!” He led them to the room that Magolor had been in. “Break the door down.” 

“On it.” Dedede took a running start and slammed into the door so hard it flew off the hinges. Taranza didn’t have time to be impressed, though. Because on the other side of the door, the first thing to catch his eye was the pool of blood on the floor. 

“Magolor!” He came down by his side. Magolor was face down on the floor, with the source of the blood likely being that big gash on his side. He looked back for someone who could help, but, strangely, he didn’t see a single soul. He turned Magolor over so the cut would face upward. He was still breathing. “Magolor. Can you hear me? Please, wake up!”

His eyes opened. “H-hey… How do I look?” He was shifting to try to keep the blood from running into his eyes, which were blank and cloudy, as though he might disintegrate at any moment.

Taranza’s breath slowed down slightly. “You look fine…”

“Ranza, please. I don’t want the last words I hear from you to be a lie.”

Those words struck a chord with him. “Don’t say that! You’re going to live! Forever and ever!” 

You could almost see the faint glimmer of hope in Magolor’s eyes. “I am? Promise?” His voice was weak like an old creaky floorboard.

“Yes! I promise! Just hold on, okay? I’ll get you to the hospital!” Taranza picked him up, and carried him to the door.

“I can’t feel my hands…”

“I can! Don’t worry, they’re still there!” The tears of pained desperation were now flowing from Taranza’s eyes in great streams. 

The hallway was completely empty. Dedede, Kirby, Rick, Daroach, Francisca, and Meta Knight had vanished. As for the whereabouts of Susie, Dark Meta Knight, Elfilin, and Bandee, they hadn’t ever been there. Taranza was of course worried about them, but the biggest priority was getting Magolor to the hospital. He tried to move quickly, but carefully. Magolor strained to look behind Taranza. “Hey… I see someone.”

Right as he was finished squeezing the words out, something whizzed by Taranza’s head. He picked up the pace, trying to get to that elevator button as fast as he could. He hit the up button and turned around to see that figure in the white cloth again. They were moving fast, holding what looked to be some kind of gun. They loaded something into it and fired another shot at Taranza. He ducked and the thing hit the door. It looked like a dart with some kind of drug in it. He started screaming furiously. “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?”

Magolor mustered all the strength he had to get out what he wanted to say. “Door’s open! Go!”

“Right!” Taranza went in, hit the E button, and started slamming the ‘close door’ button. Right as the door closed, he managed to dodge another dart.

“Are you okay?” Taranza asked the increasingly lethargic lump of his beloved.

“Everything’s blurry…” He groaned. Even through that, he could still see the pain on Taranza’s face. “Please don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault…”

The door opened and Taranza hauled him to the hospital and laid him on one of the beds. “...Uh, what now?”

Magolor looked around the hospital. “Do you have any bags of my blood?”

“No!”

He somehow managed to slump even more than he already was. “I wish Marx was still here. Look for IV fluid…” 

Taranza frantically began searching all the shelves in the room. Suddenly, he was overcome with pain. He couldn’t tell why. Taranza collapsed to the floor, writhing in agony. He was faintly aware of some kind of struggle happening behind him, but had no strength to even look. “Aaaaaghhh…”

The pain subsided as suddenly as it came. He heard Magolor weakly calling out from somewhere. “Taranza, I… ngh. I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” 

Taranza looked around. The bloody bed was empty. Magolor was nowhere to be found. “No… no… please… you have to be somewhere… Magolor… Magolor? Where are you?” The tears were back. He dragged himself out of the room and went to look for him. His mind was scrambled, and he couldn’t find any thought that he could identify as rational. The rec room. He said he liked that place… he would go there. 

Taranza staggered to the rec room. “Please open…” He grabbed the handle and twisted. The door opened, and Taranza saw something he wouldn’t be forgetting in a hurry. Elfilin was unconscious, his left ear pinned to the wall with one of those darts. No sign of Magolor or the figure in the white cloth. As he stared in horror, he felt a dull pain in the back of his abdomen. “Uuuuugh…” He turned around slowly as he fell to the floor. 

The final sight he saw before his consciousness faded into a dark abyss was the self proclaimed OSO, in the white cloth, looking down at him, holding the gun from earlier. “Ｉ＇ｍ　ｓｏｒｒｙ　ｔｏｏ．”

Chapter Text

Elfilin awoke on the floor of the rec room. The last thing he remembered before he passed out was seeing the figure in the white cloth under the pool table aiming a gun at him and pulling the trigger. There was a stinging pain in his ear, which probably meant that it had a new hole in it to match the other ear. He couldn’t figure out what day it was, or the time. The clock said it was half past ten, but whether that meant the morning or the night, he wasn’t quite sure. He left the rec room and quickly looked to see if anyone was in the bathroom. Nope. He moved down the hallway to the hospital. It didn’t look like anyone was around, but he figured he should check the area with the beds. He checked behind a partition and saw Taranza under the covers, with Meta Knight standing beside the bed.

Taranza gave him a polite wave. “Good morning, your majesty.”

Elfilin was taken aback by the greeting. “Uh, what? Is there something I don’t know?”

“He appears to be suffering from some unfortunate delusions. After I put him here to calm down, he seemed to think I was Magolor. It was… uncomfortable.” Meta Knight cringed.

“I don’t understand what the point of this act is. Is this just another one of your weird routines, Mag?” Taranza was smiling brightly, shining like sunlight through a stained glass window. Something fragile, that could easily shatter in heartbreaking fashion if you interacted with it the wrong way.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Oh right, I forgot. You don’t like nicknames. I’m sorry, Magolor, I feel like I’m forgetting a few things. Could you… please stay and help me remember?” 

Meta Knight was visibly uncomfortable. “...No.” He walked out as fast as he could manage.

You could see the dread crawling on Taranza as he called out after him. “W-wait! Magolor, where are you going? I need you here!” After Meta Knight was gone, he shifted his attention to Elfilin. “Queen Sectonia, would you mind bringing him back for me, please? I want to spend as much time with him as I can, before I die in a week.”

Elfilin was definitely scared, but he couldn’t tell whether the source of it was Taranza or something else. “Y-yeah, I’ll, uh, be right back. I’ll bring him.” He threw the partition shut and fled the hospital.

Elfilin checked lounge E as well, and didn’t see a soul. He got on the elevator and took it down to floor F, where he assumed the others would be. While he was trying to clear the sleep from his mind, he stumbled into the interrogation room. Sitting in the chair facing the one way window, was the figure in the white cloth. “Ｇｏｏｄ　ｅｖｅｎｉｎｇ．”

Elfilin flinched. “W-why? Again…” 

“Ｅｌｆｉｌｉｎ，　Ｉ　ｔｈｏｕｇｈｔ　ｙｏｕ　ｓｅｅｍｅｄ　ｄｉｓｏｒｉｅｎｔｅｄ，　ｓｏ　Ｉ＇ｍ　ｇｏｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｅｘｐｌａｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｃｕｒｒｅｎｔ　ｃｉｒｃｕｍｓｔａｎｃｅｓ．　Ｉ＇ｄ　ｐｒｅｆｅｒ　ｎｏｔ　ｔｏ　ｈａｖｅ　ｅｖｅｒｙｏｎｅ　ｂｅ　ｔｏｏ　ｃｏｎｆｕｓｅｄ．” The figure motioned for him to sit down.

He obliged. “Okay… What do I need to know?”

“Ｔｈｉｓ　ｍａｙ　ｔａｋｅ　ａ　ｗｈｉｌｅ．　Ｉｓ　ｔｈａｔ　ａｌｒｉｇｈｔ？　Ｎｅｅｄｌｅｓｓ　ｔｏ　ｓａｙ，　ｉｆ　ｙｏｕ　ｔｒｙ　ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ　ｕｎｔｏｗａｒｄ，　ｉｔ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｎｏｔ　ｅｎｄ　ｗｅｌｌ　ｆｏｒ　ｙｏｕ．　Ｉ　ａｍ　ａｒｍｅｄ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｍｕｌｔｉｐｌｅ　ｗｅａｐｏｎｓ．”

Elfilin nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine. I’d just like a piece of information that doesn’t hurt my brain.”

The white figure chuckled, then began. “Ｍａｇｏｌｏｒ　ａｎｄ　Ｄａｒｋ　Ｍｅｔａ　Ｋｎｉｇｈｔ　ｈａｖｅ．．．　ｂｅｅｎ　ｒｅｍｏｖｅｄ　ａｆｔｅｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｅｖｅｎｔｓ　ｏｆ　ｔｗｏ　ｎｉｇｈｔｓ　ａｇｏ．　Ａｐｐｒｏｘｉｍａｔｅｌｙ　ｔｈｉｒｔｙ　ｓｉｘ　ｈｏｕｒｓ　ｈａｖｅ　ｐａｓｓｅｄ　ｓｉｎｃｅ　Ｉ　ｓｈｏｔ　ｙｏｕ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｒｅｃ　ｒｏｏｍ．　Ｔｈｅ　ｗａｄｄｌｅ　ｄｅｅ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｔｈｅ　ｂａｎｄａｎａ　ｗａｓ　ｎｏｔ　ｒｅｍｏｖｅｄ，　ｂｕｔ　ｔｈｅｉｒ　ｗｈｅｒｅａｂｏｕｔｓ　ａｒｅ　ｕｎｋｎｏｗｎ．　Ｅｖｅｒｙｏｎｅ　ｅｌｓｅ　ｉｓ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅｉｒ　ｒｏｏｍｓ，　ｗｉｔｈ　ｔｈｅ　ｅｘｃｅｐｔｉｏｎ　ｏｆ　Ｍｅｔａ　Ｋｎｉｇｈｔ，　ｗｈｏ　ｉｓ　ｔａｋｉｎｇ　ｏｎｅ　ｌａｓｔ　ｌｏｏｋ　ａｒｏｕｎｄ　ｂｅｆｏｒｅ　ｈｅ　ｇｏｅｓ　ｔｏ　ｂｅｄ，　ａｎｄ　Ｔａｒａｎｚａ．

Ｉ　ｉｍａｇｉｎｅ　ｙｏｕ＇ｒｅ　ｗｏｎｄｅｒｉｎｇ　ａｂｏｕｔ　Ｔａｒａｎｚａ＇ｓ　ｃｏｎｄｉｔｉｏｎ．　Ｈｅ＇ｓ　ｂｅｅｎ　ｓｅｖｅｒｅｌｙ　ｔｒａｕｍａｔｉｚｅｄ　ｂｙ　ｒｅｃｅｎｔ　ｅｖｅｎｔｓ，　ａｎｄ　ｉｓ　ｅｘｐｅｒｉｅｎｃｉｎｇ　ｄｅｌｕｄｅｄ　ｍｅｍｏｒｉｅｓ　ｏｆ　ｈａｐｐｉｅｒ　ｍｅｍｏｒｉｅｓ　ｉｎ　ｈｉｓ　ｌｉｆｅ．　Ｈｅ　ｍｅｎｔｉｏｎｅｄ　ｔｈａｔ　ｈｅ　ｗｏｕｌｄ　ｄｉｅ　ｉｎ　ａ　ｗｅｅｋ，　ｂｕｔ　ｈｅ＇ｓ　ｐｈｙｓｉｃａｌｌｙ　ｃｏｍｐｌｅｔｅｌｙ　ｈｅａｌｔｈｙ．　Ｔｈｏｓｅ　ｓｔａｔｅｍｅｎｔｓ　ａｒｅ　ｂａｓｅｄ　ｏｎ　ｈｉｓ　ｍｅｍｏｒｉｅｓ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｗｈｅｎ　ｈｅ　ｗａｓ　ａ　ｃｈｉｌｄ，　ａｎｄ　ｍａｎｙ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅ　ｐｅｏｐｌｅ　ａｒｏｕｎｄ　ｈｉｍ　ｆｅｌｌ　ｔｏ　ａｎ　ｉｎｃｕｒａｂｌｅ　ｉｌｌｎｅｓｓ．　

Ｈｉｓ　ｄｅｌｕｓｉｏｎｓ　ｏｆ　ｈａｖｉｎｇ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｉｌｌｎｅｓｓ　ｈｉｍｓｅｌｆ　ｃｏｍｅ　ｆｒｏｍ　ａ　ｎｉｇｈｔｍａｒｅ　ｈｅ　ｈａｄ　ｓｅｖｅｒａｌ　ｍｏｎｔｈｓ　ａｇｏ．　Ｉ　ｐｒｅｓｕｍｅ　ｈｅ　ｒｅｍｅｍｂｅｒｅｄ　ｉｔ　ｂｅｃａｕｓｅ　Ｍａｇｏｌｏｒ　ｗｏｋｅ　ｈｉｍ　ｕｐ　ａｎｄ　ｃｏｍｆｏｒｔｅｄ　ｈｉｍ．　Ｔｈａｔ　ｎｉｇｈｔ　ｗａｓ　ｔｈｅ　ｆｉｒｓｔ　ｔｉｍｅ　Ｔａｒａｎｚａ　ｏｐｅｎｅｄ　ｕｐ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ｈｉｓ　ｅａｒｌｙ　ｃｈｉｌｄｈｏｏｄ．”

Elfilin listened to that, took a minute to process, and then asked a question. “How do you know that?”

“Ｉ　ｗｏｎｄｅｒ．．．” They got out of the chair and made for the exit, white cloth flowing behind them. “Ｓｏｒｒｙ　ｆｏｒ　ｓｈｏｏｔｉｎｇ　ｙｏｕ，　ｂｙ　ｔｈｅ　ｗａｙ．”

“Hey, wait.” Elfilin followed behind them as they stopped in front of the door. “You kidnapped everyone, and you’re keeping us here. You periodically remove people who are inconvenient for you, and yet you also seem to try and help wherever possible. If it wasn’t for the circumstances of where we are, I wouldn’t think you’re a bad person at all. So… who’s side are you really on?”

The OSO stayed silent for a few moments. “Ｃｏｎｆｌｉｃｔ　ｉｓ　ａ　ｃｉｒｃｌｅ．　Ｅｖｅｒｙｏｎｅ　ｉｓ　ｔｈｅｉｒ　ｏｗｎ　ｓｉｄｅ．” They left the room. 

- .... . / --- -... ... -.-. ..- .-. . / -- --- - .. ...- . ... / --- ..-. / - .... . / -- .- ... -.- . -.. / --. .... --- ... -

By this point, Taranza was too hungry to simply stay in bed. He got out and pulled back the curtain. Right outside, he saw Magolor. Or at least, he thought he did. It wasn’t as if Taranza was in a good enough state to properly identify the difference between someone who is Magolor and someone who is not Magolor. “You came back.” 

The person who he thought was Magolor gave him a cordial chuckle. “Yes. I wasn’t doing very well, I’m sorry.” There was something odd in his voice, but Taranza naturally wasn’t noticing the little things.

“Are you better now?”

“I am, but I’d rather keep my personal space for a while. It reminded me of some things I’d rather forget. You should get some sleep. I’ll stay next to your bed if it’ll help.”

Taranza nodded. “Thank you, but I’d rather stay awake as much as I can. Especially when I don’t have long to live…”

“Oh, I should have realized. The doctor didn’t tell you, but they found a cure. You should be good as new in a few days, but the side effects of the treatment can cause moderate amounts of… I believe she called it cognitive dysfunction. Hallucinations, short term memory loss, and all that. It’s supposed to only be temporary, but it’s best that you try to keep yourself in check.”

Taranza nodded and went to his bed, as the other person tucked him in. “I have a bad feeling. Like something terrible has recently happened to Queen Sectonia.” The other didn’t respond, instead looking down at Taranza while waiting for him to sleep. Eventually, he drifted off.

“Good. He’s regaining his grip on reality.” The other person left, a veritable shadow of an existence. A shadow that was clad entirely in white.

Chapter Text

Beams of sunlight shone through the leaves in the forest. Taranza ducked under a branch and sat on top of the bench on the other side. Magolor joined him. “I want you to know, this doesn’t change how I feel in the slightest.”

Taranza averted his eyes. “I shouldn’t have told you. Everything was fine until I said all that.”

“Everything is fine.” Magolor put one of his hands on Taranza’s side. “Nothing in the past will make me love you less now. If I had a problem with someone who was haunted by the past, not only would I be a hypocrite, but I wouldn’t have stayed with you this long.”

“Really?” 

“Yes, really.”

Taranza pulled him in closer for a hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Magolor’s hands started emitting a gentle, comforting warmth. “As much as I appreciate the thanks, you don’t need to say it if this happens again. If you ever get like this again, I promise I will be there.” They remained there for another few seconds before Magolor backed away. “Is there anything you want to do?”

Taranza leaned against the back of the bench. “I think I just want to stay here for a while.”

Magolor leaned back as well, sitting in silence for about a minute before he spoke again. “Can you identify all of the plants around here?”

“I can. For example,” He pointed to a dandelion. “That’s a plant. That on the other hand,” He pointed to a rock. “That’s not a plant.”

“Thanks, wise guy.” He gave Taranza a playful shove.

-- .- --. --- .-.. --- .-. / .- -.-. -.-. .. -.. . -. - .- .-.. .-.. -.-- / . .- - ... / .- / .--. --- .. ... --- -. --- ..- ... / -- ..- ... .... .-. --- --- -- / .- -. -.. / -.. .. . …

When Taranza awoke in the morning, everything he had forgotten came back to immediately make his skin crawl. He could only hope that Magolor was still alive. Despite how unsettled he was, he couldn’t muster the energy to get out of the hospital bed.

--- --- ..-. / --- ..- -.-. .... / -- -.-- / -... .-. .- .. -. / .. ... / .... .- ...- .. -. --. / - .... --- ..- --. .... - …

“New floor.” Francisca announced. “It’s I.” She didn’t carry any emotion in her voice. Having finished breakfast, the others went down to floor I to see what was there. 

On the way, Elfilin got off on floor E, mentioning that he would be keeping an eye on Taranza. “Maybe I’ll find Bandee here, too…” By this point, the feeling of resignation in the air was overpowering. 

The elevator stopped on floor I, and the remaining people got off. They looked around at the new rooms, those being an art room and a chemical lab. Back in the hallway, they simply glanced around at one another. They breathed a collective sigh of mental exhaustion.

.-. .- --. .. -. --. / .-.. --- --- .--. / --- ... - / - .-. .- --. .. -.-. / -- --- .-. -. .. -. --.

Elfilin pulled back the curtain. Taranza was awake, and Elfilin could tell from the atmosphere that he had found a grip on reality again. He was holding a flower in front of him and solemnly staring at it. The air was heavy. “...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“You can start talking if you want to. My hearing is one of the few things I have left, and I have no problem using it.” Taranza may have been trying to sound cordial, but his voice only showed despair and anger.

“So you know?”

“Of course. How would I not? I’ve never seen that much blood come out of a person before…”

Elfilin winced. “You- he- what happened?”

Taranza shook with the memory of the grisly scene behind the door. “I… I don’t know.” A petal came loose from the flower and fell onto the bed. “There was so much I wanted to tell him…”

“I’m sure that wherever he is, he’s alive.” Elfilin’s voice wavered. “He has to be.”

Once the others came to the hospital, Taranza finally got out of bed. “Could you all please follow me? There’s somewhere I think we need to  go.”

Kirby hesitated. “But we still don’t know where Bandee is.”

Taranza groaned. “Fine. You can find out right now.” He went around to the other side of the bed and opened the cabinet. 

“I’m not here!” Bandee shouted. “You don’t see me!” 

“I heard you in there a few minutes ago. What are you doing?” Taranza was clearly not in the mood for playing around.

“I was hiding! Someone wearing white showed up a few days ago and they were calling for me!” Tears formed in their eyes. “I’m gonna get taken away now that they know where I am…”

A chorus of “Oh no!” echoed throughout the room. Rick wiped his face. “It has to have been at least two days, have you been here this whole time?”

“Y-yeah. I haven’t eaten anything since the day Flamberge disappeared.”

“Get in line, buddy.” Francisca muttered under her breath.

“Fine. No one should get them to move around too much. Daroach, go make them some food, Rick, you stay here and make sure no one dies. Everyone else, follow me.” After throwing those words into the room with a tinge of anger, Taranza made for the door. Having no reason to object, the others followed.

- .... .. ... / -. . -..- - / .--. .- .-. - / .. ... / --. --- -. -. .- / -... . / -... .-. ..- - .- .-..

Most of them were behind the one way window, looking through it at the other three. Taranza had his back to the window, and was staring daggers at Kirby and Dedede, who were across from him. “Now. I want you two to tell me everything that happened the day before you put Magolor in jail.”

Dedede scratched his chin. “The day before? Wouldn’t the day of be more-”

“Answer the fucking question.” Taranza snapped. 

“Okay, okay. I will. Just calm down, please.”

“I will not be doing that. Now get to the point, and preferably sometime this year.”

“Fine.” Dedede began. “I got out of bed after not sleeping the whole night, Susie started complaining about mornings, and then Bandana led everyone who was in the hallway to the dining room. On floor A, we checked out the music room, then Flamberge disappeared, and I stayed alone with my thoughts for the rest of the day.”

Taranza’s cold glare never wavered. “Is that all?”

“Yes.”

“Kirby, your turn.” 

Kirby looked down and started forming a response, stumbling over his words. “Well, it was- uh- you know, it’s, uh, the- the same. Same as him.”

Taranza got up and slammed all six of his hands on the table at once. “Don’t lie. I know there was more than that.” Kirby stayed silent. “Do you really think the hero of Dream Land should be so dishonest?”

“Hey, lay off him!” Dedede interjected.

“No.” Despite Taranza’s insistence, Kirby didn’t speak. “Fine. I’ll explain it for you. The day before the day in question, you brought me to the living quarters. After looking around, you left to get Elfilin. Jumping forward one day, you put the information you had to use.”

Kirby finally started speaking, but it was just an incoherent babble. “I din- wha- no, I, I, I, uh, that, no,”

“You took note of the extra locks on some of the doors, right?”

“Well, it was weird…”

Taranza’s expression didn’t change a bit. “You’re right. It is weird. You never figured out why they were there, and only on some of the doors. But even though you didn’t know why they were there, you figured out a way to use them.” Kirby averted his eyes. “The day before, you saw that the doors with extra locks opened outward instead of in. So you lured Magolor out of his room, and tripped the extra lock while the door was open, and that kept it from closing. You used that to break into his room when you thought he was asleep.” Kirby’s only response was a strangled groan. “Of course, he probably heard you, but you could’ve easily convinced him that he was hearing things. He was very tired, after all. Do you know what they call that?”

“You make it sound so much worse than it was!” Kirby blurted. “Yeah, the idea was mean, but he was an OSO! He must have been! I saw the letter and everything!”

“All this time has passed, and you never thought about it once? Those extra locks can literally only be used to bypass the automatic lock. And, you’ve seen one of the secret rooms in here! Why would he leave something important like that out in the open in a room he rarely even goes to? Not to mention, the time between you stopping the door from closing and you actually going in there was several hours. That’s almost five hours where anyone could have gone in there unnoticed. You accomplished absolutely nothing and only hurt your friends in the process. Are you proud of yourself?”

Kirby had now started sobbing. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry… Please… forgive me…”

Taranza didn’t even blink. “I don’t see why I should do that. You can apologize all you want, and I understand, but it’s not bringing back Magolor. It’s not making me forget the burning hallway, or all the blood, or everyone abandoning us when we need help the most. Until you can do something to fix it, I have no reason to accept your apology. Now go. Get out.”

Kirby almost sprinted out of the room. Dedede went slower, dragging his feet out of guilt. “You really didn’t need to be so harsh.”

Taranza turned to the window. “Susie, your turn.”

She entered and hesitantly sat facing the window. “Why am I here?”

“Six AM. Remember that?” 

“The time I was kidnapped.”

Taranza snapped his fingers. “Yes, exactly. But how did you know that?”

“I had my cell phone on me when I was out for a stroll. Of course I would know. Why is that weird?” Susie asked thoughtfully.

“You hate mornings. Why would you have been out at six AM?” Susie’s eyes went wide, and she froze in place. “Susie. Answer me. On the day you were allegedly kidnapped, at six AM, what were you doing? What were you doing, exactly ?”

“This… might take a while.” She regained her composure, and Taranza nodded. “You know why I wasn’t as torn up about my father as I probably should have been? It’s because… he isn’t entirely gone. Some of the remnants of his memories and personality were uploaded to the cloud when his consciousness was taken over by Star Dream. I imported those onto a mobile AI I was working on, and it seemed like-” 

She was interrupted by a tremendous crash from the other room. Taranza bolted out of the room and went to check the other. There were a lot of boxes knocked over, but everyone seemed okay. He went back to the interrogation room, and it was empty. No sign of Susie. There was nowhere she could have disappeared to, unless she was taken by the OSO. “What… why? Not again… no… no…” Taranza lowered himself to the floor, feeling reality slipping from his grasp yet again.

Chapter Text

Naturally, no one had seen anything. Elfilin and Meta Knight escorted the broken husk of Taranza back to the hospital. There was some food there, and they got him to eat it. His eyes were hollow and empty. Bandee and Rick were nowhere to be seen. Taranza wasn’t exactly unconscious, but he wasn’t functioning properly as a person. He was blinking more than usual, and erratically shaking his head. Daroach entered the room after a minute of silence. “Why are you three here?”

“Taranza went a little overboard trying to get information, and lost whatever remained of his sanity when Susie disappeared.” Meta Knight described the situation as though it was no more pressing than running out of orange juice.

“It’s a lot worse than he made it sound.” Elfilin quipped.

“Poor guy’s had an awful few days.” Daroach pulled a chair near the bed and sat down. “Where are the others?”

“We don’t know. I will take my leave and try to find out before he mistakes me for Magolor again.” Meta Knight, hoping to avoid anything that may have happened before, left early. Elfilin and Daroach stayed behind.

- .- .-. .- ..- -- .-

“Oh, hello. Why did you all come up here?” Rick asked upon seeing Kirby, Dedede, and Francisca entering the hallway. 

“She said she thought Bandee would be up here.” Kirby pointed to Francisca.

“They haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep in a while, so they went to their room. Since nothing’s happened yet, I’m assuming that whatever the OSO wanted them for, they stopped?” Rick sort of crumpled himself while speaking, as though he was trying to shrink. 

While pondering that idea, Francisca looked down the hallway at all the doors. She didn’t speak, but it was easy to guess what she was thinking about.

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“Hey, chief. Why did we do that? The circumstances didn’t line up at all!”

“The order came straight from the top. I had to come up with the plan on the spot.”

“Who is that?”

“Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. Remember what position you’re in here, pal.”

A nod. “You’re right. I won’t step out of line. I have to make sure she’s safe.”

“That’s right. You’ll listen to me, for her own good, and for yours. Everything I say goes.” The person who was speaking lowered their voice to a whisper. “You wouldn’t want me to do something unfortunate to your close friend, would you?”

“No, no. Really, you don’t need to do that.”

“Good. I really would prefer not to take things any further.” 

“Right. So, what now?”

They pulled something out of a nearby drawer. “Take this to the room we directly met in. I’ll give you more details later.”

“Yes, chief.”

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“Hey, Taranza. You haven’t moved in about an hour. You still alive?” Elfilin jostled him.

“I think so…” Taranza mumbled. “I keep seeing people that aren’t there. Every time I blink, someone appears. I blink again, and they’re gone.”

“The only ones in the room are you and I. If you see anyone other than me, they’re not real.”

Taranza turned his head and stared at Elfilin as though he was trying to identify a blurry object in a photo. “Thanks. This helps. Wasn’t Daroach here earlier?”

“He left. I don’t know where he went, but I’m sure he’s fine.”

Taranza almost jumped out of bed. “We need to find him! I won’t let him disappear!” He made for the door.

Elfilin grabbed one of his hands. “Stop!” Taranza turned around to look back at Elfilin. “You’re in no state to protect anyone. Stay here and rest.”

“But I can’t stand by and just let bad things happen to people I care about! I can’t! Not again!”

“Taranza, I understand that this might feel like it’s getting personal, but this is getting crazy. You aren’t acting like yourself. I’ve never seen you get this worked up about something, and I was there for when we woke Magolor up from a coma! What is it about this that’s making you fly this far off the handle?”

Taranza sat back down on the bed. “Well…”

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Long before there was any talk of OSO, or before Magolor and Taranza had even met, Taranza lived in what an outsider would describe as the lap of luxury. His family was part of a race that had long been tied to Floralian royalty, despite not exactly being part of it himself. He lived a sheltered life, where he would always be almost overbearingly polite to anyone he came across. Although, it wasn’t as if he knew many people. His father worked as an advisor for the king and queen, so he wasn’t around very often. His mother, on the other hand, was rarely not around. She was constantly bringing up the exceptionally high standards that Taranza had to live up to, despite the fact that these didn’t seem to apply to anyone else. 

Eventually, Taranza’s patience ended. On some days, the night guards would be more dispersed due to unexplained circumstances. On one of those nights, Taranza climbed out a window after mapping out an escape route that would leave him undetected. He was on the capital island, at the very top. If he wanted to live a normal life that he could actually call living, he’d need to get to one of the lower islands. Or better yet, the surface of the planet. While trying to find a way down, he made a few too many mistakes. He ended up needing to sneak back into his room, and the entire capital was looking for the highly important lost child that was seen in the park at night. 

The next morning, Taranza kept his composure to try and find another way out. That being the king and queen themselves. Of course, it’d be extremely difficult to meet with anyone in the royal family, but he tried to get permission from his mother to introduce himself to their only daughter, Sectonia. After weeks of extensive practice of his parents’ brand of perfection, they met. Sectonia was treated significantly better by her parents, and could tell from the way Taranza carried himself that he was unhealthily afraid of mistakes of any kind. She tried to tell her father of Taranza’s unfortunate situation, but he refused to help him for the sake of politics.

Together, they hatched a plan to escape for real. It was clear that Sectonia had reservations toward leaving everything behind, but she’d rather help someone in need than maintain the status quo. They’d gotten to an airship late at night, and Sectonia went about starting the engine and leaving. Their destination was the island where it’d be the hardest to find them: Wild World. 

Unbeknownst to them, Sectonia had mismeasured the ratio of fluids needed for the engine. It still ran fine, but it also had toxic emissions that would be devastating to one with a weak immune system. Since members of the aristocracy rarely went outside, they all fell under this umbrella. The emissions spread across the capital, infecting a small amount of people with a highly unlikely, but extremely lethal respiratory disease. The most protected people in Floralian society were the most susceptible to the poison. 

The two of them were still hiding out of the jungle island when the news was spreading across the capital: The leaders of the nation are facing a certain, unavoidable, and rapidly approaching death. The news reached every corner of Floralia, being branded a terrorist attack. There was also news about two children who mysteriously vanished without a trace, and an airship that presumably went with them. It was suspected by law enforcement that the children were victims of kidnapping by the terrorist who used the airship to spread the gas. Decontamination was finished, but the damage had been done. 

They were inconsolable. No matter how they looked at it, they were directly responsible for several dozen deaths. Even if Taranza held no love for his family, that didn’t mean it was worth this. But as they stayed there, somewhere in the bowels of the haunted house, he promised himself that he would do anything for her. No questions asked. They did get found eventually, but Taranza just had to go along with the media perception of the situation. They were taken back to the capital and welcomed with open arms. Officially, Sectonia was crowned the new queen, but she was only eleven years old, so anything she might do would have to be run through multiple other people. Obviously, the first thing that was changed was for the airships to get a less hazardous fuel source.

Through the years, they stuck by each other, side by side. They’d become the most beloved leaders in Floralian history, thanks to them treating others fairly and acting out of the good of everyone. Taranza would periodically go down to the island right below, and try to find anyone there who needed help. On one such day, he met two people for the first time. The first was a masked individual who called himself Meta Knight, the second was Magolor. The circumstances of that meeting is a very long story, but maybe someone’s written about it in the past. 

Magolor was down on his luck, and needed a ride to the top. Badly. He was an extremely odd guy, who thought pianos only existed in video games and was surprised when no one in a crowd of people tried to eat him. He would be staying in the courtyard of the castle for a few months, while he recovered from some serious internal injuries and worked on some kind of apology. Taranza didn’t know what it was for at the time, but he found out later. To make up for the inconvenience, he decided on doing something he’d thought about for a long time. He would steal that mirror in the sky.

It didn’t take long after that for Taranza to start noticing abnormalities in Sectonia’s behaviour. He didn’t think much of it at the time, but throughout the months, everything just seemed to be getting worse and worse. Once Magolor left, Sectonia told Taranza that it was Magolor who was causing everything. She was no longer recognizable as the Sectonia he cared for so deeply, but he still believed in her. Of course Magolor was the problem. He never should have trusted that fiend. 

Even seeing her fall deeper and deeper into the abyss of madness, Taranza never stopped believing in her. Even to the point where he would go the lower world for the first time in his life to kidnap the hero. The result of that plan was the arrival of Kirby, and the subsequent death of Sectonia. At that point, he had no one left. With the exception of Magolor, who returned almost immediately after. Taranza was branded a war criminal by the people who must be executed for conspiring with Sectonia, so Magolor helped him get to the lower world and start a new life. 

It was only after the fact that Taranza learned what had really happened. It was the mirror that had corrupted her. 

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Once Taranza was finished recounting the story, he started to break down crying. “I was so stupid… If only I didn’t try to run… If only I didn’t steal that mirror… If only I had the common sense to actually see what the problem was… If only I didn’t leave Magolor on the bed… If only I didn’t turn my back on Susie… All of this is my fault! I know I can’t keep neglecting people when they need me, but it just ends up happening anyway! I’ll never be able to be there for anyone, because I always let them down!”

Elfilin didn’t know what to say, but he knew he wasn’t gonna be leaving him alone anytime soon.

Chapter Text

“Daroach, weren’t you with Elfilin? Where is he?” Dedede asked. 

“When I got back to the hospital yesterday, it seemed like he wanted to stay with Taranza. I decided to leave them alone, but I’ll go check on them now.” Daroach left the dining room and headed to the elevator. Mere minutes later, he was back. “Bad news, they’re gone. Good news, new floor. Floor B.”

Rick sighed deeply. “Whatever. If they’re okay, they’ll show up again later. If they’re not, they won’t. Let’s go to the new floor…” He sauntered out of the room. The others followed silently.

Floor B was noticeably different from all the other floors. While the previous floors had been long hallways with a total of five doors, B was simply one large room. One enormous room. There was a massive fountain in the center of the room, with waterways extending from eight sides. Water was flowing through them at alarmingly fast speeds. As usual, there was also a lounge and bathroom. 

Daroach gathered everyone there into the lounge. “Alright, let’s figure this out.”

“What do you mean by that?” Bandee piped up.

“I think we should go through every disappearance and try to figure out when and why it happened. If we can get that down, we might be able to find the real OSO.” Daroach pivoted to face the others with a flourish of his cape. “Starting with Zan… Paralyze?”

Francisca buried her face in her hands. “No.”

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“Looks like the place was cleaned up.” Taranza groaned as he entered room 3.

“Not completely.” Elfilin flew to the corner of the couch. “See? This area and the floor around it is burnt.”

“I guess that’s one advantage of coming back here. I missed that before.”

“C’mon! If we wanna know what happened to Magolor, we need to be able to see everything!” Elfilin grabbed one of Taranza’s hands and led him out of the room. 

“Were you ever going to explain why you’re taking me to floor I?” Taranza asked as they got off the elevator.

“It’s been thirty seconds, relax. I’ll tell you. It’s at the end of the hallway.” They went to the door at the end. “Daroach told me about this room. If anything could have what we need, it’s here.” Elfilin opened the door and scanned the chemical lab. He scanned the interior and then flew over to a small refrigerator with some spray bottles inside. There were a few pairs of goggles on top. Elfilin’s eyes shone. “I knew it! It is here!”

“What is?”

“This is luminol testing reagent. You can use it to find old blood. If you spray something that used to be a bloodstain, it’ll glow. It doesn’t glow very brightly though, so you put on these goggles to see it.” He was restlessly zipping this way and that.

Taranza cocked his head. “And why do you know that?”

“Don’t worry about it!” Elfilin grabbed a bottle out of the fridge, put on a pair of goggles, and handed another pair to Taranza.

“Well. I guess we’re…” Taranza began trembling as he processed what was happening. “Going to look at all the blood that used to be in a person I dearly love.” His voice fell. “Sh-should be fun.”

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“So to summarize,” Meta Knight began. “Zan was taken because she found the secret hatch in the white room. Ribbon because she tried to destroy the ceiling with a chainsaw. Adeleine was removed because she stumbled upon the OSO, Coo and Gooey because they accessed a floor earlier than they were meant to. Susie was taken because she was on the verge of revealing something that was probably important, and we have absolutely no idea about Kine, Marx, Flamberge, my mirror counterpart, and Magolor. Flamberge makes sense if you assume Magolor was an OSO, but that doesn’t line up with the facts established by Taranza.”

“Right. How does this help us?” Dedede leaned back on the couch.

“I don’t know.” Francisca stared into space.

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While Taranza was spraying the room, Elfilin looked at the floor behind the couch. “Hey, there’s a reaction here.”

“Huh? But I didn’t spray that part.”

“That means someone else did…”

Taranza went to what Elfilin was looking at. The glowing spot on the floor showed two lines, with an arrow at the end of one of them. “What does this mean?”

“I have no idea. Did you find anything?” Elfilin looked over to the part of the room where the statue was. “Oh- that’s- that’s a lot. I don’t like that at all.”

“Yeah, it’s. Pretty bad.” The verbal acknowledgement of all the blood sounded like Taranza was choking on his own words. It was predominantly on and around the statue, with a trail leading halfway to the door before the blood began to pool. 

“There’s something behind the statue.” Elfilin flew behind it. “A broken lamp…”

Taranza tore his eyes off the statue and they ended up landing on the bookshelf. “What…” There were remnants of blood on one side of the shelf. With all the effort he could muster, he grabbed the shelf and started pulling it away from the wall. There was an opening behind it. “Jackpot.” He climbed in, and on the other side was a hidden door that led to room 1. There was no discernable blood in the room, except a small amount on the ceiling and the hidden door. He left the room and went back into the hallway. On the inside of the door that led to the main hall, there were letters that said ‘NEWS’.

Elfilin appeared behind him. “You look like you’ve figured something out. Let me show you this thing I found, and then we’ll go over what we know.” He went back into room 3. “Look at this.” There was a scrap of metal sticking out of the leg of the sofa. “What do you think this is?”

“Looks like shrapnel. Before I get into what I figured out, I need to check all the rooms again.” Taranza checked room 2, then 4, then 1, then 3 again. “Elfilin, what time was it when you were shot?”

“9:36 in the morning, why?”

“When we broke in here and I found Magolor, it was 9:34.” Taranza stared off into space. “Time to get it all pinned down.” He began to explain.

“Magolor was investigating this room by himself, when he set off an explosive trap by accident. That was the cause of the shrapnel in the couch leg and the burning around this area. It would not have been difficult to get him to set it off. Just create a noticeable abnormality and his curiosity would get the better of him. The explosion knocked the lamp off the bookshelf, creating the crashing sound I heard. The blast also knocked him back into the statue’s axe, and he tried to drag himself away. The OSO didn’t act until after we broke the door down. They gathered everyone other than me and Magolor and sequestered them in one of the other rooms. Then…”

Taranza pointed out the lines on the floor again. “This is a compass. The arrow points north. The door at the end of the hallway says, ‘NEWS’. Naturally, it’s an acronym. North, east, west, south. They only thing they could correspond to is the statues. The one in room 2 faces east, according to the compass. The third statue faces west, the fourth faces south, but the one in room 1 also faces west. If we turn it to face north…” He entered room 1 and turned the statue. The ceiling opened. “Bingo.”

“They entered the room as we were leaving and got blood on them. Then they went back through the passageway in the wall and climbed through the ceiling. If we go up there, we see that it leads directly to the rec room, under the pool table. That was when they shot you. They came back down and adjusted the statue to close the ceiling. Then they came after us. That’s the truth of what happened in this room.”

Once Taranza had finished the explanation, his face fell. Elfilin rushed to his side. “You don’t look okay…”

“I’m not. This was a bad idea.”

“I’m really sorry, I thought figuring some of it out would help.”

Taranza turned his back. “I’m going back to the hospital. If anyone else wants to see me, they’ll know where to find me.” He left the NEWS rooms.

Elfilin followed him all the way to the hospital. When Taranza lay down, Elfilin perched above his head. “Are you staying here?”

“Yes. I’m not going anywhere until it stops hurting when I think about him.”

Elfilin sighed, then went to the door. “I’ll handle it.

“Wait! What are you going to do?”

When he looked back, his face only showed determination. “I’m going to do something I should have done a long time ago.”

Chapter Text

Darkness.

An endless sea of black abyss, dotted with multicoloured lights, stretched out in front of Taranza. He felt dazed, as though he wasn’t quite awake. A few seconds later, Magolor appeared. “Hey. I know you’re not doing well right now, and I can’t fix this by myself, but I thought I could at least give you some words of encouragement. …Well, I guess you already know everything I’m going to say, but I still think it should be said.”

Taranza broke out of his stunned silence. “This… can’t be real…”

“Ha ha. You catch on quick. Of course, I’m not actually there with you. You dozed off after Elfilin left and this is a dream. I mean, look around. We’re in a boundless void. I basically just manifested with no fanfare or anything. In your heart, you already know what I’ll say. I am basically just an extension of you, after all.”

“What do you want to say?”

Magolor calmly folded his hands in front of him. “I’ve seen you do some pretty incredible things throughout how long I’ve known you. When we met, you were so devoted to others that you put them above yourself. Not that you aren’t still like that, but you would put so much on the line just to stand alongside someone you care about. Since then, just by existing, I inadvertently gave you so much to do on your own. You had to make so many decisions, and I’m sorry for putting you through that, but you need to get it into your head that I’m not your only purpose. I know you love me, and I love you too, but you still exist as an individual without me. You need to cut out this wishy-washy indecisiveness and act. What is it that you want to do? As Taranza, former co-sovereign of an entire nation, what must be done for your own good, for mine, and for everyone else’s? No matter what you choose, from wherever I am, to wherever you are, I’ll be cheering you on… I promise.”

Taranza moved forward, taking hold of Magolor’s hands. “Thank you. For everything.” They stared into each other’s eyes. “Before I wake up, can I kiss you? Even if you’re not real, I missed you so much.”

“It really doesn’t inspire confidence when you ask a figment of your imagination if it agrees with you.”

“You always have something smart to say.” Taranza leaned forward and pulled him in for a kiss. 

About fifteen seconds later, he leaned back out. Magolor, shivering from something that couldn’t be properly identified, looked up into his eyes. “That’s it. You got it.” 

Before he had time to say goodbye to the dream, it was fading.

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The hospital looked the same as ever. Taranza pulled back the covers and got out of bed. There was no sign of Elfilin. He left the room and made his way to the elevator. The rest of the group was likely finished checking out floor B, but he wanted to have a look around. There, and Floor I. He went down first. No sign of anyone in the art room, or the chem lab. He was surprised when he saw the layout of floor B, but it was empty. C? It was worth looking into. There wasn’t a soul in sight. Where did everyone go? He went into the kitchen to see if someone was making breakfast.

The safe was open. He checked the inside, and apparently it led into a hole in the wall. The inside was completely empty, but very large, probably enough to fit all twenty of the people who were here originally and more. Strangely, the walls, ceiling, and floor were padded, and there was a single harness attached to the back wall. He couldn’t begin to imagine who it was for, but he didn’t have a way of doing anything with the information of what was in it. 

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Elfilin had faded away from the rest of the group while they left the jail. Hopefully his absence would go unnoticed. Everything in the garden had burned to a crisp, so hopefully he’d be able to find a way into the secret room. He scoured the ceiling… Bingo. He climbed into the entrance of the passage, and zoomed down to the other side like a bullet down a rifle barrel. When he emerged on the other side, he tried the elevator. No luck, of course. The room was just like the one they found branching off of floor H. There was an extra room in the back. Elfilin didn’t particularly want to look at all the papers, since all he cared about was getting what he actually needed. He checked the contents of the desk drawers… yes. Those would be very helpful indeed. Now all he needed was an opportunity. Just to ensure there was no one around, he opened the back door. After seeing nothing on the other side, he left.

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“Alright chumps, where’d Elfilin go again?” Dedede stopped the procession through floor H.

Bandee looked around the hallway. “Oh no, he’s not here?”

Meta Knight was already leading the group back to the elevator. He held the door open for everyone to get in, and then hit the J button. “If he isn’t down here…”

When the doors opened, they ran to the jail, which turned out to be vacant after poring over every inch of the place. “I’ll check what used to be the garden.” Daroach trotted out the door, with Rick and Francisca following him.

The garden was exactly the way they remembered: Completely in shambles. If there was anyone here, it shouldn’t take long to find them. “I found him.” Rick called. Below him was Elfilin, sprawled out in the soil.

Francisca left to alert the others, and Daroach sprinted over to see what was up. He was definitely alive, but he didn’t seem to be awake. There was a trowel next to his head. “Hello? Are you okay?” 

Elfilin shifted a little bit, his head nudging the handle of the trowel. Daroach bent down and picked him up, while Rick studied the ground. “Seems like there’s something wrong here…”

Elfilin stirred, then opened his eyes. He looked up at Daroach, then down at the ground. “What’s going on?”

Daroach looked back at the doorway as people were entering. “What happened to you?”

“I… I’m not sure. I got kinda dizzy while we were leaving, and then I passed out. I was here when I woke up.”

Bandee approached the three of them. “Are you okay?”

Elfilin lifted himself into the air, giving them a glance. “I think so… I just wish I knew why I’m here.”

Dedede managed a lighthearted chuckle. “I’ve been wondering the same thing since last week.” Having nothing else to do, they went to the elevator.

“Hey, floor G!” Kirby called out. They went to the new floor. It was formatted more or less the same as the ones that weren’t B, with the first room being rife with electrical hazards. It seemed to be the place that supplied power to the rest of the building. Everyone agreed not to touch anything and leave as quickly as possible.

Once they were back in the hallway, Taranza emerged from the elevator, looking placid. “Hello.”

Dedede stopped in place. “Are you okay?”

“Honestly, not at all. But if I don’t get moving, I’m never getting anywhere.”

Bandee lifted a hand. “Well, it’s good to have you here!” Taranza’s only response was a single nod.

Meta Knight was walking down the hall. “We need to check the other room. Come on.”

Francisca ended up being the first one through the door. “What is this?” 

Meta Knight followed shortly thereafter. “Incomprehensible…”

The others came in, one at a time. Taranza was the last one in. He was the only one to have a reaction other than confusion. “Oh, it’s this place.” The room was pitch dark, with multicoloured lights sprinkled around the area. “Wait a minute, THIS place?” 

It shouldn’t have been possible.

It should have only been a dream.

So then, why…?

Why did the backdrop appear in real life?

Was it really only a dream?

What did it actually mean?

Chapter Text

“Hey, wait.” Dedede stopped at Francisca’s voice. “Can you tell me again? About what happened at eight AM, when you were kidnapped.”

“Uh, sure.” He began. “I called up everyone on the Halberd, and they all said they hadn’t seen Meta since the previous evening. Magolor arrived in a panic, and we looked around for a bit before something in a white cloth cornered the four of us. We got caught in an explosion and were knocked out.”

“Hmmm… Jamanke.” She turned to leave.

“Why do you ask?”

“I found the inconsistency in the narrative.” Francisca made for the nearest bathroom. Before she disappeared from sight entirely, she said one more thing. “If only I knew what it meant.”

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“Well, yeah, that definitely is weird.” Elfilin pondered after the explanation Taranza gave him. “After all, you shouldn’t be able to dream about imagery you’ve never seen before.”

“Then what could it mean?” Taranza loudly asked the ceiling. “Have I… already been here?”

“It’s possible. After all, Magolor’s ship said on the phone that we’ve all been missing for months. Maybe you were in this room before and lost your memory.”

Taranza shook his head wearily. Something caught his eye. “What’s that?” He approached it. It looked like a sheet of paper. He began to read it aloud. “Magolor, there’s someone who you need to talk to. He’s in one of the cells on floor J. Talk to him alone. Tell no one else about this, it’s very important. -Elfilin” He turned to Elfilin. “This was typed.” Elfilin just stared in bewilderment. “Where did you get the computer for this?”

“I didn’t write that!” He was clearly afraid of having suspicion cast on him.

“Then who did? And why is it here?” Upon hearing nothing, Taranza realized he had another question. “When was this written?”

Elfilin suddenly remembered something. A conversation he had with the message’s recipient. On the day he first saw the OSO on the monitor in the rec room, Magolor had asked him, “I did want to ask you something. Have you seen a computer in this place?”

“It must have been before Magolor disappeared, because I’m positive he got the message. He asked me if I had seen a computer too.” 

Taranza looked down at the paper. “That would mean…”

Elfilin cocked his head. “What would it mean?”

“It would mean…”

“Taranza, the tension is killing me! What would it mean?”

“...Him.” The words were barely out of his mouth when he was booking it out the door and to the elevator. He was so determined to get there, he completely forgot Elfilin.

.... .

When he got off the elevator on floor C, Daroach rushed past him into the lounge. He didn’t have time to wonder about what that was, because he was on a mission. He threw the door to the living quarters open, and scanned the place for his destination. Though the exact identity took longer to find out than usual, his eyes were immediately drawn to the direction of where he needed to be. The door was completely mangled, torn to shreds. He walked through the splintered doorway, and scanned the room inside. The room formerly belonging to Dark Meta Knight. Taranza immediately lay eyes on the tablet on the bed. The only thing on it was a single video.

The timestamp in the bottom right showed that it was taken at 5:54 am on the second day of the kidnappings. Susie took a machine out of the room that was being filmed. The door closed behind her, the knob rattling as it fit into place. The monitor that was left behind showed an ongoing text conversation with someone named, “OSO.” The only readable message from them said, “Understood. I’m getting into position now.”

Taranza dropped the tablet. Every new piece of information seemed like it led somewhere, but it just didn’t make any sense. The information was there, but it seemed to be going in all kinds of different directions. The imploding of his brain was interrupted by a voice behind him. “Did the door owe you money? Whyyyyyyyou’re not Daroach.”

“WHAT IS GOING ON?”

Bandee threw a splinter to the warehouse door. “No idea. I need to get back to looking. Goodbye.” They ran out of the living quarters.

Taranza dashed after them. “LOOKING FOR WHAT?????” He looked both ways in the hall. “Where did they even go?” 

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Elfilin burst into the garden. The trowel was still there. He dug up the things he’d buried before. He put the soil back, and left the room, getting on the elevator to leave.

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Daroach had boarded the elevator on floor F. he’d gotten off on Floor B. As far as he could tell, there was no one around. But still, it seemed as if there was something wrong. He walked around the fountain to the other side and saw Rick sitting with his back against it. “Hey. Kirby’s just checking something in the lounge.”

“Mmh.”

“You look like you’re looking for someone.”

Daroach sighed. “Yeah. Bandee walked out on me and I don’t know where they are.”

“That’s not good. Can you think of anything that might have caused that?”

“Nothing relating to them, if anything, it should have been me for opening that safe.” He cast an eye toward the top of the fountain.

“You did? How?” Right when Rick got the words out, the fountain erupted in a dense mist. Vision ceased to exist. He felt someone grab him and haul him bodily into the fountain. “HELBLBLBLGLBLGGLHLGBLBLGBLGLBLgrlbrghrgrbrrgrlbgbrlbrlrr…”

When Daroach could finally see again, he saw that Rick was nowhere to be seen. “Why…?”

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Taranza, in search of more clues regarding Dark Meta Knight, went down to check the garden. He quietly opened the door and saw a figure in a white cloak standing near the toolshed. They didn’t seem to have noticed him. Taranza knew it wouldn’t actually fix anything, but seeing that white scoundrel filled him with an incredible urge for violence. He picked up a nearby rock and silently approached them. He raised the rock over his head… 

And slammed it on top of them. The OSO collapsed in a heap. Taranza looked down at them, a roaring in his ears. The sleep dart gun lay on the floor beside them. “Now, let’s see who you really are.” He reached down for the cloth, preparing to rip it off.

“STOOOOOOOOOOOOP!” 

Taranza whirled around at the familiar voice. He tried to give a coherent reaction, but all the words and phrases he had in mind melted together in a babble of many different emotions, mostly confusion. 

“That thing’s not safe. We need to figure out another way.” He was breathing pretty heavily.

Taranza dropped the rock. “Wh…”

“Ah, sorry. I guess I should've done a better job breaking the ice.” He grinned. “I’m glad to see you haven’t gotten yourself killed, Taranza.”

Taranza crumbled on the spot from the emotional overload. “Are you real this time?”

Magolor glided towards him and held out a hand. “Was I not before? That’s news to me.”

Chapter Text

Taranza took hold of his hand and hauled himself back up, still off balance. “H-”

Magolor reached around him to steady him. “You don’t need to say anything, I understand.”

“I don’t! How are you here? Is the axe wound okay?”

“I’ll live. Look, Ranz, I’d love nothing more than to talk to you, but clearly…” He indicated the OSO. “There’s something important happening right now.”

Taranza shook his head and looked down at them. “Why did you stop me from taking this off?” 

“It’s almost definitely a trap. I saw it before. In room 3… I tried to pull the cloth off and it set off a bomb. That’s why I got so badly hurt.”

“Then… what do we do? This is either a person or a bomb, and the only way to find out is by doing the thing that will make it explode if it’s a bomb?” Taranza was going in circles around the cloth, examining it from all angles. 

Magolor thought it over for a second. “How about this? The bomb should only trigger if we pull the cloth off, so how about we just put whatever this is in jail, and if it gets up and starts moving around, we have it?”

“But what if we go to get the keys and it ends up being a person and leaves while we’re gone?”

“I’ll stay behind. You get the keys and be back here.”

“Aren’t you worried about being left alone with this?”

Magolor reached down and picked up the sleep dart gun at their side. “I will be fine. I-I hope.”

Taranza brushed one of his thumbs on Magolor’s empty hand. “Be careful. Please.” He made his way to the elevator.

Dedede, Dedede, where would he be… bebe. Snickering at his own joke, Taranza pushed the I button. After getting off the elevator, he entered the first room on his right. The art room was empty, as usual. Looking at it reminded him of something from long ago.

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“Morning, Taranza! How did the… what were you doing again?” Magolor was darting around the Lor’s interior, building some structure that Taranza couldn’t quite identify. 

Taranza hung his head. “It doesn’t matter. Nothing’s working.”

He stopped for a moment. “Hey, it can’t be that bad, can it? I mean, if you’ve known her for as long as you say you have, there’s no way she’d just be switching on a dime like this, right?”

“That’s what has me so confused! I don’t know why this is happening, and nothing I try to do works!” His eyes were welling up. 

Magolor turned around and saw this, and promptly went to the bathroom and came back with a towel. “Here.” He threw it at Taranza.

“Hey, what was that for?”

“I just heard that people need towels when they cry, was that wrong?”

Taranza buried his face in it. “Thank you.”

Magolor’s eye was caught by Taranza’s gloves. “Do you have another set of those?”

“No, why?”

He pointed to the hand he was holding the top of the towel with. “Then how did that turn green?”

Taranza lowered the towel and examined his gloves. “Oh… this would be from last night. Her Majesty wanted me to paint her a portrait, and I was going to get electrocuted if it wasn’t perfect, so it took me about fourteen hours.” He started shaking. “I still ended up getting zapped, though…” 

Magolor hovered there awkwardly, clearly unsure of how to respond. “Umm… what does paint mean?”

“Oh, you don’t know? I’ll… go get some to show you. Give me a few minutes.” He left.

When he came back, an hour had passed, and he looked significantly worse for wear. “I am so sorry for taking so long, I had to be punished for all the slacking off she thought I was doing when I wasn’t.”

“Are you sure that talking to me is allowed?” Taranza nodded exhaustedly and then began the art lesson. When it was over, he left some canvases behind for Magolor to do whatever he wanted with. Magolor stopped him before he left. “I don’t think you should go.”

“What?”

“I think you should stay here for a while. Being near her is clearly not helping anything, and she’s getting worse by the day. How about I let you hitch a ride down to Dream Land when I’m done with this theme park?” 

Taranza slumped. “I can’t just go… she needs me. This whole kingdom needs me. If I left now, I could be putting citizens in danger of… interacting with her.”

Magolor sighed. “Fine. But… take care of yourself, okay?”

The next day, Taranza knocked on the door of the Lor to a surprising welcome. Magolor was holding out a painted portrait of him, smiling brightly. Taranza was taken aback. “What is this?”

“It’s a portrait. I want you to have it, Taranza.”

He took it out of his hands and looked it over. “Wow… thank you.”

“It took me a few tries to get the hair right, but I think it came out pretty okay.”

Taranza was crying again. “Why?”

Magolor grinned. “Do I need a reason? I just thought you needed some kind of pick-me-up, so I made this. It’s the least I could do, really.”

“But-”

“Hey, none of that. I want you to keep this. If you hold on to that, I hope it serves as a reminder that you are valued as a friend, and that you should never give up on the happiness you deserve.”

Taranza looked up. “You think of me as a friend?”

“Of course!”

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It was about a year before the death of Queen Sectonia, and Taranza was pretty far gone from what he normally was. He had completely rejected common sense by this point, and was mainly doing whatever she told him to.

During a rare moment of down time, He had taken the portrait Magolor had painted him a while ago, and brought it down to the haunted house he remembered so vividly. Alongside that, he brought a portrait he had made of Magolor. In the room far in the back with the piano, he hung them up, when the leader of the ghosts that haunted the building appeared. “Hey howdy hey, noble Taranza. Any particular reason you’re putting those here?”

“I desire for everyone in here to think of that scoundrel as the demon he is.”

“And why the painting of you?” 

Taranza readjusted the painting of Magolor. “He made it.”

“So, to summarize, you’re hanging an irreplaceable keepsake from someone you allegedly hate in a place where it realistically would never be harmed or even seen by anyone?”

“Do you have a problem?”

The ghost gave a hearty laugh. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were in love with him or something.”

“Okay, whatever.” Taranza groaned before leaving the house.

Queen Sectonia was back at the castle waiting for him when he got back. “Where have you been?”

“I was putting the reminders of that dastardly Magolor far away where I would not have to be reminded of him, Your Majesty.”

She eyed him quietly. “And did you recruit over fifty soldiers to guard the prison?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“And have you sectioned off the Pyribbit enclosure to prevent a lawsuit from any citizens it might attack?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“And have you started work on the spiked ball cannons in the lower parts of the castle?”

“Yes.” ZAP! “Ow! Why…?”

She tapped the bottom of the staff on the ground. “I didn’t hear a ‘Your Majesty’, Taranza.”

Taranza bowed his head. “I am very sorry, Your Majesty. I will do better in the future, Your Majesty.”

“Very well.” ZAP!

“Gh! Why did you do that, Your Majesty?”

Sectonia flipped the staff. “As a reward. I was under the impression that you enjoy it.”

Taranza let his frustration boil over just a little bit. “I do not.” 

ZAP! “Are you being ungrateful?”

“No, Your-” ZAP! 

She brought the shaft of the staff down on his head. “No backtalk.”

Taranza simply stared straight ahead as he nodded once. “Apologies, Your Majesty.”

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The rest of floor I had nothing to offer. When he got to the library on floor H, he saw a person, although it wasn’t who Taranza was looking for. “Hello, Francisca.”

She looked up from the book she was reading. “You seem like you’re in higher spirits. Did something happen?”

“You could say that. I’m looking for Dedede, have you seen him?”

She folded the corner of one of the pages and then closed the book. “Not recently, why?”

“I need the keys for the jail. Can you help?”

They agreed to split up. Francisca would search floor G, and Taranza would search floor F. After Francisca got off the elevator, Taranza became aware of some noise coming from floor F. That put him on edge. When he got off the elevator, he could hear the noise more clearly. It was a thumping sound, similar to a vampire or a mummy trying to break their way out of a coffin. It had to be coming from the room with the boxes and crates in front of the interrogation room. Taranza entered the room, and saw the source of the noise. A box on the floor was rattling around, with muffled shouting coming from inside. It sounded like they were calling for help. He opened the top of the box and Bandee appeared from an explosion of packing peanuts. 

They gasped for breath. “Thank you Taranza. All the styrofoam was holding me in place and I couldn’t do much.”

The situation was bewildering enough that he didn’t even think to ask about that. “What happened to you?”

“Well, I think I got shot with a sleep dart, and then I woke up in a box, and then I started panicking and trying to call for help, and then you opened the box, and here we are.” 

Taranza cocked his head. “Oh no, who shot you?” 

Bandee dusted themselves off. “I didn’t see. Probably that OSO person, if I had to guess.”

He sighed. “I imagine you don’t know where Dedede is?”

“No, I have no idea.”

“Alright, let’s go. We need to find him.”

When the elevator opened, They got on and joined Francisca and Kirby. They agreed to split up and have Taranza check floor E, Bandee check floor C, Francisca check floor B, and Kirby check floor A. Francisca took a brief look around the room, then checked the lounge and bathroom. No sign of anyone, let alone Dedede. She got back on the elevator and took it to floor A. There was no one in the salon, and then she went to check the music room. Kirby was opening instrument cases, presumably looking for someone inside. She joined him in looking, because it was entirely possible for someone to be anywhere. The cases were all empty, though. They left the floor and took the elevator to floor C, where Bandee was. They were already in front of the elevator when the door opened, so Bandee and Meta Knight got on immediately and joined the other two.

The only place left to check was floor E, since Taranza had yet to appear. They silently entered the hospital and saw the back of a red jacket. It wasn’t Dedede’s, though. It belonged to Daroach, with Taranza next  to him. They were in front of a hospital bed. Taranza turned around. “The keys. Are gone.” The others  moved forward and stared at who lay on the bed. Dedede was completely unconscious.

Chapter Text

“No keys.” Meta Knight hopped off the bed. “Where’d they go?”

Daroach groaned. “Remind me what we even need them for?”

Taranza led them out of the hospital. “C’mon. We need to go figure out the situation.” They got on the elevator and Taranza pressed the J button. On the way down, the thought entered his head. We never saw Elfilin. What could that mean?  

The burnt bottom floor felt as empty as it looked. Several of the people there felt chills. “Did you have a particular room in mind or are we just here for the sake of being here?” Bandee asked.

Taranza indicated the open garden door. Inside was the white cloth, likely still covering something, and Magolor, unconscious, holding a trowel, with a dart sticking out of his back. He rushed to his side. “Magolor! Are you okay?” He picked him up.

“Mmrrr…” He shifted slightly. He didn’t seem to be waking up. 

Meta Knight immediately strode up to the cloth and grabbed it. “Don’t-” He pulled it away before he even heard Taranza. Underneath the cloth was a mechanical suit, similar to the one Kine had before he was forcibly removed from it. The cockpit seemed to be large enough to be able to fit anyone there, with the exception of maybe Dedede. It was holding the jail keys in one hand and the dart gun in the other.

Daroach and Kirby came over to Magolor. Kirby seemed about ready to cry tears of joy. “He’s here?” Taranza nodded.

Francisca approached the mech and looked it over. “There’s a hatch on the back.” She grabbed the handle and pulled it open.

Bandee gasped at the unconscious cargo. “Elfilin…”

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“Obviously I don’t believe it.” Taranza announced as he begrudgingly placed Elfilin in the jail cell. “It must be a set up.” 

“Any reason why you think that?” Daroach locked the door. “I don’t have any issues believing that, but I’d like some kind of basis.”

“That’s easy, it’s because Magolor got shot. If Elfilin was in there the whole time, why did he shoot him with the dart and then not leave?”

“Good point.” Daroach held the door open as Taranza went back to the hallway, and then let it close. “Still going to agree that him being there was super weird though, right?”

Taranza nodded. “Oh, absolutely.”

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Dedede was clearly much more deeply asleep than Magolor. It made sense, because Magolor was famously a light sleeper, and Dedede famously the opposite, but it was concerning nonetheless. Daroach kept a protective stance in front of Magolor’s hospital bed. Meta Knight and Kirby stood next to Dedede, trying to wake him up. Bandee had climbed into a bed of their own, and was quietly screaming into a pillow. While Taranza brushed dirt off Magolor’s hood, Francisca waited by the doorway and just watched. She was deep in thought. A growing suspicion in her mind, but there was something about the idea that wasn’t quite adding up. She’d need to ask Elfilin for more information.

.--. .. .--. . / -... --- -- -...

“Oh, good morning. Sorry, I really bungled that earlier, didn’t I?” Magolor asked after taking in his surroundings.

“No, no, I can’t blame you for getting shot. Are you okay?” Taranza draped another blanket over him.

“I’ve felt worse.”

Daroach held his hands up. “Whoa, low bar.”

Magolor snuggled himself more comfortably in the bed. “Really, though, it’s not that bad. Axe wound hurts a bit, but you haven’t really lived unless you’ve almost died from blood loss, right?”

Daroach pulled up a chair and sat down. “I think you have a pretty abnormal definition of living, pal.”

“After I got shot, I grabbed that trowel and swung it at the OSO. Did I get them?”

Taranza scratched his head. “We don’t know. We pulled the cloth off and found Elfilin, but we’re pretty sure he’s not really the OSO. If you did hit them, they recovered quickly enough to throw in a red herring.” 

Magolor sighed. “Yeah, I can’t imagine that it’s Elfilin. Sorry for being bad at blunt trauma, guys. I’ll do better next time.”

“I most sincerely hope you don’t.” Daroach said.

Almost unconsciously, Magolor wrapped his hand around Taranza’s. Taranza snickered. “PDA? I didn’t think you were the type.”

Magolor rolled his eyes. “You sound like my mom-the Lor. I said the Lor.”

“...”

“Stop looking at me like that.”

Daroach gave a nod. “I think I’ll leave you two be. I need to check on the others.”

Magolor perked up. “Oh yeah, where are the others?”

“Elfilin’s asleep in jail, Bandee carried Dedede to bed while Kirby watched and Meta Knight held the doors open, Francisca went off somewhere, and everyone else is gone.” After that, Daroach left.

Magolor’s ears drooped. “Things really do get worse before they get better, don’t they…”

“They will get better, though! I’m sure we’re close to finding the OSO!” Taranza tried to cheer him up.

“Optimism is a good colour on you.”

As they stayed there in silence for a few minutes, basking in each other’s company, Taranza shot a glance at the shelf he was looking for the IV fluid on. “So, what happened when I tried to get that for you?”

Magolor pointed to the ceiling above the shelf. “The OSO opened a part of the ceiling and mounted some kind of machine on the shelf. Whatever it was, it seemed to hurt you really badly. I couldn’t really try to escape because of all the blood loss, so they kinda just grabbed me and took me away. I got shot with one of those darts then too, but before I passed out, I tried to tell you that I’m sorry for not being able to do anything. I don’t know if you heard me.”

“I did. I remember that. What happened next?”

“I was drifting in and out of consciousness for a while, I couldn’t move the whole time. When I really got back to reality I was in the sink in the floor J bathroom.”

Taranza stroked one of Magolor’s ears. “I think we should go check out the floors you didn’t get to see. We’re up to nine now. Only one left.”

“I appreciate the idea, but I’d rather just-wait, only one?” He had closed his eyes in contentment, but then opened them again.

“Yes. There are ten floors and we can go to nine of them. That means there’s only one more.”

“What about the eleventh floor?”

“The- the what?” Taranza seemed to have been flabbergasted by the question.

“The one above floor A. Did you not notice? There was a button above A on the panel.” Magolor cocked his head.

“I’m gonna check that.” Taranza was heading for the door.

“You were right.” Taranza reentered the hospital and closed the door behind him.

Magolor gave him a cheeky grin. “I know. I’m right about everything.”

Taranza sat down on the bed, two of his right hands on Magolor. They sat in calm silence for a few minutes before he exasperatedly asked, “What letter comes before A?” 

“9.” Magolor didn’t even hesitate. “Wait, no, you said letter, not number.”

“Why would a number come before A?”

“Hexadecimal.”

Taranza smiled, and then exhaled sharply. “You and your abnormal numeral systems.”

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“By the way, fellas, the safe is closed.” Daroach set the plates in front of everyone who was in the dining hall. “So uh, whoever opened it the first time will hopefully do it again?”

Kirby, despite not inhaling, scarfed down the entire plate in less than ten seconds. Somehow, Meta Knight put it away even quicker. Bandee looked up from their plate and tilted their head at Kirby. “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you inhale even once since we got here.”

Kirby looked down sadly. “I can’t. It’s like I can’t use the muscles that make it happen or something.”

“Hey, I know it’s a normal thing to have, but something about the concept of Kirby having muscles makes me uncomfortable.” Daroach said through a mouthful of food.

“Well, I should have them, right? What would I be made of if I didn’t?”

Meta Knight joined the discussion very suddenly. “I think that’s quite enough of that. How about a change in subject? For example…” He trailed off.

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“Magolor, let me ask you something.” Taranza said after opening the door to the dark room on floor G. “Have you ever seen this room before?”

Magolor looked it over. “Mmmmmnope! Can’t say I have. Why?”

“It’s nothing. Let’s go.” 

“Sure doesn’t sound like nothing.” Magolor grumbled as he followed Taranza onto the elevator. The quiet hum of the wire hauling the elevator upwards was the only sound that accompanied them. When the doors opened on Floor B, Magolor’s eyes flashed. “W-what… it can’t be…” He zoomed around the fountain. “No way…”

Taranza grabbed him to try and calm him down. “Hey, hey, relax. What’s going on?” 

“I’ve been here before. In a dream.”

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The rest of the day passed without incident. It was a little too quiet, really. Dedede stayed unconscious. Elfilin didn’t wake up. Francisca never returned to the others. It was doubtful she was still able to. Eventually, it got late, and the six people in the dining room went off to their bedrooms. Magolor went to his own room, and motioned for Taranza to follow. 

“Magolor, you’re kneading me.” 

He responded in a tired voice, like he wasn’t really awake. “Of course I need you, you’re amazing.” His hands kept moving, massaging Taranza’s back. 

While he didn’t mind it at all, Taranza did actually want to go to sleep, so he turned over and pulled Magolor closer, hugging him tightly. Magolor’s quiet mumbles turned to snores within seconds. Despite how bad things had gotten, he could at least take comfort in knowing that Magolor was there for him-no, that they were there for each other. At least, for the moment. He kissed the top of Magolor’s head, and relaxed into the warm embrace of sleep.

After confirming that Taranza was, in fact, asleep, Magolor opened his eyes. He applied some light pressure to Taranza’s chest, which made him relax his grip enough for Magolor to slip out unnoticed. He took a spare pillow from the closet and put it into Taranza’s hands as a substitute, and then snuck out into the hallway. After letting the door close behind him, he pulled a photo out of his robes. “Hang in there. I’ll be with you soon… I hope.” He was back where he was supposed to be ten minutes later.

.. -. -.. .. .- -. .- / .--- --- -. . …

Taranza awoke to Magolor’s bright eyed face looking down on him. “Morning!” He eased himself off of Taranza and lay next to him. “I would’ve woken you up earlier, but I didn’t want to disturb you.” 

Taranza sat up. “That’s a great way to start the day. Any particular reason you’re so chipper today?”

“Mostly, I’m just glad I’m alive. That, and I really, really, adore you.” He nuzzled against the side of Taranza’s head.

At breakfast, three of the four people from the previous night were already there. “Sorry we’re late, it, uh, took me a while to wake up.” Taranza awkwardly waved to the others.

“Silence is preferable to your awkward lying.” Meta Knight announced, hardly even glancing in their direction before making the observation. Taranza quickly brushed it off and sat down. Magolor sat next to him. 

Daroach came out of the kitchen with four plates of food: Sausages, scrambled eggs, and the like. “I should’ve figured you two would be here, hold on. I’ll go back in.”

Taranza got out of his chair. “No need. I’ll get the rest.” He went to the kitchen. 

No sooner had the door closed behind him when Dedede burst into the room. “Good! There are people here-Magolor?” Magolor gave a salute in response. “Uh, anyway. Where’s Elfilin?” 

Daroach put his fork down. “Jail, why?”

“The little traitor shot me in the stomach with a dart!” The others cast sideways glances at each other, unsure of how to respond.

Chapter Text

After noticing the lack of any kind of response, Dedede continued. “Why did you put him in jail? I don’t imagine you knew about him shooting me.” 

Magolor shook his head. “We found him under the signature white cloth that the OSO uses. Taranza and Daroach put him in jail to ask him later about it.” Daroach nodded.

“That seals it, then. Gimme some food and then I’m going down there.”

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Dedede came back into the dining room. Bandee waved from across the room. “How’d it go?”

“Terrible. He’s still asleep.”

Taranza leaned forward. “But you are sure that he was the one who shot you, right?”

“Yeah.”

The others exchanged some sideways glances. Magolor raised his hand. “Hey, just so you’re also aware, I woke up yesterday in a bathroom sink.”

Dedede snorted. “Thanks, Magolor. Also, floor D just opened.”

Having nothing better to be doing for the time being, the others got up and made their way to the elevator. The entire panel had been illuminated by now, with the exception of the one button above the others. They descended to the floor directly below. They all went together to the first room, which looked like a film studio for some kind of game show. There didn’t seem to be anything of major importance.

They left, and made their way to the other room. As soon as Daroach lay his hand on the doorknob, he stopped. “I don’t think I like this room.”

“But we haven’t even gone in yet!” Magolor protested. 

Daroach hesitantly opened the door and a breath of bitterly cold air drifted out and into the hallway. Dedede instinctively grabbed Kirby and brought him into a fold in his jacket. Everything in the room was frosted over. There were icy shelves, cardboard boxes frozen stiff, a crane that didn’t look like it still worked. Even Dedede was shivering, despite how heavy his coat was. Magolor was wearing heavier clothes than most of the others, but he seemed to be about to start breaking down crying. Daroach had his hand around him, trying to reassure him through words, but the chattering of his teeth didn’t allow him to get them out. 

Meta Knight turned his gaze to Magolor. “What’s wrong with him?”

Daroach stopped walking. “Hates the cold more than anything.”

Taranza managed to stop himself from shaking long enough to read the thermometer on the wall. “Negative fifty? That’s excessive.”

Bandee had completely unraveled their bandana and was using it as a blanket while whey walked. “Hey, you know what? I think I saw this place in a dream!”

“What do you mean?” Kirby’s voice was muffled through the thick coat.

“I mean I dreamt about this exact room a few nights ago. If I’m right…” They hit a button on the wall and the shelf slid away, revealing a staircase leading down. “I knew it!”

Magolor was shivering violently. “B-b-but w-what does th-that mean?”

They tightened their bandana. “Maybe I’ve been here before…”

Magolor’s face was turning blue. “Th-this is r-really interesting, b-but I th-think I need to g-go. I’m n-not feeling very well…” He was trying to play it off, but he would have been sprinting to the door if he had legs.

Dedede turned to the others. “Is he gonna be okay?”

“Probably.” Taranza said. “I think he just needs to warm up. Hopefully.”

The others began descending the stairs. Spiralling down, down, down, down… until they reached a door at the bottom. By this point, it was significantly less cold than it was in the cold storage room. The sign on the door simply said “CAS”. Taranza stared at it. “CAS, CAS… cells alive system?”

“Do you mean cold sleep?” Meta Knight’s tone was difficult to decipher.

“Yeah, something like that. I learned about it from Magolor.”

Dedede grabbed the knob and tried to turn it. It didn’t open. “I’m surprised you believed him about that. Last time you learned something from Magolor, you thought prosopagnosia was a real disorder.”

“I maintain that it might be.” Taranza tucked two of his hands into his clothes.

Daroach tried the door himself. “At any rate, this thing isn’t opening. No one would happen to have the key to this thing, would they?” 

Everyone shook their heads. Bandee motioned to the stairs behind them. “I think the cold air is catching up to us, we should go.” 

As they exited the room, Kirby caught a glimpse of something very close to fear on Bandee’s face. “Are you okay?”

“I’m not sure.” They leaned against the wall. “I really hope it’s nothing bad, but I get the impression that maybe… someone’s doing something that we can’t see. And I don’t mean the OSO.” They cloaked their words in uncertainty, but they were absolutely sure they were right.

-.. --- / - .... . -.-- / -.- -. --- .--

Taranza knocked on the door. From the other side, he heard the sounds of a bunch of things being knocked over before the door opened, revealing Magolor wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his lower body. “You can come in if you want, but I’m about to take a very long, hot shower and I can’t exactly talk from there.” He was still shivering from the cold of the storage room. 

“I’ll come in, thanks. You’ll need me here if you… run out of soap, I guess.” Magolor led him in by the hand.

“Your hand is so cold!”

Taranza jerked his hand away. “Well, of course. I was in a freezer.”

Magolor went into the bathroom and locked the door. After the water turned on, he unlocked the door and poked his head out. “Hey, actually, I think I’d rather you not be here right now. Do you mind leaving?”

“No, I don’t mind. You need space, of course.” He went back into the hallway and decided to take another look at the tablet in Dark Meta Knight’s room. However, the tablet was gone.

-.-- --- ..- / --. . - / -- .- --. --- .-.. --- .-. / .. -. - --- / - .... . / ... .... --- .-- . .-. / .- -. -.. / .... . / .--- ..- ... - / ... - .- .-. - ... / . .- - .. -. --. / .- .-.. .-.. / - .... . / ... --- .- .--.

“Oh, I see you’re awake now.” Dedede had an accusatory tone when he entered the jail.

Elfilin’s face didn’t portray any sense of guilt, only fear. “Why am I here?”

Dedede didn’t beat around the bush. “You’re the OSO, aren’t you?”

“...No? Why would you think that?”

“Kid, you shot me.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.” 

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.” 

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I got shot in the back, turned around, and you were holding the gun.”

“That wasn’t me.”

Dedede’s face started turning red. “Listen, pal, I have the keys here and I’m not letting you get out of there until you explain yourself.”

Elfilin still didn’t seem guilty at all. “Then, I guess you’re not letting me out.”

“...”

“...”

Dedede huffed and went to the door. “I’ll be back.”

-.. .. .- .-. -.-- / --- ..-. / .- / .-- .. -- .--. -.-- / -.- .. -.. / ..---

Magolor slipped back into his clothes and sat on his bed, wrapping himself in the blanket. Really, he just wanted to spend a few minutes doing nothing in comfort. He tipped over backwards, sprawling out on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He ran a hand over his face, feeling a little fluffier than usual. He dragged himself off the bed and made his way to the door. There was no one in the hallway, of course. No one in the dining room either. Feeling that twinge of unease in his gut, he checked lounge C. “Oh, hello, Daroach.”

Daroach tucked away something in his cape. “Howdy, Magolor. You might want to check out what’s going on in jail right now, because things have escalated to a pretty ridiculous degree. I came up here so that you’d easily be able to find someone and not have to be alone with any destructive thoughts.”

Magolor’s body relaxed, and he spoke in a collected manner. “Before we go down there, what were you looking at?”

He pulled the photo back out. “It’s a pretty old picture. I told you about how I was before I started the Squeak Squad, right?”

“Yeah, your casanova days.”

He chuckled. “That’s a bit of a generalization, it wasn’t just women.”

Magolor put his hands on the back of the couch. “First I’m hearing about that part!”

“Anyway, after King Dedede spoiled my fun, I came across a kid who was down on his luck. Didn’t have a home or nothing. I took him to the nearest shelter I could find, because I could tell it would rain soon. I remember sitting next to him as he ate a granola bar and we looked out at the storm. I gave him an umbrella because he seemed like he needed one, and I’ve always been more of a raincoat guy myself.”

Magolor hopped over the back of the couch and landed next to Daroach. “That kid was Storo, right? I think I’ve seen him with a red umbrella in his box of treasured possessions.”

“O-oh…” Daroach spoke past the catch in his throat. “Yeah, that was him. Since he comes off as unruly and a little scary, he wasn’t used to having people show him kindness. I came back the next day, and he was there with a few others. You know them by now. Spinni and a few of the squeakers. I’d mention the squeakers by name, but you probably don’t remember most of them. Anyways, we were introduced more properly then, and I liked them all pretty well, so I let them bring the rest to my ship. They were pretty fun guests, and I gave them all some extra food that I had. I gave them some basic equipment for staying afloat, but then Doc came up with the idea of having them all just live with me instead. The guy could make a surprisingly good sales pitch for someone with no education, and I ended up letting them stay. We started calling ourselves the Squeak Squad after a few months. That’s when I took this photo of us.”

Magolor glanced up and saw the first signs of tears forming in his eyes. “You okay?”

“I hope they’re all doing fine without me. I’ve never been MIA for this long, and I miss them so much.” A single tear fell from Daroach’s eye.

Magolor gave him the most reassuring look he could manage. “Don’t worry. I know you’ll see them again eventually. They’re fine. They have to be.” He averted his eyes. “I’m positive.”

Daroach, now shaking from the emotions that had boiled over, wrapped Magolor in a tight embrace. “Thank you. Thank you so much, Magolor.” He stabilized slightly. “Not regretting having you as an honorary member.” He let go and leaned back, catching a glimpse of some similar emotions from Magolor. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just… I miss them too.” He coughed.

That didn’t sound quite right to Daroach, but he got up and held the door open. “To jail we go?”

Magolor nodded. “Jail it is.”

As the elevator doors opened, they heard a cacophony of people yelling at one another. The first sentence they could make out came from King Dedede, but all the subsequent responses were nigh impossible to identify. “I’m telling you, that little punk tricked me into thinking there was something on the bed!”

“You’re changing your story! You said I ambushed you in the hallway earlier, and now you’re saying we were already in the hospital?”

“I’m allowed to embellish things a little when I’m being PERSONALLY VICTIMIZED BY A CRAZED KIDNAPPER!”

“You dumbass! This is serious! You cannot be embellishing at a time like this!”

“Okay, you calm down. Did anyone else think it was weird that Francisca just came in to ask me a really random question and then leave?”

“WHEN THE FUCK DID SHE DO THAT?”

“Right after I woke up! And another thing, let’s not call me the most suspicious person here when MAGOLOR CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD!”

“I hardly see how that’s more suspicious than any of your actions!” 

“I thought you were on my side, traitor!”

“I’m still not over how he called him a dumbass, that’s out of character for him.”

“ARE WE JUST GOING TO IGNORE THAT FRANCISCA HAS NOT BEEN SEEN BY ANYONE BUT ELFILIN SINCE YESTERDAY?”

Magolor turned to Daroach. “This seems a bit too hectic, maybe we could go back and you could tell me about the cold storage room?”

“Daroach can’t leave! We’re talking about him!”

“NO WE MOST CERTAINLY ARE NOT!” 

“Yeah, I think leaving is a good idea.” Daroach led Magolor back to the elevator.

Magolor pulled a string of melted cheese out of his scarf. “Thanks for the food, Daroach. I think I’ll head to the room where I almost got killed and see what’s going on there.”

“You sure you wanna do that?” 

“I’ll be fine. If you’re really that worried about me, you can follow me when you’re done eating.” He left the dining room and got on the elevator.

Daroach planned to stay next to him to assure safety in numbers, but he had to finish his quesadilla first. After putting his plate in the kitchen sink, he washed his hands and headed for the elevator.

He didn’t end up getting there.

Chapter Text

The argument had gone on for several hours, but no conclusion was in sight. Just about everyone had left by now, and Elfilin was alone in his cell. Dedede just wanted to eat and go to bed, he was so frustrated. He opened the door to the kitchen and grabbed a container of leftovers from the day before. After shoveling all the contents into his mouth, he started walking back to his room. Maybe he’d be able to decipher that weird video he’d picked up in Dark Meta Knight’s room.

He didn’t make it there.

.-.. . - / - .... . / --. .- -- . / -... . --. .. -.

Dedede opened his eyes, and rubbed the back of his head. “Oww…” There wasn’t much going on in his surroundings. Red walls, Red floor, a button, a blank screen, a few holes in the back, and a microphone. He was about to say something into the microphone, but he was interrupted by a jarringly unfamiliar voice.

“Ｗｅｌｃｏｍｅ，　 ｏｎｅ 　ａｎｄ 　ａｌｌ． 　Ｙｏｕ　 ｋｎｏｗ 　ｍｅ 　ａｓ　 ｔｈｅ　 ＯＳＯ， 　ａｎｄ　 Ｉ　 ｈａｖｅ　  ａｐｐｅａｒｅｄ 　ｂｅｆｏｒｅ 　ｙｏｕ　 ｔｏｄａｙ 　ｆｏｒ 　ａ　 ｇａｍｅ．”

A second later, he heard a different voice respond, though it also seemed to be heavily modulated. “𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕘𝕒𝕞𝕖?”

“Ｔｒｕｔｈ 　ｂｅ 　ｔｏｌｄ， 　Ｉ 　ｆｉｎｄ　 ｔｈｅ 　ｔｈｒｅｅ　 ｏｆ 　ｙｏｕ　 ｔｏ 　ｂｅ 　ｅｑｕａｌｌｙ 　ｔｒｏｕｂｌｅｓｏｍｅ． 　Ａｌｔｈｏｕｇｈ　 Ｉ 　ｃａｎ＇ｔ 　ｃｏｎｓｉｄｅｒ 　ｉｔ 　ｆａｉｒ　 ｔｏ　 ｂｅ　 ｒｅｍｏｖｉｎｇ 　ａｎｙ 　ｍｏｒｅ　 ｔｈａｎ　 ｏｎｅ 　ｏｆ　 ｙｏｕ， 　Ｉ　 ｗｉｌｌ 　ｌｅａｖｅ　 ｔｈｅ　 ｄｅｃｉｓｉｏｎ 　ａｓ　 ｔｏ 　ｗｈｏ 　ｇｅｔｓ 　ｅｘｔｒａｃｔｅｄ 　ｔｏ　 ｙｏｕ．　 Ｉ 　ｐｅｒｓｏｎａｌｌｙ　 ｃｏｕｌｄｎ＇ｔ 　ｃａｒｅ　 ｌｅｓｓ． 　Ｉ　ｗｉｌｌ 　ｂｅ 　ａｓｋｉｎｇ　 ｙｏｕ　 ｔｗｅｎｔｙ 　ｆｉｖｅ 　ｑｕｅｓｔｉｏｎｓ， 　ｅａｃｈ　 ｒｅｌａｔｉｎｇ 　ｔｏ 　ｏｎｅ 　ｏｒ 　ｍｏｒｅ 　ｏｆ　 ｙｏｕｒ　 ｐｅｅｒｓ． 　Ｉｆ 　ｙｏｕ 　ｔｈｉｎｋ　 ｙｏｕ 　ｋｎｏｗ　 ｔｈｅ　 ａｎｓｗｅｒ， 　ｐｒｅｓｓ　 ｔｈｅ 　ｂｕｔｔｏｎ． 　Ｉｆ　 ｙｏｕ　 ａｒｅ 　ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ， 　ｙｏｕ　 ｗｉｌｌ 　ｇｅｔ 　ａ 　ｐｏｉｎｔ． 　Ｉｆ 　ｎｏｔ， 　ｙｏｕ 　ｗｉｌｌ　 ｎｏｔ　 ｂｅ　 ａｌｌｏｗｅｄ 　ｔｏ　 ｔｒｙ 　ａｇａｉｎ 　ｕｎｔｉｌ 　ｂｏｔｈ　 ｏｆ 　ｔｈｅ　 ｏｔｈｅｒ 　ｐａｒｔｉｃｉｐａｎｔｓ 　ｈａｖｅ 　ａｌｓｏ　 ｇｉｖｅｎ　 ａｎ 　ａｎｓｗｅｒ． 　Ｔｈｅ 　ｐｅｒｓｏｎ 　ｗｉｔｈ 　ｔｈｅ 　ｌｅａｓｔ 　ａｍｏｕｎｔ　 ｏｆ　 ｐｏｉｎｔｓ 　ｂｙ　 ｔｈｅ 　ｅｎｄ 　ｏｆ　 ｔｈｅ　 ｑｕｉｚ 　ｗｉｌｌ 　ｎｏｔ　 ｂｅ 　ｗａｋｉｎｇ　 ｕｐ　 ｔｏｍｏｒｒｏｗ． 　Ｉｆ 　ｔｈｅｒｅ　 ｉｓ　 ａ　 ｔｉｅ，　 ｗｅ 　ｗｉｌｌ　 ｍｏｖｅ　 ｔｏ 　ａ　 ｔｉｅｂｒｅａｋｅｒ． 　Ｉｆ　 ｙｏｕ 　ｄｉｖｕｌｇｅ　 ａｎｙ 　ｕｎｎｅｃｅｓｓａｒｙ 　ｉｎｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎ， 　ｓｕｃｈ 　ａｓ  　ｙｏｕｒ 　ｉｄｅｎｔｉｔｙ 　ｏｒ 　ｗｈｙ 　ｙｏｕ 　ｂｅｌｉｅｖｅ 　ｙｏｕ 　ｈａｖｅ 　ｂｅｅｎ 　ｓｅｌｅｃｔｅｄ，　 ｙｏｕ　 ｗｉｌｌ 　ｂｅ．．． 　ｄｉｓｑｕａｌｉｆｉｅｄ． 　Ａｒｅ 　ｔｈｅ 　ｒｕｌｅｓ 　ｃｌｅａｒ？”

No one answered. “Ｓａｔｉｓｆａｃｔｏｒｙ．” Dedede saw the screen light up, showing a five by five grid that showed numbers from one to twenty five in a seemingly random arrangement. “Ｑｕｅｓｔｉｏｎ　 ｏｎｅ： 　Ｄｕｒｉｎｇ 　ｔｈｅ　 ｉｎｃｉｄｅｎｔ 　ｉｎｖｏｌｖｉｎｇ　 ｔｈｅ 　Ｓｋｕｌｌ 　ｇａｎｇ， 　ｈｏｗ 　ｍａｎｙ　 ｃｏｐｉｅｓ 　ｏｆ　 ｈｉｍｓｅｌｆ 　ｄｉｄ 　Ｋｉｒｂｙ 　ｇｅｔ 　ｓｐｌｉｔ 　ｉｎｔｏ？” A buzzer rang out. “Ｙｅｌｌｏｗ， 　ｙｏｕ 　ｗｅｒｅ 　ｔｈｅ 　ｆｉｒｓｔ 　ｔｏ 　ｈｉｔ 　ｔｈｅ　 ｂｕｔｔｏｎ．　 Ｗｈａｔ 　ｉｓ 　ｙｏｕｒ 　ａｎｓｗｅｒ？” 

A distorted response came from Dedede’s right. “ᴛᴇɴ.”

“Ｔｈａｔ 　ｉｓ　 ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ．” The square with the number 1 on it turned yellow. “Ｑｕｅｓｔｉｏｎ　 ｔｗｏ： 　Ｈｏｗ　 ｍａｎｙ　 ｂｏｏｋｓｈｅｌｖｅｓ 　ａｒｅ 　ｉｎ　 Ｍａｒｘ＇ｓ　 ｈｏｕｓｅ？” This time, the buzzer came from Dedede’s left. “Ｂｌｕｅ．”

“𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕟𝕖!”

“Ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ．” The number 2 lit up blue. “　Ｑｕｅｓｔｉｏｎ　 ｔｈｒｅｅ： 　Ｍｅｔａ　 Ｋｎｉｇｈｔ　 ｃｌａｉｍｓ 　ｈｉｓ　 ｆａｖｏｕｒｉｔｅ　 ｆｏｏｄ 　ｉｓ 　ｓｔｅａｋ 　ｃｏｏｋｅｄ　 ｍｅｄｉｕｍ　 ｒａｒｅ． 　Ｗｈａｔ 　ｉｓ　 ｈｉｓ　 ａｃｔｕａｌ 　ｆａｖｏｕｒｉｔｅ 　ｆｏｏｄ？” Dedede hit the button immediately. “Ｒｅｄ．”

“It’s chocolate cake!”

“Ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ．” The number 3 turned red.  

“Ｔｈｅ 　ａｃｒｏｎｙｍ　 ＰＥＭＤＡＳ　 ｉｓ　 ｏｆｔｅｎ　 ｕｓｅｄ　 ａｓ　 ａ　 ｗａｙ 　ｏｆ 　ｔｅａｃｈｉｎｇ 　ｅｌｅｍｅｎｔａｒｙ 　ｓｃｈｏｏｌ　 ｓｔｕｄｅｎｔｓ 　ｔｈｅ 　ｍａｔｈｅｍａｔｉｃａｌ 　ｏｒｄｅｒ 　ｏｆ　 ｏｐｅｒａｔｉｏｎｓ． 　Ｍａｇｏｌｏｒ　 ｕｓｅｓ　 ｉｔ　 ｔｏ 　ｓｔａｎｄ 　ｆｏｒ 　ｓｏｍｅｔｈｉｎｇ　 ｅｎｔｉｒｅｌｙ 　ｄｉｆｆｅｒｅｎｔ． 　Ｗｈａｔ　 ｉｓ 　ｔｈａｔ？” 

A buzzer sound from the right. “ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ᴇxᴛᴏʟ ᴍʏ ᴅᴀᴍɴ ᴀᴡᴇꜱᴏᴍᴇ ꜱᴘᴀꜱᴇꜱʜɪᴘ.”

The 4 turned yellow. “Ｗｈａｔ　 ｉｓ　 ｔｈｅ 　ｎａｍｅ 　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅ 　ｌｉｇｈｔｎｉｎｇ 　ｇｅｎｅｒａｌ 　ｏｆ 　ｔｈｅ 　ｍａｇｅ　 ｓｉｓｔｅｒｓ？” 

Dedede hit the button. “Zan Parsnip.”

“Ｗｒｏｎｇ．”

“ℤ𝕒𝕟 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕝𝕒.”

“Ｗｒｏｎｇ．”

“ᴢᴀɴ ᴘᴜʟɪᴛᴢᴇʀ.”

“Ｎｏ．”

“Zan Perennial?

“Ｎｏ．”

“ᴢᴀɴ ᴘᴀʀᴀꜱɪᴛᴇ?”

“Ｎｏ．”

“ℤ𝕒𝕟 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕝𝕖.”

“Ｎｏ．”

“Zan Parmesan?”

“．．．Ｓｕｒｅ． 　Ｆｉｎｅ． 　Ｗｈａｔｅｖｅｒ． 　Ｐｏｉｎｔ 　ｆｏｒ　 ｒｅｄ．” The 5 turned red. “Ｍｅｔａ 　Ｋｎｉｇｈｔ　 ｈａｄ　 ａｎ 　ｏｄｄ　 ｍｉｓｃｏｎｃｅｐｔｉｏｎ　 ａｂｏｕｔ 　Ａｄｅｌｅｉｎｅ　 ａｎｄ　 Ｒｉｂｂｏｎ　 ｔｈａｔ 　ｐｅｒｓｉｓｔｅｄ　 ｕｎｔｉｌ　 ａｆｔｅｒ　 ｔｈｅ 　Ｈａｌｔｍａｎｎ　 ｉｎｖａｓｉｏｎ． 　Ｗｈａｔ　 ｗａｓ　 ｔｈｉｓ 　ｍｉｓｃｏｎｃｅｐｔｉｏｎ？”

“He thought they were men.”

“Ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ． 　Ｗｈｏ 　ｄｏｅｓ 　Ｄａｒｋ 　Ｍｅｔａ　 Ｋｎｉｇｈｔ　 ｃｏｎｓｉｄｅｒ 　ｈｉｓ 　ｂｅｓｔ　 ｆｒｉｅｎｄ？”

“𝔻𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕒𝕔𝕙?”

“Ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ．　 Ｏｎ 　ｔｈｅ　 ｔｏｐｉｃ 　ｏｆ　 Ｄａｒｏａｃｈ， 　ｗｈａｔ 　ｉｓ 　ｒｅａｌｌｙ 　ｕｎｄｅｒ　 ｈｉｓ 　ｈａｔ？”

“ʜɪꜱ ʜᴇᴀᴅ.”

“Ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ． 　Ｗｈａｔ 　ｗａｓ 　ｔｈｅ　 ｃｏｍｍｏｎ　 ｔｈｒｅａｄ 　ｌｉｎｋｉｎｇ　 ｔｈｅ 　ｇｅｎｅｒａｌｓ 　ｏｆ　 ｍａｇｉｃ 　ｂｅｆｏｒｅ　 ｔｈｅｙ 　ａｌｌ　 ｍｅｔ 　ｏｎｅ 　ａｎｏｔｈｅｒ？”

Dedede hit his buzzer. “Homosexuality, final answer.”

“Ｗｒｏｎｇ．　 Ｚａｎ 　Ｐａｒｍｅｓａｎ 　ｉｓ　 ｂｉ．”

“ɴᴇᴀʀ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇꜱ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʀᴇʟᴀᴛᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ɴᴀᴛᴜʀᴀʟ ᴛᴀʟᴇɴᴛꜱ.”

“Ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ． 　Ｗｈａｔ　 ｉｓ　 Ｇｏｏｅｙ＇ｓ 　ｐｒｅｆｅｒｒｅｄ　 ｂｅｄｄｉｎｇ？”

“ʙᴜʀʟᴀᴘ ꜱᴀᴄᴋ.”

“Ｔｈａｔ 　ｉｓ　 ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ． 　Ｎｏｗ 　ｔｈａｔ　ｗｅ＇ｖｅ　 ｇｏｎｅ 　ｔｈｒｏｕｇｈ 　ｔｅｎ　 ｑｕｅｓｔｉｏｎｓ， 　Ｉ 　ｗｉｌｌ 　ａｎｎｏｕｎｃｅ　 ｔｈｅ 　ｃｕｒｒｅｎｔ 　ｓｃｏｒｅ． 　Ｙｅｌｌｏｗ　 ｉｓ　 ｃｏｍｆｏｒｔａｂｌｙ 　ｉｎ　 ｆｉｒｓｔ　 ｗｉｔｈ　 ｆｉｖｅ 　ｐｏｉｎｔｓ，　 Ｒｅｄ 　ｉｓ 　ｉｎ 　ｓｅｃｏｎｄ　 ｗｉｔｈ 　ｔｈｒｅｅ 　ｐｏｉｎｔｓ， 　ａｎｄ 　Ｂｌｕｅ 　ｉｓ　 ｉｎ 　ｎｅｅｄ 　ｏｆ 　ｃａｔｃｈｉｎｇ 　ｕｐ 　ｑｕｉｃｋｌｙ， 　ａｓ 　ｔｈｅｙ 　ｏｎｌｙ 　ｈａｖｅ 　ｔｗｏ 　ｐｏｉｎｔｓ． 　Ｑｕｅｓｔｉｏｎ 　ｅｌｅｖｅｎ： 　Ｏｆ 　ｔｈｅ 　ｔｗｅｎｔｙ　 ｐｅｏｐｌｅ　 ｃａｐｔｕｒｅｄ 　ｈｅｒｅ， 　ｈｏｗ 　ｍａｎｙ 　ｋｎｏｗ　 ｈｏｗ 　ｔｏ 　ｕｓｅ 　ａｎ 　ａｒｃ 　ｗｅｌｄｅｒ？”

Dedede hit the button. “Three!”

“Ｎｏ．”

The buzzer to the left rang. “𝔽𝕚𝕧𝕖!”

“Ｙｅｓ．　 Ｂａｎｄｅｅ＇ｓ 　ｂａｎｄａｎａ 　ｗａｓ　 ｎｏｔ　 ｏｒｉｇｉｎａｌｌｙ 　ｍａｄｅ 　ｆｏｒ 　ｉｔ＇ｓ 　ｃｕｒｒｅｎｔ　 ｐｕｒｐｏｓｅ． 　Ｗｈａｔ 　ｉｓ 　ｔｈｅ 　ｂａｎｄａｎａ＇ｓ 　ｆｏｒｍｅｒ　 ｏｃｃｕｐａｔｉｏｎ？”

Dedede hit the button again. “A square in a picnic blanket.”

“Ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ． 　Ｈｏｗ　ｍａｎｙ 　ｐｅｏｐｌｅ　 ｈａｖｅ　ａ　 ｒｅｓｔｒａｉｎｉｎｇ　 ｏｒｄｅｒ 　ａｇａｉｎｓｔ 　Ｓｕｓｉｅ？”

A buzz from the right. “ꜰᴏᴜʀ.”

“Ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ． 　Ｗｈａｔ　 ｃｏｌｏｕｒ 　ａｒｅ　 ｔｈｅ　ｃｕｒｔａｉｎｓ　 ｉｎ 　Ｔａｒａｎｚａ＇ｓ　 ｂｅｄｒｏｏｍ？”

Dedede hit the button right before the person on his right. “Royal blue.”

“Ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ． 　Ｒｉｃｋ， 　Ｋｉｎｅ， 　ａｎｄ 　Ｃｏｏ　 ｏｆｔｅｎ　 ｔｒａｖｅｌ 　ｔｏｇｅｔｈｅｒ 　ｔｏ　 ｐｒｏｐｅｒｌｙ　 ｎａｖｉｇａｔｅ　 ｔｈｅ 　ｌａｎｄ， 　ｓｅａ， 　ａｎｄ 　ａｉｒ． 　Ｋｉｎｅ　 ｉｓ 　ｔｈｅ 　ｍｏｓｔ 　ｐｒｏｆｉｃｉｅｎｔ　 ａｔ 　ｓｗｉｍｍｉｎｇ， 　ｈｏｗｅｖｅｒ　 ｉｔ　 ｉｓ 　ｓｈｒｏｕｄｅｄ 　ｉｎ 　ｓｏｍｅ　 ｏｂｓｃｕｒｉｔｙ 　ｏｖｅｒ 　ｗｈｅｔｈｅｒ 　ｔｈｅ 　ｏｔｈｅｒ 　ｔｗｏ 　ｃａｎ 　ｓｗｉｍ 　ａｔ　 ａｌｌ． 　Ｉｓ 　ｔｈｅ 　ｏｔｈｅｒ 　ｓｗｉｍｍｅｒ 　ｏｆ 　ｔｈｅ 　ｔｈｒｅｅ 　Ｒｉｃｋ， 　Ｃｏｏ， 　ｂｏｔｈ， 　ｏｒ　 ｎｅｉｔｈｅｒ？”

“ɴᴇɪᴛʜᴇʀ?”

“Ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ． 　Ｗｈａｔ　 ｉｓ　 Ｍａｒｘ＇ｓ 　ｍｏｓｔ　 ｃｏｎｔｒｏｖｅｒｓｉａｌ 　ｂｅｌｉｅｆ 　ｒｅｇａｒｄｉｎｇ 　ｃｒｉｍｅ？”

Dedede gave the button a tap. “Murder is victimless.”

“Ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ． 　Ｔａｒａｎｚａ＇ｓ　ｍｏｓｔ　 ｔｒｅａｓｕｒｅｄ 　ｃｈｉｌｄｈｏｏｄ　 ｍｅｍｏｒｙ　 ｔｏｏｋ　 ｐｌａｃｅ 　ｉｎ 　ｗｈａｔ 　ｋｉｎｄ 　ｏｆ　 ｂｕｉｌｄｉｎｇ？”

This time, the response came from the rarely heard left side. “𝔸 𝕙𝕒𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕖.”

The voice of who Dedede presumed to be Elfilin-The OSO- grew heavier. It seemed the quiz was approaching some uncomfortable subjects in the near future. “Ｔｈａｔ 　ｉｓ 　ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ． 　Ｏｕｔ 　ｏｆ　 ｅｖｅｒｙｏｎｅ 　ｉｎ　 ｔｈｉｓ 　ｂｕｉｌｄｉｎｇ， 　ｎｏｔ 　ｉｎｃｌｕｄｉｎｇ　 ｈｅｒｓｅｌｆ， 　ｈｏｗ 　ｍａｎｙ 　ｐｅｏｐｌｅ 　ｄｏｅｓ　 Ｓｕｓｉｅ 　ｒｅｍｅｍｂｅｒ 　ｔｈｅ　 ｎａｍｅｓ　 ｏｆ？”

The answer came from the right. “ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴ.”

“Ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ． 　Ｗｈａｔ　 ｉｓ 　ｔｈｅ　 ｓｔｒａｎｇｅｓｔ 　ｔｈｉｎｇ 　Ｅｌｆｉｌｉｎ 　ｋｎｏｗｓ 　ａ　 ｌｏｔ 　ａｂｏｕｔ？”

“𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕔 𝕤𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖.”

“Ｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ．　Ｈｏｗ　ｌｏｎｇ　ｈａｓ　ｉｔ　ｂｅｅｎ　ｓｉｎｃｅ　ｔｈｅ　ｄｕｎｇｅｏｎ　ｉｎ　Ｃａｓｔｌｅ　Ｄｅｄｅｄｅ　ｈａｓ　ｂｅｅｎ　ｕｓｅｄ？”

Dedede hit the button and immediately answered. “Thirty years.”

The OSO’s voice became slightly clearer, albeit still modulated. “Correct. Now that we have gone through the first twenty questions, I will go over the current score. Blue has five points, red has seven points, and yellow has eight points. For the final five questions, the quiz will change. I will give you a dilemma. The first person to respond with the correct answer will get a point. If you respond with the wrong answer, you will lose a point. So be careful before answering.”

Dedede hit the button to preemptively call out the rules. “Isn’t the whole point of a dilemma not to have a correct answer?”

“These do. Now then, question twenty one: You are almost positive about something. Do you proceed as if you must be correct, or try to confirm your theory first?”

“ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕞 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥.” Came the reply from the left.

“Correct. If you find someone untrustworthy, do you avoid them at all costs, or stay close and keep an eye on them?”

It was the person on the left again who responded. “𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕪 𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖.”

“Correct. You are aware of a fact that may place everyone in danger. However, no one will believe you if you tell them. Do you try to convince them anyway, or take matters into your own hands?”

Dedede tried hitting the button, but he was beaten to the punch by the person on the left yet again. “𝕋𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤.”

“Once again, you are correct. Someone you trust is directly opposing you. Do you change your own position, or persist with your chosen path?”

Dedede was one point behind the other two. He needed to hit the button first. He needed to- “ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕚𝕤𝕥.” Damn.

“You are correct yet again. Impressive. Final question: ” The modulation changed a second time. You could clearly hear the weight the voice was carrying. “ The life of one of my loved ones is in danger. The only way for me to save them is to deceive everyone else I care about. Should I? ”

Before he had time to properly process the meaning of the question and the source, Dedede was already slamming the answer button. “Yes.”

“ ...That is correct. The final point tally is Blue with nine points, Red with eight, and Yellow with eight as well. For coming in first, Blue will be put to sleep now. Rest assured, they will wake up tomorrow. Red. Yellow. For bringing this to a tiebreaker, I will give the two of you a hint. First, I will reveal to the two of you the identity of your opponent. ” An image of Daroach flashed on the screen. “ Now, I will explain the tiebreaker game. Other than the two of you, there were eighteen others who were allegedly kidnapped. One of them… is me. Your screens should show a table of names and eighteen slots, ordered in a single column. What you will do is drag the names of the eighteen people into the column, ordered by how likely you think they are to be me. The name at the top is who you think is most likely, the name at the bottom is who you think is least likely. Whoever has my true identity ranked higher will wake up tomorrow. The winner will get to keep printouts of both rankings. If there is another tie, you will both lose. Your microphones have been disabled to prevent communication between the two of you. You may begin whenever you wish. ”

Dedede racked his brain. Right away, he slotted in Bandee at the bottom, followed by Kirby, and then Meta Knight. He then placed Elfilin at the top. Actually, there was one thing he was even more sure of. He moved Bandee, Kirby, and Meta Knight up one slot, and placed Kine at the bottom. He considered placing Magolor highly, especially since the way this quiz was set up reminded Dedede of the rabbit from that one puzzle game he liked, but after remembering what Taranza said, he decided to place him right above Meta Knight. After considering Ribbon’s disappearance, he figured it was unlikely that she orchestrated that herself. Then he thought about everyone else who had disappeared in order. Zan Partizanne, being the first, wasn’t unlikely. He placed her right below Elfilin. Marx was another one with one of those weird locks on his bedroom doors, but other than that, he didn’t have that great of a read on him. He waited on placing him. He continued his thinking, and then submitted his ranking.

1. Elfilin
2. Zan Partizanne
3. Susie
4. Rick
5. Marx
6. Francisca
7. Flamberge
8. Dark Meta Knight
9. Taranza
10. Coo 
11. Gooey
12. Adeleine
13. Ribbon
14. Magolor
15. Meta Knight
16. Kirby
17. Bandee
18. Kine

Once he submitted his ranking, the OSO spoke again. “ Now, you will both be put to sleep. As it was not a tie, one of you will be waking up tomorrow. The other is not as lucky. If and when you wake up, you will have a printout of your ranking, as well as your opponent’s ranking. Now then… ” The room filled with white smoke. “ Good night. ”

Chapter Text

Meta Knight woke up, put his mask on, and looked up at the clock. Six in the morning. He stepped out of his room, and nearly ran into Kirby. “Good morning. Are you well?” 

Kirby looked pretty tired. “Not that good, but I guess I’ve been worse.”

Meta Knight patted him on the head. “We’ll figure it out, though, right? We always do.”

“Yeah…yeah! Always!”

Meta Knight walked to Bandee’s door and knocked. “We’ll get everyone else, and then we’ll see if we can find a way to move forward.”

Bandee stepped out. “Why so early…? I wanted another few hours of sleep…”

Kirby gave them a hug. “You can go back to sleep after we try to see what to do, okay?”

“Okay…”

Meta Knight then knocked on Dedede’s door. There was no response after a minute. “It’s likely that he’s still asleep.” He then checked Daroach’s room. Also no response. “Hm.” Then he tried Magolor, then Taranza, then Francisca. “Nothing.” 

Bandee was on their way back to their room. “It’s six in the morning. Of course they aren’t awake. I’m going back to sleep.”

“Wait!” Kirby ran into his room, and then reappeared a minute later with a pillow in his hands. “I keep this in my minifridge. Do you want it?”

They smiled weakly and took the pillow. “Thanks, Kirby.” They walked back into their room.

.-. . ..-. .-. .. --. . .-. .- - --- .-.

When Taranza opened his eyes, he was looking at the back of Magolor’s head. He was still snoring quietly. “Magolor, someone knocked on the door. Do you want to answer it?”

Magolor yawned and turned over on his back. “Wha…? Couldjew sayat again, please?” His speech was slurred, which was a clear indicator that he was still tired.

“There’s someone here. Do you want to answer it or just stay here for a while?” Magolor’s only response was rolling over on his side to face Taranza. He had loosened the covers, so Taranza picked the edge of the blanket off of his other side and tucked it under him. Before long, they were both back to sleep.

-.. --- / -. --- - / - .- .-.. -.- / - --- / -- . / .-- .... . -. / .. / .- -- / ... .-.. . . .--. -.--

“Should we be worried that it’s been an hour and no one’s here?” Kirby asked after scarfing down a plate of burnt pancakes.

“Probably not. It is still fairly early in the morning. We should give it another two hours and then start worrying.” Meta Knight downed his burnt orange juice.

Kirby ate a few badly cooked sausages and then tilted his head. “I think I have Sam and Ella.”

-.. --- / -. --- - / .- ... -.- / .... --- .-- / .... . / -- .- -. .- --. . -.. / - --- / -... ..- .-. -. / --- .-. .- -. --. . / .--- ..- .. -.-. .

Taranza stretched a few of his hands behind him. Magolor lay in front of him, making small noises in his sleep. Adorable. Taranza snuggled him a little closer, and heard him wake up. Magolor poked his head up, pulled his scarf down, and kissed him. Taranza traced over him with two hands. He felt something out of place. “Do you have something on you?”

Magolor slid himself backwards an inch or two. “Oh, this is just a planning sheet for a surprise. I can’t tell you what it is yet, you’ll see after we get out of here.” 

Taranza sat up and adjusted the knot on his own scarf. “I’ll look forward to it.” Has he had that this whole time?  

Magolor rolled off the bed, landing on the floor with a thud. “Before I fell back asleep, you said something about a knock on the door, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll go check it out. You can stay back and do whatever you do to get ready in the morning.” He slowly got up and left the room. 

Taranza’s vision was a little bleary, but he went to the bathroom over to the right to get his hair straightened out. As he was leaving the bathroom, he bumped into the desk. The impact caused one of the lower drawers to open. He was going to just close it and leave, but he saw something in there. It was a binder full of paper. The cover read, “Three month anniversary surprise for Taranza”. He didn’t want to pry, but Magolor wasn’t here to know what he was looking at, and he really did want to know what was in there. It was a surprisingly large event for just three months, but they did know each other for a very long time beforehand, and Magolor was always a “go big or go home” kind of guy. The problem with the plan was that it was completely finished. Nothing left that was yet to be determined, or any room for error. So what was the paper that Magolor had on his person? What was written there? And why did he pretend it was this?

Questions circling his mind, he left the room. Bandee was on their way out of their own room on the other side of the hall. “Morning, Taranza.”

“Uh… morning. I’m going to get breakfast, are you coming?”

“Yeah! I don’t want to let Kirby and Meta Knight empty the entire kitchen.” They led him to the dining room. Inside, it was just the two that they mentioned and Magolor. 

Magolor gave a polite wave hello. “Hey, fellas. Ranz, what took you so long? Did your hair turn the wrong colour and you had to dye it back to normal?” Upon getting no response, the humour in his expression faded. “Are you okay? You look pretty out of it.” 

Taranza blinked. It’s just something extra. He’s just planning an extra surprise. It has to be. I’m worried about nothing. It’s nothing. Nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing. “Uh, yeah. I’m okay.”

Magolor hopped out of his chair and made his way to the kitchen. He motioned for Taranza to join. “Do you want to help me make breakfast? I haven’t had anything other than a glass of milk that Meta Knight somehow managed to burn.”

“It’s 9:30. Should I start worrying now?” Bandee asked.

“Good idea.” Meta Knight got out of the chair. “We should check on Elfilin’s cell. Perhaps people have congregated there. We will at least see Elfilin, I’m sure.” He led the eerily small group of the other people in the room to the elevator. 

When the doors opened again, Bandee led everyone to the jail. They opened the door. “Huh. No greeting. Is he still asleep?”

Meta Knight’s response was intense. “Check again.” He glared at his cell. There was no one inside. 

A chill went up Taranza’s back. “Who let him out?”

Bandee and Kirby uncomfortably shook their heads. Magolor rattled the door. “Locked. Whoever let him out locked the door when they were done.”

Bandee froze in place. “Wouldn’t that mean…”

Kirby held his hands out in front of him. “No! He wouldn’t do that and not explain why…”

Magolor grabbed the doorknob and wrenched the door open. “We have to find them. All of them.”

The garden, lounge, and bathroom were empty. They got on the elevator and headed for floor I, trying to get some semblance of reassurance from one another. They immediately entered the art room, and Bandee picked up something off the floor. “Hey, guys, look at this.” They were holding a list.

1. Susie
2. Rick
3. Bandee
4. Elfilin
5. Magolor
6. Zan Partizanne
7. Marx
8. Francisca
9. Dark Meta Knight
10. Flamberge
11. Adeleine
12. Gooey
13. Coo
14. Ribbon
15. Meta Knight
16. Kirby
17. Taranza
18. Kine

“What is this?” Taranza looked the list over, and then looked it over a second time.

“Why is it ordered like that?” Magolor cocked his head.

“Where are Dedede and Daroach?” Kirby asked.

“Who put this here?” Bandee was puzzled.

“When was it made?” Meta Knight slid a hand from the side of his head to the bottom of his eye slit.

After exchanging confused looks, they checked the rest of floor I. Taranza had pocketed the list for future reference. After checking floor H in its entirety, Magolor suggested a change in approach. “I know it’d be insane to split up completely, but wouldn’t this be faster and easier if we split into multiple groups?” 

“Do you mean a group of two and a group of three?” Meta Knight seemed to mull the idea over. “That shouldn’t be a problem. I will take Kirby and Taranza to floors F, D, and A, while you two can go to G, E, and B. Reconvene on C when we’re done.”

“You were awfully quick to decide those groups.” Taranza mused.

“If you and Magolor go together, you will get nothing done. Shall we go?” He tapped the up button.

When the elevator stopped on floor G, Bandee stepped off, followed by Magolor. After checking out the lounge and power room, they stopped him from continuing down the hallway. “Hey, do you think now might be a good time to talk? You know, about the cold stor-”

“Shhh! There might be someone listening through the wall.” Magolor opened the door to the bathroom, and quickly motioned for them to follow. “There wouldn’t be cameras in the stalls, right? That would be weird?”

“Should I be running? I feel like I should be running.”

“It’s not like that, just get in. I need to keep it vague.”

Bandee reluctantly entered the stall after Magolor. “So what is it?”

“About the cold storage, thanks to your signal I was able to get into the NEWS rooms on floor F unnoticed.”

They tensed. “What are the NEWS rooms?”

“The rooms with the suits of armour. That’s what they’re called. Anyway…” He pulled a fragment of metal out of his robes and handed it to them. “I found this in the room I got axed in.” He lowered his vice to be almost imperceptably quiet. “It’s evidence. Don’t lose it.”

.. ..-. / -.-- --- ..- / .-. . -- . -- -... . .-. / .- -. -.-- - .... .. -. --. / - .... .- - / .... .- .--. .--. . -. . -.. / .-.. .. - . .-. .- .-.. .-.. -.-- / -.-- . ... - . .-. -.. .- -.-- / -.-- --- ..- / ... .... --- ..- .-.. -.. / -... . / ... . . .. -. --. / - .... . / .. ... ... ..- . / .... . .-. .

“I will investigate the lounge and interrogation rooms. Kirby, do the bathroom and rooms one and two in the small hallway. Taranza, you take three and four.” After Meta Knight was done instructing the others, he stepped into the interrogation room. 

Kirby ducked into the bathroom, then quickly came back out. Him and Taranza then entered the NEWS rooms. Taranza opened the door to room 3, then immediately left for room 4. Upon opening the door, he was greeted by something truly unexpected.

It was the same monitor that had given him the ominous message from the OSO before, except this time it seemed to be malfunctioning. A spiral of static slowly formed into a question mark. “H̴̗͑͆e̶̡̺̟͕̪̞̟͇͎̗͂̈͐̃̋l̷͓̦̩͍̪̼͔̜̼̺͂ḽ̶̨̘̇͐͜o̴̪̜̮̳̼̬͓̔̑̅̃̍̐̆̕ͅ-̸̭̗̜̙̇̽̂͌̽͑̚͜s̷̛̠͔̭̹̰͂̓̈́̊͘͘o̶̗͙͙͉̤͖̦̟̼̮̐̈́̋͆͑̇́́r̸͈͚͋̂̊̊̆̆̐͠ͅr̵̢̲̄̽̎̉͗͠y̸̙̩̘̼̩̦͍̪͕̠͘,̴̱̼̖͔́̄̀̉́͒͜͠͝ ̴̠̫͓͖̣̟͙̟̃̍̀̆͝m̵̭̤̕ý̶̜͒̐́̄̚͝ ̵̡̭̹̤̗̻̲̊̅́̒̈́͑ͅa̴̝͈̘̿̍̋͊̈́̓ų̵̘̳̖̰̝͈̺̞̒͑̚͜ḑ̸̞̭͉͙̜̰̟͔̆ͅi̸̢̬̥͇̠͈̬̣̞̎̓͌͐̿̃͒̕̕͘͜ǭ̵̞̰͖̟̉ ̴̮̞͇̲̪̀̄͆͗̅̈̍̓ͅͅi̸̗̩͇͓͈̗͛̈́̔͂̾s̵͙̗̩̏͜ ̶̭̉͑̈́̈́̈̓́ṁ̴̧̯͓́̌̓̉ͅà̸͈͉̱̺̥͖̯͕̯ͅl̶̡͈̱̬̈́̐̓̐f̵̘̺̠̼̮̉͗͋͗̍̉̋̅ͅu̴̱̒̌ǹ̷̨͕͈͍͊̽̎̓̌̑̉̔͝ͅc̶̢̧̩̠͉̯͔̥͆t̴͇̘͎͙͔̝̘͚̳̋̈́̈́ͅi̴̢̲̱͚̬͓̇͋̎̃́͠ǫ̶̟̗̖͉̻̞͊̈n̸͇̆͛̚i̴͎̇̇̍̈́̇̉̕͜͝͠ņ̴̧̬̟̞̫̯͙͕̓͂̿̅̀͑͝g̷̥̞̻͇̎̆͛̊͊̔̌.̵̡̝̠̆̀̓͐̈́͋̂̒̂͝” The voice crackled slightly before returning. “𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧?”

“Um, yes.” Taranza’s hands shook. “Are you the OSO again?”

“𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙩. 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙣. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙮. 𝙉𝙤𝙬, 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙈𝙖𝙭 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙩 𝙃𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙨.”

Taranza recoiled in shock. “THAT’S HIS NAME?” He shook his head and composed himself. “Also, he’s been dead for years! His physical form no longer exists!”

“𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙤𝙣?”

Thinking the assumption that he was alive had something to do with their imprisonment, Taranza delivered his response completely deadpan. “He’s dead. He died. He passed away. His Quikipedia page says was instead of is. His whereabouts are only known by the butterfly of judgement.”

The question mark turned from gray to red. “𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙢 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚. 𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨.” A strange beeping sound emanated from the monitor. 

Taranza’s vision began to blur. He was aware of himself suddenly moving much faster than before, but he couldn’t tell where he was going or what he was doing. His vision melted into an abstract blob of jittering shapes. The beeping stopped, but his mind was still scrambled. He heard the door open, and a voice that was probably Kirby. “Heytaranzahowareyoudoingyoureyeslookkindablankareyouokay”

Taranza groaned out a weak “huh?” in response.

“Iwasgoingtotellyouthatifoundfranciscainroom1butidontknowifyoucanhearmerightnowsojuststaythereandwaitwhileigethelp”

He had no idea what the pink blob who was most likely Kirby was saying. He just nodded and felt his way to the couch. He closed his eyes as he tried to sort out what was happening to him.

When he opened his eyes again, he was staring at the cork tiles of the ceiling. He blinked a few times. He could see them as well as he usually could. “You okay?” He turned his head to see Magolor on the folding bed. “You seemed pretty out of it for about twenty minutes.” 

“Twenty?” Taranza asked incredulously. “That was nine minutes tops!”

Magolor pointed to the clock. “11:14. Time doesn’t lie. I got here at 10:53.”  He got off the bed and sat next to Taranza on the couch. He tenderly stroked his hair. “What happened?” 

“I don’t completely remember. I think I came into the room, and then there was something on the monitor, and then everything went blurry and Kirby came in and started talking really fast. I think I lay down on the couch and just waited for it to stop.”

Magolor grinned. “No, you planted your face on the couch while the rest of your body hung off the edge. I had to put you in a more comfortable position myself.” He hopped off the couch. “I imagine you missed that Kirby found Francisca?”

“Oh, that’s good…”

“I get it. You were more worried about Dedede. I am too. But still, anyone being accounted for is better than them not being accounted for, right?” 

Taranza got off the couch. “Let’s join the others. We still need to find Dedede, Daroach, and Elfilin.”

“Oh! About that, Francisca said she thought she heard Elfilin in room 1, even though he wasn’t there. Would you have any idea why?”

Taranza’s eyes narrowed. “As a matter of fact…” He entered room 3 and approached the bookcase. “I would.” He pulled the shelf aside and revealed the hidden compartment in the wall. 

Elfilin flew out, and then looked around in slight panic. “Thank goodness you two are here! I have had the WORST day!”

Chapter Text

Magolor indicated the closed door. “What happened to you?”

Elfilin shuddered. “I really don’t want to talk about it right now. I’m just really scared…” He flew over and perched on Taranza’s head. “Would you two mind not telling the others that you found me? If people see me, it might be bad.”

Taranza cast a sideways glance at Magolor. “I think we can do that.” I understand not wanting Dedede to know, but everyone else? 

Magolor looked down the hall. “You know, we can probably get to the living quarters if we hurry. Shall we go?”

On the way down the hallway, Taranza paused. “This is a bad idea.”

Elfilin shifted. “You’re right. If we get caught on the elevator, there’ll be nowhere to hide.” 

“Taranza, give me your cape.” After Taranza obliged, Magolor folded the cape into a baglike shape. “Okay, get in.”

Elfilin climbed into the makeshift bag. “Isn’t this going to look weird?”

“He can just say it was too warm. After all, he did just get out of an episode of brain malfunctioning.” 

-- -.-- / - ...- / -. --- / .-- --- .-. -.-

“In here.” He ducked into his own room, letting Taranza and Elfilin follow him. He closed the door behind him. “Ranz, do you remember anything?”

He hung his head. “No, sorry.”

Magolor met the resignation with a bright smile. “No need to apologize. It’s not your fault you forgot.”

Taranza nodded. “Okay, Elfilin, what are you afraid of?”

He sat on the desk. “I feel like you two are the only ones I can trust right now.”

Magolor stared at him, occasionally blinking. “And how did you arrive at that conclusion?”

“I don’t know who let me out of jail. I woke up to some weird quiz thing without seeing who let me out, and I had to answer a bunch of weird questions about you guys. I don’t want Dedede to know that I’m out because he doesn’t trust me, and I don’t want to tell Kirby, Bandee or Meta Knight because they’ll tell him. I’m not as worried about that with Francisca, but I definitely think she knows more than she lets on.”

Taranza brushed off his forehead. “What about Daroach?”

“Oh, you’re right. Where’s he?”

Magolor slumped. “We don’t know… yet. Taranza, let’s go check on the others. Elfilin, you can stay here if you want, or go to your own room if you don’t feel safe.” He exited the room, as Taranza followed.

Taranza let the door click shut behind him. “We should at least also let Kirby and Bandee know that he’s safe, right?”

Magolor shook his head. “I don’t see why we should do that. Especially since Elfilin just said he doesn’t want us to do that.”

“Fine. Let’s go. Should we start with the dining room?” After getting a nod in response, Taranza headed to the dining room.

The room was empty. Magolor slowly swiveled from left to right to  ensure that there really was no one around. It was like a camera in a first person game panning to show something scary behind the player. There was nothing like that, though. “Hey, come to think of it…” He entered the kitchen. “What’s the deal with this safe? Did we ever find out?”

Taranza nudged a plate away from the edge of the counter. “I saw it open, but someone had already emptied it. Big job, too. The inside is much bigger than it looks.”

He eyed the safe. “Is it really?”

“Goes into the wall. Back there, it opens up a lot. You could fit at least a dozen Dededes in there.”

Magolor wiped some dust off the top. “Interesting. What’s the code?”

“The code?”

“Well, yeah. You’ve seen the inside, so you’d know how to open it, right?”

Taranza shook his head. “I don’t. I don’t even know who opened it. My guess is the OSO, but I don’t know that for sure.”

Having nothing else to say to the safe, they headed for the elevator. Next stop: Floor A.

..-. .-.. .- ... .... -... .- -.-. -.- / .... --- ..- .-. …

On the day the kidnappings began, Adeleine stormed out of her room in Castle Dedede. “Marx keeps putting pictures of skeletons over the window while I’m trying to do landscape sketches!”

Magolor groaned. “I’ll go take care of it…” He got out of the chair he was eating in and left the castle. “Marx, we are halfway through June! Why are you putting skeletons everywhere?”

“But Maaaaaaag, it’s SPOOKY SEASON!”

While listening to the squabbling from outside, Meta Knight paused his eating. “They sound like they’re having fun.”

As he continued eating, a bloodcurdling “I’LL KILL YOU!” made its way into the room. A few seconds later, they entered, Magolor eating a picture of a skeleton. “We had fun.”

Bandee burst in from the back door, their head sporting no bandana. “Has anyone seen my bandana?”

“Oh!” Marx was running away quickly. It seemed he had taken it. 

Dedede lazily picked his head up. “You know, I don’t know why you’re so worried about it. Everyone still knows who you are without that old scrap of cloth.”

Their eyes lit up. “Really?”

Taranza smiled reassuringly. “Of course. It’s not about how you dress, we know you for you. And that’s what we see. …Although, you should still probably get that back soon. It’s striking.”

Elfilin returned from the kitchen with a plate of spaghetti and set it on the table. “Yeah! It’s more like a… a symbol! It may be more of an attention grabber, but you’re just as recognizable without it, okay?” He looked around at the rest of the table. They had all winced at what he said. “Did I say something wrong?”

The dee he was talking to squirmed awkwardly. “I really appreciate it, but I think you meant to say that to them.” She pointed at Bandee.

Bandee shuffled into the kitchen, looking at the floor the whole time.

Meta Knight got out of his chair. “I think I will head to the Halberd.”

Magolor was also getting out of his chair. “I gotta head back to the Lor, too. I need to finalize… something.” He winked. 

Taranza raised his hand. “Wait, Magolor. What about the game you got me? I thought we were going to start that tonight.”

“I should be done in about an hour. We can get in a call then.”

Marx came back into the castle, twirling a blue bandana on one of his claws. “Did someone order the drip?” He threw it at Bandee. 

Taranza carried his plate to the kitchen. “I think I’ll go back to my room.” As he went down the hall to his room, another door opened in front of him.

Ribbon was behind the door, looking concerned. “Hey, Taranza, I think there’s someone in your room. I heard the door opening a bit ago.”

“Hm?” Taranza nudged the door open. “There’s no one here. Must have just been your imagination.”

Meta Knight boarded the Halberd. Sailor Dee was standing in the lobby, hanging up his cell phone. “Hello, Sir Meta Knight! We’re doing some repairs down here, so you should probably go up a few floors to get away from the noise.”

“Very well.” He took the elevator up, and about an hour later, he sat down on the deck to eat the cake he’d brought.

.- -. -.. / - .... .- - / -.- .. -.. ... / .. ... / .... --- .-- / .. / -- . - / -.-- --- ..- .-. / -- --- - .... . .-.

When the doors opened, Taranza looked down the hallway. “Hmm. nothing in the hallway.”

“Well, of course. It’s a hallway.” Magolor opened the door to the music room. He checked all the instrument cases and everything, but there was no one inside. “Worth a shot.” He left and headed after Taranza towards the salon. 

As they approached the door, they heard voices from inside. Taranza opened the door to see four people crowding around Daroach. He immediately looked up and saw the other two enter. “Taranza. I heard you have my other list?”

“Uh, yeah.” Taranza moved forward and pulled the list out of his clothes. “You mean this?” He handed it to Daroach. “What is this?”

Meta Knight stomped over to them. “I don’t care about your damn list! We’re out of options here and I need to know where Dedede is!”

Daroach froze, then grabbed the front of his hat and pulled it down slightly. “I’m afraid I have bad news.” He turned his head to look away from the others. “You won’t be seeing him again anytime soon.”

Magolor flinched. “Does this have something to do with that quiz thing tha- mmf!” He was cut off by Taranza clamping a hand over his mouth.

Daroach looked at him in confusion. “Yeah, how’d you know?” His eyes narrowed. “Are you ‘Blue’?”

“Yes. Yes I am. Hold on, follow me.” Magolor hastily ducked out of the salon, heading for the elevator. Daroach quickly followed behind him, and Taranza left as well, not wanting to be alone with the other four. They were left in the salon, stunned into silence.

They were still stunned when the three that had left came back. Magolor entered the room, sat down in one of the chairs, and promptly started talking. “So, to summarize, we’ve lost twelve people. We have no idea where Elfilin is, we have only vague clues that point to the identity of the OSO, we don’t know why we’re here, we don’t know how to escape, and, as far as we’re aware, we have nowhere else to go. So, the question is, what next? What do we do?”

Taranza considered the question. What do I want to do? …No, what needs to be done? For everyone’s sake. “I vote we do nothing.”

“Huh?” Francisca tilted her head.

“Think about it! The reason why everyone was taken away was because they were doing something. Susie was divulging information the OSO didn’t want us to hear. Coo and Gooey were going places they weren’t meant to be. Ribbon was tearing a hole in the ceiling that led somewhere no one was ever supposed to see. If we all just stop, nothing more should happen! No more disappearances!” As ridiculous as the idea sounded at first, everyone had to admit that the logic held.

.-.. ..- .. --. .. / -- --- -.. .

“Hey, Elfilin.” Magolor led Taranza and Daroach into the room.

“So, what’s the plan?” He flailed around in anticipation.

Daroach sat on a chair. “We’re gonna do nothing and see how that plays out. No investigating or trying to cheat the system, we will simply exist.”

“But what about me? Aren’t they going to notice that I’m here sooner or later?” Elfilin shuddered.

The fear seemed to confuse Taranza. “Is it really that big of a problem? Dedede’s not around anymore.”

“Yeah it is! Because, ummm… Meta Knight will think it’s really suspicious!”

“That’s true.” Magolor sat on the bed. “He’s in a state of shock right now, and he’ll latch on to whatever clue he can find to cope.” He patted Elfilin on the head. “Regardless, no one’s gonna find you as long as we’re careful. …That sounds really bad out of context.”

Taranza nodded. “Yeah. We can bring you food and everything. I imagine you would rather not be alone all the time, so we thought you’d just stay in this room until things get cleared up.”

Elfilin started bouncing out of happiness. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” He flew over Taranza and gave him as much of a hug as he could manage with his tiny hands.

- .. -- . / .-.. .- .--. ... .

“You know, Magolor,” Daroach tapped him on the back. “I heard Dedede and Taranza bring it up before. Some disorder called prosopagoda or something? Dedede doesn’t think it’s real.”

“Oh, prosopagnosia? It’s real, all right. It’s a disorder that prevents you from differentiating between faces. Like, imagine if there was someone who looked similar to you but with a different face. If I had prosopagnosia, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”

Elfilin was sitting forlornly on Magolor’s bed. Taranza sat next to him. “What’s wrong?” 

“I wish I could remember.” Elfilin slumped over on his side. “You remember what I used to be, right?”

“Yeah, of course.” Taranza sipped his tea. “The ultimate life form, right? Fecto Elfilis?”

“Yeah. I probably made so many memories back then, but when we split in half, I lost most of my memories from when I was Elfilis. And I feel like I lost something else, but I don’t know what.” 

“Maybe it’s better that you forgot, you know?” Taranza placed the mug on the nightstand. “I mean, everything I’ve heard about Fecto Elfilis was that it wreaked havoc and was probably put through harsh experimentation. If you remembered being like that, I don’t think you’d be like yourself.”

.. - ... / -... . . -. / ... . ...- . -. - . . -. / -.. .- -.-- …

“Hey, what’s the matter? We did it, right? We got where we needed to be, right? A whole week of nothing happening. This is what it was meant to be all along.”

“What’s the point?”

“Hm?”

“What are we doing? What are we doing, exactly? Because it seems to me that what we’ve accomplished is a way to wait until we die. We haven’t saved anyone. You haven’t saved anyone. What about everyone in cold sleep, huh? Are we ever going to wake them up? If not, we’ve killed them. They may still technically be alive, but they’re not really alive if they’ll never be able to wake up again. What’s the point of this plan? We’re beyond the point of no return. Even if things never failed, what would the point be? Do you think this is fair? Do you think it’s okay that only we would be ‘saved’?”

“Look, I understand your concern, but there’s really nothing else we can do…”

“...I see. Then I’m afraid this is where our collaboration ends. Goodnight… chief.”

“What do you mean by-”

They were cut off by a closed fist slamming into their face. Vision blurry, they could only see the face of their former collaborator as the glass closed on their head. “I’ll fix it. I’ll save everyone. For real.”

Chapter Text

Elfilin awoke, snuggled into Taranza’s scarf. There was light peering in from the hallway. The door was open. He looked up at the door to see Magolor looking in with a serious expression. Daroach was sprawled out in the chair, snoring loudly. Magolor approached the bed, giving Elfilin a nod in acknowledgement. He placed his hands on Taranza and shook him gently. “Hey… wake up.” Taranza jolted slightly. He did the same for Daroach. “Get up. We have places to go.”

Taranza rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock. “It’s four in the morning. Why do we need to be up so early?”

“We have somewhere to go. Immediately.” He helped Daroach out of the chair. “It’s important.”

Daroach picked his head up off the floor. “Where?”

Magolor flicked the lights on. “The last floor.”

Elfilin shook. “Am I going, too?”

“We can stop for breakfast first, but yes. I’m sick of this. We’re going to get out of here, one way or another. If you feel like bailing, do it now.” With those words, Magolor left for the dining room.

Taranza looked at Daroach, then Elfilin, then Daroach again, then Elfilin again, then back to Daroach. “What do we do?”

Elfilin peeked his head out the door. “I guess… we follow him. I’m kind of scared, though… Doesn’t this go against the whole ‘do nothing’ thing we’ve been doing for the last week?”

Daroach ground his teeth. “If he’s gonna go do something stupid, it’s my job to stop him.” He walked out, still trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes. 

“I guess… I’ll go too.” Taranza made his way to the door, followed shortly by Elfilin.

--. --- .. -. --. / - --- / -... .-. .- --.. .. .-..

“You’re all here. I’m glad.” Magolor gave them a wide smile, his hands clasped together. “There are scrambled eggs in the kitchen. I had them prepared right before I woke you all up. Don’t be modest now, it’s my special recipe.” They each had their share of eggs. They were pretty good.

“So, you said we were going to the last floor, right? You mean D?”

“As a matter of fact, I do not.” Magolor carried the plates to the kitchen. “Follow me.”

Taranza waited for Daroach and Elfilin to catch up to him, then tapped the button to get on the elevator. Magolor pointed to the control panel. “There it is. The final floor.”

Daroach followed his gesture to where he was pointing. “O?” He asked incredulously. “Like the SO?”

“Presumably. All aboard!” After the doors closed, Magolor pressed the button.

Despite the button being above A, the elevator actually started moving down. Daroach recoiled, startled by the unexpected movement. “How did you find out this was unlocked?”

Magolor waved his hand dismissively. “I was just, y’know… wandering around. Nothing in mind, really.”

The response struck the three of them as strange, but they didn’t really have anything to say to it. They simply waited for the elevator to stop.

They waited. Daroach started tapping his foot impatiently.

They waited. Elfilin fidgeted with the unresponsive control panel.

They waited. Taranza looked around nervously.

They waited. Magolor scratched his head in confusion.

They waited. 

They waited.

They waited.

They waited.

“HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO TAKE?” Magolor yelled at the wall.

Finally, the doors opened. What lay on the other side was a cavernous area, with dark grey bricks lining the walls and floors. It was much more spacious than the rest of the building, but it seemed to be mostly empty. There were staircases that led up and down, with no real rhyme or reason to where they were going. Despite how enormous the room was, it was clearly finite. This was not the way out. Despite that, they still searched. 

Daroach ducked in between two staircases going in opposite directions and found a single brick that was painted bright red. He pulled it out of the wall and saw a keyboard and a prompt. The prompt simply said, “4:00.” Daroach typed into the small keyboard, “K-I-R-B-Y”. The wall promptly opened. “Hey guys! I found something!”

It took a few minutes for the other three to arrive. “What is it?” Magolor peered into the opening. “Hey, this is kinda familiar. Reminds me of-”

“That’s a really long story, Magolor. Maybe now’s not the best time?” Taranza entered and picked up the lone book that lay inside. “It says it’s the OSO’s journal, started before the rest of us woke up.”

“Well, open that thing up! I want to know what’s in there!” Elfilin jumped around excitedly.

Taranza opened to the first page and began to read.

OSO Journal: Day 1

Let it be known that this journal was written without the knowledge or permission of The One Outside. I assisted them in the capture and imprisonment of the Star Allies, They do not physically exist within this building, but they are watching. Everywhere except for the living quarters, floor O, and the bathroom stalls. They were the one who approached me with this scenario, and gave me the title of the On Site Operator. For convenience’s sake, they call me the OSO. I’m supposed to separate any of the Star Allies from the rest of the group if they step out of line or see something they shouldn’t. Once they’re separated, I will put them into cold sleep to be awoken once The One Outside accomplishes what they’ve set out to do. Well, hopefully I won’t need to, but the Star Allies are known for defying expectations. Perhaps it’d be more optimistic to expect the expected and nothing more, but I truthfully cannot tell right from wrong at the moment. They’re set to start waking up tomorrow. 

Day 2

Things are already going horrendously wrong. Zan Partizanne found an entrance to the secret room on floor H, and after I disposed of her, several others came in to find her. There were too many to handle at once, so I momentarily incapacitated them to scare them off. After doing so, I noticed that one of them had stolen a sheet of instructions from me, but Elfilin woke up before I could check all of them. I’ll have to find the thief later.

Day 3

It’s just getting worse. The thief ended up divulging everything to everyone. I had to dispose of Kine and Marx because they caught me without my disguise in the storage room. After which, I just unlocked floor J, hoping it would buy me time, but I stupidly forgot to remove the chainsaw from the toolshed and now Ribbon’s gone, too! All of that, plus the video I was told to deliver to Dark Meta Knight, led to Susie nearly getting MURDERED in the garden! I may not be cut out for this. Some are already seeming to get worn out from the stress. I truly hope they’ll be okay.

Day 4

Caught again. Adeleine gone. I temporarily thawed Marx out of cold sleep to tend to his injuries, but the heart monitoring equipment was accidentally linked to a monitor in the floor E hospital. Accidentally unlocked floor A too early and had to dispose of Coo and Gooey.

Day 5

Largely uneventful, Flamberge gone. 

Day 6

Terrible awful start to the day. Had to form a new plan. We’ll see how it goes.

Day 7

Taranza is severely unwell from the events of day 6. I hope he gets better soon.

Day 8

We had to come up with an impromptu plan to extract Susie, on the orders of The One Outside. It’s pointless to speculate why. 

Day 9

Things seem to be going fairly well now. There were no problems with floor B,

Day 10

Clearly, there’s something obviously wrong with the floor G revelation. However, I’ve been told that it would be “taken care of” so I will leave it at that. I got into a dicey situation in the garden and was told that I should be more careful in the future.

Day 11

All of the main floors have been unveiled. However, there are still two threats to the security of the plan. We will eliminate one of them.

Day 12

We may have finally reached a standstill. I hope for good news tomorrow as well.

Day 13

No news. But as they say, no news is good news. 

Day 14

Same as above.

Day 15

Same as above.

Day 16

Same as above.

Day 17

Same as above.

“The rest of it’s blank.” Taranza closed the book. “So. What are we thinking?”

Magolor was the first to respond. “Why does it change from ‘I’ to ‘We’ on day 8?”

Elfilin considered that for a moment. “Did someone else show up?”

“Sounds like it could be a possibility.” Magolor stared at the cover. “Also, I guess we know what OSO stands for now. And that there are at least two people involved in this plan, whatever it is.”

Daroach picked up the book and flipped through the pages again. “There’s a missing day. There should be eighteen days in this journal.”

Taranza looked at him, puzzled. “But we’ve only been here for seventeen days.”

“We woke up on what the journal considers day two. And following the timeline, it means that the OSO didn’t write an entry last night. Don’t you think that’s weird?”

“Did something happen to them?” Magolor cocked his head.

“We should… keep looking…” Elfilin backed away.

“Agreed.” Taranza led the other two out of the opening.

After searching for another few minutes, Elfilin stumbled across a yellow brick. He pulled it out of the wall to find a prompt that said “11:00” and a keyboard. Since the one who was kidnapped at 11:00 was Taranza, he typed in Taranza’s name. The wall opened, showing a table inside, on it lay a single key. He picked it up and closely examined it. The handle said “CAS”. Elfilin backed out of the small room. “Hey! Guys! I found something!” The others rushed over. 

Magolor immediately grabbed the key and examined it. “I don’t know what that means.”

“Gimme that.” Daroach snatched it out of his hands. “Hey, Taranza, does this look familiar?”

“CAS, CAS… The cold storage room!” He snapped his fingers. 

“Right, that!”

Elfilin tilted his head. “The what?”

Magolor instinctively wrapped his cape around himself. “It’s a room on floor D. I’d rather not go back there if I can avoid it. Before we try, we should look around a bit more.”

Despite all the looking they did, it seemed there was nothing left to find. They piled back into the elevator, and Elfilin hit the D button. While the cold storage room permeated the thoughts of the four in the elevator, Magolor started shivering in slightly panicked anticipation. Daroach hugged him from behind to try calming him down. Taranza fidgeted impatiently while waiting for the elevator to open. Several minutes later, the doors slid open. Once they approached the door, Magolor tightened his grip on his cape. Inside, Daroach briskly tiptoed over to the button on the wall, and they all descended the staircase. With every step of the stairs, Magolor grew closer to Taranza, as they were both shivering and wanted nothing more than to warm up. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, Daroach pulled out the key and unlocked the door. It opened with a creak.

The room was dark. They could barely make out the light switch from the light that emanated from a few monitors. There was a corkboard at the end of the room in front of a door that was also locked. The CAS key didn’t open the door. The corkboard showed the progress in an investigation the OSO was doing. There was a diagram of the living quarters coupled with a note that said “No cameras”, as well as a picture of the safe in the kitchen that said “extremely durable” and “What the FUCK is the code????” 

The room was essentially a long hallway lined with pods of some kind. Ten on each side, making for a total of twenty. Thirteen monitors were on. Daroach scratched his head. “What do these mean?” 

Magolor, still shivering, stared at one of the monitors. “Cold sleep: Zan Partizanne. Status: Stable. Then there’s a defrost button. Should I push it?”

“Wait wait wait.” Taranza stumbled over one of the other pods on the way there. “These are the pods that are holding the people we’ve lost so far, right? So why are thirteen of them on? It should only be twelve.”

Magolor backed off, recounted the pods, and shook his head. “You’re right. There’s someone else who’s in one of these pods.” He scanned each of the monitors. “Marx, Kine, Ribbon… Rick, Dedede, ‘Identification in progress’. What does that mean?”

Elfilin flew up to the pod and tried to see through the frosted over pod cover. “Who’s in there?”

Magolor looked the pod over from top to bottom. “Looks like the only way to find out… is to defrost them.” He hesitantly tapped the button.

ᴅᴇꜰʀᴏꜱᴛɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴘʀᴏɢʀᴇꜱꜱ. ᴇꜱᴛɪᴍᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ɪꜱ 20 ᴍɪɴᴜᴛᴇꜱ.

Daroach looked around at the other pods. “Hey, while we’re at it, we can defrost the others, right? Then they’ll be back, right?”

Taranza excitedly began hitting the defrost button on all the other pods. “Makes sense to me!” 

Elfilin was nearly ecstatic as they watched the timers tick down on the monitors. “This really means they’re okay, right? They’ll really be back, right? We’ll be able to see them all again?”

“I think so.” Seemingly thinking it too good to be true, Magolor nestled himself into Taranza’s clothes.

The timers kept ticking down. Fifteen minutes, then ten, then nine, eight, seven, six… the text on one of the monitors turned red.

ᴅᴇꜰʀᴏꜱᴛɪɴɢ ᴘʀᴏᴄᴇꜱꜱ ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʟʟᴇᴅ. ᴄᴏʟᴅ ꜱʟᴇᴇᴘ ʀᴇɪɴɪᴛɪᴀʟɪᴢᴇᴅ.

“Huh?” Elfilin flew over to the monitor. “Who cancelled it?” A similar message displayed on the next monitor. Then two more. Within seconds, it had spread across all but one of the monitors. “WHAT?” The original monitor was still defrosting. Five minutes remained.

That was when the beeping began.

Taranza faintly recalled having heard it before. He blinked, and his vision warped and blurred. Beside him, he heard Daroach’s voice. “Whoa… Anyone else feel really dizzy all of a sudden?”

“Yeah…” Elfilin tried to fly back to them, but his movements were staggered.

Magolor’s ears folded downward. It seemed like the timer had sped up. “The OSO… That’s who’s in there… But we can’t do anything like this…” The timer passed three minutes. They were running out. “We have to run…” He grabbed Elfilin and one of Taranza’s hands and led them to the door they’d entered through. Two and a half minutes. He opened it and closed it again once they’d all gotten out. Daroach locked the door. 

Teeth chattering in the bitterly sold stairwell, they ascended. Up and up and up and up. Despite the monitor being far away, The beeping was just as loud. As if the walls, floor and ceiling were filled with an intangibly powerful malice. Tears began to roll down Magolor’s face. “That wasn’t supposed to happen, why, why, why, why, I just wanted to help…” There might have been a deeper meaning to it, or it was simply the freezing air coupled with the incessantly loud beeping that seemed to grow more grating with every second. Eventually, they reached the top. They rushed out of the cold storage room.

Daroach groaned. “No cameras… In the living quarters…” 

“Right… Let’s go…” Taranza led them to the elevator, lamenting on how similar this felt to when Magolor was struck by the axe. The beeping continued, each individual sound like a nail being pounded into their skulls. 

They couldn’t gauge the distance between them and the elevator. With how scrambled their minds were getting, every time they seemed to get closer, it felt like they also got farther away. Were they moving as quickly as they thought? Were they moving backwards instead of forwards? Were they even moving at all? 

Daroach finally got to the elevator, scrambling for the button. The elevator doors opened, and they hurried on, the auditory and visual overstimulation rendering them little more than sentient puddles. The doors opened on floor C faster than expected and they tried to get to the living quarters as fast as possible. Magolor got there first, but misjudged the distance and caught a doorknob in the abdomen. Taranza picked him up off the floor and opened the door. 

The beeping grew significantly quieter once they entered the living quarters. Magolor’s room, being the closest, was the one they went to. It still felt like it took a long time to get there, though. Inside, the beeping faded almost entirely. However, the warped vision and perception of time continued. They huddled together, just trying to warm up. Before long, their senses returned to normal. Taranza looked around at the other three, and a relieved smile broke out across his face. “We’re okay… We’re okay!”

At that moment, the quiet beeping drastically increased in volume. “Oh no…” Magolor let out that groan and dragged himself over to the bed. “We need to hide.” As they all crawled under the bed, they heard a slam on the door. Then another slam. After that… The door burst open. From under the comforter that hung off the edge of the bed, Taranza saw that familiar white cloth.

Daroach clambered out of the other side and faced the OSO directly. “I see you found me. Congrats.”

The response was faster than Taranza thought it’d be. Probably because of the warped perception of time. “Ａｎｄｔｈｅｏｔｈｅｒｓ？”

“They’re not here. Now, I’ll tell you what’s going on, and you can choose to believe me or not. Yeah, we went down to the secret floor. All we found there was the key to that cold sleep room, but you probably saw for yourself that we weren’t really able to do anything in there, right? I have the key right here. If you want it back, I’ll hand it over.”

The OSO spoke like their patience was being worn very thin. “Ｄｏｙｏｕｈｏｎｅｓｔｌｙｔｈｉｎｋｉ＇ｌｌｂｅｌｉｅｖｅｔｈａｔ？”

Daroach stuck his hands out to the side, causing his cape to flare up. “Worth a shot. Well, if you want to get to my friends…” He extended his claws. “You’ll have to get through me.”

The OSO promptly pulled out the sleep dart gun and shot him in the torso. The beeping emanating from the cloth grew even louder. Daroach went down in a heap. The OSO approached the bed. The three beneath it braced for what was about to happen… “It won’t be that easy.” Across the room, Daroach stood up. 

“Ｗｈａｔ？” The OSO recoiled. 

“I’ll stop you…” Daroach pulled the dart out of himself and threw it away. He lunged forward and struck them with his claws. He tore a few gashes in the cloth.

“Ｇｈ．．．！” They aimed the gun again and fired it into Daroach. Then they fired again. And once more for good measure. 

“You… fucking… BASTARD!” He grabbed them and wrestled them to the floor. “I’ll tear this thing to shreds with you inside!”

At that moment, they flipped Daroach over, pinning him to the floor. “Ｉｈａｖｅｍｏｒｅｄａｒｔｓｔｈａｎｙｏｕｈａｖｅｈａｉｒｏｎｙｏｕｒｂｏｄｙｍｏｔｈｅｒｆｕｃｋｅｒ.”

Elfilin, who was watching, had now passed out from fright. Daroach had summoned monumental strength to fight through the anesthetic and the mind-scrambling effects of the beeping, but he was slowing down now. Clearly, this wasn’t a battle he would win. Taranza couldn’t stand to watch anymore. “I’m gonna help him.”

“Wait.” Magolor grabbed the back of his scarf. “Can you just give me one thing first?”

“Uh, sure. What is-” He was cut off by Magolor hugging him tightly. In that fleeting moment of comfort, he didn’t notice the cold metal pressing into his back. Then, a click. He felt a dull, numbing pain in his back. “Wha…?”

Magolor ruffled for a moment, then withdrew. He had tears in his eyes, and he was holding an identical sleep gun to the OSO. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so, so, so, sorry, Taranza.” He climbed out from under the bed, joining the battle and leaving Taranza under the bed with his consciousness fading. He strained to try and get a better look, but Daroach managed to throw the OSO out through the door, and the battle shifted out there. Right before the door closed, Magolor tripped the bonus lock to stop the door from closing all the way. All Taranza could do was lie there and stare at the door as his consciousness faded.

Chapter Text

“Hey! I think he’s waking up!” Kirby called from the foot of the bed. 

Taranza was indeed doing just that. He looked around the room and saw Meta Knight, Francisca, Kirby, and Bandee. They were all staring at him, concerned. Or, that’s how it looked at least. At least one of you is feigning that. “Uh, good morning.”

Meta Knight cut right to the heart of the matter. “Did he do something to you? Is that why you were unconscious?”

“Who?”

“I am referring to Elfilin. He was next to you.” Meta Knights pulled one of his hands out of his cape. “Did he do anything to you like he did to King Dedede?”

“Huh? Oh no. Of course not. Where is he? And for that matter, where are Magolor and Daroach?”

Bandee nodded in the direction of the door. “Elfilin’s in Meta Knight’s room. As for Magolor and Daroach…” They trailed off

Francisca patted them on the back. “I believe Kirby would be able to explain it better than the rest of us.”

Kirby’s face fell. “Um, yeah. I woke up at about quarter after six because of some beeping that was happening out in this hallway. It made my head get all fuzzy, but when I tried to check it out, I saw something white dragging Daroach and Magolor into the warehouse. I tried to follow them, but they were gone…” After seeing Taranza’s reaction, Kirby climbed on the bed and hugged him. He looked like he needed it. For reasons he wasn’t sure of, Taranza pushed him off.

Taranza simply shook his head. “I’m sorry, but can you all please leave? I’d like some time to myself to get my thoughts in order.”

Outside in the hallway, Meta Knight stopped cold. “If Taranza is telling the truth, that means Elfilin is not the OSO.”

The other three stared. Bandee stretched. “Yeah? Does that mean something?”

“Well, if he isn’t and Taranza isn’t, that means one of the four of us-”

Francisca cut him off. “I don’t think we need to be worrying about that.”

In response, she was met with a glare, suspicion, and discomfort.

.-- .... .- - / .-- .- ... / ... .... . / -.-. --- --- -.- .. -. --.

Thoughts of what happened before he was knocked out circled his head. He should have known. Maybe, deep down, he did know. There was something off about Magolor. There had been for a while. That paper was probably something after all. But… Even now, something didn’t fit. Even if there was definitely something wrong looking back, it didn’t feel like it was malicious in nature. Even as he was leaving him behind after shooting him, Magolor was apologizing. His face portrayed guilt, sadness, but nothing that resembled malice. 

Actually, speaking of the paper, what was this thing tucked in his clothes? He reached in and pulled out an envelope. The front of the envelope simply said “I’m sorry.” He opened it and pulled out the contents. It was several sheets of paper, covered in what was unmistakably Magolor’s handwriting.

Taranza, Elfilin, Daroach, if one or more of you is reading this , things haven’t gone well. If this is being read by people who are not any of the three I just listed, things went even worse. Ideally, this won’t ever be read by everyone. Regardless of who gets this message, if any, I will detail the events of the last several days from my perspective. 

No, I’m not the OSO. No, I don’t know why this is happening. However, I do know the identity of the OSO, as well as a vague understanding of their motive. I cannot say who they are. If The One Outside finds out I’ve been leaking information that was confided to me, I’d likely be killed on the spot. Everything in this letter is about me and me only. If that gets you answers, I wish you luck.

In room 3 of the NEWS rooms (the four rooms at the end of the hallway on floor F), I was investigating while Taranza was in the other room, and that was when the OSO entered from the wall. I backed away in fright, and they said something about how I’ve made a mistake that needs to be atoned for. They were wearing a white cloth. I spun around to flee, but accidentally knocked over a lamp, which distracted me long enough to not notice that I was flying sideways into the blade of an axe.

Seeing that, and hearing how loudly I screamed, the OSO panicked and retreated, and about a minute later, Taranza broke down the door and found me. I honestly thought I was going to die, but he refused to give up. He carried me to the elevator, despite the OSO now chasing us. I tried my best to reassure him that the situation wasn’t his fault on the way up, but I don’t know if he took that to heart. 

We got to the hospital and while Taranza was searching for medical supplies to help with the bleeding, my body was going numb. I couldn’t feel my hands, my vision was blurry, and the OSO ended up grabbing me. The last thing I remember saying to Taranza before I passed out was “I’m sorry.”

I ended up waking up again about twelve hours later. I was on a different hospital bed in a dark room. I couldn’t move, but I had feeling in my body again. Despite that, the unfamiliarity, darkness, and the fact that I couldn’t move made the situation extremely terrifying. My wound was stitched up, but I wasn’t wearing clothes. It was cold. I lay there, trying to shiver but not being able to, for an hour and a half.

Then the OSO came in. Unmasked. They were shocked to see that I was awake, and were likely about to do something to put me back to sleep. I immediately tried to beg and plead to get away. I remember the conversation between me and them very well.

“Wait! Please, don’t hurt me! Please!”

“I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just putting you back to sleep.” They spoke with much more calculated composure than I would have expected.

“Am I going to wake up?” By this point, I was really trying to play up the ‘frightened child’ act, although it mostly wasn’t an act. I was genuinely that scared, I just went out of my way to show it more then.

They faltered. “Uh, yes.”

That was my chance. “I can’t believe that! Please, let me go! Please! I just want to see Taranza again!”

“Listen-”

“HELP! SOMEONE, PLEASE! SAVE ME!” I didn’t expect anyone to show up, of course, but if I begged hard enough, maybe they’d throw me a bone. I wasn’t about to stop here, of course.

“Magolor-”

“What do you want from me? What did I do to deserve this?” I continued babbling like that until I was sure they would no longer try to interrupt me. “Wait. Are you… Really going to listen?”

“You seem cold. Would you like clean clothes that are no longer covered in blood, some soup, and a heavier blanket?” I nodded quickly and earnestly. 

They came back a while later with a tray that had a bowl on it, stacked on a folded duvet. They set the tray down on a table and tucked me into the covers. I warmed up from that, and then tried to get the soup from the table. I couldn’t get through the restraints, though. “Before that…” They approached the bed. “If you want to not make this as uncomfortable as possible, I recommend you close your eyes.” I did just that. What followed was a clever, yet still incredibly awkward moment of them putting my clothes back on without letting me go free of the restraints. I’d go into details as I have with the rest of this letter, but I would love nothing more than to forget the finer details of that.

“Now, I can’t let you move freely, but if you want that soup, I’ll feed it to you.” I was really hungry, so I accepted. I thanked them when it was empty. “Okay. Have you calmed down?”

“Yes.” I wasn’t actually calm at all. 

“Then I have a proposition for you.”

“I feel like you could’ve said that earlier.”

The OSO then went on to explain who they were and what they were doing. They didn’t explain it very well, so I’ll paraphrase.

The OSO was recruited by The One Outside to help kidnap and sequester the Star Allies in a secluded place in the far reaches of the cosmos. They said something about it being an act of generosity, but refused to elaborate on what that meant. The offer I was given was that I would be granted my freedom, as well as a degree of control over what happens in the building. If I were to accept, I would assist the OSO in running things, while being able to protect the people I care about.

“Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll help you.” I tried to reach for a handshake, but the restraints on the bed kept me from moving my hands. 

“Good choice. Ah, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for me to let you out. Don’t want you sneaking around at night and doing things you shouldn’t. Remember, I need sleep, too.”

I really had nothing left to do then other than to try to go to sleep and hope I woke up.

The next morning, the OSO showed me a peculiar video. I don’t know how it was filmed, but it showed that there was absolutely something stopping me from backing out. Namely, the Lor Starcutter. There was an explosive stuck to her hull. They promised me that if I ever turned on them, they’d press a big red button on one of the various control panels in the room and blast her to smithereens. I had actually planned to betray them, but that no longer seemed to be an option. The Lor is too important to me to not have gone along with the plan.

So I did it. I appeared as the OSO and told Elfilin about Taranza’s condition the day after I was brought in. 

I came into Taranza’s room while he was hallucinating and played into his delusions while trying to lead him away from them. I was wearing the OSO getup at the time, but he was still correct about it being me. 

I assisted in removing Susie from the interrogation room, at the orders of The One Outside. 

I fabricated evidence to plant in room 3, namely a piece of shrapnel that I embedded in the leg of the couch, as well as some matches to burn the area around it a little bit. 

I brought Taranza to the black room on floor G while he slept, gave him a pep talk in what he thought was just a dream, and then put him back to sleep and delivered him to the hospital.

I stopped Taranza from unveiling the OSO and then sent him away.

I took them out of the mech they piloted, and then drugged Ellfilin and put him in. In order to complete the scene, I grabbed a trowel in one hand, used the other to give Elfilin a sleep dart gun, and then angled it properly to shoot myself with it. 

I lied about seeing the fountain patio in a dream to make it seem like there was more going on with that than just Taranza.

I regularly had to go meet up with the OSO in the middle of the night, so I would slip away from Taranza and replace myself with a pillow. Amazingly, he never noticed.

I was the one who crafted and executed the quiz between Daroach, Elfilin, and Dedede. I was made to choose one to get rid of, but I couldn’t actually decide, so I left it up to a game. Seemed Daroach knew me well enough to acknowledge that this approach is exactly my style, because he ranked me in the top 5 on the list.

After a week of nothing happening, I realized that the situation would never get better, so I took up a formal complaint with the OSO. They declined, so I punched them unconscious and put them in cold sleep. I then activated the final floor on the elevator. I don’t know what’s down there. 

I’m finalizing this in the cold sleep room. I hope that this will be what lets us all get out of here, but if something goes wrong, I want everyone to know the truth as far as I can tell it.

-Magolor

Taranza put the letter back in the envelope. He put the envelope in his lap and stared at the ceiling. It was a lot of information to process. He kept staring at the ceiling. He stared for so long that the tiles all started to blur together. He went limp in the bed, falling sideways. His eyes landed on something behind the nightstand. He pulled it out and saw that it was the OSO’s journal. I guess he snuck that in here for us.  

Taranza put the journal and the envelope in the drawer, then got out of bed. He headed for the elevator, then boarded. He hit the O button, which elicited nothing from the elevator. He just got off and went back to the living quarters.

On the way, he ran into Kirby. He looked a little upset. “Hello. Are you alright?”

“Things got really uncomfortable with the others… I just want to see Elfilin right now. Where has he been?”

I can’t tell him that Elfilin doesn’t trust him. Taranza gave him his best attempt at a smile. “I’ll try to get Meta Knight to open the door.”

Elfilin came out of Meta Knight’s room. “What about me?”

Kirby ran over to him. “I missed you so much!” 

Elfilin nearly started crying, but before it continued, Taranza opened the door to his own room. “Let’s continue this in here.”

Elfilin went on to explain that he didn’t want to reveal himself because he was scared of being suspected. Kirby seemed to understand, but was still sad.

Taranza left and went back to Magolor’s room. He didn’t bother undoing the manual lock, so anyone could come in if they wanted to. He pulled an old photo of Sectonia out of his clothes and stared at it for a few minutes. He heard Elfilin’s voice from right next to his head. “Why are you looking at a picture of yourself?”

He was so startled, he dropped the photo. “How long have you been here?”

“A few minutes.”  He looked at the photo again. “Did your horns get shorter?”

“This isn’t me.” He pocketed the photo. We don’t look that similar, why didn’t he notice that? “I was just… thinking about her.”

After Taranza brought back food for Kirby and Elfilin, the three of them went down to the rec room to try and get them all to cheer up. It was strange. Despite how upset Taranza should have been, he was more… determined. Resolute. They had an early dinner to avoid conflict, and then went back to the rec room. By the end of the day, Elfilin had become surprisingly good at pool. They all went into Magolor’s room together, and Taranza tripped the lock, letting the door close. Kirby and Elfilin had already fallen asleep on one side of the bed. Taranza climbed into the other side, and reflected. His mind was clear and focused. 

Tomorrow, this would come to an end.

Chapter Text

Kirby woke up alone. There were two others with him the previous night, and now there was no one. Wasting no time, he got up and headed for the dining room. He saw the other five  people there, eating in silence. The tension was so thick he could practically hear the knife in Meta Knight’s hand cutting it. He ate, and was about to leave, but the atmosphere didn’t seem to let him.

Taranza scanned the room, looking each of the others directly in the eyes. “Well then. I believe it’s time. Time to bring it to an end. Let’s pin it down, right here, right now. Who is the OSO?”

Bandee leaned back in their chair. “And how exactly are we supposed to do that?”

The answer to that question came from somewhere no one really expected. Francisca. “Then, I suppose I’ll start. I’ve spent pretty much this entire time trying to figure it out and I believe I’ve reached an answer. When Elfilin was in jail, I asked him a few questions, and the answers to that are what led me to this conclusion. You see…” The room was flooded with smoke. When it cleared, she was gone.

Kirby’s pupils shrank. “I think this may not have been a good idea…”

“That just proves that it is.” Taranza got out of his chair. “Everyone follow me. We’ll make this much easier.” They all left and went to Taranza’s bedroom. “Now, block the door. We’ll use the bed and the desk.” They all obliged. “With that, we’ve ensured that there will be no interruptions until we’re done. Now, I have three pieces of information to present. Number one: The OSO is absolutely one of the six people who went to the dining room today.”

Meta Knight stood on top of the desk. “And how could you possibly know that?”

“Oh, that’s simple. The night before last, I went with Magolor, Daroach, and Elfilin to several secret locations that only the OSO should be allowed to access. We started by going to the secret final floor, where we found a key to that hidden door down the stairs in the cold storage room. Inside we found cold sleep pods for the twelve people who had vanished, and a thirteenth with a person who had yet to be identified. It turned out to be the OSO. At that time, sixteen of us were accounted for. The only ones who weren’t… were you three. Meta Knight, Kirby, and Bandee, as well as Francisca.”

Kirby looked at the other two nervously. Meta Knight kept complete composure as he asked his next question. “You said there were three pieces of information. What are the other two?”

Taranza nodded, then pulled two things out of his cape. One was an envelope, the other a book. “These. One was written by the OSO, the other by Magolor. I’ll start with the one the OSO wrote.” He read the entire journal from start to finish. “Any questions?”

Bandee grabbed the journal and skimmed through it. “Hey! This proves that it’s not Kirby!”

Elfilin’s reaction was strangely deadpan. “Oh, does it?”

They didn’t even notice. “Yeah! This definitely isn’t Kirby’s handwriting, which means that whoever wrote this- it’s typed. Never mind.”

Meta Knight was undeterred. “And the envelope?”

“Right.” Taranza read the envelope out loud, paraphrasing parts of it to make it go faster. He omitted some things, like the name of the NEWS rooms and parts of the  narration that catered to specifically Taranza. 

Elfilin did have a reaction this time. “Are you okay, Taranza? That revelation seems like it should have been really upsetting to you.”

“Of course I’m upset. But more than anything else, I want to find the detestable motherfucker who did that to him and tear them to shreds.” Despite the content of the sentence, his delivery was filled with complete composure.

Kirby didn’t seem to have properly processed all of that, but it was difficult to blame him. “Well, now that we know that… what should we talk about?”

Meta Knight jumped off the desk. “At this moment, is it not only natural to suspect Francisca? She’s been quiet, seemingly intentionally, she fits all the prerequisites for being the OSO, and she conveniently vanished when she claimed she was about to unveil her hypothesis.”

Kirby nodded. “I mean, I really don’t want to doubt my friends, but doesn't that seem like the obvious answer?”

Elfilin shook his head. “The obvious answer is usually the wrong answer.”

“But do we know it’s wrong now?” Bandee adjusted their headwear.

“Yeah. We do. Because we know the OSO was in the room with Magolor when he was attacked, and Francisca has an alibi for that.” Elfilin’s expression was grave.

“You mean in the NEWS rooms?” 

Meta Knight stepped into the center of the room. “I believe we should doubt Magolor’s account on this in particular. After all, every single one of us has an alibi for that.”

Elfilin averted his eyes for a few moments, and then turned back to look Meta Knight directly in the eyes. “Not all of us.”

“Hmm?”

“Bandee, you just referred to the scene of the axe incident as the NEWS rooms, right?”

They flinched. “W-what’s wrong with that?”

“How did you know that?”

Taranza slowly turned his head to look at them. “He… has a point. The only two who would know that are me and Elfilin…”

They half-closed one of their eyes. “But Magolor said it. How would I not know?”

The suspicion in Taranza’s face deepened. “But I left that part out of the letter.”

“Hold on.” Elfilin cut them off.

“Yeah!” Kirby joined in. “You can’t be accusing them now, that’s crazy!”

“No, Kirby, that’s not what I meant.” Elfilin winced. “I just… I think it’s finally time.”

“Time for what?” Meta Knight spoke slowly and quietly, yet commanding attention.

“Time to come clean. The truth is… on the day Magolor came back, I went to the garden on purpose. I went through the passage in the ceiling, and I stole one of those dart guns and shot Dedede in the hospital.”

“Why would you-”

“I’m not done.” Elfilin continued. “I was also the one who put Bandee in that cardboard box with all the packing peanuts. Because… I knew. Or, I was at least pretty sure. From the very beginning. Bandee is the OSO.”

“Wh-”

“NO!” Kirby interrupted their response. “They would never!”

“Regardless of whether or not they would, the fact remains that they did. I’ve spent this entire time trying to accept that myself.”

Taranza directly approached Elfilin and grabbed him in one hand. “Why did you not say this before?”

“Gk-! ᶜᵃˡᵐ ᵈᵒʷⁿ ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ!” Taranza relaxed his grip slightly. “Because Magolor told me not to.”

..-. .-.. .- ... .... .. -. --. / -... .- -.-. -.- / - --- / -.-. .... .- .--. - . .-. / ..-. ..- -.-. -.- .. -. --. / - .-- ---

A sly smile crossed Magolor’s face. “I have something important to tell you. You’ll want to hear it, I’m sure.”

Elfilin only continued shuddering. “W-what?”

“Well, actually, before I say anything, I just want to ask: Do you know?”

“Know what?”

“The kidnapper. Do you know who it is?”

Elfilin froze. “W- well, it- it’s not really-”

Magolor waved a hand nonchalantly. “That’s fine. You don’t need to tell me. But… you know, if I were you, I’d try to keep that under wraps for as long as possible if you do know. After all, saying one thing might convince a few people, but waiting until you gather as much information as possible, and then saying everything, that’ll convince everyone. Besides, in the… ah, ‘hypothetical’ situation in which you know who it is, you might not be completely sure. It’s best to make sure beforehand, right?”

“Um…”

“We can think more about it later. We should go catch up to the others.” Magolor turned and left. Then he turned around. “Hey… Elfilin? Can you come along?”

“...Yeah. Just… give me a minute.”

He gave Elfilin a salute. “Okay! Just follow when you’re ready. And… If there’s anything you do want to tell me, I’ll listen.”

.- -. -.. / -. --- .-- / -... .- -.-. -.- / - --- / - .... . / .-. .- -- .. ..-. .. -.-. .- - .. --- -. ...

When Elfilin finished recounting the conversation, Taranza let him go. “So, you found more information that points to them as the OSO? Tell us.”

Bandee was still frozen in place, but Kirby wasn’t about to give up on them. “I don’t believe that! There must have been some kind of mistake!”

Elfilin took a deep breath. “When I was kidnapped, as my vision was getting blurry, I saw someone who looked a lot like them. I wasn’t sure, because of my vision, so I wanted to make sure by keeping that in mind as things progressed. And everything lines up if you assume they’re the OSO. 

When Zan Particle disappeared, they were in the library with only Magolor. There’s no chance they had eyes on each other the entire time, meaning they have no alibi. 

They were late getting back to the warehouse when Kine and Marx vanished, meaning they could easily have been doing something else and then got on the elevator. 

They were in the room with me and Magolor when Ribbon tried that stunt with the chainsaw.

They were suspiciously unaccounted for throughout the entire Adeleine, Gooey, and Coo debacle.

They were on floor E alone when Magolor was attacked with the axe, and easily could have gone down to the NEWS rooms.

They were absent from the interrogation room when Susie vanished. 

Naturally, they have no alibi for when Rick or Dedede went missing.

And finally, they fit the prerequisite of being one of the four who were unaccounted for in the cold sleep room.”

Kirby, Taranza, and Bandee were stunned into silence. It was Meta Knight who found a response. “All of that is circumstantial. Do you have any real evidence?”

Kirby nodded slowly, then quickly. “Yeah! None of that really holds up! As long as you don’t have any direct evidence, they’re innocent, right?”

Elfilin showed pause for the first time since he first made his accusation. Perhaps it was because he looked at Bandee’s face. At their trepidation. “Well, maybe you’d have a point, but that’s only if I have no direct evidence. Kirby, do you remember when Taranza confronted you about what you did with Magolor’s door? Before that, he got Bandee out of that cupboard in the hospital. At that time, they said they ‘hadn’t eaten in days’, so Daroach went to make them a meal while Rick stayed behind. When we were done with the interrogation and Susie had vanished, we went back to the hospital and gave Taranza some food. Does anyone else see the problem with that?”

Meta Knight held his hand to the bottom of his mask thoughtfully. “We gave him food… that was already in the hospital…” He turned to Bandee, who was only growing more terrified.

Elfilin nodded. “If Bandee was really shut in that cupboard for two days, why did no one eat the food? Bandee needs to eat just like the rest of us, do they not?”

For the first time in a while, Bandee tried to respond. “When I was in the cupboard, Magolor snuck me some food while Taranza was asleep. He told me not to tell any-”

“That was not in the letter.” Taranza snapped.

Elfilin continued. “And there’s one more. One more piece of information. On the day Zan Parabola vanished, we all went to the secret room at the end of the passage in the white room. When we were put to sleep, I woke up first and saw Bandee standing over me. They immediately left after I woke up. On day 2 in the OSO’s journal, they said very explicitly that they were examining us to find the stolen papers, and that they left when I woke up. If the food wasn’t enough, I think that’s pretty directly incriminating, no?”

The room was filled with thick, muffling silence. Bandee’s eyes were wide, yet cold. They were hugging themselves tightly, shuddering. Kirby was staring in disbelief. Meta Knight’s expression was as unreadable as always. Taranza was visibly angry. “So.” He said through gritted teeth. “What do we do with them now?”

“NO!” Kirby exclaimed. “This is wrong! It has to be! Because… because… the… door. The door! They had a bonus lock on their door, remember? You said only people who were being set up would have one of those, right?”

“That can very easily be a last-minute fallback in case things go south for them.” The intensity in Taranza’s voice never faded, not even slightly.

“That’s not fair, Taranza!” Kirby sobbed. “You can’t go back on it like that!” He keeled over on the floor. “And… and even then… I’ll still believe in them! I refuse to believe that they did anything wrong!”

Elfilin now had tears of his own. “Kirby-”

“SHUT UP! YOU’RE WRONG!”

“I’ve been there.” Taranza croaked. “You remember Sectonia, right Kirby?”

“This- this isn’t like that…” He ran over to Bandee and grabbed them by the hands. “Bandee, say something! Why aren’t you saying anything? Tell them they’re wrong! They’re wrong! That’s all you have to say…” He collapsed in a pool of his own tears, still clutching Bandee’s hands.

Meta Knight stepped forward. “Is there anything at all you have to say?”

They shook their head. “I don’t know- It’s not- I don’t- I really- I don’t understand… I don’t understand at all… What’s going on…?”

Taranza stared at the three of them, something sparking in the back of his mind. Is this right? Is this really the answer? It’s what all the clues are saying, but do we really have all the clues? Are we sure we’re not overlooking anything? It just… doesn’t feel like it fits. “Kirby.”

Slowly, shakily, Kirby turned around and faced him. “Y-yes?”

“Are we forgetting anything?”

“F- forgetting?” He looked off into a corner. It looked like he was mulling something over, having all previous events rolling through his mind like film on an old movie reel. “Wait, maybe…”

“Maybe what?” Elfilin moved backwards in shock. Taranza was equally surprised. Did he actually remember something?

“That’s it! I remember now!” He jumped up and landed on the bed. “The hatch! The one in the passage! That’s the thing!”

Taranza tensed, staring into his eyes. “Yes, the hatch? What about it?”

“Well, remember when I fell through it? I did that because there was no indication that it was there from inside, right? No label, and no handle! Which means it can’t be closed from the inside, right? But after we woke up, we all saw Bandee in there with the hatch closed! Which means that someone else closed the hatch, right?”

Bandee looked up. “Really…? There’s proof? That… I’m innocent?”

Elfilin tilted his head. “But all of the other suspects had no opportunity to close the hatch! And even then, I saw them doing the thing that the OSO admitted to doing! So how does that work?”

Taranza considered the paradox they had reached. “Every answer is wrong… how?” There has to be some kind of explanation. Something that makes it fit. “Elfilin, how sure are you that you really saw Bandee when you woke up back then?”

“Positive! Remember, I was deliberately keeping an eye on them. Besides, who else would it have been?”

A way they could have been in the tunnel, when they appeared in front of Elfilin beforehand… doesn’t exist. No matter how I look at it, it’s not possible. What are we missing? It has to make sense somehow, right?

He’s sure he saw Bandee, but everyone else saw them later. His later appearance renders it impossible to have been there originally. Maybe they got on the elevator that was allegedly there and went to floor C to take the normal elevator down and loop back, but there were far too many witnesses for that ever to have worked.

Their appearance in where the OSO should have been, and their subsequent appearance in the passageway… It’s as if they were in two places at once.

…Two places at once? Maybe… That’s exactly what happened. “I may have it. The Bandee that Elfilin saw, and the one in the passage are two different people.”

“Impossible.” Meta Knight said curtly.

“No, it’s not. If you consider that one of them was fake, it lines up.”

Elfilin looked at him like he was crazy. “Hey. Taranza? You can’t just make a fake person that talks and looks like the real thing.”

The Bandee in the passage was seen by everyone. It had to be real. However, the other one was seen by only Elfilin. That means it could have been a fake. “There was no reason to create a fake. One already existed. You just use another person who looks enough like the original, and you have a flawless replacement of a person.”

Kirby was now confused as well. “But there’s no one like that here!” And besides, there’s no way Elfilin, or anyone else for that matter, could have possibly mistook someone else for Bandee! They’re really distinctive!”

Taranza’s expression was growing more grave by the second. “Anyone? That’s an interesting way to put it. No matter what standard you hold the world to, there will always be someone who doesn’t meet it. There’s an exception for every rule, and in this case, Elfilin is one of them.”

Elfilin was now completely lost. “How am I an exception? What’s different about me?”

The one word… the thing that sets him apart from the rest of us, the thing that would make the switch possible… “Prosopagnosia.”

“What?”

“You have prosopagnosia. The disorder that prevents people from identifying distinct faces. And there’s proof for that, too. You saw me looking at a picture of Sectonia from when she was younger, and thought she was me, despite the obvious difference in facial features. You’re also the only one to ever not recognize Bandee without their signature blue bandana.”

Elfilin stared at the ceiling. “Whoa…”

Meta Knight wasn’t about to let this go. “Even if that is true, that requires another waddle dee to be in the building!”

Taranza turned his head. “And…?”

“What do you mean, and? There’s only one waddle dee in this building!”

That’s what I thought, too. But the truth is… “We’ve all been operating under a grave misconception this entire time. We all agreed that the instructions for the OSO were written by someone who’s not here, for someone who is here. We took that to mean that it was one of the twenty of us, but that’s not necessarily true. In reality, there’s a twenty-first person in this building. Of course there was. After all, there was never a purpose for the OSO to hide as one of us. There’s no reason why they’d do that. What point would there be? What would they gain?”

Kirby held a hand to his chest. “So that other waddle dee is the real OSO?”

This is going to be the hard part. “Not just any waddle dee, mind you. Remember King Dedede’s story about how he was kidnapped. He called up the entire crew of the Halberd-”

“Stop.” Meta Knight’s eyes flared. “Stop right now.”

“And the ENTIRE CREW said they hadn't seen Meta Knight since the previous day. It’s been in front of us all along. Meta Knight began the first meeting we had by saying he went to the elevator because some of the crew had gone missing.”

“STOP.”

“And he was told this by Sailor Dee.”

“NO! You’re wrong! You’re grasping at straws!”

Bandee finally got a few words out. “W-why don’t we just… ask him ourselves?”

Meta Knight was doubled over, elbows on the floor. “Impossible. He’s not even here.”

Elfilin flew over to the bed and desk, setting his face in a determined expression. “Let’s get out of here and find out for sure.”

They moved the bed aside. Kirby inhaled deeply, then twisted the doorknob. On the other side was a figure in a white cloth. They pulled out that dart gun Taranza knew all too well, and took aim. Bandee jumped at him, knocking him out of the way. The dart from the gun fired, and struck Meta Knight’s mask. It cracked, then fell to the floor. Underneath the mask, Meta Knight’s real expression showed naught but anguish. Kirby took this opportunity to wrestle the figure to the ground. Bandee hopped off of Taranza and yanked the cloth off. Elfilin pulled the dart gun out of their hands. Taranza got up, approached the back of the mech beneath the cloth, and opened the hatch. “There you have it.” He indicated the person who lay within.

All five of them lay eyes on the waddle dee that lay inside, and his signature sailor’s cap.

Chapter Text

Fortunately, he was awake enough to get up and out of the mech. He looked around at the expressions of those around him, some angry, some shocked, some disappointed. Most were a combination of more than one. He pulled his cap off and held it to his chest. “I see you found me out.”

With his mask broken, Meta Knight could no longer hide the intense emotion on his face. “What is the meaning of this?”

He put his cap back on and stood a fair distance away from the rest. “I’m the OSO. I assisted in bringing you all here, I impersonated Bandee, I put everyone into cold sleep, I threatened Magolor into helping me, I got him to trick Bandee into acting suspicious, and I was the one he betrayed and put into cold sleep. That’s what it means.”

Elfilin was just bewildered. “But… WHY? Why would you do any of this? What’s the point?”

“We can worry about that later. More importantly…” 

A voice began to emanate from the inside of the mech. “𝙄 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙢𝙚? 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣. 𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙜, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚... 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙄 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨? 𝙒𝙞𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚? 𝙔𝙚𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚. 𝙐𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝. 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙜𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮'𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙙, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙁𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧 𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨, 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙮.”

Everyone stared at the mech, with nothing more to say. There were no words any of them could summon to respond to what they’d just heard. Elfilin spoke first. “Okay… we can do something… this isn’t the end… we can get out of this, we just need to calm down. Everyone calm down. Just relax. Why is no one relaxing? Stop freaking out! JUST CALM DOWN-”

“Elfilin.” Sailor Dee cut him off flatly. “There was a good suggestion in there. Would you all like to see the rest of them again?”

Bandee nodded. “So… we’ll see them again, and then we’ll all die? S-sounds fun.” 

As they activated the defrost function on the last pod, the timer ticked down. “Well, I don’t want to ask first, so I’ll explain now. Is there anything you all want to know in particular?” He was interrupted by Bandee removing their bandana, twisting it into a whip, and cracking him with it. “Everything it is. This might take all twenty minutes, so uh… sit down?”

He stood in front of the corkboard, gathered his thoughts, and began. “It was about a week before I brought Meta Knight to the elevator. The phone on the Halberd rang, and I picked it up. Before I even said anything, they knew it was me specifically who had answered. I’ll call them the one outside, or the OOS. …I realize that might be confusing, so I’ll call them Scary Phone Guy instead. Scary Phone Guy gave me a place to meet them the following day at about three in the afternoon, and said there would be dire consequences if I didn’t comply.”

-- . / .-- .... . -. / .. / --. --- / ..-. .-.. .- ... .... -... .- -.-. -.- / -- --- -.. .

Sailor Dee approached the run down building. It was incredibly far away from most other signs of life. It was just a small, decaying log cabin in the middle of a forest that had all but died long ago. If he wasn’t being threatened into coming here, he would have turned back and ran as far away and as fast as possible. “Hellooooo? I think I’m here early… Are you here?” There was no response from the cabin. Looking around the outside a bit more, he decided to grab the handle on the door and pull it open.

The inside seemed to be empty, but there was some light seeping through the crack between the floor and a rusted hatch. He pulled the hatch open and saw a staircase. I have a really bad feeling about this. He put one foot on the stairs, and the cold metal sent chills through his whole body. He kept walking, The light was getting brighter. There was a pure white room behind a door at the bottom. Sailor Dee entered and saw another door at the end. He kept going. The room on the other side was pitch black. A light flickered on a bit away from the door. He stepped closer toward it. The door slammed shut behind him. He turned around quickly, but found no doorknob to get a hold of. “Hey! HEY! What’s going on here? Let me out!”

Something metallic closed around his midsection. He tried to pry himself free, but to no avail. He was dragged by the metal tentacle thing into a chair, and some object was forced over his eyes. 

A scene began to play out before his eyes. The night sky was young. Then, the Halberd went up in a fiery explosion. It switched to King Dedede picking up a cell phone. His face turned pale. He rushed out of the castle, followed by Adeleine, Ribbon, Taranza, and Bandee. Dedede and Bandee dove into the flaming wreckage of the Halberd, and they don’t come out. Presumably, they were crushed by falling debris. The three onlookers stared, devastated, into the flames. Taranza shakily called someone on the phone. Magolor and Daroach showed up later, trying desperately to comfort the three people who were looking at the remains of the Halberd. Magolor holds Taranza tightly, trying to keep him as stable as possible. It isn’t long before the commotion attracts Marx, Kirby, Gooey, and Elfilin. 

Then the fire started to spread. A nearby tree begins smoldering. Adeleine mouths something, then the rest start yelling into the forest. Sailor Dee knew that forest well. It was where Rick, Kine, and Coo lived. This video was showing each of the Star Allies dying. This can’t be real, right? It’s not actually happening. It’s not happening. Why would this tentacle guy try to show me this? 

A mob of waddle dees stormed out of the castle. They faced the people in front of the Halberd. It looked like Adeleine tried to explain something to them, which made a few of them really angry. Magolor, just trying to keep people from doing things they shouldn’t, faced the castle guards and tried explaining. He was a bit too agitated during his speech that he inadvertently fired off an energy sphere. 

With the loss of the King, their captain, and Meta Knight, the waddle dees turned their attention to the closest thing they could find to an enemy: The mage who had just attacked them. They charged forward. Magolor tried to get out of the way, but a spear was thrown and pierced through his abdomen, pinning him to the ground. Taranza jumped in front of him to protect him from further attacks, being impaled by a spear in the process. Then another. It took another five seconds for any of the others to figure out how to respond, but that was more than enough time for the damage to be irreversible. Seeing everyone’s reactions was enough to snap the mob out of their blind rage, but that didn’t undo what had happened. Daroach pulled the one spear out of Magolor, and he used what little strength he had to drag himself over to Taranza, who had no breath left in him. No breath, but more than a dozen spears.

Daroach picked up Magolor and started hauling him away from the bombing site. He was taking him to the castle’s infirmary, leaving Taranza’s lifeless body behind. The rest followed them to the castle, and that was when the second explosion went off. An explosion so large, it sent debris in all directions. A ship flying through the sky above had one of its turbines struck by a fragment of brick and mortar. It spun out of control, flying into the dimension mirror and crash landing in complete destruction on the other side. That was the end of Susie and Dark Meta Knight.

The mage sisters were trying to get out of the burning forest, with Francisca keeping the flames at bay. It quickly became impossible for her to continue when a tree fell over, landing on top of her. Zan Partizanne attempted to save her, but they were both consumed by flames. Flamberge put the blade of her sword into the ground, and then carved out a hole. She put the handle of the sword into the hole, making the sword stand upright. Then… she closed her eyes and fell on the blade.

Time began to rewind. It kept going back, until it got back to the beginning of the video. It then zoomed in on the epicenter of where the Halberd exploded, and showed a device counting down. There were eight days left on the timer.

The thing that was showing the video was pulled off of his face. “Wh-wh-wh-what? Why?”

“𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨?” He couldn’t tell who the voice was.

“Who are you? What do you want?”

“𝙈𝙮 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. 𝙄 𝙖𝙨𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙩 𝙋𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧, 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙖𝙡.”

He struggled against the thing’s iron grip. “Just tell me what you want me to do! I don’t want to be here anymore! Let me go! Please, let go of me!”

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙗𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚.”

Sailor Dee forced himself to stop struggling, letting the mass of tendrils relax around him. As long as he wasn’t trying to leave, it was just a cold chair in a dark room. Nothing to be afraid of. If he tried to move, however, the thing would go back to wrestling him into submission. “Okay. I’ll listen. What is it that you want from me?”

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“They said the only way they wouldn’t kill you all was if I worked with them to subdue and sequester you all in a secret place. After I spent the next few days planning all of your abductions, I put them into action a day or two before the bombs would go off. Once I was done, I was kept by myself in this room right here. I don’t know how I got here, I was just put to sleep and then woke up about… a month and a half ago. They didn’t give me free reign of the place until the day I first started writing my journal, a day before you all woke up.” Sailor Dee finished his story, and right when he did, one of the timers finished. “Looks like the timer is finished. We should probably start taking them out of there.”

As more of the pods unlocked, Taranza set to opening the ones closest to him. The people inside were still cold, despite not being frozen. They’d warm up in time. “Why did you wake up immediately, but they don’t?”

Sailor Dee shrugged. “Magolor forgot to put me to sleep before he froze me. Them being asleep before having their bodies… paused means that they’re still taking the same nap as before.”

They brought out the fifteen thawed people and set them gently on the floor. Meta Knight, leaning against Dedede, was the first to notice the ray of hope. “Sailor Dee, you don’t look like you’ve given up. Do you have an idea?” 

He tossed Meta Knight a mask from the cupboard nearby. “I do. We have about half an hour left, so I’ll just say it now. If we can get everyone into that safe into the kitchen, it should survive the blast. Problem is, I don’t know how to get in. The only clue I’ve been given is that it’s a number I should know well.”

Bandee tried to stack the sleeping people into more easily carryable positions. “Have you tried 2100? That’s the time the kidnappings started on a twenty four hour clock.”

Sailor Dee stared directly into their eyes, then blinked. He blinked again, and then a few more times. Then a sound began to permeate the room. The beeping. Taranza cradled his head in his hands as his vision warped. “NOOOOO! MAKE IT STOP!”

Sailor Dee was also panicking, so much so that he forgot how fast his response would sound to the others. “Nothisactuallymeanswe’rerightifwecanjustgeteveryoneovertherewe’llbefine.”

Elfilin weakly called from in between Zan Partizanne and Dark Meta Knight. “Can you please say that a bit slower?”

They dragged everyone onto the elevator. Sailor Dee checked the timer. Twenty minutes remained from now. He threaded a rope through everyone’s clothes and dragged them through the floor C passageways to the kitchen. One by one, they slid out of the panel in the ceiling, landing right in front of the safe. Five minutes. He inputted the code. Once the door opened, he made sure to speak slowly. “Everyone, put them in. Quickly, please.” They immediately crammed Dedede into a back corner. Then, they tried to fit other people in around him, and before long, only the conscious people remained outside the safe. 

Taranza climbed to the top and held Magolor tightly against him. Meta Knight folded himself awkwardly to fit between Daroach and King Dedede. Elfilin curled up between Rick and the plexiglass tank Kine was sleeping in. Kirby and Bandee snuggled underneath Marx’s hat. Sailor Dee was last in, closing the door behind him before landing on top of Adeleine’s lap and passing out. The others waited anxiously, looking around absentmindedly at the others, their only thought being the hope that they would survive the safe falling. A tremendous explosion shook the walls, causing them all to lose consciousness. The only guarantee that they had survived would come when one of them woke up and saw it for themselves.

Chapter Text

He opened his eyes. The air was thick and stale. It was dark. He moved around the strange place he’d found himself in, then found what appeared to be a hole in the wall. At the back of it was some kind of lever. He pulled it open, and light flooded his surroundings. Well, not really. It was still dark. But at least now he could see. In that room he was just in, he saw… twenty other people. Two of them waddle dees. Seemed like they actually caught him. That was something. He stepped out into the smoking crater the safe was in. The sky was dotted with stars. There was debris everywhere, some of it was on fire. He walked around and explored the destruction. “Hey. Marx. I wouldn’t recommend going around by yourself, y’know?” He turned around at the voice that came from behind him. Ribbon was hovering in the entrance of the safe.

“Oh, good morning, Ribs. You got any idea how we got in there?”

“Don’t… don’t call me that. And no, I have no idea how we got here. The last thing I remember is pulling out a chainsaw and then being engulfed by pollen.”

Marx flew up and looked over the surface of the planet. It was completely barren, outside of the flaming debris. It was almost nostalgic, really. He came back down. “Looks like they caught that OSO fella. The waddle dee with the sailor’s cap.”

“How do you know that’s who it is?” 

“Kine and I snuck up on him in the warehouse and they panicked and cut off his limbs. I tried to get away but he knocked me unconscious.”

Ribbon stared. The crater clearly meant something, but she couldn’t understand what it meant for the life of her. “Maybe we should wait for someone who understands what’s going on to wake up.”

“Did someone call for me?” That voice definitely belonged to Magolor. “Hey, looks like they got him. Hope my letter helped.” He tousled Marx’s hat. “How are you two doing?”

He stretched his wings. “Well, this landscape is feeling a little nostalgic, if you catch my meaning. You know, if it brings up anything that you really feel like you need to talk about, I’m here.”

Magolor chuckled. “Hey, let’s not act like any desolate landscape is gonna freak me out, you know? I appreciate the thought, though.”

“Okay, Ribbon, we’re gonna go explore. You stay back and tell anyone who wakes up what’s going on.” Marx wrapped a wing around Magolor and walked away from the safe.

“You can let go now.” Magolor was already prying Marx’s wing off of him.

“Yeah, yeah. Look over there, it’s a cave.” He gestured to a gap under some rocks.

“Hmm.” Magolor peeked inside. “Looks like it’s empty.”

Marx flew up above the entrance. “Heheheh, the rocks up here are loose.”

“If you take out a load bearing rock and trap me in here, I will peel your ugly little bread shoes off your feet and make you eat them.”

“Uncalled for.” Marx popped his head into the cave, looking it up and down. “You know, you’ve seemed a lot more relaxed ever since you got with Taranza. I’m happy for you.”

Magolor sighed, then ducked completely into the cave. “If only I didn’t ruin it in there.”

“You ruined it? How’d that happen?”

“Turns out that Sailor Dee can get really cutthroat when he’s serious. Long story short, he threatened me into helping him. I never told Taranza about that, and I imagine he’s probably pretty upset about it.”

Marx climbed into the cave and collapsed at the back. “And why did you never tell him?”

Magolor sat on an elevated part of the cave, leaning back against the wall. “I was just being extra careful. I wasn’t acting rationally, I was really scared of what would happen if I told him…” 

“Ah, same scared kid as usual.” Marx hopped from one foot to the other. “I’m getting out of here. You should probably follow me before my inner demons convince me to trap you with all those rocks.”

... - .. -. -.- -.-- / -... .-. . .- -.. / -.-. .-.. --- .-- -.

Taranza shivered under the covers of the bed. The bed was warm, the covers were warm, the room was warm, but Taranza was very, very cold. Cold that spread from deep within his soul. He buried his face in the pillow and let his tears soak into the fabric around his eyes. He could have drowned in the cold pool of his own tears then and there, but someone stopped him. “You should probably get up soon. We need to prepare.” That was Sectonia, from the foot of the bed. 

“How can you… be so calm…? Everyone is dead…”

“I’m not calm. I just… got good at holding myself together. Is it not the same for you?”

Taranza rolled over to wrap himself in more blanket layers. “You were taught composure. I had it forced on me.”

She sat next to him on the bed. “I will go by myself. Clearly, you are not in a state to be able to present yourself. …And take a hot shower, it should help you warm up.” She got up and left. 

Taranza felt himself warm up slightly. She really cares, right? That’s what that means, right? He slowly moved himself over to the shower and turned the water on.

“You seem to be doing better.” Sectonia reentered the room. Taranza lay on his stomach in the bed, wrapped in the blanket like a burrito. 

“So, you are… officially the queen now?” Floralia had gone three years without a queen. Now, with Sectonia’s coronation, those three years were over. The youngest queen in the kingdom’s history, at only thirteen years old.

“Yes.” She rested two of her hands on his back. “I understand you may be too anxious to answer to the guards or the People of the Sky, so I told them that I would have you attend to me personally. Is that alright?”

Taranza let some of the tension out of his muscles. “Of course. I cannot think of anywhere I would prefer to be.” He picked himself up slightly and hugged her. She responded by delicately planting a kiss on the top of his head. The tension in his body immediately returned. “Wait-wait wait wait, what are you…?”

She guided him into a more proper sleeping position. “My first order is for you to get some sleep. You haven’t had proper rest in weeks, Taranza.”

He let the back of his head sink into the pillow, feelings of uncertainty and nervousness swirling around his head.

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Taranza awoke to a heavy arm on top of him. He immediately recognized it as King Dedede’s. “Hey. You’re the last one up. Are you okay?”

Taranza pulled himself up and looked toward the entrance of the safe. “Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah. That waddle dee with the sailor’s cap is going to confess in full to being the OSO. Did you know that?”

“I was actually the one who caught him. It was… a lot.”

“By that point in time, I was really exhausted. I hadn’t slept in days, and no matter how hard I tried, things kept going wrong.” Sailor Dee had recounted to the entire group the same story he’d told before, now having gotten to the part of the story where Magolor had nearly bled to death. “After I fixed him up, I went to go move his clothes from the washing machine to the dryer. I also cleaned up all the blood in the room with the axe. When I got back, he had woken up. He was panicking, cold, terrified, and in pain. I felt terrible about the idea of just putting him back to sleep, so I helped calm him down, and because I needed help, I asked him. He agreed then, but I didn’t trust him to keep his word, so I kept him restrained.”

Magolor was looking at the ground for most of that part of the story, but quietly spoke up here. “I like to think I handled that night pretty well.”

Sailor Dee shook his head. “No. You did not. I was five whole floors above you and I could still hear you hyperventilating. You only calmed down when I went down there to give you a hug and some reassurance. You made me stay with you. For THREE. HOURS.”

“You’re lucky it wasn’t more than that. You made me live my worst nightmare!”

“Anyways, I got Scary Phone Guy to give me ideas about how to make sure he didn’t betray me. They sent me a video of a device stuck to the side of the Lor Starcutter and told me to tell him that it was a bomb that could be detonated immediately if he ever went back on his word. Oh, also, I said that not only would I put Magolor into cold sleep if he betrayed me, I would use his life as a bargaining chip to get Taranza to help with whatever I needed after the fact.”

Taranza recoiled. “Hey, what-”

Sailor Dee continued, implacable. “I got him to lead Bandee on a wild goose chase by sneaking them food while they were in that cabinet in the hospital. They actually knew he was okay before anyone else did, but he made sure they didn’t tell anyone by implying that there were people not to be trusted with that information.”

Elfilin raised his hand. “If they were just being set up as a red herring, what was I doing that made you put me in the quiz?”

Magolor answered that part. “The quiz was rigged for you to win. All of the answers you got right were ones that only you would know the answers to.It added up to nine, and that can never be any less than the second highest number of whatever’s getting subtracted from twenty five.”

“Anyway, after we took on the role together, things calmed down a lot after Daroach learned to shut up and Dedede lost the quiz. Everyone was doing fine for about a week, and then Magolor started telling me off about how bad the whole thing had gotten regardless. He was right, but I didn’t listen to him, so he punched me in the face and put me in cold sleep. I got let out by Scary Phone Guy, and I chased after Magolor, who had gone to the secret floor without permission. I ended up getting in a fight with him and Daroach simultaneously, and winning. The next morning, I stopped Francisca from divulging my identity, but the five who remained were able to figure me out without her. That was when the countdown started.” Sailor Dee finished his story. “I don’t expect any of you to forgive me. But know that I am truly sorry for everything I’ve done.”

-.. . -. - .. ... -

While the others looked around the crater for any food that may be salvageable, Sailor Dee and Meta Knight took a break, sitting at the top of a cliff. “You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”

Meta Knight didn’t make eye contact. “I don’t have a reason to be.”

“But you are. I can tell.”

“Perhaps I’m disappointed you would go to such extreme lengths to keep things as they were.”

Sailor Dee hung his head. “I get it. I screwed up. In the future, though, I’ll make sure I make up for it. No matter what, I’ll make up for it.”

Wordlessly, Meta Knight slid down the cliff and rejoined the others. Sailor Dee followed behind, taking a passing glance at the dark sky. 

--. .... --- ... - / -.-. .. .-. -.-. .-.. .

“Hey, can you excuse us for a minute? I want to talk to Magolor alone.” Taranza didn’t wait for an answer before dragging Magolor into a nearby cave. He hugged him, then backed away. “Are you doing okay?”

“Yeah, thanks. I’ve had a lot of time to process everything and I’m surprisingly okay with it all.” Magolor’s eyes went down a little bit, turning his gaze to Taranza’s scarf. 

“That’s good.” Taranza nodded.

“Is that all you wanted to-” He was cut off by a sharp slap to the face. “Ow… what was that?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Magolor backed away completely. “Why would I have told you? There were cameras everywhere!”

“Not in the living quarters!”

“I didn’t know that for sure! For all I knew, he was just telling me that to see if I would break his trust when I thought he wasn’t watching!”

“Still, you didn’t have to go along with the plan in the first place! You didn’t even really know if the Lor was in danger!” Taranza steamed.

“I couldn’t take that chance!”

“And you never even tried to ascertain-”

“And more importantly, I wanted to be able to keep you safe.”

“Y-you… really?” Taranza clutched his chest.

“My options were to do what I knew for certain would keep as many people safe as possible, or to potentially sacrifice myself, the Lor, or even you! I couldn’t live with myself if I did anything like that.” Tears began to form in his eyes.

“Well, then, I suppose… I understand…” Taranza was seeming rather overcome with emotion himself. “But why did you shoot me?”

Magolor drew closer to him. “I had to stop you from being taken away. Everyone else needed you to stay with them. I had to go myself, because I had given you that letter. I knew things would be okay as long as you stayed behind. I trust you.”

Something in those words, be it the words themselves or the delivery, struck a nerve in Taranza. He started sobbing profusely. “Well I…” He tried to wipe the tears from his eyes, but they wouldn’t stop. “I’m sorry…”

Seeing Taranza’s reaction seemed to make Magolor panic slightly. He rushed to his side and put one of his hands on the other side of his head. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Taranza’s head slumped, landing on Magolor. He leaned back and lay against some rocks on the wall, letting Taranza lay on him. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that, I wish I had just done what you told me to…”

“It’s okay! It’s okay! You have nothing to apologize for.” Magolor rubbed Taranza’s back, trying to calm him down, since his breathing had suddenly quickened. “Did I hit a nerve there? I’m so sorry if I did. Really, you’re okay.”

Taranza spent a few moments calming down. He pulled his head out of Magolor’s scarf, which was now damp from tears. He looked around restlessly, as if he wasn’t completely aware of where he was. “Thank you.”

Magolor stroked the side of his face. “Are you doing better?”

“Yes. I’m sorry for that outburst, I don’t know what came over me.”

“I don’t either. But… It felt like you were talking to someone else.” Magolor traced his hands over Taranza, as if he was chasing down the tension in his body to get rid of it. “I mean, you apologized for not doing what I told you, but I didn’t tell you to do anything. So, what was that?” 

Taranza’s eyes seemed to shrink. “Oh… Can we talk more about that later? I… need to get my thoughts in order about that.”

A carefree look made its way onto Magolor’s face. “Of course! Take as much time as you need, my dreamcatcher.” He got up, pulling Taranza up with him. “Do you want to join the others again?”

Taranza nodded. “Let’s go. I’m sure they’re wondering what’s taking us so long.”

As they left the cave, they heard a noise from far away. The distant sound of something… beeping.

Chapter Text

“Hey, do you hear that?” Magolor tried to mask the fear in his voice, but his body language gave him away. 

Taranza almost instinctively pulled him closer. “Oh no… oh no oh no oh no oh no…” The sound grew louder. 

Magolor pivoted to look him directly in the eyes. “I’m going to make sure the others are safe. Do you want to come with me or stay here, where it’s… probably safe?”

“I’ll go with you.” Taranza tried to talk through his increasingly scrambled thoughts as the sound got louder and louder. They left the cave and looked around for the others. There was no sign of them on either side of the cave. Suddenly, they heard an explosion on the other side of the mountain. A few rocks tumbled down the side of the cliff, with one hitting Taranza in the side of the head. “Owwwww…”

“Oh no!” Magolor cupped Taranza’s head in his hands. “Okay, stay with me, I’ll get you back in that cave. Can you move?”

“Oughh, aghhh, my head…”

Magolor ushered him back into the cave and set him down against the wall. “I’ll stay here. The nineteen others can take care of each other, but they don’t know where you are. Just make sure you don’t move recklessly, alright? Head injuries can be a lot worse than they originally seem.”

Taranza nodded weakly, feeling the head injury combined with the beeping giving him an awful headache. “Can you hug me…?”

“Of course.” He gently lay himself on top of him, putting his hands behind Taranza’s head. Another explosion made the walls shake. Taranza stiffened like he was about to jump up and bolt out of the cave. Magolor hugged him tighter. “It’s okay. It’s okay. You’re gonna be fine. And so are they. They’re all together. They can protect each other. You need help, they don’t.”

“Ngk… okay.” Taranza tried his best to relax amidst the beeping, occasional explosion, and the faint screaming that had now joined into the crescendo. Eventually, the noise got quiet enough that he could barely hear it. His head was foggy from the aftereffects of the beeping and the blow to his head. That, and Magolor’s soft body on top of him was making him drowsy. He tried to say, “Would you stay up if I fell asleep?” but what came out was a jumbled mess of incoherent sounds. 

Somehow, Magolor still understood. “Yeah. I will. Rest up, okay?”

Taranza relaxed into the large hand behind his head. Almost involuntarily, his consciousness collapsed under the weight of the muffling silence.

.... .- -. -.. / .--. .. .-.. .-.. --- .--

“Hey! In here!” Elfilin waved to the rest of the group. “It can’t get us if we just go in this cave!”

The rest of them dashed through the small hole into the cave. Dedede scooped up the stragglers, Rick and Gooey, and hauled them in with the others. “Is everyone okay?”

Bandee set down the tank that Kine was in. “Did I knock you around in there?”

“Nope! I’m fit as a fiddle! What about everyone else?” 

Zan Partizanne looked around the cave at everyone. “I, for one, am doing most excellen-” An explosion caused the entrance to be completely blocked off by rocks. “Uh oh.”

Meta Knight hesitated, then climbed to the top of the rock pile. He pulled out a rock and was immediately knocked backwards by an explosion. “Hide!” The others gathered in a lower corner of the cave.

To their surprise, the explosions stopped. “Why is this happening?” Francisca buried her face in her hands. “Everything I know says this shouldn’t happen. It shouldn’t be possible. So then, why…?”

Coo scratched under one of his wings. “I do hope Magolor and Taranza are okay. It seems to only be going after us, so they should be fine. Hopefully.”

Daroach shuddered. “I wonder if the reason why it stopped is because it’s now going after them.” 

He almost climbed out of the corner, but Adeleine pulled him back down. “No! Don’t go! You’re not in a state to do anything about this! Not while it’s still beeping…”

Daroach sighed. “Fine. But as soon as my head clears up, I’m going out there. You’re welcome to join, but I won’t let anyone stop me.”

Sailor Dee exhaled, then spoke slowly. “I don’t really understand what you all mean. My head’s fine when I hear the beeping. Wonder why that is.”

-... ..- -. -.- . .-. ..--.. / .. / .... .- .-. -.. .-.. -.-- / -.- -. --- .-- / .... . .-. / .- .... .- .... .- .... .- .... .-

“Hey, Taranza? You doing okay? You’ve been staring off into space this entire time.”

He snapped to attention. “Huh? Oh, yeah. Definitely. You’re right.”

Dedede walked away from the desk he was sitting at. “Have been listening to anything I’ve been saying for the last twenty minutes?”

“For sure! Of course! Up and at ‘em! I’ve been looking, listening, and just altogether… good at being in a conversation!” Taranza definitely tried too hard to cover the fact that he absolutely was not listening.

“Okay, what am I designing?” Dedede didn’t seem upset at all, just that this was a formality before he could get to whatever got him so distracted.

“Uhhhhhhhh, a machine that sucks in cobwebs and automatically weaves them into funny hats?”

“No, but that’s a fantastic idea. This is the battle tower: The surprise for Meta, Kirby, and Bandana. Them, and anyone else who wants to join.” 

Taranza nodded quickly. “Right. That. How’s that going, by the way?”

“Nnnnnnno you don’t. What’s got you so distracted?”

“Oh, uh, n-nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Dedede gently tugged one of Taranza’s horns. “I’m always going to worry about you. You’re pretty high maintenance, you know that?”

Taranza sighed. “Can you promise not to mention this conversation to anyone else?”

“Oh, umm, sure.” Dedede, slightly surprised that he’d actually hit on something, walked up the stairs, locked the door at the top, and came back down. “What is it?”

“...I feel… strange. About someone.”

“Strange how? You mean like love?”

Taranza folded his hands. “I don’t know. I mean, I’ve had a few weird dreams about them, and I find myself thinking about them a little more often than I probably should, but I don’t know if that’s necessarily love.”

Dedede took a deep breath. “Okay… could you elaborate a bit more?”

“The thing is, even if it is that, I’m almost positive it’s not reciprocated, and if it is reciprocated, they’d definitely be too scared to want to act on it.”

“Who are you talking about?”

Taranza squeezed his eyes shut. “Can you promise you won’t laugh?”

“Yeah. Of course.”

“It’s Magolor.”

Dedede blinked a few times. “Okay. That’s… a lot of information at once. You said he’d be afraid?” 

“Well, you know how he never hugs anyone? Or how he refuses to sleep anywhere other than the Lor? Or how he never turns his back when he’s alone with someone? It’s all because he’s terrified of vulnerability.”

Dedede dropped the pencil he was holding, frozen stiff. “Wow. That… makes so many things make sense. I’ll keep that in mind from now on. But… I can see how that worries you.” He reached down and picked up the pencil, giving it a twirl. “After all, love and vulnerability go hand in hand.”

“I don’t think I’d call it love, though!” Taranza blurted. “I mean, just because I think about him a lot, that’s just because I think he’s interesting! And just because I often have to restrain myself from hugging him, that might just be that I think he looks lonely and needs a hug!”

“Okay, I follow you…” Dedede muttered, anticipating that Taranza would have more to say.

“And it doesn’t necessarily have to mean anything that I fantasize about holding him close to me and telling him how much he means to me, or kissing him, or- you know, now that I’m saying it out loud, I see what the flaw in my logic is.”

Dedede patted him on the back. “Well, do you have any idea what you want to do now?” 

Taranza slumped on the stairs. “No. Even if I could get myself to stop liking him, I don’t think I’d want to. I mean, this is the first time I’ve ever felt like this about someone.”

“First? Ever?”

It took a few moments for Taranza to realize what he had just said. “Uh, nothing. I just misspoke. I just meant it because he’s, well, a guy.” That’s not it. Why did I say that? It should feel the same. That same feeling of safety, with that little bit of unease like every moment with them is an adventure. That’s what Sectonia said it should be, right?

“Well, anyway, if I had to give you any advice, just… keep being his friend. Eventually, he’ll probably be comfortable enough around you to at least not be scared of how you feel.”

Taranza snapped himself out of the daze he was in. “Thanks. I think this helped a lot. I’m gonna go over there, actually, if that’s okay.”

Dedede nodded. “Yeah, sure. When you get there, could you ask him if he wants any involvement in the battle tower?”

“Of course!” Taranza waved goodbye and left the basement workshop. 

Immediately after he left, Dedede called Magolor on his mobile phone. “Hey. I just wanted to tell you in advance that if anything weird happens at any point in the next few hours, don’t talk to me about it.”

.-.. --- -.-. .- .-.. / ... .--. .. -.. . .-. / . -..- .--. . .-. .. . -. -.-. .. -. --. / . -..- - .-. . -- . / -.. . -. .. .- .-..

The dull, throbbing pain in his head was the first thing Taranza noticed when he woke up. The second was that Magolor was still gently holding him. It was darker than normal. The cave was no longer illuminated by the starlight. “Huh…?”

Magolor looked down at his face. “Ah. You’re up. If you’re wondering about the light, I carried you deeper into the cave so that people outside wouldn’t be able to tell we’re here. It might have been unnecessary, but whatever was causing all the havoc out there might have eyes. I don’t want it to find us.”

The beeping had stopped altogether by now, but Taranza still felt dizzy. “I still don’t feel too good…”

Magolor caressed the part of Taranza’s head that the rock had hit. “That’s perfectly fine. I’ll stay with you.”

“For as long as I need you?”

He giggled. “What, do I look like I settle for the bare minimum?”

Taranza felt like he could melt in his hands. He massaged his aching head, then checked the surroundings. Deeper in the cave, it went down. Way down. Looking at it made his stomach flip. “Hrk. Ungh, could you move? I feel kind of nauseous.”

“Oh, sounds like a concussion. That’s not good.” 

As Taranza closed his eyes and turned his head to look down the chasm, Magolor gently rubbed his back. After a few moments of nothing happening, Taranza emptied the contents of his stomach. Approximately fifteen seconds later, he heard the sound of it hitting the bottom. “Nnnnh…”

“Yeah, that seals it. I can’t leave you in here by yourself. You’re unwell.” Magolor guided him away from the edge of the chasm.

“Good thing neither of my contacts fell out in there. I’d be at least half blind for the rest of my life.” Taranza chuckled weakly.

“You wear contacts? I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned that before.”

“Been wearing them since I was five. Before then, I could barely see at all.” He blinked a few times, then grinned. “I’m glad I was given those, because without them I would never be able to see your face.”

Magolor leaned against the wall opposite Taranza. “I can tell what you’re fishing for, and I’ll have to ask you to drink some water or something first. Especially after everything that just happened.”

- .- .-. .- -. --.. .- / .. ... / .... .- ...- .. -. --. / .- / -. --- - / ...- . .-. -.-- / --. --- --- -.. / -.. .- -.--

Daroach got up and dusted himself off. “I’m tired of waiting. I’m going to get Magolor and Taranza, and then we’re going to do something about all this.”

Adeleine grabbed one of his hands and tried to pull him away from the cave entrance. “You can’t! You’ll die!”

“No. I won’t.” Daroach wrenched his hand free, and then made for the small exit at the top of the rock pile. “I’ll come back. I swear.” He flitted out of the cave, only for the others’ worries to be immediately drowned out by beeping. An explosion rang out.

Dark Meta Knight got up as well. “I refuse to stay here with all of you. I’ll fucking follow him.” He swiftly jumped through the gap with surprising accuracy, considering his warped perception of space. The explosions sped up.

Chapter Text

“Now is not the time to be doing a jig.” Dark Meta Knight called from the rock pile.

Daroach twirled and strafed away from the projectiles that were being launched at him. “You underestimate my arcade dance machine addiction.”

“You underestimate my capacity for violence. Didn’t you want to go get those two annoying gay wizards? Stop trying to dance when the brain scrambler is on.” It was now firing multiple projectiles at once, each blasting away a chunk of terrain. He ran to Daroach, grabbed him by the cape, and started running. 

Daroach quickened his pace to keep up. Despite them thinking they were running in a straight line, the warped perception of reality made them actually run in a pattern that was erratic and unpredictable, as if they regularly listened to jazz music. 

One misstep by Dark Meta Knight pulled them both into a pit. “Agh! Take cover!” Daroach pulled him into a crevice in the side of the pit. After a few seconds, it seemed they were safe for the time being. “You okay? You fell pretty hard.”

Dark Meta Knight contorted as he tried to get into a more comfortable position. “I am perfectly- guh, perfectly fine. I worry more for your sanity for coming out here just to find those two. Why do you care about them? What have they done for you?”

“They’re my friends. Magolor in particular is almost like a brother to me. I’m sure you understand that, right?” As he talked, Daroach lowered himself to set up a rock under Dark Meta Knight’s injured foot.

“I do not. What is it about that malicious mage menace that makes you want to do something so stupid? I couldn’t possibly imagine undertaking such reckless actions for the sake of another.”

“You followed me out here, didn’t you? I’d say that’s even more stupid. I’m only one guy, at least I was going after two of ‘em.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Touche. But Magolor is quite… abnormal, even among the rest of the insufferable ingrates you surround yourself with. What drives you to want to save him?”

Daroach turned his head, amusement plain on his face. “You’re skating around your thoughts more than I thought you could. What, are you afraid of him? You think he’ll find you if you insult him directly and crumple you like an empty soda can?”

“Shut the fuck up.” He shot Daroach a glare, which didn’t phase him. “If I killed you right now, would it wipe the infuriating smirk off your face?”

“Nope.”

..-. .-.. .- ... .... -... .- -.-. -.- / - .. -- . / .-.. ..-. --.

“So, before we do anything, we need to have a general idea of the layout of that huge ship up there. So, the idea I have is that we strap a video camera to Spinni and have him run though as much of the area as fast as possible. The footage gets sent to Doc in real time, and he drafts up a map of the place. Then we bust in and grab every valuable thing we can find.” Daroach turned away from the window to look between the other three in the small room. “Thoughts?”

Doc wiped his glasses. “I fail to see why the map is necessary for your ‘bust in and grab everything’ approach.”

“I meant to specify that we apply that approach to the important places and not the stupid places. Sorry for not making that clear.”

“Ah. No objections, then. Do you have a camera on you?”

Daroach pulled a small video camera out of his cape. “Here it is.”

“Ah, boss? I kinda broke that one the other day.” Storo spoke up. “I was trying to film a cool moth I saw, and I pressed the record button a little too hard.”

Daroach set the camera on the table. “...Okay… Then how about we  try something else?” As soon as he finished the sentence, A bright light started shining outside the window. He looked outside, and saw a white and blue ship descending from the sky and roughly landing near the small building they were in. “Um. Alright. I’ll go check that out. You all stay here, it might be dangerous. Try to come up with something while I’m gone.”

He stepped out of the door and began making his way to the ship. It didn’t seem to be too damaged, but anyone inside would likely not be in a good state. “Hello? Is anyone in there? If you’re awake, say something.” He saw a ramp extend out of the hull, revealing the interior. It was strangely inviting. Slowly, cautiously, he tiptoed inside, completely silent. The inside of the ship was seemingly created by a kind of technology that was completely foreign to Daroach. There was a large monitor next to the entrance. Underneath the monitor was a console lit up with rainbow lights. On top of the console was a person. He was unconscious. He had large ears, a blue hood, a white scarf, faded yellow gloves, a brown face, a white cape, and a round body. He was about two thirds the size of Daroach. Daroach approached him, preparing to try and wake him up.

“Stop.” The voice came from above the monitor. “Do not touch him.”

“Huh?” He looked up. “Who said that?” There was no response. He backed away from the unconscious person with his head on the console. He looked around the rest of the room, seeing several other doors. One seemed to go to a living space of some kind, the other two going to some kind of activity rooms. He turned his attention back to the guy on the console. “Hey. Are you okay?” He didn’t move. “Uh, whoever it was that spoke earlier, could you help him? He might be injured.” 

“Nnnh…” The guy groaned. He shifted slightly.

Daroach bent down to get a better look at him. “Oh? Are you waking up?”

He slowly opened his bright yellow eyes. He blinked a few times, as if he hadn’t quite processed the new face onboard the ship. “Wha?” He snapped to attention, recoiling away from Daroach. “How long have you been here?”

“About a minute or two. Are you okay? You look like you had a pretty rough landing.” He extended a hand to him, who seemed a little panicked.

He closed his eyes, shook his head, then opened them again. “Aside from the unconsciousness, I’m doing just fine!” He grasped Daroach's hand and shook it. “Hi there. My name is Magolor. And you are?” It was as if he had slipped on a mask of composure, unwilling to show what lay beneath.

“Daroach. It’s nice to meet you.” As he looked into his eyes, Daroach could tell what kind of person Magolor was. One who hides behind a sociable facade to avoid seeming weak or vulnerable. One who had likely made a lot of mistakes in his life. Looking at him was like looking in a twisted, warped mirror that reflected a shadow of the observer’s soul.

“Oh! I think I’ve heard of you!” Magolor let go of his hand. “Do you know Kirby? I think I remember him telling me about you.” 

“Ah, him. Yes, I know him. Haven’t heard from him in a while though, last time we spoke he was talking about some big plant or something. Would I have heard of you?”

“Hmmmm… Probably not.” 

He doesn’t seem very confident about that one. “Well, Magolor, what brings you here? …Not to the ship, it’s yours after all, I meant this planet. The only things here are me, the ship I use, and…” He stepped out of the door and gestured to the thing that was casting an enormous shadow over them. “That. It showed up and started sapping all of the natural resources out of the planet. A pink haired girl is going around, talking about how it’s for the ‘Noble Haltmann’, whoever that is.”

Magolor sighed deeply. “I was worried about that. I really thought maybe she would have improved…”

“You know her?” 

“From when we were kids. We weren’t exactly the best of friends, but she was one of the only ones I had. Makes me a little sad that she’s now destroying ecosystems.”

Daroach processed the information for a moment. Somehow, I’m entirely convinced what he’s saying is true. Maybe, this could be an opportunity. He seems troubled. Perhaps he’d like the company. “You know, I’m actually working on something that might stop this whole thing. …Well, maybe not that. What I mean is-”

“You’re going to break into that spaceship and rob them, aren’t you?”

Daroach recoiled, then smirked. “Hit the nail on the head. Nice guesswork.”

Magolor pretended to ponder the idea, then nodded surprisingly enthusiastically. “Yeah. I can help you with that. Need a double agent?”

Three days later, Daroach was standing over Magolor. He was laid out on a couch, wrapped in a yellow blanket. I’d rather not freak him out by being here when he wakes up. He stepped out of the small room, giving a nod to the three who were eating lunch in the neighbouring room. Through the window, he saw Magolor stir. He sat down next to the door and waited. The door flew open a minute later. Magolor, slightly wild-eyed, relaxed slightly when he saw Daroach. “Oh, good, uh, morning? Afternoon? I’m not quite sure. What happened?”

“You snuck in somewhere you shouldn’t have and got knocked out by a big ice cream cone. You’d probably still be there if Storo didn’t see you.”

He shuddered. “Oh. Ohhhhh… ummm…”

Daroach looked at him with all the sympathy he could muster. “You seem overwhelmed. Do you want to go back to the Lor? Or just rest in that room for a bit?”

Magolor looked around at his surroundings. He spoke in a strangled voice. “Uh. The- the first one.” He left much more quickly than was natural.

-.. .- -.. .-. --- .- -.-. .... / .. -. ... - .. -. -.-. - ... / .- -.-. - .. ...- .- - .

“So what? He has high emotional walls? Who cares?” 

“I don’t imagine you can really understand this part, but people like that usually feel like they can’t rely on anyone. Whenever I see someone like that, I feel like I need to give them someone they can trust, be it me or someone else. I know he has Taranza now, but I can’t just turn my back on him. That’s just not cool. Besides, I genuinely value him as a friend. He’s helped me out of my fair share of binds himself, too.” Daroach cocked his head, trying to hear what was going on outside. “You know, I think we can go now. Let’s try to get back to them. Is your foot okay?”

“I am perfectly fine. Let’s get moving.” They hauled themselves out of the pit and ran as fast as they could in the direction of the cave Taranza had brought Magolor to. While they were running, the beeping and the projectiles started again. Dark Meta Knight occasionally stumbled on a rock, but Daroach wouldn’t let him stay down. “I can run by myself, you know.”

“Sure you can.”

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“It’s getting closer.” Magolor listened to the ever increasing volume of the explosions. “You stay here. I’m just gonna have a quick look, I promise I’ll be right back.” He gave Taranza a resolute nod and dashed to the entrance of the cave. Right then, a huge amount of rocks came tumbling down the side of the mountain. He couldn’t exactly make out who it was that was at the bottom, but he hoped they were okay. They seemed to be stuck under the rocks. 

“What was that?” Taranza called from the back of the cave.

“Rockslide. Looks like two people got stuck under it.” Right then, one of them moved. They were running toward Magolor, getting closer and closer. Projectiles he couldn’t identify rained down around them as they ran. When the person got close enough, Magolor positively identified them as Dark Meta Knight. “Oh, hey. What brings you here? Feel like bringing up traumatic memories again?”

“Shut the fuck up! That dumbass rat got stuck under a rock and can’t move! You owe him this help!” He turned around immediately and ran for the rockslide.

Magolor turned around. “Taranza, stay safe.” He then moved as fast as he could in the direction of the rocks. 

The two of them managed to get the big rock off of Daroach. Magolor hefted him onto his back and made way back to the cave. Dark Meta Knight snapped at him. “You’re moving too slow! Let me carry him!” Without even waiting for a response, He grabbed the unconscious thief off of Magolor. 

“Hey! Watch it-” Magolor turned to chide Dark Meta Knight for his rude approach. It was only then he actually saw what was attacking them. He froze in shock.

“You fucking idiot! What are you doing?!?” Dark Meta Knight shrieked. “You’re gonna get shot!”

Magolor didn’t respond. He could only stare, horrified. “Wh…” That small sound was the only one he could get out before the Lor Starcutter hit him square in the face with a star-shaped bullet.

Chapter Text

Taranza couldn’t help but go to the cave entrance. He had to know what was happening. He saw Dark Meta Knight, moving as fast as he could. Daroach was draped over his head, and he was dragging Magolor behind him. “What did you do to them?!?”

He skillfully scaled the side of the mountain and landed on his feet in front of Taranza. He practically threw Magolor into his hands, then dashed as far back into the cave as he could go with Daroach. “I saved them, asshole. Say thank you.”

Taranza, gently cradling Magolor, followed him. He sat down across from Dark Meta Knight, his nerves going crazy. “What happened out there? Why are these two unconscious? What’s the thing that’s out there? Is it Scary Phone Guy?”

“I sure fucking hope not.” He set Daroach down flat on the cave floor. “Because it’s his weird flying boat thing.”

“Huh?” Taranza was almost shocked enough to let go of Magolor. Almost. “The Lor Starcutter? Why would she do that?”

“Why would I know?” He averted his eyes, looking to the entrance.

They spent the next few minutes sitting across from each other, not making eye contact. Before long, Daroach was waking up. He looked at one of them, then the other. “Glad you made it up here, DMK. And good  job not getting killed by Taranza.” He tried to move his hand. “Grk-angh- khhhhhhh. Ow. Ow. My bones.”

“I wouldn’t have killed him!” Taranza retorted.

“You mean couldn’t. You couldn’t have-”

Dark Meta Knight was cut off by Daroach. “Yes he could.”

“Shut up, you’re broken.”

Taranza set Magolor down next to him, and tried to move Daroach into a better position. “Can you not move at all?”

“Ugh, no. Well, maybe I can, but it hurts like a bitch. I hate it here.”

Dark Meta Knight groaned loudly. “Well, now what do we do? We’re stuck in a cave, two of us are injured,”

“Three.” Taranza said flatly.

“And we’re being attacked by a ship that can move faster and hit harder than any of us combined.” The other two wearily shook their heads.

Magolor stirred, then his body started shaking. It was probably involuntary. One of his eyes opened. Taranza took notice, forcing a smile. “Hi. Are you hurt?” In response, Magolor nodded slightly.

“So, is there nothing we can do?” Daroach slumped even deeper.

Magolor squeezed his eyes shut tight. “I don’t believe it. Why would the Lor be attacking us?”

“It’s a heartless machine. No way it gives a fuck about reasoning.”

“Why don’t you shut up?” Taranza snapped at Dark Meta Knight. “The Lor Starcutter may look like just a ship on the surface, but she has a real heart! She wouldn’t be doing this to us unless there’s something else happening!”

“Ranz, calm down. I’m as sure as anyone else that the Lor is being controlled by something. The problem is, we don’t exactly have a reasonable way of stopping her.” Magolor spoke quietly, likely due to his injury. “The only thing I can think of is that the explosive from the video Sailor showed me was never an explosive at all. It’s a control device attached to the side of her hull.” 

Daroach put his head in his hands. “So what? We die? Is that it?”

“This shit’s getting annoying again.” Dark Meta Knight stood up and made way for the cave entrance. “I’ll handle it.”

Daroach twisted awkwardly to look at him. “What are you gonna do?”

“I’ll. Handle. It.” He stepped out of the cave, and the sound of the Lor firing star-shaped bullets resumed. They didn’t see him again after that.

.. ... / -... .-. --- / -.. . .- -.. ..--.. ..--.. ..--..

Ribbon looked around nervously. “Guys, I’m really worried. We haven’t heard from Daroach in far too long. What if he’s hurt?”

Meta Knight took a long, deep breath. “I can no longer advise staying here. We have to do something about the Starcutter before we die of thirst or something similar.” He immediately started hauling rocks away from the entrance, steps uneven because of the beeping warping his vision.

Sailor Dee ran to him. “Hey, stop that! Do you even have a plan?”

Flamberge glared at him. “Don’t you still have that gun thing?”

“What is a sleeping drug supposed to do to a FLYING BOAT?”

Marx snickered. “Obviously, it’s supposed to put it to sleep.”

“Shut up, Marx.” Adeleine, Zan Partizanne, Susie, and Kine groaned.

“Regardless of the fact that we have no plan, or hope of survival, we must go out and fight regardless. Because certain death is a preferable outcome to certain death.” After that alarmingly hopeless line, Meta Knight knocked over a lot more rocks and ran out of the cave.

Everyone else steeled their nerves and prepared to follow. Sailor Dee flailed around frantically. “You can’t! You’ll die!”

“We don’t have a choice.” Dedede ran out of the cave. The others followed, leaving no one in the cave but Sailor Dee and Kine, who probably would have gone if he wasn’t in a fishtank.

“Why aren’t you following them?” Kine asked.

“Are you insane? I’ll get killed! There isn’t even anything I can do!”

Outside, The fifteen of them were spread out decently far, causing the Lor to start firing three shots at once in a spread pattern. No one had a plan other than to see if they could get the Lor to come closer, which didn’t work. 

It wasn’t long before an awkward step caused one of Adeleine’s arms to be hit by a stray bullet. Bandee took notice and ran to her, ushering her back into the cave. 

Marx, Elfilin, Meta Knight, and Ribbon tried flying closer, but Meta Knight and Marx backed off after Elfilin and Ribbon were caught in a gust of wind generated from the mast. They were thrown backwards into some rocks. Zan Partizanne picked them up and put them in the cave.

Kirby and King Dedede ran to the top of a mountain and started throwing rocks as hard as they could, but only Dedede could get them all that close. It definitely wasn’t working, though.

Things continued in this manner, people dropping like flies, Bandee, Francisca, Gooey, Rick, Flamberge, until Dark Meta Knight showed up. “Hey! Bastards! There’s a weird machine thing attached to the side of the hull! If you destroy that, it’ll stop!” Immediately after saying that, He started flying closer to the Lor. A few people heard him, and focused their attention, trying to get a better look at it. While they were doing so, Dark Meta Knight was knocked out of the sky by the Lor. 

The distraction caused multiple others to be hit as well. Dedede and Meta Knight dragged them all back to the cave. Sailor Dee looked about ready to jump out of his skin with the pile of bodies around him. “This is insane! Why are we doing this?”

“Our choices are fighting and waiting. I’d much rather fight.” 

Dedede ignored Meta Knight’s response and delivered the word to Sailor Dee. “We’re trying to get at a machine thing attached to the side and break it. If we can just pull that off, we’ll be home free.”

Sailor Dee pondered for a brief moment before peeking out of the cave. “Okay. I think I know what we need to do.” There was no hiding the terror in his voice. He turned to King Dedede. “Throw me.”

-... .-. --- / .-- .- ... / -. --- - / -.. . .- -..

“I hope they’re okay…” Taranza said, listening to the sounds of the explosions in the background. “Is there anything we can do?”

Magolor shakily got up. “If she’s being controlled by Scary Phone Guy, then she’ll hate me enough to target me. I’ll be the bait.” 

Taranza grabbed him before he could leave. “Don’t do that! That’s suicide!”

Magolor’s face tensed as he looked down at the floor. “Not if I live, it won’t be. You have to stay here.” He gestured to Daroach. “You need to take care of this idiot.” He put on a coy smile and left. As he scaled the mountain above the cave entrance, he called out. “Hey, jackass! Come and get me!” As he reached the top, he began zooming across the landscape, ignoring the bullets growing ever louder and the excruciating pain. 

Inside the cave, Taranza was looking between the entrance and Daroach. Daroach took no time at all to say, “What are you doing? Follow him! I’m not going anywhere!”

“Right!” Taranza quickly rushed out of the cave. As he crested the mountain, he saw Magolor dashing through the valley on the other side. He started making his way down the side of the mountain.

Magolor noticed him, and called out. “RANZ, WHY ARE YOU HERE? I TOLD YOU TO STAY!”

“I’M SORRY, I COULDN’T LET YOU DO THIS!” He was going to continue, but he realized the Lor had stopped firing. “What?” 

“RANZ, THE ROCKS!” Magolor was charging toward him.

A single shot was fired from the Lor. It struck Taranza’s abdomen, knocking him against the side of the mountain. Shortly after, the rocks came down. Taranza heard a sharp crack, like a branch had been snapped. Then he realized that he was being flattened by rocks. The source of the crack was his left horn partially snapping off. The pain hit him later, as if he wasn’t quite ready to register it before. “GggGGGGggGGgGgggggGGGGRRRRRRrrrrrrRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”

“TARANZAAA!!” Magolor sped up, his aching muscles and bones like footnotes. He had to reach him. He had to make sure he was alive. 

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Dedede wound up and threw him as hard as he could. Sailor Dee held on to his hat as he hurtled toward the Lor. Just before he flew past it, he caught the edge of the sail. She tried to blow him off, but he held on tight. He inched his way down the sail, eventually reaching the mast. 

The Lor occasionally detached her oars and tried to slice him with them, occasionally leaving a gash on his back. He made his way onto the deck, still holding onto the mast. Think. Think. What do I do here? I need to break that device on the side of the ship. He reinvisioned the video, trying to think about where specifically the device is.

Okay, okay, focus. Calm down. I need to get over there. Focus. The others are still in danger. The oars raised again. Sailor Dee took a deep breath as he became even more fatigued. This is it. All the marbles. Do or die. As they came towards him, Sailor Dee grabbed hold of one of the oars, and let it carry him to the side of the hull. While clinging to the oar, he pulled the dart gun out of his hat. The cap fell off his head. There looked to be some kind of cover on the machine. 

While holding onto the oar in one hand, he cocked the dart gun in the other. Aiming for the crack between the cover and the rest of the metal box, he fired. The dart whizzed past the box completely. He had to come up with a better plan than this. Since the Lor couldn’t hit him with the oar he was clinging to, it opted to try with the two that were behind him. He swung off the oar he was on and grabbed hold of another before jumping off and just barely landing on the control device. 

He held on to the front and examined the cover. It was held on with four screws. I can use the tail of the darts to pick these off, and I think I’ll be able to avoid or survive attacks, but it’ll take a while. He pulled a dart out and stuck the tail into the head of the screw.

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Magolor frantically searched through the rock pile amidst the Lor’s bullets. “Taranza! TARANZA! Please answer me if you’re conscious! Please! You can’t be dead! If I lost you, I… I… Where are you, Ranz?!” He continued searching until he found something wedged between several rocks. A small, hard, brown object. No, not an object. It was so much more than that. It was a piece of one of Taranza’s horns. The tip, to be precise. It was at that moment he realized it would be best to leave. If Taranza was alive, it was best to direct the Lor away from him. “Please, please be okay…” He fought through the physical and emotional pain to start fleeing. He made sure to hold on to the broken horn.

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Sailor Dee was now more aware than ever of the amount of blood he was losing from the cuts he got from the oars. His hands were going numb. He put the dart tail into the last screw and started twisting.

As soon as the screw fell out of the socket, the cover fell with it, falling somewhere on the ground far below. In the very next moment, he let out a sigh of relief so deep, he didn’t notice the oar.

It hit him clean in the side of the head, causing him to lose his hat and dart gun. As he lost his grip and fell, it occurred to him that he should be screaming. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!”

His landing was unexpectedly soft, but he lost himself to the inky black abyss of unconsciousness as soon as he made it.

.. ... / -... .-. -....-

Magolor’s movements were uneven, as if he actually had legs and they weren’t happy. He kept moving farther and farther away. Suddenly, he noticed something on the ground. Sailor Dee’s dart gun. He had seen him fly off the Lor bringing a piece of the controller with him, did that mean it was now vulnerable? He picked up the gun, loaded a dart into it, and fired towards the controller. He missed. 

The Lor started flying far away to shoot him from a distance, so Magolor kicked into high gear, ignoring the fatigue that was coursing through his entire body. He wormed his way through a crevice in a rock wall for a shortcut. Right when he was about to get stuck, the Lor attacked the terrain, trapping him in the crevice. He could get out, but it would take some time- time he didn’t have. She readied a single oar and pointed it at his face. At the same time, Magolor got the gun out of his robe and was pulling the trigger. The oar moved. The sharp edge careened towards his waiting face. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t block. The only reason he survived…

Was because it didn’t reach him.

Daroach lay on the ground next to the crevice, blood pouring out of his torso and hands. “Daroach!” Magolor scrambled out of the crevice, and saw that the dart had indeed hit the exposed controller. It was unclear if it worked. He grabbed him and shook him awake. “You dumbass! Why did you do that? You could’ve died!”

“Kheh, heh, heheh,” His voice was strangled, as if he was trying to speak past something in his throat. “Not if I lived, I wouldn’t have.” His eyes slowly closed. When Magolor looked up at the Lor, he saw another oar detach itself from the hull and ready itself to attack.

.. ... -....-

Dedede set Sailor Dee down in the cave, far enough away from the others that they wouldn’t be sitting in fluids that were supposed to stay inside. “No one’s dead, right? We’re all alive?”

Marx groaned. “Where’s Magolor? And those other two?”

Meta Knight shook his head. “We don’t know. But hopefully, they’ll get to us soon enough-” He was interrupted by a loud sound. “A moment.” 

When he stepped out, he saw the Lor Starcutter- grounded. The door opened. On the other side was a very tired and sad-looking Magolor. “Get on. Daroach is here, but he’s not okay. Taranza got caught in a rock slide.” He delivered their statuses completely monotone, as if he had shut down. 

Once everyone had boarded the ship, they flew over to the rocks that had fallen. The few people who were well enough to do manual labour picked it apart. Magolor probably should have been resting, but he couldn’t have lived with himself if he wasn’t looking. Susie motioned them to come over. “I found him. Tarzan’s over here.” 

Magolor considered wringing her neck for getting his name wrong, but more important was confirming Taranza’s status. Everyone who could move was in a circle above him. Magolor picked him up, sobbing. He laid his head on top of Taranza, feeling whatever remained of his warmth, his heartbeat, his heartbeat? HIS HEARTBEAT! He tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t form. Bandee said what was on his mind, as life returned to Magolor’s eyes. “He’s alive.”

Chapter Text

Magolor carried Taranza into the Captain’s Quarters of the Lor and laid him on the bed. Daroach was sprawled on the couch in the study next to Sailor Dee. None of them were awake. Most of the others were injured, although nowhere near as severely. After the Lor verified that they would all survive, Magolor dragged himself into the Captain’s Quarters and collapsed on the floor. He remained there for a very, very long time. Or at least, it felt like it. He let the pain overtake him, and quietly sobbed into the carpet. 

He was home. He never thought he’d be back home like this, but he was home. They had a free ride back to Popstar. That meant it was the end.

No it wasn’t.

Of course this wasn’t the end yet. After all…

The worst had yet to come.

They had all agreed to take a day or two for the more mildly injured to recover before going back, but after everyone had a pleasant nap on the cold, hard floor, some were ready to finally call their loved ones back on Popstar. 

Meta Knight called the Halberd. No response. He called Axe Knight. Nothing. He called Captain Vul. Nothing. He called Javelin Knight. Nope. None of the crew was picking up. Neither were any of the waddle dees at Dedede’s castle. The same was true of the Squeaks. The Lor displayed a sad face on her monitor. “It seems they do not like you anymore.”

Zan Partizanne was grumbling in the corner of the room. “We get an overnight stay in the jamn Lor Starcutter- The one and only Lor Starcutter, and we’re not even allowed to explore. This is stupid. I want to go in there and give that deceptive egg a piece of my mind.”

The Lor played an extremely loud buzzer sound, like when someone gets a wrong answer on a quiz show. “You may not.”

Francisca giggled, then whispered to Flamberge. “Ancient holy vessels have a surprising amount of attitude. Maybe that’s why the egg’s… like that. He’s been living with this.”

“I can still hear you.” The Lor interjected. As Magolor opened the door to the Captain’s Quarters and came out, she began going on a tirade. “And I’ll have you know, anything he may have gotten from me was a much better alternative to the things that happened to him beforehand!”

Magolor clapped his hands. “O-kayyyyy, let’s get off this topic now.”

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Taranza winced in pain. “Ngh… ow. Owww…” He looked around and saw that he was in a securely guarded hospital room, heavily bandaged. His head was throbbing, his torso ached, his gloves had blue blotches on them, likely from his blood. Then everything came back to him. The chase through the garden, the frequent pleas from Sectonia to stop, the gambit from that dangerous criminal, and the long fall down from the top floor of the prison. After the memories came the immediate rush of regret.

The guards stepped aside as Sectonia entered the room, looking furious. “Taranza! What were you thinking? You could have died!”

“I’m sorry…” Taranza almost immediately started crying. 

“How many times did I tell you that it was way too dangerous for you to try and stop him? You’re a fool and an idiot! Why didn’t you listen?”

“I…” Taranza tried to apologize harder, but he was crying too hard.

“You need to listen to me when I tell you things!”

Taranza couldn’t respond. He tried to apologize, or to say something in his defense, but it came out as an incoherent babble.

Sectonia continued her tirade. “This is exactly why I never let you do anything without my knowledge! You can be so incompetent when left unsupervised!” At that, Taranza could almost hear the guards wincing.

He just nodded. I am incompetent. I am stupid. She’s right. I should just listen. Do what I’m told. She knows better. So, so, much better.

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Magolor pulled the broken piece of Taranza’s horn out of his clothes. He approached the sleeping Taranza on his bed and tried fitting the broken piece where it broke off. When he looked at the stump, he saw something.

It was something metallic. He hesitantly brushed his hand on it. It was stuck in there pretty good. The other half of the horn fit around it nearly perfectly. He pulled the thing out of his horn. It looked like a chip of some kind. Pulling it out didn’t seem to hurt Taranza any more than he already was, but examining it closely didn’t yield any results. He slid open a panel on the wall behind the bed, and put the piece of metal inside. It was quickly moved away as the panel closed. Magolor left and made his way back to the main room, where several people were absentmindedly picking at their breakfast. Since this may have been something private, Magolor went into the closet to hear the Lor’s analysis.

“So, what is this thing?” He asked.

“First of all, there are nineteen nearly identical objects on board. For another, there is a microphone on this chip that’s designed to react to a specific sound. Would you like to hear it, captain?”

Magolor nodded earnestly. “Please.”

“At once.” Magolor put on a pair of headphones in the corner of the closet, and they almost immediately started emitting the beeping sound. Immediately disoriented, he took them off. “DoesthissoundfamiliarCaptain?”

Magolor, losing his sense of spatial awareness, blinked repeatedly. “Whuh? Huh?” Should’ve known. This was the cause of the disorientation.

“Captainareyoualright? …Ah.” She slowed her speech. “Captain?”

Magolor peeked out of the closet at the six or seven others in the immediate vicinity. Then he closed the door. “Can you lock that, please?”

“At once.” The door clicked.

Magolor immediately removed his hood and examined the inside. Nothing. He ran his hands over every part of his body. He couldn’t find it. There had to be one of those chip things planted on him somewhere, but he couldn’t find it. Figuring it was just a product of his mind warping, he waited until he got a more concrete sense of reality.

“Okay. Why don’t I have one of these?” Magolor rummaged through his hood again.

“But you do.” The Lor printed out a scan. The sheet of paper slid out of a slit in the wall and drifted to the floor.

Magolor picked it up and took a long look at it. “Oh. Oh ancients, no.”

“Unfortunately, yes. That is where it is. Do you… have any thoughts?”

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Sailor Dee finally opened his eyes. He was on the couch in a room that looked like a small library. Next to him was Daroach, covered in bandages. He was enjoying a salad. He tried to get off the couch, but was gripped by excruciating pain. “Ngh.” 

Daroach turned his head. “Ah. Welcome back, Sailor. I’m feeling well enough to walk around, so I’ll leave you alone.” He got up and slowly limped out through the door. 

As Sailor Dee mentally adjusted to this much more calming atmosphere, he noticed some things about the room that were just odd. The shelves were packed with impressive-looking academic books, some fiction books that he thought looked a little familiar, and some pieces of paper crammed amongst them all. He reached and pulled a few of the ones closest to him off the shelf. There were notes, drawings, and significantly more crude drawings. 

One of them was of a white birdlike creature with a spherical body. It looked like it was laughing maniacally. Another was of a blue robot, kindly offering a cup of noodles. Judging from the artstyle, this one was one of the oldest drawings. There was a drawing of Marx with his back turned, flying away from the viewer. The other drawings were of the Lor Starcutter, a strangely well-drawn dragon with four heads and a golden crown, and a fire sparking in an oven. They told some kind of story, but it was hard to tell what. The notes had names and concepts that were beyond him.

He put the papers back on the shelf. When he was done, he heard the door opening. Before he could see who had entered, he was wrapped in a firm, yet gentle hug. Even without being able to see them, he could tell who it was. He was released. He turned around and saw Meta Knight, expressionless as always. “Umm, hi. What’s going on?”

“I heard. You saved us. I suppose I should be thanking you.” Immediately after saying that, Meta Knight walked away.

“Hey! You’re just going to leave it at that?”

“...Was that not enough? Fine. Thank you. I am… grateful to you for saving my life. And, don’t tell him I said this, but I am grateful to Magolor as well. He caught your gun and used it to jam the machine.”

Sailor Dee felt some of the flush of life returning to his face. “So, you forgive me? You’re not mad at me?” 

“Correct. Bear in mind, however, that I rarely give second chances and never give thirds. So there will not be a repeat of the last several months, understand?” Meta Knight’s voice shook at those last two words. “Ah. Apologies. I was simply… overcome.”

“Oh, Sir Meta Knight… you must have been so worried…” 

“Mmh.” Meta Knight grunted, then sat down next to him on the couch. “I understand you may have some difficulty moving around. Would you like me to… ask someone to make you your favourite meal?” 

Sailor Dee brightened. “Yes, please. Thank you, Sir.”

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“Heyyyy, Bandee? Could you come in here, please?” Magolor poked his head out of the closet.

“Why does your hood have blood on it?” Bandee shuddered.

“That’s not a problem. Now hurry up and get in here.” He beckoned.

“Can I bring a witness?” They were getting more and more panicked.

Magolor grimaced. “I won’t stop you, but for their sake, you probably shouldn’t…” A thought struck him. “Actually, first, can you just pass me your bandana? I’ll give it back when I’m done.”

“Done WHAT?”

“I just want to look at it.” Bandee reluctantly gave him the bandana. He examined it thoroughly, then gave it back. “As I thought. Get in.” His voice took a commanding tone, and he ushered them into the closet.

“What exactly is about to happen here?”

“Relax.” That incredibly vague non-explanation was all he said before steadying them with one hand. His grip was surprisingly strong. 

They did their best to relax, when they felt something being applied to the side of their head. Then it started to sting. “Ow! What is that?” They got no answer, and instead started feeling unnatural tension around that part of their head. Soon after that, the tension eased, and they were aware of something happening that they couldn’t see, but it wasn’t clear what it was.

“Aaaaannnnnd, done.” Magolor called in a singsong voice. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

They felt slightly dizzy. “I’m… still not even sure what you did.”

Magolor pulled down the side of their bandana so it looked lopsided. “Let’s just say I solved a major problem for you. … Rest for a few hours.”

“Um, okay…” They walked to the door and opened it.

“Captain, I believe you should be checking on Taranza now. We can continue this later, yes?” The Lor spoke up for the first time in several minutes. “He’ll need your help, he’s very injured.”

“Right.” Magolor locked the door, changed into an extra outfit, put his original clothes in the washing machine, and entered the Captain’s quarters. He approached the bed Taranza lay in, and felt himself overcome with emotion looking at him. He kissed him on the cheek, then reattached the broken horn. The rise and fall of Taranza’s breathing soothed Magolor in a way very little else could. “I’m so glad you’re okay…” He gently climbed into the bed and hugged him, taking care not to hurt him when he was in such a delicate state. Tears appeared in his eyes.

He heard a voice from next to him. “Mag…? Magolor?” 

“Oh, you’re awake!” Magolor picked his head up. “Great news. We’re safe! We’re gonna be okay! We can go home!”

Taranza looked into his eyes. He’s… not mad? “You’re not mad?” 

“Of course not. I’m just really happy that you’re going to be okay. Um, don’t move around too much. You’re hurt pretty badly.”

It took until now for him to realize where he was. Magolor had brought him here. This was his bed. “Really?” Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. “We can go home?”

Magolor wiped the tears from his own face. “Well…” He paused mid sentence to kiss him, gazing fondly into his eyes. “I’m already here.”

Chapter Text

Magolor opened his eyes. That meant he had closed them. He was still in the Captain’s Quarters, and Taranza was holding him. “Mm, what happened? Did I fall asleep?”

“Yeah. You were really tired from all the hard work you’ve been doing around here.” Taranza squeezed him. “From how I remember it, you saw me smile and just collapsed.”

“Haha… I guess you’re my weakness.”

“Really?” Taranza tilted his head forward and kissed Magolor’s forehead. “I don’t think it’s a weakness to know when to take a break. Really, I’m more like your strength. I activate your self care instincts. And…” He kissed him again. “I care for you, too. I love you. I love you so much.”

Magolor snuggled closer to Taranza, somehow. “I love you too.” He tried pulling away. “Can I go back to keeping things together?”

“Mmmm… no. I can’t let you do that. You’re too overworked. Besides, I’m supposed to be healing. I need my emotional support partner here.”

Magolor feigned struggling, then quieted down. “I never should have let you know that you could do that without pissing me off.”

“Haha, yeah, that was a pretty big mistake.”

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The group spent another day recovering. By that evening, everyone seemed to be well fed, well rested, and ready to take on the world. Well, except for Sailor Dee, Daroach, and Taranza, who had sustained significantly worse injuries and needed more time. In the evening, Everyone other than the injured people had gathered in the main room. Magolor had taken Kirby, Elfilin, Gooey, Rick, Kine, and Coo into the closet, one at a time, to do… something. He had done the same for everyone else, but their experience, from what could be gathered, had no pain involved whatsoever.

Magolor entered the Captain’s Quarters, gave Taranza a hug, then pulled something out of his closet. He then left and headed to the study. “Hey, Daroach. I know it’s really getting you down that you can’t be with your family on your birthday, but I did get you something.” He pulled the red and white striped bag out from behind his back, setting it on the table. 

“Hm?” Daroach seemed to take a few seconds to notice Magolor was there. “Oh, thanks.” Before opening the bag, he blinked, then blinked again. “How did you know it was my birthday? I never told you that. I’ve never told anyone that. How the fuck did you know?”

Magolor giggled. “I figured it out.”

“Well, figure it back in!”

“Just open the bag.”

Daroach wiped a hand over his face. “Fine.” He picked the bag off the table and opened it. He pulled out what was inside. “...Oh.” He unraveled it. It was a royal blue raincoat with yellow lining around the hood and cuffs. “Wow. Where’d you get this?”

“Made it myself! Do you like it?” Magolor clasped his hands together.

Daroach strained to put it on. He winced, trying to push through the stiffening pain in his hands. He closed his eyes once it was fully on. “It’s really warm. What’s it made out of?” 

“Rat skin, why?” Daroach immediately started scrambling to take it off. “I’m kidding, it’s just the same thing my clothes are made of.” Magolor pulled out a pocket sized mirror. “See how you look!”

Daroach grasped the mirror, then stared into it for a few moments. “I look a lot like you.”

“And it’s the most handsome you’ve ever been!” Magolor snatched the mirror and put it away, patting Daroach on the back. “Do you like it?”

“Thanks, Magolor. I like it a lot.” Daroach leaned into the back of the couch, groaning. Once he had gotten the catharsis out of his system, he lowered his head. “Seriously, how did you know today was my birthday?”

“You’ll never take me alive!!” Magolor giggled, then bolted out of the study. Daroach wearily shook his head, a new smile on his face.

The night came. People started going to the menial comfort they could find to sleep on, be it a towel, a couch, a carpet, or King Dedede. People often had to share, which generally ended up with Susie or Dark Meta Knight being left on just the floor. For them, the Lor dispensed stale loaves of bread to sleep on. In the morning, Kirby set to wake the others.

Group consensus was that those who felt well enough to move about shouldn’t have to hold themselves back for the sake of the few who couldn’t. Magolor charted a course back to Popstar, which took the Lor an amazingly long time: Three minutes. The monitors showing the outside displayed the same beautiful landscapes they had all grown accustomed to, complete with the colourful autumn leaves. 

Kirby waved his hands excitedly. “Ooh! We skipped straight to autism!” 

Bandee nudged him from the side. “Autumn. We skipped to autumn.”

As the Lor came closer and closer to the ground, they started to notice something was off. They were fairly close to Castle Dedede. Susie spoke up here. “Hey, didn’t there used to be… people here?” 

Kine stared in confusion, which didn’t look at all different from his default expression. “I don’t think I like this, guys.”

Magolor clapped his hands. “Okay, here’s the idea. You guys go out there and see what’s the what, and I’ll hang back and take care of the injured people. They are in my home, after all.”

“Absolutely not.” Meta Knight said curtly. “There is no chance I’m leaving Sailor Dee in your care with no supervision.”

“Hm.” Magolor cast his eyes away from everyone else. “I see.” He turned back to Meta Knight, leveling him with a cold stare. “So, there’s nothing I can do, then? No matter what I do, you’ll never trust me?” 

“We don’t have time for this. Just let someone else stay. Keep…” He looked around at the others. Everyone else was either someone he didn’t believe would be able to stop Magolor from doing what he pleased, someone he didn’t want to leave out of exploring Popstar, or someone he also didn’t trust. “Never mind. Come with us. They’ll be fine on their own.”

“You’d rather leave them by themselves than with me?” Magolor smiled an agonized sort of smile. “I’m worse than nothing to you?”

Meta Knight sighed deeply. “Fine. Stay. But if you do anything, I will punt you back to that planet where you will rot.”

“Much obliged.” Magolor signaled for the Lor to open the door. He was none too happy. “Good luck, guys.”

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Kirby shook Magolor’s hand and led the other three out of the Lor. “Good luck repairing the inside, Magolor!” 

“You got it, Kirby.” Magolor set to fixing up the inside of the ship. As he was checking the monitor, he noticed someone in the reflection. He turned around. “Meta Knight! W-what are you still doing here?” He adjusted his scarf, and tried to change his demeanor. “I mean, the others are off to the ruins to get the right wing. Shouldn’t you be following them?”

“I’m dissatisfied with your story. I’d like to know more about you.”

“Oh. Um, okay.” Magolor poured himself a glass of water. 

Meta Knight didn’t move. “You came from the planet Halcandra, yes? How did you know to come here instead of going elsewhere?”

Magolor lightened up slightly. “Well, you could say I heard of the four of you before I got here. An… acquaintance of mine knew Kirby pretty well. I don’t want to talk about him, though. We don’t have the best relationship.”

“Hm. Very well.” Meta Knight was clearly already forming an idea in his mind. “And what of your own origins? I’ve researched fairly extensively, but have never heard of anyone who matches your physical attributes.”

“Ah, that?” Magolor nervously wrung his hands. “That’s probably a long story, but the short answer is that… I dunno. I lost my memory a while ago, and I haven’t gotten it back yet.”

“Yet you know your name.”

“Yes. Well, I think I do. My first memory is being asked and I just said the first thing that came to mind. Granted, I don’t think I completely lost it, as when I found the Lor, it felt like something clicked. Like I did something right. I’ve been spending a long time looking for my past, but the Lor here is the only time I’ve ever felt like I found something.”

Meta Knight nodded, then stepped closer to examine the console. “As far as I can tell, there’s no visual connection.”

“Can you please back away?” Meta Knight noticed then how visibly uncomfortable Magolor was. He stepped back instantly. “Thanks.”

Through this conversation, it seemed he had come to understand Magolor a little better, and he presently felt somewhat foolish for having doubts about this person who just seemed to be lost and confused. Judging from some of the various trinkets inside, it seemed they shared some common interests. Perhaps they’d make for good conversation starters. This moment was one that would replay in his mind every single time he spoke to Magolor from now on, always juxtaposed with what ended up happening later that week. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the Master Crown incident, but rather that he wished he didn’t.

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“Why no people?” Gooey dragged himself out of Castle Dedede. “Where they go?” He looked around the vicinity. “No dees…”

Coo flew up, scanning the landscape. He came back down. “How did they clear out the entire area without destroying anything?”

As they were about to manually comb through the entirety of Dream Land, Marx tapped Meta Knight on the back. “Hey. Can we talk?” 

“I don’t have time for your jokes.”

“No, seriously. It’s about earlier.” Marx walked into the nearby castle, looking back at Meta Knight expectantly.

“Fine.” He followed him. The others went looking without them. 

Inside, Marx stared him down. “You’re a real dick, you know that?”

“Are we really having this conversation?”

“No. Shut up. Let me talk. You’re awful at talking. I’m telling you now, you need to know when to shut up and say nothing instead of tactlessly insulting people because you’re too much of a child to move past problems that only you have. You haven’t been paying attention to how your stupid attitude affects the people you talk to. You aren’t encouraging Magolor to be better, you’re just making him feel like shit for no reason.”

He was probably going to continue, but Meta Knight stopped him. “I wasn’t trying to encourage anything, I was trying to-”

“Stop. You can’t tell me anything at this point that will convince me that you’re not either stupid, or just needlessly vindictive.”

“...”

“...”

“... Perhaps.”

.. / -- .- -.-- / -... . / ... - ..- .--. .. -..

Magolor was making soup in the kitchen, trying to calm himself down. Taranza slowly came in, touched his forehead against Magolor’s, and left. That helped. Once everyone around had eaten, Magolor went to the main room and just lay down. “Captain.” He tuned out the sound in his ear. “Captain.” He closed his eyes. “Captain!” He slowly opened them again, feeling annoyed. “Captain, get up. I have something to show you.”

“What is it?” He looked at the monitor. It was two images with dates attached. One was from the moment everyone boarded days prior. The other was from before everyone was kidnapped. The images showed the freezer in the Lor’s kitchen. “I don’t get it. What’s the problem here? Are you just trying to show me things I hate?” Tears formed in his eyes, and his hands started shaking. “Really? Now? You’re gonna do this now?”

“That is not what I mean. I understand that you’re not in the best mental state right now, and that’d be a… tasteless joke to make. Look closer.” The images enhanced, showing the gap between it and the refrigerator. 

“There’s… The dust… It’s. Gone. Someone opened it. Someone opened. The freezer. When there was no one inside. To open it.” After processing his own words, Magolor scrambled into the kitchen, knocking things over along the way. He reached the freezer, took a few deep breaths, then pulled it open. “What the…”

It was a cold sleep machine. It slid out along with the door. The inside of the freezer wasn’t even cold. As soon as the freezer opened, the monitor attached to the machine announced that the defrosting had started. 

“What? Why? Who’s in there?” Magolor tried to stop the defrosting. It didn’t work. He tried closing the freezer. It didn’t work. He stared at the pod. The clock ticked down. Fifteen minutes, then ten, then five. At this point, Magolor thought he could sort of see through the frosted glass. He squinted as hard as he could to try to apply a name to the blurry figure within. As soon as he figured it out, his eyes felt like they physically shrunk. “Fuck.”

He dashed back to the main room, he rapidly switched up a bunch of settings on the Lor, then entered the study. “Sailor Dee! Daroach! Can you walk?” They were both asleep. Magolor hoisted them onto his back, then bolted into the Captain’s Quarters, stuffed them into the closet as they woke up looking confused, then did the same with Taranza. He climbed in with them. “No one move, no one talk. If you do, we might die.”

Sailor Dee looked around, wild-eyed and panicked. “What? Why?”

“Shh. We can’t have long now.” Magolor tried to give the others what little comfort he could, despite being in the most discomfort out of all of them. “Man, if we die, Meta Knight’s gonna kill me.”

Chapter Text

It was a strange feeling of familiarity. Usually when people get that feeling from something, it’s because of something they generally like. Going over to a friends house to discover you both have the same curtains, or hearing your favourite song at a party. This was different. This was more akin to smelling your mother’s delicious homemade cookies at the scene of a murder, or some other equally jarring disconnect. When he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar ceiling. A familiar pattern on the floor. The whole room was familiar, overwhelmingly so. All of his memories leading up to this moment pointed away from him being here, in this kitchen. 

Feeling suspicious, he darted his eyes back and forth. The room was decidedly empty. He slowly walked out of the kitchen, then through the pantry, then into the main room. All the while he was making sure not to leave himself open to attack. Everything seemed normal, but that just made it stranger. It couldn’t be the real Lor. It simply couldn’t be. It would make no sense. He reluctantly slid open the front door. Outside were beautiful red, orange, yellow, and a few brown leaves. Trees. Nature. Fresh air. Most of what he was seeing felt like something that he’d never see again.

Realizing that the situation wasn’t dangerous, he settled somewhat and examined the thing he had stepped out of. All signs pointed to it being the one and only Lor Starcutter. A few things seemed out of place, like she had been modified. Frazzled, he stepped back inside. After messing with the console a bit, he realized she was shut down. He tried reactivating her, but the authentication said it would take a while. I suppose it would make sense here to look around and see what’s changed. He stepped back into the living space. His first destination was the study. There was a strange scent hanging in the air. Blood. There were some dark red stains on the couch. Clearly, something has gone terribly wrong here.

He investigated the bookshelf. Between things that he recognized, there were a lot of things he didn’t. Namely, drawings and several big notebooks. The drawings showed things like the Lor Starcutter, one of those damned sphere doomers, a strange jester creature, and Landia. He didn’t quite feel up to reading the notebook yet. 

Next, he made for the Captain’s Quarters. Hearing the clicking of his shoes on the floor was becoming ever more normal in his mind. He lay his hand on the doorknob. It was warm. It was warm? Someone opened this door recently. He twisted the knob and the door opened.The inside was vastly different than he remembered it. It became readily apparent that he was essentially trespassing in someone else’s home. However, no amount of moral hang-ups were enough to deter him from wanting to know what happened to the Starcutter and why he was currently on it.

The new decorations in the Captain’s Quarters, as well as the drawings in the study, made it clear that whoever had been living here was either a child when they moved in, or currently is a child. He couldn’t help but feel sympathy for whoever that was, given the Lor’s general lack of tolerance for most things that children do, say, and are. He stepped inside, feeling light chills from the comfortably dim lights. It felt like home, even though it was clear it was no longer his. 

Suddenly, he heard a noise. It had come from the closet. He turned on his heels, walking slowly, yet loudly, toward the closet door. He threw the door open, and inside was a sight to behold. There were four people. The one on the left was small, light brown, and fuzzy, with a white hat. They took one at him and passed out from what was likely fright. The one on the right had a deeply concerned expression, white hair, green clothes, and six hands. The one in the back was mouselike, with a red hat and a blue raincoat. They had a protective hand around the one in the middle. The one in the middle was the most immediately striking. For one thing, they were the only one that wasn’t visibly injured, and for another, their clothes bore a striking resemblance to… people he wished he didn’t remember.

.--. --- ...- / ... .-- .. - -.-. ....

Magolor’s heart had either stopped, or it was beating so fast he could no longer feel it. He scarcely noticed Sailor Dee collapsing. He tried to beg for his life, but the words wouldn’t form. Only natural, considering he was looking up at the strongest warrior in the galaxy. Galacta Knight. There was much about him that was shrouded in mystery, despite he himself being very well known. There were many conflicting accounts regarding the circumstances of him being sealed away, as well as whether or not he was ever released, and if so, when. It was unclear if he was outright malicious, too powerful to reasonably contain it, a victim of needless paranoia, or simply insane. Magolor hoped for the best, but couldn’t help but think his own wardrobe wouldn’t go over well. 

Galacta Knight drew his lance and pointed it at Magolor, inches away from his face. “You. Stand up.”

Magolor floundered, stumbling over what he was trying to say. Eventually, he got out something that resembled a sentence. “C-can’t. Don’t h-have feet.”

“I am astounded by your ability to choose the most infuriating response possible while visibly terrified. Get off the floor. Is this any way to greet a guest?” There was an edge of dry humour to the last part.

Even after what he said, Magolor still couldn’t tell what Galacta Knight’s intentions were. However, the fact that he could still breathe- he wasn’t, but he could- relaxed him ever so slightly. “O-okay.” He shakily pulled Daroach’s hand off of him.

Daroach, ever his reckless self, chose to voice his opinion. “Hey, how about someone explains what’s going on here? Who do you think you are, you fluffy gumball motherfucker? I don’t remember you being invited in.”

Taranza was having trouble speaking himself. The only sign that he was still even alive was him casting a glare at Daroach in an effort to silently say, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Galacta Knight scarcely seemed to acknowledge Daroach at all. He continued staring down Magolor, eyeing him quietly, as if trying to determine if he was friend or foe. The three who were conscious could almost feel the burning intensity behind his eyes. Magolor slowly and shakily got up. “Okay. W-what do you want with me?”

“...Follow me. Alone. ” Galacta walked out of the room, toward the study. He removed a single chair, taking it to the main room. 

Magolor started breathing normally again. He gave a hug to Taranza, then Daroach. He whispered into the latter’s ear. “If you let anything happen to Sailor Dee, Meta Knight’ll kill you. If anything happens to Taranza, I will.” He took a deep breath, then followed Galacta Knight.

“Sit.” He indicated the lone chair. Clearly, Galacta Knight preferred to stand. Magolor obediently went to the chair and sat down. “As I’m sure you can imagine, I have… many questions. First. Your name.”

“Magolor.” Okay Magolor, just calm down. Be honest. I know you’re really bad at that when it comes to people you’re not familiar with, but the truth won’t kill you! At least, it shouldn’t. 

“False Paradise? How curious. I can’t say I’ve ever heard a name so… derogatory. Were your parents mentally sound?”

The bluntness of the reply caused a laugh from Magolor. “No. I can’t say they were. Not that I knew ‘em that well, though.”

Galacta Knight’s reaction wasn’t identifiable, but it definitely existed. “All right. Now, Magolor, judging from the decorations it seems you made yourself comfortable on this ship at a young age. If it is indeed you who lives here as of now. How did you come to live on the Lor Starcutter?”

Ummm, fuck. How do I answer this without lying, being vague, or getting way too personal? “I got separated from my friends and family and lost my way. I couldn’t find them, and I was really scared, and I was running away from a lot of things, and… I found her. I was lost for a long time, so I took a few days to just collect myself.” Magolor tried not to let the almost-crying show, but he wasn’t sure how well he did, or even if it was necessary. “I… couldn’t find my family again after that.” He wasn’t lying.

“How long were you lost for?” His voice was now firm, but not unkind.

Magolor saw the inroad and unplugged the waterworks. “I… I dunno. I guess, it’d be like… three or four months?” 

Galacta Knight seemed to momentarily consider consoling him, but decided against it. “Who are the other three? How do you know them?”

“Ah. That’s… complicated. The one who was knocked out is Sailor Dee. The one with the red hat is Daroach, and the one with the white hair is Taranza. I’m taking care of them, because they were injured recently. They’re friends.”

“Hm. Now, before I continue, would you mind waking up the Lor? I… would like to speak with her. I imagine it has been a very long time.”

“You… know…? Ah, hold on.” Magolor quickly went over to the console and, hands moving like lightning, booted up the disabled systems. 

“Good afternoon, captain. And to you as well, former captain.”

Magolor was flabbergasted by this. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“You didn’t ask.”

“I literally did! Multiple times!”

Galacta Knight made a noise that might have been a chuckle. “I see she has not changed at all. How long has it been, Lor?”

“Two and a half million years. Approximately. You’ve missed a lot.”

“So, it would be safe to assume that all I hold dear is gone?” He looked away from the monitor. 

“Unfortunately, yes.” That was the end of that. A terse answer, with no real visible reaction. 

After a minute of silence, Galacta Knight continued. “Now, regarding the present situation… why were you all in the closet?”

The Lor, anticipating Magolor would spend unnecessary time overthinking, tried to answer first. “The captain here saw-”

“I could not have been more clearly talking to the boy.”

Magolor raised a hand timidly. “I’m twenty nine years old…”

“Infant.”

“Er, anyway, I saw you through the lid of that machine thing, and I didn’t know anything about you other than that you were allegedly really dangerous, so I put everyone in there. I thought you wouldn’t find us.”

“Oh, I’M dangerous, even though- Never mind. It’s in the past. It’s been two and a half million years. It would be immature to still hold a grudge.”

Magolor wrung his hands. “Um, is it okay if I ask you something?”

“Certainly.”

“What’s… the last thing you remember happening? Before you woke up in that pod, I mean.”

“Very well. I suppose I could let you know.” Galacta Knight changed the colour of his eyes from red back to pink. “As I’m sure you’re aware, I was sealed away because they feared me. Between then and now, I remember one thing.”

.. -- / ..-. ..- -.-. -.- .. -. / ..-. .-.. .- ... .... .. -. / .. - / -... .- -.-. -.- / .- --. .- .. -. / .-- --- --- --- / -.-- . .- ....

It was a sea of darkness. Galacta Knight thought he was dreaming. He was snapped out of that thought when a voice came from behind him. “𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙡𝙮, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙤𝙢. 𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨.” He felt piercing pain in several places on his back, then his eyes closed.

..-. .-.. .- ... .... .. -. / .. - / ..-. --- .-. .-- .- .-. -.. / .- --. .- .. -.

“I have no idea who that person could have been.”

Magolor tilted his head one way, then the other. A smirk crossed his face. “Heh. I see. They’re using you as a weapon. You were the failsafe in case we actually managed to get onboard the Lor a few days ago.”

“Explain.”

“A few months ago, the four people on the ship were put into a sealed building with no escape. Seventeen others joined us. After we figured out how to escape, the person who stuck us in there sent the Lor to kill us. We broke the device that was controlling her and got on so we could come home. After we landed, the others left. I found you in the pod in the freezer once we noticed a difference between then and now. That had to be on purpose. They wanted you to kill us, I’m sure of it.”

Galacta Knight was taken aback. “Just who are you talking about? And why did they think I would kill twenty one strangers on sight?”

Magolor quickly went to the study, grabbed a book, and came back. He flipped to a page. It detailed many of Galacta Knight’s alleged misdeeds, almost all of which he had no recollection of doing. “History is written by the winners. You lost, and history painted you as something you’re not. You were sent here based on a false premise, which ironically is what granted you your freedom.”

That was a lot to take in. Naturally, Galacta Knight did that silently in thirty seconds. “Then, what is happening currently?”

“I believe we may find out soon. If we get no news, that’s bad news.”

The door opened immediately after the fact. Galacta Knight quickly turned and ran out of view, seemingly preferring a result where he wasn;t seen. Well, that’s fine. Marx trotted in. “‘Afternoon, Magolor! So. Bad news: We can’t find a single person. I came back with Bandee and Elfilin to check on the stragglers, but they, uh,” He looked back out the open door. “Fell behind. Anyways, I’m gonna need to see the injured fellas. Where are they?” He headed for the study. “Why’s it empty?”

“Don’t worry, they’re okay.” Magolor ducked into the Captain’s Quarters, closing the door behind him. The three people in the closet hadn’t moved. “Try not to make too many ripples about what just happened. He could be our secret weapon. Keep quiet.” He led them out of the room. “Here they are, good as… well, not new, but they’re not worse!”

“Good! I’ll get Elfilin and Bandee, and we’ll be on our way. By the way…” He leaned in to Magolor’s ear and whispered. “Tell your new pal his hiding skills could use some work.” 

At the end of the day, the others returned for good, figuring that it’d be best for everyone to stay together. Magolor generously gave his pillow to Galacta Knight, letting him sleep in the pod in the freezer. His presence was kept under wraps. The fact that their collective had progressed, even unknowingly, was an excellent sign. A secret weapon, no real danger in sight, and the injured people starting to walk easier should mean that from here on out, it would be smooth sailing.

It should mean that.

But it doesn’t.

It never does.

The sailing is never smooth, no matter who’s driving the boat.

Chapter Text

Five days had passed, and not a single thing happened. Daroach, then Sailor Dee, then Taranza made a full recovery. Elfilin jittered in the morning. “Hey! If everyone’s okay, we can all go out together, right?”

“Right.” Sailor Dee adjusted his cap. “We can do this! We’ll find a clue to where all the civilians are!”

“Hey, actually,” Marx snickered. “Sailor, why don’t you let Meta Knight carry you? I mean, we can’t be sure how long you’d be walking otherwise, and we don’t know how okay you are.”

“That’s not-”

“I will do what I must.” Meta Knight hoisted Sailor Dee off his feet and into his arms. “Shall we go?”

Magolor raised a hand. “Actually, can I stay behind? I need to keep an eye on the Lor. If you remember, last time she was left unattended, she got a controlling device attached to her.” 

Marx hopped up and down. “Actually, can I stay behind too? I’m sick of going out and doing nothing.”

“Fine, fine. Whatever.” Dedede huffed. “Whoever wants to stay can stay.” He gathered up everyone who wanted to go, which was everyone other than Magolor and Marx. 

Once they had left, Marx kicked off the discussion. “So, you gonna tell me about the guy sleeping in the freezer?”

Magolor sheepishly put a hand on the back of his head. “His name is John.”

“No it isn’t.”

“Yeah, that’s true. I’ll just go get him, he can introduce himself.” Magolor headed for the kitchen, then pried open the pod. “Good morning. Are you doing okay?”

Galacta Knight was up on his feet before he had even started speaking. “I sense that something has changed. Am I correct?”

“Well, I guess? The other three aren’t here at the moment. One of my other friends wants to meet you properly. Come on.” He went to the door.

Galacta Knight stepped out and lay eyes on Marx. “Magolor. Who is this annoying-looking orphaned child?”

“How’d you know?” Marx’s reaction almost pulled off his usual jokester mask. Almost. “My name’s Marx. What’s going on with you? Why were you hiding?”

“Marx. You ask for people’s names before you get to other questions about them.” Magolor fixed him with a stern gaze. “His name’s Galacta Knight.”

“It’s a… pleasure to meet you, Marx was it?” He extended a hand.

Marx looked at him, puzzled. “My guy, I don’t have hands. What are you expecting me to do with that?” 

“A friend of yours?” Galacta Knight turned to Magolor. 

Magolor grimaced. “It’s complicated.”

Marx copied Magolor’s expression almost exactly, though it didn’t seem intentional. Then, he quietly asked him a question. “Hey, can I talk to you in private?”

“Yeah, okay.” Magolor clapped his hands a single time. “Galacta. I imagine you have a lot you want to talk to talk to the Lor about, so Marx and I will leave you two alone for a bit. Is that okay?”

“Very well. I confess I’ve wanted a moment alone here for a while.” That was all the invitation the two of them needed. They left.

- .. -- . / ..-. --- .-. / -... .-. ..- - .- .-.. / .... --- -. . ... - -.--

“What was it you wanted to talk about?” Magolor scanned the empty forest behind the castle.

“It’s about what Meta Knight said when we first got back here. Are you okay?” Marx kicked a rock near the back entrance.

Magolor laughed loudly, the kind of laugh that indicated that he needed to drink water very badly. Then the laughter died. “Sorry. It’s just… When you ask things like that, it almost seems like you actually care.”

“Come on, of course I care! I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but can’t we move past that?”

“I’ve already moved past it. I’ve accepted the reality that you’ll never be there for me when I need you. I wish I knew that before I tried to rely on you, but what’s done is done, I suppose.”

Marx manually tried to hide the anger on his face. “You’re probably right.” He meant it, he just wasn’t happy about it. “But I do care. I did then, and I do now. I did a terrible job of showing it, but I swear I’ll be better.”

Magolor just stared. “Fine.” His ear twitched. “Did you hear that?”

“Nnnnnnno? What’d you hear?” The transition between the two parts of the conversation was incredibly unnatural, but then again, very little about their relationship wasn’t.

“I swear I just…” Magolor entered the seemingly empty castle. His ears almost seemed to grow larger as he listened intently. “Wait a minute…” He headed for the basement stairs. Marx followed, unsure of what exactly he was looking for. 

“What did it sound like?” Marx scanned the finished basement. “If this place wasn’t so well-kept, this’d be kind of like old times, haha. Ha. Haa…”

“You know I have no desire to reminisce on ‘old times.’” Magolor moved some things around, ears still twitching. “Wait. Well kept. It’s well kept. That’s weird. No one’s lived here for presumably over two months. Why is this basement so clean? No one has any reason to clean it.”

“Ooh, good point! You think maybe there’s something wrong with this basement?” Marx quickly sprang into action, checking every nook and cranny for something out of place.

Magolor held his ear to the wall that made up the outer edge of the staircase. He tapped the wall with one hand. “It’s hollow. And… this is where the sound was coming from. Something in here’s… splashing.”

“How do we open it?” Before waiting for an answer, Marx banged his head into the wall. It gave way. “OH YEAH!!” Inside the staircase was another staircase. It spiraled down into a dark chasm. 

Magolor cast a sideways glance to the only company he had. “It’d be stupid to go in alone, right?”

“Probably.”

“Alright. Let’s go.” Magolor entered the secret door and descended, Marx following behind eagerly.

. -..- .--. .-.. --- -.. . ... / .--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . ... / .-- .. - .... / -- .. -. -..

“I must apologize for not returning home all those years ago.” Galacta Knight sat down on the floor. “As I’m sure you surmised, I was kept away by… unforeseen circumstances.”

“I understand.” Came the shockingly empathetic response from the Lor.

“You seem to have changed somewhat. More… in tune with people. Should I credit Magolor for this?”

“I suppose. When you silently observe someone such as him for long enough, you start understanding people more. Granted, he isn’t like most people, but he has a much wider range than he lets on.”

Galacta Knight ruffled his wings. “How is it that no one found you before he did?”

“Ah you wouldn’t have known. I was hidden under the volcano after you were sealed away. The fact that Magolor found me is somewhat of a miracle, for both him and myself.” 

“I heard. How in the world did he get so lost that he found something that hadn’t been seen in over two million years?”

“He constantly impresses me with his knack for the logically impossible.” The Lor seemed to think for a moment, then spoke again. “Would I be wrong to assume that you’ve formed an attachment to him?”

“Of all that I care for, only you are still in my life. But you do not feel, you do not breathe, and you do not bleed. Functionally, you can hardly be considered a person. I think of you as one, of course, but in a way dissimilar to others. That leaves him. I’d like to make sure he stays alive, if at all possible.”

“I see.”

Galacta Knight lifted his mask up and wiped his forehead. “Now that I think about it…” He put the mask back on. “Where is he? He doesn’t seem to be around here at the moment.”

“...”

“...”

“You can go look for him. I won’t stop you.”

Immediately after hearing those words, he sprang up, opened the front door, and followed the footprints left by Marx in the slightly damp soil. They led to a shady-looking backdoor of a castle. Inside, he followed the traces of dirt on the floor to a staircase. The basement seemed to be empty until he found the door under the staircase. When he stuck his head inside, he heard the distant sound of footsteps on the metal spiral staircase. He flew off the edge, flying down, scanning for any sign of Magolor or Marx. At the rate he was going, he’d catch up for sure. Probably. 

He heard a voice. It was almost certainly Magolor’s. “It just goes into the water. I… think this is water, at least. How do we find out for sure?”

In the darkness, he was barely able to make out the silhouette of Marx taking off his hat and dipping one of the tips into the liquid. He pulled the hat out and then licked the pom-pom. “Eugh. Gross. It’s safe though.” 

“What is it?”

“It’s water.”

“But you said it was gross.”

“Water tastes bad.” 

“You’re a sociopath.”

Galacta Knight didn’t want to interrupt them, but he was glad they were safe. Suddenly, the area became significantly brighter. A door across from the bottom of the staircase opened, showing light from the other side. Something ran out, falling face first into the water. 

Afterwards, he heard the whirring of machinery. It didn’t sound safe. 

He swooped onto the person in the water and hoisted their small body onto his back. He then grabbed Marx in one hand and Magolor in the other. Magolor struggled in his grasp, but immediately stopped when he saw the laser beam zoom by him, almost taking his ear off. He got to the top and piled as much miscellaneous junk in front of the door as possible after closing it. He set down the three people he’d carried up.

“Are you all alright?” He now identified the one who had fallen in the water as one of those ‘waddle dees’ that used to populate the area. 

Marx was on his feet almost immediately. “Well, one of us seems to have gone into shock,” He indicated Magolor. “But physically, I think we’re doing A-okay!”

“Who are you?” The waddle dee asked. “Are you going to save the others, too? They’re all down there…”

“All…?” He shook his head and extended a hand. “I am G-”

The door burst open, and out came four weaponized flying machines, each equipped with some kind of blaster. They were in sight for less than one second before they were all obliterated by a single swing of Galacta Knight’s lance. “I am Galacta Knight. I’m here to help.”

Marx cocked his head. “So what now? I mean, the enemy knows you’re here, and that you’re not with them, and we don’t know if it’s safe to go in alone. I think we should go back and wait for the others.”

The waddle dee, realizing how cold they were, started shivering. “O-okay…”

“Why is he not responding? Did I harm him?” Galacta Knight set Magolor down on the couch, then gave the dee a towel to dry themselves off with.

“He tends to do that when he gets grabbed suddenly and aggressively. He’ll be back to his usual self in a few minutes, I’m sure.” 

“Ah.” He walked back into the study. “I’m terribly sorry.”

Magolor blinked a few times, then slumped. “You couldn’t have known.” He immediately snapped to attention at the incredibly loud clap of thunder. “Wow. I don’t like those.”

Marx looked at the monitors that showed what was going on out there. “It went from cloudy to pouring in one minute. The weather is crazy!”

Magolor got off the couch. “I suspect this means the others will be back soon.”

The waddle dee now started talking. “I was stuck in this big underground complex with the entire population of Dream Land! A bunch of us came together and came up with an escape plan, but I was the only one who got to that staircase. Everyone else was taken back. Please, you have to save them!”

Marx stuck out a wing and waved it casually. “Yeah, yeah, we’ll get right on that.”

Galacta Knight emerged silently. “Now that the enemy is aware of me, there’s no reason to keep myself hidden, yes?” 

Magolor froze for a moment once he realized who would be seeing him if that were to happen. Meta Knight? No way. Dark Meta Knight? Absolutely not. Susie??? It’d be idiotic! The mage sisters????????? War crime! “Actually, some of our compatriots would be… unfortunate company, some in general, some to you in particular. I’d recommend staying away from them. Fortunately, we won’t be here long. The twenty one of us are going to head down there and try to free everyone else.” He crouched to get closer in height to the waddle dee. “You’ve been through enough, little guy. You can stay here. But when the others get back, don’t say a word about Galacta Knight, okay?” 

“Okay…”

“Now hide, quick! And take care of them when we’re not here.” Magolor directed Galacta Knight back to the freezer. And apparently, it wasn’t a moment too soon. 

The door opened. The others came in, and were told the story. Several of them wanted to stay and warm up before going to the spiral staircase, so they waited for about a half hour. Several people snuggled for warmth. Once everyone had physically prepared themselves, They headed to the castle. In the basement, Elfilin went wide-eyed at the sight of the debris in front of the door. “Hey, guys, what did you do to those things?”

Magolor, as always, was ready to cover it up with a complete lie. “When Marx gets mad, he gets REAL mad.” 

They filed through the door and started descending the staircase. They lamented that they didn’t bring a flashlight, because people were inadvertently stepping on one another. It was no surprise, then, that Sailor Dee slipped on Daroach’s cape and fell off the edge. “Agh! AAAAAght-!” His terrified cry was cut short by his own realization that he was safe. Safe in the arms of Meta Knight, who had swooped down and caught him. “Oh. Oh thank you, Sir Meta Knight.” Tears formed in his eyes. “Thank you!”

“You would’ve been fine, Sailor. It’s just water down there, and it’s pretty deep.” Marx called from the staircase.

“Ah.” Meta Knight looked down. “I feel… somewhat foolish.”

Those who could fly went over the water, those who couldn’t swan through it. Sailor Dee was the first one across out of the swimmers. Magolor pushed the door open. “Halcandra, we have a hallway.”

They went down the hallway. At the end was one door. Dedede pulled it open and stepped into the strange room on the other side. “Huh. That’s different.” He pointed to his right. On the right was a translucent wall of red light. “What is that?” On the other side of the door they entered through was another locked door. Behind the red wall was a button.

As the others filed in, they were each perplexed by the wall. None of them could identify it. Daroach said another thing that was on everyone’s mind. “Why the FUCK is it so hot in here?”

Questions about the room were put on hold for the same of actually investigating. Elfilin flew closer to the wall and touched it with his hand. “Ow! Ow! Ow owowowowowowowowowowow! It hurts!” The tip of his hand was now black, as if it had recently been burned.

“Uh oh. That’s bad!” Kirby shook his head, worried. 

Flamberge, not bothered by the heat, rubbed her hands together. “Okayokayokay. Hear me out here. You know how that one elevator in the building could only be called by someone who was given unrestricted access? What if that’s how this works? What if the OSO could get through?”

Meta Knight stuck his hands out. “Absolutely not. We can’t do that to him.”

“No, no, it’s okay. I will. I’ll do it.” Sailor Dee slowly approached the wall and touched it. “Hey, I’m okay! I can get through!” He walked through the wall. “I should just press this, right?”

Meta Knight nodded proudly. “Yes! Do it!”

“Okay, here I go!” He reached up and hit the button.

There was no fanfare.

No slow, climactic musical buildup.

No time to react.

No time to say goodbye.

No time to look away.

Although they all wished they could have done at least one of those things.

As soon as he hit the button, the floor beneath him opened, and he fell.

He would not be coming back up.

After all, that was the reason why the room was so hot.

Because of the lava. 

The wall dissipated.

Meta Knight ran up to the pit.

The door they entered through closed on its own.

And then…

The room filled with white smoke.

Chapter Text

Kirby woke up at home in his bed. He looked to the foot of the bed, where Elfilin was curled up and sleeping. Sun was streaming in through the window. In the back of his mind, he felt as if something was off. Like he shouldn’t be where he was. That feeling faded to negligibility once he saw Elfilin blink himself awake. “G’morning, Elfie!”

“Morning!” He waved cheerily, then lifted himself off the bed. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. “Man, it feels like I just woke up from a really long nightmare-what’s that?” He pointed at something above the headboard.

“Huh? What’s what?” Kirby turned himself around, but saw nothing. “Did you see something?”

“I guess I didn’t, hehe.” He looked around. “Where’s Gooey?”

A tongue flopped out from under the bed. “Here…”

--. --- .. -. --. / . .-.. ... . .-- .... . .-. .

It took only a few seconds after waking up for Taranza to realize that his head was somewhere it shouldn’t have been. His head felt cloudy, and the moments leading up to now were indistinct. He remembered somewhere dark, and sweltering heat, and something really really bad happening, but what that was lay beyond his mental reach. Well, his head was in the wrong place in that sense, but also physically. He was face down in dirt and grass. Picking his head up, he spat the dirt out of his mouth and examined his surroundings. There weren’t any. He appeared to have woken up in an old computer screensaver. Out of sight of any people, civilization, or really anything other than grass.

He called out. “Magoloooor! …Dedede?! …Anybody?!” He wasn’t quite sure what he was expecting. Of course, no one responded. He started moving in a direction. A few trees came into view as he moved. The slow, quiet breeze helped him gather his thoughts properly.

He had watched Sailor Dee die. He witnessed the moment his life ended, likely never to begin again. After all, most people don’t live twice after dying once. He knew him. They’d spoken. It wasn’t the first time he had lost an acquaintance, and he didn’t plan on dying soon enough to make it the last. At least, not yet. Maybe the next time it happened, it’d hurt less.

Times like this were when he tried to think of what the people close to him would tell him to do. Before, he pictured Sectonia. Her advice column in the newspaper of his mind had steadily gotten smaller and smaller, until he seemed to realize that he didn’t really need her. Now, he tended to think of what Magolor would say, or occasionally Bandee or Dedede. It made sense that he only thought of Sectonia before, considering there was no one else he knew personally and held in high regard then. It also made sense that she’d fade over time as he met more people who he liked and trusted. 

What didn’t make sense was the fact that he never pictured her giving him advice at all anymore. What did that indicate? That he was forgetting her? That he thought others gave better advice? That he was maturing and growing and more attached to those who were still alive? Or was it that fourth option? The one he refused to acknowledge? The one that would likely lead him to a realization that would flip his whole world upside down? The one that had been simmering in the back of his mind for years, gradually taking effect on his decision-making process, guiding him away from the past? 

The one that told him the truth? That fourth option? No, it couldn’t be.

He reached a tree. It was at the edge of a cliff. Looking down the cliff, he saw Dream Land in the far distance. Good. Maybe he’d be able to find the others. He floated down the cliff, quickening his pace to hopefully get there faster. Through woods, over rocks, and down hills he went. The first building he found was Kirby’s house. He figured he might as well take a look inside. After all, it wasn’t as if there would be anything scary in Kirby’s house. It’s Kirby, for crying out loud! He twisted the knob on the door and opened it with a homely creak. 

After opening the door, if one had asked him if it was a good idea to open it, he wouldn’t answer. For one thing, he didn’t know himself. And for another, he was shocked into silence by what he saw.

--. --- .. -. --. / -... .- -.-. -.-

Kirby trotted up to the Halberd. He saw Meta Knight looking off into some trees. “Morn-” He toned down the enthusiasm halfway through the word. “-ning?”

“I don’t see the need for the uncertainty. It is morning, after all.” His response carried the same tone and demeanor he always had.

“Good morning, all!” Sailor Dee rushed out of the halberd with a tray of various breakfast foods. “Hi, Kirby. I didn’t expect you here this early in the morning.” He handed the tray to Meta Knight. “Bone apple tea! Sorry Kirby, I’ll be back la̵̳̎́̾͒̓t̵̢͉̮̘̹̲̲̳͋̾̅͘ͅë̶̡̥̜̞̠́͌͘r̸̨̰͍̝͎̱̗̪̳̀̂͊̀ ̵͙͍͙̭̋͗̄̇̄̑̅̚w̷̰̫̑̓̑̕͝͠i̶̲̯͒̈̂͑ͅt̵͎͕̱̭̮͙̪̼͇̓́̈̊̑ͅẖ̴̱̞̘͚̗̞̳̝̾̎ ̸̣̘͔̖̹̪̓͆̅m̴͓͇̫̲̟̈́̽͂̓͋͂̀́͗̆ō̶̪̱̯͑̃͌̚r̶̛̹̠͍̬̰̰̫̞͊̇̓̌̇̇͜͜è̸̳̂́̅̍͗̈͠ ̸̡̩͙͈̗̣̅͊͗̈́͋͗̑̀͛f̷̦͔̆͆̓̊̀͘ô̶̘̱o̶̤̘̿d̴̛̼̫͕̑̾̈́̋̋͆͒͠͝ ̶̡̟̝̥̗͓̮̞͑͆ͅf̵̢̾͒̆o̷̙͓̳̝̫͘͠ŗ̴̰̜̫̼̜́̿͂̈́͑͗͆̎̍͜ ̵̹̪̙͔̣͇̟̺̲̽̈́͋͐͌͝y̶̧̡̛̬̩̱̭ȍ̵̤̝̦̭̱̞̈̈́̓̓͋̅̚ͅǘ̵̮̺̯̣̐̇͊͗.̴̫̦̩̒̿̔͛̂ J̶̛̦̭̤̙̽̑͌̿̇̅ů̶̧̖͖̤̥͈͓̿͘s̶̳̙̼̝̭̮̪̉̐͛͜ţ̶͓̙̳͇͓͍͎̓̓̍̎̏̎̾͘ͅ ̴̨̙̳̥̪͈̟̊͜ͅģ̶̻͗͑̚͝ḭ̸̹̩̟̭̮̀͛̚ͅv̴̢̫͇̙̩̀̋ͅe̶̡̛̖̝̳̹̳͚̦̝̐̀́̇̽͗̏͘ͅ ̴̢͈̦̣̻̤̄̉͗͂͘͠ḿ̷̛̖̟̏͋̃͗̾͜e̵̡̬̻̬͔̍͒̈́͋̀̊͝ ̷̨͉̙̼͛͑͗̓̉a̷̢̛̛̘̙̹̳̤̟͎̗̺̓͛̆̕͘͠b̶̬̘͔̙͎̺̆̽͆͐̑͛͜ǫ̸̨̞̜̫̻̞͔̦̗̓ư̵̥̭̰̹̤͔̫͊̎͋̈́̽͝t̵̡̹̭̳̩͍̀̐͊̍́̓̋͘ ̶͙̘̞̯̿̄̅̄f̴̬͇͔̲͆̎́͑͘ͅǐ̸̢̡̨̟̺̰̘̭̈́f̴͙͇͈̪̐͑͝t̷̨̛͙̼̱̊̈̋̚͜ͅe̷̥͉͈̝̘̱̅̌͂́̀͝e̶̠̠̎̐ņ̵̳̻̜͓̜͋̈̿̈́̉̉ͅ ̸̨̺̣̥̫̠̝̞͈̗͋̀̍̀̚m̶̡̛̭͖̮͛̽̈̔̈́̃̏͝ỉ̵̡͉̳̺͙̏͛̈́̎̃͐̓̂n̷̟̈́̓u̸̹͉͇͖͈̣͗͜͝ṱ̷̻͌͑̋̓̄̚͝e̵͘͜-̶̡͖͇̱̱̳̘̏̊̈́” His face seemed to dent inwards, then he became blurry, his entire being splitting into small squares that split off of him and disappeared into the air. He continued speaking for the entire time, his voice deteriorating into 8-bit sound effects as he completely disintegrated.

“Um.” Kirby stared. “What?” What he had seen didn’t feel real. “WHUH?”

Sailor Dee walked out of the Halberd. “Hey, Kirby! I got some for you, too.” He set down a second tray. “What’s wrong? You look like you saw a ghost.” 

“But I- You were just-”

“Just what?” He really didn’t seem to understand.

Meta Knight stepped closer to him. “What was that… apparition from earlier who gave me my food?”

“Hm? Why are you calling me an apparition? It was just me.”

“I don’t recall you having the ability to disintegrate without dying.”

“I don’t remember that either. What are you talking about?”

The Halberd turned upside down, then reverted to normal. Kirby frantically pointed at it. “That! What was that? Why did that happen?”

Sailor Dee didn’t seem to notice at all. “Why did what happen?”

-.-. .- -- . .-. .- / --.. --- --- -- ... / --- ..- - / .- -. -.. / .--. .- -. ... / - --- / - .... . / .-.. . ..-. -

Galacta Knight had grown impatient. They should have returned the previous night. It was nearly noon and he had seen neither hide nor hair of Magolor, Marx, Taranza, and the others. Regardless of the specific threat to his own safety it posed, he descended into the basement alone.

He opened the door at the end of the hallway. After analyzing the open lava pit behind a strange red wall, he decided it wasn’t worth bothering with the lock and simply destroyed the locked door. The other side of the door had a hatch on the floor and another door on the back wall. He heard noises coming from the hatch on the bottom. He opened it. The first thing he saw was another waddle dee. It stared up at him, amazed. “WHOA!” They ran away, though he could hear their voice from as far away as they were. “The hatch is open! It’s open! We can leave! There’s a scary looking guy at the top, but anyone who frees us can’t be bad!”

Galacta Knight informed them all of the present situation, then had them file out to the staircase. After the incredibly large amount of innocent prisoners escaped, he followed behind to make sure they all got out safely. They did. He then checked the other door. It opened into a hallway. He started by going to the right. As soon as he opened the door, he saw a chair. It swiveled around to face him, revealing who sat in it. 

Magolor faced him with an uncomfortable smile on his face. “Hello, Galacta. How nice of you to join me down here. Did I hear that right? You freed them?” He smiled wider. “Excellent.”

.... .- .... .-

Taranza hovered in the doorway. He just waited. Waiting for the person in the bed to wake up. Eventually, she did. She groaned in pain, then raised her head off of the pillow. “Ah! How…? Um… what a… coincidence. How long has it been? …No really, I don’t know.”

“Eight and a half years.”  Taranza averted his eyes. Probably longer if we’re counting the last time I saw the real you.” He stared her dead in the eyes. “Welcome back, Sectonia. If you’re hoping for honorifics, you won't get any. You’re no longer the queen, after all.”

Chapter Text

“Magolor. What is the meaning of this?” Galacta Knight felt the grip on his lance tightening.

Magolor winked. “Come closer and I’ll tell you.”

“I will do no such thing.”

It was as if something snapped in Magolor’s head. “Oh, sorry.” He looked up. “Hey, chief? I have no idea why, but it didn’t work.”

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮.” Came the reply from the ceiling. “𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚.”

“Oh, did I do that?” He put on a mischievous grin. “Oops!”

“𝙁𝙤𝙤𝙡. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙩.”

Magolor was immediately grabbed by six heavy-duty metal clasps. “Nrngh! Mmf!” Those seemed to be the only noises he could make.

“Are you all right?” Galacta Knight shouted louder than he himself was expecting to. At that moment, a drill descended from the ceiling.

“𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚. 𝘾𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣. 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙞𝙢. 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙧𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜.” The clamps on Magolor’s body loosened slightly. “ 𝙄𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙪𝙨 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙙𝙤 𝙨𝙤.”

Magolor lifted his hands out of the clasps. “The last unfortunate soul who allowed me to give ‘last words’ severely regretted it. And so will you.” In a flash, he vanished.

“𝙒𝙝- 𝙄𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚! 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙! 𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙧, 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢- 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚! 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙨𝙤 𝙬𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨.”

Galacta Knight stared at the ceiling where the unidentifiable voice was emanating from. What exactly do they think I am? “Of course.” He felt a hand on his arm, and turned around to see Magolor, who promptly vanished again. “I will check the hallway. But before I do, who are you?”

“𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝. 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚.”

Deeming further questioning unnecessary, Galacta Knight turned and left. He noticed a sheet of paper tucked into his wing. He pulled it out and read it. “They think you’re still on their side. Go with it for now until the time comes to beat them. I recommend examining that weird red wall. -Magolor” 

He followed the letter and went to the room with the wall. He slowly raised a hand to touch the wall, and was surprised when it seemed to do nothing. He pressed the button on the back wall. The floor gave way beneath him, but he caught himself on the way down without getting fried. He had extremely high tolerance for heat, but lava tended to make it impossible to breathe, so he looked around the sides of the pit for as long as he could. He then flew out of the pit. 

Magolor would likely have left the underground area entirely, so Galacta Knight chose to leave as well. It’d go along with the orders he was given, wouldn’t it? Never mind how he’d intentionally go “searching” in places that he never suspected he’d find Magolor. He was following orders. Well, that’s what the strange voice in the ceiling would think.

.-.. --- -.-. .- .-.. / -.. . -- .. --. --- -.. / ..-. . . .-.. .. -. --. / .- / .-.. .. - - .-.. . / -- .. ... -.-. .... .. . ...- --- ..- ... / - --- -.. .- -.--

More and more strange things seemed to be happening. A patch of grass would randomly turn purple before being green again. People he saw around Dream Land like Taranza, Sailor Dee, and Magolor would sometimes vanish without warning, only to reappear as if nothing had happened. This was normal for Magolor, but not at all for the other two. The sky turned white. Then the ground. All Kirby could see was his friends, but even then, he couldn’t see all of them. He was losing feeling in his body, and couldn’t move. His eyes became foggy. He could only watch as the whole world vanished before him.

And then he awoke in reality.

“Good morning, Kirby.” Kirby blinked his eyes all the way open at the sound of the familiar voice. His head was being flooded with memories he never should have lost. He was looking at Magolor’s face. “You okay?” 

“Um……” Kirby waited in silence for reality to completely set in. “No.”

“Okay. Let’s get you out of here. Need help getting up?” Magolor extended a hand. Upon seeing that Kirby wasn’t moving, he reached down with both hands and picked him up himself. “I don’t know what we’re gonna do, but the one thing we can’t do is give up. Sailor Dee wouldn’t want that.”

Kirby tried to think of a response, but the only thing that he could do was cry. 

Magolor hugged him closely. It might have been the first time he’d ever done that. “Take as long as you need, Kirby. I’ve got you. I’m here.” He held Kirby for what could’ve been anything between a minute and an hour. “Cry as much as you want. It’s just a way to get the sadness out of your body.”

“I wanna go home…”

“We can.” He patted him on the back. “Do you mind if I check the other rooms first?”

Kirby shook his head. “As long as you take me with you.”

“Of course.” Magolor looked around. “Nothing in here but that pod thing with the wires and the door at the back.” He went to the door in the back and opened it. “It’s the same. Only now the pod says ‘King Dedede.’ Kirby, do you know what this means?”

“Yeah… I’ll tell you later.”

Magolor opened the pod, detached the wired helmet from his head, and put the hammer on the right side of the room next to him. “It’s a good thing our weapons are here. I’ll leave him like that for now, because it took you about thirty minutes to wake up.” He did a similar thing in the other rooms, going farther and farther back. Meta Knight, Bandee, Rick, Coo(Kine got put in a river and someone should probably update him on the situation), Marx, Gooey, Adeleine, Ribbon, Dark Meta Knight, Daroach, Susie, Francisca, Flamberge, Zan Partizanne, and Elfilin. The only real abnormality was… “Why is Taranza not in his pod? Where is he?”

“Oh no…”

Magolor sighed. “Whatever it is, there’s nothing we can do here. Should we go?”

“But what about everyone else?”

“They’ll be fine until they wake up. And even if they won’t, us staying here isn’t exactly going to make it better.” Magolor looked through the doorway at all the other open doors that lay beyond in a line. “Shall we?”

“...Yeah. I really don’t wanna be here right now.”

“Then let’s go.” Magolor quickly, quietly led Kirby out of the series of rooms. They passed over the open hatch, past the red wall of light, and up the spiral staircase. A few dees saw them on their way out of the basement. “By home, did you mean your house or the Lor?”

“I haven’t been to my house in so long… can we go there?” Kirby pleaded.

“Of course. Come on.” Magolor took off in the direction of the house, opting to go out and around Castle Dedede.

-.. .- -.. --- .-.. --- .-.

Taranza tried to ignore his growing headache. “So. First question: How are you alive? Second question: Why are you here? Third question: What took you so long to come back?”

“My my, you’re being awfully stiff about this! Didn’t anyone ever tell you to relax once in a while? And what’s this about me not being queen anymore? I’m afraid I have no idea what’s going on here!” She dragged herself out of the bed. “And who’s house is this?” 

“Hm. This might be more complicated than I thought. What’s the last thing you remember?”

Sectonia placed a hand on her chin. “You showed up with a weird guy named Magolor and played a song on the piano. Once we gave him a place to land his ship, we went to bed. Then I woke up here. What actually happened?”

“I imagine you’d rather I not be brief, although this might not be the most pleasant story. The day after I brought him to the castle, I got you a present. It was a mirror. I thought it looked beautiful, so I brought it home for you. After that, you changed. You started getting a lot more confrontational, you chastised me for everything, a couple of times it got physical. Your body started changing pretty radically, as if you switched into a new body every time I turned my back. You told me that everything was Magolor’s fault, and I believed you. I was a fool. I did everything you wanted me to. When the Dreamstalk grew, you told me to kidnap the hero of the lower world. I didn’t get him. I got someone else. The hero, Kirby, arrived and put a stop to your cruelty. I snapped out of it and helped him. That day, you were killed. I’ve been living down here for almost nine years.” Taranza delivered the story coldly, in a tone that Sectonia had never heard from him before. “So. I take it you weren’t aware of this?”

“No. Never. But if this is where things are now… would you mind showing me around? I’d like to know what your life has come to.” She hovered over to the doorway. “Please.”

Taranza’s hand tensed. “Alright. Well, for starters, this isn’t my house. It belongs to Kirby and we should probably leave.” He led her out the door.

“Wait, this is his house? But it’s so… childish!” 

--- ..- --. .... / - .... . / -- .. ... . .-. -.--

“Hey, can we stop for a second? I… don’t feel too well…” Kirby’s steps became uneven, and he started tripping over his feet.

“Hey, whoa, what?” Magolor turned around fast. “Okay, okay, you’ll be okay, just sit down for a minute. “If you’re not feeling well, I can carry you. Should I?” 

“Uh huh…” Kirby groaned weakly. “Please…”

“Okay! I gotcha!” He sounded far more panicked than Kirby really wanted to hear. He hoisted him off the ground and held him close. “We'll be there in just a few minutes. It’s not far. Just hold on, okay?” Half of that, despite being said to Kirby, Magolor really meant for himself.

Magolor got to the door and opened it. He gently placed Kirby on the bed, who had started making sounds that were incoherent and slightly disturbing. “Okay. just rest for a few minutes, I’ll be right back. I swear. Right back.” He rushed out of the house, making his way back to the Lor. Some of the cappies and waddle dees that had started filling the town again tried to ask what was going on, but he paid them no mind. The door opened automatically. “Lor! Where’s the waddle dee from yesterday?”

They walked out from the living quarters. “I’m right here, what’s up?”

“Oh, great news! So the-” 

He was cut off by a group of indignant Halberd crew members rushing into the Lor. “Hey, where’s Sailor Dee and Sir Meta Knight?”

“Yeah, and what were you doing earlier with Kirby? He didn’t look well!”

Magolor tried to mediate the heated atmosphere. “I was just-”

“You did something, didn’t you?”

“I knew Sir Meta Knight was right about you!” 

“You’re always up to something!”

“What’d you do with your so-called friends, you freak?”

“Th-they should be out in a few minutes!” Magolor stammered, on edge from the sudden bombardment of insults and Kirby’s situation.

He felt himself get grabbed by the large one- a bird whose name he didn’t remember. “That’s not good enough! You owe us an explanation, pal!” Despite the word ‘pal’ being used, the interaction didn’t seem very friendly.

“CouldyouletmegoandthenI’lltalkpleaseI’minahurry???” Despite the fact that he could breathe just fine, he still sounded as though he were being choked.

As soon as the bird relaxed his grip, Magolor disappeared. Just completely vanished. “Huh?”

The Lor displayed a message on her monitor while blaring a loud alarm. She also read out the message in a text to speech voice she had downloaded. “Intruders get out. Intruders get out. Intruders get out. Intruders get out. Intruders get out. Intruders get out. Intruders get out. Intruders get out. Intruders get out. Intruders get out. Intruders get out. Intruders get out. Intruders get out. Intruders get out. Intruders get out.”

The intruders got out.

Magolor came into Kirby’s house and closed the door. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting long!” He looked at the clock next to the bed. “Six counts as a few, right? I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay… thank you…”

“Ohhh, it’s words again! I’m so glad! …So, uh, what was going on? What’s wrong with you? That sounds bad. Why did you start stumbling?”

Kirby nuzzled himself into his pillow. “I was just thinking about everything, and I started feeling really dizzy…”

Magolor moved himself next to the bed. “I get that. It’s a lot. And a lot of this whole thing is something you haven’t had to deal with before. Honestly, I’m surprised it took this long for someone to shut down. If you want, you can talk about everything. That might help?”

Kirby sighed. “I’m so used to being able to solve problems, and now I just… can’t. I couldn’t stop people from going missing, I couldn’t save everyone from the Lor, I couldn’t save Sailor Dee from the lava, I can’t even figure out who kidnapped all of us! I feel like I’m worth nothing!”

Magolor hugged him. “But you have solved problems. You’ve done a lot. I heard it from Taranza. He never would’ve figured out who the OSO was without your help. None of us would be here without you. Okay?”

Kirby started sobbing into Magolor’s scarf. “And I’m sorry I didn’t believe you before. When I did that thing with the soup and the door…”

“It’s okay. Water under the bridge.” Magolor backed away. “And about that person who kidnapped all of us, what do you say we pin that down right now?”

“You can do that?” Kirby’s eyes widened. “Who?”

“Well…” Magolor started, trying to get the facts in his head simple enough that it’d be easily understandable. “You remember how I was working with Sailor Dee for a while, right? We had to put people to sleep if they were close to telling the truth.”

“Right…”

“Well, there was an easy reason why it happened for pretty much everyone, with one exception. Susie. You were there when we did that. Truthfully, Neither of us actually made the decision to do that. We were told to by the one behind it all. We’d have done it ourselves, but we didn’t know why we  needed to. She was just talking about a mobile AI of what she salvaged from her father. It didn’t seem to mean anything.”

Kirby nodded slowly. “Okay…”

“So, who would benefit from hiding that AI? There’s only one answer.”

“All I can think of would be…” Kirby paused. “The AI itself?”

Magolor nodded kindly, yet grimly. “You’ve got it.”

Chapter Text

“Wait, but the way you said all that… did you know the whole time?” Kirby asked. “How long have you been waiting to say this?”

“In hindsight, I should’ve seen it a lot sooner. I didn’t actually realize it until about an hour ago.” Magolor was audibly annoyed with himself.

“Oh, okay. So, um, what now?” 

“Let’s stay here for a bit. Tell me when you feel better, okay?” Magolor tucked Kirby into bed, then sat in a nearby chair and gazed out the window. “What the…” His ears bent backwards, pointing behind his head. “That… what?”

“What? What is it?” Kirby twisted to see what he was looking at.

“I’m sorry. I think I have to go. Like, now. I’ll be back when I can.” He got out of the chair and bolted out of the door, forgetting to close it on his way out, and leaving a confused-looking Elfilin in the doorway.

“Um, Kirby? Are you alright?” He flew in.

“I’m okay! Just need to rest a bit.” Kirby waved.

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Taranza woke up in his bed, slightly dismayed by the bedside clock saying it was two in the morning. He then remembered what he had inadvertently said to Sectonia. As soon as the memory appeared, his face flushed. He shouldn’t have said it. It didn’t need to be heard. Nonetheless, it was said, and the person it was said to heard it loud and clear. Here she was now, bringing a serving of mashed potatoes from the previous night. Taranza often looked back on this moment, among many others, though he was never quite sure why. Or maybe he was, and just wished he wasn’t. Back to the flashback at hand, though, he immediately tried to take control of the conversation. “So about what I said earlier-”

“Taranza. Let me make one thing clear right now.” She cut him off.

Every time Taranza thought about what followed, he became more and more sure that it was maybe the best conversation the two of them had ever had.

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“And here’s the park. I come here a lot.” Taranza gestured broadly at the clearing in the forest. It had a fountain in the center where small frogs tended to nest, a swingset, and some benches.

Sectonia sat on one of them. “It’s nice. Do you come alone?” She was clearly trying to get him to say something, but before he could respond, she continued. “Because, you know, I really hope we can… pick up where we left off?” She extended two hands.

Taranza stared at them, quietly mulling something over. Then, he stared her dead in the eyes. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Wha-”

“No, I don’t want to ‘pick up where we left off!’ Look, Queen Sectonia has done a lot for me. I recognize that. After all, how could I not? She brought it up all the time! And It’s not like I don’t understand why. She didn’t really have anyone other than me, and wanted to make sure I stayed close as her friend. But she was so scared of losing me that she ended up hurting me in the process. When I did something I wasn’t supposed to, she lashed out like I was an idiot for even thinking of it. And the worst part is, I started to believe her. I thought I couldn’t do anything that wasn’t under her direction. So, no picking up will be happening. And besides, those feelings I had were never mutual! There’s no ‘where we left off’ to pick up from! And, lastly, since she died all that time ago, I’ve moved on and I’m happy.”

Sectonia listened, unamused, then cocked an eyebrow when he was done. “That’s great. One question, though: Why were you referring to me in the third person?”

“Why shouldn’t I? After all…” He turned away to look up between the trees. “I’m talking about someone who isn’t here.”

“Pardon?”

“When I told you you were no longer queen, your reaction was nonexistent. That was the first clue. Well, no, the first clue was that you were here at all. Sectonia is dead. That can’t be undone. But the thing that clinched it was just now. You tried to rekindle a love that never existed. Sectonia made it clear that she ‘values’ me, and didn’t have a problem with me thinking I was in love with her, but under no circumstances would it ever be reciprocated. Honestly, if she pretended it was, it’d be a lot worse. So I’m glad she shot me down then. Both because it was healthy, and also because it means I can see right through you now. I don’t know who or what you are, but I can tell you right now who you aren’t.”

The thing that most certainly was not Sectonia blinked. “Hm. Haha. Oh well. That’s disappointing. This whole thing was a bust from the jump anyway, but I really wanted to see how far I could take it.”

“What?”

“Since it’s obvious that my presence isn’t exactly having the intended effect, I’ll come clean. I’m a clone. Most of my memories were given to me before I was born, so whoever made me had a very wrong idea of your relationship. Anyways, I was supposed to start trying to kill you about half an hour ago, so I’ll get on that now.” As she said that, she condensed into a blob of purple goo, and then emerged as the wasp-like creature Sectonia had become after getting the mirror. “𝒟𝑜 𝐼 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒻𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓁𝒾𝒶𝓇?”

She had drawn her two swords, and was looking threateningly down at him. Taranza tried to say something, or flee, but looking at her made his muscles seize up. He couldn’t move. He could practically feel the pain from old scars again. He felt himself unable to look away as one of the swords transformed into her all-too-recognizable lightning staff. She raised it above her head. Taranza could only bring himself to close his eyes and wait.

WHAM!

The staff fired a bolt. 

It singed the ground beside Taranza.

He heard the clone grunt discontentedly. 

Her breathing was audible.

Over the breathing, he heard a voice that was like music to his ears.

“Nice aim, idiot. I take it your creator was blind?” Magolor.

Taranza opened his eyes. Sectonia was stunned. “And who invited the catboy conman?”

“Bold of you to assume I get invited places.” Magolor smirked. He vanished, then reappeared in front of Taranza. “Hold on. Literally. Hold on to me and don’t let go.”

“Uh, okay.” Taranza obliged. His surroundings began glowing a deep purple, and then he was in a strange-looking room. The walls were light blue, the floor and ceiling were a faded white, and the only tangible objects were a bed, a door, a bathtub, and some chairs. 

Outside the window was a man who looked similar to Adeleine, only larger and with an impressively curled mustache. He was tending to a bed of gear-shaped flowers. Magolor waved to him. “Hey, Nix. Been a while.”

“Ah, Magolor! How long has it been?”

“A few months in my time. I’ll probably be back later, but right now I really need to talk to Taranza. Good to see you though!” With a flourish, the window vanished.

Taranza scrambled over to the wall. “What? Where’d the window go? And where are we? And who’s Nix?” His heart rate still hadn’t gone down.

“Aw, man. This is gonna take some explanation. Basically, this is a brand new dimension that I made a few years ago. I don’t want to go into the specifics, but whenever you see me teleport, I’m usually just going here. The window disappeared because we don’t need it right now. And Nix is my therapist. He doesn’t sense the passage of time and was born about four months ago. Is that enough? Because I don’t want to exposit too much about a dimension I created by myself.”

“I… okay. Why are we here?” Taranza tried to ignore the many questionable aspects of the situation, instead trying to slow his breaths.

“Number one: The mastermind behind our kidnapping. It’s that AI Susie mentioned making earlier. I could tell you why I know that, but I’d rather skip that and talk more about what you’re dealing with now.” Magolor said something that important like it was no more dramatic than what he had eaten for breakfast. Clearly he didn’t have much patience for theatrics at the moment.

“Alright, more later it is.” Taranza mumbled.

“Oh, Ranz, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be doing this when you’re clearly overwhelmed.” Magolor brought Taranza to the bed. “Here. Lie down for a while so you can get your thoughts in order. Take as long as you need.”

“As long as I need? Wouldn’t we be letting her do as she pleases?”

“Time here is separated from the real world. No matter how long we spend here, it’ll never be more than five seconds in reality. So please relax. I need you to be okay for what’ll come next.”

Taranza closed his eyes. He’d let his brain work through it slowly. This is just too much. Why did she turn into that thing? I can’t do this. I can’t. His breathing slowed. His heartbeat calmed down. He thought. He waited. The large amounts of emotions rose and fell, some being released through his eyes.

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As the others were going up the stairs, Dark Meta Knight had broken away from the pack. He hoped he wouldn’t be noticed sneaking away in a dark area. He used the diversion created by the waddle dees greeting the others to stealthily escape the castle. He soared into the sky, aiming for his destination. The Dimension Mirror. He approached it and entered. On the other side was the series of mirror doors that led around the planet. Just as it should be. He sat down on the cloudy platform.

“I bet you think you’re real clever, don’t you?” That coy voice came from behind the mirror. Of course, it was Daroach. He always showed up uninvited. “I hope you know that I’m not letting you run away.”

“I had no intention of doing so. Don’t attempt to insult me by implying that I would avoid bringing painful death to whatever deranged lunatic thought they could kidnap me.”

“Uh huh.” Daroach stepped out from behind the mirror. “And why are you here? Are you looking for someone?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Oh, nothing. Maybe ask the little guy to your left?”

Dark Meta Knight spun around and caught the gaze of Shadow Kirby, who wasn’t looking very happy. “Oh… You’re back… Great…” He ran off.

“Little shit didn’t miss me one bit.” Dark Meta Knight grumbled.

“I can’t imagine why.” Daroach said dryly.

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Reality had sunk in. Finally. Taranza didn’t know how long he had laid on the bed for, but he had decided it was long enough. After getting all of the flavourful details of what he needed to know, he finally asked. “What do we do?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk about. Obviously, someone has to deal with that Sectonia clone. We can’t just let her, uh, bee.” Magolor snickered under his breath at his pun.

“And you think I should do that, right?” Taranza averted his eyes.

“Get real. No way I’m telling you to do that.”

Taranza clenched one of his hands. “What?”

“As great as it would be for you to literally defeat the source of all your repressed anger, I can’t ask you to do that. I saw it in your eyes before I saved you. That’s just too much. So, what I’m saying is… if you think you can, mentally, I mean, go ahead. I’ll be behind you every step of the way. If you don’t think you can, I’ll take her on myself. There’s no pressure to say yes. Above all else, I want you to be okay. So, can you beat her?” Magolor held his hands out and tenderly grasped two of Taranza’s hands.

He looked down, and then into Magolor’s eyes. “No. I can’t.”

Magolor nodded. “Okay. I’ll get us out of here. Try to stay out of the blast zone when I start killing. Are you ready to go back?”

“Yes.” 

Within seconds, they were back in the park. Taranza quickly rushed out of the soon-to-be battlefield. Magolor dodged an immediate barrage of energy blasts. “Yeah. I expected that much. I was expecting those five seconds to make you less stupid, but it seems I got my hopes up.” He held a hand out, palm up, as three dark purple spheres circled it. “And now, you lose.”

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“Goodbye. I was never able to say that before, but I have now.” He knelt down, placing a single white flower on the ground in front of him. “No. That’s not all I should say. No matter where I am, no matter what I say, even if you can’t hear me from where you are, know that I have always loved you. And I always will. I dearly hope that whatever piece of me died with you is watching over you in the afterlife, and can protect you there when I unfortunately could not.” Tears appeared in his eyes, falling down his face and collecting in the face-down mask on the ground. All was silent, save for the disheveled, uneven breathing, and the distant crashing of waves in the ocean. 

“I wish I had stopped you from going. I wish I could have caught you when you fell. I wish I could have stopped you from going to that cottage. I wish I could have done anything to save you. I wish I had picked up the phone. I wish I had been shown that video. I wish I was forced to hide in the shadows in your stead. I wish I had pressed that button. And if it came to that, I wish I would’ve had to die in your stead. But I don’t plan to now. I can’t. The others need me.” He put his mask back on. “And I still need to make sure the person responsible for this pays. Preferably with their life.”

Leaving those words of hardened determination by the cliff’s edge, he took one more look over the ocean, the original site of the Halberd’s sinking. He turned around and ran. The sadness in his heart had not faded. But he felt one thing even more. He was vengeful. And we would not stop until the one responsible had been wiped from existence.

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Magolor brought the large sword down. It struck true, knocking the Sectonia clone backwards into a tree. He could tell she was getting weaker. Her attacks were growing more and more desperate. Crystal fragments lined the ground and the fountain. She thrusted one of her swords at him, but it was quickly blocked by his magical shield. The fourth segment of the shield broke. He held up the final segment of the shield while readying a revolution flame. The shield shattered after being hit by a slicing golden disc, but luckily, he was able to launch the spiral of flame. She cried out as she was engulfed in fire, but her voice ceased when she saw Magolor’s face. 

He was tired. Exhausted, even. Not only that, but off guard and with no shield. She lashed out with one of her swords.

Magolor was knocked sideways into the fountain. As he struggled to get out of the water, he saw a purple flash out of the corner of his eye. A bolt of electricity. But it wasn’t aimed at him. The bolt hit one of the crystals on the fountain, and split. The bolts continued flying, splitting and reflecting off of the crystals. Eventually, they began passing through the water in the fountain. And in turn, through Magolor.

The electricity coursed through his body, rendering him immobile. His skin was burning. His heartbeat was destabilizing. He could no longer see. She continued feeding into her twisted electrocution setup, laughing maniacally. “I dare you to keep talking! Call me an idiot again! Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

“But that’s exactly what you are.” Taranza cut in. He was hovering above the fountain, holding an enormous ball of energy above his head. He considered saying something further, but he saw Magolor suffering in the fountain and elected not to stall any longer. He threw the ball, then dove down and used a magic web to pull Magolor out of the fountain. 

The ball hit the clone, and she almost immediately started convulsing. Taranza watched intensely as she jittered, morphed, and shrunk back to her original form before exploding in purple slime.

He looked down at Magolor, who was barely breathing. His hands were spasming, and he was struggling to try to make some sort of sound in gratitude.

“It’s okay. I’ll take you home, Magolor. I’ll bring you back.” He began flying back to the Lor. “And then we’ll finish this.”

Chapter Text

Magolor appeared in the doorway. “Hey, uh, Chief, I wanna ask you something.”

Sailor Dee looked up from the monitor. “Huh? Don’t. Call me that.”

“Sorry, it’s instinctual. Anyway, I understand most of what you’ve said you could tell me about all this, but there’s one thing I still don’t get.”

“And what is that?”

Magolor scratched one of his ears. “This person outside, the one who’s responsible for all of this, how did they make our magic not work?”

“Oh, that? I have no idea. I asked about it, and they just said it’d be taken care of every twenty eight days or so.”

“Weird…”

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“And that’s what ultimately tipped me off. That’s the other purpose of those chip things I found on us.” Magolor said.

“I appreciate the thought, but you really don’t need to be talking about all this while half of your body is charred and you have almost no control over your hands.” Taranza set him down on the floor. “And once you can actually move normally, take a shower.” He started to leave.

Magolor’s voice stopped him. “Are you mad at me?”

Taranza turned around. “Why would I be mad at you?”

“You sound upset. Is it because I failed?”

Taranza hesitated. “I’m upset because of her. I think I just need to blow off some steam.” He caressed Magolor’s face. “It’s not your fault.”

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When Taranza left the Lor, he ran into Susie. “Oh! Just the person I was hoping to see.”

She seemed taken aback by this. “I am? Why?”

“I wanted to ask how you feel about being strangled almost to death.”

“...I would prefer not to be???” She backed away.

“I won’t. Well, I’ll try not to. But I know this is all your fault. And I know that you know it, too. That’s why you’ve been so quiet ever since we escaped, right?” Taranza leveled her with a cold stare.

Susie froze, then turned her head away from him. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Don’t give me that!” Taranza exploded. “A person has died because of you! An entire town got kidnapped! You can’t honestly expect me to let you avoid taking responsibility for this, can you?”

“I didn’t mean to-”

“I don’t care what you meant to do! If I was judged based on my intentions, I’d be the king of the universe! This is about actions, and yours were really really terrible. You let that AI fester for six years, not even bothering to make sure it wasn’t doing anything, and once you found out what happened, you didn’t say a single thing to the rest of us!” 

Without responding, Susie pulled out her propeller that she used to fly, and flew away.

Taranza stared in a mixture of disbelief and anger. He wanted to follow her. He wanted to stop her from doing whatever she was about to do. But he didn’t. He just turned around and went back to the Lor. Magolor emerged from the pantry with a plate of nachos, gave Taranza a nod in greeting, and then went into the study. Taranza went through the newly opened door into the pantry, lay his head on the shelf, and cried. He didn’t even know what he was crying about. He heard the Lor’s voice. “Could one of you answer the door? Kirby is here.”

Taranza picked himself up and made his way to the door. He was slightly surprised to see Elfilin along with him. “Hello. Have you two been well?”

Elfilin’s face filled with concern. “What about you? You look sad…”

“I’ll live. Come in.” Taranza turned around and went back into the pantry.

Before long, most of the others had shown up, through an amusingly convoluted series of coincidences. The only absentees were Susie and Kine, but Taranza didn’t particularly expect them to show up in the first place. Kirby, Elfilin, Taranza, and Magolor explained the President Haltmann AI, which everyone believed, but some were taking the information a lot better than others. “When I get my hands on that bitch , they will not leave her throat until she dies.” Meta Knight seemed particularly upset.

Dedede placed a hand on his shoulder. “If. If you get your hands on her. And anyway, we can’t do much of anything if we don’t have a plan.”

Bandee looked up at the king hopefully. “Oh! What’s the plan, then?”

Dedede wiped his brow. “Well, step one would be… to come up with a plan.”

Gooey’s expression didn’t change at all. “Whoa… I didn’t know we could do that…” It was difficult to tell if he was making fun of him or being genuine, but those who knew him well decided it was the latter.

Francisca tried to stop what she deemed nonsense and continue with a more pragmatic approach. “Well, we can’t exactly sneak in. We’re up against an enemy that could have eyes literally anywhere. It’d probably be better to just go in guns blazing.” She gave her axe a twirl.

Dark Meta Knight piped up from a far corner of the room. “I don’t hate the approach, but we’ve already seen everything in that basement. If we still don’t even know what we’re looking for, we have no reason to go back for seconds.”

“That’s not where I meant. I had another place in mind.” 

Coo tilted his head, then came to a realization. “Oh. Oh, you mean-”

She nodded. “I do. Meta Knight, do you happen to have any recordings of phone calls saved on the Halberd?”

He pulled out his cell phone. “I know. You mean this one.” He played a conversation that seemed to be already open.

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙡𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙩.”

“Well, um, yes, I am… Who is this?” Sailor Dee answered.

“𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝-𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙬𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙆𝙞𝙧𝙗𝙮'𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙣. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬 𝙗𝙮 1500 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨. 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨. 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙧. 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬. 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙖𝙠𝙚, 𝙄 𝙨𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙙𝙚.” The call ended there.

Everyone tried to focus on the presented information rather than the fact that the conversation they had just heard was from someone who is now dead and someone who should have died back when he was killed. Dedede cracked his knuckles. “Well. Looks like we’re going. Ready?”

Rick shook his head. “We shouldn’t. What if we just get gassed again?”

Magolor snapped to attention. “Masks. I could make some of those.”

Bandee brightened. “Ohh, that’s a good idea! How… how long will that take?”

“Few hours.”

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Magolor was working away, building gas masks in the study, when someone knocked on the door. “Lor, who is it?”

“Marx.”

“Fine.” He turned away from the table, having now made nine out of eighteen. He opened the door. “What is it?”

“Where did he go?” 

Magolor eyed the jester in the doorway quizzically. “Who?”

Marx tilted his head in the direction of the kitchen. “You know…”

Magolor froze. “Is. Is he not in there?”

“Wouldn’t be here if he was.” 

Magolor bolted out of the room and into the kitchen. He zoomed past a confused-looking Dedede and yanked open the freezer. “Oh no.”

As he was closing the freezer, Dedede was staring in bewilderment. “What kind of contraption you keeping in that freezer? And what’s so important about it?”

“Um.” Magolor suddenly realized the mistake he had made. He couldn’t just shrug it off, so he closed the door after Marx had entered. Sheepishly, he turned to Dedede, who was looking more and more bewildered with every second. “How well can you keep a secret?”

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“All I’m saying is, you wouldn’t have had to tell him if you had just believed me in the first place.” Marx pointed out when they got back to the study.

“Well, pardon me for not immediately believing you.” Magolor got back to work. “I wonder why I have trouble with that. Perhaps I’ll need a list of some other things you’ve told me to refresh my memory?” His voice was laced with bitterness. “Like ‘I promise I’ll never abandon you’ or the sequel, ‘I promise I won’t abandon you ever again.’ Those were real classics.”

“I’m not asking you to forget about that!” Marx exploded. “I just want you to think about now before you think about the past!”

“And I want you,” Magolor glared. “To do that yourself before you assume it’s that easy. I’m trying, really I am. But pointing out things I already know and being condescending about it is not helping.”

Marx dejectedly walked to the door. “Sorry.” He left Magolor in the study, having nothing left to say.

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Susie nervously tapped her fingers against the table. She fidgeted with the remote control in her hands, Closing a partition, opening the partition again, glancing around the entire room. It wasn’t necessary, yet she did it anyway. It was strange, in all honesty. There was a feeling of unease and anxiety she hadn’t felt since she was a child. Since then she had always been so decisive, so sure of herself and what she was doing. Her thought process may have been flawed in retrospect, but she never dwelled on that for too long. Now, she was plagued by a question, one she was asking to herself. “What are you going to do?” Is a question that she’s almost never asked herself, not since childhood. She had an answer before she even thought about it. Now it was the same. She had her answer.

That wasn’t the only question, though.

She also asked herself another one, one that usually never needed answering either. “Are you sure you want that?” She had to admit she wasn’t.

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Daroach couldn’t quell his own curiosity. Despite knowing there were more important things happening now, he wanted to go back. To meet that person he met earlier. He went through the mirror to the other side. Surprisingly, he saw them immediately. That little grey creature who looked like Kirby but wasn’t. He did want to meet them, but he realized at that moment that he didn’t quite know what he wanted to say. I guess I’ll let my natural charisma handle this for me. He took a few steps forward and fell flat on his face. He got up, dusted himself off, and approached.

They got the first word in. “You… were here earlier, right?” They were looking at him like they had recognized him from somewhere long ago.

“I was. I wanted to meet you. My name’s Daroach. What about you?”

“D-” As soon as he said his name, the Kirby-shaped person sitting before him became overcome with emotion. “Is- is it really you? Why do you look like that?”

Daroach’s brow furrowed. “Uh, hate to break it to you, kid, but I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

The gears turned in their head, then they looked down, disappointed. “Oh. Oh… I’m sorry. I’m… Kirby. But, I guess you probably already know the other me, right?”

“I do, but that’s not a reason to be upset.” Daroach hit a realization. “Wait, is there a version of me over here?”

“There was.” He sounded sad.

“What… happened to him?” Some part of him didn’t really want to know.

“I don’t know. Whatever it was, it was a long time ago.” He slumped. “So um, why’d you want to meet me?”

“Well, you seemed a little upset to see Dark Meta Knight come back. I didn’t want to talk about that in front of him, but I do want to know what’s going on with him.”

“Are you… friends with him?”

Daroach pushed down the top of his hat. “For his definition, I might be. For my definition, no.”

“Oh… good…” Shadow Kirby started blinking rapidly. “I… really don’t like him…”

Daroach sat down in front of him. “Well, let’s hear it. I’ll make sure to annoy him about it.”

Shadow Kirby made direct eye contact for the first time. “You’re just like him…”

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Rick came back into the Lor Starcutter. “Something’s wrong.” 

Kirby turned his head. “What is it?”

“Kine. I can’t find him. I wanted to at least let him know what was going on before we left, but I can’t find him anywhere!”

Bandee shrugged. “There’s a lot of water in the world.”

Magolor popped out of the study. “Everything’s ready!” He looked around at the people in the main room. “Gather up the others, we gotta go!”

Chapter Text

Magolor started rounding people up by going into his own room, where Taranza was taking a nap to try and destress. Before he went in, he was worrying about whether or not he should actually wake him up, but he didn’t have to think about it any more once he saw him sitting up in the bed. “Did you sleep okay?” He went closer to Taranza’s side, closing the door. 

Taranza picked himself up off the bed and hugged him. “I’m sorry…”

“For what?” Magolor hugged him back, hoping his apology was for something that wasn’t serious. Either way, it was his responsibility to make him feel better. That was how it worked, right?

“I’m such an idiot.”

“No, you’re not.” Magolor backed off slightly. “What are you talking about?”

Taranza blinked, then started blinking faster. “Oh!” He let go. “I need to actually tell you before I apologize for forgetting! I remembered! The thing that happened in the building that I forgot about!”

Magolor cocked his head to one side. “Oh?”

“I think we might have made a really big mistake.”

Magolor sat down on the bed. “Please, go on.”

Taranza sat next to him. “I talked to them. The one who put us all in there. And they asked me for something.”

“Oh, whoa, really? What’d they ask for?”

“They asked me where Max Profitt Haltmann is. And when I told them he was dead, they denied it. Theyinsistedhe’salivebuttheydon-”

“Ranz.” Magolor put a hand firmly on Taranza’s chest. “Please slow down. We won’t get anywhere if you don’t calm down.” 

Taranza took a long, deep, breath. “Sorry.”

“Okay?” Magolor eased his grip. “Now, go back to-wait. Wait, they asked WHERE he is?!?”

“Yes.”

Magolor held his hands against the sides of his head. “Then what the fuck does that mean? Who could possibly swear up and down that he’s alive but not know where he is? That doesn’t make any sense!”

Taranza jittered like he was shaking invisible maracas. “I KNOW!!!”

“The person who stuck us all there knows enough about the Haltmann AI to want to stop Susie from saying anything, but they somehow don’t think he’s dead???” 

“Well, if it helps, the person I spoke to who isn’t the AI might also not be the mastermind behind all of this.”

“But that just raises the question of who it is !” Magolor exploded.

“And I don’t have the foggiest idea!” The panic was mutual.

There was a reluctant tap at the door. “Hey guys, aren’t we going?” It sounded like Dedede. “And whatever you’re doing in there, it’s not quiet.”

Magolor’s face went beet-red. He called to the door, “Coming!” He turned to Taranza. “We should go. Maybe we’ll figure it out when we get there?”

“Okay. Should we tell the others about what I just remembered?”

“Do whatever you want to, Ranz.” Magolor got up and moved to the door, then turned back and gave Taranza a sly glance. “I won’t.”

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The door creaked as it swung open. “That thing?” Coo indicated the hatch on the floor.

“Looks like it.” Ribbon tried lifting it open. It came up pretty easily.

Elfilin scanned the group. “Is, uh, everyone here?”

“Still no Kine.” Rick said uneasily. “Haven’t seen him anywhere.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” Daroach said nonchalantly. “This AI fella wouldn’t have much to do with one fish. Wherever he is, he’s fine. And besides, the president doesn’t know any of us personally, except for maybe a few passing conversations with Kirby or Meta Knight. He absolutely wouldn’t target Kine specifically.” He looked to his left and caught Magolor and Taranza exchanging uncertain glances. “Right. I forgot about the whole file thing. Sorry, Mago.” That wasn’t what they were thinking of, but they’d rather he think of that than something that would worry Rick even more about his friend’s wellbeing.

Kirby set one foot onto the stairs, then stopped. “Okay! Masks on, everyone!” They all donned their masks, and descended into the darkness.

“So, what are we looking for?” Marx asked a bit too loudly.

“Anything helpful that’ll help us get rid of the AI.” Meta Knight said curtly.

“Hey, can I take this off?” Elfilin asked. “This mask is heavy, and it’s hard to see. Wouldn’t we have gotten gassed already if it was here?”

At that moment, a frightful sound echoed through the surprisingly large room, as if something very large was running very fast on the metal floor. Magolor shuddered. “That doesn’t sound good…”

Zan Partizanne continued pressing forward. “We won’t get anywhere while being afraid. Keep going.” The sounds continued, varying in type. It sounded like machinery was running, though it was difficult to tell what it was or what it was doing. “Don’t like that, though. Not one bit.”

They walked.

Scanning the sides of the room yielded no results. They kept moving forward.

They walked.

The mask on Elfilin’s face began to drag him down. Kirby carried him.

They walked.

The sounds of machinery grew louder.

They walked.

They walked. 

They walked.

They walked.

They wa 𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐇!!!

The ear-shatteringly loud noise almost made Magolor jump out of his skin. “Eep!” His sensitive ears and aversion to loud sounds made him stop to tremble briefly. The only person who seemed to notice was Marx.

“Hey. You okay?” Marx hopped over to him.

“I, I, I, I-I-I…..” He blubbered incoherently. He was holding his face like his head was hurting and the fear in his eyes was visible through the gas mask.

Marx reluctantly put a wing around him. “Magolor.” 

Magolor slowed down, then shook his head. He stared at Marx. He pulled the wing off of him. “Uhh… thanks.” He watched as the rest of them continued forward.

Marx nodded. “You want me to stick by you? I know you get really freaked out by loud noises.”

“That and the fact that I can’t see what’s making them.” Magolor said, somewhat defensively.

“Haha. I know, I know. But I’m not going to leave you alone when you’re this scared. Come on, let’s catch up.” Marx gestured his head towards the others who were getting further away.

“Yeah.” Magolor started moving on. He turned around, looking worried. “Hey, aren’t you going to stay next to me?”

Marx seemed to have been in thought. He snapped to attention. “Right. I was just… thinking. Let’s go.” He jogged over, having a bit more of a spring in his step. They went to catch up to the others.

Shortly after they caught up, they realized that they were approaching a dead end. A wall loomed above, having no clear way to surpass it from as far away as they were. The whirring had gotten louder, and the loud crashes were becoming more frequent despite never being visually perceptible. They got closer to the wall. Bandee pointed. “Look, a lever.” They could barely be heard by anyone who wasn’t next to them, but the reactions had the word spreading pretty quickly.

Coo pulled the lever. Immediately, a loud noise started echoing through the room. It was the ear-piercing screech of metal on metal. Magolor covered his ears, and Daroach followed suit. This time, though, they could see what it was doing. The wall was sliding upwards. When it stopped, there was a door. “Well, we should go in!” Kirby said. He grabbed the two sliding door handles and pulled. They didn’t budge.

“Hold on, bud. Lemme take a crack at it.” Daroach stepped up to the door, cracked his knuckles, and pulled them open with a flourish. He froze after seeing the other side. “Wha-”

“No way…” Elfilin gasped.

“What? It’s just another big room.” Dedede scratched his head.

“It’s the same…” Taranza looked up at the ceiling that was too far away to see. The room was full of staircases, going up and down with no rhyme or reason. It was identical to a place some of them had visited before. 

“Floor O. We’re back.” Magolor said with a tone of undeniable dread.

There was no elevator. Instead, they advanced further by climbing the large spiral staircase surrounding the pillar in the center of the room. Whoever built this place, they sure did like spiral staircases. The noises continued. They climbed the stairs, seeing the top for the first time. At that moment, an enormous crash came from the pillar. The stairs shook. 

Magolor suddenly became very aware of how high up he was. He could fly, it wasn’t a problem. But what if he couldn’t? What if that could all be taken away? What if something large and powerful got a hold of him and ripped the freedom of movement out of his hands? What if he was made to fall then? Just like back then? The thoughts were so irrational, he wanted to pull them out of his head and throw them very far away. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t let go of them. Even now, they weighed him down. His breathing grew heavier, and his hands were now grasping the metal steps.

Marx stopped. “Okay, you guys keep going, I’ll just stay here with him. Wait for us up there, alright?”

One by one, the others who were lagging behind climbed past the two of them. Rick, Dark Meta Knight, Flamberge, Francisca, and lastly, Bandee.

Kirby got to the top alongside Taranza and Daroach. He was on a large landing near a door. Meta Knight got there soon after. “Let’s wait for the others.” The others came up after. Dedede, Zan Partizanne, Gooey, Ribbon, Coo, Adeleine, Elfilin, Rick, Dark Meta Knight, Flamberge, Francisca, and then there was a long pause. “Hey, um, where’s Marx?”

Taranza shuddered. “Where’s Magolor? I knew I should have checked on him after that loud crash…”

“Where’s Bandana?” Dedede stared in fury. They looked down the stairs to see where people were, but that stopped them from noticing Marx and Magolor appearing from around the pillar.

Marx gave a cheerful nod. “Hey guys, we all here?”

Needless to say, they were not all there.

Chapter Text

“P-please stop!” Bandee pleaded. “I know you’re still here! You have to be! Please let me go! This isn’t you!” 

The thing that wasn’t their friend tightened its grip. “𝔽𝕒𝕤𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕞 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕀 𝕒𝕞 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕝𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦? 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥, 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕣.”

“H-hey…” They choked out. “Can’t breathe… You’re… taking me… for a reason… right? Shouldn’t you… not be hurting me…?”

“𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕪. 𝕀 𝕨𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦. 𝕐𝕖𝕥. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦. 𝔸 𝕝𝕠𝕥.” The grip loosened enough for Bandee to breathe. 

“Uh, wha-AGH!” They were extremely aware of the sound of the skin on their back tearing open. A sound like an electric razor reached their ears, and the most intense pain they’d ever felt erupted from deep inside the wound in their back. It was so overpowering, they couldn’t even scream. Or maybe they were screaming. If they were, they couldn’t hear themselves. The sound died down, but the searing pain stayed. They went completely limp, having their will broken.

“ℕ𝕠𝕨, 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕖𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖, 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝. 𝕆𝕣 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕥. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕀 𝕘𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕡 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖.” 

They felt themselves being roughly slammed into a wall, after which they lay on the floor that was beneath them and waited for their body to start responding to the idea that they should probably get up. Instead of standing, they cried. “Why…” It was the first actual word they had spoken in what felt like hours. Once they had finally gotten on their feet, they looked around at where they had ended up. The room was dark. Empty. They were in a transparent case, suspended in midair. The pain had only slightly subsided. They really wanted nothing more than to be back with the others. They started pounding on the walls of the case. “HELP! HELP ME! PLEASE! SOMEONE GET ME OUT OF HERE!”

The door behind the case opened and their assailant entered the room. They were holding Bandee’s spear. Upon entering, they held the spear in full view of them. Wordlessly, they crushed it into splinters. They then opened the case, grabbed Bandee in one hand, and used the other hand to riddle their skin with the splinters. “𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕡.” Bandee could hardly keep breathing, and it became all the more difficult when the electric razor sound started again, but was now louder.

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“I don’t get it! How does someone just disappear from a stairwell?” Dedede loudly panicked. “It’s a line! It’s like vanishing halfway down a hallway! How do you do that?”

Magolor turned away from the others. “Not voluntarily, that’s for sure.” He scanned the vast chasm below them. “Looks like the scenery isn’t the only thing that’s the same. It seems like someone’s been replaced as well.”

An intangible fear took hold of the group. Daroach opened his mouth to ask what most probably, in their hearts, knew the answer to. “Replaced? What do you mean?” 

Magolor squeezed his eyes shut. “It means there’s a new OSO. And I can’t imagine they’ll be anywhere near as hospitable as the first.”

Behind the door was a long hallway with four doors, and a door at the end. With the exception of the end door, it was identical to floor J. The group stuck together, not wanting to be taken away when alone and vulnerable. They went to the end door and tried to open it. It didn’t budge. Even with everyone attacking it at once, the door didn’t move. “Ugh. No good.” Adeleine turned away in frustration. They decided to search the rest of the floor, all sticking together. In the garden, they decided to check the toolshed. They found a key. 

Rick tried to put the key into the lock on the door. “Doesn’t fit.”

Daroach threw his hands up. “So what now? We just pack up and leave? Our friend could be getting sliced like a tomato as we speak and we’re just supposed to walk away because we can’t open a door?”

“Calm down. The fucking key just goes somewhere else.” Dark Meta Knight slapped him on the back. “Let’s just find what it opens.”

That something turned out to be one of the jail cells. Inside was a small puzzle box, the outside being a series of sliding panels that needed to be moved correctly in order to open the box. Dedede worked at it for a few minutes, then got frustrated and tried to smash the box with a hammer. Somehow, it seemed to hurt him more than it did the box. “Ngh. Anyone else want to try?”

Meta Knight immediately grabbed the box and slashed at it. Of course, it didn’t work. “Do we really have to open this thing the normal way?”

Magolor emerged from something that he was doing on the floor. Whatever it was, no one saw. “Maybe not. I found this thing under one of the jail beds.” He unfolded the piece of paper he found as several people started crowding around. “Um, okay. This is just a printout of an article from about twenty five years ago-can you guys back off? I’ll read it out loud.”

Magolor dramatically cleared his throat, then Daroach grabbed the article out of his hands. “We don’t have time for your theatrics. I’ll read it.” He cleared his throat even more dramatically than Magolor had, then began to read. 

“The stocks of the Haltmann Works Company have been on the rise for several years now, but a recent tragedy has brought ruin onto the founder and CEO, Max Profitt Haltmann. Two nights ago, when his young daughter Susanna came in to watch the testing of a strange machine he had discovered, a horrific accident occurred which caused her to completely disappear. She has not been confirmed dead, however the circumstances make the odds of her survival staggeringly low.”

“The six year old girl entered the room where President Haltmann was testing a machine he referred to as ‘the mother computer’ to watch and learn, then go to bed at her established bedtime at 9:00 pm. When she was leaving, the machine malfunctioned, and the figurative dust settled to reveal her likely permanent disappearance.”

“This is all according to Max Profitt Haltmann himself. Though, his account may be unreliable, due to how overtly distraught he is. He referred to Susanna as ‘his only remaining reason to live’ after his wife passed away. It’s entirely possible that this man would also have perished if not for the negligible glimmer of hope that Susanna is still alive somewhere.”

Daroach folded the paper back up and tucked it into his cape. “Well, I know for sure that I’d like to give that reporter a swift kick in the behind. How insensitive can you get? The man was grieving and all they care about is the stock of his stupid company?”

Dark Meta Knight spoke without moving. “I found it rather informative.”

Dedede picked up the box again. “Okay, that’s great and all, but so what? How does it help us with this thing?”

Adeleine tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, can I have that?”

“Uh, sure.” Dedede handed it over.

“Thanks.” Adeleine grabbed the box and slid a few panels around, then opened the box. “Just like that.” 

Daroach’s eyes went wide, flabbergasted. “How- What- How did you figure out how to open that thing from the article?”

She flipped her paintbrush. “I didn’t. I’m just really good at those.” She pulled the key out of the box. “This is what we need, right?” 

“Uh, right. I think. Everyone out.” Daroach held the door open and let them all file out of the room. Once they had all left, he went to follow them, and the door slammed shut before he could leave. “Oh no.” He grabbed the knob and tried to yank the door open. The knob didn’t turn. He felt a knot form in his stomach, and then heard a familiar-sounding crash behind him.

Magolor froze in the middle of the hallway. “Hey, guys? Daroach isn’t following us.” He turned around and saw the closed door. “No!” He was rushing back to the door when the crash echoed through the hall. Despite the immediate fear, he started banging on the door. “Daroach! Can you hear me?! Please answer!”

Dedede ran in behind him and clobbered the door. It didn’t break. “Why does nothing ever break in this place?”

Through the door, they heard sounds of a struggle, then a heavily muffled scream of pain. A moment later, the door opened and revealed an empty room. Magolor fell to the floor. “aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAARRRRRGH!” He got up, picked up the empty box, set it on fire, and threw it across the room. “WHAT’S THE POINT? WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER TRYING ANYTHING? IT NEVER WORKS! NO MATTER WHAT I DO, IT ALWAYS AMOUNTS TO FUCKING NOTHING!” 

Dedede backed away from the sudden outburst. “Okay, calm down.”

Magolor steamed, then left the room. “‘Kay.” It didn’t seem in good taste to vocally console him specifically at the time, so Taranza stayed beside him with two reassuring hands around him. 

The door opened, revealing a staircase to floor I. Instead of the usual rooms, floor I contained a set of living spaces, which confused several people. Rick tilted his head. “Why?”

No one had an answer. They went to the end of the hallway. Ribbon unsuccessfully tried to open the door. “Of course. It’s locked.” 

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Galacta Knight returned to the Lor after pretending to look for Magolor for the entire day. To his surprise, the place was still empty. He avoided being seen by the waddle dees, which wasn’t difficult because they had all gone to bed. “Lor. What has transpired? Where have the others gotten to?”

“What? No ‘hello?’ No ‘sorry for vanishing for a full day without explanation?’ I’ll have you know you can’t get away with the same thing twice!” The Lor seemed indignant.

Galacta Knight physically recoiled, as if he were a child scolded by his mother. “I- apologies. I am sorry for worrying you. Now, if I could please be given an update on the wellbeing of the only flesh and blood remnant of my former life, I’d greatly appreciate that.”

“That’s better. Now, about that, he went with seventeen others… to a scary abandoned cottage in the middle of a forest where someone was threatened into mass kidnapping.”

“He what?” 

They were interrupted by a loud noise from outside. Galacta Knight ran out of the Lor to see the entirety of Castle Dedede rising out of the ground, revealing a large complex beneath it. The lights inside the Lor darkened. “Oh dear. That’s not right.”

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Daroach’s listless body twitched with what was a monumental effort to merely stand. He failed, of course, and wasn’t able to do so. “Uughh…” He groaned. The eruption of pain in his spine that made him long for the sweet release of death was barely fading. He dragged himself in a random direction, and saw someone across from him. “An… ee?” he was trying to say Bandee, but the enunciation wouldn’t form in his mouth.

They seemed to perk up at hearing a voice that wasn’t overtly threatening them. “Daroach? They got you too, didn’t they.” They slumped. “And here I was hoping no one would join me. This whole place is a trap and we fell into it. And we can’t do anything!”

Daroach managed to slightly pick himself off the floor of the suspended case. He looked around, then spied an object. Then he blinked, as if he was trying to zoom in on an image in real life. It was a key, hanging from the ceiling, just in front of them. “‘Office key.’ That should theoretically be able to get us into the… office. Wherever that is. All we have to do is try to think of a plan and hope thing don’t get worse-”

The door opened, accompanied by loud crashes. A third case was hung from the ceiling. When the door closed again, Coo lay inside, completely limp. It was at around that point Daroach’s mild optimism was crushed into dust, not unlike Bandee’s spear.

Chapter Text

The way up from floor H seemed to be locked as well. The fifteen people who remained set to trying to find the key in the manufacturing room. In each workstation, there were a series of letters welded into strangely-shaped sheets of metal. Assembling the sheets created the phrase “THE KEY IS IN THE BLANK LABYRINTH” which naturally prompted the group to go to the white room in the back of the library.

Dark Meta Knight put his foot down. “Okay. Here’s an idea. Because of how fucking annoying this place is, it’d be faster to split into two groups.”

The idea sounded okay enough, so they split into Elfilin, Flamberge, Francisca, King Dedede, Gooey, Adeleine, and Ribbon, with the other group being Meta Knight, Kirby, Magolor, Taranza, Dark Meta Knight, Zan Partizanne, Rick, and Marx.

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“Oh, it’s right here!” Taranza picked up a key in a small cubby hole in the wall. “Let’s go back and call for the others.” They somewhat disorientedly made their way back to the door. 

Marx called out to the other group. “Hey guys, come back! We’re done here!”

.... .- .... .- .... .-

Ribbon batted her wings. “They found it! Let’s go!” The rest of the group immediately turned around and began going back. 

Dedede stayed behind the others, wanting to make sure he could see them well. “And let’s be careful. It’s easy to fall in here.”

As if on cue, Adeleine slipped on what didn’t look like a ledge but was. “Augh!” She fell several feet into a pit. “U-unhhhh…”

“Everyone stop!” Dedede shouted before jumping into the hole behind her. “You okay? I’ll get you out of here-” He was interrupted by that crashing sound he had grown to hate. “Uh oh.” He quickly grabbed Adeleine, and jumped to get out of the pit. Immediately after his feet left the ground, his abdomen was pierced by an unseen object. “Not again…” He groaned as the sudden overwhelming feeling of lethargy spread through his body and he fell back down.

“Hey! We need to help them!” Flamberge swiftly went down, ready to face the attacker. She was quickly joined by Ribbon, Francisca, Gooey, and Elfilin. She hesitated for a second when she saw who the enemy was, sheerly out of bewilderment. “What is that?”

“𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕨𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕘? 𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕖?”

“No time for this!” Francisca shouted, as she rushed headlong at it with her axe. Flamberge Joined in with her sword, Gooey stayed behind them and fired lasers, and Ribbon and Elfilin tried to get Adeleine out of the now useless Dedede’s grasp. The new and improved OSO responded by grabbing the axe just below the blade and snapping it like a twig, and in the same motion, doing the same with the blade of the sword. They then fired a much stronger laser back at gooey, knocking him out of the air. The two mages didn’t quite know how to react to having their weapons destroyed, but they no longer had to think about it after being forcibly restrained. The same then happened to Gooey, then Ribbon, then Adeleine and Dedede.

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“I really don’t like the sound of that.” Taranza shuddered. 

“GUYS! CAN YOU HEAR US!” Magolor screamed until his voice was hoarse. There was no response.

Meta Knight exhaled loudly. “So what now? What are our options?”

Magolor hung his head. “Isn’t that obvious? We can either leave them to die, or keep going and hope we can save them.” He opened the door out of the room, then turned around and pointed accusingly at Dark Meta Knight. “And we’re never listening to HIM again.”

Floor G looked mostly the same again. They hoped that they wouldn’t have to go into the dark room, so they went to the electrical room instead. Turning some knobs cleared the static on the only monitor in the room, which unfortunately did send them to the dark room. Fortunately, they managed to get in and out without incident. 

Then they went on to floor F. A piece of paper found in the interrogation room read “SWEN” which only Taranza knew what to do with. After orienting all the statues correctly, they continued. 

The stairs took them to floor E. Taranza felt a pang of familiarity in the hospital, but they quickly realized that they didn’t know what to do. So they went to the rec room instead. The immediate standout was that there was now a fridge filled with bottles of the luminol fluid that had been removed from floor I. Magolor tapped Taranza on the shoulder. “Hey, this is just like-”

“I know, I played it too.” 

They heard crashing coming from below, which made them feel uneasy, but as long as they were ready to fight the OSO off together, they figured they should be okay. Magolor was a little too enthusiastic to be spraying everything in the room, but they let him go for it. About halfway through, Marx joined in, but was spraying places that made no sense, like under the table. As he was down there, Dark Meta Knight uncharacteristically dove down with him, grabbed the bottle out of his claws, and started spraying the bottom of the table. 

It would have been highly amusing, if not for a hand reaching up from the floor, grabbing both of them, and dragging them through the hatch under the table.

After the fifth time it had happened, the ensuing horror was far more subdued. It wasn’t as if they were no longer afraid, far from it, but more so that they had accepted there was nothing they could do but keep going. 

Putting the goggles on revealed that the pool table had a message written that said “X-RAY 8 BALL”. They took the 8 ball to the hospital and scanned it with an X-ray. It revealed an image of a bottle of medicine with a key inside. They found that bottle and Rick got the key out, then opened the door. After that, they went off to floor D. 

No one wanted to go into the cold storage room, so they checked the studio. There was a note on the podium that read, “3 20 17 9 1” Magolor analyzed the paper, then his ears perked up. “Oh! We just need to have someone go into each of those boxes over there.” He indicated the red, yellow, and blue boxes, then pressed a button under the podium that opened the front. “So, we’ll just have Meta Knight, Zan, and Rick- Where’s Rick?” He pointed to the now open door. “He was here just a few seconds ago! Why did he leave?” In a panic, the rapidly dwindling number of people ran down the stairs and saw that the door had been closed and locked from the other side. “What the fuck is he doing?”

Rick wasn’t quite sure what he was expecting to happen. He didn’t even know what he thought about it. But he knew that he absolutely had to step up and take care of it. Or try to, at least. His efforts turned out to be in vain. As the OSO carried him away, the key fell out of his hand and clattered on the hallway floor.

After giving up on opening the door, the five of them went back to the studio to continue Magolor’s idea, substituting in Taranza where Rick was supposed to be. Taranza entered the red box, Meta knight went into the blue one, and Zan Partizanne went into the yellow one. They left the doors open for easier communication. Magolor picked up the paper. “Okay, so, there should be a button in each of those boxes. Zan, press yours.” She obliged. “Now Taranza, you go.” He pressed his. “Meta Knight… Zan… Meta Knight.” 

After all the buttons were pressed, the doors slammed shut. “OH SHIT!” Magolor slammed the button on the podium. “Pleaseopenpleasepleasepleasepleasepleeeease.” He got his wish. The doors opened. But no one was behind them. Inside the box that had held Taranza only moments prior was a single key on the floor. Wordlessly, he picked up the key, ignored the tears in his eyes, shrugged off Kirby’s attempts to console him, and opened the way up. 

The two of them climbed. 

Kirby led Magolor to the dining room and kitchen to try and find the key.

The dining room had several smaller tables instead of one large one.

There was no safe in the kitchen.

“No safe. Sounds about right.” Magolor said bitterly as he opened the completely empty fridge. 

He simply stared into it for a few moments. 

Kirby looked away from it and easily grabbed the key out of the sink. 

“Hey Magolor, I got it.” 

He turned back around.

No Magolor.

No anybody.

Within a mere half hour, the seventeen people he had considered friends, who were coming alongside him, had been taken away from him.

All Kirby had was a key.

A key and a goal.

The goal was simple.

Save them.

It was times like this when he was really able to put his best foot forward.

There was one word in his head.

Fight.

Kirby ran through the dining room, into the hallway. He put the key in the door and unlocked it. He climbed to floor B. The one with the fountain. He remembered it well enough. The eight waterways that extended all the way to the edges of the vast room. Bandee was right. There is a lot of water in the world. The stairs to floor A weren’t even blocked. Perhaps they couldn’t come up with a stupid puzzle for a place like this.

Kirby stepped forward and the fountain collapsed into itself. Each layer individually descended, fitting inside the one below. When the last layer fell, the fountain was reduced to nothing but a large, bubbling puddle. A deep rumbling echoed through the room. Something was brewing beneath the puddle. Something big. He heard something sliding apart, the sound like grinding stone. 

Then, he emerged. Two huge legs crashed onto the floor, making the sound Kirby was now entirely too familiar with. He looked into the face of the OSO. The one who had taken everyone away. He was shocked. This person was who he had to fight against now? Him? While he usually tended not to speak at times like this, he now felt as though he couldn’t stop himself. “Kine? It’s you? Is it really you?” 

The fish stood tall, in an identical replica of the mech he was piloting back before he was put into cold sleep. “ℕ𝕠𝕥 𝕖𝕩𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕝𝕪.” The voice wasn’t his. 

The mech fired a laser at him, missed, and it was at that moment, he knew what he had to do. Free Kine from this influence. He had the means right in front of him. The things he could see that no one else could. A yellow, shining star on the ground. He inhaled it, then spit it back at the mech. The battle continued in this fashion for a while, before the mech started sparking. Whatever was controlling it was extra mad now, and Kine began upping the ante. His attacks were now faster, and harder to dodge. Kirby ran along the walls, jumping lasers, sliding under punches, and counterattacking using the mech’s own strength.

It didn’t last long, however. His head met the side of the stairwell to floor A after he foolishly leapt without looking. Mecha Kine’s arm slammed him into the floor. “ℕ𝕠𝕨, 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕞𝕖.” Kirby struggled in the grip of the iron hand, trying to flee. He couldn’t. He looked up at Kine’s face, but Kine himself couldn’t be seen in it. What could be seen was the sudden destabilization of the fishtank, and the motherboard attached to the side. Without warning… the tank fell. The mech slumped over, disconnected from its control center. 

A voice came from behind it. “I… did it? I did it? I DID IT! YIPPEEEEEE!!!” When the mech’s torso fell flat on the floor, it revealed Elfilin, floating above it. “Kirby! Are you okay?”

“Yeah! I’m okay! You did so good!! How did you… do that?”

“I hid in a hole in the wall when everyone else got grabbed. When I heard the robot thingy doing stuff higher up, I knew that’s when it was safe to move. One of the doors was still locked, but I picked up the key and used it to dismantle him!”

Kirby got out from under the hand and gave Elfilin a hug. “You saved me! I’m so glad! Thank you!” 

Kine was still unconscious, but Elfilin and Kirby decided to let him sleep. To keep the mech out of commission, Elfilin took out every single screw and threw them into the fountain. Off of the pile of scrap metal, they picked up what seemed to be a master key. Then they continued to floor A.

They opened the first door. It looked like an office of some kind. There was a lone desk at the back of the room. Behind it sat Susie. “I suppose you two think you’re quite clever, don’t you? Before you say anything more, let me drive home a point. There are lives at stake.” With a wave of her hand, sixteen cases made of an unbreakable kind of glass descended from the ceiling. “I’m sure you two understand that all of their lives are in my hands. So I wouldn’t recommend you do anything I don’t like. Are we clear? Now say or do whatever you wish. But be aware of the consequences.” 

A voice crackled from a speaker in the ceiling. “𝙄'𝙢 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙮.” 

“W-what? What do you mean by that?” Susie asked, suddenly seeming very unsure.

“𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨. 𝙄'𝙢 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮, 𝙎𝙪𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖.” Suddenly, something opened in the corner of the room. It quickly expanded, engulfing everything and everyone inside, before shrinking back down to almost nothing. With that, all nineteen people who were in the room were no longer there. They may no longer be anywhere. And wherever they were, it seemed impossible that they’d return.

Downstairs, Kine awoke. He couldn’t leave the tank he was suddenly in. He didn’t know where anyone was. Very few feelings compare to the loneliness of a fish in a tank that’s barely big enough to fit him, who didn't know how he got there, and unbeknownst to him, he’d likely never see a single person ever again.

Chapter Text

Kirby slowly opened his eyes.

The world looked the same as it had when they were closed.

He closed them, then opened them again.

He didn’t know where he was.

Could this even be described as a “where?”

What is space?

Is the world still even real?

Has it ever been?

Perhaps not.

Kirby took a step.

Or maybe he didn’t.

It wasn’t as if he could tell.

He tried to look around.

Is there such a thing as “around” in a place like this?

And… what is that… in the distance?

Is it far away, or just very small?

Kirby tried to go close to it.

He thought he was coming closer, but it seemed more like the thing was approaching him. Twisting, looping, spiraling, it slithered ever closer. The shimmering ray of golden light reached his face, restoring a sense of reality. The surroundings were still pitch dark, but Kirby now at least felt like he still existed, and that was good enough. He had to save his friends. How had he forgotten that? He put his hand on the ray of light. It completely passed through it, because light isn’t touchable. Kirby didn’t know what he was expecting, in all honesty. 

He found that he was, in fact, able to move. He followed the trail of light. Maybe there was something at its source. Maybe he could find his friends. His friends like… um… who were they again? He didn’t remember them! His friends, who he valued more than anyone else, and he didn’t remember their names, or what they looked like, or how he met them, or anything! How heartless am I? I’m such a terrible friend… That thought made him all the more determined to save them, although he had to admit he wasn’t quite sure what he was saving them from.

He wasn’t quite sure how long it took to encounter someone. But when he did, he felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity. The person he encountered was very large in stature, and was ferociously chomping his way through a piece of meat on the bone. He turned around and sized up Kirby. “So, you’re the rascal who’s been running amok in MY castle, are you? You got a name, or are you just a balloon-lookin’ nuisance?” Something felt off about that, like it wasn’t something he should have been saying. Before Kirby could come up with a response, however, he pulled out a large hammer. “Alright. Let’s see if a little walloping can't fix that attitude of yours!” He swung the hammer. And then he was gone. As if he had never existed at all. Something about it filled Kirby with overpowering sadness, though he couldn’t tell what it was specifically.

The light continued to guide him, bringing him to yet another encounter with the slightly familiar person from before. This time, he was grabbing him, a desperate look in his eyes. “Listen to me. Please. You don’t know what you’re doing. Don’t put it back in the fountain.” Kirby looked back at him to see him shaking his head. Then, he disappeared again. 

Kirby contemplated. He knew what he had seen. He’d seen it before, a long time ago. He was there. He knew that guy. His name… what was it? He had to remember. He had to. His name was… Dedede! That was it! There had to be more of them, though, didn’t they? He could feel the memories almost returning to his mind. 

He saw a few more visions of him before someone different appeared. They stood tall, or at least looked like it at a glance. Upon closer inspection, they weren’t much bigger than Kirby. After he said something about dueling Kirby, Kirby remembered his name: Meta Knight. Despite remembering, little by little, who his friends were, he felt no closer to actually saving them. After all, no amount of memories could fix the fact that he was basically nowhere. Or maybe it could. Only one way to find out.

He remembered when the rainbow islands, and then Dream Land itself were overtaken by Dark Matter. Back then, his friends who helped him drive them away were Rick, the levelheaded hamster, Kine, the happy-go-lucky fish, Coo, the wacky owl, Pitch, the simple and straightforward bird, Chuchu, the affectionate octopus, Nago, the calm, quiet cat, and Gooey. How had he forgotten Gooey?

He remembered that in the aftermath of Dedede stealing all the food, someone he had considered a friend took the most drastic measures imaginable to ensure it wouldn’t happen again. Marx, the cheerful prankster  jester showed a duplicitous side that had scarcely been seen before or since from him, and it’s still not entirely clear if he regrets it at all. But then again, understanding him wouldn’t be quite as much fun, would it?

He remembered when Dark Matter spread throughout the galaxy, and he had to go from planet to planet, putting a stop to them once and for all. He was joined by… Dedede, again, as well as… Adeleine, the talented, yet occasionally forgetful artist. It wasn’t just her, though. There was also Ribbon, who aided him in that fateful final battle with the help of all those crystal shards, and the waddle dee, who hadn’t made a name for themselves-yet. They would in the future, though, go on to become the de facto leader of all waddle dees: Bandana Dee, or Bandee as everyone called them. Kirby felt especially guilty for forgetting about them.

He remembered when he was split into four and explored the Mirror World. At the time, he considered Dark Meta Knight an enemy. Over time, however… well, honestly, nothing really changed. But he helped out enough during the Jambastion incident to be considered a very dubious ally instead of an enemy. Kirby didn’t actually feel that bad about forgetting him.

He remembered when his strawberry shortcake was stolen by a gang of mice, led by Daroach. He didn’t feel too proud of how he handled that whole situation. He didn’t imagine ever being able to forgive Daroach for that, but he did so surprisingly quickly after all was said and done.

He remembered teaming up with Bandee, Dedede, and Meta Knight to help a mysterious traveler fix his ship. Despite Magolor actually having other, more sinister plans, he made a (mostly) honest effort to better himself, an effort that he’s still making now.

He remembered when Dedede was kidnapped and taken to Floralia, and how he climbed the dreamstalk after him. Taranza had been broken, clinging to whatever semblance of happiness he could find, even if it meant looking in all the wrong places. Kirby always thought back to the profound relief on his face when he managed to save both him and Dedede, even if it was quickly overtaken by grief.

He remembered. Every single one of them, he remembered. The Mage Sisters, Elfilin, Susie, and all who came before. Everyone.

But how did that help? Even if he now could perfectly recall everything he ever knew about all those he intended to save, he still didn’t have the means to do so.

The string of light reached its end. 

There was nothing there. 

There was nothing anywhere.

Really, it just made the whole thing hurt that much more. 

What was the point of remembering if he’d never see them again?

He couldn’t save them from this abyss.

He can’t even save himself.

The light dimmed, as if it was about to fade away.

No.

Absolutely not.

Not in a hundred, not in a thousand, not in a million, billion, trillion years.

He wouldn’t give up now.

They had to be somewhere. 

That black hole did get everyone, after all. It only makes sense that they’d all be around. With firm determination on his face, he started looking. Trying to find people in a boundless void sounded pretty difficult, if not impossible, but it wasn’t as if Kirby had anything better to be doing.

He was heading in a random direction for a while when he noticed that the light had caught up to him. It was branching off from near the end. Kirby quickened his pace, trying to follow the light to where it was going now. 

Then he saw it.

A light blue speck in the distance, growing as he drew closer. Elfilin was bathed in light, and soon after, Kirby got to him. For the first time in what may have been hours, he spoke. “Are you okay?” His eyes were squeezed shut tight. Kirby reached out and took hold of one of his hands. “Elfie?” 

He shivered, then one eye slowly opened. “Kir… by…”

Not unlike Kirby, Elfilin was fairly discombobulated. After following him around long enough, and letting him talk, he was fully caught up to speed. That boost of confidence seemed to make them go faster when looking for the rest of them. It took considerably less time, or at least it felt like it did, to find Bandee. After that, it just kept getting faster and faster until…

“Whoa, that light is going CRAZY!” Magolor pointed at the golden light, now brighter than ever and moving quickly and erratically. “Any chance we can get some EDM playing in here?”

The light was actually convulsing so much that it seemed to be causing… something near where Kirby had gotten to the end of it before.

Kirby, having seen the progression, seemed to have an idea. “Hey, maybe we’re doing that and it’s… opening a way out?” 

Marx flapped his wings. “We should finish up, then! Who’s left?”

Bandee looked around. “Umm… Susie. That’s who we have to find.”

A collective groan came from about half of the people there.

“Do we have to?”

“But this is all her fault!”

Dedede waved his arms. “Hey, I know we all have some choice words for her, but what’s important is that we all get out of this in one piece!”

“Is it acceptable if she gets out in a hundred?” Dark Meta Knight grumbled.

“No.”

Meta Knight cast a glance at his Mirror World counterpart with what was almost respect. “I suppose we can agree on one thing.”

It didn’t actually take very long to find her, although that was suspected to happen. Unlike the others, though, She was definitely conscious. She just wasn’t looking at them. Daroach tried to get her attention. “Hey, I know you’re probably not thrilled to be around all of us, but we do need to get out of here. Are you in?”

She didn’t even turn around. “I am not.”

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” Dark Meta Knight groaned from the back of the crowd.

They tactically retreated to discuss a plan of action out of earshot. Daroach started, audibly exasperated. “Okay, so genuine question- and I want you all to seriously consider this- should we kill her?”

“No!!!” Elfilin cried.

“He’s right.” That agreement unexpectedly came from Magolor. “If we do that, it’s possible that we’re permanently trapping ourselves in here. If the way out really is just the force of sheer collective will, then I don’t imagine she’s any more useful dead than alive.”

Elfilin’s brow furrowed. “Well, that too, but also-”

“We don’t know for sure that that’s how it works.” Meta Knight cut in. “Perhaps taking a detractor out of the equation entirely is what we need.”

“That could be the case, but if we take that chance, and we’re wrong, we’re completely out of options.” Zan Partizanne mused.

“Why are we talking about whether or not it’ll work when we haven’t even considered the fact that it’s bad to kill people?!?” Elfilin shouted.

“Okay, mom.” Dark Meta Knight scoffed.

Somewhat hypocritically, the rest of the group turned to him, dead silent, blinking occasionally, as if he had just blasted an air horn in a library.

“Anyway, I believe we’ve settled on not doing it.” Daroach tipped his hat. “Anyone else have an idea?”

Taranza scratched his chin. “Sounds like the only thing left is to convince her.”

Marx stretched his wings. “We probably shoulda thought of this before we completely left her alone without asking why she doesn’t want to go. Now someone’s gotta go back and ask.” He looked around at everyone, who was shifting uncomfortably. Then he sighed, loudly and theatrically. “Fine, I’ll go talk to her. But when we get out of here, I want that flame thrower I keep asking for as a birthday present.” He flew off.

“Why don’t you want to go?” Marx cut to the chase.

“Before I answer that,” She turned around. “Let me explain how this works. I basically modified it to make sure it was foolproof.The portal that sucked us all into this void has a very particular protocol that will force it to open from the other side. I won’t get into the technical aspects of how it works, but essentially, the only way to open the portal from this side is if I am here and alive, and if every single person inside wants to get out. In other words, as long as I’m not letting you out, you’ll never get out.”

“Cool. Now why aren’t you letting us out?”

“I don’t owe you anything, not even an explanation. Figure it out yourself.” Susie waved him away.

Marx’s face went beet red. He caught himself before he gave her a piece of his mind, and turned around and went back to the others. “Guys, I have bad news.”

Chapter Text

“‘Figure it out.’ Awesome! How the fuck are we supposed to do that?” Magolor shouted. 

“Calm down. Let’s talk it out.” Dedede said in a tone that was an ineffective attempt at being calm himself.

Daroach shrugged. “I mean, it’s pretty easy, no? She joined up with her resurrected father, and is keeping us here because that’s what he wants her to do. It’s that simple.”

“No, it isn’t.” Taranza said flatly. “Might as well come clean now, I guess. I don’t think the Haltmann AI is our mastermind here.”

“Wh-WHAT?” Flamberge shouted. “But why not? It all lines up!”

“Not all of it.” Magolor interjected. “There is one thing… I didn’t know about it until after I told you all it was the AI’s fault. But Taranza told me about something he remembered right before we went to that cabin…”

“Taranza, explain. What did you remember?” Francisca asked.

“Back when we were all in the old building, Magolor, Kirby, Meta Knight, Bandee, and I were all looking for Francisca, Elfilin, Daroach, and Dedede, because we couldn’t find them. While we were looking, I checked one of those rooms with the suits of armour. There was a monitor on the wall, and it was turned on. Someone spoke to me from that monitor. They didn’t tell me who they were, or what their role is in our kidnappings. However, they did promise a reward for me if I answered their question. I don’t imagine anyone would be able to promise that unless they were intricately involved in our current situation.”

“I see. So you think they have to have been the kidnapper. After all, no one but them would even know where we were.” Meta Knight mused.

“Right.” Taranza nodded. “And then what they asked, well… it wouldn’t make sense to have been said by the late president. They asked me where Haltmann was. I tried to say that he’s dead, but they insisted I was wrong, or lying.” He stopped to let the group think that over.

Daroach scratched his head. “Well, that just doesn’t make sense.”

His sentiment of general confusion and bewilderment towards the described dialogue had been shared by the rest of the group.

“I can’t think of anyone who would say that…”

“No matter how I look at it, it’s wrong.”

Taranza nodded. “Ever since I remembered it, I’ve just thought of it as something that shouldn’t have happened at all.”

Marx brightened. “Hey! Maybe it didn’t!”

“What.”

“I’m serious! If you forgot it in the first place, maybe you’re misremembering a detail, or there was some other thing they said that you forgot, or maybe none of it ever happened at all!”

Meta Knight glowered at him. “It’s blatantly unreasonable to discount another’s memories because they’re incompatible with your preconceptions of the illusion of common sense.”

Dedede shook his shoulder. “Meta, you’re doing that thing where you get mad and then start speaking in long words.”

He cleared his throat. “Regardless, your attempts to convince him that his memories are a lie or a half-truth makes it seem as though you have something to hide yourself.”

Daroach shot him a sideways glance. “Come on, I think that’s going a bit far.”

Meta Knight paused. “Wait, actually, I may be onto something here.”

Marx looked at him incredulously. “How? You’re just deciding things based off of one thing I said.”

“Oh, really? Think about this. We just finished getting wrangled up by a mind-controlled Kine in a mech suit, and back when we were in the old building, you two were together when you disappeared! I hardly think that’s a coincidence.”

Marx shook his head. “You’ve lost your fucking mind.”

Magolor was moving back and forth behind the two, in what would be called pacing if he had feet to walk with. “Shouldn’t… have happened… shouldn’t’ve… shouldn’t’ve… shouldn’t’ve… shouldn’t’ve… that’s a weird word, isn’t it? I mean, it has two whole apostrophes.”

Bandee covered their eyes. “You’ve also lost your mind.”

Daroach nodded. “It’s totally unfair that you’re singling out Marx for what’s very clearly just a bunch of coincidences! What’s YOUR problem, anyway?”

“Oh, now don’t YOU start!”

One by one, the argument erupted from each person.

“I think Meta Knight has a point actually…”

“SHUT UP! Where have you even been this whole time?”

“I thought we agreed this was all Ribbon’s fault?”

“No, we didn’t!”

Throughout it all, Magolor continued muttering the word “shouldn’t’ve” to himself.

Elfilin floated closer to Taranza. “Are you okay?”

He hung his head. “No. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t’ve said anything, but I did, and now they’re all like this…”

“There it is again.” Magolor tapped at the side of his head.

Taranza didn’t seem to have heard him. “This was just a huge mistake…”

Magolor froze, then turned around. “THAT’S IT! THAT’S THE ANSWER!”

All seventeen of the people around him promptly stopped arguing and stared at him expectantly. Adeleine tilted her head back. “What is?”

“It’s all a mistake!” After getting only blank stares in response, he started spouting the whole conclusion he’d come to. “Okay!!!! So in order to believably construct that exchange in that situation, the person Taranza was speaking to would need the following things: A meaningful connection to President Haltmann, and knowledge of the kidnappings and what went on behind the scenes. At the start it seems like only the Haltmann AI fits the bill, but the exchange also contains the implication that the speaker didn’t know of Haltmann’s death, which seems unnatural for… well, Haltmann.”

“The question now becomes, who would be looking for him, and why would they not already know that he’s dead? Surprisingly, the answer to that is exactly the same! It’s because Susie made a mistake! She made the AI! It’s doubtless that she spoke to it out loud about how wonderful it was for her to have her father, and because the thing was already a crude fusion of a crazy guy and killer supercomputer, it created this thought process: Haltmann must be alive because he is Haltmann, therefore he wants to find Haltmann. However, he’s looking for someone who he’ll never be able to find. There’s a disconnect between the AI’s self-identification and his perception of his own goals, and the effect of that is that he’s stuck in an endless loop of looking for nothing, and set himself on the idea of keeping us out of the way because both him and Star Dream remember Kirby, and by extension, the rest of us, as an enemy.”

Dedede shook his head. “Can you say that again with less words?”

Magolor nodded. “Right! Susie’s dad is super insane and responsible for literally everything.”

Marx raised a claw. “Hey, uh, Magolor? What about Susie?”

“Uh…” The gears turning in Magolor’s head were almost audible. “What about her? What are you talking about?”

“Why is she helping him? His goal is insane and impossible.”

“Umm…”

Kirby blinked. “All that means is that she doesn’t know, right?”

Daroach brightened. “We’re home free! She doesn’t know! We just have to tell her and she’ll get us out of here pronto!”

“I’m right here.” Susie’s voice came from right behind him. Her eyes were puffy and red around the edges. “It seems I may have…” She turned away. “Miscalculated a few things…”

Close by, the light had finally created a rift in the empty space. “Shall we?” Her shaky voice guided the group to the light. And then… they were back.

“𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙟𝙤𝙠𝙚. 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙐𝘾𝙆 𝘿𝙄𝘿 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙂𝙀𝙏 𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀???” They were immediately welcomed by that voice, the voice of a man who had been long dead before his heart had even stopped beating, yet still insists he lives.

Susie immediately dropped the nervousness, as though she was covering it with a mask. “Oh? Did I not tell you about the failsafe for the abyssal protocol? Terribly, sorry, ‘father.’”

Magolor looked at her with what was very nearly respect. “You slipped it in there without him noticing? Not bad.”

“𝙄𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧! 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢 𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚! 𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙝𝙮𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩. 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧!” 

Bandee tried the door. “Guys, I think we’re not out of the woods yet.”

Marx threw a wing out. “Hold on. Try punching the door as hard as you can.”

They wound up, and punched. The door wobbled slightly. “Didn’t work.”

Magolor threw his hands up. “How is that even possible? I once saw them punch the ground so hard, it created a fissure that swallowed up someone two miles away! What is this door even made of??”

“IT WHAT?” Bandee asked, horrified.

Daroach sat down on the floor and scooted himself away from the door. “I’ve learned not to question… either of those things.”

Susie sat back in the chair she was in before. “I suppose we have time, so I’ll tell you all I know. It’s basically as you said. I knew everything except the end goal, but acted anyway because… it was for him. There’s no one involved in this that you don’t already know about, save for an unnamed third party who was supposed to kill all of you, but didn’t, and was deemed ‘useless’ and ‘a waste of time.’” As she was speaking, she squeezed her eyes shut. “And by the way, the doors are enforced by a special kind of alloy that’s only forged by the HWC. It’s virtually impervious to most kinds of damage, and only has one real weakness in extremely high temperatures. Even things like explosions don’t get through it, you can only melt it with something as hot as-”

“Enough advertising. Remember, we’re still mad at you.” Dedede snapped.

“Fair enough.” She spun in her chair and looked away from everyone.

“Well, what now?” Dark Meta Knight stomped around the room. “Seriously, what the fuck do we do now? Melt a door? Melt a fucking door?”

The familiarly hopeless atmosphere returned to the room, causing the nineteen people within to lose their edge. Magolor fruitlessly tried to burn the door, but the fire wasn’t hot enough. “This is pissing me off.” He grumbled. “We can’t get a moment of hope, can we?”

No sooner had he said that than the wall caved in with an incredible crash. “𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚?” What had come through the wall was an emblem with a star pattern on it, shortly followed by the rest of the Lor Starcutter.

Magolor cocked his head. “Hm. I didn’t even tell her to do that.” Then his eyes widened. “Wait, you don’t think-”

The Lor’s door slid open. A figure stood in the doorway, briefly silhouetted by the light within.

Zan Partizanne pointed at him. “YOU!”

After a moment of silence, he responded. “Yes, me. You’ve heard of me, I presume?” Galacta Knight stepped forward. “Hello, all. I hope you haven’t forgotten me.”

Chapter Text

“What’s going on here? And who the fuck is that?” Dark Meta Knight pointed his blade in Galacta Knight’s direction.

Francisca moved into a protective stance. “I believe we’re all in grave danger.”

“𝘼𝙝, 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡. 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙙𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢?”

Galacta Knight stared blankly into the general direction of where the voice came from. “No. Why would I do that?”

Magolor nonchalantly strolled over to the door, then Flamberge grabbed him by the cape and yanked him away. “You’re out of your mind! Don’t you know who he is? He-”

Magolor ripped himself out of her grasp, slightly panicked from the sudden grab. “Yes, I do. I daresay better than you do, actually.”

Zan Partizanne recoiled. “You mean to say you two are aligned? And I’ve been allowing you to roam unchecked? What misdeeds have you been committing behind our backs?”

Dedede stepped between the three of them and Magolor. “Before you continue, let me ask: Why exactly are you all so afraid of Galacta Knight?”

They all spoke up at once, and only a few words could be picked out like “frenzy,” or “blew up a Jambastion,” or “three hundred victims.”

“Thanks Dedede, I got it from here.” Magolor came out from behind him as the tirade continued. He noticed Galacta Knight uncomfortably fidgeting in the doorway. “SHUT UP!” That seemed to be effective enough. 

Zan pointed her spear directly at Magolor. “And THAT means-”

“I trust this is all firsthand experience?” Magolor asked.

“Well, no-”

“You never read the reports, did you? Everyone that was allegedly killed by Galacta Knight never even died! One of them has your name in it!”

She backed off immediately. “Show me.”

“I can do that myself, thank you.” Galacta Knight called. “Everyone get on. It’s clear this is an unsafe place.”

The disembodied voice of the living dead didn’t seem to appreciate that very much. “𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜? 𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢!”

Galacta Knight ignored him, noticing Rick and Coo. “What are you two doing? The door is over here.”

“We’re trying to get to the next floor down, we’re missing one of our friends and he’s down there.”

“Hm. Very well.” Galacta Knight strode to the door and opened it.

“𝙒𝙃𝙔 𝙄𝙎𝙉'𝙏 𝙄𝙏 𝙇𝙊𝘾𝙆𝙀𝘿??!?!?!? ” As Galacta Knight was going downstairs to retrieve Kine, former President Haltmann continued his inane tirade. “ T̵̨̖̜̣̩̫̬̝͚̍̀͋̇̅͆̊̕H̸̨̤̱̞͌̽̾͜I̴͈̭͛ͅŞ̷͇͈̳̤̹͕͈̱̀ ̴͉͖̮̬̀͒I̵̤͇̱̳̙̝̱̹̝͋͆̑̊̃̓̓̒̅͠S̶͚͕̳̺̞͍̏̎̓̚͝ ̴͎͚͔̠̲̿͌͘Ů̶̡̡̘̣͍̼̖͓̬̓̕͜͝N̵̥̰̦͆͊̚͘A̴̧̩͔̠̪̲͚̺͔͐̈́̍̌̈́̽ͅÇ̴̨̯̮̥̓̏̕C̷̨̡͓͕̭̫͕̮͇̑́̀̀͠E̵͈̽͒̋͝P̴̳͚͈̽T̶̟̞̫͉̤͉͓͉̅͋̋̾̕Á̵̛̖̻̙̭̖̱̱̺̞̓͝B̸̗̹̮͆̊́̋L̵̤̪̗̺͉̱͍͉͓̔̊͐̍͗͜Ȩ̶̛͊̐́̐͜͠!̶̱͇̫̮͘ ̶̛̪͍̲̞͖̠̯̙̊͂͐̐̿̐͛͝ͅI̷̢͖̪̭͇͖̝̹͖͖͐̊͆͑͝ ̴̧̨̠͚̖͗̉̂̀̿Ṕ̵̥͇̠̣͎̮́̎̏̀͘Ṷ̶̞͍͈̔͝ͅŤ̴̢͈̞̖̪͍̳̣͙̖̋̌̕̚ ̶̧̩̼̱̠̫̩͚̐̓H̵͎͖̠̺̹̫̾̓̐̏̀̈́́Į̴̛̣͔̩͍͛͋̾̂̕Ṁ̶̫̫͙̺̝̤ ̷͚̀͂͋͒͊̏I̸͈̥̹͑N̵̗̘̬͈̼̍̽ ̷̣̘̮̞̱͉̯̱̋͛͆͑̄̆P̶͕̝͎̫̱͙̓̈͆͂͌̽͝L̷̛̝̮̥͎͇̅̋͂̅̿͐̈́̎̌Ą̴͕̬̪̫͑̔Ċ̶̡̻̦͚̘̗̺͠Ḛ̴̳͎͐̉͋͗̑ ̷̢̨͚̮̬͍̂͆̄̓̿͗̊̌ͅÂ̵̛͓͖͇͍̫̫̲͎͈̿́̑̍̈͝N̸̻͎̺͊͂̔̈́̓̐̒̚D̷̩͙̪̝̟͚̣̉̈́͘ ̸̨̛̩̗͙̬̻͗̽̿͋͛̒͂̚A̸̠̠̭̬̠̰̝̼̥͛͆̍̈́̃̈́͋̈̒L̸̢̠̟̳̳̔̽͘L̵̹̥̞̯͛ ̸̡̮͖̠̩̹́͐Ą̷̜̤͇̬̀͗̏̈́̈́V̸̦̭̾̊̈́̏̕͝A̶͈̦͙̯̗̺̰͌̉̀̅̊̆͑̈́̏̈́I̴̧̻̊̒̽̿͛̅͊̕͠L̵̨̨̪͓̖̬̹͋́́́́̑͗̈͂A̷̧̠̹̼͔̍̇̈́̐̔͊B̶͔̫̤͙̖͖͐͒́̿̅͛͜ͅL̸͚̗͕̯̭͈̰̝̈́̚È̴̞͍̱̟͚̘͔͓͊̐̿̒̌̅͠ ̶̘͇̳̫̗̓͑́̊̋̃̕̚ͅḐ̵̛̖̳̭͋̈́̋͌͊̋̌̑̀ͅÂ̵̡͓͓̼͇̜̣̭͋́̋̄̈́̃̐͜͝ͅT̵̠̄̌̎͘Ầ̸̢̳͔̺̤̫̲̯͈̾ ̸͓̗̞̍S̵̫̟͔̟̋̆͗̀̈̄͒Ŭ̵̡̹̰̼͉͖̟̙̯̍̑̍G̵͍͔̳̠͒̑̈́͋̏͊G̴̛̼͉̐̉͘E̷̻͙̙͝S̶̠͓͇͖̞̿͒̔͂̌̈́͝T̴̯̞͖̘̭͚̎͗͌̓S̴̭͚̺̰̖̣̟̼̈́ ̷̡̲̩̱̃T̶͔̰̮̥̄͆̔͆͝͝H̶̰̤͚͙̞̦͎̆̆͑̏̆͂̎͊̓̆À̸͖̖̋̓͌̚͜T̴͈̱̤̮̭̟͉̼͇̆̄͋̒͆̓̌̈́͝ ̵̹̦͒̾̈́̑̆͗͝Ȟ̸̢̢̟͔̙̗͑̎̌̕͠͠E̵̪̽̆̈́̐͗̒ ̶̢̝̦̇̎̊̑͝W̵͉̳̰̻̠͙͕̘͆̎͑̀̀̂̎Ȯ̵̲̦̪̹̞͚̺̮̣̈͂͆̉̀̓̓͠ͅȔ̶̥̞̭̰͎̯́̒͗͒͐L̷̖̫̖̝̾̇D̵͍̼͕̥̺́̐̉̂ ̴̯̏͂̌͐̏͐P̴͈̲̙̠̟̩̰̮̠̫͒̐̽͋̚Ǔ̶͚̥͎̟̈́̓̀̋͂͝͝T̵͈̥̜̬̉̍̋̐̈́͐̓̑̕̕ ̸̙̲̟͇͙̰̇̉̓̎͐͝H̵̨͈̝̟̩̮̟̞̊͂̈́̔͌͋̿͑̎̓Ỉ̷̠͕̩̗̄M̵̦̣̱̙͓̭̺͇̲͚̀̉S̸̛̮̭̝̗ͅͅE̴̺̣͌̈́͒̒̃̒́̇͌̚L̴̳̳̗̃̅̐͆̈́F̷̰̙̟̳̜̂͌͊̋ ̴̢͓͔͉̩̻̩̱͈̉̈́T̴̞̪̙̺̯͕̋̆͠Ö̶̡̡̙̤͉͚́̍̽̑͒͝ ̸̛̼̪̼̟͖̖͚Ư̷̖͇̱͈͉̠̿̽̈́̐̂̊͠Ş̸͕̯͙͒͌͛̎̀͒̓̉ͅE̵̢̳̰̜͎͓̰͍̋̐͑̀̊!̶̨̞̤̝̇͗͜ ̷̛̲̙͙̾̆̀̍̿̒̇̐̃H̴̛͈̓̈́̇̈́͒͠Ọ̶͍̃W̵̺͐̏̾̑̿͜͝ ̷̘̜̬́̉̕H̷̺̟͚̰͍̰̰͍̱͓̄̂̍̈̓̃͋̒A̶̺̦̜͓̘̝͂͗́͒́̇͋̅͝ͅS̶̲̮̟̍͜ ̴͚̬̠̗̤̱̻̎̏̇́̉̋͜͝H̴̝̟̤̩̩͔̅̄̈́̆̅̍͜E̷͙̬̊͐͗̂͝ ̵̢̰̻̺͎̹̎͆̆͂̚͘͝F̷̝̦̓͜Ä̸̡̨̨̞̲̳́Ì̵̡̧̨̞̣͌̀̍͠L̷̦̪̲͌͋͊̊̌̂̔͛̐Ȩ̵̛̞͎͎̮̲̣̑̋Ḓ̶̐̏̚̕ ̴̧̮̣͛͐̏̎̈̓̚͠T̸̟͖̒̆̐̓͠İ̶͕̣̙̇́M̴̖̪͂̐͌͜È̷̛̈͐̑̉̎̿̉ͅ ̸̨̮͉̣̳̫̭͗̂̂̐͊Ȧ̶̧̧̙̗̣͈͙̊͑͋͑͌͑̈́͜N̸̢̜̞̹͗̄͌̓̈́̑͜͠͝D̷̥̲̭̙͉̑̅̎̍͋̿ ̷̙̬̿̋̆̒T̶͖̯̻͇̬̥̣̼͓̎̋̇͑͂̍̕̚I̵̫̠̺̳̅̄͌̈͛͆͝͠͠Ḿ̸͎͚̼̮̦̓̀́E̵̢̿̀̇̔̾͝ ̵̨͎͈͔͈͎͔͕͖̐̅̀̎͝A̵̧͓̞̭̟͈͊͂̕G̸̱̗̤̭̟̝͆́̕Ḁ̸̪̳͔̓͌͆̋͠͠I̷͙̬͐͆̄̑̌̾̈́̍̈́Ń̵̜̹̐̚͝?̴̗͌͌̏̒̑ ̴̭̯̔̈́̒̾̏̕T̴͕͍̯̾́̂̈́͒͛̽̏͜͠ͅH̴̡̬̺̰͍̦̐͌͌͊Ị̴̱̭̪͚̗̝̪͆̽̓̿̂̇͘͠Ş̷͖̩͕̯̘̭͈͌̐̀͠ ̷̬͕̒̽̂̇̽͆͘I̶͖̔̑̋̎͑͗̉̋͛͘S̵͍̙̼̜͋̿̐͝ͅ ̴̬̲̮̖͙͈̯̽̉̊́̒̽͗͗̒͘W̸̰̫̽͆͒̀̀̂̂̐͠R̸̢̟͎̻̺̠͙͔̈͑͗͝Ò̴̪̬̺̫͔́̈̉͘N̸̛̟̙̜̓̀̾͐͂́͑͘̚G̸̱̝̤̽͜!̴̗̮͇̳̮̱̌͊͑̀͠ ̷̱͓͕̑͑͒͐́̀͒̕ͅT̶͓̬̳̟͈̉̀̾͛̍ͅH̷̹̠̒͊̽̅Į̸̠̙̯͐͌̕S̵͉̆!̷̬̐ ̵̝̙̪͉́̈͜I̵̥̙̼̥̊̐͌͌͗̌̿̔͝ͅS̸̢̛͎͉̠̐̇̈́̀̇̐̊̀!̷̮͛̍͆̀̂͂̌͊ ̸̨̧̻͎̠͚̰̠̈́̔W̶̱̹͐R̷̨̥̻̆̀O̸̢͖̖̯̻̯̝̕N̵̢̨̮̅̊̽́͐̋Ğ̷̡̧͚̤̰͓͖̮̱͕́̃̋!̴̠̉͗ ̴̡̧̛͎̣̬̹̯̟͎̗̋̽͐̿̾̎W̴̰̹͐͒̾͊̅̚H̵̢͇̹̭̐͊̆̿̈͘̚Ȧ̶̘̞̲̟̀T̸̖̳̣̮͚̋͌͋ ̵͔̻̱̟̿̏͐̉͗́Ĥ̷͓͓̩̥͉̤̟͓̮̏̿͐ͅA̵̙̬̟͈̘̥̲̘̪͗͌̏̎̉͌͐ͅV̶̢͎̪͖̬̲̞͑̾͊͐͛E̶̛͎̱͚̞̗̭̭̖̭̰͊̅͆ ̷̠́͛̍̚͝Y̸̢̛͉͔͚͎̗̰̝̯̓Ȯ̷̧̭͔̟̟̩̆̀̋̓̑Ṷ̷͈̝̩͎̦͑͜ ̷̠̿̀͘̕Ạ̵͉̙̳͎͋̈́̓̅L̴̖͎̥̥̳̝̞̀̾̌͋̕̚͘͠L̷̺̳̰̗͖̓̾̄ ̵̨̛͔̜͔̑͑͑̏̅͠͝Ḋ̷̨̙͚̖̲̜̲̋͋̀̍̏̋͌̚͝ͅỐ̶̹̯̝̓̆͗Ń̶̤͈͝Ë̶̛͕̰́̀̇̿̉̓̚͜ ̴̧̛͖͕͙͕͂̏̿̎̀̍T̵̠̏͒͝Ö̴̻͙́̈́̏͂̿͊̓̄ ̷̤̆͆͆H̴̢̛̳̜͕̰̗̟̞͎̱͠Ḯ̶̭̲̠̺̼̈́̓̂̍̅M̴̜͉̹̝̮̺͔̗̎̃̆̀͛̆?̷͈̠͎̯̱̖̼̰̽̈́ͅ?̵͍͓̼̼̏̇̀̔͑͘͝͝ ̵̘̮̤̜̩͔̭̅̍͒̃̊͝͝Y̷̡͙̭̪̟̖̜͕͉͍͗̾͛̈́̈́Ỏ̸̖͖͈̘̙̻̯͚̭͛̽̃̓͝͝ͅU̶̼̫̜͔̯͉͇͎̦̾̇́͒͛̿͗̕͝ ̶̢̫͚̠͒͛̊̅͘P̸̘͓̰̐͂E̵̡̡̨̨̬̣͎̖̍O̸̢̯̳̯̗̻̩̻͊Ṕ̴̢̛̭̥͔͈̬̫̮̜̈́͌͛̊͊͜͝͝L̸̢͕̩̑̀̈́̉̕͜Ẻ̷̲̥̝̰̈́̆͆ ̶̺̗͔̔̈́A̶͙̭͈͙̫̖̤̹͊̾̃̋̌̇̕R̷̛̰͉̳͈̲̿́͒̅̄͘Ȩ̷̞͓̩̼͙̈͌̆́̈́̑̇̅̿͐ ̶͙̲̽̕͜B̶̨̪̥͖̈͐Ḛ̴͎̯̩̱͕̠̳̌Y̸̗̞͎̫͔͕̽̀͠Ơ̴̧̓́̉̔͒̄N̷̜͉͇̋͗̂̈̈́͋́͜D̶͎̤͖̔̌̀͂ͅ ̸̪̲̺͈̯͂̂̉͛͌́̾̏̓͘A̶͇̳̞̠̬̙̱͉͍̍̊̑̽̒̍͜L̴̨̜͎̩̱̪̳̯̊̄̅͗͋̌̀L̷̡͙͉̲̤̙͕̖͎͑̌ ̵̧̳͈͔͈̦̜͒͑͑̚R̶̡̤͙̳̥̯̩̖̱̬̈́͒̎̐͌͑̎͊̕E̵̗̍̑́̍̃́̈́͗͗͝Ä̵̧͈̝̰͓͚̻́Ş̶͎̙͇͙̤̙̜͂͐̋͆̚͜O̴̢̤̤͓̤̺̪̮̽͂Ǹ̶͕̦͓̖̣̘͗̾̃̓͑͌͊̍͗,̵͇͇̖̔̏̈̒̽̚͘͠͝ ̵̛̟̫̈̓̇L̴̥̬̞̼̣͇̟͎̬̀̍O̸͎̤̯̗͖͖͕̲͂͋͆̚͝G̷̳̼̺̰̿͂̓͊̾̐̀I̵͎̮̤̍̀͑̿Ç̸͈͚̾̚,̵̪̪͔͙̰̩̭͊̓̀͋͛̃̒̚̚͝ ̵̩̥̌͜͝O̵̗̳͍̭͈̘͂̑̔̈́̽̎̐̊R̴̞̟̭͗̅̋́̌ ̴̢̧͍̟̳̬͎̤̭͈͊̌̃̈̽͘A̵͓͕̖͔͈̘̽̄̇͑͒̀̽͑͒N̷̨̮͎͕̖̘̯̆̈́͆͗̓͘͘͠Y̷̢̛͈͖̜̬̠̫̠̟̑̂͌̿̃͐́T̷͚̺̲͔̔͒̅͑̓̆H̴̢̧̧̛͎͔̟̟̘̜͗̓̔̋̐̓Ì̶͔̫͎̱̠͎͇̌͘N̸̛̤̉̇̈́̊̉̆G̵̨̖͇̯͈̣̦̀̾̑̌͜ͅͅ ̴̢̺̟̻̖̘̻͋̾̀͌̉̏̌ͅĊ̶̢̰̼Ò̵̢̦̰͈̝̬̻̃̉͐̀̋̋̈́͝ͅH̸̡͍̮͖̎̊͜͝E̶̮̦̙͇̻͌̀̓͑̆̎͌̃̂͠R̸̛̯̖̹̺̞̅̌̆͆̋̏͊Ę̷͈͂͑ͅŅ̶̨̭̳̲̍̆̓͗͑͂͗̅T̵̨͔̳̲̤͈͉́͗̊̾̍̎͋!̶̝̪͉̖͙̯̌̏͒̇͒̀̃͌̒ ̷̛͔̣̗̜̲̪̌̅͆̾̂̉̆̾̐ͅĬ̷̛̻̘̥̥͋́͋̏̐͂͜ ̷̠̥̆͊H̶̛̥̫̫̥͕̭͆̅̓̆̀̓͐ͅÀ̵̮̮̤̘̦̿̂̽̒́̋͝ͅͅD̴̨̧̝̻̲̥̺̮̑͆̾̿͒̇͘ ̶͈̙̤̲̙͉̺̌̇͗́̉͊ͅI̸̢̙͈̦̊́͂̊̽̕͝͝T̶̬͉̺͚̲͈̬͍̦͗̆͛ ̵̛̣̞̣̎̌̌A̴̼̓͑̿̈́͐̅͐̀L̴̞͈͕̦̠͉̺͙̑͛̿͊̀̏̍L̸̢̢̨̥͚͓͍̲͉͆̐͒̽̄̒͑͆͘͜ ̷̝̝̤̈̓̍̈́̎͂͜ͅF̴̢̮̫͔̮̝̰͓̬̤̀̌̍̾͘͝Ĭ̶̧̢͙̪̱̩̳̼̗̎̉̅̀̈̉̚͜͝G̶̨̲͔̭͎̾Ȕ̷̡̠̠̺͇̤̪̼̙̍ͅR̸̻̙͊͠Ë̸̛̳͖̞̜́̃̋̐̈D̸̡̢̮̲̙͙̦͕̑̉͋̃ ̶̛̜̪͔͈̗̲̰́̐̆̈́͋͑̒͘Ō̷̧͙̑͜U̵̢͇̬̲͔͕̰̱̒̎̇̐̾̀̐̅̄͝T̶̡̥͇̣̜͇͖̲̺̣̃̽̈͘,̴͍̲̳̎͆͐͂ ̵̛͔̻̦̘̊̀̌̐͜͝B̴͉͗̉̀A̷̼͎̘̿Ć̷̨̢̛̻̞̪͖͌͑͊̈́͝K̷̥̹͎̼̟̦͛͑̿̈͊̓̍͠Ų̸͕̪̰͕̝͔̙͕͚̓́͛͂́P̸͓̝̪̖̖̬̮̯̥̿̇̀͒͐̓̽͛̈́̔͜ ̶̧̥̞͓̥̘͎͇̦̌̓͑̈͊̍̔̐̕͝Ṕ̷͚̪͖̫̥̯͎͕͆̉̾͗͂̎͘L̴̰͓̠̦̹̲̞͈̽͗̄̐̿̒̓̚͠͝À̵̟̭̞́͒͂͋̏̊̕N̸̰̜͍͛ ̴̛̝̤̝̺̟̻̠̳̾́̓̒A̸͚̐̄͐̎̐͆͗͘F̵͇̞̊̊T̵̡̗͇̙̼̀̉̏̐̓͊́Ė̷̡̤̦̫͑̓͝ͅR̴̨̰̲̩̣͎͖͓̀̌̎͗͌̓ ̵̛̟͍̯B̵̨̭͕͇̮͉̹̫̼̝̔̋A̸̮̻͈͎̞̹̪͚̓̂̈́̄͛̐̇͐̇Ċ̵̛̹̰̬̽̂͆͌́͒̍K̶͓̲̟̣̣̫̖̙̀̑U̴͔̝͔͒̓̓P̵̮͉͔̪̜̬̚͜ ̵̢̝̤̖̗̩̭̙͂́̄̀̅̈́̄P̸̻̦͙̦͕̘̞͐̂̍̉̒̋̔̈́L̸̦͠Ą̷̨͓͔̅͆̄͒̊̊͂͠N̵̼͔͙̠͔̯̻̿̄͂,̵͕̠͍̗̲̫̳̜̜̗̀̾̄̔̔͑ ̶͕̤̳̱̠̎̋̎̄͑̈͊̅͌͘Á̵̛͍̈́̇̚͝N̵̝͕̒́͊D̷̩̺͙͉̹͆̔̄͐̕ͅ ̶̣͈̀͛͘Ȩ̴̛͓̫́̆́̓̈͊̔V̷͔̂̐͐̄͠͝E̸̱͇̖̤̥̠̱͊̀̋͗͑̂͊̾̕Ȓ̴̬͉͇͍̄͐̿̓̌̔Ý̶̛̺̺͙̦̞̞͉̂̐͠ ̴̛̲̠͙̜̳̹͖͓̎̄̕Ṣ̷͊̆Ī̷̟̀̋̽͒̔̃͘ͅN̷̨̯̘̞͕̖̰̑͛͌̐̎̌̉̕Ġ̴̢̛̲͚͉̱̤̰̦̒̀́͋̒̈́̕L̴̡̦͈̯̥͍̂̑̎̔͐͋̕͠Ȩ̶̺͔̣̠͇̪̩̂͝ ̴̧̜͕̤̣̏̐̽̌̇̓͑͊Ọ̵̡͇̮̰̜͔͛̉͐͑̀͐̈̋̀͝N̸̨̧͉̺̥̰͉̤̉́̇͛̏͝Ḛ̸̣̰͙̯̈́́̆͋̏͠ ̷̧̛̩͓̯̯̯̦̫̤̦̄̄̓̚̕̕͠W̶̖̠̞̣̌̍̉̊̾͝Ȁ̷̟̥̄S̸̛̫͌̏̽̂̉͛̂̕ ̶͙̳̽̌͌́͌̍͗F̶͙̞̞̭̞̪͈̍̿A̷̧̫͙͆̅Ì̵̤̳̫̀L̷̢̝̟̜̹͎̰̞͍̆͌̏̆̃́ͅE̶̬͍̹̍͑̓̌̐̑͛̍̕D̸̝͇̲̀͒̀̀̕ ̵͈̣̯͐̎̾̑̏̊̕F̷̢̠̲̳͇͖̪̼̑͗̀͊̕Ơ̵̢͇͕͖͊͗́̂͠R̷͖̣͓͓͋͑̋̌̾ ̵̡̬̣̘̬̻̳̦̀N̴̨̧̛͍̦̓͋̇͂̍̓̓́̕O̵̖͉͇̾͠ ̵̖͇͖̠̌͝ͅͅD̷̡̗̫̞͕̩͙̺͕̑̉͒͝Į̸̨̪̺͔̙̝̦̭͖͐̆͛̑̈́̽̑͐͑͝S̷̪̦͚̃̈̓͊́̀͘̚C̸̢̨̤͖̎̐̍̂̀̄̾̀Ë̸̥̺̠̲͇̠́́͜͜Ŗ̵̪̥̞̖͕̼̣̏̈́̐̄̒͊Ǹ̵̢̺͇̳̀̌Ā̷̔ͅB̸̛͎̅͂̾L̶̫͉͍̼̳͉̋͆͛̔̔͐͛͛̎̕E̴̤̥͇͕̟̭͚̭̪̽̚ ̸̱̪̭̦̗̦̘͍̺́͐̈̂̅͌̒̃̄̕Ŗ̴̰͉̪̗͙͉̤̫̈́̍͝E̴̬̝̬̓͆̉̈̀̀̾͐́͠ͅḀ̴̒͑S̴̱̈́̈́̆͆̔̔̒̂͂͜O̴̦̥̯̣̜̘̎͋̍̏̔̅N̷̛̦͍̟̞͕̠͓̣͑̃̾̂̈́͗ ̸̢̀͌̉Ẉ̸̡̡̡̦͕̅̆̔̓̽ͅH̶̥̹́͂̀̄͝A̸̛̭͔̳̞͎̤͔͙͚̒͛̔̃T̶̜̙̠̝̪̬͌͆͋ͅS̷̼̤͌͑̆̄O̵͈̣̲͎̮̝̯̳͛Ě̴̹̩͛͋ͅV̸̟͖̩̦̏͆́̉Ȩ̴̼̼̞͙͇̺̪̺̽̈́̚̕R̵̜̖͉̩̎̑͌̓̓͌̕!̶̛̬̜̲̞͖͋͌͒̉͐̐̅̅͝ͅ ”

Marx giggled at the frantically foolish ranting and raving of the digital lunatic. “Hey, Susie, how old is Star Dream?”

“Oh, about two million years. Why?”

Magolor listened intently then burst out laughing. “Hehe… hee hee hee… heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!! Oh, that’s just too much! He’s running on ancient propaganda for his plans! How dumb can you get?”

“𝙒𝙀'𝙇𝙇 𝙎𝙀𝙀 𝘼𝘽𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏!” The voice said. Nothing happened. “𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙... 𝙒𝙀'𝙇𝙇 𝙎𝙀𝙀 𝘼𝘽𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏!” Yet again, nothing happened. “𝙒𝙃𝙔 𝘿𝙊𝙀𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙆 𝘼𝙉𝙔𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙀?”

Susie pulled a remote out of her clothes. It had a single on/off switch in the center, and was set to OFF. “Sorry! You’re a little powerless in here!”

Galacta Knight returned, with Kine and his tank in his hands. “Everyone is here. Shall we quit this place?”

As they piled into the Lor, they heard one last call from Haltmann, this one carrying a sense of composure that had been absent since Galacta Knight appeared. “𝙉𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙄 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙡, 𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚. 𝙈𝙮 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩.”

As the door closed in the Lor, Taranza turned to Susie. “Where’s the central programming?”

She turned away. “I… don’t actually know.” 

Magolor emerged from the study. “There are three people on my couch having their worldviews shattered. What’s going on?”

Kirby didn’t seem to even notice him. “What do you mean, you don’t know? Didn’t you make it yourself?”

“I did. I just don’t know where it is.”

Coo stood on the edge of Kine’s tank. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, thanks.” The fish swam in a title circle. “I’m sorry, everyone.”

Since nothing was specifically happening in that moment, they decided to bring the Lor back to where it was. Then, they started moving to go to bed. It wasn’t a victory yet, but they had identified the problem, and the motive, and they knew they weren’t in immediate danger inside the Lor. Despite them just having been unconscious in the abyss, they didn’t feel well-rested, so they returned to trying to sleep in the Lor. Though, unlike before, they could call their loved ones and they’d respond. Daroach would never admit it, but being able to talk to the squeaks again brought tears to his eyes. 

Magolor fully explained what had happened to Galacta Knight, and then Galacta began giving his own explanation back. “The castle rose up out of the ground, and there was about ten stories of building beneath it. I suspected you all were in there, so I crashed the Lor through the wall.”

Magolor nodded. “That makes sense. But… I don’t get why you felt the need to save us in the first place.”

He averted his eyes. “I wanted the one who summoned me to suffer.”

“That’s not it.”

Galacta Knight froze. “I believe you were going to bed.” He walked away.

Magolor went to his room, a knowing smile on his face. He opened the door and climbed into bed next to Taranza. “It feels like forever since the last time we’ve been alone together.” He leaned his head against him. “I’ve missed it.”

Taranza pulled him closer. “I have too.” They lay there together in comfortable silence. “We’re almost done. This nightmare is almost over.”

“I know.”

The next morning, they all gathered in the main room. “Alright Susie.” Dedede began, “How much do you know about the core programming of your father, namely where it is. Where is he?”

“I’ve already told you all I don’t know. Although I guess I can tell you a few other things that I do know. Everything that’s currently sustaining him is in a big box that’s lined with all the wires and coding and all that. The box is made of that alloy that can’t break. Everything important is connected to the outside wall, and there’s another wall separating all of it from the rest of the box. Where the box is, I have no idea.” She folded her hands.

Magolor pointed up. “Then let’s brainstorm! Where do we think it might be?” The Lor pulled up an empty document. “Thoughts?”

Taranza scratched his head. “We could check Kirby’s house. That was where the Sectonia clone was when I found her.” 

Dedede recoiled. “The WHAT?” His face was pale.

Galacta Knight ignored him. “It could very easily be submerged in the water in the stairwell under the castle.”

Meta Knight nodded slowly. “The Halberd.”

“My castle?” Dedede spitballed.

“The replica of the old building we were just in!”

“The basement of that creepy cabin in the woods.” 

“I don’t think we checked the rest of that cabin, actually…”

“That long string of rooms where we were hooked up to the simulation thingy. Ooh, and also that other room with the chair!”

“If the building that didn’t blow up still has all those secret rooms, maybe it’s in the one room with all the cold sleep pods!”

“Are we a hundred percent sure that it’s not in here?”

It seemed that no one had anything else to say. The document filled itself out instantly with each suggestion. Magolor looked it up and down. “Okay, let’s go check these!”

Kirby jumped out of the still-flying Lor, down the chimney into his home. It took very little time to notice that the thing he was looking for was definitely not there. He quickly floated out and back to the Lor. “Not there.”

Magolor shrugged. “Definitely not in here either.”

The party of eleven they had sent to the Halberd returned. “Nope.”

It wasn’t in Castle Dedede. It wasn’t in the creepy cabin. It wasn’t in the cabin’s basement, or the castle’s basement, or the water in the stairwell, or the second building, or the cold sleep pod room they smashed their way into with the Lor. Nothing that fit the bill was in any of the places they considered.

Magolor sighed and his ears drooped. “Where could it be?”

The others paced back and forth around the Starcutter. Kirby sat down in the middle of the floor, racking his brain. Suddenly, something clicked. It was as if a lightbulb flicked on, an ensemble of gears had started turning in tandem, and every piece of the puzzle simply fell into place at once. He stood up. “I know!! I, I figured it out! I think.”

Elfilin perked up. “You did?”

“Well maybe. Susie, when we first got out of the old building, how much were you looking at what was happening?”

She flinched. “Well, not that much, why?”

“The box was, um, well, it was made of the stuff that doesn’t break, even when it blows up or falls really far, right?”

“Well, yes…” 

Taranza caught on. “No! We were-”

“The safe. The one from then. Isn’t that it?” Kirby asked hopefully.

Elfilin’s eyes went wide. “We were INSIDE him?”

“Please do-on’t phrase it like tha-at.” Marx was audibly trying not to laugh at what was just said, and the effort was not entirely working.

Magolor whipped around, hitting buttons on the Lor’s console. “Lor! We’re going back! Full speed ahead!” He gestured at the monitor.

“At once!” The Lor picked itself off the ground and shot off to the distant rocky planet.

Meta Knight pointed at the image of the safe that appeared on the monitor. “Does that look familiar?”

“That’s it. That’s him.” She said, sounding somewhat resigned.

They loaded the safe into the Lor. Despite the fact that it could speak, it didn’t. Galacta Knight prodded it with his lance. “Now, what do we intend to do with this nefarious item?”

Flamberge clapped her hands. “Susie said it was susceptible to things that are really, really hot, right? So let’s just set it on fire!”

“Fire’s not hot enough.” Susie responded curtly.

Meta Knight rolled his eyes. “So what is-” He cut himself off, scarcely even breathing. “Surely, you don’t mean we have to dispose of him in the-”

“The lava, yes.” She nodded solemnly.

Dedede gave him a consoling pat on the back. “It’s fine, you don’t have to go.”

As they were pulling the safe out and bringing it into the castle, some of the waddle dees voiced their fears that they were very high up and could not get down. Hearing that, Coo, Kine, and Rick took the Lor back to the cabin so they could lower the castle again. Everyone else assisted in taking the safe down the spiral staircase. They carried it over the water, through the door, down the hallway, and through the other door. Dedede held the door open so Haltmann couldn’t pull a fast one.

“𝙎𝙪𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖.” He finally spoke. They paused. “𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚, 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧?”

She didn’t hesitate before answering. “Yes.”

Meta Knight said only one sentence before pushing him through the barrier, where he would fall. “You will suffer the same fate as he did.” With that, he heaved. The safe slid across the floor and into the pit. It fell. The top of it barely peeked out of the lava pit. They saw as the lava melted through it, and it slipped under the surface. 

“That’s it.” Daroach said, somberly. “It’s over.” He could think of only one thing to add onto the end of that thought. “Let’s go home.”

Chapter Text

King Dedede directed some waddle dees to patch up the hole that led to the secret basement. “This place doesn’t exist. And it never did. Got it?”

They nodded and got to work. Everyone else looked at one another, gave faint, weak smiles, and started filing off and going in separate directions. Dark Meta Knight didn’t particularly want to go home, but it wasn’t as if he had any better options. As he stood outside the castle, he looked around at the scenery. Nothing in particular was going on, other than waddle dees and other various people milling about, trying to get back to normal. He thought that it was time for him to follow their example. The thought didn’t do much to lift his spirits, but regardless he spread his wings.

“You seem upset.” He was startled by Daroach’s voice behind him. “What’s on your mind?” His face wasn’t quite as accommodating as it had seemed before. What changed?

“Nothing. I was just about to go home, that's all.” He turned away from him.

“Oh, you are, are you? Mind if I ask why?”

“You’re… asking me why I’m going home? It’s because I live there.”

Daroach’s expression remained stone cold. “What compels you to stay? Is there someone who needs you?”

Dark Meta Knight’s face tightened under his mask. “Yes.”

“That’s a lie.”

Annoyingly perceptive, that one. “Get to the point.” He snapped.

“You don’t actually want to go back, do you?” 

“Does it matter? I’m outvoted. Two to one. I’m going back.” He tried to hide the resignation in his voice, but didn’t do that great of a job at it.

Daroach let out a small chuckle. “Heh. I wouldn’t be too sure about that one. I mean, you remember Shadow Kirby, right? If we count his vote, it’s a tie. Wouldn’t that complicate things?”

“Just what are you proposing?”

“I don’t know who you think is keeping you tied down, but if you simply don’t go back, what are they gonna do?”

“Fine. Let’s discuss this somewhere private.” Dark Meta Knight stormed off, the cloaked mouse quickly following behind. Once they got somewhere secluded, he inhaled. “If you ever repeat a word of this to anyone, I will cut you down where you stand. Am I clear?”

“Crystal clear, my ‘good’ man. Now, tell me. What’s going on?”

“A long time ago, I… disposed of some people. Although, I have no way of knowing if I got rid of all of them. There are only two people in the universe who know all the sordid details. If I do not comply to their will, they may divulge that information to the general public. If that happens, there’s no telling what will happen to me, even over here.”

Daroach couldn’t help but think back to the conversation he had with Shadow Kirby, and the counterpart of Daroach who had “gone missing a long time ago.” It seemed a given that he, along with multiple others, were likely dead. “I need more information so I can know specifically what you should do. For starters, what do you mean by ‘disposed of,’ and why did you do it?”

“I did not kill them. At least, not directly. And I disposed of them because I was being threatened. Is that enough?”

Daroach took a long pause. “I can arrange something. But to make sure, you do want to get out of the blackmail, yes?”

Dark Meta Knight scoffed. “Arrange something? You? I doubt it.”

“You don’t get to where I am without knowing how to pull a few strings. I’ll handle it.”

.... . ... / --. --- -. -. .- / ... - . .--. / .. -.

Adeleine frustratedly tugged at the laces on her shoes. “I hate all that adrenaline stuff. How did I not notice earlier that I have blisters everywhere?”

Dedede grumpily started walking up the stairs. “You’ll be fine, walk it off.”

She called after him. “I’d love to, but there are blisters on my feet.”

Ribbon frowned. “That sucks. Walking is dumb.”

“I know.” Exasperatedly, she leaned against the back of the chair. “Do you think it says something that this is what I’m complaining about now?”

“I think it says that things are really going back to normal.”

.. -- .- --. .. -. . / .-.. .. ...- .. -. --. / .. -. / .- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. / .-- .... . .-. . / .... .- .-.. ..-. / --- ..-. / -.-- --- ..- .-. / ..-. .-. .. . -. -.. ... / -.. --- -. - / -. . . -.. / - --- / .-- .- .-.. -.-

Susie caught up to Taranza. “Hey! Wait up!”

He turned around, unamused. “What do you want?”

“It’s about… I mean, I feel like I just did something really cool, you know? But no one’s treating me any differently than they were before.”

Taranza shrugged. “You have a lot to make up for. Keep at it. I can’t say I forgive you yet, but if you put the effort in, someone will.”

.. / - .... .. -. -.- / -.-- --- ..- / ... .... --- ..- .-.. -.. / -.- .. .-.. .-.. / -.-- --- ..- .-. / -.. .- -.. / .- / - .... .. .-. -.. / - .. -- .

“Well, now that it’s over, I believe I’ll be taking my leave.” Galacta Knight approached the door.

“Just like that? You don’t have anything you want to say, or do, or anything?” Magolor caught his attention.

“Not at the moment, no.” He watched as the door slid open. “Ah. You were under the impression that I wouldn’t be returning. Rest assured, I will.”

“Oh, really? That’s great!” Magolor cheered. “Where are you going?”

“I admit I don’t know myself. When I find out, I’ll let you know. Take care, Magolor.” He stepped out of the Lor and walked away. 

Magolor turned around. “Hey, Lor, I don’t know how much you really missed him, but are you okay? Like, are you feeling… let down?”

“Captain. You are not suggesting that I would be dissatisfied with you, are you?” The cool, pleasant, nurturing voice responded.

“You were before.”

“I was upset with you because you used to be belligerent, greedy, selfish, short-tempered, and emotionally unstable.”

“I’m still most of those things.” Magolor grimaced.

“Yes, but now it’s mostly fun and charming rather than insufferable and horrifying.” The lights seemed to become ever so slightly brighter. “And I appreciate your company. Usually. When you’re not inflicting your lovestruck ramblings about Taranza on me, you’re excellent.”

Magolor brightened, just like the lights. “Thanks. Also, I guess I do have a leg up for not getting stuck in a rock for over two million years.”

“Too soon, captain. Too soon.”

... . .-. .. --- ..- ... .-.. -.-- / -.. ..- -.. . / -. --- - / -.-. --- --- .-..

As the moon rose, Kirby pulled his eyes away from the window. “I’m tired… Gooey, Elfie, I’m going to bed. Good night!” He pulled up the covers.

Elfilin was on the bed near him almost immediately. “If anything like that happens again, I at least want to be near you when it does.” He curled up next to him. “I’m so glad you’re my friend.”

“I… glad we friends… too…” Gooey hopped onto the bed, gave both of them what was probably supposed to be a hug, then hopped off.

The sun rose on a new day in Dream Land. It tended to do that a lot, didn’t it? It never stopped. The only recourse was to move on. The past is over, and the future is only beginning. That could be said at any time and still be true. The farther away people get from the past, the more it fades. People weren’t okay, yet. But they would be. Some would take longer than others, but wounds do heal, and scars do fade. They may always be remembered, but they’ll never start hurting the same as they had before.

After the funeral proceedings, Meta Knight stuck behind by himself, staring at the casket. It was empty, but most didn’t know that. It didn’t feel empty, not to Meta Knight. He gave a deep bow. “I hope you’re at peace.”

He had no way of hearing the answer from beyond the living realm, nor did he have any way of knowing if the late Sailor Dee had even heard him. 

Despite that, he felt sure that he had.

He returned to the Halberd alone, with the goal of letting himself work through the grief alone. He scarcely left his room for several days.

-. --- / .. / .- -- / -. --- - / --. --- .. -. --. / - --- / ... - --- .--. / -.. --- .. -. --. / - .... . ... .

“Ranz? You look like something’s on your mind…” Magolor tilted his head.

“I’m sorry you missed the three month anniversary surprise. I can tell you were putting a lot of work into that-” He didn’t get a chance to finish.

Magolor was hugging him tightly, clearly smiling despite his face being unseen. “Being with you is amazing no matter where we are.”

-.-- --- ..- / -.- -. --- .-- / .. / -.-. --- ..- .-.. -.. -. - / . -. -.. / .. - / .-- .. - .... --- ..- - / - .... . / --. .- -.-- ...

“Well? Told you I’d handle it.” Daroach grinned proudly. “Enjoy. And please, for your sake, and more importantly Shadow Kirby’s sake, never ever go back to the Mirror World.”

“Glad to know you have your priorities straight.” Dark Meta Knight grumbled. Although, he had to admit, he was pleased with his new home. As annoying as he could be, that rat sure could build a house.

“Well, I’ll be out of your…” Daroach paused much longer than he needed to. “Scalp. Get settled in, why don’t you?” 

He had hardly been gone for five minutes when another knock on the door came. Dark Meta Knight opened the door to see a face that was decidedly unwelcome. “Well hello, my knightly cohort! Are you well? You are, aren’t you? I understand you’re making an effort to abscond from your sworn duty?”

“How did you find me?” Dark Meta Knight snapped.

“Not important.” The visitor waved off the question. “What is important is that… well, just look at the photo.” He pulled a picture out of his clothes and presented it. “Well? What do you think, friend? Will you return to… bury the past?”

He stared at it, frightened and confused. “Yes. I will.”

..- -. - .. .-.. / .-- . / -- . . - / .- --. .- .. -.