Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“It's dark outside.” You said. 

“The fog muffled the sounds of the wind.” I continued.

“Would you like to hear a story of mine? The lights will come back soon.”

“...Absolutely.”

“...”

“The Servant watches a comet fall, and he thinks it's beautiful but must continue with his job. Less the sadness of not being as beautiful as it will make his tears fall down his cheeks. A beautiful gift then falls into the forest, and yet, it has always stood there, waiting for someone to see it.”

“The Emperor sees how the sun rises, greeting him with a melancholic feeling in his heart. The day greets him, but he doesn't want to get up from his bed, knowing that the joy of good days is long gone, and only finds comfort in searching for dragons that don't exist. A beautiful gift then falls into a lake below a bridge, standing motionless as the train tracks prepare to carry along the passengers.”

“The Guardian witnesses the full moon, gleaming onto his tired eyes. He says he's fine, but the only thing that was voiced is a lie, one that tries to make it into reality, but the bars of entanglement prevent him from that realization; a sharp pain in his body then proceeds to happen, like the one of a sword thrusting into the flesh. A beautiful gift then appears next to a house from someone humble, and yet they take their time finding it.”

“The Pastor looks at the cards in his deck, full of fallacies and manipulative tactics, which he greets with a smile as they go into his pocket; who knows how much time he has spent with them since he took the clock hands for himself, and he intends to get more than that with a smile that showed the saliva of his teeth. A beautiful gift then appears, right below the bells that announce a new day, and to this day, there they stand.”

“The Animal stares at the other creatures, living in a fantasy world to which he was denied access; he was furious with that decision but deep down considered the idea that he deserved it. One day, though, he went as far as breaking the glass that covered this dream world from the outside world, as regretful tears appeared in his swollen eyes, ones that were too used to crying from frustration. A beautiful gift then appears, covered in ash and wooden scraps. This gift was long since found, but no one finds use in it.”

“The Angel glares snarkily at the mortals below the white clouds, living in a world full of unrewarded strife, where only black rain poured down on the surface; he was known by many things, but benevolence was not one of them, forever craving the sensation of the dark clouds above the doomed surface as if it were a cycle that would not budge, since fate made it that way. A beautiful gift then appears, soaked in blood and a dark feeling, being thrown to a place unknown by many and known by very few.”

“The Dream glanced at the stars above, below, and between him, happy that he was not alone, swearing on his own sweat, blood, and tears that he would always be there to make them shine, and he was truly a man of his word - sadly, this led him to feel empty when he saw no one did the same for him, only partaking in activities that would only be trivial, making the star dream of something more, something that would make him full again, but it was unknown if he got what he truly asked for. A beautiful gift then appears, landing daintily on the green grass, expecting the right person to come and finally get it under their grasp.”

“These beautiful gifts were one day reunited, and from there, a beautiful offering was made to the statue that oversees all, and the frown on his face, made of marble and gold, was gladly turned into the right direction.”

Chapter Text

“…Sigh…”

Someone was walking towards Waddle Dee Town, trying to ignore the heat and the puddles that were left thanks to the rain of the day beforehand.

“Oi! You’re here! Come on, we have work to do.” Another person seemed to have noticed them and tried to call out to them.

“I know, Chilly… Just… Let me relax a little, ‘kay?” Bugzzy said as he stretched left and right and prepared his hands to carry a piece of wood that was left on the grassy field. Chilly, on the other hand, looked at him with a disappointed face.

“...Another day, another disaster happens on Popstar, eh? It’s like we can’t catch a break. Even the most innocent of people end up being devils in disguise.”

“Seriously! Who would’ve thought a kid his age would end up causing so much damage!” Another person spoke up upon hearing the two of them. It was a Simirror, accompanied by a Bio Spark and a Pluggy.

“Welp, that’s what happens when you put too much of your trust in people.”

“Why do you think he took the Master Crown? Dedede never clarified us that…” The Pluggy remarked,"

“Who knows… Although, it was probably because he wanted to take over Popstar or something, as if we would kneel to a kid when we triple his age, hehe…” The Simirror kept on going. “Although, thanks to that, we have a lot of fixing to do… Kawasaki’s pretty sad that his restaurant is in shambles.”

“Daw, now where are we going to eat if the restaurant is run-down for now?” Bugzzy said jokingly as he looked at the sadly destroyed establishment.

Fylass’ ruckus had caused a lot of damage in Dream Land, as you can see. The forests were a mess, and the towns looked as if a great tornado went through them, so they floated to the sky, only to fall down and crash to the ground.

The day kept on as usual -or, well, as usual as it could be days after a great disaster—but most people were… at unease, for some reason.

“...Say, where are the Star Allies? I haven’t seen them in a while…”

“I saw Marx going towards the library, so something’s definitely wrong.”

“You mean Escargoon’s library?”

“Yeah, that one.”

Everything felt so bizarre. The mood wasn’t the best, after all… Dream Land was supposed to be cheery and tranquil, besides the frequent disasters that happen, but now, things felt different.

The Star Allies were missing during the whole day, not even bothering to check on the rest of the Dream Landers as they did all the work. Surely, this would offend them to some degree, but they gave them the benefit of the doubt and thought that they were just busy with other stuff.

…

The day passed, and the night was on the horizon - due to the number of houses that were destroyed, the Waddle Dees took advantage of this and made some sort of shelter so everyone could have a place to sleep.

It was hard to live like this for now, but they had hopes that most of Popstar would be back to normal again in the next couple of days just so they could celebrate the festival coming at the end of the month.

“...Say What are you planning to do after the festival ends?” Bugzzy said to Chilly, who was sleeping on the bed next to him.

“I dunno, the same thing as I always do? Just relax in my home…” Chilly responded nonchalantly.

“...Well, that’s boring…”

“What do you have in mind, then, if I am so ‘boring”?”

“I want to dream big! I want to explore other planets besides Popstar! Eat food I’ve never eaten before, become a wrestling star across the galaxy, things like that!” Bugzzy seemed to be in a good mood even after all of that.

“And how are you so sure that your dreams will come true? Being optimistic is one thing, but you’re an adult; at this point you should be focusing on how to live a peaceful life rather than wasting it on things like fame and such.”

“Hey, don’t be like that! I am sure you have big dreams as well!”

“...I am just not that sure whether or not they’ll become a thing, you know? That’s why I prefer to stay grounded in reality.”

“Welp, how about this? After the festival, what if we leave Popstar together so we can fulfill both of our dreams? We can bring our other friends as well! I think I remember you wondering what Shiver Star looks like—we can go there one of these days!”

“...Are you sure? I mean, I wouldn’t want to slow ya down…”

“Pfft, isn’t that what friends are for! Friends don’t mind silly things like that! You should know this!”

“I mean, I guess…”

“...Hehehe… Come on, let’s get some sleep; we should be prepared to fix more stuff tomorrow. Besides, I am sure some people are annoyed by us talking this late in the night…” Bugzzy said teasingly as his eyes closed.

“...G’night…” Chilly’s eyes closed again.

—

The next day came by…

The Star Allies weren’t present this day either…

“...I’d say that we should ask King Dedede what to do, but he’s completely absent for some reason. Should we ask the Waddle Dees?” Vividria asked a Waddle Dee about it, as the latter simply shrugged in response.

Vividria asked a Waddle Dee that was close to her about where Dedede was, but they simply shook their head, saying they didn’t even know something as crucial as the location of their king.

“...Well, this is bad… Do you think they’re in danger or something?”

“I doubt it… The disaster already passed, no? Perhaps they’re with Queen Ripple on Ripple Star? Or something like that…”

“We should ask one of the members of the Star Allies… I have no idea where they are, though… This will be hard…”

The day went as usual, or, well, as usual as it could be, but the days felt really lonely…

“Wait, isn’t that…”

Simirror looked at the distance, and he looked at something that put them pale…

“Isn’t that Dark Matter?!”

When he yelled that, the Dark Matter entity looked at them and quickly left, going towards the nearby forest next to Waddle Dee Town. That’s strange… Why wouldn’t they attack them first instead of fleeing?

Simirror immediately called their friends through the phone they had on their robes.

“C’mon! C’mon, answer! - There we go! Guys, we need to reunite fast!”

“Eughhh… What is it now? I just woke up…”

“I saw Dark Matter roaming around here! We need to destroy it before it possesses someone! They left towards Whispy Woods!” 

“H-Hu”h Alright, we’re coming!”

Simirror then hung up the phone and started running towards the forest, hoping to reunite with the others there when they got there.

The forest was extremely dense, and they could’ve sworn that the forest was darker and colder this time, perhaps due to that creature’s influence, and it was quiet as well… Hopelessly quiet.

“...This gives me chills... I have to get going, though; we can’t let that thing be around.”

All of a sudden, he felt he had stepped on something wet. Simirror looked at what they had stepped on and realized it was a dark puddle similar to tar.

“...Eugh… At least that means I’m on the right track if this is what I think it is…”

They kept on walking and walking, and suddenly, they found it…

The Dark Matter creature was resting on top of a big tree, leaking that strange liquid everywhere they went - they seemed tired, and pitifully so… 

This didn’t feel right, though… What was a Dark Matter creature doing here?! And why aren’t they attacking? They should be causing havoc everywhere, right…?

“...Yo”u Simirror pointed their wand towards the Dark Matter’s face, shocking them for a couple of seconds before making a nonchalant, dull expression. “Stay where you are and don’t move!”

“...Uh-huh, if you so want.” They… talked? They can talk?! This shocked Simirror to the core, making them step back for a moment but still determined to check what this creature’s purpose was for coming here.

“...So, what are you looking for here?! What kind of chaos are you wanting to commit here?!”

“...Can’t Dark Matter simply relax in the woods in solitude or something?”

“Don’t mess with me; I know you’re looking for something here! You’re one of those pesky parasites after all!”

“What, do you think all dark matters are the same?”

“W-Well, I mean…” Simirror didn’t find a way to respond to that.