Chapter Text
The sight of rows upon rows of sleeping creatures made Taranza feel sick. It reminded him of his late beloved queen. They looked dead.
He could see through Meta Knight's pallid façade. He was disturbed, too. It was unnatural. They all looked so weak and frail, trapped inside machines that connected to the ribbon limbs they had similar to the girl who attacked Kirby and the rest.
"What do we do?" He spoke up first, searching for a light. It was clear that this room hadn't been touched in years as thick dust coated everything.
"We wait," Meta Knight replied. "We don't know enough about this mothership."
Silence loomed once again. If Taranza was to be completely honest, he would say that he found it awkward to be in Meta Knight's company.
In fact, now that he thought about it, he was uncomfortable with everyone. Everyone but Kirby and Dedede, that was.
So, he muttered a brief goodbye and ran outside to where Kirby, the enemy, and... Bandana Dee were.
"Where did the king go?" Taranza glanced around, half-expecting him to just jump out of a bush.
"He went to the castle!" Kirby chirped, on top of a branch. "I'm going to show Ambrosia around!"
"Who's- Oh. Okay. I see." His gaze trailed to her, and she simply stared at him. This would be fun... "Kirby, I have to ask. Why were you knocked out when I went back to you?"
The pink puffball's face turned blank but then he gave a sheepish grin. "Oh! I think I sucked everything too hard. I also swallowed something that tasted weird..."
The strange girl's eyes narrowed in confusion. "There was nothing in that room other than the holograms and message boards. It used to be used for training matches and nothing else. Perhaps we should check your health."
"No, I'm fine!" Kirby jumped off the tree branch and gave a large smile. "See, poyo? Maybe I just imagined things."
Taranza opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the girl again.
"Well, if that's the case, we should start our search. I need a few cables, a small energy source, and some sort of hard drive." When she was met with confused looks, she continued. "Don't you have factories? Machinery? Anything?"
"We have some stuff left over from the Haltmann Works invasion, poyo," Kirby said, shrugging. "But we tried to get rid of most of that."
"There are temples with crystals," Bandana Dee piped up. "They're in deep caves, though. The great king and I only managed to find a few, but there are more marked on the map."
"Map?" Kirby tilted his head. "I've never seen temples here..."
"They were only activated because we had a piece of Haltmann Work's machinery with us," Bandana replied. "I'm not sure how they're connected in any way, but it would be worth checking them out again."
"Can I have a look at it?" Ambrosia took a few steps towards Bandana Dee. "I'd like to see the technological advancements and compare it to the mothership."
"Of course," Taranza interrupted. "But only when you show us your mothership. We're not going to let you do whatever on this planet, you know."
She shrugged and walked towards the entrance of the mothership. "Welcome inside. I won't blast you this time."
---
Bandana Dee found himself inspecting every bit of the control panel, clutching his spear tightly in case of hidden enemies. Once he was finished, he watched Ambrosia type on the transparent keyboard.
"Is there something you want to say?" She asked after a while, not turning around.
If Bandana Dee had a mouth, he would've stuck his tongue out at her. But, he didn't. "What are you doing?"
"Regulating the ship's conditions."
"Why? I thought it was on autopilot."
Ambrosia finally faced him, gritting her teeth. "I'm forcing it to use minimum energy. Do you understand now?"
If Bandana Dee had a mouth, he would've frowned. But, he didn't. "Okey. Have you checked why the other people in this ship haven't woken up?"
"I... Can't," she averted her gaze. "I can't seem to access most of the ship's information. Usually my fingerprints would allow me administrator privileges but... It looks like someone's hacked into it."
"Is there anyone you think would attack you?"
"Um, no? We've been asleep for thousands of years. I don't see why anyone would follow the mothership and attack only now. It must be someone from this planet."
After closing several files, Ambrosia switched off the control panel. "Are your friends in the ZOI chambers or the rooms containing the life pods? I'd prefer it if they were in the former."
"They can go where they want," Bandana said harshly. "We're not letting you leave this ship until we stop all threats."
Ambrosia placed a hand on her hip, glaring at him. "Of course, Bandy. What's the name of this planet, by the way?"
"...Popstar." He answered, irritated at the nickname.
"Oh! That's quite far. I'm glad that the mothership has gotten so far." She clapped her hands together. "Well, that's one positive thing in this mess. We might even be close to the ultimate destination."
"Ultimate destination?" Bandana Dee adjusted the bandana on his head.
Her eyes sparkled with delight. "It's a land of wonder and beauty, promised to us by the Gods themselves. It's where we're destined to live. Our new home. A... paradise!" She twirled around. "Our old home was ruined by the generations before us. Now, it's a land of waste. The Gods suggested to our leader to travel to a faraway world... So they made this ship. That's right, it was created by the Gods themselves!" She stopped. "Aren't you in awe?"
"I've already seen a ship that was created by Gods," he replied. "It was smaller than this one, but still pretty impressive on its laser beams."
"Laser?" She tilted her head. "That's only supposed to be used for combat. Anyway, I love this ship! One day, we'll reach the promised land and our civilisation will flourish once again."
"Where's that?" Bandana asked.
He was met with a blank stare. Then, a nervous smile.
"The Gods programmed this ship for us. They didn't tell us where it was. We weren't supposed to know. Only to create the technology that would allow us to be frozen in time and be able to get across. That is all."
"That's pretty weird." Bandana commented. She simply shrugged and began making her way out of the room, Bandana following.
Even though Bandana Dee was used to seeing large and unfamiliar spaces, the mothership was still confusing. It was similar to the mazes that he had read about, especially with the identical doors and corridors.
"They're in the storage rooms," she said with an indecipherable look. "Ah. That makes a big problem. And they've knocked down the door..." She examined it, running a finger along what used to be a door. "Oh dear."
"What's wrong?" Bandana Dee asked, moving forward to look inside of the room. She began walking quickly inside, and he hurriedly followed.
"We have skills stored inside of these rooms that we can... in a sense, eat." She explained, looking through the musty shelves. "I used one that grants me the skill to understand you. It's practically an invention to grant you understanding of any language you hear."
"That sounds like Kirby's copy ability." He peered at them, noticing that they looked like scraps of glass.
"Yes. The only difference is the fact that Kirby sucks up objects, and, uhm, live things, whereas this-" she picked it up, "-is absorbed by these." She pointed to the ribbons around her neck. "This particular Skill Box has the skill of memorizing things easily. We have thousands stored of each."
"So you're going to have to keep using the Skill Box to understand us?" He asked and she nodded in response. "Why don't you just try to understand us?"
"That's very inconvenient," she sighed. "Oh! There are your friends. Come on, Bandy." She smirked at him and he glared back.
"Bandana Dee! Ambrosia!" Kirby greeted loudly, waving. "We were just about to look for you!" He pounced onto Bandana, hugging him tightly. He gladly hugged back.
"Where is our first destination?" Ambrosia asked dully.
"It's in Onion Ocean!" Kirby grinned, pulling away from Bandana. "It's really cool because then you'll get to see fish and-"
He was suddenly interrupted by loud noises that sounded like eruptions. Meta Knight brought out his sword, and Taranza spun around in shock.
"Is that... Supposed to happen?" Ambrosia asked, looking from side to side. "Does Popstar have any volcanoes?"
"No...?" Kirby replied before the ship shook and they fell to the floor. Meta Knight stood his ground, helping up Bandana Dee.
"What's going on?" Ambrosia's voice grew louder. "Are we being attacked?"
"The king-" Meta Knight said quickly. "We have to check on Dedede!"
"Why? What's going on?" She urged them to respond. Kirby grabbed her hand, and everyone ran outside. "Where are we going?"
"The tremors came from that way," Even Kirby looked worried. "Next to Castle Dedede!"