Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ever since their encounter in Iceberg a few years ago, Gooey had always hoped that he could apologize and explain everything to his brother. Once the two reunited underground, he was finally able to apologize. Not only that, he was happy that his brother finally knew who he truly was.

Unfortunately, his brother was in poor condition at the moment. Dedede carried the sick Dark Matter while Gooey clinged to the penguin's head. Like his brother, Gooey didn't leave completely unscathed. He had three wounds on his side and a bruise over his eye. Thankfully, Kirby covered the wounds with bandages. Gooey's brother, on the other hand, had a deep wound on his side. He was currently wrapped in Dedede's robe.

As for Kirby, he was still underground. Gooey was sure that his adoptive brother would be more than capable of taking care of himself, but even then it didn't stop him from worrying.

It didn't take long to get from underground to the castle. As soon as Dedede entered the castle, Waddle Doo and several Waddle Dees ran up to him, their faces were full of concern.

"Is everything all right, Sire?" asked the Waddle Doo.

"We were worried after you went after Dark Matter," said one of the Waddle Dees. He looked up and saw Gooey sitting on his head. "Oh, is he all right?"

"Gooey's fine, I can patch him up in a minute," Dedede told everyone. "But I AM gonna need you to find a doctor as soon as possible."

Just as Dedede said that,  he lowered the robe and showed Dark Matter to everyone. Understandably, everyone was terrified. Gooey tightened his grip on Dedede's hat out of frustration.

"A-Are you sure you about this?" asked Waddle Doo. "I mean...this is Dark Matter, he could still be dangerous!"

"I don't care WHO he is, he's dyin' right now! So if you don't get someone to help him, then I'll go look myself!"

It went silent for a bit, one of the Waddle Dees tried to think. "Actually, Dr. Dee might be able to help."

"Has he ever taken care of a Dark Matter before?"

"Well it shouldn't be too different from taking care of Gooey..."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Dedede said impatiently, "I need you to bring him over here RIGHT NOW!"

"Understood, Sire!" said one of the Waddle Dees as he left the castle.

"As for you," Dedede said as he looked down at Waddle Doo. He handed Dark Matter over to him, "I need you to keep him alive until that doctor gets here, all right?"

"Yes, sire!"

Waddle Doo began to drag Dark Matter upstairs, it didn't take long for another Waddle Dee to help. With everything settled, Dedede looked up at Gooey. "All right, now let's get you all patched up before you end up like him."

"But is brother gonna be OK?" Gooey asked with uncertainty.

"I'm sure he's gonna be fine," Dedede said confidently. "If he can survive Kirby, then I'm sure he can survive a little infection."

Gooey nodded, though he wasn't sure if Dedede really meant it or if was just saying that to calm him down. Regardless, he wasn't going to stop worrying anytime soon.

Dedede headed into the bathroom as soon as he headed upstairs, he placed Gooey in the sink and took the bandages off his side. Afterwards, he wiped the wounds with a wet cloth. It was only water, but it didn't stop Gooey from wincing and hissing.

"Calm down, we're almost done!" Dedede told Gooey. He tossed the cloth in a basket before he grabbed some bandages from the cabinet above the sink.

"...What are we gonna do, now?" Gooey asked as Dedede placed the new bandages on him. The penguin replied with a shrug. "Well, you could always go to bed."

"But I dun wanna go to bed right now," Gooey said as his eyes focused on Dedede. "What if something else happens?"

"...All right, then. How 'bout we hang out in my room, instead." Dedede offered. "We can play games until one of us gets tired."

Gooey nodded, his fins sprouted out of his body as he began to follow Dedede. As the duo went through the hall, Gooey could see a Waddle Dee lead another into one of the guest rooms. The Waddle Dee being lead wore glasses and a head mirror, he was the doctor the others talked about earlier.

Though it seemed like nothing happened yet, Gooey was still worried about his brother. Perhaps hanging out with Dedede might help take his mind off of it for now? From what he could tell, Dedede was on the same page. Once the duo reached the room, Dedede was able to find a board and place it on his table, it didn't take long for him to find the Chess Pieces, either.

After everything was set up Gooey sat at the table. He sat at the opposite side of Dedede. He didn't quite understand how to play this game. He knew that the pawns moved forward, but he wasn't sure where the other pieces moved. It didn't take long until he just sat there with a Chess piece in his mouth. It was a horse...or was it called a Knight? He couldn't remember...

"...You're s'posed to move it in an 'L' shape, Gooey."

"Oh...like this?" Gooey asked as he moved the horse knight to the opposite corner of the board.

"No, it's more like..." Dedede paused as his hand hovered over the piece, only to leave it be when he noticed the drool on it. "You know what? Forget it!"

Gooey grumbled as he dragged his tongue into his mouth, he winced as Dedede walked over to him and placed a hand over his wounds, though he knew the penguin meant no harm.

"...Sorry about that!" Dedede replied as he simply patted the top of his head. "I guess Chess ain't keepin' your mind off your brother, huh?"

Gooey looked down as he nodded. Sure, there used to be moments where his brother wasn't at his strongest, but even then he'd always find a way to bounce back to his normal self. But now? He wasn't too sure.

The duo played chess for a little while longer, though Dedede had to help Gooey a few times so he would understand which piece did what. It seemed like the game would go on forever, but eventually the door opened and Waddle Doo walked in.

"Sire?" Waddle Doo called out as he quietly opened the door. "We...we've got that Dark Matter all patched up, but I have to ask...do you REALLY think that it's a good idea to keep him here?"

"It'll be fine," Dedede assured him. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Kirby's already knocked some sense into him at this point."

"But what if he starts to cause trouble again?"

"Well, if he does, then...uh..." Dedede looked at Gooey for a moment before returning his attention to the Waddle Doo. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Understood, sire."

Gooey could understand why everyone here was so hesitant to help his brother. But even then, they couldn't just let him suffer. Heck, he was still surprised that Dedede was willing to let him stay at the castle after all he'd done. But like Kirby, the penguin had a heart of gold.

"Say, why don't you keep an eye on Dark Matter for the rest of the night?" Dedede asked. "I'm sure he'd love to see you as soon as he wakes up."

"But what about Kirby?" Gooey asked. "Shouldn't we wait for him?"

"He'll show up eventually," Dedede replied with a shrug. He didn't seem too worried.

...Then again, this was Kirby they were talking about. And besides, Gooey's brother would probably want SOME attention, right?

Gooey made his way out of Dedede's room and headed  over to the guest room. He could see the Waddle Dees from earlier, they were chatting next to the door. One of them noticed Gooey and waved at him. "Hey, Gooey. Are you here to check on Dark Matter right now?"

Gooey nodded.

"Well please be careful with him," said the Waddle Dee doctor. "He's still recovering, so he needs to rest for a while."

"Yes, sir!" Gooey said before he slowly opened the door, his brother quietly slept in bed. He was curled up under a checkered blanket. There was even a wet cloth sitting over his eye.

"...Brother?" Gooey asked as he closed the door,  he quietly hopped onto the bed. He formed an arm as he nudged him gently. "Are you feeling any better?"

His brother didn't respond, he felt unusually warm for a Dark Matter. Gooey tried to think. Whenever he got sick, Kirby would always stick with him until he got better. Whether it involved giving him food, telling him stories, or just spending time with him in general, Kirby would always try to make things less miserable for Gooey.

It had been a few years since Gooey spent any time with his brother, so he wasn't too sure what he could do to make him happy. But one thing he remembered was that his brother always liked talking to him, even if Gooey couldn't talk back at the time. Would his brother be able to hear him, though? Even while he was out cold?

...Well, it was worth a try...right?

"You know...I'm glad you dun have to hide anymore," Gooey said quietly. "There's so much of this world that I wanna show you. There's a lot of friends to meet, food to eat, and plenty of exploring to do. Doesn't that sound nice?"

As expected, his brother didn't respond. He gently nuzzled into his pillow as he started laying on his uninjured side. Gooey had to wonder how his brother was able to put up with his silence for so long.

Regardless, he was sure that his brother still would've liked the attention. Gooey curled up against him like he used to do back in their old home. But unlike then, Gooey also has Kirby with him now. Perhaps when he gets back, he might be able to help take care of Gooey's brother?

After all, Kirby was someone who'd give everybody a chance...right?

Gooey wasn't sure when he'd dozed off...but by the time he'd opened his eyes, it was already daytime. His brother was still trapped in a deep sleep, the cloth sitting over his eye had fallen beside him. Gooey picked it up and hopped off the bed. "Dun worry, Brother. I'll be right back."

As soon as Gooey opened the door, he could see Kirby sleeping outside. One of his arms rested on his face. Gooey tried to nudge him in order to wake him up.

"...Good morning, Gooey!" Kirby said as he sat up and yawned. Gooey stared at him with his eyes half-closed. "You coulda just slept in bed with us, you know."

"Well I didn't wanna bother your brother," Kirby said while rubbing his eyes. "By the way, is he awake?"

Gooey shook his head. "He's still sleeping, and I was gonna get him a wet cloth so his fever'll go down."

"Oh, maybe there's some medicine sitting around somewhere, too!" Kirby said while he tried to think.

"You mean that syrupy stuff you give me when I'm sick?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go look for it right now!"

With that said, Kirby ran down the hall and headed into the bathroom. Gooey headed down there afterwards. Once he was there, he saw Kirby stand in the sink as he dug around in the medicine cabinet. There was so much stuff thrown onto the ground that it would probably upset Dedede, were he to walk in on them.

"I found it!"

As Kirby hopped out of the sink, Gooey started to climb it. He turned on the faucet and started getting the cloth wet. The duo headed back into the guest room, where Gooey placed the cloth over his brother's eye. Kirby placed a hand next to the cloth, he frowned as he noticed how warm Gooey's brother was.

"Do you know if he woke up, yet?" Kirby asked. Gooey shook his head. "He...hasn't woken up at all."

"Well, then...We can keep watching over him until he wakes up, OK?"

Gooey liked that idea. Although he knew that it would take a little while for his brother to wake up, Gooey was sure that he would get better soon. But for now, it was up to him and Kirby to take care of the older blob.

Chapter Text

The duo had barely left the room that day. And if they did, only one of them would leave at a time. Since Gooey's brother had yet to wake up, Kirby had placed the medicine on the side table for the time being, along with a spoon of course...Because nobody in their right mind would want to drink the whole thing.

Kirby laid on the floor, he hummed as he doodled on some paper. It looked like he drew himself dressed as a doctor. Gooey was on the edge of the bed as he watched Kirby. It was a good distraction from his brother's illness, just like how playing Chess with Dedede was.

There was a knock on the door, the duo looked in its general direction.

"It's open!" Kirby yelled as he went back to drawing. One of the Waddle Dees quietly opened the door...Or rather, it was Bandana Waddle Dee...Bandana Dee? Although Gooey wasn't there when it happened, he remembered, that Bandana earned his name after the Master Crown incident a while back.

"Is everything all right?" Bandana Dee asked. "I haven't seen either of you guys all day."

"We're fine!" Kirby replied.

"We're just keeping an eye on Brother," Gooey replied, "But...he dun wake up, yet."

"Ah...well...is it all right if I stick around for a bit?"

"Sure," Kirby replied. "You can sit here and draw with me!"

Bandana Dee walked inside and closed the door behind him. He sat next to Kirby before he looked at Gooey, there was a curious look on his face. "So...that really IS your brother, right?"

"Y-yeah."

"Huh...and to think he was the one that tried to take over Popstar." Waddle Dee said quietly. "Meanwhile, I get possessed by a Dark Matter and all it can think is 'Get the shard! Get the shard'!"

"Where do you think they are right now, anyway?" Kirby asked. Bandana Dee replied with a shrug. "Ribbon told me she saw them sleeping under a tree the last time she saw them."

"Ah, well I'm sure it's fine as long as they're not causing any trouble," Kirby said while grabbing another piece of paper. He started drawing on that one, too. "Besides, I'm sure Gooey would love to see them again soon."

Right, Gooey found those three not long after Kirby and Bandana went on that adventure. Although they came off as scary to everyone else, they were still practically babies as far as Gooey was aware. He was sure that they were doing fine right now. And who knows, maybe they'll get the chance to meet Brother as well?

Speaking of which, Gooey's brother started to groan. Although he struggled, he moved until he laid down on his other side. Once he was comfortable, he lightly nuzzled into his pillow and continued to sleep.

"Oh, the poor thing must be exhausted!" Bandana Dee said sympathetically. Gooey replied with a nod. He gently nudged his brother again, but he still didn't wake up.

"Hey, try not to worry too much, all right?" Kirby said optimistically. "You always pulled through when YOU got sick, so I'm sure he'll be able to pull through, too."

Gooey nodded, though that still didn't stop him from worrying. Regardless, he hoped that his brother would wake up, soon.

It was late at night, Gooey was curled up against his brother's side while Kirby laid down on the other side of the bed. It was very quiet, and hardly anyone was awake at this time...Well, except maybe Dedede. But even then, he didn't make too much noise either.

Before Gooey was ready to doze off, his brother started to whimper. It looked as if he was struggling to move, which caused Kirby to jump in response.

"O-oh my stars!" Kirby yelled excitedly. "I'm gonna go get Dedede!"

"Kirby, wait!"

...Although it SEEMED like Gooey's brother was waking up, it turned out that he was simply just trying to make himself comfortable again. This time, he instinctively curled up against Gooey like he used to do back in their old home.

Gooey hadn't thought about it much, but he had to wonder what his old home was like after he was banished...Then again, Kirby also destroyed it. So if any of his siblings survived, then they would've scattered to other parts of the galaxy. Although Gooey had adapted to living in Popstar, it didn't stop him from feeling homesick at times. He was sure that most of his siblings were homesick, too.

"C'mon, don't you know what time it is?" yelled a voice from outside, it sounded like Dedede.

"But I'm telling you , he's awake!" Kirby yelled as he ran through the door. Dedede gave him a confused look. "Yeah...he's as awake as an owl at noon!"

"What?" Kirby looked at Gooey, who shook his head. "He was just moving."

"Right...well, let me know when he ACTUALLY wakes up." Dedede said bitterly as he left the room. Kirby had a disappointed look on his face. "I was hoping he'd wake up, already."

"I was, too." Gooey replied. "But you know what? I think he's just comfy."

It was harder for Gooey's kind to sense positivity, but he was pretty sure his brother was happy in some way or another.

Kirby climbed onto the bed again, he curled up against Gooey's brother's other side. He lightly tugged on one of his spines. "Say, Gooey...do you know why he's so spiky?"

"I dunno," Gooey replied. "He's always been like that."

"OK...then I guess I'll ask him when he wakes up..."

Within a few seconds, it was quiet again. Gooey was starting to doze off. He couldn't wait to talk with his brother, again.

It had been a couple of days since the group left underground...or at least Gooey thought it was a couple of days, he couldn't remember.

Regardless, Gooey and Kirby continued to watch over Gooey's brother within that time. Every once in a while, Bandana Dee or one of the Waddle Dees would also check up on him as well. Dedede had his fair share of concerns, though he reasonably kept his distance. But for the most part, Gooey's brother was rarely left alone.

Gooey started to wake up, he stretched for a few seconds before he tried to sleep a bit more. He couldn't feel Kirby's presence in the room, but he was sure that he was still somewhere in the castle.

"Good morning, Gooey...did you sleep well?"

Gooey nodded as he started closing his eyes...Only to open them as he realized his brother had spoken to him. He stared at his brother in shock. He looked like he was still in pain, and he still felt unusually warm for a Dark Matter. But he was awake regardless.

"Brother!" Gooey yelled happily as he nuzzled against his brother's eye. "We were so worried, I thought you'd never wake up!"

"That's funny, because Dedede of all people said the same thing."

"So that means you're friends now, right?"

"...I wouldn't go THAT far," Gooey's brother replied. "But I DO think we're on good terms right now."

Right...Now that his brother was awake, there was something Gooey needed to do. He looked around a bit as he tried to remember what it was.

"Is something wrong?"

"Uh..." Gooey kept looking around until he finally noticed the medicine in the room. He started making a bitter face as he recalled how bitter it tasted...Nonetheless, he took the medicine from the side table and poured it into the spoon.

"Er...Kirby wanted to give you this stuff, it's supposed to help you get better." Gooey said while he offered the medicine to his brother. He opened his jagged mouth and drank it...Wait, did Gooey's brother always have a mouth?

...Then again, Gooey didn't have a mouth either when he first came to Popstar, so he probably didn't need to worry about it.

"By the way, where's Kirby?" Gooey asked.

"He said he wanted to make soup," Gooey's brother replied. "He said something about it making me feel better...but if I don't like it, then you can have it!"

It seemed as if Gooey's brother felt better, already. But even then, the least that Gooey could do was keep him company. After all, they still had plenty of catching up to do.

Chapter Text

Possession was a lot like sleep paralysis. You're aware of your surroundings, but you can't speak or move on your own.

...But unlike sleep paralysis, the demon at the end of the bed is the one controlling your body.

It was a good thing that King Dedede was a penguin, or he'd be shivering from the cold of Iceberg's winds. But after that black cloud formed in the sky earlier, it seemed like everyone had gone crazy. If Dedede had to guess, this was probably Zero's doing.

Of course, Dedede had gotten possessed by the same Dark Matter that possessed him last time, that one sibling Gooey once spoke very highly about before the last incident. Normally, this Dark Matter would've lashed out at those that got too close to him, including the Waddle Dees that continued to serve Dedede despite the Dark Matter's ruse. But this time, his mind was...quiet. Was it because his creator was nearby? Or maybe it was something else? It wouldn't hurt to pry from him, would it?

"So...aren't you gonna say anything?" Dedede thought, though he couldn't speak. "'Cause for someone that lashed out last time, you have a whole lotta nerve coming back!"

There was silence, of course Dark Matter didn't want to talk...though perhaps if Dedede pushed a little further, he might get something.

"So why'd you come back, anyway? Was the last beating from Kirby not enough? Because if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're a glutton for punishment."

"Do you really think I'd WANT to be here?" Dark Matter snapped. "Do you think that I WANT to defend Lord Zero from that Puffball?"

"...So why can't you just go home?" Dedede asked bluntly. "Why do this if you don't wanna do it?"

"As a king, I thought that YOU of all people would understand!" Dark Matter replied. "But I guess you're just too stupid."

"Whaddaya mean? Understand WHAT!?"

"You must understand that...I MUST do what Lord Zero wishes." Dark Matter said firmly while gripping the hammer in his hands. "Even if it means the end of my life."

"Wha- Wait, you're not actually going to KILL yourself trying to protect that thing, are you?"

"That 'thing' is my creator. I do plan on letting you go should everything go wrong, but if I must die, then I'd rather die following Lord Zero's wish."

Dedede couldn't believe what he had just heard. Sure...as a King, Dedede appreciated the sentiment when any of his subjects said something similar, but it didn't mean he actually WANTED them to die...especially not for his sake.

But this time, it didn't seem like Dark Matter was doing this willingly. Despite serving his creator, Dark Matter was still in pain. If Dedede was being honest, he'd even go as far as to say that Dark Matter was genuinely scared of his creator.

...Perhaps he was just as scared of Zero as Gooey was?

It was early in the morning when Dark Matter woke up. Of course, Kirby just HAD to tell Dedede as soon as he could...even if Dedede himself was barely even awake. But if Dark Matter wasn't going to wake up today, he probably wasn't going to wake up at all. It was always either Kirby or Gooey that watched over him, though Bandana Waddle Dee has also checked in on them whenever he could.

But everyone else? Dedede was sure they were still terrified of Dark Matter...Not that he could blame them, though perhaps it wouldn't hurt to check on him again...would it?

It was late at night. If any of the Waddle Dees hadn't gone to bed at this point, they would be patrolling the castle for any threats...granted, a few Waddle Dees at night weren't going to protect anybody from getting possessed, corrupted or kidnapped by some snobby kid, but it was the thought that counted.

When Dedede went to the guest room, he could see that Kirby and Gooey were sleeping soundly...however, Dark Matter was nowhere to be found. Surely, he couldn't have left the castle, already. Dedede closed the door and began to think...

"Sire!" A Waddle Dee called out, which caught the penguin's attention. "Perfect timing, I was about to ask where Dark Matter went."

"I...we found him sitting in one of the balconies upstairs," The Waddle Dee explained. "He's just...sitting there and staring at the moon."

So that's where he was hiding...Dedede patted the Waddle Dee on the head as he ran upstairs. Sure enough, he spotted Dark Matter in the nearest balcony. It looked like he had the strength to change forms again, as he resembled the swordsman that attacked Popstar a few years ago. But instead of fighting, he was sitting at a table with his cloak wrapped around himself. For some reason, he didn't have his mask on...perhaps he lost it somewhere underground?

"You know you're just gonna make yourself sicker by bein' out here, right?" Dedede asked sternly, which startled Dark Matter.

"I-I...for-forgive me," Dark Matter replied, it looked like he was shaking. "I-I just...I need...I need to be alone right now."

"But aren't you happy to see your brother, again?"

"I-I am...b-but I...I just...I h-have a lot on m-my mind r-right now."

"Well do you mind comin' back in?" Dedede asked sternly. "I'll grab ya somethin' that's easy on the stomach!"

"...L-like what, exactly?"

"I'll, uh...I'll heat up some of that soup if you want."

Dark Matter thought it over for a moment.  He nodded as he started to hover, though he struggled a bit.

"Kirby t-told me it would m-make me feel better...I b-believe it's working."

"Hey, just be glad he's not smoochin' ya instead."

"E-excuse me?"

"...Don't worry about it."

After the duo went back inside, Dedede had heated up the soup. As much as he hated to admit it, Kirby was actually a pretty good cook even without using any of his abilities. Dedede could cook a few things should he ever need to, but soup was not one of them.

Regardless, he brought the heated soup into the dining room and handed one of the bowls over to Dark Matter, who grabbed a spoon with an invisible hand and started eating.

"So if you don't mind me askin', what's on your mind right now?"

"...Forgive me, but...I can't help but compare you to Lord Zero."

"You really think I'm anything like him?" Dedede asked bitterly.

"Er...you have the wrong idea," Dark Matter replied. "What I mean is, you're someone that's always watching over his creations."

"Hold on, did you think that I CREATED the Waddle Dees?"

"...But you're their leader, aren't you?"

"That doesn't mean I created them," Dedede replied, he couldn't help but smirk. "But I think I get what you're trying to say. Zero was kind of like a dad to you, right?"

"...He did raise me, yes."

"Huh...But when I was talked to Gooey about this, he said YOU were like his dad."

"That is because I raised him before he came here." Dark Matter explained as he continued to eat his soup. "You see, when Lord Zero created more of us Dark Matter, it was usually up to the elder siblings to raise the younger ones. But when there's a sibling nobody wanted to raise, Lord Zero would have to watch over them instead."

"...And nobody wanted you, right?" Dedede asked bluntly. Dark Matter stopped eating, he looked away and growled. "Can we...talk about something else?"

"Right...sorry," Dedede said while he rubbed the back of his head. "Anything else you wanna talk about?"

"...Gooey told me that Kirby was the one that destroyed a part of the moon, is that true?"

"Well, yeah...but not intentionally."

"Because he fought with a being called Nightmare, yes?"

"Yep, and it's cause Nightmare tried to corrupt the Fountain of Dreams. You know what that is, right?"

"I've heard of its name, but we did not have something like that on Dark Star."

"Well basically, what it does is that it gives everyone good dreams. Sometimes it'll give you warnings, but it;s generally just there to give you a good night's sleep. On top of the fountain is a thing called the Star Rod, which helps spread those dreams. Nightmare didn't like this, though, so he tried to corrupt the fountain. I had to break the Star Rod before that happened, but the downside was that nobody could dream."

"I see...and your solution was to have Kirby fight Nightmare by himself?"

"Er...Kirby and I weren't on the best terms back then, " Dedede admitted. "I was tryin' to find out how we were gonna get rid of Nightmare, and my first solution was to get Meta Knight to help out. You know who Meta Knight is, right?"

"He's..." The name sounded familiar to Dark Matter, but it seemed like he had trouble applying a face to him...though to be fair, Meta Knight never liked showing his face to begin with.

"Have you seen the other Puffball with a mask on?"

"...Actually, I think I know who you're talking about now." Dark Matter replied. "The blue one, yes?"

"Yep, that's him," Dedede replied. "And he agreed to hold onto a piece of the Star Rod, but looking back he probably just saw it as an opportunity train Kirby."

"So did Kirby agree to help you, despite your rivalry?" Dark Matter asked, tilting his head. Dedede shook his head. "Actually...Kirby thought I broke the Star Rod just to be a jerk, he ran off and started fixin' it before I could explain myself. I don't entirely blame the kid, 'cause like I said we weren't on great terms. But once he fixed the rod and let Nightmare go, I literally had to throw him out there just so he'd get to Nightmare."

"So then, Kirby fought Nightmare, and that caused a chunk of the moon to go missing...correct?"

"Yep...Of course, Meta Knight thought that whole incident never should've happened, but that's a story for another time."

Dark Matter had gone silent for another moment, he stared at the ceiling as he tried to think.

"When I can...I would like to visit the Fountain of Dreams," Dark Matter said with a hint of wonder in his voice. "I don't want to cause trouble, but for such a magical place to exist, I would love to see it with my own eye."

Once Dark Matter realized how excited he started to sound, he paused for a moment before lifting himself from the chair. "F-forgive me, I'll be going to bed, now."

...He didn't even finish his soup, and yet he was already going back to bed. Oh well, more soup for Dedede.

Still, he had to admit. Talking to Dark Matter was like talking to a child. Perhaps he was forced to repress any emotions he had whenever he was around Zero? And since he was also forced to give up Gooey back then, it was no wonder he took his anger out on Popstar.

Of course, now that Dedede thought about it...Dark Matter wasn't the only one who lost his leader and regretted his actions. But while Dark Matter lost a father, a more recent friend of Dedede's lost a close friend (or so he claims). And fortunately for Dedede, his newer friend was supposed to be here tomorrow. Perhaps if he met Dark Matter, they'd become friends as well?

It was worth a try. Maybe then, Dark Matter could have another person to rely on should something ever happen to Dedede again.

Chapter Text

Gooey left the bedroom as soon as he woke up the next morning. His brother trailed behind him, and though he felt much better than he did yesterday, he still struggled to float.

"Are you OK?"

"...I'll be fine," Gooey's brother replied as he continued to hover. The duo made their way downstairs. Along the way, some of the Waddle Dees greeted Gooey with a wave, though others couldn't help but stare at Brother as they crossed paths.

"So where are we going?" Dark Matter asked.

"I wanted to show you where me and Kirby live," Gooey replied. "It's close to Tanza's home!"

"And who is Tanza?"

"...Wait, no..." Gooey tried to think a bit more carefully. "Our home is next to the...Dreamstalk? Yeah, the Dreamstalk!"

"You mean that plant that touches the heavens?"

"Yeah, that!"

Admittedly, if it weren't for the Dreamstalk Gooey would've had a much harder time getting home. Sometimes Dedede or one of the Animal Friends would take him in for the night if he ever got lost, but they always helped him find his way back. But after the Dreamstalk incident, he didn't have a problem finding his house. Of course, all Gooey knew about the Dreamstalk incident were things that Kirby and Dedede had told him. Long-story short, they ended up with a new friend named Tanza.

Speaking of which, as soon as Gooey and his brother made it out of the castle, Kirby was being followed by Tanza right now. He was a spider-like creature with six floating hands, two horns, and several eyes poking out of his silver hair. Gooey brother looked disgusted at first, but he quickly shook his head. Multiple eyes were considered hideous to their kind, but not everyone with multiple eyes were bad if Lord Miracle was anything to go by.

"Oh...And who is this, a new friend?" Tanza asked Kirby as he spotted the elder Dark Matter behind Gooey.

"Kinda," Kirby replied. "He's actually Gooey's brother."

"Which one? The one that you fought during the Rainbow incident?"

"Yep...that one."

Gooey's brother looked away in shame, as he did genuinely regret his past actions.

"Oh! Sorry, perhaps I shouldn't have said something," Tanza said while smiling sheepishly. "My name is Taranza. I would love to stay and chat a bit more, but I have some important business to attend to."

...OK, so his name wasn't actually Tanza, but he never seemed to mind when Gooey called him that. Regardless, he floated into the castle without another word. Kirby looked at Gooey with a confused look. "Where are you guys going?"

"I was gonna show Brother our house."

"OK, just make sure you don't tire yourselves out," Kirby replied. He looked at Gooey's brother and smiled. "If you DO get tired though, then you can sleep on my bed if you want."

"I'll...keep that in mind," Dark Matter replied as he looked in the direction Taranza had flown off to. As Kirby headed back into the castle, Gooey continued to lead his brother towards the Dreamstalk.

"I hate to say it, but that creature rubs me the wrong way," Gooey's brother quietly admitted. Gooey shrugged in response. "I know Tanza's kinda snobby, but he's really nice when you get to know him."

With that said, the duo continued to move along the road. There weren't many creatures out here today except for the occasional bird or bug, perhaps everyone was still scared of Gooey's brother? But he was not here to hurt anyone. Not anymore, at least.

Once the duo was close enough to the Dreamstalk, they were able to spot Kirby's house not too far from it. Although Gooey was used to the small size of the house, his brother had to duck in order to get through the door.

"This is...more of a nest than a house," Gooey's brother said. "Are you sure we're in the right spot?"

"Yeah, it's Kirby's house," Gooey replied. "It's small, but I like it here."

"So...what do you do here, exactly?"

"Uh...we sleep here, we play games here...we do a lotta stuff, really!" Gooey replied as he crawled under the bed. "There's also stuff to draw with if you wanna draw."

"There's only one bed, a fire place, and...a sock? Other than that, there isn't much here."

"Well, I dun mind." Gooey replied as took out some crayons and a sketchbook. "But sometimes it gets really cold, and then I gotta sleep next to the fire place."

Dark Matter or not, Gooey still liked to think of Kirby as his brother. At the very least, he treated Gooey with as much kindness as his brother once did back home. He just hoped that his brother wasn't too jealous of Kirby.

Gooey's brother let out a yawn, he crawled onto the bed as he shifted into Blob form and curled up under the covers. Kirby DID say he could use the bed if he got tired, after all.

Gooey was happy to know that his brother was coming out of his shell. There were so many places to see, and so many people to meet...he even got to meet Taranza before they got here, so they were at a good start. Still, Gooey wasn't sure how everyone else would react. Meta Knight might think that he was up to no good, Chuchu and Pitch would probably attack him, and he wasn't sure what everyone else would think.

Maybe it was better to take baby steps with this sort of thing? Besides, Gooey was pretty overwhelmed when he met Kirby and his friends the first time, so he'd imagine his brother would feel the same way if he met everyone at once.

Yeah, it was probably better to take things slowly for now.

Later that day, Gooey continued to draw on the floor while his brother watched from under the blanket. He was curious, as Gooey drew several blobs on the paper.

"What are those supposed to be, exactly?"

"Oh, they're supposed to be flowers!" Gooey said. "I know they look bad, but Ado says I need to keep drawing if I'm gonna get better at it."

"I never said they looked bad, they're just-"

Before Gooey's brother could finish his sentence, Kirby opened the door. He walked inside with Taranza, two of his hands were clasped together while the rest hid under his cape.

"Hi, Gooey!" Kirby greeted. Gooey waved back in response. Meanwhile, Taranza was looked around as if someone was missing. "Is that other friend of yours here? I don't see him, anywhere."

Gooey's brother crawled out of bed and shifted forms, which startled Taranza.

"...Forgive me," Brother said quietly. "I'm more comfortable in Blade form, but I promise I will not harm you."

"I see..." Taranza replied. "Well, King Dedede has asked me to introduce myself to you. I know we've met back at the castle, but let's consider this our first official meeting." He extended one of his hands. "I'm Taranza, and you are..."

"I...I don't have a true name, but many refer to me as Dark Matter." Brother said as he shook Taranza's hand. Taranza couldn't help but frown. "And why is that?"

"A lot of us dun have names," Gooey explained. "I didn't have one either until Nago gave me one."

"Well...then perhaps we could come up with something right now, then?" Taranza offered.

"That's a great idea!" Kirby said excitedly. "How about 'Spike'?"

"Er..." Gooey's brother gave Kirby a strange look. "It's not that I don't like it, but...could we think of something else?"

"Hm...what do you think we should call him, Gooey?"

"Why dun we all just call him 'Brother'!" Gooey suggested.

"You can continue to call me 'Brother', but I'm not sure if I want everyone else to call me that."

Gooey huffed bitterly as he sank into the ground, his brother brought his cloak over him as a way to "pet" him.

With Kirby and Gooey's suggestions out of the way, Taranza couldn't help but speak up. "Well, this one is pretty on the nose...But how about 'Blade'? After all, that's what you call the form you're comfortable in, right? Maybe it could work as a comfortable name, too?"

Gooey seemed to like the name, but he was curious to know what his brother thought. At first, he thought that his brother didn't like the name, but after a moment he gave Taranza a light nod. "Very well, Blade it is then."

"Great! it's very nice to meet you. Blade!" Taranza said happily. "My home is high above the Dreamstalk, but I'll be staying with another friend for a little while. So you may see me at Dedede's castle from time to time."

"In that case, I'll look forward to seeing you."

Gooey's brother didn't say anything, but Gooey could tell that he was pretty happy. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to introduce him to some of Gooey's other friends after all? Maybe he'll enjoy sword fighting with Meta Knight? Or maybe he'll enjoy spending time with the Animal Friends? It didn't matter as long as his brother was happy.

Chapter Text

It had been a little while, but for once Gooey and Kirby were able to sleep in their own bed tonight. It was admittedly kind of strange not to wake up with Brother beside either of them, it reminded Gooey of when he woke up on Popstar for the first time. He couldn't remember every detail that happened that day, but he remembered that he missed his brother an awful lot back then.

...But unlike back then, his brother wstayed at Dedede's castle, so Gooey could see him whenever he wanted.

"Good morning, Gooey..." Kirby said as he sat up and started rubbing one of his eyes.

"Morning, Kirby!" Gooey replied. "What are we doing, today?"

"I was thinking that we could go fishing."

"Could we invite Brother over?"

"I dunno..." Kirby said while thinking. "I think we should leave him be for today."

"Aw, but he dun like being alone."

"He's not alone, though" Kirby said. "He's got Dedede and the Waddle Dees watching over him right now, plus Taranza's probably there talking to Dedede about politics or something."

"Oh yeah."

"Hm...Maybe we can invite him to something else, though?" Kirby suggested. "Chuchu said she wanted to have a picnic soon."

"Are you sure about this?" Gooey asked. "'Cause I dun Chuchu would agree, she can get pretty mean, sometimes."

"I'm sure it'll be fine~!" Kirby replied. He pulled a cell phone out of his mouth and started to dial Chuchu's number. Gooey couldn't help but watch in anticipation.

"Hello? Chuchu? It's Kirby."

"Uh...No reason. Listen, do you think it'd be all right if we brought someone over?"

"We wanted to know if we could bring Dark Matter over, it's a long story..."

"Really? OK, I'll see you later then."

Kirby hung up the phone before he threw it back into his mouth. Gooey gave him a curious look. "What did she say?"

"She said we can bring him with us, but she also said we'd have to explain everything when we get there."

"Oh, I can do that!" Gooey said happily. "But do you think she'll believe me?"

"I'm sure she will," Kirby replied as he patted Gooey's back. "Besides, if she's willing to let him join us, then I'm sure she'll hear what we have to say."

Knowing that Chuchu was willing to give Brother a chance as well, Gooey felt a weight lift from his nonexistent shoulders. He was also really happy that Kirby was so willing to help Brother as well, even if things weren't as slow as Gooey wanted them to be.

Gooey would have to find a way to thank Kirby later, but for now the best he could do was accompany him on his fishing trip.

Dedede was on his way to Dark Matter's room. It was almost noon, and even though he looked fine yesterday, he still hasn't woken up yet. He sincerely hoped the blob didn't get sick again.

He stopped as he noticed two Waddle Dees and Waddle Doo talking to each other, one of the Waddle Dees was Bandana Dee. As expected, they were all talking about Dark Matter.

"...But if he really WAS up to something, then wouldn't Sire have gotten possessed by now?" Bandana Dee asked, Waddle Doo looked down as he brought a hand where his mouth would be.

"Bandana has a point," said the other Waddle Dee. "Dark Matter had plenty of chances to go after Dedede, but all I've seen him do is sleep and sit in the balconies."

"...I get what you're saying, but I don't think I can trust him yet," Waddle Doo explained. "Part of me still thinks that he's up to something, and he's just waiting for the right time to strike."

"I literally had a talk with the kid a couple of nights ago," Dedede said as he walked up to the trio, "so I think the Waddle Dees make a good point."

"There, you see?" Bandana Dee assured Waddle Doo. "Dedede had a talk with him, too, so if Dark Matter still didn't attack him then there's nothing to worry about?"

"But how can you say that for sure?" Waddle Doo asked skeptically. "Even now, he could be waiting for the right chance to attack us!"

Dedede sighed as he crossed his arms. "Look, I get that you don't trust him right now, but the least you could do is give him a chance to redeem himself."

Perhaps Dedede was speaking from experience? Or maybe it was something else? He wasn't sure, but Waddle Doo stared at him for a moment before nodding. "All right, but I won't hesitate to hurt him should he attack any of us."

With that said, Waddle Doo walked away with one of the other Waddle Dees. Bandana Dee looked up at Dedede and tilted his head. "So why are you here? Did you want to check on him?"

"Yep, I just wanted to make sure he's all right."

"All righty, then!" Bandana said cheerfully. He walked in the same direction as the others. With Waddle Doo and the Waddle Dees gone, Dedede knocked on the door...

Admittedly, it was strange not having Kirby or Gooey by his side today, but after everything that's happened, Dark Matter had no need to bother them today.

He was still curled up in bed, he found that he liked sleeping under a soft pile of blankets rather than sleeping on dirt and grass. It wasn't exactly the same, but it reminded him of when he used to sleep by Lord Zero's side when he was younger.

Gooey understandably never liked to be near Lord Zero for very long, Although Lord Zero would allow his creations to huddle against him for warmth, he never had the kind of warmth one would find on Popstar. He was still trying to process the fact that he had an actual name. He was Blade to Taranza and Kirby, and he was still Brother to Gooey...but to everyone else, he was still Dark Matter.

Admittedly, he didn't mind having a name. However, since he was still Dark Matter to most of Dream Land, he wondered if others would still see him as a threat if he continued to be called by his species' name.

He could hear a conversation go on outside his door, it sounded like it was between Dedede and some of the Waddle Dees. Whatever they were talking about, it had to revolve around him somehow. Because compared to the others that lived here, Dark Matter stood out like a sore thumb.

Soon, the voices went silent, and there was a knock at the door. Dark Matter crawled out of the blankets for a moment to see what was going on.

"Hey, you still mopin' in there?" Dedede asked as he opened the door a crack. Dark Matter groaned as he threw the blankets over himself. "There's no point in me going out there right now."

"Sure there is," Dedede argued. "You could properly introduce yourselves to the Waddle Dees, plus Taranza's gonna be here later today."

"In that case, I'll wait for Taranza to come over."

Dedede grumbled as walked over and yanked the blankets off of Dark Matter. "Get outta bed! NOW!"

Dark Matter laid there with a startled look on his face. Like Lord Zero, Dedede could be quite demanding whenever he wanted to. It was especially surprising, considering what had happened in the past.

...Perhaps he might even attack Dark Matter for going against his wishes? It was probably best to play it safe.

"Fine, but I don't think the Waddle Dees are going to want me anywhere near them."

"I'm sure they will, you just gotta let them give you a chance."

Dark Matter crawled out of bed and started to hover, he shifted into Blade form like he usually did. There was still a scab on his side from when he was stabbed before, but it looked like he was healing for the most part. Although Dark Matter was more comfortable while in this form, he couldn't help but wonder if his spines made anyone uneasy. Besides...Gooey didn't have spines, and yet everyone adored him.

...Then again, maybe he was overthinking this? Everyone liked hedgehogs and they had spines...right?

As Dedede headed over to the throne room, Dark Matter started to make his way over to the kitchen. Maybe he'll find someone there? Sure enough, he found two Waddle Dees and a Waddle Doo sitting at the table. One of the Waddle Dees had a bandana on his head. From the looks of it, he appeared to be telling stories.

"So Kirby, Rick, Adeleine and I were just trying to grab some apples to make apple pie with, and everything was going pretty well until we heard Kirby screaming. I was ready to go after whoever was attacking him...but it turned out he almost ate an apple with a caterpillar inside."

"Oh gees!"

"Did you still get to make the pie?" Waddle Doo asked. The Waddle Dee with the bandana shook his head. "He didn't want anything to do with apples after that, so we made a pizza instead."

"Huh...well, what do you think of all of this?" asked one of the Waddle Dees as he turned to face Dark Matter. Waddle Doo gave him a cold stare, but he didn't say anything.

"I...don't know." Dark Matter said timidly. It seemed like the Waddle Dees were happy to include him, but he got the feeling that Waddle Doo didn't like him very much. Or at the very least, he was weary of Dark Matter.

Still,  since Dark Matter was still here, he may as well go along with what they were talking about.

"What I want to know is what happened to the apples."

"Oh, we gave them all to Gooey." Bandana Dee replied. "He isn't as bothered by caterpillars like Kirby is."

That made sense...if Gooey could eat something as gross as a mushroom, then a caterpillar wouldn't be too big of a deal for him.

"What else does Gooey like to eat?"

"Well...he likes to eat raw fish," said the other Waddle Dee. "He always spits out the bones, though."

"Say, what do YOU like to eat, Dark Matter?" asked Bandana Dee.

"I don't eat much," Dark Matter replied. In fact, the only thing he could think of was soup. And even then, he only ate it to get his strength back.

"Well...maybe you could join us all for dinner later?" Waddle Doo offered, as if trying to push his fears aside. "Maybe that way, we'd get to know you better."

"...And you're OK with this?" Dark Matter asked, confused.

"Of course," Bandana Dee replied. "If you're going to stay here, you may as well eat with us too, you know?"

He hadn't actually thought about it, but he did like staying here at Dedede's castle. Plus, it seemed like some of the Waddle Dees were getting used to having him around, if not all of them. Either that or Dedede told them to be nice.

Still, it seemed that he was Blade to some and Dark Matter to others...And he was perfectly fine with that. A name was a sign of respect to most Dark Matter, so he may as well do what he could to earn his name.

Chapter Text

"...So if you don't mind me asking...what is it that you and Dedede have been talking about these past few days?"

It was a beautiful day today, Dark Matter sat under a tree while Taranza sat on one of its branches. He had a pink flower in his hands, it looked like one of the flowers that grew out of the Dreamstalk.

"Ah well...Nothing really," Taranza replied.  "We've just been sharing some advice on how to improve relations with both of our kingdoms."

"So you're a king!?" Dark Matter asked before shaking his head. "...Forgive me, I shouldn't be having such outbursts like this."

"It's fine, Blade!" Taranza said reassuringly. "But to tell you the truth, I don't even believe it myself."

"Can I ask why?"

"It's...a bit of a sore topic," Taranza said while he stared into the flower in his hands. "I'll tell you when I'm ready."

Ah, so Taranza also had his fair share of secrets. They hadn't been friends for long, so it was understandable. Besides, Dark Matter wasn't quite ready to talk about his issues regarding Lord Zero or his siblings...and not just with Taranza, but with Kirby and Dedede as well.

"So if you are a king, can you create anything?"

"I can create webs, but that's about it."

"So you can't create life?"

"What? No!" Taranza said with a confused look on his face. "Why would you ask such a strange question?"

"Because where I'm from, my leader is also my creator." Dark Matter replied. "Gooey was also created by him, you know."

"Ah...so your kind are more like wasps." Taranza said with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Harsh on the outside, but very loyal to your queen...unless you're Gooey, I guess. How exactly did he come to Popstar, anyway?"

"He was banished," Dark Matter said bluntly. "Lord Zero thought he was too defective, so he couldn't find a use for him."

"Oh, speak of the devil!"

 Gooey hovered along a dirt road, he quickly made his way over to the duo with the strange (yet cute) expression that he typically had.

"Brother!" Gooey yelled excitedly. "Me and Kirby wanted to know if you'd join us for a picnic."

"...Maybe, is it only going to be us?"

"No, some other friends are gonna be there too." Gooey replied. "But they're OK with you coming over, I promise."

Dark Matter thought it over for a moment. He liked the idea of having even more friends, but he wasn't sure if it was such a good idea. He looked at Taranza. "Would you like to join us?"

"Uh..." Taranza thought for a moment before he shook his head. "No, I think I'll pass this time around."

Gooey frowned before he turned his attention towards his brother. "That's OK, we've still got friends for you to meet!"

Dark Matter glanced nervously at Taranza, as he worried that Gooey's friends might not accept him. But if Dedede's servants are willing to give him a chance, then perhaps Gooey's other friends will, too?

With that said, the duo bid farewell to Taranza before they headed off. All Dark Matter could hope for was that things go well with these new "friends".

Dark Matter followed Gooey into a forest. Although there were many trees, there was so much sunlight here that it was almost blinding. It was moments like these that Dark Matter wished he still had his mask...

Regardless, Gooey had lead him to a big apple tree. Sitting under the tree was Kirby and a few of his other friends. There were two octopi, one was pink and the other was yellow. There was also a cat and an owl who sat beside Kirby. They all sat on a blanket covered in food.

The pink octopus was the first to notice Dark Matter's presence, she jumped in surprise as she stayed low to the ground. "OH! Y-you...weren't kidding when you said you wanted to invite Dark Matter over, huh?"

The others began to turn their attention to Dark Matter. He could FEEL their discomfort, which made him uncomfortable too...Except for the yellow octopus, they didn't seem to be bothered by him, unlike the others.

"Well, Kirby said that he was trying to be better, right?" asked the yellow octopus. "I think we should all give him a chance, too."

"Er...Nyupun's right," replied the owl. "Why else would Kirby invite him over?"

"He's...more purple than I remember," said the cat. "It's kind of like how Gooey turned blue after a while."

"That was...after Lord Zero had died," Dark Matter said while he wrapped his cloak around himself. "But I'd rather talk about something else if you don't mind."

There was an uncomfortable silence within the group, perhaps they felt bad about that whole situation as well? After a moment, Kirby decided to speak up.

"Anyway, it's all in the past. So how about we start over and introduce ourselves."

"Yeah, you're right!" said the pink octopus. "I'm Chuchu, and that's Nyupun," she said as she pointed to the yellow octopus.

"My name is Coo," said the owl.

"And I'm Nago," said the cat. Dark Matter tilted his head. "So YOU must be the one that gave Gooey his name."

"Well...yeah, but that was because we didn't know what to call him back then."

"Aren't you gonna introduce yourself, Brother?" Gooey asked, which earned him a strange look from his brother. Regardless, he decided to play along.

"I...go by either Dark Matter or Blade, either one works fine."

"Ah, so you're a bit like Bandana Waddle Dee in that regard," Coo said with amusement. Dark Matter tilted his head, "I don't understand."

"Waddle Dees usually don't have names, either." Kirby replied. "Bandana Dee got his name after helping us fight another friend."

"...Would you care to tell me about that?"

"I'd rather hear the story about how you and Meta Knight fought over a tomato, Kirby." Chuchu said with a mischievous look, Kirby scowled in response. "He had it coming!"

Despite their initial discomfort, it seemed like everyone had gone back to being their usual selves. It seemed that once again, things were going well...or perhaps a little TOO well. Dark Matter could only hope that it stayed that way.

Later that day, Kirby and Gooey played tag with the animals. Dark Matter sat against the apple tree with his cloak still wrapped around him. It wasn't that he he hated their company, it was far from that. He was just content with being on his own for now.

Right now, Nago was "it". He tried to pounce and swat at his friends like a cat normally would when playing. He managed to tackle Gooey, but he also managed to knock him into the tree. He nearly hit Dark Matter.

"S-Sorry, everyone!" Nago said with his head down. Gooey sat up and shook himself as if nothing had happened, despite the bruise on his back. He looked up at Dark Matter with a curious look. "Do you wanna play?"

"I'd rather not."

"But it's a lotta fun."

"But you just smacked against the tree."

Before Gooey could argue further, an apple had fallen onto Dark Matter's head. When the duo looked up, the tree was looking right back at them.

"I believe that means you're 'it', now."

Dark Matter gave the tree a bitter look. "...Have you been watching us the entire time?"

Chapter Text

It was warm and humid today, Gooey was curled up under his brother's cloak as they both looked up at the clouds. A yawn even managed to escape from his brother's jagged mouth. Kirby sat under his cloak as well, he playfully bounced his feet on the ground.

Today seemed like it was going to be a nice day, though it also looked like it was going to rain later.. However, there was something that Gooey was more worried about than the rain. For some reason, he could sense someone's anger nearby. Brother seemed a bit crankier today, though that anger wasn't coming from him. It couldn't have been from anyone that Brother had met so far, either. Still, who would be this angry about Brother being out here?

Then again...most of Dream Land would probably want Brother dead after what he'd done.

"Is something wrong, Gooey?"

"...You can feel it too, can't you?" Gooey asked. "Dun you think we're being watched?"

"I'm aware that we're being watched," Brother had said as he turned his attention to some nearby shrubs.

"Watched by what?" Kirby asked. Suddenly, Gooey's Brother swiftly turned around and swung his sword. It clashed with another sword that a certain blue Puffball used.

"What are you doing!?" Kirby yelled in shock. The puffball didn't respond as he continued to attack Brother. Gooey looked around as he tried to think of a solution.  Maybe they could knock the puffball's mask off? That always got him to stop fighting no matter what the situation was.

"Kirby, we gotta break off his mask!" Gooey yelled, Kirby nodded in agreement. "Good thinking, Gooey!"

With that said, Kirby inhaled Gooey and spat him out at the direction of the two swordsmen. While in the air, Gooey had turned himself into stone. He didn't need the copy ability to do so, as it was one of the few abilities he'd memorized without eating anything. Regardless, he hoped it'd be enough to stop the fight.

At this point, Brother's back had slammed against the ground, his sword flew out of his nonexistent hand. The puffball flew into the air with bat-like wings, he was about to deliver the final blow when Gooey smacked against him. The Puffball landed onto the floor with his mask bouncing off of his face.

"Meta Knight, stop!" Kirby yelled. "He's on our side, now!"

"I find that hard to believe," Meta Knight said bitterly. He covered his face with one of his wings. "He's knocked me out a few times before, but I'm not letting him attack Dream Land this time!"

"I-I know I was an awful person before, but-but I'm trying to fix that!" Brother stammered while he tried to sit up. His eye widened as Meta Knight flew over and pointed his sword towards him, the tip of his sword was inches away from his eye.

"You say that, but do you really MEAN that!?" Meta Knight said, almost yelling. "Now give me ONE good reason why I shouldn't kill you right here, right now!"

Gooey changed back to normal as he started to panic. If knocking off Meta Knight's mask wasn't going to stop him, then what was?

"Heads up, Gooey!" Kirby yelled. Gooey barely had time to react as Kirby threw his brother's sword towards him. He held onto his brother's sword with his tongue as he tried to attack Meta Knight from behind. As expected, the Puffball turned around and struck back, he managed to knock Gooey a few feet away from him.

"Stop it, Meta Knight!" Gooey yelled angrily. "You're scaring Brother!"

"You expect me to think that someone like him feels scared after the damage he's done last time?"

"YOU'RE DAMAGING HIM RIGHT NOW!"

Gooey didn't fully understand what he'd said, but he'd hoped that he got his point across regardless. Meta Knight turned around quickly, only to lower his wings in shame. Kirby stood in from of Brother, who was shaking like a leaf. He looked as if he'd just been face-to-face with the God of Death, himself.

"Ah...perhaps I might've jumped to conclusions a little too quickly." Meta Knight said quietly. Kirby tugged on Brother's cloak. "Come on, let's get you home."

Brother nodded, though he kept his eye on Meta Knight as if he expected the puffball to kill him with his back turned. As the duo left, Gooey continued to glare at Meta Knight. "Why'd you gotta do that? Kirby told you he was on our side."

"Right, I see that now." Meta Knight said as he picked up his mask and placed it back over his face. "It doesn't look like a simple apology's going to fix this, either."

"Then why not just be nice to him?" Gooey asked. "He's still goin' back to Dedede's Castle right now if you wanna talk."

"I think it might be best if I left him alone for now," Meta Knight replied. "But for a swordsman that's attacked us before, he's...not very good with a sword."

"That's 'cause he lost his mask!" Gooey said, which earned him a confused look. "He has a mask?"

"Yeah, but that mask helps with vision or something!" Gooey replied. "It's like...he's not as good with his sword if he doesn't have it on...It's like glasses I think."

"...Do you know where it might be?"

"Uh..." Gooey paused for a moment as he tried to think. "Last time he had it was underground."

"Very well, then I'll go look for it."

Before Gooey could protest, Meta Knight expanded his wings and flew away.

Of course, Gooey still had Brother's sword. He was always able to materialize it from seemingly out of nowhere, which was something Gooey wished that he could do. For a moment, he wondered if he should return it to Brother.

Then again...maybe he could help Meta Knight, instead? Although the last thing Gooey wanted was to get lost again, he should be fine as long as Meta Knight was with him this time.

As Gooey and Meta Knight took off, Dark Matter continued to follow Kirby back to the castle. Kirby tried to grab onto his cloak, but Dark Matter yanked it away as he wrapped it around himself.

"...Sorry, I'd rather not be touched right now."

"I wasn't even touching you," Kirby replied. "But...I get it."

He wasn't trying to be rude to Kirby, he knew that Kirby tried to protect him back there...and yet, that image of Kirby with the rainbow sword wouldn't leave his head. He could remember all the cuts and gashes that cursed sword would give him, he also remembered how he had to flee Popstar within an inch of his life. It may have been a different puffball with a different sword this time, but that image still wouldn't leave his head.

...Were there tears coming out of his eye? Dark Matter stopped himself for a moment as he wiped them away. Dedede may not be Lord Zero, but he'd still probably berate him if he ever caught Dark Matter crying.

"Is something wrong?" Kirby asked. Dark Matter shook his head in response. "I'm fine."

"...It's OK to cry, you know." Kirby replied. Dark Matter glared at him. "There was something in my eye, I wasn't crying!"

"If you say so," Kirby replied with a shrug. "But if you keep bottling it all up, then there's gonna be a point where the bottle's gonna break."

"...I'll be fine."

Or at least Dark Matter hoped he would be. That encounter with Meta Knight was an awful one, and he hoped he'd never have another encounter like that again.

Chapter Text

Kirby and Dark Matter had finally returned to the castle. Dark Matter jumped as the first thing he heard was Dedede yell at the Waddle Dees. When they entered the throne room, they could see Dedede and two Waddle Dees stand over some broken tea cups. There was some tea spilled on the carpet.

"Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to come back" Dark Matter asked quietly. Unfortunately for him, he managed to catch Dedede's attention. The King's face shifted from an angry one to a worried one.

"What's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Meta Knight attacked him outta nowhere," Kirby explained. "He thought that Dark Matter was up to no good."

"...Then I guess we'll have to have a little talk with Meta Knight, huh?" Dedede asked as his attention shifted towards Dark Matter. "In the meantime, why don't you take a nap or a bath or something to calm your nerves?"

"...Is that allowed?"

"You live here, don'cha?"

"I...Yes, sire!"

With that said, Dark Matter floated out of the throne room. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to sleep for a bit? He'd barely gotten any sleep last night, and he used to sleep whenever he was stressed back on Dark Star, so it shouldn't be any different here.

Kirby let out a yawn as he followed Dark Matter, it seemed that the fight tired him out, too...though for a completely different reason. Besides, Kirby was just a child. He needed sleep too, after all.

...Though now that Dark Matter thought about it, he couldn't recall having any dreams last night, either. Perhaps he was more stressed than he thought he was? Even before his encounter with Meta Knight, he liked to think that was the case. Besides, what other reason would there be for no dreams to occur?

Meanwhile, Gooey managed to catch up with Meta Knight. Once Meta Knight was near the underground entrance, he retracted his wings and landed. He was shocked when he saw Gooey land right next to him.

"You know you don't have to come with me, right?"

"But I wanna help!" Gooey said while proudly waving his brother's sword around. Meta Knight shook his head. "Look, I understand that this is your brother, but I was the one that attacked him for no reason."

"But Brother got really sick when we got outta there, I dun want the same thing to happen to you!"

"...You're far too kind for your own good," Meta Knight said bluntly as he hopped underground. "If you think you can keep up with me, go ahead!"

Gooey shrugged as he hopped in after Meta Knight, they quickly ran through the caverns and made their way into the underground jungle. It wasn't any different compared to the last time Gooey came down here, though finding his brother's mask was going to be like finding a needle in a hay stack...Which he could use a nap in right now.

But now wasn't the time to think of naps, he tried to think of where to look next. Last time Brother had that mask was when they were both in the underground lake, but other than that Gooey wasn't sure where else he was supposed to go.

Meta Knight opened his wings and hovered close to the river, he managed to pick up something shiny.

"This is your brother's mask, correct?" Meta Knight asked as he lifted it over himself. It was a metallic mask with a black lens...yep, it was Brother's mask all right.

"Hold on a second!" yelled a voice as a snake-like creature leapt out of the water. It took the mask out of Meta Knight's hands and held it close to his chest. Gooey had seen these things before, they were called Dribbles, right?

...No wait, it's called a Driblee.

"You can't just take my mask and run off with it!" the Driblee said harshly. "How'd you like it if someone took off with YOUR stuff?"

"B-But it's my brother's mask!" Gooey argued.

"Well, it's his own fault for losing it!" The Driblee replied in a snarky tone. He put the mask over his face and swam off. Gooey huffed bitterly as his grip on Brother's sword tightened. Meta Knight flew over to him and patted him on the back. "Calm down, attacking him would make you just as bad as I was before."

...Right, it wouldn't be a good idea to attack him out of nowhere. Gooey looked at Meta Knight with a curious look. "What do we do, now?"

Meta Knight thought for a moment before an idea popped into his head, he looked at Gooey with a stern expression. "I have an idea, but I don't want you to say ANYTHING! Do you promise?"

"Yes, sir!" Gooey said without question. With that said, Meta Knight fluttered over to the Driblee. "Excuse me, may I speak to you for a moment?"

"If it's about my mask, then NO!" the Driblee said sternly. Meta Knight sighed. "Look, my friend's older brother really needs that mask back, so I'd appreciate it if you'd-"

"The answer is still no!"

"Then...how about a trade?" Meta Knight offered. He pulled his own mask off of his face and offered it to the Driblee. "My mask for the one you have right now."

"Hm..." The Driblee thought about it as he swished tail back and forth. "I don't know, I like the one I've got already."

"But this one will make you look more intimidating," Meta Knight argued. "Would you like to try it on?"

"Mm...OK," The Driblee said as he exchanged masks with Meta Knight, he practically yelled with excitement. "Whoa! This is even better than the other one!"

"So I can keep this one, then?"

"Of course!" The Driblee yelled happily. "I don't need that one, anymore!"

With that said, Meta Knight flew back to where Gooey was and handed him Brother's mask. Gooey looked at him and tilted his head. "Why did you do that?"

"Because he probably wasn't going to it let go until I gave them something better," Meta Knight replied. "So where was your brother staying, again? With Dedede?"

"Yeah."

"...And Dedede is OK with this?"

"Yep," Gooey said with a nod. "He's been a better Dad than Zero was."

Gooey wasn't one to talk about Zero very often. He often thought bitterly of his creator. From what he'd heard, He was aware that Zero was no longer a threat, but he was always worried that he'd find a way to come back somehow.

Although come to think of it, didn't Kirby fight Zero in his old home before it blew up? Not that it really mattered, though. He didn't care if his creator was alive or not so long as he was no longer a threat, and he wasn't if the Dark Matter trio and the Ripple Star incident were any indication.

Soon, Gooey and Meta Knight had made their way back to Dedede's castle. As they got back, they found Dedede in his throne room with his arms crossed. He looked like an angry parent ready to scold their child.

"So I was told that you attacked Dark Matter out of nowhere?"

Meta Knight nodded. "Yes, I will admit I jumped to conclusions without thinking, but I truly expected the worst out of him."

"I understand that, but he's...kinda like Gooey in a way."

"In what way?"

"In that he's...also been through some tough times, if you know what I mean."

Meta Knight frowned, he turned towards Gooey and handed him the mask. "Would you mind giving this back to your brother for me? I wish to speak with Dedede alone."

Gooey looked at Dedede and tilted his head.

"It's only for a little bit," Dedede assured him. Gooey nodded in understanding as he left the throne room. He was sure that his brother was in his room after that whole incident. As soon as he entered the room, he found Brother curled up under the blankets. Kirby laid against him with his hands on his chest.

"Hey, Gooey!" Kirby greeted as Brother peaked out of the blankets.

"Hi, Kirby!" Gooey greeted as he placed the mask and the sword onto the nightstand. Dark Matter's eye widened as he noticed the mask. "Is that-"

"Meta Knight wanted to get it back for you," Gooey explained. "He felt really bad about what happened, earlier."

"...That's nice!" Brother said dismissively. Kirby patted him on the back. "You don't have to forgive him right now, but he did go through the trouble of finding your mask."

Brother grumbled, but he knew that Kirby was right. Regardless, he buried himself under the blanket again. Gooey climbed onto the bed and patted his brother on the back.

It didn't seem like he and Meta Knight were going to be friends anytime soon, but he hoped that their next encounter will be a better one.

"...Gooey used to freak out, too whenever a fight broke out or someone started yelling. 'Course, Dark Matter used to yell back when he possessed me before, but ever since he moved in he's been tryin' to watch himself around me."

"...I assume it's because he sees you as his new 'father', considering what happened to Zero before."

"Yeah, well...I still don't know how I feel about being his 'dad' or whatever," Dedede admitted as he rubbed the back of his head. "But I suppose it's fine as long as he's got SOMEONE he can turn to...well, someone other than Gooey, anyway."

It wasn't that Dedede didn't trust Gooey to watch over Dark Matter. In fact, he was one of the few people that Dark Matter could relate to besides Taranza. However, Gooey was still just a kid, so there was only so much that he could do for his brother right now.

"At any rate, I hope that you know what you're doing," Meta Knight said with sincerity in his voice. "I see now that Dark Matter is nothing more than a confused teenager, so I'm confident that you won't need my help regarding him."

Dedede frowned, he crossed his arms and gave Meta Knight a worried look. "Actually, there IS something else that I think you can help me with."

"...What did you have in mind?" Meta Knight asked as he tilted his head.

"Well...did you remember having any dreams last night? Because I don't recall having any of mine."

Meta Knight frowned, he wrapped his wings around him as he tried to think. "No, I don't think I did..."

"All right, then we're gonna have to keep an eye out." Dedede told Meta Knight. "We just gotta hope that Nightmare isn't up to anything, again ."

"In that case, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for anything suspicious." Meta Knight said proudly. Dedede smiled, as he knew that Meta Knight could handle the problem just fine. Even if Kirby decided to tag along, it shouldn't take long for them to fix the problem.

...Or at least he hoped that would be the case. Either way, it was probably best if Dedede stayed and kept an eye on Dark Matter for the time being. After all, he was still probably shaken from the incident that happened earlier.

Chapter Text

It had been a few days since that incident, since then Kirby had already taken off on another adventure. Meanwhile, Gooey stayed home like he usually did. He swept the house with his broom. For most items, Gooey would usually use his tongue to hold it. But in this case, he found it easier to hold onto the broom with both arms.

As he swept, Gooey noticed something shiny that stuck out from under the bed. It was a crystal. More specifically, it was a piece of crystal Kirby had gotten from the Fairy planet, Ripple Star. He carefully grabbed it by the ribbon, as the crystal itself would hurt him if he wasn't careful.

Now that he thought about it, there were a lot of artifacts that were used to harm Dark Matter. There was the Rainbow Sword, the Heart-Stars, the rod formed from the Heart-Stars, and even Meta Knight's sword could be used to harm his siblings. Some of these things could harm even Zero himself.

Come to think of it...Dedede and Bandana Dee also had these crystals, right? And so did Ado. What if Brother ended up getting hurt because of these Crystals?

...Then again, Gooey doubted that Dedede or Bandana Dee would actually hurt him on purpose. And though Ado's experience with Gooey's family wasn't the greatest, she'd probably use her paintings to defend herself instead of the crystal.

Actually, maybe it'd be easier to explain everything to Ado before something DID happen. Even if Ado wasn't going to hurt Brother, there was a good chance that Brother could hurt her without realizing it. Ado had her strengths, sure...but humans weren't exactly strong on their own, and Ado was no exception.

With that thought fresh in his mind, Gooey placed the broom down and headed outside. He needed to let Ado know about this as soon as possible.

Although Dark Matter still had bitter feelings about Meta Knight, he was happy that he finally got his mask back. He'd forgotten how clear the world looked with it, he probably wouldn't mind training with some of the Waddle Dees if it weren't for the fact that they were busy patrolling the castle.

Instead, Dark Matter had the urge to rummage through some of the junk that was hidden in the basement. So far, he'd found an empty treasure chest, some old clothes, a toy hammer, and a mask. This one looked like it would fit Dedede's face more than it would fit anyone else's.

As Dark Matter continued to look through the mess he created, he accidentally bumped his head against a shelf. A few items fell off, including a pair of crystals. 

Dark Matter groaned as he rubbed his head with his cloak. He looked down, thankfully the crystals hadn't shattered. He picked them up by their ribbons and examined them. They had a bit of a greenish hue, and there was a bit of light inside them somehow.

"What do you think you're doing down there!?" Dedede yelled as he headed into the basement. Dark Matter was petrified, he dropped the shards back onto the ground as Dedede walked over to him.

"You know it's rude to go through someone's stuff without asking, right?"

"I-I...forgive me," Dark Matter said quietly as he picked up the crystals. "I'll just clean-"

"DON'T TOUCH THOSE!" Dedede yelled as he snatched the two crystals from Dark Matter. When he realized how badly startled the dark blob was, Dedede quietly stuffed the crystals into his pockets. "Sorry, but I can't have you touchin' these things."

"...W-Why not?"

"They're from Ripple Star, that's all you need to know!"

Oh yes, Dark Matter was aware of Ripple Star's existence. It was the closest planet to Dark Star, and though the fairies were a little different compared to Puffballs, they knew how to harness the light inside the crystals to keep Lord Zero from invading. Why Dark Matter's kind decided it was a good idea to attack Ripple Star was beyond his understanding.

"If I may ask...How exactly did you get these crystals, I know you didn't just find them on your own."

"You sure you wanna hear that story?" Dedede asked with concern. "Because it might be too much for you to handle right now."

"I assure you, I can handle it just fine."

"All right, but let's just get you outta here, first." Dedede said sternly. "I don't want you digging through my stuff anymore, OK?"

"...Yes, sire."

With that said, Dark Matter began to follow Dedede out of the basement. He had to wonder what it was that Dedede had to say about the crystals, assuming he was involved with the Ripple Star incident as well.

Gooey flew high above Popstar, his fins propelled him forward as he tried to look for Ado. She wasn't at her house, so she was probably somewhere else right now.

Eventually, Gooey was able to spot her at the beach. She had her canvas out as she tried to paint the ocean. The painting itself didn't move, though that might be a good thing. Last thing Ado would want was to get drenched in water while she was painted.

Gooey lowered himself to the ground and quickly hopped over to her. "Ado-line!"

The human turned her head and waved at the young blob. "Hi, Gooey! Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing!" Gooey replied. "It's just...I wanted to tell you about Brother."

"Let me guess, did he come back to take over Popstar again?" Ado asked as she continued to paint. Gooey shook his head. "No, he's actually been with Dedede ever since we found him."

"...Wait, you left him alone with Dedede!?" Ado yelled in horror. Gooey shook his head as he waved a pair of arms in front of him. "No! No! He's not attacking Dedede, he's just been staying with him!"

Perhaps explaining this might be harder than Gooey thought it would be...?

Meanwhile, Dedede had lead Dark Matter into the kitchen. He sat down at the table while Dark Matter sat down next to him.

"So lemme ask again, are you sure you wanna hear about this story? 'Cause we can back out at any time."

"I'm positive," Dark Matter replied. With that said, Dedede let out a sigh as he thought about where to start.

"So basically, it all started when this fairy named Ribbon came into the picture. She was gonna use this giant crystal to try and get rid of the Dark Matter invading Ripple Star, but three of 'em started chasin' her and broke the crystal. You followin' me, so far?"

Dark Matter nodded.

"All right, so Ribbon runs into Kirby and they start collecting all the shards. And along the way, they run into Bandana Dee and a human named Adeleine. I came into the picture when one of the shards fell into my castle. Kirby tried to grab it from me, but I just wanted to see what it was...and then one of the Dark Matter that chased Ribbon possessed me."

"...Were you OK after that?"

"I was fine," Dedede replied. "But I got dragged into that whole mess once that Dark Matter let me go. We hopped from one planet to another just to collect those crystals. And when we got to Ripple Star, we ran into this...thing. And he held onto the last piece of the crystal."

"And what did this 'thing' look like?" Dark Matter asked curiously. Dedede looked away as he rubbed the back of his head. "Let's see...this thing was white, he had a lotta eyes, and he could use all kinds of abilities. Kirby was the one that did most of the fighting, though."

"...That thing you're referring to may have been Lord Miracle Matter," Dark Matter explained. "His purpose was to guard Dark Star. But if Kirby managed to take him down, then it was no wonder it got destroyed."

"Is it normal for Dark Matter to look like that?" Dedede asked. Dark Matter shook his head. "Lord Miracle is simply a defective Zero. He could never create life from darkness like Lord Zero could, so his purpose was to protect Dark Star."

"So wait, if he was defective then why did Zero keep him around?"

"Because like me, Lord Zero also had a use for him," Dark Matter explained. "Not to mention that they're brothers as well, so Lord Miracle would have a much higher status than any of us anyway."

"Right...so speaking of Zero...you know there's more to this story, right?" Dedede asked. Dark Matter gave him a puzzled look, but he decided to let him continue.

"So after Kirby knocked out Miracle Matter, we were able to fix that crystal. And apparently, the Fairy Queen got possessed too at some point...But whatever possessed her fled Ripple Star and opened the way to Dark Star. And when we all went there, there was this other thing. It looked like Zero, but it had wings and a halo over its head."

"...So you're telling me...that Lord Zero came back?" Dark Matter asked coldly. He wrapped himself in his cloak in an attempt to comfort himself.

"That's the thing, we don't know if it was Zero or something that looked like him." Dedede explained. "He wasn't able to recognize me OR Kirby, but he started attackin' Kirby as soon as he saw him."

Dark Matter wrapped himself even tighter. If this thing WAS Lord Zero, then what was he trying to do? Was he trying to take control of the entire galaxy? And how mutilated was he? Dark Matter recalled that Lord Zero popped his own eye out in order to kill Kirby and Gooey, he hated to imagine what sort of abomination he turned into.

And if Lord Zero WAS alive, maybe he'd try to kill Dark Matter for failing his mission? He'd probably throw some of that acidic blood onto him just to melt him. And when he WAS done with Dark Matter, he'd probably move on to someone else, like Kirby, Dedede or even Gooey.

"Hey, are you OK!" Dedede asked as he firmly placed a hand on Dark Matter's back. "I told you it was gonna be too much for you."

"Tell me...do you know for sure if Lord Zero is dead?"

"Well...we haven't seen him since Dark Star exploded," Dedede replied. "And if he WAS alive, I'd think he would've come back by now."

"But can you tell me for certain!?" Dark Matter yelled as he started clinging to Dedede's robe. "Can you tell me for sure that he won't come back and kill us all!?"

"Hey, would you calm down!?" Dedede asked sternly while patting Dark Matter's back. A frown had formed on his beak "You usually don't act out like this."

"I...forgive me, I shouldn't have acted out in such a way, especially not towards you."

Dedede gave Dark Matter a confident smile. "Look, if Zero ever DOES come back, we'll be sure to take care of him. I'm not gonna let him lay a single tear on Dream Land ever again."

"...For a king, you're quite reckless," Dark Matter said. "Shouldn't I or the Waddle Dees be protecting you?"

"Look, a king's gotta look out for his people," Dedede said proudly. "And if I'm not allowed to die, you're not allowed, either. Got it?"

"I...Th-thank you." Dark Matter replied. The idea that his leader would be willing to protect him was a reassuring one. It was no wonder everyone in this castle was so fond of Dedede. And though the idea of Zero coming back terrified him, he was sure that he'd be fine as long as he stayed here in Dream Land.

"So let me get this straight, your brother was helping you find Kirby, he got sick while you two were underground, and then Kirby and Dedede managed to save him...Right?"

"Yep."

"So now your brother is living with Dedede, and he's 'giving Popstar a chance' like you said, Right?"

"Yep."

Ado let out a sigh as she sat down next to Gooey. "Honestly...it's hard for me to believe, are you sure that this is a good idea?"

Gooey nodded. "I know he was bad before, but we're really trying to help him out."

"I know, but aren't you worried that he might attack Popstar again? He's done it before, hasn't he?"

"...No, I dun think he'll ever do it again," Gooey replied. "He was so scared of Kirby that he wanted to stay hidden. And if I didn't tell him who I was, he probably would've died alone. And I don't think he'd want that."

Ado gave Gooey a light smile as she rested her head in her hand. "He must mean a lot to you if you're willing to give him another chance."

Gooey nodded. "He watched over me while we still lived in our old home, so it's my turn to watch over him."

"And why do you think that is?"

"...Because I want him to be happy, too." Gooey said bluntly. "I wanted him to give Popstar another chance, and he seemed like he was doing good so far...but after what happened with Meta Knight, I dunno what else I can do to help him."

Ado closed her eyes as she tried to think, she leaned against the sand that was underneath her. "Well, it sounds like some aren't so willing to give him that chance."

"So what can I do about it."

"Just do what you usually do," Ado suggested. "Try to be there for him whenever you can. It'll take a while, but other people will warm up to him eventually."

It was good advice, but Gooey wished that there was more he could do for his brother. So until he could figure everything out, it was best to try and stick to Ado's advice for now. Besides, it was always nice to have someone to fall back on, right?

Chapter Text

"Hey, Blade! Did you wanna go shopping with me for a bit?"

Dark Matter looked at Bandana Dee with a curious look. "...Did you just call me 'Blade'?"

"W-well...Since that's what Taranza calls you, I thought you wouldn't mind me using it, too."

"I don't mind, it's just...I never expected that name to catch on."

"That's all right, it took me a while to get used to people calling me 'Bandana Dee'." Although the Waddle Dee had no mouth, Dark Matter got the impression that he was smiling.

"A-anyway...I don't know if I SHOULD go out," Dark Matter said quietly. "Someone could attack me the moment they see me, plus Sire told me that Gooey was coming over today, so-"

"It's fine, Gooey can come with us!" Bandana Dee said.

"OK...but what if someone still recognizes me and attacks me?" Dark Matter repeated. Bandana Dee thought for a moment until he came up with a solution. "Dedede has an old cloak that you could borrow."

"But why would he need such a thing?"

"I dunno," Bandana Dee said with a shrug. "Waddle Doo told me that he wore it back when he was losing his baby feathers."

"...Did he not always have the same feathers?"

"Nope, I was told that Dedede's feathers used to be a greyish-brown."

"Ah...so it's just how birds are then, yes?"

"Something like that," Bandana Dee replied. "Now you wait here while I fetch that cloak."

Dark Matter waited as Bandana Dee took off to find the cloak. He hoped that it'd be enough for him to go out unrecognized. Assuming this cloak had a hood, it might be able to hide his spines. Surely, Dedede wouldn't mind if he used it for a little bit...right?

"I've got it!" Bandana Dee yelled excitedly as he entered the room. As expected, it was a red cloak with white fluff around the edges. There was also a blue gem sewn onto the neck area.  Although it was old, it looked like it might still be big enough for Dedede to wear.

"So what do you think?" Bandana Dee asked. "Do you think it'll help keep you hidden?"

"...I think it'll work just fine." Dark Matter replied. He couldn't wait to put it on.

Soon, Dark Matter followed Bandana Dee outside the castle. The new cloak he currently wore was longer than what he was used to, and the hood almost covered Dark Matter's face. But if this was used to keep Dedede's face hidden, then that may have been the point.

Gooey had just made his way to the castle grounds, he crawled over to Bandana Dee as he waved. "Hello!"

"Hiya, Gooey!" Bandana Dee replied. "Blade and I were gonna go shopping, wanna come with us?"

"Oh, sure!" Gooey replied before he looked at his brother. "...That IS Brother under that cloak, right?"

"Yes, it's me," Dark Matter replied. "I didn't want to leave without some form of disguise."

Of course...one could argue that a Dark Matter's Blade form was a disguise all on its own, but even then he was certain that others would attack him. Sure, the residents of this planet may have gotten used to living with his siblings, but even then the spines would automatically give him away.

With everything settled, the trio left the castle. And as they left, Gooey couldn't help but ask Bandana Dee a lot of questions.

"So are we gonna see Mag-lor, today?"

"That's part of the plan, yeah."

"So what kinda weapons is he gonna sell?"

"Hopefully a new spear."

"Is Tanza gonna be there, too."

"If he hadn't gone home already, then yeah."

Wait, so Taranza was going to be there? Maybe this shopping trip might not be so bad after all? Then again...as the group moved forward, Dark Matter would receive a lot of confused looks, and even some bitter ones when they saw his face. He could've sworn that a pink spring-like creature scowled at him at some point.

After a while, the group had made their way to a town. It was a little far from Kirby's house or Dedede's castle, but it was a busy town nonetheless.

There were a few siblings here, some would openly fly by in Blade form while their younger siblings hid under their cloak. But other than that, there was something else here that Dark Matter could detect. They weren't exactly another sibling, but he could sense a strong amount of negative energy here. He wondered if Gooey could sense it, too. But from he could tell, he didn't seem to be bothered by the negativity.

Soon, the group made their way to a small cart that was surrounded by different items. Most of them looked like weapons or junk.  Taranza sat on top of the cart. Meanwhile, the one that stood inside the cart was an egg-shaped creature that wore white and green clothing. Strangely, all that negative energy appeared to be coming from this creature.

"...Is that you, Blade?" Taranza asked as he noticed the group's presence. "I wasn't expecting to see you out here."

"You know this creep?" asked the creature, Taranza replied with a nod. "He's the Dark Matter I was telling you about."

"Ah...and here I was hoping that I could join him in the chaos," the creature teased, which earned him a look from Gooey and Bandana Dee. 

"He hasn't been doing anything, though." Bandana Dee told the creature.

"I know! I know!" The creature replied. "So what are you two here for?"

"You wouldn't happen to have any new spears in stock, would you?" asked Bandana Dee. "The one I've got now is starting to break."

"Uh...maybe, I'll go check."

With that said, the the creature turned around and started searching. As he searched, Dark Matter lowered himself and whispered to Gooey. "You can sense that energy coming out of him too, can't you?"

"Yeah, but I dun think he's a Dark Matter like us," Gooey replied. He looked at Bandana Dee and whispered to him as well. "What did you say happened to him? Something about a crown?"

"Basically, he used us to grab this powerful crown which turned him into...well, a monster. Kirby, Dedede, Meta Knight, and I took care of it, though."

"It's rude to talk about someone behind their back, you know!" the creature scolded as he pulled out a spear. "But since your friend's new here, I'll let you off the hook this time."

"Right...sorry," Bandana Dee replied as he looked at Dark Matter. "Anyway, this is Magolor. He runs a shop here."

"Oh yeah, can I have a sword?" Gooey asked, Magolor gave him a curious look. "But I thought you already had one."

"That one broke, so I want another one!"

Magolor sighed as he pulled out a bronze-colored sword. "All right, but it won't be cheap."

As Gooey and Bandana Waddle Dee paid for their items, Taranza hopped off of the cart and gave Dark Matter a curious look. "So why are you wearing that cloak instead of the one you normally wear? It looks like it'd belong to Dedede."

"I've...ran into a bit of trouble not too long ago," Dark Matter explained. "I thought that if I wore this, I wouldn't get attacked out of nowhere."

"I suppose that's fair," Taranza replied. "I wasn't exactly welcome to Dedede's castle when I first came down here...though I will say, the people out here don't seem to care one way or the other about their king." Taranza had a distant look on his face as he placed a hand below his chin. "I can't help but wonder if my people felt the same way about Sectonia..."

"...Who?"

"Uh...Sorry, I was just thinking out loud!" Taranza said while panicking. "But if you think about it, Dedede hasn't always been the big hero, either."

"...He DID tell me that he and Kirby weren't always on good terms," Dark Matter replied. "So why do you think he's been helping us?"

"...Maybe because he doesn't want us to go down a darker path?" Taranza replied. "I wasn't exactly in a good spot when I met Kirby and Dedede. In fact, I was asked to kidnap the Hero of Dream Land. I was supposed to kidnap Kirby, but I took Dedede instead...not that he isn't a hero in his own right."

"But why do such a thing?" Dark Matter asked. "What would that accomplish?"

"...Sometimes I wonder the same thing, myself." Taranza said bitterly. "Tell me, Blade...Have you ever had to follow someone's orders no matter what they may be? And were you ever punished if you didn't follow through with them?"

"I...I've been punished for many things," Dark Matter replied. "It's not something that I wish to get into, yet."

"I see...So it seems that you have a few skeletons in your closet, too." Taranza replied. "Perhaps that's why Dedede wanted us to be friends in the first place?"

While Dark Matter had been curious as to why Dedede wanted him and Taranza to be friends, he was starting to realize that this bug had quite a bit in common with him. Maybe before he became a king, he also had a leader that he was incredibly loyal to? And when he couldn't complete his tasks, this leader would punish Taranza? Dark Matter hated the thought of someone going through what he'd been through, it made him shudder.

"I just hope that this Sectonia person treated you better than my former leader treated me."

Taranza let out a sigh as he patted Dark Matter on the back. "I'll tell you all about her when I'm ready, Blade."

"Brother! BROTHER!" Gooey yelled excitedly while carrying a sword in his tongue. "Wanna come train with me?"

Dark Matter gave him a curious look. "Why ask such a thing?"

"Well...I just thought that since he haven't done it for a long time, we could train again!" Gooey said excitedly.

"Is this a thing you Dark Matter do for fun?" Taranza asked, Dark Matter shrugged. "Something like that...but maybe we shouldn't train out here with so many people around?"

"Oh, I know a good training spot!" Bandana Dee said while waving a hand. "Just follow me, OK?"

With that said, the group began to follow Bandana Dee. By Popstar's standards, it had been years since Dark Matter had trained Gooey. And though he was able to help Kirby stop Meta Knight not that long ago, he couldn't help but wonder if Gooey had gained any other skills since they last trained.

Chapter Text

Bandana Dee had lead the group out of town and into a wide, open space. There was a lot of grass here, and there were very few trees that stood by. Dark Matter probably would've felt sick to his stomach had it not been for the trees.

Taranza and Bandana Dee sat far away from the two brothers, Gooey anxiously waved his sword as he waited for his brother to make his first move.

"Are you sure you're prepared for this, Gooey?"

Gooey nodded as his tongue tightened around his new sword.

"Good, because I won't hold back!"

With that said, Gooey charged at his brother with the sword in his tongue, Dark Matter dodged it, he pulled out his own sword and nearly struck Gooey on his side. "You'll have to be a bit swifter than that, Gooey!"

Gooey landed back onto the grass. As he landed, he set himself on fire and lunged towards his brother again. Gooey was knocked back again as their swords clashed.

As far as attacks went, it still seemed like Gooey preferred to attack head-on rather than to come up with any major strategies. But even then, it was a vast improvement compared to when they last trained. He was never much of a fighter back on Dark Star, so seeing him go all-out made Dark Matter proud.

...But not proud enough to go easy on his younger sibling. As Gooey tried to strike Dark Matter again, Dark Matter struck back by knocking him into the ground. He gave Gooey a menacing glare.

"You may have a few new tricks up your sleeve, but you're never going to win if you rely on the same tactics over and over."

"Hey, Blade?" Bandana Dee called out. "Don't you think you're going a little too far?"

"I agree, you're acting unusually cruel to your brother!" Taranza added. Perhaps they were right? Maybe Dark Matter was working Gooey a bit too hard?

"Right, my apologies!" Dark Matter said as he turned his attention towards Gooey. "What do you say? Should we-ACK!"

Just as Dark Matter turned around, Gooey had set himself on fire and tackled his elder sibling in the stomach. He couldn't breathe for a moment, as Gooey managed to knock the wind out of him.

"Blade! Taranza called out as he floated over to him. "Are you OK?"

"Gooey, that was dirty!" Bandana Dee scolded. Gooey frowned as he dropped the sword, "But I-"

"I...beg to differ!" Dark Matter wheezed as he sat up. "He saw an opportunity and he took it, I'd say that's a good thing!"

As everyone began to settle down, Chuchu ran over to the group. She looked as if she's just witnessed a disaster.

"What's wrong, Chuchu?" Gooey asked while he tilted his head. The young octopus flailed two of her arms as she tried to explain everything.

"W-we were on our way over to town, and-and then a stampede happened and now Rick and Nyupun are trapped under a pile of trees. I think they're OK, but I don't, I can't-"

"Please calm down," Dark Matter said bluntly. "Just lead us to them and we'll see what we can do to help."

Chuchu nodded as she lead the group to her friends, Dark Matter couldn't help but wonder what it was that got her this worked-up. Surely, her friends couldn't have been that badly injured, right? Or at least he hoped that wasn't the case...

As the group arrived, they noticed a few tired boars here and there that laid across the grass. Some of the bigger ones had a cautious look on their faces, It seemed like they may have been spooked by something, though Dark Matter wasn't sure what it was. For all he knew, they could've gotten spooked by loud noise or a bug...well, a bug unlike Taranza anyway.

The group eventually made their way over to a pile of trees. Meta Knight was already here with a human child. Surely, he couldn't have been the one that caused the stampede, right?

...No, careless nature aside, it didn't seem like something he would do.

"Look, there she is!" the human said while she pointed to Chuchu. "And she's got company!"

"Let me see!" said a voice as they peaked through the fallen trees, they looked like the hamster friend that Kirby traveled with. It was hard to see Nyupun at first, but Dark Matter noticed that two of their arms were wrapped around one of the trees.

"Well don't just stand here, help us!" Meta Knight demanded as he grabbed one of the trees, the human began to help him afterwards. Not long after that, everyone else began to lift the trees. Bandana Dee and Taranza grabbed onto one tree while Gooey and Dark Matter lifted another tree. Lifting them was difficult, but Rick was able to hop out of the pile along with Nyupun once they were out of the way.

"Whew! We can't thank you guys enough!" Rick said happily before he looked at Dark Matter. "And I don't know who you are, but thanks anyway."

Dark Matter stayed silent as he kept his face hidden, though he jumped as Gooey spoke. "You mean you dun recognize Brother?"

"GOOEY!"

Dark Matter tried to hide his face even more with the cloak as Rick, Meta Knight, and the human stared at him. It was hard to tell what Meta Knight's expression was, but Dark Matter had to assume that they were all frowning.

"So you guys weren't lyin' about Dark Matter, huh?" Rick said curiously before smiling. "Well...a thank you is still a thank you."

"Y-yeah...Thanks for your help." said the human.

Dark Matter gave them a curious look, he was sure that the other Animal Friends told Rick about him, but he had to wonder why the human didn't attack him. Perhaps Gooey had something to do with it? Then there was Meta Knight, but when Dark Matter tried to talk to him, the puffball had quickly flown away.

"Where's Meta Knight going?" Chuchu asked.

"He probably had other things to do," Taranza added. "But I have to ask...what was it that got those boars so riled up in the first place?"

"We dunno," Chuchu said with a shrug. "One moment they're all sleeping, and then the next minute they're all runnin' after us."

Something wasn't right. When Dark Matter took over Dream Land, he was able to cause all kinds of chaos, so anyone touched by his influence would have some dark energy emanating from them. However, he didn't feel anything from the boars. Perhaps there was something else going on? Or maybe Dark Matter was overthinking things? Either one was possible.

Although...come to think of it, where was Kirby? Perhaps the boars being scared had something to do with it? Or maybe he was looking into why nobody could dream, lately? Whatever the case may be, Dark Matter figured that it'd be best not to question it. Besides, Kirby's dealt with all kinds of things of this nature. He was probably fine on his own.

...Right?

With everything done and over with, the group decided to head back to town. Bandana Dee went off to look for food, Taranza went back to bothering Magolor, and Chuchu went to a nearby restaurant with her group (including the human).

Meanwhile, Dark Matter and Gooey sat under a tree in the middle of town. Gooey playfully swung his sword in the air. Although he still had a long way to go before he could receive his own Blade Form, he'd grown much stronger since his time on Dark Star.

"Say, Gooey...how did you learn to use a sword? Does it have something to do with the Copy Ability?"

"Something like that," Gooey replied. "Kirby likes to use a sword a lot, too. So when he's not training with Meta Knight, he's training with me instead."

"I'm not surprised," Dark Matter said bitterly as he looked away. It didn't take long for Gooey to tug his cloak. "I'll be happy to train with you too if you want."

"Uh...I-I did not mean to sound so grumpy." Dark Matter said apologetically.

"I know," Gooey replied as he put the sword down. "But I miss training with you...Even if I wasn't any good back then."

"You weren't THAT bad," Dark Matter replied. "But...perhaps if you'd gotten the Copy Ability sooner, Lord Zero never would have banished you."

"Maybe not, but I love it here." Gooey said happily. "If you hadn't saved me, I never would've come here and met everyone."

"That is true...I just wish that I'd met everyone under better circumstances."

Of course Gooey was happier on Popstar, there was so much here that Dark Matter wasn't able to provide on Dark Star. Perhaps if he'd had run away with Gooey, he never would have fought Kirby? Additionally, perhaps Lord Zero would've been better off without him?

...But he never would've brought himself to betray his creator. A Dark Matter's purpose was to serve their leader after all. As he thought about it, his role hadn't changed much. The only difference now was that he was serving Dedede rather than Lord Zero.

And what about Gooey? Though he was a Dark Matter, it didn't seem like he served anybody on this planet. The closest he had to a leader here were either Kirby or Dedede. But even then, they had their own adventures to worry about.

"Are you OK, Brother?"

"...Yes, I'm fine," Dark Matter replied as he looked down at Gooey. "If you don't mind me asking, where is Kirby?"

"Uh...I dunno," Gooey replied. "He didn't really say anything before he left, so he's probably on a really important adventure."

"I see...well, would you like to stay with us until Kirby gets back?"

"Of course!" Gooey said excitedly. "I was gonna ask, anyway!"

Perhaps Dark Matter really was overthinking things again? After all, Gooey still tried to figure out his role in life. But if Dark Matter had to take a guess, he would say that his brother's role was to make people happy. And for a child like him, it was a good role to have for the time being.

Chapter Text

"Well, now...who would've thought that our beloved King Dedede would let a monster like YOU into his castle?"

It was late at night, Dark Matter slowly opened his eye as he tried to figure out whose voice it was that he'd heard. Gooey slept next to him, but that voice didn't come from him. Instead, someone else stood next to the bed. Dark Matter wanted to see who it was, but when he tried to move, his body wouldn't obey. And when he tried to speak...well, he just couldn't. It was as if his whole body went numb.

"Ah, sorry if I seem a bit rude. But I couldn't help but look into your subconscious. You actually remind me of Dedede in a sense."

What was he talking about? Was this person trying to get a rise out of him? Was HE the reason why Dark Matter couldn't move?

"You want to do the right thing and clean up your image. But after you attacked Popstar out of hatred and anger, do you really think that anyone's going to accept you?"

Dark Matter's spines stood on end, which caused Gooey to groan irritably. But once he noticed something was wrong, the young blob turned around and nudged him. "Brother? Are you OK?"

"Well, I guess there's ONE person that cares about you. But I have to wonder...Are his friends treating you kindly because they want to? Or are they only doing it for HIS sake? Or maybe they're only your 'friends' because they're worried that you'll attack Popstar again?"

"C'mon, say something!" Gooey cried out. Dark Matter tried to call out to him, but once again he couldn't speak. He felt helpless, he watched as Gooey hopped off of the bed and dashed out of the room.

"Huh...I guess you two aren't as close as I thought you were," said the stranger. He pressed down on Dark Matter's back with a thin, bony hand. it got more difficult to breathe. "Anyway, I figured I'd drop by and leave some food for thought. There's just one tiny little favor that I need to ask of you."

The stranger pressed down even more on Dark Matter until he could no longer breath, the poor blob felt as if he was suffocating.

"I don't want you to tell ANYONE about this. I'll make my presence known soon enough, but right now I just want to have a little fun with you. But should you say anything, then not only will I destroy you, I'll make sure that your brother NEVER wakes up again!"

As soon as the stranger was gone, Dark Matter started gasping for air. He could no longer feel the stranger's presence, but he could still feel the cold hands on his spines.

"HOLD ON, I'M COMIN'!" Dedede yelled as he nearly broke the door off its hinges. Gooey stayed close to him as he stared worriedly at his brother.

"Are you all right? Gooey told me you were in trouble."

"I-...D-did you...not sense anything?" Dark Matter asked between gasps. Gooey gave him a confused look. "Sense what?"

Dark Matter was going explain, but then the stranger's words echoed in his head. He shook his head as he looked down.

"...It's...It's nothing, f-forget it."

Gooey still gave him the same worried look, as did Dedede. However, something about the look Dedede was giving him made it seem like he knew something was going on.

"Tell ya what, how about you guys come hang out in my room for a bit? Besides, some of the Waddle Dees haven't gone to sleep yet, either."

"I...I don't know," Dark Matter said quietly. "I don't think the Waddle Dees will want me around."

"Sure they will," Dedede replied. "And besides, I don't think it's a good idea to leave you two alone right now."

Dark Matter groaned as he reluctantly crawled out of bed, he began to follow the duo as he wrapped himself with his blanket. He didn't exactly have the energy to change forms right now.

Dedede lead the group into his room. As he said, there were a few Waddle Dees still up and about. They weren't even the ones that patrolled the castle at night, either. Waddle Doo picked up scattered chess pieces off the ground, three Waddle Dees were piled onto Dedede's bed, and two more sat beside the window.

"You two go on and get comfy, I've got a phone call that I gotta make real quick!" Dedede said while he coaxed the two blobs inside. Dark Matter gave him a puzzled look. "You have to call someone THIS late?"

"Trust me, it's important!" Dedede said as he stepped out of the room. Dark Matter just hoped that he knew he was doing. Meanwhile, Gooey hopped onto the bed and curled up beside the Waddle Dees. As much as Dark Matter wanted to hop up there with him, he wasn't even sure if it was allowed. Not to mention that the stranger might come back, so for now it was probably best not to sleep on the bed.

With that in mind, Dark Matter crawled under the bed. At least this way, he'd have some form of privacy. Not to mention that if that stranger DID come back, he'd have a harder time finding him. And besides, how did he even get to Dark Matter's room anyway?

...It was probably best not to worry about it right now.

It was early in the morning, though Gooey was still a little tired from last night. One moment, he slept peacefully next to Brother, and then next thing he knew Brother wasn't able to move. He said something about a presence, and yet Gooey wasn't able to sense anything.

So now he sat on on the same bed and thought about what to do next. Maybe Dedede might have an answer? If he was willing to bring the duo into his room, then surely he must know something...where was he, anyway? If he was up this early, then he'd be downstairs drinking coffee.

Gooey hopped off of the bed and looked under it, he could see that Brother was still curled up underneath. He had to wonder what that "presence" was that scared him that badly. But for now, he figured that it was better to let him rest.

It didn't take long until Gooey made his way into the kitchen. He found Dedede with a cup of coffee in his hands, he looked as if he could barely keep his eyes open. He didn't even notice that Gooey was there.

"Good morning!" Gooey said while he waved his tongue.

"Wha...?" Dedede's eyes shot open before he let out a yawn. "Sorry...I haven't gotten much sleep last night, Gooey."

"Why not?"

"Well for starters, I've been trying to contact Kirby!" Dedede said as he took a sip of his coffee. "I think an old 'friend' might be up to something?"

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Well...what happened that got your brother to start gasping like that?"

"Uh...I dunno, his eye was open but he wasn't moving."

"Ah, so it might've been sleep paralysis."

"Sleep what?" Gooey asked as he gave Dedede a puzzled look.

"Sleep paralysis,: Dedede repeated. "It's when you wake up but you can't move, sometimes there's even some creep sitting at the foot of your bed."

"But I didn't see anyone there."

"That's 'cause it's...uh..." Dedede started rubbing his head as he tried to think, though his mind was still somewhat fuzzy. "Well, how would you feel if you couldn't move or talk at all? You'd be scared too, wouldn't ya?"

"I think so," Gooey replied. Not being able to talk was one thing, since Gooey couldn't talk before coming to Popstar. But the thought of not being able to move sounded scary.

"If that happened, then would you be able to save me?"

"We would...but stuff like this doesn't normally happen on Popstar," Dedede told Gooey. "I'd take Dark Matter to the Fountain of Dreams, but it's probably not gonna help him right now. Plus, we don't even know where Kirby is."

"So what do we do?"

"Obviously we've gotta keep an eye on Dark Matter, but we've also gotta look out for any other weird stuff that happens. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good," Dedede said before he guzzled down the rest of his coffee. "And if he goes through another episode like that, then stay calm and try to grab me if you can."

Gooey nodded in understanding. Whatever happened last night really scared his brother, but he was willing to help just in case that "creep" decided to come back. And given what Dedede had told him, he probably will.

Chapter Text

As the day went on, Gooey had convinced his brother to visit Ado today. He insisted that he wear the same cloak that he wore while they were in town. Although there weren't many people visiting the woods today,  brother still insisted just in case something did attack him.

"You'll really like Ado's art," Gooey said cheerfully. "She can bring all kinds of things to life with her brush."

"...So I've heard," Brother said dismissively.

"Oh, dun be like that~!" Gooey responded. "I told her all about you, so you dun gotta worry about her attacking you."

"Of course you did!"

Gooey let out a small growl, his brother hadn't been this grumpy since they reunited underground. Nonetheless, he tried to stay positive as he approached Ado's house. Ado sat under a tree with a sketch pad and some pencils.

"Hi, Ado-line!" Gooey said happily. She looked at the young blob at first, but she lifted her sketch pad up to hide her face as she saw Brother. It seemed like she was still nervous about having him around.

"Uh...hello," Ado said quietly. "I...didn't expect you to bring Dark Matter over."

"...I knew that coming out here was a mistake!" Brother said bitterly. Gooey yanked his cloak in order to get his attention. "Calm down, she's just shy around other people!"

"N-No, I shouldn't have said anything." Ado said while shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's fine," Brother said in a monotone voice. "It's probably best that I stay out of your way..."

With that said, Brother hovered away from the duo and rested under a different tree. He began to watch the clouds like he usually liked to do. Gooey looked at Ado and frowned. "Sorry about Brother, he's been grumpy since he woke up."

"That's all right, if he wants to be a grump then we'll let him be a grump!" Ado said loudly, which earned her a glare from Brother. Nonetheless, she looked down at Gooey and tore some paper out of her sketch pad. "Do you wanna draw with me, Gooey?"

"Sure!" Gooey said as he happily accepted the paper. He grabbed a nearby pencil and started drawing. What should he draw, though? His friends? Some food? Or maybe he could draw something to cheer his brother up? Besides, he had plenty of room to work with, so he could draw whatever he liked.

After a while, Gooey used up all of his paper. Without any color, it was hard to tell what he drew. He attempted to draw Brother on one page, but he also drew Kirby, Dedede, and Ado on the other pages.

Ado was still drawing of course, but Brother continued to stare drowsily at the clouds. He would jolt himself awake whenever he was going to pass out. Maybe whatever happened last night affected him more than Gooey realized? Regardless, Gooey grabbed one of the pictures he drew and crawled over to his Brother's side. "Hey, look what I did!"

"...Hm?" Gooey's brother looked down at him with a confused look. "Sorry, I shouldn't be dozing off like I am now."

"That's OK, we can always take a nap later!" Gooey said happily, though his brother gave him a frightened look. Perhaps he was worried about that creep popping up in his sleep, again?

"Anyway, I drew you this!" Gooey said as he gave the drawing to Brother. "It's...a nice hedgehog, Gooey."

"It's s'posed to be you, dummy!" Gooey said playfully. His brother looked away shamefully. "R-right, my apologies."

Brother's attention soon turned to Ado, he quietly flied over to her and sat next to her just to see what she was doing. There was a picture of a fairy in her sketch pad. But before Brother could ask her anything, Ado closed the sketch pad and glared at him.

"D-do you mind?"

"Ah...Forgive me, I just wanted to see what you were drawing," Brother said quietly. "I thought it looked really good."

"W-well, thank you," Ado said quietly.

"And your name is...Ado, right?"

"Adeleine."

"Right...Adeleine, I hope you'll forgive me for my behavior earlier." Brother responded as he rubbed his spines with his cloak.

Ado let out a sigh, "It's fine. I'm just glad that you're not so grumpy anymore."

"Why dun you draw something too, Brother?" Gooey suggested, "we're still doin' it right now!"

"We might need more paper for that," Ado said as she stood up and ran to her house. Brother couldn't help but panic. "W-wait! I never said-"

It was too late, Ado had already ran into her home. Regardless, Gooey looked up at his brother. "It's OK, you'll get better at art once you start drawing. Ado always says my pictures look better every time I draw them."

"Er...but your art looks fine," Brother said.

"You called my drawing a hedgehog."

"Well it's not like I know how to draw, either!"

The brothers stopped bickering once Ado stepped out of her house. She carried a huge stack of paper, some crayons, and some pencils. She placed them all next to her as she sat against the tree again.

"All right, now we've got enough paper for everyone!" Ado said as she took some paper and started drawing on her sketch pad. Gooey did the same as he placed some paper onto the ground and started drawing.

From the corner of his eye, Gooey could see his brother stare at the clouds again. He stayed like that for a moment before he grabbed some paper, a red crayon, and a black crayon with invisible hands. He sat back down at the tree he was under before and started coloring the paper.

Gooey had to wonder what it was that he was drawing. But like earlier, it was best to leave him be while he drew his own picture.

Once everyone was done drawing, Ado tapped Gooey's back to gain his attention. "Hey, Gooey...what do you think?"

Gooey looked at Ado's picture, she drew a picture of a tall fairy with braided black hair. It must've been another one of her fairy friends.

"I like it!"

"Thanks, I'm sure she'll love it when I get the chance to show it to her."

"Ah, well do you wanna see what I drew?" Gooey asked as he showed Ado his drawing. It was a picture of a of a lollipop.

"Oh, that's cute!" Ado said happily. "It looks even better than the last lollipop you drew."

Gooey's eyes practically sparkled from the compliment, his attention turned towards Brother.

"Did you hear that? Ado said my art's getting better!"

"That's nice," Brother said almost dismissively. He seemed to be more focused on his drawing.

"Say, why don't you show us what you drew?" Ado asked. Brother dropped the crayon he was using as he looked away. "It's...not very good."

"That's fine, we're not going to judge you for it."

Brother remained silent for another moment before he grabbed the picture and floated over to the duo. He handed it over to Ado, the picture was mostly colored red with black spots covering it. They were probably clouds, judging by the shapes.

"And uh...what is this supposed to be?"

"The sky of my old home," Brother explained. "I've grown quite used to the sky on this planet, but even then I still wish I could see Dark Star once more."

"Ah, so you're homesick..." Ado explained while she placed Brother's picture down. "I don't blame you, I wish I could go back to my home, too."

"But don't you live here?"

"I do, but before I came to Popstar I used to live somewhere else."

"So what happened to your old home?"

"It was completely frozen over," Ado replied. "I don't know if anyone else escaped, but it...was a haunting experience going back."

"I see..." Brother sat down and let out a sigh. "It seems this planet is always taking in someone with no home. It's not just you and me either, but Gooey as well."

"But I like Popstar!" Gooey added. Ado looked at him and frowned. "I know you do, but...why DID you leave your old home, Gooey?"

"Because Zero didn't want me," Gooey said bluntly.

"More specifically, Lord Zero wanted to kill him. I convinced him to spare Gooey's life, but Gooey could never come back to Dark Star again in exchange."

"Ah...well, I'm sure we don't have to worry about that anymore," Ado replied. "Besides, Zero's been gone for a long time. So I'm sure you two don't have to worry about him anymore."

"I...I sincerely hope that is the case," Brother said quietly. Although Ado meant well, it seemed that Brother still had Zero on his mind. Perhaps Brother had a dream involving Zero last night and that's what caused him to panic?

...No, that couldn't be it. Dedede told Gooey about an old "friend" of his that caused his brother to gasp like that, so it couldn't have been Zero. Either way, Gooey was sure that Dedede would figure something out eventually.

Chapter Text

"So...how are we doing, tonight?"

...Oh dear sweet Void he was paralyzed again! Dark Matter tried to move, but it was pointless.

"To me it seemed like you had a lot of fun today, but I must ask...Did that child really want you there? Or was she only putting up with you for your brother's sake?"

It might've been what the demon said. But even then, Adeleine tried to be as nice to him as possible.

"You seem to rely on your brother an awful lot, you know. But enough about him, why don't we talk about someone else?  Like your creator, for instance?"

...And what did he want with Lord Zero? Dark Matter was sure that this demon was up to something.

"You know, your creator is still out there," the demon said in a mocking tone. "Unfortunately, it seems that he's lost his memory. Do you know whose fault that is? Do I even need to say it?"

The demon began to run his hand through Dark Matter's spines, the blob's body tensed up with each stroke.

"And you KNOW Kirby fought him a second time, so why didn't you help him back then? Oh wait, it's because you were already guilty of letting him die in the first place!"

Dark Matter attempted to speak, but nothing came out. He wanted this demon to stop.

"And do you really want to know the sad thing about all of this? Even if he DID keep his memories, he STILL wouldn't have cared about you. He never cared back then, and he wouldn't care about you now!"

Dark Matter tried to speak again, but his voice was weak. "St...stop..."

The demon paused for a moment. He was shocked at first, but he began to squeeze Dark Matter like a stress ball.

"Why should I stop? You know it's true! Your creator didn't care about you, your siblings didn't care about you. And sure, you have all of these 'friends' surrounding you, but the moment you finally snap and let your selfish desires get to you, these 'friends' aren't going to care about you, either. You'll be all alone again, and everyone will move on with their lives."

"I said STOP!" Dark Matter yelled, which startled Gooey in the process. Both brothers stared at each before Dark Matter awkwardly lowered himself back down.

"I...Forgive me, I shouldn't have yelled like that," Dark Matter said as he sank into the bed.

Gooey let out a yawn, "It's all right, let's just go get Dedede."

"But what can he do?"

Gooey tried to think, though his mind was still fuzzy from his brother's outburst. "I dunno, but he said to let him know if something like that happened again."

Is that so? He suspected that Dedede knew something, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions. Nonetheless, Gooey groggily hopped out of bed and lead Dark Matter to Dedede's room. He gently knocked on the door with his tongue before letting out another yawn.

It didn't take long for Dedede to open the door, he looked at the duo and frowned. "Lemme guess, Gooey thought you were in trouble again?"

"I...may have woken him up unintentionally."

Dedede let out a sigh as he grabbed the two brothers and placed them onto his bed. Once again, there were a few Waddle Dees here scattered on the bed. They looked as if they hadn't slept in days.

"You and I are gonna have to talk later," Dedede said while he looked at Dark Matter. "But right now, I've gotta do another phone call."

"But shouldn't you be sleeping, yourself?" Dark Matter asked.

"I'm the King, I'll sleep whenever I wanna sleep!"

As Dedede stepped out of the room, Gooey placed an arm over his brother's back. His eyes were barely even open at this point. "C'mon, Brother. Let's calm down!"

But what if that demon was right? What if nobody really did care about him? What if the Waddle Dees were only putting on a brave face so he wouldn't attack them? He was quickly taken out of his thoughts when one of the Waddle Dees patted him on the back.

"Lemme guess, you couldn't sleep, either?" asked the Waddle Dee. Though he'd be lying, Dark Matter replied with a nod. "Exactly, I've been tossing and turning so much that I accidentally woke up Gooey."

"That's NOT what happened!" Gooey said bitterly, though he didn't have the energy to argue. Regardless, the Waddle Dee shrugged. "That's all right, we're not gonna judge."

"Just...try to get as much sleep as you can, ok?" said another Waddle Dee.

...Perhaps that demon wasn't entirely right? Some of them could still be putting up with Dark Matter, and yet some of them also genuinely wanted to be his friends. After all, they were already much nicer than his siblings. He just needed to make sure that he controlled himself.

But what about Lord Zero? If he really WAS alive, then he would've come back already, right? At least that's what Dedede said. That demon could've just been taunting him, but the thought of Lord Zero coming back was still terrifying.

Thinking about all of this made Dark Matter feel uneasy, he began to relax as he squished against the blanket below him. And if that demon came back, then at least there was more people around to look after him. After all, it was one of those things that he never had on Dark Star. He may as well take advantage of it while he could.

As soon as Dark Matter woke up, it seemed that everyone had left the bed. Nonetheless, the dark blob hopped off of the bed as he switched to his Blade form. While he didn't want to admit it, he really liked the cloak that Bandana Dee had given him, it was like being wrapped in a blanket. Of course, that could've been because the cloak was originally made for a prince.

Speaking of which, it was probably a good idea to look for Dedede right now. Dark Matter floated downstairs. When he reached the kitchen, he could see Dedede and Bandana Dee sitting at one of the tables. There was a cup of coffee on the table, and it seemed that Dedede was talking to someone on the phone.

"Wait, so you're in Grape Garden right now? But there's still no sign of Kirby, huh? Well, I appreciate your help, Meta Knight. Just call me back as soon as you can, all right?"

Dedede let out a yawn. meanwhile,  Bandana Dee noticed Dark Matter float towards the table.

"Good morning, Blade!" Bandana Dee greeted. "Did you sleep well?"

"...I slept fine," Dark Matter said quietly. He turned his attention towards Dedede. "So you had something you wanted to tell me about, Sire?"

"What...?" Dedede asked before taking a sip of his coffee. It looked like it took him a moment for his thoughts to catch up. "Yeah, That's right...I think Bandana was about to look for Gooey, anyway."

Bandana Dee gave his king a strange look. "I don't remember saying that."

"Oh come on, don't tell me you forget about it already!" Dedede said sternly. Suddenly, Bandana Dee's eyes widened. "Actually, yeah...Gooey COULD have someone to play with right now."

Bandana Dee hopped out of his chair and headed out of the kitchen. Once he was out of view, Dedede's attention turned to Dark Matter. "So, how long has Nightmare been buggin' you?"

"Excuse me?" Dark Matter asked while he tilted his head.

"You heard me!" Dedede argued. "I KNOW that Nightmare's been the reason why you've been acting so weird, lately."

"...F-forgive me, Sire." Dark Matter had a worried expression on his face. He never told Dedede about the demon that toyed with him these past couple of nights. But since he knew, what was going to happen to him? Or Gooey for that matter?

Dedede let out a sigh as he took another sip of his coffee. "Listen, you're not the only one Nightmare's played with. Back when Kirby and I were still on bad terms, he'd pop up just to mess with me."

Dark Matter didn't say anything, but Dedede could tell that he was listening.

"He'd go on about how I'd never be able to redeem myself, and that nobody would give me another chance because of the stuff I did. He tried to corrupt the Fountain of Dreams as proof, too."

"And...what exactly did you do to earn such disdain?"

"Uh..." Dedede rubbed the back of his head as he tried to think. "Well, obviously you know I'm not a Waddle Dee, right?"

"Really? I couldn't tell." Dark Matter said sarcastically.

"Right, well...My dad WAS a Waddle Dee, and he was one of the greatest Kings you could ever asked for. He was nice to everyone and he'd always get what he wanted in return."

"Ah, so where is he now?" Dark Matter asked.

"Well, uh...He ain't around, anymore." Dedede explained. Dark Matter's eye widened as he brought the edges of his cloak to his mouth. "I-I'm so sorry, I had no idea!"

"It's fine," Dedede replied with a sigh. "I've accepted it a long time ago."

There was a strange feeling inside Dark Matter, how could Dedede accept that the one that raised him was gone? Did he just not care? Or was there something more to it?

"Is something wrong? You're lookin' a little tense right now," Dedede pointed out. Dark Matter shook his head. "I'm...fine, please continue."

"Right...Anyway, once my dad croaked, I decided to take over the throne for him. But back then, I thought that being a King meant that I could get whatever I wanted...But I wasn't exactly nice. I'd take whatever I wanted, when I wanted it. I even tried to take all of the food in Dream Land at one point."

"In other words, you were a terrible King!"

"Yep, I was. And I probably would've stayed terrible if Kirby hadn't knocked some sense into me." A smile began to form on Dedede's beak. "We stayed on bad terms for a while after that. but if that kid hadn't beat me up back then I would've turned out exactly as Nightmare expected out of me."

"And so you broke the Star Rod to prove to Nightmare that you weren't a bad person, is that it?"

"Something like that, but I wasn't going to let anyone suffer even if they all hated me."

"...I must admit I'm a little jealous." Dark Matter explained. "Gooey was my only 'friend' on Dark Star, so once he was gone I wanted everyone to feel all of the pain and suffering that I felt."

"Well you don't feel that way now, do ya?"

"...No?"

"Good!" Dedede said as he hopped out of his chair and hugged the dark blob. "Nightmare can bug you all he wants, but you're not the same Dark Matter as you were back then. So try not to let him get to you, all right?"

Dark Matter was frozen, he would've fallen to the floor had Dedede not been holding him. He couldn't explain it, but it was as if he was feeling every emotion at once. He wasn't even sure if there was a word for this sort of feeling, let alone if it was possible for someone like him to HAVE this feeling. Once the feeling subsided, however, Dark Matter settled into the penguin's arms.

"Y-Yes, sire!" Dark Matter said contentedly. He could see why Gooey and the Waddle Dees spoke so highly of him, as he really was a "dad" to everyone.

Chapter Text

It was a warm and sunny afternoon. Gooey figured it would be a nice day to bring his brother to the beach, the young blob already flew ahead of him with his fins out. His tongue hung out of his mouth like an excited dog.

"PLEASE SLOW DOWN, GOOEY!" Brother yelled. Like Gooey, he also flew in his true form in an attempt to keep up with him. He could barely rotate his fins as quickly as Gooey did.

As soon as they reached the beach, Gooey tried to land in the sand...only to bounce a few times before he hit the water. The young blob was stunned at first, but he waved at his brother using his tongue.

Something bubbled from under the water. Before Gooey could react, a certain pink octopus hopped out and landed on top of him. "Hi, Gooey!"

"Hi~!"

"Did you come over to play with us?" asked Nyupun as their head popped out of the water.  Gooey replied with a nod before he turned his attention towards his brother. "Wanna join us?"

"I...think I'd be more comfortable out here," Dark Matter replied as he swapped into his Blade form. He threw his hood over his head so he would stay out of the sun.

"Suit yourself~!" Gooey said as he continued to swim, his fins propelled him through the water like a fish.

"So, Gooey, how've you been doing?" Chuchu asked as she hopped off of his head.

"We've been fine," Gooey replied. "Except...well, Brother's been having Sleep...er...Sleep Parafilis."

"Er...don't you mean paralysis?" Chuchu asked.

"And how is he getting paralyzed in his sleep?" Nyupun added. "Did he get hurt?"

"Well, Dedede told me that there's a creep that does it...or something like that," Gooey replied, though he wasn't sure if he remembered it correctly. "Anyway, I've been trying to keep Brother happy while he's going through Sleep Paralyfis."

The octopi looked towards Brother's direction, he just sat there and gazed up at the clouds.

"Say, Gooey...has Blade ever been to the beach, before?" Nyupun asked. 

"I think so," Gooey replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, because he doesn't look like he wants to be out here right now.."

"I dunno, I think he's pretty happy to be out here." Chuchu replied. "Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have followed Gooey in the first place."

Right, Brother always liked to keep his emotions under wraps if it were possible, even the positive ones. Although Chuchu and Brother haven't known each other for long, Gooey was at least thankful that she'd gotten used to having him around. Even if Brother wasn't jumping for joy, he was probably content with just getting out of the castle.

"Anyway, do you wanna explore the ocean with us, Gooey?" Nyupun offered. Gooey nodded in response, "I'd love to!"

With that said, both octopi dived underwater. Gooey started to do the same thing. He hoped that his brother would be fine on his own for now. Besides, they were far enough from town that nobody should be able to attack him.

Just as Gooey went swimming with his friends, Dark Matter couldn't help but stare contentedly at the sky above him. His mind was still on what Nightmare and Dedede had told him, earlier. Sure, the blob may have tried to improve himself, but was he really any different from back then? If he had another outburst like he'd been having lately, then would everyone STILL like him? Would they still treat him like his friend?

"Hey, Blade."

Dark Matter's thoughts were interrupted when a certain cat walked over to him. Nago, right? Behind him was the owl holding a bag. He was Coo, if Dark Matter remembered correctly.

"Where's Gooey?" Coo asked curiously. "It's a little strange to see you here without him."

"He's with Chuchu and Nyupun," Dark Matter said quietly. "I just don't feel like swimming in the cold water today."

Nago shrugged. "I don't blame you. Once I get water in my fur, it can be hard to get it all out."

"Well it's not that I have a problem with water itself, I just don't like being cold." Dark Matter explained. Not to mention that after some of the things that happened underground, he'd rather just avoid the water if he could help it.

"Anyway, Nago and I have been collecting shells," Coo said as he sat on top of the bag. "Do you want to see them?"

"I suppose I have nothing better to do."

"All right, let's see then..." Nago took a look inside Coo's bag, he dug around for a moment until he pulled out a disc with a flower pattern on it.

"Here, this is a sand dollar!"

"Or rather, the skeleton of a sand dollar," Coo added. "It's basically a sea urchin without spines."

"So what does a live one look like?" Dark Matter asked.

"Well, they're much darker and have a ton of feet on the bottom," Coo said while Nago started digging through the bag again. This time, he pulled out a fan-shaped shell.

"I think this is a scallop," Nago said. "Otters love these things for some reason."

"It's not alive, is it?" Dark Matter asked with concern.

"Nope, you can take a look at it if you want!" Nago said while handing the shell over to Dark Matter. The outside was pretty, but the inside didn't seem to have anything. This poor creature must've been dead for a while, now.

"Let's see..." Nago said while he digged through the bag, his tail twitched when he found something. "You might like this one, it's a conch shell."

Dark Matter gave Nago a curious look as he managed to pull out a large, spiral-shaped shell with a wide opening on the bottom. The cat didn't hesitate to hand it over. The blob gave it a curious look. "What sort of creature did this come from?"

"I think it was a snail," Nago said. "I hear that if you bring it up to your ear, you'll be able to hear the ocean.

Dark Matter continued to look at the shell. He slowly brought it over to his face to see if he could hear anything. He could hear waves. But as he did, he could see Coo's expression change to that of terror.

"Nago, Blade, you might want to run!"

"But I can hear the ocean just fine with this," Dark Matter explained. Nago looked at the ocean's direction. His eyes widened as he grabbed Dark Matter's cloak and tried to drag him away from the ocean. Before Dark Matter could ask what was happening, the ocean crashed onto the trio and dragged them closer to the water. As the wave drew itself back, Dark Matter laid on the sand with his cloak now soaked. Chuchu was laying on top of him with a very dazed look on her face. When her senses came back to her, she began to look around.

"Hey, is everybody OK?"

"I-I'm fine!" Gooey said while he lied down against Nago, Nyupun was also on top of him, much to the cat's dismay. Coo lied upside-down on top of the shell bag.

But despite the confusion, everyone was all right.

After that whole mess, everyone was able to settle down. Dark Matter had swapped into his true form , as his cloak was still soaked. Not to mention the sand and the salt that he'd managed to get in his spines. He was going to need to wash it all out, later.

Gooey sat next to him while Chuchu, Nyupun, and Coo went over all of the shells that were in the bag. Meanwhile, Nago walked up to the duo with the conch in his paws.

"Hey, Blade...do you want this?"

"Uh..." Dark Matter gave him a strange look. "I'll take it, but why?"

"Well, I know we've had our fights, but I want you to feel welcome in our group, too."

"I-I see..." Dark Matter took the shell from Nago's paws.  "So you actually WANT me in your group?"

"Why do you think I brought you out here?" Gooey asked. Dark Matter looked away nervously.

"What's wrong?" Nago asked.

"I-it's nothing," Dark Matter told Nago. "I'm just at a loss of words."

"Well, you can always come to us if you ever need anything."

Sure, Dark Matter appreciated the efforts these animals went to befriend him. But if he were to have another one of his outbursts around them, would they STILL accept him? He wasn't sure.

But even then, he DID appreciate their kindness. Even if it was a temporary kindness, Dark Matter was willing to admit that he was happy to see them, too.

Chapter Text

It was already sunset by the time the brothers had gotten back to Dedede's Castle. The air inside already smelled like food. Gooey's mouth watered, but Brother decided to go upstairs instead.

"You're going to bed already?" Gooey asked.

"No, I just need a bath," Brother replied. "I also need a place to put my shell...you understand, don't you?"

"Of course!" Gooey responded. "I'll save you some food when you're done!"

With that said, both brothers had separated for the time being. Gooey wanted to figure out what sort of food was being made. In the kitchen, he could see a couple of Waddle Dees cut some fish. There were more that cooked pasta, some kneaded dough for bread rolls, and some even prepared sweet potatoes, most of them sat on the table. Big meals like this weren't anything new at Dedede's castle, but it was a welcoming sight nonetheless.

Dedede sat at one of the tables, his head rested against his hands as he watched everyone work. Gooey hopped onto the table and greeted the king. "Hi~!"

"Hm?" Dedede raised his head as he looked at the young blob. "Hey, Gooey. What have you been up to?"

"We went to the beach today!" Gooey said. "Some of our friends were there and Nago gave Brother a seashell."

"Sounds nice," Dedede replied. "Incidentally...you haven't seen Kirby at all, have you?"

"Nope," Gooey said as he shook his head. "Do you think he went home already?"

"If he did, he would've taken you back by now."

"Ah...I hope he's OK," Gooey said with a frown. Dedede gave him a patient smile as he patted him on the back. "I'm sure he's fine. I've asked Meta Knight to look for him, so hopefully he'll say something soon."

"I hope so, too." Gooey replied. "they would love all the food everyone's making."

"Trust me, Kirby'd eat everything before it's even finished," Dedede said with a chuckle. but even when everything was going fine, Gooey still couldn't help but worry about Kirby.

Hopefully he had a lot of food wherever he was, or at least something he could eat.

...Actually, Gooey could use a bit of food, himself. Maybe one sweet potato couldn't hurt...

Bathing on Dark Star was a little different from bathing on Popstar. Back home, many Dark Matter would gather towards a large body of warm water with their fins tucked in. Even Lord Zero and Lord Miracle would relax and bathe when they had the chance.

Although the tub that Dark Matter bathed in was like a puddle compared to the warmer lakes back home, he still enjoyed sitting in the water. He recalled that Gooey used to sit on his back while they bathed back home, he also recalled how angry his brother would get when Dark Matter submerged himself while cleaning his spines. The poor thing really didn't like the water when he was younger, though he did grow out of it eventually.

However, while Dark Matter enjoyed the bath, he found it hard to relax. After all, it was getting dark and Nightmare might come back to torment him a third time.

Maybe he could find a way to stay awake for a while? At least until Nightmare was gone? Then again, that might do more harm to him than good.

Perhaps he could look for the Star Rod to defeat Nightmare? No, that wouldn't work. Nightmare only showed up while Dark Matter was asleep, not to mention that using such a weapon could hurt Dark Matter as well if he's not careful.

So what was he going to do now? He wasn't so sure, himself. The dark blob let out a deep sigh as his body sank into the water.

...Well, whatever the case may be, he certainly wasn't going to sleep in his room tonight. Dark Matter hopped out of the tub and shook the water out of his spines. Finally, he swapped back into his Blade form before he left the bathroom and headed downstairs.

He paused as soon as he heard Dedede yell, he had to wonder what was going on down there.  Once he finally made his way downstairs, he saw Dedede run out of the kitchen with Gooey in his hands. The young blob appeared to have the hiccups.

"...What did you do to my brother?" Dark Matter asked, bitterly.

"I didn't do anything'," Dedede replied. "Gooey just ate a few sweet potatoes, and I don't want him causin' trouble for any of the Waddle Dees cookin' right now."

"...You can get hiccups from Sweet Potatoes?" Dark Matter asked curiously. "I always thought it was Mint Leaves that caused this."

"They -hic- they both do," Gooey respond. "You go -hic- gotta try one, though!"

Dark Matter looked down at Gooey with concern. "I...don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Why not? The hiccups don't usually last that long," Dedede replied. Regardless, Dark Matter shook his head. "I-I mean no disrespect, Sire. But you know I don't eat much."

"Which is another reason to try one." Dedede said. "And if you don't like it, then...well, now you know you don't like it."

Although Dark Matter wasn't fond of the idea of gaining hiccups like Gooey did, trying some new food might give him the energy to stay awake for a while. Although hesitant, Dark Matter nodded. "Very well, I'll try it just this once."

"Great, I'll be right back!"

Dedede ran back into the kitchen, it didn't take long for him to come back out with a sweet potato in his hand. Dark Matter took it from him and examined it. It was still warm, and the skin had a reddish-purple hue to it. He slowly took a bite out of it.

...It was gross and starchy, and it didn't take long for Dark Matter to get the hiccups himself. He sounded like a rat gasping for air. Dedede let out an uncontrollable wheeze while Gooey gave his brother a worried look.

"Are - hic- Are you OK?" Gooey asked. Dark Matter trembled angrily as he grabbed Dedede's robe and pulled the King closer to his face. "YOU -hic- YOU DID THIS ON PURPOSE, DIDN'T YOU!?"

"Well, I DID say they'd give you hiccups" Dedede said innocently. "Just give it a minute and they'll go away."

"I DON'T -hic - DON'T BELIEVE YOU, YOU JUST -hic- YOU WANTED TO MAKE A -hic- A FOOL OUT OF ME!"

"And what are you gonna do? Possess me again?"

"...GAH!" Dark Matter released Dedede as he threw the edges of his cloak in defeat. He started to float back upstairs. "I'm -hic- I'm leaving!"

He couldn't believe that Dedede would do such a thing, maybe getting tormented by Nightmare might not be such a bad thing after all?

...Then again, maybe Dark Matter shouldn't have snapped at Dedede like he did? Dear Void was his head a mess right now...

After Brother left, Dedede couldn't help but snicker about the whole thing. Gooey glared at him, "That was mean, you know!"

Dedede looked at Gooey as he calmed down. "Ah, come on. I didn't think he'd get THAT angry."

Gooey continued to glare at him, it was the kind of glare he'd usually give to anyone if he didn't like what they were doing. With that said, Dedede lat out a sigh as he rubbed the back of his head. "OK, yeah. Maybe I was a little too pushy."

"So you're gonna say sorry, right?"

"I will...but right now, I say we just let him cool off for a bit," Dedede told Gooey as he headed back into the kitchen. "The last thing he'd want is to see my ugly mug right now."

While Dedede went into the kitchen, Gooey figured that he would go check on his brother. Hopefully, he wasn't too angry.

Gooey made his way upstairs. Surprisingly, Brother wasn't in his room. Instead, it looked like his brother was sitting at one of the balconies. He leaned against the wall with the edges of his cloak folded over it like a pair of arms. Though he didn't look at Gooey, he knew the young blob was there.

"...I don't know what I'm going to do," Brother said quietly. Gooey crawled over to him and tugged his cloak. "Hey, Dedede didn't mean to hurt you."

"No, but I shouldn't have yelled at him," Brother replied. He took off his mask and looked down at Gooey, he looked terrified. "You know that Lord Zero never would've tolerated such behavior. And if I keep having these outbursts, then he'll probably get rid of me."

"...But Dedede isn't Zero," Gooey said bluntly. "If he was, he would've killed me already!"

"I...suppose that's true," Brother told him before he looked at the moon. "But to yell at someone of such high authority...I may as well be dead right now."

"Dun say that," Gooey said as he tried to hug his brother. "Even if it WAS your fault, he wouldn't wanna kill you over a sweet potato"

"...I guess it does sound silly when you put it like that," Brother said with a light chuckle, he wrapped his cloak around Gooey and held him tight.

"Hey!"

The duo looked at door, they could see Dedede coming in with plates of food in his hands.

"Listen, I didn't mean to laugh at ya like I did back there," Dedede said. "I just thought that you wanted to try something new, you know?"

"...It's fine," Dark Matter said as he released Gooey. "I shouldn't have yelled at you, especially given your high status."

"Eh, everyone's yelled at me at some point or another," Dedede said with a shrug. "So it's not a big deal to me."

"Yes, well...I worry that if I keep having these outbursts, you'll want to get rid of me." Brother explained. "I'm worried...that all of you will throw me aside and leave me behind. I-"

Gooey tugged on his brother's cloak, his eyes were focused enough to stare at him. "You dun usually talk this much around other people, Brother!"

"Ah yes...forgive me, I've been enough trouble as it is."

"Nah, you're fine!" Dedede said as he placed the two plates onto the table. "I'd rather you spill everything than keep it all in, y'know?"

"...I suppose so." Brother said quietly. He vaguely remembered Kirby saying something similar, too. It was something about a bottle...Or was it something about holding back? He couldn't remember what it was exactly, but the general idea was there.

"Anyway, I figured I'd bring you guys something to eat," Dedede said as he began to leave. "You can thank me, later!"

At this point, Gooey was drooling, sitting on the plates were fish pasta with bread rolls on the sides. There was also a sweet potato on one of the plates, so Gooey had to assume that one was his.

"I'm...not very fond of the smell," Brother said with a disgusted look on his face.

"It tastes better than it smells," Gooey said as he dragged a roll onto his mouth with his tongue. His brother grabbed a fork from his plate, and although he hesitated, he gave the pasta a try. It didn't take long for him to start eating more of it.

From the looks of it, Brother might be as fond of fish as Gooey was.

Chapter Text

Dedede thought that the last couple of nights were strange, and tonight was no different. Not only did he have Waddle Dees hanging out in his room again, but both of the Dark Matter brothers were here, too. Unlike the last two nights, they didn't even bother going to their room.

Both brothers were already asleep on the bed, though it wasn't like Dedede was using it right now, anyway. Despite some obvious differences, Dark Matter weren't too different from Waddle Dees in terms of behavior. One similarity he could think of right now is that they both felt safer in a group rather than being alone. Although Dedede wasn't anything like Zero, he had to assume that he played a similar enough role for Dark Matter to trust him.

Besides, that was probably one of the reasons why Dark Matter possessed him back in Iceberg, right?

"Everything all right, Sire?"

"Hm?" Dedede looked at Waddle Doo with a worried look. "Sorry, I'm just worried about Nightmare poppin' up."

He sat at the table with Waddle Doo, there was a checker board on the table with pieces scattered everywhere.

"I know, but I can't help but wonder what Nightmare wants with him in the first place," Waddle Doo said as he moved one of his pieces forward.

"Honestly, I think Nightmare's tryin' to find another way to give nightmares to everyone in Dream Land," Dedede explained while moving one of his pieces. "And if I had to guess, he's done something to the Fountain of Dreams already. Have you noticed how nobody's been getting a good night's sleep, lately?"

"Well...Yeah, I haven't been able to recall any of my dreams for a while." Waddle Doo replied. "Maybe Kirby went out of his way to break the Star Rod, this time?"

Dedede let out a chuckle. "Ain't that ironic? He'll probably have ME chasing Nightmare with that thing, too."

"Yeah, but it doesn't explain why Kirby hasn't come back yet." Waddle Doo replied. "Not to mention everything that Dark...Blade has been going through, too. Why do you think that Nightmare's been targeting him of all people?"

"Well if I had to guess, it's probably because he still feels guilty about everything he's done here. Plus, there's all the stuff he's gone through with Zero."

"That makes sense I guess," Waddle Doo said as he moved one of his pieces over Dedede's. "Nightmare didn't want to stop bothering you after you stole all of the food in Dream Land, but since you've changed so much he probably thought that he'd go play with another victim. And unfortunately, that victim happened to be Blade."

The duo froze as they heard Dark Matter whimper. Although he couldn't move, it looked like he was struggling to breathe. Nightmare wasn't physically in the room, but if Dedede had to guess, that creep was probably tormenting him again.

Most of the Waddle Dees hopped onto the bed and started surrounding the two brothers. They weren't exactly the strongest of creatures, but they weren't going to let anyone in this castle suffer if they could help it. 

...Actually, it probably wouldn't hurt for Dedede to check on Dark Matter as well. He hopped out of the chair and headed towards the bed.

"Oh dear, it looks like Dedede's figured it out already."

...Yep, Nightmare was back again. Dark Matter didn't care about what he wanted to say this time, he just wanted to get this over with.

"I suppose it wasn't ENTIRELY your fault," Nightmare said without a care in the world. "I guess I could've been more careful. But hey, it's not like Kirby's going to stop me or anything, right?"

Wait, what was this about Kirby?

"Oh yeah...I never did say anything about Kirby, huh? He's doing just fine, in fact he's itching for a fight right now. There's just something about the unlimited amount of energy Puffballs have that draws me to them. But I suppose you wouldn't understand, given that two of them nearly killed you before."

That may be true, but Kirby still forgave him...didn't he? And sure, Dark Matter still had bitter feelings about Meta Knight, but even then he did try to make things right. The fact that Dark Matter had his mask back was proof, wasn't it?

"Oh...speaking of Puffballs, I wonder how Meta Knight's doing? Do you think he's OK out there looking for Kirby? I'll bet the poor bastard's gotten himself into a bit of a bind."

But where WAS Meta Knight? Wasn't he out there looking for Kirby right now?

"You know...since you and Kirby are friends now, why aren't YOU the one trying to save him?" Nightmare asked as he placed his cold hand on Dark Matter's back. "I'm sure that everyone would get to see you as the hero your brother expects you to be, so why aren't you out there looking for him right now? Is it because you're still scared of him? Are you still worried that he'll gut you with that Rainbow Sword, again? And what kind of pathetic creature is scared of rainbows, anyway?"

The more that Nightmare talked, the more he pressed down on Dark Matter. It was getting harder for him to breathe. As he struggled, he could see some of the Waddle Dees climb onto the bed and lay down beside him.

"Aw, look. They've all come over to comfort you," Nightmare said as he wrapped his fingers tighter around Dark Matter, it felt as if his nails were going to pierce the blob's chest. "But I wouldn't get too comfy if I were you. I already have what I wanted, so I'm going to have fun by making your life a living Hell...A Hell in which you can never escape.

Just as Nightmare disappeared, Dark Matter could feel someone poke above his eye.

"Hey, you all right?"

"...Would you STOP before you poke my eye out?" Dark Matter said in a quiet yet demanding tone.

"DUN DO IT, KIRBY!" Gooey yelled, scaring everyone in the process. The young blob had a dazed look on his face, though his eyes were more focused than usual.

"Oops, i forgot to mention that I gave your brother a little gift," Nightmare's voice echoed in Dark Matter's head. "I sure hope he likes it!"

"Well, looks like Blade's not the only one having nightmares," said one of the Waddle Dees. Dark Matter looked at his brother with a worried expression. "Is everything all right?"

"Uh...kinda," Gooey said slowly, he didn't realize he was awake. "I just...I dunno..."

"That's...try not to worry about it then, OK?" Dark Matter said quietly. He allowed the younger blob to curl up beside him and fall back asleep.

"What do you think that was?" Dedede asked. "Do you think Kirby was getting hurt in his dream or something?"

"Either that or Kirby was attacking HIM!"

"Well whatever's happening, we shouldn't let Nightmare get to us." Dedede said proudly. "And if worse come to worse, I'll beat him up with the Star Rod myself!"

"...I appreciate the sentiment, thank you."

Nightmare could threaten Dark Matter as much as he wanted, but with each night it seemed like Dedede was more determined to stop him. Still, he had to wonder what happened to Kirby. Sure, he was capable of taking care of himself, but he was still a child after all. Not to mention that Gooey's nightmare didn't give him much hope, either.

He just hoped that Kirby wasn't being subjected to the torment that Dark Matter was going through right now.

Chapter Text

It was morning, and Gooey felt absolutely miserable. He felt as if he hadn't slept in days, though that obviously couldn't be further from the truth.

He couldn't stop worrying about Brother, but he was nowhere to be found. So the young blob sat in the kitchen by himself. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do at this point.

"Hey, Gooey!" said a voice, it was Bandana Dee. He made his way over to the table and sat down next to Gooey. "Is something wrong?"

"Kinda," Gooey said quietly. "I'm just worried that Kirby and Brother are gonna fight, again."

"But why?" Waddle Dee asked. "Kirby forgave Blade, and Blade hasn't done anything bad. So why would they fight?"

"...Because last night I dreamed about the first time they fought," Gooey explained. "but for some reason, Kirby looked...angrier than I remember."

"But weren't you also mad at him back then?" Bandana Dee asked.

"Well, yeah...but after he beat up my brother, he went after me next."

"But why? Even when he knew what your family was like, he never treated you any differently."

"i know, but...I'm just I'm worried that something bad's gonna happen."

"Well I can't deny that," Bandana Dee said bluntly. "But hey, if something bad DOES happen, then we'll all be prepared for it. King Dedede especially."

Gooey nodded, though he wasn't quite sure if Bandana Dee was right. Kirby was still missing, and his brother was out doing who knows what. The only thing that the young blob would do now was wait until something DID happen.

But if he were being honest, he really hoped that it didn't.

It was pretty windy today, Dark Matter could barely keep his hood over his spines. Nonetheless, he figured that a small stroll wouldn't hurt. Besides, the winds weren't any worse than what he was used to from living on his own. It was fine as long as he wasn't getting blown away.

He paused as he noticed Taranza down the road, he looked distressed about something. When he noticed Dark Matter's presence, he began to hover over to him.

"Blade, I need you help!"

"What do you need?"

"I found one of Dedede's friends up ahead," Taranza explained. "I think he'll be fine, but he's not waking up right now."

And who would want to sleep outside in weather like this? Regardless, Dark Matter gave Taranza a light nod. "Very well, then. Lead the way!"

Taranza lead Dark Matter further down the road until there was nothing but forest. The duo stopped in their tracks when they found an unconscious puffball lying on the ground. His wings were open, and there were a few small tears on the membranes.

It was Meta Knight. As much as Dark Matter wanted to leave him here, he didn't quite have the heart to do so. That and Taranza would probably get angry if they DID leave him here.

"I'll be the one to carry him," Dark Matter told Taranza. "But I don't want you to freak out!"

"What do you mean?"

Without saying anything else, Dark Matter had phased into Meta Knight's body. He had to wonder if what he was doing was any different from what Nightmare had been doing to him. But at the same time, he didn't want Meta Knight to attack him should he wake up.

"Oh..." Taranza had a worried look on his face, "I forgot that your kind had the ability to possess others, at least according to Dedede...But wouldn't it be easier for me to use my webs?"

"Perhaps, but I don't want to risk having him lash out at us. I'll release him once we bring him back to Dedede," Dark Matter told him as he sat up. He could tell that the puffball was in pain, so much so that it was probably best to keep his wings out.

The duo started to make their way along the road. As they did, Dark Matter could sense Meta Knight's consciousness coming back to him. He seemed understandably confused. He couldn't talk, but he could still think.

"Why...?"

"I'll release you when we return to the castle," Dark Matter told him. "Until then, please don't strain yourself."

"What was that, Blade?" Taranza asked.

"I was talking to Meta Knight," Dark Matter replied. Taranza nodded as he kept moving. The duo stayed silent for a little while until Meta Knight spoke again.

"Listen...I wanted to apologize for my behavior, before. Dedede told me about the trauma you've been through, and I just haven't found a good way to apologize besides returning the mask to you."

"So why couldn't you apologize back then?"

"Because I was worried that I'd make things worse, somehow." Meta Knight replied. "I was worried that you'd freak out any time you'd see me."

"...You're honestly starting to sound like me," Dark Matter replied. "The only reason I stayed hidden was because I thought Kirby and Dedede wanted nothing to do with me."

At that moment, Taranza gave Dark Matter a worried look, but he continued on as if his friend hasn't said anything. Noticing his discomfort, Dark Matter went silent.

"So...your name is Blade, right?" Meta Knight asked. Dark Matter nodded without hesitation.

"I see...It's a nice name, but I already happen to know a Blade," Meta Knight told him. "So how about I call you Swordsman, instead?"

"...Am I allowed to have two names?" Dark Matter asked.

"Oh, you can have as many names as you want," Meta Knight told him. "Though you can just think of it as more of a nickname, instead."

Dark Matter nodded in acceptance. "Still, I can't help but wonder why you're being so civil with me?"

"Because like everyone else, I want to give you a second chance, too." Meta Knight told him. "And let's be honest, I wasn't exactly behaving myself, either."

"Very well, then." Dark Matter replied. "I'll hold you to your word. But can I ask you something in return?"

"Of course," Meta Knight replied. "What did you want to ask?"

"...Please don't ambush me like that again," Dark Matter told Meta Knight. "I haven't had the most pleasant experiences with puffballs, particularly ones with swords."

"I understand," Meta Knight said reassuringly. "I'll keep that in mind should we ever fight again."

Of course, Dark Matter hoped that wouldn't be the case. But given what Meta Knight was like, he might not be able to avoid it.

"Are you all right, Blade?" Taranza asked with his face full of concern. Dark Matter replied with a nod. "I am, but we'll talk about this later."

The wind was starting to pick up, and it looked like it was going to rain soon. The group needed to get home as soon as possible.

Thankfully, the group had made their way back to the castle before it rained, Taranza and Dark Matter went to the throne room. There, Dedede was talking with Bandana Dee about something.

"Oh, Taranza!" Dedede yelled before noticing the puffball standing beside him. "And...Meta Knight?"

"Forgive me, Sire," Dark Matter said as he left Meta Knight's body and allowed the Puffball to fall onto his face. "I thought it would be wise to bring him to you, but I did not want to risk getting hurt."

"...I guess I can understand that," Dedede told him. Regardless, he gently nudged him aside and helped Meta Knight stand up. "You all right?"

"Urgh..." Meta Knight stood up and started rubbing his head. "I'm fine, just a little bruised."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"...Not exactly," Meta Knight told him. "One moment I was looking for Kirby, and next thing I know Taranza and Swordsman were taking me here."

Dedede looked at Dark Matter for a brief moment as if to ask if Meta Knight was referring to him. However, his attention went back to Meta Knight. "But you're sure you're OK?"

"I'll be fine," Meta Knight said proudly. "You know it'll take more than that to knock me down!"

Dedede let out a worried sigh. "At any rate, I might have to start looking for Kirby tomorrow if we can't find him soon."

"And what should I do?"

"You can watch Dream Land while I'm gone," Dedede said in a snarky tone. "Kirby DID say that you wanted to take over at one point!"

"That was ONE time!" Meta Knight yelled as he flapped his wings in frustration, though the puffball winced as pain shot through them.

"So what should we do now, Blade?" Taranza asked, frowning. "Assuming there's anything we CAN do of course."

...Acttually, should Dark Matter tell Taranza everything that's been going on, lately? If Nightmare was going to continue torment him anyway, then would it even matter? Maybe it wouldn't, or maybe Dark Matter was just being selfish, but he couldn't help but feel that he should fill Taranza in on everything that's happened so far.

"...Why don't you come with me?" Dark Matter suggested. "There's something I wish to talk to you about, but I must warn you...it's a long story."

"Yes, of course!" Taranza said without hesitation. He began to follow Dark Matter upstairs. With any luck, Gooey might be around to help him tell the full story, too.

Chapter Text

At this point, the rain outside had evolved into a full-blown thunderstorm. Since the balcony wasn't the most ideal place to talk right now, Dark Matter figured it would be better to lead Taranza into his room. Fortunately for him, Gooey was also there. He sat on the bed with a blanket wrapped around himself.

"Brother, you're OK!" Gooey yelled in surprise.

"Indeed I am," Dark Matter told Gooey. "But I think...now might be a good time to tell Taranza what's been going on."

"So you wanna tell him everything?"

Dark Matter replied with a nod before he looked at Taranza. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all," Taranza told him. "Just tell me what's on your mind, Blade."

"Right, well...you're aware that I've attacked Popstar before, right?"

Taranza nodded. "Yep, Kirby and Dedede told me all about it."

"Well, lately I've had these instances where a demon would paralyze me as I woke up."

"It's called Sleep...Sleep Paralysis," Gooey added with a hint of pride in getting the word right.

"Right...well, he's been telling me that I'm no different from the monster I was back then. He insists that...I'll be alone, again."

Taranza gave him a sympathetic look. "Oh come on, Blade. You know we wouldn't abandon you like that!"

There was a loud crash, it sounded like it came from the throne room. Taranza grabbed Gooey as the trio headed downstairs.

As they made their way to the throne room, they saw that Kirby was fighting Dedede. The Puffball fought with a sword in his hand, and yet despite how much of a fight he was able to put up, he had a foggy look in his eyes. Meta Knight lied on the floor, his wings covered his face in order to protect himself.

"Would you knock it off!?" Dedede yelled as he swung at Kirby with his hammer. The Puffball dodged the attack and tried to swing his sword. Sure, it was normal for these two to fight, but something about this felt off. All Dark Matter could do was sit there with his cloak tightly wrapped around himself.

Kirby turned his attention towards Dark Matter, the blob looked as if he'd almost been struck by lightning. Before Kirby tried to attack him, Dedede knocked the puffball out of the way with his hammer. "Nope, you're fighting ME you brat!"

As those two continued to fight, Taranza couldn't help but frown. "I wonder if there's any way I could knock Kirby out without hurting the King...What do you think we should do, Blade?"

"Couldn't you use your webs?" Dark Matter suggested. Before Taranza could give an answer, the group could see that Dedede had received a cut across the chest with Kirby's sword.

Normally, seeing stuff like this would make Dark Matter fear for his life, and right now was no different...and yet, there was a burning rage that boiled inside of him. It was the kind of rage that that he could not control. He charged at kirby without thinking. Gooey hopped out of Taranza's arms in an attempt to stop him, but it was too late.

Dark Matter pulled out his sword and attacked Kirby with a beam of darkness. When the puffball tried to strike back at him, Dark Matter struck him twice as hard. He flew into the wall and collapsed. As he hit the wall, the foggy look in his eye completely disappeared.

"What in Void's name were you THINKING!?" Dark Matter yelled, which surprised everyone in the room. "You think that you can just come back after missing these past few days just to attack us? You think that waving a sword around makes you a hero? Well it doesn't! Because of you, I've had to live MY life in fear that you'd kill me! I was convinced that nobody wanted me around, and now that I have friends, YOU'RE JUST GOING TO TAKE THAT AWAY?"

"BLADE!" Dedede yelled, which quickly gained Dark Matter attention. "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

...He hadn't noticed it before, but there were tears forming in his eye, everyone stared at him with bewildered looks on their faces. Seeing the distress he'd caused, the dark blob flew out of the throne room and headed back upstairs.

After he snapped like that, everyone probably hated him now. It was as Nightmare had wanted out of him.

After he witnessed what had happened, Gooey was at a complete loss of words. It was rare to see his brother blow up like that, even back home he was careful not to let his emotions out. But as much as he wanted to check on his brother, he was also worried about Kirby.

The young blob made his way over to Kirby. The puffball was bruised, and he had a wound on his chest. But other than that, he looked more confused than he was hurt.

"Are you OK?" Gooey asked. Kirby nodded, though his mind was still foggy. Seeing Kirby like this, the young blob tilted his head. "What happened to you, anyway?"

"I don't remember much, but...One minute I was fighting Nightmare, and next thing I know Blade's yelling at me."

"So you don't remember what just happened a few minutes ago?" Dedede asked with a puzzled look. Kirby shook his head in response. He started to panic as he noticed the wound on Dedede as well. "Blade didn't hurt you, did he?"

"What? No!" Dedede said as he shook his head. "That was all you!"

"Oh..." Kirby looked pale. Though he couldn't remember what he did, he still felt guilty over it. He slowly sat up and patted Gooey on the back. "Gooey, why don't you check on Blade right now? I'm sure he's gonna want a shoulder to cry on."

"Are you sure?" Gooey asked. "Because you got hurt bad, too."

"Hey, you know I've been through worse!" Kirby said casually, though Gooey could tell he was still in pain.

"We'll be fine, kid." Dedede said as he picked up Kirby. "We're gonna go get patched up, so why don't you go look for Blade?"

Gooey nodded in agreement as he began to head upstairs. But before he did, he looked up at Taranza, who appeared to be processing what had happened as well. "Wanna come with me?"

"Er...I'll be up in a little bit." Taranza said. "You go on without me."

Gooey nodded in understanding as he continued to go upstairs. As expected, Brother was hiding in his room. He sat on the bed with his cloak wrapped around himself.

Gooey hopped onto the bed. Though his brother glanced at him for a moment, he didn't say anything. It was times like these where Gooey wished he knew what he was doing. He wanted to figure out how he was supposed to cheer his brother up. Unfortunately, going for a walk and taking a trip to the beach wasn't going to help this time. All he could do was sit there with his brother while the rain poured outside.

After a little while, the young blob tried to speak.

"You're not mad at Kirby, are you?"

"No...but I shouldn't have attacked him," Brother said, it almost sounded like he was about to choke.

"You just did what you had to," Gooey replied. "Kirby's hurt, but he's not angry at you."

"Yes, but you know Lord Zero never would've-"

"Lord Zero's gone." Gooey said bluntly. "What he thinks dun matter."

Brother was shocked, he looked at Gooey with pure disgust. "How could you say such a thing?"

"Because it dun matter," Gooey told him. "He was always angry with me, and he always wanted to get rid of me. I know you used to tell me that serving Lord Zero was our purpose, but honestly...I dun think we need one."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when Kirby took me in I didn't know what to do. I cried because I started to look different from the brother you used to know. But once I turned blue, I began to accept I was different. Because no matter how much I changed everyone still wanted to be my friend."

"I see...But when I changed, I changed for the worst," Dark Matter told him. "You recall how I was back when Lord Zero attempted to take over this planet, don't you?"

That memory was faint...but as Gooey recalled his brother felt very bitter. But looking back, perhaps his brother was scared and just wanted to hide it?

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, followed by what sounded like Taranza's voice.

"Blade, are you OK?"

Gooey looked at his brother with a worried look. "What should we do?"

"...Well, we may as well tell him the whole story, don't you think?"

"But are you sure?"

"I am," Brother said before he began to yell. "I'm fine, Taranza. But do you have a moment? There's more that I wanted to share from earlier!"

"Oh, of course!" Taranza said as he quietly floated into the room before closing the door. "What else did you want to tell me?"

"Hm..."

"How 'bout we start from the beginning," Gooey suggested. "Back when we still lived in our old home."

"...Very well, then." Brother said before he looked at Taranza. "Maybe you should sit on the bed with us, because I feel it's going to be a long story."

Taranza sighed as he sat down beside the brothers. "If it'll make you feel better, then all right. Let me hear it."

With that said, the brothers began to tell their story. Brother told him about their old home, what life was like, and how Zero and his siblings used to treat him. He would tell him about the time Gooey was born, which was also when Gooey would share what his life was like back home. As soon as Gooey's banishment was brought up, the brothers' stories had gone into two different directions. Gooey would talk about how he came to Popstar and was taken in by Kirby while Dark Matter would talk about much lonelier life was once Gooey was gone. At this point, the brothers were talking about first incident where Brother had attacked Popstar.

"...As Kirby summoned the Rainbow Sword, I flew as high as I could to get away from him. But he didn't want to quit, so I attempted to fight him as best as I could."

"I was just angry that you'd ever do something so cruel to begin with," Gooey told him. Brother nodded with understanding. "So once I was out of my Blade Form, I tried to take him down with me. Instead, he left me with a scar on my chest."

"I see, but why didn't you do anything, Gooey?" Taranza asked. "You're his brother, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but he didn't recognize me," Gooey told him. "I told you I didn't always look like this."

"I wouldn't have believed him, anyway." Brother added. "But back on topic, I fled from Kirby as well as Popstar entirely. I thought that Lord Zero would be pleased to know that I had attempted to conquer this planet, but I was wrong...very wrong."

"So what happened?" Taranza asked. Dark Matter let out a sigh. "First of all, he scolded me. Second of all, he'd basically taken away my Blade Form."

"That can happen!?"

Dark Matter nodded. "He said he would give it back when I learn how to listen...or something along those lines. But even then, I feel that he had no intentions of giving it back to me. Months passed and Lord Zero asked me to guard him while he took over Popstar. I tried to convince him that it was a bad idea, but he would not listen. He even threatened to kill me if I refused to do so."

"That's horrible!" Gooey yelled. meanwhile, Taranza had a worried expression on his face. It was as if he expected someone to slap him.

"You OK, Tanza?" Gooey asked, Taranza replied with a nod. "O-oh, I'm fine. please continue."

"As I was saying, once the day had come, Lord Zero had gathered his troops and we all headed over to Popstar. He formed a large Hyper Zone around the planet in order to try and conquer it.

"Wait, was that the black cloud with the red eye we saw a few years back?" Taranza asked. "Because Sectonia was really fascinated by it back then."

"Yeah, it was." Gooey replied. "Kirby and I were gonna go fishing, but I had a feeling something bad was gonna happen. Next thing I know, Lord Zero was in the sky and was trying to corrupt everyone."

"But I don't recall it affecting us," Taranza said while thinking. "Perhaps it was because we were still such a remote country at the time, but he probably would've found us anyway had you and Kirby not stepped in."

"Anyway, while Zero tried to take over, Kirby and I were helping as many people as we could. And when we DID help someone, these things called Heart-Stars would pop out. They hurt me whenever I touched them, but Kirby could handle them just fine."

"And where were you when all this was happening, Blade?"

"I was with Dedede, again," Brother told him. "I was still under the impression that he was the King of Popstar, so once again I possessed him so his subordinates would listen to me. But if I'm being honest, I didn't really care what happened anymore. I was convinced that I would die that day. And when I did, I would die protecting Lord Zero like he wanted me to do."

"...I always thought you were just following Zero because you thought it was your purpose," Gooey said quietly. "If I'd known what you were going through, I wouldn't have yelled at you."

"Well it wasn't like I was entirely free of fault, either." Dark Matter explained. "But after our argument, Kirby started attacking me again. This time with a rod made from those Heart-Stars. He knocked me out pretty quickly, so I can't say I know what happened between him and Lord Zero."

"But I can," Gooey said. "I swallowed one of those Heart-Stars and helped Kirby beat up Zero. We were able to stop him, but he shot his eye out and tried to kill Kirby. I knocked him outta the way, but I ended up getting hit instead." The young blob couldn't help but shiver. "Just thinking about it hurts my belly."

"All right, so what happened when you both woke up?" Taranza asked.

"Everyone thought I died before I woke up," Gooey said. "They all hugged me after that, though Kirby wasn't very happy with me."

"And what about you, Blade? What happened when you woke up?"

"I..." Brother was reluctant to speak, once again it was like he was fighting against some of his own emotions. "I was...when I woke up, a butterfly sat in front of me. It was as if it wanted to show me something, and I followed it. And when I did,  it...it lead me all the way to Lord Zero's eye."

"Brother?"

"Are you OK, Blade?" Taranza asked, concerned. Brother hadn't noticed yet, but he was trembling.

"I...I'm fine," Brother said as he took off his mask and wiped away some tears. "But after that incident, I was...I was convinced it was all my fault. I...I knew that I could never go back home. And I was worried that...That Kirby would kill me if I started...started appearing again, so I stayed hidden. And then...then one day, I accidentally ran into Dedede. And then...then a Waddle Dee tried to kill me. I fled underground, and...and."

"Please calm down, Brother." Gooey said while he tugged his brother's cloak. The elder blob let out a shaky breath as he brought Gooey to his chest. "I-I'm sorry you both have to see me like this..."

"Hey, it's all right," Taranza said as he brought a hand against Brother's back. "Did you want me to grab you something? Maybe some food?"

"Some...Some soup would be nice, actually."

"All right, I'll go see what I can do."

With that said, Taranza left the room as quietly as he entered it, leaving the two brothers alone in the process. Gooey squeaked as his brother held onto him tighter, it was as if he'd lose Gooey if he were to let go.

"You...you're awful, you know that?" His brother said jokingly.

"How?" Gooey asked.

"Because...I never thought that YOU would be the one to make me cry like this."

Gooey couldn't help but glare at him, though there was no genuine anger in his expression.

"Don't...Don't give me that look!" Brother told him as he pushed away some of the tears. "It's...It's because of you that I can't...can't stop crying right now. And for that, I...have to say...thank you."

"Brother, stop!" Gooey said as a smile crept onto his face. "You're gonna make ME cry."

Brother let out a small laugh, he gently placed his head on top of Gooey. "I love you, Gooey. Don't ever forget that."

"I...I love you, too." Gooey said as tears started to fall from his face as well. This was probably one of the few times he'd ever seen his brother break down like this. But if Gooey was being honest, this was probably for the best. Because now, it felt like the emotions Brother held back from finally broke free.

Chapter Text

Dedede was thankful that Kirby came back, but at the same time he was worried about what the young Puffball had gone through. Speaking from experience, Dedede wouldn't say it was Kirby's fault for attacking everyone. However, he couldn't pin the blame on Dark Matter, either. After all, Kirby was one of the reasons he's stayed hidden for so long. In other words, nobody was at fault here.

Right now, Kirby rested in Dedede's arms. He looked exhausted, but he wasn't sleepy yet. The wound on his chest was patched up, so it should be able to heal on its own. Meanwhile, Meta Knight sat across the table with some coffee in his hands...though there was probably more cream and sugar in there than coffee, knowing how Puffballs work.

"So, how do you think we'll be able to stop Nightmare, now?" Dedede asked.

"I'd say we just look for the Star Rod and work our way from there," Meta Knight told him.

"I did that already, and look where THAT got us!" Kirby said bitterly. Meta Knight gave him a curious look. "So what happened, then? Did it break?"

"Worse, Nightmare has it," Kirby grumbled. "It's the last thing I remember before Blade started yelling at me."

"So Nightmare has the Star Rod, then?" Dedede said bitterly. "How are we gonna beat him, now?"

Meta Knight frowned, he brought a hand under his chin as he began to think."While I don't think it's impossible to defeat Nightmare without it, I'd imagine it's going to be much harder than before."

Soon, Taranza made his way into the kitchen. Of course, it looked like he wanted to say something.

"So how's Dark Matter doin'?" Dedede asked.

"Er...to put a long story short, he and Gooey were telling stories, Blade started crying, and then he told me he wanted soup."

"Soup DOES sound good right about now," Kirby said with a thoughtful expression. Dedede raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you tired, though?"

"Yeah, but I wanna help make soup, again!" Kirby replied. Dedede let out a sigh. "All right, but the moment you start feeling sore again you're letting the Waddle Dees take over!"

With that said, Kirby hopped out of Dedede's arms and got to work. The penguin got up from his seat and dusted himself off. "While Kirby gets that started, I'm gonna check on Gooey and Blade just to make sure they're still OK."

If what Taranza said was true, then hopefully Dark Matter had calmed down at this point.

Dark Matter wasn't sure what had gotten into him. He wanted to tell Taranza everything that had happened in the past, and thankfully Gooey was here to fill in a few of the gaps. But when he got to the end, all emotions flooded out at once. The last time he'd ever cried this hard was back on Dark Star, and back then crying was an easy way to get beaten by his older siblings, if not by Zero himself. But just as Gooey said, Lord Zero was gone. So whether he cried or not didn't matter.

Right now, he still sat on the bed with Gooey, his eye felt dry and puffy from crying earlier. He wasn't quite sure what he was feeling exactly, and in a way he felt a little selfish...but he also felt as if a weight he'd been carrying for years had finally been lifted from his nonexistent shoulders.

There was a knock on the door. Though his voice was weak, Dark Matter called out to whoever knocked. "You may come in!"

"Everything all right in here?" Dedede asked as he opened the door. "Taranza told me you were cryin'."

"Right...forgive me," Dark Matter said quietly while he loosened his grip on Gooey. "It's just that once I started crying, I just couldn't stop."

"He's fine now, though." Gooey added. "How's Kirby, by the way? Is he OK?"

"He's fine," Dedede told him. "In fact, the kid's already started makin' soup."

"...I should probably apologize to him, then." Dark Matter told him. "I was the one that snapped at him, after all."

"But it wasn't really your fault," Dedede assured him. Dark Matter nodded in understanding. "I know, but I feel like I should still say something."

All Dedede could do was shrug. "Well if it makes you feel any better, then go for it."

Dark Matter placed Gooey down and left the room. He shifted into his True Form as he headed downstairs. Dedede wasn't lying when he said that Kirby was making soup, as there was a savory smell in the air. Sure enough, when Dark Matter reached the kitchen he could see that Kirby stirred something into a large pot. Some of the Waddle Dees would even throw ingredients inside. The young Puffball would wince in pain if he moved too quickly. Seeing what Dark Matter had done to him was upsetting. Despite this, however, the Puffball greeted him with a lively grin.

"Hi, Blade. Soup's not gonna be ready for a little while."

"I know, I just...I came down here to apologize." Dark Matter said nervously. "I've said and done some things I shouldn't have, and for that I-"

"Hey, you don't gotta apologize," Kirby said warmly. "Sometimes I still gotta beat up Dedede because he can't control himself, but we always go back to being friends after that."

"Right...so you're not mad at me?"

"Nope," Kirby said plainly as he stirred the pot again. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna keep working on this soup."

Right, Kirby didn't seem like the kind of person who held grudges. He just hoped that Nightmare was a little kinder to him than he was with Dark Matter...though that could just be wishful thinking on Dark Matter's end. He wasn't sure if Kirby was as fine as Dedede said he was, but for the Puffball's sake he'll take the King's word for it.

Just as Dark Matter left to find Kirby, Gooey and Dedede seemed to be talking about what to do with Nightmare. Specifically, was talked about the stuff he was going over with Kirby and Meta Knight.

Soon, Taranza made his way back upstairs. Although he looked fine, Gooey could tell that he had something on his mind.

"Where did Blade go?"

"Downstairs with Kirby," Gooey replied. "He wanted to say 'sorry'."

"Ah, I figured as much."

"So what's on your mind, kid?" Dedede asked. "You still worried about Dark Matter?"

"Kind of," Taranza said as he rubbed the back of his head. "You see, I was wondering if I could take him home with me for a bit."

"Oh, can I come with you!?" Gooey asked excitedly, though Dedede gave him a weird look. "I don't think now's the time to take him on some random vacation, Taranza."

"I'm aware," Taranza said. "It's just that...since Blade told me everything that's gone on with him, I figured that it would be fair if I told him about what's going on with me."

"So you want to tell him about Sectonia, then. Is that it?"

"Yes, exactly." Taranza told him. "I won't keep him from too long, perhaps a day or two at most."

"I still don't know..." Dedede said with a worried look on his face. "I understand why you'd wanna take him to Floralia, I really do...but we're gonna need to get him to Rainbow Resort first."

"Is it because of Nightmare?" Gooey asked. Dedede nodded in response. "Something like that. If we throw him into the Fountain of Dreams, then Nightmare should be able to leave him alone. I just hope that nobody minds seeing him in their dreams for that night."

"It's not gonna hurt him, is it?"

"I don't think so," Dedede told Gooey. "If someone like Nightmare can stay in the fountain, then you guys should be fine, too."

Gooey hoped that would be the case, because he really didn't want to hurt his brother in order to get rid of Nightmare.

Just then, a thought had popped up in Taranza's head. "Actually...I think I might know how we'd get to Rainbow Resort from Floralia."

"How?" Dedede asked with a confused look on his face.

"Well, isn't there a place high above the sky that belongs to Dream Land? I believe it's called Grape Garden."

Suddenly, Dedede's face lit up in realization. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that place!"

"What about...Cloudy Park?" Gooey asked as he tried to think of the right name, Dedede shook his head. "That's WAY too far from Rainbow Resort. If you go there, then you're goin' the wrong way."

"Either way, I think we might have SOME sort of arrangement," Taranza said with a thoughtful look on his face. "Problem is...I don't know how to get from Grape Garden to Rainbow Resort."

"Er...well I'm sure we'll figure something out," Dedede said while rubbing the back of his head. 

"Can I come with you," Gooey repeated. The spider replied with a nod. "Of course, I'm sure Blade would want to bring someone close to him when we leave."

Of course he would. Although everyone was trying to figure out what to do, Gooey was sure that they'll all come up with some ideas soon.

Chapter Text

"...I don't get it."

Once again, it was night time. And once again, Nightmare was there. Kirby and Gooey were still asleep next to Dark Matter, but of course they didn't seem to notice the demon's presence.

"Kirby almost killed you before, right? So why are you letting him sleep next to you?"

Because he and Kirby were friends, now...right? Despite what happened earlier, he knew that Kirby wasn't the one at fault.

"You know...with Kirby out cold like this, why don't you try to kill HIM instead?" Nightmare said coldly. "He's the reason you've stayed hidden for so long, isn't he? And he attacked your precious creator not once, but twice. So wouldn't it feel nice to just take your sword and stab him in the chest? I know you want to."

...He hadn't noticed until now, but Dark Matter could move his body. He looked around the room. Although he could still feel Nightmare's presence, the fiend couldn't be seen. Dark Matter looked at Kirby. Just as Nightmare said, he really could stab Kirby in the chest if he wanted to, but why would he?

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Nightmare said impatiently. "Just kill him already!"

...Maybe that was why Kirby came back the way that he did? Perhaps Nightmare wanted to use Dark Matter's trauma as a way to get rid of Kirby? Regardless, Dark Matter gently nuzzled against Kirby's face and huffed. "I refuse."

"What?"

"I refuse!" Dark Matter repeated. "I'm not going to harm him over some selfish desire of yours."

"But if you don't kill him, then he'll find a way to get rid of you." Nightmare told him. "Besides, you know he only helped you for your brother's sake!"

"And maybe he did," Dark Matter argued. "But even then, he still treats me like one of his friends."

It was strange to think about, but just as Dark Matter remembered having to fight against Kirby a few years ago, he remembered that this was the same Puffball that got excited when he woke up and offered to make him food. This was the same Puffball that tried to protect him when Meta Knight attacked. He may not have been friends with Kirby for long, but he knew that Kirby wouldn't hurt him intentionally.

"...That's how it is, hm?" Nightmare said coldly. "All right, then how about this, instead?"

Suddenly, Dark Matter couldn't move again. He could feel Nightmare wrap his fingers around him as he squeezed him like a stress toy.

"I'll squeeze you so hard that your eyeball pops out! I'll beat you up so badly that your family will look like a bunch of angels in comparison. Don't forget that you're MY toy, now. And I'll do whatever it takes to make you suffer!"

Dark Matter let out a helpless squeak, he started to lose his senses. However, he began to feel something soft and warm go through his spines. It took him a moment to realize that Kirby was trying to soothe him. As Kirby kept petting him, Nightmare began to lose his grip on him.

"This won't stop me from coming back, I hope you know this!"

As Dark Matter's senses came back to him, he could hear that Kirby was humming some kind of melody, though it was out of tune.

"...Why are you doing this?" Dark Matter asked.

"Well...you looked like you were in pain, so I wanted to try something that would calm you down." Kirby told him. "Normally I'd do this when Gooey's sick or hurt, so I thought that it would work with you too."

"...I do appreciate the sentiment, thank you." Dark Matter said quietly. He wasn't quite ready to go back to sleep, but he did find Kirby's efforts cute...if a little weird.

Kirby let out a sigh as he lied down against one of the pillows, he looked at Dark Matter and frowned. "Can I be honest with you for a moment?"

"Of course!"

Once again, Kirby let out another deep sigh, he thought about what he wanted to say before letting it out.

"It's that...I feel really bad about hurting you before." Kirby told him, Dark Matter nodded in understanding. "I get that, but what happened earlier wasn't your fault."

"I'm not just talking about earlier," Kirby explained. "I'm also talking about the time we fought in Iceberg, and the time before that, too."

"I see...but why bring this up?" Dark Matter asked curiously.

"Because I know I've hurt you badly," Kirby told him. "I know I say that everything's fine, but it must be hard to be friends with someone who's almost killed you before."

"You DID hurt me, I won't deny that," Dark Matter told Kirby. "But...you did what you had to. At the very least, I've been trying to atone for my past crimes."

"I know..."

Dark Matter looked at Gooey as the young blob let out a whimper, he gently nuzzled his brother in an attempt to comfort him. He'd hoped that Nightmare wasn't torturing him as well.

"...I'll be honest, being a hero sucks sometimes," Kirby said quietly. Dark Matter gave Kirby a curious gaze. "How so?"

"Well, it starts off nice at first. But after a while, everyone expects big things out of you. Even when you want to lay down and relax, there's always some kind of threat lurking around the corner."

"I understand where you're coming from," Dark Matter said quietly. "You may be a hero on this planet, in the end you're still just a child."

"Yeah...but sometimes it's also worth it," Kirby said while sitting up. "You meet new friends, see new places, and you get to have some peace even for a little while."

"I see, but I must ask...why befriend those that have wronged you, before?" Dark Matter asked. "Wouldn't it be easier to keep your distance?"

"No, because I know that anyone can be a good person if you give them a chance," Kirby explained. "A lot of my friends did awful things, I've known liars, thieves, and even people who used to hurt others for the fun of it. But I know that they're all capable of being good people."

"...But what about Nightmare?" Dark Matter asked. "Do you think he's capable of being good?"

Kirby paused for a moment, he thought about his answer before he nodded. "I think he CAN be good, but he chooses not to be."

"I think Lord Zero was the same way," Dark Matter told Kirby, which confused the Puffball. "But don't you still miss him?"

"I...I don't know, anymore." Dark Matter told him. "But had he been kinder to us, then perhaps he never would've banished Gooey in the first place?"

"Yeah...maybe." Kirby said with a nod. "But then I never would've met him, and I never would've met you, either."

That was one way to put it, Gooey never would've become friends with Kirby had he stayed on Dark Star. But there was one more question that lingered in Dark Matter's mind.

"So what about me? Before you and Dedede saved me, did you think that I was capable of being good?"

"I didn't THINK you were, I KNEW you were." Kirby told him. "I'll admit, I was worried when I heard that you fled underground, but before you came to Popstar Gooey would speak very highly of you. He'd tell everyone how nice you were and that he wanted to see you again. So when I found out that you were the one he was talking about, I ended up feeling really bad."

"Yes, I'm aware," Dark Matter told him. "Gooey told me that he thought it was his fault I attacked this planet."

"Yeah, but he still wanted you to give Popstar another chance." Kirby told him. "And look at you now, living in a big castle surrounded by all kinds of friends."

"Hehe...it's still hard for me to believe, really." Admittedly, a part of Dark Matter felt guilty for experiencing such joy, but he knew that he was safe here...Or at least he would be until Nightmare came back.

"Well I hope we'll stay friends for a long time, Blade. Heck, I bet we could be Brothers like you and Gooey!"

"...We'll see where we go from here."

With that said, Kirby curled up beside him and fell back to sleep. Soon, Dark Matter would inevitably fall asleep as well. But right now, he was safe. And he was going to enjoy this while he still could.

It was morning, though understandably, not everyone had pleasant sleep.

Right now, Dark Matter sat outside with Gooey and Kirby. He wore his old cloak instead of the one Bandana Dee gave him. As much as he liked that one, he did miss wearing his old one.

They weren't doing anything special right now, they just basked in the heat of the sun. After a while, Dedede stepped outside while Taranza floated behind him. Judging by the look on their faces, it seemed like they had something to say.

"Heya," Dedede said while he greeted the trio. "I hope Nightmare didn't hurt you too badly last night."

"It...could've been better." Dark Matter said plainly.

"I dun even remember my dream last night," Gooey told him.

"Well, we've been trying to come up with a good plan. But first, I think Taranza has something he wants to say to you."

What was this about? Dark Matter tilted his head, he noticed that Taranza was looking down with two of his hands clasped together. He spoke in an unusually quiet tone.

"You see, there's something that I want to tell you...I was wondering if you'd like to come to Floralia for a bit?" Taranza offered. In that moment, Gooey started to bounce excitedly. "Oh, he wants to talk to you about Sectonia!"

"Gooey, hush!"

"And why can't you tell me right now?" Dark Matter asked.

"Because I think it might be easier to tell you while we reach the top of the Dreamstalk."

"Can I come?" Kirby asked, Dedede shook his head. "Nope, you're gonna take us to Rainbow Resort!"

"Ah!" Kirby pouted, but he gave Gooey a quick pat on the back. "Well I hope you guys have fun."

"We will!" Gooey said naively. Dark Matter wasn't too sure what Taranza had in mind, but his eye wandered towards the Dreamstalk. He couldn't tell what was at the top, as it was blocked off by clouds...or maybe that was Floralia itself?

"I'll come with you, Taranza. But..." Dark Matter's attention shifted towards Dedede. "Aren't you going to need me? I am the one Nightmare is torturing right now."

"We'll send Meta Knight to come get you," Dedede replied. "Grape Garden isn't too far from Floralia, so you'll head there first. After that, he should take you through Yogurt Yard and Orange Ocean."

"Understood, Sire."

With that said, Dedede headed back to the castle. Kirby sat up and followed him as well. "I'll talk to you guys later, OK?"

"Bye, Kirby!" Gooey said as he waved his tongue. Taranza looked at the two brothers and smiled. "I know it's a little sudden. But trust me, I know what I'm doing."

"I would hope so," Dark Matter said with a worried look. He had to wonder what Taranza wanted to tell him, but he was also worried about what Nightmare might have in mind for him down the line. Whatever it was, he hoped that he could endure it for a little while longer until he reached the Fountain of Dreams.

Chapter Text

After their discussion, the group headed over to the Dreamstalk. Gooey had mostly used this thing as a guide to help him get back home, but the fact that he and his brother were going to climb this plant was unbelievable.

"Now, before we go, I should mention that Floralia consists of six floating islands. However, the island we WANT to reach is the last one, Royal Road.

"How long does this normally take?" Brother asked.

"Well, if we're only headed towards Royal Road, then it should only take us several hours at most."

"But I dun wanna fly for several hours." Gooey whined. He felt his brother place a part of his cloak on top of him. "You know I could carry you when you get tired, right?"

"I know, but I dun wanna fly that long."

"If that's the case, then maybe we could stop on another island or two to rest for a bit," Taranza told the duo. "If we do that, then we should be able to reach Royal Road by sunset."

"...OK, as long as we're not flying all day," Gooey said while nodding in agreement. Taranza began to smile. "Great, now follow me and make sure you don't get lost."

"Let's go, Gooey." Brother said as changed into his true form. Gooey nodded as he did the same thing, he allowed his fins to rotate as they followed Taranza along the Dreamstalk. It was going to be a while until they reached the top, but like Taranza said, they should be able to make it before sunset.

After a couple of hours had passed, the group had decided to rest on the second island. It was an island full of colorful buildings, it was as if they'd stumbled into a carnival of some sort. Some of the creatures here were ones typically found in Dream Land, such as Waddle Dees. However, other creatures resembled flowers and bugs. There were some that would greet Taranza. However, others would walk by and give the group nothing more than a harsh glare...Though given how scary Brother looked to some people, it was understandable.

"So which island is this?" Brother asked as he hovered beside Taranza.

"This is Lollipop Land," Taranza replied. "A friend of ours used to live here a while ago, actually."

"You mean Sectonia."

"No, her name is Paintra," Taranza said as he pointed to a distant building. "See that abandoned studio there?"

As Brother continued to speak with Taranza, Gooey decided that he wanted to look around for a bit. He noticed that some of the plants here looked an awful lot like desserts, he had to wonder why Dream Land never had something like this.

It didn't take long for Gooey to run into one of the residents, they were one of those flowery people with white petals around their face. They held a watering can as they proudly looked over their flowers.

"Hi!" Gooey greeted, "Are the plants here really desserts?"

"Hm?" The flowery person looked at Gooey before giving him a bitter look. "Oh, you must be with King Taranza."

"That's right!" Gooey said proudly. "He's taking us to his castle!"

"Well I hope he treats you better then he treats any of us!"

Gooey frowned, he tilted his head with a curious look on his face. "But isn't Tanza good now?"

Hmph!" The flowery person turned their back on Gooey. "Maybe to you, but I know he'll turn into another Sectonia at any moment!"

Well that was rude! Gooey stuck his tongue out at the person before he headed back to Taranza and Brother. Sure, Taranza did some awful things, but he was at least trying to be good. After all, Kirby and Dedede were willing to forgive him despite what he'd done.

...Actually, now that he thought about it. The people that glared at the group's direction weren't glaring at Brother, they were glaring at Taranza instead. He knew the spider would share his story soon, but it didn't stop him from wondering what he and Sectonia had done.

The group traveled further along the Dreamstalk until they reached Floralia's fourth island. It was covered in a dense jungle with ruins scattered everywhere. If it weren't for the fact that they needed to get rid of Nightmare soon, they probably would've spent some time traveling inside the Ruins.

Gooey rested against his brother as the two of them laid down in the shade, both of them had their fins tucked in as they rested in their Blob forms. Taranza sat down next to the two blobs as he looked at the sky. There were two other islands above this one, but the one he was looking at was further from the one they were resting on. It had to be Royal Road.

Even further from that, however, was a large, pink flower that bloomed at the top of the Dreamstalk. The flower had yellow heart-shaped tips like the smaller flowers that grew along the Dreamstalk. Gooey had heard stories about this flower, but even then it was hard to believe how close he was to it.

"I wish we had big flowers like that back home," Gooey said quietly. Taranza looked at the young blob and tilted his head. "But you live with Kirby, don't you?"

"I think he's talking about Dark Star," Brother explained.

"Oh yes..." Taranza began to frown. "It sounds like such a desolate place."

"Believe me, it was." Brother told him. "But...we were happy with what he had back then."

"I suppose you would be, I just wish you had better lives then what you were given."

"It's fine, really." Brother said positively. "I know things were rough, and they still kind of are. But I'm happy with the life I have right now."

"...Well I'm glad that you're doing better, Blade!" Taranza said as he looked at the large, pink flower above them. He started to frown. "You know...If both of you had gotten the chance to meet Sectonia,  then I'm sure you guys would've been great friends."

Maybe she would have. Gooey never had the chance to actually meet Sectonia, but from what he'd heard, she used to be a really kind person.

"Say, Tanza? How come Sectonia turned mean in the first place?"

"That's...we'll get to that when we reach Royal Road."

"Maybe we should refrain from asking such questions right now," Brother told Gooey as he placed a stubby arm on his back. Gooey nodded as he let out a deep sigh. He really wanted to know what happened to Sectonia, but it was probably best not to ask until they reached Royal Road.

As Taranza had said, the group made it to the final island by the time the sun had set. It was surrounded by a wall, though one of the doors appeared to be broken. Regardless, Taranza lead the duo through the door and allowed them to take in the sights of the island. It took a moment for Gooey to realize that they were already standing in a large castle, it was probably twice as big as Dedede's castle if the wall surrounding it was anything to go by.

"How'd you get the castle to look so big?" Gooey asked in astonishment.

"This wasn't my doing," Taranza told him. "Sectonia asked for her servants to gives her the biggest, most beautiful castle they can manage."

"I...fail to see the beauty in this castle," Brother said while he looked over some of the castle's details. The outer walls were colored green with red clothes hanging from them...flags, maybe? Not only that, the floor was covered in colorful glass. They reminded Gooey of those glass pictures one would find inside a temple or a museum.

Taranza sighed as he playfully shook his head. "I suppose everyone has their own definition of beauty. Now come along, I have more to show you."

The brothers looked at each other for a moment before they followed Taranza again. Whatever he had planned, it looked like he was finally ready to share.

Chapter Text

While the outside of the castle was colorful, the inside somehow had MORE color. There were all sorts of gems that stuck out of the walls. All of these colors made Dark Matter feel very uncomfortable, maybe even a little dizzy.

Not long after the group entered the castle, a small creature with pink hair ran towards them. She wore a red hat, an orange cape and she left behind blobs of color wherever she walked. Yet despite her appearance, she didn't seem to be malicious.

"Taranza, you're back!" the creature said energetically. "And...you brought friends?"

"That's right," Taranza said while he nodded. "The purple one is Blade and the blue one is Gooey."

"Ah, it's very nice to meet you two!" Paintra said as she grabbed Dark Matter's cloak with her cape, it was probably because he was closer. "I'm Paintra, Taranza's friend...or I guess 'servant' would be a better word..."

"Er...It's very nice to meet you," Dark Matter said, smiling awkwardly. From his own experience, he got the impression that the poor girl didn't know HOW to make friends.

"No need to sell yourself short, Paintra," Taranza told the girl. "You have every right to call me your a 'friend'. You're more than just a royal mage, you know."

"But...doesn't it seem a little disrespectful?"

"I'd feel disrespected if you DIDN'T call me your friend." Taranza said jokingly. "Now if you'll excuse us, I would love to show these two around the castle."

"Aw, OK." Paintra said in disappointment. Regardless, she crouched to Gooey's level and placed a part of her cape on the blob's head. "Well I hope that we'll get to know each other very soon."

"I hope so, too!" Gooey said as he formed arms to grab Paintra's cape. Afterwards, Gooey and Dark Matter began to follow Taranza again. 

"Now...as I'm sure you two know, Sectonia used to be my best friend. I may have been her servant, but that didn't change the fact that she saw me as her friend, too."

As the group floated, Dark Matter had noticed a painting that hung on the wall. Taranza was in the painting, but there was also a wasp twice the size of him. The wasp had a cold yet regal look on her face.

"Is this supposed to be Sectonia?" Dark Matter asked curiously. Gooey tilted his head, "But she looks so...scary."

"Maybe she did later on, but she really WAS a nice person before her death," Taranza told the duo. "She was one of the most benevolent rulers that anyone could ask for, she used to treat everyone as her equal even with her high status...But as a queen, she also had an image that she needed to keep. So as you could imagine, it took a mental toll on her."

"...Would you care to explain?" Dark Matter asked.

"Well to be blunt, she began to see herself as a fraud." Taranza explained. "She believed that she was ugly, and she was unfit to rule. So as a kind gesture, someone had given her a special mirror to help boost her confidence...However, that mirror worked a little TOO well."

"But it was just a mirror, right?" Gooey asked. Taranza shook his head. "It wasn't, for you see this mirror wielded a dark power. For a while, Sectonia would gaze into the mirror. And the longer she looked into it, the more self-absorbed she became. She'd even changed her appearance so that she would look more 'beautiful'."

"So why didn't you stop her?" Dark Matter asked. "Surely, you must've known that SOMETHING was off."

"I DID notice something. But as her friend, all I wanted to do was to make her happy. I believed that no matter how much she'd changed, she'd still be my friend. But understandably, not everyone felt the same way as her. So the People of the Sky sent a seedling to the surface where the Dreamstalk would grow."

"And that is when you met Kirby and Dedede, yes?"

"Yes it was, that was when I'd taken Dedede to Floralia while Kirby followed. I'd tried to use Dedede as a puppet as a way to take down Kirby, but... things hadn't worked out the way I'd expected. I asked Sectonia for help, but...she threw me aside like I was garbage to her. That was the point when I realized that I'd lost my best friend. She fused with the Dreamstalk so that she could feed off of this planet for all of eternity. And with no other choice, we had to help Kirby bring Sectonia down. So now...right now, she's been put under an eternal beauty sleep."

The brothers stopped as they looked outside the window. Once again, the Dreamstalk's flower stood proudly with its petals open to the world. It was hard to believe that what was left of the fallen queen was a vibrant flower. As Dark Matter knew, it was hard to lose someone that he'd cared for...but to help bring the end of a close friend...he couldn't imagine such a cruel fate. Although Taranza looked calm, Dark Matter could notice that he was trembling. Taranza was trying to keep his composure, and yet he was ready to fall apart at any moment.

"So what happened to mirror? Or the friend that gave her the mirror?"

"That friend..." Taranza looked down, "Do you really want to know what happened to him?"

"Of course we do!"

"Well, you see..." Taranza continued to look down, two of his hands were clasped together.  "The one who gave her the mirror...He declared himself king to make up for his own sins, along with Sectonia's."

Gooey's eyes widened as he waved a pair of arms. "W-wait, but that means."

"That's right...I was the one who gave her the mirror," Taranza said as a few tears fell from his own face. "I know that what you've been through was different, Blade. But I do know what it's like to lose someone important."

It was one thing having to kill your best friend, but it was another thing to cause their downfall in the first place. Dark Matter may have felt guilty for Lord Zero's death, but even then he couldn't imagine the guilt and pain that Taranza was going through right now. He had such a fresh wound on him, it was no wonder he hesitated to talk about Sectonia until now!

"You gonna be OK?" Gooey asked sympathetically. Taranza nodded as he started leaning against the wall. "You know...sometimes I still wish that I'd been the one that got corrupted instead, maybe then she'd still be here."

Dark Matter gave Taranza a worried look as he leaned against the wall. He brought Gooey close to his chest. "Like you, sometimes I still think I should've been the one to die instead of Lord Zero. But if I did, I then I doubt that he would've cared."

"I doubt he would from what I've heard," Taranza said with a nod. "Though I suppose it isn't fair to compare him to Sectonia, is it?"

"I agree, Lord Zero was never kind to begin with," Dark Matter told him. "But I'm happy to know that I'm not truly alone with these sorts of feelings."

At this point, he was happy to have befriended Taranza. He may have expected Taranza to be snobby and creepy, but he really was no different from Dark Matter when he thought about it.

He couldn't help but wonder how things would've gone had Sectonia still been around. But despite what Taranza had told him, he liked to believe that Sectonia would've forgiven him after everything that's happened.

Perhaps if things had been different, she could've been Dark Matter's friend, too.

After the group spent the entire day going through the Dreamstalk, it was time for everyone to rest...Or rather, everyone SHOULD be resting, but Dark Matter wasn't ready to sleep yet. Void knew what Nightmare was going to do to him tonight.

So instead, Dark Matter made his way to the top of the castle. He watched as the Dreamstalk swayed gently with the moon behind it, it was as if the large flower at the very top was dancing. It could've been the wind, but in a way he liked to think that Sectonia really was there somehow.

"Ms. Sectonia...I do not know if you can hear me, but...I hope you're able to rest."

The flower's movements began to slow down, Dark Matter could feel a chill go through his body. Regardless, he continued to speak.

"I know I'm just a stranger, but I'm sure that we could've been friends too had we met long before you changed. But I also hope that you don't hold anything against Taranza, either. He really wanted you to be happy, after all."

As expected, there was only silence. But after a few seconds, the wind began to blow and the flower began to sway back and forth again. He took it to mean that Sectonia did forgive him. Although Taranza was now the one who ruled the throne, it seemed like Sectonia still watched over Floralia in her own way.

"What are you doing?" Gooey yelled bitterly as he made his way to the top of the castle. The poor thing had bags under his eyes.

"Forgive me, Gooey. I just wanted to see top of the Dreamstalk again."

Gooey gave him a confused look, he was so tired that he couldn't really think. "Are you sure you're not just out here trying to get away from Nightmare?"

"Well maybe I wanted to look at the flower, too."

Once again, Gooey tried to think of what he was going to do next. He gently tugged on his brother's cloak and guided him back inside. "C'mon, I'll watch over you just in case Nightmare comes back."

"Yes, Gooey." Dark Matter said as he started following his brother. But before he went back inside, Dark Matter caught something from the corner of his eye.

For a moment, he could've sworn he'd seen a young spider with long hair. But when he tried to take a look at her, she was gone.

"What's wrong?" Gooey asked. Dark Matter shook his head. "It's nothing, let's go back to bed."

Chapter Text

...For once, it was morning when Dark Matter woke up. But when he thought that he'd been free from Nightmare's grasp, he found that he still couldn't move or speak.

"You know, I always did think that a change of scenery was a good thing," Nightmare said playfully. "I prefer to work during the night, but sometimes you can't help but sit down and watch the sunrise, you know?"

Dark Matter let out a weak growl. And upon hearing him growl, Gooey gently nuzzled against his brother.

"Now from what I've heard, you'll be going to the Fountain of Dreams soon. I personally can't wait to meet my new toy in person. There's something in particular that I really wanted to try out."

If Dark Matter could find any way to stab Nightmare, then he absolutely would. However, his thoughts turned to fear as Nightmare started to pet him again.

"I know, I know...you're a very angry little blob. But just for now, I'll be sure to save the torment until you reach the Fountain of Dreams. All right?"

All Dark Matter could do was let out another weak growl.

"Good, then I'll be seeing you REAL soon."

As Nightmare had seemingly disappeared, Dark Matter was able to move again. Gooey gave him a worried look, "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," Dark Matter said in a somewhat bitter tone. "I just wish that Nightmare would leave me alone!"

"Well, Meta Knight's s'posed to come over, which means that we can get rid of Nightmare, too."

Leave it to Gooey to think about the bright side! Dark Matter hopped out of bed and changed into his Blade form. "So what do you think we should do? Should we look for Taranza?"

Gooey nodded, "Sure."

The duo quietly left their room and looked around the castle. Dark Matter was still getting used to all the color on the wall. But now that he thought about it, they started to remind him more of insect wings, which was fitting given that this this place was supposed to be inhabited by bugs.

The duo made their way to the top of the castle. Here, Taranza sat at the edge as he watched the Dreamstalk sway contentedly like it did last night.

"Good morning, you two!" Taranza greeted as he looked back at the two brothers. "Did you sleep well, last night?"

"I slept as well as I was able to," Dark Matter replied. Granted, Nightmare wasn't being as sadistic of a bastard as he was before.

"That's good," Taranza said while smiling. "I'm sorry I can't show you all that Floralia has to offer right now, but there is plenty to do in the castle should you ever get bored."

"Do we got any food?" Gooey asked as he started to drool. "Because I'm kinda hungry."

"Oh! I could make you two breakfast if you'd like!" Taranza offered, Dark Matter couldn't help but tilt his head. "Are you sure?"

"Of course, you're my guests after all."

"Well if you insist..."

Taranza began to float as he lead the brothers downstairs, surely a quick breakfast wouldn't hurt...right?

Surprisingly, Taranza was pretty good cook. Granted, the food he made was just bacon and eggs, but it still looked good nonetheless.

Gooey, being the glutton that he was, dragged all of his food into his mouth. He let out a small burp as half of his body lied on the table. Dark Matter enjoyed his food too, of course. However, he found that he didn't like the taste of egg yolks very much. There was just something about the texture that he didn't like.

"...Would you like the rest of this, Gooey?" Dark Matter asked as he pushed the plate over to his brother. Gooey stared at the plate for a moment before he dragged the food into his mouth again.

"So how did you like it?" Taranza asked as he arrived with his own plate full of bacon and eggs.

"I love it," Gooey said with a content look on his face. "I dun think brother likes the yellow stuff in the egg, though."

Dark Matter frowned. "I could've told him myself, you know."

"It's all right, Paintra's the same way." Taranza said while he grabbed a fork. "She prefers her eggs scrambled, so I think you might like them better that way."

"But wouldn't that mean mixing the yolk with the white?"

"Yes, but I promise that you'll barely taste it."

"It's even better with peppers and ketchup," Gooey chimed in. "But not TOO many peppers."

"...I'll take your word for it."

Dark Matter stared at the ceiling as his mind began to wander. While he enjoyed the trip to Floralia, and while he was happy to get to know Taranza more, he had to wonder how the others were doing. He'd hoped that Kirby was doing OK, especially since he had Dedede and Meta Knight to protect him right now.

But what if Nightmare attacked them all? What if they were all turned into his puppets like Kirby was?

"You OK, Brother?"

Dark Matter came back to reality as Gooey waved his tongue in front of his brother's face. The larger blob nodded in response. "I'm fine...I'm just a little tired, that's all."

It went silent for a moment until Taranza began to talk.

"You know, there's something else I'd love to show you two if you're interested."

"Ooh, are you gonna show us more flowers?" Gooey asked excitedly.

"Well...yeah, I was." Taranza said while rubbing the back of his head. "That is, if you're interested."

"Uh...perhaps one look wouldn't hurt." Dark Matter said quietly. If he were being honest, he'd half-expect them all to be the same pink flowers growing on the Dreamstalk...Not that they weren't pretty, but he'd seen plenty of them while on his way to Royal Road.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to humor Taranza for a little bit.

The group headed outside, once they were done with their breakfast. While a few of the Dreamstalk's vines poked through the floor, there were several different flowers here as well. Not only did the Dreamstalk's flowers poke through, there were also tulips, roses, lilies, and even a few sunflowers planted here.

Sitting under one of the vines was Paintra, she held a book with her cape. When she noticed the group, she put her book down and waved. "Good morning, everyone!"

"Good morning," Taranza repeated. He then turned his attention towards the brothers. "Now, you can look, but you can't touch them."

As Gooey made his way over to the tulips, Dark Matter couldn't help but let his eye wander a bit. Much like the Dreamstalk, the flowers were like small creatures swinging in the breeze. He'd even noticed the tulips had eyes on them, though their eyes were all closed as they bathed peacefully in the sun.

Then there were the sunflowers. He could never get over how much they looked like his own kind despite giving off such a friendly warmth.

"...Did Sectonia ask for this, too?" Dark Matter asked. Taranza shook his head. "Actually, this was all my doing."

"YOU did this?"

"I like 'em!" Gooey said carelessly.

"Thanks you two." Taranza replied. "Flowers are VERY important here, so you tend to see a lot of gardens in this country. It's important to take care of them when you can."

"I try to take care of them, but it's more fun to paint pictures of them instead," Paintra chimed in.

Although his kind might not care for such things, Dark Matter couldn't help but admire the flowers that grew here. He sat down and watched as the flowers continued to sway in the breeze. While he had no plans to move out of Dream Land anytime soon, he would certainly be happy to visit Floralia again when he had the chance.

Chapter Text

It was night time again, and Dark Matter was curled up under the blanket with Gooey.

There was barely any sound, and the only light that was there came from Popstar's moon. But because he was so used to Nightmare showing up every time he slept, Dark Matter found it hard to fall asleep at all. It seemed like even when Nightmare WASN'T there, he still found a way to toy with Dark Matter.

He had to wonder if Nightmare ever tormented anyone just as badly. Dedede had to put up with him before, but even then Dedede was able to find a way to stop him from taking over the Fountain of Dreams.

But what could Dark Matter do? Every encounter he had with Nightmare were ones where he couldn't move. Plus the fact that he was waiting for him in the Fountain of Dreams didn't bring him any comfort, either.

He just had to hope that Meta Knight found his way to Floralia, soon. And when he did, at least that way he knew that Kirby and Dedede were safe.

The rest of the day went by pretty slowly. Taranza was busy with his servants right now, so Gooey and his brother sat in the garden by themselves.

Gooey couldn't help but notice how quiet his brother was...well, more than usual anyway.

"Did Nightmare get to you, again?"

"Surprisingly, no." Brother told him. "But I think NOT having there and expecting him to is probably worse than having him there stroking my spines."

That was a disturbing thought...Gooey knew that Nightmare wasn't a good person, but he never realized how creepy he could actually be.

"Ah...forgive me, Gooey. I did not mean to scare you."

"No! No! It's OK, it's just...Why would he do something so...weird?"

"It's just how he is, I guess," Brother said quietly. "And with Dedede...I can't help but wonder who treated him worse, me or Nightmare."

"But Nightmare just paralyzes you and pets you like a creep!" Gooey said. "You never did that do Dedede, did you?"

"I've never pet him, no. But I can't help but wonder if possession is any different from Sleep Paralysis. The only difference would be that the demon tormenting you is also the one controlling you."

That was one way to look at it, Gooey figured. Even without the ability to possess others himself, the idea of controlling someone else didn't sit right with him. His brother had this ability, sure. But even then Gooey hasn't seen him use it since they left underground. He may not have been the big hero Gooey thought of him as back when they lived in their old home, but he wasn't the big villain that he used to be either.

Soon, Taranza made his way into the garden. Not far from him was Meta Knight. Brother couldn't help but stare at him in relief. The Knight waved at the duo as a way to greet them.

"So good news, it looks like Kirby and Dedede have safely made it to Rainbow Resort," Taranza said excitedly. "Or at least that's what Meta Knight has told me."

"That's great," Gooey said excitedly. "Now we can get rid of Nightmare."

"I wish I could say the same, Gooey." Meta Knight told the young blob. "But there IS bad news." 

"Nightmare hasn't taken control of them, has he?" Brother asked with a worried expression. Thankfully, Meta Knight shook his head. "They haven't, last I'd heard from them."

"Then what's the bad news?" Gooey asked. Meta Knight looked away as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well...to put it simply, the Fountain of Dreams no longer looks like the Fountain of Dreams. Still, Dedede insisted that I guide you anyway."

"Do you think they'll have everything taken care of by the time we get there?" Taranza asked.

"We'll just have to see when we DO get there," Meta Knight told him. Taranza nodded in understanding before looking at the two brothers. "In that case, I say we should rest while we can. Because after that, we'll be leaving for Grape Garden."

Gooey looked at his brother, who looked back at him with a worried look.

"I'm sure they'll be fine, we just gotta trust them."

Brother replied with a nod. Though Gooey could sense how nervous he was, he was sure that everything will turn out OK in the end.

The sun was barely above the horizon, and yet the brothers already made their way downstairs. Gooey was wide awake and ready to go. However, Brother looked as if he was about to pass out at any moment. He was in Blade form, yet his eye was barely open. 

Waiting at the castle's main entrance were Taranza and Meta Knight. From the looks of it, they were talking about how they were going to reach Grape Garden. Taranza waved as soon as he noticed the two brothers.

"Good morning, did you sleep well?"

Gooey nodded, though Brother let out a bitter sigh. "I think you already know the answer..."

"Well, if there's anything that needs to be done, I suggest that you do it now," Meta Knight informed the duo. "Because once we leave for to the Fountain of Dreams, we might not come back for a while."

"And why do you sound like you're bringing us to our deaths?" Brother asked bluntly. Gooey tugged onto his cloak to gain his attention, he gave his brother a confident smile. "Dun be like that, maybe when we're done with whatever we're doin, we might just stay and relax at the Fountain of Dreams for a bit."

"Gooey's right, we'll just have to hang in there until all of this is over," Taranza said positively.

It seemed like everyone was nervous. Although Gooey wouldn't admit it, he also started to feel nervous. But he was sure that Kirby and Dedede were going to be fine. After all, if they manage to defeat Nightmare, then everything should be fine...right?

Chapter Text

Once the group was prepared to leave, they headed out of Floralia and flew to another place high above Dream Land. This place had all sorts of tall buildings, as well as many airships. The buildings themselves were even decorated with flowers. If Dark Matter had to guess, this was probably Grape Garden.

"Wow, there's a lotta ships here!" Gooey said with amusement. "That one's even got a face on it!"

"Which one?" Dark Matter asked. Gooey pointed to a tan blimp with a pink nose on it. After he noticed the ship, Dark Matter gave Gooey a nod. "Yes, I see her now."

"That's Kabula," Meta Knight told them. "She's actually Dedede's airship."

"Dedede has an airship!?" Dark Matter yelled, though he lowered his head as he noticed how loud he was. Regardless, Meta Knight nodded. "She's more than capable of flying by herself, but sometime she'll let Dedede or his servants pilot her instead."

"Oh, that reminds me," Taranza said with his eyes wide open. "Don't you have an airship as well, Meta Knight?"

Despite wearing a mask, it was easy to tell that Meta Knight was smiling. "Of course, you must be thinking of the Halberd! I've used Wheelies in the past to help power it, but nowadays most of its power comes from sunlight. Not to mention that it has all sorts of cannons, should we ever need them"

"You sound rather passionate about it, don't you?" Taranza asked. 

"It can't be helped, creating the Halberd was one of our greatest achievements."

"Wow...if only I had such passion for a ship," Dark Matter said sarcastically, which earned him a glare from Gooey. "Be nice!"

"It's fine, Gooey." Meta Knight told the young blob before turned his attention to Dark Matter. "As for you, Swordsman. You may not understand it now, but once you see the Halberd I promise your jaw will drop to the floor."

"Bold of you to assume that I have a jaw...But in any case, I look forward to seeing it!"

Of course, despite his teasing Dark Matter couldn't help but feel happy knowing that there was more to Meta Knight than just swords. His attention turned back towards the air ships that flew by, he honestly couldn't help but wonder how the Halberd would look if it flied with the other ships. It would probably stick out like a sore thumb, but the thought was still amusing to Dark Matter.

Soon, the group made their way to a mountain range, lakes and waterfalls appeared to be very common here. The mountains here weren't as tall as Cloudy Park's, but they were still pretty tall nonetheless.

Taranza sat by one of the lakes, he had a white flower in his hands. Gooey hopped over to him with a curious look on his face.

"What's that?"

"Oh! You startled me, Gooey." Taranza told him. "If you really want to know, it's a water lily."

"Oh, they're the flowers that frogs like!"

"That's...one way to put it," Taranza said quietly. He twirled the flower in his hands before he spoke again.

"You know, I've been thinking about adding a pond somewhere in my garden, though I'm sure I could gather some water lilies from Wild World should I go through with that plan."

"You should get a frog, then." Gooey said encouragingly. "They like to sit on the leaves and eat bugs."

"Hopefully they don't like the Floralian kind," Taranza said jokingly. "But a frog would be a nice pet to have. Why the sudden interest, anyway?"

"Well...I got my tongue after I saw a frog for the first time," Gooey explained. "I can't remember all the details, but I think that's what happened."

"Right...I forget that you didn't always look like this," Taranza said with a thoughtful look on his face. "Is it a common thing for Dark Matter to change their appearance?"

"Kinda," Gooey said with a shrug. "We got three different forms, but sometimes we'll mutate if something'll help us."

"So it's kind of like evolution, then," Taranza said as he put the water lily down. "You know, there's just something so interesting about your kind. I've compared them to wasps before, but I don't think you'd fit that description."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Well, wasps can be harsh on the outside, but very loyal to their queen. You're not very harsh, and though you are loyal, you weren't exactly loyal to Zero."

"Then what sort of wasp would I be?" Gooey asked. Taranza had to think for a moment. "Well...you're the kind of wasp that got banished and made his life better."

"They can do that?" Gooey asked with amusement, Taranza replied with a shrug. "I would think so, the wasps I've met aside from Sectonia were all pretty nice..."

Gooey wasn't sure what kind of wasps Taranza was talking about exactly, but hearing about it made him feel pretty happy. Maybe one day, he'll get to meet these wasps, too.

"Anyway," Taranza said as he stood up, "I think it's about time that we reunited with Meta Knight and Blade. Don't you agree, Gooey?"

"Of course!" Gooey said as he followed Taranza. As nice as it was in Yogurt Yard, They still needed to get to Rainbow Resort as soon as possible.

Eventually, the group made their way to Orange Ocean. It was easy to see how this place got its name. The sky was orange, some of the plants were orange, and even the water itself looked like orange juice with ice cubes floating on its surface.

Dark Matter stared at a large airship, which Meta Knight called the Halberd. Although impressed, he couldn't get past the bat-like wings nor the mask on the ship's nose. Nonetheless, Meta Knight flapped his wings proudly.

"What do you think, Swordsman? Aren't you impressed?"

"...H-honestly, I'm speechless." Dark Matter said as he wrapped his cloak around himself. Normally, he'd do this when he was uncomfortable. But for a sunny beach that bathed in Summer's warmth, Dark Matter couldn't stop shivering.

"What's wrong?" Meta Knight asked as he looked at Dark Matter with concern.

"I-Is it s-supposed to be THIS cold out h-here?" Dark Matter asked bluntly. Meta Knight blinked in response. "I'm not too bothered by it, personally. But now that you mention it, it DOES seem a bit colder than usual."

Despite standing on a beach, it felt like the kind of temperature where most Dark Matter would cuddle for warmth. But if Dark Matter himself could fight Kirby in the cold and STILL survive, then he should be able to handle it for a little while.

"B-brother! Meta!"

The duo turned around, they could see that Gooey was shaking as well. "T-Tanza found s-something, you wanna look?"

"Of course, we may as well," Meta Knight said as he walked along the beach line. Gooey allowed Dark Matter to wrap his cloak around him as they moved. They found Taranza in front of a palm tree. There was a bit of frost forming on the leaves and on the trunk, which was once again an unusual sight.

"This usually doesn't happen in Orange Ocean, does it?" Taranza asked Meta Knight. The puffball tilted his head. "It does...but usually, you'd have to be further towards Rainbow Resort if you wanted to see ice.

"W-was it this b-bad when you left?" Dark Matter asked, Meta Knight shook his head. "There might've been a bit more frost than usual, but even then you'd still have to go pretty far from this point to start seeing it."

Dark Matter gave Gooey a worried look, Gooey gave the same look in response. Whatever happened to Rainbow Resort must've been awful, they could only continue to hope that Kirby and Dedede were fine on their own.

Chapter Text

Given the name, Dark Matter pictured Rainbow Resort to be a colorful place. Normally, he wouldn't have minded the lack of color, but in this case, it was enough to give him chills far beyond what the cold gave him.

The sky was pitch-black, it was as if someone had plucked the stars out of it. As for the water, it looked like a thick tar-like substance.

"I never imagined that Rainbow Resort would look like...this," Taranza said quietly, two of his hands covered his mouth in shock.

"Just wait until you see the Fountain of Dreams," Meta Knight said in a more serious tone. "It looks like someone covered it in black paint."

Gooey gave his brother a worried look, "D-do you think N-Nightmare might've gotten t-to Kirby and Dedede already?"

"I w-would hope not," Dark Matter replied. With that said, the group followed Meta Knight through Rainbow Resort. It looked so dull and lifeless, Dark Matter probably would've welcomed it had he succeeded in taking over Popstar. But he knew that this place was supposed to give people good dreams, so there was no reason for it to look like this.

Once the group had reached the fountain itself, they could see that Kirby and Dedede were nearby. They looked bored, but they appeared to be just fine.

"Kirby!" Gooey yelled as he tackled Kirby to the ground. "Are you OK? Did Nightmare get you?"

Although surprised, Kirby picked himself up and hugged Gooey. "We're fine, Gooey. I'm just glad that you're here."

"Took you guys long enough to show up, though." Dedede said as he impatiently crossed his arms. Meta Knight responded with a shrug. "We did get a little sidetracked on our way back."

"Doesn't surprise me," Dedede said before he turned his attention over to Taranza and Dark Matter. "As for you guys, I hope you had a good time in Floralia. Can't say the same for us, I'm afraid."

"So how do you suppose we get rid of Nightmare, then?" Taranza asked, all Dedede could do was shrug. "Well, I figured that he'd try to do somethin' with me and Kirby at first. But we haven't seen him. So, my second guess is that he'd want to go after Dark Matter."

"He...he did say th-that he wanted to t-try something with me," Dark Matter said quietly. "Th-thinking about i-it now, I c-can't stop shaking."

"Hey, it'll be fine," Dedede said as he placed a hand on Dark Matter's back. "Once Nightmare shows up, Kirby and I'll beat him up, restore the Fountain of Dreams, and then throw you into the water.

"...What kind of plan is that?"

"LOOK OUT!"

Gooey tackled Dark Matter without warning. There was a star-shaped light that barely missed Dedede's head and struck Gooey's side. It looked like it shouldn't have hurt as badly as it did, and yet Gooey looked as if he'd gotten the wind knocked out of him.

"GOOEY!" Dark Matter yelled as he lowered himself to examine his brother. "Gooey, please tell me you're OK. PLE-"

Suddenly, the same star-shaped light that attacked Gooey had struck Dark Matter in the head so hard that his mask flew off. There was pain that coursed through his body, it was as if he'd been struck by lightning.

Before anyone had time to react, an orb flew by and grabbed the two brothers. Dedede looked at the orb angrily. "Hey, what gives!?"

"Sorry, but I can't let anyone take my toys away from me!"

Everything was blurry for a moment, but once the orb changed shape, he held onto the two brothers like a couple of stuffed toys. He hovered over the fountain itself with a menacing grin. It was Dark Matter's tormentor, Nightmare.

"Now, I wasn't going to take the blue one, but what kind of person would I be if I separated my toy from his own brother?" Nightmare said as he squeezed Gooey with his fingers. "it just means that I have more ways to watch him squirm!"

Dark matter tried to call for help, but just like every other time Nightmare was around, he couldn't move nor speak. He was in too much pain.

"They're NOT your toys!" Dedede yelled angrily as he pulled out his hammer from seemingly out of nowhere. "Now let 'em go, or else!"

"Or else what?" Nightmare asked maliciously. "I thought that you'd be happy to see the one that possessed you and tormented you get what he deserved!"

"I wouldn't want that on my WORST enemy."

"Well, in any case. I guess it's time for me to bid farewell."

Nightmare created a portal over his head and flew inside. Dedede attempted to throw Kirby at the portal, but it closed tightly before the pink puffball could reach it. At this point, Dark Matter started to lose consciousness. All he could do was with that this would all end soon.

"Ugh..."

Gooey woke up with a sharp pain that coursed through his body, he slowly dragged his tongue into his mouth as he looked around.

He wasn't in Rainbow Resort anymore. Instead, he was surrounded by a dense fog. The good news was that there was no sign of Nightmare, but the bad news was that Brother wasn't here, either. After all, Nightmare took him too, right?

With whatever strength he'd gained back, Gooey made his way through the fog.

"Brother!" Gooey called out in an attempt to find him. "Brother, where are you!?"

The only thing that responded back was Gooey's echo. Regardless, the young blob continued to call out to his brother. But as he moved, he couldn't help but wonder if Kirby had gone through the same thing while he was here. He had to wonder if Kirby was forced into this foggy maze, and that was how he lost control of himself. And once he did, that was when Nightmare sent Kirby to Dedede's Castle. It was a horrifying thought. And with the way Nightmare targeted Brother, Gooey had to wonder if the same thing will happen to him?

After a while, Gooey felt as if he was just going in circles. No matter how far he went, Gooey couldn't feel his brother's presence.

"Brother!" Gooey called out, once more. He'd hoped that his brother would find him this time, but he still couldn't detect his presence.

"Is that you out there, Brother!?"

Gooey looked around for a moment as he heard his brother's voice. He was able to make out a spiky outline in the fog. Soon, his brother had finally approached him. Gooey still couldn't detect his presence, but maybe the world they were dragged in made it harder to do so?

"Are you OK," Gooey asked while he hugged his brother. "I tried to protect you from Nightmare, but-"

"It's all right now, little one," Brother said gently as he wrapped Gooey in his cloak. "I managed to get away from Nightmare, so we should be safe for now."

"But how are we gonna get out?" Gooey asked. His brother tried to think for a moment. "That's a good question...Perhaps we should rest while we think of a solution. And if Nightmare shows up, then I'll be sure to chase him away."

"Hopefully, he won't show up at all." Gooey said as he yawned. His brother replied with a nod. "I understand, Brother. But for now, try to get some rest.

Gooey nodded as he curled up against his brother's side. But before he dozed off, he could've sworn he'd seen stars on his brother's cloak.

Chapter Text

"Gooey, where are you!?"

Dark Matter searched frantically for his brother. From what he recalled, he was certain that Gooey was dragged somewhere into Nightmare's realm as well. However, the fog was so dense here that he couldn't see anything.

"GOOEY!" Dark Matter called out again as he kept searching. "Gooey, it's me!"

No matter how hard he tried to call out to Gooey, he would only be greeted with the echo of his own voice. Despite this, he was determined not to lose his brother again. He COULDN'T lose his brother again.

"Hehehe...look at you, desperately trying to find the only person who ever cared about you!"

Dark Matter jumped. He heard Nightmare's voice, but the demon was nowhere to be found.

"Where are you?"

"It's no use trying to look for me right now," Nightmare told Dark Matter. "But I think I might know where your precious little brother might be."

"And why should I believe you?" Dark Matter asked bitterly.

"Well I WAS going to help, but I guess it'll be better to let you rot in your own anger like usual." Nightmare teased. "Besides, I'm sure your friends might be around here somewhere, too."

Dark Matter huffed in annoyance, but he had no time to argue with Nightmare right now. He had to find Gooey.

Soon, he found his way in front of an old-looking tower. He couldn't tell what was on the other side of the entrance, he had to assume that it took him to another part of this realm.

As he thought about it, there was a good chance that Gooey went through here. There was nowhere else for Dark Matter to go, so he slowly made his way inside. However, he shook as he felt a chill run down his spines.

As Dark Matter entered the tower, he found himself in a large, grassy field. Just seeing this place made him feel sick. But if he had to guess, he was somewhere in the Grass Lands.

The further he went into the grassy field, he noticed there were a few tulips here minding their own business, as well as a few other creatures who walked by and ignored him. For a place that was somewhere in Nightmare's realm, it didn't look any different from the Grass Lands back in Dream Land.

Soon, Dark Matter made his way into a forest. Just like everywhere else, this forest didn't look any different, either. Eventually, he was able to see Adeleine stand on a log. It looked like she was painting a pictures of Chuchu, Nago, and Coo.

"...Did you get dragged in here, too?" Dark Matter asked. Instead of being greeted by the shy little human, the grip on Adeleine's brush hardened, she glared at him with a pair of red eyes. It was as if she'd been possessed by one of Dark Matter's siblings.

"You have a LOT of nerve coming back to Popstar!" Adeleine said viciously. "Why can't you just go home already!?"

The sudden venom in her voice caught Dark Matter off guard, perhaps this was one of Nightmare's tricks? Either way, he figured it was best to play along for now.

"Apologies, but you KNOW I can't!" Dark Matter argued. "You were there when it blew up, remember?"

"Well then maybe you should've blown up with the rest of the planet!"

Dark Matter was horrified to hear such things coming from someone like Adeleine...Or what appears to be Adeleine, anyway. She couldn't be the real thing, and yet hearing her voice say those things made his skin crawl.

"Look, Adeleine-"

"YOU BE QUIET!" Adeleine yelled angrily. She hopped away from her canvas and allowed her drawings to come after him. All three of them were yelling something different.

"Do you REALLY think we'd forgive someone like you!?" Coo yelled as he knocked Dark Matter down.

"GET OUT!" Nago yelled as he attempted to scratch Dark Matter, the blob scrambled to move as he nearly dodged the cat.

"You're not welcome here!" Chuchu yelled angrily as she tried to punch him.

It would be so easy to hurt them all, Dark Matter could just pull out his sword and slice everyone in half..but what reason would he have to hurt them? After all, he needed to save his energy for Nightmare.

With that in mind, Dark Matter fled the trio. When he looked back, he could see Adeleine chase him for a moment. "COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME, COWARD!"

He eventually found his way to another tower, it was similar to the one he'd seen before he got here. Dark Matter made his way inside. As much as he'd hoped that these illusions would end, he had a feeling that it would get worse from here.

As Dark Matter left the Grass Lands, he suddenly found himself inside a big, colorful castle. The walls here were decorated with gems, which probably meant that Dark Matter was brought to an illusion of Royal Road.

Someone floated in front of him for a moment. It was a young spider with long hair, there was a faint light surrounding her.

"Er...have we met, before?" Dark Matter asked. If he remembered correctly, he'd caught a glimpse of her back when he talked to the Dreamstalk. However, he wasn't sure if this was actually her or yet another illusion.

Without a word, the young spider quickly flew through the castle. As she flew, Dark Matter instinctively followed her. 

"Wait, where are you going?"

Again, the spider didn't say anything. She lead Dark Matter through the castle much like Taranza did the last time they visited. She looked back at Dark Matter before making her way to the top of the castle. But when Dark Matter made his way to the top, the spider was gone.

While he was here, Dark Matter took a look at the Dreamstalk. The wind blew it gently, but it didn't sway back and fourth like it did before.

"You're an awful person, you know that, Blade?"

Dark Matter turned around, he could see Taranza floating there. His hands were all curled up into fists. He looked as if Dark Matter had just committed a crime right in front of him.

"I...I beg your pardon?" Dark Matter asked. 

"You heard me!" Taranza exclaimed. "You're always going on about how Zero abused you and how he hurt you, but what about me? What about what I had to go through with Sectonia?"

He had to be another illusion, right? Just like he did before, Dark Matter decided to play along.

"You wouldn't tell me about her until we came to Royal Road," Dark Matter replied. "And even before then, you insisted that you stayed quiet about it."

"Because I know not to cry about it all the time, unlike you!" Taranza argued. "Boo hoo, I let Lord Zero die and its all my fault. Well you know what? Nobody cares!"

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!?" Dark Matter yelled angrily, he panicked as he quickly covered his mouth.

"And NOW you're going to disrespect a king?" Taranza scoffed. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, since that's the only thing you know how to do."

"Taranza-"

"Enough!" Taranza said sternly as a pair of scepters appeared in two of his hands. "Sectonia was always better with these sort of weapons, but I think I can handle them just fine on my own!"

Dark Matter screamed as Taranza nearly struck him with one of the scepters. For an illusion, this somehow felt real. The spider repeatedly tried to hit him over and over. When that didn't work, Taranza lifted the other specter. Black lasers flew all over the place, Dark Matter had no other choice but to deflect it with his own sword.

"I have no desire to fight you, Taranza!" Dark Matter said sternly.

"Too bad, because I want you GONE!" Taranza yelled angrily as the scepters in his hands turned into swords. He clumsily swung the swords into Dark Matter's direction. Once again, Dark Matter deflected the attacks with his own sword.

"You're the one who named me 'Blade', remember?" Dark Matter asked in a useless attempt to reason with him. "Not to mention that I always looked forward to seeing you whenever you were around."

"Does it look like I care?" Taranza asked bitterly. Using one of his free hands, he managed to tangle Dark Matter into a web. The blob could no longer protect himself, he shut his eye tightly as Taranza delivered the final blow.

...But nothing happened.

Dark Matter opened his eye as he examined his surroundings. Taranza wasn't here anymore, and the Dreamstalk no longer moved. The wind wasn't there, either.

"Forgive me, Taranza..." Dark Matter said as he headed back downstairs. Taranza would never say those things, right? It was just an illusion, right? And yet, Dark Matter felt as if his heart was going to burst.

He found the entrance to Taranza's garden. But much like he'd seen at the towers, he couldn't tell what was on the other side. If everything else was going to be harsh with him, all Dark Matter could do was prepare for the worst as he headed into the next area.

After going through Taranza's castle, Dark Matter found himself inside another castle, this time it was Dedede's. He could already tell that this was going to be hell.

As he made his way through the castle, the Waddle Dees that accepted once him were all hiding, some hid under curtains, others hid themselves under tables and inside of boxes. One of them almost stabbed him with a spear, and from the corner of his eye he could've sworn he'd seen Bandana Dee peaking out of Dark Matter's room.

...He shook his head, this place was just another one of Nightmare's illusions. However, given the anger and hostility he could sense here, Dark Matter couldn't help but compare the Waddle Dees here to his own siblings. Seeing them like this made him dread what Dedede was going to be like.

He made his way to the balcony. Dedede stood there with his eyes on Dream Land. Dark Matter was shaking, his heart felt as if it would burst out of his chest at any moment. Again, he reassured himself that this was all one big illusion. He wanted to say something, but he just couldn't bring himself to say anything.

This was Dedede, the same person who not only forgave Dark Matter, but helped him get through Nightmare's torment. This Dedede wasn't real So why was it so difficult for Dark Matter to speak?

"Hmph...You have a lot of nerve showing up!" Dedede said bitterly as he turned around. "Now, give me one good reason why I SHOULDN'T flatten you into a pancake!"

"I...Sire, you-"

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE CALLING ME 'SIRE'!" Dedede yelled angrily. "You think that after using ME as your puppet, you're suddenly on the same level as my Waddle Dees?"

"But I-"

"You THOUGHT you were, but you're not. You're nothing but scum, and I never want to see your face ever again!"

Dedede quickly pulled his hammer out and quickly lunged at Dark Matter, he managed to smack the blob into a wall. Before Dark Matter was able to pull out his sword, Dedede quickly knocked him onto the ground.

"Urgh..." Dark Matter slowly lifted himself as he looked at Dedede in disbelief. He wasn't real, and yet he wasn't playing around.

"Any last words before I finish you off for good?" Dedede asked as he held onto his hammer, Dark Matter didn't say anything.

"In that case, say hi to Zero for me!"

"NO!"

Before Dedede finish him off, Dark Matter released a dark beam that slashed Dedede in the stomach. Once he'd realized what had happened, Dark Matter floated away. "F-Forgive me!"

This wasn't real! THIS WASN'T REAL! Dark Matter wanted to scream, he just wanted to find Gooey and leave.

He wanted to curse Nightmare for giving him these visions, but it wasn't like this was anything new to Dark Matter, either.

...Suddenly, a thought occurred to Dark Matter. Nightmare was the one who gave him these visions, but didn't he also have the ability to look through someone's subconscious?

Dark Matter was terrified of what the next vision would be. As much as he didn't want to do this, he had to see this through to the end. Maybe then, he'll finally be able to find Gooey and defeat Nightmare.

Chapter Text

After he left "Dedede's" castle, Dark Matter found that he was somewhere back in the Grass Lands. He felt as if a swarm of butterflies fluttered in his stomach. If the rest of these illusions were of any indication, he knew that the worst was about to happen soon.

It didn't take long until he found what looked like Lord Zero's remains. Dark Matter took a closer look, despite his body telling him to get away from this place. Not only was the eye here, so was the body. There was a large chunk of flesh missing from where the eye used to be, it was as if someone had deliberately scooped it out.

No matter how much time had past, and no matter how free he was, seeing Lord Zero like this was a disturbing sight. Dark Matter wrapped his cloak around himself, he wrapped himself as if his heart would burst out of his chest. He could feel the guilt overwhelm him once more, but there was something else. Was it anger? Was it fear? He couldn't tell.

"...Why?"

Dark Matter jumped as he heard Lord Zero's voice. The body began to move, and a new eye formed under the empty eye socket.

"Why would you do this?" Lord Zero asked miserably as a pair of wings formed beside hims. "Why did you let me die?

Dark Matter was frozen, Lord Zero rose from his spot and began to fly. As he did, a cactus-like tail began to form on his backside. The smaller blob wasn't sure what to do, but seeing Lord Zero like this made him want to vomit.

"You were supposed to protect me, so why is it that you're still alive and I'm not?"

"...Honestly, I asked the same question every day." Dark Matter told him, he let out a deep breath in order to gain some composure. "Ever since I found out what happened, I stayed hidden because I thought I didn't belong anywhere."

"And you don't!" Lord Zero said bluntly. "You're nothing but a useless waste of space, you should've been the one who died. At least then, you would've served what little purpose you had!"

Dark Matter took another deep breath, Lord Zero was an illusion like everything else. He wasn't there, he wasn't real.

"I...I know I have no purpose...but as someone once told me, I don't need one!" Dark Matter said, his voice was a bit louder than usual. "I've had so much good happen to me lately...I refuse to live with the guilt you've given me, and I refuse to be some toy you can get rid of at any second!"

Lord Zero glared at Dark Matter, he looked as if he was ready to kill his creation. "You were always so different from your siblings, it's too bad that I'll have to take your life in exchange for losing mine. It's only fair, is it not?"

With that said, Lord Zero attempted to attack Dark Matter by swatting one of his wings at him. Dark Matter dodged the attack as he swung his sword and released a beam of Dark energy at Lord Zero's wound. His creator flailed in pain as he whacked Dark Matter with one of his wings. Yet despite the pain, Dark Matter had to keep fighting.

Once again, he swung his sword in Lord Zero's direction. This time, he managed to shoot a few more dark beams towards his former leader. Lord Zero defended himself with his wings. Afterwards, he attempted to strike Dark Matter with his tail.

The fight seemed like it would go on forever. Dark Matter started to show signs of fatigue, and yet Lord Zero looked as if he hardly lifted a wing.

"Hmph...Do you really think you'll get rid of me so quickly? Even if you live, you can't erase all that you've done!"

"...Maybe so, but there is no point in dwelling in the past anymore," Dark Matter said loudly "After all...you're still an illusion like everything else."

"I beg your pardon!?"

"You've heard me," Dark Matter said as he put his sword away. "You're not Lord Zero, you're just another voice telling me that I'll never change. You're the voice in my head telling me that I should have died, and that I don't belong here. Nightmare has given you so many forms, all of which were...uncomfortable, for lack of words. But you know as well as I do that I cannot stay in the past."

"...What are you saying?"

"As I've said, I'm not going to live with the guilt anymore," Dark Matter said as he offered a piece of his cloak to Lord Zero...or rather, the being that looked like him. "I know I can't get rid of you, but the best that I can do is accept you."

The being stayed motionless for a moment before it lightly brought its wing to the cloak. If it had a mouth right now, it probably would've smiled.

"Perhaps you're right, the only way to find out is to keep going."

Soon, the world was engulfed into a bright light. Dark Matter couldn't feel anyone's presence here anymore, and though the light hurt at first, he knew he was going to be fine.

Dark Matter was curled up on the floor. When he looked around, he could see that he was inside the tower. The walls were grey, and the outside was just as foggy as he'd remembered. When he looked up, he could see that there was a long staircase that lead to the top of the tower.

...He could sense Gooey at the top. With that in mind, Dark Matter quickly floated up the staircase, he could sense another dark being was there as well. If he had to guess, he would guess that Nightmare was up there tormenting Gooey as well. He needed to hurry!

As Dark Matter reached the top, he found that it was free of fog. When he looked above the tower, Dark Matter could see that the sky had a purple tint. It was almost as if Dark Matter himself could blend in with it had it not been for the stars. Below the tower was the fog, it was so dense that it was nearly impossible to see the bottom.

"So you're finally awake," said a chilling voice. Although he wasn't paralyzed, Dark Matter could still feel his spines stand up. Despite this, the blob turned around and saw that Nightmare was behind him.

"I hope you enjoyed your little nap," Nightmare told Dark Matter, "Because I have other plans for you."

"Whatever it is, let's get it over with," Dark Matter said bitterly, he had a jaded look in his eye.

"What's this? You're not going to scream or argue?" Nightmare asked with a puzzled look. "No matter, because I'm not the one you're going to fight."

"What are you talking about?" Dark Matter asked bitterly. "WHERE'S GOOEY!?"

"Why, he's standing right here of course!" Nightmare said as he flew aside. Gooey stood behind the demon, his eyes were foggy and he looked as if he was ready to fight at any moment.

While he'd seen many illusions here, this certainly wasn't one of them. Instead of standing there in complete shock, Dark Matter pulled out his sword and attempted to swing it in Nightmare's direction.

"You BASTARD!" Dark Matter yelled as Nightmare continuously dodged his sword. "You had NO reason to drag Gooey into this, it's ME that you're after, not him!"

Suddenly, Dark Matter was tackled onto the ground by a blue fireball. For a moment, Gooey managed to knock the wind out of him.

The elder blob sat up as he shook his head, his eye widened as a star headed towards his direction. When he looked at Nightmare, he could see that the demon held onto a stick with a star on top...Wait, that thing must've be the Star Rod!

"You didn't think I'd let the little one fight on his own, did you?" Nightmare teased. Dark Matter growled in frustration as he tried to think about his next move. He obviously needed to bring Nightmare down, but in order to do that  he'd have to focus on getting the Star Rod from him. And before he could do THAT, well...

As much as he hated to admit it, he would have to knock out Gooey in order to reach Nightmare. Otherwise, he'd just get in the way like he was doing now.

"Forgive me, Gooey." Dark Matter said coldly as he raised his sword. He released a dark beam from his sword as he attempted to strike his brother, Gooey rolled out of the way as he tried to grab Dark Matter with his tongue. Dark Matter got out of the way, but he screamed as smaller star struck him in the back.

"You'd really go out of your way to hurt your brother?" Nightmare teased. "What a shame."

Dark Matter sat up slowly, his body still shook from the star. But before he could do anything, Gooey wrapped his tongue around Dark Matter and threw him onto the ground. He was stunned for a moment, but Dark Matter grabbed onto Gooey's tongue and threw him onto the ground as well.

Like with the voice in Dark Matter's head, The fight felt like it would go on for a while, and from the looks of it, Gooey and Nightmare were winning. Dark Matter held part of his cloak over his chest as he tried to catch his breath. But for some reason, Gooey looked as if he'd just gotten started. Then again, he hadn't gotten hit by those stars Nightmare used, either.

Speaking of which, Dark Matter's spines began to stand on end. He could tell that Nightmare was going to strike him in the back again. This time with an even bigger star. He could move out of the way, but then Gooey would get hurt in the process...

Of course, it wasn't like Dark Matter had a choice, either.

He jumped out of the way and dodged the attack. Although he expected it, his heart sank as he heard his brother scream. He refused to look as his brother lied there in pain.

Chapter Text

Dark Matter stood there with his cloak on his chest. It was hard to see Gooey knocked out like this, and yet it was the only option Dark Matter could think of.

"Oh, oops!" Nightmare said as he brought a hand over his mouth. "That wasn't supposed to happen!"

Dark Matter growled before he headed over to Gooey's side. He nudged him gently. "Gooey, are you OK?"

Though stunned, Gooey didn't seem to have the foggy look in his eye anymore. Dark Matter let out a sigh of relief. Although Gooey was stunned, he was no longer under Nightmare's control.

...But he wasn't done yet. Normally, Dark Matter wouldn't use this form for fighting, but he switched into his True Form as he faced Nightmare.

"So I guess that just leaves you and me." Nightmare said with his arms crossed. "So you want the Star Rod? Come and get it!"

Dark Matter's fins rotated quickly as he propelled himself towards Nightmare's direction. In order to get the Star Rod, all he needed to do was aim at the hand holding it.

Nightmare waved the Star Rod as he sent a barrage of stars towards Dark Matter's direction. The blob quickly dodged the attacks before he shot lasers from his eye. It was hard to aim without his mask, but he should be fine as long as he aimed somewhere in Nightmare's direction.

Fortunately, he managed to hit Nightmare's body. Unfortunately, Nightmare was ready to retaliate with more stars. One of them managed to hit Dark Matter, which sent another surge of light coursing through his body. He felt as if he was going to fall apart, but he needed to hold himself together.

Quickly, Dark Matter detached his fins and launched himself in Nightmare's direction. He bounced off of the demon's face and managed to knock him back. Dark Matter's fins quickly grew back before he hit the ground.

"Is that the best you can do?" Nightmare grumbled as he quickly grabbed Dark Matter with one hand. "Why aren't you flailing your sword around like before? I liked that one better."

"Because I don't exist purely for your entertainment!" Dark Matter yelled angrily. "You can call me your toy all you like, but I'm not going to succumb to your influence."

"Tch...such a hypocrite!' Nightmare said as he began to squeeze Dark Matter. "YOU were the one who wanted everyone else to succumb to YOUR influence, so why is it wrong for me to do the same thing."

"B-Because unlike you, I KNOW that it's wrong." Dark matter grumbled. "I refuse to stoop to your level!"

Nightmare glared as he squeezed Dark Matter to the point where he could barely breathe.

"You can act all high and mighty all you want," Nightmare said sternly, "but in the end you're in MY world. And what I say goes."

Dark Matter felt as if his eye would to pop out of its socket. He wanted to take down Nightmare, but the demon wouldn't let him go.

Suddenly, a blue blur flew by and grabbed the Star Rod that Nightmare was holding. Before the duo could see who it was, Nightmare was suddenly hit by a barrage of stars.

"Gah!" Nightmare shielded himself from the attack. As he did, Dark Matter was pulled out of Nightmare's grasp by a long, pink tongue.

"Gooey!" Dark Matter yelled in relief. "Did you get the Star Rod?"

"I ate it," Gooey replied as he released his brother and allowed him to fly on his own. Afterwards, he opened his mouth and waved the Rod around with his tongue. "I couldn't let him keep it."

"Right, so how do you suppose we go about this?"

"Um..." It took Gooey a moment to think. "How about you bring me close to Nightmare so I can hit him."

"It sounds careless...But I think it could work." Dark Matter said confidently. "I doubt it'll hurt him as badly as it hurts us, but if that's what Kirby used to defeat him, then we'll have to give it everything we've got."

Gooey nodded in understanding as he landed on top of his brother. He tucked his fins into his body and tightened his tongue's grip on the Star Rod. With Gooey prepared, Dark Matter flew towards Nightmare's direction.

"Hmph...Star Rod or not, I'm still going to take you down!" Nightmare said bitterly. He quickly teleported behind the duo and momentarily opened his cape. He released many empty stars, which shot in several directions.

"Hold on tight!" Dark Matter told Gooey, he felt the young Dark Matter form arms as he held onto his brother's back. Dark Matter quickly turned himself as Gooey shot a large stars in Nightmare's direction. A few were able to hit him in the chest. They knocked him back a bit, but he quickly regained his composure as he charged at the duo.

"Gah!" Gooey held tightly as Dark Matter dodged Nightmare's attack. The elder blob slowed down as Nightmare waved a hand, he threw more empty stars at the duo.

"G-GAH!" One of them managed to hit Dark Matter in the eye. It burned so badly that he couldn't keep his eye open. Meanwhile, Nightmare was preparing another attack.

"Brother, look out!" Gooey yelled as he pulled his brother out of the way of the stars. After a moment, Dark Matter recovered enough to be able to see again, though a pain still lingered. It was as if he'd stared at the sun for too long.

Nightmare dashed toward the duo, but once again Gooey waved the Star Rod. He waved it so much that it was able to slow Nightmare down.

The fight went on for a little while longer. Soon, it reached a point where neither Dark Matter nor Nightmare could keep up, anymore. Either one could be knocked down at any second. But if Nightmare was tired, then now was a good time to deliver the final blow!

"Are you ready, Gooey?" Dark Matter asked his brother. Gooey nodded as he charged the Star Rod.

"Not so fast!" Nightmare yelled as he attempted to swat the duo, but he was too late. Gooey swung the Star Rod so hard that a star bigger than the others managed to bring Nightmare to the ground. The demon landed with a loud "thud" while Gooey and Dark Matter gently landed beside him. Dark Matter swapped forms as he looked at Nightmare. From the looks of it, the demon was slowly dissolving into light.

"Hehe...You may have won, but know that you'll never get rid of me! And who knows? By the time I come back, I'll probably find a new toy to play with!"

Dark Matter hissed in disgust as Nightmare disappeared. Afterwards, he looked down at Gooey with a look of relief on his face. "I'm glad that it's all over, now."

"Yeah...but how are we gonna get outta here?" Gooey asked with a puzzled look, Dark Matter couldn't help but mirror the look on Gooey's face. "That's...a good question."

As if their question was answered, the world around them began to crumble. Dark Matter held onto Gooey while a portal opened above them. Quickly, they were pulled in by a strong force...

"..OOEY!"

"BLADE!"

"ARE YOU OK!?"

"COME ON, WAKE UP!"

Dark Matter's mind felt fuzzy as someone lifted him from the ground and started shaking him. When the blob could finally focus, he could see that Dedede was looking at him with concern. When the blob looked around, he could see Taranza let out a sigh of relief. Meta Knight stood next to him with a hand on his chest. Meanwhile, Kirby hugged a groggy Gooey. The young blob didn't have the energy to pull his tongue back into his mouth, yet Kirby held onto him and gently rubbed his cheek against him as if to tell him "Welcome back."

"You OK?" Dedede asked. Dark Matter lazily wrapped his cloak around Dedede and yawned. "...I'm just glad that it's all over and done with."

"I hear ya, kid." Dedede replied as he hugged Dark Matter back. "Once Nightmare was gone, I was happy to just go home and sleep like a log."

"So what should we do with the Star Rod?" Taranza asked. "It's not damaged, is it?"

"Uh..." Gooey barely lifted his tongue off the ground, Taranza took it from the younger blob's tongue as he looked down at Kirby. "So will the fountain be OK if we put the Star Rod back in its place?"

"Yep," Kirby told him. "Once you put it back, the Fountain of Dreams should go back to normal."

With that in mind, Taranza floated over to the fountain and placed the rod back where it belonged. Quickly, the black substance dissolved and turned into water. Mist began to form, and the stars returned to the sky. A colorful aurora began to dance above the Fountain of Dreams as well. Rainbow Resort finally lived up to its name.

Dark Matter could feel himself relax as his eye began to close, but it quickly opened as Dedede gently shook him. "You know, there's one more part of the plan that we still need to do."

"Hm...? What was it, again?" Dark Matter asked cluelessly. He nearly screamed as Dedede lifted him high above the ground, the penguin twirled around a few times before he threw Dark Matter into the water. It tingled as it touched his skin, but other than that he appeared to be just fine...if a little grumpy.

"You didn't think we'd forget about throwing you into the water, did you?" Dedede asked while he crossed his arms.

"Hey, you could've been a little nicer about it!" Kirby scolded as he gently brought Gooey to the water. As for the others, Meta Knight sat there contentedly while Taranza bathed under one of the streams that came from the fountain.

Despite being in such a cold place, the water felt so warm and comforting. Dark Matter could feel all of his stress and anger melt away, it was almost as if he was bathing back on Dark Star.

...Then again, this was probably better than what he had on Dark Star considering he had a much better family here.

"Hey!"

Dark Matter turned his head, Kirby swam towards him while Gooey sat on his back. "Whaddaya think? The water's nice, isn't it?"

"...I'd say it is," Dark Matter replied as he allowed the water to gently hold him. "To me, it just feels like a warm bath."

"Dunno...It needs more bubbles," Gooey added drowsily. Kirby's only response was a shrug.

"You know, Kirby...I did tell Dedede that I wanted to see this place," Dark Matter said as he looked up at the aurora. "And now that I see this place as it's supposed to be, I don't think I'll be able to get enough of it."

"Hey, we could always come back."

"I hope so," Dark Matter said contentedly. All in all, he was happy that Nightmare was gone for now, which meant that he would finally be able to rest.

Chapter Text

It was a quiet night at the castle, Gooey hung out in Dedede's room with a puzzled look on his face. This time, Dedede chose to play Checkers with Gooey instead, as he thought that it would be easier for the blob to understand.

Gooey tried to figure out where he wanted to move his pieces. He almost grabbed one before he changed his mind.

"You know, I really hope you DON'T take that piece right there," Dedede said while he pointed to one of his own pieces. It was close to one of Gooey's pieces, so Gooey took the piece and made it hop over Dedede's piece before taking it.

Dedede sighed as he crossed his arms and shook his head. "Hate to say it, but you're gettin' good at this, kid."

Gooey smiled brightly, he was almost at a point where one of his pieces could be "kinged". He really wanted to show everyone how good he was at the game.

"Hey, do you think Brother might like this game?" Gooey asked. Dedede replied with a shrug. "Maybe. Knowin' Blade, though, he's probably sulking in one of the balconies again."

"Hm...Can I go check on him real quick?" Gooey asked.

"If you want, it's not like the game's goin' anywhere."

"All right," Gooey said with a nod, "I'll be right back."

He headed out of Dedede's room and made his way through the castle. There weren't many people in the halls aside from the occasional Waddle Dee that patrolled the castle. At this point, even Kirby might've been sleeping right now.

Soon, Gooey made his way to the balcony. Here, Blade sat at a table with the red cloak wrapped around him. It seemed like he was wearing the cloak for comfort more than to stay hidden. He stared at the moon with a curious gaze.

"You OK, Brother?" Gooey asked. His brother looked at him before he tilted his head. "I'm fine, but tell me Gooey...What do you think Nightmare was, exactly?"

"He was a big jerk, that's what he was!" Gooey said bluntly, Blade couldn't help but laugh a bit. "That is true, but...I can't help but wonder if he has some sort of connection to the light like the Puffballs do...or maybe he's more like the fairies on Ripple Star?"

"Who knows?" Gooey replied with a shrug. "I just know that we don't gotta worry about him for a while."

"I suppose so," Blade replied before looking back at the moon. "But I can't stop thinking about it, I've heard stories about Dream Matter and beings made from it, but that's about the only connection I can make from it."

"Well, we dun gotta worry about him until he comes back." Gooey said positively. "And hopefully it'll be a while before it happens."

"You're right, I just hope that Kirby can rest for as long as he can until that day comes," Blade told Gooey.

"I'm sure he will," Gooey replied His brother nodded before he looked up at the moon again. He still appeared appeared to be lost in thought.

"Hey, wanna watch me and Dedede play checkers?" Gooey offered. "I'm getting really good at it."

"...Maybe I'll stick around for a little bit, because I plan on heading to bed soon, anyway."

Gooey smiled as Blade followed the young blob through the castle. His brother had gone through so much since the first time he came to Popstar, and there was still so much that he needed to get used to. But overall, Gooey was just happy to have his brother back.