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It was just another day in paradise in early 1996 MSK, at least to the few living in a certain massive bunker on Shiver Star. The creative, loving couple of Max and Beatrice Haltmann had lately been working on an unfinished Ancient computer they had come across seemingly named Star Dream. While they hadn’t tested it much yet, they were hoping to get it fired up soon enough and get it to work for possible interdimensional travel with its portal capabilities. This particular day was six days before the computer’s big test was scheduled, which was merely part of the excitement as it was coinciding with the seventh birthday of the couple’s beloved daughter, Susanna “Susie” Patrya Haltmann. She may not have been born with any of her mother’s magical powers besides an extremely accurate and vivid memory (her father was a scientific Ancient born without any of that), but she seemed to inherit all of her parents’ best traits - her mother’s bubbliness, optimism, and resilience as well as her father’s skills in technology, as she was already becoming extremely smart and showing incredible talent in creating things. On this specific day, as her parents were taking a break, Susie was sitting in their room with them and having ice cream, which was her and her mom’s absolute favorite treat (Max was less obsessed with it, but liked it well enough and was not so afraid to spoil his family on it when they wanted it). For a while, it was simply a nice, wholesome chat between the inseparable family as Susie beamed with excitement over what she had been doing lately and her parents made their pride and love for her clear. Eventually, Max walked out to get a quick refill for Beatrice, but right as he was walking out, Susie got a peek at an unusual picture on her parents’ dresser with five very happy-looking people in fancy outfits who looked somewhat familiar, yet that she had never heard of before. There was a funny-looking blue guy with a giant nose, a yellowish-white-haired lady about his size who looked very similar to her mother in all ways besides hair color (Beatrice’s hair was a blueberry black), and three little girls who looked very similar to that lady - specifically one with wavy bluish-black hair like Beatrice's, another with spiky orange hair, and one more bigger one with somewhat more straight blonde hair somewhat akin to the woman in the picture. Having never heard anything about any form of extended family (barely even understanding the concept), Susie just couldn't stop looking at the tiny photo in curiosity. She had understood for a while that her parents were pretty different from each other in a number of ways, from their appearances to their abilities, and that she herself was a bit different from both of them due to being a mix of those differences (although that never bothered her due to how much they embraced her anyway). Now she was really curious as to what she didn't know about each of them. She ended up staring at the picture for long enough that eventually her mother noticed and couldn’t help but feel bad about what she was surely about to ask. Sure enough, Susie asked who the people in the picture were, with Max just able to hear and feeling his heart sink as he realized exactly what she was seemingly about to learn about. Holding back tears, Beatrice shakingly told Susie that she would know someday, maybe even soon, but not right now. Susie asked again, but her mother reassured her that it was best if she waited until she were older to know the full extent of the people in that picture. Susie reluctantly went along with it, and despite her father’s barely hidden worries when he returned, they went back to their ice cream and somewhat salvaged the otherwise nice conversation. Even so, Susie kept the picture in her mind and was ready to wait until she was older to be told, especially by her mother, who those people were. Her parents quietly talked it over that night and reluctantly agreed that she needed to know about those people and her family's past sooner than later, as painful as it still was for them both and as young as she was, and they agreed that Beatrice in particular would tell her about them potentially as soon as days after her 7th birthday. Except, not even a week after that incident, it was assured that Beatrice would never get the chance to give her daughter that conversation. When the portal test actually occurred, a horrific malfunction (possibly intentional by Star Dream) sent the birthday girl falling into Another Dimension, and the only reason she survived the fall was via a protective bubble by Beatrice, her kind-hearted, joyful, beloved mother, who died moments after the explosion holding her loving husband's hand. Over the next twelve long years, Susie was taken care of by a lavender, fluffy alien named Garlude Fuzzen, became best friends with her daughter Sirica, eventually escaped Another Dimension with Garlude's crew called the Meta-Knights, became a top member of that team, and eventually believed that both of her parents were dead. Meanwhile, Max, who was left a widowed, heartbroken cyborg after the disaster, spent the next year trying desperately to find a way at home to save his daughter. When those wouldn't work, he spent the next eleven grueling years traveling the galaxy for a way to Another Dimension, keeping only his book of photos the whole time - including that one picture of those five people. Eventually, he finally found her in Floralia, high in the skies of Planet Popstar, the World of Miracles. That miraculous reputation was proven true even several miles into the air as the two remaining Haltmanns finally reunited, with Max embracing Susie and finally getting to see his daughter all grown up. He was allowed into the Meta-Knights, who would quickly become essentially family to him, and given a new home in Dream Land near the team, with him putting his most precious photos on things in his shack - again, including that mysterious picture. They were both happy enough with their current lives to not discuss that picture much, but every so often, Susie or one of their crewmates would ask him about it. Whenever any of the other crewmates would ask, including even his best friends, he would quickly turn them down or deflect the conversation around while seeming very sad and ashamed. Even on the rare instances when Susie asked, he glumly told her that they were some old friends that he was never able to return to. Even with Beatrice, in spite of much he would always miss her and have the trauma of losing her, he had long made peace with her passing and had focused more on the fond memories he had of her and everything she did for him and Susie. Whatever had happened to these people though, he clearly couldn’t shake it. It never bothered her all that much to not get the answers, especially given what a sore subject it seemed to be for him, but she still wanted answers more significant than whatever he was telling her. By the summer of 2016 MSK, she was more willing than ever to really press him for the answers as nicely as she could. The only problem was that he had spent the past year flying his ship around the galaxy as a test. Even with her and the entire crew starting to worry about his condition, she was hopeful for his safe return while also hoping to soon get the answers she had wanted for 20 years. Except, in yet another cruel turn of fate, that talk would never occur, because Max would never set foot on Popstar again. When he finally did return, it was as a shell of himself controlled by Star Dream attempting to mechanize Popstar. While the crew were able to save Popstar and return Max to his senses, right as he and Susie were mere feet away from escaping Star Dream, the computer's turrets activated and he pushed her out of the way to save her life. He died in his daughter's arms moments later and just like that, as far as she was concerned, Susie was the last Haltmann; and that picture that had mystified her for 20 years was forever going to go unexplained.

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It was now about a month later, and the Meta-Knights, that famous crew of heroes from Dream Land, were still reeling from the loss of Max. They were famous for how tight-knit they were to the point of basically being a family, which just set them up all the more to be absolutely heartbroken by the death of their beloved crewmate. They had never before been forced to deal with losing anyone for good, and even if Max was only among them for nearly eight years, he was such an integral part of the crew that he was comfortably part of their A-Team. That A-Team, now reduced to six, included their namesake and leader Sir Kirk “Meta Knight” Popo Pollie, his best friend Sir Michael “Mikey” Roger, his other best friend Dame Garlude Fuzzen, Garlude’s daughter Dame Sirica Fuzzen, Max’s best friend and recently resurgent ex-assistant captain Sir Vul Brainbird, and of course Max’s daughter Dame Susanna “Susie” Patrya Haltmann, last of her name. That crew, along with their six-person B-Team, may have been celebrated by the people more than ever for stopping Popstar’s mechanization, but they had obviously never felt less like celebrating, to the point where at least a few of them saw it as more of a kind of cruel cosmic joke than anything. But as for how they were trying to deal with it a month later, the whole team was now taking Max’s ship to Shiver Star for Susie to grab old items she’d want to take back home and to just try and cope with her father’s death. This was the exact ship that Max had breathed his last in, and with how painful it was for them to be in this ship - especially Sirica, Vul, and Susie, who had been in this ship with him when he perished - the only reason they were in this ship was because it was the only ship they had that they knew was capable of flying out so far. Eventually, they reached the old Shiver Star bunker and were able to park it inside its hangar. With it having been abandoned for 19 years, it was obviously an extremely eerie and emotional experience, especially for Susie, who hadn't even been here since her mother was alive. She spent hours walking through the bunker where she spent her formative years and combing through all of the old stuff here that her father had abandoned to look for her. She saw her old dog plush, the first things she ever crafted, and eventually a number of boxes of all of her parents' old writing. Even with how much there was and how emotional it was, Susie wanted to bring back as much as she could and not just leave it all to rot here. Yet the most emotional moment was when they remembered what was outside based on something Max had talked about a few times. Shortly after Beatrice's death, Max had a small, but durable dome built very close by to serve as her tomb. He made space in it for his body whenever he died as he was trying to bring Susie back from Another Dimension without leaving Shiver Star, but when he was eventually forced to fly out to look for Susie, it broke his heart to leave his wife's resting place several planets away. Even several years later, he still wished that he had Beatrice buried on his new, true home planet of Popstar, so that whenever he would pass away, he could be buried right by her side forever. Now they realized that maybe they could give him that. As they all went outside bundled up and found the tomb, Susie emotionally went inside to see her mother’s longtime resting place. Alongside her mother’s grave, she also saw a message from her father eulogizing her by describing how bright, pretty, and loving she was - qualities that Susie felt fortunate to be able to remember so vividly and fondly. She felt a little bad about the idea of interring Beatrice anywhere besides where she married Max and gave birth to her, but she knew that her parents would have wanted their remains to be buried together. So the Knights were able to unearth her coffin, which Max had made as close to indestructible as possible, and bring her and those old belongings onto the ship as a tearful Susie left her childhood home for perhaps the final time. Once they got back to Halberd Island, it was just in time for Max’s tomb on the adjacent shore he lived on to be completed with room for two to be buried. (The shack he lived in was badly damaged in the mechanization, which felt like the perfect bitter reminder of his tragic death.) So with that old message put in with them alongside a new message Susie had put in eulogizing her father, both Beatrice and Max Haltmann were finally laid to rest together forever, after 20 years of being physically separated by several planets and spiritually separated by the cruel bonds of death. Not long after, the Knights finished retooling the Halberd’s wings, which had been damaged during the Star Dream fight, from one wing on each side to two and christened the wings in memory of those who couldn't be there with them anymore. The left wings were named “Max” and “Bea” while the right wings were dubbed “Stanley” and “Lilly” in tribute to Kirby’s parents - Meta’s beloved big brother and sister-in-law - who had sacrificed themselves to save the universe 32 years earlier. Each wing had both real pictures and, if needed, art of their respective enshrinee embedded on them to further remind the team that they would always be with them. As the Halberd 2.5 stood complete at long last, the Knights all agreed that it was an emotional, beautiful tribute. Yet it could only help with healing them so much. Even if it did provide some satisfaction for Susie to bring both of her parents home together, it was obviously not great at healing the heartache that she was still feeling from her father’s death. And it certainly couldn’t provide much healing to the other Knights, as they were still struggling to fill the void left by their beloved eldest member. It was pain so much worse than any they had feared feeling before, and it could only heal so much over the next couple of years even as they became the most heralded team in all of Planet Popstar.

This is…

Meta Knightmare IV:
The Unforgettable Star-Studded Conclusion

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Let's now fast-forward all the way to early 2018 MSK and head way out into space. All the way at the edge of the Gamble Galaxy was a decently big, pointy-tipped station called Jambandra, which had several far smaller Jambastion station ships circling around it. And now there was a shadowy, deranged creature flying towards it. Once he got to the entrance, a couple of guards questioned him and he immediately said that he wanted to see who was in charge of this place, as he had some ideas. So they started dragging him through the expansive station that was Jambandra. There were plenty of halls and important rooms inside as this strange place housed hundreds of different people, though mainly these small, round, yellow-eyed creatures nicknamed Jammers. The most important part of Jambandra though was at the back, dubbed the Divine Terminus, where there sat a massive altar with a giant purple crystal heart and four people standing around it. Those people included a tall guy in a big white robe with only yellow eyes sticking out and three Ancient sisters who looked awfully similar to the girls in that mysterious photograph the Haltmanns had. The hooded man was the sisters' stepfather Hyness, and the three sisters included one with wavy blue hair covering one eye named Francisca, another with spiky red hair named Flamberge, and one more with a yellow hime cut named Zan. All four were pacing around the altar that contained that giant, purple heart called the Jamba Heart, which had four Heart Spears on the top. It was a strange, legendary seal that the family had been trying to break for years, regardless of the risk at hand in it releasing an ethereal being called Void - a being that, depending on if positive or negative energy was used to unleash it, would either be a positive, happy creature or a dangerous monster with the potential to destroy the universe. But Hyness, his mind long warped by the power of the Heart's negative energy, saw it as reaching the promised land. Even the sisterly trio, known as the Mage-Sisters, were divided on this plan, as while their leader Zan joined her father in inspecting the Heart, her younger twin sisters were quietly discussing this plan and how to stop it, as they were seriously concerned about their sister and father. They had kind of tried convincing Zan to stop before, but she was insisting that they had already come so far and were so close to making everything right. Once that seal was broken, everything would be alright again and they would all be alive and happy again in paradise. But the timid Francisca and hot-headed Flamberge knew nothing was going to fix it all like that and that they couldn’t potentially doom the whole universe in their own desperate delusions; not to mention they couldn’t lose what remained of their family after letting their father succumb to the darkness of the Jamba Heart, which had kept him completely under its control for several years by now. Zan wasn't corrupted like Hyness, but was committed to what her father was trying to do. The twins were now ready to try harder than ever to save their sister and stepfather from further hurting both themselves and the universe. But right before they could launch anything into action, they suddenly got knocks on the door by the Jammer guards, and in came that sinister knight, who had long been infamous in the Mirror World and recently become notorious above the skies of Popstar - Shadow Knight, or Adam, as he was known before his fall to darkness. He was no longer the good-hearted, yet arrogant hero he was in his prime nor even the calm, manipulative prince of darkness he was in his first couple of centuries as Dark Mind’s heir and eventual replacement. Now he was a completely unhinged freak with nothing on his mind but revenge - revenge against the inhabitants of Floralia, all of Planet Popstar, and everyone in the Gamble Galaxy whether they had wronged him or not; and his long-tortured soul could only watch it all in terror and shame. That said, he was still smart and strategic, and he would prove that at the Divine Terminus. As the family questioned who they were looking at, Shadow introduced himself as a long-weathered warrior (kind of true) who had fled from trouble (very true) and been framed by the entire galaxy for acts he had never committed (literally less true than anything Dark Mind had ever promised him); thus he was wanting to get payback against a world that had wronged him (uh…), and he had a feeling that this clan had a similar mindset (okay, that one was actually kind of true, but in a very different way). He wanted to join forces with this clan to take on the world, and Hyness and Zan agreed to join forces with him, hoping that he could be the final key they needed (although even Zan had a bit of concern and suspicions). Francisca and Flamberge couldn’t believe what they were seeing and were worried that Shadow was going to use their father to do whatever he wanted and then throw him and the three of them aside when finished, potentially to their doom. That was indeed exactly what Shadow had in mind, but when just starting to talk got both Hyness and Shadow agitated, the twins decided to just go with it, still afraid for their family. Now with the most deranged monster in the galaxy teaming up with such a bizarre clan, a perfect storm for disaster was brewing several planets away from Popstar.

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All the way back in Dream Land, things were quite different two springs after the mechanization crisis. While Popstar was understandably discouraged from embracing that much more robotic technology after that nightmare, there was still some advancement. In general though, Dream Land had been able to move on surprisingly quickly from such a mess, similar to how well it adapted to Floralia's sudden emergence. This was also when, alongside Kirby's legend growing some more, the Meta-Knights, after a decade of slowly becoming more and more respected, were now truly loved and hailed as Dream Land's other greatest heroes, even if the team itself didn't really like the timing of that praise. For one, while Max was generally remembered fondly in Dream Land with most understanding what happened, some weren't so quick to forgive him, especially those more seriously hurt in the ordeal. Beyond that though, while the Knights looked on the surface to have recovered by now, just a slight look inside would prove that things weren't the same. Max was such a fun, caring, and even somewhat wise presence that the team simply couldn't fill the void, even if he only spent seven years with them and even if he was missing for another year right before he died. Of course, though, everyone handled it differently. Even if they weren't the closest to him, Garlude, Mikey, and the B-Team still greatly missed Max and his presence on the team, not to mention that for Garlude and Mikey, he almost felt like something of a brother to them, similar to Meta. Vul, Max's best friend who saw him as a mentor, had been trying more quickly than most to simply remember the good times with him, although even so he still greatly missed his friend. Meanwhile, Sirica, who saw Max as the closest she ever got to a true father figure, had struggled to fill the void without one of her best mentors. Yet she also felt horrible watching the pain of her best friend who was like a sister to her, Susie, who was still reeling from her father's tragic passing. Not only did she miss all of the good times she had with her dad and not only was she still occasionally rattled by having neither of her parents left and being the last of her name, but she also still felt a bit of guilt deep down for both not stopping her father from flying and also for falling down in front of the turret and forcing her father to take the fatal shots. Her crewmates, who were at least great support for her, had assured her more than once that none of it was her fault, but she still always felt some guilt over how she lost her father and what she seemingly could have done to save him. However, the one who was ultimately devastated for the longest by Max's death wouldn't be his best friend, his protégé, or even his daughter. It would be his leader. Meta Knight had long prided himself on being not just the leader of his team, but taking care of and protecting them. Even more than most of his teammates did, he saw his crew as his family and had expressed more than once that he would fight to make sure none of them would perish before him. With both that in mind as well as how close Meta and Max were - to the point of Meta seeing Max as almost somewhat of a big brother like his late older brother Stan - it really shouldn't have been a surprise that Max's death absolutely devastated Meta. Not only did Meta greatly miss his friend and not only was it painful seeing Susie and the others grieve over him, but he felt immense guilt over letting even just one of his Knights die under his command. It didn’t matter that Meta wasn’t even on the same ship as Max when the tragedy happened. To him, the cold-hard fact was that he couldn’t bring all of his crewmates home, and in his mind, he had failed his crewmate and friend. In fact, in his mind, he had also failed Susie, his protégé and secretly his choice for the heir apparent of the crew. It also didn’t help that with the nearly-46-year-old Meta being just six years younger than Max would have been - not to mention some of the injuries he was taking, including his feet needing to be replaced with robotic feet almost seven years earlier - he was starting to get worried about his age and how much longer he could fight, not to mention the possibility of him dying on everyone. He long had absolutely no qualms about potentially giving his life for his crew, and he long thought that if, stars forbid, one of his crewmates would die before him, he would be even more empowered to die for those who remained. But after going through how Max’s death had impacted him and the others (not to mention how the others apparently reacted when he himself was briefly presumed dead five years earlier), he started thinking about what would happen if he was truly gone. Would his team rally together or implode without their namesake and leader? Would Dream Land be safe enough without him? How would he be remembered? What legacy would he leave behind? If he were fortunate enough to see Stan again, would he have made his brother proud? All of those emotions would come to a head during a team sleepover in the common room. These kinds of fun, relaxed hangovers had been a staple among the Knights for decades as a way to just hang out. Just less than two years after Max’s passing, they were only just starting to have them feel normal again. Yet this particular one took on a very different mood when Susie was reminiscing about her parents’ goal during their Shiver Star days of bringing Beatrice’s magical skills and Max’s technological expertise together to make things that would make the world better, and how much she loved that goal of theirs. These more emotional talks had been around in their sleepovers for a long time, especially since Max’s initial disappearance, so that on its own didn’t raise any alarms. But then she let it slip that she had lately thought about founding an organization to create such tech like that even if it meant leaving the Knights, immediately shocking her crewmates and Meta in particular. Even as she regretted saying it, her longtime crewmates did try somewhat awkwardly telling her that she could pursue what she wanted to if she wanted to make her parents proud, even if they all knew they would both already be so proud of all she had accomplished. Sirica in particular tried to be encouraging to her, but deep down couldn’t stand the idea of her best friend, her sister in all ways but blood, leaving. Meta then let his guilt get the better of him and told her that maybe she deserved better than to be affiliated with the man who failed her father. As soon as he said that, the entire room went silent in shock, and Susie just sort of quietly went to the hallway. A few minutes later, as the others tried salvaging the sleepover with a movie, Meta snuck out into the hallway and found Susie, apologizing for ruining the mood of the sleepover and telling his protégé that he would support whatever she decided to do. In response, Susie apologized for killing the mood first and stressed that she was only tossing that idea around in her head. Meta then admitted to her what he had kept secret to everyone for about seven years - that he had wanted her to be the next official leader of the Meta-Knights if or when something happened to him. After all, he wasn’t exactly getting any younger, and he felt like she had the brains, the leadership, and the heart to lead them through the future. Susie felt very honored, but also told him that he had years left in the tank to lead this team. Meta told her to just take her time in figuring out what she wanted to do, even if deep down, he still really wanted her to be his successor. As Meta started walking back to the common room, Susie, right before entering her room to try to unwind from everything, told him that she understood all of what he was going through, but that just because he was the name and face of the team, that didn’t mean he had to bear all of their burdens himself and that he couldn’t possibly blame himself for her father’s death. Even that, though, didn’t make Meta feel that much better. Ultimately, both were even more conflicted about everything after that horribly awkward night. Everyone was struggling to know what to think of everything anymore, and with the death of one beloved member potentially being followed not even two whole years later by the departure of another, even more crucial crewmate, the future of this once seemingly unbreakable crew was looking anything but certain.

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As for the many people who the Knights knew across Popstar, the past couple of years had brought their own sets of wild changes, albeit some of them being more positive. With the rest of Dream Land having near-fully recovered by that point, that spring was a more exciting time for its royal family as Prince Danny Taida was weeks away from marrying his fiancée Saila, with his adoptive father King Dedede being thrilled to welcome her into his family and almost as excited for the royal wedding as the couple themselves. In addition, Marx and Magolor, the silly yet lovingly married couple who had once employed and somewhat mentored the soon-to-be-princess, were joyfully running their dream amusement park Merry Ma-Ma-Land (pronounced like Mag-Mar-Land, but without the added letter after each “Ma” due to legal concerns), which had become every bit the delightful wonderland of both fun and success that the two had imagined their whole lives. Other people across Dream Land had continued to live well in general, including everyone from painters to animal groups to rodent gangs that we may or may not come back to. Yet one country just above them that wasn’t entirely in peak condition, albeit for a recent crisis totally different from the Star Dream saga, was the scenic sky kingdom of Floralia. Just over four years earlier, their beloved Spydeair queen Sectonia, who had already been fighting corruption from Shadow Knight for almost a decade, completely lost control and succumbed to her inner darkness. Even with the best efforts of herself, her family, and occasionally the Knights to curb it, and even with Kirby nearly killing themself to spare her life and weaken her corruption, the only way for both her and her beloved kingdom to survive was for her to retreat into the bud of the Dreamstalk she had merged with and put all her energy into holding off the darkness. All the while, her loving husband Taranza would abdicate the throne and search near and far for a cure to her darkness while her adopted Fairie daughter Pikiria "The Quick" would step up to be the new Queen of Floralia. Over those four years (during which they were actually unaffected by the Star Dream crisis), Pikiria had bloomed into a great queen in her own right, just as her mother had predicted. While she did give a good chunk of control to the council and people, she still led the rattled kingdom through a remarkable recovery that was already leaving it in a state almost as good as when her mother was in her prime. She felt like her mother would be proud of her if she could see her, and her father was certainly extremely proud of her. However, despite how proud he was of his daughter and how glad he was to see his homeland return to peace, Taranza himself was otherwise getting frustrated. He had searched all over Popstar and across several different planets for anything that could purify Sectonia and set her free from her 14 years of darkness and suffering, yet had found absolutely nothing, and was starting to lose hope. What didn’t help was the way Sectonia’s “retreat”, for lack of a better term, actually worked. Being merged with the immortal and indestructible Dreamstalk, she was taking in energy from both the elements - like sunlight at day - and being tended to everyday by a sizable group of gardeners that included Taranza whenever he was nearby. She would build up this energy in the day and use it to push back against the darkness at night when it would be the strongest. It was clear to even those outside of Sectonia’s perspective that this had all been enough for her to hold off her darkness for quite a few years. But even so, as the brightness of the pink bud was slowly starting to fade, it had recently been looking like regardless of all the help she had been getting from both nature and her loved ones, this brutal cycle was starting to wear on her, and if she slipped up and let the darkness pounce back again, then it could very well consume both her and any chance of her seeing the light again. When her life was initially spared, she was willing to take that risk if it meant the chance to eventually get to live a happy life with her loved ones, but now Taranza, who had the power to open the Dreamstalk’s bud and stop this retreat, was getting increasingly worried that she couldn’t be purified and that if anything would set her free, it would be to simply end her life and her misery. After all, she had wished for that option when the darkness kicked back in before her husband begged to try and save her. Now the former king was starting to wonder if that was the biggest mistake he would ever make, for both her sake and even somewhat his. It only got a little worse after the death of Max, who had become good friends and especially grieving buddies with him in the year since the crisis over their somewhat similar heartbreaks and tragedies with their wives. Without an empathetic friend like that and with even so much as a hint at an antidote nowhere in sight, Taranza's hope was quickly dwindling by the four-year mark of this miserable search. One afternoon that spring, Pikiria was taking a break in the royal family's sacred garden, the place her parents found her in the center of 26 springs earlier - the exact location marked by a sort of mini-Dreamstalk accompanied by the immortal peony her mother had proposed to her father with way back when. It was a display that had long symbolized the love the royal family had for each other, but like so many other things, it had become more bittersweet as of late. She then saw her father sitting on the edge and staring longingly at the Dreamstalk, where the love of his life was building up energy to fight the darkness that had haunted her for a third of her life, just as she had spent the daytime for over 1,500 straight days. Even Pikiria still got a lump in her throat looking at the Dreamstalk, as although she had spent the past four years all focused on taking care of the kingdom, she still loved and deeply missed her mother and hoped that her father could find a way to help her - although even her hope was starting to falter. As they both sat at the edge and looked at their beloved Sectonia in her flowery purgatory, Taranza began to talk about how his whole life, he felt a duty to protect her, and there was more than a little truth to that. Nearly 49 years earlier, he had hatched just a few weeks after Sectonia, and was his father's heir to the position of the royal family's top bodyguard (and entertainer, but that's besides the point). That alone meant that it would have been pretty much embedded into his DNA to protect the queen even if he didn't care much personally about her (although his father was way nicer and way better at preparing him for his future than Sectonia's mother was to her). But he would turn out to absolutely care so much about Sectonia. The two of them were inseparable best friends since pretty much since they hatched, and by their adolescence, that friendship had blossomed into love. That just made him all the more determined to protect her with his life, even when the two married and he was essentially promoted to king. (In fact, when they were engaged, he got seriously hurt protecting Sectonia from an attempted assassin and only survived because she stepped in to protect him in return.) They were both pretty capable of protecting themselves and each other, but for Taranza, it forever felt like he was the one supposed to throw his life on the line to protect her far more than however much Sectonia would try to protect him. He'd guard his rulers with his life regardless of how he felt about them, but especially with Sectonia, the love of his life. So with both the fact that he unknowingly gave her the Mirror that corrupted her and that he had struggled so much to help her, not only did he miss her so horribly, but he felt like he was failing his duty and failing her. As a concerned Pikiria watched her tearful father, he then admitted that he felt like he should have been the one trapped in there instead of floundering around free in the outside world while the woman he loved with all his soul was stuck in the Dreamstalk for now four years and fighting for her life and her very soul without any respite. His shocked daughter told him that he was doing all he could and that neither of them deserved to be in there. As she tried to calm him down, he couldn't help but break down into tears, prompting Pikiria to hug him. The demoralized Spydeair told his daughter that he desperately didn't want her mother to die, but he wanted even less for her to keep suffering. Pikiria, starting to shed tears herself, told him that whatever choice he went with, her mother would understand and that every bit of her soul would love him for as long as she possibly could, hopefully for eternity, regardless of what fate she met. After a few moments of quiet, Taranza, still hugged and embraced by his daughter, shakily told her that he missed Sectonia so, so much and wanted at the very least to just let her know one last time how much he loved her, to which Pikiria replied, "So do I, Father". He lastly told her how glad he was that at least he still had his little girl and that even if his bodyguard days officially ended decades ago, if she was in danger, he would do absolutely anything to protect her no matter what it did to him. While Pikiria wanted to appreciate how far her father would go to protect her, deep down, that just made her feel a little worse because after possibly losing her mother under such awful circumstances, she didn’t want to think about the idea of her father giving his own life to protect her - especially having been there to witness her father’s friend die to save his own daughter. She just told him in response that she hoped it would never come down to that, because she couldn't imagine losing both of her parents. They had spent the past four years hoping for a miracle, but as their beloved queen kept fighting for her soul and her family kept struggling to help her, they were starting to worry if this miracle was just going to wither into one big, agonizing mirage.

Chapter Text

By the early spring of 2018 MSK, Susie still hadn’t fully decided on whether she would restart her parents’ endeavors or stay on the Knights as their heir apparent. On one hand, she felt like she owed it to her family to carry on their legacy and use her skills in technology to help the world. But on the other hand, the Knights essentially were her family by then about as much as her parents were, and that’s ignoring the obvious fact that her father spent so long on that team. One night, struggling to get to sleep, she cracked and stepped into her father’s room, which he only ever went in whenever he occasionally stayed for the night in the Halberd. After his death and the destruction of his home, it was where all of his salvaged belongings were placed. However, rarely did anyone go in there, both because it was too painful and also because they didn’t want to mess with his old stuff. Yet she just felt like she had to go in here, just in case she could find something that would help her make up her mind or at least let her clear her mind of everything for a moment. She looked through his belongings and did get a little emotional, but couldn’t really find anything that really got her thinking. At least until she saw on his shelf a not-super-old journal of his. She had found it in his own ship - the ship that he died in - and placed it where she did simply because there wasn’t enough room in the box of his other old writings for it, but she had never read it out of respect. However, desperate for something that could help her make up her mind, she took a peek at the first page and saw a date of early 2015 MSK on it - indicating that he had written in this not long before his fateful flight - and saw her father’s writing saying, “Maybe I will finally tell her all of this. Let her know about that picture. But for my own sake, perhaps I should at least let this out on paper at long last.” Surprised, Susie got a good feeling about what this was and quickly snuck over to her room undetected, getting that old, mysterious picture out and beginning to read into what could explain questions she had wondered about for 22 years. But nothing could have ever prepared her for what she would find out.

Way back in the early 1970s MSK, Max was a little boy living on a far-off planet as the heir to the leader of the technological Ancients, with that leader being his cold, generally heartless father - although he merely called him "his progenitor”. (His mother Patrya was way better, but mysteriously died when he was very young.) His massive home island was split into two sides, with his half being where the technological and scientific Ancients lived and the other, slowly shrinking half being the home of the magical Ancients. The two factions had been greatly cooperative (if not exactly the brightest for those keeping track) for countless centuries and generations, but that relationship had been straining for a while before Max’s father came into power and started easily being the harshest yet. (Patrya did voice some support for the magical side, only to mysteriously die soon after.) Yet largely out of obligation, he was still taken to meet the magical Ancient royal family at age five, with its two princesses being the yellow-haired Crown Princess Anna and her beloved blueberry-haired little sister Princess Beatrice. While it wasn't supposed to mean much for his progenitor, Max and Beatrice immediately hit it off as they first met. They quickly became best friends and started meeting with each other whenever they could (which Max did lovingly describe), although that became harder and harder as the years went on and his father tried more and more to crack down on them. (They even gave each other nicknames that stuck for life, like "Dr. Eggboy" and "Blueberry Bea".) By adolescence, they had started developing feelings of love for each other, yet were afraid to admit them, especially given the state of the two factions. That was until they were alone to watch a particularly beautiful sunset and they ended up putting their hands on each other's hands. One slightly awkward moment later, Max tried to apologize to Beatrice, but let it slip that he liked her, prompting her to smooch him on the cheek and the two of them to lean on each other’s shoulders in one of the happiest evenings of their lives - the blossoming of a love that would last forever. Beatrice also got limited opportunities to show some things from her area, including her and her people's most beloved treat, ice cream. At certain points by young adulthood, he had even gotten to meet and become great friends with the rest of her family, including her older sister Anna, Anna's own boyfriend and childhood best friend Hyness, and her three daughters from a previous marriage named Zan, Flamberge, and Francisca. (Their father wasn't bad by any means and had been great friends with Anna since childhood, but it was a questionable and awkward arranged marriage set up at childhood despite her loving Hyness and the husband not being romantic, so when Flamberge and Francisca were five years old and Zan was seven, they were allowed to amicably divorce.) Anna's love with Hyness was clearly every bit as true as Max's own love with Beatrice, and the three sisters had a bond that was absolutely unbreakable, with Zan in particular having long promised to be the best big sister she could be. By mid-1988 MSK, it was a very exciting time for the magic royal family, as Hyness and Anna had gotten engaged and were about to finally get married, with her daughters already looking forward to having Hyness as their new father. Beatrice was obviously overjoyed for her big sister, and while Max doubted he’d be able to attend the wedding, he too was excited for them. But he was beginning to notice concerning signs from his father and the top brass around him, as they seemed even colder than normal. His father had been acting harsher and more borderline oppressive against the magical Ancients lately, and he had become even more upset about the mere rumors of his son being in a relationship with his enemy’s princess. But Max didn’t think things were going to get too bad. Then a couple of weeks before the wedding, Max and Beatrice, now about 22, were surprised when his progenitor convinced her mother to arrange for the lovers to fly out into space for a date, with Max’s progenitor promising that they wouldn’t be gone for long. The two were very surprised by this, but were happy to have what would be their biggest date yet. So they went into that shuttle with a handful of guard ships around them and Beatrice bringing a recent picture of her five loved ones who were just weeks away from the happiest day of their lives. It started off innocently and adorably enough, as the two of them loved being together with nothing but the beautiful openness of space in their way. But then out of nowhere, they heard a muffled, barely decipherable radio transmission saying, "Strand them." Before they could even comprehend that message, the guard ships suddenly started firing at them, albeit with electric shots not meant to destroy it, but merely incapacitate it. The two frantically tried to evade the attack, but obviously this vacation shuttle wasn't able to match the speed of the guard ships and looked doomed to get lost in space as it started losing power. But the two were able to bring their own abilities together to save themselves, as Beatrice was able to put a big bubble shield around the ship to try to protect it while Max, who had tons of experience in these kinds of ships, was able to manhandle it back into control until they started to lose them a little. But then they suddenly found themselves falling into the cold atmosphere of a planet blanketed in white. Max was only barely able to get the ship to land in one piece on what looked like a mix of gray and white. Then before either of the exhausted heirs could try to process anything, the spot they had landed on suddenly started lowering into a room of darkness. As the lights went on, the two were not only stunned by Max’s own father trying to hurt him like this - although Max felt like his life was intentionally spared because his father ultimately still cared about him - but worried about what he may try to do to the magical side, considering recent events. They walked out and found out that this was an abandoned, yet oddly well-preserved and enormous underground bunker with countless robots obeying them as servants. Yet even if it was surprisingly adequate at being a safe place to stay with everything they needed, they didn’t focus much on the bunker as they went hard to work on fixing the ship in hopes of returning home before, stars forbid, anything really bad happened. It was already crushing enough for Beatrice to be missing her sister’s wedding, but the uncertainty of the very near future was making her, and Max for that matter, extremely nervous. But even their worst fears couldn’t have prepared them for what would truly happen. After several weeks of using their combined mechanical and magical prowess to refurbish the ship in order to fly back home as quickly as possible, Max and Beatrice were just about ready to take off and hopeful to at least try to stop anything bad from happening back home. The ship though broke down again. But as frustrated as they were, they had at least a bit of hope that they would still have time if they got back to work again. But moments before they could start the ship up, that hope would completely die. Out of nowhere, Beatrice started feeling what seemed to be a powerful message in her head, which magical Ancients could send to relatives when using an extreme amount of power. As Max watched in confusion and concern, she started looking more and more horrified and distressed before suddenly opening her tearful eyes in shock. Just as Max tried to ask if she was okay, Beatrice held her hand to his head and telepathically delivered what the message said, mainly because she just couldn't bear to say it out loud. It was from her mother, who was completely in the dark about her location and just hoped that she was alive and safe. She was panickedly telling her that the army of the technological side had overrun the magical army and had been decimating the entire side with no mercy. She even told her that she was the only one of the family that would be left as she saw the inn Anna, Hyness, and their children were staying in explode. She had tried to tell her that she loved her and that she could never return home before suddenly her building, too, exploded and the message ended. As soon as it ended, the normally bubbly and optimistic Beatrice could only sit in stunned, tearful silence for a few seconds before embracing Max and beginning to wail in horror at how her entire home, family, and people had just been obliterated so horribly. Max returned the embrace and also began sobbing in total disbelief and horror at both the tragedy and the sheer scale of what had just happened. It also dawned on both of them why Max’s father had tried to strand them in space - it wasn’t out of at least some love for his son or even to keep them alive but it was to make sure that someone would survive to feel the weight of his horrific takeover without being able to help at all before slowly dying alone in space, and that meant both the youngest princess and the "son" who he saw as his biggest traitor. The two were left alone to mourn the deaths of so many, with Beatrice having just one photo to remember her big sister, the husband that sister only got to be married to for a week, and their three precious daughters who were taken far too soon - not to mention that she was suddenly part of an endangered race. For all she knew, she was all who remained, and even if she wasn't, she may never see any possible survivors again. The robots did try pushing them to be their masters, but there were obviously no emotions to them, making them useless in terms of having any empathy. For a couple of months, they had no idea how they could possibly proceed with life, as with everyone and everything they knew and loved gone and them stranded in the middle of nowhere, it seemed as though they had no future in sight and that the man who Max would forever refuse to acknowledge as his “father” had achieved what he wanted with them. But after a while, Beatrice started feeling a little odd, and while it was confusing for both of them, it wasn’t until a check-in with a surprisingly good doctor robot that they realized she was having their child. The two were stunned, but empowered by the idea of becoming parents. Even with the tragedy that had just unfolded, they were committed to picking themselves up as much as they could so that their child could have as great a life as possible. Upon giving themselves the family name “Haltmann”, they began further refurbishing the bunker into a true home. They also began using the massive amount of leftover materials in the bunker to work on creating tools, inventions, and all sorts of technology, with Max creating the physical builds and handling the technology while Beatrice put in however much of her magic was needed to truly make them as great as possible. While it started off as doing it for much-needed fun, it wasn’t long before they were able to provide this technology to wherever in the universe they could get it to with hopes of improving the world, just like how the Ancients of old had cooperated to make powerful tools. As the months passed by, the two childhood sweethearts married (the robots could indeed let them do that), and soon enough, Beatrice had given birth to their beautiful baby daughter Susanna Patrya Haltmann, who was named in part after her aunt and given a middle name matching the name of Max’s mother. (In fact, Bea would switch between calling her "Susanna" and "Susie".) As each of them held their little Susie in their arms for the first time with extraordinarily joyous tears in their eyes, Max, well aware that his beloved wife and precious daughter were all he had left in this universe, took inspiration from his oldest niece and promised both of them that he would do anything to take care of them, give them the lives that they deserved, and be the best dad he could possibly be. Ultimately, his progenitor had failed to break them. In Max’s words, Susie single-handedly turned both of her parents' lives around as they finally had such a bright light in their lives that was making them so proud. Yet even during the peak of those seven beautiful years, deep down, Max was never able to shake the feeling that he was at least somewhat responsible for his progenitor's invasion and the ensuing devastation and purge of the magical Ancients. It didn't matter how much Beatrice tried to let him know that he wasn't to blame for the purge of her people and that he couldn't have stopped it. In fact, for decades after that fateful day, Max would be plagued by nightmares of his progenitor showing up and restraining him as he targeted his family. At first, it was just Beatrice in danger, then her and Susie, and it became common for Max to wake up frantically looking to his side to make sure Beatrice was still there. Then after she died, it was just their little girl, all he had left of her and her family, in the crosshairs as his own progenitor mocked him for the death of his true love. Yet the basic horrors always remained the same. He truly believed that if his progenitor saw that his son had had a child with any magical Ancient, let alone their princess, he would not hesitate to kill his own so-called granddaughter the instant he found her, no matter how innocent or scared she was and no matter if she was the only thing left that made life worth living for his "son". In fact, that made Max even more shattered by the fateful portal incident that broke apart his family, and it drove him even further to dedicate over a decade of his life to searching for Susie. He already had both his own self-blame for the purge of his wife's people and his scars from losing the love of his life, so he couldn't bear the thought of allowing the death of his daughter, the only light he had left.

Then at one point in the journal, dated the same night as his fateful flight to Rock Star, he wrote that despite feeling a little bit of relief to finally jot all of that down somewhere, he just couldn't keep it to himself any longer, especially when he may very well have been the only one left in the universe to know what went down. He especially could not let those whose lives were already unfairly cut short completely fade into time and out of memory. Not to mention he was already regretting flying so far away from his crew - really his family - like this. So he planned out that he was going to rest at this inn for the night to, in his own words, "recharge, as is one of my greatest specialities". Then he would quickly fly back home, tell Susie everything he had been writing about and bottling up for decades, and then truly let his daughter know just how much she had always meant to him. Then he could let her know about all sorts of other things he experienced from back then and all the wonderful moments he had with her mother growing up. But first, he would go to the nearby junkyard just for a quick bit of reflection, as it was where he forcibly shrugged off a damaged hip, found his ship, realized the full extent of his perseverance, and began to fly to Floralia to finally find his daughter and, as it turned out, the rest of his family - the team who gave him a new lease on life and had made the past seven years the seven most thrilling he could have possibly imagined. In the final words of his writing, he said he'd reflect at that junkyard, maybe find some stuff he could use in the future, get a good night's rest, and then return to his true home. Except, as his stunned child knew all too well, he would never come home. In fact, just as she peeked at the rest of the pages expecting to see nothing, instead she flipped it upside down and found a lot of pages of nothing but preparing the next mechanization operation and how much value they could get out of a planet's resources. It was obviously not the writing of the real Max, but of the Max controlled by Star Dream on a path that ultimately ended in his death. Maybe Max had just enough good embedded in his controlled mind that even Star Dream's influence couldn't bring him to get rid of his true writings, at least not until "he" ran out of room (which was actually days away from happening before the fateful return to Popstar). Yet even glancing at those pages made Susie sick to her stomach. However, that sickness was actually the least of all the emotions she was feeling. It sank her heart all the more that if he hadn't gone to that junkyard, not only would he still be here, but she would be able to ask him more about her family. But even those emotions were little compared to how she was feeling knowing the full extent of her parents' story. She was beyond appalled and horrified that her own so-called "grandfather" had committed such horrible acts and robbed an entire people of their culture and their lives - not to mention that he destroyed her extended family, subjected her parents to so much pain, and likely would have taken great pleasure in killing her if he ever got the chance. Heck, if she were just misfortunate enough to be born a mere year earlier, she very well could have met the same fate as her cousins - caught in the middle of the horrific crossfire before she could ever get to live out even a sliver of her life. Even worse, had he not pulled off his odd plan with her eventual parents and instead just let at least Beatrice be slaughtered with everyone else, then she straight-up never would have existed to begin with. No wonder her parents never wanted to tell her about it, at least before it was too late. If that was horrifying enough to give her father nightmares for life, it would have absolutely scarred her as a child. Not even how miraculous it was for her parents to come together, nor those eerily timed words of love from her father, made Susie feel less stunned about what she had found out. She couldn't help but start crying and just felt like trying to salvage any more sleep, not even sure how she'd explain this to the rest of the team. By now, her future on the team was the absolute last thing on her mind. She couldn't even feel that happy that she finally knew who was in that picture after 22 years of wondering, because she also knew that she was never going to meet them or even get to know more about them due to them meeting the same horrifying fate as everyone else in that faction. Her aunt and uncle who had waited decades to be together and only got one week to enjoy being married. Her three inseparable cousins who were just children with their whole lives ahead of them and yet met such a horrible fate far too soon. Little did Susie know that not only was at least most of that family still alive, but they were now a day away from making her life and the lives of everyone she knew all the more chaotic.

Chapter Text

The very next day on Jambandra, Shadow and Hyness had been putting on the ritual to summon together enough nearby dark energy to open the Jamba Heart and, at least for Hyness, open up the promised land. All the while, Zan watched with anticipation and Francisca and Flamberge watched with fear. They started getting close to completing the Heart and unleashing Void, yet started running out of usable energy. Getting desperate, Hyness had the Mages start using their magic to spread out the energy. The three Mages did join in, but only one would stick with the plan. While Zan obediently used her energy to add to the Jamba Heart, Francisca and Flamberge channeled their concern and love for their family into positive energy that would give at least a chance at lessening Void’s negative impact and perhaps purifying their stepfather. However, this, combined with Shadow’s erraticness and lack of knowledge of the ritual, caused the Heart to become unstable, fly into space, and explode, sending Hearts all over Gamble Galaxy - a lot of them Dark Hearts to corrupt people, but another chunk being Friend Hearts able to purify people from darkness. Not only that, but Friend Hearts could also be wielded by those they fall on to purify others under many different kinds of darkness, including that of the Dark Hearts. But that was only a small minority of these hearts, which meant it wasn’t good when an enormous volume of them started flying towards several planets in Gamble Galaxy, including Popstar. The A-Team was just walking around town that evening when a small rain shower began, which would have already made them want to just book it back to Halberd Island. But then the Hearts started raining down onto the Dream City, forcing them to scramble for cover. All the while, the B-Team was relaxing in the Halberd when the long-upgraded darkness detector suddenly started going absolutely haywire with cases of Dark Hearts all over Popstar and driving the B-Teamers insane. They did see a few Friend Hearts coming down, with Meta even seeing one fall on Kirby and running to them in panic. However, that was when they all realized that the Friend Hearts were actually positive, which was good because right next to them, a pair of Dark Hearts fell on Danny and Saila and caused them to fall under its darkness. They quickly started lunging at and trying to attack Meta and Kirby, but before things could get too violent, Kirby threw a Friend Heart at both of them, which immediately purified them and also gave them the ability to throw Friend Hearts at others. Then they just barely noticed a Dark Heart falling towards the royal balcony where Dedede was trying to get a clue of what was going on. Immediately worried for him, Danny, Saila, and Kirby started sprinting towards Castle Taida. The Knights tried catching up, but when they kept running into Dark Hearts, they had to, ahem, “borrow” (for a good cause) a truck from a nearby Deelivery worker. Problem was while this Deelivery truck did shield them from the Hearts, it was obnoxiously slow, meaning they'd just have to hope whatever was going on wasn’t too much for Kirby and Saila to handle. Speaking of, when Kirby, Danny, and Saila did reach the scenic balcony of Castle Taida, their worst fears were realized when they saw Dedede chasing servants around. Ultimately, when the Knights reached the castle and started racing to the balcony, they could only listen as Kirby, Danny, and Saila were forced to fight their beloved, possessed king. One alarming discovery was that not only was Dedede ruthless in fighting, but he seemed to be strengthened by the Heart’s power. Even with Kirby’s abilities, Danny’s spear-fighting expertise, and Saila’s growing staff-fighting skills (thank some relatively recent training from both herself and surprisingly Mikey for that), Dedede was already being a tough fight with his souped-up hammer strength. And then just when he seemed to be on the ropes, he suddenly used the Heart’s power to grow himself and his muscles ridiculously big and buff. It got extremely hairy from there, and the fact that Danny really didn't like having to fight his own dad (same with Saila fighting her soon-to-be father-in-law) didn't help. Dedede then became even more hostile, recklessly bouncing around the castle that had just needed big repairs after half of the castle was blasted off by Star Dream. All the while, the Knights were stumbling through the castle and just hoping that the whole place wouldn't go down in flames again. The buff Dedede wreaked havoc on his three combatants, but it wasn’t long before the kingdom’s greatest hero, prince, and soon-to-be princess locked in. Kirby and Saila were able to distract Dedede just enough for Danny to pin his cape down with some spears. That allowed Saila to knock him down with her staff and finally buy time for all three of them to throw Friend Hearts at him just as the Knights arrived. Sure enough, Dedede was purified of his darkness and shrunk back down to normal with his kimono and robe shredded. They were all worried about him, but relieved when he quickly got up, with him initially confused about what happened and panicking as his clothes were a mess. (They weren’t exactly a cakewalk to make after all.) But within moments, the reality of him attacking his kids under the Heart’s control started searing into his head and he started apologizing in shame, although the others were quick to comfort him. They quickly realized the scale of what had happened and realized they couldn’t do it so undermanned, especially when the B-Team reported that the Dark Hearts were scattered across Popstar and maybe the galaxy. So to help cover their bases, Kirby put out the idea of bringing together a number of their combined groups of friends who all happened to be around the area at the time. Specifically, Kirby would travel across Popstar to chuck out Friend Hearts with help from the B-Team and their darkness detector while the Taidas and the B-Teamers would bring their list of people together for a meeting and perhaps an alliance. It seemed odd, but they felt like they didn’t have much else to lose. They quickly got their lists together and assigned people to where they would look: Mikey would go Merry Ma-Ma-Land, Sirica would go to the Quiet Forest, Garlude and Vul would look for the biggest airship on Popstar (it actually was not the Halberd, believe it or not), and Meta and Susie would fly up to Floralia. Soon enough, Dedede was getting the meeting ready in some party room, Kirby and the B-Teamers were ready to throw out some Friend Hearts (everyone in that room got Friend Hearts by the way), and the A-Teamers all headed out to where they could find friends old and new to fend off this crisis. One of those places happened to be Floralia, where they had successfully managed to shelter from the Storm. However, a few people had gotten hit by the Dark Hearts, and they couldn’t think of anything to do but just try to contain them and hope for the best - the situation in general obviously being very emotionally difficult for its royal family due to recent experiences with similar corrupting substances. However, just as Taranza and Pikiria at the Dreamstalk, they suddenly saw a Friend Heart fall on it. At first, they assumed the worst and got very scared, but then they noticed the brightness of the bulb light up a bit - a sign that she had gotten just a little stronger against the darkness. And that was when they started to wonder if their four years of futility may have finally been leading to something. Meanwhile, back at the Divine Terminus, once they all came to and noticed that the ritual had failed spectacularly, Shadow went completely ballistic at the failure as the deranged shell of a warrior started trashing the room out of pure fury. But before he could destroy the Fortress, the Mage-Sisters were barely able to calm him down just enough that he and Hyness merely demanded them to fly one of the Jambastion station ships to Popstar and take care of things there before each of them would fly to a specific planet to handle matters. Shadow even managed to huddle with Hyness and use his powers to look into his mind and see certain notable planets the Mages had been before, and for certain reasons, they were planets that each of them forever resented. Hyness and Shadow demanded that after the visit to Popstar, Francisca would go to Blizzno (the moon of Frostak aka Shiver Star) and Flamberge would go to Sizzlai (the moon of Lavadom aka Neo Star). Both were appalled and dismayed to go to those planets and Zan, equally upset to hear of her sisters going to those planets, insisted that they go to survey literally any other planets. But Shadow said that this was an order that could not be backed out of, although since he tolerated Zan the most for doing what she was told, he told her that while they could have sent her to Gabbel (the moon of Towera) - the mere mention of which caused even the horribly corrupted Hyness to flinch - instead he’d personally let her go right back to Jambandra. Zan was stunned, but Shadow reiterated that they would all go to all of these places, or else he’d be breaking off more than just the deal - his sword being brandished to prove his point. The three of them reluctantly agreed and went to one of the Jambastions, ready to head for Popstar. Deep down beneath the influence of the Jamba Heart, whatever wasn’t too buried of Hyness’s old soul was completely horrified watching what he and Shadow had made his girls do. But even his warped self questioned Shadow on why they all were doing everything this way, to which he replied that he himself was just trying to cover all his bases. But he knew every bit of what he was doing, willing to hold this entire broken family under his thumb to get what he wanted. What remained of “Adam” could yet again just watch in shock as his next sociopathic plan for control and domination went into motion.

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While Kirby and the B-Team flew across Popstar, and the Taida's prepared the big meeting, the A-Teamers split up and started their plans for finding everyone as the sun began to set. Luckily for them, everyone on the list, including those who normally lived far away, were in Dream Land at the moment, so it wouldn't take much time or effort to find them. First, Mikey went over to Merry Ma-Ma-Land, which Marx and Magolor had just temporarily "closed for crisis" in the wake of the Heart storm. Mikey walked through the eerily barren park, which was packed just hours earlier, and eventually went to its castle hotel to request the presence of Marx and Magolor. He went up to their exclusive luxury suite, knocked on the door, and was welcomed in by the inseparable couple, who were trying to look calm and like they were taking the crisis in stride. It didn't work on Mikey though, as he could tell that they were not only frustrated by having to close their beloved park, but rattled by the seriousness of the situation itself (which given that both had some less-than-joyous experience with being possessed in some way, I can't say I blame them). They just couldn't think of anything to do besides evacuating the place immediately, as they hated the idea of anyone getting hurt at their dream park, and hiding for cover in the hotel, as they were genuinely terrified about either one of them getting possessed again and potentially needing to be seriously injured, or worse. However, Mikey tried to calm them down and tell them that he, the other Knights, and the Taida's needed both of them for a team they were putting together to stop this crisis. He promised them that they weren't alone in their fears and that he totally understood that they were worried for each other. But he also tried empowering them by reminding them that they had already persevered through so much to be together and get to where they were. They couldn't give up now and let it all fall into jeopardy now. That was enough to encourage Marx and Magolor to tag along (and also start mocking themselves for being such cowards), switching their fancy park outfits for their familiar outfits and heading down the elevator with Mikey.

At the same time, Sirica was able to reach the Quiet Forest, one of the most famously relaxing parts of Dream Land. However, this time it was feeling a little too quiet for comfort as every creature there was hiding for cover. She eventually made her way to a log cabin with a picture of an easel next to it, indicating that this was the home of Adeleine, the most famous artist in Dream Land. The team had occasionally commissioned paintings from her over the years and all knew she was good at painting (like, really freaking good at painting), but they had never really known her personally. So Sirica wasn't really sure what to expect other than that she lived with a blob and some animals, who she imagined made up the other five friends she was looking for. She knocked on the door, only to get randomly and briefly yanked into the air by a tiny green bird and then mobbed on the face by some strange pink octopus right after she got dropped, and before she could have a chance to blast either of them, she was again threatened by an angry, fat, orange-and-brown-spotted white cat. But just as she was getting cornered, the door flew open and out came a relatively young adult human woman. (Yes, we humans are a thing in the Gamble Galaxy.) She immediately started chewing out the cat, octopus, and bird (named Nago, ChuChu, and Pitch respectively) and telling them to stop being so aggressive. After mentioning that they were her rowdier pets (she still loves them though), the woman introduced herself as Adeleine. Sirica introduced herself and brought up that she had come to recruit her to join a team with a bunch of Kirby's friends to help stop this Dark Heart crisis. Adeleine was intrigued, but before she could say anything, suddenly out of the trees behind them all came a pink-haired fairy woman (not a Fairie) and three more animals - much to Sirica's brief panic - that included a hamster, a purple owl, and a blue fish in a bowl carried by the fairy. Then out of the cabin randomly came a small blue blob with a silly mouth and two googly-looking eyes. Before Sirica got too freaked out, Adeleine started introducing all of her friends, first letting the fairy introduce herself as Ribbon, Adeleine's girlfriend and the queen of the heart-shaped planet known as Ripple Star (yes, she was on vacation). The three animals (all considerably less aggressive than the other three) were introduced, with the friendly hamster being named Rick, the klutzy owl being named Coo, and the low-energy fish being named Kine. Lastly, the quirky and absent-minded, yet friendly blob with a super long tongue and jumbled, child-like voice introduced himself as Gooey. Sirica could see how they were all close, but was questioning how Kirby knew them in the first place and that was when Ribbon dropped the expo-dump. (Bet you were starting to miss that, huh!) When the first Dark Matter invasion happened in 1995 MSK, Gooey (a seemingly “defective” member of Dark Matter who turned good), Rick, Coo, and Kine all helped Kirby take down the initial swordsman's wave, which seemed to make Adeleine a little sad for a moment. Then two years later, those four (alongside the three wilder animals) again helped Kirby fend off another wave of Dark Matter - which actually briefly possessed a then-ten-year-old Adeleine - and then take out its leader 0. Then lastly in 2000 MSK, when Dark Matter switched to threatening Ripple Star and several other planets, Kirby, Adeleine, then-Princess Ribbon, and Dedede all traveled the galaxy to stop it, culminating in Kirby and Ribbon vanquishing its final leader 0₂ and seemingly destroying all bad Dark Matter (thankfully excluding Gooey) for good. (Except, you know, it wasn’t totally gone for good, but that’s a different story.) From there, Adeleine was able to develop into Dream Land’s top artist (especially with a number of cool magic powers lent from Ribbon and the people of Ripple Star) and settle into the Quiet Forest with help from all the Animals while also taking in Gooey as something like a little brother. Meanwhile, Ribbon had been very successful as the new ruler of Ripple Star since her mother Queen Ripple abdicated the throne to her a few years earlier. They all thanked Kirby for helping to give them the lives they currently had, and were more than onboard with joining their other friends, as well as other living legends like the Meta-Knights, in this plan to save the universe yet again. After leaving ChuChu, Nago, and Pitch behind (as well as Rick and Kine’s wives) to hold the fort, Adeleine, Ribbon, Gooey, Rick, Coo, and Kine tagged along with Sirica to head off to Castle Taida.

Meanwhile, Garlude and Vul set out to find the biggest airship in Dream Land, and when they reached it just outside the Dream City's boundaries, they (especially Vul) wanted to gag themselves when they saw that it was indeed the home of the Squeaks, the traveling gang of shady rodents who had been the Meta-Knights' fiercest rivals for nearly a decade. They had introduced themselves to the Knights in 2006 MSK by hoarding Dark Nebula's chest and downing one of their mini-ships in an incident that inadvertently nearly killed Susie. They hadn't exactly gotten any closer ever since, as while Kirby was nice enough (even amidst the then-ongoing shortcake shortage) to convince them to not be violent thieves anymore, they would instead go to all the sites of trouble that the Knights would go to save; albeit instead of genuinely fighting for the good causes like the Knights, they would be going all for the glory. (Seriously, stars help you if you ever mention either “Holiday 2009” or “Chiffon, Raisin Ruins” in the same sentence as anything involving a mouse near the Knights.) They had been a thorn in each other’s sides for years, only letting up after the death of Max, who the Squeaks did have at least a tad bit of genuine respect for despite hating him especially hard and "not having the time" to go to his funeral. So Garlude and Vul were none too pleased about having to go up and be all friendly to these punks just because Kirby was all buddy-buddy with them 12 years earlier. ("You sure there weren't 31 other friends you could've picked instead?" was definitely what Vul was thinking and even grumbling to himself as he went there, and when Garlude tried to tell him it could have been someone worse like ex-Queen Layor, Vul just reacted with, "Gee, what an improvement these guys are, then!") The two entered their gaudy airship and were immediately ambushed by a horde of alert Squeakers, the gang's tiny group of lackies who had been sitting there in the event of a break-in. They were both struggling to stay upright and avoid being smothered until they heard a less-than-posh female voice telling them to calm down and that an old flightless friend and kind of older fuzzhead had returned. As the source of that voice walked into that entrance room, Vul scowled as it turned out to be the team's small, quick yellow so-called "duchess" fittingly named Spinni. She mocked the two for being dumb enough to willingly sneak into this place alone and thinking they had the right to step up to them just because they were on vacation. But before Vul could get into an argument, Garlude tried shouting that their old friend Kirby and the universe needed them and that he had to see their leader, Daroach. Spinni laughed at her, but decided she may as well take them up to the bridge. As they got there, they saw the team's kind of chubby, light blue, swirly glasses-wearing "genius" named Doc and their giant, blue, brawn-over-brains brute named Storo, both giving them unhappy looks. Then they stepped up to see Daroach, Spinni's husband and the gang's arrogant, gray (both physically and morally) leader rocking an admittedly cool red hat and cloak. (Yes, he was the same guy briefly possessed by Dark Nebula during that whole mess.) Daroach started smugly asking if they had come to concede something, like maybe Vul admitting that he was the fattest eagle in Dream Land. That prompted a furious Vul to loudly and suddenly ask him what he would do if, say, Doc died and how he would feel if the Knights just ignored his passing like the Squeaks ignored Max's death. Daroach said that he had at least some respect for Max, only for Vul to blast back that he didn't have enough of that respect to even consider paying, so why would they pay those respects to any of them - even his wife, an idea which enraged Daroach. But before the shouting match got too ugly, an annoyed Garlude shouted out that the Heart storm - which by the way the Squeaks had been too busy partying around to even notice - was a big enough threat to Dream Land that Kirby had wanted him and his crew to join up with a bunch of others to save the world. They all may have wanted to puke at the idea of joining forces with their biggest rivals, but the greater good took priority over their frankly petty rivalry. She even told him that it would make them bigger heroes than ever before. Daroach may not have liked the Knights or the idea of possibly having to ride in the Halberd, but he thought the reasoning was just good enough for him to accept. And so he, Spinni, Doc, and Storo joined Garlude and Vul in reluctantly running to Castle Taida as, even if it was like pulling teeth, the Knights had brought together most of their dream team. But the segment we have yet to cover had probably the biggest surprise waiting for them high into the sky.

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As their teammates were looking for everyone on the ground, Meta and Susie were flying off into the air (with help from the Dreamstalk) to bring on board their royal friends from Floralia, which they had visited occasionally in the four years since the Dreamstalk was planted. As they reached the royal garden behind the castle in Royal Road, they saw Taranza and Pikiria tending to the Dreamstalk, which they were aware of them doing every day. However, this time looked a little different than the rest, and there was good reason for that as Pikiria flew down to address them. Before they could ask about the mission, she started telling them that these pink hearts had fallen on the Dreamstalk amidst all the dark ones and had caused it to glow a little brighter, perhaps a sign that Sectonia was starting to fight back with more strength against the darkness and that these hearts could be the cure. Meta and Susie were surprised to realize that these pink hearts could not only purify the Dark Heart type of corruption, but even something as powerful as Dark Mind’s type of corruption. Meta then told the queen that with what they were trying to do to counter this crisis, they may find some more Friend Hearts. Taranza came down and realized that he and Susie had some Friend Hearts, but they were quick to let him know that their supply was limited and they may need to save them for later, as much as they really wanted to help. (Susie especially wanted to see this family get their miracle and stay together considering her own experiences.) Taranza was tempted to argue with them or beg for more Friend Hearts to be used on Sectonia. After all, he was clearly desperate for a cure for her, and he would have done anything - even sacrifice his very soul - to make sure she was set free. That she got to be saved. That she got the happy life she deserved. Yet not only did he understand that it would take far too many Friend Hearts to assuredly purify her, but he knew Sectonia better than anyone in the universe besides maybe herself, and deep down, he knew that she would unquestionably want Taranza to put the fate of potentially the whole galaxy over her own fate. It may have been that level of selflessness that helped contribute to her tragedy, but he wanted to at least respect her wishes. Meta and Susie then requested that he and his daughter join their mega-alliance of Kirby’s friends to save Dream Land from this Heart crisis, promising them that they would try as hard as they possibly could to save Sectonia if they could. Ultimately, they accepted it and prepared to head down, although not before they floated up to the Dreamstalk again - their former queen preparing to take on the darkness's full might as nighttime took over. They had no clue if Sectonia could hear them at all in there, but in case she did, they told her how much they loved and missed her, how proud they were of her fighting so hard for so long, and that if their miracle was indeed about to be delivered, then she just needed to hang in there for a little longer and everything was finally going to be okay. With that, the queen and former king of Floralia floated down the Dreamstalk alongside Meta and Susie, and this mish-mashed dream team was now complete. Time to hope the meeting wasn't an unmitigated disaster.

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Soon enough, the A-Team would arrive at Castle Taida in the night with 13 extra people in tow. They also quickly called Kirby and the B-Team, who had a bit of success in purifying everyone across Popstar, although obviously there was way more work to be done. They all went to the meeting room, where Dedede, Danny, and Saila were waiting after setting up the meeting with a few big tables taped together and a ton of chairs. Too many in fact, as the 22 of them would have to sit several seats apart. Oh, and just to lighten up the high-stakes mood of the evening on a tight schedule, they put on the first set of holiday music they could find and hastily strewed holiday decorations that had already gathered some dust in the past few months on the ceiling. Not exactly the most professional way to set up such a crucial meeting, but I guess it's the thought that counts? Turns out the decorations might not have been such an unfounded idea since this meet-up of the dream team would indeed be anything but a dream. As they settled into their annoyingly spaced-out seats, Dedede explained the situation they were in with the Dark Hearts and that with how widespread this was across the galaxy, this could very well be the single most grave crisis that Dream Land had faced in 32 years since the crisis that only ended once Stan and Lilian Pollie gave up their lives. Because of this grave danger, Kirby felt like it would help to bring together as many of their powerful past friends as possible to try and stop this trouble and whatever was causing it. Kirby was aware that not all of these guys were necessarily great friends with each other or even really knew about each other, but they picked them for a reason; they knew that all of them could be the perfect team to save the universe. They would travel the galaxy to look for the source of the Dark Hearts while trying to purify who they could with their newly-acquired Friend Hearts. Dedede then asked Meta if they may all use the Halberd 2.5 to travel across the galaxy, and he accepted it to the satisfaction of everyone there. That was, except for the Squeaks who were obviously and loudly irate that their larger airship was passed over in favor of their rivals'. Vul yelled at them that they had agreed to play by their rules and the others shut them up soon enough. But that was just the beginning of the grievances aired out that night. They started asking if Kirby themself was going to come with them, but Dedede said that they probably wouldn't. So then the recruits were asking why they were going with Kirby's uncle and his weird crew of all people whom, with all due respect, a good chunk of them had never even met. An understandably irritated Meta said that Kirby and the B-Team had the most positive energy from the Friend Hearts and so were trying to look out for their planet while all of them would be looking out for other planets and trying to get to the root of the problem. In essence, Kirby and the B-Team were on the defensive while all of them would be on the offensive. But then Marx mentioned that they overheard on the way to the castle that Sectonia and the Dreamstalk had taken some Friend Hearts, and so maybe they could free her to get more Hearts to throw. Taranza, conflicted between keeping his wife in her safer purgatory and setting her free early, simply sat in silence while Pikiria quickly blasted back that even the Friend Hearts they had now may not be enough to purify her; and not only would her mother rather be dead than be released while still even just partially corrupted, but that the darkness's hold on her was still strong enough that it could pose a serious danger to both her and to everyone if it took control again. She obviously wanted so badly to reunite with and release her mother, but she knew that doing that now would be disastrous for both her and everyone, and her emotional father just barely agreed. But Daroach said that the galaxy was already in danger, so why not go for broke and take that risk? He even told them that they clearly wanted her free, so why not make things better for everyone? Pikiria was adamant about waiting until they had a surefire cure to purify her; besides, they were still giving each other plenty of Friend Hearts. Taranza though asked if they would have enough Friend Hearts once this was over to use on Sectonia, to which those at the front could only say that they weren't promising anything, but that they certainly wanted to hold on to as much as they could to potentially save her. But Taranza wanted to be sure, as this may be the only chance they get to help her, and it was only once Pikiria tried to let him know the cold hard truth that he started to calm down again. This though prompted many of the recruits to ask a number of less important questions. The forest gang wanted to know if there were food and litter areas on the Halberd for the animals (there weren't), Marx and Magolor wanted to know if there was a way to manage the park remotely (they couldn't and it probably should have just stayed closed anyway until things were resolved), and more than a few wondered just how long all of this would actually take (good question actually, and the answer was probably a while). (By this point, the Taida's were really unsure if this holiday atmosphere was a good idea.) And of course, more than one kept asking if Meta was really the best leader for this operation. That was the last straw for an annoyed Susie, who proceeded to drop her mech onto the ground and demand order while insisting that Kirby was right and Meta was the perfect man for the job. She knew firsthand that he could manage something like this, as she had seen him lead their team through the past 14 years of ups and downs. She even said with slightly more hesitation (for more than one reason) that if he had been able to lead the whole team and keep them together through an event as traumatic as her father's death, then this should be easy. That quieted down everyone enough that they finally agreed that maybe this wouldn't be so hard. Then Meta and the Taida's started wondering what name they should have, because well, why not have a name? That threatened to start a whole new string of arguments, but fortunately, that wouldn't break out. Unfortunately, that was because they got a call from the B-Team, who panickedly told them that an enormous ship was landing in Raisin Ruins. It turned out that this was a Jambastion, led by the Mage-Sisters to check on how Popstar was affected by the Hearts. Once they got word of it, Meta basically went, "Screw it, we're the Star Alliance or something like that," and led everyone to the nearest ships to join Kirby and the B-Team at the Jambastion. Ready or not, the mission had begun, and the Star Alliance was on the move.

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The Knights arranged for the B-Team to return to Halberd Island and get the ship started up in case things got hairy while Kirby would join everyone else at the Jambastion. Indeed, it wouldn't be long until the rest of the Star Alliance arrived at this strange, large ship that was oddly in the same spot that the big portal would open up on every eight years. (Although it wasn't 2020 MSK, and so it was the only time the A-Team were ever unhappy to see that portal absent.) They were split into four ships; one had Kirby and the A-Team on the northern wing, another had the Taida's and Floralians at the southern end, one on the east had the forest gang, and the western part was the landing spot for Marx, Magolor, and the Squeaks. They were each forced to land on different parts of the ship due to some staunch security. They all got on the Jambastion and quickly ran into trouble. They were met by hordes of Jammers swarming them, but although some did try attacking them and were easily held off, they were mostly running from one of their own mini-ships to another for seemingly no reason other than to disorientate them. Storo commented on it by saying it was like an "Ancient fire drill", immediately prompting Marx to kick him in his large belly and Magolor to smack him in the face before letting him know how lucky he was that he didn't have feet too. But that faction managed to cool it down just in time for them to get chased into a room with a blue-looking hue, where they ran into Francisca. At the same time, the royal families of both Dream Land and Floralia were stumbling through the southern wing and running through the same messy hordes of Jammers, although at least the flight abilities of Taranza and especially Pikiria made it considerably more manageable. They were able to lift the Taida's into a room with a giant door, only to be forced out by a barrage of Cell Core creatures with water all around them (doubly not good by the fact that one of them was essentially a spider). Meanwhile, at the western gate, Adeleine, Ribbon, Gooey, and the Animals were also running through the gobs of Jammers, although it was actually pretty easy for them since Ribbon was able to fly Adeleine above them, Coo was able to carry Gooey through them, and even Rick was able to hang onto Kine’s bowl and get through the gang. But they got a little too passive and rocketed into a red-looking room, where they ran into Flamberge. The people all three of those groups ran into - and had never heard of before - would absolutely rock them, as they were basically clued in to attack first, ask questions next. All the forest gang had to counter Flamberge’s fiery aggression was Kine spitting some of his water at Flamberge, and even that alone could only harm her so much; not to mention, he couldn’t spit out that much since he kind of needed that water to live. Heck, the only weapons any of them had on them was Ribbon’s old Crystal Gun, which was actually awesome… 18 years earlier. Nowadays, it barely left a scratch on Flamberge. The clown couple and Squeaks didn’t fare much better, as Francisca’s powerful ice capabilities slowed even Marx and Magolor’s strongest powers to a crawl, and if the often-reliably fast Spinni couldn’t get anywhere near her, then do I even need to explain how humiliating it was for freaking Storo in there? Even Daroach couldn’t get anything going against her as what was often his most powerful attack, his ice beam staff, was predictably useless against a literal ice mage, who loved it more than anything. Meanwhile, Pikiria was just trying to keep her father out of the Cell Core’s water while the Taida’s had to hold off all the other enemies in the way as they were all sent scrambling. However, while all of their recruits were floundering, Kirby and the Knights were able to run through it all to the top of the Jambastion. And that was when the real shock and awe was about to happen.

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Kirby and the A-Team’s somewhat clean run through the top wouldn't last long, as the six of them would run into a yellow-tinted room and hear a voice talking about how she and her sisters didn't come for a quick surveying just for some strange idiots to try to mess the whole thing up. Susie asked who in the world she was, only for Zan to turn around and announce her name. Susie was absolutely shocked. That was indeed her cousin, the same blonde-haired girl in that picture who she had just found out about and thought had died 30 years earlier; and judging by what she said about her sisters, she wasn't the only one still alive. Zan then started fighting the Knights, and not only was Susie too distracted and shocked to fight that well, but Kirby and all the other Knights were totally caught off guard by her electric powers and lightning-fast speed. Her spear-tipped staff was as gaudy as it was powerful, and not only were even the fastest Knights looking pathetically sluggish, but they had nothing to counter her electric powers with. Not even Kirby’s assortment of capabilities could help much. Susie eventually tried loudly asking Zan if it was indeed her, but Zan was absolutely confused as to how anyone would recognize her, and that confusion only grew more as she took a closer look at Susie and noticed a faint familiarity in more than one way. In fact, she was also just a little too distracted as Kirby and the other Knights found an opportunity and quickly unleashed an onslaught on her, seemingly leading her to surrender. Susie then tried to tell her about how she was cousin and that she thought she had died 30 years ago. But before she could even say much of that, Zan got up, smashed the reactor core of the Jambastion, and jumped into her mini-ship before they could catch her. As the Jambastion started shaking around, Francisca and Flamberge got the memo and also flew off. In fact, as the Jammers and everyone got into their ships, it became apparent that all of their running around really was just to disorient them to the point of making it hard to escape. The B-Team did arrive with the Halberd just in time to throw some tracking devices onto Francisca and Flamberge (Zan's couldn't be spotted), but the entire Alliance was now in big trouble as the Jambastion began to implode. In the eastern part, Marx, Magolor, and the Squeaks had been so disoriented by Francisca's skirmish that they were bumbling through the halls, even with all of the goons gone. Eventually, though, Marx, Magolor, and Doc on his tiny UFO were all able to fly the other Squeaks back to the Halberd. Then on the south end, the Taida's and Floralians, tired out by the goons, were limping through the front of the station. But a resilient Dedede grabbed both Danny and Saila before all three of them were taken in by Taranza's web bubble while he himself was lifted out by Pikiria. Somehow, this wild chain worked as they also handily reached the gate in time to get to the Halberd. Then on the western end, despite being left especially exhausted and hot by Flamberge, Rick’s feet and the wings of Ribbon and Coo (plus the fact that Gooey could also fly, albeit in a far weirder-looking way) allowed the forest gang to handily get back to safety. But in a bizarre reversal of when everyone entered the Jambastion, while all of the other Allies got to safety without things getting too hard or close, the same could not be said about the crew that recruited them. Having had the shortest way to their respective room of anyone, Kirby and the Knights seemed to have an open path to the outside with all the goons gone, but then the gate got blocked by falling debris. Fortunately, though, they were able to use Sirica's Penta-Wrecker and Susie's mech to blow a big hole in the roof, just barely flying out in time before the top part imploded completely. Soon enough, all 24 Knights and Allies who were on the Jambastion had managed to flee to the Halberd to see the station implode onto the sand of Raisin Ruins. (Sure hope nobody in Another Dimension was staying under the portal spot two years later!) As they also saw the Mages flying off, they realized that now was the time to take the Halberd 2.5 into space, which it was thankfully equipped for. This was already becoming one of Popstar’s fiercest crises. Now it was going interplanetary, but the Meta-Knights and their Star Allies were ready for it.

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Meta and the B-Team were in the cockpit of the Halberd as it was prepared to lift off into space for only the second time since the Knights had acquired it, and the first since the Star Dream skirmish that had robbed it of its original wings and one of its men. It had originally been created as a state-of-the-art Ancient starship hundreds of years earlier, but after weathering everything from tough battles to the passage of time and technology (and also having some glaring problems due to being rushed out the door), it had bounced from one scrapyard to another as it age continued to show. If anything, Queen Layor’s laziness and cheapness in 1993 MSK was the best thing that could have happened to it (and literally nobody or nothing else), as the Knights had been the first people in centuries to see the potential in this ship. And after a 12-year restoration effort, the Halberd was finally soaring once again into the night. Its shiny new hybrid engine started firing up, its luxurious (and thankfully large) new visiting rooms were all warmed up and ready, and the wings were deployed for Max, Bea, Stanley, and Lilly to soar again. Even far away and barricaded in their homes, the people of the Dream City could see the Halberd take off and cheered as much as they could in such isolated conditions. Immediately after they exited Popstar's atmosphere, Meta called everyone to an urgent meeting to try and plan something out. But before she went to the meeting room, Susie went to her room and grabbed both her father's journal and the old photo of the distant family that she had believed the day before to be long dead. Just one night earlier, she never even thought about revealing this information to the Knights, as it was just too painful for her to find out about and felt like something her father would have still been hesitant to share. But knowing that they were all going up against that family, she knew that she had to reveal all of it. She arrived just in time for the meeting, where the Knights and Allies were going to at least try to craft a game plan for this. The tracking devices meant that they knew exactly where Francisca and Flamberge had flown, and while they were unable to put a tracker on Zan's pod, they could hopefully find a way to track her down too. They decided that they would split into three groups to confront them and hopefully take them alive before questioning them on what all of this was about; after all, they seemed to be among the most important people to whatever this strange Heart operation probably was. However, they couldn't really decipher who these three were or even understand anything about them. That however was when Susie stepped up, ready to reveal to dozens of people what her father had kept bottled up for three decades and almost taken to his grave. She projected the old picture of her aunt, uncle, and cousins onto the giant screen, with the Knights in particular remembering the picture and the Allies quickly recognizing the little girls as the Mages (and also a couple mocking Hyness, but that’s beside the point). Susie then summarized the main parts of what she had learned from that journal in hopes of it contributing to the operation. She relayed that 30 years ago, her father Max was the heir to the leader of the technological Ancients on a far-off planet while her mother Beatrice was the younger princess of the magical side, with the people in this picture being Beatrice's big sister Anna, Anna's fiancé Hyness, and Anna's three young daughters - Zan, Flamberge, and Francisca. In 1988 MSK, after sending Max and Beatrice away on a supposed vacation, ordering their supposed guards to leave them for dead, and ultimately unintentionally stranding them on Shiver Star, Max's father launched a devastating invasion on the magical half that claimed countless lives, seemingly including Beatrice's family. But while the telepathic message Beatrice got from her mother indicated that extended family was killed, it was now clear that at least her three nieces had somehow survived to this day and, for whatever reason, were all but certainly involved in this destructive Heart crisis. Everyone there, from Knight to Ally, was absolutely shocked and horrified to hear about what had happened decades earlier. The other Knights especially were stunned to find out that their beloved crewmate had lived through this and was haunted by his misinformed self-blame for the purge for the rest of his life. They could recall him never staying in his Halberd room for long because he "dreamed worse" in there and didn't want to bother them, but they never could have imagined that his nightmares were about this. Even Marx and Magolor, magical Ancients themselves, could only squeeze each other's hands (or wings) in horror. Both grew up on an experimental magical territory on a far-off planet that not even the technological Ancients knew of at the time of the purge - a set of circumstances that undoubtedly saved their young lives without them ever even realizing how odd their home was. (Magolor did remember seeing his mother cry 30 years ago - she lost several long-seperated relatives in the purge - but she never told him what really happened.) For as much as destiny had tried to hurt them, it seemed like even it had at least a sliver of mercy. The Allies weren’t exactly sure how this information was going to help them in the mission at large, but they were understanding that the Mages, however insane their actions were, had clearly been affected horribly by this tragedy (especially since they weren't sure if either of the Mages' parents were still alive). Either way, it was late in the night, and with tracking pods letting them know where two of the three sisters were going, they decided to finally settle in after a very long day. Before all of it, Sirica confronted Susie, still a bit shaken by her family’s story, and quietly hugged her best friend in support. Sirica told her that after hearing about how her mother had lost her big sister in that purge, she would try her hardest to make sure her own spiritual sister was okay, a sentiment Susie appreciated.

The Allies started slowly settling into the massive visiting room and its many adjacent lounges, but some weren’t quite ready to hit the hay, namely Mikey, Daroach, Spinni, Adeleine, Ribbon, Gooey, and Taranza. As Mikey came to check in on the Allies, the married leaders of the Squeaks started playing card games. Soon after, Adeleine, Ribbon, and Gooey, having just made sure the animals were getting to sleep, noticed the card games and walked there alongside Taranza, having also just checked if Pikiria was getting a good night's sleep. Mikey asked Daroach and Spinni how they weren't exhausted by how wild this day was, but the Squeaks' leader said that whenever they knew the next day would be a big one, the two of them would always play cards and think and talk through their plans before going to bed. That was even how they met. About seventeen years earlier, he had been a poor thief on the dark side of Popstar who was never respected by his family and probably wouldn’t even cut it on the Enemys of Common Sens if he was ever on them. He had been thrown in prison right alongside Doc (who had faked being a doctor), Storo (who had hurt so many people recklessly throwing his weight around that he was declared a public danger), and Spinni, who had wanted to live up to the legacy of her infamous thief parents only to get locked up for something as basic as jaywalking. They happened to all be locked up close enough for Daroach and Spinni to play cards at night, talk with each other about their troubles, and plan out their escape, which they and the other two would pull off at midnight. They stayed together as the Squeaks from there on out, and within two years, Daroach and Spinni had gotten married with the most beautiful diamond rings in the world. (Take a wild guess as to how they got them.) After fifteen years of marriage, neither of them would change a thing. Despite how shady they were, Adeleine couldn’t help but find their story kind of sweet, prompting Spinni to beat her at the game and ask her how her story went. Ribbon immediately protested, but a kind of weary-sounding Adeleine obliged. Back when she was a very little girl, she lived on some far-off planet with her parents and her brother Noir, who was eight years older. They weren’t exactly the most well-off family by any means, but they all loved each other and she was as happy as she could be. That was until age six, when her parents slowly gave up their lives to save her and Noir, and while her big brother tried all he could to keep her safe and happy, even she could tell how broken he was by the tragedy. That only got so much worse when Noir ended up getting not just possessed, but consumed and corrupted by a unique member of Dark Matter, with him only barely able to get her on a flight to Dream Land when she was eight before succumbing to it. She didn’t know anything that was happening to Noir at the moment and was perplexed as to why he didn’t join her on that flight to Popstar. But just months after she got to Dream Land, when Dark Matter invaded the area for the first time in 1995, she saw Dark Matter’s sword-wielding general be destroyed by Kirby (who had no idea about Noir's past); and when Gooey - a reject of Dark Matter who Noir had befriended and taken under his wing - told her that his lost friend was once named Noir, she was absolutely devastated. In fact, she was so distraught by her brother’s death that she briefly hated Kirby for it, although they soon after reconciled and Kirby allowed their animal friends to take care of her and Gooey. She had started becoming a painter in hopes of taking her mind off her tragedies, although it wasn’t helped when she was briefly possessed by Dark Matter in both of its following invasions. But then when she was vacationing on Ripple Star after helping to stop that mess in 2000, she started talking with Ribbon about what happened, brought up how she wanted to retain the status quo of being an optimistic girl, and then broke down into sobs over the weight of her family’s deaths. A shocked Ribbon, who herself had lost her father mere months before this stressful crisis began, did all she could to comfort her and let her know that she didn’t have to hide her feelings about something so awful. In the process, Adeleine ended up helping her cope better with her father's death. After that, Adeleine was able to start moving past it and become Dream Land's top artist as she grew up with Gooey and the animals. Meanwhile, Ribbon eventually became very successful as the queen of Ripple Star once her loving mother retired. All the while, Adeleine and Ribbon stayed in touch as much as they could during that time as best friends several planets apart, and in the past decade they had started to fall in love. Their story left Mikey and Taranza stunned, and even Daroach and Spinni seemed a little quieted down by it. Then Daroach knocked Taranza out of the game (he was almost as awful at card games as he was at swordplay) and put him on the spot to talk about what was bothering him. Mikey, well aware of what the former king had gone through, told him that he didn't need to say anything and that it was bedtime anyway, but he felt like he had to tell them anyway. He quickly told them how Sectonia, whom the others had heard a bit about, was more than just his queen or even just his wife; she was his whole world. She had been his best friend since they hatched, and the happiest years of their lives were those 12 wonderful years where they were married raising their great little miracle Pikiria, watching their beloved kingdom thrive stronger than ever, and thinking that nothing could go wrong - that was, until everything did go wrong. Pikiria had to fly out to a decade of training several planets away, Sectonia was crushed by both that and a possible crisis with the Mirror World, and when he gave her a mirror to make her feel better, it warped her mind and sent her into such a dangerous spiral for everyone that she was lucky to still be alive even if she was forced to stay merged with the Dreamstalk. While he and Pikiria wanted so much to set her free, she couldn't be let out as is without feeling so much pain and potentially being a danger to both herself and countless others. Even then, if they didn’t have enough Friend Hearts to purify her with when it was all said and done, then her hopes of the happy life she deserved could be extinguished for good. The others there had heard a tiny bit about their story, but were stunned by just how much this had affected him and how much he and Sectonia had gone through. Even the brash Daroach and Spinni were left stunned and firmly holding each other’s paws as they realized that when Daroach was briefly held hostage by Dark Nebula twelve years earlier - a situation that Spinni was quietly horrified by - this could have been them. Taranza though then said that even if the worst case scenario happened and Sectonia couldn’t be saved, then for as shattered as he’d be, at least he would have Pikiria, who had been excellent at succeeding her mother as the queen. He hoped that she fully knew just how proud at least he was of her and that even if she wasn’t his or Sectonia’s flesh and blood, she was the best thing he could possibly have left from her. In fact, his sleeping daughter may not have normally liked this attitude, but with him having been raised to be Sectonia's bodyguard, he felt all the more compelled and ready to guard the new queen with his life; if he had potentially failed his wife, then the least he could do was not fail their daughter. She may have been the grown-up queen and technically his superior now, but she would always be his and Sectonia's little girl, and if he let anything happen to her, then he may well immediately give up in despair and join his family in the unknown. They were so stunned that Adeleine, who of course was familiar with both loved ones getting corrupted and her only remaining family sacrificing themselves for her, couldn't help but hug Taranza and tell him that she hoped he and Pikiria could both get that miracle and get to enjoy it. She then painted a donut that magically became real and gave it to him, and while he was hesitant to take a bite, once he did, he quickly gobbled it down. Even Spinni patted him on the back out of empathy while Daroach slowly admitted that he was wrong to misjudge him. Mikey was again sympathetic to all of them, but he reminded them that it was time to pack it in, which was followed seconds later by Spinni racing to shuffle the cards and give herself an illegitimate win. She delightfully relished in the ensuing argument with Daroach before Mikey shouted at them loudly enough that they decided to just give up and get to bed before their ears got wrecked more. Then everyone was in their stacked beds and hitting the hay ready for the day of the big mission, unaware that it was only going to get crazier.

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As the Knights started planning and the younger Mage-Sisters flew to their assigned planets, Zan Partizanne made her way back to Jambandra, still feeling bad about going back to the base while her sisters went back to those specific planets. She entered the altar room and informed Shadow and her stepfather that some wannabe Knight and dozens of allies had attacked them in the Jambastion, forcing her to destroy the core and the three of them to fly out to their assigned planets. She then mentioned that while it was likely that at least some of the intruders had gone down with the Jambastion, they shouldn't underestimate anyone who potentially remained. Hyness seemed rather indifferent to all of it as he was clearly losing power in the clan. But Shadow was enraged to the point of trashing even more of the altar and at one point threatened to lunge at Zan before some part of Hyness stepped up and ordered him to calm down. Shadow then insisted that he would go to Gabbel in her place and take care of anyone who got in the way there. As soon as Shadow walked out, Zan tried to talk with Hyness about seeing Susie, still shocked by how familiar she looked. But Hyness was just too befuddled and sent her to make sure all the lackeys were in the right positions. Zan was getting increasingly frustrated and concerned with her warped stepfather, but she was also still perplexed by Susie’s appearance and even started hoping that at least she had survived the Jambastion’s destruction just so that she could have a chance at getting the answers to the questions she was just beginning to ask.

Soon after the shadowy Knight flew into the night towards Gabbel, one Fairie queen was flying through the morning across the Gamble Galaxy. Pikiria was flying to look for the planets that Francisca and Flamberge had been tracked to, as well as maybe looking for wherever Zan went. She was telepathically communicating the whole search to Taranza, who himself would keep everyone else updated. (Basically like just calling someone on a mini-ship, but more magical, faster, and, knowing the Knights’ luck, perhaps more reliable.) With a couple of great viewing cameras to help her out, Pikiria was handily able to confirm Francisca’s location on Blizzno and Flamberge’s location on Sizzlai, with some of the Knights already starting to plan out who was going where and even Taranza starting to relax a bit more and have some more of those lovely chocolate donuts Adeleine had just introduced her to. (Don’t worry, they actually go down pretty well for Spydeairs.) Then Pikiria started looking for where Zan could be, assuming that the stormy Gabbel moon in between them was where the lightning mage would be. Indeed, someone in a powerful position at Jambandra would be waiting there and was even managing to start a particularly powerful storm once they realized who was coming there. But it would not be who anyone from the Halberd would expect. She started flying into the atmosphere even as Taranza encouraged her to stop and let others arrive there on a mini-ship. Yet she couldn’t be deterred as she had to do everything she could as queen to improve their odds on this journey. Deep down, she felt like she had to do everything she could to help the odds ever so slightly of both resolving the crisis and saving her mother. Yet in this selfless pushing of luck, to her father’s horror, she was showing the same selfless self-abandon that had helped doom her mother, and this time it would bite again. As she started flying down, she saw a slight sign of yellow hair, but also some shadows around it. But then the lightning started striking around her, and it was so relentless that in trying to avoid it, even Pikiria the Quick started losing control and falling to the ground. As her father panickedly told her to relax and keep control, she kept plummeting. She was able control to herself in time to slow down her descent, but was still hurt when she landed. Then just as she started to lift herself, she “saw shadows coming” and blacked out. At this point, Taranza was in hysterics and absolutely consumed with panic over his daughter, especially as he started to wonder if Shadow Knight was there to go after her. With Sectonia's possible fate in mind, the mere possibility of something happening to Piki was his worst nightmare, and now it was becoming reality without him being able to help her. He was failing his family yet again. As the stunned Alliance tried to get him calmed down, he then insisted that he was joining whoever went to Gabbel to check on Pikiria. At that moment, the rest of the Alliance started sorting out their three groups, although they kind of had to rush it. Susie, Sirica, and all six members of the forest gang were going to Blizzno; Mikey, Vul, Marx, Magolor, the four Squeaks, and the six B-Teamers were off to Sizzlai; and Meta, Garlude, Saila, Dedede, and obviously Taranza had their sights set on Gabbel. All the while, Kirby would fly out to other planets to check on them and throw out any Friend Hearts that they absolutely needed to needed. Each group got climate-appropriate mini-ships ready, loved ones gave each other their best wishes, and now the Knights and Allies were ready to split up, capture the Mage-Sisters, make sure Pikiria was okay, and get to the bottom of this crisis. Three groups, three planets, three very eventful missions, three varying outcomes.

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It wasn't long until the cold-weather mini-ship arrived on the frigid surface of Blizzno. Everyone made sure to dress in their best winter clothes (except Sirica, who was so well-protected by her never-trimmed fuzz that she only needed a thin jacket she had lying around), even if some were quite gaudy like Susie covering everything but her eyes as she actually fared horribly in the cold that she grew up in. Susie then got out her mech and revealed an insane ability she had recently given it - the ability to turn into a large, equally stylish snowmobile with enough room to fit in everyone. Susie started driving the Blizzno party through the snow with a visor on that conveniently fit perfectly into her coat. The others were able to hold on, even as Gooey and Rick briefly got a little reckless and started letting their tongues ride in the wind a second before Coo and Adeleine pulled them back. Adeleine then noticed that Ribbon had her wings sticking out through her coat. Ribbon had what seemed like the silkiest, fastest, and, in Adeleine's eyes, most gorgeous wings in the universe for her species, but they fared pretty poorly in the cold. Ribbon had always felt immense pride over her flying ability and her wings, which she had been taking great care of since her childhood, and both she and Adeleine would hate for anything to happen to them for more than just the flying part. She asked her to fold them inside her coat (which was actually safer than you'd think), but she insisted that it would be worth it due to making it easier for her to fight if needed. Soon after that, Sirica asked Susie if they were going to get any warmer, only for her friend to respond that she was the one fuzzy and confident enough to only bring a flimsy jacket. That prompted Sirica to point out that the girl who had literally grown up on the planet next to this moon had been wearing a coat bigger than her (which may have actually been true). Both of them couldn't help but giggle at this exchange during their downtime. Soon enough, they spotted Francisca in the distance. The youngest Mage-Sister was standing around a spot that she was very familiar with. There was a light scar on the ground there signaling a strong mark of magic surrounded by two big icicles, but the much bigger scar involving that spot was the one on Francisca's soul. She simply stood silently and glumly reflected on the past there, but quickly got her giant axe ready as the party arrived ready to confront her. Francisca may have been the shyest and quietest of the Mages, but she was not going to put up any less of a fight to (in her eyes anyway) try to protect her family, as she quickly started throwing her icy axe around the area like a boomerang and scattering the squad. Susie was barely able to get her mech into fighting form before getting chased around by the axe alongside Sirica, who herself could barely get anything going with the Penta-Wrecker not being that good in the cold. Ribbon was barely even able to lift Adeleine out of the way. Once the axe was back in Francisca's hands, she started swinging it around with enough magic to form long, sharp icicles on the ground where it struck. Most of the squad were at least familiar enough with her powers to do a better job at evading them, but they were still pretty sloppy. Susie tried shouting out to Francisca that she was her cousin and that she didn't want to hurt her. But Francisca really showed how little she took that seriously when she pulled out the coldest, most dangerous soda gun anyone on the squad had ever seen. She started firing a huge beam of freezing (and not particularly delicious) soda around and bouncing it off the nearby surroundings to make things even more of a nightmare for the squad. However, Adeleine had brought her art stuff and had an idea. She painted Kracko - Dream Land's famously imposing (and grouchy) god of clouds - and used the replica when it came to life to send waves of electricity through the soda. Francisca got frustrated at that and tried to angle it toward Adeleine, but then Ribbon noticed and, willing her wings into the air, flew into the ice mage and caused them both to fall to the ground with the cold, electrocuted soda dousing them. A frightened Adeleine sprinted as quickly as she could on the slippery ice to reach her girlfriend, who lay on the ground hurt, but fortunately not too horribly injured by the impact, the cold water, or the electricity. Ribbon slowly started sitting up and got asked by Adeleine if she was okay, to which she said that she was just glad that her artful love was okay after that. But then Ribbon started audibly hurting, and when she tried using her wings to help her stand up, it just felt worse. When Adeleine tried helping her up, she was shocked to see that both of her wings were bent and broken on her back. Ribbon then noticed, and immediately her heart sank and her face froze in shock and horror. Not only had those wings been so important to helping her fly, but she had loved having those wings, especially with them being closer to the illustrious wings her late father had than her mother's (still pretty nice) wings. Even if she was going to be okay, not only was it certain that she would never fly again, but it felt like a part of her and the best reminder of her father had forever been ripped away from her. It would no longer feel like her father was still carrying his little girl. Meanwhile, Francisca wasn't too badly hurt, but was quickly restrained by the others, with Susie holding her with her mech's arm and telling her that she better be ready to explain absolutely everything soon. Adeleine then tried comforting and lifting the still-silent Ribbon up with her arm on her shoulder, but needed Sirica’s help carrying her as the squad started sprinting back to the mini-ship. All the while, Francisca started feeling very remorseful for what she had done and who she had hurt. It wasn’t without a little sacrifice, but the first part of the operation was complete. Now to go from the frozen tundra of Blizzno to the flaming wasteland of Sizzlai.

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At the exact same time as the first squad’s arrival on Blizzno, the Knights’ fire-proofed mini-ship began to land on Sizzlai. On this squad were Mikey, Vul, Marx, Magolor, Daroach, Spinni, Doc, Storo, and the six members of the B-Team, all coming at least a little prepared for the heat. (I mean, a good chunk of them didn’t even normally wear clothes.) Right before they walked off the ship, Mikey told the Squeaks to keep things calm and harmonious with Vul and the B-Team; and Marx and Magolor even told them that it would be an embarrassment to still be pestering each other under these circumstances. Sure enough, once they walked out, Daroach made it clear he would still be pestering Vul under these circumstances, as he tripped him and mocked his summery eagle clothes. Point and Axel then picked him up and called Daroach “Mr. RSVP”, still upset at him for disregarding Max’s memorial. Before things could get too ugly though, Mikey started using his lovely baritone for a beautiful lullaby, one just the right tone to put mice to sleep. So the Squeaks quickly fell asleep. Mikey then brought a small truck out of the mini-ship and snuggled the Squeaks into the protected back like a bunch of tired babies, before cramming into the actual truck himself alongside Vul, Marx, Magolor, and the B-Teamers. (It was unbelievably crammed in there, but they still managed to ride along fine in there.) Once he started driving the truck through the hot, volcanic land as safely as he could, Vul commended Mikey for using his wits and abilities to shush up the Squeaks, before Mikey said that it was old-hat for him. That said, he also wished that he could put the rivalry to bed. Yeah, the Squeaks were always annoying to him and it used to be fun to mess with them back, but it was already starting to lose its luster even before Max disappeared, and once he died, it just felt like the feud was nothing more than a tiring boondoggle for everyone. Marx and Magolor then added that it could be amusing if he had some ridiculous beef with old Ancient technology because it had kept screwing over both of them, but they just didn’t find that fun to do - if anything, that kind of tech still creeped them out with how dangerous it was. If it wasn’t fun to have a beef against something that had almost ruined their now-happy lives, maybe it wasn’t fun to try keeping up a rivalry with clearly lesser people for reasons weakened after the ignitor of the rivalry was gone. As much as he didn’t like the Squeaks, Vul wondered if Mikey, Magolor, and Marx were right in their assessment. Maybe it was time soon enough to at least get the Squeaks out of his face for good. That introspection had to pause though when huge volcanoes started erupting loudly enough to wake up the Squeaks. Unsure how they ended up in the back, the mice were panicking as Daroach tried shielding the rest and firing his ice beam out ad nauseam to try weakening the flaming meteors. (Shocker, it wasn’t working too well.) Vul then yelled at them that he’d cram them in if they all agreed to a permanent truce to stop a stale rivalry. Daroach took a second to look inside himself and, also realizing that the beef had run its course, frantically begged to be let in alongside the other Squeaks. Vul obliged and now there were four more crazy people inside an already stuffed van. Yet with all of that and a blaring air conditioner, somehow Vul managed to wheel the truck through the volcanoes until suddenly a fire mage with distinctly red, spiky hair came into view. Flamberge had been staring down at a big, dark scar similar to the one Francisca saw, only this one had a couple of tiny, eternal flames around it. Even the most hot-headed Mage-Sister started to get choked up and felt a mix of emotions staring at it, beginning to say something starting with “Moth-”. But then she heard the truck coming towards her and got her long, wavy, flaming sword ready as the squad jumped out and started charging at her. Flamberge immediately had the squad on their toes (or bottoms, in the case of the footless Doc and Magolor) as she started waving her sword around quickly and with authority, all the while leaving small flames in her tracks. One helpful thing about them all going in slimmer, less burning clothing though was that they were able to move faster around her attacks. But that didn’t really help when she was fighting with so much heated aggression. Marx and Magolor’s strong and unified powers, the several skills of the Squeaks, and the many weapons of the B-Team were enough to help briefly keep Flamberge at bay. But as Mikey approached and said they were trying to help her, Flamberge started getting even more mad. She started forcing everyone back as she let out more fire with her sword. She then pulled a big cannon out of nowhere and shot out a slow, but large stream of fire that everyone barely avoided. After yelling out that she wasn't letting them anywhere near her family, Flamberge then stuck her sword into the ground, spun it a bit, and pulled out a skewer of rocks before slinging them at the team. Most of them managed to easily dodge them, but when Vul stumbled too much, Daroach impulsively jumped into him and suffered a really bad burn on his back in the process. As Vul was shocked to have his fiercest rival save him, Spinni was furious at the fire mage for burning her husband and immediately started sprinting toward her. Mikey, Marx, and Magolor took notice and started making things easier for her sprint. Mikey got his voice ready while Marx used a lot of his magic to disappear into the ground. Then just as Flamberge was ready to target Spinni, Magolor unleashed a small wave of fire that made her just a little too comfortable to focus. Then Mikey let out the most unlistenable screech possible (and I do really mean it this time) to disorient her, and just as she started recovering from that, Marx abruptly burst out of the ground (it kind of wore him out though) and knocked her down onto the ground. Spinni then pounced on both the opportunity and on Flamberge herself, crawling all over her and landing scratch after scratch in pure fury before kicking her to the B-Team to be restrained - and she would have landed more scratches had her concern not quickly kicked back in for her husband. As Daroach sat in pain near Vul, his wife dashed to his side in fear. Daroach was still badly hurt, but he would clearly be alright if they could get him to the medical bay quickly. He told Spinni how grateful he was to have her and that even with all the treasure they had hunted over the years, she was by far the shiniest gem he had ever found; a moved Spinni told him that he was the same to her. As he was lifted with the arms (or partially paws?) of Vul and Storo, the still-stunned eagle thanked him for saving him, to which his rival weakly told him that he was right earlier - it was time for a change. All the while, Flamberge - also starting to regret her move after seeing Spinni's reaction - was taken alongside them by the B-Team to the fireproof mini-ship. Once they got on the ship, Mikey and Vul got on the call with Susie and Sirica, and they all agreed to speak through code so as to not give away who they had captured - after all, they were both sisters, so they probably wouldn’t take it well. Mikey and Vul spoke of how despite an injury to Daroach, the operation to retrieve “the stove” was successful, and while Ribbon had lost her wings and needed medical help, Susie and Sirica still managed to get “the freezer”. It was working out with them both quickly flying towards the Halberd until Vul errantly said, "We're golden now with the iceberg and her sissy Flamberge! F&$%!!!" Suddenly, Francisca yelled out asking if Flamberge was on the other ship, and once her twin heard her voice, the tempers were literally flaring. Francisca started freezing her restraints as she was screaming out to her big sister and hoping she was alright, while Flamberge was furiously shouting how she would destroy all of them for capturing her little sister. With both of them starting to jeopardize the ships with their powers despite being restrained, the Knights were forced to use some tranquilizers that they hadn’t finished making yet to put them to sleep, although they thankfully worked and had them dozing off quickly. With that, both mini-ships could quickly get to the Halberd to both get the Mages somewhere secure and get Ribbon and Daroach treated for their injuries. While their doctor volunteers were undoubtedly going to be pretty busy soon, the Sizzlai faction had still taken care of their business and now two of the three Mages were being taken in. All that was left was for Meta, Garlude, and their squad to both take in Zan Partizanne and make sure Pikiria was okay on Gabbon. But well, it wouldn’t be a part of this saga if there weren’t something that went awry enough to warrant a warning for readers, and believe me when I say that what occurred on that thundering moon warranted that warning.

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As the Blizzno and Sizzlai squads were landing, an anxious mood hung over the lightning-proof mini-ship as it approached Gabbel. Flying towards the gloomy, lightning-infested moon and being about to face the strongest Mage-Sister would be daunting enough for Meta, Garlude, Dedede, Danny, Saila, and Taranza. But it was made all the more nerve-wracking by their concern for Pikiria. It was hard for the others just to watch Taranza, who was clearly terrified of what could be happening to his daughter. He kept frantically trying to reconnect with Pikiria's mind in hopes of knowing something of what happened to her, but he just couldn't reach her at all. As he kept going, he kept sounding louder and more desperate as he called out for Pikiria until he gave up and started to cry. Garlude - who both trusted her own daughter to be okay and was also worried about her condition on Blizzno - started comforting him and telling him that they would do all they could to get her to safety. Even that however couldn't quell Taranza's worrying as his mind went racing with fears of the worst. How could he live with himself if he let something happen to his little Piki? Even if he was able to complete the miracle and bring Sectonia back to the life she deserved, he couldn't bring himself to imagine how destroyed she would be if she had to know that her pride and joy, her great little miracle, had died alone and scared. How could he do that to them? And if he couldn't save either of them, then well, what use would there even be to persist in a world that would have ripped his family away from them? Through the tears, he made it clear to his fellow Allies that just as he would stop at nothing to save Sectonia, he would not stop at anything to protect his daughter, and the fact that she was now technically his superior in Floralia was irrelevant to that. Whether she liked it or not, he saw himself as her bodyguard, and he would have his soul literally ripped to pieces if it meant saving her life. Again, the Knights assured him that they would look for Pikiria as much as they could on Gabbel. With that discussion at hand, Dedede started feeling more and more regretful about letting Danny and Saila on this dangerous mission, especially so close to their wedding. He told them that for their own safety, they would not be allowed to go out on this mission. But the prince and future princess strongly protested, letting him know that they wouldn't back down from protecting their king. Saila even promised that she would protect Danny, although he immediately told his fiancée that he would have her back too. With them all about to land, Dedede reluctantly allowed them to come along, but insisted that he'd defend them more than they could ever defend him. While finding Zan was made harder by the lack of a tracking device, they saw a tall mountain and who appeared to be a woman with yellow hime-cut hair that Meta and Garlude immediately recognized as Zan. They started landing the ship down just far enough away to not immediately give themselves away while still being able to quickly get to the mountain. However, unbeknownst to them, not only had they been detected anyway, but the one now smirking on the mountain as their trap began to work wasn't the mage in yellow. As the squad rode a surprisingly safe cart - one that blended in well with the ground and was also protected by Taranza's magic - the team tried to plan out a strategy with Meta and Garlude, but still felt a little unnerved. Taranza especially couldn't stop looking around to see if Pikiria was anywhere. After a bit, Garlude started asking Meta if anything had made him afraid while they traveled across the galaxy. He tried saying that he wasn’t scared of much, but then he admitted that the absolute last thing he wanted was for anything to happen to any of his teammates. He still hadn’t fully shaken the feeling that he had failed Max, so he’d do anything, even give his life, to protect his crew and especially his best friends. He told Garlude that just like for much of the past 26 years, he had her back, although she merely replied that she had his too. Eventually, they got to the mountain and were able to get to the top pretty quickly through Meta's wings and Taranza's webs and floating. Once they made it to the top of the mountain, they were surprised to see not just Zan's back, but Pikiria's as well, both floating above another scar of light electricity. Taranza and the others immediately started rushing towards them, but then Meta started looking around at the sky and saw slight cracks. Not of the lightning variety, but of the glass variety. He then saw bits of dark smog that only he recognized. They weren't from the Dark Hearts' type of corruption, but from Dark Mind's type of corruption. But before he could warn them, everyone was already reaching the suspiciously still Zan and Pikiria. A prematurely relieved Taranza seemingly used a web to contain Zan before running to secure Pikiria, but what he thought was his daughter dissipated into that same dark smog, and as he fell to the ground, the top of the mountain suddenly started going dark as everyone was pushed back to separate spots. For a few moments, the only one who could see anything was Taranza, who watched in shock and horror as "Zan" turned into Shadow and the disgraced Knight mockingly expressed his pleasure that even if the royal bloodline was finished, at least one Spydeair remained to feel the pain. Stunned and furious to see his wife's corrupter now doing this, Taranza immediately scowled and asked what he was doing involving Zan and what he did to his daughter. In that moment, Shadow chuckled as he got to show off his newest power, the ability to clone himself as each of the seven Allies saw a different projection of Shadow appear before them in total shock. He then creepily and derangedly boasted about how he had managed to put this Hyness man and these three mages under his thumb and merge his darkness with the Jamba Heart to make his powers stronger than ever. Taranza furiously told him that his plan wouldn't work and he certainly wouldn't be able to break apart his family, at least not completely. But Shadow showed him how wrong he was as he dissipated in front of Taranza and then in front of him was Pikiria. Not the small, friendly Fairie that he knew, raised, and loved, but a horrifying mix of that and a big, strange hornet who looked hauntingly close to her mother's corrupted wasp form, just now with four hands and a sword in each. As the warped queen immediately looked to attack, her father could barely even breathe as he realized that something even worse than his worst nightmare was happening. His little girl was starting to meet the same fate as her mother. “Pikiria” lacked the grace she normally had, but was absolutely ruthless with her speed and four swords as Taranza was too stunned to do anything but try running away from her, although even that proved futile as she was just too quick. The others could only fare so much better, as although Meta was quickly able to find Garlude, that left both of them struggling against different clones of Shadow who were especially good at relentless sword-fighting and gloating at the idea of snatching two Knights. Dedede eventually found Danny just as he was getting beaten down by Shadow and cornered once his prized spear was split into two. The frightened and furious king then ran up and smacked Shadow with his hammer, with his one goal in mind here being to at least make sure his son would be okay. Shadow reacted by kicking Dedede around, but the king kept taking it and ordering his son to run off, even if he would never. But just as Shadow was excited to finish him off, Saila then smacked him away with her staff and told him that she would not let him ruin another royal family, let alone hers. But while that faction tackled him well, Meta and Garlude still struggled to take on who was actually the real Shadow, and that was nothing compared to Taranza. Barely able to comprehend having to battle his own daughter, Taranza didn’t even try to strike remotely big blows at her despite her pushing him around. He started to try reaching out to her, begging her to fight back and regain control of herself. But she wouldn’t be deterred and she wouldn’t even speak. It was agonizing on all levels, and it made him sick to his stomach. As she got closer to going in for the kill, her tear-stricken father apologized to her for letting this happen to her, told her that he couldn’t afford to lose her too, and let her know that anything she did to him wouldn’t be her fault because he knew it wasn’t her. That did nothing to slow her down though, as she gave him a scar on the forehead, the same part of him already scarred by Sectonia’s corrupted strike on him four years earlier. Shell-shocked and desperate, Taranza summoned a Friend Heart, sacrificing some of the positive energy he was saving for Sectonia, and used a big one on his daughter. But fortunately, despite him fearing that Shadow had used his far tougher brand of corruption on Pikiria, it turned out to simply be the work of a Dark Heart as she immediately had all the darkness exhumed from her and turned back into her true form. The queen started getting up, quickly realized what had happened, and was immediately stricken with tears and regret for attacking her father. But full of tears himself, he immediately embraced his only child tighter than he had since at least the moment he thought they were about to lose Sectonia. Yet this time, instead of it being out of dread and heartbreak, it was out of relief and love. She was in hysterics as she told him that Shadow had taken her and used the Dark Heart on her before apologizing profusely for attacking him. But Taranza told her that he knew immediately it wasn't the real her and that he was so glad she was okay. She tried explaining she was going all in to improve the chances of helping the mission and saving her mother. But Taranza told her that she shouldn't be pushing that hard and that if he couldn't save her mother, then he'd do anything to protect his little girl - the most precious thing he had left in the universe. Elsewhere, Garlude and Meta were starting to improve their fight against the real Shadow, with Meta cornering and asking him what he was trying to do with these Mages and the Jamba Heart. But before he could even feign an answer, he was incensed when he saw the last few seconds of Taranza and Pikiria's hug. His newest target had escaped. But the trap was still in motion, so now he'd take matters into his own hands. He pushed back Meta and Garlude before dashing towards a now separate Pikiria. Taranza immediately noticed and instinctively used his magic to shove her far away, and right after he told her she "could release her", Pikiria could only watch in terror as a simultaneously frustrated and excited Shadow, now instead with an opportunity to finish his first stage of revenge, slashed the back of her father's head in an "X" that cut all four of his eyes. As he quickly fell forward, a horrified Pikiria sprinted towards Shadow, furiously slashing at him in a mix of blinding tears and fury while her ailing father laid on the floor. The unhinged knight showed little pressure as she kept trying to hit him, but Meta soon arrived and started attacking him as well alongside Garlude. The three swordspeople started putting pressure on him while the Taida’s arrived to put more pressure on and pick up Taranza, clinging onto the fringes of life. Yet Shadow at this time was not one to let a good surprise slip away, as he suddenly duplicated all over again and pushed everyone back. But just as everyone was getting cornered, Meta found himself behind Shadow, ran up to his wings, and started tearing at them. It wasn’t effective at hurting him or even the strong wings, but he kept doing it to wear him down even as the others told him to stop and that it wasn't working. Eventually, Shadow had a fit of rage, told the others they could die on their own, started cracking the dark dome, and began flying off with Meta in hand and Galaxia dropped with its scabbard. The others tried to stop him, with Garlude giving herself a bit of electrocution just trying to use Galaxia to save her best friend. But Meta barked at them to get back to the ship as Shadow rocketed away with him. The dome then started crumbling around them as everyone was shaken up, not to mention Taranza was still horribly wounded - what remained of his long-pristine silver hair slowly being stained in blue. They managed to scramble off the mountain with Garlude carrying Galaxia and its scabbard, but had to abruptly slide down and then floor it quickly on the cart to reach the ship. As soon as Garlude got the ship lifted off and the communicator on, she tearfully shouted that Zan was a mirage for Shadow Knight of all people, Pikiria was okay, Taranza was horribly and potentially mortally injured, and Meta had been captured by Shadow. It was hard for her to believe even after saying it, and it absolutely stunned the others. They were immediately racing to the Halberd as they knew that if Taranza, now starting to drift into unconsciousness, had any chance at survival, it would be if they got there quickly. As the ship rocketed out of the atmosphere, a tearful Pikiria desperately begged her father to keep pushing and hold on to life, telling him that her mother Sectonia needed him. She herself needed him. She couldn't lose him too. Taranza was holding on as much as he could, yet the injuries were so great and the pain so scathing that he was truly struggling to hold on. What kept him hanging on by a thread was both how much he loved his daughter and wanted to help her, as well as the love he had for Sectonia. In the event that she was able to be saved, he didn't want her to have her second chance at life alone. Whether or not she got that chance, he still did not want to die at the hands of the lunatic who may well have taken his wife and nearly his daughter away from him. He couldn't let him win, for the sake of both his species and especially his family. Yet he was still horribly wounded, and it started looking like not even a miracle could save the former king. Not to mention that now all of them, especially the Knights, were shocked by Meta's capture and extremely scared about what Shadow was going to do to him. While the first two factions of this three-planet mission had gone according to plan, the third phase had been enough of a disaster to put into perspective how much they had just been battered. Taranza was potentially dying, two more of them were badly hurt, they now all but knew that Shadow was running this whole operation, and their leader was captured. It was now a historically dark day for both the Knights and the Allies.

Chapter Text

A huge wave of concern, grief, and horror hung over all three mini-ships as they returned to the Halberd, with one man captured and another potentially minutes away from perishing. As they parked, they immediately started rushing the burned Daroach, the still-unconscious and flightless Ribbon, and the ailing Taranza to the medical wing as their loved ones followed them in panic. All the while, the others got out and immediately hugged their respective loved ones. In particular, the Knights all embraced and cried in grief and worry for their captured leader, not even having the heart to imagine what Shadow could be doing to him. Garlude apologized for not having her best friend's back and letting him get taken, but Dedede insisted that he couldn't be stopped in his sacrifice, and the Knights started accepting that reasoning as at least something to cling to for any semblance of solace. Meta had spent the past two years haunted by his self-perceived failure to save Max - perhaps ironic now considering how much Max himself was haunted by his self-perceived failure to save the magical Ancients - and it honestly made sense that just like Max, he'd go all out to defend the family that he had left. Meanwhile, Francisca and Flamberge were still asleep in the mini-ships, and they were quickly taken to the interrogation room to be questioned on what exactly was going on. Susie volunteered to be there for the interrogation of her cousins while everyone else not waiting in the medical bay would watch on a massive monitor from the meeting room. On her way to the interrogation room, she saw Pikiria heading to the medical bay, still terrified for her father. She quickly walked up to her and hugged her out of empathy. The queen had been right there to watch Susie lose her father and only remaining parent. Now Susie was comforting her as she was potentially about to lose her own father and possibly her own only remaining parent. Pikiria told her that she couldn't lose him, not both of them, at this point in time, and Susie replied that she knew and also that she was aware that her father was a resilient man; they certainly deserved another miracle. Around the same time as that, Meta was still unconscious as Shadow took him all the way to Jambandra and started dragging him to the Divine Terminus. Eventually, Shadow got back to the altar room where Hyness and Zan were waiting. Shadow reaffirmed Hyness that they could start the ritual and that he was ready to do what he wanted with his new captive. However, Zan, seeking answers, requested that she take Meta to a separate room and interrogate him. Shadow was mad at that idea, but Hyness said that the info from him could help. Shadow relented, but told her to "leave some of him for me". So Zan started carrying Meta's unconscious body to a couple of poles with some chains in hopes of getting some answers, no matter what she needed to do. At the same time, Susie made her way to the Halberd's interrogation room, where cameras would transmit it all to the others and Francisca and Flamberge were both sleeping behind a plane of strong glass and separated by small walls. After an anxious minute of waiting, Flamberge started waking up herself and was immediately alarmed to be stuck in this small room staring at Susie. She scornfully asked her who she was while noticing a faint familiarity in her. Susie introduced herself somewhat politely, but Flamberge still looked at Susie in confusion before suddenly Francisca started to wake up and was also confused and nervous about where she was placed. At the same time, Meta began to wake up held slightly stretched in mid-air by the chains. Although he was confused by where he was, he quickly recognized the woman in front of him as Zan, the oldest Mage-Sister who he and the A-Team had confronted at the top of the Jambastion. He immediately asked her if she was working with Shadow Knight, to which she said that was true. But before a shocked Meta could ask why or how he ended up working with them, Zan asked what exactly he and his weird gang were trying to do. Meta told her that it was clear this dark energy was going to build up to something bad. Zan though said that it’s not like her or her family want to destroy the world, but rather restore their old world. Meta was confused by the idea of trying to bring back that old world, but understood what that old world was. He then turned more sympathetic as, much to Zan’s shock, he told her that he was aware of what her people had gpne through 30 years ago, but unsure about how she and her sisters survived. Meanwhile, behind the glass wall in the Jambastion’s waiting room, Flamberge started asking her panicking twin if she was okay while also banging on the wall separating them and shouting at Susie to let her go. She even told her that she’d stay here and take whatever torture her and her strange team were planning if it meant they would never hurt her little sister again. But Susie insisted that they weren't trying to hurt them, but instead trying to help them. Francisca asked how they were supposed to know that wasn't to trick them, but Susie said that she could tell that not just the galaxy, but they and their family needed help. Back on Jambandra, Zan, having just heard Meta randomly say he was aware of her past, shakily asked him how he could have possibly learned about that. Meta then told her that Susie - that pink-haired woman accompanying him on the Jambastion - wasn’t crazy when she told her that she was her cousin. On the Halberd, even more confused than Zan was Flamberge, as she furiously asked Susie how she knew about their family, to which Susie shouted that she was part of their family - their cousin. She then got out the photo whose origin had eluded her for so long and showed it to her youngest cousins at the exact same time that her master brought it up and described it to her oldest cousin. It was a picture of the three sisters, their stepfather, and their mother shortly before the wedding 30 years ago, a time when they were just kids with the happiest of futures imaginable ahead of them - a future that never happened. At this point, despite being so far apart, the three sisters seemed to be unified in their renewed feelings of confusion and shock. Fighting back tears, the twins asked how she could have possibly gotten that picture. Susie told them that it was from her parents Beatrice and Max, and that it was the one trace of the three of them and their parents she knew of before the last couple of days. Meta answered the question to Zan in much the same way, prompting the lightning general to just tearfully laugh and say the same thing that her demoralized sisters were saying in that interrogation room - it always kind of felt like their aunt and family friend had abandoned them once the latter knew what would go down. Of course they’d take off for a happy life and act like they never existed once they had their own child. But both Meta and Susie blasted back that neither Beatrice nor Max had abandoned them and that the supposed vacation they were sent off on was a death trap by Max’s tyrannical father. They even mentioned that Max had written as much in his private journal just a few years ago, upwards of 27 years after the tragedy. He’d have no reason to lie to himself about it for so long. Meta (who was allowed to read that journal that morning) and Susie even both pointed out that in that same journal, it was evident how much the purge had haunted him for decades, and that the only reason he and Beatrice could overcome their grief and shock of it was because they had Susie not long after. The Mages were all starting to realize what had truly happened, but then asked what exactly Max and Beatrice could say about them today. At that moment, Meta and Susie got emotional as they each said that both of them were gone now, with Beatrice having sacrificed her life to save her daughter 22 years ago and Max having met the same fate just two years ago. Now the Mages were at a loss for words as to what had gone down in the past. Then the Mages told their respective Knight that if they wanted to know what had really happened to them, then they could telepathically give it to them and see how exactly they knew of Max and Beatrice. Each Knight agreed that they had no other choice, and so at the exact same time, Zan put her hand on top of Meta while Francisca and Flamberge were able to connect with Susie by putting their hands on the glass right as she pressed her head against it. With it starting simultaneously, the three sisters all connected with each other and thus with both Meta and Susie. None of the five, least of all the two Knights, could imagine what they were about to see within what was technically only a few minutes to the rest of the world.

Over 50 years ago, Anna was the oldest daughter of the magical Ancients’ queen, and was thus the Crown Princess. At the age of four, she was given an arranged marriage for when both she and her suitor Zane turned 19. But while they were great friends, Zane was never interested in any kind of romance and both were uncertain about the future. But when she was outside at the age of six, she noticed a couple of others bullying a little boy and immediately confronted them, with both scurrying away as soon as they realized she was the princess. She then saw that the boy was a strange creature with a big nose and bizarre eyes named Hyness. Ever since he was born to an unmarried mixed couple who hardly cared at all for either him or each other, Hyness had been treated like an outcast to society who would never accomplish anything. It was a torturously lonely and isolating life for him at such a young age, but in spite of that, he was still an incredibly funny, kind, and friendly soul for his age. As the noble, yet silly Anna and the awkward, stuttering Hyness got to know each other, they immediately became best friends. For Hyness, just knowing anyone who cared about him gave him reason to wake up in the morning. It wasn’t very easy for them to meet up as Hyness continued to be mistreated at home while Anna’s mother didn’t like Hyness just because of his appearance and roots. But they still did everything they could to spend time together, and by their teenage years, the two had truly fallen in love. They’d gone from playing hide and seek and rolling around in the grass to watching the area’s breathtaking sunsets by either sitting next to each other and leaning on each other, or by laying next to each other. Nothing could break their love for each other, and eventually Hyness was accepted enough to be hired as her top advisor. Yet even as the queen started warming up to Hyness, Anna could only be allowed to marry Zane, which she did indeed do when they were both about 19 in 1977 MSK. It was painful for both Anna and Hyness to be barred from marriage, and even Zane was extremely unhappy with the situation and wanted his friends to have the relationship they wanted. During the marriage, the two had three precious children named Zan, Flamberge, and Francisca, all of whom Anna absolutely adored. They occasionally got to meet Hyness, who was immediately like a father to them even if their biological father was perfectly fine. The situation got complicated enough that in 1987 MSK, when Zan was age 7 and the other two age 5, the queen allowed them to have an amicable divorce; and soon after, Anna proposed to Hyness. As soon as the question was popped, it was pure euphoria for both of them as what had seemed like a mere dream for their whole lives was finally going to come true. It was extremely exciting for several months waiting for the wedding as despite it being a bit strange for Zan in particular, the three little sisters were excited to have Hyness as their new father. (Zane stuck around as a family friend by the way.) Even when a random vacation offered by Max’s father to him and Beatrice going on bizarrely long meant the bride’s little sister couldn’t come, nothing could have prepared the couple for how joyous their wedding would be. As the two said their vows, they could barely contain their excitement, and as they danced soon after with their daughters joining them and the people who once shunned Hyness now cheering for him as their new groom and prince, he couldn’t help but cry his eyes out in joy. Anna couldn’t help it either, really. He seemed destined to be born, live, and die alone as a reject based on everything about him. Yet one person came into his life at the right time who looked past that and loved him for who he truly was, and against all odds, now they were grown up and had their souls forever united in marriage. As they settled into their honeymoon inn with their three healthy, beloved, inseparable daughters, Hyness and Anna, while still worried about Bea and Max, were beyond ecstatic about the idea of spending the rest of their lives together, especially with both being just 30 years old. Before falling asleep on their seventh night married, while their little girls slept happily in the other half of their inn room, Hyness and Anna were still in pure joy. Hyness said that however much of their future involved the throne or anything like that, he would stick with her through it all. She then told him that she was so excited to spend the rest of her life with him, and that regardless of how it would feel to grow old, at least they would grow old together. Hyness agreed with all of that, and the two lifelong sweethearts who could were ready to indeed live out their lives and indeed grow old together. What nobody on that entire half of the island could have predicted though was just how long they would get to be alongside each other. Just a few hours after that talk, the family were woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of explosions. As they tried to get up, Anna was telepathically informed by her mother that there was a massive army by the technological side trying to bomb its way in, with some explosions happening inside. Then they started falling towards the inn, and the family were barely able to scramble out of there in time when the inn exploded. While they all survived, all of them were left discombobulated on the ground just long enough for a ship to start landing. As the sisters got up faster, Hyness and Anna immediately screamed for them to run as far from the explosions as possible and to not answer to anyone on the technological side. So the girls had to leave their parents behind to confront the army while dashing as far away as they could with tears in their eyes, with Zan making sure that the little sisters she had long promised to protect were ahead of her. Even as the girls felt their parents tell her that they were getting captured, that they were being stripped of their telepathic powers, and that they loved them, they had to move as quickly as their tears were. But the explosions just kept getting closer and eventually one of them went off close enough to knock them down to the ground. They again avoided severe injury, but as soon as they tried to get up, three soldiers appeared and picked them up. They were then slowly dragged through separate paths as they screamed out for each other, unable to even begin processing that they were being ripped apart like this. As each one was dragged on their path, they saw different parts of the devastation being inflicted on their homeland overnight. Francisca saw the destruction of countless monuments of their people’s culture, Flamberge noticed the thrashing of food, essential items, and any ways that people could escape, and Zan could only watch in horror as the army set towns ablaze, including the homes of practically every friend the sisters had - the screams of the flaming towns searing through the night and into their brains. Even at such a young age, they knew that this wasn’t just a betrayal, but an attempt to wipe them off the map. Their entire world was being destroyed, and they could do nothing about it but watch the results in terror. Eventually, the three were taken to about the same spot, but restrained so that they could only yell at each other. Willing to sacrifice herself for her little sisters even at such a young age, Zan tried pleading with the soldiers to let them both go - regardless of what they did to her - to which they replied that they would actually let all three of them go, but just not where they would expect to go. They opened a small portal in front of each of them - Francisca in her nightgown saw a powerful blizzard on the frozen tundra of Blizzno, Flamberge faced a raging inferno on the scorching moon Sizzlai while being forced into a huge amount of unwieldy coats and layers, and as she was strapped into an enormous suit of metal armor with a massive point on top, Zan was forced to stare at the top of a big mountain on the desolate Gabbel moon as a tremendous thunderstorm was approaching. Between the locations and the clothing, it was immediately clear what the young girls' fates were. As her little sisters were in shock and hysterics, Zan tearfully tried begging with them one more time that they could do whatever they wanted to her as long as they would spare them. But she was simply told that she had "nothing else left worth taking" and could only watch in horror as her terrified sisters were thrown in one-by-one to their dooms, followed by herself. The portals were then adjusted so that they would lead to a good distance away from where exactly they landed. But the sisters did have one relative just able to see what each of them were seeing telepathically, and it was their biological father, who happened to be sneaking around near the ship that Hyness and Anna were about to be taken to. Just before it could take off, he used his own magic to try bringing the ship down. Just as the pilots got confused, Zane broke into the back and freed Hyness and Anna, telling them that the girls were thrown into portals in the now-torched forest and that they’d have to traverse their locations a bit to find them. He yelled at them to run away while he took care of the soldiers, and as soon as the couple were out of real harm's way, they could only keep running and listen in horror as the ship fell to the ground and completely exploded. Once they got to the portals and were just barely able to quickly take out the nearby soldiers, they faced a problem with three portals facing the two of them, made even harder by how vague each portal's exterior had become. But they also knew very well of each other’s powers, strengths and weaknesses. Hyness fared far more adequately than Anna or any of their kids both in the hot and cold, not to mention that he had the power passed down by his mother to unlock someone’s hidden magic capabilities in an emergency (even if it was very powerful and dangerous). Anna meanwhile had immunity to lightning and could merely transfer that magic from one to another without keeping it herself. With that in mind as well as the knowledge that they could each float in and out of them, they decided that Hyness would go into the Blizzno and Sizzlai portals while Anna would go to Gabbel. After very quickly wishing that their girls were okay and sharing a small kiss, Anna went into the Gabbel portal and Hyness first went to Blizzno.

Within those few minutes, Francisca had already been crawling desperately through the snow, hoping that someone could appear out of nowhere to save her. Yet nothing lay ahead of her, and with so few layers to protect her, the relentless snow and freezing wind ultimately brought her to a stop. She was just young enough to not completely grasp the idea of death, yet she could feel herself slipping away from life and it scared her. Were her big sisters hurting like this too? Why were these guys doing this to them? They were just kids! The cold though was so powerful that she couldn’t even think properly anymore. She just kept laying there and hoping that it wouldn't feel so bad in a few minutes. As she was close to losing consciousness though, her stepfather finally arrived. Hyness was able to adapt better to the cold than most, but he couldn’t even process any discomfort he had from the cold due to how worried he was for his youngest stepdaughter, and his worst fears were potentially coming true right in front of him. He saw Francisca lying down in the snow and quickly picked up her tiny, frail, freezing body. As his youngest child weakly told him how cold and tired she was and that she loved him as her father, her already tearful stepfather told her to hold on for as long as she could and that she would save her, to which she just pleaded for him to indeed save her. Hyness quickly started working with the magic passed down from his mother to unlock Francisca’s long-locked abilities with ice, all the while healing all of the pain on her body. Within seconds, just before Francisca could close her weak eyes for good, she was being given her true potential in her ice powers as she looked a tad cooler and her flowing bluish-black hair permanently turned into a bright, chilly blue. Even with that effort though, he was still crying and begging for his baby to wake up, not wanting to imagine how it would feel if even one of them couldn't be saved. Fortunately though, Francisca quickly started waking up. As her new father shed several tears of relief over her, she still felt very cold, but in a comfortable way. She wanted to get out of this scary tundra as soon as possible, but it wasn't hurting her physically. In fact, it was energizing her. Before she could get a feel for that or know why the hair parted in front of her eye was so bright now, Hyness embraced her and told her how glad he was to see her okay. He then quickly picked her back up, told her that they needed to get to her twin sister, and floated with her into the portal to the forest. All the while, as Anna arrived at the bottom of the huge mountain on Gabbel, she was just barely able to notice Zan covered in armor standing at the top of the mountain. She tried yelling up to get her attention, but she was just too high up to hear any of it. So she started going up the mountain as quickly as she could to get to her daughter, as all the while a set of thunder clouds ominously began to approach the mountain. Meanwhile, as Hyness and Francisca briefly stood outside the three portals, he told his youngest stepchild that her mother was looking for Zan on Gabbel while the two of them would go to Sizzlai and hope to find Flamberge in time. However, on the Sizzlai moon, Flamberge would be in a dire situation of her own. She was stranded on a big wooden board that was close to the ground and seemed to have some sort of abandoned village. Yet with the hostile environment on the moon, it was extremely hot, made all the worse by the numerous layers of winter coats put on her that were too hard for her to remove. She was staggering along through the village and already feeling weak with all the heat. But then she suddenly started hearing intense rumbling underneath and nearby her. Just as the hot-headed, yet terrified little girl looked up behind her, she saw a huge volcano beginning to erupt. As she struggled to think clearly with all the sound, the gray ash and dust of the volcano quickly came down with more ferocity than ever. Yet through all of it, she could faintly see a couple of shadows in the distance. They slowly went from shadows to faces, the faces of… Francisca and Hyness? They were alive? They were right in front of her? Knowing that her family was indeed right in front of her, she still tried all she could to stumble away from the erupting volcano, but then she saw huge burning meteors falling towards her. She tried to get away as Hyness and Francisca tried to cheer her on, but one meteor crashed and exploded mere feet from her out of nowhere. Not only was she launched into the air again, but now she was taking the full brunt of the smoke and ash all over her as the flames started to catch up to her. Her horrified sister and stepfather sprinted as fast as they could to her, but the smog just kept piling into her face and soon enough, the flames caught up to her. By the time Francisca and Hyness finally approached her, the young princess was suffocating, burning, and screaming in agony as she began to catch on fire, made all the worse by the excessive layers. Francisca frantically channeled her new ice and water magic to extinguish the fire and heat around her, but the damage was almost done. Francisca picked up her older twin and was immediately tearing up as she asked if she was okay. Flamberge though was so frayed inside and outside that she could barely cough out anything to her little sister. She weakly tried asking her if she was okay and how she and their father were here, but she just kept coughing up smoke as her little sister panicked. Hyness, again frightened by what was happening to his stepchildren, quickly picked up Flamberge and started using the same process he did with Francisca, only this time unlocking her potential in fire magic and healing her, all the while tanning her a bit and making her spiky orange hair more of a dark red shade. Again, as soon as he was done tearfully performing his spell, it felt like an eternity as her twin sister and stepfather waited for her to come to. But it was really mere seconds later when she suddenly woke up panting in shock, but alive and healthy. Before she could process anything, Francisca immediately embraced her, and she quickly returned the embrace as they were both beyond relieved to know that they were somehow okay. Hyness, having done what he needed to do, then joined in tearfully hugging his two youngest stepdaughters and telling them how glad he was to have them back. Then after a few moments of joy, Flamberge then got worried as she asked where her mother was and if Zan could possibly be okay. But her father told her that her mother was in Zan’s portal checking in on her and that they’d have to hurry back to that portal. So he got both of them to rush with him and float into the portal back to the forest. Once they did return to the forest though, they immediately heard more explosions and could tell that the army was closing in on them. Needing to think quickly, Hyness launched a huge, purple orb of energy into the air, grabbed Francisca and Flamberge, and darted with them into the portal to Gabbel. As soon as they landed and got out of the way of the portal, it briefly opened up an explosion of debris before closing - the portals and their systems having been totally destroyed. If it weren’t likely before, it was now clear that they were never going back home. It was yet another gut punch to them, but hopefully Zan was okay and at the very least, the five of them would be able to try to confront this together. Just out of view, Anna was tired, yet close to the top of the mountain. She tried shouting up at Zan again, but she couldn’t hear her. Eventually, she reached the top and saw her eldest daughter standing demoralized at the edge of the mountain, with her blonde hair barely sticking out and blowing in the wind through the bulky bronze armor stuck on her. Anna shouted at Zan, immediately catching her attention. The little girl slowly looked behind her and was stunned to see her mother there. She simply stared at her in shock and struggled to process that anyone in her family was okay. With both of them already starting to shed tears, Anna told her that her stepfather was checking on and picking up her sisters, and that it was entirely possible that at least the five of them would all be okay. At that exact moment, Hyness, Francisca, and Flamberge finally just barely spotted Zan and Anna at the top of the mountain, and within moments, the last member of the royal family was carrying his youngest stepdaughters up the mountain. As searing as the agony would always be from the horrors they had just witnessed, at least they as a family would be able to stay together and try to brave through whatever could possibly happen to them now. Yet just as Zan and Anna were ready to run to each other, the thunder and lightning seemed to arrive. It just kept getting louder and darker to the point where it felt like it was right above Zan, still stuck wearing that metal armor and its enormous pointed headpiece. Before Anna could do anything to warn her, the lightning started to strike Zan directly over and over. The eight-year-old now-former princess’s screams were so loud and wretched that even through the thick atmosphere, her stepfather and sisters were already shaken and worried about what could be happening to her. And for a split-second, Anna was frozen in place and felt everything from shock to horror to fear to heartbreak seeing her eldest child suffer like this. But it only took less than a second for Anna to rush to her daughter’s side. Conveniently right as the lightning briefly left her child’s frail body, she embraced her body and immediately began transferring her healing energy and electric powers to her. Unlike with Hyness, there was no way for Anna’s species to keep all of this for herself while also transferring it. She was not only sapping away her energy to her daughter, but giving away her immunity to lightning right as more lightning was about to strike. Anna had been terrified of lightning her whole life even with those powers, but nothing terrified her more now than letting anything take her children away from her. Nothing could stop her now. Within seconds, the lightning struck both of them. This time, as the strike kept going for what felt like an eternity, the barely conscious Zan was hurting less while her mother was only getting weaker. The strikes kept coming, Zan kept getting stronger, and Anna kept transferring what she could - in such unfathomable, unhealable pain and yet having no intention of pulling back. Soon enough, the lightning mercifully stopped, Zan finally came to, and Anna could finally begin to rest. Just as Zan started to focus again and realized she was trying to hold her beloved mother and role model in her arms, she could just barely hear her use her last burst of energy to weakly tell her, “Take care of… Them… Sorry…” As discombobulated as Zan was, those words would be seared into her young brain and soul forever. She quickly realized that her mother was hurt and not awake, and began desperately trying to wake her up as she set her on the floor. She was crying for her to get up and stay together with them. Yet she could never do anything. Cursed with being just old enough to comprehend death and what she had already just seen back home, Zan began to break down over her mother’s body. Zan couldn’t even begin to process that her mother was gone after all of this had already happened. Her home, her friends, her role model, and everything she knew were just gone, and she was just starting to wish that her mother had done nothing to change her fate when the rest of her family arrived. Hyness, Francisca, and Flamberge finally reached the top of the mountain, already concerned about what could have happened. They had a very brief moment of relief though when they saw Zan alive. As soon as she noticed them, she immediately ran over to embrace Francisca and Flamberge, who were immediately shedding tears of joy and relief when they saw their big sister alive. But they could both tell that she was distraught and sobbing tears not just of relief, but of horror. Hyness hugged his oldest stepdaughter and was beyond relieved to see her alright, but as soon as he noticed her emotions, he looked to the side expecting to see his wife alive and well. But instead, he saw Anna crumpled at the center with a scar of magic on the ground beneath her. He immediately rushed to her side and held her burned, light body in his arms. His heart was sinking as he realized that something was horribly wrong with her, but he wanted to believe otherwise as he started telling her to wake up and that they were all okay. He kept telling her how she had saved her little girl and that they were going to stick together. Yet Anna wouldn’t budge, and as the girls walked closer, Hyness got more desperate as reality set in. He tearfully started telling her that she had to stay with them and that it couldn’t end like this - not after being only married for one week. Within moments, Hyness fully realized what had befallen them. Anna had told him hours earlier that she wanted to enjoy being his wife for the rest of her life, and that indeed had come true. As Hyness processed the truth, he couldn’t help but shriek at the top of his lungs as he felt like his soul had been slowly torn to shreds. He began sobbing into and cradling his wife’s body, now knowing that the love of his life and the one who had single-handedly turned his life around was gone. At the exact same time, Zan had turned around in pain and hugged her sisters, now struggling to process that their mother was gone. While Hyness could have very well stayed sitting and cradling Anna until he couldn’t anymore, he soon noticed how shocked his daughters were. Had Anna been the last thing he had left in the universe after the purge, he would have completely given up on doing anything else and sat in place until he could pass on and join her. But he wasn’t all alone. Right behind him were the three little girls that Anna had brought into the world, that they were so excited to raise together, and that he was now going to have to raise all on his own to make sure that she hadn’t died in vain. He let go of Anna, floated over to their grieving daughters, and embraced all three of them as they all sat down. He shakily promised them that wherever they could possibly go next, he would do absolutely everything he could to keep them safe and give them any chance at a better life. He was so glad that at least the three of them were okay and told them that he’d take care of them as well as he possibly could. They were all he had left in the universe after all. That army may have taken his home, his kingdom, his new family, and his true love away from him, but they just barely couldn’t take his little girls away from him. After a while, Hyness cast a spell to preserve Anna’s body and buried it nearby, weeping alongside their daughters through all of it. Then they started traveling across Gabbel in case they may ever find a good place to stay at or anyone to help them. They couldn’t find anyone, but for a while, they were able to find the right parts of Gabbel to survive on. Hyness was doing all he could to keep his daughters safe and at times they even found brief moments of relief again, which itself brought glimmers of happiness to him again. But ultimately, deep down, he was shattered. Whenever the girls would be lucky enough to sleep, he would tend to cry himself to sleep as he was forever haunted by the purge of his people and everyone he loved besides his stepdaughters. More often than not though, it would be a struggle for anyone to sleep. Even with the powers that the sisters had unlocked, they barely tried them in large part due to the traumatic circumstances they got those powers from - especially for Zan. They’d only start mastering those powers when they’d have to use them to protect each other from dangerous creatures. Eventually, though, Hyness came across texts for the Ancient legend of a deity that, if he gave it what it wanted, could spawn a great new land and restore everything and everyone they had lost. Deep down in his heart, he felt like this wasn’t going to work, but he so desperately wanted to believe that something could revive his people - including bringing his beloved Anna back to him and their little girls - that he started trying to find this deity, named Void. One thing led to another as the years went on until they came across the foundation of the Jamba Heart, but not only could they just not make it work, but Hyness began getting possessed by its power. He tried holding onto control for as long as he could for the sake of his daughters, but even as his girls - frightened at the possibility of losing their final parent - begged him to stop, he just wouldn’t give up. He was willing to sacrifice his soul if it meant restoring his kind and his family. They did find an old Jambastion ship, refurbish it, and take it to the abandoned Jambandra with its network of ships over the course of several years. But Hyness’s corruption kept getting worse to the point of him becoming a harsh, absent-minded shell of himself while his growing daughters could only watch in horror. It eventually devolved into the sisters going on missions to help grow the Jamba Heart and the operation - all out of hope that Void would not only bring back their people and home, but return their stepfather to his senses. Yet they could never complete that miracle, and all that happened was a descent into misery and futility.

It seemed like that was the end of the mass telepathic communication that took so much faster than it felt. But just as the Mage-Sisters were done transmitting their memories, they also looked into Meta and Susie’s memories and saw everything that they experienced - all the trials, tragedies, and triumphs. In particular, they saw what Susie experienced with her parents. How she was given so much love from her parents and unknowingly helped them overcome their shock from the purge and find success while taking care of Susie. How after her mother sacrificed herself to keep her alive on the way into Another Dimension, she, Garlude, and Sirica were able to survive for eight years before she became one of the most important members of this strange, yet inseparable team. How her father, after twelve grueling, gut-wrenching years of searching for her, reunited with her and became a hero on that team. How her father sacrificed himself for her and how she and the team had been struggling to recover. Then the communication finally truly ended, and for several moments, not a word came out of them as they tried to truly process what they had all seen. Meta and Susie then each told their respective Mage-Sisters how sorry they felt for them that they went through what they did. The Mages then told them though that when they had been weathering the aftermath for so long, they had grown numb to it years ago. Francisca and Flamberge then said that they had recently come to realize how hopeless the whole plan was and wanted it all to stop - if their mother and everyone they loved from way back when were truly gone, then they just wanted their father back. They both then went on to tell Susie how resilient she was and that, knowing her parents, they would undoubtedly be so proud of all she had accomplished. Meanwhile, Zan started shakily telling Meta that she had to keep going along with maybe opening up their lost land. It could all be worth it if they’d have everyone back and their father was back. But Meta told her that they were gone, and that regardless of what was out there to save her father, they all had to stop Void from being unleashed before it made everything worse forever, an outcome that her mother would be heartbroken to see. Zan tried to blast back and asked Meta why she had detected her sisters held captive by his crew. When he said that they were trying to save them - an answer Susie said to the twins that they quickly accepted - Zan briefly started electrocuting him with help from the chains. But it wasn’t long until she stopped and began to shed tears as she realized how doomed this plan was and simply kept asking herself, “What are we doing?” - now accepting once and for all that her mother and everyone she knew and lost back home were never coming back. Meta gave her time to calm down before telling her that it wasn’t too late to turn back, and that with some Friend Hearts between him and the rest of his crew, they may even have a chance to save Hyness. Zan was relieved to hear that and realized that perhaps, if not the full mass revival they wanted, a bright future could still be on the horizon. But then she remembered how concerned Meta was about Shadow’s involvement and asked him why that was, Meta then let her know that Shadow was the centuries-old corrupted shell of a once-great hero and an absolute monster. He even mentioned that just a few years ago, he had used a cursed mirror to corrupt the mind of Floralia’s beloved queen, which may well cost her her life - not to mention he remembered how right before he was captured, he saw that queen’s loving husband suffer a potentially mortal blow by Shadow in front of the couple’s daughter. Shadow was an absolute menace, and Zan realized that his threats toward both her and Hyness were no fluke. Keeping him around could spell catastrophe. Zan then started to float away, telling Meta that she was going to set things right and promising that if it went right, she would free him as soon as possible. Meta panickedly told her to be careful with how dangerous Shadow was. But before she could even leave the room, Shadow bumped into Zan at the entrance and asked how the answers had gone, only to immediately be staring down her spear as she let him know that she knew what he had done before and wasn’t going to let him hurt her family either. Shadow then sarcastically expressed how glad he was that her interviewee had given her so much information to the point of it being too much, before suddenly disarming her and cloning himself enough to surround her. He knew she could turn on him sooner or later, but of course, even someone as warped as Hyness couldn’t let him do too much to her. Now Hyness wasn’t in the same room though, so now he could make sure she’d stick to the plan. Meta could only watch and shout in horror as his disfigured counterpart threw a Dark Heart onto the oldest Mage-Sister. Zan was just barely able to hold onto control long enough to telepathically tell her sisters what Shadow was doing to her, that the plan was not going to work, and that she was so, so sorry that she had failed them as her big sister, before fully falling under the Dark Heart’s control. Francisca and Flamberge were horrified and begged Susie to let them out of the cells so they could help the team reach Jambandra and save their family and the world. Susie, in spite of how much her cousins had seemingly turned it around, was hesitant to let them out now, but the twins let her know that they had nothing to gain and everything to lose right now. They couldn’t bare the thought of doing nothing while they were in danger of losing their big sister and father. So Susie let them out and led them to the meeting room, ready to get explaining as there was only so much of that meeting that the rest of the shocked and confused Alliance could see on the monitor. Meanwhile, Meta looked on in terror as the deranged Shadow declared how glad he was that his now-possessed lackey had left some for him, as now he planned to make his execution the last thing his team saw before they all met their doom. He and Zan then walked out and left him alone on the chains to contemplate what may have been about to happen. This was it. His death was being planned out, and he’d go out not as a protector of his crew, but as a decoy to precede their own doom. It could not end like that. He truly hoped that his crew would not try to save him. That would likely not be the case though, and as Susie and her younger cousins were ready to start the plan for finally resolving this crisis, it was clear that Gamble Galaxy’s biggest crisis would not have the quietest conclusion.

Chapter Text

At the exact same time that the Mage-Sisters were relaying their story, a Warp Star had been approaching the Halberd in the distance. Kirby had been relatively successful in at least weakening the darkness on major areas of several planets, but they still had to spread it out a lot. But after being alerted of their uncle's capture, they rushed to the Halberd in shock and fear. Not only did Kirby primarily feel the need to be there for their uncle's crew as they were dealing with his capture, but they also just couldn't believe what had happened to him. Eventually, they reached a hatch on the Halberd and quickly got allowed to come in. It was a volunteer Junior Poppy Bro (as they were nicknamed) that let them in and told them that he didn't want to blow things out of proportion, but it was urgent for them to immediately join everyone in the meeting room. Most of the Star Alliance had been in there listening in on what they could of Susie’s interactions with her cousins. They were shocked by what they could hear, but they didn’t even see what the three of them, nor Meta and Zan, saw in all of the telepathy. So just moments after Kirby walked in there to a reaction both pleased and sympathetic, Susie walked to the door of the meeting room with the twins and was ready to relay what had been telepathically transmitted. But she was going to wait just a bit to let Francisca and Flamberge into the room, both to protect them from any possible premature reactions and also because she was going to describe what they went through to the team. The two Mages didn’t exactly mind that too much and would enter when she wanted them to, but just wanted to get to the Jambandra as soon as possible because they were so worried about Zan and their father. So before going into the room, Susie gave a quick hug to her younger cousins, assuring them that she and the whole team would try all they could to save them both and finally give them some semblance of a bright future. Then in a meeting room already filled with anxious Allies - not to mention more cameras showing it to those in the medical wing - Susie walked in and told them that she had been able to see a ton of information through the Mages’ telepathy. She started by relaying several details of Hyness and the Mage-Sisters’ perspective of the tragic purge - everything from Hyness’s early life and marriage with the Mages’ mother Anna, to the Mages only surviving the purge after having their magic unlocked and losing their mother, to how their broken stepfather took care of them and tried to bring back their lost world through the Jamba Heart only to get possessed and drag his children into trouble. The whole time, Susie’s emotions were evident as she was still shocked that her extended family had suffered so much without her or even her parents ever knowing about it. But she wasn’t done as she also mentioned that through the telepathy, they found out that Meta was being held captive by Shadow Knight on the Jambandra and that Shadow had used a Dark Heart to warp Zan - perhaps ready to use both her and Hyness for his cause and then goodness knows what. The Allies were understandably stunned and horrified to find out about everything had happened to Hyness and the Mage-Sisters during and after the purge, and the shock only continued when Susie confirmed that Francisca and Flamberge were now siding with the Meta-Knights and the Star Alliance after realizing that the plan wasn’t going to bring everyone back, not to mention how worried they were about their family back at the Jambandra. Susie was asked if she was really sure the Mages were on their side, but she made it clear that now only was she literally seeing all of this from inside their memories, but also they seemed absolutely genuine in wanting to put a stop to both this crisis and this long dark chapter in their lives, which they had already felt so remorseful over. With that, Susie asked them if they would mind if the two came into the meeting room now, promising that they couldn’t hurt them now (not to mention that their weapons were confiscated before they left those moons). The Allies reluctantly agreed to let them in. So Susie went over to the door and told her younger cousins that she had informed the crew about everything and that the two of them had the team’s sympathies, but not exactly their trust. They would show them mercy and courteousness as long as they showed it back. With all of that in mind, Susie let Francisca and Flamberge slowly float into the room. With all eyes on them, both of them started off by apologizing for attacking them and contributing to this crisis. Even if it was in the name of protecting their family and even if they didn’t love doing it, the facts were that they still hurt them and caused significant harm to the entire galaxy; and every one of them would be right to not like them from here on out. Now all they wanted was to stop this crisis, save their family, and move on from their past misdeeds. A few of the Allies still felt a little hesitant to fully trust them now, but on the whole, they took the twins for their word and weren’t so uncomfortable with the idea of working with them. Francisca and Flamberge then told the team that they had information that would be critical in breaking into the Jambandra, as they were the only ones on the Halberd familiar with it. Whatever plan there would be to resolve this crisis, they would both need to be involved in it. One issue with this though was that someone still needed to come up with a plan. There were rumblings for a while as to who would create this plan until Vul stepped up and decided to give it a shot, having had brief experience in battle planning back in his young adulthood as the assistant-to-the-commander-in-training. Granted, he was a sinking ship of disaster there that washed ashore onto the Knights out of then-Queen Layor’s cheapness, but maybe he had a good plan somewhere in him after all these years. As the others watched, he started talking with the Mages about the layout of the Jambandran Fortress, from its long hallways filled with Jammers (who they also wouldn’t mind trying to purify even if there were a crapton to worry about) to its array of tinier ships surrounding it to the massive altar at the front that was the Divine Terminus, which had the Jamba Heart at the end accumulating dark energy - there may have still been time, but it could open up Void Termina and ruin the galaxy at any moment. Eventually, they realized that the ring of mini-ships (which were now all far smaller than the Jambastion that was on Popstar) was so big that it blocked everyone’s view of the bottom, which could be a clear security compromise. Not to mention that with the Mages having lived on the Jambandra for several years, they were well aware of numerous small vents hidden on the altar’s exterior that could be used to get in without much detection. With that, Vul and the twins started to work out a plan. They would first park the Halberd on the tiny nearby planet Gamma. Then Francisca, Flamberge, Kirby, and every single one of the Knights would take a mini-ship to the front gate to the entrance, and then Kirby and the Knights would get out and make a racket lengthy enough to get the attention of Hyness, Shadow, and many others. Then just before they could take them and leave, the Mages would pop out from the walls and "capture" them before confiscating their weapons and pushing them down the hallway. They would send Kirby and the Knights in because they knew Meta was waiting around the altar, and with the certainty of him reacting strongly to seeing his nibling and crew captured, it could be enough of a distraction to aid the rest of the team. Speaking of which, while Kirby and the Knights went to be captured, all of the Allies would cram into the lone cloaked mini-ship. (The Knights were definitely lucky to have these sudden uses for these unique mini-ships, otherwise they would have wasted so much money.) That cloaked mini-ship would ride to the altar, where everyone would sneak in through the vents and resume their hiding spots until Kirby and the Knights were dragged in. Then the plan was for Kirby and the Knights to be talking when captured and when the time was right, Vul would say a random sentence with the word "poker", prompting everyone to jump in and attack Shadow, subdue Zan and Hyness, save Meta, and shower the Jamba Heart with as many Friend Hearts as they possibly could, as apparently enough of them would overpower the dark energy and spread a wave across the galaxy to purify everyone taken over by the Jamba Heart’s darkness - Hyness and Zan included. (The Mages could neither confirm nor deny it was limited to those under the Dark Hearts' type of corruption.) Once they had every step laid out, Vul proudly declared it “The Gamble for Gamble” - a bold, gutsy, all-or-nothing plan that would hopefully save all of Gamble Galaxy. Everyone else was mixed at best on the name, but they decided to just roll with it. They were just far enough away that they would have to rest for the night as they reached Gamma. So everyone started getting ready to hit the hay for what would hopefully not be the last time alive, with Francisca and Flamberge (who Kirby had briefly comforted and assured the safety of their family to) volunteering to return to their less-than-glamorous cells once they attempted to make amends with a couple of people they were familiar with for rather ugly reasons in the medical bay.

Chapter Text

By that evening, there were three patients in the medical bay, all accompanied by their loved ones and all in rather different states. A now-flightless queen, a burned thief, and a former king clinging on for dear life. Ribbon had a quick surgery done to fully remove her wings from her back before they could cause any harm to her by being broken - their only remaining physical trace being the stitches on her back. Besides that, her injuries were surprisingly minor considering how she fell down, and she would surely be able to walk away from the med bay by the following morning. But she just couldn’t bring herself to get up. Even if she had otherwise not been hurt that bad, the loss of her wings had completely crushed her often jubilant soul. It wasn’t like she was completely immobilized - she had learned to walk decently well thanks to Adeleine, even if her wings helped her out a bit in it - but she had simply loved flying her whole life. From the freedom she felt flying around in the sky to how convenient it could be for problems both large and quaint to how much fun it was to carry her beloved Adeleine around. Yet just like that, it was all over. It was only even more painful with the fact that with those wings having been inherited more from her late father than her mother, she felt like she had lost a huge part of him and his memory for good. She was venting about all of her emotions to Adeleine, who did all she could to comfort her girlfriend through all of this while Gooey and the animals stood around them in support. But what was especially alarming to Adeleine was when Ribbon expressed her worry that due to being a fairy without her beautiful wings now, she would be seen as a weak, undeserving ruler. Adeleine immediately embraced the demoralized queen and let her know that her lack of wings should not be a sign of weakness. In fact, even if her people weren’t aware of it yet, they would surely know soon enough how strong and selfless their queen was for stepping up to help take on this historic crisis. She then told her pink-haired girlfriend that if nothing else, she knew absolutely full well how strong she was based on how she was on Blizzno and that she was so proud of her. In fact, not only was her mother also going to be proud of her, but her father would absolutely be so proud of her too. She also told her how much she understood her pain of losing some of what she had left of her father. She herself was always saddened by how all she had left of her family were her faint memories as a little girl with them, the paintings she could make with said memories, and one short audio tape of her mom singing. That though compelled her to cling onto the fond memories and keepsakes she did have of her brother and parents while living her life as happily as she could, because that’s what she knew would have made them the happiest (especially given how much they had all sacrificed for her). Ribbon took what Adeleine said to heart and quickly hugged her back while telling her how glad she was to have her. In another part of the med bay, Daroach was feeling a bit better than he was earlier from his burns (thanks in part due to excellent medical assistance), but he was still hurt pretty badly. His fellow Squeaks stood around him and hoped for him to have a speedy recovery as he looked like he would be stuck in bed for a while to recover from the burns. Doc and Storo quietly stood in support while Spinni, her voice heavy with concern and care, started telling him that, with the plan they had just been relayed, the three of them would go to Jambandra while he would stay here to recover. But Daroach was absolutely enraged by the idea of staying put here while his team risked their lives in the impending large battle. He roared back that he wouldn’t let them go there without him. Spinni tried to tell him that this was a matter of safety and that they had enough allies alongside them that they would stand a good chance. But Daroach still refused to let them go without him. That sparked a very brief argument between the two of them until Daroach got frustrated and told them that he didn’t want his teammates getting hurt while he was just sitting in bed. Even with how long it had taken him to at least begin to respect a lot of things about Meta, deep down, he had at least respected how much he cared about his crew’s safety for a while, especially after Max’s death. Daroach told his team that they really meant everything to him and that he would not leave them to fly into that kind of danger alone, prompting his wife to respond by echoing his earlier expression of love and telling him that he was the greatest treasure she would ever discover. That however made her and their teammates all the more ready to leave him here where he would be safer. Daroach promptly took a giant ice pack sitting nearby, strapped it to his wound, began sitting up against his pillows, and told them to check back in with him the next day to see if he was ready to “throw himself into the fire again”. The other Squeaks assured him that they would with both a bit of frustration and a lot of amusement. Within moments of both groups feeling better though, they were shocked to see Francisca and Flamberge both enter the med bay, with the ice mage floating to Ribbon and the fire mage heading towards Daroach’s bedside. Thanks to the monitors, everyone already at those beds had heard about and understood what the Mages had gone through, that they felt bad about what they had been doing, and that they were now on their side. But they were still not too happy about seeing the ones who had hurt them just float up to them. Daroach was still pretty upset with Flamberge for burning him, and as much a part of her wanted to empathize with Francisca for everything she went through (especially losing a parent at a young age), it would take quite a bit for Ribbon to forgive her for targeting Adeleine and that situation ending in her losing her beloved wings. As soon as Flamberge reached the Squeaks, the others immediately and aggressively started questioning her on why she was here and if she was trying to pull a fast one on them. Flamberge told her that she wasn’t sure what that last saying meant, but that she was genuinely really sorry that she fought them all and hurt their leader. At the same time, Ribbon was mad at Francisca for trying to hurt her girlfriend and forcing her to sacrifice her wings to save her. The ice mage immediately made it clear how sorry she was for fighting them and how ashamed she felt for leaving her without her wings, which she was now starting to see mattered even more to the fairy queen than she thought. Both Mages said that no matter how much they were trying to protect their family, that wasn’t a good excuse for hurting them in the ways they did. They would both totally understand if they never truly forgave them, but they just wanted to let them know that they were genuinely sorry, they wanted to move on now, and they were now on their side. Between the Squeaks and the forest gang, it took some of them longer than others to fully accept their apologies, but even the most disgruntled had some level of respect for them now. Both of them began to float to the emergency room as they considered checking on an ailing Taranza, but before Francisca fully walked away, Adeleine walked up to her. While Adeleine was obviously still not happy about what Francisca had done to her or Ribbon, she let her know that she was aware of Zan being in trouble and how worried she and her twin were for their big sister. She told her how, long story short, she had lost her own big brother to Dark Matter as a kid and that, regardless of what she had just done to her and her girlfriend, the last thing she wanted was for anyone else to go through what she did on her watch. Simultaneously saddened by Adeleine’s hauntingly familiar story and glad to have someone to empathize with, Francisca accepted a pat on the shoulder from the artist and thanked her for the support before floating with Flamberge to the door of the emergency room, where the mood was so much more dire.

A couple of hours after being slashed in the back of the head, Taranza was still unconscious in the emergency room of the med bay and on the brink of death, even as the doctors tried their hardest to work on him. Pikiria stood as close to him as she could and held at least one of his hands whenever she could. She could hardly even bring herself to think about how there were still tiny amounts of her father’s blue blood on her, blood that he was obviously short on. Even as the doctors did all they could, it was entirely up in the air at best as to if he would live. Pikiria had tears in her eyes the whole time, but after a while, she began to sob her eyes out as she held two of her father’s hands and had her mind start circling with fears of what would happen if he died right here. She had now realized thanks to her father’s potential final words that she too could open up the Dreamstalk, and if she had enough positive energy left to unleash from the Friend Hearts, then she could potentially purify Sectonia soon enough and finally free her from her curse. But she could hardly even bring herself to imagine how her mother would react if Taranza was dead. A large part of why her mother had fought her darkness this hard and survived this long was for Taranza, her true love for literally her entire life. How devastated would she be to be set free and immediately find out that her beloved Taranza had died at the hands of the same monster who corrupted her, not to mention that said monster had just tried to corrupt her daughter right before murdering him? Then again, that's if she even could be saved. More than at any other point in her life, absolute dread and fear consumed Pikiria as she thought about the chance that not only would her father succumb to his wounds, but that the only way to end her mother's curse would be to end her life as well. She may have gone into space with one parent by her side and the other's salvation potentially in sight, but now it was looking entirely possible that within moments of returning home, she would have lost both of her parents in the most gut-wrenching ways imaginable. She remembered back during the Dreamstalk crisis when she briefly thought she was about to lose both of her parents after Taranza had been blasted into the air and Sectonia seemed corrupted beyond salvation. But now she was facing a huge possibility of that becoming a reality. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing the two people who had been the most important to her ever since they found her in that garden and began raising her, yet not only was it starting to look all too likely, but she hadn’t even gotten to truly say goodbye to them or thank them for everything. Yet just as she was holding her father’s hands and starting to prepare for the worst, she felt his hands twitching just a bit. Taranza may have had no hesitation in letting Shadow end his life if it meant saving his daughter, but he still fought as hard as he could to stay alive because he had to be there in the future for his daughter and even his wife if she could be saved. Whether or not their miracle would come true, he couldn’t leave his family alone now. So after hours of fighting for his life, he finally slowly started to wake up. Pikiria was at a loss of words and feeling a mix of shock and relief to see her father waking up, all the while still holding his hands. He started sitting up a little more and opened his eyes - at least his front eyes anyway. He couldn’t feel his back eyes for right now, but that didn’t really matter for a moment as he immediately saw his daughter in tears. Pikiria immediately started letting him know how relieved she was that he was still alive, prompting her father to tell her that he couldn’t leave his family alone like that. They felt each other’s faces in relief and love, but it wasn’t long until Taranza noticed something clearly wrong with his back eyes. In fact, as he put his hand to the back of his head, he was shocked to realize that his back eyes were indeed gone. They had been cut so deeply by Shadow that the only safe way to deal with them was to remove them entirely, leaving small, yet very raw scars at the ends of the giant “X” still visible on his head - all the more unavoidable due to a huge amount of his hair having been cut off in the process. Taranza was absolutely shocked to feel and, with help from some mirrors, see the damage that had been done to his head, as well as know that he was never going to see behind him the same way again. Upon seeing her father’s dismay, Pikiria began to apologize again to her father for pushing her luck, allowing herself to get captured by Shadow, and violently fighting him just before Shadow attacked him. But Taranza immediately told her that she had nothing to be ashamed of and that he was just so glad she was okay. He knew that just like how her mother’s corrupted self wasn’t the real Sectonia, her own possessed self wasn’t the real Pikiria. Pikiria then told him that she was so glad that he was going to be okay and hugged him, prompting him to return the hug and tell her that no matter how much time passed by, she would always be his little girl and his pride and joy. Then after a few minutes, Francisca and Flamberge knocked on the door and entered to talk with Pikiria and Taranza. While they hadn’t directly harmed the Floralians, the twins were still bracing for a difficult conversation, especially since Taranza hadn’t been able to hear about what happened on the monitor. Sure enough, Taranza, while knowing that they survived a purge in some way, wasn’t entirely trustful. But Pikiria, who was able to hear the basic details on the monitor, and the Mages let him know about those essential facts, but most of all everything with Shadow - how he had forcefully took control of the family, manipulated the already-warped Hyness into being his senile puppet, threatened all of them multiple times, and had used a Dark Heart to put Zan under the control of the Heart’s darkness. As he kept hearing about what Shadow had now done to this already tortured family, Taranza became more and more horrified. He quickly let them know about what Shadow had done to his own family and that his wife was still valiantly fighting the darkness for her life. The twins were frightened to hear about what Shadow had done in the past and realized that Zan and Hyness were in even more grave danger than they had believed. Once he was finished relaying those experiences, Taranza proclaimed that he was going to join in on this plan to stop Shadow for good. Pikiria immediately and furiously protested and insisted that he would stay in bed until the fighting was over because he had just nearly died at the hands of Shadow. But Taranza replied back that Shadow had nearly killed her and that he could not leave his daughter in danger alone. Not to mention that he had Friend Hearts to contribute to the plan with. Somewhat frustrated, Pikiria told him that she would make up her mind in the morning in order to calm him down and let him get some rest while not really planning on letting him join on the mission the following day. (Not like Taranza would really care about anyone telling him to stay put.)

Soon enough, everyone in the medical bay started going to sleep to be ready for the big day, whether they be patients or loved ones. With several Allies staying in the med bay and the remaining Knights resting in their respective rooms, the huge visitor room was now pretty barren. Susie noticed this and, having more respect for her cousins and how they were turning a new leaf, stopped them on their way to the interrogation room and allowed them to rest in the visitor room. The twins weren’t sure if they deserved this, but Susie told them that after everything they had gone through, they deserved a good rest for once - she just hoped they didn’t torch or freeze the bunk bed they went with. The two then entered the large visitor room, which now only Marx, Magolor, Dedede, Danny, Saila, and Kirby were resting in. The twin Mages floated by the goofs and the Taida’s to a bit of a warmer response than earlier as they now trusted them to work the team. As they floated to a bunk at the end of the room, they could hear the others having their own conversations, although thankfully they weren't talking that much about them. Dedede, who fortunately only left Gabbel with a few boo-boos that weren’t bad enough for the med bay, was talking with Danny and Saila about that ordeal. Danny told his father how scared he was seeing him risk his life against Shadow, but Dedede said that whenever he sees his son in trouble, he would always fight to keep him safe. Danny may have been his guard, but he would always be his boy before that. Right after that though, Dedede started thanking Saila for saving him and for showing such incredible bravery when facing Shadow Knight. The soon-to-be princess was grateful for the praise, but was more grateful than anything that he was still here. She just couldn’t let something happen to her fiancé’s father like that. Danny then lamented how his most prized spear had been destroyed when facing off against Shadow, fearing that he wouldn’t be able to contribute to the big plan tomorrow. But Dedede revealed that he, Saila, and some designers had been working on something for a while for this situation, although he had been planning on saving it as a surprise for once the Halberd landed back on Popstar. Danny was now presented with an easily graspable and durable new spear made with the finest materials imaginable. A spear as easy and comfortable to wield as it was hard to break. Danny immediately thanked and hugged his father for it, promising that he would be even better at guarding him now. But Dedede made it clear that if they needed to come to a compromise on how they should fight together, then they should be side-by-side. Danny reluctantly agreed. Then Danny turned around to Saila and told her how proud he was of her and how grateful he was for what she had been doing lately. If not for her, his father wouldn’t have been talking with them in that moment. (Although Danny also told her that he still didn’t love seeing her run alone into danger like that.) Dedede joined in the praise by telling Saila how proud he already was of her and how happy he was to call her his daughter-in-law soon. Saila, starting to tear up, began to thank him by calling him “Your Majesty Dedede”, but he cut her off midway through that title and told her that even if the wedding was still a few weeks away even in the best case scenario, she could already call him “Dad”. After that, Saila couldn’t help but start to cry and hug the king, who more than accepted the embrace while Danny patted her on the back. With how bad Saila’s parents were, she had spent years wishing she had someone to look up to - anyone she’d be happy to call “Mom” or “Dad”. A decade ago, her life was turned upside down and she wasn’t sure if she’d ever have that person. Yet not only was she about to be married to the one she loved, but her soon-to-be father-in-law was the kind of person she had wished she had in her life for so long. A figure who embraced her for who she was and would be like the parent she never truly had. Someone she was not just glad, but honored to call “Dad”. After that, the Taida’s were finally ready to rest, with Danny and Saila sharing the top bunk and the heavy Dedede carefully settling into the bottom bunk while keeping his hands stretched out in case he would need to sleep-catch either his son or his daughter-in-law in the middle of the night. But while the mood with the Taida’s was seemingly all optimistic, the normally rather silly couple nearby had more mixed emotions. Having entered this adventure concerned about each other’s safety, Marx and Magolor had briefly thought they were going to just cruise through this and soon get back to managing Ma-Ma-Land like normal days. But with how many serious injuries there were and how many loved ones were affected (I mean, why else was this visitor room so empty right now?), the couple were now worried for each other again, especially now that Zan’s current state had shown that Shadow was not afraid to use these Dark Hearts whenever he wanted to possess someone. After a few minutes of sitting on the bottom bunk and wondering what to do, Marx asked Magolor the question neither had wanted to think about this entire trip - what would he do if he saw him get warped by a Dark Heart? Magolor quickly said he would throw a Friend Heart at him as soon as he could and return him to normal. But Marx asked what would happen if, for whatever reason, he couldn’t get that Friend Heart out. Would he try to fight him until he got that Heart ready? Would he be willing to risk hurting him for the sake of him and everyone else? Or would he just stand around and be willing to take whatever his warped self threw at him? Magolor asked him to stop, prompting a shaky-sounding Marx to reply that he didn’t want to think about this either, but it was just part of what they had to worry about now and that unfortunately it could very well matter tomorrow. After a few more seconds of silence, Magolor did guarantee Marx one thing - he would not give up on him. After all, he had refused to give up on him when the Master Crown nearly doomed him, so he couldn’t imagine living with himself if he left him alone with his own darkness. He was always going to be there for him. Marx was happy with that and promised that he would be there for his Maggie again regardless of what happened. With that, they were finally ready to go to bed, now on the top bunk because all of the vents and everything on the ceiling fondly reminded them of running the park back home. They were ready to fly back home to help make some families happy once again as soon as they were done helping to make a certain other family happier than they had been in decades tomorrow. One half of that latter family was at the other end of the visitor room not sure whether to go into the next day preparing for the best or expecting the worst. Francisca and Flamberge were getting ready to go to sleep in a place not having Zan or Hyness, which they certainly weren't used to and didn't want to get used to. They had already decided that due to the temperatures that make them more comfortable, Francisca would sleep on the bottom while Flamberge would sleep on the top. Flamberge had quickly said good night and gotten on the ladder to the top when Francisca noticed her shaky voice and asked her if something was wrong. The fire mage told her that everything was fine, but only sounded weaker in her voice while tears were visible in her eyes. Francisca told her to be honest, prompting her older twin to go down the ladder and sit next to her. She began to cry as she talked about how worried she was going into tomorrow. This could very well be the last sleep they or anyone on this ship got in this realm. Not only was Void so infamously chaotic and often destructive, but Shadow was so erratic that anything could happen at any point. Francisca told her that they still needed to be hopeful as there was still a chance that it could all work out. Not only could they be able to stop Void from being unleashed tomorrow, but with all these good people they were now siding with, maybe they could help end their years of misery. Maybe they could finally have a bright future with Zan and Hyness finally free. Flamberge said that it could end in that, but just how happy would it be allowed to be with Shadow over there? They had no idea what he was doing there now or if the family members he had essentially captive now were even still alive. That’s what terrified her all the more - even if the two of them got a second chance tomorrow, what if Zan and Hyness weren’t able to be a part of it? What if Shadow ensured that they suffered one more soul-crushing loss just when it looked like the suffering would end? Francisca told her that they had to think about the best case scenario here, but Flamberge was just too scared about what could happen to think about that. They had already lost everything before, and now even if the world was saved, they were in serious jeopardy of losing their big sister and stepfather, and she wasn’t sure if she could even handle those losses. Francisca then gave her a moment to cool down after that before admitting that she was terrified for their family too and that she didn’t even want to think about the possibility of losing their family. But they still had a chance tomorrow. Anything could happen, and they would be up front together. Whether it’s the world, their family, or their pain ending the next day, Francisca assured her older twin that she would stick with her until the bitter end. That was just enough to reassure her for a bit as they hugged and thanked each other for always being there for them before Francisca tucked herself into the lower bunk and Flamberge went to bed in the top bunk. As everyone around them went to bed, Kirby sat in their own top bunk in the middle of the spaced-out beds while looking up at the sky and thinking about their uncle and the fate of the galaxy. They had heard all their life about their parents sacrificing themselves - days after giving birth to them - by apparently defeating a creature that sounded an awful lot like one of these Void creatures. With that in mind, Kirby was willing to meet the same fate as their parents should it be necessary. But was their uncle safe right now? Back on Jambandra, Meta was chained up for the night, unable to bring himself to sleep as he kept being frightened of what could possibly happen next. Was Void going to be summoned to end the world? Was Shadow going to kill Hyness or even Zan at any point once their warped selves had done all they could? Would his team be unfortunate enough to run into this death trap? He just didn’t know what to think anymore and simply hoped that the absolute worst of it would happen quickly. At the same moment, both Kirby and Meta fell asleep, not knowing for sure what would happen the next day, but being spot-on in expecting it to be a crucial day for the entire Gamble Galaxy.

Chapter Text

As the unsuspecting people of Popstar were still a while away from experiencing the sunrise, a somewhat literal skeleton crew including Axel and some of the other B-Teamers (don’t worry, they were normally early birds anyway) began to land the Halberd on Gamma and prepare to enact this all-important plan. With the help of a multitude of alarms, all 31 current Meta-Knights and Star Allies woke up soon enough for the biggest morning of their lives, although not all of them looked like they would be ready to go. Ribbon was able to walk away from the bed and join the mission without much resistance - even doing a little better than expected at moving entirely by foot without wings - and with Daroach having recovered surprisingly well overnight, his crew didn’t show much pushback when he got up and joined them to the meeting. Things weren’t quite so simple in the emergency room though as Taranza was still in a bad amount of pain from his injuries, enough to make Pikiria reluctant to let him onboard. But her father insisted that she couldn’t let him approach the same area with Shadow in it again after the disaster on Gabbel. Pikiria told him that the same was even more true with him and that she had a lot of people joining her this time, but her father’s mind was already made up as he promised that he’d try to avoid danger as much as possible (take a wild guess as to if he meant it or not). Pikiria reluctantly allowed him on, but told him that she wouldn’t let him endanger himself so recklessly now. Within minutes, all of them met in the hangar to remind themselves of the plan and go to their respective ships. Before they hopped on their respective ships, Susie tried to galvanize the Allies by letting them know that if they could stop a threat like this, then they could take on anything. If they poured their hearts into executing all of this properly, then they would be just an hour or two away not from ruin, but from a new golden age. It was brief, but empowering to the team as they were amped up going into their shuttles - Kirby and the 11 remaining Knights being Francisca and Flamberge’s fake prisoners on one shuttle to the front and the 17 Allies taking the other cloaked shuttle around to sneak in using instructions from the twins. As the two shuttles flew into space, there was an energized, yet still somewhat anxious mood on both of them, knowing full well that anything could happen at any moment. On the so-called diversion shuttle (which had several windows blocked to avoid spotting everyone so easily), Vul complimented Susie’s speech before asking her if she had at least some form of respect for the plan he had thought up. She said she had quite a bit of respect for it and asked why he had asked that. Vul explained that with the stakes of this mission, he was a tad nervous about how this plan could pretty much be his legacy, whether it was a galaxy-saving stroke of genius or an apocalyptic mistake. The other Knights told him that it may actually be a great plan that would just hopefully have the right execution, although that could only quell his anxiety over the Gamble for Gamble so much. With the cloaked shuttle intentionally slowing down to give the front shuttle time to make the diversion work from above, it wasn’t long until the Mages and Allies faced the giant Jambandra where this whole mess had escalated just two long days ago. As the shuttles got closer, the twins began to put the Gamble into motion by temporarily confiscating their weapons, restraining Kirby and the Knights with sneakily fragile handcuffs, and hiding a tiny, yet very sensitive microphone behind Flamberge’s mask to let those in the other shuttle hear everything. But to avoid giving it all away, that other shuttle would have no mic of its own, meaning both sides would put their full trust in each other to be in the right spots at the right time. With the cloaked shuttle tucked underneath, the diversion shuttle finally arrived at the doorstep of Jambandra and the Gamble could begin. A number of Jammer guards were there and prepared for any possible attacks. But before long, Francisca and Flamberge emerged and demanded for Zan, Hyness, and Shadow to come to the entrance as they had “great surprises” for them that they couldn’t wait to show them right here. The Jammers quickly passed the word down until all three were notified right as Meta, still chained to the posts, was being placed in the altar room. The warped Zan and Hyness were immediately compelled to go, and a confused Shadow decided to roll with it, although not before telling Meta that he should enjoy whatever respite he could get here. A few long minutes passed as the twins awaited the other three’s arrival while everyone still in both ships waited for their parts of the plan. Eventually, though, Flamberge could see Zan, Hyness, and Shadow approaching and whispered that they were coming into the mic. The cloaked shuttle immediately got the message and started flying to the back of the Divine Terminus. Once they came face to face with their Zan’s corrupted form, the twins were immediately horrified deep down at seeing what Shadow had done to their big sister in addition to their stepfather. But knowing that they had to keep their composure to keep the plan alive, they told them that they were glad to return. Shadow loudly asked in confusion how they got back, but the twins explained that they hadn’t just escaped the Meta-Knights, but done something far more unexpected. As the cloaked ship began to inch closer to the altar, the twins pulled out Axel in handcuffs to reveal that they had indeed seemingly taken at least one of the Meta-Knights with them to Jambandra. Shadow wasn't too impressed as he had never even seen any of the B-Teamers, but the twins said to just bear with them because they were just getting started. They then pulled out Point Stabb, and immediately after also showed off his younger brother Sharp to show how many B-Teamers they had nabbed. And this was only the beginning. Meanwhile, the cloaked ship made its way to the back where the Allies quickly found an opening. As they all left the shuttle and both carefully and quickly floated to Jambandra, Francisca and Flamberge were just finishing on introducing the B-Teamers - much to their possessed family's confusion and Shadow's annoyance - but they made sure to be as slow as possible when introducing the A-Team. As they slowly pulled out Vul, the Allies weaved their way through to the altar and eventually saw both the captured Meta and the Jamba Heart, which was slowly growing in darkness. The Mages were then going through all of the other Knights before finally ending with Kirby, and they were lucky they didn’t drag it out for any longer, or else Shadow probably would have just wiped out everyone on that doorstep out of annoyance. He told the twins to never drag anything out like that again, but then was clearly grinning as he told Kirby and the Knights that they had someone special waiting for them. They then started floating to the Divine Terminus as Kirby, the twins, and the Knights hoped the Allies would be in good spots eventually. As the Allies could hear that they were running out of time, they broke the speaker they had and moved into a set of hiding spots. The demoralized Meta thought he was hearing something, but was focused on his misery of being held captive in such a high-stakes situation, and that was before he saw who was being dragged in. Not only did Zan, Hyness, and Shadow walk in, but so did Francisca and Flamberge with his nibling and his entire crew captured before his eyes. He was already dreading the possibility of his crew barging into danger to save him, but now they were already captured. They may well have been about to meet the same fate as him, and it crushed his soul. Francisca and Flamberge explained that they had executed a stunning escape and captured Kirby and the Knights in the process. Shadow began to laugh and gloat to Meta about how his team was now as stripped of dignity as he was, but at least they probably wouldn’t be apart for long. Specifically, he would kill each of Meta’s crewmates right in front of him one by one followed by maybe Meta himself. But if he were understandably broken in just the right way by the demise of his crew, then he would be dumped into the Jamba Heart and complete the release of Void. At that point, Meta was beyond appalled and horrified that this was how it was going to end. He and his crew had survived so much adversity over the decades, but it truly felt like this was it. Not only would they die to this corrupted monster, but he could very well be absorbed to help a monster be summoned to ravage the galaxy. But before Shadow could start this plan, Vul asked to have some last words. Shadow relished in letting Meta suffer a little longer and allowed Vul to speak, failing to notice the Allies preparing once they knew who was speaking. Vul said that he had a number of questions in mind, but had one really crucial one: "Have you ever heard of this little game named POKER?" Right before Shadow could ask what it was or why he shouted, he was immediately pinned to the floor by a web, and every last one of the Allies immediately rocketed to the platform with the altar. Within moments, Shadow was being viciously webbed down by Taranza, Hyness was knocked to the floor, and the warped Zan faced the weapons of her emotional sisters. (Amidst all of this, Kirby and the Knights were released from their handcuffs. After just a couple of quiet seconds, Francisca and Flamberge shakily asked their big sister to just hold back for a second so they could set her free. But Zan, too possessed to even recognize her own sisters, lashed out at them as “traitors” and began to surround herself in electricity to push back not just the twins, but several other Allies, some of whom were focused on Hyness or Shadow. With that distraction, Shadow yelled at Zan and Hyness to stop lying around and fight, after which both would get up and do just that. Within seconds, what looked like a surefire bloodless victory had imploded into pure chaos on a small platform near a growing Jamba Heart, although at least they were able to block off the door to prevent Jammers from interfering. Even with Zan and her stepfather currently being outnumbered 31 to 2, the additional strength they had with the Dark Heart and their unwavering commitment to unleashing Void combined for them to immediately give the Allies a fierce challenge. All the while, Taranza was trying all he could to keep Shadow stuck to the floor as the demented knight was astonished to see what was briefly one of his proudest kills alive right in front of him. In the middle of the scuffle, Francisca and Flamberge were forced to clash with their big sister who they had spent their whole lives looking up to. Heartbroken at seeing her as a shell of herself, they tried shouting out to her to fight against the darkness so they could save her, their father, and the world from Shadow and his craziness. But as her ashamed soul was barely allowed to watch in horror, Zan not only sent shockwaves at her younger twin sisters, but then pulled out her own Dark Heart and launched it towards them. As soon as she saw it hurtling towards Flamberge, Francisca jumped in front of her older twin and took the Heart. Both Flamberge and, in a much hazier state, Zan’s true self could only watch in terror as their youngest sister was enveloped in that same awful darkness. Before she could even process any of it, Flamberge was being bombarded by her little sister’s ice powers, which only got even more powerful with the Heart’s dark energy. Everyone had a hard time dealing with the ice and electricity, not to mention that despite Hyness’s age and how much the darkness had hurt him, his magical attacks were still absolutely punishing on everyone. At the same time as that, Taranza finally couldn’t hold onto the webs any longer as Shadow immediately broke free, yet decided to hold off on attacking Taranza again once he saw Flamberge getting cornered by Francisca. The normally aggressive fire mage couldn’t bring herself to fight her little sister, and Shadow ordered Hyness to get her possessed while he started attacking. As Shadow began to wreak havoc on the Allies, Hyness’s vessel approached his middle child, who got lightly stuck to the ground by Francisca’s ice and could only stand in horror as a Dark Heart thrown by the shadow of her beloved stepfather unleashed its toxicity on her. Just like that, all three Mages had been strengthened and warped by the Dark Hearts, and now the 29 remaining Allies had to take on these five overwhelming opponents while the darkness continued to mount on the Jamba Heart. Shadow’s erratic and shadowy Mirror powers, Hyness’s furious magic, and the elemental powers of all three Mages were already normally powerful, but they combined for an absolutely harrowing battle for the Alliance. While they were trying to fight, Meta had time to quickly let Vul know that this whole plan was cool and all, but also that they didn’t need to make him think they were captive and they certainly didn’t need to come here to save him; Vul though simply said that beyond everything else at stake, they were just trying to help out a crewmate - something he of all people should have understood. Things only got more terrifying when the Mages each started pulling out their most dangerous possible weapons - Francisca with her Soda Slider, Flamberge with her Mega Broiler, and Zan with her even more unpredictable Electro Eclair. Having only so much room to run to while Hyness and Shadow were still attacking them, everyone had to duck and cover when Francisca started shooting the frigid soda again, Flamberge again fired a burning stream of lava, and Zan shot a massive electric laser across the arena. Yet in the middle of it, Sirica imagined a way to stop it and asked Garlude to throw her into the sky. Her mother asked if she had totally lost her mind, but Sirica guaranteed that if she were thrown in the right pot, she could stop all three of them on the spot. Garlude reluctantly agreed and assured her that she would catch her on the way down. As the three vicious attacks were still going on, Garlude threw her daughter into the air, and the younger Fuzzen immediately turned on the flamethrower on her Penta-Wrecker and fired right in front of Zan to completely disorient her and send her tumbling to the ground, in the process redirecting the beam towards Francisca’s Soda Slider and shocking her, thus leading to that beam getting sent towards Flamberge and Hyness to stop the former’s broiler and knock both of them unconscious alongside Zan and Francisca. As Garlude managed to catch her daughter and the altar suddenly went from blaring noise to dead silence, several Allies frantically checked on Hyness and his stepdaughters, although fortunately, all four were alive. It seemed like all would be calm until suddenly four Shadow Knights appeared, let out waves to knock everyone down, and each towered over Hyness or each of the Mages. They simultaneously remarked that they had waited too long to do anything with them besides throw them to the Heart and lifted their swords up ready for either a kill or a four-part sacrifice. But just as Susie yelled “No!” and feared she had failed her extended family, all four were stopped in very familiar webbing. Moments later, all of them but the real Shadow over Hyness disappeared as Taranza held him in a web bubble that kept shrinking on him. Shadow frantically told him that he never could have survived two slashes like that. Yet with years worth of rage boiling in him, Taranza made it look like nothing had happened to him as he slammed Shadow on the floor several times and yelled at him that neither her nor his family could ever be broken. If he had any chance at a miracle left, then he would ensure he could never ruin it again. He then used the webbing to hold him up and said for “the slash” to happen now, which was immediately followed by Pikiria suddenly reappearing to slash Shadow across his right eye - his second eye scar on his mask at the hands of the current Queen. Yet right after being released, instead of dropping dead, he just started laughing maniacally. He laughed as he said that now the Jamba Heart would be all their problem. At least, every one of them except for one. Without warning, Shadow flew at Meta and started rocketing out of the Divine Terminus with him. As Meta yelled at the shocked team to immediately pelt the Jamba Heart with Friend Hearts, Kirby refused to stand around as right after throwing a massive Friend Heart with all of their positive energy at the Alliance, they summoned a Warp Star and flew off into space in hot pursuit of their uncle.

Not long after fully leaving the altar, Kirby could see Shadow flying away with Meta and raced as hard as they could to close the gap. The corrupted knight began to ramble to his enemy with frightening incoherence about how thanks to the Jamba Heart, he would have a special view to his new empire of darkness and retaliation -  revenge on everyone that wronged him from Floralia to Popstar to the entire Gamble Galaxy. As he violently dragged Meta through the galaxy, he then began to turn around and fly towards a small moon, although Kirby followed in hot pursuit. At the same time back at the altar, the Allies all quickly came to realize that they now all had an equal share of Kirby’s positive energy, which turned out to be an absolutely enormous amount. Some Allies had more than others beforehand, but now they were all loaded with a huge amount. At the same time, they could hear Hyness and the Mages start to wake up and immediately braced for more conflict. But fortunately, Kirby’s positive energy had also spread to them, meaning that all three of the sisters were completely purified of their darkness. Even with all three still kind of banged up from the combo gone awry, as soon as all three saw each other awake, they all stumbled and ran to each other as fast as they could and embraced. Zan was immediately in tears as she told her little sisters how sorry she was for keeping them in this doomed plan, trying the wrong idea to save their father, and attacking and warping them in her corrupted form. She had promised them their whole lives that she would take care of them and be the best big sister possible, but she had failed them (and in her mind, she had also failed her mother). But her baby twin sisters quickly assured her that she had good intentions for so long and that it was obviously not the real her attacking them minutes ago. They knew their big sister would never do that, and now they were just glad that she was okay. They then saw their stepfather waking up and cautiously floated towards him. Hyness started coughing for a bit and holding his hand to his head before he looked up to see his stepdaughters. And with his true self at least partially in control, he immediately burst into tears and started stumbling to them. The Mage-Sisters were stunned to see him in control of himself for the first time in decades and immediately embraced him. Yet before any of them could celebrate or even say anything, Hyness started to act aggressively again, and it quickly became clear what was happening. The sister may have been able to be easily uncorrupted due to their possessions only lasting either half a day or a few minutes, but Hyness wasn’t so lucky due to having been warped by the Jamba Heart for decades. So while that big Friend Heart was able to restore some control to his true soul, he was still half controlled by that darkness, and every second of it was pure agony for him as he apologized as much as he possibly could to his girls for letting all of these horrible things happen to any of them. His daughters though just wanted him to be free and not suffering like this. As if the complicated reunion of the family wasn’t enough though, the Allies were especially alarmed when they noticed the Jamba Heart continuing to grow in darkness. Back on that nearby moon, Shadow landed and immediately started throwing Meta around like he was just his toy for maniacal torment. Yet before long, Kirby landed with their uncle’s old sword in hand (plus a nice green hat on their head) and dashed towards Shadow to help their uncle. Once Shadow saw Kirby running toward him, he immediately dropped Meta and started running around. That gave Kirby a bit of time to help up Meta, who immediately thanked his nibling for helping him out. But within moments, Shadow’s reflective clones began to surround the two of them, setting up a crazy skirmish. Kirby was always a jack of many trades, but never as exceptional a sword fighter as some others. Meta meanwhile had Galaxia back, but was exhausted after being held captive for a while and unable to truly use it to its fullest potential. Shadow was simply so unhinged and yet absolutely relentless in his attacks. It seemed as though the Pollies would finally meet their match. But over at the altar, the Allies caught onto the problem with the Jamba Heart. Several Allies began throwing as many of their Friend Hearts as possible at the Heart, knowing that if it were showered with positive energy, it could potentially unleash a massive wave of light and destroy a lot of corruption. Taranza and Pikiria were certainly hoping for that as, after spending several days saving positive energy to save Sectonia, they were left with no choice but to help something so important and prioritize the world over their beloved former queen. (Fitting in a way.) Even Hyness kept contributing what positive energy he had to the Jamba Heart, much to his daughters’ alarm. They insisted that he wait around instead of risking control of himself and possibly his life, but he made it clear that after he had wasted his life on this thing, the least he could do would be to help stop it at all costs. He even made it clear that if he was taken over by the darkness again and unable to be saved after this, he could just be disposed of afterwards to avoid hurting anyone again. Besides, no matter what, his soul would hopefully still exist to at least always love and feel so proud of the three most precious daughters he could have ever asked for. Eventually, all of this energy would not only slow the darkness on the Jamba Heart to a crawl, but begin to replace that dark purple crystal exterior with a new coating of soft pink. The effects would be even more immediate than expected, as with his newest source of power dwindling, Shadow began to get weaker in his attacks. He couldn’t quite explain it and it drove him insane, giving Kirby and Meta opportunities to strike. They kept tearing through the clones and putting heavy pressure on Shadow himself. Shadow however then knocked Meta to the ground and pushed Kirby back a considerable distance. He then had a clone pin Meta to the ground on his cape before sprinting to where Kirby was sitting, sword out of their hands. Meta quickly kept wrestling to control his cape before reaching back with Galaxia to break the clone and trying to fly towards Shadow. Just before he could hurt a frightened Kirby, Meta crashed into him and started punching him. The two would soon enough be back on their feet, and just before Shadow could pull out any more tricks, Kirby grabbed their sword again and quickly produced beams with it to destroy any and all clones. Before Shadow could do anything about it, an exhausted Meta slashed at him, only for Shadow to slash right back at him. The two just kept slashing at each other with some blocks and some big blows for what seemed like forever. They simply would not stop until one was dead. Just when it looked to be a stalemate, Shadow was suddenly frozen - the result of a devastating backslash by Kirby - and Meta unleashed a super deep slice right down the middle. Just like that, he was frozen in place for a moment before falling to the ground. With the breathing of both knights clearly hitched, Meta removed the disgraced knight’s mask to see far too many slashes to count, a bloodied mouth, and two scarred, fully white eyes staring up at him in both fury and awe - all the while, another soul underneath struggling to believe that the nightmare may finally be over. Shadow couldn’t help but be stunned as he said that the darkness wouldn’t end with itself smoldering over oblivion, but instead drowned and suffocated in light. He would be correct. Back at the altar, the Allies were using every last bit of positive energy they had left, yet still just a little bit short of filling that bubbly pink to the top. Seeing this and facing whatever fate awaited him with dignity, Hyness ended the disaster he started 30 years earlier - with such good intentions, yet always doomed to disaster - by unleashing as big a Friend Heart as he could and throwing at the Jamba Heart as he fell down out of exhaustion and passed out. As his frightened stepdaughters caught him, the final Friend Heart fell onto the Jamba Heart, and it immediately began to glow blindingly bright before flying into the sky and erupting. It sent a wave of purification across the entire galaxy, as everyone under the control of a Dark Heart or several other types of darkness was completely cured. (Don't worry, Gooey wasn't affected.) It reached every last corner of the galaxy, and it certainly made its mark on Popstar as the bud of a certain plant of dreams went from spiraling to black to shining as bright and brilliant a pink and yellow as anything you would ever see. All of it was visible like an enchanting pink wave of purity, and it would soon be visible on that one moon. Before either Kirby or Meta could fully process it, the wave passed over them, and the moment they looked down, Shadow Knight was finally no more - the mere essences of both him and Dark Mind reduced to painful memories forever. But there was still someone alive for just a few more seconds there, and it was Adam, now in control of himself and what remained of his body for the first time in over 200 years. With his now more soulfully white eyes engulfed with tears, he was just barely able to choke out how sorry he was for doing everything and that if there was anything bad awaiting him after this, he would deserve so much more than that. But Meta, well aware of how Adam had been trapped by Shadow for over two centuries, assured him that he was never in control of anything and ultimately wished him peace. With his body now quickly disintegrating without Dark Mind’s power extending his lifespan, Adam spent his final seconds thanking him before staring into the wondrous cosmos of this dimension’s space and turning to ash as he weakly said to himself, “Can you see those stars, Uncle... Could you possibly still love me, Uncle...” Then after all of that, all that physically remained of Adam in either this realm or his own was the pile of ashes as the tortured fallen hero could finally have his merciful rest. Simultaneously at the altar, they had deduced that Hyness could still live if he got to medical in time (which the Mages could also use considering their injuries), but needed medical help immediately. They also realized that they could find ways to cram into the Halberd all of the Jammers and other people from Jambandra who had just gotten purified. But right as everyone was ready to either walk out or wait for Meta and Kirby to hopefully return, they noticed another bit of light from behind, only this one a little more magenta. Once they turned around, the entire Divine Terminus turned into stunned gasps. Back on that moon, Kirby and Meta stood in stunned silence for several seconds after Adam’s death before Meta somewhat awkwardly told his nibling it was time to fly back. He then began to walk a few steps before suddenly falling flat on his face. Kirby was immediately alarmed and tried rolling him over, only for half of his mask to break off. One look at their uncle’s face was enough to cause Kirby to cry, and they frantically got his communicator out to alert the team, seconds away from revealing what they had seen, that Meta was critically hurt and needed immediate medical help. Kirby then called for their Warp Star and took their ailing uncle with both mask halves in tow while feeling like their heart would burst at any moment. At the advice of the Knights, they would fly straight to Gamma where the Halberd was based as fast as they could. Meta was still conscious for just a few more seconds, confused at what was happening before ultimately feeling like resting off these injuries couldn’t hurt much as he drifted off into what still felt like the night, even if it was perhaps into the unknown.

Chapter Text

After what felt like just a few unconscious moments, Meta began to feel himself waking up. Strangely though, not only did he feel basically no pain despite the beating he had just taken, but he saw only a strange dark red right above and all around him, not to mention that his mask was gone. It only got so much weirder when he tried to get up, only to be so weightless that he almost fell forward on his face. Then just when he seemingly couldn’t be any more confused, he heard a lightly feminine, formal voice to his right say, “How fittingly unique for you, Sir.” He turned to his right and was shocked to see another knight, specifically a black-colored one sporting a set of huge, sparkling red butterfly wings on her back and a uniquely shaped bright red mask with antennae-like horns and several small holes. As Meta stumbled from his weightlessness, he asked the knight who she was, prompting her to shake his hand and reveal that she was Lady Morpho Knight - although “Morpho” or “Mrs. Morpho” would be okay to say for brevity’s sake. It made Meta feel a bit less intimidated that whoever else was here with him had some manners, but he still didn’t have any idea what she was doing here or where this was. Once he asked her that, she said that was the Knight of the Beyond, an endless dimension completely inaccessible to the outside world and reserved for the souls of the deceased. As soon as Meta heard it was that, it felt like time froze and like he was on the verge of passing out, assuming he still could when he was… no. He couldn’t have died there, not in front of his nibling and right when it looked like the worst of this ordeal was over. He was only even more startled when he looked behind him and saw what looked like a portal he couldn’t reach that seemingly showed his perspective of a number of his friends looking worried and sad. But before he panicked too much, Morpho told him that he wasn’t actually dead yet. In fact, he was in a very rare situation where he only ended up in this exact place because his odds of survival were currently dead even - 50% chance to survive, 50% chance to perish. Ordinarily, someone could obviously still survive if they were at low odds of survival, or pass away if their odds of survival were high. But whenever the odds are perfectly split like this, the soul would end up here to make their choice. As soon as he heard about all of this, Meta was immediately relieved and ready to return to life. But Morpho told him that she couldn’t just let him immediately return home, although she wouldn't mind letting him do so. Simply by nature, he would first be required to take a quick step into the Beyond to confirm his decision. Wanting to just get it over with quickly, Meta was willing to step into the Beyond for a minute alongside Morpho. He walked into the portal with her, but was surprised to see what the Beyond was like. It was like a never-ending sea of small floating islands with many different types of beautiful yards and homes, all surrounded by a sky that forever looked like a sunset. It was beautiful, yet strange. As Meta stood on the edge of one particular island, he was absolutely speechless at what he was seeing, and that was before he turned around to see who was on this island. He was stunned to see Max and Beatrice on the other side of the island hugging a tearful Anna and audibly telling her that "they were finally all going to be okay". All three of them looked more transparent than his own rather opaque form, as unlike him, their fates had already been sealed years ago. Shocked and confused at what he was seeing, Meta slowly walked up to his fallen crewmate and his family, and it wasn’t long before Max saw him and gasped. Starting to shed tears, Meta told him that he wasn’t currently dead, but that wouldn’t have quelled his friend’s shock. Within seconds, the two great friends would quickly hug each other, with Meta apologizing to his fallen comrade for not being able to save him at any point and for failing him as his leader. But Max immediately reassured him that he never had anything to be sorry about involving his death. Really, his fate was sealed the moment he picked up that awful helmet again on Rock Star. He of all people was aware of much it could hurt to hold on to misguided self-blame like that. (While he was still racked with emotions over the purge, Anna and Bea had helped finally quell his self-blame over the tragedy.) He even told him that he had been able to see him and the Knights reeling from his own death, and that while it was more than brutal enough to see his daughter and his friends so devastated by it, it wasn’t any easier to watch his great leader blame himself for his fate. He lastly told Meta that even if he could find any blame to wrongfully throw at him, he would forever be grateful to him for giving him the chance to be on the Knights and let seven of the last eight years of his life be among the most thrilling, fun, and wonderful. He would forever thank him for, in his eyes, saving him, and he additionally thanked him for helping to take care of Susie, who he was so proud of. With that, Meta finally had closure with his lost friend. Seconds later, he told him that he never had to suffer in silence from his feelings over the purge and that if he told him or any of the Knights about what he had gone through, they all would have supported him and helped him deal with those feelings. He wasn’t just their teammate or even their friend, but part of their family, and he forever would be. Max was moved hearing how much he would always mean to the rest of his beloved crew. As that reunion winded down, Beatrice and Anna then floated over to meet Meta, who both of them - especially Bea - had seen a lot by checking on Max over the years. Meta first shook hands with and met Bea, who was indeed as bubbly as her family had remembered. She thanked him for being such a good leader to her daughter and husband, and especially for when he would save Susie. Then he saw Anna, who was for obvious reasons even more emotional than her little sister and brother-in-law. After shaking his hand, Anna thanked him for helping Zan realize the awful plan wouldn’t work and fighting so hard to stop Shadow from hurting her family again. Meta then asked them how Hyness and the Mages were doing. They immediately told him that all four of them had been completely purified, and while Hyness was badly exhausted and in the Halberd’s medical wing, he had good odds of ultimately surviving. It was an emotional relief to Anna that her family was perhaps on the cusp of finally being able to start over and have a happier life. Just as Meta was about to leave and settle on his decision, Morpho appeared and told him that due to a certain thing he had done that she would explain in a bit, he would have the privilege of one more person to talk to. Meta was surprised, but had enough time to tell Max, “Until we meet again, my friend,” before Morpho teleported him to a different island. Meta asked her why she had taken him here, but she told him that she knew exactly who he would talk with, and she was correct. As Meta turned around, he was stunned to be facing another blue puffball, one who he hadn't seen in 36 years. It was his big brother Stan, who had been separated from him on his 10th birthday four years before he and Lillian had Kirby and died to save the galaxy. After all this time, the two brothers immediately sprinted into embracing each other and crying their eyes out. Before long, Meta broke the silence by telling his brother how much he had missed him and been heartbroken by his death ever since he sobbed in front of that golden statue years after the fact. Stan then immediately told Meta that he had missed him too, but that it was incredible to see just how much he had grown up, as well as how glad he was to see him protecting his child when he could. Meta then asked his brother the question that had been nagging at him ever since he lost him - was he proud of him? If he was able to see everything that happened and everything he had done over the past few decades, would he be proud of his little brother? Without hesitation, Stan said "yes" and let him know that he was every bit as proud of him as any big sibling could possibly be in any universe. Stan even told him that both him and Kirby had been even greater heroes than he or Lilly could ever imagine. More than that, though, he and Lilly had been so happy to see him, their old friends Mikey and Garlude, and Kirby live out their lives and be happy, and they wanted him to keep living that life. Speaking of, the pink Lilly ran over and hugged her brother-in-law, thanking him for being such a good uncle to Kirby and telling him how happy she was to see him, his nibling, and his crew enjoying life over the past 26 years. Meta was so glad to be seeing both of them again that he told his big brother, who had taken care of him and been one of his best friends back in the Grumble Galaxy, that he wished he could be with him in some way to tell him about all of the amazing things he had been able to see and all of the great people he had met in his life. Stan told him, though, that he didn’t have to stop here yet. While it was peaceful and comforting here, it could never be the same as being alive. He and Lilly had come to terms with it long ago, but it stung that they’d never be alive again to experience all of life’s thrills. Meanwhile, Meta had so much more life to live and so much more to give his loved ones and the world, and he deserved to enjoy every last bit of it. Besides, while Meta would be living it, he and Lilly could still be watching it, and that would be good enough for them now. After that, Morpho appeared again and asked him if he was ready to make his decision, and Meta immediately told her that there was no doubt that this would only be the first time he stepped into the Beyond. He was choosing to return to life. He may have been destined to eventually end up here forever, but he couldn't throw away the chance to spend so much more time in the living realm. Morpho then grabbed his hand and slowly flew up with him, giving his big brother enough time to tell him that he’d always be watching him and would forever be proud of him. Meta promptly repeated nearly verbatim what he told Max - “Until we meet again, Stanley.” Morpho then flew with Meta through the Beyond before slowing down and pointing at what seemed to be another Morpho happily flying with, of all people, Galacta Knight - the deranged knight that Meta had slain on the Moon almost a full decade earlier. Meta was extremely confused by that sight, but after Morpho apologized for forgetting to mention that she could make clones of herself (which was how she was able to usher so many souls into the Beyond), she told Meta that Galacta, affectionately named “Gala”, was her son. Meta was shocked and apologized for ending her son’s life, but Morpho quickly explained it to him. When Gala was a young adult soldier millennia earlier, he got corrupted and she (not yet Knight of the Beyond) was forced to put him in a crystal seal - not knowing he would be stuck going in and out of that seal in his warped state for thousands of years. It was agonizing for her to watch this forever befall her son, whose true self she never stopped loving and being proud of no matter what. But then Meta was able to end his misery, and after she personally worked for weeks to rehabilitate his rattled, yet ultimately still good soul (a far from uncommon procedure that was actually happening to Adam at the moment), she was finally able to reunite with her long-tortured son who was finally given peace. Morpho even pointed out that she had been a lot more jaded until her son was given peace, and thanked Meta for saving her son, however unintentional it was. As they started to slow down and approach the portal back to the living, Morpho told Meta that for as long as he lived, this would all stay in his mind as a very vivid dream that he could never relay to anyone. But once he returned, it would all come back to him. He’d just have to enjoy his life until then. Meta didn’t have much time to be confused as he went into the portal ready to see how the present saga ended and enjoy the future that he would get in the living realm.

Chapter Text

All day, all night, and into the morning, there were immense amounts of dread and concern just in the Halberd’s emergency room alone, as everyone was worried about Meta. He and Hyness were unconscious in the emergency room into the night, and while Hyness at least had a fighting chance at survival, the other Knights were genuinely starting to fear that the heavily slashed and bandaged Meta would succumb to his injuries without them ever getting to say goodbye. His nibling and fellow A-Teamers stayed in the emergency room near his bed all night (the Mages also staying by their stepfather’s bedside), hoping that their beloved leader would survive this. After all, he had persevered through so much over the years. It couldn’t end here! But by the next morning, they were slowly beginning to prepare for the worst as Meta showed no signs of improving. As the other A-Teamers sat in silence at the back, by Meta’s bedside stood Garlude and Mikey, his two best friends who had been with him through as much as they possibly could throughout their entire lives. They were with him back when they were just kids in the Grumble Galaxy, and if this was the bitter end for him, then they would be by his side one more time, as agonizing as it was for them to imagine life without him. While they were by his bedside though, they noticed him starting to move and slowly opening his eyes. As the others started to notice Garlude and Mikey’s shock, Meta finally came to as his lifelong best friends already had tears in their eyes. Both of them asked if he was okay, and he replied that he’s never been better, at least in the past few hours anyway. Susie, Sirica, and Vul all quickly ran to the bed alongside him to express how glad they were that he survived. He told them all how grateful he was to still be alive and still have his team and family with him. He then went on to praise Mikey, Garlude, and Sirica for fighting so hard on Jambandra amidst that scuffle. He subsequently applauded Vul and Susie for having such a great plan to stop the crisis and helping to rally everyone. Kirby then came into the emergency room looking glum, but quickly ran in joy and relief to their uncle’s bedside once they noticed him alive and well. Meta immediately praised his nibling for their bravery in chasing Shadow and fighting him so crucially, telling them that they saved his life. He also made it clear that not only was he so proud of them, but there was no question their parents would be astronomically proud of them. The moved Kirby then ran out of the room and promised they would only be gone for a bit. During that time, the Mages floated over to the A-Team and apologized for contributing to this mess in ways that no possession helped out in, from attacking them to causing a mess for the entire galaxy in pursuit of a long-doomed plot. They then thanked the Knights for still trying to see the good in them and helping them, with Zan in particular thanking Meta for helping her to stop believing in the plot and expressing how glad she and her sisters were that he was alright. The Knights expressed back that they were glad they were turning a new leaf and let them know they were hoping for the best for them and their still unconscious stepfather. Susie even told her cousins that she would help them as much as she could in giving them a bright future at last. As they returned to Hyness’s bedside, Kirby returned to the emergency room, and much to Meta’s shock, they weren’t alone as Meta now knew what the Allies were ready to tell him about before he collapsed. In Kirby’s arms was a tiny, precious, silvery purple infant puffball girl wrapped up in a small towel and looking up at Kirby. Meta was in awe seeing her, and it wasn’t long before it was explained to him that this puffball was spawned from the positive energy of the Jamba Heart - essentially the positive form of Void. It even dawned on Meta that perhaps hundreds or even thousands of years ago, he and Kirby could trace their ancestral roots to these positive voids, and now a new legacy had just begun. Kirby then said that they wanted to take in the baby as their adoptive daughter and give her the greatest, calmest childhood she could possibly have. They knew it could be hard, but they also knew she deserved a good life and they were ready to give her that. Emotional at becoming a parent, Kirby then said that in the past few hours, they had already thought of the name “Katy”. Meta and the Knights all liked it, and soon enough, even the heavily bandaged and restrained Meta was able to feel the face of his precious adoptive great niece before congratulating his nibling. It was joyous around that bed, but Susie noticed the concern still surrounding the other bed. She floated over to the Mages, who were worried and frustrated that Hyness’s condition still hadn’t improved. Zan then shakily asked Susie what she or sisters could possibly do if he didn’t make it. It was already unbearable for them losing their mother right as the purge erupted, but if anything else could hurt that much, it would be losing their stepfather right as he was purified and just as their nightmare looked to be over. The twins shared that concern and began to cry, prompting Zan to cry and hug them both and promise she’d try as hard as she could to be the big sister she had always promised to be and make sure nothing could hurt them anymore. Susie then hugged them and told them that they absolutely deserved to still have their father. Zan then told Susie that her mother - Aunt Bea - would be so proud of her for being by far the best of this generation of the family. Susie though told all three of them that they still had plenty of life left and potential to be as good as they very likely would have had fate been on their side for the past 30 years. The sisters were a bit glad to hear that, but at this point, they just wanted at least one of their parents to still be okay. Fortunately, as soon as they said that, the three sisters heard the bed start to move and immediately rushed to it. Hyness finally woke up and immediately saw his daughters around him with tears in their eyes. He immediately had his own tears as he not only knew that his girls were okay, but realized that the darkness in him was completely purged after decades of pain. After he managed to sit up in bed, the sisters told their stepfather how glad they were that he was okay and that now they seemed to finally be headed towards a bright future. All the while, he told them that they meant the universe to him and that he was so sorry for doing all of this to them, although as awful as things got, they knew it wasn't him. Then Susie slipped Zan the family photo from right before her parents' wedding and told her that she and her family could keep it - they obviously needed it more than anyone. Zan knew about the photo thanks to Meta, but she hadn't seen it until now - the first time she had seen even a snapshot of her mother alive since her sacrifice 30 years earlier. Zan immediately shed even more tears as she saw the picture of the life her family never got for long. As a concerned Hyness noticed his oldest daughter's emotions and asked her what was wrong, she shakily told him that someone had given them this old picture and gave it to him. All of a sudden, Hyness saw not only how he and his little girls looked before their future came crashing down, but for the first time since that fateful night, he saw at least the appearance of the love of his life - the one who had, in his mind, saved his life and given him a reason to live since childhood. He was immediately crying in a whole mix of emotions and, now seemingly trying to speak to Anna, said that even if his magical memory meant he could never forget how she looked, she was somehow even more beautiful than he remembered. He said that she had been the most wonderful soul ever and that she had saved his life, as much as he would forever wish that he could have saved hers. But then Hyness, still as if he were trying to talk to Anna, suddenly and shakily said he was sorry that she happened to end up with him. He then burst into sobs and held the picture to his chest as he apologized for putting her babies through so much and ruining them just because he couldn’t accept that she and everyone else were gone. He felt like he had been a complete disgrace to her, her family, and her legacy, and even asked why she had to die instead of him, not knowing how she could possibly forgive him. But his girls quickly comforted him and reminded him that he was possessed and unable to do anything to stop himself. Not only that, but when he was in his right mind, he was as great of a father as they could have possibly asked for and saved them through the purge, whether it was saving them from the elements or taking care of them in the middle of nowhere when there was seemingly no hope of survival. Now they were finally free and finally headed towards a bright future, so now they could have a fresh start away from the pain of the past 30 years. Comforted a bit by that, Hyness embraced his stepdaughters best he could - they had grown so much since the last time they had real hope - and sobbed a bit more happily with them as he told them how glad he was to see them finally have some hope and promised that, no matter how old they were, he would always keep them safe and love them as his little girls. Watching from close by, Susie got emotional seeing her extended family finally get peace and hope, knowing how devastated her parents were by their presumed deaths. Eventually, Hyness asked Zan who had this photo, to which she answered that it was the woman standing near them named Susie. Hyness then told Susie to come closer, which he did, and just as he was asking her how she had this picture, he began to notice she looked just a bit familiar in quite a few ways. He saw a bit of Anna’s little sister in her as well as Bea’s boyfriend Max, but didn’t think it could really be their child since he wasn’t sure if they were even alive after what Max’s father did with them. But then Susie asked her uncle if he remembered Beatrice and Max. He said that of course he did, prompting Susie to say that their so-called vacation weeks before the wedding - and also right after taking this picture - was indeed a trap, but they escaped, ended up on Shiver Star, eventually found out about the atrocities, married, and had her soon after. Hyness couldn’t believe it for a moment, but once his daughters confirmed what Susie was saying, he was stunned. He was even more shocked when they rather shakily told him that neither Aunt Bea nor Uncle Max were still alive today - Bea having died protecting Susie 22 years ago and Max having perished just two years ago, also to save his daughter. While tearful though, Hyness, remembering what he could barely see under the possession, had a smile as he thanked his niece for helping to save him and his girls. He told her that not only was he so proud of her, but there was absolutely no doubt in his mind that her parents were proud of the amazing woman they had raised. Susie couldn’t help but shed tears as, while she had long known or at least believed that her parents would be proud of her, hearing it from another family member that she didn’t even know existed just days ago hit a special note for her. He then apologized for doing everything that he did, no matter if he was in control or not. But Susie then assured him and his daughters that she was going to do what she could to bring them to a good future. Susie and the other Knights would stay in the emergency room for a while, as Meta would need a lot of time to heal, so she and her crewmates had plenty of time to tell Hyness and the Mages more details if they wanted about how she ended up on this team, all the while getting to know Kirby’s new daughter. It was clear that the future was brighter for both the crew and the family than it had been in a while.

It wasn’t long before the rest of the Star Alliance found out about Meta’s survival and Hyness’s purification, and they had already known about Katy. While the A-Team stayed in the emergency room with Meta, Hyness, and the Mages, the B-Team had already been well on their way to steering the Halberd back to Popstar since the Jambandra skirmish ended. And by well on their way, I mean they had gotten so far that Popstar was already in their sights. (And the only reason they weren't going faster was because of fuel concerns, which had totally never been an issue for the Knights before!) All of the Knights, Allies, and Jambandra family were on their way home, also promising to come back and get everyone else at Jambandra who had also been purified by the Heart wave. As it became clear that the crisis was over and everything was alright, everyone was excited to head home and finally return to their lives as soon as that evening. The Allies kept thinking about their own plans. Dedede, Danny, and Saila were excited to finally have the royal wedding in a couple of weeks, with Dedede having even more pride than ever for his son and soon-to-be daughter-in-law. The forest gang was excited to return home to the relaxing forest, with Ribbon in particular seeming both even more excited and a lot more nervous than the others for some reason. The Squeaks were looking forward to basking in their lifestyle again, but with a newfound shade of humility. Marx and Magolor were ecstatic to return to running the park that was like the embodiment of their love for each other. (They occasionally joked that it was their baby, and they weren’t exactly wrong!) But simultaneously the most excited and anxious of the group were Pikiria and the recovering Taranza. It was clear that the Jamba Heart’s positivity wave had completely cured the galaxy of the Dark Hearts, and they could tell by Shadow/Adam’s final moments that it had done the same to Dark Mind’s brand of darkness. But they still weren’t completely sure if they should be ready to just be able to free Sectonia yet. After all, they had gone through so much over the past several years that they couldn't help but just wonder if this wave was enough. They certainly hoped it would be, as they had used up all of their remaining Friend Hearts on the Jamba Heart. If the wave didn't work, then what may have been their last chance would have gone to waste. They were hoping their miracle had finally come true and had a feeling it was, but they just stayed prepared for the worst. As the Halberd got closer to home, they talked. Pikiria was so glad to still have her father, because she wouldn't even want to think about how her mother would react if she knew the love of her life wasn't there. Taranza told his daughter that he was so excited to possibly see her mother again, but still had no regrets about throwing his life on the line to save her. He then told her that he was so proud of her and that he knew her mother would be as well. Pikiria then told her father that she was also proud of him and how strong of a soul he had shown himself to be, and he knew her mother would agree. Then Pikiria asked her father the difficult question of if Sectonia still wasn't purified. It seemed unlikely, but possible. Taranza shakily told his daughter that as much as he loved and missed her, he wouldn't want her to suffer for much longer. Besides, while nothing could ever fill the void in his heart if he lost the love of his life, he would at least still have his little girl, and he would make sure that nothing happened to her. Pikiria then told him that she would appreciate however many of her parents remained for as long as she would still have them. After that, the royals went back to waiting with cautious optimism, knowing that this evening could either be one of the grimmest moments of their lives or one of the most beautiful. Everyone was spending their last day on the Halberd for this mission in whichever way they could think of. While Meta was making a remarkable recovery, he would still not be at 100% for a while - certainly not once they returned. Hyness meanwhile seemed like he'd be ready to be floating healthily again by the time they reached Dream Land. As Popstar drew closer, the two would still be in the emergency room with their loved ones going in and out of their seats to make sure things were going alright. But the two of them were getting a little bored in their beds. With the room all but devoid of visitors for a moment, Hyness suddenly started talking to Meta about when each of his stepdaughters were born, which he remembered vividly despite not biologically having any of them. With him being a close, loving advisor with Anna and even good friends with Zane - Anna's arranged husband and the girls' biological father - he got to see each one soon after they were born - first Zan and then Flamberge and Francisca as twins two years later. From the moment he first saw each of them as newborns, he was immediately moved at seeing them come to life and knew that, even if they weren't his children yet, he would do anything to protect them if they needed it. Of course, he never knew what would eventually come, but he would always feel that sense of love for those who eventually became his stepdaughters and ultimately the one source of light that kept his soul alive. Meta was moved hearing Hyness's stories, especially considering how precious his new great niece was and how much Kirby had already seemed devoted to taking care of her like she was their own flesh and blood. He then told Hyness that he was so sorry that he had to go through everything that he did, stuff that no one should have ever had to suffer through - let alone him and his family. Hyness got emotional about it and said that even with how bright things were now, he was always going to miss his beloved Anna and the people, culture, and home he had ripped away from him. Not only that, but the effects from the tragedy and his spiral wouldn't be done with him as now he knew that the darkness had taken such a toll on his body for so long that at 60 years old, he'd be lucky to survive another decade. In fact, Meta couldn't tell if Hyness was even feeling alright about it or if he was just bottling something up. But in the moment, Hyness sounded hopeful as he said that he hoped he didn't waste any more of the time he had left with his little girls, because he knew Anna wouldn't have wanted him to waste it. After all, Anna was the one who had given him a reason to live for so long. Even Meta was moved hearing him and assured him that Susie would help them get on their feet. Hyness, having heard the Knights' story, then thanked him for doing so much to help his niece and even his brother-in-law. Meta was glad to hear that as well. Eventually, though, the two were informed that the Halberd was finally getting ready to land on Popstar, meaning they wouldn't have to wait much longer to embrace what was sure to be as bright a future as they could imagine.

Chapter Text

Right as the evening was just starting on Popstar, the Halberd began to become visible to those on the ground in Dream Land. The Dream City was already both elated and more than a little confused when all of the darkness in people was wiped out by the Heart Wave, but once they noticed the Halberd beginning to enter the atmosphere, the people of the city began to erupt into cheers. Those on the Halberd were glad to finally be home as three of the most chaotic and insane days of their lives came to a peaceful end. The Halberd approached the dock on Halberd Island and was smoothly parked, with a number of Knights and Allies immediately running out to embrace or even kiss the grass. (The grass-kissers included both Vul and Daroach, much to the amusement of both.) Kirby also brought Katy outside on Popstar for the first time, with her big blue eyes getting to see her homeland for the first time. Kirby was overjoyed to show their baby girl her homeland, where she would get to have the childhood her parent couldn't quite have. While everyone spent a while staying on Halberd Island gathering their stuff and generally being both celebratory and relieved in being back in Dream Land, it wasn't long before the Allies outside of the Knights came together to take a big boat to the Dream City. Before leaving, they thanked the Knights for being so crucial in helping to save the world, to which the crew responded that they also couldn't have done it without each and every one of them. This would almost certainly not even be their last meeting as every single Ally got to keep their own special communication device, just like what the Knights had, to all keep in touch. With the exceptions of Pikiria and Taranza - the queen lifting her father and rocketing back to Floralia - the Allies then boarded the boat to head back to the Dream City. As they reached the shore to the support of the public, Marx and Magolor decided not to wait any longer and quickly started flying to Merry Ma-Ma-Land with smiles beaming as brightly as you could possibly imagine. Within minutes, it would be public knowledge that with the crisis over, not only would the park reopen, but they would celebrate the occasion with their biggest ticket discounts in the park's brief history. Ma-Ma-Land's fans were elated to hear that (and, you know, also that this frightening saga was finished), and its loving, inseparable owners were beyond excited to return to putting their love into running their dream park and making Dream Land even happier. Within minutes of the boat reaching the City and as the Knights were settling back into the Halberd, Vul suddenly heard Daroach joking to him that the past week had truly put the "fire" in dumpster fire, if he knew what he meant. Vul, now on at least improved enough terms with him that he could tolerate sharing a communication network with him, told him that as long as they didn't think about raining on their parade again, then just maybe they would be at that next funeral after all. Daroach said that would be a good deal as long as the Knights kept their end of it and hung up before Vul could answer, laughing as he and his fellow Squeaks were ready to take off in their own airship. Spinni then asked Daroach where to hunt for treasure now, but he decided that maybe they could just find somewhere to relax for a bit, seeing as they were more than a little loaded with treasure now - not the least of which being the one standing right next to him. Spinni knew exactly what her husband meant and couldn't really argue with that as she and her husband's somewhat-newly-humble crew set sail for a nice spot to take in the Spring at the very least. At the same time as all of that, it wasn't long until King Dedede, Prince Danny, and soon-to-be-Princess Saila finally reached Castle Taida to the cheers of their people. Dedede then proudly, but quickly told the nearby people and cameras that their safety couldn't have been secured without the incredible efforts of the Knights and all of the Allies, including the two Waddle Dees standing next to him that were just about to get married and that he was so proud of. The three then joyfully entered Castle Taida and greeted everyone else in there as excitement spread throughout the castle, and not just for the end of the crisis. It would indeed be only a week until Danny and Saila got married, and they were set to be married on their favorite shore. For the next week, Marx and Magolor would get the wedding set up each night while the park was closed. They wanted their friends’ wedding to be practically as wonderful as their own. It was certainly going to be a bit tiring, but they were still excited for that big day. While it was an exciting first evening back for that royal family, it would be even more monumental for the other two sets of royals on the Allies.

When the Allies were just starting to reach the shore, Pikiria was already speeding through the sky with her father, their hearts feeling both a rush of excitement and a small, yet notable lump of uncertainty. There was a good chance their miracle was waiting for them, but if it wasn’t waiting now, then it may never come. It wasn’t long before they zoomed past the rest of Floralia and eventually to Royal Road. As soon as the people of Royal Road saw their queen and previous king, they immediately cheered at the sight of them after they had fought to protect them from this strange crisis. Taranza couldn’t help but smile at how great and beloved of a ruler his daughter was, while Pikiria was proud of her father’s efforts this past week. The two then flew to the royal garden, where they immediately saw Lily and the rest of the People of the Sky waiting for them. Taranza and Pikiria weren’t too surprised to see them here since they had been taking care of the garden, including Sectonia and the Dreamstalk, in their absence. But they weren’t just here for the upkeep as Lily immediately told the family that there was no darkness left to be seen on the Dreamstalk; nothing but the pure brightness of its purple and yellow bud. Taranza and Pikiria looked behind them and realized that was true, and it was beautiful. The Heart Wave had worked. With that in mind, Taranza slowly and emotionally floated up to where his wife had spent the past four years fighting for her life and her soul. His daughter was right there with him and put her hand on his shoulder to tell him that regardless of what happened next, she would make sure he wasn’t alone. Taranza was then quickly able to check one more time to see if there was any darkness still in her, but not a single trace was still in her. After 14 long, torturous years, Sectonia’s curse was finally over. With that, Taranza finally began to use his magic to re-open the bud and bring Sectonia back into the world they all knew. For several seconds, all that could be seen was pure light that was partially tinted pink. It even forced Taranza and Pikiria to retreat to the edge of the garden as soon as they could. That wouldn’t be too inconvenient though as they saw a figure of light floating to that same ledge in front of them, and that figure slowly kept morphing into that of Sectonia. Soon enough, the morphing stopped and Sectonia finally reappeared in full color, looking largely the same as her Spydeair form. However, while she kept her brown skin, uniquely slightly pinkish-gray hair, formal attire, and all eight eyes, she now had the yellow wings of her wasp form that could be pulled back (something Pikiria's wings could actually do as well), and her once-brown horns had become the green of the Dreamstalk. But it was still the Sectonia they knew and loved, and that was all that mattered. Taranza and Pikiria were immediately emotional to see her standing again, and she was immediately shedding tears as well as all three of them held their hands to their mouths in a mix of disbelief, relief, and joy. After several long seconds of silence, Taranza reached his hand to his wife's face and shakily asked her if she was okay. Sectonia then told him that she hadn't felt this great in years before rushing in to join the love of her life in an inseparable, tearful, joyful embrace. The two of them had been inseparable since they were infants, and nearly 50 years later, their love was even more true than ever as they sobbed into each other. Taranza then apologized for getting that mirror and letting her endure all of this, but Sectonia let him know that he only wanted to help her and apologized for letting the darkness get to her. Clearly shaken by the past four years of fighting in the Dreamstalk, she then told him how much she missed him and that she loved him with all of her soul. Taranza replied that more than ever, he would try his hardest to make sure nothing happened to her again, and that he would always love her. She would always be the most beautiful soul in the universe, no matter what. After the two got to kiss for the first time in years, it wouldn't be long until Sectonia then floated over to Pikiria, who was a still-training 16-year-old the last time she had been in her Spydeair form to see her. Now she could properly see just how big her little miracle had gotten, and it brought her to even more tears. Pikiria couldn't wait any longer and rushed to hug her mother, sobbing into her as she told her how much she had missed her and how worried she was about losing her. Sectonia tried to hold her composure as she comforted her daughter and let her know she was okay, but eventually she too started to cry even more as she told her little girl that she was now all grown up and that, after being able to see a bit from the Dreamstalk of how she had taken care of the kingdom, she was immensely proud of her beyond words for being an even greater queen than she could ever hope to be. Sectonia then told both her daughter and husband that she loved them with all of her heart and was so proud of both of them for everything they had accomplished, while also being excited to finally have a second chance at life with them. Taranza and Pikiria then both told her that not only were they so elated to have her back, but they were both so proud of her and hard she had fought the darkness over the past four years. She was largely isolated from the outside world, and nobody knew if she was ever going to be free or even rest in peace. But she would not stop fighting to make sure she had a chance, showing that she truly was as strong a soul as there was in the universe, and now it had finally paid off. Pikiria even called her mother, in more ways than one, Floralia's greatest miracle, although Sectonia disputed it considering her own great little miracle. The current queen continued by thanking both of her parents for everything they had done for her, from finding her in the garden to raising her to everything they did in order to keep her safe. She didn't even want to imagine how she would have ended up without them. With that, all three of them tearfully embraced each other, still unable to fully comprehend that their 14-year nightmare was finally over. Obviously, not everything would be perfect for Floralia's royal family from here on out, as the years of darkness and fighting would haunt Sectonia for as long as she lived (in fact, she didn't even know yet about Taranza's horrific injuries or Pikiria's abduction), among so many other problems. But the worst was over, and now a royal family that never gave up was finally granted its greatest miracle.

By the time nightfall had fully taken over, Adeleine, Ribbon, Gooey, and the three Animal Friends had fully settled back into their cabin in the forest after the most exhausting week of their lives. They were greeted by Chuchu, Pitch, and Nago (considerably less scary to them than they were to Sirica), and while everyone was excited to be back home, they were largely just drained. The two most notable women of the group were already preparing for some big plans over the next few weeks. Adeleine was preparing to make visits to Hyness and the Mages to read their memories and craft several paintings of the memories and people they had no pictures of (especially charitable considering how notoriously hard it normally was for people to get her to paint anything for them). Queen Ribbon, on the other hand, was hoping that very night to do something she was ready to do before the crisis began, although she still felt a pang of nervousness at doing it. But by this point in the night, Adeleine wasn't quite ready to go to sleep yet, so it was time for Ribbon to face the music, or to be more accurate, make the music. While the others were already asleep and Adeleine was in the bathroom (don't worry, their cabin wasn't that primitive), Ribbon pulled out a big case from under her bed, plucked out a tiny box from the back corner of an underused drawer, and barely snuck out into the night without her girlfriend noticing. Adeleine then went upstairs to go to bed, but was confused to see Ribbon missing. Before she could get too worried though, she suddenly heard something outside. Something gentile, soulful, and bittersweetly nostalgic. As she walked outside, she was quickly hit by the sounds of an acoustic guitar playing a melody that to her was somehow both a mystery and burned into her mind. She then kept following the music through the forest until she suddenly heard a wonderful voice familiar to her in the present singing a song familiar to her in the past. As she got more and more emotional, Adeleine eventually reached the nearby pond and saw none other than Ribbon playing on the guitar while singing that song. And it wasn't just any song that Ribbon was singing, but it was a song that Adeleine could remember her mother singing to her father when she was a little girl - a song she could only hear now on a 23-year-ol audio tape that had been through decades of bearable, but painfully noticeable aging. Nearly the instant that Ribbon saw her girlfriend approach her, she sat in awkward silence awaiting Adeleine's reaction and wondering if this wasn't the right move. But Adeleine, already emotional, smiled and told her girlfriend to keep going. So Ribbon kept singing the song that Adeleine’s mother had written for her father shortly before they married 40 years earlier. In Adeleine’s mind and memory, her mother had the most beautiful voice anyone in the universe could possibly have, but if anyone could ever have a voice as good as hers, it very well could be Ribbon. What started as Adeleine’s mother’s ode to the love of her life was now Ribbon’s song of love to Adeleine. As Adeleine started sitting next to Ribbon, it melted her heart as her girlfriend sang to her about how grateful she was to have had her and that she was the center of her world. Even when they were initially “just” best friends, they did so much to help each other cope with their worst tragedies and bring so much light and fun into each other’s lives whenever possible. The night was already emotional enough for both of them even before the song neared its conclusion, but that was the part that Ribbon was both the most anxious and excited about. As she sang the song’s penultimate line, she suddenly put down the guitar, picked up the box, and opened it to show Adeleine a small, but beautiful ring with a sapphire matching the violet color of her eyes, all while singing the song’s final line - “I dream that this can last forever.” Before Ribbon could even finish the line, a tearful Adeleine joined her in saying that last “forever”, and that alone told her the outcome. Adeleine immediately embraced her and both of them were crying the happiest tears imaginable as they shared the biggest kiss of their lives so far. Adeleine told Ribbon that she loved her so much and would absolutely love to marry her, but also asked her how she had been allowed to do this. Ribbon though said that she told her mother about her plan shortly before this latest trip to Popstar, and her mother said that not only would she be overjoyed for her, but that Adeleine, Gooey, and all of the animals could join her to Ripple Star. With that in mind, Adeleine, while obviously sad about leaving her home of the past 23 years, was excited to join her now-fiancée and bring all of their closest loved ones to Ripple Star. Then they noticed that Gooey was watching them and had already realized that they had gotten engaged. He was immensely happy for Adeleine, practically his big sister in all ways but blood and species, and was excited to have Ribbon as a sister-in-law. (Yes, he could indeed process that much about life.) The animals soon arrived and were happy to see the engagement, with Ribbon promising her future fellow queen that they would have the amenities to take care of them on Ripple Star. Before going to bed as a fiancée, Adeleine told Ribbon how much she loved her and that she couldn't wait to be her queen; and Ribbon couldn't wait either. Fittingly close to Dream Land’s own royal wedding, Ripple Star’s royal wedding was set to happen after a proposal for the ages. And there was still one more promising future left to highlight from this monumental night.

Going back to when all of this was just starting to happen to the Allies, the Knights had their own night to remember, and not just for themselves. After very briefly getting settled back on Halberd Island, the Knights then went to the medical bay, where both Meta and Hyness were still in bed and the Mages were still sitting in the nearby chairs. As they walked in, it was a relief to see that Hyness had pretty much recovered enough to be able to get up, while Meta, despite still being too injured to get up (likely for a while), was well on the way to recovery. Even if Hyness was recovering though, he and his stepdaughters had no idea what they were going to go or where they would be now. But Susie assured her extended family that she and the Knights had a plan for them. But first, they could come outside now. So Hyness got out of bed and slowly started floating properly again as his daughters helped keep him up. After following the Knights through the Halberd, Hyness and his daughters soon floated outside to truly see Popstar for the first time. They were immediately in awe of the evening sky, especially since they hadn’t seen a sky that pretty in years. Susie then lent them a pair of binoculars to look at the nearest shore, where they saw what looked to them like a weird patch on the sand with some structural parts. But the Knights told them it was indeed the wreckage of Max's shack, which had been destroyed in the same mechanization crisis that he died in and that they still didn't know what to replace with (although they still owned the land). But they told Hyness and the Mages that they could rebuild that shack to be a new home for them (hopefully not looking nearly as tacky and outdated even if they kind of missed those aspects of the old shack). Until it was completed, they could live in the Halberd and the Knights would help them adjust to living in Dream Land (or really any civilization for the first time in 30 years). Susie in particular promised her extended family that she would do everything she could to help them get a fresh new start and finally have the life they deserved after everything. Hyness and the Mages were beyond grateful to Susie and the Knights for their hospitality and giving them this second chance. After three decades of agony, Hyness and his stepdaughters' tragic tale was finally headed for a happier ending. While the rejuvenated family of four went to bed in the visitors’ room, Susie would call for a meeting with the crew. Remembering her uncertain future with the team before the Jamba Heart crisis began as well as her excitement in helping her extended family, the Knights weren’t sure if she was indeed planning to part ways with them, although they would certainly support her in whatever she did. But as Meta watched from the monitor and the others sat in their seats, Susie told them that the past week had shown her what her true calling was and what her father would have loved the most anyway - to always be a Meta-Knight. As her crewmates were elated, she said that she was happy beyond words with being on this wonderful team and was honored to be the heir apparent to leading the team in the hopefully distant future. The team was delighted, with Sirica being particularly happy. She and her spiritual sister made it clear to each other that they would always have each other’s backs. And the excitement for the future was only beginning.

For the next few weeks, as their former Allies adjusted to their new lives, the Knights worked on the new shack while the family set to occupy it were as grateful of guests as you could imagine. (They even had time to return to Jambandra one more time and pick up the purified Jammers, who were able to adjust to life in Dream Land decently well in the long run.) After a couple of months, the shack was finally completed, and Hyness, Zan, Flamberge, and Francisca were finally able to move into their new home. Susie in particular did as much as she could in helping her extended family get settled into their new home. It was emotional for her (and the whole team of course) being in this new shack on the same spot where her father lived in his final years, yet not only would she always have the fond memories of her father here, but she would also have a new future to look forward to with the family members she never knew she had just months ago. But even she knew she didn’t need this fresh start the most. Once she left her extended family alone in their new home for the first time, they immediately started getting emotional again as they realized that now their happier future was finally here. They were never going to forget the horrors they had gone through. It would always hurt that they couldn’t bring their lost friends and people back, with it being especially painful that Anna couldn’t be here to experience how great Dream Land was. But they knew Anna and all of those who loved them in the distant past would be glad to see them finally find peace, closure, and hope. The sisters, even being well into their 30s, still promised to have each other’s backs (Zan being especially dedicated to keeping her little sisters safe), while Hyness - overjoyed to see his beloved stepdaughters get a chance to enjoy a still-significant portion of their lives in such a good place - promised them that he would make sure they got to enjoy their lives for as long as he possibly could, no matter how old they were or how deep into his twilight years he was. In the moment though, he was just so happy to finally live in a place and time of hope and peace, and his girls shared that sentiment. Fortunately for them, the shack would have everything they needed, and that included three bedrooms. One was able to fit three beds for each of the sisters, while one had a bed for Hyness. On the nightstand next to Hyness’s bed was that photo of him, his girls, and his true love shortly before the happiest week of their lives. Up until very recently, it was also the last week of joy they got to savor, but now they were finally at peace again. It wouldn’t be the only reminder of their happier memories for long either, as the newly-engaged Adeleine would paint several of the family’s memories in the coming weeks. Soon enough, scattered across the shack would be paintings of when Hyness and Anna were growing up together, when each of the Mages were born, and especially when Hyness and Anna united their souls forever in marriage. They never thought they would find it for a long time, but now Hyness and his stepdaughters were finally allowed peace, and they were ready and willing to take full advantage of their second chance.

During those two months of the family staying in the Halberd, Meta slowly began to recover from his injuries. He was soon able to get out of bed and use crutches to walk from place to place, although he often needed help from his crewmates. Over the course of those two months, he slowly re-learned how to run and fight how he used to. The nearly-46-year-old Meta was told more than once that it would be completely fine if he retired after this. He himself couldn’t help but wonder if he had anything else to prove, especially since, even with his exact memories of the Beyond visit being warped for now, he still had more than feeling in him now that his brother would be proud of him. But whenever that came to mind, his love for his crew would resurface to the top of his mind, and he would remain undeterred. Right around the same time as the shack’s completion, Meta was now back on his feet unassisted, and he now had his wings back on. He had kept trying and failing to fly again, but he knew he would get it done soon. When the right evening came, Meta stepped outside ready to try to fly again, with his nibling, great niece, and A-Teamers standing by to both watch and help in case he messed up again. But he wouldn’t need that help again. Meta felt everything truly rush back to him - the timing, steadiness, and exhilaration of flying. As his family and friends watched in awe, the healing Meta defied the odds one more time. For over a quarter of a century, everything from cruel misfortune to the toughest possible foes to even his own hubris had tried to sink this anomaly of a hero. But in spite of it all, for his life, his world, and all those he loved - alive or not - Meta just kept flying. And if nothing up to this point could stop his flight, then who’s to say anything ever could stop the flight of Meta Knight?

Chapter Text

The next four years after the Jamba Heart crisis would be an almost unusually long era of peace for Planet Popstar, and one that brought great changes and newfound joy to countless people, the Meta-Knights and Star Alliance very much included. Just a week after the Halberd landed, Dream Land's biggest royal wedding in decades occurred as Danny and Saila got married on a big boat right in between Halberd Island and the shore with the then-under-construction shack - fitting for the wedding of someone who had been inspired her whole life by the Knights and who some were already nicknaming “Princess of the Sea”. Prince Danny stood at the altar in front of Kirby, who was officiating again and this time wearing a fabulous dress. Then Dedede, two years removed from walking his old friend down the altar, showed up to walk his new daughter-in-law down the altar. Saila sported as perfect a gown as a Waddle Dee could possibly have as she stepped up to face who was about to be her husband. All the while, those in attendance included her former employers, a number of her fellow recent Star Allies, and most of her lifelong heroes, including Meta in a wheelchair in his first visit outside since his injuries. As Danny and Saila faced each other for the happiest moment of their lives, Kirby had the two express their vows, with the couple throwing in their own appreciation for each other - Danny thanking his new wife for being by his side as his strong rock, and Saila thanking her husband for loving her for who she was truly meant to be. Then Kirby, again by the power invested in them by Dream Land, pronounced them husband and wife. At that moment, Crown Prince Danny and Crown Princess Saila Taida of Dream Land embraced as tightly as they could, their souls united in love forever. Dedede was joyfully bawling his eyes out at seeing his kids grown up, and everyone else was overjoyed by the quaint, yet beautiful wedding of the newest royal couple. They would continue to be happily married for the next four years, with Saila becoming a very well-respected princess. A year after getting married, they would even find out about a long-hidden secret with the Fountain of Dreams thanks to Marx and Magolor, whereby flipping a coin and dipping their faces into the water while it was in mid-air, a couple would have a 50% chance of instantly bringing a child of theirs into the world regardless of if they could naturally have one or not (although it could only be attempted once every three months, regardless of outcome). Danny and Saila attempted it and were on the lucky side, with their precious baby princess being named Dahlia. (Keep that Fountain in the back of your head for a bit.) Both Danny and especially Saila bawled in joy when they first saw their daughter, and Dedede quickly adored his granddaughter while Dream Land immediately adored their new princess. The four years would indeed be a joyful time, and not just for that kingdom. A few months after their engagement, Queen Ribbon and Adeleine (after finishing her paintings for Hyness's family) got married on Ripple Star, with Gooey, the animals, and a good number of their friends from Dream Land being among the audience on the happiest day of their lives. After 18 years of their otherwise inseparable bond being separated by several planets, Adeleine and Ribbon could finally stay together for good in both body and spirit, and it was euphoric. While Ribbon continued to do most of the ruling and keep Ripple Star great, Queen Adeleine would be more focused on painting and advising her wife when she needed it. Regardless of their roles, the two were still so happy living with and loving each other, and it was also joyful for Gooey and the animals. But the brightest moment for them came three years later when they made one of their occasional visits to Dream Land. Having heard about the Fountain’s secret and thought long and hard about it, they went to it and took the chance. Just like with Danny and Saila, the coin landed the right way, and they gleefully welcomed their son Prince Nigel into the world; he had even started growing wings just like the fairy side of his family! As for the kingdom of note in between Dream Land and the Ripple Kingdom, it was admittedly a difficult transition back to normal life for former queen Sectonia. It was clear that the trauma, guilt, and shame from her corruption and the actions of her warped self would scar her for the rest of her life, and she struggled to live with it all for months. It was a surprisingly difficult time for both Sectonia and her family, but the support of Taranza and Pikiria would be crucial in helping her eventually move on from her long nightmare. Before long, Sectonia finally began enjoying her life again, especially with her beloved daughter being such a great ruler and allowing her and her husband to both work as her advisors and focus on maintaining their beloved garden. She had loved the royal garden her whole life for so many reasons, but it was especially therapeutic in retirement. She and Taranza loved spending every day in the garden, especially when they looked to the front and saw the peony, the plant behind it, and the blossoming, gorgeous Dreamstalk in the distance - the perfect representations of the couple’s eternal love, their wonderful pride and joy, and the unbreakable will and perseverance of all three, respectively. Meanwhile across Popstar, the Squeaks would go back to searching far and wide for treasure. But they at least had more respect in doing so, wanting to play less dirty (if that were possible in thievery). They also grew closer bonds with each other and even got on better terms with the Meta-Knights, moreso joking around with them when possible than being an outright thorn in their side like years earlier. Back in Dream Land, Marx and Magolor continued to happily run Merry Ma-Ma-Land as the greatest park on the planet, all the while remaining close to the royal family. Even when they revealed the Fountain’s secret to them, they weren’t too interested at first in trying it for themselves because to them, their park was already like their baby! But as the next couple of years went on and they saw Princess Dahlia being such a delight to their parents, they wondered if they should give it a whirl. Nigel’s birth was ultimately what convinced them to try having a child of their own. With the clock ticking down to 2022 MSK, they abandoned their own park’s New Year party to take the chance at the Fountain. They dipped their heads in and perfectly matched the coin landing in the water with the stroke of midnight, but unlike with Dahlia or Nigel, their coin would not land in their favor. The two were disappointed, but quick to still be optimistic, knowing that they would only have to wait three more months before hopefully having their own little goofball of love. Out of everyone who flew home, the ones who had to adjust the most were Hyness and the Mages. While it didn’t take long for them to settle into their new home, they weren’t sure what purpose they could serve (not helped when even a lot of the Jammers brought back to Popstar quickly landed on their feet). That was until they started going to a lot of restaurants and got the idea to start their own restaurant serving the magical Ancient food they had loved back at their old home, not to mention making it a loving tribute to the land they hailed from. They would be able to preserve their culture, so that even decades after they lost their home and so many of their fellow people, their history and culture would never die. With considerable backing from an also-excited Susie, their restaurant quickly became one of the most popular in the Dream City and would even win awards, as not only was its food (and not just the ice cream) well-loved by locals, but it was also surprisingly effective at showing the history of the magical Ancients - particularly both their tragic, long-unknown demise and the determination of their last surviving royals had to ensure they weren’t completely lost to time. The whole time, the sisters loved every bit of filling their roles at the restaurant and making it so great. It made Hyness all the more proud of his girls as they all finally found their footing after decades of misery, and he was as happy as he could possibly be after everything and being so late into his life. The members of the Star Alliance all had their own wild, yet jubilant changes in life over the span of four years, but the Knights that brought them together were more than happy to live largely the same. By the time Meta had fully recovered, the team was more rejuvenated than it had been since the end of Max’s tenure. They had finally made peace with the past and loved living together in joy while also being a beloved presence in the area. At the same time, Meta used his close shave with death as the springboard to prepare the team for the future. With Susie now firmly locked in as both a Knight for the future and his heir apparent, he wasn’t afraid to prepare her for being the leader whenever he couldn’t be the leader anymore. While it obviously wouldn’t be perfect, the signs were more than clear that Meta was far more than likely picking a worthy successor. To the shock of nobody, it was also clear that Sirica would be Susie’s right-hand woman once the time came. They felt comfortable with more of a future planned, but they were also loving every moment of the present, especially with Meta cherishing being a great uncle to Katy Kirkwood Pollie, Kirby’s new pride and joy. Kirby found a new purpose in raising Katy and giving her the childhood they couldn’t quite have, and seeing her slowly start to grow over four years made them even more delighted. The three remaining generations of the Pollies were all as happy as anyone during these four years. By the four-year anniversary of the Jamba Heart crisis, two more special anniversaries had arrived on the same day for Meta especially, and the former Star Allies would be sure to remind him of such in the most spectacular way possible.

At the dawn of spring in 2022 MSK, Kirby arranged for them, Katy, and Meta to fly out of town for a big adventure. The timing was a little weird to Meta with his 50th birthday approaching, but he decided to go along with his nibling and great niece on this journey, hoping that he would be back by his birthday. At the same time, all of the other Meta-Knights were escorted by members of the Star Alliance (which now effectively included Sectonia and the Mage-Sisters in case of another crisis) to different spots in Dream Land for a while. It was confusing for them, but the Allies assured them they would be back home in a couple of days. The three Pollies would be on an adventure too hectic, wild, and beautiful to detail here, but they would ultimately be on Kirby’s Warp Star just a couple of evenings later, and as they were happily recounting what they had witnessed and flying back to Halberd Island, they noticed Francisca driving a speedboat with all of the other Knights, who had their own wild past two days with the Allies - not to mention all of them were dressed up very fancy. They started flying closer to the boat and the water to greet the other Knights, who were all just as simultaneously confused and amused by the past two days, but were also glad there was time left to wish him a happy birthday (even if it was almost over now). Meta thanked his crewmates for the birthday wishes and also complimented how sharp everyone looked, even if he had no idea why. Soon enough though, they all reached the shore of Halberd Island, where Flamberge and Zan were waiting to greet their younger sister and their friends. Everyone was glad to finally be home, but Kirby and the Mage-Sisters suddenly shouted to the Knights that they all had to rush to the center of the island, or else! Alarmed, the Knights all scrambled to the usually more open and peaceful area of the island, only to not get an emergency, but instead see all of the Star Allies at fancy tables yelling “Surprise!” All of a sudden, they were in the center of an incredible surprise feast celebrating both Meta’s own 50th birthday and the 30th anniversary of the Meta-Knights’ official formation. It was nothing short of moving to Meta and his crew seeing so many people they knew here to celebrate these two wonderful occasions. Everyone else had also dressed their fanciest, and it wasn’t long before the Knights were led up to their quaint little outdoor stage to begin speaking. However, Meta needed a moment to get into his own tiny fancy clothes prepared alongside Kirby and tiny Katy, although unlike 29 years earlier, nobody left as he needed to sort out this little issue. Once the Knights arrived on the stage and processed what was happening, Point began speaking on behalf of the B-Teamers by thanking everyone in attendance for going all out like this to celebrate them and for being such great friends over the years. He then turned over to thank Garlude for befriending the six of them when they were just a bunch of rejects in the Village Ack. She had always believed in them, and it was especially moving and exciting to them when she had taken them with her and Sirica to Popstar 30 years ago today. They were extremely grateful to Garlude for giving them all that chance, and also to the rest of the A-Team for treating them with as much respect and care as each other despite their reduced contributions. They were no less proud to be Knights as well. With their thanks done, the B-Team handed the microphone off to Vul, who had his own remarkable journey on this team from ill-fated higher-up to mocked B-Teamer to beloved A-Teamer. Vul quickly threw in some mostly jokey thanks to the Squeaks for all of the, ahem, interesting days they gave them before thanking the other Knights with all of his heart for never completely giving up on him. He still didn’t know why he was still allowed to live there after his screw-ups, but he was grateful for it, and once he got his stuff together (thanks in no small part to Max), he was happy to finally prove himself as being worthy of a spot on this great team. He then handed the microphone off to Sirica, the youngest Meta-Knight, but still such an important piece of the team. She was grateful to all of them for taking care of her and mentoring her to be the best Knight she could be. In particular, she was so thankful for her mother and how she had been as great of a parent as she could ever ask for in taking care of her and helping her become the person she loved being today. She even snuck in some thanks to her for giving her such a spectacular 30th birthday of her own just a few days earlier. She finished her part by saying she would next give the microphone to the one who had been so important to her life from the moment she helped her evade the troubles of Another Dimension, and who had been so inseparable and crucial to her that she had no shame in calling her not just her best friend, but effectively her sister. With that introduction, Susie rushed over to hug Sirica - her sister in all ways but blood and signature - and began speaking about how much she appreciated everyone sitting in front of her for being such great and supportive friends, and in the case of Hyness and the Mages, a great family that had so much to be proud of themselves for. She then thanked all of the Knights for giving her the help she needed through so much of her life. In particular, she emotionally thanked Meta for being such a great mentor, Sirica for being her best friend who was there for her in every harrowing moment, and Garlude for protecting her and Sirica in Another Dimension for those eight grueling years. She would have been doomed to die young, alone, and scared if she were alone with those vicious Doomers, but Garlude was there to put her life on the line not just for her own daughter, but for a frankly odd-looking child she had never heard anything about before. Because of her efforts, her mother didn’t die in vain, her father had a reason to keep living before eventually seeing her again, and she herself got to live her life after all. Like what Sirica had recently done with her, Susie tearfully hugged Garlude before giving her savior the microphone. Right after that emotional introduction, the oldest surviving Meta-Knight started by saying that after 30 thrilling years as both a proud mother and a proud Knight, she wouldn’t trade any of it for the universe. She thanked the B-Team for being such great friends and support to her during all of the tough times in Ack and then Vul for being such a good friend to her. She was particularly grateful to Susie for being such a bright light for her, especially during the eight stressful years in Another Dimension, and expressed to Sirica how proud she was of her for being such a wonderful young lady. Even with how much she had already accomplished at 30 years old, she was still just getting started in being such a bright light in the world. She then moved on to talking about Mikey and Meta, the two who had been her best friends for literally as long as they could all remember, no matter what kept them apart. All those years she was apart from them - whether in Ack or in Another Dimension - she had never stopped thinking about them and had never quit hoping to reunite with them. Both times, she got her miracles, and she hadn’t taken them for granted ever since. Much like how Susie was effectively a sister to Sirica, Meta and Mikey had always been like brothers to Garlude, and she was so grateful to still love life with her brothers. After that remark, she lent the mike to, who else, Mikey. The always-jubilant Mikey was overjoyed to celebrate this special day and quickly thanked the whole crew for being the most wonderful family he could have asked for during these three exciting decades. He then started talking to his two best friends, first telling Garlude how glad he was to have her as the one who knew what to do and still brought so much joy to him. He then told Meta how grateful he was to have spent practically his whole life with him no matter what. He was always there to help through scary times, and he was honored to be on this great crew. He would have his brother’s back for as long as they lived. He then hugged Meta and told him “Happy Birthday”, before giving him the microphone and telling him that as the birthday boy, he could make his talk as long as possible. With all of that in mind, an already emotional Meta admitted that he had a sorted history with his own birthday, as it was his 10th birthday when he was separated from his home and almost everyone he knew, including the big brother he would never see alive again. But it was also on his 20th when he ended up in this incredible place and began this spectacular journey that introduced him to so many great friends. So he decided to get his thanks for all of the amazing people in front of him out of the way by starting a toast. He toasted to Dedede, Danny, Saila, and little Dahlia by crediting them as such a strong, brave, caring, and simply fun royal family that he was honored to fight under. He told Marx and Magolor how strong they were and how great their park was. He complimented how excellent Queen Adeleine’s art skills were, commended Queen Ribbon for being such a great ruler, and expressed his joy at seeing them live so happily with little Prince Nigel, the loyal and loveable Gooey, and all of their beloved pets. He jokingly thanked the Squeaks for making some of their days less dull (if not for the right reasons) before genuinely showing his respect for them and how they had somewhat bettered themselves. Spinni responded by declaring that, yep, they were definitely going to the next funeral alright - a joke that had mixed reception all around, but got a shockingly good laugh out of Vul. Meta then told Taranza, Sectonia, and Pikiria that from their nobility to their perseverance to their love for each other, they were an inspiration in every way; he promptly told the moved couple to keep enjoying retirement and told their daughter that she was as great of a ruler as anyone could have asked for for their kingdom. He then started addressing Hyness and the Mages, who had gone from the verge of ultimate catastrophe to an inspirational family keeping their culture alive however they could. He stated that they had so much to be proud of in how they had turned their lives around - Anna would certainly be proud of them. Lastly, he looked to his nibling Kirby and let them know how important they would always be to this whole world and even started a massive round of applause for them, as it was also the 30th anniversary of their first adventure. He told him how proud he was of them and how proud their parents would certainly be of them; he also told them how special Katy already was. As he finished addressing those in attendance, he turned his attention to his B-Teamers, telling them that they wouldn’t have gone anywhere if not for their contributions. He then said that he would toast to anyone who could no longer be here for them, including Max, who was such an incredible part of the crew for his tragically brief tenure. As he said this, Meta glanced to the side to see the recently-placed golden statue of Max and Beatrice lovingly crafting one of their great creations, before somberly saying that both of them would be so proud of so many right now. To lighten the mood though, Meta said one of those people was Vul, telling him how incredible his turnaround was over the years and how crucial his planning skills were to saving them. He even apologized for dunking on him so much years earlier, although Vul stated that he had more than forgiven them for it all years ago. He then addressed Sirica, who he had been around for almost her entire life, and told her how proud he was of her at this point in her life, agreeing with her mother that she had as bright a future as anyone could possibly imagine. On the subject of bright futures, he told Susie that she was as wonderful of a Knight as anyone could ask for and that she was the perfect choice for an heir apparent, as well as that both of her parents were undoubtedly so proud of her. Finally, he focused on Garlude and Mikey and reminded them how important they would always be to him. The first memory they all had was when they all came together as misfit little children, and their lives were never the same. The two of them had stuck with him through everything they possibly could, and simply put, he wouldn’t have wanted to even think about where he would be without them. He was just always going to be glad to have them. As the sun began to set, he was ready to cap off his speech by recounting that he had a note written of what he wanted to say 29 years earlier after the Nightmare saga, only for his Superspicy Curry to set that ablaze at the last second. (Marx snickered at the mention of that while Meta didn’t know how much sarcasm was enough in his death stare.) But somehow, someway, Kirby had held onto that note for almost three whole decades, and he wrote what he had in his heart during the Knights’ first moment of (admittedly kinda phony) recognition, which he thought were words that still held up today: “It’s exciting and all having all of this attention, I’ll admit. But before I can even think about letting it get to my head, I always remember that whatever I did in this, I couldn’t have done it alone. I couldn’t have ever gotten anywhere without my crew, and it’s not just a matter of doing things either alone or with help. I mean it in a way where they are what drive me to try doing things as crazy and frankly brazen as I end up doing. I truly mean it when I say that I wouldn’t trade any of them for the world. They aren’t just my crew. They’re my friends, they’re my world, and they’re my family.” A teary-eyed Meta then looked up and, either from the note or on his own, shakily said, “And they always will be.” All of his fellow Knights were moved to tears alongside him, and they all embraced him while telling him “Happy Birthday” and thanking him for everything, to which he responded by thanking them for everything. Kirby then took control of the toast by wishing a happy birthday to Uncle Meta, a happy anniversary to the Meta-Knights, and suddenly hearing Katy declare, “To 30 more!” The Allies then roared with applause as they congratulated the Knights on an incredible journey, one still ongoing to this day.

Once the Knights slowed down the waterworks, an absolutely rocking party went down amidst all the fanciness. A lot of them got dancing, and a lot more went snacking. (Before you ask, yes, Sectonia and Pikiria had long since joined Taranza in loving donuts.) After a couple of exciting hours, many in attendance were so worn out that the Knights were cool with letting them stay in the Halberd’s visitors room again for the night, just like old times. In the middle of the night, Garlude and Mikey got a little restless and went to the security room out of curiosity, only to suddenly see Meta just lying out there in the sand and staring out into the stars. A little confused, Garlude and Mikey walked to the shore and checked on Meta, who was just relaxing and still thinking about everything. He wanted them to lay on their backs in the sand like him and just look at the stars, and so they did. For the three of them, the nostalgia started kicking in with how much it reminded them of laying out in the grass back in the Grumble Galaxy and looking at the stars. Yet these stars were somehow even more beautiful. Meta told his two best friends how glad he was to have them by his side. Mikey then tried adding to the atmosphere by humming a relaxing song, but he was so tired that even he couldn’t make it sound that great, although it was still amusing to Meta, Garlude, and soon even himself. Then they suddenly heard Sirica point out the “beautiful” tune, before looking behind them and seeing both her and Susie. (All of them were still in their fancy clothes, by the way, which were at least easily replaceable.) The Squire Sisters then laid in the sand the same way the others did, alongside Susie having brought a tub of both blueberry and strawberry ice cream. Before long, Sirica told Susie, who certainly had experience in this, that she was right: it actually was pretty relaxing looking at the stars from this shore. They were still relaxing when, just as they were in danger of falling asleep, Vul suddenly slid into the sand, only to promptly slip right into the water and immediately scamper out. It was already cracking everyone up, especially when Garlude and Sirica both pointed out that he had certainly had sloppier moments at or near the water. But just when Susie turned around to laugh with them, everyone started cracking up at her. Once she looked in the water, she saw that Vul’s slide had spilled the ice cream onto her face in the weirdest possible spots, with the blueberry all over her hair and the strawberry all around her eyes. Once she saw it though, she immediately burst into laughing at how crazy it looked and even told the Knights that if she styled it right, she could actually rock a look like this time-to-time. Sirica replied that she had already done some good dye and makeup jobs on herself (especially in recent years), so why not go all-out like this? Garlude however said that maybe they should go inside, clean up a bit (if nothing else so Susie doesn’t sleep with an external brain freeze), and get some rest before going all-out like this. Everyone went along with it and went inside. Really, it was fitting. The Meta-Knights had re-defined persistence and longevity during their first three decades as Dream Land’s greatest team. They had a story like no other and changed the universe in ways nobody else would even think about being crazy enough to change it. But on top of it all, they had so much fun for so much of it, together through it all. And with that, on a shore on a bright planet near the center of the Gamble Galaxy, our story did something that all stories, whether they were ready for it or not, have done: it ended. At least, the parts that are important for now. The same couldn’t be said though for the legendary history of… the Meta-Knights!

THE END.

A while before (the bulk of) the last Meta Knightmare…

Shortly after recovering from his injuries, Meta flew into the Mirror World for the first time in 14 years alongside Kirby and a box in his hands. They had already stuffed this box on the moon near Jambandra while herding everyone left on that station into the Halberd. Now in the Mirror World, Meta knew he needed to put this box somewhere fitting. He and Kirby flew out to the Carrot Castle, once the center of the Mirror World centuries ago. While it had been run down for a while, it had slowly been maintained again and had its own nice garden filled with more than just carrots. They then found a spot marked with the rusty remains of an old sword and a plaque revealing that this was the sword Adam used to wield back when he was the greatest hero in the Mirror World - before the darkness that robbed him of his control, his peace, his dignity, his reputation, and far too slowly his life. Meta knew this was the perfect spot and sneakily began digging a small hole in the dirt before putting the indestructible box in, quickly making it look like nothing had happened, and flying back home with Kirby. The handful of inhabitants there didn’t realize it, but Meta had just buried Adam’s ashes in front of his old sword and his old glory. A fallen hero was finally given a sliver of peace. And with Adam’s soul rehabilitated around the same time, he got to see this gesture from the Beyond and had a wide mix of emotions that anyone at all, let alone the one his corrupted self nearly took down with him, had buried his limited remains with such dignity. He felt like he didn’t deserve it in so many ways, no matter how little of himself had any control over his corrupted actions. At the same time though, it brought a bit of peace to Adam that, despite what a shadow of his former self he became, his true soul was still going to be remembered by someone out there. In a way, peace would ultimately come to who were, for better or worse, the most memorable knights of the past few centuries in both dimensions. Then again, the funny thing about knights is that, if you wait long enough, everything always comes full circle.