Chapter Text
Today marked the liveliest day in Waddle Dee Town. It had expanded quite a bit since it was first established, with newly constructed, house-lined pathways spreading out from its founding point. And now that Planet Popstar and the New World were safely connected, a celebration was being hosted by a handful of Dream Land's locals, in order to attract more residents of their planet to this brand new frontier. There were promises of sight-seeing tours, action-packed competitions, and of course, plenty of food for everyone.
Taranza, however, was more interested in seeing his friends again.
The silver-haired spider lounged atop one of the newest branches of Waddle Dee Café, sipping on an Energy Drink that was kindly provided by the staff working there. It was an exhausting journey, having to fly all the way from Floralia, so he couldn't help but rest his eyes. The New World interested him though, if only because Kirby kept sending photos of its strange castles with designs he'd never seen before. Stretching from earth to sky with more glass windows than he could count, he'd have to see those in person.
"Hey, hey! It's not nighttime back at Floralia, is it?" said a familiar voice. The startled Taranza hadn't even realized Magolor had already sat down with his food.
"Don't tell me you're bored of the New World already?" said another. Just behind the wizard was Susie. They were his friends, but the two had made a great deal of contributions to today's celebration, so Taranza couldn't risk upsetting them.
"I-I'm not bored!" Taranza stammered. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and held his head high. "I just needed some rest is all. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone and catching up with them!"
"You could've fooled me, what with how late you showed up. Are you sure you didn't stop for a quick nap?" Magolor said.
"I wasn't trying to be late, either!" Taranza retorted. "It's just, Floralia is so isolated from everywhere else in Popstar! You do realize not everyone has their own personal spaceship, Magolor?"
"Ok, I think enough teasing," said Susie, having heard enough petty squabbles between the pair to know to defuse things early. "I'm just glad everyone showed up. Despite the ruined state of the planet, the New World is filled with miraculous structures and technological wonders I haven't seen on many planets. I was a little worried I'd be the only one interested in that sort of thing..."
Taranza's eyes suddenly darted up. "That reminds me, I haven't really gotten a look at anything past the Waddle Dee Town. I can probably fly up real quick!" He ditched his seat and soared upwards, hoping for a beautiful sight.
"I can't believe you scared him off," joked Susie. "So much for being good hosts, huh?" The two couldn't resist a chuckle. They'd been quite talkative all day, making sure each visitor they had come across was enjoying themselves. After all, they didn't want anyone leaving before their big event.
Magolor was skilled in magic. Susie had exceptional technological prowess. Together, the two had combined their talents to create an event at the Colosseum that was sure to trump all. They called it the Dream Battle Tour, and while the two were quite secretive about it, they promised that it would put the previous battle-packed Colosseum Cups to shame. Of course, even while working together, this ambitious project couldn't have succeeded without...
"There you two are!" shouted Elfilin as he flew over. "Is it really a good idea to be lounging around so casually like this?"
"There's nothing wrong with relaxing for a bit," said Susie. "Unless... you think there's something wrong? What's on your mind?"
Turning to Magolor, Elfilin laid out his concerns. "I don't think it's that safe leaving the portal connecting the Dream Battle Tour and the Colosseum open. If anyone enters by mistake, there's no telling what trouble they'll be thrown into! Can't you shut it off for a bit to keep the others out?"
"Well, we have the Colosseum entrance restricted specifically for that," Magolor explained. "Besides, closing the portal just to reopen it later would take a lot of needless energy. It'd be a lot less work to just leave it running until the Dream Battle Tour is scheduled to begin."
Elfilin thought this over for a bit. "Well, I'll trust your judgement on that," he finally said, placing his hands together. His gaze moved off to the side, conflicted. "It'd just be such a shame if something I worked so hard to create went bad. I'd rather have my powers create a spectacle, and not another catastrophe..."
"I wouldn't take the risk if I wasn't sure it could be properly handled," Susie said. "That reminds me, I still need to make sure the camera system can actually record what's happening on the other side of that portal. Elfilin, why don't you come with me? I'm sure assisting me with my side of the preparations would help reassure you."
"Really? That'd mean a lot! Let's head over there right now, if you don't mind!" Elfilin said. With that, the two left the café rooftop to head down the path towards the Colosseum, leaving Magolor alone. It must have been quite a view in the sky, because it took Taranza a solid five more minutes to return from above.
"Oh... Did Susie ditch us? I wasn't taking too long up there, was I?" The spider was going to gush about how beautiful the New World looked in the open air, but now he was worried one of his friends had found better things to do...
"Huh? No, she went off to prepare for the Dream Battle Tour," Magolor replied.
"Hm? Dream Battle Tour?" said Taranza. A rather embarrassed smile formed across his face. "Sorry, I haven't been keeping up with all the things happening here. What might that be?"
"Well, I teamed up with Susie and some of the locals here to prepare an ambitious event at the Colosseum... Actually, why don't you go over there let Susie show it to you? I gotta finish up my lunch first."
"Ah! I'll be right over, then!" Taranza had already finished his drink in the skies, so he made his way over to the Colosseum, eager to see just how ambitious Magolor would be this time.
—
Upon arriving at the Colosseum, Taranza came to a halt just before the shut-tight gate of the entrance. He'd almost walked right into the thing in all his excitement.
He stood before this new obstacle, trying to make sense of it. Why would it be closed if people like Susie or Magolor needed to enter this building? While it was a combat arena, it's not like there was anything dangerous in there. The spider turned to his left and saw the reception area empty. Despite how lively the whole town was, this particular section felt deserted in comparison. Maybe he should go back and talk to Magolor about this predicament...
No, he'd bothered Magolor enough. After all, Taranza had the perfect magic spell for this kind of situation. Placing one hand upon the cool metal of the gate, the spider closed his eyes and focused. Through this magic, he could sense the inner workings of the gate, the gears that made it function. And with a simple mental command, they moved to his whims. The gate rose as if it were operated normally, and Taranza let himself in.
The chit-chat of Waddle Dee Town began to fade as the spider headed further in. In fact, it was starting to get very quiet... No, wait. Taranza could faintly hear an ominous ambience ahead of him. Focusing on where the sound originated from, he could sense a strange, powerful magic located further in. Just what in world were Magolor and Susie working on?
In the next room, there were two paths Taranza could take. Directly forward seemed to lead to the battleground. The magic sensed earlier had to have originated there, as the place was covered in a thick fog that prevented him from seeing any further. At first, he thought he has imagining it, but... could it be? Moving oh-so-warily closer, he began to feel the tiniest pull against his balance, as if the fog had its own center of gravity...
Well, whatever kind of magic that is, it's certainly not something I'm to trifle with, concluded a wary Taranza. So, he turned his eyes to the doorway on the left, which seemed to have been a recent addition to the building. As he approached it, he could hear an unfamiliar voice talking... Talking with Susie! Without any further hesitation, the spider headed through the left path.
After taking another turn and heading up a flight of stairs, he arrived in a room filled with screens and strange technological devices, certainly things only Susie would know the name of. And there she was, conversing with a strange blue creature that floated in the air. It was the critter that noticed him first. "Huh?! Who's this, Susie?!"
"Oh, don't worry, Elfilin. That's just my friend Taranza. He only eats bad critters," joked Susie. The spider would probably be more amused if this wasn't the third time now she'd made such a joke, but it seemed to put this Elfilin at ease. "Say, how did you get in here, anyway? I thought I remembered to close the gate?"
"Well, Magolor wanted me to talk with you, so I thought I could just let myself in." But now that Taranza was thinking about it, a worrying thought came to him. "Is it... supposed to stay closed?" he said nervously.
"I don't want just anyone wandering around this place! There's some dangerous technology at work here!" She sounded more concerned than anything else, but the emotions in her voice began to eat away at the spider's composure.
"O-ok! I'll just...be right back!" stammered Taranza. He should've put two and two together the moment he felt the ominous presence. After all, not everyone can sense such magic, or have enough sense to steer clear of it. But things would be fine, right? All he had to do was close the gate before anyone...
Taranza entered the main hall just in time to watch a curious Waddle Dee get too close to the fog and be pulled into it. For a moment, he simply stood there, dumbfounded over how costly his simple mistake had just become. But before he could act, the sound of a loud beep emanated from the ceiling. Suddenly, it seemed like Susie was somehow talking through the building!
"Taranza! I saw what happened through the cameras. I need you to close the gate and make sure nobody else can be put in danger!"
Not completely understanding how this was possible but not complaining, the spider made a dash for the entrance. As he reached the gate, he launched a magic web-string from his hand, wrapping it around a visible segment that was suspended atop the doorway. With a mighty swing, he forced the gate down, not caring what would break. As the dust settled with Susie's request fulfilled, Taranza decided upon the next course of action. He turned and made his way back to the main hall.
In his eyes, the next thing to do was obvious: Now that nobody else could be put in danger, he'd have to go and save that lost Waddle Dee! It was his fault that the poor thing was in such a terrible situation, so it only made sense. Quickening his pace, Taranza made a beeline for the fog. As he drew closer, it seemed to cloud his vision and overtake any sounds the room might have had. But just before he left the world of the Colosseum behind, he heard Susie's voice.
"Wait! You can't go in there, Taranza! You'll—" But that was all he heard before the light was blotted out.
—
At first, Taranza refused to consider anything Susie might have said. After all, wasn't it his duty to rescue that Waddle Dee? Speaking of which, where did they go, anyway? It didn't quite make sense why he was alone in this strange abyss. As he spent more and more aimless minutes seemingly floating in the dark, he began to grow anxious. Was this what Susie was warning me about? How long will this go on for—
Without warning, a pinprick of light poked through the void directly below him. In less than a second, it expanded in all directions, devouring the surrounding blackness on its ascent and materializing a whole world around him. With the sudden introduction of gravity, Taranza hit the ground, with only just enough time to shield himself from the face-first drop. For a moment, he simply laid there with his head down, taking it it all in. The ground was a smooth stone, and he could feel a cool wind in the outside air. There was a faint light coming from somewhere above him, shading the world with a blue hue. Was it just him, or did this all seem a bit too familiar...?
And then he looked up. He felt his soul shiver.
It was the terror that plagued his heart.
Staring back at him.
It was her.
Glowing, crazed eyes stared spotlights through him. She eclipsed the moon with her tattered form. And without any hesitation, Sectonia drew vines into the air and launched them towards her enemy. The shock of it all made Taranza an unmoving, effortless target to connect with, and so he was launched into the night sky.
For a moment, his perception became a whirlwind of stars. And then he hit the ground, knocking the breath out of him and leaving him unable to do more than stare into the sky. Tears welled up in his eyes and threatened to pour down the sides of his face. A single thought bounced endlessly in his head.
How could this happen?
It was all far too real to be another nightmare. And yet, the people and places he left behind on the other side of that portal were no longer on his mind. So quickly had this moonlit stage become his final reality.
One of her vines wrapped around the poor spider. Sectonia lifted his limp body into the air once more. As the vine tightened and threatened to crush him, all Taranza could do was look into her eyes. Would this be how it ends? Killed by someone he thought could never hurt him again? He would spend his last moments in fear...
Fear? No, confusion. Confusion?
He saw it in the reflection of her eyes. A familiar silhouette. It looked like...
Taranza would not finish that thought before a bright, blinding light streaked down his vision. He felt a burst of heat on his face, then heard the shrill scream of a woman in agony. The vine that held him in place crumbled away, leaving him to fall onto the smooth ground once again. He smelled fire, and saw his surroundings illuminated in a warmer hue. Finding the strength to push himself up just enough, he searched for the source of all these things.
Before him were the orange, luminescent wings of a warrior brandishing a sword of similar design. This figure seemed to glow as if they were fire itself. Could it be...?
No, wait! It was Kirby! Kirby! It seems he had come to rescue him! The pink creature turned his gaze back to Taranza to see if he was ok. The poor spider couldn't do much but stare at him, but that seemed to be enough. With determination in his eyes, Kirby faced forward and walked towards his opponent.
Taranza tried to force up himself further up. He would not allow himself to be a burden once more. All it took, however, was merely looking at Sectonia to dissolve his courage and regress back into paralyzing fear. Collapsing to the ground, he began to curse himself for being as weak as always. All he could do was depend on Kirby again, and brace himself for what he knew would happen next.
It would all happen again. The hero of the lower world would give Sectonia the eternal sleep she desired.
—
On the other side, the Colosseum's air was stiff. Those allowed into the place couldn't do much but wait for Kirby to return. Magolor wanted as few people as possible involving themselves with such a dangerous portal, so even warriors like Meta Knight and King Dedede couldn't do much but stand idly. Kirby had already rescued the Waddle Dee, but he seemed to be taking a lot longer with finding Taranza. Just what was going on in that foggy expanse?
Suddenly, a flash of light burst forth, flowing out of the doorway and into the room before it. The small group of people gathered within turned their gaze, hoping for the best to come from this sudden event.
It was Kirby! And with him he carried Taranza, wounded but without any grievous harm. His mission accomplished, Kirby placed him on the ground and shed his copy ability. The spider looked forward and saw his friends, each with varying expressions over what he had done.
"Taranza!" cried Susie, pushing to the front. "My goodness, are you okay? What were you thinking, throwing yourself into that portal?"
"I-I just wanted to save that Waddle Dee..." Taranza muttered, hoping that fighting back tears would preserve even the faintest bit of dignity. Now that he was safe, his worries had returned to all the mistakes he made leading up to this moment.
Magolor spoke up. "You really shouldn't have been so reckless. If you had just waited for me to arrive, I could have helped you reach the poor thing."
"Speakin' of that poor thing, ain't it your fault he got into that mess?!" said King Dedede. His anger was born out of care for his subjects, but that didn't make his words any less painful for Taranza.
"Calm down, your highness," said Meta Knight. "Taranza is also a victim of this incident. You'd do well to notice the wounds on his body."
"Wait, Taranza's hurt?!" Elfilin cried. Taranza hadn't even noticed him at the tail end of the group. "I'm so sorry! I knew what I was helping with was dangerous, but I thought everything could be kept under control..."
"It's my fault, really," Magolor said. "I only told him to go to the Colosseum without saying more. How could he have known the mere act of opening a gate would lead to all this?"
"What even was 'all this' anyway?!" Taranza got out. "I enter a strange portal, and all of a sudden it's the worst day of my life all over again! How does that happen? What were you even planning?" He was crying all over again, but he didn't care anymore.
Susie spoke before the others, realizing with regret just how belated this explanation was going to be. "We were planning an event at the Colosseum that would allow foes from the past to be fought again. It uses a person's memories to recreate such enemies, so even those who have turned good or are no longer with us could be fought before an excited audience. The plan was for Kirby to challenge this gauntlet, as he's fought so many unique opponents, but when you entered the portal... your memories were used instead." Suddenly, Susie realized something equally important. "Actually, who did you end up fighting...?" she sheepishly asked.
Again, Taranza could not form the words to speak. He wasn't trying not to cry anymore, so that could not be the reason why. Indeed, he could not speak because in his mind, watching the one you love so coldly try to kill you is without description.
It was King Dedede of all people who spoke up next. "A-actually, I think I have an idea..." He too began to recall that night, spent helping Taranza and Kirby strike down that terrifying Queen. "It was Sectonia, right? That was her name. She was your Queen, so of course ya wouldn't wanna fight her."
She was more than just a Queen to Taranza, but how could they ever know? To them, Sectonia was just an evil tyrant. He could see it in the King's eyes, the unpleasant emotions brought forth by her name, and knew he was right. Loving someone like her, regardless of however she was like before, was a horrible thing to express.
"Taranza?"
His friends would only tolerate so much from him, right?
"Taranza, are you ok?"
He stepped out of line today. This entire incident brought the celebration to a complete halt, and he was at the center of it. If he weren't careful, his friends might just—
"Taranza, please get up!" Eflilin shouted.
The poor spider suddenly became aware of what he was doing. He was face down, silently sobbing as his own thoughts and fears ate away at him. In front of all of his friends, no less! "O-oh. I... I didn't—"
Say something, you idiot.
But all he could do was shiver.
"Ok, I don't think any of this is helping," said Magolor, moving in front of Taranza. "Look, the Dream Battle Tour recreates memories perfectly. It's meant to instill the thrill of combat, but only from behind the safety of a digital screen. The real thing is dangerous, and just as terrifying if you aren't prepared. In light of this, don't you all think we should give Taranza here just a bit of sympathy?" The words were addressed to everyone else in the room, but Taranza could not help but think them addressed to himself as well. "Let's just get him out of here so Susie and Elfilin can handle the rest of this. I'm sure there's better places to work through emotions than on the floor." He turned back and held out a hand towards Taranza. "You agree with me too, don't you? Let's get you somewhere else."
—
With two hands clasped around Magolor's one, Taranza followed him out of the Colosseum, his head down and his eyes shut. He felt like a hapless child, being guided forward by their parent without any idea of where they were going. But why bother looking, when he couldn't even stand to look at himself?
He pushed out the rest of reality from his mind and tried to calm himself down. Today had gone in a crazy direction he didn't even know was possible. How could he? The day when Sectonia died was supposed to be in the past. He tried bringing her back from the dead before — more than once even — in hopes that there was some way to unmake the wound in his heart. But every time, all he accomplished was making himself and his friends feel miserable. He just had to move on, right? But could he ever move on, knowing that days like today could appear out of the blue, to remind him of how much it hurts to love someone so horrible? He'd be doomed to recount these days in despair...
Despair? No, confusion. Confusion?
It was then that he remembered what happened back in the portal. He didn't want to remember, thinking there were only bad memories in that nightmare. And yet, he couldn't help but think of the silhouette that appeared in Sectonia's eyes. It would have been in her eyes' reflection, right? So it should've been himself. It almost looked like himself, but something was off. It was familiar, but it wasn't himself...
It couldn't be, could it?
Long ago, when Taranza's world was that much smaller, that much simpler, there was someone he knew. Someone who always wanted the best for her people, but couldn't see the best in herself. Someone who thought that she could look a lot more like someone of her status. Someone he swore became a different person one fateful day...
In Sectonia's eyes, he had seen the silhouette of another Sectonia, asleep in the night sky. The original, spider-like one, before she cast away her true name and form for something more beautiful. The difference between the two in the same memory was staggering. Could that horrible flower really have come from someone who looked so much like himself?
Wait a minute! Taranza thought back to what Magolor said, about how the Dream Battle Tour recreates memories perfectly. If that were true, then he must have seen that silhouette of Sectonia when Kirby and King Dedede had originally fought the Queen. Could he have simply forgotten about such an interesting memory? He had already repressed so much of that horrible night, so it could be possible.
But then, a different question became apparent: Why had such a mysterious silhouette appeared? Was it just a shapeshifter's true form coming to light in her final moments, or was the meaning deeper than that? Was it even possible to find out anymore, if it happened so long ago? The more he thought about it, the more it began to hurt his head...
And yet, his curiosity couldn't be stifled. A bizarre thought soothed him, that for once it seemed reasonable to linger on the past. The silhouette, in the eye of this storm of bad memories, was something that gave him focus.
And when he peered further back into his mind, back to the day where everything began, he found this was not the first time he had seen such a silhouette.
Taranza's moment of retrospection came to an end when Magolor shook his hand free from the spider's and patted him on the back, as if to wake him. Startled, his eyes flew open to find himself at the stairway of the Waddle Dee Café he was at before. "Why don't you relax back up there, Taranza?" said Magolor with a hint of mischievousness; the kind of voice he speaks with when he's got a surprise up his sleeve. Unsure of what to expect, he headed to the roof to find Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee.
"I hope you're feeling better, Tarnaza!" said the Waddle Dee. "I know it's been a rough day, but Kirby got you something he thought you might like!" In Kirby's hands, he offered a striped and sugary donut to the spider. For a moment, Taranza stared at it, still reeling from being pulled out of such deep mental thought. It didn't long for him to sit down and take a bite, though.
All this time, he had forgotten how hungry he was.
—
"A lonely spider with a habit of being lost in thought. He's intelligent and skilled in all sorts of magic, but tends to let his emotions cloud his judgement. If only he had more confidence in his friends... and himself."
— Figure Description for Taranza.